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Gift of
President Hadley
1911

THE MANLY CHRIST,
A New View.

BY
DR. R. W. CONANT.

«4» *£

Author of "Civilization and the Bible," "Science
and Immortality," Education In Ethics,
Literary Standards, &c.

CHICAGO, J904.

Copyright, 1904,
by
Dr. R. W. Conant,
Ravenswood, Chicago.

Price $1.00.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
The Feminizing of Christianity. Page 7.
The conventional Christ is not manly — Why
men are not interested — The requirements for
u leader of men — Can Christ meet those re
quirements ? — The Christ of the Denunciation —
The Temple thieves raided — A dramatic
situation — A good fighter and a good talker —
Christ was not "meek and lowly," nor was
John "gentle" — Christ is known by the com
pany he kept — A strenuous age demands a
strenuous Christ. CHAPTER II.
How Did Christ Look? Page 27.
A grand opportunity for the preacher of a
Manly Christ — The earliest Christian ideas of
Christ — The Medieval idea — The modern idea
— The true idea — How can we know? — He
appeared about forty-five years old — Christ's
"look" — The source of his psychic power — His
vigor — A good mixer — An expert in human
nature — His patrician democracy — His hypnotic
address.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

The Favor of Man. Page 43.
The capacity for Divinity — The "silent years"
— Cosmopolitan Galilee and provincial Judea
— The upas shade of the Temple — How did
Christ win men? — Manliness as necessary as
godliness — His courage, good-fellowship, con-
siderateness, and sociability — Things Christ
did not do — Capacity for reserve, reticence,
and retort — Why we never think of Christ as
a Jew.
CHAPTER IV.
Christ as a Practical Philosopher. Page 59.
The double application of Christ's sayings —
Political, social, industrial, and personal max
ims — The separation of Church and State — The
gospel of Get there — A new industrial principle
— Are manners degenerating? — Christ's cure
for "trusts" and "graft" — His test of good,
and our test — The first Don't Worry Club —
The woman with a passion for fixing responsi
bility — The appreciation a man gets at home —
The kingship of service — The pauper million
aire — The man who knows it all — Nothing suc
ceeds like success — Charity organization — Criti
cising other people — Radical reformers — Hon
esty hates humbug — Christ's epigrams.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

On the Heights. Page 85.
The best place to think God's thoughts— A
panorama of history and beauty — The great
battle-plain of Esdraelon — Real antiquity —
Ancient battles more murderous than modern —
Jesus Christ enjoyed advantages of poverty
and scant schooling — The self-made preacher —
The seminary of hard work and hard knocks —
Christ thinks out a new theology — The psycho
logical moment.

CHAPTER VI.
The Great Decision. Page 99.
The parting of the ways — The crisis of a heroic
soul — The political and social situation —
"Practical" policies possible — Some things
not intended for publication — Puzzling prob
lems — What to do, and how to do it? — A
sublime and novel plan — Its significance and
consequences — The battle of the wilderness —
Literal "temptations" impossible — The decis
ion made.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
A Strange Ministry. Page 115.
A startling novelty in religion — Christ a heretic
and a revolutionary — The fickle populace —
Class and caste and national hate — Christ
hopelessly ahead of his times — Persistence in
the face of certain failure — Petty personal an
noyances — Stupidity of the Twelve — Christ's
temperament — His moods and versatility —
Straight- from-the-shoulder preaching — Christ,
Buddha, Confucius, and Mahomet compared —
Christ's literary style — Christ's menticulture —
Other "temptations." CHAPTER VIII.
A Successful Failure. Page 139.
Heroic manliness — Can Gethsemane and Cal
vary be explained? — The fiendish triumph of
the vulgar — The shadow of an impending
Horror — Was Judas a traitor or a marplot? —
The zenith and the crisis of Christ's career —
He was not endangered by Judas' treachery —
The last and greatest temptation of all —
Gethsemane the climax of the battle of
the wilderness — Christ accepts disaster — Why?
— His real Agony — A new loneliness — The
bitterness of failure — Physical reaction — Stead
fast to the end.

CHAPTER I.

The Feminizing of Christianity.

The statement that the men in Christian countries
take less interest in religion than the women requires
neither argument nor proof. Not only have the sta
tistics of church attendance been published, but also
any one can easily verify the statement for himself in
any congregation. The women in attendance always
outnumber the men, often by several hundred per
cent. Yet even that does not measure the real dis
proportion of interest, for many of the men are
present merely to please women or children in whom
they are interested, or from considerations of "good
policy". Part of this chapter has appeared in the Chicago Interior.
7

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
Many explanations of this seeming masculine
obliquity have been offered — the emotional nature of
women, the preoccupation of men with business, and
so-forth. But the trouble with these explanations is
that they do not explain. Why should Christianity,
alone of all religions, present this anomaly? Why is
it that in zeal for religions other than Christianity the
men outdo the women?
There is one explanation so obvious that it seems
to escape observation — the Feminizing of Christianity.
When you stop to think of it, what is there in the per
sonality of Christ, as usually presented, to attract the
interest or inspire the enthusiasm of hard-headed,
practical men? Of course men of emotional temper
ament or religious tendencies are likely to be attracted
by the ideality of his character and doctrine, but the
men who do the world's rough work and have little
idealism regard Christianity as all very well for
women and children, but not "practical" for men.
Consider the conventional Christ, as presented by
Christian art and Christian preaching. From lovely
illuminated church windows and from Sunday school
banners he looks down upon us, "meek and lowly", with
an expression of sweetness and resignation, eyes often
8

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
down-cast, soft hands gently folded, long curling hair
brushed smoothly from a central parting — all fem
inine, passive, negative. Although he lived in a
country where the sun's heat during a large part of
the year made some covering for the head a necessity,
art requires that Christ should always go bareheaded;
probably in order to give full effect to his womanish
hair and appearance.
Then for fear that they might not give him suffi
cient appearance of sanctity and purity, Christ must
present to us a languid pose and smooth lineless
features, destitute of expression save a pensive melan
choly; no character, no virility. To this insipid por
trait is attached some appropriate sentiment, such as
"Feed my lambs" !
Now all this seems very beautiful and very sacred
to many church people, and doubtless they would be
much shocked by the suggestion of substituting a
different conception, but they may be very sure that
the Church can never retain its hold on the great
body of men by offering them that kind of a Christ.
The Feminizing of Christianity is the real reason why
men are not interested. Christian art and Christian
preaching need a strong tonic of Virility.
9

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
It will not do to try to explain this away by claim
ing that modern men are too sordid and materialistic
to be capable of high enthusiasms. It is true that
this is an age of wonderful material advance, but cur
rent events contain plenty of evidence that men are
now, as they have always been, quickly responsive to
the personal touch, enthusiastic in following a real
leader of men, often surprisingly idealistic. But they
are critical. Mere convention no longer compels
them. That is the reason why the most magnetic of
all the magnetic leaders of men is losing his hold on
the masculine imagination and interest.
There has never been any difficulty in making the
old Hebrew prophets and leaders virile enough ; Abra
ham, Moses, and David were aggressive, manly men.
Was Christ any less manly because he was free from
their grossness and moral blemish? A gentleman is
not necessarily effeminate. There is altogether too
much popular inclination to assume that goodness
cannot be thoroughly manly, and so we have much
twaddle from those who should know better about
"boys will be boys," and "a young man must sow his
wild oats" — which is simply one way in which respect
ability condones folly and licentiousness. It is most
10

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
regrettable that anything in Christian teaching should
seem to favor this mistaken idea of manliness. Christ
stands for the highest type of a strong, virile man, and
there was nothing effeminate about him.
Let us consider what it would mean for Christian
art and preaching to present to the world a man's
Christ. What sort of a Christ would command the
admiration and reverence of the lawyer, the banker,
and the reporter; of the teamster on the street, of the
cowboy on the plains, of the engineer at the throttle?
The qualities required for a leader of men are these,
arranged in order of importance: courage, "nerve",
force (physical, mental, or moral), "squareness", fore
sight, sound judgment, persistence, endurance, self-
reliance, resourcefulness, shrewdness, organizing and
executive ability, camaraderie, generosity, and ability to
talk and argue convincingly. Of these the first four
are absolutely essential. No man can hope to lead
others who lacks any one of them. The rest, though
not essential, are of great importance and will add
much to the influence of the man who possesses them.
Courage and nerve are not exactly the same, al
though the one generally involves the other, but there
is no quality which so promptly commands respect as
ii

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
either of them. To the man who never flinches, his
sins, though be as crimson, shall be forgiven by
the world. "Nerve" is a bit of slang which is so use
ful as to be almost indispensable, since there is no other
word which conveys exactly the same idea. It de
notes that physical, mental and moral quality which
gives its fortunate possessor perfect command of him
self under any and all circumstances, whether in the
face of danger or other trying conditions. He is not
simply courageous; the "nervy" man finds in danger
and conflict a pleasing stimulus, opposition and diffi
culties only inspire him, nothing ever "rattles" him.
A leader of men must have force, especially physi
cal force. But physical weakness may be overlooked,
provided he has mental or moral force sufficient to
make up for the deficiency ; but force of some kind he
must have.
"Squareness" means incapacity for doing or saying
anything petty, mean or small; a natural largeness
of temperament. This is absolutely essential, for men
are prompt to despise meanness, and they will not
follow one whom they despise.
The possessor of these four characteristics can com
mand the loyalty of men, particularly in circumstances

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
of danger. But if he is to secure their confidence for
any length of time he must also possess foresight and
judgment, self-reliance, persistence and endurance; if
the conditions are complex, he must be able to add
resourcefulness, shrewdness, and an ability for organi
zation ; finally, if he is to win their affection, he must
be a good comrade and generous. Generosity is not
essential to leadership, for men often follow a selfish
leader, provided they find him able to further their own
selfish aims. But most of the great leaders of men
— Alexander, Hannibal, Julius Cassar, Napoleon — have
recognized the wisdom of displaying generosity and
good-fellowship toward their followers.
Did Christ fill these requirements for a leader of
men? Yes. The story of his life — even the little we
know of it — proves that he possessed all the qualifica
tions save one, the talent for organization. Doubtless
he possessed that also, but the plan of his life did not
call for organization, so we have no evidence on that
point. This subject of Christ's qualifications as a
leader of men will be considered more in detail in sub
sequent chapters.
To these peculiarly manly characteristics Christ
added a sublimity of thought and expression, a purity
13

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
of life, and an unselfish devotion which rounded out
the perfect circle of the perfect man. Many world
leaders have described larger or smaller arcs of that
perfection, but all have lacked important portions.
If, then, Christ was such a perfect leader of men,
why not say something about it? Why not hold up
to the world a portrait, .drawn to the life, of the Manly
Christ in place of the womanish? Read that terrific
outburst beginning, "Woe unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' houses,
and for a pretence make long prayer" ; and ending,
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye
escape the damnation of hell?" What scorn, what in
vective; what exposure, arraignment, and condemna
tion combined! Think you that Christ looked meek
and lowly and feminine then, as he poured forth those
scorching words ? Why have we no Christ of the De
nunciation, towering majestic, tense with righteous
wrath; the eye flashing, ,the arm stretched forth in
judgment — the impersonation of masterful virility!
Are the painters and preachers afraid of it? To be
sure, it would be something of an innovation, it might
not look exactly pretty on the walls of a Sunday-school
room, but it would command the respect of all virile
14

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
men. Men like a leader who can "get mad clear
through" at the right time; who can "roast" and
"score" the other side, saying the things tremendously
which they would like to say, but know not how ; who
can beat down and silence all reply by sheer force
of personality. That was exactly what Christ did.
There were other occasions when Christ got angry
with cause, but little is said about them. It is nicer to
talk about miracles. But men of action, men with
good red blood in their arteries, feel drawn toward a
Christ who had the manliness to whip the rascally
brokers out of the Temple, hurling their tables right
and left and scattering the money over the floor, as he
cried, "It is written, 'My house is the house of prayer' ;
but ye have made it a den of thieves" ! How his eye
must have flashed, and how terrible his wrath, when
before his single arm the whole crowd ran like whipped
curs ! They were many against one, and that one
had no authority and no power, yet they did not dare
put up a fight. If they had, can we have any doubt
whether Christ would have proved himself a good
fighter? How often must his fingers have tingled for
a good grip on the handle of a sword when he saw
evil triumphant! Not the least of his trials, in which
'5

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
he was tried like ourselves, must have been the neces
sity which he usually laid upon himself of denying
the natural outlash of a strong man's wrath. Does
that sound scandalous? Was he not the "Prince of
Peace"? But what did he say? "Think not that I
am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send
peace, but a sword."
The quality in Christ which appeals most strongly
to "the man in the street" is his perfect nerve. Try
to imagine his position. On the .one hand stand
Priests, Pharisees and Doctors of the Law; many of
them members of the Sanhedrim, the famous head and
center of Jewish authority both spiritual and tem
poral ; men well versed in all the learning of their age,
and at the same time subtle and unscrupulous politi
cians; proud men, accustomed to predominate and to
receive unquestioning homage. From childhood up
Christ had been taught to revere them.
On the other hand stands the common crowd, most
ly ignorant, fanatical and superstitious; accustomed
all their lives to look up to the Scribes and Pharisees
as the holders of divine authority and perfect wisdom.
Bowed for more than a century under the double yoke
of Pharisee and Roman, they have cheered their faint-
16

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
ing hearts with the promise of a great Deliverer, who is
to come according to ancient prophecy and drive out
the heavy-handed Gentile. Christ's assurance that
the long expected Messiah now stands before them
has fanned their hopes into a feeble flame blown hither
and thither by gusts of doubt.
Between these two extremes of the common people
and the uncommon stands the Son of Man. What is
he to their eyes ? An uneducated laboring man, hold
ing no office, no title, no diploma from any institution
of learning ; a self-taught, penniless, powerless preacher
— a nobody.
In the background are seen Roman officers, con
temptuously indifferent to all this pother about religi
ous doctrines, but keenly alert for any sign of sedi
tion. The Roman was a supremely practical pagan;
provided he held the military power, he cared not what
gods you worshiped, or how.
Such are the dramatis personae.
It is impossible for us to realize the contempt with
which the haughty ecclesiastics regard this Nazarene
— the very name a synonym for reproach. Scorning
him with all the double scorn of caste and bigotry,
they are nevertheless compelled to fear and hate him
17

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
for his influence over the common people. Were it
not for that, they would notice him no more than a
dog. Of course they expect him to be overawed, to
feel his insignificance and quail before the greatest
power and authority in his nation. But if, in spite of
all, he should have the audacity to attempt an argu
ment with them, they count it easy to browbeat this
ignorant laborer into silence, or to trip him with the
subtleties of their learning, or at least to exasperate
him into the utterance of some hasty word which may
be twisted into treason against the Roman govern
ment. What is their amazement and disgust to find
that they have made the mistake of their lives; that
the ignorant peasant parries their most skilful thrusts
like an expert fencer, turning them lightly aside and
coming back at them every time so keen and swift
that they cannot ward him off!
Then they try setting traps for him of seemingly in
nocent questions, and just as they are congratulating
themselves that he is on the point of stepping into
one, Christ suddenly reveals by some sharp question
that he has seen the snare all the time and has been
only playing with them. Never can they catch him
off his guard. Actually he seems to know the Law
and the Prophets better than they themselves do I
18

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
At times he turns on them with swift reprisal, strips
off their robe of super-sanctity and flays their hypoc
risy unmercifully before the whole audience of Jews
and Romans. All they can do is to retreat in speech
less confusion, gnashing their teeth and nursing their
wrath !
Was not that a supreme exhibition of quick wits,
infallible intuitions, and perfect nerve? Christ un
derstood the situation fully, he knew what was at
stake and that he must rely upon himself alone. The
well-wishers he had among the common people were
powerless to aid him, even if they had been so dis
posed. Yet no pride of power, authority, or learning
could "bluff" him for one moment, no fear frighten
him into uttering one ill considered word.
Next to a good fighter men love a good talker, and
in this also Christ was pastmaster. That he made so
few permanent converts is no proof to the contrary,
for we have his own matchless words as evidence.
The wonder is that he made any converts at all, for he
was trying to instil into the minds of his ignorant fol
lowers new and startling truths, which were as incom
prehensible to their minds as they were offensive to all
their prejudices. Only half comprehending him, they
19

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
were nevertheless won over by the combined beauty of
his thoughts and the majesty of his address; for he
spoke as one having authority, and not as the Scribes ;
his words were with power.
"A man is known by the company he keeps." That
is to say, not by the company which he keeps from
force of circumstances, but by that which he keeps from
preference. Now there were three of the Disciples
whose company Christ decidedly preferred, as he
showed in various ways, and especially by selecting
them to be present on several important occasions. It
is very significant that these three were the impetuous
Peter and the two Boanerges.
That Christ should have surnamed John and James
the Sons of Thunder from the very beginning of their
ordained discipleship, proves that the two brothers
must have been strong, positive characters, with voices
to match. But we know still more about them. We
know that they were quite as headlong and presump
tuous even as poor Peter, who was forever putting both
feet in it and getting them stepped on severely. For
it was one of these Sons of Thunder who undertook
to assert his new discipleship by forbidding a man
who cast out devils in Christ's name; because, for-

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
sooth, he did not follow them! For this intolerance
Christ rebuked him mildly. Worse yet, when the in
habitants of a certain Samaritan village refused to re
ceive Christ, the Sons of Thunder were in favor of
calling down fire from heaven to consume them. This
time Christ rebuked them severely.
But worst of all was the presumption and indeli
cacy of the effort to use their influence privately with
the Master to induce him to discriminate in their favor
and against their fellow Disciples. Their modest re
quest was that they should be made the highest in the
expected kingdom next to Christ himself! Instead
of rebuking them, Christ asked if they could drink
his cup, and be baptized with his baptism. To this
test they replied boldly, "We can."
Finally, Peter was the only one of the Twelve who
struck a blow in defence of his Master ; and John and
Peter were the only Disciples who dared to follow him
after the arrest, and one of them kept as near him as
possible to the very end. Of course there was this
excuse for the others, that their leader had positively
refused all physical protection and there seemed to be
no way in which they could help him.
Now what does all this prove ? Evidently, that these

