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{{Short description|Book by Augustine of Hippo}}
{{italic title}}
{{Augustine}}
The '''''Harmony of the Gospels''''' ({{langx|la|De consensu evangelistarum}}; {{literal translation|On the Agreement of the Evangelists}}) is a book by the Christian philosopher [[Augustine of Hippo]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Fitzgerald |editor1-first=Allan D. |title=Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia |date=1999 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |isbn=0-8028-3843-X |page=132 |url=https://archive.org/details/augustinethrough0000unse}}</ref> It was written around 400 AD, while Augustine was also writing ''[[On the Trinity]]''.<ref name="Adams">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Nicholas |date=2013 |editor-last1=Greggs |editor-first1=Tom |editor-link2=Tom Greggs |editor-last2=Muers |editor-first2=Rachel |editor-last3=Zahl |editor-first3=Simeon |title=The Vocation of Theology Today |publisher=[[Wipf and Stock]] |location=[[Eugene, Oregon]] |pages=96–97 |chapter=A Disharmony of the Gospels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=th5NAwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-61097-625-1}}</ref> In the book, Augustine examines the four canonical [[Gospel]]s to show that none of them contradicts any of the others.<ref name="Harrison">{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Carol |author-link=Carol Harrison (theologian) |date=2001 |editor-last1=Van Fleteren |editor-first1=Frederick |editor-link1=Frederick Van Fleteren |editor-last2=Schnaubelt |editor-first2=Joseph C. |title=Augustine: Biblical Exegete |publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]] |location=New York City |chapter="Not Words but Things:" Harmonious Diversity in the Four Gospels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CsNx7xLefOcC |isbn=0-8204-2292-4}}</ref>{{rp|157}} The book had a major influence in the West on the understanding of the relationships between the four Gospels.<ref name="Watson"/>{{rp|15}}

== Synopsis ==
The ''Harmony of the Gospels'' is divided into four books. The first book is an extended argument against pagans who claim that Jesus was nothing more than a wise man, and claim that the writers of the Gospels changed his teachings, especially regarding his divinity and the prohibition of worshiping other gods.<ref name="Schaff"/> Though Augustine's exact opponents are unknown, he may have had the [[Manicheans]] in mind.<ref name="Farmer-Peabody"/>{{rp|63-64}} He also specifically refers to the Neoplatonic philosopher [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], author of the treatise ''[[Against the Christians]]'', in connection with these claims.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilken |first1=Robert Louis |title=The Christians as the Romans Saw Them |date=2003 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-09839-6 |page=145 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbFfhy510NQC}}</ref>

The other three books are an examination of the four Gospels, using the [[Gospel of Matthew]] as a basis, since Augustine believed that it was written first.<ref name="Harrison"/>{{rp|157}} In Book II, he compares the other three Gospels to Matthew from the beginning through the [[Last Supper]]. He continues this comparison in Book III from the Last Supper until the end of the Gospels. In Book IV, he examines the stories in the other Gospels that have no parallel in Matthew.<ref name="Schaff">{{cite book |editor-last=Schaff |editor-first=Philip |url=https://archive.org/details/sermononmounthar0006augu/page/70/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Saint Augustin: Sermon on the Mount; Harmony of the Gospels; Homilies on the Gospels |date=1956 |publisher=Eerdmans |page=71}}</ref>

Despite its name, the ''Harmony of the Gospels'' is not a full [[Gospel harmony]] because, except for the [[Nativity of Christ|Nativity]], Augustine does not attempt to provide a single unified text of the disparate Gospel accounts, but rather tries to resolve contradictions that he finds in the Gospels.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barton |first1=John |author-link=John Barton (theologian) |title=The Nature of Biblical Criticism |date=2007 |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]] |isbn=978-0-664-22587-2 |page=14-15 |url=https://archive.org/details/natureofbiblical0000bart/page/14/mode/2up}}</ref>

== Methods ==
In his comparison of the Gospels, Augustine made use of the [[Eusebian Canons]],<ref name="Crawford">{{cite book |last1=Crawford |first1=Matthew R. |title=The Eusebian Canon Tables |date=2019 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York City |isbn=978-0-19-880260-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCCWDwAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{rp|126}} a system of dividing up and comparing the four Gospels created by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]]. All but two of the Gospel parallels discussed by Augustine are found in the Canons.<ref name="Crawford" />{{rp|133}} When quoting the Bible, Augustine relied on the recent Latin [[Vulgate]] translation by [[Jerome]].<ref name="Crawford"/>{{rp|129}}

Augustine used various methods to resolve the contradictions he found. Some he resolved by pointing out historical information. For example, to those who wonder how Herod can be alive at Jesus' baptism when he died before Jesus returned from Egypt, Augustine pointed out that those were two different Herods, one of which is the son of the other.<ref name="Harrison"/>{{rp|159}}

Other times, Augustine tried to solve contradictions by a linguistic analysis, such as showing how one word can have two different meanings, or, alternatively, two different words can mean the same thing.<ref name="Gilmore">{{cite journal |last1=Gilmore |first1=Allen A. |title=Augustine and the Critical Method |journal=The Harvard Theological Review |date=1946 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=141–163 |doi=10.1017/S0017816000023142 |jstor=1508105 |s2cid=162717198 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1508105|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{rp|151-152}} What mattered to Augustine is the meaning that the Evangelist was trying to get across, and not the exact words he uses; differences in words do not matter when the Evangelists clearly intend the same thing.<ref name="Gilmore"/>{{rp|158}} However, his lack of expertise in the original Greek sometimes undermines his linguistic analysis.<ref name="Harrison"/>{{rp|159}}

