PRINCETON, N. J. BS 2415 .T47 1873 Thompson, Joseph Parrish, 1819-1879. Shelf.... The theology of Christ THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST, FROM ins OWN WORDS. A Deo docetur, Deura docet, et ad Deum, dticit. — Thomas Aquinaj. By JOSEPH P. THOMPSON. NEW YORK: SCEIBNER, ARMSTRONG & CO., 654 BROADWAY. 1873. Bntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S70, by CIIAKLES SCRIBNER & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 7 AS. B. RODGERS CO., Electrotypebs, 52 & 54 N. Sixth St., Philadelphia. REV. LEONARD BACON, D.D., LL.D., TUB COUNSELLOR OF MY YOUTHFUL MINISTRY, THE CO-LABOREE. OF MX EIPER YEARS, THE CONSTANT AND FAITHFUL FRIEND, q:e:ib yoltjjii: ib aiiJiQ::E fully ijrsciii^JEQ, IN RECOGNITION OF A LIFE ILLUSTRATING, BY PRECEPT AND EXAMPLE, THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. PEEFAOE. Recent discussions of Christianity as a Faith have revolved about Christ as a Person ; and the Life of Christ, that formerly was shaped into biog- raphy for the instruction of the young and the edification of the devout, has become an effective weapon of theological polemics. But while within the sphere of theology this new significance has been given to the Life of Christ, the Theology of Christ Plimself has hardly received the distinction due to it as the formative power in the Christian system both as to faith and to practice. The doc- trine of Chrit^t was of the very essence of His life, and constitutes the true and vital Christianity. " I am the light of the world ; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of llfey This book does not attempt to delineate the life of Christ, but to evolve^ directly and exclusively from His own words, the Doctrine that He taught. The- ology has been too much the name of speculative systems, the product of philosophy applied to the Scriptures, or of some spiritual experience evolved from an individual soul and then supplemented from the Scriptures. But in the teaching of Christ, v PREFACE. theology is declarative in its form, and directly practical in its intent. He sets forth the truth of God, and all things spiritual and divine, with a spe- cific cast of doctrine, and a subjective relation of system, yet without the formulas of logic or the definitions of philosophy. Hence a truly Christian theology must be derived from the interpretation of His words by the laws of exegesis, and the colla- tion of detached sayings in their relations to the wdiole course of His teaching. This has been attempted in the volume which is here given to the public. It is no easy task to withdraw one's mind from the phrases and methods of theology with which it has long been familiar, and to concentrate it upon the interpretation of words spoken eighteen centu- ries ago ; it is as difficult at least as to extract from Plato and Xenophon the pure words of Socrates, and to hold these apart from all later speculations, for independent investigation. This, however, the author has sought to do ; and he hopes that his book will be found as free from any unconscious bias of preconceived opinions or beliefs, as it is from the terminology of any theological system or school. It is believed that such a development of the Theology of Christ as is here attempted is new in English literature : and only w^ithin a recent period has Germany, so prolific in every form of Biblical and Theological criticism, produced anything in this distinct department of Christian science. PREFACE. Vll Among the most important of these recent works are Dr. F. C. Baiir, Vorlesungen uber N. T. Theo- logie — a work conceived in the spirit of the Tiibin- gen school of criticism; Drs. Schmid and Weizacker, Bib. Theologie ties Neuen Testaments; Dr. B. Weiss, Lehrhucli der hihUsclien Theologie des Neuen Testa- ments : and Dr. J. J. Van Oosterzee, Die Theologie des Neuen Testaments, translated from the Dutch. A particular account of the last two works will be fomid in the Appendix. There are also isolated comments and discussions upon the doctrines of Christ in several of the recent works upon His life. The author has assumed the genuineness of the Gospel of St. John. This has not been done, how- ever, without a careful study of the controversy touching the fourth Gospel; and the reader who cares to investigate that question will find mate- rials in the Appendix. It is hoped that this treatise will commend itself to the Faith and Charity of the universal Church ; and also that it will find a specific use as a text- book for Bible Classes, and for classes in the English course in Theological Seminaries. With the prayer that it may guide and help some in the knowledge of the Truth as declared by " the Teacher come from God," it is humbly offered unto the Head of the Church, as the fruit of years of study in His Word. New York, /%j^. 10, 1870. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE. Christ a Preacher. ....... 1-6 Preaching the chief function of Ilis life. . . . . 1 He preached the Doctrines of a Positive Theology. . . 2 His Words the true Christianity. ..... 3 Doctrine necessary in "preaching Christ." . . . 4-6 CHAPTER II. The Quality op Christ's Preaching. .... 6-19 Impression of His preaching on contemporaries. . . 6-8 Not due to the extent nor profundity of His discourses. . . S-9 His doctrine of God, of Man, and the Future State. . . 9-11 The depth, simplicity and fulness of His teachings. . . 11-15 Their influence upon human thought, character and society. . 15-17 The world cannot outgrow His teachings. . . 17 CHAPTER III. The Kingdom op God. ...... 19-"2 Christ preached "the kingdom of God." ... 19 Jehovah the one Deliverer, as the germ of the Theocracy. . 20-25 Hence the kingdom was internal and spiritual. . . .25 Christ's Presence realizes the kingdom to the soul. . . 26 Its rewards and glories spiritual. . . . . .27 The Church a form of the Kingdom. .... 29 Dr. van Oosterzee's views of this Kingdom. . . 30,31 CHAPTER IV. Thb New Birth. ....... 32-49 A Gentile Proselyte was "born again." ... 33 The mistake of Nicodemus. ..... 34 The birth psychological and divine .... 35 An inward change required by the nature of the Kingdom. ^ . 36 Also by the wickedness of the human heart. ... 38 Sin universal in the race. ....*. 40 Repentance and renunciation necessary. ... 41 This effected through the divine Spirit. .... 42-45 The conversion of Paul. ..... 45-47 Sin made necessary the coming of Christ. ... 47 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Salvation made possible through the Death of Chhist. Tlic Son of Man " lilted up ;" origin and meaning of the phrase. This death the means of salvation. . . . . The death in the plan of His mission. Analogy of the brazen serpent. .... The plague of fiery serpents. .... Jloral lessons of the ])lague. ..... The brazen serpent a type of mercy. Christ's death a ransom. . .... IMt'aning of AuTpoi/ in the Greek classics and the Septuagint. Christ died for our salvation. ..... 49-67 49-52 63 55-67 57 57-60 60 62 63 63 65 CHAPTER VI. Salvation limited only by Unbelief. .... 67-79 The provision of mercy unlimited. .... 67 Believing, the necessary condition. .... 69 The "drawing" of the Father, not arbitrary but gracious. . 70-75 Men perish through unbelief and perversity of will. . . 75-78 CHAPTER VII. The Nature of Religion. ..... 79-93 Varieties of religious development. . . . . . 79 The intellectual, formal, humanitary, imaginative, pietistic, all tried before Christ. ..... 80-83 Christ seated Religion in the heai't. .... 83 All religious acts must be spiritual. . . • . .84 The Praying-machine of Thibet. .... 85 Religion a principle of holy living. . . . . .86 This the true theocracy. ...... 87 This Christ's rule of personal life. . . . . .88 An elective principle. ...... 89 " Good works " attest it. . . . . . .90 All systems and lives to be brought to this test. . . 91 CHAPTER VIII. The Spirituality of Worship. .... 93-104 Our idea of spirit derived from consciousness. ... 94 God a personal spirit. . . . . . .95 Christ did not abolish external worship. .... 96 Ho made worship the offering of the soul to its Father. . 97-99 Such worship is rational. ...... 99 Opposed to ritualism and sentimentality. . . . 100-102 Christian worship adapted to universal man. . . . 102 CHAPTER IX. A Living Providence. . • , Th(! faith of " Sojourner Truth." . Goappiness in Paradise. Biblical Psychology. . . Paradise distinguished from Heaven. The final consummation. The grandeur of Redemption. 164 164 166 168 170 171 172 173 174 176 CHAPTER XrV. The Resurrection op the Dead. . Care of Christianity for the body. . . Its sympathy with the heart. Meaning of ai/acrrao-is in the Greek classics, the Sept the Apocrypha. .... The raising of Lazarus. . . • Christ's answer to the Sadducees. . . His discourse in John V. . . Ilis conversation with Martha. Christ Himself the Resurrection. • Miracle of His own Resurrection. . . Believers exempt from Death.. . . The scope of Redemption. . . The Christian faith a finality. ^ , 178-198 178 , . 179 tuagint and 180 -185 • • 185 191 186 187 189 190 192 194 • • 195 196 CHAPTER XV. The Final Judgment. Christ's Prerogative of Judgment. The Judgment public and formal. Retribution taught in Nature. Christ's Life and Word a present Judge. The Judgment universal. " at a set time — " tJiat Day," Our Humanity in the Judge. Glory of the Incarnation. 198-211 ^ ^ 198 199 ^ ^ 200 201 , . 204 206 ^ ,' 207 208-210 CHAPTER XVL The BtESSEDNESS of the Saints. Christ's promise of the "new wine." Spiritual significance of this festival of lovo and joy. Saints in heaven enjoy the near presence of their Lord. They are exalted in honor. They have the approbation of the Father. The features of heavenly bliss. Conditions of admission to heaven. 211 211-215 214 216 217 218 219 219-221 CHAPTER XVII. Future Punishment. .... Christ preached the condemnation of unbelief. His warnings. .... 222-237 222 22S CONTENTS. Xill Penal consequences in Nature. . . . Christ taught a personal and positive retribution. Penalty exists in fact. .... Is recognized as just. .... Natural evil is inflicted for moral offenses. The higher claims of moral law. The Justice of a jiersonal reckoning. Retrilnition due to the grandeur of virtue. The dignity of man requires a moral law, with penalty. Justice the strength of Society. Christ's use of metaphor. .... KoAao-t? denotes a literal punishment. . Atwi'tos means everlasting. .... 224-225 226 227 227 228, 229 229 230 2.31 232 233 234 235 236 CHAPTER XVIII. Christ's Doctrine our SpiRiTUAii Sacrament. Spirituality of Christ's teaching. His use of strong sensible language. , Neander on Eating His flesh. Transubstantiation. , . . The Friends' view of Sacraments. Christ appointed Sacraments. . , True Significance of the Supper. 237-248 237 238 240 241-243 243 243 245-247 CHAPTER XIX. The Doctrine of Christ Complete as a Revelation from God. 248 Christ spake from the Father. .... 248 Yet as a self-revelation. ...... 249 Why did not Christ reveal more?. .... 250-252 He addressed Himself not to curiosity but to necessity. . . 252 He sought to restore man to God. .... 253 For this His teaching was complete. . . . • 254 The vast range of His teaching, as to subjects and application. 254-257 A Revelation for Higher Truths. .... 257 His doctrine radical and revolutionary, . . . 258 Summary of His Doctrine. ..... 259-261 Christianity cannot be outgrown. .... 262 APPENDIX I. The Genuineness op the Gospel of John. . . 264-275 Characteristics of the fourth Gospel. . . . , 264 Views of Strauss and Baur. .... 265 Internal evidences of genuineness. ; . . . 266 Agreements between the Synoptics and John. . . 267 The miracles in John's Gospel. . .... 268 The style of the Gospel. .... 269 Neander on John. . . ..... 270 External evidences of genuineness. . . . 271 Testimony of IreHxiin, Clemeut, TerfiiJliai} and Poli/crniei>. . . 271 Testimony of Valeniinnn, Mnrcion, Basilides and Justin Martyr. 272 Bleek's Summary of the Argument. . . . . 273-275 xiv CONTENTS, APPENDIX II. Dr. Van Oosterzee's Theology op the New Testament. 275-2S0 Science of Biblical Theology. . . _ . , _ . 276 Okl Testament Foundations; Mosaism, Prophetism and Judaism. 276, 277 The kingdom of God, in its subjects, blessings and consummation. 278 The Theology of the fourth Gospel. ... .279 APPENDIX III. Dr. Weiss on Future Punishment. .... 280-284 Features of Hades. ..... 281 Punishment visited upon the soul. .... 282 No resurrection of the wicked. .... 283 Their punishment eternal in the spirit. .... 283 APPENDIX IV. The Intermediate State. ..... 284, 285 Views of Delitzsch. ...... 284 Christ's descent into Hades. ..... 284 Body, Soul and Spirit. ..... 285 The body in the intermediate State. .... 285 Views of Lange. . . . » . 285 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. CHAPTER I. CHRIST A PKEACHER. Christ was a Preacher. He began His public life hj preaching in the synagogues of Galilee; He closed it by preaching in the porch of the Temple at Jerusalem. He who was Himself the matter of the Gospel in the preaching of the apostles, and is now the constant theme of evangelic preaching, was the first preacher of His own Gospel, and made preaching the chief function of His life. That He manifested God by works of power, that He exhibited a perfect Humanity through a sinless life of love, that He constituted a new community to be known as His Church, that He suffered and died for a testimony unto the truth and for the redemption of mankind — all this does not exhaust nor embody the story of the mission of Christ as given in the Gospels. From first to last He is there the Preacher. Baptism was appointed by Him as the rite of initiation into His kingdom ; but " Jesus himself baptized not." ^ John had insisted hardly less upon baptism than upon repentance ; but after that John was put in prison, Jesus, taking up the work of reformation, came into Galilee, not baptizing with water, but "preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand ; rej)ent ye, and believe the 1 John iv. 2. 2 THE THEOLOGY OP CHRIST, Gospel." ' The priestly office was exalted by Him into a spiritual mediatorsliip, when He made direct personal intercession with the Father for His disciples/ yet He neither offered sacrifices nor founded a priesthood, but Himself preached and conunissioned others to preach, "the Gospel of the kingdom." ^ A king He was, with authority to give laws and to change customs and institutions in religion, in society, in the state — in all this demanding the homage of the souls of men, — yet He wore no semb- lance of royalty, but rested the evidence of His kingship in tlmt He "came into the world that He should bear witness unto the truth," * and the evidence of His ]\Iessiah- ship upon the fact that "the poor have the Gospel preached unto them."^ While He founded a Church, and made provision for its officers, its sacraments and its discipline,^ He enjoined it upon His apostles to teach His command- ments, and "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations." ^ Preaching being the characteristic feature of the life of Christ, no true understanding of His mission can be had without a knowledge of what He preached as the truth of God. The Gospels which give us the record of His life contain also a Gospel which He preached ; and this Gospel comprises not only the rules of practical morality, the lessons and precepts of humanity and religion, but the Doctrines of a Positive Theology. It is sometimes alleged that Christ taught personally none of those doctrines which are commonly set forth by the Church in her creeds as distinctive of the Christian faith, but directed His teachings to practical life, inculcating tlie virtues, graces and charities tliat would reform, adorn and bless society, and elevate mankind : — that the doctrines of regeneration and atone- ^ Mark i. 14, 15. ^ John xiv. 16, and c. xvii. ^ Mat. ix. 35, x. 7, xi. 1. * John xvii. 37. ^ Mat. xi. 5. « Mat. xvi. 18, 19. "> Mat. xxviii. 20 ; Luke xxir. 47. HIS WORDS THE TRUE CHRISTIANITY. ^i ment, of the divinity of Christ and the personality of the Holy S^iirit, were woven out of Plis sayings by speculative minds among His followers, after Jesus had finished His personal testimony of truth and goodness, — that such doc- trines owe more to St. Paul and St. vVugustine than to Christ, and belong not to the original substance of the Gospel, but to a philosophical theology that has grown up around it. This notion is somewhat favored by a common method of teaching theology — stating doctrines in technical terms and with scientific nicety, tracing their development in the history of the Church and of schools of philosophy, and finally authenticating them by citations from the Scriptures used mainly as proof-texts. For this purpose the writings of Paul, as the logical expounder of the Christian faith, are drawn upon more largely than other portions of the New Testament ; — the Pauline conception being taken as the basis of the Christian dogmatics, and the words of Jesus being used to verify the statement of His doctrines in the form of theological propositions. To reverse this method is to derive the Christian Theology jirimarily and directly from the words of Christ — a process in which we have to do not with the creeds of the Church nor the formulas of the theologians, but simply with the principles of interpretation. So far as the veiy words of Christ have been preserved, these form the essence of Chris- tianity, just as the original sayings of Socrates as preserved by his disciples are the substance of the Socratic wisdom. To the first preacher of Christianity must we look for the freshest, truest, best conception of the system. In His words we find a proper theology — not formulated, indeed, nor systematized, yet expressed in doctrines to be severally believed, — doctrines set forth with a certain gradation of time and thought, or in a certain order of development — and these doctrines interwoven with the whole texture of the precepts and promises of the Gospel. 4 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. The study of the doctrines preached by Christ may exhibit the Christian faith in a phase diifering somewhat from that presented through any sect or school ; especially will it give to that faith a life and warmth, a power of renewing and edifying, that is too much suppressed under the technicalities of creeds. To many the very word "doctrine" brings up reminiscences of the Catechism as a school-boy task, or of a formal text-book in theology, of dry, stiff propositions, having neither spiritual warmth nor practical utility. But the doctrines that Christ j^reached have as direct a bearing upon our lives as His precepts ; and, if we will but suifer it, Avill come home to our hearts with the emphasis of j^ositive practical duties. Indeed the duties of the Christian life derive their obligation from the doctrines that make up the Christian faith. There is a good deal of cant now-a-days about "preaching Christ." In a great Christian Convention it was said lately, " the churches are dying of Theology ; ministers must preach Christ," and the sentiment was received with applause. Cut Christ Himself preached theology, and it is not possible to preach Christ except one shall preach the doctrines that He taught and that are the substance of His gosjjel. Shall one preach that Jesus is the Saviour of mankind ? But this is a doctrine, to be illustrated from His life and death, and confirmed by His own words. Sliall one preach that men must repent and believe, that they may be saved ? But this again is a doctrine, to be expounded, proved, enforced. Shall the preacher, with Paul "determine not to know anything, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified ?" ^ But the relation of Christ's death to our salvation, of all doctrines most requires clearness of statement and cogency of j^roof. If the Church is languid and feeble in face of Rationalism, Ritualism, and INIaterialism, it is for lack of a vigorous grasp of the docti'ines of the gospel. Preaching ha.s run 1 1 Cor. ii. 2. HOW TO PREACH CHRIST. 5 too much to the superficial, the fauciful, the sensational ; men go to Church that they may be pleased and excited rather than instructed, for some transitory play upon the imagination and emotions rather than the lasting conviction of the understanding; whereas what most they need is that the intellectual and moral nature be lifted up to the great thoughts of Christ, and so filled with His Spirit. Christ is best preached in the grand doctrines whereby He Himself preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. ^ 1 On Christ as a teacher of Theology, see Dr. B. Weiss, Lehrbiich der Bihlis- cJicn Theologie dea Neuen Testaments ; and Dr. J. J. Van Oosterzee, Die Thc- oloyie dea Neuen Testaments, A good abstract of this latter work, with trans- lations, is given in the American Presbyterian Jieview for July, 1S70. This author says, " To the teaching of the Lord we must ascribe a definite soterlo- lo'jicul character. In other words, all that the Lord announces respecting God and man, sin and grace, the present and the future life, all, especially that He testifies respecting Himself, stands in direct relation to the salvation that He came to reveal and bestow. It is not so much religious truth in general as specifically saving truth that is brought to light by Him. The possiliility of exhibiting the instruction of our Lord, with all its riches, as one whole lies just here, that it manifests from beginning to end the character of Gospel. Luke iv. 16, 22 ; John vi. 6S." CHAPTER II. THE QUALITY OF CHEIST's PREACHING. "Never man spake like this man/' ' said the officers who being sent to arrest Jesus were themselves arrested by the spell of His words. This spontaneous testimony of His contemporaries is also the deliberate verdict of history. All the ages since have not produced a competitor nor even a successor of Jesus as a teacher of wisdom and truth. His preaching always made upon His hearers the impression of something extraordinary in its character and peculiar to Himself. At His first discourse at Nazareth, the home of His youth, " all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth." ^ Nor was this the novelty of a first appearance, for the surprise was none the less W'hcn, a year later, after His preaching was widely known. He again taught at Nazareth " insomuch that they were astonished and said. Whence hath this man this wisdom and these mighty w^ords? Is not this the carpenter's son ? Yf hence hath this man all these things ?" ^ At Capernaum, v/here He preached so constantly, "they were astonished at His doctrine, for His w'ord was with power." * The same effect was produced by the sermon on the mount, at the close of which it is said "the people were astonished at His doctrine ; for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." ^ Once, for the purpose of entrapping Jesus, the most adroit and learned among the Jews concocted questions of casuistry, touching politics, theology, and morality, to be s Matt. xiii. 54. * John vii. 46. s Luke iv. 22. * Luke iv. 32. 5 Matt, viii 28, 29. 6 TESTIMONY OF HIS CONTEMPOEAEIES. 7 put to Him in presence of the people. First the politicians tried Him with the question of paying tribute to Cesar ; but when they got His answer, " they marvelled, and left Him, and went their M'ay." ' Next, the Sadducees sought to embarrass Him upon the doctrine of the resurrection, but He put them also to silence, and the multitude, hearing His reply, " were astonished at His teaching." ' Last of all, a lawyer demanded a categorical answer to the question " ^Yhicli is the great commandment," but after the reply of Jesus, followed by His own questions touching the Messiah, " no man was able to answer Him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth, ask Him any more questions." ^ When Jesus stood before Pilate, the Governor was so awed by the words and bearing of his prisoner, that he sought to escape the responsibility of condemning Him. Some such impression of the extraordinary, the marvellous, and even of the divine, was a common effect of the preaching of Jesus among all classes of hearers. So strong was this impression upon the disciples who heard Him in every kind of address — parables, proverbs, set discourses, public disputations — and also in the freedom of familiar conversa- tion, that tlicy said to Him, "Thou hast the words of eternal life : and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." * What were the qualities of the preaching to which such effects were ascribed by the contemj)oraries of Christ we are not left to conjecture, since we can measure their impressions by our own, and by the accumulated testimony of the ages since. Of the eloquence of Pericles, who was said to carry upon his tongue the thunderbolts of Jove, not a fragment survives to certify his fame as the greatest of Athenian orators. The fragmentary remains of other oratoi^s of antiquity do not always sustain their reputation in their time. There is in the printed page so little of 1 MatL xxii. 22. « Matt. ixii. 33. 3 Matt. xxii. 46. * John vi. 68, 69. 8 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. strength or fire that one marvels wherein lay the charm that gave such effect to the spoken words, and feels that much which is ascribed to the wisdom and eloquence of the speaker lay in the feelings of the hearer, or the circum- stances of the hour. A few, like Demosthenes and Cicero, have left orations that justify their fame, and serve as models for modern eloquence. And here and there, in the literary history of the world, is one whose words of wisdom and beauty have gathered fame with the ages, and are even more appreciated now than they were in their time. Plato and Shakespeare have a Avider audience of mankind, and a higher repute with men of thought and culture than in their own generations ; — their penetrative and compre- hensive wisdom is not dimmed by contrast with any of their successors. Xow in respect of the words of Jesus Christ, which so wrought upon the minds of His contcm- jioraries, and have so ruled the thought and life of after- times, it is possible to measure and weigh their significance, to compare them with the utterances of any other tcaclicr, and to analyze the sources of their power. His prcacliing remains upon record to testify that " never man spake like this man," This impression of the transcendent worth of the sayings of Christ does not arise in any degree from the extent of His discourses. There are authors whose works are a library of themselves; and as we look upon the shelves where twenty, thirty, forty volumes represent a Dickens, a Scott, a Schiller, a Thiers, a Voltaire, an Owen, a Bacon, Ave are amazed at tlie prolific genius, the patient industry, or the vast erudition that such works disjilay. But all that is recorded of the sayings of Christ, together with the history of His life, is contained in a duodecimo of eighty pages; — less than one half of the Ncav Testament is the total of what Jesus said and did, — less than ojae foiu'th is all that is preserved of Avhat He himself spake. THE MATTER OF CHRIST S PREACHING. 9 Neither is the superiority of Jesiis as a preacher due to an air of learning or of profundity in His utterances. A few names — but only the selectest few — are accepted as authorities in their several dci^artments of literature or. science, because of the accuracy of their knowledge and the solidity of their attainments; others, by an encyclo- paedic acquaintance with the results of science, win a more transient reputation of universal knowledge ; while others — more commonly in schools of metaphysics — are taken to be wise because they seem to be profound. But this New Testament preacher makes no show of learning, and deals with no subject tliat calls for book-knowledge. Science, pliysical or metaphysical. He does not touch upon; political and social questions He alludes to only incidentally or by way of inference; but of truths that concern one's spiritual nature, and of duties between man and man and from man toward God, He speaks as never man Sj)ake, before nor since. This is true equally of the Matter of His speech, of the IManner of it, and of its Effects upon human thought, character, and society. For the Matter of His teaching — to anticipate in part what will be fully brought out in future chapters — take for instance His doctrine of God : — a Spirit to be approached with spiritual worship and with sincerity of heart; so pure, so holy, so good, that absolute perfection is to be perfect as our Father in heaven; governing the world with a Provi- dence so minute that the hairs of our heads are numbered, so gentle that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our Father; so kind that one can have no cause for anxiety in temporal things, if he will but trust in God; a Moral Governor also, who makes the law of holy love the absolute rule of life and blessedness, who searches the heart by this law, who estimates character by its standard, and who Mill hereafter judge all men by it in their motives and their deeds; — but while thus supreme as Ruler and Judge, 10 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. asserting over mankind His holy and universal authority, yet compassionate toward the guilty, seeking to save them from their sins and bring them into loving fellowship with JFIimself as their Father: — a God whose holiness is love and whose love would have men become perfect in holiness that they may be perfect in blessedness. Whoever will compare this Theology of Jesus, item by item, and in its grand totality, wuth the speculations of j)hilosophers con- cerning the essence and nature of the Supreme Being and His agency in the world, and with the theories by which moralists have sought to harmonize truth, justice, love, holiness in the character of God, must confess that never man spake like this man — never man formed a concep- tion of the divine Being so clear, so positive, so complete, so absolute in every perfection, and so beautiful in the harmony of all, so majestic in character and sovereignty yet so approachable by man, so lofty and glorious, yet so gracious and so near! The same transcendent quality appears in the substance of Christ's doctrine of man: — a personal soul, a spiritual being, and as such worth more to himself than the whole world; a sinner whose heart is a fountain of evil, yet capable of becoming pure and holy as a child of God; an immortal spirit, who by virtue of his character, shall hereafter take his j^lace either with spirits of darkness or with the angels that behold the face of God ; a moral being created for love, and for whom the fellowship of human love would make a perfect society and loving God a present heaven. Whoever will take this anthropology of Christ and compare it with scientific theories of the origin and end of man, and metaphysical speculations touching his nature, his capacity, and his future, must confess that never man spake like this man : — never did philosopher form of Humanity a picture so true, an ideal so high, suggest a character so noble, and make this possible by living ex- THE MANNER OF CIIRIST's PREACHING. 11 I ample, or open to tlic Race so grand and glorions a future; and never did philantliropist kindle such enthusiasm of love for Humanity itself. This superhuman quality in the preaching of Christ is even more impressive in His doctrine of the Resurrection. A belief in the immortality of the soul — a belief that seems rooted in the soul itself — was widely, though perhaps vaguely entertained, long before the time of Christ; and the practice of mummilication among the Egyptians was based uj^on the expectation of a return of the soul to the body ; but he who will ponder Christ's assurance of a final victory over death and the grave and of a j)ersonal identity not only realized in consciousness but manifested in outward appearance, and will reflect upon the dignity that such a promise restores to our fallen nature, the consolation it imparts to grief, the hope and solace to love, must acknow- ledge that in the highest concernment of man — his existence and condition after death — never man spake like this man who said "I am the resurrection and the life : he that be- lieveth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." ' Turning from the Matter of Christ's preaching to the Manner of it — from what He said to the way in which He said it, one is impressed, first of all, with the calm spiritual depth of His sayings. With no air of profundity, the sayings of Jesus have a depth of meaning that no philoso- phy has yet fathomed. But this depth is not obscurity, it is simply deepness. Depth of reasoning sometimes leads to obscurity of statement ; the intellectual process becomes confused, or the listener loses the clue, or language furnishes no terms for the more delicate shades of meaning. But an intuition of the spiritual life — a trutli . the attestation of which should be given directly by conscience or in consciousness, however deep in meaning, may be always clear in expression. Philosophers go to the bottom of 1 John xi. 25. 12 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. their own thoughts, but Christ went to the bottom of things; and one can see the truth as He states it, and feel tliat it is the truth, though he may not at first measure its whole depth, just as Avithout diving to the bottom of the ocean, one may see that the bottom is deep, and that pearls are lying there. This profound clearness in tlie utterances of Christ is due to His intuitive and absolute knoAvledge. Where others seek after truth by long processes of investi- gation, and find it only in fragments, Jesus saw truth ensphered before Him like a cr}^stal, and He so states the truth that we see it and feel it, although not always able fully to grasp it. Thus one may read metaphysical philosophy from Plato to Kant without gaining a clear positive conception of that Infinite Spirit in whose existence all such philosophy must terminate. But when Christ says, " God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him In spirit and In truth," we feci that God is a Personal Reality ; and though Christ does not define the nature of spirit, yet when He speaks of God as tliinking, walling, loving — His Father and ours — we understand Him better than the philosophers, though He penetrates to the Inmost depths of a nature which they had vainly sought to define. His depth is clear and calm because He speaks the words of everlasting truth. The simplicity Avlth wdiich He utters the profoundest truths distinguishes Jesus from all other teachers. It was sivid of the orations of Demosthenes that they smelt of the lamp, and the attention of the hearer was divided between what was said and the labor bestowed in saying it well. The elaborate finish of a Cicero, a Burke, an Everett, often diverts the mind from the thought to the style. On the other hand, the apothegms of some of the most renowned sages are uttered Avitli an air of wisdom that offends the taste. But Jesus never labors to make an impression, nor works up an effect with careful logic and rhetoric. " His Christ's preaching personal. 13 doctrine drops as the rain, and his speech distils as the dew." One reason of this clearness is itself a characteristic of the sayings of Christ — their adaptation to the hearts and lives of men. He is not like the chemist, who shuts himself np in his laboratory to analyze subs-tances and form new compounds, and now and then gives to the world a new discovery — a result without process ; nor like the philosopher who withdraAvs from common life into a region of abstractions ; but His teaching is like the sunlight, for every body's eyes, like the air, for every body's lungs. The God whose infinity, spirituality, majesty, glory, holiness, He sets forth in such pregnant words, is your Father and mine; the soul whose salvation He weighs against the whole world is your soul and mine ; the law of holy love, not one jot or tittle of which shall fail, though heaven and earth pass, is the rule for your life and mine ; the kingdom of God is within us ; His Father's house is ours ; the most sublime and oppressive truths of the spiritual world, the most profound mysteries in the relations of the divine to the human through creation, incarnation and redemption, the most thrilling and exquisite discoveries of the futui"e life are brought home as present and personal to every man. So personal are they, that to receive them into our hearts makes them our own almost as much as if we had originated them. On readins; the declarations of the Sermon on the Mount, we find them so simple as to seem in a sense natural ; we wonder we had not thought of them before; and yet, so deep and full are they that we can never exhaust them. For instance, the saying " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God " is so obvious, so true to the nature of things, that it appeals to every one as a direct personal summons to a holy life ; and yet the most experienced Christian, the most profound theologian, has not exhausted its meaning — not Baxter nor Edwards, 14 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. not John nor Paul knew all that it is to be pure in heart, nor could tell all that it will be to see God. Truth as spoken by Christ belongs to us as the sky under which we live : it is our heaven ; we drink its light, we breathe its air, yvc grow familiar with its stars, we bathe our fancy in its clear ether, and have a home-like feeling of possession — yet we can never reach its horizon nor climb to its zenith. Never man spake like this man — bringing God and truth and heaven so near, yet making all so vast and glorious. Another peculiarity of the sayings of Christ is the sense of fulness they carry with them, and of this fulness as proceeding from Himself. One sometimes feels that a teacher has not mastered his subject, or if at home upon one subject he is not equally learned in all ; and when the most learned have told all they know, there remains some- thing more for themselves as well as their pupils to acquire. But Jesus speaks with the composure and certainty that fulness gives ; His words flow as from a fountain, and not only so, but the truth He imparts becomes in those vfho receive it " a well of living water, springing up into ever- lasting life." ^ In listening to Him one never feels that He has exhausted Himself while other truth remains to be learned, but that He knows all truth, and contains it Avithin Himself. For truth as spoken by Christ carries with it the conviction that what He utters is part of Himself. It is not truth that He has studied and developed as an intellectual system — as Copernicus the astronomical and Cudworth the intellectual system of the universe ; it is not a doctrine that He has derived from another, and teaches with His own methods and illustrations — as Plato expanded and formulated the doctrines of Socrates, — but the Truth He speaks is in and of Himself. We make such poor work of setting forth the truth, so feeble an impression of its reality and power, because our 1 John iv. 14. CHRIST SPAKE AS THE TRUTH. 15 own experience of the truth is so limited and imperfect. It does not come from the depth of our consciousness; it is not incorporated with the life of our souls, so as to give the impression that we are Truth itself; and we take up with half-truths, or defective and distorted representations in the place of Truth. Even the wisest men sometimes put forth as profound ideas what to others seem like com- mon-places ; and most men are themselves so very common- place, of narrow views and narrow feelings, always in the same ruts of trade or politics or opinion, bigoted, preju- diced, self-willed, never rising to broad and generous views — that they give to what little of truth they do receive the complexion of their own minds, and make this com- mon-place as tliemselves. But Jesus stands before us as Himself the Truth, making upon all that hear Him the impression that He knows that of which He speaks, knows it truly, knows it deeply, knows it fully, and utters it from His inmost soul. Hence what He says is always fresh, and constant repetition cannot make it old. If He speaks of purity of heart, we know that He Himself is pure; if He commands us to love one another, we feel that He Himself is love; if He speaks of God, He produces the conviction that He knows the Father as the Father knows Him. His very \yords carry with them the assurance that He is the Truth. Never man spake like this man. The sayings of Christ, far more than those of any other teacher, are certified by their eifects, especially in the higher spheres of human thought and feeling. Since the beginning of the Christian era, how large a portion of the literature of the world has been devoted to the exposition and illus- tration of His words, or directly or indirectly has grown out of them. What vast libraries and sections of libraries in Europe and America are filled with books of Christian theology, commentary, and history. Down to the time 16 THE THEOLOGY OP CITIIIST. of the Reformation, how little literature was known to Christendom that was not distinctively Christian, and since then how largely has Christianity influenced the thought and learning of the world. Strike out from the literature of the Christian era all that is in any way derived from or related to the sayings of Christ, and what would remain in comparison worthy to influence the higher thought and life of mankind? How little is there in the sayings of other men that the world cherishes as life-words! How many volumes have been made simply by commenting upon the words of Christ! Every one is familiar with Sir Walter Scott's dying testimony to the Book — " Need you ask ? There is but one /" ^ and the great humorist of our time has left this record of his obligations to the life of Christ — " I have always striven in my writings to express veneration for the life and lessons of our Saviour ; because I feel it, and because I rewrote that history for my children ;" and in his last will, he enjoined it upon his children to " try and guide themselves by the teachings of the New Testament." ^ The power of Christ's doctrine has been equally apparent upon human society. A new Society, altogether peculiar, whose foundation is faith in Christ Himself, whose bond is love to Him and His, whose aim is moral perfection, has come into existence through His word, and to-day exists over half the globe. The Church of Christ founded Avithout jiolitical ^^urpose or j^hysical j)owcr, uj^on a Word, an Idea, and expanding through the ages with an undying spiritual life, Avitnesses that never man spake like this man. Moreover, His words have penetrated civil society, have infused into government the idea of justice, have redressed social wrongs, have harmonized legislation, and lifted the masses to a higher plane of thought and hope. 1 Life by Lockhart, vol. vii. chap. xi. ^ The will of Mr. Dickens as quoted by Dean Stanley in his funeral discourse. CHEIST SPEAKS TO THE HEART. 17 But more than all is the j)ower of Christ's doctrine manifested in the history of the heart, under all the mani- fold j^hases of human feeling. The heart in perplexity needs not instruction so much as light, and the words of Christ are like sunlight upon a mind in spiritual darkness. The heart in trouble needs not teaching so much as sympathy, and the words of Christ come to it in sorrow with all the tenderness of the tears lie wept with Martha and Mary, with all the comfort of the promise "Thy brother shall rise again ! " The heart that knows the bitterness of sin wants not relief only but renewal, trans- formation; not merely pardon but salvation through recoveiy to purity and to a life in God, and the words of Christ are pardon, peace, purity, salvation, life. The heart so deceival by the world, so misled by itself, needs truth to rest upon and love to confide in ; and the words of Christ in\'ite us to lean upon Him as did John at the supper. What myriads of hearts have been swayed, molded, strengthened, comforted by His words ! The world has not yet outgrown the teachings of Christ. Great advances have been made in physical science since His day, especially within our own times; but science has discovered nothing more precious for the souFs culture than the truths that Christ brought into the world. The Phi- losophy of Humanity has grown to a science since Jesus taught, but this has advanced no doctrine of development or perfectibility more elevating or more encouraging than tlis. Science dishonors itself when it affects to ignore the teachings of Christ: for whatever else is true. His word is Truth; whatever else is brought to light, His word is both Light and Life. Was He then Avho uttered these marvelous, far-reaching, unequaled v.ords only a 3Ian, of loftier genius or keener insio'ht than the rest of His race? Will this account for those sayings of His that so distance all human wisdom 2 18 THE THEOLOGY OF CIIRIST. and so control tlio world? INIust we not accept His own explanation of this nnparallolcd phenomenon — " The words that I speak unto you, I sjjeak not of Myself, but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doetli the works." ' Can His other sayings be true, if that saying was false? In vicAv of the quality of Christ's preaching as tested by the results of eighteen hundred years, must not w^e say with even more than the confidence of the first disciples, " Thou hast the words of eternal life ; and we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Sou of the living God ?" ^ 1 John xiy. 10. 2 John vi. 68, 69. CHAPTER III. THE KINGDOM OP GOD. The whole circle of doctrines taught hy Christ revolves about this central point — that He represented to men the KiXGDOM OF God. Jesus began His public life by "preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God;" saying, "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the Gospel." ^ In the first commission that He gave to the twelve disciples, Jesus "sent them to preach the kingdom of God." ^ In His parables He sj)ake continually of the "kingdom of God" and the "kingdom of heaven." He represented faith in Himself as the door of entrance into the kingdom of God; He promised His followers the highest honor and blessing in the kingdom of God. What then is this kingdom of God which Jesus preached as His Gospel? and how docs the knowledge of this Kingdom bring us under obligation to repent, and give us encouragement to believe? The answer to these questions must be sought in the meaning of this phrase as it required to be understood by the Jews of Christ's own time. To the men wliom Christ addressed, the kingdom of God was no new idea; or ratlier, it was no new phrase — but it can hardly be said to have represented any definite idea to a generation that had so far lost the meaning of their own law and histoiy. If we study closely the religion of the Old Testament we shall find that all its doctrines, laws, and institutions grov/ out of this fundamental thought — that God who Himself is pure and spiritual, is the true and only Redeemer of all those who desire to be no more 1 Mark i. 14, 15. • » Luke ix. 2. 19 20 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. estranged from Him; that God calls men to Himself and seeks to deliver them from bondage: — this precious truth was sealed by the deliverance in Egypt, and the won- drous rescue at the Eed Sea; and afterwards became the foundation stone of the whole community of Israel, as well as the sole vivifying impulse of all devotion.* Tlie grand thought that Moses brought to Israel was that Jehovah, the living God, the spiritual and eternal God, was the true Deliverer; that He desired men to come to Him in spiritual trust and worship, and that to every one who would so come to Him, this eternal God would be a present help, a refuge from every trouble, care, and sorrow. \yhat the heathen had blindly struggled after in all the multitude of their gods and religious forms, Jehovah had brought to men in this Revelation of Himself; a God not far off but nigh to every one of us; a God who is seeking men and drawing them to Himself; a God who touches the human spirit by His own infinite Spirit, that He may awaken wdthin it a childlike faith and love; a God manifesting: Himself to our consciousness as a Deliverer from sin and evil and death. This truth was formally embodied in the doctrine of a Kingdom of God in this world, the nucleus of which was His redeemed people of Israel. The political constitution of Israel as a Nation was but a frame for this spiritual kingdom. For a time Jehovah stood directly as the Head of the Nation, declaring His will through the prophets, and by extraordinary manifestations ; and when the jjcople so far declined from this vivid spiritual conception of Jehovah as their deliverer that they desired an earthly king, then the kingly office was made a type of the divine authority that yet ruled in the hearts of the true Israel : the prophets strove to hold the people as a nation to the original spiritual idea of this divine kingdom, and pre- 1 Ewald, Hibtory of Israel, i. 533-36. THE "kingdom of GOD" IN JEREMIAH. 21 dieted a time Avlien the kingdom of spiritual life and poM'cr, — a kingdom in which God Himself, the pure, the holy, the spiritual, the eternal, should be acknowledged and served as Redeemer and Lord — should be manifested not for Israel only but to the whole world. This was the time of promise that Jesus announced as fulfilled ; this the " good news '^ He preached " of the kingdom of God." The true conception of this kingdom stands out in the predictions of Jeremiah concerning the days of the Messiah. When this prophet wrote, the political kingdom had run itself down into disgrace and bankruptcy, through the vices of the kiugs, and the general wickedness of the people ; but although the monarchy should be overthrown, and king and people be carried away captive, the Kingdom of God in the true Israel — as represented by the prophet and by all believing souls^-could not be destroyed. Indeed, Avhen armies should have failed and all earthly hopes have perished, then would stand out more clearly than ever the truth that Jehovah was the only Deliverer, that He who delivered Israel out of Egypt, must now deliver them from the oppression and captivity that threatened them and from the sins that had brought tliem into such disaster and perils ; then too would be revived the confidence of the true Israel, through a humble, trustful submission to the will of God — faith in Jehovah as a Deliverer. This view of the kingdom of God may be interpreted to us by our familiar conceptions of the national and historical spirit in a people, as distinguished from the form of gov- ernment and the practical administration of affairs. If, for instance, one loses confidence in a President, or a Ministry, he does not abandon constitutional government as a failure, but the ideal of a good government then stands out in bold relief. When the lawful government of the United States was assailed by rebellion, and it was attempted to disintegrate the Union by violence, then the 22 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. spirit of law and order, the essence of government embodied in the Constitution, came forth more vividly in the con- sciousness of tlie people, and inspired them with new faith and courage ; and more than all, the idea of God as the Deliverer of the Nation in its past historj^, and as its present dependence and hope, came into prominence, and His kingdom was made manifest in the signal providences of the War, and in the overthrow of Slavery. This near experience may help us to understand what to the true Israelite was the h'mgdom of God; — not simply His Provi- dential government over the world at large ; nor His universal government over this and all worlds; nor the form of political constitution and laws given by Jehovah to Israel ; nor the King and High Priest set up in His name; but the presence and power of God felt and acknowledged in the hearts of those that trusted in Him and did His commandments. It was this spiritual conception of a kingdom icith'm Israel itself, — that did not embrace all Israel, and yet was greater than Israel, because it did possess and should hereafter more and more jiosscss souls outside the pale of the Jewish commonwealth — that Jeremiah seized so vividly at the very moment when the national monarchy was sinking into nothingness. "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and will be their God, and they shall bo my people .... for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord : for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." ^ Y/^hcre Jehovah was sought and acknow- ledged as the Saviour from sin, and His will was received into the heart as its law, there was the kingdom of God. Daniel, himself a captive, while Jerusalem lay waste and her monarchy v/as overthrown, had a glorious vision of ^ Jeremiah xsxi. 33, 31. THE "kingdom of GOIV IX EZEKIEL. 2.3 tins spiritual kingdom, to be revived under Messiah the Prince, and he even measured off by outward events the time when His kingdom woukl be made manifest. Ezekicl likened the manifestation of the true Israel to a resurrec- tion of dry bones ; — " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away tlie stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." ^ Thus underlying the whole history of Israel, and all the forms of the Jewish state and religion, was the idea of a living present God who dwelt in the hearts of all true worshipers, "as a monarch living among his subjects ;" — the temple was His visible house, a representative of His sacred majesty, and its sacrifices showed how He was to be approached for the forgiveness of sin; but His true abode was in hearts delivered from sin, that honored and obeyed Him as the Redeemer-God. With this spiritual conception of the kingdom — the presence of God as a Saviour realized to the soul — it is easy to understand how Jesus " preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God." Coming at a time when the Jews were vassals of the Roman power ; when deprived of every symbol of their nationality save their temple and its wor- ship, they were yearning for a Deliverer ; to the nominal people of God thus subjugated by military rule, yet cling- ing to the ancient promise of a Messiah who should restore the glory of the theocracy. He said, " I bring to you the good news of the kingdom of God ; in Me Jehovah once more comes to you as a Deliverer ; the time predicted by Daniel is fulfilled ; the new covenant promised by Jeremiah is brought to you in my gospel ; repent of the sins that have humiliated and well-nigh destroyed you; renounce your vain hopes of deliverance, and trust in INIe as your 1 Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27, and Chap, xxxvii. 24 THE THEOLOGY OP CHRIST. Saviour ; repent and believe the Gospel, for the kingdom of God is at hand." The expectation of such a kingdom already existed in the minds of the more devout and spiritual among the Jews. Zacharias anticipated the advent of the Messiah as the appearing of " the Day-sjiring from on high," whose ways John was sent to prejiare, " by giving knowledge of salvation unto His people for the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God." ^ The aged Simeon waited for " the consolation of Israel," and when the child Jesus was presented in the temple, wath prophetic insight he recognized in Him the promised salvation — " a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel." ^ Joseph of Arimathea was one who in the same spirit " waited for the kingdom of God," and lie boldly identified himself with the name of Jesus, in what seemed the darkest hour of His cause. ^ But though this finer spiritual conception of the kingdom of God existed in the minds of the more devout, the body of the nation looked only for the restoration and perfection of the Davidic theocracy in per2>etuity. Because of this popular expectation of the Messianic kingdom, wdiich could easily liave been kindled into the fever of a revolution, Jesus refrained from announcing Himself as the Messiah, until by His teaching and works He had gained a footing for that spiritual commonwealth w^hich in reality He had come to establish. This commonwealth began in the little company of His personal disciples — a community brought into existence not by any supernatural intervention in the outward condition of the people, but through His own spiritual efficiency ; and thus the very substance of the kino-dom of God was seen to be independent of its realiza- tion in the form of the national Theocracy. ■* Yet even I Luke i. 76-79. ^ Luke ii. 25-33. » Mark xv. 43. * Soe a fine analysis of the doctrine cf Jesus concerning the kingdom of God in Weiss' Lehrbnrh der Illllh-chcn Thei,l irjie chs N. Testniiicnts, pp. 49-57. For Van Oosterzee's view sec note at tUc end of this Ch:ipler. THE KINGDOM IN AND OF THE HEART. 25 this community, though based upon the spiritual doctrine of Christ and held together by a personal faith in Him, did not constitute the kingdom of God in the most pure and absolute sense. One of the primitive circle of twelv^e was a devil, " a confederate of Satan, the grand enemy of Christ, and of the kingdom that He had come to establish. The true kingdom commences ahvays in the hearts of individuals, and spreads only by the communication of spiritual life. In all His parables and discourses touching the kingdom of God, Christ adhered to this spiritual con- ception. The kingdom consists in doing the will of the Father, and tlie perfection of the Tlieocracy will be realized when that will shall be done by men on earth as it is done by the angels in heaven — in a word, supreme love to God is the consummation of the kingdom. Hence the kingdom of God cometh not with observa- tion. ^ It has none of the outward pomp and circumstance of royalty, but is the development of an internal power. To find it one needs not to go to this place or that, to join this organization or that, participate in this ceremony or that ; — " The kingdom of God is within you." ' One be- comes a subject of it in his own consciousness ; when he, by believing, receives Christ into his heart as his Saviour, then does God as his Redeemer, take charge of him, enter into him to guide, keep, sanctify, and save him ; and this coming to the realization of God in His supreme lordship over the soul is the kingdom. This kingdom has laws for the regulation of the life through purifying and ennobling the heart. These laws, as embodied in the sermon on the mount, though in the form of simple maxims, strike down to the deepest springs of thought and motive. They revolve about two cognate ideas. Purity and Love: — "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God :" ^ — " Be ye thcrc- 1 John vi. 70. 2 Luke xvii. 20. 3 Luke xvii. 21. * Matt. v. 8. 26 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. fore perfect p. e., in love] even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect : " ' — a pure and holy love toward God and man is the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom has its privileges. Every subject is treated as a son. There are no gradations of rank, no intermediaries upon whose influence at court we must rely for favor ; but tlie King himself comes by His Spirit to the heart of each subject and there abides: "If any man love Mo, he will keep My words ; and My Father will love him, and Ave will come unto him, and make our abode Avith him." ^ This presence of Christ in the soul imparts power against all spiritual enemies ; the very coming of the kingdom is deliverance from condemnation and death. The entering in of this kingdom is the casting out of Satan; — "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace : But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor Avherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." ^ Jesus spake this to illustrate His power against Satan : " If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you ;" ^ the overthrow of Satanic poAver in the world, the subjugation of the j^ower of evil in any form, the breaking of hostile power by a poAver from above, marked the coming of the kingdom of God. As the advance of the Union army into the Southern States gave a sense of deliA^erance and safety to loyalists who had been held in durance and terror by the Confeder- ates — the very coming of the flag of the Union into a place being the symbol of poAver and the pledge of emancipation — so the entering of the Gospel into a heart to possess it AA'ith its faith, its promises, and its hopes, is the signal of deliverance from the bondage of Satan, and the coming in ' Matt. V. 4S, and xxii. 37-41. S L„Ue xi. 21, 22. 2 John xiv. 23, * Luko xi. 20. EEWARDS OF THE KIXGDOM. 27 of the kingdom of God. The presence of Christ is the subjugation of His enemies. Through this presence the soul is sanctified and enno- bled ; the reign of pure desires, devout affections, noble purposes is established within. The principle of holy love enthroned as the law of the mind, subjugates evil propen- sities, eradicates wrong habits, and every such subjection of the unholy is the dominion of the good and true. This kingdom has its rewards, both present and jjros- pective. There is no higher joy in kind than the fi-ce communion of the heart with one whom it thoroughly admires, respects, and loves ; and the highest measure of this joy is found in that endearing fellowship with the Father into which the soul enters through its fellowship of faith and love with Christ, and which Jesus promised to His disciples as the compensation for His own withdrawal : " He that loveth ]\Ie shall be loved of :My Father ;" ' " Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you ;" " "These things have I spoken unto you, that INIy joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." ^ And this present joy, so rich and satisfactory, is but the prelude to the x'ewards of the future of this kingdom. To be pronounced the blessed of the Father, and publicly welcomed to that sphere of light and glory where Jehovah is enthroned ; to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God ; to be with Christ in person and behold His glory, — these are but items in the rich roll of blessings promised to the recipients of the Gospel. And these rewards shall be eternal. A Messianic kingdom reproducing the theocracy of David, would have been subject to the incidents of all earthly governments and all types of material organization. Limited in extent, confined to the conditions of place, exposed to the conflicts of hostile powers, it must eventually have shared the fate of other 1 John xiv. 21. « John xiv. 27. ^ John xv. 11. 28 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. temporal governments, or even had it outlasted these, it must have been circumscribed in territorial dominion and in the number of its immediate subjects.' But lying wholly within tlie spiritual, which is immortal, incorpo- rated with the very life of the soul, not only will it survive the destruction of all outward forms and of the world itself, but it shall endure with the duration of being. Divine forces are in it for its perpetual conservation ; it is the kingdom of Christ and of God : the gates of hell can- not prevail against it here ; in one feeble, praying, trusting soul it is more than conqueror over death and hell ; and wdien Time and Death shall have essayed in vain to touch it, " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kinofdom of their Father ;" ^ for " This is life eternal — to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ." ^ That this spiritual, heavenly, eternal kingdom was at hand, and with its inestimable privileges and rewards was open to any man to enter in, was the Gospel that Jesus preached. Of necessity the entrance into this kingdom must be through certain mental acts and experiences which Clirist has set forth under the terms "Eepent" and "Believe;" for, the beginning of the kingdom being deliverance from sin, one must needs repent, to be so de- livered ; and the law of the kingdom being obedience to Christ, one must have a sincere, implicit, submissive confidence in Christ in order to such obedience; hence faith in Jesus as the Deliverer. The obligation to repent and believe was declared by Jesus in express terms, and also under many parallel forms. Thus He enjoined the renunciation of worldliness, " How hard is it for them that trust in riclies to enter into the kingdom of God." ^ He enjoined humility as essential to disciplcship : " Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."* He 1 Matt. xiii. 43. * John xvii. 3. » Mark x. 24, * Mark x. 15. THE ADVANCING GLORY OF THE KINGDOM. 29 required implicit consecration, with no mental reservation, no hankerinp; after the old manner of life ; " No man having; put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." ^ The Head and Lord of the kingdom of God and of heaven has declared that none can be accounted within that kingdom except they repent and believe. In what sense then, can one claim to be a disciple of Christ, who does not comply with the uniform and ab- solute prerequisites to membership in His spiritual com- munity ? That conception of the kingdom of God which Jesus promulgated as His Gospel and sought to embody in His Church, has been realized with increasing grandeur and power through the ages, and awaits its complete develop- ment in the perfected state of the righteous. How vast and glorious is that kingdom which to-day embraces the millions of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, who coming to the Father by Jesus Christ, worship Him in spirit and in truth ; a commonwealth of believing souls owning allegiance to one Lord, and through all the diver- sities of race, of language, of social, civil, and ecclesiastical institutions, fraternizing in the love of Christ, their coinnion Head, and in prayers, labors and hopes for the elevation of mankind through His gospel. And as other generations shall believe through their word, the prayer of Jesus to His Father shall be more and more ful filled, " that they may be made perfect in one,"^ until from the dissolving elements of this material Avorld, unwasted by time, un- hurt of death, this spiritual kingdom shall come forth in the glory of the Father and of His holy angels. 1 Luke ix. 62. * John xvii. 23. 