Part 4

In spite of the witness of most uncial MSS. and the valiant pleading of Dean Burgon and others, modern scholars are well nigh unanimous in asserting that the last twelve verses of this Gospel are an appendix. Yet less cannot honestly be said than that they "must have been of very early date," and that they embody "a true apostolic tradition which may have been written by some companion or successor of the original author." In one Armenian MS. they are attributed to Aristion.

The Good News as Recorded by Luke

Modern research has abundantly confirmed the ancient tradition that the anonymous author of the third Gospel is none other than "Luke the beloved physician" and the narrator of the "Acts of the Apostles" (see. Col 4:14; 2Ti 4:11; Phm 1:24). Even Renan acknowledges this, and the objections of a few extremists appear to have been sufficiently answered.

The date is not easy to settle. The main problem is whether the book was written before or after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70, A.D. Not a few scholars whose views merit great respect still think that it preceded that event, but the majority of critics believe otherwise. Three principal dates have been suggested, 63, A.D., 80, A.D., 100, A.D. If we accept 80, A. D., we shall be in substantial accord with Harnack, McGiffert, and Plummer, who fairly represent the best consensus of scholarly opinion.

There is no evidence as to where this Gospel was composed, although its general style suggests the influence of some Hellenic centre. Its special characteristics are plain. It is written in purer Greek than the other Gospels, and is manifestly the most historic and artistic. It has also the widest outlook, having obviously been compiled for Gentiles, and, especially, for Greeks. The Author was evidently an educated man and probably a physician, and was also a close observer.

Eighteen of the parables and six of the miracles found here are not recorded elsewhere. Those "portions of the Gospel narrative which Luke alone has preserved for us, are among the most beautiful treasures which we possess, and we owe them in a great measure to his desire to make his collection as full as possible." Luke's object was rather to write history than construct an "apology" and for this reason his order is generally chronological.

This Gospel is often termed, and not without reason, "the Gospel of Paul." Luke's close association with the great Apostle--an association to which the record in the Acts and also the Pauline Letters bear testimony--at once warrants and explains the ancient assumption that we have here a writing as truly coloured by the influence of Paul as that of Mark was by Peter. This is especially the Gospel of gratuitous and universal salvation. Its integrity has recently been placed beyond dispute. Marcion's edition of it in 140, A.D., was a mutilation of the original!

The Good News as Recorded by John

In spite of its rejection by Marcion and the Alogi, the fourth Gospel was accepted by most Christians at the end of the second century as having been written by the Apostle John. In the present day the preponderating tendency among scholars favours the traditional authorship. On the other hand the most recent scrutiny asserts: "Although many critics see no adequate reason for accepting the tradition which assigns the book to the Apostle John, and there are several cogent reasons to the contrary, they would hardly deny that nevertheless the volume is Johannine--in the sense that any historical element throughout its pages may be traced back directly or indirectly to that Apostle and his school."

As regards the date, no more definite period can be indicated than that suggested by Harnack--between 80, A.D., and 110, A.D. But that it was written in Ephesus is practically certain, and there is evidence that it was composed at the request of Elders and believers belonging to the Churches of Roman Asia.

The special characteristics which render the book unique in literature are unmistakable, but scarcely admit of brief expression. It is manifestly supplementary to the other Gospels and assumes that they are known and are true. The differences between the fourth Gospel and the other three may be easily exaggerated, but it must be acknowledged that they exist. They relate, (1) to the ministry of Christ, and (2) to His person. As to the former it is impossible to correlate all the references to distinct events, for whilst the Synoptics appear to contemplate little more than the life and work of a single year, from John's standpoint there can scarcely have been less than three years concerned. As to the person of Christ, it must be owned that although the fourth Gospel makes no assertion which contradicts the character of Teacher and Reformer attributed to Him by the Synoptics, it presents to us a personage so enwrapped in mystery and dignity as altogether to transcend ordinary human nature. This transcendent Personality is indeed the avowed centre of the whole record, and His portrayal is its avowed purpose. Yet whilst the writer never clearly reveals to us who he himself is, it is equally manifest that his own convictions constitute the matrix in which the discourses and events are imbedded, and that there is nothing in this matrix to render that which it contains unreal or untrustworthy.

The Acts of the Apostles

The authorship of this book has been much discussed, but it may now be affirmed with certainty that the writer of our third Gospel is also the author of "the Acts," and that he speaks from the standpoint of an eye-witness in the four we sections (16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1--28:16), and is known in Paul's Letters as "Luke the beloved physician" (Col 4:14; 2Ti 4:11; Phm 1:24). The date necessarily depends upon that of the third Gospel. If the latter was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, then Luke's second work may well have been issued between 66 and 70, A.D. But the tendency, in the present day, is to date the Gospel somewhere between 75 and 85, A.D., after the destruction of the city. In that case "the Acts" may be assigned to any period between 80 and 90, A.D. The latter conclusion, though by no means certain, is perhaps the more probable.

The familiar title of the book is somewhat unfortunate, for it is manifestly not the intention of the writer to describe the doings of the Apostles generally, but rather just so much of the labours of Peter and Paul--and especially the latter--as will serve to illustrate the growth of the early Church, and at the same time exhibit the emancipation of Christianity from its primitive Judaic origin and environment.

It is plain that the writer was contemporary with the events he describes, and although his perfect ingenuousness ceaselessly connects his narrative with history, in no case has he been proved to be in error. The intricacy of the connexions between this record and the Pauline Letters will be best estimated from a study of Paley's Horae Paulinae. We know nothing definite as to the place where the Acts was written, nor the sources whence the information for the earlier portion of the narrative was obtained. But it may be truthfully affirmed that from the modern critical ordeal the work emerges as a definite whole, and rather confirmed than weakened in regard to its general authenticity.

