In answer to Wilke there appeared a work signed Philosophotos Aletheias, Die Evangelien, ihr Geist, ihre Verfasser, und ihr Verhältnis zu einander. (The Gospels, their Spirit, their Authors, and their relation to one another.) Leipzig, 1845, 440 pp. The author sees in Paul the evil genius of early Christianity, and thinks that the work of scientific criticism must be directed to detecting and weeding out the Pauline elements in the Gospels. Luke is in his opinion a party-writing, biased by Paulinism; in fact Paul had a share in its preparation, and this is what Paul alludes to when he speaks in Romans ii. 16, xi. 28, and xvi. 25 of “his” Gospel. His hand is especially recognisable in chapters i.-iii., vii., ix., xi., xviii., xx., xxi., and xxiv. Mark consists of extracts from Matthew and Luke; John presupposes the other three. The Tübingen standpoint was set forth by Baur in his work, Kritische Untersuchungen über die kanonischen Evangelien. (A Critical Examination of the Canonical Gospels.) Tübingen, 1847, 622 pp. According to him Mark is based on Matthew and Luke. At the same time, however, the irreconcilability of the Fourth Gospel with the Synoptists is for the first time fully worked out, and the refutation of its historical character is carried into detail.
The order Matthew, Mark, Luke is defended by Adolf Hilgenfeld in his work Die Evangelien. Leipzig, 1854, 355 pp.
Karl Reinhold Köstlin's work, Der Ursprung und die Komposition der synoptischen Evangelien (Origin and Composition of the Synoptic Gospels), is rendered nugatory by obscurities and compromises. Stuttgart, 1853, 400 pp. The priority of Mark is defended by Edward Reuss, Die Geschichte der heiligen Schriften des Neuen Testaments (History of the Sacred Writings of the New Testament), 1842; H. Ewald, Die drei ersten Evangelien, 1850; A. Ritschl, Die Entstehung der altkatholischen Kirche (Origin of the ancient Catholic Church), 1850; A. Réville, Études critiques sur l'Évangile selon St. Matthieu, 1862. In 1863 the foundations of the Marcan hypothesis were relaid, more firmly than before, by Holtzmann's work, Die synoptischen Evangelien. Leipzig, 1863, 514 pp.
We subjoin the titles of the divisions of this work, which are of some interest:
Vol. i. Book i. The Sources of the Gospel History.
Vol. i. Book ii. The Legends of the Childhood.
Vol. i. Book iii. General Sketch of the Gospel History.
Vol. i. Book iv. The Incidents and Discourses according to Mark.
Vol. ii. Book v. The Incidents and Discourses according to Matthew and Luke.
Vol. ii. Book vi. The Incidents and Discourses according to John.
Vol. ii. Book vii. The Resurrection and the Ascension.
Vol. ii. Book viii. Concluding Philosophical Exposition of the Significance of the Person of Christ and of the Gospel Tradition.
One of the most ingenious of the followers of Venturini was the French Jew Salvator. In his Jésus-Christ et sa doctrine (Paris, 2 vols., 1838), he seeks to prove that Jesus was the last representative of a mysticism which, drawing its nutriment from the other Oriental religions, was to be traced among the Jews from the time of Solomon onwards. In Jesus this mysticism allied itself with Messianic enthusiasm. After He had lost consciousness upon the cross He was succoured by Joseph of Arimathea and Pilate's wife, contrary to His own expectation and purpose. He ended His days among the Essenes.
Salvator looks to a spiritualised mystical Mosaism as destined to be the successful rival of Christianity.
Charles Émile Freppel (Abbé), Professeur d'éloquence sacrée à la Sorbonne. Examen critique de la vie de Jésus de M. Renan. Paris, 1864. 148 pp.
Henri Lasserre's pamphlet, L'Évangile selon Renan (The Gospel according to Renan), reached its four-and-twentieth edition in the course of the same year.
Lasserre, Das Evangelium nach Renan. Munich, 1864.