30 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. NOTE: VAN OOSTERZEE ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD. ' Dr. van Oosterzee in his before-cited work, Die Theologie den Neiten Tes- taments, has seized upon the idea of the kingdom of God as fundamental in the Theology of Christ, but though his delineation of that kingdom is in most points admirable, he seems to have missed the primary spiritual conception of the kingdom in the Old Testament, so finely brought out by Ewald. Van Oos- terzee's characterization of the kingdom, (translated by Rev. J. P. V/ester- velt, in the American Prtishyterian Rtvieio for July, 1870), is as follows: "The Gosjjel that Jesus preached is a gospel of the kingdom, and that kingdom it- self is a moral-religious institution, which, unlimited in extent, and eternal in duration, in its tendency to unite, sanctify and save mankind, embraces heaven and earth That kingdom is (/e«eH<. Where He comes, there it also ap- pears with Him ; it is already in the midst of those who ask when it shall ap- pear (Luke xvii. 20, 21). It is by no means the same as eternal bliss : there consummated, it exists here in principle, and though not of the earth, yet esta- blished on earth, though it came not with external noise or parade. It is truly ((■) something spiriluul, that pertains to a higher domain of life than this visible creation. Though not exclusively yet preeminently spiritual are tho privileges, duties and expectations of its subjects. "What takes place here is diametrically opposite to what usually occurs in other kingdoms (Mat. xx. 25, 28; comp. Luke xxii. 24-27), and the King declines all needless interference with the civil jurisdiction (Luke xii. 13, 14). Even with the idea of the Chris- tian church that of the kingdom of God must not be confounded. The cluirch is only the external form in which the kingdom of God appears (Mat. xiii. 24- 30; 47-50); that kingdom itself a spiritual society, personal membership with which is absolutely impossible without a renewing of the mind (Mat. xviii. 3). As such, it is also, as to its extent, (d) something miUmitrd. The Lord is even much more than the old prophets (comp. Isaiah ii. 2-4), raised above all contracted particularism, and not only at the end, but also in the midst, and at the beginning of His course preached the universality of the kingdom of God (Mat. v. 13, 14; viii. 11, 12.) Single utterances which seem to breathe another spirit (Mat. x. 6; xv. 24) must be explained by particular circumstances, and are abundantly outweighed by others (Mat. xxviii. 19; Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8.) Nor is this surprising, since the kingdom of God is (e) something unending, bounded as little by time as by space. Did Moses and the prophets constantly point to better days, Jesus knows nothing higher than the kingdom which He comes to found, and predicts the complete triumph of His cause (Mat. xxiv. 14; xxvi. 13), and promises to remain forever with His disciples (xxviii.) What is thus destined for eternity is, however, devel- oped in time. The kingdom of God is therefore (/) something growing, which, in accordance with its spiritual nature, gradually works from within to its ex- VIEWS OF VAN OOSTEEZEE. 31 tcrnal manifestation, from small beginnings and witli the most surprising re- sults (Mat. xiii. 31-33; Mark iv. 26-2y). Therefore its servants must pray (Mat. vi. 9), and work (Mat. is. 37, 38). It is indeed possible that it be taken away from those who ungratefully despise it (Mat. xxi. 43). Where it is, how- ever, sought and found, there it is {ernal agencies in the mental changes of men, from less conclusive evidences than those furnished by such a conversion. Socrates believed — and philosophy has revered him for the faith — that an invisible spirit swayed his thought, and he believed it on less evidence than this. Napoleon believed and poetry has discovered j)iety in the faith — that supernatural power intervened in his destiny ; and he believed it on less evidence than this. It has passed into the cant of literature to ascribe inspira- tion, even diviuit}^, to great minds on infinitely less evidence than this." ^ That one must be born of the Spirit as Christ taught this necessity, is a doctrine full of encouragement, since what is presented is not a metaphysical abstraction, but the fact of help, present help, efficient help, divine help in becoming a new man. One who has been long becalmed at sea, or driven by contrary winds, when at last a favor- 1 The New nirth, or the Worl- of the Huhj Spirit, by Austin Phelps, D.D., Pro- fessor in Amlover Theological Seminary. The whole subject of regeneration u here discussed in a masterly manner. NEED OF Christ's coming. 47 ing gale sj)rings up, makes haste to catch it, puts his helm to the course indicated by the breeze and spreads his canvass so as to secure the lull benefit of the wind, with- out once troubling himself with theories of meteorology, or demanding how the wind is brouglit to act upon him. So one driven to and fro by the passions of life, longing and sighing for peace, may be suddenly conscious that some heavenly breeze is floating over him, and if he will but spread the wings of faith and prayer he shall catch its gracious influence and be wafted into rest. What matters it that he does not know how this strange new feeling has come over him, nor why it so excites him to hope and zeal? There are realities in the spiritual world whose certainty is not impaired for lack of our philosophy, and it is enough to know that the Holy Sj)irit comes from God, and comes to him. Yielding his repentant, willing soul to the renewing, sanctifying power of the truth, he is "born of the Spirit," and that is salvation from sin and death. There was no need that Jesus should come from heaven to teach us that we have sinned ; that, alas, we know, and sometimes feel wdth bitter upbraiding. There was no need that lie should come from heaven to teach us that Ave must repent ; this we know by the judgment and reproof of our own moral sense. But when one as in the anguish of despair cries out. How shall I change my will, break off from sin, and truly become a better man ? — to answer that question, it was needful that Jesus the Christ should come from God and say, " Believe on Me ; receive the Holy Ghost." The Spirit convinces of sin, and the veiy conviction that prompts that almost despairing cry may be the beginning of His work of renewal — that cry, the birth- cry of that soul. The Spirit sanctifies through the truth ; and this very truth of His own presence to convince, renew, and help. He may be pressing upon the soul as its 48 THE THEOLOGY OF CIIRLST. hope in the dark struggle with guilt and fear. If the heart will but open to this higher influence, it shall be lifted up to God, and sustained where all its own resolves would fail. How shall one become a new man? How find God and heaven as a reality, a possession ? Let him do his known duty ; do that which he himself, and only he, can do ; let him repent of his sins, and give up the purpose of sinning ! Then in the spirit of a little child, let him look to Christ for grace to help, to sanctify, and save. In that moment of penitence and faith, casting away his old self that he may cast himself wholly upon Christ, he is born of the Spirit, and enters into the kinardom of God. CHAPTER V. SALVATION MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE DEATH OP CHRIST. One can certify himself of his repentance ; can he also he certified that his repentance is accepted of God ? One may be conscious of his dependence upon divine power to strengthen him against the evil that is within him and around him ; but how shall he make sure that this aid will be given him in his extremity? Has God manifested a concern for our salvation ? — promised anything, done any- thing, to assure us that sin repented of shall be forgiven, that the new life shall be inwrought and sustained in our souls ? Upon the answer to these questions all hope and courage for reformation must depend. The answer is given in that thrilling, that sublime announcement: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believe th in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." ' For this very purpose Jesus Christ came into the world ; for this very purpose He lived in the flesh ; for this very purpose He died upon the cross — that through faith in the sinless man there lifted up in triumph over sin and death, we might receive not new life only, but life everlasting. All this did Christ Himself in- clude in that saying to Nicodemus which linked the sym- bolism of the Old Testament with His personal history : *' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of ]\Ian be lifted up, that whosoever believ- 1 John iii. 16. For a critical discussion of this test see Chap. vi. 4 49 50 THE THEOLOGY OF CUEIST, etli in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."^ " Slioukl not perish f " JIust be lifted up !" There was, then, upon the whole race a liability to perish, which could be averted only by the death of the Son of Man. Surely these words of Jesus cannot mean less than this — ^that His death upon the cross sustained a necessary and vital rela- tion to the deliverance of men from a doom that is here contrasted with everlasting life. The question is not one of philosophy, but solely one of interpretation. "What, then, did Jesus intend by the "•' lifting up " of the Son of Man ? Upon two other occasions He used the same expression, and a comparison of these will furnish a key to its meaning. In a dispute with the Pharisees concern- ing His divine mission, Jesus, knowing their murderous in- tent towards Him, said nnto them, " When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He." ^ This could not have referred to the glorification of Christ, His being received up into heaven after death, for the verb is not passive, but denotes the act of the Jews in lifting Plim up — ber ground upon which faith in Himself should rest, a faith conditioned upon His crucifixion, and to arise out of that : — " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoso- ever believeth in Him should not perish." Believing unto salvation, faith that would lead to eternal life, this must arise from looking unto Christ as " lifted up " upon the cross. Christ taught this same doctrine when a little before His death, with explicit reference to the salvation of the world, He said, " I, if I he lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." ^ Certain Greek proselytes had expressed a desire to " see Jesus ; " His disciples, who looked upon Him as the Messiah to the Jews alone, hesitated to present them, but brought the request to their Lord. The answer of Jesus, instead of pronouncing categorically upon the case presented, made this the occa- sion of proclaiming the universality of His grace and the cosmopolitan nature of His kingdom. Hitherto He had seemed to limit His personal ministry to the Jews. When He sent forth the twelve to announce the kingdom of heaven. He commanded them saying, " Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not : but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; " ^ and to the woman of Syrophe- nicia who besought Him to heal her daughter. He said, " I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." ^ But now He announces that all men shall be drawn unto Him, and this as consequent upon His death. The productive effect of His dying He sets forth under 1 John xii. 32, 2 JIatt. x. 5, 6. 3 Matt. xv. 24. 66 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. the analogy of the fructifying seed : " The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." ^ Then as if struggling in His own spirit with the impending sacrifice, yet implicitly subjecting His own will to the will of His Father, He said, " Now is my soul troubled ; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." ^ What was the hour that hung over Him with such painful but momentous issues, but the hour appointed for His sacrifice upon the cross ? " ]^ow is the judgment of this world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast out;"^ — the kingdom of darkness shall be broken down, "and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." His death would be the seed-corn that should bring forth a new life for all mankind — the Gentile world as well as the people of Israel. In the light of this usage in the phrase " to be lifted up," it is most significant that, in His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus did not speak of death simply as an event to be accepted by Him in the spirit of submission. He did not merely avow His willingness to die — His readi- ness, if need be, to suffer raartyixlonij if by so doing, He could benefit mankind ; nor did He simply prophesy that after His death. His life and doctrine would be illuminated by that event, and by the natural and progressive influence of truth, light, and love, would become a means of salva- tion to the world ; — much more than this lay in His thought. From the first He looked forward to His cruci- fixion, His being " lifted up " as the appointed termination of His life and ministry. His going out of the world in that manner was included in the purpose of His coming into the world. His dying upon the cross was no thing of acci- 1 John xii. 23, 24. » John xii. 27. * John xii. 31. THE BRAZEN SERPENT A SYMBOL. 57 dent, His being lifted up no mere incident of priestly hate or popular excitement, — this was in the ri^AN of His mis- sion as truly as were His advent, His preaching, His miracles, His life of truth and love. He announced to Nicodemus as one of the truths He had brouo;ht down from heaven, the necessai^y and vital relation of His death to the salvation of mankind ; and for the key to this doctrine, referred him to a memorable incident of Jewish history as a type of the saving benefit to be derived from His cruci- fixion. " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." That was a day of terror and agony in the wilderness when fire-serpents ^ swarmed in the camp of Israel. This venomous reptile, a mottled snake with fiery red spots upon its head, abounds at certain seasons in the sandy wilder- ness of Arabah, that skirts the western side of the moun- tains of Edom, from the foot of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah. It is the terror of fishermen along the Gulf, and of the Bedouins when encamped in the neighboring desert.^ So inflammable is its bite that it is likened to fir^ coursing through the veins ; so intense is its venom, and so rapid in its action, that the bite is fixtal within a few hours. The body swells with a fiery eruption, the tongue is con- 1 Numbers xxi. 6, S ; Deut. viii. 15 : the term Nfdinsh, the generic name for serpent, is here qualified by the term Saraph, burning; which, by some, is supposed to describe a fiery, inflammable bite, but by others the fiery-red ap- pearance of the serpent itself, especially about the head. 2 Btirckhardt, (Vol. II. p. 814) says, " The sand on the shore showed traces of snakes on every hand. My guide told me that snakes were very common in these regions, and that the fishermen were very much afraid of them, and put out their fires at night before going to sleep, because the light was known to attract them." Schubert, Journey from Afcnb'ik to the Hor (ii. 406) states that " in the afternoon a large and very mottled snake was brought to us, marked with fiery spots and spiral lines, which evidently belonged, from the formation of its teeth, to one of the most poisonous species. The Bodouins say that these snakes, of which they have great dread, are very numerous in this locality." 58 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. suraed with thirst, and the poor wretch writhes in agony till death brings relief. This pest suddenly appeared in the camp of Israel in prodigious numbers ; from crevices in the rocks, from holes in the sand, swarmed these fiery-headed demons into every tent. There was no running away from them, and killing seemed hardly to diminish their numbers. On every side there was a cry of anguish — men, women, children racked with this fiery torture, none able to save or even help another — " and much people of Israel died." In this extremity the people came to Moses, and besought him to pray the Lord to take away the serpents. They came confessing their sin, and acknowledging that the plague was a just retribution ; for they had reviled Moses as the cause of their disappointments and fatigues in the desert, and had even reproached the name of God for their lack of bread and water. Helpless, self-condemned, in danger of perishing, they now felt that deliverance must come from God, and could come from God only. " And Moses prayed for the people." ^ The manner in which this prayer was answered showed the hand of God even more distinctly than had the appearance of the plague. For if Jehovah were about to interfere, it would seem probable that He would act upon the physical cause of the suffering, either directly, by destroying or scattering the serj^ents, or indirectly, by guiding Moses to some healing herb or other means of cure — thus providing a physical remedy for a physical evil. But He chose to employ a moral remedy, which by summoning the people to an act of faith, would bring Jehovah Himself before them as the direct author of their healing. "The Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh u^jon it shall live:"^ — and jDresently there was lifted up in the 1 Numbers xxi. 1. ^ v. 8. THE BRAZEN SERPENT A SYMBOL. 59 camp, high over all the tents, the image in brass of the fiery destroyer ; and from every tent crawled forth the bit- ten, dying men, or were carried forth by hands that now had faith to minister — and they looked ; those eyes whose life was burning out in the fire of fever, looked where the great brazen serpent was all ablaze in the sun, (as if the myriad fire-serpents were compressed into one burning symbol) — looked, to behold the fierce destroyer nailed harmless as dead metal to the tree ; looked, to learn that Jehovah was in the camp as a Deliverer, and would destroy death in victory ; looked, and with the look came healing ; looked, and the eye lost its madness, and shone again with the brightness of hope ; looked, and the fiery torrent of the veins was calmed, and the pulse beat again with the even flow of health ; looked, and he who just now stood a fiend of despair within the jaws of hell came forth a new man, in his right mind, and kissed his wife and children, and they togetlier worshiped God ; " For it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." And as Moses lifted up that serpent in the day of death and despair for Israel, even so — in like manner, for a like purpose, with like significance, the Son of Man was lifted up, and hung there upon the cross that all Jerusalem then saw, that all the ages since have seen, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. The force of this " even so " suggests in this symbol of the serpent a significance of doctrine concerning Christ. First of all, the plague of serpents was because of sin. Though the agent of the divine displeasure was a natural pest belonging to that locality, yet the visitation of the ser- pents was a judgment from God. Ewald, who does not ques- tion the authenticity or the antiquity of this narrative, ad- mits this element in the case. " The people advancing to- wards the Red Sea, weary of the hardships of the tedious 60 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. march, and tired of the scanty nourishment afforded by the manna of the desert, complained loudly to God and Moses of the want of bread and water. Instead, however, of obtaining relief, they thus incurred a much greater evil, being furiously pursued by a multitude of large and veno- mous serpents, from the bites of which many died. In this they recognized God's righteous punishment for their murmuring, and repentantly entreated Moses for his pro- phetical interposition." ^ In the plague of the fiery ser- pents, the sin of unbelief, ingratitude, rebellion against God, was visited with condemnation and penalty. Next, the people terrified and humbled by the judgment, and cut off from all human relief, looked to Jehovah for deliverance, humbly confessing their sins. In this peni- tent frame they came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee ; pray unto the Lord, that He may take away the serpents from us." ^ Here was acknowledged the necessity of divine interposition to take away the penalty of sin. God alone could slay the judgment. Again, the brazen serpent was appointed by God ex- j)ressly for a sign of His merciful interposition. This was no device of human ingenuity ; no experiment on the part of Moses and the elders upon the imagination of the people; between this and the cure there could be no relation of cause and effect; simply as an exhibition or demonstration it could have no efficacy ; — but it was God's appointed sign of mercy. Here again Ewald is true to the conception of the narrative : " INIoses by divine command fixed a serpent of brass upon an elevated banner, that, gazing on it, those who were bitten might be healed ; and this actually occurred. The meaning of the story is certainly not that Moses set up the image oi" the serpent as an object of adoration ; it was obviously only a sign that, 1 Ewald, Hist, of Israel, 1, 509, English edition. « Num. xxi. 7. THE BRAZEN SEEPENT A TYPE OF MERCY. 61 as by the command of Jahve this serpent was waved on high, bound and harmless, so every one that looked upon it with faith in the redeeming power of Jahve would be preserved from evil. It was therefore a symbolic sign, like that of St. George and the Dragon among ourselves, or the Serpent itself among the heathen. As that creature, by nature the most noxious, and yet supposed capable of being tamed, became the image of remediable bodily ill, and consequently the symbol of iEsculapius, so here we have something of the same import, but with an clement of reality and practical necessity." ^ But the point of supreme moment in the case is that men looked to God for healing mercy through that sign; not only did they look to God as the source whence healing must come, but they looked through this par- ticular sign, as representing the fact of healing — and none in all the camp were healed except they looked upon the serpent of brass. Thus far the analogy is simple, obvious, perfect. It was to counteract an evil consequence of sin, to remove the penalty of a moral transgression, that the serpent was lifted up ; and it was for men perishing in sin that the Son of Man was lifted up ; for men condemned because of sin that He came with that healing of the soid which is eternal life. The cure for the bite of the sequent was appointed of God expressly for that end ; and so, in His counsels of wisdom and mercy it was provided that the Son of Man be lifted up — His crucifixion was aj)- pointed for our salvation. The case of the bitten Israelite was hopeless without the special intervention of Jehovah ; and the case of the soul smitten with the plague of sin, stung with remorse of conscience, condemned by the righteous law, doomed to "perish" in its iniquities, were hopeless, had not God sent His Son to be lifted up upon the cross. 1 Ewald, Hist, of Israel, 1, 599. 62 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. The brazen serpent, though displayed in sight of all the camp as the divine provision of healing, was made effica- cious to any individual suiferer only by his lookinj, which was the personal act of faith ; and even so the Son of Man was lifted up "that whosoever belleveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." ^ As deliverance from the condemnation of sin was possible only through the love of God in giving His Son to be crucified, so there is no actual deliverance to any sinner save through his own act of faith in the Son of JMan as lifted up. " He that believeth on Him is not condemned ; but He that be- lieveth not is condemned already, because He hath not believed in the name of the only -begotten Son of God." ^ There is yet another jDoint in this analogy that comes, if possible, still closer to the root both of the evil and its remedy. As Alford describes it : ^ " The brazen serpent was made in the likeness of the serpents which had bitten them. It represented to them the poison which had gone through their frames, and it was hung up there, on the banner staff as a ti'ophy, to show them that for the poison there was healing, — that the plague had been overcome. In it there was no poison, only the likeness of it. And was not He who knew no sin made sin for us ? AVere not sin and Death and Satan crucified when He was crucified ? " In a word, did not the dying of the Son of Man upon the cross strike at the root of all human misery, and destroy the destroyer ? Nothing less than this surely could He have meant when He said, " ]\Iy flesh will I give for the life of the world ; " " The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep ; " * and in that most emphatic declaration, " The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." ^ 1 John iii. 15. ^ Comm. in loc. 5 Mark x. 45. 2 John iii. 18. * John vi. 51 ; x. 11. RANSOM OH REDEMPTION. 63 This Avord X'Jtpov, Ransom, admits of no ambiguity : it means "purchase-money," the price paid for the release of any one from captivity, from prison, or from peril. The Scptuagint uses it for v'^^'r' and "'S^ — compensation, redemption, satisfaction by a price. Thus, by the Lcviti- cal law, the owner of an unruly ox was responsible in various penalties for the mischief done by the animal. When liable to the penalty of death, he miglit redeem his life by a fine, and this was the X'jz(>ov • " if there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him." ^ A universal ransom-money was levied upon the people to avert a judgment from Jehovah. " When thou takest the sura of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them ; that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them." ^ This same redemption-tax is afterward spoken of as the " atonement money." ^ This same term X'jzpov is employed by the Septuagint for the price of the redemption of a slave, and also of land that had been alienated. " In all the land of your pos- session ye shall grant a redemption for the land." * The poor debtor who had sold himself into servitude could be redeemed by his kinsman ; " according unto his years " [of the unexpired term of his service] shall be " the price of his redemption." ^ On the other hand, it was forbidden to accept a ransom for a murderer : " Ye shall take no satisfaction (J.uzpov) for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death." ^ The verb-form of the same word is used for redeeming hy a substitute. " Every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb ; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then 1 Ex. xxi. 30. 2 Ex. XXX. 12. 3 v. 16. * Lev. XXV. 24. ^ Lev. xxv. 52. ^ Num. xxxv. 31. 64 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. thou shalt break his neck ; and all the first-born of man among thy children shalt thou redeem." ^ The same word, chiefly in the plural form Xurpa, is common in classic Greek in the sense of ransom — a price paid for redemption. Plato uses it in describing the rich presents that Chryses brought to the Greeks for the raii- som of his daughter. ^ Thucydides speaks of Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, having received the territory of Camarina as a ransom for some Syracusan prisoners. ^ Herodotus, describing the victory of the Athenians over the Chalci- deans and the Boeotians, says, " All the Chalcidean prisoners whom they took were put in irons, and kept for a long time in close confinement, as likewise were the Boeotians, until the ransom asked for them was paid. . . The Athenians made an offering of a tenth part of the ransom-money — zcov Xurpcov.^' * Demosthenes ^ and Xeno- phon^ used Xur^oou in the same sense of a price paid for a ransom. In the great tragic poet ^schylus is a striking instance of Xorpov in the sense of an expiation or atonement for murder. The chorus of mourning women bewailing the untimely end of Agamemnon, exclaim, " What atonement is there for blood that has fallen on the ground ? '' All the rivers moving in one channel would flow in vain to purify murder." How admirably comes in here the New Testament doctrine of an expiation, a ransom, sufficient to atone for every crime. The Son of Man gave His life " a ransom, Xuzpov, for many." A ransom from what? He did not give His life to deliver the Jewish nation from the Roman yoke, for He was never concerned in an insurrection, nor a political 1 Ex. xiii. 13. All these refei-ences are to the Reptuagint version. * Rep. .39, 3 D. oti r]K(i(v 6 XpuVij? ti); Te 9i/yaTpo5 Aurpa Tiav AajScov ttji' yrjv Trjv Ka/Jtapi' vaCuv. * Ilerod V. 77. * 1248, 25, 1250, 1. 6 Hell. 7, 2, 16, ^scn. Cho, 42. ri yap \vTpov jrecroi'TOs oifiaros TTiSia j Christ's death a ransom for sin. 65 movement of any sort, and He was put to death at the instigation of His own countrymen. He refused to ])lace Himself at the head of the populace when they sought to make Him a king, and He declared that His kingdom was not of this world. It was not simply to deliver the poor and degraded from servitude, nor the ignorant and lowly from their condition of debasement, that Jesus gave His life a ransom ; for though He foresaw that such deliverances would result from His doctrines, the social emancipation of the poor was not the work to which He devoted His life. " The Son of Man is come to save that which is lost;"^ and it was in fulfillment of that purpose that "He gave His life a ransom for many." He might have shunned death at the time and in the mode it came to Him; but He put Himself in the way of it, and against the remonstrance of His disciples went to Jerusalem, knowing what would there befall Him — not calculating chances, nor simply incurring a risk — but deliberately accepting death. As He said to Pilate, He laid down His life; He came to do this ; it was in His plan to die upon the cross as a ransom. He " must be lifted up " in order that men "should not perish, but have eternal life : " — to " perish," therefore, would be the opposite of eternal life — the loss of that blessedness in God which is the life of the soul. From that destruction Jesus has ran- somed us by giving His own life. Here then from the lips of Christ Himself is the doctrine that He came into the world to die for the sal- vation of the world ; and deliverance from that death spiritual and eternal which is the consequence of sin, and the securing eternal life to the soul, come by faith in the Son of Man as lifted up to be a Saviour, — thus giving His life for the redemption of mankind. This is the Gospel of the kingdom. It goes through the plague- 1 Matt, xviii. 11. 6 66 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. stricken world crying, O sin-smitten soul ! wouldst thou be healed? look to Jesus lifted up for thy salvation. O tormenting conscience ! wouldst thou be stilled ? look to Jesus on the cross, lifted up for thy healing! O soul condemned and dying ! wouldst find again thy life ? look to Jesus, and the condemnation shall be cancelled, thy ransom accomplished, and the warrant given thee of life purchased and sealed by His death. And whosoever would not perish, let him look to Jesus and be saved ! CHAPTER VI. SALVATION LIMITED ONLY BY UNBELIEF. That the death of Christ had a remedial virtue and in- tent, a pre-ordained and necessary relation to the life-heal- ing of the soul ; that it was a price paid for our redemp- tion, having therefore a proper vicarious import in respect of the salvation of the world, has been established from His own words. As in a day of dire extremity to Israel, when the sin of the people was visited upon them by a fearful and destructive plague, Moses, by command of God, lifted up the serpent in the wilderness to show that Jehovah was present as a Saviour for every one that would look to Him in faith ; in like manner, by appointment of God, and for the manifestation of His present grace and succor, the Son of Man was lifted up to the hope and faith of a perishing fv^orld, " that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."^ This last declaration announces, by authority of Christ, the practical reach and application of the saving benefits of His death. And this was followed by an utterance, if possible, still more emphatic, setting forth the Salvation as provided in the gift of God, and as realized through its acceptance among men : " For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." ^ Here the Whosoever points to an unlimited provision, the sufficiency I John iii. 15. 2 John iii. 16, 17. 67 68 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. of the gift of God for the whole Avorld ; but the Believing, which is the necessary and invariable conditiun, suggests that the breadth of result in the numbers actually saved may not equal the breadth of provision for salvation in the death of Jesus upon the cross ; universality on the part of God, the provider, limitation only by the act of Man, the receiver. Critical authorities are pretty evenly divided upon the question whether these words were a part of our Lord's discourse to Nicodemus, or an explanatory addition by the Evangelist. ^ Though the change to the past tense ^ — " God gave or sent His Son " — may give countenance to the latter view, there is here no sign of a break in the dis- course; and the statement of the origin and extent of the redemptive mission of Christ follows naturally the -declara- tion that the Son of Man " must be lifted up." The pur- pose and reach of the divine sacrifice are logically con- nected with the fact of the sacrifice and its necessity. Whatever was the ground of the necessity that Jesus should die for our salvation. His coming into the world was projected in the love of God, for that very end ; and that love is pictured as self-sacrificing, wide-reaching, all- embracino;. But inasmuch as the present line of discussion limits us to the very words of Jesus, even should this particular form of expression be doubtful, its sentiment is confirmed by words of the same import that did certainly fall from His lips. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hear- eth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life." * " This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, ' Among recent commentators, Tholuck, Olshausen and otliers take the for- mer view ; the latter is maintained by Knapp, Meyer, Hug, Alford. * The Aorist eSw/ce, contemplates the action in the mind of the speaker, as irought to pass. ^ John v. 24. NO LIMITATION IN THE PLAN. 69 may have everlasting life." ^ Add to these such declara- tions as the following: "He that believeth shall be saved," ^ " Him that coraeth to Me I will in no wise cast out," ^ and the testimony of Christ is clear, positive, and ample to the point that through His death salvation is provided for all mankind. There are, however, other sayings of Christ that seem in some sort to put a limitation upon the application of this provision of grace, or at least upon its result in actual ex- perience. In answer to the question " Lord, are there few that be saved ?" Jesus said, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." * " Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat ; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." ^ Summing up these several sayings, we find that the doctrine of Christ concerning salvation embraces the fol- lowing points : (a.) The fullness and freeness of the provision of salva- tion for all mankind, upon just and simple conditions. (6.) That none do really come to Christ for salvation, except as they are influenced from the Father ; and (c.) That by reason of unbelief or of misdirected en- deavors, many will really fail of salvation at the last. That there is a limitation somewhere upon the practical working of the divine plan of salvation, or rather in the actual results of that plan, is the obvious teaching of Christ, in some of the passages cited above. But is this limitation in the plan itself? or does it in any way detract from the sufficiency of the atonement, or the fullness and freeness of the offer of salvation on the part of God ? Is such an inference warranted by the declaration of Christ 1 John vi. 40. 2 Mark xvi. 16. 3 Jobn vi. 37. * Luke xiii. 24. 6 Matt. vii. 13, 14. 70 THE THEOLOGY OF CIirvIST. "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him."^ There is much to the same purport in our Lord's discourse recorded in the sixth chapter of John : — " All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me." " This is the Father's will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day." ^ If these words fairly imply that God has made an arbitrary selection of the subjects of Redemjjtion, so that salvation is provided for only a limited number to the purposed exclusion of all others, then how can one fulfill the commission of Christ, that authorizes and requires His disciples to "go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," upon the un- qualified assurance that " he that belie veth shall be saved?" ^ The sayings of Christ touching the " drawing " of His Father, the " giving " by His Father, must be interpreted in accordance with these broad terms in which He himself first announced the gospel, and at the last commissioned His disciples to proclaim it to the world. " God so loved the world " — not alone the Jewish people, nor any other people of the world ; not a certain chosen portion of human society ; not some one favored age of the world, but the world of mankind, the human race in its totality: — God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth — not whoever is selected and set apart from the rest of his species, not those belonging to a favored class, — but "whosoever bcUcvcfh in Him should not perish." The love is equal toward all ; the salvation is open to all upon the same simple and impartial condition ; and the result in each and every case, hinges upon the Believing, This declaration, so absolute and unequivocal, is borne out by the uniform tenor of the invitations and commands of the gospel, and is neither contradicted nor qualified by the state- ment ; " All that the Father giveth lie shall come to Me." Who are the "All" here spoken of, but simply ' John vi. 44. 2 yy. 37-39. 3 Mark xvi. 16. THE COMING IN THEOUGH FAITH. 71 believers ? The Father gave to His Son the whole world of mankind as the field of His redemptive work, to the intent that through Him the world might be saved ; the provision, in its own nature, renders the salvation practica- ble for all and possible to every man. But the very object of this salvation, that which constitutes it a salvation in reality, is deliverance from sin ; and for this there must be repentance, and faith in the Saviour whom God hath sent ; therefore, it was not certified that by the lifting up of the Son of Man the whole world would in fact be saved ; but that there should be gathered to Christ a multititude of be- lieving souls, was made sure by the promise of the Father. The discourse recorded in the sixth chapter of John was addressed to a group of cavilers, who met the sayings of Jesus concerning His Father with the demand, "What sign shewest thou, that we may see and believe Thee ?" Jesus announced Himself as the true sign — the bread of life come down from heaven, — ^and added, " He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that be- lieveth on ]\Ie shall never thirst." Here was tlie same breadth of promise to a sincere faith. "But," He con- tinued, " ye also have seen Me, and believed not ;" there- fore they did not come ; therefore they did not eat of the bread of life; and therefore, practically, they were not saved. Yet He comforted Himself with the thought that His mission should not everywhere and always be frus- trated by the unbelief of men. Some will believe ; many will believe; and all these the Father has promised to Him as His own ; and these coming, one by one, with the ex- pression of a personal faith, would be thus made manifest as of the All that are " given by the Father." Hence He added (v. 40), " This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life." The believing is the coming, and the fact of believing indicates each as one of the grand 72 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. total given to Christ. Hence the statement in v. 44 does not teach that God has made an arbitrary selection of cer- tain persons to be saved, and given these to Christ, but that He has given to Christ all who believe, that these may be His peculiar people — ^and the believing is open to all. The giving is not for the purpose of excluding any, but of making sure the fruits of redemption ; not for narrowing the basis, but for securing a result upon the basis and by means of it. What, then, is meant by that " drawing " of the Father, without which Jesus declared that no man can come to Him ? This also is interpreted by the act of faith, as He described it at the conclusion of this same discourse, (verses 64, 65.) Having defined the spiritual significance of par- taking of His own flesh and blood, and the consequent need of a spiritual frame of mind in order to receive that " hard saying," He charged some of His own disciples with the want of this sincere spiritual faith : — " For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And He said. Therefore, said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me except it w^ere given unto him of my Father ;" — which is neither more nor less than the doctrine " that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," and therefore must every one be born of tlie Spirit, regenerated by a divine illumination. This, tlien, is the drawing of the Father — a gracious influence quickening the soul, and persuading it to believe. Can any honest interpretation derive from this the notion of an arbitrary selection on the part of God, limit- ing the design and the application of the death of His Son, selecting some and excluding others as the heirs of life, by a bare determination of His own will ? None, indeed, come to Christ, except the Father draw them ; but how many does the Father draw, who yet refuse to come ! For what is the manner and the purpose of this THE COMING A FREE ACT OF WILL. 73 drawing? And whence arises the necessity that the Father should draw men to Christ ? Our Lord has given the answer in that sentence of condemnation which lies against the unbelieving world of to-day as justly and forcibly as against the Jews who rejected Him to His face: *'Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." ^ The coming is believing ; it is repenting, turning, trusting; and this is an act of will. The will of the man himself nmst moye, if ever he shall come to Christ, and if his will does not move spontaneously, cordially, to accept Christ when offered as a Saviour, then nothing further can be done for his salvation except to draw him by some influ- ence directed to incite the will. Coercion is impossible, for the will cannot be forced ; — to force it by sheer power were to destroy its very nature as the choosing, willing faculty of the soul. Hardly can the will be reasoned with ; for the fault commonly does not lie with the understanding and the judgment, but in the choice being fixed already upon the wrong — " Light has come into the world ;" the truth is clear enough, the way is plain enough, the light is sufficient for the understanding and the conscience ; but " men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light ; neither Cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." ^ In this state of facts — the salvation provided for all and freely offered to all ; this salvation rendered availing as a de- liverance fx'om sin only through a personal repentance and foith ; this again requiring a free act of will, and yet the will halting, not accepting, not moving toward acceptance, not " coming " — the only thing that can be done furtlier is to influence the will by some power of persuasion that shall incite it to right action. That influence is what our Lord has described as the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the mind — no more to be defined than the coming 1 John V. 40. * John iii. 19, 20. 74 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and going of the wind, yet stirring the sonl to its dof)ths, "convincing it of sin, of righteousuesss, and of judgment," and so arousing and drawing it that the will does move, does choose, does decide, does come. Yet not always ! — for the mil is an agent of such fearful, such stubborn power, that it may even resist the Holy Ghost, resist the drawing of the Father, as it does resist the invitations of the Son. Hence wliile it is true that all who come to Chi'ist are drawn of the Father, it is still true that others perish, not because they are hindered or neglected of God, nor because they are not solicited by the Gosjjel and wrought upon by the Holy Ghost, but because they will not come. The argument leads to this conclusion; that the draw- ing of the soul to Christ by a special influence from the Father, is directed solely to this end — to overcome the reluctance, the indifference, or (to put it in the strongest terms) the inertness and stagnation of the human will ; that the necessity for this divine influence in regeneration does not arise from any limitation in the normal powers of the human soul, nor any limitation in the provision of salvation through Christ, nor any limitation nor discrimi- nation in the love* of God in planning for the salvation of lost men ; — in a word, this " drawing" of the Father docs not proceed upon the basis of limitation or restriction, in the provision of redemption or in the desire of God for the recovery of sinners ; it cannot create, it does not imply a hindrance- to the salvation of any, nor the rejection ox any, but is the reaching forth of the same love and mercy that provided the redemption, to make sure, by all means, of some actual fruit. There is nothing in any act or pur- pose of God that limits salvation in respect either of its adequacy as a provision or its amplitude as an offer : neither has God imposed upon any mind any kind or de- gree of restraint in respect to its accepting the salvation man's will alone hinders salvation. 75 provided by Christ, and profiting to the full by its benefits. When He commands all men to repent, He does not com- mand an impossibility: when He requires them to believe upon Christ, He means tliat every man should believe; when He promises salvation upon these simple and uni- form terms, there are no drawbacks nor excej)tions what- ever.* And yet the final results of Redemption will not be commensurate with the provision. The whole world might be saved, but alas, not all the world will be saved ! Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, has pictured the dread and final separation of mankind into two classes at the last judgment, and has declared that the wicked "shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal," ^ Here is a limitation in the actual results of salvation : — but whence does this arise ? AYhat is the turning-point, the dividing line? Does Christ Himself desire to save only one-tenth of the human race ? or one-fourth ? or one- half? Did He not die for all ? Has not He invited all ? "VYhence comes the diiference? We are brought back for an answer to that pivot of human character, the will, as the turning-point of destiny. It is just the question of believing or not believing. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin is the beginning of that new life which is salvation. Without this free committal of his soul to Christ one cannot so much as start in the new life ; and therefore, if the man himself, under the light of the gospel, the invitations of Christ, the drawing of the Father, does not turn and believe, his deliverance from sin is an impossibility. This is no arbitrary ruling of the Creator ; it is the law under which the soul exists by the ' For a full discussion of the relations of the Holy Spirit to human volition see the author's volume on " the Holy Comforter." 2 Matt. XXV. 46. 76 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. necessity of its moral constitution. It is not that God created any soul with the intent that it should perish ; nor that He either dooms or leaves any to perish by limiting or withholding on His part the provision of salvation; for " God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Why then is not the whole world ipso facto saved ? How comes it that any are condemned ? The evangelist has answered this question in terms which, if they be not the very words of Christ, are the logical complement to His own statement of the condition of salvation : " He that be- lieveth on Him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." ^ His non-ac- ceptance of the only possible deliverance from sin leaves him to the consequences of sin, in condemnation and death. The requirement of faith as a condition of salvation is not arbitrary, but is necessary upon the highest moral gi'ounds. One cannot be saved except through being freed from sin; and he cannot be freed from sin except by repenting, and by forsaking sin through that divine help which is brought him in the cross of Christ and by the coming of the Holy Ghost. Believing on Christ is a condition with which every one can comply ; it is a just, necessary, and simple requirement, compliance with which is salvation and life in the very act ; the one sole limitation upon the final results of Christ's redeeming sacrifice arises from the unbelief of men, which even the drawing of the Father often fails to overcome. We come back, therefore, to the doctrine of a full and free sal- vation as declared by Christ without limitation — no limi- tation on the part of God, neither in the magnitude of the provision itself, nor in the scope of the offer of salvation, nor in the intent with which that offer is made ; no limi- 1 Jolin iii. 18. FULNESS AND FREENESS OF THE SALVATION. 77 tation upon the result save what the will of man imposes, through unbelief. It is a full salvation, adequate to the wants of the whole world ; it is a free salvation, offered equally and impartially to whoev^er will accept it. The gift of God proclaims this. " God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son :" — that single fact carries with it the whole argument. Pie who sends his only son to fight for his country could add nothing to that proof of his devotion to the country in all its interests — to its material prosperity, to its moral unity, to its gov- ernment and law^s, to the whole nation. The sending is the final argument; and when He who sends is the Almighty Father, whose one only Son represents the in- finitude of His love, and that sending is grounded in His love and pity for the world, that fact alone determines the conclusion that He would have all men to be saved. The sacrifice itself proclaims this; necessary in all its fulness for one, adequate in its oneness for all. It was not against sins numerically that Christ testified by His cross, nor was it a certain form or number of transgres- sions that called for His mediation ; but it was Sin that He testified against as treason to the government of God, and that required an expiation which by its virtue in re- deeming one could equally avail for all. The word of Christ proclaims this universal sufficiency of His sacrifice both in scope and in availability : " Him that cometh I will in no wise cast out " ^ — " that the M'orld through Him might be saved." ^ The testimony of myriads confirms this declaration. In all the ages since, whosoever has apjilied by faith for this salvation has found that it awaited liim upon his simply coming, and that it sufficed for his personal necessity as if provided for him alone ; nor has any one ever failed of salvation who would only believe. 1 John vi. 37. 2 John iii. 17. 78 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. He, therefore, who refuses to come to Christ, does all that lies in his power to hinder the consummation of the world's deliverance. A universal deliverance from sin, a universal consecration to a holy life in God, would render this world as pure and blessed as heaven ; but every man that will not come to Christ for personal de- liverance from sin, so far as in him lies, delays and frus- trates that blessed consummation. The angels ushering in the Son of Man sang, " Peace on earth, good-will toward men ; " but unbelief breaks in uj)on that song with the discord and strife of sin. He that refuses to believe in Christ sets himself against all the forces of love in the universe that are seeking his good. God the Father has bent upon him His infinite compassion ; the Son of God has given for him His life upon the cross; the Holy Spirit has convinced, admonished, entreated, drawn him; heaven and its holy inhabitants have sought to welcome him to their joys ; but all this potency of love fails to save him because of his unbelief I CHAPTER VII. THE NATURE OF RELIGION. Religion in its broad acceptation — the obligation of the Soul toward God, as tlie object of worship and obedi- ence — is the subject of supreme moment to mankind, and that upon which in all ages mankind have bestowed tlfeir chiefest care and thought. " Man is born with two needs, at once distinct and inseparable, the mortal and the re- ligious instinct. Free, he yet feels that there exists a law which should regulate his will. Capable of intelligence and of love, his mind and his heart require an infinite ob- ject. Every man possesses the instinct of the Good, and the instinct of the Infinite, in a word, the instinct of the Divine. He who can live without faith in the Divine, or who has smothered that sublime fiiith within him, does not belong to humanity." ^ "Where this instinct has de- veloped itself normally, the outward manifestation of Religion has taken almost as many varieties as there are differences of race, in mental characteristics, in domestic habits, and in social and civil customs. And so compre- hensive is the obligation of the religious feeling, that it takes as many types as there are faculties and sentiments of the soul, and modes of moral expression and action — now the Reason giving to Religion its particular cast; now the Imagination; now the Senses and now the Tastes; now the beautiful in Nature, now the hopeful in Fancy, the pleasurable in Feeling; and now the gloomy, the grotesque, the horrible ; — yet these diversified and even > Emile Saisset. E^mis sur la Philoanphie et la Ecligion au xix. Steele, p. 287. 79 80 THE THEOLOGY OF CUEIST. contradictory manifestations of the religious idea or the religious feeling, are, for the most part, but exaggerations of some one element or feature which the religious idea properly includes, or which has a real basis in the reli- gious feeling. Difficult as it is to discriminate each and every phase of Religion by a note or sign peculiar to itself, we may dis- tribute the various types of Religion that have been de- veloped among mankind apart from Christianity, into five general classes ; — (a) the intellectual or speculative ; (6) the formal or ceremonial; (c) the humanitary, or religions of good works ; [d) the imaginative, or religions of supersti- tion ; (e) and the spiritual or pietistic, in which the medi- tative and emotional piety of the inner life is exalted above all modes of intellectual statement, all outward forms of worship, all practical works of beneficence. In the time of Christ, these leading types of Religion had all found expression in the world's history. Plato had elaborated his monotheistic conception of God as the all-comprehensive Idea ; while at the same time he had exalted Virtue, Truth, and Beauty into a sort of intel- lectual Triad — a Trinity not of hypostases but of pre- dicates — ^allegiance to which was the very essence of morality. With him Religion is the realization of the idea of the good, through the Reason bringing all the principles and actions of the soul into a perfect unison, and so to an intellectual harmony with God. The highest virtue is wisdom or absolute knowledge ; yet he said of God, " It is hard to investigate and find the Framer and Father of the universe ; and if one did find him, it were impossible to express him in terms comprehensible by all." 1 Aristotle, who lacked the mystic, poetic temperament of his great master, by the severity of his critical method 1 Tim. p. 2S. AEISTOTLE AND HIS SCHOOL. 81 reduced the Deity to pure Intelligence, absorbed in self- contemplation, subject and object in one, the final cause of the world, ^ as the end of all its aspirations. To this almost impersonal, self-quiescent, incorporeal substance, Aristotle ascribed neither creative power nor moral quality. With his disciples, Aristotle's conception of a self-immanent Intelligence, dissociated from the world, degenerated into bald materialism, under the two-fold form of Atheism and Pantheism ; and so the Divinity that to Plato was the highest intellectual conception, through being contemplated solely with relation to the intellectual system of the universe, was either retired to an infinite distance and a state of absolute repose, or reduced to a mere potency or energy in the kingdom of Nature. Religion as pure intellectuality reached its highest de- velopment in Plato, only to be marred and materialized when handled by minds less delicate and pure than his own. The boast of modern Rationalism that in matters of belief it has emancipated the human intellect by admitting only that which is originated or established by Reason itself, may well be confronted with the fact that the highest product of Reason in the sphere of Religion was wrought out, and had well-nigh run out, before Christ came, and can be compared impartially with His teachings. It pushed one factor in Religion to an extreme that well-nigh destroyed the thing; for Religion and God as its object were reasoned into nothingness. While certain philosophers had thus refined Religion into a speculative nonentity, the actual religions of the pagan world at the time of Christ were full of superstition ^ His tbinking is upon Thought; €o-Ttf ij vdjjo-ts voTjcreus vorjtris (Meti])hi/8. xi. ix. 4) and since He is the highest and best, His thinking is upon Himself. He moves the world not by an energy proceeding from Himself, but by the attraction that is in Himself, the power of the Beautiful or the Good. {De Coel). ii. 10-12. 6 82 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and sensuality — appealing to the Imagination by mystery, by the fascinations of pleasure and the torments of pain, and addressing the senses through forms of beauty, as in Greece, or by objects of terror, as in Egypt, ^ and in the remoter East. The three remaining types of Religion were fully illus- trated among the Jews of the time of Christ. Some made the virtue of religion consist in the close adherence to forms. To pay tithes of all that they possessed, even of the farthing herbs in their gardens, to flist twice in the week, to be careful even to scrupulosity in keeping the Sabbath, to offer all the sacrifices and observe all the sacred days prescribed by the law — such rigid Formalism constituted their religion. Others laid stress upon their good works; giving alms before men, and counting their charities for piety. And there were various sects of Jews — such as the Esseues and Therapeutae — who formed them- selves into communities or brotherhoods, like later orders of monks, for cultivating piety by seclusion from the world, rigorous self-denial, and devout secret meditation. Thus all the leading forms under which the religious idea or the religious feeling has found expression in the history of mankind, were in full development before the time of Christ. And these characteristic types, the specula- tive, the ceremonial, the superstitious, the humanitary, the pietistic have continued to reproduce themselves in new countries and among new peoples, and have even attempted to run Christianity itself into their several modes. Yet the Religion of Christ, Religion as taught by Him in its principles and exemplified by Him in its spirit, is some- thing apart from each and every one of these religious types, — sublime in its simplicity, profound in its origin, 1 Some of the Egyptian divinities were spiritual in their nature and beneficent in their attributes ; but others were grossly animal in their aspect, or formidable, with the flail and scourge; and the Egyptian Hades was a region of darkness and horrors. RELIGION SEATED IN THE HEART. 83 springing from the inmost depths of the soul, and universal in its reach and application. From His teachings one obtains quite another view of religion, in its natui*e, its spirit, and its power. First of all, Christ referred true religion to the heart as the seat of its vitality. If we inquire after the nature of Religion as Jesus i)resented it, we find that it was not a something which a man took upon him from without — a set of opinions that he espoused, a set of customs that he adopted, a set of regulations that he conformed to; nor was it a something which a man performed outside of himself — a round of ceremonies that he fulfilled, a course of devotions or of charities that he went through with : but while it covered all these — beliefs, devotions, ob- servances, charities, — and used them all as evidences of its l^resence, Religion itself as to its essence, was within the soul, and proceeded thence to the outer life. This fundamental conception of religion Christ presented under a variety of aspects. In the sermon on the mount, he traced sin to the inmost recesses of the heart. Murder is being angry with a brother without cause ; adultery is the unchaste look, imagination, desire ; swearing is the profane thought, the irreverent feeling ; and so every sin is traced to the heart, and if a sinful act is conceived and purposed in the heart the man is guilty, even though he does not commit the act in its outward form. " A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit ;" ^ and " an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil." ^ Hence Religion, which is to rectify the mischief of sin, must dispossess sin of the heart, and install itself there, at the centre of the moral life. The process by which this is effected is an interior spiritual work ; — re- pentance is a sorrow of the heart, and a turning of the will away from the sin ; to be " born again," is to be inwardly 1 Matt. vii. 17. ^ Luke vi. 45. 84 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. renewed, so clianged in heart as to be a new man in respect of spiritual things ; to believe upon Christ is for the heart to trust itself to Him ; " Blessed are the poor in spirit," — they that are humble and broken in heart — " for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And as with the beginning of religious experience, so of its consummation : it is through- out a spiritual work ; the jarocess of renovation and sancti- fication, in the perfecting of the religious life, is to go on within the soul. " Blessed are the pure in heart" — those made inwardly and spiritually pure — " for they shall see God."^ Xor is it in essence alone that Religion is thus intensely spiritual and inward ; — religious acts, to have reality and value, must proceed from the heart, and fairly represent its spiritual frames. " When thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues, and in the streets, that they may have glory of men ; but when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doetli, that thine alms may be in secret." ^ In deeds of charity, one must not court the observation and applause of men, but act from l^ure, unselfish motives, as under the eye of his Father, which seeth in secret. Like precepts are laid down concerning prayer. One must not be ostentatious in his personal devotions : — "AVhen thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, Avhich is in secret."^ Prayer is the communion of the heart with God. It does not consist of words ; much less is it to be valued by the multitude of words.* In Thibet, the Buddhists make use of a prayer-cylinder, in which yards of petitions, written upon narrow strips of paper, are wound like ribbon around a wire that passes through the centre, and each revolution of the cylinder upon this axis counts for a repetition of all iMatt. V. 3,9. 2jviatt. vi. 1-4. SMatt. vi. 6. * Matt. vi. 7. MECHANICAL PRAYING. 85 these prayers ; so that one needs only to keep twirling his cylinder at intervals, and he will secure the benefit of whole hours, and even miles of prayer ! Some economize time by setting the cylinder at work by water-power, or other mechanical contrivance, while their hands and feet are busy in other matters. And this tendency to me- chanicizing prayers is always found where the efficacy of prayer is sought in the opus opcratum. Bat the doctrine of Christ drives one back from all modes and forms, from the surroundings and accessories of devotion, into the cita- del of the soul, to find if he there possesses true religion. The alms, the prayers, the offices of charity and devotion, that are turned out upon dress parade, give no evidence of true loyalty to God, or of real strength in religious charac- ter. This must be found within where it exists at all, and when prayers and almsgiving take a public form, pub- licity must never be the end in view. As a matter of con- sciousness, or of self-congratulation, the left hand must not know what the right hand doctli;^ yet he who has this in- ner spirit of devotion toward God and beneficence toward man, is commanded to let his light so shine before men that they may see his good works, and glorify his Father, which is in heaven. ^ Christ declared that no amount of praying and prophe- sying in His name, nor the multitude of wonderful and practically useful works done in His name, will avail to certify one as His disciple, nor commend him to favor at the judgment, wdiere the inward spirit of love and devotion is wanting.^ Thus by every form of presentation, for the essence of Religion He sends us back to the inmost centre of the soul. Religion is, first of all, a thing of the heart, internal and spiritual — " a good man, out of the good trea- sure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good." What then is this good treasure of the heart — this inner 1 Matt. vi. 3. 2 Matt. v. 16. 3 Matt, vii. 22, 23. 