Essays on Supernatural Religion

J >> Joseph B. Lightfoot >> Essays on Supernatural Religion

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[Transcriber's Note: Footnotes have been relocated to the end of the
text, and footnote anchors have been labeled with the original page and
footnote numbers. Inconsistent hyphenations by the author (including
co-extensive/coextensive, foot-notes/footnotes, hundred-fold/hundredfold,
mis-statement/misstatement, re-written/rewritten, two-fold/twofold)
have been retained as printed.]

ESSAYS ON THE WORK ENTITLED "SUPERNATURAL RELIGION"

Reprinted from _The Contemporary Review_.

BY

J.B. LIGHTFOOT, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D.
LATE BISHOP OF DURHAM.

LONDON:
MACMILLAN AND CO.
AND NEW YORK.
1893

_First Edition_, 1889.
_Second Edition_, 1893.

PREFACE.

This republication of Essays which were written several years ago has
no reference to any present controversies. Its justification is the
fact that strangers and friends in England and America alike had urged
me from time to time to gather them together, that they might be had in
a more convenient form, believing that they contained some elements of
permanent value which deserved to be rescued from the past numbers of
a Review not easily procurable, and thus rendered more accessible to
students. I had long resisted these solicitations for reasons which
I shall explain presently; but a few months ago, when I was prostrated
by sickness and my life was hanging on a slender thread, it became
necessary to give a final answer to the advice tendered to me. This
volume is the result. The kind offices of my chaplain the Rev. J.R.
Harmer, who undertook the troublesome task of verifying the references,
correcting the press, and adding the indices, when I was far too ill to
attend to such matters myself, have enabled me to bring it out sooner
than I had hoped.

When I first took up the book entitled 'Supernatural Religion,' I felt,
whether rightly or wrongly, that its criticisms were too loose and
pretentious, and too full of errors, to produce any permanent effect;
and for the most part attacks of this kind on the records of the Divine
Life are best left alone. But I found that a cruel and unjustifiable
assault was made on a very dear friend to whom I was attached by the
most sacred personal and theological ties; and that the book which
contained this attack was from causes which need not be specified
obtaining a notoriety unforeseen by me. Thus I was forced to break
silence; and, as I advanced with my work, I seemed to see that, though
undertaken to redress a personal injustice, it might be made subservient
to the wider interests of the truth.

Paper succeeded upon paper, and I had hoped ultimately to cover the
whole ground, so far as regards the testimony of the first two centuries
to the New Testament Scriptures. But my time was not my own, as I was
necessarily interrupted by other literary and professional duties which
claimed the first place; and meanwhile I was transferred to another and
more arduous sphere of practical work, being thus obliged to postpone
indefinitely my intention of giving something like completeness to the
work.

In republishing these papers then, the only course open to me, in
justice to my adversary as well as to myself, was to reprint them in
succession word for word as they appeared, correcting obvious misprints;
though in many cases my argument might have been strengthened
considerably. Recently discovered documents for instance have
established the certainty of the main conclusions respecting Tatian's
_Diatessaron_, to which the criticism of the available evidence had led
me. Again I have since treated the Ignatian question more fully
elsewhere, and satisfied myself on points about which I had expressed
indecision in these Essays. On the other hand on one or two minor
questions I might have used less confident language.

What shocked me in the book was not the extravagance of the opinions or
the divergence from my own views; though I cannot pretend to be
indifferent about the veracity of the records which profess to reveal
Him, whom I believe to be not only the very Truth, but the very Life. I
have often learnt very much even from extreme critics, and have freely
acknowledged my obligations; but here was a writer who (to judge from
his method) seemed to me, and not to me only [Footnote: See Salmon's
_Introduction to the New Testament_ p. 9.], where it was a question of
weighing probabilities, as is the case in most historical
investigations, to choose invariably that alternative, even though the
least probable, which would enable him to score a point against his
adversary. For the rest I disclaim any personal bias, as against any
personal opponent. The author of 'Supernatural Religion,' as distinct
from the work, is a mere blank to me. I do not even know his name, nor
have I attempted to discover it. Whether he is living or dead, I know
not. He preferred to write anonymously, and so far as I am concerned, I
am glad that it was so; though, speaking for myself, I prefer taking the
responsibility of my opinions and statements on important subjects.

