CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BEQUEST 
 
 OF 
 
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 1943 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BS2555.T65 A2 
 
 Gospel In brief. 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 339 078 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029339078 
 
th €ospd in (grief 
 
COUNT TOLSTOI'S WORKS. 
 
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The Gospel in Brief 
 
 COUNT LYOF N. TOLSTOI 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN ORIGINAL 
 
 EMBODYING 
 
 THE AUTHOR'S LAST ALTERATIONS AND REVISIONS 
 
 NEW YORK: 46 East 14TK Street 
 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON: loo Purchase Street 
 
Copyright, 1896, 
 By Thomas Y. Crowell & Company. 
 
 J. PETERS & SON, typographers, 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
NOTE 
 
 This translation is one of a series from Count 
 Tolstoi's religious and philosophic writings, un- 
 dertaken with his consent and approval. Made 
 and revised directly from the Russian manuscript 
 containing the Author's latest revisions and alter- 
 ations, it somewhat differs in form, not only from 
 the German and French translations, but from the 
 Russian edition. Great care has been taken, by 
 several persons whose labours are here gratefully 
 acknowledged, to ensure the correspondence of the 
 translation Avith the Author's meaning and pur- 
 pose. 
 
 The reader will be usefully informed that the 
 four works referred to by the Author in the open- 
 ing of his preface to this book are as follows, 
 namely : — 
 
 1. An Introduction to a Criticism of Dogmatic 
 Theology. A work known in English as My Con- 
 fession} 
 
 2. A Criticism of Dogmatic Theology. In three 
 parts; the first of which only is published in Rus- 
 sian, at Geneva — no part being as yet translated. 
 
 1 Published liy T. Y. Cro-n-ell & Co. 
 y 
 
vi NOTE 
 
 3. The Four Grospels Harmonised and Translated. 
 Also in three parts ; two of which have been re- 
 cently published ^ in English. 
 
 4. My Faith. Known in English as My Confes- 
 sion and My Religion.^ 
 
 The world that reads has everywhere heard of 
 Tolsto'i as the exponent of certain strange-seeming 
 and revolutionary doctrines, which he identifies 
 with the teaching of Jesus. Numbers of people 
 everywhere have read one or another of the works 
 in which those doctrines are presented. But there 
 are very few people indeed, anywhere, who are 
 aware that now, for fifteen years or more, Tolstoi' 
 has carried forward a wide, systematic and thor- 
 ough scheme of work, explaining and reinforcing 
 his position on all points and sides ; some results 
 of which are evidenced in the foregoing enumera- 
 tion. Those who seek to learn from him, alike 
 with those who would oppose him, must, if earnest 
 and honest, remember that in Tolstoi's writings 
 they have to reckon with a system of thought, of 
 principles, of life. It is not enough lightly to 
 accept, or cast aside, some idea or statement taken 
 in detachment from its context. We have to deal 
 with a system the parts of which stand or fall to- 
 gether. And anyone who realises this, may know 
 also that there has nowhere risen one single com- 
 petent critic of Tolstoi'. He has said what he has 
 to say without a shadow of real opposition. Is it 
 that no one can oppose ? 
 
 1 By The Brotherhood Publishing Co., London. 
 
 2 Published by T. Y. Crowell & Co. 
 
NOTE vii 
 
 This present book, then, may be taken as the 
 Author's deliberate and careful endeavour to sim- 
 plify, summarise, and emphasise all that he has 
 before said as to Jesus and his teaching. No dis- 
 cussion of points or conclusions is attempted ; and 
 readers who may be startled by, and who may dis- 
 credit, the new and subversiTe readings of the 
 Gospel story they will here discover, must turn 
 to The Four Gospels Harmonised and Translated to 
 find the discussion and justification of them. 
 
 A word as to what may be the value of this 
 book. We have in Tolstoi' one who for nearly 
 seventy years has taken his part in life. He has 
 known and shared the life of the rich and great, 
 and of the poor and humble ; traivel, learning, war, 
 all have come in his way ; if the world be known 
 to any man, it surely is known to him. And for 
 nearly a lifetime he has ranked, not in his own 
 country merely, but through Europe, as a supreme 
 observer and revealer of life. In War and Peace 
 and Anna Karenina he has reproduced, as is com- 
 monly said, "life itself." In all those writings of 
 his first period, which made his fame, there shines 
 the one large, profound, and simple spirit of truth 
 and good purpose. 
 
 Into his life, when past its mid-period, there 
 comes a sudden illumination, and there transpires 
 a spiritual change such as marks the creation of 
 every prophet the world has had. He feels the un- 
 reasonableness, the nothingness, of the life of the 
 world as he lives it and sees it lived around him. 
 In his mind, man's problems of death, of his rela- 
 
viii NOTE 
 
 tion to the universe, of his relation to his fellows, 
 arise in one great demand for a reasonable solu- 
 tion. And the solution is found — found in the 
 Gospel of Jesus. 
 
 But not in the Gospel according to the Churches. 
 Here, in this book, is the man Jesus, as men may 
 with a true faith and without superstition under- 
 stand him. Here, resurrected for modern times by 
 the belief of one greatly learned in human nature 
 and life, moves and breathes and teaches the su- 
 preme Man of Nazareth ; such a one as you and I 
 may reasonably accept. It is to be believed that 
 many, reading this book, even though feeling that 
 all their doubts are not solved, all their demands 
 not satisfied, may come to say, " Whereas I was 
 blind, now I see." 
 
 In this work the Author has written the lan- 
 guage of the Russian people, simple and idiomatic, 
 and therefore peculiarly difficult in some points of 
 translation. And he has replaced allusions not 
 clear to the people in Russia by such as are clear 
 to them : thus the " mustard seed " of Matthew 
 xiii. 31 here becomes a "birch seed." The es- 
 sential meaning of the Gospel is followed, rather 
 than the strict letter, " which killeth." 
 
 October, 1896. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Note v 
 
 Author's Prefaoj; ... .... 1 
 
 THE GOSPEL IX BRIEF 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 Man, the son of God, is powerless in the flesh, mid 
 free in the spirit. 
 
 ("®ut ffatber") 23 
 
 II. LIFE IK THE SPIRIT. 
 
 Therefore inan must %cork, not for the flesh, bat for 
 the spirit. 
 
 ("TObicb avt in beaven") 30 
 
 III. THE SOURCE OF LIFE. 
 
 The life of all men has proceeded from llie spirit of 
 the Father. 
 
 ("TbaUowcS be Ubs maine") ... 40 
 
 IV. GOD'S KINGDOM. 
 
 Therefore the will of the Father is the life and 
 welfare of all men. 
 
 ("Ubs MngSom come") ..... 49 
 
 V. THE TRUE LIFE. 
 
 The fulfilment of the personal will leads to death; the 
 fulfilment of the Father's will gives true life. 
 
 ("■ttb? will be »onc") 61 
 
 ix 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 OHAP. FAOE 
 
 VI. THE FALSE LIFE. 
 
 Therefore, in order to receive the true life, man must 
 on earth resign the false life of the flesh, and live by 
 the spirit. 
 ("®n cartb, as in bcavcn") .... 76 
 
 VII. I AND THE FATHEK ARE OKE. 
 
 The true food of everlasting life is the fulfilment of 
 the Father's will. 
 
 ("(Bivc U3 tbia tas ouv bailg brcaS") ... 90 
 
 VIII. LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL. 
 
 Therefore true life is to he lived in the present. 
 
 ("UblB^a^") 102 
 
 IX. TEMPTATIONS. 
 
 The illusions of temporal life conceal from men the 
 true life in the present. 
 
 ("Jforglvc us our Scbts as we forgive our^ebtor8") 313 
 
 X. THE "WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION. 
 
 Therefore, not to fall by temptation, we must, at every 
 moment of life, he at one with the Father. 
 
 ("leas us not into temptation") . . ,126 
 
 XI. THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE. 
 
 The self-life is an illusion which comes through the 
 flesh, an evil. The true life is the life common to 
 all men. 
 
 ("Selivet us from evil") 137 
 
 XII. THE VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE 
 FLESH. 
 Therefore, for him who lives, not the self life, but a 
 common life in the will of the Father, there is no 
 death. Bodily death is for him union with the 
 Father. 
 
 ("Ubine is tbe ftinflSom, power, an!) fltor^") . 146 
 
CONTENTS ■ XI 
 
 A PROLOGUE— 
 
 PAGH 
 
 The Undekstandings of Life : being an Explanation 
 
 AND a new EeNDEKING OF CHAPTER I. 1-18 OF 
 
 John's Gospel 157 
 
 A SUMMARY— 
 
 The Understanding of Life is to do Good : being 
 AN Explanation and a new Rendering of John's 
 First Epistle 160 
 
 A recapitulation- 
 Summarising THE Teaching contained in Chapters 
 I.-XIL 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 1 167 
 
 II 170 
 
 III 173 
 
 IV 176 
 
 V 180 
 
 VI 184 
 
 VII 190 
 
 VIII 196 
 
 IX -200 
 
 X 206 
 
 XI 212 
 
 XII 216 
 
 index- 
 To Passages from the Four Gospels embodied in 
 "The Gospel in Brief" , .... 223 
 
THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 AUTHOR'S PEEFACE 
 
 This present book is extracted from a larger work, 
 which exists in manuscript, and cannot be published 
 in Eussia. 
 
 That work consists of four parts, namely : — 
 
 1. An account of that course of my personal life, 
 and of my thoughts, which led me to the con- 
 viction that in the Christian teaching lies the truth. 
 
 2. An investigation of the Christian teaching — 
 first, according to the interpretation of tlie Greek 
 Church solely ; then, according to the interpreta- 
 tion of the Churches generally, and the interpreta- 
 tion of the apostles, councils, and so-called " fathers." 
 Also, an exposition of the falsity in these interpre- 
 tations. 
 
 3. An investigation of the Christian teaching, 
 based, not upon the above interpretations, but solely 
 upon the words and deeds ascribed to Christ by the 
 four Gospels. 
 
 4. An exposition of the real meaning of the 
 Christian teaching, of the motives for its per- 
 
2 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 versions, and of the consequences to which it 
 should lead. 
 
 From the third of these parts this present vol- 
 ume is condensed. I have there effected the fusion 
 of the four Gospels into one, according to the real 
 sense of the teaching. I had no need to digress from 
 the order in which each Gospel is written, so that in 
 my harmonisation the transposition of verses, rather 
 than being more, are less numerous than in the greater 
 part of those known to me, and in our Grechoulevitch's 
 version of the four Gospels. In my treatment of 
 the Gospel of John there is no transposition, but 
 all stands in tlie same order as in the original. 
 
 My division of the Gospel into twelve chapters 
 (or six, since each pair of the twelve may be taken 
 as one) came about spontaneously from the nature 
 of the teaching. The following is the purport of 
 the chapters: — 
 
 1. Man is the son of the Infinite Source of Being ; 
 he is the son of this Father, not by the flesh but 
 by the spirit. 
 
 2. And therefore, man must serve the Source of 
 his being, in the spirit. 
 
 3. The life of all men has a divine Origin. This 
 Origin only is sacred. 
 
 4. And therefore, man must serve this Source of 
 all human life. This is the will of the Father. 
 
 5. Service of the Will of the Father of Life is hfe- 
 giving. 
 
 6. And therefore, it is not necessary to life that 
 each man should satisfy his own will. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 3 
 
 7. This present life in time is the food of the 
 true life. 
 
 8. And therefore, the true life is outside time ; 
 it is in the present. 
 
 9. Time is an illusion in life ; the life of the 
 past and the future clouds men from the true life 
 of the present. 
 
 10. And therefore, one must aim to destroy the 
 deception arising from the past and future, the life 
 in time. 
 
 11. The true life is that now present to us, 
 common to all, and manifesting itself in love. 
 
 12. And therefore, he who lives by love now, in 
 this present, becomes, through the common life of 
 all men, at one with the Father, the source, the 
 foundation of life. 
 
 So that the chapters, in pairs, are related as 
 cause and effect. 
 
 Besides these twelve chapters, this exposition 
 includes — («) The introduction of the first chapter 
 of the Gospel of John, where the writer of the Gospel 
 speaks, in his own name, as to the purport of the 
 whole tea.ching : and (&) a portion of the same writer's 
 Epistle (written probably before the Gospel) ; this 
 containing the general sense to be derived from 
 the preceding exposition. 
 
 These two parts are not essential to the teaching. 
 Although the former, as well as the latter of them, 
 might be omitted without loss (the more so as they 
 come in the name of John, and not of Christ), I 
 have, nevertheless, kept them, because, to a straight- 
 forward understanding of the whole teaching, these 
 
4 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 parts," confirming each other and the whole, as 
 against the strange commentaries of the Churches, 
 yield the plainest evidence of the meaning to be 
 put upon the teaching. 
 
 At the beginning of each chapter, besides a brief 
 indication of the subject, I had put words from the 
 prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples, such as 
 corresponded with the contents of the chapter. 
 
 At the conclusion of my work I found, to my 
 astonishment and joy, that the Lord's Prayer is 
 noticing less than Christ's whole teaching, stated in 
 most concise form, and in that same order in which 
 I had already arranged the chapters, each phrase 
 of the prayer corresponding to the purport and 
 sequence of the chapters, as follows : — 
 
 1. Our Father, Man is the son of the Father. 
 
 2. Which art in heaven, God is the infinite spiritual source 
 
 of life. 
 
 3. Hallowed be Thy name, May the Source of Life be held 
 
 holy. 
 
 4. Thy kingdom come. May His power be established 
 
 over all men. 
 
 5. Thy will be done, as in May His will be fulfilled, as it 
 
 heaven, is in Hiinself, 
 
 6. So also on earth. So also in tiie bodily life. 
 
 7. Give us our daily bread The temporal life is the food of 
 
 the true life. 
 
 8. This day. The true life is in the present. 
 
 9. And forgive us our debts as May the faults and errors of the 
 
 we forgive our debtors, past not hide this true life from 
 
 us, 
 
 10. And lead us not into tempta- And may they not lead us into 
 
 tion, delusion, 
 
 11. But deliver us from evil, So that no evil may come to us, 
 
 12. For Thine is the kingdom. And there shall be order, and 
 
 the power, and the glory. strength, and reason. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 5 
 
 In that large third part from which this work 
 is condensed, the Gospel according to the four 
 Evangelists is presented in full. But in the 
 rendering now given, all passages are omitted which 
 treat of the following matters, namely, — John the 
 Baptist's conception and birth, his imprisonment 
 and death ; Christ's birth, and his genealogy ; his 
 mother's flight with him into Egypt ; his miracles 
 at Cana and Capernaum ; the casting out of devils ; 
 the walking on the sea ; the cursing of the fig-tree ; 
 the healing of sick, and the raising of dead people ; 
 the resurrection of Christ himself ; and finally, the 
 reference to prophecies fulfilled in his life. 
 
 These passages are omitted in this abridgment, 
 because, containing nothhig of the teaching, and 
 describing only events which passed before, during, 
 or after the period in which Jesus taught, they 
 complicate the exposition. However one takes 
 them, under any circumstance, they bring to the 
 teaching of Jesus neither contradiction nor con- 
 firmation of its truth. Their sole significance for 
 Christianity was that they proved the divinity cf 
 Jesus Christ for him who was not persuaded of this 
 divinity beforehand. But they are useless to one 
 whom stories of miracles are powerless to convince, 
 and who, besides, doubts the divinity of Jesus as 
 evidenced in his teaching. 
 
 In the large work, every departure from the 
 ordinary version, as well as every comment added 
 to the text, and every omission, is made clear, and 
 proved by the comparison of the various versions of 
 the Gospels, from the examination of contexts, and 
 
6 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 finally, by considerations, philological and other. 
 But in the present abridged rendering, all these 
 arguments, and refutations of the false understand- 
 ing of the Churches, as well as the minute notes 
 and quotations, are omitted ; because, however true 
 and exact they may be in their places, they cannot 
 carry conviction as to the true understanding of the 
 teaching. The justness of a conception of this kind 
 is better proved, not by arguing particular points, 
 but by its own unity, clearness, simplicity, fulness, 
 as well as by its harmony with the inner feelings of 
 all who seek ti'uth. Speaking generally, in regard 
 to what divergence there is between my rendering 
 and the Church's authorised text, the reader must 
 not forget that it is a gross error to represent the 
 four Gospels, as is often done, to be books sacred 
 in every verse and in every syllable. The reader 
 must not forget that Jesus never himself wrote a 
 book, as did, for instance, Plato, Philo, or Marcus 
 Aurelius ; that he, moreover, did not, as Socrates 
 did, transmit his teaching to informed and literate 
 men, but spoke to a crowd of illiterate men ; and 
 that only a long time after his death men began to 
 write down what they had heard from him. 
 
 The reader must not forget that a great number 
 of such accounts have been written, from which, at 
 first, the Churches selected three, and then another. 
 Moreover, in selecting those which seemed to them 
 the best, according to the proverb, " No stick with- 
 out knots," the Churches, out of the enormous heap 
 of the Christian literature, have been forced to talvc 
 in with their bargain a great many knots ; so that 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 7 
 
 the canonical Gospels contain nearly as many faulty 
 passages as those Gospels rejected as apocryphal. 
 
 The reader must not forget that it is the teaching 
 of Christ which may be sacred, but iii no \Aay can 
 a certain measure of verses and syllables be so ; and 
 that certain verses, from here to here, say, cannot 
 be sacred merely because men say they are so. 
 
 Moreover, the reader must not forget that these 
 selected Gospels are, at anyrate, the work of 
 thousands of various brains and hands of men ; that 
 during centuries the Gospels have been selected, 
 enlarged, and commented upon ; that the most 
 ancient copies which have come down to us, from 
 the fourth century, are written straight on without 
 punctuation, so that, even after the fourth and fifth 
 centuries, they have been the subject of the most 
 diverse readings ; and that such variations in the 
 Gospels may be counted up to fifty thousand. The 
 reader must have all this present in mind in order 
 to disengage himself from the opinion, so common 
 among us, that the Gospels, in their present shape, 
 have come to us directly from the Holy Spirit. 
 The reader must not forget that, far f/om it being 
 blamable to disencumber the Gospels of useless 
 passages, and to illuminate passages the one by the 
 other, it is, on the contrary, unreasonable not to do 
 this, and to hold a certain number of verses and 
 syllables as sacred. 
 
 On the other hand, I pray my readers to I'emem- 
 ber that, if I do not hold the Gospels to be sacred 
 books emanating from the Holy Spirit, I yet less 
 regard the Gospels as mere historical monuments of 
 
8 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 religious literature. I understand the theological 
 as well as the historical standpoint on the Gospels, 
 but regard the books myself from quite another. I 
 pray the readers of my rendering not to be misled, 
 either by the theological view, or by that other, so 
 usual in our day among educated men, the historical 
 view, neither of which I hold with. I consider 
 Christianity to be neither a pure revelation nor a 
 phase of history, but I consider it as the only 
 doctrine which gives a meaning to life. 
 
 And it is neither theology nor history which has 
 won me to Christianity ; but just this, that, when 
 fifty years old, having questioned myself, and having 
 questioned the reputed philosophers whom I knew, 
 as to what I am, and as to the purport of my life, 
 and after getting the reply that I was a fortuitous 
 concatenation of atoms, and that my life was void 
 of purport, and that life itself is evil, I became 
 desperate, and wished to put an end to my life. 
 But after recalling to myself how formerly, in 
 childhood, while I still had religious faith, life 
 possessed meaning for me ; and that the great mass 
 of men about me, who hold to faith and are un- 
 corrupted by wealth, possess the meaning of life : 
 after all this, I was brought into doubt as to the 
 justness of the reply given to me by the wisdom of 
 men of my own station, and I tried once more to 
 understand what answer it is that Christianity gives 
 to those men who live a life with meaning. And I 
 embarked upon tlie study of Christianity, as to 
 what in this teaching guides the lives of men. I 
 began to study that Christianity which I saw 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 9 
 
 applied in Kfe, and to make the comparison of this 
 applied Christianity with the sources whence it 
 percolates. The source of the Christian teaching is 
 the Gospels, and there I found the explanation of 
 the spirit which animates the life of all who really 
 hve. But along with the flow of that pure, life- 
 giving water I perceived much mire and slime 
 unrightfully mingled therewith ; and this had pre- 
 vented me, so far, from seeing the real, pure water. 
 I found that, along with the lofty Christian teaching, 
 are bound up the teachings of Hebraism and the 
 Church, both of which are repugnant and foreign to 
 the former. I thus felt myself in the position of 
 a man to whom is given a sack of refuse, who, after 
 long struggle and wearisome labour, discovers 
 among the refuse a number of infinitely precious 
 pearls. This man then knows tluit he is not 
 blameworthy in his distaste for the dirt, and also 
 that those who have gathered these pearls at the 
 same time with the rest of the sackful, and who 
 have preserved them, are no more to blame than 
 himself, but, on the contrary, deserve love and 
 respect. 
 
 I knew not the light, and I thought there was 
 no sure truth in life ; but when I perceived that 
 only light enables men to live, I sought to find the 
 sources of the light. And I found them in the 
 Gospels, despite the false commentaries of the 
 Churches. And when I reached tliis source of 
 light I was dazzled with its splendour, and I found 
 there full answers to my questions as to the purport 
 of the lives of myself and others, — answers which I 
 
10 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 recognised as wholly harmonious with all the known 
 answers gained among other nations, and, to my 
 mind, surpassing all other answers. 
 
 I sought a solution of the problem of life, and 
 not of a theological or historical question ; and that 
 is why I was indifferent to know whether Jesus 
 Christ is or is not God, and from whom proceeds 
 the Holy Spirit, etc. And it is just as unimportant 
 and unnecessary to know when and by whom such 
 and such a Gospel was written, and whether such 
 and such a parable came from Jesus himself or 
 not. For me, the only important concern was this 
 light, which, for eighteen hundred years, has shone 
 upon mankind ; which has shone upon me likewise, 
 and which shines upon me still. But to know, 
 more than this, how I ought to name the source of 
 this light, what elements compose it, and what 
 kindled it, I in no way concerned myself. 
 
 I might end this preface here, if the Gospels 
 were newly-discovered books, and if the teaching of 
 Jesus had not been, these eighteen hundred years, 
 the subject of a continuous series of false interpre- 
 tations. But to-day, to rightly understand the 
 teaching of Jesus as he must needs have under- 
 stood it himself, it is indispensable to know the 
 chief causes of these false interpretations. The 
 prime cause of such false interpretations, which 
 make it now so difficult for us to recover the true 
 teaching of Jesus, is the fact that, under the cover 
 of the Christian teaching, have been preached the 
 teachings of the Church, which are made up from 
 explanations of most contradictory writings, in 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE II 
 
 which only a small part of the true teaching 
 enters ; even that being distorted and adapted to 
 the commentaries. The teaching of Christ, accord- 
 ing to this misinterpretation, is simply one link in 
 the great chain of revelation which began with the 
 world's beginning and stretches into the Church of 
 our own time. 
 
 These misinterpreters call Jesus, God ; but the 
 recognition of his divinity does not make them 
 recognise a greater importance in his words and 
 teaching than in the words of the Pentateuch, 
 the Psalms, the Acts, the Epistles, the Apocalypse, 
 or even the decisions of the Councils and the 
 writings of the Fathers. 
 
 And this false understanding allows no present- 
 ment of the teaching of Jesus which does not 
 accord with the revelations which have preceded 
 and followed him ; doing this with the purpose, 
 not to make clear the meaning of the teaching of 
 Jesus, but to harmonise, as far as possible, various 
 writings which contradict each other ; such as the 
 Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Gospels, Epistles, Acts, 
 and, generally, all those which pass for sacred. 
 
 It is possible, indeed, to make a limitless number 
 of such interpretations, having for object, not truth, 
 but the reconcilement of those two irreconcilables, 
 the Old and the New Testaments. And, in fact, 
 the number of these is unlimited. This is the 
 case with the Epistles of Paul, and with the 
 decisions of the Councils (which last begin with 
 the formula : " It is the will of us and the Holy 
 Spirit ") ; and such, also, is the case with the 
 
12 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 decrees of popes and synods, with the teachings of 
 the Khlysty,^ and with all false interpreters of the 
 thought of Jesus. All recur to the same gross 
 sanctions of the truth of their reconcilements, 
 affirming that these reconcilements are not the 
 result of their personal thought, but a direct 
 witness from the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Without entering upon an analysis of these 
 different dogmatic systems, each of which pretends 
 to be the only true one, we may, nevertheless, well 
 see that all of them, beginning by holding sacred 
 the multitude of writings which make up the Old 
 and New Testaments, thereby impose upon them- 
 selves an insurmountable barrier to the under- 
 standing of the real teaching of Jesus ; and out of 
 this confusion necessarily results the possibility, 
 and even the necessity, of an infinite variety of 
 opposed sects. 
 
 The reconcilement of all the revelations can be 
 infinitely varied, but the explanation of the teaching 
 of one person, and one looked upon as a God, 
 should, on the contrary, not give rise to any 
 difference of sect. It is impossible there should 
 be conflicting ways of interpreting the teaching of 
 a God come down to earth. If God had so come 
 down to reveal unfailing truth to men, at least Ho 
 would have revealed it in such a way that all might 
 understand ; if, then, this has not been done, that is 
 because it was not God who came ; or if, indeed, the 
 truths of God are such that God Himself cannot 
 make them plain to mankind, how can men do so ? 
 ^ A Eussian sect. 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 13 
 
 If, on the other hand, Jesus was not God, but 
 only a great man, his teaching can still less 
 engender sects. For the teaching of a great man 
 is only great because it explains in a clear, under- 
 standable way that which others have set out 
 obscurely, incomprehensibly. That which is in- 
 comprehensible in the teaching of a great man is 
 not great. The teachiug of a great man can, 
 therefore, engender no sects. Only, then, this 
 interpretation, which pretends to be a revelation 
 from the Holy Spirit, and to contain the sole 
 truth, raises up antagonisms and gives birth to 
 sects. However much the sects of various religions 
 may assure us that they do not condemn those of 
 other sects, that they pray for union with them, 
 and have no hate to them, it is not true. Never, 
 since the time of Arius, has a single dogma arisen 
 from other cause than the desire to contradict an 
 opposing dogma. 
 
 To maintain that a particular dogma is a divine 
 revelation, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is in the 
 highest degree presumption and folly. The highest 
 presumption, because there is nothing more arrogant 
 than for a man to say, " What I tell you, God Him- 
 self says through my mouth." And the highest folly, 
 because there is nothing more stupid than to reply 
 to one who says that God speaks by his mouth, "God 
 says quite the opposite, and by mine own mouth." 
 But in this way reason all the Churches ; and hence 
 have been born, and are now being born, all the 
 sects and all the evil brought, and being brought, 
 into the world in the name of religion. 
 
14 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 And yet deeper than this surface evil, all the 
 sects cherish a second internal vice, which destroys 
 in them any character of clearness, certainty, 
 and honesty. It is this. While these sects pre- 
 sent us with their false interpretations, as the last 
 revelation from the Holy Spirit, they are careful 
 never to precisely and decisively determine what is 
 the very essence and purport of this revelation, 
 which they profess is continued through them, and 
 which they call " the Christian teaching." 
 
 All the sectarians who accept the revelation 
 from the Holy Spirit, along with the Mahome- 
 tans, recognise Moses, Jesus, and Mahomet. The 
 Churchmen accept Moses, Jesus, and the Holy 
 Spirit. But to Mahometanism, Mahomet is the last 
 prophet, who alone has given the definite explana- 
 tion of the two preceding revelations,' — this is the 
 last revelation, which explains all the preceding ; 
 and this one every true believer has before him. 
 With the religion of the Churches it is quite 
 otherwise. That also, like the Mahometan, ac- 
 cepts three revelations, but in place of calling 
 their religion by the name of their last revealer, 
 that is, the " religion of the Holy Spirit," they 
 maintain their religion to be that of Jesus, and 
 refer themselves to his teaching. So that, in 
 giving to us what are really their own doctrines, 
 they pretend to rest them upon the authority of 
 Jesus. 
 
 Those religions of the Holy Spirit which offer to 
 us the last and most decisive of revelations, whether 
 it be in the writings of the Apostle Paul or the 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 15 
 
 decisions of such-and-such Councils, or the decrees 
 of popes or patriarchs, ought to say so, and call 
 their faith by the name of him who had the last 
 revelation. And if the last revelation is by the 
 fathers of the Church, or a decree of the Patriarch 
 of the East, or a papal encyclical, or the syllabus 
 or the catechism of Luther or Philaretus, people 
 should say so, and call their faith by this name ; 
 because the last revelation, which explains all the 
 preceding, is always the most important one. But 
 they decline to adorn their dogmatic systems with 
 the names of these authorities, and, continuing to 
 preach quite against Christ's own teaching, they 
 persist in maintaining that Jesus has revealed their 
 doctrine to them. So that, according to their 
 teaching, Jesus declared that he, by his blood, 
 redeemed our humanity, ruined through Adam's 
 sin ; that there are three Persons in God ; that the 
 Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles, and was 
 transmitted to the priesthood by the laying on of 
 hands ; that seven saci'aments are necessary to 
 salvation ; that communion must be in two kinds ; 
 and so on. They would have us believe that all 
 this is part of the teaching of Jesus ; whereas we 
 shall there seek in vain even the least allusion to 
 any such matters. The Churches which so pretend 
 would do well in concluding to give all this to us 
 at once as the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, not of 
 Jesus ; for, in short, only those are Christians who 
 hold the revelation of Jesus himself as the decisive 
 one, in virtue of his own saying, that his followers 
 must own no other master than himself. 
 
l6 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 It would seem that the matter is so plain that 
 it is not worth thinking about ; but however 
 strange it seems to say so, it is none the less true 
 that up till now the teaching of Jesus is not 
 separated, on the one hand, from artificial and 
 unwarrantable connection with the Old Testament, 
 and, on the other hand, from the superadded 
 fantastic notions which have been imposed upon 
 it under cover of the name of the Holy Spirit. Up 
 to now, there are some who, in calling Jesus the 
 second Person of the Trinity, will not conceive of 
 his teaching otherwise than as in accordance with 
 the so-called revelations of the third Person, as 
 these are found in the Old Testament, the decrees 
 of Councils, and the conclusions of the Fathers of 
 the Church ; and in preaching the most extravagant 
 things, they affirm these extravagancies to be the 
 religion of Christ. Others there are who, in 
 refusing to regard Jesus as a God, similarly con- 
 ceive of his teaching, not at all as he himself 
 declared it, but as what Paul and the other inter- 
 preters have made of it. Whilst considering Jesus 
 as a man, and not as a God, these learned men 
 deprive him of a common natural right : the right 
 of being held responsible for his own words only, 
 and not for the words of his misinterpreters. In 
 their endeavours to elucidate the teaching of Jesus, 
 they attribute to him ideas which he never thought 
 of uttering. The representatives of this school, to 
 begin with Eenan, the most popular of them, do 
 not see it their duty to take the trouble of distin- 
 guishing between that which bears the stamp of 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 17 
 
 Jesus himself and that which his interpreters 
 have wrongly ascribed to him. And, instead of 
 thus troubling to search out the teaching of Jesus 
 himself a little more deeply than the Churches 
 have done, they have been led to seek in the events 
 of his life, and in the facts of history contemporary 
 with him, the explanation of his influence and 
 of the diffusion of his ideas. 
 
 The problem they are called upon to solve is, in 
 effect, this — 
 
 Eighteen hundred years ago a poor wanderer 
 appeared on earth who taught certain things. He 
 was flogged and executed. And since then, although 
 many and many just men have suffered for the 
 belief, millions of people, wise and foolish, learned 
 and ignorant, cannot shake off the conviction that 
 this man, alone among men, was God. Here is a 
 strange phenomenon ; how is it to be explained ? 
 The Churches explain it by sayuag that this man, 
 Jesus, was really God, by which everything is ex- 
 plained. But if this man was not God, how are we 
 to explain why this mere man, in particular, has 
 been acknowledged as God ? 
 
 On this point the learned people of our schools 
 of history gather with extreme care every detail of 
 the life of this man, without noticing that, even 
 though they should succeed in gathering a great 
 number of these details (in truth, they have gathered 
 none) ; and even though they should succeed in 
 entirely reconstructing the life of Jesus in the 
 smallest details, the supreme question remains un- 
 answered, — the question as to why Jesus, and no 
 
1 8 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 one else, exercised such an influence over men. 
 The answer to this is not found in knowledge of 
 the society in which Jesus was born, brought up, 
 and so on ; still less is it found in knowledge of 
 the happenings in the Eoman world at about this 
 time, or in the fact that the people were inclined 
 to superstitious beliefs. To gain this answer, it is 
 only needful to find what precisely was the especial 
 mark of Jesus which has led so many people to 
 raise him above the rest of men, and, for eighteen 
 hundred years, to hold him as a God. 
 
 He wdio would solve this problem, it would seem, 
 must, before all, bring himself to understand the 
 teachuig of Jesus ; his true teaching, clearly seen, 
 and not the crude interpretations which have been 
 put upon it. But this is just what is neglected. 
 The learned historians of Christianity are so 
 satisfied to think that Jesus was no God, they 
 are so keen to prove that his teaching holds 
 nothing divine, and is, therefore, not binding, that 
 they are not alive to a very plain fact : they do 
 not see that, the more they prove Jesus to have 
 been simply a man, and in nothing divine, the 
 darker and more insoluble they make the problem 
 they have in hand. They are making their full 
 efforts to prove that he was simply a man, that, 
 therefore, his teaching is not obligatory. To see 
 clearly this astonishing error, one has only to 
 remember the last writings of Eenan's follower, 
 M. Havet, who remarks, with much simplicity, 
 " Christ was never, in anything, a Christian." And 
 M. Soury, for his part, is altogether ravished with 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 19 
 
 the idea that Jesus was a cultureless man, a simple 
 soul. 
 
 The essential thing is : not to prove that Jesus 
 was no God, and his doctrine not divine, any more 
 than to prove he was not a Catholic : but to know 
 what his teaching essentially is ; that teaching which 
 has seemed to men so lofty and so precious, that 
 they have again and again owned him for God who 
 gave it to them. 
 
 If the reader belongs to that vast body of edu- 
 cated men who have been brought up in the beliefs 
 of a Church, and who have not renounced its absur- 
 dities ; if he be a man of reason and conscience 
 (whether retaining love and respect for the Christian 
 teaching, or whether, following the proverb, " Burn 
 the coat now the vermin have got in," he thinks the 
 whole of Christianity a pernicious superstition), I 
 pray him to reflect that that which shocks him, and 
 seems to him a superstition, is not the real teaching 
 of Jesus ; and that it were unjust to make Jesus 
 responsible for the follies which have, since his 
 time, encrusted his teaching. It is only necessary 
 to study the teaching of Jesus in its proper form, 
 as it has come down to us in the words and deeds 
 which are recorded as his own. With readers of the 
 kind I have addressed, my book will go to show that 
 Christianity is not only a mixture of things sublime 
 and things base ; that it is not only not a super- 
 stition, but that, on the contrary, it is the most 
 convincing presentment of metaphysics and morals, 
 the purest and most complete doctrine of life, and 
 the highest light which the human mind has ever 
 
20 , THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 reached ; a doctrine from which all the noblest 
 activities of humanity in politics, science, poetry, 
 and philosophy instinctively derive themselves. 
 
 If, on the other hand, my reader belongs to 
 that small minority of educated men who remain 
 attached to Church doctrines, and who accept re- 
 ligion, not for an outward end, but to gain inward 
 quietude, then I ask such a reader to remember 
 that the teaching of Christ, as set forth herein, is 
 quite other than that teaching as he has been given 
 to understand it ; and that, therefore, the question 
 for him is, not as to whether the doctrine here put 
 before him agrees with his beliefs, but, as to which 
 is more in harmony with his reason and his heart 
 • — the teaching of his Church composed of recon- 
 cilements of many scriptures, or the pure teaching 
 of Jesus. It concerns him only to decide 
 whether he will accept the new teaching, or 
 whether he prefers to retain the teaching of his 
 Church. 
 
 If, finally, my reader belongs to the category of 
 men who value and accept outwardly the belief of 
 some Church, not at all for truth's sake, but for 
 the outward consideration of gains that come there- 
 from, such an one should inform himself that, what- 
 ever be the number of his co-religionists, whatever 
 their power, whatever their station, even though 
 monarchs, and whatever lofty personages they 
 can reckon among them, he himself forms one of 
 a party, not of the accusers, but of the accused. 
 Such readers should inform themselves that they 
 are not asked to furnish arguments for their case, 
 
AUTHOR'S PREFACE 21 
 
 because, this long while, all such arguments have 
 been given which can be given ; and even should 
 they cite their proofs, they would only prove that 
 which every one of the hundreds of opposing sects 
 proves in its own case. 
 
 And, in truth, such people need not to prove 
 anything, but to clear themselves, first, of the sac- 
 rilege they commit in putting the teaching of Jesus, 
 whom they hold to be God, upon the same footing 
 as the teachings of Ezra, of the Councils, of Theo- 
 phylact ; and in allowing themselves to distort the 
 sayings of God into agreement with the sayings of 
 men. Again, they must clear themselves of blas- 
 phemy in ascribing to God-Jesus all the zealotry 
 which abides in their own hearts, and declaring it 
 to be teaching of Christ. And finally, they must 
 clear themselves of the treason they commit in 
 hiding from men the teaching of God, who has 
 come down to earth to bring us salvation ; and by 
 sliding in, to displace this teaching, the tradition of 
 the Holy Spirit, thus depriving thousands of millions 
 of that salvation which Jesus brought for men ; 
 and thus, instead of peace and love, bringing in 
 all the diversity of sects, and all the recrimina- 
 tions, murders, and all sorts of misdeeds which 
 follow. 
 
 For these readers there are only two issues : 
 either to make humble submission, and renounce 
 their deceits ; or, to persecute those who arise to 
 accuse them of the evil they have done and are 
 doing. 
 
 If they will not renounce their deceits, it remains 
 
22 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 for them to take the only other part, that is, to 
 persecute me. For which, in now completing my 
 writing, I am prepared, with joy, and with fear for 
 my own human weakness. 
 
 Leo Tolstoy. 
 
CHAPTEE I 
 
 THE SON OF GOD 
 
 Mt. i. 18. 
 
 24. 
 25. 
 
 Lk. ii. 40. 
 
 41. 
 42. 
 43. 
 44. 
 
 46. 
 
 Man, the son of God, is powerless in the flesh, and 
 free in the spirit 
 
 ("®ur jfatbcc") 
 
 The birth of Jesus Christ was thus : 
 
 His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph. 
 But, before they began to hve as man and wife, 
 Mary proved with child. But Joseph was a good 
 man, and did not wish to disgrace her ; he took 
 her as his wife, and had nothing to do with her 
 until she had borne her first son, and called him 
 Jesus. 
 
 And the boy grew and matured, and was intel- 
 ligent beyond his years. 
 
 Jesus was twelve years old ; and it happened 
 that Mary and Joseph went to the feast at 
 Jerusalem, and took the boy with them. The 
 feast was over, and they went homeward, and 
 forgot about the boy. Afterwards they recollected, 
 and thought that he had gone off with the children, 
 and they inquired about him along the road. He 
 was nowhere to be found, and they went back to 
 Jerusalem after him. And it was the third day 
 
24 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 before they found the boy in the temple, sitting 
 with the teachers, questioning them and listenmg. 
 And everyone wondered at his intelligence. His 
 mother caught sight of him, and said : " Why have 
 you done this way with us ? Your father and I 
 have been grieving, and looking for you." And 
 he said to them : " But where did you look for 
 me? Surely you know that the son must be 
 looked for in his Father's house ? " And they 
 did not understand his words ; they did not 
 understand whom it was he called his Father 
 
 And after this, Jesus lived at his mother's, and 
 obeyed her in everything. And he advanced in 
 age and intelligence. And everyone thought that 
 Jesus was the son of Joseph ; and so he lived to 
 the age of thirty. 
 
