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 Accessions Vo.^^SA?.& Shelf No 
 
 
PLAN 
 
 FOUNDER OF CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 F. V. R E I N H A R D, S. T. I). 
 
 wourt Preacher at Dresden. 
 
 TRANSLATID FROM Tl^H^''A"f6 Cyi*MAN EDITION, 
 
 OLIVER A. TAYLOR, A. M. 
 
 Resident Licentiate^Tt*fljJogic4iSeminary, Andover. 
 
 .^^- ^\m^ 
 
 \vV ^j5< THE ^^ 
 
 NEW-YOR] 
 
 PUBLISHED BY G. & C. & H. CARVILL, 
 
 No. 108, Broadway. 
 
 Andover.... Printed at the Codman Pres« 
 BY FLAGG AND OOTJLD. 
 
 1831. 
 
J I U 01 
 
 f^H 
 
 " Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eiglit hun- 
 dred and thirty one, by G. & C. & H. Carvill, in the Clerk's ofBce of the Southern 
 District of New York." 
 
 -zo'^t^y 
 
^r* OF THE 
 
 TRANsiT^prcrirg^ preface. 
 
 The work here presented to the public, is the production 
 of F. V. Reinhard, a native of Vohenstrauss a market town 
 in the Dukedom of Sulzbach, for some time Professor Or- 
 dinarius of Theology at Wittemberg, and finally Court 
 Preacher with the honorary title of Oberconsistorialassessor 
 at Dresden, where he died in 1812, in the 59th year of his 
 age. His father was a pious and worthy clergyman of the 
 place where he was born, and the first and principal in- 
 structor of his youth. Of course, the education which he 
 received was strictly of an Evangelical cast, and, through 
 the blessing of God, was a principal means of preserving 
 him from continuance in the errors of skepticism into 
 which he afterwards fell, and of rendering him the useful 
 man in the cause of religion which he ultimately became. 
 He was the most eloquent scholar of his age and the author 
 of several works and about thirty volumes of sermons, all 
 distinguished for a flowing style, lucid order, and clearness 
 and fullness of thought. Of his works, the following is not 
 the least conspicuous. The object which he had in view 
 in composing it and the circumstances which first called it 
 forth, are, in a few words, clearly stated in the introduction 
 and the appendix, A and F. Still it may be interesting to 
 some to have a more particular account of them. Protes- 
 tant Germany, which had long been comparatively free from 
 anti-christian writers, while England and France were del- 
 uged with them, had now begun to experience a reverse in 
 this respect. J. C. Edelmann a native of Weissenfels, hav- 
 ing passed through various seceding sects of the Evangeli' 
 cal church, then tried Atheism, and finally taken up. with Pan* 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 theism, a man of some talent but few acquisitions, had died 
 a few years previous in banishment, for his open and auda- 
 cious attacks upon the church. To him succeeded Reima-. 
 rus a native of Hamburg, where he was born in 1694, a 
 thorough philologist, one of the ablest critics of his age, and 
 the author of various productions, some of them of high re- 
 pute. In 1758, he published an able work, entitled : " Log- 
 ic containing directions for the right use of reason in the 
 acquisition of truth ; drawn from the two natural rules of 
 agreement and disagreement."* Of some of the directions 
 which he laid down in this work, he afterwards made exten- 
 sive use for the purpose of opposing revealed religion. It 
 was far from his intention however to publish any thing of 
 an anti-christian character, and consequently his writings 
 were confined to his confidential friends, and left behind in 
 manuscript at his death, which occurred at Hamburg in 
 1765, at which time, he was Professor of Hebrew and Math- 
 ematics at the Gymnasium in that place. Of these anti- 
 christian manuscripts, Lessing, who is well known both as 
 a scholar and a poet, contrived to get a copy, parts of which 
 he published at Brunswick in a work, entitled : " Contribu- 
 tions to history and literature drawn from the archives of 
 the ducal library at Wolfenbuttel,"f of which he was then 
 overseer, under the name of '' Wolfenbuttel Fragments, by 
 an anonymous person."! ^i^Q of these fragments made 
 their appearance in 1777, and a sixth, in 1778. They all 
 excited great atteiition and called forth corresponding an- 
 swers. The last however was particularly inimical to 
 Christianity and calculated to injure the cause of truth, and 
 of course, deserved more particular attention. It was enti- 
 tled : " Fragment respecting the object of Jesus and his dis- 
 ciples. "§ In it the author generally extolls the morality of 
 
 *Die Vernnnftlehre, als eine Anweisung zum richtigen Ge- 
 brauche der Vernunft in dem Erkenntniss der Wahrheit, aus zwei 
 ganz natilrlichen Regeln der Eihstimmung und des Widerspruchs 
 hergeleitet, 2te A., 1758. 8. 
 
 t Beytrage zur Geschichte und Litteratur, aus den Schatzen der 
 Herzoglichen Bibliothek zu Wolfenbattel u. s. w. 
 
 X Wolfenbattelscho Fragtnento eines Ungenannten. 
 
 § Fragment von dem Zwecke Jesu und seiner JOnger. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 the Gospel as noble, but he says that Jesus and his apostles 
 were deceivers, and maintains that the former was not the 
 author of the mysterious doctrines afterwards imputed to 
 him, and that he never had any intention of abolishing the 
 moral, Levitical law, inasmuch as he expressly asserts that 
 he came not to abrogate the law and the prophets but to see 
 them fulfilled ; and hence, that it was his intention merely 
 to establish an earthly kingdom among the Jews. He says 
 that his disciples expected nothing else from him during his 
 life time, and that it was not until after his death that they 
 changed their opinion and imputed to him other intentions, 
 which led them in many instances to give a diiferent repre- 
 sentation of things from what they would have done had 
 they written their narratives before this event, so that their 
 accounts are not to be depended upon ; that he and John 
 deceived the people, as, without correcting the false notions 
 of the Jews or contradicting them, he gave himself out for 
 the Messiah, and consequently for a \vorldly prince, and 
 John asserts that he was first made acquainted with Jesus 
 as the Messiah by revelation at his baptism, though he had 
 extolled him as the Messiah before, and hence there must 
 have been some contrivance between them ; that Jesus un- 
 der the cloak of religion had formed the plan of a rebellion, 
 of founding a kingdom of God and establishing a royal 
 government upon the ruins of the Jewish state; that though 
 he forbade his disciples from making known his deeds, 
 it was for the purpose of maturing his plan, and be- 
 cause the time and circumstances had not arrived for him 
 to claim the authority of king ; that at the feast of the 
 passover, when the time had arrived as he thought, he ac- 
 tually made a solemn entrance into Jerusalem, accompanied 
 with the acclamations of the people, went into the temple 
 and formed an estimate of the means of defence there col- 
 lected together, and the next day, delivered an inflammatory 
 address to the people for the purpose of exciting them 
 against the magistracy and inducing them to aid him in ob- 
 taining the chief authority, but all without success, for the 
 people left him ; and as there was danger of his producing 
 more disturbance in the state, he was taken and crucified ; 
 and that while on the cross, he gave himself up to devo- 
 tion ; and tliat the exclamation which he uttered on that 
 A* 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 occasion : " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me V 
 evinces his disappointment and shows that he had had the 
 establishment of an earthly kingdom in view. Such is an 
 outline of this fragment, the principal work whicli called 
 Reinhard into the field. He made his appearance at first 
 merely in an academical address in Latin, and had no 
 thoughts of extending his investigations, until he was induc- 
 ed to do so by the multiplied calls of his friends ; the result 
 of which was the publication of the first edition of the fol- 
 lowing work in the German language, in 1781, entitled : 
 " An examination of the plan devised by the founder of 
 Christianity for the good of mankind. A contribution to the 
 evidences of this religion."* 
 
 To the W. F. however succeeded a great variety of other 
 infidel writers, who adopted the maxims of the French Ter- 
 rorists and did their utmost to overthrow Christianity, 
 among whom were C. E. Wiinsch, K. F. Bahrdt, J. Mau- 
 villon, and L. Paalzow. Of these, Paalzow was far the 
 most fertile and bitter. Bahrdt however, who, after having 
 run hastily through various systems, finally took up with 
 Naturalism, though the less learned, was far the most popu- 
 lar and dangerous. He published several infidel works, es- 
 pecially, " Popular or familiar letters respecting the Bible," 
 and " Letters respecting the execution of Christ's plan, 
 to the inquirer after truth, "f the object of which, was, 
 to annihilate all faith in the divinity of Christianity. Ac- 
 cordingly, he called all the miracles and prophecies of the 
 Bible in question; by a shallow course of reasoning, en- 
 deavored to show the futility of supposing that God ever 
 made a revelation to man ; and, in order to be able to give 
 a natural explanation of every thing relative to Christ and 
 Christianity, he invented fables respecting the manner in 
 which Jesus obtained his early education and imputed to 
 him the formation of a secret society for the promulgation 
 
 * Versuch tlber den Plan welchen der Stifler dor christlichen 
 Religion zum Besten der Menschen entwarf. Ein Beytrag zu den 
 Beweisen ftir die Wahrheit dieser Religion. 
 
 t Briefe tlber die Bibel, imVolkstone, and Ausftlhrung des Plan- 
 es und Zweckes Jesu. 
 Bandchen, Berlin, 1784—1793. 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 of his doctrines, and sought to force his hypotheses upon the 
 world as history, though supported by no data whatever.* As 
 several editions of Reinhard's work were called for, he paid 
 more or less attention to some one of these writers, by which 
 means it was increased from a small, to quite a large vol- 
 ume. To give a historical view of it in this respect as well 
 as to exhibit the spirit of the writer himself, I here present 
 some extracts from the prefaces to each of the four editions. 
 They are all printed in the last German edition, but are too 
 long to be retained here in full. In the first, dated Aug. the 
 1st, 1781, after stating that he had been induced to engage in 
 this work by the requests of his friends, he concludes with 
 his characteristic modesty, thus : " The author hopes that 
 these printed sheets, among the many thousands yearly pub- 
 lished, at least, will not be considered as the only superflu- 
 ous ones. Should he fairly succeed in exciting here and 
 there in a noble soul, those feelings of reverence, gratitude 
 and love towards the founder of Christianity with which he 
 himself was filled when he penned these thoughts, how hap- 
 py should he be, how highly rewarded !" In the preface to 
 his second edition, dated Nov. the 1st, 1783, he says : " The 
 additions and alterations which the new impression of this 
 work has received, were in part required for completeness 
 and precision, and in part rendered necessary by certain 
 opinions which have lately been advanced respecting the 
 life, character and views of Jesus Christ. They might easi- 
 ly have been increased, but it is unnecessary to conduct the 
 reader through long and tiresome investigations in order to 
 show him, that the views of the founder of Christianity were' 
 far exalted above all human schemes, and can be consider- 
 ed in no other light than as constituting a benevolent plan 
 devised by the Deity himself for the good, for the happiness 
 of our race. There is a short course, by which, without 
 going a round-about way, where few are disposed to ac- 
 company us, the reader can be directed to that point of ob- 
 servation, from which this divine plan will appear in all its 
 magnificence, spreading out before him in prospects trans- 
 porting, and in consequences extensive and eternal. My 
 
 * Vid. Schrockh, Chr. K. G. seit der Reformation, 6er Theil, S, 
 108 ff. 273 fF., fortgesetzt von Tzschirner, 9er Th. S. 516 fF. 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 desires are fulfilled, my object attained, if this short work 
 shall even by its brevity in any measure contribute towards 
 leading my Christian brethren to this point of observation, 
 and confirming them in that conviction of the truth of Chris- 
 tianity from which I derive the greatest happiness of my 
 life.'' In the preface to the third, dated April the 27th, 
 1789, he says : *' Perhaps it would have been as well, if the 
 present impression of this work had been left as short as the 
 second. It has received considerable additions however in 
 the first part, especially by the inquiries into which I have 
 entered respecting the means of which Jesus intended to 
 avail himself for the execution of his plan. I sincerely hope 
 that it may not have received additions tliereby merely to 
 the number of its pages. I was for a long time uncertain 
 whether it would be worth while to say any thing respect- 
 ing the opinion that Jesus intended to accomplish his pur- 
 poses by the influence of secret associations, which has 
 been advanced in several works now well known, since the 
 appearance of the last edition. At length, however, I con- 
 cluded in my own mind, that, at a time when it is so uni- 
 versally believed that truth delights to conceal itself in the 
 obscurities of mystical alliances, it would be useful, and per- 
 haps proper to show, how entirely different He thought upon 
 the subject who came into the world that he might bear 
 witness to the truth. That the surest way of finding genu- 
 ine, fruitful, and heavenly wisdom, is by listening to Him and 
 learning of Him, I have, after repeatedly meditating upon the 
 divine purposes which He accomplished upon earth, lately 
 become so thoroughly convinced, that I have nothing better 
 to wish for any of my brethren in this world or importune 
 God to grant them, than this experience." In the preface 
 to the last edition edited by the author, dated April the 22d, 
 1798, he says : "The gradual enlargement of this little 
 work, which now appears for the fourth time, was rendered 
 necessary by the wants of the age. Since the appearance 
 of the first edition in 1781, great and rapid changes have 
 taken place in theological discussions, and one part and 
 another of the present work has been questioned, denied, 
 or misrepresented. Of course the author so long as he hop- 
 ed for its usefulness could not neglect these changes. He 
 has therefore been compelled to make great additions to it, 
 
PUEFACE. IX 
 
 especially in this last impression, in which he has devoted 
 more particular attention to the character of Christ's plan, 
 than on any former occasion. The author believes he ought 
 not to be immediately condemned for the prolixity into 
 which he has been led by his efforts to give as much per- 
 spicuity and certainty as possible, to every point. None ac- 
 quainted with what has been written during the last six or 
 eight years, respecting the character and extent of the ob- 
 ject of Jesus, can deem it superfluous for one to have en- 
 deavored with impartiality and without arbitrarily assuming 
 a single principle, to determine what Jesus had particularly 
 in view from the accounts of the Evangelists in our posses- 
 sion. The author has gone through with another examina- 
 tion of them for this express purpose with all the impartiali- 
 ty and attention of which he was capable, and in his repre- 
 sentation of the plan of Jesus, he is not conscious of having 
 taken a single position which he could not sustain by indu- 
 bitable quotations from the Evangelists. Various other ad- 
 ditions have been made, which are scattered throughout the 
 body of the work. To the whole he has added a copious 
 table of contents for the purpose of facilitating a general 
 view." This was the last edition published during the au- 
 thor's life-time. A new edition, having long been called for 
 in Germany, one was printed the last year at Wittemberg 
 under the direction of Dr. H. L. Heubner, an Evangelical 
 man, and Professor of Theology in that place, from whom al- 
 so it received many valuable notes and a copious appendix, 
 of which mention is made in his preface.* 
 
 Such is a short account of the origin, object and progress 
 of the present work. From it, the reader may at first infer, 
 that it is chiefly of a local character, and therefore hard- 
 ly worth the perusal of any but those who wish to obtain 
 a historical view of the religious controversy in Germany. 
 Let such an one however read the parts already referred to, 
 before he allows himself to come to such a conclusion. 
 The work does indeed contain some things of a local char- 
 acter, especially in the appendix, which might perhaps have 
 
 * Fox more particular information respecting Reinhard, consult 
 his Gestiindnisse, Tzschirner's Briefe veranlasst durch Reinhard's 
 Gestandnisse, and Bottiger's Zeichnung von Reinhard. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 been dispensed with, had I felt authorized to make the 
 omission, or willing to mar a book which now constitutes 
 a beautiful whole. Had I done so, I am confident I should 
 have received no thanks from the scholar. He however 
 who examines it attentively will find far more of a gen- 
 eral than a local character, especially in the body of the 
 work. Reinhard seldom mentions aq opponent by name, 
 or singles him out so far, as to descend to minute criticism. 
 His object is a general one ; — to ascertain who Jesus Christ is. 
 For this purpose, he fixes his eyes upon the character and con- 
 duct of Jesus as exhibited in the Evangelists, and assuming 
 the attitude of an unprejudiced inquirer after the truth, from 
 this historical information endeavors to ascertain the object 
 that Jesus had in view and the means by which he intended 
 to accomplish it, and shows that he far excelled all the other 
 benefactors of our race who had made their appearance be- 
 fore him, and evinced far greater strength of mind in the 
 midst of the most unfavorable circumstances ; from which 
 he infers, that Jesus was in an especial sense a teacher sent 
 of God. Such being the object of Reinhard, it was of 
 course, unnecessary for him to descend to minute criticism, 
 or single out opponents. His several positions being es- 
 tablished, the whole class of objections at which he aimed 
 fall at once to the ground, and the character of Jesus is 
 presented to the world in divine colors, on an eminence far 
 above every thing that is merely human. How far Rein- 
 hard has succeeded must be left for the reader to judge. 
 His train of thought is new, and like a steady stream, flows 
 on increasing to the end, filling the reader with new delight 
 as he advances. The work is certainly a favorite one with 
 Evangelical Christians in Germany, and has been the 
 means there of accomplishing much good. " The newness 
 of the object which the author has in view," says Tzschir- 
 ner in his continuation of Schrockh, '* and the learning 
 and acuteness which he displays in his investigations, as 
 well as the clearness, nobleness, and impressiveness of his 
 representations, have all conspired to procure for this work 
 an extensive circulation and a powerful influence upon the 
 age." " It has," says Bottiger, " been the means of con- 
 firming thousands in the truth of Christianity, and, not only 
 on account of the internal strength and the conclusiveness 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 of the reasoning, but also the genuine, historical skill dis- 
 played in the invention and the arrangement of the points 
 of comparison, as well as the newness of the results drawn 
 from long established matters of fact, is considered as the 
 best apology for Christianity that modern times has produc- 
 ed." 
 
 Those acquainted with the work in our own country, 
 have also formed an exalted estimate of its worth, and long 
 felt anxious to see it presented to the public in an English 
 dress ; and it was from a knowledge of their views in this 
 respect, especially those of Prof Stuart, that I was first led 
 to think of translating it ; and the fact, that every thing 
 which throws additional light upon the Gospel and aids in 
 reclaiming the wanderer, is of the utmost importance to the 
 world, and must be, so long as a doubter remains, will, I 
 hope, furnish a sufiicient apology for my making the attempt. 
 Few doubtless will appreciate the difficulties I have had to 
 encounter in the progress of the undertaking. My object 
 has been to present the author's meaning and spirit in Eng- 
 lish phraseology without any regard to his. That I have 
 in part failed in some instances is to be expected. How far 
 I have succeeded must be left for others to judge. Rein- 
 hard's style is clear, copious and flowing, and distinguish- 
 ed for simplicity and strength ; but Ciceronian in its cast, 
 thoroughly German, and often composed of long periods ; 
 and hence, of difficult construction in many cases for the 
 translator. I have therefore often been obliged to make 
 changes in the form of the sentences and the particular aspect 
 of the idea, in doing which I have aimed at preserving the 
 main current of thought. No other alterations have been 
 made. Both the notes and the appendix are preserved as 
 in the German, except that in regard to the former, I have 
 sometimes referred to an English original instead of a 
 translation, and occasionally added a remark of my own 
 which is designated as such. T have also in the body of the 
 work, inserted references to Heubner's appendix (which are 
 Heubner's in other respects,) and for the sake of conven- 
 ience, numbered the sections and added heads to the minor 
 divisions. To those who have kindly aided in conducting 
 the work through the press, and to the Rev. Professor Stu- 
 art for the counsel and encouragement which he has from 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 time to time afforded me, I here tender my grateful ac- 
 knowledgements. That the fervent prayers of the author as 
 well as those of his able German editor may be answered, 
 and the work as it now is, made the means of directing some 
 and strengthening others, is the earnest desire of the trans- 
 lator. 
 
 OLIVER A. TAYLOR. 
 
 Andover,.Theol. Sera. 
 Sept. 6th 1831. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIFTH GERMAN EDITION BY DR. HEUBNER. 
 
 Fifty years have elapsed since the first sketch of the fol- 
 lowing work made its appearance in a Latin treatise. 
 (Consilium bene merendi de universo humano genere in- 
 genii supra hominem elati documentum. Prolusio, qua 
 ad orat. auspic. Profess. Philosophiae extraord. Jul. 1780 
 publico recitandum invitat. F. V. R. 32 S. in 4to, printed 
 in the Opusc. Acad. I. 234—267.) The interest which 
 this sketch excited, both on account of the genius and the 
 historical knowledge which it displayed, induced the au- 
 thor to undertake its execution in German, four editions of 
 which were published from 1781 to 1798, each new one 
 with considerable additions. The first contained 169 pages, 
 the second 220, the third, which received considerable ad- 
 ditions respecting the morality of Jesus and the means by 
 which he intended to carry his plan into effect, in opposition 
 to Bahrdt, contained 310, together with a dedication to " the 
 author's old and intimate friend. Abbot Henke to whose sug- 
 gestion this work is indebted for its existence ;" and the 
 fourth, 512 pages. In this last edition, the first part was 
 worked over throughout, the second enriched with what is 
 said respecting the founders of religions, while the third was 
 changed but little, and in the conclusion, not at all. As 
 Bottiger anticipated in his memoirs of Reinhard, the fourth 
 edition is not to be the last. The want of a new one has 
 long been felt, and the continued approbation in which the 
 work has been held since its first publication, affords ample 
 
 B 
 
xir heubner's preface. 
 
 security for it.* Every reader would doubtless have pre- 
 ferred to receive this new edition from Reinhard's own 
 hand, — at least, to receive it with his own additions. 
 Twelve short notes however is all that has been found 
 among his papers, to which, by the kindness of Mr. Otto of 
 Dresden his last amanuensis, I have had access. 
 
 Perhaps it was presumptuous in me to undertake the su- 
 perintendence of the publication of this edition, burdened 
 as I am with the twofold labor that comes upon me in at- 
 tending to the duties of my office, and having only frag- 
 ments of time left, and of course being in a very unfavora- 
 ble condition, for scientific pursuits. This consideration, 
 however, though I believe it ought to entitle me to the in- 
 dulgence of the reader, would not allow me to shrink back 
 from the undertaking, valuable as the work is, it having 
 been one of my favorites for more than thirty years, and under 
 a debt of respectful gratitude as I am to its worthy author ; 
 and with the approbation of the Lord, a blessing will un- 
 doubtedly be the result. The object for which Reinhard 
 composed this work, and respecting which he so often and 
 decidedly expressed his opinion, the advancement of faith 
 in the Saviour of mankind, has been accomplished with re- 
 gard to many readers, and some even of the more illiterate 
 class, and, as we hope, will be still farther advanced ; and 
 my prayer is, that in this way, this work may contribute to 
 renew our recollections of a man of whom an honorable me- 
 morial has been erected among us by the Chief Board of Di- 
 rectors in Ecclesiastical affairs, in that, they have had the 
 goodness to purchase GratFs excellent original portrait of 
 him for the seminary church in this place, in which Rein- 
 hard's able pulpit talents were first developed. 
 
 * Reviews expressing the most decided approbation of this work, 
 have appeared in the Allg. Deulsch. Bibl. LI. 375. CII. 38. Neue 
 Allff. D. Bibl. XLVII. 63. Gott. Anz. 1784. S. 964. Hall. G. Z. 
 1784. S. 337. A. L. Z. 1790. II. 689. Tubing. Anz. 1799. S. 290. 
 Hall. Journal f. Pred. XXXVI. 217. Gabler, Neuestes Theol. Journ. 
 III. 24. In addition to the Danish translation, a French translation 
 also made its appearance, entitled : Essai sur le plan forme par le 
 Fondateur de la Religion Chretienne pour le bonheur du genre hu- 
 
 main. Par trad, de I'Allemand par J. L. Alex. Durnas. Dresden, 
 
 1799. 
 
HEUBNER S PREFACE. XV 
 
 The text of the last edition remains unchanged in any 
 respect ; for it would have been unbecoming in me to un- 
 dertake to work it over or make corrections in it, and proba- 
 bly in direct opposition to the wishes and feelings of 
 every reader, for all are delighted with Reinhard's per- 
 formance, and anxious to obtain possession of it again in its 
 original form. The additions which I have made consist in 
 part of notes at the bottom of the page, of an exegetical, his- 
 torical and literary character, each of which is included in 
 brackets ; and in part, of an appendix containing such ad- 
 ditional matter as is called for by the late investigations 
 which have been made respecting Reinhard's work. 
 Those critics who are thoroughly acquainted with the circle 
 of science, and furnished with such a literary apparatus as I 
 have at command, will find much indeed to add. I was 
 obliged to be parsimonious in this respect to prevent the size 
 of the book from increasing beyond due bounds. 
 
 H.L. HEUBNER. 
 
 Wittemberg, April 4th 1830. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Page. 
 
 § 1. From the character of Jesus and the salutary effects of Chris- 
 tianity, proofs have often been drawn in favor of the truth 
 of this religion 1 
 
 § 2. It has seldom been observed, however, that the mere plan 
 devised by Jesus for the good of mankind, is of such impor- 
 tance and extent as to designate a man upon whom had 
 been conferred the dignity of the most exalted ambassador of 
 God 2 
 
 § 3. To be convinced of this, we must, 
 
 (1) ascertain from history what Jesus had in view, . . . 3 
 
 (2) show that no one before Jesus ever had similar views, . 3 
 
 (3) consider what peculiarities such a plan as Christ's presup- 
 poses a mind to possess ; and if it can be shown that his 
 mind was unique in its kind, great without example, and 
 formed and developed in a manner altogether peculiar, then 
 we may draw the conclusion, that Jesus was the greatest 
 benefactor of our race ever sent of God .... 4 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 Sketch of the plan devised by jesus for the good of mankind. 
 
 § 4. We are not here to speak of what theologians call the office 
 of Christ, but merely of what his plan has in common with 
 the benevolent plans of other venerable men ... 5 
 
 § 5. We shall not even attempt to refute what has lately been 
 said respecting the object which Christ had in view. We 
 shall merely collect together the accounts of his friends 
 upon this subject and give them a connected representation 5 
 
 § 6. These accounts, however, are perfectly credible, and to be 
 
 depended upon .0 
 
 § 7. To form a correct conception of the plan of Jesus from them, 
 we must attend to its compass, its character, and the man- 
 ner in which it was to be carried into effect ... 7 
 
 I. The compass of Christ's plan. 
 
 § 8. A disposition has been evinced by some to maintain that 
 Jesus acted solely for his own nation and aimed at the res- 
 toration of genuine Mosaicism - 8 
 
XVlll CONTENTS. 
 
 § 9. From a consideration of Christ's condition however it is ev- 
 ident, that whatever his object may have been, he was 
 obliged to make his first appearance and commence his ef- 
 forts as a religious reformer, among his own people . . 9 
 
 § 10. That he actually intended however to erect an establish- 
 ment wholly new and entirely different from that of the 
 Jews, he has so frequently and explicitly declared, as to place 
 the matter beyond all doubt 10 
 
 § 11. This will be rendered still plainer if we can show, that 
 this plan was of universal extent and embraced mankind at 
 
 large 17 
 
 And that the plan of Jesus was universal without limitation, 
 is evident; 
 
 (a) from his conduct, 17 
 
 (b) from his language respecting it^ 19 
 
 (c) and finally, it lies at the foundation of the doctrines which 
 
 he inculcated ; 24 
 
 § 12. and hence, the position, that Jesus was engaged in the 
 execution of a plan of the most universal extent, derives 
 the greatest degree of probability of which such a thing is 
 capable 26 
 
 II. The character of Christ's plan. 
 
 § 13. He commenced his career with the declaration that the 
 kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, was at hand and 
 to be established by him ; 28 
 
 § 14. and upon making it, appealed to certain expectations 
 
 which already existed among his countrymen, . . .29 
 
 § 15. in accordance with which, the Jews hoped for the estab- 
 lishment of a universal monarchy 30 
 
 § 16. That by the appellation kingdom of God, however, he un- 
 derstood no such thing as an earthly constitution, is evident, 
 
 (a) in part from his actions, . . . . . . .30 
 
 (b) and in part from his declarations 31 
 
 § 17. If the heavenly kingdom however which he intended to 
 
 establish was not an earthly monarchy, it must have been a 
 
 moral institution 33 
 
 That it was such, he has said 
 
 1. in plain language, ........ 33 
 
 2. in figurative descriptions, ....... 36 
 
 3. and in John, in the most definite terms . . . .37 
 §18. Hence, it must have been his intention to make religion, 
 
 morality, and society, the principal objects of improvement. 40 
 
 Religion. 
 
 § 19. The religion then prevalent both among the Jews and 
 
 heathen was a senseless superstition prejudicial to morality. 40 
 
 § 20. Jesus intended to destroy this superstition by every where 
 spreading the doctrine of one true God, making it the popu- 
 lar belief, and representing this God as the Father of man- 
 kind 43 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 § 21. This representation rendered religion clear and simple, 
 destroyed the pernicious influence of the priesthood, and in- 
 stead of the sacrificial service, introduced a worship of God 
 in spirit and in truth 45 
 
 § 22. Hence also the doctrines of the providence of God, the 
 reconcilableness of God, and the immortality of the soul, re- 
 ceived additional light and confirmation . . . .46 
 
 Morality. 
 
 § 23. Morality required no less improvement, as it was not what 
 
 it ought to be, either among the Jews or the heathen . . 48 
 § 24. Now as the religion which Jesus taught, was a living faith 
 in God the Father of men, so his morality resolved itself into 
 love to the supreme Father and to men his children . . 50 
 § 25. Jesus has declared in the most definite terms in what this 
 love must consist} namely, in a disposition to imitate God, 
 evinced by endeavors after pure morality and the promotion 
 
 of the general good 51 
 
 § 26. By means of this principle, morality was placed in its true 
 
 relation to religion, 54 
 
 § 27. was purified, .55 
 
 § 28. was secured against fanaticism and extravagance, . . 56 
 § 29. and rendered intelligible to common intellects . . 58 
 § 30. And this love to God and man was the power by means of 
 which Jesus intended to ennoble mankind and render thern 
 happy . . 59 
 
 SOCIETT. 
 
 § 31. Hence, also, he directed his attention to society, which, 
 owing to the prevalence of a selfish spirit, was then in the 
 greatest disorder . 60 
 
 § 32. True, he did not intend directly to meddle at all with po- 
 litical affairs .61 
 
 § 33. But he was not on that account indifferent to the temporal 
 
 welfare of his followers 62 
 
 § 34. The civil institutions in existence, however, were not to 
 
 be violently attacked, but left to their fate, . . . .63 
 
 § 35. and by means of religion and morality preparation was 
 
 to be made for better regulations ...... 65 
 
 § 36. Jesus intended therefore to commence his reformation by 
 
 improving the domestic relations 65 
 
 § 37. He intended to improve these by animating every one 
 with a love to act for the state and all parts of the political 
 union, .... 67 
 
 § 38. and by connecting mankind together as close as possible 
 and giving them the highest degree of cultivation and per- 
 fection . . . 69 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 III. The manner in which Christ's plan was to be carried into 
 
 EFFECT. 
 
 § 39. Jesus might have employed power, a secret society, or the 
 
 gentlest means possible for this purpose . . . .72 
 
 Jesus did not think of employing power. 
 § 40. This is evident from his declarations, . . . .72 
 
 §41. and the whole tenor of his conduct ; . . . .76 
 
 § 42. and appeals are made in vain to his last entrance into Je- 
 rusalem to render the contrary probable . . . .79 
 
 Jesus did not think of employing a secret society. 
 § 43. It has of late been pretended that Christ employed a se- 
 cret society 84 
 
 § 44. Though it is difficult to make every thing as clear in this 
 
 respect as one could wish, 86 
 
 § 45. yet it is undeniable, that we find not the least trace of the 
 existence of a secret society, by which Jesus apparently in- 
 tended to operate, either in his external connexions, . . 87 
 
 §46. or his institutions of instruction ; 90 
 
 § 47. in his private life, 95 
 
 § 48. the language and expressions of his friends, . . .98 
 §49. or in their enterprises after his death . . . . 101 
 
 § 50. Neither can what Clement and Origen have said respect- 
 ing higher mysteries, existing in the bosom of the church, 104 
 § 51. nor any thing that is known respecting the Gnostic sects 
 
 be so interpreted as to imply the existence of such a society. 106 
 § 52. We have the express declarations of Jesus however to the 
 
 purpose, .......... 108 
 
 § 53. and other circumstances which are altogether incompati- 
 ble with the supposition of the existence of such a fraternity. 110 
 
 Jesus chose the gentlest jieans possible. 
 
 § 54. Jesus therefore intended to accomplish his object, simply 
 by means of convincing instruction, and such institutions as 
 were adapted to advance morality, . . . . . 112 
 
 § 55. and he commanded hia apostles to do the same . , . 117 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 No GREAT man OF ANTIQ^UITY BtFORE JESUS, EVER DEVISED A BENEV- 
 OLENT PLAN FOB THE WHOLE HUMAN FAMILY. 
 
 § 56. Fairness necessary in a critical examination of that por- 
 tion of antiquity before Jesus 121 
 
 § 57. From general principles, however, it is probable, even 
 now, that we shall light upon no man in all antiquity, who 
 resembles Jesus in regard to that enlargement of thought 
 and benevolent goodness of heart which embrace all man- 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 kind in their grasp ; inasmuch as all the old nations were 
 
 very destitute of humanity, 122 
 
 § 58. and people had but little connexion with each other . . 124 
 § 59. Among the ancients, therefore, we shall doubtless seldom 
 meet with those views and operations which embraced many 
 
 nations ; 127 
 
 § 60. and if so, shall meet with them in the spirit of conquest . 127 
 § 61. This is so much the more probable from the fact, that the 
 religions of antiquity were rather prejudicial to extensive 
 benevolence, than favorable . . . . . . 130 
 
 § 62. Let us however carefully survey the benefactors of man- 
 kind to be met with in antiquity 132 
 
 Founders of states, and legislators. 
 
 § 62. Whatever the founders of states, and legislators had in 
 view, it is evident, that, by virtue of their office, they were 
 obliged to attend entirely to their own nations and exclude 
 others from their plans 133 
 
 § 63. Nor do the legislators of Rome constitute an exception in 
 
 this respect . 135 
 
 § 64. Hence, most of those who founded states, were so far re- 
 moved from possessing universal benevolence, that they 
 sought to fill their fellow citizens with a spirit of war and 
 aversion towards strangers 137 
 
 Heroes AND defenders of their country. 
 § 65. Antiquity had humane heroes and patriots, who, for their 
 
 services, undoubtedly deserved well of their fellow citizens. 140 
 § 66. Their services, however, could not be performed without 
 
 injuring other nations 142 
 
 Wise kings and statesmen. 
 § 67. Wise kings and statesmen are frequently to be met with in 
 
 the old world who were destitute of the spirit of conquest j 143 
 § 68. but they were always confined to single nations . . 144 
 § 69. The plans which antiquity attributes to Hercules and Osiris, 
 are mere fictions, and yet, they come far short of being wor- 
 thy of a comparison with that formed by the founder of 
 Christianity 145 
 
 Philosophers and learned men. 
 
 § 70. In searching among the philosophers and learned men of 
 antiquity for their respective plans, we have reference in 
 part to the influence which they actually exerted in the cul- 
 tivation of the age, and in part, to the systems which they 
 formed 152 
 
 § 71. Among the Greeks, their influence before the time of 
 Socrates, was very insignificant, and that of the Sophists 
 was positively injurious 153 
 
 § 72. The plan however which is ascribed to Pythagoras is neith- 
 er so wise nor so great and benevolent as is ordinarily sup- 
 posed 155 
 
XXU CONTENTS. 
 
 § 73. Nor did Socrates extend his views beyond his own little 
 
 country 158 
 
 § 74. His pupils, who separated into numerous parties, formed 
 new systems indeed, but without exerting a very positive 
 influence in improving the nation or the vile though popu- 
 lar religion then prevalent ...... 161 
 
 §75. What Evemerus wrote respecting the prevailing supersti- 
 tion was not intended for the destruction of its authority . 167 
 
 § 76. Among the Romans, the influence of philosophy was never 
 so great or extensive as among the Greeks, and consequent- 
 ly, it was very inconsiderable ...... 168 
 
 § 77. If we confine our attention to the systems of the philoso- 
 phers merely, we must conclude, that those who made the 
 chief good to consist in the perception of truth, in indolence, 
 or voluptuousness, could not resolve upon laborious plans . 170 
 
 §78. For those who conceded to virtue^ the rank of the chief 
 good, a way stood open indeed to the formation of such 
 plans, but none of them ever entered in it ; . . . . 173 
 
 § 79. and what proved particularly prejudicial to the Stoics, 
 
 was, the extravagance of their systems of morality . .174 
 
 Founders of reliwions. 
 
 § 80. Most of the founders of Religions are unknown to us . . 177 
 
 §81. Moses, .178 
 
 § 82. Zoroaster, ,180 
 
 § 83. and Confucius, are the only persons who can be consider- 
 ed as belonging to this place, and none of these ever con- 
 cerned himself with a plan of universal extent . . . 183 
 § 84. From the priests of antiquity, nothing was to be looked for 
 
 in this respect ; . . 184 
 
 § 85. and as we search in vain among the poets for the idea •£ 
 such a plan, we may truly say, that the plan of Jesus was 
 entirely new and without example 186 
 
 PART THIRD. 
 
 From the all comprehensive and benevolent plan, devised 
 by jesus for the good of the world, it follows, that he 
 vtas an extraordinary man, and a teacher sent of god. 
 
 § 86. Before, from the plan of Jesus, we draw any inference 
 in his favor, we must, first, show that this plan was not a 
 chimerical one ; 189 
 
 § 87. second, prove that in Jesus, were united the most exalted 
 
 qualities a human mind can possess ; . . . . . 189 
 
 § 88. and if we can show that these qualities could not have 
 been developed in him according to the ordinary laws of 
 the human mind, it necessarily follows, third, that he was 
 under the especial influence of God . .... 190 
 
CONTENTS. XXUl 
 
 I. Christ's plan not a chimerical one. 
 
 § 89. Christ's plan looked upon by some as an impracticable 
 
 dream 190 
 
 § 90. That it is not, evident first from the fact that it is not gen- 
 erally speaking impossible for a man by means of a benevo- 
 lent plan to operate for the good of all .... 193 
 
 § 91. Second, because the idea of establishing a universal reli- 
 gion, contains nothing impossible, when.it is contemplated 
 with its appropriate definitions, . . ... . 199 
 
 § 92. and this religion is moral, intelligible, and spiritual . . 201 
 
 § 93, And third, because the religion established by Jesus, com- 
 prehends every thing requisite for a universal religion, . 206 
 
 § 94. can be expressed in every language, .... 218 
 
 § 95. and loses nothing by being divested of all secular power in 
 the new states that arise before us . . . . . S20 
 
 II, Jesus thb greatest, most exalted of men. 
 
 § 96. If, however, the plan of Jesus is a practicable one, shall we 
 not thence be justified in concluding that he was the great- 
 est and most exalted of men ? 221 
 
 § 97. The ingredients of genuine human greatness, undoubtedly 
 are true wisdom, strength of soul, an invincible power of the 
 lotW to bring it to the performance of duty, and finally, ex- 
 pansive benevolence . . . . . ... 222 
 
 § 98, Jesus possessed all these qualities in great and harmoni- 
 ous perfection, df the like of which we find no example in 
 all history ...... .... 224 
 
 § 99. His plan affords proof that he possessed the highest human ' 
 wisdom, whether we consider the outlines of it as sketched 
 by Jesus in general, 225 
 
 § 100. or each part of it in particular 227 
 
 § 101. This plan places his strength of soul, his bold, and fault- 
 less love of duty, in a clear light ; . . . . .232 
 
 § 102. and presents us with an instance of boundless benevo- 
 lence towards mankind, and a goodness of heart altogether 
 superior and without example ; 238 
 
 § 103. and these qualities existed in him not only in the highest 
 degree, but the greatest harmony 241 
 
 III, Jesus -AN extraordinary teacher beft of cod. 
 
 § 104, The question now as it were forces itself upon us, wheth- 
 er these qualities were or could have been developed in him, 
 according to the ordinary laws of human nature . . 242 
 
 § 105. This question has been answered in the affirmative, and 
 an investigation instituted, to show, by what means in the 
 ordinary course of things, Jesus could have been made what 
 he became 245 
 
 § 106. The meaning of this question more accurately defined . 248 
 
XXIV. CONTENTS. 
 
 § 107. With this definition before us, we shall find, that it is im- 
 possible for us to discover favorable circumstances enough 
 to account for such a development ; . . . . 249 
 
 § 108. that a far greater influence has been attributed to these 
 
 circumstances than they could have had ; . ... 253 
 
 § 109. and finally, that the obstacles in the way of the natural 
 
 education of Jesus have been passed over in silence . . 255 
 
 § 110. Judging from the circumstances in which Jesus was plac- 
 ed, we shall find it much more certain that neither his wis- 
 dom, 257 
 
 111. nor bis strength of soul, ...... .264 
 
 112. nor his feelings of benevolence, could have been develop- 
 ed without a high divine influence 269 
 
 § 113. It is reasonable therefore tolook npon him as the most ex- 
 alted ambassador of God, and as our Saviour . . . 271 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE APPENDIX. 
 
 k. Respecting the manner in which Reinhard has apprehended 
 
 the plan of Jesus 273 
 
 B. Concerning the first quality and the original extent of 
 
 Christ's plan 278 
 
 I. It was not originally in respect to its external character, a 
 national theocracy 278 
 
 II. The universality of Christ's plan was not added by the E- 
 vangelists as a fiction drawn from the result . . . 288 
 
 C. Respecting Kestner's hypothesis of the early extension of 
 
 Christianity by means of a secret order . . . .298 
 
 D. Whether the idea of founding a kingdom of God upon earth 
 
 is to be met with before the time of Christ; . . . 316 
 
 I. («) in Hermes Trismegistus, 316 
 
 (i) in Plato, . ... .318 
 
 (c) among the Stoics, ■ . . 324 
 
 II. among the prophets of the Old Testament, . . . 328 
 
 III. in John the Baptist .337 
 
 IC. Whether Jesus received his education and his principles 
 
 from the school of the Essenes 341 
 
 F. A critical examination of the objections which have been 
 made to the legitimacy of Reinhard's conclusion and con- 
 siderations which add to its strength 351 
 
 I. Critical examination, etc 351 
 
 II. Considerations, etc 354 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 § 1. The Character of Jesus, the founder of the 
 Christian religion, is so unique, so extraordinary, and ven- 
 erable, that even the enemies of this religion, if they are 
 capable of perceiving what true greatness is, must ac- 
 knowledge that it has not its like in history. Of this 
 circumstance those learned men* who have written in de- 
 fence of Christianity, long since made such use as to ren- 
 der it superfluous now for me to repeat their observations. 
 
 Still oftener have the salutary effects produced by 
 Christianity in the world, been spoken of, for the purpose 
 of thence deducing the conclusion, that its author is ac- 
 
 * [Duchal, VermuthungsgrUnde fUr die Wahrlieit und Gottl. d. 
 chr. Rel., Iste ,Rede, GUstrow, 1773 ; Vernet, Traite de la Vi- 
 rile de la Rel. Chr., Tom. III. 77 — fin., according to Turretin's 
 Dilucidatt. L. B. 1748, II. 150 seqq.; Less, Religion, II. 732—759. 
 The following are also particularly worthy of attention : Eber- 
 hard, Amyntor, S. 218 — 243 ; Cams, Psychologie der Hebrfter, 
 S. 293—322; J. G. Muller, Vora Glauberi der Christen, I. 84—176; 
 Schwarz, Evangelisch christl. Ethick, Anm. zu § 105; Dwight, 
 System of Theology, Vol. II. Serm. 51 — 54; [Wilson, Evidences 
 of Christianity, Lect. XVII. Tr.] Anna Maria von Schurmann con- 
 ceived the idea of giving a written representation of Christ, but as 
 she could never satisfy herself, and the thought struck her, that it was 
 like trying to portray the sun with a coal, she desisted from the at- 
 tempt, acknowledging that she had found a Christian's life to be the 
 best representation that can be given of the life of Christ. Vid. 
 Deutsch. Merkur, J. 1777, Quart. 2. S. 178 if. ; Hess, Einige 
 Characterzilge unsers Herrn ; in der neuesten oder 3ten A- von : 
 Lehre, Thaten, «fec. u. H., II. 145— 173, im 20 Bde. of his Scripture 
 Biography. This perhaps was the reason why Niemeyer stopped 
 short of the characteristics of Jesus ; and why Reinhard, System d. 
 Moral, II. 250. or 276. Anm. y, was unable to find a perfect descrip- 
 tion of Christ's life.] 
 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tually the Saviour and preserver of men, and his system 
 of instruction the most valuable gift that God could have 
 bestowed upon us. 
 
 § 2. Notwithstanding these considerations, however, 
 which, perhaps of all the proof adduced in favor of Chris- 
 tianity, are the best adapted to touch and win the human 
 heart, one circumstance has been overlooked* which was 
 equally deserving of attention. It has not been particu- 
 larly thought of, that the mere plan, which Jesus formed 
 for improving our race and rendering them happy, sup- 
 poses a wisdom and greatness of mind, a strength and 
 firmness of soul, and, at the same time, a goodness of 
 heart, and extent of benevolence, the like of which had 
 never been found in any man. It has not been observed, 
 that this plan was of a very peculiar kind, and altogether 
 distinguished from every plan that had been sketched and 
 perfected by the most exaked geniuses and the greatest 
 benefactors of mankind, by its embracing the whole hu- 
 man family. The plan devised by the author of Chris- 
 tianity for the good of our race, bears the impress of the 
 superiority and dignity of the greatest mind that ever 
 thought and acted upon earth, and must have procured 
 for its author this rank, had no part of it ever been car- 
 ried into execution. No human mind before him ever 
 conceived the idea of establishing a kingdom of God, a 
 kingdom of truth, morality, and happiness, and collecting 
 within it, all the nations of the earth ; — the idea of founding 
 an order of things, which should be advantageous both to 
 individuals, and communities, and enable human nature to 
 attain the highest degree of excellence ; — the great and 
 truly divine idea of radically curing all the evil with which 
 humanity is afflicted, and raising up for the Creator an 
 entirely new, and better generation. No sage, no ruler, 
 no hero of antiquity was ever capable of such enlargement, 
 
 * [Eusebius indeed has hinted at this proof in his Demonstrat. 
 Evan. 1. III. c. 5. p. 135, where he says expressly, that the idea form- 
 ed by Jesus of giving all mankind a new religion, is one which 
 had never before occurred to a human being. It is certain, however, 
 that Eusebius does not very nicely distinguish the proof derived 
 from the plan, from the proof derived from ^e effects of this plan.] 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 such elevation of thought. Look where we will, the tra- 
 ces of such greatness are searched for in vain. 
 
 § 3. (1 ) In order, however, to form an acquaintance witli 
 the author of Christianity in this respect, one must col- 
 lect together and examine what history has preserved of 
 his enterprises, and the plan with which he commenced ; — 
 must carefully see whether this plan was actually so great, 
 and calculated for the whole human family. The thoughts 
 with which he was occupied, as given in the narratives 
 which his friends have left behind of his life, are expres- 
 sed without any of the ornaments of eloquence, without 
 any ostentatious pretensions, and generally in an inciden- 
 tal manner ; but yet with such strength and precision, as to 
 leave an impartial man no room to doubt respecting his 
 intentions. We shall prove this, and from the accounts 
 extant, endeavor to give a sketch of the plan which he 
 had in his mind. This will occupy the first part of this 
 work. 
 
 (2) We shall then go back into antiquity, and survey 
 all the treasures of those great geniuses who possessed 
 wisdom, strength, and benevolence enough to become the 
 benefactors of their brethren. We shall endeavor to enter 
 into the plans which they formed, and ascertain their com- 
 pass, and the extent to which they were carried into effect. 
 It will thence be made to appear, that no sage of antiquity, 
 no friend of mankind, however noble and beneficent, had 
 ever been able to ascend to the thought of acting for all. 
 We shall find that they were all confined within the walls 
 of a native city, within the borders of a country, or, at the 
 farthest, of a kingdom composed of several countries. No 
 man before Jesus, ever formed a plan of benevolence for 
 improving mankind as a body. No poet ever soared so 
 high. Nothing of the kind is to be found in all antiquity. 
 This ghnce at the whole, however, this universal benevo- 
 lence, this unlimited extension of thought, has been com- 
 mon, since the author of Christianity led the way, and 
 pointed out to the human mind, the height, which, until 
 then, had been enveloped in clouds and left untrodden. 
 This will make up the contents of the second part. 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (3) Here then we behold the author of the Christian 
 religion, without pattern or guide, walking a path hitherto 
 unknown, and treading a height to which the greatest ge- 
 niuses had not even approached. He sprung not from a 
 nation of celebrity, nor was he educated in a learned 
 school, or sustained by any favorable circumstance. He 
 was obliged to contend with poverty, lowness, and con- 
 tempt, and was surrounded with obstacles, difficulties and 
 dangers, which seemed invincible. In his obscure and 
 helpless condition, however, we find him capable of form- 
 ing a plan for the good of all nations, and cherishing a 
 thought which lay beyond the reach of human intellect, 
 though possessed of the greatest powers, and exercised 
 under the most favorable circumstances ; we find him ca- 
 pable of making a bold effort to carry it into execution, and 
 indulging a hope that all would be accomplished, never firm- 
 er than in the moment when to human view all was lost ; 
 when he was forsaken by his intimate friends, opposed 
 and even put to death by his nation. What conclusion 
 must we draw from a- phenomenon so distinct in its kind ? 
 Shall we not be justified in considering him the most exalt- 
 ed sage, the greatest benefactor of mankind, a most cred- 
 ible messenger of the Godhead 9 This will be our subject 
 of investigation in the third part. 
 
 These considerations, indeed, will not afford incontes- 
 tible proof that the religion which Jesus taught was of di- 
 vine origin. If, however, they are of any assistance in 
 persuading those who deny Christianity and its author, to 
 show themselves as reasonable in respect to Jesus as they 
 are in respect to other great men of antiquity, or contrib- 
 ute in any measure towards inducing them to hear other 
 and stronger proof in favor of Christianity, and examine it 
 with more impartiality than they have hitherto done, 
 they will not have been written in vain. And who 
 that is already convinced of the truth of Christian- 
 ity and the exaltation of its author, will not rejoice 
 to find that Jesus, in his benevolent views, surpasses the 
 greatest geniuses and deserves far the most reverence 
 and love ? 
 
A SHORT SKETCH OF THE PLAN DEVISED BY JESUS 
 FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 
 
 § 4. He would be greatly mistaken who should 
 here expect an explanation of what theologians call the 
 office of Christ, or the work which he undertook for the 
 redemption of mankind. To this work, according to the 
 Scriptures, belong performances, altogether peculiar, such 
 as an expiatory death, and other important transactions 
 and eiFects some of which are yet to come. These dis- 
 tinguish what Christ undertook and accomplished for man- 
 kind, from every thing which one man has ever been able 
 to do for others. In this respect, therefore, Jesus can be 
 compared with no other benefactor of the human race 
 whatever, for these are services out of the power of any 
 one to perform for others. In this respect, therefore, Je- 
 sus stands entirely alone and without example, but on this 
 very account, we shall now leave this part of the subject 
 untouched. We here consider Jesus as any other great 
 man of antiquity, and explain only those portions of his 
 plan which bear a resemblance to the benevolent views of 
 other venerable men, in order thence to draw the conclu- 
 sion, that his plan is the greatest, most elevated, and most 
 benevolent, that has ever been thought of, or ever can be. 
 § 5. We shall not, however, enter into any prolix clis- 
 putes upon the subject. We shall not think it worth while 
 to suggest any thing in opposition to that wickedness, under 
 
the influence of which, an anonymous writer,* very desti- 
 tute of impartiality and a love of the truth, has written con- 
 cerning the object of Jesus, and the most benevolent views, 
 that a human mind ever entertained, and, by means of 
 poisonous calumnies, endeavored to bring them all into 
 suspicion. That wickedness is too striking, too exaspera- 
 ted, too hostile, not to disgust every man of an uncorrup- 
 ted heart, and fill him with indignation. Neither can 
 we enter into a detailed examination of all that has lately 
 been said in numerous productions respecting the object and 
 plan of Jesus.j- It will be sufficient for us to confine 
 ourselves to those questions, too closely connected with 
 our subject, to be left wholly untouched. In the first 
 place, therefore, we shall collect together and examine 
 what we find in the writings of his friends, respecting the 
 plan which he had in view, and endeavor to enter into it 
 as far as possible, considering our great distance from the 
 age in which he lived. f 
 
 § 6. As to the credibility of the witnesses, upon whose 
 depositions in this case every thing depends, there is, as 
 it seems to me, no real cause of mistrust. Passing 
 over the fact, that they are universally known to have been 
 honest men ; it is evident from the manner in which they 
 have treated this very subject, that they could not' have 
 had the least inclination for fiction. From the great and 
 all comprehensive plan which they make Jesus devise, 
 
 * [The Wolfenbattelsche Fragmentist, Herrm. Sam. Reimarus,Voni 
 Zweck Jesu und seiner JUnger, herausg. v. Lessing, Braunschweig, 
 
 1778. On the other side, Silberschlag, Antibarbarus, Berlin, 1779; 
 Th. 2n. ; Semler, Beantwortung der Fragmente eines Ungenann- 
 ten, inbes. v. d. Zwecke Jesu, Halle, 1779 ; Bell, Investigation of the 
 Divine Mission of John the Baptist, and J. C. (Untersuch. d. gottl. 
 Sendung Johannis d. T. u. J. C., Ubers. v. Henke, Braunschweig, 
 
 1779, rait dessen Anhang, S. 343 — 354.) Consult also the excel- 
 lent review of the Fragment, in the Allg. Deutsch. Bibl. XL. 35G — 
 428; Schlosser, Kleine Schriften, III. 84—113; the ingenious paro- 
 dy by Christ. Kruse, Vom Zwecke des Socrates u. s. Schfller, fUr 
 Freunde des Wolf. Fragm., L. 1785.] 
 
 t [Carl Friedr. Bahrdt, Ausfohrung des Plans und Z weeks Jesu 
 in Briefen an Wahrheit suchende Leser, 12 Bdchn., Berlin, 1784 — 
 1793.] 
 
 t Vid. Appendix, A. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 
 
 they never draw any inferences in his favor, nor do they 
 take any notice of the preference to which this unquestion- 
 ably entitled him over all the other great geniuses of our 
 race. They never exhibit any disposition to glorify him, as 
 it were, in this respect. They never give a connected delin- 
 eation of this plan. Their accounts of the various events 
 of his life, are made up of single fragments, the impor- 
 tance and connexion of which, evidently they did not per- 
 ceive. To form a clear and correct conception of the 
 views of this original personage, we must combine them 
 together and give the whole a laborious examination. 
 This circumstance of itself affords ample proof, that they 
 did not forge the plan which they describe with the intention 
 of palming it off upon Jesus. In such a case, their accounts 
 would have exhibited more effort to represent him as the 
 author of this plan. They would have made greater exer- 
 tions to call the attention of the reader to this subject. And 
 in general, on the supposition, that Jesus had nothing to do 
 with the designs of which they speak, it is difficult to com- 
 prehend how his friends, taken as they were from the low- 
 est ranks of life, and educated in all the partialities of the 
 Jewish religion, could have palmed upon him a plan, em- 
 bracing all mankind^ even the detested heathen ; — a plan, 
 which exhibits more that is great and noble, than the most 
 daring poet ever attributed to his hero, and of which no 
 one for a long time, understood less than these witnesses 
 themselves. In respect to the credibility of these witness- 
 es, however, I think I may fearlessly appeal to what oth- 
 ers have said. I proceed, therefore, without further cir- 
 cumlocution to the matter in hand. 
 
 § 7. In regard to the plan, of which Jesus is said by his 
 friends to have been the author, three circumstances de- 
 serve attention ; namely, its compass, its character, and the 
 manner in which it was to be carried into effect. Its 
 COMPASS. Jesus, in his plan embraced mankind at large ; 
 all the nations of the earth then existing, or ever to exist. 
 Its character. It was his intention to establish a king- 
 dom of God, a kingdom of truth, morality and happiness, and 
 collect all nations intp it^ Finally, the manner, in which 
 
8 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 it was to be carried into effect. Every thing was to 
 be done without using force, or employing the hidden 
 springs of a secret society ; merely by the gentle influence 
 of convincing instruction, and institutions adapted to arouse 
 the moral sensibilities, stimulate the human mind to reflec- 
 tion upon its most important concerns, and warm it with a 
 living zeal for the attainment of its true destination. Of 
 each of these points we shall treat in particular. 
 
 I. The compass of Christ's plan. 
 
 § 8. When Jesus first made his appearance in public, it 
 was apparently as the reformer of his own nation merely, 
 and without seeming to be engaged in a plan of universal 
 extent. He declared that he was sent to devote himself 
 entirely to his own people, Matt. 15: 24 ; spoke particu- 
 larly of retaining the law and the prophets, Matt. 5: 17 — 
 19 ; associated almost exclusively with the Jews, and com- 
 manded his disciples when sent to make their first essay 
 at imparting instruction, to avoid all intercourse with for- 
 eigners, and confine themselves to their fellow citizens, 
 Matt. 10: 5. It is well known also, that he never sepa- 
 rated himself from the ecclesiastical community of the 
 Jews, and that the apostles retained their connexion in 
 tliis respect, even after they had established numerous 
 churches which bore his name. 
 
 From these circumstances, it has been inferred, that 
 Jesus actually limited his views to his own nation, and in- 
 tended merely to purify the prevailing religion and restore 
 genuine Mosaicism, it having been adulterated by the 
 lapse of centuries, and the explanations and additions of 
 Jewish sects, almost beyond recognition.* When, howev- 
 er, the expressions of Jesus, as handed down by history, 
 
 * Comp. Semler, Magazin fUr die Religion, Th. 1. S. 322 ; Men- 
 delsohn, Jerusalem, oder Ober religiose Macht und Judenthum, S. 
 130 f. ; Riem, Christus und die Vernunft, S. 6ff. ; and Jakob, Annal. 
 der Philosophic, u, des philosophischen Geistes, Jahrg. 1795, St. 
 XXXIX. S. 306, and St. LXXXIX. S. 706 ; [also Fragm. v. Zweck 
 Jesu, S. 19. 66 fF. ; Dr. Th. in Scherer's Schriftforscher, I. 3. S. 428 
 —440.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. y 
 
 are considered in their due connexion, and compared to- 
 gether, this opinion appears to be altogether destitute of 
 probability. 
 