86 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. essence of Relio-ion? Is the heart mere feelino; — the seat of emotion only ? Modern physiology so distinguishes it from the brain as the seat of thought ; but in the language of the Hebrews the heart was also the seat of intelligence and of the moral faculties and affections ; a man thought in his heart, ' he purposed in his heart ; ^ he turned his heart this way and that ; ^ and so the Understanding and the \Yill, as well as susceptibilities and emotions, were com- prised in the heart ; this was the center of self-determina- tion, and hence of moral character and spiritual life. In the same sense the heart was spoken of by Christ as em- bodying all the constituents of moral life ; and therefore, the Religion that is in and of the heart must be conceived of as a matter of intelligent principle, of voluntary de- termination, and of devout feeling. These together con- stitute the heart — the moral substance of the man — an- swering to the stock and sap of the tree. An analysis of His teaching on this point gives the following results : True Religion is an inward principle of holy living, through consecration to a holy God. This was the root- idea of the law given at Sinai, underlying each particular precept ; for the commandments that refer to specific out- ward actions — enjoining particular duties and forbidding particular sins — are all founded in and governed by the preamble " I am the Lord thy God," and the first declara- tion " Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." The acknowledgment of this one only God — the Lord Jehovah, the living one, thy God — the personal Spirit who is the Creator and Lord of the human spirit, who has a right of possession in every living soul, and who only should be confessed as God and Lord ; who is set forth as the maker of heaven and earth, and the giver of the earth to man for his abode ; who is a holy and jealous God, visiting ini- 1 Is. X. 7 ; 1 Chron. xxix. IS; Is. xxxii. 4; Gen. xvii. 1-17; Job xii. 3, » 1 Sam. xiv. 7 j Is. x. 7 ; Ixiii. 4. 3 job xv. 12 j Is. xliv. 20. THE OLD TESTAMENT EELIGIOX SPIRITUAL. 87 quity, yet multiplying mercies to them that love Ilim, a God whose very name must he had in reverence and never lightly spoken — the acknowledgment of this one spiritual, holy, supreme Lord, allegiance to His majesty, obedience to His authority as holy, just and true — this i)rinciple lay at the foundation of the decalogue, and of the whole system of religion set forth in the Old Testament. The Eternal, Almighty Holy Spirit, the Creator and Lord of all, is here set before man not simply as an object of con- templation, to be admired as the highest conception of the Divinity that the intellect can attain to — but as having direct personal relations with the human spirit as His own image, as having a claim upon mankind severally for wor- ship and allegiance, and as seeking to draw each indivi- dual soul into the conscious, loving, faithful relationship of a child of God. To recognize this spiritual and Holy Being not simply as existing but existing in that relation, to acknowledge His rightful authority, to accept His law, and to devote the soul to Him in a holy, loving obedience — this inner j)rinciplc of serving God is the sum and sulj- stance of the Decalogue, and of the Religion of the Old Testament. All offerings and sacrifices, all prayers and alms, all Sabbaths and ceremonies were worse than worth- less without this. This fundamental principle of the Jewish theocracy had become well nigh obsolete under the mass of forms and traditions that men had heaped upon it; but Christ restored this as the first commandment in the code of the kingdom of God as His spiritual commonwealth. He did not abro- gate nor in any wise modify this original conception of Religion. To suppose that Christ relaxed the obligation of this principle of spiritual consecration in favor of some easier, lower type of piety expressed through faith as mere feeling, is a spiritual conceit and doctrinal error of most dangerous tendency. In the Christian system faith does 88 THE THEOLOGY OF CHKIST. not displace nor qualify the principle of lioly obedience ; it encourages us to trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sins, thus atoning for our lack of obedience in the past, and to look to Christ for help in obedience for the future. Perfect faith will conduce to perfect obedience; for the rule and standard of Religion as presented in the words of Jesus, is identical with that which underlies the Decalogue — an inward principle of holy living through consecration to the Avill of a holy God. This was His own rule of life as the perfect man : " I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me." ^ " I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." ^ " My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work."^ This was the deep, constant, controlling principle in the active obedience of Jesus Christ, and on the side of passive obedience it was the same : " Not My will but Thine be done." And though He covers our disobedience by His righteousness, and takes away our sins by His cross, and offers to our weakness the heljiing- hand of faith. He accords to His disciples no lower type of Religion than that which He illustrated, no lower rule of life than that which He observed. Nay rather did He put new life and emphasis into the fundamental principle of the decalogue as the law of His own kingdom : for He compressed the ten commandments into that one rule of holy obedience and consecration, and crowded this home upon the heart, saying : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." * We cannot go deeper than this for a founda- tion of Religion, we cannot rise higher than this for a standard of life, we can have nothing broader, fuller, more complete and final as a spirit of consecration. It is the most spiritual conception of Religion that the philosopher 1 Matt. xxii. 37. ^ John vi. 38. » John iv. 34. * Matt. xxii. 37. RELIGION THE ABIDING CHOICE OF GOD. 89 can form, and at the same time the most simple and practi- cal rule of piety that can be given to a child. This princi- ple settled within tlie soul as the one aim and law of its life is the " good treasure of the heart/' out of which all good things are brought forth. This principle supposes the free, intelligent choice of God and His service as the soul's supreme delight: its choice as an abiding state of preference, in distinction from particular acts of volition, yet including these and imparting to them a decisive character as acts of holy love. Where true Religion is, there the soul has elected God as its supreme good ; has accepted God as its ideal of ex- cellence ; has enthroned God as the Sovereign of its acts, its thoughts, and its desires ; and it abides in this its supreme choice as its satisfying rest and portion. As a state of preference this is the permanent choice of the soul, that underlies, and with more or less of conscious de- termination influences, all the choices and actions of the mind, and so gives character to the whole man. Tliis elective principle carries along with it the feelings of the heart. It is not a dry intellectual state, though it may seem dry when analyzed for purposes of definition ; neither is it a cold, stiff purpose of the will, though its value and durability as a principle require that it shall take the form of fixed rigid resolution ; but feeling enters into the choice, animates the purpose, keeps the resolution all aglow. For the choice which the soul makes in Re- ligion is not simply a choice of opinions, nor a choice of systems, nor a choice of ends personal to itself, but the choice of an object of affection, even of its highest love : the choice is itself affection going forth in the act of will, as the dominant love of the heart. Not duty, nor fear as toward God in His Ma-jesty, nor simply approbation in the contemplation of the divine excellence ; but love it is that inspires the deep principle, the fixed purpose of the soul to 90 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. serve and honor God in holy living. Thus Religion ab- sorbs all the powers and aifections of the soul. But that which gains this complete possession of the man spiritually also controls him practically. This deep inward principle, this sublime spiritual conception, this supreme absorbing purpose, this one dominant engrossing aiiection, is also a life-power. Tlie soul docs not shut itself up within itself, as in a temple, to worship the Un- seen, the Absolute, and keep its Religion as a thing sepa- rate and sacred from the life ; but that which is rooted so deep "within and nourished with such warmth of love, blossoms forth upon the world, sheds abroad its fragrance, and drops upon every side its golden fruit. The good tree, by the law of its nature — all the forces of its consti- tution and its life conjoining — brings forth good fruit; and so the good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things ; and as the quality of the fruit speaks for the tree, so the good deeds testify of the char- acter. " By their fruits ye shall know them." ^ This doctrine of good fruits does not at all conflict with Christ's condemnation of ostentation in religion, in Matt. vi. 1-7. What He there objected to Vv^as not the bare publicity of the act, but publicity as a motive to the act ; — praying " to be seen of men," giving alms " to be seen of men " — performing the most sacred duties in a way to at- tract attention, personating piety with a view to get a re- putation for piety — this it was that Jesus condemned. But the opposite of religious ostentation is not hiding one's light under a bushel, concealing religious princi2)le and feeling so as not even to be suspected of it, avoiding reli- gious conversation and whatever might bring the repute of godliness. The command of Christ to His disciples is ; " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in 1 Matt. vii. 16. RELIGION TESTED BY ITS FEUITS. 91 heaven." The shining is the beauty of a translucent char- acter : tlic light shines through because it is within ; and it shines simply because it is there. It is not a calcium light hung out now and then to dazzle j)assers by — but pure sunlight, which shines because it is. The religious principle being seated within, and having control of the understanding, the will, and the affections, is the life of the wliole man. The tree being of good stock, sound, healthy, and well-nourished with sap, brings forth good fruit ; and the true Religion is known, not by the profes- sions it makes, nor the forms it adopts, but by the influ- ence it has upon the spirit and conduct of the man, upon his habits and actions, and by the positively good things that he does, under its living inspiration, as naturally and as regularly as the tree brings forth fruit — " his own fruit," the fruit natural and proper to itself. " The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringetli forth that which is good." The test that Christ applied to the religious professions of individuals, may be applied with equal fairness to his own system of Religion : — this also may be tested by its fruits. "\Ye have seen how, under the power of the reli- gious idea and the impulse of religious feeling, mankkid distorted and exaggerated particular elements and features of Religion, and produced a cold intellectual abstraction, an ideal worship of fancy or taste, a pretentious self-right- eous charity, an elaborate and cumbersome ritualism, a mon- strosity of the imagination and the senses, a monastic and ascetic j^ietism ; and how utterly human wisdom failed of realizing to itself the conception of a spiritual and holy God, and a spiritual and holy consecration, so as to render this a controlling power in the life. But Religion as in- terpreted by Christ fills the highest reach of Reason in re- spect of the nature of God ; strips Imagination of uncouth images and morbid fears, and adorns it with new beauties 92 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and glories in the realm of the spiritual ; purifies the Af- fections, consecrates the Will ; puts soul and unction into every Form of worship, puts life and love into every Charity ; makes the whole man, body, soul, and spirit, a consecrated vessel of the divine grace, a consecrated dwell- ing of the divine Spirit, a consecrg,ted channel of the divine will ; and this by bringing the man into such near and loving relations with God, that this limited, depend- ent, and imperfect human spirit is in accord with that infinite, absolute, and perfect Spirit who fills immensity with His presence, and makes heaven glorious and blessed with His holy love. The Religion that so leads man up to God, and so brings God into fellowship with man, must have come down from heaven. By its fruits we know it to be divine. CHAPTER yill. THE SPIRITUALITY OF WORSHIP. From the interior essence of religion as a life we pass to its outward expression in acts of reverence toward God. Christ laid down a formula of worship based upon the true conception of the divine being : — " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to wor- ship Him. God is a spirit ; and they that would worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." ^ It is an axiom of the Christian faith that the mode of worship must correspond with the essence of God, which is spiritual, and the feeliug of the worshiper must correspond with the character of God, which is paternal. What that essential nature of God is which is declared by the term sjjirit, must be defined largely by negatives. A spirit is not physical, not corporeal, not tangible, not visible, as these properties are attributed to forms of matter ; nevertheless, we conceive of a spirit as a living substance, and as possessing both in- telligence and personality. The term Tzveo/ua was applied to the Father by Christ in the most absolute sense. The Septuagint had made this word familiar to Jewish readers as descriptive of the Spirit of God acting in creation and prophecy. But Jesus said God is spirit, pure spirit, thus defining His essence in respect of its immateriality; and the argument is, " God being pure spirit cannot dwell in parti- cular spots or temples ; cannot require, nor be pleased witli, earthly material offering, nor ceremonies as such ; on the 1 John iv. 23, 24. 93 94 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. other hand, is only to be approached in that part of our being which is spirit, — and even there, inasmuch as He is pure and holy, with no by-ends nor hypocritical regards, but in truth and earnestness." ^ In the ever-memorable words of Augustine, " If thou wouldst pray in the temple pray within thyself: but first be thou the temple of God." 2 God is spirit. Jesus announced this sublimest concep- tion of the nature of God, without defining it ; announced it to a plain woman Avithout simplifying it to her compre- hension ; left it to go upon record without solving the mys- tery that it contains. Yet as He was stating the funda- mental principle of religious worship, to govern His fol- lowers for all time, it is fair to assume that He used the terra spirit in a sense sufficiently intelligible to His hearers for the practical application of His rule. He would hardly have laid down for universal guidance in a matter of universal obligation, a proposition that could not be translated into the common ideas of men. Our notion of spirit arises from our consciousness of understanding, of personality, and of power — conceptions that we attach to the Ego, the conscious self, in distinction from the material body with which this is invested. The Jewish scriptures had made familiar to the common mind this conception of spirit as an immaterial substance, pos- sessing consciousness, understanding, personality, will, energy — for they ascribe to the Tzi^v^jfia all spiritual func- tions, and distinguish it alike from the body, and from the soul, the animating principle of the body. It is the spirit in man that has understanding, that is capable of moral aifections, that is the image of God, the inspiration of the Almighty, and this shall return unto the God who gave it, 1 Alford on John iv. 23. 2 In templo vis orare, in te ora. Sed prius esto templum Dei, quia ille in templo guo exaudiet orantem. SPIEIT EEPRESENTS PERSONALITY. 95 when the dust shall return to the earth as it was. ^ The same scriptures speak likewise of spirits as existing in a higher condition than man, and possessing higher capaci- ties than are given to man in his present state. These are incorporeal, so far as cognizance of the senses goes ; yet they are described under human modes of conception, as possessing powers of vision, of motion, and of action, vastly superior to any attainable by man. This idea of a spirit as a higher order of being was common among the Jews in the time of Christ. Philo believed in good and evil angels, and that these were identical in substance with the souls of men, though disconnected from bodies. ^ Jesus re- cognized the common belief in an order of spirits, when He said to His disciples after his crucifixion, — " A s^^irit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." ^ In declaring that God was pure spirit Christ gave no countenance to the pantheistic notion of the divinity as diifused in space or as the soul of the universe. On the contrary. He at the same time defined both the individual- ity and the personality of God, in the formula of worship ; — " they that worship Him." This infinite Spirit is to be approached by the human spirit, as a personal Intelligence. Moreover the name Father ascribes to God relations and affections such as pertain only to personality. Because God is spirit men must worship Him, and n(/t any material representation of Him ; must worship Him, and not any place where He is supposed to be ; and they must not even worship Him in any one place alone, as if He were embodied or contained in that place, or were to be found only there. This was the point of His reply to the woman of Samaria : — " The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father :" ^ — then true worshipers will not resort to 1 Ec. xii. 7. * Philo Judreus on the Giants. » Luke xxiv, 39. * John iv. 21. 96 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. either with the feeling that the place gives validity or sanctity to the act of worship. This did not imply that there had been no sincere, real worship at Jerusalem or Gerizim ; for the contrast was not so much between the true and the flilse, as between the perfect ideal and a shadowy approximation. By the true worshipers are in- tended not only such as worship in sincerity of spirit, but those that worship according to the true and perfect ideal. " The worship of God in its highest conception, is that which is most homogeneous with the divine nature. Now God is spirit, and as such, elevated above space and time ; hence, the devotion which is in spirit, uttering itself in- dependently of time and place, never ceasing, subject to no external conditions, carried on in the inner sanctuary of man, constitutes the only worship which corresponds to its ideal." ^ But was this saying of Christ concerning worship in the spirit intended to disparage outward worship, and to foreshadow its abolition under a higlier purer conception of Religion ? The whole tenor of His life and doctrine for- bids such an inference. Jesus Himself prayed openly and audibly in the preseijce of His disciples. The prayer re- corded at length in the seventeenth chapter of John's gospel was an act of worship, and was rendered not in ac- cordance with any Jewish form, but by Jesus as the founder of the new dispensation about to be committed to His disciples. He also taught His disciples to pray, and how to pray ; and the brief form of prayer that He gave to them -was adapted to be used in a collective act of wor- ship : " Oar Father : give us our daily bread." And moreover Christ gave the assurance of a special blessing to those who should unite in worship, and meet for that pur- pose in His name : " If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for 1 OUhauscn, Cismm. in lac. THE USES OF OUTWARD WOESHIP. 97 them of my Father wliich is in heaven: for where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them." ^ He also distinctly contemplated and provided for the association of His disciples as a Church, for worship and communion, and ordained sacra- ments to be therein observed. After His resurrection, He met with His disciples in what appears to have been a stated assembly for religious worship upon the first day of the week. If outward worship is made an" end in itself, if all thought and care are concentrated upon the manner of the outward act, with the feeling that when this is regularly performed the worship is accomplished — this is wholly at variance with Christ's doctrine of true spiritual worship. If again, the outward worship is regarded as a means to an end, if by the law of association, and by the suggestion of spiritual truth through appropriate symbols, it serves to educate the mind in religious thought and feeling — as was the design of the Jewish ritual — these ends are legitimate and valuable, though such a conception of worship falls below the ideal enunciated by Christ. In its highest and best relations, outward worship is the expression and exponent of the inward frame and feeling of the worshiper. The feeling of devotion gives to worship an unlimited universality of utterance, and renders natural and fit the outward form. This feeling should lead one to approach God as a Father. This name presents to the heart the moral and sympathetic asjiect of the divine Being, as the term spirit presents to the understanding the conception of His essential nature. This Spirit, though infinite in His own nature, is not at an infinite remove from us in space nor in feeling, ])ut is a loving Father, who thinks upon us, cares for us, and seeks us, desiring the communion of our sjiirits with iMatt. xviii. 19. 08 THE THEOLOGY OP CHRIST. Himself. This enunciation meets the longing of the more devout and spiritual minds of pagan antiquity for a near and conscious intercourse with God. Said Dio Chrysostom, " There exists in all men an eager longing to adore and worship the gods as nigh. For as children, torn from father and mother, feel a powerful and afiectionate longing, often stretch out their hands after their absent parents, and often dream of them; so the man who heartily loves the gods for their benevolence towards us and their relationship with us, desires to be continually near them and to have intercourse with them ; so that many barbarians, ignorant of the arts, have called the very mountains and trees gods, that they might recognize them as nearer to themselves." ^ But Christ would bring God nearer than the mountain, nearer than the temple, in the spiritual, living, reciprocal intercourse of the father and the child. In its longing to localize the Deity, Paganism materialized Him — first personifying the powers and effects of nature as representa- tives of the Divinity, and finally transferring to these its whole conception of God. There is the same tendency in the materialistic Pantheism of modern times — to resolve the Divinity into a law, a force, a principle, an essence, or at best a soul resident in nature; but this while bringing God nigh, in a sense, yet takes away the value of the nearness by robbing Him of personality, which alone renders worship reasonable and communion possible. True worship must be founded upon the spirituality of God. "His being a spirit declares what He is; his other perfec- tions declare what kind of spirit He is. All God's perfec- tions suppose Him a spirit: all center in this: His wisdom does not suppoge Him merciftil, or His mercy suppose Him omniscient; there may be distinct notions of those attributes, but all suppose Him to be of a spiritual nature. If we do not render to God that spiritual worship which corresponds ' Dio Chrysost. Orationes, xii. THE WORSHIP OF SPIRIT TO SPIRIT. 99 to His own nature, a statue upon a tomb with eyes and hands lifted u{), offers as good and true a service as we." ^ In its concej)tion of worship as a spiritual act addressed to a spiritual being, Christianity puts into a simple and universal formula the deepest conclusions of philosophy. It assumes the great truth embodied in the organization of matter under existing forms of order and beauty, and in the arrangement of diverse and conflicting physical laws to effect one common purpose — that a supreme intelligence, a spiritual power, gave to the universe its existence and its laws. What natural theology thus argues, Christ declared as a first axiom of religion ; — God is Spirit. Whence it follows, since God is the Creator of the Universe, it is ab- surd to suppose that His own essence can be bounded by a temple, or ministered unto by material offerings; and since God is the Father of all existing intelligences, it is absurd to represent Him by any material image, or to worship Him in any other way than by an intelligent homage, obedience and love. " They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." The nature of man requires this spiritual homage to the Father of spirits. Reason and self-respect demand that man, who is essentially a spiritual and not an animal being, shall recognize the spirituality of his Creator, and worship God with his rational and voluntary powers. He degrades himself when he represents his Creator by anything lower in the scale of existence than liis own soul, or renders to God a mere service of form. Worship is the homage, the adoration, the reverent and loving devotion of man as a free spiritual intelligence toward God as the Father of Spirits, infinite in His nature and perfect in His holiness. Such worship recognizes God's absolute inde- pendence. His rightful sovereignty. His glorious moral perfection ; and is rendered by one spiritual nature unto 1 Charnock on the Divine Attributes. 100 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. another spiritual nature that infinitely transcends it In power and majesty, that infinitely excels it in purity and virtue. Not hands but hearts must Avorship God ; not wood and stone but living souls must furnish His abode. This doctrine, however, must be taken in connection with the doctrine of the new birth which underlies the whole conception of the kingdom of God ; for " man is not bora as a temple of God, nor can he make himself one, but can only be restored to that eminence by the Spirit, v/hom the Son of God communicates to his soul." ^ The formula of Jesus touching worship is a distinct pro- test against Ritualism as claiming to represent the Chris- tian idea of worship. I would not question the sincerity of a worship rendered through elaborate forms ; but the Ritual does not constitute either Christianity or worship, and the bowings and genuflexions, the attitudes and cross- ings, the vestments and candles, are not properly Christian worship. True worship may use forms for its expression, and indeed will naturally appropriate forms of some kind as its language ; but by just as much as the place and the form of worship come to be looked upon as essential to the genuineness and acceptableness of the worship, by so much does the form overlay and hinder the free action of the soul toward God. If the form of worship appeals to tiie senses more powerfully than the truth itself appeals to the soul, if the studied artistic effect of the worship diverts the feeling from spiritual emotion to aesthetic sentiment, then is the form set above the spirit, and there is danger that the living essence of worship will be wanting. The eye may be charmed with the architecture of the cathedral, the ear entranced with the music of the organ and the choir, the very soul suff'used with the perfume of incense, and yet while every sense is thus wrapped in the outward similitude of worship, there may be no true spirit of worship in the 1 Nean Jer. SPIRITUALITY NOT SENTIMENTALISM. 101 heart. And if once the mind is imbued with the notion that salvation depends upon the place or the form of wor- ship, it will exaggerate the most insignificant incident of that form into an essential of its own life. But on the other hand the spirituality of worship must be distinguished from mere sentimentality in religion. The poetry of Byron abounds in apostrophes to nature in the vein of worship. Novelists of the worst school of French license, will pause in a tale of infamy to utter some pious feeling touching the stars, the trees, the flowers; to invoke the sea, the breeze, the mountain, the cloud, the moon — Nature in whole or in detail — as the personification of the religious sentiment; and after this ebullition of devotion, will proceed to deform virtue and to glorify vice. Confucius teaches that by meditating in the seclusion of the mountains and water-falls, man re- turns to the primitive goodness of his nature; and thus the magnificent growths of the forests and the delicate beauties of the garden and field become moral tonics to the soul. Now no moralist has excelled Christ in lessons of wisdom derived from nature, and no poet has surpassed Ilim in delicacy of perception for the beauty of flowers, the waters, the sky, and for the traits and habits of sentient creatures : and therefore it is foreign to the genius of Christianity to disparage a taste for the beautiful in tlie physical creation, or to undervalue this as tributary to the religious senti- ment. But that enthusiasm for nature which never speaks the name of God, which expends itself upon effects without thought of the First Cause of all, which ev^en substitutes an efibct for the cause as an object of religious emotion, has no one element in common with the Sj)!ritual devotion that Christ declared to be the only true worsliip. It is at best but a more refined idolatry, repi'odueing in the mysticism of the pantheist and the dream-talk of the poet, the homage of the ancient Greek and Roman, or of the 102 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. modern Hindoo and Chinaman to material forms as repre- senting some beneficent property or power in nature. Tho spirituality of worship set forth by Christ is a feature of His religion that adapts it for universal diffu- sion. Like the light Christianity can go anywhere ; like the air men need only to breathe it. Its worship requires but these two factors : — a spiritual and holy God revealed as a loving Father, and an humble, loving, trusting mind, that looks up to Him in reverence and obedience. The Jew coming like Simeon in faith and holy expectation, to sacrifice amid the splendor of the temple and the pomp of its ritual ; tlie Gentile who, like the devout Cornelius, amid the distractions of military life, without temjjle or altar, yet feared God with all his house and prayed to Him always ; the prisoner Paul in the guard-room of ^ Nero's palace; the exile John in the rocky solitudes of Patmos ; the missionary apostle, a solitary witness for the living God in face of the temples, shrines and divinities of Athens ; the throng gathered at Troas to hear his fare- well words, and break the bread of Christian fellowship ; the martyrs who entered the arena to be devoured of wild beasts, praying as they went ; the saints who hid them- selves in the catacombs of E,ome and worshiped by the light of the sacred lamp; Luther, in his monk-cell crying to God from the depths of an awakened spirit ; Tauler, in the grand cathedral of Strasbourg, in the midst of altars, pictures, images, incense, and the pomp of a corrupted worship, proclaiming the true light, love, and joy of the Holy Ghost within the soul ; the AValdenses in the fast- nesses of Piedmont ; the Huguenots in the caves of the Pyrenees ; the Covenanters on the lonely heath or the dreary shore ; the Pilgrims on the houseless island, keep- ing the Sabbath in snow and sleet ; these all, and whoever with singleness of devotion has worshiped the Father, have kept up through the ages the undying succession of THE SOUL THE LIVING TEMPLE. 103 true worshipers. The proudest monument of pagan wor- ship is a shattered ruin upon the Acropolis of Athens; the temple at Jerusalem with its goodly stones is buried under the Harani of the mosque of Omar ; the antiquarian digs for its foundation ; the Jews wail beside the tradi- tional stones of its wall ; but He with whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, who dwells in humble, believing souls, seeks and owns as true worshipers all who, in what- ever tongue, cry " Abba, Father." CHAPTER IX. A LIVING PROVIDENCE. Years ago, when the cloud that hung over the African race in the United States was so thick that there appeared no possibility of deliverance, Mr. Frederick Douglas called for a bloody insurrection as the only hope of liberty' ; and even that seemed rather the frenzy of despair. Depicting the wrongs of his people with an eloquence that awed his hearers, telling tales of horror that made one's hair stand on end, he cried for the retribution of blood. Friends, counsels, measures, events had failed to further their cause, or had been linked in connivance with the wrong; patience and hope were utterly gone, and there remained only the last struggle of desperation. When he ceased speaking, there was a hush of horror and dread over the assembly, that seemed to confirm his forebodings. Directly in front of the platform sat a tall gaunt figure, black as the night that Douglas had depicted: — a woman M'ho, had she lived in Africa, might have passed for a sorceress or a sibyl, but who had won repute among her people as a prophetess taught of God. Her very name she claimed to have received by inspiration — Sojourner Truth — a type of her mission : "Truth" because she was appointed to give the Lord's testimony; "Sojourner" because she was to go from place to place testifying as she went, and sojourning only long enough to testify. Fastening upon the speaker her keen black eye, now fired with a holy indignation, and raising her finger as in prophetic admonition, she cried in a voice that pierced every ear, " Frederick, is God deadf^ 104 PROVIDENCE IN THE OVEETHROW OF SLAVERY. 105 Like a flash of lightning that question scattered a darkness that all had felt. Faith, patience, hope, courage came back with the reviving of the thought of a living God. The years have confirmed Sojourner's faith. When the national government had surrendered itself in every de- partment to the intrigues or the assumptions of the slave- power; when Congress had enacted the Fugitive-Slave law, and the President had made haste to enforce it by Marshals, Commissioners and United States troops; when the IMissouri Compromise M'as repealed, and the Supreme Court decided that slaves could be held as property in the territories of the United States, and the Chief Justice gave the sanction of his office to the stigma that "black men had no rights which white men were bound to respect;" it seemed indeed that the cause of the slave was hopeless, and that nothing remained to him but the recklessness of des- peration. But God was not "dead." The veiy audacity that sought first to control the general government and then to subvert it, overreached itself; and we have seen slavery abolished by proclamation of the President, and the army of the United States employed for its over- throw; Congress that had been the tool of the Slave- power, dictating to the States of the Slave Confederacy measures of justice to the freedmen ; those States recognizing the political equality of the blacks as the condition of their own restoration to political privileges in the Union; the Constitution that had been made a shield for slavery, amended so as to prohibit the exclusion of any citizen from the polls by reason of race, color, or former state of servi- tude; the President congratulating the country upon this momentous change of policy as the most important event since the foundation of the government, and taking pains to efface the stigma that the Supreme Court had affixed to the black race. ^ A retribution so thorough and particular, 1 President Grant's proclamation of the ratification of the Fifteenth Amend' meut. 106 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. a revolution so complete and circumstantial, effected by means above human foresight or control, gives emphasis to the faith of the sable prophetess in the living God. Yet there are those who style themselves "friends of progress," and assume even the ambitious role of the priest- hood of Humanity, who would deprive the poor and op- pressed of this kindling thought, this great and blessed hope, and would make God dead alike to good or evil in the world. Not content to reduce all physical phenomena to a system of fixed laws, Avhich admit of no superintend- ing Power, and with which no volitions, either natural or supernatural, interfere, they would bring human society and history into the same category, concluding all the phases of national growth and decay, and the actions of in- dividuals in all the varieties of human conduct, by physi- cal conditions that determine the development of individu- als, of nations, and of races according to certain subtile, perhaps uninterpretable, but nevertheless uniform and all- controlling laws. This was the theory upon which Mr. Buckle projected his History of Civilization: — that "the actions of men, being determined solely by their antece- dents, must have a character of uniformity, that is to say, must, under precisely the same circumstances, always issue in precisely the same results." So strong was his convic- tion that all human actions, including those that seem to be prompted by personal feelings — even marriages on the one hand, and crimes on the other — are determined by general laws, that he expressed his belief that "before another cen- tury the chain of evidence will be complete, and it will be as rare to find an historian who denies the undeviating regu- larity of the moral world, as it is now to find a })hi]osopher who denies the regularity of the material world." ^ This moral order, however, in Mr. Buckle's meaning, is not the Providential ruling of the world according to a divine plan, ^ History of Cicilization in Eiii/lunrf, I. pp. 14, 24. POSITIVISM AT ISSUE WITH CHRIST. 107 but the development of mind and of Nature, each by the laws of its own organization, and with " a reciprocal modifi- cation from which all events must necessarily spring." Mr. Buckle's admirers have sought to relieve him of the charge of Fatalism; yet when this school of Positivists speak of "the Infinite" and "the Absolute," it is the infinite and absolute in Idea or in Law — some vast generalization of the phenomena of the universe under a law of correlation — and not an infinite Spirit, who created the universe, and now upholds and governs it through laws that are the mute ex- pressions of His own will and power. Either the Person- ality of God is denied altogether, and the Deity is only the highest formula for the generalization of existing laws, or if His personality is admitted, He is conceived of as separated from the actual course of affairs, and existing if not in the state of inactivity attributed to Buddha, at least in the attitude of non-intervention by any volition or act of His, direct or indirect, in the ongoing sequence of events. Thus Comte speaks of the doctrine of Providence as a transient theory, a makeshift of ignorance, which in the progress of science has been displaced by the discovery and the systematizing of laws. ' It is impossible to harmonize this world-scheme of the Positivists with the teachings of Christ. The displace- ment of Providence from the world, the denial of God's personal interest in His creatiu-es and His superintendence over them as a present reality, is directly at variance with the doctrine of Jesus, who taught that His .Father watches over all creatures and events, and is concerned in the affairs of men both individually and collectively. Upon most points it is easy to reconcile alleged differences between science and revelation ; and it may be assumed that there is no fact of science fairly proved that may not be reconciled with the Scriptures fairly interpreted. But the denial of a divine Providence in the world, present, 108 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. personal, particular, cannot be reconciled with the teach- ings of Jesus ; and hence if He taught herein the truth of God, that materialistic theory which has no place for God in the ordering of aifairs, must be false. It is of the first importance, therefore, to determine from the collation of His own words, what Christ did teach concerning Provi- dence. First. Those physical phenomena which are commonly described as the course of nature, Christ represented as beino" under the direction and control of God, and as ex- pressing Plis purpose and will. "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despiteful ly use you and perse- cute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." ^ Now the sun rises with undeviating regu- larity — the diurnal revolution of the earth upon its axis causing that appearing and disappearing of the sun which we call sunrise and sunset. These laws are fixed and as- certained : and although the laws by which the rain falls are less definitely understood, the showers come not by chance, nor by miracle, but by law. And yet Jesus traced the rising of the sun and the falling of the rain, in the universality of their beneficence, to the purpose of God in so ordering them for the good of His creatures ; and He pointed to the uniformity of these events as an expression of the impartial goodness of our Heavenly Father, to be followed by us as an example. Now there is no force in the argument drawn from this illustration — that, by the impartiality of love, we should be perfect in the same way as our Father in Heaven is perfect — if the sun rises or the rain falls by laws of its own producing, or by eternal 1 Matt. V. 41, 45. REGULAR SEQUENCE NOT EFFICIENT CAUSE. 109 laws, or by purely mechanical law, from which all idea of a designing will is shut out. In the phenomena of Nature we must be careful not to confound regularity of sequence with causation, or to mis- take uniformity for efficiency. Where one event invariably follows another in the same circumstances, we say there is a law of succession ; but it does not follow that the event next preceding is the efficient cause of its successor. Mere phenomena cannot be perpetually adduced to explain phe- nomena. The conception of causality requires an active will-power somewhere back of the apparent physical law. To Christ that will was ever present and ever active in all the ordinances of Nature. This He assumed when He taught us to pray to our Father in heaven, saying "Give us this day our daily bread." Now bread is procured by processes that obey es- tablished chemical, vital, and mechanical laws, both sepa- rately and in combination — the growth of the wheat, the harvesting, threshing, and winnowing, the grinding of the flour, the mixing of the dough, the baking of the bread — the agency of Nature uniting throughout with the agency of Man; and there is nothing apparent in the process of bread-making that cannot be referred to one or the other of these visible agents. But whence comes the power of heat and moisture, acting upon the soil and the seed to produce the living growth? whence the principle of fer- mentation? and whence the power of heat to convert the paste into bread? In looking at a grist-mill, the wheels, the gearing, the hopper, the stones, the bolter, one remarks the ingenuity of man in this machinery for grinding his flour; but the wood and iron of which the water-wheel is made, the water that turns it, the stones that grind the meal, these are no more of man's providing than are his own mind and muscle that appropriate such materials to his use. And after all, 110 THE THEOLOaY OF CHRIST. that which grinds liis flour is the sun: for the sun perpetu- ally gathers the moisture that forms the clouds, whose showers feed the stream that turns the mill. And so, back of all the ingenuity of man, and of all visible agencies of Nature, the doctrine of Christ refers us to our Heavenly Father as tlie giver of our bread, and bids us ask Him for it day by day. But one could not thus ask Nature for daily bread; since Nature has no intelligence nor will, nor conscious power of adaptation, in the processes by which she ministers to the sustenance of man. One can not pray to a law of physics or of chemistry as to a Father! The laws of Nature remove further back the point at which the v/ill of God touches the whole process of providing our food, but these do not disconnect that process from the divine will and reduce it to a function of Nature. A father who grows his own grain and grinds his own wheat, liter- ally provides bread for his children; but one who does other business, is a merchant, a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, and buys all his bread of the baker, is none the less the giver of the daily bread of his household. A little boy lost in the streets of New York, and unable to tell where he lived, gave his father's name and said that he made bread. After a fruitless search among the bakers, it was discovered that the child's father was a merchant, but was accustomed on leaving home for his business to say play- fully to the little fellow, "Now I must go and make some more bread for you." Yet he did make bread for his child as truly as if he had baked it. When a father goes away from home and leaves an order with the baker to supply the family during his absence, he still provides their daily bread ; and if he should prolong his absence for years, and eimply send remittances to meet the necessities of his family, these intervening processes would not sever nor even sus- pend his personal agency as the provider. Now God is our Father; and the far-reaching arrange- PEOVIDENCE UNIVERSAL AND PARTICULAR. Ill merits He has made through which we obtain our daily- bread, cauiiot dissociate the provision for our wants from His loving thought and care. Both the constitution of man and the circumstances in whi<^h he acts are fairly- included within the providential purposes of God. Man acts either from his own nature, or from the influence of circumstances, or from a combination of these two factors ; and He who created both man and nature with their mutual adaptations, can also bring them together in special adaptations, through His familiar and constant supervision of their several laws. And the fact of this pei'sonal divine agency in and through the ordinary phenomena of life, is fundamental in the doctrine of Christ concerning Provi- dence. Christ also taught the unwersality of this Providence over the kingdoms of Nature and of life. It is God who clothes the grass of the field, and gives to the lilies their beauty, though they toil not, neither do they spin. It is our heavenly Father who feedeth the ravens and the fowls of the air, though they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns. ^ God gave to the birds their free un- caring nature, and the instinct by which they seek their food; and in the diversities of food made ready for the diversities of creatures are manifested a forethought and plan that argue an intelligent providence. The uniformity of this adaptation cannot account for the fact of the adap- tation ; and when we inquire why each bird and each beast seeks always and finds its own kind of food, there can be no better answer than that which Christ has given, "Your heavenly Father feedeth them." In discoursing of Providence, Jesus instanced the 'par- ticular care of God toward those that love Him and trust in His will. His argument from the universal care of God for the lower orders of creatures, the raven, the sj)ar- 1 Matt. vi. 26-31. 112 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. row, was that the chikh-en of God should so much the more trus i:i Hhn for all the wants of the body, and devote them- selves spiritually to His holy kingdom and will. "Are ye not much better than they? shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" ^ The argument is from the less to the greater: — "therefore take no thought" — be not anxious about the necessaries of life, — "saying What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for yoiu' heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."^ To have any validity in logic, to give any encouragement to faith, this argument must proceed on the assumption that God takes immediate cognizance of the condition and wants of those who look to Him in trust, and arranges outward circum- stances for their advantage: for the counsel "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," is followed with the unqualified assurance "and all these thing's shall be added to you;" ^ — an assurance grounded in the fact that "your heavenly Father hioioeth that ye have need of all these things" — ''therefore take no thought for the morrow." The counsel that Jesus gave His disciples touching their deportment under danger, was based upon the same doctrine of God's personal care over His children. Thoy were charo;ed not to fear human enemies who could do them no real harm, and whose apparent power of mischief was under the restraint of their heavenly Father: — not even a sparrow is forgotten before God ; and " the very hairs of your head are all numbered." * This same argu- ment Christ applied to Himself. When tempted of the devil, in the extremity of hunger. He refused to turn stones into bread, and confided in the loving care of His 1 Mat. vi. 30. 2 Mat. vi. .'il, 32. 3 Mat. vi. 32, 33. * Luke xii. 6, 7. NO FAVOKITISM IN PROVIDENCE. 113 Father for the relief of His necessities. ^ Again, when Pilate sought to intimidate Him, saying, " Kuowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee," Jesus answered, " Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.'' ^ By this He meant not simply that the power of earthly rulers is derived from God as the supreme disposer of events ; but that Pilate had no present power of proceeding against Himself, except by the permission of His heavenly Father. His meaning was precisely the same as in that saying to Peter a few hours before, " Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve leg-ions of ano^els? But how then shall tlie Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be ? " * Jesus believed in the constant superintendence of His heavenly Father over all the events of His life : — constant, as opera- ting through the common established order of things, and particular, as adapting events to occasions, means to ends. What is sometimes called "special providence" may be special only in our recognition of it — special because the importance of the event to ourselves leads us to notice it as something extraordinary; but Christ taught that the Providence of God is not something occasional and excep- tional, but is as constant and particular as the care of a Father over his children : — special, therefore, only as being personal and particular. But Jesus did also include in His doctrine of Provi- dence the fact that, to accomplish particular ends, God does sometimes put forth direct ads of control or intervention in human affairs. In view of the small number of preachers of the Gospel as compared with the Avorlj of evangeliza- tion. He instructed His disciples to "pray the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth laborers into the har- 8 1 Matt. iv. 3, 4, 11. 2 John xix. 10, 11. 3 Matt. x.\vi. 53, 54. 114 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. vest." ^ Now such a prayer could have force only upon the assumption that God does act directly in the affairs of this world, for particular interests, and shape men and means toward given ends. Again, in j^redicting the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ announced that as His own coming to judgment, and indicated to His disciples what would be the signs of that coming — directly connect- ing the war, famine and pestilence that did actually attend that terrible siege, with a divine retribution for the sins of the nation. He promised also safety and protec- tion to His own disciples, and declared that for their sakes the days of tribulation should be shortened. ^ All this came to pass by means apparently natural, but under the guidance of a supernatural poAver. The whole doctrine of Christ concerning the Providence of God teaches that this is a living reality, present, constant, universal, and particular, both mediate and immediate. This doctrine accords with the highest Reason, and gives a key to the course of Nature itself. For either we must believe in a Providence over the world that extends to the particular while it controls the universal, or allow the athe- istic notion of chance, or say that events can come to pass by laws or agejicies beyond His knowledge or control, and therefore that His whole purpose of -wisdom and beneficence in the creation is liable to be frustrated through causes out of sight or out of reach — that a broken rail may throw the train oif the track, or a tiny borer under the keel may sink the ship. But in face of the evidence of final causes, strengthening the native belief in an intelligent Creator, it is impossible to refer the origin of the world to chance; and if chance did not produce the world, it cannot come in at this late day to divide its events with the Supreme Intelligence that shaped these at the first. To withdraw ^ny class of events from the knowledge or the power of 1 Matt. ix. 37, 38. « Matt. xxiv. 22. LAWS NEED TO BE ACCOUNTED FOR. 115 God, and declare these absolutely independent of PI is con- trol, would be to say that He had made a world He could not manage; and moreover, such is the inter-dependence of events, both great and small, and, on the broad scale of things, adverse and hostile events, permitted for awhile, are so often made to contribute to the very end they threat- ened to frustrate, or are overridden by some sublime and comprehensiva movement — that the logical principles in- volved in creation, and the course of affairs in human history, shut us up to a belief in the providence of God as extending to all actual events. It does not relieve this necessity to deny a personal Providence, and fall back ujjon a system of general laws. These laws, incapable of originating themselves, can find the reason of their own existence only in the will of the all-wise and almighty Creator, who set them in order fore- seeing and including their working and results. Climb we never so high the ladder of second causes, at the top we find the Infinite stretching above and around us: the ladder is supported not by its own strength nor by the solidity of its foundation, but by an invisible hand from above; it is only by looking up that we can climb with safety, and if we take out a pin here and a rung there as insignificant or unnecessary, we shall break through and fall over into the abyss of Atheism. The doctrine of Provi- dence as taught by Christ differs equally from Fatalism and from Pantheism. It recognizes the personal care of our Heavenly Father, acting both through the laws that He has impressed upon Nature and apart from these, and thus it keeps Him in a constant connection of thought, feeling and will with the creatures of His hand. This doctrine of Providence harmonizes perfectly with our consciousness of free-will. Free-will is a fact of con- sciousness, and we can neither go back of the testimony of consciousness nor explain that away. We know that we 116 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. have the j)Ower of choice, and that in moral action we might choose otherwise than as we do. Yet our free choice and action in any given case do not exclude this from the divine prevision as an event, since the certainty of an event as matter-of-fact to the mind of God caimot conflict with the free-agency of man in bringing to pass that event. Certainty and Freedom are not irreconcilable factors in the problem of life. The time and place of my birth, for in- stance, were determined in the Providence of God without my agency or even my consciousness. It was by His will that I began to live. But when I began to move by my own volition did I cease to sustain any relation to the will of God? Were the boundaries of His Providence limited by the nursery ? — and did I pass out from under the Provi- dential government of God the moment I began to act l)y my own will? That were absurd. But on the other hand, did God compel my actions, and above all compel my sin- ful actions? I know better; since consciousness assures me of my freedom, while common-sense instructs me as to His Providence. It is equally true that I am free and that God reigns. The doctrine of Providence taught by Christ harmon- izes also with the general laws of the physical world. The laws under which we generalize the orderly sequences of ]ihenomena are thoughts or purposes of the Creator wrought into permanent links of succession; — a stereotyped edition of certain divine ideas, continually renewed from the same plates. But is the whole of the divine nature bound up in these, and imprisoned by them ? These laws are the per- manent base for the operations of His Providence : as proofs of divine forethought for our welfare, they tend to give stability and confidence to our dependence upon Providence. To lay in fuel for the winter in the summer is to provide for the daily wants of one's family as really as by marketing every day ; — the one form of Providence does PROVIDENCE GIVES COURAGE TO FAITH. 117 not preclude the other. Becauge God ministers to our ne- cessities so largely through a system of general laws, He is not thereby cut off from a living sympathy and care for us. It is still our Father in Heaven who gives us day by day our daily bread, and who delivers us from evil. The doctrine of Christ concerning the Providence of God furnishes a rational ground and motive for prayer. Under stress of want or danger it is an instinct of the soul to pray. But prayer is the merest superstition if there is no personal, acting, guiding Providence. Only in the be- lief that we have a Father who knows our wants and can relieve them, who thinks upon us, and will hear us, can we pray in faith. This doctrine encourages us to trust in God with child- like confidence and affection. Such a faith will lift the soul to the sublimity of absolute repose : not the repose of inaction or of indifference, but of that confidence in God's presence, power, wisdom, love, that frees the mind from all uneasiness or concern in respect to either the wants of the body or its own future. " Fear ye not, ye are of more value than many sparrows." This very confidence begets its own triumph. The faith of Sojourner Truth was as ready for her own necessities as for the sorrows of her peo- ple. Her child had been stolen and sold into slavery ; and she knew only in a vague, general way, that she must seek redress at the Court-house, and that for this money was required. Slie thought within herself, " God has money," and she made her application directly to Him. In her own graphic and pathetic story, "I didn't rightly know which way to turn ; but I went to the Lord, and I said to Him, ' O Lord, ef I was as rich as you be, an' you was as poor as I be, I'd help you, you know I would ; an' oh ! do help me.' An' I felt sure that He would, an' He did." A man seeing her writhing in agony before the Court House, asked what was the matter, and directed her to 118 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. friends who took up her case and pressed it until her child was recovered. This child-like simplicity of trust in the providence of God is authorized by the teachings of Christ. One may be too wise to admit a ground for it in his phil- osophy, too proud to admit a place for it in his own spirit ; one may love the world too much to be willing to relin- quish that, and making the kingdom of God his supreme desire, to trust his heavenly Father for his daily bread ; one may be so bent upon plans of his own that he cares nothino; for Providence unless that can be enlisted in these ; but he that really believes what Christ has taught concern- ing our Father in heaven, he that exercises a true Chris- tian faith, will so trust in the Lord at all times, as to live without solicitude, in the constant exercise of gratitude and devotion. And how little should we know of grief if we had more of gratitude ! how little should we know of despondency, if we had more of devotion ! When we shall fully love, then only will we fully trust. CHAPTER X. OF PEAYEE. As the instinct of prayer is an argument for a Provi- dence — since every aptitude of man's nature finds some corresponding adaptation in the system of things with which he is connected — so also is the fact of Providence the decisive warrant for prayer. The spontaneous impulse of the soul in peril, want, or fear, to invoke the aid of an unseen Power — that is to pray — encourages the belief that, distinct from physical laws and phenomena, there is a spiritual Power, able to modify or shape the course of things for our advantage, or to interpose His will in some direct counteraction to apparent evil. Why is man so constituted that in his helplessness he flies to the Infinite for succor, if all things move forward by inexorable law, and God has abandoned the world to fate ? Then prayer were but a mockery of human misery — the wounded, terri- fied bird, seeing the serpent about to spring upon it, and beating its breast wildly against the bars that shut it in. That very principle of relation by which science links events to their antecedents, and means to ends, should find in this normal tendency of the soul to look to a higher Power, a law of interaction by which prayer links the soul to God by the feeling of dependence, and brings God to the soul in the bestowal of lielp. That devout philosopher, Sehleiermacher, defined religion as the feeling of dependence upon the Absolute. When physical science has formulated all the known phenomena of Nature under invariable laws, and metaphysical science 119 120 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. has systematized all the known phenomena of mind under categories of its own, and materialists have sought, by a process of mental physiology, to reduce the manifestations of intelligence to mere functions of the brain, there yet re- mains within the consciousness — to be called out upon emergencies of ignorance, of danger, of trouble, of want — the feeling of dependence upon a Something somewhere that is Absolute, that is above want, danger, or necessity, that is dependent upon nothing outside of itself, but can take upon itself the support of needy, dependent creatures. That feeling prompts to prayer, and prayer points to Pro- vidence. And so, upon the other hand, the fact of a Providence — the active guidance and superintendence of persons and events by a Spirit of infinite wisdom, power and bene- ficence, — ogives a perfect warrant for prayer, makes it rea- sonable to pray, makes it hopeful to pray, makes prayer a reality, as the address of one conscious spirit to another conscious spirit, who knows the needs of the suppliant ; makes i)rayer a power, as the appeal of a dependent spirit to the Almighty Spirit who will help the needy when he crieth. Such was the doctrine of prayer that Christ taught to His disciples, and that He himself put in practice upon memorable occasions of His earthly life. At the foundation of His teaching on this subject was the conception of prayer as the direct address of the sold to God as its Father. " After this manner pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven." ^ " Enter into thy closet and pray to thy Father which is in secret." ^ As an en- couragement to prayer Christ referred to the readiness with which parents regard the requests of their children, and said, " If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father i Matt. vi. 9. 2 Matt. vi. 6. PRAYER ADDRESSES A LIVING PERSON. 121 which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him." ^ The prayers of Jesus Himself were direct addresses to His Father. " I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them nnto babes." ^ " What shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour ? Father, glorify Thy name." ^ The Last prayer of Jesus for His disciples, was the audi- ble communion of His soul with His Father, whom He invoked by name, at each petition : * " Father, the hour is come :" " O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self." *' Holy Father, keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me." "O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee." In the extremity of His anguish in the garden, He prayed, " O my Father, if it he possible let this cup pass from Me :" ^ and from the cross He cried, " Father, forgive them." ^ This direct address to God as Father is a striking characteristic of Christian prayer. Human language cannot express all that this mode of ad- dress implies. "The Father" is a living person; the Father of our spirits a living Spirit; the Father of all, the living pos- sessor of all, Avha as the Creator has control over all beings and events. Therefore to pray to God as a Father is to recognize Him as in immediate relations to us personally, and to all that concerns us. One loses sight for the moment of all calculation of means and agencies, of secondary causes and intermediate laws, and sees only the great preponder- ating truth of the living Spirit, infinite in presence and power, who is above every law and nigh to every soul. But the mind does not rest in this conception. Prayer is more than imagining what God is; more than meditating iMatt.vii.il. 2 Matt. xi. 25. 3 John xii. 27, 28. *John xrii. 6 Matt. xxvi. 39. « Luke xxiii. 34. 122 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. upon God; more than any subjective state or feeling pro-* duced in us as the reflex influence of divine contemplation. In prayer the soul goes out to God ; it addresses God as one that can be reached by its supplications. The Father being not a principle nor a law, not an abstraction nor a poetic name, but a living person, is one who can be spoken to — yes, this Infinite Spirit, this Maker and Lord of all things can be spoken to by you and me, for He is our Father ; and in teaching us to open our petitions with this endearing name, Christ taught us to come to God through no inter\^ening agency, but making as it were our con- sciousness directly audible to His. Moreover, the name by which we address God in prayer implies that He has personal relations to our interests, and is personally interested in whatever affects our welfare. " The Father " concerns Himself personally, directly, con- stantly, in and for the happiness of His children. The name signifies a mutual relationship, an endearing sympa- thy ; it warrants us in appropriating to om'selves the divine personality by a filial affection that identifies this with our very life : " When thou hast entered into thy closet, and hast shut to the door" — shutting out the while even the nearest of earthly friends — then canst thou, for the moment as it were, have God unto thyself, and " pray to thy Father who seeth in secret." Still further, the name by v/hich Jesus taught us to ad- dress God in prayer is a name that pledges to us His pres- ence and His love. The instinct of prayer was not given to mock us with vain aspirations and unsatisfied longings ; neither has God required us to pray simply in acknow- ledgment of our own dependence, and of His power and majesty. He is our Father ; and the one Father who loves us with a love that is always wise, pure, unselfish, perfect. " What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he give PRAYER FOR TEMPORAL THINGS. 