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THE INNER MEANING
OF THE
FOUR
GOSPELS.

The WORLD RELIGION
By GILBERT T. SADLER, M.A., LL.B.
Four Volumes - - 3s. 6d. net each.

I.
THE INNER MEANING OF THE 4 GOSPELS.
A Re-interpretation of the Gospels in the light of
modern research, and in relation to modern spiritual
and social needs. II.
BEHIND THE NEW TESTAMENT. Reason
for the standpoint in the first book, giving refer
ences to ancient documents that lie behind the
Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament.
III.
THE INFINITE IN THE FINITE. Shows that
in the depths of our being we are the infinite in
the finite, that the spiritual vision which reveals
this is best reached through Christianit-y.
IV.
THE SOCIAL EXPRESSION OF THE
SPIRITUAL LIFE. The constructive application
of the spiritual vision to the creation of a new social
order, showing that men will live by new powers
unveiled partly in Christianity and partly in
Western experience.

THE
INNER MEANING OF
THE FOUR GOSPELS
Re-interpreted in the Light of Modern Research,
and in Relation to Spiritual and Social Needs.

GILBERT T.
M.A., LL.B.

SADLER

Author of ' ' The Origin and Meaning of
Christianity," "The Gnostic Story of
Jesus Christ," "Reason-Love- Vision,"
' ' The Relation of Custom to Law, ' '
&c., &c.

LONDON: C. W. DANIEL, LTD.
Graham House, Tudor Street, E. C. 4
1920.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Foreword 

11

The Sources of the Four Gospels
17
1.
The Birth of Christ 
20
2,
The Genealogy 
21
3.
The Virgin Birth '. 
22
4.
The Flight to Egypt 
22
5.
Nazareth 
22
6.
John the Baptist 
24
7,
The Baptism of Jesus 
25
8.
The Temptation 
26
9.
The Sermon on the Mount 
26
10.
Leper Cleansed 
39
11.
The Centurion 
39
12.
The Storm Calmed 
39
13.
Demoniacs 
40
14.
The Miracles of Healing 
40
15.
The Disciples as Apostles 
43
16.
John and Christ 
43
17.
Prayer and Invitation 
44
18.
The Sabbath ... / 
45
19.
Who is Christ's Mother? 
45
20.
Parables of the Kingdom 
46
21.
The Relatives of Jesus 
48
22.
The Death of John the Baptist
49
23.
Jesus Walking on the Sea 
49
24.
Clean and Unclean 
50
25.
The Canaanite Woman 
50
26.
A Miracle Desired 
51
27.
Peter's Confession  5
51
CONTE.NTS.

PAQB.

28. The Transfiguration  52
29. The Tax  53
30. The Little Child Allegory  54
31. Church Discipline  54
32. Unlimited Forgiveness ... ... ... ... 56
33. The Journey to Jerusalem  56
34. The Mission of the Seventy  57
35. The Good Samaritan  57
36. Martha and Mary  58
37. Prayer  ... 58
38. Christ greater than Jonas and Solomon ... 59
39. Watch  ... 59
40. The Galileans and the Barren Fig-tree ... 60
41. A Question of the Sabbath  61
42. The Man with Dropsy  61
43. CaUing Men to a Feast  61
44. Count the Cost  62
45. The Lost Sheep: Silver and Son  62
46. The Clever Steward  63
47. Dives and Lazarus ... ... ... ... 63
48. Lepers Cleansed  64
-49. The Unjust Judge  64
50. Pharisee and Publican ... ... ... ... 64
51. The Logos, Truth, Life  65
52, The Water to Wine  67
53. Nicodemus  67
54. The Samaritans  67
55. The Man at Bethesda  68
56. Christ the Bread  68
57. The Adulterous Woman  69
58. Against the Pharisees  69
59. The Man Born Blind  70
60. Lazarus Raised  70
6

CONTENTS. PAGE.
61. The Fishermen  71
62. On Divorce  71
63. The Rich Young Ruler  73
64. Parable of the Labourers  75
65. On Humility  76
66. Two (?) Blind Men  76
67. Entry into Jerusalem  ... ... 77
68. The Fig-tree Cursed  78
69. John the Baptist Again  78
70. Parable of the Vineyard  79
71. Tribute to Caesar  80
72. The Resurrection Puzzle  80
73. The Chief Commandments  ... 82
74. A Puzzle as to The Messiah  82
75. The Worst Kind of Pharisee  82
76. "O Jerusalem"  84
77. The Messianic Coming  84
78. The Parable of the Maidens  85
79. The Parable of the Talents  85
80. The Judgment by Christ  8S
81. Judas  88
82. The Last Supper  89
83. Gethsemane  90
84. In the House of Caiaphas  93
85. The Fate of Judas  97
86 Pilate and Barabbas  97
87. The Crucifixion  99
88. The Burial  99
89. The Resurrection  100
90. The Commission ...^  101
91. Christ Coming Again  101
Index to Sections and to Parallel Passages ... 103
7

APPROXIMATE DATES.

The rise of the Christ-group of Nazarenes within
Judaism ., 
Their persecution by the Jewish authorities
The framing of the Gnostic Initiation story of the
descended and ascended Christ
The ' ' Epistles of Paul ' ' (really by a Pauline School)
The collection of the ' ' Sayings ' ' of the Christians
ascribed to Christ, but taken mostly from Jewish
writings and Rabbis 
The " Gospel of Mark " 
The "Gospel of Matthew" 
The "Gospel of Luke" 
The Book of Acts (compiled by the compiler of the
Gospel of Luke) 
The "Gospel of John" 
The Epistles of Ignsitius 
The writings of Justin Martyr 
The work of Irenaeus on Heresies
The "Acts of John" and the "Acts of Andrew
The works of Hippolytus of Portus, Rome ...

30
30-60
30-8080-90
90-100 9095
100 110
120120 150
180
180
220

"All through life I see a Cross
Where sons of God yield up their breath :
There is no gain except by loss,
There is no life except by death :
There is no vision but by faith ;
No glory but by bearing shame.
No justice but by taking blame :
And that Eternal Passion saith.
Be emptied of glory and right and name."
(Walter C. Smith.)
" Would'st thou love one who never died for thee, or
ever die for One who had not died for thee ? And if God
dieth not for man, and give not Himself eternally for man,
man could not exist : for as God is love, man is love : every
kindness to another is a little death in the Divine Image."
(Wm. Blake in ferusalem.)
"Except ye fast to the world ye shall in no wise find
the kingdom of God."
(Words of Jesus in the First Oxyrhynchus Fragment.)
"One God in every seed self-sacrificed." (Alfred Noyes,)
"Dare live by Truth-Love-Faith,
Thou struggling soul, and free ;
Thus feel the Infinite
Self-crucified in thee ! " (G.T.S.

10

FOREWORD.
THE attitude of this little book towards the
Gospels may be briefly indicated. The Com
mentary will explain it in detail.
The present writer for years resisted the idea
that there was no man Jesus. But by persistent
examination of the stories concerning Jesus, it
was borne in upon him that the old explanation
of them was very unsatisfactory.
That the compilers of these four Gospels
believed a man Jesus lived is no doubt true :
but they used material which arose from an
earlier gnostic, mystic circle, perhaps in Alex
andria. In that circle, the " Christ " was a
divine figure in Jewish minds, and he was set
forth in " The Book of Enoch " (B.C.70) as One
eternally with God. The Gnostics added the
term and the Figure to their idea of the Logos
or Primal Man, who had descended to earth,
being " crucified " in so doing, and had risen
to lift men to eternal life.
The Cross, to Gnostics, meant the boundary
between the eternal and phenomenal : and in it
the Son of God was fixed.
That picture was really the mystic or secret
way of setting forth a process that is " ever "
happening. But we can now see it was not a
11

FOREWORD.
" second " divine Being who descended. God,
the Infinite Life, ever descends or is crucified
{self -limited) into this universe in order to evolve
here souls as sons, so as to love them and be
loved by them for ever. This is the meaning of
Reality. This is the World-Religion of the
future, greater even than Christianity, though
suggested, or pointed to, by Christianity.
The Gnostics said the " Christ " was the same
as their eternal " Logos " of God, the " Pri
mal Man " of " foimandres^ {a gnostic book
going back to a pagan, pre-Christian original).
The " Christ " descended, died, and rose again
to save men from sin and destruction. So said
the Gnostic Christians about A.D. 30-80 in Alex
andria and Ephesus.
Then the Churches (originally groups of the
Christ-men, looking for Christ to come soon
from, the sky), not being able to grasp this gnos
tic philosophy, thought it meant " a" Man had
come from heaven to earth, been crucified and
risen. So they taught the mystic story as if it
were a historical incarnation of the " Heavenly
Man." (1) " To-day it is needful " to get " behind "
the Four Gospels to the Gnostic idea of the
Christ-Logos not as a man, but as a divine Life
descending and ascending. Then we must get
(I) See my The Gnostic Story of Jesus Christ.
12

FOREWORD.
to the real meaning of that Gnostic message that
" it is the Infinite Life who is ever in this process
of being crucified " into nature and finite souls
{from protozoa to men), so as lo save souls, i.e.,
achieve in them the Infinite Life, and so give
Himself into them. That is the meaning of the
deep fact that God is Love, life-sharingness.
The universe exists that we may achieve His
Life ! God is not a Father apart from men,
sending once a Son of God from heaven to save
men. That is but picture-theology. God is
Crucified as Life-sharing Love. And man must
also share his life with his fellow-men, and so
be at one with God, the unifying Soul of the
universe. The real reason why ignorance, sin and pain
exist in men's lives is because God is there as
self-limited and hampered, in order to live in
men ! God is imprisoned for us. Only as man
achieves the spiritual powers does God work in
and for man. But as man struggles to gain the
spiritual life, more and more, he feels it is the
crucified Infinite Life struggling in him, and
ascending in him! "Matter" is God's psychic
states, organised will-energies, as a womb and
school for souls, who are being evolved It^re.
By pain,' man learns the spiritual powers of God;
and the result is worth the pain !
There are stages in the Path of souls towards
realising the Infinite Life of the spirit. Souls
18

FOREWORD.
pass through, and yet carry on into higher
stages, the swoon-consciousness of plants, the
sense-consciousness of animals, and the self-con
sciousness {the property-grasping life) of the
natural man.
The Saviour is the Infinite Life {not a Son of
God, but God Himself) as He-She is crucified
into nature to arise in finite souls, who are thus
transfigured and immortalised by an Infinite
element !
The Gnostics, being dualists, placed the
Supreme God outside the phenomenal world, as
Plato did. Hence the descending God they
called the " Logos." So Plato, in his
Timaeus," said the Son of God was set into
the universe as a x of circles {the same and the
other, or the Eternal and the phenomenal united
in a x). Justin Martyr insisted {thrice) that this
referred tojhe cross of Christ, and it no doubt
was a precursor of the idea of " Christ cruci
fied." {Apology 1.60.) We must now see that
the universe exists {with all its sin and pain) fls
the process of God's life, "crucified" for us,
that we may live in His spiritual joy and power.
(2) The World-Religion goes beyond Christianity
of the Gospels in a second manner. Not only
must we see that " Christ " is no man, and no
mere second divine being {Logos), hut is God
Himself who " ever " is crucified to give His
blessed life to us, but we must also " add to the
14

FOREWORD.
Spiritual powers " revealed in the New Testa
ment so splendidly. The New Testament
writers, following the early Christ-group of pious
souls in Jerusalem, showed the three spiritual
powers of humility, magnanimity {Matthew 5,
38 — 48), and purity {even in desire). These three
powers are unveiled in the " Sermon on the
Mount " and indeed throughout the New Testa
ment. They are the flowers of the East. We
need also the four flowers of the West, viz..
Freedom {no subservience, as once in slaves and
women). Reason {the cultivation of the sciences,
and open-mindedness), the Imagination of
Beauty {in the harmony of art, and of a new
social ordering of human lives), and Service
{active life-work for social good). The East
and the West must meet! These seven
spiritual powers of God in man are thus " more
than the ideal called 'Christ' " in the New Testa
ment. These seven " colours " fuse into the
white Light of Life-sharing Love using Reason
to create Beauty, which is the divine life,
crucified into nature to ascend in free souls. All
exists to that end : but the New Testament ideal,
as unveiled in the wondrous passages, Matthew 5
and 6, /. Corinthians 12 and 13, Colossians 3,
Romans 12, is not the whole of the Will
Divine. The World-Religion needs to gather
from the West {ancient Greek and modern
Anglo-Saxon ideals) as well as from the East
{Buddhist and Hebrew ideals).
15

FOREWORD.
Thus the Christian ideas of divorce and alms
giving, the subservience of slaues and of wives
{Epheslans 5, 22 — 24) are but temporary ones.
We have now outgrown them. Slavery is not
condemned in the New Testament as an institu
tion, and though Philemon was told to be kind
to Onesimus, he was not told to cease to be his
master. Slaves were told to obey their masters,
not to claim release as Sons of God ! The ideas
of personal freedom and social service are West
ern rather than Eastern. Almsgiving creates
paupers as we see on the steps of continental
cathedrals. Each man should be a citizen with
a right to maintenance , if " willing " to work,
while health lasts. The New Testament is the
most splendid contribution to the World-
Religion, but not the whole of it. Thus, in
both the ideas of God and man,, in spiritual and
in social life, the New Testament supplies a par
tial but not a complete World-Religion.
The present little book on the Gospels seeks
to show {a) what the stories originally meant
and {b) to indicate how nobly they contribute to
the World-Religion of the Infinite crucified in
the finite. The stories are descriptions of the
life of God in the early Christ-group, and in men
of love all over the world.

16

THE INNER MEANING OF THE
FOUR GOSPELS.
FROM WHAT SOURCES WERE THE FOUR GOSPELS
COMPILED?
THE Gospel of Matthew, briefly called
Matthew, contains most of what is in Mark, and
many Sayings of the Christ, called Logia. It
seems to be clear that Matthew used an edition
of Mark, and also a Collection of the sayings of
Jesus, which Papias spoke of as Logia.^ It has
been supposed that Matthew used an enlarged
edition of the Logia, and this has been called
" Q "' : but it is sufficient to say that there were
several editions of the Logia. The one used by
Luke was a different one from that used by
Matthew. Mark used the Logia also, as in describing the
parables of Jesus (4, 1 — 34), the sayings on the
inner life (7, 1 — 23), and the teaching on the
cross (8, 27—38). Mark also used a collection of
" Messianic " texts from the Old Testament,
which Dr. Rendel Harris calls The Book of
Testimonies' (see Luke 24, 27, 44). The sources
of Mark were The Book of Messianic passages,
the Logia and also a Mystery-book (on the initia
tion of a man to Christianity). This last was
framed on the Mystery-religions, and gave rise
to the stories of the baptism, temptation, cruci
fixion and resurrection. It contained short
(1) Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3, 39.
(2) J. MofTatt ; Introduction to the Literature of the New
Testament : pp. 200—202. The Passion story was not in the
Logia. • (3) See Rendel Harris, Testimonies. 17

THE INNER MEANING OF
scenes, as in a drama. Luke used Mark and the
Logia, and has a special section (9, 51 — 18, 14)
giving parables which are not in the other
Gospels. Luke 1 and 2 were from a work of
art on how the birth of the divine Son of God
" must have been." The Fourth Gospel (briefly
called John, though not by the early Christian of
that name, but emanating from a Johannine
School at Ephesus or Alexandria) used Mbrk
and Matthew and Luke apparently, and freely
added discourses and stories, composed as
spiritually helpful to Christians.
Mark, without the Logia, was originally a
booklet of the stages of an Initiate into the
Christian mystery.
These stages were twelve :
(1) — The baptism (it is known the initiate was
baptised as in all mysteries, Rom. 6, 1 — 10 :
and the story of the baptism of Christ
signified that of the Christian).
(2)— The temptation (James 1, 1—13, 12—18).
(3) — The contest against demons (recorded in
the stories of Christ conquering the
demons, a Gnostic conception of the
Saviour).
(4) — The transfiguration of the Christ.
(5) — The anointing (or chrism : here the Pas
sion-story begins with the story, in Mark
14, of the anointing).
(6)— The supper (to " eat the God ").
(7)— The loneliness in Gethsemane.
18