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
three favorite Disciples were exceptionally bold men,
brave to the point of rashness, warm-hearted and hot
headed ; men of intense feeling and quick action. Yet
with all their faults, in spite of presumption and world
liness and disposition to rough-ride, Christ loved them
best; for in one respect at least they were men after
his own heart — they were virile men. Of all the Dis
ciples the Three were the most fearless, ambitious, and
masterful; the men to lead a forlorn hope, to go
through flood and fire to the end on which they had
set their hearts. In this Christ found them kindred
spirits. Anything better than sodden people — half-
alive-half-dead people — no generous enthusiasm, no re
sponsiveness, no "go" !
But can this be the "gentle John," beloved by the
"meek and lowly Jesus"? What a mistaken idea of
both has prevailed! How it clears up many difficul
ties, otherwise insurmountable, when we get the right
angle of view. For centuries Bible readers have stum
bled over the plain evidences of John's real character,
wondering how they were to be reconciled with his
alleged gentleness, missing the obvious explanation.
There is no authority for calling John gentle more
than any other Disciple, rather the contrary; but this

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
seems to have been considered a necessary corollary
to the proposition that Christ was meek and lowly.
Both proposition and corollary are equally gratuitous.
On one occasion, after he had been rebuking the pride
of the unrepentant cities, Christ said of himself by
way of contrast that he was "meek and lowly in heart" ;
but that is no evidence that he was meek and lowly
in speech or action. Nor was he peculiar in this. All
truly strong and great characters have been meek and
lowly in heart.
Although Christ was always winning to those who
would be won, always ready to reason with the reason
able, he was stern and terrible to the evil-minded. Al
though he never carried a weapon, there was a tremen
dous personality in him, the compelling power of the
man who has put all fear, even the fear of death, be
hind him. His fearlessness filled his enemies with
fear. Officers sent to take him returned empty-handed,
but with the strangest excuse ever offered by an
officer for failing to make an arrest as ordered —
"Never man spake like this man."
But a wavering intention is often crystallized into
action by some slight shock of circumstance; Judas'
treacherous offer nerved the authorities to make the
23

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
attack which they had long been meditating. As
Christ had showed himself in the Temple daily, it
would have required very little detective work to dis
cover his location at any time, had they so desired;
but "oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill
deeds done." At last they muster up courage to at
tack him and come upon this one unarmed man and
his eleven frightened followers, in the dead of night,
with a display of force which is ridiculous. The
hunters are more frightened than the hunted.
Even then, backed by all that civil and military
force, they are paralyzed with fright at the first sound
of that thrilling voice, at the first sight of that com
manding presence flashed into bold relief against the
blackness of the midnight foliage by the torches' fitful
flare. There is quiet scorn in the words, "Are ye
come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves
to take me ? I was daily with you in the Temple teach
ing, but ye took me not !" What a scene for an artist's
strongest lines and colors !
The men of a strenuous age demand a strenuous
Christ. If they fail to find him, the Church is to blame.
For Christ himself was strenuous enough to satisfy the
most exacting; he was stalwart and fearless, aggres-
24

THE FEMINIZING OF CHRISTIANITY.
sive and progressive ; never flinching from a challenge,
overwhelming in quickness and sharpness of attack;
yet withal wary and wise, never "rattled," always
holding himself well in hand. In the effort to magnify
his divinity his humanity has been minimized to the
vanishing point, he has been etherialized into a beauti
ful abstraction which has no flesh and blood reality for
the average man. Ancient miracles do not interest
the modern man, but he would be interested in a manly
Christ who fought his way up and through just as
he himself has to do. Christ was a real Leader of
Men.

as

CHAPTER II.

How Did Christ Look?

The personal appearance of Christ reflected his
character, it was manly and striking. His was a face
and figure to catch the eye in a crowd, producing on
all beholders an impression of combined dignity,
power and attractiveness. It was far removed from
the supposititious appearance which both painters and
preachers have presented to the world for centuries,
and it is time to recognize that fact. Hard-fisted men
who are used to giving and taking hard knocks, to
whom everything is intensely concrete and practical,
are not likely to be impressed or attracted by a femin
ine Christ. No one can win their votes or adherence
27

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
who is not thoroughly masculine, who has not played
a man's part in a man's world with courage, strength,
and shrewdness. There is a grand opportunity await
ing the preacher who will adequately portray to his
congregation this neglected side of Christ's personality ;
he will see that rarest of sights in these days — his pews
filling up with men.
The modern idea of Christ's appearance is a reaction
from the harshness of the mediaeval conception, which
was itself in violent contrast with the early Christian.
As there is no contemporaneous picture of Christ, and
no direct description of his appearance, the subject
has presented an attractive field for speculation in all
ages which has not been neglected. All sorts of de
scriptions and representations have come down to us
along the centuries, often contradictory, sometimes
ridiculous, yet generally with a great show of authority
and accuracy.
Unfortunately for claims to authority on this sub
ject, the early Christians shrank invincibly from any
representation whatever of their Master's appear
ance ; and so far as known, there is nothing of the kind
extant previous to the fifth century, and no picture
before the seventh. When not referred to by name,
28

HOW DID CHRIST LOOK?
Christ was symbolized by the early Church in various
ways, especially by the cross and by the sign of the
fish. At first the fish was used as a secret symbol,
because the letters of the Greek word ichthus, mean- .
ing fish, spelled the initials of the Greek words signify
ing Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. There were
several reasons for this symbolism; one being the
dread of an approach to idolatry by the making of any
image of the Divine. Another reason was that at first
the spiritual significance of Christ's life altogether
overshadowed its material aspects; and still another
reason was that so many thought the end of the world
was close at hand.
Justin Martyr, Origen, Tertullian, and others of the
early Fathers of the Church settled the question of
Christ's appearance, to their own satisfaction, at least,
by insisting that he was short of stature and homely;
because Isaiah, forsooth, was supposed to prophesy of
him that he had "no form or comeliness," and there was
"no beauty in him that we should desire him." For the
sake of this literal acceptation of a supposed prophecy
they flew in the face of all the facts and probabilities,
and so deprived the early Christians of much consola
tion and advantage. 29

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
As passing centuries made Christ more remote and
the stability of the earth more assured, a natural desire
arose for something to realize him to the eye and vari
ous crude representations began to appear; of which
many are still extant. Finally came a complete revo
lution of feeling in favor of an anthropomorphic
Christ, which received formal and official sanction
from the Council of Constantinople in 691 A. D. That
Council decreed that henceforth Christ should be pub
licly exhibited in the form of a man and not of a lamb.
Before long, however, the Iconoclastic, or image-
smashing, reaction set in, which lasted more than a
century, but was terminated by the Council of Constan
tinople of 842 A. D., which formally denounced Icono-
cj,asm_ , 1 ,;:,,...; 1 ,;;j;sfi
But no representation of Christ, not even the earliest,
can truthfully lay claim to any authenticity whatever.
Up to the tenth century Jesus was usually represented
as a well-rounded, blooming youth, radiant and smil
ing. Later came the bearded Christ, but both were
used symbolically; the first standing for the divine,
the second for the human sufferer.
From the tenth century dates the beginning of a
great change. As political and social conditions de-
30

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
teriorated, religion took on a more sombre cast; the
midnight of the Dark Ages had settled down over
Europe, and men were plunged into melancholy or
despair ; the Day of Judgment and the end of the world
were expected soon. This gloom was reflected from
the face of the pictured Christ. Pie is no longer young
and smiling, but worn and sad, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. The distressing and revolting
incidents of his later life and of his death — kept in
the background by the early Church — are frequently
depicted and emphasized, with a morbid love of the
horrible symptomatic of a brutalized society and a
moribund Christianity.
The natural rebound from this depression carried
Christian art to the other extreme, of the effeminate
and negative, and there it still hangs. But in no one
of these three phases of Christ portraiture does any
intelligent effort seem to have been made to depict
the Son of Man as he must, in the very nature of the
case, have appeared to his contemporaries; the por
traiture has been merely a reflex of the artist's fancy,
or of religious and economic conditions.
But how is it possible for us to know anything
about his appeaarnce ? Just as we know about a great
3i

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
many other things which we cannot see — by observing
their effects. This method of reasoning from the
known to the unknown is frequently used in science,
and many valuable discoveries have been made in that
way. Fifty-seven years ago one of the great heavenly
bodies — Neptune — was discovered by observing its
strong attraction for other members of the solar sys
tem; Christ is discovered by observing his wonderful
influence over the men of his time. That influence
he would never have won with a weak, womanish
face. Contact with him, as with every strong soul,
was a touchstone of character ; infallibly he called forth
the best or the worst, enthusiastic devotion or bitter
hate. But we are not confined to inferences from Christ's
influence. From his character we. know that his face
was neither smooth nor vacant, but lined and stamped
— not by worry, irritability, selfishness, and envy, like
our faces — but by the strong lines of thought and
thoughtfulness ; of patiently endured toil, hardship
and obloquy, of courage, serenity and self-reliance.
So strong was the impress of character on his features,
such the dignity of his bearing and the authority oi
his speech, that he looked fifteen years older than he
32

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
was ; for the Jews said to him, "Thou art not yet fifty
years old."
The most noticeable of Christ's features was his
eye. The eye is the window of the soul, and from that
window gazed forth, not only "the sweetest soul that
ever looked with human eyes," but the bravest, strong
est, calmest, noblest. The men who actually saw Christ
speak often of his "look," as if it made a deep im
pression on them. He "looked round about" on the
Pharisees "with anger" before speaking to the man
with the withered hand ; he "looked round" on the mul
titude before addressing his disciples ; he "beheld"
Jerusalem and wept over it; "beholding" the young
man who ran to him, he loved him; he "turned and
looked" upon Peter, and Peter went out and wept
bitterly; and on another occasion, before rebuking
Peter, he first turned and "looked round" upon his
Disciples. As soon as Christ said to the officers and
men who had come to seize him in the Garden, "I am
he," the foremost recoiled and fell to the earth. What
a terrible majesty there must have been in Christ's
look at that moment to produce an effect so out of
proportion to the import of his words !
And then there is that other scene fit for a painter
33

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
— if he could but catch the inspiration of it — sketched
in barest outline for us by the Apostle Peter through
the pen of Mark. All that he tells us is that Christ
entered into the Temple, "and when he had looked
round about upon all things, and now the eventide
was come, he went out." Nothing was said, nothing
done — just that majestic figure with the all-seeing
eyes, standing alone amid the vast emptiness of the
great building, whose black shadows steal stealthily
toward him. That scene, so rich in beauty and sugges
tion, made such an impression on the beholder that
the aged Disciple, drawing the description of his
Master from memories dimmed by the lapse of half
a century, felt that the sight of that solitary figure
was one of the things worthy to be recalled and re
corded! Some day some artist will be inspired to
paint Christ Alone in the Temple.
It is to be borne in mind that the accounts which
have come down to us from those who actually saw
Christ are not histories or biographies at all, not even
contemporaneous notes ; but only rather rambling rem
iniscences culled from recollections of one whom they
had loved and reverenced, and written from memory
many years after he had passed from their sight.
34

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
Naturally, they gave prominence to those facts and
incidents which had made the deepest impression on
their minds at the time, and their frequent mention of
Christ's look proves that it moved men strangely and
strongly. We know also that his look was wonderfully level,
steady, and clear under all circumstances. Every
one of us has some "mud at the bottom of his eye"
— as Emerson says — and there are occasions when the
steadiest eye cannot keep from wavering ; for every man
is, to a greater or less extent, a house divided against
itself, he is not a perfect unit. The memory of evil
done or the intention of evil to be done; conflicting
desires, hopes, fears and indecisions ; uncontrolled
passions and appetites, all the pettiness and animalism
of human nature, combine to dim the clearness of the
outer eye as well as of the inner.
Christ's eye was as clear and steady as the soul be
hind it. His wonderful self-harmony gave him a
power of concentration which made him at any in
stant an indivisible unit mentally, morally, and physi
cally. Under any and all conditions he had himself
perfectly in hand, every ounce of him was behind every
blow he struck. That power of self-concentration has
35

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
been possessed by other world leaders, but never in
such perfection of intensity and unity. The marvel
ous steady, penetrating light in that eye, which bore
down every opposing gaze, was the index of a mind
which went straight through all non-essentials to the
core of every question; of a judgment which could
not be perverted by policy, power, or pride; of a
will which was centred on a single high purpose from
which nothing could turn it aside.
It was a supreme unity of thought, feeling, judg
ment and will which gave Christ that surpassing wis
dom and psychic power which astonished his con
temporaries and still astonishes the world. Wisdom is
the child, not of knowledge, but of power to perceive
truth, to reach the -heart of things. Christ was not
learned in mere worldly knowledge, but any lack of
that was compensated by his perfect perception of
truth. But that perfect perception is conditioned on
absolute self-honesty and purity; it cannot live in an
atmosphere of delusion, conscious or unconscious.
Little do we realize how sadly even our worldly in
sight is dimmed by self-delusions of all kinds; many
of them indulged so long that they have become part
and parcel of our very being, even their existence un
suspected by us. 36

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
Consequently a high power of truth perception is
rare, rarer than is generally supposed. The countless
vagaries seen in morals, society, business, politics, edu
cation and culture, as well as in religion, are not due to
the absence of any standard or norm. In all things
there is a norm, eternal and unchangeable, and they
that seek it honestly shall find it; but every one of
us is more or less dishonest, both objectively and sub
jectively. Our psychic vision is wilfully myopic, astig
matic, color-blind.
Every department of psychic activity has its special
laws. Of these laws most men, peering through the
meshes of the fleshly veil, have but dim perception at
best; but here and there a genius arises for whom
the veil seems rent in twain. There have been mathe
matical prodigies who were gifted with such an in
sight into the laws of numerical relations and values
that they were able to skip all the slow and painful
processes by which most men must calculate, and could
leap as if by miracle to the most complicated results
There have been musical prodigies who manifested a
similar independence of usual methods, and could pro
duce or reproduce exquisite harmonies as if by inspira
tion. So also art, language, and literature have had
37

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
their psychic seers. In short, there lies back of the
merely objective and common-place, a subjective world
whose glory and power are but faintly guessed.
To all this the moral sphere is no exception. Here
Christ stood preeminent. His perception of, and obedi
ence to, the laws of the moral world made him master
of its mysteries.
Christ looked before he spoke. Therefore he was
in no haste to speak; he understood the value of de-
liberateness and of the impressive pause. Only when
roused by indignation, and when pouring hot shot
into the Pharisees, his words were swift and straight
as the explosions of a rapid-fire rifle.
His eyes must have been intensely bright and pierc
ing, and the man on whom they were flashed felt that
he was being looked through and through by a search
light; that his very soul was being radiographed by a
spiritual x-ray. If there was any sham anywhere
about that man, in that moment he knew that it was
seen through, and the fire in Christ's eye withered
him with the scorn he always had for humbug. The
Pharisees never felt really comfortable in his presence.
But the same eyes grew beautifully soft and winning
when he was relieving suffering, and when he took
38

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
little children in his arms and blessed them.
Physical vigor is a very important factor of mascu
line personality, it is that which inspires confidence in
a leader. Christ was of athletic physique, for he had
worked all his life, and he lived in a climate presenting
alternations of heat and cold, which, although not as
extreme as ours, were favorable to health and vigor.
Accustomed to climb the hills about Nazareth, he ac
quired the springy step and free, swinging stride of
the mountaineer. As most of his traveling was done
on foot, of course he was a great pedestrian.
When Christ met a man, that man, however dull,
knew instinctively that he was in the presence of no
ordinary person. There were the commanding pose
and carriage, the piercing eye, the thoughtful brow;
every movement, look, and gesture speaking of reserve
power, physical, mental, and moral. To an ordinary
man this first impression would be overawing, to an
extraordinary man a challenge, were it not for the
kindly smile which immediately softened the expres
sion; the strong, resonant voice vibrating with sym
pathy and good fellowship; the words so fitly chosen
for each one's case.
If it had been the custom in Palestine to shake hands
39

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
Christ would have grasped your hand firmly with a
persuasive warmth, while those wonderful eyes read
your very soul. For he loved to touch people. Every
thing human interested him. His regard for you had
nothing impersonal or abstract about it, his first ob
ject was contact, solidarity. As a consequence he was
continually laying his hands on people, especially the
unfortunate and suffering, even touching the unspeak
ably unclean leper when there was no need of it.
No one can exert great personal influence who
separates himself from his fellow-men. That is true
even in these days of manifold means for reaching the
public ear and eye, but two thousand years ago in the
Orient there was no other way whatever. Of book
knowledge among the common people there was prac
tically none, information passed from mouth to mouth,
as it does there to this day. Therefore Christ, student
and profound thinker though he was, could not afford
to be a recluse. No one ever mixed better than he
with all classes and conditions. Human nature he read
like an open book. There was no mask so perfect that
he could not penetrate it, no sharpness or eccentricity
for which he was not a match, no difficult situation to
which he could not adapt himself. If he were in the
40

HOW DID CHRIST LOOKf
flesh to-day, he would be equally at his ease in the
millionaire's mansion or in the slum tenement, in the
the factory, or on the ranch.
This overflowing goodfellowship and sympathy of
Christ's goes far toward explaining his tremendous
personal influence. Occasionally we meet some one
who has just a little of this endowment — a cordial,
gracious dignity, which bears no sting of superiority
while flattering every one by the honor of its acquaint
ance — and how fascinating it is ! Even when we know
there is a selfish motive back of it all, none of us can
refuse to enjoy the delicate and delightful tribute to
self-love when some one of importance manifests a
kindly interest in us. No wonder that Christ, so manly,
earnest, cordial, and absolutely unselfish, wielded a
personal influence which often seemed hypnotic.
When that wonderful voice called to men "Follow
me," they abandoned everything on the instant — busi
ness, pleasure, home, family, friends — and followed!