 § 9. In the first place, let us attend to the condition 
 in which Jesus found himself, at the commencement of his 
 labors. Whatever he may have had in view, it is undenia- 
 ble, that he was obliged to begin his work somewhere, and 
 measure his steps according to existing circumstances. 
 From the fact, however, that he made his appearance 
 among the Jews, conformed to their laws and customs, 
 and exerted himself mainly at first in behalf of his fellow 
 citizens, it does not follow that every thing which he resol- 
 ved upon was for them exclusively. Where could he have 
 begun his labors to better advantage than where, as a 
 relative, a citizen and friend, he already had numerous 
 connexions, and could easily form more ; where, instead 
 of being under the necessity of opening a door of access, 
 he found one already opened, and a people possessed of 
 much knowledge exactly to his purpose, which would have 
 been sought for in any other nation in vain ? Whatever 
 he resolved upon, was he not obliged to place his chief 
 dependence upon the attention, esteem, and affection of 
 those by whom he was immediately surrounded, and with 
 whom he began his operations ? But could he have flat- 
 tered himself with the hope of being able to produce any 
 useful impressions upon his fellow citizens without at least 
 first remaining with the community to which, by birth, edu- 
 cation, and the civil constitution he belonged, until he had 
 produced another state of feeling ? Would he not have 
 excited every one against him, had he at the very com- 
 mencement of his career, evinced a prepossession in fa- 
 vor of the heathen, to whom the Jewish populace were so 
 hostile ? had he even imprudently discovered an incli- 
 nation to abolish the existing religious constitution, which 
 every one deemed sacred, and was zealous to defend ? 
 Was it not necessary for him, therefore, to declare that he 
 adhered to the law and the prophets, in order to procure 
 a favorable hearing and prevent every one from withdraw- 
 ing from him at the very out-set ? Besides, his immedi- 
 
10 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 ate and personal efforts were confined to very narrow lim- 
 its. He was allowed no time for developing the plan with 
 which he commenced by appropriate actions, and was pre- 
 vented from making the attempt as soon as opportunity 
 presented for the purpose. It was very natural, therefore, 
 that, during his short public life, in which he had enough 
 to do in order to secure faithful men to whom he might 
 intrust the continuation of his work, he should have made 
 no arrangements for leaving the Jewish community. If it 
 were his intention to separate from it, death overtook him 
 before suitable preparations had been made for so im- 
 portant a step, and the thing could be effected with secu- 
 rity. For the same reasons also, he was under the neces- 
 sity of limiting the first commissions which he gave his 
 disciples, to their own countrymen. Possibly he may have 
 been further influenced in so doing by the reflection, that 
 there was then very much to be done at home, and that 
 his messengers were as yet too incapable of performing 
 any thing among strangers, to be entrusted with more 
 extensive powers. All things well considered, it was also 
 necessary for Jesus to make his appearance in the character 
 of a man, having the purification and improvement of his 
 own paternal religion at heart. In no other character could 
 he have introduced himself to his countrymen, so as to 
 command their attention and esteem. No safe conclusion 
 therefore, can be drawn from his conduct in these res- 
 pects, as to the compass of his plan. He was obliged to 
 act as he acted, whether he confined his views to his na- 
 tion, or gave them more ample extent. He, therefore, 
 who infers, that Jesus had merely the improvement of his 
 own paternal religion in view, from the course which he 
 pursued, appeals to circumstances altogether of an equivo- 
 cal nature^ and which might as well be combined with 
 any other supposition, and so of course prove nothing, 
 
 § 10. On the other hand, so many of the expressions 
 of Jesus plainly indicate his resolution to erect an estab- 
 lishment perfectly new, and entirely different from the re- 
 ligious constitution of the Jews, as to render it a matter of 
 astonishment that it could have been so often overlooked. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 1 1 
 
 Look at the very declaration itself to which such bold ap- 
 peals have been made in proof of the contrary. ' / am 
 not come to destroy the law or the prophets j' says he, * but 
 to fulfil ; for one jot or one tittle shall not pass from the 
 law till all be fulfilled. He therefore who breaks one of 
 these least commandments and teaches men so, shall be the 
 least in the kingdom of Heaven^'' Matt. 5: 17 — 19. 
 What is this declaration, when considered in connexion 
 with what follows, but a hint, that the heavenly kingdom 
 which he had in view, was to be a moral establishment, 
 perfectly new, and far exalted above the old constitution^ 
 As if Christ had spoken as follows : " Hitherto the 
 use of the sacred Scriptures for purposes of moral im- 
 provement, has been constantly neglected, and is partic- 
 ularly so at present. They are expressly calculated how- 
 ever, to exert an influence in this respect, and accordingly 
 the law and the prophets are henceforth to receive such a 
 fulfilment as they never have received in times past. He 
 therefore who would fulfil them, exhaust their meaning, 
 advance their utility, and use them in a proper manner, 
 must consider them in this point of view, and exchange 
 the constitution grounded upon them for an institution of 
 pure morality."* Now does not Christ's whole discourse, 
 subsequent to this declaration, undoubtedly prove, that this 
 was actually the fulfilment which he had in view? What 
 does he quote from the law ? How would he have it 
 observed? How does he explain it? How does he 
 inculcate it ? He always confines himself in what he 
 says, to those general commandments which are of uni- 
 versal and eternal obligation in morality. He clears them 
 of the spurious additions and false interpretations of 
 the Pharisees. He represents then? in their true ex- 
 tent and all their sanctity. He calls upon his hearers 
 to yield them obedience with an earnestness which con- 
 demns the hypocrisy of the Pharisees without forbear- 
 ance. With the sacrificial rites, ceremonies, and the 
 precepts, which relate to the external constitution of the 
 Jews, he either does not meddle at all, or only in an inci- 
 
 * Paul calls this establishing the law, Rom. 3 : 31. 
 
12 
 
 dental way, and for the purpose of showing that they must 
 derive all their value from pure morality, Slatt. 6: 23, 24. 
 6: 16 — 18. Can any one look at the connexion in which 
 this discourse stands, and have a right apprehension of its 
 spirit, without perceiving that the heavenly kingdom, the 
 establishment of which is here announced, must consist of 
 something more than the Jewish worship ? Jesus inform- 
 ed, his hearers, as distinctly as his circumstances, and their 
 limited capacities would consistently permit, that the old 
 order of things was to be dissolved into a kingdom of true 
 morality, and the pure worship of God. When this was 
 effected, could not one say for the first time, that the law 
 and the prophets had been fulfilled ?* 
 
 As soon, however, as Jesus had acquired more influ- 
 ence and authority, he declared in still plainer language, 
 that the old order of things was soon to be destroyed, and 
 a new, more general, and far better order of things to be 
 substituted in its stead. I shall adduce only a few of the 
 most noted passages in proof of this. In Matt. 8:5 — 12, 
 we are informed, that a centurion, who was a Gentile, ap- 
 plied to Jesus for help in behalf of his servant, at the same 
 lime expressing views and feelings calculated to put the 
 Jews to the blush, and that Jesus, struck with his magna- 
 nimity, broke out in the assurance, that the heathen should 
 come from all quarters of the earth and sit down in the 
 kingdom of Heaven, while the Jews, the children of the 
 kingdom, should be cast out of it. Whatever we under- 
 stand in this place by the kingdom of Heaven, this de- 
 claration unquestionably implies, that a change was at this 
 time to be expected, w^hich should divest the Jews of the 
 privileges to which they thought themselves exclusively 
 entitled, and confer them upon the heathen. On another 
 occasion, Jesus repeated this declaration in a still more de- 
 finite manner. During the latter part of his public career, 
 and shortly before his execution, finding no farther reasons, 
 from any thing that he had to do or suffer, for keeping it 
 
 * Compare Grotius upon the passagfe, Annotatt. in Nov. Test., 
 where a very correct representation is given of its true meaning. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 13 
 
 a secret, he openly affirmed in the temple ^ that the king- 
 dom of God was to be taken from the Jews and given to 
 the gentiles,' Matt. 21: 43. Mark 12: 9. Luke 20: 16, 
 and went so far as to clothe his predictions with various in- 
 structive narratives. Matt. 22: 1 — 14. Now how could the 
 Jews have been rejected and the heathen substituted in their 
 stead, without the introduction of an order of things, new, 
 and entirely different from the former ? — When Jesus first 
 sent out his disciples with a commission to excite the at- 
 tention of their fellow citizens to his enterprises, he did 
 not conceal from them in the least degree the fact, that 
 their calling was a very dangerous one, Matt. 10: 16, and 
 the business intrusted to them greatly detested. Matt. 10: 
 22. He told them of the abuses of every kind to which 
 they should be subjected, vs. 17, 18, and observed that the 
 accomplishment of his views would unavoidably result in 
 a universal exasperation and dissension, which should 
 even disturb the peace of families, and sever the tenderest 
 connexions, vs. 34 — 36. Had Jesus had no other object 
 before him than the improvement of the prevailing relig- 
 ion, could he have anticipated such dangerous commo- 
 tions,^ and spoken of them before hand? The labors of 
 John the Baptist did not disturb the public tranquillity, for 
 he undertook nothing in opposition to the established con- 
 stitution. Now if Jesus, as the result of what he intended 
 to accomplish, looked forward to a dissolution of all for- 
 mer relations, and a state of war between all parts of so- 
 ciety, must he not have intended to go much farther than 
 John did ? Must he not have purposed the actual over- 
 throw of the regulations then in existence ? — There is 
 something remarkable in the manner, in which, on every 
 occasion, he explained those commandments of the law of 
 Moses, which related to the external service of God^ and 
 made up a great part of the Jewish constitution. Nothing 
 was more sacred in the estimation of a Jew than sacrifice, 
 Jesus never intimated that a man should offer sacrifice, 
 but he often censured the abuses, which, to the prejudice 
 of morality, had crept into the service. Matt. 15: 5, 6. 
 Mark 7: 11, 12, and with feelings of marked approbation, 
 2 
 
14 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 told a learned man who had asserted love to God and 
 man to be of more value than " all whole burnt offerings," 
 that he was not far from the kingdom of God, Mark 12: 
 34. Nothing appeared more inviolable to the Jews than 
 the commandment respecting the Sabbath. Jesus pur- 
 posely availed himself of every opportunity which present- 
 ed itself for correcting their views respecting the Sabbath, 
 inculcating a more liberal mode of thinking in this respect, 
 and convincing them, that that whole precept must be made 
 subordinate to the general laws of morality. Matt. 12: 
 1—15. Mark2:23— 28. 3:1—6. Luke6:l— 11. John 
 6: 9 — 19. 7: 20 — ^23. He went so far as to intimate to 
 them that he did not consider that precept as binding up- 
 on his person, John 5: 17, and that he had power to abol- 
 ish it altogether,* Matt. 12: 8. Luke 6: 5.t The con- 
 stitution then existing rested very essentially upon the tra- 
 ditions of the fathers, and the additions which had been 
 made to the precepts of Moses. So long had these 
 oral illustrations been recognised as valid, that it was 
 deemed necessary to let every thing remain as it had hith- 
 erto done. Jesus attacked these traditions on all occasions, 
 Matt. 5: 21 seqq., and did it with an earnestness which e- 
 vinced itself by the most vehement reproaches. Matt. 15: 
 1—9. Mark 7: 1—1 3. Matt. 23: 1—39. He compared all 
 
 * It is also to be observed that Jesus undertook to effect a change 
 respecting the subject of divorcements, unquestionably at variance 
 with the Mosaic law, and advantageous to morality, and urged tlie 
 abolition of the Mosaic precept, Matt. 19: 1—9. Mark 10: 1—6. 
 
 t Grotius, as is well known, does not explain this passage of 
 Christ, but o^ every man in general, and appeals to Mark 2: 27, 28, in 
 support of this explanation; and Bolte in his remarks, Zum Bericht 
 des Matthaus von Jesu deni Messia, S. 190 ff., has lately defended 
 this interpretation in detail. It is certainly not opposed to the usus 
 loquendi. The connexion however seems to require these words to 
 be applied to Christ, and understood of his power over the Sabbath. 
 He had just remarked, (v. 6,) as is conceded by Grotius himself, that 
 he was greater than the temple. After this assertion, it was to be 
 expected that he would exalt himself above the Sabbath. Now, as 
 by way of distinction, he frequently calls himself f/te son of man, so 
 the eighth verse is unquestionably to be explained of him and his 
 power to make changes in the commandment respecting the Sab- 
 bath. There is something of a similar import in Matt. 17: 25, 20. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 15 
 
 these merely human precepts to pernicious plants, which 
 must be entirely rooted up, Matt. 15: 13 ; bitterly censured 
 the Pharisees for taking so much pains to make proselytes 
 to a disfigured religion, Matt. ^23: 15; and finally, en- 
 gaged to deliver the poor oppressed people from the 
 whole burden of the Mosaic law, and give them the easy 
 yoke of a pure, spiritual religion in its stead. Matt. 11: 
 28, 29. Could it have been the design of a man to spare 
 and defend a constitution, concerning the most essential 
 and most holy parts of which he made such declarations ? 
 On the other hand, is it not sufficiently apparent from these 
 assertions, that he had determined to weaken its authority 
 and gradually prepare the way for its overthrow? 
 
 Jesus made known his resolution in still more definite 
 terms, whenever the circumstances under which he spoke, 
 were such, that an undissembled declaration of it could 
 produce no injury and occasion no misunderstanding. In 
 the very first year of his public ministry, he informed^a 
 Samaritan woman, who could not possibly take offence at 
 what she heard, that the religious constitution of the Jews 
 was drawing to a close ; that the time was then at hand in 
 which the true worship of the father should no longer be 
 confined to a particular place ; — in which all Jewish and 
 Samaritan, all merely external worship, should entirely 
 cease, and God be adored in spirit and in truth, John 4: 
 20 — 24. Jesus could not have expressed in clearer and 
 stronger terms than it is here done, his determination to 
 substitute a new, better, and more extensive religion, in^ 
 stead of the Jewish constitution, which presented such ob- 
 stacles to the extension of a spiritual religion, and was 
 calculated to confine it to a single nation, — to one corner 
 of the earth. In the confidential circle of his apostles, he 
 spoke in a similar manner. When Peter, in a conversation, 
 at which none but his fellow apostles were present, declar- 
 ed they were convinced he was the Messiah, Jesus not on- 
 ly approved of this decision, but added that by means of 
 Peter, he intended to found a church which should en- 
 dure forever, and into which Peter should admit whom 
 he would, Matt. 16: 18, 19. In these words, the resolu- 
 tion of Jesus to establish a religious society, peculiar, and 
 
16 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 entirely different from that of the Jews, is too clearly ex- 
 pressed to be mistaken. His church is to he founded. 
 Had he had the improvement of the Jewish religion 
 solely in view, he certainly would not have spoken of 
 founding a church. In the new church the highest pow- 
 er is to be conceded to Peter, who is to open and shut 
 it whenever he pleases. In the Jewish church neither 
 Christ nor his apostles sought after authority and power. 
 It must have been his intention therefore to separate his 
 church from that, and give it regulations entirely distinct. 
 Indeed he says so, in Matt. 18: 17, 18, where, under the 
 new constitution, soon to go into operation, similar power 
 is also conferred upon the other aposdes. If with the 
 above we compare Matt. 16: 28. Mark 9: 1, and Luke 
 9: 27, it will appear that the successful enlargement of 
 this church, or, which is the same thing, the kingdom of 
 heaven, which he was engaged in founding, was to com- 
 mence with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, when, 
 as is well known, the Jewish constitution ceased, and the 
 Christian stood forth entirely alone. This last point, 
 however, deserves more particular attention. It cannot 
 be denied that Jesus spoke of a near overthrow of the 
 Jewish state, and an entire destruction of the temple. He 
 spoke of these changes more than once, Luke 13: 34, 35. 
 19: 41—44. Matt. 22: 7. 23: 33—39, and described 
 them to his aposdes, with all their attending circumstances, 
 and the consequently successful progress of his undertak- 
 ing, in so clear and minute a manner. Matt. xxiv. Mark 
 XIII. Luke XXI., as to remove all doubt that he expected 
 such a revolution, and considered it as altogether unavoida- 
 ble. When we reflect therefore, that he expressly makes a 
 distinction between his own affairs and those of the relig- 
 ious constitution of the Jews, and represents the decay of 
 the latter and the destruction of the temple, as events which 
 should conduce to the advantage of his own undertaking, 
 and the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 24: 30, 31. Luke 12: 
 27, 28, can we deem it in the least degree probable that 
 he aimed solely at the improvement of his own nation, 
 without ever forming the design of separating himself from 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 17 
 
 that society, which he knew would remain faithful to the old 
 order of things? And, finally, what shall we say, when he 
 speaks in direct terms of another community and an entire- 
 ly new system of religion, which should not only be oppos- 
 ed to the old one, but render it superfluous ? — when he 
 assures us of his determination solemnly to consecrate 
 and confirm this new constitution by his blood, — by his 
 death ? Matt. 26: 28. Mark 14: 24. Luke 22: 20. Must 
 we not admit this to be a declaration, that the constitution 
 then existing, was antiquated and useless, and an intima- 
 tion as clear as possible, that he was thinking upon some- 
 thing new and better ? 
 
 § 11. If we can show, however, that the plan in which 
 Jesus was engaged, was of universal extent, embracing all 
 mankind, then no room will be left for the supposition that 
 he intended merely to reform his own nation. Now that 
 such vvas the extent of his views and the compass of his 
 plan, is too evident to be misapprehended. It shines 
 forth from his conduct, is expressed in his words, and con- 
 firmed by the truths, which he generally inculcated. 
 
 (a) The conduct of Jesus, as represented by the evan- 
 gelists, exhibits no very indistinct traces of views, that 
 stretched beyond the boundaries of Judea. He every 
 where acts like a man, who has something of greater im- 
 portance before him, than merely the improvement of his fel- 
 low citizens. He repeatedly casts a glance upon foreigners, 
 and elevates it even to mankind at large. That he thought 
 of the condition of the heathen, and made their moral ne- 
 cessities an object of contemplation, he has here and there 
 intimated with sufficient plainness. Sometimes he men- 
 tions them in his discourses, and when he does so, it is 
 always with a reference to their wants, Matt. 5: 47. 6: 7, 
 32. 20 : 25. Mark 10 : 42.* Notwithstanding the great 
 caution with which he avoided intimate connexions with 
 the heathen, in order not to offend his intolerant country- 
 men, he by no means excluded them from participating in 
 
 * With respect to the last passage, vid. Michaelis' Syntagma 
 commentationum, Tom. 11. p. 30 aeqq, 
 
 2* 
 
16 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 his instructions, whenever they found opportunity for 
 the purpose. This is evident from the reproaches, which 
 were so often heaped upon him for associating with pubU- 
 cans and sinners, Mark 2 : 15, 16. Luke 5 : 30. 15 : 1, 
 2. 19 : 7; for according to the usus loquendi of those 
 times, the term sinners may not only have included 
 wicked and abandoned men in general,* but the heathen 
 in particular, and consequently the Romans ;f and that 
 the collectors of the Jewish custom, with whom Jesus as- 
 sociated, were sometimes heathen, is very probable from 
 the fact, that they were in the pay of the Romans, with 
 whom they held constant intercourse. { Even the multi- 
 tudes, which collected around him in desert places, ap- 
 pear occasionally to have been heathen, who, hearing of 
 his general celebrity, undoubtedly felt as anxious to see 
 him as his own fellow citizens. This can be inferred 
 with a tolerable degree of certainty from Mark 3 : 8, and 
 Luke 6 : 17,|| and that he ever refused such persons, or 
 withdrew himself from them, we are no where informed. 
 Besides, Galilee, the principal scene of Christ's actions, 
 was so full of heathen, that he could not have tarried there 
 a long time, had he wished to abstract himself entirely 
 from them.§ From John 4 : 40, we learn, that soon af- 
 ter the commencement of his public labors, he came in 
 contact with the Samaritans, and, finding them very sus- 
 ceptible of his instructions, spent two whole days with 
 them at Sychar. It is impossible not to perceive the im- 
 
 * Comp. Bolte's note on Matt. 10: 10. S. 146 seqq. 
 
 t Hence in Matt. 18: 17, the explanatory word heathen, is added 
 to the expression j9M6/icfln5, instead of the common one sinners. The 
 sinners to whom Jesus was to be delivered, were, as is well known, 
 the Romans. Matt. 26: 45. Luke 24: 7, comp. chap. 18: 32, and 
 Gal. 2: 16. 
 
 X Krebs, De usu et praestantia Romanae Historiae in Nov. Test, 
 interpretatione, III. p. 22 seqq. 
 
 II Jesus is said to have had hearers from the region of Tyre and 
 Sidon. In all probability these were heathen. Comp. Mark 7: 24 — 
 26. Matt. 15: 21, 22, and Reland's Palaestina, Tom. II. p. 1046 seqq. 
 
 § Bachiene, Beschreibung von Palaestina, Th. II. B. IV. § 620 — 
 624. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 19 
 
 partiality with which he did justice, both to the Samaritans 
 and heathen, whenever he found them distinguished for 
 any good qualities. He neglected no opportunity for bring- 
 ing such excellencies into notice, and putting his own coun- 
 trymen to the blush in this respect. Matt. 8 : 10. 15 : 28. 
 Luke 17 : 17, 18. 10: 33 seqq. Whenever foreigners 
 applied to him, he kindly assisted them, and performed 
 the same wonderful works for them that he did for af- 
 flicted Jews, Matt. 8: 5—13. 15: 21—28, Luke 17: 
 11 — 19. It is evident, therefore, that Jesus was not 
 only acquainted with the bitter hatred of his passionate 
 countrymen towards every thing not of Jewish origin, 
 but that he considered strangers also as objects of benev- 
 olence, and sought to do them good whenever it was pos- 
 sible to do so without creating offence. His conduct, how- 
 ever, would never have been combined with such prudent 
 foresight, or directed with such propriety as always shone 
 forth from his actions, had his views been limited to his 
 own nation, to the Samaritans, or to the heathen ; had 
 not his plan taken in all mankind without distinction. 
 
 (b) Whatever doubt, however, we may have had res- 
 pecting the intention of Jesus to devote himself to the good 
 of the whole human family, it vanishes when we hear him 
 speak. He has given a particular description of the unlim- 
 ited extent of his views, and, in so doing, employed every 
 expression capable of designating the greatest universality. 
 The usus loquendi of the Jews, as has already been ob- 
 served, distinguished but two classes of men, and hence 
 by Jews and gentiles in that age, was meant all mankind. 
 Now Jesus unquestionably intended to render himself use- 
 ful to the Jews. With them indeed he commenced his 
 labors. More than once, however, he asserted that he 
 should not confine himself to them ; — that he considered 
 the heathen also as the objects of his solicitude ; — that he 
 was to effect a great change in affairs, which should make 
 the rest of mankind partakers of all that kindness and those 
 privileges of which the Jews were so jealous, and, under 
 the influence of an envious selfishness, wished to be ex- 
 clusively possessed ; — a change, w^hich should oblige the 
 
20 
 
 incorrigible portion of the Jews to yield the precedency to 
 the heathen. What else can be the meaning of the words, 
 " Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit 
 down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- 
 dom of heaven ; but the children of the kingdom shall be 
 cast into outer darkness ; there shall be weeping, and 
 gnashing of teeth?" Matt. 8: 11, 12. What else can be the 
 import of what he said on another occasion very similar, 
 * that it would prove of no avail to the Jews, if they did 
 not amend, to have had him, a fellow citizen, for their 
 teacher and intimate associate ; — that on the other hand, 
 there should come from the east, and from the west, and 
 from the north, and from the south,those that should sit down 
 in the kingdom of God ; and that the last should be first, 
 and the first last ?" Luke 13: 24 — 30. What but a plan em- 
 bracing the heathen, is intended in the touching descrip- 
 tion, in which he represents himself as *the good shepherd 
 who lays down his life for the welfare of his flock, but who 
 has other sheep which are not of this fold, and which must 
 also be brought in, in order that there may be but one 
 shepherd and one fold?' John 10: 16.* How could he 
 have expressed his determination to extend his instructions 
 and the benefits thence resulting, beyond the boundaries of 
 his native country, in plainer language, than when, on a 
 previous occasion, he informed his disciples, that after his 
 departure from them, they should encounter the hatred of 
 their fellow citizens, and be driven into other regions ; — 
 treatment which was to result from their making known 
 the truth to the heathen ? Matt. 10: 18. 24: 14. Mark 
 
 * [The author of Jesus Universal-Religion, ein SeitenstUck zu 
 Reinhard, &c., S. 26, L. 1811, very properly suggests, that by the oth- 
 er sheep in this place, Jesus did not mean those tribes in Syria and 
 Palestine, which had revolted at the time of Rehoboam, nor those 
 Jews, who, after Alexander, by means of an extensive commerce, 
 were scattered all over Europe,' (as Paulus assumes in his comments 
 upon the passage,) but all other nations. To tak'e ysvjjatTui, howev- 
 er, as an optative, " may there be one fold and one shepherd," is 
 evidently at variance with the manner in which the clauses of 
 the 16th verse are connected together by xat, as well as Christ's 
 mode of speaking in verse 28, which does not express a wish mere- 
 ly, but is altogether positive.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 21 
 
 13: 10. From this collection of passages,* it is evident, 
 that Christ's thoughts were always directed to the Jews and 
 heathen at the same time, and that the work in which he 
 was engaged, was calculated as much for the one as the 
 other. Now as in the idiom of that country, the phrase, 
 Jews and heathen, designated all mankind, it necessarily 
 follows that Jesus, in making use of it, gave his plan the 
 greatest universality, and distinguished it as a plan for the 
 whole human family. 
 
 The phrase, the world, has a meaning of similar extent. 
 Sometimes it designates the whole earth as the dwelling 
 place of the human race, at others, this race itself. — 
 Jesus makes use of this phrase also, for the purpose 
 of defining the object and compass of his benevolent 
 plan. In the parable of the tares, Mattlf. 13: 24 — 30, he 
 has compared his followers to the good seed which was 
 obliged to grow up with noxious weeds. The field how- 
 ever, where the seed was to be found, according to his 
 own explanation, vs. 37, 38, was not Palestine, nor the 
 region inhabited by the Jews, but the whole earth, the 
 world, without exception or limitation. He informed Nic- 
 odemus, John 3: 16, 17, a man proud of the imaginary 
 preference due to his nation, in express terms, that he had 
 been sent by the love of God for the good of the world, 
 the whole human family ; — that he came not to condemn 
 the world but to save it ; — an expression, which, as is ev- 
 ident from chap. 12: 46, 47, he used often to repeat and 
 inculcate. In the 6th chap, of John, with reference to 
 his having fed a great multitude on a former day, he calls 
 himself the living bread, sent by God to give nourishment, 
 and strength, not to the Jews only, but to the world, to 
 all mankind without exception, vs. 33 and 51. Pre- 
 cisely in the same way he describes himself as the light of 
 
 * The sentence, Matt. 9: 13. Mark 2: 17. Luke 5: 32, also indi- 
 cates with no inconsiderable degree of plainness, a resolution to im- 
 prove the heathen, provided the expression Sixaioi is understood of 
 the worshippers of the true God, and the uuaoraO.oiy of those who 
 are not,— of the heathen. Vid. Nachtigall's Buch der Weisheit, S, 
 195 ff. 
 
22 
 
 the world, John 3: 19. 8: 12. 9: 5, as the teacher and 
 benefactor of mankind, and compares himself to the sun 
 which produces its effect upon every part of the globe^ 
 chap. 11: 9. Tn the latter part of his life, a woman 
 poured a costly perfume upon his head, while he sat at 
 meat in Bethany. His disciples were indignant at her 
 for the act, but he told them that, wheresoever the 
 Gospel should be introduced throughout the whole world, 
 what she had done should be spoken of for a memorial of 
 her. Matt. 26: 13. Mark 14: 9. He went with wil- 
 lingness to the scene of his sufferings, and to meet death, 
 in order to exhibit to the whole world his great love 
 towards God as well as the punctuality of his obedi- 
 ence, John 14: 31 ; and after his departure, the Spirit of 
 truth, by means* of his disciples, was to teach this 
 very same world, and rescue it from the power of ig- 
 norance and vice, John 16: 8 — 11. In particular, he fre- 
 quently makes use of this very comprehensive expression 
 in the prayer to God, which he uttered shortly before his 
 crucifixion, John xvii. Among other things, in v. 18, 
 he says expressly that as God had sent him into* the world, 
 so he would send his disciples into the world ; that the 
 world, all mankind, should yet learn to consider him as the 
 messenger of God, v. 27. Now in these passages, it cannot 
 be doubted, that the phrase, the world, means all man- 
 kind without exception, for it cannot be limited in any res- 
 pect, without opposing the usus loqvendi. Jesus, there- 
 fore, unquestionably had the whole human family in view 
 and consequently deserves well of all mankind."^ 
 
 Jesus however makes use of other phrases of the same 
 import, for designating the greatest universality, whenever 
 he speaks of the extent of the plan. He says that he in- 
 tended to give his life a ransom for many. Matt. 20: 28, 
 and Mark 10: 45 ; that his blood was to be shed for 
 many. Matt. 16:28. Mark 14:24. Now we know that 
 
 t In Matt. 5: 13, 14 also, the destination of the apostles to be- 
 come the teachers and reformers of mankind at large, is expressed 
 with sufficient clearness. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 23 
 
 thfe many, according to the usus loquendi of the Hebrew, 
 are the whole multitude spoken of, and consequently in 
 this place the whole humari family, Rom. 5; 15, comp. 
 V. 12. This expression therefore is used to designate 
 the extent of Christ's benevolence, and show that he was 
 devoted to the best interests of all mankind. In Matt. 
 18: 11, he states, that the object of his coming into the 
 world, was, to save that which was lost, comp. Luke 
 19: 10, and Matt. 9: 13, and procure eternal happi- 
 ness for all who obey him, John 6: 38 — 40. Conse- 
 quently it was his intention to leave none unaided who 
 stood in need of his assistance, but to devote himself to 
 the welfare of all without exception. Even the term all, 
 however, is employed. In John 12: 20 — 32, we are 
 informed that some Greeks, that is heathen, who had 
 turned Jews, having come up to Jerusalem to celebrate 
 the passover, were anxious to form an acquaintance with 
 Jesus, and made known their wishes to Andrew and Phi- 
 lip. As he was expected soon to establish a splendid 
 earthly kingdom, probably their only object was to re- 
 commend themselves to his notice, by a timely introduc- 
 tion. He therefore evinced no desire to see them. On 
 the other hand, in his answer to the two disciples, he 
 compared himself to a grain of wheat, which must die 
 before it can bring forth any fruit, and gave them to un- 
 derstand that his end was drawing near ; that the man, 
 who would obtain the reward, must pass through such diffi- 
 culties as he had done ; that immediately after his death, 
 his cause, which, like a grain of wheat, was soon to under- 
 go great changes, should germinate and bring forth abun- 
 dance of fruit ; and that then he should draw all men unto 
 him, for that then, the time would have come for him to 
 devote himself indiscriminately to the welfare of all.* A- 
 bout this time, or shortly before his death, he held a pri- 
 vate conversation with his apostles, respecting the destruc- 
 tion that awaited their country, the city, and the temple, 
 — * 
 
 * Nosselt, Opusculoruin ad interpretat. Sacr. Scripturar. Fasc. II. 
 Diss. [, p. 3 seqq. 
 
24 
 
 in which, according to Mark 13: 10, he told ihem ex- 
 pressly, that his doctrines must first be preached among 
 all nations. In the solemn prayer to God, already quot- 
 ed, John 17: 2, he declares his determination to give 
 eternal life to all flesh, all mankind, as far as God had 
 marked them out for his disciples and followers. The 
 command, however, which he gave to his disciples on 
 his departure out of the world, is decisive in respect to 
 the universality of his plan. In it he no longer limits 
 their labors to Palestine or the Jewish nation, but orders 
 them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to 
 every creature, — all mankind without exception, Mark 16: 
 15 ; to teach all nations and baptize them, Matt. 28: 
 19. Luke 24: 47 ; and tells them that ^they shall be his 
 witnesses at Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria 
 and unto the uttermost part of the earth,' Acts 1: 8. Lan- 
 guage, therefore, contains no expression indicative of the 
 greatest universality, of which Jesus did not make use, 
 in order to express the compass of his plan. It is im- 
 possible to convey the idea, that he had all mankind in 
 view, in stronger and more definite terms than he has 
 done it. 
 
 (c) The doctrines which Jesus taught and inculcated, al- 
 so exhibit indubitable traces of that extension of thought, 
 of which we have been speaking, and of efforts to effect 
 a benevolent change in behalf of the whole human family, 
 and to facilitate its accomplishment. Of his strong declara- 
 tions against the traditions of the Jews, which had tended 
 so much to prevent them from holding familiar intercourse 
 with the heathen, I have already taken notice.* He also 
 rejected the distinction of clean and unclean food, which 
 had contributed not a little to increase the difficulties in 
 the way of such intercourse, Mark 7: 14 — 23, and with 
 the greatest animation attacked the national pride of his 
 
 * [The Talmud is at the present day one of the principal obstacles 
 to the conversion of the Jews. Vid. Von Kortum, Ueber Juden- 
 thuin und Juden, S. 17 f. 44 ff; Rohrer, Ueber die Judischen Be- 
 wohner der Oesterr. Monarchic, S. 120 ff. 
 Vorbesserung der Israeliten in Pohlen, S. 18 ff. 22 ff.] 
 
TOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 25 
 
 tountrymen, which had been one of its mightiest obstacles. 
 He most vehemently censured that show of sanctity under 
 which the Pharisees attracted the admiration of the ig- 
 norant populace, looked upon the heathen as contempti- 
 ble, and represented all intercourse with them as con- 
 taminating.* He most urgently recommended a thor- 
 ough reformation of the heart and life, and the worship 
 of God in spirit and in truth. It was necessary for him 
 to do all this, in order to prepare his countrymen for the 
 peaceable abolition of their ceremonial services, which 
 had hitherto proved an impassible barrier between them 
 and other nations, and been considered as containing the 
 essence of pure morality and true religion. He inculca- 
 ted nothing with more earnestness than a belief in the uni- 
 versal and impartial love of God, which is extended to 
 the very fowls of heaven ;.on which account, he usually 
 called God the Father in heaven. It was impossible for 
 any one to contemplate this doctrine and its resuhs, with- 
 out vievN^ing the heathen in a milder light, and approach- 
 ing them with feelings of benevolence and esteem. He 
 spoke of nothing in higher terms than the kindness with 
 which God pardons the vicious and wandering, as soon as 
 they lepent and reform. What can be more touching and 
 beautiful, than the manner in which, in the parable of the 
 prodigal son, Luke 15: 11 — 32, he applies this truth to the 
 heathen, and exhibits them, after a long wandering, as re- 
 turning and again received into their father's house ?f In 
 
 * Examine interpreters upon Matt. 15: 26. It is the misanthrop- 
 ical disposition of this sect in particular, and not that of the whole 
 nation, which Tacitus describes in his history, 1. V. c. 5. The Phar- 
 isees, as this writer remarks, actually had " adversus omnes alios 
 hostile odium;" and what he subjoins immediately afterwards respect- 
 ing the proselytes which they made, was true of them in the high- 
 est sense : " Nee quicquam prius imbuuntur, quam contemnere 
 Deos, exuere patriam ; parentes, liberos, fratres vilia habere ;" a 
 true commentary upon the words of Jesus ; " Woe unto you scribes 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye compass sea and land to make 
 one proselyte ; and when he is made, ye make him two fold more 
 the child of hell than yourselves," Matt. 23: 15. 
 
 t Michaelis' remarks upon this passage, S. 454 ; [In the notes 
 doubtless, appended to his translation of the N. T. in Germ. — Tr.] 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 order to inspire his proud and cruel countrymen with milder 
 dispositions and feelings towards others, he represents the 
 exalted worth of human nature in the liveliest colors, and 
 shows them, that it ought to be respected, even in the 
 smallest child and meanest slave. Finally, what was bet- 
 ter calculated to soften the hard-heartedness of the Jews 
 and prepare them for more familiar intercourse with the 
 heathen, than the command to love all mankind, which he 
 grounded upon the universal love of the Father in heaven, 
 who makes his sun to shine upon all nations, and sends 
 his rain as plentifully upon the fields of the vicious, as 
 those of the virtuous ? By representing love to mankind 
 in connexion with love to the Father in heaven, as the 
 substance of all morality, he entirely and forever abolish- 
 ed all party considerations in respect to distinction of fam- 
 ily, rank, nation and religion. The neighbour to be loved 
 as one's self, was every man without exception, Luke 10: 
 29 — 37. Now the object which Jesus had in view in all 
 these instructions is perfectly evident. As far as com- 
 prehended and followed, they would necessarily expand 
 the human heart, and excite that noble public spirit, with- 
 out which no great and benevolent plan can ever be carried 
 into effect. It is only when we admit that Jesus had a 
 plan in view, which aimed at the good of all mankind, that 
 we perceive the reason why these doctrines constituted the 
 main part of his instructions, and why he was so anxious 
 to instil them into the very hearts of his hearers. 
 
 § 12. From what has been said then, it follows, that 
 there is the highest degree of probability of which such a 
 thing is capable, in favor of the position, that Jesus was 
 engaged in a plan of universal extent ; for he has declar- 
 ed all mankind to be the object of his efforts and cares ; 
 not in a few cases, but often ; not in ambiguous and re- 
 served, but in definite and unreserved language ; not in a 
 cold and indifferent manner, but with an energy, warmth, 
 and holy ardor which boldly met every obstacle, and 
 sacrificed life itself for the accomplishment of the great 
 object in view. In short, the unlimited universality of his 
 
FOR THE GOOD OP ALL MEN. 27 
 
 purpose is illustrated and confirmed by his words, actions, 
 and instructions. It is no where said or intimated, that 
 he waited until he found himself incapable of producing 
 any effect upon his own countrymen, and was obliged to 
 relinquish his plan of rescuing them from moral and po- 
 litical degradation, before he expanded his views and di- 
 rected his thoughts to foreigners. On the other hand, I 
 have shown that the universality of his plan commenced 
 with his ministry. The first year of his public labors had 
 scarcely elapsed, before he spoke of receiving the hea- 
 then into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 8: 11, 12, and in- 
 formed the Samaritan woman, that the whole earth was 
 soon to be consecrated as a temple to the service of God, 
 and God to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, John 4: 
 21 — 24. True, he spoke in clearer and stronger terms 
 upon the subject towards the close of his public career, 
 but that his plan was perfected at its very commencement, 
 cannot be denied. He kept its accomplishment before 
 him in every step that he took while on the theatre of ac- 
 tion, with a clearness, which could have resulted only 
 from his having in view a plan accurately formed, and 
 perfected in all its parts. Every thing that he taught and 
 did, was exactly to the purpose. — Had he had nothing of 
 the kind in contemplation, he would not have cast so 
 many glances at this great object, while under the neces- 
 sity of confining his labors to his countrymen, nor have 
 observed on so many occasions that he felt himself called 
 to be something more than a reformer of the obstinate 
 Jews. One of the finest objects of history is to make us 
 acquainted with great men, and enable us to develop 
 their plans. In the present case, it has accomplished this 
 object most effectually ; and the great man cannot be found 
 who has so often and so clearly expressed himself respect- 
 ing the compass of his enterprises and plans as Jesus. 
 Were we, therefore, as unprejudiced and impartial in judg- 
 ing of him, as, according to rule, we usually are, in judg- 
 ing of others, we should never hesitate to believe, that 
 Jesus had the good of all men in view, and be constrain- 
 ed to admit, that every thing that history has ever said 
 
28 
 
 respecting the views of any great man, must be uncertain, 
 if no certainty be found here.* 
 
 IT. The character of Christ's plan. 
 
 ^13. But what were Chrisfs real intentions^ what 
 character did he give to his plan ? In answering this ques- 
 tion, I shall confine myself closely to what the Evangelists 
 have said upon the subject. If the expressions which they 
 use be impartially compared together, we shall find that 
 they exhibit a clearness and connexion, which must re- 
 move every important doubt respecting the real character 
 of Christ's plan. 
 
 Jesus commenced his public career with the declara- 
 tion, that the kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of God 
 was at hand, M^it, 4: 17. Mark 1: 15. Luke 4 : 43, 
 and conducted in a manner, from which every one may 
 see, that it was not his intention to be considered mere- 
 ly as a herald and harbinger of this heavenly kingdom, 
 but as its author and founder. From the whole course 
 he pursued, it is evident that his object was to pre- 
 pare for a mighty change upon earth. He spoke of a 
 commission which be had received from God, in the 
 execution of which he was obliged to engage, John 10: 
 18. 12: 49, 50; and of a work, which God had intrust- 
 ed to him, John 4: 34. 9: 4. 17: 4. He early chose as- 
 sistants to be educated agreeably to his views, and ultimate- 
 ly employed as his delegates, Mark 3: 13 — 19. Luke 6: 
 12 — 16. Matt. 10: 2 — 4. He declared, that by means 
 of these delegates he would establish an imperishable 
 church, Matt. 16: 18, 19, and invite all the nations of 
 the earth to participate inlhe kingdom of God, Mark 16: 
 15. Matt. 28: 19. Finally, he always represented his 
 own life, as the expense at which this divine kingdom 
 should be established upon earth, John 10: 1 1 — 16. Matt. 
 21: 33—44. 26: 28. Luke 22: 20 ; while, at the same 
 time, he spoke of himself, as the most distinguished per- 
 
 * Vid. Appendix B. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 29 
 
 sonage in the new state, as its head and king, Matt. 20: 20 
 —23. 21:38,42. 24:30. 25:31. John 10: 11—16. 
 17: 2. 18: 36,37. 
 
 § 14. That the manner in which Jesus introduced 
 himself to his countrymen, had a reference to the e^- 
 pectaiions they entertained, is perhaps undeniable. Had 
 they not at this time, been looking for such a change as 
 was commonly signified by the expressions, the kingdom 
 of heaven, the kingdom of God, under which they com- 
 prehended the sum of their most exalted hopes and de- 
 sires, it would have been in vain for him to predict the ap- 
 proach of such a kingdom, for people would have paid no 
 attention to the notice and have altogether neglected to 
 prepare themselves for the event; but, because Jesus 
 made use of this attractive form of expression in order to 
 give a concise intimation of his purpose, it by no means 
 follows, that with it he combined such views and expec- 
 tations as his countrymen had done ; nor, because he 
 made his appearance as the author and founder of the 
 kingdom of heaven, that he pledged himself to the per- 
 formance of every thing which they expected and demand- 
 ed of this kingdom.* We must ascertain what views he had 
 respecting the kingdom of God which he came to estab- 
 lish, entirely from his own explanations. This is the only 
 way to avoid imputing to him something false, and proceed- 
 ing upon the gratuitous supposition, that his views re- 
 specting the kingdom of heaven, coincided with the ex- 
 pectations of his countrymen. In order, therefore, to ob- 
 tain a right apprehension of the character of his plan, I 
 shall examine his description of the kingdom of heaven, 
 the establishment of which he declares to have been the 
 
 * [This is one of the principal arguments adduced by the Fragment- 
 ist, Vom Zweeke Jesu, S. 10—12. 24 fF. 108—113. 129—133, in sup- 
 port of his assertion respecting the political plan of Jesus. Moreover 
 It was proper that Christ should reject those capricious views of the 
 kingdom of God which originated in the contracted dispositions and 
 feelings of his nation, and commence with the purer ones grounded 
 upon the Old Testament, and which the Jews might and would have 
 known, had they examined the Scriptures in a conscientious man- 
 ner. Comp. Matt. 22: 29.] 
 
 3* 
 
30 SKETCH OF CHRIST^S I»LAN 
 
 principal object of his appearance upon earthy and of alt 
 his efforts. 
 
 § 15. There is a great lack of credible information as 
 to the history of the Jews and their mode of thinking, at 
 the time of Christ. It is very difficult, therefore, to 
 form accurate conceptions of the views which this nation 
 entertained respecting the kingdom of God, of which they 
 were then in expectation. It is quite certain, however, that 
 they flattered themselves with pleasing dreams of an earth- 
 ly kingdom, and were anticipating a change, which should 
 not only restore them to freedom and civil independence, 
 but put them in the possession of every sensual enjoyment, 
 and give them a splendid dominion over the other nations 
 of the earth.* Those Jews to be found in foreign coun- 
 tries, had similar expectations ;f nor were the disciples of 
 Christ themselves destitute of them, as is perfectly evident 
 from the accounts of the Evangelists. 
 
 § 16. Every thing that Jesus did, on the other hand, 
 goes to prove, to the greatest degree of certainty, that by 
 the kingdom of heaven he understood no such thing as a 
 universal monarchy of the Jews. 
 
 (a) It is well known that he made his appearance in 
 the greatest poverty. Matt. 8: 20. Luke 9: 58, and liv- 
 ed upon the generosity of his friends, Luke 8: 3. It is 
 also well known, that, so far from seeking any connexion 
 with the rich and powerful, he was careful to avoid them, 
 John 4: 46 — 50. Luke 9: 9. Particularly deserving of 
 notice, however, is the zeal with which, on every occa- 
 sion, he attacked the Pharisees, the strongest party among 
 bis countrymen, and seemed purposely to excite their 
 indignation. Had it been his intention to effect a political 
 change, he would have courted their favor, and been oblig- 
 
 * Vid. Corrodi, Kritische Geschichte des Chiliasmus, Band I. S. 
 108 if., and Hess, Ueber die Lehren, Thaten, und Schicksale unsers 
 Herrn, Abschn. V. S. 135 ff. [Ausgb. v. 1806, B. I. Abschn. VI. S. 
 386 ff.] 
 
 t Lardner's credibility of the Gospel History, Part I. Book I. Ch. 
 V. p. 169 seqq. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 31 
 
 ed to unite himself with them.* Instead of doing so, he 
 devoted himself to the common people, Matt. 9: 36. 11: 
 5, and especially to those, who were for the most part 
 despised and neglected, Luke 5: 29, 30. 15: I, 2. His 
 sole object in this was, to instruct them in religion and la- 
 bor for their moral improvement, Matt. 11: 5. Luke 5: 
 31, 32. That he did not do so in order to obtain the 
 affections of the multitude, and employ them in accom- 
 .plishing something of a political nature, is evident from the 
 fact, as will be shown farther on, that he made his escape 
 from them and retired, as soon as he saw his efforts pro- 
 duce any unusual excitement among them, John 6: 15. 
 In general, nothing is to be found in any of his discourses 
 respecting the public affairs of the nation and the condition 
 of the state. On the other hand, he put off all those who 
 applied to him upon such subjects, Luke 12: 13, 14. John 
 8. 1 — 11, and once, when constrained to give his opin- 
 ion in regard to a political question proposed to him, he 
 declared himself in favor of supporting the established con- 
 stitution and yielding obedience to the Romans, Matt. 22: 
 17, 21. Mark 12: 13—17. Luke 20: 20—26. Be- 
 sides, he never appeared with the bustle and importunity 
 of a demagogue, determined to effect a political revolution, 
 and give a new constitution to the state, but always in the 
 peaceful capacity of a teacher, who had the instruction, 
 and moral improvement of his fellow citizens solely at 
 heart. 
 
 (b) Let us now attend to the declarations which he com- 
 bined with such conduct. He was asked when the king- 
 dom of God should come. His answer was, ' It will not 
 be announced by visible pomp, nor excite surprise, for it 
 has its seat in the inner man, Luke 17: 20, 21.f He 
 
 • The best accounts of the almost boundless influence which this 
 sect exerted upon the nation, are given by Josephus. Comp. par- 
 ticularly, Antiq, 1. XIII. c. 10. §5 Havercamp's ed., [Whiston'a 
 trans, the same, Tr. ;] also Serarii Trihaeresium, 1. II. c. 13. p. 79. 
 
 t This interpretation is most agreeable to the usus loquendi and 
 the context. For the usus loquendi, vid. Schleusner's Lex. under 
 the world, svTog. This meaning is required by the context, because 
 
told his apostles, who delighted to indulge themselves In 
 pleasing dreams respecting the greatness and power which 
 they should possess in the kingdom of their Lord, in di- 
 rect and definite terms, that they had no earthly power to 
 expect ; — that their greatness was to consist in being every 
 man's servant, and doing good to all. Matt. 20: 25 — 28. 
 Mark 10: 42 — 45. Luke 22: 25—27, and pronounced 
 the petition of the mother of James and John, that her 
 sons might be exalted to the dignity of the first officers 
 of state in the new monarchy, a very foolish one. Matt. 
 20: 20—22. Mark 10: 35—38. On this same occa- 
 sion, he observed, that it was not his object to subdue all 
 the nations of the earth to his control ; that on the oth- 
 er hand, he was rather to become the servant of all, and 
 offer his life in sacrifice for their good. Matt. 20: 28. 
 Mark 10: 45. Of this offering his life in sacrifice, which 
 is directly opposed to the idea that he intended to usurp 
 the place of an earthly ruler over his people, or the hu- 
 man race, he spoke on every suitable occasion ; and 
 whenever he saw his disciples elated with bold and joyful 
 expectations, respecting the approach of an earthly king- 
 dom of splendor, in order to suppress such thoughts, he 
 informed them particularly and directly, that his end 
 was near, Luke 9: 43,44. Matt. 16: 18, 19, comp. 
 vs. 21 — ^25. It is well known that he had his death in 
 prospect during the latter part of his life, co-operated in 
 hastening it, and went up to Jerusalem on purpose to die. 
 Matt. 20:17 — 19. John 11: 7 — 10;* — a circumstance 
 
 the phrase, within you, is opposed to every thing which strikes the 
 senses; every thing external whatever, Rom. 14: 17. [It will not des- 
 troy the force of the passage, however, as a proof text in this case, if 
 the other interpretation be given to it, defended in particular by E. S. 
 Cyprian, Warnung vor Gleichgaltigkeit der Religg., S. 81—84, and it 
 be rendered ; " The kingdom of heaven in the person of the Messi- 
 ah, has, without being recognized, already in silence made its ap- 
 pearance among you," (comp. John 1: 26,) since Christ opposed this 
 noiseless appearance to the pomp of a political kingdom.] 
 
 * [Comp. Eusebius, Demonstr. Evang. III. 4. p. 108; Ovds oKotg 
 /5taiov VTTfusivs ri?.svTijv, uX?.'' wg cevro ^lovov sxiav naosSiSov roig ini- 
 ^ovXtvovai TO aaniw — atfiirog y.ai iXsv-&iQos avTog ay' aavrov rtjv ix lov 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 33 
 
 in itself sufficient to prove that he had no intentions of es- 
 tablishing an earthly monarchy. And in perfect accord- 
 ance with this, he finally told Pilate that his kingdom was 
 not of this world, and that he had never aimed at the acqui- 
 sition of external power, as then he should have armed his 
 followers and put himself at their head, and not have so pa- 
 tiently surrendered himself up to his enemies, John 18: 
 36. More he could not have done to prove that he 
 neither shared in the prevailing expectations of his coun- 
 trymen, nor ever intended to satisfy them; and we may 
 truly say, that the principal reason why he gave him- 
 self up into the hands of his enemies, and departed 
 from the world by so early and ignominious a death, was, 
 as soon as possible, and forever, to annihilate the idea, that 
 it was his object to found an earthly kingdom, and to give 
 a different direction to the thoughts, wishes, and efforts of 
 his disciples and friends."^ 
 
 § 17. Now if the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus an- 
 nounced at the commencement of his public career, and 
 which he came to found, was not an earthly monarchy, 
 it must have been a inoral institution, a kingdom of truth 
 and virtue, 
 
 1. That the kingdom of God, which he intended to es- 
 tablish upon earth and fill with all nations, was actually 
 such an institution, he repeatedly and plainly declared ; 
 and did it with such earnestness and animation, as to 
 leave an impartial man no room to doubt that this was 
 the sole object of the plan which engrossed his thoughts, 
 and in the execution of which he labored and died. He 
 commenced his ministry by demanding repentance, and a 
 reformation of the corrupt morals then prevalent, because 
 the kingdom of heaven was at hand. This was the purport 
 of almost the first sentence that he uttered. Matt. 4: 17. 
 
 GwuuTog avax^grjoiv Inoiiiro' and C. C. Flatt, Lftsst sich der Tod Je- 
 BU aus einem rationalist. Gesichtspuncte betrachten ? in Sasskind'a 
 Magazin, XII. 1 — 24, together with the supplement, in Bengel's 
 Archiv, I. 1. 17 — 45, compared with C. L. Nitzsch, De Mortis a J. C. 
 oppetitae necessitate morali, Wittenb. 1810-11.] 
 
 * [A most decisive proof, that Christ was free from all thoughts 
 of a worldly power, is derived from the history of the temptation, in 
 
34 
 
 From it even his disciples could at first discover but lit- 
 tle relative to the object before him, or intimating that 
 they should so soon be obliged to share in his labors, and 
 assist in also preaching repentance, Mark 6: 12. When 
 he called them from the employment of fishermen, he told 
 them, that, from henceforth, they should catch men, Mark 
 1: 17. Luke 5: 10;* and the commissions, which he in- 
 trusted to them, most clearly prove this catching of men 
 to have been winning them and obtaining possession of 
 them for moral purposes. When the attention which he 
 had excited among the people was such as to furnish him 
 with opportunity for discoursing to them more at large, 
 he made it the principal object and the genuine spirit of 
 of all he said, to impart moral information, and he told 
 them in every possible way, sometimes in plain words, at 
 others, in striking parables, that he had the moral improve- 
 ment of mankind in view, and that nothing but a love of 
 truth and virtue would ever entitle a man to the right of 
 citizenship in the government about to be established. 
 The very first of his discourses in detail, which has been 
 preserved by Matthew, chap. 5 — 7, is full of such as- 
 sertions. It is entirely composed of moral precepts and 
 contains Christ's annunciation of himself as an improver 
 of morality and a decided opposer of the Pharisees, who 
 were its chief corrupters among the people. In the very 
 beginning of it, he assures them that the kingdom of heav- 
 en was particularly designed for such poor men as the 
 apostles were. Matt. 5: 3, comp. chap. 15: 23, 24 ;t — 
 
 which we are told that he rejected the proposed plan for obtaining 
 worldly power with the greatest disdain as something satanic, and 
 altogether at variance with the designs of God, Matt. 4: 8 — 10. The 
 passage will prove this, even if taken as a parable ; which, however, 
 is altogether inadmissible, since it is indirect opposition to all the 
 natural rules of a parable, to unite a historical person with those that 
 are merely feigned ; and whenever Christ speaks of himself in 
 parables, he represents himself under a fictitious personage.] 
 
 * Vid. Euthymius Zigabenus and Grotius at this passage. 
 
 t That this passage must be understood of those who were desti- 
 tute of wealth and power, has been shown by Grotius in a manner 
 which places it beyond all reasonable controversy. [The explanation 
 which Grotius gives of Matt. 5: 3, is hardly tenable. He does not 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 35 
 
 men, who felt a lively zeal in the cause of virtue and pie- 
 ty and were ready to endure persecutions in it, v. 1 0. 
 Mark 8: 34, 35. Luke 6: 22, 23 ;— men, who looked 
 for their reward in another world, and thus participated 
 in the lot of those, who had labored and suffered in this 
 cause before them, v. 12. It is obvious, that the qualities 
 which Jesus here requires of his followers, stood in direct 
 opposition to the sensual expectations of his countrymen, 
 and had reference solely to a moral institution. The admo- 
 nitions and warnings, given in the subsequent part of the dis- 
 course, relate purely to objects of a moral character. It is 
 particularly worthy of remark, that in v. 20, he express- 
 ly declares that every thing must be entirely changed in 
 a moral point of view from what it had hitherto been, for 
 that the virtue of the Pharisees which had been so highly 
 exalted, and for which his countrymen felt the greatest 
 esteem, was far too imperfect ever to fit a man for the 
 kingdom of heaven. This he proved very circumstan- 
 tially, by unfolding the true meaning of some of the main 
 precepts of morality and representing them in all their 
 sanctity, in order thus to exhibit the little agreement there 
 was between them and the conduct of the Pharisees, 
 chap. 5: seqq. 6: 18. Now as nothing could be more 
 
 indeed, contrary to all grammatical rules as it would be, connect 
 nv6v^ari with ^laxaQioi, corap. Knapp, Scripta. var. arg. nr. XI. p. 
 400 seqq., but, what is equally incapable of being proved, by the 
 spiritually poor, he understands those who bear their poverty with a 
 pious and willing mind. Jesus evidently speaks of those, who, (comp. 
 Isaiah 61: 1. Luke 4: 18. Matt. 11:25,) confess their ignorance, un- 
 worthiness, and spiritual inability ; and hence, what follows in the 
 4th verse, respects those who mourn over their internal misery. In 
 the introduction to the sermon on the mount, there is a short ab- 
 stract given of all the gradations of Christianity from its commence- 
 ment to its perfection, and the close connexion which it exhibits, re- 
 quires that all the members of this chain, and of course the first, 
 should designate a spiritual quality. It is evident, however, that 
 thus interpreted, this passage is equally good, if not better than in 
 the other case, as a proof-text respecting the object of Jesus ; for 
 this ■perfect self-resignation, which the Gospel requires as the first 
 condition, ridiculed though it be indeed by the natural man, such 
 for instance as a Julian was, points out more than any thing else, 
 the purely spiritual character of Christ's kingdom.] 
 
36 SKETCH OF CHRIST^S PLAN 
 
 directly opposed to a system of morality, so pure, than the 
 selfishness of the Jews, which looked for earthly gain in 
 the kingdom of the Messiah, Jesus urges them to make a 
 more correct estimate of the good tilings of this life, and 
 consider every thing of inferior importance to the kingdom 
 of heaven, which had already begun, and make it the 
 principal object of their exertions to obtain admission into 
 this kingdom, chap. 6: 1 9 — 34. He also adds that a 
 man's merit can be determined only by his obedience to 
 God, and hence only by his virtue, and not by his adhe- 
 rence to the founder of this kingdom, or bis efforts to ex- 
 tend it, chap. 7: 21 — ^23. It is impossible, therefore, for 
 any one to declare in stronger language, that the object 
 which he has in view is altogether of a moral nature, than 
 Jesus has done it, in the very first complete discourse 
 which he delivered in public. 
 