123 'him a serpent? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him." ^ The conception that underlies all true prayer is that of a direct address to God as a Father. The teaching and example of Christ authorize us to tn- clude in the subject matter of prayer, our physical necessities and our temporal interests in general. Some would restrict prayer to themes and objects purely spiritual — thinking thus to avoid the speculative difficulties of the Christian doctrine of Providence, and yet keep up a living connec- tion between God and the human soul. But the essential difficulty in expounding Providence is not got rid of by transferring it from the sphere of matter to that of mind, since the mind also has laws of its own. Many of the phenomena of thought, memory, association, feeling, can be reduced to that observed regularity of sequence which indicates a law of action or manifestation, and it is no easier to conceive or explain how a distinct personal Power could move harmoniously amid the laws of such a sphere than amid the laws of matter. Indeed, seeing that mind pos- sesses the faculty of free will, and therefore can oppose it- self to the Avill of God, it may even be more difficult to give a philosophy of divine action within the sphere of mind than in that of matter. The validity of prayer is given in the argument hereto- fore adduced for a personal Providence. That argument rests substantially upon the same grounds with the argu- ment for a personal God — the apparent ordering or purpos- ing of events with reference to foreseen ends ; the combina- tion of diffi^rent and even opposite laws or phenomena so as to produce some special and beneficial result ; the manifold adaptations of things to persons and of persons to things — all this, wherever discerned, gives intuitively the convic- 1 Matt. vii. 9, 12. 124 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. tiou of a planning and over-ruling mind ; and that con- viction utters itself in the spt)ntaneousness of prayer fur what lies beyond the compass of our own will. A French philosopher at dinner with the keen-witted Sidney Smith declaimed against the notion of Providence as contrary to the laws of things. The beautiful workings of cause and effect in Nature he used to illustrate the glory of Science, while denying the existence of God. Changing the subject Smith observed : " How skilfully this pastry has been pre- pared." "Admirable," rejoined the philosopher, "it could not have been better made in France." "Well, then, " said Smith, " from the skill shown in compounding this dish to our taste, we must infer the non-existence of the cook." The logic that denies a Providence in a world so full of the wise and careful adaptation of means to ends, must land at last in this absurdity. The mind intuitively as- serts an intelligent cause wherever it perceives such adapta- tion. And the universality and particularity of Provi- dence in the affairs of life was used by Christ as the argu- ment for making our temporal concerns the sul)jcct-mat- ter of prayer. The petition " Give us this day our daily bread," is not to be reserved for some extremity when one is in danger of starving, but is a daily prayer for God's blessing upon our industry, for the means of temporal sup- port ; and while we thus look to God for daily food, we are encouraged not to suffer temporalities to become too engrossing, since our Heavenly Father knows what we have need of, and Himself will care for us. Christ taught that prayer has a positive influence with God. With some truly devout persons it is a notion that " God's end in requiring prayer is solely that it may be a means to work in the petitioner a suitable frame of mind;" that its influence is wholly subjective ; that the feelings of veneration, dependence, humility, gratitude, trust, which it PEAYER NOT MEKI-^LY SUBJECTIVE. 125 calls into exercise are the substantial benefits of prayer, its real efficacy ; while its true answer is found in the frame of submission and peace that it induces in the sup- pliant. A familiar illustration of this view likens prayer to " a man in a .small boat laying hold of a large ship : who, if he does not move the large vessel, at least moves the small vessel towards the large one." That the frames and feelings proper to prayer form no small part of its beneficial influence, and contribute much to the spiritual growth of one who rightly cultivates them, all must agree. But could one cultivate these, would it be 130ssible to cherish such frames and feelings for any length of time, if he regarded prayer simply as a kind of spiritual gymnastics to be practised upon himself for the sake of these effects? Suppose him to say, ^I cannot see how there can be a Providence, for every thing moves on by fixed laws : I do not imagine that prayer has any influence upon God, that my asking for a thing has any connection what- ever with my receiving it; indeed, I believe that every thing comes to me or befalls me in the regular course of nature ; nevertheless, I will pray for the sake of cultivating the feelings of dependence and gratitude, and of improving my own spiritual state ;' — how long would one holding such a philosophy be likely to keep up his unmeaning and ino- perative petitions for the sake of their reflex influence upon himself? or how long could he cherish a lively interest in that which at heart he did not believe in? Those spiritual frames which are most important to the soul's culture, are best developed through faith in the efficacy of prayer as a direct address to our Father in heaven ; and Christ con- stantly declared the prevailing influence of prayer with God Plimself as the incentive to its exercise. " Ask and it shall be given you;" — the asking precedes and influences the giving — "seek, and yc shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth: 126 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and he that soeketii, fiadeth : and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." ' The efiect of united, consentaneons prayer to secure some specific object of faith, in the sphere of spiritual influences, is set forth in the declaration, " If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." ^ After Jesus had confounded His disciples by His power in withering the barren fig tree, He made this an argument with them for faith in prayer: "Have faith in God — for verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those tilings which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." ^ Though this may not be construed as a literal promise of power to work miracles, yet under the figure of removing a mountain, it sets forth this substantial tnith — that earnest, believing prayer is directly efficacious with God for removing great difficulties and achieving great works in connection with His cause. Luke records the parable of the unjust judge, to show that " men ought always to pray, and not to faint" * — that favors are granted to persistent importunity which might be withheld from a weaker petition ; and the saine thing is taught by the parable of the man who went to his friend at midnight, and importuned him for bread. ^ Where there is a Will to be influenced, a Heart to be affected by entreaty, one can understand how perseverance in prayer may be an element of success ; but of what use were im- portunity in a world from which the personal superinten- 1 Mat. vii. 7. ^ Mat. xviii. 19. ^ Mark xi. 22, 25. * Luke xviii. 1-9. ^ Luke xi. 5-9. GOD ENGAGES TO ANSWER PRAYER. 127 dence of God had been ruled out by inexorable laws ? Our reiterated crying would avail no more than that of the priests of Baal, when they cried all day long " O Baal, hear us," and cut themselves with knives in the frenzy of their importunity. A thousand cries could not move La\\'s to sympathy ; Fate cannot be melted by importunity ; but belief in the personal care of God over the world warrants persistency in prayer. The assurance that God is influenced by prayer is rendered more personal and practical through the relations of Christ to the Father on the one hand and to the dis- ciples on the other. "With a view to comfort His discipk\s upon the eve of His departure. He said, " Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." ^ " If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you :" ^ — and again, " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name He v/ill give it you." ^ Here the efficacy of prayer is grounded in the argument of love. And all the instructions and promises concerning prayer given by Christ rest the motive and encouragement to pray, not in its effect upon our own hearts, but in its posi- tive influence with God to procure the object of our hearts' desire. It is what our heavenly Father engages to do that is held up to our faith in asking. If it be asked, How can God be influenced by our prayer ? — it is a sufficient answer, that He says He is so influenced. And if it be asked again. How can God an- swer a particular prayer in a world of general laws ? it is a sufficient reply that He is God. Such questions lead to an enticing field of speculation ; but whatever theory we may invent to explain the manner in which God may an- swer prayer in harmony with the laws of matter and of mind, we should remember that this is purely a specula- 1 John xiy. 13. 2 John xv. 7. ' John xvi. 23. 128 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. tiou, and not to be put forth as a fact, either discovered or revealed. Since the Bible does not teach that prayer is commonly answered by miracle, we are not at liberty to introduce the miraculous to support our theory of prayer. But it is a prerogative of Spirit to direct, adapt, and combine the properties and laws of ISIatter for its own ends. And since this is done even under the limitations of the human spirit, much more must God — a Spirit of unlimited know- ledge, wisdom and power — be able to bring His will to bear upon the laws and conditions of Matter and Mind so as to direct and develop what He desires to bring to pass, without impairing that orderly constitution of things which He has established. Professor Tyndall has said, " The ideas of prayer and of a change in the course of natural phenomena refuse to be connected in thought ;" but this is only when thought nar- rows itself and narrows all the powers of the universe to the groove of physical uniformity ; when thought denies the spirituality of its own parentage, and its affinity with a world of spiritual intelligences. The separate properties of nitrogen and oxygen were fixed unchangeably from the moment of their creation ; nor could it have been possible to conceive beforehand how these two alien inorganic sub- stances could be made to support the life of organized beings ; but now that so great a marvel has been ac- complished by intelligent adaptation, it is conceivable that He who has combined the deadly nitrogen and the con- suming oxygen so as to produce the life-giving atmosphere, can also combine, direct, or control laws, properties, tendencies of diverse and seemingly contrary natures, so as to bring forth new results of beneficence. He is at home in the laboratory of Nature, and equally at home in the processes of Mind. Moreover, it is a groundless assumption that the course LAWS PROVE AN INTELLIGENCE. 129 of things must be changed in order that prayer may be answered. No science can claim that all phenomena are included within its categories ; above the laws of phenomena that we do see may be other and more subtile laws beyond our ken ; and in the working of those higher spiritual laws, prayer may enter within the plane of physical phenomena like an eccentric chuck, which shifts the centre without impeding the motion or changing its general direction or area. Illustrations of spiritual powers and operations derived from mechanical instruments, are necessarily coarse and imperfect ; yet even these may serve to render abstruse sub- jects more intelligible. Connected with the spinning-jenny is an alarm-bell that rings a moment before the receiving spool is filled with the twist, signaling to the operator at the opposite side of the machine to come and set an empty spool in the order of succession; the next moment the machinery itself cuts the thread, drops the full spool into a basket, drops the new spool into its place, and begins to wind as before. By this contrivance the attendance of one hand is dispensed with, but the contrivance which lifts the mechanism one grade nearer to the plane of intelligence, does not thereby merge itself into the mechanism, nor dis- pense with its own superintendence and its power of occa- sional intervention. That signal-bell answers to prayer, invoking the great Architect of Nature to adapt His o^vn laws and combinations to some impending necessity. God, in His forethought of events, may have assigned to prayer the place of a condition precedent to particular results, so that this also enters into some law of phenomena higher than our sciences can reach. Or there may even be in believing prayer, some subtile power of causation over events themselves ; the true odic, or odyllic force, may be centered here. But all theorizing upon the subject must 130 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. end at last in this bare statement ; that God has declared that He is, and will be, influenced by the prayer of faith. But though Jesus taught that prayer is influential, as a direct appeal to our Father in heaven. He also announced certain conditions upon which prayer, to be cjfficacious, must proceed. These are as follows, a. The object prayed for must be in harmony with the divine Wisdom as seeing, and the divine Love as choosing always that which is best for the suppliant. Mere impor- tunity ought not to procure for us anything which upon the whole is not for our good. " Thy will be done " is there- fore the governing clause in every petition, and prayer should always be offered in humble submission to the will of God. " Even so. Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." ^ "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." 2 b. Prayer must be offered in faith ; not as an experi- mental essay with Providence, nor for the manipulation of our own feelings ; but with the earnest conviction that the thing we pray for will be bestowed, if, on the whole, this is best for us, and if, under all the circumstances, this is wisely possible. " All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." ^ c. In order to successful prayer the tone of our desires should be supremely spiritual. In praying for temporal benefits we should have in view chiefly the spiritual benefit to be attained through freedom from earthly anxieties. " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." ^ d. Christ taught us to pray in His name. That name at once expresses the love of God to man, and denotes the nearness of our humanity to God. " Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. "^ 1 Matt. xi. 26. « Matt. xxvi. 39. ^ Matt. xsi. 22. * Matt. vi. 33. 5 John xvi. 23. PKAYER RULES THE WORLD. 131 The influence that CJirist has ascribed to prayer exalts man to the dignity of a spiritual Power. Materialism would degrade man to a slave of physical laws ; atheism would make him the creature of accidents and circum- stances; but Christianity enthrones man as a co-worker with God in the realm of spiritual agencies. Man's feeling of dependence upon God is the avenue to his power with God. This lifts him into the line of those Providential forces that rule the world. Thus it is that "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, are given to the people of the saints of the Most High. "» Am I truly a man of prayer ? of earnest, believing prayer ? Then am I more the ruler of the world than Alexander or Napoleon. Then nothing shall stand before my power. Do the wicked heap up oppression, and frame iniquity by a law ? I go into my closet and cry, " Arise, O Lord, " and presently the earth shakes, the heavens smoke, and Slavery goes down in a sea of fire and blood. It is I who have overthrown it, working up yonder above the clouds, where God meets my prayers. They who sit in Paris, in London, in Berlin, holding royal or diplomat- ic conferences to settle the future of Europe and the East, they who devise wars of dynasty, of ambition and conquest, must take the man of prayer into their counsels ; for if they plot iniquity, he will go up into the King's chamber and overthrow it : he will reach forth his hands and touch the springs that are behind their armies and be- neath their thrones. When the church shall fully use her prerogative of prayer the kingdom of God will come in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. By the virtue that is lodged in the prayer of faith, who- soever will may approximate himself to God in character. " This is the will of God, even your sanctification ; " and ' Daniel vii. 27. 132 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. he who would be holy knows assuredly that, in every pe- tition for a pure heart, he prays for that which God would have him above all things to possess. Such a longing opens the heart to the life-forces of the divine Spirit, and moves the soul ujjward toward God; yea, let one but utter that first lisping cry " God be merciful to me a sinner," and no mountains can shut in that cry, no clouds weigh it down, no laws restrain it : — that yearning of the soul after God shall bring God to the soul as its Father, its Saviour, its Comforter. " Lord, teach us how to pray. " CHAPTER XI. CHEIST'S ONENESS WITH THE FATHER. No teacher ever set forth himself so constantly, so promi- nently, so imperatively as did Jesus Christ. It is oiFensive to taste, and savors of vanity or presumption, when a teacher continually claims the merit of originality or of discovery, and exacts of his disciples homage to his person, his wisdom, or his opinions. Yet with Christ, "I say unto you," was the preface to every discourse, sometimes to almost every sentence; " believe Me," " receive Me," the demand made upon the hearer not only as a test of dis- cipleship, but as the evidence of love for truth and for God, and the necessary condition of eternal life. He summed up His whole teaching in that memorable saying, " I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life :" ^ — not I show the way, but I Myself am the way ; not I teach the Truth, but I am Myself the truth ; not I give or promise life, or will lead My followers unto life, but I am the life : — and though God requires all men to come unto Him, and is seeking and calling them by all the methods of His providence and His grace, "no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." But the marvel of His character is, that with all this preaching of Himself, this constant repeating of I and Me, there is in the sayings of Jesus no tone of egotism, no air of presumption, no trace of that form of self-assertion which suggests pride or vanity in the speaker, or offends the taste or judgment of the hearer. As a psychological phe- * John xiv. 6. 133 134 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. nomenon this calls for explanation. Why is it that we not only tolerate from the lips of Jesus, but receive with rever- ence, assertions and demands concerning Himself that in any other would be an offensive arrogance ? This is not simply because of the force and moment of the truth He utters ; for though one who announces a new and important truth is entitled to have his name stand in honorable association with that truth, yet we could not endure that he should be always setting himself before the truth and demanding that it should be received in hi? name. Had Newton insisted upon the perpetual recogni- tion of himself as the discoverer of the law of gravitation, his vanity would have detracted from his flxme. Truth is greater than any man. Yet Jesus said "lam the Truth," and men are not staggered by even so bold a form of self- assertion. Mr. Liddon, in his Bampton lectures, has grouped to- gether in a striking manner these personal assertions and claims of Jesus in His teachings. " He distinctly, repeated- ly, energetically preaches Himself. He is the Bread of life. He is the living Bread that came down from heaven : believers in Him will feed on Him and will have eternal life. He points to a living water of the Spirit, which He can give, and which will quench the thirst of souls that drink it. All who came before Him He characterizes as having been by comparison with Himself, the thieves and robbers of mankind. He is Himself the one Good Shep- herd of the souls of men. He knows and He is known of His true sheep. Not only is He the Shepherd, He is the very door of the shecpfold. To enter through Him is to be safe. He is the Vine, the Life-tree of regenerate hu- manity. All that is truly fruitful and lovely in the human family must branch forth from Him ; all spiritual life must wither and die if it be severed from His. He stands consciously betAveen earth and heaven. He claims to be Christ's personal demands. 135 the One Means of a real approach to the invisible God : no soul of man can come to the Father but through Him. He promises that all prayers offered in His name shall be answered; if ye ask anything in my name, /will do it. . He claims to be the Lord of the realm of death ; He will Himself awake the sleeping dead ; all that are in their graves shall hear His voice. He will raise Himself from the dead. He proclaims, ' I am the Resurrection and the Life.' He encourages men to trust in Him as they trust in God : to make Him an object of faith just as they be- lieve in God ; to honor Him as they honor the Father. To love Him is a necessary mark of the children of God ; if God were your Father, ye would have loved JMe. It is not possible to love God, and yet to hate Himself. He that hatethMe, hateth My Father also. The proof of a true love to Him lies in doing His bidding : if ye love Me keep My commandments. . . All radiates from Himself, all converges toward Himself. .... He commands, He does not invite discipleship. . . . His message is to be re- ceived upon pain of eternal loss, and in receiving it men are to give themselves up to Him simply and unreservedly, xso rival claim, however strong, no natural affection, how- ever legitimate and sacred, may interpose between Him- self and the soul of His follower. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. Plow can Christ thus bid men live for Himself as for the very end of their existence ? How can He rightly draw toward Himself the whole thought and love even of one single human being, with this imperious urgency, if He be any- thing else or less than the Supreme Lord of life. " ^ This manner of Christ is an index to His doctrine con- cerning Himself. If He had nothing back of a human consciousness upon which to base such assertions, was He ' This same thought is admirably presented by Rev. T. Binney, cf Loudon, in his " Sermons of Forlij Years." 136 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. not more visionary than wise ? So far from being the way and the truth, was He not either misled or misleadino-? Underlying His whole teaching there is a claim of per- sonal supremacy, of absolute authority, of perfection in knowledge and truth, of lordship over the soul, of dominion over life and death — a tone of self-assertion in respect to things upon which no man has a right to be confident of his own wisdom and power, which can not be reconciled with modesty, with truth, or with soundness of judgment, if He who thus proclaimed Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life, was simply a wiser and better sort of man than His fellows. Separated from Himself His words lose their meaning. The subject of His preaching was Himself to such a degree that neither doctrine nor life remains in His words apart from His own personality. But the words of Jesus are pervaded with the consciousness of His divine Sonship which gives Him right to speak with abso- lute confidence and authority. This doctrine, however, is not a mere Inference from the manner in which Christ summoned the people to trust in Himself. He distinctly taught that He was the Son of God., the representative of the Father upon earth. His associate and equal in heaven. He allowed Himself to be addressed by this title without objection or qualification of any kind. At the opening of His ministry, when Jesus was calling disciples one by one, Nathanael, struck with His knowledge of the heart, exclaimed, " Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God." ^ In the hearing of the rest, Jesus suf- fered this title to pass unchallenged, and not only so, but He assured Nathanael, who had confessed this faith from his own inward conviction, that he should hereafter behold the outward visible confirmation of it, in the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending npon Him who there stood in the garb of the Son of Man. 1 John i. 49. CHRIST EEVEVLED HIMSELF GRADUALLY. 137 Thus the seeniiug contrast of the two titles, " Son of God" and " Son of Man/' points to the real unity of their subject — the true Humanity and the divine Sonship being offset in terms or titles only, as two diverse aspects of the same pereon. Jesus did not disclaim the title, " Son of God " which Nathanael gave, and employ the phrase " Son of ISIan " as a substitute for that ; on the contrary. Pie ac- cepted this, and virtually approved it, as a declaration of faith from His new disciple : " Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig ti'ce, believest thou?" This mirac- ulous vision, with the attendant knowledge of his heart and life on the part of an utter stranger, had impressed Nathanael with the conviction that this new prophet was the Son of God. Nathanael may have had only the vague Jewish notion touching the Messiah as the Son of God ; yet his acknowledgment being based upon the supernatural knowledge that Jesus had shown, pointed to something deeper than an official title ; and the answer was, " Thou shalt see greater things than these " — shalt even have the witness of angels from heaven that I am He. It was not, however, the plan of Jesus to proclaim Plis divinity openly at the first. He sought to put Himself into thorough sympathy with numkind and to draw them into confidential relations through His own hearty human- ity ; and He desired also to test the sincerity of men in spiritual things by opening His divinity to the discovery of their faith. He did not first approach them upon the side of wonder and awe by declaring His Godhead, nor by manifesting it through marvels addressed to the senses ; but upon the side of love and compassion, through the lowliness and tenderness of a common humanity, from which by degrees He lifted them up to discern in His Dwn works and words the tokens of His divine Sonship.' A mode of revealing Himself so wisely adapted for test- ing His true character and also for educating the faith of 138 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. His followers, led Jesus at the first to speak of Himself as the " Son of Man " instead of openly proclaiming Himself the " Son of God." But if the latter title were not His by the same right as the former, how can we reconcile His accepting this from others, with the modesty of using the inferior title, and with the honesty that marks His whole speech and life ? He permitted Himself to be called the " Son of God " well knowing that this was intended to be an ascription of divinity, and under circumstances that were equivalent to His proclaiming His divinity. It is not claimed that the appellation " Son of God " is itself decisive of the divinity of Christ — for this was a Jewish title of the Messiah, the Anointed ; but it was given to Jesus and accepted by Him as a token of Divinity. The question is purely one of exegesis, to be determined by a careful annotation of the passages in which the title occurs. It is applied to Jesus tvrenty-five times in the four Gospels, several of these, however, being but repetitions of the same cases or incidents. a. Jesus was accosted as " the Son of God " by Satan and by other inferior demons. ^ Perhaps in these cases the conception of the Messiah as the King of the Jews, anointed of God as His vicegerent in the world, will ex- haust the meaning. In Luke iv. 41, for instance, the name Christ is given as the equivalent of this epithet ; " Devils came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God. And He rebuking them, suf- fered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ." But on the other hand, the exclamation of the demons in the country of the Gergcsenes, " Art thou come hither to torment us before the time ?" seems to imply a recognition of His divine power and authority. They ap- prehended banishment from earth to hell, from opportuni- ties of mischief to the unmitigated endurance of punish- 1 Matt. iv. 3, 6 ; viii. 29 ; Mark iii. 11 ; v. 7 ; Luke iv. 3, 9, 41 ; viii. 28. MEANING OF " SON OF GOD." 139 ment, before the final judgment; and tliey ascribed to Jesus the power so to order their destiny. b. In a few instances this title was used by the enemies of Jesus, by way of taunt or sneer; — as for instance when passers by reviled Him as He hung upon tlie cross, v.^ag- ging their heads, and saying, " If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." ^ The full force of such a taunt, and tlie miraculous power of self-preservation which the challenge implied, would seem to attach the notion of divinity to the epithet " Son of God." c. The same interpretation must be put upon the excla- mation of the centurion and his brother soldiers, " Truly this was the Son of God." ^ A Roman soldier accustomed to despise the Jews, could have no sympathy with their expectation of a Messiah, and if he had heard from the lips of Jews the title " Son of God," he could hardly have attached to it their peculiar theocratic signification. But a Roman of that time, and a soldier withal, would be suscep- tible to superstitious fears touching the gods as manifesting themselves in supernatural phenomena ; and when he saw the earthquake, the resurrection of the dead, and the other marvels that attended the death of Jesus, filled with awe of these miraculous signs, he cried out, " Truly this M'as the Son of God." That title had just fallen upon his ears in the taunts of passers by ; he takes it up with the emphasis of truth, and gives it not their meaning but his own; and from his point of view it would signify a divine person. d. The High Priest used this title in the Messianic sense when he said to Jesus, " I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." ' This was a title of honor based upon the usage of the Old Testament touching the ideal theocratic king as the anointed Son of God. Thus the I^ord promised to David concerning Solomon, " I will be his Father and he 1 Mat. xxvii. 40, 43. « Mat. xxvii, 54j Mark xv. 39. 3 Mat. xxvi. 63. 140 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. shall be My son." ^ And in the second Psalm the anointed of the Lord is exalted above all kings and peoples : " I have set My King upon My holy Jiill of Zion. Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." ^ This usage of the Old Testament interprets the current language of the Jews in the time of Jesus, concerning the Christ as the Son of God ; — He was the ideal theocratic king. Yet even in the second Psalm, He is not declared a Son simply by virtue of His being constituted a king, but is anointed king because upon other grounds of divine favor He was already the chosen Son : — the Sonship preceded the King- ship. It is evident from the narrative as given with so much detail by John, that the blind man to whom Jesus gave sight had only the current Jewish concejotion of the Son of God as the Christ.^ e. We come now to the use of this title by the disciples of Jesus, as an index to their conception of His character. Though Nathanael may have used the titles " Son of God " and " King of Israel " as equivalent, John the Baptist at- tached to the former a deeper meaning, when he saw and bare record that "this is the Son of God."* John ac- knowledged the pre-existence of Jesus as the warrant of His pre-eminence ; "He that cometh after Me, is preferred before Me; for He was before Me ;"^ and as "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He de- dared God, whom no man at any time hath seen."^ The title "Son of God," based upon this recognition of His oingin and functions, denotes something higher than an honorary distinction of office — some relation to God Him- self that was peculiar and pre-eminent. The deep signifi- cance of this relation appears in that tender reference to the "only-begotten" which closes the discourse with Nicode- mus ; — " For God so loved the world that He gave His 1 2 Saml. yii. 14. « Ps. ii. 6, 7. ^ John ix. 35, 36. *John i. 34. 5 John i. 15. 6 John i. 18. JESUS CLAIMED DIVINE POWEES. 141 only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."^ The disciples on board the ship in the tempestuous night, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea ; ^ Martha in her confidence that Jesus might have saved her brother, and her wondering hope of his resurrection;^ Peter asserting the constancy of the twelve after the multitude of disciples had turned back; "^ — these all rested their confession of Jesus as "the Son of God" upon some token of divinity that gleamed through His words or acts ; — the winds and the waves obeyed Him, He had power over diseases and death. He had the words of eternal life. Thus the disci- ples, Jews though they were, and imbued with the Jewish doctrine of the Messiah, appear to have attached to the name "Son of God" a meaning higher than any official title would convey. /. It only remains that we consider the cases in which Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of God, and of His one- ness with the Father. There were undoubted instances in which He used this name not as designating His official calling, but as expressing an unparalleled personal relation with God.^ "Verily, verily, I say unto you the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself."^ Jesus here claimed for Himself the most essential property of divinity — life in self-possession and the power and prerogative of impart- ing life to others. This power He put forth in raising Lazarus from the grave, when He purposely kept aloof until Lazarus was dead, saying, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."^ Here He associated 1 John iii. 16. *■' Matt. xiv. 33. 3,john xi. 27. * John vi. 69. *Matt. xxi. 37. ejobn v. 25, 26. ' John xi. 4. 142 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST, Himself with the Father in tlie glory that would ensue from a miracle evidencing the highest jiroperty of divinity to be vested in Himself. In the parable of the wicked husbandmen He separated Himself from all the servants of God who had been sent before, as the son and heir, who, because of this immediate relationship to the householder, was deserving of a peculiar reverence.^ Again, in speaking of His second Advent, He contrasted the Son of God with both men and angels: "Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father."^ Whoever the Son M^as, He was distinct from men, and above the angels ; for He was clearly and absotutely con- trasted with both, not here in respect of knowledge, but in degree as a being. The gradation is, " no man/' no " ayi- gel," not even the Son. Who then was He ? The Jews of that time understood Jesus to claim equali- ty with God by His manner of speaking of His Father. After He had healed the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, the Jews sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath-day. Jesus answered them " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." God Himself, who has proclaimed the Sabbath as a hallowed rest, thouo'h He has ceased from His work of creation, con- tinues, nevertheless, His work of beneficence, in caring for the world ; and I do as my Father does. Now if Jesus were only man, this same argument would have exonerated every pious Jew from keeping the Sabbath according to the law of Moses ; but as, on another occasion, He declared that "the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath-day,"^ so here He associated Himself with God in the right and reason of His action, and rested His authority to " work " upon the Sabbath-day on His prerogative as the Son of God. His accusers resented this as a claim of divinity, iMatt. xxi. 37. « Mark xiii. 32. s Matt. xii. 8. Christ's claim was not blasphemy. 1 13 and "thoy sought the more to kill Ilim, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." ^ Though in common speech they may have used the title Son of God to designate the Messiah in His official charac- ter, yet they understood Jesus to use it as denoting sonship in essence and in dignity — equality with God in being and in power. If in this charge His accusers were perverting His meaning, Jesus had every reason, personal and public, for correcting the misunderstanding. His life was in dan- ger, and He could have pacified His enemies by denying their construction of His words : He desired a hearing for His message, and this He might have hoped for by allay- ing such a blind and passionate prejudice. But instead of rejecting their interpretation of His words and disclaiming the thought of equality with God, He went on to say that as the Son of God His thoughts and actions were identical v/ith those of the Father ; that He possessed the power of the Father, even to raising the dead and judging the world; that even as the Father, He had life in Himself; and He summed up the discourse with the demand " that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father." The logic of this whole argument depends upon the fact that Jesus admitted and justified the claim of equality with God which the Jews had attached to His •words. For a man to put forth such a pretension was blas- phemy ; and the Jews more than once accused Jesus of this crime, and sought to stone Him to death. On one occa- sion, at the feast of the dedication, the Jews said to Him, " If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly." To this Hd an- swered, " The works I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of Me." ^ In so. far as the title " Son of God " was an equivalent for " the Christ," this answer could not 1 John V. 18. « John x. 24, 25. 144 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. have exposed Him to the charge of blaspliemy. That the Christ should speak of God as the Father whom He repre- sented in His official character, and should appeal to works done in the Father's name, was legitimate, and in accord- ance with the Jewish notion of the Messiah. But Jesus went farther than this, and having declared His own abso- lute power over His slieep, even to the giving them eternal life. He rose to the sublime assertion, " I and my Father are One" ^ At this the Jews took up stones to stone Him for blasphemy, " because," said they, " that Thou being a man, makest Thyself God." The gravamen of the offense was that " being a man " He made Himself God, by assert- ino; that He and His Father were one ; but there would have been no blasphemy in claiming a moral unity with the Father through His representative character and com- mission as the Christ. Jesus might have refuted the charge of blasphemy in either of two ways : — by showing that His words did not admit of the construction that His accusers had put ujwn them ; or by declaring that He was truly divine, and there- fore not guilty of blasphemy in making Himself God. He did not seek to parry their construction, but proceeded to justify His words by an argument from the less to tlie greater. Reminding them that in their Scriptures judges were called "gods" as the organs of the divine word and will, He claimed that He could literally appropriate the title " Son of God " in its full meaning, because the Father had sanctified Him and sent Him into the world. Then once more appealing to His works, He reiterated the asser- tion of oneness Avith God — " the Father in Me, and I in Him." So far were the Jews from being convinced or pacified by His answer, that they sought again to take Him, that tliey might visit upon Him the punishment of blas- phemy. The charge of blasphemy became a conclusive proof that 1 John X. 22 seq. CHRIST ONE IN ESSENCE WITn GOD. 145 He meant to assert Ilis own divinity, when, at His trial, He not only sulfered this charge to be revived without contradicting or expkiining it, but re-affirmed His Souship under that construction of His meaning- When Pilate declared that he found Jesus guilty of no offense against Roman law, the Jews cried out, " We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." ^ The law referred to was that ag-ainst bias- phemy. ^ A claim to be the Christ would not have been blasphemy, but only imposture or enthusiasm ; to have rendered it blasphemous to assume the title " Son of God," that title must have signified divinity itself. But Jesus declined to vindicate Himself from this charge. Now there was no humility in remaining quiet under so horrible an accusation, when by a word He could have denied the intention of blasphemy in His use of the phrase Son of God ; yet, when He stood before the Sanhedrim, the High Priest adjured Him by the living God to answer whether He was the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus not only an- swered affirmatively, "Thou hast said," but went on to proclaim His " coming in the clouds of heaven, sitting on the right hand of power." ^ Thereupon the High Priest rent his clothes, saying, " He hath spoken blasphemy," and for blasphemy they found Him " guilty of death." Clearly the title Son of God was understood to denote participation in the divine nature, and equality of essence with God ; and Jesus, knowing that this title was so under- stood, consented to receive it, and used it of Himself; and when charged with blasj)hemy for making Himself equal with God, He did not deny that He claimed equality with God, but did deny that this was blasphemy or presumption, and insisted that He and His Father were one. Either then He had within Him the consciousness of divinity, or He was a demented enthusiast. 1 John xix. 7. ^ Lev. xxiy. 16. ' Matt. xxvi. 63-66. 10 146 THE THEOLOGY OF CHKIST. This ONENESS with the Father which Jesus constantly affirmed us the testiinouj of Plis own consciousness, was not merely a moral unity — oneness in spirit and feeling^ or unity of action, for the same object, upon the same plan — but a oneness that made it impossible for Him to act as in any way separate from God. " The Son can do nothing of Himself." ^ This, says Bengel,- " is a feature of glory, not of imperfection ; such declarations proceeded from His intimate sense of unity, by nature and by love, with the Father." The Son can do nothing of Himself^ not because He is wanting in power, or inferior and de- pendent in His nature, but because His Being is insepar- able from that of the Father, The "can do nothing" is a moral inability based in the will of the Son. ^ Yv^hatever the Father does, that the Son docs, with the same power and the same intent. His sheep shall never perish, for none shall pluck them out of His hand, — no more than tliey would be able to pluck them out of His Father's hand. Having thus asserted His own omnipotence, in the same terms in which He declared the omnipotence of the Father, He added " I and my Father are one :" — one, not merely in agreement of vv'ill, but in unity of power, and so of nature ; for omnipotence is an attribute of the nature of God. '* It was for this that the Jews said ^' Thou makest thi/sclf God!" The Father is in the Son; the Father worketh in the Son ; and this with a unity so perfect and continuous that the Son who puts forth divine power in the view of men, is not a being extraneous to God, but in essen- tial nature, the source of working power, is One with God. His sonship was a relation to the Father that could be shared by no other. " 'No man knoweth the Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." ^ 1 John V. 19. * " Hoc glorias est, non imperfcctionis." Bengel, Gnomon in loc. 3 Tholuck, in loc. * Bcngel, Gnomon, John x. 30. * Mat. xi. 27. JESUS A DIVINE INCARNATION. 147 *'If a man love Me, My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make OUR abode with him." ^ In answer to Philip's desire to behold a theophany after the manner of the Old Testament, Jesus said, " He that hath seen Mc hath seen the Father," ^ — " by reason of the consummate unity which subsists between us, just as the soul, in itself invisible, is seen by what it does through the body." ' The prayer of Jesus, "O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self, Avith the glory which I had with Thee be- fore the world was" — expresses the consciousness that Jesus had of Himself as an incarnation, and of His eternal pre- existence with the Father. He does not say, the glory that I received from Thee, by promise, at My coming into the Avorld, but the glory which I had, ttyov, w^ith Thine own Self, in a unity of participation with the Godhead, before that the world was. " He always was having it, was in possession of it; He never began to have it." ^ In this utterance, surely. He made Himself God. The testimony of Jesus concerning Himself, though it nowhere gives us the doctrine of His divinity in the form of a philosophical concept, nevertheless makes it clear that the doctrine of a divine consciousness in Christ was not the invention of a later philosophy in the Church, but is given in the synoptical Gospels, as well as in the more dialectical Gospel of John, as it fell from the lips of Christ ; so that W'e must agree with Dorner, that " all genuine historical investigation presses to the result that the founder of our religion was Himself, through His own Self-consciousness, and the utterance of that to others, the cause at once of the introduction into the minds of men of tlie Christian idea of the God-man, and of the attribution of that to Him." ^ 1 John xiv. 23. * John xiv. 9. ' Bengel, Gnomon, John xiv. 9. * Bengel, John xvii. 5. * Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ. lutn. p. 45. 148 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. The apostles did not invent this doctrine to magnify their Lord after His decease ; they were slow at first in coming to the recognition of His divinity under the veil of His humiliation ; though they confessed Him to be the Son of God, this faith was shaken for a time by His yielding Himself to death ; yet it came back, after His resurrection, and then Jesus sealed it by accepting the homage of Thomas, who atoned for his momentary unbelief by the full glowing confession " My Lord and My God." ^ By consentino; to receive that declaration, Jesus warranted our implicit belief in the divinity of His person. The question here is not at all whether Thomas, by the elasticity of an enthusiastic nature, had vibrated from the extreme of skepticism to that of credulity. If Thomas was deluded into such a confession, what shall we say of Jesus, who not only did not disclaim it, but openly re- ceived it as His due, and pronounced those blessed who should come to Him with the same faith in His Sovereign- ty and His Divinity? "Was He deluded? Or did He sanction a delusion ? Or was He not both Lord and God ? This divinity of His person gives to the words of Christ supreme authority over the souls of men. He is Lord of the conscience, Lord of the affections, Lord of the will; His doctrine is Truth, His command is Law, His promise is Life. The soul that would live must obey Christ, must trust Him, must serve Him. The soul that would come to God as the Father must come by Christ. The divinity of His person imparts to His sufferings and death a majesty and a tenderness that should draw men to Him in the most reverent and grateful devotion. That Jesus should die a witness for His principles and teachings, and in testimony of His love to man, was heroic, was pathetic, was inspiring. But when we bring into our 1 John XX. 28. JESUS A DIVINE INCARNATION. 149 conception of Jesus thi» divine Sousliip, and consider of what ineffable dignity and majesty was He who thus suf- fered, there comes over the soul an awe and reverence which not all the martyrdoms of history could insj^ire ; and when we reflect that this Son of God gave Himself to this shame and suffering for us, is there any tie or claim of earth that can so move our souls to gratitude and devo- tion ? Consecration — the giving up all, body, soul and spirit to such a Saviour, — is the least to be thought of by oiie who believes upon the only-begotten Son of God. CHAPTER XII. THE COMFORTER — THE HOLY GHOST. The Mission of Christ was begun, consecrated and ended by the intervention of the Holy Ghost. He was begotten of the Holy Ghost ;^ at His baptism the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in bodily shape like a dove upon Him ;^ after His resurrection, Jesus met with His disciples, and having identified Himself to them as their crucified Lord, " He breathed on them, and said unto them, Keceive ye the Holy Ghost ;" ^ and on the eve of His ascension He bade His disciples await the baptism of the Holy Ghost, * whose coming into the Church He had already promised as a permanent substitute for His own withdrawal from the world.'' Since Jesus gave such prominence and significance to the Comforter in the ad- ministration of His kingdom upon earth, it is important to fix with definiteness His doctrine of the Holy Ghost, and the place of that doctrine in His scheme of theological thought. An induction of particulars upon this question gives the following results. First. Christ taught that the Holy Ghost was the Re~ vealer of Truth from God to the souls of men. In quoting against the Scribes the prediction of David concerning Himself as the Son of God, He invested this ^vith the authority of divine inspiration ; " For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to My I^ord, Sit thou on My right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool." ® 1 Mat. i. 20; Luke i. 35. 2 mkc iii. 21, 22; Mat. iii. 13; John i. 32. » John XX. 22. * Acts i. 5, 8. 5 j^hu xiv. 16, 26; xvi. 7. « Mark xii. 36. 160 RELATIONS OP THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE TRUTH. 151 This prevision of the Messiah's exaltation was above the rano-e of David's imagination as a poet, and was imparted by the Holy Ghost. Jesus constantly appealed to tho Old Testament as " the word of God," — thus recognizing in it the voice of divine inspiration. ^ He instructed His disciples to look directly to the Holy Ghost for the suggestion of Truth adapted to their neces- sities. " When they shall lead you and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate, but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak but the Holy GhostJ' ^ This was an assurance of immediate in- spiration, to the extent certainly of guidance in vindicating their faith under circumstances of difficulty, responsibility, and danger. This special guidance of the Holy Spirit in the perception and adaptation of Truth was the compensa- tion that Jesus promised to His disciples for the loss of His personal teaching. " When He, the Spirit of Truth is come. He will guide you into all Truth ; for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear [/. e. from the Fathei'] that shall He speak ; and He will show you things to come." ^ The " Spirit of Truth " embodies in Himself the very principle of Truth and the knowledge of all Truth ; and His power is directed to bring the human mind into harmony with that higher sphere of spiritual thought and life where Truth is the bond of unity. As the absolute possessor of Truth, He also imparts Truth in its highest, purest forms ; and by both these methods, the ennobling and the illuminating. He would guide the apos- tles into all truth. Christ had manifested the truth from His own conscious- ness, and as a teacher had opened the way into the highest domain of knowledge ; but the spiritual meaning of muc h that He uttered was at first only imperfectly apprehended 1 Luke ii'. 1; John x. 35, » Mark siii. 11. 3 John xvi. 13. 152 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. by His disciples. More tliau once did He reprove their slowness of heart to believe. And indeed, the disciples trained in the sensuous conceptions of the Jews toucliing the Messianic kingdom, could not fully comprehend the sacrificial bearing of the death of Christ, until after His resurrection and ascension. Hence it would be the office of the Holy Spirit to bring this and kindred truths, as Jesus had Himself declared them, into vivid remembrance, to give them definite form, to illuminate their meaning, to guide the apostles to a right understanding of them, and also to open new reaches and applications of the Truth — showing "things to come." "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father Avill send in My name. He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your re- membrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. "^ " When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, which proccedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. "^ " He shall glorify Me; for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."^ These several declarations set forth the Holy Spirit un- der every possible relation to the Truth; as revealing truth under new phases; as announcing prophetically facts to be accomplished in the kingdom of God; as inter- preting truths already proclaimed by Christ; as guiding sincere minds into the clear and full knowledge of truth. But the highest function assigned to the Spirit of Truth is that of employing the truth as a power of sanctification upon the hearts of men — not a power for the intellect merely, but for the feelings and the will also. The prayer of Jesus for His disciples, " Sanctify them through Thy Truth; Thy word is truth, "^ would have its fulfilment Avhen the Holy Spirit should guide them into all truth. Christ announced that the Holy Spirit would exert upon the minds even of sinful men a direct power of conviction iJohn xiv. 26. 2 John xv. 26. sjohn xvi. 14, *John xvii. 17. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH. 153 and rebuke tlirougli the doctrine of Christ : " When He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment : "^ by making manifest the innocence and holiness of Christ, the sinful unbelief that had re- jected Him, and His assured triumph over all the powers of evil, and thereby working in the minds of such as had rejected Him, a humiliating and self-reproving conviction of their guilt, the Holy Spirit would vindicate the Truth embodied in the life and death of Jesus, and would secure to Plis Gospel a triumphant efficacy. That which the Holy Ghost thus effectively presents to the minds of men is the truths of Ueligion, especially as these are embodied in the Holy Scriptures. Christ did not promise that He should enlighten us in the science of nature, of history, of government, or make new discover- ies of the mysteries of creation ; — but that He should con- vince men of sin and lead them to faith in Christ Himself — a work having immediate reference to the extension of the Kingdom of God. A second point in Christ's doctrine of the Holy Spirit was that He was the source of the supernatural ffifts and •powers imparted to the first disciples for the furtherance of the Gospel "When Jesus commissioned the apostles to go into all the Avorld and preach the Gospel to every creature, He prom- ised that these signs should follow them that believe: "In My name shall they cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall re- )ver. " ^ The fulfilment of this promise is recorded by juke in the following words, uttered by our Lord just be- fore His ascension : " Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence ; and ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you " ^ — or ye shall 1 John xvi. 8. *Markxvi. 17. ^^cts i. 5, seq. 154 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you : — the spiritual endowment of the apostles for their work, and supernatural powers to certify their calling and to con- vince the world of the divine warrant of the Gospel. Even His own miracles — though these proceeded from the power that dwelt always in Himsell^ — Jesus referred to the Spirit of God. The Pharisees accused Him of being in league with Beelzebub, the prince of the devils ; but Jesus answered them : " If I cast out devils by the Sjm'it of God, then the Kingdom of God has come unto you. " ^ Had His reply ended with these words, we might have taken the expression " Spirit of God " for an influence upon Him- self, emanating from the Father ; but He added, " All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be foro-iven unto them. " ^ From this it is evident that Jesus intended by the " Spirit of God," that same " Spirit of Truth" of whom He afterwards spake as "the Comforter," for blasphemy could not be uttered against an unconscious influence, but only against a divine Person. It was, further, the doctrine of Christ that the Holy Spirit would abide in the hearts of believers, and with the Church, collectively, for guidance, comfort, encourage- ment, support. To prepare His disciples for His departure He gave them two topics of consolation : — first His own temporary return : — " A little while, and ye shall see me ... I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice."^ But His resurrection, while it would revive their hopes of His kingdom, ^ and give them the most absolute confidence in His promises, would nevertheless be followed by a sec- ond and lasting bereavement of His presence, through His ascension to the Father. For this bereavement there was provided a second and permanent consolation, in the >Matt. xii. 23. ^Matt. xii. 31. 3 JqI^ xri. 16, 22. *Actsi. 6. THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVIXE PERSON. 155 coming of the Comforter : " I will pray the Father, and Pie shall give you another Comforter, that He may abkle with you forever " — a Helper ever within call ; an Advo- cate always at command. This Comforter would even be nearer to them and more constantly with them than Christ luid been in His bodily presence. " He dwelleth with you and shall be in you." He would come in a manner in- visible to the world, and that the worldly mind could not comprehend: come through the quickening of the con- sciousness to a realization of higher spiritual truths ; come as a gracious, soothing, healing influence upon the mind itself in the deepest concernments of the soul ; come in the experiences of the inner life in the love of Christ, in the sense of the forgiveness of sin and of fellowship with God, in the feelings of hope, comfort, peace, joy, in all that per- tains to our relations with our Heavenly Father and to our final salvation. As Christ became incarnate in PIu- manity for its redemption, so is the Holy Spirit perpetually incarnate in the Church for its sanctification. All the teaching of Christ concerning the Ploly Ghost assumes or implies both the divinity of the Spirit and His distinct j^ersonaliti/: He spake of the Spirit not as a thing, an attribute, an influence, a property, but as a person ; He ascribed to the Spirit such acts and ofliees as can be af- firmed only of a person ; had He said " I will send My spirit or My Father will send His spirit," this might have meant nothing more than that He would cause them to feel an influence from Himself, or that an influence pro- ceeding from God would bring their feelings and actions into accord with the spirit of Christ. Plad He promised to His disciples specifically a spirit of wisdom or a spirit of power, this might have signified nothing more than ^ guid- ance or an efficiency imparted by divine influence. But He spake of the Spirit, — thus defining one distinct Spirit ; the Holy Spirit, designating the Spu-it by a personal and 156 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. moral characteristic ; and He used the personal pronoun — " the Holy Ghost wJiom the Father will send in My name ; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth liiia not, neither knoweth Him.'' ' This constant use of " He " and " Him " denotes personality ; it would be a solecism thus to speak of an unconscious influence. Jesus said, also, of the Holy Spirit, He shall abide with you ; He shall teaoh you ; He shall guide you ; He shall hear and shall speak; He shall glorify Me ; He shall tes- tify of Me ; — ^all which are personal acts, which no stretch of metaphor could predicate of an unconscious influence. Moreover, a personality is attributed to the Holy Si)irit as distinct from the Father and the Son : " / will pray the Father ;" now prayer is the act of one personal conscious- ness addressing itself to .another : " I " and " the Father ;" and He, i. e., the Father, " shall give you another Com- forter " — a Helper in the stead of Jesus ; — that He, this Comforter thus distinguished from both the Father and the Son, may " abide with you forever." Leaving all meta- physical refinements about personality, in the doctrine of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is so far distinct from the Father and the Son that the pronouns in the first, second, and third persons may be applied to them separately, and to describe their relations and actions one toward another. At the same time. His doctrine ascribes to the Holy Spirit a true and proper divinity ; — the acts and attributes of divinity, absolute knoMdcdge, foresight of things to come, power over the memory, the thoughts, and the wills of men, and power to impart miraculous gifts. In the form- ula of baptism, the sacrament by which disciples are ini- tiated into the kingdom of Christ, the name of the Holy Si>irit is linked upon equal terms with the names of Christ and of the Father : — " baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." ^ Here iJohnxiv. 17. 2 Matt, xxviii. 19. THE HOLY SPIRIT A DIVINE PERSON. 157 the " Name " denotes personality ; and in the solemn con- secration of a soul to its Creator and Lord, it is not credi- ble that anything lower than Divinity would be associated with the Name that is above every name, as worthy of like homage and devotion. But it was in condemning the blasphemy of the Pharisees that Jesus set forth in the strongest terms the divine personality of the Holy Ghost. ^yhile His own divinity was veiled under the humiliation of the flesh, men might impugn His acts and oe pardoned; but so clear and strong is the proof of divine power in acts performed by the Spirit of God, that to contemn Him is an unpardoual)le sin. " Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him ; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." This doctrine of Jesus is a warrant for faith in the Gospels as a divinely inspired record of Himself. Since the Holy Spirit quickened and guided the apostles in the recollection, the conception, and the statement of truth as uttered by Christ Himself, the record of the words of Jesus in the Gospels is authenticated by divine authority ; and should therefore be received with loving reverence and obedience. Like a great poem or symphony it carries within itself the tokens of the Master. And He who is peqjetually in the Truth, quickening the letter into life, is also in the world convincing men of this same truth ; convincing them of their sin and their need of a Saviour ; convincing them of the rigliteousness of Christ, and His power as the Holy Son of God to save them from their sin ; convincing them of judgment, the condemnation under which every sinner lies, the condemnation that is upon the world, and the judgment to come : and so the Spirit who is in the truth, is also by the truth speaking to the hearts of men with conviction. 158 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. How full of responsibility is tlie hearing of the Gospel, seeing that in it God speaks to every man, as He spake to Israel face to face ! How full of 'peril is it to disobey the Gospel, seeing that he who resists this truth resists the Holy Ghost. But how full of encouragement also, to all who proclaim the Gospel is the assurance that the Spirit of God who inspired it at the first, still lives iu it and speaks through it. To human view the conversion of a soul that is committed to selfishness by force of will, by pride and habit, or that is steeped in iniquity and hemmed round with evil associations, may appear not only difficult but hopeless. But when Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He appointed the divine word as the instrument and prom- ised the divine Spirit as the power, and with these all things are possible to him that believeth. The personal bearings of Christ's doctrine of the Holy Spirit are of inestimable value. His predominant thought in the promise of the Spirit to His disciples was their com- fort under bereavement and their endowment for the labore and conflicts of His service. So far from promising them exemption from trials. He forewarned them of tribulations that would arise out of the very fact of their discipleship ;^ but in the sore bereavement of His absence, the Comforter, the Helper would be ever within call. Eveiy word of this precious promise stands good for every disciple and for all time ; to every bereaved and sorrowing but trusting heart the Comforter comes ; to every burdened, struggling, but praying and believing soul, the Helper is nigh. Men often proffer sympathy without help or help without sym- pathy ; but in the coming of the Holy Ghost are pledged both comfort and help, available and satisfying. And in that coming, moreover, is our grandest incite- ment and hope for the endeavor of holy living. To attain 1 John xvi. 33. THE HOLY GHOST A HELPEK. 159 monil perfection is, at times at least, the aspiration of every true soul. No one of the beatitudes so thrills the heart with longings for its own disenthralment from evil, as this ; " Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."