Chapter I.—On the Authority of the Gospels.
Chapter II.—On the Order of the Evangelists, and the Principles on Which They Wrote.
Chapter IV.—Of the Fact that John Undertook the Exposition of Christ’s Divinity.
Chapter IX.—Of Certain Persons Who Pretend that Christ Wrote Books on the Arts of Magic.
Chapter XIII.—Of the Question Why God Suffered the Jews to Be Reduced to Subjection.
Chapter XVII.—In Opposition to the Romans Who Rejected the God of Israel Alone.
Chapter XIX.—The Proof that This God is the True God.
Chapter XXII.—Of the Opinion Entertained by the Gentiles Regarding Our God.
Chapter XXIII.—Of the Follies Which the Pagans Have Indulged in Regarding Jupiter and Saturn.
Chapter XXVIII.—Of the Predicted Rejection of Idols.
Chapter XXXI.—The Fulfilment of the Prophecies Concerning Christ.
Chapter XXXIV.—Epilogue to the Preceding.
Chapter VI.—On the Position Given to the Preaching of John the Baptist in All the Four Evangelists.
Chapter VII.—Of the Two Herods.
Chapter XII.—Concerning the Words Ascribed to John by All the Four Evangelists Respectively.
Chapter XIII.—Of the Baptism of Jesus.
Chapter XIV.—Of the Words or the Voice that Came from Heaven Upon Him When He Had Been Baptized.
Chapter XVI.—Of the Temptation of Jesus.
Chapter XVII.—Of the Calling of the Apostles as They Were Fishing.
Chapter XVIII.—Of the Date of His Departure into Galilee.
Chapter XIX.—Of the Lengthened Sermon Which, According to Matthew, He Delivered on the Mount.
Chapter XXI.—Of the Order in Which the Narrative Concerning Peter’s Mother-In-Law is Introduced.
Chapter XXIX.—Of the Two Blind Men and the Dumb Demoniac Whose Stories are Related Only by Matthew.
Chapter XVII.—Of the Harmony of the Four Evangelists in Their Notices of the Draught of Vinegar.
Chapter X.—Of the Evangelist John, and the Distinction Between Him and the Other Three.
Chapter XIX.—Of the Rending of the Veil of the Temple, and of the Question Whether Matthew and Mark Really Harmonize with Luke with Respect to the Order in Which that Incident Took Place.
56. Matthew proceeds thus: “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”954 Matt. xxvii. 51. Mark’s version is also as follows: “And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.”955 Mark xv. 38. Luke likewise gives a statement in similar terms: “And the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”956 Luke xxiii. 45. He does not introduce it, however, in the same order. For, with the intention of attaching miracle to miracle, he has told us first how “the sun was darkened,” and then has deemed it right to subjoin the said sentence in immediate succession, namely, “And the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” Thus it would appear that he has introduced at an earlier point this incident, which really took place when the Lord expired, so as to give us there a summary description of the circumstances relating to the drinking of the vinegar, and the loud voice, and the death itself, which are understood to have taken place previous to the rending of the veil, and after the darkness had come in. For Matthew has inserted this sentence, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent,” in immediate succession to the statement, “And Jesus, crying again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost;” and has thus given us clearly to understand that the time when the veil was rent was after Jesus had given up His spirit. If, however, he had not added the words, “And behold,” but had said simply, “And the veil of the temple was rent,” it would have been uncertain whether Mark and he had narrated the incident in the form of a recapitulation, while Luke had kept the exact order, or whether Luke had given the summary account of what these others had introduced in the correct historical succession.
CAPUT XIX. De scissione veli quomodo non dissentiant Matthaeus et Marcus a Luca, quo ordine factum sit.
56. Sequitur Matthaeus: Et ecce velum templi scissum est in duas partes, a summo usque deorsum (Matth. XXVII, 51). Et Marcus sic: Et velum templi scissum est in duo, a sursum usque deorsum (Marc. XV, 38). Lucas autem similiter hoc ait: Et velum templi scissum est medium (Luc. XXIII, 45); sed non eodem ordine. Volens enim miraculum miraculo adjungere, cum dixisset, Sol obscuratus est, continuo subjungendum existimavit, Et velum templi scissum est medium: praeoccupans videlicet quod exspirante Domino factum est, ut deinde recapitulans exsequeretur et de potu aceti, et de illa voce magna, et de ipsa morte, quae ante scissionem veli post tenebras facta intelliguntur. Matthaeus enim, qui cum dixisset, Jesus autem iterum clamans voce magna, emisit spiritum, continuo subjecit, Et ecce velum templi scissum est, satis expressit 1193 tunc esse scissum, cum Jesus emisisset spiritum. Si autem non addidisset, Et ecce, sed simpliciter dixisset, Et velum templi scissum est; incertum esset utrum ipse et Marcus hoc recapitulando commemorassent, Lucas autem ordinem tenuisset; an Lucas recapitulasset quod illi ordine posuissent.