The Two Tests: The Supernatural Claims of Christianity Tried by Two of Its Own RulesLisle, Lionel
Religion
The Two Tests: The Supernatural Claims of Christianity Tried by Two of Its Own Rules
Lisle, Lionel
Apologetics
The healing power claimed for Jesus in the passages marked (a) embraces
all manner of sickness, disease, and derangement. Cures were effected by
his word or his touch, or upon the patient laying hold even of the hem
of his garment. The contemporaneous unbelief (Matt. xi. 20-24.) of his
pretensions, with such instances of superhuman power openly manifested
far and wide (Matt. iv. 23-25, and ix. 35) among the cities and villages
of Galilee, is the crowning marvel of all.
The special instances of his wonder-working and disease-curing power,
marked (6), (c), (d), and (e), comprise all that are recorded in the
four Gospels. The agreement between Matthew, Mark, and Luke, both as to
the incidents and the manner of narration, is most marked. The raising
of the son of the widow of Nain, the miraculous draught of fishes at the
calling of Peter, James, and John, a cure of dropsy and one of infirmity
are given by Luke alone. On the other hand, Luke has not the walking on
the sea, the feeding of the four thousand, the cursing of the fig-tree,
or the curing of the Canaanite's demon-possessed daughter, found in
Matthew and Mark. And Matthew alone narrates the catching of the fish
with the tribute money. But in the other instances the agreement between
them is almost complete--so complete as to suggest many questions as
to the real truth with reference to the compilation of the first three
Gospels, questions which probably will never be solved. What, however,
concerns the present purpose is that of the three the only eye-witness
is Matthew, The source from which Mark and Luke derived their
information is unknown, and ever will remain so. If not from Matthew
(always assuming him to be the writer of the first Gospel), or from
the same source as Matthew, it would be remarkable that their mode of
narrating these details was so similar to his. How far then, does John,
the other eye-witness, bear out Matthew, Mark, and Luke? Strange to
relate, he has not one word of the casting out of devils, or of the
cures of bodily distresses mentioned by the other three. Nor does he
confirm the raising of Jairus' daughter, although he himself and James
and Peter were the only three said to have been admitted by Jesus to
witness this event, nor the resuscitation of the son of the widow
of Nain, nor the calming of the storm, nor the feeding of the four
thousand, nor the cursing of the fig-tree, nor the fish with the tribute
money, nor the miraculous haul of fishes at his own calling to be a
disciple. The miracles he does mention are _seven in all, and of these
five are net in the other gospels_, although of the most striking
character. They are,
1. The raising of Lazarus, four days dead.
2. Turning water into wine.
3. Curing a nobleman's son, at a distance, of fever.
4. Curing a man blind from his birth.
5. Curing a man, at the pool of Bethesda, with an infirmity of
thirty-eight years' standing.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account