In several instances the author either vouchsafed an answer to my
criticisms, or altered the form of his statements in a subsequent
edition. In all such cases references are scrupulously given in this
volume to his later utterances. In most cases my assailant had the last
word. He is welcome to it. I am quite willing that careful and impartial
critics shall read my statements and his side by side, and judge between
us. It is my sole desire, in great things and in small, to be found
[Greek: sunergos te aletheia].

BOURNEMOUTH,
_May_ 2, 1889.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1--31
II. THE SILENCE OF EUSEBIUS 32--58
III. THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES 59--88
IV. POLYCARP OF SMYRNA 89--141
V. PAPIAS OF HIERAPOLIS I. 142--177
VI. PAPIAS OF HIERAPOLIS II. 178--216
VII. THE LATER SCHOOL OF ST JOHN 217--250
VIII. THE CHURCHES OF GAUL 251--271
IX. TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 272--288

DISCOVERIES ILLUSTRATING THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 291--302
INDICES 303--324

SUPERNATURAL RELIGION.

I. INTRODUCTION.

[DECEMBER, 1874]

If the author of _Supernatural Religion_ [Footnote 1:1] designed, by
withholding his name, to stimulate public curiosity and thus to extend
the circulation of his work, he has certainly not been disappointed in
his hope. When the rumour once got abroad, that it proceeded from the
pen of a learned and venerable prelate, the success of the book was
secured. For this rumour indeed there was no foundation in fact. It was
promptly and emphatically denied, when accidentally it reached the ears
of the supposed author. But meanwhile the report had been efficacious.
The reviewers had taken the work in hand and (with one exception)
lavished their praises on the critical portions of it. The first edition
was exhausted in a few months.

No words can be too strong to condemn the heartless cruelty of this
imputation. The venerable prelate, on whom the authorship of this
anonymous work was thrust, deserved least of all men to be exposed to
such an insult. As an academic teacher and as an ecclesiastical ruler
alike, he had distinguished himself by a courageous avowal of his
opinions at all costs. For more than a quarter of a century he had lived
in the full blaze of publicity, and on his fearless integrity no breath
of suspicion had ever rested. Yet now, when increasing infirmities
obliged him to lay down his office, he was told that his life for years
past had been one gigantic lie. The insinuation involved nothing less
than this. Throughout those many years, during which the anonymous
author, as he himself tells us, had been preparing for the publication
of an elaborate and systematic attack upon Christianity, the bishop was
preaching Christian doctrine, confirming Christian children, ordaining
Christian ministers, without breathing a hint to the world that he felt
any misgiving of the truths which he thus avowed and taught. Yet men
talked as if, somehow or other, the cause of 'freethinking' had gained
great moral support from the conversion of a bishop, though, if the
rumour had been true, their new convert had for years past been guilty
of the basest fraud of which a man is capable.

And all the while there was absolutely nothing to recommend this
identification of the unknown author. The intellectual characteristics
of the work present a trenchant contrast to the refined scholarship and
cautious logic of this accomplished prelate. Only one point of
resemblance could be named. The author shows an acquaintance with the
theological critics of the modern Dutch school; and a knowledge of Dutch
writers was known, or believed, to have a place among the acquisitions
of this omniscient scholar. Truly no reputation is safe, when such a
reputation is traduced on these grounds.

I have been assuming however that the work entitled _Supernatural
Religion_, which lies before me, is the same work which the reviewers
have applauded under this name. But, when I remember that the St Mark of
Papias cannot possibly be our St Mark, I feel bound to throw upon this
assumption the full light of modern critical principles; and, so tested,
it proves to be not only hasty and unwarrantable, but altogether absurd.
It is only necessary to compare the statements of highly intellectual
reviewers with the work itself; and every unprejudiced mind must be
convinced that 'the evidence is fatal to the claims' involved in this
identification. Out of five reviews or notices of the work which I have
read, only one seems to refer to our _Supernatural Religion_. The other
four are plainly dealing with some apocryphal work, bearing the same
name and often using the same language, but in its main characteristics
quite different from and much more authentic than the volumes before me.

