Introduction to the life of Christ

Introduction To The Life Of Christ

INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE OF CHRIST

BY

PBOFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITEaATUBE IN VASSAR COLLEGE

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Published October, 1911

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WHOSE DEEP AND REVERENT INTEREST IN ALL THAT RELATES TO THE LIFE OF CHRIST HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION

Preface

This book was written for my own college classes to aid them in gaining the preliminary information necessary for an intelligent study of the life of Christ. It deals with a variety of topics, all bearing upon the one important question, What are the sources from which we gain a knowledge of that life, and how far are they trustworthy ?

There is no lack of literature upon this question; indeed, the very abundance of information and discussion is the chief difficulty for a beginner. Many of the books are minute and learned treatises suited only for the specialist. Others are written to defend special theories, and presuppose a general knowledge of the subject. Most of them deal with but one or a few of all the topics to be considered. The only book with which I am acquainted that covers much of the field in a brief, simple, uncontroversial way is Anthony's "Introduction to the Life of Jesus"; but this does not treat of the text or the canon, and was published in 1896, since which time new and valuable contributions have been made to our knowledge.

I have endeavored to present in a clear and concise manner the facts which should be borne in mind as the Four Gospels are studied, and the problems — as yet only partly solved — which these Gospels present. With no theories of my own to advocate, I have aimed

vii viii PREFACE

to make possible a comprehension of theories presented by scholars of various schools. And while I have frankly stated my own conviction that a searching criticism of the Gospels only reveals more clearly their essential trustworthiness, I hope I have treated with fairness and full appreciation those writers who maintain the contrary.

A few years ago I prepared a "Guide to the Lives of Christ for English Readers." Its purpose was to give a general view of the course of modern thought concerning the life of Christ, and especially a brief description of each of the more important Lives, written in English or accessible in translation. The need of some such guide for the inexperienced student is evident, when one realizes how many Lives of Christ, written from various stand-points and differing greatly in scholarship, are presented for his choice. This work is now out of print; so I have added it, somewhat condensed and brought down to date, as an Appendix to the present volume.

If this book shall furnish to my students an introduction to the broad and fascinating fields of Gospel criticism, I shall be satisfied. If it shall be of service to others who may wish to know what these fields contain, I shall be greatly pleased.

W. B. H.

Vassab College, May^ 1911.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Heathen and Jewish Writings 1

II. Christian Writings Other Than Gospels . 11

Chapter I

In studying the life of Christ, as in studying any other chapter of history, we must begin by considering what are the sources from which we gain our information, and to what degree are they trustworthy. Evidently the Four Gospels of the New Testament are the chief source, and questions that bear upon their trustworthiness are of supreme importance. But the life of Christ is of such vital interest to the world that every possible source of knowledge is eagerly examined to see both what additional facts it may give us, and in what way it may confirm or disprove the facts given in the gospels. We turn first to heathen writers. Jesus lived in a century when able historians were ready to record anything of importance that happened in the realm of the Caesars. And certainly they could select no subject more important and more sure to make their writings immortal than the deeds and words of Him from whose birth we now date the reigns of the Csesars. If Christ really lived, and was what the evangelists report, shall we not find some account of him by Roman historians ? Two facts make such a supposition improbable. The first is that very little has come down to us from those historians who lived in the days of Christ and wrote the history of their own times. Indeed, with the exception of the writings of Tacitus and Suetonius, all Roman history of the first century that can in any sense be called contemporaneous has disappeared. And the second fact is that no Roman historian would think it worth while to write about Jesus of Nazareth. Though Judea was a province of the Roman Empire, it was a petty one in a remote corner; and its people were regarded with contempt or aversion. Their stubborn, rebellious character often brought them to the attention of the emperor; but that attention was devoted to the task of holding them in subjection. As for Jesus, the historian would have smiled at the thought of devoting even a paragraph to him. His ministry was very brief; his work was mainly among the common people — peasants and fishermen; his miracles were easily confounded with the mass of imposture in which the age abounded; and above all, the refusal of his own nation to accept him as its leader, and his ignominious death, seemed abundant proof that he was beneath consideration. For a Roman historian of the first century to record the career of Jesus was as unlikely as it would be for a Russian historian of to-day to record the career of some brief leader of a little band of fanatics in the obscure regions of Daghestan,