 At that time the prophet John appeared in Judaea. 
 He lived in the desert of Judaea, on the Jordan. 
 John's clothes were of camel's hair, girt round the 
 waist with a strap ; and he fed on bark and herbs. 
 
 He summoned the people to a change of life, 
 in order to get rid of wickedness ; and, as a sign of 
 the change of life, he bathed people in the Jordan. 
 He said : " A voice calls to you : Open a way for 
 God through the wild places, clear the way for 
 Him. Make it so that all may be level, that there 
 may be neither hollows nor hills, neither high nor 
 low. Then God will be among you, and all will 
 find their salvation." 
 
 And the people asked him : " What are we to 
 do ? " He answered : " Let him v«-ho has two suits 
 of clothes, give one to him who has none. Let him 
 
 Lk. ii. 47. 
 48. 
 
 Jit. iii. 1. 
 Mk. i. 4. 
 
 Mt. iii. 4. 
 
 Mk. i. 
 
 Lk. iii. 4. 
 
THE SON OF GOD 
 
 25 
 
 Lk. iii. 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 Mt. iii. 6. 
 
 13. 
 
 iv. 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 who has food, give to him who has none." And 
 tax-collectors came to him, and asked : " What are 
 we to do ? " He said to them : " Extort nothing 
 beyond what is ordered." And soldiers asked: 
 " How are we to live ? " He said : " Do no one any 
 harm, do not deal falsely ; be content with what is 
 served out to you." 
 
 And inhabitants of Jerusalem came to him, and 
 all the Jews in the neighbourhood of the Jordan. 
 And they acknowledged their wickedness to him; 
 and, in sign of the change of life, he bathed them 
 in the Jordan. 
 
 And many of the orthodox and conventional 
 religionists also came to John, but secretly. He 
 recognised them, and said : " You race of vipers ! 
 Have you, also, got wind of it, that you cannot 
 escape the will of God ? Then bethink yourselves, 
 and change your faith ! And if you wish to change 
 your faith, let it be seen by your fruits that you 
 have bethought youi'selves. The axe is already 
 laid to the tree. If the tree produces bad fruit, it 
 will be cut down and cast into the fire. In sign of 
 your change, I cleanse you in water ; but, along 
 with this bathing, you must be cleansed with the 
 spirit. The spirit will cleanse you, as a master 
 cleanses his threshing-floor ; when he gathers the 
 wheat, but burns the chaff." 
 
 Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be bathed 
 by John ; and he bathed, and heard John's preaching. 
 
 And from the Jordan he went into the wild places, 
 and there he strove in the spirit. Jesus passed forty 
 days and nights in the desert, without food or drink. 
 
26 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 And the voice of his flesh said to him : " If you 
 were Son of the Almighty God, you might of your own 
 will makeloaves out of stones ; but you cannot do this, 
 therefore you are not Son of God." But Jesus said 
 to himself : " If T cannot make bread out of stones, 
 this means that I am not Son of a God of the flesh, 
 but Son of the God of the spirit. I am alive, not 
 by bread, but by the spirit. And my spirit is able 
 to disregard the flesh." 
 
 But hunger, nevertheless, tormented him ; and 
 jhe voice of the flesh again said to him : " If you 
 live only by the spirit, and can disregard the flesh, 
 then you can throw off the flesh, and your spirit 
 will remain alive." And it seemed to him that 
 he was standing on the roof of the temple, and 
 the voice of the flesh said to him : " If you are Son 
 of the God of the spirit, throw yourself off the 
 temple. You will not be killed. But an unfoie- 
 seen force will keep you, support you, and save you 
 from aU harm." But Jesus said to himself : " I 
 can disregard the flesh, but may not throw it off, 
 because I was born by the spirit into the flesh. 
 This was the will of the Father of my spirit, and I 
 cannot oppose Him." 
 
 Then the voice of the flesh said to him : " If you 
 cannot oppose your Father by throwing yourself 
 off the temple and discarding life, then you also 
 cannot oppose your Father by hungering when you 
 need to eat. You must not make light of the 
 desires of the flesh ; they were placed in you, and 
 you must serve them." Then Jesus seemed to see 
 all the kingdoms of the earth, and all mankind, just 
 
 Lk. iv. 3. 
 
THE SON OF GOD 
 
 27 
 
 Lk. iv. 6. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 Jn. i. 35. 
 
 42. 
 
 as they live and labour for the flesh, expecting gain 
 therefrom. And the voice of the flesh said to him : 
 " Well, you see, these work for me, and I give them 
 all they wish for. If you will work for me, you 
 will have the same." But Jesus said to himself: 
 " My Father is not flesh, but spirit. I live by Him ; 
 I always know that He is in me. Him alone I 
 honour, and for Him alone I work, expecting reward 
 from Him alone." 
 
 Then the temptation ceased, and Jesus knew the 
 power of the spirit. 
 
 And when he had known the power of the spirit, 
 Jesus went out of the wild places, and went again 
 to John, and stayed with him. 
 
 And when Jesus was leaving John, John said of 
 him : " This is the saviour of men." 
 
 On account of these words of John, two of John's 
 disciples left their former teacher and went after 
 Jesus. Jesus, seeing them following him, stopped 
 and said : " What do you want ? " They said to 
 him : " Teacher ! we wish to be with you, and to 
 know your teaching." He said : " Come with me, 
 and I will tell you everything." They went with 
 him, and stayed with him, listening to him until 
 the tenth hour. 
 
 One of these disciples was called Andrew. 
 Andrew had a brother Simon. Having heard Jesus, 
 Andrew went to his brother Simon, and said to 
 him : " We have found him of whom the prophets 
 wrote, the Messiah ; we have found him who has 
 announced to us our salvation." Andrew took 
 Simon with him, and brought him also to Jesus. 
 
28 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 Jesus called this brother of Andrew, Peter, which 
 means a stone. And both these brothers became 
 disciples of Jesus. 
 
 Afterwards, before entering Galilee, Jesus met 
 PhUip, and called him to go with him. Philip 
 was from Bethsaida, and a fellow-villager of Peter 
 and Andrew. "When Philip knew Jesus, he went 
 and found his brother Nathanael, and said to him : 
 " We have found the chosen of God, of whom the 
 prophets and Moses wrote. This is Jesus, the 
 son of Joseph, from Nazareth." Nathanael was 
 astonished that he of whom the prophets wrote 
 should be from the neighbouring village, and said : 
 " It is most unlikely that the messenger of God 
 should be from Nazareth." Philip said : " Come 
 with me, you shall see and hear for yourself." 
 Nathanael agreed, and went with his brother, and 
 met Jesus ; and, when he had heard him, he said 
 to Jesus : " Yes, now I see that this is true, that 
 you are the Son of God and the king of Israel." 
 Jesus said to him : " Learn something more im- 
 portant than that. Henceforth heaven is opened, 
 and people may be in communion with the forces 
 of heaven. Henceforth God will be no longer 
 separate from men." 
 
 And Jesus came home to Nazareth ; and on the 
 Sabbath he went as usual into the synagogue, and 
 began to read. They gave him the book of the 
 prophet Isaiah, and, unrolling it, he began to read. 
 In the book was written : 
 
 " The spirit of the Lord is in me. He has chosen 
 me to announce happiness to the unfortunate and 
 
 Jn. i. 43. 
 
 14. 
 
 Lk. iv. 16. 
 
THE SON OF GOD 
 
 29 
 
 Lk. iv , 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 the broken-hearted, to announce freedom to those 
 who are bound, light to the blind, and salvation and 
 rest to the weary. To announce to all men the 
 time of Gdd's mercy." 
 
 He folded the book, gave it to the attendant, and 
 sat down. And all waited to hear what he should 
 say. And he said : " This writing has now been 
 fulfilled before your eyes." 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 Therefore man must work, not for the flesh, but for 
 the spirit 
 
 ("Mblcb art in beaven") 
 
 It happened once that Jesus, with his disciples, 
 went through a field on the Sabbath. His disciples 
 were hungry, and on the way plucked ears of corn, 
 bruised them in their hands, and ate the grain. But, 
 according to the teaching of the orthodox, God had 
 made an agreement with Moses, that all should 
 observe the Sabbath, and do nothing on that day. 
 According to this teaching of the orthodox, God com- 
 manded that he who worked on the Sabbath should 
 be stoned to death. The orthodox saw that the 
 disciples were bruising ears of corn on the Sabbath, 
 and said : " It is not right to do so on the Sabbath. 
 One must not work on the Sabbath, and you are 
 bruising ears of corn. God ordained the Sabbath, 
 and commanded the breaking of it should be 
 punished with death." Jesus heard this, and said : 
 " If you understand what is the meaning of God's 
 words, ' I desire love, and not sacrifice,' you would 
 not attach blame to that which is not blameworthy. 
 Man is more important than the Sabbath." 
 
 Mt. xii. 1. 
 Mk. ii, 23. 
 Lk. vi. 1. 
 
 Mt. xii. 2. 
 
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 Lk. 
 
 xiii. 10. 
 
 
 11. 
 
 
 12-14. 
 
 
 xiv. 3. 
 
 
 6. 
 
 
 6. 
 
 Lk. 
 
 xiii. 15. 
 
 iMt. 
 
 xii. 11. 
 
 
 12. 
 
 Mk. 
 
 iii. 4. 
 
 Mt. 
 
 ix. 9. 
 
 It happened another time, on a Sabbath, that, 
 when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, a sick 
 woman came up to him and asked him to help her. 
 And Jesus began to cure her. Then the orthodox 
 church-ekler was angry with Jesus for this, and said 
 to the people : " It is said in the law of God : There 
 are six days in the week on which to work." But 
 Jesus, in reply, asked the orthodox professors of the 
 law : " "Well, then, in your opinion, may not one 
 help a man on the Sabbath ? " And they did not 
 know what to answer. Then Jesus said : " De- 
 ceivers ! Does not each of you untie his beast from 
 the manger and lead him to water on the Sabbath ? 
 And if his sheep falls into a well, anyone will run 
 and drag it out, although even on the Sabbath. 
 And a man is much better than a sheep. But 
 you say that one must not help a man. What, 
 then, iu your opinion, must one do on the Sabbath, 
 good or evil : Save a soul or destroy it ? Good 
 must be done always, on the Sabbath too." 
 
 Jesus once saw a tax-gatherer recei\'irig taxes. 
 The tax-gathei-er was called ]\Iatthew. Jesus began 
 to speak with him, and Matthew understood him, 
 liked his teaching, and invited him to his house, 
 and showed him hospitality. When Jesus came to 
 Matthew, there came also Matthew's friends, tax- 
 gatherers and unbelievers, and Jesus did not disdain 
 them, and sat down, he and his disciples. And 
 the orthodox saw this, and said to Jesus' disciples : 
 " How is it that your teacher eats with tax-gatherers 
 and unbelievers ? " According to the teaching of 
 the orthodox. God forbade communion witli un- 
 
32 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 believers. Jesus heard, and said : " He who is 
 satisfied with his health does not need a doctor, 
 but he who is ill, does. Understand what is the 
 meaning of God's words : ' I desire love and not 
 sacrifice.' I cannot teach a change of faith to those 
 who consider themselves orthodox, but I teach those 
 who consider themselves unbelievers." 
 
 There came to Jesus orthodox professors of the 
 law fiom Jerusalem. And they saw that his 
 disciples and Jesus himself ate bread with un- 
 washed hands ; and these orthodox began to con- 
 demn him for this, because they themselves strictly 
 observed, according to church tradition, how plates 
 and dishes should be washed, and would not eat 
 unless they had been so washed. Also, they would 
 eat nothing from the market unless they had 
 washed it. 
 
 And the orthodox professors of the law asked 
 him : " Why do you live not according to church 
 tradition, but take and eat bread with unwashed 
 hands ? " And he answered them : " But in what 
 way do you break God's commandment, following 
 your church tradition ? God said to you : ' Honour 
 your father and mother.' But you have twisted it 
 so that everyone can say : ' I give to God what I 
 used to give my parents.' And he who so says 
 need not support his father and mother. Thus, then, 
 you break God's commandment by church tradition. 
 Deceivers ! The prophet Isaiah spoke the truth 
 about you : ' Because this people only fall down 
 before me in words, and honour me with their 
 tongue, while their heart is far from me ; and be- 
 
 nt, ix. 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 Mk. 
 Mt. 
 Mk. 
 
 XV. 1. 
 
 vii. 1. 
 
 XV. 2. 
 
 vii. 2. 
 
 Mt. XV. 3. 
 
 Mk. 
 
 vii. 10, 
 11, 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 
 Mt. XV. 7. 
 
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 Mk. vii. 
 
 20. 
 
 Jn. ii. 13. 
 
 cause their fear of me is only a human law which 
 they have learnt by heart ; therefore I will per- 
 form a wonderful, an extraordinary thing upon 
 this people : The wisdom of its wise men shall be 
 lost, and the reason of its thinkers shall be dimmed. 
 Woe to them who take thought to hide their desires 
 from the Eternal, and who do their deeds in dark- 
 ness.' And so it is with you : You leave that which 
 is important in the law, that which is God's com- 
 mandment, and observe your human tradition as to 
 the washing of cups ! " 
 
 And Jesus called the people to him, and said : 
 " Hearken all, and understand : There is nothing in 
 the world that, entering a man, could defile him ; 
 but that which goes forth from him, this defiles a 
 man. Let love and mercy be in your soul, and 
 then all will be clean. Try to understand this." 
 
 And when he returned home, his disciples asked 
 him : " What do these words mean ? " And he 
 said : " Do you also not understand this ? Do you 
 not understand that everything external, that which 
 is of the flesh, cannot defile a man ? The reason 
 is, it enters not his soul, but his body. It enters 
 the body, and afterwards goes out from it. Only 
 that can defile a man which goes out from the man 
 himself, from his souL Because from the soul of 
 man proceed evil, fornication, impurity, murder, 
 theft, covetousness, wrath, deceit, insolence, envy, 
 calumny, pride, and every kind of folly. All this 
 evil is out of the soul of man and it alone can 
 defile a man." 
 
 After this, the Passover came, and Jesus went to 
 3 
 
34 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 Jerusalem, and entered the temple. In the en- 
 closure of the temple stood cattle, cows, bulls, rams ; 
 and there were cots full of pigeons, and money- 
 changers behind their counters. All this was 
 necessary in order to make oii'erings to God. The 
 animals were slaughtered and offered in the temple. 
 This was the method of prayer among the Jews, as 
 taught by the orthodox professors of the law. Jesus 
 went into the temple, twisted a whip, drove all the 
 cattle oxit of the enclosure, and set free all the doves. 
 And he scattered all the money, and bade that 
 none of this should be brought into the temple. 
 He said : " The prophet Isaiah said to you : The 
 horise of God is not the temple in Jerusalem, but 
 the whole world of God's people. And the prophet 
 Jeremiah also told you : Do not believe the false- 
 hoods that here is the house of the Eternal. Do 
 not believe this, but change your life; do not judge 
 falsely ; do not oppress the stranger, the widow and 
 the orphan ; do not shed innocent blood, and do not 
 come into the house of God, and say : Now we 
 may quietly do foul deeds. Do not make my 
 house a den of robbers." 
 
 And the Jews began to dispute, and said to him : 
 " You say that our piety is wrong. By what proofs 
 will you show this ? " And, turning to them, Jesus 
 said : " Destroy this temple and I will in three days 
 awaken a new, living temple." And the Jews said : 
 " But how will you at once make a new temple, 
 when this was forty-six years in building ? " And 
 Jesus said to them : " I speak to you of that which 
 is more important than the temple. You would 
 
 Jn. ii. 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 Mt. xxi. 13. 
 
 Mk. xi. 17. 
 
 (Is.a. Ivi. 7. 
 
 Jer. vii. 4, 
 
 11). 
 
 20. 
 
 Mt. xii. 6. 
 
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 35 
 
 Jn. ii. 23. 
 24. 
 
 25. 
 
 iv. 4. 
 
 6. 
 
 10. 
 
 20. 
 
 not say this if you understood the meaning of the 
 words of the prophet : I, God, do not rejoice at 
 your offerings, but rejoice at your love to each 
 other. The Uving temple is the whole world of 
 men, when they love each other." 
 
 And then in Jerusalem many people believed in 
 what he said. But he himself believed in nothing 
 external, because he knew that everything is within 
 man. He had no need that anyone should give 
 witness of man, because he knew that in man is 
 the spirit. 
 
 And Jesus happened once to be passing through 
 Samaria. He passed by the Samaritan village of 
 Sychar, near the place which Jacob gave to his son 
 Joseph. There was Jacob's well. Jesus was tired, 
 and sat beside the well. His disciples \\'ent into 
 the town to fetch bread. And a woman came from 
 Sychar to draw water, and Jesus asked her to give 
 him to drink. And she said to him : " How is it 
 that you ask me to gi\-e you to drink ? For you 
 Jews have no intercourse with us Samaritans.'' 
 
 But he said to her : " If you knew me, and 
 knew what I teach, you would not say this, and 
 you would give me to drink, and I would give you 
 the water of life. Whoever drinks of the water 
 you have will thirst again. But whoever shall drink 
 of the water I have shall always be satisfied, and 
 this water shall bring hun everlasting life." The 
 woman understood that he was speaking of things 
 divine, and said to him : " I see that you are a 
 prophet, and wish to teach me. But how are you 
 to teach me divine things, when you are a Jew and 
 
36 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 I a Samaritan ? Our people worship God upon this 
 hill, but you Jews say that the house of God is only 
 in Jerusalem. You cannot teach me divine things, 
 because you have one belief, and we another." And 
 Jesus said to her : " Believe me, woman, the time 
 is already here, when people, to pray to the Father, 
 will come neither to this hUl nor to Jerusalem. 
 The time has come when the real worshippers of 
 God will worship the Heavenly Father in spirit and 
 with works. Such are the worshippers the Father 
 needs. God is a spirit, and He must be worshipped 
 in the spirit and with works." The woman did not 
 understand what he told her, and said : " I have 
 heard that the messenger of God will come, he 
 whom they call the anointed. He will then declare 
 everything." And Jesus said to her : " It is I, the 
 same who has spoken with you. Expect nothing 
 more." 
 
 After this, Jesus came into the land of Judtea, 
 and there lived with his disciples, and taught. At 
 that time John taught the people near Salim, and 
 bathed them in the river .^Enon. For John was 
 not yet put in prison. 
 
 And a dispute arose between the disciples of 
 John and the hearers of Jesus, as to which was 
 better, John's cleansing in water or Jesus' teach- 
 ing. And they came to John, and said to him : 
 " You cleanse with water, but Jesus only teaches, 
 and all go to him. What have you to say of 
 him ? " John said : " A man of himself can teach 
 nothing, unless God teach him. Who speaks of the 
 earth, is of the earth ; but whosoever speaks of God, 
 
 Jn. iv. 21. 
 
LIFE m THE SPIRIT 
 
 37 
 
 Jn. iii. 32-34. 
 
 35. 
 
 Lk. xi. 37, 
 
 39-41. 
 
 is from God. It is nowise possible to prove whether 
 the words that are spoken are from God or not 
 from God. God is a spirit ; He cannot be measured, 
 and He cannot be proved. He who .shall under- 
 stand the word of the spirit, by this very thing proves 
 that he is of the spirit. The Father, loving His 
 Son, has entrusted all to him. Whoever believes in 
 the Son has life, and whoever does not believe in 
 the Son has not life. God is the spirit in man." 
 
 After this there came to Jesus one of the ortho- 
 dox, and invited him to dinner. Jesus went in 
 and sat down at table. The host noticed that he 
 did not wash before dianer, and wondered thereat. 
 And Jesus said to him : " You orthodox wash every- 
 thing outside ; but are you clean inside ? Be well- 
 disposed to men, and all will be clean." 
 
 And while he sat in the house of the orthodox, 
 there came a woman of the town, who was an un- 
 believer. She had learnt that Jesus was ia the 
 house of the orthodox man, and she came there too, 
 bringing a bottle of scent. And she knelt at his 
 feet, wept, and washed his feet with her tears, 
 wiped them with her hair, and poured scent over 
 them. The orthodox man saw this, and thought to 
 himself : " He is hardly a prophet. If he were 
 really a prophet, he would know what kind of a 
 woman it is that is washing his feet. He would 
 know that this is a wrong-doer, and would not 
 allow her to touch him." Jesus guessed his 
 thought, and, turning to him, said : " Shall I tell 
 you what I think ? " The host assented. And 
 Jesus said ; " Well, it is this. Two men held them- 
 
38 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 selves debtors to a certain man of property, one for 
 five hundred pence, the other for fifty. And neither 
 the one nor the other had anything to pay with. 
 The creditor pardoned both. Now, in your opinion, 
 which will love the creditor more, and shew him 
 greater attention ? " And he said : " Of course, he 
 that owed more." Jesus pointed to the woman, and 
 said : " So it is with you and this woman. You 
 consider yourself orthodox, and therefore a small 
 debtor ; she considers herself an unbeliever, and 
 therefore a great debtor. I came to your house ; 
 you did not give me water to wash my feet. She 
 washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them 
 with her hair. You did not kiss me, but she 
 kissed my feet. You did not give me oil to anoint 
 my head, but she anoints my feet with precious 
 scent. He who rests in orthodoxy will not do works 
 of love, but he who considers himself an un- 
 believer will do works of love. And for works of 
 love, all is forgiven." And he said to her : " All 
 your wickedness is forgiven you." And Jesus said : 
 " All depends upon what each man considers him- 
 self. Whoever considers himself good will not be 
 good ; but whoever considers himself bad will be- 
 come good." 
 
 And Jesus said further : " Two men once came 
 into a temple to pray ; one orthodox, and the 
 other a tax-gatherer. The orthodox man prayed 
 tlms : ' I thank Thee, God, that I am not as other 
 men, I am not a miser, nor a libertine ; I am not 
 a rogue, not such a worthless fellow as that tax- 
 gatherer. I fast twice weekly, and give away 
 
 Lk. vii. 42. 
 
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 39 
 
 Lk. xviii. 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 37. 
 
 a tithe of my property.' But the tax-gatherer 
 stood afar off, and dared not look up at the sky, 
 but merely beat his breast, and said : ' Lord, look 
 down upon me, worthless as I am.' Well, and this 
 man was better than the orthodox, for the reason 
 that whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and 
 whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." 
 
 After this, disciples of John came to Jesus, and 
 said : " Why do we and the orthodox fast much, 
 while your disciples do not fast ? Por, according 
 to the law, God commanded people to fast." And 
 Jesus said to them : " While the bridegroom is at 
 the wedding, no one grieves. Only when the bride- 
 groom is away, do people grieve. Having life, one 
 must not grieve. The external worship of God 
 cannot be combined with works of love. The old 
 teaching of the external worship of God cannot be 
 combined with my teaching of works of love to one's 
 neighbour. To combine my teaching with the old, 
 is the Same as to tear off a shred from a new gar- 
 ment and sew it on an old one. You will tear the 
 new and not mend the old. Either all my teaching 
 must be accepted, or all the old. And having once 
 accepted my teaching, it is impossible to keep the 
 old teaching, of purification, fasting, and the Sabbath. 
 Just as new wine cannot be poured into old skins, 
 or the old skins will burst and the wine run out. 
 But new wine must be poured into new skins, and 
 both the one and the other will remain whole." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 The life of all men has proceeded from the spirit of the Father 
 
 ("IballowcD be a:bB iRamc") 
 
 After this, John's disciples came to ask Jesus 
 whether it was he of whom John spoke ; whether 
 he was revealing the kingdom of God, and renewing 
 men by the spirit ? Jesus answered and said : 
 " Look, listen, — and tell John, whether the kingdom 
 of God has begun, and whether people are being 
 renewed by tlie spirit. Tell him of what kingdom 
 of God I am preaching. It is said in the prophecies 
 that, when the kingdom of God shall come, all men 
 will be blessed. Well, tell him that my kingdom 
 of God is such that the poor are IJessed, and 
 that every one who understands me becomes 
 blessed." 
 
 And, having dismissed John's disciples, Jesus 
 began to speak to the people as to the kingdom 
 of God John announced. He said : " When you 
 went to John in the wilderness to be baptized, what 
 did you go to see ? The orthodox teachers of the 
 law also went, but did not understand that which 
 John announced. And they thought him nothing 
 
 Mt. xi. 2, 
 3. 
 
 16. 
 
THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 
 41 
 
 Mt. xi. 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 Lk. xvi. 16. 
 
 xra. £0. 
 
 worth. This breed of orthodox teachers of the law 
 only consider that as truth which they themselves 
 invent and hear from each other, and that as law 
 which they themselves have devised. But that 
 which John said, that which I say, they do not 
 hearken to, and do not understand. Of that which 
 John says, they have understood only that he 
 fasts in the wild places, and they say : ' In him 
 is an evil spirit.' Of that which I say, they have 
 understood only that I do not fast, and they say : 
 ' He eats and drinks with tax-gatherers and sinners 
 — he is a friend of theus.' They chatter with each 
 other like children in the street, and wonder that 
 no one listens to them. And their wisdom is seen 
 by their works. If you went to John to look at a 
 man attired in rich clothes, why, such dwell here 
 in palaces. Then, what did you go to seek in the 
 desert ? Did you go because you think John was 
 the same as other prophets ? Do not think this. 
 John was not a prophet like others. He was 
 greater than all prophets. They foretold that 
 which might be. He has announced to men that 
 which is, namely, that the kingdom of God was, 
 and is, on earth. Verily, I tell you, a man has not 
 been born greater than John. He has declared 
 the kingdom of God on earth, and therefore he is 
 higher than all. The law and the prophets, — all 
 this was needful before John. But, from John and 
 to the present time, it is announced that the 
 kingdom of God is on earth, and that he who 
 makes an effort enters into it.'' 
 
 And the orthodox came to Jesus, and began 
 
42 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 asking him : " How, then, and when, will the 
 kingdom of God come ? " And he answered them : 
 " The kingdom of God which I preach is not such 
 as former prophets preached. They said that God 
 would come with divers visible signs, but I speak 
 of a kingdom of God, the coming of which may not 
 be seen with the eyes. And if anyone shall say 
 to you, ' See, it is come, or it shall come,' or, ' See, 
 it is here or there,' do not believe them. The 
 kingdom of God is not in time, or in place, of any 
 kind. It is like lightning, seen here, there, and 
 everywhere. And it has neither time nor place, 
 because the kingdom of God, the one which I 
 preach, is within you." 
 
 After this, an orthodox believer, one of the 
 Jewish authorities, named Nicodemus, came to Jesus 
 at night, and said : " You do not bid us keep the 
 Sabbath, do not bid us observe cleanliness, do not bid 
 us make offerings, nor fast ; you would destroy the 
 temple. You say of God, He is a spirit, and you 
 say of the kingdom of God, that it is within us. 
 Then, what kind of a kingdom of God is this ? " 
 
 And Jesus answered him : " Understand that, if 
 man is conceived from heaven, then in him there 
 must be that which is of heaven." 
 
 Nicodemus did not understand this, and said : 
 " How can a man, if he is conceived of the flesh of 
 his father, and has grown old, again enter the womb 
 of his mother and be conceived anew ? " 
 
 And Jesus answered him : " Understand what I 
 say. I say that man, beside the flesh, is also con- 
 ceived of the spirit, and therefore every man is 
 
 Lk. 
 
 Jn. 
 
THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 
 43 
 
 Jn. iii. 6. 
 
 13. 
 
 17. 
 
 conceived of flesh and spirit, and therefore may the 
 kingdom of heaven be in him. From flesh comes 
 flesh. From flesh, spirit cannot be born ; spirit 
 can come only from spirit. The spirit is that 
 which lives in you, and lives in freedom and 
 reason ; it is that of which you know neither the 
 beginning nor the end, and which every man feels 
 in him. And, therefore, why do you ^vonder that 
 I told you we must be conceived from heaven ? " 
 
 Nicodemus said : " Still, I do not believe that 
 this can be so." 
 
 Then Jesus said to him : " What kind of a 
 teacher are you, if you do not comprehend this ? 
 Understand that I am not interpreting some learned 
 points , I am interpreting that which we all know, 
 I am averring that which we all see. How will 
 you believe in that which is in heaven if you do 
 not believe in that which is on earth, which is in 
 you yourself ? 
 
 " For, no man has ever gone up to heaven, but 
 there is only man on earth, come down from 
 heaven, and himself of heaven. Now, this same 
 heavenly son in man it is that must be lifted up, 
 that everyone may believe in him and not perish, 
 but may have heavenly life. For God gave His 
 Son, of the same essence as Himself, not for men's 
 destruction, but for then- happiness. He gave him 
 in order that everyone might believe in him, and 
 might not perish, but have life without end. For 
 He did not bring forth His Son, this life, into the 
 world of men in order to destroy the world of men ; 
 but He brought forth His Son, this life, in order 
 
44 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 that the world of men might be made alive through 
 him. 
 
 " Whoever commits his life to him does not 
 die ; but he who does not commit his life to him 
 destroys himself thereby, in that he has not trusted 
 to that wliich is life. Death consists in this, that 
 life is come into the world, but men themselves go 
 away from life. 
 
 " Light is the life of men ; light came into the 
 world, but men prefer the darkness to light, and do 
 not go to the light. He who does wrong does not 
 go to the light, so that his deeds may not be seen, 
 and such a one bereaves himself of life. Whereas 
 he who lives in truth goes to the light, so that his 
 deeds are seen ; and he has life, and is united with 
 God. 
 
 " The kingdom of God must be understood, not, 
 as you think, in the sense that it will come for all 
 men at some time or other, and in some place or 
 other, but thus, — In the whole world always, some 
 people, those who trust in the heavenly Son of 
 man, become sons of the kingdom, but others who 
 do not trust in him are destroyed. The Father of 
 that spirit which is in man is the Father of those 
 only who acknowledge themselves to be His sons. 
 And, therefore, only those exist to Him who have 
 kept in themselves that which He gave them." 
 
 And, after this, Jesus began to explain to the 
 people what the kingdom of God is, and he made 
 this clear by means of parables. 
 
 He said: The Father, — who is spirit, — sows in the 
 world the life of understanding, as the husbandman 
 
 Jn. iii. 18. 
 
 Mt. xili. 3. 
 
THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 
 45 
 
 Mt. xiii. 4. 
 
 Mk. iv. 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 Mt. xiii. 33. 
 
 SOWS seed in his field. He sows over the whole 
 field, without remarking where any particular seed 
 falls. Some seeds fall upon the road, and the birds 
 fly down and peck them up. And others fall 
 among stones ; and although among these stones 
 they come up, they wither, because there is no 
 room for the roots. And others, again, fall among 
 wormwood, so that the wormwood chokes the corn, 
 and the ear springs up, but does not fill. And 
 others fall on good soil ; they spring up, and make 
 return for the lost corn, and bear ears, and fill, and 
 one ear will give a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, 
 and another thirtyfold. Thus, then, God also sowed 
 broadcast the spirit in men ; in some it is lost, but 
 in others it yields a hundredfold : these last are they 
 who form the kingdom of God. Thus the kingdom 
 is not such as you think, that God will come to 
 reign over you. God has only sown the spirit, and 
 the kingdom of God will be in those who pre- 
 serve it. 
 
 God does not force men. It is as when the sower 
 casts the seeds in the earth, and himself thinks no 
 more of them ; but the seeds of themselves swell, 
 sprout up, put forth leaf, sheath, and ear, and fill 
 with grain. Only when it is ripened, the master 
 sends sickles to reap the cornfield. So also God 
 gave His Son, the spirit, to the world ; and the 
 spirit of itself grows in the world, and the sons of 
 the spirit make up the kingdom of God. 
 
 A woman puts yeast in the kneading trough and 
 mixes it with the fiour ; she then stirs it no more, 
 but lets it ferment and rise. As long as men live, 
 
46 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 G-od does not interpose in their life. He gave the 
 spirit to the world, and the spu'it itself lives in 
 men, and men who live by the spirit make up the 
 kingdom of God. For the spirit there is neither 
 death nor evil. Death and evil are for the flesh, 
 bnt not for the spirit. 
 
 The kingdom of G-od comes in this way. A 
 farmer sowed good seed in his field. The farmer is 
 the Spirit, the Father ; the field is the world ; the 
 good seeds are the sons of the kingdom of God. 
 And the farmer lay down to sleep, and an enemy 
 came and sowed darnel in the field. The enemy is 
 temptation ; the darnel is the sons of temptation. 
 And his labourers came to the farmer and said : 
 " Can you have sown bad seed ? Much darnel has 
 come up in your field. Send us, we will weed it 
 out." And the farmer said : " You must not do 
 that, for in weeding the darnel you will trample 
 the wheat. Let them grow together. The harvest 
 will come, when I shall bid the reapers take away 
 the darnel and burn it ; and the wheat I shall 
 store in the barn." 
 
 Now, the harvest is the end of man's life, and 
 the harvesters are the power of heaven. And the 
 darnel shall be burnt, but the wheat shall be 
 cleaned and gathered. Thus also, at life's end, all 
 shall vanish which was a guUe of time, and the 
 true life in the spirit shall alone be left. For the 
 Spirit, the Father, there is no evil. The spirit 
 keeps that which it needs, and that which is not 
 of it does not exist for it. 
 
 The kingdom of God is like a net. The net will 
 
THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 
 47 
 
 Mt. xiii. 48. 
 
 be spread in the sea, and will catch all kinds of 
 fish. And afterwai'ds, when it is drawn out, the 
 worthless will be set aside and thrown into the sea. 
 So will it be at the end of the age ; the powers of 
 heaven will take the good, and the evil will be cast 
 away. 
 
 And when he finished speaking, the disciples 
 asked him how to understand these parables ? 
 And he said to them : " These parables must be 
 understood in two ways. I speak all these parables 
 because there are some like you, my disciples, who 
 understand wherein is the kingdom of God, who 
 understand that the kingdom of God is witliin 
 every man, who understand how to go into it ; while 
 others do not understand this. Others look, but 
 see not ; they hearken, and do not understand, 
 because their heart has become gross. Therefore I 
 speak these parables with two meanings, for both 
 classes of hearers. To the others I speak of God, 
 of what God's kingdom is to them, and they may 
 understand this ; while to you I speak of what the 
 kingdom of God is for you — that kingdom which is 
 within you. 
 
 And see that you understand as you ought the 
 parable of the sower. For you the parable is this : 
 Everyone who has understood the meaning of the 
 kingdom of God, but has not accepted it in his 
 heart, to him temptation comes and robs him of 
 that which has been sown : this is the seed on the 
 wayside. That which was sown on stones, is he 
 who at once accepts with joy. But there is no 
 root in him, and he only accepts for a time ; but let 
 
48 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 straits and persecution befall him, because of the 
 meaning of the kingdom, and he straightaway 
 denies it. That which was sown among the worm- 
 wood is he who understood the meaning of the 
 kingdom, but worldly cares and the seductions of 
 wealth strangle the meaning in him, and he yields 
 no fruit. But that wliich was sown on good soil 
 is he who understood the meaning of the kingdom, 
 and accepted it into his heart ; such yield fruit, 
 one a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, another thirty- 
 fold. For he who retains, to him much is given ; 
 while from him who does not retain, the whole will 
 be taken. 
 
 And, therefore, take care how you understand 
 these parables. Understand them so as not to give 
 way to deceit, wrong, and care ; but so as to yield 
 thirtyfold, or sixtyfold, or a hundredfold. 
 
 The kingdom of heaven giows and spreads in 
 the soul out of nothing, providing e\erything. It 
 is like a birch seed, the very smallest of seeds, 
 which, when it grows up, becomes greater than all 
 other trees, and the birds of heaven build their 
 nests in it. 
 
 Alt xiii. 
 
 23. 
 
 12. 
 
 Lk. viii. 18. 
 
 Mt. xiii. 31. 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 
 GODS KINGDOM 
 
 Therefore the will of the Father is the life and 
 welfare of all men 
 
 ("Ibg hing&om come") 
 
 Mt. 
 
 ix. 35. 
 
 
 30. 
 
 
 V. 1. 
 
 
 2. 
 
 Lk. 
 
 vi. 20, 
 21. 
 
 
 22. 
 
 
 23. 
 
 And Jesus went camong the towns and villages, and 
 taught all men the happiness of fulfilling the 
 Father's will. Jesus was sorry for men, that they 
 perish without knowing wherein is the true life, 
 and are driven about and suffer, without knowing 
 why, like sheep left without a shepherd. 
 
 Once a crowd of people gathered to Jesus, to 
 hear his teaching ; and he went up on a hdl and 
 sat down. His disciples surrounded him. 
 
 And Jesus began to teach the people as to what 
 is the Father's will. He said : — 
 
 Blessed are the poor and homeless, for they are 
 in the will of the Father. Even if they hunger for 
 a time, they shall be satisfied ; and if they grieve 
 and weep, they shall be comforted. If people look 
 down upon them, and thrust them aside and every- 
 where drive them away, let them be glad at this ; 
 for the people of God have ever been persecuted 
 thus, and they receive a heavenly reward. 
 4 
 
5° 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 But woe to the rich, for they have already got 
 everything they wish, and will get nothing more. 
 They are now satisfied ; but they shall be hungry. 
 Now they are merry ; but they shall be sad. If all 
 praise them, woe to them, because only deceivers 
 get everybody's praise. 
 
 Blessed are the poor and homeless, but blessed 
 only then, when they are poor, not merely exter- 
 nally, but in spirit ; as salt is good only when it is 
 true salt ; not externally only, but when it has the 
 savour of salt. 
 
 So, you also, the poor and homeless, are the 
 teachers of the world ; you are blessed, if you know 
 that true happiness is in being homeless and poor. 
 But if you are poor only externally, then you, like 
 salt without savour, are good for nothing You 
 must be a light to the world ; therefore do not hide 
 your light, but shew it to men. For when one 
 lights a candle, one does not put it under a bench, 
 but upon the table, that it may light all in the 
 room. So, you also, do not hide your light, but 
 shew it by your works, so that men may see that 
 you know the truth, and, looking at j'our good 
 works, may understand j'our Heavenly Father. 
 
 And do not think tliat I free you from the law. 
 I teach not release from the law, but I teach the 
 fulfilment of tlie eternal law. As long as there are 
 men un<ler heaven, there is an everlasting law. 
 There will be no law, only when men shall of them- 
 selves act wholly according to the eternal law. 
 And now I am giving you the commandments of 
 the eternal law. And if anyone shall release him- 
 
 Lk. vi. 24. 
 
 Mt. V. 13. 
 
GOD'S KINGDOM 
 
 V. 20. 
 
 22, 
 
 24. 
 
 self, if only from one of these short commandments, 
 and shall teach others that they may so release 
 themselves, he shall be least in the kingdom of 
 heaven ; while he who shall fulfil them, and shall 
 thereby teach others, shall be the greatest in the 
 kingdom of heaven. Because if your virtue be not 
 greater than the virtue of the orthodox leaders, you 
 will in no way be in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 These are, the connnandments : 
 
 In the former law it was said : " Do not kill." 
 But if anyone shall kill another, he must be 
 judged. 
 
 But I tell you, that everyone is worthy of 
 judgment who gets angry with his brother. And 
 still more to blame is he who abuses his brother. 
 
 So that, if you wish to pray to God, remember, 
 first, whether there is no man who may have some- 
 thing against you. If you remember that but one 
 man considers you have offended him, leave your 
 prayer, and go first and make peace with your 
 brother ; and then you may pray. Know that God 
 wants neither sacrifice nor prayer, but peace, con- 
 cord, and love among you. And you may neither 
 pray, nor think of God, if there is but one man to 
 whom you do not bear love. 
 