 2. With this, the figurative descriptions which Christ 
 has given of the kingdom of God in his parables. Matt. 
 13; 3 seqq. Mark 4: 2 seqq. Luke 8: 4 seqq., have 
 a very exact correspondence. They are the delinea- 
 tions of an institution in which every thing is adapted to 
 improve mankind and render them happy. In another 
 place, he pronounces those the best fitted for the kingdom 
 of God, who possess a feeling of universal benevolence and 
 an anxious desire for the advancement of moral digni- 
 ty and perfection. Matt. 18: 1— -14. Mark 9: 33—37; 
 and, as the rich are too often deficient in these respects, he 
 declares it almost impossible for them to enter the kingdom 
 of heaven, Matt. 19:23, 24. Mark 10: 23—25. This ex- 
 pression would have been altogether inappropriate, had the 
 kingdom of God been any thing but a moral institution, 
 requiring personal sacrifice and self-denial. In order to 
 divest his language of all ambiguity, and tell his hearers in 
 the plainest manner possible, that none must suppose this 
 kingdom to contain any thing sensual, he assures them 
 that its seat is in the inner man, Luke 17: 21, and re- 
 quires every one desirous of partaking in it, to exhibit, not 
 the courage and bravery of a hero, but the teachableness 
 and simplicity of a child, Luke 18: 16, 17. Mark 10: 
 15, 16. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 37 
 
 3. If with these we connect those assertions found es- 
 pecially in John, it will be impossible for a doubt to re- 
 main that the kingdom which Jesus was establishing, and 
 by which he intended to improve the condition of the 
 whole world, was a kingdom of truth and morality. Soon 
 after he entered upon his ministry he held a remarkable 
 conversation with a Samaritan woman, in which he felt at 
 liberty to express himself with far more freedom respect- 
 ing his own particular views than he was accustomed to 
 do in the presence of his countrymen, whose prejudices 
 he was obliged to spare. On this occasion he entirely 
 laid aside the Hebrew phrase, the kingdom of God, and 
 instead of it, spoke of the worship of God in spirit and in 
 truth as then about to be introduced into all parts of the 
 world without regard to the distinctions of nation and 
 country, John 4: 23, 24. The Jews expected of the 
 Messiah the restoration o{ Xhoiv freedom. Jesus^ promised 
 freedom, but a freedom from the tyranny of 'vice, to be 
 obtained by the power of the truth, John 8: 31 — 36. 
 Shortly before his death he conversed with his friends 
 respecting the great work for which he had selected them, 
 and in which they were soon to engage. For their en- 
 couragement and support he promised them nothing but 
 the Spirit of truth. This was not only to guide them, but 
 through them to teach and reform the whole world, John 
 14: 17, 26. 15: 26. 16: 13. Whatever we understand 
 by this Spirit of truth, we must admit it to have been given 
 to the apostles to prepare them for the moral undertaking, 
 the accomplishment of which had been intrusted to their 
 hands. I have already observed that in the presence of 
 Pilate, Jesus declared his kingdom to be a kingdom of 
 truth and not of this world, nor intended to injure the 
 power and authority of its rulers in the least degree. 
 That it was his intention to benefit all men by laboring in 
 the cause of morality, is a position fully confirmed by the 
 fact that he speaks in express terms of a new birth, an en- 
 tire reformation and renovation of the heart, and in the 
 most direct and definite manner, declares his intention to 
 create mankind anew and make them better. In Matt. 
 4 
 
 I 
 
38 
 
 19: 28, he calls the new order of things which he had in 
 contemplation, a regeneration, and that this regeneration 
 was not to be a political change nor a resuscitation of 
 the old national constitution, he asserted in a manner 
 worthy of the deepest attention, in the well known dialogue 
 which he held with Nicodemus, John 3: 1 seqq. He 
 told the astonished scribe, with the dignity -of an ambassa- 
 dor of God, who was conscious of being engaged in the 
 most important business and felt his appropriate sphere of 
 action to be without the bounds of the corporeal world, vs. 
 11 — 13, that a man must be renovated by the influences 
 of a better religion before he could be admitted into the 
 kingdom of God, v. 3 ; that indolent human nature, alto- 
 gether sunk as it was in sensuality, must experience an 
 entirely new birth in order to become spirit and awake 
 to a higher moral life, vs. 4 — 6 ;* not that there was any 
 lack of spiritual faculties, for they were every where in 
 action, but that they were destitute of the proper direction. 
 He told Nicodemus that they should now receive the pro- 
 per direction by means of the new birth under the influ- 
 ences of this better religion, v. 8 ;f that though it would 
 
 * [Comp. the author's sermon, J. 1799. I. am Feste der Dreyein- 
 igkeit, nr. 22. S. 442 fF; " The intention of Jesus to improve man- 
 kind by means of a new moral creation."] 
 
 t There is not the least reason for all at once giving the word 
 Tcvtvua, a meaning, in this place, different from what it has at the 
 end of the 6th verse. There it is used in reference to the moral 
 powers of human nature, which by means of a higher influence in 
 connexion with the religion, are put into appropriate action; by which 
 means man is rendered a better being and exalted above the objects 
 
 # sense. Now here in the 8th verse it is said that these same mor- 
 powers, capable of being animated and directed are every where 
 in action, as well in the heathen world as among the Jews, and that 
 their language and indications in human nature cannot possibly be 
 mistaken ; that these powers had hitherto been destitute of a defi- 
 nite direction, and not operated with the requisite regularity ; 
 and that the formation of these irregulated powers by means of the 
 better religion, and the higher assistance connected with it, is the 
 object now in view. Many ancient and modern interpreters have 
 found it hard to understand the word 7tvsvf.ia of the wind, in opposi- 
 tion to the context and the usus loquendi of the N. T. in other pla- 
 ces. Comp. Suicer's Thesaurus Eccles. Tom. II. p. 780 and Wolfs 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 39 
 
 cost him his life to effect this great and universal change, 
 yet his death should result in the salvation of all mankind, v. 
 14, for that he came to make all happy who adhered to 
 him and were willing to be improved ; to do good to all 
 mankind without exception, vs. 15 — 17, and hence, that 
 none should remain miserable but those who hated the 
 truth, and out of a love to vice, rejected it, vs. 18 — 21. 
 Jesus therefore had a new moral creation in view. His 
 object was to animate all mankind with better life f — to 
 arouse, direct, and enndble their spiritual faculties, and 
 exalt the human race to a state of moral dignity and 
 happiness. This was the kingdom of God which he 
 had in view, — the important work which occupied his 
 
 Curae, at this passage. They have not understood the connexion of 
 thought however, as it must be understood, if we give that word its fig- 
 urative meaning. [The old Lutheran rendering of nvevua, however, 
 by wind, derives firm support from the fact, that 6vru)g at the end of 
 the verse, points to a preceding parable, or comparison. Comp. 
 Knapp, 1. c. nr. VI. p. 224 seqq. A meaning different from the 
 Scriptural usage does seem to be here imputed to the word TrrttJ/ta, 
 as it generally means the divine Spirit and its operations. That the 
 comparison which Christ has chosen for an illustration, is a very 
 striking one, has been clearly shown by Heinr. Muller in his Evan- 
 gel. Hertzenspiegel, upon this portion of Scripture,] [The para- 
 phrase which Reinhard has given of these verses may appear some- 
 what obscure. It is proper to observe, therefore, that in the 5th 
 and the first instance of the 6th verse, he evidently understands 
 Ttvsuiia, to mean the spirit of God, but in the last instance of the 6th 
 and in the 8th, the moral powers of man. His views of regenera- 
 tion are well expressed in his Dogmatik. ' The Scriptures clear- 
 ly teach us,' says he in that work, * that notwithstanding the posses- 
 sion of excellent faculties for doing good, we shall never be able 
 to attain to that perfection which the Gospel requires, without the 
 especial assistance of God, and attribute the whole work of regene- 
 ration to the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit. Tit. 3: 4JWB. 
 Gal. 6: 15. Rom. 8: 1 — 14 &c. We are authorized, therefore, to 
 assert, that man can neither effect his own conversion, entirely by 
 his own strength, according to the views of the Pelagians, nor com- 
 mence it by his own strength, according to those of the Semi-Pela- 
 fians, and are constrained to admit, that every thing in this respect 
 epends upon divine grace:' §§ 82, 83, 123, and 148, in the last of 
 which, he has given a more particular explanation of these verses. 
 For the various explanations that different interpreters have given 
 of them, consult the commentaries of Paulus and Kuinoel, and Titt- 
 mann's Meletamata Sacra. Tr] 
 
40 
 
 his mind. It is necessary still farther to explain the prin- 
 cipal heads which Jesus included under this change agree- 
 ably to his own remarks. 
 
 § 18. Religion, morality, and society, are the three 
 great topics which exert the most influence in the formation 
 of character, and make men, what they are. Religion, 
 when Jesus began his career, was, thronghout the world, 
 nothing but a miserable superstition. Morality was either 
 neglected, or had been corrupted by principles which ei- 
 ther relaxed or exaggerated its claims. Finally, the so- 
 cial relations were in the greatest disorder, and so unhap- 
 pily regulated, as to evince a spirit of hostility in all their 
 parts and appear to have been calculated for mutual sub- 
 jugation. If then Jesus intended to create mankind anew, 
 and radically improve the condition of the world ; to es- 
 tablish a genuine kingdom of God upon earth and collect 
 all nations into it, it was necessary for him to destroy su- 
 perstition and substitute true religion in its stead ;r— to pu- 
 rify morality, adapt it to human nature, and procure for it 
 a universal influence ; — and finally, to act upon the social 
 relations, and without directly attacking civil constitutions, 
 diffuse a spirit over the earth, which should gradually rec- 
 tify abuses, fill it with universal peace, and elevate human 
 nature to the greatest perfection of which it is capable. 
 — It can be shown that such was the undertaking which Je- 
 sus actually had in contemplation, and the particular charac- 
 ter of his plan becomes perfectly obvious, as soon as we 
 know his designs in reference to it, and what he intended 
 to accomplish. 
 
 Religion. 
 
 § 19. That the religion of the human race, when Je- 
 sus made his appearance upon earth, was in reality noth- 
 ing better than a senseless superstition, hardly needs any 
 proof. All mankind were then divided into Jews and 
 gentiles. Among the heathen, the Greeks and Romans 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 
 
 were the only two nations of any consider^ftle ctegree oi f* i,^*.\^' 
 cultivation. All, that were not under their control, or par- yjl_^ * 
 takers of their sciences, regulations, and moral habfts,- were--" 
 in a greater or less degree of barbarity. Now that what 
 was called religion among the barbarous nations of that 
 age, was incontestibly nothing but a senseless and false be- 
 lief, prejudicial to morality and happiness, may be ascer- 
 tained either from looking at the representations of which 
 it was composed, or at the ceremonies and regulations 
 connected with its practice. There is no kind of idolatry, 
 which was not to be met with among these nations. Here 
 Fetichism prevailed, there Sabianism ; here the worship 
 of the brute creation, there the worship of fire ; here the 
 adoration of heroes and demons, there the adoration of 
 allegorical divinities. In most places, many of these er- 
 rors were to be found at the same time, and in connex- 
 ion with almost every degradation to which human nature 
 is liable, and every species of cruelty and wild extravagance, 
 that can be thought of. The public religion of the Greeks 
 and Romans was not much better. It was Polytheism, 
 under the oppressive dominion of which, the great mass 
 of the people remained in total ignorance of every thing 
 belonging to the true worship of God. True, there were 
 philosophers in both nations who sought to break away 
 from the senseless, though popular belief then prevalent, 
 and aspired after better notions and more correct views. 
 Many of them, however, wandered while they aspired, re- 
 jected all religion, and took up with comfortless infidelity. 
 Others gave themselves up to skepticism, and declared the 
 existence of a Supreme being, his influence in human af- 
 fairs, and our existence after death, to be problems 
 which man is wholly unable to solve. The best of them 
 always retained errors which cannot be reconciled with 
 a purified knowledge of religion, and which did not fail to 
 produce injurious effects in regard to life and conduct. 
 All without exception agreed that the prevailing religion 
 should be respected, and its regulations and ceremonies 
 attended to, for the honor of the civil constitution to which 
 it belonged. Upon such principles it was impossible for 
 4* 
 
42 SKETCH OF CHRlST^S fLAN 
 
 the more correct views which had been struck out by 
 philosophizing reason, ever to come into general circula- 
 tion, even among the Greeks and Romans. Hence they 
 always remained the property of the few who had been 
 initiated into the secrets of science. The great mass of 
 the people not only continued in total ignorance, but were 
 induced to hold fast their unbelief with the more obstina- 
 cy and confidence, from seeing philosophers publicly pro- 
 fess the name. 
 
 And what shall we say of the Jews ? They were free 
 indeed in the times of Christ from the errors of Polythe- 
 ism and idolatry, but they had changed the worship of the 
 only true God into slavish ceremonies as much opposed 
 to genuine religion, and as prejudicial to morality, as idol- 
 atry itself. Tlie Jews used to look upon God as a des- 
 pot, whose commands are arbitrary, and who is governed 
 in all he does, by passionate self-will. They proudly con- 
 ceived themselves to be the chosen people of God, and 
 preferred by him to all others. By a false and fanciful 
 interpretation of the Mosaic law, they had been seduced 
 into the erroneous belief, that the most meritorious servi- 
 ces a man can perform, and the very essence of religion, 
 consist of corporeal exercises and sacred ceremonies. 
 They trembled before even the God whose favorites they 
 thought themselves, with boundless arrogance, despised 
 the heathen, and fancied themselves holy, if, notwithstand- 
 ing the grossest vices, and the wildest extravagances, they 
 fasted diligently, offered sacrifice, and yielded obedience 
 to the foolish superstitions of their fathers. So corrupt 
 therefore were the moral habits of the people, so wretched 
 was their entire condition, and so hateful and odious were 
 they in the eyes of other nations, that they sincerely felt 
 their need of extraordinary aid, and hence were most anx- 
 iously looking out for the Messiah from whom they expect- 
 ed it. Under such circumstances we shall not go too far 
 in saying, that the spirit of true religion had vanished from 
 the world in which Jesus made his appearance ; — that the 
 pernicious influence of superstition controlled every thing ; 
 — and that a mighty body of priests, whose welfare and 
 
rOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 43 
 
 authority depended upon this influence, was incessantly 
 engaged in preserving and strengthening it.* 
 
 § 20. One of the principal objects contemplated in 
 the plan of Jesus, was, to provide a remedy for these evils, 
 destroy every kind of superstition, and, by the extension 
 of religious truth, make the world acquainted with a ra- 
 tional worship of God. For this purpose he declared the 
 great doctrine of one only true God, to be the foundation 
 of all religion, and represented himself as God's delegate, 
 commissioned to unite all men in his worship and thereby 
 render them happy, John 17: 1 — 3. Matt. 28: 18, 19. 
 By the general promulgation of this fundamental truth, 
 all kinds of heathenish superstition were to be forever ex- 
 tirpated, and a conviction, which had hitherto been the 
 exclusive property of the Jews and of enlightened philos- 
 ophers among the heathen, to become the faith of the 
 whole human family, the prevailing popular belief. In 
 order to prepare this great doctrine still farther for uni- 
 versal promulgation, and make it more influential upon 
 mankind, Jesus represented the only true God as a father; 
 — not in the sense in which this phrase had sometimes 
 been employed among the Jews and heathen, who by it 
 designated the author, the creator and the lord ;\ but to 
 
 * [With reference to these points, consult Hess, Lehre, Thaten, 
 and Schichsale unsers Herrn, I. nr. 1. and 6 ; and introductions to 
 the history of the Christian church, particularly Neander's Allg. 
 Gesch. der christl. Relig. I. 1. S. 1 — 90; "The general condition of 
 the Romano-Greek and Jewish world in a religious point of view, at 
 the time of the first appearance and the farther extension of Chris- 
 tianity."] 
 
 t This appellation is met with as early as Deut. 32: 6, and with re- 
 ference to this passage, the prophets, vid. Isa. 63: 16. 64: 8. Jer. 3: 19. 
 and Mai. 1: 6.2; 9, 10, make use of the same. The passage, Ps. 103: 
 13, approaches the nearest to the representation which Jesus after- 
 wards connected with this word; where, however, God is not called 
 a father, but compared to a fia,ther. Among the Greeks, the word 
 father frequently meant the author, the inventor, the creator of a 
 thing ; comp. Casaubonus, Zura Athenftus Deipnos. 1. I. c. 1. p. 3 
 seq. der Leipz. Ausg., and in this sense Plato calls God the Father 
 of all," in Timaeo, p. 303. der Zweybr. Ausg. [Tom. IX.] Equally 
 common was it for the Greeks to employ this word to designate the 
 ruler, the governor, the most celebrated, the chief, and hence in Ho- 
 
44 
 
 express the disposition and feeling of God towards man- 
 kind, and declare in the most intelligent and impressive 
 manner, that God had not only given men their existence, 
 but that he stood in the relation to them of an educator 
 and benefactor, loved them, took care of them, and was 
 seeking to conform them to his image and make them 
 eternally happy, Matt. 5:44 — 49. 6: 9—13, 25—33, and 
 
 mer, II. I. 544. III. 276. 365, &c., Jupiter is almost always called 
 " the father of gods and men," and Plato substitutes the word king 
 in its stead, Epist. II. p. 69. [Tom. XI.,] with which compare Calli- 
 machus, in lev, v. 7. and 94. With respect to the last passage, Span- 
 heim is also to be consulted. The Romans imitated this, and not 
 only called the supreme God, father, wid. Horace, Odar. 1. I., od. 2. 
 V. 2, and Virgil, Georg, 1. I. 283, but made this the common appel- 
 lation of every other divinity, in doing which they were influenced 
 by reverence. Vid. Serv. on Virg. Geo. 1. 11,4. From this appellation, 
 Lanctantius, Insti. Divinar. 1. IV. c. 3, draws conclusions in opposi- 
 tion to Polytheism, and the illustrations which he gives in this re- 
 spect, deserve to be examined by every one, who would obtain a 
 right apprehension of the meaning that the ancients attached to the 
 word father, when applied to Deity. [Garve, indeed, in his Ver- 
 mischte Aufsatze, II. 342 ff., has expressed a doubt whether the idea 
 of God as a father of mankind, was first promulgated by Christiani- 
 ty, but without bringing forward any definite testimony to the con- 
 trary. If we pass over the word, however, and treat merely of the 
 idea itself, Christianity will unquestionably appear to deserve the 
 credit of having revealed God as a father, in a sense, in which he 
 was neither known to the h«athen world nor to the Old Testament. 
 Among the ancient poets, we discover no intimations of a deep moral 
 element in this appellation, and even in the writings of the philoso- 
 phers, who made the nearest approach in this respect to the Christian 
 notion, as Plutarch, for instance, Vita Alexandri, c. 27. 0pp. ed. 
 Reisk. IV. 67 ; De Superstit., VI. 639, we search in vain for a com- 
 plete developement of it. In other places on the other hand, the 
 word occurs in a merely physical sense, as in Plutarch's Apoph- 
 thegm. 0pp. VI. 686., and also Arrian's Dissert. Epictet. ed. 
 Schweighaeus. I. 3, 9, &c. And though Niemeyer in his Briefe an 
 christl. Relig. Lehrer, Saml. 2. S. 63 fF. (Iste Ausg.) asserts that the 
 Christian idea attached to the word is clearly to be met with in the 
 Old Testament, yet it cannot be proved. There God is not merely 
 called the father of the Israelitish nation, but called so expressly as 
 the deliverer of this nation, and the founder of its politico-religious 
 constitution. In the New Testament, on the other hand, God is rep- 
 resented as a father, who gives his Holy Spirit to them that ask him, 
 Luke 11: 13. comp. Rom. 8: 14. Heb. 12: 7 seqq. As this Spirit 
 was not poured out until the gospel began to exert its influence, so 
 the complete sense of the paternal name of God was not made mani- 
 fest until then.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 45 
 
 that they must strive to become his children, by imitating 
 him in holiness and perfection, Matt. 6; 19, 45. John 1: 
 12. 
 
 §21. By the representation which Jesus in this way 
 gave of the doctrine of one only and supreme God — 
 a representation which was peculiar to him, and which 
 with a striking uniformity pervades all his discourses, very 
 important objects were to he accomplished. He intended 
 to exhibit it with such clearness and simplicity that those of 
 the weakest capacities, even children, might comprehend it. 
 Instead therefore of remaining a subject of fruitless spec- 
 ulation, a problem for the examination of reason, it was to 
 be made an animating and efficient truth, exerting a prac- 
 tical influence upon the heart and life. The touching 
 representation which Jesus gave of God by calling him 
 father, was at the same time to do away those frightful 
 images under which both Jews and gentiles had contem- 
 plated the Deity, and substitute a childlike confidence, a 
 heartfelt love, instead of that slavish mortification and the 
 service extorted by fear, which had usually been thought 
 necessary for appeasing him and retaining his favor. In 
 particular, the priests, those promoters and protectors of 
 superstition, who had hitherto claimed for themselves the 
 authority of an indispensable mediatorship between God 
 and man, and thus rendered themselves of very great im- 
 portance, were to he deprived of their influence forever ; 
 for he, who knows God to be a condescending and affec- 
 tionate father, can apply to him directly, and needs not a 
 prior introduction from such mediators and confidents. 
 
 As a necessary result of the views,* which Jesus thus 
 inculcated upon the people respecting God, he required 
 them to worship him in spirit and in truth, John 4: 23, and 
 made true religion to consist purely in efforts to become 
 like him. Matt. 6: 48, and obedience to the moral law, 
 Matt. 7: 21 — 23. Here then all sacrificial services fell at 
 once to the ground, for the supreme Father of all neither 
 needs nor requires any such presents of his children. All 
 
 * [For similar remarks, vid. Niemeyer, Briefe anchrist. Religion- 
 lehrer, Saml. 1. Brief 9. S. 85 ff.] 
 
46 
 
 the other Exercises, ceremonies, and regulations, to which 
 in every religion so much importance had been attached, 
 were in like manner deprived of their value. Ceremo- 
 nies could neither be retained nor tolerated, any farther 
 than they might serve as the means of advancing true 
 morality, Mark 7: 5—23. Matth. 6: 1—18. For the 
 same reason, the worship of God could no longer be con- 
 fined to any particular place. The Father of all is not 
 partial to single regions or particular classes of men. All 
 the world therefore was to become his temple, and the 
 whole human race his family, John 4: 20 — 24. Matth. 5: 
 43 — 48. And finally, all those distinctions were to ceas"e 
 which had originated in numberless forms of superstition 
 and idolatry, and filled the nations of the eardi with aver- 
 sion to each other, and often with mutual hatred and con- 
 tempt, John 10: 16. 
 
 § 22. Of especial importance, however, were the re- 
 sults, which Jesus deduced from the fundamental repre- 
 sentation that God is the Father of men, in order to show 
 the relations existing between him and his rational crea- 
 tures. A father possessed of genuine paternal affections, 
 naturally exercises a very tender care over his children ; — 
 a care which extends to all the wants, circumstances, and 
 events of their lives. Jesus exhibited God as exercising 
 a similar care over mankind. The notions that he incul- 
 cated upon this subject, were, that without the will of God, 
 not a sparrow, as it is expressed, not a hair of our head, 
 can fall to the ground, Matt. 10:29—32; that God 
 never ceases to exert the most effectual influence in all the 
 occurrences of life, John 5: 17 ; to do good to every thing 
 that exists, and hold man as an object of his attention in 
 particular esteem, Matt. 6: 24 — 34. 5: 45. The view 
 which Jesus in this way gave of the superintending care 
 of God, together with the childlike confidence which he 
 sought to instil into men towards their heavenly Father, 
 left no rpom for those doubts, so common in the schools 
 of the philosophers, respecting the reality, universality, 
 and beneficence of a divine Providence, or those cheerless 
 representations, so prevalent among the great mass of nn- 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 47 
 
 educated people, respecting the power of a blind fortune, 
 an irregular chance, and a severe and inexorable fate, 
 which sometimes rendered them negligent, at others filled 
 them with presumption or despair. — Fathers are very for- 
 bearing towards the fauhs of their children, and ready to 
 forgive them as soon as they discover signs of reformation* 
 Jesus gave a most exalted description of the love of the 
 supreme Father in this respect, his reconcileableness and 
 willingness to forgive sin, and the anticipating kindness 
 with which he meets all who repent and amend, Luke 15: 
 1—32. Matt. 18: 21—35. John 3: 16, 17. Of course, 
 this took away all need of expiatory sacrifices, solemn pu- 
 rifications, painful courses of penance, and the various 
 means which had thus far been resorted to, for appeasing 
 the incensed Deity, and averting the punishment of sin, 
 and exhibited them in the light of base superstitions. — Fi- 
 nally, nothing is dearer to fathers than the life and preser- 
 vation of their children. The supreme Father can pre- 
 serve forever, and confer immortality. Jesus therefore 
 spoke with greater energy, confidence, and expression of 
 the immortality and boundless duration of the soul, than 
 any one had ever done before him. He every where in- 
 timated that he himself stood in a close and perpetual 
 connexion with a higher world, an invisible order of things, 
 John 1: 52. 3: 13. 6: 51. 8: 23, and hence that to him 
 death was nothing more than a return to this better, this 
 more exalted sphere, John 16: 28. At the same time 
 he asserted that all men were destined to this kingdom of 
 immortality, and that it was his business to conduct them 
 thither, Matth. 6: 19— 21. 10:28. 25:21—46. Luke 
 16: 19—31. John 3: 16. 5: 24. 10: 27—30. 14: 2, 3. 
 17: 24. Hence he never undertook to prove the im- 
 mortality of the soul. Instead of doing so, he spoke of 
 it as something which could not be a matter of doubt. 
 He spoke of it as a citizen of this kingdom of immortal- 
 ity, and one acquainted with it from actual experience. 
 His discourses always breathed the spirit and power of a 
 better world, excited deep feelings in all who approached 
 him, and filled them with overpowering convictions of a 
 
48 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 never ending state of existence. Hence nothing like 
 doubts, respecting a future state, or that firm denial of it, 
 so common to the age in which he hved, was ever to be 
 met with among his followers. He who became a mem- 
 ber of his church and felt the influence of his gospel, had 
 a sense of immortality too vivid, and felt himself brought 
 into a relation to heaven too close, ever to admit of his 
 faith's being shaken, Phil. 3: 20, 21. It was Christ's in- 
 tention, therefore, to destroy idolatry with all its abomina- 
 tions ; to irradiate the night of profound ignorance that 
 prevailed ; to collect together and bring to light the truth 
 found here and there in philosophical lecture rooms, or 
 wrapt up in mysteries, and by exhibiting it in the clearest 
 and most intelligible manner, and conveying it to the cot- 
 tages of the ignorant and the low, to effect the greatest 
 and most benevolent change that ever took place in the 
 convictions of the human family. 
 
 Morality. 
 
 § 23. Jesus however intended to operate with no less 
 energy and impression upon the dispositions, feelings, and 
 moral habits of mankind. Morality needed his aid as 
 much as religion. Its character among the Jews at that 
 time was extremely bad.* The Pharisees had transform- 
 ed it into a subtle casuistry about religious ceremonies, 
 and made it a patroness of the most pernicious hypocrisy. 
 The Sadducees had reduced it to a lax system of pruden- 
 tial maxims for the use of frivolous and selfish sensualists, 
 and the Essenes, to a gloomy asceticism, fit only for mel- 
 ancholy anchorites and pious enthusiasts. They all aban- 
 doned the common people to their uncurbed desires, and 
 felt satisfied with themselves if they sacrificed diligently, 
 observed the statutes of the fathers, and treated the 
 heathen with bitter hatred and proud contempt. The sa- 
 
 * [Staudlin, Gesch. d. Sittenlehre Jesu, I. 419 fF.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 49 
 
 cred writings of the nation, indeed, contained great treas- 
 ures of moral instruction, but they were as useless as if 
 they had never been in existence. Immorality pervaded 
 all ranks, broke up the relations of society, spread univer- 
 sal disorder, and had occasioned that decline of the Jew- 
 ish state, which ended in the most fearful destruction. 
 
 The philosophers of Greece and Rome had devoted a 
 great part of their efforts to the improvement of morality, 
 and it cannot be denied that they had accomplished much 
 and said many sagacious and excellent things. The mo- 
 rality of the heathen world, however, was very defective. 
 Apart from the fact, that usually it either favored selfish 
 principles, and constituted merely a system of rules for the 
 gratification of the senses, or required an extravagant self- 
 denial and greatness, which rendered man a proud and 
 gloomy being and divested him of every thing like sym- 
 pathy and kindness, it exerted no influence upon the great 
 mass of common people, and had no one to procure for 
 it such an influence. Its guardians satisfied themselves 
 with disputing in their schools respecting what ought to 
 constitute its fundamental principles, and left the people 
 to their fate. It is worthy of particular remark, there- 
 fore, that the morality of the Greeks and Romans had lit- 
 tle or no connexion with religion, and hence was abso- 
 lutely destitute of that effective character and simplicity 
 without which it cannot prove of any avail to the multitude. 
 Among the other nations of the earth, morality derived its 
 chief support from inherited customs, paternal ceremo- 
 nies, and single maxims, often not more than half true ; 
 and even this, though always weak, was rendered still 
 more insecure by the prevalence of superstition. These 
 circumstances render it easy for us to perceive the force of 
 the loud and unanimous complaints made by all the writers 
 of those times,* respecting the universal, fearful, and al- 
 
 * [Testimonies to this ejEFect are to be found collected together in 
 interpreters upon Rom. 1: 24 seqq., particularly in Cornelius Ada- 
 mus, Exercitatt. Excgeticae, nr. 5, de raalis Romanorum moribus 
 ante praedicationem evanorelii ; Meiner, Geschichte des Verfalls 
 der Sitten der Romer, L. 1782 ; Dess. Gesch. des Verfalls der Sit- 
 5 
 
50 
 
 most incurable corruption of morals. To remove this 
 corruption from the very foundation, it was necessary to 
 procure for morality a transforming influence, extensive, 
 effectual, and almost directly opposite to what it had hith- 
 erto had ; or, which is the same thing, to purify it, unite it 
 with religion, and give it a perspicuity and power, which 
 should render it intelligible and impressive to all mankind 
 without exception. Now by examining the spirit and 
 regulations, which, according to the testimony of history, 
 morality received from Jesus, we shall be able to ascertain 
 whether they furnished a remedy for these imperfections. 
 § 24. The religion which Jesus intended to spread 
 throughout the world, was a living faith in God. This 
 God he called the Father of mankind, whom he repre- 
 sented as his children, and consequently as brethren ; ob- 
 jects of his love and care, in a course of education for a 
 better life, and destined to an eternal state of existence. 
 It was natural that the morality of a person capable of giv- 
 ing such views respecting God, and our relations to him 
 and each other, should resolve itself into a love to God 
 and all his rational creatures. It did so in reality. It 
 cannot be doubted that Jesus reduced the whole system 
 of morality, by which he intended to reform the world, 
 to a grateful love to God, and a fraternal love to man. 
 More than once he declares the commandment which en- 
 joins such a love to be the principal one in the moral law, 
 and to comprehend all the rest. Matt. 22: 35 — 40. Mark 12: 
 28 — 31. Luke 10: 25 — 29. Hence he goes so far as to 
 make this love the only sure test of his followers, John 
 13: 34, 35, 12 — 17. Every thing that he teaches re- 
 specting the disposition and feeling of God towards his 
 rational creatures, is adapted to awaken and cherish an in- 
 ternal and grateful love in their breasts towards him. Matt. 
 6:49. 6:25—33. 7:7—11. John 3: 16, 17, 10:17,18, 
 &c. The duty of loving all mankind is exhibited in so 
 
 ten, der Wissensch. u. s. w. in den ersten Jahrhunderten nach 
 Christi Geburt, Wien, 1791 ; Nachtrflge zu Sulzer von Manso u. 
 A., IV. 443 fF. VI. 81 ff. 294 ff ; Scheibel, Beytrage zur Kenntniss 
 der alten Welt, II. 1—110.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 61 
 
 clear and perspicuous a manner, in the exalted and touch- 
 ing representations, which he has given of the worth and 
 dignity of human nature, as to force itself upon those 
 who are most unaccustomed to think, Matt. 18: 10, 11. 
 John 3: 16, 17. Luke 10:25—37. Matt. 25: 31— 46. 
 He required a practical exhibition of this love in such 
 strong terms, expressed himself upon the subject so fre- 
 quently and so clearly, and illustrated, animated, and con- 
 firmed what he said upon the subject in so impressive and 
 touching a manner by his own example, that in the end 
 his apostles also unanimously agreed in preaching this 
 love, and called it the royal commandment, the fulfilling 
 of the whole moral law, the summary of all true perfec- 
 tion, the highest point of greatness to which a man can 
 attain, and something which will put him in possession of 
 an eternal excellence, 1 John 2: 6 — 11. 3: 10 — 18. 4: 
 7—21. 5: 1—3. 1 Pet. 3: 8, 9. Rom. 13: 8, 10. Gal. 
 5: 17. Col. 3: 14. 1 Tim. 1: 5. 1 Cor. 13 to the end. 
 James 2: 8. 
 
 § 25. Jesus has not left what he meant by this love un- 
 explained. His own love to God was the most punctual 
 obedience to the will of God. He evinced it by doing his 
 Father's commandments, and voluntarily giving himself 
 up to a most ignominious execution, for the purpose of 
 fulfilling the divine commission which he had received 
 from the Father, John 4: 34. 10: 15—18. 14: 31. 
 When therefore Jesus represented love to God as the 
 principal commandment in the whole system of morality, 
 he did not by any means speak merely of a play of de- 
 vout feelings and pious emotions, nor of an enthusiastic 
 mortification of one's self, and vain efforts after a union 
 with God, a perfect coalescence with the being of God ; 
 the love which he had in view, and declared to be the sub- 
 stance of all morality, was a voluntary obedience to the 
 will of God, and a faithful observance of all his com- 
 mandments. Hence he recognises that man only as a 
 worthy citizen of the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 7:21, 
 who does the will of the Father in heaven, without which 
 obedience he positively assures us, that the most zealous 
 
52 
 
 exhibition of religion is of no manner of value, Matt. 7: 22, 
 23. * He who loves me,' says Jesus, ' loves the Father 
 also, for I am his messenger,' John 14: 9. He Ynakes 
 love to himself, however, to consist solely in keeping his 
 commandments, which he represents as none other than the 
 sacred commandments of God and duty, John 14: 15,21, 
 23, 24, and in order to give a still more intelligible view 
 of what" he calls love to God, he requires men to ex- 
 hibit the dispositions and feelings of children, towards 
 God in their actions. Matt. 5: 45. This however can 
 mean nothing else than that they are to go to the extent 
 of their ability in attending to the will of their heavenly 
 Father, rendering themselves at all times worthy of his 
 approbation, regulating their conduct by his example, and 
 striving to be equally perfect. Matt. 5: 44 — 48. Luke 6: 
 27—36 ; for, says the favorite apostle, and of course the 
 one likely to have the best apprehension of his Master's 
 meaning, " This is the love of God, that we keep 
 his commandments," 1 John 5: 3. To love God then, 
 agreeably to the very definite explanations which Jesus 
 himself has given of the subject, is to yield a perfectly 
 willing, pure, and punctual obedience to his holy and 
 benevolent will, as exhibited in the different laws of mo- 
 rality ; and a man proves that he possesses love to God, 
 when he strives to become perfect and holy like God.* 
 
 * [The foregoing observations will furnish a sufficient refutation 
 of the objections which have been raised respecting the doctrine of 
 love in God and love to God, in the work, "God is the purest love," 
 Benvenuto's Zweifel vor dem Tribunale der hohern Religionskri- 
 tik niedergelegt von Rohling, S. 77 ff., Frankf. a. M. 1803, in which, 
 S. 42 ff., the author goes so far as to assert that John accommodated 
 himself to the religion founded in love after the manner of the 
 Greeks, fdass Johannes sich zur graecissirenden Liebes-Religion be- 
 quemt habe !) [Does the author refer to Platonic love, the principles 
 of which were adopted by the Mystic sects, and early introduced in- 
 to Christianity? Vid. Neander, Kirch. Geschichte, I. 1. S. 31 seqq., 
 60 seqq., and various works referred to by Reinhard, System der 
 christl. Moral, B. 11. § 180, An. a. Rohling is not at hand. Tr.] 
 
 [The expression " God is love," 1 John 4: 10, is probably derived 
 from that of Christ, John 3: 16, as its source. That love can never 
 be exacted by command, S. 119 ff., might be considered as a valid ob- 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 53 
 
 Hence also it follows, that the love to one's neighbour or 
 fellow creature, which Jesus connected with love to God, 
 and made of equal importance. Matt. 22: 37 — 39, cannot 
 be a mere trifling with philanthropical emotions or an idle 
 exhibition of kindness, but must consist in an activity 
 which springs from a sense of duty and aims at public utili- 
 ty with an ardor that readily submits to personal sacrifices; 
 — an activity, founded upon a lively regard for the worth 
 and dignity of human nature, and a steadfast respect for 
 God and his will. Such was the character of the philan- 
 thropy which Jesus himself exhibited, John 10: 11 — 18. 
 Such a sympathizing spirit of activity, making, as it does, 
 a man feel as great a solicitude for the welfare of otiiors, 
 as for his own, and leading him to do to others as he 
 would that they should do to him, constitutes, as Christ 
 expresses it, the essence of all that is contained in the 
 Scriptures, Matt. 7: 12. It requires a man therefore to 
 imitate God in the disinterestedness and extent of his be- 
 nevolence as far as opportunity presents, and prohibits 
 him entirely from neglecting those hostile to him and the 
 vicious, in his efforts to do good. Matt. 5: 43 — 48.* He 
 
 jection to it, did not the law of God, as exhibited in the gospel, ex- 
 cite and strengthen a corresponding love in man, and irapart to him 
 a spirit which transforms the obligation of duty into the pleasure of 
 the will. For the same reason, Christ's command respecting love, 
 connot be confined to a mere cold esteem for morality according to 
 Kant, Grundlegung zur Metaphys. der Sitten, S. 13; Kritik der 
 pract. Vernunft, S. 144 ff. Religion innerhalb der Grenzen d. bl. 
 Vern., S. 242. 2e A. Comp. Reinh. Syst. d. Moral, B. II. §173seqq.] 
 * [That the command to love enemies, as regards its compass, and 
 pure, religious spirit, was first made known by Christianity, is evi- 
 dent from comparing it with the doctrines of the old philosophers. 
 Vid. HUpeden, Commentatio, qua comparatur doctrina de amore in- 
 imicorum Christiana cum ea, quae in V. T. et in philosophor. Grae- 
 cor. ac Romanor. scriptis traditur, Gottin.1817 ; Meyer, Doctrina Sto- 
 icor. ethica cum Christiana comparat. p. 88 — 99, Gott. 1823. " We 
 may boldly challenge the most thoroughly read investigator of anti- 
 quity to point out a single passage in all its writings, in which this 
 duty is explained and recommended in so clear, impressive, appro- 
 priate, and fine a manner. One needs but a slight acquaintance with 
 the spirit of Grecian and Roman antiquity, even when the most cul- 
 tivated and refined, to be able to infer a priori thnt it could never 
 produce any such fruit." Krug, Briefe Uber die Perfectibilitat der 
 geoifenb. Religion, S. 340 ff.] 
 
54 
 
 is always to hold human nature in esteem, however low 
 the grade in which he finds it, Matt. 18: 5, 10, 11. 10: 42, 
 and, without regard to personal danger, be ready to as- 
 sist all that stand in need of assistance, Luke 10:25 — 37; 
 or, according to John's explanation of his master's will, a 
 man is not to love in word and tongue, but in deed and in 
 truth, 1 John 3: 1 8, and be ready to lay down his life for 
 the brethren whenever it is necessary, 1 John 3: 16. The 
 position : " Think, feel and act in such a manner as al- 
 ways to resemble God, the great archetype of all perfec- 
 tion, the supreme benefactor, and consider thy fellow 
 creatures as thy brethren, and be ever upon the alert to do 
 good," is the chief commandment, the one to which 
 Christ has reduced every thing, and which he has laid at 
 the very foundation of his system of morality. 
 
 § 26. The more we think of the character which was 
 in this way imparted to morality, the more we shall be con- 
 vinced that it was an entirely new one, though such as 
 it must ever have, in order to be adapted to our nature, and 
 exert a salutary influence. In the first place, the general 
 principle of love to God and man brought it into a relation 
 to religion which it had never before sustained, and yet the 
 only true and correct one. Before the time of Christ, re- 
 ligion and morality were separated ; for the heathen had a 
 morality, without religion, and the Jews a religion without 
 morality, and hence the morality of the heathen was cold 
 and powerless, and the religion of the Jews as well as 
 that of the other nations of that age of the world a 
 devout pomposity prejudicial to morality. The com- 
 mandment which enjoins love, was employed by Jesus 
 as a holy bond of union for inseparably and forever 
 combining morality and religion together; for he who 
 loves God and man is pious only when he is morally 
 good, and he is never morally good without reference 
 to God, whom in this respect, he strives to resemble. 
 In his manner of thinking and acting, he cannot avoid 
 keeping before his eyes the supreme lawgiver, bene- 
 factor and father, to whom he is indebted for all things, 
 and of course, cannot avoid being religious. As the 
 laws of morality are written on his heart, neither can 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 55 
 
 he avoid keeping them also, and thereby evincing, that 
 he is a child of God, and of 'the same mind, and hence he 
 cannot avoid being virtuous. The relation, which was in 
 this way established between morality and religion, was not 
 a subjection of one to the other, but a regular combina- 
 tion, a fraternal union of the two. Jesus did not found 
 morality upon religion. He suffered it to rest upon its own 
 principles, Matt. 7:12. Neither did he found religion upon 
 morality, for when he inculcated duties, he usually com- 
 menced with religious representations, John 4: 24, and then 
 proceeded to point out those principles of religion which are 
 not moral, MaU. 6: 26 — ^29, John 3: 16; but he taught 
 the two in connexion, by which means, he remedied the 
 imperfections peculiar to each, so long as they were sep- 
 arated. It was only necessary for one to love God and 
 man as Jesus did, in order to make the whole system of 
 morality religious, and the whole system of religion moral, 
 in which case, the former has an author, a lawgiver, and 
 rewarder, and the latter becomes the friend of virtue, the 
 supporter of integrity, and the dispenser of gentle consola- 
 tion in all the calamities of life. Jesus, therefore, by making 
 use of the commandment which enjoins love to God and 
 man, and thus imparting to morality a new character, pro- 
 vided a remedy for one of its chief defects. Hitherto religion 
 had been a stranger to it, and too often injurious. Now an 
 alliance was formed between them which proved advan- 
 tageous to both. 
 
 § 27. For, by means of the commandment which en- 
 joins love, Jesus also effected the purification of morality. 
 Selfish principles, it is well known, prove death to every 
 thing like genuine morality. They degrade it, make it sub- 
 servient to our inclinations and lusts, and transform it into 
 a system of common prudential maxims. It was the lot 
 of morality to be generally thus degraded in the times of 
 Christ. The spirit which animated it among the Jews, was 
 an exceedingly base desire of reward, and a slavish fear 
 of divine punishment ; and more than one philosophical 
 school among the heathen looked upon morality as nothing 
 more than the art of perpetual enjoyment, and as far as 
 possible, obtaining possession of every kind of pleasure and 
 
56 
 
 gratification. By laying this commandment, therefore, at 
 the foundation of his system of morality, Jesus forever de- 
 livered it from the spirit of selfishness ; for he, who acts 
 under the influence of love, neither fears for himself, nor 
 has respect to personal gain. The very nature of 
 true love leads him to disdain all such considerations. 
 He, therefore, who loves God, is not influenced in his ac- 
 tions by the hope of a reward. What he does, is done 
 solely because God wills it and approves of it. Recog- 
 nising God also as his father, he feels no anxiety as to his 
 own happiness. His destiny is in the hands of one, who 
 knows better what is for the good of his children than they 
 themselves. Matt. 6: 31, 32. Nor can he who loves man- 
 kind, allow himself to seek after his own profit merely, 
 for true philanthropy is noble, self-denying, magnanimous. 
 Indeed, ft is impossible for a man, who loves his fellow 
 creatures as brethren, to sepai-ate his interests from theirs ; 
 he is constrained by the principle itself, to make their 
 cause his own. Finally, it is impossible for him, who 
 loves mankind like the Father of all, who makes his sun 
 to rise on the evil and the good. Matt. 5: 44 — 48, and 
 neither needs nor expects any return for his favors, ever 
 to think of having reference to a reward in the perform- 
 ance of his social duties. Love to God and man unavoid- 
 ably leads one to perceive that every thing good and right 
 has an internal and independent value, and must be ap- 
 proved of, and performed without any respect to conse- 
 quences ; and he, who possesses it, feels himself called 
 upon to act as God acts. He would dishonor himself, 
 therefore, and offend God, should he allow himself to be 
 first moved to the performance of his duty by the hope of 
 his own gain. 
 
 § 28. By means of the general principle of true love to 
 God and man, however, Jesus not only happily rescued 
 morality from the degradation to which selfishness had 
 subjected it, but he firmly secured it against that fanati- 
 cism, extravagance, and false purity, with which it was in- 
 culcated, particularly by the Essenes among the Jews, 
 and by the Stoics among the heathen. He, who loves 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 57 
 
 God as his father, has no need on that account of becom- 
 ing a gloomy self-tormentor, and foregoing the enjoyment 
 of the good presented him in the kingdom of nature. 
 That careful abstemiousness and severity, which leads one 
 ever to afflict himself, and suppress the innocent instincts 
 implanted by God himself, is directly opposed to the 
 childlike confidence, and firm disposition of mind, with 
 which a father must be honored, who, without being self- 
 willed, has scattered such a profusion of every thing that 
 is good, beautiful, and calculated to impart enjoyment. 
 Hence Jesus himself by no means contemned the gratifi- 
 cation of the senses. Matt. 11: 18, 19 ; and in his use of 
 the commandment which enjoins love, he employed the 
 best possible means for opposing the extravagant opinion, 
 so perceptibly at war with the whole construction of hu- 
 man nature, that the holiness of morality demands a de- 
 gree of strength and equanimity which is incapable of be- 
 ing moved by advantage, or softened by sympathy, and, 
 with a like indifference to pleasure and pain and disdain 
 of reward, makes happiness consist in virtue alone. This 
 love is not a cold esteem, an affair of scrutinizing reason 
 merely, an insolent and selfish pride ; but, in its very na- 
 ture, being connected with feelings of pleasure, confi- 
 dence, gratitude, sympathy, and hope, it fills the heart 
 with a sincerity, warmth, and zeal, which put all its pow- 
 ers into operation, and impart to them such an impulse 
 as they must ever have in limited beings like ourselves, 
 in order to be wrought up to the performance of any 
 thing great. Finally, this love is never satisfied with 
 confining its attention to itself, but it always seeks for ob- 
 jects of kindness in the external world, and, associating 
 with them, endeavors to do them good. He, there- 
 fore, who possesses genuine love to God and man, does 
 indeed with inviolable fidelity pursue that course, which 
 his reason pronounces good, just, and pleasing to God, 
 and which brings even his most beloved inclinations 
 in subjection to the commands of duty ; but with all his 
 caution, severity, and self-control in this respect, he is a 
 man of feeling, full of cordial sympathy, susceptible of ev- 
 
58 
 
 ery noble joy, and by no means indifferent to the condi- 
 tion of others. He knows that virtue is not the same 
 thing as happiness, the virtuous often being entirely desti- 
 tute of enjoyment ; and that, as this depends in part upon 
 circumstances beyond human control, he will in very 
 many cases be unable to obtain it. In attending to the 
 performance of his duties, therefore, he is by no means 
 insensible to his own welfare, but feeling himself under 
 the government of a Father who loves him, and can and 
 will bestow upon him as many favors as he needs or is 
 able to receive, he is altogether unconcerned about it. By 
 means of the commandment, therefore, which enjoins 
 love, morality was humanized without losing its sanctity, 
 brought down without being degraded, and adapted to the 
 sensitive part of our nature without being defiled, and in 
 this way it was rendered the means of uniting the rational 
 part of our nature and the sensitive together, ennobling the 
 whole man, and preparing us for heaven without unfitting 
 us for our earthly relations. 
 
 § 29. It is hardly necessary for me to remark, that in this 
 way morality obtained a clearness and perspicuity which 
 it had never before possessed. Indeed nothing is more 
 practical or intelligible, or richer in valuable results, than 
 the commandment which enjoins love. The most unskil- 
 ful person can ascertain from his own feelings, what is con- 
 sistent or inconsistent with love to others. He has only to 
 put himself in their situation, and ask what, under such cir- 
 cumstances, would be agreeable to himself. Matt. 7: 12, in 
 order at once to clear up the darkest question ; and that 
 man who contemplates God as Jesus has taught us to do, 
 — as the wisest, holiest, and best of fathers, aiming at the 
 welfare and improvement of all men, and acquainted with 
 the most secret exercises of the heart, — as judging every 
 thought and action. Matt. 6: 6, and ever present and ac- 
 tive in regulating and governing all things, that man 
 will soon ascertain from his own conscience, what he must 
 do in order to please God ; and, in doubtful cases, under 
 the influence of love to Him, always take the safest side, 
 ©r that, by which bis own passions and inclinations will 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN* &9 
 
 gain the least. By reducing the whole system of n:)oral- 
 ity, therefore, to love to God and man, Jesus did not pro- 
 vide merely for the wants of the age in which he lived 5 
 for as certain as it is, that no better way could have been 
 invented for delivering morality from the corruptions with 
 which it was then disfigured, so certain is it, that morality 
 must always remain what Jesus made it, in order to 
 be secured against laxity and extravagance, and retain- 
 ed with perfect holiness and purity in its practical and 
 humanized character. If it be an object to give moral- 
 ity a scientific form, we can resolve the general prin- 
 ciple into a still higher one, accurately develop the ideas 
 which it contains and define them with all the strictness re- 
 quired by the most systematic connexion ; but we must 
 not abandon it if we would avoid falling directly into an 
 error ; for by changing the relation created between moral- 
 ity and religion by the principle of love, and subjecting the 
 one to the other instead of making them co-ordinate, we 
 rob morality of its independance or religion of its requisite ; 
 and by rendering morality purer than the principle of love 
 requires it to be, we fall into extravagancies, and obtain 
 precepts for beings entirely different from ourselves. 
 
 § 30. It was Christ's intention therefore to quicken and 
 transform all his rational creatures, and fill them with new 
 moral life, by imparting to them the spirit of true love to 
 God and man. Even common love is capable of effecting 
 wonders. It makes him who possesses it internally to a 
 strong degree, as it were, another being, gives his facul- 
 ties a lively and harmonious play, and puts every spring of 
 existence in motion, under the influence of which, his spir- 
 it takes a higher flight, and he finds himself prepared to 
 perform things, and overcome difficulties, from which he 
 would otherwise have shrunk as impossible. In a far high- 
 er and nobler sense ought that moral and religious love 
 with which Jesus intended to quicken all men, to effect 
 wonders. It ought to awaken, animate, and direct all the 
 powers of human nature, reduce them to a proper relation 
 to each other, and give durability and energy to their ex- 
 ternal expressions. It ought to remove every obstacle, and 
 
60 
 
 all aversion to the performance of the most difficult du- 
 ties, and lead a man with willingness and hearty bold- 
 ness, to bring the sacrifices which he owes to virtue, as 
 gifts, and joyfully deposit them upon her altar. It ought 
 to produce in him an inspiration in favor of whatever is 
 good without enthusiasm, an exaltation of soul without ex- 
 travagance, and a benevolent warmth of heart without 
 wild-fire. Finally, it ought to bring together the different 
 branches of the human family, so long and so unhappily 
 estranged from each other, reconcile them together, and 
 transform them into one firmly united, and happy family, 
 devoted to the service of God. 
 
 Society. 
 
 § 31. This is that very part of the character of the 
 plan in which Jesus was engaged, which now remains to be 
 considered. In order to create mankind anew, and radi- 
 cally improve their condition, it was necessary for Jesus to 
 honor the social relations with his attention, and exert him- 
 self to stop up the sources of immorality and misery there- 
 in concealed. The spirit of selfishness, by its incessant 
 activity, and the pernicious influence which it exerted over 
 all, had, in the strict sense of the word, been the sole 
 cause of filling society with disorder, and transforming its 
 bonds of unity, as far as a great portion of its members 
 were concerned, into galling chains. Where this prevails, 
 — where men act without regarding the dignity of human 
 nature and acknowledging the rights and claims of others, 
 treat their fellow creatures simply as the means of advanc- 
 ing their own interests, and, with insatiable eagerness, ap- 
 propriate every thing within their reach to themselves, 
 there all justice is at an end ; the weak submit to the 
 strong, power and fraud decide, and slavery and oppres- 
 sion are inevitable. This was the hostile demon which 
 governed the earth, or rather, which tormented it and fill- 
 ed it with desolation at the time of Christ. It had involv- 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 61 
 
 ed nations in continual war with each other, and by a long 
 series of bloody campaigns, made Rome the mistress ot 
 the world. This demon had even prescribed to most na- 
 tions their laws, as well as fixed their manners, customs, 
 regulations, and habits, and rendered the grossest forms of 
 injustice as it were sacred, by stamping upon them the 
 false seal of rectitude and fairness. Hence the numerous 
 favored ranks to be met with in almost every state of that 
 age ; hence all the horrors of slavery and bondage, and their 
 degrading effects upon the morality of a large, portion of 
 mankind ; hencethetyranny of the male sex over the female, 
 and the abuses to which the latter were almos^very where 
 obliged to submit ; hence the want of the doilHstic virtues 
 universally manifest, and the unrestrained practice of infan- 
 ticide ; hence the pernicious influence of the priesthood, 
 and the intolerant and even persecuting spirit which they 
 evinced as soon as the prevailing superstition was attack- 
 ed ; hence the frequent revolutions and civil commotions, 
 which shook now this, now that state, and seldom passed 
 away without bloodshed ; and finally, hence the preva- 
 lence of luxury and sensual extravagancies, which had ex- 
 tended to an unheard of degree among the cuhivated na- 
 tions of the earth, particularly among the Greeks and Ro- 
 mans, and which were daily advancing. In short, there 
 was no social relation which had not felt the pernicious 
 influence of selfishness, and been thrown into greater or 
 less disorder, by means of odious passions. 
 
 § 32. Tt was certainly not the intention of Jesus to 
 meddle with political aftairs and found new states. In- 
 deed, he was necessarily restrained from interfering in 
 any respect with the laws, regulations, and forms of civil 
 society, by the boundless extent of his plan ; for it would 
 have been neither possible nor tiseful to force the same 
 constitution upon all men, and compress them into one 
 huge political body. Hence I have already remarked, 
 that Jesus kept himself very far from every thing relating 
 to civil legislation or the business of the state. I have 
 shown that- Jesus took great pains to correct the gross and 
 sensual views which his countrymen entertained of the 
 6 
 
 \ 
 
62 
 
 kingdom of heaven and give theni right apprehensions of 
 it as a moral kingdom extending beyond the boundaries of 
 this life. Finally, I have shown, and will soon do it again 
 more in detail, that Jesus made special efforts to guard 
 against every kind of political commotion, and all disor- 
 derly movements among the great mass of the people, and 
 that the reason of his withdrawing so soon from the thea- 
 tre of his public actions, was, to deprive the people of the 
 possibility of adhering and appealing to him in justification 
 of their violent deeds. Besides, the evils with which all the 
 states of the world were then afflicted could not have been 
 removed by political operations in the least degree. Such 
 enterprises <ip.ially open new spheres of action for selfish- 
 ness and the human passions, and seldom result in any 
 thing but a change of old defects for others often greater. 
 § 33. It was impossible, however, for one, who aimed 
 at nothing less than the reformation and elevation of all 
 men, and their improvement in every respect, to remain 
 indifferent to their political relations. As the external, and 
 especially the social condition of men, may be such as to 
 prove either highly prejudicial or advantageous to their 
 morals, Jesus must have made the temporal welfare of 
 men an object of his solicitude. That he was not inatten- 
 tive to this subject, he has intimated with sufficient plain- 
 ness. He did indeed frequently remind his followers of 
 the retributions of a future and better world, but it was not 
 his object in so doing to render them insensible to the 
 happiness of the present life, or negligent and indifferent 
 as to its attainment. All that he required of them was, 
 habitually to renounce this happiness whenever the higher 
 interests of truth and virtue and the general good demand- 
 ed such a sacrifice. Matt. 5: 11, 12. 10: 37, 38, while he 
 assured them, that a faithful attention to these subjects 
 would also result in their external prosperity, Luke 12: 31. 
 Matt. 6: 33 ; that God would never fail to supply their tem- 
 poral wants, so long as they were actuated by a living zeal 
 in the discharge of their duty. Matt. 6: 24 — 32 ; and that 
 the courage and manly firmness with which they adher- 
 ed to the good cause in which they were engaged, and 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 63 
 
 defended it, would often prove the means of their preser- 
 vation and deliverance, Matt. 10:22. 24: 13. Luke 21: 
 16 — 19. Hence it was, that with reference to the ad- 
 vantages which his followers should derive from a virtu- 
 ous course of conduct, the blessings to be diffused through- 
 out society by a spirit of active, magnanimous, brotherly 
 love, and with reference to the superiority and strength, 
 which union and integrity should give them over their 
 vicious contemporaries, already weakened by discord, and 
 all the good effects naturally resulting from radical im- 
 provement, he promised them that they should inherit the 
 earth. Matt. 5: 5,* obtain the dominion of the world, Luke 
 12: 32, and, in the new order of things, receive back again 
 a hundred fold in return for all they lost by contending 
 in the cause of virtue and truth". Matt. 19: 27 — 30. 
 Mark 10: 28—31. Luke 28: 29, 30. 
 
 § 34. None of the temporal advantages, however, with 
 which Jesus encouraged his followers, were to be the 
 spoils of bravery or conquest, but the fruit solely of a high 
 degree of virtue. The victory which he promised them 
 depended altogether upon their fraternal union and the su- 
 periority which they should obtain by their conduct in the 
 cause of truth and uprightness. It was not necessary 
 therefore for them to meddle in any way with the civil in- 
 stitutions then existing, and thus agitate the nations of the 
 
 * [Neither of these passages, in the interpretation of which the 
 author appears to have followed Michaelis, if more correctly explain- 
 ed, should have been brought forward in this place ; for if to inherit 
 the earth, Matt. 5: 13, be taken in a worldly sense, it will not agree 
 with the other promises, all of which refer to heavenly and eternal 
 things. Had it been so understood, it would have excited an idea 
 that the Messiah's kingdom was to be an earthly one, in which sense 
 this promise was never fulfilled as regards Christians of the first cen- 
 tury. There can be little doubt, therefore, that this promise refers to 
 the truly permanent and heavenly country, the possession of which 
 is expressed in phraseology borrowed from the acquisition of the an- 
 cient Canaan. Comp. Storr, Opusc, Academ. III. 13; Knapp, 
 Scripta Var. Arg. nr. 14, p. 560. And how could the kingdom^ 
 Luke 12: 32, which it was the Father's good pleasure to give the lit- 
 tle flock, be taken in this place in a sense, in which, as the author 
 himself suggests, vid. p. 30, Christ was never accustomed to use 
 this phrase .?] 
 
