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that species of reference to his death , which implies its near approach . The Evangelist himself says , ( ver . 64 , ) that he knew from the beginning who was going to betray him ; ' o ita ^ cx ^ coa-uv avrov : and at the close of the chapter he says of Judas Iscariot , •* fbr he was about to betray him , " oirroq yap yjfxeXKsy avrov vapaBdovai ' . Then again , it is obvious from each of the prior gospels , that this miracle occurred not long before the Transfiguration ; and
during this , as St . Luke records ( ch . ix . 31 ) , the two heaven-sent messengers spake to Christ of his departure , which he was about to fulfil , vjv e ^ sXXs irXypovu , at Jerusalem . It seems impossible , indeed , from ch . ix . 7—56 , that Luke could have had any other idea of the period of the miracle of the Five Thousand , than that it occurred shortly before our Lord ' s final visit to Jerusalem at the last Passover .
We know of no writer that has come to our conclusion as to the period of this miracle , except G . J . Vossius , in his work De Annis Christi ; and he is commonly , through some oversight , adduced to support the emendation of the text in John vi . 4 . Perceiving from a note in Newcome ' s first Letter to Priestley , ( pp . 117—119 , ) that he entertained the simple and obvious , but neglected , opinion which we advocate , we requested a friend on whose accuracy and acquaintance with the subject we could rely , to examine Gehrard Vossius ' s work , and ascertain the grounds on which he rested his opinion . The views of this eminent critic are so exactly accordant with our own , that we have great satisfaction in laving before the reader the information with
which we have been furnished . Vossius gives his opinion , in p . 49 , that Christ was crucified a year and a few months after his baptism ; but adds , that the words of John ( in ch . vi . 4 ) appear decidedly to oppose it . This objection he obviates by observing ( 1 ) that if the Evangelist had referred to an intervening Passover , he woukl not have merely spoken of such a Passover as approaching , but would have given some account of the transactions during it : ( 2 , ) that instances of departure from the order of time , frequently occur in the gospels : and , ( 3 , ) that Luke obviously considered the miracle in question as occurring shonly
before the time when Christ was to be crucified . He maintains , therefore , that we have no need to resort to the omission of the word ira < r % cc .
We have now considered the first of the points we had in view ; and as the internal evidence is most decidedly in favour of the opinion that the ministry of Christ included only two Passovers , and this is accordant with the prevalent opinion of the Christian fathers during the two centuries succeeding that period , we entertain it , as we have long done , without hesitation , and make it the foundation of our arrangement of the gospel narratives . The other subjects we have to consider , are , ( 1 . ) The peculiar texture of each Gospel , so far as respects the succession of events ; in order to determine which we should make our guide in the chronological arrangement of the evangelical records . And
( 2 . ) The date of our Lord ' s baptism , and that of his death ; in considering which we shall have to shew what Luke probably intended by the 15 th year of Tiberius . In this we shall have again to advert to the opinion of the early fathers on the duration of Christ ' s ministry , and may be able to give some particulars respecting their statements on the subject . ( To be continued . )
Untitled Article
On the Chronology and Arrangement of the Gospel Narratives . 173
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1831, page 173, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2595/page/29/
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