cripts are essentially the same as
the original books written by the apostles and their companions. The
manuscripts are almost utterly free from wilful corruptions. And
concerning the small variations which they contain, we {8} can fitly
quote the words of a fine old English scholar, Bentley: "Even put them
into the hands of a knave or a fool, and yet with the most sinistrous
and absurd choice, he shall not extinguish the light of any one
chapter, nor so disguise Christianity but that every feature of it will
still be the same."

For the sake of space the works of the evangelists are often referred
to in an abbreviated form; _e.g._ "Matt." has been written for "the
Gospel according to St. Matthew," and "Mark" for "the Gospel according
to St. Mark." But when the writers themselves are mentioned, their
names are usually given in full, with the title which Christian
reverence has bestowed upon these "holy men of old."

[1] See Mr. C. H. Turner, _Journal of Theological Studies_, July, 1900.

{9}

CHAPTER II

THE GOSPELS

[Sidenote: Their Name.]

The modern English word "Gospel" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word
_Godspell_, which means "God story," the story about the life of God in
human flesh. It does not, therefore, exactly correspond with the Greek
name _euaggelion_, which means "good tidings." In the earliest times
the Greek name meant the good tidings proclaimed by our Lord about the
Kingdom of God which He had come to establish. And, as our Lord
Himself rules over this kingdom, the tidings about the kingdom included
tidings about Himself. So Christ Himself says, "for My sake and the
gospel's" (Mark viii. 35). After the Ascension of our Lord and the
disappearance of His visible presence, the _euaggelion_ came to mean
the good tidings about Christ, rather than the good tidings brought by
Christ (see 1 Cor. ix. 14 and 2 Cor. iv. 4). So St. Paul generally
means by _euaggelion_ the good news, coming from God, of salvation
freely given to man through Christ. When he speaks of "My gospel"
(Rom. ii. 16), he means "my explanation of the gospel;" and when he
says, "I had been intrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision"
(Gal. ii. 7), he means that he had been appointed by God to preach the
good tidings to the Gentiles, with special emphasis on the points most
necessary for their instruction.

The word _euaggellon_, in the sense of a written gospel, is first found
in the ancient Christian ma