ng-cherished notion that the
three synoptic gospels are the work of three independent authors,
each prompted by Divine inspiration, has steadily accumulated,
until, at the present time, there is no visible escape from the
conclusion that each of the three is a compilation consisting of
a groundwork common to all three--the three-fold tradition; and
of a superstructure consisting, firstly, of matter common to it
with one of the others, and, secondly, of matter common to each."

Again:--"There is no proof, nothing more than a fair presumption, that
any one of the gospels existed, in the state in which we find it in
the authorised version of the Bible, before the second century, or, in
other words, sixty or seventy years after the events recorded." These
considerations with slight differences in details are now practically
admitted among the abler apologists, with the result that, as Huxley
claimed, the New Testament, like the Old, must be treated as
literature rather than as Dogma. As Literature everyone has the right
to examine the contents critically, and, considering the importance
attributed to the contents, the right becomes a duty. No doubt, had
Huxley not lived there would have been others equally ready and
equally able to gain the battle for freedom of thought in its special
application to the claim of the Bible to stand in the way of the
advance of scientific knowledge; but as it is, it cannot be denied
that the existing prevalence of liberal views, inside and outside the
churches, on the nature and interpretation of the Scriptures is
largely due to him.

After the question of inspiration, the most striking feature of the
Bible is its appeal to miracles and the miraculous element. It is now
necessary to examine the position assumed by Huxley towards these. Two
great _a priori_ difficulties have been brought against accepting any
record of miracles as true. The first of these is very simple,
depending on the history of all times and peoples. It is that the
human race has shewn itself universally credulous in this matter. It
has cried "Wolf!" so readily, so honestly, and on so many occasions
that the cry has ceased to carry conviction with it. Every religion
has its series of miraculous events; every savage tribe and every
uneducated race has its miracle-workers implicitly accepted. In
mediaeval and modern Europe up to our own times, miracles have been so
constantly recorded on