41

CHAPTER III.

The Favor of Man.

"When one goes to Rome he sees only what he takes
to Rome;" when one seeks the Divine he finds that
which he brings to the Divine. Spiritual assimilation
is proportional to spiritual development. We hold
up our little pint pails to catch some of the Divinity
which saturates the universe, and we receive just so
much as we can hold and use — no more. Christ
showed what capacity for receiving and what power
for manifesting the Divine is possible to a perfect soul,
even under human limitations.
As a child he "grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled
with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him."
43

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
His was a steady development, and from childhood up.
There are various roads to knowledge and power,
but for reaching wisdom there is but one way, and
it is no royal road. Wisdom is the ripe fruit of ex
perience, and experience comes only through living;
not even Omnipotence can create wisdom de novo.
Christ's exceptional powers and wisdom are proofs
of exceptional ability and capacity, but of ability and
capacity which made the most of every opportunity
for development.
That the child Jesus should "wax strong in spirit"
is just what we would expect, for strength of every
kind especially marked his manhood. Here was no
spasmodic, abnormal genius, but a continuous growth.
The brief glimpse which we catch of him at the age of
twelve agrees with this. He appears then as an excep
tionally bright and self-reliant boy, who is not afraid
to question the Doctors of the Law in the Temple,
and who astonishes them by his understanding and
his answers. Just how much, or how little, the as
tonishment of the wise men at the boy's precocity may
signify, it is difficult to judge; bright children often
astonish their elders. Certainly there is no evidence
that Jesus at the age of twelve was any more excep-
44

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
tional than many well authenticated cases of early
development. Of the next eighteen years all we know from the
record is that he kept on growing and developing.
But what a character growth that was ! Among other
things he was acquiring during those years an infinite
patience and a perfect self-control. Not the patience
of weakness, which waits because it must; but the
the patience of strength, which waits because it can
afford to wait, because it is so strong. Weakness hur
ries, strength takes its time, Omnipotence takes eter
nity. To the average man thirty years of obscurity
would seem to be a poor way of preparing for a great
career; and doubtless it was a hard discipline for the
young man, full of a young man's life and energy, con
scious of exceptional powers and a great mission. But
through all those years he held himself in check, wait
ing patiently for "the long result of time."
Another important qualification which Christ ac
quired during his preparatory experience was a pro
found knowledge of human nature. But how could a
peasant in an obscure little town of Galilee acquire
wide knowledge of men without traveling ? Christ did
not need to travel, for the reason that the world of
his day traveled to him. 45

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
At that time Galilee was one of the most populous
and cosmopolitan districts of the world. Its popula
tion of more than three millions included, besides Jews,
thousands of Romans, Greeks, Syrians, Assyrians,
Arabs, and Phoenicians. All this population was crowd
ed into an area of about two thousand square miles;
in other words, a district as small as Delaware was
occupied by more than fifteen times as many inhabi
tants. The three great caravan routes between Syria,
Egypt, and the Mediterranean ports passed close to
Nazareth or directly through it. To Sepphoris, the
capital of Galilee, was a journey of only three hours.
Josephus states that Galilee was very fertile and full
of plantations of all kinds, no part being left unculti
vated; that more than two hundred cities and towns
were filled with people, the smallest containing over
fifteen thousand inhabitants; that the men were war
like and had military experience.
The whole district swarmed with Greek traders,
while many Galileans traveled abroad and brought
back the news and ideas of the outside world. Of
course an intelligence so keen and a memory so re
tentive as Christ's did not fail to make the most of all
these opportunities for acquiring ideas and informa-
46

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
tion. His native tongue was Aramaic, a mixture of
Hebrew and Syrian, but there is reason for believing
that he learned to speak Greek and to write Hebrew,
which was already a. dead language.
Judea was a comparatively dead district, devoted al
most wholly to agriculture and sheep raising. To these
industries Galilee added much commerce and manufac
ture and general hustle. The intelligence of the people
was higher, and contact with foreigners had liberal
ized them, breaking down religious exclusiveness and
bigotry. For these reasons the Judeans regarded the
Galileans with mingled abhorrence and disdain, as hav
ing lost both tneir purity of blood and their ceremonial
orthodoxy; they even carped at their pronunciation of
certain words, although their own speech was far from
perfect. By growing up in Galilee, therefore, Christ es
caped much which was objectionable, especially the
fossilizing influence of the Temple. Had Joseph fol
lowed his first intention on the return from Egypt,
the family would have gone back to Bethlehem, only
a few miles from Jerusalem. There Christ would
have grown up under the upas shade of the Temple,
surrounded by a bigoted, fanatical populace which
47

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
looked up to the Scribes and Pharisees as possessed of
boundless wisdom and divine authority. The endless
puerilities which these ecclesiastics and lawyers en
joined upon the people are almost beyond belief; they
must be read in the books devoted to that subject. Two
examples will suffice.
Since the fourth commandment forbad labor on the
Sabbath, the Scribes and Pharisees declared that any
thing which resembled labor was sinful on that day.
Hence no one must step on the grass beside the path,
lest he might thereby release some seeds of grass and
so be guilty — constructively — of threshing on the Sab
bath day. He must not even catch the inquisitive flea,
lest he be guilty of hunting ! There were over a thou
sand rules which they laid down, covering the minutest
acts of daily life, and the breaking of any of them en
dangered the pious Jew's orthodoxy in this life and
his salvation in the next. The Sabbath was a day of
everlasting restrictions, observances, and dry religious
services; and we may reasonably infer that the vigor
of Christ's denunciations of the Scribes and Pharisees
may have been all the more hearty in consequence of
his boyish recollections of the tiresome performances
which they had required of him. It was on this
48

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
point of Sabbath observance that Christ frequently
clashed with them, for he had no use for rules and
regulations which interfered with the good of man
kind. He rode rough-shod over them, to the pious
horror of Pharisaical formalists.
The record which has come down to us of the "si
lent years" is tantalizingly brief, but we may be very
sure that for Christ they were not idle years. From
what we know of his character it is as positive as if
actually recorded in the Gospels, that during all that
time he traveled much from place to place in Galilee,
with occasional trips to Jerusalem, meeting all sorts
of people, acquiring all sorts of experience, and gain
ing that perfect familiarity with human feelings, pre
judices, and springs of action which his later life dis
closed. We know also that Christ was a diligent and dis
criminating student during all those years, acquiring
that familiarity with the Law and the Prophets which
enabled him to meet the Scribes and Pharisees on their
own ground and put them to rout. Of course the one
hundred and thirty and odd quotations from and allu
sions to the Old Testament, given in the meagre records
which we have, are but a fraction of what Christ actu-
49

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
ally quoted, but they suffice to prove that he was
learned according to his day and nation. But he was
much more than that. He was no mere memorizer
of "proof-texts," with which to make a parade of
knowledege like the pedants of every age ; he possessed
the rare faculty of being able to read between the
lines and beneath the surface, the faculty of sympa
thetic insight.
In the first chapter Christ has been described as a
leader of men, but he was also beloved of men. It was
not his ambition to be merely a leader, but something
far greater, higher, and more difficult — a Savior. Great
leaders have generally been beloved, but not always.
A leader like Frederick the Great or Ulysses S. Grant,
for instance, may command the confidence and respect
of his followers rather than win their affection.
Here we are not confined to induction from results.
We have a distinct record to build upon, for we read
that "he increased in favor with God and man." Now
a great deal has been said about Christ's favor with
God, but almost nothing about his favor with man,
as if that were of no consequence. On the contrary,
the favor with man was of prime importance, and that
short phrase lets in a flood of light upon the silent,
so

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
unrecorded years of Christ's life. For how could any
one be a Savior of men without the favor of men?
Even the godliness of Christ were futile without the
art to approach men and win them.
But how did Christ "increase in favor with man"?
We need not go half-way around the world to Pales
tine, or back two thousand years for an answer; the
human heart is essentially the same in all times and
lands. Christ won the men of his day by precisely the
same traits by which he would win Americans to-day
if he were to walk our streets in human form.
What do all real men — and real women, for that
matter — like best in a man? Manliness. And what is
that? It' is not easy of definition, for manliness is a
complex concept, but the essential basis of it is cour
age, "nerve," "pluck," "sand," "grit."
Christ's courage no one would think for a moment
of questioning. But courage is a strange composite.
It may be physical or moral, impetuous or deliberate;
and the man possessing one kind of courage is often
destitute of the other kinds. The man who can calmly
face bullets or death by torture often cannot say No
to the sparkle in the wine cup or in a woman's eye;
another will risk death by fire or flood for strangers,
5i

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
and then go home and cowardly abuse a wife and
children; still another will face wild beasts and flee
from pestilence. There is the courage which can be
heroic if it can act instantly, with no time to think,
and there is the courage which forces the flinching
flesh with blanched face and shaking knees up to the
sacrifice. On the other hand, moral courage sufficient
to withstand all the wiles of the Devil may quail igno-
miniously at sight of the dentist's forceps.
Christ's manliness compassed every kind of courage,
moral and physical. We can but faintly realize what
a test of courage it was for him to face down the mem
bers of the Sanhedrim, to stand alone against all the
power and prestige of the great men of his nation and
all the public opinion of his time; to walk about un
armed and unprotected against any stealthy dagger
which might so easily be hired against him by those
whom he defied and exasperated to the last degree;
and, finally, to place himself deliberately in the power
of those who thirsted for his blood. Since his death
many have been inspired to emulate his heroism, but
none could surpass it.
What other characteristics win "favor with man"?
Camaraderie, good-fellowship. This concept also con-
52

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
notes many things — close personal association, sym
pathy, generosity, large-heartedness, unassuming
equality, loyalty through thick and thin, mutual for
bearance, cheerful sociability — the list is long, but
every one is included in a man's idea of comradeship.
With his comrade, his "partner," his "bunkie," the
roughest man will share his last morsel, for him
he will die.
Of Christ's camaraderie there is abundant evidence
in the story of his life. He got as close to people as
he could, especially ordinary people for whom no
one else seemed to care. For all trouble or suffering
he overflowed with an inexhaustible compassion and
sympathy, and particularly for the man or woman
whom every one else was willing to help down-hill
with a kick. He was generous to the last degree, per
mitting both friends and strangers to make large drafts
upon his time and strength. Often homeless and pen
niless, always regardless of self, seeking only to do
good, Christ lived a life of such unselfish devotion
as even the most carping critics have never dared to
accuse of self-interest. Other great religious leaders
— Buddha, Confucius, Mahomet — have made wonder
ful impressions on large masses of mankind, but less
S3

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
by personal influence than by doctrines peculiarly
adapted to the desires or temperaments of their fol
lowers; but Christ, preaching a painful and distaste
ful doctrine, won his way by a sympathetic, noble fel
lowship. How much that means! Hard as it is for
us to be good, how much easier it often is to be good
than to be frankly democratic!
There were many other ways by which Christ "in
creased in favor with man." He was considerate of
others ; therefore there are some things which we know
he did not do. We may be sure that he did not monop
olize the conversation, nor insist on his opinion offen
sively, nor interrupt the one who was speaking. He
was not everlastingly preaching and pointing a moral,
in season and out; he was a good listener and an
swered to the point ; you knew that he had heard what
you said and given it full consideration even when he
differed. No worthy soul, however humble, found
any obstacle to uttering itself freely to that kindly at
tentive ear. But it went no further, for of course
Christ never gossiped. If he felt obliged to criticise
any one, he said it to his face like a man, not behind
his back.
Christ was not gloomy because he was good. We
54

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
have no record that he either laughed or smiled, but
his expression of face must have been pleasant and
often smiling, for he loved little children and liked to
take them in his arms. Women also were attracted to
him. Although he bore a load, increasing with every
year, which was enough to crush most men, he was
always quick in sympathy with all that was bright
and beautiful in nature or human life. Doubtless he
was a welcome guest at many other scenes of festivity
besides the wedding at Cana. A Jewish wedding was
no place for a dismal face, for it meant three to seven
days of eating, drinking, dancing, and general jollifi
cation. No doubt Christ was delightful company in times of
relaxation, especially with those he loved — Lazarus.
John, Mary and Martha — possessing the double charm
of a strong nature which loves to please. He was
quick to praise where praise was deserved, and he
complimented without flattering. Too manly to bear
grudges, he did not let his fierce tilts with the Pharisees
stand in the way of accepting invitations to dine with
some of them; and so sociable was he with all classes
that his enemies taunted him with it, but he turned the
taunt back upon its source with his usual keenness
SS

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
and force. In short, Christ was the ideal of the true
gentleman, displaying that happy combination which
is so difficult, of dignity and humility; the type of
gentleman which is the same the world over, always
instinctively recognized, and either loved or hated.
But a gentleman is not always or necessarily a
gentle man, even if that were the derivation of the
word, as some mistakenly suppose. While he is cordial
and hearty, he is never mushy, does not slop over. You
know instinctively that you do not know him, for all
his seeming frankness. While he gives you freely so
much of himself as you are entitled to, according to
your degree of intimacy, there is an invisible barrier
to any intrusion. His inmost personality is a Holy
of Holies which he never opens, and you respect him
for respecting it ; while he shuts that inner door in your
face, you like him all the better if he does it kindly.
That Christ, with all his winning openness, possessed
ample capacity for reserve at the right time is evident.
He did not believe, any more than we do, in wear
ing the heart upon the sleeve for daws to peck at.
"Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast
yt your pearls before swine." He knew when and how
to rebuke undue familiarity, and he did it with a word
§6

THE FAVOR OF MAN.
so scathing or a glance so terrible that the presumptu
ous one shrank back speechless. He was equally mas
ter of the retort courteous and the retort cutting.
Like all rare and noble natures Christ suffered from
isolation, from the lack of human sympathy and appre
ciation ; except in prayer he found no free outlet for all
that was in his heart and mind. Even with the Twelve
he must be circumspect. "I have many things to say to
you, but ye cannot bear them now."
Why is it that we never think of Christ as a Jew?
Because he was more Occidental than Oriental, and
more cosmopolitan than either. Born of a race which
has always been characterized by great excitability
and volubility, he was more like the best type of the
modern Anglo-Saxon in his perfect self-command,
his cool, steady eye, his capacity for reticence, and his
love of brevity. The world was already sufficiently fa
miliar with the human idea of a gentleman — power,
greed, lust, and cruelty, thinly veneered with worldly
polish — Christ held up God's idea of a gentleman.

57

CHAPTER IV.

Christ as a Practical Philosopher.

