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59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page v

Beginning
Web Programming with
HTML, XHTML, and CSS

Second Edition

Jon Duckett
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page iv
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page i

Beginning Web Programming with

HTML, XHTML, and CSS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
Chapter 1: Creating Structured Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2: Links and Navigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 3: Images and Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 4: Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Chapter 5: Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Chapter 6: Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter 7: Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Chapter 8: More Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Chapter 9: Page Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Chapter 10: Design Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Chapter 11: Learning JavaScript. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Chapter 12: Working with JavaScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Chapter 13: Putting Your Site on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Appendix A: Answers to Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Appendix B: XHTML Element Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
Appendix C: CSS Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
Appendix D: Color Names and Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637
Appendix E: Character Encodings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Appendix F: Special Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Appendix G: Language Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Appendix H: MIME Media Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669
Appendix I: Deprecated and Browser-Specific Markup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
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Beginning
Web Programming with
HTML, XHTML, and CSS

Second Edition
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page iv
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page v

Beginning
Web Programming with
HTML, XHTML, and CSS

Second Edition

Jon Duckett
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page vi

Beginning Web Programming

with HTML, XHTML, and CSS, Second Edition
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
10475 Crosspoint Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46256
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
ISBN: 978-0-470-25931-3
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted
under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission
of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance
Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher
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Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go
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Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or war-
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damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation
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be available in electronic books.
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page vii

About the Author

Jon Duckett published his first web site in 1996 while studying for a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at Brunel
University, London. Since then, he has helped create a wide variety of web sites for companies of all
sizes. He has also co-written more than ten programming-related books on topics from ASP to XML (via
many other letters of the alphabet), covering diverse aspects of web programming including design,
architecture, and coding.

About the Technical Editor

Ben Schupak holds a master’s degree in computer science and has more than nine years of professional
programming experience for large corporations and U.S. federal departments. He lives in the New York
metro area and enjoys traveling.
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page viii
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page ix

Credits
Acquisitions Editor Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Jennifer Watson Richard Swadley

Development Editor Vice President and Executive Publisher

William Bridges Joseph B. Wikert

Technical Editor Project Coordinator, Cover

Benjamin Schupak Lynsey Stanford

Production Editor Compositor

Christine O’Connor Simmy Cover, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Copy Editor Proofreader

Nancy Rapoport Christopher Jones

Editorial Manager Indexer

Mary Beth Wakefield Johnna VanHoose Dinse

Production Manager
Tim Tate
59313ffirs.qxd:WroxPro 3/22/08 2:30 PM Page x
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Contents

Introduction xxiii

Chapter 1: Creating Structured Documents 1

A Web of Structured Documents 1
Introducing XHTML 2
Core Elements and Attributes 9
The <html> Element 9
The <head> Element 10
The <title> Element 11
The <body> Element 11
Attribute Groups 12
Core Attributes 12
Internationalization 14
UI Events 15
Basic Text Formatting 16
White Space and Flow 17
Creating Headings Using hn Elements 18
Creating Paragraphs Using the <p> Element 21
Creating Line Breaks Using the <br /> Element 21
Creating Preformatted Text Using the <pre> Element 22
Presentational Elements 26
The <b> Element 26
The <i> Element 26
The <u> Element (deprecated) 27
The <s> and <strike> Elements (deprecated) 27
The <tt> Element 27
The <sup> Element 28
The <sub> Element 28
The <big> Element 28
The <small> Element 28
The <hr /> Element 28
Phrase Elements 29
The <em> Element Adds Emphasis 30
The <strong> Element Adds Strong Emphasis 30
The <abbr> Element Is for Abbreviations 31
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Contents
The <acronym> Element Is for Acronym Use 31
The <dfn> Element Is for Special Terms 32
The <blockquote> Element Is for Quoting Text 32
The <q> Element Is for Short Quotations 33
The <cite> Element Is for Citations 33
The <code> Element Is for Code 34
The <kbd> Element Is for Text Typed on a Keyboard 34
The <var> Element Is for Programming Variables 35
The <samp> Element Is for a Program Output 35
The <address> Element Is for Addresses 36
Lists 36
Using the <ul> Element to Create Unordered Lists 36
Ordered Lists 37
Definition Lists 39
Nesting Lists 40
How It Works 43
Editing Text 45
Using <ins> to Indicate New Additions to Text 46
Using <del> to Indicate Deleted Text 46
Using Character Entities for Special Characters 47
Comments 47
The <font> Element (deprecated) 48
Understanding Block and Inline Elements 48
Grouping Elements with <div> and <span> 49
Summary 50
Exercises 51

Chapter 2: Links and Navigation 53

Basic Links 54
Linking to Other Documents 54
Linking to E-mail Addresses 56
Understanding Directories and Directory Structures 57
What Are You Linking To? 58
What a URL Is Made Up Of 59
Absolute and Relative URLs 61
The <base> Element 64
Creating Links with the <a> Element 65
Creating a Source Anchor with the href Attribute 65
Creating a Destination Anchor Using the name and id Attributes
(linking to a specific part of a page) 66

xii
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Contents
Advanced E-mail Links 74
Summary 75
Exercises 76

Chapter 3: Images and Objects 77

Adding Images to Your Site 77
Types of Image Formats 78
Bitmap Images 78
Vector Images 85
Adding Images Using the <img> Element 86
Adding Other Objects with the <object> Element 93
The <object> Element’s Attributes 94
The <param> Element 97
Adding a Flash Movie To A Page 98
Using Images as Links 99
Image Maps 100
Server-Side Image Maps 101
Client-Side Image Maps 102
Summary 105
Exercises 106

Chapter 4: Tables 109

Introducing Tables 109
Basic Table Elements and Attributes 112
The <table> Element Creates a Table 113
The <tr> Element Contains Table Rows 117
The <td> and <th> Elements Represent Table Cells 119
Advanced Tables 125
Splitting Up Tables Using a Head, Body, and Foot 125
Adding a <caption> to a Table 128
Spanning Columns Using the colspan Attribute 128
Spanning Rows Using the rowspan Attribute 129
Grouping Columns Using the <colgroup> Element 130
Columns Sharing Styles Using the <col> Element 132
Accessibility Issues with Tables 132
How Tables Linearize 132
Linearization of Tables Used for Layout 133
Linearization of Tables Used for Data 135
Summary 136
Exercises 136

xiii
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Contents
Chapter 5: Forms 139
Introducing Forms 140
Creating a Form with the <form> Element 141
The action Attribute 142
The method Attribute 142
The id Attribute 142
The name Attribute (deprecated) 142
The onsubmit Attribute 143
The onreset Attribute 143
The enctype Attribute 144
The accept-charset Attribute 144
The accept Attribute 144
The target Attribute 145
White Space and the <form> Element 145
Form Controls 145
Text Inputs 145
Buttons 150
Checkboxes 154
Radio Buttons 156
Select Boxes 158
File Select Boxes 164
Hidden Controls 165
Object Controls 166
Creating Labels for Controls and the <label> Element 169
Structuring Your Forms with <fieldset> and <legend> Elements 171
Focus 173
Tabbing Order 173
Access Keys 175
Disabled and Read-Only Controls 176
Sending Form Data to the Server 178
HTTP get 178
HTTP post 179
Summary 183
Exercises 183

Chapter 6: Frames 185

Introducing the Frameset 185
When to Use Frames 188
The <frameset> Element 189
The cols Attribute 189
The rows Attribute 191

xiv
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Contents
Browser-Specific Extensions to the <frameset> Element 192
The <frame> Element 194
The src Attribute 195
The name Attribute 195
The frameborder Attribute 195
The marginwidth and marginheight Attributes 196
The noresize Attribute 196
The scrolling Attribute 196
The longdesc Attribute 197
The <noframes> Element 197
Creating Links Between Frames 198
Setting a Default Target Frame Using the <base> Element 200
Nested Framesets 200
Floating or Inline Frames with <iframe> 204
The <iframe> Element 206
Summary 209
Exercises 209

