THE JOHANNINE TRADITION. PROPHECY
In Paul's enumeration of the "gifts" by which the Spirit qualifies
various classes of men to build in various ways upon the structure of
the church, the class of "prophets" takes the place next after that of
"apostles," a rank even superior (as more manifestly 'spiritual') to
that of "pastors and teachers." The Book of Acts shows us as its most
conspicuous centre of "prophecy" the house of Philip the Evangelist at
Caesarea. This man had four unmarried daughters who prophesied, and in
his house Paul received a 'prophetic' warning of his fate from a certain
Agabus who had come down from Judaea. There were also prophets in Antioch
(Acts xiii. 1), though the only ones mentioned by name are this same
Agabus[24] and Silas, or Silvanus, who is also from Judaea. In the
_Teaching of the Twelve_ the 'prophet' still appears among the regular
functionaries of the church, for the most part a traveller from place
to place, and open to more or less suspicion, as is the case at Rome,
where Hermas combines reverence for the "angel" that speaks through the
true prophet, with warnings against the self-seeker. In 1st John the
"false prophets" are a serious danger, propagating Doketic heresy
wherever they go. In fact, this heresy was, as we know, the great peril
in Asia. However, Asia, if plagued by wandering false prophets, had also
become by this time a notable seat of true and authentic prophecy; for
the same Papias who shows such sympathy with Polycarp against those who
were "perverting the Sayings of the Lord to their own lusts," and had
turned, as Polycarp advised, "to the tradition handed down from the
beginning," had similar means for counteracting those who "denied the
resurrection and judgment." Among those upon whom he principally relied
as exponents of the apostolic doctrine were two of those same
prophesying daughters of Philip the Evangelist, who with their father
had migrated from Caesarea Palestina to Hierapolis, leaving, however,
one, who had married, a resident till her death at Ephesus. As late as
the time of Montanus (150-170), the "Phrygians" traced their succession
of prophets and prophetesses back to Silvanus and the daughters of
Philip.
Footnote 24: The mention of Agabus, however, in xi. 27 f. is
hardly consistent with xiii. 1 and xxi. 10-14. It seems to be due to
the editorial recasting of xi. 22-30.
We cannot be sure that the traditions Papias reported from these
prophetesses were derived at first hand, though it is not impossible
that Papias himself may have seen them. However it is certain that many
of his traditions of 'the Elders' had to do with eschatology, and aimed
to prove the material and concrete character of the rewards of the
kingdom; for we have several examples of these traditions, attributing
to Jesus apocryphal descriptions of the marvellous fertility of
Palestine in the coming reign of Messiah, and particularizing about the
abodes of the blessed. Moreover Eusebius blames Papias for the crude
ideas of Irenaeus and other second century fathers who held the views
called "chiliastic" (_i. e._ based on the "thousand" year reign of
Christ in Rev. xx. 2 f.). We also know that Papias defended the
"trustworthiness" of Revelation, a book which served as the great
authority of the "chiliasts" for the next fifty years in their fight
against the deniers of the resurrection. He quoted from it, in fact, the
passage above referred to; so that if reason must be sought for his
placing "John and Matthew" together at the end of his list of seven
apostles instead of in their usual place, it is probably because they
were his ultimate apostolic authorities for the "word of prophecy" and
for the "commandment of the Lord" respectively. Justin Martyr, Papias'
contemporary at Rome, though converted in Ephesus, and unquestionably
determined in his mould of thought by Asiatic Paulinism, has, like
Papias, but two _authorities_ for his gospel teaching: (1) the
commandment of the Lord represented in the Petrine and Matthaean
tradition; (2) prophecy, represented in the Christian continuation of
the Old Testament gift. This second authority, however, is not appealed
to without the support of apostolicity. Revelation is quoted as among
"our writings," like "the memorabilia of the apostles called Gospels,"
but not without the additional assurance that the seer was "John, one of
the _apostles_ of Christ."
For 'prophecy,' however acclimated elsewhere, was in its origin
distinctively a Palestinian product. Its stock in trade was Jewish
eschatology as developed in the long succession of writers of
'apocalypse' since Daniel (165 B.C.). Of the nature of this curious and
fantastic type of literature we have seen some examples in 2nd
Thessalonians and the Synoptic eschatology (Mark xiii.=Matt. xxiv.=Luke
xxi.). More can be learnt by comparing the contemporary Jewish writings
of this type known as 2nd Esdras and the Apocalypse of Baruch. Older
examples are found in the prophecies and visions purporting to come from
Enoch. For apocalypse became the successor of true prophecy in
proportion as the loss of Israel's separate national existence and the
enlargement of its horizon compelled it to make its messianic hopes
transcendental, and its notion of the Kingdom cosmic. Hence comes all
the phantasmagoria of allegorical monsters, spirits and demons, the
great conflict no longer against Assyria and Babylon, but a war of the
powers of light and darkness, heaven and hell. Yet all centres still
upon Jerusalem as the ultimate metropolis of the world, whose empires,
now given over to the leadership of Satan, will soon lie prostrate
beneath her feet.
Some such eschatology of divine judgment and reward is an almost
necessary complement to the legalistic type of religion. If Christianity
be conceived as a system of commandments imposed by supernatural
authority it must have as a motive for obedience a system of
supernatural rewards and punishments. Not merely, then, because for
centuries the legalism of the scribes had actually had its corresponding
development of apocalypse, with visions of the great judgment and Day of
Yahweh, but because of an inherent and necessary affinity between the
two, "Judaea" continued to be the home of 'prophecy' in New Testament
times also.
However, the one great example of this type of literature that has been
(somewhat reluctantly) permitted to retain a place in the New Testament
canon appears at first blush to be clearly and distinctively a product
of Ephesus. Of no book has early tradition so clear and definite a
pronouncement to make as of Revelation. Since the time of Paul the
Jewish ideas of resurrection provoked opposition in the Greek mind. The
Greek readily accepted immortality, but the crudity of Jewish
millenarianism, with its return of the dead from the grave for a
visible, concrete rule of Messiah in Palestine repelled him. The
representation of Acts xvii. 32 is fully borne out by the constant
effort of Paul in his Greek epistles to remove the stumbling-blocks of
this doctrine. It is no surprise, then, to find the 'prophecy' of
Revelation, and more particularly its doctrine of the thousand-year
reign of Messiah in Jerusalem, a subject of dispute at least since
Melito of Sardis (167), and probably since Papias (145). Fortunately
controversy brought out with unusual definiteness, and from the earliest
times, positive statements regarding the origin of the book. Irenaeus
(186) declared it a work of the Apostle John given him in vision "in the
end of the reign of Domitian." The same date (93), may be deduced from
statements of Epiphanius regarding the history of the church in
Thyatira. Justin Martyr (153), as we have seen, vouches for the crucial
passage (Rev. xx. 2 f.) as from "one of ourselves, John, an apostle of
the Lord." Papias (145) vouched for its orthodoxy at least, if not its
authenticity. There can be no reasonable doubt that it came to be
accepted in Asia early in the second century, in spite of opposition, as
representing the authority of the Apostle John, and as having appeared
there c. 95. In fact, there is no book of the entire New Testament whose
external attestation can compare with that of Revelation, in nearness,
clearness, definiteness, and positiveness of statement. John is as
distinctively the father of 'prophecy' in second century tradition as
Matthew of 'Dominical Precepts' and Peter of 'Narratives.'
Moreover the book itself purports to be written from Patmos, an island
off the coast of Asia. It speaks in the name of "John" as of some very
high and exceptional authority, well known to all the seven important
churches addressed, the first of which is "Ephesus." By its references
to local names and conditions it even proves, in the judgment of all the
most eminent modern scholars, that it really did see the light for the
first time (at least for the first time in its present form) in Ephesus
not far from A.D. 95.
One would think the case for apostolic authenticity could hardly be
stronger. And yet no book of the New Testament has had such difficulty
as this, whether in ancient or modern times, to maintain its place in
the canon. It must also be said that no book gives stronger internal
evidence of having passed through at least two highly diverse stages in
process of development to its present form.
The theory of "another John" is indeed comparatively modern. Nobody
drammed of such a solution until Dionysius of Alexandria hesitatingly
advanced the conjecture in his controversy with Nepos the Chiliast. Even
then (_c._ 250) Dionysius (though he must have known the little work of
Papias) could think of no other John at Ephesus than the Apostle,
unless it were perhaps John Mark! It is Eusebius who joyfully helps him
out with the discovery in Papias of "John the Elder." But Eusebius
himself is candid enough to admit that Papias only quoted "traditions of
John" and "mentioned him frequently in his writings." When we read
Papias' own words, though they are cited by Eusebius for the express
purpose of proving the debatable point, it is obvious that they prove
nothing of the kind, but rather imply the contrary, viz. that John the
Elder, though a contemporary of Papias, was not accessible, but known to
him only at second hand, by report of travellers who "came his way." In
short, as we have seen, "Aristion and John the Elder" were the surviving
members of a group of 'apostles, elders and witnesses of the Lord' in
Jerusalem. If, then, one chose to attribute the 'prophecies' of Rev.
iv.-xxi. to this Elder there could be no serious objections on the score
of doctrine, for the "traditions of John" reported by Papias were not
lacking in millenarian colour. Only, it is not the 'prophecies' of Rev.
iv.-xxi. which contain the references to "John," but the enclosing
prologue and epilogue; and these concern themselves with the churches of
Asia as exclusively as the 'prophecies' with the quarrel of Jerusalem
with Rome.
The second century is, as we have seen, unanimous in excluding from
consideration any other John in Asia save the Apostle, and if the
writer of Rev. i. and xxii. produced this impression in all contemporary
minds without exception, including even such as opposed the book and its
doctrine, it is superlatively probable that such was his intention. The
deniers of the resurrection and judgment did not point out to Polycarp,
Papias, Justin, Melito and Caius, that they were confusing two Johns,
attributing the work of a mere Elder to the Apostle. They plumply
declared the attribution to John fictitious; and since the internal
evidence from the condition of the churches and growth of heresy in chh.
i.-iii. and the imperial succession down to Domitian in chh. xiii. and
xvii. strongly corroborate the date assigned in antiquity (_c._ 93), we
have no alternative, if we admit that the Apostle John had long before
been "killed by the Jews,"[25] but to suppose that this book, like
nearly all the books of 'prophecy,' is, indeed, pseudonymous. It does
not follow that he who assumes the name of "John" in prologue and
epilogue (i. 1 f., 4, 9; xxii. 8) to tell the reader definitely who
the prophet is, was guilty of intentional misrepresentation. If anything
can be made clear by criticism it is clear that the prophecies were not
his own. They were taken from some nameless source. The "pseudonymity"
consists simply in clothing a conjecture with the appearance of
indubitable fact.
Footnote 25: See above, p. 104.
But why should a writer who wished to clothe with apostolic authority
the 'prophecies' he was promulgating, not assume boldly the title of
"apostle," as the author of 2nd Peter has done in adapting similarly the
Epistle of Jude? Why, if he assumes the name of the martyred Apostle
John at all, does he refrain from saying, "I John, an _apostle_, or
_disciple of the Lord_," and content himself with the humbler
designation and authority of 'prophet'?
This question brings us face to face with the most remarkable structural
phenomena of the book, and cannot be understandingly answered until we
have considered them.