64 
 
 earth. On the other hand, it seemed rather desirable to 
 leave them entirely to their owji fate, and wait in anticipa- 
 tion of their rise or their fall, of their longer duration or 
 their sudden destruction, from the influence of circumstan- 
 ces. No man had a more vivid sense of the imperfec- 
 tions of the Jewish constitution than Jesus. He predicted 
 the unavoidable overthrow of this state in more intelligible 
 language than any who ever preceded him, and was firmly 
 resolved himself to abolish the religious regulations then 
 in existence. Nevertheless he submitted to the laws of 
 his country as long as they were in force. Matt. 17: 24 — 
 '27, told others to do the same, Matt. 22: 21, and went 
 30 far as to honor the ceremonies of the Leyitical service 
 in the worship of God, Matt. 8: 4. Luke 17: 14, and 
 exhort his disciples and the people to pay suitable de- 
 ference to those who occupied the place of public teach- 
 ers, Matt. 23: 2. Religion thus far, both among the Jews 
 and heathen, had constituted an essential part of the ci- 
 vil regulations. All the kingdoms of the old world were 
 in a certain respect theocratical, and hierarchical. Every 
 where, tjiere existed a state religion, which was endowed 
 with privileges and armed with power, and consequently 
 was intolerant. This was not in any respect to be the 
 case with the religion which Jesus intended to spread, for 
 as soon as Christianity is connected with external con- 
 straints, it altogether loses its peculiar character, and ceases 
 to be a worship of God in spirit and in truth. Jesus in- 
 tended therefore to keep it entirely distinct from political 
 affairs. For this purpose he gave it such regulations as 
 were compatible with any form of government, and made 
 it the duty of his followers to attend to their civil rela- 
 tions in every respect. As the principal object, however, 
 contemplated in his plan, was to bring about and perfect 
 the regeneration of the human family, so he was obliged 
 to teach principles, awaken dispositions and feelings, and 
 impart a spirit, the extension of which would by a gentle, 
 regular arid silent progress, destroy the old, inconvenient, 
 and oppressive forms then in vogue, and substitute new 
 and far better ones in their stead. Now the religion 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 65 
 
 which Jesus made known to the world, and the morality 
 connected with it, were of such a character as necessarily 
 to produce this effect as far as extended in their pu- 
 rity, comprehended and embraced. They were exactly 
 calculated for delivering oppressed humanity from its sla- 
 vish fetters, healing the wounds which it had received from 
 continual wars, and giving it that freedom and peace for 
 which it had long sighed and toiled in vain. 
 
 ^ 35. That it was necessary for the old huge fabric of Jew- 
 ish and heathen superstition gradually to give away, and in 
 the end entirely to fall, before the introduction of the better 
 religious knowledge which it was Christ's object to impart, 
 needs no proof. All the states of the old world, however, 
 rested to a greater or less degree upon^e pillars of this 
 superstition, and if these, their chief support and indispen- 
 sable foundations, were taken away, it was necessary that 
 they also should be dissolved, and gradually fall to ruins. 
 The political regulations of the old werld, as well as a 
 great part of the laws by which justice was administered, 
 had their origin in a spirit of selfishness and oppression. 
 Should that love prevail, which constituted the soul of 
 Christ's morality, it would produce an entire change in 
 this respect. It would of course make the people ac- 
 quainted with the true character of the old constitutions, 
 and lead them gradually to see that they were hard and 
 oppressive ; dishonorable to human nature, and incompat- 
 ble with its dignity and destiny. The increasing influence 
 of this love would soften mankind, and transform this 
 world from a theatre of tyranny, bloodshed, and lamen- 
 tation, into a habitation of freedom, peace, and joy. We 
 have only to trace the efiects which such a love as that 
 which Jesus required his followers to possess was calcu- 
 lated to produce in all parts of society, in order to be 
 convinced that by its means he intended to improve the 
 external condition of our race, and make them partakers 
 of true and lasting prosperity. 
 
 § 36. Jesus began his reformation of human society and 
 its condition, where it must ever be begun in order to be 
 thorough and salutary, with the members of domestic so- 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 ciety. The real love which was to be the means of ef- 
 fecting this reformation, makes out of man all that can be 
 made. It quickens his powers, ennobles his dispositions 
 and feelings, moderates his inclinations, extirpates every 
 selfish passion, and suffers him to act only as a dutiful, ra- 
 tional, useful, and conscientious being. It fills him with a 
 warm spirit of activity in favor of every thing true, just, 
 and salutary, which is neither terrified at difficulties, nor 
 wearied with hardships. By such dispositions, feelings, 
 and moral habits, Jesus intended above all things to se- 
 cure the welfare of families. Matrimony was no longer to 
 be a state for the male to exercise unjust dominion over the 
 female, and keep her in miserable servitude. It was to be 
 transformed intclli bond of kindness, into the noblest m\d 
 tenderest friendship, into a source of a great variety of joys 
 of the purest kind.* Polygamy and polyandry, whoredom 
 and adultery, as well as the divorces made among married 
 people for frivolous and unjustifiable reasons, and all 
 those abuses and excesses, which had disturbed the peace 
 of society, filled it with disorder, and rendered its real 
 happiness impossible, were henceforth to be entirely done 
 away, Matt. 5: 31, 32. 19:4-— 9. Mark 10: 2—12. Luke 
 16: 18, for every house was to become a temple, and eve- 
 ry inhabitant to be ennobled, improved, and consecrated 
 to the service of God and morality. Here, heads of fam- 
 ilies were to find constant exercise for their virtue. Here 
 children were not only to receive their existence, but the 
 most salutary attention, and be educated in the best man- 
 ner. Here the hard servitude in w^hich domestics and 
 servants had thus far sighed was to be gradually modified, 
 and ultimately banished. f Here by the united effects of 
 diligence and regular love, a foundation was to be laid, 
 and preparation made for the welfare of new families. 
 
 * [Compare the author's System der christl. Moral, III. 290, or 
 321,4teA.] 
 
 t [Compare the author's System der christl. Moral, III. S. 449, 
 or 500 4te A. Much valuable instruction in regard to this sub- 
 ject may be derived from Gregoire, De la domesticite chez les peu- 
 ples anciens et modernes, Paris, 1814.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN* 67 
 
 And finally, here was to be fouffd the securest retreat from 
 all the evils of life, and the best alleviation of its pressing 
 cares. Animated by the spirit of Christian love to God 
 and man, every family becomes such a venerable whole ; 
 and it was Christ's object first of all in this way to improve 
 domestic society, and render it happy. 
 
 § 37. This love, however, was to exert full as salutary 
 an influence upon civil society and whole nations and 
 states. " Could we," said Plato, " create so close, ten- 
 der, and cordial a connexion between the citizens of a 
 state, as to induce all to consider themselves as relatives, — 
 as fathers, brothers, and sisters, then this whole state 
 would constitute but a single family, be subjected to the 
 most perfect regulations, and become the happiest repub- 
 lic that ever existed upon earth." This thought, in itself 
 considered truly excellent, led the philosopher to the idea 
 which has often been ridiculed by those who perhaps knew 
 not its origin in his mind, of giving the most distinguished cit- 
 izens of his fabulous state a community of wives, and there- 
 by actually transforming all the descendants into blood rela- 
 tives.* What Plato sought to accomplish by the feeble 
 power of consanguinity, means badly conceived,! Jesus in- . 
 tended to accomplish by the power of a religious and fra- 
 ternal love. Indeed, it is impossible in any other way to 
 give a nation harmony and connexion, and animate it with 
 the spirit of one entire family. Such a love unites the 
 citizens of a state together in such a manner, that they 
 become, as it were, members of the same body, and yield 
 each other constant assistance, by operating together, and 
 mutually participating in each other's cares, 1 Cor. 12: 
 12—27. Rom. 12: 4—8. Eph. 4: 15, 16.} This of 
 
 * De Republica, 1. V. p. 21 seqq., Bip. ed. [Tom. VII.] 
 t Even Aristotle brought forward some well grounded objections 
 to it, De Republ., 1. II. c. 2—4. ■ 
 
 t This was the very idea that Plato had. of a state, under perfect 
 regulations. Hence, in the passage quoted, he uses the same illus- 
 tration, of which Christ's apostles avail' themselves, when they 
 wish to describe tiie sj'mpathizing love, which, according to the Gos- 
 pel, is felt by every regenerated man for the general welfare. Comp. 
 Rom: 12: 4 — 8, with the illustrations which Plato has given of hig 
 views in this respect, De Republ. 1. V. p: 29 and 30. 
 
68 
 
 course produces a public Spirit, a patriotic love, and cre- 
 ates a dependance of each member upon the whole, far 
 nobler in its principles, more efficacious in every situation 
 of life, and far less dubious in Its resuhs, than the patriot- 
 ism so celebrated among the selfish nations of ancient and 
 modern times.* Wherever Christian love to God and man 
 prevails, it produces a tender conscientiousness, ever in 
 operation, which leads one not only to avoid all those 
 vices destructive to the order and peace of good soci- 
 ety, but to stand in his place, and do whatever duty and 
 justice require without reference to any other obligation, 
 and without any respect to rewards and punishments. Tn 
 all transactions and every kind of business, it creates a 
 zeal, honesty, diligence, confidence, and faithfulness, wdiich 
 cannot be effected to the same degree by any other means. 
 Hence this love must be of great advantage in legislation. 
 Those magistrates and members of civil society, who are 
 animated by the spirit of genuine Christian philanthropy, 
 know the infinite value of human nature, and the sacred 
 rights that belong to it. They will, therefore, neither 
 make nor tolerate those absurd, useless, cruel, and op- 
 pressive laws which are opposed to its dignity and destiny. 
 On the other hand, they will endeavor to dispose of all 
 the relations and claims of the different classes of society 
 in a manner the most consistent with the rights and the 
 happiness of each individual. Finally, this love, by cher- 
 ishing the peaceful, domestic virtues, diffuses life, warmth, 
 health, and strength, throughout the state where it prevails, 
 from which must result a youthful bloom and lasting pros- 
 perity. Here it should be particularly observed, that the 
 salutary effects of a Christian love to God and man do 
 not necessarily presuppose this or that form of govern- 
 ment. No, they can be produced in every state, though 
 in some easier than in others. The means of which Jesus 
 intended to avail himself for bringing the civil regulations 
 
 * [Vid. the author's System dor christl. Moral, HI. S. 496, or 
 549, 4te A., and his Sermons v. 1804, I. nr. 4. am Sonnt. Reminisce-, 
 re, concerning the remarkable union which the Gospel creates be- 
 tween love to one's country and philanthropy in general.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. * 69 
 
 of the human family to a greater degree of moral perfec- 
 tion, and making them subservient to real happiness, is of 
 such unlimited application, as to be compatible with every 
 form of government that has ever existed ; for it ennobles 
 them all, fills them with the greatest possible energy, and 
 procures the most powerful influence for every thing that 
 they contain which is good and excellent. 
 
 § 38. Far more important, hovvever, was the change 
 which he intended, to effect in the human family in gene- 
 ral. Hitherto the nations of the earth had had gods of 
 their own, which they worshipped with distinct rites and 
 ceremonies. This difference of religion had separated one 
 from another, and too often occasioned grudges, mutual 
 hostilities, and contempt ; at least, in various ways, it had 
 proved the means of impeding that intercourse, which 
 ought to exist between nations. Things were not always 
 to remain thus. An entire and eternal change was to be 
 effected in this respect. The attention of mankind at large 
 was now to be directed to one God, as their common Cre- 
 ator and Lord ; as a Being, who treats all with the same 
 impartial and paternal tenderness, and does not require 
 his subjects to worship him with external splendor, nor by 
 arbitrary rites and ceremonies, but in spirit and in truth, 
 and of course substantially in the same way. Hitherto, 
 mankind had been wholly destitute of that genuine human- 
 ity, that real public spirit, that hearty benevolence which 
 comprehends all in its grasp. Hence the barbarity of 
 most nations and the hostile jealousies and constant rage 
 of war prevalent among them, as well as the universal es- 
 teem in which valor and heroism were held, and the hon- 
 or which was bestowed upon those who had destroyed 
 cities, laid waste countries, and reduced large portions of 
 the world to subjection. In this respect also an entire and 
 eternal change was to be effected. The spirit of love 
 With which Jesus intended to inspire mankind, was to ex- 
 tirpate every trace of barbarity, and humanize and tame 
 the wildest nations of the earth. How muchsoever single 
 classes and tribes of men might differ from each other in na- 
 ture, form, languages, manners, customs, and governments, 
 
70 • 
 
 they were now to be brought to feel their near relation- 
 ship to each other, treat each other as brethren, consider 
 themselves as the creatures and the children of one univer- 
 sal Father, and mainly to have the same interests of virtue, 
 truth, morality, and happiness, in view. The sword of 
 war was to cease its rage. The earth, which had hitherto 
 been the theatre of oppression, and drunk the blood of 
 her inhabitants in streams, was to be transformed into a 
 place of order and repose, and no longer be covered with 
 human gore. The gentle reign of reason and love was 
 henceforth to take the place of the iron dominion which 
 had hitherto been maintained over mankind by the power 
 and right of the strongest, and all contests between nations 
 to be decided by them with the voice of uprightness. 
 That shy reserve and jealous mistrust with which nations 
 and states had been accustomed to contemplate each oth- 
 er, was also to be done away, and open honesty, invio- 
 lable fidelity and firm integrity to animate all transactions, 
 and constitute the security of every alliance. Hith- 
 erto the free exercise of reason, the happy extension of 
 the arts and sciences, and the wise use of the good and 
 excellent things with which mankind are presented in the 
 kingdom of nature, had met with many and various obsta- 
 cles. Superstition had rendered the human mind indolent 
 and timid. The mad and intolerant priesthood had thrown 
 reason into fetters and oppressed it as far as lay in their 
 power. The division of the human femily into distinct 
 classes of men having but little connexion with each other, 
 had prevented those inventions of universal utility, which 
 were the property of individual nations, from becoming as 
 general as they deserved to be. In this respect also, ev- 
 ery thing was to be changed. Human nature was now to 
 obtain the full and unabridged possession of those rights 
 of which it had so long been deprived by superstition and 
 intolerance. Under the powerful protection of an all-ex- 
 citing love it was to obtain ample room' for action. It was 
 no longer to be altogether prevented from engaging in nu- 
 merous investigations, or else obliged to veil its discoveries 
 in enigmatical obscurities. Even religion, to which it was 
 
FOR THE GOOD OP ALL MEN. 71 
 
 indebted for its freedom, was to be subjected to its cor- 
 recting decisions. Reason was to try every thing and retain 
 the best. This love to God and man was to become the 
 main spring of every effort of the, human mind, and, by 
 arousing its faculties and putting them in action, to prove 
 the means of extending its investigations to every thing that 
 exists ; — was to purify and refine the whole mass of its 
 knowledge, to enlarge the sciences already known, and 
 lead to new discoveries ; — was to improve and muhiply the 
 beneficial arts of life, and to exalt the enjoyment of them 
 by always enabling reason to make a profitable use of the. 
 productions, and the good things of nature. In this way a 
 general connexion was to be established between nations, 
 and their fraternal familiarity, and noble and benevolent dis- 
 positions and feelings towards each other, were to become 
 the means of rendering all valuable knowledge, every 
 beneficial discovery and every art calculated to embellish 
 life, of the most extensive utility to mankind, and leading 
 one part of the earth to feel an active interest in the wel- 
 fare and the happiness of another. By means, there- 
 fore, of one of the gentlest, holiest, and firmest bonds, 
 which the human heart is capable of appreciating, the 
 human race were to be united into one family devo- 
 ted to the service of God, and led on to the attainment of 
 every possible degree of perfection. In their earthly hab- 
 itation they were to recognise an exterior court leading to a 
 higher sanctuary, and while its occupants were daily to be- 
 come better prepared for a transition from one to the other. 
 I need not stop to call the attention of him who has any 
 perception of the great and exalted, to the divinity of this 
 plan. Such an one will be unable to contemplate it with- 
 out deep admiration and a kind of delightful awe ; and he 
 who has no perception of what is truly great, would not 
 understand me, should I attempt to give him an explana- 
 tion of its exaked character. 
 
72 
 
 III. The manner in which Christ's plan was to 
 
 BE carried into EFFECT. 
 
 § 39. He, however, who examines the plan which the 
 founder of Christianity had before him, will fail to arrive 
 at a full view of it, without attending to the manner in 
 which it was to be carried into effect. From reflecting 
 upon the subject in general, it appears, that Jesus might 
 have made choice of any one of three different ways for 
 this purpose. He might have employed power and en- 
 gaged in warlike enterprises for removing the obstacles 
 that stood in the v/ay of his improvements : he might have 
 put the hidden springs of a secret society in motion, and, 
 by imperceptible compulsion, have endeavored to reduce 
 mankind to the order which I have already described : 
 or, finally, he might have made use of the gentlest means 
 possible, and have allured the human mind to reflect upon 
 its relations, and conduct in a manner worthy of its high 
 destination by means of convincing instruction and the 
 introduction of appropriate regulations. Jesus rejected 
 the two first of these means and chose the last. This can 
 be incontestibly shown from his history. 
 
 JUSUS DID NOT THINK OF EMPLOYING POWER. 
 
 § 40. Jesus did not intend to make use of power, or 
 engage in warlike enterprises for removing the obstacles 
 that stood in the way of his improvements. He has ex- 
 pressed himself on this point with sufficient clearness. 
 The very first time that he made his appearance in pub- 
 lic at Jerusalem, when he seemed inclined to make use of 
 power in opposing certain abuses then prevalent in the 
 temple, he assured those who spoke with him upon the 
 subject, that he had no idea of doing so ; that, on the oth- 
 er hand, he was ready to submit to the ill treatment of his 
 countrymen, by whom he expected to be put to death, 
 John 2: 19: 22.* In a private conversation which he held 
 
 * [The author in this place, as well as in his treatise, De Christo, 
 suam dura viveret reaurrectionem praedicente, Opusc, Academ, II. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 73 
 
 with Nicodemus, on the same occasion, he told him ex- 
 pHcitly, that he came, not to judge the world but to save 
 it ; that it was not his intention to fulfil the vain and cruel 
 expectations which his countrymen had of the Messiah, by 
 subduing the heathen in bloody wars, but to offer himself 
 a sacrifice for all mankind, John 3: 14 — 17. The first 
 thing that he did, after having chosen the twelve men, who, 
 under the name of apostles, were to be his confidential 
 pupils and friends, was, to lay down rules for the regu- 
 lation of their future conduct in executing his commissions, 
 Matt. 10: 35 seqq. In so doing, he prohibited them from 
 making use of power not only, but any of those means in 
 themselves innocent, of which men had formerly availed 
 themselves in order to acquire influence and authority. 
 On the other hand, he told them frankly that he sent them 
 forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; that nothing but 
 perils and persecutions were before them ; and at the same 
 time, charged them never to think of opposing any thing 
 to the attacks of their enemies but wisdom and patience. 
 He told them that it would be unreasonable for them to 
 expect better treatment than he had received, and that all 
 who would adhere to him, must resolve to relinquish the 
 greatest advantages, and offer up their very lives in sac- 
 rifice to the cause of truth. Jesus is known very often 
 to have given similar instructions to his friends, for the 
 purpose of familiarizing them with^the representation that 
 
 32 — 34, follows that explanation of Christ's words, founded upon the 
 authority of the apostle John, which is far more agreeable to the con- 
 text than that which is now generally adopted after the example 
 of Henke. Jesus was reproached with having an intention apparent- 
 ly to begin a great reformation, and was asked for his authority to 
 do so. Had he replied : " I intend to give you a new religious con- 
 stitution," it would have been arguing in a circle, and the same as 
 if he had said : " tiiat I am to reform you, I prove by the fact that I 
 reform you. In that case too, he would have said lyiOix) uXkov, rath- 
 er than f yaou) avrov, as this temple would not have been the one that 
 he intended to restore. But why might not Jesus disclose the ha- 
 tred of his enemies then at work to betray him, and show them how 
 he saw through their hearts, and that he knew well where their plans 
 would end, but that he should after all get the victory ? The threat- 
 ening imperative is used exactly as in Matt. 23: 32. Rev. 22; 11, and 
 was calculated to terrify the confident, and upbraid them with what 
 their wicked spirits were incessantly endeavoring to effect.] 
 7 
 
74 
 
 their business was not to fight and conquer, but to teach 
 and suffer. In the last and confidential discourses which 
 he held with his disciples shortly before his death, John 
 XII — XVI, in which he spoke very circumstantially of the 
 means which they were to use in the execution of his great 
 work after his decease, not a trace is to be found of any 
 command enjoining it upon them to think of coercive meas- 
 ures. So far is this from being the case, that he tells 
 them again with increased frankness, that they must be- 
 come sacrificial victims for the good of the world, and suf- 
 fer in defenceless submission, John 16: 1 — 4. From the 
 fact then, that, at the very commencement of his public 
 career, Jesus declared that he was soon to die, John 2: 19. 
 3: 14, and often repeated the prediction, at the same time 
 expressly assuring his hearers that he had no intention of 
 venturing upon any enterprise for the acquisition of power, 
 but that his object was to offer his life for the good of the 
 world. Matt. 20: 24 — 28, it is in general sufficiently evi- 
 dent, that he was very far from entertaining any idea of 
 carrying his plan into execution by violent means. Nor 
 was the death to which he so often alluded as in prospect, 
 such as the hero meets with on the field of battle, for he 
 describes it in the clearest manner as an execution to be 
 inflicted upon him by the magistrates, Mark 10: 33, 34, 
 Luke 18: 31 — 34. Certainly he would not have volun- 
 tarily submitted to such ill treatment, had he thought of us- 
 ing power. 
 
 There are only two passages to be found in the accounts 
 given of the life of Jesus, which seem to imply the con- 
 trary, and these have often been wrested in proof of the 
 accusation that Jesus intended to accomplish his designs 
 by force. " Think not,'' said he to his aposdes, " that 
 I am come to send peace on earth : I came not to send 
 peace but a sword. For I am come to set a man at va- 
 riance against his father, and the daughter against her 
 mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 
 and a man's foes shall be they of his own household," Matt. 
 10: 34 — 36. This passage, considered by itself as many, 
 with great partiality and injustice, have considered it, does 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 75 
 
 certainly appear to speak in very strong terms of warlike 
 projects, which were to put every thing in commotion.* 
 When, however, we observe that this is a part of the very 
 same discourse in which Jesus makes it the duty of his 
 friends, in their future efforts for the accomplishment of 
 his purposes, to exercise the most discreet moderation, and 
 the most patient submission, while he informs them of the 
 oppressions they must suffer, and that too, without employ- 
 ing power in their own defence ; when we farther observe 
 that immediately afterwards he requires them to become 
 martyrs in the cause of truth, every doubt must vanish, 
 that, in the passage quoted, Jesus speaks solely of the vio- 
 lent movements which should result from the blind relig- 
 ious zeal of the Jews and heathen, and their opposition to 
 the promulgation of his doctrines. In accordance with 
 the vain expectations of the Jewish nation respecting Je- 
 sus, the apostles had anticipated a life full of ease, joy, and 
 peace. In this place, however, as often in other places, 
 he frankly tells them that he had never intended to grati- 
 fy their desires in this respect ; that, on the other hand, the 
 usual consequences of making known the truth to minds 
 under the influence of prejudice and vice, should en- 
 sue, and that they should meet with trouble, opposition, 
 and persecution. Thus his friaids understood him ; 
 for none were more earnest in recommending a willing 
 submission to magistrates, and a compliance with every 
 civil regulation, than they. Hence, for the three first 
 centuries of the Christian era, not an instance can found 
 in which Christfans, though they were numerous and 
 might easily have done so, ever opposed power with power, 
 or took up arms against the inhuman tyrants by whom 
 they were often most cruelly persecuted. t 
 
 With far less appearance of truth, can an appeal be 
 made to those words which Jesus spoke to his apostles a 
 
 * For example, the author of the Catechisme de L'honnete-Hom- 
 me, p. 34. 
 
 t Consult Tertullian, Apologet. c. 37, Havercamp's Ed. [Conip. 
 Neander's K. G., I. 2. S. 434 ff.] 
 
76 
 
 few hours before he was taken prisoner ; ** He that hath 
 no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one," Luke 22: 
 36. Jesus does not here speak of the manner in which 
 his great plan was to be carried into execution, but of the 
 changes about to take place. From the whole context 
 of the discourse it is perfectly evident, that he intended 
 solely to remind his apostles to think of their own security, 
 and guard them against the expectation, that he should de- 
 liver them in a wonderful manner from the danger before 
 them, when he was about to give himself up entirely to the 
 rage of his enemies. As soon as he perceived that his 
 figurative expression had not been properly understood, 
 he explained it, and being asked by the apostles whether 
 the two swords then in their possession were enough, re- 
 plied that they were amply sufficient ; an answer which 
 would have had no meaning, had he intended to prepare 
 for an energetic resistance, and oppose power with power.* 
 § 41. It will be still more evident that Jesus intended 
 to avoid making use of any kind of power in the accom- 
 plishment of his great purposes, if we glance at the whole 
 course of his conduct while engaged in the public minis- 
 try. Upon the strictest examination of it, we find that Je- 
 sus not only made no preparations for violent enterprises, 
 but that he sought carefully to avoid all those who were 
 able to put him in a condition for obtaining influence and 
 power. Scarcely had he left the obscurity of private life, 
 before opportunities were presented him for coming in con- 
 tact with men of more or less influence and authority. 
 The very first time that he made his appearance as a pub- 
 lic teacher at Jerusalem and began to attract the attention 
 of his countrymen, he was visited by a distinguished mem- 
 ber of the Sanhedrim, John 3: 1 seqq., who expressed opin- 
 ions respecting him from which he might have inferred 
 
 * For other attempts to explain this somewhat obscure passage, 
 [abused also by the Fragmentist, S. 153,] and show that the lan- 
 guage cannot be understood of violent measures, consult the notes 
 of Michaelis, appended to his translation of the New Testament in 
 German, Th. I. S. 486, and Flatt's Magazin ftlr christliche Dog- 
 jnatik und Moral, St. HI. 224 fF. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 77 
 
 that it would be very easy for him to raise up a party in 
 his favor among the most respectable men of his nation, 
 John 3: 2. Such a prospect would have been very agree- 
 able to him, had the acquisition of power been his object. 
 Jesus, however, was so indifferent to it, that his conversa- 
 tion with Nicodemus was calculated to irritate and alien- 
 ate this man's feelings, rather than gain his love and affection. 
 Soon afterwards, Jesus was presented with an opportuni- 
 ty for forming a connexion with one of Herod the Te- 
 trarch's noblemen, by which means, a way was opened for 
 his acquiring influence at this ruler's court. Of this op- 
 portunity he made no use. On the other hand, he refused 
 to return to Capernaum in company with this man, or to 
 receive the least favor at his hands, John 4: 46 — 54. And 
 in short, not an expression ever escaped him, which indi- 
 cated that he had ever thought of cultiv^ating an acquain- 
 tance with the distinguished and powerful and drawing them 
 into his interests. — Let no one think, however, that he 
 avoided intercourse with the great men of his nation in or- 
 der to effect violent changes by availing himself of the as- 
 sistance of the lower classes. It is true that he was often 
 followed by great multitudes at once, and that on many oc- 
 casions, he might, with but little trouble, have collected to- 
 gether quite an army. Instead of exciting their zeal, how- 
 ever, in his behalf, he did every thing in his power to as- 
 suage it, and prevent disorders of every kind. In his 
 meetings with the people, he spoke of nothing but the truths 
 of religion. The affairs of the state were never mentioned. 
 Indeed, he refused to meddle with any thing that appeared 
 to have the least connexion with them, Luke 12: 13, 14. 
 He never hinted at his being the offspring of David, and 
 having sprung from royal blood ; a fact, which would have 
 contributed greatly to procure for him the favor of the 
 common people. On the other hand, he apparently wish- 
 ed to avert their attention from the subject. Hence, from 
 the very commencement of his pubhc ministry, he kept at a 
 certain distance from his Mother, thus implying that he foun- 
 ded no claims upon his origin, Matt. 12; 46 seqq. Mark 3: 
 31 seqq. Luke 8: 19. Not unfrequently did he prohibit 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 those present from making known his benevolent ac- 
 tions, when there was danger of its exciting disturban- 
 ces among the multitude. He never flattered the peo- 
 ple, but often told them the bitterest truths, with the 
 most unshrinking boldness, John 6: 26 seqq. In order 
 to diminish the number of those that crowded around him, 
 he frequently avoided thickly settled villages, and retired 
 into barren deserts, where it was impossible for large 
 multitudes to subsist. To prevent the accumulation of 
 the people to such a degree that they should conceive 
 themselves strong enofigh to undertake something in 
 his behalf, he contrived to distribute the muhitude of 
 those who wished to see and hear him, into very small 
 and harmless numbers, by constantly travelling from place 
 to place ; and when one of the larger crowds was^ intent 
 upon making him king, and fighting for him, he withdrew 
 from it until it was quieted and dispersed. In addition 
 to all this, he was poor, which, undoubtedly for the pur- 
 pose of depriving those who adhered to him of all hopes 
 of earthly gain, he never sought to conceal. Matt. 8. 20. 
 17: 24 ; he paid no attention to the acquisition of property, 
 but appears to have relinquished what he may have possess- 
 ed and might enjoyed,* and thus gave up the means the most 
 necessary for those who engage in great and violent under- 
 
 * 2 Cor. 8:9. History discloses nothing of Christ's having been rich and 
 then taken upon himself a voluntary poverty ; but it does not thence 
 follow that this passage is to be understood in a figurative sense. It 
 is well known that the credible accounts of the domestic affairs of 
 Jesus, are very imperfect ; and more than one way can be thought of, 
 in which he may have acquired property, notwithstanding the pover- 
 ty of his parents. Corap. Beytrftge zur Beforderung des vernUnftig- 
 en Denkens in der Religion, Heft IV. S. 160 ff. [This explanation 
 of Corridi, built as it is, upon a mere hypothesis, in some respects, 
 a singular one, has too much to oppose it, to admit of its being prefer- 
 red to the common one. Mary was evidently poor, for she brought 
 a poor person's offering on the presentation of Jesus, Luke 2. 24, and 
 she was also poor at Christ's death, John 19: 26, 27. Had Jesus ac- 
 quired wealth while he belonged to her family, she would certainly 
 have been the owner of it, and it would have been out o^his power 
 to give this family property away. But, which is a far more impor- 
 tant consideration, could it be said that we are indebted for all our 
 spiritual wealth, that is, the whole work of redemptiori, to the pre- 
 tended, voluntary poverty of Jesus ?] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 79 
 
 takings ; and finally, he chose poor men out of the lowest 
 ranks of society for the future execution of his plan, and 
 went so far as to prohibit them from habiting themselves 
 in a manner indicative of external power, Luke 22: 25, 26. 
 With all these facts before us, every suspicion must vanish, 
 that Jesus intended to employ violent measures in carry- 
 ing his plan into effect. It is impossible for that man to 
 have determined upon employing power, who not only neg- 
 lects, but despises all the means of exercising power. 
 
 <5> 42. The only thing remaining which seems to in- 
 dicate that Jesus intended to execute his plan by force, 
 is his final entrance into Jerusalem. This, at first glance, 
 certainly appears to have something doubtful upon the 
 face of it, and looks like an unsuccessful attempt to obtain 
 possession of the capital, the temple, and the chief autho- 
 rity, by surprise in the midst of a tumult. I am well aware 
 of the odious light in which this affair has been represent- 
 ed, and the injurious suspicions which have been drawn 
 from it.* That man however must be very unfair, and 
 have altogether lost sight of the connexion of this event 
 with what precedes, to discover in it any traces of violent 
 designs. As in this case it is important to exhibit convinc- 
 ing proof, that Jesus in the execution of his plan contem- 
 plated nothing of the kind, it will be necessary for me to 
 subjoin a few remarks respecting this memorable part of 
 his history. 
 
 It cannot be denied that Jesus entered upon his last 
 journey to Jerusalem, with the conviction that he was to 
 be executed there. He foretold his friends of the event 
 before he left Galilee, Matt. 20: 17—19. Mark 10: 32— 
 34. Luke 18: 31—34. John 11: 7—16, and seized eve- 
 ry occasion to remind them of it, while on his way thither. 
 Now it is evident at first glance, that these declarations 
 are altogether opposed to the idea of his having intended 
 to take possession of Jerusalem in a sedition. It is also 
 worthy of remark, that from these same declarations we 
 may justly infer it was not the intention of Jesus to with- 
 
 * [Especially by the Fragmentist, V. Zweck Jesu, S. 145 — 154.] 
 
80 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 draw himself as he had hitherto done, should he do any 
 thing to furnish his enemies among the great men at Jeru- 
 salem with a pretext to complain of him and inflict upon 
 him the punishment of death. His object at this time, as 
 we may gather from all the circumstances, was, to die at 
 Jerusalem, as he wished to suffer a death which should 
 take place in the presence of his fellow citizens, and ex- 
 cite great attention. It was impossible for him there- 
 fore to avoid surrendering himself into the hands of 
 his bitterest enemies, and of course impossible for him 
 to avoid acting entirely different from what he had hith- 
 erto usually done. An occasion soon presented, in which 
 Jesus, without doing any thing that can be imputed to 
 him as sin, was enabled to produce a movement which 
 furnished his enemies at Jerusalem with exactly such 
 an opportunity as they had long desired, for removing him 
 out of the way, and determined them to hasten the ac- 
 complishment of their purpose. 
 
 On account of the nearness of the feast of the passover, 
 Jerusalem was filled with strangers by the time that Jesus 
 arrived at Bethany, which is known to be about half an 
 hour's distance from the city. Here he stopped and raised 
 his friend Lazarus, who had died several days previous to 
 his arrival. The report of this affair soon reached Jeru- 
 salem, and drew out great multitudes to see Jesus and the 
 man whom he had raised from the dead. Although, ia 
 order to escape from the crowd, Jesus withdrew from Be- 
 thany immediately after the resurrection of Lazarus, and 
 concealed himself in an obscure village of Ephraim,* 
 John 11: 54, yet, as the passover was near at hand, he 
 was obliged in a few days to return again to Bethany, in 
 order to prepare for his entrance into Jerusalem, John 12: 
 1 . Scarcely had it been reported in the city that Jesus 
 had re-entered Bethany, when increasing multitudes un- 
 der the influence of curiosity and admiration, again went 
 out to see him, John 12: 9. As these multitudes greatly 
 honored Jesus, and in him hoped to find the long expected 
 
 * Reland, Palestina, Tom. I. 37G seqq. and Tom. II. p. 765. Also 
 Bachiene, Beschreibung von Palastina, Th. II. B. III. § 579. 
 
;W' 
 
 FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 81 
 
 divine deliverer of their nation, it was natural for them to 
 offer their services to accompany him, as soon as they 
 learned that he was preparing to enter Jerusalem, and hit 
 upon the thought of conducting him thither with as much 
 animation and as great exhibitions of festivity as possible. 
 Accordingly, a noisy procession was formed, which sur- 
 rounded him with joyful acclamations, and increased in its 
 progress towards the city. It is not to be wondered at, 
 that those who had long cherished the idea, that Jesus was 
 to be the deliverer of his country, the Messiah for whoni 
 they had so often anxiously wished, should, in the tumult 
 of their joy, and under the influence of this excited state 
 of feeling, begin to express this hope in words, and actu- 
 ally salute him as king of Israel. Having entered the 
 temple at Jerusalem, all that he did, was, to clear it of ava- 
 ricious merchants and money changers, as he had done 
 before, and in his usual manner impart instruction to the 
 people. 
 
 This account, taken out of the Gospels, is sufficient of it- 
 self to prove that there is no well founded reason for blam- 
 ing Jesus in taking this step, and considering it as the result of 
 a rash experiment. The following circumstances, howev- 
 er, exhibit this in a still clearer light, and make it perfect- 
 ly evident, that the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem was 
 in no respects intended as an artificial contrivance for the 
 accomplishment of a more important object. Not the 
 least arrangement was made for this entrance. Nobody 
 had been armed, and no expectations had been excited, 
 that an important change was in progress. Jesus had in- 
 structed the multitudes whom curiosity had drawn togeth- 
 er around him, with the same gentleness that he had for- 
 merly been accustomed to do, and, instead of exciting in 
 them a spirit of wild disorder and war, imperceptibly pre- 
 pared them for rejoicing. While on his way to the city, 
 in order to avoid every appearance of violence, he as- 
 sumed the quiet and peaceful habits of a pilgrim in com- 
 pany with his friends going up to the feast, and thus, as 
 one of the Evangelists expresses it, using the words of an 
 old prophet, "came meek and lowly to Jerusalem." That 
 
82 
 
 this solemnity was really of such a character and had no- 
 thing suspicious about it, is evident in particular from the 
 fact, that it did not attract the attention of the Romans. 
 It is well known 'that on these occasions they doubled 
 their vigilance and exercised unusual circumspection in 
 regard to every movement, on account of the innumerable 
 multitudes of people then collected together in the city. 
 Indeed, history furnishes us with proof, that no person 
 would have been less likely to delay the forcible suppres- 
 sion of any thing resembling sedition than Pilate, who was 
 Roman procurator at that time.* This notwithstanding, 
 the Roman guards remained quiet in their places, when Je- 
 sus entered the temple, and Pilate had no knowledge of Je- 
 sus until he saw him brought before the judgement seat, and 
 accused there by the Jewish priests. So decisive is this 
 circumstance, that it is impossible for any one who reflects 
 upon it and is acquainted with the state of those times, any 
 longer to think of construing Christ's entrance into Jerusa- 
 lem into any thing like the appearance of an insurrection 
 and an attempt at violent measures. The indifference of 
 the Romans in this case, is at least not a matter of aston- 
 ishment.! It was not uncommon for strangers who came 
 up to Jerusalem at the feast, to travel in great companies, 
 and thus enter the city.J It is not very improbable that 
 animated songs were frequently made use of on such occa- 
 sions.§ The Romans, therefore, doubtless looked upon 
 
 * For examples, vid. Luke 13: 1, and Joseph. Antiq., 1. XVIII. c. 3. 
 §2. 
 
 t [It may also be observed that the Romans had been accustomed 
 to similar entrances in other cases. Vid. Cicero pro Muraena, c. 33.] 
 
 t Besides, this mode of travelling has been universally common in 
 those regions. Luke, 2: 44, unquestionably speaks in express terms 
 of such a caravan of the Galileans returning from the feast. From 
 the accounts given us by the Evangelists of the life of Jesus, it may 
 also be frequently observed, that the multitudes which sought Jesus 
 for the purpose of hearing him, were always the most numerous 
 about the time of the feast, evidently because many had collected to- 
 gether on their way up to Jerusalem, and were retufning in large 
 companies. 
 
 § Many interpreters are inclined to believe that the collection of 
 the P saints of degrees so called, were designed for such travelling 
 iongs. Comp. Herder, Vom Geist der hebraischen Poesie, Th. II. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 63 
 
 the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, as nothing more than 
 that of a company of strangers, it being no uncommon 
 thing to see such companies coming up to the feast of the 
 passover about this time, and consequently felt no need of 
 making any movement. To all this it may be add- 
 ed, that in the evening, Jesus voluntarily left the temple,* 
 which he had in his possession, and in which no one dared 
 to oppose him, and returned without any public atten- 
 dants to Bethany ; that instead of concealing himself and 
 waiting for a suitable occasion, (as one must have done, 
 who had engaged in any violent enterprise and failed,) he 
 returned again to the temple the very next day in like 
 manner without any public attendants, and continued to 
 teach there openly among the people ; that when the high 
 priest and the members of the Sanhedrim entered into 
 conversation with him respecting the occurrences of the 
 previous day, he told them that they had nothing to fear 
 from him, but that, on the other hand, he was about tO' 
 give himself up to their control, to be expelled and slain, 
 in which respect, he compared their conduct to that of 
 some unprincipled vine dressers, who rose up against the 
 son of the lawful owner of the vineyard ; and finally, that 
 from this time onward, his conversation among his most 
 intimate friends, was entirely made up of farewell speech- 
 es, touching exhortations to steadfastness during the scenes 
 before them, and affectionate consolations, with which he 
 connected various regulations having a reference to his 
 death. Is it possible for any one who reflects impartially 
 upon all this, longer to entertain a single suspicion respect- 
 ing an event which was the natural result of the circum- 
 stances in which Jesus then found himself, or in it to dis- 
 cover the least indication that Jesus possessed a blood- 
 thirsty spirit, and intended to make use of violent means 
 for the accomplishment of his purposes ? 
 
 But why am I so prolix ? A spirit capable of such en- 
 
 S. 367. [Jahn, Introduction to the Old Testament, translated by W. 
 and Turner, § 178. Tr.] 
 
 * The importance of this circumstance has been shown by Micbae- 
 lis in his notes to the New Testament, Th. 1. S. 212, 213. 
 
84 
 
 largement of thought, such benevolent views and feelings, 
 as to form a plan for the good of all men, such as that, 
 the compass and character of which I have already de- 
 scribed, was surely incapable of descending so low as to 
 act the part of a miserable rebel, and form the puny, cun- 
 ning plan which many would fain attribute to him in the 
 affair which I have just considered. A spirit of such 
 greatness could not possibly have failed to perceive, that 
 such a violent mode of proceeding, in the execution of a 
 plan for the happiness and improvement of mankind, would 
 defeat the very object for which it was intended. Jesus 
 therefore could never have thought of removing the ob- 
 stacles that lay in the way of his undertakings, by force or 
 warlike measures. 
 
 Jesds did not think of employing a secret society. 
 
 § 43. Perhaps, however, Jesus intended to put the hid- 
 den springs of a secret society in motion, and by a gentle, 
 imperceptible compulsion, to reduce mankind to the 
 order which I have already described. In the history of 
 human opinions, it may be observed, that every age is 
 more or less inclined to justify its own taste, undertakings, 
 and decisions, by considering the greatest men of preced- 
 ing ages as the authors of those views, institutions, and 
 modes of thinking, which it greatly favors, and particular- 
 ly esteems. It is certainly very flattering to discover our- 
 selves in the same way with men who have been the ad- 
 miration of centuries, and be able to pretend that we only 
 follow them, and set forth what has been received from 
 them. This age has long been entangled in the most cu- 
 rious tissue of secret societies and brotherhoods.* In it, 
 
 * [Thus might Reinhard express himself in 1798, when that tissue 
 had been broken up and brought into the greatest disgrace ; where- 
 as in the preceding edition, published in 1789, he was obliged to say, 
 
 " an age which contains a most curious tissue of societies." 
 
 The persons to whom he particularly refers, are, Adam Weishaupt, 
 the founder of the order of the Illuminati, as a higher degree of Ma- 
 sonry, who defended his principles in his Apologie der Illuminaten, 
 NUrnberg, 1786; im Pythagoras, od. Betrachtt. ueber die geheime 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 85 
 
 the idea has long prevailed, and obtained many acute de- 
 fenders and friends, that, for a man to accomplish his be- 
 nevolent views by the invisible power of secret institutions, 
 is not only lawful, but great and exalted, and a sure sign of 
 a comprehensive and intelhgent mind. It is no wonder 
 therefore, that this age has hit upon the opinion, that the 
 author of Christianity intended also to avail himself of 
 such means ; for it is not difficult to stick close to a great 
 man of antiquity, and yet interpret his undertakings in 
 such a manner as to make them tally in some measure 
 with modern institutions, especially when one expects to 
 derive advantage from the comparison, and is willing to 
 indulge in bold explanations, making conjectures, and add- 
 ing supplements, as well as assume that confident and de- 
 cisive tone with which many writers of the present day, 
 are accustomed to speak of ancient history. In such a 
 way, and by the use of such arts, it would not be difficult 
 to find the traces of a secret fraternity even in the writings 
 of Christ's friends ; — a fraternity ,by means of which, he 
 intended to carry his plan into execution, and the real, in- 
 ternal character of which, it would be impossible ever to as- 
 certain. Hence, as is well known, some have begun to ex- 
 plain numerous passages of Scripture in favor of the hypo- 
 thesis of a secret order, to discover fragments of its symbol- 
 ical language in the expressions of the apostles, to distin- 
 guish its various degrees, and to impute to Jesus secrets en- 
 tirely foreign from the object which he had in view.* It is 
 
 Welt- und Regierungs-Kunst, 1790, and in other writings. Comp. 
 Schlozer, Staats-Anzeigen, XII. 2C3 — 279; Berliner Monatsschrift, 
 1785, Octob., Novemb., and Decemb. ; and Barriiel, Memoires pour 
 servir a I'histoire du Jacobinisme, Tom. IV. and V., ed. Hamb., 1803, 
 or the whole of the 4th volume in the German translation ; — and 
 Bahrdt, as the founder of the Union of the 22, which was disclosed 
 by Bode in the work ; Mehr Noten als Text, oder die Deutsche Union 
 der 22er, eines neuen geheimen Ordens zum Besten der Menschheit, 
 L. 1789; not to say any thing of those who were accused of being 
 secretly connected with the Jesuits, and of Crypto-Catholicism.] 
 
 * [It is well known that Bahrdt has done this likewise, both in the 
 work quoted above, p. 6, and in the notes added to his third transla- 
 tion of the New Testament. Respecting the latest attempt that has 
 been made to deduce the establishment of Christianity from a secret 
 order, vid. Appendix C] 
 8 
 
86 SKETCH OP Christ's plan 
 
 against my will to enter upon the examination of these bold 
 conjectures, which, notwithstanding their great improbabili- 
 ty, such an age as ours is very ready to believe, as I foresee, 
 that, in spite of my anxious efforts to be short, it will in- 
 volve me in a disagreeable prolixity. It is manifest, how- 
 ever, that if the supposition of which I am speaking were 
 true, it would have been essentially connected with Christ's 
 plan. For this reason, I shall give it a faithful examination. 
 §44. This examination is attended with pecuhar diffi- 
 cuhies. Hitherto we have been able to maintain all that 
 we considered as belonging to the plan of Jesus, with the 
 greatest certainty, as every thing is laid down in the ac- 
 counts which his friends have given of him, in a manner 
 too plain to be misapprehended. Here, on the other hand, 
 we have a subject to handle, which, from its very nature, 
 is involved in ambiguous obscurity, and, in reference to 
 which, it seems impossible to bring every thing to light. 
 For instance, we cannot justly require those to establish 
 their assertions by perfectly clear and irrefragable proof, 
 who allege, that Jesus intended to accomplish his purposes 
 chiefly by means of a society of excellent men, who had 
 formed themselves into a secret order, into the sublime 
 mysteries of which, but a few of the great mass of his or- 
 dinary followers, were ever admitted. If such a society 
 ever existed, the very fact that it was secret and kept all 
 its affairs so, would render it impossible for us to expect to 
 find any thing more about it in the history of Christ's en- 
 terprises and life, than passing hints, dark allusions, and 
 ambiguous remarks. Had the writers of the New Testa- 
 ment all belonged to such a fraternity, and been acquaint- 
 ed with its ,most private concerns, obliged as they would 
 have been to keep the whole affair a secret, they must have 
 avoided expressing themselves intelligibly respecting it, in 
 what they wrote for public and for general use. Every 
 thing that we could look for, in such a case, would be sin- 
 gle allusions, incidental and ambiguous assertions, here and 
 there a word quite unintelligible to all but the initiated, 
 and dark ceremonies, seemingly pointing to something 
 higher, veiled in secrecy. He, therefore, who enters into a 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 87 
 
 close investigation of this subject, enters a region of to- 
 tal uncertainty ; where the opponent enjoys the impor- 
 tant advantage of appealing to every trifle in any measure 
 favorable to his purpose, and pointing out to the inquirer 
 in those circumstances with which he thought himself per- 
 fectly acquainted, certain things which give them a mys- 
 tical character, while the latter often finds himself un- 
 able to meet the former with that clear and convin- 
 cing reasoning which is desirable, in such an important 
 matter. It is very difficult, every body knows, to form a 
 correct opinion of the secret societies now in existence. 
 Their writings contain a multitude of passages, the actual 
 meaning of which, those not connected with these frater- 
 nities, are unable to discover. How difficult then would 
 it be to explain the New Testament properly, on the sup- 
 position, that it was written by the members of such a so^ 
 ciety ? Would there be any reason for astonishment in 
 such a case, to know, that generations had read it through 
 and through, without discovering any traces of this secre- 
 cy ? — a secrecy, which perhaps could be discovered only 
 by the practised eye of one, who, from being connected 
 with similar fraternities, had acquired a more penetrating 
 acumen, and a finer sensibility in regard to such things ? 
 Those who read my remarks, will understand what I say. 
 I am convinced from my very heart, that Jesus never in- 
 tended to carry his plan into effect by means of a secret 
 order. If however, upon investigating the subject, I should 
 find myself unable to make this appear as evident to 
 others as it does to me ; if my reasoning does not remove 
 every doubt from the mind of the reader, let him remem- 
 ber that, in such a case, it is impossible to arrive at any 
 thing more than a high degree of probability, the strength 
 of which will appear different to different individuals. 
 What I have to say will satisfy the unprejudiced. Those 
 who are destitute of an honest love of the truth, would not 
 be convinced by still stronger reasoning. 
 
 § 45. Every thing may here be reduced to the ques- 
 tion : " Is there any thing in the writings of Christ's 
 friends, or the character of the times in which they lived, 
 
 r 
 
88 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 as developed by history, which will justify an impartial 
 inquirer in believing, that Jesus was a member or the 
 founder of a secret order, and intended to accomplish the 
 great object which he had in view for the improvement of 
 mankind, by means of its influence ?" If we can show, 
 that, instead of there being any thing extant, which can 
 justly be construed into a proof of the existence of such a 
 society, there are circumstances and things, which evident- 
 ly contradict the supposition that Jesus intended to make 
 use of such means, we shall be constrained to consider 
 the whole allegation respecting such a fraternity, as it is, 
 an empty fiction. 
 
 That there is no account extant, which, in express and 
 unambiguous language, proves that Jesus was a member or 
 the founder of a secret order, is universally conceded. 
 To be justified, therefore, in admitting the existence of 
 such a fraternity as a historical truth, we must be able 
 to find sufficient traces of it, either in the external con- 
 nexions of Jesus, or in his institutions of instruction ; in 
 his private life, the language and expressions of his 
 friends, or in their enterprises after his death. In none 
 of these respects, however, does the least thing appear, 
 which goes to satisfy the unprejudiced inquirer. 
 
 The external connexions of Jesus are well known. He 
 was never out of his native country, except during the 
 first months of his life, in his minority, when his parents 
 fled down into Egypt. We must adhere to pure fiction 
 in direct opposition to all the accounts extant, or admit 
 that this stay of Jesus in Egypt was very short, and that 
 his parents returned again to Palestine before the first 
 years of his childhood had passed away, and consequently, 
 before he was capable of learning any thing in Egypt, if 
 we admit that there was any thing there for him to learn. 
 Now Palestine, the land in which Jesus grew up, was, of 
 all countries, the freest from mysteries ; and the Jewish na- 
 tion to which he belonged, knew less than any other nation 
 about secret associations. A certain writer* has indeed 
 
 * Comp. the work [by Carl Leonhard Reinhold,] entitled, Die 
 ■hebraischen Mysterien, oder die alteste religiose Freymaurerey, 
 Leipz., 1788. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. f| TJ JJliPEUSI* 
 
 afRrmed, that the whole Mosaic religion wasl^a^^iatio^l;^ vr.'^'V*^ 
 into mysteries, the principal forms and regulSfe^^;6f'-' '"^^*^ .,- 
 which were borrowed by Moses from the secrets oftEe 
 old Egyptians ; but it is nothing more than a sally of 
 thought, dressed up in an ingenious manner, and is obvi- 
 ously opposed to the whole character of religious myste- 
 ries as they existed among the other nations of antiquity.* 
 An appeal might be made to the Essenes merely with 
 some appearance of truth, in order to show that secret as- 
 sociations were not altogether unknown to the Jews in the 
 time of Christ. This sect was then found in Palestine, 
 and it certainly bore evident marks of being a society 
 which possessed particular secrets. Hence, every one who 
 was admitted into it, was obliged to pledge himself by 
 taking a solemn oath, that he would keep these secrets in 
 the most careful manner ;t and so great was the reserve of 
 its members in this respect, that nothing of the kind ever 
 escaped from them ; for which reason we are unable to 
 say in what these secrets consisted. The supposition, 
 however, that Jesus was connected with this sect, is not 
 only destitute of all historical foundation, but the life, doc- 
 trines, and institutions of Jesus, are so entirely at variance 
 with the opinions and moral habits of these enthusiasts, 
 that, though he has never expressly named them, it is ev- 
 ident that he actually opposed their extravagant principles, 
 and guarded his followers against them. J Besides, it is 
 
 * The few remarks made by Eichhorn in his notice of this work, 
 Allgemeine Bibliothek der biblischen Litteratur, Bd. I, S. 750 ff., 
 furnish a sufficient refutation. 
 
 t Comp Josephus, De Bell. Jud., 1. II. c. 8. § 7, Havercamp's ed. 
 [Whiston's, the same. Tr.] 
 
 + To be convinced of this, one has only to examine what Philo and 
 Josephus have related of this sect very much in detail, and the re- 
 marks connected with it, in Prideaux's Histoire des Juifs, Tom. IV. 
 p. T8— 119; [in the quarto ed., Tom. II. p. 166— 180, Amst., 1744; 
 in the German translation, Connexion des A. und N. Test, mit der 
 Geschichte, Th. 2. S. 422—451, Dresden, 1721 ;] [in English, Pri- 
 deaux's Connexion, Vol. III. p. 406, Lond. 1808. Tr. ;] and Lader- 
 wald's treatise, Ueber der angeblichen Ursprung des Christenthums 
 aus der jOdischen Secte der Essaer, in Hencke's Magazin fUr Reli- 
 gionsphilosophie, Exegese und Kirchengeschichte, Bd. IV. St. II, 
 Abh. XVI. [For more upon the subject, vid. Appendix C] 
 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 worthy of J*"emark, that Jesus never visited the region 
 where the main body of these hermits dwelt, which was 
 along the western coast of the Dead Sea.* This small 
 sect excepted, which did not number over 4,000 members, 
 we do not find the least trace of a secret order among the 
 people with whom Jesus lived, or any indications of an 
 inclination for such fraternities. It is certain, therefore, 
 that the external connexions of Jesus did not favor the 
 formation of such an order. Any other nation and coun- 
 try would have presented him with far more inducements 
 and far greater facilities for the purpose. f 
 
 § 46. Moreover, had Jesus intended to operate in this 
 way, we should undoubtedly find something indicative of 
 it in his institutions of instruction ; something from which 
 we might infer, with an appearance of probability, that he 
 was either a member or the founder of a secret society. 
 We search here also in vain for circumstances in confir- 
 mation of the one or the other. For how can it be prov- 
 ed that Jesus was directed or impelled in the performance 
 of his work by a secret society ? Would not the whole 
 supposition, that Jesus found such a society in existence 
 of which to become a public tool, be altogether destitute 
 of historical foundation ? Do the enterprises of Jesus ex- 
 hibit the least traces of his ever having acted otherwise 
 than according to his own independent will, or ever hav- 
 ing been obliged in the first place, to hold consultation 
 with some other person ? Did he not in every instance 
 decide all alone and upon the spot? Does not every 
 step that he took bear such marks of resolute determi- 
 nation as to convince any one, that he did not regulate 
 his conduct by others, nor look to others for direction, 
 nor feel responsible to man ? Does he ever hint that he 
 
 * Vid. Pliny, His. Nat., 1. IV. c. 13. 
 
 t The Egyptian Therapeutae, of whose mysteries and regulations 
 Philo so frequently speaks, do not belong to this place, as it cannot 
 be proved that they had the least connexion with Jesus, and they 
 did not possess even the constitution of a regular secret society. 
 Eichhorn, Bibliothek der biblischen Litteratur, Bd. IV. S. 775 fF. 
 [Comp. Neander's K. G., I. 1. 78—80.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. - 91 
 
 had been endowed with full powers and sent on his mes- 
 sage by any other being than God ? 
 
 From his institutions of instruction, it is equally hard 
 for us to show that he was even the founder of such an 
 order. It is true that he made various distinctions among 
 his followers. When he taught in public, all men had ac- 
 cess to him. He never hesitated to speak before those 
 assemblies which contained his enemies. He had a large 
 number of pupils, however, in close contact with his person, 
 whom he could commission at any time for the perform- 
 ance of his work. Among these were seventy men, whom, 
 when about to make his last journey to Jerusalem, he sent 
 before him, for the purpose of exciting the attention of the 
 people to the important change which he was soon to ef- 
 fect. Still more intimate was he with the company of the 
 twelve aposdes, whom he chose at the very commence- 
 ment of his public ministry, and destined to be the fu- 
 ture executors of his purposes, and hence, kept always 
 about his person, and made acquainted with almost every 
 step that he took. Even in this litde company, however, 
 there was a distinction. Three of the twelve, Peter, 
 John, and James the elder, were his most intimate dis- 
 ciples and friends, and often permitted to accompany 
 him, where he thought it not advisable to have the rest 
 of his apostles present. Will the historical fact, how- 
 ever, that Jesus made such distinctions among his dis- 
 ciples and friends, authorize us to conclude that he en- 
 gaged in the formation of a secret society ? Is it possi- 
 ble for us to compare these distinctions with the degrees 
 of an order, without sporting with words ? In making 
 these distinctions, did Jesus do any thing more than intel- 
 ligent teachers of every age have been obliged to do, and 
 what circumstances particularly required ? What sage 
 has not introduced certain distinctions among his pupils, 
 permitted a select number to have near access to him, 
 and put perfect confidence in a few, and associated them 
 with him as his most intimate friends ? Does not the 
 great difference between the powers, dispositions, and fu- 
 ture destinations of men, always render such distinctions 
 
n 
 
 necessary? As Jesus had but little time to spend in im- 
 parting instruction himself, was it not particularly necessa- 
 ry for him to think upon this subject, and, out of the great 
 jnass of men, rough, ignorant, and usually blinded by pre- 
 judice, with whom he was surrounded, to select a small 
 number as soon as possible, and prepare them for continu- 
 ing his great work, by holding constant intercourse with 
 them and giving them a more careful education ? Was it 
 not the prevailing custom for other Jewish teachers to do 
 so, and was he ever noticed by his countrymen as singular 
 in this respect ? Should any one, however, assume that 
 Jesus had other friends in addition to those now called 
 confidants, who kept behind the curtain, and had to act si- 
 lently in advancing his cause, and away from the view of 
 the world, he takes up with a fiction in every respect des- 
 titute of proof. Were it lawful to treat history in such a 
 manner, it might be shown with far more appearance of 
 certainty, that Socrates, for instance, was at the head of 
 such a band, and it would -be easy to transform every 
 great man into the director or founder of some secret 
 order. 
 
