DISCIPLESHIP: The Scheme of Christianity a flit ®fcf rtogimt & ^M PRINCETON, N. J. *g Presented by (StTT 2 V^La-V r\ nn » e> c3ov^ S , BS 2555 .A8 1894 Author of the King and the Kingdom. Discipleship DISCIPLESHIP: THE SCHEME OF CHRISTIANITY. By the same Author. THE KING AND THE KINGDOM: A STUDY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. THREE SERIES. EACH COMPLETE IN ITSELF. Medium 8vo. Cloth, each 3s. 6rf. Evening News. — There is throughout the work a boldness and a freshness winch charms the reader. CH0RCH and Queen. — We have read with deep interest the three volumes . . . We would unhesitatingly recommend scholars and students to give it a place upon their library shelves. Independent. — This is an interesting book . . . It has the charm of freshness and sincerity ... It is profoundly interesting to see an image of Christ. veracious, consistent and reverend, emerging under the hands of a man who has begun by trying to rid himself of all theological prepossessions in his study. Critical Review. — It contains much that is suggestive and profitable, and the reasonableness, broadmindedness, and sympathy of an enlightened Christian spirit are continually coming into view. Expository Times. — His discoveries are thoroughly healthy and simple, and it is exceedingly likely that an intelligent reader will find the books profitable, and even surprisingly stimulating. CHRISTIAN Commonwealth. — Both in matter and method these three volumes are strikingly interesting . . . They are sufficiently critical lor all practical purposes, and yet are not weighted down with erudition ... It is rather remarkable that a work of so much merit should appear anonymously ; but if it is judged as should be its value will not be diminished because it is not given to the public through some distinguished name. Newbery House Magazine. — We think we have said enough to indicate the absolute worthlessness of the volumes before us. Manchester Examiner. — We should personally prefer either the Gospels as they stand, or a good commentary by an expositor of repute. Church Bells. — We can, therefore, only take this as another life of Christ very much on the lines of those we already have, and it is one marked by care, insight, and reverent sympathy. Cuurch Times.— As a "Study of the Four Gospels," we cannot pronounce it a success. FRIEND. — It is evident that " no fear of adverse judgment or criticism, no dread of blame, no hope of praise or profit, have been at work to interfere with the expression of free and honest thought." Pall Mall Gazette. — Very dull, if here and there somewhat original, will be the probable verdict . . . Indeed the apparatus criticus used is of the simplest. Coming Day. — He is a cool and painstaking guide and is worth attention. Christian Age. — Less theology and more of the Gospel of Christ is the key-note of the work . . . Although the writer is a man of undoubted scholarship, yet he advauces no lofty pretensions to erudite exposition . . . There is no doubt that this latest contribution to exegetical literature is meritorious and valuable. ROCK. — A work of some erudition, involving considerable labour and evincing an independent line of exposition . . . The book is a monument of industry. More than a thousand closely written jiages, with marginal references and copious indexes, attest at once the perseverance, the critical acumen, the originality, and the evident desire of the author to be faithful to his own convictions. Christian "Would. — The work gives everywhere evidence of minute and con- scientious study of the Gospels and of heartfelt devotion to the Person they describe. Inquirer. — This is an earnest work by a mind evidently open to receive and desirous to impart fresh thoughts about "the old, old story." The anony- mous author disarms hostile criticism by the complete sincerity and naivete of his style, which, though dealing with matters long since clouded by con- troversies, is as simple and direct as could be desired . . . The honesty and spiritual insight displayed will commend the work to the respect of students . . . It is rich in fruitful suggestions. Literary World. — The work ... is worthy of commendation for its fairness, frankness, sound common sense, keen insight, and monumental industry. Bradford Observer. — The author's aim to get back to the simple teaching of the Pounder of Christianity is a worthy one : and his strictures on modern perversions of this teaching are justly severe. Baptist. —He has certainly brought together the four stories of the great life in such a way, and united them into such a connected narrative, that his book will be a valuable addition to the library of students of the Gospels. Scottish Leader. — To the English student of the Bible . . . who has small Greek and no Hebrew, the book will no doubt be a welcome aid. London and Edinburgh : Williams & Norgate. New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. DISCIPLESHIP: THE SCHEME OE CHRISTIANITY BY THE AUTHOR OF THE KING AND THE KINGDOM : A STUDY OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. : ' So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is God to man, When Duty whispers low, Thou must, The youth replies, I can.' R. W. Emerson. WILLIAMS AND NOHGATE, 14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON; and 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH. New York: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 1804. LONDON : liKAlJlSirRY, AGNEW, & CO. I.D., PRINTERS, WHITEFR1ARS. PEEFACE. Whoever would set himself to the task of investigating, freely and without prejudice, the Religion handed down to us by our forefathers, must needs lay the foundation of his enquiry broad and deep. Nothing less will suffice than a thorough search and sifting of the original Gospel records, pondering at each step the drift of the teaching of Jesus, and keeping an open mind with respect to whatever is supernatural and miraculous in the narratives. That was the task undertaken by the author some twenty years ago, and the results of his labour have lately been submitted to the public under the title " The King and the Kingdom : a Study of the Four Gospels." It was essential to his purpose to rely only on the New Testament histories, aided by a few critical translations, and taking as an exponent of the current theology one of the most advanced of the orthodox Commentators of the da}'. Beyond that, the fewer guides the better, if the writer's meditations were to have the value which attaches to independent aud self-evolved thought. Himself among the humblest of students, his book will probably appeal rather to those of his own class than to orthodox theologians or to reviewers whose classical training and rationalistic tendencies justify some scorn of an apparatus criticus which is ' of the simplest.' The reviews which have appeared have been in most cases sympathetic and, on the whole, appreciative, some laudatory, only a few hostile, and the rest neutral. One reviewer, who could state : ' We have read with deep interest the three volumes,' observes that there ' are certain propositions of a novel and startling character'; another alludes to 'discoveries' which are ' thoroughly healthy and simple ' ; another writes : ' we hope soon to give attention to some special features which viii PREFACE. are presented in these volumes ' : but with these exceptions, out of some thirty press and magazine notices, no indication is given of any consciousness on the part of the critics of the far-reaching and revolutionary tendency of the author's views on the supremely important question of Discipleship. If that he overlooked, the chief purpose of the publication of the book must remain unfulfilled. Yet, for a time, owing to the nature and scope of the investigation, it could scarcely have been otherwise. The ablest and most impartial of reviewers cannot do more than glance at the salient topics ; and when these, as in this case, are not arranged methodically but are scattered throughout a book which has been justly described as ' unrelieved by chapters or sections,' and as written ' without bias, Avithout anxiety, and without a case,' — they are easily lost sight of. To bring them into due prominence the author himself must group them. Some enthusiasm for research must exist also in the readers who will devote themselves to so prolonged and minute a study of the Gospels, and only by slow degrees will they assimilate the ideas and conclusions which were generated in the same gradual manner in the mind of the author- But for one person who will take up such a work and study it consecu- tively, there are many who must either be furnished with an epitome, or who will remain in ignorance of the results arrived at. For these reasons it has been deemed advisable to issue the present volume. The fact that it is shorter and more attractive than the previous work, is by no means in its favour : for here the reader is led, without any preliminary effort of study on his own part, to the views which have been worked up to by a step to step process, salutary and delightful indeed, but none the less laborious. It must be better for every man to form his own opinions, instead of simply taking up and accepting — or criticising and rejecting — those of others. Had the doctrine of Discipleship now enunciated been published originally apart from other matter, with a view to popular acceptance, simply PREFACE. ix as the outcome of the writer's private and undisclosed studies, it might well have been denounced as a dangerous novelty. For nothing is easier than to argue questions from foregone conclusions : it is one thing to broach hasty and superficial opinions, and quite another thing to have opinions conceived and matured within us through painstaking study. No light responsibility rests upon an author who seeks to disseminate fresh notions respecting Christian faith and duty ; but to withhold them from the world, after they have been long and duly weighed, would involve a distrust of truth and a want of charity. It is, however, by no means to be desired that the aspect under which Discipleship is here presented, should be embraced hastily, inasmuch as it not only modifies the old and common creed, but should transform the aims, hopes and lives of Christians. Is not the reader bound to examine and judge for himself ? Must he not share with the writer that responsi- bility ? It was necessary that some solitary, plodding thinker should first raise this momentous question. Once brought to the front, it claims from thoughtful and truth-seeking minds calm, unprejudiced consideration and a just and wise decision. May whatever is erroneous be detected and exposed, and may the Truth prevail ! The next step forward must be taken by men of action, who are prepared to put into practice the precepts of Him who said : ' If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples ' (John viii. 31). CONTENTS. — • — PAGE I. DlSCIPLESHIP 1 II. Socialism 88 III. Forgiveness 93 IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS 122 V. Baptism and Confirmation 130 VI. Resurrection 141 VII. The Spiritual Body 168 VIII. TxOD 173 IX. Jehovah 177 X. Miracles 182 XI. Demons 200 XII. The Church 208 XIII. The Sabbath ....'.... 210 XIV. Salvation 215 XV. The Mother of Jesus 225 XVI. Epilogue ~ 231 DISCIPLESHIP: THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHEIST. DISCIPLESHIP. When Jesus, being about thirty years of age, began his ministry, he had, undoubtedly and of necessity, a definite plan of action. He gathered round him a band of disciples, who accepted him as their Rabbi or Teacher, and to them, in his Sermon on the Mount, he de- livered his precepts. The rules of life and action laid down in that marvellous and unique discourse have, taken as a whole, no parallel in the ethics of mankind : they are not only high, pure, unselfish, but altogether unworldly, and so contrary are they to recognised maxims of prudence and conduct, that they are generally considered to portray an ideal perfection of heart and life, which is impossible of attainment in this world, being in many respects incompatible with our earthly duties and surroundings. Our fixed mental attitude on this subject has become so habitual, that it is assumed to be the only possible and reasonable one. Here is the first conclusion naturally arrived at when undertaking an independent and cautious study of the teaching of Jesus. Care and discrimination ai*e required not only in order to appre- * * hend the scope and import of these exhortations of Jesus, but also with respect to putting them into practice. At no single step in the ■course of investigation or of action, can the exercise of our own thought and intelligence be dispensed with. The clearest maxims and the loftiest philosophy cannot abolish private judgment and personal responsibility. The maxim 'judge not' must not degenerate ■into a tacit acquiescence with evil ; 'condemn not, 1 must not interfere with a healthy censorship on behalf of morality and integrity ; to 1 release ' men generally from obligations legally contracted would be * The letters K. and K. in the margin refer to The King and the Kingdom : a Study of the Four Gospels. B I II. 2 DISCIPLESHIP : offering a premium to recklessness and dishonesty ; the habit of ' giving ' indiscriminately has a tendency to raise up and perpetuate a class of lazy mendicants and helpless paupers. Considerations of this kind press upon our attention, and we must not venture to disregard them. God has placed us in a world which moves and changes, and we must needs shape our actions by the force of events and circum- stances. If only we imbibe the spirit of these sublime teachings of Jesus, we shall escape extremes on either side. His aim was to elevate the tone of society, and it would be a poor homage to him and his cause to urge a slavish adherence to the letter of his precepts. to the stultifying of our own intelligence and the demoralization of others. Admitting the truth of all that, a deeper study of the subject leads to the conviction that it does not express the whole truth, and that the positive commands of Jesus were meant to be implicitly, albeit not universally, obeyed. The first step towards a right understanding of the matter, is a realisation of the fact that the disciples of Jesus were called to occupy a conspicuous position, ' in the world ' and yet ' not of the world,' and to exercise a peculiar and beneficent influence. k. and k. i. Addressing his disciples, persecuted for his sake, Jesus dwelt upon ' ' their importance to the world. He compared them to ' the salt of the earth/ the universal condiment which flavours men's daily food, and best preserves it from putrefaction. It would be scarcely possible to supply its place ; its properties are unique, and if they should be • 5 Mat. is lost, nothing could restore the missing pungency. ' Ye arc the salt of the earth : but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted ? ' All its value would be gone, beyond redemption, and it , 3 would be cast away as worthless. ' It is thenceforth good for nothing* but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.' The simile implies that in the doctrine of Jesus, to be promulgated by his disciples, there was something peculiar, a ' salt ' which had no- counterpart in anything else, which was necessary for the health and comfort of everyone, and for which no effectual substitute could be found. Carrying the idea onward, and to deepen in the minds of his disciples a sense of their importance to mankind, Jesus compared „ h them to light itself. ' Ye are the light of the world.' Tn them were centred rays of truth and of rectitude by which they and others must be guided. The disciples of Jesus could not be obscured ; they would be raised above the ordinary level of humanity. Let them 14 recognize the conspicuousness of their high position. 'A city set on * The Scriptural quotations are from the Revised Version except when otherwise noted. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHEIST. 3 > 11,. shepherd and the flock he guides and guards. ' I am the good shop- w Jo]m u herd : and I know mine own, and mine own know me.' The simile does not admit the idea of equal knowledge on both sides. The sheep know the shepherd by his voice, but his powers of discernment are of a higher order. Between Jesus and his own, however, there is a knowledge based upon intellect and will : ' even as the Father „ 16 knoweth me, and I know the Father.' Alford notes : ' Beware of rendering the former clause of verse 15, as in the Authorised Version, as an independent sentence, .4s my Father hwiveth me, even so know I the Father: it is merely the sequel to verse 14.' Tischendorf agrees with the Revisers, who have adopted Alford's view, which cor- 8 DISCIPLESHIP : responds also with Luther's version. Jesus knew well that the 10 joim in tragic end of the faithful shepherd was appointed for himself. 'And I lay down my life for the sheep.' Yet in spite of premature death „ 16 he looked forward to an extension of his influence. ' And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold : them also I must bring (or, lead), and they shall hear my voice.' Alford observes : The other sheep are the Gentiles ; not the dispersion of the Jews, who were already in God's fold.'' That interpretation is corroborated by the io Acts. vision subsequently sent to Peter, by the mission of the apostle Paul to the heathen world, and by the reverential enthusiasm with which 14 Acts -27 he and Barnabas announce the fact that God ' had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles.' It is to be observed that Jesus reverts to the words of the original simile, ' them also I must lead, and they shall hear my voice,' but he does not repeat, ' even as the Father knoweth me, and I know the Father.' His mode of guidance now is indirect ; he is in the heavens ; we hear his voice as of one who towers above us, and whose nature and attributes we cannot attain to. His earthly flock is held together rather by the instinct of gre- gariousness than by the guidance of himself and his Spirit ; we have a knowledge of his voice, of his call, rather than of his words ; some have professed to reveal him through the subtleties of the Athanasian creed ; some have attained to the conceptions of him embodied in the Nicene creed : for most of us the simple, historical facts of the Apostles' creed suffice : we hear his voice and are to a certain extent led by it, — he himself did not say that we should understand it, — and how little his words and their spirit are comprehended through- out Christendom, let our standing armies, our daily records of crime, our social evils in their multitudinous forms, attest. He has told us earthly things, and we believe not : how shall we believe when he tells us of heavenly things ? The first and foremost aim of Jesus was to give pasture to his flock, — to satisfy the needs of our common humanity ; and till the Church accomplishes that work, by moulding' the framework of Christian society after the pattern of the Sermon on the mount and the other hints which Jesus gave respecting the principles and regulations of his ' assembly,' no realisation will have been attained, or properly attempted, of that kingdom of heaven which he came to establish on earth. It was the purpose of Jesus to unite all of mankind who would accept his supremacy into one com- jo join, 16 panionship and fellowship. ' And they shall become one flock (or, there shall be one flock), one shepherd.' Alford observes : ' The one flock is remarkable — not onefold, as characteristically, but erroneously rendered in the Authorised Version : not one fold, but one flock ; no one exclusive enclosure of an outward church, but one flock, all knowing the one Shepherd and known of Him.' THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. \) Proceeding step by step in our investigation, the non-universality of the call to discipleship becomes more and more apparent. While Jesus was thus despondent with respect to some, he deemed K - and k._ it necessary to repress the hasty, inconsiderate ardour of others. Large numbers not only heard him, but followed him, rendered by Young, ' were going on with him.' Jesus turned round, faced the crowd, and assured them that this keeping by him, watching him, listening to him, did not and could not amount to discipleship. His idea of a disciple was a man prepared to go to the very extreme of sacrifice and self renunciation. ' Now there went with him great u Luke 2c multitudes, and he turned, and said unto them, If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can- not be my disciple.' The dedication of one's self to the cause of Jesus would necessitate the snapping of every earthly tie, the abandonment of all other duties and relationships, however close and sacred, and the sacrifice of life itself. Even that strong language was not enough, for Jesus added : ' Whosoever doth not bear his own „ jt cross and come after me, cannot lie my disciple.' "We know that Jesus anticipated, — for he foretold, — his own death by crucifixion. His mention of a cross for his followers meant nothing less than that. The sight, in those days of stern Roman justice, must have been a common one, of a malefactor led out to death bearing his own cross. That was the end to which Jesus would have his disciples look for- ward ; and he desired those about him to weigh the matter well, to count the cost fully, before committing themselves to his enterprise. In his usual way, he illustrated the subject by a parable. In entering upon any costly undertaking, it was wise and necessary to forecast the extent of the probable requirements and resources. ' For which „ 28 of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it.' To leave the work unfinished for want of funds, would be a folly so egregious as to expose the builder to derision. ' Lest haply, when he hath laid „ 20 a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. As though that simile were not strong enough, Jesus put forward another. He pictured a king compelled to face the stern arbitra- ment of war ; and on very unequal terms, having at his command only one half of the forces likely to be arrayed against him. The certainty of utter ruin in the event of defeat, would impel to the gravest and most careful counsel beforehand : the question would be earnestly pondered whether the deficiency in numbers could be counterbalanced by superiority in valour, skill, or otherwise. If not, an ambassador would be forthwith despatched to arrange terms of 10 DISCIPLESHIP : peace. ' Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand ? Or else, while the other is yet a great way ■off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.' The question of fighting or capitulating might depend, however, not upon the most probable issue, but upon the spirit of the king and his people, if they were prepared to face all risks rather than to submit to a hateful foreign sway. Such were the difficulties to be faced and the problems to be solved by those who contemplated discipleship to Jesus. They were called to an undertaking which would swallow up the whole of their fortune, to a war to be waged at heavy odds, which gave no hope of victory, but must be fought out for the sake of Jesus and of conscience. ' So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.' All this, we may be sure, was not said without a serious and definite purpose. The disciples of Jesus were not mere investigators and adherents of a system of philosophy or religion, but followers of himself, destined to go forth as he did on the work of evangelisation. It was of the utmost importance to his cause that it should not be undertaken by the wavering and half- hearted. He had w r arned his twelve apostles of the persecution which would surely overtake them, and he desired that none should join them who were not animated by enthusiasm, ready to suffer the loss of all things, and even to lay down their lives for the truth's sake. So far was Jesus from inviting all to become his disciples, that he repelled all who were not cast in the strongest mould, resolute men, intensely earnest, prepared to spend and be spent in his service. It is important to recognise and emphasise this fact, for many readers and expounders of the gospels are apt to assume that every saying of Jesus is of universal application. It behoves us to study his words closely, carefully, exercising common sense and discrimination. Those he sought to keep back from a profession of discipleship were none the less able, on that account, to rejoice in the gospel he preached and the truths he taught, to take him as their shepherd, their life- guide, their Saviour, laying hold of the promise of age-during life through him. Jesus never called all men to relinquish everything and to follow him. Still less does he do so now. High-flown exhortations to that effect, however much they may seem to accord with his commands, are misplaced, misleading, irrational. "We do not, we will not, we cannot act upon them. The error of judgment which leads to them cannot be too strongly deprecated, for it tends to the wounding of weak consciences, and to the perpetuation of the pernicious idea that obedience to Christ's precepts is beyond our reach. The great dread of Jesus was lest men should profess and THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 11 attempt too much, hastily and only nominally enrolling themselves as his disciples, whom he had previously designated as ' the salt of 5 Mat. is the earth.' The simile was aptly chosen, the quantity of salt re- quired being - out of all proportion to the mass of food consumed. >So, the disciples of Jesus, few in number, destined to exert a wide- spread influence, must be selected with the utmost care, the qualities and character of each individual severely tested beforehand, in view of the important trust committed to him and the severe strain and trial to which he would be exposed. If these disciples wavered in their career, failed in their duty, there would be none who could supply their place. Jesus reverted to his former simile. ' Salt, there- 14 Luk<> 84 fore is good : but if even the salt have lost its savour, Avherewith shall it be seasoned ? ' If they failed to retain unimpaired their principles, their spirit of self-sacrifice, their unconquerable determina- tion to suffer all things for Christ's sake, they would become utterly worthless to mankind, fit fur no heavenly or earthly use, like salt grown insipid, which could be turned to no advantage in any way. 'It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill : men cast it out.' „ 3r> Jesus deemed it so important that this should be fully understood, that he urged every individual present to hear his warning, that they might act accordingly. ' He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' „ 20 Again. The last three parables were spoken to the Pharisees and scribes ; k. and k. the one which follows was delivered to the disciples : 'And he said 15Luke3 also unto the disciples ' . . It is important to note this distinction ie Luke i whenever it occurs. The word ' disciple ' signifies a person who has deliberately placed himself under the instruction and guidance of his Teacher. Not all who attended the discourses of Jesus were disciples, but only such as offered themselves to him and were accepted by him. We have seen how Jesus bade men count the cost before they took u Luke 2&- upon themselves his discipline, and what trials he foretold for them, even to the loss of all things. "Would it not at the time have been a palpable absurdity to say that, nevertheless, every one was called to be his disciple ; that none who believed in him could refuse the title, with its accompanying obligations ? Is it not equally absurd now to assume that every Christian is, by simple baptism, either infant or adult, enrolled as a disciple ? John baptised whole multitudes, but his 'disciples ' were alluded to as a body by themselves. It was the very essence of discipleship that the disciple should be, for a time at least, with his Teacher, should 'come after ' him, 'follow ' him, learn and accept his doctrines, and devote himself to his cause. We read of no female disciples : the work of evangelisation was not suited for them, nor they for it. Mention is made of only one woman, Tabitha, 12 DISCIPLESII1P : under that designation, — the only instance in which the Greek word is in the feminine form, mathetria, — and she had evidently devoted p Acts 36 herself entirely to a life apart from worldly interests : 'this woman ., 39 was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did : ' her sphere of action was the making of garments for the poor. In the proper sense of the word, only a living Teacher can have ' disciples,' who, after their Master's death, raise up 'disciples' of their own. We may fondly deem ourselves disciples of Jesus, but in reality Ave have dwindled down to a very different discipleship, and not one of us in a million dreams of attempting to carry out every commandment which Jesus laid upon his disciples. Nor is it incumbent upon us to do so. He would have all believe in him, but he chose, even while he lived on earth, few to be his disciples. In the four Gospels the word ' disciple,' mathete's, occurs 230 times. In every instance the use of the term indicates a clear, sharp distinction between ' dis- ciples ' and others. One passage only might seem, at first sight, of DJoim2S somewhat doubtful meaning: when the Pharisees said, ' We are dis- ciples of Moses ; ' but no doubt they claimed the title exclusively, for 23 Mat. 2 Jesus said of them, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat : ' their lives were devoted to the promulgation and enforcement of his law. The true sense of the word comes out in the passage : e John 66 ' Upon this many of his disciples went back, and avalked no more avith him. Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, "Would ye also go 4 joimi away?' And again the statement that 'Jesus Avas making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples).' Jesus certainly did not baptize more persons than John, but 'more disciples,' the disciples he had made already being, it Avould seem, employed in administering baptism to those who Avere anxious to join them. Accordingly Ave find that Jesus Avas io Luke i able at one time to appoint ' seventy others ' whom he sent ' two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himself Avas about to come.' Subsequently to the Gospels the word ' disciple ' occurs in the New Testament 30 times. Let us examine those OActsi passages. ' When the number of the disciples Avas multiplied . . . . ,, 2 the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them.' It must not be assumed that ' disciples ' here is synonymous with 'believers.' The contrary appears to be the fact, for the question Avas as to whether a certain Avork should be undertaken by the twelve or by other disciples. Seven of the latter Avere appointed ' over this business,' among Avhom AA r as Stephen, Avhose life seems to have been entirely devoted to the work of evangelisation, for we are told that he ' wrought great wonders and signs among the people,' and was occupied in disputations, until he Avas brought to a public trial on account of his preaching, and suffered for it the penalty of death. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 13 1 The number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly ; a Acts r and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.' It is not said that the priests became disciples : they could not, their lives being devoted to the performance of their priestly func- tions. The title applied to those who were ' obedient to the faith, 1 although not ' disciples,' was ' believers.' ' And believers were the 5 Acts 14 more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.' And Timothy was exhorted : ' Be thou an ensample to them that believe.' 4 i. Tim. 12 Again : ' Thou seest, brother, how many thousands (Gr. myriads) 21 Acts 20 there are among the Jews of them which have believed.' ' As touch- 0.-, ing the Gentiles which have believed.' Those myriads of Jews and Gentiles are not styled disciples : they constituted the churches or assemblies, for whose formation and edification the multitude of disciples was required. ' Why tempt ye God, that ye should put a 15 A ,. ts 1;) yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear ? ' Peter's argument was against compelling the ' disciples ' to teach the Gentiles that they must be circumcised : that doctrine would have been a yoke on the teachers' necks. We read that Paul ' assayed to join himself to the disciples : and they were <, A( . ts 2 6 all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.' Obviously Paul's object was to associate himself with the disciples in their work : none w 7 ould have been afraid at his simply professing his faith in Christ. ' Saul, yet breathing threatening and slaughter against „ 1 the disciples of the Lord,' that is, against those who were engaged in the work of promulgating the hated doctrine. ' That if he found „ 2 any that were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.' To make sure of getting at the disciples, he desired to bring every professed believer to Jerusalem for examination. In short, all the passages lead to the same conclusion : discipleship to Jesus, or to his doctrine, involves entire dedication to his cause and work. 'Believers' generally should be content with that humbler title ; and we should ever bear in mind that directions given by Jesus specially to his ' disciples ' are not to be deemed of universal application. Misapprehension on this point has led to much error. Finding that some of the commands of Jesus are un- suited for, and, in truth, impossible of general adoption, and failing to understand that they were addressed to disciples, and not to all believers, many thoughtful, earnest-minded men have looked upon Christianity as a thing too high for them ; whilst those who profess to have devoted themselves to the work of Jesus, and who, as his ( disciples,' teachers of his truth, devotees to his cause, should have taken up and carried out all his maxims, have made no attempt to do so, but have swum with the tide of ordinary humanity. The evil takes two directions : the religion of Jesus is deemed by some an 14 DISCIPLESHIP : ideal system, too lofty and refined for the grasp of common men and women ; and those who have made profession of discipleship, claim- ing the rank and title of ministers and ambassadors of Christ, have never even aimed at that ideal which Jesus desired that his disciples should exhibit to the world. "We are here treading on difficult ground : so much the more need is there for bold, free, careful, honest thought and speech. Jesus did not call all men, but he did call some, to lead a life conformable to his ideal. Once, to a young man 10 Mark 21 whom he had looked upon and loved, he said : ' If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow me.' It is open to question whether the doctrine of the cross is not preached both too high and too low. The sheep and their shepherds cannot stand upon the same level. The ' perfect ' life must be entirely consistent with the precepts of Jesus, in the fulness of their breadth and depth. Count Tolstoi has lately raised and grappled with this puzzling question. He carries to its literal and logical extreme Christ's doctrine of non-resistance. Unfortunately he starts with a wrong assumption, when he says : * 'In the Sermon on the Mount, ad- dressed to all men, He (Jesus)' says : "And if anybody sue thee at the law for thy coat, let him have thy cloak also." Therefore He forbids our going to law.' But the sermon on the mount was not s Mat. -2 ' addressed to all men,' but to the disciples : ' And seeing the multi- tudes, he went up into the mountain : and when he had sat down his disciples came unto him : and he opened his mouth and taught them.' Count Tolstoi continues : ' But perhaps this applies only to the relations between private individuals and public courts of law ; yet Christ does not deny justice itself, and admits in Christian societies the existence of persons chosen for the purpose of adminis- tering justice. I see that this hypothesis is likewise inadmissible. In His prayer Christ enjoins all men, without any exception, to forgive, as they hope to be forgiven. "We find the same precept repeated many times. Each man must forgive his brother when he prays, and before bringing his gift. Then how can a man judge and condemn another when, according to the faith he professes, he is bound to forgive ? Thus I see that, according to the doctrine of Christ, a judge who condemns his fellow-creature to death is no Christian.' The argument and conclusion are pertinent, only Count Tolstoi has overlooked the fact that the Lord's prayer was for disciples. Matthew gives it as part of the Sermon on the Mount, i ,, u . ; „ i and Luke introduces it as follows : ' And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples * '■ What I believe." Translated from the Russian. Page 26. Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 15 said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.' In dealing with this difficult question, it is important not to start with a false assumption. Nevertheless Tolstoi's book supplies much food for thought. He says : ' Each of us gives the Page so. doctrine of Christ an interpretation of his own, but it is never the direct and simple one which flows out of his words. We have grounded the conduct of our lives on a principle which He rejects ; and we do not choose to understand His teaching in its simple and direct sense. Those who call themselves "believers" believe that Christ-God, the second person of the Trinity, made Himself man in order to set us an example how to live, and they strictly fulfil the most complicated duties, such as preparing for the sacraments, build- ing churches, sending out missionaries, naming pastors for parochial administration, etc. : they forget only one trifling circumstance — to do as He tells them.' Again : ' Christ says that the law of resist- .. *o. ance by violence, which you have made the basis of your lives, is unnatural and wrong ; and He gives us instead the law of non- resistance, which, He tells us, can alone deliver us from evil. He says : " You think to eradicate evil by your human laws of violence ; they only increase it. During thousands and thousands of years you have tried to annihilate evil by evil, and you have not annihilated it ; you have but increased it. Follow the teaching I give you by word and deed, and you will prove its practical power." Not only does He speaks thus, but He remains true to His own doctrine not to resist evil in His life and in His death. Believers take all this in with their ears, hear it read in churches, calling it the Word of God. They call Him God, and then they say, " His doctrine is sublime, but the organisation of our lives renders its observance impossible ; it would change the whole course of our lives, to which we are so used and with which we are so satisfied. Therefore, we believe in His doctrine, only as an ideal which man must strive after — an ideal which is to be obtained by prayer, by believing in the sacraments, in redemption, and in the resurrection of the dead." ' Everything which Jesus commanded his 'disciples,' they were bound to obey. At the same time, counsels given to them may be followed, more or less, by others also. Of his disciples Jesus said : 'They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' 'I irjoimio have given them thy word ; and the world hated them, because they „ 1 1 are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' The selection of disciples out of the world did not imply the condemnation of other men, but the contrary : ' For God sent not the Son into the world to 3 John 17 judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.' And his plan of saving men was through the disciples, to whom lie said : 'Ye are the salt of the earth ... Ye are the light of the 5 Mat, is, 10 DISCIPLESHIP : world.' The disciples of Jesus were as much out of, apart frorn the world, as afterwards were anchorites of the desert, monks and nuns, as much a class by themselves, only with very different duties laid upon them than those of making prayers, chanting hymns, readings of Scripture, and frequent communion, coupled with a worship more or less idolatrous of the sacramental bread and wine. All baptised Christians are no more ' disciples ' of Jesus, in the jiroper sense of the word, than they are monks or nuns. The note of Christian obliga- tion has been pitched too high for ordinary men and women. The ideal Jesus set before the world was a real and visible one : a body of men living on earth according to his own heavenly maxims. The Church of England has, instead of holding forth that reality, assumed that all, without exception, are called to lead the ideal life. Jesus warned all not to profess discipleship who were not resolutely deter- mined take up his cross and follow him : but over every baptised infant the minister utters the words : ' We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's flock : ' that should have been enough, but he must add : ' and do sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end.' Brave words these : but nothing more ! In how many cases must they be, if sober truth be spoken, a solemn farce ! The child, perchance, grows up in the slums, picks up the language of the gutter ; until the last few years it might have been left without the merest rudimentary intellectual teaching ; even at the best, it will lead only an average, common-place life, labouring perforce for the meat which perisheth, caring and knowing nothing about Christ's cross, or any soldiership under his banner. And most of us, except the comparatively few who come within the charmed circle of sacerdotal influence, make but feeble attempts and faint profession of active service in the cause of Jesus. It cannot be right to apply indiscriminately, to every infant, words of momentous import such as would suit the consecration of a Bishop. Precisely the opposite plan was adopted by Jesus. Not only did he restrict the call to discipleship, but he was ever careful not to impose on the multitudes any doctrines which might be above their capacities. He mark 33, 34 spoke constantly to them in similes. 