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
(8)— The claim to be the Christ (Mark 14, 62).
(9)— The mocking (taken direct from the
mystery-religions) .
(10) — The crucifixion (the initiate was tied to a
X; see the Acts of John).
(11)— The burial.
(12) — ^The resurrection thence.
[The ascension may be added, and the coming
as Judge, for " the saints shall judge the world."]
The plan in the following notes is to take the
Story of Christ in 90 sections, of varying length
according to the subjects : some shorter passage*
being omitted.
Section (1) is on Luke 1 and 2.
(2) to (32) are on Matthew, which includes
most of Mark also, but the references are
to Matthew.
(33) to (50) are on the special parables in Luke,
which are not in the other gospels.
(51) to (61) are on the chief passages in John,
mostly miracle-parables.
(62) to (90) resume the story in Matthew (and
Mark), chiefly on the Passion of the Christ.
(91) is on John 14—17, on The Return of Christ.
By this means all the chief stories can be
referred to and interpreted briefly, without a
constant reference from one Gospel to another.
Anyone taking a section a day with these Notes,
in three months can examine practically the
whole of the Four Gospels. 19

THE INNER MEANING OF
1.
LUKE 1 & 2.
The Birth of Christ.
These chapters were a work of art in Aramaic
(late Hebrew), translated into Greek by the com
piler of the Third Gospel, who was also the
compiler of The Book of Acts (1, 1). Luke 1,
8 — 15, on the birth of John the Baptist, was
modelled on Judges 13, 1 — 5, the birth of
Samson.
The story of the infancy of Jesus is modelled
on the story of the birth and infancy of Samuel
in 1 Samuel, chaps. 1 — 3. Samuel was a first
born son, so was Jesus. Hannah sang a song
(1 Samuel, 2, 1 — 10), which is largely reproduced
as Mary's song (Luke 1, 46 — 55). Samuel was
presented in the house of the Lord at Shiloh,
to aged Eli, when his parents went up to their
yearly worship at Shiloh. Jesus similarly is said
to have been presented in the house of th§ Lord
at Jerusalem to aged Simeon, when " his
parents " went up yearly to worship at the
Temple. The words "this shall be a sign " occur
in both stories. Young Samuel is called in the
Temple of the Lordi Jesus is found in the
temple when twelve years old. Before and after
the incident in Samuel's story we read the words
" the child grew before the Lord " (1 Samuel 2,
21; 3, 19). Similar words occur before and after
the story of Jesus being found in the temple
(Luke 2, 40, 52).
These first two chapters in Luke were simply
composed to glorify the Christ.
20

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
The story of the Shepherds is based on the
myth of Mithras (the Persian god, said to have
been born in a cave as Jesus was, according to
Justin), for as Professor Cumont (Ghent) writes :
" Shepherds witnessed the miracle of the
entrance of Mithras into the world. . . Worship-
fully the shepherds drew near, offering the divine
infant the first-fruits of their flocks and their
harvests." The story of the Christ in the Temple is
paralleled in the Egyptian story of Si-Osri (son
of Osiris) : " The child grew, he grew strong.
He began to speak with the scribes in the temple.
All who heard him were lost in wonder at him."
(" Stories of the High Priests of Memphis,"
edited by F. Ll. Griffiths.) We see thus how
Easterns composed stories to glorify their divine
beings. This story is pre-Christian.

MATT. 1, 1—17.
The Genealogy.
This list is different from that of Luke, but
both seek to set out the genealogy of Joseph,
whose connection in the story with Jesus was
only a legal one. It seems to be the genealogy of
" Messiah ben Joseph " (son of Joseph) of whom
the Jews spoke. Then, when the Virgin-birth
became a doctrine (from Gnosticism), a merely
legal desceat from David was all that could be
produced. Jesus (1, 21) meant Saviour, the Gnostics
taking it as the nearest Jewish equivalent for the
Soter, in whose descent they believed.
21

THE INNER MEANING OF
3.
MATT. 1, 18; 2, 12.
The Virgin-Birth.
It is true that Isaiah 7, 14, in the Greek version
gives " parthenos," a virgin (shall conceive, etc.),
but though this would be used to confirm the
Gnostic doctrine, it could hardly alone have
originated it. The usual process of generation
was accounted sinful, in those days, and the idea
of a god being born of a virgin was the usual
one.* Revelation 12 shows a pre-Christian Jewish
idea of the Messiah as one who should be born
of a virgin (no husband is mentioned), a mythical
figure, the mother, being really the Jewish
church (Rev. 12, 17). In both passages the child
is said to be the " shepherd " of his people
(Matt. 2, 6; Rev. 12, 5, in Mofiatt's Translation;
and see Rev. 7, 17, and John 10, 11 — 16; cp. also
Poimandres, the Gnostic work on the Shepherd).
The Magi from the East represent, in this work
of art, the fact that the Eastern wise men would
bow before the Christ-spirit. They " fell down
and worshipped him " (verse 11).

4.
MATT. 2, 13—18.
The Flight to Egypt.
The idea that Christ came from Egypt prob
ably was a Gnostic conception, meaning that
'41 See Pfleiderer ¦ Early Christian Conception of Chnst.
22

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
from Alexandrian Gnosticism Christianity came
as a doctrine. It was an enthusiasm for
the inner Ideal (as given in Matthew 5
and 6), which men were called on to obey as
a preparation for Messiah's Coming. Hosea 11,
1, was misinterpreted to support the idea of the
fiight : for that text originally referred to the
exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt : " Out of
Egypt I have called my son."

MATT. 2, 19—23.
Nazareth.
Nazareth is here mentioned as a place strange
to Mary and Joseph, but in Luke it is said to
have been their home ! It is unlikely that there
was such a place. The modern en-Nasira is
hardly " Nazareth."'
The Christ was the Neser (netzer) or Shoot,
the Branch of Jesse (Isaiah 11, 1), and so the
earliest Christians seem to have called themselves
the " Nazarenes," and were later called " Chris-
"tians." From such a name the home of the Christ was
said to be Nazareth. But it may have been an
imaginary, symbolic name, like Golgotha and
Gethsemane. Even the existence of " Caper
naum " is uncertain. Josephus mentions some
such name, but only of a fountain, not of a
town. (5) See Ency. Biblica, article " Nazareth."
28

THE INNER MEANING OF
6.
MATT. 3, 1—12.
John the Baptist.
It is essential to understand the contrast be
tween the John-group and the Jesus-group. The
John-group was composed of Jews who believed
the Messiah was merely " The Coming One " :
" He that should come." The Jesus-group fejt
the Messiah " in the midst," and really in their
hearts as the Love-Ideal, composed — so far as
they knew it — of Humility, Sincerity, Magnan
imity and Trust. This was set out in the Sermon
on the Mount. The John-group taught that to
receive the coming Christ it was necessary to
repent and do outwardly good deeds, e.g., "Do
violence to no man," " Share your clothing,
etc."— see Luke 3, 10—14, and Matt. 3, 10. This
was the legal way of life by rules.
The Christian felt a deeper Life-principle of
spiritual inwardness, and called it " Christ," the
" Saviour." To-day men realise still more fully
the Will of God that man should have freedom
(of person), reason (educated), imagination (to
create beauty in forms), and social activity of
service In one's daily work. To-day we have the
legal-minded, sticklers for the " letter " of rules,
and devoid of that sacred passion to give more
life and fuller, which is Love indeed.
The legalists were not in the Kingdom of God,
though near to it. The least of souls that lived
by the spirit or Christ, was greater than " John."
" John the Baptist " probably was no man then.
He was a personification of the " Forerunner."
24

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
There may have been a group of Jews in a John-
cult, who biptised other Jews as a sign of their
repentance. 7.
MATT. 3, 13-17.
The Baptism of Jesus.
This represents the baptism of the Christ-
group, the Nazarenes, or of each new Initiate
into that group.
This story is taken from Mark 1, 9 — 11. It
seems as if there was first a John-grpup near
Jerusalem, and from among those baptised by
these men there arose a Jesus-group.
Some Jews who looked for the " Coming
One " (see Acts 19, 3, 4) called men to repent,
and, as a sign of repentance, to be baptised in
Jordan. Of those who submitted, some had
their inward illumination, or chrism (anointing),
and realised a new Spirit in their hearts (Jeremiah
31, 31 — 34). They knew themselves as God's
sons. The Ideal or " Son of God " was in them.
They met, and felt the idea! Love " in their
midst." Thus arose the Jesus-group from those
baptised by the John-group. Then came the story
in Matt. 3, 16, 17. Matt. 3, 13—15 are later
verses — an after-thought of the Evangelist — and
not in Mark. 8.
MATT. 4, 1—11.
The Temptation.
The story is enlarged from Mark 1, 12, 13. It
is not history. No one could stand on the
2S

THE INNER MEANING OF
pinnacle of the Temple and see all the worid
from a mountain in Judea. The three tempta
tions show how Christians, conscious of new
spiritual powers, are tempted to pride and to
seek political or material gain. It has ever been
so. Both baptism and temptation belonged to,
and now belong to the Christ-group, not to a
man Jesus. The man Christ is the symbol for
the Initiate into the new moral Mystery-Religion.

MATT. ^-7.
The Sermon on the Mount.
The " poor " (Luke 6, 20) were the Ptokoi, a
class of pious souls, recognised among the Jews.
Of them the Christ-group came, aroused by the
formalism of the Scribes and Pharisees. The
beatitudes show that these meek and pious
souls are those who are (even now) really happy.
The Christian is like salt to preserve humanity
from decay, like a light (oil-lamp) put on the
lamp-stand (the brick projecting from the wall
inside a Jewish house). His goodness is a quality
of the heart, and is not limited to those of his
own nation ; it exceeds that of the Pharisee.
Five illustrations of this follow :
(1) Not only do not commit murder, but do
not be angry selfishly, do not plan or
desire to do any harm to another.
(2) Not only do not commit adultery, but do
not allow the desire so to act possess you.
26

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
(3) Do not use oaths, but only " Yes " and
" No " : for oaths make light of " Yes "
and " No."
(4) Do not resist an injury, by giving an injury
back : no " eye for an eye."
(5) Do good, not ill, to foreigners or any
whom you think are your enemies
(private, commercial or national).
Concerning (4), the Lex Talionis of Exodus
21, 24, Lev. 24, 20, Duet. 19, 21, is abrogated
here. Not even money payments for injuries are to
be seized by force of the Law of Torts. For
society to revenge itself by the criminal law is
denounced here also. There is much revenge
left in the criminal law. Society wants the
" blood " of the murderer I When the Roman
Law took over the methods of self-help and
backed them up, it called the disputing parties
into a Court to settle about the debt or theft.
Then began the care of the State to enforce
revenge on the wrong-doer (B.C.451 in The Law
of the Twelve Tables). A criminal law followed
on. At first crimes (as theft) were treated as torts
(civil wrongs), but the revengeful acts of the
injured man were accepted as right and just by
the State, and later came the Quaestiones or
councils to judge crimes, and in all ages revenge
has existed in criminal laws. Criminals are
often men temporarily angry, or they are
diseased as in alcoholism, or are sex-maniacs, or
feeble-minded, or they lack education. Most
need a Home rather than a prison, a training to
27

THE INNER MEANING OF
be citizens rather than the lash,* or the_ years of
penal servitude which deepen the evil in them.
The whole attitude of the public to crime must
change, and, while high-handed cruelty or theft
or gross neglect must be clearly exposed and
condemned, those who do these things must be
patiently trained and not bullied In silence, in
cells, as pariahs of society. Force must only
be used by Love, not by Revenge, and only used
against the diseased or irrational for their good.
Further, war, which Is a series of reprisals, is
impossible for a man who dares to love his
fellow-men : for he cannot thus bless men if he
kills them. Wars too are for property, which is
placed second to human lives. Matthew 6 tells of
the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the need of sim
plicity and sincerity in almsgiving, prayer and
fasting. The " Lord's Prayer " is a collection of
short Jewish prayers to show what a sincere
prayer is. It Is not meant to be constantly
repeated. " Lay not up " (6, 19) meant hoard not. The
Jews hoarded rich garments or gold coins in
boxes in their houses, or In the ground (thieves
" dig through," verse 20), or In the Temple in
charge of the Sadducees.
Anxiety about food and clothing Is shown to
be unnecessary for the Christian. It seems that
this must have meant : Do not worry about food
for your Father lives and will care for you by
means of your fellow-Christians, if ever you are
in need (see Acts 2, 44—45; 4, 32—37). The
(*) Flogging is still a penalty in British Law, e.g., for
robbery with violence. But judges have declared it is use
less. (See H. S. Salt on Flogging.) 28

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
words were those of the Church (the vehicle or
" body " of Christ) to the individual Christians.
Society to-day must become a church, the
Universal Church, with the spirit of the seven
fold Life of God.
The social unrest Is not merely a desire for
money, but for status, for a recognition of men
as persons. They are not to be used up as means
to the enrichment of the few : but to co-operate
as sons of God. The place of rent and interest
in a true society would be a small one. They
would be given simply where real inconvenience
existed to the lenders of houses or money, and
not as now, where a man may feel no inconveni
ence and yet make much gain without work of
any social service.
But how is a New Order to come? If by law-
force or war-force it is sought, such will bring
only bitterness, and more force and scrambling.
Men need the vision of the Crucified God, who
lives to give them His Life. Then they will love
and help one another. Let us dare to love for
God is love f While small industries may be in
private partnership the great industries (agricul
ture, cotton, wool, steel, mines) and the railways
must surely then be owned by society as a whole,
and controlled by elected Boards representing
the workers and the consumers. Matthew 7 tells
Christians to " Judge not," but this concise
statement is an Eastern way of saying : Do not
be eager or hasty to judge (= condemn). See
Luke 6, 37. The soul is to come to any con
demnatory judgment very slowly (Matthew 7, 5),
after clearing one's own heart of evil. But
opinions must at times be formed, and even
29

THE INNER MEANING OF
expressed, not In hate but in deep sorrowful
indignation, as the "Woes" of Matthew 23;
and expressed thus for the good of the evil doer,
that he may see his evil, and repent (cp. Matthew
18, 15—18).
Prayer is set forth as a necessary part of the
true life, but too much insistence perhaps w?s
given to petitioning God, cp. Luke 11, 1—13.
The Eastern is importunate, not scientific. He
sees not that a regular natural order is best for
all, a basis for the spiritual life, and that prayer
is a listening for God's will. So " Thy will, not
mine, be done" (Matthew 26, 39) is the true
prayer, but should be said joyously.
The teachings of Christianity, summarised in
Matthew 5, 6, 7, were not original. The fol
lowing are some of the parallels : —

The Ideas in the " Sermon."
Mt. 5, 3, 4.—" Blessed are
the poor in spirit. . . .
Blessed are they that
mourn."
Mt. 5, 5. — " Blessed are the
meek, for they shall inherit
the earth."
Mt. 5, 8.—" Blessed are the
pure in heart."

Mt. 5, 9.—" Blessed are the
peacemakers."

The same Ideas in Pre-
Christian Writingi.
Is. 61, 1, 2.—" Good tidings
unto the meek (pious poor)
. . . to comfort all that
mourn."
Ps. 37, 11.—" The meek shall
inherit the land."
Ps. 24, 3, 4.—" Who shall
ascend into the hill of the
Lord? . . He that hath
clean hands and a pure
heart."
Secrets of Enoch, 52, 11. —
" Blessed is he who im
plants peace and love."
[The " Secrets of Enoch "'
was written c. A.D. 1-50.
says Dr. Charles. It was
in existence before A.D. 70,
and so may have been used
for the " Logia."]

SO

THE FOUR GOSPELS.

The Ideas in the " Sermon."
Mt. 6, 16.—" Your Father
which is in heaven."

Mt. S, 28.—" But I say unto
you every one that looketh
on a woman to lust after
her, etc."

