Possibly, though by no means certainly, we have
in the present Gospel according to St. Matthew the
nearest approach to the original Logia or doctrinal
discourses, and in the present Mark the nearest approach
to the original notes recorded by Mark from the dicta-
tion of St. Peter.
As regards the Gospel according to St. John, it ap-
pears perfectly clear, both from the silence of Papias, the
absence of any reference to it by other early Christian



262 MODERN SCIENCE AND MODEEN THOUGHT.
Fathers until the end of the second century, and still
more from internal evidence, that it could not possibly-
have been written by the Apostle whose name it bears.
John, as we know from St. Paul's Epistles, was one-
of the pillars of the Christian Church of Jerusalem,
whose doctrine was in all respects Hebraic, and who
opposed the larger idea that a man could be a Christian,
without first becoming a Jew.
The writer of the Gospel is not only ignorant of
matters which must have been well known to every
Jew, but he is positively prejudiced against Judaism,
and represents it in an unfavourable light. His
narrative of the events of the life of Jesus, including
the miracles, is totally different from that of the
Synoptics, and his view of His character and report
of His speeches wide as the poles asunder. To the
Synoptics Jesus is the man-Messiah foretold by the
prophets; to the author of John He is the "Logos,"
the incarnation of a metaphysical attribute of the
Deity.