 And so this is the first commandment : Do not 
 be angry, do not abuse ; but having quarrelled, 
 make peace in such a way that no one may have 
 cause for offence against you. 
 
52 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 II. 
 
 In the former law it was said : " Do not commit 
 adultery ; and if you wish to put away your wife, 
 give her a bill of divorce." 
 
 But I tell you, if you are drawn by the beauty 
 of a woman, you are already committing adultery. 
 All sensuality destroys the soul, and therefore it is 
 better for you to renounce the pleasure of the flesh 
 than to destroy your life. 
 
 And if you put away your wife, then, besides 
 being vicious yourself, you drive her also into vice, 
 and him who shall have to do with her. 
 
 And therefore, this is the second commandment : 
 Do not think that love towards woman is good; do 
 not admire the beauty of women, but live with the 
 one to whom you have become united, and do not 
 leave her. 
 
 III. 
 
 In the former law it was said : " Do not utter 
 the name of the Lord your God in vain, do not call 
 upon your God when lying, and do not dishonour 
 the name of your God. Do not swear by Me in 
 untruth, so as to profane your God." But I tell 
 you that every oath is a profanation of God. 
 
 Therefore, swear not at all. Man cannot pro- 
 mise anything, because he is wholly in the power 
 of the Father. A man cannot turn one hair from 
 grey to black ; how then shall he swear beforehand, 
 that he will do this and that, and swear by God ? 
 Every oath is a profanation of God, for, if a man 
 
 Mt. V. 31. 
 
 Mt. V. 33. 
 
GOD'S KINGDOM 
 
 S3 
 
 , 37. 
 
 41. 
 vi. 80. 
 
 37. 
 
 shall have to fulfil an oath which is against the will 
 of God, it must follow that he has sworn to go 
 against God's will ; so that every oath is evil. But 
 when men question you about anything, say : " Yes,'' 
 if yes, — " No," if no. Everything added to this is 
 evil. 
 
 Therefore, the third commandment is : Swear 
 nothing, to anyone ; say " Yes," when it is yes, — 
 " No," when it is no ; and understand that every 
 oath is evil. 
 
 IV. 
 
 In the former law it was said : " He who destroys 
 life, shall give a life for a life ; an eye for an eye, a 
 tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, an ox for an 
 ox, a slave for a slave," and so on. 
 
 But I tell you : Do not wrestle with evil by evil. 
 Not only do not take by law an ox for an ox, a 
 slave for a slave, a life for a life, but do not resist 
 evil at all. If anyone wishes to take an ox from 
 you by law, give him another ; if anyone wishes to 
 get your coat by law, give him your shirt also ; if 
 anyone strikes out your tooth on one side, turn to 
 him the other side. If you are made to do one 
 piece of work, do two. If men msh to take your 
 property, give it to them. If they do not return 
 your money, do not ask for it. 
 
 And therefore : Do not judge, do not go to law, 
 do not punish, and you yourself shall not be judged, 
 nor punished. Forgive all, and you shall be for- 
 given, because if you shall judge people, they will 
 judge you also. 
 
54 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 You cannot judge, because you, all men, are 
 blind, aud do not see the truth. How, with ob- 
 structed eyes, will you discern the mote in your 
 brother's eye ? You must first clear your own eye. 
 But whose eyes are clear ? Can a blind man lead 
 a blind man ? Both will fall into the pit. Thus, 
 also, they who judge and punish, like the blind, are 
 leading the blind. 
 
 They who judge and condemn people to violent 
 treatment, wounds, maiming, death, wish to teach 
 people. But what else can come from their 
 teaching, than that the pupil will learn his lesson, 
 and will become quite like the teacher ? What, 
 then, will he do, when he has learnt his lesson ? 
 The same that the teacher does : violence, murder. 
 
 And do not think to find justice in the courts. 
 To seek legal justice, to hand matters over to 
 human courts, is the same as to cast precious pearls 
 before swine ; they will trample upon it, and tear 
 you to pieces. 
 
 And, therefore, the fourth commandment is : 
 However men may wrong you, do not resist evil, 
 do not judge and do not go to law, do not com- 
 plain and do not punish. 
 
 In the former law it was said : " Do good to men 
 of your own nation, and do evil to strangers." 
 
 But I tell you, love not only your own country- 
 men, but people of other nations. Let strangers 
 hate you, let them fall upon you, wrong you ; but 
 
 Mt. vii. 1. 
 3. 
 
 Lk. vi. 39. 
 
 Mt. vii. 6. 
 
GOD'S KINGDOM 
 
 55 
 
 vii. 12. 
 
 vi. 1. 
 
 you speak well of them, and do them good. If you 
 are only attached to your countrymen, why, all men 
 are thus attached to their own countrymen, and 
 hence wars arise. Behave equally well towards 
 men of all nations, and you will be the sons of the 
 Father. All men are His children, and therefore all 
 are brothers to you. 
 
 And, therefore, this is the fifth commandment : 
 Behave equally well towards foreigners, as I told 
 you to behave among yourselves. Before the 
 Father of all men there are neither different nations 
 nor different kingdoms : all are brothers, all sons of 
 one Father. Make no distinction among people as 
 to nations and kingdoms. 
 
 And so : — I. Do not be angry, but be at peace 
 with all men. II. Do not seek delight in sexual 
 gratification. III. Do not swear anything to any- 
 one. IV. Do not oppose evil, do not judge and do 
 not go to law. V. Do not make any distinction 
 among men as to nationality, and love strangers 
 like your own people. 
 
 All these commandments are contained in this 
 one : All that you wish people should do for you, 
 do you even so to them. 
 
 Fulfil my teaching, not for men's praise. If you 
 do it for men, then from men you have your reward. 
 But if not for men, then your reward is from the 
 Heavenly Father. So that, if you do good to men, 
 do not boast about it before men. Thus hypocrites 
 do, that men may speak well of them. And they 
 get what they wish. But if you do good to men, 
 do it so that no one may see it, so that your left 
 
56 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 hand may not know what your right hand is doing. 
 And your Father will see this, and will give you 
 what you need. 
 
 And, if you wish to pray, do not pray like the 
 hypocrites. Hypocrites love to pray m churches, 
 in the sight of men. They do this for men's sake, 
 and get in return from men that which they wish. 
 
 But, if you wish to pray, go where no one may 
 see yiiu, and pray to your Father, the Spirit, and 
 the Father will see what is in your soul, and will 
 give you that which you wish in the spirit. 
 
 When you pray, do not chatter with your tongue 
 like the hypocrites. Your Father knows what you 
 want liefore you open your lips. 
 
 Pray only thus : 
 
 Oar Father, without heginniiig and without end, 
 like heaven ! 
 
 May Thy teing only he holy. 
 
 May power be only Thine, so that Thy will be done, 
 without begivniny and without end, on earth. 
 
 Give me food of Ufe in the present . 
 
 Smooth out my former mistales, and wijK them 
 away ; even as I so do with edl the mistakes of my 
 brothers, that I may not fcdl into temptation, and may 
 be saved from evil. 
 
 Beeause Thine is the power and might, and Thine 
 the judgment. 
 
 If you pray, above all, bear no one any malice. 
 For if you do not forgive men their wrong-doing, 
 the Father also will not forgive you yours. 
 
 If you fast, and go hungry, do not show it to 
 
 Mt. 
 
 Mk. xi. 25. 
 26. 
 
 Mt. vi. 16. 
 
GOD'S KINGDOM 
 
 57 
 
 Mt. vi. 17, 
 IS. 
 
 21, 
 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 men ; thus do the hypocrites, that people may see, 
 and speak well of them. And people speak well of 
 them, and they get what they wish. But do not 
 you do so ; if you suffer want, go about with a 
 cheerful face, that people may not see. But your 
 Father will see, and will give you what you need. 
 
 Do not lay up store on earth. On earth, the 
 worm consumes, and rust eats, and thieves steal. 
 But lay up heavenly wealth for yourself. Heavenly 
 wealth the worm does not gnaw, nor rust eat, nor 
 thieves steal. Where your wealth is^ there will 
 your heart also be. 
 
 The light of the body is the eye, and the light of 
 the soul is the heart. If your eye is dim, then all 
 your body will be in darkness. And if the light 
 of your heart is dim, then all your soul will be in 
 darkness. You cannot serve at one time two 
 masters. You will please one, and offend the other. 
 You cannot serve God and the flesh. You will 
 either work for the earthly life or for God. There- 
 fore, do not be anxious for what you shall eat and 
 drink, and wherewith you shall be clothed. Life is 
 more wonderful than food and clothing, and God 
 gave it you. 
 
 Look at God's creatures, the birds. They do not 
 sow, reap or harvest, but God feeds them. In 
 God's sight, man is not worse than the bird. If 
 God gave man life. He will be able to feed him too. 
 But you yourselves know that, however much you 
 strive, you can do nothing for yourselves. You 
 cannot lengthen your life by an hour. And why 
 should you care about clothing ? The flowers of 
 
58 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 the field do not work and do not spin, but are 
 dressed as Solomon in all his -glory never was. 
 Well then, if God has so adorned the grass, which 
 to-day grows and to-morrow is mown, will he not 
 clothe you ? 
 
 Do not troulDle and worry yourselves ; do not say 
 that you must think of what you will eat and how 
 you will be clothed. This everyone needs, and God 
 knows this need of yours. And so, do not care 
 about the future. Live in the present day. Take 
 care to he in the will of the Father. Wish for 
 that which alone is important, and the rest will all 
 come of itself. Strive only to be in the will of the 
 Father. And so, do not trouble about the future. 
 When the future comes, then it will be time to do 
 so. There is enough evil in the present. 
 
 Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall 
 find, knock and it shall be opened to you. Is there 
 a father who would give his son a stone instead of 
 bread, or a snake instead of a fish ? Then, how is 
 it that we, wicked men, are able to give our 
 children that which they need, while your Father 
 in heaven shall not give you that which you truly 
 need, if you ask Him ? Ask, and the Heavenly Father 
 will give the life of the spirit to them who ask Him. 
 
 The way to life is narrow, but enter by the 
 narrow way. The way into life is one only. It is 
 narrow and strait. About it the plain lies great 
 and wide, but it is the way of destruction. The 
 narrow way alone leads to life ; and few find it. 
 But do not quail, little flock ! The Father has 
 promised you the kingdom. 
 
 lit. vi. 29, 
 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 33. 
 
 Lk. 
 
 Mt. 
 
 Vll. 
 
 xi. 9. 
 
 9, 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 13. 
 
 Lk. xii. 32. 
 
GOD'S KINGDOM 
 
 59 
 
 lit. vii. 16. 
 
 18. 
 
 20. 
 Lk. vi. 45. 
 
 Mt. vii. 21. 
 
 27. 
 
 Only, beware of false prophets and teachers ; they 
 approach you in sheepskins, but within they are 
 ravening wolves. 
 
 By their fruits will you know them ; by that which 
 they yield. Figs are not gathered from thistles, 
 nor grapes from thorns. But a good tree brings 
 forth good fruit. And a bad tree brings forth bad 
 fruit. And so you will know them by the fruits of 
 their teaching. A good man, from his good heart, 
 brings forth everything that is good ; but a wicked 
 man, from his evil heart, brings forth everything 
 evil ; for the lips speak from the overflow of the heart. 
 And therefore, if teachers teach you to do to others 
 that which is bad for yourselves, — teach violence, exe- 
 cutions, wars, — know that they are false teachers. 
 
 For it is not he that says : Lord, Lord ! who shall 
 enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who fulfils the 
 word of the Heavenly Father. The false teachers 
 will say : " Lord, Lord ! we have taught your teach- 
 ing, and we have driven away evil according to 
 your teaching." But I will disown them, and say 
 to them : No, I never acknowledged you, and do 
 not acknowledge you. Go out of my sight, you are 
 doing that which is unlawful. 
 
 And so, everyone who has heard these words of 
 mine, and fulfils them, he, like a reasonable man, 
 builds his house upon a rock. And his house will 
 stand against all storms. But he who hears these 
 words of mine, and does not fulfil them, he, like a 
 foolish man, builds his house upon sand. When 
 the storm comes, it will overthrow the house, and 
 all will perish. 
 
6o 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 And all the people wondered at such teaching ; 
 because the teaching of Jesus was quite other than 
 that of the orthodox teachers of the law. These 
 taught a law which must be obeyed, but Jesus 
 taught that all men are free. And in Jesus Christ 
 were fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah : " The people 
 living in darkness, in the shadow of death, saw the 
 light of life, and he who furnished this light of 
 truth does no violence nor harm to men, but he is 
 meek and gentle. He, in order to bring truth into 
 the world, neither disputes nor shouts ; his voice is 
 never heard raised. He will not break a straw, and 
 will not blow out the smallest light. And all the 
 hope of men is in his teaching." 
 
 Lk. iv. 32. 
 
 Mt. iv. 14. 
 16. 
 
 xii. 10. 
 
 20. 
 21. 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE TKUE LIFE 
 
 ML xi. 25. 
 
 The fulfilment of the personal will leads to death ; the 
 fulfilment of the Father's will gives true life 
 
 {"Zh'5 Will be Done") 
 
 And Jesus rejoiced at the strength of the spu^it, 
 and said : 
 
 " I acknowledge the spirit of the Father, the 
 source of everytliing in heaven and earth, Who has 
 revealed that which was hidden from the mse and 
 learned, to the simple, solely through their acknow- 
 ledging themselves Sons of the Father. 
 
 " All take care for fleshly happiness, and have 
 put themselves to a load which they cannot draw ; 
 they have put a yoke upon themselves which was 
 not made for them. 
 
 " Understand my teaching and follow it ; and you 
 shall know rest and joy in life. I give you another 
 yoke, and another load ; namely, the spiritual life. 
 Put yourseh'es to that, and you shall learn from me 
 peace and happiness. Be calm and meek in heart, and 
 you will find blessedness in your life. Because my 
 teaching is a yoke made for you, and the fulfilment of 
 my teaching is a light load, with a yoke made for you." 
 
 61 
 
62 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 The disciples of Jesus once asked him whether 
 he wished to eat. He said : " I have food of which 
 you do not know." They thought that someone 
 had brought him something to eat. But he said : 
 
 " My food is to do the will of Him who gave me 
 life, and to fulfil that which He entrusted to me. 
 Do not say, ' There is still time,' as the ploughman 
 said, waiting for the harvest. He who fulfils the 
 will of the Father is always satisfied, and knows 
 neither hunger nor thirst. The fulfilment of the 
 will of God always satisfies, bearing its reward 
 within itself. You must not say, ' I will after- 
 wards fulfil the will of the Father.' While there 
 is life, you always can, and must, fulfil the will of 
 the Father. Our life is the field which God has 
 sown, and our business is to gather its fruits. And 
 if we gather the fruits, we get the reward, life be- 
 yond time. True it is, that we do not give ourselves 
 life; someone else does. And if we labour to gather- 
 in life, then we, like reapers, get our reward. I 
 teach you to gather-in this life, which the Father 
 has given you." 
 
 Once, Jesus came to Jerusalem. And there was 
 then a bathing-place there. And men said of this 
 bathing-place, that an angel came down into it, 
 and through this the water in the bath would 
 begin to move, and he who first plunged into the 
 water after it was moved, got well from what- 
 ever he was ailing. And sheds were made around 
 the bath, and under these sheds sick men lay, wait- 
 ing for the water in the bath to be moved, in order 
 to plunge into it. 
 
 Jn. iv. 3L 
 32. 
 33. 
 34. 
 
 Jn. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 63 
 
 Jii. V. 6. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 And a man was there who had been infirm thirty- 
 eight years. Jesus asked who he was. 
 
 And the man told how he had been ailing so long, 
 and v/as still waiting to get into the bath first, upon 
 the water being moved, in order to be healed ; but 
 for these thirty-eight years he had been unable to 
 get in first, others always getting into the bath 
 before him. 
 
 And Jesus saw that he was old, and said to 
 him : " Do you wish to get well ? " 
 
 He said : " I wish to, but I have no one to carry 
 me into the water in time. Someone always will 
 get in before me." 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " Awake, take up your 
 bed and walk." 
 
 And the sick man took up his bed and walked. 
 
 And it was the Sabbath. And the orthodox 
 said : " You must not take up the bed, for to-day 
 is the Sabbath." He said : " He who raised me, 
 bade me also take up the bed." And the infirm 
 man said to the orthodox, that it was Jesus who 
 had healed him. And they became angry, and 
 accused Jesus, because he did such things on the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 And Jesus said : " That which the Father always 
 does, I also do. In truth, I say to you, the Son 
 of himself can do nothing. He does only that 
 which he has understood from the Father. What 
 the Father does, he also does. The Father loves 
 the Son, and by this very fact has taught him 
 everything which the Son should know. 
 
 " The Father gives life to the dead, and thus the 
 
64 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 Son gives life to him who desires it; because, as 
 the business of the Father is life, so the business of 
 the Son must be life. The Father has not con- 
 demned men to death, but has given men power, at 
 will, to die or live. And they will live, if they 
 shall honour the Son as the Father. 
 
 " I tell you truly, that he who has understood 
 the meaning of my teaching, and has believed in the 
 common Father of all men, already has life, and is 
 delivered from death. They who have understood 
 the meaning of human life, have already escaped 
 from death and shall live for ever. Because, as the 
 Father lives of Himself, so also has He given the 
 Son life within himself. And He has given him 
 freedom. It is by this, that he is the Son of Man. 
 
 " Henceforth all mortals shall be divided into 
 two kinds. They alone, who do good, shall find 
 life ; but they who do evil shall be destroyed. 
 And this is not my decision, but it is what I have 
 understood from the Father. And my decision is 
 true, because I thus decide, not in oi'der to do that 
 which I wish, but in order that all may do that 
 which the Father of all wishes. 
 
 " If I were to assure all that my teaching is true, 
 this would not establish my teaching. But there is 
 that which establishes my teaching; namely, the con- 
 duct which I teach. That shews that I do not teach 
 of myself, but iu the name of the Father of all men. 
 And my Father, He who has taught me, confirms 
 the truth of my commandments in the souls of all. 
 
 " But you do not wish to understand and to know 
 His voice. And you do not accept the 
 
 Jn. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 65 
 
 Jn. 
 
 .39. 
 
 40. 
 
 you, IS 
 do not 
 
 Lk. xix. 11. 
 
 this voice speaks. That that which is in 
 spirit descended from heaven, — this, you 
 beheve. 
 
 " Enter into the meaning of your writings. You 
 will find in them the same as in my teaching, com- 
 mandments to live, not for yourself alone, but for 
 the good of men. Why, then, do you not wish to 
 believe in my commandments, which are those that 
 give life to all men ? I teach you in the name of 
 the commoa Father of all men, and yoa do not 
 accept my teaching ; but if anyone shall teach yoti 
 in his own name, him will you believe. 
 
 " One cannot believe that which people say to 
 each other, but one can only believe that in every 
 man there is a Son like the Father." 
 
 And that men may not think that the kingdom of 
 heaven is established by anything visible ; but that 
 they may understand that the kingdom of God 
 consists in the fulfilment of the Father's will ; and 
 understand that the fulfilment of the Father's will 
 depends on each man's efibrt and striving to make 
 people see that life is given, not for oneself per- 
 sonally, but for the fulfilment of the Father's will, 
 which alone saves from death and gives life, — Jesus 
 told a parable. He said : 
 
 " There was a rich man, who had to go away from 
 his home. Before he went, he called his slaves, 
 and gave among them ten talents, one to each, and 
 said : ' While I am away, labour each of you upon 
 what I have given.' But it happened that, when 
 he was gone, certain inhabitants of that town said : 
 ' We do not wish to serve him any more.' When 
 
66 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 the rich man came back, he called the slaves to 
 whom he had given the money, and bade each say 
 what he had done with his money. The first came, 
 and said : ' See, master, for your one I have earned 
 ten.' And the master said to him : ' Well done, 
 good servant ; you have been trustworthy in a 
 little, I will place you over much ; be one with me 
 in all my wealth.' Another slave came, and said : 
 ' See, master, for your talent I have earned five.' 
 And the master said to him : ' Well done, good 
 slave, be one with me in all my estate.' And yet 
 another came, and said : ' Here is your talent, I hid 
 it in a cloth and buried it ; because I was afraid of 
 you. You are a hard man, you take where you did 
 not store, and gather where you did not sow.' And 
 the master said to him : ' Foolish slave ! I will judge 
 you by your own words. You say that, from fear 
 of me, you hid your talent in the earth, and did 
 not work upon it. If you knew that I was severe, 
 and take where I did not give, then why did you 
 not do that which I bade you do ? If you had 
 worked upon my talent, the estate would have been 
 added to, and you would have fulfilled that which 
 I bade you. But you have not done that for which 
 the talent was given you, and, therefore, you must 
 not own it.' And the master bade the talent be 
 taken from him who had not worked upon it, and 
 given to him who had worked most. And then the 
 servants said to him : ' Sir, he already has much.' 
 But the master said : ' Give to them who have worked 
 much, because he who looks after that which he has, 
 shall receive an increase. As to them who did not 
 
 Lk. xix. 10. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 Mt. XXV. 26, 
 
 27. 
 
 Lk, xix. 23. 
 
 Mt. XXV. 30. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 67 
 
 wish to be in my power, drive them forth, so that 
 they may be here no more.' " 
 
 Now this master is the source of life, the spirit, 
 the Father. His slaves are men. The talents are 
 the life of the spirit. As the master does not him- 
 self work upon his estate, but bids the slaves to 
 work, each by himself, so the spirit of life in men 
 has given them the command to work for the life 
 of men, and then left them alone. They who sent 
 to say that they did not acknowledge the authority 
 of the master, are they who do not acknowledge 
 the spirit of life. The return of the master, and 
 the demand for an account, is the destruction of 
 fleshly life, and the decision of the fate of men as 
 to whether they have yet life beyond that which 
 was given them. Some, the slaves who fulfil the 
 will of the master, work upon that which was given 
 them, and make gain on gain ; they are those men 
 who, having received life, understand that life is 
 the will of the Father, and is given to serve the 
 life of others. The foolish and wicked slave, who 
 hid his talent and did not work upon it, represents 
 those men who fulfil only their own will, and not 
 the will of the Father ; who do not serve the life 
 of others. The slaves who have fulfilled the master's 
 will, and worked for the increase of his estate, be- 
 come sharers of the whole estate of the master, 
 while the slaves who have not fulfilled the master's 
 will, and have not worked for him, are bereft of 
 that which was given them. People who have 
 fulfilled the will of the Father, and have served life, 
 become sharers in the Ufe of the Father, and receive 
 
68 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 life, notwithstanding the destruction of the fleshly- 
 life. They who have not fulfilled the will, and 
 have not served life, are bereft of that life which 
 they had, and are destroyed. They who did not 
 wish to acknowledge the authority of the master, 
 such do not exist for the master ; he drives them 
 forth. People who do not acknowledge within 
 themselves the life of the spirit, the life of the Son 
 of Man, such do not exist for the Father. 
 
 After this, Jesus went into a desert place. And 
 many people followed him. And he climbed a 
 mountain, and sat there with his followers. And 
 he saw that there was a great throng, and said : 
 "Whence shall we get bread to feed all these people ? " 
 Philip said : " Even two hundred pence will not 
 suffice, if to each be given but a little. We have 
 only a little bread and fish." And another disciple 
 said : " They have bread ; I have seen it. There is a 
 boy who has five loaves and two small fishes." And 
 Jesus said : " Bid them all lie down on the grass." 
 
 And Jesus took the loaves which he had, and 
 gave them to his disciples, and bade them give 
 them to others ; and so all began to hand from 
 one to another what there was, and all were 
 satisfied, yet much was left over. 
 
 The next day, the people came again to Jesus. 
 And he said to them : " See, you come to me, not 
 because you have seen wonders, but because you 
 have eaten bread and were satisfied." And he said 
 to them : " Work not for perishable food, but for 
 everlasting food, such as only the spirit of the Sou 
 of Man gives, sealed by God." 
 
 7. 
 Mt. xiv. 17. 
 Jn. vi. 9. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 69 
 
 vi. 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 35. 
 
 37. 
 
 a.. 
 
 The Jews said : " But what must we do, in order 
 to do the works of God ? " 
 
 And Jesus said : " The work of God is in this, to 
 believe in that hfe which He has given you." 
 
 They said : " Give us a sign that we may beheve. 
 What are your deeds which can serve as a proof ? 
 Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness. God 
 gave them bread from heaven to eat ; and so it is 
 written." 
 
 Jesus answered them : " The true heavenly bread 
 is the spirit of the Son of Man, that which the 
 Father gives. Because the nourishment of man is 
 the spirit descended from heaven. This it is which 
 gives life to the world. My teaching gives true 
 nourishment to man. He who follows me shall not 
 hunger, and he who believes in my teaching will 
 never know thirst. 
 
 " But I have already told you that you have seen 
 this, yet do not believe. 
 
 "All that life which the Father gave the Son 
 will be realised through my teaching ; and everyone 
 who believes will be a sharer in it. I came down 
 from heaven, not to do that which I wish, but to do 
 the will of the Father, of Him who gave me life. 
 But the will of the Father who sent me is this, 
 that I should keep all that life which he gave, and 
 should not destroy anything of it. And therefore, 
 herein is the will of the Father who sent me, that 
 everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, 
 should have everlasting life. And my teaching 
 gives life at the last day of the body." 
 
 The Jews were shocked at his saying that hig 
 
70 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 teaching was come down from heaven. They said : 
 " Why, this is Jesus, the son of Joseph ; we know 
 his father and mother. How, then, can he say 
 that his teaching has descended from heaven ? " 
 
 " Do not debate as to who I am, and whence I 
 am come," said Jesus. " My teaching is true, not 
 because I declare, like Moses, that God spoke with 
 me on Sinai ; but it is true because it is in you 
 also. Everyone who believes my conimandments, 
 believes, not because it is I who speak, but because 
 our common Father draws him to Himself ; and my 
 teaching will give him life at the last day. And it 
 is written in the prophets, that all shall be taught 
 by God. Everyone who shall understand the 
 Father, and shall learn to understand His will, 
 thereby yields himself to my teaching. 
 
 " That any man has seen the Father, this has 
 never been, except he who is from God ; he has 
 seen, and sees, the Father. 
 
 " He who believes in me (in my teaching) has 
 everlasting life. 
 
 " My teaching is the nourishment of life. Your 
 fathers ate manna, food straight from heaven, and 
 yet they died. But the true nourishment of life, 
 which descends from heaven, is such, that he who 
 is fed with it will not die. My teaching is this 
 nourishment of life descended from heaven. He 
 who is fed with it lives for ever. And this 
 nourishment which I teach is my flesh, which I 
 give for the life of all men." 
 
 The Jews did not understand what he said, and 
 began to dispute as to how it was possible to 
 
 Jn. vi. 42. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 71 
 
 Jn. vi. 63. 
 
 66. 
 
 67. 
 
 63. 
 
 Lk. *. 1. 
 
 give one's flesh for the nourishment of men, and 
 why. 
 
 And Jesus said to them : " If you shall not give 
 up your flesh for the life of the spirit, there will be 
 no life in you. He who does not give up his flesh 
 for the life of the spirit, has not real life. That in 
 me which gives up the flesh for the spirit, that 
 alone lives. 
 
 " And therefore, our flesh is the true food for the 
 real life. That only which in me consumes my 
 body, that which gives up the fleshly life for the 
 true life, that only is I. It is in me, and I am in 
 it.. And as I live in the flesh by the will of the 
 Father, similarly, that which lives in me lives by 
 my will." 
 
 And some of his disciples, when they heard this, 
 said : " These are hard words, and it is difficult to 
 understand them." 
 
 And Jesus said to them : " Your ideas are so 
 confused, that my sayings as to what man was, is, 
 and always wUl be, seem difficult to you. Man is 
 the spirit in the flesh, and the spirit alone gives 
 life, but the flesh does not give life. In the words 
 which seem so difficult to you, I have really said 
 nothing more than that the spirit is life." 
 
 Afterwards, Jesus chose seventy men out of Ms 
 near friends, and sent them into those places where 
 he himself wished to go. He said to them : 
 
 " Many people do not know the blessing of real 
 life. I am sorry for all ; and wish to teach all. 
 But as the master is not enough for the reaping of 
 his field, so also I shall not sufiice. Go you, then, 
 
72 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 through the various cities, and everywhere proclaiiii 
 the fulfilment of the will of the Father. 
 
 " Say, The will of the Father is in this : Not to 
 be angered, not to be sensual, not to swear, not 
 to resist evil, and not to make any distinction be- 
 tween people. And accordingly, do ye in every- 
 thing fulfil these commandments. 
 
 " I send you like sheep among wolves. Be wise 
 as snakes, and pure as doves. 
 
 " Before everything, have nothing of your own ; 
 take nothing with you, neither wallet, nor bread, 
 nor money ; only clothes upon your body, and shoes. 
 Further, make no distinction between people ; do 
 not choose your hosts, where you shall put up. 
 But in whichever house you shall come first, stay 
 there. When you come into the house, greet the 
 master. If he welcome you, stay ; if not, go into 
 another house. 
 
 " For that which you shall say, they will hate you, 
 and fall upon, and persecute you. And when they 
 shall drive you out, go into another village ; and if 
 they all drive you out of that, go yet into another. 
 They will persecute you as wolves hunt sheep ; but 
 do not quail, suffer to the last hour. And they 
 will take you into the courts, and will try you, 
 and will flog you, and will take you before the 
 authorities, that you may justify yourselves before 
 them. And when you shall be taken into the 
 courts, be not afraid ; and do not bethink yourselves 
 what you shall say. The spirit of the Father will 
 speak through you, what is needful to be said. 
 
 " You will not have passed through all the towns, 
 
 Mt. X. 16 
 
 Lk. A. 4. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 73 
 
 Mt. 
 
 X. 27. 
 
 
 26. 
 
 
 28. 
 
 
 29. 
 
 
 30. 
 
 
 31. 
 
 
 34. 
 
 Lk. 
 
 xii. 49. 
 
 
 51. 
 
 
 62, 
 63. 
 
 
 xiv. 26. 
 
 Mk. 
 
 iii. 22. 
 
 
 20. 
 
 before people will have understood your teachiug, 
 and •will turn to it. 
 
 " And so, be not afraid. That which is hidden in 
 the souls of men will come forth. That which you 
 shall say to two or three will spread among 
 thousands. But chiefly, be not afraid of those who 
 may kill your body. To your souls, they can do 
 nothing. And so, do not fear them. But be afraid 
 lest both your bodies and souls be destroyed, by 
 your abstaining from the fulfilment of the will of 
 the Father. That is what you have to fear. Five 
 sparrows are sold for a farthing, but even they 
 shall not die without the Father's will. And a hair 
 shall not fall from the head without the Father's 
 will. So then, what need you be afraid of, seeing 
 you are in the Father's will ? 
 
 " Not all will believe in my teaching. And they 
 who will not believe, will hate it ; because it 
 bereaves them of that which they love, and strife 
 will come of it. My teaching, like fire, will kindle 
 the world. And from it strife must arise in the 
 world. Strife will arise in every house. Father 
 against son, mother against daughter ; and their 
 kin will become haters of them who understand my 
 teaching, and they will be killed. Because, for him 
 who shall understand my teaching, neither his 
 father, nor his mother, nor wife, nor children, nor 
 all his property, will have any weight." 
 
 Then the learned orthodox gathered at Jerusalem, 
 and went to Jesus. Jesus was in a village, and a 
 crowd of people thronged into the place, and stood 
 around. 
 
74 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 The orthodox began to speak to the people, in 
 order that they might not believe in the teaching of 
 Jesus. They said that Jesus was possessed ; that 
 if they should live by his commandments, there 
 would then be yet more evil among the people than 
 now. They said, that he drove out evil with evil. 
 
 Jesus called them to him, and said : " You say 
 that I drive out evil with evil. But no power 
 destroys itself. If it destroys itself, then it would 
 not be. You would drive out evil with threats, 
 executions, murders ; but evil, nevertheless, is not 
 destroyed, precisely because evil cannot make head 
 against itself. But I drive out evil by other means 
 than you do ; that is to say, not with evil. 
 
 " I drive out evil by summoning people to fulfil 
 the will of the Spirit, the Father, who gives life to 
 all. Five commandments express the will of the 
 Spirit which gives happiness and life. And these 
 commandments destroy evil. By their doing so, 
 you have a proof that they are true. 
 
 " If men were not sons of one spirit, it would not 
 be possible to overcome evil ; as it is not possible 
 to go into the house of a strong man, and rob it. 
 In order to rob the house of a strong man, it is 
 necessary first to bind the strong man. And men 
 are bound thus in the unity of the spirit of life. 
 
 " And therefore I tell you, that every mistake of 
 men, and every wrong interpretation, shall escape 
 punishment ; but false representation about the 
 Holy Spirit, which gives life to all, shall not be 
 forgiven to men. Should anyone say a word against 
 man, that is not important ; but should anyone say 
 
 Mt. xii. 24. 
 
THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 75 
 
 a word against that which is holy in man, against 
 the spirit, this cannot pass unpunished. Gird at 
 me as much as you like, but do not call evil the 
 commandments of life which I have disclosed to 
 you. It cannot pass unpunished, if a man shall 
 call that good which is evil. 
 
 " It is necessary to be at one with the spirit of 
 life. He who is not at one with it, is against it. 
 It is necessary to serve the spirit of life and of good 
 in all men, and not in oneself alone. You must 
 either hold that life and happiness is good for the 
 whole world, then love life and happiness for all 
 men, or else hold life and happiness an evil, and 
 then not love life and happiness for yourself. You 
 must either hold a tree good, and its fruit good, or 
 else hold a tree bad, and its fruit bad. Because a 
 tree is valued by its fruit." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 Therefore, in order to receive the true life, man must on earth 
 resign the false life of the flesh, and live by the spirit 
 
 {' 
 
 cartb, as in beaven") 
 
 And there came once to Jesus his mother and 
 brothers, who could in no way get to see him, 
 because there was a great crowd around him. And 
 a man saw them, and went up to Jesus, and said : 
 " Your family, your mother and brothers, are stand- 
 ing without, and wish to see you." 
 
 And Jesus said : " My mother and my brothers 
 are they who have understood the will of the Father, 
 and fulfil it." 
 
 And a woman said : " Blessed is the womb that 
 has brought you forth, and the breasts that you 
 have sucked." 
 
 Jesus said to this : " Blessea only are they who 
 have understood the spirit of the Father, and keep 
 it." 
 
 And a man said to Jesus : " I will follow you 
 whithersoever you may go." 
 
 And Jesus said to him, in answer : " You cannot 
 
 follow me ; I have neither house nor place to live 
 
 7e 
 
 Lk. viii. 19. 
 
 Mt. xii. 46. 
 
 47. 
 
 Lk. viii. 21. 
 
 xi. 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 ix. 67. 
 
 S8. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 77 
 
 Ilk. iv. 35. 
 
 40. 
 
 Lk. ix. 69. 
 
 60. 
 
 in. Wild beasts have their lairs and burrows, but 
 man is everywhere at home, if he lives by the 
 spirit." 
 
 And it happened once that Jesus was, with his 
 followers, sailing in a boat. He said : " Let us 
 pass over to the other side." A storm arose upon 
 the lake, and the boat began to fill, so that it 
 nearly sank. And Jesus lay in the stern, and slept. 
 They woke him, and said : " Teacher, is it really 
 all the same to you that we are perishing ? " And, 
 when the storm had fallen, he said : " Why are you 
 so timid ? You do not believe in the life of the 
 spirit.'' 
 
 Jesus said to a man : " Follow me." 
 
 And the man said : " I have an aged father, let 
 me first bury him, and then I will follow you." 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " Let the dead bury the 
 dead, but do you, if you wish to truly live, fulfil 
 the will of the Father, and make that will known 
 everywhere." 
 
 And again, another man said : " I wish to be 
 your disciple, and will fulfil the will of the Father, 
 as you command, but let me first settle my family." 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " If the ploughman looks 
 behind, he cannot plough. However strong the 
 reasons you have to look behind, so long as you look 
 behind, you cannot plough. You must forget every- 
 thing except the furrow you are driving ; then only 
 can you plough. If you consider as to what will be 
 the outcome for the life of the body, then you have 
 not understood the real life, and cannot live by it." 
 
 After this, it happened once that Jesus went 
 
78 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 with his disciples into a village. And a woman 
 named Martha invited him into her house. Martha 
 had a sister named Mary, who sat at the feet of 
 Jesus, and listened to his teaching. But Martha 
 was busy getting ready the meal. 
 
 And Martha went up to Jesus, and said : " Do 
 you not see that my sister has left me alone to 
 serve ? Tell her to help me in the work." 
 
 And Jesus said to her in answer : " Martha, 
 Martha ! you trouble and busy yourself with many 
 things, but only one thing is needful. And Mary 
 has chosen that one thing which is needful, and 
 which none shall take from her. For true life the 
 food of the spirit alone is needful." 
 
 And Jesus said to all : " Whoever wishes to fol- 
 low me, let him forsake his own will, and let him 
 be ready for all hardships and sufferings of the flesh 
 at every hour ; then only can he follow me. Be- 
 cause he who wishes to take heed for his fleshly 
 life will destroy the true life. And he who fulfils 
 the will of the Father, even if he destroy the fleshly 
 life, shall save the true life. For, what advantage 
 is it to a man if he should gain the whole world, but 
 destroy or harm his own life ? " 
 
 And Jesus said : " Beware of wealth, because 
 your life does not depend upon your having more 
 than others. 
 
 " There was a rich man, who had a great har- 
 vest of corn. And he thought to himself : Let me 
 rebuild my barns. I will erect larger ones, and 
 gather there all my wealth. And I will say to 
 my soul : ' There, my soul, you have everything 
 
 Lk. X. 39. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 79 
 
 Lk. xii. 20. 
 
 xUi. 2. 
 
 after your desire ; rest, eat, drink, and live for your 
 pleasure.' But God said to him : ' Fool, this very 
 night your soul shall be taken ; and all that you 
 have stored up shall go to others.' " 
 
 " And thus it happens with everyone who pro- 
 vides for the bodily life, and does not live in God." 
 
 And Jesus said to them : " Now, you say that 
 Pilate killed the Galileans. But were these Gali- 
 leans any worse than other people, that this hap- 
 pened to them ? In no way. We are all such, 
 and we shall all perish likewise, unless we find 
 salvation from death. 
 
 " Or of those eighteen men, whom the tower 
 crushed in falling, were they particularly worse 
 than all the other dwellers in Jerusalem ? In no 
 wise. If v/e do not find salvation, sooner or later 
 we shall perish in the same way. If we have not 
 yet perished as they, we must think of our position, 
 thus : 
 
 " A man had an apple-tree growing in his garden. 
 The master came into the garden, and saw there 
 was no fruit on the tree. And the master said to 
 his gardener : ' It is now three years since I have 
 watched this apple-tree, and it is still barren. It 
 must be cut down, for as it is, it only spoils the 
 place. And the gardener answered : ' Let us wait 
 yet a little, master ; let me dig it round. I will 
 dung it, and let us see what it will be next summer. 
 Maybe it wiU yield fruit. But if it yields nothing 
 by the summer, well then, we will cut it down.' 
 
 " Likewise we, as long as we Kve by the flesh, 
 and yield no fruit to the life of the spirit, are barren 
 
8o 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 apple-trees. Only by the mercy of some power are 
 we yet left for a summer. And if we do not yield 
 fruit, we shall also perish, even like him who built 
 the barn, like the Galileans, like the eighteen men 
 crushed by the tower, and like all who yield no 
 fruit ; perishing, dying for ever, by death. 
 