Mt. 5, 84, 37.—" Swear not
at ail . . . . let your
speech bd yea, yea : nay,
nay."
Mt. 5, 39.—" Resist not an
injury." (Moffatt's trans :
for the Greek is in the
neuter : so McNeile ; and it
does not refer to the Devil.)
[It means be not revenged,
harm not the aggressor.]
Mt. 5, 48. — " Love your ene
mies."

Mt. 6, 6.—" Thou, when thou
prayest enter into thine
inner chamber, and having
shut thy door, etc."

Mt. 6, 9-12.—" Hallowed be
Thy name : Thy kingdom
come : Forgive us our
debts."
[The idea of sins es debts is
" thoroughly Jewish " ;
McNeile.]

The same Ideas in Pre-
Christian Writings.
Ecclus. 23, 1-4.—" O Lord,
Father and Governor of my
whole life. O Lord, Father
and God of my life."
Ecclus. 9, 5. — " Gaze not on
a maid that thou fall not."
cf. Job 31, 7, 9.—" I made
a covenant with mine eyes :
how then should I (a mar
ried man) look upon a
maid? "
Secrets of Enoch, 49, 1.— " I
swear not by any oath,
neither by heaven, nor by
earth . . yea, yea : nay,
nay."
Secrets of Enoch, 1, 3. —
" Endure for the sake of
the Lord every wound,
every injury, every evil
word and attack."

Secrets of Enoch, 1, 4. — " If
ill-requitals befall you, re
turn them not, either to
your neighbour or enemy,
Ijecause the Lord will return
them for you and be your
avenger on the day of great
judgment, that there be no
avenging here among men."
Is. 26, 20.—" Enter thou into
thy chambers and shut thy
doors about thee : hide thy
self."
[Phraseology same, though
the idea is not exactly con
cerning prayer.]
Shemoneh-esreh, a collection
of Hebrew prayers reached
its final form A.D. 70, and
existed earlier.
" Thou art holy, and Thy
name is holy . . Forgive
us, our Father."
The Kaddish has " May His
kingdom reign." (McNeile,
p. 77.)

31

MEANING OF
The same Ideas in Pre-
Christian Writings.
Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs (above) and
Ecclus. 28, 2.—" Forgive
thy neighbour the hurt that
he hath done unto thee. So
shall thy sins also be for
given when thou prayest."
[Exactly the thought in Mt.
16, 14, 15, and in connec
tion with prayer too.]
Secrets of Enoch, 51, 2. —
" Hide not your silver in
the earth."
Prov. 20, 27.—" The spirit of
man is the lamp of the
Lord searching all the inner
most parts of the belly."
Prov. 8, 17.— "Those that
seek me diligently shall iind
me."
Tobit 4, 15.—" What thou
thyself hatest, do thou to
no man." The positive
form is really in Levit 19,
18. — " Thou shalt bve thy
neighbour as thyself."
Ecclus. 21, 10.—" The way of
sinners is made plain . .
but at the end is the oit
of hell."
Jer. 21, 8.—" Thus saith the
Lord : Behold, I set before
you the way of life, and the
way of death."
[The words were by the
prophet but attributed to a
Person Jehovah, or the
Infinite Life imagined as a
person. So the sermon was
by Christians but attributed
to the Lord Christ.]
Mt. 7, 23. — " Depart from Me Ps. 6, 8. — " Depart from me,
ye that work iniquity." all ye workers of iniquity."
[Friedlander and others h^ve collected many
parallels.] ' 89

THE INNER
The Ideas in the " Sermon."
Mt. 6, 14, 15.—" If ye forgive
men their trespasses, etc."
"If ye forgive not men
their trespasses, neither will
your Father forgive your
trespasses."

Mt. 6, 19. — " Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon
the earth . . . where thieves
dig through and steal."
Mt. 6, 22.—" The lamp of the
body is the eye."

Mt. 7, 7.—" Seek and ye shall
find."
Mt. 7, 12.—" All things what
soever ye would that men
should do to you, even so
do ye also unto them."

Mt. 7, 13, 14. — " Enter ye in
by the narrow gate ... for
broad is the way that lead
eth to destruction."

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Such are the parallels, and so numerous are
they that they show the " Sermon " is not a
sermon, but a gradually-produced mosaic of fine
spiritual ideas, worked out in the early com
munity, and forming the inward rghteousness
of illimitable faith and love, which was " greater
than the righteousness of the Scribes " (Matt. 5,
20). The following sayings from The Testaments of
the Twelve Patriarchs show that the ideas of the
Sermon on the Mount were not original, but
rather a mosaic of Jewish thoughts on the Inner
Prophetic Ideal, as opposed to Pharisaism.
" The single-minded man coveteth not gold . . .
there is no envy in his thoughts . . . nor worry,
for he walketh in singleness. Love the Lord
and your neighbour. Have compassion on the
poor and weak." (Issachar.)
" He that hath a pure mind in love looketh
not after a (another) woman with a view to forni
cation." (Benjamin.)
" Work righteousness that ye may have it as
a treasure in heaven " (Levi). " Love ye one
another from the heart, and if a man sin against
thee, cast forth the poison of hate . . and if he
repent, forgive him " (Gad.). The star at
Christ's birth, and the story of the baptism come
perhaps partly fronrt these words :
" A star shall arise to you. ... A man
shall arise. And no sin shall be found in him,
and the heavens shall be open unto him "
(Judah). Many sayings of the Christians were simply
Jewish proverbs, yet a deeper life-principle was
theirs. R. T. Herford has shown that many of
38 ct

THE INNER MEANING OF
the proverbial sayings in the Gospels attributed
to Jesus, were " part of the common stock of
daily speech.'" The Rabbis had, e.g., these
sayings : " It is enough for a disciple to be ae
his master " : " With what measure ye mete, it
shall be measured to you again " : " Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof."
Since these sayings are summaries of whole
discourses by " Jesus "—e.g., Luke 6, 27—38:
Matthew 6, 25—34 — the idea that "Jesus"
taught anything quite new must now be given up.
Even the call, " Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand," had long been familiar to
Jews. However, Herford admits that Jesus (or
now we might say the Christ-group) had "in
effect broken with the religion of the Torah "
nevertheless' and was opposed to the Pharisees.
" The conflict was one between two funda
mentally different conceptions of religion, viz.,
that in which the supreme authority was Torah
(the Jewish Pentateuch and later traditions), and
that in which the supreme authority was the
immediate intuition of God in the individual
soul and conscience. The Pharisees stood for
the one : Jesus stood for the other."'
The fact cannot be easily disputed that
Christianity thus arose as an opposition to
Pharisaism, as the group of eighth century
prophets' arose as a moral rebellion against the
formalism and unspiritual character of the reli
gion of their day: see, e.g., Isaiah 1, 10 — ^20.
Evil calls up good. So Christianity gave a

(6) Herford; Pharisaism, p. 117.
(7) p. 163.
(8) Idem. pp. 167, 168.
Hosea, Isaiah, Amos, Micah. S4

(81(9)

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
righteousness, not of the law (Torah), but of a
deeper spirit (Matthew 5).
It could only be Hellenistic Jewish Gnostics
that could interpret this spiritual, prophetic
movement as the story of a second divine
" Person," the Christ.
Christianity was the revelation (by evolution)
of the Ideal Inward Spirit, the true conscious
ness, which is the Tendency of all things, the
will of God. The contribution of Christianity
to the World-Religion is this Inner Ideal spirit
of: 1. Humility.— Matthew 5, 3, 5, 21— 26; 7, 1—5.
2. Purity.— Matthew 5, 27—30.
3. Magnanimity.— Matthew 5, 38—48.
No man Jesus was needed to reveal this splendid
life. It was in Judaism, but had to be separated
from Pharisaism.
Such was called the " Christ," and those who
accepted this "Way" of life were said to have
" Christ in you," or to be " in Christ." Christ
was "being formed" In them. The Epistles
have many such expressions, which could not be
used of a man, or of a finite limited conscious
being. No such man could be in millions of
souls at once.
These three great powers of the spirit can be
trusted to produce a new social order. Thus by
them a man would refuse to hang a criminal or
kill an " enemy." He would rather die first.
War is undermined here, and all revengefulness
that is In the criminal law. The great missionaries
(as Moffat, Chalmers, Pennell) living among wild
peoples prone to anger and bearing arms, have
shown how strong unarmed Love can be.
36

THE INNER MEANING OF
But (a) the Ideal was not completed in the
Sermon on the Mount; {b) the term " Christ,"
a personal term, is not a permanent one for the
Ideal; and (c) the idea of God in the Sermon is
inadequate. {a) Modern life has opened up four more
aspects of the Inner Ideal, viz. : —
4. The spirit of Service (as in a family of
citizens).
5. The imagination of Beauty, in art and
social order.
6. Open-mindedness — the scientific spirit, as
opposed to prejudice and bigotry.
Reason.
7, Self-ownership or freedom — as opposed to
subservience, in slavery, in marriage, or in
industry.
These four spiritual powers and the three above
can evolve a true social order.
Thus mankind has reached the seven-fold
moral Ideal of the Love using Reason to create
beauty. There are seven colours in one white
Light Eternal. The New Testament left
" status " much as it was. It did not denounce
slavery per se (see Eph. 6, S — 9; Col. 3, 22 — 41),
and though a Christian slave was to be received
as a brother, his status was not changed. It was
centuries before Christians challenged the insti
tution of slavery, or the subordination of wives
(see Eph. 5, 22 — 24) or of employes. Now has
dawned freedom of personality for all these.
Capitalism has done some good work but as a
system it is unstable, and must pass into the
co-operation of all men, as brothers in God's
family. 86

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
(b) The term " Jesus Christ " may be used for
an aspect of God, God as the Ideal Will, but it
seems that it cannot last. We are not yet ready
with a better term, but we can think of the
Infinite Life as ever loving and living to help
finite souls achieve the Infinite and share that
Life and Joy Immortal. But other values
besides the (1) Good-Will must be recognised as
in the Infinite, viz., (2) Reason, which analyses
and synthesises, and (3) Imagination, which sees
and creates Beauty.
(c) The idea of God in the Sermon on the
Mount is an inadequate one. The term
" Father " is a symbol, and has much truth in it,
in that God is the Source of human life and
disciplines it for good ends.
But there is contingency, uncertainty, unfore-
seeableness, accident in all human lives, and
perhaps in plant and animal lives too. Each
conscious organism has a certain newness, fresh
ness, a freedom to some extent. God is the
Infinite Life often hampered or thwarted by
finite lives. "In men merely sin Is real. The
Pantheism of the one branching into the Many,
is inadequate. The Many (finite souls) are not
merely the branches of the One. They have
some freedom, and they can sin against the Infi
nite Life. Moreover they are all ignorant, and
they suffer by both sin and ignorance — and often
the innocent suffer by the sin or ignorance of
others. The New Testament " Father " who sees
in secret is a magnificent truth, but It needs to be
supplemented now, after centuries of human
experience, sorrow and of philosophy thereon.
God is self;limited into the finite stars and souls,
87

THE INNER MEANING OF
in whom He is the Will to the Ideal. No prayer
can bring man the cure for lunacy, deafness,
cancer or influenza, any more than it brought the
cure for plague which from 1300 to 1700 A.D.
took off 25,000,000 lives by a painful death.
The " Father " suggests an onlooking kind Deity
who can interfere, can prevent accidents, and
cure diseases at will. But man has himself to
find out how to do these things. God is the
living power of the Ideal Values, which are real
only so far as man has achieved them. God is
the Reason aflame with Love expressed in Har
mony, so far as in man this Infinite Ideal Life
exists. God is the Urge or WiH towards this
Ideal Life in finite souls. But He is not an On
looker, nor a Providence. He has crucified
Himself to live in and for finite souls, or rather
He is ever so crucified into nature and men. In
some men, most men perhaps, God aspires.
God is the Infinite, Aspiring Life, realising
Reason-Love-Beauty — in finite souls. Such a
life is inexhaustible, and so is the Infinite and
immortal God. The New Testament was too
largely influenced by the Jewish Deistic idea of
God as separate, in heaven above or at least apart
frorri men. Such an idea is still in Judaism, as
expressed in the Jewish Encyclopcedia, article
" God."
The Jews explained sin as caused by a Devil,
the idea of which came from Persia : he was the
Ruler of this world. But such a dualism is no
longer possible. 38

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
10.
MATT. 8, 1—4.
Leper Cleansed.
It seems this story must be symbolical. For
leprosy, whether with tubercular nodules or with
degeneration of the nerves, is cured very slowly,
if at all. But the Christ-spirit can " make the
foulest clean," as a hymn says. It is the sou!
that is cleansed by the Ideal Divine.
11.
MATT. 8, 5—13.
The Centurion.
Verses 10 and 11 are the key to the story, viz.,
that the Gentiles had more faith in the Christ-
life than the Jews possessed. See Acts 13,
46-^8. This story was a parable which came
to be told as a miracle, as in so many cases in the
Gospels : see in John 6 the feeding of the
5,000 by Christ as the Bread of Life.
12.
MATT. 8, 23—27.
The Storm Calmed.
Psalm 107 says : " He maketh the storm a
calm." To actually still a storm would not be
of any moral value, and not even of physical
worth, as storms are good to bring harmony once
more in nature. The story is a parable become
a miracle. The storm is in men's souls. The
hymn " Fierce raged the tempest " in its last
89

THE INNER MEANING OF
verse really interprets the story as a parable of
Christ calming the troubled soul.
" And when our life is clouded o'er.
And storm-winds drift us from the shore,
Say, lest we sink to rise no raore, -
' Peace, be still.' "
The material of the story is from Jonah 1 and
Psalm 107, 29. 13.
MATT. 8, 28—34.
Demoniacs.
Justin Martyr's writings (about 150 A.D.) show
that " devils " were regarded as the causes of
sins, rather than the causes of diseases. They are
declared to be responsible for heathen myth
ology, and for heresy. The Christ-spirit casts
out such demons. The " diseases " cured by
" Christ " were really mental states of the soul,
as anger or despair or greed. For the " Christ "
meant the divine Ideal Spirit, which was greater
than Solomon and Jonah, and Lord of the Sab
bath. Such a spirit was personified as Christ.
The evil spirit was personified as Satan.
14.
MATT. 9, 18—38.
The "Dead," "Blind," "Dumb." The
miracles of healing generally.
The basis of the stories lay in the experience
of the Christ-group in their missionary efforts
(9, 35). They saw how men became " new
creations " in Christ (Acts 14, 27 : 2 Corin. 5, 17),
This was set out as a fulfilment of Isaiah 35, 5 — 6,
describing God's coming. " Then the eyes of
40

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
the blind shall be opened and the ears of the
deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame
man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb
shall sing." Stories on each of these points were
therefore composed in regard to the " Christ."
Blind man.— Matthew 9. 27—31 ; 20, 29—34.
Deaf man.— Mark 7, 31—37; 9, 25.
Lame man. — Matthew 9, 1—9 (palsy, see verse
7).
Dumb man.— Matthew 9, 32—34.
See Matthew 15, 30—31 telling of all such
being healed : and the summary in 11, 5 of the
Messiah's works. Mark 7, 31 — 37 on the man
who was " deaf and had an impediment in his
speech," and who " spake plain " by Christ's
help, is founded on Isaiah 32, 4. " The tongue
of the stammerers shall be ready to speak
plainly." To " cast out demons " meant to
tame angry men or temporarily cure epileptics
by a controlling power. The Jewish Encyclo-
pcedia thus writes of Demonology in the New
Testament : —
" The whole Jewish and pagan world at the
beginning of the Christian era believed in those
magic formulas by which the evil powers of the
demons could be subdued, and the Jewish exor
cists found a fertile soil everywhere for the culti
vation of their Essene notions and their magic.
This was the atmosphere in which Christianity
arose, with the claim of " healing all that were
oppressed by the devil " (Acts 10, 38). . . .
The name of Jesus became the power by which
the host of Satan was to be overcome. . . .
41