 The mode of instruction employed by Jesus, was indeed 
 regulated according to the different characters of his hear- 
 ers, to which allusion has already been made ; but it never 
 bears any mar£s of that intentional obscurity and reserve 
 to be noticed in the manner of those, who wish to have it 
 understood, that they are in the possession of secrets which 
 cannot be imparted to all. That Jesus often clothed the 
 truths which he delivered in interesting parables,'^ is read- 
 ily admitted. He did so, however, ]3ecause the people 
 were accustomed to this mode of instruction, and more 
 easily excited by it to due reflection upon what they heard ; 
 but especially, because it enabled him to say many things 
 
 * Vid. Vitringa, De Synag. Vet., 1. III. p. 1. c. 5. [Compare also 
 the excellent treatise by the worthy pupil and friend of Reinhard, 
 Superint. Wilh. Christ. Gottl. Weise, of Hertzberg, Diss, de more 
 Domini acceptos a magistris Judaicis loquendi ac disserendi modos 
 sapienter emendandi, quam praeside Reinhardo publ. def., Viteb,^ 
 1792, ab auctore recognita et multis augmentis locupleta in Velthu- 
 sen etc. Commentatt. Theolog., Vol. V. nr. 8. p. 117—197.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 93 
 
 in a way perfectly intelligible to the attentive and unpre- 
 judiced listener, but which the great mass of the people, 
 did not understand,* and would have misapprehended and 
 abused, had they been uttered in plain language. These 
 parables, however, concealed no meaning with which it 
 was not every man's business to become acquainted. 
 They merely embodied the instructions, views, and repre- 
 sentations, to which the men of that age were unaccustom- 
 ed, and which stood in strong opposition to prevailing pre- 
 judices. These were the secrets of the kingdom of God, 
 which the mixed multitude were as yet unable to receive 
 without the disguise of imagery, and which were therefore 
 laid by Jesus in the first place, before his intimate disciples. 
 However attentively we examine the figurative narratives 
 of Jesus which have been preserved by the Evangelists, 
 not one of them will be found to contain any traces of 
 mysterious references to secret enterprises and institutions, 
 or any thing more than those doctrines, which, as soon as 
 his entire history was sufficiently developed, and a multi- 
 tude of the vain expectations entertained by the Jewish 
 nation had been corrected, were delivered in public, and 
 imparted to -every adherent of Christianity. It would be 
 very unjust in any one to blame Jesus for accommodating 
 himself to the circumstances and necessities of his fellow 
 citizens and friends, by letting himself down to their weak 
 capacities, and passing over many things in silence, which, 
 in the progress of his great work, would become intelligi- 
 ble of themselves. The wisest men of every age have 
 looked upon such a benevolent condescension as necessary, 
 and practised it, in imparting truth. He, however, who, 
 from Christ's condescension in this respect, should infer 
 that he taught in this way, out of compliance with the laws 
 and regulations imposed upon him by a secret society, 
 would evidently allow himself to jump at a conclusion, as 
 every thing peculiar to his mode of teaching, can be ren- 
 dered perfectly intelligible without this supposition. 
 
 * Comp. Hess, Ueber die Lehren, Thaten und Schichsale unsers 
 Harm, Abschn. VI. S. 175 if., [according to the edition of 1806, B. 
 II. Abschn. VII. S. 3 — 46;] and Storr, Opuscula Academica, Tom. 
 I. diss. II. p. 89 seqq. 
 
94 
 
 Finally, some have endeavored to explain away the 
 miracles connected with Christ's institutions of instruction, 
 of which accounts are given by the Evangelists, by con- 
 sidering them as the effects of certain physical secrets, 
 which he is said to have possessed, and is conjectured 
 to have obtained from some secret order, and declaring 
 them the contrivanciss of his most private friends, who, by 
 various preparations unknown to the apostles, may, it is 
 thought, have accomplished that, which, though perfectly 
 natural, would have appeared miraculous to those who 
 saw not the machinery. None of this conjecturing, how- 
 ever, is worth the trouble of an answer. The fictitious 
 means, which, in this case, Jesus is said to have employed 
 for restoring heahh to the sick, must have possessed a 
 power, no less wonderful than that which this supposition 
 is designed to obviate. But what kind of a heart and 
 judgement and what views must that man have, who can 
 think it probable that even Jesus, devoted as his life was 
 to the accomplishment of the exalted and divine object, 
 the character of which I have described, should descend to 
 juggling, — who can attempt to explain away a great part 
 of his miracles by supposing them .to have been perform- 
 ed by the secret machinery of an intimate order of broth- 
 erhood, and dare to think him capable of degrading him- 
 self so far as to engage in the miserable artifices of leg- 
 erdemain ! So senseless and constrained is the entire rep- 
 resentation w^hich some late writers have given of Christ's 
 miracles in this respect, and the manner in which they have 
 endeavored to explain them away, that not another word 
 need be said upon the subject.* / Enough ! there is noth- 
 
 * [So judged Reinhard in 1789 and 1798 ; and so he judged also 
 after the appearance of Paulus' Commentary. I here give his opin- 
 ion in this respect as it was printed from a letter in his own hand- 
 writing : " What shall I say of the fat commentary of the Pseudo- 
 Paul ? Knoll and Spinoza, the most boyish remarks respecting the 
 Greek text, avid the most audacious and childish mode of reasoning 
 respecting the contents of the N. Test., are, in this work, connected 
 and mingled together in so curious a manner, as to leave the whole 
 circle of literature no chance of ever again producing the like. The 
 tone in which the praise of this monster of philology and philos- 
 ophy has been trumpeted, is one of the signs of the times, and affords 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN* 95 
 
 ing in our Saviour's public institutions of instruction, which 
 can justify us in supposing, that he was either a member 
 or thie founder of a secret society. 
 
 § 47. There is as little to be found in confirmation of 
 the supposition, if we take into consideration the private 
 life of Jesus. Respecting the business in which he was 
 engaged before he entered upon his public ministry, 
 there are no accounts extant, worthy of credit. Various 
 circumstances, however, render it very probable that he 
 neither connected himself with a secret society nor found- 
 ed one, before he was 30 years of age. Previous to the 
 time in which he made his appearance in public, his fel- 
 low citizens, as well as his nearest relatives, unquestionably 
 looked upon him as merely an ordinary man, and discov- 
 ered in him nothing special or extraordinary. This is the 
 reason why he was treated with such contempt by the 
 people of Nazareth, where he had liv^ed until the com- 
 mencement of his public career, Luke 4: 16 — 30, and 
 why even his relatives could not for a long time be con- 
 vinced that he actually possessed any uncommon abilities, 
 John 7: 1-^5. Now just glance at the results which 
 must be deduced from these circumstances. Had Jesus 
 been connected with any secret society before he began 
 to make himself known to the world, he would have found 
 it difficult to prevent, at least those relatives who daily as- 
 sociated with him, and in whose business he was constantly 
 engaged, from taking notice of him in this respect. It is 
 impossible to maintain such connexions, without doing 
 many things, or causing many things to be done, which at- 
 tract the attention of others, and excite in them the be- 
 
 a proof, that we are not sufficiently learned to interpret the Scriptures 
 in a real, grammatical manner, nor modest enough to philosophize 
 upon them with propriety. Even this commentator, however, has 
 failed in his attempt completely to naturalize Christianity, and put 
 every thing that it contains of a supernatural character, out of view. 
 Still, the evil which he will do in this respect, is not to be overlooked; 
 as he confessedly possesses a certain acuteness, which enables him 
 to dress up the most contorted exegesis, and is exactly adapted to 
 blind our dear, theological youth, ignorant, as they are, of philolog- 
 ical studies, and fonder of philosophizing than explaining from the 
 usus loquendi, and lead them entirely astray."} 
 
96 
 
 lief that such an one has something special in his mind. 
 With all the conveniences and means which we now have 
 at command for concealing our connexions with others 
 from the eyes of the world, and divesting them of all ap- 
 pearance of strangeness, we find it very difiicult to keep 
 every thing secret. And would not Jesus, a man in the 
 common walks of life, destitute of all these conveniences 
 and means, and known to the whole village where he lived, 
 have unavoidably been an object of special inquisitiveness 
 to his fellow citizens, at least to his relatives and family 
 friends, if he had maintained a correspondence involved 
 in so many difficulties from the circumstances of that age ; 
 if, from time to time, he had withdrawn himself from those 
 around him, performed journeys, received visits from stran- 
 gers, or excited the least suspicion in any way whatever, 
 that he had distant acquaintances, and held intercourse 
 with those whose views and characters were an impenetra- 
 ble mystery ? And would not all these circumstances have 
 been far more likely to strike the eyes, if Jesus had gone 
 about the formation of a secret society during the first 
 thirty years of his life ? Is it possible to accomplish such 
 an object without associating and connecting one's self with 
 various descriptions of men ? Persons of such views and 
 feelings as Jesus had, are very rare. To discover such 
 confidants, therefore, as Jesus is conjectured to have pos- 
 sessed, would it not have been necessary for him to enter 
 into the most careful trials, and laborious examinations, 
 and associate with all classes of people in the diiFerent em- 
 ployments of life ? Connected as this great work must have 
 been, with numerous journeys, inquiries, arrangements, 
 and external changes, would not somebody in Nazareth, 
 at least some of his near relatives, have perceived that he 
 was engaged in it ? Would not Jesus have been obliged 
 to give it a degree of importance in the eyes of those that 
 associated with him, previous to his entrance upon his pub- 
 lic duties ? 
 
 From the commencement of his public career, Jesus liv- 
 ed almost incessantly before the eyes of the world, and un- 
 der a pressure of labors, dangers, and cares, in which, Jie 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. .97 
 
 coald find but a very few hours for withdrawing himself 
 entirely from the multitudes that followed after him. 
 Of course, he had no time left to think of the forma- 
 tion of a secret society. It was completely filled up 
 by him, in imparting instruction, healing the sick, at- 
 tending carefully to the education of his aposdes, and in 
 the performance of journeys in their company or that of 
 numerous crowds. During this period, indeed, he was 
 far too much the object of public curiosity and attention, 
 and too generally in a throng, even to hold intercourse 
 with a secret society without being noticed, provided 
 there had already been one in existence. It is true 
 that he sometimes left his apostles, and, retiring into soli- 
 tary places, spent whole nights all alone, Luke 6: 12 ; 
 but will this fact authorize us to conjecture, that these 
 moments were set apart for intercourse with confiden- 
 tial friends with whom he was never seen to have any 
 connexion in public ? What great men have not found 
 it necessary occasionally to separate themselves from the 
 crowd and retire into solitude, in order to recruit them- 
 selves by reflection and the enjoyment of repose away 
 from the pressure of business ?* Does any one feel autho- 
 rized to infer that they did so for the purpose of holding 
 intercourse with secret societies ? If this be improbable 
 with regard to men, who spent many hours in solitude, 
 why should we conjecture it to be true with regard to Je- 
 sus ? Did he not also occasionally find such retirement 
 necessary ? He was compelled ta withdraw and conceal 
 himself when restless crowds wished to place him at their 
 head, and excite an insurrection, John 6: 15. Not even 
 the apostles, who almost always remained near by, ever 
 suspected that on such occasions, he retired into solitary 
 places, in order to hold intercourse with confidential, and 
 to them unknown friends. On the other hand, they ex- 
 pressly assert, that these precious moments were spent in 
 contemplations, for which he could find no time in the tu- 
 
 * Comp. Zimmermann, Ueber die Einsamkeit, Tli. 1. S. 49 fF 
 [Zimmermann's Solitude, Part I. p. 43 seqq.,Lond., 1804. Tr.] 
 
 9 
 
98 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 mult of.business ; — in self-repose, in collecting his thoughts, 
 and raising his heart to God. In a single instance, they 
 inform us, that he was visited at Jerusalem in the night by 
 a ruler of the Jews called Nicodemus, John 3: 2. Nico- 
 demus, however, was not at that time one of Christ's fol- 
 lowers, it being his chief object to form a more intimate 
 acquaintance with him by means of conversation ; and we 
 know what was done at this visit, which was made per- 
 haps in the presence of the apostles, from the account 
 given of it by John. There is room indeed to conjecture 
 that the forty days, passed by Jesus in the wilderness, about 
 the remarkable time of his entrance upon his pubHc minis- 
 try, were spent in holding intercourse with secret associa- 
 tions, but there is room for nothing more, as the Evange- 
 lists make no mention of any such thing. Besides, it 
 .should be remembered, that history contains many exam- 
 ples of men who have retired in like manner preparatory 
 to entering upon important business ; that as Jesus was 
 now about to make his appearance in public, it was in 
 some measure necessary for him to break away from the 
 connexions among whom he had lived, and retire awhile 
 from the view of men in order to make the commence- 
 ment of his public ministry the more remarkable ; and final- 
 ly, that as he was about to leave common occupations 
 and engage in one of the noblest, most exalted of callings, 
 such a space of time was devoutly to be desired, for col-_ 
 lecting his thoughts and for quiet reflection. With this 
 view of the subject before us, it is easy to show why Je- 
 sus withdrew from the eyes of men without resorting to a 
 supposition grounded upon a mere conjecture. 
 
 § 48. I come now to the language and mode of ex- 
 pression to be met with in the writings of Christ's apostles. 
 It is certain that these men before the death of Jesus, were 
 incapable of becoming the members of such a secret fra- 
 ternity as that must have been, which is said to have been 
 engaged in the execution of Christ's undertakings. He 
 therefore, who maintains that a secret fraternity existed, 
 must admit that they were not initiated into its genuine 
 mysteries nor made acquainted with its internal character, 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 99 
 
 until after that event. So far are some from denying this, 
 that they have even begun to point out expressions and 
 modes of representation in reference to the fact, which are 
 to be considered as fragments of the old symbolical lan- 
 guage of the order. As the number of phrases brought 
 forward to be explained upon this hypothesis is very great, 
 it camiot be expected that I should enter upon a particular 
 examination of them with reference to this subject. A 
 few general reflections will be sufficient to show the utter 
 groundlessness of this supposition, and its direct oppositon 
 to the principles of correct interpretation. 
 
 There are but two cases in which any one, who would 
 avoid total uncertainty in regard to the meaning of the 
 ancient writings that have come down to us, can be 
 justified in searching an ancient author for allusions to 
 secret associations, and for symbolical, arbitrary, and 
 conventional modes of speech, peculiar to some order. 
 The first is, when there are unquestionable accounts ex- 
 tant, which prove that he was in reality the member of 
 such a society, and treated of subjects relating to it in 
 his works ; the second, when his words cannot be ration- 
 ally explained in any other way than upon the supposition 
 that they have a secret meaning. If an interpreter were 
 permitted to search for the language of a secret order 
 without being obliged to do so, or being justified in the act, 
 either by history or the nature of the case, by internal or 
 external reasons, it would be very easy to transform every 
 ancient writer into the member of some secret fraternity 
 and discover mystical symbols in his expressions. Now, 
 by applying these principles, universally admitted to be 
 correct, to the writings of the apostles, it will be easy to 
 arrive at a conclusion ; for no real, historical evidence has 
 as yet been brought forward in proof of the existence of 
 a secret society to which they may have belonged, and to 
 the character of which they may have, occasionally alluded 
 in their writings. Here, then, the first circumstance re- 
 quisite to justify an interpreter in conjecturing that they 
 made use of mystical terms and enigmatical modes of ex- 
 pression, is entirely wanting. The same is also true of 
 
100 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 the second ; for what passages are there in the writings 
 of the apostles, which contain no rational meaning, ijn- 
 less understood of the mysteries of some secret or- 
 der ? That the style of the apostles is in many re- 
 spects, dark and enigmatical is perhaps not to be denied. 
 This is the case however, merely because they thought, 
 and expressed themselves like Jews. So evidently- does 
 their language partake of the character of that which we 
 find in the old Greek and Hebrew writings of their nation, 
 that all their obscure expressions can be satisfactorily ex- 
 plained by a reference to the usus loquendi of those writ- 
 ings. The most learned and acute interpreters of the N. 
 Testament have at all times not only maintained this, but 
 exhibited incontestible proof of it in their works. And 
 this is exactly what we should expect. It is natural to 
 conclude that any man will think and express himself ac- 
 cording to the mode prevalent in his nation. Now where 
 the resemblance between the usus loquendi of an author 
 and that of the nation to which he belonged, is so striking 
 as it is in regard to the apostles, if we suppose that he us- 
 ed the language in a mystical sense, we must admit that 
 all other writers of his nation used it in the same way. 
 This position however cannot be maintained, for it would 
 lead to an absurdity. Nothing is left therefore for us to 
 do, in attempting to give an explanation of his writings, but 
 to concede that he used thje language in its ordinary accep- 
 tation, and give up all idea of searching after a hidden 
 sense. Now the ordinary method employed for ascertain- 
 ing the meaning of the writings of the apostles, furnishes 
 us with whatever is requisite to get out of them in all ca- 
 ses a good and connected sense, and discover in these 
 books the most exalted truths of the most excellent relig- 
 ion. What then can justify an interpreter in subjoining an- 
 other method, not only ahogether superfluous, but grounded 
 upon a mere conjecture, and too destitute of foundation to 
 be admitted into the rank of a probable hypothesis? U a 
 man goes so capriciously and violently to work in his inter- 
 pretations, all exegetical confidence is at an end, and we 
 must admit that any thing can be made out of every thing, 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 101 
 
 and consequently that the old writings mean nothing with 
 any degree of certainty. 
 
 § 49. Farther ; had it in reality been Christ's intention 
 to employ a secret society for carrying his great plan into 
 effect, we should find some traces of it, at least in the un- 
 dertakings of his friends after his death. History, how- 
 ever, furnishes us with nothing, in justification of this opin- 
 ion. If is as clear as the sun, that, when the friends of 
 Jesus began to teach and to collect a church in Jerusalem, 
 they had no intention of constituting a secret order, op- 
 erating in silence, and obliging those whom they received 
 into their society, to keep certain things concealed. They 
 taught frankly and in public. They did not require those 
 who wished to have access to their meetings, or join their 
 body, to undergo a long and careful trial. Tliey some- 
 times admitted several thousands as members at once, 
 and did it so directly in view of the magistrates, that 
 these last found it necessary to interpose obstacles in the 
 way of the work at its very commencement, and hinder 
 the apostles' undertakings by the interposition of pow€r. 
 There is not room even for a conjecture that these exter- 
 nal resuhs were the effects of secret springs, which, though 
 invisible, put every thing in action, and kept it so. Jn 
 such a case the apostles must have either been members 
 of this directing society and at the same time the execu- 
 tors of its plans, or not have belonged to it at all. If we 
 take the last position, we not only assert something which 
 cannot be proved, (for how can we ascertain whether a 
 secret society existed which could keep its existence un- 
 known to the apostles ?) but something which is utterly im- 
 possible. It is absolutely inconceivable how the apostles 
 could have been the mere tools of a secret society, and 
 under obligations to act with reference to the views of oth- 
 ers, without observing it, and feeling a direct dependance 
 in regard to the business to which they had devoted their 
 lives. Were they, however, at the same time, members 
 of a secret order established by Jesus for the execution of 
 his plan, we may justly ask, by what circumstances and 
 accounts this is to be proved ? Why, in such a case, do 
 9* 
 
J 02 SKETCH OF CHRIST^S PLAN 
 
 the undertakings of the apostles exhibit no mofe regularity 
 and connexion ? Why do they allow themselves to be in- 
 fluenced so much by incidental circumstances ? Why do 
 they not always agree among themselves, and in all res- 
 pects follow the same rules ?^ Why cannot we fix upon 
 some central point, from which all management emanated, 
 and all the churches which arose received commands for 
 the regulation of their conduct ? Finally, why do the let- 
 ters, which the aposdes wrote with the greatest frankness, 
 to their confidential friends respecting the affairs of Chris- 
 tianity, contain nothing which can be referred to unnam- 
 ed overseers ? — nothing which required Christians to look 
 to some other head than themselves, and robbed individu- 
 al churches of their freedom and independance ? Is it 
 possible to conceive how a society having for its object the 
 renovation of the whole human family, could operate effi- 
 caciously without most accurately dividing the' immense 
 field of its labor, into greater and smaller circles, and de- 
 manding the strictest subordination of all its various direc- 
 tors ? Where, however, is the historical proof, that such a 
 well contrived, systematic plan ever existed among the 
 first Christian churches ? On the other hand, does not ev- 
 
 * [No one will misunderstand the author, and stretch his asser- 
 tions so far, as to make him admit that the apostles disagreed among 
 themselves, as to the essentials of Christianity, and consequently de- 
 viated from the doctrines of Jesus. From this view of the subject, 
 he was very far removed, as a.ny one will perceive, who only reads 
 his sermons, J. 1798, Cantate I. 334; "That was the genuine 
 spirit of Christ which operated in l]is apostles ;" and J. 1803, the 
 three sermons, Jubilate, Cantate, u. Rogate, II. 1 fF. ; " How im- 
 portant it must be to us that the apostles of Jesus, notwithstanding 
 all the increase of their experience and reflection in life, retained the 
 same dispositions and feelings towards Jesus until death." The au- 
 thor unquestionably refers to the difference which once arose between 
 Peter and Paul, Gal. 2: 11 ; in which case, however, Peter by no 
 means cherished an erroneous conviction of the truth, (as he had 
 not merited a severe censure from Paul but only a gentle rebuke,) 
 but on the other hand, under the influence of the fear of man, had 
 yielded in regard to his conviction of the truth, to the dispositions 
 and requisitions of the Jews. " Non enim," says Pope Felagius II. 
 upon this subject, (Acta Concill., ed. Harduin, Tom. III. col. 427,) 
 " rautatio sententiae, sed inconstantia sensus in culpa est." Res- 
 pecting the different regulations of the first Christian Church, vid. 
 Neander's K. G., I. 2. 599 ff*.] 
 
FOR THE 600D OF ALL MEI^. 103 
 
 ery thing that we know respecting the condition of the 
 Christian church at this time, contradict this supposition ? 
 Nor will the measures of the primitive Christians for 
 concealing certain doctrines and sacred ceremonies, au- 
 thorize us to conclude that certain mysterious regulations 
 existed at the times of the apostles and their immediate 
 successors; for the origin of these measures cannot.be 
 extended so far back as to the end of the first century ;* 
 nor can it ever be proved that something was to be con- 
 cealed from the heathen, and the novices in Christianity, 
 even in compliance with apostolical directions. f On the 
 contrary, various reasons can be drawn from history suffi- 
 cient to show why Christians of the second century, were 
 gradually induced to maintain a reserve in imparting their 
 instructions, and practising their sacred ceremonies. { The 
 supposition that they did so, because, ever since the for- 
 mation of their societies, they had been under the control 
 of a secret order, or had wished to be considered as such an 
 
 * As Lessing has said, Theologische Nachlass, S. 197 fF., with 
 which however should be compared the remarks of Bingham, Ori- 
 gin. EccL, Vol. IV. p. 119 ff., respecting the disciplina arcani so call- 
 ed, and its origin. 
 
 t That the apostles had no such thing as a secret doctrine, which 
 they imparted to but a few, is shown by Tertullian, De Praescript. 
 Haeret., c. 25, 26, [ed. Rigalt, Par., 1641., p. 240 seqq.] 
 
 X Vid.Schrockh, Christliche Kirchengeschichte, Th. IV. S. 372ff.; 
 [Neander's K. G., I. 2. 540, Anmerkung : (Speaking of the habit of 
 making the use of confessions of faith imparted only by word of 
 mouth to mean, that the most sacred things cannot be committed to 
 writing or made known to tlie uninitiated, without being divested of 
 their sanctity, he says ;) " This mystical playfulness and show, to 
 which had been attributed more importance than it originally pos- 
 sessed, gave occasion for the invention of a Disciplina Arcani, a no- 
 tion obscure, indefinite, and unhistorical, and hence, out of which it 
 was possible to make e^iery thing."] 
 
 [A fevf remarks maybe found upon the subject in Mosheim, Vol. 
 I. pp. 88, 100, 307. * The teachers of the ancient church,' says 
 Schrockh, ' have never given an accurate explanation of what they 
 meant by their secret institutions, their secret wisdom, or Disciplina 
 Arcani. The Romish church afterwards made use of the notion for 
 the purpose of thence deducing certain positions which are not to be 
 met with in the Scriptures, and do not belong to the Christian reli- 
 gion. Hence many extensive disputes have been carried on upon 
 the subject.' Tr.] 
 
104 
 
 order, admits of no confirmation. Besides, the doctrines 
 and ceremonies which were kept secret by means of these 
 private institutions, were not those which the secret frater- 
 nity, said to have been founded by Jesus, is affirmed to 
 have had in view, and of course cannot be considered as 
 having any thing to do with it. 
 
 § 50. It may appear somewhat striking, however, at 
 first glance, that Clemens of Alexandria and Origen his 
 pupil frequently assert, that there were secrets existing in 
 the bosom of the church, of which Jesus was the author, 
 who imparted them only to his apostles and some select 
 friends, and that these secrets had never been committed to 
 writing, but were propagated orally, and could be known on- 
 ly to a few, The language of Clemens upon this subject 
 in particular, is calculated to excite a general suspicion 
 that there was a society in the midst of the church, invisi- 
 ble to common eyes, which had received many things from 
 Jesus, of which the great body of Christians were totally 
 ignorant.* The more, however, any one becomes ac- 
 quainted with the language and mode of thinking peculiar 
 to this man, the less room will he find for this suspicion, 
 and the fewer traces will he discover of the existence of 
 such a society. It was the custom in Alexandria to speak 
 of higher secrets. Philo had already said much respect- 
 ing a secret wisdom which could not be imparted to all.f 
 Clemens, and after him Origen, speak in like manner of 
 this wisdom, with the sole difference that they derive it 
 from Jesus. As no account, however, is given of any 
 such secrets by the other writers of the ancient church, 
 we are unavoidably reduced to the supposition, that this 
 was a mode of expression peculiar to the Alexandrian 
 
 school, and by an acquaintance with its peculiarities we 
 
 » . 
 
 * For example, Strom., 1. I. from the very beginning, especially at 
 p. 322 seqq.. Potter's ed. ; [Sylburg's ed., p. 274 seqq.] Comp. al- 
 so a passage of the same author, found in Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., 
 1. 11. c. 1. Origen expresses his opinion upon this subject, contra 
 Cels., 1. V. c. 6. p. 633. 634, Delar. ed. 
 
 + Philo's System, in Eichhorn's Bibliothek der bibl. Litteratur, B. 
 IV. S. 775 fF., also S. 780 ff. [Neander's K. G., I. 1.74 f., and Ent- 
 wickelung der Gnost. Systeme, S. 6 ff.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 105 
 
 shall probably be enabled to conclude with some degree 
 of certainty in what these celebrated secrets consisted. 
 The above named school is known to have been distin- 
 guished for philosophizing upon the doctrines of Christian- 
 ity, and searching the Scriptures, even in historical parts, 
 after traces of a hidden and higher sense, an acquaintance 
 with which they declared to be a secret knowledge, (Gno- 
 sis,) to which every one could not attain.* Hence, the 
 writings of Clemens and Origen are full of allegorical in- 
 terpretations, and far-fetched philosophemes, and in these 
 respects they had learned predecessors at Alexandria, par- 
 ticularly Philo the Jew, who makes this allegorical and 
 philosophizing mode of explaining the Scriptures the main 
 source of the secrets of which he so often speaks. If now 
 we compare the passages in which Clemens and Origen 
 make mention of the secrets said to have been received 
 from Jesus and preserved by oral tradition, it will appear 
 to the highest degree probable, that they understood noth- 
 ing more by them than that spiritual meaning of the Scrip- 
 tures, which can be apprehended by those only who are 
 capable of penetrating beyond the letter.f Hence, it is so 
 natural for these men to refer to this higher sense, and 
 that too with a mysterious air, and a kind of reserve which 
 seems unwilling to reveal too much, that they do so 
 throughout their writings. On the other hand, we do not 
 find in them the least indication of a secret society which 
 governed in silence, exerted an especial influence upon 
 the church, and took the lead in its affairs. 
 
 * Grabe, Spicilegium S. S. Patrura, Tom. I. p. 328, and Mosheirn, 
 De rebus Christianorum ante Constant. M., p. 629 seqq. [Neander's 
 K. G., I. 3. 942, 947 ff.] 
 
 t Vid. Mosheim's note to his translation of Origen against Celsus, 
 B. VI. S. 599 fF., to which add Semler's suspicion founded in truth, 
 that Clemens had some predilection for the philosophemes of the 
 Gnostics, Histor. Einleitung zu Baumgartens Untersuchung theO' 
 logischer Streitigkeiten, Th. I. S. 181, and every thing will be ren- 
 dered still more intelligible. The Gnostics, as will be remarked 
 farther on, were in the habit of announcing their fanciful conceits 
 to be secret doctrines which they had received by means of oral tra- 
 dition. Comp. Irenaeus, Advers. Haeres., 1. III. c. 2. p. 174, 175, 
 Massuel. ed. 
 
106 
 
 § 51. Admitting the above view to be correct, nothing 
 farther remains in ancient history which can be looked up- 
 on as such an indication, except what is said of the Gnos- 
 tic parties. Here and there we actually discover allusions 
 to them, giving us to understand that the very secrets 
 which Jesus deposited in the bosom of a secret order, had 
 for a long time been preserved by these sects. It cannot 
 be denied indeed that most of the Gnostic parties had 
 something mysterious in them.''^ Hence the reason why 
 many of them, particularly the Valentinians, exercised 
 such caution in the choice of persons to be admitted into 
 their fraternities, and maintained a greater reserve in grad- 
 ually imparting their secrets to new members, than any 
 other secret societies that have ever existed. f Moreover 
 they had much to do with symbols, as is evident from 
 what has come down to us respecting the Ophitesf and 
 Basilidians.§ Indeed, the principal cause of the impene- 
 trable obscurity in which the doctrines of all the Gnostic 
 sects are veiled, and in which their opinions appear to us 
 to be a most intricate tissue of senseless dreams, is unques- 
 tionably to be sought for in the mystical language which 
 they employed. It was not understood even by those an- 
 cient writers, whose accounts we are obliged to follow in 
 tracing the history of the Gnostics, and of course we shall 
 be far less able fully to decipher it.|| Some however are 
 
 * Some of them went so far as to appeal to the fact that their sys- 
 tem of truth was a secret which Jesus had intrusted to but a few. 
 Comp. Mosheim, Ueber die Ophiten, § LIV. S. 106, and De Rebus 
 Christ, ante Constant., Sec, 1. § LXIIl. p. 185. 
 
 t Vid. Walch, Entwurf einer vollstandigen Historie der Katzer- 
 eyen, Th. I. S. 380-382, 
 
 t Compare Walch's work just quoted, Th. I. S. 290 if. 
 
 § Mosheim, Versuch einc^ unpartheyischen und grtlndlichen 
 Katzergeschichte, und Schumacher, Erlauterung der dunkeln und 
 schweren Lehrtafel der alten Ophiten oder SchlangenbrUder, nach 
 den geheimen Grundsatzen der Kabbalisten abgefasst, belong to this 
 place. 
 
 II Many of them maintained expressly that Jesus imparted secret 
 doctrines to his apostles, with a commission to make them known 
 to but a few, trusty persons. Vid. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., 1. 1. e. 34. 
 p. 104; [also, II. 46. p. 172. Grab.] 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 107 
 
 inclined to admit without any proof, that these sects were 
 branches of a secret society established by Jesus himself. 
 Every thing that has been preserved of their doctrines and 
 opinions is certainly very obscure, and their modes of rep- 
 resentation appear at first glance to agree very litde to- 
 gether. It can be made quite evident, however, that the 
 main object of all these sects was, to substitute rational re- 
 ligion instead of revealed.* Now who that has read the 
 writings of the apostles, can admit this to have been our 
 Saviour's object? These societies, for the most part, 
 thought very meanly of the writings of Christ's apostles, 
 treated them in a very capricious manner, and, under a 
 veil of obscure figures and difficult symbolical representa- 
 tions, labored with especial diligence to extend the quite 
 abortive speculations of reason respecting the origin of the 
 world and the evil it contains. Could they possibly have 
 been the continuation of an institution established by Je- 
 sus, of which the apostles were the oldest members ? The 
 foreign origin of all these sects is also immediately betray- 
 ed by the figures and modes of representation which they 
 had in common ; for the manner in which they clothed 
 and delivered their instructions, bears not the least resem- 
 blance to that of the friends of Jesus. Moreover it can 
 be proved that the chief dogmas of the Gnostics existed 
 before Christianity and prevailed in the East.f These 
 
 * 1. Comp. Semler, Geschichte der Christlichen Glaubenslehre, 
 in the first part of Baumgarten's Untersuchung theologischer Streit- 
 igkeiten, S.t21 ff. 
 
 2. Mosheim in his work, Ueber die SchlangenbrUder, declares 
 himself in the most decided manner opposed to the opinion here 
 quoted, and maintains that in regard to the Gnostics, every thing 
 must be understood literally. § XXVII— XXX. S. 44 ff. [Comp. al- 
 so Neander, Gnost. Systeme, S.94 ff. 235. 260. 264.] 
 
 t Vid. Michaelis, De indiciis Gnosticae philosophiae tempore 
 LXX. interpretum et Philonis Judaei, in the Syntagma Commenta- 
 tionum, Tom. II. p. 251 seqq., where also is to be found a lecture 
 upon this subject very much to the purpose, by Walsch, De philo- 
 sophia orientali, Gnosticorum systematum fonte et origine. The 
 latter upon the subject is also to be seen in the Entwurf der Katzer- 
 historie, Th. I. S. 241 ff. ; [Neander, Gnost. Systeme, Einleitung, 
 Eleraente der Gnosis im Philo, S. 1—27.] 
 
108 
 
 sects, therefore, could not have been the keepers of the 
 genuine principles delivered by Jesus. On the other hand, 
 they took their rise in opinions altogether at variance with 
 Christianity, and of course, while they retained what was 
 consistent with their own strange conjectures, they in a 
 great measure rejected its real and demonstrable doctrines. 
 On this point the primitive Christians were unanimous ; 
 for they considered all the Gnostics as errorists, very far 
 removed in their views and feelings from the doctrines 
 taught in the Gospel. Indeed the w^ritings of the aposdes 
 bear no very obscure traces of having been written on 
 purpose to controvert many of the positions afterwards 
 maintained by these parties. This, in particular, ap- 
 pears to have been a principal object of John in all his 
 writings ; some leading doctrines of this kind having even 
 then been partially blended with Christianity, though none 
 who advocated them bore the name of Gnostics."^ This 
 circumstance in this matter is perfectly decisive ; for we 
 must either maintain that the aposdes were ignorant of the 
 object which their teacher had in view, (and from whom 
 with confidence can we expect a true explanation of 
 Christ's intentions, if not from them ?) or we must ad- 
 mit that the Gnostic sects, whose leading doctrines they 
 rejected, were the remnants of a secret society which un- 
 derstood Christ's genuine meaning, and was to execute 
 his plan. 
 
 § 52. We have now examined every thing which appears 
 to contain any marks or traces of a secret order formed l)y 
 Jesus for the execution of his plan, and shown that nothing 
 is to be found which can be considered as substantial proof 
 that such an order ever existed. This of itself would be suf- 
 ficient even now to justify us in declaring every thing that 
 has been said respecting an association by means of which 
 Jesus intended to operate, to be empty fiction. We shall 
 
 * Comp. Michaelis, Einleituno^ in die gottlichen Schriften des 
 neuen Bundes, Th. II. § 149 u. 150. [Marsh's Michaelis, Vol. III. 
 Chap. VII. Sec. V. Tr. ;] and a learned and cirpumstantial confir- 
 mation of this affair in Storr's work, Ueber den Zweck der evangelis- 
 chen Geschichte und der Briefe Johannis. S. 43 if. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 109 
 
 be able however to draw this conclusion with far greater 
 certainty, if some additional things and circumstances be 
 pointed out, which are very clearly opposed to the position 
 that Jesus intended to make use of such means. 
 
 Here Christ's own language may be quoted. In more 
 than one instance, his very expressions are of such a cha- 
 racter as directly to contradict the idea, that he operated 
 by means of private institutions. He told his friends ex- 
 plicitly, that they should resemble a city set on a high hill, 
 which, on account of its position, cannot be hid ; that they 
 should be a light for illuminating the whole world ; and 
 ought never to think of keeping any thing secret. Matt. 5: 
 13, 16. He announced to them in plain terms, that the 
 extension of his doctrines would excite great commotions, 
 and draw down severe persecutions upon his friends. Matt. 
 10: 21 — 32. Had it been his intention to advance his 
 object by secret springs, he must have charged his apos- 
 tles to avoid all public curiosity, and shun the very appear- 
 ance of general movements. Instead of doing so, howev- 
 er, and making it their duty to maintain a suspicious re- 
 serve and operate in secret, he commanded them to teach 
 every thing that he had delivered to them, with boldness, 
 and preach what he had told them in the ear, upon the 
 house-top, Matt. 10: 26, 27. Stronger expressions could 
 not well have been employed for showing that he wished 
 them to act with perfect frankness, and avoid every thing 
 like mystery. Of the same character is all the instruc- 
 tion which Jesus imparted to his aposdes in his last famil- 
 iar discourses with them, John xiv. — xvi., respecting the 
 manner in which they were to labor for the accomplish- 
 ment of his object after his death. They were to do ev- 
 ery thing in public, and without a shrinking reserve. 
 They were not to hesitate, should they be complained of, 
 persecuted, and oppressed, for their candid and open ef- 
 forts. They were to remember that his frankness of ac- 
 tion had drawn down upon him the same fate, John 15: 
 18 — ^21, and that the object before them was to effect a 
 radical improvement, which could not be done without 
 great public commotion, John 16: 8 — 11. It appears 
 10 
 
no SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 even that Jesus intended expressly to guard his follow- 
 ers and friends against being entangled with societies, in 
 which he referred to something secret and mysterious. 
 The admonition which he is known to have given them 
 against believing any, who, during the last calamitous times 
 of the Jewish state, should try to persuade them that 
 Christ was here or there, was in the desert or in secret 
 places, Matt. 24: 23 — 26, can have no other meaning. 
 His object undoubtedly was to make his followers sus- 
 picious of all secret institutions, notwithstanding they pro- 
 raised great things and excited seducing hopes. Finally, 
 the declaration which Jesus made respecting himself be- 
 fore Annas the high priest, when interrogated as to his 
 disciples and doctrines, is worthy of particular attention. 
 Jesus told him in the strongest terms, that he had never la- 
 bored in a corner, nor taught nor attempted anything in se- 
 cret ; that he had delivered his instructions in the syna- 
 gogues and the temple, where all could hear him, and 
 hence, that people were to be found in every place, who 
 were well acquainted with whatever he had said or done, 
 John 18: 19 — 21. Jesus could not possibly have given 
 such an answer, had he been a member or the founder of a 
 secret society. Those, therefore, who attribute to him the 
 formation of such an association and make him operate by 
 its means, do it in direct opposition to his own plain 
 assertions. 
 
 § 53. To these lucid declarations of Jesus, some oth- 
 er circumstances may be added, which cannot possibly be 
 made to agree with the supposition that I am now con- 
 troverting. Every step that Jesus took was watched with 
 great attention. His enemies, drawn together by his 
 frankness in large numbers, examined every thing that he 
 did with uncommon eagerness, and were ready on all oc- 
 casions to lay hold of any thing that could be made use of 
 to his prejudice. It is difficult to conceive, therefore, how 
 the secret and quite extensive connexions which Jesus is 
 said to have had, could have remained altogether undis- 
 covered. From history, however, it appears to be an 
 undisputed fact, that nothing of the kind was ever thought 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. HI 
 
 of, nor the least suspicion ever excited, that Jesus was la- 
 boring in secret to raise up a strong party in his own fa- 
 vor. When brought before Pilate, he was not accused of 
 having formed a secret conspiracy, but of having endeav- 
 ored to excite a public insurrection. So firmly convinc- 
 ed were the people that if he were taken out of the way, 
 there was nothing more to fear, that they did not even 
 take the trouble of securing his friends. They were con- 
 sidered, and justly too, as a weak company, which would 
 disperse of themselves as soon as their leader was remov^- 
 ed. In this opinion the Jewish magistrates must have 
 been greatly confirnfied by the fact, that the traitor, one 
 of his twelve confidants and constant associates, of whose 
 aid they availed themselves in taking Jesus, gave them no 
 information respecting his being engaged in secret com- 
 binations. Had this faithless wretch known any thing of 
 the kind, or even suspected that Jesus had been able to form 
 secret plans and undertake their execution, he would not 
 have passed it over in silence ; and had his master been 
 connected with any private associations, would it have been 
 possible for him not to have discovered it during three years 
 of uninterrupted intercourse ? Moreover the conduct of Je- 
 sus as represented in the history of his life, is altogether dis- 
 similar to that of those who have founded secret associations, 
 or had intercourse with them. One of the strongest traits of 
 his character was an unshrinking, unconstrained frankness. 
 He on all occasions and with energy made known the 
 truth in public, even where it was dangerous to utter it. 
 A man who forms secret societies, and employs them as 
 the means of operation, is reserved and must be so. He 
 will be accustomed to labor in silence and retirement, rath- 
 er than openly and in the rush of a crowd. Jesus chose 
 his confidential friends without any of those delays indica- 
 tive of a doubtful state of mind, and connected them with 
 him without requiring them to puss through a course of 
 trial or a variety of preparatory exercises. We all know 
 with what caution those proceed, who are in search of 
 members for a secret society ; — what observations, what 
 . inquiries, what examinations are requisite, before they can 
 
112 SKETCH OF Christ's plan 
 
 resolve upon receiving a stranger, and adnnitting him into 
 important mysteries. The men whom Jesus chose for his 
 associates, were unlearned, and taken from the common 
 walks of hfe. They had no knowledge of the world or 
 mankind, were destitute of wealth and power, and in no 
 respects distinguished for natural talents. For nothing 
 were they less fitted, than taking an active part in plans 
 which required a refined and penetrating wisdom, and be- 
 ing initiated into important secrets. I need not say how 
 entirely different those act, in making choice of their as- 
 sociates, who aim at accomplishing any thing by means of 
 secret unions. There are many private societies in silent 
 operation, the object of whose labors must yield in impor- 
 tance and extent to that which Jesus had to advance, and 
 yet none of them would bid such men as the apostles 
 were, a very hearty welcome to their fraternities, or ad- 
 mit them as members, much less take up altogether with 
 such. The closer, therefore, we scrutinize whatever Jesus 
 said and did, the more we discover in his conduct entirely 
 at variance with the conjecture, that he founded a secret 
 order, and intended to use it as the means of operation. 
 This opinion is not only wholly destitute of all historical 
 proof, but it stands in direct opposition to unquestionable 
 matters of fact. We may justly draw the conclusion, 
 therefore, that Jesus never intended to put the hidden 
 springs of a secret society in motion for the execution of 
 his plan ; that in what he undertook for the advancement 
 of truth and happiness among mankind, he not only did 
 not employ a means of operation, which wise men have at 
 all times looked upon as very useful, but that he absolute- 
 ly disapproved of it and rejected it, in a manner sufficient- 
 ly intelligible both in his words and actions. 
 
 Jesus chose the gentlest means possible. 
 
 § 54. Of course, none but the gentlest means now 
 remain, by which such a benevolent plan as Jesus had in 
 view, could have been carried into effect ; namely, that of 
 
rOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. Il3 
 
 convincing instruction, connected with institutions for 
 quickening the moral sensibilities, arousing the human 
 mind to reflect upon its most important concerns, and 
 warm it with a living zeal for the attainment of its true des- 
 tination.* It is too obvious to be denied, that Jesus not 
 only labored in this way himself for carrying his plan in- 
 to effect, but even prohibited his apostles from making 
 use of any other method. History informs us that in- 
 struction was the principal means of which he availed him- 
 self, when he entered upon its execution. That he never em- 
 ployed power to obtain adherents to his cause, has already 
 been shown. It is as certain that he never dazzled dtiy with 
 external splendor, for the poverty in which he '/^'^d struck 
 the eyes of every one. He did not f^"-^- flatter the am- 
 bition, avarice, and sensuality of his fellow citizens with 
 the hopes of future gain. On the other hand, he frankly 
 told all who v/ished to join him, that they would have to 
 suffer timch in the cause of the truth, and must resolve to 
 sacrifice every thing for its sake. The very miracles that he 
 wrought were employed solely for the purpose of exciting at- 
 tention to his instruction, and procuring for him the necessary 
 respect. Instruction, therefore, was the principal means of 
 which he intended to avail himself in the accomplishment of 
 his object; and by looking at the manner in which he proceed- 
 ed in this respect, we shall be astonished at the carefulness 
 with which he ever honored the freedom of the human mind, 
 and in all cases sought to create rational convictions of the 
 truth. A special object of his efforts evidently was, to excite 
 redection in all those who heard him, and bring them to make 
 a candid examination for themselves. Hence, he never 
 sought to take any one by surprise. He even laid obstacles 
 in the way of and rejected those, who, without sufficient 
 consideration, and under the influence of a rash zeal, offered 
 to become his disciples, Luke 9: 57 — 62. Sometimes he 
 merely laid down premises, and recommended them to 
 the attention of his hearers, in order to furnish them with 
 
 * [Compare the author's sermon, J. 1798, Misericord. Domini, I. 
 293 i " Considerations respecting the choice of tlie means by which 
 Jesus intended to collect a church".] 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 an opportunity for making, by their own contemplations, 
 those deductions which he passed over in silence, Matt. 
 10: 37 — 39. Often he did directly the opposite to what 
 was demanded of him, without verbally contradicting pre- 
 vailing prejudices, and left it with those who saw him, 
 act, to examine into the reasons of his conduct. He la- 
 bored very zealously to promote the use of a sound un- 
 derstanding in the affairs of religion, and sought in eve- 
 ry way to make it evident, that as soon as a man, in at- 
 tending to its doctrines, neglects the aid of that faculty 
 given us by nature for perceiving the truth, and by means 
 of which we are so happily guided in the every day busi- 
 ness of life, he judges in a very false and disconnected 
 manner, and involves himself in the most disgraceful con- 
 tradictions.* Sometimes he raised doubts on purpose to 
 promote reflection and induce farther investigations, Matt. 
 22: 41—46. Mark 11: 27. 
 
 For the same reason, he often clothed his instructions 
 in fictions and fables, such a mode of imparting truth being 
 not only interesting and attractive, but necessarily requir- 
 ing the hearer to make his own application and interpreta- 
 tion, and calling the powers of hrs judgement into health- 
 ful exercise. He delighted in reconciling contradictions, 
 and with incredible patience condescended to refute the 
 most senseless objections and the wickedest reproaches. 
 In so doing, he never broke out in fiery condemnation, 
 but always justified himself with a calm earnestness, and a 
 noble temperance, while at the same time, he often 
 freely told his opponents of the unhappy consequences 
 which their extreme obstinacy would necessarily draw 
 down upon them. He never forced the truth upon any 
 one. All that he sought to do in its favor, was, by wise, 
 gentle, and agreeable means, to represent it in an amia- 
 ble and convincing light. He did not consider it of so 
 much importance for men to believe, as for them to be- 
 lieve aright, and with reason and reflection. Hence, he 
 never allowed himself to employ any of those arts of per- 
 
 * For examples, vid. Matt. 12: 9—12. Luke 14: 1—6. Matt. 23: 16 
 —33, «Skc. 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. 1 1 5 
 
 suasion which delude. He could speak, indeed, with an 
 eloquence which melted every heart, and affected even 
 his enemies, Luke 4: 22. John 7: 45, 46. His elo- 
 quence, however, consisted not in the art of getting the 
 advantage over a person by arguments rather dazzling 
 than true, nor in the faculty of astonishing and bearing 
 away an audience with a splendor of words and a flowing 
 elocution, without instructing and convincing them. It 
 produced its effects solely by means of the enlightening 
 truth contained in what he said. The naturalness, sim- 
 plicity, distinctness, and strength, with which he taught 
 every where, proved in a clear and correct manner ; 
 and instead of deceiving with their splendor, gently illumi- 
 nated the mind without corrupting or constraining the 
 heart, and brought into disgrace those sophistical jugglings 
 to which error alone is obliged to resort for defence. He 
 most conscientiously and tenderly regarded the laws of 
 the human mind, solemnly appealed to them in investigat- 
 ing the most exalted subjects of human knowledge, and 
 made as great efforts as possible to conquer merely by 
 reason and the power of the truth. Instruction, and in- 
 struction of which every one was at liberty to avail him- 
 self, delivered without any mysterious reserve, and open 
 to the freest and most acute examination, constituted the 
 principal means of which Jesus availed himself for the ac- 
 complishment of his plan. 
 
 At the same time, Jesus made arrangements for preserv- 
 ing and propagating this instruction, giving it life and pow- 
 er, rendering his followers more intimate with it, and obe- 
 dient to it, and keeping their minds in healthful and per- 
 petual action; and especially for nourishing and cherishing 
 that love which was to unite them together, and lead them 
 on in the way of virtue and happiness. It was his inten- 
 tion in particular, that his adherents should form themselves 
 into a visible society, that they should constitute a church, 
 Matt. 16: 18. This society, however, this church, was 
 not in the least degree to change or disturb their civil re- 
 lations. As the objects of this union were solely of a 
 moral character, every one might become a member of it 
 
116 
 
 without neglecting the calling which he had chosen, or 
 forsaking the post to which he had been assigned by the 
 state. Every society, however, must have marks for dis- 
 tinguishing its members, and means for preserving the 
 connexion which exists between them, and accomplishing 
 the object for which it was formed ; must have institu- 
 tions for cherishing those dispositions and feelings, and that 
 spirit which are to animate the whole, and promote the 
 welfare of every part. Jesus took care that the society 
 which he intended to establish should be furnished with 
 such institutions. It was to have a solemnity for the initi- 
 ation of new members. The ceremony which Jesus ap- 
 pointed for this purpose, was neither a terrific and painful 
 one, like the circumcision of his countrymen, nor a mys- 
 terious one, connected with great preparations like those 
 of the heathen. His followers were to be consecrated by 
 the simple, but significant use of water, as a solemn puri- 
 fication, reminding them that they were now to become 
 members of a community which required of them unspot- 
 ted purity of heart and life. Matt. 28: 19. John 3: 5. As 
 however, the continuance and prosperity of this commu- 
 nity, depended entirely upon the preservation and ope- 
 ration 01 the sacred truths and principles committed to its 
 charge, so the consecrated were to remind each other of 
 the great object of their union, and mutually stimulate 
 each other to its attainment, by carefully meeting together, 
 holding up to view and inculcating these important doc- 
 trines, and by means of touching exercises, endeavoring to 
 render the excitement thus produced, strong and power- 
 ful. In a word, they were to use every possible means, 
 not only for procuring a permanent place in the very heart, 
 for the substance of the joyful message brought them by 
 their Lord and Master from heaven, but for promoting the 
 welfare of the human race by spreading it throughout the 
 world. Matt. 18; 15—20. 28: 20. The accomplishment 
 of this object, depended very much upon the preservation 
 of the spirit of unity and love, which was to distinguish 
 this new community from all others and be the means of 
 renovating and improving the world and rendering it happy. 
 The only sure way of effecting this, was, by a repeated and 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. ] 1 7 
 
 tender recollection of the author of this union, and his 
 magnanimous sacrifice for the salvation of mankind. 
 Hence, with the pious meetings held by the members of 
 this church, was from time to time to be connected a re- 
 ligious and fraternal repast, on which occasions they were 
 to call to mind the last supper which he eat in confidence 
 with his disciples, on the very evening before his death. 
 Whenever they did so, in imitation of his example, they 
 were to take bread and wine, and in partaking of the 
 first, to think how his body was tortured and offered a 
 sacrifice for sin, and in receiving, the last, to think how^ 
 his blood was shed for them. In this way, they were to 
 celebrate the remembrance of his love and death, and, 
 while animated by reflecting upon them, to bind them- 
 selves to most unshaken fidelity in his service, and the 
 most active benevolence towards each other. Matt. 26: 
 26—28. Mark 14; 22-— 24. Luke 22: 19, 20. He laid 
 down no other precepts respecting the external form of his 
 church. It was left entirely with the aposdes to form such 
 other regulations as they should find best adapted to their 
 wants and the circumstances of the age. 
 
 § 55. The rules which he laid down for the direction 
 of his apostles in executing his plan, have a close agree- 
 ment with these general principles. They were never to 
 think of striving after civil power, or any other influence 
 than that, which could be obtained by exhibiting the truth 
 and setting a virtuous example, Luke 22: 24 — 27. 1 Pe- 
 ter 5: 2, 3. They were to gain none by promising them 
 earthly advantage, but they were ever to inculcate upon 
 their hearers the truth, that virtue must look for its full re- 
 ward to another world. Matt. 10: 37 — 39. They were 
 not to constitute a secret society, nor operate by secret 
 arts, but to go forth into all the world, and make known the 
 truth freely, and publicly to all nations. Matt. 28: 19, 20. 
 Acts 1: 8.* In so doing, they were not merely to enjoin 
 
 * That they did so, is evident not merely from history. In their 
 Epistles, they appeal expressly to the churches which had been es- 
 tablished in proof of the fact, that they had employed neither cun- 
 ning nor secret institutions, for the purpose of gaining advocates to 
 thei^r cause, 2 Cor. 4: 2. 1 Thes. 2: 3, 4. 
 
118 SKETCH OF Christ's PLAN 
 
 it upon every one to believe their word, but they were to call 
 upon every one to hear their reasons and examine them for 
 themselves. Wherever they found people, who advocated 
 the truth, they were to establish institutions for the preser- 
 vation and extension of a more thorough acquaintance with 
 it. Hence they were to prepare men by education for 
 teaching others, and institute meetings and exercises for 
 the common information and encouragement of all the 
 professors of this pure religion. In their efforts indeed 
 they were not to allow themselves to be checked or dis- 
 turbed by vetos or magisterial power, Matt. 10: 17 — 
 33. John 15: 17 to chap. 16: 4, for no earthly ruler 
 has a right to prohibit his subjects from receiving this 
 religion, addressing itself as it does, to the conscience, 
 or to lay down precepts for directing them in attending to 
 their moral education and the welfare of their souls. Acts 
 4: 19, 20. On the other hand, they were not to allow 
 those who wished to become of their number, to occasion 
 any discord in society, or, under any pretence whatever, to 
 transgress the several relations to which they had been as- 
 signed, 1 Cor. 7: 17 — 22, or refusato give due honor to 
 their rulers, and yield the most willing and punctual obedi- 
 ence to their lawful regulations, Rom. 13: 1 — 7. 1 Pet. 
 2: 13 — 17. Tit. 3: 1. They were rather to aim ear- 
 nestly at transforming all the advocates of the truth in- 
 to the most diligent, faithful, and useful citizens, by in- 
 culcating it upon them, as a general principle, that they 
 were bound to honor the doctrines which they profess- 
 ed, and advance the truth as much as possible, by ex- 
 hibiting the most upright and dignified conduct in all their 
 relations, Matt. 6: 16. 1 Pet. 2: 11, 12. Phil. 1:27. Col. 
 1: 10. Tit. 2: 6 — 10. In this way then, was the truth to 
 conquer of itself. It needed no foreign aid. The na- 
 tions of the earth would gradually ascertain, that it would 
 be for their interests in every respect, to embrace it and 
 obey it. All those also, who gave themselves up to the ad- 
 vancement of the Saviour's great views, were to expect the 
 protection and assistance of heaven, which was of far more 
 importance than the favor of the world ; for the plan in which 
 
FOR THE GOOD OF ALL MEN. Il9 
 
 Jesus was engaged, was the work of God, John 4: 34, with 
 chap. XVII. It was the object of the Governor of the world, 
 and of the Father of mankind, to bless the whole human 
 family and give the inhabitants of the earth the highest 
 proof of his infinite love, by carrying this great undertaking 
 into effect. 
 
 Such is the great plan, which, according to historical tes- 
 timony, Jesus devised for the good of our race, and such 
 are the means which were to be employed for carrying it 
 into complete effect. That it has been misapprehended 
 and misrepresented, is neither his fault nor that of his 
 friends. It has not yet been carried into complete effect, 
 at least, to such a degree as its author intended, and as 
 could be wished. With this, however, we have nothing 
 to do. It is sufficient that Jesus intended it should be ; — 
 that this was the object which he had in view. Let us 
 now see whether any mind in the age before him, ever 
 conceived of a similar plan ; whether any benefactor of 
 the human race, any great genius of antiquity, was ever 
 capable of such exaltation, such extension of thought. 
 
* 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 NO GREAT MAN OF ANTIQUITY BEFORE JESUS, EVER 
 
 DEVISED A BENEVOLENT PLAN FOE THE WHOLE 
 
 HUMAN FAMILY. 
 
 § 56. These are those who can look down upon the 
 most celebrated spirits of antiquity with a contemptuous 
 glance because they were heathen, that is, had not that 
 religious knowledge with which God has honored us ; — can 
 find satisfaction in impugning their motives, or consider it as 
 an act of piety to deny them the possession of any good dis- 
 position and feeling, and, by an unmerciful decision, declare 
 their actions splendid sins, how fine soever and noble they 
 may have been, and how much soever they contributed to 
 promote the education and welfare of mankind. Such will 
 dislike this part, perhaps pass over it, and refuse to accom- 
 pany us into antiquity. We shall not allow ourselves to be 
 disturbed or interrupted by them, while we stand with ven- 
 eration before a great man of the anterior world, and ad- 
 mire his virtue, zeal, and superiority, and our heart flows 
 forth with gratitude to the author and careful guardian of 
 all, for his gifts to our world in general, but especially in 
 these active, benevolent, and exalted spirits, in whatever 
 climate they hved.* Let us be just. Let us honor, ad- 
 
 * " Thy foot," says Clemens of Alexandria, as it is there express- 
 ed, " will not stunjble, if thou ascribest every thing good and no- 
 ble, to Providence, whether it takes place among the Greeks or our- 
 
 11 
 
122 
 
 mire, and esteem the benefactors of mankind, who lived 
 before Jesus, according to their merits. When, under the 
 guidance of truth, we have gone through with this worthy 
 collection, contemplated their deeds, and developed their 
 plans with their benevolent resuhs, how astonished shall we 
 be at the dignity and exaltation of him who is so much su- 
 perior to them all ! With what emotion and reverence shall 
 we at last humble ourselves before the author of Christi- 
 anity, when convinced that he very far surpasses every 
 thing that is great and exalted among men ! 
 
 § 57. Before entering upon the consideration of these 
 benefactors of mankind, however, as individuals, let us 
 throw out some general remarks respecting the whole of 
 antiquity. He who is acquainted with the old world, and 
 has been accustomed to contemplate human nature and 
 its laws of development and operation, with a pene- 
 trating eye, will at the very outset admit it to be improb- 
 able, that, among all the great men with which antiquity 
 abounds, we shall light upon any, who were capable of such 
 enlargement of thought, such extensive goodness of heart, 
 as shine forth from the plan of Jesus which we have al- 
 ready described. Reflect upon the following circumstances : 
 
 All the nations of antiquity, even when cultivated by the 
 arts and sciences, exhibited a certain savageness and in- 
 sensibility, a certain rudeness of character, especially to- 
 wards foreign nations and strangers. They were very 
 destitute of that humanity, tender sympathy, and hearty be- 
 nevolence, which ought to pervade every heart, bring 
 mankind together, and lead them mutually to assist each 
 other, and exert themselves in advancing each others im- 
 provement and happiness. How much soever they dif- 
 fered in regard to manners and customs, knowledge, civil 
 
 selves, for God is every where the author of all that is good, ^ome 
 things indeed, originate immediately with him, as the Scriptures of 
 the Old and N. Test., others again mediately, as philosophy. And 
 even this, he appears to have imparted immediately to the Greeks, 
 until they were called by the Lord ; for philosophy led the Greeks 
 to Christ, as the law did the Jews." Vid. Strom., lib. I. p. 331, Pot- 
 ter's ed. [Sylburg's, p. 282. Comp. Neander's K. G., I. 3. 919 ff.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 123 
 
 regulation^ and religion, they all evinced more or less of 
 this hostile insensibility, this inclination to cruelty, this dis- 
 like of repose, and the gentle arts of peace. Very strik- 
 ing and terrific, however, does this trait appear in the mode 
 of thinking peculiar to those who excited great attention, 
 and effected great revolutions. The causes of this phe- 
 nomenon can easily be pointed out. 
 