The only place, therefore, where we might find a notice of Jesus in heathen history, is in the pages of Tacitus or Suetonius; and the only possibility is of some incidental mention of him. Such mention we do find. Tacitus, who ranks as one of the greatest of Roman historians, wrote his annals not long after A. D. 100. In this work (XV, 44), when telling how Nero was suspected of having set fire to Rome in A. D. 64, he writes as follows:

"In order to suppress the rumor, Nero falsely accused and punished with the most acute tortures persons who, already hated for their shameful deeds, were commonly called Christians. The founder of that name, Christus, had been put to death by the procurator, Pontius Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius; but the deadly superstition, though repressed for a time, broke out again, not only through Judea, where this evil had its origin, but also through the city [Rome] whither all things horrible and vile flow from all quarters and are encouraged. Accordingly, first those were arrested who confessed; then on their information a great multitude were convicted not so much of the crime of incendiarism as of hatred of the human race."

Suetonius was a contemporary of Tacitus, but an historian of much less ability. In his lives of the twelve Csesars (Claud. 25) he says:

"He [Claudius] expelled from Rome the Jews, because they were constantly raising a tumult at the instigation of Chrestus."

The expulsion is the one referred to in Acts 18: 2, and took place probably about A, D. 50. We know nothing more about it. Possibly the Jews quarrelled over the claims of Christ, and Suetonius — confusing the strange name Christus with the familiar Greek adjective Chrestos, often used as a proper name — supposed the person who bore it to have been in Rome when the quarrel broke out.

One further mention of Christ, though not by an historian, is worth quoting. Pliny the Younger was governor of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, about A. D. 112; and he wrote a letter (Epistles X, 97) to the emperor, Trajan, telling what he had learned about the Christians in his province, and asking how he should deal with them. The letter is most valuable as a picture of Christian life at the beginning of the second century; but for our present purpose we need only note that many of the Christians were ready to undergo torture rather than renounce Christ, and that those who did renounce him made the following statement;

" They afl5rmed that the sum of their guilt or error was to assemble on a fixed day before daybreak, and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves with an oath not to enter into any wickedness or commit thefts, robberies, or adulteries, or falsify their work, or repudiate trusts committed to them: when these things were ended it was their custom to depart, and, on coming together again" (probably in the evening for the love-feast), " to take food, men and women together, yet innocently."

The statements of these three writers are practically all that is of value in heathen literature concerning Christ. They wrote fully three quarters of a century after his death, but Tacitus and Suetonius doubtless gained their information from earlier documents. They state but little, yet that little is enough to give Jesus a place in secular history. From it alone we should know that he lived in Judea in the reign of Tiberius, that he was put to death by Pontius Pilate, that he founded a sect which continued after his death, and that his followers in later days worshipped him as a god, and were willing to endure torture rather than renounce their faith.

Turning next to possible Jewish sources, we find that they are few in number. Philo was the ablest Jewish writer of the first century, and was a contemporary of Jesus; but he lived in Alexandria, his interests were philosophical, and there was no special reason why he should mention Jesus in any of his writings that are preserved. We are not surprised to find that he is silent about him; indeed, he probably knew little or nothing about the Christians.

Josephus, who was born A. D. 37 or 38, and died after A. D. 100, is the one Jewish writer who might be expected to tell about Jesus; for he spent his early life in Jerusalem, where he must have known the Christians; and his greatest historical work, " Jewish Antiquities," tells the story of his nation from its beginning to the outbreak of the rebellion against the Romans, in A. D. 66, thus including the period when Jesus labored and died. But we must bear in mind two facts about Josephus — he wrote after the fall of Jerusalem, when the feeling of the Jews against the Christians was bitter, and he wrote to laud his nation to the Romans, who considered the Christians a despicable and pestilential sect. There was little likelihood, therefore, that he would mention Jesus, if he could avoid it, or say anything good of him if he did mention him.

In this connection it is instructive to notice what Josephus has to say about John the Baptist (Ant. 18 :5:2):

" Herod slew him [John] who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness toward one another, and piety toward God, and so to come to baptism, for that the baptism would be acceptable to him if they made use of it, not in order to put away some sins, but for the purification of the body — supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now, when others came in crowds about him, for they were greatly moved by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion — for they seemed to act in all things according to his advice — thought it heat, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause."