The outstanding characteristic of Revelation is its adaptation of
literary material dealing with, and applicable to, one historical and
geographical situation, to another situation almost completely
different. The opening chapters, devoted to "John's" vision on Patmos
and the conditions and dangers of the seven Churches of Asia, employ
indeed some of the expressions of the substance of the book. The
promises of the Spirit to the churches recall the glories of the New
Jerusalem of the concluding vision of the seer. There is some reference
to local persecution at Smyrna incited by the Jews ("a synagogue of
Satan") and which is to last "ten days," and there is an isolated
reference to a martyrdom of days long gone by in the message to the
church in Pergamum (ii. 13) recalling remotely the blood and suffering
of which the body of the work is full. This we should of course expect
from an adapter of existing 'prophecies.' But the converse, _i. e._
consideration for the historical conditions of Ephesus and its sister
churches, on the part of the body of the work, is absolutely wanting. On
the one side is the situation of the Pauline churches on the east coast
of the AEgean in A.D. 93-95. The prologue and epilogue (Rev. i.-iii. and
xxii. 6-21) are concerned with these churches of Asia, and their
development in the faith, particularly their growth in good works,
purity from defilements of the world, and resistance to the inroads of
heretical teaching. The message of the Spirit, conveyed through "John,"
is meant to encourage the members of these churches to pure living in
the face of temptations to worldliness and impurity. The epistles to the
churches, in a word, belong in the same class with the Pastorals, Jude,
and 2nd Peter, as regards their object and the situation confronted;
though they are written to enclose apocalyptic visions which deal with a
totally different situation.
The visions, on the contrary, take not the smallest notice of
(proconsular) Asia and its problems. Their scene is Palestine, their
subject the outcome of Jerusalem's agonizing struggle against Rome. From
the moment the threshold of iv. 1 is crossed there is no consciousness
of the existence of such places as Ephesus, Smyrna and Thyatira. The
scenes are Palestinian. The great battle-field is Har-Magedon (_i. e._
city of Megiddo, on the plain of Esdraelon, the scene of Josiah's
overthrow, 2nd Kings xxiii. 29 f.). "The city," "the great city," "the
holy city" is Jerusalem; though "spiritually (in allegory) it is called
Sodom and Egypt" (_i. e._ a place from which the saints escape to avoid
its doom). When the saints flee from the oppression of the dragon it is
to "the wilderness." When the invading hordes rush in it is from beyond
"the Euphrates." When the redeemed appear in company with the Christ it
is on Mount Zion; they constitute an army of 144,000, twelve thousand
from each of the twelve tribes. Two antagonistic powers are opposed. On
the one side is Jerusalem and its temple, now given over to the Gentiles
to be trodden under foot forty and two months, on the other is Rome, no
longer, as with Paul, a beneficent and protecting power, but the city of
the beast, Babylon the great harlot, at whose impending judgment the
Gentiles will mourn, but all the servants of God rejoice. Jerusalem
rebuilt, glorified, the metropolis of the world, seat and residence of
God and his Christ, will take the place of Rome, the seat of the beast
and the false prophet. The gates of this New Jerusalem will stand open
to receive tribute from all the Gentile nations, and will have on them
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The foundations of the city
wall will have on them "the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
All this is cumulative proof that the horizon of the seer of Rev.
iv.-xx. is that of Palestine. Its expansion in the introductory Letters
of the Spirit to the Churches to include the seven churches of
(proconsular) Asia, is as limited in its way as the original. The later
writer merely adds the special province where he wishes the 'prophecy'
to circulate, with its special interests; there is no real interrelation
of the two parts.
It is a problem of great complexity to disentangle the various strands
of this strange and fantastic work, certain as it is that we have here a
conglomerate whose materials come from various periods. Some elements,
such as ch. xi. on the fate of Jerusalem, seem to date in part from
before 70; others, such as ch. xviii. on the fate of Rome, show that
while originally composed for the circumstances of the reign of
Vespasian or Titus, the time has been extended to take in at least the
beginning of that of Domitian.[26] The author rests mainly upon the
Hebrew apocalyptic prophets, such as Ezekiel, Daniel and Enoch, but he
has not been altogether inhospitable to such originally Gentile
mythology as the doctrine of the seven spirits of God, and the conflict
of Michael and his angels with the dragon. He intimates himself that his
prophesying had not been confined to one period or one people (x. 11).
When he translates the "Hebrew" name of the angel of the abyss,
"Abaddon," into its Greek equivalent (ix. 11), or uses Hebrew numerical
equivalents for the letters of the name of a man (xiii. 18), it is not
difficult to guess that this prophecy had at least its origin in
Palestine. In fact, there is no other country where the geographical
references hold true, and no other period save that shortly after the
overthrow of Jerusalem by Titus, that affords the historical situation
here presupposed, when worshipping "the beast and his image" is demanded
of the saints by the earthly ruler (Domitian), and the overthrow of the
seven-hilled city by one of its own rulers in league with lesser powers
is looked forward to as about to avenge the sufferings inflicted on the
Jews. As regards this hope of the overthrow of Rome, we know that the
legend of Nero's prospective return at the head of hosts of Parthian
enemies to recapture his empire gained currency in Asia Minor in
Domitian's reign, and this legend is certainly developed in Rev. xiii.
and xvii. On the other hand, the author, if he ever came to Asia, did
not cease to be a Palestinian Jew. He operates exclusively (after iv. 1)
with the materials and interests of Jewish and Jewish-Christian
apocalypse. He has no interest whatever in the churches of Asia. He does
not betray by one syllable a knowledge even of their existence, to say
nothing of their dangers, their heresies, their temptations. He does
make it abundantly clear that he is a Christian prophet (x. 7-11), and
(to us) almost equally clear that he is _not_ one of the twelve
apostles whose names he sees written on the foundation-stones of the New
Jerusalem (xxi. 14). But since his prophecy, with all its heterogeneous
elements had to do with the final triumph of Messiah, and the
establishment of His kingdom, after the overthrow of the power of
Satan--since it depicted "the time of the dead to be judged, and the
time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the
saints and to them that fear thy name," it could not fail to be welcomed
by orthodox Christians in (proconsular) Asia. For the churches of Asia
were engaged at this time in a vigorous struggle against the heretical
deniers of the resurrection and judgment. Only, a mere anonymous
prophecy from Palestine could not obtain any authoritative currency in
Asia. To be accepted, even among the orthodox, some name of apostolic
weight must be attached to it, as we see in the case of the two Epistles
of Peter and those of James and Jude. The Epistles of the Spirit to the
churches are, then, as truly "letters of commendation" as though they
introduced a living prophet and not merely a written prophecy. The John
whom they present is not called an apostle for the very simple reason
that the visions themselves everywhere refer to their recipient as a
'prophet.' The author of the prologue and epilogue does not disregard
the language of his material. As we have seen, he carefully weaves its
phraseology into the 'letters.' So with his insertion of the name
"John." It occurs nowhere but in i. 1 f., 4, 9 and xxii. 8 f. All
these passages, but especially xxii. 8 f., are based upon xix. 9_b_,
10, adding nothing to the representation but the name "John" and the
location "Patmos." In fact, xxii. 6-9 reproduces xix. 9 f., for the
most part verbatim, although it is clearly insupposable that the seer of
the former passage should represent himself as offering a _second_ time
to worship the angel, and as receiving _again_ exactly the same rebuke
he had received so shortly before. He who calls himself "John" in xxii.
8 is, therefore, _not_ the prophet of xix. 10. The epilogue itself has
apparently received successive supplements, and the prologue its prefix;
but he who inserts the name John has done so with caution. He may not
have intended to leave open the ambiguity found by Dionysius and
Eusebius between the Apostle and the Elder, as a refuge in case of
accusation, but he has at least been careful not to transgress the
limits of the text he reproduces. The seer spoke of himself as a
"_prophet_" writing from the midst of great _tribulation_, about the
_kingdom_ to follow to those that _endured_. He had said that he
received "true _words of God_" from an _angel_ who declared "I am a
fellow _servant_ with thee and with thy _brethren_ that hold _the
testimony of Jesus_" (_i. e._ the confession of martyrdom). The
prologue, accordingly, describes "John" as a _servant_ of Jesus, who
received from an _angel_ the _word of God_ and _the testimony of Jesus_
(i. 1 f.). He is a _brother_ and partaker in the _tribulation_ and
_kingdom_ and _endurance_ which are in Jesus. When he comes to Asia it
is "for the _word of God_ and _the testimony of Jesus_." The spot whence
he issues his prophetic message is not located in Ephesus, or in any
city where the residents could say, "But the Apostle John was never
among us." He resides temporarily (as a prisoner in the quarries?) in
the unfrequented island of Patmos. Thence he could be supposed to see
"in the Spirit" the condition of affairs in the churches of Asia without
inconvenient questions as to when, and how, and why.
Footnote 26: Note the addition of an "eighth" emperor in ver. 11.
We may think, then, of this book of 'prophecy' as brought forth in the
vicinity of Ephesus near "the end of the reign of Domitian" (95). But
only the enclosing letters to the churches, and the epilogue
guaranteeing the contents, originate here at this time. The
'prophecies,' occupied as they are exclusively with the rivalry of
Jerusalem and Rome, and the judgment to be executed for the former upon
her ruthless adversary, bear unmistakable marks of their Palestinian
origin, not only in the historical and geographic situations
presupposed, but in the "defiant" Hebraisms of the language, and the
avowed translations from "the Hebrew." They are an importation from
Palestine like "the sound words, even the words of the Lord Jesus"
referred to in the Pastorals. The churches of Asia are feeling the need
of apostolic authority against the deniers of the resurrection and the
judgment, as much as against the perverters of the Lord's words. Such
centres as the homes of the prophesying daughters of Philip at Ephesus
and Hierapolis were even more abundantly competent to supply this demand
than the other. Agabus will not have been the only Judaean prophet who
visited them, especially after the "great tribulation" which befell
"those in Judaea." There is nothing foreign to the habit of the times,
even in Christian circles, if nameless 'prophecies' from such a source
are translated, edited, and given out under cover of commendatory
epistles written in the name of "John" at a time when John had indeed
partaken both of the tribulation and of the kingdom of Jesus. They would
hardly have obtained currency had they not been attributed to an
apostle; for a denial of the apostolicity of this book has always
deprived it of authority.
On the other hand, the actual (Palestinian) prophet has no such exalted
opinion of himself as of those whose names he sees written on the
foundation of the walls of the New Jerusalem (xxi. 14). He is not an
apostle and does not claim to be. He shows not the faintest trace of any
association with the earthly Jesus, and indeed displays a
vindictiveness toward the enemies of Israel that has more of the spirit
of the imprecatory psalms than the spirit of Jesus. He thinks of Jesus
as a king and judge bestowing heavenly rewards upon the martyrs in a
manner quite inconsistent with his rebuke of James and John (Mark x.
40). It is a far cry indeed from this to apostleship and personal
intimacy with Jesus.
