" There is
reason to believe that every pious Jew, at the commencement of our
era, prayed three times a day, according to a formula which is
embodied in the present "Schmone-Esre"[70] of the Jewish prayer-book.
Jesus, who was assuredly, in all respects, a pious Jew, whatever else
he may have been, doubtless did the same. Whether he modified the
current formula, or whether the so-called "Lord's Prayer" is the
prayer substituted for the "Schmone-Esre" in the congregations of the
Gentiles, is a question which can hardly be answered.
In a subsequent passage of Dr. Wace's article (p. 356) he adds to the
list of the verities which he imagines to be unassailable, "The Story
of the Passion." I am not quite sure what he means by this. I am not
aware that any one (with the exception of certain ancient heretics)
has propounded doubts as to the reality of the crucifixion; and
certainly I have no inclination to argue about the precise accuracy of
every detail of that pathetic story of suffering and wrong. But, if
Dr. Wace means, as I suppose he does, that that which, according to
the orthodox view, happened after the crucifixion, and which is, in a
dogmatic sense, the most important part of the story, is founded on
solid historical proofs, I must beg leave to express a diametrically
opposite conviction.
What do we find when the accounts of the events in question, contained
in the three Synoptic gospels, are compared together? In the oldest,
there is a simple, straightforward statement which, for anything that
I have to urge to the contrary, may he exactly true.
Pages:
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302