here offered are limited to anticipating difficulties that would be likely to occur to the reader.

The main purpose in all this is to facilitate the READING of the Bible. Many persons, who have full reverence for Holy Scripture, have declared that the chapter-and-verse arrangement of the ordinary versions makes the Bible for them an unreadable book. There is, of course, a proper place for comment, discussion, analysis. But one who has been able simply to read the books of Scripture, with the same ease and connected interest with which he reads secular literature, has already attained an advanced stage in the study of the Bible.

It may be convenient at this point to add a few brief remarks on the subject of the New Testament world — the general atmosphere amid which the books of the New Testament are to be read.

The term "New Testament" suggests the "Old Testament." The word testament has lost for us the sense it had in the age of our translators the idea of covenant. The Old Testament was the covenant that is, mutual relations between God and the Chosen Nation of Israel, chosen for the high function of bringing the other nations of the world to the knowledge of God. This is the sublime idea of the Theocracy, or Kingdom of God on earth; a kingdom first of the nation of Israel, into which subsequently the rest of the world was to be incorporated. As we follow the books of the Old Testament we see this idea of a Theocracy gradually breaking down under the weight of the secular. There arises however, an order of "prophets." The word has no implication of prediction, but the prophets are "mouthpieces for God," keeping alive for the declining people the idea of the Kingdom of God on earth. Before the Old Testament comes to an end these prophets have a vision of a New Testament, or New Covenant: no longer that of a nation, but a kingdom of God in the hearts of individual men. With this prophetic idea of a new covenant Jesus directly connects the movement which he is to inaugurate. There comes the age of the Captivity, when the chosen nation is conquered by oriental powers, and carried captive into the regions of the east. Here we have what is expressed by the word Dispersion (in Greek, Diaspora): the scattering of the Jewish captives through a large

part of the eastern world, which has a great place in the literature of the New Testament. It has spread throughout the world a soil ready prepared for the dissemination of Christian ideals. There had been a Return from Captivity, not of anything resembling a nation, but of individuals wishful to restore the worship of God at Jerusalem. Thus the final stage of the Old Testament gives us the Jewish Church, as distinguished from the Hebrew Nation. These Men of the Return were ecclesiastical in their organization; in place of kings or princes we have the High Priests, who continue to figure in New Testament times. With these we find associated a Council of Seventy, or Sanhedrim. Jerusalem is the site of the Temple and the ecclesiastical system that gathers round it. But throughout the whole Jewish world, including the region of the Dispersion, there are established local centers of worship and government known as 'Synagogues.' It is in connection with these synagogues that large part of the incidents of the New Testament take place.

Between the era of the Old and the era of the New Testament great revolutions had happened in the world at large. One of these is the conquest of the world by Alexander the Great, which had the effect of forcing Greek civilization and culture upon other nations. Palestine made protracted and heroic resistance; but at last Palestine itself was permeated with Greek culture. This amalgamation of Greek and Hebrew culture is an event of the highest importance: modern society is molded by the fusion of these two, the main civilizations of the world of antiquity. In the literature of the New Testament the constant recurrence of the words Jew and Greek reminds us that the fusion of the two civilizations is still a recent event. The important position of Paul in this literature arises from the fact that his complete union of Hebrew and Greek culture made him a natural leader of men. One important result of this state of things was that it became necessary to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. This Greek Bible is called the "Septuagint," as the work of some "seventy" translators. It is usually from this Septuagint that the writers of the New Testament make their quotations of the Bible.

But before the New Testament opens the world has passed from Greek dominion, and become the Roman Empire. It was the

policy of Rome to pay some deference to the religious ideas of its subject peoples. Thus in the present case we find that one influential family of Palestine, the family of the Herods, is granted local government under the titles of "kings" and "tetrarchs." But all substantial power was in the hands of Roman officials, who appear as "governors," like Pontius Pilate or Festus.

As arising out of all this history we note in the New Testament various parties, religious and political, who figure in the books of the New Testament.

The most important of these parties is that of the Pharisees. The name expresses the idea of separateness: what had been a leading idea of Israel from the earliest times its separateness from the nations of the world is here magnified. The Mosaic Law, the chief note of difference of the Jews from other peoples, is with the Pharisees a subject of adoration; they guard its sacredness by an oral tradition of rites and ceremonies and habits of life, designed as a "hedge about the law," which would prevent even its accidental violation. This "Tradition of the Elders," whatever it may originally have been, has in the days of the New Testament become an oppressive burden, by which the spirit of the law is lost in the letter. It is denounced by Jesus and his Apostles.