'With many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it : and with- out a parable spake he not unto them : but privately to his own dis- ciples he expounded all things.' And when the disciples asked the reason for his reticence towards others, he explained that it was not given to the multitudes to comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, their vision, hearing, and understanding being imperfect. is Mat. io, ' And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto 11, 13 THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 17 them in parables ? And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given . . Therefore speak I to them in parables ; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.' Why should we be afraid of a principle thus sanctioned by Jesus ? If discipleship, involving implicit, unreserved obedience, was not laid by him upon all who heard him preach the gospel, how much less can such an obligation be insisted on univer- sally now ? We profess too much ; and having done so, we minimise and explain away certain plain directions of Jesus, the simple truth being that'they are too high for us, that we do not choose to adopt them. It were better to say so boldly : to confess ourselves ' believers ' but not ' disciples.' ' Eesist not him that is evil : but whosoever ■> Mat, 30, 40 smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.' Did the apostle Paul hold it obligatory upon all believers to assert no right by legal means ? No, on the con- trary, he urged that the ' assembly ' itself should constitute a legal tribunal, to whose decisions believers should bow, rather than resort to adjudication by the ' unrighteous.' ' Dare any of you, having a q ;. cor. 1 matter against his neighbour, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints ? . . Are ye unworthy to judge the smallest „ -i matters? . . Is it so, that there cannot be found among you one wise „ 5 man, who shall be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers ? ' That sug- gestion of the apostle was in conformity with the plan laid down by Jesus for the submission of all trespasses and faults to the judgment of the assembly. But Paul urged at the same time that there was a higher standard lost sight of by them in thus resorting to lawsuits in any shape. ; Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you (or, a loss „ 7 to you), that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather itake wrong ? why not rather be defrauded ? ' That would be a fol- lowing out of Christ's counsel of perfection, thereby making them- selves in that respect his disciples indeed. What shall be said then about war and bloodshed ? Is not the profession of a soldier diame- trically opposed to the teaching of Jesus ? John did not refuse baptism to soldiers on service, but surely they could never be called his 'disciples,' much less ' disciples' of Jesus. And yet we read of >Cornelius a centurion of the Italian cohort, ' a devout man, and one 10 Act* 3 ■that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.' He was assured by an angel of the approval of God, and was baptised into the faith of Jesus : yet without relinquishing his trade of arms, he could never presume to .call himself a 'disciple' of Jesus, being simply a believer in him, K. and K. II. 175, 176, 18 DISCIPLESHIP : saved indeed through him, but not wholly conformed to his life and doctrine, a servant still of the Roman Emperor, and not of him who 20 Mat. 52 said ' Put up again thy sword into its place : for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' In modern phraseology, we might say he was a Christian although not a disciple ; but we read n Acts ig that ' the DiscirLES were called Christians first in Antioch,' doubtless from their strict adherence to the tenets of Jesus, Avhich marked them out as his followers, their new principles of action and mode of life giving rise to a new title. Count Tolstoi does not use the term 'Christians ' in its primitive sense ; but if it be restricted to 'dis- ciples,' his argument is logical, and his conclusions, however startling, beyond dispute. The same train of thought arises in considering the parable of the unjust steward. One application of the parable is very direct and peculiar. Drop- ping all thought of the want of honest principle on the part of the steward, Jesus held up as an example his friendly and munificent spirit. And inasmuch as all must deal with money, the ' unrighteous mammon ' which has no connection with moral rectitude, he coun- selled his disciples to turn it to social uses, cementing thereby the bonds of mutual friendship. And as the views of the steward reached beyond his term of office, so must their views reach beyond the present life. As his emoluments were bound to cease, so must their hold on earthly possessions ; and as his object was to provide for himself a home for the future among friends, so they should look forward to a welcome, by those who have been made friends here r into a far more enduring home. The expression ' age-during taber- nacles ' sufficiently indicates the unworldliness of the exhortation. Jesus brings out the fact of a continuity of existence, the friendships formed in this life being perpetuated in the next. His words imply, moreover, a condition of existence analogous to the present, under the same necessities for mutual help and comfort, the lot of each individual there as dependent as it is here on the dispositions and actions of his fellows. Our relative positions may be reversed, but the grand law of retribution will continue to work through human instrumentality. Jesus does not say, Give, and God will recompense you ; but, Make to yourselves friends by giving, and they Avill repay you. This parable will not bear close pressing — To attempt that, leads to its distortion in one direction or another. All thought of the rascality of the steward has to be dropped : there is nothing imitable in that. His purely selfish motive must not be ours ; and yet it is true that as we sow t in social matters, so we shall reap. Neither can it be imagined that benefactors must survive the friends- THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 19 they have made, and who will of necessity have gone before and be in a position to offer helpful ministrations ; nor is to be assumed that the poor in this world will be transformed into the rich of the next ; nor that those whose motives and lives have been highest on earth will hereafter need the help of those they befriended. Nor must the fact be overlooked that the parable was spoken to ' disciples,' whose choice of following Jesus involved the relinquishment of worldly affairs, hopes, position, — to the 'little flock' who from the first had been exhorted, ' Sell that ye have, and give alms ; make for 12 Luke 33 yourselves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' To apply such directions to all alike would be absurd : Christian society cannot be founded on the basis of all giving up everything and Jesus never propounded so monstrous and mischievous a doctrine. If maxims intended for comparatively few are sought to be made of universal application, the only result must be, as it has been, to fritter away the sense of the wise and necessary counsels given by Jesus to his disciples, and to perpetuate the false notion that none can comply literally and fully with his commands. He never laid upon all men's shoulders the burden of discipleship ; and we wrong his spirit and pervert his words by mistaking the former and explaining away the latter. It behoves every Christian to act up to his profession. If he professes himself a disciple, let him truly and completely carry out every instruction given to dis- ciples ; and let the sober, solemn truth be recognised, that a ' minister ' of Christ and a ' disciple ' of Christ are synonymous terms. As it is, in this matter of the giving away of property, we seem to think that the man who gives, not all but most, comes nearest to the ideal of a Christian. Such a conception is mean and paltry. If a man gave up all he had, but not himself to the work of evangelisation, he would still be no 'disciple.' Aye! and the thought is worth our pondering, whether any ' disciple ' of Jesus is justified in holding property, seeing he must lire for heaven, and lay up his only treasure there ? Let us take our stand on lower ground. The command has not been addressed to us, as it was to the young man who wanted to be ' perfect ' : ' Sell that thou hast, and give to the 10 Mat. 21 poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow me.' Still, the spirit of discipleship may be ours, more or less, as we are able to receive it ; and inasmuch as the parable of the unjust steward was obviously designed to elucidate rather principles of action than any particular form of action, we may lay hold, to our comfort and profit, on the truths deducible therefrom. ' Make to yourselves friends . . . that they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.' The words of Jesus convey a charming picture of the life to come : c 2 II. 178-180, 16 Luke 13 20 DISCIPLESHIP: to rejoin those we have known and loved on earth, to receive from them a hearty welcome, to enter their heavenly homes, to renew, under better auspices, all friendly intimacies, and share in common our far more enduring inheritance, all mutual offices of tender love and sweet fellowship still existent and interchanged : the hope is more than all we could desire, and the reality beyond our powers of conception. God be thanked for such a revelation ! The clay and dross of earth are transmutable, by a heavenly alchemy, into the spirit and life of the world to come ; our earthly homes have their antitypes in heaven. Jesus sets before us the duty, not of promis- cuous almsgiving, but of social charities. Our best and truest friends must be those of our own household and the comparatively few who come within the circle of our personal influence. To do our utmost, wisely and liberally, for all about us, is to uncoil a chain of love which will join earth and heaven, and circle round eternity. Again. k. and k. From the steward's breach of trust in preferring the interest of his friends to that of his master, Jesus drew another lesson. ' No servant (Gr. household-servant) can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other.' The maxim must not be misread, as though it were impossible to undertake the management of conflicting interests. It is a matter of daily experience that upright men can and do act independently of favour or self-interest. The reference is to a ' house- hold-servant,' the rendering of Young and Tischendorf being ' do- mestic' There must not be two masters in one house ; a servant must not owe a divided allegiance. Not only will the two controlling powers clash, but the servant must needs incline to the one or the other. Professing equal devotion to both, either he will obey one willingly and the other unwillingly, or deliberately refuse obedience to one of the two. A double rule maybe so harmonised as to become practically one mastership ; but Jesus had in mind two opposing powers, putting forth diverse claims impossible to reconcile, so utterly different in character and purpose, that if love be felt for the one, antipathy must exist to the other, and submission to one involve dis- obedience to the other. This parable lies within the previous parable, and is applied by Jesus in the same direction : ' Ye cannot serve God and mammon.' The choice lay between discipleship and money-making. Jesus dots not hint at anything wrong or degrading in the latter. Young simply renders ' mammon ' by the word ' riches.' The entire time, energy, and devotion of a domestic are claimed by his master : the service of God to which Jesus here alludes is of that kind. The man THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 21 who had professed discipleship was not free for the ordinary business of the world. The disciples, to whom the parable was addressed, must disentangle themselves from their former avocations : they could not attend as before, and as other men, to the concerns of this life ; thev professed to have accepted the call of Jesus, and must devote them- selves unreservedly to his cause. To regard this statement of Jesus as applicable to every baptised Christian is to mistake its bearing, to involve our ideas of duty in inextricable confusion, and to encourage that mild, unconscious hypocrisy which grows out of half truths and wrong notions. The majority of mankind throughout their lives do, perforce or willingly, ' serve riches.' It is incumbent upon most to labour for daily bread, for family requirements, for the education and advancement of children, for the accumulation before our death of property for those we love and must leave behind. It were absurd to argue against this as being contrary to the law of Christ : it is the teaching of nature ; it is the decree of Providence ; it is an instinct of humanity to make the best of this earthly life which God has given us. The manufacturer who invests his capital in buildings and machinery, the merchant who ventures on the importation or expor- tation of goods, the agent who undertakes their disposal, the banker who provides the requisite coin and credit, the tradesman who dis- tributes according to the requirements of the community : all these are engrossed, six days out of seven, in the work of ' serving riches.' Not for them is there any command to forsake houses, lands, brethren, wife, children, for Christ's sake. Let us face this question honestly, and clear our minds of cant with respect to it. Away with the folly of imagining ourselves ' disciples ' and ' followers' of Jesus, when we are not such in reality, and have no intention of making an effort to become such. The teaching and exhortations of Jesus must be ap- plied with judgment. They deserve an amount of thought and study which they have not received. Ministers of the gospel start with the ideal that they know all about the matter : have they not studied ' theology ? ' Yes : and what they have been taught, that they will teach. The errors attaching to gospel truth are propagated the more easily, owing to the fetters which our well-meaning forefathers un- wisely imposed upon freedom of opinion in religious matters. Under pains and penalities, what they fondly and falsely deemed ' the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' has been taken for granted, upheld, proclaimed by their most obedient followers. At the same time, the doctrine of Scriptural inspiration has had the effect of making it an orthodox opinion that every syllable of the Bible comes direct from God, and hence that every command therein is his, and that all his commands are obligatory upon all. Accepting generali- sations such as these, the faculty of discrimination has been well-nigh 22 DISCIPLESHIP . lost for want of exercise ; the maxims of Jesus have heen taken all together, blended into a hotchpot, and then equally apportioned out to the whole body of Christians, share and share alike, or so much to each as each may care to appropriate. A clergyman, a bishop, an archbishop, is no more a ' disciple,' forsooth, than the school child who is able to learn the catechism ! And so the solemn call of Jesus to his ' followers ' is taken to have no special application to our spiritual pastors ; they, although claiming to be representatives of Christ, are as free to make a purse for themselves as other men are ! On the other hand, in some mysterious way apart from the ordinary process of reasoning, the commands not to serve riches, not to lay up treasure upon the earth, to forsake all for Christ's sake, to take up his cross and follow him, never to return a blow, never to bring an action at law, are held to be within the pale of ordinary Christian duties, incumbent upon all alike, either capable of fulfilment gene- rally, or not capable of fulfilment at all ! What a farce is this ! How can we ever learn the mind of Christ, whilst such confusion of thought and prevarication of judgment remain unchecked, unre- provecl, undetected ? K. and K. II. 213-210 The question of discipleship is further elucidated in connection with the reply given by Jesus to the enquiry of the ruler who had great possessions. Probably the enquirer was disappointed at the reply. Instead of the 'good thing' he had desired to learn about, Jesus had simply is Luke 21 thrown him back upon old, well-known duties. ' And he said, All these things have I observed from my youth up.' Mark notes that he still 10 Mark 20 addressed Jesus as 'Teacher.' ' And he said unto him, Master (or, Teacher), all these things have I observed from my youth.' Matthew, as before, is a little fuller, telling us that the man was young, and that he propounded another question. ' The young man saith unto him, All these things have I observed : what lack I yet ' ? The answer to that was very plain and startling. ' And when Jesus heard it, he said unto him, One thing thou lackest yet : sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor.' The expression, ' when Jesus heard it,' seems to denote that he was struck by the observa- tion. Mark adds that he gazed upon the speaker, and at once manifested an affection towards him. ' And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest : go, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor.' Matthew again adds a sentence : ' Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.' That was indeed a counsel of perfection, a demand wholly unexpected. Yet it would be but another step in the same direction : he who claims to have fulfilled 19 Mat. 20 18 Luke 22 10 Mark 21 19 Mat. 21 THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 23 all duties, up to the point of loving his neighbour as himself, and then asks what more he can do, must needs be called upon to prove that he loves his neighbour better than himself. That involved discipleship to Jesus, self-sacrifice for the world's sake being the very essence of his call. He wanted men as followers who would forsake all things for his cause, who accepted his axiom that where the treasure is there is the heart also, and who would be content to have no tie to earth, laying up treasure in heaven. That hope he held out to the young man, inviting him to share the same lot as himself : ' and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow me.' 10 Mark 21 The Authorised Version of Mark has after ' come ' the words ' take 1S Luke - 2 up the cross,' which the Revisers have omitted on the authority of the two oldest MSS. It was a magnificent opportunity, this invitation to place himself by the side of the good Teacher, and to help forward his plans for the establishment of God's kingdom. But the young man was unable to rise to the occasion. His demeanour changed at once ; a great sorrow took possession of him, for he could not bring himself to accept the call, involving as it did the loss of property and position, and he must needs turn his back upon Jesus, whose advice he had sought with such enthusiasm. ' But his countenance fell at 10 Mark 11 the saying, and he went away sorrowful : for he was one that had great possessions.' ' But when the young man heard the saying, he 19 Mat. -i-i went away sorrowful : for he was one that had great possessions.' ' But when he heard these things, he became exceeding sorrowful ; 1S r uke 23 for he was very rich.' Must not Jesus himself have felt sorrowful at this failure of his effort to gain a disciple ? He could not abate his terms, but he knew well how hard it was to comply with them. 'And „ 24 Jesus seeing him said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! ' The observation was addressed to the •disciples. ' And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, 19 Mat. 23 It is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Mark notes that he surveyed his disciples, as though realising the fact that they were all of another class than this young ruler. ' And 10 Mark 23 Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! ' It is added : 'And the disciples were amazed at his words.* That he „ 24 should make the forsaking of all things a condition of discipleship, was no new doctrine to their ears ; for he had previously laid down the rule, ' Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he h mice 33 hath, he cannot be my disciple.' But this saying about the incom- patibility of wealth and godliness seemed to extend the rule beyond professed discipleship. Jesus however, repeated the assertion. ' But 10 Mark 24 Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! ' 24 DISCIPLESHIP : The words, ' for them that trust in riches,' seem to tone down some- what the previous remark ; but they are not found in the two oldest MSS., and the Revisers have noted that ' some ancient authorities omit' them. Jesus reiterated the truth in a strikingly emphatic 10 Mat. 24 form. ' And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom io Mark 2. r , or God.' The words stand precisely the same in Mark, and in Luke is Luke 2. r > the only difference is ' enter in through ' instead of ' go through.' The hyperbole denotes an absolute impossibility. We must not venture to explain away or diminish the force of a declaration which Jesus saw fit to make so solemnly. It looks as if some early com- mentator had sought to do that, by inserting in Mark the words 'for them that trust in riches.' Nothing can qualify the simile, which enforces the moral impossibility under the figure of a physical impossibility. ' The kingdom of God,' rendered by Young, ' the reign of God,' obviously denotes a state of life in which everything 16 Luke 16 is ruled after the divine will. ' The law and the prophets were until John : from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached.' Men were invited to enter into a higher sphere of spiritual activity, to throw aside all worldly maxims, to inaugurate the life of heaven on earth, taking the precepts of Jesus for their rule of duty. There is no favouritism in God's kingdom ; there must be no selfishness among God's children. Between Christian brethren there must be no sharp contrasts of wealth and poverty, no superfluity of riches restricted to a few, whilst many suffer abject poverty. That is Christ's ideal of a Christian community ; that is God's ideal of his kingdom : not all that is meant by ' the reign of God,' but an im- portant part thereof, so that it was impossible for a rich man to enter in. If words have meaning, Jesus meant that. If we say : under the present state of society that cannot be, — that is simply asserting that God's kingdom cannot be. In truth, it is a vision which has never yet been realised on earth. One fact alone is enough to prove that much : the existence of armies and navies, the perpetuation through- out nineteen centuries after the coming of Christ of the spiri" and habit of war, with the multiplied and inevitable horrors attendant upon destruction and carnage. There is no approach to the reign of God whilst the kingdoms of the world are ruled after such a fashion. The inequalities of social life, the highest class revelling in splendid luxury, the lowest class, generation after generation, born to want and misery : are not these contrasts equally contrary to the spirit and teaching of Jesus ? He declared that before a rich man could take the first step into the kingdom of God, he must part with his wealth. All the first disciples, undertaking as they did to devote themselves to the establishment of the kingdom of God were urged THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 25 to renounce all they had for the cause of Jesus. Only by coming within the circle of discipleship could men enter the kingdom of God. The two terms, a * disciple ' and a ' member of the kingdom of God,' are synonymous. The rich ruler's refusal of the call, ' Come, follow me,' is instantly spoken of by Jesus as a refusal to 'enter into the kingdom of God,' the one being identical with the other. And as but few became disciples, not many being invited by Jesus, and all men being dissuaded by him unless they first counted the cost, so there were but few who entered the kingdom of God, Jesus declaring it to bs a very hard thing to do so, especially for the rich. But no con- demnation was involved on the multitudes who were not disciples, and who did not enter into the kingdom of God. That kingdom was not even preached until the coining of the Baptist, and then only the strong-minded could take it as by force. ' The law and the prophets is Luke ie were until John : from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and every man entereth violently into it.' For weaker men there was room enough to live in peace and safety outside, taking 'the law and the prophets ' for their rule of conduct. Their loss was a loss of privilege, not of the life, not of the soul. To be outside God's kingdom involved no threat of divine judgment : exclusion and regret were the penalties pressed home to the minds of the Jews by Jesus : ' There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye 13 Luke 2s shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without.' Not individual salvation, but the regeneration of society, was the sum and scope of the ' gospel of the kingdom ' which Jesus preached ; the word ' king- dom ' sufficiently denotes that the coming reformation was to be not simply individual and personal but socialistic and communal, termed by Jude ' our common salvation.' So far off are we from such a Jude 3 realization of God's kingdom, that the work of its establishment has to be begun afresh. Not until those who claim to be Ministers, representatives, disciples, followers, — no matter what title be chosen, — of Jesus, adopt his maxims and requirements absolutely without an exception, renouncing all things for his sake, thereby giving to the world the strange spectacle of a body of believers prepared not to resist evil, not to claim legal rights, not to fight under any circum- stances, not to accumulate property, but to live entirely for the king- dom of heaven, — not until we are taught by such living examples the true doctrine of Jesus, will his spirit begin again to permeate society. Count Leon Tolstoi has boldlv thought out that truth ; we must not let it go, neither must we assume such a rule of life to be binding upon all men. Discipleship to Jesus must be voluntary and excep- tional still, as it was at first. The idea that all are called to disciple- ship is an absurdity. Ministers of the Church of England sign any 20 DISCIPLESHIP : and every child ' with the sign of the cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil ; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end.' "Words, words, nothing but words ! The ideal is pitched too high : such a ' high calling of God in Christ Jesus ' was never meant to be universal, still less to be imposed upon unconscious infants. It is as utterly out of place and wide of truth, as it would be to devote every babe to a soldier's life and duties, knowing well that iu nearly every case a different profession would be followed. Fictions such as these, passed on as an inheritance from age to age, have dimmed our spiritual eyesight ; and until they are put aside, and the plain truth, which is always and alone God's truth, faced, our perceptive faculties will not be equal to the comprehension of ' the things that are freely given us by God.' Before Christ's precepts can be acted upon, men must rise to the level of them. In the pre- sent state of society any general adoption of them would be impossible, and, if suddenly attempted, injurious. That many rich men should sell their possessions and give to the poor, would be quite as much to the loss and detriment of the poor as of the rich. Almsgiving tests the character of those who receive as well as of those who give ; indiscriminate charity quenches energy and self-reliance, and tends to pauperise, that is, to render perpetually poor those who rely upon it. The trustees of the Peabody fund could find no better way of benefiting the poor of London than that of building better dwellings, at moderate rentals, for the working class. Hospitals, infirmaries, refuges, reformatories, workhouses, — we must needs have them still, but the less the better : for they are evidences either of under-pay- ment for labour or of improvidence among labourers. The masters who are careful to pay their workmen fairly, do more for the poor and promote more the kingdom of God, than those who accumulate huge fortunes, keeping down wages under cast-iron laws of supply and demand as decreed by ' Political Economy,' and who then dis- gorge a portion of the ill-gotten superfluity to help workmen in ways wherein, if the profits on labour were fairly divided, they should be able and would be willing to help themselves. Preachers boast of what Christianity has done in the shape of charitable institutions : but all that paraphernalia of charity is really an evidence that the ' kingdom of God ' has not yet come, that the spirit and scheme of Christianity have not yet been realised. Having regard to the overwhelming importance of the subject it has been, even at the risk of repetition, again and again referred to and amplified. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 27 The want of our age is precisely the want of the age in which Jesus k. and k ° l J ° .11. 230-235 lived, and which he sought to supply by proclaiming and inaugurating ' the kingdom of God,' that is, a kingdom of Christians. Not yet can it be said : ' The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of n Rev. 15 our Lord, and of his Christ.' They are not founded on the basis of his teaching, but make their boast in principles and modes of action the very reverse of his. The preponderance of national force is determined by war, and commercial rivalry rests on the maxims of a science of political economy as hard and merciless as the warrior's sword. The need of the world is the same as ever, the times cry out for ' a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' That was the ideal of 2 Tit. m a Christian community in the eyes of the apostle Peter : ' But ye are 2 L Peti 9 a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people ; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.' The Church, that is, the assembly of believers in Jesus, should present the aspect of a select family, bearing the stamp of royalty and saintliness, a nation within a nation, a people distinct from the surrounding world, a body animated by the indwelling spirit of Jesus, moved by one sacred impulse, and living as an organic whole the life of Jesus among mankind. In the formation of such a society, the nucleus must needs consist of disciples round whom believers can gather ; such disciples must take all the precepts of Jesus, not a choice or modification of them, as their rule of life and action : thereby only can they become the heart, the central moving impulse of the whole body. Is not the existing system of Christianity defective in that, its initial point ? We have no separate class of disciples living, not apart from the world but in the midst of the world, in contempt of all worldly ambitions, maxims, policies, and in unfeigned, entire subjection to the teaching, mind and will of Jesus. The men recognised as ministers of Christ are not of that stamp, nor do they profess or really strive to be so. Ask any one of them whether he does not consider that every member of his flock is as much bound as himself to obey every precept and counsel of Jesus, and he will unhesitatingly answer, Yes. The shepherds have placed themselves and the sheep on the same level of duty. Christianity was not founded upon that principle : Jesus chose but few disciples, taught them to make special sacrifices, to expect special trials. They went forth in his name and spirit, and gathered round them multitudes of believers, both men and women, who certainly were not called to discipleship : ' Are all apostles ? are 12 1. cor. 29 all prophets ? are all teachers ? ' If those who have claimed to be successors of the apostles had been so in reality, discipleship to Jesus would have assumed a very different phase in the eyes of all men, and the universal Church would have been taught by the pattern of a 28 DISCIPLESHIP : heavenly life as designed by Jesus. Under the existing system of Church doctrine and discipline, his kingdom comes not. We have agreed to expect salvation in the next world, not on earth, and to regard it as an individual concern rather than a social question. 16 Acts 31 When the jailer at Philippi asked, trembling for fear, ' What must I do to be saved ? ' Paul and Silas answered, ' Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.' This need of a Jude3 'common salvation' was learnt by Dives in the next life, and led 10 Luke 27 ljim to desire - fc for h - g t f at ] ier ' 8 h oasc ; Religion ceases to be a merely personal matter, when we come to realise it as the establish- ment of ' the kingdom of God.' Not through prayers, praises, creeds, sacraments, can we be saved, but only through social progress, for 12 Rom. 5 < we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another.' The Christian community needs to be defined, restricted, that it may assume a bodily shape and perform the functions of a living organism. At present it is formless, a vague monstrosity, supposed to be here, there, everywhere, each individual in the nation having an equal claim to membership. Thence it comes to pass that the national career is held to be identical with the career of Christianity, the earthly is blended with the heavenly, the State with the Church, the precepts of Jesus with the maxims of the world, the spirit of war and aggrandisement with the gospel of peace and self-sacrifice. This worthless and deceptive amalgam of the human with the divine is not Christianity, and is altogether out of harmony with the scheme of its Founder. Let us go back to that. If those who profess to be our heavenly guides become truly ' apostolic,' disciples of Jesus as separate from the world and as hostile to its spirit as were the twelve who first proclaimed the gospel of peace, what a transformation of society may be brought about by their example and their teaching ! The ideal of an apostolic life is not too high for Ministers generally. The Church of Rome has gone beyond it, requiring every priest to be a celibate. Jesus never made that an indispensable condition of discipleship, but the relinquishment of property and the laying up instead of treasure in the heavens, he did. Possibly it was the vow of poverty which led to the enforced relinquishment of marriage : for it might be deemed better not to marry than to leave wife and children without adequate means of support. At least it must be assumed that the decree of celibacy must have originated in some high and good motive. But it was none the less an error of judgment, a mistaken attempt (how many such have there been ! ) to improve on the method of Jesus. He desired that his followers should rely upon the sense of justice and obligation in those to whom they ministered. He taught them that 10 Luke : « the labourer is worthy of his hire,' and he appealed to them as to THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 29 whether their experience had not justified the spirit of reliance he had inculcated : ' When I sent you forth without purse, and wallet, ^ Luke ss and shoes, lacked ye anything ? and they said, Nothing-.' The apostle Paul laid down the maxim : ' The husbandman that laboureth 2 ii. Tim. 6 must be the first to partake of the fruits ; ' and he declared : ' Even so 9 i. cor. u did the Lord ordain that they which proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel.' That did not prevent him from insisting that a bishop must be, not only ' without reproach,' but also ' the husband 3 i. Tim. 2 of one wife ; ' and that those to be appointed ' elders ' should be family men : ' If any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, 1 Tit. e having children that believe.' It may be a question open to dis- cussion, whether the Church of Christ will always require a body of 'apostles,' 'disciples,' 'bishops, 1 'elders,' 'overseers,' or by what- ever other name those who take the foremost places are designated ; but so long as they exist, and claim to be ministers of Christ, descendants of the apostles, they are tied down to these rules of life, and are no true shepherds of the sheep whilst they infringe them. There is nothing in the New Testament to justify the holding of wealth by the professed ' disciples ' of Jesus. It might be well for archbishops and bishops to take the huge incomes they inherit, if only they would spend the whole of them in the cause to which they have professedly devoted themselves, and let the world know and see that they are doing so. It might be well to retain the services of men of learning, as preachers or otherwise, endowing them liberally without requiring them to give up all for Christ's sake, if only they would abate their pretensions of apostolical descent, and take their place among laymen. In the rank and file of the ministry there are comparatively few overpaid, and the majority are sadly underpaid. It would be no sacrifice to them, were they to profess openly their adherence to the apostolic system of living ' from hand to mouth.' That they do perforce, every day of their lives. What is wanting is, that all who claim office as leaders of men to Jesus should from the first, deliberately, in the sight of all men, renounce worldly possessions and ambitions, and throw themselves upon the charity of those to whom they minister, ' eating and drinking such 10 Luke 1 things as they give.' A strange counsel that ! Undoubtedly : yet not more strange now than when Jesus first gave it. It was his plan, deliberately formed and earnestly insisted upon by him, and carried out to the letter by those whom he sent forth. True, he empowered them to 'heal the sick.' but that was in conjunction » :i with and subsidiary to their preaching, ' the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.' To men animated by such a spirit and living such a life, an influence would attach which otherwise is lacking. It would be now, as then, a question either of receiving them or re- 30 DISCIFLESHIP : jecting them ; and over those receiving them they would exercise a power of direction, of guidance, of leadership, which Avould suffice to bind together churches, that is, assemblies of believers, not nominally as at present, but in reality. Infant baptism, which is too much a myth, a superstition, a fetish, would either be abolished, or regarded as a simple emblematic ceremony, the distinction between the church and the world becoming as evident as the difference between their respective leaders, far too wide to be bridged over by a sacramental form which makes all Christians in name, but cannot make them Christians in deed. When the pastors stand out separate from the world, the sheep who rally round them will be clistingish- able from others, and a true church will be constituted, instead of a professed one. The organisation will assume definiteness, compact- ness, homogeneity, as naturally and easily as did that new and strange outcome of our times — the Salvation Army. Is not the marvellous success attaching to that movement an evidence of what can be accomplished when men work on the lines of self-sacrifice and brotherhood which were laid down by Jesus ? He trusted not his cause to priests. Levites, pharisees or religious doctors ; one only of the pharisaic rulers, Joseph of Arimathea, became his ' disciple,' and 13 Join 3S l ie ' secretly, for fear of the Jews.' Must that experience be repeated after eighteen centuries ? Be that as it may, not until the leaders in Christianity stand aloof from and above the world, bearing in their hands the standard not of doctrinal theology, apostolical succession and sacramental theories, but of an earthly life woven to the exact pattern of the precepts given by Jesus to his disciples, will ' the kingdom of heaven ' be established upon earth ; and when that comes to pass, the Church — the Christian community — will become a recognised brother- hood, seen and known of all men, ' a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' Then it will be understood that for the propagation of the gospel men are needed, and money avails nothing, the first require- ment of every ambassador of Christ being that he should relinquish property, and throw himself unreservedly on the liberality of those among whom he labours. The apostle Paul, who was the first missionary to the heathen, acted on that principle, and even went a Phil, s beyond it. Having ' suffered the loss of all things ' for Christ's sake, he speaks of himself as moneyless. We find him labouring at is Acts 3 Corinth together with Aquila and Priscilla : 'because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought ; for by their trade they w r ere tentmakers.' Writing of himself and, it would seem, of Sosthenes and Apollos, to the Corinthians, he says : ' Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace ; and we toil, work- ing with our own hands.' Further on, in the same epistle, he laid 4 i. Cor. 11 THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 31 down the law of Jesus : ' Even so did the Lord ordain that they 9 i. cor. u which proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel,' adding : ' But I „ 15 have used none of these things ; and I write not these things that it may be so done in my case : for it were good for me rather to die than thai, any man should make my glorying void . . . "What then is my reward ? That, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to use to the full my right in the gospel.' From the Philippians only did he receive any payment, and that was in the shape of a purely voluntary gift : ' And ye yourselves also 4 Phil. 15, 10 kuow, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but ye only ; for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my need . . . But I have all things 4 pirn, in and abound : I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.' For some reason, Paul refused to receive help from the Corinthians. In his second epistle to them he wrote : ' Or did I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might be 1iH.cor.7-0 exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of God for nought ? I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you ; and when I was present with you and was in want, I was not a burden on any man ; for the brethren, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my want ; and in everything I kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.' Paul gives his reason for that departure on his part from the rule laid down by Jesus : ' But what I do, that I will do, „ 12 that I may cut off occasion from them which desire an oc- casion ; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.' He was determined to make the impecuniosity of preachers of the gospel generally, a test of their sincerity. He admits that it was not quite fair on his part to relieve the Corinthians at the cost of other churches, and that in so doing he was not carrying out the ordinance of Jesus, and might be charged with injustice. ' For what is there 12 ii. Cor. 13 wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the churches, except it be that I myself was not a burden to you ? forgive me this wrong.' What Paul did, others could do. And if the voluntary impoverish- ment of Christ's ambassadors is possible and obligatory when they go forth as missionaries to foreign countries, how much easier would it be to adopt the same course of action among their own country- men ! The scheme of Jesus was based on human effort and human sympathy, and no advance in Christianity has ever been made, or will be made, apart from them. They are the only reliable bond of union between the clergy and the laity, and between individuals con- 32 DISCIPLESHIP : stituting the Christian community. The crying want of the Church is unity of interest and purpose among all its members. Some great and fundamental change is required, some plan of reorganisation, which will give form, character, definiteness to the Church. Themethod insisted upon by Jesus, and acted upon by his first disciples, would be as effectual now as it proved then. The Master's servants will fight best with the weapon which he placed in their hands. Unless they wield it, and trust in it, they cannot conquer in his cause. The spirit of unworldliness and heavenly-mindedness, carried to its extreme in the shape of voluntary poverty and self-sacrifice, is demanded of those who claim to be our spiritual guides : demanded not by the flock, but by the chief shepherd of the flock — Jesus himself. That truth seems to have been lost sight of. The clergy do not regard it as their special duty and privilege, a condition attached to their ' high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' Poverty they are content to accept, if need be, as an accident of their lives, but not as a ruling principle of their conduct. The laity, immersed in worldly affairs as the prime necessity of their existence, must needs feel that such precepts are not for them. For whom then ? For all in general, and no one in par- ticular ? For each individual Christian, as far as he may choose to apply them and act upon them, and no further ? That is what our want of perception and looseness of thought have led to. These solemn and reiterated exhortations of Jesus to his disciples have come to be held nugatory, ineffective, visionary, well nigh obsolete, alto- gether impracticable ; they are regarded as counsels of a perfection which is unattainable, undesirable in this life, principles of action toe high for ordinary mortals, and not specially binding upon any class. Why then did Jesus utter them ? AVas he a mere dreamer of dreams, an enthusiast counselling the impossible ? Not so, surely ! These rules of life were laid down in all sober seriousness, and only a careful and discriminating study of the gospels and epistles is needed to make evident their application. They are the heritage of professed disciples, men willing to throw away their fortunes and hazard their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus. With such men for leaders, and not without them, the Church of Christ will grow and prosper. They will possess a power of organisation, control, direction, which can be enforced by no statutes and maintained by no formal creeds ; the wealth of the — then — visible Church will flow forth at their bidding, and will supply every need. Not more willingness to give, but more system and unanimity in giving, is required ; and not by almsgiving alone can the inequalities of society be redressed, but by the ceaseless overflowing of that stream of sympathy with which the spirit of Jesus must needs flood his true Church, making the welfare of eachtheconcern THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 33 of all, and uplifting-, by just and fair dealing, the degraded masses now forming the lower stratum of society to the dignity of Christian brotherhood. A reformer has lately risen up in Russia who advocates plainly and boldly a return to the first principles of the gospel of Christ. The world and the Church, if they will but hearken, are in- k. and k. debted to Count Leon Tolstoi for his uncompromising logic. " ' 20 However startling and unconventional this disclosure of the naked truth, it is well for us to recognise the true form of Christianity, undraped by the garments woven by human hands after the fashion of the world. Like Luther, Tolstoi is bold enough to think and act for himself, and his voice and example are a trumpet call to the slumbering churches. Christ's doctrine is clear and incontrovertible. The maxims of worldly prudence by which it has been obscured, and the qualifications and exceptions devised by men, must needs be swept away. That being done, the only question is as to the limitations laid down by Christ himself. Did he impose his teachings upon all men, and call upon all to follow' them ? Assuredly he did not. That fact has been lost sight of by Tolstoi. What Jesus spake, he sjjake to his disciples, and he repelled from discipleship all who were not prepared to adopt his teaching, with all the suffering, self-denial, and self-sacrifice it entailed. Jesus drew a broad line of demarcation between his disciples and mankind in general. ' They ir John ie are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' They were separated from other men, called to live an unworldly life. There are precepts of universal obligation, but this is not one of them. God ' commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent : ' not it Acts do that they should all become disciples. 'God our Saviour; who2i. Tim. 4 willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth : ' we must not presume to add : and profess themselves disciples of Jesus. The preaching of Jesus to men in general is thus summarised : ' Repent ye, and believe the gospel ; ' and his disciples 1 Mark 15 ' went out, and preached that men should repent.' Not a word did 6 Mark 12 Jesus say to the multitudes to this effect : ' Ye are the salt of the earth ... Ye are the light of the world : ' such teaching, although in public, is addressed to his disciples, to whom he could say also : ' Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and 5 Mat. 11 say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.' It excited the astonishment of the disciples that Jesus always taught the multi- tudes in parabolic form : ' Without a parable spake he nothing unto 13 Mat. 34 them.' And he explaine that they were neither disposed nor able to receive from him any deeper teaching : ' Unto you it is given to know s Luke 10 the mysteries of the kingdom of God : but to the rest in parables ; 34 DISCIPLESHIP : that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not under- stand.' There is no foundation for the idea that Jesus expected or desired that all men should follow the precepts given to his disciples. 12 Luke 41 On one occasion Peter asked him : ' Speakest thou this parable unto us, or even unto all ? ' That question alone is sufficient proof that the disciples did not regard every doctrine of Jesus as of universal application. Such an assumption, however general, is as absurd as it would be to imagine the mysteries and duties of E'ree- masonry to be incumbent upon those who have never joined that fraternity. Jesus enlisted his disciples for no light enterprise. He had come to establish the rule of heaven upon earth, the kingdom of God among mankind. That involved the annulment of ancient and divinely-authorised laws, and the substitution of higher principles of action. It was a new departure ; a fresh step onward in the progress of humanity. It was decreed, moreover, that Jesus himself must be the first martyr in his own cause ; and it is a sublime fact, of vast significance, that a conference was held between himself, Moses and Elijah, on the mountain-top, wherein was discussed the subject of 9 Luke 31 ' his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.' The first Jewish lawgiver approved and directed the course adopted by Jesus, sanctioning and welcoming his method of enlarging and alter- ing the former code, Moses himself revisiting the earth, acknowledg- 5 Mat. 38, 39 ing Jesus, and thereby tacitly endorsing his command : ' Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth : but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil.' That was but one of many precepts, all equally startling, connected therewith. The disciples were forbidden to take an oath, to go to law, to resent an outrage, to accumulate property, to perform the functions of a judge. Tolstoi writes : ' Now I understand what Christ meant when he said " Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. And I say unto you, that ye resist not evil." Christ means, " You have been taught to consider it right and rational to pro- tect yourselves against evil by violence, to pluck out an eye for an eye, to institute courts of law for the punishment of criminals, to have a police, an army, to defend you against the attacks of an enemy ; but I say to you, do no violence to any man, take no part in violence, never do evil to any man, not even to those whom ye call your enemies." I now understood that, in this doctrine of non-resistance, Christ not only tells us what the natural result of following this doctrine will be, but by placing the same doctrine in opposition to the Mosaic law, the Roman law, and the various codes of the present time, He clearly shows that it ought to be the basis of our social existence, and should deliver us from the evil we have brought on ourselves. He says : " You think to amend THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 35 evil by your laws, but they only aggravate it. There is one way by which you can put a stop to evil ; it is by indiscriminately returning good for evil. You have tried the other law for thousands of years ; now try Mine, which is the very reverse." ' In the early days of Christianity the disciples of Jesus acted up to his precepts. Justin Martyr (a.d. 140) says : ' We who were once slayers of one another, do not now fight against our enemies.' Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (a.d. 107) states that the followers of Jesus had disused their weapons of war, and no longer knew how to fight. Tertullian, later (a.d. 200), alludes to Christians who were engaged in military pursuits ; but on another occasion informs us that many soldiers quitted those pursuits in consequence of their conversion to Christianity, and repeatedly expresses his opinion that any participation in war is unlawful for believers in Jesus, not only because of the idolatrous practices of the Roman armies, but because Christ has forbidden the use of the sword and the revenge of injuries. Origen (a.d. 230) in his work against Celsus says : ' We have become for the sake of Jesus the children of peace. By our prayers we fight for our King abundantly, but take no part in his wars, even though he urge us.' Is it wonderful that the law which regulates God's kingdom in heaven, should seem out of place and chimerical when introduced into man's kingdom, or rather the devil's kingdom, upon earth ? The aim of Jesus was to introduce into human society that heavenly-mindedness by which alone it can be purified, regenerated, transformed. The new leaven must be pat into the old lump, there to grow and spread until the whole should become leavened. It must needs be that the Founder of the new religion, and his first followers, should be martyrs in the cause ; and that others should rise up afterwards, and carry on the work in the same way and spirit. That is the true ministry of Christ, the true preaching of the cross. The need of the world cries out for the ■constant presence and example of a body of men prepared to live entirely in accordance with the rule of life laid down by Jesus, and to suffer gladly all the consequences. That ideal has been lost sight of, .and instead thereof we have a Clergy claiming the right of adminis- tering sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, men who expound the Scriptures to us, or for us, christen us, indoctrinate us, marry us, visit us in sickness, bury us. Did Christ ever say one word about such a sphere of duty for his followers ? That is not his work, his method, his scheme of action. One Tolstoi is worth an army of such evangelisers. Not that our clerical brethren are to be reproached for the position they occupy. They have not made it for themselves ; they have simply inherited it ; clergy and laity alike, we are all what our forefathers have made us. The so-called Christian community is fall of unchristian notions ; about salvation, war, law, the rights and 36 DISCIPLESHIP : duties of property. Society has never yet been organised upon the Christian basis. That is a consummation which can only be arrived at gradually ; and the departure from the foundation which was laid by Jesus and his apostles has thrown it back many centuries. Only by reverting to his plan can the gospel have free course, run, and be glorified. The first step towards success is to discern what is lacking. There are multitudes willing to devote themselves to the cause of Jesus, and to do all that he commands, if only his requirements and the world's necessities be rightly apprehended. Mistakes of judgment and of principle in this matter are fatal to the progress of Christianity. The doctrine of Jesus must be disentangled from the parasitic growth of human maxims by which it has been covered and stifled. Let the professed followers of Jesus be called by what name they may ; ministers of Christ, disciples, deacons, priests, pastors, bishops ; only let it be understood that they are bound to frame their lives in exact accordance with the pattern of Christ's life and the spirit and letter of his teachings. Such men will be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, seen and known of all men, like a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid. With such leaders in light and love, the church will be constituted according to Christ's ideal. The profession of discipleship must be purely optional, as Jesus intended it to be, and all ordained thereto must take up the cross, relinquish wealth, scorn ambition, seek the honour which comes from God only, have their treasure in heaven, their hearts being there also, decline to take any oath by way of allegiance or otherwise, refrain from judicial pro- ceedings, refuse to fight in any cause, either labour for a bare subsistence and distribute the overplus, or be content to give their time and labour to the church in exchange for food, raiment and shelter. Such men, and such men only, will be able to take up the 4 i. John 17 apostle's words : ' Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement ; because as he is, even so are we in this world.' They would be living sermons, epistles of Christ, 3 u. Cor. 3 seen and known of all men, ' written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.' What is wanted is a change, not of men, but of aim and system : that instead of simply hearing, year after year and generation after generation, the same doctrines inculcated, we should have ever before our eyes patterns and examples of men who, with like passions to ourselves, live the life ordained for them by Christ, each i coi. '-'-i of them ready to say, if need be, with the apostle Paul : ' Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church.' In the strife for freedom and for truth, they must needs sometimes suffer who stand foremost ; but the bitterness of the world's persecution is past, and an implicit adherence THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 37 to the doctrine of non-resistance now, might not entail the frightful penalties endured by martyrs in darker ages. Be it remembered too, that the chief persecutors in bygone times were men who called and deemed themselves Christians, but who, in that matter at least, were as far off from the teaching and spirit of Christ as heaven is from earth, or from hell. If the true doctrine of Jesus had not been wholly obliterated from the minds of those who claimed to be descend- ants from him and his apostles, it would have been impossible for them to lift a hand against any man, far less against those they sought to influence and convert. "When the church of Christ begins to adopt his policy, then Christianity will begin to flourish and bear its proper fruit of righteousness and peace. If the gospel of Jesus does not triumph, after all these centuries of preaching, — and who can dare to say it does ? — it must be because some fundamental human error mars and hinders the heaven-sent gift. When that is recognised, the question of amendment will become practical, and not much will be wanted to ensure success. The commandments of Jesus involve self- denial, but they are not grievous. The pecuniary emoluments of most clergymen are so small already, that it would be no sacrifice to them were they formally to renounce, in Christ's name, all hope and desire of property. The great difficulty and trial in connection with that, was the necessity it laid upon men of abstaining from marriage, lest at their death those they loved should be left without provision. But the beneficent system of life assurance would now obviate that, so ameliorating the stern necessity of renouncing for Christ's sake wife and children as well as money and lands. Of course, under the system laid down by Jesus, pluralities and the huge incomes of our Bishops must be abolished : they are of the world, worldly, and befit not those who profess to be followers of a heavenly Master. But there is room in the church for all, for men of wealth, culture, leisure, who could still devote themselves to preaching and other clerical offices, only taking second rank instead of first, renouncing the vain, pretentious claim of apostolical succession, in favour of those who in deed and in truth prove themselves imitators of Jesus and the apostles by life-long poverty and self-sacrifice, deliberately, voluntarily faced for the kingdom of heaven's sake. They alone can claim the title of soldiers of the Cross, and infinitely preferable would be their lot in this life, whatever persecutions and sufferings they might be called to endure, than is that of troops in a fighting army. Tolstoi draws the following graphic contrast between the soldiers of Christ and of the world :* 'Leaving their parents, their wives and children, they go in their buffoon attire, blindly submissive to some superior * "What I Believe," p. 182. 38 DISCIPLESHIP : whom they hardly know ; cold, hungry, worn out by a march above their strength, they follow him like a herd of oxen to the slaughter. But they are not oxen, they are men ! They cannot help knowing that they are driven to slaughter, with the unsolvable question, Why must I go ? and with despair in their hearts they go on, many dying off through cold, hunger, and infectious diseases, till those that are left are placed under bullets and cannon-balls, and ordered to kill men whom they know nothing about. They kill and are at last killed themselves, and not one of those who kills his fellow-creature knows why he does so . . . And no sooner does anyone call than others go to the same dreadful suffering and to death. And nobody finds it hard. Neither do they themselves think it hard, nor do their fathers and mothers think so ; the latter even advise their children to go. Not only do they think it necessary and unavoidable, but even perfectly right and moral. We might think the fulfilling of Christ's doctrine difficult if it were really an easy and pleasant thing to live according to the teaching of the world. But it is much more difficult, dangerous and painful to do so than it is to live up to the doctrine of Christ. It is said that formerly there were martyrs for Christianity, but these were exceptional cases ; we reckon about three hundred and eighty thousand voluntary and involuntary martyrs for Christianity in the course of 1800 years. Now count those that have died for the teaching of the world, and for each martyr for Christianity you will find a thousand martyrs for the world's sake, whose sufferings were a hundredfold more dreadful. Thirty millions have been killed in war during the present century alone. Those were all martyrs for the world's sake. Had they but rejected the teaching of the world, even without following the doctrine of Christ, they would have escaped suffering and death . . . We need not be martyrs for Christ's sake ; that is not what He requires of us. But he teaches us to cease martyrizing our own selves for the sake of the false teaching of the world. The doctrine of Christ has a deep metaphysical purport ; it has a purport general to all humanity ; the doctrine of Christ has the simplest, clearest, most practical purport for each of us. We may express this idea in a few words. Christ teaches men not to act foolishly. In this lies the simplest sense of Christ's doctrine, and it is one each has it in his power to understand.' There is a mine of philosophy in that simple sentence of Tolstoi : 'Christ teaches men not to act foolishly ; ' and also in the following : ' In order to secure an uncertain life, for an uncertain future, we resolutely ruin our real lives in the actual present.' The salvation designed by Christ is the salvation of mankind in this life. Losing sight of that truth, our spiritual guides teach us to acquiesce in its postponement to the next. Not aiming at Christ's pattern-life themselves, they have left the THE SCHEME AND GALL OF CHRIST. 39 world to its own course, and instead of overcoming it [have been overcome by it. The following remarks were suggested by the parable of the wedding guests. From first to last the parable puts a limitation upon the number k. and k. of the guests. Originally a certain selection was made: 'call ' " b ~' 29 them that were bidden to the marriage feast.' Now the room is represented as being filled up. This feature of the parable has its significance, and must not be disregarded. Alford assumes those first invited to be ' the Jewish people,' and he talks of ' the opening of the Feast to the Gentiles.' But the very structure of the parable forbids the idea of universality. To suppose a whole nation invited to assemble in a bridal-feast apartment is an absurdity. Such a mode of interpretation is wholly inconsistent with the aspect under which Jesus here presents ' the kingdom of heaven.' Only through disciple- ship to him is the kingdom of heaven attainable, and we know that he intentionally limited the number of disciples, and warned all men not to profess themselves as such, unless they had first counted the cost and resolved to hate all things else, even their own lives, for the gospel's sake. That every man should become a disciple was no more to be expected or desired, than that every house should become a church or chapel. ' Ye are the light of the world : ' if all could claim that illuminating influence, there would be no world outside for them to enlighten. ' A city set on a hill cannot be hid : ' city- crowned hills are exceptional ; dwellers in the plains below must look and climb upwards to them. A sprinkle of leaven put in three bushels of meal, till the whole should become leavened ; a tiny grain of mustard seed, which must be sown and grow up gradually into a tree ; an assembly of wedding guests, favoured individuals, for each one of whom admitted, a thousand of their countrymen must have been, as a matter of course, excluded : such were the similes whereby Jesus represented the kingdom of heaven. At first the world received it but in embryo ; poor and puny has been its development during eighteen centuries. Yet Christianity was no abortion : it was fairly born into the world in the first century. "Where is it, what is it now ? As an accepted creed, as a system of doctrine, it is everywhere, and professes itself everything. But as ' the kingdom of heaven ' among mankind, it has no existence. There is no 'reign of the heavens' yet in this world, nor can it ever be established except through the method devised by Jesus. Not by an assumption on the part .of the clergy that they have been commissioned and empowered to admit every infant into the kingdom of heaven by a supernatural act of grace in the sacrament of baptism, and then preachiug the duty of 40 DISCIPLESHIP : everyone to live up to that high privilege and profession, can the kingdom of heaven be set up in our midst. That is a plan of human invention, an error, a fiction, a rotten foundation upholding a sham Christianity. The scheme of Jesus is the very reverse of that. To the world at large his call is, from its very nature, impracticable. Never- theless he would have men follow it ; not all — that cannot be — but those who deliberately resolve to become his disciples and to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That profession entails a life of self-denial, the abnegation of this world, the sufferings incident to a career of protest against its errors and evils, coupled with an unequivocal acceptance of that doctrine of non-resistance which is the glory of the cross and the scorn of the world. Only such men can teach how to live and how to die after the example of Jesus and his apostles. If we had such soldiers of the cross among us, not standing aloof as ecclesiastical superiors, but simply bent on living in the midst of us the heavenly life, their example would surely be con- tagious. It would then be deemed a nobler thing: to fight Christ's battle than to enter an army and be drilled to slaughter fellow- creatures. Let us honestly state and face this truth : no disciple of Jesus may destroy a human life, or have recourse to violence. Who- ever does that, is not his follower, however much he may deceive him- self into that belief. Let every soldier take lower ground : he is of the world — opposed to the cause of Christ — by the nature of his calling. The rule extends in other directions also. No rich mati is a follower of Jesus : the holding of superfluous wealth is contrary to his requirement. ' Follower, disciple, Christian : ' the title itself matters not : the question is not about a name but about a reality. Let us be clear on the point. No condemnation is involved in non- discipleship : but much harm results from laying claim to discipleship apart from obedience to Jesus and entire dedication to his cause. If the lump is mistaken for the leaven, called by its name, no sharp dis- tinction being discernible between the two, the whole mass must con- tinue unleavened. Either the gospel must fail of its purpose, or dis- ciples must be found who will devote themselves to the cause, just as surely as the marriage feast would have been a failure if no guests had attended. Yet those most fitted for the work fail to recognise its claim upon them, so that it becomes necessary to hunt up recruits in all quarters. Jesus does not represent the mixture of classes at the marriage feast as a thing desirable in itself, but the occasion was of such urgency that no selection was possible ; they 'gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good : ' that touch was in- troduced into the parable deliberately and of set purpose. The apostle i i. Cor. 2g- Paul recognised its truth and application. ' For behold your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 41 not many noble ; but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise ; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong ; and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are.' The closing words show the drift of the argument : the disciples were chosen 'to bring to naught the things that are,' that is, to annul the system of social life prevailing in the world, a system grounded upon selfishness and violence, and to replace it by the gospel of Christ Jesus, his ' wisdom 1 i. Cor. so from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.' Obviously, whoever undertakes such a work must rise to its level, however low and degraded his previous career. The way in which Jesus continues the parable brings out that fact. He describes the king as making an inspection of the guests, detecting one who was not clothed, as the others must have been, in the garment indispens- able at such festivities, and calling him to account for the impro- priety. ' But when the king came in to behold the guests, he saw 22 Mat 11,12 there a man which had not on a wedding-garment : and he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither not having a wedding- garment ? ' The words ' to see ' in the Authorised Version are re- placed by the more emphatic words ' to behold.' Tischendorf renders, ' to look at the guests.' Young's version is as follows : ' And the king having come in to view the guests, saw there a man not clothed with clothing of the marriage-feast, and saith to him, Comrade, how earnest thou in hither, not having the clothing of the marriage- feast ? ' By adding this to the parable Jesus obviated any idea that the kingdom of heaven required no change in those who accepted the invitation to enter it. Alford notes that the word ' Friend ' is ' more properly Comrade or Companion? Those who associate themselves with Jesus and his cause must conform their lives to his pattern. If not, sooner or later, in this age or the next, the enquiry will come home to them, ' Comrade, how earnest thou in hither, not having the clothing of the marriage-feast ? ' The fashion of this world will not be recognised as suitable for the kingdom of heaven. It was no light offence which this man had committed. Of his own free will he had accepted the invitation, and he had no excuse to offer for neglecting the duty incumbent upon every guest to put on suitable apparel. ' And he was speechless.' It was necessary that he should be „ 12 forthwith excluded. ' Then the king said to the servants (Gr. bond- „ 13 servants), Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into the outer darkness.' The words ' and take him away ' after ' foot,' are omitted by the Kevisers, not being in the two oldest MSS. The command, * Bind him hand and foot,' suggests that the man would as a matter of 42 DISCIPLESHIP : coarse attempt to maintain his position by violence. Kefusal towear the prescribed raiment is indicative of an intention to follow the customs of the outer world. The practical rejection of Christ's doctrine of non-resistance is the fault most prominent and disastrous among those who assume a place in his kingdom without submitting to the guidance of his mind and will. Herein consists the gravest scandal upon our profession of Christianity. The warlike spirit has never been obliterated from the instincts of mankind. The strange, devilish notion still prevails, that War is a necessity of human exist- ence upon earth. It is deemed paramount among the resources of civilization, and the professed ministers and representatives of Christ raise no protest in common against it, and not only suffer the curse to continue rampant and unreproved, but actually consecrate its banners and pray, by royal command, for its successful issue and the blessing of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ upon those engaged in it. What a shameful parody of Christianity is this! It comes from our overlooking and forsaking one of the first principles of the gospel of Christ. All strife and bloodshedding are prohibited to the disciples of Jesus, and they who practise or approve such things have no part or lot in his kingdom, but must be cast out ' into the outer darkness.' The import of that phrase is clear, and must not be exaggerated. It simply denotes exclusion from the bright and festive joy inside : the man was thrust outside into the darkness of the night, as being unworthy and unfitted for the company within. That is the extent of the condemnation pronounced against those who are not in the kingdom of heaven, of which the marriage- feast is typical. Yet this is no light penalty, no trifling loss. It means the perpetuation of this world's miseries and crimes, the cease- less round of wrong and suffering inseparable from a social system based upon selfishness and violence. The guilt of this man consisted in the fact that he introduced the habits and maxims of the world into the kingdom of heaven. Alas ! that fatal mistake, that deadly sin, has grown into a widespread, crying evil, so that the professed Church of Christ has the form of godliness without the power there- of. There is no salvation for mankind under such a system. •2 Mat. 13 'There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.' How true, how applicable, that saying of Jesus to the existing condition of humanity ! H Jesus closed the parable with the words : ' For many are called, but few chosen.' That was a truth which pressed heavily upon his mind and heart. He represented all those first invited into the king- dom of heaven, as either neglecting or resenting the invitation. And when, after scouring the country, enough were found to start the gospel enterprise, the work of exclusion had to be undertaken. Jesus THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 43 realised full well the difficulty of establishing the kingdom of heaven among mankind. Those to whom the duty of assisting naturally and of right belonged, held aloof from the enterprise. Men of light and leading preferred to devote themselves to the old, established routine, and not a few of them vehemently opposed the new scheme of life and doctrine. In spite of that, 'by men of strange tongues Hi. Cor. 21 and by the lips of strangers ' the gospel invitation was proclaimed, and the Church of Christ was founded. Then came another evil, foreseen by Jesus and figured in this parable : the blending of the world's teaching with his pure gospel. That evil grew monstrously and still prevails. Men boast of the spread of the gospel ; but if the Church has overrun the world, the world has overrun the Church. The spirit of Christendom is not the spirit of Christ ; the life of professed Christians is not the life of the kingdom of heaven. The freedom, the brightness, the joy and rejoicing of the gospel marriage feast are not our portion upon the earth. We are yet in the ' outer darkness ;' and the state of society in general accords only too well with the sorrowful ejaculation, ' there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth.' The utmost possible peace, goodwill and happiness, — these are the characteristics of a marriage feast and of the kingdom of heaven. That conception of it may seem to most men too simple, too good to be true : but what higher, nobler, other object can the heavenly Father have than the prosperity of his children ? The carol with which the angels welcomed the Saviour conveys the same idea ' On earth peace, good pleasure among men.' This ameliora- 2 Luke 11 tion of the common lot of mankind on earth has been well-nigh lost sight of as constituting the salvation of Jesus. The apostle Peter says that the ' precious blood ' of Christ redeemed the elect ' from 1 i. Pet. is your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers.' Salva- tion, as preached and taught generally, is a very different kind of thing, — a system of intellectual beliefs, a scheme of justification, a method devised for the appeasement of divine justice without the sacrifice of transgressors. Saturated with such ideas, men interpret and work out the parables in such a way as to harmonise with their own notions. The equanimity with which the Churches of Christendom are able to contemplate, uphold, and even approve of War, is an evidence of our declension from the doctrine of Christ. The teaching of Jesus was as hateful to the secularists as to the k. and k. .II- 305-30S. religionists. From the first, the world at large was opposed to his gospel: 'For of a truth in this city' (said the disciples) ' against 4 Acts 27 thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were 44 DISCIPLE8HIP : gathered together.' The doctrine of non-resistance to evil was enough, by itself, to rouse the opposition of military rulers. Their power is founded upon physical strength and justice — or injustice — by violence, war, bloodshed, — from all of which Jesus held back his followers. The following passage, from Count Leon Tolstoi's ' What I believe,' is well worth our consideration : ' Not one of the Apostles, not one of Christ's disciples, could have supposed it necessary to forbid a Christian's committing murder, which is miscalled war. See what Origen says in his answer to Celsus, chapter G3 : " Celsus exhorts you to help the sovereign with all your strength, to take part in his duties, to take up arms for him, to serve under his banner, if necessary to lead out his army to battle. Moreover, we may say, in answer to those who, being ignorant of our faith, require the murder of men of us, that even their high-priests do not soil their hands in order that their God may accept their sacrifice. No more do we." And concluding by the explanation that Christians do more good by their peaceful lives than soldiers do, Origen says : " Thus we fight better than any for the safety of our sovereign. We do not, it is true, serve tender his banners, and we should not, even were he to force us to do so." It was thus that the first Christians regarded war and thus their teacher spoke when addressing the great men of the world at the time when hundreds and thousands of martyrs were perishing for the Christian faith.' Here is a sufficient explanation of the hostility of rulers to the Christian faith. Whenever the head of the state authorises the persecution of a section of his subjects, it must be for some grave state reason, for the upholding of his supre- macy against private opinions deemed antagonistic to national policy and welfare. The heathens had what we have and, alas ! boast of having, — a state-religion, a system of faith and divine worship recog- nised as orthodox, an ecclesiastical organisation working harmoniously with the imperial policy, the State and the Church mutually sup- porting and strengthening each other. True, the persecutions under the Roman emperors took the form of upholding the recognised mode of divine worship. That came naturally about, because the divinities they honoured included such as Mars and Venus, whose cult was suited to a people which gloried in war and revelled in immorality. 10 i. Cor. 20 Paul asserted ' that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they s John 44 sacrifice to devils, and not to God.' Jesus declared that the devil 'was a murderer from the beginning,' and told those who sought his life, ' Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do.' The apostle James thus criticised the warlike spirit : 4 James i, 2 ' Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you ? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members ? Ye lust, and have not : ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain : ye fight and war. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 45 We are assured : ' To this end was the Son of God manifested, that 3 l John s he might destroy the works of the devil.' The apostle James describes a wisdom ' that cometh not down from above, but is earthly 3 Jamea is (or natural, or animal), sensual, devilish.' That is the wisdom of the world, based on 'jealousy and faction,' and leading to 'confusion ,, le and every vile deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, •• 17 then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance (uncontentious — Young), without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for (or, by) them that „ is make peace.' The apostle Paul speaks in precisely the same terms : ' We speak wisdom among the perfect : yet a wisdom not of this 2 '• Cor - e world (or, age), nor of the rulers of this world (or, age), which are coining to nought : but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even ti - the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory : which none of the rulers of this world „ s (or, age) knoweth : for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.' The method of Jesus is opposed to the method of the world, and our faith does 'not stand in the wisdom of t) 5 men, but in the power of God,' in ' Jesus Christ, and him crucified : ' 2 all strivings against evil relinquished, to make way for unlimited gentleness and patient, unresisting sufferance. That is the wisdom proclaimed ' among the perfect (or, full grown),' the strong ' meat ' 3 i. cor. 1 of the spiritual disciples of Christ, as contrasted with the ' milk 'on ,,2 which ' babes in Christ ' must needs be fed, being 'yet carnal ; ' — „ 3 ' for whereas,' says the apostle, ' there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk after the manner of men ? ' This conformity to the world in spirit and practice, robs the gospel of Christ of its most distinguishing characteristics, and accounts for the harmony prevailing between the Church and the world. Tolstoi continues : 'But in our times the question whether a Christian ought to take part in war never seems to occur to any. Youths brought up according to the Church law, go every autumn, at fixed periods, to the conscription halls, and, with the assistance of their spiritual pastors, there renounce the law of Christ.' Such facts give rise to very solemn reflections, and force upon us the conclusion that the spirit of the age is essentially anti-Christian. It prevails, not in Prussia only, but throughout Europe. Both in the last century and in the present it made France a desolating scourge, and threw her back, baffled, humiliated, defeated, to nurse again into activity, as soon as may be possible, the demon-spirit of revenge. Germany is a permanent camp of soldiery. The Continent seethes with ■ the elements of disturbance, rebellion, anarchy. England rushes deli- berately, light-heartedly, now and again, into wars supposed to be necessary for self-preservation or prestige. The lust for power, 46 DISCIPLESHIP . 1 i. Cor. 2S dominion, and military supremacy, is a national insanity, a delirum- tremens, resulting from an inherited habit and curse of blood-drink- ing. And all this goes on, generation after generation, side by side •with a profession of Christianity ! Not without reason did the apostle James connect the wisdom of the world, and its strifes, with ' hypocrisy.' Where are the ' disciples ' of Jesus ? Are they simply dumb, or are they non-existent ? Assuredly they are not engaged in the work of bringing ' to nought the things that are.' Let any one of them, the very humblest, rise up in personal, practical protest, and he will be treated, as were the first disciples, as a foal, a fanatic, a rebel against social order. Tolstoi gives an instance : ' A short time ago a peasant refused to enter the military service, grounding his refusal on the words of the gospel. The clergy all tried to persuade the man that his view of the matter was erroneous ; and as the peasant still believed in Christ's words, and not in theirs, he was cast into prison, and kept there till he denied Christ. And this takes place although we, Christians, received 1800 years ago a perfectly clear and definite commandment from our God, which said, " Never consider men of another nation as thine enemies ; look upon all men as brethren, and behave towards all men as thou dost towards thy fellow-countrymen ; therefore shalt thou not kill those whom thou callest thine enemies ; love all and do good to all." ' The following fact, which is stated by the translator of Tolstoi's book, ' What I believe,' is equally suggestive : 'The work has unfortunately been forbidden in Eussia, but the manuscripts pass from hand to hand, doing their silent work of regeneration in the hearts of those who long for the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.' The existing state of society has been brought about, and is maintained, by that same combination of religionists and secularists which schemed the death of Jesus and the overthrow of his teaching. K. and K. II. 309-311. 10 John 11 A broad line of demarcation needs to be drawn between the policy of the world and the policy of the world's Messiah. All government is of divine origin, for without it, society would fall into fatal anarchy : ' So that he who sets himself against the authority, resists the ordinance of God : and they that resist will receive to themselves judgement.' That is equally true, whether such resistance be justifiable or unjustifiable, tacit and passive or overt and active. Jesus told Pilate, ' Thou wouldest have no authority against me, except it were given thee from above : therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.' The harmless Jesus ought never to have been dragged before the judgment-seat of Pilate. That was the act of the religionists of those days, and how often has it been repeated since ! So common a thin"; was it from the first for Christians to be treated THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 47 as their Master was, that the apostle Peter wrote as follows : ' Beloved, 4 i. Pet. 12 think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among yon, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you : but inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings rejoice . . . For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or „ is an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men's matters : but if a man ,, ie suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed ; but let him glorify God in this name. For the time is come for judgement to begin at the .. 17 house of God : and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God ? ' There was no certainty of escape from arraignment before judicial tribunals ; all that could be said was, ' It is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer 3 i. Pet. 1? for well-doing than for evil-doing.' The experience was so general, that it seemed like a dispensation of Providence, and a somewhat puzzling one, even to the mind of Paul, who wrote, ' For, I think God hath 4i. cor. 9 set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death : for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.' Yet in truth, here was no new thing : always throughout human history the rectification of abuses has involved suffering, and the path of progress has had to be cut with difficulty, risk and loss through obstacles. That has been done by the banding of men together in a common cause, by taking up arms, resorting to violence, by strife, war, bloodshed. The method of Jesus is altogether different : there is the same concentration of energy, unity of purpose, spirit of oppo- sition to existing evils ; but there is self-sacrifice without self-defence arguments enforced without arms, freedom claimed and exercised, but not fought for, resistance to the utmost, if need be ' unto blood, 12 Heb. 4 striving against sin,' but always passive, never a sword in the hand but often a cross on the shoulders, borne cheerfully even to the extremity of suffering and death. Only by regarding ' the things which are Csesar's ' as separate and distinct from ' the things which are God's,' can the work of reformation go on, and the spirit of martyrdom prevail. Neither the judges who condemn, nor those who are condemned, being accused, with more or less truth, of seeking to turn ' the world upside down,' are to be blamed. The former are the 17 Acts a representatives and exponents of the national mind and will, the latter, of the mind and will of Christ. That these are not in harmony, but contrary the one to the other, is a loss and grief to the whole community, all the heavier because not recognised and felt generally. Inherited opinions and habits of life must needs clash against new ideas ; the earthly and the heavenly refuse to combine, and a struggle for mastery ensues. That is the penalty of past errors and evils, which the disciples of Jesus were called to endure. Paul suffered in that way more than did the other apostles : ' in prisons 11 ii. cor. 23 48 DISCIPLESHIP : more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.' Yet he never railed against constituted authorities, but regarded them as 13 Rom. 6 'ministers of God's service.' The world must needs take its own course, and Christians theirs. Police, judges, jailers, there must be, perchance even soldiers, though it is time that standing and invading armies should be abolished as inconsistent with modern enlighten- ment and civilisation : but all these things appertain to Csesar, not to Christ, and with them his true followers can have no concern. Neither Csesar nor Caesar's representatives are to be condemned : 4 they are declared to be ministers of God, avengers ' for wrath to him that doeth evil ; ' but they are not ministers of Christ, in the sense 4 i. Cor. i in which the apostles were, of whom Paul said, ' Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.' Their offices, their function, their rule of life and action, are altogether different. Jesus chose his disciples out of the world, to be separate from the world, to the same extent and in the same way as he was. To call any man who wields a sword, returns a blow, sentences or executes criminals, goes to law, or accumulates property on earth, a disciple of Jesus, is to mistake the spirit of his calling and confer the title wrongly. Let us be content to take lower ground. It is enough that we are believers in Jesus, saved by faith in him ; it is too much to arrogate to ourselves a position and status claimable only by such as devote themselves wholly to his cause. The first step towards clearness of view, accuracy of thought, and sound judgment on this important question, is to keep distinct in our minds the things of Csesar and the things of Christ. The tendency of our spiritual guides has been in the opposite direction. 22 Mat. 21 Dean Alford's comment on this saying of Jesus is as follows : ' These weighty words, so much misunderstood, bind together, instead of separating, the political and religious duties of the followers of Christ.' Christ assumed no political duties : how then can his ' followers ' do so ? The incompatibility of rank, honours, and badges of distinction with a profession of discipleship, seems to have been utterly lost sight of. k. and k. On the title ' Rabbi,' Jesus observed : ' But be not ye called Rabbi : 336-338. j . g r teac ] ier an( j a \i ye are brethren.' The words 'even 23 Mat. S J •* Christ,' after ' teacher,' are now omitted, not being in the two oldest MSS. The word rendered ' Master ' in the Authorised Version and ' director ' by Young, is now replaced by ' teacher,' according to a >. »-i2 different reading. Jesus continued : ' And call no man your father on the earth : for one is your Father, which is in heaven (Gr. the heavenly). Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 49 the Christ. But he that is greatest (Gr. greater) among you shall be your servant (or, minister). And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled ; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.' Tischenclorf renders ' masters, master,' as ' leaders, leader,' and Young as 'directors, director.' Alford explains that ' call no man your father on the earth ' is, ' literally, nama not any Father of you on earth ' : the command is to the disciples collectively, not designed to touch upon personal and family relationships. Jesus strenuously insisted upon equality among his disciples. The collective title which best beseems them is 'brethren.' Freedom, absolute and entire, is their heritage. Much of the evil existing in the world has risen up and been perpetuated through the spirit of autocracy. Lordship on the one side, and servility on the other, have made the multitude obedient slaves to one absolute, imperious will, and have enabled monarchs and their coadjutors to deluge the world with blood, so that dynastic and national feuds, with all the accompanying horrors of war, have come to be regarded as the natural, justifiable, inevitable condition of humanity on earth. The aim of Jesus, the sum and substance of his gospel, was to introduce 'peace on earth ' ; and his repeated counsels to his disciples to eradicate from their minds the very idea of domination and direction by a recognised superior, to acknowledge no fealty except to one heavenly Father, and to own no Lord, no teacher, no leader, except Christ himself, — this was the best, the essential method of bringing to pass his gracious purposes of blessing to mankind. Let us not fall into the error of assuming that such exhortations have only a theological aspect and bearing, and relate simply to liberty of conscience and judgment in matters of faith and modes of divine worship. The precepts of Jesus touch the whole life and character. He bound his disciples to transfer their allegiance from others to himself. Absolute subjection to his rules of conduct constitutes the only reason and justification of this immunity from worldly claims and customs. The counsels cf Jesus are for disciples of Jesus ; what he speaks, he speaks to those who receive the law at his mouth and fashion their lives to his pattern. Emulations, distinctions, precedences, titles of honour, — these are badges of the world's system, and are contrary to the method and spirit of Jesus. To carry out his intentions, it was, and is, absolutely necessary that a Christian brotherhood should exist, owning no lord but the Christ, rejecting the world's maxims, holding aloof from all strife of law or arms, accumulating no surplus property, estranged from courtly rank, and allowing among its own members no titles "of superiority or supremacy. The adoption of any lower standard of discipleship than this, is evidence of departure from the high ideal of the gospel, and of the blending of the church with the world. Alas ! 50 DISCIPLESHIP : the very conception of such an organisation is now almost lost to mankind. No distinction is drawn, or even suggested, between simple ' believers ' and professed ' disciples ' of Jesus. The only difference now is between the clergy and the laity, and that not a difference between discipleship and non-discipleship, but of profession and of dress, all else that is lawful to a layman being equally law fid to a clergyman. There are two conceivable ways of bringing mankind under the rule of Christ, of establishing the kingdom of heaven upon earth. The first is, to introduce all into the church of Christ on easy terms, as a matter of course and of inherent right, adopting infant baptism, and then endeavouring, by means of Christian teaching, to persuade all men to live up to the precepts of Jesus, first toning them down somewhat, as though they were couched in figurative language which needs to be interpreted and modified to square with the established customs and recognized tone of society. That has been the system pursued through many centuries : the result being that dense masses of the population, in so-called Christian countries, are sunk in worse than heathen degra- dation, the worship of mammon prevails, and the warlike spirit among nations is as rampart as in the time of the Cassars. The plan of Jesus is the very opposite of that which has been so long adopted and perseveringly adhered to. It consists in the enlistment and organisation of a band of ' disciples,' volunteers in the cause of Christ, who have pledged themselves not merely to aim at but actually to live the heavenly life on earth, having their hearts and their treasure in the heavens, taking all the counsels of Jesus, without exception or equivocation, as their rule of life, when reviled, reviling not again, but committing themselves to him who judgeth righteously, animated by the spirit of Jesus, devoting themselves as 4 i. cv.r. 0-13 the apostles did, and able to take up the apostle's words : ' We are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ ; we are weak, but ye are strong ; ye have glory, but we have dishonour. Even unto this present hour, we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place ; and we toil, working with our own hands : being reviled, we bless ; being perse- cuted, we endure ; being defamed, we intreat : we are made as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now.' Such a body of disciples would teach by example, far more than by precept, and assemblies of believers watched over, taught and guided by such men, would imbibe the true spirit of Christianity, so alien from and antagonistic to that of the world, the flesh and the devil, thereby solving at a stroke all problems and oppositions of law and liberty, freedom and servitude, capital and labour, socialism and THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 51 individualism, free trade and protection, peace and war, which now distract the minds and sever the interests of mankind. Christianity, rightly viewed, means emancipation from the false and narrow teachings, maxims and customs of the world : it aims at neither more nor less than the regeneration, purification and perfection. — physical, mental, moral, — of the whole human race. It is not a system of dogmas, a scheme of salvation offered for individual acceptance or rejection, but the establishment of a heavenly kingdom under the sway of Jesus. ' In his days shall the righteous flourish ; \ And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.' There have always been men and women desirous of devoting themselves, their property and lives, unreservedly to Christ ; but they have been encouraged to forsake the world, to enter monasteries and nunneries. Such a withdrawal from society, from the ordinary walks and avocations of life, is incompatible with discipleship to Jesus, and thwarts its very aim and object. To take vows of poverty, of celibacy, of obedience to ecclesiastical superiors, is contrary to the spirit of gospel freedom, and runs counter to the will of Jesus, who must be the only Rabbi, lord and master to his disciples. They must be left free to follow the leading of his Spirit. Nonconformity to the world and conformity to Jesus is the essence of discipleship. Any institution framed after the pattern of the world, which adopts badges •of distinction, titles of pre-eminence, judicial powers, and claims the fright of defining and restricting what is to be believed and preached, -cannot be in unison with the mind of Jesus. He said : ' Be not ye •called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren . . . Neither be ye called masters : for one is your master — the Christ.' There must be an absolute reversal of the system prevailing in the •world without : ' He that is greater among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled ; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.' How can the disciples of Jesus claim freedom from the world's teaching and behests, if they set up .and bow down to a similar domination among themselves ? Christianity could no more secure immunity from that gradual yet sure process of •deterioration which attacks the loftiest ideals and aspirations of humanity, than could Judaism and the Mosaic dispensation. The scribes and Pharisees were the leaders and teachers of religious thought and practice, yet so far had they declined from the spirit of •the divine law and of the prophets, that they scrupled not to seek the •death of Jesus, and compelled him to aim at the weakening of their influence by exposing and denouncing the abominations of their principles and characters. They were the opponents of religious pro- 52 DISCIPLESHIP : gress, hostile to Messiah's purposes, and doing all they could to hinder the establishment of his kingdom. The plan of Jesus for the world's salvation was not in his own or in bis apostles' days welcomed by the world, and it can hardly be expected that if true disciples were now to become numerous they would escape persecution. k. nnd k. National and dynastic troubles, the rising of nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom, are the natural, inevitable outcome of man's earthly history, crises indicative of change and inseparable from progress, birth-pangs of humanity, when the old order gives place to the new, and fresh ideas and forms of government are born into the world. This social childbirth has its curse of suffering, and only the plan of salvation devised by Jesus can regenerate society apart from it. His kingdom rests not upon physical force, but on its- opposite, gentleness, love, long-suffering. The course of action he 2S Mat. 19 laid down was to ' disciple all the nations ' (that is Dr. Young's literal rendering) so that through his disciples, men living by his precepts — not to resist evil, not to lay up treasure upon earth — his light might permeate the world's darkness, his spirit of love and self-sacrifice abolish strife, and leaven earth with heaven's own peace and righteousness. Thus to redeem mankind from inherent evil, was no light task, and would involve to these apostles and ministers 24 Mat. o of Jesus persecution, suffering and death. 