1. It must be observed in the first place, that the reviewers agree in
attributing to the work scholarship and criticism of the highest order.
'The author,' writes one, 'is a scientifically trained critic. He has
learned to argue and to weigh evidence.' 'The book,' adds a second,
'proceeds from a man of ability, a scholar and a reasoner.' 'His
scholarship,' says this same reviewer again, 'is apparent throughout.'
'Along with a wide and minute scholarship,' he writes in yet another
place, 'the unknown writer shows great acuteness.' Again a third
reviewer, of whose general tone, as well as of his criticisms on the
first part of the work, I should wish to speak with the highest respect,
praises the writer's 'searching and scholarly criticism.' Lastly a
fourth reviewer attributes to the author 'careful and acute
scholarship.' This testimony is explicit, and it comes from four
different quarters. It is moreover confirmed by the rumour already
mentioned, which assigned the work to a bishop who has few rivals among
his contemporaries as a scholar and a critic.

Now, since the documents which our author has undertaken to discuss are
written almost wholly in the Greek and Latin languages, it may safely be
assumed that under the term 'scholarship' the reviewers included an
adequate knowledge of these languages. Starting from this as an axiom
which will not be disputed, I proceed to inquire what we find in the
work itself, which will throw any light on this point.

The example, which I shall take first, relates to a highly important
passage of Irenaeus [3:1], containing a reference in some earlier
authority, whom this father quotes, to a saying of our Lord recorded
only in St John's Gospel. The passage begins thus:--

'As the elders say, then also shall those deemed worthy of the
abode in heaven depart thither; and others shall enjoy the delights
of paradise; and others shall possess the splendour of the city;
for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they that see
Him shall be worthy.'

Then follows the important paragraph which is translated differently by
our author [4:1] and by Dr Westcott [4:2]. For reasons which will appear
immediately, I place the two renderings side by side:--

WESTCOTT. | SUPERNATURAL RELIGION.
|
'This distinction of dwelling, | 'But there is to be this
they taught, exists between | distinction [4:4] of dwelling
those who brought forth a | ([Greek: einai de ten diastolen
hundred-fold, and those who | tauten tes oikeseos]) of those bearing
brought forth sixty-fold, and | fruit the hundred-fold, and of the
those who brought forth | (bearers of) the sixty-fold, and of
twenty-fold (Matt. xiii. 8)... | the (bearers of) the thirty-fold: of
| whom some indeed shall be taken up
| into the heavens, some shall live
And it was for this reason | in Paradise, and some shall
the Lord said that _in His | inhabit the City, and for that
Father's House_ ([Greek: en | reason ([Greek: dia touto]--
tois tou patros]) _are many | _propter hoc_) the Lord declared
mansions_ (John xiv. 2).' | many mansions to be in the (heavens)
[4:3] | of my Father ([Greek: en tois tou
| patros mou monas einai pollas]), etc.'

On this extract our author remarks that 'it is impossible for any one
who attentively considers the whole of this passage and who makes
himself acquainted with the manner in which Irenaeus conducts his
argument, and interweaves it with texts of Scripture, to doubt that the
phrase we are considering is introduced by Irenaeus himself, and is in
no case a quotation from the work of Papias [5:1].' As regards the
relation of this quotation from the Fourth Gospel to Papias any remarks,
which I have to make, must be deferred for the present [5:2]; but on the
other point I venture to say that any fairly trained schoolboy will feel
himself constrained by the rules of Greek grammar to deny what our
author considers it 'impossible' even 'to doubt.' He himself is quite
unconscious of the difference between the infinitive and the indicative,
or in other words between the oblique and the direct narrative; and so
he boldly translates [Greek: einai ten diastolen] as though it were
[Greek: estai] (or [Greek: mellei einai]) [Greek: he diastole], and
[Greek: eirekenai ton Kurion] as though it were [Greek: eireken ho
Kurios]. This is just as if a translator from a German original were to
persist in ignoring the difference between 'es sey' and 'es ist' and
between 'der Herr sage' and 'der Herr sagt.' Yet so unconscious is our
author of the real point at issue, that he proceeds to support his view
by several other passages in which Irenaeus 'interweaves' his own
remarks, because they happen to contain the words [Greek: dia touto],
though in every instance the indicative and _not the infinitive_ is
used. To complete this feat of scholarship he proceeds to charge Dr
Westcott with what 'amounts to a falsification of the text [5:3],'
because this scholarly writer has inserted the words 'they taught' to
show that in the original the sentence containing the reference to St
John is in the oblique narrative and therefore reports the words of
others [5:4]. I shall not retort this charge of 'falsification,' because
I do not think that the cause of truth is served by imputing immoral
motives to those from whom we differ; and indeed the context shows that
our author is altogether blind to the grammatical necessity. But I would
venture to ask whether it would not have been more prudent, as well as
more seemly, if he had paused before venturing, under the shelter of an
anonymous publication, to throw out this imputation of dishonesty
against a writer of singular candour and moderation, who has at least
given to the world the hostage and the credential of an honoured name.
It is necessary to add that our author persists in riveting this
grammatical error on himself. He returns to the charge again in two
later footnotes [6:1] and declares himself to have shown 'that it [the
reference to the Fourth Gospel] must be referred to Irenaeus himself,
and that there is no ground for attributing it to the Presbyters at
all.' 'Most critics,' he continues, 'admit the uncertainty [6:2].' As it
will be my misfortune hereafter to dispute not a few propositions which
'most critics' are agreed in maintaining, it is somewhat reassuring to
find that they are quite indifferent to the most elementary demands of
grammar [6:3].