^ That beatific vision has been the dream of poetry and philosophy, that likeness to God the longing of devotion. But what poetry and philosophy have depicted in tlic in- finite distance, and devotion has sighed for with wingless and baffled desires, finding still " Somcwliat to cast off, somewhat to become," is brought within reach, made possible, made actual, when the Holy Spirit of God comes to dwell in our liearts, to teach us all things, to guide us into all truth and show us things to come. Renovated through the virtue of this Holy Presence, and illuminated with this inward guidance, the soul may see God.^ 1 Mat. V. 8. * For a fuller discussion of the New Testament doctrine of the Holy Spirit, see the author's volume on " The Holy Comforter." CHAPTER XIII. PARADISE. The Theology of Christ has always a background of Eschatology ; and His doctrine of the Last Things is one of the most distinctive features of His system. All His teachings point to His second coming, and to the marvel- lous events which shall attend that both to the living and the dead. The Kingdom of Heaven shall then be per- fected ; the Son of Man shall appear in power and glory, and the issues of the present life shall be made up in the unchanging conditions of the Hereafter. But until that great consummation what and where shall be the state of the dead ? Do they sleep in unconscious- ness? Do they enter at once upon their final state of award ? Or do they linger in some intermediate state of uncertainty, of imperfection, poasibly of purgatory ? The reticence of Jesus upon such points as these is in marked contrast with His pronounced utterances concern- ing the finalities of the future state, and with the eagerness of the human mind, and especially of human affection, to withdraw the veil from what directly follows death. The p(jet ^ has well expressed both the longing and the mys- tery, " when Lazarus left his charnel-cave." " Where wert thou, brother, those four days ?" There lives no record of reply, Which, tellina; what it is to die, Had surely added praise to praise. Behold a man raised up by Christ ! The rest remaineth unrevealed. He told it not ; or something sealed The lii)s of that Evan.?clist. * Tennyson, In Memoriam, xxxi. 160 PARADISE. 161 Upon all that concerns the state of the departed Christ addressed Plimself not to curiosity but to faith ; not to the speculative fancy but to the moral feelings, and this by setting up character rather than condition as the object of attainment. Unless the parable of Dives and Lazarus be understood of a scene in Hades, there is hardly anything in the teachings of Christ conceraiug the state of the soul between death and the judgment. Yet by one brief word uttered just as He was expiring on the cross, Jesus lifted the veil from untold possibilities of life and felicity to the soul after death. One of the malefactors at His side said unto Him, " Lord, remember me when Thou congest into Thy kingdom." " And Jesus said unto him. Verily, I say unto thee. To-day slialt thou be with Me in Paradise. " ^ What mysterious questionings start up at the reading of these words. They were the promise of the dying Saviour to the penitent transgressor. They were the answer to the prayer of a public criminal, who confessed the justice of his condemnation for his deeds ; but "who, amid the agony of a lingering death, turned to Jesus Avith the homage of his soul, and the prayer of adoration and trust. Most sug- gestive are they of the compassion and grace of the Re- deemer, and of the certainty of salvation to every true penitent. But our inquiry is now directed to the terms and con- tents of the promise. Where did Jesus promise to convey the spirit of the dying thief? To Paradise. Mlicn ? To- day. In what society would he there be ? With Christ Himself. To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. What, then, and where is Paradise ? Is this only an- other term for heaven ? Does it signify the final blessed- ness of the righteous? or does it apply to some state interme- diate between death and the judgment, in which the soul 1 Luke xxiii. 42, 43. 11 162 THE THEOLOGY OF CIIHIST. awaits the resurrection of the body, before entering into its final abode ? The state of departed saints directly after death has been the subject of wide speculation in the Church from the earliest times; and the most opposite theories have been broached according to the prevalence of a more sensuous or a more spiritual philosophy, of a more literal or a more fanciful interpretation of the Scriptures. Justin 3Iartyr, who lived in the firsC half of the second century, denounced as a heresy the doctrine that souls are immedi- ately received into heaven at death, and maintained that the souls of the righteous depart to a temporary but hap- py place — an intermediate state. On the other hand, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage about the middle of the third century, held that those dying in the Lord were taken im- mediately to His presence. Again : TertuUian, at the be- ginning of the third century, believed that llartyrs went immediately to heaven, but that for believers in general, there was a delay in some intermediate state, before arriv- ing at the heavenly glory ; whereas Origen, who flou- rished at Alexandria at about the same period, taught that immediately after death believers go first to Paradise, which he imagined to be a happy island ; as they grow in knowledge and piety, they proceed on their journey from Paradise to higher regions, and having passed through various mansions which the Scriptures call heavens, they arrive at last at the kingdom of heaven, properly so called. The perfection of blessedness ensues only after the general judgment. ^ In later times the doctrine of purgatory was added to that of the intermediate state by the Latin Church, though never accepted by the Greek Church. At the Reforma- tion, many Protestant theologians in rejecting a purgatory, rejected also the notion of an intermediate state, while 1 See citations in Ilagcnbach, History of Doctrines, J 77, 78. VIEWS OF THE EARLY FATHERS. 163 others retained the doctrine that the souls of the righteous linger iu some vestibule of the heavenly kingdom until the last judgment. The former view is well-expressed in the burial service of the Church of England for the dead : " Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of those tliat dc})art hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithail, after they are delivered irom the bui'deu of tiio llesh, are in joy and felicity." The belief in an intermediate state for the righteous, in which they await the consummation of all things before be- ing presented at the throne of the Father, obtains especially in the Lutheran communion, but has able advocates as well in other communions ; so that from the earliest times till now, this has been a subject upon which great latitude of opinion and great diversity of theory have been admitted within the range of Orthodoxy. The notions of some of the early Fathers were in- fluenced by the pagan philosophy in which they had been trained before their conversion, and which instead of being wholly discarded was applied, sometimes unconsciously, to the interpretation of Christian doctrines. Thus the specu- lations of Persia and Greece concerning the transportation of the soul through a series of abodes up toward the dwell- ing-place of the gods, found their way under modified forms into Christian theology. The Jewish Rabbis had long been addicted to fanciful allegories concerning the kingdom of the Messiah; in His reign the garden of Eden was to be restored, and the righteous would dwell in Para- dise, with royal apparel, in palaces of gold, amid groves and fountains and flowers of wondrous fragrance .and healing virtue. Such Scriptures as the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaiah were taken as a literal picture of the abundance of sensu- ous delights in this Messianic Paradise ; and the apocry- phal book of Esdras promises to the children of God a dwelling in a beautiful garden, where are streams of milk 164 TPIE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and honey, and mountains covered with lilies and roses. fcSucli views tinctured the popular belief of the Jews con- cerning the future abode of the righteous, and we trace their influence also in some of the early Christian writings. But the great storehouse or rather university of ideas concerning the future state was Egypt — from which the Greeks and Romans derived their most impressive notions of the experiences of the soul after death. The book of prayers and forms which the Egyptians deposited in the tomb as a sort of guide and passport for the departed spirit through the world of the dead, teaches that the soul con- tinues conscious after death ; that it enters into Hades, a gloomy region under the earth ; that if already pure it passes safely through this dismal abode ; but if impure or defective is subjected to discipline ; that on emerging from Hades it is judged, and having passed this ordeal it advances through seven distinct halls up to as many jml- aces, till it arrives at last at the chief dwelling of the gods. Prominent in this conception of the Future State was the notion of a detention after death in a sort of border-land, before reaching the highest blessedness, and of a gradation through which the soul must pass in its ascent to the Ely- sian fields — which answered to Paradise.^ We trace this general conception down through the lit- erature of later nations, and find it culminating at last in the magnificent poem of Dante. In his Paradise are ten heavens, nine of which revolve about the earth as a common center, each filling the sphere of a planet, and the tenth or highest is motionless, and encircles and contains all the rest. Each of these heavens contains spirits in dif- ferent degrees of advancement toward perfection ; in the ^ For a complete view of the Egyptian doctrine of a future state, see the " Book of the Dead, " translated by Dr. Birch, in Efiypt's Place in Universal Histon/, vol. V. ; also an analysis of the same by the author of this volume, in the Bibliotheca Sacra for 1868, pp. 69-112. MEANING OF PARADISE. 165 ninth are the Orders of Angels, and in the tenth is the visible presence of God. Thus in all ages and among all people have contempla- tive and imaginative minds — philosophers, poets, theologi- ans, — been exercised upon the state of the soul after death, and especially whether it is in a condition of immediate consciousness and blessedness ; or for a time unconscious or asleep — to be hereafter vivified ; or, if conscious, wliether at once made perfect in bliss, or subjected to intermediate delays and changes in its progress towards the highest phase of its existence. Hardly any question has for the human mind such a universal power of fascination. Yet in comparison with the fundamental fact of a future state of rewards and punishments to become at some time the experience of every human soul, these details of time and mode are more curious than momentous, and are treated in the sacred Scriptures with a discreet silence. Only hints are given, where our instinct of immortality craves minute and copious information ; and the best Biblical students are far from agreed in their interpretation of these hints, or in the doctrines they would base upon them. Still the field is open for ever-new inquiry, and by comparing spiritual things with spiritual we may get at least an ink- ling of the truth. What did our Lord intend by Paradise ? This was the only instance in which He used the word, except as John cites it from His lips, in the Apocalypse ; * and it occurs but once besides in the New Testament. ^ It is a word of Eastern origin which the Greeks borrowed to describe an oriental park — such for instance as the Greek general Xenophon saw on his famous march into the interior of Asia — and which is described as " a wide park enclosed against injury, yet with its natural beauty unspoiled, witli stately forest trees, many of them bearing fruit, watered by I Rev. ii. r. * 2 Cor. xii. 4. 166 THE THEOLOGY OF CIIRTST. clear streams, on whose banks roved large herds of ante- lopes or sheep." ^ For this ieature of Easte: j scenery — re- sembling somewhat the forest of Fontainebleau in France, though more rich and luxuriant — the Greeks adopted from the Sanscrit the name Paradise. This word came into the New Testament through the Septuagint ; for the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scrip- tures, made three centuries before Christ, was widely in use among the Jews in His time, and many of the quotations from the Old Testivment in the New are made from that version. In the Septuagint Paradise is used for Mien, wherever that word occurs in the * English version, and also for garden. Thus where Solomon says " I made me gardens and orchards," ^ the Septuagint reads, "Paradises." In the prophecy of Balaam : " How goodly are thy tents, Jacob ; as the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens (Paradises) by the river side." ^ In the book of Nehemiah is a curious instance of the same meaning that Xenophon gave to the word. Nehemiah who lived at the court of Babylon, says " The king gave me a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace." * The word " forest " here the Se]ituagint gives Paradise — a pleasure- f jrest or preserve. The first notion of Paradise to a Jew tlierefore, was a royal garden like Eden ; indeed the gar- den in which our first parents were placed was " the Para- dise of God." But Paradise was not simply a remembered name ; it was a word of promise and hope as well : for in the pro- phet Isaiah, it is a frequent type of the future blessedness and glory of the people of God. " The Lord shall com- fort Zion : He will comfort all her waste places : and He Avill make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord." ^ Paradise was the word adopted 1 Smith's Diet, of Bible. » Ecclcs. ii. 5. 3 Num. xxiv. 6. * Nch. ii. 8. sii. 3. JEWISH VIEWS OF PARADISE. 167 by the Septuagint to describe this scene of beauty — "joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody." Such being the idea of Paradise in that version of the Scriptures then widely used among the Jews, and which Christ Himself probably read from in the synagogues, what promise did He intend to convey to the thief at his side when He said, " To-day Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise ?" He did not explain the term ; He would not tantalize His fellow-suiferer with an unintelligible reply ; it must have had a satisfying meaning to the mind of a common Jew. We have seen that the Jewish Rabbis had gone beyond the Biblical idea of the term, and had pictured Paradise as either a place of sensuous delights in the Messiah's king- dom upon earth, or an intermediate place of blessedness after death ; and some of the more intellectual among them, such as Philo, had made Paradise a mere symbol of the happiness to be derived from wisdom. But shall we there- fore attach to the word Paradise as used by Christ the popular notion of " a fair land cooled by ocean breezes and watered by limpid streams, where the souls of the righteous would tarry awhile on their way to heaven ; or a region in the upper part of Slieol, somehow divided from the place of the wicked, but not the final resting-]5lace of the good ?" Surely Christ's method of teaching forbids us to assume that, by using a term of common speech, He would countenance the erroneous notions which the po]iu- lar imagination had attached to that word. The Jewish popular belief was full of errors concerning the Messiah, and the kingdom of heaven ; but Jesus neither refrained from using these terms, nor by using them did He sanc- tion the erroneous notions which attached to them in the popular mind. Rather, He sought to reclaim such words to their proper significance. Hence inasmuch as the term 168 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. Paradise was essentially a Bible-word through its frequent use in a translation as widely read as the Hebrew Scrip- tures — we must look for the meaning of Paradise, not to the popular belief nor the fancies of the Rabbis, not to the speculative Philo nor the credulous Josephus, but to the fundamental idea of the first Paradise in the Old Testa- ment, as this was illustrated by the spiritual teaching of our Lord. It were easy to poetize or philosophize here ; but the question is one of interpretation. The primitive Paradise — the first abode of man — em- braced thase elements ; a state of purity or innocence ; a place of beauty, abundance and delight, or a condition of peaceful, and entire satisfaction ; the nearness of God as the loving Father : and an implied pledge of immortality. The true life in Paradise was without sin — for when man sinned he was cast out from the garden ; life in Paradise was free from want and care — for toil and pain came as the curse of sin : life in Paradise was one of plenty and de- light — for the garden was planted with " every tree that was pleasant to the sight and good for food ;" * life in Paradise was favored with frequent manifestations of the presence of God — for the Lord God walked in the garden, He talked with Adam, instructed and blessed him, making every provision for his hap}>iness as an expression of his Maker's love. And this life carried with it the presump- tion of its immortality — for the symbolic tree of life stood in the midst of the garden, like a covenant in perpetuity, and death was threatened as a consequence of sin. Such a Life, pure, peaceful, satisfying, blessed with the presence of God and the promise of immortality, was the Eden of the Hebrew Scriptures, which in popular language long before the time of Christ, had come to be familiarly known as Paradise, And the restoration of this Paradise wi*; looked »Gcn. ii. 9. PARADISE Wnil CHRIST. 1G9 for under the reign of the :Mcssiah, whose coming would make the desert like the Piiradise of Gud. In the popular belief this would be a state of felicity such as poets have pictured in the golden age; but it would su'jorccde the present condition of things, this dis- ordered world of sin, pain, and sorrow, and would over-lap into the future state ; and so the word Paradise came to signify some serene and blissful state of being, this side of heaven in the order of time and space, but conducting to heaven as a sort of middle-way. Jesus took this word. Paradise, as the equivalent of Eden, and announced the realization of that state of primitive blessedness in the spirit- w^orld which He would open to all believers. It is quite evident that Christ used the word to denote a condition after death. Both He and the suiferer at His side were presently to have done with this world ; and Jesus intended to give to the penitent thief a promise of hope and encouragement concerning that wdiich should survive the cross. There was for him somewhere a better world to which Christ would conduct him after death ; for wherever Jesus Himself would be after the dissolution of the body, there should this believ- ing penitent also be. Surely the promise contemplated a state of consciousness, and a desirable state ; since going into some gloomy house of detention or limbo, — there to be kept in uncertainty till the end of the world — could have oifered small encouragement as the boon of the Saviour to one Avho offered such a prayer with such a faith. The prayer Avas remarkable as acknowledging the suprem- acy of Christ, and the spirituality of His kingdom ; *' Lord, remember me when thou comest into Thy king- dom." Here was a soul touched with the sense of its own guilt, discerning the real majesty of Jesus through tlie suf- ferings of the cross, and anticipating for this despised King of the Jews, a kingdom of power and glory in that 170 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. invisible state to which they both were now departing. The petition referred to a future and spiritual kingdom — a sphere of glory awaiting the lledeemer after death ; and the answer of Christ to such a petition must be interpreted in the same spirit. The parallel expression in the Apocalypse furnishes a key in part to this answer of our Lord. As there quoted by John, in promising rewards to those who shall continue faithful in His service, Christ said, " To him that over- cometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." ^ To eat of the tree of Life is to partake of immortal bliss ; the Paradise of God is the Paradise that God delights in and blesses with His pre- sence; — the promise means that all of communion with God, all of spiritual delight, and all of immortal hope, life, and bliss that were lost by the fall, shall be realized in the spirit-world where Christ now lives and reigns. If we inquire more particularly after the location of Paradise and the phases of existence and enjoyment there, we find little to enlighten us in the New Testament Scrip- tures. Paul, in describing a frame of supernatural illumi- nation by tlie S])irit of God, says that he was " caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not possible for a man to utter ;"^ and this Paradise he speaks of again as " the third heaven " — a phrase denoting " an exalted region of light and blessedness, or tlie imme- diate presence of God." But where and what tliis was is precisely what the Apostle has omitted to inform us ; and no S]ieculation on our part can supply these omissions of the Revelation. This much then — neither more nor less — do we learn from the word Paradise itself as interpreted by Biblical usage: — a state of peace, security, holiness, satisfaction, bles- sedness, where the presence of God is more immediately 1 Rev. ii. 7. « 2 Cor. xii. 4. SCRIPTURAL, MEANING OF PARADISE. 171 manifested. But there are other facts or hints in the words of Clirist toucliing the condition of departed saints immedi- ately after death, which may here be grouped together for their combined light upon the question. First, Christ clearly taught that the jicrsonalUy of the soul remains in conscious exercise. The parable of Laza- rus and Dives shows this; so does the appearing of Moses and Elias on the Mount: so do the words of our Lord con- cerning the patriarchs : " He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." ^ Again, the language of Clirist to His disciples, in view of His own departure, implies that directly after death be- lievers enter into a closer union with their Lord. We may fairly assume that the felicity promised to the dying male- factor was not exceptional ; that such a one as he had been was not singled out for a favor that would not be accorded to disciples who had given proof of their devotion in their lives. This presumption becomes certainty in view of the assurance of Jesus to His disciples : " I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." ^ This promise did not re- late to that final Advent when Christ will gather around His person the collective host of His Redeemed ; it was spoken to the eleven disciples as individuals, for whom severally a place should be prepared in the " many man- sions " of His " Father's house." The consciousness of the presence of Christ, and a participation in His glory, would be the experience of these disciples when they should fol- low their Lord to the unseen world. ^ From these sayings, brief and fragmentary as they are, we may gather that they who die in the Lord become imme- diately conscious of a nearer union with Christ than they had ever attained to in the most devout and extatic com- I Luke XX. 38. ' John xiv. 2, 3. ^ John xvii. 24. 172 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. muiiings of this life ; that after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh they do live unto God and arc in joy and felicity ; that dying is only the birth of tlic soul into a higher existence for which its qualities and powers of in- tellio-ent moral personaUti/ are at once an adaptation and a prophecy ; and for which also^ it is prepared in character by the grace of God, — so that to be " absent from the body" is to be " present with the Lord/' consciously in the satis- fying presence of Christ. According to the psych olog}'' of the Bible, after the death of the animal part of man, there survive both the spiritual essence, which is the jjroper personality, and the principle of vitality, and this last enters into union with some form adapted to this higher state of being, some kind of vesture — though it may have no more material substance than the invisible ether. The Bible holds flist by Personality ; the human spirit is not absorbed into the divine ; neither does it float vaguely into space ; it has j)ositiveness, definiteness, is somehow circumscribed ; or in common speech, it must have a body ; not flesh and blood, for this is forever put away ; not yet the spiritual body — for that comes after the resurrection ; but a vesture fitted to a spiritual existence ; so that "being clothed we shall not be found naked." ^ After the dissolution of our earthly house, which is only a tabernacle — a temporary abode — and which is a burden, both through its infirmities and by its inability to carry out all the aspirations of the spirit — we shall be " clothed upon with our house which is from heaven" — a form adapt- ed to the region of spiritual life. ^ Death will only strip us of our mortality ; it is not we that die, but our mortality ; and then the soul, freed from the body of death, will be "clothed upon," clad in its proper vesture as a spiritual creature — no longer of the eartli earthy — all trace of mor- 1 2 Cor. V. 1-5. * For viows of Dditzsch aud others on this intermecUat* bodj, see Appendix. DEPARTURE OF THE SOUL. 173 tality swallowed up of life — the veiy soil and smell of earth gone from the shimmering gossamer, in which it floats or flies through the boundless scope of heaven. ^ The Egyptians symbolized the departure of the soul by a bird quitting the breast of the mummy to fly awny toward the Sun. When purified it returns to its mummy with the kiss of peace. In the great picture of the Com- munion of St. Jerome, while the expiring Saint is making his last Confession of Christ, one sees above him a bevy of cherubs fairly capering with joy as they drop their golden canojiy of cloud to embrace the soul at tlie moment of its exit — that mortality might be swallowed up of life. But while each departing saint, his personality unchang- ed, his spiritual vitality untouched by death, enters with an exalted consciousness of life and of spiritual powers, into a blissful fellowship v/ith Christ in Paradise — there will re- main for him some more glorious consummation at the resurrection of the dead. The Paradise to which he goes may be as the park that surrounds the palace of the king ; he may have the freest range of the park and the gardens, and may look through the paling upon the golden House of Beauty, and behold at times the face of the King, and 1 Dante has beautifully pictured this ethereal body as investins the soul when, at death. It separates from the flesh, and virtually Bears with itself the human and divine; The other faculties are voiceless all; The memory, the intelligence, and the will In action far more vigorous than before. And even as the air, when full of rain, ^ By alien rays that arc therein reflected. With divers colors shows itself adorned, So there the neighboring air doth shape itself Into that form which doth impress upon it Virtually the Soul that has stood still. And then in manner of the little flame, Which followcth the fire where'er it shifts. After the Spirit followeth its new Form. Purijalorio. XXV. 80-100. Longfellow's Translation. 174 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. hear the praises of the cherubim — but he must Avait for the gathering of the whole company from earth, and tb.e endowment of the spiritual body l^efore the gates tliat divide the palace from tlie park shall be thrown open th.at he may enter in. Plis blessedness from the first will be full even to the measure of his capacity, but the resurrection and his transformation into the likeness of Christ's glorious body will augment both his capacity and his means of blessedness. The distinction is well taken here by Nitzsch, between the believer's entering into bliss and his consummation in and Avith the whole body of the Redeemed. " The mere duration and immortality of the soul, or the bare deliver- ance from its earthly habitation, does not complete Chris- tian hope ; for the consummation of the individual is by no means perfect, so long as the entire creation and church are not consummated Avitli him and he with them." ^ JNIany Scriptures point to the general resurrection as the enfran- chisement of the creation itself — which now waits and groans for that manifestation of the sons of God Avhich shall come through the redemption of the body. The completeness of man in Christ will not be accomj^lishcd till, by the resurrection, death shall be vanquished in our bodies as it was in His. That event is set before us as the consummation of the whole work of Redemption ; and the period between our departure and that Day will be for us an intermediate state — but a Paradise of intense delights and of conscious nearness and fellowship with Christ. But the crowning bliss shall not be till the resurrection : " Then cometh the end ; when the Son shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, and God shall be all in ail." ^ In that august day " the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel 1 System of Christian Doctrine g 217. ^ 1 Cor. xv. 24.. IKSCRIPTIONS ON THE CATACOMBS. 175 and the trump of God ; and the doad in Christ shall risa first, then beiiev^ers yet living on tiie earth shall be caught lip too-ether with them in the clouds;" ^ then shall go up the grand procession to the gates of the New Jerusalem swung open in mid-air — the trumpets sounding, the vast ether palpitating with harmonic symphonies ; the sons of God shouting for joy, the very stars, ringing out silvery chimes for the marriage of the Lamb — the final consum- mation of all things terrestrial and celestial in the union of Christ and His church in everlasting joy. ^ This view of the state of departed saints may well encourage cheerfulness and thanksgiving on behalf of those whom Christ has taken to Himself, No need have we to pray for them, seeing they are already with Christ : no cause have we to mourn for them, seeing thaj directly they are absent from the body they are present with the Lord ; — " Now that he is dead, wherefore should I fast? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." ^ To the primitive Christians all this was reality. They have left their faith and hope recorded upon the tombs which they constructed in their hiding-places in the sub- terranean excavations or quarries of the city of Rome. In those long galleries of catacombs, where the bodies of martyrs and persecuted saints were laid to rest, there is not one trace of despondency or gloom. It is written over one 1 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. 2 Although the details of this description are borrowed from the Apostolic writings, the germs of the whole conception are found in the teachings of Christ ; and the words of Paul are not here cited as authoritative — for we are concerned solely with Christ's own words as the source of authoritative belief ^— but as illustrating the meaning of Christ from the point of a scholar and disciple who was versed both in the Jewish and the Pagan notions of Hades, and who has embodied in one proportionate form the fragmentary hints of his Lord touching the future state. 3 2 Samuel xii. 23. 173 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. and another " She sleeps ;" " In peace ;" " With Christ." The auciior, the cross, the crown, the symbols of the resur- rection and immortality make those dark galleries bright with the presence of the Eternal Life. This doctrine should inspire the Christian disciple with the slad consciousness of the nearness of his Lord at death. The eifort to find for heaven a locality commonly results in placing it at an immense remove in space and time ; the attempt to define its features and occupations results in vague imaginings ; meantime Paradise comes floating dovv'n to us, and Jesus steps to the bedside of one whom we think di/ing, and says " I come to reccke thee to My- self ; To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise ;" and could our vision be purged, like that of the prophet, we might see the mountains full of chariots of fire. Heaven -is around us ; if wx are Christ's, one step and we are there! Then why let earth trouble, delude, engross, or detain us ? And Avhy should death intimidate us ? Christ's doctrine of the future opens before us the gran- deur of the moral universe and of the work of Redemption. The science of astronomy has revealed to us somewhat of the stupendous scale of the physical creation ; worlds cir- cling about worlds, systems circling about systeftis, through millions of leagues of space ; light traversing immensity with its ever-repeating waves ; the laws of attraction and gravitation ruling the hosts of heaven without voice or speech ; and all this ordered beauty and grandeur obedient to one Infinite and Invisible Power. But this material creation is only the theater of the moral universe ; these innumeral_)le worlds are but the many mansions in the vast house of our Father, for the home of His children; this illimitable space is but the field of their activities and joys ! The physical may change and pass away ; the hea- vens depart as a scroll ; but the moral universe shall then " grow resplendent more and more ;" — as we GRANDEUR OF REDEMPTION. 177 " behold the hours Of Christ's triumphal march, and all the fruit Harvested by the roUipg of these spheres." i Tlicn to every one who is found faithful to Christ, will it be given to " eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." ' DantOj Paradiao. CHAPTER XIV. THE RESUREECTION OF THE DEAD. Christianity concerns itself for the restoration of the Body as well as for the redemption of the Soul. To re- deem and sanctify the Soul is its first office and endeavor ; but it also cherishes and honors the body as the workman- ship of God and as the habitation of the soul, and the me- dium through which it acts upon the outer world, and receives from that impressions the most quickening, sug- gestive and controlling. The natural science of the Bible finds no link of develop- ment from the monkey to the man, but the first man was formed by the direct act of God, w^ho " breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."^ The philosophy of the Bible is not that of the Stoics, who regarded the body as the antagonist of the soul, and its suppression or destruction as necessary to the soul's perfection — for the divine Word was made flesh and exhibited the true harmony of the body with the soul ; nor is it the philosophy of the Epicureans, that made pleasure consist in gratifying and pampering the flesh — for it teaches that " the body is for the Lord," even "the temple of the Holy Ghost." ^ And this Religion which so honors the body in its origin and seeks to ennoble it with all care and culture for the present life, does not cease to regard the Body when death and the grave have claimed it. The consolation it offers as supreme is not that the soul is freed from its burden and clog, that the lower nature is dropped for the freer develoj)ment of the higher ; 1 Gen. ii. 7. 2 1 Cor. vi. 13, 19. 178 VALUE OF THE BODY. 179 but Christianity promises to cherish the buried dust as God's seed-corn, and to give this baciv again in the beauty and vigor of an incorruptible life. Over against the grave it writes the Resurrection; over against Death the Life Everlasting ; and Jesus surrenders His own sinless body to the demand of our common mortality ; yields up the ghost, is dead and buried ; then comes forth in the victori- ous assertion of that undying Personality which unbars for us the gates of death and the grave : " I am the Resurrec- tion and the Life." ^ And herein Christianity shows itself in wondrous sym-- patliy with the human heart : for much as we are taught that the true life and beauty and love are belongings of the soul, how do we cherish the body from fiist to last. How dear to the mother is the babe that gives as yet no sign of thought or speech ; how every tiny member of that tiny form is written in her heart ; what beauty she discovers in just the ordinary beginnings of a human life; and even if her child lacks physical perfection, how does the very in- firmity cause it to be cherished the more tenderly ! In riper years, though what we prize as our possession in a friend is the soul — the mind and heart in sympathy with our own — ^yet we are forever longing for the presenee, the word, the look that continually reassure us that we do possess the soul. When sickness comes, how fondly do we cling to the wasting form: and when death has snatched it, though faith assures us that the soul has gone to live above, and reason teaches that the body without the soul is nothing, yet do we count each hour precious that we may keep that body near us, and tlie last tie is not severed till it is taken away ; then comes the " sorrowing most of all, that we shall see the face no more ;" ^ and then too come the full sympathy and power of the Gosj)el in the assurance of the diviue Redeemer, the risen Lord, who stands weeping 1 John si. 25. 2 Act« xx. S8. 180 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. at our side, and speaks the undying consolation " Thy Brother shall Hise cifjain." ^ The beauty, the force, the value of this assurance are utterly broken by two modes of interpretation that are sometimes applied to the subject; the one makes the declaration " The Son quick eneth whom He will/' ^ a figure of speech to describe the quickening of the soul into spiritual life ; the other makes the promise " He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," ^ refer only to the continued life of the soul after death has terminated the life of the body ; making the resurrection coincident with death, — the rising of the spirit into a higher sphere of existence, where death can never come. They who hold such views, like Swedcnborg for instance, believe neither in a general resurrection of the dead ap- pointed for some remote period, nor in any resurrection or re-habilitation of the present body ; but give to all the language of the New Testament concerning the rising of the dead, a symbolic meaning, applying it either to a moral renovation in this life, or to the spiritual emancipa- tion and development of the righteous at death. We must, therefore, settle distinctly the meaning of words — if we would understand the doctrine of Jesus touching the resurrection. The word He used, dudazaac^, was applied to the act of raising up or restoring that which had fallen or lay prostrate. Thus the rebuilding of the walls of a city thrown down by war was an anastasis or resurrection. The wall stood in the same place, and was built in whole or in part of the same materials ; so that it was the same wall restored ; and this word anastasis is used by Homer and others for the act of rising from bed, especially after sickness. It is applied also to the lifting up of suppliants who were lying prostrate before a 1 John xi. 23. 2 John v. 21. •'' John xi. 25. ANASTASIS A LITEKAL rvESUREECTION. 181 temple. Nor are there wanting instances in classic writers where anastasls, or a form of the same word, is directly applied to a rising from the dead. In the Iliad of Homer, Achilles driving the Trojans before him into the river Xanthus, sees coming up the bank, as if out of tlie stream itself, a son of Priam whom once before he had taken prisoner, had carried away in his own ship and sold into distant slavery. Startled by this apparition, as if a dead man had come to life, Achilles exclaims : — " strange ! my eyes behold a miracle. Sure the brave sons of Troy whom I have slain Will rise wp from the nether darkness yet." i This would be a literal diastasis of the dead. Again in that touching scene where the aged Priam, having heard that his only surviving son Hector had been wounded, ventures alone to the camp of Achilles to beg for the re- lease of his boy ; (alas, he is already dead !) and the stern warrior replies : — ^ '• Sorrow for thy son Will profit nought; it cannot bring the dead To life again." Here the anastasls would be literally restoring the dead body to life, which Achilles declares to be impossible. A like example occurs in a tragedy of ^schylus, where, in de- scribing a murder, he says, ^ " When the dust has drunk up the blood of a man once dead, there is no raising it up " — no anastasls. This word then had no doubtful meaning; it was properly applied to the lifting up, the restoring, the setting back in its place of a person or thing that had fallen or disappeared. As applied to the dead it would naturally denote a visible restoring of the body — such a raising up that it would be felt to be the same. 1 xxi. 56, Mr. Bryant's version. ^ xxiv. 557, Mr. Bryant's version. 3 Furies, 664, 182 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. A belief in such a resurrection, pronounced by these Greek poets a thing impossible, had found a lodgment in some religions of antiquity. The ancient Egyptians be- stowed far more care ujDon their tombs than upon their houses ; they called the abodes of the living inns, because these were occupied only for a limited period ; but the sepul- chres of the dead they called eternal habitations. Great pains were taken to preserve the body from corruption in order that it might again become the habitation of the soul. This is the most satisfactory explanation of the custom of embalming and the care taken to deposit the mummy in a secret and durable sepulchre. Upon some of the mummy-cases the soul is painted as a bird revisiting its former home ; and the Book of the Dead/ a kind of sacred hymn which was deposited with the mummy, re- presents the body as at last awaking to the light of the sun, and exclaiming, " Hail, O my Father ; I have come ; I prepare this my body ; I am not corrupted nor wasted away ; I am not suffocated ; I live, I grow, I wake in peace." The doctrine of the resurrection of the body is found also among the Persians, as far back as the third or fourth century B. C. in a sect of Magians " who taught that man would revive and become immortal with a fine ethcre;^! body, and would lead a life of bliss upon an earth forever freed from the corrupting influence of evil." In their sacred books a great proj)het is predicted to arise toward the expiration of this world's course ; who will appear as " The conqueror of death and the judge of the world." In the might of Ormuzd the chief divinity of the Parsee re- ligion, this prophet will awaken the dead. An objector is represented as asking, " Since wind and water carry oif the remains of the body, how shall it be restored again ? " J See an analysis of the Egyptian doctrine of the Future State, by the author in the Bibliotheca Sacra, 1868, p. 69. THE RESURRECTION A JEWISH BELIEF. 183 But in reply, Ormiizd, the divinity, points to his almighty powers of creation ; and as he is the creator of the grain of corn, which after corrnption springs up afresh, so by his power also shall the resurrection take place, and but once in truth, and not a second time." ^ It would be a curious inquiry whether this clear and striking statement of the resurrection crept into the religion of the Magians from the same source as the doctrine of Daniel, who lived in the land of the Chaldees when he wrote: "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake ; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." ^ The belief in the immortality of the soul had slowly unfolded itself among the Hebrews from a very early period. Job and David had also foreshadowed a resurrec- tion of the body ; ^ but Daniel was the first to give this doctrine such a positive form, and after his time it was the commonly received belief of the Jews. The Apocrypha, though not entitled to the place of Biblical authority, is nevertheless valuable as a testimony to events and opinions among the Jews of its time. We read in the books of Maccabees * of one who when put to death exclaimed to his executioner, " Thou like a fiuy takest us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up, who have died for His laws, unto everlasting life." Again it is recorded, that after a great victory, Judas Maccabeus offered prayers and sacrifices for the dead ; upon which the historian comments, " doing well therein, in that he was mindful of the resurrection ; for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have 7'isen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead." ^ This testimony is complete upon the ' Bollinger, Judenthnm nnd ffft'denthum, i. 411. ^ Paniel xii. 2. 3 Ps. xvi. 9; Job xix. 26. (?) * Mac. ii. 7, 14. ^ Mac. xii. 45. 184 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. point that the doctrine of the resurrection of the body waa commonly held among the Jews before the time of Christ ; it appears distinctly in their literature of the second cen- tury B. C, and in the Greek version of the Apocrypha the literal resurrection of the body is described by the term ana stasis. The Pharisees, who were accounted the Orthodox of the nation, and who represented the popular belief, held to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead: while the Saddu- cees, a much smaller sect, regarded as heretical, denied it. Martha's confidence that her brother would rise again at the last day, shows hov/ common was this belief among the Jews. This history of the word anastasis and of the popular belief in the Resurrection, has an important bearing upon the cpse in hand. That Jesus taught a doctrine of the Resurrection all agree ; but some say that He spoke figura- tively, of a spiritual renovation, or of the rising of the soul from the body into a higher region of life. But in order to know the true doctrine of Jesus we must ascertain the meaning of His words in the circumstances in which He used them. We have taken the word He used, — or, if He spoke in Aramaic, we have its Greek equivalent — anastasis, and have shown that the great masters of the Greek tongue before His time used this term for the raising up or restoring a person or thing that had fallen or was prostrate or helpless — ^the object raised up being the same that had fallen : we have seen that Greek writers used this very word to describe the revivifying a corpse, the anastasis of a dead body ; we have seen moreover that a belief in such a resurrection was extant in the world ; that the Egyp- tians had it dimly, the Persians of a later period perhaps more clearly ; that it was foreshadowed by Job and David, and distinctly announced by Daniel; that it became an article of poj^ular belief among the Jews, and that the JESUS PROCLAOIED HIMSELF THE RESURRECTION. 185 Greek-Jews in their version expressed it by the word anas- tasis. Thus the natural o'ovious meaning of this word as applied to a dead person is established by usage and history. The circumstances in which our Lord proclaimed Him- self the Resurrection and the Life leave no doubt that He had this same meaning. Lazarus was dead : that was a fact ; he had been sick for a good while ; so sick that his sisters had sent a messenger to Jesus — then some days' journey dis- tant — but Jesus did not come. Lazarus died ; all the village knew that: he was buried, and all the neighbors were at the funeral : he was bound hand and foot with grave clothes and laid in a cave, and a stone covered the mouth of it. \Vhcn Jesus arrived Lazarus had been already dead four days, and for some time buried.^ Jesus said to Martha, "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha said unto Him, " I know that he shall rise again in the resur- rection at the last day." She here expressed wdiat was the common belief of the Jews — that at the end of the world the dead would be raised from their graves. Martha did not intend simply to assert her belief that the soul of her brother still lived, nor that he would rise spiritually to a higher state of existence ; — all this she believed ; but it was the bodily presence of Lazarus she so missed and longed for, and her faith taught her that the self-same brother who lay dead in the sepulchre would come to life again — r.ut not till that far-distant day of the general rising of the dead. In answer to that faith, and to confirm it, Jesus said unto her, " I am the resurrection and the Life ;" the Resurrection is made certain in and through Me : as I ara the Life, having in Myself the gift of life, there is vested in Me pov/er to raise the dead. Therefore He would have her not only believe in the possibility of the Resurrection, and look forward to receiving back her brother in the last 1 It was the Jewish custom to bury very soon after death. 186 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. day, but believe in Himself avS having power over death and the grave, and able to give back her brother by His word. The principle of Anastasis was in His life. After this Jesus went to the grave, and " cried with a loud voice Lazarus, come forth; and he that was dead came forth." There was the anastesjs — the raising up of a dead body, by giving it life again. The Resurrection that Martha believed in, that she hoped for in the far-off future, was made present and palpable to her senses. The event in- tcrjjrets the meaning of Christ. The thing done shows what He intended when He said " I am the Resurrection :" I the source and giver of life will raise the dead. Some will say, however. This was a miracle, like His own resurrection, for a particular purpose — to show forth His divine povv'cr and glory, — and not to be taken as proof of a future resurrection. But the very end for which the miracle was Avrouglit was to confirm Martha's belief in the resurrection at the last day, by showing that Jesus had power to raise the dead, and would accomplish it. His otlier statements upon this doctrine confirm this view ; as a running commentary upon them will show. First we have the argument recorded by INIatthew, IMark, and Luke, in reply to the Sadducees. This sect denied the common Jewish doctrine of the resurrection, and they tliought to confound Jesus, or at least to embarrass Hira by their famous case of t]ie seven brothers who had mar- ried in turn the same wife. They put the doctrine of the resurrection in this bald literal form, and asked Jesus to dispose of their objection. It would have met their dif- ficulty to have replied that the Resurrection must not be taken literally but figuratively and spiritually, as meaning the translation of the soul to a higher sphere, — for spirits could not be sui^posed to enter into a literal marriage. But Jesus did not take that ground : He held fast by the common Jewish belief of a resurrection, and declared that THE RESURHECTION TAUGHT IN JOHN V. 25. 187 " in tlie Kesurrection they neither marry nor are giv^en in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven ;" ^ that is He aifirmed the resurrection of the body, but with such a transformation in respect of physical conditions, as will adapt it to the state in whi(;h angels live, a condition of existence in which the formal relations of this life, while remembered witli joy, shall be no more necessary and no more desired. Then He went on to assert the llesnrrec- tion as set forth by Moses in the fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would ever have a recognized ideiitity in the kingdom of God, Thus did Jesus maintain against gainsayers the doctrine of a proper anastasis of the dead. In a discourse recorded by John ^ He makes this doc- trine of a bodily resurrection, if possible, even more dis- tinct and emphatic by contrasting it with a spiritual awakening from sin and its condemnation. " He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation : but is passed from death unto life:" i. e. "by means of faith he receives a principle of life which cannot be im- paired by death." This obviously is said of the spiritual life, the renovation of the soul : for it is a process now going forward, and its effect is seen in those who believe : " Verily, verily I say unto you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God;" this awakening of men dead in trespasses and sins is now taking place : "and they that hear shall live ;" all who obey the gospel shall come to a new life in Christ. He then goes on to speak of His quickening power upon the literally dead; and this with reference to the final judg- ment. "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming" — He does not here say and now is — He is looking forward to the last day ; " in the which all " — not as before " they that hear " — but " all that are in their graves/' and hence 1 Matt. xxii. 30. i John v. 25, seq. 188 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. literally dead, "shall hear His voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto tiie resurrection of damna- tion." ^ Now, whoso ivill hear has life spiritual ; then, all sliall hear. Jesus is expounding His life-power as the Son of Man. He who now gives life to the soul by faith, will hereafter restore life to the bodi/ by His pov/er. This covers the whole ground. Jesus Himself distinguishes between the spiritual and the bodily Resurrection and teaches both ; one now is, the other is coming. Again Jesus specifies j^articularly the spiritual life and the resurrection as gifts to believers. " This is the will of Him that sent Me ; that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life ; and I will raise him up at the last day." ^ Christ's doctrine of the Resurrection was illustrated and verified by His own resurrection. For the vague conjec- tures of the ancients touching the possibility of such an event, He substituted the certainty of the fact ; and Avhile philosophy was, and ever will be, at fault concerning the mode of a resurrection, Jesus furnished the key to the fact in His proper personality. This is the feature that char- acterizes His doctrine, and removes it from the category of speculative beliefs to that of tangible facts. Had Jesus merely given certainty to the belief in the resurrection as already held by the devout among the Jews, this had been a contribution to faith worthy of such a Teacher. Had He added to this assurance of the fact some explanation of the manner in which so great a mar- vel will be effected. He would have brought philosophy as well as fiith under the highest obligations. Had He only repeated the declaration made in His discourse of the true 1 Here is named a set time for the resurrection as an event distinct from all moral and spiritual changes. ^ John vi. 40. Christ's resurrection proves the doctrine. 18^ bread : " No man can come to Me^ excef)t the Father which hath sent Me draw him ; and I will raise him up at the last day ;" ^ this pledge to use His personal power in restoring the dead to life, would have been a satisfying assurance to believers, of their victory over death. But He went far beyond this, and centering in Himself the fact, the doctrine, and the assurance of this stupendous miracle. He said, " I am the Resurrection and the Life," both are linked together, both emanate from Me, both center in Me; the Resurrection is Life in victory over death ; and the Resurrection that rescues from death unto life again shall issue in the Life Everlasting. What a wealth of meaning is hidden in those words ! Jesus had said to Martha, " Thy brother shall rise again." By this assurance He sought to test her faith in the resur- rection as held by the Jews, without, as yet, announcing His intention to restore Lazarus to life. For this she must be prepared through the development of her faith in the possibility of a resurrection ; and this belief Jesus made definite and positive, by making it individual, and meeting that question of personal identity which the heart yearns over by every open grave. " Thy brother shall rise again ;" rise as thy brother to be known and loved. " I knoiv" said the half-believing, half-wondering woman, " that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day :" but that is a long, long way off, and by his grave it seems so distant, so strange, so misty, that faith almost loses its hold upon it ; and in wondering how it can be, I hardly keep the confidence that it shall be, — the resurrec- tion — what f how is it ? — at the last day — when shall that be ? Then said Jesus, " I am the resurrection and the life ; he that bclieveth in IMe, though he were dead, yet shall he live." The creative power that gave life at the first proceeded from Me ; the power of resurrection that 1 John vi. 44. 190 THE TIIEOLOQY OF CIIRrST. shall bring back life from the grave centers in Me ; and it needs only that you believe in ME, and distance and im- possibility vanish in presence of the Life. " I am the Kesurrection." This announcement makes real and positive that which had before been a matter of speculative faith. What life is we know no better than before ; but we do know whence life comes, and who im- parts it. How life can be renewed in dead, buried and perished clay we do not know, any more than we know how life is given to the new-born babe or to the seed long buried under ground ; but we do know loho can give life to the dead and make that life indissoluble and perpetual. Instead of speculating how this thing can be, or searching after a principle, law, or process through which it can be accomi)lished, we look upon a person who can canse it to be, and who centers it in Himself as a reality. Tlie Re- surrection is not merely an event, it is a power ; it is life reviving and asserting itself again where death had for a time suspended its manifestations ; and this Life is not simply a fact, a phenomenon, it inheres in a Person and proceeds from a Person, so that He not only gives life, but is the life that He gives — He imparts somewhat of that which characterizes and constitutes Himself; He not only causes the resurrection to come to pass in another. He is the Resurrection, and as He raised himself by His own energy, so He enters by His own life-energy into the sleeping dust and raises that. The resurrection is but the application of life to that which had been dead, and He is the life. "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himsolf ; " ' — a life that sustains itself, and can impart life to othi^rs ; and so " The Son quickeneth whom He will." ^ The life is the quickening power ; the raising up is but one mode of ex- ercising that power upon a passive subject. And when 1 John V. 26. 2 John v. 21. RAISING OF LAZARUS. 191 we have formed the idea of one who has life in Himself the resurrection ceases to be so great a marvel ; it is no greater marvel than the first creation, or the original giving of life to any creature ; the Life is the real wonder. The declai-ation of Christ that He is the Resurrection was borne out by tvvo marvellous acts of life-power — first the raising of Lazarus, and second the raising up of His own body. Twice before He had raised the dead : — the daughter of Jairus from the bed on which she died, the son of the widow from the bier on which he was being carried out of the gates of Nain. The knowledge of these and of other miracles of Christ upon infirmities and diseases of the body, had led Martha to feel and say, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died," and had encouraged her half-formed hope ; '' i jX that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee." How feeble, unformed, unreal that hope was appeared in her remonstrating at the grave against remov- ing the stone, because Lazarus had been dead four days and must have fallen into corruption — so does intensity of grief vibrate between hope and despair. Jesus had sought to educate her to the point of implicit faith in Himself; and the circumstantiality of these details prepared the Avay for this crowning lesson. Let us recapitulate the inci- dents. We know that Lazarus was dead ; that he was buried ; that his friends were mourning him ; that he had been dead four days ; that the sister who so yearned after him that she almost hoped for his recall, was yet unwilling that his grave should be disturbed ; and when under these conditions of seeming impossibility, Jesus standing by the grave cried, "Lazarus come forth," and "He that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and the napkin yet tied about his face," — as if startled from a sleep — we feel that He who spake was the Resur- 192 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. rection and the life. Lazarus was raised, but Jesus was the Resurrection ; the wonder of the Power is greater far than the wonder that it wrought. The people who heard of the miracle made this distinction. Multitudes resorted to Bethany from curiosity, that tliey might see Lazarus ; but their wonder and faith were turned from the man w^ho had been raised from the dead to the Man who had raised him ; and so many became His disciples that the chief priests *' consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death ; because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus : " — so much greater was the author of the resurrection than the event itself. But above all, Jesus showed that He was the Resurrec- tion by raising Himself from the dead. As, to the com- mon people, the bringing up of Lazirus from the grave where he had lain four days seemed a greater marvel than raising the young man from his bier at Kain, so the rais- ing Himself seemed a yet greater wonder than to raise another. There were tv.'O reasons for this ; First, upon the cross Jesus had succumbed to death ; and by thus yielding in His own person to the enemy from wliom He had res- cued Lazarus, He had seemed to vacate His power or prerogative of life. In the presence of a vast concourse of approving spectators, He had been nailed to the cross and lifted up : He had expired of exhaustion and agony : the executioners on guard had pronounced Him dead ; a soldier had thrust a spear into His heart : and His death being certified, by the authority of the governor. He had been taken down from the cross by His sorrowing dis- ciples, buried in a new tomb, and the stone sealed and a guard set over it. Thus whatever power of resisting and overcoming death Jesus had shown in healing tlie sick and recalling the dead, seemed to have forsaken Him in His own extremity. Therefore that He should rise again was the si;reater marvel. MIRACLE OF CHRLSt's RESURRECTION. 193 And there was a second reason for tliis, in the fact that death seemed to separate from Him that mysterious power by which He had restored others from death. When Jesus brought back Lazarus to life, He invoked His Father ; He put forth His own v/ill ; He used some energy or efficiency residing in Himself: He was the power that acted upon another. But now He was undoubtedly dead — a lifeless body laid away in the tomb — with no power of motion or of feeling, and no symptom of vitality. That spirit-power that had broken the hold of death upon Liizarus, to human view had utterly departed when on the cross He yielded up the ghost. It seemed therefore a greater miracle that He should raise Himself than that He had raised another. And when on the third day He stood in the midst of His disciples, the same Jesus with the print of the nails in His hands and His feet, and the marks of the wound in His side, this was the sublime, the invinci- ble testimony that He, in, by, and of Himself, was the Resurrection and the Life. This it is that gives to the Christian faith in the Resurrection the freshness and life that always attach to a Person ; this is not an abstract dogma, nor a theory that might tantalize and bewilder but could never satisfy ; — it is confidence in a Person who has done in and for Himself that which He promises to do for every disciple. " He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." ^ This saying applied to Lazarus in the first in- stance, as a type of true believers who had died before the redeeming work of Christ was wrought out to its visible completion. Although Christ had not been revealed to such as the giver of life from the dead, nevertheless they having had that spiritual faith which is the key to all restoration, shall partake of this benefit of Christ's coming: such an one, though like Lazarus he have died without the 1 John xi. 25. 13 194 TIIE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. demoustration of the resurrection that I will give in My person, yet shall he live — come to life again through Me : and this promise, as affecting believers who had already died, was at once confirmed by bringing up Lazarus from the dead. But there followed a far-reaching, all-embracing promise for believers from among all coming generations of men ; " Whosoever liveth, and believeth in Me, shall never die." ^ This declaration has so staggered some in its literalness that they have construed it of spiritual living and dying — the life of the soul, in its felicity being secured by faith in Christ as its Redeemer. But there is nothing in the construction to indicate a change frem a literal resur- rection in the first clause of the sentence, to a spiritual life in the second ; and if we take this last saying as meaning a spiritual life, must we not follow Swedenborg in spirit- ualizing the resurrection also ? But our Lord applied and confirmed His declaration by raising Lazarus from the grave, thus showing that He was speaking throughout of a physi- cal, literal resurrection, a coming back to life with personal identity. Others have understood Him to refer to believers who shall be living on the earth at the time of His coming, — concerning whom it was a current belief that they shall be glorified or transfigured, without the process of dying. But it seems a straining of the sense to carry it forward to that distant future, when there is nothing in the context that refers to the end of the world. Christ made a promise of universal application to those that should believe in Him. He had just spoken of true believers who were already dead ; these He would redeem from the possession of death, and they as to their persons shall live again. He then spoke of all living disciples ; all that then were, and all who should afterwards become 1 John xi. 26. NO DEATH FOR THE BELIEVER. 