 " In order to miderstand this, there is no need 
 of special wisdom ; each one sees this for himself. 
 For not only in domestic affairs, but in that also 
 which happens in the whole world, are we able to 
 reason and to foresee. If the wind is in the west, 
 we say there will be rain, and so it happens. But 
 if the wind is from the south, we say there will be 
 fair weather, and so it is. How, then, is it that 
 we are able to foresee the weather, and yet we 
 cannot foresee that we shall all die and perish, and 
 that the only salvation for us is in the life of the 
 spirit, in the fulfilment of its will ? " 
 
 And a great multitude went with Jesus, and he 
 once more said to all : 
 
 " He who wishes to be my disciple, let him count 
 for nothing father and mother, and wife and chil- 
 dren, and brothers and sisters, and all his goods, 
 and let him at every hour be ready for anything. 
 And only he who does as I do, only he follows my 
 teaching, and only he is saved from death. 
 
 " Because everyone, before beginning anything, 
 will reckon whether that which he does is profitable, 
 and if it is profitable, will do it, but if unprofitable, 
 will abandon it. Everyone who builds a house 
 will first sit down and reckon how much money is 
 wanted, how much he has, and whether that will 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 8i 
 
 Lk. xiv. 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 32. 
 
 33. 
 
 suffice to finish it. He will do this, so that it may 
 not happen that he should begin to build, and not 
 finish, for people to laugh at him. 
 
 " Likewise also, he who wishes to live the fleshly 
 life must first reckon whether he can finish that 
 with which he is busy. 
 
 " Every king, if he wishes to make war, will first 
 think whether he can go to war with ten thousand 
 against twenty thousand. If he concludes that he 
 cannot, then he will send ambassadors, and make 
 peace, and will not make war. So also, let every 
 man, before giving himself over to the fleshly life, 
 bethink him whether he can wage war against 
 death, or whether death is stronger than he ; and 
 whether it is not then better for him to make peace 
 beforehand. 
 
 " And so, each of you should first examine what 
 he considers his own family, money, or estate. And, 
 when he has reckoned what all this avails him, and 
 understands that it avails him nothing, then only 
 can he be my disciple." 
 
 And upon hearing this, a man said : " That is 
 veiy well, if there be indeed a life of the spirit. 
 But what if one abandons all, and there be no such 
 life ? " 
 
 To this Jesus said : " Not so ; everyone knows 
 the life of the spirit. You all know it ; but you 
 do not do that which you know. Not because 
 you doubt, but because you are drawn away from 
 the true life by false cares, and excuse yourselves 
 from it. 
 
 " This is like your conduct, like your deeds : A 
 
82 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 master got ready a dinner, and sent to invite guests, 
 but the guests began to decline. One said : ' I 
 have bought land, and I must go and look after it.' 
 Another said : ' I have bought oxen, and I must 
 try them.' A third said : ' I have taken a wife, 
 and am going to celebrate the wedding.' And the 
 messengers came and told the master that no one 
 was coming. The master then sent the messengers 
 to invite the beggars. The beggars did not refuse, 
 but came. And when they were come, there was 
 still room left. And the master sent to call in still 
 more, and said : ' Go and persuade all to come to 
 my dinner, in order that I may have more people.' 
 And they who had refused, from want of leisure, 
 found no place at the dinner. 
 
 " All know that the fulfilment of the will of the 
 Father gives life, but do not go because the guile 
 of wealth draws them away. 
 
 " He who resigns false temporary wealth for the 
 true life in the will of the Father, does as did a 
 certain clever steward. There was a man who was 
 steward to a rich master. This steward saw that, 
 sooner or later, the master would drive him away, 
 and that he would remain without food, and without 
 shelter. And the steward thought to himself : 
 ' This is what I will do : I will privately distribute 
 the master's goods to the labourers ; I will reduce 
 their debts, and then, if the master drives me out, 
 the labourers will remember my kindness, and will 
 not abandon me.' And so the steward did. He 
 called the labourers, his master's debtors, and 
 re-wrote their documents. For him who owed a 
 
 Lk. xiv. 18. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 83 
 
 Lk. x^T, R. 
 
 16. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 hundred he wrote fifty ; for him who owed sixty, 
 he wrote twenty, and similarly for the rest. And 
 the master learned this, and said to himself : ' Well, 
 he has done wisely ; otherwise he would have had 
 to beg his bread. To me he has caused a loss, but 
 his own reckoning was wise.' 
 
 " For, in the fleshly life, we all understand 
 wherein is the true reckoning, but in the life of 
 the spirit, we do not wish to understand. Thus 
 must we do with unjust, false wealth, — give it 
 up, in order to receive the life of the spirit. And 
 if we regret to give up such trifles as wealth for 
 the life of the spirit, then this life will not be 
 given us. If we do not give up false wealth, then 
 our own true life will not be given us. 
 
 " It is impossible to serve two masters at one 
 time ; to serve God and Wealth, the will of the 
 Father, and one's own will. Either one or the 
 other." 
 
 And the orthodox heard this. But loving wealth, 
 they jeered at him. 
 
 And he said to them : " You think that, because 
 men honour you on account of wealth, you are 
 really honourable. It is not so. God does not 
 look at the exterior, but looks at the heart. That 
 which stands high among men, is abomination in 
 the eyes of God. Now the kingdom of heaven is 
 attainable on earth, and great are they who enter 
 it. But there enter it, not the rich, but those who 
 have nothing. And this has always been so, both 
 according to your law, and according to Moses, and 
 according to the prophets also. Listen. How 
 
84 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 does it stand with rich and poor in your way of 
 thinking ? 
 
 " There was a rich man. He dressed well, led 
 an idle and amusing life every day. And there 
 was a vagrant, Lazarus, covered with sores. And 
 Lazarus came to the yard of the rich man, and 
 thought there would be leavings from the rich 
 man's table, but Lazarus did not get even the 
 leavings, the rich man's dogs ate up everything, 
 and even licked Lazarus' sores. And both these 
 died, Lazarus and the rich man. And in Hades, 
 the rich man saw, far off, Abraham ; and behold, 
 Lazarus, the beggar, was sitting with him. And 
 the rich man said : ' Father Abraham, see, Lazarus 
 the beggar is sitting with you. He used to wallow 
 under my fence, I dare not trouble you, but send 
 Lazarus the beggar to me ; let him but wet his 
 finger in water, to cool my throat, because I am 
 burning in the fire.' But Abraham said : ' But 
 why should I send Lazarus into the fire to you ? 
 You, in that other world, had what you wished, 
 but Lazarus only saw grief ; so that he ought now 
 to be happy. Yes, and though I should like to 
 help you, I cannot, because between us and you 
 there is a great pit, and it is impossible to cross it. 
 We are living, but you are dead.' Then the rich 
 man said : ' Well, Father Abraham, send Lazarus 
 the beggar to my home. I have five brothers ; I 
 am sorry for them. Let him tell everything to 
 them, and show how harmful wealth is ; so that 
 they may not fall into this torture.' But Abraham 
 said : ' As it is, they know the harm. They were 
 
 Lk. xvi. 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 85 
 
 Lk. xvi. \ 
 
 Mk. *. 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 21. 
 
 told of it by Moses, and by all the prophets.' But 
 the rich man said : ' Still, it would be better if 
 someone should rise from the dead, and go to 
 them ; they would the sooner bethink themselves.' 
 But Abraham said : ' But if they do not listen to 
 Moses and the prophets, then, even if a dead man 
 came to life, they would not listen, even to him.' " 
 
 " That one should share all with one's brother, 
 and do good to everybody ; this all men know. 
 And the whole law of Moses, and all the prophets, 
 said only this : ' You know this truth, but cannot 
 do it, because you love wealth.' " 
 
 And a rich oflicial among the orthodox went up 
 to Jesus, and said to him : " You are a good 
 teacher, what shall I do to receive everlasting 
 life ? " 
 
 Jesus said : " Why do you call me good ? Only 
 the Father is good. But, if you wish to have life 
 fulfil the commandments." 
 
 The official said : " There are many command- 
 ments ; which do you mean ? " 
 
 And Jesus said : " Do not kill, 
 adultery, Do not lie. Do not steal, 
 your Father, and fulfil His will ; 
 neighbour as yourself." 
 
 But the orthodox official said : ' 
 mandments I have fulfilled from 
 but I ask, what else must one do, 
 your teaching ? " 
 
 Jesus looked at him, at his rich dress, and 
 smiled, and said : " One small thing you have left 
 undone. You have not fulfilled that which you 
 
 Do not commit 
 
 Further, honour 
 
 and love your 
 
 ' All these com- 
 my childhood ; 
 according to 
 
86 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 say. If you wish to fulfil these commandments : 
 Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal. 
 Do not lie, and, above all, the commandment : Love 
 your neighbour as yourself, — then, at once sell all 
 your goods, and give them to the poor. Then you 
 will have fulfilled the Father's will." 
 
 Having heard this, the official frowned, and 
 went away, because he was loth to part with his 
 estates. 
 
 And Jesus said to his disciples : " As you see, it 
 is in no wise possible to be rich, and to fulfil the 
 Father's will." 
 
 The disciples were horrified at these words, so 
 Jesus once more repeated them, and said : " Yes, 
 children, he who has his own property, cannot be 
 in the will of the Father. Sooner may a camel 
 pass through a needle's eye than he who trusts in 
 wealth fulfil the will of the Father." And they 
 were still more horrified, and said : " "But, in that 
 case, is it at all possible to keep one's life ? " 
 
 He said : " To man it seems impossible to 
 support one's life without property ; but God, even 
 without property, can support a man's life." 
 
 Once, Jesus was going through the town of 
 Jericho. And in this town was the chief of the 
 tax-gatherers, a rich man named Zacchteus. This 
 Zacchffius had heard of the teaching of Jesus, and 
 believed in it. And when he knew that Jesus was 
 in Jericho, he wished to see him. But there were 
 80 many people around, that it was impossible to 
 push through to him. Zacchjeus was short of 
 stature. So he ran ahead and cHmbed a tree, in 
 
 X. 22. 
 
 24. 
 25. 
 
 Lk. xviii. 25. 
 
 27. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 87 
 
 Lk. xix. 5. 
 
 10. 
 
 Mk. xii. 41. 
 
 order to see Jesus as he was going past. And 
 thus, in passing by, Jesus saw him, and having 
 learnt that he believed his teaching, said : " Come 
 down from the tree, and go home ; I will come to 
 youi- house." Zacchseus cKmbed down, ran home, 
 made ready to meet Jesus, and joyfully welcomed 
 him. 
 
 The people began to criticise, and to say of 
 Jesus : " See, he has gone into the tax-gatherer's 
 house, — the house of a rogue." 
 
 Meanwhile, Zacchtuus said to Jesus : " See, sir, 
 this is what I will do. I will give away half of 
 my goods to the poor, and out of what is left I 
 will repay fourfold those whom I have wronged." 
 
 And Jesus said : " Now you have saved yourself. 
 You were dead, and are alive ; you were lost, and 
 are found ; because you have done as Abraham did, 
 when he wished to slay his son ; you have shewn 
 your faith. Therein is the whole business of man's 
 life ; to seek out and save in his soul that which is 
 perishing. But such sacrifice as yours must not be 
 measured by its amount." 
 
 It happened once that Jesus and his disciples 
 were sitting opposite a collecting - box. People 
 were placing their contributions in the box, for 
 God's service. Eich people went up to the box, 
 and put in much. And a poor woman, a widow, 
 came and put in two farthings. 
 
 And Jesus pointed her out, and said : " See, now, 
 this poor widow has put two farthings in the box. 
 She has put in more than all. Because they put 
 in that which they did not need for their own 
 
88 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 livelihood, while this woman has put all that she 
 had ; she has put in her whole life." 
 
 It happened that Jesus was in the house of 
 Simon the leper. And a woman came into the 
 house. And the woman had a vase of precious oil, 
 worth fifteen pounds. Jesus said to his disciples, 
 that his death was near. The woman heard this, 
 and pitied Jesus, and, to show him her love, wished 
 to anoint his head with the oil. And she forgot 
 everything, and broke the vase, and anointed his 
 head and feet, and poured out all the oil. 
 
 And the disciples began to discuss among them- 
 selves, thinking that she had done wrong. And 
 Judas, he who afterwards betrayed Jesus, said : 
 " See how much good stuff has gone for nothing. 
 This oil might have been sold for fifteen pounds, 
 with which, how many poor might have been 
 helped ! " And the disciples began blaming the 
 woman ; who was troubled, and did not know 
 whether she had done well or ilk 
 
 Then Jesus said : " You are troubling the woman 
 without cause. She has, indeed, done a good work, 
 and you mistakenly think of the poor. If you 
 wish to do good to the poor, do so ; they are 
 always with you. But why caU them to mind 
 now ? If you pity the poor, go with your pity, 
 do them good. But she has pitied me, and done 
 real good, because she has given away all that she 
 had. Who of you can know what is useful, and 
 what is not necessary ? How do you know that 
 there was no need to pour the oil over me ? She 
 has thus anointed me with oil, and if it were but 
 
 Mt. xxvi C. 
 
THE FALSE LIFE 
 
 Mt. xxvL 13. 
 
 to get ready my body for burial, this was needful. 
 She truly fulfilled the will of the Father, in 
 forgetting herself and pitying another. She forgot 
 the reckonings of the flesh and gave away all that 
 she had." 
 
 And Jesus said : " My teaching is the fulfilment 
 of the Father's will ; and the Father's will can be 
 fulfilled by deeds only ; not by mere words. If a 
 man's son, in answer to his father's bidding, keeps 
 saying, ' I obey, I obey,' but does nothing which 
 his father bids, he then does not fulfil the will of 
 his father. But if another son keeps saying, ' I do 
 not wish to obey,' and then goes and does his 
 father's bidding, he indeed fulfils the father's will. 
 And so with men : Not he is in the Father's will 
 who says : ' I am in the Father's will, — -but he who 
 does that which the Father wishes." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 The true food of everlasting life is the fulfilment of the 
 Father's will 
 
 ("©(ve US tbts Ciag our &ailg breaD") 
 
 After this the Jews tried to condemn Jesus to 
 death, and Jesus went away into Galilee, and lived 
 with his relations. 
 
 The Jewish feast of tabernacles was come. And 
 the brothers of Jesus got ready to go to the feast, 
 and invited him to go with them. They did not 
 believe in his teaching, and said to him : 
 
 " Now, you say that the Jewish service of God is 
 wrong, that you know the real service of God by 
 deeds. If you really think that no one but your- 
 self knows the true service of God, then come with 
 us to the feast. Many people will be there, and 
 you can declare before them all that the teaching 
 of Moses is wrong. If all believe yon, then it will 
 be clear to your disciples also, that you are right. 
 Why make a secret of it ? You say that our ser- 
 vice is wrong, that you know the true service of 
 God ; well then, show it to all." 
 
 And Jesus said : " For you, there is a special time 
 
 90 
 
 Jn. vii. 1. 
 
 5. 
 3. 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 91 
 
 Jn. Yii. 
 
 18. 
 
 21. 
 
 and place m which to serve God ; but for me, there 
 is none. I always and everywhere work for God. 
 This is just what I show to people. I show to 
 them that their service of God is wrong, and there- 
 fore do they hate me. Go you to the feast, and I 
 will go when I think fit." 
 
 And the brothers went, but he remained behind, 
 and only came up at the middle of the feast. And 
 the Jews were shocked at his not honouring their 
 feast, and delaying to come. And they discussed 
 his teaching much. Some said that he spoke the 
 truth, while others said that he only disturbed the 
 people. 
 
 At the middle of the feast, Jesus entered the 
 temple, and began to teach the people that their 
 service of God was wrong; that God should be 
 served not in the temple and by sacrifices, but in 
 the spirit, and by deeds. All listened to him, and 
 wondered that he knew the whole of wisdom with- 
 out having learnt. And Jesus, having heard that 
 all wondered at his wisdom, said to them : 
 
 " My teaching is not my own, but His who sent 
 me. If anyone wishes to fulfil the will of the 
 Spitit which sent us into life, he will know that I 
 have not invented this teaching, but that it is of 
 God. Because he who invents from himself, follows 
 his own mere imaginations ; but he who seeks the 
 mind of Him who sent him, he is right, and there is 
 no wrong in him. 
 
 " Your law of Moses is not the Father's law, 
 and, therefore, they who follow it do not fulfil the 
 Father's law, but work evil and falsehood. I teach 
 
92 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 you the fulfilment of the will of the Father alone, 
 and in my teaching there cannot be contradiction. 
 But your written law of Moses is all full of contra- 
 dictions. Do not judge by outside appearance, but 
 judge by the spirit." 
 
 And some said : " While he has been called a 
 false prophet, see, he condemns the law, and no 
 one makes a charge against him. Maybe in very 
 deed he is a true prophet ; maybe even the author- 
 ities have acknowledged him. Only one reason makes 
 it impossible to believe him, namely, that it is said, 
 when he who is sent from God shall come, no one 
 will know whence he is come; but we know this 
 man's birth, and all his family." 
 
 The people still did not understand his teaching, 
 and still sought proofs. 
 
 Then Jesus said to them : " You know me, and 
 whence I am, after the flesh. But you do not know 
 whence I am, after the spirit. You do not know 
 Him, from whom I am according to the spirit ; and 
 that is the only needful knowledge. If I had said 
 that I am Christ, you would have believed me, the 
 Man, but you would not have believed the Father 
 who is in me, and in you. But it is necessary to 
 believe the Father only. 
 
 " I am here among you for the short space of 
 my life. I point out to you the way to that source 
 of life, from which I have come forth. And you 
 ask of me proofs, and wish to condemn me. If 
 you do not know the way, then, when I shall be no 
 more, you will in nowise find it. You must not 
 discuss me, but must follow me. Whoever shall 
 
 Jn. vii. 2a 
 
 23. 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 93 
 
 Jn. vii. 37. 
 38. 
 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 49. 
 
 60. 
 61. 
 
 do that which I say, he shall know whether what 
 I say is true. He for whom the fleshly life has 
 not become the food of the spirit, he who follows 
 not the truth, thirsting for it as for water, can- 
 not understand me. But he who thirsts for the 
 truth, let him come to me to drink. And he 
 who shall believe in my teaching shall receive 
 the true life. He shall receive the life of the 
 spirit." 
 
 And many believed in his teaching, and said : 
 " That which he says is the truth and is of God." 
 Others did not understand him, and still sought in 
 prophecies for proofs that he was sent from God. 
 And many disputed with him, but none could 
 controvert him. The learned orthodox sent their 
 assistants to contend with him, but their assistants 
 returned to the orthodox priests, and said : " We can 
 do nothing with him." 
 
 And the high priests said to them : " But why 
 have you not convicted him?" And they answered : 
 " Never did any man speak as he." 
 
 Then the orthodox said : " It signifies nothing that 
 it is impossible to controvert him, and that the 
 people believe in his teaching. We do not believe, 
 and none of the authorities believe. But the people 
 is cursed, they were always stupid and unlearned ; 
 they believe everyone." 
 
 And Nicodemus, the man to whom Jesus ex- 
 plained his teaching, said to the high priests : " It is 
 impossible to condemn a man without having heard 
 him to the end, without understanding whither he 
 is leading." But they said to him : " It is useless 
 
94 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 to discuss, or pay any attention to this affair. We 
 know that a prophet cannot come from Galilee." 
 
 At another time, Jesus was speaking with the 
 orthodox, and said to them : " There can be no 
 proofs of the truth of my teaching, as there cannot 
 be of the illumination of light. My teaching is the 
 real light, by which people tell what is good and 
 what is bad, and therefore it is impossible to prove 
 my teaching ; which itself proves everything. Who- 
 ever shall follow me shall not be in darkness, but 
 shall have life. Life and enlightenment, which are 
 one and the same." 
 
 But the orthodox said : " You alone say this." 
 And he answered them, and said : " And if I 
 alone say this, yet I am right ; because I know 
 whence I came, and whither I go. According to 
 my teaching, there is reason in life ; whereas, 
 according to yours, there is none. Besides this, 
 not I alone teach, but my Father, the Spirit, teaches 
 the same." 
 
 They said : " Where is your Father ? " 
 He said : " You do not understand my teaching, 
 and therefore you do not know my Father. You 
 do not know whence you are and whither you go. 
 I lead you, but you, instead of following me, dis- 
 cuss who I am. Therefore you. cannot come to that 
 salvation of life to which I lead you. And you 
 will periish, if you remain in this error, and do not 
 follow me." 
 
 And the Jews asked : " Who are you ? " 
 He said: "From the very beginning, I tell you, 
 I am the Son of Man, acknowledging the Spirit as 
 
 Jn. viii. 12, 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 95 
 
 Jn. viii. 26. 
 28. 
 
 23. 
 
 a. 
 
 34. 
 
 36. 
 
 37. 
 
 my Father. That which I have understood of the 
 Father, the same I tell to the world. And when 
 you shall exalt in yourselves the Son of Man, then 
 you shall know what I am ; Lecause I do and speak, 
 not of myself, as a man, but I do and speak that 
 which the Father has taught me. This I say, this I 
 teach. 
 
 " And he who sent me is always with me ; and 
 the Father has not left me, because I do His will. 
 Whoever will keep to my understanding of life, 
 whoever will fulfil the will of the Father, he will be 
 truly taught by me. In order to know the truth, it is 
 necessary to do good to men. He who does evil to 
 men, loves darkness, and goes into it ; he who does 
 good to men, goes to the light ; so that, in order to 
 understand my teaching, it is necessary to d(j good 
 deeds. He who shall do good, shall know the 
 truth; he shall be free from evil and death. Be- 
 cause everyone who errs becomes the slave of his 
 error. 
 
 " And as the slave does not always live in the 
 house of the master, while the sou of the master is 
 always in the house, so also a man, if he errs in his 
 life and becomes a slave through his errors, does not 
 live always, but dies. Only he who is in the truth 
 remains always living. The truth is in this, to be 
 not a slave, but a son. So that, if you err, you will 
 be slaves and die. But if you are in the truth, 
 then you shall be free sons, and shall be living. 
 
 " You say of yourselves that you are sons of 
 Abraham, that you know the truth. But see, you 
 wish to kill me, because you do not understand my 
 
96 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 teaching. It comes to this, tliat I speak that which 
 I have understood from my Father, and you wish 
 to do that which you have understood from your 
 father." 
 
 They said : " Our father is Abraham." 
 
 Jesus said to them : " If you were the sons of 
 Abraham you would do his deeds. But see, you 
 wish to kill me because I told you that which I 
 had learnt from God. Abraham did not do in that 
 way; therefore you do not serve God, but serve 
 your father, another one." 
 
 They said to him : " We are not bastards, but we 
 are all children of our Father, all sons of God." 
 
 And Jesus said to them : " If your father were 
 one with me, you would love me, because I came 
 forth from that Father. For I was not born of 
 myself. You are not children of the one Father 
 with me, therefore you do not understand my 
 word ; my understanding of life does not find place 
 in you. If I am of the Father, and you of the 
 same Father, then you cannot wish to kill me. 
 But if you wish to kill me, then we are not of one 
 Father. 
 
 I am from the Father of good, from God ; but 
 you are from the devil, from the father of evil. 
 You wish to do the lusts of your father the devil, 
 who is always a murderer, and a liar, with no truth 
 in him. If he, the devil, says anything, he says 
 what is of himself, and not common to all, and he 
 is the father of lying. Therefore you are the ser- 
 vants of the devil and his children. Now you see 
 how plainly you are convicted of error. If I err, 
 
 Jn. viii. 3a 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 97 
 
 Jn. viii. 48. 
 
 then convict nie ; but if there is no error in me, 
 then why do you not believe in me ? " 
 
 And the Jewa began to revile him, and to say 
 he was possessed. 
 
 He said : " I am not possessed ; but I honour the 
 Father, and you wish to kill me ; therefore you 
 are not brothers of mine, but children of another 
 father. It is not I that affirm that I am right, 
 but the truth speaks for me. Therefore I repeat 
 to you : he who shall comprehend my teaching and 
 perform it, shall not see death." 
 
 And the Jews said : " Well, do not we speak the 
 truth in saying that you are a Samaritan possessed, 
 and that you convict yourself? The prophets died, 
 Abraham died ; but you say that he who performs 
 your teiching shall not see death. Abraham died, 
 and shall you not die ? Or are you greater than 
 Abraham ? " 
 
 The Jews were still discussing as to whether he, 
 Jesus of Galilee, was an important prophet, or un- 
 important, and forgot that he had told them, that 
 he said nothing of himself as a man, but spoke of 
 the spirit that was within him. 
 
 And Jesus said : " I do not make myself to be 
 anything. If I spoke of myself, of that which only 
 seems to me, then all that I should say would mean 
 nothing. But there is that source of everything 
 which you call God ; well, it is of Him that I speak. 
 But you have not known, and do not know the true 
 God. But I know Him, and I cannot say that I do 
 not know Him ; I should be a liar like you, if I said 
 that I do not know Him. I know Him, and know 
 
98 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 His will, and fulfil it. Abraham, your father, saw 
 and rejoiced over my understanding." 
 
 The Jews said : " You are only thirty years old, 
 how were you living at the same time as Abraham ? " 
 
 He said : " Before Abraham was, there was the 
 understanding of good, there was that which I tell 
 you." 
 
 Then the Jews picked up stones in order to kill 
 him, but he went away from them. 
 
 Jesus said : " My teaching is the awakening of 
 life. He who believes in my teaching, notwith- 
 standing that he dies in the flesh, remains living, 
 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall 
 not die." 
 
 And yet a third time, Jesus taught the people; 
 he said : " Men surrender themselves to my teach- 
 ing, not because I myself prove it. It is impossible 
 to prove the truth. The truth itself proves all the 
 rest. But men surrender to my teaching, because 
 there is no other than it ; it is known to men, and 
 promises life. 
 
 " My teachiag is to men as the shepherd's familiar 
 voice is to the sheep, when he comes among them 
 through the door, and gathers them, to lead them to 
 the pasture. But your teaching, no one believes ; be- 
 cause it is foreign to them, and because they see in 
 it your own lusts. It is with men as with sheep, at 
 the sight of a man who does not enter by the door, 
 but climbs over the fence. The sheep do not know 
 him, but feel that he is a robber. My teaching is 
 the only true teaching; like the one door for the 
 sheep. All your teachings of the law of Moses are 
 
 Jn. viii. 56. 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 99 
 
 Jn. X. 9. 
 
 12. 
 
 lies, they are all like thieves and robbers to the 
 sheep. He who shall give himself up to my teach- 
 ing shall find true life ; just as the sheep go forth 
 and find food, if they follow the shepherd. 
 
 " A thief only comes to steal, rob, and destroy, 
 but the shepherd comes to give life. And my 
 teaching alone promises, and gives the true hfe. 
 
 ' There are shepherds to whom the sheep are 
 the chief interest in life, and who give up their 
 lives for the sheep. These are true shepherds. And 
 there are hirelings who do not care about the sheep, 
 because they are hirelings, and the sheep are not 
 theirs ; so that if a wolf comes they abandon their 
 charge and flee from them, and the wolf devours 
 the sheep. These are false shepherds. And so 
 there are false teachers, such as have no concern 
 with the life of people ; while true teachers give 
 up their lives for the life of men. 
 
 " I am such a teacher. My teaching is this, — 
 to give up one's life for the life of men. No one 
 shall take my life from me, but I myself freely give 
 it up for men, in order to receive true life. The 
 connnandment to do tliis I received from my Father. 
 And as my Father knows me, so I also know Him ; 
 and therefore I lay down my life for men. There- 
 fore the Father loves me, because I fulfil His com- 
 mandments. 
 
 " And all men, not only those here now, but all 
 men, shall understand my voice ; and all sliall come 
 together into one, and all men shall be one, and 
 their teaching one." 
 
 And the Jews surrounded him, and said : " All 
 
THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 that you Scay is difficult to understand, and does not 
 agree with oiir writings. Do not torment us, but 
 simply and straightforwardly tell us, whether you 
 are that Messiah who, according to our writings, 
 should come into the world." 
 
 And Jesus answered them : " I have already told 
 you who I am, but you do not believe. If you do 
 not believe my word, then believe my works ; by 
 them understand who I am, and wherefore I am come. 
 
 " But you do not believe me, because you do not 
 follow me. He who follows me, and does that 
 which I say, he understands me. And he who 
 understands my teaching and fulfils it, receives 
 the true life. My Father has united them with 
 me, and no one can disunite us. I and the Father 
 are one." 
 
 And the Jews were offended at this, and took 
 up stones to kill him. 
 
 But he said to them : " I have shown you many 
 good works, and have disclosed the teaching of my 
 Father. For which, then, of these good works do you 
 wish to stone me ? " 
 
 They said : " Not for the good do we wish to stone 
 you ; but because you, a man, make yourself God." 
 
 And Jesus answered them: "Why, this is just 
 what is written in your writings, where it says that 
 God Himself said to the wicked rulers : ' You are 
 gods.' If He called even vicious men gods, then 
 why do you consider it sacrilege to call that the 
 son of God, which God in His love sent into the 
 world ? Every man in the spirit is the son of 
 God. If I do not live in God's way, then do not 
 
 Jn. 
 
/ AND THE FATHER ARE ONE 
 
 X. 38. 
 
 xvi. 13. 
 
 17. 
 
 believe that I am a son of God. But if I live 
 after God's way, then believe from my life that I 
 am in the Father, and then you will understand 
 that the Father is in me and I in Him." 
 
 And the Jews began to dispute. Some said that 
 he was possessed, and others said : " A man who is 
 possessed cannot enlighten men." And they did 
 not know what to do with him, and could not con- 
 demn him. And he went again across the Jordan, 
 and remained there. And many believed in his 
 teaching, and said that it was true, as the teaching 
 of John was. Therefore many believed in it. 
 
 And Jesus once said to his disciples : " Tell me 
 how the people understand my teaching about the 
 son of God and the son of man." 
 
 They said : " Some understand it like the teaching 
 of John, others like the prophecies of Isaiah ; others, 
 again, say that it is like the teaching of Jeremiah. 
 They understand that you are a prophet." 
 
 " And how do you understand my teaching ? " 
 
 And Simon Peter said to him : " In my opinion, 
 your teaching consists in this, that you are the 
 chosen Son of the God of Life. You teach that 
 God is the life in man." 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " Happy are you, Simon, 
 that you have understood this. No man could dis- 
 close this to you; but you have understood this, 
 because God in you has disclosed it to you. Not 
 fleshly understanding, and not I, my words, have 
 disclosed this to you; but God my Father has 
 directly disclosed it. And upon this is founded 
 that society of men for whom there is no death." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 Therefore true life is to be liued in the present 
 
 rzbis &aB") 
 
 Jesus said : " He who is not ready for all fleshly 
 sufferings and bereavements, has not understood 
 me. He who shall obtain all that is best for the 
 fleshly life, shall destroy the true life ; he who shall 
 destroy his fleshly life in fulfilling my teaching, 
 shall receive the true life." 
 
 And in answer to these words, Peter said to 
 him : " See, we have listened to you, have thrown 
 off all cares and property, and have followed you. 
 What reward shall we have for this ? " 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " Everyone who has 
 abandoned home, sisters, brothers, father, mother, 
 wife, children, and his fields, for my teaching, shall 
 receive a hundredfold more than sisters and brothers 
 and fields, and all that is needful in this life; and 
 besides this, he receives life beyond the power of 
 time. There are no rewards in the kingdom of 
 heaven, the kingdom of heaven is its own aim and 
 reward. In the kingdom of God all are equal, 
 there is neither first nor last. 
 
 102 
 
 Mt. X. 38. 
 
 xix. 27. 
 
 Mk. X. 29, 
 30. 
 
LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 
 103 
 
 Mt. XX. 1. 
 
 14. 
 
 20. 
 Mk. A. 36. 
 
 Mt. XX. 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 " Because the kingdom of heaven is like this. 
 The master of a house went in the early morning 
 to hire labourers for his grounds. He hired labourers 
 at a penny a day, and set them to work in the 
 garden. And he again went at mid-day and hired 
 more, and sent them into the garden to work ; and 
 at evening he hired still more, and sent them to 
 work. And with them all he agreed at a penny. 
 The time came for the reckoning. And the master 
 ordered all to be paid alike. First, those who came 
 last ; and afterwards, the first. And the first saw 
 that the last received each a penny. And they 
 thought that they would receive more ; but the 
 first were also given each a penny. They took it 
 and said : ' But how is this ? They only worked 
 one shift, and we all four ; why, then, do we receive 
 alike ? This is unjust.' But the master came up, 
 and said : ' "What are you complaining about ? Have 
 I offended you ? The amount I hired you for, I 
 have given you. Our agreement was for a penny, 
 take it and go. If I wish to give to the last the 
 same as to you, am I not master of my own will ? 
 Or because you see that I am good, is that the 
 cause of your grudging ? ' " 
 
 In the kingdom of God there is neither first nor 
 last, for all there are as one. 
 
 There came to Jesus two of his disciples, James 
 and John, and said : " Promise us that you will do 
 that for us which we shall ask of you." 
 
 He said : "What do you wish ? " 
 
 They said : " That we may be equal with you." 
 
 Jesus said to them : " You yourselves do not 
 
104 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 know what you ask. You may live just as I do, and 
 be cleansed from fleshly life like me, but to make 
 you like myself is not in my power. Every man 
 may, by his own effort, enter the kingdom of his 
 Father, having submitted to His power, and fulfil- 
 ling His will." 
 
 When they heard of this, the other disciples grew 
 angry with the two brothers, because these wished 
 to be equal to their teacher, and the first among 
 his disciples. 
 
 But Jesus called them, and said : " If you brothers, 
 James and John, asked me to make you such as I 
 am in order to be first among my disciples, then 
 you were mistaken ; but if you, my other disciples, 
 are angry with them because they wish to be your 
 elders, then you also are mistaken. Only in the 
 world are kings and officials reckoned by seniority 
 for governing the people. But among you, there 
 cannot be either elder or younger. Among you, for 
 one to be greater than another, it is necessary to 
 be the servant of all. Among you, let him who 
 wishes to be first, consider himself last. Because 
 therein is the will of the Father as to the Son of 
 Man ; who does not live to be served, but to him- 
 self serve all, and to give up his fleshly life as a 
 ransom for the life of the spirit." 
 
 And Jesus said to the people : " The Father 
 seeks to save that which perishes. He rejoices 
 over it, as a shepherd rejoices when he has found 
 one sheep that was lost. When one is lost, he 
 leaves the ninety-nine, and goes to save the lost 
 one. And if a woman lose a farthing, she will 
 
 Mt. XX. 2a 
 
 Lk. XV. 
 
LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 
 los 
 
 Lk. XV. 10. 
 
 xiv. 8. 
 
 XV. 11. 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 
 15. 
 10. 
 17. 
 
 sweep out the whole hut and seek until she find it. 
 The Father loves the Son, and calls him to -Him- 
 self." 
 
 And he told them yet another parable, to the 
 effect that they who live in the will of God ought 
 not to exalt themselves. He said : " If you are 
 invited to dinner, do not seat yourself in the front 
 comer ; someone will come of more consideration 
 than yourself, and the master will say : ' Leave your 
 place, and allow him who is better than you to be 
 seated.' Then you will be put to shame. But do 
 better, take your seat in the very last place, then 
 the master will find you, and call you to a place 
 of honour, and you will be honoured. 
 
 " So also in the kingdom of God there is no room 
 for pride. He who exalts himself, by so doing 
 lowers himself ; but he who humbles himself, and 
 considers himself unworthy, by this same means 
 raises himself in the kingdom of God. 
 
 " A man had two sons. And the younger said 
 to his father : ' Father, give me my property.' And 
 the father gave him his share. The younger son 
 took his share, went abroad, squandered all his 
 property, and began to suffer want. And abroad, 
 he became a swineherd. And he so hungered, that 
 he ate acorns with the swine. And he bethought 
 
 O 
 
 himself of his life, and said : ' Why did I take my 
 share and leave my father ? My father had plenty 
 of everything; at my father's, even labourers ate 
 their fill. But I here arn eating the same food as 
 the swine. I will go to my father, fall at his feet, 
 and say : I am to blame, father, before you, and am 
 
io6 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 not worthy to be yonr son. 
 
 a labourei-.' So he thought 
 
 Take me back even as 
 , and he went to his 
 father. And when he was still far off, his father 
 at once recognised him, and himself ran to meet 
 him, embraced him, and began to kiss him. And 
 the son said : ' Father, I am to blame before you, I 
 am not worthy to be your son.' But the father 
 would not even listen, and said to the labourers : 
 ' Bring quickly the best clothes and the best boots, 
 to clothe him and shoe him. And go and bring a 
 fatted calf and kill it, and we will rejoice that this 
 my son was dead and is now alive, was lost and is 
 now found.' And the elder brother came from the 
 field, and as he approached he heard the sounds of 
 music in the house. He called a servant to him, 
 and said : ' Why is there this merry-making here ? ' 
 And the boy said : ' Have you not heard that your 
 brother is returned, and your father is full of joy, 
 and has ordered a fatted calf to be killed, for joy 
 that his son has returned ? ' The elder brother was 
 offended, and did not go into the house. And the 
 father came out and called him. And he said to 
 his father : ' See, father, how many years I have 
 worked for you, and have not disobeyed your com- 
 mand, while you never killed a fatted calf for 
 me. But my younger brother left the house and 
 squandered all his property with drunkards, and 
 you have now killed the calf for him.' And the 
 father said : ' You are always with me, and all mine 
 is yours ; and you should not be offended, but 
 should be glad that your brother was dead and has 
 become alive, was lost and is found.' 
 
 Lk. XV. 20. 
 
LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 
 107 
 
 Mk. xii. 1. 
 
 "A master planted a garden, cultivated it, arranged 
 it, did everything so that the garden might yield as 
 much fruit as possible. And he sent labourers into 
 the garden, that they might work there, and gather 
 the fruit, and pay him-according to the agreement for 
 the garden. (The master is the Father; the garden; 
 the world ; the labourers, men. The Father does no 
 more than send His Son, the Son of Man, into the 
 world, that men may yield fruit to the Father from 
 the understanding of life which He placed in them.) 
 The time came when the master sent a servant for 
 the rents. (The Father, without ceasing, tells men 
 that they must fulfil His will.) The labourers drove 
 away the messenger of the master with nothing, and 
 continued to live, imagining that the garden was 
 their own, and that they, themselves of their own 
 will, were settled on it. (Men drive away from them- 
 selves the declaration of the will of the Father, and 
 continue to live, each one for himself, imagining that 
 they live for the joys of the flesbly life.) Then the 
 master sent one after another his chosen ones, then 
 his son, to remind the labourers of their debt. But 
 the labourers quite lost their reason, and imagined 
 that if they killed tliis son of the master, who re- 
 minded them that the garden was not theirs, they 
 would be left quite in peace. So they killed him. 
 
 " Thus men do not love even a reminder of the 
 spirit which lives in them, and declares to them that 
 it is eternal and they are not eternal; and they 
 have killed, as far as they could, the consciousness of 
 the spirit ; they have wrapped in a cloth and 
 buried in the ground the talent that was given them. 
 
io8 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 " What, then, is the master to do ? ISTothing else 
 than drive forth those labourers, and send others. 
 
 " "What is the Father to do ? Sow until there 
 shall be fruit. And this He does. 
 
 " People have not understood and do not under- 
 stand that the consciousness of the spirit which is 
 in them, and which they hide because it troubles 
 them, brings life to them through understanding 
 it. They reject that stone upon which everything 
 rests. And they who do not take as foundation the 
 life of the spirit, do not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven, and do not receive life. In order to have 
 faith, and to receive life, it is necessary to under- 
 stand one's position, and not to expect rewards." 
 