 With those nations, which seldom or never arose from a 
 state of barbarity, such as pastoral tribes, and those that 
 subsisted entirely by hunting and fishing, it was almost 
 necessarily the result of their mode of life. In such 
 a state, man needs but little penetration or corporeal 
 skill. He is put in motion and driven to action, sole- 
 ly by the mechanical power of his own animal desires, 
 and the impetuosity of his wants, and as soon as they 
 are satisfied, he sinks down into a state of listlessness 
 and stupidity, in which he is altogether indifferent to the 
 fate of his fellow creatures. In whatever he does, he is 
 influenced chiefly, if not entirely by the base motives of 
 selfishness. As, moreover, the relations he sustains are (ew, 
 very lax, and seldom awaken or cherish in his bosom any 
 thing like friendly sympathy and careful zeal for strangers, 
 so the important idea of a common and public weal, is 
 never developed or awakened in his soul. For this ve- 
 ry reason, he will never think of extending his benefits far- 
 ther than to those nearly allied to him by nature, or at 
 most, to the tribe to which he belongs. In this state there- 
 for6, man is a kind of ravenous beast, full of insensibility 
 and cruelty, towards every one with whom he is not par- 
 ticularly acquainted, or from whom he is in any measure 
 afraid of receiving injury. This was the state of far the 
 greatest part of the human race, before the time of Christ. 
 
 Not much better was the condition of those who lived 
 in bad civil governments, restless democracies, tyrannical 
 oligarchies, or under despots. The entire history of such 
 nations is usually made up of violent changes, and internal 
 discords and commotions, accompanied with the shedding 
 of human blood. In the course of half a century, they 
 often experienced revolutions, which cost them the lives of 
 a great part of their best citizens. Almost daily were they 
 
124 
 
 called upon to witness examples of cruelty and oppres- 
 sion among themselves, and were thrown by party spirit 
 into relations and embroiled in contentions, which suffoca- 
 ted all that true, mutual confidence, which the citizens of a 
 state ought to feel towards each other, or rendered a cau- 
 tious mistrust, a kind of indispensable wisdom. In par- 
 ticular, they lived in circumstances, in which the causes 
 adapted to quicken the sensibilities, and originate that dis- 
 interested goodness, which expands the heart with benev- 
 olence, were either altogether wanting, or not in sufficient 
 operation. How would it have been possible, then, for 
 the character of such nations, not to acquire a degree 
 of insensibility, a kind of inclination for violent deeds, 
 and a marked indifference to human life ? The religion 
 of such nations is always as rude, savage, and cruel, as 
 themselves. Accustomed as they are to tumults and blood- 
 shed, the sciences, even if they flourish, never produce 
 a very powerful effect upon their hearts, and at most, only 
 soften here and there a feeling soul, that lives in retire- 
 ment, and is unnoticed by the crowd. Riches and wealth 
 are employed in a manner agreeable to the prevailing taste. 
 Such nations are rude and cruel in their very amusements, 
 and can look upon the shedding of human blood in thea- 
 tres, as a diverting spectacle. 
 
 Such, then, being the condition of a large portion of the 
 nations of antiquity, even the most celebrated, it is no won- 
 der that the enlightened Greek, notwithstanding the soft 
 sensibilities which he had received from nature, even when 
 his native country was distinguished for cultivating the 
 arts and sciences, and filled with immortal works, was so 
 warlike, so fond of noisy commotions, and so indifferent 
 to human blood. 
 
 § 58. To all this, may be added the desire of conquests, 
 and the few interests which the old nations had in common, 
 for binding each other together.* It is true, that com- 
 merce had, at a very early age, established intercourse be- 
 tween the most remote countries, and brought their inhab- 
 
 * Corap. Polybius' Hist., 1. I. c. 3. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 125 
 
 itants in contact with each other.* Those nations of the 
 old world, however, which were the most noted for com- 
 merce, under the influence of selfishness, sought not only to 
 enhance the value of their own markets, by usually laying 
 obstacles in the way of free intercourse, but, whenever their 
 own interests required, indulged in every kind of violence, 
 and, in opposition to the laws of freedom, entered into treat- 
 ies with each other for carrying on piracy.f Besides, 
 nearly all the great nations of antiquity evinced a restless 
 barbarity, which induced them to go out as adventurers 
 in predatory bands, and make attempts to conquer their 
 neighbours, and perhaps, subdue the world. Even small, 
 insignificant clans were engaged in constant warfare with 
 each other, and usually indulged in mutual hostilities, un- 
 til swallowed by some superior power. { Among the rude 
 nations of remote antiquity, it was at all times considered 
 not only as lawful, but honorable, to engage in warlike ex- 
 cursions into foreign countries, and make unexpected sal- 
 lies and hostile landings, for the purpose of taking prisoners, 
 acquiring plunder, and perpetrating cruelties. The bands 
 of robbers who did such things always had the public con- 
 sent, and sometimes a hero for their guide.§ The great 
 
 * Heeren's excellent work : Ideen Ober die Politik, den Verkehr, 
 und den Handel der vornehmsten Volker der alten Welt, 2 Thle. 
 8; [first ed., 1793 — 96 ; in the fourth, to the present time, 6 Bde., 
 1824—26, or the Historische Scriften von H., Theil 10—15.] [N. B. 
 This is the same work, of a part of which, Mr. Bancroft has given a 
 translation, entitled, Reflections on the Politics of Ancient Greece. 
 Tr.] 
 
 t For such a treaty between the Carthagjenians and Romans, vid, 
 Polybius' Hist., 1. HI. c. 24, p. 438, Schweighaus. ed., and Heeren's 
 Ideen, Th. I. S. 125. [4th ed., Th. H. Abth. 1. S. 168, and Beilage, 
 S. 503 ff., Histor. Schriften, Theil 13.] 
 
 t What most men call peace, Plato, in his work concerning laws, lib. 
 I. S. 7. Bip. ed. [Tom. VHI.,] makes Clinias, his Cretensian friend, 
 pronounce but an empty name; as also, that most states are by nature 
 constantly involved in war with each other, though it is not publicly 
 declared to be such. That this is the general principle upon which 
 the nations of antiquity acted, is evident from the whole course of 
 history. 
 
 § The sacred Scriptures are known to contain examples of this 
 custom. Comp. Michaelis, Mosaisches Recht, Th. I. § 40. S. 247, 
 [Smith's transl., Commentaries on the law of Moses, Vol. I. Art. 40, 
 
 11* 
 
126 
 
 migrations those nations had to pass through, which 
 went out in search of dwelling places, and, while on their 
 wajj carried on hostilities with those they met, or drove 
 them before them, and compelled them to make similar 
 changes, kept up the constant alternation of offensive and 
 defensive wars, in which almost all the nations of antiqui- 
 ty were engaged. So long as a state maintained no 
 standing army, each citizen was obliged to defend his na- 
 tive country for himself, and do it under the circumstances 
 which I have just described, and the legislature had to 
 see that every individual capable of bearing arms, was 
 trained for war. No system of government having been 
 invented for keeping up the balance of power, and confin- 
 ing states within the bounds of moderation ; justice, mild 
 manners, and hearty and universal benevolence, both in 
 regard to nations and individuals, found too hard a soil and 
 unfavorable a sky, to flourish. On the other hand, a rough, 
 military spirit every where predominated, and exhibited 
 itself in institutions and ceremonies, laws, manners, and 
 amusements, and nations were obliged to maintain a con- 
 stant distance and reserve in regard to each other, treat 
 each other as strangers, and in a measure as enemies.* 
 I have no fears that any person acquainted with anti- 
 
 p. 218 seqq., Lond. 1814. Tr.] Homer too speaks of it more than 
 once ; for example, Odyss. 1. III. v. 73, at which place Clark's note 
 is to be consulted. Thucydides has judged very correctly upon the 
 subject in his history, B. I. Chap. V. and VI. His account proves 
 that Greece, as cultivated as she then was,contained nations that look- 
 ed upon the bravery of robbers with commendation, and fearlessly 
 practised it. Altogether in the spririt of so rough an age, is the des- 
 cription given by Caesar of the ancient Germans, in reference to 
 this custom. " Latrocinia," says he, " nullam habent infamiam, 
 quae extra fines cuiusque ciuitatis fiunt. Atque ea iuuentutis exer- 
 cendae, ac desidiae minuendae causa fieri, praedicant. Atque vbi 
 quis ex principihus in consilio se dixit ducem fore, vt, qui sequi velint, 
 profiteantur; consur^unt ii, qui et causam et hominem probant, su- 
 umque auxilium pollicentur, atque ab multitudine callaudantur : qui 
 ex iissecuti non sunt, indesertorum ac proditorum numero ducuntur, 
 omniumque rerum iis postea fides abrogatur." De Bel. Gall. 2. V.c.23. 
 
 * Maximus of Tyre has given a description of this evident defi- 
 ciency of philanthropy throughout the whole of antiquity, in his 36th 
 [in Reiske the 6th] declamation. His complaints are too substanti- 
 ally grounded upon facts, to admit of our supposing them to be the 
 yesult of mere rhetorical phraseology. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. V^ 13" *^ **» W * • 
 
 quity, will think this painting unjust. The traits ofw^hf fpQ g ^ V*^ 
 it is composed, lie so obviously on the face of history, tnSt"^-— - 
 one needs only to collect them together, in order to dis- 
 cover the origin of this picture. Let a man only call to 
 mind the severity of the laws of war among the ancients, 
 and the hard bondage to which a great portion of the hu- 
 man race were subjected, and he will be immediately led 
 to the supposition, that all the nations of the old world 
 were more or less deficient in humanity and sensibility, 
 and had but little esteem for human nature. This being 
 admitted, from it we may naturally draw the following con- 
 clusions. 
 
 § 59. First* It is much to be feared that we shall meet 
 with few great spirits in antiquity, who extended their views 
 beyond their own people and embraced other nations in 
 their plans of benevolence. Such enlargement of thought 
 was doubtless a rare phenomenon. The very circumstances 
 of the age absolutely confined men of powerful talents to 
 their own native country, and compelled them to look up- 
 on all other nations as strangers, with whom they had noth- 
 ing to do. He, who had boldly defended the society to 
 which he belonged, given it laws, and governed it in wis- 
 dom, and thus been the means of forming its character, 
 was thought to have attained the highest degree of honor 
 and renown ; and he who engaged in any very extensive . 
 projects, perceived obstacles in his way, which could be 
 removed only by the force of arms. How then was it 
 possible for that greatness of mind to develop itself, which 
 comprehends many nations, and takes the whole human 
 family in its grasp ? 
 
 § 60. Secondly, If we happen to discover such great- 
 ness, it will assuredly be made up of that enterprising, 
 warlike spirit, so universally reverenced by the ancients ; 
 if we ever meet with a man of bold enlargement of thought, 
 we shall find in him a conqueror. Who does not know 
 how much this remark is confirmed by history ? Ninus, 
 Sesostris, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus,* Alexander, Demetri- 
 
 * [In the author's Latin commentation, Opuscul. Academ., I. 247, 
 he remarks respecting Cyrus : Quae Xenophon de Cyro reliquit, ea, 
 
128 
 
 us the besieger, Pyrrhus, and others, are unquestionable 
 examples. These spirits were indeed too great to be con- 
 fined within the narrow limits of the districts of which they 
 were the rightful lords. The compass of their plan, how- 
 ever, agreeably to the prevailing taste, which considered 
 boldness and military greatness, as something which de- 
 served the most admiration, and opened for the hero a 
 way to heaven and the rank of the . gods, must have ex- 
 cited in them the desire of subduing all nations, while they 
 filled the world with misery and desolation. The enlarge- 
 ment of thought, therefore, which they possessed, was so 
 different from that which we now have in view, as to ren- 
 der it unnecessary for us to speak of it in detail.* Like 
 
 ut cum Cicerone [ad Quint. Fratr. I. 1. § 8,] loquar, non ad histo- 
 riae veritatem, sed ad institutionis exemplum scripta sunt. Cf. Diog. 
 Laert. 1. III. segm. 34, et Memrgius ad h. 1. Concerning Caesar, 
 cf. quae de animo Caesaris disputat, veterum auctoritatibus usus, 
 Berger, in libro aureo, de naturali pulcritudineorationis, p. 84 seqq. 
 Verissimum est Fergusoni de hoc viro indicium : " The object of 
 Caesar's wishes was not to be great or good, but to be the first, and 
 the first in respect to those things which attract the admiration of 
 the multitude ; — the first in a village, rather than the second at 
 Rome." Comp. Grundsatze der Moralphilosophie Ubers. v. Garve, 
 Abtheil. 2. kap. 3. § 2. p. 61.] 
 
 , * If the opinion of some writers, both of ancient and modern 
 times, is correct, then Alexander is to be excepted from the number 
 of these destructive ravagers of the world. They impute to this re- 
 ally wonderful man, a plan of the most benevolent character, and as- 
 sert, that he intended to impart Grecian cultivation to the whole 
 human family, found a confederacy of all nations, and, by the erec- 
 tion of a universal monarchy, make security, affluence, and happi- 
 ness, universal. Vid. Plutarch, De fortuna vel virtute Alexandri, 
 Orat. I. p. 311, Reisk. ed. [Vol. VII.,] and an anonymous writer, to 
 whom'Arrian appeals, De Exped. Alex. M., 1. VII. from the begin- 
 ning; also Robertson's Hist, of Amer,, Vol. I. p. 16 seqq.; and his 
 Historical Disquisition concerning the knowledge which the an- 
 cients had of India, p. 12 seqq., Lond. and Ed., 1818. That Alexander 
 connected many benevolent purposes with his ambitious plans, we 
 may be assured from the goodness of his natural disposition, the 
 rational education he received, and his having constantly associ- 
 ated with philosophers and wise men. That the ultimate goal of 
 his enterprises, however, was a benevolent plan, no one will be- 
 lieve, who takes into impartial consideration, his fool-hardy con- 
 duct, and especially the vices and cruelties of which he was guilty, 
 in the latter part of his life. Arrian makes a very correct remark 
 to this effect, in the passage quoted. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 129 
 
 a hurricane, it caused mankind to tremble, but it did not 
 render them happy. We should be ungrateful indeed not 
 to admit that Providence educed good out of these evils, 
 and in the end made them promotive of the general wel- 
 fare of mankind. This circumstance, however, has noth- 
 ing to do with the present subject. We are now in search 
 of those, who, under the guidance of wisdom, and in con- 
 formity with their own resolutions, became the immediate 
 benefactors of the human race,* and to this worthy class 
 they certainly do not belong. 
 
 Such then being the stale of things and the mode of 
 thinking among the ancients, it is, in the third place, high- 
 ly probable, that we shall not find a man among them, who 
 was capable of that extension of thought, that expansive 
 goodness, that tender benevolence, from which originated 
 the plan of Jesus that we have already described. What 
 can justify us in hoping to make such an agreeable dis- 
 covery, since, circumstances being as they were, it is im- 
 possible to see by what causes such a spirit could have 
 been produced ? Dispositions, feelings, and plans of such 
 a benevolent character, were by no means agreeable to the 
 taste which prevailed in the old military world, and there- 
 fore in all probability not to be met with in it. For the 
 honor of humanity, we should hope to light upon men 
 among the ancients, who, to a certain extent, possessed 
 these dispositions and feelings, and, under the influence of 
 genuine benevolence, became the creators, defenders, 
 teachers, and fathers of the nations to which they belong- 
 ed. If so, however, we shall doubtless always find them 
 very limited and cautious in their undertakings, in compa- 
 rison with what is to be expected from such a comprehen- 
 sive spirit of benevolence as that which we discovered in 
 our examination of Christ's plan.f From this general con- 
 
 * [In the Latin commentation, S. 247, reference is farther mad© 
 to Seneca, De Benefice,!. I. c. 13, and Thomas Abbt, Vom Verdien- 
 Bte, S. 216 ff.] 
 
 t " Human excellence," says Maximus, in the discourse quoted, " is 
 not only far inferior to divine in general, but particularly in reference 
 to extensive benevolence. No human being in this respect embracea 
 
130 
 
 sideration, therefore, there is much reason even now to 
 believe, that Jesus stands alone and without example, on 
 an elevation which none before him ever attempted to 
 reach. 
 
 § 61. There is another circumstance, however, which 
 belongs to this place, and must strengthen us in this con- 
 jecture. The very character of the religions of antiquity 
 appears to have been extremely prejudicial to that public 
 spirit, that expansive benevolence, from which originated 
 the plan of the Author of Christianity, and to have sup- 
 pressed it in the greatest minds. Reflect upon the follow- 
 ing circumstances. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the ancients, in general, agreed 
 to a certain extent in contemplating the Deity, of whom 
 they had a great variety of representations, such as imag- 
 es and pictures, in a terrific point of view, and considered 
 him more as a being before whose anger they were to 
 tremble, than as a benefactor and father, worthy of the 
 utmost confidence and love. That this was almost al- 
 ways the case with rude nations, we know full well, and 
 a great part of the anterior world was very rude.* Un- 
 questionable traces of this mode of thinking are exhibit- 
 ed in the languages of the ancients, for most of the names 
 which they appropriated to the Deity are significant of his 
 almightiness, independence, and unHmited, incontrolable 
 will, and, in reference to it, imply, that nothing remains 
 for the weak creature of the dust but submission. So 
 much do their religious notions hang upon these represen- 
 tations, that many have considered it as a proof that their 
 whole religion took its rise in fear, and all their concep- 
 tions of the Deity sprung from terror at the great and 
 powerful changes that take place in nature.f Nations and 
 
 his whole race, but each one, like the hearts of a single tribe, always 
 confines himself to his own fellow citizens ; and it is a great thing, 
 if he comprehends even these as a body. Vid. p. 368, Davis, ed. 
 [Reisk., I. 86.] The truth of this remark is hereafter very clearly 
 established. 
 
 * With respect to this remark, comp, Home's Sketches of the Hist, 
 of Man, Vol. HI. B. 3. Sk. 3. Chap. U. 269, ed. 1807. 
 
 t Vid. I^ucretiils, De Rerum Nat. 1. V. 1317—1239. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 131 
 
 individuals generally furnished the Deity with their own 
 views, inclinations, and characters, and hence originated 
 that almost endless variety of distinctions, at all times con- 
 nected in their minds with the idea of God. Now as all 
 the nations of the old world exhibited a certain degree of 
 roughness, inflexibility, and inclination to cruelty and re- 
 venge, we need not be astonished if we find that th^ir 
 gods also possessed these qualities, were governed by uh- 
 happy passions, and could with satisfaction see their altars 
 smoke with human blood.* So long, however, as the 
 soul is pervaded by such opinions respecting the godhead, 
 it is impossible for it to put forth that unlimited kindness, 
 that heavenly desire of doing good as far as able, to all. 
 That heart only will be warm with benevolence towards 
 mankind without distinction, and active in promoting the 
 general good, which looks upon God as a kind and com- 
 mon parent, and considers every human being as his child 
 
 * In saying this, I do not deny that many philosophers, especially 
 Socrates, Plato, and the Stoics, had better and purer notions of the 
 Deity, and looked upon him as a good being, exercising a wise and 
 ceaseless care for the welfare of mankind. These notions, however, 
 did not enter into the religion of the people, and so incapable were 
 these men of reforming, or supplanting the wretched popular relig- 
 ion prevalent, that they combined a part of the general superstition 
 with their best principles, and endeavored to give it a tolerable 
 meaning. [According to Stollberg's Reise in Italien, II. 267, the 
 finest ancient statues of the gods, exhibit an expression of lifeless- 
 ness and want of love, which indicates that the prevailing feeling of 
 antiquity in regard to the Deity, was fear. The passage rurjs thus : 
 " Most of the heads of the old statues, whether of gods or men, males 
 or females, are distinguished for a certain character of hardness, 
 want of sympathy and troubled melancholy, which approaches al- 
 most to anger. If I mistake not, a conception of transitoriness and 
 of death as a long sleep {TavtiX^yiog ^avaxoio,) produced an effect up- 
 on the imagination of the heathen artist ; — an elFect in different ways, 
 according as he gave himself up to this impression or strove to 
 harden himself against, — an effect, which was transferred by the 
 arm and chisel of the artist, from his heart to the marble. In confir- 
 mation of this, I appeal to the feelings of every unprejudiced man, 
 who has formed an acquaintance with the art of the ancients from 
 copper-plates alone. Even the features of those of their gods that 
 were clothed with immortal youth, seem to be overcast with a dark 
 cloud, the conception of death." Comp. Rom. 8: 15, which was not 
 true of the. Jews alone ; tp^ovtoov to -d^nov, Herodot., I. c. 32. III. 
 c. 40.] 
 
132 
 
 and as a brother. It cannot be denied, however, that the 
 founder of Christianity was the first to pubUsh such views 
 of God, and propagate them even among the lowest class- 
 es of society. It will be difficult, therefore, for us in anti- 
 quity, to meet with that benevolent enlargement of thought, 
 which has a very close and intimate connexion with them. 
 
 To all these it may now*be added, that every nation 
 of antiquity had its own gods, and its own method of wor- 
 shipping them, accompanied with peculiar rites and forms; 
 that one nation considered that as holy which another 
 detested ; that one gave divine honor to a creature which 
 another despised, or at best treated as common ; that this 
 opinion respecting national gods, necessarily created a kind 
 of hatred between nations, as they differed from each oth- 
 er exactly in that point, which they looked upon as the 
 most sacred and important ;* and finally, that this hatred 
 must have taken a firm hold of the hearts of the ignorant 
 populace, their zeal in such cases easily degenerating into 
 a fury that knows no bounds. t These additional circum- 
 stances being taken into view, it will be evident, as I think^ 
 that the religions of antiquity interposed insuperable obsta- 
 cles in the way of that goodness which embraces all man- 
 kind. Hence, if, notwithstanding the character of the an- 
 cient world, we should be able to discover in it, a mind 
 which was capable of that enlargement of thought, which 
 shines forth so conspicuously in the plan of Jesus, we 
 should be obliged to look upon it as a kind of psychologi- 
 cal wonder. { 
 
 § 62. We shall, however, not confine ourselves any 
 longer to general considerations. Let us now proceed to 
 
 * Vid. a fine passage upon this subject in Athanasius, Contra Gen- 
 tes, p. 25, 26. 
 
 t The ancient history of the Egyptians furnishes us with examples. 
 The murder of a sacred, old cat, whether done intentionally or not, 
 would excite the populace to a degree of rage, which could be allay- 
 ed only by shedding the blood of him who committed the deed. 
 [Diodor. Sicul., I. c. 83, Bip., p. 246.] 
 
 t Comp. Iselin, Geschichte der Menscheit, B. IV. ^ap. X. XI. 
 S. 421 ff: 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 133 
 
 an examination of those benefactors of the human race 
 which made their appearance before the author of Chris- 
 tianity, and, from a survey of their enterprises and plans, 
 endeavor to ascertain whether history furnishes us with 
 any, who exhibited such greatness and benevolence in 
 their thoughts and actions, as Jesus. 
 
 The men, as I think, whom we are to look upon as the 
 benefactors of mankind, and among whom we must search 
 for great plans for the good of the world, are the founders 
 of states, and legislators ; defenders of their native country, 
 and benevolent heroes ; wise kings, and statesmen ; phi- 
 losophers, teachers of the human race, and the founders 
 of religions. We shall make some particular remarks re- 
 specting each of these classes. 
 
 Founders of states, and legislators. 
 
 § 62. It is not an easy thing to create a nation by col- 
 lecting together a mass of wild, uncultivated people, bind- 
 ing them together with salutary laws, and animating them 
 with the spirit of order and mutual good will ; or to reunite 
 the severed fragments of a state, which has once fallen to 
 ruins, and is full of internal discord, and, by means of bet- 
 ter laws, impart to the whole new strength, harmonious ef- 
 ficiency, and lasting connexion. There are difficulties 
 inseparable from such a work. He who is acquainted 
 with them, will admire those spirits of antiquity which en- 
 gaged in it, and, though they may have committed great 
 errors, and in a measure failed in their undertakings, must 
 acknowledge and highly prize the courage that could ven- 
 ture upon such important business, as well as the pene- 
 trating views which originated and arranged their plans, 
 and the superiority and activity which carried them into 
 execution. Now the numerous difficulties which encom- 
 pass a plan of this kind, even when confined to a very 
 small nation, entirely discourage us from expecting to find 
 one of any greater magnitude among the founders of states, 
 12 
 
134 
 
 and the legislators of antiquity. The education of their 
 own countrymen required all their wisdom, time, and ef- 
 forts. In resolving to devote themselves to this particular 
 object, they had, as it were, renounced every plan of more 
 general extent, and, I may say, devoted all their powers 
 to acquiring the most accurate information of a definite 
 subject. They were obliged to avail themselves of those 
 measures which were called for by the circumstances 
 of the nation to which they belonged and its relation to 
 other nations, and were calculated to form that charac- 
 ter which it was to sustain, and of course such as could 
 not be adapted to other nations or mankind at large. 
 Finally, the work in which they were engaged, forced 
 them to descend to so many views and measures, hav- 
 ing respect to individuals and particulars, as to dis- 
 qualify them, just so far as they were faithful to their 
 own people, from entering into the affairs of other na- 
 tions. One of the most important resolutions, however, 
 that a man can make, is to reform a whole nation, and, by 
 means of salutary laws, render its descendants happy, to 
 the latest generations. The plans of these men, therefore, 
 in themselves considered, are always great, and worthy of 
 exalted spirits. But if a plan which aims at the welfare 
 of a single nation, when contemplated alone, appears so 
 great, how small and insignificant must it appear, when 
 viewed in comparison with the plan formed by Jesus for 
 the good of all mankind ! 
 
 Now such was the narrow sphere to which, according 
 to the representations of history, all the old founders of 
 states, and the legislators of antiquity, were confined. The 
 beginning of most kingdoms was small and insignificant. 
 Their first laws and regulations usually originated in 
 chance and pressing necessity, and of course were enact- 
 ments for the occasion, rather than the constituent parts 
 of an original and well contrived plan. The time of ac- 
 tual legislation almost always came on at a later period, 
 and not until people began to perceive, that the laws and 
 observances which had arisen at different times, were very 
 defective, had but little connexion, agreement, and dura- 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 135 
 
 bility, and, if not amended, would prove prejudicial to a 
 part of the state or to the whole body, in proportion as it 
 came to maturity. When, however, the period actually ar- 
 rived for a more general, perfect, and systematic legisla- 
 tion, the ground plot marked out for the purpose, was al- 
 most always more limited than it should have been. In- 
 deed, antiquity does not furnish us w^ith a single legislator, 
 who gave his. country laws and regulations, which appear 
 to have had any reference to the welfare of other nations, 
 or been founded upon a plan, which originated in wisdom, 
 design, and benevolence, of greater extent than we have 
 described. 
 
 § 63. It is true that the Romans thought they found 
 decisive marks among the nations of heathen antiquity, in- 
 dicating that they had been destined, even from those re- 
 mote ages, in which their history was lost in the obscurity 
 of fable, to become the rulers of the world. This thought 
 is also known to have produced a powerful effect upon 
 them, and greatly to have contributed to raise them to that 
 degree of power and authority, to which they afterwards 
 attained. It did not originate, however, with the founder 
 of this nation. Romulus certainly never had the great 
 object, the immense plan in view, of giving his rising 
 state such regulations as should, in the sequel, enable it to 
 swallow up all others.* This thought originated in a lie of 
 necessity, which was first confirmed by a false oath, and 
 afterwards maintained by superstition, by which means, 
 however, it acquired a sufficient degree of honorable au- 
 thority, to produce a permanent impression upon the rough 
 
 * Several writers, indeed, as Plutarch observes, have been inclin- 
 ed to attribute something of the kind, to this founder of the Roman 
 empire. But Plutarch himself rejects the supposition as improbable, 
 and gives a perfectly satisfactory explanation of the seizure of the 
 Sabine women, in which Romulus engaged, and which these writers, 
 strangely enough, would deduce from his great plan, by recurring to 
 the condition of the city, which had then hardly begun to exist. In 
 Romul. e. XIV. p. 103, Reisk.ed. [Vol. I.] [Plutarch's Lives, trans- 
 lated by Langhorne, &c.. Vol. I. p. 40, Phil., 1822. Tr.] Comp. also 
 Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquit. Rom., 1. II. cap. 31. p. 301, 
 Eeisk. ed. 
 
136 
 
 and warlike hearts of the Romans.* The first Roman 
 legislator, the peaceful Noma, does not appear to have 
 been very favorable to this opinion, for he evidently in- 
 tended, out of his Romans, to form a quiet and happy 
 nation. t Nor can we say that express reference was had 
 to it, in the formation of laws in after times. Indeed, the 
 Roman constitution was always destitute of proper stabili- 
 ty, and so deficient as to its entire groundwork, in unity 
 and lasting connexion, that it was necessary for it to un- 
 dergo the most important changes to accommodate it to 
 circumstances. { The thought, therefore, that Rome was 
 to become the mistress of the world, does not appear to 
 have been sustained by legislation, or to have served as a 
 guide in the formation of laws ; but, on the other hand, 
 it often served rather to divest the constitution of its un- 
 happy influence, by binding the people in all their difficul- 
 ties with the government, in some measure, to the state.§ 
 If we admit, however, that Rome ever had a legislator, 
 who, in anticipation, devised the very extensive plan of 
 giving his nation a constitution, which should prove the 
 means of making it the first nation on the globe, even this 
 
 * To this place belong the accounts taken from Livy's Hist., 1. 1, c. 
 XVI. and LV., and also the remarks of Plutarch, in Romul., c. 
 XXVIII. p. 139 seq. [Plutarch's Lives, translated by Langhorne, 
 &c.,Vol. I. p. 57, Tr.] Speaking in this place, of the powerful effect 
 which this well known fiction of Proculus is said to have produced, 
 Plutarch says ; " It gained credit with the Romans, who were 
 caught with enthusiasm, as if they had actually been inspired ; and,, 
 far from contradicting what they had heard, they bade adieu to all 
 their suspicions of its authenticity, united in deifying Quirinus, and 
 addressed their devotions to him, as a new, tutelar god of the nation." 
 What was better calculated to fill a nation as rough and warlike as 
 the Romans of that day were, with fiery zeal, than a miracle so flat- 
 tering to their passions ? 
 
 t Plutarch infers this very correctly from the regulations of this 
 king in general, and particularly from the manner in which he fa- 
 vored agriculture ; in Numa, c. VIII. p. 254, and c. XVI. p. 282. 
 [Reisk. Vol. I.] [Plutarch's Lives, ed. as above. Vol. I. p. 118. Tr.] 
 
 t This is said in express terms by Polybius, that sagacious judge 
 of the history of Rome and its constitution, in Reliquiis lib. Hist., 
 VI. p. 478. Tom. II. Schweighaus. ed. 
 
 § Vid. Plutarch in CamiU., c. XXXI. p. 561. [Reisk. Vol. I.] 
 [Plutarch's Lives, &c. Vol. I. p. 227. Tr.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 1 o7 
 
 would not be the plan for which we are seeking, but evi- 
 dently the project of a conqueror, prejudicial to happiness 
 and repose, and evincing more roughness and savage bar- 
 barity, than true wisdom and nobleness of spirit. Indeed, 
 it was the idea of universal dominion, so peculiar to the 
 Romans, which cherished in them that insatiable desire of 
 war, which did so much mischief to the best part of the 
 world, and could not be satisfied with torrents of human 
 blood.* 
 
 § 64. I dare not declare the assertion, made with 
 such positiveness, by the author of a book respecting 
 the happiness of nations, that all civil governments ori- 
 ginated in violence and strength, to be perfectly cor- 
 rect. f Perhaps many arguments can be adduced from 
 history in proof of the contrary. This author, however, is 
 unquestionably correct in saying, that all the civil govern- 
 
 * This cannot be said in fewer words and a better manner, than 
 Tacitus makes his Calgacus express it : '' Raptores orbis (Romani) 
 postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae, et mare scrutantur ; si 
 locuples hostis est, auari ; si pauper, ambitiosi ; quos non Oriens, 
 non Occidens satiauerit ; soli omnium opes atque inopiam pari afFec- 
 tu concupiscunt. Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus im- 
 perium, atque vbi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appeUant. In vi- 
 ta Agricol., c. 30. [Much instruction upon this subject is contain- 
 ed in Richter's two programmata ; " Quae impedimenta offece- 
 rint sensui humanitatis in iuvenibus Romanis excitando," Guben 
 1803 and 1804 ; where it is shown, that the cultivation of humanity- 
 was hindered, not only by the warlike spirit that universally prevail- 
 ed among the Romans, but also by their whole military constitution, 
 which so often called the citizens to arms, and smothered all human 
 feelings, as well as by the severity of paternal government, the state 
 of slavery, and the furious combats in vogue. The desire of a tri- 
 umph cherished in them a love of murder and war, and the solemni- 
 ties with which one was celebrated, filled them with pride. For a 
 long time, the arts and sciences were not cultivated at all, and even 
 at a later date, they were really esteemed and zealously attended to but 
 by a few, and hence they could never produce their entire, legitimate 
 effect. The Romans had such an exalted opinion of their own 
 worth, that they despised all other nations, and treated them with 
 contempt ; and even their religion was calculated to foster arrogance 
 and propagate rudeness of manners.] 
 
 t De la Felicite publique ou Considerations sur le sort dcs Hom- 
 mes dans les difFerentes Epoques de I'Histoire, Tom. I. p. 6. 
 
 12* 
 
138 
 
 ments of antiquity, the Israelitish alone excepted, were 
 modelled chiefly with reference to offensive and defensive 
 war, and that legislators, as a body, were at particular 
 pains to cherish a certain warlike spirit among their coun- 
 trymen, and inspire them with dispositions and feelings, 
 rather hostile towards other nations, than benevolent. 
 Their attempts to soften the rough wildness of their fel- 
 low citizens, and excite in them sociable and humane in- 
 clinations, had no immediate reference to strangers, but 
 were merely intended to prevent those gross outbreakings 
 of cruelty, which would necessarily prove destructive to 
 order and harmony, if suffered to exist in the bosom of 
 society. Most legislators were obliged to content them- 
 selves, if they accomplished even this limited object, 
 and succeeded in instilling into the rude multitudes, which 
 they sought to tame, any love to the common good, any 
 forbearance towards those with whom they were immedi- 
 ately connected.^ Few went so far as to think of what 
 they owed to strangers. Very many, on the other hand, 
 labored to keep such duties out of the view of their fellow 
 creatures ; — a fact which shines forth with such clearness 
 from some of their civil constitutions, as to fill us with 
 aversion and horror, at the indifference which these legis- 
 lators must have felt to other nations, and to human blood. 
 Of this, the Lacedemonians present us with a notable ex- 
 ample. One cannot indeed refrain from admiring the 
 penetrating mind of the legislator, who could devise and 
 execute a plan, w^hich would certainly have been declared 
 chimerical, had it not been followed in Sparta.f It is 
 easy to perceive, however, that his system of laws, though 
 it has often been admired, exhibits but little goodness of 
 
 *Comp. Heyne's treatise, entitled, " Delibantur nonnulla in vitae 
 humanae initiis a primis Graeciae legumlatoribus ad morum mansu- 
 etudinem sapienter instituta," in the Opusc. Academ., Tom. I. p. 207 
 seqq., which, notwithstanding its great brevity, contains matter, 
 enough for more extensive contemplations upon this subject. 
 
 * Vid. Plutarch in Lycurg., c. XXXI. p. 233, [Reisk. Vol. I.] 
 [Plutarch's lives &e. Vol. I. p. 97. Tr.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 139 
 
 heart, little humanity and benevolence.* Now this lack of 
 humanity, this inclination to oppression and violence, was 
 absolutely favored and justified to a greater or less degree, 
 by all the ancient constitutions, so far as we are acquainted 
 with them. Even that of the Egyptians, which was the 
 most peaceful of them all, inculcated upon its citizens a 
 
 * The ancients themselves have said much upon this subject that 
 is correct. Vid. Isocrates here and there, especially in his Panathe- 
 naicon ; also the well known funeral discourse of Pericles in Thu- 
 cidides, 1. II. c. 37 ff. Later writers have exhibited this in a still 
 clearer light ; for example, the author of the work just named, Sur la 
 Felicite publique, Tom. I. p. 59 ss., and Abbt's Letters upon jncd- 
 crn literature, Th. XXII. S. 93 ff. De Pauw, in his Recherches 
 philosophiques sur les Grecs, Tom. II. part IV. p. 231 ss., has, un- 
 questionably, exaggerated the matter; to him, therefore, I will not 
 presume to appeal. [Nast has shown, in a very convincing manner^ 
 in his treatise upon the excellencies and the defects of the Lycurgian 
 legislation and state constitution, Kleine akadem. Geleg. Schriften,L 
 nr. 5, Tub., 1820, how completely they were modelled with reference 
 exclusively to the virtue of Sparta and her citizens, and how much 
 the object which Lycurgus had in view, when compared with that 
 of humanity, deserves our most hearty disapprobation. According 
 to Zofiga, Ueber Lykurg und die Sparter, (Abhandlungen, herausg-. 
 V. Welcker, Gott. 1817, S. 316 — 324,) a more unhappy people than 
 the Laconians were, could hardly be found. Their constitution was 
 calculated to advance the welfare of a few, at the misery and expense 
 of the multitude. Manso in his classical work, 5par<«, Ein Versuch 
 zur Aufklarung der Geschichte und Verfassung dieses Staates, B. 
 3. Th. 1. at the end, L. 1800 — 1805, thus concludes his investiga- 
 tions : "As to his worth, in relation to the world and to human- 
 ity, there can be no doubt. Not a flower sprung up in Laconian 
 soil, that acquired healthful strength or fragrant growth, and nei- 
 ther the gladdening voice of the poet has come down to us from 
 thence, nor have the obscurities of nature and the depths of the 
 human mind, received newliglit from the investigations of any of its 
 wise men ; but the nation itself stands before us as an instructive 
 and warning example, and as such speaks in an audible voice. It 
 has solved a problem not so unnatural as not at least to have been 
 once taken up, put into practice, and brought to a result, in a man- 
 ner which clearly shows what part of it lies within the limits of at- 
 tainableness, and how far it can be performed. As often as the his- 
 torian and philosopher speak of heroic virtues and the means of ad- 
 vancing them, they will make mention of this Spartan, and the in- 
 fluence of his legislation. Whenever they glance at the higher ob- 
 jects to which man is to attain, and the harmonious development 
 and formation of all the faculties in his possession, they will think 
 with admiration upon the man, who even sacrificed himself for the 
 state, but they will hardly dwell upon him with love."] 
 
140 NO PLAN LIKE CHRIST's 
 
 certain dislike and contempt of strangers, altogether incon- 
 sistent with the laws of philanthropy. But what is the re- 
 sult of these remarks ? Unquestionably this; that Numa, 
 Solon, Lycurgus, and Pythagoras, whose school produced 
 so many wise legislators and statesmen, as well as many 
 other great men of antiquity, did indeed possess minds of 
 extraordinary capacities, and deserve to be reckoned 
 among the benefactors of mankind, for having in some 
 measure civilized their countrymen, and delivered them 
 from a terrible state of anarchy and barbarity ; but that 
 among them all, we do not find one who devised a plan of 
 such dignity, useful qualities, and extent, as we have al- 
 ready discovered in that of Jesus. It appears not to have 
 been agreeable to the taste of the greatest legislators of 
 antiquity, to awaken and cherish benevolent and philan- 
 thropical dispositions and feelings among their fellow citi- 
 zens, towards those who lived without the borders of 
 their own native country. With all their greatness in 
 other respects, in this, they were narrow hearted, con- 
 tracted, and selfish. 
 
 Heroes and defenders of their country. 
 
 § 65. We now proceed to that class which consists of 
 heroes and defenders of their native country. I have al- 
 ready remarked, that I do not here speak of those con- 
 querors and disturbers of human happiness and repose, 
 who carried on war, in order to satisfy a wild ambition, 
 which, like a kind of delirium, excited them to engage in 
 monstrous enterprises. I here refer solely to those benev- 
 olent heroes of antiquity, who magnanimously defended 
 their native countries, and nobly avenged the cause of op- 
 pressed innocence. They were undoubtedly men of ex- 
 traordinary facuhies, and accustomed to forming and ex- 
 ecuting plans of importance. How much soever the man- 
 ner in which they labored to promote the welfare of their 
 fellow creatures, appears to have differed from that of 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 141 
 
 Jesus, they must not be entirely passed over, for the ob- 
 ject of our inquiry is a philanthropi^al extension of thought. 
 We are here in quest of a man, who was animated with a 
 noble zeal in behalf of the dignity and happiness of his 
 fellow creatures, and engaged in the execution of a plan 
 for the good of all without exception. Why, from the in- 
 vestigation, should those in particular be excluded, who 
 ventured their lives and shed their blood, for the sake of 
 others ? 
 
 Fabulous accounts do indeed name some heroes of this 
 kind, who are said to have employed their courage and 
 strength in delivering mankind from wild animals and 
 monsters, and imparting to them useful knowledge. Of 
 the two most noted of them, I shall say all that is neces- 
 sary, a little farther on. At present I confine myself sole- 
 ly to authentic history ; and even this, certainly presents 
 us with a muhitude of men who have deserved well of the 
 world for their deeds. It tells us of those who defended 
 their native country and their allies against unjust attacks, 
 aroused by the strength of their minds, and sustained, the 
 sinking courage of their terrified fellow citizens in times 
 of danger, generously and bravely ventured their lives for 
 the public good, and, amidst the perils and cruelties of 
 war, set examples of philanthropy, courage and forbear- 
 ance. Who will not here immediately call to mind the 
 great names of Mihiades, Themistocles, Cimon, Leonidas, 
 Agesilaus, Epaminondas, Phocion, Philopoemen, among 
 the Greeks ; and those of Brutus, Fabricius, Camillus, 
 Marcellus, jEmillius, and the Scipios, among the Romans ; 
 as well as numerous other heroes, to whom their native 
 country was indebted for its freedom and prosperity ? 
 
 That various objections may be made to much that was 
 said and done by these men, as well as to many of the dis- 
 positions and feelings in which they indulged, many prin- 
 ciples by which they were governed, and many parts of 
 their mode of thinking as a whole, I readily admit. It 
 cannot be denied, however painful the fact, that, on nu- 
 merous occasions, their characters exhibited traits of that 
 unfriendly severity and hardness, so peculiar to all anti- 
 
142 NO PLAN LIKE CHRIST*S 
 
 quity. Who, however, that takes into consideration the 
 circumstances in whick they were called upon to serve 
 their native country, will not allow them after all, to have 
 been its greatest benefactors ? During that age, a general 
 mistrust prevailed, and almost every nation was obliged to 
 be as it were, constantly under arras ; for a peaceful man be- 
 fore he was aware of it, might be attacked by a tyrannical 
 neighbour and deprived of all his tranquillity, and of course, 
 power was considered in a great measure as authorizing 
 what was right, and the strongest were permitted to take 
 possession of all things. Hence, no nation that was des- 
 titute of men of such courage and decision, could possi- 
 bly feel itself safe, or enjoy any degree of lasting pros- 
 perity. Those therefore, who rescued their respective 
 countries from those attacks, merely, which were un- 
 just, and defended them against wrongs from other na- 
 tions, while they gave their fellow citizens instructive and 
 animating examples of. industry, order, magnanimity, mod- 
 eration, and manly self-control, ought to be reckoned 
 among the most distinguished benefactors of the human 
 race ; for we may safely say, that by their example, ac- 
 tivity, and authority, they prevented the outbreakings of a 
 - thousand base and pernicious desires, smothered a thou- 
 sand disorders in the bud, formed a thousand youth, 
 whose fiery spirits w^ould have led them on to extravagant 
 cies, into orderly and useful citizens, and made mankind 
 to some degree acquainted with a lawful mode of thinking, 
 as well as with a justice and magnanimity, which must have 
 been the origin of innumerable deeds of public utility. 
 Now if every thing that is good and useful, in whatever it 
 consist, is to be esteemed and praised as such, why should 
 we not recognise with satisfaction the contributions of these 
 men to the amount of good dispositions and actions, and 
 bless those, who, in this way, rendered themselves useful 
 to mankind P 
 
 § 66. 1 need, however, scarcely add the remark, that, 
 notwithstanding the attention which these men have al-. 
 ways attracted, and the high esteem in which they deserve 
 to be held by us, none of them caij ever have thought of 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 143 
 
 such an extensive and benevolent plan as that of which we 
 are now in pursuit. They were confined to their native 
 countries, and in their spheres, did uncommonly well. 
 The manner in which they sought to do good, however, 
 rendered it necessary for them to do as much injury as 
 possible to other nations for the security of their own. 
 They were obliged to adopt rules of action, severe, and often 
 repulsive to their own feelings. The warlike character of 
 the age necessarily cherished m them a spirit of mistrust 
 towards all their neighbours, and prevented them from 
 forming philanthropical plans for the benefit of strangers, 
 the welfare and prosperity of such persons, tending rather 
 to excite their ambition and lead them on in more careful 
 endeavors for promoting the welfare of their own country- 
 men. Living and acting under such circumstances as 
 these, the formation of a salutary plan, which embraced 
 all nations, was an absolute impossibility. 
 
 Wise kings and statesmen. 
 
 § 67. This is also true of those wise kings. and states- 
 men who became the fathers of their native country, and, 
 by attending faithfully to the performance of their business, 
 favoring the sciences, introducing useful arts, and by vari- 
 ous other benevolent means, advanced the happiness of 
 thousands. In this class of men, we unquestionably find 
 goodness of heart combined with wisdom, and an intellect, 
 comprehensive and penetrating ; — an intellect capable of 
 forming great plans and executing them, and doing every 
 thing with a silent and energetic moderation, which aims at 
 utility, and not at dazzling splendor. The men of this class, 
 therefore, approximated very near to that greatness, of 
 which we are seeking to find an example, except that they 
 performed upon a small scale, what the founder of Christi- 
 anity undertook to execute in his way, upon a large one. 
 They sought to become the benefactors of a small native 
 city or country ; he intended to become the benefactor of 
 the world. 
 
144 
 
 The warlike spirit of antiquity of which I have already 
 spoken, made almost all the men of the old world, who 
 felt strong enough, desirous of undertaking something im- 
 portant, and distinguishing themselves by heroic deeds. 
 It is very easy, therefore, to find a great number of con- 
 querors and excellent commanders in ancient history ; 
 while, on the other hand, one finds himself involved in a 
 kind of embarrassment, if he attempts to name men and 
 princes, who thought solely of benevolent plans, and en- 
 deavored to advance the welfare and moral cultivation of 
 the multitude over which they were placed, by procuring 
 a lasting peace for their nation, and introducing into it those 
 wise regulations which originate in genuine philanthropy 
 "and goodness of heart. Respecting many of these benev- 
 olent friends of mankind, history is almost entirely silent, 
 as, in the opinion of the ancients, they did nothing worthy 
 of notice, that is, carried on no bloody wars, and wasted 
 no countries. Of the peaceful kings, who ruled in the 
 happiest manner over the Albanian kingdom for more than 
 400 years before the building of Rome, scarcely the names 
 have come down to us. Had not Theseus and Cyrus 
 been as great in war, as they were wise and good in peace, 
 we should perhaps have known little of them but their 
 names. 
 
 § 68. In the mean time, however, those great and be- 
 nevolent men, whom we do meet with in the history of 
 antiquity, always confined their operations to the narrow 
 circle of their own nation and country. By means of 
 laws and religion, the wise and peaceful Numa softened 
 the wildness of his barbarous Romans, and contented him- 
 self with making his own little state as happy as it was then 
 in his power.* Aristides by the strictest integrity perform- 
 ed important services for his native country, and satisfied 
 himself with procuring for it the confidence of all Greece, 
 and managing its weightiest affairs with unbribed faithful- 
 
 * Comp. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitat. Rom. 1. II. c. 76. 
 p. 400 seqq. Reisk. ed. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANClEl^TS. 145 
 
 ncss and forbearance.* Timoleon threw away his arms, 
 as soon as his bravery had set Sicily at liberty, and, with 
 incredible activity and goodness of heart, labored to re- 
 store this island to its ancient prosperity and repose, and 
 finally congratulated himself with being able to end his 
 days as a private citizen in the midst of a people whom he 
 had made free and happy. " I thank God," he used to 
 say, " for resolving to perform the great work of making 
 Sicily free and happy, under my name."t From exam- 
 ples of this kind we see, that, amidst the bustle of armies, 
 antiquity had wise kings and statesmen, who sought their 
 honor in projecting salutary plans, and in the great busi- 
 ness of rendering whole nations happy, by means of a 
 mild and peaceful government. Every philanthropist 
 must look upon such men with admiration and reverence, 
 and bless their memory. They never claimed the hon- 
 or, however, of comprehending nations and strangers in 
 their plans of benevolence, and, therefore, we shall do 
 them no injustice in admitting, that they do not evince that 
 extensive and universal benevolence, by which, the author 
 of Christianity was impelled, when he thought of salutary 
 enterprises for the good of the human race. 
 
 § 69. Before leaving this class, however, I must speak 
 of two men, to whom fable imputes the formation of al- 
 most such a plan as that which I am endeavoring to find, 
 and whose views of benevolence were more comprehen- 
 sive than any that have hitherto been met with in the great 
 spirits of the old world. I refer to Osiris and Hercules, of 
 each of whom, I shall say something, beginning with the 
 last, without regard to the order of time, which is here 
 of no consequence. 
 
 * Socrates in Plato, speaks of the benevolent mode of thinking 
 peculiar to this excellent man as a rare quality, and one, for 
 which distinguished rewards are laid up in another and better world. 
 In Gorgia, p. 170, Bip. ed. [Tom. IV.] 
 
 t Conip. the fine observations with which Plutarch concludes his 
 biography of this philanthropical hero and statesman, Chap. XXXVI. 
 p. 233 seqq. [Reisk. Vol. II.] [Plutarch's Lives, &c. Vol. I. p. 422 
 seqq. Tr.] 
 
 13 
 
.146 
 
 It is well known that in Hercules, antiquity honored a 
 man, who employed all his time and powers in the defence 
 and for the good of others. Wherever he went, he em- 
 braced every opportunity that presented, for benefitting 
 his fellow creatures without respect to any particular na- 
 tion. The oppressed, whoever they were, always shared 
 his kindness and generous aid. True, the feats by which 
 he attached others to himself, consisted for the most part 
 in killing monsters and delivering men from the rava- 
 ges and attacks of wild beasts. In the very ancient times, 
 however, in which he is said to have lived, the earth ex- 
 hibited only here and there a cultivated place, and was in 
 general a frightful wilderness which nourished wild beasts 
 in abundance. The hero, therefore, who had courage 
 enough to defend mankind against these monsters, or 
 against bloodthirsty robbers, and inhuman oppressors, 
 ought unquestionably to be considered as a great benefac- 
 tor of his race. The value and importance of actions of 
 general utility, is doubtless to be estimated according to 
 the circumstances and necessities of the age in which 
 they are performed. An action, therefore, which would 
 now be considered of a very ordinary kind, in the times 
 of Hercules, when the means of extirpating or subduing 
 wild beasts, and securing one's self against the violent at- 
 tacks of robbers, were few, would have been looked upon 
 as one of the greatest magnitude. Now, if we consider 
 the noble-minded willingness, with which Hercules always 
 hastened away for the protection of oppressed humanity, 
 we shall find it impossible to refrain from admiring the 
 inclination that he evinced for doing good upon a compre- 
 hensive and extensive scale, exceeding as it does, every 
 thing of the kind that we have hitherto been able to dis- 
 cover from history in any great man of antiquity.* 
 
 * Hercules nihil sibi vicit : orbem terrarum transiuit non concupis- 
 cendo, sed vindicando. Quid vinceret malorum hostis, bonoruni 
 vindex, terrarum marisque pacator? Seneca, De Benef. 1. I. c. 13, 
 and in particular, compare the important passage, found in Dionysi- 
 us, Antiq. Rom. 1. I. c. 41. [Hercules ira Junonis ad delenda mon- 
 stra invitus fere impellitur; the author's Opusc. Ac. I. 345.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 147 
 
 It is certain, however, from the fable itself, that Hercu- 
 les never extended his views to all. Indeed, the kind of 
 benevolent actions which he performed, rendered this im- 
 possible. Besides, the representation that has been given 
 of this benefactor of the human race, is unquestionably 
 nothing more than a picture made up of several he- 
 roes of this class, and very considerably embellished. In 
 those times men were every where needed, and almost 
 every where to be found, who, by the strength of their 
 arm, could afford protection from ravenous beasts of prey. 
 In the course of time, however, the benevolent exploits of 
 several of these heroes were collected together, and attri- 
 buted to one, who was extolled as a philanthropist. In 
 this way a fable was made, with which very naturally ori- 
 ginated an instance of that enlargement of thought in re- 
 gard to benevolent views, which no one individual of those, 
 who, in this rough and barbarous age, contributed by their 
 merits, to the formation of this picture, ever actually pos- 
 sessed or could possess.* The Sophists labored the most 
 to render the character of this hero uncommonly great, for 
 they delighted in making choice of his praise as the theme 
 of their declamations, which were delivered with all the 
 wit and eloquence of which they were masters. What 
 wonder then that the most beautiful features of magnani- 
 mity, disinterestedness, and philanthropy, were gradually 
 blended together in the same picture, when no one ever 
 intended to produce it, without adding some new strokes 
 of embellishment !f 
 
 The fable respecting Osiris and his inarch through the 
 world, appears to have originated in a manner somewhat 
 different. It unquestionably exhibits the germ of the 
 
 * Consult a passage in Cicero upon this subject, De Natura Deo- 
 rum, B. III. Chap. 16. 
 
 + A fine specimen of such school declamations respecting the 
 praise due to Hercules, is to be found in Maximus of Tyre, Disser- 
 tations 5th and 22d, [two short passages. In Reiske, the 21st and 
 38th, Tom. I. 409, II. 235.] If any one, however, is anxious to know 
 what the ancient grammarians made out of the mythologies respect- 
 ing Hercules, he may consult what Heraclides has said upon the 
 subject, Allegor. Homer., c. 33, 34. 
 
148 
 
 greatest and most salutary plan of which we find any 
 traces before the times of the founder of Christianity. The 
 account is given by Diodorus of Sicily."'^ From it we learn, 
 that Osiris king of Egypt, after having by means of reli- 
 gion and agriculture, of which he and his queen were the 
 inventors, in connexion with laws and the advancement of 
 the sciences, softened and polished the manners of his 
 own countrymen, formed the great design of delivering 
 the world itself from the barbarity in which it was sunk, 
 by travelling through it, and teaching its nations agricuhure 
 and the cultivation of the vine. His intention in this re- 
 spect is said to have originated in benevolence and a de- 
 sire of doing something to render himself famous. He 
 collected together an army, not for the purpose of shed- 
 ding blood, but of filling the world with pleasure and joy, 
 and, by the enchanting effects of music and dancing, mak- 
 ing its barbarous inhabitants willing to receive the instruc- 
 tions which he wished to impart. Accordingly, he con- 
 fided his kingdom to safe hands during his absence, and 
 commenced his journey. He passed through Ethiopia, 
 Arabia, India, and the whole of Asia, and then crossed 
 over the Hellespont into Europe, and passed through 
 Thrace, all Greece, and the other countries that contained 
 human beings. Wherever he went, he introduced agri- 
 culture, and on departing, left, behind him memorials of 
 his philanthropical disposition and feeling, and such of 
 his army as were found prepared to remain with his new 
 pupils, for the purpose of preserving and farther extending 
 the knowledge with which they had been intrusted. He 
 never made use of power, except when men were barba- 
 rous enough to attack and oppose him in the first place. 
 He finally returned to his native country, accompanied 
 with the thanks and well wishes of mankind, who ever 
 after felt themselves bound to honor him as a benevolent 
 deity. 
 
 I need not call the attention of any person to the great- 
 ness of this plan. Considering the circumstances under 
 
 * In his Biblioth. Hist., B. I. Chap. 17—26, p. 20 seqq., Wesse- 
 ling's ed. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 140 
 
 which Osiris is said to have executed it, a greater and 
 more salutary one for mankind could scarcely have been 
 conceived. If the man ever lived who undertook any 
 thing of the kind, he was unquestionably the greatest, 
 most philanthropical genius of antiquity; for without pre- 
 decessor or example, he perfected a work which no other 
 great man of antiquity, so far as we know, ever thought of 
 or dared to imitate. There are several circumstances, 
 however, which render it certain, that this whole ac- 
 count is one of those sacred traditions of the Egyptians, 
 which are altogether destitute of historical credibility. In- 
 deed, the simple fact, that a plan of such universal benev- 
 olence and extent is attributed to a king, who, with his 
 people, had hardly escaped from a state of gross bar- 
 barity, is amply sufficient to bring it into complete sus- 
 picion. That greatness of mind and sympathizing good- 
 ness of heart, which look carefully to the welfare of 
 others, and make the highest honor to consist in doing 
 good to the whole human family, do not immediately 
 succeed to a state of barbarity. Between the low de- 
 gree of cukivation in which Osiris must have found him- 
 self and his people, and this height, there are numerous 
 grades which cannot be overleaped. The men belong- 
 ing to those times, of which we have credible accounts, 
 and who were able to advance but a few degrees in ac- 
 tive philanthropy and universal benevolence, were slow iu 
 their progress. History also informs us, and we have of- 
 ten had occasion to observe, that this high degree has 
 been attained only by a few choice spirits, after a long 
 course of great, national improvements. 
 