The chief value of Revelation to the student of Christian origins is
that by means of its clearly determinable date (Ephesus, 93-95) he can
place himself at a point of vantage whence to look not only around him
at the conditions of the Pauline churches as depicted in the letters,
vexed with growing Gnostic heresy and moral laxity, but also both
backward and forward. The backward glance shows Palestine emerging from
the horrors of the Jewish war, filled with bitterness against Rome, held
down under hateful tyranny and longing for vengeance upon the despot
with his "names of blasphemy" and his demands of worship for "the image
of the beast" (emperor-worship). Here Jewish apocalyptic (as in 2nd
Esdras) and Christian 'prophecy' are closely in accord. Indeed a
considerable part of the material of Rev. iv.-xxi., especially in chh.
xi.-xii. is ultimately of Jewish rather than Christian origin. What the
development of Christian 'prophecy' was in Palestine from apostolic
times until the scattering of the church of "the apostles and elders"
after the war of Bar Cocheba (135), we can only infer from the kindred
Jewish apocalypses and the chiliastic "traditions of the Elders" quoted
by Irenaeus from Papias. A forward look from our vantage point in Ephesus
_c._ A.D. 95, shows the effects of the Palestinian importation extending
down from generation to generation, first in the long chiliastic
controversy against the Doketic Gnostics, including Montanist
'prophecy'; secondly, in the growth of a claim to apostolic succession
from John.
(1) In the chiliastic controversy for a century the chief bones of
contention are the (non-Pauline) doctrine of the resurrection of the
_flesh_ (so the Apostles' Creed and the second-century fathers), and
that of a visible reign of Christ for a thousand years in Jerusalem. The
new form of resurrection-gospel which at about this time begins to take
the place of the apostolic of 1st Cor. xv. 3-11, centering upon the
emptiness of the sepulchre and the tangibility and food-consuming
functions of Jesus' resurrection body, instead of the "manifestations"
to the apostles, is characteristic of this struggle against the Greek
disposition to spiritualize. Luke and Ignatius represent the attitude of
the orthodox, Ignatius' opponents that of those who denied that Jesus
was "in the flesh after his resurrection." Revelation, like the
"traditions of the Elders," champions the visible kingdom of Messiah in
Jerusalem.
(2) In the effort for apostolic authority the writings which came
ultimately to represent Asian orthodoxy have all been brought under the
name and authority of the Apostle John, although for many decades after
the appearance of Revelation, Paul, and not John, remains the apostolic
authority to which appeal is made, and although the writings themselves
were originally anonymous. There was, indeed, a contributory cause for
the growth of this tradition in the accidental circumstance that a
Palestinian Elder from whom Papias derived indirect, and Polycarp in all
probability direct, traditions, bore also the name of John, and survived
until A.D. 117. Still, the main reason why this particular apostolic
name was ultimately placed over the Gospel and Epistles of Ephesian
Christendom, can only have been its previous adoption to cover the
compilation of Palestinian 'prophecies' of A.D. 95.
PART IV
THE LITERATURE OF THE THEOLOGIAN
CHAPTER IX
THE SPIRITUAL GOSPEL AND EPISTLES
Asia, as we have come to know it through a succession of writings dating
from Colossians-Ephesians (_c._ 62) down to Papias (145), had come to be
the chief scene of mutual reaction between 'apostolic' and Pauline
Christianity at the close of the first century. Here at Ephesus had been
the great headquarters of Paul's missionary activity. Here he had
reasoned daily in the school of one Tyrannus, a philosopher, and had
found "many adversaries." Here he had encountered the "strolling Jews,
exorcists," and had secured the destruction of an immense mass of books
of magic. Here, according to Acts, he predicted the inroads of heresy
after his "departure," and here the succeeding literature abundantly
witnesses the fulfilment of the prediction. Ephesians and Colossians
begin the series, the Pastoral Epistles (_c._ 90) continue it. Then
follow the 'letters to the churches' of Revelation (95) and the
Ignatian Epistles (110-117), not to mention those whose origin is
uncertain, such as Jude and 2nd Peter.
The Pastorals already make it apparent that even the Pauline churches
are not exempt from the inevitable tendency of the age to fall back upon
authority. The very sublimity of Paul's consciousness of apostolic
inspiration made it the harder for the next generation to assert any for
itself. Moreover heresy was growing apace. If even the outward pressure
of persecution tended to drive the churches together in brotherly
sympathy, still more indispensable would appear the need of traditional
standards to maintain the "type of sound doctrine," "the faith once for
all delivered to the saints." Without such it would be impossible to
check the individualism of errorists who took Paul's sense of personal
inspiration and mystical insight as their model, _without_ Paul's
sobriety of critical control under the standard of "the law of Christ."
It is no surprise, then, to find even at the headquarters of Paulinism
early in the second century a sweeping tendency to react toward the
'apostolic' standards. In particular, as Gnostic exaggeration of the
Pauline mysticism led continually further toward disregard of the
dictates of common morality, and a wider divergence from the Jewish
conceptions of the world to come, it was natural that men like Polycarp
and Papias should turn to the Matthaean and Petrine tradition of the
Lord's oracles, and to the Johannine 'prophecies' regarding the
resurrection and judgment.
Had nothing intervened between Gnostics and reactionaries the most vital
elements of Paul's gospel might well have disappeared, even at this
great headquarters of Paulinism. The Doketists, with their exaggerated
Hellenistic mysticism, were certainly not the true successors of Paul.
They showed an almost contemptuous disregard for the historic Jesus, a
one-sided aim at personal redemption, by mystic union of the individual
soul with the Christ-spirit, to the disregard of "the law of Christ,"
even in some cases of common morality. Paul was characterized by a
splendid loyalty to personal purity, to the social ideal of the Kingdom,
and to the unity of the brotherhood in the spirit of reciprocal service.
On the other hand men like the author of the Pastoral Epistles, Ignatius
and Polycarp, with their almost panic-stricken resort to the authority
of the past, were not perpetuating the true spirit of the great Apostle.
Their reliance was on ecclesiastical discipline, concrete and massive
miracle in the story of Jesus, particularly on the point of the
bodily--or, as they would have said, the "fleshly"--resurrection. Their
conception of his recorded "words," made of them a fixed, superhuman
standard and rule, a "new law." Teachers of this type, much as they
desired and believed themselves to be perpetuating the "sacred deposit"
of Paul, were in reality conserving its form and missing its spirit.
Such men would gladly "turn to the tradition handed down," of the
Matthaean Sayings, and the Petrine Story. But in the former they would
not find reflections of the sense of Son ship. They would find only a
supplementary Law, a new and higher set of rules. In the story they
would not discover the Pauline view of the pre-existent divine Wisdom
tabernacling in man, producing a second Adam, as elder brother of a new
race, the children and heirs of God. They would take the mysticism of
Paul and bring it down to the level of the man in the street. Jesus
would be to them either a completely superhuman man, approximating the
heathen demi-god, a divinity incognito; or else a man so endowed with
"the whole fountain of the Spirit" as to exercise perpetually and
uninterruptedly all its miraculous functions. The story of the cross
would be hidden behind the prodigies.
Least of all could the importation of apocalyptic prophecy do justice to
the Pauline doctrine of the 'last things.' True, Paul is himself a
'prophet,' thoroughly imbued with the fantastic Palestinian doctrines.
He, too, believes in a world-conflict, a triumph of the Messiah over
antichrist. More particularly in one of his very earliest epistles (2nd
Thessalonians) we get a glimpse into these Jewish peculiarities. But
these are always counterbalanced in Paul by a wider and soberer view,
which tends more and more to get the upper hand. His doctrine of
spiritual union with Christ, present apprehension of "the life that is
hid with Christ in God," a doctrine of Greek rather than Hebrew
parentage, prevails over the imagery of Jewish apocalypse. In the later
epistles he expects rather to "depart and be with Christ" than to be
"caught up into the air" with those that are alive and remain at the
'Coming.' So even if Paul did have occasion again and again to defend
his Jewish resurrection-doctrine against the Greek disposition to refine
it away into a mere doctrine of immortality, his remedy is not a mere
falling back into the crudities of Jewish millenarianism. Least of all
could he have sympathized with the nationalistic, and even vindictive
spirit of Rev. iv.-xxi., with its great battle of Jerusalem helped by
Messiah and the angels, against Rome helped by Satan and the Beast.
Paul's doctrine of the resurrection of the "body" by "clothing" of the
spirit with a "tabernacle" derived "from heaven," his hope of a
messianic Kingdom which is the triumph of humanity under a "second
Adam," has its apocalyptic traits. It is a victory over demonic enemies,
"spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"; but it has the
reserve of an educated Pharisee against the cruder forms of Jewish
prophecy. It shows the mind of the cosmopolitan Roman citizen and
philosophic thinker, not merely that of the Jewish Zealot.
How salutary if Paul himself could have lived to control the divergent
elements among his churches, to check the subjective individualism of
the Gnostics on the one hand, and the reactionary tendencies of the
orthodox on the other. His parting words to his beloved Philippians are
sadly appreciative of how needful it was for their sake that he should
"abide in the flesh" (Phil. i. 24). Yet there was one thing still more
expedient--that he should abide with them in the spirit. And that is
just what we find evidenced in the great 'spiritual' Gospel and its
accompanying Epistles from Ephesus.
Debate still rages over a mere name, attached by tradition to these
writings that themselves bear no name. The titles prefixed by early
transcribers attribute them to "John." But they are never employed
before 175-180 in a way to even remotely suggest that they were then
regarded as written by John, or even as apostolic in any sense. And when
we trace the tradition back to its earliest form, in the Epilogue
attached to the Gospel (John xxi.) it seems to be no more than a dubious
attempt to identify that mysterious figure, the "disciple whom Jesus
loved." If, however, we postpone this question raised by the Epilogue,
the writings can at least be assigned to a definite locality (Ephesus)
and a fairly definite date (_c._ 105-110), with the general consent both
of ancient tradition and of modern criticism. This is for us the
important thing, since it enables us to understand their purpose and
bearing; whereas even those who contend that they were written by the
Apostle John can make little use of the alleged fact. For (1) the little
that is known of John from other sources is completely opposed to the
characteristics of these writings. They are characterized by a broad
universalism, and reproduce the mysticism of Paul. To attribute them to
the Pillar of Gal. ii. 9, or the Galilean fisherman of Mark i. 19 and
ix. 38, it becomes necessary to suppose that John after migrating to
Ephesus underwent a transformation so complete as to make him in reality
another man. (2) The meagre possibility that the basis of Revelation
might represent the Apostle John becomes more remote than ever. Now it
is a curious fact that critics who hold to the much-disputed tradition
that the Apostle John wrote the Gospel and Epistles, although these
writings make no such claim, and have no affinity with the known
character, show as a rule remarkable alacrity to dismiss the claims of
Revelation, which positively declares John to have been its author, and
has far stronger evidence, both internal and external, in support of the
claim, than have either the Gospel or the Epistles. We may prefer the
style and doctrine of the Gospel and Epistles, but this playing fast
and loose with the evidence can only discredit criticism of this type.
(3) The value of the demonstration of Johannine authorship would lie in
the fact that we should then have a first-hand witness to the actual
life and teaching of Jesus, immeasurably superior to the remote and
indirect tradition of the present Synoptic sources. But as a matter of
real fact those who maintain the Johannine authorship do not venture to
assert any such historical superiority. On the contrary they consider
the Synoptic tradition not only historically superior to "John," as
respects both sayings and course of events, but they are apt to
attribute to this Galilean apostle an extreme of Philonic abstraction,
so that he even prefers deliberate "fiction" to fact. Thus the reasoning
employed to defend the tradition destroys the only factor which could
give it value.