Chapter 7: Cascading Style Sheets 211

Introducing CSS 212
A Basic Example 213
Inheritance 216
Where You Can Add CSS Rules 217
The <link> Element 218
The <style> Element 220
Advantages of External CSS Style Sheets 220
CSS Properties 221
Controlling Fonts 223
The font-family Property 224
The font-size Property 226
The font-weight Property 227
The font-style Property 228
The font-variant Property 229
The font-stretch Property 230
The font-size-adjust Property 230
Text Formatting 230
The color Property 231
The text-align Property 231
The vertical-align Property 232
The text-decoration Property 234
The text-indent Property 234
The text-shadow Property 235

xv
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Contents
The text-transform Property 235
The letter-spacing Property 236
The word-spacing Property 237
The white-space Property 237
The direction Property 238
The unicode-bidi Property 239
Text Pseudo-Classes 239
The first-letter Pseudo-Class 239
The first-line Pseudo-Class 240
Selectors 243
Universal Selector 243
The Type Selector 243
The Class Selector 244
The ID Selector 244
The Child Selector 244
The Descendent Selector 245
The Adjacent Sibling Selector 245
Using Child and Adjacent Sibling Selectors to Reduce Dependence
on Classes in Markup 245
Attribute Selectors 247
Lengths 249
Absolute Units 249
Relative Units 249
Percentages 251
Introducing the Box Model 251
An Example Illustrating the Box Model 252
The Border Properties 255
The padding Property 258
The margin Property 259
Dimensions 260
Summary 270
Exercises 270

Chapter 8: More Cascading Style Sheets 273

Links 274
Backgrounds 275
The background-color Property 276
The background-image Property 277
The background-repeat Property 278
The background-position Property (for fixing position of backgrounds) 281
The background-attachment Property (for watermarks) 282
The background Property (the well-supported shorthand) 283

xvi
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Contents
Lists 283
The list-style-type Property 284
The list-style-position Property 285
The list-style-image Property 286
The list-style Property (the shorthand) 286
The marker-offset Property 287
Tables 287
Table-Specific Properties 289
The border-collapse Property 289
The border-spacing Property 291
The caption-side Property 292
The empty-cells Property 292
The table-layout Property 294
Outlines 294
The outline-width Property 295
The outline-style Property 295
The outline-color Property 295
The outline Property (the shorthand) 296
The :focus and :active Pseudo-Classes 296
Generated Content 297
The :before and :after Pseudo-Elements 297
The content Property 298
Miscellaneous Properties 301
The cursor Property 301
The display Property 302
The visibility Property 302
Additional Rules 304
The @import Rule: Modularized Style Sheets 304
The @charset Rule 305
The !important Rule 305
Positioning with CSS 305
Normal Flow 306
The position Property 306
Box Offset Properties 307
Relative Positioning 307
Absolute Positioning 309
Fixed Positioning 310
The z-index Property 311
Floating Using the float Property 312
The clear Property 314
Summary 320
Exercises 321

xvii
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Contents
Chapter 9: Page Layout 323
Understanding the Site 323
Understanding a Site’s Aims 324
Whom You Expect to Visit 325
New Content 326
Defining Your Site’s Content 326
Grouping and Categorization 327
Creating a Site Map 328
Identifying Key Elements for Every Page 329
Page Size (and Screen Resolution) 330
Fixed-Width vs. Liquid Designs 331
Designing Pages 337
Sketching the Placement of Elements 337
Introducing the Style 339
Navigation 342
Home Pages 345
Content Pages 345
Structuring Pages 346
Single-Column Layouts 348
Two-Column Layouts 350
Three-Column Layouts 353
Sacrificial Columns 354
Advanced Layout Using CSS 356
Creating a Layout Using Nested Tables 356
Summary 359
Exercises 359

Chapter 10: Design Issues 361

Text 362
White Space Helps Make More Attractive Pages 362
Carefully Aligned Text Is More Readable 365
Adjusting Line Height Makes Text More Readable 365
Wide Columns of Text Are Harder to Read 366
Background Images Can Make Text Hard to Read 366
Choose Fonts Carefully 367
Fixed-Size Fonts Are Affected by Screen Resolution 369
Navigation 369
Menus 369
Links 374
Site Search Features 375

xviii
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Contents
Shading Multiple Rows of a Table 378
Forms 380
Before Designing the Form 380
Designing the Form 382
Summary 401
Exercises 401

Chapter 11: Learning JavaScript 403

What Is Programming About? 404
How to Add a Script to Your Pages 406
Comments in JavaScript 408
The <noscript> Element 408
The Document Object Model 410
Introducing the Document Object Model 410
Objects, Methods, and Properties 412
The Forms Collection 415
Form Elements 416
Images Collection 419
Different Types of Objects 422
Starting to Program with JavaScript 422
Variables 423
Assigning a Value to a Variable 424
Lifetime of a Variable 424
Operators 424
Arithmetic Operators 425
Assignment Operators 425
Comparison Operators 426
Logical or Boolean Operators 427
String Operator 427
Functions 427
How to Define a Function 428
How to Call a Function 428
The Return Statement 429
Conditional Statements 429
if Statements 429
if . . . else Statements 430
A switch Statement 431
Conditional (or Ternary) Operator 432
Looping 432
while 433
do . . . while 434

xix
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Contents
for 434
Infinite Loops and the break Statement 435
Events 435
Built-in Objects 437
String 437
Date 441
Math 444
Array 446
Window 447
Writing JavaScript 449
A Word About Data Types 450
Keywords 451
Summary 451
Exercises 452

Chapter 12: Working with JavaScript 453

Practical Tips for Writing Scripts 453
Has Someone Already Written This Script? 454
Reusable Functions 454
Using External JavaScript Files 455
Place Scripts in a Scripts Folder 455
Form Validation 456
When to Validate 456
How to Validate 456
Form Enhancements 470
Focus on First Form Item 470
Auto-Tabbing Between Fields 471
Disabling a Text Input 472
Case Conversion 474
Trimming Spaces from Beginning and End of Fields 474
Selecting All the Content of a Text Area 475
Check and Uncheck All Checkboxes 476
Image Rollovers 482
Random Script Generator 485
Pop-Up Windows 486
JavaScript Libraries 487
Animated Effects using Scriptaculous 488
Drag-and-Drop Sortable Lists Using Scriptaculous 490
Sortable Tables with MochiKit 492
Creating Calendars with YUI 494
Auto-Completing Text Inputs with YUI 495

xx
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Contents
When Not to Use JavaScript 496
Drop-Down Navigation Menus 497
Hiding Your E-mail Address 497
Quick Jump Select Boxes 497
Anything the User Requires from Your Site 497
Summary 498
Exercises 498

Chapter 13: Putting Your Site on the Web 501

Meta Tags 502
name and content Attributes 503
http-equiv and content 505
The scheme Attribute 508
Testing Your Site 508
The Importance of Directory Structure and Relative URLs 509
Validating HTML, XHTML, and CSS 509
Link Checking 513
Checking Different Screen Resolutions and Color Depths 514
Accessibility Checkers 514
Development Server or Live Server 515
Checking in Different Versions of Browsers 515
Pilot Testing 516
Proofreading 517
Taking the Leap to Live 517
Getting a Domain Name 517
Hosting 518
Search Engine Strategies 522
Other Web Marketing Possibilities 525
Statistical Analysis 526
Version Control 527
What Next? 529
Blogs 529
Discussion Boards or Forums 530
Adding a Search Utility 530
Introducing Other Technologies 531
Server-Side Web Programming: ASP.NET, and PHP 531
Choosing a Server-Side Language 532
Content Management 532
Flash 535
Learning Graphics Packages 536
Summary 537

xxi
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Contents
Appendix A: Answers to Exercises 539

Appendix B: XHTML Element Reference 563

Appendix C: CSS Properties 607

Appendix D: Color Names and Values 637

Appendix E: Character Encodings 645

Appendix F: Special Characters 649

Appendix G: Language Codes 665

Appendix H: MIME Media Types 669

Appendix I: Deprecated and Browser-Specific Markup 681

Index 715

xxii
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Introduction

There are a lot of books about designing and building web pages, so thank you for picking up this one.
Why do I think it is different? Well, the Web has been around for over a decade now, and during its life
many technologies have been introduced to help you create web pages, some of which have lasted, others
of which have disappeared. Many books that teach you to write web pages are revisions of earlier versions
of the same book and therefore still take the same approach as the previous edition did. The purpose of
this book, however, is to teach you how to create pages for the Web as it is today and will be for the next
few years. Then, once you have worked through this book, it should continue to serve as a helpful refer-
ence text you can keep nearby and dip into when you need to.

