Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 9. Matt. xxiv. And ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 15. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand :) 16. Then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains: 17. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house. 18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in winter, neither on the sabbath day : 21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Mark xiii. 13. And ye shall be hated. of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains: 15. And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house. 16. And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. 17. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 18. And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter. 19. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. 22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25. Behold, I have told you before. 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers' of the heavens shall be shaken : 30. . . . And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt. xxiv. 32. Now learn a 20. And except that the Lord had shortened those days no flesh should be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. 21. And then, if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or lo, he is there; believe him not: 22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. 23. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. 24. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. 25. And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds, with great power and glory. 27. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. parable of the fig tree; When his parable of the fig the fig tree, and all tree; When her the trees; branch is yet ten- branch is yet ten- 30. When they der, and putteth der, and putteth forth his leaves, ye forth leaves, ye know that summer know that summer is nigh. 33. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Mark i. is near: now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled, 33. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Luke iv. to 21. And they went into 31. And came down Capernaum; and straightway Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath day. on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. 22. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. 23. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 32. And they were astonished at his doctrine for his word was with power. 33. And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, 24. Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 25. And Jesus rebuked him saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. 34. Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. 27. And they were all 36. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they amazed, and spake among questioned among themselves, themselves, saying, What a saying, What is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 28. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37. And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about. "The comparison," says Giles, who collates these passages, "would be far more striking, if the extracts were given in the original Greek." Bishop Herbert Marsh has given the subject a thorough examination, the results of which fill a volume. He says, "we meet with several examples in which all three Gospels verbally coincide: but these examples are not very numerous. The examples of verbal agreement between St Matthew and St Mark are very numerous, and several of them are very long and remarkable. On the other hand," there is not "a single instance of verbal agreement between St Matthew and St Mark," where the order of arrangement differs. In no instance does St Mark fail to agree verbally with St Matthew, where St Luke agrees verbally with St Matthew. There are 1 Christian Records, 266. frequent instances of verbal agreement between St Mark and St Luke: though they are neither so numerous nor so long, as those between St Matthew and St Mark. Upon the whole, the examples of verbal disagreement between St Mark and St Luke are much more numerous than the examples of agreement. In several sections St Mark's text agrees in one place with that of St Matthew, in another with that of St Luke. St Matthew and St Luke invariably relate the same thing in different words, except in the passages where both agree at the same time with St Mark." "These phenomena," he observes, "are inexplicable," on any other supposition than that these evangelists "copied the one from the other; or that all three drew from a common source. The notion of an absolute independence in respect to the composition of our three first Gospels, is no longer tenable." support of P. What can have been the object in having the same Relative narratives told in the same language by different persons? Gospels. Why, if God designed to communicate an inspired history to mankind, might not the task have been committed to one selected person, according to the method of the Old Testament, as, say Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, and the several prophets? S. This is not apparent. Ordinarily, a combination of evidence is a support to a history. P. Then that would be to rely on a human resource, and not on divine authority, would it not? S. It would. P.-Do these evangelists cite one another by name so as to sustain each other? S.-They do not. P.-Do they agree with each other throughout their facts and details? S. They do not. Matthew and Mark are generally in pretty close correspondence. Luke's narrative resembles their's in its framework and character, but he often differs in his details. John's is altogether an independent statement, which cannot be brought into comparison, or accord, with the earlier gospels. P. In what respect does John's gospel stand out so dis- Gospel tinctly from the others? 1 Dissertation on Three First Gospels, 150, 151. 2 Idem, 2, 4. according to John. |