On the other hand it is possible to disregard these secondary disputes,
which aim only to increase or diminish the authority of the writings by
asserting or denying that they were written by the Apostle John, and to
approach the interpretation of them on the basis only of what is really
known, accredited both by ancient tradition and by modern criticism. On
this basis we can safely affirm that they originated in Ephesus early in
the second century, 'spiritualizing' what we have designated 'apostolic'
teaching, while at the same time strongly reacting against Doketic and
Antinomian heresy. By such a procedure we shall be employing modern
critical methods to the highest practical advantage in the interest of
genuinely historical interpretation.
Even those who find minute distinctions in style and point of view
between the Epistles and Gospel of John will admit that all four
documents emanate from the same period, situation, and circumstances,
and represent the same school of thought. We shall make no serious
mistake, then, if we treat them as written by the same individual, and
even as intended to accompany one another. We shall have the example of
so high an authority as Lightfoot, who considered 1st John an Epilogue
composed to accompany the Gospel in place of the present Epilogue (John
xxi.). Moreover the distinctions in the ancient treatment of 1st John
and the two smaller Epistles are all subsequent to the attribution of
the Gospel and First Epistle to the Apostle, and a consequence of it.
For 1st John and the Gospel had always been inseparable, and having no
name attached could easily be treated as the Apostle's. But 2nd and 3rd
John distinctly declare themselves written by an "Elder"; and in the
days when men still appreciated the distinction between an Elder and an
Apostle it was felt to be so serious a difficulty that 2nd and 3rd John
were put in the class of "disputed" writings. In reality 1st John and
the Gospel are just as certainly the work of an "Elder" as 2nd John and
3rd John, though no declaration to that effect is made. Moreover 1st
John and the Gospel may safely be treated as from the same author; for
such minute differences as exist in style and point of view can be fully
accounted for by the processes of revision the Gospel has demonstrably
undergone. This is more reasonable than to imagine two authors so
extraordinarily similar to one another and extraordinarily different
from everybody else.
"The Elder" does not give his name, and it is hopeless for us to try to
guess it, though it was of course well known to his "beloved" friend
"Gaius," to whom the third letter (the outside envelope) was addressed.
We have simply three epistles, one (3rd John) personal, to the aforesaid
Gaius, who is to serve as the writer's intermediary with "the church,"
because Diotrephes, its bishop, violently opposes him. Another (2nd
John) is addressed to a particular church ("the elect lady and her
children"), in all probability the church of Diotrephes and Gaius. It
may be the letter referred to in 3rd John 9. The third (1st John) is
entirely general, not even so much modified from the type of the homily
toward that of the epistle as Hebrews or James; for it has neither
superscription nor epistolary close. And yet it is, and speaks of itself
(i. 4; ii. 1, 7, 9, 12-14, etc.) as a literary product. It is not
impossible that this group of 'epistles,' one individual, one to a
particular church, one general, was composed after the plan of the
similar group addressed by Paul to churches of this same region,
Philemon, Colossians, and the more general epistle known to us as
Ephesians. They may have been intended to accompany and introduce the
Gospel written by the same author, just as the prophecies of Rev.
iv.-xxi. are introduced by the 'epistles' of Rev. i.-iii., or as
Luke-Acts is sent under enclosure to Theophilus for publication under
his patronage. At all events, be the connection with the Gospel closer
or more remote, to learn anything really reliable about the writer and
his purpose and environment we must begin with his own references to
them, first in the letter to Gaius, then in that to "the elect lady and
her children," then in his 'word of exhortation' to young and old, of
1st John. Thus we shall gain a historical approach finally to that
treatise on the manifestation of God in Christ which has won him the
title since antiquity of the 'theologian.'
Third John shows the author to be a man of eminence in the (larger?)
church whence he writes, old enough to speak of Gaius with commendation
as one of his "children," though Gaius himself is certainly no mere
youth, and eminent enough to call Diotrephes to answer for his
misconduct. He has sent out evangelistic workers, some of whom have
recently returned and borne witness "before the church" to their
hospitable reception by Gaius. For this he thanks Gaius, and urges him
to continue the good work. The main object of the letter, however, is
to commend Demetrius, who is doubtless the bearer of this letter as well
as another written "to the church" (2nd John?). This letter, the author
fears, will never reach its destination if Diotrephes has his way. There
is very little to indicate whence the opposition of Diotrephes arises,
but what little there is (ver. 11) points to those who make claims to
"seeing" God and being "of" Him, without adequate foundation in a life
of purity and beneficence. The letter "to the church" is more explicit.
Second John is perfectly definite in its purpose. After congratulating
the "elect lady" on those of her children (members) whom the writer has
found leading consistent Christian lives, he entreats the church to
remember the "new commandment" of Jesus, which yet is not new but the
foundation of all, the commandment of ministering love. The reason for
this urgency is that "many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even
they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh" (ver. 7).
And here we come upon a very novel and distinctive application of an
ancient datum of 'prophecy,' clearly differentiating this writer from
the author of Revelation. The Doketic heresy is explicitly identified
with "the deceiver and the antichrist." That must have been a new and
surprising turn for men accustomed to connect the antichrist idea with
the persecuting power of Rome. Satan, as we know, had been repeatedly
conceived as operating through the coercion of outward force brought
against the Messiah and his people through the Beast and the false
Prophet (Rev. xiii.). There was good authority, too, for a mystical "man
of sin" setting himself forth as God in the temple (2nd Thess. ii. 4),
or for connecting Daniel's "abomination that maketh desolate" with the
sufferings of the Jewish war and the later attempts of false prophets to
deceive the elect with lying wonders (2nd Thess. ii. 9; Mark xiii. 22;
Rev. xiii. 14). But this was a new application of the prophecy. To
declare that the heretical teachers were themselves antichrists was to
call the attention of the church back from outward opposition to inward
disloyalty as the greater peril. And the identification is not
enunciated in this general warning alone, but fully developed and
defended in two elaborate paragraphs of the 'word of exhortation' (1st
John ii. 18-29; iv. 1-6). When, therefore, we find Polycarp in his
letter (110-171) quietly adopting the idea, almost as an understood
thing, declaring "For every one who shall not confess that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, is antichrist" (vii. 1), it becomes almost a
certainty that he had read 1st John.[27]
Footnote 27: Not 2nd John; for it is only in 1st John ii. 18 that
the elder speaks of "many antichrists," identifying each separate
Doketist with the apocalyptic figure. In 2nd John vii. it is the
heresy itself as a phenomenon which constitutes _the_ antichrist.
Our elder's warning "to the church" (perhaps more particularly its
governing body) is to beware of these deceivers; not to receive them,
nor even to greet them, because they "go onward" (are 'progressives')
and do not "abide in the teaching of Christ." To abide in this
"teaching" is the church's only safeguard.
If next we turn to the more general epistle known as 1st John the lack
of any superscription is more than counterbalanced by the writer's full
and explicit declarations regarding motive and occasion. The epistle was
certainly intended to be read before entire congregations. Of part of it
at least the author himself says that it was "written concerning them
that would lead you astray" (ii. 26). Comparison of the full
denunciation with what we know of Doketism from its own writings, such
as the so-called _Acts of John_ (_c._ 175), shows very plainly what type
of heresy is meant. Moreover we have the Epistles of Ignatius, written
to these same churches but a few years later, and the detailed
descriptions of the Doketist Cerinthus and his doctrines given by
Irenaeus, together with the explicit statement that the writings of John
were directed against this same Cerinthus.
Yet 1st John is far more than a mere polemic. The author writes to those
"that believe on the name of the Son of God, that they may know that
they have eternal life" (v. 13). This certainly is the result of the
conscious indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus. It is not evidenced,
however, by boastful words as to illumination, insight and knowledge,
but by practical obedience to the one new commandment; for "God is love,
and he that _loveth_ (not he that hath _gnosis_) is begotten of God and
knoweth God." This inward witness of the Spirit is a gift, or (to use
our author's term) an "anointing" (_i. e._ a 'Christ'-ening), whose
essence is as much beyond the Greek's ideal of wisdom, on the one side,
as it is beyond the Jew's ideal of miraculous powers on the other. It is
a spirit of ministering love corresponding to and emanating from the
nature of God himself. This is "the teaching of Christ" in which alone
it is safe to "abide."
But again as respects the historic tradition of the church our author is
not less emphatic. He values the record of an actual, real, and tangible
experience of this manifested life of God in man. The "progressives" may
repudiate the mere Jesus of "the flesh," in favour of one who comes by
water only (_i. e._ in the outpouring of the Spirit in baptism), and not
by the blood of the cross. For the doctrine of the cross was a special
stumbling-block to Doketists, who rejected the sacrament of the bread
and wine.[28] The actual sending of God's only-begotten Son into the
world, the real "propitiation" for our sins (so lightly denied by the
illuminati), is a vital point to the writer. The sins "of the whole
world" were atoned for in Jesus' blood actually shed on Calvary. The
church possesses, then, in this story a record of fact of infinite
significance to the world. The Doketists are playing fast and loose with
this record of the historic Jesus. They deny any value to the "flesh" in
which the aeon Christ had merely tabernacled as its "receptacle" between
the period of the baptism and the ascension--an event which they date
_before_ the death on the cross.[29] They are met here with a peremptory
challenge and declaration. The experience of contact with the earthly
Jesus which the Church cherishes as its most inestimable treasure is the
assurance, and the only assurance that we have, of real fellowship with
the Father; for "the life, the eternal life" of God in man, the
Logos--to borrow frankly the Stoic expression--is known not by mere
mystical dreams, but by the historic record of those who personally knew
the real Jesus. The manifestation of God, in short, is objective and
historical, and not merely inward and self-conscious; and that outward
and objective manifestation may be summed up in what we of the Christian
brotherhood have seen and known of Jesus.
Footnote 28: In the _Acts of John_ the Christ spirit which had been
resident in Jesus comes to John after he has fled to a cave on the
Mount of Olives from the posse that arrested the Lord. The sweet
voice of the invisible Christ informs him there that the blinded
multitude below had tortured a mere bodily shape which they took to
be Christ, "while I stood by and laughed." In the _Gospel of Peter_
Jesus hung upon the cross "as one who feels no pain" and was "taken
up" before the end.
Footnote 29: See note preceding.
It is when we approach the Fourth Gospel by way of its own author's
adaptation of his message to the conditions around him that we begin to
appreciate it historically, and in its true worth. The spirit of polemic
is still prominent in 1st John, but the Gospel shows the effect of
opposition only in the more careful statement of the evangelist's exact
meaning. It is a theological treatise, an interpretation of the doctrine
of the person of Christ, written that the readers "may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they may have
life in his name" (xx. 31). In an age so eagerly bent on ascertaining
the historic facts regarding Jesus' life, and the true sequence of
events (Luke i. 1-4), it is insupposable that an author so strenuous to
uphold the concrete reality of the church's historic tradition should
not give real history so far as he was able. He could not afford to
depreciate it in the face of Doketic myth and fancy and contempt for a
"Christ in the flesh." The idea that such a writer could deliberately
prefer fiction to fact is most improbable; ten times more so if he was
the only surviving representative of the twelve, a Galilean disciple
even more intimate than Peter with Jesus from the outset. But real
history was no longer attainable. The author of the Fourth Gospel
reports no event which he does not take in good faith to be fact. Yet it
must be apparent from his own statement of his purpose as well as from
the very structure of the book that he does not aim to be a historian,
but an interpreter of doctrine. He aims to give not _fact_ but _truth_.