The superlatively religious value of Christ's teach
ing has quite overshadowed its purely philosophical
value and worldly wisdom. He expressed with con
summate skill and insight the maxims and principles
which men of affairs have always followed, and more
or less consciously recognized; which are essential
for true success in anything, business, society, politics,
or pleasure. Almost everything Christ said was capa
ble of two constructions — one self-evident and of
worldly application, the other lying back of that and
spiritual. Our gaze has been so fixed on the latter that
the former has been largely overlooked.
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
Most people seem quite unconscious of this fact.
They concede that Christ was very good, of course,
but when it comes to practical affairs they think him
not at all up to date. So they go on learning, gen
erally by hard knocks and expensive experience, the
same worldly wisdom which he told them two thou
sand years ago. The fact is that there is no wise man
— it matters not whether he be Christian, or infidel,
theist or atheist, Hindu, Chinaman, or Turk; or what
the form in which he puts his rules of conduct —
who goes through life without following Christ's prac
tical philosophy.
When we consider the narrow horizon of the wisest
men of his day; the absence of all systematic knowl
edge, scientific, social or political; and the limitations
of his personal experience, Christ manifests a wonder
ful insight into the real nature of things. His mind
was preeminently comprehensive, his thought tended to
wide generalizations, to the induction of underlying
principles from observed facts. Particularizing he
usually left to others. His mental attitude was just
the opposite of that which then prevailed, and this
also placed him far in advance of his age. At the
same time he avoided the philosopher's usual weakness
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
by being intensely practical. He discerned clearly,
and expressed in terse terms, social and political prin
ciples which the world has either recently adopted or
is still groping after.
For instance, we pride ourselves on having achieved
the political wisdom of an absolute divorce of Church
and State. It has required centuries of bloodshed and
misery to bring a portion of the race to that stage of
evolution, but there is no occasion to plume ourselves
on being particularly "advanced." We have simply
caught up at last with Christ's far seeing maxim:
"Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."
This political perspicacity appears all the more remark
able when we reflect that Christ was born and brought
up under a theocracy, and that a close union of Church
and State had been the almost universal rule of gov
ernments. Also, we pride ourselves on our strenuosity, our
motto is Get there. Within limits that is a good
thing, although there is always danger of overleap
ing the limits. Christ believed in Get there. He
taught it and practiced it. Like all positive, ener
getic characters, he had a special liking for the men
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
who do things. That is the reason why the "Daunt
less Three" were his chosen companions, as explained
already in detail in chapter first. "Seek and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Every
man among men has to knock, and knock hard. The
way to get into business, into politics, into society,
is to knock; to knock so hard as to make the people
on the inside believe that you mean to knock the door
down. Then they will let you in on the ground floor.
But knocking and hustling and grabbing may easily
go so far as to become vicious, and already the truly
wise men are looking for a corrective. A few, too
few, have made a great discovery — that the best rem
edy for cutthroat competition, strikes and lockouts and
industrial war, class hate, and corporate and individual
greed, is simply that every man should treat all others
as he would be treated by them. What a discovery!
Some daring innovators have actually applied this dis
covery successfully in business, but thus far, sad to
say, they are the exceptions. The indications are that
the deadlock between employers and employes and the
long suffering public will continue to grow worse,
until both Capital and Labor shall be forced by busi
ness necessity, or by law, to put in practice the prin-
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
ciple of that Golden Rule which the Christian world
has applauded and neglected for twenty centuries.
Industrially we are sadly adrift, groping in the fog
for a firm anchorage to keep us off the rocks. Many
of our industrial and social maxims which were long
considered politico-economic axioms have gone to
smash. For instance, free competition did very well
so long as there was some degree of equality between
the competitors ; but now that enormous combinations
of capital have taken advantage of the right of com
petition to undersell and drive out all weaker rivals, we
are not so much in love with laissez faire. Now we
call it cutthroat monopoly, and are hunting for a
remedy. Similarly, the ancient and honorable right of a man
to "do what he will with his own" — his own child,
horse, coal, oil, land, or money — is rapidly being re
stricted by the opposing rights of the child, of the
horse, and of the community. Little by little the pub
lic is being educated up to the point of perceiving
the obligation resting on every man to be more than
legally honest with his fellowman. Cutthroat com
petition is the modern reincarnation of Cain, who asked
Am I my brother's keeper? Honesty has been ex-
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
tolled into a fetich, as if the utmost which ought to
be expected or required of a man in his business deal
ings were that he should not be guilty of downright
swindling! Now the fact is that mere honesty is so
negative and cold-blooded as hardly to merit being
called a virtue; a man may be spotlessly honest and
yet be a public vampire.
Slowly and tentatively we are drawing nearer to a
better idea of rights, and some time the popular feel
ing will crystallize into laws which will forbid any
action whatever, whether by an individual, trades-
union, corporation, or trust, which injures the com
munity or oppresses any of its members. Already
we are well on the way. For all inter-state commerce
acts, all laws and decisions against rebates, discrim-
mination in rates, child labor, maximum hours and
minimum wages, unsanitary and dangerous conditions,
"picketing," boycotts and trade conspiracies, are tacit
acknowledgements of a new industrial principle. They
cannot be justified under a freely competitive regime.
This transition to a new principle not yet fully
recognized or accepted gives rise to much confusion
of thought and speech. Perceiving that, as a measure
of self-preservation, society must interfere to protect
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
men from each other, and even from themselves, the
public feels forced to condone various arbitrary legal
expedients, often squinting strongly toward paternal
ism and socialism. In time a new and better order
will be worked out from this disorder.
But "the good of the community," or "the greatest
good of the greatest number," is not after all the ul
timate social and industrial principle. Only another
makeshift, another step in evolutionary progress, it
nevertheless serves the purpose of paving the way for
the true principle, the one which Christ laid down.
Even now, amid all the greed and heartlessness of
competition, there are signs of that good time coming.
It is quite the fashion of moralists to decry the de
generacy of modern manners. By an odd paradox
this is true socially, but not commercially. The cheer
ing fact is that stress of business competition has given
the courteous businessman so great an advantage over
his discourteous rivals, that an improvement has been
brought about in commercial manners within two
decades which is as marvelous as it is delightful. Per
fect drawing-room manners are now the rule in first-
class stores and offices, and largely elsewhere. Polite
grocers, butchers, and even icemen are not unknown!
65

CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
Also many commercial houses have been driven by
the spur of business rivalry to realize that more money
can be made in the end by building up and maintain
ing a reputation for perfect reliability and for liberal
treatment of customers. In short, public "good will"
has come to be recognized as a valuable business asset,
and is sometimes bought and sold as such. Many
firms request customers to report any incivility or in
attention, and even "soulless corporations" offer prizes
to their employes for the best records in serving the
public. Best of all, many employers are sparing neither
thought nor expense in improving the physical, moral,
and educational condition of their employes, thus dis
charging the moral obligation which strength owes
to weakness. Of course, the motive back of all these
efforts to serve others is often a wise selfishness, but
let us not be too critical. They are none too many,
whatever the motive, and they give us a glad foretaste
of the real Golden Age which is to come — the age of
the Golden Rule. Out of evil comes good in the full
ness of time. Think what a Millennial Day will dawn
when these exceptions shall have become the rule;
when all shall have come to recognize and practice
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
the wisdom of Christ's social and industrial philosophy ;
when every one, rich and poor, shall have joined the
Universal Brotherhood in which each shall honestly
strive to do as he would be done by !
Another industrial, and also international, "discov
ery" is compromise and arbitration. At last a small
part of the world has learned, at a staggering cost of
blood and treasure, that it is better to repress the
natural man's inclination to fight it out, and to come
to an understanding. "Agree with thine adversary
quickly, while thou art in the way with him."
Corruption in office is as old as government. From
the king down to his pettiest official it was the im
memorial custom to steal everything which it was safe
to steal. Naturally moralists assumed that this was
one of the vices inherent in one-man government, in
which the people had no voice. When, therefore, the
Republic of the United States was started the world
looked hopefully for a new heavens and a new earth.
They said, Now we shall see how different it will be
when the men who pay the taxes choose the officials
to disburse the taxes!
While the Republic was young it walked fairly
straight in the narrow path which it had learned in
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
the school of poverty and adversity. But now it has
waxed rich and strong, and what do we see ? Corrup
tion which would fill Catiline or Nero with astonish
ment and envy, stealing and bribery right and left;
scandal follows scandal, treading on each others' heels.
Our cities are systematically plundered of such loot
as no despot ever dreamed of. Rings and bosses every
where, rings within rings, big bosses and little, all
stealing, stealing — the shrewdest brains in the nation
given over to the fine art of stealing under cover of
the law. Officials stand with one hand in the public
treasury or the trades-union fund, and with the other
held out to the corporation, the contractor, and the
Magdalen. The newspapers are so full of it that it
seems as if every one in official position, from the hun
dred-thousand-dollars president of a trust to the cheap
est walking-delegate, was "out for the stuff, and didn't
care who knew it." Exposure is losing its terrors, for
the public conscience seems narcotized. What has be
come of our boasted self-government ? Where can we
find bed-rock on which to brace up the crumbling struc
ture? The trouble is that we have put our trust in insti
tutions and constitutions and by-laws, and have neg-
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
lected the plain principles which Christ laid down for
us. The trouble is that there is no sense of moral
responsibility in either electors or elected. What,
then, have we a right to expect? "Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" For decades
now we have been allowing children to grow up with
almost no moral or religious instruction, and this is
the harvest. If a boy grows up to be a "smart" man
or "a good fellow", no inquiry is made in regard to
his moral principles. But "an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil."
There is a strong disposition to gloss over the hide
ousness of this political and commercial corruption by
giving it various fancy names. Stealing is too harsh
a word to apply to the transactions of highly respecta
ble gentlemen, often church members, Sunday-school
superintendents, and philanthropists ; so we substi
tute a large variety of ingenious euphemisms — "stock-
watering," "fine financiering," "merging," gentle
men's agreements," "converting," "doing the right
thing," "grafting," etc., etc. But fine phrases can
never make the acquisition of something valuable,
without rendering an honest and honorable equivalent,
to be anything but stealing. To avoid confusion of
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
moral values, especially in the minds of the young, it
is of the highest importance that all honest people
should steadily reject all these verbal subterfuges and
insist on using the plain Anglo-Saxon word for it.
No matter what their alleged respectability may be,
no matter what sops they may throw to the public
conscience in the way of educational or benevolent en
dowments, all men who attain wealth or position by
illegal or unfair methods should be persistently held
up to public condemnation as Thieves. Certain peri
odicals are doing a grand and fearless work along
this line. Will the public do its share?
That was Christ's way of dealing with the "graft
ers" of his day, and we cannot improve on it. Unless
we are willing to do as he did, we need not look for
any improvement, and can scarcely claim that we
really desire it. The only condemnation which these
high-toned thieves fear is social ostracism. If every
decent man and woman would to-morrow strike from
their calling and invitation lists the names of all known
thieves and disreputables and of their families, this
rising tide of corruption would at once begin to ebb.
Stringent laws and reform movements are idle so
long as public opinion condones. It rests with the
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
decent and honest portion of the community to apply
the remedy — moral education of the young, social os
tracism of the thieves.
Christ was eminently practical. He had one simple
test, and only one, for discriminating between good
and evil. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."
But we know better now. We also have a simple
and infallible test — "Does it pay? A church may
righteously run raffles, or some other form of gam
bling, because it is such an easy way of raising money
for "the good cause " ; and Christian ladies may play
cards for money, if only the stakes go to "some worthy
charity" ; although every one knows that the evil fruits
of gambling are everywhere about us in lost honor
and ruined homes. Reputable people, even churches
and universities, may derive revenues from the rent of
buildings which are used for debauching men and
v/omen, or from filthy rookeries which are nurseries of
disease, crime, and misery, because such real estate
"pays." Little children, scarcely able to walk, work
twelve or fourteen hours, some of them all night, in
order that highly respectable gentlemen may grab a
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
few more dirty dollars. But, then, it "pays." Does
it? "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones
which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill
stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea."
The strain of the strenuous life tends to worry, ner
vous prostration, and premature collapse. Therefore
some of our wise men and women said, Go to; this is
an evil thing, we will stop worrying. And so they
started "don't worry clubs," and congratulated them
selves on being very bright and up-to-date.
Quite the contrary; Christ founded the first don't
worry club. "Take, therefore, no thought for the
morrow;" "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
He did not deny the reality of trouble, he simply said
Don't worry about it.
But does not that prove too much ; was not that idea
centuries older than Christ? It is true that Buddha,
Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, and all the company of an
cient sages had inculcated the patient endurance of
trouble ; but always from the stoical standpoint. "Grin
and bear it because you can't help yourself," was really
the best consolation they had to offer distressed hu
manity, even though they talked vaguely about the
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
rewards of the gods. Any one who has had real
trouble knows how filling that kind of consolation is.'
Christ took this dead idea and breathed into it the
breath of life, as he did with so many other ideas. He
was the founder of the first real don't worry club, be
cause he was the first one to point out a'good and suf
ficient basis for it — "For your heavenly Father know
eth that ye have need of all these things." Without
such a belief it is impossible to stop worrying in times
of real distress. However much you may exercise
self-control and refuse to think about your troubles,
you cannot stop the subconscious worry which flows
on in spite of you day and night, a subterranean river
which persistently undermines your peace and effi
ciency. A form of worry which is quite familiar is that of
the over-anxious housewife. It is especially in evi
dence when "company" is expected, the hostess frets
herself into a condition bordering on hysteria for fear
her guests will not be made comfortable; which often
defeats itself by making them decidedly uncomfortable.
Poor Martha, "cumbered about much serving", was a
type of the not infrequent woman whose domestic
and personal affairs look bigger to her than everything
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
else, even her own best interests.
One of the hardest things in life for every one is to
strike just the right balance between spiritual and ma
terial values. Neither should be neglected, neither
overdone. There will always be need of drudgery done,
of care carried by some one, and it will always be hard
for that one to hold to a true perspective. Whether
or no Mary should have been helping her sister get
dinner instead of listening to the words of the Master,
is an open question ; but there can be no question of the
inexcusable rudeness and unreasonableness of Martha
in trying to call Christ to account for Mary's alleged
shortcomings. "Lord, dost thou not care that my sister
hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that
she help me !" Martha was one of the numerous wom
en with "a passion for fixing responsibility" — as Mr.
W. D. Howells neatly puts it — and even Christ himself
was not immune from a woman's tongue, on this and
other occasions. He "was in all points tempted like
as we are."
One of the sad sights of life is a woman who has for
gotten to be charming and has not learned to be wise.
When a Martha-woman has a grievance she must air
it at any cost and try to put the blame on some one
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
else; even at the cost of alienating the sympathy she
craves. "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and trou
bled about many things ; but one thing is needful ; and
Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be
taken away from her."
Few of the ideas, reforms, and discoveries which
have helped the world forward would ever have seen
the light if the men who travailed with them had taken
counsel of their families. Here and there a wife has
backed her husband with unwavering faith, sym
pathy, and encouragement through all the dark days
of compelling the world's recognition; but usually he
has been obliged to add her disapproval and dissatis
faction to the already heavy burden of popular in
difference. Although Christ never married, he knew the chasten
ing experiences of married life. In all probability the
death of his father left him, as the oldest child, to be
the head of a family of at least eight members, con
sisting of his mother and several brothers and sisters.
That some of them, perhaps all, regarded him as an im
practical visionary, even crazy; and that they set out
to put him under lock and key, we know from the rec
ord. One of George Eliot's philistine characters says,
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
"Sane people do as their neighbors do." All Christ's
family except himself was "sane" and commonplace.
Like many another man of family he went through
the bitter experience of finding himself compelled to
close his ears to the voices of those whom he loved
and would have preferred first of all to please; to go
his own way and leave them to go theirs. The same is
true in small things as in great, and many a man finds
an echo in his heart to the terse words with which
Christ summed up his own family experience — "A
prophet is not without honor, save in his own country,
and in his own house."
Slowly, very slowly, tne most enlightened of man
kind are emerging from the barbaric worship of vio
lence and rapacity, and are beginning to recognize the
Kingship of Service. While we bow outwardly to
kings, presidents, governors and others in authority,
we pay our respect to the office and not to the official,
unless he has proved himself worthy by true service.
Our real respect and real allegiance go out to the un
crowned kings and queens who have earned their title
by benefits conferred upon humanity. "Whosoever
will be great among you, let him be your minister;
and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be
your servant." 76

CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
Not infrequently the newspapers announce the col
lapse of some prominent business man simply because
he undertook too many things. Either his employers
are dissatisfied because they feel that he is neglecting
their interests, or his health gives way under the strain
of watching too many irons in the fire at the same time.
He might have avoided all that by remembering that
"no man can serve two masters."
Another man sets his heart on getting rich at any
cost, even if he has to throttle conscience in the pro
cess, and starve his nobler nature. He succeeds in doing
both, and while the foolish are envying his wealth
wise men pity him, for his higher nature is dead, he
is a spiritual leper, a walking corpse. "Ye cannot
serve God and Mammon."
Now he thinks it is time for him to enjoy life, but
he is dismayed to find it impossible. What he eats
gives him the horrors of indigestion, travel is a bore;
art, music, literature, cultured society are sealed books ;
the present is a dreary blank, the future an awful
dread. Too late he learns that the life is more than
meat and the body than raiment, "for a man's life con-
sisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
possesseth." "For what is a man profited, if he shah
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" This is
not religion especially ; it is a matter of common obser
vation, and should be a matter of common sense.
In desperation this mental and moral bankrupt
plunges back into business to escape from himself;
back to the dollar-chasing which is the only thing he
can understand or enjoy. "Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also." Tell me what a man
loves, and I will tell you what he is.
Many people go through life self-deceived. From
stubbornness and conceit they shut their eyes to the
lessons of experience, and as the years go by they be
come fixed in a lot of false notions about men and
things. For such there is no hope and no remedy.
For the man, or woman, who is teachable, who is anx
ious to learn the lesson of life, there is always hope;
but for the smart Aleck who knows it all there is
nothing but "the whips and scorns of time." "If,
therefore, the light that is in you be darkness, how
great is that darkness !"
Nothing succeeds like success. With wonder and
envy men watch the dollars roll in on some man in a
perfect flood, while they themselves are forced into
bankruptcy. Having made a lucky strike of some
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
kind, his money seems to breed money, power attracts
more power, all he has to do is to sit back and see the
tide of prosperity roll in. It seems hard and unjust,
but it is nothing new. "For whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance;
but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away
even that he hath."
One of the triumphs of modern sociology is charity
organization. Among its leading features is the aboli
tion of the pernicious old custom of indiscriminate
alms-giving which has bred paupers for centuries, and
the substituting therefor of "friendly visiting," the
personal inspection of the unfortunate and vicious in
their evil environment. In this certainly sociology is
on the right track, although a little late, for "Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come
ye blessed of my Father, .... for I was naked and
ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited me; I was in
prison, and ye came unto me."
Between the intemperate zeal of many reformers and
the apathy of the general public the world's reforma
tion progresses discouragingly slow. It is impossible
to make some people see that the excellence of a pro
posed reform, and the ardor of their zeal for it, do
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
not justify them in starting in to smash things. They
are quite as likely to do harm as good. It is less spec
tacular and exhilarating, but far more effective, to re
strain impatience and wait until the time is ripe for
strong measures. "Let both grow together until the
harvest," "lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up
also the wheat with them."
Few things will prevent success in any direction
more surely than the habit of criticising one's neigh
bors publicly. That the criticism is just does not mend
matters, but makes them worse; so much the more
bitterly will the criticism be resented, and so much the
more eagerly will the first opportunity for revenge be
seized. Of course that is all wrong, but few have
reached the spiritual development of being willing to
have attention called to their own shortcomings. Sooner
or later we learn by experience, if we are wise, to
"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what
judgment ye judge ye shall be judged, and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
But no one can refrain from forming his private judg
ments, even if he would. We are passing judgment
all the time upon everything and everybody we see or
hear of; and upon these little accretions of judgment
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
are built the opinions and prejudices which inspire
our actions, and so mold our characters and destiny.
How important, then, that all our judgments should
be well considered, based upon facts and not fancies,
upon inner realities and not external appearances.
At all hazards keep clear the inner eye. The so-called
intuitions of childhood are explained by the fact that
a little child has not yet become sophisticated to the
folly of basing its estimates of people upon the value of
jewels and clothing, of houses and lands ; of being
captivated by politic smiles and cooing compliments;
of being impressed by solemn deportment or a con
sequential bearing. Neither was Christ. "Judge not
according to the appearance;" "Except ye become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
Heaven." Every really honest man hates humbug. By the
same token every humbug has an inveterate antipathy
to whatever is straightforward, manly and clean-cut.
Since he is a cheat, both inside and out, of course he
likes cheats. Christ was thoroughly honest; not only
with others, but above all with himself. No wonder
that he and the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees in
general could never mix. The chasm between them
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CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
was not primarily religious or political, it was funda
mental; an absolute incompatibility of temperament.
There was nothing which Christ detested more in
tensely than humbug, he hated it worse than sin, and
there every honest man stands with him. Repeatedly
did he express his scorn of it, as in the parable of the
self-sufficient critic with a beam in his own eye who
volunteered to take the mote out of his brother's eye.
Especially did the humbug of the Scribes and Phari
sees arouse Christ's indignation, for in them he recog
nized a hierarchical octopus which, having fastened its
tentacles upon every member of the body politic, was
sucking all sincerity of religious, moral, and social life
out of the nation. They, and not the Romans, consti
tuted the real national menace. At last his indignation
burst its banks in that torrent of denunciation — "Woe
unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long
prayer; therefore ye shall receive the greater damna
tion." These illustrations of Christ's practical philosophy
might be continued indefinitely, for his sayings are
full of them, and nearly every one of his twenty-nine
parables teaches worldly as well as unwordly wisdom.
82

CHRIST AS A PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHER.
Generally the practical application is on the surface,
but sometimes it must be studied out. Christ loved
to hit people with an epigram, and then leave them
to study over it. Many of his pithy sayings are so ex
cellent that they have always held an honored place
in secular literature, and always will so long as a
virile literary taste survives.

