winds, the four regions or corners of the earth, the four rivers of Paradise, and the four corners and four rings of the ark of the covenant! But the most celebrated analogy is that of the four animals described by Ezekiel (i. 5-10.), which was first observed by Irenæus, and after him by Jerome, and which gave rise to the well-known paintings of the four evangelists. The following table exhibits the most probable dates, as well as the names of the places, where the historical books of the New Testament were written.

IV. "It is a considerable advantage that a history of such importance as that of Jesus Christ has been recorded by the pens of separate and independent writers, who, from the contradictions, whether real or apparent, which are visible in these accounts, have incontestably proved that they did not unite with a view of imposing a fabulous narrative on mankind. That Saint Matthew had never seen the Gospel of Saint Luke, nor Saint Luke the Gospel of Saint Matthew, is evident from a comparison of their writings. The Gospel of Saint Mark, which was written later, must likewise have been unknown to Saint Luke; and that Saint Mark had ever read the Gospel of Saint Luke, is at least improbable, because their Gospels so frequently differ."3 It is a generally received opinion, that Saint Mark made use of Saint Matthew's Gospel in the composition of his own: but this, it will be shown in a subsequent page,* is an unfounded hypothesis. The Gospel of Saint John, being written after the other three, supplies what they had omitted. Thus have we four distinct and independent writers of one and the same history; and, though trifling variations may seem to exist in their narratives, yet these admit of easy solutions;5 and in all matters of consequence, whether doctrinal or historical, there is such a manifest agreement between them as is to be found in no other writings whatever.

"Though we have only four original writers of the life of Jesus, the evidence of the history does not rest on the testimony of four

1 Irenæus adv. Hæres. lib. iii. c. 11. The first living creature, says this father, which is like a lion, signifies Christ's efficacy, principality, and regality, viz John; -the second, like a calf, denotes his sacerdotal order, viz. Luke;-the third, having as it were a man's face, describes his coming in the flesh as man, viz. Matthew; and the fourth, like a flying eagle, manifests the grace of the Spirit flying into the church, viz. Mark!!

2 Jerome, Procm. in Matth. The reader, who is desirous of reading more of these fanciful analogies, will find them collected by Suicer, in his Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus, tom. i. pp. 1222, 1223.

3 Michaelis, vol. iii. p. 4.

4 See Section III. § VII. pp. 257–260. infra.

5 See Vol. I. Appendix, No. III. on the Contradictions which are alleged to exist in the Scriptures.

men. Christianity had been propagated in a great part of the world before any of them had written, on the testimony of thousands and tens of thousands, who had been witnesses of the great facts which they have recorded; so that the writing of these particular books is not to be considered as the cause, but rather the effect, of the belief of Christianity; nor could those books have been written and received as they were, viz. as authentic histories, of the subject of which all persons of that age were judges, if the facts they have recorded had not been well known to be true."

SECTION II.

ON THE GOSPEL BY SAINT MATTHEW.

I. Author.-II. Date.

III. In what language written. —IV. Genuineness and authenticity of Saint Matthew's Gospel in general. V. The authenticity of the two first chapters examined and substantiated.VI. Scope of this Gospel. VII. Synopsis of its contents. VIII. Observations on its style.

1. MATTHEW, surnamed Levi, was the son of Alpheus, but not of that Alpheus or Cleopas who was the father of James mentioned in Matt. x. 3. He was a native of Galilee, but of what city in that country, or of what tribe of the people of Israel, we are not informed. Before his conversion to Christianity, he was a publican or tax-gatherer under the Romans, and collected the customs of all goods exported or imported at Capernaum, a maritime town on the sea of Galilee, and also received the tribute paid by all passengers who went by water. While employed "at the receipt of custom," Jesus called him to be a witness of his words and works, thus conferring upon him the honourable office of an apostle. From that time he continued with Jesus Christ, a familiar attendant on his person, a spectator of his public and private conduct, a hearer of his discourses, a witness of his miracles, and an evidence of his resurrection. After our Saviour's ascension, Matthew continued at Jerusalem with the other apostles, and with them, on the day of Pentecost, was endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. How long he remained in Judæa after that event, we have no authentic accounts. Socrates, an ecclesiastical historian of the fifth century, relates, that when the apostles went abroad to preach to the Gentiles, Thomas took Parthia for his lot; Bartholomew, India; and Matthew, Ethiopia. The common opinion is that he was crowned with martyrdom at Naddabar or Naddaver, a city in that country but this is contradicted by the account of Heracleon, a learned Valentinian of the second century; who, as cited by Clement of Alexandria,

1 Dr. Priestley's Notes on the Bible, vol. iii. p. 7.

2 Stromata, lib. 4. p. 502 B. See the passage in Dr. Lardner's Works, 8vo. vol. vi. p. 48.; 4to. vol. iii. p. 159.

2

reckons Matthew among the apostles that did not die by martyrdom : and as his statement is not contradicted by Clement, it is more likely to be true than the relation of Socrates, who did not flourish until three hu..dred years after Heracleon.