And his handling of (supposed) fact has the freedom we should expect in
a church teacher of that age, and of the school of Paul the mystic. The
seven progressive "signs" that he narrates, culminating in the raising
of Lazarus, are avowedly (xx. 31) illustrative selections from a
multitude of current tales of miracle, aiming to produce that faith in
Jesus as the Son of God which will result in "life," _i. e._ the eternal
life which consists in his indwelling (1st John v. 20). They are not
described as acts of pity, drawn from one with whom the power of God was
found present to heal. Jesus does not yield as in the Synoptics when
compassion for trusting need overcomes reluctance to increase the
importunity that interfered with his higher mission. Their prime purpose
is to "manifest the glory" of the incarnate Logos, and Jesus performs
them only when, and as, he chooses. Pity and natural affection are
almost trampled upon that this "manifestation of his glory" may be made
more effective (ii. 4; iv. 48; ix. 3; xi. 4-6, 15). As in Paul, there is
no exorcism. This most typical and characteristic miracle of Petrine
story (Mark iii. 15; Acts x. 88) has disappeared. Or rather (as in Paul)
the casting out of Satan from his dominion over the entire world has
transcended and superseded it (John xii. 31-33; _cf._ Col. ii. 15). In
John, requests for miracle, whether in faith or unbelief, always incur
rebuke (ii. 4; iv. 48; vi. 30-36; vii. 4-7; xi. 3-15). Jesus offers and
works them when "his hour" comes, whether applied for or not (v. 6-9;
vi. 6; ix. 1-7). His reserve is not due to a limitation of almighty
power; for the power is declared explicitly to be his, _in his own
right_ (v. 21; xi. 22, 25, 42). He restrains it only that faith may rest
upon conviction of the truth rather than mere wonder (ii. 23-25; iii. 2
f.; iv. 39-42, 48; vi. 29-46; xiv. 11). He is, in short, an omniscient
(i. 47-50; ii. 25), omnipotent Being, temporarily sojourning on the
earth (iii. 13; xvi. 28).
The dialogue interwoven with these seven signs is closely related in
subject to them. It does not aim to repeat remembered Sayings, but
follows that literary form which since Plato had been the classic model
for presenting the themes of philosophy. The subject-matter is no
longer, as in the Synoptics, the Righteousness required by God, the
Nature and Coming of the Kingdom, Duty to God and Man. It is the person
and function of the speaker himself. Instead of the parables we have
allegories: "seven 'I am's'" of Jesus, in debate with "the Jews" about
the doctrine of his own person as Son of God.
This uniformity of topic corresponds with a complete absence of any
attempt to differentiate in style between utterances of Jesus, or the
Baptist, or the evangelist himself, in Gospel or Epistles. Had the
writer desired, it is certain that he could have collected sayings of
Jesus, and given them a form similar to those of Matthew and Luke. He
does not try. The only device he employs to suggest a distinction is an
oracular ambiguity at first misunderstood, and so requiring progressive
unfolding. The main theme is often introduced by a peculiar and solemn
"Verily, verily."
As with the 'signs' the lingering Synoptic sense of progress and
proportion has disappeared. At the very outset John the Baptist
proclaims to his followers that his own baptism has no value in itself.
It is not "for repentance unto remission of sins." It is _only_ to make
the Christ "manifest" (i. 19-34). Christ's atonement alone will take
away the sin (i. 29), Christ's baptism alone will convey real help (i.
34). Jesus, too, proclaims himself from the outset the Christ, in the
full Pauline sense of the word (i. 45-51; iv. 26, etc.). He chooses
Judas with the express purpose of the betrayal, and forces on the
reluctant agents of his fate (vi. 70 f.; xiii. 26 f.; xviii. 4-8;
xix. 8-11).
All this, and much more which we need not cite, makes hardly the
pretence of being history. It is frankly theology, or rather
apologetics. We have as a framework the general outline of Mark, a
Galilean and a Judaean ministry (chh. i.-xii.; xiii.-xx.), with traces of
a Perean journey (vii. 1 ff.). This scheme, however, is broken through
by another based on the Mosaic festal system, Jesus showing in each case
as he visits Jerusalem, the higher symbolism of the ceremonial (ii. 13
ff. Passover; v. 1 ff. Pentecost; vii. 1 ff. Tabernacles; x. 22
ff. Dedication; xii. 1 ff. Passover). There is in chh. i.-iv. a
'teaching of baptisms' and of endowment with the Spirit corresponding
roughly to Mark i. 1-45. There is in ch. v. a teaching of the authority
of Jesus against Moses and the Law, corresponding to Mark ii. 1--iii. 6.
There is a teaching of the 'breaking of bread' corresponding to Mark vi.
30--viii. 26 in John vi., though this last has been related not merely to
the brotherhood banquet ('love-feast') as in Mark, but anticipates and
takes the place of the teaching as to the Eucharist (_cf._ John vi.
52-59 with John xiii.). There is a Commission of the Twelve like Matt.
x. 16-42, though placed (with Luke xxii. 35-38) as a second sending on
the night of betrayal (xiii. 31--xviii. 26). There is dependence on
Petrine Story, and to some extent on Matthaean Sayings. In particular
John xii. 1-7 combines the data of Mark xiv. 3-9 with those of Luke vii.
36-50; x. 38-42 in a curious compound, making it certain that the
evangelist employed these two--and Matthew as well, if xii. 8 be
genuine (it is not found in the ancient Syriac). Yet our Synoptic
Gospels are not the only sources, and the material borrowed is handled
with sovereign superiority. In short, as even the church fathers
recognized, this Gospel is of a new type. It does aim to "supplement"
the others, as they recognized; but not as one narrative may piece out
and complete another. Rather as the unseen and spiritual supplements the
external and visible. This Gospel uses the established forms of
miracle-story and saying; but it transforms the one into symbol, the
other into dialogue and allegory. Then by use of this material
(supplemented from unknown, perhaps oral, sources) it constructs a
series of interpretations of the person and work of the God-man.
Of one peculiarly distinctive feature we have still to speak. Where the
reader has special need of an interpreter to attest and interpret a
specially vital fact, such as the scenes of the night of the betrayal,
or the reality of Jesus' propitiatory death (denied by the Doketists),
or the beginning of the resurrection faith, Peter's testimony is
supplemented and transcended by that of a hitherto unknown figure, who
anticipates all that Peter only slowly attains. This is the mysterious,
unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" (xiii. 23 ff.; xviii. 15 f.;
xix. 25-37; xx. 1-10; _cf._ Gal. xx. 20), a Paul present in the spirit,
to see things with the eye of spiritual insight. There is no
transfiguration-scene and no prayer of Gethsemane in this
Gospel--Transfiguration is needless where the glory shines uninterrupted
through the whole career. Prayer itself is impossible where oneness with
the God-head makes difference of thought or purpose inconceivable. Hence
the prayers of Jesus are often only "for the sake of those that stand
by" (xi. 41 f.). The same is true of the Voice from heaven at the
scene which takes the place of Transfiguration and Gethsemane in one
(xii. 27-33). Jesus will not ask for deliverance from that hour, because
he had sought it from the beginning. His prayer is "Father, glorify thy
name." The Voice, which some take to be an angel speaking to him (_cf._
Luke ix. 35; xxii. 43) is for the sake of the bystanders. The Voice at
his baptism likewise is not addressed to him (the incarnate Logos does
not need a revelation of his own identity) but to the Baptist.
So again and again Synoptic scenes are retouched and new scenes are
added in a way to present a consistent picture of the "tabernacling" of
the pre-existent Son of God in human flesh. As we review the whole, and
ask ourselves, What is the occasion of this strange new presentation of
the evangelic message? we begin to realize how indispensable is the key
which the evangelist has himself hung before the door. Many and complex
are the problems which confront us as we move through this heaped-up
tangle of anecdote, dialogue, and allegory. There is room for the
keenest scrutiny of criticism to determine, if possible, when, and how,
and from what sources these meditations were put together. But nothing
that critical insight, analysis, and comparison can furnish avails so
much to throw real light upon the work as what the evangelist himself
has done, by setting forth in a prologue (i. 1-18) the fundamental
principles of his conception.
In a word evangelic tradition as it had hitherto found currency still
lacked the fundamental thing in the Christology of Paul--the Incarnation
doctrine. Paul conceived the story of Jesus as a supernal drama,
beginning and ending in heaven at God's right hand. Even Matthew and
Luke, carrying back the adoption to Son ship from the baptism to the
birth of Jesus, had not essentially changed the pre-Pauline point of
view. Still there was no pre-existence. Jesus was not yet shown as the
Wisdom of God, through whom all things were created, the "heavenly man,"
the second Adam, taking upon him the form of a servant, humbling himself
and becoming obedient unto death, rich, and for our sakes becoming poor.
He was still, even in Mark, just the prophet mighty in deed and word,
raised up by God from among his brethren, and for his obedience exalted
to the messianic throne of glory. How _could_ this satisfy churches
trained in the doctrine of Paul? We should almost rather marvel that the
Synoptic narratives ever found lodgment at all, where Paul had preached
from the beginning a doctrine of the eternal Christ.
And the transformation is not one whit more radical than we ought to
anticipate. The Transfiguration story had been a halting attempt to
embody Pauline doctrine in Petrine story. But apart from the obvious
hold afforded to mere Doketism, how inadequate to Paul's conception of
the "Man from heaven"! The Fourth evangelist depicts the person of Jesus
consistently and throughout, despite his meagre and refractory material,
along the lines of Pauline Christology. There is no concession to
Doketism, for in spite of all, and designedly (iv. 6; xix. 28, 34),
Jesus is still no phantasm, but true man among men. There is no
hesitation to override, where needful, on vital points the great and
growing authority of 'apostolic' tradition. Tacitly, but
uncompromisingly, Petrine tradition is set aside. The "disciple whom
Jesus loved" sees the matter otherwise. In particular, apocalyptic
eschatology is firmly repressed in favour of a doctrine of eternal life
in the Spirit. The second Coming is not to be a manifestation "to the
world." It will be an inward indwelling of God and Christ in the heart
of the believer (xiv. 22 f.).[30] The place of future reward is not a
glorified Palestine and transfigured, rebuilt Jerusalem. The disciple,
like Paul, will "depart to be with Christ." The Father's house is wider
than the Holy Land. It has "many mansions," and the servant must be
content to know that his Master will receive him where he dwells himself
(xiv. 1-3; xvii. 24).
Footnote 30: Some few passages inconsistent with this are found in
the body of the Gospel. Like that of the appendix (xxi. 22) they are
later modifications of a doctrine too Hellenic for the majority.
