The writer of an article in the Expositor for May says that the city of Jezreel, having been polluted by the foul worship of Baal, "became accursed, and was destroyed with terrible vengeance by Jehu." He confounds the destruction of the house of Ahab with the destruction of the city in which Jehoram and Jezebel were slain. Jezreel is now a ruin, but there is nothing in the sacred text about its destruction by Jehu or any one else.

      Wendt, in his "Teaching of Jesus," expresses the opinion that Luke did not borrow from Matthew--at least, not much--and he gives as a reason that "St. Luke was particularly shy and suspicious of St. Matthew." [149] And yet this same Wendt has been held up to the readers of some papers in this country as a writer noted for his "sturdy orthodoxy." He also says of Jesus that, at the beginning of his ministry, "he was neither recognized by others as the Messiah nor expressly known to be such by himself." I wonder what he thought was meant by the voice from heaven at his baptism. And what did he think of himself when in the synagogue in Nazareth he read from the prophecy of Isaiah, and said: "This day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears"? Oh, well, it is very easy for a man like Wendt to toss aside as unhistorical any passage of Scripture that does not suit his notions; and what is the use to reason with such men?

[SEBC 149-150]