The omission of the fact that John preached the immediate coming of the Messiah leaves the excitement caused by his preaching wholly unexplained. Possibly Josephus omitted it because any allusion to Messianic expectations would arouse Roman suspicions; but more probably he felt that by mentioning it he would be put in the same dilemma in which the chief priests were put by Jesus when he questioned them about John (Matt. 21 : 25).

In Ant. 20 : 9 : 1 Josephus tells how Ananus, the high-priest, about the year A. D. 62, caused several persons to be stoned to death, one of whom was James, "the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ." This mention of Jesus and his claims, if genuine (and the argument to the contrary is not strong), is the more emphatic because it is purely incidental. Almost in spite of himself Josephus has brought Jesus into his narrative.

The fullest notice of Jesus is in Ant. 18 : 3 : 3, as follows :

" Now about this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one should call him a man; for he was a worker of miracles, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with joy. And he drew to himself many of the Jews, and also many of the Greeks. This was the Christ. And when at the instigation of our chief men Pilate had sentenced him to the cross, those who had loved him at the first did not fall away. For he appeared unto them alive again on the third day, as the holy prophets had declared these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And even now the race of Christians called after him is not extinct."

If this passage were genuine, Josephus would be a most clear witness to Christ; but unquestionably it is not genuine — no Jew who rejected Jesus could write it. It is found in all existing manuscripts, but none of these are early; and Origen, who died about A. D. 253, evidently did not have it in his manuscript, for he says expressly that Josephus did not believe that Jesus was the Christ. How the passage originated, we can only surmise. Josephus was a favorite author in Christian circles in early days as well as later. It is possible therefore, that when they found in his book no account of Christ, they inserted this passage to supply the deficiency. Or it is possible that Josephus did give some slurring account of Christ, which Christian copyists changed, as they certainly would, to a favorable one. In support of this latter possibility we notice that in the section immediately following, Josephus tells a story that has no connection whatever with his narrative.

unless he had cast a slur on the divine birth of Christ, and wished to suggest a parallel to it. But whatever the origin of this famous passage, it is of no value as contemporaneous Jewish testimony.

One more Jewish work should be examined, and that is the Talmud. The name means a "teaching" or " inference," and is the general term for a huge collection of works upon the traditional law, i. e., the law which was developed by the scribes and handed down orally, as distinguished from the written law found in the Old Testament. It consists of two main divisions — the Mishna, containing these traditional laws, and the Gemara, containing discussions, interpretations, illustrations, etc., of the Mishna. It is a vast storehouse of all sorts of things, ranging from sayings that remind us of teachings of Jesus down to those that are the dreariest of rubbish. Edersheim says: "If we imagine something combining law reports, a Rabbinical Hansard, and notes of a theological debating club, — all thoroughly Oriental, full of digressions, anecdotes, quaint sayings, fancies, legends, and too often of what, from its profanity, superstition, and even obscenity could scarcely be quoted — we may form some general idea of what the Talmud is." (" Life of Jesus," 1 : 13.) The Talmud is the product of centuries; and the Mishna probably was not put into writing until at least the end of the second Christian century, while the Gemara, of which we have two forms (the Jerusalem and the Babylon), is two and three centuries later.

In the Talmud are only a few allusions to Christ, and these exhibit great prejudice and hatred. According to them, Jesus was born of adultery, learned magic in Egypt, led the people into sin, was entrapped by witnesses, tried, kept for forty days that a witness might appear in his favor, and then — when none appeared — was stoned and afterward hanged, and in Gehenna was plunged in boiling filth. Evidently the Talmud is worthless as a source for the life of Christ; and its statements are valuable only as showing the later feeling of the Jews toward the founder of the hated Christian sect.

Chapter II

From heathen and Jewish sources, which give us so little, we turn to the more promising Christian sources. And before considering the various gospels, we examine other early writings in search of any possible mention of Jesus.

J. New Testament Books

In the New Testament, besides the Four Gospels, we have twenty-three other books, all of which were written in the first century or, at the latest, early in the second century. Whatever they tell us about Jesus is, therefore, of high value as coming from the age of the apostles or of men who could personally have known the apostles.