83

CHAPTER V.

On the Heights.

Important as is association with fellowmen, a well-
rounded character can never be developed in the mar
ket-place only. There must be times of withdrawal
from all things human, seasons of deep communion
with nature, self, and the Infinite, before the inner
fountains will gush forth which refresh and clarify
the spirit. Different angles of view are essential to
correct perspective.
One who has always dwelt in the plain cannot appre
ciate the uplift of a mountain view. To stand on
"the rim of the world," to see far below great cities
like heaps and men like ants, to see nothing above but
boundless blue, is to be alone with God and his Uni
verse, to feel the pettiness of the plain fall away and
85

ON THE HEIGHTS.
to be expanded by something of the largeness of the
Divine thought and purpose! There man can think
some of God's thoughts after him. Men of the hill-
country are bold, strong, silent men.
On the hill-tops around Nazareth the young Christ
nourished a youth sublime. Often in later life he with
drew into a mountain, for there, better than on the
plain, his troubled spirit sought and found repose. By
this alternation of society and solitude he maintained
a healthful balance between thought and action, be
tween theory and practice. The trouble with the men
who do things is that they do not take time to think,
for looking at things in the large, for tracing and
applying universal principles. On the other hand,
the man of thought is too academic, he does not rub
elbows enough, he is all theory and no application.
Each is needed as a corrective to the other.
Manhood only intensified Christ's passion for a free,
wide horizon. When he changed his dwelling-place
to Capernaum, he soon found new "altar stairs which
sloped through darkness up to God." A mountain dis-
stant a few miles from Capernaum — perhaps Mount
Hattin — became his favorite retreat, and there he de
livered many discourses to his disciples, including the
86

ON THE HEIGHTS.
Beatitudes. There, too, he fought out many of the
soul conflicts which came so thickly in the latter
months. This love of being on the heights was the natural
heritage of a boy born and bred in a hill-country.
Nazareth nestled on the slope of a hill, looking south
ward into a beautiful valley surrounded by many sim
ilar hills. In Christ's time a lovelier spot could hardly
be found. It was a valley of vineyards and gardens,
of orchards of olive, fig, and palm, gorgeous with the
white and scarlet blossoms of pomegranate and orange ;
of fields of billowing grain, and meadows carpeted
with the brightest of wild flowers, whose perfume
scented the breeze. So prodigal was nature that every
month in season she flung upon the fields a new riot
of color, while the air was vocal with the notes of
countless birds of brilliant plumage. Browsing flocks
dotted the hillsides, and the land "flowed with milk
and honey" and oil. No wonder that Christ -loved to
weave his stories about the flowers of the field and
the birds of the air.
But best of all he loved to climb the hill behind his
home and get the view. As he stood there, 400 feet
above Nazareth and 1,600 feet above the sea, his eye
87

ON THE HEIGHTS.
swept a scene to stir the dullest heart ; what then must
have been the emotions and aspirations which fired
his fervid young soul ! To the northwest his eye
caught the blue glint of the Mediterranean; to the
east the clear waters of the Sea of Tiberias mirrored
back the forests, hills, and wooded glens which rimmed
it round. On the north Mount Hermon reared its
ever hoary head 10,000 feet, and the cedars of Leba
non "shook." Mount Hermon carries — as the Arab
proverb says — "winter on its head, spring on its shoul
ders, and harvest in its bosom; while summer sleeps
at its feet."
But lovely as was the face of nature to the outer
eye, for the inner eye there was a richer feast. What
a wealth of historical and religious association filled
the imagination of the young Israelite as he swept
this view, in which every plain, hill, and valley spoke
to him of events memorable in the history of
his race. His feelings were those of the modern
scholar who stands on the Acropolis or the Capitoline,
only tenfold intensified by patriotic pride.
Compared with the Palestine of that day we are
the veriest parvenus. The Hebrews had occupied their
country three and a half times as long as the white

on the Heights.
man has been in America. Jerusalem was then two or
three times as old as the "Eternal City," and Josephus
declares that a city had been standing on the site of
Jerusalem for more than twenty-one centuries. All
those centuries had been packed full of history, full of
wars and disasters, full of victory and defeat.
Standing on the Galilean hills Christ saw, stretching
far to the south, fifteen miles long by four to fourteen
miles wide, the great plain of Esdraelon, a battle
ground for centuries. Across it Midianite and Am-
alekite, Syrian and Philistine had pursued or been pur
sued by the hosts of Israel ; now impartial nature had
decorated all their graves with garlands of fair flowers.
Many times, also, had its turf been pressed by the feet
of Samuel and David, of Elijah and Elisha.
Then turning to the southwest the young man's
eye caught Mount Gilboa, where the life of the gifted
but headstrong King of Israel had gone out in disaster
and disgrace ; there also had perished Jonathan, beloved
of David.
Those ancient battles were no skirmishes; on the
contrary, they were bloody beyond our power of reali
zation, they were human shambles. Many imagine
that the deadly precision and extreme range of modern
89

on thf Heights.
rifles has greatly increased the bloodshed of battle;
the fact is just the opposite. There are several rea
sons for this apparent paradox, and one is the vast
numbers of men engaged on both sides in ancient con
flicts. In Saul's first battle, when he saved the men of
Jabesh-Gilead from the Ammonites, the grand
total gathered to repel the invaders was 350,000
Assuming that the army of the Ammonites was of
nearly equal size, we have in that battle nearly three-
quarters of a million men engaged in flying furiously
at each others' throats — enough to furnish five Water-
loos or five Gettysburgs ! Although no statement is
given of the loss of life in that battle, it must have
been terrific, for the Ammonites were so scattered that
no two of them were left together.
Then south of Gilboa was seen Mount Ephraim,
where Israel had suffered a terrible disaster, more than
nine centuries before Christ's time, at the hands of
the men of Judah. On that occasion 1,200,000 men
were zealous in the work of mutual extermination,
and Israel lost 500,000 dead out of 800,000. In the
course of another "unpleasantness," 120,000 of the
men of Judah fell dead in one day. Engagements be
tween the Tribes in which one side lost 25,000 killed
90

on the heights.
were frequent and ordinary affairs.
Of course these men were not all trained troops,
but vast hordes of furious fighters, each man hacking
away until he was cut down in hand to hand butchery.
Such battles were made up of a countless number of
desperate duels, but the carnage of the battle proper
was exceeded by that of the rout. When at last one
side gave way, it resolved itself into a frantic, fleeing
mob, trampling more under foot than the pursuers
were able to cut down with their best efforts. Of
course, also, the figures given are only approximate,
but they are sufficient to prove what serious affairs
those ancient battles were, and how much modern
methods and weapons have done to diminish the car
nage of war.
That Christ, even as a boy, was familiar with these
and other leading events in his country's history, we
may be sure. It is an unforunate paradox that the
children who have the greatest advantages in books
and instruction are least apt to be familiar with the
history of their own country. It is among primitive
peoples, whose thoughts and interests are not com
plex, whose story is passed from father to son during
the long leisure hours of evening and of winter, that
91

on the heights.
we find that intense patriotic pride in the deeds of an
cestors which makes national history more fascinating
than any fiction to the eager young imagination. The
lively mind and retentive memory of the Jewish lad
would never let slip any story which he had once
heard of the grand old days.
Of education, as we conceive it, the young Jesus
knew nearly nothing. In the first place, his father
was a poor peasant, a worker in wood; either with
plane or saw, or perhaps as a wood carver ; for trades
were not specialized then as now. Whatever the work
was, all hands were needed to help on it, and the pros
pective preacher was early called upon to do his share.
When he could be spared from work the boy had
the same educational advantages, and disadvantages, as
the other boys of Israel. Every village had its paro
chial school, in which the local rabbi taught reading
and ciphering ; perhaps a little Jewish history and some
of the requirements of the religious law. On the Sab
bath the lad sat in the synagogue and heard the Law
and the Prophets read, and then perfunctorily and
uselessly expounded by the rabbi. This, at the ut
most, was the extent of his public education; supple
mented, however, by some home instruction. At his
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ON THE HEIGHTS.
father's or mother's knee he learned many Scripture
texts, for the Jews then, as now, gave close personal
attention to the education of their children. But what
ever else he was to know he was obliged to find for
himself, either in his own heart or in the world about
him. That this apparent meagreness of educational oppor
tunity was really no handicap we know from the lives
of the thousands of poor boys who have graduated
from the little red school-house into presidencies, pas
torates, and prominent public positions of all kinds.
Our young friend was a bright boy, precocious in per
ception, imagination, thought and feeling ; but not pre
cocious in the sense of being an "infant phenomenon."
He was a strong, healthy, normal boy with a good
appetite, and a sound sleeper.
In one way, at least, his environment was highly
favorable to the development of a sturdy character
— he was one of a large family. The best preparation
for the catch-as-catch-can of adult life is the training
of family life, where each learns to stand for himself
with due regard for the rights of others; it is the
first lesson in life's primer. If our young preacher
had any tendency to be visionary, poverty, work and
93

ON THE HEIGHTS.
the usual freedom of brothers and sisters from any
false delicacy and reserve in criticism and admonition,
combined to eliminate such tendencies from his char
acter. This early close contact with the life of the
common people was the source of that homely wit
and wisdom, and that comprehension of their view
of things, which enabled him to get so close to them
in his ministry.
As he grew older he attended the meetings of the
wise men of his village, after the dismissal of the con
gregation from the synagogue. They met regularly
for reading and discussion of the Scriptures; an op
portunity which he would be sure not to neglect. By
availing himself of every suitable opportunity Christ
acquired that wonderful skill in debate and that per
fection of expression which characterized all his lan
guage. When we reflect that we have knowledge of
his sayings only indirectly though the pens of those
who wrote from memory or hearsay, much of course
being lost in the process of transmission, it becomes
all the more remarkable that most of his utterances,
even the most extemporaneous, have all the finish of
premeditated composition. Such perfection proves
practice. 94

ON THE HEIGHTS.
Under these conditions, then, the thought and feel
ing of the Supreme Preacher shaped themselves. No
one has ever lived who had better right to the hon
ored title of "self-made." Unaided, nay hindered, by
the opinions and sentiments of those about him;
obliged to support himself by manual toil, and prob
ably his mother also after Joseph's death, he neverthe
less found time and opportunity to study deeply the
problems of life, seeking the solution for which the
best minds of all ages had been groping.
Christ found the religious field already occupied by
three chief claimants of authority. Outside of the
Jewish nation was Paganism, universal and myriad;
inside was the Mosaic Law and the Pharisaic Tradi
tion. With the first and last he could have nothing in
common ; the one outraged decency, the other common
sense. Therefore on the Mosaic Law as a founda
tion Christ proceeded to build his superstructure of
Christianity, retaining essentials, rejecting non-es-
entials. Studying the Law profoundly, penetrating the cere
monial husk to the inner truth, he grasped eternal
verities; he perceived that, in the process of evolution
from the lower and simpler to the higher and more
95

ON THE HEIGHTS.
complex, the Law could and should be superseded by
something nobler, more divine. The Mosaic Law
was a code of prohibitions ; he would substitute for its
negative morality a positive purity. Mere respectabil
ity was a sham. The true basis of morality was that
man should refrain from sin, not through fear of con
sequences, but because he hated sin.
The Law was objective and particular, dealing with
minutiae of outward observances ; he would reduce ob
servances to a minimum and magnify general princi
ples and subjective conditions.
The Law sought to secure obedience by severe pen
alties; he would win men by offering rewards. Per
suasion would be better than force.
The Law rested on authority ; but he would appeal to
reason and conscience.
Christ perceived that the Law had all these features
because it was provisional only, suited to the childish
stage of development which must be held in check by
innumerable Thou shalt nots; therefore he would in
vite all the world out of that childishness into a higher
and permanent condition, into a manhood which could
be trusted to be a law unto itself. In short, Christ
called for character before conduct, perceiving that if
96

ON THE HEIGHTS.
the former is right the latter may be left to take care of
itself. The Law was political and priestly, Christ deter
mined that he would be social and non-ecclesiastical;
that he would reform both politics and religion
through society, and society through the individual;
from the bottom up, and not from the top down, as
most other reformers had tried to do.
The Law was limited in its scope and benefits to
the Jewish nation only; he would not be national, but
international, cosmopolitan, universal.
Last and greatest of all, the Law joined hands with
all the religions of heathendom in striving by every
possible means to propitiate an angry God. Primitive
man always makes God in his own image, and then
strives to reconcile God to himself, instead of himself
to God. Christ was inspired to substitute for this
monstrosity the loving invitation of a heavenly Father.
In this last conception he stands unapproachably
alone. If he had contributed nothing else to the reli
gious heritage of the race, that one thought would
place him at the head of all seers and prophets. In
order to place a just valuation upon Christ's origin
ality and power of truth perception we must be care-
97

ON THE HEIGHTS.
ful to remember that these ideas, so familiar to us as to
seem axiomatic, were startling, revolutionary, and in
credible to most men at that time. Wise men before
him can claim credit for having glimpsed more or less
clearly some of the principles which he saw and pro
claimed so plainly, but in the white light of the full-
orbed truth which Christ revealed the glory of all other
religious teachers pales into insignificance.
And now at last the long years of growth and prep
aration have come to an end — it is time to act. The
whole world is seething with passion and discontent.
In high places corruption beyond description is the
rule, while the lowly groan under intolerable cruelty
and extortion. Even the consolations of religion are
denied to men, for the Gentiles have no longer any real
belief in their myriad gods, while Israel calls despair
ingly on a Jehovah who seems to have forsaken his pe
culiar people. Legionaries garrison every Hebrew
city since Pompey's eagles desecrated even the Holy
of Holies, men's hearts are sick within them, every
ear is strained to catch tidings of a great Deliverer
who is to bring justice to the wronged and freedom
to the conquered. Suddenly they are startled by a
wild cry from the wilderness of Judea — "Repent, for
the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand !"
98

CHAPTER VI.

The Great Decision.

Sooner or later every man and woman comes to
a parting of the ways. The little problems of daily
life solved wrongly may be rectified ; not so the crucial
questions. They must be decided rightly once for all,
mistake is fatal.
Some rush upon these crucial decisions thoughtless
ly or recklessly, others stand appalled at the responsi
bility forced upon them for which they have made no
preparation. Happy are they who, by the daily prac
tice of wise decisions in little things, have qualified
themselves for dealing with greater things.
As Christ came up from his baptism in the waters
of the Jordan, he found himself face to face with the
99

THE GREAT DECISION.
problem of his life. The time for inaction had passed,
the Baptist's vehement declamation had roused the peo
ple, Christ must act promptly, wisely, decisively. Mis
take made now could never be retrieved, by his de
cision now he must stand or fall; it was a crisis, not
for himself only, but for the world.
To every man who has played a world part has come
this supreme moment. Shall he turn to the right hand,
or to the left, or shall he keep straight on? If he
chooses aright, he goes on to victory; if wrong, his
cause is wrecked, his life a failure, perhaps his head
must pay the forfeit. The emotions of a great soul
brought face to face with such a dilemma can be but
faintly appreciated by us ordinary mortals. What de
bate must there be; what watchful and repeated scan
ning of all the conditions; what peering into the fu
ture; what dread of choosing the wrong path! And
then, when the die has at last been cast, what will
power must it take to put all doubts and questionings
behind and press forward boldly and unhesitatingly in
the course determined! That is a test of manliness
which proves a soul of heroic mold.
Like all great souls in great crises Christ now felt
the need of solitude for thought and self-struggle.

