Section 139
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108 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. them, they proclaimed the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven throughout the world. They bestowed but little care upon the study of style, and this they did, because they were aided by a co-operation greater than that of men. Paul? indeed, who was the most able of all in the preparations of style, and who was most powerful in sentiments, committed nothing more to writing than a few very short epistles. And this too, although he had innumerable mysterious matters that he might have communi cated, as he had gained even to the view of the third heavens, had been taken up to the very paradise of God, and had been honoured to hear the unutterable words there. The other fol lowers of our Lord were also not ignorant of such things, as the twelve apostles, and the seventy, together with many others ; yet of all the disciples, Matthew and John are the only ones that have left us recorded comments, and even they, tradition says, under took it from necessity. Matthew also having first proclaimed the gospel in Hebrew, when on the point of going also to other na tions, committed it to writing in his native tongue, and thus sup plied the want of his presence to them, by his writings. But after Mark and Luke had already published their gospels, they say, that John, who during all this time was proclaiming the gos pel without writing, at length proceeded to write it on the fol lowing occasion. The three gospels previously written, having been distributed among all, and also handed to him, they say that he admitted them, giving his testimony to their truth ; but that therewas only wanting in the narrative the account ofjjiejhings done by; C^rigt^among the tort of his deeds, and atjhe com mencement of the gospel. And this was the truth. For it is evi dent that the other three evangelists only wrote the deeds of our Lord for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and intimated this in the very beginning of their history. For after the fasting of forty days, and the consequent temptation, Matthew indeed specifies the time of his history, in these words : " But hearing that John was delivered up, he returned from Judea into Galilee." Mark in like manner writes : " But after John was delivered up, Jep'js came into Galilee ?" And Luke, before he com menced the dc;eds of Jesus, in much the same way designates the