The first interesting fact about them is that they give us very little about Jesus in addition to what is in the Four Gospels. We find one new and beautiful saying of his, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20 : 35); and, if the shorter form of Luke's account of the institution of the Lord's Supper be correct, then in I Cor. 11 : 24 we have for the first time the words, "This do in remembrance of Me." In I

Thess. 4 : 15-17 there seems to be the substance of some teaching of Jesus about his second coming. In I Cor. 15 : 5-8 we have a Hst of his resurrection appearances, more complete than that in the gospels, while Acts 1 : 1-14 gives the fullest account we have of his ascension and his instructions preceding it. These few sayings and facts, all given by Paul or Luke, comprise practically the only additional information in the New Testament. It seems strange that there should be no more. Of course the epistles were written to readers who already had been instructed in the facts of the Christian faith (I Cor. 11 : 23, 15 : 3; II Thess. 2 : b, et ah). So there was no need of rehearsing these facts. Moreover, the intense realization of a present, unseen Christ, and the earnest expectation of his speedy coming again in the flesh, made all Christians less disposed to dwell upon the historical past. Yet the epistles are full of allusions to the recorded facts of Christ's earthly years; and since there must have been many facts told by the witnesses besides those preserved in the gospels (c/. John 20 : 30), it is remarkable that such facts are ignored.

The second interesting fact about these New Testament books is that w^hen we bring together their scattered allusions to incidents in the life of Christ, we have a mass of information from which we can frame a fairly complete outline of that life. And if this is done (see Gilbert, "Life of Jesus," 402) we find that the outiine agrees perfectly with the history given us in the Four Gospels. This should be borne in mind when sceptics try to prove that our gospels are a late invention, full of legendary matter. Here is another record of the life of Christ — a "gospel outside the gospels" — which would still remain, if the Four Gospels were wholly set aside.

It is true that some of these New Testament books are of disputed date and origin, so that sceptics may bring the same charge of late invention against them as against the gospels. But there are four great epistles — viz., I and II Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans — which practically all critics agree were written by Paul and before A. D. 60. Whether Paul ever met Jesus before the crucifixion is doubtful; but he was in Jerusalem soon afterward ; he became a Christian within a few years; and he had every opportunity to learn about him. Natural curiosity, the hatred of a persecutor, the perplexities of an inquirer, the glowing love of a convert, and the increasing responsibilities of a teacher, would make Paul eager to learn all that he could — the more so because it was his practice, like that of the other apostles, to begin missionary work in any new field by telling the story of Jesus, especially of his crucifixion and resurrection (See I Cor. 15 : 1-9. Cf. Acts 13 : 16-41).

What, then, can we gather from Paul's four undisputed letters ? We must not expect too much. They are written to Christians who already know the story of Jesus, having learned it — most of them — from Paul himself. Whatever he says about that story will be by way of allusion and not of narration; and silence on any point will be no proof of ignorance unless there is imperative need of allusion. In simply this incidental way we learn that Paul knows (to give only one reference for each fact):

The birth of Jesus under the law (Gal. 4 : 4), of the seed of David after the flesh, but the Son of God and the Messiah (Rom. 1 : 1-4).

The public ministry, with its limitation to the Jews (Rom. 15 : 8); its humiliation (II Cor. 8:9); its band of apostles, whom Paul calls by the early name of the twelve (I Cor. 15 : 5), and the miracles which were wrought by them (II Cor. 12 : 12).

The teachings of Jesus, which Paul had evidently taken pains to learn exactly and which he treats as authoritative (I Cor. 7 : 10), distinguishing carefully between them and his own opinions (I Cor. 7 : 25).

The character of Jesus, as the ideal of wisdom (I Cor. 1:30); truth (Rom. 9:1); self-sacrificing service (Rom. 15 : 1-3); gentleness and sweet reasonableness (II Cor. 10 : 1), and love (Gal. 2 : 20).

The details of the Last Supper, which Paul gives more exactly than the synoptists (I Cor. 11 : 23-25); the attitude of the rulers (I Cor. 2:8); the betrayal (I Cor. 11 : 23); the crucifixion (II Cor. 13 : 4); the burial and resurrection on the third day (I Cor. 15:[4).

The appearances to the disciples after the resurrection, of which there is given a fuller list than by the evangelists (I Cor. 15 : 5-8).

These references — which might be increased — show that the earthly life of Jesus was well known by both Paul and his readers; indeed, such incidental references are more suggestive than fuller statements would be, for they presuppose a larger acquaintance with the facts in order to make them intelligible. And not only do the facts thus indicated agree perfectly with the gospel story, but Paul's whole conception of Jesus harmonizes with that presented by the evangelists. Keim sums up the matter by saying: " The life of Jesus, as presented to us by Paul, is indeed rich in material — a gospel of the first days — and one which, in spite of its insoluble difiiculties, would enable us to dispense with any further gospel; or rather, one which promises illustration and assistance of every kind to our gospels."