To realize what it meant to produce the 'spiritual' Gospel that comes to
us from Ephesus shortly after the close of the first century we must
place ourselves side by side with men who had learnt the gospel of Paul
_about_ Jesus, the drama of the eternal, pre-existent, "heavenly Man,"
incarnate, triumphant through the cross over the Prince of this world
and powers of darkness. We must realize how they found it needful to
impregnate the 'apostolic' material of Petrine and Matthaean tradition
with this deeper significance, preserving the concrete, historic fact,
and the real manhood, and yet supplementing the disproportionately
external story with a wealth of transcendental meaning. The spirit of
Paul was, indeed, not dead. Neither Gnostic heresy could dissipate it,
nor reactionary Christianized legalism absorb it. It had been reborn in
splendid authority and power. In due time it would prove itself the very
mould of 'catholic' doctrine. The Fourth gospel, as its Prologue
forewarns, is an application to the story of Jesus as tradition reported
it of the Pauline incarnation doctrine formulated under the Stoic Logos
theory. It represents a study in the psychology of religion applied to
the person of Christ. Poor as Paul himself in knowledge of the outward
Jesus, unfamiliar with really historical words and deeds, its doctrine
_about_ Jesus became, nevertheless, like that of the great Apostle to
the Gentiles, the truest exposition of 'the heart of Christ.'
CHAPTER X
EPILOGUES AND CONCLUSIONS
Few of the great writings cherished and transmitted by the early church
have escaped the natural tendency to attachments at beginning and end.
In the later period such attachments took the form of prefixed
_argumenta_, _i. e._ prefatory descriptions of author and contents, and
affixed _subscriptions_, devoted to a similar purpose. These, like the
titles, were clearly distinguished from the text itself, and in modern
editions are usually not printed, though examples of 'subscriptions' may
be seen in the King James version after the Pauline Epistles. Before the
time when canonization had made such a process seem sacrilege they were
attached to the text itself, with greater or less attempt to weld the
parts together. We need not add to what has been already said as to
certain superscriptions of the later epistolary literature, such as
James and Jude, where the relation to the text impresses us as closer
than is sometimes admitted; nor need we delay with the preamble to
Revelation (Rev. i. 1-3). That which has been added at the close, in
cases where real evidence exists of such later supplementation, is of
special significance to our study, inasmuch as it tends to throw light
where light is most required. For that is an obscure period, early in
the second century, when not only the churches themselves were drawing
together toward catholic unity under the double pressure of inward and
outward peril, but were bringing with them their treasured writings,
sometimes a collection of Epistles, sometimes a Gospel, or a book of
Prophecy, sometimes, as in the groups of writings attributed to John and
Peter, a full canon of Gospel, Epistles and Apocalypse, followed but
little later by 'Acts' as well.
The most ancient list of books authorized to be publicly read that we
possess is that of the church of Rome _c._ 185, called after its
discoverer the Canon of Muratori. From this fragment, mutilated at
beginning and end, we learn that Paul's letters to the churches were
arranged in a group of seven[31] of which Romans stood last. It is
probably due to its position at the end that Romans has been
supplemented by the addition of Pauline fragments, which did not appear
in some early editions of the text. The letter proper ends with ch. xv.
though xvi. 21-23 probably followed, perhaps concluding with ver. 24,
which some texts insert after ver. 19. Ver. 25-27 is another fragment
omitted in some texts.
Footnote 31: The personal letters formed a separate group. Two
letters to the same church (1st Cor., 2nd Cor.) were counted as one.
Marcion (140) counted ten in all, and had a different order.
We have seen above (p. 200) how Revelation has received conclusion after
conclusion, so that the relation of personalities has become almost
unintelligible. We have very meagre textual material for Revelation, and
can scarcely judge whether any of the process represented in Rev. xxii.
6-21 belongs to the period of transmission, after the publication of the
book in its present form. Until the discovery of new textual evidence
the phenomena in Revelation must be treated by principles of the higher
criticism, as pertaining to its history before publication. At all
events we know that the attribution to "John" (ver. 8 f.) was current
as early as Justin's _Apology_ (153).
The longer and shorter supplements to Mark belong again to the field of
textual criticism. The manuscripts and early translations carry us back
to a time when neither ending was known; though only to leave us
wondering how the necessity arose for composing them--a question of the
higher criticism. Mark xvi. 9-20 shows acquaintance with Luke, and
probably with John xx. It is noteworthy, however, in view of the
author's attempt to cover the resurrection appearances of these two
gospels, that he betrays no sign of acquaintance with John. xxi. In this
case of the Roman gospel, however, textual evidence enables us to trace
something of the history of supplementation. The so-called 'Shorter'
ending provides a close for the incomplete story, resembling Matthew,
while the 'Longer' is drawn from Luke and John. i.-xx. Subsequent
employments show that the 'Longer' ending had been attached (perhaps at
Rome) not later than _c._ 150. It is the first evidence we have of
combination of the Fourth gospel with the Synoptics; for even Justin,
though _affected_ by John, does not _use_ it as he uses Matthew, Mark
and Luke. Parity among the four is not traceable earlier than Tatian
(_c._ 175), the father of gospel 'harmonies.' The 'Shorter' ending, if
not the Longer as well, would seem to have been added in Egypt. The
supplements to Mark have this at least of singular interest, that they
show the progress of a process whose beginnings we traced back to
Palestine itself in the church of the 'apostles, elders and witnesses of
the Lord,' where "the Elder" in the tradition reported by Papias is
already offering explanations of the disagreements of Matthew and Mark
with a view to their concurrent circulation.
After the addition of Mark to Matthew it was comparatively easy to take
in Luke-Acts as a third, and to form composites out of the three such as
the _Gospel of Peter_ (North Syria _c._ 130) and the _Gospel of the
Nazarenes_ (Coele-Syria _c._ 140). Justin at Rome (_c._ 153) is still
such a three-gospel man, though affected by the Fourth; whereas his
predecessor Hermas (125-140) seems to rest on Mark alone, though perhaps
acquainted with Matthew. The step was a harder one which aimed to take
in the Fourth gospel. Tatian at Rome (_c._ 175) and Theophilus at
Antioch (181) are the agents of its accomplishment; and, as we have
seen, it was not effected without a determined opposition, led at Rome
by the presbyter Gaius, and answered by Irenaeus (_c._ 186) and
Hippolytus (_c._ 215). Such opposition from the side of advocates of
Petrine apostolicity is anticipated in the most significant and
important of all the epilogues, the so-called Appendix or Epilogue to
the Fourth gospel (John xxi.).
Just when, or where, this supplement was added is one of the most
difficult problems of the higher criticism. On the side of external
evidence we have the fact that it shows no effect in Mark xvi. 9-21,
where John xx. is employed, and that there is a great change about A.D.
170 in the treatment of this Gospel and its related Epistles, those who
use them before this time showing no disposition to treat them as having
high apostolic authority. On the side of internal evidence there are
such data as the use of the second-century name for the Sea of Galilee
("Sea of Tiberias," xxi. 1), and references to the martyrdom of Peter at
Rome (xxi. 18 f.) and to legends of John as the 'witness' who should
survive until the Coming (xxi. 23). Whether these data suggest an origin
at Ephesus, or at Rome, and at just what date, are problems for
technical research. That which is of chief interest for us is the motive
and function of this supplement to the Ephesian Gospel, and the light it
throws upon conditions in the church at large.
It is quite apparent that John xxi. forms a subsequent attachment after
the formal conclusion of the Gospel proper in xx. 30 f. For, apart
from differences in style and doctrinal standpoint, it makes a complete
new departure along the lines of Mark's story of Galilean resurrection
manifestations; whereas the Gospel follows the Lukan type, and brings
everything to a close without removal from Jerusalem. The message to the
disciples by the women at the sepulchre is here given by Jesus in person
as in Matt. xxviii. 10, and is actually delivered as in Luke xxiv. 10
f. It is followed by the promised manifestation to the disciples with
the overcoming of their incredulity, and by the great Commission,
accompanied by the Gift of the Spirit. The story has thus been brought
to a formal conclusion, the invariable and necessary conclusion of all
evangelic narratives. The author's recapitulation of the nature and
contents of his book and assurance in direct address to the reader of
his purpose in writing ("that _ye_ may believe") follows appropriately
as a winding up of the whole. It is not conceivable that the same
writer should resume immediately after this, at an earlier point in the
narrative, where the disciples are still scattered in Galilee,
unconscious of their vocation and commission. For in spite of the
endeavour of the supplementer in ver. 14 to make this out "the third[32]
time that Jesus was manifested" they have manifestly returned to their
original means of livelihood unawakened to the resurrection faith.
Moreover the story culminates with a restoration of Peter to favour,
with unmistakable reference to his humiliating failure to live up to the
promise (xiii. 36-38), "Lord, why cannot I follow thee even now? I will
lay down my life for thee" (_cf._ xxi. 15-19). If it had been the
evangelist's intention to tell this he would have told it before the
Commission in xx. 19-23. In short, we have here two widely variant forms
of the tradition of the rallying of the disciples from their unbelief by
the risen Christ and commissioning of them to their task. The two
commissions, one a general commission of all "the twelve," like Matt.
xviii. 18, the other a special commission of Peter like Matt. xvi. 19,
are attached one after the other, with the curious infelicity that the
restoration of Peter from his defection, together with his installation
as chief under-shepherd of the flock, comes _after_ the commission in
which he has already appeared with the rest, restored to full faith and
favour, and gifted with the inspiration and authority of the Spirit.
Footnote 32: A miscount for "fourth," unless we disregard xx. 11-18,
or else (with Wellhausen) consider xx. 24-29 an insertion later than
the Epilogue.
It is true that the function of "tending the flock of God" (_cf._ 1st
Pet. v. 2) committed to Peter in xxi. 15-19 is a more special one than
the apostolate conferred on all in xx. 21-23; but the Epilogue has
previously (xxi. 1-14) given to Peter a special and commanding part in
the apostolate (extension of the gospel to the world). No one will
question that in such a writer as the Fourth evangelist (and if anything
still more the writer of the Epilogue) narratives of miracle are
intended to have a symbolical sense. Nor will it be denied that the
miraculous draft of fishes, which in Luke v. 1-11 attends the original
vocation of "Simon,"[33] is here applied to the work the twelve are to
accomplish in the now opening future as "fishers of men." The
particularization of the number of the fishes, and the statement that
the peril of the rending of the net (_cf._ Luke v. 6) was happily
avoided, are, of course, also intended to convey a symbolical sense,
which Jerome makes still easier to grasp by informing us that 153 was
taken by naturalists of the time to be the full number of all species of
fish. John xxi. 1-14 is therefore a primitive story of the appearance
of Jesus after his resurrection "to Peter and them that were with him,"
in Galilee (not in Jerusalem as in John i.-xx. and Luke), having a
relation to Luke v. 1-11, and probably also to Matt. xiv. 28-33 (_cf._
John xxi. 7). It is also nearly akin to the fragment at the end of the
_Gospel of Peter_. It symbolizes the work of the apostolic mission under
the figure of the fishing of men (_cf._ Mark i. 17; Matt. xiii. 47-50),
and gives to Peter the leading part. In fact Peter not only comes to the
Lord in advance of all the rest, and alone maintains with him something
like the intimate relations of the past, but performs after his private
interview with Jesus the gigantic feat of bringing unaided to land the
entire miraculous catch. The great and various multitude, which all
working in common had enclosed in the net, but had not been able to lift
into the boat, Peter, at Jesus' word, brought safely home. The writer
who so employs the already conventionalized symbols of ecclesiastical
imagery, surely had no mean idea of the apostleship of Peter. In at
least as high degree as the author of Acts he conceives of Peter as
commissioned in a special sense to be the great director and leader of
all missionary activity, to Gentiles as well as Jews (Acts xv. 7), and
to have been the saviour of the unity of the church in the hour of its
threatened disruption. When in addition he is invested by Jesus with the
insignia and office of chief under-shepherd of the flock of God, the
stain of his threefold denial wiped out by a threefold opportunity to
prove his special love by special service, and the ignominy of his
previous failure to "follow" (xiii. 36-38) atoned for by the promise
that in old age he shall have opportunity to follow Jesus in martyrdom
(xxi. 18 f.), there remains nothing that the most exacting friend of
'catholic' apostolicity could demand in the way of tribute to its great
representative.
