Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-03-29
REVIEW OF THE QUARTER
LESSON KIN, FIRST QUARTER, IN
TERNATlONAL SERIES, MARCH 81.
The Gospel of st. DTark-who He Was
Character of His Gospei-Reasons for
the Variations in Style of the
-Four EvaugeIists.


The first quarter OF the present year is dc
voted to a study of Christs life and teachings
as recorded in tho Gospel according to St.
Mark. 1t is, therefore, most fitting to con.
slider the peculiarties Of this Gospel, and to
at least glance at the oft debated question
why there should be four distinct accounts OF
the Saviour's mission on EARTH strangely va.
rying in style and the subjects made promi.
nent, and yet all agreeing m the essentials Of
Christian doctrine and ethics. 1t is evident
even to the unlearned reader that each writer
addressed differep5 class, but each sets forth
the same eternal ttpths--the fatherhood OF
God and the helpessness OF man. the divinity
Of Christ and His atoning death, the neces.
sity of faith, repentance and baptism for the
remission Of sins, the moral government OF
the universe, grace, eternal life, the way OF
redemption, the possibility of eternal separa.
ton from God and all that is good.
First, it must be noted that the time Of
Christ's incarnation was divinely appointed
for the only period in all history when the
civilized world was under one government, |
when one written language was used by all
scholars and statesmen, when the laws gov. |
erning the empire were in general principles |
the same, and when the dignity of citizen. |
ship under one ruler was the citizens protec.
ton, from the mountains of Scotland in the !
north to the Sahara in the south, and from
the Pillars of Hercules to the river Eu. |
pirates. Never before the establishment
of the Roman empire had this been the case. |
Never has it been tho case since the over.
throw of that empire. The Romans had con.
guered all the central belt of tl+e known
world; their civil war had ended in the estab.
lshmont of an imperial line, and when all
opposition to that line had ceased and the
long peace under Augustus Caesar had Sc.
cured stability and order, Christ's earthly
mission began.
In all the western half of the empire Latin
was the vernacular, in all the eastern half
Greek both mingled, of course, with local
dialects In both sections the tavern keep.
ers, merchants, sailors, travellers and schol-
ars, as q rule, understood both languages;
but while the Latin was official Greek was tho
language Of most writer's, and the Roman
rulers over each of the 120 provinces under
stood both, and in most cases knew some
thing of the local dialect. Thus Plate
wrote the inscription over the cross |
written in Greek and Latin and Hebrew
not that the Jews of that day spoke |
Hebrew, for they did not, but it was
their sacred written language !
The corrupt tongue they spoke commonly
called Caels-Syriac, was not reduced TO writ |
ing; but many of its words were necessarily
quoted by some of the New Testament writ |
ers, and hence the reader Will find the words, |
(which is by interpretation" etc, as they |
thought necessary to translate some phrases
for the people they aimed to reach.
To jew of Palestine the empire was d |
vided into jew and Gentilc;" to q Roman, |
into "bond and free" and to a scholar, into
Greek and barbarian" The last word meant,
not necessarily, as now, u wild or uncivi azed-
l1t moi w -hp agt,IJ ,,,,1
Greek-that is, a "prattler," one whose talk
was like "barbar" to & Greek car Thus the
Greeks called the Persians "barbaroi" even
when the latter were rs civilized Qs them
selves. With these hints the reader may see
the force Of many short suggestions, espe
cially in Mark and Luke; but he should note |
that st. Paul, as the great apostle to the
Gentiles, constantly endeavors to do away |
with such distinctions as between Christians |
In these facts, too, we find the principal rea-
son for the four Gospels.
1t is, first, self evident that st. Matthew
wrote for the Jews; and there is some evil !
dence that his gospel was first composed in |
Hebrew, and not long after tho crucGxion,
but the Greek copy, rs We now have it, did !
not appear till thirty years later St. Mark, !
as evidently, wrote for somewhat LARGER |
constituency and one which needed a brief |
statement Of facts rather than lengthy adj |
dresses, bus still a people familiar with the |
local affairs Of Palestine In ST Luke we
find from the start remarkable difference |
He begins BY stating that many accounts |
have been written, and therefore he viii pre-. |
cent the exact facts as he received them from !
eye witnesses. Lastly, St John wrote when
heresies had begun to trouble The church, and |
some teachers were tainted with the fancics
OF Greek philosophy.
Mark may be called the strictly historical
evangelist He was the son Of a woman
named Mary, whose house NJ Jerusalem was
resort OF the first Christians. lie Travelled
with Paul and Harn9bus to Antioch. and |
was afterwards an intimate associate of Paul
as well as of Peter The tradition of the
early church was that he founded the church
at Alexandria in Egypt and suffered MARTYR. |
dom there. 1t Is a long disputed question in |
the church whether Mark based his GOSPEL
on that of Matthew or obtained his facts /
directly from St. Peter, and q very large and
respectable school maintains that all the
later gospels, and perhaps that of Matthew,
also, were compiled from an orr 9inal work
sort Of memorabilia Of the sayings and acts |
of Chrlst-which Is no longer in existence ,
All agree that it was written in Rome in the .
Greek language. and at some period between .
the deaths of Peter and Paul and the destr1c.
ton Of Jerusalum. l should he noted, how.
ever, that while all agree that ST. John out |
lived all the other apostles, yet it is claimed .
that in their present form the gospels Of
Luke and John are contemporary. 1t is not
important, however, as we have the unani-
nous testimony of the apostolic fathers
chose whose youth was in apostolic tines
that the four gospels were accepted by the
entire church as the inspired record of
Christs mission. The point to be chiefly
noted here is that tho four accounts were in |
sense necessary to meet the wants of the
different classes in the empire, and that St.
Mark set down the facts detailed by all the
others in a form suited for historic arrange.
ment
Jews and Gypsies Ia London.
In London, at the East End, there are