II. Matthew is generally allowed to have written first of all the evangelists. His Gospel is uniformly placed first in all the codes or volumes of the Gospels: and the priority is constantly given to it in all the quotations of the primitive fathers, as well as of the early heretics. Its precedence therefore is unquestionable, though the precise time when it was composed is a question that has been greatly agitated. Dr. Mill, Michaelis, and Bishop Percy, after Irenæus, assign it to the year 61; Moldenhawer, to 61 or 62; Dr. Hales, to 63; Dr. Lardner and Mr. Hewlett, to 64; Baronius, Grotius, Wetstein, Mr. Jer. Jones, and others, after Eusebius,2 to 41; Dr. Benson, to 43; Dr. Cave, to 48; Dr. Owen and Bishop Tomline, to 38; and Dr. Townson, to the year 37. In this conflict of opinions, it is difficult to decide. The accounts left us by the ecclesiastical writers of antiquity, concerning the times when the Gospels were written or published, are so vague, confused, and discordant, that they lead us to no solid or certain determination. The oldest of the antient fathers collected the reports of their own times, and set them down for certain truths; and those who followed adopted their accounts with implicit reverence. Thus traditions, true or false, passed on from one writer to another, without examination, until it became almost too late to examine them to any purpose. Since, then, external evidence affords us but little assistance, it becomes necessary to have recourse to the internal testimony which the Gospel of Saint Matthew affords, and we apprehend that it will be found to preponderate in favour of an early date.

In the first place, it is by no means probable that the Christians should be left any considerable number of years without a genuine and authentic written history of our Saviour's ministry. "It is certain," Bishop Tomline remarks, "that the apostles, immediately

1 Of all the primitive fathers, Irenæus (who flourished in the second century) is the only one who has said any thing concerning the exact time when Saint Matthew's Gospel was written; and the passage (adv. Hæres. lib. iii. c. 1.) in which he has mentioned it, is so obscure, that no positive conclusion can be drawn from it. Dr. Lardner (8vo. vol. vi. p. 49.; 4to. vol. iii. p. 160.) and Dr. Townson (discourse iv. on the Gospels, sect. iv. § 6.) understand it in very different senses. The following is a literal translation of the original passage, which the reader will find in Dr. Lardner's works. Matthew put forth (or published) a Gospel among the Hebrews while Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome and laying the foundations of a church there. Now, though it does not appear that Peter was at Rome until after Paul's liberation from his first imprisonment, A. D. 63, yet we know that the latter arrived there in the spring of A. D. 61, consequently the date intended by Irenæus must be the year 61.

2 Eusebius, who lived in the early part of the fourth century, merely says that Matthew, after preaching to the Hebrews, wrote his Gospel for their information, previously to his going to evangelise other nations (Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. c. 24.); but he does not specify the time, nor is it mentioned by any other antient writer. In his Chronicon, however, Eusebius places the writing of St. Matthew's Gospel in the third year of the reign of the emperor Caligula, that is, eight years after Christ's ascension, or A. D. 41.

after the descent of the Holy Ghost, which took place only ten days after the ascension of our Saviour into heaven, preached the Gospel to the Jews with great success and surely it is reasonable to suppose that an authentic account of our Saviour's doctrines and miracles would very soon be committed to writing for the confirmation of those who believed in his divine mission, and for the conversion of others, and more particularly to enable the Jews to compare the circumstances of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus with their antient prophecies relative to the Messiah: and we may conceive that the apostles would be desirous of losing no time in writing an account of the miracles which Jesus performed, and of the discourses which he delivered, because, the sooner such an account was published, the easier it would be to inquire into its truth and accuracy; and consequently, when these points were satisfactorily ascertained, the greater would be its weight and authority." On these accounts the learned prelate assigns the date of St. Matthew's Gospel to the year 38.

Secondly, as the sacred writers had a regard to the circumstances of the persons for whose use they wrote, we have an additional evidence for the early date of this Gospel, in the state of persecution in which the church was at the time when it was written: for it contains many obvious references to such a state, and many very apposite addresses both to the injured and to the injurious party.