At one time, you needed to learn only one language to write web pages: HTML. As the Web has advanced,
however, so have the technologies you need to learn in order to create effective and attractive web pages.
As the title of this book suggests, you will be learning a few different languages:

❑ HTML and XHTML: HTML and XHTML are needed to explain the structure of any web pages.
They’re used to indicate what text should be considered a heading, where paragraphs start and
end, and what images should appear in the document, and to specify links between different
pages. As you might be relieved to hear, you shouldn’t think of HTML and XHTML as two sep-
arate languages. Rather, you can consider XHTML as more like the latest version of HTML.
❑ CSS: CSS is used to control how a document should appear. For example, you can use it to spec-
ify that a typeface should be a large, bold, Arial typeface or that the background of a page should
be a light green. It can also be used to control where different items appear on a page. For example,
you can use CSS to present text in two columns on the same page.
❑ JavaScript: You learn a little bit of JavaScript to add interactivity to the web pages you create, and
to work with the browser displaying the web page.

Despite the fact that you are looking at several languages, not just HTML, you can consider it a very good
time to be coming to the Web because many of the technologies used to create web pages have matured,
and favored methods, or “best practices,” for creating web sites have been emerging. It is these that you
will be learning.

About the Book

As you have already seen, you’ll be learning how to control the structure of a web page with HTML and
XHTML, how to style it with CSS, and how to add interactivity with JavaScript. Just learning about the
latest technologies, however, is not enough to ensure that you can write great web pages. As these tech-
nologies to write web pages have improved, so too have browsers (the programs and devices used to access
the Web). Browsers have reflected — and on occasion even informed — the way the languages used to
create web pages have developed. The problem, as you can probably imagine, is that not everyone has the
latest software installed on his or her computer, and as a result you will not only want to be able to write
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information.
(1) Irenæus and Polycarp.—Of the three important writers of the
close of the second century, all of whom attest the Johannine
authorship of the Gospel, Irenæus deserves special mention.
Irenæus spent his early life in Asia Minor, but afterwards became the
leader of the Church in Gaul. Before he left Asia Minor he had some
very interesting associations. One of them was with Polycarp, bishop
of Smyrna, who was martyred in A. D. 155. Polycarp would be an
important figure merely on account of the early period in which he
lived; but what makes his testimony supremely valuable is his
personal association with John. Irenæus himself in his early youth,
before he had left Asia Minor, had heard Polycarp discoursing about
the things he had heard John say. Polycarp, then, was a personal
disciple of John, and Irenæus was a personal disciple of Polycarp.
Only one link, therefore, separated Irenæus from John. Moreover,
since Irenæus in his youth had lived in Asia Minor, the very place of
John's residence, it is natural to believe that what he heard Polycarp
say about John could be supplemented in other ways.
Now beyond any reasonable doubt whatever, Irenæus supposed that
the John of whom he had heard Polycarp speak was none other than
John the apostle, the son of Zebedee. If that supposition was
correct, then the connection between Irenæus and the apostle John
was exceedingly close; and when Irenæus exhibits an absolutely
unwavering belief that the Fourth Gospel was written by the apostle,
it is very unlikely that he was mistaken. He had known one of the
personal disciples of John; he himself had lived in Asia Minor where
John had been the well-known leader of the Church, and where the
Fourth Gospel, no matter who wrote it, was almost certainly
produced. When, therefore, he asserts, not as something new, but
as a thing which he had known from the beginning, that the Fourth
Gospel was written by the apostle John, surely he must be believed.
This conclusion has been avoided by the hypothesis that the John
about whom Polycarp spoke was not really, as Irenæus supposed,
John the son of Zebedee, but another John, a certain John the
presbyter, who was not one of the twelve apostles at all. The
unnaturalness of such an hypothesis appears on the surface. Could a
native of Asia Minor who had repeatedly heard Polycarp speak about
the John in question, and who had many other opportunities for
acquainting himself with the traditions of the church in Asia Minor—
could such a man, together with all his contemporaries, have come
to labor under so egregious a misapprehension?
(2) Other Attestation.—The testimony of Irenæus to the Fourth
Gospel is of particular importance, on account of Irenæus'
connection with Polycarp. But it is only one detail in a remarkable
consensus. When the most widely separated portions of the Church
before the close of the second century all agreed that the Fourth
Gospel was written by John the son of Zebedee, their common belief
could not have been of recent origin. Earlier writers, moreover, by
their use of the Gospel attest at least its early date.

