160 REV. P. P. FLOURNOY, D.D., ON BEARING OP ARCH^OLOGICAL 



priest by Quirinus and afterwards deposed by Gratus, that his 

 son, and later, his son-in-law, Joseph Caiaphas, were placed in 

 this position, so that, for this period, the high-priesthood was a 

 sort of family inheritance, and then find from the Gospel of 

 John that Christ was brought first before Annas and then before 

 Caiaphas, the explanation is clear. 



The way in which the whole political situation is presented 

 in the Gospels and the Acts indicates that the writers were 

 perfectly familiar with it. This familiarity is shown, not by 

 laboured descriptions or historical disquisitions but in the 

 perfectly natural allusions which show the historical setting of 

 the events of the great mission of Christ and those He sent 

 forth to proclaim it. 



(6) Divisions. — We find in Luke iii, 1-3, that the former 

 dominions of Herod (the Great) were divided in certain ways, 

 and ruled by different persons in different capacities — Judea 

 being under the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, Galilee under 

 Herod Antipas, Iturea and Trachonitis under Philip, his brother, 

 and Al)ilene under Lysanias. Tacitus {Hist. V, 9) and Josephus 

 {Ant. XVII, xi, 4, and Ant. XYIII, vi, 10) furnish a parallel 

 .account. 



The relations of the Jews to the Samaritans, with whom John 

 tells us they " had no dealings," are dwelt on at length by 

 Josephus, who shows us some very strong reasons for the mutual 

 antipathy. ( Ant. XI ; IV, 6 ; II, 1 ; XII, v, 5.) 



The accurate knowledge of the political conditions, which 

 were remarkably complicated, together with the hints as to the 

 characters of different persons in authority, their relations to 

 Rome, to the Jewish people and to one another, shown by the 

 writers of the Gospels, as of persons living among these condi- 

 tions, is a very clear indication that these are truthful and 

 contemporary records. 



(7) Jewish Sects. — The picture presented in them of the 

 Jewish sects, such as Pharisees and Sadducees, of temple 

 usages, of religious opinions and discussions as to ceremonial 

 observances, baptisms before meals, uncleanness contracted by 

 entering the house of a Gentile or in the markets, and above 

 all, about the expected Messiah and his kingdom, all impress 

 us with the fact that these things so artlessly and naturally 

 presented were matters of common observation and experience 

 with the writers. 



When we read on, we find in " their other writings," as 

 Aris tides calls them, marks of a larger contact with the world 

 outside the Holy Land, and have many more opportunities to 



