BOOKS RECEIVED Prim und Complet des Roemischen Breviers, von DR. NIKOLAUS GIHR. Herder. Psallite Sapienter, von Dr. MAURUS WOLTER, O. S. B. V. Band, Ps. 121-150. Herder. Kurzgefasstes Handbuch der Katholischen Religion, von W. WILMERS. Pustet. Die Parabolen Des Herrn in Homilien Erklært, von Dr. JACOB SCHAEFFER. Herder. De Sacramento Extreme Unctionis Tractatus Dogmaticus, by J. KERN, S. J. Pustet. Der Knecht Gottes in Isaias Kap. 40-55, von Dr. FRANZ FELDMANN. Herder. Manuale Juris Ecclesiastici, tom. II, Jus Regularium Speciale. DOM. PRUEMMER, O. P. Herder. Leçons de Théologie Dogmatique, par L. LABAUCHE. Dogmatique Spéciale. l'Homme. Bloud, Paris. Luther et Lutheranisme, par L. CHRISTIANI. Bloud et Cie. Paris. Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland, by Dom. ODO BLUNDELL, O. S. B. Introduction by Hon. Mrs. Maxwell Scott, of Abbotsford. The Story of Ellen, by Rosa MULHOLLAND (Mrs. Gilbert).` Benziger. The Cure's Brother, by DAVID BEARNE, S. J. Benziger. Christine and other Poems, by GEORGE HENRY MILES. Longmans. Thoughts and Fancies, by F. C. KOLBE, D. D. Benziger. Bob Ingersoll's Egosophy and other Poems, by Rev. JAMES MCKERNAN. Pustet. New Testament, published by Wilderman, New York. The Book of the Children of Mary, by Rev. ELDER MULLAN, S. J. Kenedy. The Writings of Marie Corelli, by S. BoswIN, S. J. Herder. De Evangeliorum Inspiratione; De Dogmatis Evolutione; De Arcani Disciplina, by Rev. R. M. FEI, O. P. Beauchesne, Paris. La Notion de Vérité dans la "Philosophie Nouvelle," by J. DE TONQUEDEC. Beauchesne, Paris. L'éducation du Caractère, par R. P. GILLET, O. P. Desclée, De Brouwer. Vers la Vie Divine, par P. BERNARD Kuhn, O. P. Lethielleux, Paris. Régime de la Proprieté, par L. GARRIGUET. Bloud, Paris. Saint Athanase, par FERDINAND CAVALLERA. Bloud, Paris. Del valore dell'esperimento in psicologia, FRA AGOSTINO GEMELLI, O. F. M. Artigianelli, Monza. Longmans. Catholicism and Independence, by M. D. PETRE. A Modern Pilgrim's Progress. Benziger, N. Y. Burns and Oates, London. Modernism: what it is and why it was condemned, by C. S. B. Sands and Co.. The Humanizing of the Brute, by H. MUCKERMANN, S. J. Herder. The Decrees of the Vatican Council, by Rev. VINCENT MCNABB, O. P. Free Will and Four English Philosophers, by JOSEPH RICKABY, S. J. Oates, London. Benziger, New York. THE WESTMINSTER LECTURES. Sands and Co. Herder. God and Human Suffering, by JOSEPH EGGER, S. J. Benziger. Burns and THE NEW YORK REVIEW VOL. III MAY-JUNE, 1908 No. 6 THE PETRINE TEXTS IN THE Vincent McNabb, O. P. It is no part of the present paper to assume or deny the Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel. Although the traditional view is finding its way back to the minds of critics, the purpose of the present exegesis may be served by any standpoint an exegete may take up; and, to be quite fair, it is a moot-point which theory of authorship serves the thesis best. Perhaps on the whole the claims of St. Peter become more unassailable if we see in the Fourth Gospel the very mind and words of St. John. Yet, what we shall write about the matter may go to show that these claims are almost equally strong if we take the Gospel not as a message from the beloved disciple who leaned upon the bosom of Christ, but as the witness of some forgotten Christian who leaned upon the mind of the early Church. The usual method of dealing with the Gospel witness to St. Peter's supremacy has hitherto been to group the texts under certain headings, e. g., (1) The Promise of Christ to St. Peter; (2) The Fulfilment of the Promise. We need not state our reasons for changing this method, serviceable as it is, for another which borrows additional force from its natural and scientific treatment of the texts. A mere a priori way of dealing with biblical texts is sometimes valid and even valuable. Yet at its best, it can never equal in validity or strength the a posteriori method which throughout the chronological order of ideas sees the continuity, growth, survival and validity of Christian dogmas and principles. To take a true estimate of the witness of the Fourth Gospel, then, it must be borne in mind that whoever its writer was, he was a Christian of not later than the first half of the second century. Even to those who refuse to accept him as an authority for the sayings and doings of Jesus Christ, it is clear that he must be taken as an ear and eye witness of the Church of the opening years of the second century. Nor need he be looked on as a sacred writer inspired by the Holy Ghost, but as a human historian informed and, so to say, inspired by the things he heard and saw around him. Again, he must confessedly be looked on as a primitive writer to whom the Synoptic Gospels were familiar. He has an instinct, amounting almost to genius, for avoiding whatever has been recorded in these Gospels. Moreover he is, if we may be allowed the phrase, an exegetical peace-maker. He is greatly concerned to harmonise discordant statements in the Synoptics. Lastly, to the office of peace-maker he adds that of "continuator." He makes good whatever has been missed; he fills in what has been overlooked. No doubt in all this work of harmonising and completing he was aided by the then state of Christianity. It would be useless to deny that the fortunes of the Church varying from year to year brought to mind the significance of many sayings of the Master. After a lapse of fifty years, when the Church had taken possession of almost the "Orbis Terrarum," the rise and solution of ecclesiastical difficulties could not fail to bring out upon the house tops phases uttered by the Master behind closed doors. Remarks drawn from Him by the doings of each day and fitted to meet passing needs were seen in