of our St. Matthew," Dr. Lightfoot,
in his attempt to get rid of that unfortunate Hebrew work of Matthew,
has perhaps gone further than is safe for himself. Apart from the general
flavour of inaccuracy which he imparts to the testimony of Papias,
the obvious inference is suggested that, if he made this mistake,
Papias is far from being a witness for the accuracy of the translation
which Dr. Lightfoot supposes to have then been "recognised," and which
he declares to have been our first Gospel. It is well known at least
that, although the Gospel of the Hebrews bore more analogy to our
present Gospel "according to Matthew" than to any of the other three,
it very distinctly differed from it. If, therefore, Papias could
quietly accept our Greek Matthew as an equivalent for the Gospel
of the Hebrews, from which it presented considerable variation, we
are entitled to reject such a translation as evidence of the contents
of the original. That Papias was actually acquainted with the Gospel
according to the Hebrews may be inferred from the statement of Eusebius
that he relates "a story about a woman accused of many sins before the
Lord" (doubtless the same which is found in our copies of St. John's
Gospel, vii. 53-viii. 11), "which the Gospel according to the Hebrews
contains." [123:1] If he exercised any critical power at all, he could
not confound the Greek Matthew with it, and if he did not, what becomes
of Dr. Lightfoot's argument?

Dr. Lightfoot argues at considerable length against the interpretation,
accepted by many eminent critics, that the work ascribed to Matthew and
called the "Oracles" ([Greek: logia]) could not be the first synoptic
as we now possess it, but must have consisted mainly or entirely of
Discourses. The argument will be found in _Supernatural Religion_,
[124:1] and need not here be repeated. I will confine myself to some
points of Dr. Lightfoot's reply. He seems not to reject the suggestion
with so much vigour as might have been expected. "The theory is not
without its attractions," he says; "it promises a solution of some
difficulties; but hitherto it has not yielded any results which would
justify its acceptance." [124:2] Indeed, he proceeds to say that it "is
encumbered with the most serious difficulties." Dr. Lightfoot does not
think that only [Greek: logoi] ("discourses" or "sayings") could be
called [Greek: logia] ("oracles"), and says that usage does not warrant
the restriction. [124:3] I had cont