195 disciples: " Whosoever liveth ;" every believer who is yet living shall be exempt from death through faith in Me, The interpretation lies in the meaning and effect of death as changed by Christ's coming and by faith in Him. " He that believeth shall never die ;" for (a). To the believer in Christ death has no power of evil either through fear or through suffering. All' mental dis- quietude is removed, and death as a process of nature taking effect in the body, is a falling asleep, a rest. (6). The process of dying liberates the spirit from its mortal appendages, that it may enter upon felicity unquali- fied and unending. The physiological process of dying is the enfranchisement of the spirit, a triumph of the life- principle over that which is mortal. Life in this stage of existence is a perpetual struggle with opposing forces ; the elements that compose our bodies tend continually to dis- solution and decay. Even when no disease invades, and no accident threatens, there is a constant waste of tissue that calls for incessant repairs ; and in the healthiest condi- tion, how is the hidden vitality that we feel throbbing and yearning within us, hampered by physical conditions or fatigue. But Christ has taught that death is the liberation and expansion of the life. It is the mortal that dies ; the spirit lives ; and, moreover, shall never die — death has no more dominion. The believer will be restored from the pos- session of death as to the body, raised up and glorified, so that death in the sense of destruction shall never be accom- plished upon anything that pertained to him. Here the ques- tion of time is nothing upon the scale of the infinite future. How grand the scope given to Christ's work of re- demption by His doctrine of the Resurrection ! For that work the Son of God came into the world wdicre sin had reigned through all the generations of men ; entered into that humanity which sin had made its own ; redeemed and sanctified this; went into personal conflict with Satan in the 196 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. field of his most successful temptations, and openly tri- umphed over him ; invaded the realm of darkness and east out devils by His word ; went down into the grave to meet death in the field of his unbroken possession, and there trampled under foot death, the grave, and Hades, and rose in the might of victory. Sending forth His S})irit, He has continued the triumphs of redemption in the world of human thought and will, and He shall come once more to perfect His victory by redeeming the body from the grave. All earth and time form one grand symphony of redemption. The world is yet in the andante movement, but a melody of hope runs through the solemn tones, and the time is already quickening ; the final movement shall open with the trump that wakes the dead, and with hallelujahs that sweep the skies. Hence the Christian faith is a finality in religion; in respect of the restoration of man, his development, his blessedness, it leaves nothing to be desired, nothing to be thought of. It redeems man from sin, and will lead him to perfection of character; it fortifies him against trial and makes him the conqueror of death ; it recovers him from the grave and clothes him with a spiritual and glo- rious body like unto Christ's ; it introduces him to fellow- ship with God and the society of all the holy and bless- ed. Thus linking man to the spiritual and eternal life, the Christian faith gives dignity to his present and glory to his future. The necessities of man's present condition bind him much to the material things around him, while it is the tendency of his appetites and passions to seek their grat- ification in the earthly and sensual. Yet he is conscious of intellectual wants, of spiritual yearnings and aptitudes that show his affinity for a higher life. These the Christian faith meets with its twin doctrines of redemption and resur- rection. Redemption delivers tlie spirit while yet in the body, from the dominion of the flesh, so that believers are THE CHRISTIAN FAITH A FINALITY. 197 no louoer " of the world," ^ Resurrection asserts the final dominion of the spirit in the body itself; He that believeth, by that act of faith is born again, and by virtue of this life he shall never die. * John XV. 19 ; xvii. 14. CHAPTER XV. THE FINAL JUDGMENT. To the power of Resurrection Jesus linked the preroga- tive of Judgment. The same Son whose spirit now quick- eneth the soul to a new and everlasting life, and whose voice shall hereafter quicken all the dead, will come to judge the world; for the Father " hath given Him au- thority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." 1 In His life-time Jesus declined to act as judge in cases brought to Him, ^ and He disavowed any judicial jnirpose in His mission ; " For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." ^ The ruling purpose in tlie mission of Christ was to deliver man from condemnation — for " He that believeth on Him is not condemned," — no longer lies under judicial condemnation as a sinner, and shall not hereafter fall under jjenalty : — " Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting life ; and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life." ^ Even to thoi^e y>'ho openly rejected Him, Jesus said, " If any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." ^ The purpose of Christ's mission was salvation, and the wdiole tone of His life was as far as possible removed from the spirit of judgment. But althougli Jesus so emphati- cally disavowed both the act and the spirit of judgment in 1 John V. 27. 2 Luke xii. 14. 3 John iii. 17. * John V. 24. 5 Jolin xii. 47. 198 THE JUDGMENT PUBLIC AND FORMAL. 109 His personal life upon earth, He as distinctly proclaimed Himself the judge of mankind, and His purpose of coming again in that character, at the end of the world. " When the Son of man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory ; and before Him shall be gathered all nations ; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goate ; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left." ^ This scene represents a public and general judgment, at a fixed time, presided over in person by the Son of Man, whose decisions will finally determine the condition of all mankind according to character. Other declarations set forth a special fitness in the designation of Christ to the office of judge, " because He is the Son of man." ^ These- several points cover the teaching of Jesus upon the mo- mentous doctrine of the final judgment. In the scheme of Redemption proclaimed by Christ, the Judgment is kept ever in view, as a motive for accepting the Gosj)cl, as a warning against rejecting it, as the fitting termination of the great drama of human life, and the final vindication of the righteousness and the authority of God before the uni- verse — an event of everlasting moment to the moral his- tory of our race and to the government of God. Hence all that can be known concerning the Judgment from the lips of the Son of Man, has a direct bearing upon every indi- vidual not only in his relations to that distant future, but in his present personal relations to Christ and the Gospel. First. It was taught by Christ that there will be a publiG and formal act of judgment concerning every indivi- dual of our race. There have been attempts to explain away His teaching in this particular. They who deny that the Resurrection signifies the raising of the body with a substantial identity, though with refined adaptations to a 1 Matt. XXV. 31. 2 John v. 27. 200 THE TIIEOLOGir OF CHRIST. spiritual life — who would make of the Anastasis nothing more than a moral renovation here, and the libei'ation of the soul by death into a higher spiritual life, — ecpially deny a formal declarative Judgment, and would make the judgment consist in the division of chaiTicter effected by Christ's word in this life, and in the natural progress of the soul into a corresj)onding condition after death : in other words, such interpreters hold, that the judgment begins in this world in the separation of good and evil which the word of God pronounces and the course of Pro- vidence effects, and then that this goes on, as a natural law of progress, into the future world, there keeping separate the good and the evil from the moment of death. Thus death itself becomes, as it were, an event of a judicial and retributive character ; and there is no need of further judg- ment. Beyond a question these ideas of Judgment are not only founded in Reason and in Nature, but are brought out iu the teachings of Christ. But in addition to these obvious and natural processes of judgment. He taught that there will be a positive act of Judgment proceeding from Him- self in a formal and conspicuous manner. His word truly does judge men day by day. This Jesus Himself stated to be an inevitable consequence of His own preaching, though He had not come into the world for the purpose of judgment. The clear strong light of truth as He pre- sented it, made more palpable the darkness of sin and un- belief, and the perversity and wickedness of such as would not come to the liglit. Tliis is the condemnation, the xji'.ac::, the separation, the decisive event, the turning point of character — " that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."^ Hence while he who believes on the Son of God and comes to tlie light is freed from condemnation, " he 1 John iii. \^. Christ's woed as a judge. 201 that bellevcth not is eondemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God." ^ This process of moral judgment, making plain distinctions of character by the test of truth, is going on continually and necessarily, as often as the Gospel is preached. It is a judgment that no man can escape : the Truth pronounces it by shining over against his character and life, and the man pronounces it upon himself by his own deportment t>v>'ard the Truth. There comes a new krisis to every soul so often as it confronts the word of Christ. Every word of His Truth judges the soul and compels the soul to judge itself. When Christ says " Be ye perfect as your Father," His word judges us as sinful. When He says " Repent and believe the Gospel," His word judges our impenitence and unbelief; the light makes the shadows stand out. AVhen He teaches us to pray. His word condemns a prayerless life. When He commands us to love God with all the heart. He judges our love of self and the world. As with the word of Jesus, so also with His life. The manifestation that Jesus made of perfect holiness and of divine power and glory, brought into bolder relief the sin- fulness of those that rejected Him, and showed that what- ever their pretensions to piety they were ralically defective at heart; for in refusing His teachings and rejecting the evidences of His divine purity and power, they showed that in heart they had really no love for holiness nor for God. " If I had not come and sjioken unto them, they had not had sin." Their aversion to what is truly good and divine would not have stood out as it then did in their consciousness and to the view of others, and because of ignorance they would have been less culpable ; " but now they have no cloak for their sin." ^ " If I had not done among them the works which none otiier man did, they 1 John iii. 18. 2 John xv. 23. 202 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. had not had sin ; " ^ had not Christ appeared with His wonderful works of divine power and love attesting the truth, there had been some comparative excuse for men living in ignorance and unbelief: " But now have they both seen and hated both Me and my Father." The same principle of judgment was again enunciated to the Phari- sees who sought to condemn Jesus for giving sight to a blind man on the Sabbath day. They professed to have the true law of religion and refused to be convinced by the miracle. Jesus said, "For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not miglit see ; and they which see might be made blind." ^ His coming into the world, His being in the world, by the normal effect of light and truth made a judicial discrimination among men as to the honesty of their feelings and the sincerity of their profes- sions toward Truth and God. "If ye were blind, ye could have no sin ; but now ye say We sec, therefore your sin rcmaincth."^ Tliis judicial process — a judgment in fact though not inform — a moral judgment, goes forward day by day. Men profess a regard for principle, for morality, for re- ligion, — pride themselves upon their virtues ; — yet when Christ appears before them the embodiment of every virtue, the manifestation of true goodness, the exponent of true re- ligion, they render Him no homage, give Him no love, fol- low Him with no obedience, and so by His Presence their pretensions are judged. But this searching, discriminating effect of truth and holiness was not the ithole of the judg- ment meant by Christ, as is plain from His own words; for He teaches that the self-same Truth wliich now reveals tlie characters of men and so far judges them, will also judge them hereafter. " He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not my words, hath One that judgeth him ; the M'ord that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.'' ^ 1 John XV. 24. « John ix. 39. 3 John ix. 41. ■* John xii. 48. A SEPARATION OP GOOD AND EVIL AT DEATH. 203 The notion of a judgment immediately after death, a judgment which consists simply in allotting the spirit, as by a law of its own being, to a condition corresponding to its moral state, finds some warrant in our Lord's parable of Dives and Lazarus. There Lazarus is pictured in a state of felicity after death, reposing " in Abraham's bosom," and Dives in a place of torment, whose pains he endures while his five brethren are yet alive in this world. This parable clearly teaches these two things — that immediately after death the soul is found existing in a state of con- sciousness ; and that in the state next following upon death, there is a wide distinction in the conditions of the departed which answers to the differences in their characters in this world. This is virtually a judgment; whether we regard it as the formal act of God, or the working out in their natural effects upon the frames and feelings of the soul of the dispositions formed and the habits indulged in the pre- sent life. To the extent of separating the good and the bad into distinct abodes of happiness and misery, the effect of death is judicial and retributive. What the very laws of nature in respect of all tendencies and developments, and the laws of the human mind in respect of memory, association, and conscience so obviously teach, is herein the law of God, and the rewards and punishments which take effect directly after death are of the nature of a judgment upon each soul in particular. But in addition to this our Lord has set before us the picture of a public and formal judgment at which He will preside, and pronounce judgment in person. " The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him ; and He shall sit upon the throne of His glory." Now it is true that great providential judgments in the course of human history were sometimes prefigured by Christ as the coming of the Son of Man. Such was the destruction of Jerusalem, and the final subversion of the 204 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. Jewish polity and faith, concerning which Jesus said : " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven ; and then shall all tlie tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." ^ There were no supernatural portents of that event; its immediate effects were limited to a small territory, and after Titus had wiped out the capital of a rebellious province, the affairs of the world went on as before; yet in its moral bearings upon the kingdom of God, this was one of the great way-marks of human his- tory. And this pictorial " coming " of the Son of Man is used only of certain signal and majestic events in history which the minds of men instinctively recognize as the judg- ments of God. The grandeur of the event in its moral relations justifies the boldness of the figure. Again, the event of death is sometimes spoken of under the figure of a master coming to reckon with his ser- vants ; ^ for to each individual the time of death is tlie winding up of his earthly affairs, and a summons from his Lord to render up his account. But to represent the com- mon event of mortality that occurs at every moment of every day as the coming of Christ with great power and glory, with His holy angels, the sounding of a trumpet and the setting up a throne, would be a rhetorical extravagance that no Biblical writer ever dreamed of And however each individual may be practically judged at death, such a description as our Lord has given of His own coming in the character of Judge can mean nothing less than a public and formal act of judgment. In the same language He teaches that this judgment will be universal in respect of the human race. " Before Him sliall be gathered all nations" ^ — all the families of men in al! their generations. This positive, formal and universal 1 Matt. xxiv. 30. « Matt. xxv. 19. ^ Matt. xxv. 34 THE JUDGMENT UNIVERSAL. 205 judgment is most clearly set forth in the following words : " The Father hath given Him authority to execute judg- ment, because He is the Son of Man. ^ Marvel not at this," said Jesus, and entering somewhat into detail. He proceeded to describe what manner of judgment this shall be; — not a judgment in this life, separating His friends from His enemies : not a judging of souls one by one, by assigning them their portion at death ; but a simultaneous judging of all mankind, to follow upon the Resurrection — " Tlie hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice :" ^ that voice is elsewhere likened to the sounding of a trumpet, the signal for decampment, which wakes the sleepers for a battle or a march — '' the intimation of some grand catastrophe" at hand; "all, that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth : they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."^ Thus mankind will be judged as in the body for the deeds done in the body. God's dealings with men in this world will then be unveiled in a convincing- revelation of His righteousness. The interlaced influences of society will then be untwined, and each character be brought out according to its deserts. " For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed : neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light ; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops." "* How much greater moment will the public exposition of character, followed by appropriate awards, impart to the judicial verdict of the divine govern- ment, than would the silent dropping of each individual at death into his appointed place ! Christ taught further that there will be a set time for 1 John V. 27. 2 John v. 28. » John v. 28, 29. ■« Luke xii. 3. 206 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. this general judgment. This belongs to the very idea of it as public and universal. In the order of events Christ placed the Judgment after the Resurrection. He spoke of it as that day, — an ex- pression which in New Testament usage denotes the closing up of this dispensation and the ushering in of a new order of things. Thei'e is something that awakens awe in this emphatic designation of " that Day :" — " Of that Day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven;"^ "It shall be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for Chorazin ;" ^ " Take heed to yourselves lest that Day come upon you unawares ;" ^ — a Day selected, marked, appointed, a Day which like the first day of creation, the day of the crucifixion, the day of the Lord's resurrection, shall be re- membered when all other days of human history are for- gotten. For this shall mark indelibly the calendar of our race, as it passes over from the doings of time into the issues of eternity — a Day so grand, so bright, so glorious, so terrible, that in all the ages after it shall be remembered as That Day ! Christ announced the judgment to follow the end of the world. " In the end of the world, the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them whicli do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire ;" * and again He said, " At the end of the world the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just."^ To sum up the doctrine of Jesus concerning the Judg- ment ; at a fixed period in the future, marking so high and solemn an occasion as " that Day," at the close of the present order of things, the end of the world, and after the resur- rection, there will be a public and general judgment of mankind which shall finally divide them into two great 1 Mat. xxiT. 36. 2 Luke x. 12. 3 Luke xxi. di. ^ Mat. xiii. 41, 42. 5 xiii. 49. OUE HUMANITY IN THE JUDGE. 207 classes, and shall apportion theso according to their charac- ter, to a state of hap})iness or a state of misery. It will be a crowning characteristic of the Judgment that the Lord Jesus in person, as the Son of Man, will preside at that august solemnity, and will utter the decisions that shall fix forever the destiny of each and all of mankind. The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and shall sit upon the throne of His glory : all nations shall be gathered be- fore Him for their final award : He shall separate them one from another ; He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ^ The judging shall be His; the decision shall be His ; the welcome to the righteous, the sentence upon the wicked shall proceed from His lips: — "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg- ment unto the Son."^ The Humanity of Christ is made prominent in this refer- ence to the judgment, as His Divinity was made prominent in reference to the resurrection. The dead shall hear the voice of " the Son of God " — the divine power and majesty will be most strikingly expressed through the voice that shall raise the dead ; but " the Son of ]\Ian," our represent- ative and glorified humanity in Christ, shall come into view in the solemnities of the judgment. It is easy to imagine the moral significance of this exaltation of the Christ as the Judge. His personal connection with human- ity. His experience of its trials and temptations. His sympa- thy with its sufferings and sorrows, will throw an air of benignity and tenderness over a scene that must of itself possess so much of majesty and awe. As one has said, "Man shall be judged by his fellow, by the most gracious and the meekest man, by man who hath borne the sins of mankind, and can have compassion upon his brethren — so that it is Mercy itself that judgeth." — One may well con- ceive that the same sympathetic experience with our human- 1 Mat. XXV. 33. ^ j^im y. 22. 208 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. ity that qualified Jesus to be " a merciful and faithful High Priest/' would have some corresponding relation to His office as Judge, bringing Him near to the arraigned in a compassionate consideration of ignorance and infirmi- ties. Moreover, as the truth of Jesus was the closest test of character, the life of Jesus the perfect model of humanity, the death of Jesus the highest expression of love, it is fit- ting that they who have had knowledge of Him should be brought to trial at the last before Him, and be judged by their feelings and actions toward Himself. Surely every complaint or even suspicion of severity must be silenced, when He who showed His anxiety to save men by dying for them, and who promised forgiveness to them that hated Him, shall remand unto condemnation for their sins those who would not come unto Him that they might have life. ^ Their sinful unbelief will itself be their con- demnation, in the light of the character and mission of Christ, and especially in the light of the mercy that has saved others and would equally have saved them. ^ There will be a fitness also in the judgment being rendered by Him who as the Messiah appeared on earth to manifest and perfect the kingdom of God in opposition to the king- dom of darkness and evil. The judicial function of Christ will set forth His divine royalty. ^ Back of all these considerations, as exalting and enforc- ing them, is the fiict that God was revealed to men in His paternal love and grace through the Inearnation of Christ. It Avas through our human nature as the medium, that Jehovah manifested Himself to men as the Father ; and so wondrously was the love of God in giving His Son to save the world identified with the grace of Christ in being " lifted up " for that end, so entirely were the thoughts and 1 John viii. 21, 24. 2 Matt. xi. 20-25. ^Matt. xxv. 34. THE INCAENATION A REVELATION. 209 puqDoses of the Father reflected in the Son, that Jesus could say "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." ^ The being and attri'outes of God had been matter of devout contenipkition in the creation ; had been to phil- osophic minds a subject of speculative thought ; had been impressed upon the Jewish people by occasional appear- ances of celestial glory, and special acts of divine po^ver • but when Clirist came, men saw this power over nature over diseases, over the dead, over the world of spirits, pro- ceeding from a personal will, and so felt the presence of God as a living, acting personality; they saw this power put forth for most beneficent ends ; and so, that goodness which they had inferred from creation and providence, they saw to be the living activity of the love of God : the truth which they had spelled out upon the pages of nature and of the human mind, or heard from the lips of pro- phets, tliey now heard in the clearness, the fulness, the majesty of the voice of God. That holiness which Eeason and Revelation had alike proclaimed as the sum of the divine character, and conscience and the word of God had required as the condition of divine favor, they saw before tlicm, a living example, in Him who Avas without sin, and full of every grace : — but most of all, that mercy, which nature but obscurely hinted, and reason hardly dared to guess, and the law had only shadowed through its sacrifices, was here manifested in words of tenderness and compassion, in the oifer of salvation, and in the for- giveness of sins : it was in view of this intelligible and completed exhibition of the character of God, tliat Jesus said, " He that both seen Me, Iiath seen the Father." The Incarnation was the most stupendous moral pheno- menon in the history of this world, and so far as we can imagine, in the history of the universe. The physical fact * John xiv. 9. 14 210 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. of the Incarnation was the least part of the miracle : for, that the Creator of all substances and forms could adapt Himself to any, were no marvel. But the purpose of the Incarnation is the moral wonder of earth and heaven, — that God entered into humanity to redeem, ennoble, en- throne it : and this sublime wonder of the Incarnation will stand out in Jesus the appointed Judge, because He is the Son of Man. In that Day when all nations shall be gathered before Him, the surpassing wonder shall be the unveiling of that awful mystery, the Incarnate God, the Redeeming Man ; all angels His servants ; principalities, powers, and dominions gathered beneath His throne ! CHAPTEll XVI. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE SAINTS. In the dramatic representation of the Judgment recorded by Mattliew, the scene opens with words of congratulation from the enthroned Son of Man to His loyal and faithful disciples: "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." ^ A state of eternal felicity awaits the close of the believer's life as its appropriate consummation. " He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life," ^ — the life of faith sustained upon earth by the " bread of God," at death will emerge from all the limitations of the flesh into the life of perfect satisfaction in heaven ; — a continuous Life — here an immanent principle, there an immanent Power " equal unto the angels ; " ^ " He that eat«th of this bread shall live forever." * This promise of a perfected and glorified life with Himself our Lord associated with the commemo- rative supper, embodying it with the most expressive symbol of His love, that as often as we remember Him in His death, we may revive the assurance that we shall be with Him in His glory. The sacrament which He insti- tuted at the first as a memorial. He declared also to be a prophecy ; it was designed to link together in the thought of His disciples His departure and His coming ; to connect His dying upon the cross with their living forever in the kingdom of His Father. In the anguish of parting He said to His disciples " Believe in Me ; I go to prepare a place for you ; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I 1 Matt. XXV. 34. 2 John vi. 47. ^ Luke xx. 36. * John vi. 68. 211 212 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." ^ And the going and the coming He linked together in this prophetical memorial — the memorial " This do in remembrance of Me," ^ the pro- phcGy, " I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom." ^ To drink together of the wine-cup at the Table signifies social communion — participation in a common festival of love : the promise of Jesus that He will hereafter drink of the same cup with His disciples, is an assurance that they shall then be admitted to a visible fellowship and en- joyment v/itli their Lord — that He who is now felt to be present at this sacrament, through the spiritual perception of faith, will then be seen in the midst of His Redeemed, Avelcoming them as His brethren, and diffusing over them the glory of His presence and the joy of His own blessedness. The sphere of this joyous communion will be the perfect- ed state of the Redeemed in heaven. " In my Father's kingdom," was the time and place indicated by our Lord for the fulfilling of this promise. The " kingdom of heaven," the " kingdom of God," as we have seen,"* began to be mani- fested upon earth when souls, brought into a personal allegiance to Truth and Holiness, were united in a fellow- ship of spiritual love and obedience to their common Lord. Wherever such souls are found there is the kingdom of heaven already within them : and wherever such souls are joined together in some visible bond of recognition and fellowship, there is the kingdom of heaven made manifest. As yet, however, the kingdom of heaven is but imperfectly established in respect of its authority in the hearts of those who have received it, and imperfectly manifested through any communion of Christians by which it is represented to 1 John xiv. 1-4. '^ Luke xxii. 19. » Matt. xsvi. 29. * Chap. iii. THE KIXGDOM MADE PERFECT. 213 the world. The kingdom in its highest sense — as de- noting the perfect rule of the divine will in a perfect com- munity — will not appear until the final coming of the Son of Man. It is of a time after the end of the world, after death, and the resurrection and the judgment — the time when " the Son of man shall send forth his angels to gather out of His kingdom all things that oifend " ^ — that Jesus has declared, "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father."^ The Master of the house shall " thrust out all workers of iniquity," separat- ing the false from the true, and then shall Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets abide in the king- dom of God ^ — in a state of purity and felicity that no sin nor trouble shall ever invade : the kingdom of God puri- fied of all the accidents of evil that have attached them- selves to its external development in this world, shall then stand forth in its essential beauty and glory. That state of perfected character and beatified existence which the Scriptures describe as Heaven, our Lord here styles His Father's kingdom. It will be the crowning honor and felicity of the saints in heaven, that the Lord Jesus will then make Himself known as their friend and companion, receiving them into a personal fellowship, and sharing with them as at a high festival, His peculiar glory as the Son of Man. In that richness of immediate personal in- tercourse, in that fulness of love made visible by the sliar- ing of all its gifts, will Jesus fulfill His parting word to His disciples, " I will drink new wine tvith you in my Father's kingdom." The cup of communion at that feast will have a new flavor, and will sparkle with fresh delights — a flavor that will not as now reach the soul through the senses, but shall convey direct from soul to soul the very essence of 1 Matt, xiii. 41 . ^Matt. xiii. 43. » Luke xiii. 25, 30. 214 THE THEOLOGY OP CHRIST. love and bliss ; — the wine of life pressed from immortal fruits, and imparting the purity, tone, and freshness of celestial joy. It will be a " new " and more exalted mode of spiritual intercourse ; — where now this cup, as a symbol, addresses the imagination and helps us to conceive of Jesus as spiritually communing with us, there Jesus will give us in His own person the tokens of fellowship that shall cause us to realize that we are with Him and possess Him forever. It will be new, also, as the cup of greeting differs from the cup of parting. In the cup of parting we give all good wishes, all kindly feelings, and pledge ourselves to mutual remembrance, and to sympathetic, spiritual com- muning ; yet with all this there is blended a feeling of sadness at the separation. But in the cup of greeting, we cannot stay to speak of good wishes and good feelings, and promises of fidelity, for the joy we have in coming to- gether face to face. The new wine will beam with the re- flection of that joy. And this parting promise seems to foreshadow a pecu- liar joy of Christ in the fellowship of His redeemed held in reserve, as it were, until that day of reunion. This cup of blessing He does not share with the angels. There are sympathies and communings, tender and inexpressible blendings of soul between Jesus and His disciples, which only the Humanity that He redeemed can know. Hence the significance of the negative as well as the positive terms of the promise ; " I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that Day when I drink it new with yoii in My Father's kingdom." And there is another deep spiritual meaning here : namely that the saints in heaven shall forever refer their feli- city to the Redemption wrought for them by Jesus through His death upon the cross. Upon the eve of offering Plim- self ujj for their redemption, Clirist gave to all who should THE FESTIVAL OF REDEMPTION. 215 believe on His name, this cup as the symbol and memorial of His blood " shed for the remission of sins." With the parting injunction " This do in remembrance of Me," He coupled the promise of meeting them again in the higher fellowship of heaven. But there too, the joy of meeting their Lord, the bliss of being saved, would be presented under the symbol of a cup ; and though the wine would be new — the first interview there in wonderful contrast v/ith the parting here — yet would tlie wine, the cup, link all the blessedness of that reunion in heaven, to the tender memories of the sacrifice on earth — link the salvation yonder to the Redemption here ; and so, in the long in- terval Jesus Himself will not partake of the cup, until the memorial of suffering shall be transformed into the greet- ing of reunion, with all " the travail of His soul " ^ gath- ered about Him in His Father's kingdom. Under this exquisite figure of a festival of love begun' on earth to be renewed and perfected in heaven, did the Lord Jesus set forth the fruits of His redemption to all believers. His doctrine of the Final State of the Rio-lit- eous is that, after the Resurrection and the Judgment, they shall dwell in perfect bliss and glory, amid the constant tokens of His presence and love. However high their joys in the intervening Paradise, there must come to them some wondrous augmentation when the Son of ISIan sit- ting on the Throne of His glory, with all nations gath- ered before Him, — shall say unto them upon His right hand, " Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the king- dom prepared for you from the founda,tion of the world;" ^ — blessed with the Saviour's welcome, blessed with His immediate presence, blessed of His Father, possessors of that " kingdom " for which they were created at the first in the divine image, and were renewed as the spiritual sous of God. 1 Isaiah liii. 11. 2 Matt. xxv. 34. 21 G THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. A collocation of the words of Christ touching the final state of all believers teaches as the sum of His doctrine: (a). That one element in that state of blessedness which is promised them hereafter will be the near Presence of the Lord of their life and love. " I go/' said He, " to prepare a place for you, and I will come again and receive you unto INIyself, that where I am, there ye may be also." ^ In His last prayer for His disciples Jesus anticipated their coming to be with Himself, and His desire for this breathed to the Father was also the determination of that will which was always the will of God. He was about to return to that visible glory and blessedness in the heavenly man- sions, which He had with the Father before the world was ; but that glory would henceforth be brightened by His work of Redemption, and by the participation of His followers in the triumphs of His Resurrection : " Father, I will that they whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am ; that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given ]\Ie." ^ The victorious leader of the American army, the second saviour of his country, with an honest pride summoned his son from West Point to witness his inauguration as Presi- dent, that he might behold and enjoy his father's honor ; yet the son of the President could share the glory of his father only through its reflection upon him morally; nothing of the military renown, nor of the political distinc- tion was his ; and when the father's term of office shall expire, the son will be of no more consequence in Wash- ington than any other man. But the beholding of Christ's glory promised to His disciples is a sharing as well as a seeing ; for Jesus has so identified Plimself with His Church tliat His glory will pervade His ]ieo]ile as being identified with Himself. "I am glorified in them;"^ "I in them and Thou in Me." * 1 John xiv. 3. ^ John xvii. 24. 3 John xvii. 10. * John xvii. 23, FREEDOM AXD POWER OF THE REDEEMED. 217 (J)). A second clemcut in this coming blessedness will be the exaltation of bc'ieverti iii honor, through their union icith Christ. They shall " inherit a kingdom ; " not only shall they find themselves amid the visible splendors of the kingdom of God, bathing in the light and glory of His presence ; but they sixall know that all this is theirs for an eternal possession. All that God can communicate to them of honor and blessing, filling their nature to reple- tion, shall be theirs. He made man at the beginning to have dominion over other Avorks of His hands: Ho crowned him with glory and honor and ]mt all things under his feet. ^ But man uncrowned himself by sin — subjecting his soul with its divine instincts of knowledge and spiritual power, to the dictation of the body and its api)etites, he cast away his lordship over nature, and be- came its servant. By redeeming man from sin, Christ has restored him to that spiritual power and dominion which from the foundation of the world were designed to be his ; and into the fulness of that kingdom the Redeemed shall enter in the heavenly state ; dominion over the powers of nature, so that nothing shall harm them ; dominion over evil spirits so that these shall no more tempt them ; do- minion over time and space through the powers of an unwearying and unending life. "Kingdom" is not mere position and sphere of action, but the consciousness of power, of capacity and exaltation ; "The kingdom of God is within you," Could we for instance, transport ourselves, without external helps, at our own will, from star to star, we should have the kingdom over space ; the spirit-power would control distance, gravi- tation, all that pertains to motion and place. Some such joyous freedom of conscious power in respect of nature and her laws, may be a portion of the kingdom of the saints. (c). Another element of the final state of the righteous as promised by Christ is, that thn/ shall have the approving 1 Ps. viii. G. 218 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. benediction of His Father, and so sJiall dwell in conscious fdloiaship with God. "■ Come, ye blessed of my Father." ^ " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." ^ To be acknowledged as chil- dren of God denotes the completeness of the restoration which Christ has accomplished in believers. Sin severed the spiritual union of the soul with God and effaced His spiritual likeness ; sin made man no longer a child of God save in origin and name; and so completely does a moral resemblance set aside all resemblance by mere derivation or title, that to the Jews who, while calling themselves the children of God, denied the truth and the Son of God, Jesus said " Ye are of your Father, the devil." ^ But to them that believed on His name, Jesus imparted the glory of a sonship in privilege and promise analogous to His own : " The gloiy which Thou gavest Me I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we are one." * This filial relationship will be acknowledged and crowned with open benediction in that heavenly home. Then shall be ful- filled in its highest meaning that declaration of Christ, " He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father." ^ " For the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and believed that I came out from God." ^ As one has said, " God neither hopes nor believes, but knows and loves ;" therefore love is greater than faith or hope, because it does no-!:, like these, only relate to God as an object, but belongs to God as a nature, so that in loving Him we share Him also. That beatific union Christ will proclaim at " that Day ;" saying, " Come, blessed of My Father." And His Father is their Father also. While they were yet in this world, if we may so speak. He had appropriated them as children; they had come to Him because the Father drew them ; receiving the Spirit of Christ they had 1 Matt. XXV. 34. 2 Matt. xiii. 43. 2 John viii. 44. ^ John xvii. 22, 6 John xiv. 21. 6 John xvi. 27, THE FEATURES OF HEAVENLY BLISS. 219 become " the children of the Highest," ^ and now the uu- Bpeakable blessedness of heaven, ia the reciprocative love of God, shall be theirs by the gift of the Father. Other elements of heavenly felicity are set forth in the writings of the apostles, especially by Paul and John ; but- the plan of this treatise restricts us to the personal teachings of our Lord, and therefore we enumerate only those features of heaven which Jesus Himself has delineated. For the same reason we refrain from all speculation upon the natui'e of existence in the heavenly state and its modes of occupa- tion and enjoyment. Wo would not introduce one breath of mere conjecture to mar the serene beauty and dignity of the declarations of Christ. Yet few and brief as those declarations are, what higher heaven can we conceive than Jesus has promised, in a perpetual feast of love and joy, under new conditions of existence, not subject to partings and sorrows ; in His own near and abiding Presence ; in the sharing of His glory ; in the honor of a kingdom ; in the blessing of His Father, and a welcome to all the good His love can provide and all the joy that it can bring. This blessedness is traced directly to His Eedemption. This cup — the New Testament in His blood shed for the remission of sins — will be brought into remembrance at the threshold of that heavenly festival, because only by that blood could we have remission, and only through re- mission of sins can we have life and heaven. " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." ^ But though Christ Himself is the only door into heaven, and no man cometh to the Father but by Him,^ yet there are conditions of mind and of action to be fulfilled on our part, in order that we may be numbered with the saved. Two such conditions Christ Himself laid down with empha- 1 Luke vi, 35. « John iii. 14, 15. 3 John xiv. 6. 220 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. sis in His solemn description of the last Judgment and the awards that shall follow it ; these are, confessing the name of Christ, and acting from the love of Christ. " Wlioso- ever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." ^ This confessing may take many different forms, and it is not the f(.»rm of it that is es- sential as a condition, but the thing itself as truly and heartily done — not making a confession, but confessing Christ. To confess Christ is first of all to acknowledge Him in the soul as Redeemer and Lord ; to confess one's need of Him to take away sin ; to confess one's dependence upon Him for salvation ; to confess one's admiration of Him and homao;e toward Him ; to confess Plim with the full sur- render of heart and life to His service. And one must likewise confess Him before men ; by a Christian tone and spirit in the family and in society ; by Christian principles in business and a Christian deportment in the common life. And in addition to these modes of confessing Christ, one should honor Him by some sort of public acknowledg- ment and testimony. The obvious way of making such confession is to join His Church ; and if one's reason for not doing this is an unwillingness to confess Christ, how can such an one hope that Christ will confess him ? The other condition of admission to the heavenly blessed- ness is a life of active benevolence prompted by love to Christ. In the commendation bestowed upon the right- eous in the day of judgment, their welcome to the kingdom seems to proceed upon the ground of the good works they had done. ^ Did our Lord then teach or imply a doctrine of salvation by works, or of merit? The very statement contradicts that supposition ; for they who do such works have no thought of merit in them ; they are astonished and 1 Mat. X. 32, 33. « Matt. xxv. 31-37. RELATION OF WORKS TO SALVATION. 221 overvvlielniod at the enumeration; "Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered and fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Tliee drink." ^ What they did was not in the endeavor to merit heaven, or to work out or work up a salvation, but was the acting out of a true love to Christ in dependence upon Him. These good works were not meritorious but evidential : " The works of love performed by the righteous are the proofs by which they evince their calling to the kingdom of God. As works of true love these presuppose living faith : faith and love are as inseparable as fire and warmth : the one cannot exist in its real nature without the other. External actions of charity may be dead works ; but our Lord speaks of the affluence of the inward tide of love in acts of holy charity." "Ye have done it unto Me :" — without thought of personal reward, without a cal- culation of merit, under the promptings of the Saviour's love, they had carried out His spirit in ministering to others. To act in all things from love to Christ denotes that vital union with Christ which qualifies the participant for the felicity of heaven. And since heaven consists more in spirit than in place, more in character than in condi- tion, this doing the will of Christ in the daily life is not so much a formal preparation for the life to come, as it is the present experience of that principle of holy living which shall find its proper consummation in the Life Ever- lasting. 1 Matt, XXV. 37. CHAPTER Xyil. FUTUEE PUNISHMENT. We have traced the doctrine of Christ step by step from His first preaching of the necessity of repentance and the new birth, and His promise of eternal life to all who should believe upon the Son of Man as lifted up upon the cross, to the announcement of the day in which He will come again to judge the quick and the dead ; and pausing as it were at the threshold of the eternal state, we have heard the words of final greeting, " Come, ye blessed of My Father, enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." ^ Would that we might close our contemplation of that scene with these thrilling words of invitation! — that there were no alternative to be looked upon, no contrast to the picture that Christ has given of Himself embosomed in the midst of His glorified discij)les at the festival'of the new wine, the feast of immortal life and love in His Father's kingdom. But since He has stated the alternative and drawn the contrast, we must fol- low His teachings in all fidelity to the end. Already at the beginning of His ministry, in the first proclamation of the Gospel, the alternative was presented, the contrast was foreshadowed. He came that " whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life ; " and this clearly implies that they who would not believe must perish ; which, indeed, was expressly declared in that " he that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that be- lieveth not is condemned already." ^ And the contrast 1 Matt. XXV. 34. « Jolin iii. 18. 222 THE WARNINGS OF CHRIST. 223 which was thus pointedly stated at the beginning of the Gospel, runs through our Lord's discourses and parables to tlie close ; and is there drawn out in the form of results that are positive, visible, and unchangeable. The issue of life or death, salvation or condemnation, was always present to the mind of Jesus in preaching the Gospel. A future state of rewards and punishments formed a back-ground of motive and warning in every discourse, and in some discourses was brought most impressively into the foreground. Self-denial, the renouncing of besetting sin was urged for the reason that "It is better to enter into life halt or maimed, than that the whole body should be cast into hell." ^ Courage in acknowledging Christ was urged by this plea : " Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul ; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - His hearers were exhorted to " enter in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to de- struction, and many there be which go in thereat." ^ They were exhorted to " make the tree good," the heart right, because " every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire." * They were warned that mere professions could not save them, for even " chil- dren of the kingdom," born of the seed of Abraham — for not receiving Christ, shall be " cast out into outer dark- ness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ;"^ for while in this world much that is evil is gathered into the visible church, " at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire." ^ The Pharisees and all hypocrites were warned of "the damnation of hell." ^ Dives having lived a sensual, worldly life, on dying went to a place of misery, and " was in torments ; " ^ 1 Matt, xviii. 8. 2 Matt. x. 28. 3 Matt. vii. 13. * Matt. vii. 19. 5 Matt. viii. 12 6 Matt. xiii. 42. ' Matt, xxiii. 33. « L^ji^e xvi. 23. 22-1 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. " "What then is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"^ The foolish virgins, having no oil of grace in their lamps, shall knock and cry in vain at the door of heaven, forever shut against them. ^ " INIany will say to ]\Ie in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast oat devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."^ "All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man, and shall come forth; — ^they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." * " These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." ^ " For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, with His angels ; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." ^ All these are the very words of Christ. The doctrine of a coming judgment, at which a direct recompense from God shall be rendered to men individually according to character, is not an invention of a malignant theology. It was the constant teaching of Jesus Christ, and distin- guishes Christianity as a moral system, with positive awards, from systems that refer all evils to purely natural causes. That penal consequences follow upon the transgression of physical laws, and that these are intended to have a moral effect in restraining transgression, is written in the whole constitution of Nature and of Man. Some main- tain, however, that the penalties of transgression are lim- ited to the operation of natural laws ; that these may be retrieved at any time in the future by a change of conduct on the part of the sufferer ; or will work themselves out at " 1 Matt. xvi. 26. « Matt. xxv. 1 seq. * Matt. vii. 22. * John V. 28. 5 Matt. xxv. 46. « Matt. xvi. 27. NATURAL SEQUENCES OF SIN. 225 last in his atonement and purification. In other words, by the doctrine of natural consequences, sin and its effects are simply a question between man and the general system of laws within which he exists. Certain actions are fol- lowed by certain effects. Whoever therefore, transgresses the laws of his being or the laws of the universe must ex- pect to take the consequences. This doctrine of natural consequences is true so far as it goes; and this alone should suffice to deter men from transgressing the laws of their being. But Christ taught that the punishment of sin will embody the additional element of a positive retribution from His hand as the righteous Judge of the world ; — that Tie flimself will reward every man according to His Avorks; and that these awards will be final and everlasting. Exception is taken to this doctrine of a direct and posi- tive retribution as inconsistent with the wisdom and good- ness of God, and with the plan of salvation ; it is styled a dogma of a hard and arbitrary theology. But since this feature is made so prominent in the Gospel, since it is a doctrine most emphatically pronounced by Jesus Christ Himself, it cannot be set aside except by setting aside the whole of Christianity ; it is linked with the doctrine of Jesus from first to last ; and it must be in harmony with the divine justice and love that beam from every page of His Gospel. Our Lord's doctrine of retribution differs from the doc- trine of natural sequences in two material points. First, in place of a natural law of cause and effect, it sets before us a personal judge whose word declares the penalty ; and secondly it makes that penalty a positive infliction upon moral grounds, because of character and not the mere issue of a natural law. We have already in part discussed this distinction, ^ but it is so striking and momentous that it 1 See Chap. xv. 15 228 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. deserves a further consideration. It marks the diiference between a machine-world in which things move on by mere natural routine, and a moral government in which the Creator and Head of the universe maintains His au- thority over intelligent creatures by moral laws with their proper sanctions. Recalling for a moment the scene of the final judgment, as portrayed by Christ, we there behold Himself sitting upon the throne of His glory, and all nations gathered before Him; He separates mankind into two classes by the test of character, and He Himself pronounces the final award; He addresses the one class as "Blessed of His Father," and welcomes them to " the kingdom " reserved for them ; this He does as King and Judge, wdth an authority whose effect is immediate and final ; then this same judicial authoritative voice says to those upon the left hand, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." And the result of this solemn proceeding is summed up in the words — " These shall go away into everlasting punish- ment, but the righteous into life eternal."^ Now it may be said this scene is pictorial, and that much of the language is the drapery of a poetic description. Grant this, but of ichat is it a picture ? and what instruction is it designed to convey? Does it picture the mere working of natural laws, by which at death men one by one drop into their respective places in a future state of existence? Can this vivid and impressive picture be reduced to a mere parable of natural distinctions and natural sequences? How then shall we dispose of the central figure — the living personal Christ ? How dwindle down the collective multitudes, divided by character, into a mere succession of individuals passing off tlie stage each in his own time and way ? This is a picture indeed, but a picture whose corresponding reality- is a formal, definitive judgment, which the Saviour in person will pro- 1 Mat. XXV. 4G. NATURAL LAWS ILVVE PEXALTIES. 227 nounce upon men according to their deeds.' — This certainly is the doctrine of Christ concerning the future retribution ; and if we compare this in detail with the doctrine that all punishment is the result of natural causes, we shall find it more than that in accordance with the reason of things. («). Both views agree as to the fact of penalty. Strictly speaking there is no sect in religion nor school of philosophy that absolutely denies that sin incurs penalty. Those who hold that there is no retribution after death — if there are any such — argue that sin receives its wdiole punishment through the evils of the present life, or that Christ has cancelled these indiscriminately for all ; and those who hold to the final restoration of the wicked to holiness and heaven, admit that there will be a future retribution, but argue that this will at length satisfy itself, or will work the refor- mation of the oifender. In either case then it is admitted that law has a penalty for transgression ; and the difference between all these schemes of natural sequence and Christ's doctrine of retribution lies in the form of the penalty and the manner of inflicting it. The fact that penalty is affixed to the laws of nature is too obvious to require proof. He who violates the laws of health, in respect of air, of food, of sleep, of exposure, of labor, must take the consequences in suffering, in debility, in premature death. He who disregards the known proper- ties and effects of the substances and elements of nature, who puts his hand into melted lead or takes strychnine into his stomacli, must suffer in consequence. Every child knows that a world of laws must be also a world of penal- ties. In the fact of penalty, therefore, all theories agree. (6). It is agreed also, upon both theories — the natural and the Christian — that penalty for the violation of law is just; — that is just in the principle of it, for we are not here speaking of manner or degree. Those who accept Christ's 1 See Chap. xv. 228 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. teaching of course believe this, for they believe in the righteousness of God. And those who regard all suffering as simply the consequence of violating natural law, do not accuse nature of injustice or cruelty because of the suffer- ing that follows disobedience. Now the benevolence of God might just as well be impeached because of these penalties of natural law, as for a positive retribu- tion. But how absurd we should think it, if a man who had burnt his hand by his own carelessness, should go up and down in a raging passion against the cruelty of nature in making fire burn. We use all the great agents of nature, fire, steam, chemical forces, subject to the risk and the penalty of violating or abusing them ; and the penalty of disobedience or disregard which all men see to be a fact, men also admit to be just. "You should have known better," "You should have taken care," — these and like phrases impute the evil not to the law but to the transgressor. The pain which is incidental to the viola- tion of the law renders even physical law a means of moral discipline. (c). Both theories — the natural and the Christian — agree that natural evil may be fitly made a penalty for moral disobedience. When the mother warns her child not to 2:0 near the fire, and lays her strict commands upon him, if he goes and burns himself, she teaches him that his suffer- ing comes not only from disregarding the properties of fire, but from disobeying her command. A drunkard violates not only the laws of his physical constitution, but the laws of reason and of conscience, the laws of good society, the moral law of God ; and though the penalty comes chiefly in the form of physical suffering and degradation, we yet attach this to moral as well as to physical law. Human laws annex physical penalties to moral offences. Theft, though committed upon inanimate things is a breach of morality ; murder, though committed u^^on the SUPERIORITY OF MORAL LAW. 229 physical body, is a crime of deepest moral die. The law punishes these crimes with physical pains and privations that have no connection with the pliysical objects violated. Hence it is absurd to say that all penalty comes merely in the way of natural sequence from natural laws ; it attaches itself also to the great principles of moral law. Thus far, then, the theory that penalty comes in due course of nature, and the doctrine of Christ that it is in- flicted by God as a righteous governor for the infraction of His laws agree in these successive steps : — [d). that there is penalty, as a matter of fact, in the system under which we live, whether we call this nature or providence ; (e). that as a principle, the infliction of penalty for trans- gression is wise and just; (/). and that penalty, though coming in the form of natural evil, often stands visibly connected with the infraction of moral law. But from this point the doctrine of Christ goes farther, and teaches that penalty shall be pronounced directly from Himself as Judge, aside from or in addition to the natural course of things, and as the fit and just conclusion of this very dispensation of grace. The rule or principle here laid down for the infliction of penalty is the rule of absolute justice. Each man shall be judged according to what he has or has not done ; and " that servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did accor- ding to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes." ^ Man's relations to the moral law, and to all law in his character as a moral being are far superior to his relations to physical law. The soul no less than the body has its own laws. In his own free actions, his moral conduct, man is bound to do right by an obligation as strong surely as that which binds him to observe the laws of nature in the ^are of his body ; and as a moral being he must be amen- able to moral law. This law has certain penalties that 1 Luke xii. 47. 230 THE THEOLOGY OF CUEIST. come as matter of course, as certainly as the sequences of physical laws — such as remorse of conscience ; the loss of self-respect ; a sense of unhappiness ; the apprehension of evil. The principle of penalty for disobedience here dis- tinctly applies. In threatening to inflict a direct positive penalty for sin, in distinction from its natural sequences, Christ an- nounced beforehand a rule of perfect justice. It is 'that He will try men solely by their own actions, and will recom- pense them according to the tenor of their spirit and con- duct. This is a rule of perfect equity. If any have obeyed the law, they could desire no more favorable rule than to be revauxled according to their deeds. And for such as have broken the law there could be no rule more just and equal than that they shall bo dealt with exactly according to their conduct ; that they should receive sim- ply that which is their due. The Judge of infinite right- eousness, of perfect knowledge, goodness, and truth, will do right in dealing with men according to their deeds. And if, moreover, they have had opportunity given them to escape penalty by repentance, and have refused this, it will be perfect justice to deal with them upon their own ground. Hence the rule of personal reckoning here laid down is proper and equitable. Men are not to be judged collec- tively or in classes, by some general sweeping act, but each and every man according to that which he hath done. The formative influences of society upon personal char- acter, the circumstances in which a life was molded, tlie relative degrees of darkness and light in each individual case, the temptations to sin, the allurements to virtue, all that affected the man in the course of his earthly conduct, will enter into the judgment upon that conduct; and in the light of all these conditions and circumstances, each in- dividual case Avill be made up for its own issue. This is THE GEAXDEUR OF VIRTUE. 231 the fairest rule of* judgment that can be imagined. What could any man ask for lumself, or what could he conceive of as a principle of judgment, more scrupulously just than this — that each and every man be judged according to his personal conduct ? We now come to the gist of Christ's doctrine of punish- ment. The fact of penalty and its justice being recognized, it being also established that natural evil may proper- ly be used as a penalty for moral transgi'cssion ; and tlie rule of judgment by personal conduct being absolutely just, it remains only to consider the reasons for a positive judgment and retribution in distinction from the natural consequences of violated law. Su h a judgment is due to the transcendent worth and dignity of moral interests in the universe, and to the claims of public justice and right in a moral government. IMan's higliest dignity and worth is in the sphere of morality. Here it is, as a being capa- ble of moral choice, of knowing truth and obeying virtue, capable of principles of action as lofty as the mind of God and enduring as His throne, in a word capable of holiness and its immeasurable blessedness, it is in this that man is allied to angels and to God. Build one broad and stable pyramid of physical laws ; if it were possible heap into one stupendous mass all the matter now shaped and distributed into ten thousand worlds ; above this place again the no- blest powers and attainments of intellectual life — indeed, if this were possible, the accumulated powers and products of mind in its highest spheres ; still above these must we place in sublime pre-eminence a pure and perfect moral character, as the crown of all excellence, the height of all dignity, the seat of all true power and grandeur, the nearest^ approach to the divine. " Man partakes of all that is be- low him, and becomes man by the addition of somethin.g higher : this is, the rational and moral life by which man is made in the image of God. For in man, as thus con- 232 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST, stituted, we first find a being who is capable of choosing his own end; or rather, of choosing or rejecting the end indicated by his whole nature. Up to man every thing is driven to its end by a force working from without, or from behind ; but for him the pillar of cloud and of fire puts itself in front, and he follows it or not, as he chooses." ^ And now for a being with these majestic endowments, with these sublime possibilities, has the Creator no recog- nition, no rule, no administration higher than the laws of the physical creation ? Has this rational image of God, laws of digestion, and laws of locomotion, but no laws of moral action ? Shall a stone give him pain if he strike his foot against it, shall his body suffer for any infraction of mere physical law, and shall there be for his soul, with its voluntary powers, no moral government of the Creator having sanctions commensurate with the interests of a moral universe? Is this soul, by •which alone man is man, governed down at the low level of the animal nature with which it is associated — subject to law and amenable to penalty only so far as it comes into contact with the physical creation ? Has the wise and good God committed such a solecism in government, that He has made every- thing subject to law except that which alone is great enough to comprehend law and intelligently obey it ? — that tlie lowest animal, the meanest plant, the very stones beneath our feet have laws corresponding with their nature, but the soul of man has no government appropriate to itself? Is it credible that there is no moral government over the universe of intelligent beings ? Nothing but a machinery of physical law ? Is it credible that God has jiot made known to man the law that should govern his higher nature, or that He will not show His regard for that law by sanctions conformed to its worth and proceed- ing from Himself? Surely as God is great, as the soul is 1 Rev. Mark Hoi^kins, D. D. JUSTICE THE STRENGTH OF SOCIETY. 