THE INNER MEANING OF
Pharisaism, while increasing the yoke of cere
monial laws for the sake of love of God, showed
a way to overcome the fear of demons. Belief
in the power of the Law became the antidote
against the spirit of pessimism and asceticism
which was fostered by the Essenes and by their
Christian heirs."
In the New Testament there are several indica
tions that the name of " Jesus " was used by
early Christians (as exorcists) as a name in which
to " cast out demons " :see Matthew 7, 22; Mark
9, 38; 16, 17; Luke 10, 17; Acts 19, 13. The
name must have been a famous one, even
perhaps a divine one," to be thus used. It could
hardly have been the name of a lowly Teacher
living at the time, as it is represented in the
above passages in the Gospels as of a revered and
mighty Saviour, a hero or a god.
The raising of the dead meant the spiritually
dead. To raise dead men has no moral worth.
They die again. Moreover why should one child
be restored rather than another? In Britain
100,000 die under five years of age every year :
and so in other lands. The story is a parable
become a miracle. The " raising " is of those
dead in sin — see Ephes. 2, 6 : 5, 14.
In the story of Jairus the " daughter " meant
a people, viz., the Jews (see Zechar, 9, 9 — 10).
Christ could heal the Jews, " dead " in obstinacy
and bigotry and legalism.
(10) Or a demon-god, such as Beelzebub.
42

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
15.
MATT. 10.
The Disciples as Apostles.
A very important chapter of Church history.
But not by a man Jesus who for one and a half
years was supposed to have taught a few men in
Galilee ; for the chapter implies there had been
persecutions (verses 16 — 39). The Christ-group
had its secret meetings (27). Its rejection by the
Sanhedrin was its " crucifixion " (38 — 39). The
Christian shared the Universal Cross (Eph, 2, 20).
Verses 17 — 23. Mr. Montefiore says these verses
are " clearly of late date." But why not the
whole chapter then? And if these words were
put into the mouth of " Jesus," much more may
have been put into his mouth.
16.
MATT. 11, 1—19.
John and Christ.
These verses were written long after the begin
nings of Christianity, when Christians came to
think of " John " and " Christ " as having been
real men on earth. The mystic story had
become a kind of " history," as Christians
thought. " John " was thought of as Elijah
returned to earth (14), and " Christ " as the
wonder-working Son of Man (4, 19).
Originally there were groups of men and
women, arising from tlie Essenes, of whom 4,000
lived in villages near the Jordan and Dead Sea.
One group was the John-group, another (from
it) the Nazarenes or earliest Christ-men. Mark
48

THE INNER MEANING OF
tells us on what passages the John-story was
built, viz.. Isaiah 40, 3—5, and Malachi 4, 5;
3, 1. Hence the picture of John was on the
lines of Elijah as set out in 2 Kings 1—8."
Josephus' reference to John'^" breaks the con
text and so is an interpolation by Christians, as
was also the reference to Jesus Christ. The latter
was clearly composed by a believer in Christ,
but Josephus was not a Christian. Similarly in
The Antiquities (20, 9. 1) we read of " the
brother of Jesus who was called Christ, whose
name was James." The passage was inserted by
a Christian, from Galatians 1, 19. Josephus
would not so write. We know that the
Christians made insertions in the Psalms even
{e.g., Ps. 22, 16).

17.
MATT. 11, 25-30.
Prayer and Invitation.
Ecclesiasticus 51 supplied many of the phrases
here. The passage Is concerning the Eternal
Ideal in God, called " the Son " ; an Ideal which
if accepted in a lowly mind gives rest to the soul,
conquering pride, vanity, greed and hate — and
all their anxious ambitions.
(11) " He was a man with a garment of hair (R. V. mar
gin) and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins."
(12) Antiq. 18, 5, 2.

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
18.
MATT. 12, 1-14.
The Sabbath.
Here was a point where Christians came into
conflict with the Scribes and Pharisees. Another
was on " clean " foods, another on the cere
monial " washings " (Mark 7, 1-^23). On these
and other points the Scribes had developed
" traditions," extra rules, and the Pharisees
thought in " keieping of them there was great
reward." But many ignored the clean heart
and right spirit for which the Christ, when He
came, would look.
Possibly there was an occasion when early
Nazarenes plucked corn on a Sabbath and came
into conflict with the Pharisees, by whom such
an act was accounted " reaping " ! But more
likely these two stories were originally points
of discussion between Nazarenes and Pharisees.
" May we pluck corn on a Sabbath? " " May
we heal a man on a Sabbath? " The Rabbis
frequently had such questions discussed.
Verses 24 — 25 attack the Pharisees, and point
to the Christ as greater than Jonah and Solomon.
No lowly teacher would so speak of himself.
The passage is Church doctrine of that splendid
ideal Spirit, which was greater than the prophets
and wise men of old, in whomsoever that Spirit
was found. 19.
MATT. 12, 46-50.
Who is Christ's Mother?
"Christ" is the Will of God in souls who
45

THE INNER MEANING OF
aspire to the Ideal life (2 Corin. 3, 17). All who
obey -that Will are the brothers or mothers of
Christ (cp. 1 Corin. 9, 5 on a group who so
named themselves). 20.
MATT. 13, 1—52.
Parables of the Kingdom.
The Sower. — ^An explanation is given in verses
19—23. The translation of Dr. Moffat is as
follows : " When anyone hears the word of the
Realm, and does not understand it, the evil one
comes, and snatches away what has been sown
in his heart : that is the man who is sown on the
road. As for him who is sown on stony soil, that
is the man who hears the word and accepts it at
once with enthusiasm : he has no root in himself,
he does not last, but when the word brings
trouble or persecution, he is at once repelled.
As for him who is sown among thorns, that is
the man who listens to the word, but the worry
of the world, and the delight of being rich choke
the word; so it proves unfruitful. As for him
who is sown on good soil, that is the man who
hears the word, and understands it : he bears
fruit, producing now a hundred-fold, now sixty,
and now thirty-fold."
Thus it is clear that the seeds are souls, and
not something put into souls. Each soul is an
aspect of the Logos. The Logos is differentiated
into souls, as a cloud into raindrops, each of
which finds some flower or bit of soil as a vehicle
for itself. The Logos is sown as souls into
TTuman bodies. Luke says : " The seed is the
Logos of God." This is the real incarnation,
46

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
ever going on, that the Logos (Ideal Life-
Principle of God) is sown into human bodies.
This Word or Logos was called by Philo " the
Son of God," and the Christians the " Christ."
Both thus personified it. It is the Love-principle
in God.
The Tares. — This is an allegory concerning the
Church into which came men who caused
" stumbling " — see 18, 7. They could not be
separated out all at once. Christ would separate
them at his coming : see 25, 31 — 46.
The mustard seed and leaven tell of the quiet
growth of the Church from small beginnings.
Christ is the seed, the leaven : i.e.,. the Divine
Ideal sown as souls into this world.
The Treasure and the Pearl. — All good things
may be enemies of the best. The best is the
Life which shares God's Life.
" Love thy God and love Him only,
Then thy heart will ne'er be lonely ;
In that one Great Spirit meet
All things mighty, grave and sweet."
But this God is not apart, but in all things
and persons, in varying aspects.
The idea of the Pearl was probably taken from
the Gnostics, as also the parables of the seed,"
which go back to Plato {Timceus). Bardesanes,^*
the Gnostic, wrote " The Hymn of the Soul,"
and told of the one pearl in Egypt which was to
(13) See Mark 4, 1—34.
(14) Bardesanes was born at Edessa A.D. 155 and died 233.
See G.R.S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, pp. 892 —
414 on this hymn. 47 D

THE INNER MEANING OF
be found and cherished. The peari was the
gnosis or Truth, which New Testament writers
call the "Christ" (John 14, 6; cp. Christ as
Wisdom in 1 Corin. 1, 30). The gnosis of
Gnosticism was not a mere speculative truth, but
rather a practical life, a being lifted by the
Saviour who is (ever) crucified in the pheno
menal to save souls.

21.
MATT. 13, 53—58.
The Relatives of Jesus.
The passage is taken from Mark 6, 1 — 6, but
the names are taken, by a confusion, from the
children of another Mary : see Mark 15, 40. The
idea of Christ as a carpenter comes probably
from the Gnostic conception of the Demiurge or
world-fashioner, which goes back to Plato. ^^ The
Christ or Logos was the Fashioner of the uni
verse : see Colos. 1, 15 — 17; 1 Corin. 8, 6. The
Love-Ideal is the Final Cause of the universe : "
and this is the faith of the future. The Infinite
Lover is self-crucified here and cannot all at
once evolve the perfect Life, but through difli
culties overcome it has already dawned : and we
live " Knowing one thing the sacredest and fairest.
Knowing there is not anything but Love."
— F. W. H. Myers' St. Paul.
(15) See the Timceus on the inferior order of gods who
fashion the chaotic world.
(16) i.e., the Aim or Goal of souls : and for them to reach
it all things were organised. ,
48

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
22.
MATT. 14, 1—12.
The Death of John the Baptist.
We have seen that there was probably no man
John the Baptist. He is the " forerunner " of
the Christ, an ideal figure described as an Elijah
(2 Kings 1, 8). He represents the law at its best,
duty as preceding love.
Montefiore says : the story of John the Bapi
tist's death is " full of historical improbabilities,"
and may be regarded as " legendary." Thus
" Herodias was not the wife of Herod's brother
Philip, but of another brother, also called
Herod." Further, no princess would dance at
court," especially if married.
[For the story of the 5,000 fed see a paragraph
in John (56).] 23.
MATT. 14, 22-36.
Jesus Walking on the Sea.
The geographical details are very vague. They
are only " framework " for a picture of the
Christ's power. The material is from Job 38,
16, and Wisdom of Solomon 24, 5, concerning
God walking on the sea. Power over difficulties
is what is meant really, such power arising from
the " Christ " In men. Montefiore says " The
story seems a variant on 4, 35 — 41."
(17) Commentary on St. Matthew by Dr. McNeile, which
refers to the low status of public dancers.
49 DZ

THE INNER MEANING OF
Dr. Estlln Carpenter thinks " we_ have here
again the materialising of symbols."" This is
an explanation of a good many stories of the
Christ. 24.
MATT. 15, 1—20
Clean and Unclean:
Here is the clear conflict between ceremoni
alism and inward goodness which needs no
ceremonialism. No doubt the Jews to-day put
"meats" in a secondary place, and a Jewish
minister may advise an adult man who be
comes a Jew that he should not be circumcised.
But Judaism is becoming " liberalised " now.
Is it not Christianity in Jews which has done
this? 25.
MATT. 15, 21—31.
The Canaanite Woman.
Even Dr. McNeile, who is in the main con
servative, writes : " The literary history of the
narrative is disputed. If Matthew had no other
source than Mark he contributes an unusual
amount from his own pen, and that is of a highly
artistic and dramatic character." The fact is, the
whole story is a work of art. There was no
reporter to take down the words spoken : and
that is true of many of the gospel stories (e.g.,
Gethsemane). (18) The First Three Gospels : pp. 179, 180.
80

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
The woman of Canaan represents the Gentiles.
" Christ "could save the Gentiles even though
at first the Christ-group went to save their own
Jewish people : see Acts 13, 46 ; 15, 3 ; 18, 6,
where Paul turned from the Jews to the Gentiles.
[The feeding of the 4,000 is a reduplication of
the story of the 5,000.] 26.
MATT. 16, 1—12.
A Miracle Desired.
The Jews called on the Christ-group to pro
duce a miracle (sign) — cp. 1 Corin. 1, 22. But
the Community's only sign was that of Jonah,
viz., the preached word of the indwelling
"Christ" or Love-Ideal of God: see Colos. 1,
27, 28.
The conversation in verses 5 — 12 show how a
conversation could be invented by the evan
gelists : for even conservative scholars agree that
there was no feeding of the 4,000, really. Yet
here two feedings are Involved. 27.
MATT. 16, 13—28.
Peter's Confession.
This is an important passage : but an ecclesi
astical one; not a piece of the history of a man
Jesus. Verses 17 — 19 are not in Mark.
The origin of the passage lay in the historical
fact that the Peter-party (say about A.D. 60)
rejected the idea that the Christ was a sufferer
ei

THE INNER MEANING OF
(1 Corin. 1, 12, 23). So Peter " denied " Christ,
and this refusal to believe the Christ was a
suffering Christ was written in this story (see
16, 22). The School, of Peter could only think
of Christ as a King who would reign. But the
Pauline school (the Gnostic School lay behind
the Pauline School), In their " Epistles," taught
that Christ fulfilled Isaiah 53, " and died for our
sins according to the Scriptures " (1 Corin. 15, 3).
The truth behind this picture lies in the deep
explanation of the universe as the crucifixion of
God. The Infinite is ever crucified into the finite
to evolve and educate finite souls into His
Infinite Life, and Its immortal power and joy.
Such was what the Gnostics meant (see
Poimandres in G. R. S. Mead's Thrice-Greatest
Hermes). 28.
MATT. 17, 1-13.
The Transfiguration.
Dr. McNeile says : " Almost every detail
lends itself to allegorical treatment." But could
such be so of any historical event? The miracu
lous nature of the story, and the symbolic figures
of Moses and Elias, representing the Law and
the Prophets (than whom Jesus Christ is greater),
point to the non-historical nature of this story.
The only history in the Gospels is the conflict
between the Christ-group and the Pharisees who
stood for a lower legal religion. In such an
opposition Christianity arose. It runs through
the New Testament and is in the epistles (see
Romans and Galatians on the law and the spirit :
and cp. Phlllppians 3, 2—8).
S2

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
The Transfiguration is a mystical story to show
that the Christ-spirit is greater than the Law and
the Prophets. See 2 Corin. 3.
29.
MATT. 17, 24—27.
The Tax.
[On the demoniacs and healing works see
above.] This little story represents" the attitude of the
Christians, after A.D. 70, to the paying of the tax
imposed by the Romans for the upkeep of the
temple of Jupiter Capitollnus.^"
The stater=2 didrachma=twlce Is. 4|d. The
" sons " are the Christians. The " strangers "
are the pagans. Verse 27 means " go and fish
for it," i.e., get it somehow. The Christians
believed it right to pay tribute, for coins be
longed to Csesar. See Romans 13, 7, written
before this Logion, and perhaps from It this
Logion and that of Matt. 22, 21, were written.
Had a Teacher Christ told men to pay tribute,
such a dictum would surely be referred to in
Rom. 13, 7. But the Epistles know not a Teach
ing Christ. 30.
MATT. 18, 1—14.
The " Little Child " Allegory.
The little child originally meant no boy or girl
but the less-instructed Christian, the noviciate.
(19) As J. Weiss has shown.
(20) Josephus, B.J., 7, 6, 6. 59

THE INNER MEANING OF
See Proverbs 2, 1 ; 3, 1 ; 4, 1 ; 5, 1 ; 6, 1, 20; 7, 1.
" My son," i.e., the student of sacred truth. See
Romans 14, 1—15, how some Christians were
more advanced than others.
In Matthew 18, 1—6, a rebuke is offered (by
the Church) to those who disdained humble be
ginners in the faith, the " least of these
brethren." Such was the original idea. Then grew up
stories about Jesus as a man receiving children
or babies, and the disciples refusing to let the
young folks draw near ! ! A sense of humour
is needed by a modern Christian student !
Verse 5. The phrase " name of Jesus." This
was usually used in connection with exorcisms of
" demons " by Christians. See Mark 16, 17, " in
my name shall they cast out devils."
But here it is used as meaning " for the sake
of Jesus," i.e., whoso shall receive or help any
humble believer because he is a believer in rae,
etc. See Matthew 10, 40—42.