 Notwithstanding, it is worthy of particular remark, 
 that this fable does exhibit at least the traces of a plan 
 which embraced the whole human family, and contained 
 that universality which we have hitherto searched for 
 in vain among all the benevolent plans of antiquity. By 
 attending closely, however, to the changes of the Egyptian 
 mythology, which was in other respects very peculiar, we 
 shall, as I think, be able to discover the origin of this fa- 
 ble, without supposing even that spirit of universal benev- 
 13* 
 
150 NO PLAN LIKE CHRlST^S 
 
 olence which it displays, to have been common to the old 
 world. It is not improbable that there was once such a 
 man as Osiris, perhaps an old king, who deserved well of 
 his people. After his death, his people, on account of his 
 merits, doubtless placed him in the heavens, and began to 
 worship him as a deity. This is indeed credible, from 
 the fact, that the ancient nations were very much accus- 
 tomed to express the gratitude which they felt towards 
 their benefactors, by rendering them such honor.* It is 
 well known, however, that the name of Osiris, by the 
 multiplication of sacred traditions, gradually became am- 
 biguous. f The result was, that people soon began to 
 consider it as the name of a higher deity, such, for in- 
 stance as the sun,f whose benevolence was universal, and 
 embraced mankind at large. Now, in this case, the sig- 
 nification of the name being changed, the old historical 
 truth respecting a former king in Egypt, was no longer 
 applicable to it. The account itself, therefore, was also 
 changed, so as to be accommodated to the new idea which 
 had been attached to the name of Osiris, by which, as 
 people were anxious to make him in reality great and di- 
 vine in his actions, they appropriated to him the exalted 
 project which has already been described. Besides, it 
 was very agreeable to Egyptian pride to make an Egyp- 
 
 * Plutarch indeed, De Isid. et Osir., p. 419 seqq., Reisk. ed. [Vol. 
 VII.,] objects to this opinion. It is evident, however, that he was 
 led very violently to oppose an explanation, which probably had 
 many advocates even in antiquity, by his great aversion to the well 
 known mythological system of Evemerus. The arguments which 
 he uses for the purpose, are evidently too weak, and too intimate- 
 ly connected with his opinion respecting the nature of demons, 
 — an opinion which led this otherwise excellent writer to make many 
 superstitious assertions. 
 
 t Comp. Heeren, Ideen tlber die Politik, den Verkehr und den 
 Handel der vornehrasten Vdlker der alten Welt, Th. I. S. 434 ff. ; 
 [fourth ed., Th. II. Abth. 2, S. 124, Hist. Schriften, 14r Theil.] 
 
 X Osiris was unquestionably represented under a symbol of the 
 sun, which induced many of the ancients to consider him as the 
 sun. This cannot be denied by Plutarch himself, notwithstanding 
 his opposition to this interpretation. Vid. the treatise already quoted, 
 p. 465. The arguments in favor of this position, have been collected 
 together by Jablonsky in his Panth. Aegypt., Part I. p. 125 seqq. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 151 
 
 tian king the means of rescuing all other nations from a 
 state of barbarity ; and to whom was it more suitable that 
 this act of great and universal benevolence should be im- 
 puted than to the good deity whom they worshipped un- 
 der the name of Osiris ? The whole account, therefore, 
 was probably nothing more than a fiction intended to con- 
 vey the idea that all wisdom and improvement had their 
 origin in Egypt, and were thence extended over the world j 
 or perhaps a sensible representation of the truth, that ag- 
 riculture and the cultivation of the vine every where mark 
 the commencement o^ genuine civilization, and that the 
 muse and the pleasures of life are to be found in their 
 train. 
 
 This fable, however, was unquestionably not invented 
 until after the Egyptian priests had received much infor- 
 mation from the Greeks, and probably begun to feel 
 ashamed of such gods as had confined all their acts of be- 
 nevolence entirely to their own country. At least, Diodorus 
 of Sicily is the oldest writer that gives an account of this 
 tradition.* However this may be, from this fable it is 
 evident, that the ancients considered a plan of such com- 
 pass and benevolence as a thing very uncommon and ex- 
 traordinary. The very fact, that the Egyptians represent- 
 ed their supreme god as thinking and acting in such a 
 
 * In this place, a learned note upon Cudworth by Mosheim, may 
 be consulted, Kap. IV. § 13. S. 246. u. 47, Jen. ed. Under Osiris, 
 Origen understands water, contra Celsum, 1. V. p. 257, Spencer's 
 ed. [De la Rue, Tom. I. 607.] Admit him to be correct, a point 
 which this is not the place to determine, the remarks made in the 
 first place would be applicable even to this explanation ; and it would 
 be easy to point out causes, by means of which this fable obtained 
 such a benevolent extension. The same is also true, if Osiris be ta- 
 ken in general for the moistening and fructifying principle in na- 
 ture ; — an explanation which Plutarch brings forward in the work 
 just quoted, p. 436 seqq., as the opinion of the wisest of the Egyptian 
 priests, and which he takes much pains to dress up with embellish- 
 ments. [Creuzer's explanation of the fables respecting Hercules 
 and Osiris, gives a result which, as is easy to perceive, lends equal 
 support to the author's assertion. Consult in particular, respecting 
 Hercules, Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Volker, II. 205. 248 
 ff. 254 ff. III. 309 ff. IV. 244, 2d ed. ; respecting Osiris, I. 257, 
 267 ff.] 
 
152 
 
 manner, and made him executor of such a plan, in order 
 to procure for him claims to the worship and adoration of 
 the whole human race, is of itself sufficient proof that dis- 
 positions, feelings, and plans of this kind, were not attri- 
 buted to common men. 
 
 We are now, therefore, just where we were, when we 
 entered upon the examination of the philanthropical 
 kings and statesmen of antiquity. As yet, we have found 
 no instance of a man who formed a plan of very great 
 benevolence and extent, embracing the whole human 
 family ; at least, one that in respect to its universality, we 
 may venture to compare with the plan by which the foun- 
 der of Christianity has unquestionably distinguished him- 
 self. Let us pass on therefore to that class of the bene- 
 factors of mankind, to be found in antiquity, which were 
 every where the most celebrated ; namely, to that of 
 philosophers and learned men. 
 
 Philosophers and learned men. 
 
 § 70. There are two ways in which we can ascertain the 
 characters of the plans which the philosophers or sages of 
 antiquity had before them, for the general good. We may 
 either look at the influence which they uniformly exerted, 
 in regard to the illumination, improvement, and prosperity 
 of our race, or we may contemplate the systems of instruc- 
 tion which they formed for the promotion of religion, vir- 
 tue, and happiness. In the first way, we can ascertain 
 what they actually did ; in the second, what, by virtue of 
 their general principles, they might have done, had they 
 rigidly adhered to them. 
 
 To speak accurately and judge impartially, we must 
 say, that all the philosophers of antiquity with which we 
 are acquainted, in reality deserving of the name, were ei- 
 ther Greeks or Romans. The sages of other nations, 
 Confucius alone excepted, of whom we shall speak far- 
 ther on, were always priests at the same time, or perhaps 
 the founders of new religions, and hence, the guardians 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 153 
 
 also of superstition. Instead of engaging in close investi- 
 gations, respecting virtue and happiness, and the nature of 
 things, as they might have done, they employed them- 
 selves in astrology, divination, and such other arts, as, in 
 an ignorant nation, would readily procure for them influ- 
 ence and wealth. When, therefore, we have shown what 
 the Greek and Roman philosophers contributed towards 
 enlightening and improving mankind, before the founder 
 of Christianity, we shall know what benevolent plans have 
 been formed and executed by the sages of antiquity. 
 
 §71. In order to ascertain what philosophy effected 
 among the Greeks, certain periods of time tnust be dis- 
 tinguished, in which its influence was very different. 
 Among the philosophers who lived before Socrates, Py- 
 thagoras alone excepted, of whom I shall speak in partic- 
 ular a little farther on, we cannot expect to find any very 
 great or benevolent plan for the good of the world. Phi- 
 losophy, which was then in its infancy, had never exerted 
 much influence of a favourable character upon the pub- 
 lic. The seven wise men of Greece, so called, were not 
 so much philosophers, as learned and practised statesmen ; 
 and they were principally indebted for their celebrity to 
 the laws which they gave to single states in Greece, to 
 their experience in public affairs, and to the various ex- 
 cellent maxims which they used from time to time to lay 
 down,* and which, perhaps, they sought to render agree- 
 able to their contemporaries by the enchantments of poe- 
 try. f They do not, therefore, properly belong to this place, 
 
 * Respecting this point, consult Plato in Protag., p. 153, 154, Bip. 
 ed. [Tom. III.] 
 
 t So judged Dicearchus respecting these men, and, as it appears, 
 very correctly. Vid. Diogenes Laertius, B. I. Div. 40, and next to 
 him, Cicero de Amicitia, cap. 2. "Thales," says Plutarch, "seems 
 to have been the only philosopher of that age, who was elevated 
 above the affairs of common life by speculation. The other wise men 
 were indebted for this name to their skill in political matters. In So- 
 lon, p. 320 [Vol. I.,] where, in general, more is to be found appropri- 
 ate to this place. [Plut. Lives, &c., Vol. I. p. 134, where, howev- 
 er, the passage is differently rendered. The Greek runs thus : Kal 
 oAtog soixtv ij ©a?.£(i} uovov oo(pia tots nsQairtQoi rtjg j(Qaiag i^ixio-' 
 ^at T^i ■&e(aQia joig d*ak?,oig arco rfjg no?.irtxi}g a^trijg rovro^ia Ti;s 
 Oo<piag i^nij^U' Tr.J 
 
154 NO PLAN 
 
 but rather to the class of legislators and statesmen, of 
 which we have already spoken. All the other wise men 
 who lived before Socrates, employed themselves in things 
 which not only had little or no reference to the improve- 
 ment and happiness of mankind in that age, but in things 
 which were often positively injurious in this respect. A 
 great part of them gave themselves up to dark and labo- 
 rious investigations, or rather to dreaming and making fic- 
 tions, about the universe, its origin, and the matter of which 
 it must have been composed ; about the heavenly bodies, 
 their nature and motions, and the laws that regulate the 
 changes of the physical world, while they entirely neglect- 
 ed what immediately concerned the happiness of man- 
 kind and was especially worthy of the attention of every 
 genuine thinker.* The other class of wise men look- 
 ed more to their own interests, and loved a productive wis- 
 dom. Hence, they cultivated that ostentatious eloquence, 
 which is ready to pour itself forth in extemporaneous effu- 
 sions upon every subject, and, consisting of verbose chatter- 
 ing rather than connected sense, is calculated to astonish the 
 multitude, while, by selling trash respecting the art of civil 
 government, carrying on war, making laws, &c., and by an 
 appearance of acuteness, they deprived the ignorant youth 
 of their precious money, and defrauded the people of 
 Greece. These men are so well known under the name 
 of Sophists, or rather so infamous, that J need not give 
 any farther description of them. The peaceful dreamers of 
 the first class, in giving themselves up to vain speculations, 
 at least did no injury to others, and many of them, con- 
 sidered in another point of view, were really useful citi- 
 zens. The Sophists, on the other hand, were not only 
 superfluous to the nation, but dangerous, in various re- 
 spects. The complaints which Plato makes about them to 
 
 * To this place, belongs a witty and very animated description of 
 this idle and fruitless wisdom, given by Socrates, Plato in Theaet., 
 c. 24, 25, Fischer's ed. [Bip. II. 70 seq.,] and a fragment of Euri- 
 pides, which is illustrated by Valkenaer, Diatrib. in Euripidis per- 
 ditor dramat. reliquias, p. 26 seq. Comp. also Xenophon, Mem. 
 Socr., 1. I. c, 1. § 11 seq. 
 
DEVISED Br THE ANCIENTS. 155 
 
 Socrates, in almost every dialogue, are indeed said to be 
 somewhat exaggerated and unjust. It is certain, howev- 
 er, that their instruction was the means of filling the Gre- 
 cian youth with a proud conceit, a pernicious selfishness, 
 and habituating them to a certain want of thought, and the 
 fact serves to explain the origin of numerous errors which 
 existed even in the administration of political affairs, and 
 greatly hindered the advancement of that genuine, serious 
 and severe wisdom, which actually enlightens and im- 
 proves. Besides, it can be shown that they inculcated 
 many principles, which, of necessity, brought religion and 
 virtue altogether into suspicion ; and that they sought to 
 recommend vice by the most specious delusions of elo- 
 quence, and all the subdeties of a puzzling system of dia- 
 lectics. To their pernicious instruction is also to be as- 
 cribed a great part of those extravagant immoralities, 
 which sprung up so rapidly and unexpectedly, in the 
 most flourishing states of Greece, and which neither So- 
 crates, nor his pupils, were able to limit or restrain. By 
 this time, it is easy for us to draw the conclusion, that it is 
 needless to look for any very comprehensive plan of be- 
 nevolence among the philosophers before Socrates. The 
 influence which their knowledge and opinions exerted up- 
 on society, will not allow us to think of finding any among 
 them who were capable of forming such purposes as those 
 of which we are in pursuit. 
 
 § 72. I have already admitted that Pythagoras ought to 
 be excepted from the above general remarks. It is cer- 
 tain, that, agreeably to the taste of his contemporaries, he 
 also gave himself up to dreams respecting the above nam- 
 ed subjects. Indeed, his fiery, vivacious, and enthusias- 
 tic spirit, must have greatly inclined him to such a course. 
 On the other hand, however, it is also certain, that of all 
 the philosophers before the time of Socrates, he paid the 
 most attention to real happiness and moral improvement, 
 and, as far as his sphere extended, he unquestionably la- 
 bored very actively in their behalf. 
 
 It is to be regretted, that the history and opinions qf 
 this extraordinary man, are involved in such doubt arid 
 
156 
 
 uncertainty. Owing to the great want of contemporary 
 writers and of credible accounts, as well as to the shame- 
 less fabrications of his senseless admirers of later ages, a 
 cautious writer cannot assert any thing respecting him 
 without some measure of fear. From what can be gath- 
 ered, however, with any degree of certainty from ancient 
 authors respecting Pythagoras, he seems, both in his in- 
 stitutions, and the instructions connected with them, to 
 have had a plan before him, which did honor both to his 
 intellect and heart. Tiedemann, who, with Meiner,* 
 has unquestionably thrown very great light upon the life 
 and philosophy of Pythagoras, considers this plan the 
 greatest which a philosopher ever conceived. "It was 
 his intention," says this scholar, " in the first place, to 
 enlighten his pupils, and exercise their understandings in 
 difficult investigations, and then lay down precepts in ac- 
 cordance with which, they might, by means of good laws 
 and religion, improve their fellow citizens and fill them 
 with an increasing reverence for virtue, while they were to 
 keep every thing concealed from the uninitiated in their 
 own breast, and bring nothing to light any farther than it 
 was carried into execution, and impart no more to any 
 one, than he comprehended ; by which means, a lasting 
 influence was ultimately to be acquired for himself and 
 school, in regard to the welfare of the human race. This 
 was certainly one of the most exalted plans ever invented 
 by a mortal !" According to this writer's opinion, therefore, 
 the society of the Pythagoreans was to consist of a num- 
 ber of wise men firmly united together, w^ho were to give 
 laws, and impart instruction to the great mass of the peo- 
 ple, according to their wants, and to carry their discove- 
 ries to the utmost boundaries of human knowledge; at the 
 same time, in diffusing their light among the common 
 people, they were to exercise wisdom and caution, and 
 carefully avoid making schisms, and getting up new par- 
 ties and sects. Such a society, he thinks, must have prov- 
 
 * In his Geschichte des Urspruncrs, Fortgangs und Verfalls der 
 Wissenschaften Griechenland und Rom, Bd. 1. Buch. III. S. 178 ff. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 157 
 
 ed a great blessing to mankind, and the spirit itself have 
 been peculiar to the Pythagorean institution.* 
 
 It is true that such a society, could it have existed, must 
 have proved a very great blessing to the human family. 
 The number of sages formed according to the Pythagore- 
 an plan, would have constituted as it were, the soul of 
 mankind, and of course directed every member of this 
 huge body, and diffused into it, as much good as was 
 compatible with the interests of the whole, and as could be 
 enjoyed. It is certain, however, that Pythagoras, even 
 upon the supposition that he possessed such ingredients 
 as Tiedemann puts into his hands, never thought of giving 
 his plan that extent, which is the object of our present in- 
 quiry. In Graecia Magna, the place that he selected at the 
 close of his long travels, as the sphere of his operations, he 
 unquestionably intended to imitate what he had seen 
 among the Egyptian priests, but that he had contemplated 
 the formation of a society, which should aim at the wel- 
 fare of the whole human family, cannot be proved. He 
 must have been short-sighted indeed, not to have perceiv- 
 ed the impossibility of carrying through such a plan mere- 
 ly in one great nation. Whenever a secret society begins 
 to exert a marked influence in public affairs, it excites the 
 jealousy and hatred of all the uninitiated, who soon grow 
 suspicious of any thing of the kind, and because they are 
 excluded from it, become its opposers. If, in addition to 
 this, such a society is also distinguished by certain man- 
 ners and customs, in which it very evidently lays claim to 
 higher perfections than ordinary men possess, and begins 
 to throw all others into a humiliating shade, however just 
 its claim, it unavoidably incurs the displeasure of all the 
 uninitiated, and transforms them into irreconcilable ene- 
 mies. Now this was actually the case with the Pythago- 
 reans, for there were many things striking and peculiar in 
 their mode of life,+ and in the sequel this institution soon 
 
 * Comp. Griechenlands erste Philosophen, S. 328, and the same 
 author's Geist der speculativen Philosophie, Th. I. 77 — 79. 
 
 \ Tiedemann, Geist der spec. Philos., Th. I. Seite 81 ff. 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 learned the truth of these remarks. Pythagoras himself 
 Yived to see its destruction, in those states, in which, and 
 for whose government, education, and happiness, it had 
 been established, and to experience the ill effects of such 
 institutions upon the multitude ; for, notwithstanding their 
 great incapacity of governing themselves, they can with 
 justice require all those who are to govern them, to regu- 
 late their conduct by well known principles, and object to 
 being forced slavishly to submit to authoritative decisions, 
 which are calculated to excite suspicion from the very 
 fact of their emanating from impenetrable darkness, and 
 must ever be hateful to a people not accustomed to the 
 most capricious despotism. Should any one, therefore, 
 admit that Pythagoras actually gave his plan that great 
 universality, of which we are seeking to find an example, 
 for which, however, there is not the least historical evi- 
 dence, he would, on account of the impossibility of such a 
 project's being carried into effect, be obliged, at the same 
 lime, to accuse this philosopher of a great want of sagaci- 
 ty ; such a want, indeed, as could not have existed in a 
 mind of such penetration as that, evinced by this institu- 
 tion, even upon the supposition that it was confined to the 
 modest limits of a single state, or a few small nations.* 
 
 § 73. But though philosophy before Socrates, with the 
 exception of what has been said of the Pythagorean insti- 
 tution, exerted but little beneficial influence upon the hu* 
 
 * [Pythagoras has been very unjustly underrated in Adelung's 
 Gescbichte der Philosophic flJr Liebhaber, I. 261 fF. This author 
 considers him as an ambitious juggler, fond of power, who, like a 
 Jesuit-general, by means of his secret order, aimed at obtaining the 
 universal control of Greece. Barthelemy, on the other hand, repre- 
 sents him in a very fanciful point of view, and paints the Pythagore- 
 an union in fine colors, Voyage d' Anacharsis, Tom. VI. chap. 75. 
 [Travels of Anacharsis the younger in Greece, translated from the 
 French, 8 vols., the last consisting of maps, plans, views, and coins, 
 1793. Tr.] Wedekind, however, der Pythagoraische Orden, Obscu- 
 rantenvereine u. s. w., L. 1820, S, 1 — 57, especially S. 40 fF., thinks, 
 that, after all, Barthelemy has not washed away the complaint of de- 
 ception respecting Pythagoras ; that his order must be considered as 
 having been a kind of secret Jesuitism ; and that Pythagoras inspir- 
 ed his pupils with his own spirit.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 159 
 
 man race, yet, under the guidance of this excellent man, 
 she became in a measure the benefactress of society ; she 
 began to leave the heavens, where she had hitherto lived 
 in pursuit of empty dreams, and, entering the habitations 
 of men, to fill them with light and happiness. Tt would 
 be superfluous for me to speak particularly of the merits 
 of this man in this respect, or describe the wise, disinter- 
 ested, and unwearied activity, with which he endeavored 
 both to teach his countrymen and set them a virtuous ex- 
 ample, while he devoted all his powers to the promotion of 
 the public good. Ancient and modern writers have done 
 him such justice as the most venerable of all the Grecian 
 sages, and said so much that is good and excellent re- 
 specting his religious views, his virtue and active philan- 
 thropy, as to render it needless for me to attempt the jus- 
 tification of my opinion in detail, when I say, that I con- 
 sider him as having accomplished more towards enlighten- 
 ing and improving mankind than all the philosophers of 
 Greece. Not only did he effect much in his native coun- 
 try, directly, but he was also at the head of a school, from 
 which went forth wise men, who from him had learned, 
 at least, to approach nearer to human life in their investi- 
 gations, than had hitherto been done ; — who had begun to 
 contemplate man more closely, and select him, with his 
 condition, faults, facuhies, and relations, as the object of 
 their inquiries ; and, finally, to consider it as the business of 
 philosophy, if she would be of any real utility, to employ 
 herself chiefly in those important matters that relate to 
 morality and happiness. 
 
 Even this excellent man, however, influenced as he 
 ever was by an unwearied zeal in doing good, and deter- 
 red neither by a weight of poverty nor the derision of 
 the ignorant, by the hatred of his nation nor the poi- 
 soned chalice, from laboring with all his powers for the 
 good of his fellow citizens ; — even this man, notwith- 
 standing the extraordinary talents with which he was 
 gifted, and the warmth of his heart in the cause of hu- 
 man happiness, confined his benevolent views entirely to 
 the narrow limits of his own native country. His plan, 
 
160 
 
 agreeably to his own confessions, was, to mortify the false 
 wisdom which had led so many of the Sophists astray, 
 puffed up the youth of his native city, and proved preju- 
 dicial to the state itself, and make it the object of ridicule 
 and public contempt ;* while, on the other hand, he 
 showed the Athenians, both by precept and example, that 
 true wisdom enlightens the understanding with clear no- 
 tions, warms the heart in the cause of virtue and disin- 
 terested philanthropy, and diffuses tranquillity and joy 
 throughout the soul. His zeal in promoting the cause of 
 wisdom, and procuring followers and friends for her, 
 among his countrymen, amounting almost to enthusiasm, 
 produced in him a firm conviction, that he had been des- 
 tined by the Deity himself, to be the teacher of the 
 Athenians, and hence, however opposed, was called up- 
 on to labor and suffer with unshrinking boldness in behalf 
 of virtue and truth, and, in his excellent language, to 
 obey God rather than the judges, whose chief anxiety 
 was to prohibit his instructions.! How unweariedly he 
 acted, for a long series of years, under the influence of 
 this conviction, and how many obstacles he was enabled 
 to overcome by his extraordinary courage and incredible 
 perseverance, we are informed in the history of his life. 
 Possessing, therefore, as Socrates appears to have done, 
 those qualities of intellect and heart, which are indispen- 
 sable to the formation of a philanthropical plan of univer- 
 sal extent, in him, if in any man of antiquity, we should 
 expect to meet with such a plan ; and yet, not even So- 
 
 * [Comp. the author's excellent representation of the ironical me- 
 thod of teaching, of which Socrates availed himself even in opposing 
 the Sophists, in his treatise, De rati one docendi Socratica, in the 
 Opusc. Academ., I. 309—390.] 
 
 t Examine the excellent apology, which Plato wrote for this man, 
 his teacher, which contains the best explanation of Socrates' entire 
 mode of thinking, and his plan, to which he always faithfully adher- 
 ed. His fine expression, that he must obey God rather than his 
 judges, is to be found in the 17th chap, of this defence [Bip. I. 69.] 
 Whose mind, on its being mentioned, does not immediately revert 
 to the similar and equally noble declaration of Christ's apostles ? — 
 Acts 4: 19. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 161 
 
 crates ever thought of any thing of the kind. On the oth- 
 er hand, he was satisfied with rendering himself useful as 
 far as in his power to his own native country and to the 
 strangers that resorted to Athens for the purpose of hear- 
 ing him. He, therefore, whom many writers have pro- 
 nounced the greatest of men,^ was far inferior to the 
 founder of Christianity ; for the latter was not only to 
 his native country what Socrates sought to be to his 
 Athens, but he also devised a plan, by means of which 
 he taught a much purer wisdom than Socrates, and in- 
 tended to make all the nations of the earth acquainted 
 with virtue of a far more active character than that which 
 he recommended. f 
 
 § 74. The pupils of Socrates separated in a short 
 time, according to history, into numerous parties, which 
 differed from each other exceedingly, in their general 
 principles ; some of them retaining more of their mas- 
 ter's opinions, and other's less. But a few of Socrates' 
 friends remained faithful to the natural and useful mode 
 of philosophizing, by which he had acquired so much 
 merit, and among these Xenophon was the most distin- 
 guished. The rest either gave a new import to his prin- 
 
 * [As Schlosser, for instance, who in his Kleine Schriften, I. 55, 
 has pronounced Socrates the greatest of men, and next to Christ 
 himself, or Riem, who, in the work entitled, Christus u. die Ver- 
 nunft, c. 6. S. 92—104, has placed Socrates still higher.] 
 
 t Comp. Zimmermann's treatise, De praestantia religionis Chris- 
 tianae, collata cum philosophia Socratis, in Schellhorn, Amoenitat. 
 litterar., Tom. XI. p. 93 seqq. ; [also in Zimmermann, Opuscul. 
 Theolog. etc., Tom. I. 549— 003, Tigur. 1751. With respect to So- 
 crates, is also to be compared, Luzac, Oratio de Socrate cive, L. B. 
 1796; Krummacher, Ueber Geist und Form der Evangelien, S. 234 
 —236; Wiffger, Sokrates als Mensch, als BUrger, und als Philosoph, 
 2e Ausg., Neustrel., 1811. Engelmann, Sokrates und seine Zeit, 
 Ffth. 1812; Ferd. DelbrOck, Sokrates. Betrachtungen und Unter- 
 suchungen, Koln, 1819 ; and particularly Brandis, Rheinisches Mu- 
 seum, I. 118 ff; Hamann's Schriften, JI. I— 50. Very partial and 
 unsatisfactory is the assertion made by Tennemann in his Geschich- 
 te der Philosophie, VII. 40, that the efforts of Socrates and Jesus in 
 behalf of mankind, notwithstanding the great resemblance between 
 their characters, objects, and deaths, were so strikingly different in 
 their results, because Socrates sought to enlighten and ennoble his 
 nation through reason, and Jesus through feeling.} 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 ciples, and, notwithstanding his declarations against the 
 mania of dogmatical philosophers to do so, and his efforts, 
 while living, to counteract such a tendency, worked them 
 up with admixtures of foreign materials into new systems, 
 or else extended their inquiries to a multitude of subjects, 
 to which he, not considering them of sufficient, general 
 utility, had never once condescended to attend, and hence, 
 turned back to the very errors against which he had en- 
 deavored to guard them. In so doing, they wandered in 
 many respects from the only correct way of observation and 
 experience, which Socrates had pointed out to them, 
 ahd gave themselves up again to the vain speculations for 
 which he had evinced so little esteem. Thus originated 
 the celebrated sects of the old philosophers, which suc- 
 ceeded Socrates, and indeed came forth from his school, 
 €ach of which had peculiar excellencies as well as defects. 
 
 That party spirit, which, at this time, became more and 
 more bustling and obstinate, proved the means of enlight- 
 ening many dark regions of human knowledge and quick- 
 ening reflection, and, by the numerous disputes which it 
 engendered, occasioned new and deeper investigations, is 
 perhaps to be admitted. Its prevalence however, appears, 
 as it were, to have drawn philosophy away again from the 
 sphere of operations in human society to which Socrates 
 had assigned it, and to have shut it up in the narrow lim- 
 its of the schools. The difierent sects that arose from 
 time to time, were constantly involved in quarrels ; men 
 engaged in subtle investigations ; philosophers began to 
 retire from active life, in order that they might give them- 
 selves up without disturbance to their delightful contem- 
 plations; and the desire of defending their own systems, 
 and confuting their opponents, banished from their minds 
 that zeal, under the influence of which, Socrates had la- 
 bored to make all his convictions of truth, useful in life, 
 and improving to mankind. r^'""*-^^ 
 
 This change unquestionably deprived phUbsophy^f 
 much of that influence which it might ^dve exerted 
 in the cause of virtue and happiness, among the Greeks. 
 There is, therefore, great reason to believe, that we ought 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 163 
 
 not to look for any very extensive plan of benevolence, 
 for the good of the world among the Grecian philosophers 
 that succeeded Socrates, many of whom had transformed 
 philosophy into a useless system of scholastic bickerings. 
 Very few of them had any direct influence in the affairs of 
 their own country, or those of other nations. Many of 
 them were tolerated at courts, merely as pleasing and 
 agreeable chatterers, too eagerly engaged in their own 
 gratification even to think of laborious and extensive plans. 
 Others had retired into quiet solitudes,, and still gardens, 
 and would not have any thing to do with great matters and 
 projects. Others, again, had set themselves up for se-^ 
 vere judges and censors of morals and manners, and, dis- 
 satisfied with society and its constitution, by renouncing 
 all the conveniences of life, and even cleanliness and pro- 
 priety, sought to become patterns of a manly and grave 
 virtue, without reflecting that their conduct made virtue 
 hateful, and rendered themselves ridiculous.* Finally, 
 the most of them contended in their schools with other 
 parties, obtained their necessary support by declaiming, 
 and were as far as possible from thinking of effecting 
 great and salutary revolutions. f Under such circumstan- 
 
 * Such, as is well known, was the conduct of the Cynics. Arrian, 
 indeed, makes his Epictetus draw an entirely different picture of the 
 true Cynic, Diss. 1. III. c. 22, — a picture, so attractive, and compos- 
 ed of such exalted traits, that one cannot contemplate it without ad- 
 miration and deep emotion. It is perfectly manifest, however, that 
 it is merely an ideal conception, to which no Cynic ever attained, 
 and to which it is hardly possible ever to attain. The same must al- 
 so be said of what Lucian says in his little work, entitled Cynicus, 
 in praise of this sect. This is not the place to show what the Cynics 
 ought to have been. They must be described as they were. 
 
 t Seneca, as he informs his friend Lucullus, in his 29th letter, is 
 anxious that a certain Marcellinus should be improved by the study 
 of philosophy ; but he contrives to have this witty genius make 
 many objections to its utility, in support of which he appeals chiefly 
 to the trifling influence that it exerted upon the philosophers them- 
 selves. " Scrutabitur," says Seneca, " scholas nostras, etobiicietphi- 
 losophis congiaria, arnicas, gulam. Ostendit mihi alium in adulteriOf 
 alium inj!J07^ma, alium in aw/a, ostenditmihi lepidumphilosophum Ar- 
 istonera, qui in gestatione disserebat : hoc enim ad edendas operas tem- 
 pusacceperat — Hos mihi circulatoreSfqai philosophiamhonestius neg- 
 
164 NO PLAN LIKE CHRISt's 
 
 ces, it is not to be wondered at, that even the name of 
 philosopher, honorable as it once was, had become con- 
 temptible in many places ; for to be one, often required 
 nothing more than that a man should join some party, as- 
 sume its dress, carry around in his mouth the principles of 
 some school, which in many cases were not even under- 
 stood, and, like all ignorant sectaries, make use of them 
 as watchwords, and defend them with impudence and 
 boldness. 
 
 It would be unjust to deny, that, notwithstanding these 
 faults, philosophy was always the means of effecting much 
 good among the Greeks, as it kept a valuable amount of 
 knowledge in circulation, aroused many a heart to the 
 performance of worthy actions, and yielded consolation in 
 
 lexissent, quern vendunt, in faciem ingeret." I think this single pas- 
 sage sufficient to justify the remarks I have made respecting the 
 great mass of common philosophers. If one wishes for any thing 
 more in confirmation of them, he may add the complaints of Epicte- 
 tus, found in Arrian, Diss. 1. IV. c. 8. I will not appeal to what 
 Lucian has said upon this subject in many passages, particularly in 
 his Symposium, and Reuiuiscent., nor to Juvenal's Sat., 1. I. sat. 2. 
 V. 1 — 20, as, for well known reasons, the opinion of these men might 
 be considered as partial. [It may be well to add a short passage, ta- 
 ken from Cicero, Quaest. Tuscul., II. 4, which exhibits his opinion 
 of the ancient philosophers, and is worthy of particular attention. — 
 *' Quotusquisque philosophorum invenitur, qui sit ita moratus, ita 
 animo ac vita constitutus, ut ratio postulat ? qui disciplinam suam 
 non ostentationem scientiae, sed legem vitae putet.^ qui obtemperet 
 ipse sibi et decretis snis pareat .'' Videre licet alios tanta levitate et 
 iactatione, iis ut fuerit non didicisse melius : alios pecuniae cupidos, 
 gloriae nonnullos, multos libidinum servos, ut cum eorum vita mi- 
 rabiliter pugnet oratio, quod quidem mihi videtur esse turpissi- 
 mum." Of Seneca's works, comp., De Constan. Sap. c. 3, Epist. 
 ad Lucil. 20, 108, 116, and concerning the inconsistency between his 
 writings and character, Meibomii Vita Maecenatis, c. 22. p. 132. 133; 
 of Quintilian's works, the Prooera. Instit. Or., p. 13, ed. Spald ; of 
 Plutarch's works, what Diogenes says respecting Plato, De Virtute 
 Morali, VII. 776, what he says respecting Antisthenes, Dion Chry- 
 Bost. Orat. 8, Reisk. I. 275, and what Cleanthes says respecting the 
 Peripatetics, Diog. Laert., VII. Segra. 173. p. 474 seq. ed. Wetst. — 
 According to Gellius, N. A. XVII. 19, the most of those who ap- 
 peared to philosophize, were said scarcely to be philosophers in 
 words; '' Philosophos esse hujuseemodi uviv tov noumiv, /ni/Qi 
 rov Xiysiv '/' as is objected to the Academics, Plut., Lacon. Apo- 
 phthegm. VI. 858, Reisk.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 165 
 
 affliction.* The Stoical school, in particular, may be 
 considered as having been the source of much good.f 
 It produced many wise men of active habits, and many 
 serious and venerable statesmen, and, during the most cor- 
 rupt times, kept up and even extended a kind of rever- 
 ence for virtue, of which it ever spoke with great warmth, 
 and had an exalted opinion. Among all the noble men, 
 however, who were distinguished from the great mass of 
 common philosophers, and to whom people were indebted 
 for the first named effects, no one will presume to look for 
 a plan of such a character as that of which we are now in 
 pursuit. There is not the least proof to authorize one to 
 do so. On the other hand, well known experience teach- 
 es us, that no class of men are usually less enterprising 
 than those who have chosen the lecture room as the sphere 
 of their operations, and once tasted of the silent joy of 
 quiet investigations after the truth. That the philosophers 
 of whom we here speak, were very litde disposed to en- 
 gage in important enterprises, is evident from the fact, 
 that not one of these enlightened men ever dared to at- 
 tack the base religion of the nation, and substitute better 
 representations of God in its stead, although its absurdity 
 must have been, and, as we are credibly informed, was, 
 apparent to many of them. An attempt of this kind hav- 
 ing cost the bold Socrates his life, no' others had resolu- 
 tion enough to offer such a sacrifice for the general good. 
 ~ — -ilf 
 
 * Clemens of Alexandria speaks upon this point with much effect, 
 in the first book of his Stromatum, especially in the first chapters, 
 and in a critical examination of the value of the heathen philoso* 
 phy, and its use in the old world, displays much Christian wisdom 
 and moderation. It is to be wished that this man, who was unques- 
 tionably the most learned connoisseur of the Greek philosophy, 
 among all the ancient teachers of the Christian church, had always 
 been made use of as a pattern. 
 
 t It produced many worthy men, who aimed at what Simplicins 
 calls the philosopher's post in the state, in Enchirid., p. 245 ff. 
 Schweigh. ed. [It may be remarked, however, as Villemain has 
 shown in the second treatise of the Nouveaux Melanges historiquea 
 et litteraires, Paris, 1827, that the later Stoics evidently received 
 Christian elements into their system, without knowing it, or intend- 
 ing to do so.] 
 
166 
 
 They sought rather to apologize for the popular religion, 
 and make it harmonize with their philosophical systems, 
 notwithstanding the inconsistencies to which it might give 
 rise. To excuse their timidity in this respect, and give it 
 the appearance of profound wisdom, they called to their 
 aid the general principle, that it is imprudent and injuri- 
 ous to let the people see the whole truth at once ; that it 
 is not only necessary to spare sacred prejudices, but in 
 particular circumstances an act of benevolence to deceive 
 the great mass of the people. This was the unanimous 
 opinion of almost all the ancient philosophical schools.* 
 In this way, they justified themselves, in taking the pre- 
 vailing superstition for what it really was, while they taught 
 and even defended it in public, thereby avoiding the dan- 
 ger which would have been connected with an open con- 
 troversy upon the subject. Now what could truth ex- 
 pect from men, who, with such trembling caution, brought 
 it their offerings only in private ? How would it have 
 been possible for these timid men, who had not courage 
 enough to speak with frankness what they thought, un- 
 less in their lecture rooms, and in the midst of their con- 
 fidential pupils, to extend their views to bold plans of 
 importance and extent? 
 
 * Respecting this principle, consult Plato, De Republica, 1. III. 
 p. 266 seqq., Bip. ed. [Tom. VI. There is a striking censure of phi- 
 losophers, when they appropriate to themselves the principle, that it 
 is lawful to deceive i%e people, to be found in Plutarch, De Genio 
 Socratis, Vol. VIII. 291. " Many, in order to pass for friends of the 
 gods and for extraordinary men, contrive to give their treatises the 
 appearance of something divine, and render their fanciful conceits 
 important by means of dreams, apparitions, and other such like 
 things. It may be necessary, perhaps, for statesmen to do so, and 
 those who are called, in their eiforts at usefulness, to deal with a 
 haughty and unruly people, and, in this way, make use of supersti- 
 tion as a leading string, for the purpose of drawing them to the ac- 
 quisition of good. It is not only very unbecoming, however, for 
 Ehilosophy to assume such a dress, but altogether at variance with 
 er promise; for sHe has promised, to teach every thing that is good 
 and salutary, by means of reason, and to deduce the principles that 
 should regulate our conduct, from the gods ; and now, as if she 
 despised reason, and treated demonstration with contempt, the very 
 things that had constituted her chief excellence, she gives herself 
 up to fortune-telling, and runs after fanciful dreams.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 16T 
 
 § 75. EvemeruSj indeed,* seems to have been ad 
 exception in this respect. His well known work, con- 
 cerning the heathen mythology, appears to have been ex- 
 pressly intended to give a full and naked representation 
 of the superstitious religion of the people. He showed 
 that all the gods, not even Jupiter the supreme, excepted, 
 were originally mere men, and had been exalted to a seat 
 in the heavens, by gratitude, esteem, and a disposition for 
 tlie marvellous. He divested these gods of that honora- 
 ble and dazzling splendor, with which, according to his 
 opinion, they had been surrounded by fickle tradition and 
 an inclination for the extraordinary. By relating their 
 deeds without exaggeration and embellishment, naming 
 their birth-places, pointing to their graves, and stripping 
 the old mythology of all its wonders, he reduced them to 
 the class of ordinary men. It is not strange, that such a 
 bold attack upon the common system procured for this 
 man the surname of atheist.f Evemerus, however, was 
 at the foundation not very serious in his opinions. From 
 the few fragments of his important work upon mythology, 
 which have come down to us, it is very evident that his only 
 object was, to propose a new hypothesis respecting the 
 different accounts extant concerning the gods. The more 
 learned portion of the Greeks, long before this, had ceas- 
 ed to receive these accounts in their literal acceptation. 
 Many allegorized them, and considered them as envelop- 
 ing physical truths. Others built systems of different 
 classes and orders of mighty demons upon them, and 
 sought to relieve themselves in regard to these common 
 and often very indecent fables of mythology, by imputing 
 different degrees of perfection to each class of their de- 
 mons. Now Evemerus proposed a third hypothesis for 
 explaining these ancient fables, which consisted in suppos- 
 ing these gods originally to have been mere men. The 
 
 * Not Evemerus alone. Many others treated mythology in the 
 same way. A list of their names is given by Arnobius, lib. IV. 
 p. 147. 
 
 t [Comp. Zimmermann, Defensio Everaeri ab Atheismo, in his 
 Opuscula, II. 1052—1080.] 
 
168 
 
 object of his investigations, however, in doing so, was not 
 to disapprove or reject the services instituted in honor of 
 these popular gods. For instance, he was satisfied that 
 Jupiter, who, according to his opinion, was originally no- 
 thing more than a man deserving of human esteem, should 
 .be considered as a god, and worshipped as such. He 
 only thought that if his method of explanation was admit- 
 ted to be correct, that these accounts would be better un- 
 derstood, as well as be secured against the objections 
 which people felt respecting the life and actions of Jupi- 
 ter. He entertained the same views also of the other 
 gods, and it is evident that one might adopt his system, 
 and yet adhere to the common popular religion, and all its 
 ceremonies and abuses, in their whole extent. Many ac- 
 tually did so ; his opinion found advocates. Ennlus trans- 
 lated his book into Latin,^ and it was read in different 
 places with great approbation, but it never led any one to 
 think of making the least change in the regulations of the 
 public religion, or of pronouncing it illegitimate. It is 
 true, the fathers of the church afterwards made a careful 
 use of the assertions of Everemus, whenever they wished 
 to exhibit the irrationality of the heathen mythology,f but 
 they drew conclusions from this man's principles to which 
 he himself was not led, because he had not the same ob- 
 ject in view which they were seeking to advance. These 
 remarks, however, I think will be sufficient to show clear- 
 ly, that none of the wise of Greece ever soared to the for- 
 mation of a plan that can be compared with Christ's. 
 
 § 76. I pass on, therefore, to the Romans. The influ- 
 ence of philosophy was never so extensive among them 
 before the founder of Christianity, as it was in Greece. 
 For several centuries this nation had had but little esteem 
 for the sciences, and, without their aid, been aspiring after 
 
 * Vid. Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 1. I. c. 42, [Tuscul. I. 13, De 
 Legg. II. 14,] and Abbe Foucher's treatise ; Ueber das System des 
 Evemerus, in Hissman's Magazin, Th. III. S. 249 fT, [and especially 
 B6ttiger,IdeenzurKunstmythologie, § 6. S. 186 iF., Dresden, 1826.] 
 
 t Comp. for instance, Minucius Felix, in Octauio, c. XXL, with 
 the remarks of Elmenhorst and Wower, at this passage. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 169 
 
 the dominion of the world.* Philosophy, therefore, was 
 not introduced into this country until at a late period. 
 For a long time, it remained solely in the possession of 
 the rich and distinguished, who had property enough for 
 employing Greek instructors to assist them in acquiring a 
 knowledge of it. A great obstacle to its extension, even 
 down to the time of Cicero, was the deficiency of the 
 Latin, which created a kind of impression, that the Greek 
 was the only language in which the truths of philosophy 
 could be delivered with energy and intelligibility. Indeed, 
 it required a no less genius than Cicero's, to give the Latin 
 as much richness and ornament as were requisite, in order 
 to prevent philosophy's losing too much of its perspicuity 
 and impressiveness, and the philosophical works of the 
 Romans from sinking too low, when brought into compari- 
 son with the eloquent writings of the Greeks. The pre- 
 judicial effects of this circumstance, even down to the time 
 of this great man, prevented the principles and discoveries 
 of philosophy from becoming so generally known as they 
 deserved. 
 
 If, however, philosophy ever contributed any thing to- 
 wards originating a very comprehensiveplan of benevolence 
 among the Romans, it must seemingly have done so, short- 
 ly before the founder of Christianity made his appearance. 
 Those who loved and cultivated philosophy in Rome, were 
 the most distinguished men of the state ; — men, who, by their 
 influence in public affairs and the important offices which 
 they filled, had been accustomed as it were, to great and 
 extensive plans, and had acquired a power, which ena- 
 bled them to exert an influence upon the best parts of the 
 world. It would not be wonderful to find that such per- 
 sons had been inspired by philosophy with a great and 
 philosophical plan, as the circumstances under which they 
 thought and acted, tended very much to prepare them for 
 
 * [Hippel, in his Lebensbeschreibung, S. 273 — 278, herausg. v. 
 SchlichtegroU, Gotha, 1801, has remarked in a striking manner, that 
 the Greeks were distinguished for philosophy and the cultivation of 
 taste, and the Romans for activity and an aversion to a sedentary 
 life and mere contemplation.] 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 the purpose. We search among them, however, for any 
 thing of the kind in vain. That warlike spirit, so peculiar 
 to the Romans, appears here also to have been productive 
 of unhappy effects. The republic was at this time in the 
 midst of the most fearful concussions, and upon the point 
 of being transformed into a monarchy. Such a state of 
 things diverted the minds of these men exceedingly from 
 institutions of this kind, and naturally induced them to 
 have a reference to offensive and defensive war, to politi- 
 cal interests and ambitious measures for power, in every 
 plan they invented and carried into execution. 
 
 In view of all that has now been said I believe, that, 
 from the influence exerted by philosophers in regard to 
 the general good among the Greeks and Romans, it must 
 be inferred, that none who lived before the founder of 
 Christianity, can ever have conceived the idea of forming 
 a plan of universal benevolence ; for if so, they would cer- 
 tainly have left some traces of it in their actions and en- 
 terprises. The most of them indeed did but little for 
 their own native country ; how then could they have ex- 
 tended their views beyond it ? Moreover, as a body, 
 they were all destitute of the courage requisite for re- 
 moving out of the way, the insipid religion that prevailed 
 among the people, which was the grand object that op- 
 posed the progress of general information. This cir- 
 cumstance of itself is sufficient to prove, that these men 
 were incapable of forming any great resolution in favor 
 of wisdom and virtue, arid of devoting all their powers 
 to the general good of mankind. 
 
 § 77. Now if, in addition to this, we contemplate the 
 systems which they formed respecting religion, virtue, and 
 happiness, we shall perceive that the principles which 
 the most of them adopted, rendered it impossible for their 
 minds to produce a plan of such excellence, as we have 
 in contemplation. Upon this point 1 must say a few 
 words. 
 
 It would require too much prolixity, and indeed it would 
 be superfluous, for me, in this place, to give a develop- 
 ment of the systems adopted by the most distinguished 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 171 
 
 philosophical schools of antiquity. My present object 
 does not require this detail ; and besides, the task has al- 
 ready been performed by others. There is a much short- 
 er way of ascertaining how much the ancient philoso- 
 phers were able to undertake for the general good, upon 
 the supposition that they remained faithful to their princi- 
 ples and thought consistently, and whether their ideas of 
 virtue and happiness could ever have originated a plan of 
 universal benevolence. In order to arrive at a conclusion, 
 we have only to make ourselves familiar with their opin- 
 ions respecting what constituted the chief good, upon 
 which point they have often expressed themselves with 
 great clearness. Whatever a school affirmed to be the 
 chief good, was, with it, the supreme law of ethics. Now 
 an examination of this principle will enable us to ascer- 
 tain, whether the man who thought and acted agreeably 
 to it, would ever have been capable of that greatness of 
 soul, which a plan of the given character presupposes. 
 It will be readily seen, without any suggestions from 
 me, that those schools, which considered either the per- 
 ception of truth, a quiet state of indolence, or sensuality 
 and the enjoyment of the greatest possible amount of 
 - pleasure, as, the chief good, would never have been able, 
 by virtue of their principles, to extend their views to 
 comprehensive and laborious plans for the general weal. 
 Is the perception of truth the chief good after which a 
 man must strive ? What then can be more his duty, than 
 to avoid all the distractions of great matters, and seek a 
 quiet life, for the purpose of giving himself up entirely and 
 without disturbance to the increase and correction of his 
 knowledge ? Is freedom from pain what a man should 
 aim at? then it will be his duty to undertake no more la- 
 bor than is requisite for the health of his body, and is 
 consistent with lasting rest and tranquillity of mind. Ac- 
 cording to this system, it is foolish and wicked, to make 
 great and ceaseless exertions of all the powers, and noble 
 and free-will ofierings, for the purpose of advancing the 
 morality and happiness of others. The same is true of 
 those who make the chief good to consist in the constant 
 
172 
 
 enjoyment of pleasure. Such must consider it their duty, 
 and the highest wisdom, to take the most agreeable view 
 of things, and, as far as possible, place every thing in that 
 relation to themselves from which they can expect the 
 most enjoyment. A great part of these schools maintain- 
 ed, that the wise man pursued the best course by passing 
 his life in silent retirement, away from the noise of cities 
 and the bustle of great business. Besides, had these phi- 
 losophers remained faithful to the explanations which they 
 themselves gave of their own principles, they must have 
 considered many ignoble actions at least as allowable, for 
 they would appear to contribute something to the amount 
 of that pleasure which they had elevated to the rank of 
 the chief good. 
 
 I am very far from attributing to Epicurus and his ad- 
 herents, all the shameful consequences which have so .often 
 been deduced from the principle of this school respecting 
 the chief good, by an enumeration of which, the eloquent 
 Cicero was able to represent its system in so prejudicial a 
 light. If the assumed principle had been explained with 
 as much acuteness as it usually was by Epicurus himself, 
 those ambiguous and indefinite notions, which introduc- 
 ed so much confusion and obscurity into his system, 
 would have been rendered clear and definite. Final- 
 ly, had this principle been purified from those other 
 base and excursive thoughts that did not properly belong 
 to it, it might perhaps have been made the foundation of 
 a system which to many would appear to be the only true 
 and tenable one, for, as rightly understood, it is nothing 
 more than the position of rational self-love. As Epicurus 
 employed it, however, as his followers understood it, and 
 as, indeed, from not having been defined with sufficient 
 accuracy, it might be explained, it must have occasioned 
 misunderstandings and extravagances, and have altogether 
 suppressed that mode of thinking which enables a man to 
 perform every thing for the general good, and makes one 
 feel, that he never tasted of the greatest and sweetest 
 pleasure, until he had rendered himself useful to others, 
 and been the means of adding considerably to the amount 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 173 
 
 of human happiness in the world. How was it possible 
 for that mind to elevate itself to great and benevolent 
 plans, which looked upon the Deity as unspeakably happy, 
 merely because he had nothing to do, — nothing which call- 
 ed for the exercise of care ? To free one's self from 
 all business, and avoid all effort to promote the happiness 
 of others, was, according to this system, to imitate God. 
 
 From these observations it follows, that very many of 
 the philosophers of antiquity must have been prevented 
 by the very principles upon which their morality was 
 founded, from having any conception of that greatness of 
 mind in which alone such a noble resolution as that of 
 which we are here speaking, could have originated. It is 
 not a matter of astonishment, therefore, that we meet 
 with no exahed thoughts of the kind among them. In 
 order to be capable of such, they must have changed 
 their entire mode of thinking, and the whole system of 
 their conceptions. 
 
 § 78. For those sects, however, which declared virtue 
 to be the chief good, whatever definition they gave to their 
 fundamental position, a way certainly stood open, which 
 would have led them to the attainment of this greatness, 
 provided they had had eyes to see it, and spirit and 
 strength to enter upon it. Hence, we actually find that 
 the Stoics approximated nearer to the idea of such a plan, 
 than any others. Their principles were, that all men, 
 connected together as they are by a natural relationship, 
 ought to consider each other as brethren ; that, as a body, 
 they are the citizens of a great state, and hence, bound to 
 love and assist each other ; that he who acts from selfish 
 motives, does not understand his true interests, but that 
 he only lives agreeably to nature, and of course, happy, 
 who lives for others ; and that the human soul is related to 
 the Deity, and maintains its dignity only when it endeav- 
 ors to think and act in unison with the Deity. These 
 principles, considered in respect to their consequences, 
 might certainly have led those who adopted them to the 
 formation of such a plan as that devised by the author of 
 Christianity. Indeed, they did almost produce such an 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 effect upon Cicero, who, as is well known, in his work, 
 De Officiis, mainly followed the principles of the Stoics ; 
 for he concedes, that it would be far more agreeable to 
 the laws of nature, for any one, like the benevolent Her- 
 cules, to undertake the greatest labor, and the most un- 
 pleasant tasks, for the preservation and happiness of all 
 nations, than to pass one's life in quiet solitude, without 
 any unpleasant circumstances, amidst a flow of the most 
 delicious enjoyments. But he questions the possibility of 
 the thing, and, as it were, sinks down again, without hav- 
 ing reached the height to which he was approximating."* 
 The same assertion is also to be made respecting other 
 passages to be met with here and there in the ancient 
 writers, which are of an exalted character, and appear 
 to contain sparks of that divine fire with which the found- 
 er of Christianity was animated in the formation of his 
 resolution. Not a spirit of antiquity before him, was bold 
 and strong enough to trace out the essential positions of 
 Stoical morality to their results, and from them to devel- 
 op the great thought, that enlightening and improving 
 mankind, and rendering them happy, is not only the high- 
 est goal of human virtue and exaltation, but one within 
 the reach of possibility. 
 
 § 79. Perhaps certain other positions, which were re- 
 ceived into the system of the Stoics, and connected with 
 the above named principles, caused even those men, who 
 had been enlightened and ennobled by this philosophy, 
 to remain within the ordinary narrow limitation. The 
 ideal perfection of their wise men was so extravagant, and 
 had so little respect to human nature, that he whose ob- 
 ject was, to acquire that genuine human greatness, which 
 consists in a due application of all the powers to the wel- 
 fare of the world, was led on to the attainment of a spe- 
 cious and empty sublimity, after which human nature 
 must forever strive in vain. The Stoical sage loved vir- 
 tue without regard to profit, merely for her own sake, and 
 strove after that state of indifference to pleasure and pain 
 
 * De Officiis, 1. III. c. 5. § 25. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 175 
 
 and every external change, which divested them of all 
 disturbing power, and ensured him that peace and tran- 
 quillity of soul, which would enable him to keep the 
 laws of eternal order constantly before him, and to obey 
 them with alacrity. He aimed, in a certain respect, to 
 surpass the Deity himself, and acquire renown for an 
 excellence, of which the most exalted beings are desti- 
 tute.^ To this firm, serious, and immovable sage, all 
 ordinary men, from his own height downwards, must 
 have appeared as a ftir lower class of beings, — as contemp- 
 tible fools, and miserable slaves. Such a man, there- 
 fore, had too little sympathy, too little tender feeling for 
 each individual of the human race, and, of course, too 
 little active love to the multitude at large, and, on the 
 other hand, was too busily occupied with his own great- 
 ness and the attainment of that precipitous height, which 
 he looked upon as the goal of human perfection, even to 
 think of forming a very comprehensive plan of benevo- 
 lence, which should, in reality, be adapted to the human 
 race, in all its circumstances. As soon as a man formed 
 the design of approximating to this ideal perfection, he 
 necessarily receded from that kind disposition, that be- 
 nevolent condescension towards all men, and that sy^npa- 
 thizing pliability which are indispensably necessary to the 
 formation of such a plan ; how far, no one has exhibited 
 in a clearer light than Cicero, well as he knew how, in 
 other cases, to bring forward what was of public utility in 
 the morality of the Stoics. The excellent observations 
 that he makes upon the character of Cato the younger, in 
 his oration for Muraena afford a most exact confirmation of 
 what T have just said. Perhaps of all who ever attempted 
 the difficult task of reaching the perfection of a truly wise 
 man, agreeably to the requisitions of the Stoical philoso- 
 
 * Seneca in his work, entitled, " Quare bonis viris mala accidant, 
 cum sit prouidentia," among other things, makes the Deity say the 
 following to those wise men, educated according to Stoical princi- 
 ples : " At multa incidunt tristia, horrenda, dura toleratu ! quia non 
 poteram vos istis subducere, animos vestros aduersus omnia armaui. 
 Ferte fortiter, hoc est, quo Deum antecedatis. Ille extra patientiam 
 malorum est : vos supra patientiam." Cap. VI 
 
176 
 
 phy, Cato went the farthest.* Now Cicero shows that 
 this very thing unfitted him for the circumstances in which 
 he was placed, and rendered him incapable of performing 
 his duties in a manner, wise, and useful to the public.f 
 The unnatural and extravagant notions of true wisdom, 
 therefore, contained in the system of the Stoics, directly 
 opposed as they often were to the simple feelings of hu- 
 man nature, must have deprived every Stoic of the dispo- 
 sition to make wisdom and virtue, universal ; for, agreea- 
 bly to the confessions of this party itself, it was possible 
 for but a few to approximate to that exalted pattern of a 
 truly wise man, which had been marked out by its mem- 
 bers as the goal of perfection. { He who carries every 
 thing to such an extreme,^ and adopts precepts with so 
 little regard to human nature, must, on that very account, 
 confine himself to a few, and can never think of project- 
 ing a universal plan. 
 
 * At least Seneca thought so, De constantia sapientis, c. 7. 
 
 t Comp. the excellent passage in Cicero's Orat. Pro Muraena, 
 cap. 29—31. 
 
 t No man has said this in a more impressive manner than Epicte- 
 tus, one of the greatest men of this school. Vid. Arrian's Diss., 
 1. II. c. 19. p. 288 seqq. [Tom. I. Schweighaus. Epicteteae Philos. 
 Monumenta.] 
 
 § " Isti ipsi mihi videntur," says Cicero in the passage quoted, c. 31 , 
 " vestri praeceptores et virtutis magistri fines officiorum paulo Ion- 
 gius, quam natura vellet, protulisse : vt, cum ad vltimum animo con- 
 tendissemus, ibi tamen, vbi oporteret, consisteremus." Seneca, 
 however, very frankly admits, that the requisitions of the Stoical 
 morality are often too extravagant. " Quaedam," says he, De Be- 
 nef. 1. VII. c. 22, " praecipimus vltra modum, vt ad verum et suum 
 redeant." And directly after, chap. 23, " quoties parum fiduciae 
 est in his, quibus imperas, amplius est exigendum, quam satis est, vt 
 praestetur, quantum satis est. In hoc omnis hyperbole excedit,vtad 
 verum mendacio veniat." Plutarch, in his work, De Stoicorum re- 
 pugnantiis, p. 309, [Reisk. Vol. X.] quotes a passage of Chrysippus, 
 in which it is expressly asserted, that the morality of the Stoics was 
 too poetical to be adapted to human nature. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 177 
 
 Founders of religions. 
 
 § 80. It remains for us now to cast a glance at that 
 class of the meritorious men of antiquity, who may, in the 
 next place, be compared with the founder of Christianity, 
 namely, the founders of religions. In this respect, a sur- 
 vey of the whole of antiquity presents us with very lit- 
 tle. Most of the ancient religions had no author, as 
 far as we know, but appear to have been originated 
 gradually by the united operation of various causes ;* and 
 those that had, were miserable superstitions, prejudicial 
 to morality and happiness, and will not authorize us to 
 reckon those who introduced and perfected them, among 
 the benefactors of mankind. What Plato and other dis- 
 cerning men among the Greeks thought of the poets of 
 their nation, considered as the authors and propagators of 
 mythology and the popular religion, is well known ; as 
 also how they found it necessary to animadvert upon the 
 pernicious influence which such fables and representations 
 exerted upon morals, and to take measures for its diminu- 
 tion. f Whatever might be said respecting the mythology 
 of the Greeks, is equally applicable, and in some respects 
 more so, to the various kinds of superstition which pre- 
 vailed among other nations. None of these religions was, 
 in any respect, calculated for great and extensive plans. 
 Indeed, every one of them contained so much in its fun- 
 damental principles and precepts, of a national and local 
 character, that it could not well be imparted to several 
 nations. 
 
