The Life of Jesus | Page 7

be raised as to the authenticity of this passage. Eusebius, in fact, far
from exaggerating the authority of Papias, is embarrassed at his simple
ingenuousness, at his gross millenarianism, and solves the difficulty by
treating him as a man of little mind. Comp. Irenæus, _Adv. Hær._, iii.
1.]
[Footnote 2: That is to say, in the Semitic dialect.]
It matters little for our present object to push this delicate analysis
further, and to endeavor to reconstruct in some manner, on the one
hand, the original Logia of Matthew, and, on the other, the primitive
narrative such as it left the pen of Mark. The Logia are doubtless
represented by the great discourses of Jesus which fill a considerable

part of the first Gospel. These discourses form, in fact, when detached
from the rest, a sufficiently complete whole. As to the narratives of the
first and second Gospels, they seem to have for basis a common
document, of which the text reappears sometimes in the one and
sometimes in the other, and of which the second Gospel, such as we
read it to-day, is but a slightly modified reproduction. In other words,
the scheme of the Life of Jesus, in the synoptics, rests upon two original
documents--first, the discourses of Jesus collected by Matthew; second,
the collection of anecdotes and personal reminiscences which Mark
wrote from the recollections of Peter. We may say that we have these
two documents still, mixed with accounts from another source, in the
two first Gospels, which bear, not without reason, the name of the
"Gospel according to Matthew" and of the "Gospel according to
Mark."
What is indubitable, in any case, is, that very early the discourses of
Jesus were written in the Aramean language, and very early also his
remarkable actions were recorded. These were not texts defined and
fixed dogmatically. Besides the Gospels which have come to us, there
were a number of others professing to represent the tradition of
eye-witnesses.[1] Little importance was attached to these writings, and
the preservers, such as Papias, greatly preferred oral tradition.[2] As
men still believed that the world was nearly at an end, they cared little
to compose books for the future; it was sufficient merely to preserve in
their hearts a lively image of him whom they hoped soon to see again
in the clouds. Hence the little authority which the Gospel texts enjoyed
during one hundred and fifty years. There was no scruple in inserting
additions, in variously combining them, and in completing some by
others. The poor man who has but one book wishes that it may contain
all that is clear to his heart. These little books were lent, each one
transcribed in the margin of his copy the words, and the parables he
found elsewhere, which touched him.[3] The most beautiful thing in the
world has thus proceeded from an obscure and purely popular
elaboration. No compilation was of absolute value. Justin, who often
appeals to that which he calls "The Memoirs of the Apostles,"[4] had
under his notice Gospel documents in a state very different from that in
which we possess them. At all events, he never cares to quote them

textually. The Gospel quotations in the pseudo-Clementinian writings,
of Ebionite origin, present the same character. The spirit was
everything; the letter was nothing. It was when tradition became
weakened, in the second half of the second century, that the texts
bearing the names of the apostles took a decisive authority and
obtained the force of law.
[Footnote 1: Luke i. 1, 2; Origen, _Hom. in Luc._ 1 init.; St. Jerome,
_Comment. in Matt._, prol.]
[Footnote 2: Papias, in Eusebius, _H.E._, iii. 39. Comp. Irenæus, _Adv.
Hær._, III. ii. and iii.]
[Footnote 3: It is thus that the beautiful narrative in John viii. 1-11 has
always floated, without finding a fixed place in the framework of the
received Gospels.]
[Footnote 4: [Greek: Ta apomnêmoneumata tôn apostolôn, a kaleitai
euangelia]. Justin, _Apol._ i. 33, 66, 67; _Dial. cum Tryph._, 10,
100-107.]
Who does not see the value of documents thus composed of the tender
remembrances, and simple narratives, of the first two Christian
generations, still full of the strong impression which the illustrious
Founder had produced, and which seemed long to survive him? Let us
add, that the Gospels in question seem to proceed from that branch of
the Christian family which stood nearest to Jesus. The last work of
compilation, at least of the text which bears the name of Matthew,
appears to have been done in one of the countries situated at the
northeast of Palestine, such as Gaulonitis, Auranitis, Batanea, where
many Christians took refuge at the time of the Roman war, where were
found relatives of Jesus[1] even in the second century, and where the
first Galilean tendency was