The attempt to find an "impersonal" test of the documentary basis. Dr. Flinders Petrie on The Growth of the Gospels. Theory of selection and compilation from logia. Acceptance of any item as early. The argument of Blass as to possibility of real predictions. Case of Savonarola. Nature of the problem. Political anticipation versus prophecy. Investigation of the Savonarola case. His earlier prophecies, conditional and absolute 82 Chapter X.--THE SAVONAROLA FALLACY Comparison between Savonarola's prediction of the Sack of Rome and the gospel prophecy of the Fall of Jerusalem. Normality of Savonarola's vaticinations. Historical blunder of the Blass school as to medieval warfare. Frequency of sacrilege in Christian war. The Christian sack of Constantinople 93 Chapter XI.--THE "LOGIA" THEORY AND THE HISTORICAL TEST Blass on the gospel prophecy: analysis of the texts. Their arbitrary handling by Blass. The "Nucleus" theory of Dr. Petrie. Its arbitrary implications. Impersonal method of selection not followed by impersonal inference from the results. The logia theory much more compatible with the myth-theory than with the tradition. Test cases 104 Chapter XII.--FAILURE OF THE "LOGIA" THEORY The scientific inference. Omission and invention of logia necessarily to be inferred as well as selection. Implicit abandonment of certain prophecies, and resulting incoherence of the argument. Reversion to the fundamental issue between supernaturalism and reason. Final futility of the attempt to vindicate the documents. Possibilities as to currency of written logia. Illustration from Islam. The mass of incompatibilities in the Gospel Teaching. Possibilities of genuine self-contradiction. Carlyle and Ruskin. Mohammed. The gospels not thus explicable. Damaging implications of the logia theory. Variety of "Christs." Papias. Baruch and Enoch 113 Chapter XIII.--RESURGENCE OF THE HISTORIC PROBLEM The actually recovered logia of Oxyrhynchus. Their incompatibility with Dr. Petrie's assumption of historic genuineness for all. The real process of composition in Luke's gospel. Motives for invention. The myth of the Seventy Disciples a sample and test case. Inadequacy alike of the documentary theory and that of scattered logia 123 Chapter XIV.--ORTHODOXY AND THE "ORAL" HYPOTHESIS