It is obvious that, for such narratives to possess any real force
and validity, it is essential that their character and authorship should
be placed beyond all doubt. They must proceed from eye-witnesses capable
of estimating aright the nature of the phenomena. Our four Gospels,
however, are strictly anonymous works. The superscriptions which now
distinguish them are undeniably of later origin than the works
themselves and do not proceed from the composers of the Gospels. Of the
writers to whom these narratives are traditionally ascribed only two are
even said to have been apostles, the alleged authors of the second and
third Synoptics neither having been personal followers of Jesus nor
eye-witnesses of the events they describe. Under these circumstances, we
are wholly dependent upon external evidence for information regarding
the authorship and trustworthiness of the four canonical Gospels.
In examining this evidence, we proceeded upon clear and definite
principles. Without forming or adopting any theory whatever as to the
date or origin of our Gospels, we simply searched the writings of the
Fathers, during a century and a half after the events in question, for
information regarding the composition and character of these works and
even for any certain traces of their use, although, if discovered, these
could prove little beyond the mere existence of the Gospels used at the
date of the writer.
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