//. The Apostolic Fathers

The term Apostolic Fathers is used to designate the earliest Christian writers whose works are not in the New Testament. They all wrote before A. D. 150, and might be considered in a general way as pupils of the apostles. "They were good men rather than great men, and excelled more in zeal and devotion to Christ than in literary attainments " (Schaff); and while their writings were often read in the early church, and some of them are found in the same manuscripts with the New Testament books, we feel that it was a sound instinct which finally set them aside as uninspired. Indeed, one proof of the inspiration of the New Testament is the marked contrast in spiritual elevation, wisdom, and power, between its books and those of the Apostolic Fathers. Their writings, of which few have been preserved, were simple, earnest Christian messages to readers whose faith in Christ was already established. The only exception is Justin Martyr, who belongs to this period, but whose able defence of Christianity entitles him to be ranked more properly as first of the Apologists who in the next half century wrote long and powerful replies to heathen assailants of the faith.

\Miile the Apostolic Fathers, especially Justin Martyr, tell much about the life of Christ, they tell almost nothing in addition to what is in the gospels. Justin Martyr says that he was born in a cave, that his work as a "carpenter" was to make yokes and ploughs, and that the Jews when mocking him set him on the judgment seat and said, "Judge us" — all of which seems credible. He also says that as Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, " WTien he stepped into the water, a fire was kindled in the Jordan," which adds to the scene a theophany similar to those described in the Old Testament. There are, also, in the Apostolic Fathers and still later writers, a few sayings attributed to Jesus which are not found in the gospels, and which — from that fact — are often designated as the Agrapha, i. e.y unwritten. None of them can compare in beauty or importance with Acts 20 : 35. The following are a sample:

" They who wish to behold me and lay hold on my kingdom, must receive me by affliction and suffering."

"Be approved money-changers; disapproving some things, but holding fast to that which is good.'*

" In whatsoever things I may find you, in these shall I also judge you."

"Ask for the great things, and the small shall be added unto you; ask for the heavenly things, and the earthly shall be added unto you."

"Never rejoice except when ye have looked upon your brother in love."

" He that wonders shall reign, and he that reigns shall rest."

It is doubtful whether any of these sayings are genuine, though the best of them may contain some reminiscence of Christ's teaching.

In this connection it is worth while to notice the newly discovered sayings of Jesus which Grenfell and Hunt unearthed at the site of Oxyrhynchus, in lower Egypt, in 1897 and 1903. The first to be discovered were on a single leaf of papyrus, somewhat broken and illegible and beginning with the middle of a saying continued from a previous leaf. They were as follows :

"... and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye."

" Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the Kingdom of God ; and except ye keep the Sabbath, ye shall not see the Father."

" Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh was I seen of them; and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them; and my soul grieveth over the sons of men because they are blind in heart. ..."

" Jesus saith. Wherever there are . . . and there is one . . . alone, I am with him. Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me; cleave the wood, and there am I."

" Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither does a physician work cures upon them that know him."

" Jesus saith, A city built upon the top of a high hill and established can neither fall nor be hid."

The later discoveries were on the back of a survey-list of various pieces of land, and have suffered still greater mutilation. Grenfell and Hunt give the following translation of them, with their own conjectural restoration of parts of the missing text indicated by brackets:

"These are the [wonderful] words which Jesus the living [Lord] spake to . . . and Thomas; and he said unto [them], Every one that hearkens to these words shall never taste of death."

" Jesus saith, Let not him who seeks . . . cease until he finds, and when he finds he shall be astonished, and astonished he shall reach the kingdom, and having reached the kingdom he shall rest."

" Jesus saith [Ye ask ? who are those] that draw us [to the kingdom, if] the kingdom is in heaven? . . . the fowls of the air, and all beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea [these are they which draw] you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and whosoever shall know himself shall find it. [Strive therefore ?] to know yourselves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the [almighty ?] [Father,] [and] ye shall know that ye are in [the city of God ?], and ye are [the city]."

"Jesus saith, A man shall not hesitate ... to ask . . . concerning his place [in the kingdom. Ye shall know] that many that are first shall be last, and the last first and [they shall have eternal life?]."