31.
MATT. 18, 15—20.
Church Discipline.
On verse 15, Holtzmann says : " We have in
these verses a piece of ancient Christian law
(Gemeindeordnung) put into the mouth of
S4

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Jesus." Verses 15 — 18 show that the sanction for
the moral ideal is not prisons and hangings nor
immense fines imposed by one nation on
another. It is the calm work of reasoning, then
of exposure, and last of the sorrowful boycott if
no repentance comes.
Verse 20. Those who believe a man Jesus
spake these words are at a loss how to interpret
them. Montefiore says : " Such a continued
and mystical presence could hardly be claimed
by or asserted of any man, but could only have
been made by someone who believed he was a
divine being " (Synoptic Gospels, 2, 682).
Montefiore thinks Jesus did not say the words.
Wellhausen said that Jesus here speaks as if he
were already in heaven.
Montefiore continues : " The idea of the con
tinued mystic presence of Jesus in his community
is adapted and borrowed from the Jewish idea of
the presence of God in Israel."
Exactly : " Jesus " was a personified aspect of
God. Such language was used of the Shechinah
(Aboth 3, 3).
" Weiss holds that the verse could not have
been spoken by Jesus. It is based upon the faith
of the Christian Community in Christ's invisible
presence, through the prayers of those who be
lieve in him." That was the only kind of
presence ever known by the Christians. They
were the " Body " of Christ. 68

THE INNER MEANING OF
32.
MATT. 18, 21—35.
Unlimited Forgiveness.
" Seventy times seven " means an unlimited
number of times. To forgive means to bear no
ill-will, to retaliate not, to give no reprisals, but
to do good to those who do us III, whether the
" enemy " be one man or a nation. When the
man (or nation) repents, he is to be received
into fellowship again, which Is the second part
of forgiveness. It may be some time ere he Is
trusted again as a friend, as he may need to
discipline and prove himself to be worthy of
trust, e.g., in money matters.
THE SPECIAL SECTION IN LUKE.
33.
LUKE 9, 51—62.
The Journey to Jerusalem.
The passage really gives the instruction of the
Church in regard to the Samaritans (compare
John 4) who rejected the " Christ." They were
not to be Ill-treated in any way. The gloss to
verse 55 explains why : " The Son of man came
not to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
The passage sets forth " Christ " (the Inner
Ideal) as greater than Elijah (2 Kings 1, 10—12).
Luke 9, 57 — 62 tells those aspiring to be Chris
tians to count the cost. The words imply that
there had been persecutions and privations.
Christians might be driven from place to place :
see Acts 8, 1 — ^3. Those who know not the Ideal
56

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Life can attend to the formal duties, such as
burials. The Christian must be ready, if need
be, to give up all. Such was the Church's call
(see 10, 1 — 24) for disciples to be missionaries.
It was almost essential, and is so now.
34.
LUKE 10, 1-24.
The Mission of the Seventy.
This is set out by a confusion, probably, with the
mission described in Matt. 10. It was a mission
inspired by an inner Inspiration : cp. Acts 13,
1 — 3. No visible Jesus sent these men. The
story implies that persecution had existed (verses
3, 10, 16), as in Matt. 10. No doubt the early
Church made such preaching tours (see Acts 13,
1 — 3). Verse 22 is the theological verse of Matt.
11, 27. Verse 19 Is the Gnostic view that the
Redeemer helps souls to fight the demons.
35.
LUKE 10, 25—37.
The Good Samaritan.
Who is my neighbour? was a question of
interest among the Rabbis, some of whom
answered : " Your fellow-Jew." Lightfoot
quotes Maimonides that such was the usual
answer. (" When a Jew says ' his neighbour,'
he excepts all gentiles.") This parable is thus
the Christian protest against the Pharisaic narrow
formalism of that day. It was as such a protest
that Christianity arose. The road from Jerusa
lem (3,000 feet up) goes twenty miles downhill
57

THE INNER MEANING OF
to Jericho, and was of old infested with robbers
probably. Pompey destroyed some brigands
near Jericho.
The moral law of compassion (verse 37) is not
a monopoly of Christianity. Stoicism taught it
and pre-Christian Judaism : see Duet. 24, 5—22 :
Levit. 19, 1—18, and The Testaments of the
Twelve Patriarchs (107 B.C.).
36.
LUKE 10, 38-42.
Martha and Mary.
Martha and Mary seem to be allegorical char
acters. Martha meant " Kuria," mistress, a
giver of laws. Therefore she represents the Law,
while Mary by her eagerness to learn represented
the teachable Christian, the humble life, the
life of the Ptokoi or meek ones. Only that one
thing is needed. The Church calls here for cate
chumens, initiates. 37.
LUKE 11, 1—13.
Prayer.
The compiler of this Third Gospel tried to
place the Logia into settings of his own imagina
tion. The shorter version of the "Lord's
Prayer " (really a group of Jewish prayers) indi
cates that " Luke " used an earlier edition of
the Logia, perhaps, than, Matthew, even if Luke
was written later than Matthew. The parable of
the Friend at midnight is such a parable as would
be commonly known among the Rabbis.
08

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Verse 13 Luke changed the " good things " of
which Matthew tells to " the Holy Spirit."
This is a theological change, for the compiler of
The Acts of the ApoStle had much to say of the
"Holy Spirit" (or "a holy Spirit"). Hence
the change here. Prayer is really listening for
the Voice of the Infinite in the finite, and then
obeying it. 38.
LUKE 11, 29—33.
Christ greater than Jonah and Solomon.
We cannot Imagine any Jew openly declaring
himself to be greater than Solomon and Jonah.
If he were greater, he would not say so. The
verses are Christology, not a history of what
was said by a man Jesus. The wooden, un-
eastern, unimaginative Commentaries never
perceive so simple a truth. They treat the
Gospels as history. They assume (but do not
prove) that a man Jesus lived. Their days are
numbered, however, useful in many respects
though they have been. 39.
LUKE 12, 35-59.
Watch.
Montefiore" says that " verses 35 and 36 must
clearly be later than Jesus." In our view, they
imply the Church as speaker, not a man Jesus.
So verse 37, " he." Had a teacher spoken thus
he would have said "I ". So through verses
(21) Synoptic Gospels. 2, 958. SO

THE INNER MEANING OF
35_40, 43. " I " appears in verses 49—51, but
the verses imply that families had already been
divided up, which would not have occurred in
one and a half years, the length of Christ's
ministry according to Mark.
The meaning originally was : " We who look
for the Coming Christ are persecuted. Surely
He will soon come now and relieve and justify
us. The time is short. The Lord is at hand.
Let men repent ere it be too late."
But no Lord came and no judgment as
expected ! The old world rolled on, and the
Romans ruled as severely as ever, and extended
their sway into Britain.
Such words are not by the Eternal Logos made
incarnate, but by a fallible Church, who how
ever incarnated the idea of an inner goodness,
and called it the " Christ." They expected
"Him" to appear openly to all. But "He"
really is an aspect of the ever invisible God.
God is ever " appearing " in the crises of history,
and of the individual soul !
40.
LUKE 13, 1—9.
The Galileans and the Parable of the Barren
Fig-tree.
The Jews would perish if they repented not
and accepted the Christ who soon would appear
— such is the burden of this passage. The
parable appears as a miracle of the rather absurd
cursing of a fig-tree, in Mark. Luke used an
earlier edition of the Logia than Mark used. In
60

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Luke's version the story was still a parable of
the Jewish nation. 41.
LUKE 13, 10—17.
A Question on the Sabbath.
In discussion with the- Rabbis, the Christians
found themselves standing for a freer conception
of life. Their Christ-spirit was Lord of the
Sabbath. They may have put forward a case of
a woman long ill : was she to be healed on the
Sabbath? The same question is dealt with in
Mark 2, 23 ; 3, 6. 42.
LUKE 14, 1—6.
The Man with Dropsy.
Here too the question may have been : " If
a man had dropsy, would you not heal him on
the Sabbath? " Here the Christians come into
conflict with the Pharisees. Such a discussion
reported verbally, and later in the Logia, came
to be told as if a miracle had been done by the
Christ on a Sabbath. 43.
LUKE 14, 7—24.
Calling Men to a Feast.
The Messiah's coming is referred to. It was
likened to a feast. Many were called to it, but
few chosen for it. They "chose" themselves
really. If a man Jesus lived, and so spake, why
did he not say : " I the Messiah am come.
61

THE INNER MEANING OF
Here I am. Come and sit down to my ban
quet ! " The Christ-group hoped Christ would
soon come, but He came not.
44.
LUKE 14. 25—35.
Count the Cost!
Few are really disciples of the Inner Ideal
(given in Matthew 5, 20 — 48). The passage
implies that persecutions had begun by the
Jews. Some Christians (originally called Naza
renes from Netzer — Isaiah 11, 1) were driven
from Jerusalem (Acts 8, 1 — 3). Their persecu
tion was later called "sharing the cross of Christ"
(verse 27), i.e., limitation endured so as to save
souls (Eph. 2, 20; Col. 1, 24).
45.
LUKE 15.
The Lost Sheep, Silver and Son.
These stories were Jewish parables, and were
used here against the Pharisees. The elder son
is clearly a symbol of the self-righteous respect
able Pharisee who had no vices, and looked
askance at anyone who had.
Rev. G. Friedlander has shown that Philo had
the main elements of the story of the prodigal
son : —
" Where there are two sons, one good and
one wicked, the father says he will bless"
(22) The Greek verb is only found in Luke in the New
Testament books : it is also used by Philo.
ea

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
the latter, not because he prefers him to
his brother who Is better, but because he
knows that the good son can, by his merit,
follow the right path : whereas the wicked
son has no hope of salvation without the
prayer of the father.""
Thus the parable existed, in idea at least,
before Christianity. 46.
LUKE 16, 1—18.
The Clever Steward.
The story is used to indicate that the Christian
will use well his gifts and goods (by alms) to enter
heaven when he dies. It is a story not of the
highest moral tone, for true virtue is action for
its own sake, not for a reward to oneself. Verse
14 shows the story is used also against the Phari
sees and taken into the Church's teaching (or
Logia) for that purpose perhaps. Not all the
Pharisees were self-righteous hypocrites : but that
many were Is acknowledged now by the Jews.°*
47.
LUKE 16, 19—31.
Dives and Lazarus.
A rather weak Jewish story, since a man does
not go to heaven's joy merely because he is poor.
Is there a great " gulf " separating good and evil
men? (23) Philo;. Bohn's Translation 4, 278, 279. (See 223, 224).
(24) See Jewish Encyclopedia, article " Pharisees."
63 E

THE INNER MEANING OF
48.
LUKE 17, 11—19.
Lepers Cleansed.
Montefiore, in his The Synoptic Gospels, says
this story is a variant of the healing of the leper
in 5, 12—16 (Mark 1. 40—45), and " told with an
anti-Jewish tendency. Jesus heals from afar, as
Elisha healed Naaman. Was there any real fact
behind the story? It is doubtful. Its main pur
pose is symbolic, and its historical character is
very dubious." Such remarks really apply to a
great deal in the Gospels which are not history,
but symbolic doctrine. 49.
LUKE 18, 1-8.
The Unjust Judge.
Verse 8 shows the story is not by a Messiah
who was present and told the parable. The
Messiah was yet to come. The narrative indi
cates that some of the Christians had lost heart :
cp. 2 Peter 3, 1 — 13. The material for the story
seems to be taken from Ecclesiasticus 35, 15.
50.
LUKE 18, 9—14.
Pharisee and Publican.
Christianity exposed the legalism of (most of)
the Pharisees, and put a right spirit in its place
(Jerem. 31, 31—34 : Romans 8, 1—9).
64

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
SPECIAL SECTIONS IN JOHN.
51.
JOHN 1, 1—18.
The Logos, Truth, Life.
From Philo came the ideas on the Logos :
Philo used Stoicism and the Old Testament and
the Gnosticism of Alexandria (where he lived).
It has been shown that Philo described the Logos
as " the rock that followed Israel In the wilder
ness, the Image of God, the first Man who is the
archetypal man, the Son of God, the High
Priest, the first-born Son, the Paraclete, and the
Mediator. All of these aspects reappear in the
New Testament description of its Christ.""
The theological discourses in John are full of
beautiful and valuable thought on the outgoing
self-revealing God, the Logos — Saviour — Light
— Life, of which the Gnostics spoke. They per
sonified this aspect of God, and took the Christ
figure as another name for such.
No doubt the Johannine school who composed
the Fourth Gospel, and the three Epistles, which
are in the same style, believed that some kind of
a man Jesus existed on earth a century earlier.
Indeed these books are written partly to combat
the Doketic Gnostics who asserted that Jesus was
a phantom or appearance only, and did not
really suffer on a cross (see 1 John 5, 6 — 8, 20;
2 John 7).
(25) G. Friedlander : Hellenism and Christianty : pp. 85 —
124 : where the various references to Philo are given in full.
See also Prof. John Watson, in The Philosophical Basis of
Religion, page 17, Philo described the Logos also as the
instrument of God in the creation of the world (cp. Colos.
1, 15—17). 6S E2

THE INNER MEANING OF
The Gnostic view was suppressed, though it
existed in the Church for many years, and was
the truer view. For the idea of a Primal Man
" Jesus " arose from the Gnostics in Alexandria
taking the Christ, of The Book of Enoch, and
the early Christ-group, as equivalent to the
Logos, the Son of God, Saviour, whom the
.Gnostics taught had already descended to save
men : i.e.. He was ever doing so, it was a divine
procession ever going on ; but such was described,
at that time. In a symbolic story of a divine
being as having once descended and lived on
earth. The article on Gnosticism " in The
Encyclopcedia Britannica (XI. Edition) has
shown from the writing of Reitzenstein'" that
Gnosticism was pre-Christian in all its essentia!
features. The Gnostic teaching of the mystic Christ-
Logos — Saviour as the Primal MAN who had
come down and was crucified to save men and
lift men to heaven, came to be told as the story
of a kind of man (see Philip 2, 6 — 8). He was
called " Jesus " as that was the nearest Hebrew
word (Joshua) to Saviour.
The truth is that the Infinite Life (Reason
aflame with Love seeking expression in Har
mony) Is Himself ever being evolved in men ai
they, by efforts, achieve that life. This is the
Gospel for all time.
(26) On Poimandres, a pre-Christian Gnostic work in Greek
describing the 8 descents of. the Logos, Primal Man, Life and
Light. A translation is given in G.R.S. Mead, Thrice-Greatesi
Hermes, 66

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
52.
JOHN 2, 1—11.
The Water to Wine.
This miracle is derived from a mystic parable
meaning that Christ, i.e., the Inner Ideal, can
give a life which is as wine to the feebler water
of legalistic Judaism. Philo used the simile also.
There is no moral value in a pure miracle of
producing much wine, even if it could be done.
53.
JOHN 3, 1—21.
Nicodemus.
Nicodemus is a fictitious character represent
ing the Jews, who had no Insight at first, but
yet were enquirers Into the new religion of the
mystic Christ-Ideal. U needs a new birth " from
above " if a man is to grasp the way of the spirit
— see 1 Corin. 1, 26—^2, 16 (In Moffatt's Trans
lation). 54.
JOHN 4.
The Samaritans.
One of the problems of the early Christ-group
was the Samaritans, who were not orthodox
Jews, nor were they heathen : see Luke 9, 51 — 56.
The passage here is a story composed to show
that the Christ-spirit can be the Saviour (verse
42) of the Samaritans and free them from a
localised worship of God (verse 21). The " 5
67

THE INNER MEANING OF
husbands " (verse 18) meant the religioui leaden
of the Samaritans in the past.
55.
JOHN 5, 1—9.
The Man at Bethesda.
The man represented the Jews who were 38
years In the wilderness (Duet. 2, 14), and the 5
porches are a symbol for the 5 books of Moses.
The " Christ " can save the Jews. (Indeed the
Inner Christ-Ideal was just the best in Judaism.)
56.
JOHN 6.
Christ the Bread.
Here we get the origin of the story of the
feeding of the 5,000. The material came from
2 Kings 4, 42 — 44, even to the barley loaves and
the pieces left over (John 6, 9, 12). Several of
the stories of the Christ set forth the Life of
the Spirit as doing marvels equal to those of
Elijah and Elisha, e.g., healing the leper, raising
the dead, ascending to heaven : and so here feed
ing the multitudes with a few loaves. Such
stories clearly are not history. The Christ-Ideal
can feed myriads of souls. John 6, 1 — 63 has a
reference to the Eucharist,^' but contradicts the
(27) Cp. The Jewish Story of Jeschu, in the Talmud ; trans
lated into English by Foote and Wheeler, tells a merely
imaginary tale of Jesus (against the Christians), but illustrates
this point.