'Then shall they deliver you up into tribulation, and shall kill you : and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake.' Young renders,. ' because of my name ; ' the ' Englishman's Greek New Testament,' ' on account of my name.' Strange, that the harmless Jesus, and those who devoted themselves to the proclamation of his beneficent purposes, should thus draw down upon themselves the universal hatred of Gentiles as well as Jews. The world was averse to any attempt at change, even in this heavenward direction. The secret springs, the motive power of social influence, were then, as ever since, in the hands of a privileged class, and the hold which these men bad gained over the world's affairs they would suffer no- man to loosen. Reform was abhorrent to them, especially when it threatened to interfere with their self-will and self-interest. It suited some to play upon the prejudices and passions of the multitude, as- it Acts 5 r when ' the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar ; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come^ THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 53 hither also ; whom Jason bath received : and these all act contrary -o the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.' A similar instance happened at Ephesus. ' For a certain man named "> Acts 24- DemetriuSj a siversmith, which made silver shrines of Diana, brought HO little business unto the craftsmen ; whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods which are made with hands : and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute ; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard this, they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' Whenever a Reformer's hand touches and shakes an error of creed or an abuse of power, the instinct of self-defence and self-preserva- tion rises up in opposition, for those who not only acquiesce in an evil but profit by it, are not likely to forego without a struggle their own advantage. Something more than a mere sentiment of reverence for their deities must have been at work in the bitter persecutions of Christians under the Roman emperors. Were Christ's doctrine of non-resistance to evil now to be adopted by any considerable number of believers, there would be reason to anticipate a somewhat similar outburst of persecution. For such persons would refuse to serve in the army, and would feel bound to declare that under no compulsion would they shed the blood of a fellow-creature. We can imagine what that would lead to in countries where the law of conscription is still in force, as in France, Germany and Russia. The fact that Count Leon Tolstoi's religious works are prohibited in Russia, is significant enough. If any large body of Christians adopted the non-militant doctrine broached in the Sermon on the Mount, not only would autocrats and statesmen seek out and persecute them, but the clergy would be compelled either to side with the ruling powers or to confess that their own teachings in that matter had been erroneous and anti-christian. Such a crisis is as possible now as it was in the days when Jesus foresaw it, and warned his disciples to be prepared for it : ' But take ye heed to yourselves : for they 13 Mark shall deliver you up to councils ; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten ; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for my sake, for a testimony unto them.' Jesus had far-reaching plans for the welfare of mankind. Amidst k. and k. all the strife, confusion, devastation prevailing in the world, and as the only effectual antidote of its sad condition, it was essential that 54 DTSCIPLESHIP : 13 Mark io the gospel should be universally proclaimed. ' And the gospel must 24 Mat. u first be preached unto all the nations.' Matthew is fuller : ' And this gospel (or, these good tidings) of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world (dr. inhabited earth) for a testimony unto all the nations ; and then shall the end come.' The gospel must be received and preached under its social aspects, as ' the gospel of the kingdom.' That, its true nature, has been too much lost sight of. It is regarded rather as a panacea for individual sins and woes, than as a scheme and system of communistic life on earth. The 'kingdom ' must needs have a visible, tangible existence, with Jesus as its ruler and his laws for its government. The ecclesiastical polity which calls itself ' the Church,' with its spiritual hierarchy, does not satisfy the requirements of humanity, or answer to the idea of a heavenly kingdom established in the earth. Ministers of religion deem it their chief business to labour for the salvation of men's ' souls' in the next world. There is the only ' kingdom of heaven ' they contemplate or aim at ; there, not here, the wrongs, evils, inequalities of life, are to be rectified. Mean- time, mankind are to be ' saved ' through faith, baptism, holy com- munion, prayers, praises, Bible reading and teaching; society generally, it is admitted, is in a most unsatisfactory and terrible condition, but in spite of that, to every individual member thereof the offer of 'salvation' is made, and it is his own fault if he does not accept it, so as to escape damnation hereafter, whatever his earthly lot may be. While such conceptions prevail of ' the gospel of the kingdom,' and the means at present adopted for its development are deemed suffi- cient, there is small hope, or rather none at all, of its establishment. We have only, and can have only, the form of Christianity without the power thereof. Civilisation makes headway ; education does its work towards elevating the masses ; republicanism and democracy mitigate to some extent that habit of war and conquest which is the ingrained inheritance of dynastic and autocratic rulership : and at every step of progress, there is a clapping of hands among religionists, and a shout sent forth by them, See what ' the gospel ' has done and is doing ! Yes : they will have it, that all our hospitals and modes of caring for the poor — workhouses perhaps excepted — are to be attri- buted to Christianity : where the Bible is not, or where afalse religion — non-protestant — is, there, they say, darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. The day for such a style of argument is past. Let us look with honest eyes upon the world and its history. If the evil does not preponderate over the good, it is not because of our profession of Christianity. Look round upon the armaments and hosts of fighting men in Europe ; think of the low, degraded, unhappy condition of huge masses of our population : what influence has been produced upon the lust of War or upon the greed of Commerce, by THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 55 the propagation of what is called ' the gospel ? ' Absolutely none. Peace, goodwill and equity are the fundamentals of human brother- hood : in the 'inhabited earth ' of our day, these virtues are con- spicuous by their absence. "What may be the triumphs of Christianity in heaven, we know not : but it is time for us to face, and utter, the solemn, startling truth, that the influence of Jesus Christ in the nations of the world is small indeed. His spirit is not in them ; the gospel preached is not his gospel, not the ' gospel of the kingdom.' When that has been made ' a testimony unto all the nations,' his promise will come to pass : ' then shall the end come ' : ' the end of the age,' — of 'wars and rumours of wars,' of sin, and wrong, and misery. The parable of the sheep and the goats alludes to a recognised class of disciples. The term ' brethren ' being thus applied, and thus restricted, to k. and k. professed ' disciples,' we must be careful not to misunderstand and misapply the latter word. Disciples of Jesus were those who not only believed in him, but devoted themselves to his cause and accepted all his precepts as their rule of life, including his unworldly and to other men impossible doctrines of constant poverty and absolute non- resistance, the forsaking of everything and the suffering of any- thing for his name's sake. By such men the gospel was first proclaimed, and by such men only can it be perpetuated, spread throughout the world, and accomplish the regeneration of man- kind. The command, ' Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the 28 Mat. 10 nations,' is rendered literally by Young, ' Having gone, then, disciple all the nations.' Luther renders : ' lehret alle Volker,' and Beza in the Latin version, ' docete ornnes gentes,' simply ' teach all people.' The true sense lies between the two extremes of mere teaching on the one hand, and a proclamation of universal disciple- ship on the other : the former is insufficient, the latter is impossible. The scheme of Jesus for the evangelisation of the world was the sending forth of a band of disciples imbued with his doctrine, possessing his characteristics, illustrating the heavenly life as much by example as by precept ; such a class would constitute his leaven in society, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a city set on a hill which cannot be hid. That was not designed as a temporary expedient, suited to the apostolic age buc not to later generations ; for it must continue up to the time ' when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory.' Is it not an obvious inference, -that there can be no such manifestation of Jesus, in the absence of such a body of disciples ? They must be in existence at the time of his appearing, seen and known of all men, the recognised representatives 56 DISCIPLESHIP : ■i i. Pet. 13 of Christ, ' partakers of Christ's sufferings— that at the revelation of his glory also ' they ' may rejoice with exceeding joy.' In the first days of Christianity such sufferings for Christ's sake overflowed the church generally ; but it must ever be on the heads of the leaders and teachers that the fall force of the storm of persecution will burst. Jesus here represents them as exposed to hunger, thirst, homelessness, nakedness, sickness and imprisonment. How exactly did the experience of Paul and others agree with that description : 4i. Ccr. 11 ' Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place.' And ii ii. cor. 23 again he says: 'In prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft.' To such ministers and disciples of Jesus the expression ' these my brethren ' referred. There is the king on his throne, the righteous are on his right hand, the others on his left, and the brethren of the king are spoken of as a class by themselves, present and separate. All professed Christians agree in one thing — that the gospel of Jesus is the divinely appointed means of the world's salvation. But it is only through discipleship that the gospel can exercise a trans- forming influence on national life. k. and k. The practical exemplification and teaching of the gospel of Jesus .56-64. can on jy j je man jf es t e( j t ti ie world by the lives of his disciples or ' messengers,' who must necessarily stand forth in opposition to the spirit and practice of the world, not in all things or in things indifferent, but with respect to those peculiar doctrines of non- resistance and voluntary poverty which are the distinctive features of Christian discipleship, the method designed by Jesus, the lever placed in the hands of his followers wherewith, in the power of his Spirit, i i. Cor. as they may hope to ' bring to nought the things that are.' The world has ever been a seething cauldron of crimes and sufferings, dominated by the military spirit, which relies on brute force and courage, and secures its triumphs by rapine and carnage. Such a remedy for the rectification of social wrongs is worse than the disease. The system of Jesus is entirely different : to plant in every nation disciples in his name, living exemplars of the heavenly virtues of harmlessness, long-sufferance, unselfishness, strong as iron to preach and practise righteousness, truth and peace, but in all else weak as water, in the judgment of the world, nerved for martyrdom but not for fighting, even in self-defence. By a few men of that stamp the gospel of Jesus was first preached and planted. Where are their successors ? Before the Hon of man can sit on the throne of his glory, they must be again among us, seen and known of all men ; and our treatment of them, the warmth of our sympathy or the coldness of our neglect, THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 57 will prove our fitness or unfitness for his presence and his kingdom. If we despise the blessing, we must remain under the curse ; if we reject the messengers, we must depart from their Master : ' Go ye from me, the cursed, into the age-during fire, which hath been pre- pared for the Devil and his messengers. 1 The apostle John taught : ' To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy s i. John s the works of the devil.' Jesus here speaks of the devil's ' messengers.' Who are they ? ' He that doeth sin is of the devil, for the devil „ s sinneth from the beginning.' And what is the most noteworthy characteristic of the devil ? ' He was a murderer from the beginning, s joim 44 and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and the father thereof.' Murder and lying arc pre-eminently the works of the devil. The wholesale slaughter of mankind by war is wholly contrary to the spirit of Jesus, ' for the Hon of man is not come to 9 Luke 56 destroy men's lives, but to save ilicm" ' Wars and rumours of wars 24 Mat \. must needs come to pass,' but the ending of such things is the hope and scope of the gospel, and the disciples of Jesus must not be of those ' that take the sword.' That is not generally admitted. It is 20 Mat. 52 argued that it is as natural for men as for animals to fight ; which is> alas ! only too true, and must continue true, until we rise to a higher level of Christian doctrine and practice. Nation has risen against nation and kingdom against kingdom, from the earliest times ; neither is the fact to be overlooked that the Israelites also were a fighting people, that they engaged in battle under the leadership of Moses, Joshua and David, that Jehovah himself not only justified but commanded war for the conquest of Canaan, and later sent Saul the anointed king of Israel ' on a journey, and said, Go and utterly 15 i. Sam. is destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.' God allowed war, commanded war, promised and gave victory in battle, although the title ' God of battles ' is not a Scrip- tural one, as might be supposed from the way in which it is some- times used. We must not blink these facts. Yet it should be remembered that the nations overcome by the Israelites were evil ones: 'For every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have i2Deu. 31 they done unto their gods ; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.' And the policy of the Israelites was not, except as regards those nations, an aggressive one, their object being to preserve their own land, and their utmost am- bition, with that view, to extend their borders : ' For I will cast out 34 Kx. 24 nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders : neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou goest up to appear before the Lord thy God three times in the year.' The hope of victory by divine aid went no further : ' Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid 32 a. Chr. :. 58 DISCIPLESHIP : nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him : for there is greater with us than with him : with him is an arm of flesh ; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles.' But if God in his wisdom chose thus to inter- fere and overrule the destinies of mankind, raising up and preserving a peculiar people to himself in the only way by which, in the existing condition of the world, it could be done, that affords no justification for war in the abstract, nor for the waging of it permanently and universally. Because God once, under a certain condition of society some thousands of years ago, permitted and used war, are we to argue or assume that he designs its continuance throughout all time, at the will of the world's successive rulers, and that we are free to disregard his voice when he says through his Son to the raging nations, making 46 Ps. !• ' wars to cease unto the end of the earth : ' ,, 10 ' Be still, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the nations, 1 will Ije exalted in the earth ? ' God made known his abhorrence of bloodshed to David, who told 22 i. cbr. s Solomon his son : ' The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars : thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.' The great Ruler of the universe works out, advances, modifies his plans, according to his wisdom and the progressive needs and possibilities of humanity. The views of the apostle Paul on this question were sound and wise. He tells how it Acts so God ' made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation.' But mankind, being left to themselves, lapsed lt 30 into idolatry. 'The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked ; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent (reform — Young) ; inasmuch as he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world (Gr. the inhabited earth) in righteousness by the (or, a) man whom he hath ordained.' This relates to national life, ' every nation of men,' national worship, which had degenerated into idolatry, national reformation, of ' all men everywhere,' national judgment, of ' the inhabited earth.' The gospel is a message of 14 Ants io reform to the nations from God, 'who in the generations gone suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways.' The divine purposes of blessing to mankind have always been nationalistic, not l; Gen. 4 individual. The promise to Abraham was : ' Thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations.' When God threatened to cast off the rebellious Israelites, the same purpose was still kept in view : he said H Num. 12 to Moses : 'I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 59 them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they/ At the intercession of Moses they were not disinherited, hut their future national career was not according to the divine intention, so that they were repeatedly brought into subjection by other nations, the two remaining tribes out of the twelve were at the coming of Jesus under foreign rule in their own land, that remnant was scattered soon after, and from that day to this Israel as a nation has not existed : the divine plan was thwarted by human perversity. That truth should be laid to heart. Man's free will is not interfered with, but is a potent factor in the world's history. The experiment with the Israelites having failed, the method was changed. The idea of a heavenly kingdom upon earth was not to be relinquished. The Son of God was sent to found it. It was first offered to the Jews, and being by them rejected, was proclaimed among the Gentiles. ' It was necessary that the word of God should first be v.\ Acts u; spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.' That was the design of Jesus, who commissioned his apostles to ' disciple all the 2s Mat. 19 nations:' 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the 10 Mark ir. whole creation.' The world must be interspersed with disciples preaching the gospel of the kingdom, gathering assemblies of be- lievers in it and in Jesus as its king, but not bringing about its establishment ; for it is evident that until the king himself is present his kingdom in its completeness cannot be : the utmost to be done in his absence is to prepare the hearts and lives of men for his coming and his rule. The apostle Paul admitted the apparent inadequacy of the means to the end : ' It was God's good pleasure through the 1 l Cor. 21 foolishness of the preaching (Gr. thing preached) to save them that believe . . . But we preach Christ (or, a Messiah) crucified, unto „ 23 Jews a stumblingblock, and unto Gentiles foolishness/ The true preaching of the gospel is even more by example than by precept. Before the eyes of the Galatians ' Jesus Christ was openly set forth 3 g.u. 1 crucified.' In what sense ? By the example, in the person, of Paul his messenger: 'I have been crucified with Christ; and it is noaGai. 20 (Mil" ) longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.' The preaching of Christ must be not so much verbal and doctrinal as actual and practical, by living demonstration of the spirit and power of the gospel : 'And2i. Cor. 4 my speech (or, word) and my preaching (Gr. thing preached) were not in persuasive Avords of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.' The gospel is not Judaism, not the precepts of the Mosaic law or ritual ; it was a novelty, equally startling both to'Jews and Gentiles : ' Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect (or, n full-grown) : yet a wisdom not of this world (or, age), nor of the rulers of this world (or, age), which are coming to nought.' Jesus 60 DISCIPLESIIIP : 5 Mat 31 at. 21 27, deliberately enlarged, repealed, reversed, such of the divinely-given 33, 38, 43 , " ° ' 1 » D Mosaic laws as lie deemed necessary, saying with respect to murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, estrangements : ' Ye have heard that it was said . . . but I say unto you. 1 This important fact has been, generation after generation, overlooked, or misunderstood, or forgotten, or explained away, hidden from men's eyes, absent from their thoughts, so that those new and few precepts of Christianity on which alone its power and influence are based, are precisely the maxims to which the whole policy and practice of society in ' Christian ' nations stand opposed. The world's code of morals, laws, government, does not recognise the commands, prohibitions, counsels of Jesus, with respect to slaughter, oaths, retaliation : it is assumed that these things must always exist as part and parcel of national life. But what legislators cannot insist upon, or even attempt, was made incumbent upon all professed 'disciples,' 'brethren,' 'messengers' of Jesus: the name by which they are called matters not, but their calling lays upon them the obligation to take his precepts in their entirety, literally and truly, as their rule of conduct. The absence from the world of any such class of men is sufficient to account for the fact that Christ's special commands are deemed too high and exacting, visionary or figurative, magnificent considered simply as ethical doctrines of perfection, but impracticable generally, and beyond the range of our earthly surroundings. It is held that so far as we can see along the vista of futurity, there must ever be wars, and law suits, and oath taking, and national animosi- ties, divorce also, we have lately been persuaded, and so on. Society indeed progresses, but at a rate monotonously slow, beating out its advances by centuries instead of years and days. There is no open demonstration of the spirit and power of Christ, no living exemplifi- cation of him in the persons of disciples adhering to all his commands. Had there been such a band of followers of Jesus, how much of blundering and bloodshed would the world have been spared ! In Cromwell's time there was an earnest effort made to live and rule according to the revealed will of God. But the Puritans imbibed the spirit of the Old Testament, and disregarded that of the gospel, talked about ' smiting Amalek,' thought they were fighting the Lord's battles when they slaughtered, ravaged, burnt, after the old, old fashion. That could not have come to pass if there had existed in their midst a nucleus exhibiting the true doctrine and life of Christians, round which might have gathered all who were earnest seekers of i James 20 salvation, and by means of which they might have learnt that 'the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,' and have imbibed the spirit of the angelic carol, ' Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.' Oliver's THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. Gl Ironsides might then have become Christian martyrs ; they could never have developed into so-called ' Christian ' soldiers. There had been a similar turning-point in history at the time of the crusades. Religious enthusiasm was kindled, and the spirit of devotion and self- sacrifice was all that could be desired ; but the forces of Christendom were wrongly directed and applied ; instead of helping forward the cause of our Eedeemer upon earth, they resulted only in an enormous expenditure of blood and treasure in fighting over his sepulchre ; these warriors thought they were doing God service, but in fact they were doing the Devil's work, who ' was a murderer from the beginning, s John w and stood not in the truth.' These things could not have been, if the doctrine and aims of Jesus had been rightly apprehended, which must have been the case if his professed brethren and followers had formed a class apart from the world, not of monks and nuns and religionists anxious through prayers, praises, fastings, sacraments, to save their own souls and those of others hereafter, but of men living the apostolic life, holding fast to Christ's command, ' Resist 5 Mat. 39 not him that is evil : but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right check, turn to him the other also.' There would have been no preaching of the crusades if Christians had known what manner of spirit they are of. There has ever been an anti-christian spirit in the world. 'Every spirit which confesseth not Jesus is not of God:' the 4 >■ Jolm 3 Revisers note that in place of 'confesseth not Jesus,' ' some ancient authorities read annulleili Jesus' Have not some of the commands of Jesus to his disciples been practically annulled, and especially that of non-resistance to evil ? The rectification of evil by wholesale slaughter is not Christ's work, if it be not Devil's work : ' This is „ 3 the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it comcth ; and- now it is in the world already.' We must apply that dictum of the apostle John to whatever opposes or annuls the teaching of Jesus, and we still need to take to heart the warning, ' Beloved, believe not „ 1 every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God : because many false prophets are gone out into the world.' It is clear from the parable of the sheep and the goats that Jesus contemplated the existence among mankind, up to the time of his manifestation in glory, of a distinct class of 'brethren' of himself, who would be exposed by their profession to poverty, rejection, and even imprisonment. They being his representatives, callousness to their wants and infirmities must be taken as evidence of indifference to Jesus. The world to the very last will be slow to discern that connection. The righteous, who have done such small services as they could to these preachers of righteousness, are represented as astounded at the value placed upon their sympathy, and those who have kept wholly aloof from Christ's 'brethren' can scarcely be (>2 DISCIPLESHIP : brought to admit that they are rightly excluded on that account from 25 Mat. a his kingdom. ' Then shall they also answer, saying-, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or „ 45 in prison, and did not minister unto, thee? Then shall he answer them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.' In verse 44 the word ' him ' has been omitted after ' answer,' on the authority of the three oldest MSS. The Revisers in verses 40 and 45 have altered ' least of these ' to '■ these least, 1 indicating not comparison between one and another of the brethren, ' one of the least of these, 1 but the small esteem in which all the brethren are held by the world, — 'these least.' Potentates, statesmen, warriors, politicians, regard them not : i i. cur. 2g ' Behold your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, 2S not many mighty, not many noble,' are engaged in the effort ' to bring to nought the things that are. 1 In what sense are the words in verse 41 to be understood : ' Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels' ? Is the 'age-during fire ' to be taken literally or figuratively ? That Jesus should have introduced it as a figure of speech is perfectly natural, and consistent with his usual mode of teaching, which overflowed with metaphors. So much was this the case that the apostles themselves were sometimes in doubt 4 John 32-34 whether he was speaking literally or figuratively, as when he said, 'I have meat to eat that ye know not. The disciples therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat ? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to is Mat. o accomplish his work.' Once he warned them : ' Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ; ' at first they „ ii took his words literally, to his astonishment. ' How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake it not to you concerning bread ? But „ 12 beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Then under- stood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and .Sadducees.' It was no new 12 Luke 49 thing for Jesus to speak of ' fire ' figuratively. 'I came to cast fire upon the earth ; and what will I, if it is already kindled ? ' The so isa. n word had been used by prophets in the same way. ' Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands : walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled.' Does not that carry precisely the same significance as ' Go ye from me, the cursed, into the age-during fire, which hath 2 Hab. 13 been prepared for the Devil and his messengers ' ? Again : ' Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanity.' Instead of ' for the fire, the Authorised Version has ' in the very fire.' We must interpret THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 63 the words of Jesus in this place in accordance with his accustomed style, with the context, and with the similitudes in the prophetic writings. The 'age-during fire 1 in verse 41 is opposed to 'the kingdom ' in verse 3-4. Both have been k prepared.' Those who oppose the kingdom of God are ever labouring in the very fire, and for the fire, together with the supreme opponent of God, the devil and his messengers. To the end of existence, and age after age, the weariness and vanity must needs continue. That must be the in- evitable, ceaseless doom, the punishment, whenever the righteous are taken away and the wicked are left to themselves. ' And these shall -ij -Mat. 4g go away into ieternal punishment, 1 rendered by Young, ' And these shall go away to age-during punishment.' Bat to the righteous, thus gathered together and separated from others, there will be granted age-during life apart from punishment : ' but the righteous » 4G into life eternal,' rendered by Young, 'but the righteous to age- during life' No need to promise anything more ; for life under the rule of the glorified Son of man implies the utmost blessedness of which man's nature is capable. This parable coincides with that of the tares of the field : ' The good seed, these are the sons of the i3 Mat. 38- kingdom ; and the tares are the sons of the evil one ; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil ; and the harvest is the consummation of the age ; and the reapers are angels (messengers — Young). . . . The Son of man shall send forth his angels (messengers) and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire : there shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.' Life prolonged to its utmost . bound under the rule and guardianship of Jesus, is the ultimatum of Christian hope and progress. A very different construction is generally put upon the parable of the sheep and the goats. The true signiticauce of the expression ' these my brethren ' is lost sight of, and a sense altogether erroneous is adopted. It is assumed, as a matter of course, that 'these my brethren ' is synonymous with ' these toue brethren,' all mankind being deemed ' brethren ' of the Christ by virtue of his participation in our human nature. This grave misapprehension is not much to be wondered at, for two reasons : (1) The true sense and application do not lie upon the surface, and all experience proves that when a wrong notion has once been started among theologians, it is apt to be laid hold of and spread abroad, with all the self-satisfied certainty of conviction, as an admitted and irrefragable conclusion. (2) There is no distinct class of persons before the eyes and in the minds of men, and has not been during many hundreds of years, answering to 64 DISCIPLEHHIP : the description given of ' these my brethren ' in this parable. In the days when the gospel was first preached, there existed no such difficulty of identification. Jesus could appeal to his first mission- 22 Luke 35 aries : ' When I sent you forth without purse, and wallet, and shoes, lacked yet anything ? And they said, Nothing.' The apostle Paul GH. cor. 4 could say: 'In everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in stripes, in imprisonments ... as poor, yet making many rich.' That high ideal of a Christian ministry, that brotherhood to Jesus, has become lost to the church and the world. The fact is undeniable, be the causes what they may, by which it may be either justified or explained. Ministers of the gospel do not now attain to that level, or need not now descend to that depth of poverty and degradation : put it which way you will, so only the fact be admitted and realised. The preaching of the gospel now is committed to men who simply perform functions analogous to those rendered by priests, Levites, scribes, doctors of the law. Availing ourselves of their services, it becomes us not to criticise their office, or disparage their conscientious efforts and labours. Their position, their creed, their practice, come to them, as to all of us, by inheritance, subject to such modifications in doctrine and life as the light and leading of our own generation may supply. But whether we, as a professed Christian community, are living up to the doctrine of Christ, is another question, a very solemn one, applicable alike to the clergy and the laity. The promised salvation of Jesus seems to have been relegated, by common consent, to the next world : we appear to have lost all hope of it in this. The wrongs and evils, the sufferings and inequalities of society are regarded as stereotyped pages in human history. Teachers and preachers of what ought to be, we have in abundance ; but exemplars of the heavenly life, the life of Jesus and his apostles, — where are they ? The sheep we know, and the goats we know, or think we do, but the ; brethren ' of Jesus we discern not, because they are not, — no recognised fraternity devoted to the cause of Christ in such a way that it may at all times be said by each of them to those who minister to their necessities : ' I was an hungred, and ye gave mo meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 1 Yet such wants and infirmities are part and parcel of the normal daily existence of multitudes about us, men, women, helpless children, together with not a few outcasts and criminals, — all of whom we are taught to class under the designation of Christ's poor, Christ's ' brethren ' ! T f we accept that common application and interpretation of the parable, we must needs believe that the final salvation or condemna- THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 65 fcion of each one of us will depend upon the giving or witholding of our alms to the necessitous. That idea is of itself sufficient to throw Christian faith and practice into confusion. Indiscriminate alms- giving tends to perpetuate pauperism : yet if all the poor are Christ's brethren, dare we refuse them at any time the help and succour we are able to give ? Moralists and political economists, who have studied the subject, warn us that a constant stream of gratuitous benevolence is the surest way to bring about the degradation of the recipients : it robs them of energy, self-reliance, self-respect. Are these hard-thinking students of social problems wrong in their con- clusions ? Or did Jesus blunder when he laid down the rule of giving and visiting as a sufficient test of fitness for admission to his kingdom ? Neither : the political economists on this point are right, and Jesus never made it incumbent upon all who have, to give to all who have not. To suppose he did, introduces another anomaly. Political economy is a hard and ' dismal ' science, because resting too entirely upon the basis of self-interest. Christianity introduced a higher principle of action, transforming every master into a bond-servant to Jesus, a ' faithful and wise steward whom his 12 Luke 42 lord ' has ' set over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season.' That is the foremost responsibility of every Christian employer of labour. But in the race for wealth it has been sadly disregarded. Manufacturers, merchant-princes, have not scrupled to cut down wages to the lowest point, justifying themselves by the law of supply and demand, and disregarding the law of Christ, 'Masters, render unto your servants that which is just aniUcoi. 1 equal.' The result of this selfish policy is seen in the permanently degraded condition of the toiling masses everywhere. And that very poverty which neglect of a primary obligation of Christian duty has imposed and perpetuated, is assumed to be the proper field of action for the benevolence of those to whom it is really owing ! Having made paupers, the help we dole out to them, however scanty, is imagined to be — and if the common view of this parable is correct, must be — our highest if not sole claim for admission into Christ's kingdom ! In face of such a reductio ad absurdum, is it not high time for all of us to review and revise our traditional systems of theology and Christianity, and set ourselves to the task of studying and comprehending the true doctrines of Jesus ? With respect to those of almsgiving and discipleship, fundamental errors exist which have made Christianity a puzzle even to its professors, several of .its precepts standing apparently at variance with their deliberate practice, and being to men of independent thought, be they half- believers or disbelievers, sufficient to stamp the loftiest doctrines of Jesus as ideals impossible of attainment, a scheme of morality and 66 DISCIPLESHIP : action impracticable upon earth, 'a view of life . . . which if carried into effect by the whole world — a test which any doctrine professing to be at once true and universal ought to stand — would speedily bring the world to an end.'* A painstaking, unprejudiced investigation of the gospels and epistles, leads us to a point of view at which these anomalies, difficulties and uncertainties disappear. To see the gospel in its proper light, we must bear in mind the following truths to which we have attained. (1) Jesus did not invite all men to become his ' disciples,' but dissuaded some, and bade every man count the cost before he enrolled himself as a disciple. (2) Certain commands given to disciples were never intended for universal adoption. (3) Yet those commands, without exception, were intended to be put in practice by the professed disciples. (4) Such disciples are Christ's ' leaven ' in the world ; without them the world cannot be saved, converted, changed, Christianised, made Christlikc : the term chosen is unimportant, if only we lay hold on the thing signified. (5) Such disciples, from the nature of their undertaking and the prescribed method of carrying it out, must face poverty, obloquy, ill-treatment ; sacrificing their own prospects in this life, they must ever be more or less dependent on the good- will and charity of those among whom they perform their miuistry. (6) To sympathise with and assist such disciples is to help forward the cause of Christ ; to hold aloof from them, indicates indifference to him and unfitness for his kingdom. How can the gospel of Jesus be expected to triumph, when its primary requisite — a body of k disciples ' or ' brethren ' pledged to an implicit obedience to all his commands — is wanting in the world ? So long as his plan of evangelisation is not adhered to, but is actually overlooked and forgotten, his merciful designs for mankind must remain in abeyance. Let us not imagine that the advancement of the gospel is retarded by some mysterious divine purpose : the delay is not chargeable to God or to Jesus, but to ourselves. AVe seem to be repeating the history of the Israelities, of whom God could only say: si Ps. 13-15 ' Oh that my people would hearken unto me, That Israel would walk in my ways ! I should soon subdue their enemies, And turn my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should submit themselves unto him ; But their time should endure for ever.' There must be some failure of ' hearkening ' to Jesus, some neglect * ' ' Civilization and Progress. " By J. B. Crozier. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 67 of ' walking- in his ways,' to account for the non-success of his gospel. Errors of heart and life there are, we admit ; let us search out also and not be blind to errors of judgment and of system. Inasmuch as the disciples of Jesus must constitute a class separate from the world, it follows that the world also, with respect to them, will be divided into two classes : (1) those who oppose or neglect disciples ; (2) those who sympathise with them. That appears from the parable of the sheep and the goats. Discipleship itself must have its varieties and degrees, the highest point being reached by the ' followers ' of Jesus, devoted to the promulgation of his gospel aud therefore, because standing foremost, more liable than other disciples to become martyrs : indeed, our word martyr is the Greek word for witness. In the body of disciples the various members must have different offices ; so that if the Christian community, apart from the preachers and followers of Jesus, are distinguished as ' believers,' there can be gradations of believers, approaching in their mode of life more or less nearly to actual discipleship, but down to the very lowest grade in sympathy, at least, with perfect disciples and helping forward the cause of Christ. This community of believers will constitute the * sheep,' their shepherds being the preachers and followers of Jesus, and the outside world, indifferent or hostile, being represented by the ' goats ' ; not ' wolves', be it remarked : the wolves, alas ! have entered among the sheep, often in sheep's clothing, and not sparing the flock. Such differences of degree in faith and practice seem to have been in the mind of Jesus when he made reply to the information that certain Greeks had desired an interview with him. In reference to the application, Jesus made certain observations, k. ami k. which are here recorded by the apostle John, whose gospel is a collec- tion of various discourses of Jesus preserved and handed down by this apostle only. ' And Jesus auswereth them, saying, The hour is 12 John •:■:, ■come, that the Son of man should be glorified.' The Revisers have .altered 'answered' to ' auswereth,' on the authority of the two oldest MSS. If the discourse was written down at the time of its delivery, this use of the present tense would be very natural. Young renders : 'The hour hath come, that the Son of Man may be glorified.' Hitherto the experience of Jesus had lain in the contrary direction. He had been treated with contumely : ' I honour my Father, and ye sjohiur.se ■dishonour me. But I seek not mine own glory: there is one" that seeketh and judgeth.' At an earlier period he had recognised the same fact : ' I receive not glory from men,' and had protested against 5 J ol >» »i the prevalent folly of seeking the praise of men rather than the praise >• 2 G8 DISCIPLESHIP . 5 John 44 of God : ' How can ye believe, which receive glory one of another, and the glory that cometh from the only God ye seek not?' Only through dishonour could true honour be attained. On the eve of his betrayal and mocking and crucifixion, Jesus felt that his career of rejection and contempt would soon be closed, and ' the glory that cometh from the only God ' be manifested in him. His death would ensure nobility to himself and vitality to the cause to which his life 12 John 24 had been consecrated. ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone ; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.' The Revisers, agreeing with Alford, have strengthened the rendering by adding ' by itself,' before ' alone.' Young renders : ' If the grain of wheat having fallen into the earth may not die, it remaineth itself alone ; but if it may die, it beareth much fruit.' Jesus had come into the world to die for the world, just as the wheat is sown in order to decay, spring up and supply abundance of food for man. If the planted wheat die not in the soil, neither could it germinate anew : its true life would be lost to itself and the world. The simile contained a truth of general application. 12 John 25 'He that loveth his life (or, soul) loseth it, and he that hateth his life (or, soul) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal (age-during — Young).' The Revisers, following the two oldest MSS., have altered 'shall lose' to 'loseth.' A merely barren, personal existence, ' by itself alone,' is not the life which God designs and man needs. Keeping close to the parable, we must bear in mind that it applies to corn actually sown for the purpose of reproduction, not to that which is consumed for food. The former represents Jesus and his disciples,, the latter may stand for mankind in general, to whom Jesus is not alluding. Both must perish, for the law of death is universal ; but discipleship involves a design and results which are not aimed at and cannot be brought to pass otherwise. That this was in the mind of .- 25 Jesus is evident from his next words : ' If any man serve me, let him follow me.' Young renders : ' If any one may minister to me, let him follow me ; ' Tischendorf : ' If any one minister to me, let him follow me.' The term ' serve ' or ' minister ' carries here the same sense as in the parable of the sheep and the goats, where the latter •:d Mat. 4i S ay : ' Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? r The verb is the same in both passages : diaJconeo. Jesus here distinguishes between ministering to him and following him, and he counsels his apostles that whoever may perform the former office is also to be at liberty, if not exhorted, to assume the latter. That there is no imperative command intended, transforming of necessity the minister into the follower, seems obvious from what follows : 12 joim 20 ' And where I am, there shall also my servant be,' where Young and THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 69 Teschendorf render ' servant ' as ' minister.' The two classes must ever remain distinct, as followers or disciples and ministers or helpers. We have already learnt that the followers or ' brethren ' of Jesus are his representatives among mankind, and that ministration to then- necessities will be regarded as done to himself. The washing of the apostles' feet by our Lord, conveyed a practical lesson with reference to discipleship. Having gone the round of his disciples, Jesus laid aside the towel, k. and k. . . Ill 119-1°2. resumed his clothing, again took his seat at the table, and proceeded to explain the motive of his action. 'So when he had washed their 13 John 12 feet, and taken his garments, and sat down (Gr. reclined) again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you ? ' He reminded them of the position he occupied towards them, and of the reverence with which they habitually treated him, he accepting from them as his due the titles of Lord and Teacher. ' Ye call me Master, (or, „ is Teacher), and Lord : and ye say well ; for so I am.' It was pre- cisely because they admitted his supremacy that he had taken upon himself this servile function. If he had done it for them, they also should do it for each other. ' If I then, the Lord and the Master (or, t 14 Teacher), have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet.' He had preferred to teach them by example rather than by simple precept. ' For I have given you an example, that ye should do ., 15 as I have done to you.' What he stooped to perform could not be considered as beneath their dignity. ' A servant (Gr. bondservant) (1 i,-, is not greater than his lord ; neither one that is sent (Gr. an apostle) greater than he that sent him.' Let us try to understand the import and the bearing of the Lord's example and advice. The apostles were alone with their Teacher. It was on account of his peculiar and close relationship to them that Jesus performed this action. He never did to others what he now did to them, nor did he urge them to imitate his example towards any outside their own circle. He did not bid them wash the feet of all men, or of other men, or of any man not associated with them in their common enterprise. His counsel went no further than : ' Ye also ought to wash one another's feet.' The water, the bason and the towel were in the room, but no servant being present they had at first all taken their seats without washing. Had it been customary for each guest to rinse his own feet, they would as a matter of course have done so, and Jesus would have been quick to set the example. As it was, he might have done that, thus giving them a lesson of independence and self-help instead of self-sacrifice. The omission on this occasion of the customary ablution would have deprived their banquet to some extent of that sense of comfort and air of refinement which add to the charm of social intercourse. 