ies of
each writer appear more fully in the narrative than in the recitative
part of his gospel. The later evangelists may, indeed, have been
acquainted with the writings of the earlier and have consulted them, but
this supposition alone does not explain their peculiar coincidences and
differences.

Another hypothesis is that of an _original document or documents_, from
which all three are supposed to have drawn. The assumption of a single
original written gospel, as the basis of our first three canonical
gospels, is manifestly untenable. Had a primitive gospel existed of such
compass and authority as to be the common source of our three synoptic
gospels, it is inconceivable that the churches, which carefully
preserved these three gospels, though two of them proceeded not from
apostles themselves but only from their companions, should have allowed
the original gospel so speedily and utterly to perish, that no traces of
it remained in the days of Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement of
Alexandria. Besides, this hypothesis, as it was soon seen, does not
explain the peculiar relation of these gospels to each other in respect
to coincidences and differences. Hence various modifications were
proposed--an original Aramaic gospel with various Greek translations,
this original Aramaic gospel variously increased with new matter, etc.
In a word, the form of these assumed original documents was
hypothetically explained from the actual form of our three synoptic
gospels; the very reverse of the true problem, which was to explain,
from some reliable data, the form of the canonical gospels themselves.

The remaining hypothesis is that of _oral tradition_ emanating from the
apostles themselves, and maintained in its purity during their lives by
their personal presence and teaching. That the gospel existed in this
form alone for some years after the beginning of Christianity is
admitted by all. The apostles were Christ's chosen witnesses of his life
and teachings. From their lips proceeded the tradition which now
constitutes our written gospels. The necessity of embodying this
tradition in the form of permanent records was not felt at the
beginning. But, as the churches were multiplied, oral tradition became
liable to corruption in many ways through the multiplicity of the organs
employed in its transmission. Then the need of written gospels began to
manifest itself, and it was natural that the apostles should look to the
supply of this