In contrast with the Pharisees we have the party of the Sadducees. The etymology of the word is uncertain; but the Sadducees may fairly be described as the conservative party of Palestine. They take their stand upon the Mosaic Law pure and simple, rejecting the oral traditions, rejecting also ideas of angels and spirits which had found their way into the mind of the Jews during the era of the captivity. This party seems to include the most influential families of Palestine; we find the High Priest and leaders of the Council among them. With Pharisees and Sadducees are often associated the Scribes, or Doctors of the Law. These were the scholars of the times, whose work consisted largely in adjudicating upon matters of life and doctrine in varying opinions of individual teachers. We also hear of such parties as Herodians and Zealots. The latter carried to extremes the antagonism to Roman rule. The party of the Herodians sought to guard the individuality of the nation from being merged in the world civilization, and looked to the family of the Herods for their leaders.

Originally, the Holy Land had been geographically divided among the Twelve Tribes. Early in the history of the people a schism in the nation had arisen; some ten of the northern tribes had established a separate kingdom of Israel, while the rest, as a kingdom of Judah, had retained the old organization around Jerusalem as a center. Both kingdoms alike had been carried captive into the east. When the New Testament opens, Palestine appears as divided into three parts. On the south is Judea, centering around Jerusalem with its temple; this is the seat of the ecclesiastical system. On the north we have Galilee, around the lake of that name; a country of fishermen and quiet industrial pursuits. Ecclesiastical system has little influence here; on the other hand there is a religious culture emphasizing the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. Ecclesiastical Judea scorns this northern region: "Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet." Yet it must be remembered that in this region Jesus grew from youth to manhood, and he represents the culture of Galilee in contrast with the ecclesiasticism of Judea. Between these two is the third region known as Samaria. When the schism of the tribes took place, the eminently beautiful city of Samaria was founded by the northern tribes as a counterpoise to Jerusalem. In the times of the captivity this Samaria became the center of the mixed populations left by the conquerors in Palestine or subsequently brought to the region: here was found a jumble of Judaism and Heathenism. Hence we read in the New Testament that "the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans."

The general impression left by the people of the Holy Land is the impression of an intensely religious people; perhaps the most intensely religious people in all history. The foundation idea of the Theocracy has never been lost; it has taken the form of a deep seated national expectation. It is the expectation of a Messiah: this is the Hebrew counterpart of the Greek word Christ. The Messiah is looked for as a world conqueror, who would have the nations for his inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; he would rule them with a rod of iron, and break the nations in pieces like a potter's vessel. One of the latest books of Old Testament prophecy had added a more specific turn to this general expectation. The word "Malachi" is not a personal

name; it signifies "My Messenger." The most prominent thought of the Jewish people in the age immediately preceding the New Testament is that a God-sent Messenger would appear to prepare the way for the Messiah; perhaps this Messenger would be Elijah, or other ancient prophet, raised from the dead for this purpose. When John the Baptist and Jesus make their appearance, the first thought is that these are the long looked for Messengers. Similarly, the dominant thought of Israel through the ages, the Theocracy, is quickened to intensity when the New Testament strikes its first note that THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND.

INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPELS

The New Testament does not contain a biography of Jesus Christ in the sense in which the word biography is generally understood. In place of this we have four literary works, varied in tone and character, which present the Acts and Words of Jesus. These four books are unique in the world's literature. They appeal to the simplest reader; and yet they have revolutionized the world's history, and proved the foundation of modern religion. They are known collectively as The Four Gospels. What exactly is the significance of this word 'gospel'?

Jesus, departing from this world, commissions his followers to carry on the work he has commenced. We might have expected that on such an occasion he would have laid down an elaborate constitution for the Church he had founded; or that he would have framed a body of religious doctrine; or that, like Mahomet and his Koran, there would have been an authorized version of his discourses. Instead of this, Jesus simply commissions his followers to be 'witnesses' for him, in Jerusalem and to all the nations of the earth. The 'witness' these followers are to bear is called by a Greek word which spelled in English letters is 'evangel,' and those who deal with it are 'evangelists.' Etymologically the word means 'message of good.' We often speak of a notable individual as 'having a message,' in contradistinction to others who agitate ideas commonly received. The English counterpart to this 'evangel' or message is the word 'gospel.' Thus the Four Gospels are the message of Jesus Christ to the