270 AGNOSTICISM : A REJOINDER vill 



tianity ? And what is historical truth but that of 

 which the evidence bears strict scientific investi- 

 gation ? I do not call to mind any problem of 

 natural science which has come under my notice 

 which is more difficult, or more curiously 

 interesting as a mere problem, than that of the 

 origin of the Synoptic Gospels and that of the 

 historical value of the narratives which they 

 contain. The Christianity of the Churches stands 

 or falls by the results of the purely scientific 

 investigation of these questions. They were first 

 taken up, in a purely scientific spirit, about a 

 century ago ; they have been studied over and 

 over again by men of vast knowledge and critical 

 acumen ; but he would be a rash man who should 

 assert that any solution of these problems, as yet 

 formulated, is exhaustive. The most that can be 

 said is that certain prevalent solutions are 

 certainly false, while others are more or less 

 probably true. 



If I am doing my best to rouse my countrymen 

 out of their dogmatic slumbers, it is not that they 

 may be amused by seeing who gets the best of it 

 in a contest between a " scientist " and a theolo- 

 gian. The serious question is whether theological 

 men of science, or theological special pleaders, are 

 to have the confidence of the general public; 

 it is the question whether a country in which it is 

 possible for a body of excellent clerical and lay 

 gentlemen to discuss, in public meeting assembled, 



