Paradosis Or in the Night in Which He Was (?) Betrayed

Paradosis , is the fourth part of Dr. Abbott's Diatessarica , and it has as much interest for specialists and as little for the general reader as the preceding parts. It is a marvel of minute scholarship and of patient industry, and will no doubt be welcome to a certain class of theologians, those who are devoted to the study of words as a key to the significance of Scripture. No doubt critical work of the kind may sometimes lead to useful results if exercised in a broad spirit, but we fear the result of Dr. Abbott's labours will do very little to help mankind. The chief aim of Dr. Abbott is to demonstrate that the "Paradosis" of Jesus does not refer to His "delivering up" by Judas to the servants of Caiaphas, but it means "in this treatise the delivering up of the Son by the Father for the redemption of mankind." The book therefore can only be of interest to theologians who accept that doctrine and desire to find additional justification in the Bible for their belief. The treatise is philological in the main, and requires very close and attentive study to be appreciated; how far it will repay such study we must leave it to those to whom it appeals to say. -- The Westminster Review , Volume 162