1. Thus, the evangelist informs the injured and persecuted Christians, that their afflictions were no more than they had been taught to expect, and had promised to bear, when they embraced the Gospel (x. 21, 22. 34–36. xvi. 24.); that, however unreasonable their sufferings might be, considered as the effects of the malice of their enemies, they were yet useful and profitable to themselves, considered as trials of their faith and fidelity (v. 11. xxiv. 9—13.); that, though they were grievous to be borne at present, yet they operated powerfully to their future joy (v. 4. 10-12.); that a pusillanimous desertion of the faith would be so far from bettering their state and condition, that it would infallibly expose them to greater calamities, and cut them off from the hopes of heaven (x. 28. 32, 33. 39.); that

1 Elem. of Christ. Theol. vol. i. p. 301. The following observations of the profound critic Le Clerc, will materially confirm the preceding remarks. "Those," says he, "who think that the gospels were written so late as Irenæus states, and who suppose that, for the space of about thirty years after our Lord's ascension, there were many spurious gospels in the hands of the Christians, and not one that was genuine and authentic, do unwarily cast a very great reflection upon the wisdom of the apostles. For, what could have been more imprudent in them, than tamely to have suffered the idle stories concerning Christ to be read by the Christians, and not to contradict them by some authentic history, written by some credible persons, which might reach the knowledge of all men? For my part, I can never be persuaded to entertain so mean an opinion of men under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Besides, Matthew has delivered to us, not only the actions, but also the discourses of Christ and this he must necessarily be able to do with the greater certainty, while they were fresh in his memory, than when, through length of time, he began to lose the impressions of them. It is true that the Holy Spirit was with the apostles, to bring all the things to their remembrance, which they had received of Christ, according to his promise (John xiv. 26.): but the Holy Spirit not only inspired them, but also dealt with them according to their natural powers, as the variety of expressions in the Gospel shows." Clerici Hist. Eccles. sæculi 1. A. D. LXII. § 9.

they were not, however, forbidden to use the lawful means of preservation; but even enjoined to put them in practice, whenever they could do it with innocence (x. 16, 17. 23.); that the due observance of the Christian precepts was an excellent method to appease the wrath and fury of their enemies, and what therefore they were obliged in point of prudence as well as duty, carefully to mind and attend to (v. 39. vii. 12. 24—27. v. 13—20.); that, if it should be their fate to suffer martyrdom at last for their religion, it was infinitely better to continue faithful to their important trust, than by any base compliance to incur his displeasure, in whose hands are the issues not only of this life, but also of that which is to come. (xvi. 25-27. x. 28.)

2. On the other hand again, to calm the passions of the enraged Jews, and win them over to the profession of the Gospel, he labours to soften and abate their prejudices, and to engage them in the practice of meekness and charity. (ix. 13.) To this end, he lays before them the dignity and amiableness of a compassionate, benevolent disposition (v. 43-48. xviii. 23-35.); the natural good consequences that are annexed to it here; and the distinguished regard, which the Almighty himself will pay to it hereafter. (v. 5. 7. 9. x. 40 —42. xviii. 23—35. v. 21—26. xxv. 31-46.) Then he reminds them of the repeated punishments which God had inflicted on their forefathers for their cruel and barbarous treatment of his prophets, and assures them that a still more accumulated vengeance was reserved for themselves, if they obstinately persisted in the ways of cruelty (xxiii. 27—39. x. 14, 15.): for God, though patient and long-suffering, was sure at last to vindicate his elect, and to punish their oppressors, unless they repented, believed, and reformed, with the dreadful rigour of a general destruction. (xxiv. 2, &c.)

These and similar arguments, which St. Matthew has inserted in the body of his Gospel (by way of comfort to the afflicted Christians, and also as a warning to their injurious oppressors and persecutors), evidently refer to a state of distress and persecution under which the church of Christ laboured at the time when the evangelist advanced and urged them. Now the greatest persecution ever raised against the church, while it was composed only of Jewish and Samaritan converts, was that which was commenced by the Sanhedrin, and was afterwards continued and conducted by Saul, with implacable rage and fury. During this calamity, which lasted in the whole about six years, viz. till the third year of Caligula, A. D. 39 or 40 (when the Jews were too much alarmed concerning their own affairs to give any further disturbance to the Christians), the members of the Christian church stood in need of all the support, consolation, and assistance that could be administered to them. But what comfort could they possibly receive, in their distressed situation, comparable to that which resulted from the example of their suffering master, and the promise he had made to his faithful followers? This example, and those promises, Saint Matthew seasonably laid before them, towards the close of this period of trial, for their imi

1 The same temper is also particularly illustrated in all our Saviour's miracles.