Gospel History. a Syllabus of Professor C.W. Hodge's Gospel History
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GOSPEL HISTORY A SYLLABUS V • Professor C. W. Hodge's Gospel History. PRINTED—NOT PUBLISHED—EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS IN PKINCETON SEMINARY [Prepared by the Class of '77.] PRINCETON: CHARLES S. ROBINSON, PRINTER. 1876. <^*V Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by C. W. HODGE, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. This volume originated in the desire to have in more permanent and satisfactory form, than the meager pencil-scratches of any ordinary set of notes, the substance of a highly- valued course of lectures. And it is but just to say that Professor Hodge is responsible for nothing here printed, since his manuscript was not consulted, and no part of the work was supervised by him. It may also be added that this Syllabus is not intended to be well understood except in connection with the full Lectures in the class-room, and also in connection with Robinson's Harmony and the small syllabus. The preparation of these notes has been a very laborious task, so much so that the editors have no expectation that their labor and pains will be adequately appreciated. But before any one indulges in wholesale criti- cism, let him first sit down and prepare, from the various sources, the manuscript for only five of these printed pages, taking special pains to look up the different authorities and hunt down the various references. 'J hen let him remember that all this work had to be done in addition to the regular, and in some cases the extra, duties of the Seminary course. To any student who will comply with these two conditions, the editors herewith give full permission to cut and slash to his heart's content. ABBREVIATIONS. Alf. for A 1 ford. Rob. for Robinson. Ell. Ellicott. San. Sanhedrim. " Gal. " Galilee. Syn., Syns. Synoptists. Jerus. • l Jerusalem. Tisch. " Tischendorf. Lich. " Lichtenstein. Wies. Wieseler. The other abbreviations will be readily understood by the reader Princeton Seminary, Feb. 25th, 1876. SYLLABUS OF GOSPEL HISTORY. CHRONOLOGY. 1. Rationalists attempt to overthrow date of the Gos- pels, on external grounds ; they give a later date. 2. Alleged discrepancies of the gospels are exagger- ated. Two kinds : general, in which a different character of Christ is presented; special, one gospel being supposed to contradict another. If we can trace a gradual historical growth from beginning to end, we have in this unity of the gospels, most effective answer to opponents. Birth- place of Christ is be}T ond question, but the date of birth is unknown. It is assigned to 753, 751, 750 (C. W. H.) 749 (Rob.) 748 (Kepler) 747 (Ideler). N o one is at liberty to dogmatize where there is so much diversity of opinion. Give gospels benefit of their own reticence. It does not vitiate their historical value. The Passion is variously as- signed between 781—790. Positive chronology is the particular date. Relative chronology is the relation of events to one another, their succession. Absence of chronological precision shows it was not essential to the plan of the writer. It seldom disturbs the order; Matt, and Mark are less regular than Lk. and Jno. The year and the day of the nativity are to be determined. Present era was fixed in the 6th century by Dionysius, a Scythian monk who flourished in Rome 553— 556 A. D. He assumed that year of Christ's birth was coincident with 754. If 750 be the correct date, our era begins 4 years too late. This era was 1st used in historical works by Venerable Bede, early in the 8th century, afterward was introduced in public transactions by Frank kings, Pepin and Charlemagne. Gospels give 4 data : (1.) Time of Herod the Great, Matt, 2 : 1, Lk 1 : 5. (2.) Census in Judea under Augustus, Lk 2: 1. (3.) Star of the Magi, Matt. 2. (4.) Age of Christ when beginning public ministry, Lk 3 : 23. Josephns (Ant. 17 : 8:1):" Herod died, the 5th day after he had caused Antipater to be slain, having reigned, since he had caused Antigonus to be slain, 34 years ; but since lie had been declared king by the Romans, 37." (Ant'. " 17 : 6 : 4) : Herod deprived Matthias of the high-priest- hood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon." Now Herod was declared king in 714; therefore his death would be from 1st Nisan 750 to IstNisan 751, ace. to Jewish com- putation, at age of 70. Astronomical investigation places this eclipse on the night of 12th and 13th of March 750. He was dead before the 5th of April, because the Pass- over of that year fell on 12th of April, and Josephus (Ant. 17 : 8 : 