Footnote 33: The addition in ver. 10_a_ and the plural "they" in
ver. 11, are mere editorial adaptations of the story to Mark i.
16-20.
And yet the main object of the Epilogue has not yet been touched. It was
not written, we may be sure, merely to glorify Peter; though it is, of
course, insupposable that the Gospel in its primitive form simply left
Peter in the attitude of a renegade after xviii. 27, to reappear quite
as if nothing had happened in xx. 1 ff.[34] It pays its tribute to
Peter as chief witness to the resurrection, chief apostle, chief saviour
of the unity of the church, chief under-shepherd of the flock of God, in
the interest of that catholic apostolic unity which all churchmen were
so earnestly labouring to achieve in the writer's time, and for which
the name of Peter was increasingly significant. But the chief object of
the Epilogue is something else. It was written primarily to commend and
find room for another authority, the authority of the Gospel to which
it is appended, and which repeatedly sets over against Peter a
mysterious unnamed figure, who always sees when Peter is blind, believes
when Peter is unbelieving, is faithful when Peter and all the rest have
fled in cowardly desertion. The object of the Epilogue is to find room
alongside the growing and salutary authority of Peter for the authority
and message of "the disciple whom Jesus loved." Its purpose appears in
its conclusion, "This (the disciple whom Jesus loved) is the disciple
which beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things, and we
(the church which cherishes and gives forth this 'spiritual' Gospel)
know that his witness is true."
Footnote 34: We must conclude that _both_ these data from Synoptic
tradition, the denial (xiii. 36-38; xviii. 15-18, 25-27) _and_ the
restoration (ch. xxi.) are supplements to the original form of the
Gospel.
The writer does not explicitly say that he means the Apostle John
(reputed in Ephesus the author of Revelation); for such direct
identification might well endanger his own object. But he makes it clear
in two ways that John is really intended, as, indeed, subsequent writers
immediately infer.[35] (1) "The sons of Zebedee" are introduced for the
first time in the entire work in xxi. 2, among the group who are present
with Peter. An easy process of elimination,[36] then, leaves open to
identification as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (ver. 7) only John, or
else one of the two unnamed "other disciples," who could hardly be
reckoned among Jesus' closest intimates.
Footnote 35: The _Muratorianum_ bases its legendary account of the
writing of the Fourth gospel by "John" with the endorsement of "his
fellow-disciples and bishops" on John xxi. 24.
Footnote 36: The early death of James the son of Zebedee (Acts xii.
1) excludes him from consideration.
(2) The scene of the prediction of Peter's martyrdom (xxi. 18 f.) is
followed immediately (ver. 20-23) by a reference to traditions which we
know to have been current before the close of the first century
regarding the martyrdom of the two sons of Zebedee, in particular
regarding John. Peter in xxi. 21 raises the question as to the _fate_ of
"the disciple whom Jesus loved" (literally, "and as to this man,
what?"). The pregnant command of Jesus to Peter, "Follow me," is clearly
intended to have reference to martyrdom (_cf._ xiii. 36 f.), and it is
obeyed by "the disciple whom Jesus loved" as well as Peter. Peter's
inquiry and the Lord's reply had given rise "among the brethren" to the
belief that this disciple would "tarry" till the Coming. Now it is of
John, son of Zebedee, and only of him, that we have a curious
vacillation of ancient tradition between belief in his martyrdom in the
same sense as his brother James (Mark x. 39), and a belief (probably
based on Mark ix. 1) that he would tarry as an abiding witness until the
Coming ('white martyrdom'). The writer of the Epilogue has manifestly
these traditions about the fate of John in mind. He would have his
readers understand that the enigmatic prophecy of Jesus neither
promised the permanent survival of John, nor his violent death, but was
at least capable of an interpretation which set John alongside of Peter,
not as a rival of his leadership, or directive control, but simply as a
witness ('martyr') to the truth. Peter is willingly granted the office
of 'ruling elder' in the church, if only "the disciple whom Jesus loved"
may have the function of the prophet and teacher 'in the Spirit,' the
man of faith and insight, whose function it is to interpret 'the mind of
Christ.'
Few things could be more significant of the conditions of Christian life
and thought in the earlier years of the second century than this
Epilogue, appended to the 'spiritual' Gospel to commend it to general
acceptance in the church. It is not vitally important whether the
cautiously suggested identification of the Beloved Disciple with John,
the son of Zebedee, be correct or not. It is important to a historical
appreciation of the great literary contribution of the churches of Paul
to the 'catholic' Christianity of the second century, that we realize
what Petrine catholicity had then come to mean, and how the Pauline
spiritual gospel came half-way to meet it. On this point a study of the
epilogues is rewarding, but especially of the great Epilogue to the
Gospel of John.
We have reached the period for our own concluding words. The process of
combination and canonization of the New Testament writings, which
followed upon the consolidation of the churches in the second century
falls outside our province. We have sought only to give some insight
into the origins, considering the Making of the New Testament to apply
rather to the creations of the formative period, when conscious
inspiration was still in its full glow, than to the period of collection
into an official canon. As we look back over the two leading types of
Christian thought, Pauline and 'Apostolic,' the Greek-Christian gospel
_about_ Jesus, and the Jewish-Christian gospel _of_ Jesus, the gospel of
the Spirit and the gospel of authority, we cannot fail to realize how
deep and broad and ancient are the two great currents of religious
thought and life that here are mingling, contending, coming to new
expression and clearer definition. Each has its various subdivisions and
modifications, Pauline Christianity in the Greek world has its problems
of resistance to Hellenistic perversion on the one side, to reaction
toward Jewish external authority on the other. Apostolic Christianity
whether in its more conservative form at Jerusalem, or in broader
assimilation to Pauline doctrine at Antioch and Rome, has also its
divergent streams, its more primitive and its more developed stages. The
literature, as we slowly come to appreciate it against the background of
the times, more and more reveals itself as an index to the life. Not to
the mere idiosyncrasies of individuals, but to the great Gulf-stream of
the human instinct for social Righteousness and for individual
Redemption, as it sweeps onward in its mighty tide.
The literature of the New Testament must be understood historically if
understood at all. It must be understood as the product, we might almost
say the precipitate, of the greatest period in the history of religion.
It represents the meeting and mutual adjustment of two fundamental and
complementary conceptions of religion. The antithesis is not merely that
between the particularism of the Jew and the universalism of the
Gentile. It is an antithesis of the social ideal of Law and Prophets
against the individual ideal of personal redemption through union with
the divine Spirit, which lay at the heart of all vital Hellenistic
religious thought in this period of the Empire. Christianity as we know
it, the religion of humanity as it has come to be, the ultimate
world-religion as we believe it destined to become, is a resultant of
these two factors, Semitic and Aryan, the social and the individual
ideal. Its canonized literature represents the combination. On the one
side the social ideal is predominant. It perpetuates the gospel _of_
Jesus in the form of Matthaean and Petrine tradition, supplemented by
apocalypse, which tradition attaches conjecturally to the name of John.
The goal it seeks is the Kingdom of God, righteousness and peace on
earth as in heaven. On the other side the individual ideal predominates.
It perpetuates the gospel _about_ Jesus in the form of the Pauline and
Johannine doctrine of his person, regarded as the norm and type of
spiritual life. The goal it seeks is personal immortality by moral
fellowship with God. Its faith is Son ship, by participation in the
divine nature, without limitation in time, without loss of individual
identity. Both types of gospel are justified in claiming to emanate from
Jesus of Nazareth; but neither without the other can claim to fully
represent the significance of his spirit and life.
The unity of the New Testament is a unity in diversity. Just because it
presents so widely divergent conceptions of what the gospel is, it gives
promise of perennial fecundity. Studied not after the manner of the
scribes, who think that in their book of precept and prophecy they have
a passport to rewards in a magical world to come, but studied as a
"manifestation of the life, even the eternal life" of the Spirit of God
in man, it will continue to reproduce the spirit and mind of Christ.
Studied as a reflection at various times and in divers manners of that
redemptive Wisdom of God, which "in every generation entering into holy
souls makes men to be prophets and friends of God" (Sap. vii. 27), and
which the Greeks, considering it, unfortunately, in its intellectual
rather than its moral aspect, call the Logos of God, it will prove, as
in so many generations past it has proved, an "incorruptible seed," a
"word of good tidings preached unto" the world, a "word of the Lord that
abideth for ever."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. General Introductions to N.T. Literature.
MOFFATT, JAS. _"Internat. Theol. Library" Series._ Scribner's, 1911.
Standard, comprehensive, progressive. Best compendium of the subject
in English. A book for experts. 671 pp., 8vo.
JUeLICHER, A. Engl. transl, by D. A. Ward, from 4th German ed.
London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1903. The most serviceable of modern
German Introductions, based on the standard work of the "liberal"
school, by H. J. Holtzmann. 650 pp., large 8vo.
ZAHN, THEO. Engl. transl. from 3rd German ed., by M. W. Jacobus.
Scribner's, 1909. Standard "conservative" work. Immense scholarship
in the harness of apologetics. Total, 1750 pp., in 3 vols., large
8vo.
BACON, B. W. _"New Test. Handbook" Series._ Macmillan 1900. Similar
to Moffatt's in standpoint, but without the survey of the
literature. For readers less technically advanced. 300 pp., small
8vo.
PEAKE, A. S. N.Y., Scribner's, 1910. 250 pp., 12mo. An excellent
primer of the subject, generally conservative.
2. Critical Treatments of Pauline Literature.
SHAW, R. D. _The Pauline Epistles, Introductory and Expository
Studies_, 2nd ed. T. & T. Clarke, 1904. 518 pp., large 8vo. Sober
and cautious. For general readers.
RAMSAY, W. M. _Pauline and other Studies in Early Christian
History._ Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. 425 pp., large 8vo. _The Cities
of St. Paul_ (1907, 468 pp.) is by the same author, an eminent
geographer and archaeologist ardently enlisted against German
criticism. Interesting but diffuse.
PFLEIDERER, O. _Paulinism._ Engl. transl. by E. Peters. 2nd ed.
1891. Williams & Norgate. 2 vols. 8vo. Total, 580 pp., 8vo. Still a
standard exposition of Paul's system of thought. A book for experts.
BAUR, F. C. _Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ, his Life and Work,
Epistles and Doctrine._ Engl. transl. of Zeller's (2nd), German ed.,
by A. Menzies. Williams & Norgate, 1876. Two vols. 8vo (375 + 350
pp.). An epoch-making book, the starting-point of modern criticism.
SCHWEITZER, A. This able, though one-sided, critic has issued
already (1912) the conclusion to his study of modern Lives of Christ
(see below, _The Quest of the Historical Jesus_) under the title
_Geschichte der Paulinischen Forschung_. It may be expected that
this comprehensive survey and searching criticism of the literature
of Pauline study will soon be made accessible to the English reader.