The passage just discussed has a vital bearing on the main question at
issue, the date of the Fourth Gospel. The second example which I shall
take, though less important, is not without its value. As in the former
instance our author showed his indifference to moods, so here he is
equally regardless of tenses. He is discussing the heathen Celsus, who
shows an acquaintance with the Evangelical narratives, and whose date
therefore it is not a matter of indifference to ascertain. Origen, in
the preface to his refutation of Celsus, distinctly states that this
person had been long dead ([Greek: ede kai palai nekron]). In his first
book again he confesses his ignorance who this Celsus was, but is
disposed to identify him with a person of the name known to have
flourished about a century before his own time [7:1]. But at the close
of the last book [7:2], addressing his friend Ambrosius who had sent him
the work, and at whose instance he had undertaken the refutation, he
writes (or rather, he is represented by our author as writing) as
follows:--

'Know, however, that Celsus has promised to write another treatise
after this one.... If, therefore, he has not fulfilled his promise
to write a second book, we may well be satisfied with the eight
books in reply to his Discourse. If however, he has commenced and
finished this work also, seek it and send it in order that we may
answer it also, and confute the false teaching in it etc.' [7:3]

On the strength of the passage so translated, our author supposes that
Origen's impression concerning the date of Celsus had meanwhile been
'considerably modified', and remarks that he now 'treats him as a
contemporary'. Unfortunately however, the tenses, on which everything
depends, are freely handled in this translation. Origen does not say,
'Celsus _has promised_,' but 'Celsus _promises_' ([Greek:
epangellomenon]), _i.e._ in the treatise before him, for Origen's
knowledge was plainly derived from the book itself. And again, he does
not say 'If he _has not fulfilled_ his promise to write', but 'If he
_did not write_ as he undertook to do' ([Greek: egrapsen
huposchomenos]); nor 'if he _has commenced and finished_', but 'if he
_commenced and finished_' ([Greek: arxamenos sunetelese]) [7:4]. Thus
Origen's language itself here points to a past epoch, and is in strict
accordance with the earlier passages in his work.

These two examples have been chosen, not because they are by any means
the worst specimens of our author's Greek, but because in both cases an
elaborate argument is wrecked on this rock of grammar. If any reader is
curious to see how he can drive his ploughshare through a Greek
sentence, he may refer for instance to the translations of Basilides
(II. p. 46) [8:1], or of Valentinus (II. p. 63) [8:2], or of Philo (II.
p. 265 sq) [8:3]. Or he may draw his inferences from such renderings as
[Greek; ho logos edelou], 'Scripture declares,' [8:4] or [Greek: kata
korres propelakizein], [8:5] 'to inflict a blow on one side'; or from
such perversions of meaning as 'did no wrong,' twice repeated [8:6] as a
translation of [Greek: ouden hemarte] in an important passage of Papias
relating to St Mark, where this Father really means that the Evangelist,
though his narrative was not complete, yet 'made no mistake' in what he
did record.

