The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-20
"A Lawyers Strong Argument fos
the Truthfulness Of the
Gospels.
Application Of the Same Rules ia
Biblical and Profane His
tory.
Almost Omniscience Re qulred to Probes
the Scriptures II They are Not
Strictly Truthful.

history of our Lord Jesus Christ; the
authors are not living; the characters they
therein describe are no more. No man liv-
ing knows by direct personal knowledge
that these things were SO. But why not
apply the same rules of evidence and belief
to scriptural history as to profane3 Being
in existence and minute narrative Of pass
ing events. they must either be genuine and
true, or gross forgery. There is no alter
native. They were true when written, or
were then an absolute falsehood. II the
latter, they must then have been known Ia
of those then living. These stories begar
to be published not long after thu
alleged crucifxion. Many persons were
then living who could have refuted the
statements of the evangelists had they been
untrue. But, so far as We know. NO
against them which has been handed
down to us. We have at this day in per-
lection the writings of the heather philos-
Ophers, poets and historians of that and Z
much earlier age, but no intimation BY any
historian, poet, or philosopher Of those
evangelists were not reliable, and
for two thousand years they
have been received and treated
as veritable history. Again, being written,
they must have been written by some per-
sons; and they must have been written by
either bad men or good men; by liars or by
truth-tellers; by forgers or by honest histo.
rians. Ia there any alternative2 Do wicked
men write such books as these? Do iara
proclaim that they and all other liars shall
! have their part in the lake that burneth with
! fire and birthstone? Does the thief de-
nounce dishonesty, or the adulterer prescribe
uncleanneGs? If, then, not penned by
wicked men, they must owe their origin to
honest men; and if honest and truthful men
wrote them they must be honest and true
| sd v,S,ko 49, Ro1O de-
Is not the conclusion lrresistiblep But,
aside from these general considerations,
there is another important fact, viz,
that each gospel itself contains internal, in-
direct. but cogent proof Of genuineness.
Thus, take the gospel of Matthew. He, and
jesus paying tribute to, the tax-collector Of
Capernaum xvii, 24-27). How do we ac-
count for this2 Why should Matthew DO
more likely to mention that particular fact
than any other evangelist? When We re-
4 familiar with their habits, attentive to all
that related TO that profession. the answer
Is obvious. Would man forging the four
gospels remember that he must make Mat
thew state this fact Of paying tax and tho
that, after jesus burial, the Jews
went and "made the sepulcher sure,
i sealing. the stone, and setting .
WATCH" How does II happen that Mat.
thew alone mentions this faCtY Why should
he remember what others did not? The
people of Judea we're Oppressively taxed
the, Roman domination, and excessive taxa
ton always leads to evasion, cunning and
fraud on the one hand, and on the other
to increased vigilance, caution and close
scrutiny. Accustomed, therefore, to sus-
picion of fraud and evasion, Matthew
would naturally be the most impressed BY
and the most likely to record fact which
tended to show that in the event in ques-
tion deception was carefully guarded
against. So in Marks gospel We often ind
explanations of Jewish terms and phrases.
which are found in corresponding verses OF
Matthew about the same event. II we re.
member that Matthew was writing to Jews
who understood the terms already,
and Mark to Gentle converts, who did
not, We have the answer. What skillful
pated all that Luke also has many in
direct proofs of truthfulness. Thus, in the
, miracle Of the leper, Matthew and Mark
simply speak Of Christ, as healing "a
leper" Luke says the man was full OF
leprosy." Again, the first two say Peters
says that she was "taken with great
fever;'' and, while the other evangelistss
speak of man who had "a withered
hand" Luke writes, This right hand was
withered." Why this more accurate OBJ
servation and description by Luke of every
!. | 0AA0sA1AA6eAAkO0 AA60UoOy AAAoAASoA -
physical suffering, than can be found IN
any other historian ? What was there in
his profession which qualified him thus to
note and describe diseases more infinitely
than others ? Turn to Col. w., IA, and
you have the answer; where Paul. writing
to the Colossians, closes his letter thus;
Luke, the beloved Physician and Demaa
greet you." Did these two writer's prear,
range this roundabout confirmation!
, Johns gospel also contains internal proof
q It's ingenuousness. Thus, IN chapter W.,
! 66, soon after the miracle of the loaves and
fishes, we read; "From that time many OF
his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. and again, in chapter WILL, 0,
that neither did his brethren believe on
him." What an admission for writer
impose upon the world? To openly pro-
claim that the impostor whose pretensl0na
he was endeavoring to bolster up, could not
even retain the confidence of those who
were IN daily personal contact with MIN.
And this from man who was his most de-
, voted admlrer! Candor might lead MS
, torian to do thai, but disingenuousnessn never.
. But still another more striking eharacterls.
tic is found in Johns gospel. He omits all
reference to many events which the otneF
evangelists record in full. Does not the
fact that Johns gospel was written long
the world suggeSt& chat he thought 1t unnec-
essary taDepeat what they had described 60
minptelyf Thus, by undersigned coinci-
dences. by indirect combinations. BY unex-
pected corroborations, scattered throuRh-
out these four histories, we may be abund-
antly satisfied both of the truth and the
harmony of the gospels; SO that to the eye
, OF mere reason and intellect the varlances
in these stories do not detract from their
reliability, but rather the opposite. What
would be our opinion of man who denied
the real existence of another merely be-
cause four photographs, one front aad
one back view, and two Others