3. THE TESTIMONY OF THE GOSPEL ITSELF

The tradition which attributes the Fourth Gospel to John the son of
Zebedee is confirmed by the testimony of the Gospel itself. Although
the book does not mention the name of its author it clearly implies
who he was.
(1) Indirectness of the Testimony.—This testimony of the
Gospel itself is all the more valuable because it is indirect. If the
name John had been mentioned at the beginning, then it might
conceivably be supposed that an unknown author had desired to
gain a hearing for his work by putting it falsely under the name of a
great apostle. As it is, the inference that the author claims to be
John the son of Zebedee, though certain, does not force itself upon
the careless reader. A forger would not thus, by the indirectness of
his claim, have deprived himself of the benefits of his forgery.
The testimony of the Gospel to its author must now be considered.
(2) The Author an Eyewitness.—In the first place, almost at the
very beginning, we observe that the author claims to be an
eyewitness of the life of Jesus. "We beheld his glory," he says in
John 1:14. By beholding the glory of Christ he evidently does not
mean merely that experience of Christ's power which is possessed
by every Christian. On the contrary, the glory of Christ, as it is
intended by the evangelist, is fully explained by such passages as ch.
2:11. The miracles of Jesus—palpable, visible events in the external
world—are clearly included in what is meant. It will be observed that
in ch. 1:14 it is very specifically the incarnate Christ that is spoken
of. The evangelist is describing the condition of things after "the
Word became flesh." Evidently, therefore, it was the earthly life of
Jesus which the evangelist claims to have "beheld."
This conclusion is confirmed by I John 1:1-4. Scarcely anyone doubts
that the First Epistle of John was written by the man who wrote the
Gospel. When, therefore, the author of the epistle speaks of "that
which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that
which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of
life," evidently these words have significance for the Gospel also.
The author fairly heaps up expressions to show, beyond all
possibility of misunderstanding, that he had come into actual
physical contact with the earthly Jesus.
(3) The Unnamed Disciple of John 1:35-42.—The author of the
Fourth Gospel, then, clearly claims to be an eyewitness of the
earthly life of Christ. Further indications identify him with a particular
one among the eyewitnesses. In John 1:35-42, an unnamed disciple
of Jesus is mentioned. "One of the two," it is said in v. 40, "that
heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother." Who was the other? There is some reason for thinking that
he was one of the two sons of Zebedee. But the matter will become
clearer as we proceed.
Another question is why this disciple is not mentioned by name. The
Fourth Gospel is not chary of names. Why, then, is the disciple who
appears so prominently along with Andrew and Simon not
mentioned by name? Only one plausible explanation suggests itself—
the explanation that the unnamed disciple was the author of the
Gospel, who, through a feeling common in the literature of antiquity,
as well as of our own time, did not like to mention his own name in
the course of his narrative. We have already observed that the
author claims to be an eyewitness of the life of Christ. John 1:14.
When, therefore, near the beginning of the narrative a disciple of
Jesus is introduced, rather mysteriously, without a name, when,
furthermore, events in which this disciple was immediately
concerned are narrated with unusual vividness and wealth of detail,
vs. 35-42, the conclusion becomes very natural that this unnamed
disciple is none other than the author himself.
(4) The Beloved Disciple.—This conclusion, it must be admitted,
so far as this first passage is concerned, is nothing more than a
likely guess. But by other passages it is rendered almost certain.
In John 13:21-25, a disciple is mentioned as leaning on Jesus' breast
and as being one whom Jesus loved. This disciple is not named. But
who was he? Evidently he was one of the twelve apostles, for only
the apostles were present at the Supper which is described in chs.
13 to 17. The disciple "whom Jesus loved," however, was not only
among the Twelve; he was evidently among the innermost circle of
the Twelve. Such an innermost circle appears clearly in the Synoptic
Gospels. It was composed of Peter and James and John. The
beloved disciple was probably one of these three; and since he is
clearly distinguished from Peter, ch. 13:24, he was either James or
John.
The introduction of an unnamed disciple, which seemed significant
even in John 1:35-42, becomes yet far more significant in the
present passage. In the account of the Last Supper, a considerable
number of the disciples are named—Peter, Judas Iscariot, Thomas,
Philip, Judas not Iscariot—yet the disciple who is introduced with
especial emphasis, whose very position at table is described with a
wealth of detail far greater than is displayed in the case of any of
the others, is designated merely as "one of his disciples, whom Jesus
loved." The strange omission of this disciple's name can be explained
only if he was the author of the book. Clearly the painter has here
introduced a modest portrait of himself in the midst of his great
picture.
Passing by John 18:15,16, where "the other disciple" is probably the
author, and ch. 19:26,27, where the repetition of the strange
designation, "the disciple ... whom he [Jesus] loved," confirms the
impressions derived from ch. 13:21-25, we discover another
important indication in ch. 19:35. "And he that hath seen hath borne
witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true,
that ye also may believe." "He that hath seen" can scarcely refer to
anyone other than the beloved disciple who was mentioned just
before as standing by the cross. In the present verse, this beloved
disciple is represented as the one who is now speaking. The
identification of the beloved disciple with the author of the Gospel,
which was implied before, here becomes explicit.
In John 20:1-10, "the other disciple whom Jesus loved" is of course
the same as the one who appears in ch. 13:21-25; 19:26,27,35.
(5) Testimony of the Appendix.—In John 21:7,20-23, the
beloved disciple appears again, and in v. 24 he is identified, in so
many words, with the writer of the Gospel. In this verse the first
person plural is used; other persons seem to be associated with the
author in commending the Gospel to the attention of the Church.
This phenomenon is explained if the twenty-first chapter be
regarded as a sort of appendix, perhaps added at the request of a
circle of friends. It will be observed that ch. 20:30,31 forms a fit
ending to the book; what follows therefore appears the more like an
appendix, though it was certainly written by the author's own hand
and published before his death along with the rest of the book.
(6) Why Are John and James Not Mentioned by Name?—The
conclusion of our investigation is that the author of the Fourth
Gospel indicates clearly that he was either one or the other of the
two sons of Zebedee. This conclusion is confirmed by the curious
circumstance that neither one of these men is mentioned in the
Gospel by name. How did they come to be omitted? They were in
the very innermost circle of Jesus' disciples; many apostles far less
prominent than they are named frequently on the pages of the
Gospel. There can be only one solution of the problem: one at least
of these men is, as a matter of fact, introduced in the Gospel as the
beloved disciple, and the reason why he is introduced in such a
curiously anonymous way and why his brother also is not named, is
that the author felt a natural delicacy about introducing his own and
his brother's name into a narrative of the Lord's life.
One statement that has just been made requires qualification: it is
not quite true that the sons of Zebedee are not designated by name
in the Gospel. They are not indeed called by their individual names,
but in ch. 21:2, they are designated by the name of their father.
Possibly this slight difference of usage between chapter 21 and the
rest of the Gospel has something to do with the fact that chapter 21
seems to be an appendix.
(7) The Author Was Not James, but John.—The author of the
Fourth Gospel, then, identifies himself with one or the other of the
sons of Zebedee. As to which one of the two is meant there cannot
be the slightest doubt. James the son of Zebedee was martyred in A.
D. 44. Acts 12:2. There is abundant evidence that the Fourth Gospel
was not written so early as that; and John 21:20-23 apparently
implies that the author lived to a considerable age. Evidently,
therefore, it is John and not James with whom the author identifies
himself.
(8) Is the Gospel's Own Testimony True?—Thus the singularly
strong tradition which attributes the Fourth Gospel to John the son
of Zebedee is supported by the independent testimony of the book
itself. Conceivably, of course, that testimony might be false. But it is
very hard to believe that it is. It is very hard to believe that the
author of this wonderful book, who despite all the profundity of his
ideas exalts in a very special manner the importance of simple
testimony based upon the senses, John 19:35; I John 1:1-4, has in a
manner far subtler and more heinous than if he had simply put a
false name at the beginning palmed himself off as an eyewitness of
the Saviour's life. Many learned men have found it possible to accept
such a view; but the simple reader of the Gospel will always be
inclined to dissent. The author of this book has narrated many things
hard to be believed. But there are still found those who accept his
solemn testimony; there are still found those in whom the purpose
of the book is achieved, who through this Gospel believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing have life in his name.
John 20:31.

4. TRADITIONAL TIME AND PLACE AND PLAN

The tradition about the Fourth Gospel is not confined to the bare
fact of Johannine authorship; it has preserved certain other very
interesting information.
(1) The Ephesian Residence.—For example, tradition represents
the Fourth Gospel as written after the other three Gospels and at
Ephesus. The evidence for the Ephesian residence of the apostle
John is singularly abundant and weighty; and the contrary evidence
which has been thought to attest an early death of John is
exceedingly weak. At first, John, like the others of the original
apostles, remained in Palestine. He appears in Jerusalem a little
before A. D. 50 at the Apostolic Council. Gal. 2:9. At some
subsequent time, perhaps at the outbreak of the Jewish war in A. D.
66, he journeyed to Asia Minor and there for many years was the
revered head of the Church. He lived indeed until the reign of Trajan,
which began in A. D. 98.
(2) The Gospel of John Supplementary to the Synoptic
Gospels.—According to tradition, the Gospel of John was not only
written after the Synoptic Gospels, but was intended to be
supplementary to them. This information is amply confirmed by the
Gospel itself. Evidently John presupposes on the part of his readers a
knowledge of the Synoptic account. This explains his peculiar choice
of material—for example, his omission of most of the Galilean
ministry, and of such events as the baptism and the institution of the
Lord's Supper. It explains also, for example, a verse like John 3:24:
"For John was not yet cast into prison." The Synoptic Gospels begin
their account of the ministry of Jesus with what happened after the
imprisonment of John the Baptist. Mark 1:14. Readers of Mark might
even receive the impression that Jesus had not begun his teaching
till after that time. John corrects any such impression in ch. 3:24.
If, then, the Gospel of John is intended not to compete with the
Synoptic Gospels, but to supplement them, in what direction does
the supplementing move? What is it that John adds to what had
already been told? Here, again, tradition affords us useful hints.
Eusebius, in the early part of the fourth century, writes as follows
(Church History, iii, 24, 7-13, translated by McGiffert, in "Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers," second series, vol. i, p. 153):
"And when Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, they
say that John, who had employed all his time in proclaiming the
Gospel orally, finally proceeded to write for the following reason. The
three Gospels already mentioned [Matthew, Mark and Luke] having
come into the hands of all and into his own too, they say that he
accepted them and bore witness to their truthfulness; but that there
was lacking in them an account of the deeds done by Christ at the
beginning of his ministry. And this indeed is true. For it is evident
that the three evangelists recorded only the deeds done by the
Saviour for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and
indicated this in the beginning of their account. For Matthew, after
the forty days' fast and the temptation which followed it, indicates
the chronology of his work when he says: 'Now when he heard that
John was delivered up he withdrew from Judea into Galilee.' Mark
likewise says: 'Now after that John was delivered up Jesus came into
Galilee.' And Luke, before commencing his account of the deeds of
Jesus, similarly marks the time, when he says that Herod, 'adding to
all the evil deeds which he had done, shut up John in prison.' They
say, therefore, that the apostle John, being asked to do it for this
reason, gave in his Gospel an account of the period which had been
omitted by the earlier evangelists, and of the deeds done by the
Saviour during that period; that is, of those which were done before
the imprisonment of the Baptist. And this is indicated by him, they
say, in the following words: 'This beginning of miracles did Jesus';
and again when he refers to the Baptist, in the midst of the deeds of
Jesus, as still baptizing in Ænon near Salim; where he states the
matter clearly in the words: 'For John was not yet cast into prison.'
John accordingly, in his Gospel, records the deeds of Christ which
were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the
other three evangelists mention the events which happened after
that time. One who understands this can no longer think that the
Gospels are at variance with one another, inasmuch as the Gospel
according to John contains the first acts of Christ, while the others
give an account of the latter part of his life. And the genealogy of
our Saviour according to the flesh John quite naturally omitted,
because it had been already given by Matthew and Luke, and began
with the doctrine of his divinity, which had, as it were, been reserved
for him, as their superior, by the divine Spirit."
According to Eusebius, then, John intended to treat the time before
the imprisonment of the Baptist as the Synoptists treated the time
after that event. We have already noted the element of truth in this
observation. Of course it is not the only observation that needs to be
made. Much of what John narrates occurred after the imprisonment
of the Baptist.
According to Clement of Alexandria, of the close of the second
century, who here reports what had been said by his predecessors in
Alexandria, John, seeing that "bodily" matters had been treated by
the Synoptists, supplemented their work by writing a "spiritual"
Gospel. In this testimony also there is no doubt an element of truth.
It is true that the Fourth Gospel reproduces certain profound
elements in the teaching of Jesus which in the earlier Gospels
appear only incidentally.
The oral tradition which forms the chief basis of the Synoptic
Gospels was rooted deep in the earliest missionary activity of the
Church. Especially, perhaps, in the Gospel of Mark, but also in
Matthew and Luke, we have for the most part those facts about
Jesus and those elements of his teaching which could appeal at once
to simple-minded believers or to outsiders. The Gospel of John, on
the other hand, drawing, like the others, from the rich store of Jesus'
teaching and Jesus' person, has revealed yet deeper mysteries. In
this profound book, we have the recollections of a beloved disciple,
at first understood only imperfectly by the apostle himself, but
rendered ever clearer by advancing experience, and firmly fixed by
being often repeated in the author's oral instruction of the Church.

