XI
We have now discussed practically all the test instances advanced by Mr. Rendel Harris, and the result at which we arrive is, that he has not succeeded in proving that the Gospel of Peter betrays such traces of a “highly evolved prophetic gnosis” as require us to assign to it a later date than the canonical Gospels. If this system of elaborate and perverted ingenuity were applied to these Gospels, as it has been to the fragment, and every kind of false exegesis, childish reasoning, and wild interpretation, such as was current amongst the Fathers, brought forward to explain the construction of the four canonical works, the consequence would be terribly surprising to pious readers. That this exegesis began early is quite undeniable, and it is not too much to say that it is palpably visible on the very surface of most of the books of the New Testament. It had, as Mr. Harris must admit and does admit, practical effect on the composition of the Gospels as they have come down to us, but it is fully displayed in some of the Epistles of Paul, still more in those passing under his name, is supreme in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and as for the Acts, the Apostles are, from the very opening, made to express the highly evolved prophetic gnosis of the author. We do not, of course, argue that the writer of the fragment is free from it, but merely that he shares it equally with the other Evangelists, however much their canonicity, [pg 128] derived from the very Fathers who are steeped in this gnosis, may protect them from Mr. Harris's dangerous attack. Without going into an explanation of the genesis of various important points in the story, which would require a volume, we may just glance at some of the points at which the Evangelists frankly declare the source of the gnosis, and allow the process to be seen.
Let us take for instance the first Synoptic. The events previous to the birth of Jesus (i. 18 if.) take place “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel,” and it is only an illustration of the naïveté of the period that two verses further on they call the son, not Immanuel, but Jesus. The chief priests and scribes inform Herod (ii. 5 f.) that the Christ should be born in Bethlehem of Judaea, because it was written by the prophet: “And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Which shall be shepherd of my people Israel.” Joseph takes the young child and his mother into Egypt (ii. 15 f.), “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son.” Herod slays all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the borders thereof (ii. 16 f.) and “then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children,” &c. On returning from Egypt they settle in Galilee, in a city called Nazareth (ii. 23), “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene.” John the Baptist comes preaching “in the wilderness” (iii. 1 f.), “for this is he that was spoken of by Isaiah [pg 129] the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness,” &c. The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is based upon three texts: (iv. 1 ff.) “Man shall not live by bread alone,” &c.; “He shall give his angels charge concerning thee,” &c., and “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,” &c. When John is delivered up (iv. 12 ff.) Jesus leaves Nazareth and dwells “in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did light spring up.” In the episode of John in prison sending his disciples to Jesus (xi. 2 ff.), the whole reply is based indirectly on prophetic gnosis, and the v. 10 directly: “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee,” and v. 14, “And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, which is to come.” When the Pharisees take counsel to destroy him (xii. 14 f.), and Jesus withdraws, healing the sick and enjoining them that they should not make him known, it is “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant,” &c. There is an exhibition of “highly evolved prophetic gnosis” (xii. 39 ff.) when a sign is asked for, and the sign of Jonah the prophet is given, “for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth,” a gnosis which helped to shape the representation of the entombment. The speaking in parables is justified, not originated (xiii. 14 f.), as a fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah, “By hearing ye shall hear, and [pg 130] shall in no wise understand,” &c, and (v. 35) “I will open my mouth in parables,” &c. Of course, as Mr. Harris says, “no sane person would take St. Matthew's quotation as the cause of the Sermon on the Mount, or the parabolic discourse;”[138] but, as he admits, the prophetic passages were in the author's mind, and are amongst “the first faint shadows cast by the prophecy [?] upon the history,” and they certainly led to the representation that those who heard the parabolic teaching, and notably the disciples, did not understand the most luminous discourses, and required a private explanation of the clearest allegories. The entry into Jerusalem (xxi. 2 f.) is arranged “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass;” and the writer, not appreciating the duplication of Hebrew poetry, is literal enough to relate (v. 2) that Jesus tells the disciples they shall find “an ass tied, and a colt with her,” which they are to bring, and (v. 7) “they brought the ass and the colt, and put on them their garments; and he sat upon them” (ἐπάνω αὐτῶν): a representation which has ever since given much trouble to pious commentators. It is not difficult to see that the “cleansing of the temple” (xxi. 12 f.) takes place because “it is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye make it a den of robbers.” The trials when “the abomination of desolation (xxiv. 16 f.), which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet,” is seen “standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand),” is an example of the prophetic gnosis. The preparation for the passion commences (xxvi. 2), “Ye know that after two days the passover cometh, and the Son of man is delivered [pg 131] up to be crucified.” Jesus is represented (v. 31) as saying to the disciples: “All ye shall be offended in me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad;” and the curious phrase which follows is worth consideration: “But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee,” which seems to have slipped in here out of its place. The events which take place at the arrest, and their coming out with swords and staves as against a robber to take him (xxvi. 66), “All this is come to pass that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled;” and Jesus could not pray for legions of angels to help him, for (v. 66), “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled?” The conduct of Judas after he had betrayed his master, when he took back the pieces of silver, the price of his betrayal, to the priests (xxvii. 3 f.), fulfils “that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price; and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.”