moment, in relation to the needs of the hour, spiritually bankrupt. In all the length and breadth of this and other lands there is not a voice from any Christian pulpit that shows power to draw men to their knees in penitence. Not one. A Savonarola is needed. There appears to be no one who can or dares utter Savonarola's mssage with Savonarola's spirit. And if there were he would not find the pulpits of this time-serving Church open to him. The clergy preach politics, patriotism, social ethics. They eulogize statesmen, beg for funds for great charities, say beautiful things. "They cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.' "They do not, and cannot, and, worse still, apparently do not wish to bring men to prayer and repentance and confession of sin. They are neither humble nor penitent themselves.

Our own Communion has had a clearer vision and has been disobedient in the extreme. Statistics of many kinds show its feebleness and stagnation. Inquiries in the past few years have elecited the facts that an overwhelming proportion of our "communicants" have no knowledge of God, no definite religion, no desire to use the priceless privileges open to them. We have wealth and respectability, alas! but no spiritual powers.

As are the individuals in the Church, so the Church for the time being becomes in the estimation of the world. There is one road to fulfilling obedience to the heavenly vision. It is the downward road which fails in everything by which the world rates success. Christ first traversed that road. St. Paul followed Him. St. Paul lost his place of leadership with the Jewish authorities. He went out poor, despised, discredited. He taught unpopular truths. He alienated supporters and admirers, was abandoned by his worldly friends, and died a violent, yet a glorious death in the great metropolis of the world. But he "had fought a good fight, had finished his course, had kept the Faith." There is only one road that the Christian Church may rightly follow. Only one maxim will carry with it obedience to the heavenly vision. "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and

lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Unless the Church leaders-clergy, influential laity, and all her people, adopt that as the guiding principle in the bareness and simplicity of its literal meaning, the vision will be withdrawn and the opportunity lost.

O Church of today, O Chief Shepherds, O Pastors set in high places and surrounded with multitudes of flattering worldlings, so that you will lose your prestige if you declare in unmistakable terms "the whole counsel of God"; O ye who playing the role of benefactor on one side, and on the other violate every part of Christ's law of love for your neighbor, how long will it be before your opportunity is over of obedience to the heavenly vision! We are not sent according to our Christian profession and our priesthood to talk politics and back up the rich and successful. We are sent to the lost sheep. Have we lost the power to touch

and heal and save them?

There is no second chance. "The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves," that the Church appears impotent and moribund, slowly dying, at this moment, when what the Church can give is the world's supreme need-Jesus Christ.

The Gospel According to St. Luke

W

BY THE REV. BURTON SCOTT EASTON, D.D.

I.

E are in the fortunate position of being in full possession of one of St. Luke's sources, the Gospel according

to St. Mark, and we can compare Luke's treatment of this source with the source itself. The following table represents the state of affairs with tolerable clarity:

Mk 1:2-4 1:8 1:9-11 1:21-39 1:40-3:6 3:13-19(a) 3: 7-12 4:1-25(b) Kk 3:2-4 3:16 3:21-22 4:31-44 3:12-6:11 6:12-16 6:17-19 X 8:4-18

Mk 3:31-35 4:35-5:43 6:7-16 6:32-44 Y 8:27-9:40 10:13-34 10:46-52 Lk 8:19-21 8:22-8:56 9:1-9 9:10-17 9:18-9:59 XX 18:15-34 18:35-43

Mk II: I- 8 11:15-18 11:27-12:27

12:34-13:7 13:28-31 14:12-16 20:39-21:9 21:29-33 22:7-13

It will be seen at once from this table that Lk follows Mk's order rigorously, except at the points marked (a) and (b). It will be seen also that at the point X Lk has inserted 83 verses into Mk ("The Lesser Interpolation"), that at XX he has inserted over nine chapters ("The Greater Interpolation"), and that at Y he has omitted nearly two of Mk's chapters ("The Great Omission"). Also that Lk's narrative of the Passion and the Resurrection are on the whole independent of Mk.