70 DISCIPLESHIP: Jesus could not contemplate that with indifference, and it occurred to him that if, for the time being, one of the party would voluntarily make himself servant of all, every requirement of punctilious courtesy could be fulfilled. So he resolved to take upon himself the task, and in spite of protests insisted on accomplishing it, thereby teaching them how easily the spirit of charity among themselves, taking this practical form, could supply the deficiencies and minor inconveniences arising from their lack of worldly wealth and position. Instead of attempting to profess a contemptuous disregard of such things as trifles, let them remember how much of the happiness and grace of life are dependent on them. Jesus would not have his professed disciples sink in any point of delicacy and self-respect beneath the world's level, but seized the occasion to remind them, first by his 13 John it action and now by his words : ' If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.' The Eevisers have replaced the word 'happy' by ' blessed.' Alford also inserted the note : ' Render, as usual, blessed.' But Young here and elsewhere, even throughout the sermon on the mount, translates the word, malcarios, as ' happy,' and it would be wiser to follow his example than to seek uniformity in the other direction. The minds of ordinary English readers are accustomed to attach to the word ' blessed ' the idea of blessing imparted specially by (rod, which is obviously not its meaning in this place. The true point and natural drift of the incident here related, and of the words of Jesus in connection with it, are generally overlooked, it being taken for granted that the only object was to enforce a lesson of humility. But we must ask : Why in relation to the washing of feet ? Why should one out of many thus humble himself ? Alford quotes the following from Bengel : ' In these times pontiffs and princes obey this injunction to the letter : but it would be a more wonderful thing to see a pontiff, for example, wash the feet of one equal, than of twelve poor beggars.' That travesty of the injunction of Jesus arises out of a misapprehension of the circumstances and a misapplication of his words. Alford observes : ' The custom of literally and ceremonially washing the feet in obedience to this com- mand, is not found before the fourth century.' If it could be traced up to the first century, that should make no difference in our judg- ment of the matter : theologians, in their reverence for antiquity, seem often to lose sight of the fact that the men of the first century were as liable to error and perversions of the gospel as we are in the nineteenth century. When we trace a custom or a belief up to the earliest date, it must only be to compare it with the original gospel records, and to say that, in our opinion, at that time the sayings and commands of Jesus were rightly understood and acted upon, or the reverse, as the case may be. Even in the apostle Paul's time the THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 71 Lord's supper was misconceived, perverted, and had grown into a scandal. From the very first, erroneous opinions and practices have existed, and as time went on they became more and more hlended with the truth, leaving to later generations the task of disentangle- ment. The earliest ages and the greatest names are not credentials of infallibility, and implicit, unreasoning confidence in them is sufficient to account for the perpetuation of various dogmas, principles of action, modes of worship, and sacerdotal claims, which still main- tain their hold on Christianity, and which must be exposed and cast aside before we can discern and grasp the pure and simple gospel of ' the kingdom of heaven.' Alford makes the following comment : ' Notice that our Lord commands us to do, not " that which I have done to you," but "as — in like manner as — I have done to you." ' The self-dedication of the individual to the benefit of the community,- — that was the point and purpose of his action. Only to a Christian brotherhood resembling that of this apostolic band, can his example and exhortation apply. They were animated by a common purpose, they had joined a common cause, they had given up everything to follow Jesus, they had all one purse, and were so indifferent about it that the thievish Judas was suffered to hold it in his keeping : their voluntary poverty 12 John 6 must not lead, as indigence so often does, to any abatement of self- 13 John 29 respect, decency, decorum, any deterioration from their proper level of social comfort and refinement ; that there would be a tendency in that direction was evident to Jesus when they sat down to the meal without the customary ablution ; and to preserve them from that evil, to impart to them a spirit which would guard against it, and a rule of conduct which they could adhere to amidst the lowliest surroundings, he gave them an example in his own person of what a little tact and self-sacrifice on the part of anyone could do for all of them. With houses of our own, with money at our command, with paid servants about us who have no occupation in the world bsyond attending to our personal and family comforts, \vc can read the narrative without any sense of needing to make a practical applica- tion of it ; but assume the existence of a community of disciples, small or large, be it twelve, twelve hundred, or twelve thousand, all banded together to carry out the gospel scheme of Jesus, who for his sake and for the kingdom of heaven's sake, have relinquished all they had on earth, whose daily recurring need and impecuniosity literalise the petition, ' Give us this day our daily bread : ' in such a com- munity there must be a constant interchange of voluntary, unpaid services, the time, the skill, the aptitude of particular members, in a variety of ways, being exercised on behalf of the general body, yet no one member being suffered to degenerate into a mere household 72 DISGIPLESHIP : drudge, or servant of the rest, but each taking part and turn in those necessary offices of loving service of which the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus stands forth as a pattern and illustration. He did not say, ' Let each man among you wash his own feet,' nor, ' Let one from among you be. chosen to wash the feet of the rest,' but, ' Ye also ought to wash one another's feet ; ' there must be an established reciprocity of self-sacrificing ministration, a ready, cheerful assump- tion by each alternately of some lower function, his contribution, for the time being, towards the general welfare, that the entire brother- hood may secure, in spite of general poverty, the ease, grace, comfort, refinement, which are desirable for all, and which the world can pay for but they cannot. This advice of Jesus was not for or suited to the world, nor was it designed to be incumbent on the church, — that is, the assembly of believers, — at large : it was a counsel of perfection for the twelve, and can be laid hold of and applied only by a similar body of ' disciples,' living and labouring under the same conditions and with the same aim and object as the first apostles. Commenta- tors seem to have been altogether at a loss what to make of the incident and lesson. Alford says : ' Our Lord's action was symboli- cal, and is best imitated in His followers by endeavouring, " if a man be overtaken in a fault, to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." Gal. vi. 1.' That is far-fetched and incongruous : Jesus hinted nothing about faults and restoration. That Alford was able to appreciate the real drift of the action, yet to discern no particular ground, direction or scope for its application, is evident from the following note : ' The command here given must be understood in the full light of intelligent appreciation of the circumstances, and the meaning of the act. Bengel remarks, that one intent of our Lord's washing the feet of His disciples must necessarily be absent from any such deed on our part : viz. its symbolic meaning, pressed by our Lord on St. Peter, " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." The demand will rather find its fulfilment in all kinds of mutual con- descension and help, than in any literal observance.' Bengel says we cannot imitate the symbolic meaning ; x\lford thinks we can best imitate the symbolic meaning, not quite the same as Beugel's, in a particular way, yet at the same time it is perceived and admitted that ' all kinds of mutual condescension and help ' constitute the sum and substance of the command. "What we are accustomed to call miracles were in fact signs of the spirit and power of Jesus, ivories which the Father had given him to do. Those signs or works were placed within the grasp of his disciples, and it is not to be wondered at that when the spirit and power of discipleship departed, the signs or works ceased. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 73 Jesus continues : ' Even as the Father hath loved me, I also have K . and k. loved you.' The Revisers have introduced the word 'even,' and 111-149 ' 150 ' ' also ' instead of ' so.' Young renders : ' According as the Father loved me, I also loved you.' This is in close connection with ' ask whatsoever ye will,' and ' that ye hear much fruit.' Jesus had previously spoken of the Father's love to himself, connecting it in the same way with powers and privileges. 'The Father loveth the3j im8G Son, and hath given all things into his hand ; ' and again : ' For the -, ,j„i m - M Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth : and greater works than these will he shew him, that ye may marvel.' Love is indissolubly bound up with acts and gifts : the love of God to Jesus was manifested by giving all things into his hands, shewing him all things that himself did, and greater works than any actually exhibited to the world. The love of Jesus to his disciples was the same in kind and in effect : ' He that believeth on 14 join, 12 me, the works that I do shall he do also ; and greater irorlrs than these shall he do ; because I go unto the Father.' It rested with themselves whether that love, with all that appertained to it, which Jesus had bestowed on them, should continue. He counselled them : ' abide ye in my love.' That could only be in one way : by ].-, j,,im n obedience to his precepts : ' If ye keep my commandments, ye shall „ 10 abide in my love.' Their life and their experience would then resemble his own : ' even as I have kept my Father's commandments, ., 10 and abide in his love.' That tallies with a previous declaration of Jesus, in which he attributes his works and words to his conformity to the Father's good pleasure : 'I do nothing of myself, but as the sjoim2S Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is ., 29 with me ; he hath not left me alone ; for I do always the things that are pleasing to him.' On that depended the continuance of the power of Jesus, which was the testimony of the Father's love. So would it be with the apostles. Jesus had done 'works which none 15 John 24 other did ; ' he had assured to those believing in him the same powers : ' the works that I do shall he do also.' This was contin- tingent on the love of Jesus, which was contingent on their obedience. ' To our Saviour, this world was as plastic as any world need be ; and to His true disciples, He promised the like powers, and the like obedience from the world. In short, he inaugurated the miraculous as the order of nature, and the realisation of this we look upon as the outward measure and standard of the human regeneration.' * Jesus himself plainly intimated that if he had not continued obedient to the Father's commandments, he would not have retained the Father's love, and so would have lost his power of working ' the works of9joims * " Emanuel Swedenborg." By James John Garth Wilkinson. 74 DISCIPLESHIP: God,' amongst which he classed the opening of blind eyes. If we i Acts 12 ask, How came it to pass that ' by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people ' ? or by what means the impotent man was made whole ? no answer can be given Acts 10 but that of Peter : ' In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.' If then we ask, How is it that this wonder-working power extended so little, faded away so soon, and became again utterly lost to mankind, the answer surely must be, Because the faith of Jesus Christ has departed from among us ; because his disciples did not keep his commandments, and so did not abide in his love. If he has ' left us alone,' it is because we do not ' always the things that are pleasing to him.' ' The Christian church had been declining from the days of the apostles, by whom it was first founded in love and simple, faith. It had declined through the anger and hatred of the Christians ; through their violence and bloody wars ; through their love of dominion in a kingdom where all were to be servants ; through their love of the Avorld in a state whose early builders had all things in common, and in which the Lord's morrow would take care of itself : through their councils where the human mind erected itself in session upon the truths of God, and made them into coverings for human sins ; through the popedom, which sat upon the vacant throne of the Messiah ; through the reformation, which kindled fresh hostilities and passions, and brought into clear separation the mind and heart of the church, writing up justification by faith on the hall of the concourse of evil-doers : finally through the wide-spread Atheism which found too valid an excuse in the manifold abominations of the Christians.'"' In brief, the race of true disciples of Jesus, living by his precepts and animated by his spirit, has become extinct, unrecognisable upon the earth : therefore the signs of discipleship exist no more. There is deep meaning — much more than a figure of speech — in ii. cor. 2, s the words of the apostle : ' Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men ; being made manifest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.' Neither Jesus nor his apostles showed any confidence in the letter of a written gospel, nor in any words of speech, except so far as they were dictated by an indwelling Spirit which manifested itself in the lives of the hearers. The existence of a band of disciples, and a community of believers in Jesus, would serve for gospel and epistles to the world, and without such an * "Emanuel Swedehborg." By James John Garth Wilkinson. THE SCHEME AND GALL OF CHBIST. 75 assembly — or Church — guided entirely by the precepts of Jesus, no • written records can avail to the salvation of mankind. The deliberate reticence of the fourth evangelist is remarkable and k. and k. significant. Out of the multitude of the mighty works of Jesus seven only were chosen, but they are overwhelmingly convincing as signs of superhuman powers. At his will the water turned to wine ; he healed, first by a word, spoken at a distance, then a man who had been paralysed nearly forty years, then a man blind from birth ; the substance of bread and of fish, on merely passing through his hands, gained bulk enormously, his touch and volition doing instantaneously the work of increase which we look for only through the gradual pro- cess of growth — by air, moisture, sunlight and natural development ; he walked on the sea as though it had been solid earth ; he called a departed spirit back to its body, and the body out of the tomb. These things are told that we may believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and so believing may live according to his will and precepts. Yet the bulk of John's gospel, although made up chiefly of the sayings of Jesus, does not record his practical directions : the sermon on the mount, his instructions to disciples, and all the parables, touching on human duties and illustrating the nature of the kingdom of God — these things are omitted, and in place of them we find solemn declara- tions of the pre-existence of Jesus and of his incomparably supreme and incomprehensible nature, arguments with the Jews and others, and discourses with his disciples, all displaying the highest degree of self-assertiveness and claiming for himself power and influence alike in earth and heaven, and stretching out into eternity. ' These are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye may have life in his name.' And yet the evangelist does not describe what sort of life Jesus would have his disciples lead, nor what the nature of the change expected in the lives of believers generally. Yet in this absolute indifference and careless- ness about any provision for written directions, the apostle did but resemble his Master. There is not a hint anywhere of the slightest anxiety on the part of Jesus to perpetuate his doctrine by written documents ; the fragments of his teaching which have come down to us are replete with wisdom, truth, grace, spirituality, and we learn from them clearly what commandments he laid upon his disciples. But to his words, as sayings merely, he attached no importance : they might be preserved, as they have been, and yet the spirit of them might be lost, as alas ! it has been. ' The words (sayings — Young— o John 63 rhema not logos) that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life : ' only as their spirit became embodied in the lives of men, could they be of any benefit. Jesus looked to perpetuate his doctrine, not through books and catechisms and dissertations, but through the lives 7fi DISCIPLESHIP : s ii. cor. 3. of his disciples. They must be epistles of Christ, ' written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in tables that are hearts of flesh.' The maxims and duties which Jesus imposed upon his disciples were never intended by him for universal adoption, much less to be professed by all alike, and then not carried out by any. That is the position into which Christendom has drifted. The professed ministers of Christ are no more his ' disciples,' in the true and full sense of the term, than are the rest of men who have been baptised as Christians. There exists no body of men pledged to a literal obedience to all the precepts of Jesus, and who, by carrying them out in their integrity, can be recognised as his disciples, a community within the community, in the world yet not of the world, Christ's city set on a bill which cannot be hid, his salt of which every man may take a little, his leaven ever working thoughout the mass until the whole be leavened. Failing to realise that high ideal, it has come to be taken for granted that the peculiar directions given by Jesus to his disciples are actually impracticable : all men say so by their lives, though few indeed venture to put their belief into words, as did the late Dr. Magee, Bishop of Peterborough (made Archbishop of York in ^ 1891). Speaking at the Diocesan Conference at Leicester, his words are reported as follows : ' Christianity, however, made no claim to rearrange the economic relations of men in the State and in society, and he hoped he would be understood when he said plainly that it was his firm belief that any Christian State carrying out in all its relations the Sermon on the Mount could not exist for a week. It was perfectly clear that a State could not continue to exist upon what were commonly called Christian principles, and it was a mistake to attempt to turn Christ's kingdom into one of this world. To introduce the principles of Christianity into the laws of the State would lead to absolute in- tolerance. The law of Christianity was self-sacrifice, impelled by love ; the principle of the State was justice, impelled by force.' * Bold words, and wise. It is a step in advance when Christ's precepts are looked upon at all from a practical point of view. By all means let the truth be recognised, that they are impracticable in statecraft, and unsuited to any form of human government. That may lead to the further consideration, that they are equally unsuited for adoption by individuals generally, and were never meant to be acted upon except by willing disciples, Avho must first count the cost, resolve to give up all things for Christ's sake, and ever thereafter be able to say, 4 i. John n ' as he is, so are we in this world,' — divorced from wealth, laying up treasure in heaven only, pledged to patient sufferance and absolute * Fall Mall Gazelle, 26 October, 1889. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 77 non-resistance, let come what come may. That was the broad line of demarcation drawn by Jesus between ' his own which were in the 13 John i world ' and other men. True, a State, on such principles of action, ' could not exist for a week,' could not exist at all ; true, a solitary individual in some places might not exist a day, — Jesus was not suffered longer than three years, — but nevertheless the apostles and their co-disciples did continue to exist, and if discipleship were now to become what it was then, the flock of Christ, however little, would live, and grow, and spread, until the world, taught and animated by example and not merely by barren precepts regarded as impracticable, would gradually assimilate the gospel to itself and itself to the gospel, and move fast onward to that foretold day when it will be pro- claimed : ' The kingdom of the world, is become ihe kingdom of our u Kev. io Lord, and of his Christ : and he shall reign unto the ages of the ages. 1 Although teaching must precede and accompany discipleship, to ' disciple ' means much more than to ' teach.' The Authorised Version stands : ' teach all nations,' altered by the Revisers to ' make disciples of all the nations.' Young renders : ' having gone, then, disciple all the nations.' The literal rendering in the ' Englishman's Greek New Testament ' is : ' Going therefore disciple all the nations.' Tischendorf has : ' Go ye and disciple all the nations.' Alford agrees with the Revisers. Obviously the proper rendering is neither 'teach' nor 'make disciples of,' but simply ' disciple.' The Greek noun rnathetes, disciple, is converted into the verb matheteuo, to disciple. The substantive occurs 2G1 times in the New Testament, and in every instance is rendered ' disciple.' The feminine form, mathetria, appears once, in the passage : ' a certain disciple named Tabitha.' The verb occurs only here and in the following three passages. K. and K. III. 312, 31: A uthoriscd Version. Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven. Who also himself was Jesus' disciple. And had many. taught Revised Version. Every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the king- dom of heaven. Who also himself was Jesus' disciple. And had made many disciples. Young. Every scribe hav- ing been instructed as to the reign of the heavens. Who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. And having made many disciples. Englishman's Greek New Testament. Every scribe dis- 13 Mat 52 eipled into the kingdom of the heavens. Who also himself 27 Mat 57 was discipled to Jesus. And having dis- 14 Acts 21 cipled many. From the consistency of the renderings in the fourth column it is clear that the correct translation of the passage under consideration is : ' Going, disciple all the nations.' What does that mean ? Clearly the wording of the Authorised Version, ' teach all nations,' is alto- gether inadequate to the sense : to teach is not to disciple ; Jesus 78 DISCIPLESHIP : taught multitudes, very few of whom ever became disciples. Disciple- ship requires a voluntary submission to the teacher, and implicit obedience to the teaching. It is equally clear that the wording of the Revised Version, ' make disciples of all the nations,' as far exceeds the true sense as ' teach all nations ' falls short of it. ' Make disciples of all the nations ' can only be understood to signify that either every individual in the world or the bulk of the inhabitants of the world was to be transformed into a disciple of Jesus. That would be directly opposed to his own aim and method of proceeding : he never sought to gain disciples in that wholesale fashion, but on the contrary insisted upon every one counting the cost beforehand, 14 Luke 33 and in plain unmistakable words he declared : * Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.' The disciples were commissioned, not to overthrow and reverse the policy of Jesus, but to continue and extend it : ' Going, disciple all the nations : ' the very act of going would be, by itself, a realisation of the scheme, were no immediate result to follow ; for to disciple a nation is to plant disciples, be they many or few, in the midst of it. Jesus did not impose upon his apostles the huge, impossible task of converting all mankind ; the small success of his own efforts demonstrated the hopelessness of that ; they could only 10 Mat. 23 go from place to place, obeying his injunction : ' when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next.' Is it to be supposed that Jesus issued a command which could not be executed ? The duty assigned to his followers did not exceed their power of performance. The word - nations ' indicated a restriction rather than an enlargement of their functions. They were to go everywhere preaching the gospel : first from nation to nation, in order to disciple the nations ; after- wards it would be from town to town, in order to disciple the entire community. The first pioneers could but touch the outskirts of the work, 'the nations,' leaving it to their successors to carry it on in cities and villages. We have heard a Doctor of Divinity, Bishop and Archbishop of the Church of England, assert that ' Christianity made no claim to rearrange the economic relations of men in the State and in society.' True, as regards the State ; false, as regards society. True, as regards rearrangement by compulsion ; false, as regards regeneration :; ii. Cor. ir by a free Spirit. 'Now the Lord is the Spirit : and where the Spirit a i;.,n,. o of the Lord is, there is liberty.' ' If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his ; ' if any Church has not the Spirit of Christ, it is none of his. k. andK. To say the least, it is doubtful whether Jesus ever insisted upon ' water-baptism, and it is certain that he did not ordain infant baptism. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 79 Cut the things which he did command, he was most anxious should be kept in memory and practice: 'teaching them to observe all - s Mat. -" things whatsoever I commanded you.' Teschendorf renders ' observe ' as 'keep;' the original word is tereo, which is thus defined: 'to give heed to, watch narrowly, to take care of, keep, guard.' What were the things he would have his disciples so careful about ? What was the peculiar and distinctive teaching of Jesus ? The answer of the Church of England to this question would seem to be : ' Only two sacraments, as generally necessary to salvation, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.' Of Baptism it can only be said that it rests upon the foundation of universal practice, rather than upon any direct command of Jesus : he does not say, ' whatso- ever I now command,' but, ' whatsoever I commanded you,' and no previous command of baptism exists in the gospel narratives. In the last supper the words ' take this,' ' take, eat,' ' take ye,' ' drink ye all of it,' applied to the paschal feast, and the instruction ' this do in remembrance of me,' ' this do ye, as oft as ye drink it? to its yearly celebration. The expression, ' all things whatsoever I commanded you,' obviously includes a variety of precepts imposed upon the disciples in their character of disciples ; and those things lie plainly open to our discovery and comprehension. ' Swear not at all . . . 5 Mat. 34 Resist not him that is evil (or, evil) . . . Love your enemies, and " : " pray for them that persecute you . . . Lay not up for yourselves ,, Mat 10, -m treasures upon the earth . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . Judge not ... Be not anxious for your life, what ye ~ Mat. 1 \i Luke U, 33 shall eat ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on . . . Seek ye his kingdom . . . Sell that ye have, and give alms ; make for your- selves purses which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not . . . Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all 14Luka3S he hath, he cannot be my disciple ... Ye also ought to wash one another's feet. ... A new commandment I give unto you, that ye 13 John 14 love one another ... By this shall all men know that ye are my » :ii disciples, if ye have love one to another.' These, and others of the same character, are the distinctive precepts of Jesus, and by the observance or neglect of them must his disciples be judged. His commands were supplemental to those contained in the law and in the prophets. ' If thou wouldest enter into life, keep (tereo — the same 10 Mat. 17 verb) the commandments,' said Jesus. ' Which ? ' asked the man, and on being referred to the decalogue answered, ' All these have I » 20 observed.' That foundation of morality and justice had been laid ages ago. Had Jesus nothing more to teach and enjoin ? '-What lack I yet ? ' Yes : here, if he would receive it, was one of the commands of Jesus : ' If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell all that •• 21 thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Thes. 2 i i. rot, 80 DISCIPLESHIP : heaven : and come, follow me.' That is still the touchstone of discipleship, and no sacraments, no doctrines, no preaching of a gospel, apart from it, can serve the cause of Jesus or help towards the establishment of his kingdom. Strange ! that the very precepts which constitute the groundwork, the glory, the hope and power of Christianity, should be precisely those which have fallen into desue- tude. They have come to be regarded as visionary, impracticable, as unsuited to professed disciples of Jesus as they are to that outside ' world ' which he sought, through them, to teach and save. These commands of his, so peculiar, so unearthly, so unwelcome, so hard to receive and to obey, are those which he was so urgent on his disciples to ' observe.' The word in the original denotes careful and vigilant holding : it is rendered variously in that sense, as in the passages : ig Acts 23 'charging the jailor to keep them safely ; ' ' May your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire ; ' ' reserved in heaven for you.' The apostles by precept and example did indeed teach, keep, preserve Christ's sayings, but that high standard of life has not been main- tained by those who have claimed to be their duly appointed successors, and so Ave cherish a pseudo gospel, acknowledge Christ as king, proclaim his kingdom, but fail to realise it. Not to such a 28 Mnt. 20 condition of society does his promise apply : ' and lo, I am with you alway (Gr. all the days), even unto the end of the world (or, the consummation of the age).' The question of discipleship is no light matter, and it demands the most serious, careful and deliberate consideration. k. and k. The charge of ' disbelief,' in the sense in which Jesus used the term, does not properly apply to those who reject the doctrines of theology now current and the system of Christianity universally pre- valent. Before any man can be justly reproached with a rejection of the salvation of Jesus and of the gospel of the kingdom which he commanded his disciples to proclaim, it must be shown that the salvation, the gospel and the kingdom now offered and existent among us accord with his teaching and with the subsequent embodi- ment of his idea by his apostles. A careful, honest, rigid, impartial investigation of the gospels, has led up to the lamentable conclusion that the scheme of salvation promulgated and inaugurated by Jesus has been departed from, misunderstood, distorted. In its present shape, it is little better than a parody of his method, that which is vital to it being absent and replaced by dogmas and practices which have no essential connection with it. We, the professed followers of Jesus, have ceased to insist upon what he taught, and are engaged in teaching much which he taught not ; we have failed to do the things he commanded, which were to constitute the peculiarity and ensure III. 320-326. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 81 the permanence of his doctrine, and we rely instead upon creeds, observances, modes and forms of worship which he commanded not. The precepts delivered in the Sermon on the Mount, and elsewhere, for the guidance of disciples, are practically repudiated by us ; they have become a dead letter, as though they had never been laws of Christ at all, or as if they were laws repealed. To this departure from the first principles of Christianity, must be attributed its non-success ; its social power is gone, and in place of it we fondly imagine and seek a salva- tion which is individual ; the ' body of Christ,' the nucleus of devoted disciples round which adherents from the world without should gradually gather, has no tangible, visible existence ; we are baptised Christians, as a matter of course, from infancy, or we may have been baptised as adults, and the results of that baptism are supposed to be a secret locked up in our own breasts, for such a profession of disciple- ship involves no renunciation, beyond a verbal one ; there is nothing about us, except church or chapel-going and worship, to mark us out as followers of Jesus, nothing to entitle us to an application to our- selves of his chosen simile, ' a city set on a hill,' and which ' cannot - r be hid.' For want of faith in Jesus we need to reproach, not the sceptic or agnostic, but rather ourselves ; ' he that disbelieve th shall be condemned : ' we have long since ceased to believe in the efficacy of the plan and precepts of action enunciated by our Lord, and must stand condemned before him and the world, both for our departure therefrom and the evil consequences thereby entailed. We have to choose between admitting the self-application of this condBinnation, or confessing that we are not and never have been 'disciples' of Jesus, in the only true and real sense of that designation. Which of these alternatives shall we adopt ? For the system of religious belief which has come down to us by inheritance, no man living, be he clergyman or layman, can be held responsible ; but each man's respon" sibility begins from the moment when the truth is first apprehended by him. A mere intellectual assent to this new aspect of Christianity will be the first and natural result of changed ideas on the subject, and for most of us that will suffice. If we believe that ' discipleship ' to Jesus was made and left by him optional and not compulsory, then our altered and enlarged opinion with respect to the duties incum- bent upon ' discipleship ' will not trouble us, if only we are content to take the lower place of simple ' believers ' in Christ, instead of calling ourselves his ' disciples' or 'followers.' But if, yielding to the same conviction, we wish to become truly his ' disciples ' we must shrink from nothing he has commanded, but must accept his call with all its consequences. The raising and determining of such a question must necessarily be accompanied by great searchings of heart. How will our ecclesiastical systems, and the rulers in our spiritual hierocracy, ■2 i. Tot. 23 82 DISCIPLESHIP : bear such a strain as that ? It will be found that the taking up of a true ' discipleship ' involves the putting away of all that is extrinsic from it. A return to ' the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ' will be no easy matter. The. priestly system exists through- out the whole of Christendom, and we are all alike entangled by it. The clergy are no more chargeable than the laity with its exist- ence and continuance ; we were all born into it, as we were into our respective political systems and nationalities, and all that we can do, rulers and the ruled alike, is to make the best of our conditions of existence, and seek to modify them according to our convictions and requirements. Our ecclesiastical polity is no institution of Christ ; it is the natural outgrowth of the best intentions, founded indeed upon his teaching, but largely intermixed with human errors and additions. The things which Jesus commanded his disciples were few, but of the utmost importance. The ' Church ' has made them fewer still, has, in fact, dropped the whole of them, and taken up as his two things only, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, which were not so plainly and positively enjoined. When true discipleship ceased, sacerdotalism took its place. The plan of Jesus for the salvation of mankind was despised and rejected, as being too simple for the world's requirements. Only by a return to it can our faith in him as our Saviour and Eedeemer be shown. Whether we can discern its advantages and foresee its results, or not, his disciples are equally bound, in loyalty to him, to adopt and adhere to it. But we need be at no loss to forecast its effects and appreciate its wisdom. Imagine the beneficial influence which would have been exerted on society by the existence in its midst of a body of men living in strict accordance with the rules laid clown by Jesus ; not all of them preachers and teachers like our clergy, but employed in the various businesses and avocations of life, excepting such as were contrary to their profession. Soldiers they could never be, and must at all hazards refuse to become, having been commanded not to resist evil, and never to return blow for blow. Neither could they undertake any judicial or legal functions, acting on the precept, ' Judge not, that ye be not judged.' Of course such men would lie open to insult and injury, being as helpless against violence as are children and women; but who would think of harming those who were innocent and without offence, recognised followers of their Master, ' who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, threatened not ? ' Some simple symbol might be needed to distinguish them from others : a cross worn upon the breast would then carry a significance which it cannot have now r , and it would be deemed as infamous to attack its wearer as it would be to trample on a child or strike a woman. A literal compliance with the precept : ' If any man would THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 83 go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also,' might seem to leave disciples exposed to fraud and chicanery ; but a judicious choice of the persons with whom they dealt would obviate that risk, and legal contention is certainly not a blessing to be desired, uor its avoidance, at any cost, an evil to deplore. True disciples of Christ would, indeed, have little beyond the 'coat ' and the ' cloke ' to tempt the cupidity of covetous and unprincipled men. Daily labour for the supply of daily needs would be the normal con- dition of their existence. The apostolic injunction, ' If any will not :'. n. Th work, neither let him eat, 1 would obviously be incumbent on all who had relinquished both the right and the wish to hold property. Con- sider how the conjoined laws of work and property would act. The disciples would be paid for their labour like other men, and yet no individual among them would amass a store for himself ; heartily and literally each one of them must be able to pray, ' Give us this day our daily bread.' To earn upon the one hand, and to spend upon the other, would be twin duties of life, in opposition to the principle of hoarding up for the future, with a view to living at some time, either from necessity or choice, without labour. To the worldly minded, the precept : ' Be not therefore anxious for the morrow : for the 6 Mat. morrow will be anxious for itself,' sounds shockingly indiscreet, only they are withheld by a sentiment of reverence from criticising it. Yet Jesus shrunk not from enunciating it, and his followers must not shrink from acting upon it. Nor would their risk in doing so be greater, or as great, as that which is always run by those who act upon the contrary principle : ' They that desire to be rich fall into a <; i. Tii temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all evils.' From that, the disciples of Jesus would bo exempt ; the obligation to get rid of their money as soon as earned, would be deemed by them as sacred as the duty of earning it. The first, the natural and proper effect of that would lie— the prevalence of a more elevated condition of existence. No thought of spending money in vice, excess, selfish indulgence of any kind, would harbour in the mind of a disciple ; the only question with him would be, as to how his money could be most judiciously expended. There would be no stinting of suitable food and raiment ; the comforts of the household would be the primary care, and the best education would be sought for the children. To provide a permanent home would no more be a holding of property than to provide the body with clothing, .and a certain sum might well be set apart towards the purchase of a house ; that object attained, the rent saved would be an addition to the income. Insurance against accidents, and as a provision for the family at the bread-winner's death, would be deemed a legitimate G 2 84 DTSCIPLESHIP : expenditure. On he means of mental culture, recreation, and all that appertains to social refinement and rejoicing, there would be an ungrudging outlay, not restricted to the few, but freely participated in by all. For the barrier of class distinctions between the disciples would crumble away and disappear, he who now stands highest in position and respect being not one whit degraded, and the brother of low degree becoming gradually exalted to the same level. Such a state of existence would work, in one generation, a marvellous change in the tone and conditions of society, and if perpetuated, the trans- formation would be like that from earth to heaven. When a man having great possessions becomes a disciple, his first thought will be how best to deal with his property conformably to the will of Christ. Imagine him to be a millowner, with extensive premises and machinery, and employing some hundreds of workers. To sell every- thing and give to the poor, would be the height of folly in these days ~, Jesus only advised that in the case of one wealthy person, and if the young man had parted with his estate, the responsibility of distribut- ing the proceeds, not all at once but judiciously, would still have rested upon his shoulders. A wealthy manufacturer would naturally consider foremost the interests of his workpeople. To shut up the mill and make huge donations, would certainly be no real benefit to them, but would be an encouragement to improvidence, and another step towards the pauperisation of the masses. No : it would be best for him still to hold everything as a steward for his Master, simply resolving thenceforth to retain as his own no unspent profits. His style of living need not be altered ; there would be no obligation to reduce his personal and family expenditure, everything lawful and expedient in that direction being not only allowable but praise- worthy. Suppose his yearly surplus income to amount to £10,000. He will decide how much of that ought to be disposed of in the shape of increased wages ; how much in providing better dwellings- and surroundings and means of physical recreation and mental im- provement for all in his employment. He would probably open in his ledger a ' Workmen's Capital Account,' crediting it with a per- centage of the annual profits, and letting it be known that, under certain necessary restrictions and conditions, in the framing of which they themselves should be consulted, it would belong to them jointly, and represent their share in the concern and its future profits. When all this had been done, there would probably be little left to dispose of, and little call, legitimately, for help elsewhere : for as this system extended, the need for our so-called ' Charities ' would disappear. Dispensaries for the sick, asylums for those past work, orphanages for children, and such like, are the outgrowth chiefly of the inade- quate remuneration of labour and the strain and greed of competition THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 85 in business. With the removal of these causes their effects would gradually cease ; nor would there be much room for home missionary societies, with their armies of paid agents in the shape of Scripture readers. True discipleship must needs laugh to scorn the idea that money and printing, even the printed Scriptures, can avail much for .the propagation of the gospel. Assume the new disciple to be a landed proprietor with a large rent-roll. What shall he do ? His existing position is anomalous, .and would be deemed a strange one, if we had not become accustomed to it. For he claims as his individual property the very soil itself, notonly so much of it as he cultivates or builds on, but gardens and farms on which other men's capital and labour are employed, and houses, after the lapse of a term of years, on the erection of which not one penny of his own or his ancestors 1 money was ever expended. That is a law, not of right but of might, and its spirit is in direct -contravention to the Mosaic law of Jubilee, which provided that every fiftieth year land sold should revert to its original owner, and mortgages should be cancelled, whereas under our system of lease- holds, houses built by one man revert, in less than a century, to the descendants of another man. It is no proper answer to this charge of spoliation, to assert that a bargain has been made : the landowners practically dictate its terms by refusing to part with the freehold. The title of the fee-simple — real estate, that is, estate of the realm or royal estate, elucidates the origin of the custom. The king as supreme ruler granted land to his favourites, with or without condi- tions of service, which have gradually fallen into desuetude ; the system is to blame, not the aristocracy who inherit under it. Like air, water and light, land — apart from human labour — is God's gift ; the clearing or reclaiming of it, like the planting, or sowing, or building, appertains to individuals, who are entitled to reap the fruits of their toil. The enfranchisement of leaseholds is a matter which should be undertaken by the legislature. A law needs to be passed making any contract invalid which provides for the handing over of property at a future date without an assessment of its value. Under the existing system, the new disciple of Jesus might wake to a realisation of the fact that he was in possession of a huge income bringing with it no labour or responsibility. Beyond the servants of his establishment, only his tenants have any direct claim upon him, and if they are fairly prosperous there would be no call for largess to them. Of course, if they were poor, as multitudes of them. are in Ireland, his first duty would be to reduce their rents to the level of their means, in some cases even remitting them altogether for a period. But to find an outlet for all his wealth, he would have to scan the horizon for opportunities of using it, that is, of consuming 86 DISC'IPLESHIP : its annual increment. That would lie no easy problem, no lig:ht task. He could no longer be an idle man, responding as he must to 24 Mat, 45 his Lord's question and call: 'Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season ? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.' Schemes would have to be devised for the welfare of the community : sanitary improvements, gymnasiums, parks, technical institutions, art exhibitions, dwellings replete with comforts and conveniences, — all undertaken and main- tained so as to pay only a low rate of interest. All that would not exhaust the store ; and the outlay on such things would not be occasional and spasmodic, bnt must continue year after year, the duty and object of the benefactor being to guard against any accu- mulation of riches kept under his own control. What an incalcu- lable amount of good and happiness would result from such a course of action on the part of only one of the world's many millionaires ! And if several of them joined the ranks of the disciples, what a transformation would a few years accomplish in the aspect of the world and the state of society ! Jesus decreed that the renunciation of wealth should be inseparable from discipleship, and he knew well what he was about in insisting upon it. It was the only means of equalising mankind, and of elevating the masses to that level of virtue and culture which is the proper condition of humanity. God has joined together body, soul and spirit, and together they must rise or fall : there is no salvation of the one apart from the other. Here is what Sir James Crichton Browne, M.D., LL.D., said in a lecture on ' Brain pressure : ' ' There were thousands of children in this highly favoured land who were insufficiently fed. Could a whole- some diet be secured to every English child until it was twelve years of age one-third of the disease, pauperism, and crime with which the country is burdened would disappear in the next generation.'* Through the material Jesus would have his disciples work upward to the spiritual. It is a monstrous blunder, a deplorable blindness, to assume that the diviue Providence arranges or acquiesces in that system of competition, of self-seeking, of cutting down wages, of individual hoarding up, which prevails universally. That is man's plan of life, and the plan devised by the Christ of God is its very opposite. It is not in accordance with the divine Will that any one, except through his own default, should lack the common necessaries of existence. It is only man's unequal mode of distribution which reduces multitudes to a state of semi-starvation. There is enough for all, and to spare, if only we would divide heaven's bounties * Pall Mall Gazette, 19 March, 1890. THE SCHEME AND CALL OF CHRIST. 