THE GREAT DECISION.
Acclaimed by John as the long-expected Deliverer,
gaped upon by the curious crowd, his one compelling
impulse was to get away from it all and have time
to think and pray. So into the solitude of the wilder
ness he took his way to make his fight alone, as every
man must in his supreme moments.
The political and social conditions of Palestine and
the world were so complicated at that time, that
a minute knowledge of them is necessary for fully
comprehending the problems which confronted Christ
at the outset of his career. Here it must suffice to re
mind the reader briefly of a few of the more import
ant points.
First, there was the Roman rule and the intense
hatred which it excited in the whole Jewish people.
Again and again had Israel made frantic struggles
to wrench away from that iron hand, sometimes with
temporary success, especially under the Maccabean
leadership. But now the Roman eagle had fastened
its talons more firmly than ever, the most sacred feel
ings of the Jews had been purposely and indecently
outraged, the whole nation was looking and longing
for a Deliverer. The demand had created a supply.
From time to time fanatical leaders had sprung up

THE GREAT DECISION.
here and there, proclaiming themselves the Messiah,
gaining a small following and a temporary notoriety;
only to be summarily squelched in the end by the same
heavy heel.
The only semblance of power and authority now re
maining to the Jewish nation was incorporate in the
Sanhedrim, a religious-judiciary council of seventy-
one or seventy-two members, consisting in the main of
priests and doctors of the law. Their status, between
the people on the one hand and the Roman govern
ment on the other, was rather mixed; for the present
purpose it is sufficient to say that to the orthodox
Jew their authority was supreme, their wisdom un
questioned; to the Roman it was a matter of tolera
tion under close restrictions.
The masses of the Jewish people, like most others
at that time, were poor, ignorant, brutish and fanati
cal, sharing in the semi-savagery and materialism of
their age. Only in their intense pride of race, in
bigoted devotion to the forms of their national religion,
and in consuming hatred of the Roman they stood
solidly behind the Scribes and Pharisees. Neither
class had any use for a Messiah who would not under-
¦ take to break the Roman yoke by physical force. But
102

THE GREAT DECISION.
Rome had a standing army of 340,000 men.
The rest of the world was compactly pagan.
Such, in brief, being the situation, what was the
wisest course to be adopted by a Savior who was to
take upon himself the stupendous task of saving the
world? If it seems a difficult question to us, looking
back from the vantage ground of 2,000 years of retro
spect, how must it have seemed to one on the spot? If
Christ had sought human guidance at this point, we
know some of the advice which he would have re
ceived. One man would have urged him to ally himself
with the church party of the Temple. This Christ
could easily do by going up to Jerusalem, where his
talents and his knowledge of the Law would soon
draw the favorable attention of the Scribes and Phari
sees. Before long, in the natural course of events,
he would become prominent in the Temple, and ulti
mately the head of the Sanhedrim. Then he would be
in position to take advantage of the first signs of weak
ening in the Roman grasp, put himself at the head of
a united people, throw off the hated yoke, as the Mac
cabees had done before him, and restore the worship
of Jehovah to all its ancient grandeur and purity. It
103

THE GREAT DECISION.
was a very attractive program and what most people
would call eminently "practical," in that it combined
a maximum of dramatic deliverance for the nation
with a maximum of glory and power for the Deliverer.
Besides, every new increment of power could be turned
into an instrumentality for accomplishing still more
good — indeed, there was no limit to the beneficent
vistas which opened up.
To be sure, there were some objectionable things
about the Temple party. Although they were all pious
to the point of suffocation, it was pretty well under
stood by people who kept their eyes and ears open that
the Scribes and Pharisees did some things not intended
for publication. Of course, they did not do them per
sonally or directly; it was just as easy then as now to
hire some one else to foreclose the mortgage on a
widow's cottage and send constables to put her into the
street, whenever she failed to meet usurious interest
charges promptly.
There were even worse things whispered about them
— but people always will talk, you know; especially
about those who are rich and prominent. In all proba
bility most of it was envious slander, or at least grossly
exaggerated. Besides, how are you going to do any
104

THE GREAT DECISION.
good in the world, unless you take people as they are ?
The greatest of reformers must expect to use human
instruments, and if he puts on airs of being so much
better than any one else, he will succeed only in getting
himself universally disliked. He must expect to con
ciliate, to be a little blind sometimes, to tolerate a lit
tle evil for the sake of accomplishing a great good.
But this adviser would be impatiently brushed aside
by some religious enthusiast with counsel of an al
together different kind. "The Temple is hopelessly
corrupt, honeycombed with worldliness and humbug.
Nothing can be done with it ; you must throw yourself
upon the common people. Cater to their religious
prejudices by preaching reform within the old party
lines, with one eye on the Romans to avoid exciting
their suspicions, and the other on the Scribes and
Pharisees to avoid offending their sensibilities. Do
nothing more radical than to found a church of your
own and be its high priest. You have the ability, the
people are ripe for that kind of reform, and it is less
risky than going into politics."
Still another wise man would advise — "Be a Prophet.
Renew the extinct but glorious line of the old Hebrew
Seers and Judges, such as Joshua and Samuel, Elijah
105

THE GREAT DECISION.
and Elisha. With your abilities and knowledge you
can easily gain a reputation for superior wisdom and
sanctity, for the Hebrew mind takes kindly to the idea
of the religious recluse. Establish yourself in some se
cluded but accessible spot, and before long great crowds
will flock to you; they will reverence you as a great
Prophet, and there is no telling how much good you
may do simply by adopting this policy of masterly in
activity. It is neither convenient nor wise to waste
time and strength in going after people who may just
as well come to you, and think all the better of you
for that very reason."
In short, it demanded careful thought and the sound
est judgment to decide on the best general policy to
pursue. Then there were many questions of detail
for Christ to answer before starting out on his
career. What was the exact relation of himself to the
Father, and how could it be presented best to the peo
ple? Inasmuch as the Jewish nation would never accept
any Messiah who abjured physical force and political
deliverance, was it advisable to proclaim himself as the
Messiah at once, or later, or not at all?
1 06

THE GREAT DECISION.
What was the most effective method for producing
in a short time a religious impulse which should not
die with his death, but should spread in ever-widen
ing circles through the centuries?
Should he attempt to organize anything, or should
be content himself with simply sowing seed of which
others should reap the harvest?
Should he limit his mission to his own nation, or
should he extend it to the Gentiles?
Should be begin by attacking the Hierarchy in its
stronghold, or should he first find a firm foothold in
Galilee, and select his Disciples there before moving
on Jerusalem?
Should he try to avoid clashing with the Scribes and
Pharisees, or should he accept their hostility as a fore
gone conclusion and say just what he thought of them ?
It is an imputation on Christ's intelligence and acu
men to suppose that in those days in the wilderness he
did ont debate such questions as these, besides many
others which we cannot even surmise. Even now
not all men are able to see the wisdom of the decisions
which he made ; what a supreme soul struggle it must
have been to make those decisions then!
How searchingly must Christ have reviewed the situ-
107

THE GREAT DECISION.
ation, both local and universal, both present and future,
in all its bearings ! His piercing vision looked through
all the intricacies of human life to the central truth
which all others had missed or seen but dimly — that
the salvation of the world was no question of Jerusa
lem against Rome, of Jehovah against Jupiter, of civil
ization against barbarism,of knowledge against ignor
ance, or even of justice against oppression; the great
and only problem was the eradication of sin and self
ishness from the human heart. Until that was accom
plished all other reforms were nothing but a clipping
of the twigs of the tree of evil, while its tap-root re
mained untouched. Exactly the same holds true to
day, and yet we have reformers still with us who can
not see what Christ saw so plainly twenty centuries
ago. He perceived that it was a battle royal, for all
ages and all places, of the spirit of Christ against the
spirit of Caesar ; for the glory of Caesar was to make all
men serve him, the glory of Christ to serve all men.
But, granted these premises, the still harder question
remained — How was it to be done? By force? But
force was what ailed the whole world at that moment,
and always had. By preaching? Sin and folly had
been preached against by prophets and philosophers
iq8

THE GREAT DECISION.
for centuries. By a new political party, a new church,
a new sect, a new cult ? All these had had their day,
and proved themselves but creatures of a day.
Christ decided on a plan for saving the world which
was as novel as it was grandly wise and unselfish. He
determined that he would try to draw all men unto
him by a life of such poverty and self-sacrifice that
no one could ever doubt its disinterestedness; of such
spotless purity that the foulest tongue would never
dare to slander it; by a revelation of the fatherhood
of God and the brotherhood of man such as had never
before entered the human heart ; all to be certified and
sealed, if need be, by a death of the greatest possi
ble agony and ignominy, to prove a greater and a
higher love than earth had ever known before. In
comparison with such ideals how gross seem the lives,
or how paltry the doctrines, of other famous religious
leaders — Buddha, Confucius, Zoroaster, Mahomet !
Even now we stand amazed at the boldness, originality,
and far seeing wisdom of that conception !
But it is one thing to decide what should be done,
and an entirely different thing to do it — as we weak
mortals, the manliest of us, know too well. What man
is there to-day, however brave and benevolent he may
109

THE GREAT DECISION.
be, who could deliberately decide on a course which
he knew would alienate his family and friends; bring
disgrace upon his mother, brothers and sisters; ruin
his wordly prospects and waste his talents; make his
name the target of every newspaper and cartoonist;
his opinions and intentions misunderstood, misrepre
sented, and condemned by all men of influence and
authority; finally land him in jail and bring him to
the gallows — and all for what? To preach a distaste
ful doctrine to a people who would certainly reject the
preaching and hang the preacher.
We must not forget that Christ had to face all the
obloquy, both public and private, which could be
heaped upon a traitor and a heretic by a fanatical peo
ple. Nor should it be forgotten that Christ was acutely
sensible of the significance of his decision — no one
more so. He was neither a rash fanatic nor a dull
blunderer, but a clear-eyed, level-headed man of the
world, in the best sense. He knew perfectly well what
he was about, had weighed all the arguments, fore
seen all the probable consequences. More than that,
Christ was a gentleman. He shrank with all the sensi
tiveness of a high-spirited, refined nature from the
very thought of insult and disgrace, from public con-
IIO

THE GREAT DECISION.
demnation and execration and a felon's death.
Then there was his mother ! Since his father's death
the care of her had devolved upon him, and he must
seem to desert her and shirk his first duty. Too well
he knew how he had already alarmed her orthodoxy
by the signs which had not escaped a mother's watch
ful eye that her boy was drifting further and further
away from the religion of his fathers and of all her
friends. Of course, he could never make her under
stand, and so he must bear this cross also. Now the
time was at hand when he must thrust a sword through
her heart, when she should be horrified by hearing that
her son had denounced the revered Rulers of her peo
ple as fools, vipers, and hypocrites!
Is it any wonder that it took Christ forty days and
nights — if we accept the time literally — to come to a
decision? That his soul was so racked by conflicting
emotions that he thought of neither food nor sleep?
That when at last the irrevocable decision was reached,
exhausted nature gave way and tortured him still fur
ther with sensory illusions?
It is a physiological fact that intense mental suffer
ing and acute nervous strain, acting upon a body weak
ened by deficient nutrition and by insomnia, will pro-
iii

THE GREAT DECISION.
duce illusions of any or all of the senses. Instead
of being supernatural, therefore, it would be altogether
natural that Christ should suffer from illusions,
visions, or troubled dreams; in any case they would
be evidence of the exhausting struggle through which
his soul had passed, for he was a powerful man.
In view of all the circumstances it seems incredible
that any one could really believe that Christ's "temp
tation in the wilderness" consisted of three literal
propositions by a literal Satan; and it would not be
worth while to combat that idea, were it not that a
large majority of those who have treated of this sub
ject take that position. If the literalists will read
the text more carefully, they will find that Matthew
distinctly states that the three propositions were made
to Christ by Satan after the forty days were ended.
It was, therefore, when he was famished and exhausted
by the real trial through which he had just passed
that these visions passed before him, if they did at all.
For it is not absolutely necessary to grant them the
reality even of illusions. The story bears every appear
ance of being an allegorical description of a situation
too complicated to be given in detail; as, indeed, we
have just seen it to be. Allegory was the favorite and
112

THE GREAT DECISION.
usual style of description among Orientals then, as it
is now; they never call a spade a spade if they can
help it.
To take the allegory literally is to cast a slur upon
Christ's intelligence. How could such childish propo
sitions by an actual Satan be any "temptation" to
Christ! The mere question ought to answer itself,
leaving out of the account all geographical and physi
cal impossibilities. It is only an instance of indiscreet
zeal defeating its own object. In the effort to exalt
Christ by throwing around him as much as possible of
the miraculous, he is really reduced below the level
of merely human discernment and wisdom.
Furthermore, it is impossible that any one should
have written this marvelous story from personal
knowledge, and there was no one who could have told
the Disciples about it except Christ himself. This is
the only instance of an attempt to give a detailed ac
count of Christ's experiences when no human witnesses
were near, and if he had told them such miraculous de
tails they would have been careful to state their au
thority. But whether we prefer to regard it as allegory or
illusion, it is easy to trace a strong parallelism be-
113

THE GREAT DECISION.
tween the alleged propositions of Satan and the real
problems which have been suggested in the preceding
pages; for those curious to seek out parallels it is an
interesting study. If there were actual sensory illu
sions, they were the natural nervous reflex of the tu
mult of thought and feeling which had held possession
of Christ for more than a month, the last clouds of a
storm which had passed by.
But no illusions can bring delusions into that stead
fast soul. Clear and strong in spite of physical ex
haustion stands his determination, even as it shall stand
against all future assaults to the bitter end. For that
forty days' fight was by no means the last of the strug
gle, as we shall see later. Christ did not secure im
munity from self-struggle and soul-stress by one great
victory any more than we can.
And when the battle of the wilderness was won,
when the great Decision was at last reached, the angel
of a great Peace ministered to his bruised and weary
spirit.

J 14

CHAPTER VII.

A Strange Ministry.

At this distance of time and space it is almost im
possible for us to realize the startling novelty of the
life and doctrine to which Christ decided to devote
himself, nor the manly qualities which such a course
demanded. For example, to us the ideas of altruism
— however poorly we may live up to them — are com
monplace; the supreme value of every soul, the civil
and religious rights of every individual however hum
ble, and the villainy of oppression, bloodshed, and im
morality, are simply axiomatic. But to the world of
Christ's time such ideas were unknown, or known
only to be derided. Might was the only right, and the
only crime was poverty or weakness. The poor were
iiS

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
allowed to live, as necessary evils, to supply material
for oppression ; but they had no rights which stood in
the way if their masters chose to sacrifice them to their
own amusement or ambition. The worst governed
portions of the modern world, in Turkey or China,
hardly furnish a parallel.
What religion there was served largely as an effec
tive instrument of extortion. It was kept carefully in
£he hands of a favored few, and made as complicated
and mysterious as possible, in order that the common
man might be persuaded that his only hope for the
future life lay in the (well paid) intercession of these
intermediaries. To this blind, besotted, bloody, big
oted, bestial age came Christ, proclaiming every truth
most hateful to the masters of the social order, most
incomprehensible to their dupes. For he preached love
instead of hate, honor for corruption, purity for sensu
ality, kindness for cruelty, and the right of every soul
to come straight to God with no barrier of priest or
ritual. What courage and manliness that meant, the
highest courage both physical and moral ! Hedged in
as we are on all sides, each by his own little world,
supported in our opinions by friends, fellow-citizens,
and the spirit of our age, we fail to realize how much
116

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
of our boasted independence of thought and action
really rests upon these props.
Try for a moment to imagine what it would mean
to set yourself directly across the public opinion of
your time, to question the wisdom of the wisest, to
defy the power of the strongest, to shock the feelings
of the dearest, to stand alone against the world ! Even
then the parallel is not complete, for there would be
no physical danger so long as you kept within the
law. But Christ took his life in his hand when he de
cided to proclaim to the world his novel doctrine, for
he was bound to stir up a perfect hornet's nest of the
most vindictive passions of the human' heart. It mat
tered not that he proclaimed a spiritual kingdom, that
he insisted and reiterated that it was not of this world ;
the ecclesiastical Powers soon perceived that the suc
cess of his ministry could mean nothing less than a
complete subversion of the religious, moral, and social
order then existing.
Odd as it sounds, the fact is that Christ was a
heretic, and the worst kind of a heretic, to all about
him. The Pharisees stood for the orthodoxy of the
Jewish people, and it was an orthodoxy as cruel as it
was narrow and uncompromising. The "Peculiar Peo-

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
pie" had always been painfully pious; no wonder that
they scorned and hated this rank heretic who came de
nouncing the cherished prejudices which they called
their convictions. The whole nation looked up to the
Pharisees not only as their religious teachers, but as
representatives and leaders of all their fiery patri
otism and national hopes. He was a bold man who
ventured to play heretic to their orthodoxy.
But did not Christ receive the physical and moral
support of the poor and humble? Are we not told
that the common people heard him gladly? Yes and
no. It is true that during a part of his ministry they
followed him in great crowds, that they pressed so
upon him and his Disciples that he had opportunity
neither to eat nor sleep, and he was obliged to re
treat into the wilderness to escape them; they wer°
even bent on making him King; he dared not enter
Capernaum openly lest he be mobbed by his admirers
But what did it all amount to, as the sequel proved?
Christ was too acute not to perceive how little real
depth there was to the movement, and he did not
hesitate to say so. He understood perfectly the ex
citable, marvel-loving nature of the Jewish people; he
knew that the one thought and desire of the whole na-
118

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
tion was for a Messiah who would drive out the Ro
mans with the sword; that his figures of speech were
taken literally and not spiritually, and that all their
ideas and longings were earthly and material. He
foresaw the inevitable result when they should dis
cover that he was not in sympathy with their political
ambitions, that he believed in rendering unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's, that his whole mission was
spiritual and not political.
To be sure, the oppressed, the poor and the sick
at first hailed with ecstacy Christ's bewilderingly beau
tiful promises of hope and relief, but only so far as
they took them literally. What he really meant was on
a plane as far above their comprehension as their de
sires. The one thing which tried his spirit more than
all others was the misapprehension of his teaching by
almost all his hearers. Even the Twelve showed re
peatedly that they had failed to grasp the true inward
ness of his message. And in truth it was a hard doc
trine, the hardest in its simplicity which the world has
ever heard.
But if Christ's doctrine was too sublimated for the
common people, why did it not appeal to the cultured
and refined? In these days — largely because of his
119