 Then the disciples said to Jesus : " Increase in 
 us our faith. Tell us that which will make us more 
 strongly believe in the life of the spirit, that we 
 may not regret the life of the flesh, which must be 
 given up wholly for the life of the spirit. For 
 reward, you yourself say there is none." 
 
 And in answer to this, Jesus said to them : " If 
 you had such a faith as the faith that from a birch 
 seed there springs up a great tree ; if, also, you be- 
 lieved that in you there is the germ, the only germ, 
 of the spirit whence springs up the true life, you 
 would not ask me to increase in you your faith. 
 
 " Faith does not consist in believing something 
 wonderful, but faith consists in understanding one's 
 position, and wherein lies salvation. If you under- 
 stand your position, you will not expect rewards, but 
 will believe in that which is entrusted to you. 
 
 "When the master returns with the labourers 
 
 Mt. xxi. 40, 
 41. 
 
 Lk. xvii. 5. 
 
LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 
 109 
 
 Lk. xviL 8. 
 
 10. 
 
 xii. 35, 
 36. 
 
 from the field, he does not seat the labourer at Ms 
 table. But he bids him see to the cattle, and 
 prepare his supper, and after this only says to the 
 labourer : ' Sit down, drink and eat.' The master 
 will not thank the labourer for having done what 
 he ought to do. And the labourer, if he under- 
 stands that he is a labourer, is not offended, but 
 works, believing that he will receive his due. 
 
 " And so you, also, must fulfil the will of the 
 Father, and think that we are worthless labourers, 
 having only done what we ought to do, and not 
 expect a reward, but be content with receiving that 
 which is due to you. 
 
 " There is no need to take care to believe that 
 there will be a reward, and life ; this cannot be 
 otherwise ; but there is need to take care not to 
 destroy this life, not to forget that it is given us 
 that we may bring forth its fruits, and fulfil the 
 will of the Father. 
 
 "And therefore always be ready, like servants 
 awaiting a master, to answer him immediately when 
 he comes. The servants do not know when he will 
 return, either early or late, and they must always 
 be ready. And when they meet the master, they 
 have fulfilled his will, and it is well for them. 
 
 " So in life also. Always, every minute of the 
 present, you must live the life of the spirit, not 
 thinking of the past or the future, and not 
 saying to yourself : then or there I will do this 
 or that. 
 
 " If the master knew when the thief would come, 
 he would not sleep ; and so do you also never 
 
THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 sleep ; because, to the life of the son of man time 
 is nothing ; ne lives only in the present, and 
 does not know when is the beginning or end of 
 life. 
 
 " Our life is the same as that of a slave whom 
 the master has left as chief in his household. And 
 well it is for that slave if he does the will of the 
 master always ! But if he shall say, ' The master 
 will not soon return,' and shall forget the master's 
 business, then the master will return unexpectedly, 
 and will drive him out. 
 
 " And so, be not downcast, but always live in the 
 present by the spirit. For the life of the spirit 
 there is no time. 
 
 " Look to yourselves, so as not to weigh your- 
 selves down, and not to blind yourselves with 
 drvmkenness, gluttony, and cares ; so as not to let 
 the time of salvation pass. The time of salvation, 
 like a web, is cast over all ; it is there always. 
 And therefore always live the life of the Son of 
 Man. 
 
 " The kingdom of heaven is like this. Ten 
 maidens went with lamps to meet the bridegroom. 
 Five were wise and five foolish. The foolish ones 
 took lamps but did not take oil ; but the wise took 
 lamps and a store of oil. "While they waited for 
 the bridegroom, they went to sleep. When the 
 bridegroom was approaching, the foolish maidens saw 
 that they had httle oil, and went to buy some ; and 
 while they were gone, the bridegroom came. And 
 the wise maidens who had oil went in with him, and 
 the doors were shut. Their business was only this, 
 
 Mt. xxiv. 45, 
 46. 
 
 48. 
 
 
 
 60. 
 
 
 
 61. 
 
 Mk. 
 
 xiii 
 
 33. 
 
 Lk. 
 
 xxi 
 
 34 
 
 Mt. XXV. 1. 
 
 7. 
 10. 
 
LIFE IS NOT TEMPORAL 
 
 Lk. xiii. 24. 
 
 25. 
 
 Mt. xvi. 27. 
 
 Mt. XXV. 32. 
 
 to meet the bridegroom with lights ; and the five 
 foolish ones forgot that it was important, not only 
 that the lights should burn, but that they should 
 burn in time. And in order that they might be 
 burning when the bridegroom came, they must burn 
 without stopping. 
 
 " Life is only for this, to exalt the Son of Man, 
 and the Son of Man exists always. He is not in 
 time ; and therefore, in serving him, one must live 
 without time, in the present alone. 
 
 " Therefore make efforts in the present to enter 
 into the life of the spirit. If you do not make 
 these efforts you shall not enter. You will say : 
 ' We said so and so.' But there will be no good 
 works to show, and there will not be life. Because 
 the Son of Man, the one true spirit of life, will 
 appear in each man, as such man has acted for the 
 Son of Man. 
 
 " Mankind is divided according to the way in 
 which men serve the Son of Man. And by their 
 works men shall be divided into two classes, as sheep 
 are divided from goats in the flock The one shall 
 live, the other perish. 
 
 " They who have served the Son of Man, they 
 shall receive that which belonged to them from the 
 beginning of the world, that life which they have 
 kept. They have kept hfe by the fact that they 
 have served the Son of Man. They have fed tlie 
 hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, 
 visited the prisoner. They have lived in the Son 
 of Man, felt that he only is in all men, and there- 
 fore they have loved their neighbours. 
 
U2 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 " Whereas they who have not lived in the Son of 
 Man, they have not served him, have not under- 
 stood that he alone is in all, and therefore have not 
 joined in him and have lost life in him, and have 
 perished." 
 
CHAPTEE IX 
 
 TEMPTATIONS 
 
 Mt. xix. 13. 
 14. 
 
 Lk. xviii. 17. 
 
 Mt. xviii. 3. 
 
 The illusions of temporal life conceal from men 
 t/ie true life in the present 
 
 ("aforgivc us our Debts as \vc forgive our Debtors") 
 
 Once, children were brought to Jesus. His disciples 
 began to drive the children away. Jesus saw this 
 being done, and was grieved, and said : 
 
 " You drive the children away without reason. 
 They are better than any, because children all live 
 after the Father's will. They are, indeed, already 
 in the kingdom of heaven. You should not drive 
 them away, but learn from them ; because, in order 
 to live in the Father's will, you must live as 
 children live. Children do not abuse one another, 
 do not bear ill-will to people, do not commit 
 adultery, do not swear by anything, do not resist 
 evil, do not go to law with anyone, acknowledge no 
 difference between their own people and foreigners. 
 Therefore are they better than grown people, and 
 are in the kingdom of heaven. If you do not re- 
 frain from all the temptations of the flesh, and 
 become as children, you will not be in the kingdom 
 of heaven. 
 s 
 
114 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 " Only he who understands that children are 
 better than we, because they do not break the 
 Father's will, only he understands my teaching. 
 And he who understands my teaching, he alone 
 understands the Father's will. We cannot despise 
 children, because they are better than we, and their 
 hearts are pure in the sight of the Father, and are 
 always \'sith Him. 
 
 " And not one child perishes by the Father's 
 will. They perish only as men entice them from 
 the truth. And therefore it behoves us to take 
 care of them, and not to entice them from the 
 Father, and from true life. 
 
 " That man does ill who entices them from 
 purity. To entice a child from good, to lead it 
 into temptation, is as bad as to hang a millstone 
 on its neck and throw it into the water. It is 
 hard for it to swim to the surface; it is more likely 
 to drown. It is as hard for a child to get out of 
 temptation into which a grown-up man leads it. 
 
 " The world of men is unhappy only on account 
 of temptations. Temptations are everywhere in 
 the world, they always were and always will be ; 
 and man perishes from temptations. 
 
 " Therefore give up everything, sacrifice every- 
 thing, if only you may not fall into temptation. 
 A fox, if it fall into a trap, will wrench off its paw 
 and go away, and the paw will heal and it will 
 remain alive. Do you likewise. Give up every- 
 thing, if only not to sink into temptation. 
 
 " Beware of temptation under that first com- 
 mandment ; do not bear ill-wiU against men, when 
 
 Mt. xviii. 5, 
 
 Lk. ix. 48, 
 Mt. xviii. 10. 
 
 Lk. xvii. 3. 
 
TEMPTATIONS 
 
 "5 
 
 Mt- xviii. 15. 
 
 Lk. xvii. 4. 
 
 Mt. xviii. 17. 
 
 26. 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 30. 
 
 people offend you, and you would wish to be 
 avenged on them. 
 
 " If a man offend you, remember that he is the 
 son of the same Father, and your brother. If he 
 has offended you, go and persuade him of it face 
 to face. If he listen to you, then you have the 
 advantage, you will have found a new brother. If 
 he do not listen to you, then call to your aid two 
 or three others who may persuade him. And if he 
 repent, forgive him. And if he offend you seven 
 times, and seven times says, ' Forgive me,' then 
 forgive him. But if he does not listen, then tell 
 the society of believers in my teaching, and if he 
 listens not to them, then forgive him, and have 
 nothing to do with him. 
 
 " Because the kingdom of God is like this. A 
 king began to settle with his tenants. And there 
 was a man brought to him who owed him a million, 
 and had nothing to pay him with. Then the king 
 commanded to sell the man's estate, his wife, his 
 children, and the man himself. But the tenant 
 began to beg mercy of the king. And the king 
 was gracious to him, and pardoned all his debt. 
 And now, this same tenant went home, and saw a 
 peasant. This peasant owed him fifty shillings. 
 The king's tenant seized him, began to strangle 
 him, and said : ' Give me what you owe me.' And 
 the peasant fell at his feet, and said: 'Have patience 
 with me, I will pay you all.' But the tenant 
 showed him no mercy, and put the peasant into 
 prison, to stay there until he paid everything. 
 Other peasants saw this, and went to the king, 
 
Il6 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 and told what the tenant had done. Then the 
 king called the tenant, and said to him : ' Wicked 
 creature, I pardoned you all your debt, because you 
 prayed me. And you, also, should have shown mercy 
 to your debtor, because I showed mercy to you.' 
 And the king became angry, and gave the tenant to 
 be made to suffer, until he should pay all his rent. 
 
 " Just so, the Father will do with you, if you do 
 not forgive, from the bottom of your heart, all those 
 who are to blame in your sight. 
 
 " You know that if a quarrel arise with a man, 
 it is better to make it up with him without going 
 to the court. You know this, and you act so 
 because you know, should it go to the court, you 
 will lose more. Now, it is the same with all 
 malice. If you know that malice is a bad thing, 
 and removes you from the Father, then get clear of 
 malice as soon as possible, and make your peace. 
 
 " You yourselves know that as you become 
 bound on earth, so you will be before the Father. 
 And as you free yourselves on earth, so you will be 
 also free before the Father. Understand that if 
 two or three on earth are united in my teaching, 
 everything they may desire they already have from 
 my Father. Because where two or three are joined 
 in the name of the spirit in man, the spirit of man 
 is living in them. 
 
 " Beware also of temptation under the second 
 commandment ; the temptation for men to change 
 their wives." 
 
 There once came to Jesus orthodox teachers, who, 
 trying him, said : " May a man leave his wife ? " 
 
 Mt. xviii. 32. 
 
 Mk. X. 2. 
 
 Mt. xix. 3. 
 
TEMPTATIONS 
 
 "7 
 
 Lit. xix. 4. 
 
 10. 
 
 26. 
 
 He said to them : " From the very beginning 
 man was created male and female. This was the 
 will of the Father. And therefore a man leaves 
 father and mother and cleaves to his wife. And 
 husband and wife unite in one body So that the 
 wife is the same for a man as his own flesh. 
 Therefore man must not break the natural law of 
 God, and separate that which is united. According 
 to your law of Moses, it is said that you may 
 abandon a wife and take another ; but this is 
 untrue. According to the Father's will, this is 
 not so, and I tell you that he who casts off his 
 wife drives into immorality both her and him who 
 shall have to do with her. And casting off his 
 wife, a man breeds immorality in the world." 
 
 And the disciples said to Jesus : " It is too hard 
 to be tied for life, whatever happens, to one wife. 
 If that must be, it were better not to marry.'' 
 
 He said to them : " You may refrain from 
 marriage, but you must understand what you are 
 about. If anyone wishes to live without wife, let 
 him be quite pure, and not approach women ; but 
 he who loves women, let him unite with one 
 wife and not cast her off, and not gaze upon 
 others. 
 
 " Beware of temptation against the third com- 
 mandment ; the temptation to force neople to fulfil 
 obligations and to take oaths." 
 
 Once, tax-gatherers came to Peter, and asked 
 him : " How about your teacher, does he pay 
 taxes ? " Peter said : " No, he does not." ^ And 
 
 1 See Note, p. 222. 
 
ii8 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 he went and told Jesus that he had been stopped, 
 and told that all were bound to pay taxes. 
 
 Then Jesus said to him : " The king does not 
 take taxes of his sons ; and moreover, men are not 
 bound to pay anyone but the king. Is this not so? 
 Well, so it is with us. If we are sons of God, 
 then we are bound to no one but God, and free 
 from all obligations. And if they demand taxes 
 of you, then pay. But do so, not because it is 
 your duty, but because you may not resist evil. 
 Otherwise resistance to evil will cause a greater 
 evil." 
 
 Another time, the orthodox joined with Csesar's 
 officials, and went to Jesus, to entrap him in his 
 words. They said to him : " You teach everyone 
 according to the truth. Tell us, are we bound to 
 pay taxes to Csesar or not ? " Jesus understood 
 that they wished to convict him of not acknow- 
 ledging duty to Cfesar. And he said to them : 
 " Show me that with which you pay taxes to 
 Caesar." They handed him a coin. lie looked at 
 the coin, and said : " What is this here ? Whose 
 effigy and whose signature are these ? " They 
 said : " Ctesar's." And he said : " Well then, pay 
 Cresar that which is Caesar's, but that which is 
 God's, your soul, give to no one but to God." 
 Money, goods, your labour, give everything to him 
 who shall ask it of you. But your soul, give to 
 none but God. 
 
 " Your orthodox teachers go about everywhere, 
 and compel people to swear and vow that they 
 will fulfil the law. But by this they only pervert 
 
 Mt. xvii 27. 
 
 xxii. 16. 
 
 17. 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 ii. 15. 
 
TEMPT A TIONS 
 
 119 
 
 Mt. xxiii. 16- 
 22. 
 
 Lk. ix. 52. 
 
 63. 
 64. 
 65. 
 66. 
 
 xii. 13. 
 
 Jn. viii. 3. 
 
 4. 
 6. 
 
 people, and make them worse than before. It is 
 impossible to promise with one's body for one's 
 soul. In your soul, God is ; therefore peoDle cannot 
 promise for God to men. 
 
 " Beware. Temptation under the fourth com- 
 mandment is the temptation for men to judge and 
 execute people, and call upon others to take part 
 in these judgments and executions." 
 
 The disciples of Jesus once went into a village, 
 and asked for a night's lodging ; but they were not 
 admitted. Then the disciples went to Jesus to 
 complain, and said : " Let these people be Struck 
 with lightning." Jesus said : " You still do not 
 understand of what spirit you are. I am teaching, 
 not how to destroy but how to save people." 
 
 Once a man came to Jesus, and said : " Bid my 
 brother give me my inheritance." Jesus said to 
 him : " No one has made me judge over you, and 
 I judge no one. And neither may you judge any 
 one.'' 
 
 The orthodox once brought a woman to Jesus, 
 and said : " See, this woman was taken in adultery. 
 Now, by the law she should be stoned to death. 
 What do you say ? " 
 
 Jesus answered nothing, and waited for them to 
 bethink themselves. But they pressed him, and 
 asked what he would adjudge to this woman. 
 Then he said : " He among you who is without 
 fault, let him be the first to cast a stone at her." 
 He said nothing more. 
 
 Then the orthodox looked within themselves, and 
 their consciences smote them ; and they who were 
 
THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 in front sought to get behind the others, and all 
 went away. And Jesus remained alone with the 
 woman. He looked round, and saw that there 
 was none else. " Well," said he to the woman, 
 " has no one condemned you ? " She said : " No 
 one." Then he said : " And I do not condemn 
 you. Go, and henceforth sin no more." 
 
 Beware. Temptation against the fifth com- 
 mandment is the temptation for men to consider 
 themselves bound to do good only to their country- 
 men, and to consider foreigners as enemies. 
 
 A teacher of the law wished to try. Jesus, and 
 said : " What am I to do in order to receive the 
 true life ? " Jesus said : " You know, — love your 
 Father, God, and him who is your brother through 
 your Father, God ; of whatever country he may 
 be." And the teacher of the law said : " This 
 would be well, if there were not different nations ; 
 but as it is, how am I to love the enemies of my 
 own people ? " 
 
 And Jesus said : " There was a Jew who fell 
 into misfortune. He was beaten, robbed, and 
 abandoned on the road. A Jewish priest went by, 
 glanced at the wounded man, and went on. A 
 Jewish Levite passed, looked at the wounded man, 
 and also went by. But there came a man of a 
 foreign, hostile nation, a Samaritan. This Samaritan 
 saw the Jew, and did not think of the fact that 
 Jews have no esteem for the Samaritans, but pitied 
 the poor Jew. He washed and bound his wounds, 
 and carried him on his ass to an inn, paid money 
 for him to the innkeeper, and promised to come 
 
 Jn. viii. 10. 
 
 Lk. X. 25. 
 
TEMPTATIONS 
 
 Mt. xvi. 21. 
 
 Mk. viii. 33. 
 
 Mt. xxii. 23. 
 
 again to pay for him. Thus shall you also behave 
 towards foreign nations, towards those who hold 
 you of no account and ruin you. Then yon will 
 receive true life." 
 
 Jesus said : " The world loves its own, and hates 
 God's people. Therefore men of the world — ■ 
 priests, preachers, officials — will harass those who 
 shall fulfil the will of the Fatlier. And I am 
 going to Jerusalem, and shall be persecuted and 
 killed. But my spirit cannot bo killed, but will 
 remain alive." 
 
 Having -heard that Jesus would be torturea and 
 killed in Jerusalem, Peter was sad, and took Jesus 
 by the hand, and said to him : " If so, then you 
 had better not go to Jerusalem." Then Jesus said 
 to Peter : " Do not say this. "What you say is 
 temptation. If you fear tortures and death for me, 
 this means that you are not thinking of that which 
 is godly, of the spirit, but are thinking of what is 
 worldly." 
 
 And having called the people and his disciples, 
 Jesus said : " He who wishes to live according to 
 my teaching, let him forsake his fleshly life, and 
 let him be ready for all fleshly suffering ; because 
 he who fears for his fleshly life, shall destroy the 
 true life ; he who despises the fleshly life, shall 
 save the true life.'' 
 
 And they did not understand this, and certain 
 materialists coming, he explained to all what is the 
 meaning of the true life and the awakening from 
 death. 
 
 The materialists said that after the fleshly death 
 
THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 there is no longer any life. They asked: "How 
 can all rise from the dead ? If all were to rise, 
 then in rising they could in no way have life 
 together. For instance, there were seven brothers 
 among ns. The first married and died. The wife 
 was taken by the second brother and he died, and 
 she was taken by the third, who also died, and so 
 on unto the seventh. Well now, how shall these 
 seven brothers live with one wife if all arise from 
 the dead ? " 
 
 Jesus said to them : " You either purposely 
 confuse things, or you do not understand what the 
 awakening to life is. Men in this present life 
 marry. But they who shall earn everlasting life, 
 and the awakening from death, do not marry. 
 And that because they can no longer die, but are 
 united with the Father. In your writings, it is 
 said that God said : ' I am the God of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob.' And this was said when 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died from among 
 men. It follows, that they who have died from 
 among men are alive to God. If God is, and God 
 does not die, then they who are with God are 
 always alive. The awakening from death is, to 
 live in the will of the Father. For the Father, 
 tliere is no time ; therefore in fulfilling the will of 
 the Father, in joining Him, man departs from time 
 and death." 
 
 When they heard this, the orthodox no longer 
 knew what to devise to compel Jesus to hold his 
 tongue; and together they began to question Jesus. 
 And one of the orthodox said : " Teacher, what, in 
 
 Mt. xxii. 21 
 
 25. 
 
 Lk. XX. 34. 
 
 Mt. xxii. 31. 
 32. 
 
 34. 
 
 36. 
 36. 
 
TEMPTATIONS 
 
 123 
 
 Mt. xxii. 37. 
 
 Lk. xii. 1. 
 
 XX. 45. 
 46. 
 
 Mt. xxiii. 2. 
 
 your opinion, is the chief commandment in the 
 whole law ? " 
 
 The orthodox thought that Jesus would get 
 confused in the answer about the law. But Jesus 
 said : " It is, to love the Lord with all one's soul, 
 in whose power we are. From it the second 
 commandment follows, which is, to love one's 
 neighbour. Because the same Lord is in him. 
 And this is the substance of all that is written in 
 all your books." 
 
 And Jesus said further : " In your opinion, what 
 is Christ ? Is he someone's son ? " They said : 
 " In our opinion, Christ is the son of David." 
 Then he said to them : " How, then, does David 
 call Christ his Lord ? Christ is neither son of 
 David, nor anyone's son after the flesh ; but Christ 
 is that same Lord, our Euler, whom we know in 
 ourselves as our life. Christ is that understanding 
 which is in us." 
 
 And Jesus said : " See, beware of the leaven of 
 orthodox teachers. And beware of the leaven of 
 the materialists and of the leaven of the govern- 
 ment. But most of all, beware of the leaven of 
 the self-styled ' orthodox,' because in them is the 
 chief stumbling-block." 
 
 And when the people understood of what he was 
 speaking, he repeated : " Most of all, beware of 
 the teaching of the scholars, of the self-called 
 ' orthodox.' Beware of them, because they have 
 taken the place of the prophets who declared the 
 will of God to the people. They have perversely 
 assumed authority to preach to the people the will 
 
124 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 of God. They preach words, and do nothing. And 
 the result is that they no more than say : ' Do 
 this and that.' And there is no further result, 
 because they do nothing good, but only talk. And 
 they tell people to do what is impossible to be 
 done, and they themselves do nothing. They only 
 labour to keep the teaching in their own hands ; 
 and with this ahn they strive to appear imposing; 
 they dress themselves up and exalt themselves. 
 Know, therefore, that no one should call himself 
 teacher and leader. But the self-styled orthodox 
 are called teachers, and by this very thing they 
 hinder you from entering into the kingdom of 
 heaven, where they themselves do not enter. These 
 orthodox think that people may be brought to God 
 by exterior rites and pledges. Like blind men, 
 they do not see that the outside show means 
 nothing ; that all depends upon the soul of man. 
 They do the easiest thing, the external thing; that 
 which is needful and difficult, — love, compassion, 
 truth, — they leave undone. It suffices them to be 
 only outwardly in the law, and to bring others 
 outwardly to the law. And therefore they, like 
 painted coffins, outwardly look clean, but are an 
 abomination within. They outwardly honour the 
 holy martyrs. But in very deed they are the 
 same as those who torture and kill the saints. 
 They were before, and are now, the enemies of all 
 good. From them comes all the evil in tlie world ; 
 because they hide the good, and instead of it 
 uphold evil. Most of all to be feared, therefore, 
 are self-called teachers. Because you yourselves 
 
 Mt. xxiii. 3. 
 
 Mk. iii. 5 
 
TEMPTATIONS 
 
 I2S 
 
 Mk. iii. 29. 
 
 Mt. xxiii. 37. 
 
 39. 
 xxiv. 1. 
 
 12. 
 
 know, every mistake may be made good. But if 
 people are mistaken as to what good is, this 
 mistake can never be set right. And this is 
 precisely the condition of self-called leaders." 
 
 And Jesus said : " I wished, here in Jerusalem, 
 to join all men in one understanding of true 
 happiness ; but the people here are only capable 
 of putting to death the teachers of good. And 
 therefore they will remain the same godless people 
 as they were, and will not know the true God ; 
 until they shall lovingly welcome the understanding 
 of God." And Jesus went away from the temple. 
 
 Then his disciples said to him : " But what will 
 happen to this temple of God, with all its embel- 
 lisliments which people have brought into it, to 
 give to God." And Jesus said : " I tell you truly, 
 the whole of this temple, with all its embellish- 
 ments, shall be destroyed, and nothing shall remain 
 of it. There is one temple of God ; that is, the 
 hearts of men when they love each other." 
 
 And they asked him : " When shall there be 
 such a temple ? " And Jesus said to them : "That 
 will not be soon. People will yet long be deceived 
 in the name of my teaching, and wars and rebellions 
 will be the result. And there will be great law- 
 lessness, and little love. But when the true teaching 
 shall spread among all men, then wiU be the end 
 of evil and temptations." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE WAEFAEE WITH TEMPTATION 
 
 Therefore, not to fall by temptation, we must, at every 
 moment of life, be at one with the Father 
 
 ("XeaO U6 not into temptation") 
 
 After this, the orthodox chief priests began to do 
 all they could to lay traps for Jesus, in some way 
 or other to destroy him. They gathered in council, 
 and began to consider. They said : " This man 
 must somehow or other be put an end to. He 
 so proves his teaching that, if he be left alone, all 
 will believe in him, and cast off our belief. Already 
 half of the people believe in him. But if the Jews 
 believe in his teaching, that all men are sons of 
 one Father, and brothers, and that there is nothing 
 in our Hebrew people different from other peoples, 
 then the Eomans will completely overwhelm us, 
 and the Hebrew kingdom will be no more." 
 
 And the orthodox high priest and learned men 
 for long counselled together, and could not think 
 what to do with Jesus. They could not make up 
 their minds to kill him. 
 
 Then one of them, Caiaphas, the chief priest of 
 that year, thought of the following device. He 
 
 Lk xi. 63. 
 
 Jn. xi. 47. 
 
 Lk. xix. 4V. 
 
 Jn. xi. 49. 
 60. 
 
 128 
 
THE WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION 127 
 
 66. 
 
 67. 
 
 said to the others : " You must remember this : it 
 is expedient to Icill one man, that the whole people 
 may not perish. If we leave this man alone, the 
 people will perish ; this I declare to you. There- 
 fore it is better to kill Jesus. Even if the people 
 do not perish, they will nevertheless go astray, 
 departing from the one belief, if we do not kill 
 Jesus. Therefore it is better to kill Jesus." 
 
 And when Caiaphas said this, they resolved that 
 there was no need to discuss, but that Jesus must 
 be kUled without fail. 
 
 They would have taken Jesus at once and killed 
 him, but he withdrew from them into the desert. 
 But at this time the feast of the Passover was ap- 
 proaching, when a great multitude always gathered 
 in Jerusalem. And the orthodox high priests 
 reckoned upon Jesus coming with the people to the 
 feast. And they made known to the people that 
 if anyone should see Jesus he should bring him to 
 them. 
 
 And it so happened that, six days before the 
 Passover, Jesus said to his disciples : " Let us go to 
 Jerusalem." And he went with them. 
 
 And the disciples said to him : " Do not go into 
 Jerusalem. The high priests have resolved now to 
 stone you to death. If you come they will kill 
 you." 
 
 Jesus said to them : " I can fear nothing, because 
 I live in the light of understanding. And as every 
 man, that he may not stumble, walks by day and 
 not by night, so every man, that he may doubt 
 nothing and fear nothing, must live by this under- 
 
128 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 standing. Only he doubts and fears who lives by 
 the flesh ; hut he who lives by understanding, for 
 him there is nothing doubtful or fearful." 
 
 And Jesus came to the village of Bethany, near 
 Jerusalem, and to the house of Martha and Mary 
 which was there. 
 
 Early in tlie morning Jesus went into Jerusalem. 
 There was a great crowd for the feast. And when 
 they recognised Jesus, they surrounded him, tore 
 branches from the trees, and threw their clothes 
 before him on the road, and all shouted : " Here is 
 our true king, he who has taught us the true God." 
 
 Jesus sat upon an ass's foal, riding, and the 
 people ran before him and shouted ; thus he rode 
 into Jerusalem. And when he had thus ridden 
 into the town, the whole people were excited, and 
 asked : " Who is he ? " They who knew him 
 answered : " Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, in 
 Gahlee." 
 
 And Jesus went into the temple, and again drove 
 out thence all the buyers and sellers. 
 
 And the orthodox high priests saw all this, and 
 said to each other : " See what this man is doing. 
 The whole people are following him." 
 
 But they did not dase to take him straight from 
 among the people, because they saw that the people 
 were gathering round Idm, and they bethought them 
 how to take him by cunning. 
 
 Meanwhile Jesus was in the temple, and taught 
 the people. Among the people, besides Jews, there 
 were Greeks and heathen. Tlie Greeks heard of the 
 teaching of Jesus, and understood his teaching in 
 
 Jn. xi. 10. 
 
 xii. 1. 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 
 Mt. xxi. 10. 
 
 Mk. xi. 15. 
 
 Jn. xii. 19. 
 
 Mlc. xi. 18. 
 
 Jn. xii. 20. 
 
THE WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION 129 
 
 this way, namely, that he taught the truth, not 
 only to Hebrews but to all men. Therefore 
 they wished to be also his disciples, and spoke 
 about this to Phihp. And Philip told this to 
 Andrew. 
 
 These two disciples feared to bring Jesus together 
 with the Greeks. They were afraid lest the people 
 should be angry with Jesus, because he did not 
 recognise any difference between Hebrews and other 
 nations, and they long wavered about telling this 
 to Jesus ; but afterwards both together told him, and 
 hearing that the Greeks wished to be his followers, 
 Jesus was troubled. He knew that the people 
 hated him because he made no difference between 
 the Hebrews and the heathen, but acknowledged 
 himself to be the same as the heathen. 
 
 He said : " The hour is come to expiain what I 
 understand by the Son of ]\Ian, though I perish 
 because, in explaining this, I destroy distinction 
 between Jews and heathen. I must speak the truth. 
 A grain of wheat will only bring forth fruit when it 
 itself perishes. He who loves his fleshly life loses 
 the true life, and he who despises the fleshly life 
 keeps it for the everlasting life. He who wishes 
 to follow my teaching, let him do as I do. And he 
 who does as I do shall be rewarded by my Father. 
 My soul is now wrestling. ShaU I surrender my- 
 self to the compromises of temporary life, or fulfil 
 the will of the Father, now, at this hour ? And 
 what then ? Surely now, when this hour is come 
 in which I am Living, I shall not say : ' Father, 
 save me from that which I should do.' I cannot 
 9 
 
130 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 say this for the sake of my life. And therefore I 
 say : ' Father, show yourself in me.' " 
 
 And Jesus said : " Henceforth the present society 
 of men is condemned to destruction. From now 
 that which rules this world shall be destroyed. 
 And when the Son of Man shall be exalted above 
 the earthly life, then shall he unite all in one. 
 
 Then the Jews said to him : " We understand 
 from the law what the everlasting Christ is ; but 
 why do you say that the Son of Man shall be 
 exalted ? What is the meaning of exalting the 
 Son of Man ? " 
 
 To this Jesus answered : " To exalt the Son of 
 Man, means to live by the life of understanding 
 that is in you. To exalt the Son of Man above 
 that which is earthly, means to believe in the light 
 while there is light, in order to be a son of under- 
 standing.'' 
 
 " He who believes in my teaching believes not 
 in me, but in that spirit which gave life to the 
 world. And he who understands my teaching, under- 
 stands that spirit which gave life to the world. 
 But if anyone hears my words and does not fulfil 
 them, it is not I who blame him, seeing that I came, 
 not to accuse but to save. He who does not accept 
 my words is accused, not by my teaching but by 
 the understanding which is in himself. This it is 
 which accuses him. I did not speak of myself, but 
 said what my Father, the living spirit in me, sug- 
 gested to me. That which I say, the spirit of 
 understanding has told me, and that which I teach 
 is the true life.'' 
 
 Jn. xii. 28. 
 
THE WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION 
 
 131 
 
 Jn. xii. 36. 
 
 43. 
 
 Mt. xxvi, 3. 
 
 4. 
 
 5. 
 14. 
 15. 
 
 And having said this, Jesus went away, and 
 again hid from the chief priests. 
 
 And of those who heard these words of Jesus, 
 many of the powerful and wealthy people believed, 
 but were afraid to acknowledge it to the chief 
 priests, because not one of these priests believed 
 and acknowledged it. They were accustomed to 
 judge according to man, and not according to 
 God. 
 
 After Jesus had hidden, the high priests and the 
 elders again met in the court of Caiaphas. And 
 they began to plan how to take Jesus unknown to 
 the people, for they were afraid to seize him openly. 
 And there came to their council one of the first 
 twelve disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, who said : 
 " If you wish to take Jesus secretly, so that the 
 people may not see, I will find a time when there 
 will be few people with him, and will show you 
 where he is ; and then take him. But what will 
 you give me for this ? " They promised him for 
 this thirty silver coins. He agreed ; and from that 
 time began to seek an opportunity to bring the 
 chief priests upon Jesus, in order to take him. 
 
 Meanwhile Jesus withdrew from the people, and 
 with him were only his disciples. "When the first 
 feast of unleavened bread approached, the disciples 
 said to Jesus : " Where, then, shall we keep the Pass- 
 over ? " And Jesus said : " Go into some village, 
 and enter someone's house, and say that we have 
 not time to prepare the feast, and ask him to admit 
 us to celebrate the Passover." And the disciples 
 did so ; they asked a man in the village, and he 
 
132 
 
 THE GOSPEL TN BRIEF 
 
 And they came and sat down to 
 and the twelve disciples, Judas 
 
 invited them in. 
 the table, Jesus 
 among them. 
 
 Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot had already pro- 
 mised to betray him to death, but he did not accuse 
 Judas for this, or show him ill-wdl, but as in all 
 his life he taught his disciples love, so even now 
 he only reproached Judas lovingly. When they 
 all twelve were seated at table, he looked at them, 
 and said : " Among you sits he who has betrayed 
 me. Yes, he who eats and drinks with me shall also 
 destroy me." And he said nothing more, so that 
 they did not know of whom he spoke, and they began 
 to sup. 
 
 When they began to eat, Jesus took a loaf and 
 broke it into twelve parts, and gave each of the 
 disciples a piece, and said : " Take and eat, this is 
 my body." And he then filled a cup with wine, 
 handed it to the disciples, and said : " Drink, all of 
 you, of this cup." And when they had all drunk, 
 he said : " This is my blood. I shed it that people 
 may know my will, to forgive others their sins. 
 For I shall soon die, and be no more with you in 
 this world, but shall join you only in the kingdom 
 of heaven. 
 
 After this, Jesus got up from the table, girt himself 
 with a towel, took a ewer of water, and began to 
 wash the feet of all the disciples. And he came to 
 Peter ; and Peter said : " But why will you wash 
 my feet ? " Jesus said to him : " It seems strange 
 to you that I should wash your feet ; but you will 
 know soon why I do this. Though you are clean. 
 
 Mt. xxvL 20. 
 
 Jn. xiii. 11. 
 
 XXVI. 21, 
 xiv, J 8 
 
 Mt. xxii. 23. 
 
 27. 
 
 Lk. xxii. 13. 
 
 Jn. 
 
 xiii. 4. 
 6. 
 
 10. 
 
THE WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION 
 
 133 
 
 Jn, xiii. 12. 
 
 21. 
 
 yet not all of you are so, but among you is my 
 betrayer, to whom I gave, with my own hand, bread 
 and wine, and whose feet I wish to wash." 
 
 When Jesus had washed all their feet, he again 
 sat down, and said : " Do you understand why I did 
 this ? It was so that you always may do the same 
 for each other. I, your teacher, do this, that you 
 may know how to behave towards those who do you 
 evil If you have understood this, and will do it, 
 then you will be happy. When I said that one of you 
 will betray me, I did not speak of all of you, because 
 only a single one of you, whose feet I washed, and 
 who ate bread with me, will betray me." 
 
 And haviug said this, Jesus was troubled in 
 spirit, and yet again said : " Yes, yes, one of you 
 will betray me." 
 
 And again the disciples began to look round at 
 each other, not knowing of whom he spoke. One 
 disciiile sat near to Jesus, and Simon Peter signed 
 to him iu a way to ask who the betrayer was. The 
 disciple asked. And Jesus said : " I will soak a 
 piece of bread, and give it to him ; and he to whom 
 I shall give it is my betrayer." And he gave the 
 bread to Judas Iscariot, and said to him : " What 
 you wish to do, do quickly." Then Judas under- 
 stood that he must go out, and as soon as he had 
 taken tlie bread he forthwith went out. And it 
 was impossible to follow him, as it was night. 
 
 And when Judas was gone out, Jesus said : " It 
 is now clear to you what the Son of Man is. It is 
 now clear to you that in him God is, to make him 
 as blessed as God Himself. 
 
134 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 " Children ! I have not long now to be with you. 
 Do not equivocate over my teaching, as I said to 
 the orthodox, but do that which I do. I give you 
 this, a new commandment. As I always, and to 
 the end, have loved you all, do you always, and to 
 the end, love each other. By this only will you 
 be distinguished. Seek to be only thus distinguished 
 from other people. Love one another." 
 
 And after this, they went to the Mount of Olives. 
 
 And on the way Jesus said to them : " See, the 
 time is coming when that shall happen which is 
 written, the shepherd shall be killed, and all the 
 sheep shall be scattered. And to-night this shall 
 happen. I shall be taken, and you will all abandon 
 me, and scatter." 
 
 Peter said to him in answer : " Even if all shall 
 be frightened, and scatter, I will not deny you. I 
 am ready for prison and for death with you." 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " But I tell you that 
 this very night, before cock-crow, after I have been 
 taken, you will deny me, not once, but thrice." 
 
 But Peter said that he would not deny him ; and 
 the other disciples averred the same. 
 
 Then Jesus said to the disciples : " Before, neither 
 I nor you had need of anything. You went with- 
 out wallet and without change of shoes, and I so 
 bade you do. But now, if I am accounted an out- 
 law, we can no longer do so, but we must be fur- 
 nished with everything, and with swords, that we 
 may not perish in vain." 
 
 And the disciples said : " See, we have two 
 swords." 
 
 Jn. xiiL i 
 
 Mt, xxvi. 
 
 33. 
 
 34. 
 
 35, 
 
 Lk. xxii. 35. 
 
 36. 
 
 38. 
 
THE WARFARE WITH TEMPTATION 
 
 135 
 
 Mt. XX^T. 
 
 Jn. xviiL 
 
 Mt. xxvi, 37. 
 
 38. 
 
 Jesus said : " It is well." 
 
 And having said this, Jesus went with the fol- 
 lowers into the garden of Gethsemane. Coming 
 into the garden, he said : " Wait you here, but I 
 wish to pray." 
 
 And while near to Peter and the two brothers, 
 sons of Zebedee, he began to feel weary and sad, 
 and he said to them : " I feel very sad, and my 
 soul is full of the anguish before death. Wait here, 
 and be not cast down as I am." 
 
 And he went off a little way, lay on the ground 
 on his face, and began to pray, and said : " My 
 Father, the Spirit ! Let it be not as I will, 
 which is that I should not die, but let it be as 
 Thou wilt. Let me die, but for Thee, as a spirit, 
 all is possible ; let it be that I may not fear 
 death, that I may escape the temptation of the 
 flesh." 
 
 And then he arose, went up to the disciples, and 
 saw that they were cast down. And he said to 
 them : " How is it you have not strength for one 
 hour to keep up your spirit, even as I ? Keep up 
 your spirit, so as not to fall into the temptation 
 of the flesh. The spirit is strong, the flesh is 
 weak." 
 