233 great in His image, as a universe of moral beings is great above all the greatness of God's other works, there is a government based upon the grandeur of virtue, there is a law embodying holiness as the rale of man, and there are penalties answering to the greatness of these parties and the grandeur of these interests. Moreover, the claims of public justice and security in a moral government demand that there be a positive retribu- tion upon sin from the Ruler Himself. Society recognizes this principle in all criminal law. Doubtless the criminal sulfers certain natural consequences of his crime, in remorse of conscience, in terrors of imagination, in the conscious- ness of social ignominy. Bat he stands not alone ; he is related to society as a whole ; and justice is the strength of the social organism. The criminal owes therefore a debt to public justice as well as to natural law. If a man poisons his wife that he may be free to live a life of shame, is that a private affair of his own household? Society takes notice of it as a crime against itself, and law has a penalty. We measure the moral tone of society by the sure and impartial justice it metes out to such a crime. If to evade legal penalty the criminal poisons himself, should this be accepted as making the account square with justice ? Is the moral law satisfied by another crime ? Would the social law of the universe be satisfied by the transportation of the criminal to heaven ? When we road that " the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity," ^ we feel that the mercy that offers salvation to all Avho in faith and holy love will seek the kingdom of God is enhanced by that righteousness which shall here- afler separate the evil from the good. But it is objected that the doctrine of eternal punish- ment cannot be reconciled with the goodness of God. We, however, are not here in a position to judge of the relation 1 Matt. xiii. 41. 231 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. of sin to the whole moral universe, nor of what the equi- librium of mercy and justice — which is essential to the re- storation of a moral system once disordered, by sin — may require alike of the wisdom, the goodness, and the right- eousness of God. And the only question now bef(^re us is, what did Christ teach? If lie distinctly taught the eternal punishment of the wicked, then if upon specula- tive grounds we reject that doctrine, we cannot with propriety claim to be His disciples. Much that Christ said concerning future punishment was in the form either of metaphor or of parable ; and it has been aptly said, " If we are to turn rhetoric into logic, and build a dogma on every metaphor, our belief will be of a vague and contradictory character." But the meta- phors and parables of Christ were intended to convey some substantial truth — the metaphor represented a correspond- ing reality, the figure had a basis of fact. Taken literally, His metaphors would neutralize one another; — "the outer darkness," and " the everlasting Jire ; " " the fire that never shall be quenched," would seem to mark the utter destruction of sentient being ; while the " torments " of Dives, and the " worm that dieth not," suggest the con- sciousness of suffering. But shall we, therefore, infer that " hell " is altogether a figure of speech, and . that these vivid pictures have no corresponding reality ? The laws of language require us to understand from these very metaphors, that the future state of the ungodly will be one of conscious and irremediable misery — the " darkness " of banishment from God, the " unquenchable fires " of mem- ory, the " undying worm " of remorse — a state of mental anguish pre-figured by physical emblems, which neither the imagination of Dante nor of Milton could fully inter- pret, neither the pencil of Tintoretto, of Michael Angelo, nor of Dore could worthily represent. The emblems of future punishment used by Christ were not like the material MEANING OF PUNISHMENT. 235 imi^o? that painters and poets have addressed to the eye and the imagination, but were designed to suggest realities in sph'itual experience too awful for fancy to dwell upon. These address themselves to the soherest judgment, and with a higher solemnity as proceeding from the lips of the compassionate Son of God. Moreover, Christ did not always speak of future punish- ment in words of metaphor. He used no figure of speech, no terms of rhetoric, when in closing His descrip- tion of the last judgment. He said with the simple direct- ness of a judicial sentence — "These shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the righteous into life eter- nal:" ^ — £}<: xbXaaiv auoviou on the one hand, d^ ^ f*^^ ^ alcoviou on the other. The term xoAaac^ means strictly not destruction, annihilation, but chastisement or punishment ; thus the Sanhedrim threatened Peter and John, and let them go, "finding nothing how they xm^xt punish them,"^ xo?Macui/Tac : it sometimes denotes the apprehension of pain and suffering ; — thus " fear hath torment," ^ xnhialv. The Septuagint uses this word to describe a variety of punish- ments inflicted upon the wicked, both individually, and as communities or nations. Thus, to the house of Israel it was said " Repent ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin " — xoXaacv : ^ and again, to be " tormented by beasts " was a xoXaaii;.^ Plato in his Gorgias uses the word in its primi- tive sense of pnining or restraining ; thus — " Is not to restrain one from what he desires to jnuiish him ?" xoXd^zcv, and " to punish the soul [xoXa^zadac) is therefore better than unrestrained indulgence." ® Again, he says, " no one punishes (xoXd^a)) the unjust because he has been unjust, but for the sake of the future, that he may not again do unjustly." ^ It is plain from both Biblical and Classical usage that xoXcxat-;, has no affinity with annihila- 1 Matt XXV. 46. 2 Acts iv. 21. 3 1 John iv. IS. * Ezek. xviii. .30. 5 Wisdom xvi. 2. SQorgias 505 B., and C. ' Protagoras, 324, B. 236 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. tion, but denotes a punishment the subject of which con- tinues conscious under its infliction. Will then the punishment inflicted upon the ungodly at the last judgment be of a disciplinary nature, having in view their reformation and their final restoration to the estate of the good? This view is precluded by the term auovcov — the punishment will be "eternal." This word, indeed, is sometimes used vaguely for " duration," whether indefinite or limited ; an ^on however protracted may still have a definite end. But the Greek language has no other word that so fully and properly expresses that which is unlimited as to duration ; it is used by Plato for the ceaseless course of things as contrasted with the limitations of time ; and in the jSTew Testament alcouto:: is the word that ex])resses the eternity of God's being and the everlast- ing felicity of the righteous. And in the words now under consideration, the two states of " life " and " punishment " are made to run parallel in an endless duration; "these shall go away into punishment alcoucov, but the righteous into life auovtov. It is impossible here to limit in the one case that whi'^h is unlimited in the other. If we believe that the life promised by Christ to the righteous shall last forever, then are we shut up to the literal meaning of Plis alternative words; and when we consider what it must be to go away from Christ, to go away from His love, His glory. His blessed presence; to go away under His con- demnation ; all His dread imagery of wo — the " fire," the " darkness," the " tormenting flame," the " undying worm" — is justified by this final sentence, " These shall go away into everlasting punishment." ^ 1 See the Author's Love and Penalty ; also Appendix iii. CHAPTER Xyill. Christ's doctrine our spiritual sacrament. Many a reader of the last chapter may be ready to say " this is an hard saying, who can hear it." But Jesus ut- tered many sayings that seemed hard to minds but little exercised in spiritual things ; and of just such hard un- bearable words He said, " They are spirit and they are life." ' All the teachings of Christ were spiritual in their in- tent, and as such were a life-power to the soul. Never touching upon philosophy, physics, or political econ- omy. He addressed Himself throughout to the spiritual nature of man, with a view to reviving, ennobling, sancti- fying this, and hence His words were not merely instruc- tion, counsel, knowledge, doctrine, but Life. Christ was the most spiritual of teachers, and His doctrine both has vitality in itself and gives life to them that receive it. The same is true of the Sacrament that He instituted to perpetuate Himself in tlie memory of His disciples ; tliis is the embodiment of a Truth that is Life in proportion as it is spiritually received — " The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life." This was said of the words Ke had just spoken concerning eating His flesh and drinking His blood, as the means of dwelling in Plim, and of ob- taining spiritual and eternal life. He had described Him- self as the " bread of God," - the " bread of life," ^ the "true bread from heaven,"^ "the living bread which came down from heaven ;" ^ and had said, " If any man eat of iJohnvi. 63. 2 John vi. 33. 3^.35. * v. 32. ^ v. r,l. 237 238 THE THEOLOGY OF CUEIST. this breads he shall live forever." ^ The bread He then defined more literally as His ficsh, which He would give for the life of the world. These sayings caused much perplexity to the Jews, who at leno-th broke out into a strife about His doctrine as un- natural and absurd, saying " How can this man give us His flesh to eat ?" ^ But instead of toning down or ex- plaining away His words, Jesus made them even more literally sensuous than before : saying " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drhih His blood, ye have no life in you ; whoso eateth JNIy flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh J\ly blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him :" ^ and then as if to chal- lenge their captious criticism to the utmost. He put the doctrine in this bald statement, " He that eateth Me, even He shall live by I^Ie." " Even His disciples were troubled by such words ; and " many said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it ?" ^ Jesus perceiving their murmurings, said, " Doth this of- fend you ? What and if ye shall see the Son of Man as- cend up where He was before ?" ^ The resurrection and ascension of Christ would confirm His statement that He came down from heaven, and would show also that He had within Himself the power of life ; the witnesses of those events v/ould understand the spiritual meaning of His words and the spiritual value of his death. And hence there was a life-power in the Avords He had ju3t spoken, when they were spiritually apprehended. It will be easier to understand His use of this bald, almost sensuous literalism about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, if we bear in mind how extensively the language of spiritual ideas is based upon sensible objects, and how 1 John vi. 51. 2yi, 52, ^vi. 53, 57. *vl. 57. ^vi. GO. Cyi. 62. THE SPIRITUAL TAUGHT BY THE PHYSICAL. 239 naturally the mind when seeking a strong expression for a spiritual truth, in order to present it more vividly and effectively, seizes upon something in nature as its symbol, and teaches the inward by the outward. " AYords are signs of natural facts. The outer creation gives us language for the beings and changes of the inward creation. Every word which is used to express a moral or intellectual fact, if traced to its root, is found to be borrowed from some material appearance. Rigid means straight; ivrong means twisted. We say the lieart to express emotion, the head to denote thought. An enraged man is a lion, a cunning man is a fox, a firm man is a rock, a learned man is a torch. A lamb is innocence : a snake is subtile spite. Light and darkness are our familiar exj^ression for knoAvledge and ignorance, and heart for love. Thus words are fastened to visible things ; and the moment our discourse rises above the ground line of familiar facts, and is inflamed with passion or exalted by thought, it clothes itself in images taken from nature." ^ In this view our Lord's saying, so far from being hard and mysterious was as natural as it was forcible. He was dealing with men who were carnal in their feelings and desires ; who followed Him for the excitement of seeing His miracles and for the present benefit they hoped to receive from these. " Ye seek Me, because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled." It was in vain to talk to such men about the superiority of spiritual ideas and aims to carnal desires, or of the spiritual design of His mission, the thing must be put before them baldly at their own level ; and the spiritual conveyed to them in the form of bodily figures. And so Jesus said to them, You must eat the true bread ; it is not enough that you see what I do and hear what I say ; you are to be saved by receiving Me ; you must take ISIe as I am, you must eat Me. ' R. W. Emerson, Essay on Language. 240 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. Neander has given au interpretation of these Avords which accords equally well with the uses of metajahor by- Christ, and with the spiritual philosophy that pervaded His teaching. " Jesus tells the Jews that He would give them a bread which was to imj^art life to the world; hence that the bread which He %vas about to give was, in a certain sense, different from the bread which He was; different, that is, from His whole self-communication. And the bread which I will give is my flesh. This bread was to be the self-sacrifice of His bodily life for the salvation of man- kind. The life-giving power, as such, was His Divine- human existence ; the life-giving power, in its special act, was His self-sacrifice. The two are inseparable ; the lat- ter being the essential means of realizing the former; only by His self-sacrifice could His Divine-human life become the bread of life for men. " The Jews wilfully perverted these words of Christ into a carnal meaning; and therefore He repeated and strength- ened them : Except ye eat the fiesh of the Sau of 3Ian : — ' except ye receive My Divine-human life within you, make it as your own flesh and blood, and become tho- roughly penetrated by the Divine principle of life, which Christ has imparted to human nature and Himself realized in it, ye cannot partake of eternal life.' '' When He had left the synagogue, and was standing among persons who, up to that time, had been His constant attendants. He said, ' I have spoken to you of eating My flesh ; doth this offend you f What then will you say when the Son of Man will ascend into heaven ? You will then see Me no more with your bodily eyes ; but yet it will be necessary for you to cat my flesh and drink my blood, which then, in a carnal sense, will be plainly impos- sible.' It is ol:>vious, therefore, that Christ meant no material participation in His flesh and blood, but one TRANSURSTANTIATION. 241 wliicli would have its fullest import and extent at the time specified. " He then naturally passes on to explain the spiritual import of His life-streaming words. It is the spirit that giveth life ; the flesh is nothing ; hence I could not have meant a sensible eating of My flesh and blood, but the ap- propriation of My spirit, as the life-giving principle, as this communicates itself through My manifestation in flesh and blood. As My words are only the medium through which the Spirit of life tliat gushes forth from Me is im- parted, they can be rightly understood only so far as the Spirit is perceived in them." ^ Such is the true signifi- cance of eating the flesh of Christ, and drinking Plis blood. These words do not countenance that literal sensuous view of the Sacrament which is given in the notion of the real presence or transubstantiation taught by the Roman Catholic Church. That doctrine is that " our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substan- tially contained in the sacrament of the holy eucharist after the consecration of the bread and wine, and under the form of these sensible objects." By the priestly act of con- secration, or by some miraculous influence which attends that act, it is claimed that " the whole substance of the bread is converted into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood." ^ 1 lAfu of Jesia Chrt'st, by Augustus Neander, Am. Ed. pp. 267-269. ? The Council of Trent, in the Decree of Session xiii. De annctisaimo Enclinr- iatiae Sncramento, has declared it to be the binding faith of the Church, " that immediately after the consecration, the true body of our Lord, and His truo blood, together with His soul and divinity, do exist under the species of bread and wine; His body under the species of bread, and His blood under the species of wine, by virtue of the words of consecration ; His body also under the species of wine, and His blood under the species of bread, and His soul under each species, (through that natural connection and concomitance by which all the parts of Christ our Lord, who has risen from the dead, no 16 242 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. This notion is based upon a literal interpretation of such sayings as these : " This is My body, which is broken for you;" "This cup is the New Testament in My blood;" and again, "My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." But such an interpretation supposes phy- sical impossibilities and absurdities which would make nonsense of the words of Christ ; such as that, He while sitting before them a living man in His proper flesh and blood, was at the same instant present as to His body in the bread, and as to His blood in the wine ; or that He who is now absent as to His body in heaven is yet present in body in the sacrament, so that His body yet remaining in heaven is at the same moment created anew in ten thou- sand places upon earth, or wherever the sacrament is ob- served. It is idle to class this pretense among miracles, for no miracle of our Lord ever involved a contradiction in the nature of things. His language does not call for any such interpretation. He said, " I am the door." " I am the lic/ht of the world." "I am the true vine;" and pre-Raphaelites have attempted to depict Him under these various symbols; yet no one dreams of taking such expres- more to die, are closely joined together) ; — and even His divinity is there also, through the wonderful and hypostatical union thereof with Ilis body and soul." Cap. iii. By this it is taught that the subxtance of the bread and the wine completely disappear — only the species or appearance of either remaining — and that under this is the real substance of the Lord Jesus Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity. Whoever shall deny this, or shall aflBrm that Christ is present, "only in a sign and figure, or by His power " is declared accursed. Dr. Moehler, one of the most able and judicious expounders of the Roman Catholic faith, says, " Catholics firmly hold that Almighty God who was pleased at Cana, in Galilee, to convert water into wine, changes the inward substance of the consecrated bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, forms the basis of our whole conception of the mass. Without that presence, the solemnity of the Lord's Supper is a mere reminiscence of the sacrifice of Christ, exactly in the same way as the celebration by any society, of the anniversary of some esteemed individual, whose image it exhibits to view, or some other symbol, recalls to mind his beneficent actions." Sj/mboliim, ^ xxxiv. SACRAMENTS APPOIXTEO BY CHRIST. 243 sions literally. The Church is His body ; do we, then, eat the Church in the sacrament? The Jews rebelled against Christ's doctrine of His flesh and blood, because they insisted on taking it literally and making it absurd. But Jesus said of these very words, They are spirit and life ; you must look beneath the form for the meaning. But they should not be pressed so far in the opposite direction as to take away from the sacrament its real basis and force as a symbol. A highly respectable body of Christians — the Society of Friends — reject altogether the outward sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and regard the baptism of the Spirit, and a spiritual com- muning with Christ by meditation, as all that Jesus in- tended to be preserved among His disciples. But how shall we then account for the solemnity with which, at the last Passover, He took the bread and the cup, and with prayer and thanksgiving set these forth as symbols and memorials of His body and blood, and said to His disci- ples, " This do in remembrance of me." ' This surely meant that they should go on to do as He then did ; that is, should set apart bread and wine as a memorial. The disciples acted upon this from the day of the Lord's death ; and the Apostle Paul, while correcting some abuses that had crept into the observance of the Supper, recognizes the sacrament itself as appointed by Christ to be perpetual in the outward form of it, and not simply a spiritual communion. He recalls the formula by which our Lord instituted the Supper, and repeats with emphasis His injunction, "This do in remembrance of Me."^ Clear- ly then what Jesus said concerning the spiritual meaning of His words was not meant to supersede a service which He established with so much solemnity in the form of it. That were to spiritualize into nonentity. There are other 1 Luke xxii. 19. ^ i Cor. xi. 24. 2U THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. bodies of Christians, who while they keep up the observ- ance of the Lord's Supper, make this simply a memorial of the fact of His dying, and attach no sacrificial meaning to the death. These understand His reply to the Jews as refining the whole transaction of the cross into an heroic martyrdom for the truth, which was destined to exert a spiritual influence upon mankind, but had nothing of the sacramental or redemptive quality which belonged to the sacrifice under the Old Testament. This view takes the extreme point of opposition to the Roman Catholic doc- trine of sacrifice, as the view of the Friends is at the extreme of opposition to form. These three views have points of analogy as well as of contrast. That of the Roman Catholic Church makes much of the form, because the purport of the sacrament is to transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Opposed to this is the view which — to get rid of so gross a sujierstition — does away with the form altogether, and would trust the remembrance of Christ entirely to the heart without external signs, and would seek communion with Christ solely in and through the spirit. Again, the Roman Catholic view makes the sacrament a literal repetition of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross, and therefore holds up the consecrated wafer for adoration. Protesting against this idolatry, the third view mentioned goes to the extent of denying any sacrificial meaning to the sacrament, and keeps it up in form only as a memorial, just as one observes a birth-day festival, or any other form of commemoration. It is a memorial but not a symbol. Now each of these views results from pressing to an ex- treme particular words or phrases uttered by Christ, with- out regard to other expressions which have equal authority and significance, and which must be considered in making up a complete view of His doctrine of the sacrament. He did say, " Except ye cat of the flesh of the Son of Man THE LIFE IN THE WORDS. 245 and drink His blood, ye liavo no life in you, for My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed ;" and directly after. He said, "It is the Spirit that quickcncth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." These two sayings qualify and interpret each other. The second docs ncjt annul the first by depriving it of all meaning ; Jesus did not intend by this, You must take my words entirely in a spiritual sense, and thus attach no significance to the terms flesh and blood. Why did He repeat these words so often, and with such solemnity of impression, if they were to be set aside as absolutely of no account? What He said was, "There is a spiritual life m these words that I have spoken ;" and thercfoi'e we should neither take them grossly as a literal eating of flesh and blood, nor set them aside for some refined spiritual conception which has no relation to such eating and drinking ; but we must get out of these very words the spiritual life that is in them ; these very words that speak of eating His flesh, and drinking His blood, are " spirit and life," when one takes them rightly. They teach that the Lord Jesus gave His flesh. His life for the life of the world; His death was a sacrifice as the means of life and salvation.^ But this sacrifice does not take effect for any individual from the mere fact of its having been offered ; it does not stand simply as an event of history, to exert a moral influence upon mankind: but it gives life to him who eats and drinks it; — that is, to him who appropriates it to his own case as the provision upon which the life of his soul depends — -just as the life of the body depends upon food and drink. He who so re- ceives the death of Christ — makes this application of that death as the necessary means of his soul's life — will find that Christ becomes to him as his very flesh and blood. The death of Christ was a literal, physical event: there 1 See Clian. V. 216 THE THEOLOGY OF CUEIST. is no doubting that fact, and the glorious truth of the re- surrection depends upon it. But this death did not come in tlie course of nature, nor merely as a consequence of nat- ural laws; neither was it simply an effect of human vio- lence: for Jesus laid down his life: ^ suffered Himself to be put to death; and in the discourse under review He said, "The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." This made His death a sacrifice. He gave His life, and by that giving brought life to the world. But the practical benefit of the sacrifice can be had only by acce[>ting it as a sacrifice in our stead; by appropriating it with a full heart as the means of life; and this it is to eat Christ, so that His life becomes ours. Hence the stress laid upon receiving the life of His sacri- fice. "The flesh profiteth nothing." It is of no avail to belong to the body of Christ — the church — unless the soul is a partaker of His life. There are benefits from church membership to one who is truly a disciple; but membership in the church gives no warrant of salvation, and will rather be a hindrance if made, in any wise, a sub- stitute for Christ. "He that eateth Me shall live by Me." Hence the virtue of the sacrament is found only in feeding upon Christ. It is not "he that eateth this material bread," but "he that eateth Me;" not eateth Me in the bread but who in the act of eatino; the bread brings Me home to his soul as his food, his life, his portion, his salvation. Hence the very essence of the sacrament consists in the doctrine of Christ that it embodies, and which through an expres- sive sign-language, it brings to the soul as its spiritual life. The Doctrine is the true Sacrament. If in coming to this sacrament we realize through it the nearness and the fulness of Christ, if we thereby receive afresh into our hearts His living truth and grace, then do we feed upon Him. As we speak of devouring a book 1 John X. 15, 17, 18. CHEIST SATISFIES THE SOUL. 247 whose thoughts please us, devouring the letter of a friend, devouring that friend himself in an extasy of love, so we take Christ into our hearts and feed upon Him and there- by receive new strength of spiritual life. Food and drink fill and satisfy. They make blood and tissue ; they sustain life, and fill our corjjoreal nature with the sense of satisfiiction. So the doctrine of redemption embodied in the sacrament fills our souls with life from Christ. He is the life ; He gave Himself to be our life ; and so completely does His life enter into us by faith, that it becomes to us the eternal life, swallowing up death itself in the fulness of His resurrection. He who has ascended up where He was before — the living, reigning Son of Man — will lift us up to the same life and glory, if we will truly keep His sacraments. The words that He sjaeaks unto us are Spirit and are Life. CHAPTER XIX. THE DOCTEINE OF CHRIST COMPLETE AS A EEVELATION FROM GOD. " I HAVE given unto tlieni the words which Thou gavest Me ; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send ]\Ie." ^ Such was the testimony of Christ to the source of His doctrine and to the quality of discipleship. " The Words which Thou gavest Me." So Jesus constantly affirmed that His teaching was an express communication from God, to be therefore received as hav- ing divine authority. He did not evolve from His own brain a system of doctrine, and after thirty years of re- flection in His quiet village home — in communion neither with books nor men, but with His own soul, with nature, and with God — announce this as a new theolbgy for the world : but from the beginning of His teaching He said, " My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent IMe." " If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of INIysclf." ^ While He spake only that which He Himself knew to be the truth, this knowledge was not the mere conviction of loo-ic, nor simply the intuition of His human conscious- ness, but " as My Father hath taught INIe," He said, " I speak tlicse things," ^ "I have not spoken of Myself, but the Father which seat Me, He gave Me a com- mandment, what I should say and what I should speak: and I know that His commandment is life everlasting : iJohnxvii. 8. ^ John vii. 17. sjohnviii. 28. 248 JESUS THE INFALLIBLE TRUTH. 2i9 whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto ]Me, so I speak." ^ In thus claiming to speak the mind of God, Jesus asserted much more than the general ac- cordance of His teaching with divine truth— such an ac- cordance as migiit be shown by comparison and inference — He meant that He spake directly as the mouth of God ; not commissioned, merely, to deliver a message, nor in- spired to perceive and utter certain truths, but having such a union with God and such a knowledge of God, that the mind of God found expression through His words, the voice of God uttered itself through His lips. " The words that I speak unto you, I sj)eak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me." ^ " Tiie peculiar import of His doctrine," says Neander, "consists in its relations to Himself as a part of His self-revelation, an image of His unoriginated and in- lierent life. His power lay in the impression which His manifestation and life as the incarnate God produced; and this could never have been derived from without." What Jesus constantly declared to men concerning the source of His teachings. He reaffirmed when sum- ming up His life in the solemn act of prayer to the Father. "I have manifested Thy Name unto the men whom Thou gavcst INIe out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me ; and they have kept Thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee. For I have given unto tliem the tcords which Thou gavest Me ;" ^ and again, " I have given them Thy vord^ ^ What Jesus taught was the absolute, the infallible, the authoritative truth of God — this, and nothing short of this ; this, and nothing else than this. But the question here arises. How fully did Christ present iJohn xii. d9. ^Jolinsiv. 10, 24. 3 John xvii. 6,7. * John xvii. 14. 250 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. the truth of God ? To what extent did He convey to men the truth that God would have them to know, for the right improvement of the present life, and for salvation in the life to come ? That He omitted to speak of many sub- jects concerning which we are curious and anxious to be informed, the heart knows too well which has gone to His word with troubled questionings about its future, only to meet there a new demand upon its faith. But was this omission of accident or of design ? Was it owing to some limitation upon His knowledge, or to the brevity of His life, or the lack of opportunity? or was it a purposed withholdino; accordino; to the will of God ? Plad Jesus lived say ten or twenty years longer, may we infer that He would have thought out some subjects more fully and have expanded these in His discourses ? or that occasion would have arisen for discoursing upon topics now left un- touched ? or that in any way He would have added to tlie sum and substance of the truth that He actually declared? In other words, did He die before He had communicated cvcrijthing to mankind that the Father intended to reveal by Him when He brought His first-begotten into the world ? Would the prolongation of the life and ministry of Christ have afforded any solution of problems and mys- teries now left unsolved ? Take for instance three questions, — which perhaps more than any others have occupied the speculative theology of the Church, and tasked the faith of individual believers. (a.) AVhat is the nature of God and how stand the Father and the Son related to this nature in common ? Jesus coming from the bosom of the Father declared Him, " manifested " Him, and taught the oneness of the Father and the Son : — but the metaphysical conception of the divine essence and unity He never touched upon, nor would He have enlightened us in that direction had He continued to preach for thirty years. " All things," said THE SILENCE OF CHRIST. 251 He, " arc delivered unto Me of My Father ; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." ^ But while Jesus did reveal the Father morally and spiritually, He gave no answer to the questions which metaphysical theology is evermore raising concerning the essence of God and the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father : and this because such questions did not lie within the purport of the mission for which God sent Him into the world. (b.) Take next the question of Christ's second coming — the time of it and the manner of His kingdom — questions which in every succeeding age have agitated the Church, and divided its faith. Such questions our Lord expressly declined to answer ; saying to His over-curious disciples, " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power." ^ (c) And once more, how reticent He was upon the whole class of questions that come thronging into the mind, in view of death and the hereafter — those exciting, perplex- ing, agonizing questions : Where is the spirit ? Does it yet know me ? Shall we meet, and know, and love again ? How naturally could all such questions have been an- swered by our Lord as He conversed of the death of Laza- rus, and when He stood by his grave ; but concerning the 2)hysical or metaphysical conditions of existence after death both His lips and the lips of Lazarus were sealed, while yet He proclaimed to the whole dying race of man, " I am the resurrection and the life — he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."^ The revelation of Christ then was not abbreviated by His opportunities, by His death, nor by any known limitation whatsoever. The Scriptural view of His mission gives no reason to suspect that He failed to communicate any part of 1 Matt. xi. 27. ^Acts i. 7. 3 John xi. 25. 252 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. that truth of God which it had seemed good in the sight of the Father should bo revealed ; but on the contrary we are told that the Lord Jesus did make known all that the Father would communicate to mankind with respect to their salva- tion from ruin unto life eternal. The revelation was per- fected and completed in Him, and He could say, " all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you ;" and in His last prayer, Jesus, addressing His Father said, " I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do/' 1 Prominent among the elements of His work was, pro- claiming the truth of God, and bringing men into the kingdom of God through allegiance to that Truth. This is the undertone of that wonderful prayer ^ in which our Lord uttered His own conception of His mission, and — in Avhat He had accomplished for His disciples, and what He supplicated on their behalf — declared He had finished the work that His Father had given Him to do. He had come into the world that He might recover men to God ; — the work of reconciliation, as to the form of it, would be consummated by His death : — this He had foreshadowed in His discourse to His disciples, and this finishing stroke was about to be given to the life and doctrine of the Son of God. But while His death is present in His own thought as the finishing act by which the Son of man shall be glorified, and God shall be glorified in Him, that which Jesus makes prominent in His prayer is the doc- trine of divine love and restoration, by whose renovating and sanctifying power He had gathered and yet would gather His Church into a blissful oneness of life, in Himself and the Father. He had glorified the Father by bringing men out of the power of the world, sin and death, into that true spiritual life which shall be eternal ; but this He now defines to be — 1 John xvii. 4. ^ John xvii. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS LIFE. 253 knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ — knowhig with that knowledge which makes its object real, and re- ceives it into the life as a possession and a power. This knowledge Jesus had imparted by manifesting the Father to His disciples ; giving unto them the words that the Father had given Him; and the proof of the divine life in them was, that they had received this word of God and kept it. He prayed that they might be sanctified and per- fected through this same word of truth ; and closed His petition with the words, " O righteous Father the world hath not known Thee ; but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent me : and I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it : that the love wherewith Thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." This declaring the truth from God in such wise as to brino; men into a true life in the knowledge and the love of God, was so integral and vital in the work of Christ that He gave it to Pilate in evidence of His royal com- mission : " Art thou a ICinj f — " To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth ;" * and having set up the kingdom of truth in believing souls, to be perpetuated through their testimony, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, Jesus could say to His Father, " I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." The comprehensive completeness of the doctrine of Christ in all that concerns the restoration of man to God, his spiritual well-being and his eternal life, assures us that as the Son of God sent to give light to the world. He finished His work in His personal ministry upon earth. All that the apostles did afterwards, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, all that the Church has since accom- 1 John sviii. 37. 254 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. plislied tlirough her teaching ministry and her schools of theology, has been simply in tlie way of interpreting, un- folding, and applying that which Jesus Christ Himself gave in its substance, and with a germinating power capa- ble of such expansion to the thought, and such application to the life of all after ages. "The teaching of Christ pre- sented seeds and stimulants of thought. It must, therefore, by no means surprise us to find that the full import of most of His words was not comprehended by His contempora- ries; such a result, indeed, was just what we might expect. He would not have been Son of God and Son of man, had not His words, like His works, with all their adaptation to the circumstances of the times, contained some things that were inexplicable; had they not borne concealed within them the germ of an infinite development, reserved for future ages to unfold. It is this feature which distinguishes Christ from all other teachers of men. Advance as they may, they can never reach Him ; their only task need be, by taking Him more and more into their life and thought, to learn better how to bring forth the treasures that lie concealed in Him."^ The study we have devoted to the doctrines of Christ, one by one, has prepared us to appreciate this, by now grouping these doctrines in various lights for a general survey of their range and bearing, their significance and moment, their thoroughness and depth, their practical scope and influence. How comprehensive was the doctrine of Christ in the range of topics which it embraced, and in the bearing of these upon the supreme end of His mission — the recovery of man to holiness. All intelligent beings of whose exist- ence we have any knowledge, or whose existence had been shadowed in the creations of poetry and philosophy — wherever found in the peopled realms of space — were brought within the range of His doctrine, in their rela- 1 Ncandcr: Li/c of Jcnus Christ, ^ 65. THE VAST RANGE OF CIIRIST's DOCTRINE. 255 tion to man's spiritual condition, whether of sin and its conflicts, or of salvation and its hopes. JNIan himself in his personal character, his condition, his wants, his desires, his aims, his temptations, his perils, his possibilities ; man in his relations to his fellows, to the community, to the race ; the angels as messengers of love, rejoicing over the returning prodigal, witnessing the confession of the peni- tent, representing little children before the face of God in heaven, bearing the child of God from want and wretched- ness here to Abraham's bosom, attending upon the solem- nities of the last judgment and welcoming the redeemed to the glory of the Father ; the devil and his angels cast out from heaven, infesting the earth to possess the bodies and the souls of men, and awaiting their malignant triumph in the condemned of the last day ; — God in His supremacy as Creator, Lord and Judge of all ; in the infinitude of His presence and the plenitude of His power ; in His sj)ir- itual nature as the object of worship ; in His holiness to be revered, in His paternal bounty to be praised and loved ; in His gracious nearness as the hearer of prayer : in tlie habitation of His glory, prepared for the home of His children ; — God in the mysterious unfolding of Himself through the only begotten Son, and the Holy Comforter, while yet He retains the ineffable oneness of His being — this immense scale of existence from lowest to highest, and from worst to best, was all covered by the doctrine of Christ, bringing the whole moral universe into relations of good or evil with mankind. And as all beings, so too all worlds were brought within the compass of His doc- trine ; — this world with all its creatures, as under God's providential care ; the world of spirits, subject to His con- trol ; the world of the dead, obedient to His voice ; and that yet more intangible, impenetrable sphere, where spirit- ual influences act upon the thoughts and the hearts of men, to enlighten and sanctify, or to delude and destroy. 256 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. And as with all beings and all worlds, so with all periods of duration — these were brought into the doctrine of Christ so far as related to the main question of human redemption. The history of this world as a preparation for Him of whom Moses and the prophets did testify ; tlie unwritten history of that kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world, known to Him whose conscious- ness went back to the glory of the Father before the world was ; the coming ages to be illumined by His gospel, tlie nations to be made His disciples, the end of the world, the raising of the dead, the judgment, and the eternal state and destinies beyond, these all were brought in line within the doctrine of Christ. What other teacher — even though en- lightened by His guidance — has taken such a grasp upon all being, all time, all worlds, and gathering within His thouglit all things visible and invisible — heaven, earth, hades, hell, the eternity before the world was, the ages gone, the ages to come, and the eternity beyond — has con- verged and concentrated all upon the focus of man's resto- ration to his true position in this vast circle of beings, powers, ages, worlds? The completeness of tlie Revelation in Christ appears also in the significance and moment of His doctrines. All truth is important to be known ; all knowledge has some value and use for its possessor ; and he who makes any discovery, settles any fact, establishes any principle, not only enriches himself, but is in some particular a bene- factor of mankind ; and the reward of discovering truth, the advantage of acquiring knowledge, is a stimulus to that application of the mental powers which is itself a benefit of no mean value. But were the question one of sending a messenger from heaven clothed with divine wis- dom and authority, to communicate to men a knowledge of truth as known absolutely to God, there would be a choice among truths, in respect both of subjects and the A EEVELATION FOR HIGHER TRUTH. 257 manner of imparting knowledge. Were one invited to an evening with a distinguished scholar, poet, artist, lie would not care to hear him talk of" the weather, of the Pacific Rail-road, the Cabinet, or the financial policy of the country, but would crave to hear from him something upon that which he knew so much better than any one else. One would not wish Plato to talk about the climate, nor Shakspeare about the crops, nor Raphael about the currency, nor would, it be worth while an angel's coming to converse for an hour upon any problem of physical or mental science — the squaring of the circle or the law of the association of ideas. There are things of so much higher moment upon which he might enlighten us from a knowledge unattainable by man, that to occupy his dis- course with our human science and affairs were below the dignity of his mission. The value of truth is relative in respect to the subjects, the occasion, the opportunity ; and that which for the moment seems of absorbing interest, may dwindle to nothingness in presence of some illus- trious person about to speak upon the highest themes. Suppose now the Son of God, having in full, clear vision, all truth, all knowledge, all wisdom, to have come into the world for the purpose of giving light to men : — of what should He speak ? What themes, what doctrines and lessons, would be worthy of so stupendous a miracle, so ineffable a mystery as this divine incarnation? Should He speak of the destruction of that Roman Empire that then ruled the world? of the rising in after times of another empire whose victorious C?esar should sweep the fields of conquest from the Tagus to the Tiber, from the Rhine to the Moskwa? Should He announce the dis- covery of America, the invention of printing, the rail-way, the telegraph ? Should He lay down a science of govern- ment and of political economy for the regulation of human society, or a philosophy of the mind in respect to sensation, 17 258 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. reflection, consciousness, intuition? But knowledge such as this, so important and useful in regard to earthly in- terests, was sure to come, in the progress of events, under the stimulus of necessity or the opportunity of research, bringing with it a healthful development of the race by the very act of investigation and discovery. There were questions deeper, broader, higher, for the so- lution of which the wisdom of ages was unequal, but which the Son of God could illumine with a word. With what feeling does God look upon man a sinner ? How can the just and holy God, offended in His justice and holiness by the impiety of men, be approached with hope of favor ? How can a man be just with God ? How rise to intercourse with the Father of his spirit ? How escape the condem- nation that he knows is over him, that he feels within him ? How find entrance to the paradise of purity, peace, and love which is still the dream and hope of a fallen world ? How meet death and that which is after death ? Questions such as these, of the restoring and perfecting of the soul that shall outlast all empires and all ages, were the questions to be answered when the Son of God stood face to face with a sinful dying world, to speak the words that had been given Him of the Father. And questions of such infinite moment filled the thought of Christ and imparted to His discourses a fulness of significance and value that can pertain to no wisdom of man. In the supreme matter of man's recovery to God, to holiness and heaven, no point is left untouched, no question unsolved. The completeness of Christ's teaching appears further, in the thoroughness and depth of His doctrines. He laid the axe at the root of the tree : He drove the plowshare down under the soil. He did not talk of the overturning of the Roman empire ; He overturned it by the principles which He set in motion against its oppressions, its vices, its crimes. He did not furnish a philosophy of social sujiMAKY OF Christ's words. 259 order; He reconstructed society by a fvw simple truths concerning the individual, the family, the neighbor, the state, the Church. He did not deliver a treatise on trade or political economy, but He gave rules that rendered in- justice, fraud, dishonesty impossible within His kingdom and disgraceful outside of it. What He taught took hold upon the innermost thoughts, feelings, passions, motives, ijnaginalions of the human heart, to work there a revolu- tion deep and radical. And His doctrines still confront the soul as a finality in respect to its character, its needs, its duties and its hopes. These words of Christ strike the soul with awe, for by them it shall be judged. Not all the volumes of moral science written since His days, not all the legislation of united Christendom, could weigh upon us with so much of authority as we feel in the few little sentences of the Sermon on the Mount. From the survey we have now taken, how comprehen- sive is the doctrine of Christ. The word of Christ is that God is a Spirit — to be worshipped therefore in spirit and in truth ; that He is holy — and therefore to be glorified by the fruits of holiness in the lives of men ; that He is a Father, and therefore to be approached with filial faith in prayer, to be acknowledged with filial gratitude in all the blessings of life, and to be trusted, with a filial confidence, under all trials and cares. The word of Christ is that the heart of man is sinful ; that out of it as from a fountain flow all corrupt and bitter streams ; that from it as a root proceed all evil and bitter fruits : and, therefore, that man must be born again, and made pure from within or he cannot see God. The word of Christ is that He was with the Father in His glory before the world was ; that He and the Father are one ; that by virtue of His original divine nature. He has all power in heaven and in earth, the power of life and of death, power to forgive sins. The word of Christ is 260 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. that this eternal Son of God, came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost ; — came, sent by the Father's love ; came, not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. The word of Christ is that He draws men to Himself by being lifted up upon the cross ; that He gave His flesh, that is His life, for the life of the world ; that, like the corn of wheat. He must die in order that the fruit of His coming might ap- pear. The word of Christ is that He is the resurrection and the life ; and that whoso believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, and shall be raised up at the last day. The word of Christ is that He, the Son of Man, shall come again in the glory of the Father, to judge the world ; that He will raise the dead ; that He Avill separate the sheep from the goats ; that they who by faith have lived righteously, shall be blessed of His Father and wel- comed to His kingdom ; but they who have been un- believing and unrighteous shall go away into everlasting punishment. All this body of truth is the word of Christ. If we formulate Christ's teachings as doctrines ; we find here the doctrine of God's spiritual essence, of His abso- lute perfection, of His infinite love ; the doctrine of the divine personality of Christ Himself; the doctrine of man's sinful and lost condition : the doctrine of the re- demptive sacrifice of Jesus for the sin of the world ; the doctrine of the new birth or regeneration by the Holy Spirit, as indispensable to our admission into the kingdom of heaven ; the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, of the general judgment and of the awards of life and of death, alike final and eternal. All the great doctrines known in theology as the doctrines of grace, — doctrines that revolve around the central truth of man's deliverance from sin and death and hell through the sacrifice of the Son of God — the doctrines of sin and reconciliation, of re- THE PRACTICAL REACH OF CHRIST's DOCTRINE. 2G1 pentance and faith, of pardon and salvation through tlie cross of Jesus, of regeneration and sanctification through the Spirit, of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judg- ment — these doctrines, stripped of technical phraseology and of human philosophy, are the word of Christ. The word of Christ is preceptive as well as doctrinal ; it is His word that we be humble and meek, merciful and pure, peaceable and holy, prayerful and charitable ; it is the word of Christ that we seek righteousness and the kingdom of God; it is the word of Christ that we love one another, and do good unto all men; it is the word of Christ that we glorify our Father in heaven through the abounding fruits of righteousness. The word of Christ is a word of promise also. It is the word of Christ tliat He will send the Comforter to teach, enlighten, console, and sanctify us : it is the word of Christ that He and the Father will abide in the believ- ing, gentle, loving soul ; it is the word of Christ that in the work of saving men through His gospel, He Avill be with us alway even to the end of the world ; it is the word of Christ that whatsoever we ask the Father in His name He will give it us : it is the word of Christ that His peace shall be ours, and His joy shall be fulfilled in us ; it is the word of Christ that He will prepare a place for us in Plis Father's house, and Avill come again and re- ceive us to Himself. All that the Gospel contains for our instruction in right- eousness ; for our elevation in character ; for our consola- tion under trial ; for our hope in the future ; for our joy and peace on earth, and our final felicity in heaven, is the word of Christ. The completeness of the revelation by Christ appears in the practical scope and influence of His doctrines. In tlie vast range covered by His teachings, while these touch at intervals upon themes of thought the most abstruse and 202 THE THEOLOGY OF CHETST. matters most remote from human experience, there is yet nothing mystical, nothing speculative, nothing for mere abstract contemplation ; but every doctrine, whether con- cerning man, angels, God, this world or that to come, takes right hold upon human life and character, upon duty here and destiny hereafter. Beginning with the heart, the per- sonal soul, the individual life, the truth as Christ gave it works out into all the lines of human action, into all phases and conditions of society, into all business, all pleasure, all intercourse, all official place, all relationships, all plans and all obligations — past, present and to come. One can be nothing, do nothing, speak nothing, think nothing, to which this truth does not apply, with a commanding, a controlling power. It is this comprehensive completeness of Christ's teach- ing in the essential point of character, that makes Him indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life. As He came from God to lead us to God, and has pointed the way fully and clearly, nothing outside of Him can be the way. As He brought to us the words of the Father to light us up to God, there can be no truth proper or needful or useful for salvation, that is not embraced in His teachings. And as His light was the life of men, there can be no life apart from Him. To receive Christ as teacher is to receive Him in His fulness as the law of life, the way of salvation. " This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent;" ^ — this is the sum of faith and of duty. ''I know not," says Schleiermacher, " where we can find any passage, even in the writings of the Apostles, which says so clearly and significantly, that all eternal life in men pro- ceeds from nothing else than faith in Christ." There can be no improvement upon Christianity as this was presented at the first by Clirist. To say that theology, in the meaning of a human science of interpretation, and of 1 John vi. 29. Christ's teaching for all ages. 263 logical definition and construction applied to the doctrines of Christianity, can be improved, is only to say that human imperfection, which mars whatever it touches, attaches to any system that man can frame, even though the materials furnished him be perfect and divine. But when men speak of outgrowing Christianity, of finding a truth more perfect, a way more simjile, a salvation more complete, they might as well talk of dispensing with sunlight by some new patent of science for consuming the oils, gases or metals of the earth. The very truths purporting to be in- tuitions of consciousness, that are brought forth to supplant Christianity, are either unconsciously derived fi'om Chris- tianity, or find in it full recognition and confirmation. As the strokes of the hammer that bound to its bed the last link of the Pacific Rail-road rang clear and musical upon the telegraphic bells all over the continent, proclaim- ing the way opened from sea to sea, so the words of Jesus, proceeding from the central point of human history — where this world was linked once more to heaven — vibrate through the ages, in every clime and tongue, making mu- sical the soul that listens for their coming. The words that the beloved disciple caught and treasured for such as had not seen the Lord and yet had believed, were written for us also, that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing we might have life through His name. ^ » John xxi. 31. APPEiSTDIX I. THE GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. I, CHAEACTERISTICS OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL. The Theology of Christ is largely derived from the Fourth Gospel, commonly known as the Gospel of John. This Gospel has certain peculiarities that distinguish it in a marked manner from the other three, commonly called the Synoptics. In the duration it assigns to the ministry of Jesus, in the number of His recorded visits to Jeru- salem, m the date of the Last Supper, and in other minor points of detail, there are differences between the fourth Gospel and the Synoptics that have tasked the ingenuity of critics in arranging a harmony of the Gospels. These points are discussed at length in. recent critical commentaries on John, and in learned and able mono- graphs upon the genuineness of the fourth Gospel, but they are only incidental to the line of inquiry pursued in this volume.^ A more important distinction between the Fourth Gospel and the Synoptics is found in the style and subjects of the teaching of Christ, and in the representation of His person and character. In the Syn- optics Jesus appears mainly as the Son of Man, who teaches moral truths and practical virtues by parables and sententious sayings. Even the sermon on the mount, though linked together by a subtile law of association and development, is a series of apothegms rather than a consecutive unfolding of doctrine. But in the Fourth Gospel, which opens with the doctrine of the Logos, Jesus appears more com- monly'as the Son of God, declaring and vindicating His Messiahship and His personal relations to the Father, and in extended discourses 1 See Alford, Com. on John; Meyer's Kom. ilher das Evang. den Johannes. Do Wetto's Kom. ilher das Erancf. dfs Johannes. Weiss, Lehrlnch der Bih. TheoJogie des N. Te«tam<-n1s. Bleek's Einleitnng in das N. T. This standard ivork is now accessible in English, through Clark's "Foreign Theological Library;" it is distinguished by candor, learning and ability. De Groot, Basilides ah enter Zevge filr alter und antorilat NeiiteatamenfJicher Schriften, inbesondere des Johannesevanr/eliums ; and the Essays of Prof. George P. Fisher, D. D. on the S'lpernatnral Origin of Christionitv. — To these Essays, as well as to Bleek's Einleitung, I hare been specially indebted in preparing this Appendix. 264 VIEWS OF STRAUSS AND BAUR. 265 and dialogues setting forth the deepest doctrines of the spiritual Ufe. This last feature has given rise to the theory that the author of the fourth Gospel was a Hellenic Christian, of the Alexandrine school, who constructed a fictitious life of Christ under the name of John, in order to give to his theological scheme the semblance of apostolical authority. A candid survey of the whole range of evidences, both internal and external, v/ill, we think, show the falsity of this theory, and result in the conviction that the fourth Gospel was the work of the apostle John. II. THE VIEW OF STRArSS. Strauss maintains that it is impossible to deduce the faith of Jesus frpm the fourth Gospel : — the tone of dogmatic assertion and of self- glorification in which Jesus there speaks of llimself and His relations to the Father, is incompatible with the historical representation of His character given by the Synoptics, and must have proceeded from an enthusiastic and posthumous worshiper of Jesus, who put his own Gnostic conceptions of the " Word " into the mouth of his divinized Master. ' From an examination of the external evidences relating to the first three Gospels, it results that, a little after the commencement of the second century, one finds certain traces, if not of their existence under their present form, at least of the existence of a great part of the materials that entered into their composition ; and moreover, the more ancient narratives had their origin in the very country which was the theater of the events which they recount. As to the fourth Gospel the results are far less favorable. This did not begin to be known until after the middle of the second century, and everything indicates that it had its origin in a foreign country, and under the influence of a philosophy unknown in the primitive Christian, society. In the first three, in view of the interval of several generations between the events that they narrate and their definitive composition, the possibility of the addition of legendary and fabulous traits must be admitted ; in the fourth the alloy of philosophical speculation and meditative fiction is more than possible — it is probable.^ III. VIEW OF BAXJB. The strength of the negative criticism upon the fourth Gospel is concentrated in Dr. F. C. Baur, the acknowledged leader of the Tflbingen School. Baur's conception is that the fundamental idea of 1 Strauss Baa Leben Jesu (1864) g 33. » Leben Jem (18G4) g 13. 266 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. this Gospel, in the mind of its author, was to portray the unbelief of the Jews, as the principle of darkness, opposing itself to the divine principle of light and of life, incarnate in Jesus ; and that its plan is to follow out step by step the conflict of these two principles under the form of an historical drama. He assigns its composition to the epoch when Gnosticism and Montanism flourished, when the Church attempted to defend herself at once from these two extreme tendencies, and was agitated as to dogma, by the application of the idea of the word to the person of Christ, and as to discipline, by the question of the celebration of the Passover. Without any positive leanings, the Gospel concluded within itself all the contrasts of its time, in one central and higher conception, and hence was received with universal favor by all parties. It was written -about A. D. 160-170. The author of this Gospel, strong in his own convictions, persuaded that he knew better than the primitive evangelists — who were still held in the prejudices of Judaism — the true spirit of Christianity and of Christ, with entire good faith modified the evangelistic history, accommodated it to the spirit of the time, and placed in the mouth of Jesus discourses that corresponded with the evolution of the Christian ideas ; and confident of having penetrated and revealed to the world the inner glory of Christ, he felt authorized, if not to declare it in express terms, at least to let it be understood with sufficient clearness, that he was the beloved disciple of Jesus.