4) states that before this feast, his son and successor Archelaus, observed the usual 7 days' mourn- ing for the dead. His death, therefore, must be placed between 13th March and April 4th, 750. (Andrews). How long before Herod's death was the Lord born ? Matt, and Lk. relate events that occurred between his birth and Herod's death ; circumcision, presentation in temple, visit of Magi, flight into Egypt, murder of Inno- cents. Whatever view may be taken as to order of these events, they can scarcely have occupied less than two months. This would bring his birth into Jan. or Feb. at latest, 750. Luke 2 : 1-2 ; a all the world should be taxed. b the taxing was first made when Cyre- nius was governor of Syria. OBJECTIONS URGED. I. No such universal taxing under Augustus on record; the censuses of contemporary history are local ; a clear case of inaccuracy, say the skeptics. Ans. : It is known from Suetonius and Ancyrian monument, that Augustus three times instituted a census, in 726, 716, and 767. The second only needs to be considered. It appears to have been a census civium, confined to cives Romani, and not to have extended to the provinces ; cannot, therefore, have been the taxing of Lk. Some restrict oixou/isvy to Palestine or Syria. It would be improbable and un- natural for Luke to make this restriction. A better an- swer is, that if Lk. mentions the census, that is enough. Other answers : 1. The omission of contemporaries lias its analogy; an argument from silence is never conclusive. Various laws were established, of which we are informed by no historians, but bv monuments. In year of Caesar's death, there was a geographical survey of Rome, but his- torians do not tell us of it. Ancient historians omit to give a complete list of governors of the provinces. On this period, Suetonius and Tacitus are very brief. This argument from silence, if pushed, would compel us to believe that no important event took place in the long reign of Augustus, of which the few historians whose works remain have not made specific mention. 2. Prob- ably the censuses referred to on the Ancyrian marbles were confined to Italy, and did not extend to the Provin- ces. But beyond question, the census did at times ex- tend to particular provinces. 3. A considerable gap oc- curs here in Dion Cassius (Roman historian); from 747 to 757, the very period in which Lk. savs the taxing was made. 4. In Joseph us the names of several who were governors of Syria about time of Lord's birth are men- tioned, but only incidentally, nor is the list complete. Being a professed Roman fiatterer, he leaves out all that might excite the discontent of Jewish readers. He passes over as lightly as possible whatever testifies to degrada- tion of his people. A j)osith:e argument is this : In time of Augustus, there 'was strong tendency to centralization, and establishment of the military power. Tiberius read in Senate an auto- graph MS. letter of Augustus's, which showed resources of the empire, how many soldiers could be raised and how much money they could give. How did he know, unless he had tried it? The citizens of Ancyra had marble copies made of bronze tablets in which he re- corded the chief events of his life. In these he declares he made a census of Roman citizens four times ; shows that he was doing this kind of work and confirms Lk. in- directly. Cassiodorus says that a careful survey was made in all provinces where Roman sovereignty extended, that there were enrolment lists. His authority of itself would have no err at weight; but he may have read many works unknown to us, on this period. Mom m sen doubts his statement, but Zumpt accepts it. " Being a Christian, he might have drawn his information from Lk." (Lange). Suidas : "Augustus sent out twenty men of great probity into all parts of the empire, by whom lie made an assessment of persons and estates;" has no intrinsic improbability, but is unsupported. Sui- das, like Cassiodorus, was a Christian. Indirect Proofs. — 1. Under the Republic, each prov- ince retained its own mode of taking census, and under the Antonines, there was a regular land tax. 2. Exemption from land tax in Italy (by jus Italicum) began with Augustus. The exception proves rule. The land and poll tax under Pompey must have been in full force, which presupposes a census. Here again is a diffi- culty. When was the census made ? II. Palestine was not yet a Roman province ; a Roman census was ordered during reign of Herod Great. But Herod was a rex sodas, who had to pay tribute to the Romans ; and then, this census may have been for statis- tical and military purposes, as in the decennial census of U.