The Red Cloud chief., 1885-05-01
international Sunday-Schooi Lessons,
HOW THEY VARY.
The Differences la the Gospel Records
Evidences of the Writers TruthfuIncss-
How the -Four Accounts Wonderfully
Smp,,nri Zach Oihcr.

The Differences la the Gospel Records
Evidences of the Writers TruthfuIncss-
How the T"ur Accounts Wonderfully
support Zach Other.
Ii iS AN argument familiar to all law
yrrS. that al Scncc of formal harmony
between witnesses i a stronger proof OF
their truihiulnc>s than exact and minute
harmony Indeed, where the latter
peculiarly is strongly manifested there
il often room 10 suspect collision
ii ANY characteristic is prominent in
the three ~Synontical cvancc,iStS-Nai-
thew. Mark and Luke il is unstudicd
~fIanknrs~. They relate sometimes com
mo fact, sometimes independent ones
In neither ease is there the least a,-
pcaraucc of "NaggcratIon. Good and
bad deed, arr lett To speak for them
selves, and the personality of the his
toriau l. very seldom obtrudcG; hi>
Spcr..sl ideas are prcdilcct. onS Never.
The author of the fourth Gospel. writ
ing III least a third of a century later.
describes his Master from Il different
point OF New. and pprtravS His pri'at
life aS none but The beloved disciple
could do. Had some second century
writer attempted the task. "a Skcpt:c>
prct nd. he would have overloaded his
narrative with rhetorical grn"ralitir>.
~ all the writers of that century d..
Vel he i AZ simple in his own WAY As
his predecessors.
Moreover. John is in apparent di<a-
"rrcmcnt W tn the ]>ynoptics a> Ia the
,.. sc ,t,. tn-t Sppns unI IN nr,.. mr.
two minor points. These differences
are ,> readily harmonizcd a. those Tt
~arlinp the thieves cruciiicd with
Chris. The seeming contradictions
are. however. strong proofs of the ia
.wr!tv of lis writer. Had he been M
impoS,or. or even one of those piou>!y
fraudulent authors. who sought To gam
an apostolic authority Tor his own com
position. he would carefully have
avoided al discordancc with the already
accepted Gospels. The supposed dis
crepancy becomes 4 manifestation 1f
thorough honesty the We dis
cn,cr-as we are S,fre To do after can
did compari>on-that the fourth Gospel
forms a needed sequel 10. and In general
thoroughly agrees with. the SynopticS.
The honesty of the four cvangelists Is
manifest from their internal character
istics. Neither shows any anxiety I"
sustain or get support from the other.
Externally the evidence Is equally
strong. Matthew. the Gospel about
which. next to John. there has been the
most cayil. was obviously Intended for
Jewish readers. Its aim WAS Ia con
vince them that Jesus WAS the promised
Messiah. Whv. then, if II were u Tor
-erv or fraud. vas ii ascrlbed NOT 10
Peter. chief of the apostles. 10 fhiiip or
10 Andrew, but to Matthew. the pun
llcan. whose office was SD odiouS 10 the
.IewS?
No fair minded reader can study the
c~y,pc,liSts without being impressed
with their integrity. After comparing
their records with the writings al jews
Greeks. Romans and uninsplreo mrs
firms of ,heir own and adjacent
centuries he mslst feel that while max
inc no Claims TO literary culture or To eN-
tensiye acIuirementS. they are IN
snirf tone and temper immea>nraoiy
superior TO all their contemporaries
Each bas drawn a portrait when no
.J,y;a, or h,athen Imagination could
sucrc., and the untv of the four like
nt~St.> Is unlllSt1ht0iN-
exists between their ccounlS % al.
same events The discordance - nor
generally important. unless we presnp-
pose that inspiration nvoi'e: M
chanical copying from divine d'f,a;iDh.
This has been assumed oy :~.s
desifous of magnifying mole mus MO
mountains. and too hastily accepts =.
fheolocians of a school now fast passing
away The inspiration OF the sSi'Ps
ureS. properly defined. = easily ne
established. Whether harmonious or mol.
they have proved. and may sun n Il. T
mood the ~ Of God unto the sal
vation of every willing soul Everythins
must come in its due order. however
and the honesty and capacity OF the
writer is first to be shown.
n-;a.rences. as we have said. exist
Thora ,re none, so far as we Know
that are not susceptible Of a
soiu,;on The four accounts OF the res
direction. at first glance ~contrad,e.or.'
ors wonderful in their mutual support. !
w,em once we perceive that each mar
r nres only a part Of the appea raj tSs
after the operiug of the tomb on the
fir. DAY Of the week. simon Green
inas .nthor of the leading American
AcdIs NuII1oA md pOa nf t0e L