87 fairly. In our selfishness and greed wc really forget our absolute dependence upon Clod, who gives us from heaven rains and fruitful 14 Acts w seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. To counteract that ingrained habit of forgetfulness, Jesus sought and seeks a hand of disciples, whom he calls upon to practise self-abnegation to the utmost, never to hold property for their own benefit, and never to resist wrong by force, that so the world may learn from and through them to trust in God and live in peace. True discipleship is a voluntary Socialism, based, not upon claiming and taking, but upon relinquishing and imparting. Ministers of religion, of various ranks and orders, claiming, some more some less, to be ambassadors of Christ and descendants of the apostles, abound throughout the world ; Christendom is full of baptised believers: but disciples — such as Jesus sought, made and led — where are they ? Judging ourselves I iy his word and standard, wc must needs confess their absence. That conclusion, a very solemn one, must be faced and dealt with. Is it true or false ? The more carefully, earnestly, methodically, this question is investigated by the light of the New Testament, the more important and absorbing does it become. The truth flashes out upon us here, there, everywhere. The gospels disclose it, the epistles confirm it, the history of the earliest Church and the lives of the apostles enforce and illustrate it. 88 SOCIALISM. II. SOCIALISM. Inasmuch as the doctrine of Discipleship has no small affinity with that of Socialism, it may be well for the author to state that through- out his investigation there was never in his mind any leaniug towards Socialism, nor the least thought in connection therewith. True Christianity involves Discipleship, which must be adopted purely out of love and obedience to its Founder — Jesus Christ — without re- ference to and wholly apart from any teachings or commandments of men, whether they deviate from or incline towards those of the Lord and Master. Loyalty to him dictates unreserved, unquestioning submission to his precepts regardless of all consequences immediate or remote ; disciples must live and labour solely for his name's sake, believing that ' the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God,' and 'the foolishness of God is wiser than men.' Disciples must be more than socialists, and socialists are less than disciples. The followers of Jesus are of the kingdom of heaven, and must set their affections upon things above, knowing that where their treasure is, there will their hearts be also. Socialists aim at the welfare of the cotnmuuity in conjunction with their own ; it may well be doubted, if indeed it be at all doubtful, whether any of us can rise above that level except by becoming disciples. When the world is again privileged to behold a band of witnesses worthy of that designation, doubtless socialists will be among the first to clasp hands with them, thereby bringing upon themselves the blessing of the King of mankind upon the throne of his glory : ' Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.' The definition of ' Socialism ' in Nuttall's Dictionary is an ad- mirable one: 'A system which, in opposition to the competitive system at present prevailing, seeks to re-organise society on the basis, in the main, of a certain secularism in religion, of community of interest, and of co-operation in labour for the common good.' The study of that system has been too long deferred by most of us. Yet to omit it from our discussions of Political Economy is as though a physician should learn all about the bodily frame, its bones, flesh and sinews, but nothing about the brain and nervous system, or about the existence, prevention and cure of disease. The author is as little a socialist as he can claim to be a disciple, but SOCIALISM. 89 ho has lately read, and does not scruple to recommend to others, a small work entitled ' The Anatomy of Misery,' * the writer of which, in twenty-five chapters, lays bare the wrongs and errors of society. Each chapter is divided into a number of short, crystal paragraphs, as clear as they are concise. The style is unimpassioned and severely logical, and the suhject is treated in so condensed and consecutive a manner that if at any point a mistake of fact or judgment can be found, an intelligent critic will be able to lay his finger upon it. Another work, full of interest and instruction, is ' Fabian Essays in Socialism.' f Let no one presume to judge of socialists, or of their faith, hopes and labours, until he has, through this or some other reliable medium, gained a knowledge of their views and aims. These thoughtful and earnest-minded reformers make great efforts to come to the light that their works may be made manifest, and they have published a series of Fabian Tracts' X setting forth the various aspects, facts and arguments connected with the question. Another work, entitled ' Merrie England,' § written in a homely, colloquial style, is worthy of study for its strong arguments and convincing statements. Fiction also has come to the aid of Socialism in ' Looking Backward ' | by Edward Bellamy, and ' News from Nowhere,' If by William Morris. These charming idealisations of a possible social or communistic future have provoked replies. ' A Sequel to Looking Backward, or Looking Further Forward,' by Richard Michaelis, sets aside the system assumed to be possible by Mr. Bellamy, and advocates other measures of social reform. ' Pictures of the Socialistic Future,' by Eugene Richter, the chief object of which seems to be the ridiculing of ' Looking Backward,' has had a large circulation in Germany, and has been translated into English. These light skirmishes in the shape of banter, are but preliminary to a strife which will doubtless hereafter be carried on with the energy and rancour customary in political struggles. However much our judgment and sympathy may be with the Socialists, it is evident that their crusade is only in its earliest stage, and that they have yet to encounter an enormous amount of opposition, which has hitherto lain dormant through ignorance, indifference or contempt. Happily the leaders of Socialism * "The Anatomy of Misery: Plain Lectures on Economics." By John C. Kenwortliy. London : W. Reeves, 18o, Fleet Street. Price Is., cloth Is. 6d. + "Fabian Essays in Socialism." London: Walter Scott, Limited, 24, Warwick Lane ; New York : 3, East Fourteenth Street. Price 2s. X Published by the Fabian Society, 276, Strand, London. Price 2s. 3d., post free, for the set. § "Merrie England: a Series of Letters on the Labour Problem." Walter Scott, 24, Warwick Lane, E.C. Price Is. || "Looking Backward; or, Life in the Year 2000 A.D." William Reeves, 185, Fleet Street, E.C Price Is., cloth Is. Qd. IT "News from Nowhere; or, An Epoch of Rest." Reeves & Turner, 5, Wellington Street, W.C. Price is., cloth Is. 6d. 90 SOCIALISM. in England have arrived at the conclusion that no violent or sudden change is to be attempted or anticipated. Socialism must not be confounded with Anarchism. Mr. (I. Bernard Shaw, in ' Fabian Tract No. 45,' has dealt with 'The Impossibilities of Anarchism;' and the same writer, in the Fabian Essay on 'Transition,' observes : ' The opposition we got was uninstructive : it was mainly founded on the assumption that our projects were theoretically unsound, but immediately possible, whereas our weak point lay in the case being exactly the reverse. However, the ensuing years sifted and sobered us. "The Socialists," as they were called, have fallen into line as a Social Democratic party, no more insurrectionary in its policy than any other party.' That opens out a vista of bitter, almost endless party warfare. If the comparatively simple question of Home Rule for Ireland has given rise to so much contention, how much greater will be the strife and opposition when the fact becomes recognised that the policy of the Social Democrats has for its ultimate aim the elevation of the poor through the gradual abolition of any unearned increment in the shape of rent or interest, so that thenceforth, up to a certain age, no class of men shall live without some kind of useful labour, unless it be for a time by the actual expenditure of such capital as may have been either earned previously by themselves or bequeathed to them by others. That is a far-off ideal, and before reaching it there must be many intermediate steps and halting-places, the first in view being the adoption of a ' living wage ' for all manual labour, the welfare of the community as a whole being meantime safeguarded and promoted by local self-government and the develop- ment of municipal institutions for the education, health and recreation of the masses. The prospect of a peaceful or speedy settlement is not hopeful when it is remembered that the upper and propertied classes have the control of all the material forces and organisations for maintaining the existing condition of things, and that they will not scruple to use, if need be, such ' resources of civilization ' against any encroachment upon inherited rights and privileges. There can come, indeed, no social regeneration except through the elimination of the selfishness and passions of humanity ; and even if it could so come, the simultaneous elevation and equalisation of the physical and mental status of mankind would be no true salvation. That fact is not lost sight of by Socialists, for Mr. Graham Wallas in his essay ' Property under Socialism,' writes as follows : ' Under the justest possible social system we might still have to face all those vices and diseases which are not the direct result of poverty and over-work ; we might still suffer all the mental anguish and bewilderment which are caused, some say by religious belief, others by religious doubt ; we might still witness outbursts of SOCIALISM. 91 national hatred and the degradation and extinction of weaker peoples ; we might still make earth a hell for every species except our own.' Moreover, it may be open to question, and a very sad question it is, Whether the easier life and more abundant leisure at the com- mand of the masses might not lead to a more general development of vanity, folly and sin ? Probably — No, but possibly — Yes : the answer must depend upon the existence or absence of Religion. Mr. Wallas continues : ' But in the households of the five men out of six in England who live by weekly wage, Socialism would indeed be a new birth of happiness. The long hours of work done as in a convict prison, without interest and without hope ; the dreary squalor of their homes ; above all that grievous uncertainty, that constant apprehension of undeserved misfortune which is the peculiar result of capitalist production : all this would be gone ; and education, re- finement, leisure, the very thought of which now maddens them, would be part of their daily life. Socialism hangs above them as the crown hung in Bunyan's story above the man raking the muck heap — ready for them if they will but lift their eyes. And even to the few who seem to escape and even profit by the misery of our century, Socialism offers a new and nobler life, when full sympathy with those about them, springing from full knowledge of their condition, shall be a source of happiness, and not, as now, of constant sorrow — when it shall no longer seem either folly or hypocrisy for a man to work openly for his highest ideal. To them belongs the privilege that for each one of them the revolution may begin as soon as he is ready to pay the price. They can live as simply as the equal rights of their fellows require : they can justify their lives by work in the noblest of all causes. For their reward, if they desire any, they, like the rest, must wait.' Only one exception can be taken to these remarks : ' the noblest of all causes ' is Discipleship ; the next noblest is Socialism. Dis- cipleship to Jesus w r ould lead men to and through Socialism to Salva- tion in its highest, broadest sense, to the reign of God among man- kind, to the kingdom of heaven upon earth. The scheme and call of Christ are best suited to the world's need. Had a better system for the regeneration of humanity been possible, Jesus would undoubtedly have inaugurated it. In seeking to mould the characters and lives of his disciples and followers after his own unselfish and unworldly pattern, he taught them and us to rely upon the influence of example rather than of precept ; and all his miracles of mercy were ' signs ' indicating that the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of mankind constitute the salvation which he came down from heaven to bestow. We style ourselves Christians, but who among us will become disciples of Christ ? Failing such, the method of Jesus for the world's salva- 92 SOCIALISM. tion must fail, as it obviously has failed hitherto. No dogmas, no ritualism, no prayers and praises, no Church Establishment or Ministry can supersede our Lord's plan of sending disciples into all the world to disciple all the nations. The divine purpose with respect to the chosen nation was thwarted by the declension of the Israelites. It is equally possible, and through the declension of Christians it seems probable, that the coming, life and death of .Jesus will, so far as the world's history is concerned, be of small avail. The salvation has been offered : it is for us to accept or put it from us. If disciples of Christ do not rise up, his purposes cannot be accomplished. Yet we need not suppose that God will therefore utterly forsake mankind. Divine providence still unfolds and ameli- orates human history, even as ' He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.' ' The des- tiny of organised nature is amelioration, and who can tell its limits ? It is for man to tame the chaos ; on every side, whilst he lives, to scatter the seeds of science and of song, that climate, corn, animals, men, may be milder, and the germs of love and benefit may be multi- plied.'* Through successive stages of barbarism, military rule, slavery, feudalism, serfdom, capitalism, industrial competition, the world moves ever onward. Socialism, or its equivalent in some form, must needs come. Disciples of Jesus would forestall it, helping that and every other good cause forward. They would exemplify and develop the perfect social life, and their loyalty to the pure, divine teaching of Jesus would preserve them from those loose and unwise views with respect to marriage by which one prominent English socialist disfigures and demeans the cause he advocates. Alas ! that Discipleship should be taken up last instead of first, and that we should have come to suppose that there can be any true Christianity apart from it. * Emerson, "Uses of Great Men." FORGIVENESS. 93 III. FORGIVENESS. That the question of Forgiveness demands careful investigation, is evident when we consider the various doctrines and practices con- nected therewith, — the sale of indulgences by the Church of Rome, the custom of auricular confession, the pronouncing or refusing of absolution, and the ideas current among members of different sects and churches with respect to pardon and justification. A palsied man was carried in a couch, which was let down through the roof into the room where Jesus was. It was a striking exhibition of confidence in Jesus, on the part k. an .. to attribute ; to ascribe. 3. to reckon to one ivliat does not belong to him. — Milton.' The last sense is that which has been introduced and generally held by theologians, as though to ' impute ' involved a pretence or make- believe. That idea does not properly appertain to the word, and it 124 RIGHTEOUSNESS. does not appear in Nuttalfs Dictionary, where the definition is simply : ' to ascribe ; to reckon to ; to reckon.' The Revised Version obviates the danger of misapprehension by banishing the word ' impute ' and supplying its place by ' reckon ' in all the passages except one in which it occurs in the Authorised Version. They are as follows : — •l Rom. o-s (g) ' Even as David also pronouncelh blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works, saying, Blessed are thej T whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin.' „ 11 (h) ' That righteousness might be reckoned unto them.' ,, -l-l-ii (i) 'It was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him ; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned.' 5 Rom. 13 (k) ' Sin is not imputed when there is no law." 5 ii. Cor. 19 (1) ' Not reckoning unto them their trespasses. 1 •2 James 23 ( m ) < Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. These are all the passages in which the word was at first rendered ' impute.' Let us summarise them. (a) An offering not imputed as an offering. (b) Slaughter of an animal not offered as an oblation, imputed as bloodshedding. (c) A fault not to be imputed, because not committed. (d) A fault not to be imputed, because repented of. (e) and (1) A fault not imputed, because forgiven. (f) Power imputed to a deity. (g), (h) and (i) Righteousness imputed without works, after forgiveness, (k) Sin not imputed when there is no law. (m) Faith imputed as righteousness. No difficulty can arise except in connection with the passages (g), (h), (i), (k) and (m). Take first (k) : 'Sin is not imputed where there is no law.' Here is the apostle's argument. Sin entered into the world through the first man, Adam, and death through sin. Sin 5 Rom - u and death are inseparable from man's nature : ' Death passed unto all men, for that all sinned.' That was so before the law. Death was not a consequence of breaking the law given in the time of Moses : for in the absence of law there could be no transgression against it : .. 13 ' For until the law sin was in the world : but sin is not imputed when there is no law.' Yet in the period between Adam and Moses death prevailed ; not because of the law, which then had not been given, nor because men repeated the first transgression of Adam, for ., 1-1 that they did not : ' Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of RIGHTEOUSNESS. 125 Adam's transgression.' The cause of death lies deeper down than any law, — in man's depraved nature and life. So the apostle teaches that sin is independent of the law, which after a time was ' added 3Gai. 10 because of transgressions,' to reveal, denounce and prohibit them, 'that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sin- " Rom. is ful.' Another apostle defines sin as 'the transgression of the law.' si. John 4 That is true : but Paul argues that it is something more, a faulty- condition of man's nature, tending inevitably to death, apart from the law which condemns it. The apostle John intimates as much by introducing the word ' also,' in the passage immediately preceding : ' Whosoever committeth sin trail sgressetb also the law.' The state- ment that ' sin is not imputed when there is no law,' implies the con- verse, that sin is imputed when there is a law. Obviously the word ' imputed ' here denotes, not the assumption of a state of being which does not actually exist, but the fact of its actual existence. Is it probable, or even possible, that the same word ' imputed ' is not meant to carry the same meaning, when applied to the opposite con- dition of ' righteousness ? ' To ascertain this, let us examine the passages (g), (h), (i) and (m), which relate to ' righteousness.' (g) ' Even as David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God reckoueth righteousness apart from works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not reckon sin.' The law reckons sin, and declares its penalty : 'For as many as have 2Rom - 12 sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many as have sinned under law shall be judged by law.' The apostle places the G-entiles in the first class, and the Jews in the second class. To the latter the words of David apply, ' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin : ' this signifies the withdrawal of the penalty against sin regarded as ' the transgression of the law ; ' in other words, ' Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' But forgiveness is a reality, not — as is too generally assumed — a kind of legal fiction, a simple change of dis- position towards the sinner, a revocation of the curse of the law. If in that sense only iniquities were forgiven and sins covered, those ' under law ' would simply revert to the position of those ' without law,' and would still 'perish.' The non-imputation of sin cannot alter its deadly effects : ' for the wages of sin is death.' Therefore 6 Rom. 2* when the apostle quotes the Psalmist's words, he regards them as a description of ' the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.' To be clear as to the meaning of this we must have regard to the context, The apostle had asserted : ' By s Rom. 20 the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight,' or, according to the marginal reading, ' out of works of law shall no flesh 126 RIGHTEOUSNESS. be accounted righteous in his sight.' Young renders : ' By works of law shall no flesh be declared righteous before Him.' If righteous- ness is attained, it cannot be through a law which has been dis- 3 Rom. 20 obeyed : ' For through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.' The „ 21 apostle proceeds : ' But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested ; . . . even the righteousness of God » 2S through faith in Jesus Christ ; ' and he reaches this conclusion : ' We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.' Then he instances Abraham as justified not by works, — 4 Rom. 3 obedience to the law, — but by faith : ' Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness ; ' and then quotes David as pronouncing blessing ' upon the man unto whom God reckoneth righteousness apart from works.' ' God reckons,' ' imputes,' ' counts,' ' declares,' ' attributes,' — the words carry one and the same sense, — both ' sin ' and ' righteousness ' to men, the former through his law against sin, the latter 'apart from the law.' Sin has been manifested through the law ; but now righteousness through faith in Jesus 3 Tit. 3-7 Christ. Elsewhere the apostle proclaims the same doctrine: 'For we also were aforetime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward men, appeared, not by words done in righteousness, which wc did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour ; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.' Is it not obvious, indisputable, that the righteousness imputed through faith is as actual, real, visible, tangible, personal as was the sin imputed through the law ? Paul recognised in human nature two opposite conditions, 'sin,' and ' grace,' the one, condemned by the law, working misery and death, the other, arising out of faith in Jesus, tending to peace and life. 5 Rom 20, 21 ' Where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly: that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteous- ness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Introduce into any part of the impassioned arguments of Paul the idea of a merely substituted moral rectitude, the imaginative fiction about putting on the robe of ' the imputed and inherent righteousness of the Lord Jesus,' and you will thereby mar, distort, destroy, the force of the apostle's reasonings, and contradict scores of passages in which he asserts and glorifies the saving power of faith and grace. Take now the passage (h) : ' That righteousness might be reckoned unto them.' The word ' also,' after ' them,' has been omitted by the Revisers, not being in the three oldest MSS. The drift of the argu- RIGHTEOUSNESS. 127 menfc is clear. Abraham, whilst yet uncircumcised, was reckoned righteous by his faith in God ; therefore he may be regarded as father of the uncircumcised Gentiles who have that same righteousness based on faith. That a real, active life of righteousness was in the apostle's mind, is evident from the context, when he says : ' who also 4 Rom. 12 walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had in uncircumcision.' The passage (i) is as follows : 'It Avas reckoned unto him for „ 22-24 righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was reckoned unto him ; but for our sake also, unto whom it shall be reckoned, who believe on him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.' The faith of Abraham was perfect : ' Looking unto the „ 20, 21 promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong- through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.' The expression, ' waxed strong through faith,' indicates the effect of the faith upon Abraham, — on which account — ' wherefore also — it was reckoned to him for righteousness.' As with him, so with us : our faith must produce its result, and will therefore be reckoned for righteousness. Young, instead of ' shall be reckoned,' renders literally, ' is about to be reckoned.' The faith of Abraham may be regarded in two ways : either as an instantaneous mental conviction, or as a continuous disposition of the mind. Those who assert most strongly and posi- tively the apostle's doctrine of justification by faith, according to their own version of it, generally adopt the former view, which certainly was not that of Paul. For the scripture he quotes, 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteous- i5Gen. ness,' relates to the first giving of the promise. Years elapsed before it was fulfilled. Yet Abraham 'in hope believed against hope . . . 4Rom.i8-2i and without being weakened in faith he considered his own body now as good as dead (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb : yea, looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.' The Revisers have omitted the word ' not ' before * his own body,' on the authority of the three oldest MSS., and have replaced ' neither yet ' by ' and,' before ' the dead- ness,' which agrees with Young, the former being a mistranslation. The apostle Paul shows the patriarch's faith in active exercise from first to last. The apostle James goes farther in the same direction. In the last passage to be considered (m), he says : 'And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness.' He quotes that passage in connection with the offering up of Isaac, which was many years later 128 MGHTEOUSNESS. 2 James it still ; and his object was to prove that 'faith, if it have not works, „ 20 is dead in itself.' He argues : ' But wilt thou know, vain man, „ 21 that faith apart from works is barren ? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered, up Isaac his son upon the altar ? „ 22 Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect ; and the scripture was fulfilled . . .' Paul and James are at one in their definition of faith, and they only who misunderstand the former imagine him to be in opposition to the latter. The marvellous breadth and fulness of Paul's intellect render his style difficult in some parts of comprehension, and careful study is required in order to grasp his meaning and avoid misconceptions. The apostle Peter recognised the value of Paul's epistles, but was also conscious of certain misconstructions put upon them from the first, 3 ii. Pet. is, and uttered a caution with respect to them. He wrote : 'Even as 10 our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you ; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things ; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.' This warning is as much needed now as ever. Doctrines most startling and obnoxious have been deduced from the Pauline epistles. Theologians of past generations have founded sects and, systems out of them, and some of their followers in the present day quote certain texts as conclusive arguments, knowing and caring little about the contexts, and never troubling to investigate for themselves the original meaning of passages ' hard to be understood ' even by the best trained and most earnest minds, and the true' sense of which is wholly obscured and lost to prejudiced or ignorant and self-confident readers. 1G John 10 ' Concerning righteousness, because to my Father I go away, and no more do ye behold me.' (Dr. Ptobert Young's rendering.) k and k. Jesus had been from the first a preacher of righteousness, in. 158-160. sa y m g . ' John came unto you in the way of righteousness.' ' Thus <$Mati5 ft becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.' 'Blessed are they 5 Mat. g that hunger and thirst after righteousness.' ' Seek ye first his g Mat. 33 kingdom and his righteousness.' 'Except your righteousness shall 5 Mat. 20 exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.' The world had, and has, a very inadequate notion of righteousness, and that of orthodox religionists, the scribes and Pharisees, was insufficient in the eyes of Jesus. That was equally so in the time of Isaiah, who said : ' Thou meetest him that rejoice th and worketh righteousness,' but described the righteousness of the nation as a thing stained, deterio- rated, withered, misplaced : ' All our righteousnesses are as a polluted G4 Isa. 5 RIGHTEOUSNESS. 129 garment : and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.' The apostle Paul recognised and admitted the same insufficiency, perversion and faultiness in the Jews generally and in himself : ' For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and 10 Bom. 3 seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God ; ' and : ' That I may gain Christ, and be 3 piiii. 9 found in him, not having a righteousness of miue own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.' ' What the law could not 8 Rom. :; do, in that it was weak through the flesh,' Christ came to accomplish : ' For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one 10 Bom. 4 that believeth.' By 'righteousness' is to be understood Tightness, rectitude, uprightness, integrity, justice, in purpose, word and deed, in all that relates to our own personality and our intercourse with others ; not that theological notion of a ' righteousness ' which is outside ourselves and apart from our activities, a thing ' imputed ' but not possessed, a hazy fiction preached and praised as though it were a solemn and soul-saving reality. Clear thought and bold speaking arc necessary on this important question. Here is the 11th Article of the Church of England : ' "We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works and deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.' Two words more would make the doctrine true and profitable, and without some such addition it is false and pernicious : ' We are made and accounted righteous.' God does not ' account,' 'impute,' pretend that to exist which is non-existent, however positively we may have been taught that he does so. Against that hideous misconception it should suffice to set the apostle's words : ' Little children, let no man lead you astray : he that doeth righteous- 3 i. John ness is righteous, even as he is righteous : he that doeth sin is of the devil.' The scriptural definition of righteousness in the A T ew Testament has not been changed from that in the Old Testament : it still consists, as described by Ezekiel, in doing ' that which is lawful is Eze. 5 and right (Heb. judgement and righteouness).' Jesus detected and exposed its absence in the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, and because he went to the Father, and was beheld no more on earth, on his apostles, taught by his Spirit, devolved the task of bidding all men ' awake to righteousness, and sin not.' Paul declared : ' The law 15 i. cor. 34 of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of- sin 8 r„im.V'' and death ; ' he thus interpreted the gospel summons : ' Awake, thou 5 Epb. 14 that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee ; ' and he asserted that ' the fruit of the light is in all goodness „ and righteousness and truth.' K 130 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. V. BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. k. ana k. The adoption of baptism by John, and the ready submission of the people to it, indicate that it was a ceremony previously known and recognized. Alford explains : ' When men were admitted as proselytes, three rites were performed, circumcision, baptism, and oblation ; when women, two — baptism and oblation. The baptism was administered in the daytime, by immersion of the whole person ; and while standing in the water the proselyte was instructed in certain portions of the law. The whole families of proselytes, in- cluding infants, were baptized. It is most probable that John's baptism in outward form resembled that of proselytes. Some deny that the proselyte baptism was in use before the time of John : but the contrary has been generally supposed and maintained. Indeed the baptism or lustration of a proselyte on admission would follow, as a matter of course, by analogy from the constant legal practice of lustration after all uncleanness : and it is difficult to imagine a time when it would not be in use. Besides, it is highly improbable that the Jews should have borrowed the rite from the Christians, or the Jewish hierarchy from John.' Note on Mark ix. 23, 24. k. and k. Although Jesus reproved the father's doubt and asserted the omni- I. 272 273. ... potence of faith, there is nothing in the narrative to justify the infer- ence that the child's recovery could directly depend on or be owing to the state of the father's mind. Once admit a baseless conclusion of that kind, and there is no knowing to what an extent it may mis- lead the judgment. Dean Alford twisted this into an argument in favour of the doctrine of vicarious responsibility in infant baptism. He wrote : ' There is a strong analogy in the Lord's treatment of the father here, for the sponsorial engagement in infant baptism. The child is by its infirmity incapacitated ; it is therefore the father's faith which is tested ; and when it is proved, the child is healed.' K.awiK. The elevation of the rite of Baptism from a merely sacerdotal ceremony to one having a practical application to matters of Christian life and duty, would be an immediaie gain to the church in two ways. (1) The anomaly and incongruity attaching to infant baptism BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 131 would force themselves upon the minds of Christians. Taught to rely upon the ordinance as the necessary and sole test of church membership, men would begin to question its value and appositeness when administered in infancy, and to ask why, for the sake of bap- tizing infants, a ceremony so solemn and important should be sur- rounded and degraded by fictions. It is one thing to argue that every child born of Christian parents should be entitled to baptism, just as every Jewish infant is entitled to circumcision ; it is quite another thing to come to the front with an assertion that the unconscious infant is bound to make a promise of obedience and faith through two or more sureties ; to assume that the sureties have the right to answer for the child ; that ' our Lord Jesus Christ ' and the ' Almighty, everliving God ' will grant special blessings to the child in connection with such suretyship and baptism. Belief in such a method of baptismal regeneration is kept alive by its surrounding atmosphere of shams and fictions : the child must assume responsibilities which it is not old enough to understand ; godfathers and godmothers must present themselves to promise in the child's name an obedience which they themselves may not, some would add cannot, have rendered ; they are told to perform their duty of teaching, or seeing that the child is taught various things, whereas they have not even been asked if they would take that duty upon themselves, and in time to come will most probably deliberately or unavoidably neglect it ; and finally, because after all the fact must be recognised that such a baptism by no means answers to the Scriptural ideal, the child on reaching years of discretion must be presented to the bishop, when another fictitious or semi-fictitious ceremony is performed, that of the laying on of hands. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant when members of the Church of England, moved by feelings •of love and reverence and truth, will ponder these things and see to their amendment. (2) As only baptized Christians would be allowed to take part in the General Assembly, or to vote for the election of its members, the ■certificate of baptism would come to be regarded as an important •document, having a practical use and value it never before possessed. And simultaneously with this recognition of the necessity and •advantage of baptism, there would be a gradual weakening and fall- ing away of the superstitious notions which have hitherto attached to it. The ceremony would no longer be regarded as having in itself a spiritual, mysterious, supernatural efficacy, dependent upon the use •of certain words uttered by a priest, and deemed of such vast import- ance that no delay should take place in baptizing infants. Probably the majority of Christians have already outgrown the need which was once felt for the assurance given by the Church of England : ' It K 2 132 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. is certain by God's Word, that Children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved.' Infant baptism is not sought for that reason, although the force of custom and, it is to be hoped, a reverential regard for an institution coun- tenanced by our Lord, would seem to have relieved the clergy of the duty once urged upon them in the following instructions : ' The Curate of every Parish shall often admonish the people, that they defer not the Baptism of their Children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other Holy-day falling between,, unless upon a great and reasonable cause, to be approved by the Curate.' Either our ancestors and their infants were much hardier than ourselves, or the clergy were too terribly in earnest in insisting upon baptism in the church at a period which involved risk to the infant, and must have prevented the mother from being present. Still our babes are taken to the font, although not quite so early. There is no fear of the custom of baptism dying out through indif- ference ; and when it is found to have a practical bearing upon the Christian career, it will be more prized than at present, and juster and more rational views with respect to it will prevail. It will be regarded as the appointed door of admission to that brotherhood in Christ Jesus which owns him for Saviour, Master, Lord, and is sub- ject to his teaching and guidance, and ruled by his Spirit. Extract from the remarks on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. k. and k. A more important question is as to the meaning of the solemn and positive declarations of Jesus respecting the new birth. The conclu- sions already arrived at have been based on the natural interpreta- tion of the words employed, without reference to anything apart from them. The discourse has been taken as conveying its own meaning, as complete in itself, not needing to be supplemented by a reference to something found elsewhere, and not to be understood figuratively for the mere purpose of its assumed connection with a Church ordinance. But by many persons that mode of dealing with the discourse has been set aside ; they have rushed to the conclusion that Jesus spoke symbolically ; that to be born ' again ' or ' anew ' or ' from above,' means to be baptized ; that the ' water ' is the water of baptism ; that the 'spirit' is the Holy Spirit, who conies with or through the rite of baptism. But surely if Jesus wished to impress' upon Nicodemus the absolute necessity of baptism, either literal or figurative, he could and would have used plainer words, as he did on is Mark K> another occasion : ' He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' From first to last Nicodemus gathered no such meaning, but was lost in doubt and wonderment at the strangeness, the depth and the^ BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 133 breadth, of these statements of Jesus : ' How can a man be born when he is old . . . How can these things be ? ' Luther's figurative interpretation, quoted by Alford, we can appreciate and respect : ' My teaching is not of doing and leaving undone, but of a change in the man ; so that it is, not new ivories done, but a new man to do them ; not another life only, but another birth.'' From the first there has been a difference of opinion. Alford quotes Chrysostom : ' Some .say, from heaven, some, from the beginning,' and adds that he and Euthymius explain it by re gene ration : Origen, Cyril, and Theophy- lact taking the other meaning.' Of course the ' new birth ' means ' regeneration,' but not necessarily by baptism. Alford takes upon himself to say : ' It is impossible that Nicodemus can have so entirely and stupidly misunderstood our Lord's words, as his question here would seem to imply.' It is much more natural and probable to assume that Nicodemus detected no reference to baptism in the words of Jesus, notwithstanding the fact that ' the idea of a new birth was by no means alien from the Rabbinical views. They described a proselyte when baptized as " like an infant just born," Lightfoot.' If we suppose Jesus to have been anxious to impress upon his hearer the importance of baptism, would it not have been wise and right to speak with the utmost plainness, to avoid all possibility of doubt or misapprehension ? Why should we either attribute obscurity to the speaker or perversity to the listener ? If Dean Alford had not started with the foregone conclusion that the ' water and spirit ' must as a matter of course refer to the water administered and the Spirit received in baptism, and if, instead of doing so, he had bent his mind to an unprejudiced investigation of the discourse of Jesus, probably he would not have accused Nicodemus, nor have penned the following passage : ' There can be no doubt, on any honest interpre- tation of the words, that to be born of water refers to the token or outward sign of baptism, to be born of the Spirit the thing signified, or inward grace of the Holy Spirit. All attempts to get rid of these two plain facts have sprung from doctrinal prejudices, by which the views of expositors have been warped. Such we have in Caivin : who explains the words to mean, " the Spirit who cleanses us, and by diffusing His influence in us inspires the vigour of heavenly life : " Grotius, " the Spirit, who cleanses like water ; " Cocceius, " the grace of God, washing away our uncleanness and sins ; " Tholuck, who holds that not Baptism itself, but only its idea, that of cleansing is referred to ; and others, who endeavour to resolve water and the Spirit into a figure, so as to make it mean " the cleansing or purify- ing Spirit." All the better and deeper expositors have recognized the coexistence of the two, water and the Spirit.' ' Doctrinal preju- dices ! ' Alford applied the expression to prejudices against the 134 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. doctrine of baptismal regeneration : his opponents would say it applies equally to prejudices in favour of that doctrine. Apart from that question, Alford contends that a real meaning, instead of a bare figurative meaning, should be attached to the statements of Jesus. To that extent we are in agreement : under that conviction and in that direction, the foregoing independent investigation has been carried out. oiiark 16 ' And he took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.' k. andK. The compilers of the 'Ministration of Public Baptism of Infants II. 207-210. i -i • to be used m the Church,' availed themselves of this incident with consummate judgment and tact. After reading the account given by Mark, the Minister comments as follows : ' Beloved, ye hear in this Gospel the words of our Saviour Christ, that he commanded the children to be brought unto him ; how he blamed those that would have kept them from him ; how he exhorteth all men to follow their innocency. Ye perceive how by his outward gesture and deed he declared his good-will toward them ; for he embraced them in his arms, he laid his hands upon them, and blessed them. Doubt ye not, therefore, but earnestly believe, that he will likewise favourably receive this present Infant ; that he will embrace him with the arms of his mercy ; that he will give unto him the blessing of eternal life, and make him partaker of his everlasting kingdom. Wherefore we being thus persuaded of the good-will of our heavenly Father towards this Infant, declared by his Son Jesus Christ ; and nothing doubting but that he favourably alloweth this charitable work of ours in bringing this Infant to his holy Baptism : let us faithfully and devoutly give thanks unto him.' That, in truth, is the only founda- tion on which the theory and practice of infant baptism can be upheld : and it is a weak foundation at the best. For the good-will of Jesus was shown towards children as children, simply in their natural condition, apart from any doctrine of regeneration : whereas the Minister deals with children from an opposite point of view, saying : ' Forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin, and that our Saviour Christ saith, None can enter into the kingdom of God, except he be regenerate and born anew of Water and of the holy Ghost : I beseech you to call upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of his bounteous mercy he will grant to this Child that thing which by nature he cannot have.' How different is this, in tone and spirit, from the words of Jesus, ' of such is the kingdom of God.' Infant baptism is held to be much more than a mere emblematic and figurative rite, as the prayers by which it is accompanied plainly indicate. Something supernatural is besought BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 135 from God, and is declared to have been bestowed by him : for the priest says, ' We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this Infant with thy holy Spirit.' That supernatural gift is assumed to be granted at the font, the prayers used putting God foremost and the Priest somewhat in the background. But in urgent cases of private baptism, only 'so many of the Collects appointed to be said before in the Form of Public Baptism, as the time and present exigence will suffer,' are to be used ; and as soon as the water is poured upon the child, and the words uttered, ' I baptize thee In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' God is thanked as before : ' We yield thee hearty thanks, most merciful Father, that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this Infant with thy holy Spirit.' The change is believed to have been wrought through the magic of those few priestly words ! And in order that the people may rely unhesitatingly on the efficacy of the rite, both in this world and the next, this note is added : ' It is certain by God's Word, that Children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved.' Our Lord Jesus never claimed for his touch and blessing any such power as that. Infant baptism, with the doctrines thereto attached, is no part of his gospel, but an invention of theologians. They have not only sought to justify the practice by referring to his kindly and eulogistic words spoken with respect to children, but in another Church ceremony devised by them they have imitated his laying on of hands. Having claimed the mystic power of regenerating infants through water and the holy Spirit, allowing sponsors to promise and vow repentance and faith, in the name and on behalf of the unconscious child, they thought it advisable, and from their point of view it might well be deemed absolutely necessary, that some twelve years or more afterwards these children should ' themselves with their own mouth and consent, openly before the Church, ratify and confirm what their Godfathers and Godmothers promised for them in Baptism.' That, by itself, would have constituted a very simple, touching ceremony : but that also was elaborated in accordance with assumptions of priestly influence and power. ' The Order of Confirmation, or laying on of hands upon those that are baptized and come to years of discretion,' does not put forward any claim to the effect that grace and virtue flow from the touch of the Bishop's hands. On the contrary, that action is left altogether vague and undefined : it may be taken to mean little or much, anything, nothing, or everything, according to the ideas and teaching which may have been impressed upon the candidates for Confirmation. But it is a most natural question, Why should the laying on of hands have been instituted, and why should it have been restricted to one holding highest office 136 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. in the Church ? and it is an equally natural inference, that when the Bishop lays ' his hands upon the heads of every one severally,' some benefit is claimed, or intended, or believed, or hoped, to be conveyed thereby. If not, why is the laying on of hands by the apostles thus imitated, and in connection with solemn prayers for the outpouring of ' the holy Ghost ? ' The only guidance vouchsafed on this point is that the Bishop, in the Collect, says, ' upon whom (after the example of thy holy Apostles) we have now laid our hands, to certify them (by this sign) of thy favour and gracious goodness towards them.' The individual Bishop assumes the recognised style of royalty, speaking of himself as ' we,' ' we have now laid our hands.' When the apostles laid on their hands, some visible, oral, or other manifes- tation of the Holy Spirit's presence followed : the Bishop claims only that he gives a 'sign,' not even of some inward and spiritual grace, but simply of God's ' favour