In the Library.—Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible," article on "John" (7):

Purves, article on "John, Gospel according to St." M'Clymont, "The
New Testament and Its Writers," pp. 33-40. Stevens and Burton, "A
Harmony of the Gospels." Westcott, "The Gospel according to St.
John: The Authorized Version with Introduction and Notes." "The
Cambridge Bible for Schools": Plummer, "The Gospel According to St.
John." Browning, "A Death in the Desert" (vol. iv, pp. 191-206 of the
Riverside Edition). Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol.
iii, pp. 174-355. The last-named work is intended primarily for those
who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.
 LESSON XXXI
THE JESUS OF THE GOSPELS
It is possible to speak of "the Jesus of the Gospels" only if the
Gospels are in essential agreement. If the features of the four
portraits are so different that they never could have been united
really in the same person, then there is no such thing as a Jesus of
the Gospels, but only a Jesus of Matthew and a Jesus of Mark and a
Jesus of Luke and a Jesus of John.

1. AGREEMENT AMONG THE SYNOPTISTS

Among the Synoptic Gospels, at any rate, no such difference exists.

Though every one of these Gospels possesses its own
characteristics, the peculiarities are almost negligible in comparison
with the underlying unity. There is certainly such a thing as "the
Synoptic Jesus." His words and deeds are narrated in each of the
Gospels in a different selection and in a different style, but the
characteristic features are everywhere the same.

2. THE SYNOPTISTS AND JOHN

With regard to the Fourth Gospel, the matter is not quite so plain.
The contrast between the Synoptists and John has already been
noticed. It forces itself upon even the most casual reader. Difference,
however, is not necessarily contradiction. It may be due to a
difference in the point of view. Both the Synoptists and John give a
true picture of Jesus; the same features appear very different when
viewed from different angles.
 3. DIVINITY AND HUMANITY

At any rate, if there is a contradiction between the first three

Gospels and the Gospel of John, the contradiction is by no means
easy to formulate. It cannot be said, for example, simply that the
Synoptists present a human Jesus and John a divine Jesus.
Whatever the differences among the four Gospels, all four agree at
least in two essential features. All four present Jesus, in the first
place as a man, and in the second place as something more than a
man.
(1) Humanity in the Synoptists.—The former feature is perhaps
especially clear in the Synoptists. According to the first three
Gospels, Jesus led a genuine human life from birth to death. As a
child he grew not only in stature, but also in wisdom. He was subject
to human parents and to the requirements of the Jewish law. Even
after the inauguration of his ministry the human conditions of his life
were not superseded. He was even tempted like other men. He grew
weary and slept. He suffered hunger and thirst. He could rejoice and
he could suffer sorrow. He prayed, like other men, and worshiped
God. He needed strengthening both for body and for mind. No mere
semblance of a human life is here presented, but a genuine man of
flesh and blood.
(2) Humanity in John.—But if the Jesus of the Synoptists is a true
man, how is it with the Jesus of John? Does the Fourth Gospel
present merely a heavenly being who walked through the world
untouched and unruffled by the sin and misery and weakness that
surrounded him? Only a very superficial reading can produce such
an impression. The Fourth Gospel indeed lays a supreme emphasis
upon the majesty of Jesus, upon his "glory" as it was manifested in
works of power and attested by God himself. But side by side with
these features of the narrative, as though to prevent a possible
misunderstanding, the author presents the humanity of Jesus with
drastic touches that can scarcely be paralleled in the Synoptists
themselves. It is John who speaks of the weariness of Jesus at the
well of Samaria, ch. 4:6; of the human affection which he felt for
Lazarus and Martha and Mary, ch. 11:3,5,36, and for an individual
among the disciples, ch. 13:23; of his weeping, ch. 11:35; and
indignant groaning, v. 38; and of his deadly thirst. Ch. 19:28. As
clearly as the other evangelists John presents Jesus as a man.
(3) Divinity in John.—In the second place, all four Gospels, if they
present Jesus as a man, also present him as something far more
than a man. With regard to the Gospel of John, of course the matter
is unmistakable. The very first verse reads: "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Jesus according to John was plainly no product of the world, but God
come in the flesh. John 1:14. The teaching of Jesus himself, as it is
reported in the Fourth Gospel, is concerned with the relation of
perfect unity that exists between the Father and the Son.
(4) Divinity in the Synoptists.—In the Synoptists the supernatural
character of Jesus is somewhat less on the surface. His teaching, as
the Synoptists report it, is largely concerned not directly with his
own person, but with the kingdom that he came to found. Even his
Messiahship is often kept in the background; the demons are often
commanded not to reveal it.
A closer examination, however, reveals the essential unity between
the Synoptists and John. If the supernatural character of Jesus
appears in the Synoptists less plainly on the surface, it is really no
less pervasive at the center. It does not so often form the subject of
direct exposition, but it is everywhere presupposed. The doing by
Jesus of what only God can do, Mark 2:5,7; the sovereign way in
which he legislates for the kingdom of God, Matt. 5:17-48; his
unearthly holiness and complete lack of any consciousness of sin;
the boundlessness of his demand for obedience, Luke 9:57-62; his
expected freedom from limitations of time and place, Matt. 28:20;
the absolutely central place which he claims for himself as ruler and
judge; the substantiation of all his lofty claims by wonderful power
over the forces of nature—these are only indications chosen almost
at random of what is really plain upon every page of the Synoptic
Gospels, that the Jesus who is there described is no mere human
figure but a divine Saviour of the world. The invitation of Matt.
11:28-30, which is typical of the Synoptic teaching, would have been
absurd on the lips of anyone but the Son of God.
Moreover, the divine nature of Jesus is not merely implied in the
Synoptic Gospels; there are times when it even becomes explicit.
The relation of perfect mutual knowledge that exists between Jesus
and the Father, Matt. 11:27, reveals a perfect unity of nature. The
Jesus of the Synoptists, as well as the Jesus of John, might say, "I
and the Father are one."