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
view of those literalists*' who sought Christ's
"flesh." See verse 63. If men could have
Christ's flesh it would be useless to them.
57.
JOHN 7, 53—8, 11.
The Adulterous Woman.
The story is a mystic one, to show the opposi
tion between legalism and idealism, law and love.
On the stoning of (some) adulteresses see Deut.
22, 23. The betrothed woman was accounted to
be practically married. Jesus (In the story)
does not condone her sin. He calls it sin (v. 11),
but he does not seek to have harm done to her.
The Christ-spirit is against the lex talionis, which
is at the basis of the criminal law. If A kills B,
why should C, D, E and F (called the " State ")
kill A? It is a state-murder in reality. " Con
demn not " (to punishment) — Luke 6, 27 — 38 ;
Matt. 7, 1—5; 1 Corin. 6, 1—7; Rom. 12, 19—
21. (Rom. 13, 1 — 7, is really not upholding the
State's punishments by force, but telling Chris
tians not to resist them by force. The State is
pagan largely and knows not ttie spiritual forces ^
to use to evil men.) 58.
JOHN 8, 12—59.
Against the Pharisees.
There is no doubt that the early Christ-group
(28) If a man Jesus lived, and reclined by a table at a
" last Supper," the disciples could not have thought his words
" This is my body " were to be taken literally of the bread,
for they saw his body. If Jesus was not a man the words
again do not refer to a literal body.
69

THE INNER MEANING OF
within Judaism was opposed by the representa
tives" of formalism and legalism and ceremoni
alism, and were persecuted and rejected. But
the tendency In Christian writings was to make
out a case against all the Jews generally : so here,
verse 44. 59.
JOHN 9.
The Man born Blind.
This man is a symbol of the Gentiles. Not
only can Christ heal the Jews and Samaritans,
but the Gentiles also. They were born blind,
i.e., have never had the spiritual light. That the
sight referred to here is spiritual Is clear from
verses 39, 40, where the Pharisees say : "Are we
also blind? " So the healing was not history.
It was a parable of the Christ's power, re-set as
if a miracle had happened. See 10, 16, on Christ
for the Gentiles. The Inner Ideal Life can save
all men. 60.
JOHN 11.
Lazarus Raised.
The key to this story is in verses 25, 26. " I
am the Resurrection and the Life." That this
meant a present, spiritual resurrection, a Gnostic
resurrection from sin and evil, is also clear from
John 5, 21 — 25 : cp. Ephes. 2, 6. The editor of
(29) Many Pharisees were noble men but many were self-
righteous at this period. 70

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
the story enlarged on It in 12, 1 — 11, as If it were
history. See Moffatt's Introduction to the Litera
ture of the New Testament, p. 539,
The Fourth Gospel has a layer of spiritual
parables of the Logos, used and overlaid by a
cruder orthodox view of the Christ as If he had
been a kind of man on earth once. The task of
our age is to get behind the New Testament to
the Gnostic origins of the Figure of the Christ,
as the ever descending and ascending God.
61.
JOHN 21, 1—13.
The Fishermen.
The whole account of the early Christians as
fishermen is founded on a misconception of the
simile of them as " fishers of men." Here is a
parable of what they would do, viz., win the
Gentiles to the Christ-life. The figure 153 Is
taken from 2 Chonicles 2, 17, and referred (sym
bolically) to the Gentiles. " Solomon num
bered all the strangers that were In the land of
Israej — and there were found 153,600." (See
section 91, for John 14—17.) 62.
MATT. 19, 1—12.
On Divorce.
These verses reflect a conversation among
Christians on the views of the Rabbis. Rabbi
Hillel, who lived about A.D.20, allowed divorce
(it seems) if a man saw a more beautiful woman.
71

THE INNER MEANING OF
Rabbi Shammai was more strict, and the Chris
tians sided with him.
They harked back to Genesis 2, 24, which
spoke of a woman leaving her parents and going
to her husband. But this does not bear on
divorce really. It Is a matter of fact._ Legal
rules are ever behind life. Public opinion is in
advance of laws, and demands to be expressed
in fresh laws.
Conditions of life are different now from the
days of the early Christians. Then a woman (1)
received but little education, and (2) was re
garded as the subordinate of the husband. This
latter Is reflected in the New Testament, see e.g.,
Ephes. 5. 22, and is the Eastern view. To-day
women have changed, and more opportunities
for divorce are needed to give them a full life
of service. The State's care should be that all
children are well provided for. In case husband
and wife desire to separate and be free.
Christianity does not view the relation of the
sexes in marriage as existing only to satisfy a
desire for fertility : for see 1 Corin. 7, 1 — 7. But
modern thought rightly condemns the indulgence
of appetite (1) in such a way as to bring into the
world children that are not desired; (2) before
marriage, for chastity is possible, as millions have
proved, possible and healthy too ; while the loss
of it brings endless evils, both moral and
physical. See 1 Cor. 6, 12; 9, 27. Celibacy
was advised in the New Testament because the
Parousia (" presence " of Christ) was expected
soon. See ^1 Cor. 7, 29—32, 39, 40. That was
a piece of " interlmsethic," concerning a rule of
external conduct, but the principles in the
72

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Sermon on the Mount are external moral laws,
and not " interlmsethic. "
63.
MATT. 19, 16-30.
The Rich Young Ruler.
According to the ordinary commentaries,
which till now have assumed (not proved)
there was a man Jesus, this young man was told
to sell all, either :
(a) So that he could literally follow Jesus
about Palestine, or
(b) Because, in his love of money, he needed
this self-discipline, or
(c) Because the " end of the age " was near,
and " in the new order there would be no
need of wealth " (so Montefiore). But
(a) Is excluded because a man could keep
his wealth, and yet follow Jesus, leaving
someone to manage it,
(b) Is not true, for to " sell all " was applied
to all Christians in Luke 12, 33; 6, 24; 14,
33 (" renounce all that he has.")
(c) Is beside the point, for If this new era was
at hand, it would not matter If a man kept
his wealth : all would soon be equally well
off.
From our standpoint of there being no man
Jesus, but a Christ-group who called their felt
Ideal " Christ," this story becomes clear.
It is a work of art, a composition to indicate
the relation of Christianity to Judaism. A Jew
73

THE INNER MEANING OF
becoming a Christian needed to be ready (any
how) to share his wealth. See Acts 2, 44—46;
4, 34 — 37; and cp. Ananias, who only pretended
to so share his wealth In a time of need. Acts
5, 1—5.
This is hinted at In Matt. 19, 27—30. Peter
had " left all." No doubt the early Christians
were boycotted by their relatives for joining the
new Christ-group, a " suspect " set of Jews at
first. Some think the " wealth " in this story is the
knowledge of God. But It Is a wealth which had
to be given up, not the glad teaching of truth.
It is literal wealth, for see verses 25 and 29.
As to verse 17 " Why do you ask me about
what Is good? " This in Mark (earliest) is
"Why callest thou me good?" But Mark
would never have meant to say that Jesus was not
good. See Mark 14, 61—62; 15, 39, 56—61; 16,
14—39. Some confusion has arisen in Mark, which was
copied by Luke. But Matthew makes an attempt
to correct It. For another confusion in Mark,
see 14, 65 : " Say unto Him, Prophesy "—
prophesy what? one cannot but ask. Matthew
explains It to mean " prophesy who is it that
struck thee."
In our passage the rich man really was asking
about the good life. Matthew, though using and
altering Mark, may be really nearer the original
meaning in verse 17.
Some rich Jew had asked the Christ-group
what was their gospel, how should a man act to
gain eternal life? The reply was : keep the
decalogue, but more, join the new Love-group
74

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
of spiritually-minded men and women, the
earnest of the Kingdom of God (Luke 17, 21) :
but to do so you must be ready to share your
wealth. The Jew retired troubled.
There may have been a particular rich Jew
who so came to the Christians, or the story may
be typical to show what a rich Jew needed to
do. In either case Isaiah S8, 17 may have
influenced the story as here told. The Idea that
only God is good came from Gnosticism.
64.
MATT. 20, 1—16.
Parable of the Labourers.
This parable is only In Matthew. The
denarion= about 9id. The 12th hour=6.0 p.m.
The parable was intended to teach that the
eternal life is the result of grace rather than of
work. God, in His grace, will grant this one,
great, priceless boon to a number of persons,
who, looked at from merely a business stand
point, should be rewarded most unequally. " In
the kingdom all are on equal footing"
(Montefiore). There is a parallel in the Jewish Talmud to
illustrate how a Rabbi " In 28 years wrought
more In learning the law than many scholars in
100 years."
It is evident this parable was not, by a teacher
at the beginning of Christianity, for It Implies
that some became Christians years later than the
first Christians. They expected the Christ soon
to come. Would all be rewarded alike? some
asked. Yes, is the reply, for all will enjoy God
for ever. 75

THE INNER MEANING OF
65.
MATT. 20, 17—28.
On Humility.
Verse 17 is the " framework " of the mystic
story. Verses 18, 19 are a summary of the cross-drama,
put into the mouth of " Jesus," as all the Logia
were. The " cup " belonged to all true
Christians. This shows that the cross was not
a wooden one, but a life-principle, which could
be shared (see Ephes. 2, 20 : Philip 3, 10). The
passage implies that persecution had been felt.
Montefiore says " the whole passage in its present
form is later than Jesus." We are finding that
the whole of the Gospels is " later," i.e., there
was no man Jesus, but a Community who felt and
taught the inner goodwill as the will of God and
made light of ceremonies and ritual, in conse
quence. Christianity arose in a group of spiritu
ally-minded Essenes called Nazarenes, a Gnostic
sect of Jews. 66.
MATT. 20, 29—34.
Two (?) Blind Men.
Jericho Is about 15 miles from Jerusalem.
Matthew has two blind men ; Mark and Luke
one, viz., Bartim£Eus.
" Bartlmsus "=son of TlmtEUS (query if
TlmsBUS— blindness). The story is a reduplica
tion of Matthew 9, 27 (cp. " Son of David " in
both). The Idea is that Christ (the Life-giving
Ideal) gives light in the soul. Isaiah 35, 5—6 is
76

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
of spiritual light. John 9, 39—41, shows John
9 is a story of spiritual light, an allegory. The
" throwing away " of the man's garment (Mark
10, 50) means the casting aside of old sinful or
legal prejudice (blindness). The whole is
symbolic. M. Loisy tends to regard it so.
67.
MATT. 21, 1—17.
Entry into Jerusalem.
This is a symbolic story, the material coming
from Zechariah 9, 9—10 : Psalm 118, 25 ; 8, 2.
(Greek version as to " out of the mouth of
babes, etc.").
This is one of the passages which show most
clearly that the stories of Jesus were largely com
positions from a " Messianic " list of texts. That
the Jews regarded many passages In the Old
Testament as referring to the Messiah, though
originally some of them had no such meaning
is clear from Edersheim's Life, and Times of
Jesus the Messiah, II. Appendix 9. Many refer
ences, there, are of later Rabbinical views, but
show how freely the Old Testament was used.
The figure of the "Christ " was in the minds of
the Jews in times B.C., and especially after The
Book of Enoch (similitudes, B.C.70) was written.
It indicated Christ as already existing as the Son
of Man in heaven, and about to come as the
Judge of Men. The idea that the Christ had
already had an episode on earth arose from
Gnosticism, which synthesised the heavenly
Christ of The Book of Enoch with the Gnostic
Logos-Saviour. 77

THE INNER MEANING OF
J. Weiss regards the story of the Entry of Jesus
as, in many ways, unhistorical. Schweitzer
otherwise. Its exact following of Zech. 9, 9—10
is not to be disregarded. For a man Jesus to act
the prophecy out in detail (as Schweitzer thinks)
is too absurd ! Where would the spontaneity or
originality of any great man be, if he thus acted
a part set to him?
While the story is taken as that of a man Jesus,
there is no reasonable explanation of it. Taken
as a work of art on an ideal Figure, as all the
rest of the stories are, it becomes clear. The
Messiah, the Ideal Life, is lowly, riding on an
ass, not on a war-horse. His power is gentle yet
efficient, as Love ever is. Love uses not the
war-horse. 68.
MATT. 21, 18—22.
The Fig-tree Cursed.
Taken literally as history, this story has no
moral value : rather the reverse.
, The original is Luke 13, 6 — 9 who used a better
form of the Logia here, as so often (even though
the Gospel itself was later than Matthew in com-
. position probably).
The parable became a miracle, as in the case
of the feeding of the 5,000 and the turning of
water into wine. 69.
MATT. 21, 23—32.
John the Baptist again.
What view did the Jews take of the baptism
by "John the Baptist"? This question was
78

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
put into the form of this story. The " baptism
of John " was not by a man John. It was merely
a baptism indicating repentance, and was found
among some later Jews — see Acts 18, 25. Apollos
knew only such a baptism before Aquila and
Priscilla instructed him further in the spiritual
baptism. The story is a confusion.'" If John
lived as a man, why should not the priests and
elders have recognised John as a prophet, who
preached repentance? The story of the two sons
condemns the self-righteous formalists.
70.
MATT. 21, 33—46.
Parable of the Vineyard.
If a man Jesus spake these words before he was
crucified, they are Indeed hard to understand.
The parable Implies that the Son (of God) had
been killed. They gave a doctrine of the
Church, viz., that the Jewish rejection of their
Christ-life (as taught by the earliest Christians)
was a following on and climax to all their perse
cutions to the prophets whom God sent to them.
The material of the parable is from Isaiah 5, 1.
Jewish writers often try to make light of the
rejection of Christianity by the Jews. They
assert, e.g., that Pilate, not the Jews, crucified
Jesus. But who tried Jesus and who cried
" Crucify him," according to the story? See
also Romans, chaps. 9 — 11. The Sanhedrin ex
communicated the Christ-sect. See John 9, 22 :
12, 42 : 16, 2, in Moffatt's Translation.
(30) See Montefiore, Synoptic Gospels, 1, 276.
79

THE INNER MEANING OF
Had the Jewish Sanhedrin accepted the Christ-
group, there would not have been a separate
Christian Church.
[On Matthew 22, 1—14; the Messianic Feast,
see on Luke, above. " The more original form
is in Luke " (Montefiore). The " robe of
righteousness " was a Gnostic phrase.]
71.
MATT. 22, 15—22.
Tribute to Cossar.
Coins belong to CfEsar, hearts belong to God.
The silver denarius is the " penny " here (worth
about 8Jd., in 1913). The Christ-group's answer
here is not original, nor Is It profound. Not
original, for " the bulk of the Pharisees took much
the same line."" They would not revolt by force
against the Roman rule (see Romans 13, 1 — 7).
There is a limit to obedience to State rule (Acts
5, 27 — 29). The answer is not profound, for the
Moral Ideal must rule the State also.
72.
MATT. 22, 23—33.
The Resurrection Puzzle.
The questions in this chapter were probably
often discussed between Nazarenes'^ (Christians)
(31) Montefiore, 1, 280.
(32) This seems to have been the earliest name of the
Christ-group which arose from the Essenes and Ebionites.
80

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
and orthodox Jews. They are not very pro
found, but rather of a Rabbinical nature. The
saying in this story Is not original. A Jewish
writing declares : " Rab used to say, ' in the
world to come there Is no eating or drinking or
marrying '.""
The Christian Community thus simply sided
with one current view of the matter, as they did
concerning tribute to Cssar. So on the prohibi
tion of divorce (except for sin), they sided with
Shammai as against Hillel. These sayings
(Logia) were not new and infallible utterances
of the Eternal Logos once Incarnate. They were
the Inner Ideal in Judaism. The declaration
here in verses 31, 32 Is rather " fanciful,"" for
it assumes God Is a God of the living, and so
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive ! (It is
probable that these men never lived, but were
the eponymous ancestors of the Jews, tribes
described as individuals.'^)
The whole doctrine of a future rising-up of
bodies buried in the ground was Jewish, and Is
now an impossible one for scientific men. We
know the bodies have long since gone to dust,
and those drowned in the sea have been eaten by
fishes. Man does not need such bodies for a
future life, If the aspiring soul be an aspect of
God, with " vibration-energies " finer than the
body that dies.
(33) Montefiore, 1, 285, quoting Berachoth 17a, and adding :
" This was the official doctrine."
(84) Ibid.
(85) See Dr. Bennett on Genesis (Century Bible).
81 F2