Paul's Letter to the Romans

The four books of the New Testament known as the Letters to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians, are allowed by practically all critics, including some of the most "destructive," to be genuine productions of the Apostle Paul. Opinions vary as to the order of their composition. The latest research tends to put 'Galatians' first, and 'Romans' last, in the period between 53 and 58 A. D. The date generally assigned to the Roman Letter is 58 A.D., but recently Harnack, McGiffert, Clemen and others have shown cause for putting it some four years earlier. The chronology of the period is necessarily very complicated. It must suffice, therefore, to regard this Letter as having been written, at either of these dates, from Corinth, where Paul was staying in the course of his third missionary tour. He was hoping to go to Rome, by way of Jerusalem, and then proceed to Spain (15:24; Ac 24:21).

The object of this Letter was to prepare the Christians in Rome for his visit, and make a clear statement of the new doctrines which he taught. It is probable that the crisis in Galatia, to which the Letter sent thither bears witness, had driven the Apostle's thoughts in the direction of the subject of Justification, and he was apparently much troubled by the persistence of Jewish unbelief. Hence the present Letter has been well termed "the Gospel according to Paul."

We know really nothing about the Christians then in Rome beyond what we find here. It is, however, fairly certain that reports concerning the Saviour would be taken to that city by proselytes, both before and after the events described in Acts 2, and we know that there was a large Jewish population there amongst whom the seed would be sown. Some critics have thought "that a note addressed to Ephesus lies embedded in the 16th chapter," because, they say, it is "inconceivable that Paul could have intimately known so many individuals in a Church like that in Rome to which he was personally a stranger." But this is by no means demonstrated, nor is there evidence that the Church there was founded by any other Apostle.

Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians

The genuineness of the two Letters to the Corinthians has never been seriously disputed. The first was written by the Apostle Paul, probably in the early spring of 56 A.D., just before he left Ephesus for Troas in the course of his third missionary tour (Ac 19). The Church in Corinth had been founded by him during his previous tour (Ac 18). After some hesitation he had been induced to preach in Corinth, and in spite of the opposition of the Jews such great success attended his efforts that he remained there for more than eighteen months. The furious attack upon him which was frustrated by Gallio gave impetus to the new cause, so that when the Apostle left, there was a comparatively strong Church there, consisting mostly of Greeks, but including not a few Jews also. The dangers, however, arising out of the temperament and circumstances of the Corinthians soon manifested themselves. The city was the capital of Roman Greece, a wealthy commercial centre, and the home of a restless, superficial intellectualism. Exuberant verbosity, selfish display, excesses at the Lord's table, unseemly behaviour of women at meetings for worship, and also abuse of spiritual gifts, were complicated by heathen influences and the corrupting customs of idolatry. Hence the Apostle's pleas, rebukes, and exhortations. Most noteworthy of all is his forceful treatment of the subject of the Resurrection of Christ; and this only a quarter of a century after the event. Of the Letter mentioned in 5:9 we know nothing.

Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians

The second Letter to the Corinthians was probably written in the autumn of 56 A.D., the first Letter to them having been sent in the spring of that year. But there are other letters of which we have no clear account. One, lost to us, evidently preceded the first Letter (1Co 5:9). In our "second" Letter we find mention (2:2,4) of a severe communication which could not but give pain. Can this have been our "first" to the Corinthians? Some think not, in which case there must have been an "intermediate" letter. This some students find in 2Co 10 1-8:1O. If so, there must have been four letters. Some have thought that in 2Co 6:14-7:1, and 8, 9, yet another is embedded, making possibly five in all. The reader must form his own conclusions, inasmuch as the evidence is almost entirely internal. On the whole it would seem that our first Letter, conveyed by Titus, had produced a good effect in the Corinthian Church, but that this wore off, and that Titus returned to the Apostle in Ephesus with such disquieting news that a visit of Paul just then to Corinth would have been very embarrassing, alike for the Church and the Apostle. Hence, instead of going, he writes a "painful" letter and sends it by the same messenger, proceeding himself to Troas and thence to Macedonia, where, in great tension of spirit, he awaits the return of Titus. At last there comes a reassuring account, the relief derived from which is so great that our second Letter is written, with the double purpose of comforting those who had been so sharply rebuked and of preventing the recurrence of the evils which had called forth the remonstrance. In this way both the tenderness and the severity of the present Letter may be explained.

Paul's Letter to the Galatians

There is no question as to the genuineness of this Pauline Letter, but unlike most other writings of the Apostle it was addressed to "Churches" rather than to a single community.

Formerly it was not easy to decide the precise meaning of the term "Galatia." Opinions differed on the subject. The "North Galatian theory," contended for by some German scholars, maintained that the Letter was addressed to the Churches of Ancyra, Tavium, Pessinus and possibly to those in other cities. The "South Galatian theory," which now holds the field in English-speaking countries, is to the effect that the congregations intended were those of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Derbe and Lystra; and this is strongly supported by the unique resemblance between this Letter and Paul's sermon in Pisidian Antioch (Ac 13:14-41). In any case the population was very mixed, consisting of Phrygians, Greeks, Romans, Gauls and Jews.

The date of the Letter cannot be exactly fixed. The periods assigned by recent scholarship vary from 46 A.D. to 58 A.D., but the medium estimate of 53 A.D., adopted by Harnack and Ramsay, satisfies all the requirements of the case.

The Apostle certainly visited Galatia during his second missionary tour, perhaps about 51 A. D., and, although suffering from illness, was received with enthusiasm. After a short stay he departed cherishing a joyful confidence as to his converts there. But when, less than three years afterwards, he came again, he found that the leaven of Judaism had produced a definite apostasy, insomuch that both the freedom of individual believers and his own Apostolic authority were in danger.