 And again Jesus went away from them, and 
 again began to pray, and said : " Father, if I must 
 suffer, must die, and am about to die, then so let it 
 be. Let Thy will be done." And having said this, 
 he again went up to the disciples, and saw that 
 they were still more cast down, and ready to 
 weep. 
 
136 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 And he again went away from them, and the 
 third time said : " Father, let Thy will be done." 
 
 Then he returned to the disciples, and said to 
 them : " Now be easy, and be calm, because it is 
 now decided that I shall give myself into the hands 
 of worldly men." 
 
 Mt. xxvi. 44, 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE 
 
 Jn. xiii. 
 
 xiv. 1. 
 
 The self-life is an illusion which comes through the flesh, an 
 evil. The true life is the life common to all men 
 
 ("Deliver us from evil") 
 
 And Peter said to Jesus : " Whither are you 
 going ? " 
 
 Jesus answered : " You will not have the 
 strength now to go whither I am going ; but after- 
 wards you will go the same way." 
 
 And Peter said : " Why do joxi think that I 
 have not the strength now to follow whither you 
 go ? I will give up my life for you." 
 
 And Jesus said : " You say that you will give up 
 your life for me, and yet even before cock-crow you 
 shall deny me thrice." And Jesus said to the dis- 
 ciples : " Be not troubled and be not afraid, but 
 believe in the true God of life, and in my 
 teaching." 
 
 The life of the Father is not only that which is 
 on earth, but there is another life also, If there 
 were only such a life as the life here, I would 
 say to you, that when I die I shall go into 
 Abraham's bosom, and make ready a place there 
 
 1S7 
 
138 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 for you, and I shall come and take you, and we 
 shall together live happily in Abraham's bosom. 
 But I point out to you only the direction to life. 
 
 Thomas said : " But we do not know whither you 
 go, and therefore we cannot know the way. We 
 want to know what there will be after death." 
 
 Jesus said : " I cannot show you what will be 
 there ; my teaching is the way, and the truth, and 
 the life. And it is impossible to be joined with the 
 Father of life otherwise than through my teaching. 
 If you fulfil my teaching, you shall know the 
 Father." 
 
 Philip said : " But who is the Father ? " 
 
 And Jesus said : " The Father is He who gives 
 life. I have fulfilled the will of the Father, and 
 therefore by my life you may know wherein is the 
 will of the Father. I live by the Father, and the 
 Father lives in me. All that I say and do, I do by 
 the will of the Father. My teaching is, that I am 
 in the Father and the Father is in me. If you do 
 not understand my teaching, yet you see me and 
 my works. And therefore you may understand 
 what the Father is. And you know that he who 
 shall follow my teaching may do the same as I ; and 
 yet more, because I shall die, but he will still live. 
 He who shall live according to my teaching, shall 
 have all that he wishes, because then the Son will be 
 one with the Father. Whatever you may wish that 
 accords with my teaching, all that you shall have. 
 But for this you must love my teaching. My 
 teaching will give you, in my place, an intercessor 
 and comforter. This comforter will be the con- 
 
 Jn. X iv. 4, 
 5. 
 
THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE 
 
 139 
 
 Jn. xiv. 18. 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 sciousness of truth, which worldly men do not 
 understand ; but you will know it in yourselves. 
 You never will be alone, if the spirit of my teaching 
 is with you. I shall die, and worldly men will not 
 see me ; but you will see me, because my teaching 
 lives and you will live by it. And then, if my 
 teaching shall be in you, you will understand that 
 I am in the Father and the Father in me. He who 
 shall fulfil my teaching, shall feel in himself the 
 Father ; and in him my spirit shall live." 
 
 And Judas, not Iscariot, but another, said to 
 him : But why, then, may not all live by the spirit 
 of truth ? " 
 
 Jesus said in answer : " Only he who fulfils my 
 teaching, only him the Father loves, and in him 
 only can my spirit abide. He who does not fulfil 
 my teaching, him my Father cannot love, because 
 this teaching is not mine, but the Father's. This is 
 all that I can tell you now. But my spirit, the 
 spirit of truth, which shall take up its abode in you 
 after I am gone, shall reveal to you all, and you 
 shall recall and understand much of that which I 
 have told you. So that you may always be calm 
 in spirit, not with that worldly calm which men of 
 the world seek, but with that calm of spirit in which 
 we no longer fear anything. On this account, if 
 you fulfil my teaching, you have no reason to grieve 
 over my death. I, as the spirit of truth, will come 
 to you, and, together with the knowledge of the 
 Father, will take up my abode in your heart. If 
 you fulfil my teaching, then you must rejoice, 
 because instead of me you will have the Father 
 
I40 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 with you in your heart, and this is better for 
 you. 
 
 " My teaching is the tree of life. The Father is 
 He who tends the tree. He prunes and cherishes 
 those branches upon which there is fruit, that they 
 may yield more. Keep my teaching of life, and 
 life will be in you. And as a shoot lives not of 
 itself, but out of the tree, so do you live by my 
 teaching. My teaching is the tree, you are the 
 shoots. He who lives by my teaching of life yields 
 much fruit ; and without my teaching there is no 
 life. He who does not live by my teaching withers 
 and dies ; and the dry branches are cut off and 
 burnt. 
 
 " If you will live by my teaching, and fulfil it, 
 then you shall have all that you desire. Because 
 the will of the Father is, that you may live the true 
 life and have that which yoa desire. As the Father 
 gave me happiness, so I give you happiness. Hold 
 to this happiness. I am living, because the Father 
 loves me and I love the Father ; do you also live 
 by the same love. If you will live by this, you 
 shall be blessed. 
 
 "My commandment is, that you love one 
 another as I have loved you. There is no greater 
 love than to sacrifice one's life for the love of one's 
 own, as I have done. 
 
 " You are my equals, if you do that which I 
 have taught you. I do not hold you as slaves, to 
 whom orders are given, but as equals ; because I 
 have made clear to you all that I have known of 
 the Father. You do not, of your own will, choose 
 
 in. XV, 
 
THE FAREWELL DLSCOURSE 
 
 141 
 
 Jn. XV. 17. 
 
 27. 
 xvi. 1. 
 
 my teaching; but because I have pointed out to 
 you that only truth by which you will live, and 
 from which you will have all that you wish. 
 
 "The teaching is summed up in this — Love one 
 another. 
 
 " If the world should hate you, then do not 
 wonder ; it hates my teaching. If you were at one 
 with the world, it would love you. But I have 
 severed you from the world, and for that it will 
 hate you. If they persecuted me, they will perse- 
 cute you also. They will do all this, because they 
 do not know the true God. I explained to them, 
 but they did not wish to hear me. They did not 
 understand my teaching, because they did not 
 understand the Father. They saw my life, and 
 my life showed them their error. And for this 
 they stQI more hated me. The spirit of truth 
 which shall come to you, will confirm this to you. 
 And you will accept it. I tell you this beforehand, 
 so that you may not be deceived when persecutions 
 shall be upon you. You shall be made outcasts; 
 men shall think that in killing you they do God's 
 pleasure. All this they cannot help doing, because 
 they understand neither my teaching nor the true 
 God. All this I tell you beforehand, so that you 
 may not wonder when it comes about. 
 
 " Well then, I now go away to that Spirit which ' 
 sent me ; and now you understand, you need not 
 ask me whither I go. But before, you were grieved 
 that I did not tell you whither, to what place, 1 
 depart. 
 
 " But I tell you truly that it is well for you that 
 
I4Z 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 I am going. If I do not die, the spirit of truth 
 will not appear to you, but if I die, it will take up 
 its abode in you. It will take up its abode in you, 
 and it will be clear to you where untruth is, 
 where truth is, and how to make decision. Untruth, 
 in that people do not believe in the life of the 
 spirit. Truth, in that I am one with the Father. 
 Decision, in that the power of the fleshly life is at 
 an end. 
 
 " I would say yet much more to you, but it is 
 difficult for you to understand. But when the 
 spirit of truth dwells in you, it will show you the 
 whole truth, because it will tell you, not a new 
 thing of its own, but that which is of God; and it 
 will show you the way in all concerns of life. It 
 also will be from the Father, as I am from the 
 Father ; therefore it also will tell you the same as I 
 tell you. 
 
 " But when I, the spirit of truth, shall be in you, 
 you will not always see me. Sometimes you will, 
 and sometimes you will not, hear me.'' 
 
 And the disciples said one to another: "What 
 does he mean when he says : ' Sometimes you will 
 see nie, sometimes you will not see me.' What 
 means this, ' Sometimes you will, sometimes you 
 will not ' ? " 
 
 Jesus said to them : " Do you not understand 
 what this means : ' Sometimes you will, sometimes 
 you will not, see me ' ? You know how it always 
 is in the world, that some are sad and grieved, 
 while others rejoice. And you will grieve, but your 
 grief will pass into joy. A woman, when she bears. 
 
 Jn. xvi. 8. 
 
THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE 
 
 143 
 
 Jn xvi. 22. 
 
 27. 
 
 xvii. 1, 
 
 grieves while she is in the pangs of childbirth ; but 
 when that is ended, she does not remember the 
 pangs, for joy that a man is born into the world. 
 And so you will grieve ; anon you will see me, the 
 spirit of truth will enter into you, and your grief 
 will be turned into joy. Then you will no longer 
 ask anything of me, because you will have all that 
 you wish. Then all which one of you desires in the 
 spirit, all that he will have from his Father. 
 
 " You formerly asked for nothing for the spirit ; 
 but now ask what you wUl for the spirit, and you 
 will have all ; so that your bliss will be full. Now 
 I, as a man, cannot tell you this clearly in words, 
 but when I, as the spirit of truth, shall live in you, 
 I will proclaim to you clearly about the Father. 
 Then it will not be I who will give you all you ask 
 of the Father in the name of the spirit. But the 
 Father will Himself give, because He loves j'ou for 
 having received my teaching. You have understood 
 that understanding proceeds from the Father into 
 the world and returns from the world to the 
 Father " 
 
 Then the disciples said to Jesus : " Now we have 
 understood everything, and have nothing more to 
 ask, we believe that you are from God." 
 
 And Jesus said : " All that I have said to you is 
 in order that you may have confidence and rest in 
 my teaching. Whatever ills may befall you in the 
 world, fear nothing : my teaching will conquer the 
 world." 
 
 After this, Jesus raised his eyes to heaven, and 
 said: 
 
144 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 "My Father! 
 freedom of life 
 true life. Life is 
 
 Thou hast given Thy Son the 
 in order that he may receive the 
 
 the knowledge of the true God 
 
 of the understanding, Who is discovered to me. I 
 have discovered Thee to men on earth ; I have done 
 that work which Thou has bidden me do. I have 
 rhown Thy being to men on earth. They were 
 Thine before, but by Thy will I have discovered to 
 them the truth, and they know Thee. They have 
 understood that all they have, their life, is from 
 Thee only, and that I have taught them, not of 
 myself, but as proceeding, I with them, from Thee. 
 But I pray to Thee for those who acknowledge 
 Thee. They have understood that all I have is 
 Thine, and all that is Thine is mine. I am no 
 longer in the world, for I return to Thee ; but they 
 are in the world, and therefore I pray Thee, Father, 
 to preserve in them Thy undr-rstanding. I do not 
 pray Thee to remove them I'rom the world, but to 
 free them from evil ; to confirm them in Thy truth. 
 Thy understanding is the truth. My Father ! I 
 wish them to be as I am ; to understand as I do, 
 that the true life began before the beginning of the 
 world. That they should all be one ; as Thou, 
 Father, art in me, and I in Thee, so they may also 
 be one in me. I in them, Thou in me, so that all 
 may be one ; so that all men may understand they 
 are not self-created, but that Thou, in love, hast 
 sent them into the world as Thou didst send me. 
 Father of truth ! the world did not know Thee, but 
 I knew Thee, and they have known Thee through 
 me. And I have made plain to them what Thou 
 
 Jn. 
 
THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE 145 
 
 art. Thou art in me, that the love with which 
 Thou hast loved me may be in them also. Thou 
 gavest them life, and therefore didst love them. I 
 have taught them to know this, and to love Thee ; 
 so that Thy love might be returned from them to 
 Thee." 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 THE VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 
 
 Therefore, for him who Hues, not the self-life, but a common 
 life in the will of the Father, there is no death. Bodily 
 death is for him union with the Father 
 
 ("ttbtne is tbe hlng&om, power, an& glorg") 
 
 After this, Jesus said : " Now arise, and let us go ; 
 already he is coming who will betray me." 
 
 And he had hardly said this, when suddenly 
 Judas, one of the twelve disciples, appeared, and 
 with him a great throng of people with sticks and 
 swords. Judas said to them : " I will bring you 
 where he and his followers are, and so that you 
 may know him among them all, he whom I shall 
 first kiss, that is he." And he straightway went 
 up to Jesus, and said : " Hail, teacher ! " and kissed 
 him. 
 
 And Jesus said to him : " Friend, why are you 
 here ? " 
 
 Then the guard surrounded Jesus, and wished to 
 take him. 
 
 And Peter snatched the sword from the high 
 priest's servant, and slashed the man's ear. 
 
 But Jesus said : " You must not oppose evil 
 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 
 62. 
 
VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 147 
 
 Mt. xxvi. 55. 
 
 Lk xxii. 53. 
 
 Mt xxvi. 56. 
 
 Jn xviii. 12. 
 
 Mk. xiv. 63. 
 
 Mt. xxvi. 58. 
 
 Cease." And he said to Peter : " Eeturn the sword 
 to him from whom you took it ; he who shall draw 
 the sword, shall perish with the sword." 
 
 And after this, Jesus turned to the crowd, and 
 said : " Why have you come out against me, as 
 against a robber, with arms ? I was every day 
 among you in the temple, and taught you, and you 
 did not take me. But now is your hour, and 
 the power of darkness." 
 
 Then, having seen that he was taken, all the 
 disciples ran away. 
 
 And the officer ordered the soldiers to take 
 Jesus, and bind him. The soldiers bound him, 
 and took liun first to Annas. This was the father- 
 in-law of Caiaphas, and Caiaphas was the high 
 priest for that year, and lived in the same house 
 with Annas. This was the same Caiaphas who 
 planned how to destroy Jesus. He held that it 
 was good for the sake of the people to destroy 
 Jesus, because, if that were not done, it would be 
 worse for the whole people. And they took Jesus 
 to the house where this high priest lived. 
 
 When they had brought Jesus thither, one of 
 Iiis disciples, Peter, followed him from afar, and 
 watched where they were taking him. When they 
 brought Jesus into the court of the high priest, 
 Peter went in also, to see how all would end. 
 And a girl in the yard saw Peter, and said to 
 him : " You, also, were with Jesus of Galilee." 
 Then Peter was afraid that they would accuse 
 him also, and he said aloud before all the people : 
 " I do not know what you are talking about." 
 
148 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 Afterwards, when they had taken Jesus into the 
 house, Peter also entered the hall, with the people. 
 In the hall, a woman was warming herself at the 
 fire, and Peter approached. The woman looked at 
 Peter, and said to the people : " See, this man is 
 likely to have been with Jesus of Kazareth." Peter 
 was stdl more frightened, and swore that he never 
 was with liim, and did not even know what kind 
 of a man Jesus was. A little while after, the 
 people came up to Peter, and said : " It is quite 
 clear that you also were among the disturbers. 
 By your speech one may know that you are from 
 Galilee." Then Peter began to swear, and aver 
 that he had never known or seen Jesus. 
 
 And he had hardly said this, when the cock 
 crew. And Peter remembered those words which 
 Jesus had said to him, when Peter swore that if 
 all denied Jesus, he would not deny him : " Before 
 the cock crow this night, you will deny me thrice." 
 And Peter went out, and cried bitterly. Jesus had 
 prayed that he might not thus fall into temptation. 
 He had fallen into one temptation, that of strife, 
 when he began to defend Jesus ; and into another 
 temptation, the fear of death, when he denied Jesus. 
 
 And there gathered to the high priest, the 
 orthodox chief priests, assistants and officials. And 
 when all were assembled, they brought in Jesus ; 
 and the chief priests asked him, what was his 
 teachiug, and who were his followers. 
 
 And Jesus answered : " I always said all I had 
 to say before everybody openly, and so I speak 
 now; I concealed nothing from anyone, and I conceal 
 
 Mt. xxvi. 71. 
 
 73. 
 
 74. 
 
 75. 
 
 Mk. xiv. 63. 
 Jn. xviii. 10. 
 
 20. 
 
VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 149 
 
 Ji]. xviii. 2i. 
 
 nothing now. But about what do you question 
 me ? Question those who heard and understood 
 my teaching. They will tell you." 
 
 When Jesus had said this, one of the high 
 priest's servants struck him in the face, and said : 
 " To whom are you speaking ? Is this the way to 
 answer the high priest ? " 
 
 Jesus said : " If I spoke ill, say what I spoke ill. 
 But if I said nothing ill, then there is no cause to 
 beat me." 
 
 The orthodox chief priests strove to accuse 
 Jesus, and at first did not find any proofs against 
 him for which it was possible to condemn him. 
 Afterwards they found two witnesses. These said 
 about Jesus : " We ourselves heard how this man 
 said : ' I will destroy this temple of yours made 
 with hands, and in three days will build up 
 another temple to God, not made with hands.' " 
 But this evidence, also, was not enough to con- 
 demn him. And therefore the high priest called 
 up Jesus, and said : " Why do you not answer their 
 evidence ? " 
 
 Jesus held his tongue, saying nothing. Then 
 the high priest said to him : " Well, say then, Are 
 you the Christ, and of God \ " 
 
 Jesus answered him, and said : " Yes, I am the 
 Christ, and of God. You yourselves will now see 
 that the Son of Man is made like God." 
 
 Then the high priest cried out: "You blaspheme! 
 Now we do not want any evidence. We all hear, 
 now, that you are a blasphemer." And the high 
 priest turned to the assembly, and said : " You 
 
ISO 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 have yourselves heard that he blasphemes God. 
 To what do you sentence him for this ? " 
 
 And all said : " We sentence him to death." 
 
 Then all the people, and the guards, fell upon 
 Jesus, and began to spit in his face, to strike him 
 on the cheeks, and to tear at him. They covered 
 his eyes, hit him in the face, and asked: "Now, 
 prophet, guess who it was that hit you ? " 
 
 But Jesus held his peace. 
 
 Having abused him, they took him, bound, to 
 Pontius Pilate. And they brought him into the 
 court. 
 
 Pilate, the governor, came out to them and 
 asked : " Of what do you accuse this man ? " 
 
 They said : " This man is doing wrong ; so we 
 have brought him to you." 
 
 And Pilate said to them : " But if he does 
 wrong, then judge him yourselves according to 
 your law." 
 
 And they said : " We have brought him to you 
 that you might execute him, for we are not allowed 
 to kill anyone." 
 
 And so that happened which Jesus expected. 
 He said that one must be ready to die on the cross 
 at the hands of the Eomans, more likely than at 
 the hands of the Jews. 
 
 And when Pilate asked, whereof they accused 
 him, they said, that he was guilty of stining up the 
 people, and that he forbade the payment of taxes 
 to Caesar, and that he set up himself as Christ and 
 king. 
 
 Pilate hstened to them, and bade Jesus be 
 
 Mt. xxvi, 67, 
 
 xxvii. 2. 
 Jn. xviii, 28, 
 
 Lk. xxiii. 2. 
 
 Jn. xviii. 33. 
 
VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 151 
 
 Jn. xviii. 34. 
 
 36. 
 
 87. 
 
 33. 
 
 Mk. XV. 
 
 brought to him in the court. When Jesus came 
 in, Pilate said to him : " So you are king of the 
 Jews ? " 
 
 Jesus said to him : " Do you really suppose that 
 I am a king, or are you repeating only that which 
 others have told you ? " 
 
 Pilate said : " I am not a Jew, therefore you 
 cannot be my king, but your people have brought 
 you to me. What kind of a man are you ? " 
 
 Jesus answered : " I am a king ; but my kingdom 
 is not an earthly one. If I were an earthly king, 
 my subjects would fight for me, and would not 
 yield to the high priests. But as it is, you see 
 that my kingdom is not an earthly one." 
 
 Pdate said to this : " But yet, do you not con- 
 sider yourself a king ? " Jesus said : " Not only I, 
 but you also, cannot but consider me a king. For 
 I only teach, in order to discover to all the truth 
 of the kingdom of heaven. And everyone who 
 lives by the truth, is a king." 
 
 Pilate said : " You spoke of truth. What is 
 truth ? " 
 
 And having said this, he turned, and went to 
 the chief priests. He went out and said to them : 
 " In my opinion, this man has done no wrong." 
 
 But the chief priests insisted upon their opinion, 
 and said that he was doing much evil, and stirring 
 up the people, and had raised the whole of Judtea 
 right from Galilee. 
 
 Then Pilate, in the presence of the chief priests, 
 began to question Jesus. But. Jesus did not 
 answer. Pilate then said to him : " Do you hear 
 
152 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 of wnat they accuse you ? Why do you not justify 
 yourself ? " 
 
 But Jesus still held his tongue, and said not 
 another word, so that Pilate wondered at him. 
 
 Pilate remembered that Galilee was in the 
 power of King Herod, and aslced : " Ah ! he is 
 from Galilee ? " They answered : " Yes." 
 
 Then he said : " If he is from Galilee, then he 
 is under the authority of Herod, and I will send 
 him to him." Herod was then in Jerusalem, and 
 Pilate, in order to rid himself, sent Jesus to Herod. 
 
 When they brought Jesus to Herod, Herod was 
 very glad to see him. He had heard much of 
 him, and wished to know what kind of man he 
 was. So he called Jesus to him, and began to 
 question him about all he wished to know. But 
 Jesus answered him nothing. And the chief priests 
 and teachers, just as with Pilate, so before Herod, 
 vehemently accused Jesus, and said that he was a 
 rioter. And Herod deemed Jesus an empty fellow, 
 and to mock him, bade them clothe him in red, 
 and send him back to Pilate. Herod was pleased 
 at Pilate's showing respect to him, by sending 
 Jesus for his judgment, and on this account they 
 became friends, whereas formerly they Iiad been at 
 variance. 
 
 Now, when they brought Jesus again to Pilate, 
 Pilate called back the chief priests and Jewish 
 authorities, and said to them : " You brought this 
 man to me for stirring up the people, and I have 
 examined him before you, and do not see that he 
 is a lioter. I sent him with you to Herod, and 
 
 Mk. \v. 5. 
 
 Lk xxiii. 0. 
 
VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 153 
 
 Mt.xxvii. 23. 
 
 Jn. xix. 4. 
 
 now, see, — nothing wrong is found in liim. And, 
 in my opinion, there is no cause to punish him with 
 death. Had vou not better punish hun and let 
 him go ? " 
 
 But when the chief priests heard this, all cried 
 out : " No, punish him in the Roman fashion ! 
 Stretch him on the cross ! " Pilate heard them 
 out, and said to the chief priests : " Well, as you 
 will ! But you have a custom at the feast of the 
 Passover to pardon one condemned malefactor. 
 Well, I have lying in prison, Barabbas, a murderer 
 and rioter. Which one of the two must be let 
 free : Jesus or Barabbas ? " 
 
 Pilate thus wished to save Jesus ; but the chief 
 priests had so worked upon the people, that all 
 cried out : " Barabbas, Barabbas ! " 
 
 And Pilate said : " And what shall be done with 
 Jesus ? " 
 
 They again cried out : " Eoman fashion, — to the 
 cross, to the cross with him." 
 
 And Pilate tried to talk them over. He said : 
 " Why do you press so hardly on him ? He has 
 done nothing that he should be punished with 
 death, and he has done you no harm. I will set 
 him free, because I find no fault in him." 
 
 The chief priests and their servants cried out : 
 " Crucify, crucify him ! " 
 
 And Pdate said to them : " If so, then take him 
 and crucify him yourselves. But I see no fault in 
 him." 
 
 The chief priests answered : " We ask only that 
 which our law demands. By our law, he must be 
 
154 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 executed for having made himself out to be Son of 
 God." 
 
 When Pilate heard this word, he was troubled, 
 because he did not know what this term " Son of 
 God " meant. And having returned into the court, 
 Pilate called up Jesus again, and asked him : " Who 
 are you, and whence are you ? " 
 
 But Jesus did not answer. 
 
 Then Pilate said : " But why do you not answer 
 me ? You surely see that you are in my power, 
 and that I can crucify you, or set you free." 
 
 Jesus answered him : " You have no power. 
 There is power only from above." 
 
 Pilate, nevertheless, wished to set Jesus free, 
 and he said to them : " How is it you wish to 
 crucify your king ? " 
 
 But the Jews said to him : " If you set Jesus 
 free, you will thereby show that you are a disloyal 
 servant to Ctesar, because he who sets himself up as 
 king is an enemy to Caesar. Our king is Caesar ; 
 but crucify this man." 
 
 And when Pilate heard these words, he under- 
 stood that he could now no longer refuse to execute 
 Jesus. 
 
 Then Pilate went out before the Jews, took some 
 water, washed his hands, and said : " I am not 
 guilty of the blood of this just man." And the 
 whole people cried out : " Let his blood be upon us 
 and all our children." 
 
 So that the chief priests gained the upper hand. 
 And Pilate sat in his place of judgment, and 
 ordered Jesus to be first flogged. 
 
 Jn. xix. S. 
 
 10. 
 
 12. 
 15. 
 
 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 Mt. xxvii. 24. 
 
 Lk, xxiii. 23. 
 Jn. xix. 13. 
 Mt. xxvii. 26. 
 
VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 155 
 
 Mt.xxvii. 28, 
 29. 
 
 Jn. xix. 15. 
 
 16. 
 Mt, xxvii. 31. 
 
 Jn. xix. 18. 
 
 Lk. xxiii. 34. 
 
 Mk. XV. 29. 
 
 When they had flogged him, the soldiers, who 
 had done this, put a crown upon his head, and a 
 rod in his hand, and threw a red cloak over his 
 back, and fell to reviling him ; in mockery, they 
 bowed down to his feet, and said : " Hail, king of 
 the Jews ! " And others struck him on the cheeks, 
 over the face, and spat in his face. 
 
 But the chief priests cried : " Crucify him ! Our 
 king is Caesar ! Crucify him ! " 
 
 And Pilate bade him be crucified. 
 
 Then they stripped Jesus of the red dress, put 
 on him his own clothing, and bade him bear the 
 cross to a place called Golgotha, there to be cruci- 
 fied at once. And he carried his cross, and so 
 came to Golgotha. And there they stretched 
 Jesus on the cross, beside two other men. These 
 two were at the sides, and Jesus was in the 
 middle. 
 
 When they had crucified Jesus, he said : " Father ! 
 forgive them ; they do not know what they are 
 doing." 
 
 And when Jesus was hung on the cross, the 
 people thronged round him and railed at him. 
 They came up, wagged their heads at him, and 
 said : " So, you wished to destroy the temple of 
 Jerusalem, and to build it up again in three days. 
 Well now, save your.self, come down from the 
 cross ! " And the chief priests and leaders stood 
 there also, and mocked at him, and said : " He 
 thought to save others, but cannot save himself. 
 Now show that you are Christ; come down from 
 the cross, and then we will believe you. He said 
 
iS6 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 that he was the Son of God, and that God would 
 not forsake him. But how is it that God has now 
 forsaken him?" And the people, and the chief 
 priests, and the soldiers, railed at him, and even 
 one of the robbers crucified with him, he too railed 
 at him. 
 
 One of the robbers, reviling him, said : " If you 
 are Christ, save yourself and us." 
 
 But the other robber heard this, and said : " Do 
 you not fear God ? You who are yourself on the 
 cross, do you even rail at the innocent ? You and 
 I are executed for our deserts, but this man has 
 done no harm." 
 
 " And, turning to Jesus, this robber said to him : 
 " Lord, remember me in your kingdom." 
 
 And Jesus said to hiui : " Even now you are 
 blessed with me ! " 
 
 But at the ninth hour, Jesus, worn out, cried 
 aloud : " Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ! " This 
 means : " My God, my God ! Why hast thou 
 forsaken me ? " 
 
 And when the people heard this, they began to 
 say jeeringly : " He is calling the prophet Elias ! 
 Let us see whether Elias will come ! " 
 
 Afterwards, Jesus cried out : " Let me drink !" 
 
 And a man took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, 
 that stood by, and gave it to Jesus on a reed. 
 
 Jesus sucked the sponge, and cried out in a loud 
 voice : " It is finished ! Father, I give up my 
 spirit into your hands ! " And, letting his head 
 fall, he gave up the ghost. 
 
 Lk. xxiii. 39> 
 
 Mt.xx\ii.46. 
 
 Lk. xxiii. 4t>, 
 
A PROLOGUE 
 
 THE UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE 
 
 The proclamation of Christ has replaced the belief in an 
 external God by the understanding of life 
 
 The Gospel is the revelation of this truth, that the 
 first source of everything is the understanding of 
 life itself. This being so, the Gospel puts in the 
 place of what men call " God " a right understand- 
 ing of life. Without this understanding there is 
 no life ; men only live in so far as they understand 
 life. 
 
 Those who do not grasp this, and who deem that 
 the body is the source of life, shut themselves out 
 from true life ; but those who comprehend that 
 they live, not through the body, but through the 
 spirit, possess true life. This is that true life which 
 Jesus Christ came to teach to men. Having con- 
 ceived that man's life flows from the understanding, 
 he gave to men the teaching and example of a life 
 of the understanding in the body. 
 
 Earlier religions were the announcements of law 
 as to what men ought to do, and not to do, for the 
 
 157 
 
iS8 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 service of God. The teaching of Jesus, on the 
 other hand, deals only with the understanding of 
 life. No man has ever seen, and no man can see 
 or know, an external God ; therefore our life cannot 
 take for its aim the service of such a God. Only 
 by adopting for his supreme principle the inner 
 understanding of life, havmg for its source the 
 acknowledgment of God, can man surely travel the 
 way of life. ' 
 
 The announcement of salvation of Jesus Christ, 
 the Son of God. This is the announcement of 
 salvation ; all men who come to know they are 
 sons of God receive true life. The foundation and 
 beginning of all things is the understanding of life. 
 Understanding of life is God. This the announce- 
 ment of Jesus Christ reveals as the foundation and 
 beginning of everything. All is built upon the 
 understanding of life, without which there can be 
 no living. In this is true life. 
 
 This understanding is the light of truth. But 
 this light shines amid the darkness, and the dark- 
 ness is not able to overcome it. The true light 
 has always been in the world, and shines upon all 
 men who come into the world. It has been in the 
 world, and the world existed only because it con- 
 tained this light ; but the world has not adhered 
 to it. This light has appeared in its place, but its 
 place has not retained it. 
 
 All those who have grasped the understanding 
 of life have received the opportunity of becoming 
 
 Mk. i. 1, 
 Jn XX. 31. 
 
A PROLOGUE 
 
 159 
 
 Jn. 
 
 like it through belief in it. Those who have be- 
 lieved that life is in the understanding have become 
 the sons, not of the flesh, but of the understanding. 
 
 And the understanding of life was united with 
 the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, and so we 
 were given to know that the offspring of under- 
 standing, man in the flesh, is of the same nature as 
 his Father, the original source of life. 
 
 The teaching of Jesus is the perfect and true 
 faith. In fulfdling the teaching of Jesus, we have 
 understood the new faith which replaces the old. 
 It was law that Moses gave, but we come to under- 
 stand tlie true faith through Jesus Christ. 
 
 No man has ever seen God ; the Son only, who 
 is in the Father, has shown us the way of life. 
 
A SUMMARY 
 
 THE UNDEESTANDING OF LIFE IS TO 
 DO GOOD 
 
 The announcement of blessedness made by Jesus Christ is 
 an announcement of understanding of life 
 
 The understanding of life is this : The source of 
 life is perfect goodness, and therefore human life 
 is perfectly good in its nature. To understand 
 the source of life, it is necessary to believe that 
 our spirit, the life in man, came from this source. 
 The man, formerly not living, is summoned into 
 life by this, his origin. This source of life appoints 
 blessedness for man, because its own being is 
 blessedness. 
 
 To keep in harmony with the source of his life, 
 a man must fix himself upon the one characteristic 
 of this source which is comprehensible to him, and 
 which finds blessedness in doing good. Therefore 
 man's life must be devoted to this blessedness ; that 
 is, to doing good from love. But we can find no 
 objects of goodness other than men. All our own 
 bodily desires are out of harmony with this prin- 
 
A SUMMARY 
 
 i6i 
 
 ciple of blessedness ; and therefore they, with all 
 the life of the body, must be surrendered to the 
 principle of blessedness, to active love to mankind. 
 Love to our fellow-men follows from the under- 
 standing of life revealed by Jesus Christ. The 
 confirmations of this understanding of life are two- 
 fold. One is, that when not accepted, the source 
 of life seems to be an impostor, who gives to men 
 an unsatisfied craving for life and blessedness. The 
 other is, that man feels in his soul that love and 
 goodness towards his fellow-men is the only true, 
 free, eternal life. 
 
 Tlie First Epistle of John the Divine. 
 
 This is the announcement of the understanding 
 of life through which men have fellowship with the 
 Father of life, and therefore have eternal life. 
 
 This is an announcement of blessedness. 
 
 The understanding of life is, that God is life and 
 blessedness, and that in life and blessedness, death 
 and evil do not exist. 
 
 If we say that we are at one with God, while we 
 feel we are living in evil and death, then either we 
 are imposing upon ourselves, or we are not doing 
 what we ought to do. 
 
 Only by living the same life as His, do we be- 
 come at one with Him. 
 
 As a teacher of this life, we have Jesus Christ, 
 the right-living. He freed us and all who will, 
 from wrong-living. 
 
 The proof that we know the teaching of Jesus 
 
l62 
 
 THE GOSPEL TN BRIEF 
 
 Christ is, that we cany out his commaudments. 
 Anyone who says he knows the teaching of Jesus 
 Christ, and does not keep his connnandnients, is a 
 liar, and there is no truth in him. But the man 
 who carries out his commandments has the love of 
 God in him. Only through love can we know that 
 we are at one with God. 
 
 He who says he is at one with Jesus Christ, must 
 also live as Jesus lived. 
 
 He who says of himself that he is in life and 
 blessedness, but hates his living brother-man, is not 
 in life and blessedness, but in death and evil ; and 
 he does not know what he is doing; he is blind, 
 hating the life which is in himself also. 
 
 To escape this blindness, a man must remember 
 that everything in the world, in the earthly life, is 
 the desire of the flesh, or vanity, and that all this 
 is not from God. And that all this passes away, 
 perishes. And that only he who does the will of 
 God, which is love, endures for ever. 
 
 Only he who recognises that his spirit is the 
 offspring of the Father, is united with the Father. 
 Therefore remain in the knowledge that you are, 
 in the spirit, sons of the Father, God, and you will 
 have eternal life. 
 
 God gives us the opportunity of being His sons, 
 and like Himself. So that, in this present life, we 
 become His sons. "We do not know what we are 
 to be, but we know that we are like Him, and that 
 we are united with Him. 
 
 Confidence in this eternal life rids us of our 
 mistakes, and purifies us to the Father's purity. 
 
 1 Jn. ii. 4. 
 
A SUMMARY 
 
 ■63 
 
 1 Jn. iii. 4. 
 
 For whoever commits sin, violates the will of 
 God. 
 
 Jesus Christ came to teach us the way to deliver- 
 ance from sin and unity with God. Therefore 
 those who become united with Him can no longer 
 sin. Only that man will sin who does not know 
 Him. But he who lives in God, acts righteously ; 
 and only he who is not united with God, does 
 unrighteously. He who owns his origin from God, 
 cannot do any falsehood. 
 
 Therefore men are of two classes — men of God, 
 and men who are not of God ; men who know the 
 right and love the brethren, and men who do not 
 know the right and do not love the brethren. 
 
 For, following the teaching of Jesus Christ, we 
 cannot refrain from loving one another. Through 
 the teaching of Jesus Christ, we know that we have 
 passed from death to life, because we love the 
 brethren, and that he who does not love his brother 
 is in death. AVe know that one who does not love 
 his living brother does not love life. And he who 
 does not love life cannot himself possess life. 
 
 By this teaching we recognise love, in the fact 
 that life is given to us ; and we know, therefore, that 
 we also must give up our life for our brother. So 
 that he who, himself having the means of life, sees 
 his brother in need, and does not yield his own life 
 for his brother's sake, — in him there is no divine 
 love. 
 
 We must love, not by words, but by deeds, in 
 truth. And he who so loves has a quiet heart, 
 because he is at one with God. 
 
164 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 If our heart is at strife in us, we subdue it to 
 God. For God is higher than the wishes of our 
 hearts. But if there is no strife in our hearts, 
 then we are blessed, and that because we do all 
 we can, the best deeds, and fulfil all that is ordained 
 for us. 
 
 And this is ordained for us — to believe that man 
 is the son of God, and to love our brother. Those 
 who do this are united with God, and are risen 
 above the world, because that which is in us is 
 greater, of more consequence, than all the world. 
 
 Therefore let us love one another. Love is from 
 God, and everyone who loves is the son of God, and 
 knows God. And he who does not love, does not 
 know God. Because God is love. 
 
 That God is love, we know because He sent into 
 the world this Spirit, such as He Himself is, and 
 thereby gave us life. We did not exist, and God 
 was under no compulsion, but He gave us life 
 and blessedness ; therefore He must love us. 
 
 No man can perfectly know God. All we can 
 know of Him is, that He had love towards us, and 
 because of this love gave us life. And to be in 
 fellowship with God, we must be like Him, and do 
 as He dues; we must love one another. If we love 
 one another, God dwells in us, and we dwell in Him. 
 
 Having understood the love of God towards us, we 
 believe that God is love, and that he who loves is 
 united with God. And having understood this, we 
 do not fear death, because in this world we become 
 such as God Himself is. Our Hfe becomes love, and 
 is thus freed from fear and all sufferings. 
 
 1 Jn. iii. 20. 
 21. 
 
A SUMMARY 
 
 165 
 
 1 Jn. iv. 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 V. 3. 
 
 14. 
 
 18. 
 
 We love, because He loves. And we love not a 
 God whom no one can love, because no one sees Him, 
 but our brother-man, whom it is possible to love. 
 He who says he loves God, and yet hates his 
 brother, is deceiving himself. Because, if he does 
 not love the brother whom he sees, how, then, can 
 he love God whom he does not see ? For it is 
 ordained to us to love God in our brother. 
 
 To love God, is to fulfil His commandments. 
 And these commandments are not hard for him 
 who, recognising that his origin is from God, rises 
 above the world. Oiu: faith lifts us above the 
 world. And our faith in that which Jesus, the 
 Son of God, taught us, is true. He has taught us 
 that he lived in the world, not merely in the way 
 of truth, but by the power of the spirit. And that 
 spirit is in us, and makes us strong in truth, fol- 
 lowing out the teaching. 
 
 If we believe in what men affirm, why, then, 
 should we not believe in the spirit that is in our- 
 selves ? He who believes in that spirit of life 
 which is in us, has assurance within himself. And 
 he who does not believe that there is a spirit from 
 above us, from the Father, makes God a deceiver. 
 
 The spirit in us affirms that our life is eternal 
 He who knows that this spirit is the offspring of 
 the Infinite Spirit, and becomes like Him, has eternal 
 life. And for him who so believes, there is no diffi- 
 culty left in his life, but everything he desires in 
 the will of the Father will come to him. 
 
 Therefore he who believes himself to be a son of 
 God, will not live in any deception, but is free from 
 
1 66 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 evil. Because he knows that this material world 
 is an illusion, and that in man himself there is the 
 capacity to know that which has real existence. 
 And -only the Spirit, the Son, the offspring of the 
 rather, really exists. 
 
