XX11 PREFACE 



and " Luke " only C ; that common to " Matthew * 

 and " Luke " only D ; while the peculiar com- 

 ponents of " Mark," " Matthew/' and " Luke " are 

 severally indicated by E, F, G ; then the structure 

 of the Gospels may be represented thus : 



Components of " Mark " = A-fB-f-C + E. 



"Matthew" = A -f B -h D + F. 



"Luke" = A + C+D-fG. 



VII. The analysis of the Synoptic documents 

 need be carried no further than this point, in 

 order to suggest one extremely important, and, 

 apparently unavoidable conclusion ; and that is, 

 that their authors were neither three independent 

 witnesses of the things narrated ; nor, for the 

 parts of the narrative about which all agree, that 

 is to say, the threefold tradition, did they employ 

 independent sources of information. It is sim- 

 ply incredible that each of three independent 

 witnesses of any series of occurrences should 

 tell a story so similar, not only in arrangement 

 and in small details, but in words, to that of 

 each of the others. 



Hence it follows, either that the Synoptic 

 writers have, mediately or immediately, copied 

 one from the other : or that the three have drawn 

 from a common source ; that is to say, from one 

 arrangement of similar traditions (whether oral 

 or written) ; though that arrangement may have 