WREDE, W. _Paul._ Engl. transl. by E. Lummis. P. Green, London,
1907. 190 pp., 12mo. A brief, brilliant, popular sketch, radical,
suggestive. Needs the balance of more cautious criticism.
WEISS, J. _Paul and Jesus._ Engl. transl. by H. J. Chaytor. London
and New York, Harper & Bros., 1909. 130 pp., 12mo. An effective
answer to Wrede's view of Paul as the real creator of Christianity,
by a progressive and able critic.
Lives of Paul by Cone, Clemen (German) and others are abundant in
recent years. See the _Encyclopaedias_ and _Dictionaries of the
Bible_, s.v. "Paul."
3. Critical Treatments of the Synoptic Gospels and Acts.
STANTON, V. H. _The Gospels as Historical Documents_, Parts I and
II. Cambridge University Press, 1903-1909. 297 + 400 pp., 8vo. A
standard survey of Gospel criticism from a conservative standpoint,
the work of a scholar for scholars.
CONE, O. _Gospel Criticism and Historical Christianity._ Putnam's,
N.Y., 1891. 375 pp., small 8vo. Liberal, semi-popular.
BURKITT, F. C. _The Earliest Sources for the Life of Jesus._
Houghton & Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1910. 130 pp., 12mo. Simple
and popular. Burkitt is a leading progressive scholar.
4. The Johannine Writings.
DRUMMOND, JAS. _Character and Authorship of the Fourth Gospel._
Scribner's, N.Y., 1904. 544 pp., 8vo. The ablest recent defence of
the traditional authorship. Scholarly discussion of the literary
history.
BACON, B. W. _The Fourth Gospel in Research and Debate._ Moffat,
Yard & Co., N.Y., 1910. 556 pp., 8vo. A similar discussion of the
evidences reaching the reverse conclusion.
SCOTT, E. F. _The Fourth Gospel, its Purpose and Theology._ T. & T.
Clarke, Edinburgh, 1906. 386 pp., 8vo. Admirable in temper, lucid in
style, semi-popular.
SCHMIEDEL, P. W. _The Johannine Writings._ Engl. transl., by M. A.
Canney. London, A. & C. Black, 1903. 295 pp., 12mo. Brief, popular,
radical, by one of the ablest of N.T. critics.
General.
REUSS, E. _History of the N.T._ Engl. transl. from 5th German ed.,
by E. L. Houghton. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. 649 pp. 2
vols. large 8vo. A standard treasury of scholarly information.
WERNLE, P. _The Beginnings of Christianity._ Engl. transl., by G. A.
Bienemann. London, Williams & Norgate, 1904. 388 + 404 pp., 8vo. 2
vols. Able, scholarly, advanced.
PFLEIDERER, O. _Christian Origins._ Engl. transl., by D. Huebsch.
New York, B. W. Huebsch, 1906. 295 pp., 12mo. Popular lectures
showing something of the views of the modern school of critics known
as _religionsgeschichtlich_. Pfleiderer's critical opinions are
fully expressed in his _Primitive Christianity_ (Engl. transl., by
W. Montgomery, in four vols., 8vo. Putnams, 1909).
MUZZEY, D. S. _The Rise of the N.T._ New York, Macmillan, 1900. 156
pp., 12mo. An excellent primer for beginners.
WREDE, W. _The Origin of the N.T._ Engl. transl. by J. S. Hill.
Harper & Bros., London & New York, 1909. 151 pp., 12mo. An admirable
primer by a brilliant leader of advanced criticism.
VON SODEN. _The History of Early Christian Literature. Writings of
the N.T._ Engl. transl., by J. R. Wilkinson. Williams & Norgate,
1906. 476 pp., 12mo. A book for beginners by a great N.T. scholar of
liberal views. A closely connected field is covered by various
_Histories of the Apostolic Age_, of which the most recent and
important are those of Weizsaecker (Engl. transl., 1895) and
McGiffert (1897). Less technical and more orthodox are those of
Vernon-Bartlett (1899) and J. H. Ropes (1906). _Critical Lives of
Christ_ present the results of critical study of the Gospels. A
survey of this field of research, keenly analytical and severely
critical, is given by A. Schweitzer in _The Quest of the Historical
Jesus_ (Engl. transl. by W. Montgomery. A. & C. Black, 1910. 416
pp., 8vo). Schweitzer writes with great scholarship and power, but
decided polemic interest as a "consistent eschatologist."
INDEX
Abomination, 161, 218
Acts, 57 ff., 64 ff., 174 ff.
Agabus, 185, 202
Allegory (in John), 224
Angelology and demonology, 95
Antichrist, 217 f.
Anti-legalism (of Mark), 166
Antinomian heresy, 149, 214
Antioch, 71, 175 ff., 183 f.
Apocalypses, 29, 51, 87, 188, 197
Apostolic Christianity, 42, 126, 129, 246
Apostolic Commission, 238 f.
Apostolic Council, 60, 63, 67
Apotheosis doctrine, 49
Appendix to John, 107, 147, 211, 236 ff.
Asia, Churches of, 197 ff.
Athanasius, 29 f.
Babylon (= Rome), 115, 196
Baptist (in John), 225
Bar Cocheba, 204
_Baruch, Apocalypse of_ 188
Baur, F. C., 37 ff.
Beloved disciple, the, 227, 243 ff.
Caesarea, 85
Calvin, 37
Canonization of the Law, 12
Cerinthus, 219
Chiliasts, 187
Christological Epistles, 97
Christ-party, 45
Clement of Rome, 19 f., 79, 115, 119
Clement of Alexandria, 25
_Clementine Homilies and Recognitions_, 148
Colossians, 98
Corinthian Epistles, 76 ff.
Decrees of Jerusalem, 60
Diary of Acts, 183
Dionysius of Alexandria, 191
Disputed books, 30
Doketism, 21, 110, 126, 153, 163, 184, 186, 214, 217, 219
Elder (of 2nd and 3rd John), 215
Elements, 76, 99
Ephesians, 98
Ephesus, 76, 97, 111 f., 191, 201, 211
Epiphanius, 131
Epistles (Major), 43
Epistles of the Captivity, 42, 85, 100
Eschatological discourse, 161
Esdras (Apocalypse of), 188
External evidence, 38
False brethren, 41
Feasts (in John), 226
Fornication, 60, 77
Gaius (3rd John), 215 f.
Gaius of Rome, 31, 237
Galatians, 56, 74
Gentile liberty, 61 ff.
Gnosticism, 40, 108, 207 f.
_Gospel according to the Hebrews_, 135, 145
_Gospel of the Nazarenes_, 132, 145 ff., 236
Harnack, 98
Hebrews, 107, 116 ff.
Hebrews, Apostolic authority in, 18
Hebrews, Canonical standing of, 31
Hegesippus, 105 f., 111
Hellenistic religion, 247
Hermas, 21, 28, 119 f., 237
Ignatius, 20 f., 23, 111, 124, 126, 208
Incarnation Doctrine, 49, 154, 229, 231
Infancy of Jesus (in Matthew and Luke), 152
Internal evidence, 38
Irenaeus, 81, 133, 219
James, 104 ff., 107, 112 f., 130
Jerusalem Conference, 67, 71
Jerusalem succession, 105 f., 119
John, the Apostle, a martyr, 104, 194, 243
John, Gospel of, 25, 31, 43, 54, 206 ff.
John, Revelation of, 30, 43, 63, 107, 131, 187, 189 ff., 235
John, Epistles of, 43, 111, 126, 211 ff.
John, _Acts of_, 219 f.
John, the Elder, 26, 131, 133, 236
Josephus (used by Luke), 174
Judaism _v._ Hellenism, 52 f.
Judaizers, 68
Jude, 19, 80, 107, 130
Justin Martyr, 187, 190, 235 f.
Kindred of the Lord, 164 f.
Laodiceans, 98
Law _v._ grace, 8, 14, 66, 74, 81, 123
_Logia_, 136, 141
Logos-doctrine, 55, 221, 232
Lordship (of Christ), 96
Luke, 27, 139, 173 f.
Luke, his omissions from Mark, 178 f.
Luke, his purpose in writing, 180 f.
Luther, 37
Magic, 93 ff.
Marcion, 22 ff., 40
Mark, 129, 134, 159 ff.
Mark, Duplication in, 172
Mark, Endings of, 168 ff., 235 f.
Matthew, 131 ff., 187
Melito of Sardis, 19, 190
Michaelis, 35
Missionary Journey, First, 58 f.
Missionary Journey, Second, 72
Moffatt, Jas., 151
Montanus, 28 f.
Muratorian Fragment, 30, 234
Nepos, the Chiliast, 191
Offering for the poor, 69
Palestine, Origin of Revelations, 195 ff.
Papias, 26, 105 f., 130 f., 186 f., 190, 208
Parables (in Matthew), 149 f.
Passover, 101, 173
Pastoral Epistles, 19, 31, 83, 108, 111, 123
Patmos, 191, 200 f.
Paul, Original Apostle of Asia, 205
Paul, his religious experience, 16
Paul, martyrdom, 105
Pauline _v._ Petrine gospel, 49
Paulinism of Mark, 162
Persecution, 13, 122
Peter (the Apostle), 24, 26, 106, 133, 146
Peter, _Apocalypse of_, 29 f.
Peter, Commission of, 240 f.
Peter, Epistles of, 41, 108 f., 112 ff.
Peter, _Gospel of_, 171, 221, 236
Peter, _Preaching of_, 139
Pharisaic Judaism, 121
Philemon, 88
Philip, Daughters of, 185 f.
Philippians, 89 ff.
Phrygian heresy, 28
_Pirke Aboth_, 141
Polycarp, 26, 110, 130, 186, 218
Porphyry, 106
Post-Reformation dogma, 33 f.
Precepts (of Jesus), 137
Prologue (of John), 231
Prophecy, 188 f., 209
Q-material, 141 ff.
Reconciliation with God, 103
Redeemer-gods, 50
Redemption doctrines, 86, 93
Reformation, 37
Repentance (the Great), 156 f.
Resurrection-doctrine, 73, 78, 125, 155, 158, 204, 210
Revelation (_See_ John, Revelation of)
Romans, 75, 80 ff.
Rome, 120, 129
Satan, Dominion of, 157
Scripture, Use in Paul, 17
Scripture, Use in John, 25
Second Coming, 230
Sermon on Mount, 9
Signs in Fourth gospel, 223
Simon, Richard, 35
Spirit, Doctrine of the, 17, 67, 101 156, 220
Subscriptions, 233
Superstitious Judaism, 93 f.
Symeon, son of Clopas, 105
Synoptic writings, 44, 107
Synoptic writings in John, 228
Syria and Cilicia, 61, 129
_Teaching of the Twelve_, 28, 63, 185
Tertullian, 19, 29
Thessalonian Epistles, 73
Timothy (_See_ Pastoral Epistles), 78
Titus (_See_ Pastoral Epistles)
Transfiguration, 165, 167, 228, 230
Tuebingen School, 43 ff.
Unity of the Church, 70, 103, 120
Unity of the N.T., 248
Way (= sect), 8
Weak (party of the), 45
Wisdom of God, 99, 209, 229
Wisdom of Solomon (Sap.), 51
Words of Jesus, 19, 129 f., 144 f.
Zahn, 115
_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._