Augustine also made use of [[textual criticism]] in examining some contradictions, most notably in his treatment of the apparent misattribution of a prophecy to [[Jeremiah]] in [[Matthew 27]]. Though previously this misattribution had been attributed to [[scribal error]], Augustine's examination of manuscripts led him to believe that Jeremiah is the original reading.<ref name="Gilmore"/>{{rp|157}}

In situations where the details in the various accounts differ from each other and cannot be reconciled, Augustine held that two distinct albeit similar events or speeches were being recorded; alternatively, if the details differ but do not conflict, that the different evangelists simply chose to note down different details.<ref name="Harrison"/>{{rp|160}}<ref name="Gilmore"/>{{rp|145}} For example, when Mark relates Jesus [[Healing the blind near Jericho|healing a blind man]] while leaving Jericho and Luke tells of him healing a blind man while approaching Jericho, Augustine considered these to be two separate miracles.<ref name="Watson"/>{{rp|33}} However, Augustine only resorted to this method if he could find no other solution.<ref name="Watson"/>{{rp|34}}

However, when the same events are related in different orders, Augustine held that the order in which the events are narrated are not necessarily the order in which they happened; sometimes the writers narrate events out of order.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Fleteren |first=Frederick |author-link=Frederick Van Fleteren  |date=2001 |editor-last1=Van Fleteren |editor-first1=Frederick |editor-last2=Schnaubelt |editor-first2=Joseph C. |title=Augustine: Biblical Exegete |publisher=[[Peter Lang (publisher)|Peter Lang]] |location=New York City |chapter=Principles of Augustine's Hermeneutic: An Overview |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CsNx7xLefOcC |page=16 |isbn=0-8204-2292-4}}</ref> This difference in order is only a contradiction if the writers intended them to be in the actual order of occurrence.<ref name="Watson"/>{{rp|31}}

== Relationship between the Gospels ==
In Book I of the ''Harmony of the Gospels'', Augustine initially upheld the then-traditional view that the Gospels were written in canonical order – that is, Matthew first, followed by Mark, then Luke, then John.<ref name="Farmer-Peabody">{{cite book |last=Peabody |first=David |date=1983 |editor-last=Farmer |editor-first=William R. |editor-link=William R. Farmer |title=New Synoptic Studies: The Cambridge Gospel Conference and Beyond |publisher=[[Mercer University Press]] |location=[[Macon, Georgia]] |chapter=Part I, Chapter 3. "Augustine and the Augustinian Hypothesis: A Reexamination of Augustine’s Thought in ''De consensu evangelistarum'' |url=https://archive.org/details/newsynopticstudi0000unse |isbn=0-86554-087-X}}</ref>{{rp|38}} However, while the traditional view held that the four Evangelists wrote independently of the others using Apostolic tradition, Augustine departed from this tradition by claiming that each was aware of and made use of the preceding Gospels, a view which seems to be his own innovation.<ref name="Watson">{{cite book |last1=Watson |first1=Francis |author1-link=Francis Watson (theologian) |title=Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective |date=2013 |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |isbn=978-0-8028-4054-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/gospelwritingcan0000wats}}</ref>{{rp|16-17}} This view as it pertains to the first three Gospels (the [[Synoptic Gospels]]) is now commonly known as the [[Augustinian hypothesis]],<ref name="Porter-Peabody">{{cite book |last=Peabody |first=David Barrett |date=2016 |editor-last1=Porter |editor-first1=Stanley E. |editor-link1=Stanley E. Porter |editor-last2=Dyer |editor-first2=Bryan R. |title= The Synoptic Problem: Four Views |publisher=[[Baker Academic]] |chapter=The Two Gospel Hypothesis |url=https://archive.org/details/synopticproblemf0000unse |isbn=9780801049507}}</ref>{{rp|86-87}} which became the consensus view for 1,350 years.<ref name="Biblical interpreters"/>{{rp|489}}

In Book IV, however, he put forth a different view. He claims that it is "more probable" that Mark wrote after Luke, making use of both Matthew and Luke in the composition of his Gospel, a position that is now called the [[Two-gospel hypothesis]].<ref name="Porter-Peabody"/>{{rp|86-87}} Augustine's support of this theory has now been largely forgotten;<ref name="Farmer-Peabody"/>{{rp|62}} instead, the theory is sometimes known as the [[Griesbach hypothesis]], after its 18th-century proponent [[Johann Jakob Griesbach]].<ref name="Biblical interpreters">{{cite book |editor1-last=McKim |editor1-first=Donald K. |title=Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters |date=2007 |publisher=[[InterVarsity Press]] |isbn=978-0-8308-2927-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oFLGroLOKq8C}}</ref>{{rp|490}} [[Francis Watson (theologian)|Francis Watson]] has noted that "[n]either Griesbach nor most of his recent followers have noticed that Augustine himself came to regard Mark's use of both Matthew and Luke as more probable than his earlier theory."<ref name="Watson" />{{rp|15n.3}}

Augustine also noted that each Gospel has its own overall emphasis: Matthew focuses on Jesus' royalty, Luke deals with his priesthood, and John with his divinity, while Mark, also dealing with his royalty, gives an abbreviated version of Matthew.<ref name="Adams"/> In the same place, Augustine interprets the four [[Living creatures (Bible)|living creatures]] of [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] as the [[Four Evangelists]]: Matthew being the lion, Mark the man, Luke the ox, and John the eagle.<ref name="Porter-Peabody"/>{{rp|85}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wikisource-inline|Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume VI/The Harmony of the Gospels|Harmony of the Gospels|single=true}}

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[[Category:5th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Catholic spirituality]]
[[Category:Works by Augustine of Hippo]]