The Lost and Hostile Gospels: An Essay on the Toledoth Jeschu, and the Petrine and Pauline Gospels of the First Three Centuries of Which Fragments RemainBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
The Lost and Hostile Gospels: An Essay on the Toledoth Jeschu, and the Petrine and Pauline Gospels of the First Three Centuries of Which Fragments Remain
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Apocryphal Gospels
The “Memorabilia” in use in the different Churches founded by the apostles
would probably be strung together in such order as they were generally
read. How early the Church began to have a regulated order of seasons, an
ecclesiastical year, cannot be ascertained with certainty; but every
consideration leads us to suspect that it grew up simultaneously with the
constitution of the Church. With the Church of the Hebrews this was
unquestionably the case. The Jews who believed had grown up under a system
of fasts and festivals in regular series, and, as we know, they observed
these even after they were believers in Christ. Paul, who broke with the
Law in so many points, did not venture to dispense with its sacred cycle
of festivals. He hasted to Jerusalem to attend the feast of
Pentecost.(282) At Ephesus, even, he observed it.(283) St. Jerome assures
us that Lent was instituted by the apostles.(284) The Apostolic
Constitutions order the observance of the Sabbath, the Lord’s‐day,
Pentecost, Christmas, Epiphany, the days of the Apostles, that of St.
Stephen, and the anniversaries of the Martyrs.(285) Indeed, the observance
of the Lord’s‐day, instituted probably by St. Paul, involves the principle
which would include all other sacred commemorations; for if one day was to
be set apart as a memorial of the resurrection, it is probable that others
would be observed in memory of the nativity, the passion, the ascension,
&c.
As early as there was any sort of ecclesiastical year observed, so early
would the “Memorabilia” of the apostles be arranged as appropriate to
these seasons. But such an arrangement would not be chronological;
therefore many took in hand, as St. Luke tells us, to correct this, and he
took special care to give the succession of events as they occurred, not
as they were read, by obtaining information from the best sources
available.
It is probable that the “Recollections” of St. Peter, written in
disjointed notes by St. Mark, were in circulation through many Churches
before St. Mark composed his Gospel out of them. From Antioch to Rome they
were read at the celebration of the divine mysteries; and some of them,
found in the Churches of Asia Minor, have been taken by St. Luke into his
Gospel. Others circulating in Palestine were in the hands of the deutero‐
Matthew, and grafted into his compilation. But as St. Luke, St. Mark, and
the composer of the first Gospel, acted independently, their chronological
sequences differ. Their Gospels are three kaleidoscopic groups of the same
pieces.(286)
Had St. Matthew any other part in the composition of the first Canonical
Gospel than contributing to it his “Syntax of the Lord’s Sayings”? Of that
we can say nothing for certain. It is possible enough that many of the
“doings” of Jesus contained in the Gospel may be memorabilia of St.
Matthew, circulating in _anecdota_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account