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Untitled Article
ledge of his person . ' These individuals would undoubtedly be glad to leam some particulars of his life , in order to place themselves as nearly as possible on an equality with their elder and more fortunate brethren . In the public assemblies of the Christians this desire was of course only incidentally and sparingly gratified , when a teacher happened to refer to memorable sayings of Christ , which could only be related together with the occasion that had called them forth ; more copious and detaSed accounts they could only
procure in familiar intercourse upon express inquiry . And m this way many particulars were told and heard , most of them probably without being * committed to writing ; but assuredly much was very soon written down , partly b y the narrators themselves , as each of them happened to be pressed by a multiplicity of questions on a particular occurrence , respecting which he was peculiarly qualified to give information ; for writing became in that case a convenience and a saving of time . Still more , however , must have been committed to writing by the inquirers , especially by such as did not remain constantly in
the neighbourhood of the narrators , and were glad to communicate the narrative again to many others , who , perhaps , were never able to consult an eyewitness . In this way detached incidents and discourses were noted down . We need scarcely apprehend at this day , in opposition to this probable account of the matter , the objection that the first preachers of Christianity , as well as its friends , were sunk in such a depth of barbarism , that but very few of them can be supposed capable of thus committing facts to writing . Not
even with respect to the retaining and reporting of the speeches , do I conceive it necessary to enter into a refutation of this objection . For though , perhaps , this facility in itself existed in a less degree among the Jews than among the Greeks , yet , on the other hand , the task was considerably lightened by the method of instruction in parables and aphorisms , and by the constant allusions and references to parts of the sacred writings universally known . Notes of this kind were at first no doubt less frequently met with among the
Christians settled in Palestine , and passed immediately into more distant parts , to which the pure oral tradition flowed more scantily . They , however , appeared every where more frequently , and were more anxiously sought for , when the great body of the original companions and friends of Christ was dispersed bv persecutions , and still more when that first generation begran to die
away . It would , however , have been singular if , even before this , the iRquirers who took those notes had possessed only detached passages : on the contrary , they , and still more their immediate copiers , had undoubtedly become collectors also , each according to his peculiar turn of mind ; and thus one , perhaps , collected only accounts of miracles , another only discourses , a third , perhaps , attached exclusive importance to the last days of Christ , or even to the scenes of his resurrection . Others , without any such particular predilection , collected all that fell in their way from good authority /'—Pp . 12—14 .
Dr . S . begins his analysis by the obvious division of the gospel into four sections ( not assuming , however , what must of course be the ooject of examination , their original separate existence ) . 1 . What precedes the public life of Jesus , ch . i . ii . 2 . Accounts of his baptism and of his actions and
discourses in the vicinity of Capernaum , extending to ch . ix . 49 . 3 . Narratives and discpurses relating to a journey to Jerusalem , the end of which is to be ascertained by more minute analysis ( afterwards fixed at ch . xix . 48 ) , 4 . An account of the last days of Christ , his sufferings and death , his resurrection and ascension .
Passing over the introductory verses , in which no one can fail to recognize a style wholly different from that of the succeeding part of the section , our author finds in the eightieth verse of the first chapter a decisive mark of the termination of the first of those originally independent narratives which have been put together to frame this Gospel . His reason for so considering it is , that a conti-
Untitled Article
36 Review . —Schleiermacher ' s Critical Essay on the Gospel of St . Luke ' .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1827, page 36, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1792/page/36/
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