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composed by persons who had heard them narrated by the
Apostles and others who were the eyewitnesses of those
events and doctrines, and that the author very attentively
examined them all and chose only such as he considered
true or trustworthy. Moreover, it is quite evident from
the confession of St. Luke himself, as it may be easily
deducted from his preface, that he claims no direct
revelation made to himself, nor does he attribute any
inspiratory character to his book. It may, too, be safely
assumed that the first and the fourth Gospels were either
not written when Luke compiled his own narrative, or that
he had not seen them; for he could not have ventured to
counterpoise or contradict the Gospels written by the two
Apostles, Matthew and John .

These brief observations, which can be multiplied,
must convince every impartial reader that the so-called
“Four Gospels” do not exhibit the necessary features,
which are indispensable for any Scripture claiming a
divine inspiration.

The Churches have believed that the author of the
third Gospel is the Physician Luke (Col. iv. 14) who
accompanied St. Paul in his missionary journeys and was
with him a prisoner at Rome (2 Tim. iv. 11; Philem. 24,
etc.). However, this is not the place to discuss the question
of the authorship of the book, nor its other important
peculiarities. Suffice it to say that St. Luke has recorded
some beautiful parables and teachings of the Holy Master,
such as the parable of the Good Samaritan (x. 25-37);
the Avaricious Rich Man (xii. 15-21); the Self-righteous
Pharisee and the Publican(xiii. 9-18); the Perseverance in
Prayer (xi. 1-13); the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the
Prodigal Son(xv.); the Dives and Lazarus(xvi. 19-31); the
Mite of the Poor Widow (xxi); the Wicked Husbandman
(xx. 9-16); the Unjust Judge (xviii. 1-8); the Conversion
of Zacchaeus (xix. 1-10); and several others. But the most