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
life and death — there is a saving minority, an aristoc
racy of heart and brain, a true culture to which no
lofty thought or pure ideal appeals in vain. But the
rare and infrequent culture of Christ's time was selfish
and gross. It made no secret of its contempt for the
common people, and democracy in religion was as ab
horrent to it as democracy in government or society.
The idea of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood
of man, so familiar to us, — and more or less welcome —
was to that age as preposterous as it was displeasing.
But the contempt which each class heaped upon that
below it was cheerfully passed on by the whole nation
to strangers, just as may be seen in India and China
to-day. The book of Sifri said that '"a single Israelite
was of more value in the sight of God than all the na
tions of the world." The Gentile despised the Jew,
and the Jew returned the compliment with usury — a
mutual regard not unknown even in this century of
sweetness and light. Greeks called all other peo
ple "barbarians," and the Latin word for stranger was
"an enemy." Celsus within two centuries after Christ
declared that "the man must be devoid ol sense who
believed it possible for Greeks and barbarians to agree
on one religious code." Even the Stoics, the flower
120

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
of pagan thought and conscience, had never in their
wildest dreams of altruism conceived of such equality
as Christ demanded.
To such an age, which regarded the State as every
thing and the individual as nothing, Christ proclaimed
the value and sacredness of every soul and the brother
hood of all. He stood for spiritual values against
material, for the refined and ideal against the gross,
for lofty enthusiasms instead of swinish stolidity.
Christ was progressive, strenuous, all alive, hopelessly
in advance of his age. Even now there are only a few
of us who have caught up with his ideas. In the latter
part of his ministry he knew that he led a forlorn hope
to inevitable defeat; that he would end by pleasing
no one and antagonizing every one ; that he must suf
fer ignominious failure in the present and look to fu
ture generations for comprehension. Nevertheless he
went forward to the bitter end without flinching. Was
that manly?
Christ was no shirker in his ministry. He asked
no one to follow where he himself was afraid to go
first. He was resolved that no one in all time to come
should ever have cause to falter because of his lack of
leadership. That was fair and manly — to test his new

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
religion first of all upon himself and so prove what it
was worth. Neither did he want shirkers. Repeat
edly and distinctly he warned his followers what they
had to expect in privations, insults, tortures and death.
No one should be able to say that his adherence had
been won by false pretenses.
We, enjoying all the advantages of this twentieth
century since Christ, beholding the results of the plan
which he adopted, are able to perceive its wisdom;
but that was not at all evident in the year 27 A. D.
In fact, to all his contemporaries its feasibility was
dubious at best, to most it was stark lunacy. His
relatives, assuming the prerogative of meddling al
ways so dear to kinsfolk, were for putting him under
restraint as non compos mentis. Even some of the
Twelve, especially Peter, presumed upon their intimacy
to remonstrate with him and to offer advice. In short,
Christ suffered all the petty personal annoyances which
fall to the lot of every one who persists in an unpopu
lar course of action.
But all this was as the dashing of waves against a
cliff. Christ adhered to his purpose and his ministry,
and those who presumed upon his patience were as
tonished at the dignity and force with which he re-

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
pelled improper interference. He knew perfectly when
and how to assert himself.
Yet never was there a nature more quick and sensi
tive, more hungry for comprehension and sympathy,
and there is ample evidence how sorely Christ's pa
tience was tried by the crass stupidity, or willful per
versity, of those whom he was trying to enlighten and
inspire. His keen, alert mind strove painfully to pene
trate the density of those about him. Even the Twelve
were so stupid that, when he warned them to beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees,
they thought that he was remarking on the fact that
they were out of bread! And there they stuck, until
he was obliged to explain to them his simple and ob
vious figure of speech.
There was nothing slow or monotonous about
Christ; his moods were many and his versatility with
out limit. Not that he was "moody," but he had all
the many-sidedness which was possible within the
limits of the normal. Of course Christ's mood was
usually serious, often sad, sometimes despairing. But
most of the time he so overflowed with energy, physi
cal and spiritual, that he enjoyed his ministry intensely,
especially in the early days, lavishing his strength upon
123

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
immense audiences and tedious foot journeys. Then
came times of reaction when, discouraged and sick at
heart, he felt impelled to get away from everyone, even
the well meaning but slow-witted Disciples, and to go
off by himself for prayer, meditation, and renewal of
spirit. At such times the mountain top or the desert
was his chosen refuge.
His mood and manner could change in a flash. Most
of the time his hearers had the grace to listen re
spectfully when he was in a didactic mood, although
they could only partially comprehend his wisdom.
But sometimes his unaffected simplicity bred the con
tempt which familiarity always breeds in vulgar na
tures, so that they were emboldened to take liberties of
speech. Then he turned upon them with stinging re
buke. Even his silent mood — and he was often silent — was
impressive. In his preaching Christ combined great dignity with
effectiveness ; no ranting or windmill oratory. We see
this reflected in the looks and comments of his audi
ences — they are astonished at his doctrine ; no one ever
spake like this man ; he speaks with authority, different
from the Scribes ; no man dares ask him any further
124

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
question; his adversaries are ashamed; they are per
suaded that he is Elijah or some other Prophet come
to life again.
His method of teaching was usually simplicity it
self ; plain-spoken, earnest, suited to his audiences; no
subtleties of doctrine or definition, no complicated sys
tem. Other religious teachers have been fond of lay
ing down detailed rules of conduct, with minute for
mulas for all possible occasions ; Christ preferred to lay
down general principles and leave the application to
each individual for himself — an admirable simplicity
to which we are at last gradually returning after cen
turies of ecclesiastical meddling.
It was the delight of the Scribes and Pharisees to
hedge themselves round about with great exclusive-
ness and ceremonial affectations, to try to magnify
their wisdom by dark sayings and their piety by ritu
alistic frills without end; Christ was superior to all
that, he needed no silly aids to his dignity or his doc
trine. No wonder that he amazed people who had had
little opportunity to observe a real scholar and a gentle
man. Christ respected himself and his mission. When
certain of the Scribes and Pharisees demanded some
125

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
liraculous sign of his authority, he rebuked their
npertinence severely. He told them, in effect, that
: was not his mission to gratify their curiosity, but it
ras their business to recognize and accept the truth
f his teachings.
In Christ's preaching and teaching speaks out the
ame straightforward manliness which characterized
verything else he did. He hit straight out from the
houlder, and never hesitated to say what he thought
Dr fear of offending some one who had influence, or
rom danger to himself. He never dodged or hedged
r refused to show his colors ; but sometimes he did not
noose to submit to unlimited quizzing. Then he came
ack at his questioner with searching counter-ques-
ons, crowding him so hard with his rapid-fire that
e was glad to draw out of range.
To us Occidentals his use of figures of speech may
eem excessive, but it is to be remembered that he was
peaking to Oriental audiences. The Oriental mind
jves circumlocution and abhors directness as the Om
ental does not. The use of stories and parables," how-
ver, has always been the most effective method of
caching "the general," and of this art Christ was a
laster. As dangers thickened and the Pharisees hov-
126

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
ered more and more wolfishly about him, he used this
indirect method more frequently as affording them less
opportunity for finding an accusation against him to
the Romans.
In comparison with Christ's style the rabbis' style of
discourse and exposition was unedifying to the last
degree. They delighted in mystical sayings and far
fetched interpretations, their notions were as fantastic
as those of insanity itself. Having no guiding prin
ciples and no sense of direction they wandered vaguely
about, lost in the woods of their own verbosity. Their
tribe is not extinct even in our day. It would seem
as if Christ made a point of presenting in his own
teaching as great a contrast as possible to their turgid
vacuity. His literary style, even in the second and
third hand form in which it has come down to us, is
the perfection of simplicity and the simplicity of per
fection. No scholar, whether religious or secular, can afford
to be ignorant of Christ's sayings simply as a matter
of literary culture, as an exercise in the most forceful
forms of self-expression. His diction was perfect.
Were it not that so many of his pithy sayings were
struck off in the heat of debate, we could hardly be-
127

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
lieve them to be extemporaneous; they flash with the
perfect polish of gems prepared at leisure in the study.
But his maxims and aphorisms were away over the
heads of most of his hearers, and even now they fall
on many ears too dull of hearing. Like all epigram
matic sayings, they must not be taken too literally, but
with due allowance for circumstances and hyperbole,
and especially with sympathetic insight. To the hard
shell literalist they are foolishness, and sometimes they
seem flatly contradictory.
The Disciples themselves, who enjoyed such excep
tional opportunities for a liberal education in Christ's
thought and diction, were often sadly at a loss. Re
peatedly were they compelled, after vainly debating
among themselves the meaning of one of his close
packed sentences, to come to him in private and ask
the interpretation.
Compared with Christ's words the reported sayings
of most of the sages of the world, whether considered
from an ethic or esthetic point of view, are crude, re
dundant, and often childish. Even when he voices the
same thought as theirs, the form in which he casts it is
always superior. For instance Confucius, the Chinese
ethical culturist five hundred years before Christ, had
128

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
also laid down a Golden Rule, but in this inferior nega
tive form as given in his Analects, book XV., chap.
23. — "What you do not want done to yourself, do not
do to others." Compare also Christ's "Judge not that
ye be not judged" — as terse and forceful as language
can be made — with this feeble circumlocution by Hillel,
the famous Rabbi, president of the Sanhedrim from
30 to 10 B. C, "Judge not thy neighbor until thou
findest thyself in his position !"
The best way to appreciate the superiority of Christ's
thought and diction, and the tremendous uplift which
his ministry gave to Occidental literature, secular as
well as religious, is to compare his words directly with
the great religious books which cover similar ground
and stand in a similar position historically. They are
the Analects of Confucius, the Canon of Buddha, and
the Koran of Mahomet ; the first two coming nearly as
many centuries before Christ as the latter came after.
Each of these world-famous books, or collects, also
written largely by disciples, is still revered by millions ;
and together they contain the religious or ethical prin
ciples of about three-fourths of the human race. It is
not easy to find parallel passages, but here are enough
for illustration. 129

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
The Dhammapada of Buddha: "A path of many re
births have I vainly traveled, seeking the builder of
this house; full of suffering is the birth over and
over again. Now that I have seen thee, oh builder of
the house, thou shalt not build it again. The rafters
all are broken, the battlements of the house demol
ished; the soul, having escaped changeability, has at
tained the end of desire."
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent." The Udanavarga of Buddha : "The pure man knows
not death, he who is impure dwells with death ; he who
is pure will not die, he who is impure dies repeatedly."
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." The Gospel of Buddha: "Those who imagine truth
in untruth, and see untruth in truth, never arrive at
truth, but follow vain desires. They who know truth
in truth, and untruth in untruth, arrive at the truth
and follow true desires."
"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." 130

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
Analects of Confucius, book XVIL, chapter 6 : "To
be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven
constitutes perfect virtue — gravity, generosity of soul,
sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. If you are grave,
you will not be treated with disrespect. If you are gen
erous, you will win all. If you are earnest, you will
accomplish much. If you are kind, this will, enable you
to employ the services of others."
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is
the first and great commandment. And the second is
like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Analects of Confucius, book IV., chapter 9: "The
scholar whose mind is set on truth, and who is ashamed
of bad clothes and bad food, is not fit to be conversed
with." "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than
raiment?" Analects of Confucius, Book III., chapter 13: "He
who offends against Heaven has none to whom he can
pray." "Him that cometh to me I will in nowise cast out."
Koran of Mahomet, chapter III.; beginning of
prayer: "O Lord, thou hast not created this in vain;
131

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
far be it from thee ; therefore deliver us from the tor
ment of hell fire; surely whom thou shalt throw into
fire thou wilt also cover with shame;" and so on for
several pages.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth
as it is in Heaven."
Koran, chapter L. ; The Resurrection : "And Paradise
shall be brought near unto the pious; and it shall be
said unto them, This is what ye have been promised;"
and so forth for several pages.
"He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die."
Koran, Chapter II. : "Do you, therefore, when
ever an apostle cometh unto you with that which your
souls desire not, proudly reject him, and accuse some
of imposture, and slay others?"
"0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!"
Few take the trouble to make a direct comparison
132

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
such as this of the words of Christ with those of the
other famous religious teachers and leaders of the
world. This is unfortunate. The consequence is that
people have a vague idea that the Bible is simply one
of several great sacred books, while they have not the
slightest conception of its immeasurable superiority
to all the others in every respect. After turning the
hundreds of dreary pages which make up the Analects,
the Buddhist Canon, and the Koran — the first two
containing no God and no hope ; all of them abounding
.in puerility and commonplace, and generally deficient
in literary merit — to turn to the crisp, luminous, gener
ally sublime words of Christ, breathing the love of a
Heavenly Father and the hope of Immortality for all
mankind, is to step from a dim, dank cavern into the
open light of day!
In these days we hear much about Menticulture.
Books and magazines are published explaining how
every one may make the most of his powers and ca
pacities, pointing out the sources of weakness in char
acter, stimulating us to strengthen the whole man at
every point. The Jews heard Christ with amazement,
saying, "How knoweth this man letters, having never
learned?" They never suspected how he had been
133

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
diligently utilizing the eighteen silent years in storing
his memory with all the wisdom of his age, in training
his tongue to perfect submission to his thought, and
his thought to submission to his will. In all those
years Christ was acquiring that wonderful sufficiency
for every occasion, that perfect poise, that tremendous
psychic power. In public he seemed not to know the
meaning of fear, nor was he ever "rattled;" this was
not due to stolidity, but to the wonderful grip he had
on himself. For we know that he did fear, that he
approached the cross with all the shrinking and horror
which disaster combined with a disgraceful and pain
ful death might well inspire in a sensitive, lofty soul.
In this above all he was supremely manlike and manly.
Many might claim to step exactly in his footsteps up
to the forty days, but from that point on he leaves
hopelessly behind all but the greatest saints and mar
tyrs. He was the model and perfect prototype of
Luther, defying an all-powerful hierarchy; of Wash
ington, upholding a desperate cause against foes with
out and traitors within; of Lincoln, teaching himself
by the log fire's light and dying a martyr for the
rights of the enslaved.
We are prone to assume that, up to the time of the
134

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
final tragedy, Christ enjoyed a ministry of easy tri
umph, having no serious obstacles to contend with save
the unbelief and hatred of the ruling classes. But
there is no lack of evidence that his whole ministry
was a strenuous struggle, and quite as much with
doubts within as with doubters without.
In his forty days' struggle Christ achieved a supreme
victory over self, decided on his future course, fore
tasted the agony of Calvary and accepted it, and put
away fearthought while retaining full forethought —
a perfection of menticulture which puts us weaklings
to the blush. He who fears is a slave, and every one
of us fears something. Christ finally freed himself
from that slavery, and showed us how we are to strive
for a like freedom.
But it would be rash to assume that Christ con
quered self once for all in his battles of the wilderness,
and henceforth had only to go on serenely in his moral
might. It is significant that Luke states that, after the
so-called "temptations," the Devil "departed from him
for a season," plainly implying that this was not the
last of it. Unquestionably there were many subse
quent self-struggles. At the Last Supper Christ tells
his Disciples that "ye are they which have continued
135

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
with me in my temptations." When we recall the many
tangled problems which he had to untangle for himself
in that month and a third, it is evident that, as time
passed by, numerous circumstances must have arisen
to try his resolution anew.
As has already been remarked, Christ had undertaken
a ministry which to all human prescience was the
height of foolhardiness. As time elapsed he himself
realized that, as a matter of fact, he was making no
serious headway in spite of the crowds and acclama
tions which greeted him. It is true that vast numbers
followed him about as soon as he became famous ; but
it was a gaping, selfish, fickle crowd in the main, out
for the loaves and fishes, having no real comprehen
sion of him, and just as ready to forsake him when the
tide turned. It was a situation to stagger the strongest
resolution. Think what a temptation was laid upon Christ to
temporize, to make some concession to the pedantry
of the Pharisees and the ignorance of the common peo
ple. The former are the men in whose hands his life
may some time lie; why not be diplomatic, why not
smooth over differences instead of stirring up ill-feel
ing? 136

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
On the other hand, why not bring his doctrine down
to the level of the ignorant and bigoted peasantry, cater
a little to their fanaticism, promise them what they
want and so secure their allegiance? Instead of that
Christ adhered to his almost chimerical project — to
present an absolutely new and distasteful doctrine, of
the highest ideality, to gross and fanatical minds in
such a way that it might be understood and accepted.
That demanded a rare and persuasive genius, and
Christ undertook the task without training in any
school of philosophy or elocution.
Although his chief appeal was to the poor and ig
norant, Christ never stooped to the arts of the dema
gogue, he never lowered his ideals to the level of their
foolish or perverted notions. On the contrary, he ad
dressed to that rude peasantry a diction which for
elevation of thought and feeling, elegance, force, and
epigramatic finish, has been the envy and despair of all
subsequent speakers. No one has been able to improve
on Christ's apothegms any more than on his doctrines,
and the best orators have always been glad to avail
themselves of quotations from his utterances.
No wonder that the record of his ministry is punc
tuated with exclamations of disappointment, of weari-
137

A STRANGE MINISTRY.
ness over the obtuseness and grossness of his country
men. It is significant and suggestive that, when Peter
undertook to dissuade him from persisting in his plan
even to the point of death, Christ turned upon him
with the same fierce rebuke with which he is repre
sented to have rejected the offer of worldly power
and glory two or three years before. "Get thee be
hind me, Satan," was not so much a rebuke of Peter's
well meant but ill advised remonstrance, as the ex
pression of a determination to beat down and banish
with all the energy of his soul the doubts and dis
couragements which had followed him relentlessly
throughout his ministry. How much closer it brings
the hero to us when we realize the manliness with
which he held to his resolution in spite of everything
and everybody. Surely no man who admires grit and
pluck can refuse his tribute.
Christ's self-reliance was as wonderful as his persis
tence. He kept straight on as he had begun, predict
ing that his words should stand forever; that eventu
ally, long after his death, they should be carried
throughout the world; that Eternity alone should be
hold their full fruition. Some men have thought in
continents, a few in hemispheres — Christ thought in
worlds and ages. 138

CHAPTER VIII.

