The gospels are alike evidences for our faith and documents of a crisis in human history. They claim not only the interest of believers but also the most serious attention of the historical inquirer. No wonder, then, that the methods employed to throw light upon them show an ever increasing refinement, and that in the course of time every canon of criticism which can be utilized in the interpretation of ancient texts has come to be applied to the gospels. In dealing with the problem of the gospels we have to do something more than explain them bit by bit; we have also to answer the question how they came to exist at all.

It has long been known that familiar features of the ordinary wonder-worker's manner of operation can be detected here and there in the stories of the miracles of Jesus. Nothing is more natural. Miracle stories had been current in the ancient world for centuries before the Christian era, and their number did not lessen thereafter. A type of popular story was developed, varying as to time and scene and as to the persons concerned in the action, but in spite of those variations carrying certain marks which, through their frequent recurrence, came to be expected as a matter of course. For example, the narrator makes much of the difficulty of the miracle and of the thoroughness of its success; and he shows a vivid interest in the behavior of the miracle-worker, carefully noting the various acts and gestures by which the wonder is brought to pass.