and gracious goodness.' If that is all, why this punctiliousness of ceremony and gesture ? We do not need the touch of a Bishop's hand to assure us of the well-known truth that our heavenly Father is loving unto every man. Infant Baptism, the Catechism, and the Order of Confirmation constitute an artificial system of Church membership, and cry aloud for honest criticism and revision. The intention was good : to christianise every child from birth, to lay down a recognised form of religious teaching, and in due time to impress upon every young person the solemn obliga- tions of Christianity. No provision was made, however, for any changes which might become necessary by the advancement of reli- gious thought and the modification of existing creeds : the compilers of the Prayer Book assumed the absolute perfection and incontrover- tibility of every doctrine they laid down, and demanded an unques- tioning submission to the forms and ceremonies they prescribed. How little influence such clerical teaching has had upon adults generally is evidenced by the constant failure of multitudes to attend, except at rare intervals of their own choosing, the Lord's supper. In vain do the clergy invite, implore, insist upon spiritual benefits to be derived from frequent participation, and danger to the soul from neglect of the ordinance : the majority of the congregation habitually turn their backs upon it, and treat the exhortations of the Minister with silent contempt, albeit in every other point of divine worship and Christian living they may be as devout and blameless as the comparatively few regular communicants. Does not that prove the existence of a widespread unbelief with respect to the sacramental dogmas insisted on by the clergy ? Men and women are not afraid to disregard their teaching and injunctions, and face the threatened penalties. But their children they are still careful to bring to baptism, and would not withhold them from confirmation. This BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 137 state of things might go on for an indefinite period, were it not that the number of those who think for themselves on religious matters, or are led by other teachers, is ever on the increase. Some there are, none can say how many or how few, who deem the clergy generally unsafe and unwise guides, and who are anxious to keep their children's minds free from clerical dogmatic teaching ; who dare not take the responsibility of imposing upon their children a catechism, to be learnt by rote, which is altogether out of harmony with their own convictions and feelings ; and who could not conscientiously urge them to submit themselves to examination by a clergyman to be prepared after his fashion as candidates for confirmation. The next step in advance must needs be that the catechism and rite of confir- mation will fall more and more into desuetude, and unless that should lead to an utter disregard of the Lord's supper, — which God forbid, though one sees not how, under present circumstances, it can perma- nently hold its ground, — there must be a deliberate setting aside of the rule originally laid down : ' And there shall none be admitted to the holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.' The clergy themselves must needs be leavened with the spirit of the age in which they live. As a body they have already ceased from making any vigorous protest ; some of them are sure to imbibe or to sympathise with the new opinions embraced by the intelligent among the laity. There are old penalties and antiquated laws still upon the statute-book, which no man now would think of enforcing : the same gradual process of neglect and oblivion will render obsolete the Catechism and the Confirmation cere- mony, and then, to save Baptism and Holy Communion from a similar fate, they will have to be freed from the superstition, errors and false assumptions with which they are interwoven, and remodelled in a form to harmonise with the light of reason and the simplicity which led men to welcome them when first instituted. Meantime, until that or some other devoutly to be wished for consummation is arrived at, the breach between clergy and laity must widen, the influence of the former continue to decline, and some of the best minds and purest hearts among the latter be content to bear, silently or with an occasional protest, the false charge of indifference, irre- verence, atheism, or whatever other brand denoting a fundamental difference of opinion may be imposed upon them. Not the clergy of the present day, but their predecessors, who fondly persuaded them- selves that they held the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in theology, and vainly hoped to stereotype their own ideas upon the members of the Church of England for all time, arc re- sponsible for this entanglement. There are two things the heaven- scut doctrine will not bear : the pressure of the human hand, 138 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. moulding it into a particular form ; and the admixture of human inventions. k. nnd k. The effect of thus discipline the nations is described by Jesus in •j t r . ,t -i o Q 1 r. * 28 Mat 19 ' ^ ne so ^ emn words : ' baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.' Alford noted : 'It is un- fortunate again here that our English. Bibles do not give us the force of this word (eis). In should have been into.' The Revisers have made the necessary alteration. The expression ' into the name,' or ' to the name,' is equivalent to ' into the power, or authority, or 1 Eph. 21 influence.' ' Far above all rule, and authority, and power, and 2 Phil, p, io dominion, and every name that is named.' 'Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name ; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow.' ' Baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost ' means, Baptizing them into the rule, authority, power, dominion — of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Putting that deep and true sense of the words into the background, they have come to be regarded superficially, chiefly as the prescribed formula to be used in the administration of the rite of water-baptism. Alford energetically upheld that view. He con- sidered the words to constitute an instruction to the disciples, and commented on them as follows : ' As regards the command itself, no unprejudiced reader can doubt, that it regards the outward rite of Baptism, so well known in this gospel as having been practised by John, and received by the Lord Himself. And thus it was imme- diately, and has been ever since, understood by the Church. As regards all attempts to explain away this sense, we may say — even setting aside the testimony furnished by the Acts of the Apostles, — that it is in the highest degree improbable that our Lord should have given, at a time when he was summing up the duties of his Church in such weighty words, a command couched in figurative or am- biguous language — one which He must have known would be interpreted by his disciples, now long accustomed to the rite and its name, otherwise than He intended it.' If this saying of Jesus had been understood as a command, how comes it to pass that when baptism was administered in apostolic times we find no indication of the use of such a form of words, but some evidence to the contrary ? Philip the deacon had been appointed under the auspices of the s Acta 12 apostles, and he ' baptized both men and women,' of whom we are „ 16 told that ' they had been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus : ' no mention of the Father and Holy Spirit. Paul reckoned himself n n. cor. d ' not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles,' yet he declared : i i. cor. it ' Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.' How can that be reconciled with Alford's idea that the administration of BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. 139 baptism was the very essence of apostleship, and that Jesus had pre- scribed the form of words to be used by them in administering the rite ? Even when the Holy Spirit is specially alluded to in connec- tion with baptism, we are simply told : ' they were baptized into the 10 -\>\~ 5 name of the Lord Jesus." 1 Paul elsewhere alludes to ' all we who were 6 Bom. 3 baptized into Christ Jesus ; ' and again he wrote : ' as many of you 3 Gai. 27 as were baptized into Christ.'' To the mind of Paul, baptizing ' into the name ' meant something very different from a form of words ; he asks : ' Were ye baptized into the name of Paul ? ' meaning, evidently, 1 i. Cor. is into the leadership of Paul. He wrote : ' I thank God that I bap- „ 14 tized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius ; left any man should say that ye were baptized into my name.'' Of course there could have been no question about the words which had been used in baptism, but whether baptism involved subjection to Paul instead of to Christ. The words ' baptize ' and ' baptism ' are untranslated Greek. The verb baptizo from bapto, to dip, dip under, to dye, colour, steep,' is thus defined : ' to dip repeatedly, dip under, to bathe ; 2 to baptize.' The passage : 'that he had not first washed before dinner,' is ren- u Luke 38 dered literally by Young : ' that he did not first baptize himself before the dinner.' The word ' baptize ' carried a twofold meaning, that in relation to the ceremony initiated by John the Baptist being the secondary one. If in every one of the 12 instances in which the word ' baptize ' occurs, and the 22 instances in which ' baptism ' occurs, we substitute mentally the verb 'bathe' and the noun ' bathing,' we shall bring our minds into the same position as that occupied by those who lived iu the times of Christ and the apostles. By adopting this plan, we shall get that double sense of the ex- pression which was always present to their minds. The Baptist himself taught the people to expect from Jesus a very different kind of baptism than that of immersion in water, saying : 'I indeed 3 Mat. h bathe you in water unto repentance : but he that cometh after me is mightier than I ... he shall bathe you in the Holy Ghost and fire. Jesus certainly set the sign of his approval on water-baptism, not only by receiving it himself, but by adopting it as the badge of admission for his disciples : 'After these things came Jesus and his disciples 3 .,,,,,„ ,,_■ into the land of Judasa ; and there he tarried with them, and bathed.' Yet the same evangelist tells us that Jesus did not administer bap- tism himself, but simply allowed his disciples to do so : ' (although 4 j hu 2 Jesus himself bathed not, but his disciples).' He never commanded water-baptism, which John contrasted with that higher spiritual bap- tism to be anticipated from Jesus: 'He that sent me to bathe in 1 Join 13 water, he said unto me . . . the same is he that batheth in the Holy Spirit.' Immersion in water was to be regarded merely as typical of saturation with the Holy Spirit : John was led to give the former ; Jesus was commissioned to bestow the latter. The symbol must not 140 BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION. be taken for the thing signified, nor the reality — the Holy Spirit — tied to the figure — water. Every recorded allusion of Jesus to bap- tism in connection with himself and his work, is altogether indepen- 10 Mark 3s dent of and apart from water-baptism. ' Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink ? or to be bathed with the bathing that I am bathed „ 39 with? . . . The cup that I drink ye shall drink ; and with the bathing [2 Lukeso that I am bathed withal shall ye be bathed.' ' I have a bathing to be bathed with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ! ' j Acts 5 'John indeed bathed with water ; but ye shall be bathed in the Holy Ghost.' All these passages are obviously, undeniably figurative in regard to the word bathe. Now consider the passage : ' bathing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.' Is not that equally so ? On two occasions only Jesus men- tioned water-baptism, speaking of it as the baptism of John. The expression, ' bathing them into the name,' is undoubtedly figurative ; to assert that it means, ' bathing them with water into the name,' is to make an unauthorized addition to the words of Jesus. The ' Teacher's Prayer Book,' in quoting the passage, actually inserts the words ' with water,' between brackets : a clear admission that other- wise it does not carry that sense. True, the apostles continued the practice of water-baptism, but that they did not, could not have re- garded it as the medium for imparting the holy Spirit, is evident from the fact that the gift of the holy Spirit followed, not upon bap- tism, but upon the laying on of the apostles' hands. AVe read that s Acts 15 Peter and John, ' when they were come down, prayed for them, that „ 16 they might receive the Holy Ghost : for as yet he was fallen upon none of them : only they had been bathed into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the 19 Acts [,, 6 Holy Ghost.' Again : ' They were bathed into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them.' But what the apostles did not claim for bap- tism, has been and is still claimed for it by others. After administer- ing the rite, the Priest (of the Church of England) thanks God, ' that it hath pleased thee to regenerate this Infant with thy Holy Spirit.' It is so easy a thing for parents to bring their children to the font for baptism, that there is no temptation to omit the custom ; to de- cline, on any ground, to have a child baptized, would be to assume a position which is in itself undesirable, and a respunsibility which is uncalled for. The ceremony can do the child no harm, and the re- sponsibility attaching to the rite rests properly on the clergyman who administers it. The practice, with all that appertains to it, is not likely to be called in question by laymen generally until the time comes when deep and earnest thought shall take the place of indif- ference, half-heartedness, easy, unenquiring acquiescence in what is taught and preached by the clergy. RESURRECTION. 141 VI. RESURRECTION. How are we to understand the expression, ' all those in the tombs ? ' k. ami k. . I 01 92 That rendering :of the Revisers agrees with Dr. Young, the Autho- rized Version being, ' all that are in the graves.' The modification is not unimportant : the omission of the word ' are ' obviates the idea that any allusion is intended to the decaying or decomposed bodies, and makes the sentence simply equivalent to 'all the buried.' That must be its import, having regard equally to common sense and to the context. 'All the dead;' 'all the buried;' 'all those in the tombs : ' the three forms carry the same meaning, and are inter- changeable. But Alford assumes the contrary. He says : ' He (Jesus) is now speaking of the great day of the resurrection : when not merely all the dead, but all that are in the (/raves shall hear His voice.' What new mode of argument is this ? Those ' in the graves ' are surely ' dead,' and must be included in ' all the dead.' It is absurd to say, as Alford does in effect, ' Not merely all the dead, but all the buried.' The apparent absurdity can be accounted for only by the conception of Alford that the previous allusion to ' the dead' meant ' the spiritually dead.' He had inserted the idea of ' spiritually ' before the word ' dead ; ' to be consistent, he should have inserted it also afterwards: 'all that are spiritually in the graves.' That would have saved any contradiction in terms, although neither addition could be justified. But the addition was made in the one place, and not in the other. Why ? Because the mind of the Commentator was possessed with the idea of a bodily resurrection, anc l — strange to say— that belief was regarded as involving the necessity of the reincarnation of the elements which constituted the bodily frame at the moment of dissolution. That crude and monstrous notion is not contained in these words of Jesus, nor is it rightly deducible from them even when taken in connection with the following words: 'and shall come forth.' True, at the word of 5 John w Jesus Lazarus ' came forth ' from the tomb ; but the body of Lazarus had not within four days from death mouldered into dust. With respect to the resurrection of Jesus, Peter declared : ' Neither 2 Acts 31 was he left in Hades, nor did his flesh sec corruption.' Paul made the same assertion : 'He whom God raised up saw no corruption.' 13 Acts 37 Observe : although Jesus was ' raised up,' he ' saw no corruption : ' 142 RESURRECTION. therefore 'resurrection,' or being 'raised up,' does not, cannot mean the recovery of the body from decay, the reincorporation of its dis- solved particles. The words ' shall come forth,' coupled with the mention of a resurrection, point to a renewal or continuation of existence, as was demonstrably the case with Lazarus and with Jesus. In the passage under consideration, there is nothing which conveys or involves the idea of a simultaneous resurrection, the uprising of the whole human family at once. All the dead, all those who have been laid in their tombs, will hear the voice of Jesus, and according John 29 to their deeds will be their destiny. 'And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done (or, practised) ill, unto the resurrection of judgement.' The 'coming forth' is not a 'coming forth' out of tombs, but a ' coming forth ' to a resurrection of life or judgment. Tischendorf seems to have gone out of his way in the construction of the sentence in order to make that clear : he alters the position of the words ' come forth,' his translation being : ' An hour is coming, in which all that are in the tombs will hear His voice, and they that did good will come forth unto a resurrection of life ,• and they that wrought bad, unto a resurrection of judgment.' The age-during life promised by Jesus (verse 24), is here declared to be contingent on character : those elected to it are, ' they that have done good.' Virtue and life must go together ; God has joined them indissolubly, by the very constitu- tion of our nature, and no power in earth or heaven can put them asunder. The boon of ' age-during life ' will be imparted, not as by some sudden, subtle magic, a gilt instantaneously and arbitrarily bestowed, making its possessor thenceforth safe for ever ; no : it is bound up with obedience and conformity to the divine will, and the office of Jesus is to keep his flock from all harm and evil, suffering no man to pluck them out of the hands of himself and his Father. The influence of Jesus is directed to the perfecting of our nature. In heaven he will carry on the work begun by his Spirit here. . and k. In her greeting of Jesus, Martha's regret at his absence burst forth Jo ~ n ~.^' unchecked. ' Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord (Sir — Young), if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.' The cruel persecutors of Jesus had indirectly brought about the death of Lazarus. Yet Martha's faith in the power of Jesus was still un- shaken, although her brother had passed away while he was not at 22 hand to save. ' And even now I know that, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee.' Jesus replied in one pregnant „ 23 sentence. ' Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.' Martha perceived no specific promise in the assurance, but took it simply as a confirmation of her faith in an ultimate resurrection. RESURRECTION. 143 'Martha said unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the n-™"' 24 resurrection at the last day,' rendered by Young with tautological exactness, ' I know that he will rise again, in the rising again at the last day.' "Whether consciously or unconsciously Martha here laid hold upon a doctrine and form of expression which had been previously enunciated by Jesus in the words, ' I will raise him up at 6 John 54 the last day.' Did she grasp the true import of the saying ? Did she understand 'the last day' to apply to some far distant day when there would come to pass a simultaneous resurrection of all mankind ? If so, her notions were about on a par with those still generally prevalent, their crudeness, strangeness, inconceivableness, covered over and made up for by a verbal positiveness of assertion miscalled ' faith.' It is a very easy thing to take up the words of the Athanasian Creed : 'At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies : ' multitudes who have never given five minutes consecutive thought to the subject have been wont to repeat them glibly, as with a sacred unction, and as though they held a truth clear as the noonday sun, and a hope sufficient to live and die by. ' I know,' said Martha, but it is a matter on which none of us have knowledge. The words of our divine Teacher need to be pondered deeply, reverentially, with all humility, and apart from the dogmas which have grownup round them. Jesus did not endorse Martha's unfaltering declaration, but proceeded to put the subject in his own way. Resurrection and life were his indwelling attributes. ' Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.' And those 11 Joim 25 attributes would be possessed by all his followers. ' He that „ r e believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die.' We cannot be too careful to get at the true sense of these words. The Authorised Version has : ' He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.' Tischendorf renders : ' though he die, yet will he live.' Young: 'even if he may die, shall live;' Alford : 'though he have died, yet shall he live ; ' Samuel Sharpe : ' even though he die, will live ; ' the 'Englishman's Greek New Testament ' : ' though he die, he shall live.' By using ' will ' instead of ' shall/ Tischendorf and Sharpe obviate the idea of a special exercise of power in the case of every believer: Jesus asserts simply what 'will' happen, — the divinely-appointed law of resurrection from death. His promise is not completed by this utterance : having before us but one sentence, the two members of which are connected by the word ' and,' we must not divide the saying into two sentences, as though Jesus gave" two separate promises. Resurrection and life were his, and would also be the lot of his followers, — the life, that is, which follows upon resurrection, there being obviously no reference to the life which 144 RESURRECTION. precedes it : ' and whosoever liveth and believetli on me shall never die.' Tischendorf renders : 'shall never die;' Alf'ord : 'shall not die for evermore ; ' the ' Englishman's Greek New Testament ' : ' in no wise shall die for ever : ' Sharpe : ' will not die till the end of the age.' The entire passage in Young's version is as follows : ' He who is believing in me, even if he may die, shall live ; and no one who is living and believing in me shall die unto the age.' To make the sense clear, Young renders pas ... ou mc apoihanei= i every- one . . . in no wise shall die,' by ' no one . . . shall die.' In other respects his translation is strictly literal : eis ton aiuna is undoubtedly 'unto the age,' eis signifying, in connection with time, 'until' or ' up to.' Thejife is ' age-during,' not endless : its term will be fixed by the constitution of our nature, by the decree of God, and Jesus assures us that, we being under his guidance, it will not be cut short as in the case of the life inherited from Adam. This promise of Jesus may be regarded under two aspects. Its seems to be generally assumed that the life here spoken of is an arbitrary gift, to be bestowed or withheld by Jesus according to the possession or non- possession of faith in him. This is to individualise and narrow the promise, instead of to generalise and broaden it ; the gift thus becomes in each case a miraculous endowment, an exercise of super- natural power. But why should the declaration of Jesus be taken in that sense ? He does but unfold the divine will and purposes. He steps forth as the leader, the prince, the Messiah of mankind, discloses the fact of human resurrection, and assures to believers in him the prolongation to its utmost limit of the life which lies beyond. If we ask — How ? surely it must be by his guiding and protective influence, by regulating the lives of his followers, and bringing them into harmony with the laws of God, of nature and of society. That is the aspect under which Jesus himself has presented 10 John •■'7 the matter. 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they - 8 follow me : and (Young) life age-during I give to them, and they shall not perish — to the age, and no one shall pluck them out of my hand.' A promise going beyond this was once given by Jesus, when c Jnim 40 he said, ' This is the will of Him who sent me, that every one who is beholding the Son, and believing in him, may have life age-during and I will raise him up in the last clay.' Taking those words in the order in which they stand, the resurrection ' in the last day ' by the power of Jesus, is subsequent to the 'life age-during : ' a second resurrection is here foretold. But in the discourse with Martha, it was she, not Jesus, who spoke about Lazarus rising again ' in the resurrection at the last day.' Jesus called her mind away from that high mystery : enough for her to be assured of the lower doctrine of an age-during life beyond the grave, and her positive ' I know ' must resurrection: 145 take the simpler form of ' I believe : ' ' Believest thou this ? ' was the 11 John 20 enquiry with which Jesus closed. The reply of Martha indicated rather a confidence in his words than a full comprehension of them. ' She saith unto him, Yea, Lord (Sir— Young) : I have believed that „ 27 thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world.' Alford quotes Euthymius as follows : < That He spoke great things about Himself she knew : but in what sense He spoke them, she did not know : and therefore when asked one thing, she replies another.' The evangelist makes not a word of comment on this astounding k. and k. miracle. Jesus himself alluded to it as 'the glory of God,' and as IL 18l ~ 133, 4 for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.' 4 The evolvement and manifestation of life, the triumph over death, the arrest of decay, the reorganisation of materialism, — we can con- ceive no higher powers of Deity, Life, Eulership : these constitute the very essence of the true idea of God. What does the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus amount to ? His earthly life had closed. Had he then ceased to be ? In the ordinary course of nature his body could never again become reanimated, but would have turned to earth. No Lazarus would then have walked visibly again among men, known and recognised of them. Jesus called his death a sleep, but that was foreseeing what would happen, knowing that he would * awake him out of sleep.' Yet he literally and really died : ' Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.' Nevertheless there still existed a Lazarus to whom Jesus lifted up his voice and ■cried aloud, ' Come forth.' That was a true call : it would not have been uttered without need or reason. How Jesus shrank from useless words was shown the very instant previously, when he explained his thanksgiving to have been spoken for the sake of those .standing by. That Lazarus was there, within reach of the voice, we may be sure. How he came to be there, must remain a mystery ; as also whether in the same body, or in some other invisible form, or altogether formless. We know nothing about the ' disembodied spirit,' of which men sometimes speak as a matter of course. There were, in fact, two miracles : the bringing back of Lazarus to the living, and the snatching of him from the dead. In order that the earthly life might be renewed, the continuity of the heavenly life was broken. The appointed mode of existence after death was inter- fered with equally, whether we suppose the ' unclothed ' soul of Lazarus to have been restored to his former body, or his ' spiritual body ' to have been forsaken, dissolved, or merged, when his fleshly •tabernacle was re-entered and reanimated. 146 RESURRECTION. When Lazarus left his charnel-cave, And home to Mary's house return'd, Was this demanded — if he yearn' d To hear her weeping by his grave ? Where wert thou, brother, those four days ? " There lives no record of reply, Which telling what it is to die, Had surely added praise to praise. From every house the neighbours met, The streets were filled with joyful sound, A solemn gladness even crown'd The purple brows of Olivet. Behold a man raised up by Christ ! The rest remaineth unreveal'd ; He told it not ; or something seal'd The lips of that Evangelist.* ' Where wert thou, brother, those four clays ? ' is a question to' 3 joim 5 which our existence in this world forbids the answer. 'Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- is i. cor. 50 dom of God.' ' Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.* The new life demands a new incarnation. The faith of the apostle 5 ii. Cor. i-3 Paul enabled him to grasp and elucidate this mystery. ' For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle (or, bodily frame)' be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal (age-during — Young), in the heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven : if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.' The resurrection of Lazarus had been foreseen by Jesus, and we make no visionary supposition in assuming that invisible agents had anticipated and arranged with respect to it, as about the birth of Jesus and his own uprising from the tomb. The idea of Martha that putrefaction must necessarily have set in, may have been contrary to the fact, it being more reasonable to believe that the body was preserved from decay, than that all traces of it were instan- taneously and miraculously obliterated. Nor is it fanciful to bear in mind the fact that the performance of the miracle had been inten- tionally timed by Jesus. He had deliberately delayed his departure n John 6 two days : it was no mere chance that he arrived when three full days, had elapsed since the decease. There must have been some reason r hidden from us, why Jesus, whenever he foretold his own resurrec- tion, prognosticated that it would happen ' after three days,' some occult reason why it did take place after that interval. The second birth, like the first birth, must have its appointed sequences and. * Tennyson's " In Mcmoriam." II. 150-153. RESURRECTION. 147 period ; there must be a graduated development into the heavenly lite, as there was into the earthly life ; the incarnation of ' water and spirit ' is doubtless as natural a process as the incarnation of ' flesh and blood.' The knowledge of Jesus with respect to these matters was more than human ; the laws of life and death were within his cog- nizance ; he knew when and how to seize the right moment for the working of his power ; he could call back at once the soul of the damsel newly-departed, but in the case of Lazarus he saw fit to delay three days, and he was aware from the first that the same lapse of time would have to occur in the resurrection of himself. These facts are neither arbitrary nor meaningless, and we do well to ponder the hints afforded us with respect to the extension and perpetuation in supermundane matters of that regularity and spontaneity in the laws of growth and change which prevail throughout the only world with which we are as yet familiar. Jesus addressed to his host a few words of friendly counsel, con- £• alld K - ceived in the highest spirit of charity. Such entertainments as he was accustomed to give were not, as was evident on this occasion, without their drawbacks. A desire for precedence was observable among the guests, with respect to which it might be necessary for the host to interfere. Why should he not, for once at least, resolve to change his compauy ? Iustead of inviting a distinguished assembly, let him throw open his doors and extend his hospitality to the poorest and most miserable. As it was, there was a constant round of visit- ing and feasting, every man of high position deeming it a duty to return the invitation. No benefit was conferred, no sentiment of gratitude evoked : the host to-day became the guest to-morrow. There was no scope in that ceaseless pursuit of mutual pleasure for the blessing which attaches to pure, unselfish benevolence. Some- thing better ought to be attempted. ' And he said to him also that ] had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbours ; less haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee.' But setting aside conventionalities, let him issue invitations to a class with whom he had hitherto contracted no friendships, among whom he had no relatives, and who could boast of nothing in the shape of wealth or social status. Let him welcome the poor, and those of them especially who through accident or infirmity were uuable to help or raise themselves, as others might. ' But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.' Such a social inno- vation, however it might be criticised, would have a happy effect upon himself : ' and thou shalt be blessed (happy— Young).' The very impossibility of any return being made to him would constitute l 2 148 RESURRECTION. 14 Luke 11 the charm and sweetness of his hospitality : ' because they have not wherewith to recompense thee.' Not here, but in the next life, when the distinctions between mankind will be reduced to the one point of character, two classes only being recognised, the just and the unjust, his neighbourly and compassionate liberality would be reciprocated. ,, 14 ' For thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.' Sharpe uses the words ' repayment, repaid,' instead of ' recompense, recompensed ; ' and certainly a repayment in kind seems to be in- tended. We have here a hint or two with respect to the arrange- ment of society in the future life : the poor in this world may become rich in the next, and the remembrance of past kindnesses will survive the shock of death and flight of time. Jesus holds out to ' the just ' a pleasant prospect of life in the world to come. Alford's note on the words, 'the resurrection of the just,' is as follows; ' The first resurrection, here distinctly asserted by our Lord ; otherwise the words of the just would be vapid and unmeaning. See 1 Cor. xv. 22 ; 1 Thess. iv. 1G ; Rev. xx. 4, 5.' This blending together of Scriptural passages with the view of establishing a doctrine not clearly revealed in any one of them, is a practice which needs cautious watching, and is always open to suspicion, so much depending upon the tone of the com- mentator's mind and on the ease with which a word or form of speech in the original may be misapprehended and unintentionally perverted. 24 Acts is The apostle Paul touched on this matter : ' Having hope towards God, which these also themselves look for (or, accept), that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust.' From this it is evident that it was a settled article of belief among the orthodox Jews that there would be a universal resurrection, and in connection therewith a division of mankind into two classes, the just and the unjust. Alford's argument that the mention of the resurrection of the just indicates that there will not only be a distinction into two classes, but a separation in point of time in the resurrection of the two, is scarcely consistent with the idea conveyed by Paul's expres- sion, 'A resurrection of the just and of the unjust : ' he speaks not of two resurrections, but of one. Let us examine the passages alluded to. 15 i. Cor. 20- ' But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ (Gr. the Christ) shall all be made alive. But each in his own order : Christ the firstfruits ; then they that are Christ's, at his coming (Gr. presence).' Observe : it is not said that Christ was raised from death, but ' from the dead.' It is important to bear the distinction in mind. The German version shows ' the dead ' as a plural substan- tive, equivalent to ' dead persons : ' ' auferstanden von den Todten,' •Si RESURRECTION. 149 ' risen up from those who are dead.' Dead persons had been raised before Christ died, as is evident from the appearing of Moses and Elijah, and by the argument of Jesus that the mention of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, living after death, was proof that 'the dead are 20 Luke zi raised.' Obviously, the sense in which the apostle alludes to Christ as ' the firstfruits of them that are asleep,' is that of the presentation of the firstfruits to God under the Mosaic law. Jesus has gone, first and foremost of mankind, to the divine presence, 'the Son of man 7 Acts 56 standing on the right hand of God.' Pursuing that idea, the apostle, having spoken of ' the dead,' not as extinct but as ' them that are asleep,' tells how all in Christ shall be ' made alive,' quickened into active vitality ; as elsewhere : ' Your life is hid with Christ in God.' s Col. .■? Then he adds : ' But each in his own order (rank — Englishman's Greek New Testament) ; ' not each of the two classes, but each individual. And that this means an order in rank or place, not in time, is evident from what follows : ' Christ the firstfruits,' the fore- most, honoured, accepted representative of humanity : ' then they that are Christ's at his presence.' All this has no bearing on the question of two resurrections. Take the next passage : ' We that are alive, that are left unto 4 i. The**. the coming (Gr. presence) of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.' The apostle begins by asserting that the living will have no precedence over the dead. He represents the arrival of a moment of crisis and culmination, Jesus descending from heaven, as the great Captain of our salvation, a shout of triumph raised, a word of command uttered by a ' chief messenger ' (Young), and God's trumpet sounded as a signal understood, expected and to be obeyed. The language is highly figurative. 'The dead in Christ shall rise first.' Whence? We know not. Whither? 'To meet the Lord in the air,' the living also being ' caught away in clouds ' (Young). That is the rising, or uprising, here spoken of. Those ' asleep ' are not described as raised from death at that instant, for in the previous verse it is said that Jesus will bring them with him, so that they in fact will rise first to meet him, taking precedence of the living. The rising ' first ' has no reference to the idea of two resurrections, that of the just prior to that of the unjust. The last passage to which Dean Alford referred is one of deepest mystery. 'And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judge- .jonev. i-a ment was given unto them : and / saw the souls of them that had 150 RESURRECTION. been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a ■ thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : over these the second death hath no power (or, authority) ; bnt they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.' One is soon lost and bewildered in wandering through the marvellous symbolism and imagery of the Book of the Revelation. Probably this passage is the origin of the idea that the resurrection to life of all mankind will be deferred to some remote period ; that all of a certain character will be raised first ; and after a further period all the rest of mankind ; and as the expression ' a resurrection of the just and of the unjust ' happens to fit in with this conclusion, it has been assumed that the passages may be taken together, as embodying the same doctrine. Nothing of the kind can be inferred safely, to say the least. ' Thrones, and they sat upon them : ' who are ' they ? ' Again : ' The souls of them that had been beheaded . . . and such as worshipped not the beast.' To apply a passage thus hedged round with restrictions, doubts and uncertainty, to the destiny of the human race in general, is most unwise. Looking to the context, the expression ' the rest of the dead lived not,' appa- 19 Rev. 21 rently refers back to the last verse of the preceding chapter : 'the rest were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse,' that „ 20 is, ' them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.' The events thus darkly foretold in con- nection with the millennium, can have no bearing on any doctrine touching the ultimate fate of the innumerable generations of man- kind. Remarks on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. k. and k. To this marvellous parable not a word was added by way of com- ment or explanation : we are left to interpret and apply it as we will. If it had been uttered by any one except Jesus himself, it would have been worth no more to us than one of ^Esop's fables. The value of any moral teaching centained in it would be more than counter- balanced by our uncertainty as to the truthfulness and reality of the groundwork on which the narrative rests. If its revelations of a future life were purely imaginary, they would be not only unreliable, but misleading. Only our confidence in Jesus can induce us to attach importance to his teaching on matters beyond the reach of ordinary human knowledge. We know of his miraculous birth, his superhuman words and works, his converse with Moses and Elijah II. 189-1! RESURRECTION. 151 when he was transfigured on the mount, his resurrection from the ■dead, and his ascension into heaven : and our belief in all these things impels us to receive with reverence this parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Every parable delivered by Jesus on earthly matters within our cognizance, is true to nature, and consistent with actual experience ; and we may be confident that he is equally accu- rate and reliable when revealing to us the laws and conditions of * heavenly things.' The following deductions are inseparable from the parable, and are therefore stamped with the authority of Jesus. 1. The life of each individual on earth is but the prelude to life in another world. 2. Angelic ministrations are needed and granted in the world to come. » 3. Human destinies differ there, as here, class being separate from class ; and acute suffering may be experienced by one individual, and perfect enjoyment by another. 4. In the future life there will be a clear recollection of the former life, and the grouping of society there is on the earthly pattern, so that neighbours will recognise each other, and there will be a con- sciousness and acknowledgment of previous social and family rela- tionships. 5. The introduction of Abraham into the parable involves the doctrine of a perpetuity of existence : not necessarily an unchange- able, inextinguishable existence, for there may be other deaths and other resurrections analogous to the first death and the first resur- rection. The ' age-during life,' of which Jesus so often spoke, embodies the idea of an appointed term : the revivification which comes after the close of the present life, may it not be granted also at the culmination and crisis of the next stage of being, life and death alternating, life ever triumphing over death, the tendency deathward declining, and the tendency lifeward augmenting, until, like our Lord Jesus, we are made ' after the power of an endless (Gr. r Heb. n> indissoluble) life ? ' That is the conception of human destiny which seems best to elucidate, combine and harmonise the promises of our Redeemer and all other revelations of Scripture. G. The next state of being is revealed to us subject to laws, phy- sical and moral, as immutable as those which encompass us on earth. The line of demarcation between class and class is represented as rigid in the extreme. Divine Providence has fixed certain boundaries which none, though urged by the most charitable motives, may seek to over- pass. The more perfect the condition of society, the more imperative does it become to remove the evil from the proximity of the good. The two principles of good and evil must, if brought into contact, involve ceaseless strife ; the ethics of Christianity require for their 152 RESURRECTION. free, unchecked development a complete immunity from the hostile powers of unrighteousness. That is the condition of humanity here- after, as sketched out by Jesus. Punishment by way of penalty and retribution is not hinted at, but conduct and destiny are revealed linked together as cause and effect. And there is a recognised con- tinuity of being, — no hiatus between the concerns of this life and the next, — but the one leading up naturally and inevitably to the other : that was the ground of anxiety with respect to the five brethren still liviug upon earth. 7. The closing words of the parable, ' if one rise from the dead,' indicate what is meant in other passages by a similar form of expres- sion : not, that is, the resurrection from death to life, but the revisit- ing of the living by the dead. In this parable it is clear, beyond the possibility of doubt or gain- saying, that Jesus taught the doctrine of an individual, personal resur- rection of — not from — the dead. In face of this, and of the plain teaching of Paul and other apostles, it is a marvel and mystery how that earnest searcher after truth, Count Leon Tolstoi, could have been led to form and express the following opinion : ' And strange as ib may seem to say so of Christ, who Himself rose from the dead, and who promised to raise all men, He never by a single word, confirmed the belief in individual resurrection, in individual immortality beyond the grave, but He even attached to the raising up of the dead in the kingdom of the Messiah, as taught by the Pharisees, a meaning which excluded the idea of individual resurrection.'* Again : ' Christ could never have supposed so strange an idea among His followers. He supposes all men to understand that individual life must inevitably perish; and he reveals a life which cannot perish.' ilgain : 'The whole purport of Christ's doctrine is to teach His disciples that indi- vidual life being but a delusion they should renounce it, and transfer their individual lives into the lives of all humanity, into the life of the son of man.' Tolstoi has been misled by his own imagination. Let it suffice to say that his misconceptions are based upon a misappre- hension of the meaning of the words he quotes, namely, ' With God all are living,' from which he hastily draws the conclusion, as though it were the only conceivable one : ' And therefore, if there be a living God, the man who is one with God lives too.' The mind of Tolstoi is, as it were, microscopic : his earnest gaze on some particular pas- sages may reveal depths of truth and reality which, for want of such a power of concentration, have been passed over by others ; but when his focus of vision is disarranged, a truth becomes distorted, and an error magnified. Take, as an example of his self-deceptive reasoning, * " What I Believe," pp. 135, 147, 146. RESURRECTION. 153 the following explanation on another subject : ' It was necessary to feed several thousand men. One of the disciples said to Christ that a boy there had a few fishes. The disciples had also a few loaves. Christ knew that some of those who had come from a distance had brought food with them and others had not. That many had brought provisions with them is evident from there being twelve basketfuls gathered of what remained, as we read in all the four gospels. (If nobody had had anything except the boy, there would not have been twelve baskets in the field.) Had Christ not done what he did, that is, the " miracle " of feeding thousands with five loaves, what now takes place in the world would have taken place then. Those who had provisions with them would have eaten all they had, would have overeaten themselves rather than that anything should have been left. Misers would perhaps have taken the remainder home. Those who had nothing would have remained hungry, looking on with wicked envy at those who ate, and some would very likely have stolen from those who had provisions. Quarrelling and fighting would have ensued, and some would have gone home satisfied, the others hungry and cross ; exactly what takes place in our present lives would have happened then. But Christ knew what he meant to do ; He told them all to sit in a circle, and enjoined his disciples to offer a part of what they had to those next them, and to tell others to do the same. The result was, that when all those who had brought provisions with them followed the example set them by the disciples, and offered a share of their provisions to others, there was enough for all. All were satisfied, and so much remained that twelve baskets were filled.' It is a beautiful conception of Tolstoi's, and admirably worked out. At first one is inclined to rub one's eyes, and wonder why so simple an explanation of the ' miracle ' has never presented itself before. But how came it to pass that not one of the four evangelists presented it in that light ? Any one of them, by introducing a sentence or simply turning a phrase, could have made the matter as clear to us as Tolstoi has clone. Not a hint of his interpretation is conveyed by the narratives ; not a word about the multitude having food left of their own ; no such expression as he uses, ' tell others to do the same ' ; nothing to lead to the conclusion that ' those who had brought provisions with them followed the example set them by the disciples.' On the contrary, Mark ends with the words, ' And they Mark a that ate the loaves were five thousand men,' and John says that ' they 6 John la filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves.' When Jesus alludes to the miracle, it is in the same strain : ' Ye seek „ 2a me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled.' In the similar miracle, when four thousand were fed 154 RESURRECTION. with seven loaves and a few fishes, there is nothing mentioned con- sistent with the idea of Tolstoi, nothing about the people bringing out their own stores of food, but on the contrary, Matthew and Mark is Mat 32 agree as to the exact words of Jesus : ' I have compassion on the s Mark 2 multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat.' And when Jesus referred to both miracles, the number of loaves lie specifies as divided among the multitude is five 16 Mat. o, io and seven. ' Do ye not yet perceive, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up ? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up ? ' Count Tolstoi seems incapable of extending his range of vision outside his own argument : he is blind to the facts which tell against it. In the same way, in framing his theory about the resurrection, he overlooks the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the revelation of Moses and Elijah on the mount, and the sublime reasoning of Paul in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. The errors of Christianity have ever arisen from the mistakes of its friends, and it behoves us to be on our guard against them, thankful for any fresh light, yet watchful against mistakes of judgment, seeking to sift the true from the false, and following no man blindly. Holding fast to the doctrine of a resurrection of the dead, it must prove rather a curse than a blessing if it leads to a neglect of the obligations resting upon Christians in the present life. This is wisely and forcibly insisted on by Mr. J. A. Froude. He says : * ' The Egyptians, in the midst of their corruptions, had inherited the doctrine from their fathers which is considered the foundation of all religion. They believed in a life beyond the grave — in the judgment bar of Osiris, at which they were to stand on leaving their bodies, and in a future of happiness or misery as they had lived well or ill upon earth. It was not a speculation of philosophers — it was the popular creed ; and it was held with exactly the same kind of belief with which it has been held by the "Western nations since their conversion to Chris- tianity. But what was the practical effect of their belief ? There is no doctrine, however true, which works mechanically on the soul like a charm. The expectation of a future state may be a motive for the noblest exertion, or it may be an excuse for acquiescence in evil, and serve to conceal and perpetuate the most enormous iniquities. The magnate of Thebes or Memphis, with his huge estates, his town and country palaces, his retinue of eunuchs, and his slaves whom he counted by thousands, was able to say to himself, if he thought at all, " True enough, there are inequalities of fortune, but it is only for a lime after all ; they have immortal souls, poor devils ! and their * "On Prepress." RESURRECTION. 155 wretched existence here is but a drop of water in the ocean of their being. They have as good a chance of Paradise as I have- perhaps better. Osiris will set all right hereafter ; and for the present rich and poor are an ordinance of Providence, and there is no occa- sion to disturb established institutions. For myself, I have drawn a prize in the lottery, and I hope I am grateful. I subscribe hand- somely to the temple services. I am myself punctual in my religious duties. The priests, Avho are wiser than I am, pray for me, and they tell me I may set my mind at rest." Under this theory of things the Israelites had been ground to powder. They broke away. They too were to become a nation. A revelation of the true God was bestowed on them, from which, as from a fountain, a deeper knowledge of the Divine nature was to flow out over the earth ; and the central thought of it was the realization of the Divine government — not in a vague hereafter, but in the living present. The unpractical prospective justice which had become an excuse for tyranny, was superseded by an immediate justice in time. They were to reap the harvest of their deeds, not in heaven, but on earth. There was no life in the grave whither they were going. The future state was withdrawn from their sight till the mischief which it had wrought was forgotten. It was not denied, but it was veiled in a cloud. It was left to private opinion to hope or to fear ; but it was no longer held out either as an excitement to piety, or a terror to evil doers. The God of Israel was a living God, and His power was displayed visibly and immediately in rewarding the good and punishing the wicked while they remained in the flesh. It would be unbecoming to press the parallel, but phenomena are showing themselves which indicate that an analogous suspension of belief provoked by the same causes may possibly be awaiting ourselves. The relations between man and man are now supposed to be governed by natural laws which enact themselves independent of considerations of justice. Political economy is erected into a science, and the shock to our moral nature is relieved by the reflection that it refers only to earth, and that justice may take effect hereafter. Science, however, is an inexorable master. The evidence for a hereafter depends on considerations which science declines to entertain. To piety and conscientiousness it appears inherently pro- bable ; but to the calm, unprejudiced student of realities, piety and conscientiousness are insufficient witnesses to matters of fact. The religious passions have made too many mistakes to be accepted as of conclusive authority. Scientific habits of thought, which are more and more controlling us, demand external proofs which are difficult to find. It may be that we require once more to have the living- certainties of the Divine government brought home to us more pal- pably ; that a doctrine which has been the consolation of the heavy- 156 RESURRECTION. laden for eighteen hundred years may have generated once more a practical infidelity, and that by natural and intelligent agencies, in the furtherance of the everlasting purposes of our Father in heaven, the belief in a life beyond the grave may again be about to be with- drawn.' This voice of warning is not lifted up without a cause. They are not fit for the hope of a life to come, who make no effort to realise the Christ-like life on earth. K. and K. II. 277, 278. When Jesus alluded to his resurrection, it was in connection with an interval of ' three days.' Surely there must exist some reason for this, some law of development and reorganisation, which requires for its working that particular period of time. That is the case with every process of nature in respect of living organisms. Revivifica- tion, be it of a human soul or body, or of both combined, if it be universal, as we must needs believe, is not an exceptional, super- natural act of divine omnipotence, but comes as much within the ordinary dispensation of Providence as our birth and death. We cannot attempt to pierce the mystery which surrounds the grave and the afterlife ; but the repeated mention of ' three days ' by Jesus, and the fact that the interval between his death and his uprising coincided with what he had led his disciples to expect, may be taken to indicate rather a fixed relationship of cause and effect than an arbitrary decree apart therefrom. K. and K. II. 311-31S. 20 Luke 27 22 Mat. 24 Jesus was next questioned by the Sadducees with respect to their fundamental article of disbelief. ' And there came unto him Saddu- cees, which say that there is no resurrection.' Matthew states that it was on the same day. ' On that day tliere came to him Sadducees, which say (Gr. saying) that there is no resurrection.' Alford and Tischendorf adopt the reading ' saying,' which indicates that the Sadducees began a discussion about their peculiar doctrine. Luke's account implies that ' certain ' of the sect had been selected for that purpose. 'And there came to him certain of the Sadducees, they which say that there is no resurrection.' The Authorised Version stands : ' which deny that there is any resurrection,' but the Bevisers have followed the reading of the two oldest MSS. There is a sub- stantial agreement between the evangelists as to the question pro- pounded. Matthew : 'And they asked him, saying, Master (or, Teacher), Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife (Gr. shall perform the duty of a husband's brother to his wife), and raise up seed unto his brother.' Mark : 'And they asked him, saying, Master (or, Teacher), Moses wrote unto us, If a man's brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and RESURRECTION. 157 leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.' Luke : 'And they asked him, saying, Master 20 Lake 28 {or, Teacher), Moses wrote unto us, that if a man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless, his brother shall take the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.' A case was stated, which may- have been real or imaginary, rising out of this custom. ' Now there 22 Mat 25- were with us seven brethren : and the first married and deceased, and having no seed left his wife unto his brother ; in like manner the second also, and the third, unto tho seventh (Gr. seven). And after them all the woman died.' Mark : ' There were seven hrethren : u Mark an and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed ; and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him ; and the third likewise : and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died.' The Revisers, following the two oldest MSS., have omitted the words * had her, and ' after ' seven.' In the Alexandrine MS. the additional word ' likewise ' is introduced. In the constant copying and re- copying of the manuscripts there seems to have been a temptation and tendency to improve occasionally upon the original. Luke : * There were therefore seven brethren : and the first took a wife, and 20 Luke 29- died childless ; and the second ; and the third took her ; and like- wise the seven also left no children, and died. Afterward the woman also died.' That having been the state of things in this life, in what relation would the woman stand to these seven in the next ? She had belonged to each : which one of them will be entitled to claim her ? ' In the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the 22 Mat. 28 seven ? for they all had her.' Mark : ' In the resurrection whose 12 Mark 23 wife shall she be of them ? for the seven had her to wife.' Luke : * In the resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be ? for 20 Luke 33 the seven had her to wife.' The question was not an argument, but the answer might serve as a basis on which to raise one. Yet man's ignorance of the conditions of a future state of existence is no more a reason for denying it, than is the ignorance of an unborn child & disproof of all that appertains to the world into which it is destined to enter. Light and knowledge come with life, and human relation- ships in this world are modified by man's free will to suit with the necessities of his being. ' For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife.' But death severs every bond : ' For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the 7 Rom. 2 husband while he liveth ; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.' If these Sadducees meant to argue that the connections existing in this life must perforce continue in the next, that confusion and discord must thence ensue, and that there was no conceivable outlet from their supposed dilemma, they must have been shallow reasoners indeed. A bond of union first 158 RESURRECTION. voluntarily entered into, and then by an overruling fate compulsorily and legally broken, — how can it be assumed to be binding and infrangible subsequently ? Jesus told them that they were in error, their mistake proceeding from ignorance of the divine will and power. 22.M;.t.«9 the second.' This interpretation is corroborated by the way in which the words of Jesus are understood and dealt with by Matthew and Mark. They are condensed into a single sentence : ' They neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven,' — which corresponds in structure with : ' Neither did this man sin, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.' On the words : ' For neither can they die any more,' Alford makes this explanatory comment : i.e., they will have ' no need of a succession and renewal, which is the main purpose of marriage.' That is as though we should argue that if Adam and Eve had not forfeited immortality they would have remained childless, having ' no need of a succession and renewal.' Not the simple perpetuation, but the increase of the species, has been the divine purpose from the beginning : ■' Be 1 Gen. 2s fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.' To reach tbe mind of Jesus, his meaning must not be thus guessed at, but pondered with earnest care. It is not enough to skim the narrative, and take for 160 RESURRECTION. granted the inference which seems to lie upon the surface. Does the divine law, ' Be fruitful and multiply,' apply to this world only ? Let those who infer as much from the saying of Jesus, ' they neither marry nor are given in marriage, .but are as angels in heaven,' at least take the pains to reconsider his. words, and be quite sure about the doctrine before they promulgate it. The words of Jesus as reported by Luke, ' they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world (or, age), and the resurrection from the dead,' are not consistent with the idea of a general resurrection and reunion of mankind. We are bound to give the same significance to the expression ' accounted worthy,' in Luke, a)3 attaches to it 5 Acts 41 elsewhere ; and it must certainly be regarded as restrictive. ' Ee- joicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the Name.' 'To the end that ye may be accounted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer.' The attainment of ' that world (or, age) ' in conjunction with ' the resurrection from the dead,' is not represented as a certainty for all men, but as a privilege depen- dent upon character. Such a conception of the resurrection was contrary to the popular notion, in accordance with which the Sadclucees had argued. They assumed that there would be no exceptions, no selection, that the seven brethren and the woman, as a matter of course, would find themselves together hereafter under similar conditions to those existing in this world. Not so. The sons of this age do not all become sons of that age through the resurrection, which involves no resumption of former earthly ties, no marrying or giving in marriage. The Sadducees took the lowest and most carnal view of the resurrection ; Jesus takes the highest and most spiritual, 15 i. Cor. 44 as did the apostle Paul, when he wrote, ' It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body.' They might with equal unreason have asked : In the resurrection whose servant shall he be, who bound himself to many masters, and was successively freed by each ? Or, In the resurrection, who, out of a succession of Head Masters, will be Head Master, the rights, duties, dignities and emoluments of the office being held for life, and then becoming vested in another ? It might well be answered, In the resurrection they neither assume servitude nor mastership ; in the resurrection they neither become teachers nor pupils : the meaning obviously being, not that there will be no servitude and no mastership, no teachers and no pupils in the resurrection-life, but that questions with respect to those matters can have no bearing on the primary question, Is there a resurrection ? And then, having shown what the resurrection is not, in those respects, all that the resurrection really involves might be dwelt on in the precise way and words of Jesus when replying to the question which was actually propounded to him. He reveals an ' age,' a condition RESURRECTION. 161 of existence, to be attained by those worthy of it, to whom the resurrection will be much more than the living over again of the former earthly life ; they will become immortalised, etherialised, deified : ' for neither can they die anymore : for they are equal unto the angels ; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.' The gift of immortality is promised, not to all, but to those worthy to attain to that 'age,' in which Jesus will bestow it upon those who behold him and believe in him : ' And this is the will of Him who G John 4r) sent me, that every one who is beholding the Son, and believing in him, may have life age-duri ng, and I will raise him up in the last day.' On the words ' beholding the Son,' take this apostolic comment : ' But :) ''• ( '"- ls we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror (or, beholding as in a mirror) the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory.' Having disposed of the question of the Saclducees, Jesus proceeded to give a scriptural proof of the doctrine they disputed. 'But as 22Mat - 31 > touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? ' Mark is fuller. 'But 12 Mark 26 as touching the dead, that they are raised ; have ye not read in the Book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ? ' Luke is as follows : ' But that the dead are 20 Luke :ir raised, even Moses shewed, in the place concerning the Bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' The italicised words, 'the place concerning,' in Mark and Luke, are rendered ' the history concerning,' by Alford, who observes : ' The words may in the original mean either " in the chapter concerning the history of God appearing in the Bush," or " when he was at the Bush." The former is the more probable.' From that passage Jesus drew this inference : ' God is not the God of the - Mat - '- dead, but of the living.' The two oldest MSS. begin, ■ He is not the God.' Tischenclorf renders literally : ' He is not God of dead, but of living.' Mark : ' He is not the God of the dead, but of the 12 Malk J7 living : ye do greatly err.' Luke : ' Now he is not the G od of the 20 Luko :; dead, but of the living : for all live unto him.' Young translates the three passages thus : ' God is not a God of dead men, but of living.' 1 He is not the God of dead men, but of living men.' ' He is not a God of dead men, but of living.' The argument is clear and con- clusive, resting upon two foundations : (1) the essential relationship of God to man ; (2) the declared continuance of that relationship centuries after the termination of the earthly lives of the patriarchs. Jesus takes the title 'God' in its natural and proper sense, as denoting rulcrship, oversight, protection. He asserts that, obviously M 162 UESTJERECTION. and necessarily, ' He is not the God of dead men, but God of living men.' It is possible for men to imagine and worship false Gods, as 4Gai. 8 the apostle says: 'Not knowing God, ye were in bondage to them which by nature are no gods.' The term ' god ' is synonymous with 5 ps. 2 king, lord, judge : ' Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my king and io Ps. io my God.' ' The Lord is king for ever and ever.' ' God is the judge : 7. r . Ps. t He putteth down one and lifteth up another.' Any word will suit 08 Ps. o which denotes power, responsibility and loving care : ' A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habita- s j.T. -t tion.' ' Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou 54isa. b art the guide (or, companion) of my youth ? ' 'For thy Maker is thine husband ; the Lord of hosts is his name.' The title ' God ' conveys the idea of absolute supremacy over living beings : ' all live unto him ; ' it cannot be applied in connection with those who have : ; (; ,] tf passed out of existence. Some four hundred years after the death of Abraham, God said to Moses, ' I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' That by itself was proof positive that those patriarchs were then alive. And inasmuch as they had died, they must as certainly have been ' raised,' resuscitated. Death and the resurrection are two parts, the one visible, the other invisible, of the same phenomenon. We can see the ending of the old and earthly life ; we cannot see the beginning of the new and heavenly life. The course of the one is open to us, the course of the other is hidden from us. The latter is not, on that account, un- natural or incredible : are we not as sure of the existence of the wind which is invisible, as we are of the earth which is visible ? God has revealed the one to mortal eyes, but not the other ; true, we have evidences of the wind, through the senses of hearing and feeling, which we have not of departed yet still existent personalities : that is the only difference ; the absence of physical certainty does not mili- tate against a belief founded upon other testimony vouchsafed to us. The word ' resurrection,' which is rendered by Young ' rising again,' obviously does not touch upon the question of corporeity or incorporeity : for the argument of Jesus is, that the mention of the patriarchs as living after they had died, is evidence of their ' resurrec- tion ' or 'rising again,' apart from any mention of a bodily form. The Sadducees assumed its existence hereafter, with all its parts and passions. Modern teachers have gone to the contrary extreme. Strange ideas have prevailed on this subject : as that the soul continues to exist, and will remain, in an unbodied condition, until a day of ' general resurrection,' when it will be reincorporated, some even have asserted w T ith the identical particles of matter which were buried in the grave ! That monstrous conception is fading away, as it needs must, before the light of Science and a more rational inter- RESURRECTION. 163 pretation of the Scriptures. The words of the Athanasian Creed have a doubtful or double meaning- : ' At whose coming, all men shall rise again with their bodies : and shall give account for their own works,' may be understood to signify a simultaneous uprising from tombs. That wrong notion involves another : either the inter- mediate ' sleep of the soul,' or its continuance until the day of judg- ment in a state of disembodiment. Both ideas are purely imaginary, not scriptural revelations, but mere logical inferences, the accuracy or inaccuraey of which depends on the truth or error of the premises on which they rest. Theologians dispute about them among them- selves, as when Alford says, ' Stier remarks that this is a weighty testimony against the so-called "sleep of the soul" in the inter- mediate state.' The conception of a human soul or life without a body may be stated in words, as a supposition, but has no foundation in any fact within our cognizance, no analogy with anything in the world in which we live and move and have our being. Paul assumed that a doubt of the resurrection of the dead involved, as a matter of course, the question, ' With what manner of body do they come ? ' The resurrection of a man without any of the attributes of manhood, of a woman without any of the distinctions of womanhood, of the soul or mind without any reassumption of a material organism akin to the brain through which the intelligence works and the nervous system which conveys sensations : what kind of 'rising again' would that be ? How T conceive it, hope for it, long for it ? It is as though you were to destroy a drum, and assert that the instrument still exists in the shapeless air which it once held, and which is now mingled Avith the surrounding atmosphere. They ' are as angels in heaven.' Angels are distinct personalities, possessing forms which have been rendered visible to mortal eyes, and organs of speech and touch which have enabled them to hold intercourse with mankind. There are two forms of expression : Mark : ' touching the dead, that they are raised ; ' Luke : ' but that the dead are raised.' That is one form ; the other is, in Mark : ' when they shall rise from the ■dead ; ' in Luke : ' the resurrection from the dead.' It is the latter which is alluded to as a privilege, bestowed upon those who are accounted worthy to attain to it and to ' that age.' The ' resurrec- tion OF the dead ' is equivalent to the statement that ' the dead are raised,' that is, they are raised from death. The 'resurrection FROM the dead ' carries a different meaning. The resurrection of the dead IFROM death, amounts simply to the fact that there is a ' rising again.' The resurrection of the dead from the dead, denotes a pre-eminence granted to certain of the dead above others of the dead. This distinction is more easily caught through a language which gives the plural form to ' the dead,' as the French ' les morts ' and M 2 164 RESURRECTION. the German ' die Todten.' In common language, when we speak of * the dead ' we mean those who have passed away from the earthly life, as though they no longer existed. But the instant we begin to speak in faith of the doctrine of a resurrection, they are no longer regarded as non-existent, and by ' the dead ' is meant those who have entered upon the resurrection-life. Thus mankind are divided into two classes, 'the living' and 'the dead,' both equally alive, the. former here, the latter elsewhere. A resurrection from the living is a, thing unheard of, except in the cases of Enoch and Elijah, but we are taught to expect a resurrection ' from the dead,' which is alluded, to as a similar translation to a higher existence, as when Paul 3 piiii. n exclaimed, ' if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from i coi. 18 the dead.' Jesus Christ is styled ' the firstborn from the dead : ' in what sense ? Not, certainly, that he was the first who had been raised from death, for we have his own assurance that the three- patriarchs had been so raised, and we are told that Moses and Elijah 15 i. Cor. 20 conversed with him on the mount. Neither is Jesus called ' the first- fruits of them that are asleep,' in the sense of being the first raised from death : for that he was not, as is proved by his own argument.. In Jewish language, a ' firstborn ' son was the one exalted by his. father above his brethren : Isaac was deemed the ' firstborn,' the ' only son,' although born after Ishmael. The ' firstfruits ' were the- first-gathered portion of the harvest, rendered up as an offering to 22 Ex. 29 Clod : ' Thou shalt not delay to offer of the abundance of thy fruits,. and of thy liquors. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.' Under both figures, Jesus stands forth as the representative of i Coi. is humanity. He ' is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; " 15 i. Cor. 23 ' Christ the firstfruits ; then they that are Christ's, at his coming o John 40 (Gr. presence).' In his presence, ' beholding the Son, and believing on him,' the perfect ' will of God ' in ' sending him ' will be accom- plished, in ' the resurrection from the dead ' of those ' that are Christ's,' ' in the last day.' The doctrine of the resurrection, so easy either to deny or to profess, so hard to understand, demands a more careful and discriminating study than is generally bestowed upon it. k. and k. Jesus knew well that his new doctrine would be so hateful to mankind generally that the promulgators of it would be held in universal detestation. Whatever came upon them they must bear patiently, with quiet confidence that all would be well with them is .Mark 13 a t the last. ' But he that endureth to the end, the same shall ba ■J i Mat. 13 saved.' Instead of 'endureth' the Authorised Version has 'shall endure ; ' Young renders : ' But he who hath endured to the end — he shall be saved ; ' Tischendorf : ' But he that endured unto the: end, the same will be saved.' Often the end would be death, but, RESURRECTION. 165 death to them would be safety and life, for nothing about them was perishable. Luke records an additional saying to that effect : ' And -ji Luke is, not a hair of your head shall perish. In your patience ye shall win your souls (or, lives).' The Authorised Version has, ' In your patience possess ye your souls.' Teschendorf renders : ' And there will not an hair of your heads perish. By your patience acquire your lives.' The hope of a resurrection to life, here and elsewhere held forth by Jesus, differs from the view commonly entertained. He does not distinguish between ' soul ' and ' body,' as we are taught to do, for the words ' soul ' and ' life ' are interchangeable. He does not say, the body will perish, but the soul will live : on the contrary, he declares that not a hair of the head will perish, the body in its entirety will be preserved. Nor does he adjourn that bodily resurrec- tion to a remote future, as some suppose. The only state of existence we know or can really conceive of, is in connection with a bodily organisation. The separate existence of the departed in a dis- embodied state is never even hinted at by Jesus. ' That the dead are raised ' was his doctrine. His picture of Dives and Lazarus represents them with all their corporeal attributes. At his last meal he assured his disciples : ' I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of l >g Mat. 29 the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.' After death he himself was revealed in a bodily form, and the apostle John wrote : ' We know that, if he shall be manifested, z \. j im -z we shall be like him ; for we shall see him, even as he is.' With his hands outstretched in blessing, his resurrection body was uplifted from the earth and carried off in a cloud ; and while the disciples 4 were looking stedfastly into heaven, as he went, behold, two men 1 Acts 10,11 stood by them in white apparel ; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking up into heaven ? this Jesus, which was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.' Whenever angelic beings have visited mankind, it has been in bodily form, and the fashion and lustre of their clothing have been described. The apostle Paul emphatically rejected the idea of disembodiment in the future state of existence, saying : ' For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle r, a. cor. 1-:; (or, bodily frame) be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven : if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.' In another passage he represents a doubter of the resurrection he preached asking, not how a departed soul can exist without a body, but ' How are the dead raised ? and with what manner of body do 15 i. Cor. :).-, they come ?' and he declares : ' If there is a natural body, there is : , 41 also a spiritual bod//.'' The idea of a separate existence of soul apart 1 OP, BESUB RECTION. from body is not derived from Scripture, but appears to have been grafted on to the Christian hope of a resurrection from the teaching of heathen philosophy. It is found in Plato's ' Phsedo,' where Socrates asks Simmias : ' Do we think that death is anything ? Certainly, replied Simmias. Is it anything else than the separation of the soul from the body ? and is not this to die, for the body to be apart by itself separated from the soul, and for the soul to subsist apart by itself separated from the body ? Is death anything else than this ? No, but this, he replied.' That stands in direct opposi- tion to the teaching of Paul. It was but a guess of Socrates, the best he could make, and ably reasoned out ; but Jesus spoke of the resurrection as one who knew, and his doctrine does not harmonise with such conceptions. That is not the only point in which Jesus- differed from Socrates, and wherein Christians have followed the latter rather than the former. In the same discourse Socrates- observed : ' As long as we are encumbered with the body, and our soul is contaminated with such an evil, we can never fully attain to what we desire ; and this, we say, is truth. For the body subjects us. to innumerable hindrances on account of its necessary support, and moreover if any diseases befal us, they impede us in our search after that which is : and it fills us with longings, desires, fears, all kinds- of fancies, and a multitude of absurdities, so that, as it is said in real truth, by reason of the body it is never possible to make any advances. in wisdom . . . And while we live, we shall thus, as it seems, approach nearest to knowledge, if we hold no intercourse or com- munion at all with the body, except what absolute necessity requires, nor suffer ourselves to be polluted by its nature, but purify ourselves from it, until God himself shall release us.' There we have the foundation on which the practice of asceticism rests, a practice alto- gether out of harmony with the example and teaching of Jesus and his apostles. Our Lord declared, not the body but the heart, to be 15 Mat. id the seat and source of all Avrong-doing : ' For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings ; these are the things which defile the man.' What the skin is to the nerves and flesh, the body is to heart and mind. The source of evil and of good lies deeper than the bodily organs through which the will of the spirit within is worked out and mani- r.i. c,,r. is fested. The apostle Paul expressed the opinion : ' Every sin that a man doeth is without the body,' and went on to instance a sin which men commit against their own bodies. The source of corruption lies within, working outwards. Jesus put the figurative case of an eye or a hand becoming so diseased through sin as to call for amputation : why ? in order to save the other eye or the other hand : but if both were naturally evil, of what avail to extirpate the one ? Sin is the RESURRECTION. 167 disease of the body : if the whole cannot be delivered, save at least as much of it as possible : ' It is profitable for thee that one of thy 5 Mat. 29 members should perish, and not that thy whole body go into Gehenna.' No, argued Socrates : the body is an unmitigated evil ; the mind would be good, without it ; the less we care for it now, and the sooner we are separated from it, the better. We must answer, in the words of Jesus, ' What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.' When Jesus first told his disciples, ' Then shall they deliver you up into tribulation, and shall kill you,' and afterwards assured them, ' Not a hair of your head shall perish,' he promised them, in fact, that resurrection-body to which Paul looked forward as ' our habita- tion which is from heaven.' It by no means follows that we are to restrict that promise to those disciples, or to those who afterwards should believe in Jesus, lie once said to his disciples, ' Shall he not much more clothe you, ye of little faith?' not at all implying thereby that God would not clothe and feed others, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, and clothes the flowers of the field. Freedom from anxiety, a sure hope for this life and the next, distinguish Christians from those who lack their faith and quiet confidence : but all men shave the same physical and mentai destiny here and hereafter, modified only by their particular character and actions, alike in this world and the next. Lazarus and Dives both entered into the same condition of existence after death, and if — as we doubt not — that parable of things in the heavens is true to nature as all those were which related to earthly things, of both men it can be said that not a hair of the head had perished. The dread of death, simply as death, had no place in the mind of Jesus, and he could only feel wonder and pity for those who entertained it. When the disciples in the storm cried out hysterically, ' Save, Lord ; we perish,' he ex- s Mat. 25 postulated against their unreasoning terror : ' And he said unto them, „ 2a Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith ? ' Death should be no more the bugbear of our existence than sleep is : the one is as natural, as necessary, as inevitable as the other. Jesus sought to raise the minds of his disciples above the dread of death, his only care being that it should not be prematurely brought about through sin, but that his followers should have life ' age-during.' All who will may take hold of the hope he has set before them ; only, life in the world to come is of neither more or less importance than life in this world : neither of them can be worth much to us apart from the guiding spirit of Jesus. That is why only those devoted to him and anxious to be led by him, can contemplate the future without dismay, and with tranquil, hopeful eyes. 1G8 TEE SPIRITUAL BODY. VII. THE SPIRITUAL BODY. k. and k. The recorded appearances and disappearances of celestial "Beings have always been sudden and inexplicable ; we cannot tell to what extent their manifestation is contingent upon the mental and spiritual condition of those who are permitted to behold them. Our outward bodily eyes are but windows through which our internal spiritual eyes look. Was not that the idea of Solomon when he spoke of 12 Ecci. 3 ' those that look out of the windows ' ? If the inward vision fails, even natural things may become more or less invisible ; if the in- ward vision is strengthened, it may perceive spiritual things which mortal men are not generally privileged to behold. Saint Paul's doctrine about the natural and the spiritual body needs to be care- fully pondered. According to the Authorised Version he says : is i. cor. 44 ' There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.' That must not be understood to mean : ' there is a natural body, and there will he a spiritual body' : the word cstin, 'is,' indicates the simultaneous existence of both. The Revised Version, following the three oldest MSB., reads : ' If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual ' : they exist conjointly ; the former cannot be without the latter. „ 40 The Authorised Version renders : ' Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural ; and afterward that which is spiritual.' The old translators were careful to italicise 'was,' indi- cating thereby that it was an insertion. The Revisers have replaced ' was ' by ' is,' not italicised, and instead of ' and afterward ' they put the word 'then.' The word translated 'first' is proton, which is distinguished in the ' Englishman's Greek Concordance ' irom protos. Protos is defined in the Lexicon as ' first, foremost, front, of Number or Place ; of Time, first, earliest, Lat. primus.' Proton is defined : ' first, in the first place, Lat. primum : first of all, above all.' There- fore : 'that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural,' signifies that the spiritual body is not manifested first, or in the first place, or first of all, or above all, but the natural body takes pre- cedence. The word ' first ' does not mean in this passage first in time, but that foremost, above all, stands the natural or, properly speaking, psychical — Greek psucMlcon — body. The Greek word epeita, rendered by the Revisers ' then ' instead of ' afterward,' is thus defined : ' Marks the sequence of one thing upon another : thereupon, THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 1G9 thereafter, then, Lat. deinde.' Therefore: 'then that which is spiritual,' cpeita to pneumatiTcon, refers to no new creation, but signifies that the spiritual (pneumatic) body stands behind the natural (psychical) body, the former coming forth when the latter perishes. The apostle, in order to convey his idea about the psychical and spiritual bodies of man, refers to the account of his creation. ' So 15 i. Cor. 45 also it is written, The first man Adam became a living soul.' The Revisers have properly altered ' was made ' to 'became,' the Greek egmeto being from the verb gignomai, which is defined : to become, to happen : to be born : to be. It may be observed in passing that this Greek verb is rendered in the translation of the New Testament by no less than 47 different English words : a fact which shows the necessity of careful investigation when dealing with important doctrines. The passage referred to by Paul appears to be this : ' And 2 Gen. : the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul.' That was the primary form of his development. The term ' first man Adam' would seem to have been chosen by the apostle as denoting the nature of the human race in its origin and entrance upon this earthly life. The word rendered ' first ' in ' the first man Adam,' is not proton but jwo/es, and stands in opposition to ' last,' numerically — not as pre-eminently. In the original there is a word — els — in, or into, or unto, which has been omitted by translators. The passage reads literally : 'Became the first man Adam into a soul (psuchen) living ; the last Adam into a spirit (pneuma) quickening.' Out of the many hundreds of passages in which eis occurs, only in 47 instances is it omitted in our translation, and then on account of a different construction, not because the word had no value ; indeed, in some cases, as in this passage of Paul, the sense would come out as well or better had it been introduced ; for example : 'I will send n Luke 49 (unto) them prophets'; the Revisers have supplied 'unto.' 'It 13 Luke 19 grew and became (into) a tree.' 'Might be spoken to them (in) the 13 Acta 42 next sabbath.' ' They returned (unto) home again.' ' Let their 21 Acts 7 table be made (into) a snare, and (into) a trap, and (into) a stumbling- " i*"»'- '■» block, and (into) a recompense.' The quotation of the apostle ends with the word ' living ' : ' Became the first man Adam into a psuchen living' ; he adds the second development : 'the last Adam into a pneuma life-giving ' (Young). Then comes the statement, already considered, about the living psuchen standing foremost and the life- giving pneuma succeeding to it, after which the Revised Version proceeds: 'The first man is of the earth, earthy : the second man usi. Cor.47 is of heaven.' The Revisers have considerably modified the sense by altering : ' the second man is the Lord from heaven,' into ' the second man is of heaven.' The latter is the reading of the two oldest 170 THE SPIRITUAL BODY. MSS., and is adopted by Lachmann, Teschendorf, Tregelles and Alford. Assuming it to be the genuine original reading, the words ' the Lord ' must have been inserted by some commentator who supposed that addition brought out the proper sense of the passage. This is the more probable, because Alford notes that ' the last Adam ' was an ' expression well known among the Jews as indicating the Messiah. A Rabbinical work says, The last Adam is the Messiah : and other instances are given.' Our only concern is to know what Paul meant by it in this passage, and that must be ascertained by the context : his opinions often differed from those of other Jews. 'Of the earth ' is ek ges; ' of heaven ' is ex ouranou: elc and ex are identical, the latter form being used before a vowel. Its radical sense is defined as 'from out of, away from,' and it is used of (1) place, (2) time, (3) origin, (4) motive, the Lexicon including under the third head ' the materials of a thing, as poma eh xulou, a cup of wood.' That is obviously its import in this passage, and how necessary it is to fix the meaning by the context is evident from the fact that the word ek is rendered in the New Testament by 40 different English words. The word rendered ' earthy ' is choiJcos, which is defined as 'of rubbish, of earth or clay.' It occui'3 only in these three verses of the New Testament. Let us take their literal rendering : is i. Cor. 4<\- ' But not foremost the pneumatic, but the psychic, then the pneumatic. 49 The first man of earth, earthy ; the second man of heaven : such as the (one) earthy, such also those earthy ; and such as the (one) heavenly, such also those heavenly. And according as we bore the image of the (one) earthy, we shall also bear the image of the (one) heavenly.' By omitting the inserted words ' is ' and ' are,' the passage assumes the form of a simple definition and corollary : the apostle is arguing, not making a new revelation ; he starts with the assertion that man possesses a psychic body and a pneumatic body, the former being of earthy material, that of the first man, the latter being of heavenly material, that of the second, ultimate man. Take the literal rendering of verse 45 : ' So also it has been written, Became the first man Adam into a soul (psachen) living ; the last Adam into a spirit (pneiona) life-giving.' The word rendered ' last ' is cschatos, which is defined as ' the furthest, uttermost, extreme,' and as signifying either, '(1) the uppermost, highest (Latin summus), (2) the lowest (Latin imus), (3) the innermost (Latin intimus).' Therefore 'the last Adam ' is in fact ' the highest Adam,' or ' the innermost Adam.' The two first-manifested Adams are the typical forerunners of the 21 human race : ' For since by man death, by man also the resurrection „ 22 of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ shall all be made alive.' That important word ' all ' must neither be overlooked nor explained away : the resurrection is as universal as the death. THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 171 Alford explains the passage thus : ' In community with, as partakers of a common nature with Adam and Christ : who are respectively the sources, to the whole of that nature (all men), of death and life, i.e. (here) physical death, and rescue from physical death.' He adds : 'The ancients, and the best of the moderns, keep to the universal reference.' That this is the meaning of the apostle is clear from the argument he had previously adduced : ' For if the dead are not v, i Cor. u> raised, neither hath Christ been raised.' His resurrection equally with his death, was in accordance with the universal law and common experience of mankind. This is strongly insisted upon : ' But if „ 13 there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised.' ' The dead ' is plural : German, Todten, French, des morts, Latin mortuorum. This reasoning of the apostle stands in direct opposition to the prevalent idea that but for the resurrection of Christ there would have been no resurrection for others : Saint Paul's assumption is the very reverse of that, and the discrepancy between his view of the matter and that generally entertained points to some grave misconception of his doctrine both here and elsewhere. One error naturally leads to another, and one truth clearly grasped will be a guide to other truths. The exultant cry : ' Thanks be to God, which - •'■" giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,' does not refer to a victory over death, but over sin, which is the sting of death, and the law, which is the power of sin. The resurrection of Christ was not the conquest over death : ' For he must reign, till he hath put „ 25 all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished „ 2a is death.' Our resurrection from death is a natural, not a miraculous process : it is the birth of our second or innermost Adam into the unseen world, corresponding to the birth of our first or outer Adam into the visible world.' ' Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of .. «> God ; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.' The flesh-clothed form in which we walk this world is all unsuited to the next stage of existence ; the gradual process of decay in this ' earthy ' body exceeds its power of reparation, and the time of its dissolution cannot be far prolonged. The change of nature, place and state which comes to us through death, is a step in advance, the uprising into a higher sphere of spiritual activity. Of the innumerable hosts of the departed, Jesus alone returned to manifest himself repeatedly during a period of forty days to the chosen witnesses of his resurrection. The mystery attaching to his sudden appearances and disappearances arose out of the changed conditions of his being ; all that relates to the other life must be strange and inexplicable to us who have had no experience of the attributes and powers bestowed upon the inhabitants of the heavenly world. The recorded visions of angels resemble, in many points, the interviews which Jesus had with his 172 THE SPIRITUAL BODY. disciples after his rising again : they, like him, appeared in human form, at unexpected times and places, came and went no man could say how or whence, held short converse with mankind, and were seen no more. We have no reason to suppose that these celestial messen- gers were other than what they seemed : the human form is indicative of the human race, and instead of regarding them as a different order of Beings, it would be reasonable to assume that they were men like ourselves, but who had passed through the grave and gate of death to a joyful resurrection. We cannot wonder that they should never have been manifested except for some definite and important purpose ; terror sometimes fell upon those who saw them ; knowing the weak- ness of our nature, how wildly the heart may pulsate at any shock of surprise at what is unexpected and unaccustomed, these angelic visitants must exercise caution in their method of approach. GOD. 173 VIII. GOD. This term ' God ' necessarily signifies a person ; but it involves k. nn