THE INNER MEANING OF
73.
MATT. 22, 34—40.
The Chief Commandments.
This story cites Deut. 6, 5, and Levit. 19, 18.
The idea was not new. The Testaments of the
Twelve Patriarchs told the Jews to love God and
one's fellow men.'' In the Epistles we find the
latter law as summing up the moral code : Rom.
13, 8 — 10 ; Galat. 5, 14. Had a man Jesus taught
the passage in Matt. 22, 37, 38, why did not the
writers of Romans and Galatians appeal to Jesus
as their final authorify? The Epistles were prior,
and gave the sayings of the Church.
74.
MATT. 22, 41-46.
A Puzzle as to the Messiah.
Here is a Rabbinical sophistry. Psalm 110
was not by David, but if it were, and it referred
to the Messiah, the doctrinal point Is that the
Messiah was a divine being, greater than David.
Such was the Church doctrine (Philip 2, 5—10;
1 Cor. 8, 6; Colos. 1, 15 — 17), and the story is
of a discussion between Christians and Scribes.
75.
MATT. 23, 1—39.
The Worst Kind of Pharisee.
The teaching of the Pharisees could often be
good, and ought to be obeyed (23, 3), but their
(36) The Testament of Issacher. 82

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
spirit was often proud, legal, self-righteous,
bigoted and unloving. They only " appeared
righteous." This fact it was which called up
the new faith, declaring an inner spirit as the
will of the Christ (Matt. 5, 20).
Christ is here spoken of in the third person
(verses 8, 10). Teachers had arisen in the Church
(cp. 1 Corin. 12, 10, 29). The passage is by the
Church, not by a man Jesus at the beginning
of Christianity. The " woes " given here are
sorrowful, not revengeful. The Church (or
earlier the Community) was the "body" of
Christ, His vehicle. His mouthpiece .(jEphes. 1,
23; 4, 12, 16; 5, 30; Colos. 1, 18, 24; 1 Corin.
12, 27).
The Church had the power of " binding and
loosing " (Matt. 18, 18), i.e., of forbidding or
allowing certain actions. The Church consists of
all who obey the Christ-Ideal (Mark 3, 35), for
they are " crucified " to the " old man " (Gal.
5, 24; 6, 14; Colos. 3, 1—10) of the self-seeking
will. The Ideal is a state of heart, a spirit, a kind of
life, a quality of soul. This was set out in the
Sermon on the Mount. Since then, some more
aspects have been added (open-mindedness,
imagination, freedom). We now approach to a
fuller vision than the New Testament gives, both
of the Ideal and of God, whose will the Ideal Is.
So we approach a World-Religion, which now is
dawning, a spirit richer than any which the old
religions gave to the world, but which could
not have come but for them.
88

THE INNER MEANING OF
76.
MATT. 23, 37—39.
" O Jerusalem! "
No doubt the Christians regarded the destruc
tion of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as a punishment of
God upon the Jews for their rejection of the
Christ-group (Luke 13, 6—9; 19, 41—44). Verse
38 " desolate " implies that this event had
occurred : see 24, 15 — 21 ; Luke 21, 20 — ^24. But
some of the Jews had long been rebelling against
the Roman rule, and the coming of Titus was
not brought In by the Jewish persecution of the
Christians. 77.
MATT. 24, 1—44.
The Messianic Coming.
Mr. Montefiore says : " This apocalyptic ora
tion is, as a whole, certainly unauthentic. Much
of it is built up upon the familiar lines of Jewish
apocalypses from Daniel (164 B.C.) onwards."
Verse 15, " the appalling horror," spoken of by
Daniel (9, 27; 11, 31; 12, 11) was a reference
to a little altar and statue of Zeus set up by
Antiochus Epiphanes IV. on the altar In the
temple at Jerusalem, B.C. 164. This " horror"
would be repeated, it is here said, i.e., the Roman
Emperor's image would be set up.
If these verses were falsely ascribed to a man
Jesus, and likewise the discourses of the Fourth
Gospel, and those of the Gnostic Pistis Sophia
also (2nd century), why could not all the Logia
in the Synoptics be falsely ascribed? Whh the
84

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
miracles as parables re-set, and the Crucifixion-
story as part of a drama of initiation, and the
Infancy-stories as works of art, there will soon
be very little left for those who cling to the
idea of a man Jesus. But art is better than
history, and the unvelRng of God is nobler than
the life of one God-man, whose finite thoughts
follow one another, and whose knowledge must
be very inadequate. It is God Himself that the
world is really seeking, and to have a man Jesus
is not the deepest longing of souls. Indeed, it
has become a hindrance to religion.
78.
MATT. 25, 1—13.
The Parable of the Maidens.
A parable " made up to suit the moral, and
full of inconsistencies and awkwardnesses." How
could shops be open after midnight, or a bride
need bridesmaids at that time? If the moral be
" Watch " (13) why did all the maidens go to
sleep? It was lack of oil, not sleep, that kept
five foolish maidens from going in to the feast.
79.
MATT. 25, 14—30.
The Parable of the Talents.
See Luke 19, 11 — 27, on the pounds. A talent
= £240. The parable seems founded on the idea
that Christ " gave gifts " to men (Eph. 4, 8—12,
and cp. 1 Corin. 11, 28). The Christ will come
and cast any unprofitable servant into " outer
darkness " (30). The parable was probably of
85

THE INNER MEANING OF
Jewish origin (the Rabbis taught many such, as
Edersheim" has shown) and was used and
adapted by Christians. 80.
MATT. 25, 31—46.
The Judgment by Christ.
See 2 Corin. 5, 10; 1 John 5, 12; 1 Peter 1, 17;
John 5, 20, 30. Christ was the coming Judge
from heaven, as The Book of Enoch had set
forth, and indeed verse 31 is a quotation from
that book, which frequently has the phrase " The
Son of Man sitting on the throne of his glory "
(45, 3; 54, 4; 62, 3, 5).
Here is another indication that the Gospel
Sayings are not a history of what was spoken by
a man Jesus. The probabilities are that parts
of these sayings were originally in poetical form,
or at least, in Hebrew parallelism ; Dr. Moffatt's
Translation gives many passages in English-prose-
poetry, though not all of these were in Greek or
Hebrew poetical form : but some probably were.
Dr. Burney has argued that the parable of the
Last Judgment in Matt. 25, 31 — 46. was origin
ally in Hebrew poetical form. The Old Testa
ment has a great many poetical parallelisms,
especially in its prophetical writings- in Lamen
tations and the Psalms, as " I made the earth,
and man upon It I created," or " Her hand to
the tent-peg she stretched forth, and her right
hand to the workman's mallet " (Judges 5, 26) :
cp. Zech 9, 9. " Riding upon an ass, even upon
a colt," which passage is wrongly used in
(87) Ufe and Times of Jesus the Messiah : 2, 233—297.
86

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
Matthew, as if two animals were intended. Dr.
C. F. Burney says : " It is an interesting fact
that if the parable of the Last Judgment is trans
lated into Biblical Hebrew it falls immediately
into a rhythmical form, quite as regular and
striking as the forms which are found In the
Old Testament prophetical and poetical books.
Even the English suggests this, as in the words :
" Hungry was I, and ye fed me,
Thirsty was I, and ye -relieved me;
A stranger was I, and ye housed me ;
Naked, and ye clothed me.
Sick was I and ye visited me ;
In prison was I and ye came to me."
Dr. Burney suggests that poetry was a " new
medium " by which Jesus conveyed truth, and
such a method was used by Hebrew prophets.
But surely the writings of the prophets was not
the form of their burning popular speeches.
Their writings involved art and composition.
And the poetical forms In the sayings in the
Gospels involved artistic composition, viz., that
of the spiritually-minded Christians who com
posed the poetical passages. Such a writer here
seems to have used the Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs (Joseph 1, 5 — 6) which says :
" I was sick and the Lord visited me:
I was in prison and the Lord showed favour unto me."
The meaning of the parable is not that Christ
will reward anyone who helps anyone, but will
reward those who help Christians. It is thus
clearly a production of the Church, calling for
men to help needy Christians. The phrase
"These my brethren, even the least" does not
refer to any poor people, but to Christians who
were in poverty, sickness, or put into prison.
87

THE INNER MEANING OF
The parable was composed, then, after Christians
had been put into prison. No Jesus spake it.
Being poetry and implying that sorae Christians
had been imprisoned, and using " Christ " in
the third person (verses 31, 34, 40), it could not
be by a man Jesus. Thus it falls in line with all
the other parables. They were productions of
the Church using Jewish material and Rabbinical
sayings.*" 81.
MATT. 26, 1—16.
Judas.
When the worshippers of Dionysus were per
secuted, it was said that Dionysus was persecuted,
though he did not live as a person.'*
When the priests of Attis were self-mutilated
it was said that Attis was mutilated." So, when
the members of the Christ-group were re
jected, by the Sanhedrin, it was said that
Christ was rejected and crucified. Judas
was a name composed for the Judaism by
which the Christians (being Jews) came under
the authority of the Sanhedrin. They were then
" excommunicated,"''^ cast out of Judaism, and
(40) Even in the Synoptic Gospels, " Jesus " is One who
was in many places at once (Matt. 18, 20). He was the
Son of God, greater than Solomon, Moses, Jonah, He was
the Disposer of all souls ! No man (whose thoughts follow
one another) could be all that. " Jesus " is God in men.
(38) See Ency. Brit., art. "Dionysus."
(39) See Frazer, Golden Bough : " Adonis, Attis, Osiris," 1,
26S. (41) See Moffatt's Translation of the New Testament : John
12, 42: 16.2: 9.22. 88

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
thus were persecuted by Paul (as Saul) and
others, and became a distinct " risen " Church
in time (Acts 8, 1—4 : 12, 1—2 : 26, 10—11).
The materials for the Judas story are from
Zech. n, 12—13 : Ps. 41, 9 : Prov. 26, 6.
The story here of the alabaster box of ointment
is another version of Luke 7, 36 — 50. Mr.
Montefiore says : " How much of it is historical
is dubious." It implies that the death was
certain. It is an allegory of Christ (the God-
Ideal for men and In men) recognised as divine
by the outcast Jews, and by the Gentiles, here
symbolised as a " sinner " (cp. Galat. 2, 15 — 17).
As often in Jewish thought, a woman typified a
people (Zech. 9. 9). The word " gospel " in
verse 9 Implies there was a set Christian message.
It is probable that the Initiate Into Christianity
was anointed, and these verses tell of this act.
82.
MATT. 26, 17—29.
The Last Supper.
Mithras was said to have held a last supper
with his disciples and the sun, ere he ascended
back to heaven."^ Justin saw many likenesses
between that supper as a memorial ritual in
Mithraism when bread and water (or wine) were
partaken of, and the Christian supper.*' But
(42) F. Cumont : The Mysteries of Mithra.
(43) Justin : Apology, 1, 66. As to the bread and the cup,
" the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras
commanding the same thing to be done."
89

THE INNER MEANING OF
Mithraism was much older than Christianity. So
the Christian mystic meal was the earlier agape
transformed by Gnosticism. Thus 1 Corin. 10,
16 — 21 the Christian meal is likened to the pagan
meals. Probably the Christian meal grew out of
a simpler agape or love-feast, derived from the
Essenes. The Therapeut® also** had a common
meal of bread and water. When Gnosticism
(A.D. 30 — 80) had made Christianity as a new
moral mystery-religion, the agape was the
mystic " eating of the God," as in Mithraism :
the " God " here in Christianity being " Jesus
Christ." At most, the Eucharist is a symbol of
the crucified life, but more and more people
feel It Is unessential, when once they grasp that
crucified life. To " feed on Christ " is to feed on
the Ideal which is God's will for men. " Christ "
means the MAN In men, the divine spiritual Ideal
evolved in men as their true life, and still being
evolved. 83.
MATT. 26, 30—56.
Gethsemane. "^^
Peter's denial was a story based on the histori
cal view of the Petrine School (1 Corin. 1, 12 :
3, 22), that the Christ was not to be a sufferer,
but a king.
(44) See Philo, On the Contemplative Life.
(45) The name is a composition to suit the Messiah, like
Golgotha, Nazareth. It means " wine-press of the olives."
It was coined from Isaiah 63, 2, 3, " I have -trodden the
wine-press alone." 90

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
The " Gock-crowing " is a confusion with Mark
13, 34 — 37, " cock-crowing " being merely a
phrase for a period of time in the night — 3.0
a.m. Perhaps Peter is described as the " door
keeper " (porter) in Mark 13, 34 because he
" held the keys " (Matthew 16, 19).
For the materials for the story of Gethsemane,
see Isaiah 51, 17 — 22 : 63, 1 — 3.
For the fact that the Old Testament was drawn
upon to compose the story, see Matthew 26,
24 — 56, which Dr. Moffatt thus translates :
" The Son of Man goes the road that the
Scripture has described for him  All this
happened for the fulfilment of the prophetic
Scriptures." It is plain whence came the sub
stance of the stories.
No reporter heard the words of Christ in the
Garden. The story is not history, then, but it
is better. It is a- work of art to show that the
initiate must face loneliness, must die to the
" worid " (Galat. 5, 24), and that " all who want
to live the religious life In Christ Jesus will be
persecuted " (2 Tim. 3, 12 in Moffatt's Transla
tion). The story is part of the initiation-
mystery, which seems to the present writer to not
only embrace the Passion-drama, but also other
parts of Mark's Gospel (copied by Matthew and
Luke). Mark used the Logia in some parables and
sayings (Mark 4, 1—34 : 7, 1—23 : 8, 27—38). If
the passages from the Logia be removed, there
91

THE INNER MEANING OF
seems to be an Ur-Marcus, which simply was a
text-book of initiation ritual for the beginner
in the Christian life, or the 12 stages of initia
tion. The stories of what " Christ " did are
really of what the Christians did, quite in the
Eastern custom of " praxis " then. For the kiss
(49) see 2 Sam. 20, 9: Prov. 27, 6 (R.V.).
Matthew's Greek word for kiss means " kissed
abundantly," so that Prov. 27, 6, seems to be the
source of the imagery used here : (" The kisses
of an enemy are profuse.").
The Incident of the young man in Mark 14, 51,
52 is from Amos 2, 16. Mr. Montefiore says :
" The Messianic Interpretation of Amos 2, 16
may have suggested the entire incident." The
passage runs : " He that is of firm heart among
the heroes shall flee away naked In that day."
But the Idea of the linen garment seems to be
a Gnostic one — for in the mysteries linen
garments were used — so that the story may be
symbolic, using the Am^os passage as material to
set forth a symbol. And such is the Passion-
story throughout, a mystery drama,** but using
" Messianic " material for its expression. So
" the disciples fled," because of Zech. 14, 4 — 5.
For the heavenly army ready to help Jesus,
compare 2 Kings 6, 17, in the Elisha legends.
Many stories of the Christ take material from
the Elijah and Elisha stories : cp. 2 Kings 4,
42—44. (46) See J. M. Robertson : Pagan Christs, pp. 194—204 on
the Passion-story. 92