In closer detail Lk's treatment of Mk can be described as follows. After the two Infancy chapters, he begins with Mk's narrative of the Baptist, which he enlarges from other sources. After describing the baptism of Our Lord, he adds the genealogy and a fuller account of the Temptation. He returns to Mk's account of the opening of the Ministry but realizes at once a serious lack in Mk; the latter describes the astonishment of the people at Christ's teaching, but does not explain what that teaching was. Lk makes up for this deficiency with the synagogue scene in Nazareth (4:16-30), just as Mt makes up for

the same deficiency by inserting the Sermon on the Mount. To make a good parallel to this scene Lk returns to Mk's synagogue scene in Capernaum, and he continues with Mk's story of the remainder of that day and the next morning. But, in this way, Lk has omitted the call of St. Peter (Mk 1:16-20), which he now gives (5:1-11) from a more elaborate tradition. He then proceeds with his reproduction of Mk until he reaches the choice of the Twelve, an excellent resting place for the insertion of discourse material; the little inversion (a) makes the insertion still easier.

The Lesser Interpolation follows, which is practically all instruction. At its close the account of the ministering women (8:1-3) and the inversion (b) facilitate the return to Mk, after the omission of Mk's account (Mk 3:20-30) of the Pharisees' charge, which Lk plans to give later (11:14-26) in a fuller form. Lk then adheres closely to Mk until he reaches Mk's version of the rejection at Nazereth (Mk 6:1-6), which Lk has told already. Then, after the charge to the Twelve and the description of Herod's opinion, he arrives at Mk's long story of the death of the Baptist (Mk 6:14-29). This interrupts the narrative badly and Lk omits it; he perhaps thought it of little interest to his Gentile readers. Resuming Mk, he copies him closely up to the end of the Galilean Ministry (Mk 9:50), with the exception of the Great Omission and a few unimportant verses.

The departure from Galilee marks a turn of great importance in Christ's work, and the insertion of the Greater Interpolation at this point was directly indicated; it is also practically all instruction. At its close (Lk 18:14), Lk goes back to Mk. He finds that Mk's next section (Mk 10:1-10) deals with divorce and that its crucial saying has been already recorded (Lk 16:18). Consequently this scene is passed over and the resumption is made at Mk 10:11, and Mk is followed up to the healing of Bartimaeus; Lk omits only the request of the Zebedees (Mk 10:35-45), which reflects slightly on the Apostles (and of Lk 22:24-27). An insertion from a different tradition follows, in which eight Markan verses (Lk 19:29-36=Mk 11:1-8) have been given a place.

In his account of the Jerusalem Ministry, however, Lk follows Mk closely. He omits only the story of the barren figtree and the question about the greatest commandment, both of which he has told already in their essence (Lk 13:6-9, 10:25-28). And he follows Mk into the latter's eschatological chapter, as far as Mk 13:7 (=Lk 21:9). From this point Lk diverges and follows his own tradition, although he brings in constant reminiscences of Mk throughout; e.g., in 23:18 the mention of Barabbas is clearly added to an account that did not speak of him.

It is seen, then, that practically all of Mk has been reproduced by Lk in Mk's order. The only important exception is the Great Omission, but an examination of the material in Mk 6:45-8:26 shows that it contains very little of interest to Lk's readers. The miracles in Mk 7:31-37 and 8:22-26 are not specially striking, and both might suggest that Christ had difficulty in working them. The feeding of the Four Thousand (Mk 8:1-10) contains no lesson that is not better given in the feeding of the Five Thousand. Mk 8:14-21, however, contains references to both feedings, making this section impracticable in a narrative that contains only one of them; Lk gives the cardinal logion in 12:1. Mk 8:11-13 is related more elaborately in Lk 11:16-36. Mk 7:1-23 turns about ceremonial washings and the validity of the Corban vow; technically Jewish questions which Lk's readers would not have understood (and cf Lk 11:38-41 for the moral). The harsh reference to Gentiles in Mk 8:27 would have made all of Mk 8:24-30 undesirable to Lk. Mk 6:53-56 is of no particular importance. This leaves Christ's walking on the water (Mk 6:4552) as the only section whose omission is not immediately explicable. Perhaps Lk thought it needless after his story in 8:22-25, perhaps its insertion would have complicated his geographical references embarassingly. This Great Omission, consequently, raises no important problem.

Now, a close examination of the Greater Interpolation reveals a very interesting fact. This section contains only two definite geographical references, at the beginning (9:51f) and almost at the end (17:11). And both of these references place our Lord on the boundary line between Samaria and Galilee, despite