course of time to be valid for other days and wider issues. Of these matters the question of ecclesiastical government was naturally destined to speedy development. Practical wants outran intellectual difficulties. The question of the hierarchy was more urgent if not more fundamental than the question of the Creed. We are not surprised to read the misunderstanding that arose between St. Peter and St. Paul, or the troubles begotten in the Church of Corinth. If then the Fourth Gospel is the work of St. John or of a disciple of St. John, it is almost unthinkable that it should contain no reference to the ecclesiastical and hierarchical development which was everywhere taking such strides, and often producing a selvage of stress and misunderstanding. Before the appearance of the Fourth Gospel St. John's witness to the primacy of Peter had found a place in the Apocalypse. To appreciate this witness to the full it must be borne in mind that the writer of the Apocalypse put forward claims to a high position in the hierarchy of the Church. With apostolic boldness he frankly cor rected the Bishops of seven sees, founded by St. Paul. Among those whom he reprimanded was St. Timothy. On any theory of the authorship of the Apocalypse it is undeniable that the writer could not expect to further his own claims by supporting those of St. Peter. To exalt St. Peter's claims was in reality to diminish or to seem to diminish his own. Moreover, the theme of the book does not at first sight demand the slightest reference to St. Peter's position. If St. Peter's name and privilege find a place in the book it is because the writer fully recognised that St. Peter's providential position, no matter how frankly stated, could nowise endanger his own. When, therefore, he descr bed the twelve foundations of the Church, he makes it clear that one of those twelve, and that one confessedly, St. Peter-had a privilege beyond his fellow apostles. To each of the apostles is assigned a mystical stone; 14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 18. And the building of the wall thereof was of Jasper stone.... 19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony, etc. It has been often remarked that the whole wall of the city was of the same stone, Jasper, as the first foundation. Without laying undue stress upon this passage from the Apocalypse, we may fairly rank it amongst the witness of St. John. If it does nothing further, at least it serves as a "preparatio animi" to those who are about to study the witness of the Fourth Gospel. The evidence of the Sacred Scriptures being organic, so to say, rather than syllogistic, is therefore convergent. Consequently there lies upon an enquirer the duty of neglecting no thread of proof, however insignificant. There is something of dramatic directness in the first mention of St. Peter by the Fourth Gospel. 41. He [Andrew] findeth first his brother Simon and saith to him, "We have found the Messias, which is being interpreted the Christ." 42. And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looking on him said, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter." (Jo. i). The context of this passage cannot be read without bringing a conviction that the Messias had some special privilege for Simon BarJona. It must also be remembered that St. John's Gospel seems to have been written to counteract false views that had arisen in Asia Minor concerning the Gospel of St. Luke. It would appear that St. Luke's Gospel circulated amidst the Pauline churches to which its Pauline point of view specially appealed. It is not unlikely that sometime before the publication of the Fourth Gospel the Marcan document and the Matthæan Logia had begun to circulate amongst these churches Their circulation would naturally give rise to difficulties; for between the Lucan gospel and the lately arrived documents of Mark and Matthew there were discrepancies of seeming moment. It is almost a matter of common agreement among all schools of modern exegesis that the Fourth Gospel is an attempt to bridge over these discrepancies and to assert the authority of the Marco-Matthæan document. In this first mention of St. Peter there is a signal instance of St. John's wish to support the Matthæan tradition. It will be remembered that in the account of the scene at Cæsarea Philippi St. Matthew is the only Synoptic writer to mention the text Tu es Petrus: (Mt. xvi, 18). Its absence from St. Mark's Gospel, we have already shown to be intelligible. But the fact that St. Luke, the secretary of St. Paul, passed it over in silence would give rise to weighty misgivings in the minds of the Pauline converts in Asia Minor. It was to quell these misgivings that St. John wrote his eye and ear witness to the significant name, Cephas, which the Master had bestowed upon his disciple at their first interview. So earnest is his wish to justify the Matthæan tradition that he gives the Aramaic original Cephas and adds its Greek equivalent. It will be conceded that this argument loses little if any of its force even in the supposition that St. John is not the author of the gospel from which it is taken. It is certainly an astonishing fact that such an argument should be made in Asia-Minor in those early years if St. Peter had not received those privileges commonly attributed to him. St. John's next mention of St. Peter is almost an expansion of the same argument. vi. 68. And Jesus said to the twelve, "Will you also go away?" 69. And Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life? And we have believed and have known that Thou art the Christ the Son of God." The position of these words at the close of the sixth chapter, lends them additional force. It will easily be conceded that the |