 IJn. 
 
 . 19. 
 20. 
 
A RECAPITULATION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE SON OF GOD 
 
 Man, the son of God, is powerless in the flesh, and 
 free in the spirit 
 
 ("®ur iFatbcr") 
 
 Jesus in his childhood called God his Father. 
 There arose in Juda?a, at this time, a prophet named 
 John. John preached the coming of God upon 
 earth. He said that when men should change 
 their lives, when they should treat one another as 
 equals, when tlipy should cease to injure one 
 another, and, instead of so doing, serve one another, 
 then God would appear upon earth, and His king- 
 dom would be established on earth. Jesus, having 
 heard this declaration, withdrew from among men 
 and went into the wild places, to meditate upon 
 the meaning of human life, and upon his relations 
 to that infinite source of all being, called God. 
 And Jesus accepted as his Father, that iufinite 
 source of being whom John had called God. 
 
 167 
 
l68 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 After passing days in the wild places without 
 taking food, Jesus began to suffer hunger. Then he 
 thought to himself, " I am the Son of God the 
 Almighty ; I ought, then, to be as He is. But now, 
 I wish to eat, and no bread comes for my need ; I 
 am not, then, all-powerful." Then he said to him- 
 self, " It is true, I cannot make for myself bread 
 out of stones ; but I can overcome the want of 
 bread. So that, though not all-powerful in the 
 body, I am all-powerful in the spirit, and I can 
 quell the body ; and thus I am the Son of God, 
 not through the flesh, but through the spirit." 
 
 Then he said, " But if I am the Son of the 
 Spirit, I can free myself of the body, and do away 
 with it." But to that he answered, " I am born 
 as spirit, embodied in flesh. Such is the will of 
 my Father, and I cannot set myself against His 
 will." 
 
 " But if you cannot satisfy the wants of your 
 Dody, and if you are no better able to free yourself 
 from your body," he went on to himself, " you 
 ought, then, to labour for the body, and to enjoy all 
 the pleasures it gives you." 
 
 But to that he answered, " I cannot satisfy the 
 wants of my body any better than I can rid myself 
 of it ; but my life is all-powerful, in that it is the 
 spirit of my Father ; and it follows that in my 
 body I must serve the spirit, my Father, and labour 
 for Him only ! And becoming convinced that 
 man's life is only in the spirij; of the Father, Jesus 
 left the wild places, and began to declare his teach- 
 ing to men. He said that the spirit dwelt in him, 
 
A RECAPITULATION 169 
 
 that henceforth heaven was opened, that the 
 powers of heaven were brought to men, that for 
 men a free and boundless life was begun, and that 
 all men, however unfortunate in the body, may 
 be happy. 
 
CHAPTEE II 
 
 LIFE IN THE SPIRIT 
 
 Therefore man must work, not for the flesh, but for 
 the spirit 
 
 ("Mbicb art in beavcn") 
 
 The Jews, holding themselves orthodox, worshipped 
 an external God, whom they regarded as Creator 
 and Lord of the Universe. According to their 
 teaching, this external God had made an agree- 
 ment with them. According to this agreement, he 
 had promised the Jews to help them, and they had 
 promised to worship him ; and the chief condition 
 of the alliance was the keeping of the Sabbath. 
 
 But Jesus said : " The Sabbath is a human in- 
 stitution. That man shall live in the spirit, is more 
 important than all reUgious ceremonies. Like all 
 external forms of reUgion, the keeping of the 
 Sabbath includes in itself a delusion. It is im- 
 possible to do nothing on the Sabbath. Good 
 actions must be done at any time ; and if keeping 
 the Sabbath prevents good action, then the Sabbath 
 is an error." 
 
 Another condition in this agreement with God, 
 was the avoidance of the society of infidels. As 
 
 170 
 
A RECAPITULATION 171 
 
 to this, Jesus said : " God asks for no sacrifice to 
 Himself, but only that men should love one 
 another." 
 
 Still another condition related to the following 
 of rules about washing and cleansing ; as to which, 
 Jesus said : " God demands, not outside cleanliness, 
 but only, pity and love towards men." He taught 
 that all such external ceremonies were harmful, 
 and that the church tradition itself was an evil. 
 The church tradition causes men to neglect the 
 most important acts of love, as for instance, love 
 to father and mother. Of all external ceremonies, 
 of all the ritual of the old law, which had for 
 object, as was held, the purification of men, Jesus 
 said : " Kuow all of you, that nothing from outside 
 can defile a man ; only what he thinks, and what 
 he does, defiles him." 
 
 After this, Jesus went to Jerusalem, a town con- 
 sidered holy, entered the temple, where the orthodox 
 believed that God dwelt, and there taught : " It is 
 useless to offer God sacrifices ; man is of more con- 
 sequence than a temple ; and the only duty is, to 
 love one's neighbour, and help him." 
 
 And he taught, further : " Men need not worship 
 God in any particular place, but they must worship 
 Him in spirit and in act. The spirit cannot be 
 seen or shown. The spirit is man's consciousness 
 of his sonship to the Infinite Spirit. No temple is 
 needed. The true temple is the society of men 
 united in love." He said : " All external worship 
 of the divine is not only false and injurious, as 
 with the Jews, among whom it caused murder and 
 
172 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 admitted neglect of parents, but harmful, because 
 one who goes through external ceremonials, thinks 
 himself made righteous, and free from the need of 
 doing what love demands." He said : " Only that 
 man aims at good, and does good, who feels his 
 own imperfection. To do good deeds, a man must 
 think of himself as imperfect. But external acts 
 of worship lead men into the delusion of self-con- 
 ceit. All external ceremonies are unnecessary, 
 and must be thrown aside. Deeds of love are 
 incompatible with ceremonial performances, and it 
 is impossible to do good in that form. Man is the 
 son of God by the spirit, and therefore must serve 
 the Father in the spirit." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE SOURCE OF LIFE 
 The life of all men has proceeded from the spirit of the Father 
 
 ("1ballowc& be Zh^ IRame") 
 
 John's disciples asked Jesus what was meant by 
 bis " Kingdom of God." He said that the Kingdom 
 of God as preached by him was also that preached 
 by John ; and that therein every man, however 
 poor, might be blessed. 
 
 And Jesus said to the people : " John was the 
 first who preached to men a Kingdom of God which 
 is not of the external world, but is in the soul of 
 man. The orthodox went to hear John, but under- 
 stood nothing, because they know only those fictions 
 of their own about an external God, which they 
 preach ; and they are astonished when no one pays 
 heed to them. But John preached the truth of 
 the Kingdom of God within men, and therefore he 
 did more than them all. He did so much that, 
 since his time, the law and the prophets, and all 
 external forms of divine worship, are superseded. 
 Since he taught, it is made clear that the Kingdom 
 of God is in the soul of man. 
 
 " The beginning and the end of all things is in 
 
 173 
 
174 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 the soul of man. Every man, in addition to his 
 bodily life, to the fact which he knows as to his 
 conception from a bodily father through a bodily 
 mother, recognises in himself a free spirit, intelli- 
 gent, and independent of the body. This very 
 Spirit, infinite, and proceeding from the infinite, is 
 the origin of all, and is what we call God. We 
 know Him only as we recognise Him within us. 
 This Spirit is the source of our life, and must be 
 ranked above everything ; and to Him we must live. 
 By making Him the foundation of our Hfe, we gain 
 the true and infinite life. 
 
 " The Father-Spirit, who sends this Spirit into 
 men, cannot have sent Him to deceive men, so that, 
 while conscious of Him, they might come to lose 
 Him. This infinite Spirit being in man, He must 
 have been given to the end that men, through Him, 
 might have infinite hfe. Therefore the man who 
 conceives of this Spirit as his hfe, has infinite life. 
 The man who does not so conceive, has no true life. 
 Men can of themselves choose life or death. Life, — 
 in the Spirit ; death, — in the flesh. The life of the 
 Spirit is goodness, Ught. The life of the flesh is 
 evil, darkness. To believe in the Spirit means to 
 do good deeds ; to disbelieve, means to do evil deeds. 
 Goodness is life ; evil is death. 
 
 " God, the Creator, external to us, the beginning 
 of all beginnings, we do not know. Our conception 
 of Him can only be this, that He sowed in men 
 the Spirit ; sowing, as a sower does, everywhere, not 
 discriminating, over the field ; and the seed, falling on 
 good ground, grows, falling on sterile ground, perishes. 
 
A RECAPITULATION 175 
 
 " The Spirit alone gives life, and men are respon- 
 sible for keeping or losing it. To the Spirit, no evil 
 exists. Evil is but an illusion of life. There are 
 only the two conditions, of living and not-living. 
 Thus the world presents itself to every man ; and 
 for every man there is in his soul a consciousness 
 of the Kingdom of Heaven. Each one can, by his 
 own free will, entei', or not enter, that Kingdom. 
 To enter, belief in the life of the Spirit is necessary. 
 He who believes in that life of the Spirit, has 
 infinite life." 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 
 GODS KINGDOM 
 
 Therefore the will of the Father is the life and 
 welfare of all men 
 
 ("ttbB ftingaom come") 
 
 Jesus pitied men because they did not know true 
 blessedness ; therefore he taught them. He said : 
 " Blessed ai e those who have no property, no 
 position, and who do not care for these ; and un- 
 happy are they who seek riches and position. 
 Because such poor and oppressed people are in the 
 Father's will ; but the rich and acknowledged people 
 seek only to make gain from men for this temporary 
 life. To carry out God's will, one must not fear to 
 be poor and despised, but must rejoice in this, while 
 showing men what true happiness is. 
 
 " To carry out the will of the Father, which 
 gives life and welfare, mankind must fulfil five 
 commandments, namely : 
 
 The First Covimanclment. 
 
 To do no ill to anyone, and to so act as to rouse 
 evil in no one ; because from evil comes evil. 
 
 176 
 
A RECAPITULATION 177 
 
 The Second Commandment. 
 
 Not to follow after women, and not to desert the 
 woman with whom a union has once been formed ; 
 because desertion and change of wives causes all 
 the world's dissoluteness. 
 
 The Third Commandm-ent. 
 
 To take no oath of any kind ; because nothing 
 can be promised, since man is in the Father's 
 power ; and oaths, when taken, are for bad ends. 
 
 The Fourth Commandment. 
 
 Not to fight against evil, but to suffer wrong, and 
 to give even more than men would exact from us ; 
 not to condemn, and not to use the law ; because 
 every man is himself full of errors, and cannot guide 
 others. By taking revenge, we only teach others 
 to revenge. 
 
 The Fifth Commandment. 
 
 To make no difference between a fellow- 
 countryman and a foreigner ; because all men are 
 children of one father. 
 
 " The observance of these five commandments is 
 necessary, not to win praise from men, but for 
 oneself, for one's own welfare ; therefore there is 
 no propriety in praying and fasting in sight of men. 
 
 " The Father knows all that men need, and there 
 is no necessity to pray for particular things ; it is 
 
178 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 simply needful to seek to be in the Father's will. 
 And this is the will of the Father, that a man shall 
 have no anger towards any other. To keep fasts is 
 not essential, for men may fast merely to win praise 
 from men, aud such praise ought to be avoided. 
 It is only necessary carefully to conform to the 
 will of God, and the rest will follow of itself. 
 While caring for the body, care cannot be given to 
 the Kingdom of Heaven. Even though a man does 
 not trouble about food and clothing, he will live on. 
 The Father will give life. The needful thing is, at 
 this present moment, to be in the will of the 
 Father. The Father gives to his children what 
 they need. We must desire only the power of the 
 Spirit, which the Father gives. 
 
 " The five commandments mark out the road to 
 the Kingdom of Heaven. This narrow path alone 
 leads to eternal life. False teachers — wolves in 
 the skins of sheep — always try to turn men astray 
 from this road ; they must be guarded against. 
 False teachers can always be detected, because they 
 teach evil in the name of good. If they teach 
 violence and executions, they are false teachers. 
 By the deeds they teach they may be known. 
 
 " Not that man does the Father's will, who calls 
 on tlie name of God ; but he who does good deeds. 
 And he who fulfils these five commandments will 
 have secure aud true life, of which nothing can 
 deprive him. But he who does not fulfil them will 
 have an insecure life ; one soon to be taken from 
 him, leaving him nothing." 
 
 The teaching of Jesus filled the people with 
 
A RECAPITULATION 179 
 
 admiration and joy, because it offered freedom to 
 everyone. 
 
 The teaching of Christ was the fulfilment of 
 John's prophecy that God's chosen one should bring 
 light to men, overcome evil, and restore truth, by 
 kindness, meekness, and goodness, but not by 
 violence. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE TRUE LIFE 
 
 The fulfilment of the personal will leads to death; the 
 fulfilment of the Father's will giues the true life 
 
 ("ZM will be Oone") 
 
 The wisdom of life is, the recognition of one's own 
 life as the offspring of the Father's Spirit. Men 
 set before themselves the aims of the bodily life, 
 and in pursuing these aims, they harass themselves 
 and others. 
 
 In receiving the doctrine of the spiritual life, 
 and in subjecting and making less of the body, men 
 will find a full satisfaction in the life of the Spirit, 
 in that life which is appointed for them. 
 
 Jesus said to his disciples : " The true food of 
 man is the fulfilment of the will of the Father- 
 Spirit. This fulfilment is always possible. Our 
 whole life is a gathering of the fruits of the life 
 sown within us by the Father. Those fruits are 
 the good we are doing among men. 
 
 " We ought not to look forward with anxiety for 
 anything. We ought, without ceasing our interest 
 in life, to do good among men." 
 
 After this, Jesus happened to be in Jerusalem, 
 
A RECAPITULATION i8i 
 
 where was a bath, beside which lay a sick man, 
 doing nothing but waiting a miracle to cure him. 
 Jesus came, and said to him : " Do not expect a 
 cure by a miracle, but live your life according to 
 your strength, and do not be deluded as to the 
 purpose of life." The invalid obeyed Jesus, got up, 
 and went away. 
 
 The orthodox, seeing this, began to reproach 
 Jesus for what he said, and because he had, on the 
 Sabbath, raised an invalid. Jesus said to them : 
 " I did nothing new. I have only the power to 
 act of our common Father, the Spirit. He lives, 
 and gives life to men, and I have done likewise. 
 And to do this is every man's business. Everyone 
 is free, and can live, or not live. To live, is to 
 fulfil the will of the Father, which is to do good to 
 others. Not to live, is to fulfil one's own will, not to 
 do good to others. It is in everyone's power to do 
 this, or that ; to gain life, or to destroy it. 
 
 " The true life of man is like this. A master 
 apportioned to his slaves some valuable property, 
 and told each one to work upon what was given to 
 him. Some worked ; some did not work, but put 
 out of sight what was given to them. The master 
 demanded an account : and to those who worked, 
 he gave yet more than they had ; but from those 
 who did not work, he took away everything." 
 
 The portion of valuable property of the master 
 is the Spirit of life in man, who is the son of the 
 Father-Spirit. He who in his Life works for the sake 
 of the spirit-life, receives infinite life ; he who does 
 not work, is deprived of what was given to him. 
 
1 82 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 The true life is the common life of humanity, 
 and not the life of the individual. Each one must 
 work for the life of others. 
 
 After this, Jesus went to a desert place, and many 
 people followed him. At evening, the disciples 
 came, and said : " How shall we feed all these 
 people ? " Among the gathering were some who 
 had nothing, and some who had bread and fish. 
 And Jesus said to his disciples : " Give me all the 
 bread you have." He took the loaves, and gave 
 bread to his disciples, who gave to others, who did 
 likewise. So all ate of others' bread, not consuming 
 all there was, and all were satisfied. And Jesus 
 said : " Act just in this way. It is not necessary 
 that each one should get food for himself, but it is 
 needful to do that which the Spii'it in man demands, 
 namely, that each shall share to others what supply 
 there is. The true food of man is the Spirit of the 
 Father. Man lives by the Spirit only. Everything 
 in life must be made subservient to this ; for life 
 consists in doing, not one's own will, but the will of 
 the Father of life. And that will is, that the per- 
 fect life of the Spirit which is given to men, shall 
 remain in them, and that all shall cherish the life 
 of the Spirit within them until the hour of death. 
 The Father, the source of life, is Spirit. Life con- 
 sists only in carrying out the will of the Father ; 
 and to carry out that will of the Spirit, one must 
 surrender the body. The body is the food, the 
 material for the life of the Spirit. Only in giving 
 up the body does the Spirit hve." 
 
 After this, Jesus chose certain disciples, and sent 
 
A RECAPITULATION 1S3 
 
 them everywhere to preach the doctrine of the life 
 of the Spirit. In sending them, he said : " Preach 
 the hfe of the Spiiit, and, consistently therewith, 
 renounce beforehand all ileshly desires, and have 
 nothing of your own. Be ready for persecution, 
 privation, suffering. Those who love the life of the 
 body will hate you, harass and murder you ; but 
 do not fear. If you fulfil the will of the Father, 
 then you possess the life of the Spirit, of which no 
 one can deprive you." 
 
 The disciples went away, and when they returned, 
 declared that everywhere the teachiugs of evU were 
 conquered by them. 
 
 Then the orthodox told Jesus that his teaching, 
 even if it conquered evU, was in itself an evil, 
 because those who carry it out must of necessity 
 suffer. To this, Jesus answered : " Evil cannot con- 
 quer evil. If evil is conquered, it can only be by 
 good. Goodness is the will of the Father-Spirit 
 common to all men. Every man has a knowledge 
 of what benefits himself. If he does similar benefits 
 to others, if he does that which is the will of the 
 Father, then he wUl do good. Therefore the carrying 
 out of the will of the Father-Spirit results well, 
 even though it be followed with sufferings and 
 deaths of those who fulfil that will" 
 
CHAPTEE VI 
 
 THE FA SE LIFE 
 
 Therefore, in order to receive the true life, man must on earth 
 resign the false life of the flesh, and Hue by the Spirit 
 
 {" ®n eartb, ag in beaven ") 
 
 To the spiritual life there can be no difference 
 between members of one family and strangers. 
 Jesus said that his mother and his brethren, as 
 such, had no superior claims upon him ; only those 
 were near to him who fulfilled the will of the com- 
 mon Father. A man's life and welfare depend, not 
 on family relations, but on the life of the Spirit. 
 
 Jesus said : " Blessed are those who retain their 
 understanding of the Father. The man who lives 
 by the Spirit has no home, for, being by the Spirit, 
 he cannot own any special house." And he said 
 that he himself had no fixed abode ; that not being 
 needed to enable a man to carry out the will of 
 the Father, which can be done at all times, in all 
 places. 
 
 The death of the body cannot be dreadful to a 
 man who gives himself up to the will of the Father, 
 because the life of the Spirit goes on despite 
 the death of the body. Jesus said that he who 
 
 184 
 
A RECAPITULATION 185 
 
 believes in the life of the Spirit, has nothing to 
 fear. 
 
 No cares make it impossible for a man to live 
 in his Spirit. When a man said that he would 
 obey the teaching of Christ presently, but that he 
 must first bury his father, Jesus answered : " Only 
 the dead trouble about burial of the dead ; but 
 the living Uve always in fulfilhng the will of the 
 Father." Cares about relations and family affairs 
 must not hinder the life of the Spirit. He who 
 troubles about the results to his bodily life from 
 the fulfilment of the Father's will, does as the 
 ploughman does, who ploughs, looking not in front, 
 but behind. 
 
 Cares for the pleasures of the bodily life, which 
 seem so important to men, are delusions. The 
 only, the real business of life, is the making plain 
 of the Father's will, attention to it, and fulfilment 
 of it. To Martha's reproach, that she alone troubled 
 about the supper, and that her sister Mary did not 
 help, but listened to his teaching, Jesus said : " You 
 blame her unjustly. Take some trouble, yourself, 
 if you need what comes of it, but let those who do 
 not need pleasures for the body, attend to the one 
 essential business of life." 
 
 And Jesus said : " He who desires the true life, 
 which comes of fuMlluig the Father's will, must 
 first of all give up his own personal desires." He 
 must not only cease to plan out his life to his own 
 wishes, but he must be ready at any moment to 
 bear any privations and sufferings. One who seeks 
 to arrange his bodily life to his own desires, will 
 
i86 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 wreck the true life of fulfilment of the Father's 
 will. 
 
 Most ruiuous to the life of the Spirit is the love 
 of gain, of getting rich. Men forget that, however 
 much they acquire riches and goods, they may die 
 at any moment, and their property is not an essen- 
 tial of life. Death broods over every one of us. 
 Sickness, kilhng by men, fatal accidents, may at any 
 minute end life. Bodily death is the unescapable 
 condition of every second of life. While one lives, 
 one must regard every hour of life as a delay, 
 granted by the kindness of some power. This we 
 must remember, and not say that we do not know 
 it. We know and foresee in regard to all events 
 of earth and sky, but death, which we know waits 
 on us every moment, we forget. But unless 
 we forget death, we cannot yield ourselves to the 
 life of the body, we cannot build upon it. To 
 follow the teaching of Christ, one has to count up 
 the advantages of serving the bodily life, of serving 
 one's own will, and the advantages of fulfilling the 
 Father's will. Only one who clearly takes account 
 of this can be a disciple of Christ. And he who 
 makes the calculation, will not prefer a visionary 
 benefit and a visionary life to the true good and the 
 true life. The true life has been given to men, 
 and men know it, they hear its summons, but, always 
 swept on by the cares of the moment, they are with- 
 held from it. The true life is as though a rich man 
 gave a feast, and summoned the guests. His call to 
 them is the voice of the Spirit of the Father inviting 
 all men to Himself. But of those invited some are 
 
A RECAPITULATION 187 
 
 busy in commerce, some in the household, some in 
 family affairs, none come to the feast. Only the 
 poor, such as have no cares of the body, come to the 
 feast, and gain happiness. So men, distracting 
 themselves with cares for the bodily life, are losing 
 the true life. He who cannot, and that altogether, 
 decline the cares and gains of the bodily life, cannot 
 fulfil the Father's will, because one cannot serve one- 
 self a little, and the Father a httle. 
 
 A man must calculate, whether it is better to 
 serve the body, whether it is possible to arrange 
 his life according to his own will. He must do as 
 one does who would build a house, or who contem- 
 plates war. Such an one will reckon whether he 
 has means to finish building, whether he has means 
 to conquer. And upon seeing that he has not, he 
 will not spend for nothing either labour or armies. 
 Otherwise, he fruitlessly wastes, and will be a 
 laughing-stock to men. If one could arrange the 
 bodily life to one's own will, then it might be 
 well to serve the body ; but as that is impossible, 
 then better sacrifice the body, and serve the Spirit. 
 Otherwise, one will gain neither one thing nor 
 another ; the bodily life will not be gained, and the 
 spiritual life will be lost. So that, to fulfil the 
 Father's will, the bodily life must be quite resigned. 
 
 The bodUy Hfe is involved in the world's false 
 riches, which we are commissioned to manage in 
 such a way as to gain the true and perfect riches. 
 
 If a rich man has a manager who knows that, 
 however he may serve his master, the latter will 
 dismiss him, leaving him with nothing, this manager 
 
l88 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 will do well if, during his management of the other's 
 riches, he treats people well. Then, even though 
 his master dismiss him, those whom he has bene- 
 fited will receive hiui and sustain him. So also 
 must men act as to the bodily life. The bodily 
 life is that wealth, not one's own, which is given 
 to one to manage for a time. If men will rightly 
 use this wealth, which is not their own, then they 
 will gain true wealth, really their own. 
 
 If we do not give up our falsely-held riches, then 
 the true life will not be given to us. The illusory 
 life of the body, and the life of the spirit, cannot 
 both be served. One cannot serve property and 
 God. What is honourable with men, is abomination 
 before God. Eiches are evil before God. A rich 
 man is continually guilty, in that he eats abimdantly 
 and luxuriously, while at his door the poor starve. 
 And everyone knows that the property which one 
 will not share to others, is held in non-fulfilment of 
 the Father's will. 
 
 Once Jesus was approached by an orthodox and 
 rich ruler, who began to boast that he had fulfilled 
 all the commandments of the law. Jesus reminded 
 him that there is a commandment to love others as 
 oneself, and that this is the Father's will. The 
 ruler said he kept this also. Then Jesus said to 
 him : " That is not true ; if you desire to fulfil the 
 Father's will, you would not have property. A 
 man cannot fulfil the will of the Father, if he has a 
 fortune of his own, which he does not give away to 
 others." 
 
 And Jesus said to the disciples : " Men think it 
 
A RECAPITULATION 189 
 
 impossible to live without property, but I tell you, 
 true life is in the giving up of one's own to others." 
 
 A man, Zacchseus by name, heard the teaching 
 of Jesus, and believed it, and having invited Jesus 
 to his house, he said to him : " I am giving half my 
 fortune to the poor, and I will restore four times 
 over to those whom I may have wronged." And 
 Jesus said : " Here is a man who fulfils the Father's 
 will ; for the fulfilment of that will is not a matter 
 of finding an opportunity, but the whole life must 
 go in fulfilment." 
 
 Goodness cannot be measured in any way. It is 
 impossible to say who has done more good, and who 
 less. A widow who gives away her last farthing 
 gives more than a rich man who gives thousands. 
 It is also impossible to measure goodness by utility 
 or inutility. 
 
 As an instance of how goodness must be shown, 
 take the woman who pitied Jesus, and in her emotion 
 poured upon him many pounds' worth of costly oil. 
 Judas said she had done foolishly, because many 
 people might have been fed on the price. But 
 Judas was a thief ; he spoke untruth, and in talking 
 of the worldly value of the oil, he did not consider 
 the poor. Not utility, not value, comes into the 
 question, but the necessity of always, every minute, 
 loving others, and giving up to them one's own. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 I AND THE FATHEE ARE ONE 
 
 The true food of everlasting life is the fulfilment of the 
 Father's will 
 
 ("0ive us tbls Dag our Sails breaJ)") 
 
 Answeeing the Jews' demands for proofs of the 
 truth of his teaching, Jesus said : " The truth of my 
 teaching is proved in the fact that I teach, not in 
 my own name, but in the name of the common 
 Father of all men. I teach that which is good in 
 the sight of the Father of all men, and is therefore 
 good for all men. 
 
 " Do as I say ; fulfil the five commandments, and 
 you will see that the truth is as I say. Fulfilment 
 of these five commandments will drive away all 
 the world's evil; therefore it must be that they 
 are true and right. Clearly, he who teaches, not 
 his own personal will, but the will of Him who 
 sent him, will teach the truth. The Mosaic law 
 teaches the fulfilment of men's own wills, and is 
 therefore full of contradictions ; but my teaching 
 is to fulfil the will of the Father, and therefore in 
 it all is harmonious." 
 
 The Jews did not understand him, and looked 
 
A RECAPITULATION 191 
 
 for external proofs as to whether he himself were 
 the Christ written of in the prophecies. On this 
 he said to them : " Do not inquire who I am, 
 whether it is of me your prophecies speak, but 
 attend to my teaching, to what I say of our com- 
 mon Father. It is not necessary to inquire about 
 outside matters, as to whence I come ; but my 
 teaching must be followed. He who will follow 
 my teaching will obtain true life. There can be 
 no proofs of my teaching. It is the light itself, 
 and as you cannot illuminate light, so you cannot 
 prove the truth of truth. My teaching is light ; 
 he who sees it has light and life, and has no need 
 of proofs. But he who is in darkness, must come 
 to the light." 
 
 But again the Jews asked him who he was, as 
 to his bodily personality. He said to them : " I 
 am, as I told you from the first, a man, the Son of 
 the Father of life. Only he who will so regard 
 himself (this is the truth I teach), and will fulfil 
 the will of the common Father, only he will cease 
 to be a slave, and become a free man. Because 
 we are slaves only through the error which con- 
 siders the bodUy Life as the real life. He who will 
 understand the truth, that life consists only in the 
 fulfilment of the Father's will, only he will become 
 free and immortal. Just as a bond-servant in a 
 master's house is not there for ever, but the son 
 does remain, so the man v»'ho lives the life of a slave 
 of the flesh does not remain in life for ever ; but he 
 who in spirit fulfils the Father's wiU, remains in life 
 for ever. To understand me, you must understand 
 
192 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 that my Father is not that which is your Father, 
 what you call God. Your Father is a God of the 
 flesh ; but my Father is the Spirit of life. Your 
 Father, your God, is a God of revenge, a murderer, 
 one who executes men ; but my Father gives life. 
 Therefore we are children of diflerent Fathers." 
 
 " I am following the truth, and you wish to kill 
 me for that, to please your God. Your God is the 
 devil, the souice of evil ; and in serving him, you 
 serve the devil. But my teaching is, that we are 
 the sons of the Father of life, and that he who 
 believes in my teaching shall not see death." 
 
 The Jews asked : " How can a man not die, 
 when all the most God-pleasing men, even Abraham, 
 are dead ? How, then, can you say that you, and 
 those that believe your teaching, will not die ? " 
 To this, Jesus answered : " I speak not by my own 
 authority. I speak of the one source of life. Whom 
 you call God, and Who is in men. This source I 
 know, I cannot help knowing, and I know His will, 
 and I fulfij it ; and of this source of life I say, that 
 it was, and is, and shall be, being deathless.'' 
 
 The demand for proof of Jesus' teaching is like 
 a demand made upon a once-blind man, to give 
 proofs of how and why he sees light. The blind 
 man whose sight was restored, still the same man 
 he was before, can only say, he was blind, but now 
 sees. Just this, and nothing else, can one answer 
 who formerly did not understand the meaning of 
 life, but now does understand. Such a man will 
 say that he did not, before, know the true good in 
 life, but now he knows. The once-blind man, 
 
A RECAPITULATION 193 
 
 when told he is cured not according to rule, and 
 that he who cured hina is the evil-doer, and that 
 he must be cured in another way, can only reply, 
 that he knows nothing as to the correctness of the 
 manner of cure, or as to the faultiness of his healer, 
 or as to there being a better way of cure, but that 
 he knows only, he was blind, and now sees. And 
 just so, he who grasps the meaning of this doc- 
 trine, that the true good is to fulfil the Father's 
 will, can say nothing as to the regularity of the 
 teaching, or as to the possibility of gaining some- 
 thing better. He will say : " Formerly I did not 
 see the meaning of life; now I see. I know no 
 more." 
 
 And Jesus said : " My teaching is the awakening 
 of the life which has so far slept ; he who will 
 believe my teaching, shall awaken to eternal life, 
 and continue to live after death. My teaching is 
 not proved in any way, except that men give them- 
 selves up to it, because it alone has the promise of 
 life for men. 
 
 " Sheep follow the shepherd, who gives them 
 food and life ; and in the same way, men accept my 
 teaching because it gives life to all. And as the 
 sheep do not follow the thief who climbs over into 
 the fold, but throw themselves aside from him, so 
 men, also, cannot accept the doctrines which teach 
 violence and putting-to-death. 
 
 " My teaching is a door to the sheep, and all 
 
 who will follow me shall find true life. As those 
 
 only are good shepherds who own and like the sheep, 
 
 and devote their lives to them, while the mere 
 
 13 
 
194 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 hirelings, who have no liking for sheep, are bad 
 shepherds ; so, also, only that teacher is true who 
 does not look after himself, and he is bad who 
 cares only about himself. My teaching is, that a 
 man shall not look after himself, but shall yield up 
 the life of the body for the life of the spirit. This 
 I teach and fulfil." 
 
 Still the Jews did not understand, and persisted 
 in looking for proofs as to whether or not Jesus 
 was the Christ, to determine whether they should 
 believe in him or not. They said : " Do not torment 
 us, but tell us frankly, are you the Christ, or not ? " 
 Then Jesus answered them : " Belief must be given, 
 not to words, but to deeds. By the deeds I teach 
 you may know whether I teach truth or not. Do 
 as I do, and do not trifle over words. Fulfil the 
 will of the Father, and then you will all join with 
 me and with the Father, because I am a Son of 
 Man, and at one with the Father. And I am that 
 which you call God, and I call Father. God and I 
 are one. Even in your own writings it is said, that 
 God said to men, ' You are Gods.' Everyone, by 
 his spirit, is son of this Father. And if a man 
 lives fulfilling the will of the Father, then he 
 becomes at one with the Father. If I fulfil the 
 will, the Father is in me, and I am in the 
 Father." 
 
 After this, Jesus asked the disciples how they 
 understood his teaching as to the Son of Man. 
 Simon Peter answered him : " Your teaching is 
 that you are the Son of the God of life ; that God 
 is the life of the spirit in man." And Jesus said 
 
A RECAPITULATION 155 
 
 to him : " Not only I am a son, but all men are ; 
 and this is revealed to men, not by me, but by the 
 common Father of men. Upon this knowledge is 
 based the true life of man. To this life there is 
 no death." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LIFE IS NOT TEMPOKAL 
 Therefore true life is to be lived in the present 
 
 {"a:bl0 J)aB") 
 
 Dealing with the disciples' question as to the 
 recompense for surrendering the life of the body, 
 Jesus said : " To him who enters into the reality of 
 this teaching, no further recompense can be given ; 
 because, first, when a man yields up friends and 
 goods for the sake of this teaching, he gains a 
 hundred times more friends and goods ; and second, 
 a man who seeks such recompense wants to have 
 something over and above others, which is entirely 
 contrary to the fulfilment of the Father's will." 
 In the Kingdom of Heaven there is neither great 
 nor small ; all are equal. Those who look for 
 something extra as reward for their goodness, are 
 like the labourers who claimed a greater payment 
 than that for which they had agreed with their 
 employer ; merely because, in their opinion, they 
 were more deserving tlian other labourers. There 
 are no rewards, punishments, degradations, or exalta- 
 tions, for him who understands this teaching. No 
 one can be higher or lower, more or less im- 
 
 196 
 
A RECAPITULATION 197 
 
 pf-rtant, than another, according to the teaching of 
 Jesus. 
 
 All can equally fulfil the Father's will. There- 
 fore, in so doing, no one becomes superior, truer- 
 or better, than another. 
 
 Kings and those who serve them, they only are 
 measured by such standards. By my teaching, 
 said Jesus, there can be no superior rank, because 
 he who would e.Mcel, must serve everybody ; for the 
 teaching is, that life is given to man, not that 
 others may serve him, but that he may give his 
 whole life to serve others, but he who will not do 
 this, but seeks to exalt himself, shall fall lower 
 than he was. 
 
 To get rid of all ideas of rewards and of one's 
 elevation, the meaning, purpose, of life must be 
 understood. That lies in fulfilling the will of the 
 Father; and the will of the Father is, that that 
 which He gave shall be returned to Him. As a 
 shepherd leaves his flock, and goes to look for the 
 lost sheep, as a woman will search everywhere to 
 find a lost penny, so also the Father's continual 
 work is manifested to us in His drawing to Himself 
 that which pertains to Him. 
 
 We must understand the true life, what it is. 
 The true hfe is brought to light always in the 
 lost being brought back to where they belong ; in 
 the awakening of those who slept. People who 
 have the true life, who are restored to the source 
 of their being, cannot, like worldly men, take 
 account of others as better or worse ; but, being 
 sharers of the Father's life, they can take delight 
 
igS THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 only in the return of the lost to their Father. 
 If a son, who has gone astray and left his father, 
 should repent, and return, how then could the 
 other sons of the same father grudge at the father's 
 joy, or themselves not rejoice at the brother's 
 return ? 
 
 To lead us to believe the teaching, and to alter 
 one's way of living, and fulfil the teaching, we need, 
 not external proofs, not promises of reward, but a 
 clear understanding of what the true life is. If 
 men think they are complete masters of their own 
 lives, and that life is given them for bodily enjoy- 
 ment, then clearly, any sacrifice made for another 
 will seem to them an act worthy of reward, and 
 without such payment they will yield nothing. 
 A man demands rents from tenants who have 
 forgotten that their ground is theirs on condition 
 that they give up the fruits to the owner ; and 
 when he demands the rent again and again, they 
 seek to kill him. So with the men who think 
 themselves masters of their own lives, not discern- 
 ing that life is given by true understanding ; men 
 who demand the fulfilment of their own wills. 
 
 Both belief and action are necessary, to learn 
 that a man can do nothing of himself, and if he 
 give up his bodily life to serve goodness, he 
 deserves neither thanks nor reward. We must 
 understand that, in doing good, a man only does 
 his duty, does what he must necessarily do. Only 
 by so understanding his life, can a man have faith 
 to enable him to do deeds of true goodness. 
 
 Precisely in such an understanding of life, the 
 
A RECAPITULATION 199 
 
 Kingdom of Heaven consists. This Kingdom is 
 invisible ; it cannot be pointed out as identified with 
 this or that place. The Kingdom of Heaven is in 
 the human understanding. The whole society of 
 the world goes on living as of old ; men eat, drink, 
 marry, trade, die, and along with this, in the souls 
 of men, lives the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the 
 understanding of life, growing from itself, like a 
 tree in the spring. 
 
 The true life of the fulfilment of the Father's 
 will is not in the life of the past, or of the future, 
 but it is the life of now, the life which all 
 must live at this instant of time. Therefore one 
 must never relax the true life in them. Men are 
 set to watch over life, not of the past or the future, 
 but the life now being lived; and in that, to fulfil 
 the will of the Father of all men. If they let this 
 life escape them, by not fulfilling the Father's will, 
 then they will not receive it back again ; just as a 
 watchman, set upon a night-long watch, does not 
 perform his duty if he fall asleep even for a 
 moment ; for in this moment a thief may come. 
 
 Therefore a man must concentrate his strength 
 in the present hour, for in this hour only can he 
 fulfil the Father's will. And that will is life and 
 blessing for all men. Only those live who are 
 doing good. Good done to men, now, in this hour, 
 is life, life which unites us with the common Father. 
 
CHAPTEE IX 
 
 TEMPTATIONS 
 
 The illusions of temporal life conceal from men 
 the true life in the present 
 
 ("jporgfve U0 our Debts as we forgive our debtors") 
 
 Man is born with knowledge of the true life of 
 fulfilment of the Father's will. Children live by 
 that knowledge ; through them we may see what 
 the Father's will is. To understand the teachmg 
 of Jesus, one must understand the life of children, 
 and be like them. 
 
 Children always live in the Father's will, not 
 breaking the five commandments. They would not 
 come to break them if their elders did not mislead 
 them. In misleading children to break those com- 
 mandments, men ruin the children. In misleading 
 them, men are doing as they would do by fastening 
 a millstone to a man's neck and throwing him into 
 the water. 
 
 If there were no temptations, the world woiild 
 be happy. The world is unhappy by them only. 
 These temptations are wrong-doing which men 
 enact for imaginary gain to the life in time. 
 Temptations ruin men ; therefore it is necessary 
 
 200 
 
A RECAPITULATION 201 
 
 to give up everything rather tlian fall into 
 temptation. 
 
 Temptation against the first commandment leads 
 men to consider themselves in the right against 
 others, and others as ia the wrong, debtors to them. 
 To avoid this temptation, men must remember that 
 all men are always infinitely in debt to the Father, 
 and they can only clear themselves of this debt by 
 forgiving their brother-men. 
 
 Therefore men must overlook injuries, and not 
 be deterred though the offender again and again 
 injure them. However many times a man may be 
 injured, he must forgive, and still forgive, not 
 remembering the wrong. For the Kingdom of 
 Heaven is forgiveness. 
 
 If we do not forgive, we are doing as the debtor 
 did. This debtor, greatly owing, came to him in 
 whose power he was, and began to ask for mercy. 
 The other forgave him all. The debtor went away, 
 and began himself to squeeze a debtor, who owed 
 him but a little. Now, to gain life, we must fulfil 
 the Father's will. And we pray the Father to for- 
 give us, that we have not duly fulfilled his will, 
 and we hope to be forgiven. What, then, are we 
 doing, if we do not ourselves forgive ? We are 
 doing to others what we dread for ourselves. 
 
