following quotation from an unnamed Gospel in the work of one of the Fathers? "No servant [——]—] can serve two lords, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Of course the passage would be claimed as a quotation from memory of Matt. vi. 24, with which it perfectly corresponds with the exception of the addition of the second word [——]—], which, it would no doubt be argued, is an evident and very natural amplification of the simple [——]—] of the first Gospel. Yet this passage, only differing by the single word from Matthew, is a literal quotation from the Gospel according to Luke xvi. 13. Or, to take another instance, supposing the third Gospel to be lost, and the following passage quoted, from an unnamed source, by one of the Fathers: "Beware [——]—] of the Scribes which desire to walk in long robes, and love [——]—] greetings in the markets, and chief seats in the synagogues and uppermost places at feasts; which devour widows(1) houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation." This would without hesitation be declared a quotation from memory of Mark xii..38-40 ".... Beware [——]—] of the Scribes which desire to walk in long robes and greetings in the markets, and chief seats in the synagogues and uppermost places at feasts: which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive," &c. It is however a literal quotation of Luke xx. 46, 47; yet probably it would be in vain to submit to apologetic critics that possibly, not to say probably, the passage was not derived from Mark but from a lost Gospel. To quote one more instance, let us
suppose the "Gospel according to Mark" no longer extant, and that in some early work there existed the following quotation: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye [——]—] of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." This would of course be claimed as a quotation from memory of Matt. xix. 24,(1) with which it agrees with the exception of the substitution of [——]—] for the [——]—]. It would not the less have been an exact quotation from Mark x. 25.(2)
We have repeatedly pointed out that the actual agreement of any saying of Jesus, quoted by one of the early Fathers from an unnamed source, with a passage in our Gospels is by no means conclusive evidence that the quotation was actually derived from that Gospel. It must be apparent that literal agreement in reporting short and important sayings is not in itself so surprising as to constitute proof that, occurring in two histories, the one must have copied from the other. The only thing which is surprising is that such frequent inaccuracy should occur. When we add, however, the fact that most of the larger early evangelical works, including our Synoptic Gospels, must have been compiled out of the same original sources, and have been largely indebted to each other, the common possession of such sayings becomes
a matter of natural occurrence. Moreover, it must be admitted even by apologetic critics that, in a case of such vast importance as the report of sayings of Jesus, upon the verbal accuracy of which the most essential doctrines of Christianity depend, it cannot be considered strange if various Gospels report the same saying in the same words. Practically, the Synoptic Gospels differ in their reports a great deal more than is right or desirable; but we may take them as an illustration of the fact, that identity of passages, where the source is unnamed, by no means proves that such passages in a work of the early Fathers were derived from one Gospel, and not from any other. Let us suppose our first Gospel to have been lost, and the following quotation from an unnamed source to be found in an early work: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." This being in literal agreement with Luke iii. 9, would certainly be declared by modern apologists conclusive proof that the Father was acquainted with that Gospel, and although the context in the work of the Father might for instance be: "Ye shall know them from their works, and every tree," &c, &c, and yet in the third Gospel, the context is: "And now also, the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: and every tree," &c, that would by no means give them pause. The explanation of combination of texts, and quotation from memory, is sufficiently elastic for every emergency. Now the words in question might in reality be a quotation from the lost Gospel according to Matthew, in which they twice occur, so that here is a passage which is literally repeated three times, Matthew iii. 10, vii. 19, and Luke iii 9. In Matthew iii. 10, and in the third Gospel, the words are part of a saying of John the
Baptist; whilst in Matthew vii. 19, they are given as part of the Sermon on the Mount, with a different context, This passage is actually quoted by Justin (k 8), with the context: "Ye shall know them from their works," which is different from that in any of the three places in which the words occur in our synoptics and, on the grounds we have clearly established, it cannot be considered in any case as necessarily a quotation from our Gospels, but, on the contrary, there are good reasons for the very opposite conclusion.
Another illustration of this may be given, by supposing the Gospel of Luke to be no longer extant, and the following sentence in one of the Fathers: "And ye shall be hated by all men, for my name's sake." These very words occur both in Matthew x. 22, and Mark xiii. 13, in both of which places there follow the words: "but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." There might here have been a doubt, as to whether the Father derived the words from the first or second Gospel, but they would have been ascribed either to the one or to the other, whilst in reality they were taken from a different work altogether, Luke xxi. 17. Here again, we have the same words in three Gospels. In how many more may not the same passage have been found? One more instance to conclude. The following passage might be quoted from an unnamed source by one of the Fathers: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." If the Gospel according to Mark were no longer extant, this would be claimed as a quotation either from Matthew xxiv. 35, or Luke xxi. 33, in both of which it occurs, but, notwithstanding, the Father might not have been acquainted with either of them, and simply have quoted from Mark