of Peter; it represents the way in which Peter was
accustomed to relate the life of Jesus (p. 116).

M. Renan goes on to say that, as an historical document, the Gospel of
Mark has a great superiority (p. 116); but Mark has a motive for
omitting the discourses, and he attaches a "puerile importance" to
miracles (p, 117). The Gospel of Mark is less a legend, than a biography
written with credulity (p. 118). It would be rash to say that Mark has
not been interpolated and retouched (p. 120).

If any one thinks that I have not been warranted in drawing a sharp
distinction between "scientific theologians" and "counsels for creeds";
or that my warning against the too ready acceptance of certain
declarations as to the state of biblical criticism was needless; or that
my anxiety as to the sense of the word "practical" was superfluous; let
him compare the statement that M. Renan has made a "practical surrender
of the adverse case" with the facts just set forth. For what is the
adverse case? The question, as Dr. Wace puts it, is "It may be asked how
far can we rely on the accounts we possess of our Lord's teaching on
these subjects." It will be obvious that M. Renan's statements amount to
an adverse answer--to a "practical" denial that any great reliance can
be placed on these accounts. He does not believe that Matthew, the
apostle, wrote the first Gospel; he does not profess to know who is
responsible for the collection of "logia," or how many of them are
authentic; though he calls the second Gospel the most historical, he
points out that it is written with credulity, and may have been
interpolated and retouched; and as to the author, "quid qu'il soit," of
the third Gospel, who is to "rely on the accounts" of a writer, who
deserves the cavalier treatment which "Luke" meets with at M. Renan's
hands?

I repeat what I have already more than once said, that the question of
the age and the authorship of the Gospels has not, in my judgment, the
importance which is so commonly assigned to it for the simple reason
that the reports even of eye-witnesses, would not suffice to justify
belief in a large and essential part of their contents; on the contrary,
these reports would discredit the witnesses. The Gadarene miracle, for
example, is so extremely improbable that the fact of its being reported
by three even independent, authorities could not justify belief in it,
unless we had the clearest evidence as to their capacity as observ