4. THE MANNER OF JESUS' TEACHING

The Synoptic Gospels, therefore, imply everywhere exactly the same

Jesus who is more expressly presented in the Gospel of John. If,
then, there is a contradiction between the Synoptists and John, it
can be concerned only with the manner of Jesus' teaching. The
Synoptists as well as John present Jesus as a supernatural person, it
is said, but unlike John they represent him as keeping his own
person in the background.
Even here, however, maturer consideration shows that the difference
does not amount to anything like contradiction. May not the same
person have spoken the discourses of the Fourth Gospel and also
those of the Synoptists? It must be remembered that the ministry of
Jesus was varied, and that the first three evangelists confine
themselves almost exclusively to one phase of it. In the public
Galilean ministry, which the Synoptists describe, it was necessary for
Jesus to keep even his Messiahship for a time in the background.
Publication of it, owing to the false political conception which the
Jews had of the Messiah's work, would have been fatal to Jesus'
plan. Here, as so often, the Fourth Gospel explains the other three.
After the feeding of the five thousand, John tells us, the crowd
wanted to take Jesus by force and make him a king. John 6:15.
Popularity was dangerous. Jesus could not proclaim himself publicly
as the Messiah, until by explaining the spiritual nature of the
kingdom he had prepared the people for the kind of Messiah which it
was his mission to be.
Of course, it is difficult for us to understand at every point just why
Jesus acted as he did. All that we are now maintaining is that the
considerations just adduced, and others like them, show that it is
perfectly conceivable that Jesus, before his intimate disciples and in
Jerusalem and at a special crisis, John, ch. 6, adopted a method of
teaching which in the greater part of the Galilean ministry he
considered out of place. There is room in a true narrative of Jesus'
life both for the Synoptists and for John.

5. THE COMPREHENSIVENESS OF JESUS

Jesus was many-sided. He was Lawgiver, he was Teacher, he was

Healer, he was Ruler, he was Saviour. He was man and he was God.
The Gospels have presented him in the richness of his mysterious
person. Modern historians are less comprehensive. They have been
offended at the manifoldness of the Gospel picture. They have
endeavored to reduce Jesus to the level of what they can
comprehend. But their effort has been a failure. After the supposed
contradictions have been removed, greater contradictions remain;
and the resulting figure is at any rate too small to account for the
origin of Christianity. The partial Jesus of modern criticism, despite
his comparative littleness, is a monstrosity; the comprehensive Jesus
of the Gospels, though mysterious, is a self-evidencing and life-
giving fact.

In the Library.—Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves, article on

"Jesus Christ." Warfield, "The Lord of Glory," pp. 125-173.
Robertson, "Epochs in the Life of Jesus." Stalker, "The Life of Jesus
Christ." Denney, "Jesus and the Gospel." Andrews, "The Life of Our
Lord."
 LESSON XXXII
A DOCUMENT OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
The Epistle of James

1. THE CHRISTIANITY OF JAMES

The Epistle of James has been called the least Christian book in the
New Testament. Superficially this judgment is true. The name of
Jesus occurs only twice in the epistle, James 1:1; 2:1, and there is
no specific reference to his life and death and resurrection. A close
examination, however, reverses the first impression.
(1) James and the Synoptic Discourses.—In the first place, the
ethical teaching of James is permeated by the spirit of Jesus. Even
the form of the epistle displays a marked affinity for the discourses
of the Synoptic Gospels, and the affinity in content is even more
apparent. Many striking parallels could be cited; but what is more
convincing than such details is the indefinable spirit of the whole.
The way in which James treats the covetousness, the pride, the
heartlessness, the formalism, the pettiness and the meanness of his
readers, is strikingly similar to the way in which his Master dealt with
the Pharisees. James does not indeed actually cite the words of
Jesus; but the absence of citations makes the underlying similarity
all the more significant. The writer of this epistle did not live at a
time when the knowledge of the words of Jesus was derived from
books; rather he had himself listened to the Master—even though he
was not at first a disciple—and was living in a community where the
impression of Jesus' teaching and Jesus' person was still fresh in the
memory of those who had known him on earth.
(2) James and Christian Doctrine.—In the second place,
moreover, the Christianity of James is religious as well as ethical. Of
course it could not be like the teaching of Jesus if it were merely
ethical; for everything that Jesus taught even about the simplest
matters of human conduct was determined by the thought of the
heavenly Father and by the significance of his own person. But by
the religious character of the Epistle of James even more than this is
meant. Like all the writers of the New Testament James was well
aware of the saving significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. For
him as well as for the others, Jesus was Lord, ch. 1:1, and a Lord
who was possessed of a heavenly glory. Ch. 2:1. James, as well as
the others, was waiting for the second coming of Christ. Ch. 5:8. He
does not directly refer to the saving events that form the substance
of Christian faith; but he takes them everywhere for granted. The
word of truth through which the disciples have been formed by God,
ch. 1:18, the implanted word, v. 21, that needs ever to be received
anew, can hardly be anything else than the apostolic gospel as it
was proclaimed in the earliest speeches of Peter which are recorded
in The Acts, and as it found its rich unfolding in the teaching of Paul.
Just because that gospel in our epistle is presupposed, it does not
need to be expounded in detail. The men to whom James was
writing were not lacking in orthodoxy. If they had been, he would
have set them right, and we should have had another exposition of
the gospel. As a matter of fact their fault was in practice, not in
theory; and it is in the sphere of practice that they are met by
James. The epistle would be insufficient if it stood alone. It does not
lay the foundation of Christian faith. But it shows how, upon that
foundation, may be built not the wood, hay and stubble of a wordy
orthodoxy, but the gold and silver and precious stones of an honest
Christian life.
This epistle, then, might be misleading if taken by itself; but it
becomes salutary if it is understood in its historical connections. Far
from disparaging Christian doctrine—as the modern Church is
tempted to suppose—it builds upon doctrine. In that it agrees with
the whole of the Bible. Christianity, as has been finely said, is a life
only because it is a doctrine. Only the great saving events of the
gospel have rendered possible a life like that which is described in
the Epistle of James. And where the gospel is really accepted with
heart as well as mind, that life of love will always follow.

2. DATE AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE EPISTLE

The view which will be held about the date of the Epistle of James
will depend very largely upon the interpretation of the passage
about faith and works. James 2:14-26. In that passage, some of the
same terms appear as are prominent in connection with the great
Judaistic controversy in which Paul was engaged from the time of
the Apostolic Council to the time of the third missionary journey.
Three views have been held with regard to the date of the Epistle of
James. The epistle may be regarded as written (1) before the
Judaistic controversy arose, (2) during that controversy or while it
was still fresh in men's minds, or (3) long after the controversy had
been settled.
(1) The Intermediate Date.—The second of these three views
may be eliminated first. This intermediate view has the advantage of
placing the epistle within the lifetime of James. It can treat the
epistle as authentic. It has furthermore the advantage of explaining
the coincidences between James 2:14-26 and Rom., ch. 4. For if the
epistle was written at the very close of the lifetime of James—say
about A. D. 62, or, following Hegesippus, A. D. 66—the author may
have become acquainted with the Epistle to the Romans.
But the difficulties of this view far overbalance the advantages. If
James was writing with Galatians and Romans before him, then
apparently in ch. 2:24 he intends to contradict those epistles. As a
matter of fact, however, as is shown in the Student's Text Book, he
does not really contradict them, but is in perfect harmony with them.
He has therefore gone out of his way in order to introduce a formal
contradiction of the great apostle to the Gentiles although there is
no real contradiction of meaning at all! What could he possibly gain
by such useless trouble-making? If James really wanted to combat
Paul's doctrine of justification by faith, he would have done so very
differently; and if he did not want to combat it, he would certainly
not have uselessly created the appearance of doing so.
Perhaps, however, James 2:14-26 is a refutation not of Paul but of a
misunderstanding of Paul. This also is very improbable. If the
passage was a refutation not of Paul but of a misunderstanding of
Paul, why did James not say so? Why did he not distinguish Paul
clearly from his misinterpreters? Instead he has indulged uselessly in
a formal contradiction of Paul, and has in refutation of a
misunderstanding of Paul not even used the abundant materials
which Paul himself could offer! And where was such a
misunderstanding of Paul possible in Jewish Christian circles of A. D.
62?
What makes every form of this intermediate dating impossible is the
total absence from the epistle of any reference to the question of the
conditions upon which Gentiles were to be received into the Church.
In A. D. 62 this question had recently been the subject of bitter
controversy. At that time no one could have touched upon the
closely related topic of faith and works as James does and yet have
ignored so completely the controversial question.
Evidently, therefore, the epistle was written either before the
Judaistic controversy arose or else long after it was over.
(2) The Late Date.—The latter view makes the epistle a
pseudonymous work—it assumes that an unknown author has here
tried to enhance the influence of his work by putting it under the
name of the first head of the Jerusalem church. This is of itself
sufficient to refute the late dating. For the procedure of the
supposed falsifier is quite incomprehensible. He has chosen James
as the alleged author only because of the lofty position which James
held, and yet he has designated him in the first verse merely as a
simple Christian! The procedure of real forgers is very different.
There are also, however, other objections to the late dating. Would
any writer in the second century, when the authority of Paul was
well established, have ventured to introduce such an apparent
contradiction of Paul as appears in James 2:24? In a writer of A. D.
150 we should have had formal agreement with Paul and material
disagreement; in the Epistle of James we have formal disagreement
and material harmony. Apparent contradiction of expression
combined with perfect unity of thought is a sure sign of
independence. The Epistle of James has made no use of the epistles
of Paul.
Against this conclusion may be urged only the coincidence that
James and Paul both use the example of Abraham, and cite the
same verse, Gen. 15:6, with regard to him. But it must be
remembered that to every Jew Abraham offered the most obvious
example in all the Scriptures. It is possible, too, that the faith and
works of Abraham had in pre-Christian Jewish circles already been
the subject of controversy. Furthermore, James does not confine
himself to Abraham, but introduces Rahab also, who is not
mentioned by Paul. The coincidence between Paul and James is
quite insufficient to overbalance the clear evidence of independence.
(3) The Early Date.—Only one hypothesis, then, suits the facts.
The Epistle of James was clearly written before the Judaistic
controversy became acute at the time of the Apostolic Council. In
the second chapter of the epistle, James has used the same terms
that became prominent in that controversy, but he has used them in
refuting a practical, not a theoretical, error—an error that is related
only indirectly to the great subject of Galatians and Romans.