 The will of the Father is well-being, and evil is 
 that which separates us from the Father. Why, 
 then, should we not strive to quench evil right- 
 away, when evil ruins us, and takes our life ? 
 
 Temptation against the second commandment is, 
 to think that woman is created for bodily pleasure, 
 
202 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 and that in leaving one wonian and taking another, 
 heightened pleasure is gained. To avoid this 
 temptation, v^e must remember that the Father's 
 wUl is, not that man should amuse himself with 
 woman's charms, but that everj' man, with his wife, 
 should be one body. The Father's will is, for every 
 man, one wife ; for every wife, one husband. If one 
 man keep to one wife, then there is wife or husband 
 for each one who needs. Therefore he who changes 
 the woman he lives with, deprives her of a husband, 
 and tempts some other man to leave his wife and 
 take the deserted one. A man may do without a 
 wife, but he must not have more than one, because 
 if he does, he goes against the will of the Father, 
 which is, that one man unite with one woman. 
 
 Temptation against the third conmiandment is, 
 for men to create, for the protection of the temporal 
 life, authoritative powers, and to demand from each 
 other oaths, pledges, to do the deeds those powers 
 demand. To avoid this temptation, men must 
 remember that they are not indebted for their life 
 to any power but God. The claims of authority 
 must be regarded as violence ; and, following the 
 commandment regarding the non-resistance of evil, 
 men must yield what the authorities demand, 
 namely, their goods and labour ; but they cannot, 
 either by oaths or promises, pledge their conduct. 
 Oaths, being imposed, make men bad. He who 
 recognises life in the will of the Father cannot bind 
 his actions by pledges ; because for such a man 
 there is nothing more sacred than his own life. 
 
 Temptation against the fourth commandment is. 
 
A RECAPITULATION 203 
 
 for men to hold that, by giving themselves up to 
 animosity and revenge, they can exterminate evil 
 from among themselves. If a man injure another, 
 men think he should be punished, and that justice 
 lies in human judgments. To be free from this 
 temptation, we must remember that men are called, 
 not to judge, but to save each other. To judge of 
 another's injustice is impossible for men, as they 
 themselves are full of wickedness. The only thing 
 open to them is to teach others by e.xample of 
 goodness, forgiveness, and purity. 
 
 Temptation agahist the fifth commandment is, 
 for man to think there is a difference between one's 
 own countrymen and men of other nations ; and 
 that it is therefore necessary to make defence 
 against other nations, and to injure them. To 
 avoid this temptation, it is necessary to know that 
 all the commandments are summed up in this one, 
 of fulfilling the will of the Father who gives hfe 
 and well-being to all men ; and therefore it is 
 necessary to do good to all men, without distinction. 
 Even though others still make such distinctions, 
 and though nations who look on each other as 
 aliens are at war, nevertheless, everybody who 
 would fulfil the Father's will must do good to all 
 men, even to those who belong to another nation 
 which is at war. 
 
 To avoid falling into any delusions of men, we 
 must not think about bodily affairs, but about 
 spiritual. To him who has understood that life 
 consists in being, at this moment, in the Father's 
 will, neither deprivations, nor suffering, nor death, 
 
204 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 can be dreadful. Only he obtains true life who is, 
 at every moment, ready to give up his bodily life 
 in order to fulfil the Father's will. 
 
 And that all may understand the true life to be 
 one in which there is no death, Jesus said : " Eternal 
 life must not be understood to be like this present 
 life. Por the true life in the Father's will, there is 
 neither space nor time. Those who are awakened 
 to the true life, live in the will of the Fatlier, for 
 which there is no space nor time ; and they live 
 with the Father. Though they die to us, they live 
 to God. Therefore one commandment includes in 
 itself all others ; the commandment, namely, to love, 
 with all our strength, the source of life ; and conse- 
 quently to love all men, each of whom bears in 
 himself this same original." 
 
 And Jesus said : " This source of life is that very 
 Christ which you await. The comprehension of 
 this source of life, which knows no distinction of 
 persons, no time, no place, is the Son of Man which 
 I teach. Anything which hides this source of life 
 from men is temptation. There is the temptation 
 of the scribes, bookmen, and of the materialists ; do 
 not yield thereto. There are the temptations of 
 authority ; do not yield thereto. And there is the 
 most terrible temptation, from the teachers of 
 religion who call themselves orthodox. Beware of 
 this last more than of all others ; because just 
 they, these self-ordained teachers, by inventing the 
 worship of a false God, decoy you from the true 
 God. They, instead of serving the Father of life 
 by deeds, substitute words, and they teach words, 
 
A RECAPITULATION 205 
 
 ■while tliey themselves do nothing. Therefore you 
 can learn notliing from them but words But the 
 Father requires deeds, not words. And they have 
 nothing to teach, because they themselves know 
 nothing ; but for their own gain they must parade 
 as teachers. But you know that no man can be 
 the teacher of another. There is one teacher for 
 all — the Lord of life — understanding. And these 
 self-assuming teachers, thinking to teach others, de- 
 prive themselves of true life, and prevent others 
 from the understanding of it. They teach that 
 their God will be pleased with external ceremonies ; 
 and they think they can bring men to serve religion 
 by vows. They are concerned with appearances 
 only. An outward assumption of religion suffices 
 them, but they do not care what is in the hearts of 
 men. Therefore they are like elaborate coffins, very 
 nice outside, but within full of repulsiveness They 
 give honour, in words, to saints and martyrs, but 
 they are themselves just the very men who have 
 murdered and tortured in the past, and who 
 murder and torture the saints of to-day By them 
 come all the world's temptations ; because, luider 
 the guise of good, they teach evil. The temptation 
 they create is the root of all others, because they 
 defile that which is most sacred. For a long time 
 yet they will not be changed, but will continue 
 their deceptions, and increase evil in the world. 
 But there shall come a time when all the temples 
 will be ruined, with all the external God-worship ; 
 when all men will understand, and unite in love, to 
 serve the one Father of life, by fulfilling His will." 
 
CHAPTEE X 
 
 THE WARFAKE "WITH TEMPTATION 
 
 Therefore, not to fall by temptation, we must, at every 
 moment of life, be at one with ttie Father 
 
 ("XeaO US not tnto tcmptatton") 
 
 The Jews saw that the teaching of Jesus would 
 destroy their State, religion, and nationality, and at 
 the same time they saw they could not controvert 
 him; so they decided to kill him. His innocence 
 and justness stood in their way, but the high priest 
 Caiaphas discovered a reason for killing Jesus, 
 though innocent. Caiaphas said : " We need not 
 consider whether this man is just or unjust ; we 
 have to determine whether our Jewish people shall 
 remain a separate nation, or whether we shall be 
 broken up and dispersed : the nation will perish, 
 and the people be scattered, if we leave this man 
 alone, and do not put him to death." This argu- 
 ment settled the matter, and the orthodox sentenced 
 Jesus to death. They instructed the people to seize 
 upon him as soon as he might appear in Jerusalem. 
 Jesus, although he knew about this, nevertheless, 
 on the feast of the Passover, came to Jerusalem. 
 His disciples entreated him not to do so ; but he 
 
 208 
 
A RECAPITULATION 207 
 
 said : " What these orthodox can do to me, and all 
 that other men can do, cannot alter the truth for 
 me. If I have the light, I know where I am, and 
 which way I am going. Only he who does not 
 know the truth can fear anything, or can doubt 
 anything. Only he who cannot see, stumbles.'' 
 And he went to Jerusalem stopping on the way at 
 Bethany. 
 
 When he left Bethany, and went to Jerusalem, 
 crowds of people met and followed him. This still 
 more convinced the orthodox of the need to kill 
 him. They only wanted an opportunity to seize 
 him. He knew also that the lightest incautious 
 word from him at that time, spoken against the law, 
 would be a reason for his execution ; but notwith- 
 standing this, he entered the temple, and declared 
 again that the worship of the Jews, with their 
 sacrifices and libations, was false, and he declared 
 his teaching. But his teaching, based on the pro- 
 phets., was such that the orthodox could not yet 
 find a palpable breach of the law which would 
 justify them in putting him to death ; the more so 
 that the greater part of the lower class was with 
 Jesus. 
 
 At the feast were certain heathen, who, havincr 
 heard of the teaching of Jesus, wished to talk with 
 him about it. The disciples, hearing of this, were 
 afraid, fearing lest Jesus, in talking with them, 
 should betray himself, and excite the people. At 
 first they would not bring Jesus and these heathen 
 together ; but afterwards they resolved to tell him 
 these men v»-anted to see him. Hearing this, Jesus 
 
208 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 was disturbed. He well knew that his speech to 
 the heathen would clearly show his antagonism to 
 the whole Jewish law, would turn the crowd from 
 him, and would give the orthodox a reason to accuse 
 him of being in league with the hated heathen. 
 Jesus became disturbed, knowing this ; but he also 
 knew that his mission was to make clear to men, 
 the children of one Father, their real unity, despite 
 differences of religion. He knew that the step he 
 was about to take would end his bodily life, for the 
 sake of giving birth to spiritual results. He said : 
 " He who holds fast to the bodily life is deprived 
 of the true one ; and he who is not careful for the 
 bodily life obtains the true life. I am troubled by 
 what is before me, but I have only lived that I 
 might reach this hour; how, then, can I fail to 
 now do what I must do ? So let the Father's will 
 be shown through me now." 
 
 And turning to the people, heathen and Jews, 
 Jesus declared openly what he had only privately 
 told to Nicodemus. He said : " Men's lives, with 
 all their various religions and organised powers, 
 must be wholly changed. All power and authority 
 must disappear. It is only necessary to under- 
 stand the nature of man as the son of the Father 
 of life, and this understanding al)olishes all division 
 among men, and all ruling power, and makes men 
 one." 
 
 The Jews said : " You wliolly destroy our reli- 
 gion. Our law looks to the Christ, but you speak 
 only of the Son of Man, and say that he must be 
 set up. What do you mean ? " He answered 
 
A RECAriTULATION 209 
 
 them : " To set up the Son of Man means to live 
 by the light of the understanding which is in men, 
 to follow this light into more light. I teach no 
 new faith, only that which everyone may know 
 within himself. Every man knows he has life, 
 given to him and to all men by the Father of life. 
 My teaching is only this, that man must live the 
 life given by the Father to all." 
 
 Many of the humbler kind of people believed 
 Jesus. But the notable and official classes disbe- 
 lieved ; because they did not want to consider the 
 universal basis of what he said, but only its imme- 
 diate and temporary bearings. They saw that he 
 turned the people from themselves, and they wished 
 to kill him ; but they were afraid to seize him 
 openly, and did not seek to do so in Jerusalem and 
 in the daytime, but secretly elsewhere." 
 
 And one of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, 
 approached the authorities, and him they bribed to 
 take their emissaries to Jesus when he should be 
 away from the people. Judas promised this, and 
 went again to Jesus, awaiting a suitable opportunity 
 to betray him. 
 
 On the first day of the feast, Jesus and his dis- 
 ciples kept the Passover. And Judas, thinking 
 Jesus was not aware of his treachery, was with them. 
 But Jesus knew Judas had sold him. And as they 
 all sat at table, Jesus took bread, broke it in twelve 
 pieces, and gave a piece to each disciple, including 
 Judas with the rest. And not mentioning any 
 name, he said : " Take, eat my body." Then he 
 took the cup with the wine, passed it to them, for 
 14 
 
2IO THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 them all, including Judas, to drink from, and said : 
 " One of you will shed my blood. Drink my blood." 
 
 Afterwards Jesus got up, and began to wash the 
 feet of all his disciples, including Judas. And 
 having finished, he said : " I know that one of you 
 will betray me to my death, and shed my blood ; 
 but him I have fed, and given to drink, and washed 
 his feet. I have done this to show you how you 
 must act towards those who do you harm. If you 
 will act in this way, you shall be blessed." And 
 the disciples went on to ask who the betrayer was. 
 But Jesus did not give his name, so that they 
 might not turn on him. And when it had grown 
 dark, Jesus showed that it was Judas, and at the 
 same time told him to go away. Judas got up from 
 the table and went off, no one hindering him. 
 
 Tlien Jesus said : " This is the meaning of setting 
 up the Son of Man. To set up the Son of Man is 
 to be like the Father, good ; and that, not only to 
 those who love us, but to all men, even to those 
 who do us harm. And therefore do not argue over 
 my teaching, do not pick it to pieces as the orthodox 
 did, but do as I have done ; do as I have done 
 under your eyes. This one commandment I give 
 you : Love men. My whole teaching is, to love 
 men always, and to the last." 
 
 After this, fear came over Jesus, and he went in 
 the dark with his disciples to a garden, to be out of 
 the way. While walking, he said to them : " You 
 are all wavering and timid ; if they move to take me, 
 you will all run away." To this, Peter said : " No, 
 I will never leave you ; I will defend you even to 
 
A RECAPITULATION 211 
 
 death." And all the disciples said so. Then Jesus 
 said : " If that be the case, then get ready for de- 
 fence ; take provision, because we must hide, take 
 weapons, to fight for ourselves." The disciples said 
 they had two swords. 
 
 When Jesus heard this about the swords, anguish 
 came over him. And going to a vacant place, he 
 began to pray, and entreated his disciples to do the 
 same. Bat the disciples did not imderstand his 
 state of mind. Jesus said : " My Father, the Spirit, 
 end in me this struggle with temptation. Strengthen 
 me to the fulfilment of Thy will. I do not want 
 my own way. I do not want to defend my bodily 
 life. I want to do Thy will, in not resisting evil." 
 
 The disciples still did not understand. And he 
 said to them : " Do not consider the concerns of the 
 body, but try to rise into the spirit ; strength is in 
 the spirit, but the flesh is powerless." And a 
 second time he said : " My Pather, if suffering Biust 
 be, then let it come. But even in suffering, I 
 want one thing only: that not my will shall be 
 fulfilled, but thine." The disciples did not under- 
 stand. And again he struggled with the tempta- 
 tion ; and at last conquered it. Coming to the 
 disciples, he said : " It is settled now ; you can be 
 at rest. I shall not fight, but shall surrender 
 myself into the hands of the men of this world." 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 THE FAEEWELL DISCOURSE 
 
 The self-life is an illusion which comes through the flesh, an 
 euil. The true life is the life common to all men 
 
 ("Deliver us trom evil") 
 
 Jesus, finding himself prepared for death, went to 
 give himself up. Peter stopped him, and asked : 
 " "Where ave you going ? " Jesus answered : " I am 
 going where you cannot go. I am 2-eady for death, 
 and you are not yet ready." Peter said : " No, I 
 am even now ready to sacrifice my life for thee." 
 Jesus said to him : " A man cannot promise any- 
 thing." 
 
 And he said to all his disciples : " I know death 
 is before me, but I believe in the life of the Father, 
 and therefore am not afraid of it. Do not be dis- 
 tressed over my death, but believe in the real God, 
 in the Father of life, and then my death will not 
 seem dreadful to you. If I am united with the 
 Father of life, then I cannot be deprived of life. 
 It is true, I do not tell you what and where my life 
 will be, after death, but I point out to you the way 
 to true life. My teaching does not reveal what 
 that life is to be, but it reveals the only true way 
 
A RECAPITULATION 213 
 
 of life. That is, to be in unity with the Father. 
 The Father is the source of life. My teaching is, 
 that man shall live in the will of the Father, and 
 fulfil His will for the life and well-being of all men. 
 
 " Your teacher, when I am gone, will be your 
 knowledge of the truth. In fulfilling my teaching, 
 you will always feel that you are in the truth, that 
 the Father is in you, and you are in the Father. 
 And knowing in yourselves the Father of life, you 
 will experience a peace of which nothing will 
 deprive you. And thei'efore, if you know the truth 
 and live in it, neither my death nor your own can 
 trouble you. 
 
 " Men think of themselves as sejjarate beings, 
 each with his own power of will in life ; but this is 
 only an illusion. The only true life is that which 
 recognises the Father's will as the source of life. 
 My teaching reveals this oneness of life, and repre- 
 sents life, not as separate shoots, but as one tree, 
 on wliich all the shoots grow. Only he who lives 
 in the Father's will, like a shoot of a tree, only he 
 lives ; and he who wishes to live by his own will, 
 dies away like a torn-off shoot. 
 
 " The Father gave me life to do good, and I have 
 taught you to live to do good. If you will fulfil 
 my commandment, you will be blessed. The com- 
 mandment which sums up my whole teaching is no 
 more than this, that all men shall love one another. 
 And love is to sacrifice one's own bodily life for 
 another's salce. Love has no other definition. In 
 fulfilling my commandment of love, you will not 
 fulfil it like slaves, who follow the orders of a 
 
214 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 master without understanding them; but you will 
 live as free men, as I am, because I have made 
 clear to you the purpose of life, which follows from 
 the knowledge of the Father of life. You have 
 adopted my teaching, not from accidental choice, 
 but because it is the only truth by which men are 
 made free. 
 
 " The teaching of the world is to do evil to men ; 
 but I teach that men love each other. Therefore the 
 world will despise you, as it has despised me. The 
 world does not understand my teaching, and there- 
 fore will persecute you, and do you evil, thinking 
 thereby to serve God. Do not be astonished at 
 this ; you must understand that it is necessarily so. 
 The world, not understanding the true God, must 
 persecute you ; but you must affirm the truth. 
 
 " You grieve because they will kill me ; but they 
 kill me for declaring the truth. And therefore my 
 death is necessary for the declai-ation of the truth. 
 My death, in facing which I do not go back from 
 the truth, will strengthen you, and you will under- 
 stand the nature of imtruth and of truth. You 
 will understand that untruth lies in men's belief in 
 the bodily life, and their disbelief in the hfe of the 
 spirit ; that truth consists in unity with the Father, 
 from which results the victory of the spirit over the 
 flesh. 
 
 " Even when I shall not be with you in the bodily 
 life, my spirit will be with you. But you, like all 
 men, will not always feel within you the power of 
 the spirit. Sometimes you will relax and lose 
 strength of spirit ; and you will fall into tempta- 
 
A RECAPITULATION 215 
 
 tion ; and at times you will again awaken to the 
 true life. Hours of bondage to the body will come 
 upon you, but for a time only ; you will suffer, and 
 again be restored to the spirit, like a woman who 
 suffers birth-pangs, and then has joy because she 
 has brought a human being into the world. So 
 will your experience be, when, after falling under 
 the power of the body, you rise again by the spirit 
 You will then feel such joy, that nothing will be 
 left for you to desire. Know this, then, before- 
 hand ; and in spite of persecution, in spite of internal 
 struggle and casting down of spirit, know that the 
 spirit lives in you, and that the only true God is 
 the knowledge of the Father's will, as I have re- 
 vealed it." 
 
 And addressing the Father, the Spirit, Jesus said : 
 " I have done that which Thou hast commanded me ; 
 I have revealed to men that Thou art the source of 
 everything. And they have understood me. I have 
 taught them that they all come from the source of 
 infinite life, and therefore they are all one ; and that 
 as the Father is in me, and I am in the Father, so 
 they, too, are one with me and the Father. I have 
 revealed to them also, that, like Thee, who in love 
 hast sent them into the world, they, too, shall with 
 love live in the world." 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 THE VICTORY OF THE SPIRIT OVER THE FLESH 
 
 Therefore, for him who lives, not the self-life, but a common 
 life in the will of the Father, there is no death. Bodily 
 death is for him union with the Father 
 
 ("tiblne 16 tbc fttngDom, power, ant> glors") 
 
 When Jesus had ended his discourse to the disciples, 
 he rose, and, instead of running away or defending 
 himself, he went on the way to meet Judas, who 
 was bringing soldiers to take him. Jesus came to 
 Judas, and asked him, why he had come. But 
 Judas did not answer, and a crowd of soldiers came 
 round Jesus. Peter threw himself forward to 
 defend his teacher, and, drawing his sword, began 
 to fight. But Jesus stopped him, and said to him, 
 that he who fights with a sword must himself 
 perish with the sword, and ordered him to put up 
 the sword. Then Jesus said to those who had 
 come to take him : " I have up to now gone about 
 among you alone, without fear, and I do not fear 
 now. Do as you choose." 
 
 And while all the disciples ran away, Jesus was 
 left alone. The officer of the soldiers ordered 
 Jesus to be bound, and led before Annas. This 
 
A RECAPITULATION 217 
 
 Annas was a former high priest, and lived in the 
 same house with Caiaphas, who was then high 
 priest. Caiaphas it was who provided the reason 
 upon which they decided to kill Jesus ; namely, 
 that if he were not killed the nation would dis- 
 appear. 
 
 Jesus, feeling himself to be in the will of the 
 Father, was ready for death, and did not resist 
 when they took him, and was not afraid when they 
 led him away. But the very Peter who had just 
 promised Jesus that he would not renounce him, 
 but would die for him, this same Peter who wished 
 to protect him, — now, when he saw that they were 
 taking Jesus for execution, and being met with the 
 door-keeper's question. Whether he was not with 
 Jesus ? gave up, and deserted him. It was only 
 afterwards that, hearing the coc'c crow, Peter 
 brought to mind all that Jesus had said. Then he 
 understood that there are two temptations of the 
 flesh, fear and fighting ; and that it was with these 
 that Jesus struggled when he prayed in the garden, 
 and asked the disciples to pray. And now he, 
 Peter, had fallen before both these temptations of 
 the flesh, of which Jesus had forewarned him ; he 
 had wished to fight against evil, and to defend the 
 truth, he had been about to strike and to do evil 
 himself ; and now he could not endure the fear of 
 bodily suffering, and had renounced his teacher. 
 Jesus had yielded neither to the temptation to 
 fight, when the disciples got ready two swords for 
 his defence, nor to the temptation to fear before the 
 men of Jerusalem, first, in the case of the heaven, 
 
2l8 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 and now before the soldiers, who had bound him 
 and led him to trial. 
 
 Jesus was taken before Caiaphas. Caiaphas 
 began to question him about his teaching. But 
 knowing that Caiapha.s was examining him, not to 
 find out what his teaching was, but only to convict 
 him, Jesus did not answer, but said : " I have con- 
 cealed nothing, and now conceal nothing. If you 
 wish to know what my teaching is, ask those who 
 heard and understood it." For saying this, the 
 high priest's servant struck Jesus in the face, and 
 Jesus asked him why he so beat him. But the 
 man did not answer him, and the high priest con- 
 tinued the trial. Witnesses were brought, who 
 deposed tliat Jesus had boasted that he made an 
 end of the Jewish religion. And the high priest 
 interrogated Jesus ; who, seeing they did not 
 examine him to learn anything, but only to make a 
 show of a judicial trial, answered nothing. 
 
 Then a priest asked him : " Tell me, are you the 
 Christ, the Son of God ? " Jesus said : " Yes, I am 
 the Christ, the Son of God ; and now, in torturing 
 me, you will see how a Son of Man is like to God." 
 And the priest was glad to hear these words, and 
 said to the other judges : " Are not these words 
 enough to condemn him ? " And the judges said: 
 " That is enough ; we sentence him to death." And 
 when they said that, the people threw themselves 
 upon Jesus, and began to beat him, to spit in his 
 face, and insult him. He was silent. 
 
 The Jews had no power to punish men with 
 death, and for that needed permission from the 
 
A RECAPITULATION 219 
 
 Eoman governor. Therefore, having condemned 
 Jesus in their court, and having subjected him to 
 ignominy, they took him to the Eoman governor, 
 Pilate, that he might execute him. Pilate asked 
 why they wished to kill Jesus. They said, because 
 he was a criminal. Pilate said that if he was so, 
 they must judge him by their own law. They said : 
 " We want you to put him to death, because he is 
 guilty before the Eoman Ctesar ; he is a rebel, he 
 agitates the people, he forbids payment of taxes to 
 Cossar, and calls himself the Jewish king." 
 
 Pilate summoned Jesus before him, and said : 
 " What is the meaning of this ; are you the Jewish 
 king ? " 
 
 Jesus said : " Do you really wish to know what 
 my kingdom means, or are you only asking for 
 form's sake ? " 
 
 Pilate answered : " I am not a Jew, and it is the 
 same to me whether you are the Jewish king or 
 not ; but I ask you, who are you, and why do they 
 call you king ? " 
 
 Jesus said : " They say truly, that I call myself 
 a king. I am indeed a king, but my kingdom is 
 not of earth, but of heaven. The kings of the 
 earth war and fight, and have armies ; but as for 
 me, — you see they have bound and beaten me, and 
 I did not resist. I am king from heaven : my 
 power is of the spirit." 
 
 Pilate said : " Then it is indeed true that you 
 think yourself a king ? " 
 
 Jesus answered : " You know this yourself. 
 Everyone who lives by the spirit is free. I live 
 
220 THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF 
 
 by this only, and I only teach by shewing men the 
 truth, that they are free by the spirit." 
 
 Pilate said : " You teach the truth, but nobody 
 knows what truth is, and everyone has his own 
 truth." 
 
 And having said this, he turned his back on 
 Jesus, and went again to the Jews. Coining out to 
 them, he said : " I find nothing criminal in this 
 man. Why, then, put him to death ? " 
 
 The priests answered : " He ought to be put to 
 death, because he incites the people." 
 
 Then Pilate began to examine Jesus before the 
 priests ; but Jesus, seeing it was only a mock 
 inquiry, answered nothing. Then Pilate said : " I 
 alone cannot condemn him ; take him to Herod." 
 
 At Herod's tribunal, Jesus again answered 
 nothing to the accusations of the priests ; and 
 Herod, thinking Jesus to be a common fellow, 
 ordered him, for mockery, to be dressed in red 
 clothes, and sent back to Pilate. 
 
 Pilate pitied Jesus, and began to entreat the 
 priests to forgive him, if only on account of the 
 feast. But the priests did not consent, and all 
 — the people with them — cried out to crucify 
 Christ. Pilate tried a second time to persuade 
 them to let Jesus go ; but priests and people cried 
 out that he must be executed. They said : " He 
 is guilty of calling himself the Son of God." Pilate 
 again summoned Jesus, and asked him what he 
 meant by calHng himself the Son of God. Jesus 
 answered nothing. 
 
 Then Pilate said : " Why do you not answer me, 
 
A RECAPITULATION 221 
 
 seeing that I have power to execute you or to set 
 you fiee ? " 
 
 Jesus answered : " You have no authority over 
 nie ; authority only comes from on high." 
 
 And Pilate a third time began to persuade the 
 Jews to set Jesus free. But they said to him : " If 
 you will not execute this man, whom we have ex- 
 posed as an enemy to Ccesar, then you yourself are 
 not a friend, but an enemy to Ceesar." 
 
 And hearing these words, Pilate gave way, and 
 ordered the execution of Jesus. They first stripped 
 him and flogged him ; then they dressed him again 
 in a ridiculous way. And they beat him, mocked 
 him, and insulted him. Then they caused him to 
 carry the cross, and led him to the place of execu- 
 tion, where they crucified him. 
 
 And as Jesus hung on the cross, the whole 
 populace mocked him. But to this mockery Jesus 
 answered : " Father ! do not call them to account ; 
 they do not know what they are doing." And 
 then, as he was now drawing near death, he said : 
 " Father ! I yield my spirit into Thy care." 
 
 And bowing his bead, he breathed his last. 
 
 THE END 
 
Note upon Matt. xvii. 24-25, as to Payment of 
 Taxes (see page 117). 
 
 In the third part (now preparing for press) of Tlie Four 
 Gospels Harmonised and Translated, the Author renders the 
 above passage thus : 
 
 " When they were come to Capernaum, the collectors of 
 the double-drachm came to Peter, and said : Thy master 
 does not pay the double-drachm. And he said : Yes." 
 
 This rendering, the Author accompanies with the remark : 
 
 " I have substituted a full-stop for the note of interroga- 
 tion generally placed at the end of verse 24. The construction 
 of the sentence is not interrogative, and the verb is in the 
 present tense. The tax-collectors ask no question, but posi- 
 tively say, ' Your master does not pay the tax.' " 
 
 So that Peter simply confirms the statement, that Jesus 
 does not pay taxes. 
 
 This explanation of a novel reading of the Gospel text 
 may serve as an example of numerous other explanations, to 
 be found in the larger work, The Four Gospels Harmonised and 
 Translated. 
 
 222 
 
INDEX 
 
 TO THE PORTIONS OF THE FOUR GOSPELS 
 EMBODIED IX "THE GOSPEL IN BRIEF" 
 
 The figures in " Italics " signify the page 
 
 Matt. 1. 18, 19, 24, 25, 23. 
 iii. 1, 4, ^4 ; 5-8, 10-13, SS. 
 iv. 1, 2, 35; 14, 16, 60. 
 V. 1, 2, 49; 13-19, 50; 20-24, SI; 25, ii(5 ; 28, 29, SS ; 
 
 31-34, 52 ; 36, 53 ; 37-41, 53 ; 43, 44, 54 ; 45, 46, B5. 
 vi. 1-3, 55 ; 4-9, 56 ; 16, 56 ; 17-28, 57 ; 29-34, 58. 
 vii. 1, 3, 6, 54; 9-11, 5S ; 12, 55; 13, 14, 55; 15-17, 59; 
 
 20-27, 59. 
 ix. 9-11, 31 ; 12, 13, 3S ; 35, 36, ^9. 
 X. 12,72; 16, 72; 19, 72; 22, 23, 72; 26-31, 73; 34, 7.?; 
 
 38, 39, 102. 
 xi. 2-7, ^0 ; 8-10, 41 ; 16, 4^ ; 17-19, 41 ; 25, 61 ; 28-30, 
 
 6i. 
 xii. 1, 2, 50 ; 6, 34 ; 7, 30, S^ ; 8, 30 ; 11, 12, 31 ; 15, 73 ; 
 
 19-21, 60 ; 24, 7^ ; 25-29, 74 ; 30, 75 ; 31, 32, 74 ; 33, 
 
 75 ; 46, 47, 76. 
 xiii. 3, 44 : 4, 5, 4S ; 7, 8,45; 10, 11, .^7 ; 12, 4S ; 14, 15, 
 
 .J7; 18-21, 47; 22, 23, .4^ ; 24, 25, 46; 27-30, .46; 
 
 31, 48; 33, 4S; 47, .46 ; 48, 47. 
 xiv. 17, 68. 
 XV. 2, 3, 3^ ; 7-9, 32. 
 xvi. 13-18, 101 ; 21, i2i ; 27, 111. 
 xvii. 24, 25, ii7 ; 27, 118. 
 
 223 
 
224 INDEX 
 
 Matt, xviii. 3, iiS; 5-8, ii//.; 10, ii4 ; 11,12,^0^; 14, JJ^ ; 
 
 15-17, ii5; 18-20, ;i6; 23-31, ii5 ; 32-35, ii 6. 
 xix. 3, 116 ; 4-6, ii7 ; 8-12, 117 ; 13, 14, 113 ; 27, i02. 
 XX. 1-3, i03 ; 8-16, 103 ; 20-22, 103 ; 23-28, iO^ 
 xxi. 10-11, 128 ; 13, .;,', ; 28, 29, &9 ; 40-43, lOS. 
 xxii. 16-21, iig; 23, i.'Ji ; 24, 25, 122^ 28, i'?;2; 31, 32, 
 
 122 ; 34-36, i3;3 ; 37, 123 ; 39, 40, 123 ; 42, 43, i.?5. 
 xxiii. 2, i;?3; 3-5, i^/^ ; 8, 12k\ 13, i^4; 15, 118, 12J, ; 
 
 16, i^^ ; 16-22, 119 : 23, i^^ ; 27, 28, 124 ; 30, 31, 124. ; 
 
 37-39, 123. 
 xxiv. 1-5, i55; 12, l.:'o ; 14, i^5 ; 45, 56, 110; 48, iiO; 
 
 50, 51, 110.- 
 XXV. 1-7, iiO ; 10, 110 ; 26, 27, 66 ; 32, iii ; 34, 111. 
 xxvi. 3-5, i5i ; 6-11, 88 ; 13, 89 ; 14-19, iSi ; 20, 21, l.}2 ; 
 
 23, 132 ; 26-28, iS^ ; 30, 31, IS4 ; 33-35, 134 i 36-43, 
 
 i55 ; 44, 45, 136 ; 46-52, 146 ; 55, 56, i^7 ; 58, 147 ; 
 
 59-66, 149 ; 67, 68, i50 ; 69, 70, 147 ; 71-75, I4S. 
 xxvii. 2, i50 ; 21-23, 153 : 24-26, I64 ; 28, 29, i55 ; 31, 
 
 1S5 ; 46, 47, 156. 
 Mark i. 1, 158 ; 4, n. 
 ii. 23, SO. 
 
 iii. 4, 5i ; 1,73; 22, 73 ; 28, I24 ; 29, i^5. 
 iv. 26-29, 45 ; 35, 77 ; 37, 38, 77 ; 40, 77. 
 vii. 1-5, 32 ; 8, 33 ; 10-13, 32 ; 14-21, S3 ; 23, 33. 
 viii. 32-34, 121. 
 
 X. 2, iiS ; 17-21, 85 ; 22-25, S6 ; 29-31, 102 ; 35, 103. 
 xi. 15, i„'5 ; 17, 34 ; 18, i^S ; 25, 26, 56. 
 xii. 1-8, i07 ; 41-44, 87. 
 xiii. 33, iiO. 
 
 xiv. 18, 132 ; 53, 147, US. 
 XV. 3, 4, i5i ; 5, i5;3 ; 29-32, i55. 
 Luke ii. 40-46, 23 ; 47-52, 24. 
 
 iii. 4-6, ^4 ; 10, 11, ^^ ; 12-14, 25 ; 23, S4. 
 
 iv. 3-5, 26; 6-8, ;27 ; 9-12, 26; 13, 14, 27; 16-18, ^5; 
 
 19-21, SO ; 32, 60. 
 v. 33-38, 39. 
 vi 1, 30 ; 20-23, 49 ; 24-26, 50 ; 30, 53 ; 37, 53 ; 39, 40, 
 
 5i ; 45, 59. 
 vii. 37-41, 57 ; 42-50, 3S. 
 
INDEX 22S 
 
 Luke viii. 18, ^ ; 19, 76 ; 21, 76. 
 
 ix. 23-25, 78 ; 48, Uk ; 52-56, 119 ; 57, 58, 76 ; 59-62, 77. 
 X. 1-3, 71 ; 4, 5, 7^ ; 25, IZQ ; 27, 120 ; 29-35, J20 ; 
 
 38, 77 ; 39-42, 7S. 
 xi. 9, 58 ; 27, 28, 76 ; 37-41, 57 ; 53, 126. 
 xii. ], 123; 5, iS3 ; 13, 14, 119; 15-19, 7S ; 20, 21, 79; 
 
 32, 5S ; 35-39, 109 ; 49, 75; 51-53, 73 ; 54-56, SO. 
 xiii. 2-8, 79 ; 10-15, 3i ; 24, 25, 111. 
 xiv. 3, SI ; 5, 6, 31 ; 8-11, i05 ; 15, 16, 8Jt; 18-23, S^ ; 
 
 25-28, SO ; 26, 73 ; 29-33, 81. 
 XV. 8, iO^ ; 10-13, 105 ; 15-18, 105 ; 20-32, i06. 
 xvi. 1, 82 ; 3,8S; 5, 6, 82 ; 8-12, SS ; 14-17, 83 ; 16, 41 ; 
 
 19-29, S4 ; 30, 31, 85. 
 xvii. 3, lU ; 4, ii5 ; 5-7, 108 ; 8-10, i09 ; 20, 41 ; 21,42; 
 
 23, 24, 4~'. 
 
 xviii. 10-12, 38 ; 13, 14, 3.9 ; 17, 113 ; 25-27, 86. 
 
 xix. 1-4, S6 ; 5-10, 87 ; 11-15, 65 ; 16-27, 66 ; 47, 48, 126. 
 
 XX. 34-36, i;?:? ; 45, 46, 123. 
 
 xxi. 34, 110. 
 
 xxii. 18, i5^^ ; 35, 36, 134 ; 38, 134 ; 53, i.^/. 
 
 xxiii. 2, i50 ; 6-15, 162 ; 23, ^5^ ; 34, 35, 155 ; 39-43, 156 ; 
 
 46, J56. 
 John i. 1-5, 158 ; 9-12, 158 ; 13-18, i59 ; 35-12, 27 ; 43-49, 
 
 gS ; 51, 28. 
 ii. 13, 33 ; 14-16, 3^ ; 23-25, 35. 
 iii. 1-5, 4^; 6-17, 43; 18-21, .f^ ; 22-27, 36; 31, 36; 
 
 32-36, 37. 
 iv. 4-10, 35 ; 13, 14, 35 ; 19, 20, 35 ; 21, 36 ; 23-26, 36 ; 
 
 31-38, 6^. 
 V. 1-4, 62; 5-11, 63; 15-21, 63; 22, 6.^; 24-31, 64; 
 
 36-38, 64 ; 39, 40, 65 ; 43, 44, 65. 
 vi. 1-3, 63; 5, 68; 7, 63; 9-11, 63; 26, 27, 68; 28-33, 
 
 69 ; 35-41, 69 ; 42-52, 70 ; 53-57, 7.Z ; 60, 61, 71 ; 
 
 63, 71. 
 vii. 1-6, 90; 7-12, 91; 14-19, 9i ; 21, 9i ; 22-29, 92; 
 
 32, 34, 9;? ; 37-40, 93 ; 42-52, 93. 
 viii. 3-9, j;9 ; 10, 11, 120 ; 12-14, 94 ; 18, 19, 94 ; 21, 94 ; 
 
 24, 25, 94 ; 26, 95 ; 28, 29, 95 ; 31, 32, 95 ; 34-37, 95 ; 
 3«-t4, 96 ; 46, 96 ; 48-55, 97 ; 56-59, 98. 
 
 IS 
 
226 INDEX 
 
 John X. 1-3, 98 ; 6, 95 ; 7, 8, 95 ; 9-18, 99 ; 20, 21, 101 ; 24, 99 ; 
 
 25-37, 100; 38^2,101. 
 xi. 7-9, m ; 10, 128 ; 25, 26, 98 ; 47-50, 1^6 ; 52-57, 
 
 127. 
 xii. 1, 1^5 ;^,1Z7; 12-14, l^S ; 19, 20, 128 ; 21-27, 1^9 ; 
 
 28, 130 ; 31, 32, 130 ; 34-36, iSO ; 36, 131 ; 42, 43, 131 ; 
 
 44, 45, 130 ; 47-50, 130. 
 xiii. 4-7, 132 ; 10, 11, 132 ; 12, 135 ; 14, 133 \ 17, 18, 133 ; 
 
 21-27, 135 ; 30, 31, 133 ; 33-35, ISJf ; 36-38, 137. 
 xiv. 1-3, 137 ; 4-17, 138 ; 18-28, 139. 
 XV. 1, 2, 140 ; 4-16, 140 ; 17-27, 141. 
 xvi. 1-7, 141 ; 8-13, 1^:2 ; 15-21, I42 ; 22-30, 1.^3 ; 33, 
 
 143. 
 xvii. 1, 14s; 3, 4, 1.44; 6-11, 144; 15, 1.^4; 17, 18, I44 ; 
 
 21, 1.4.4 ; 23, 144 ; 25, 26, 1.4-4. 
 xviii. 1, 135; 12-14, l..f7 ; 19, 20, I48 ; 21-23, 1.49 ; 28-33, 
 
 160 ; 34-38, 151. 
 xix. 4, 153; 6, 7, 153; 8-13, 154; 16, 15^ 155; 16, 155; 
 
 18, 155 ; 28, 166 ; 30, 156. 
 XX. 31, 158. 
 

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