VII AGNOSTICISM 221 



alone, a suspension of judgment, at the least, is 

 called for. But there is a great deal more to be 

 said. From the dawn of scientific biblical criti- 

 cism until the present day, the evidence against 

 the long-cherished notion that the three synoptic 

 Gospels are the works of three independent 

 authors, each prompted by Divine inspiration, 

 has steadily accumulated, until, at the present 

 time, there is no visible escape from the con- 

 clusion that each of the three is a compilation 

 consisting of a groundwork common to all three 

 the threefold tradition ; and of a superstructure, 

 consisting, firstly, of matter common to it with 

 one of the others, and, secondly, of matter special 

 to each. The use of the terms "groundwork" 

 and " superstructure " by no means implies that 

 the latter must be of later date than the former. 

 On the contrary, some parts of it may be, and 

 probably are, older than some parts of the 

 groundwork. 1 



The story of the Gadarene swine belongs to 

 the groundwork ; at least, the essential part of it, 

 in which the belief in demoniac possession is 

 expressed, does; and therefore the compilers of 

 the first, second, and third Gospels, whoever they 



1 See, for an admirable discussion of the whole subject, Dr, 

 Abbott's article on the Gospels in the Encyclopaedia Britannica ; 

 and the remarkable monograph by Professor Volkmar, Jesus 

 Nazarenus und die erste christliche Zc.it (1882). Whether we 

 agree with the conclusions of these writers or not, the method of 

 critical investigation which they adopt is unimpeachable. 