3. UNDERLYING UNITY OF THE EPISTLE

At first sight the Epistle of James seems to possess very little unity.
Topic follows topic often with little apparent connection. But the
connection between the individual sections is closer than appears at
first; and the epistle as a whole possesses at least a perfect unity of
spirit.
(1) Reality in Religion.—The ruling tone of the epistle, which may
be detected beneath all the varying exhortations, is a certain manly
honesty, a certain fierce hatred of all sham and cant and humbug
and meanness. James is a stern advocate of a practical religion.
(2) Supremacy of Religion.—It must be noticed, however, that
the religion of this writer is none the less religious because it is
practical. James is no advocate of a "gospel of street-cleaning." On
the contrary he insists with characteristic vehemence upon personal
piety. The same writer who has been regarded as emphasizing works
at the expense of faith, who might be hailed as a leader of those
who would make religion terminate upon man rather than God, who
might be thought to disparage everything but "social service"—this
same writer is one of the most earnest advocates of prayer. James
1:5-8; 4:2,3; 5:14-18. This apostle of works, this supposed
disparager of faith, is almost bitter in his denunciation of unbelief!
Ch. 1:6-8. God, not man, according to James, is the author of every
perfect gift. V. 17. Prayer is the remedy both for bodily and for
spiritual ills. Ch. 5:14-18. James lends no countenance to the
modern disparagement of religious devotion. The same
uncompromising severity with which he lashes an inactive religion is
also applied just as mercilessly to an irreligious activity. Ch. 4:13-15.
James does not attack religion in the interests of reality; he attacks
unreality in the interests of religion.

4. CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE

The opening of the epistle, like that of the letters contained in Acts
15:23-29; 23:26-30, is constructed according to the regular Greek
form.
After the opening, James speaks first of trials or temptations. Rightly
used they will lead to perfection. If, however, there is still
imperfection, it can be removed by prayer to God. The imperfection
which is here especially in view is an imperfection in wisdom.
Apparently the readers, like the Pharisees, had laid an excessive
stress upon knowledge. The true wisdom, says James, can be
obtained not by human pride, as the readers seem to think, but only
by prayer. Prayer, however, must be in faith—there must be no
wavering in it. Pride, indeed, is altogether blameworthy. If there is to
be boasting, it should certainly be not in earthly wealth but in those
spiritual blessings which often reverse earthly distinctions. Returning
to the subject of temptations, James insists that in their evil they do
not come from God, but from the depths of man's own desires. From
God comes no evil thing, but every perfect gift; and in the gospel
God has bestowed upon us his richest blessing.
That gospel must be received with all diligence. It will exclude wrath
and insincerity. True religion consists not merely in hearing but in
doing; good examples of the exercise of it are the visitation of the
fatherless and widows and the preservation of one's own personal
purity of life.
Faith in Christ, James continues in similar vein, excludes all undue
respect of persons. Indeed God in his choice of those who should be
saved has especially favored the poor. The rich as a class are rather
the oppressors of the Christians. Surely then the Christians should
not favor rich men for selfish reasons. The law of love will exclude all
such unworthy conduct.
That law of love requires an active life. Faith, if it be true faith, leads
to works. Away with a miserable faith that is expressed only in
words!
Words, indeed, are dangerous. The tongue is a prolific source of
harm. Evil speech reveals the deep-seated corruption of the heart.
The readers must be careful, therefore, about seeking the work of a
teacher. The true wisdom, which fits a man to teach, is not of man's
acquiring, but comes from God.
Quarreling—which was produced especially by the inordinate
ambition among the readers to pose as teachers—must be
counteracted by submission to God.
The constant thought of God excludes all pride in human planning.
Especially the rich must reflect upon the transitoriness of earthly
possessions and above all must be sure that their wealth is honestly
gained.
Finally, patient waiting for the Lord, the example of the Old
Testament saints, and the earnest practice of prayer will make
effective all the exhortations of the epistle.

In the Library.—Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 123-

138. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Warfield, articles on "James"
and "James, Epistle of." M'Clymont, "The New Testament and Its
Writers," pp. 123-129. Knowling, "The Epistle of St. James." "The
Cambridge Bible for Schools": Plumptre, "The General Epistle of St.
James." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament," vol. i, pp. 73-
151. The last-named work is intended primarily for those who have
some knowledge of Greek, but can also be used by others.
 LESSON XXXIII
JESUS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT
The Epistle to the Hebrews

