A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS
FOR STUDENTS OF THE
LIFE OF CHRIST
in the Revised Version
A. T. ROBERTSON, M.A., D.D., LL.D., LITT.D.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
BY HARPER & BROTHERS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ELIZA S. BROADUS
ELDEST DAUGHTER OF JOHN A. BROADUS
AN ELECT LADY BELOVED IN MANY LANDS
PREFACE
It is now just thirty years since one day his young assistant suggested to Dr. John A. Broadus that he prepare a harmony of the Gospels that should depart from the old plan of following the feasts as the turning points in the life of Jesus. He acted on the hint and led the way that all modern harmonies have followed. The book has gone through a dozen large editions and has become the standard harmony for many thousands of students all over the world. Broadus was concerned to bring out "the inner movements of the history, towards that long-delayed, but foreseen and inevitable collision, in which, beyond all other instances, the wrath of man was made to praise God." This he succeeded in doing with marvelous power.
A generation has passed by and it is meet that the work of Broadus should be reviewed in the light of modern synoptic criticism and research into every phase of the life of Christ. So I have made a new analysis that preserves Broadus's real purpose, but with new sections and new notes. The notes at the end of the old volume, written by me for the first edition, have been thoroughly revised and brought up to date. The Old Testament passages referred to in the Gospels are given in the text. The Gospel of Mark appears in the first column, then Matthew, Luke, and John. It is now known that Matthew and Luke made use of Mark for the framework of their Gospels. This change simplifies amazingly the unfolding of the narrative.
There is still dispute concerning the historical worth of the Gospel of John, but the Johannine authorship is not disproved. It still holds the field in my opinion. Dr. C. F. Burney's theory of an Aramaic original is already giving a new turn to Johannine criticism.
A harmony of the Gospels cannot meet every phase of modern criticism. The data are given, as free from bias as circumstances allow, so that all students can use the book and interpret the facts according to their various theories. Numerous historical items call for notes of various kinds that throw light on the passage in question. No effort is made to reconcile all the divergent statements of various details in the different Gospels. The differences challenge the student's interest as much as the correspondences and are natural marks of individual work. The notes and appendices at the end of the volume are meant for students who wish help for historical study of the life of Christ. A harmony cannot give all the aid that one needs, but it is the one essential book for the serious study of the life of Jesus. Students in colleges, theological seminaries, Young Men's Christian
Broadus began teaching the life of Jesus in 1859 and kept it up till his death in 1895. I began like work in 1888 and have kept on without a break till now. I count it one of the crowning mercies of my life that I have led so many successive classes of young ministers and young women (some five thousand in all) through the study of Christ's life. If only one can pass on to others in all their freshness and power the teachings of Jesus, he cannot fail. There was a time when men hung in wonder upon the words of Jesus, listening with awe and rapture as he spoke. The Figure of Christ fills the world today as never before. Back to Christ the world has come, the Christ of Faith and of Experience, the Jesus of History, the Man of Galilee, the Hope of Today, the Jesus Christ of the Four Gospels, in the full blaze of modern critical and historical study.
Louisville,
Kentucky.
CONTENTS
CHIEF DIVISIONS OF THE HARMONY