A Successful Failure.

As we approach the final tragedy of this tragic life,
the manliness of Jesus Christ assumes heroic propor
tions. Not merely because he submitted to an agon
izing death with fortitude; grand as that is, many
men, both good and bad, even women and children,
have done as much. In Christ's death we stand in the
presence of a heroism which surpasses all other cour
age in that degree that it transcends all other experi
ence. Exactly how Christ's dual nature, as Son of God and
Son of Man, was constituted we cannot determine, but
we can perceive that from it flowed his supreme and
139

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
unparalleled suffering. This supreme suffering did
not depend upon the physiological principle that the
finer the nervous organization the keener is the agony.
Of course there is as much difference betwen indi
viduals as between races in susceptibility to suffering,
both physical and mental. The stolidity of the China
man defies the utmost ingenuity of his torturers, and
the fanatical exaltation of the Hindu devotee raises
him above the sensation of pain. But Christ was
neither stolid nor fanatical. Both by race and culture
he belonged to a highly sensitive type, and he drew
near to death with a deliberation which ensured a
maximum of suffering both anticipatory and actual.
Even when about to be nailed to the cross he refused
the alleviation of the narcotic drink, offered him ac
cording to custom to benumb the nerves and diminish
the agony of the crucified. Yet all this fails to ex
plain Gethsemane and Calvary.
Nor was Christ's supreme suffering the result of
the indignities to which he was subjected. That was
a rare chance for the Jewish rabble — to be able to
strike, insult, and spit upon defenseless nobility and
purity. The instinct of the canaille to recognize su
periority is unerring, and its hate is the more devilish
140

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
as it feels instinctively its own inferiority ; so it cringes
until the time comes when it can safely rend and tear.
Every person of refinement has had some sad ex
perience of the delight with which vulgarity, in small
things or great, seizes upon any opportunity to avenge
itself upon those who have committed the unforgivable
offense of being superior to it. As Christ said to his
brethren, "The world cannot hate you; but me it
hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof
are evil." He was in the world, but not of it; a fact
which the world was quick to recognize, for the world
knows its own. But the men and women who can do
without the world are just those whom the world can
not do without.
Here was the loftiest possible embodiment of hu
manity; a ilife of exalted thought, word, and deed
which had been a perpetual rebuke to all that was
gross and petty; the hands which had served only to
bless and relieve were bound and helpless — what a
chance to let loose the hellish malice of all meanness !
Little they knew or cared about the questions at issue
between Christ and the Pharisees; they simply saw
the chance to glut their hate of goodness and wis
dom, and they made the most of it. When we remem-
141

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
ber that Christ had all the instincts of a gentleman,
and when we recall the spirit with which he had al
ways faced down his assailants, we are able to realize,
faintly, the manly self-control which enabled him to
receive all those filthy insults with his habitual ma
jestic calmness.
But all this is not sufficient explanation. Of course
it was no ordinary dread of either pain or humiliation
which caused that agonized shrinking in the Garden
of Gethsemane; the desperate prayer that, if possible,
this cup might pass. That is the usual explanation,
but it is totallly insufficient. It is inconceivable that
Christ was not equal to a test which so many of man
kind have met firmly; his whole ministry forbids it.
There was some strange soul agony involved in his
death, compared with which mere bodily pain was a
trifling matter, and we can be very sure of its reality
by observing its effects, both physical and moral.
That the shadow of an impending Horror of some
kind had loomed darker and larger above his path as
the passing days brought him nearer and nearer to
Golgotha, and that the dread anticipation lay heavy
upon his spirit long beforehand, is shown by his own
words. Much effort has been expended on the explan-
142

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
ation of the exact nature of that Horror, mostly tend
ing toward the supernatural and mystical; but it de
tracts from that "last full measure of devotion" to ob
trude the supernatural unnecessarily. To him certain
ly it was intensely real to force such a steadfast soul
as his to beg for mitigation; that strange Something
so appalled him that he faintly hoped, even to the
last, that it might be evaded. The shrinking in Geth
semane was natural, not supernatural; which is just
the reason why Christ's heroism is worthy to stand
at the head of all martyrdoms.
Perhaps we can obtain some light on this dark sub
ject by questioning another actor in the tragedy of
the Garden — Judas Iscar;iot. It is foreign to the
purpose of this writing to enter into any detailed dis
cussion of the character and intentions of the traitor,
but it is necessary for a correct understanding of
Christ's position at this point to note the following
facts. First, the commonly accepted idea that Judas be
trayed his Master simply and solely for the sake of
obtaining the paltry value of thirty pieces of silver
for himself, involves serious difficulties. Taking the
lowest view of his character — that "he was a thief,
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A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
and had the bag, and bore what was kept therein" —
betrayal would be the height of folly even from an
avaricious point of view, for he would thereby cut
himself off from all the advantages and dishonest op
portunities of treasurer of the company of the Dis
ciples. Self-interest would keep him loyal in appear
ance at least, so long as he enjoyed the handling of
the common fund.
Again, it is to be noted that there was great dissat
isfaction with Christ's refusal to take to himself some
temporal power. Even the most devoted of his follow
ers found their faith sorely tried by his persistence in
remaining passive at the very time when it seemed to
them that he should deliver his master-stroke. Of
course Judas shared this opinion, and strongly. Doubt
less golden visions floated before his eyes of a great
kingdom to be established, with Christ as King and
himself as First Lord of the Treasury. He made up
his mind that Christ was making a great mistake, that
he failed to grasp the situation and the opportunity,
that the only way was to compel him to assert him
self. Judas was by no means the first of the Disciples
to take upon himself the responsibility of showing
Christ his "mistakes." 144

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
The behavior of Judas at the Last Supper was not
that of a detected villain. A malicious traitor, when
he finds that his treachery is discovered, does one of
three things; he confesses and begs for mercy, or he
braves it out and asserts his innocence, or he slinks
away too frightened to complete his treachery. Judas
does none of these things. In silence he accepts the
sop which proclaims him to all as the betrayer, and
goes out to complete his undertaking just as if he had
understood Christ's "That thou doest, do quickly" to
be an implied approval of his plan.
There are several other facts which indirectly, but
strongly, confirm this view. Why should Judas adopt
a device so clumsy and offensive as a kiss for the pur
pose of indicating Christ to the arresting party ? Al
most any other way would have been equally effective,
much simpler and easier; in fact, kissing would be
the last method which a black-hearted traitor would
think of using. Besides, in case Christ and the Dis
ciples, already forewarned of his intention, should
resist, kissing would be impossible. All these difficul
ties are avoided by supposing that Judas was pre
sumptuous rather than base, that he adopted the sign
of the kiss as equivalent to saying, "I have brought
145

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
the enemy upon you, not as a traitor, but as a friend ;
that you may be compelled, like Samson, to put forth
your power."
On any other supposition Christ's reception of the
kiss of betrayal is incomprehensible. For a far smaller
offense he had previously turned upon Peter with the
scathing rebuke, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Yet
this basest of insults and injuries — according to the ac
cepted view — he receives quietly with "Friend, where
fore art thou come?" or, according to another account,
"Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?"
It certainly looks as if Christ had reasons for taking
a much more lenient view of Judas' action than his
followers have taken.
Further confirmation is found in Judas' terrible re
morse the moment he discovered that he had over
shot the mark, that his presumptuous interference had
brought down disaster upon all concerned, himself
included. His remorse and expiation were too im
mediate, violent and complete to be explained solely
by instant repentance of an evil deed.
In short, there is strong presumptive evidence that
it was Judas' intention — acting no doubt from mixed
motives, as men always do — to force the situation,
?4$

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
What he succeeded in doing was to precipitate the
crisis of Christ's career. Without such interference
that crisis might have been postponed indefinitely,
Christ might have gone on preaching a long time be
fore his enemies mustered up courage to use physical
violence against him. The fight between himself and
the Pharisees had been fierce and even bitter, but so
far it had been a war of words only, for they feared
the people. That this situation should continue would
seem to have been greatly to the advantage of Christ's
mission, that his opportunity to teach the people and
confirm his Disciples might be extended as far as
possible. At any rate the situation was now completely
changed. Not that Christ was either entrapped
or endangered. It is to be carefully remembered that
there was no necessity whatever for him to play into
the plot of Judas if he did not choose so to do. The
injury which Judas inflicted upon his Master was not
— as popularly supposed — that he delivered him to his
enemies; that was out of his power. It was that he
forced him to come to a premature decision. For
three courses of action were still open to Christ, and
he was perfectly free to select. Of these the simplest
i47

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
course was merely to evade the issue, by going any
where that night except to the Mount of Olives.
The second course open was to follow his natural
inclination, to face the enemy boldly as he always had,
but this time with force; electrify the people and re
store his prestige ; ride into power on a wave of popu
lar enthusiasm; finish his ministry with triumph for
his cause and confusion for his foes. That certainly
was an attractive program and quite feasible; it was
the course which any one else would have adopted.
That such thoughts were passing through Christ's
mind there is a hint in his advice to the Disciples at
the Last Supper to buy swords. Another hint occurs
in his rebuke to Simon Peter, when, the latter at
tempted, by a well meant but ill aimed blow, to bisect
the head of one of the attacking party with a sword.
"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels" strongly suggests that the idea of
meeting force with force had just been present in the
mind of Christ.
There was one other alternative — to turn his back
on all this, to yield himself without a blow to disaster,
disgrace, despair, darkness and death. It was the old
148

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
"temptation" of the wilderness, revived, yet how dif
ferent. The dread alternative which, three years be
fore, was remote and hypothetical, now stares him in
the face in full grisly horror. The probability of it
had been dogging his footsteps all the time ; more and
more certainly had he come to realize that some day
it must become an actuality, yet without Judas' inter
ference it need not have come so soon. Now he is
compelled to decide. No wonder that he is in an
agony of mental conflict! The great Decision, ex
tended over forty days, was a slight matter compared
with this concentrated anguish.
And here springs into highest relief the importance
of insisting on that virility of Christ's character which
has been emphasized throughout these pages. It is
the key to the riddle which has puzzled the centuries.
With that left out it is impossible to understand Geth
semane and Calvary; a difficulty which many have felt
and have sought to remove by various expedients, but
without success. Christ was no weakling, who had
been meekly and mildly preaching righteousness, and
then tamely gave up at the first exhibition of force.
As has been explained above, and should never be for
gotten, he was a powerful, aggressive character; full
149

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
of fight for what was right and tremendously in earn
est; who had spent thirty years in preparation, and
three years in sacrificing everything to a mission in
which his whole soul was centered.
At first that mission had given promise of great
success. But later came reaction, many converts de
serted him, the Hierarchy became more hostile, more
than once he was obliged to retreat into obscure places
to save his life. From one of those retreats he
emerged to make his final entry into Jerusalem, which
developed into a great popular demonstration and tri
umph. Multitudes had come up to the Feast of the
Passover, as usual ; it has been estimated that on such
occasions the city held within its narrow limits as many
as two millions of people. The city was in a ferment,
part arguing for him, and part against him. Even
many members of the Sanhedrim were secretly
in his favor, but dared not come out on his side while
the issue was so uncertain. The success of his mis
sion seemed to be swaying in the balance. It needed
only a word from Christ to start a formidable move
ment. Every day he appeared in the Temple, followed by
vast crowds. He defied the Hierarchy on their own
150

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
ground by driving out the money-brokers and mer
chants from the sacred enclosure (a source of much
pious Pharisaic profit) and by exposing and denounc
ing their hypocrisy in the most public manner and
the severest terms. From a worldly point of view his
career was at its zenith.
Meanwhile the Sadducees, Scribes and Pharisees
were at their wits' end. Something must be done, yet
there was nothing which they dared do. Then came
Judas' offer, and they snatched at it. Now they
thought they saw a way to crush Christ and his mis
sion at one blow.
Now, if ever, was the time for Christ to resort to
other means than moral suasion. Even now it was
not too late to snatch victory from defeat by one
bold stroke, by doing that which his friends had all
along been urging him to do, which his enemies feared
that he might do. For years he had fought a good
fight, accepting every challenge, repelling every at
tack, routing and pursuing his opponents — now should
he give up ? Every drop of fighting blood in his body
cried No!
And yet he did give up ! Why ? For two reasons
mainly. Christ was resolved to finish consistently the
151

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
mission on which he had decided in the wilderness and
which he had preached to thousands — the mission of
proclaiming and inaugurating a purely spiritual king
dom, free from all worldly entanglements whatsoever.
His kingdom must prevail solely through the power
of its truth over the souls of men, otherwise let it fail.
To employ force in any form were self-stultification.
Note, in passing, that this supreme test of Christ's
manly devotion to his principles, although more like
a temptation to do wrong than that of the wilderness,
was really no temptation to do anything which was
wrong per se. This was as near as a perfectly sinless
being could come to experiencing temptation to do
evil. Yet that does not exclude him from full sym
pathy with us, for it is true of the great majority of
our temptations also that they are not allurements to
anything intrinsically evil, but only to something which
is made wrong by the conditions of the case. He
knows well, only too well, what it is to be tempted to
do what is right and proper in itself, only that it in
volves some surrender of principle, the giving up of
some ideal, the being false to one's highest self.
Rather than do that Christ embraced the Cross.
The other great reason was that his mission must
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A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
remain forever unfinished except it ended in disaster
to himself. Worldly triumph meant spiritual failure,
because a large part of his mission was to sound all
the heights and depths of human experience. Thus
far he had given to the world a perfect example of
strength and courage fighting strenuously for the
truth, a model of militant manliness for all ages to
come. But the other model remained untouched. Life
is full of disappointment, failure, and despair; indeed,
they make up the greater part of the world's experi
ence. What could Christ know about failure and de
spair if he chose the course of routing his enemies by
force? What consolation and inspiration could the
story of his life bring to souls bowed down? There
will be no tears in the eyes which read that story un
less there were tears in the heart which lived that life.
A triumphant Christ were an imperfect Christ.
And so he chose the course which no one else would
have chosen, he trod the path which no one else has
ever trod. For what hero in all the history of the
world, holding in his hand the triumph of the cause
more dear to him than life itself, has put it aside of his
own accord, and for such a reason? And so Christ
elected to show how a strong man should die ; how an
i53

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
ambitious man should deny his dearest ambition; how
a man instinct with all the energies and talents for
success should patiently accept failure — for the sake
of principle. That was his Agony.
The scene in the Garden presents another strange
incident, of minor importance, but pointing in the same
direction — the great loneliness from which Christ suf
fered. This was something new. In all his previous
self-conflicts his chief concern had been to seek com
plete isolation on the mountain or in the desert; now
for the first time he yearns for human sympathy and
nearness in his distress. Was not this because he felt
less need of sympathy while his heart was in the fight,
but now that he had given up the struggle, and these
few souls were the only tangible result of all his ef
forts and his sacrifices, he longed to have them near
him in the short time remaining? If so, it is a very
human touch. Perhaps, too, he looked wistfully for
some sign in them that they felt his disappointment
and his heart-break. If so, he looked in vain. Even
that poor consolation was denied him. Appreciating
his distress as feebly as they had understood his doc
trine^ — they went to sleep!
And now that he had given up the fight, it would
154

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
seem as if the doubts which had all along assailed him
in ever increasing swarms, began at last to prevail
against even his faith and optimism. After all might
it be that the critics were right and he wrong; that
no world-salvation could be accomplished by all his
self-sacrifice; that he was a self-deluded leader of the
deluded? How could world-wide results be expected
to flow from so small a source as three scant years of
preaching? To such an intense nature as his such a
prospect, not because it involved disaster for him
self, but because on him hung the last hope of lifting
mankind out of the sin in which the whole world
wallowed — such failure were far more terrible than
mere physical death. All who came before him had
failed' — Prophets, Martyrs, Priests and Kings — now
was he also to fail? Then farewell hope for the hu
man race forever!
At last the hero puts this temptation also under
foot. Gethsemane returns its final answer to the Wil
derness — one and the same as at the first — for the
battle of the wilderness has lasted more than forty
days. Christ goes forth firmly to his death, with no
certainty that he is not a failure, but resigned to
leave all in the hands of his Father. He has nerved
155

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
himself to finish his course, to go down with his flag
nailed to the mast, for Christ was one of those who
"never go back."
But now his attitude changes, to that of a man who
has quit fighting because he has fought to a stand
still, and who cares little for what may follow. In
the main he maintains a dignified silence in the pres
ence of his accusers and judges. When their efforts
to prove his treason by the testimony of witnesses fall
flat, he expedites matters and helps them out of their
dilemma by giving the reply which they need in order
to prove their case.
But the old buoyancy of spirit is gone. Hopeful
courage and spiritual energy no longer sustain the
body under pain and privation ; it gives way. Physical
reaction follows spiritual ebb, he cannot even bear
his cross as the others. The black pall which
shrouds his spirit, usually so bright and brave, by in
tensifying his sufferings tenfold, mercifully shortens
them. Crucifixion was neither death nor life, but an awful
protracted suspense between the two. The sufferer
usually survived a long time, lingering in unspeakable
agony for three, four, even five days ; until death was
156

A SUCCESSFUL FAILURE.
not dreaded but welcomed. Now Christ was of power
ful physique, he had led an active outdoor life
without disease, he was in the prime of manhood, yet
he survived only six hours on the cross, or about
twelve hours after the arrest. He was the first of the
three to die. So astonished was the experienced Pilate
that he called on the Roman officer in charge of the
execution to certify to the fact.
For this strange collapse of a strong man in a short
time, for the mystery of Gethsemane and Calvary, the
Manly Christ affords a solution, the only adequate ex
planation ever offered — that Despair of his mission
which reached a climax in the agonized cry, "My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me !" Calvary, Geth
semane, and the Wilderness are one.
Now he cares not how fast the failing flesh gives
way — only to be Himself consistently until the end —
until he can say
IT IS FINISHED.

157

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WW