PREFACE



faith and in their affection for him (I These.
:6). But we have come to use the term in the
technical sense of an account of the life of
Jesus, though the titles, as everyone knows, are
simply "According to Matthew," "According
to Mark,"' and so on. The term gospel is con-
venient for this purpose, and the present use
of it is no violent departure from established
usage.
   These four narratives differ only in form
and not in their essential method from ordinary
forms of Bible study. Their chief point of
difference is the use of the first person instead
of the third. All the inquiry as to motive and
mental attitude which these studies undertake
has to be undertaken in any intelligent attempt
to interpret the Gospel narratives. But the use
of the first person has this literary and practical
advantage, that it assists the process of psy-
chological analysis; it causes us to inquire not
so much how these four men appeared, as how
events which they witnessed appeared to them.
This is not only a legitimate but a useful method
of study. The Bible is rich in biographical
material; we use it too little and with unneces-
sary restrictions as to method and form. Any
method of study which reminds us that the
apostles were real men, and acted upon motives
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