1. PAUL NOT THE AUTHOR

(1) The Tradition.—At Alexandria in the latter part of the second

century Paul was thought to be the author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews; but in North Africa a little later Tertullian attributed the
epistle to Barnabas, and in other portions of the Church the Pauline
authorship was certainly not accepted. In the west, the Pauline
authorship was long denied and the inclusion of the epistle in the
New Testament resisted. At last the Alexandrian view won universal
acceptance. The Epistle to the Hebrews became an accepted part of
the New Testament, and was attributed to Paul.
Clement of Alexandria, who had apparently received the tradition of
Pauline authorship from Pantænus, his predecessor, himself declares
that Hebrews was written by Paul in the "Hebrew" (Aramaic)
language, and was translated by Luke into Greek. The notion of a
translation by Luke was based upon no genuine historical tradition—
Hebrews is certainly an original Greek work—but was simply an
hypothesis constructed to explain the peculiarities of the epistle on
the supposition that it was a work of Paul.
(2) The Value of the Tradition.—The tradition of Pauline
authorship is clearly very weak. If Paul had been the author, it is
hard to see why the memory of the fact should have been lost so
generally in the Church. No one in the early period had any objection
to the epistle; on the contrary it was very highly regarded. If, then, it
had really been written by Paul, the Pauline authorship would have
been accepted everywhere with avidity. The negative testimony of
the Roman church is particularly significant. The epistle was quoted
by Clement of Rome at about A. D. 95; yet at Rome as elsewhere in
the West the epistle seems never in the early period to have been
regarded as Pauline. In other words, just where acquaintance with
the epistle can be traced farthest back, the denial of Pauline
authorship seems to have been most insistent. If Clement of Rome
had regarded Paul as the author, the history of Roman opinion about
the epistle would have been very different.
On the other hand, on the supposition that there was originally no
tradition of Pauline authorship, the subsequent prevalence of such a
tradition is easily explained. It was due simply to the evident
apostolic authority of the epistle itself. From the start, Hebrews was
felt to be an authoritative work. Being authoritative, it would be
collected along with other authoritative works. Since it was an
epistle, and exhibited a certain Pauline quality of spirit and subject, it
would naturally be associated with the other works of the greatest
letter writer of the apostolic age. Being thus included in a collection
of the Pauline Epistles, and being regarded as of apostolic authority,
what was more natural than to attribute it to the apostle Paul? Such,
very possibly, was the origin of the Alexandrian tradition.
This tradition did not win immediate acceptance, because the rest of
the Church was still aware that the epistle was not written by Paul.
What led to the final conquest of the Pauline tradition was simply the
character of the book itself. The question of Pauline authorship, in
the case of this book, became connected with the question of
apostolic authority. The Church had to choose between rejecting the
book altogether, and accepting it as Pauline. When she finally
adopted the latter alternative, undoubtedly she chose the lesser
error. It was an error to regard the epistle as the work of Paul; but it
would have been a far greater error to exclude it from the New
Testament. As a matter of fact, though the book was not written by
Paul, it was written, if not by one of the other apostles, at least by
an "apostolic man" like Mark or Luke. Scarcely any book of the New
Testament bears clearer marks of true apostolicity.
(3) Internal Evidence.—The argument against Pauline authorship
which is derived from tradition is strongly supported by the contents
of the epistle itself. In the first place, it is exceedingly doubtful
whether Paul could have spoken of himself as having had the
Christian salvation confirmed to him by those who had heard the
Lord. Heb. 2:3. Knowledge of the earthly life of Jesus was indeed
conveyed to Paul by ordinary word of mouth from the eyewitnesses;
but the gospel itself, as he insists with vehemence in Galatians, was
revealed to him directly by Christ. In the second place, the style of
the epistle is very different from that of Paul, being, as we shall see,
far more carefully wrought. In the third place, the thoughts
developed in Hebrews, though undoubtedly they are in perfect
harmony with the Pauline Epistles, are by no means characteristically
Pauline. It is a little hard to understand, for example, how Paul could
have written at such length about the law without speaking of
justification by faith or the reception of Gentiles into the Church.
This last argument, however, must not be exaggerated. Undoubtedly
Paul would have agreed heartily to everything that Hebrews
contains. Paul and the author of this epistle have developed merely
somewhat different sides of the same great truth.

2. WHO WAS THE AUTHOR?

If Paul did not write the Epistle to the Hebrews, who did write it?
Prodigious labor has been expended upon this question, but with
very little result. In ancient times, Barnabas, Luke and Clement of
Rome, were each regarded as the author. Of these three views the
first is most probable; the second is exceedingly unlikely; and the
last is clearly impossible. Whoever wrote the epistle, Clement
certainly did not. The letter which we possess from his pen is
immeasurably inferior to the apostolic writings to which Hebrews
certainly belongs. Clement was a humble reader of Hebrews, not the
author of it. Luther was inclined to regard Apollos as the possible
author of Hebrews; and of all the many suggestions that have been
made, this is perhaps the best. Undoubtedly the circumstances and
training of Apollos were in a number of respects like those which
might naturally be attributed to the author of the epistle. Apollos
was closely associated with Paul, and perhaps at a later time with
others of the apostles, just as might be expected of the author of an
apostolic work such as Hebrews. On the other hand, like the author
of the epistle, he was not an eyewitness of the life of Jesus.
Compare Heb. 2:4. Like the author of the epistle he was no doubt
acquainted with Timothy. Compare ch. 13:23. He was an "eloquent"
or "learned" man, Acts 18:24, who might well have produced the
splendid rhetoric of the epistle. He was a Jew and mighty in the
Scriptures, as was also the author of Hebrews. He was a native of
Alexandria, the university city of the period, and the seat of a large
Jewish community, where just that combination of Greek rhetorical
training with Scriptural knowledge which is exhibited in the epistle is
most naturally to be sought.
These indications, however, can merely show that Apollos might
conceivably have written the epistle; they do not show that he did
write it. The authorship of this powerful work will always remain
uncertain. How little we know, after all, of the abounding life of the
apostolic Church!

3. WHERE WERE THE READERS?

In the Student's Text Book, it has been shown that the readers of
the epistle were probably members of some rather narrowly
circumscribed community. Where this community was is by no
means clear. The one indication of place which the epistle contains is
ambiguous. In ch. 13:24 it is said, "They of Italy salute you." These
words may mean that the author is in Italy and sends greetings from
the Christians of that country, or they may mean that the author is
outside of Italy and sends greetings from Italian Christians who
happened to be with him. In the latter case, probably the readers
were in Italy; for otherwise they would have no special interest in
the Italian Christians. All that we can say is then that the epistle was
probably written either from Italy or to Italy. If it was written from
Italy, then since the readers were Jews, it is natural to seek them in
Palestine. The Palestinian Christians were "Hebrews" in the narrower,
linguistic sense of the word, as well as in the broader, national
sense. The ancient heading of the epistle thus comes to its full
rights. On the other hand the Palestinian hypothesis faces some
rather grave difficulties. If the readers are to be sought in Italy, then
perhaps they formed a Jewish Christian community in Rome or in
some other Italian city. The question cannot be settled with any
certainty. The destination of the epistle is an even greater riddle
than the authorship.

4. WHEN WAS THE EPISTLE WRITTEN?

The Epistle to the Hebrews was certainly written before A. D. 95, for
at about that time it was quoted by Clement of Rome. The mention
of Timothy in ch. 13:23 perhaps does not carry us much farther, for
Timothy, who was a grown man at about A. D. 50, Acts 16:1-3, may
have lived till the end of the first century. The epistle, however, does
not bear any of the marks of late origin. The question of date is
closely connected with the question whether in the epistle the
temple at Jerusalem is regarded as still standing. This question
cannot be settled with certainty. But on the whole the continuance of
the Levitical ceremonies seems to be assumed in the epistle, and at
any rate there is no clear reference to their cessation. Probably
therefore the Epistle to the Hebrews was written before the
destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70.

5. HEBREWS A LITERARY WORK

The Epistle to the Hebrews is a product of conscious literary art. The

rhetoric of Paul is unconscious; even such passages as the first few
chapters of First Corinthians or the eighth chapter of Romans may
have been composed with the utmost rapidity. The author of
Hebrews probably went differently to work. Such sentences as Heb.
1:1-4, even in an inspired writer, can only be the result of diligent
labor. By long practice the writer of Hebrews had acquired that
feeling for rhythm and balance of phrase, that facility in the
construction of smooth-flowing periods, which give to his epistle its
distinctive quality among the New Testament books. Greek rhetoric
of the Hellenistic age, freed from its hollow artificiality, is here laid
under contribution for the Saviour's praise.
The presence of such a book in the New Testament is highly
salutary. Devout Christians in their enthusiasm for the simplicity of
the gospel are sometimes in danger of becoming one-sided. They
are sometimes inclined to confuse simplicity with ugliness, and then
to prize ugliness for its own sake. It is perfectly true that the value
of the gospel is quite independent of æsthetic niceties, and that the
language of the New Testament is for the most part very simple. But
it is not true that the simplicity of the New Testament has anything
in common with the bad taste of some modern phraseology, or that
eloquence is of itself evil. The Epistle to the Hebrews shows by a
noble example that there is such a thing as Christian art. The
majestic sentences of this ancient masterpiece, with their exquisite
clearness and liturgic rhythm and uplifting power, have contributed
inestimably to the Christian conception of the Saviour. The art of
Hebrews is not art for art's sake, but art for the sake of Christ.
Literary perfection is here combined with profound genuineness and
apostolic fervor; art is here ennobled by consecration.

In the Library.—Purves, "Christianity in the Apostolic Age," pp. 164,

165, 265-267, 286-289. Davis, "Dictionary of the Bible": Purves,
article on "Hebrews, Epistle to the." M'Clymont, "The New Testament
and Its Writers," pp. 116-122. Ellicott, "A New Testament
Commentary for English Readers," vol. iii, pp. 275-348: Moulton,
"The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews." Westcott, "The
Epistle to the Hebrews." Zahn, "Introduction to the New Testament,"
vol. ii, pp. 293-366. The two last-named works are intended
primarily for those who have some knowledge of Greek, but can also
be used by others.
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