- solation in living again, or there must be some kind of repetition
of former ties. Still less logical is the argument by which Jesus attempts to prove the reality of a future state against the Sadducees. In syllogistic form it maybe thus stated:—
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. God told
Moses in the bush that he was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. Therefore they are not dead, but living (Mk. xii. 18-27; Mt.
xxii. 23-33; Lu. xx. 27-40).
What is the evidence of the major premiss? The moment it
is questioned it is seen to be invalid. Nothing could be more
natural than that Moses, or any other Hebrew, should speak of
his God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, meaning
that those great forefathers of his race had adored and been
protected by the same Jehovah in their day, but not therefore
that they were still living. The Sadducees must have been weak
indeed if such an argument could weigh with them for a moment.
After this a scribe or lawyer drew from Jesus the important declaration that in his opinion the two greatest commandments were that we should love God with the whole heart, soul, mind, and strength; and our neighbors as ourselves (Mk. xii. 28-34; Mt. xxii. 34-40; Lu. x. 25-37). How gratuitous the imputations of ill-will thrown out against those who interrogate Jesus may be, is admirably shown in the present instance. One Gospel (the most trustworthy) asserts that the question about the first commandment was put by a scribe, who thought that Jesus had answered well, and who, moreover, expressed emphatic approval of the reply given to himself. Such (according to this account) was his sympathy with Jesus, that the latter declared that he was not far from the kingdom of God. Mark now the extraordinary color given to this simple transaction in another Gospel. The Pharisees, we are told, saw that the Sadducees had been silenced, and therefore drew together. Apparently as a result of their consultation (though this is not stated), one of them who was a lawyer asked a question, tempting him, namely, Which is the great commandment in the law? Diverse, again, from both versions is the narrative of a third. In the first place, all connection with the preceding questions is broken
