s. They are xvi. 10-17, xx.
5-15; xxi. 1-18, xxvii. 1-xxviii. 16.

[2] See Rev. Sir John C. Hawkins, Bart., M.A., _Horae Synopticae_.

[3] See Lightfoot, _Commentary on Galatians_.

[4] The reader is referred to Dr. Gore, _The Church and the Ministry_,
p. 234 f. (fourth edition).

[5] _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, vol. i. p. 49.

{116}

CHAPTER VIII

THE EPISTLES OF ST. PAUL

Although the Christian cannot regard the Epistles contained in the New
Testament as having quite the same importance as the Gospels which
record the life and sayings of his Divine Master, he must regard them
as having a profound significance. They deal with the creed and the
conduct of the Church with an inspired insight which gives them an
undying value, and they are marked by a personal affection which gives
them an undying charm. They lend, too, a most powerful support to the
historical evidence of the truth of Christianity. We have already
noticed that the earliest Gospel was probably not written before A.D.
62, while St. John's Gospel is probably as late as A.D. 85. But
several of the twenty-one Epistles in the New Testament are certainly
earlier than A.D. 62, and out of the whole number only the three by St.
John can be confidently placed at a later date than St. John's Gospel.
Now, these twenty-one Epistles assume the truth of the story contained
in the Gospels. They do more than this. For they prove that during
the lifetime of men who had personally known Jesus Christ, there were
large numbers of earnest men and women who were at home with the same
ideas as those which Christians have cherished until modern times.
Some of these ideas explain what we find in the Gospels. For instance,
the doctrine of the Atonement is more plainly expounded in the Epistles
than in the Gospels. This doctrine, together with those which concern
the Person of Jesus Christ, the Holy {117} Trinity, the sacraments, the
Church, and the ministry, could be shown to have existed about A.D. 60,
even if the Gospels had perished or were proved to be forgeries. The
indirect evidence which the Epistles give to the life and teaching of
our Lord is therefore of immense importance. If the infidel says that
these doctrines are mere theories, we can ask him how these theories
arose, and challenge him to produce a cause which so adequately
accounts for them as the incarnation of the Son of God.

The origin of "spiritual letters" or "epistles" was perhaps due