Nor does our author's Latin fare any better than his Greek, as may be
inferred from the fact that he can translate 'nihil tamen differt
credentium fidei,' 'nothing nevertheless differs in the faith of
believers,' [8:7] instead of 'it makes no difference to the faith of
believers,' thus sacrificing sense and grammar alike [8:8]. Or it is
still better illustrated by the following example:--

'Nam ex iis commentatoribus | 'For of the Commentators
quos habemus, Lucam videtur | whom we possess, Marcion seems
Marcion elegisse quem caederet.' | (_videtur_) to have selected Luke,
Tertull. _adv. Marc._ iv. 2. | which he mutilates.' _S.R._
| II. p. 99. [8:9]

Here again tenses and moods are quite indifferent, an imperfect
subjunctive being treated as a present indicative; while at the same
time our author fails to perceive that the "commentatores" are the
Evangelists themselves. His mind seems to be running on the Commentaries
of De Wette and Alford, and he has forgotten the Commentaries of Caesar
[9:1].

Having shown that the author does not possess the elementary knowledge
which is indispensable in a critical scholar, I shall not stop to
inquire how far he exhibits those higher qualifications of a critic,
which are far more rare--whether for instance he has the discriminating
tact and nice balance of judgment necessary for such a work, or whether
again he realizes how men in actual life do speak and write now, and
might be expected to speak and write sixteen or seventeen centuries
ago--without which qualifications the most painful study and
reproduction of German and Dutch criticism is valueless. These
qualifications cannot be weighed or measured, and I must trust to my
subsequent investigations to put the reader in possession of data for
forming a judgment on these points. At present it will be sufficient to
remark that a scholarly writer might at least be expected not to
contradict himself on a highly important question of Biblical criticism.
Yet this is what our author does. Speaking of the descent of the angel
at the pool of Bethesda (John v. 3, 4) in his first part, he writes:
'The passage is not found in the older MSS of the Fourth Gospel, and it
was probably a later interpolation.' [9:2] But, having occasion towards
the end of his work to refer again to this same passage, he entirely
forgets his previously expressed opinion, and is very positive on the
other side. 'We must believe,' he writes, 'that this passage did
originally belong to the text, and has from an early period been omitted
from the MSS on account of the difficulty it presents.' [10:1] And, to
make the contradiction more flagrant, he proceeds to give a reason why
the disputed words must have formed part of the original text.

It must be evident by this time to any 'impartial mind,' that the
_Supernatural Religion_ of the reviewers cannot be our _Supernatural
Religion_. The higher criticism has taught me that poor foolish Papias,
an extreme specimen of 'the most deplorable carelessness and want of
critical judgment' displayed by the Fathers on all occasions, cannot
possibly have had our St Mark's Gospel before him [10:2], because he
says that his St Mark recorded only 'some' of our Lord's sayings and
doings, and did not record them in order (though by the way no one
maintains that everything said and done by Christ is recorded in our
Second Gospel, or that the events follow in strict chronological
sequence); and how then is it possible to resist the conclusion, which
is forced upon the mind by the concurrent testimony of so many able
reviewers, the leaders of intellectual thought in this critical
nineteenth century, to the consummate scholarship of the writer, that
they must be referring to a different recension, probably more authentic
and certainly far more satisfactory than the book which lies before me?

2. And the difficulty of the popular identification will be found to
increase as the investigation proceeds. There is a second point, also,
on which our critics are unanimous. Our first reviewer describes the
author as 'scrupulously exact in stating the arguments of adversaries.'
Our fourth reviewer uses still stronger language: 'The author with
excellent candour places before us the materials on which a judgment
must rest, with great fulness and perfect impartiality.' The testimony
of the other two, though not quite so explicit, tends in the same
direction. 'An earnest seeker after truth,' says the second reviewer,
'looking around at all particulars pertaining to his inquiries.' 'The
account given in the volume we are noticing,' writes the third, 'is a
perfect mine of information on this subject, alloyed indeed with no
small prejudice, yet so wonderfully faithful and comprehensive that an
error may be detected by the light of the writer's own searching and
scholarly criticism.'

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