The Wave of Scepticism and the Rock of TruthHabershon, M. H. (Matthew Henry)
Religion
The Wave of Scepticism and the Rock of Truth
Habershon, M. H. (Matthew Henry)
Bible. New Testament -- Evidences, authority, etc.; Cassels, Walter Richard, 1826-1907. Supernatural religion
As to the difference in language and style between it and the
Apocalypse, it is not altogether unusual for an author to produce
works which differ greatly from each other. An instance is mentioned
by the Rev. Kentish Bache, in his letter to Dr. Davidson. "William
Penn, within one and the same year (1668) wrote two different works,
entitled 'The Sandy Foundation Shaken,' and 'Innocency with her Open
Face.' The former pamphlet is circulated by the Unitarians as a tract
demolishing the doctrine of the Trinity, while the latter is an
earnest defence of that very doctrine; and yet Penn protests that his
belief had undergone no change" (p. 35).
One of the difficulties in the way of the reception of the Fourth
Gospel is the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which the Synoptics do
not record. A probable explanation is suggested by Grotius, who says,
as Lazarus was living when the Synoptics were written, and as "the
chief priests consulted that they might put him to death, because that
by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on
Jesus,"[62] the publication of the miracle would have exposed Lazarus
to more intense hostility, and endangered his life.
[62] John xii. 10.
Our author makes the strange assertion that "the Fourth Gospel, by
whomsoever written--even if it could be traced to the Apostle
John--has no real historical value, being at best the glorified
recollections of an old man, written down half a century after the
events recorded" (p. 467). This bold assertion ignores the fact that
the impressions of early life are, as a rule, indelibly fixed on the
memory. Of no historical value, though written by John! Our author
knows perfectly well that such an event as the raising of Lazarus from
the dead could never fade from the memory of those who witnessed it.
Does he overlook, or suppress, the consideration that John's
recollection would be daily refreshed by the teaching of the
principles of a gospel which consisted of these events and discourses?
We can as well conceive of the Duke of Wellington having forgotten,
when he was eighty years old, the campaigns of the Peninsula and the
battle of Waterloo, as John forgetting the memorable transactions in
the life of his Master with which he was so closely identified.
Besides, we do not know that the materials for John's book had not
long before been noted down. It is not probable that he who wrote the
Apocalypse in the year 68 would put nothing into writing of the
memoirs until close upon the time when the book was published. Such is
not the mode of authorship now, and was not then. Supposing the
apostle to have died, leaving behind him unarranged materials,
including notes and memoranda made at various times, and that these
were, with fidelity, but with more scholarship than John possessed,
transcribed, edited, and made a book of, entitled "The Gospel
according to John," we have an explanation of the linguistic
difficulty which does not overstep the limits of reasonable
probability.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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