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
84.
MATT. 26, 57—75.
In the House of Caiaphas.
Peter was not inside the hall, so no Christian'
heard the conversation between Jesus and
Caiaphas. The story is thus a composition. The
" trial " was in many respects illegal, and could
not have been history.
Thus, Rev. Dr. Isaac M. Wise tells us that :
" It was prohibited not only to execute a
criminal on Sabbath, or a fast-day but also to
open his trial on Friday, or the eve of a holy-
day, because. If found guilty, he could not be
executed the next day.*'
" Mark (14, 53) maintains that when Jesus
arrived in the high-priest's palace, all the priests
met there .... of whom there could not
have been less than 200,000."*^
" The whole trial from beginning to end Is
contrary to Jewish law and custom as in force
at the time of Jesus. No court of justice, with
jurisdiction in penal cases, could or ever did
hold its session In the palace of the high-priest.
There were three legal bodies in Jerusalem to
decide penal cases : the Great Sanhedrin of 71
members, and two Minor SanTiedrIn each of 23
(47) The Martyrdom of Jesus of Nazareth, 1874, Washing
ton, p. 19. Rabbi Wise's authority is Maimonides, and Mishna
Sanhedrin, which was not written till c. 200 A.D., but " con
tains tradition dating back to pre-Christian times. The Gospel
account of the Trial of Jesus does not represent facts " (Fried
lander). (48) p. 62. 98

THE INNER ME.4NING OF
members. The court of priests had no penal
jurisdiction except in the affairs of the temple
service, and then over priests and Levites only.
The Great Sanhedrin held its sessions In a hall
called " LIshhath Haggazith " (the hall of hewn
stone) .... No court of justice in Israel
was permitted to open its sessions at night, and
In cases of capital crime, no session could be
extended after the evening hour (Mishnah San
hedrin IV. 1). ... A court convoked and
acting In rebellion to law and custom can be
considered only as a band of rebels. What use
have such men of witnesses. . . . The judges
went about at midnight in a populous city to
produce false witnesses (!) . . .. Such is
the fictitious character of Mark's nightly trial.
Mark also forgot the Jewish law concerning false
witnesses (Duet. 19, 16). . . . Maimonides
shows how rigidly this part of the laws was
enforced. . . . The point at issue according
to Mark was blasphemy  The mis
takes in this point are numerous and obvious.
If (as here) none of the judges defend the culprit,
the verdict of guilty was invalid. . . . Again,
had Jesus maintained before a body of Jewish
lawyers to be the Son of God, they could not
have found him guilty of blasphemy, because
every Israelite had a perfect right to call him
self a son of God (Duet. 14, 1). . . . The
whole trial must be given up as a transparent
and unskilled invention of a Gentile Christian
of the second*" century, who knew nothing of
Jewish law and custom.^"
(49) The invention of the story may surely have been earlier,
and by Jewish Gnostics in Alexandria perhaps, after the de
struction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
(50) pp. 66—78. 94

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
[As a mystery-drama of the Christ-Logos, com
posed for initiates into the " crucified " life, and
emanating from Alexandrian Gnostics the story
is clear. It is not history, but it came to be
regarded as history.]
Further :
" The conduct of Pilate, according to the
Gospels, was so entirely averse to his character,
as described by Josephus and Philo, that it
is incredible on this ground alone : and if Pilate
was weak and foolish enough to yield to a
clamouring crowd, why did he impose upon him
the very worst and most cruel punishment of the
Roman law — crucifixion .... and why
did he have Jesus scourged, ^^ which the clamour
ing crowd did not demand? "
" If it is not true that Jesus was scourged and
crucified, then the whole story is a dogmatic
legend, written for the purpose either of dramatic
effect in the religious mysteries, or of vilifying
the Jews and flattering the Romans."
" There are a number of arguments In favour
of the allegation that the early Christian teachers
adopted the cross, and the crucifixion story on
account of the cross, for dogmatic purposes.
One of these arguments is the symbolic significa
tion of the cross in pre-Christian times : see,
P.g., Ezekiel 9, 4—6, on the letter Tau T (600
B.C.). . . . The crucifixion story came from
abroad and was told with the avowed intention
of incriminating the Jews."""
(51) This story arose from Isaiah, 50.6.
(52) Why? Surely because they had persecuted the earliest
Christians. Christianity arose amid the opposition of scribal
formalism to the ethical inner righteousness as taught by the
Christ-group (Matt. 5.20). 9S

THE INNER MEANING OF
The quotations from the Old Testament used
in the Passion-story are from the Greek Septua
gint Version, e.g., Luke 23, 30, from Hosea 10, 8.
The story was not by a Jewish Rabbinical writer,
but proceeded from Alexandrian Gnostic mystics
(Hellenistic Jews).
Mr. J. M. Robertson in " Pagan Christs "
(pp. 197—206) says :
" From Matthew 26, 17 or 20, the narrative is
simply a presentment of a dramatic action and
dialogue. The events are huddled one upon
another exactly as happens in all drama. Jesus
partakes with his disciples of the Passover, an
evening meal . . . they sing a hymn, and
proceed in the darkness to the Mount of Olives.
Not a word is said of what happened or was
said on the way : the scene is simply changed to
the Mount. . . . What we are reading is the
bare transcript of a primitive play. . . Jesus
prays while his disciples sleep. There is thus
no one present or awake to record his words.
The action goes on through the night when . .
. . as Renan notes ... an Eastern city
is as if dead. . . . The mock crowning and
robing are strictly dramatic. . . . The resur
rection scene is wholly staged  The
scene of the Transfiguration, too, has every
appearance of having been a dramatic repre
sentation in the manner of the pagan mysteries."
The spitting and scourging came from Isaiah
50, 6. It was what " must have happened " to
the Messiah ! Even McNeile says on verse 68 :
96

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
" The evangelists probably had Isaiah (50, 6) in
mind." For the Peter story, see above on 26, 30 — 56.
85.
MATT. 27, 1-10.
The Fate of Judas.
On verses 3 — 10. Montefiore says "these are
in all probability completely legendary. The
basis is a mistranslated passage In Zechariah 11,
12, 13."
In that passage'^' are two variant readings, one
is "treasury," the other Is "potter." Both
readings are used In this story, showing clearly
that It is a composition from the supposed
Messianic text In Zechariah. So with Zech. 9,
9 — 10 : Psalm 22, 1, 18. There was no man
Judas (see on Matt. 26, 1—16).
86.
MATT. 27, 11-31.
Pilate and Barabbas.
Mr. Montefiore calls both the trial before
Caiaphas and the trial before Pilate " hardly
conceivable." Pilate is a lay figure. A man who washes his
hands in public to declare his innocence, argues
with the mob, and says to Jesus, " What is
truth? " is not the cruel procurator of whom
Josephus wrote. Moreover, there was no
(53) See R. V. margin. 97 G2

THE INNER MEANING OF
rep'orter present to record the conversations
between Jesus and Pilate. The whole is an
artistic production to relate the rejection of the
Christ by both the Romans and the official Jews,
the State Law and the State Church ! The initia
tion of the Christian involved that he died to the
world, to the use of state force to get money, or
to kill his enemies, and to the legalism of the
Jewish State Church (Gal. 6, 14 ; 5, 24). Verse 14,
the silence is from Isaiah 53, 7. " He opened not
his mouth."
Barabbas is a figure inserted from the drama
of the Jewish annual feast of Purim, which was
a continuation of the Babylonian Sacaea. In the
feast of Purim, a man represented Mordecai,
and an effigy of Haman was hanged on the gibbet
prepared for Mordecai. The same Greek word
in the Septuagint is used for " gallows " in Esther
7, 10 as is used for the " tree " (rather gibbet)
on which the Christ was hanged, according to
Acts 5, 30 : 10, 39 : 13, 29 : 1 Pet. 2, 24 : cp. Gal.
3. 13.
From the Purim drama the idea of Barabbas
came. The composer put in a symbolic scene to
indicate the choice between Judaism and Christ,
Barabbas meaning " Son of the Rabbi," and
Christ being the " Son of the Father."
The mockings (verses 27 — 31) are taken from
the mystery-religions, but using material from
the supposed " Messianic " passage, Isaiah 50, 6.
" I gave my back to the smiters : I hid not my
face from spitting." The initiate in the mystery-
religions was clad in a coloured robe and
crowned and worshipped. 98

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
87.
MATT. 27, 32—56.
The Crucifixion.
It is hardly likely any Roman procurator would
write such a title as " The King of the Jews "
(37). The story is symbolical, and the idea of it
being in Greek, Latin and Hebrew means that all
nations would acknowledge the Christ-spirit as
king over their lives.
The rent veil (51) is symbolical as is explained
in Ephes. 2, 14. The veil separated the Jews
from the Court of the Gentiles in the Temple.
The Christ-life does away with all such division.
Cp. Heb. 9, 1—14: 10, 19—20. Verse 42 is
based on Wisdom 2, 18.
Verses 51 — 53 are not allowed to be historical
by many conservative critics.
Verse 46 is from Ps. 22, 1.
Verse 35 is from Ps. 22, 18.
The story is mystic, symbolic, and built up
from Old Testament passages deemed to be
Messianic. But it consists of initiation scenes.
Luke 23, 34, is a gloss, yet of great spiritual
value. It is from Isaiah 53, 12.
88.
MATT. 27, 57—66.
The Burial.
" He made his grave with the rich," said
Isaiah 53, 9. Joseph of ArimathfEa was a figure
invented as a rich Jew who buried the Christ in
a tomb. S9

THE INNER MEANING OF
89.
MATT. 28, 1—15.
The Resurrection.
The Jews of that age believed that the body
placed In the grave would rise again (see Daniel
12, 1—3 : Matthew 27, 52) and so the Christians
of A.D.80-90, considered the " man " Jesus must
have raised his body (by God's help) from the
grave ! Hence 1 Cor. 15 on this. The un
scientific Jewish Christians wove doctrines very
easily, from what they thought must have been
" true." No critical research or enquiry would
be made in those of abundant credulity !
Originally, the idea of the Christ having risen
came from Gnostics. The idea of the Christ was
synthesised with their Logos-Saviour the Primal
MAN who descended, was (ever) " crucified "
(or separated from, and yet in union with, the
phenomenal world), and rose back to heaven
carrying souls with him. But this was Inter
preted as if a man Jesus Christ had descended,
died and risen (Philip 2, 5 — 8), and so the story
arose and was decorated with the " Messianic "
texts, as to what the Messiah must have done !
Various legends (28, 11—15) were soon added.
The resurrection of every soul crucified to the
lower nature to the " world," is a great truth,
but a spiritual one. It has nothing to do with
a body rising up. when in decay ! The resurrec
tion is in this life, a resurrection now to the
immortal Life of God. over which sin, sorrow
too

THE FOUR GOSPELS.
and the death of the body have no power.
(Ephes. 2, 6 : Philip 3, 11)."
90.
MATT. 28, 16-20.
The Commission.
The mountain (verse 16) shows the story is
symbolic : cp. the Sermon " on the Mount,"
also the Transfiguration, and the giving of the
Law to Moses on a mountain (a place of elevated
thoughts, used as symbol for such elevation of
the soul).
The Church and its theology is apparent in
28, 19.
The Commission is an inward urge : as in Acts
13, 1 — 3. It has been felt by a Carey, a
Livingstone, a Damien (who went to Molokai),
and many" a father who explained the way of
holiness to his son.
Those who thus teach, have God ever with
them, for they express the very nature of things,
the eternal moral law, which sooner or later,
must prevail. 91.
JOHN 14—17.
Christ Coming Again.
These chapters are speeches put into the mouth
of "Jesus," just as other long speeches were
(54) " Spiritualistic " phenomena are often real and genuine,
but they do not imply discarnate spirits. They may be caused
by psychic or magnetic force from the sitters or the medium
or both, in a stance. 101

THE INNER MEANING OF THE FOUR GOSPELS.
composed by the writer of Pistis Sophia (a
Gnostic work of the second century) and attri
buted to Jesus. But really they give a mystic
doctrine of the Christ "going away," so as to
"come again," as the Holy Spirit in Christians
(John 14, 18 : 16, 7—16).
What did this mean?
It referred to the initiate no longer "seeing"
Christ merely as an Ideal, " after the flesh " (2
Corin. 5, 16), presented to the intellect, but now
feeling Christ within as the very will of the initi
ate, the Divine Life welling up in the soul (John
4, 14). This was Christ " coming again " to be
in the heart, and not only known as an idea
(John 14, 17, 20).

102

INDEX
To sections and to parallel passages.

EBbC.

1

Lk. 1 & 2

2
Mt. 1. 1-17
3
1. 18:2-12
4
2. 13-18
5
2. 19-23
6
3. 1-12
Mk. 1. 1-8
Lk. 3, 1-17
7
3. 13-17
1.9-11
3. 21 , 22
89
10
4. 1-11
5-78. 1-4
1. 12, 13
I. 40-45
4. 1-12
i 6. 20-49
]ll. 1-4
( 12. 22-34
5. 12-16
11
8. 5-13
7. 1-10
12
8. 23-27
4. 35-41
8. 22-25
13
8. 28-34
5. 1-20
8. 26-39
14
9. 18-38
5. 21-43
8. 40-56
15
10
6. 7-13
9. 1-6
16
11. 1-19
7. 18-35
17
11. 25-30
10. 17-24
18
12. 1-14
(2. 23-28 i
-[3.1-6 ]-
6. 1-11
19
12. 46-50
3. 31-35
8. 19-21
20
13. 1-52
4. 1-34
(8. 4-18
1 13. 18-21
21
13. 53-58
6. 1-6
103
INDEX
To sections, and to parallel passages.

Sec.

22

' 14. 1-12

ie. 14-16 \
1 6. 30-44 j

9. 7-17

23

14. 22-36

6. 45-52

24
15. 1-20
7. 1-23
25
15. 21-31
7. 24-30
26
16. 1-12
8. 13-21
27
16. 13-28
8. 27- 9.1
9. 18-27
28
17. 1-13
9. 2-13
9. 28-36
29
17. 24-27
9. 14-29
9. 37-43
30
18. 1-14
9. 33-41
9. 46-50
31
18. 15-20
32
18. 21-35
17.3
33
Lk. 9. 51-62
Mt. 8. 19-21
34
10. 1-24
11. 20-30
35
10. 25-37
36
10. 38-42
37
11. 1-13
38
11. 29-33
12. 43-45
39
12. 35-59
40
13. 1-9
41
13. 10-17
42
14. 1-6
43
14. 7-24
104
Seo. 44 45
46 474849
505152 53
545556575859606162636465
6667

INDEX
To sections and to parallel passages.
14. 25-35
15. 16. 1-18
16. 19-31
17. 11-19
18. 1-8
18. 9-14
Johnl. 1-18
2. 1-n
3. 1-21
4.5. 1-9
6. Mt. 14. 13-21
7. 53-8. 11
8. 12-59
9 11.
21. 1-13
Mt. 19. 1-12
19. 16-30
20. 1-16
20. 17-28
20. 29-34
21. 1-17

Mk. 10. 2-12
10. 17-21
10. 32-45
10. 46-52
11.1-11,15-19
105

Mk. 6. 30-44
Lk. 9, 10-17

Lk. 18. 18-30
18. 31-.34
18. 35^3
19. 29-48

INDEX

To sections ai

id to parallel passages.

Sisc.

68
21. 18-21
11. 12-14
69
21. 23-32
1 1 . 27-33
20. 1-8
70
21 . 33-46
12. 1-12
20. 9-19
71
22. 15-22
12. 13-17
20. 20-26
72
22. 23-33
12. 18-27
20. 27-39
73
22. 34-40
12. 28-34
20. 40
74
22. 41-46
12. 35-37
20. 41-44
75
23 1-36
12. 38-40
20. 45-47
76
23. 37-39
77
24. 1-44
13. 1-37
21. 5-36
78
25. 1-13
79
25. 14-30
19. 11-28
80
25. 31-46
81
26. 1-16
14. 1, 10
22. 1-6
82
26. 17-19
14. 12-16
22. 7-13
83
26. 30-56
14. 27-52
22. 31-53
84
26. 57-75
14. 55-72 ,
22. 54-71
85
27. 1-10
86
27. 11-31
15. 2-19
23. 3-25
87
27. 32-56
15. 20-41
23. 26-49
88
27. 57-66
15. 42-47
23. 50-56
89
28. 1-15
16. 1-8
24. 1-11
90
28. 16-20
(16. 15-18)
91
John 14-17-
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