, the Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then appeared in the order in which they are
now presented in our authorised version. [177:4] It is certain that all
these narratives were published several years before the tall of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70; and as each contains our Lord's announcement of
its speedy catastrophe, there is much probability in the report, that
the exact fulfilment of so remarkable a prophecy, led many to
acknowledge the divine origin of the Christian religion. The Gospel of
John is of a much later date, and seems to have been written towards the
conclusion of the century.

Two of the evangelists, Matthew and John, were apostles; and the other
two, Mark and Luke, appear to have been of the number of the Seventy.
[177:5] All were, therefore, fully competent to bear testimony to the
facts which they record, for the Seventy had "companied" with the Twelve
"all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among" them, [178:1]
and all "were from the beginning eye-witnesses and ministers of the
word." [178:2] These writers mention many miracles performed by Christ,
and at least three of the Gospels were in general circulation whilst
multitudes were still alive who are described in them as either the
spectators or the subjects of His works of wonder; and yet, though the
evangelists often enter most minutely into details, so that their
statements, if capable of contradiction, might have been at once
challenged and exposed, we do not find that any attempt was meanwhile
made to impeach their accuracy. Their manner of recording the acts of
the Great Teacher is characterised by remarkable simplicity, and the
most acute reader in vain seeks to detect in it the slightest trace of
concealment or exaggeration. Matthew artlessly confesses that he
belonged to the odious class of publicans; [178:3] Mark tells how Peter,
his friend and companion, "began to curse and to swear," and to declare
that he knew not the Man; [178:4] Luke, who was probably one of the two
brethren who journeyed to Emmaus, informs us how Jesus drew near to them
on the way and upbraided them as "fools and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets had spoken;" [178:5] and John honestly repudiates the
pretended prediction setting forth that he himself was not to die.
[178:6] Each evangelist mentions incidents unnoticed by the others, and
thus supplies proof that he is entitled to the credit of an original and
independent witness. Matthew alone give