^ To sum up briefly the view of Baur, it is that "the fourth Gospel was not written with an historical aim, but in advocacy of certain doctrinal ideas ; and the writer made use of the Gospel tradition already before him, especially in the first three Gospels, in a very free and arbitrary way. The author, who was not certainly a Jew by birth, lived in Asia Minor, or more probably in Alexandria, in the second century, at a time when the Church was agitated and divided by conflicting parties, by the Gnostic controversies, by that concerning the doctrine of the Logos, by that concerning Easter, and by those of Montanism." « IV. INTERNAL EVIDENCES. Both Strauss and Baur have admitted the clearness, consistency, and unity of the Fourth Gospel — that it is true to its own conception 1 Krit. UntersncJiungen uber die kanon. Evangelien 1847, and Theol. Jakr- bmJier 1844, 1847, 1861, 1854. 2 Condensed by Bleek. Int. § 63. INTERNAL MARKS OF GENUINENESS. 267 of Jesus and His mission — though they deny that either its doctrines or its miracles could be imputed to the Jesus of the Synoptical Gos- pels. But this denial is in both instances based upon a dogmatic assumption. It is assumed that the " Son of Man," who appears in the Synoptics setting forth in simple parables the practical relations of the kingdom of God to this world, could not also have uttered the lofty and somewhat mystical doctrines of the Fourth Gospel concerning the Son of God. Not to dwell here upon the marked diversity of method often found in the same teacher — which will be considered under the head of " style " — this assumption is set aside by the simple fact that " declarations of Christ are recorded in the Synoptics perfectly corresponding with what we find in John concerning the divine dignity of the Son of God, and His relation to the Father." Thus Matthew and Luke declare the intimate union of the Son with the Father in language exactly parallel to the type of such declarations in John : "All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever tht Son will reveal Him," ^ In showing how David had called Him Lord, He declared His pre-eminence and His pre-existence.^ In giving His last com- mission to His disciples, He asserted the plenitude of His power and the perpetuity of His being; and at the same time conjoined Himself with the Father, upon equal terms, in the formula of baptism.^ Be- fore the Sanhedrim, in answer to the demand, " Tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God," He acknowledged the title, and said "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of' power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." * For this assertion of divine attributes He was charged with blasphemy and adjudged "guilty of death." The relation of His death to the life of the world was cleariy announced in that saying, recorded by Matthew and Mark, " The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." ^ Thus the germs of the most important doctrines of Christology embodied in the Fourth Gospel are found in the Synoptics ; and that John, writing his Gospel at a later date, should have given greater prominence and amplitude to this class of Christ's sayings, was in accordance with that divine wisdom that evolves life in its highest organization from the simplest germ-cell. 1 Mat. xi. 27, Luke x. 22, comp. John vi. 46 and x. 15. ^ Mat. xxii. 41. Mark xii. 35. Luke xx. 41. 3 Mat. xxviii. 18. * Mat. xxvi. 63, 64. 5 Mat. XX. 28 ; Mark x. 45.. 268 THE THEOLOGY OP CHRIST. The objection to the genuineness of the fourth Gospel from the miracles that it records, brings into a question of pure criticism a foreit^n element of dogmatic speculation, and is well met by Bleek. ^ " We must be content not to determine lor ouraelves beforehand, ol ii priori, how far the influence of God's Spirit may extend, or how far not ; we must admit that it may operate not only on animate and human nature, but upon inanimate nature likewise. It is only self- deception to think that we can set up a barrier or line of demarca- tion determining what miracles are possible and what impossible, or that it is by no means necessary to infer this from the character of the miracles themselves, trustworthily attested and recorded. It is quite unreasonable, on the ground merely that St. John's Gospel records miracles as wrought by Jesus, which do not come withm our arbitrarily pre conceived notion of a possible miracle, to deny to it that trustworthiness and historical genuineness which it so evidently possesses in so many points. It is not unimportant to observe that the accounts given of miracles in the fourth Gospel are comparatively rare, and by no means so frequent as in the Synoptics ; and this should awaken in the minds of persons who so argue a pre-judgment in favor of St. John. In those cases, moreover, wherein a compari- son can be instituted, the account given by St. John is much simpler than that in the Synoptics ; and bearing in mind the comparatively late composition of the Gospel, this tells all the more in favor of the opinion that the writer was himself an eye-witness and partici- pator." 2 Robert Browning has well hit this nice balance in John's narrative between the faith that springs from love and the faith that comea only of miracles. " I fed the babe whether it would or no ; I bid the boy or feed himself or starve. I cried once, ' That ye may believe in Christ, Behold, this blind man shall receive his sight!' ' Repeat that miracle and take wy faith?' I say, that miracle was dnly wrought When, save for it, no faith was possible. So faith grew, making void more miracles Because too much : they would compel, not help. I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee 1 Tnfrod. § 79. * See the account of the walking on the sea, John v. 15; Matt. xiv. 22; Mark vi. 45 ; and of the voice from heaven, John xii. 24. SOCEATRS AND CHRIST COMPAEED AS TEACHERS. 269 All questions in the earth and out of it, And has so far advanced thee lu be wise. ^ The perfect accord between the doctrines and the miracles — the word of Jesus and His works — in the fourth Gospel, and the natu- ralness with which they supplement each other, is an evidence of the historical character of the Gospel. The question of style in this Gospel as compared with the Syuoptics need occasion no difficulty when we reliect how the same author or teacher may vary his style for different hearers or objects. The Synoptics testify that Jesus discoursed with His disciples in a style diflerent from that which He used before the people. ^ " It is well known," says Bleek, "how widely the representations differ that are given us of the person and teaching of Socrates in Plato and Xenophon respectively. Some, supposing these irreconcilable, havo held Xenop ton's account only to be historically true, and have de- clared the Platonic Socrates to have been the creation of Plato him- self. The narrowness and erroneousness of this opinion is now acknowledged ; for if Socrates were a teacher only, as Xenophon de- scribes him, if he was not also the speculatist and philosopher that Plato describes, we could not explain how so many schools of specu- lative philosophy sprang from his teaching and influence. Both de- scriptions of Socrates are true, and are only different aspects of one and the same character. Now, if a wise man, who was merely human like Socrates, could thus present such manifoldness in unity that two of his pupils could give such contrasted yet true pictures of his teaching, surely the same is possible in the case of Christ — in the case of Him whose office and work was to be the Redeemer of men of all shades of character and life ; surely in His person and life there must necessarily have been a far richer fullness." * The prevailing similarity of stvle in the discourses of Jesus and the narrative of the evan,2;elist, may be acconntod for quite naturally by the overmastering influence of the thought of Jesus upon the mind of the susceptible and loving John. Such unconscious influence, where there is neither imitation nor invention, is by no means un- common between master and disciple. Indeed, the reporting of an oral discourse may depend as much upon the receptivity of the hearer as upon the phraseology of the speaker. 1 A Death in the Desert — a fictitious representation of John vindicating his gospel on his death-bed. 2 Matt. xiii. 10, 34. Mark iv. 11, 33, 34. Luke viii. 10. 3 lutrod. I 76. 270 THE THEOLOGY OF CHKIST. Two reporters of difiereufc temperaments and different degrees of cul- ture may present quite different phases of the same speecli ; each correct as far as it goes, each incomplete as an embodiment of the thought of the speal'cer, yet each important for the impression it will make upon its own circle of readers, while both are necessary to a philosophical estimate of the speaker and his discourse. John appears to have fed upon certain phases of Christ's doctrine till the^e not only possessed his soul as a personal faith, but pervaded his <;hought and style. " Let any only yield himself," says Neander, " to the impression of the Sermon on the Mount, and then ask himself whether it be probable that a mind of the loftiness, depth, and power which that discourse evinces, could have employed only one mode of teaching ? A mind which swayed not only simple and practical souls, but also so profoundly speculative an intellect as that of Paul, could not but have scattered the elements of such a tendency from the very first. We cannot but infer, from the irresistible power which Christianity exerted upon minds so diversely constituted and cultivated, that the sources of that power lay combined in Him whose self-revelation v/as the origin of Christianity itself. Moreover, the other Gospels are not wanting in apparently paradoxical expressions akin to the peculiar tone of John's Gospel, i. e. Let the dead bury their dead. Nor will the attentive observer find in John alone expressions of Christ in- tended to increase, instead of to remove, the otfence which carnal minds took at His doctrine, "Still it is true, that such passages are given by John much more abundantly than the other Evangelists. But there is nothing in his Gospel purely metaphysical or impractical ; none of the spirit of the Alexandrian-Jewish theology ; but everywhere a direct bearing •upon the inner life, the Divine communion which Christ came to establish. Its form would have been altogether different had it been composed, as some suppose in the second century, to support the Alexandrian doctrine of the Logos, as will be plain to any one who takes the trouble to compare it with the writings of that age that have come down to us. The discourses given in the first three Gospels mostly composed of separate maxims, precepts, and parables, all in the popular forms of speech, were better fitted to be handed down by tradition than the more profound discussions which have been recorded by the beloved disciple who hung with fond affection upon the lips of Jesus, treasured His revelations in a congenial mind, and poured them forth to fill up ihe gaps of the popular narrative. And although it is true that the image of Christ given to us in this Gospel EXTERNAL PROOFS OF GENUINENESS. 271 is the reflection of Christ's impression upon John's peculiar mind and feelings, it is to be remembered that these very peculiarities were obtained by his intercourse with, and vivid apprehension of, Christ himself. His susceptible nature appropriated Christ's life, and in- corporated it with His own." ^ As to the names Son of Man and Son of God, Neander shows that Christ employed these antithetically : " they contain correlative ideas, and cannot be thoroughly understood apart from their reciprocal relation." The fourth Gospel exhibits throughout intrinsic evidences of being the production of an eye-witness. The minute yet unstudied descrip- tion of persons, places, events, the natural and life-like manner in which the story is told, are marks not only of the historical character of the narrative, but also of the interest of the writer in all that he nar- rates, as a matter of personal testimony. These characteristics are very striking in the account of the closing scenes of the life of Jesus : — the manner of the disciples when Jesus announced at the Supper that one of them should betray Him : the fact that John, being " known unto the high priest" went into his palace, while Peter remained without, until John came and brought him in ; the circumstantiality of the details about the weather, the fire, and what was transpiring in the judgment hall and in the outer court ; these are marks of personal recollection. The same characteristic appears in the account of the visit of Peter and John to the Sepulcher.* V. EXTERNAL EVIDENCES. It is admitted by all parties, that before the close of the second century the fourth Gospel had come to be acknowledged as a canonical work, and was by many accepted as a work of the Apostle John. Irenxus, bishop of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian of pro- consular Africa, and Polycrates of Ephesus are conclusive witnesses to this fact. Iren^us argues the necessity for four Gospels from the mystical analogy of the four divisions of the world, the four winds, the four cherubims:' Clement speaks of "the four Gospels which have been handed down tons;"* Tertullian enumerates the four;5 Polycrates names John as " he who leaned upon the bosom of the Lord." « These witnesses prove that in the last third of the second century the fourth Gospel was acknowledged in all the churches as * Life of JeiHs Ohrist, Am. edition, ? 71. » Prof. Fisher has grouped together very effectively many passages in John's Gospel that exhibit "the air and manner of an eye-witness and participant in the scenes recorded." The Siipprnntnrnl Orif/in of Cliristiainty, pp. 84-95. 8.ffQ3r. iii. 11. * Strum. \n. U. ^ Marcion, \y. 2. <^ Eusebiua, y. 2i. 272 THE THEOLOGY OF CHKIST. the work of the apostle John. Going back a step further in the literature of the primitive Church, we find conclusive evidence of the existence of the fourth Gospel in the first half of the second century. According to Hippolytus, Valentinus, the founder of a Gnostic sect, quoted from this Gospel as the saying of Christ, " All that came be- fore Me are thieves and robbers ;" ^ and also applied to Satan th* title " Prince of this world." Marcion rejected the Gospel of John, a3 he also mutilated Luke's Gospel, because he thought it inconsisteni with the doctrines of Paul ; ^ but his rejection of it as not favoring his theological scheme, shows that it was already current in the Church as the work of the apostle John. We are indebted to Hippolytus for the resuscitation of another witness — Basilidcs,^ a Gnostic leader who flourished at Alexandria in the fore part of the second century. In his discussions Basilides says, " Thus it is said in the Gospel ; This was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world :" "* and again, " The Saviour said, My hour is not yet come." * It is impossible to doubt that Basilides had before him the Gospel of John, and regarded it as of apostolical authority. A yet earlier and more important witness is Justin Martyr, wlio lived between A. D. 89 and 160. Justin speaks, of the Gospels col- lectively as " the authoritative memoirs of the Apostles ; " he declares that Christ was "the only -begotten of the Father of all things, being properly begotten by Him as His Word and Power " — a con- ception apparently founded upon John ; and he uses the language of John's Gospel, with only such slight verbal variations as would occur in quotations from memory. In particular in his account of baptism, Justin says, ^ " For indeed Christ also said : ' Except ye be bom again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' And that it is impossible for those who are once born to enter into their mother's womb, is plain to all." Such an approximation to the lan- guage of John can hardly be accounted for by a current tradition of Christ's conversation with Nicodemus; and, moreover, such a tradi- tion would go to confirm the Gospel narrative as a history, for the Gospel reports with a matter-of-fact particularity the interview of the Master in Israel with the Teacher come from God. VI. CONCLUSION. The whole argument is well summed up in the following extracts from Bleek : 1 Ilippol. vi. 35. 2 Tertullian, a^r. Marcion iv. 3. * Hippol. vii. 22, 27. * John i. 9. 6 John ii. 4. * AjyoL i. 61. GENUINENESS OF JOIIN's GOSPEL. 273 *' We have now to consider the design and occasion of this Gospel. The former John himself seems to tell us in his closing words. * What he here declares to be his object in writing, viz., to further faith in Jesus as the Clirist and the Son of God, and everlasting life in those who believe, may, as thus generally stated, be regarded as the highest object of the other evangelists, and indeed of all Christian teachers whether writers or speakers. But it is one thing to awaken faith, another to confirm and guard it against error on all sides. Accordingly the authors of the Gospels might have different points of view, and give to their works a correspondingly different form. Their purpose might have been either the furtherance of faith in the Son of God — and this would influence them more or less in their selection of facts, and in the characteristic execution of tlieir task — or they might content themselves simply with the trustworthy re- lation of occurrences just as they happened. Among the Synoptics, the latter character seems to belong more to Luke and Mark, the former more to Matthew. But unquestionably this former character belongs in a far higher degree to John, and certainly not simply through pointed references in him to the fulfilment of Old Testament expressions and in virtue of his. own remarks and observations, but also through his selection of matter for record, especially such as the discourses of the Lord, which refers far more than those in the Syn- optics to the person of Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah. More than any other of the evangelists might John have declared it to be the simple purpose of his writing, that his readers might be- lieve Jesus to he the Christ, the Son of God. Still it would be a very great mistake to argue from this manifest intention in the Gos- pel against its historical reality and purpose, and to speak of it as purely dogmatic and apologetic, as has so often been done even by the latest interpreters and critics. So far is this from the truth, that if we may treat any one of our Gospels as an historical work, we may emphatically so treat the Gospel of John. In the statement of external facts, John is frequently more exact than the Synoptics. Not less is his account of events recorded by himself alone distin- guished by great precision and clearness, even when he gives promi- nence to what has manifestly no direct dogmatic significance ; e. g. the conversation with the Samaritan woman, the healing of the man born blind at Jerusalem, the raising of Lazarus, etc. Espe- cially is the historical character of his Gospel proved by the clear- ness with which it unfolds, in its gradual development, the catas- 18 1 John XX. 31. 274 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. trophe which terminated in the death of Jesus the Redeemer. Here pre-eminently, from the very begiuumg of the Lord's public life onwards, care is taken to show how by His deeds and words the Jewish feeling concerning Him was formed, alternating for a long time between approval and dislike, until at last it took such a course as to give up even eagerly to crucifixion Him on whom but a short time before it had joyfully fixed its expectations. " The whole Gospel shows us how the popular opinion respecting Jesus was formed ; how, for a long time, it swung between approval and dislike ; how the people, entirely filled with the Jewish notions respecting the Messiah, sometimes thought He was the One for whom they were waiting, and then again became determined and bitter against Him ; how the Sanhedrim resolved to make away with Him, and how this resolution was affected by a real or pretended fear of the Romans. Especially is it from John that we learn how it came to pass (a) that the people greeted Jesus on His entrance into Jerusalem with such rejoicings, (the fact itself is recorded by the Synoptics ; but it is only in this Gospel that we learn its motive, in the raising of Lazarus shortly before) ; and yet [b) that their feeling so quickly altered respecting Him, through the discourse following the entry, from which it could be seen how little He thought of being a Messiah m the Jewish sense of the word. This change of feeling is also related by the Synoptics, but not so as to show very clearly how it was brought about. ^ " We need not be surprised at finding no quotations from St. John's Gospel in the apostolic fathers ; for they do not usually make any quotations from the Gospels, though they certainly must have known them. There are indeed some passages which seem indi- rectly to refer to sayings in our Gospel, but we cannot affirm this with certainty My conviction is that an unprejudiced consideration of the external testimonies leads to the certain conclu- sion that our fourth Gospel was recognized as a trustworthy author- ity, and a genuine work, in the various churches of Christendom before the middle of the second century. " It must, as we have seen, have existed and been known in the church (a) before the Easter controversies; (6) before the appear- ance of the Valentinian Gnosis in Egypt and elsewhere; (c) before the ripe of Montanism in Asia^ Minor; (f?) before the time of Marcion himself. The position which the contending parties in all these con- troversies allowed to our Gospel, can be historically explained only 1 Bleek, Lit. g 115. VAN OOSTERZEE's NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 275 upon the supposition that it was known and recognized in the Church at large some decades of years before the middle of the second century, if not from the very beginning of it ; and this fact, in turn, can only be explained upon the supposition that it is a genuine and apostolic work. Whatever may be difficult and strange in the his- tory of this Gospel in the Church, in its contents or in its exposition, is only of such a nature as to become tenfold more difficult and more strange upon the supposition of a later and non-apostolic author- ship. Our investigation has confirmed us in the steadfast conviction, which is irresistibly urged upon us ever and anon from diff6rent con- siderations, that this fourth Gospel is really the work of St. John, the trusted and beloved disciple of the Lord." ^ APPEIN^DIX II. DR. J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE's THEOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. The most judicious and satisfactory treatise that has yet appeared in the recent science of Biblical Theology, is the Manual of the The- oJocjy of the New Testament by Dr. Van Oosterzee, Professor in the University of Utrecht, Holland. This was first published in Dutch in 1867, and a second edition appeared in 1869. A German trans- lation, made under the author's sanction, was published at Barmen in 1868 ; ^ a full account of the work, with a translation of several sections appeared in the Americait, Presbyterian Review for July, 1870 ; ^ and a translation of the entire work is in course of publication in the Theological Eclectic. * This translation, by Prof. George E. Day, D. D., is made directly from the Dutch, and promises to be both precise and elegant ; when completed, it will be published as a distinct volume, and will form a useful text-book for Bible-classes. For convenience of reference I have here compiled from the Ger- man edition an abstract of that portion of Van Oosterzee's work which treats specificially of the Theology of Christ. 1 Block, Intro, g 89. ^ Die Theologie dcs N'euen Testaments. Ein Hand-buch fiir academische Vorlesungen und zum Selbst-studium. Von J. J. Van Osterzee. pp. 268. 3 Vol. ii. New Series, pp. 434-459. * Published by Judd & White, New Haven. 276 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. Section first, in the form of an introduction, defines the Biblical Tlieology of the New Testament as a science, carefully distinguishing it from Christian Dogmatics. The latter inquires, not only what the Cliristian Church m general or any one of its branches confesses as truth, but above all, what within the domain of Christian faith one really should or should not hold as truth. The former, on the contrary, asks only what is set forth as truth by the writers of the New Testament. From its point of view, it has to do, not with the correctness, but only with the import of the ideas which it finds in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Elle ne d^montre pas, elle raconte. As for the exegete, so for the Biblical theologian, the main question is. How readest thou ? § 2, treats of the history of this science, showing that it arose at a comparatively recent period — largely under the impulse of rational- istic investigation — and is "distinctively Protestant" in its origin and methods of inquiry, making the Bible its sole text-book and authority. § 3, points out the method to be pursued in this study. The The- ology of the Lord Jesus Christ must be distinguished from that of the Apostolic writers, and the former discussed before the latter. Here, too, the difference between the sayings of the Lord in the Syn- optics and in the fourth Gospel comes before us. The apostolic writings should receive a like discriminating treatment — bringing out in succession the theology of Peter, of Paul, and of John. And, moreover, since the doctrine of Christ and His apostles grew like a plant out of the soil of the Old Testament, as a preparai ion for understand- ing that doctrine, we must acquaint ourselves with the religion out of which Christianity sprang, with the expectations which it realized, and with the condition, the ideas and the wants of the age in which Christ and His apostles lived. These points, Mosaism, Prophetisvi, and Judaism, as distinguished from the earlier Hebraism, Dr. Oosterzee groups together under the name of " Old Testament foun- dation." The treatise proper opens with a chapter on this " Old Testament Foundation," under which ? 4 treats of Mosaism — the religious-po- litical constitution i for which the people of Israel were indebted to Moses ; its foundation, a special revelation, its character monothe- 1 "Die religios-jMlitische Einriehtung ; " a constitution which did not .simjjly combine within it.self ecclesiastical and civil institutions, but in which the re- ligious idea was the key of the civil polity, and the whole political structure was based upon religious truths and erected for a religious end : — not " re- ligious and civil," but " religious-political." OLD TESTAMENT FOUNDATIONS OF CHRISTIANITY. 277 istic, its form theocratic, its worship symbolico- typical, its tendency purely moral, its standpoint that of external authority — though at the same time it is thoroughly conscious that it is a preparation for a higher development. Blending the religious and the ethical, the Mosaic economy is founded not in legalism but in morality ; the ab- solute holiness of the king is the ideal of the subject ; the love of Jehovah is ever in the foreground, and religion is most intimately united with the life. Yet the law could not itself produce the holiness that it required. Prophctism, ^ 5, which can as little be accounted for on the ration- alistic theory as on that of magic, was both the support and the ful- fillment of the earlier revelation. It built the way for the Gospel of the New Testament, exerted an important influence upon the matter and form of its preaching, and exalted its high worth above all reason- able doubt. It insisted upon the spiritual nature of the law and the necessity of spiritual consecration ; it proclaimed the universality of the kingdom of God, a golden age upon earth, and the resurrection and the judgment after death. By upholding Monotheism, by quick- ening and sharpening the sense of sin, and thus awakening the long- ing for redemption, by setting over against the terrors of the law the consolation of promise and hope, it prepared the way for the Gospel. Judaism, | 6, describes the moral and religious state of the Israel- ites after the Babylonian captivity — a state of degeneracy from the original Hebraism, when speculation, legalism, and formalism had supplanted the early enthusiasm for spiritual truth. Althou-jh in this period there was a general expectation of the Messiah, yet there was nothing in Judaism from which the personal character of Christ or the matter of His Gospel could have been developed. Part Second brings us directly to the Theology of Jesus Christ:— the essence of the doctrine of God and divine things as given by Christ during His earthly life. While Jesus drew much from nafura and from the Old Testament, His personality, more than anything else, was the source of His doctrine, and determined both the form and the matter of His teaching. The remainder of this chapter, from 1 10 to ^ 17, is devoted to the conception of the Kingdom of God as found in the Synoptical Gospels. The several topics are, the langdom itself, its founder, the King of kings, the subjects of the kingdom, salvation, the way of salvation, the consummation. § 10, on the Kingdom, has already been given in the note on p. 30. The founder of this kingdom Dr. van Oosterzee regards as none other 278 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. than Christ Himself, * who even in the Synoptical Gospels, appears as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and as such is not only a true and spotless man, but is also a partaker of a super-human nature and dignity which no creature in heaven or earth can lay claim to. At the same time, 1 12, He proclaims the Father as the only true, the personally living and continually acting God, who re- veals Himself especially through the Son to men, and through the Holy Spirit produces in them every really good thing. f 13. Men only are the proper subjects of this kingdom — the holy angels being its servants, and the spirits of darkness its enemies. Christ teaches the personality of Satan, the Evil one, assumes the universality of sin in the hearts of men, and sets forth the guilt and ruin of the transgressor. § 14. Salvation consists in the enjoyment of temporal and spiritual blessings, which begins here, and shall be perfected in the hereafter. The earthly appearing, the active life, the redemptive death and the heavenly glory of Jesus Christ, together had this distinct purpose — to bring this salvation to all. § 15. Though all are invited to the salvation of the kingdom of God, yet sinners can partake of it only through repentance, faith, and a renewal of heart which manifests itself in the rectitude of the whole life. All who enter upon this way constitute together a spiritual community, which on account of its peculiar constitution, but above all on account ot its character and tendency is high above every other, and shall extend and endure till the end of the world. § 16. Then shall come the consummation. The salvation of the subjects of the kingdom of God survives their death, but will first reach its consummation at the Advent of the Lord, at which the glory of the King shall be manifested, and those of His subjects who have been found faithful shall be rewarded with the full rewards of grace. This Advent will be ushered in by impressive signs, accom- paniecj with stupendous changes in the cosmical and moral spheres, 1 That Christ did not really found the kingdom of God, but revived the normal concejition of that kingdom in the Old Testament, and filled out tho prophetic ideal, I have already shown at p. 31. This view of tho original spirituality of the Old Testament kingdom is essential to a true understanding of the preaching of Christ. The apostasy of the Jews from their primitive Theocracy, and their glorification of the forms of the law in place of the spirit of allegiance, rendered necessary the removal of their system, iu order to the re-establishment and glorification of tho true Theocracy. " The kingdom of God," says Neander, "could not be founded from without. It needed first a proper material ; and this could not be found in human nature, estranged from God by sin." ( THE THEOLOGY OF JOPIN's GOSPEL. 279 and followed by the definitive separation of the good and the bad which shall put an irrevocable end to the present state of things. Thus far the elements of the Theology of Christ as given in the Synoptical Gospels. His words in the fourth Gospel exhibit a char- acter so entirely peculiar, as to require a separate treatment. It is important also to distinguish as far as possible the utterances of the Johannoan Christ from those of the Christian John. Here, in the words of Christ Himself, we move in quite another sphere of thought. In the Synoptics it is the kingdom of heaven that is prominent, here the King Himself; there, the human, here the divine side of the Person of the Redeemer; there, the blessedness of redemption beyond the grave, here, upon this side of the grave. This is the theme of 1 17, which opens the second part of the Theology of Christ. I IS, treats of the Son of God in the flesh The self consciousness which utters itself in the fourth Gospel is that of the only Son of God who appears as true and sinless man, to be the Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the world, but who at the same time, during His stay on earth stands personally in a relation to heaven altogether peculiar. I 19. As the Son of God the Lord declared that He was from eternity, was the constant object of the love of "the Father, and the sharer of His nature, majesty and power, who had in the Father the ground and the end of His life, who revealed His name in (he fullest degree, and by consequence could lay claim to a homage and dignity which could not be accorded to a creature without blasphemy I 20. The name of the Father was revealed by the Son to a world which through sin and the powers of evil was under the dominion of darkness, but which received from God in Christ new light and life. He imparted this light and life through His coming and all His works, but especially through His suflferings and death. Ytt in order personally to enjoy their benefits, a heart-faith is indispensable, and this though required upon sufficient grounds, nevertheless for moral reasons will by no means be found in all. I 21. They who are given to the Son by the Father, and by con- sequence have come to the Father through the Son, are united with the Son, and through Him with one another in a living Communion, whose peculiar character can be understood only by means af a spiritual experience, and whose benign effects are manifested in the whole course of their inner and outer life. ? 22. That eternal life, which already here is a fruit of personal abiding fellowship with Christ, survives death and passes over into unending felicity. Also according to the Joluinaean Christ v/e must 280 THE THEOLOGY OP CHEIST. look for a resurrection of the dead, a general judgment, and an irrevocable separation at the last day. The discussion of these rela- tions of the Son of God to the Father, to the world, to His Disciples, and to the Future, completes the second division of Van Oosterzee'a treatise on the Theology of Christ. The third part considers the apparent differences between the Synoptics and John's Gospel, in their reports of Christ's teachings, as really conducting to a higher xmity. His doctrine is communicated by the four evangelists in an harmonious many-sidedness, and is on the one hand the unfolding, amplification and fulfilment of the word of God spoken by Moses and the prophets, and on the other the foun- dation and starting point of a series of Apostolic declarations in re- spect to the way of salvation, which under various modifications, iu turn embody, interpret and strengthen the doctrine of Christ. The Petrine, Pauline, and Johannean theologies are severally dis- cussed, and the work closes with a chapter upon the agreement of the apostles with one another, the agreement of the apostles with their Lord, and the agreement of Christ and His apostles with the writings of the Old Testament. APPEFDIX III. DR. WEISS ON FUTUEE PUNISHMENT. For a full discussion of the questions of the annihilation of the wicked, the final restoration of all mankind, and the adjustment of eternal punishment with the equity and the goodness of God, the reader is referred to the author's volume " Love and Penalty,^' The statement of Christ's doctrine of hell and eternal perdition given by Dr. Weiss in his Compendium of New Testament Theology is so clear, condensed, and in the main so exact — though I dis- sent from his opinion that there will be no resurrection for the wicked — that the entire section is here translated for the benefit of readers who may not have access to the original, a. " According to the Orthodox-Jewish view (that of the Pharisees) retributive punish- ment began immediately upon the death of the individual, when the soul entered into Sheol (Hades). In the oldest Gospel Hades is men- tioned. Matt. xvi. 18, and its " Gates " serve for a popular symbol of THE MEANING OF "DESTRUCTION." 281 that which is most firmly closed, since the kingdom of the dead lets out again no one whom it has once swallowed up : and in Matt. xi. 23, where in opposition to heaven as the highest, Hades is repre- sented as the lowest. In the parable given in Luke xvi. 19-31, is brought out the idea of the diverae fates of souls in Sheol. The rich man and Lazarus find themselves in Hades (ver. 23) but the one m a place of torment (vers. 23, 28) where he is tortured by the greatest heat of burning thirst (ver. 2i), the other, on the contrary, rests in Abraham's bosom (vers. 22, 23) and enjoys a blessedness which causes him to forget all the misery of earth (ver. 25). The places of theii several abodes are divided by an insurmountable gulf (ver. 26.) The abode of the righteous in Hades is called Paradise, (Luke xxiii. 43.) That the robber shall be there with Jesus is the token of his forgive- ness. There is also already in Sheol a retribution for the soul, which however, does not exclude a final decision upon its definitive fate, b. The Messianic judgment decrees eternal punishment which forms the antithesis to eternal life. (Matt. xxv. 46). In this anti- thesis it is undoubtedly implied, that this punishment consists in the privation of eternal life, and this is identical with " destruction :" since the narrow way that leads to life stands in contrast to the way that leads to destruction (Matt. vii. 13 cnruTieia). The verb lying at the root of this word most commonly signifies a violent killing (Matt, xxi. 41, xxii. 7, also ii. 13, xxvi. 52, xxvii. 20), or perishing in a sudden and unnatural manner (Luke xiii. 3, 5. Mark iv. 38). But such an end is in itself a judgment of God (Luke xvii. 27, 29), and so the judicial punishment upon the impenitent nation could be represented as a destruction in this sense (Luke xiii, 3, 5), especially since this is commonly conceived of as destruction through the hand of an enemy (Matt. xxiv. 15-22). Likewise the judgment upon the world living in carnal security, according to the analogy of the flood, is represented as a sudden destruction, which in the end of the world bursts forth upon all who were not delivered from it. Evidently also " destruction " is frequently represented as bodily death, especially under some vio- lent and unnatural form in which the divine judgment executes itself upon sin. But physical death only separates the soul from the body "without pronouncing upon its definite fate. Since Jesus spake of the salvation of souls, there must be a destruction that falls upon disem- bodied spirits, and this must either be some definite destruction or destruction simply. This destruction the incorporeal demons feared (Mark i. 24) and according to Matthew x. 28, it is not the destruc- tion of the body but that of the soul that is to be feared, (Compare Matt. X, 39 and Mark viii. 36, 37.) To this destruction were the 282 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. whole people liable on account of their sins, inasmuch as the Messiah came to deliver them. But only the elect should be delivered from it (Matt. xxiv. 22, x. 22, Mark x. 26, Luke xiii. 23) while their souls, (after the destruction of their earthly corporeity) through being re- clothed with the body, would be conducted to the true eternal life. c. According to a frequent mode of representation those who are shut out from the kingdom of God in its heavenly perfection find themselves in Hell (Mark ix. 47 : yE£vva) — the name of a valley south of Jerusalem, where once the idolatrous Israelites offered their children to Moloch (Jer. vii. 31 : O-in-j; N'J 2 Kings xxiii. 10,) and as the judgment of God would break forth upon this horror (Jer. vii. 32, 33) this was transformed into a symbol of the place where destruc- tion would overtake those who should be condemned in the last judgment (Mat. x. 28): hence this judgment is called tj Kplaig ryg yeev- viiq (Mat, xxiii. 15, 33). Yet one may not conclude from Mat. v. 29, 30, and x. 28, that the wicked shall be raised, to suffer the pains of hell in their restored bodies. Rather do such utterances sufficiently explain themselves in this, that at the second coming of the Messiah to hold the final judgment this will overtake the current generation while yet in the flesh. Certainly the sinners of ancient times shall receive their definitive sentence at the Messianic judgment (Mat. xi. 22, 24. Luke x. 12, 14). But though their souls are in Sheol, and the question concerns the fate of their souls under this final judgment, it by no means follows from this that there will be a resurrection of such. This of the kind described in Mark xii. 25, can be had in view only for the pious. Undoubtedly Hell is described as a place of fire (Mat. V. 22), and its fire is explicitly called eternal (Mat. xxv. 41, Mark ix. 43), which Mark (ix. 48 following Isaiah Ixvi. 24) explains to the effect that their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched. But it is by no means meant by ^.his that sensible torments shall afflict the bodies of the wicked raised from the dead. Eather is the fire a symbol of the judicial wrath of God [Mat. iii. 11] whose terrors were thus depicted ; for the end of sinners is more dreadful than the most dreadful death (Mat. xviii. 6. Luke xvii. 2) — it were better for them had they never been born, (Mark xiv. 21.) Should a real fire be conceived of, that would call for eternal bodily torment, while it would burn without consuming ; and this would make an obvious contradiction, since elsewhere those who are shut out of the kingdom of God are said to be thrust out into darkness (Mat. viii. 12). But this darkness again, upon the basis of Old Testament imagery, is only a common symbol of evil and terror. (Job xxx. 26. Is. v. 20. viii. 22. ix. 2. 1. 10). This much therefore lies in both images — that the NO RESURRECTION FOR TIIK WICKED. 288 condemned will suffer a fate of whose terrors they are by no means unconscious — rather will they suffer this with wailing and gnashing of teeth, (Mat. viii. 12), The subject of this experience, however, may properly be conceived of as the disembodied soul, inasmuch as the incorporeal demons feared these torments (Mat. viii. 29) and the dead in Sheol experience both pain and happiness. {d.) These two representations of the endless fate of the con- domned (see in b. and c.) accord perfectly together. The destruction of the soul, indeed, (see b.) might be conceived of in itself as a com- plete annihilation ; but then it would not have been better for the condemned never to have been born. (Mark xiv. 21, note c.) This destruction consists rather in this — that the soul which, separated from the body, tarries in Sheol until the final Judgment, after by that judgment upon itself it is deprived of all prospect of an awakening to true life (through the Resurrection, which awaits the godly alone) remains forever in the bodiless and therefore shadowy condition in which physical death placed it. The duration of the soul as such, according to this conception is no happiness, but involves eternal jjunishment, inasmuch as the disembodied state of the soul, which was before dreaded as a transition state, when definitely apprehended concludes within itself the greatest unhappiness. The destruction of the soul, which in this condition is forever precluded from the true life (which cannot be conceived of apart from corporeity) may there- fire be signified by the same word as the separating of the soul from the body by corporeal death (see 6.), because this, when it comes upon the wicked in the day of judgment — at which the pious dead shall be separated from them by the resurrection — involves their condem- nation to remain in death, that is in the bodiless condition of the soul. But this bodiless state by no means excludes the lasting con- sciousness of its unhappiness, since the soul as such is and remains sensitive, (see c). The fire of hell therefore cannot signify complete annihilation, for these reasons : — that the fire itself cannot be regarded as material is obvious from the representation that it is an eternal fire, (Mat. XXV. 41, Mark ix. 43, 48); that it cannot consume the subject of the punishment, since then it would cease to burn. The eternity of punishment in hell in this sense is the correlative of the statement that the decision in the Messianic judgment is definitive. It comes also undoubtedly as a logical consequence of the doctrinal teaching of Christ, for where there is one sin which can never be forgiven, (Mat. xii. 32) there must also be an eternal punishment."^ ^ Lehrhuch der Bihlischen Theologie dea Neuen Testaments, § 38. 284 THE THEOLOGY OF CHEIST. APPENDIX TV. THE INTEEMEDIATE STATE. Dr. Delitzsch, in his System of Biblical Psychology — a work which, in its English dress,^ fully justifies De Quincey's complaint of "the barbarous effect produced by a German structure of sentence, and a terminology altogether new " — regards the descent of Christ into Hades as a turning-point in the condition of the righteous dead, both past and to come. " He appeared in the world of the dead as a spirit, while His incorruptible but not yet glorified and risen body was at rest in the grave ; but He appeared none the less in the undissolved unity of His divine-human person as the Prince of Life breaking through the bands of Hades and the grave. " Thus manifesting Himself to the dead in Hades, He preached to them [kKi'ipv^sv) the victory that had now come to pass. He preached to the Old Testament dead the New Testament gospel (vsKpoig ehi/yye- liadr]) of the now completed redemption (1 Pet. iii. 19, iv. 6.). There the fallen angelic powers beheld Him as the Conqueror; the Old Testament saints, as the Kedeemer; those who had died in the attitude of hardening themselves, as the Judge ; and for many who, as in the judgment of the deluge, had been swallowed up by Hades in very unequal measure of sin, there were glimpses of deliverance still pos- sible. There also the soul of the penitent thief beheld Him in the bliss of Paradise. " Then ascending out of Hades, arising out of the grave, and rising towards heaven, the Lord led captivity captive {rixfial^TEvaev ai,xua- luaiav): the gifts which the Exalted One sends down, are the fruits of His victory ; and, as it were, benefactions out of the spoils of a triumphant victor (Eph. iv. 8). For He has triumphed over the angelic powers (Col. ii. 15); and when He had subjected to Him- self the spirits that rule in the kingdom of death and of darkness, He led the men who in Hades honored Him as a redeemer with Himself toward heaven (Mat. xxvii. 51-53) and from that time forth the Paradise is above the earth (2 Cor. xii. 1-4).^ 1 Translated for Clark's Foreign Theological Library, 1867, by Rev. Robert E. Wallis, Ph. D. ^ This descent into Hades is the subject of a bold and efFective picture by Bronzino, in the Uffizi at Florence. The style is hard and mannered, but the moral impression is powerful. Christ, the central figure, is preaching deliver- ance to these imprisoned souls. The devils shrink back affrighted. Some of RELATIONS OF BODY^ SOUL, AND SPIRIT. 285 " The hope that the souls of the righteous are in God's hand, and in the enjoyment of rest and peace, has now its heavenly seal : the curtain is rent, and the new and living way is opened, on which henceforth all the faithful follow their Redeemer, without being com- pelled to pass further through any veil, to the place where God's loving presence is revealed in glory (Heb. x. 19). Thither look the eyes of the dying : thither, when their eyes fail them, their hands still point; there they are in the presence of their risen and glorified Saviour, who guarantees to them their own resurrection and glorifi- cation, even in their disembodied state, blessed and waiting in peace the dawning which will make even their bodies alive again. They are in the enjoyment of the peace of blessed inward contemplation, and blessed exaltation. They are in the heaven of glory, but this glory is still awaiting an increase. The history upon earth must first have passed away before the completion in heaven comes on." — (Chap. VI. Sec. III). Delitzsch holds that in this intermediate state the spirit has a certain "phenomenal corporeity and investiture." Maintaining the three-fold distinction of Biblical Psychology, — " body, soul, and spirit" — he regards the soul as the principle of bodily life derived from the spirit. This, although immaterial, probably adopts the form of the body, which the spirit through it ensouls ; as it is the outside of the spirit, so it is the inside of the body, and continues in the other world in that form which, as the living principle of the body, it had assumed. Its appearance remains a corporeal one, though immaterial. In this way Delitzsch accounts for the appear- ance of Samuel to the witch of Endor, and of Moses and Elias upon the Mount of Transfiguration. Dr. J. P. Lange defines the soul as "a kind of robe for the spirit." He believes that in the spirit there is a tendency towards the assump- tion of a body ; and hence, in the intermediate state, the spirit will assimilate from the materials of its dwelling-place, what will be fitted to its-elf, and thus will assume an organization adapted to its sphere. ^ Though such speculations have no basis of certainty, they find the spirits are incredulous, others look up in grateful wonder. Eve is meekly transported, and eager to follow her Deliverer, — the long-hoped-for "seed of the woman." In one corner of the picture a beautiful boy is helping a com- panion out of Limbo, and many are assisting others to escape, while the door of hope is open. 1 Stud, und Krit. vol. ix. pp. 693-713. Translated in Selections fromGerman Literature by Professors B. B. Edwards and E. A. Park. 286 THE THEOLOGY OF CHRIST. sufficient warrant in hints or suggestions of the Scriptures, to stimu- late curiosity upon a point of the most intense personal concern. And the Bible seems to impose no limit upon such speculative in- quiry, provided only that we hold fast our faith in Him who is the resurrection and the life. INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTUEE. Paoe. Gen. ii. 7 178 " 9 108 " xvii.1-17 86 Ex. xiii. 13 &i " xxi.30 C3 « XXX. 12 63 " " 16 63 Lev. xxiv. 16 1-15 " XXV. 24 63 « " 52 63 Num. xxi. 6 57 " " 7 58,00 " " 8 57, 58 " xxiv. 6 106 " XXXV. .31 63 Deut. viii. 15 57 1 Sam.xiv. 7 80 2Sam. vii. 14 140 " xii. 23 175 2 Kings xxiii. 10 282 1 Chron. xxix. 18 80 Ez. iv. 8 62 " vi. 11 51 " " 18 52 " vii. 12 52 " " 26 52 Neh. ii. 8 IGO Job xii. 3 86 " XV. 12 86 " xix. 26 183 " XXX. 26 282 Ps. ii. 6 14U " " 7 140 " Viii. 6 217 " xvi. 9 1S3 Ercl. ii. 5 ir.O " xii. 7 95 Is. V. 20 2S2 " viii. 22 282 " ix. 2 282 " X. 7 80 " xvi. 24 2)S2 " xxxii. 4 80 " xliv. 20 80 " 1.10 28:2 " Ii. 3 100 " liii. 11 215 " Ixiii. 4 80 Jer. vii. -31 282 " " 32,33 2t<2 " xxxi. .33 22 " 34 22 Sz. xviii. 30 235 " xxxvi. 20 23 " " 27 23 " xxxvii 23 Dan. ii. 4 52 " Tii.27 131 Dan. vii. " xii. Mac. ii. Page. ... 52 ... 183 ... 183 ... 183 ... 183 Wisd. xvi. 2 2.35 10.. 150 281 41 41 33 11 43,283 13 150 3 113,133 4 113 6 138 11 113 3 43,84,85 8 25, 42, 4.3, 159 9. 16., 20., 22. 29., 44. 45. 48., 1-4. 84r 85 3G 28-3 28J 103 103 20 84 G 84,120 7 84 9 120 26 in 30 11 J 31 111. iv:! 32 n-i 33 112, l.:() 7 12;) 9 V23 11 l:;l 12 ^■s■■i 13 69, 223, 281 14. 16., 17., 19.. 22.. 23.. 28.. 29., 0!) 90 8:J 223 , 224 i. 12 223, 282, 283 " 29.. ix. 12. " 13., .138, 2s<3 38 38 2 114: 114 287 288 INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. Page. Mattx. 7 2 " " 22 28-2 " « 28 223,281,282 «' « 32 '2-M " " 33 220 " " 39 281 " xi. 1 2 " ■' 5 2 " "21 2J 208 " " 23 281 « " 24 282 •' " 25 121 " " 2li ISO " " 27 116,251,267 " xii. 8 1-12 " " 28 l.i-t " « SI 154 « " 32 283 " ■■' 33 38, 41 " " 85 38 " xiii. 10 2G9 (c 14 g.j 209 " " 4i.!!!"!.VZ.V..^"!'.!..206,' 213, 233 •' '• 4-2 206, 223 " " 43 28,213.218 " » 49 200 " " 54 6 " xiv. 22 208 " « 33 m " XV. 24 r,> « xvi. 18 2,280 " " 19 '2 " " 21 53 " " 26 2-21 " " 27 224 " xviii. 3 43 " " 6 2Si " " 8 223 " " 11 0.-. " " 19 97, 1-2'; " XX. 18 r.3 « " 28 2117 " xxi. 22 130 " " 37 141,142 " " 41 2SI " xxii. 7 281 " « 22 7 « '' 30 187 " " 33 7 " " 37 26, 88 " " 41 26,267 " " 46 7 " xxiii. 15 282 " " 27 SO " iv. 3 138 " " 4 151 " " 9 138 " " 16 5 " " 22 5, 6 " " 32 6 " " 41 138 " vi. 35 219 " " 45 83 " viii. 10 269 « " 28 138 " ix. 2 19 " " 02 -'9 " X. 12 208, 282 « " ^2 207 " xi. 5-9 126 " " 20 26 " " 21 26 " " 22 26 " " 39 41 " xii. 6 112 " " 7 112 " " 14 198 " " 23 205 " » 47 229 INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. 289 Page. 2;? 127,130 2 39 ;j 39, 281 4 40 23 13.. 19-31.. XXI. x\ii. x.>Liii. 69 213 213 42 281 223 282 25 25 281 281 126 ■ 211 171 267 206 11) 212, 243 34.; i-^i 42 161 4;j 161, 281 _w 231 m 95 20.. 21.. 27.. 29.. 1-9., 30.. 38., 41., ;u.. John i. 272 140 140 150 140 136 272 32 33 44 45 14 50, 51, 219 \r) 50, 53, 62, 67, 219 16 49, 67, 141 17 67, 77, 198 18 62, 76, 201, 222 19 73, 200 73 '2;::::::::;::::::.. 1 14 H 21 95 03 93, 94 24 93 l.-j 268 18 H3 19 146 21 180, 190 22 207 24 67, 198 25 141, 187 26 Ill, 190 27 198, 199, 205 28 205, 224 29 205 40 73 32 237 33 237 34 88 35 237 37 69, 70, 77 38 88 39 70 40 69. 188 44 70, 189 Paoe. vi. 46 267 47 53, 211 " 51 62, 237, 238 52 238 53 238 57 238 58 211 60 238 " 02 238 63 237 68 6, 7, 18 69 7, 18, 141 " 70 25 vii. 17 248 46 50 83 viii. 21 208 24 53, 208 " 28 50, 52, 248 37 53 " 44 40, 213 ix. 35 140 36 HO " 39 202 41 203 X. 11 62 15 246, 267 17 246 l.S 246 " 22 144 " 24 143 25 143 30 14G " 35 151 xi. 4 K'. 23 180 " 25 11, 179, 180, 193, 251 '« 26 194 27 141 xii. 23 5f " 24 51, 56, 2GS « 27 56, 121 28 121 " 31 56 " 32 50, 55 » 47 198 « 48 202 49 249 Xiv. 1-4 212 2 171 " 3 171, 216 « 6 133, 219 " 9 Ii7, 209 " 10 18, 249 13 li:7 " 16 2, 1.50 " 17 156 " 21 27, 218 23 26, 147 " 24 219 " 26 150, 1.^3 XV. 7 127 11 27 19 197 22 201 24 203 26 153 xvi. 7 150 8 44 13 44, 1.51 14 152 " 16 154 19 290 INDEX OF TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE. John XV i. XVlll. " XiX. Page. 151 218 158 .2, llil, 2.">2 28 2^^^2 147 249 249 248 210 14 197 249 17 44,152 22 218 23 29,216 24 171,216 2 253 145 113 113 33 150 148 Page. John XX. 31 273 Acts i. 5 160,153 " " 6 154 '« " 7 45,251 " " 8 150 " iv. 21 235 " XX. 38 179 ICor. ii. 2 4 " \i. 13 178 " " 19 178 " XV. 24 174 2Cor. V. 1-5 172 " xi. 24 243 " xii. 4 165,170,284 Eph. iv. 8 284 • c)l. ii. 15 284 Ilcb. X. 19 285 1 Tliess. iv. 16 175 " 17 175 IPet. iii. 19 284 " iv. 6 284 IJohn iv. 18 235 lU'V. ii. 7 170 " ii. 17 165 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. ABSOLUTE belief in the, 90, 120. ^SCHYLUS on Resurrection, ISl. .ESTHETIC the in worship, 100. Aiwvtos eternal, 236. 'Aj/oo-TaiTts meaning of in Classic Greek, 180; in the Septuagint, 183. As taught by Christ, 18-4. ANTHROPOLOGY of Christ, 10. ARISTOTLE, theology of, 80. ATHEISM denies Providence, 115. BAPTISM, significance of, 1, 43. BAUR on John's gospel, 265. BELIEVERS exempt from death, 194.; their union with Christ, 171, 217. BIRTH, the new, 30 ; Nicodemus on, 33, 35. Phrase of the Rabliis, 34. A spiritual renewal, 35. Men desire a new life, 37. New birth neces- sitated by sin, 38. Yet is more than repenting, 42. From above, 43. No greater mystery than the wind, 46. BLASPHEMY, Christ charged with, 143. BLESSEDNESS of Saints, 211. Of Heaven, 212. BLEEK on the genuineness of John's Gospel, 273. BODY, Christianity cares for the, 178. Resurrection of the, 178, 184. Taught by Egyptians and Persians, 182. Belief among the Jews, 183-186. Basis of identity, 187. The intermediate, 285. "BORN AGAIN," see BIRTH. BROWNING, 268. BUCKLE, Theory of, 106. BUDDHISTS, 84, 107. CJiSAR, tribute to, 7; triumphs of Roman and French, 257. CATACOMBS, Church in the, 175. CERTAINTY and Freedom harmonized, 116. CHALDEE, influence of, on New Testament, 52, 184. CHRIST a Preacher, 1. His doctrines, 2, 4 ; and Socrates compared, 3, 269. Quality of His Preaching, 6, 18. Brevity, 8. Simplicity, 9, 12. Matter of, 9. Manner of, 11. Its depth, 11. Clearness, 12. Full- ness, 249. Presence of Christ is the Kingdom, 27. "Lifted u](." 50. Virtue of His death, 53. His rule of Life, 88. Love of Na- ture, 101. One with Father, 133, 146. The Son of God, 136. Preached Himself, 134,265. Silence of, 160, 250. Judge, 199. As Man, 207. Presence in Heaven, 216, 219. CHRISTIANITY, literature of, 15. For universal diffusion, 102. A finality in Religion, 196. CHRISTIANS, Faith of primitive, 175. CHURCH, a symbol of the kingdom, 29. Founded on Christ, 46. Holy Spirit dwells in, 154. In the Catacombs, 175. CICERO, orations of, 8, 12. COMFORTER, 150. COMMUNION of Saint Jerome, 173. Of the Saints, 212. 291 292 IISTDEX OF SUBJECTS. COMTE, Philosophy of, 107. CONDEMNATION, danger of, 50. Present, 200. Final, 200. Delivorar.ce from, 200. CONDITIONS of Prayer, 130. Of Salvation, 219. CONFESSINO Christ, 220. CONFUCIUS, His doctrine of piety, 101. DANTE, IGi, 173, 177,231. DEAD, Resurrection of the, 178. DEATH, Christ's necessary to salvation, 54. For the whole world, 56. Pre- determined, 57. A ransom, 63, 65, 67. Destroyed for believers, 194. DELITZSCH, on the Intermediate state, 284; on Biblical psychology, 285. DEMOSTHENES, orations of, 8, 12. DEV^ELOPMENT, doctrine of, 17. DICKENS, works of, 8; testimony to Christianity, 16. DIVINITY, Christ's not at first declared, 137. Claimed in the title Pon of God, 145. In His self-consciousness, 147. Of Holy Spirit, 1.35. DOCTRINE, need of, 4. Christ's doctrine of God, 9, 12-14. Of Man, 10. Of the resurrection, 11. Power of Christ's in Society, 16. Upon the heart, 17. DORE, 234. DRAWING of the Father, 71, 72, 74. EGYPTIAN doctrine of Immortality, 11, 164. Of Resurrection, 182. ESSENES, 82. ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, 236. EWALD. history of Israel, 20, 60, EZEKIEL, his spiritual kingdom, 25. FAIIH, preached by Christ, 28, 53. A looking, 59, 62. Its obligation. 70. Its necessity, 75, 76. Its relation to works, 88, 90. Of primitivo Christians, 175. FATALISM denies Providence, 115. FATHER, drawing of, 71, 72, 74. God as, 97, 110, 112. Prayer to the, 120, 122. A living sjiirit, 121. Christ one with, 133, 1 16. Father in Heaven, 218. Fx^THERS CHURCH, doctrine of Paradise, 162. Testimony to John's Gos- pel, 271. FREEDOM and Certainty harmonized. 116, see "WILL. FRUITS good, 90, 221. Christianity tested by, 91. FUTURE STATE, Punishment, 222. Christ's doctrine of, 231. GHOST HOLY, see Holy Spirit. GNOSTICISM in John's Gospel, 265. GOD, kingdom of, 19. Its consummation, 213; A Father, 97, 110, 112. A personal spirit, 91. Answers prayer, 127. The Son of, 13G, scq. GOSPEL, as Christ preached it, 19. GOSPEL OF JOHN, 68. Characteristics of, 264. Strauss and Bauron, 20i> Internal evidences of genuineness, 200. External do., 271. Bleek on, 273. Theology of 279. GOSPELS, inspiration of, 159. The Synoptical, 264. GRANT, General, 105, 216. HADES, 161, 19G, 280. Christ's visit to, 284. Bronzino's Picture of, 2S4. HEART, wickcdD>3SS of, 38, 40. 83. Treasure of 85. The Heart defined, 86. HOLY SPIRIT, The, 150. Rcvealcr of Truth, 150. Source of miracles, 153. Abides in the Church, 154. A divine person, 156. HOMER, "Resurrection" in the Iliad, 181. IM.\IORTALITY, belief in, among the Egyptians, 11. 164; among the Jews, 163; as taught by Christ, 171. INCARNATION of Christ, 208. INFALLinLE, Jesus the infallible Truth, 249. INSPIRATION of Gospels, 157. INTERMEDIATE state, 161, 284. Delitzsch on the, 284. Langc, 285. INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 293 JEREMIAH, his spiritual prophecies, 21, JOHN, see GOSPEL of. JUDAISM, 277. JUDGMENT, 198. Public, 199. At death, 203. Universal, 204. Formal, 206. Final, 207. KINGDOM OF GOD, in Old Testament, 19. A spiritual redemption, 20. Described by Jeremiah, 21. A kingdom within Israel, 22. Devel- oped by Christ, 23. Laws of purity and love, 25. Privileges of the kingdom, 26. Its rewards and joys, 27. Must be entered by faith, 28. Van Oosterzee's views of, 30, 31. Consummation of kingdom, 213. In the hereafter, 217. KdAao-ij, meaning in classic writers, 235. In the Scriptures, 235. LAW in Nature, 224, 227. Moral, 229, 231. LANGE. on the intermediate state, 285. LAZARUS, resurrection of, 185, 191. LIFE, a new, desired by all, 37. The new, in Heaven, 214. Everlasting, 179, 221. The knowledge of God, 253. LUTHER, 102. AuVpof, meaning of, 63. MAN, his sinfulness, 38, 83. Longs for God, 98. Dignity of his nature, 99. A spiritual power, 131. "Son of," 199. Subject of moral law, 229 231. MATERIALI:'m, 4. MICHAEL ANGELO, 234. MILTON, 234. MIRACLES, from the Holy Ghost, 153. In John's Gospel, 268. MOSAISM, 276. MOSES, the brazen serpent, 57, acq. 67. NAPOLEON, 131, 257. NATHANAEL, 137, 140. NATURE, worship of, 101. Christ's love of, 101. Course of, 108, 111, 123. Judgment in, 200. Laws of, 224, 227. Penalties in, 221, 226. NEANDER, 240, 211, 251, 270. NICODEMUS. 32, 34, 36, 44, 49, 54, 68, 140. NITZSCH, 174. ODIC force the, 129. PACIFIC RAILROAD, 257, 263. PANTHEISM denies Providence 115. PARADISE, 160. Not identical with Heaven, 161. Early fathers on, 1G3. Reformers on, 162. Dante's, 164. Sanscrit derivation of the word, 165. Septuagint, 166. Rabbis, 167. Christ's meaning, 168. The primitive, 168. Paradise defined, 169. PAUL, conversion of, 45. In prison, 102. In Paradise, 170. PERICLES, eloquence of, 7. PHARISEES, S9, 1,4, 22}. PHILO, doctrine of Angels 95. PLATO, '2, 14, 80, 257, 269. POSITIVISM, 107. PRAYER, 119. An instinct of the soul. 119. Schleiermachcr's definition, 119. Warranted by Providence, 120, 123. The address of the soul to its Father, 120. Christ's manner in, 121. For physical necessities, 123. Has positive influence with God, 124. Perseverance in prayer, 126. Prof. Tyndall's objection, 128. Conditions of, 130. Power of prayer, 131. PREACHING Christ. 4, 6. Need of doctrinal, 4. Christ's own, 2. At INazaroth 6. E.Tects of, 6, 15, 18. Its brevity, 8. Simplicity of, 9, 12. Matter of, 9. Manner of, 11. Its depth, 11. Clearness, 12. Grandeur of its range, 255. Summary of His doctrine, 259. PRESENCE, Christ's in the soul, 27. In Heaven, 216. The -'Real," 242, 216. PROGRESS, friends of, 106. Proves Providence, 106. 29-i INDEX OF SUBJECTS. PROPHETISM, 277. PROVIDENCE, 104. Irreconcilable with Positivism, 108. In the "course of Nature," 108, 115. Universal, and particular, 111. Direct in- tervention of, or "special," 113. And free-will, 115. General laws, 116. Warrants Praver, 123. PSYCHOLOGY of the Bible, 172. DoVitzsch on the, 284. PUNISHMENT, Future, 222. Positive and personal, 230. Christ's doctrine of, 231. Eternal, 233. Weiss on^ 280. EANSOM, Christ's death a, 63. RAPHAEL, 257. RATIONALISM, 4, SI. REASON AND RELIGION, 91, 114, 117, 200. REDEEMER, Jehovah a, 20, 22, 23, 41. J.sus a, 28, 65, 19t. REDEMPTION, not arbitrary, 70. Grandeur of, 176, and Resurrection, 195, and Heaven, 219. RELIGION, nature of, 79. An Instinct of man, 79. Typ^s of before Christ, 79, 82. In the heart, 83. Must bo spiritual, 8 t. A holy prin- ciple, 86. An elective principle, 89. Rational, 91 REPENTANCE, required for entering the kingdom of God, 28, 41. Mean- in* of, 42, 73. . RESURRECTIUN, 178. Egyptian belief in, 182. Persian notion of, 182. Apocryphal doctrine of, 183. Jewish belief in, 1S3-180. Of Lazi- rus, 185, 190. Of Christ, 188, 192, Jesus, tha Resurrection, 190, 192. None for the wicked, 283. RETRIBUTION, in Naiare, 225. In Society, 228, 2?3. Christ's doctrine of, 2:5. Justice of, 227. REVELATION in the Theocracy, 20; Complete in Christ, 248, 250, 256. RITUALISM, 4, 91, 100. SACRAMENT, of the supper, 211. In the doctrine, 237. Neander on the, 240. Council of Trent, 211. Mvibler, 212. Friends' view of, 243. Appointed by Christ, 243, 245. Virtue of the, 246, SADDUCEES, Christ's answers to, 7, 186. S \INTS, bls^sednass of, 211. Union with Christ, 217. SALVATION, how made possible, 49. Provided for all, 67, 69. No limita- tion in plan, 69. Limited by unbelief, 76. Free to all, 71. Not universal in fact, 75. SAUL, conversion of, 45. SCIILEIERMACIIER, 119. SCOTT, SIR WALTER, works of, 8. Testimony to the Bible, 16. SCRIBES, 39. SEPTUAGINT, 63, 166, 183. SERPENTS, in the wilderness, 57. The brazen, 58. SHAKESPEARE, 257. SIN, universality of, 38-40. Requires the "New Birth," 38. Proceeds from the heart, 40, 83. SILENCE of Christ, 160, 250. SLAVERY, Horrors of, 104. Destruction of, 10.5. SMITH, Sidney, 124. SOCRATES, comparrd wi*h Christ, 3, 14, 269. SOJOURNER TRUTH, 104, 117. SON OP GOD, 136-1 15. A title of Divinity, 145. SON of MAN, 199, 207. SPIRIT, Nature of, 9 i. God a, 94. Triumph of, 196. SPIRIT HOLY, see HOLY SPIRIT. STATE, intermediiite, li;2. STRAUSS on John's Go-pel, 265. SUPPER, the Lords, 211, 2 40-247. SWEDENBORG, 194. SYMBOL, the Brazen Serpent, 58. Healing by the sign, 61. Christ's use of, 242. INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 295 TAULER, 102. TENNYSOX, 160, THEOCRACY, Spiritual, 87. Sco, KINGDOM OF GOD. THEOLOGY, the Christian and the dogmatic contrasted, 3. Christ's our Snc- rameut, 237. Christ's doctrine complete, 218. Neander on, 254. Vast range of Christ's, 254. Of Johu's Gospel, 279. THERAPEUT^E, 82. THIBET, prayer-cylinder, 84. THOMAS, Confession of 148. TINTORETTO, 234. TRAXSUBSTANTIATION, 241. TRUTH, "Sojourner," 104, 117. Revealed by the Spirit, 15.3. As Judge, 201. TUBINGEN SCHOOL, 265. TYNDALL, PROF., his objection to prayer, 128. VAN OOSTERZEE, Theology of the New Testament, 30, 275. "WARNINGS of Christ, 223. "WEISS on Future Punishment, 280. "WILL, free, 74, 89, 15, 123. "WINE, the new, 214. WORKS, good, 88, 90, 221. "WORSHIP, spiritual, 93. Must be addressed to God, 95. Oufward, its uses, 96. The sesihetic, 100. Sentimental, 101. "WORSHIPPERS, the true, 102. XENOPHON, 165. Date Due Ap22 ^• / ^ + !v^«^ 3 -y