 In the whole circle of antiquity, therefore, before Jesus, 
 only three men can be discovered, that exhibit the dignity 
 
 * Meiner, De falsarum religionum origine ac differentia, in the 
 Commentationes Societ.Reg. Scient. Goettin. Antiquior.,Tom. VII. 
 p. 58 seqq. 
 
 t Plato, De Republica, 1. III. p. 260 seq. Bip. ed. [Tom. VI. ;] par- 
 ticularly Plutarch, throughout his works; for instance, De audiendis 
 poetis, De Iside et Osiride, etc., [Vol. VI. u. VII.,] and Pliny, Hist. 
 Nat. 1. II. 0. 5. 
 
178 
 
 of benevolent founders of religions, and of course de- 
 serve an honorable mention in this place ; namely, Mo- 
 ses, Zerdusht or Zoroaster, and Kong-fu-tsee or Con- 
 fucius. 
 
 § 81. Moses, the zealous defender of Monotheism, at 
 a time when Polytheism was universal, was the author of a 
 religious constitution, which was designed, in all its parts, 
 for preserving free from corruption, at least so far as a single 
 nation was concerned, a belief in one true, supreme God, 
 and guarding it against all the abominations of idolatry. 
 To accomplish this object in a happy manner, it was in- 
 dispensably necessary for him to separate the nation in 
 which so precious a jewel was to be deposited for safe 
 keeping, from other nations; give it a residence in a coun- 
 try separated by natural boundaries from all other coun- 
 tries ; and, by appropriate laws and regulations, confine it 
 to this residence, and render all intercourse between it 
 and foreigners, as difficult as possible. It was necessary 
 for him to furnish this nation with a constitution which 
 should bring it in direct and lasting opposition to all other 
 nations, and to treat it as a holy people, chosen by the su- 
 preme God himself, and entirely consecrated to his ser- 
 vice. Such was the object which Moses actually kept in 
 view, and such the spirit, which, in all his acts of legisla- 
 tion, he labored to breathe into his countrymen. All his 
 precepts, whether they had reference to civil order, or the 
 cultivation and improvement of land ; to domestic life, re- 
 ligious ceremonies, or the relation of the Israelites to for- 
 eign nations, contributed something towards reminding 
 them that the only and supreme God was their ruler 
 and king, their country his favorite country, and they 
 themselves his chosen property.* Moses, therefore, was 
 obliged to confine the plan of his religious establish- 
 ment, entirely to the nation for which he legislated, and 
 
 * No one has represented this in a more detailed and convincing 
 manner, than Spencer, De legibus Hebraeorum ritualibus, the whole 
 first book of which is devoted to the exhibition of this proof. 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 179 
 
 was incapacitated from even drawing other nations into it. 
 The grand truth, that is, the doctrine of one only true 
 God, for the preservation of which, among his fellow citi- 
 zens, every thing was designed and executed, together 
 with the practical truths depending upon it and connected 
 with it, does indeed constitute the substance of all ration- 
 al religion, and consequently deserves universal extension. 
 Moses, however, in his time, would have labored for the 
 accomplishment of such an object in vain, had he at- 
 tempted it. He had enough to do, for securing the 
 continuance of this great doctrine simply among his own 
 people. Accordingly he kept this thing in view, and 
 so entirely was his attention occupied by the almost in- 
 superable difficulties opposed in the way of his religious 
 institutions, by the roughness and indocility of these wild 
 nomads, that he did not once think of imparting this 
 truth to other nations. At any rate, the more every thing 
 he prescribed was adapted to his own nation, the more 
 was it calculated to give this nation an individuality in the 
 country of which it was to retain possession, which ren- 
 dered any intermixture with foreign nations, impossible ; 
 and the less capable were his regulations of a wider exten- 
 sion. So entirely was genuine Mosaicism bound to Pa- 
 lestine, that it could not have been transplanted into an- 
 other region without losing its real nature and form.* 
 Hence, the reason why the author of Christianity, whose 
 plan was of unlimited extent as has already been shown, 
 resolved to abolish the Mosaic regulations. Moses, there- 
 fore, does indeed remain worthy of lasting honor, and 
 must be reckoned among the greatest benefactors of our 
 race, for having preserved and cherished the kernel, out 
 of which Providence intended, at a future period, to de- 
 velop a religion designed for the world, and calculated to 
 
 * Michaelis, Mosaisches Recht, 6Theile,8, [Commentaries on the 
 Laws of Moses, transl. by Smith, four Vols. 8vo, Lond., 1814, Tr.] 
 gives the best explanation of this matter. Comp. also his Commen- 
 tationos in Societat. Reg. Scient. Goetting., praelect. IX. and X. 
 
180 
 
 render all happy ; but who would examine him to discov- 
 er a plan which may be compared to that of Jesus ? 
 
 § 82. In what relates to Zerdusht, or Zoroaster the 
 Mede, of whom I am now to speak, I suppose it to be de- 
 cided, that the books of the Zend-Avesta, lately brought in- 
 to Europe,* contain the real principles of this reformer of 
 the Magian religion. The close investigations that have 
 been made respecting the genuineness and antiquity of this 
 remarkable work, have turned out so much to its advantage, 
 that nothing farther can be justly required. f By the same 
 means it has also been shown, that the spirit of the relig- 
 ion taught by Zoroaster, notwithstanding the superstition it 
 contains, and much that is incapable of proof, and the nu- 
 merous ceremonies and petty formalities with which it is 
 burdened, is, in many respects, benevolent and exalting to 
 
 * [By Anquetil da Perron. Much had been said, both by French 
 and English travellers, though but little was known, respecting 
 the religion of the ancient Persians, the Guebers or Gauers and 
 their sacred books, the Zend-Avesta or Living Word, previous to 
 the time of this gentleman, who, during a residence in India, acquir- 
 ed a knowledge of the saered language in which these books are 
 written, and, on his return to Europe, in 1762, brought copies of them 
 with him, a French translation of which he published in 1771. Ev- 
 ery thing respecting them has since been thoroughly investigated 
 by the Germans, as may be seen by consulting the books referred to 
 in the notes, a short article in the Bibl. Repos., No. If. p. 407, and 
 the articles, Zend-Avesta and Zoroaster, in the Convs. Lex., or the 
 Encyclopedia Americana, now in a course of publication. Tr.] 
 
 + Comp. Meiner's four treatises respecting Zoroaster and the re- 
 ligion of the Persians, [in which the genuineness of the Zend-Avesta 
 is attacked,] in the Commentationes Societ. Reg. Scient. Goetting., 
 with Kleuker's Inquiry, [in which its genuineness is defended,] re- 
 specting the character, age, and worth of the Zendic books, in 
 the second Vol. of his Anhang zum Zend-Avesta, and Tychsen's 
 first Commentatio, De religionum Zoroastricarum apud exteras 
 gentes vestigiis, Vol. XI. of the Commentationes already quoted, 
 p. 112 seqq. [The following have decided in favor of at least the 
 partial genuineness of the Zend-Avesta, viz. Wahl, Gesch. der mor- 
 genland. Sprachen und Litteratur, S. 341 ; Buhle, Lehrbuch der 
 Gesch. der Philosophic, I. 66 — 71, where a connected representation 
 is given -of the arguments on both sides; Heeren ; Joh. v. Mailer, 
 Werke VI. 135; Creuzer, Symbolik, I. 6.55: and Rask, Ueber Alter 
 und Echtheit der Zendsphrache und des Zend-Avesta, von v. Hao-en, 
 Berlin, 1826.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 181 
 
 the heart. The worshipper and servant of Ormuzd* con- 
 sidered himself as belonging to the kingdom of light, and 
 felt himself called upon, in common with the holy creator 
 of this kingdom, and those pure heavenly beings that de- 
 rived their existence from him and surrounded his throne, 
 to fight with all his efforts against the kingdom of dark- 
 ness. He was to' labor, therefore, with ceaseless exertions 
 in all he did, to transform every thing to light ; he was to 
 spread existence, life, power, and happiness around him,* 
 and preserve himself pure from extravagance and vice, 
 while, on the other hand, he was to impede and suppress 
 every thing that might injure and destroy, or produce dis- 
 order in the moral and physical world. f This religion 
 infused into its adherents a still and peaceful disposition, 
 which led them to keep public utility in view, and which 
 quickened, cultivated, and beautified every thing, and 
 made even the brute creation, so far as they are harmless, 
 and inanimate nature itself, objects of tender solicitude 
 and benevolent care. Such a disposition the remnant of 
 these adherents, formerly so numerous, in a measure, still 
 podsess.f History, however, furnishes us with no trace 
 of Zoroaster's ever having intended to impart his religion 
 
 * [According to the Zoroastric religion, two beings coexisted 
 from eternity, Ormuzd and Ahriman, the principles of the uni- 
 verse. Ormuzd is the purest and eternal source of light and all 
 perfections. Ahriman originally partook of the light, and was so 
 far good, but by envying the light of Ormuzd, he eclipsed his own, 
 and became Ormuzd's enemy, and the father of every thing evil and 
 of all wicked beings, who, in conjunction with himself, were drawn 
 into combat with the good, Ormuzd and Ahriman completed the 
 creation at different periods, the former being father of the good, and 
 the latter of the evil, and the one mutually striving with the other 
 after the dominion of the world. Tr.] 
 
 t Kleuker's short representation of the religious doctrines of the 
 ancient Persians and their sacred worship, according to the Zendic 
 books, in the first part of the Zend-Avesta, S. 1 fF., or his treatise re- 
 specting the nature of the worship to be paid to Ormuzd, as founded 
 by Zoroaster, in the Zend-Avesta im Kleinen, Th. III. S. 135 ff. 
 
 t Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien, B. II. S. 49 f. [Voy- 
 age en Arable. The work has been imperfectly translated into Eng- 
 lish by Heron, but the edition is not at hand. Tr.] 
 
 16 
 
182 NO PLAN LIKE CHRISt's 
 
 to the whole world. That he was anxious, indeed, to have 
 other nations assent to his principles, he has declared in 
 no very indistinct terms ; and considering the zeal, amount- 
 ing almost to enthusiasm, with which he sought to give 
 them currency, it was very natural that he should be.* 
 From the Zendic books however themselves, it is clear, 
 that his entire plan was laid out for his native country, 
 and in general, could have been carried into effect only in 
 the despotic governments of Asia. Every part of it had 
 reference to the Bactrian kingdom of the Medes, in which 
 Zoroaster made his appearance, as a founder of religion, 
 and a legislator. His object was to transform the despot- 
 ic government which he found there, into a mild and pa- 
 ternal one ; the established orders of which the nation was 
 composed, into a well arranged and sympathizing whole ; 
 and the rough nomads who consituted a great part of 
 the people, into the industrious and happy inhabitants and 
 cultivators of a land which nature had richly blessed.f 
 Notwithstanding all the great, and in some respects, exalt- 
 ed conceptions of Zoroaster, therefore, respecting the 
 kingdom of light under the control of the good principle, 
 and its future triumph over wickedness, he was never able 
 to form the resolution of collecting all nations into it, and 
 thus becoming the benefactor of the whole human family. J 
 
 "• Comp. his life in Hyde, De religione veter. Persar., cap. XIV., 
 and in Kleuker's Zend-Avesta, Th. III. 
 
 t Heeren, Ideen Ober die Politik, den Verkehr nnd den Handel 
 der vornehmsten alten Volker, Th. II. S. 400—423, [fourth ed. Th. 
 I. Abth. 1, S. 433—461, Hist. Schriften, Th. X.] 
 
 t [Besides, it is a fact worthy of particular consideration, that the 
 Zoroastric religion was but little adapted for universal extension, 
 and radically healing the moral diseases of mankind. The only 
 proper object of religious homage is at least kept entirely out of the 
 view of the people, by means of the obscurity in which the real 
 character of Zeruane-Akherene is involved. The doctrine respecting 
 Ahriman is essentially different from the diabolology of the Bible, 
 and irreconcilable with Monotheism. The worship which it incul- 
 cates is almost entirely lost in a worship of nature, which cultivates 
 an inclination for magic and astrology, and in which the elements and 
 creatures with their genii, are invoked. In this case, a multitude of 
 external, strange, trifling, and indecent exercises and ceremonies, are 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 183 
 
 § 83. Finally, equally limited were the plans of the 
 Chinese Kong-fu-tsee, or Confucius. It may be doubted 
 whether this man should be reckoned among the found- 
 ers of religions, or be considered as belonging to the class 
 of philosophers. He never pretended to be a divine mes- 
 senger, and never appealed to revelations, but solely to 
 the principles of reason.* As, however, he was the 
 founder of a party which still exists, and has the form and 
 name of a religious sect, it seems proper that he should 
 be mentioned in this place. That he never extended his 
 plans beyond the limits of his native country, is evident 
 from the whole tenor of his life.f The greater part of it 
 was spent in travelling around among his fellow citizens, 
 and recommending to all the practice of integrity and vir- 
 tue. By means of the influence which he exerted upon 
 the chief magistrate in the little kingdom of Lu, where 
 he was born, he was enabled to give it a better constitu- 
 tion ; but this influence being diminished by a change of 
 disposition in this magistrate, he left court, and turned 
 back to the troublesome, and for him at that time, danger- 
 ous business of a travelling teacher of virtue, in which he 
 continued until his death. J When be died, his hopes of 
 
 required, which are altogether incompatible with a free and pure 
 morality, and often cherish inhumanity itself. Comp. Schlegel, 
 Ueber den Geist der Religiositat aller Zeiten und Volker, I. 263 — 
 319. One will therefore hardly be able to approve of Ewald's opin- 
 ion, (Die Religionslehren der Bibel, I. 110,) that Zoroaster must be 
 admitted, in a certain sense, to have been inspired. So far is this 
 opinion from being necessary, that even Ewald himself concedes, 
 that Zoroaster may have borrowed the best part of his religion from 
 the Old Testament ; and Jahn, in his Biblical Archseology, III, 151 — 
 153, has shown this to have been the case, from a multitude of ex- 
 amples, and the same has been done in Zoroaster's Life, (Kleuker's 
 Grosser Zend-Avesta, III. 14.) Comp. Storr, Opuscul. Acad. II. 
 425; Prideaux's Connexion, I. 269. 262 seqq. Lond. 1808. Tr.] 
 
 * Zoroastre, Confucius et Mahomet compares comme Sectaires, 
 Legislateurs et Moralistes, par Msr. de Pastoret, p. 389 and 396. 
 
 t Vid. his life in the work : Confucius, Sinarum philosophus, sive 
 scientia Sinensis, p. 117 seqq. 
 
 t With respect to his principles, compare Noel, Sinensis imperii 
 libri classici sex, and his Philosophia Sinica, both printed at Prague, 
 
184 
 
 the success of his efforts were so small, that he almost 
 despaired of the possibility of improving his fellow citi- 
 zens.* If, in addition to this, we take into consideration 
 the despondency so peculiar to him, and the almost faint- 
 hearted humility with which he used to judge of himself, 
 it will appear evident, that he was incapable of bold un- 
 dertakings or great plans. f 
 
 §84. Among the benefactors of the human race, 
 whose merits I have now'described, the priests of the old 
 nations have not even been deliberately mentioned. They 
 are in no respect worthy of a place among the honorable 
 men that have occupied my attention ; for though this or- 
 der was always appointed for the express purpose of pre- 
 serving true religion, and extending good dispositions and 
 feelings, yet it is well known from history, that the priests 
 of the ancient nations not only neglected this important 
 calling, but that they acted in direct opposition to what 
 had been imposed upon them. They were every where 
 zealously careful to maintain and propagate the crudest 
 notions of religion, and the most senseless forms of super- 
 stition ; to cry down and suppress all the new light and 
 information that might be derived from philosophy, while 
 they favored the divisions and bitter hostilities which orig- 
 inated in a variety of superstitious religions, and employed 
 them to their own advantage. Very high notions were 
 ordinarily entertained of the wisdom of the old Egyptian 
 priests, and it almost became a custom to look upon them 
 as the guardians of profound mysteries, and to send the 
 greatest men of antiquity to them for instruction. They 
 
 * Compare his life, already quoted, S. 121. 
 
 t [Ewald, indeed, 60 ff. 122 ff. and elsewhere, has very properly sug- 
 gested many things in opposition to the too low opinion entertained 
 respecting the doctrines of Confucius in Less, Ueber die Religion, I. 
 426 ff. The morality of Confucius, however, ranks very low, and is 
 almost entirely destitute of thorough-going religious elements, as is 
 shown in the Chouking, un des livres sacres des Chinois, par Gau- 
 bil et de Guignes, Par. 1770. It embodies nothing like common 
 rules of wisdom and uprightness for the regulation of rulers. Did 
 its laws and religion contain a sound, living principle, China would 
 not present us with the miserable spectacle of a stagnant nation.] 
 
DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 185 
 
 were, however, very unworthy of this honor.* They 
 bent all their powers of artifice to securing their dominion 
 over the Egyptians, and maintaining the dependence of 
 the kings of that country upon their order,! without doing 
 any thing towards enlightening and improving the people. 
 Indeed, it was necessary for them to favor the extravagant 
 superstition for which Egypt was so infamous in antiquity, 
 in order to strengthen their own authority. The Grecian 
 priests did not hang together like those of Egypt, nor act 
 so much in accordance with a regular plan. History, 
 however, affords unquestionable evidence, that, by sup- 
 porting a superstitious religion, they proved equally preju- 
 dicial to truth and morality.f Now, if the human race 
 are so little indebted to the priests of these two nations, 
 considered, as they were, the most distinguished of anti- 
 quity, what shall we say of those who were unable to ex- 
 cite any opinion of their being possessed of particular mer- 
 its ? Enough ! It is needless to search after any benev- 
 olent plans for enlightening and improving mankind, in an 
 order whose very existence depended upon the preva- 
 lence of superstition, and which even went so far as to 
 summon power, fraud, cunning, and every kind of art to 
 its aid, in order to retain the human mind in darkness. 
 With this state of things the priests were well pleased; and 
 hence, the plan of Jesus was, as has already been shown, 
 evidently devised for the purpose of taking away the au- 
 thority and even the existence of an order, so dangerous 
 to truth and morality. 
 
 Hitherto, therefore, we have searched in vain among all 
 the benefactors of the human race to be met with in anti- 
 quity, in order to find a man, who thought in as great, no- 
 ble and benevolent a manner as the founder of Christiani- 
 
 t Heeren's Ideen, which has so often been quoted, Th. I. S. 368 
 ff. [Fourth ed., Th. II. Abth. 2. S. 108—134. 166 f. 190 f. 300. 348 f. 
 406 f., Hist. Schriften, Th. 14.] 
 
 t De Pauw, Recherches philosophiques sur les Grecs, Tom. I. 
 p. 315 seqq. 
 
 16* 
 
186 
 
 ty, and succeeded in the attainment of enlarged views and 
 the formation of plans of general utility. The result of 
 our investigations is manifestly this : The human race 
 have at all times had great men, who, whenever circum- 
 stances required, and special occasion presented, with a 
 noble solicitude in various ways devoted all their powers 
 to the welfare and improvement of their brethren in the 
 respective countries to which they belonged. The state 
 of the age, however, in which they lived, and the mode of 
 thinking then prevalent, restricted them to narrow limits, 
 and unhappily induced those spirits which were the most 
 capable of bold undertakings, to confine their attention 
 to plans, which savored more of warlike courage and 
 strength, and a disposition to conquer others, than of ra- 
 tional benevolence and gentle goodness of heart. Benev- 
 olent views extending to all, and plans intended for the 
 good of mankind at large, were unheard of in antiquity. 
 The standard which people then possessed, was a stand- 
 ard for estimating a greatness of mind entirely different 
 from that boundless wisdom and goodness, which grasp at 
 the world, and are wholly engaged in the universal diffu- 
 sion of knowledge, virtue and happiness. 
 
 ^ 85. As, therefore, there is no instance of such a 
 man to be met with in history, so, as a general conside- 
 ration, it is very probable, that we shall search even in the 
 poetical world in vain for a hero, who ever attained to such 
 greatness. Indeed, it is a matter of fact, that no ancient 
 poet ever set up before himself such an ideal perfection. 
 Homer, that inimitable master at sketching and portraying 
 human character, that exquisite painter of the morals of 
 his age, never conceived of such a thing. His heroes 
 think and act as the limited knowledge of those times 
 and the dispositions and feelings of men, almost in a state 
 of total barbarity, required them to do.* The descrip- 
 tions which he gives of his very gods are destitute of every 
 trace of real greatness and exaltation. He who has been 
 
 * Comp. Koppen, Ueber Homers Leben und Gesange, Abschn. 
 III. S. 165 ff. 
 

 OF THE 
 DEVISED BY THE ANCIENTS. 11^ JN .ilg7ij AV W A * 
 
 educated in any measure agreeably to the princ^|^» wHidtj^AT^^'^ \% 
 Jesus undertook to make universal, would be ashatn«d-ta. ' ^^ 
 think and act like the gods of Homer. The discerning 
 philosophers of antiquity itself discovered his faults and 
 censured them, in this respect. Though Virgil exhibits 
 the superior learning and refinement of his age, yet he is 
 by no means so happy in his moral descriptions as Ho- 
 mer, nor so nice in the formation of a character. His 
 ^neas gave himself up to the control of fate, without ever 
 devising or undertaking any thing great or extensive. In 
 general, the greatest men delineated by the poets of anti- 
 quity were heroes, and on that very account, very far re- 
 moved from the formation of such schemes of benevo- 
 lence, as those of which we are here in pursuit. With 
 the exception, therefore, of the very feeble traces of an 
 all-comprehensive goodness, to be met with in the fictions 
 above quoted respecting Osiris and Hercules, which, by 
 the by, come very far short of what the founder of Chris- 
 tianity undertook to effect, it is manifest, that even the 
 poets of the old world were never able to attain to those 
 elevated views and that greatness of thought, which shine 
 forth from the intentions of Jesus. 
 
 The plan, therefore, devised by the founder of Chris- 
 tianity, was a new one, and without example. The way 
 upon which he entered had never been marked by the 
 footsteps of a single human being. No mind before him 
 had ever conceived of a plan of such compass and partic- 
 ular benevolence. What conclusion must be drawn from 
 this wonderful phenomenon ? What shall we infer from 
 it with respect to the dignity and authority of the man, 
 whose thoughts were wiser, nobler, more exalted, and 
 more benevolent, than those of the greatest men before 
 him ? Let us pass on to this investigation.* 
 
 * With the partf here brought to a close, compare Appendix D. 
 
PART III. 
 
 FROM THE ALL COMPREHENSIVE AND BENEVOLENT PLAN^ 
 
 DEVISED BY JESUS FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD, 
 
 IT FOLLOWS THAT HE WAS AN EXTRAORDINARY 
 
 MAN, AND A TEACHER SENT OF GOD. 
 
 § 86. From the preceding considerations, it is evident, 
 that the plan devised by the founder of Christianity, of 
 which an explanation has been given, was unique in its 
 kind, and, in regard to its unlimited extent in particular, 
 entirely new. No inference, however, must be drawn 
 from this fact in favor of Jesus, before it is decided that 
 his great purpose was not a chimerical oris, nor an imprac- 
 ticable dream. If it were so, then those exalted spirits of 
 the old world, in whose company we have hitherto spent 
 our time, deserve great commendation for having never 
 once thought of projecting a plan for the whole human 
 family, — great commendation for having confined them- 
 selves to projects adapted to their circumstances, the 
 practicability and means of whose execution they saw be- 
 fore them, instead of following after impracticable, though 
 alluring dreams. We must, therefore, vindicate the plan 
 of Jesus from the objection that it was a chimerical one. 
 This will be puv first consideration. 
 
 § 87. We shall then endeavor to form a conception of the 
 character of a mind which is capable of great enterprises 
 and plans, and unfold the qualities with which it must be 
 furnished. It will thus be made evident, that the founder 
 of Christianity possessed, in a very high degree, those 
 
190 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 powers and faculties which designate a great mind, and 
 that he has exhibited them in the plan which he form- 
 ed for the general good. In it we shall discover a wis- 
 dom and penetration, a firmness and decision, a be- 
 nevolence and goodness of heart, which will justify the 
 conclusion, that he is unquestionably the greatest man 
 that ever thought and acted upon earth. This will be our 
 second consideration. 
 
 § 88. Finally, if we can show, that the founder of 
 Christianity lived in circumstances which would, in the 
 natural way, have suppressed and suffocated all these fac- 
 ulties ; if we can show that they were not developed ac- 
 cording to the laws that usually regulate the formation of 
 the mind ; that, on the other hand, every thing appears to 
 have been regulated by laws entirely new, and to be met 
 with in the case of no other man ; and that we cannot ra- 
 tionally and consistently account for the development of 
 these extraordinary powers, without supposing an especial 
 and unusual influence of the Deity himself; then we shall, 
 as I think, be justified in looking upon the founder of 
 Christianity as an extraordinary teacher, and honoring 
 him as such. This will be the substance of our third 
 consideration. 
 
 I. Christ's plan not an impracticable one. 
 
 89. The greatest and most benevolent project ceases 
 to be the result of genuine wisdom and greatness of mind, 
 as soon as it becomes a dazzling dream and it can be 
 shown, that its author neither possessed human nature, 
 nor had a proper knowledge of human circumstances and 
 events, and hence, struck upon thoughts which the profound 
 sage, under a conviction of the utter inutility of all his la- 
 bor, would never dare to carry into execution. In this 
 light some have endeavored to represent the plan of 
 Jesus which has been described, and thus bring it in- 
 to suspicion. Indeed, the id6a, in itself considered, 
 of acting in any way for the good of all, has been look- 
 
EXTRAOUDlNARt AND DIVINE. 191 
 
 ed upon as a conceit rather splendid than practical. It 
 has been alleged, that it is impossible even to express the 
 religious notions, which it was Christ's object to make 
 universal, in all languages, and bring them within the 
 comprehension of all nations. Tt has been maintained, 
 that a universal religion is as impossible a thing as a 
 universal medicine, and that, considering the infinitely 
 great differences necessarily prevalent among men in re- 
 gard to thinking, judging, and perceiving, it is foolish to 
 aim at producing the same convictions in all men, and 
 warming their hearts with the same feelings ; that, in 
 general, diversities of judgement and opinion, are not so 
 great evils as weak heads usually maintain ; that, on the 
 other hand, they quicken the spirit of investigation, and 
 ultimately prove the means of leading to the discovery 
 of truth ; and hence, that he, who, would take away this 
 freedom of thought, and make all men harmonize in their 
 decisions, not only betrays great ignorance of human na- 
 ture, but would rob the human race of one of its most 
 important and sacred prerogatives, and load it with the 
 most horrible and insufferable chains ; that it has been 
 seen, that Jesus was quite unable to execute his plan ; and 
 that the Gospel did not effect that uniformity of conviction, 
 that general peace, that exaltation of human nature, and 
 that fraternal union among men, for which his plan was 
 mainly intended ; that, on the other hand, the wild 
 extravagancies and the vices of every kind, together 
 with the divisions, contentions, and endless disturbances, 
 which always prevailed among Christians, and often 
 proved highly destructive to their harmony, afford the 
 clearest proof of the chimericalness of the idea of estab- 
 lishing universal peace among men, by uniting them in 
 one religion, and educating them in conformity to the 
 same principles and precepts. 
 
 These objections, which, in themselves considered, are 
 indeed important, and, from experience, seem to acquire 
 almost invincible strength, are very far from being new. 
 They were early brought forward by Celsus, in his well 
 known work against Christianity. In modern times, how- 
 
192 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 ever, they have often been repeated in a manner adapted 
 to add to their force.* We will, therefore, reflect upon 
 the subject, and see whether the idea of laboring for the 
 good of all, generally speaking, contained in it any thing 
 impracticable, and is to be reckoned among chimerical 
 dreams ; whether, in particular, the project of uniting all 
 mankind in the same faith and religion, was a vain under- 
 taking ; and finally, whether Christianity, as taught by its 
 founder and friends, was incapable of becoming a univer- 
 sal religion. From an illustration of these three points, 
 the above objections will appear to be utterly futile. 
 
 § 90. Is it therefore, generally speaking, possible for a 
 man, by means of a benevolent project, to operate for the 
 good of all ? — Were any one to think of forming a plan, 
 the benevolent effects of which should be immediately 
 perceptible to each individual, in order to make all man- 
 kind, without exception, happy in the same way, he would 
 indeed engage in an impracticable thing, and give himself 
 up to empty dreams. No one, however, who honestly 
 uses words in their ordinary acceptation, understands plans 
 of great universality, in so strict a sense. We should not 
 say that a king acted in accordance with an empty plan, 
 who resolved upon governing his subjects in such a man- 
 ner, as to render them all happy, because it might be im- 
 possible for him to render each individual of them com- 
 pletely happy. On the other hand, eviery body would 
 understand such a resolution as implying, that he labored 
 with the greatest care and zeal to contribute to the welfare 
 of his people, as far as the imperfection of human affairs 
 would admit. If the majority of the subjects were ren- 
 dered happy by the government of their prince, it would 
 be all that could be expected, and no inference could be 
 
 * Vid. Origen against Celsus, lib. III. p. 118, and lib. VIII. p. 
 425. [p. 454 and 795, Tom. I. 0pp. de la Rue.] Those who have 
 lately brought forward these objections anew, are sufficiently known. 
 [The WolfenbOtt. Fragmentist, fragment second ; " The impossibil- 
 ity of a revelation, to which all men can yield the assent of a well 
 grounded faith ;" Lessing's BeytrHge zur Geschichte und littera- 
 tur, IV. 288 — 365 ; also printed in Doederlein's Fragmente und Anti- 
 fragraente, II. 1 — 120, to which follows an answer, S. 121 — 304.] 
 
\ 
 
 EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 193 
 
 drawn from the number of those who were either incapa- 
 ble of this happiness, or unwilling to enjoy it, to prove that 
 his resolution to do good to all, was a chimera. To act 
 by means of a benevolent plan therefore, for all, is to form 
 a plan which may become useful to all, so far as human 
 circumstances admit. It is to invent a plan of such gen- 
 eral utility, that it can exert a greater or less influence 
 upon the welfare of all, according as external circumstan- 
 ces favor its execution. In the formation of such a plan, 
 therefore, respect is paid in the first place, to the imper- 
 fection of human affairs. He who projects such a plan 
 never thinks of being able to exert as efficacious an in- 
 fluence upon every individual, and of doing every one as 
 much good, as he would be glad to do. 
 
 As little can any one who contemplates the formation 
 of a plan of benevolence for the benefit of all, think of 
 rearing an institution, which shall in a manner accomplish 
 the purpose at once. The greater the extent of a man's 
 undertakings, the more difficulties will they involve, and 
 the more time will they require for being carried into ex- 
 ecution. This is especially the case with regard to those 
 plans that have reference to enlightening and improving 
 mankind. People do not readily relinquish those con- 
 victions and opinions which have once been adopted, and 
 by various circumstances rendered dear and venerable. 
 On the other hand, they usually adhere to them with an 
 obstinate pertinacity, as well as to those customs and 
 modes of action in which they were educated, and with 
 which they are usually perfectly satisfied. It requires 
 much time to reform a single man ; how much more 
 then will be necessary to renovate and regenerate a na- 
 tion, or the whole human family ? This view of the 
 subject renders it perfectly evident, that he who delineates 
 a plan of universal extent, cannot think of carrying it 
 speedily into execution, but must fix upon a long series 
 of years, or rather of centuries, for the gradual extension 
 of his improvements. Such a plan, from the very fact 
 of its great elevation and universality, can never be real- 
 ized in the highest perfection to which the original con- 
 17 
 
194 
 
 ception must be carried, but there is a gradual and con- 
 stant approximation in this respect. The question, there- 
 fore, whether it is possible for a man, by means of a benev- 
 olent plan, to operate for the good of all his race, accu- 
 rately stated, is as follows ; Is it possible for a man to in- 
 vent a plan, the general utility of which shall be such, 
 that, if gradually carried into execution, it shall, either 
 directly or indirectly, exert an important and universal 
 influence upon the welfare of the human race at large ? 
 
 Now he who resolves to maintain the impracticability 
 of forming and executing such a plan, undertakes to 
 prove a great deal. He must either show, that no human 
 mind can ever possess so much power, wisdom, and com- 
 prehensive benevolence, as a plan of this character pre- 
 supposes ; or he must be able to show, that the human 
 race can never be thrown into those circumstances, and 
 those relations to each other which will enable a benevo- 
 lent plan to obtain a universal influence. It appears that 
 neither of these positions can be proved in a convincing 
 manner. 
 
 For how can the first be proved ? It is evident that 
 we are not able before hand and from general principles, 
 to determine with the requisite certainty, what is possible 
 to the powers of the human mind and what not. The 
 human mind has invented things and performed acts, 
 which would previously have been considered as altogetlv- 
 er impossible. It cannot be denied that history presents 
 us with very unexpected examples of the most disinter- 
 ested attachment to duty, the most active benevolence, 
 and the most magnanimous sacrifices for the public weal. 
 Every rational being therefore possesses in kind, the fun- 
 damental powers, whether of a moral or physical charac- 
 ter, requisite to the formation of such a plan, though in 
 an endless variety of degrees. Now by what means can 
 it be proved, that these powers will never be met with in 
 the high degree, nor cultivated to the perfection, neces- 
 sary to the formation of a plan of the above description } 
 Who has explored all the depths of the human mind, and 
 thoroughly examined all the circumstances and relations 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. ,195 
 
 into which it may be thrown, and by which its powers may 
 be awakened, exercised and exalted ? I must ask far- 
 ther ; who is acquainted with the most secret counsels of 
 Providence, and able positively to assert, that he never 
 will make use of an individual for the purpose of doing 
 an important benefit to the whole human family ? And 
 finally, who is able to show, that it is even impossible for 
 God to furnish an individual with all the powers and tal- 
 ents requisite to the accomplishment of such a task ? 
 And yet no One, short of all this, can knowingly maintain 
 that the human mind is altogether inadequate to such a 
 plan. Now, as no one will pretend to possess all this 
 knowledge, and be able to adduce such proof, it follows, 
 that he, who, on account of the limitation of our minds, 
 declares the idea of being useful to all by means of a 
 salutary plan, to be a chimera, makes an arrogant decision, 
 to which a discreet and impartial thinker would find it 
 impossible to accede. That the invention of such a plan 
 is too great for ordinary minds, I readily admit. So far 
 are they from being able to form and execute any thing 
 of the kind, that the thoughts themselves lie altogether 
 beyond their reach. A man, however, as I think, must 
 have a very common mind and be a very ordinary genius, 
 who absolutely denies that any human spirit is capable of 
 such elevation, such extension of thought. 
 
 As difficult will it be to prove the second position, or 
 that the human race can never be brought into those cir- 
 cumstances and those relations to each other, by means 
 of which a salutary plan may obtain universal influence. 
 It is true, that there has never yet been such a period. 
 Hitherto, a multitude of causes have kept mankind so 
 distinct from each other, that all benevolent enterprises 
 and institutions, however general their utility and great their 
 effects, have necessarily been confined to a larger or 
 smaller portion of the human race. Even those inven-. 
 tions, such as agriculture, the art of writing, and the art 
 of printing, whose utility is perfectly clear and obvious, 
 Jiave met with this fate. But how can it be shown 
 that this must always be the case ? From what principles 
 
196 Christ's PLAN PROVES HTM 
 
 does it follow, that the individual classes of which the 
 human race is composed, will never come nearer togeth- 
 er, nor present their hands to each other in friendship, 
 and by degrees learn to share in common what each one 
 has that is good and excellent ? It is evident that for 
 several centuries past, the human race have been making 
 gradual and rapid advances towards so wished for a 
 change. Countries have been sought after and discover- 
 ed, in which were found many nations living distinct and 
 separate from us. Navigation and commerce have brought 
 the remotest parts of the earth into a very close and de- 
 sirable connexion with each other, and procured an intro- 
 duction for the light of our knowledge, arts, sciences, and 
 inventions, into those regions whose miserable and savage 
 inhabitants were covered with thick darkness. Who pos- 
 sesses such a clear view of the future as to be able to 
 say that the human race will again lose sight of their 
 interests, forget their arts and knowledge, and sink 
 down into that state of stupid inactivity and indifference, 
 in which each nation, unconcerned for others, merely 
 maintains its own place, and, robbed of the happiness 
 which it might have derived from foreign intercourse, 
 leads a miserable existence ? Can this be the inten- 
 tion of a wise Providence, who, according to unquestion- 
 able, historical testimony, has hitherto led the human race 
 on to increasing degrees of perfection, and for their ad- 
 vantage in this respect, sought to bring them into a close 
 and heartfelt connexion with each other ? Can he be so 
 cruel as to put the youth, hitherto so carefully educated, 
 back again into the imperfect years of childhood ? Do 
 present circumstances authorize us even to conjecture 
 that a change is to take place so prejudicial to mankind ? 
 On the other hand, is it not probable, that the nations of 
 the earth will continue to approximate together in friend- 
 ship, and, taught by so much experience, ultimately 
 learn, that the promotion of the general good, and the 
 happy growth of every genuine perfection, depend very 
 much indeed upon this universal connexion ? Does not the 
 energetic earnestness with which a muhiplication and ex- 
 
EXTRAORDINRY AND DIVINE. 197 
 
 tension of commercial associations, a free navigation of 
 all seas, and a recognition of rights, which must be con- 
 ceded even to those nations far below us, are now every- 
 where urged, furnish us with the agreeable hope, that the 
 obstacles to a universal connexion, are gradually diminish- 
 ing, and the bands of friendship and good dispositions and 
 feelings by which the human race are to be cemented to- 
 gether, are increasing in number, texture and strength ?* 
 The efforts which have hitherto been made by European 
 nations, to obtain more accurate information of all parts 
 and regions of the earth and to form connexions with 
 their inhabitants, have not only been productive of many 
 advantages, but, which is of far more importance, by the 
 enjoyment of foreign goods, the natural result of this en- 
 larged acquaintance, every where given rise to a multi- 
 tude of new wants of which people were before entirely 
 ignorant. Is it not perfectly evident that in this way the 
 nations of the earth are daily becoming more indispensa- 
 ble to each other ; that they see it more and more neces- 
 sary to continue the intercourse which has once been com- 
 menced, in order to prevent the cessation of that ex- 
 change of goods upon which even now, so much of their 
 happiness depends ; that hence, they contemplate extend- 
 ing their inquiries still farther, making themselves accu- 
 rately acquainted with every corner of the earth, drawing 
 the other masses of men still distinct from each other, 
 into these general connexions, and, by means of a band 
 of friendship which shall comprehend all, forming them 
 into one great and happy whole ? Grant, however, that all 
 this cannot be anticipated, yet unquestionably, no one, 
 unless he is acquainted with the future, or has received 
 from the Deity himself, information of his divine plan for 
 regulating the destinies of the human race, is competent 
 
 * [Hess has remarked that it seems to be the intention of Provi- 
 dence to advance mutual intercourse between nations in our day, 
 by the extension of the Bible, and to transform their politico-mer- 
 cantile connexion, into a moral-religious one ; Das Vorseljungsvolle 
 der immer weitern Bibel-verbreitung in unsern Tagen, S. 91 fF. 
 ZUrch, 1817.] 
 
 17* 
 
198 
 
 to declare it impossiWe for the nations to be thrown into 
 those circumstances and those relations to each other, by 
 which a benevolent plan may obtain universal influence 
 and extend its blessings over the world. 
 
 In what other way it can be shown that the idea of 
 projecting a plan for the good of all, is a chimera and a 
 contradiction in terms, I know not. No one will say, 
 that nothing can be so universally good and useful, as not 
 in all times and under all climates, to increase human 
 perfection. To assert this, is to assume that human na- 
 ture is not always and every where perfectly the same, and 
 has not the same destination ; and consequently, that there 
 are not general wants and general blessings. If, however, 
 man is ever the same, — if he is possessed of essentially the 
 the same powers and talents, and subjected to essentially 
 the same wants, duties, and laws of operation, whether 
 he lives in Canada, Otaheite, Greenland, or Japan ; then 
 there must be propositions and regulations adapted to 
 him in all circumstances, and capable of rendering 
 him wiser, more peaceful, and better. If then there is a 
 plan of such a character, that its execution would be at 
 all times and places, advantageous to human nature, there 
 is no need of declaring it absolutely impossible for it ever 
 to become thus useful in its results, provided it be con- 
 ceived of with the above definitions and limitations. 
 
 Now the founder of Christianity actually conceived of 
 his general plan with these definitions and limitations. 
 He never said that every individual of the human race 
 should be immediately improved and rendered happy. 
 On the other hand, he asserted that noxious weeds should 
 remain until harvest, Matt. 1 3: 24 — 30. He has indeed 
 delineated a plan, which is adapted to human nature, and 
 may be rendered useful to all, but at the same time he has 
 conceded, that its salutary effects would be visible only to 
 mankind in general ; and that there would always be many 
 individuals left, who from their own fault would be unable 
 to perceive what related to their own real good. In so 
 doing, he has intimated with sufficient plainness, that the 
 execution of his plan would advance but slowly, and be 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 199 
 
 connected with many difficulties. He did not consider 
 his great work as an easy affair. On the other hand, he 
 very often spoke of the great obstacles which it would 
 meet with, and so perfect was his knowledge in this re- 
 spect, that he foretold them to his friends in the clearest 
 and most ingenuous manner. 
 
 And, indeed, how was it possible for him not to fore- 
 see the great difficulties which must be encountered in 
 the performance of such an undertaking, when neither 
 public nor private power, artful and mysterious alliances^ 
 nor any other unlawful means, were to b& resorted to for 
 its accomplishment, — ^when he so recognised and re- 
 spected the laws of reason, and the moral nature of man, 
 that he would not permit those who wished to advocate 
 his cause, to make use of any thing but appropriate in- 
 struction for its advancement ? So thoroughly convinced, 
 however, was he, of the excellency of his views and of their 
 agreement with the counsels of God, that he could assert 
 with perfect confidence, that his cause would stand so 
 long as the human race existed. This renders it clear, 
 that the space of time which was to be occupied in the 
 gradual execution of his plan, was the series of centuries 
 that should constitute the duration of the human family. 
 Now, as the idea of operating fop the good of all by means 
 of a benevolent plan, in itself considered, and with the 
 above limitations, contains nothing impossible ; so neither 
 will the extent of Christ's plan authorize us to declare it 
 a chimera. 
 
 §91. If, however, notwithstanding all that has been 
 said, it is to be classed among impracticable dreams, it 
 must be, because it is concerned with a universal religion, 
 and it was Christ's intention to lead the human race on 
 to the attainment of harmonious notions and convictions 
 respecting the relation in which they stand to God and 
 the honor due to him. We must proceed, therefore, to 
 inquire, whether the idea in particular, of establishing a 
 universal religion, contains any thing impossible, and 
 whether all efforts made for the purpose, must of neces- 
 sity remain ^fruitless. 
 
soo 
 
 Here also every thing is reduced to the construction of 
 the plan itself, and the object contemplated in its forma- 
 tion. Should any one attempt to urge upon mankind at 
 large, a religion fixed by caprice, burdened with numer- 
 ous observances, and destitute of every thing of a moral 
 character, he would indeed venture upon something alto- 
 gether impracticable. Such a religion would have no 
 foundation in the nature of man. All its ordinances, 
 therefore, w^ould be called in question by reason with the 
 greatest success, and be opposed by neglected, and per- 
 haps even offended, moral feeling. It would every where 
 meet with insuperable obstacles in the difference of coun- 
 tries, the variety of their national wants, and the constant 
 changes taking place in the constitution of civil society. 
 Such a religion, although there have already been many 
 of this kind, has never yet succeeded in obtaining a 
 universal influence. 
 
 Equally in vain would be the exertions of the man, 
 who should make it his object to extend an artificial re- 
 ligion every where, and bind all men to its notions and 
 modes of representation, however agreeable the substance 
 of it might be to human nature and its relations to God. 
 By far the greater part of mankind would be unable to 
 comprehend such instruction, presupposing, as it does, an 
 acuteness and exercise of thought, which the multitude 
 neither possess nor are able to acquire ; and to those who 
 actually think, tlie constraint thus imposed upon them, 
 would be intolerable. Human reason is incessantly en- 
 gaged in putting down the systems in existence, of 
 whatever kind ♦they may be, and erecting new ones in 
 their stead ; and yet not one of them, however firm it 
 appeared to be at first, has been able to obtain ,an autho- 
 rity of long duration, much less of general and universal 
 extent. 
 
 Moreover, should any person make a religion the foun- 
 dation of political institutions, and endeavor to establish 
 a state comprehending all nations, a theocracy extending 
 over the whole human family, he would also meet with 
 opposition from reason, which considers religion as a thing 
 
EXTRAORDINABY AND DIVINE. 301 
 
 of the heart, and requires it to be kept entirely distinct 
 from all political affairs. He would be obliged to con- 
 tend with the innumerable regulations which the nations 
 of the earth have formed for themselves, and will never 
 suffer to be totally abolished. He would be obliged to 
 contend with the immutable wants of nations which 
 gave rise to the peculiarities of their political constitu- 
 tions, and over such obstacles he would never obtain the 
 victory. It is thus rendered self-evident that the plan of 
 being useful to all mankind by means of a religion, must 
 be conceived of with the limitations and exceptions pe- 
 culiar to every ideal plan. It is calculated for all individ- 
 uals, and may be rendered salutary to all, though, on ac- 
 count of the difficulties in the way of its execution, it is 
 not in reality. It gradually approximates towards per- 
 fection, though in many respects it remains short of that 
 perfection with which it must have been conceived. 
 It is to be observed, however, that if a religion im- 
 proves the condition of the human race upon the whole, 
 even those gain thereby who are not immediately subject 
 to it ; so that its influence in reality becomes as gener- 
 al as can justly be required, 
 
 § 92. With these preliminary remarks before us, it is 
 easy to pitch upon the qualities of a religion, which shall 
 be capable of becoming the religion of the whole human 
 family. It must be moral, intelligible, and spiritual ; 
 jnoral, to be adapted to human nature ; intelligible, to 
 be adapted to the multitude ; and spiritual, to be adapted 
 to all countries and civil constitutions. 
 
 A religion is moral, when every part of it has refer- 
 ence to the advancement of genuine improvement and 
 virtue. In such a case, all its doctrines respecting God 
 and his relations to us, must be of such a character as to 
 agree perfectly with the moral law, and facilitate obedi- 
 ence to it. It must also shed a light! upon ethics, which 
 shall add to their clearness, and render their sanctity and 
 strictness more intuitive. Finally, it must either pre- 
 scribe no external rites and ceremonies, or only those 
 whose moral and improving efficacy is placed beyond all 
 
202 
 
 doubt. If a religion possesses this character, it is fitted 
 by its nature to become universal, and connected with 
 that in man, which is the most lasting and unchangeable ; 
 — with that, which, in spite of all the various modes of 
 thinking and the difference of external circumstances, 
 ever remains the same, — with nothing less than the funda- 
 mental principles of morality. It then stands in a firni 
 and indissoluble union with the conscience, that power of 
 human nature to which it most certainly belongs, and 
 which, operating as it does, with extraordinary force, can 
 never be entirely deprived of sensibility. Then religion 
 lends human nature that help which she always needs, 
 and which she looks anxiously around herself to find. 
 Then religion furnishes human nature with strength for 
 the combat with the inclinations of the heart. Finally, 
 it then exerts so evident and salutary an influence 
 upon every thing that is dear and venerable to man, 
 and worth his anxious efforts to possess, — so evident 
 and salutary an influence, in animating and ennobling him, 
 promoting his welfare, regulating his social relations, and 
 improving his entire condition, that one needs only to 
 form an acquaintance with it to feel its divinity and love 
 it. It is not a cause of wonder, that no religion of the 
 earth has yet become the religion of the whole human 
 family. None that has ever prevailed among men, has, 
 in this sense ever possessed a moral character. Whether 
 the Christian religion does, is to be a subject of inquiry 
 hereafter. 
 
 A religion that lays claim to universal dominion over 
 the hearts of men, must also be intelligible in matter 
 and form. In regard to matter, it must contain a 
 short summary of those truths of general utility, which 
 the very weakest intellects are able to receive, and which 
 can be delivered and represented in such a manner as to 
 be obvious even to children. As in a universal religion, 
 more depends upon doing than thinking, its essential 
 truths must contain nothing that fosters idleness or is a 
 subject of reflection merely, or a problem for scrutinizing 
 reason to solve. Every doctrine that it inculcates m"st 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 203 
 
 be intelligible, adapted to impress the heart, and practica* 
 ble in life. Hence it follows, that while it is capable of 
 receiving a systematic form, it must be in no respects in- 
 capable of becoming active and useful. The truths of 
 which it is composed, must indeed admit of being work- 
 ed over by philosophizing reason, farther developed, re- 
 duced to general principles, and brought into a scientific 
 connexion with each other ; for otherwise it would not 
 satisfy those who are under too great a necessity to think 
 and investigate not to be gratified in this respect in every 
 thing, and of course even in religion. The original and 
 ordinary form of a universal religion, however, must be 
 characterized by a natural intelligibility, and possess a 
 clearness and simplicity, which shall render it easy to 
 survey and apply every thing that belongs to it. This in- 
 telligibility must be exhibited also in its proofs. They 
 must he so near to ordinary intellects and common sense 
 as to be as it were self-evident, among the most distin- 
 guished of which must be reckoned the authority of God, 
 derived from revelation. With this authority the multi- 
 tude at large can by no means dispense. They are una- 
 ble to receive any assistance from the controversies carri- 
 ed on by philosophers respecting subjects of the utmost 
 importance to mankind, or to form an opinion of these 
 dissentions. They are unable even to solve the doubts 
 that arise in their own minds, and therefore, must have 
 the declarations and decisions of God to lead them to 
 the truth, and in all cases furnish them with pacifying 
 security. Indeed, there are moments, as is well known, 
 in which the most acute thinkers welcome this guidance, 
 and anxiously desire the aid of this higher decision. A 
 religion, which is to become a universal religion, must 
 therefore possess the form of a revelation, and embody 
 the substance of rational religion.* While it has the tes- 
 
 * [This is by no means a contradiction to what is said, p. 107, and 
 to the otherwise well known convictions of the author. He only re- 
 quires this religion to contain nothing opposed to settled, and univer- 
 sally valid principles, and even positive dogmas to have certain 
 points from which their internal truth and practical importance shall 
 
204 
 
 tiraony of God in its favor, it must be confirmed by the 
 principles of reason. It must rest upon matters of fact, 
 but not as if it were altogether dependent upon them. 
 
 This brings us to the third quality by which such a 
 religion must be distinguished ; it must be spiritual. It 
 is so, either when it is entirely free from external rites 
 and exercises, and a matter solely of the intellect and 
 heart ; or when it enjoins only those ceremonies and reg- 
 ulations, which can be observed by all nations, and yet do 
 not naturally belong to this religion itself. A religion is 
 local, and consequently incapable of being domesticated 
 in every country, in exact proportion as it enjoins a 
 multiplicity of ceremonies and observances. These usu- 
 ally presuppose an external state of things which can 
 easily be produced , where the founder of the religion re- 
 sides, but cannot be met with in other places, nor brought 
 about without encountering the greatest difficulties. A 
 religion burdened with such precepts is extremely unpli- 
 ant. By the claims which it makes, it disturbs external 
 relations, and consequently, on being introduced among 
 foreign nations, interferes with their established constitu- 
 tions and order of things. On the other hand, it is im- 
 possible to see what objections can be made to the uni- 
 versal extension of a spiritual religion. It is entirely des- 
 titute of all those ornaments, with which rites and cere- 
 monies addressed to the senses are adorned, and altogeth- 
 er a matter of the heart. Its interests, therefore, cannot 
 be affected by external circumstances. It may take firm 
 possession of every place where there are human beings. 
 It has its own external regulations indeed, but such as are 
 easily accommodated to every civil constitution, and pre- 
 suppose nothing, not to be met with every where, and it 
 has nothing in itself that renders it incapable of a general 
 reception. Whenever these regulations cease to be es- 
 sential, as well as in case of necessity, they can be dis- 
 
 become evident. Upon this subject, examine Stlsskind, Ueber das 
 Recht der Vernunft in Ansehung der negativen Bestimmung des 
 Inhalts einer Offenbarung, in Flatt's Magazin, 1. 89—193; Rein- 
 ■ ' - ' - 95ff.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 205 
 
 pensed with, without doing prejudice to the chief matter 
 itself. 
 
 Hence it is apparent, that the plan of establishing a 
 universal religion, properly contains nothing more than a 
 resolve to bring into general circulation and active opera- 
 tion among mankind at large, rational information respect- 
 ing their relation to God, clothed with his authority and 
 composed of the revelations of his will. Such a plan, 
 therefore, may be carried into effect, while the greatest 
 difference exists between external religious constitutions, 
 and the various exercises introduced into the public wor- 
 ship of God. The form and regulation of these exer- 
 cises and institutions may indeed be more or less agree- 
 able to the nature of this religion, but they do not* proper- 
 ly belong to it. Such a plan is not opposed by the divi- 
 sion of the followers of this religion into various parties and 
 sects. It is concerned merely with the extension of the 
 truths which express the relations existing between God 
 and man. That the human mind will not leave these 
 fundamental doctrines in their original simplicity ; that it 
 will reflect farther upon them, and undertake to perfect 
 them and bring them into a scientific form ; that it will be 
 unable to refrain from making numerous inquiries and en- 
 deavoring to define many things which lie entirely be- 
 yond its grasp, and connecting its own opinions, preju- 
 dices, and dreams with these principal truths ; that it will 
 attempt to create them out of itself and transform them 
 into the pure and independent expressions of its own rea- 
 son ; that hence, will arise a multitude of digressive rep- 
 resentations and systems of religious doctrines, and con- 
 sequently, various parties, churches, and sects ; — all this, 
 every one who resolves to make mankind acquainted with 
 one religion in common, admits as well known and some- 
 thing, which, as human nature is constituted, it is impos- 
 sible to avoid. If the principal truths only remain, upon 
 which in this case every thing depends, — if they only re- 
 main, and exert a salutary influence upon the greatest 
 part of mankind, then the object of the plan is accom- 
 plished. 
 
 18 
 
206 
 
 Now what would a plan of this character and with 
 these definitions, contain that is impracticable ? In what 
 respects would it be opposed to the nature of the human 
 mind, and to the course of human affairs ? If, as has 
 been shown, the idea of forming a universal connexion 
 between mankind, is not a senseless and impracticable 
 thing, then there is nothing contradictory in the sup- 
 position, that a small number of doctrines, respecting 
 God, and his relation to us, and calculated for our wel- 
 fare and improvement, should gradually find introduction 
 every where, and attain to universal influence, notwith- 
 standing the difference in the modes of thinking and judg- 
 ing in other respects, and all the changes that take place 
 in civil constitutions, and in regulations pertaining to the 
 service of religion. Such an influence is so much the 
 more conceivable in proportion as these truths agree with 
 the moral nature of man. To the same degree also do 
 they become apparent to human reason, and by their 
 clearness and force, take hold of the multitude at large ; 
 and finally, so much the more visible is their adaptation, 
 under all circumstances to improve and calm the human 
 heart. 
 
 93. If, however, the idea of connecting the human race 
 together by means of a universal religion, is not a fanciful, 
 ,and in itself considered, an impracticable one, then the 
 plan of the founder of Christianity which has been de- 
 scribed, should be declared a vain enterprise, only because 
 his religion was not adapted for general extension. We 
 must, therefore, in the next place, clear up this point. 
 
 With the qualities requisite for a universal religion, we 
 are already acquainted. It must be moral, intelligible, 
 and spiritual. No religion on earth possesses these qual- 
 ities so unquestionably and in so high a degree, as the 
 Christian, as it came from the hands of its founder and 
 friends. This can be shown very clearly from what was 
 said upon the subject in the first part. 
 
 The great object which Jesus had before him, was, as 
 has been shown, to form a new moral creation, to animate 
 all mankind with new life, and lead them on to the attain- 
 
, EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 207 
 
 ment of true moral dignity and happiness. The means 
 by which this was to be accomplished, was the religion 
 which he intended to spread over the world and impart to 
 the whole human family. He must have had a poor 
 knowledge of himself and what he had in view, to have 
 thought of operating by aAy other means, than that of a 
 religion in every respect moral, and calculated for the im- 
 provement and exaltation of human nature. It is necessa- 
 ry only to call to mind what has been said respecting the 
 matter of his instruction, in order to discover the moral 
 adaptation of every thing that he delivered. He labored 
 to abolish a pernicious superstition, destroy an unbelief 
 equally prejudicial to morality, and suppress a skepticism, 
 which called every thing in question, even the principles of 
 morality itself. The view of God, therefore, which he 
 laid at the foundation of his system, was of a moral 
 character, and represented him as the supreme Father, 
 loving and educating mankind as his children. The con- 
 sequences that flow from this fundamental view, are also 
 moral. A man cannot honor this supreme Father by 
 ceremonies and external exercises, but only by doing his 
 will and endeavoring to become like him. With a relig- 
 ious truth that represents God as the supreme Father, 
 no moral truths can be connected but such as reduce 
 every thing back to love. The practical part of what 
 Jesus taught, therefore, had the great excellency of 
 containing principles, not only benevolent, but pure, 
 noble, and exalted, every where applicable, and adapt- 
 ed to human nature. He who loves God and man 
 according to the precepts of Jesus, is a most willing, 
 punctual, and disinterested performer of all his duties ; 
 a most active promoter of all that is true, beautiful, 
 and good ; a most faithful and useful citizen of the 
 state to which he belongs ; a most sympathizing and 
 benevolent friend of man, and, in all the relations which 
 he sustains, whatever they are called, the author of in- 
 numerable blessings. Nor did the external part of the 
 religion which Jesus intended to bring into vogue, have 
 any other object in view than strengthening its moral 
 
 I 
 
208 
 
 power, and sustaining its activity. In order to preserve a 
 lasting consciousness of their high calling and their desti- 
 nation in respect to moral attainments, and to be perfect 
 as their Father in heaven is perfect, his followers were to 
 meet together and unite as a body in pious exercises ; the 
 object of these meetings was to be their advancement in 
 virtue and religious improvement. And for what other 
 
 Surpose, than as the means of moral improvement, did 
 esus institute his two sacred rites ? The one was to 
 make it evident, that as soon as a man becomes a Chris- 
 tian, he takes upon himself an obligation to practise the pur- 
 est and most immaculate virtue ; the other was to admonish 
 him of this with reference to his approximating nearer to 
 the pattern of all human virtue in the performance of his 
 duties.* The religion, therefore, which Jesus destined to 
 become that of the human race, was, in all its parts, a moral 
 religion. On this very account, however, it has such a close 
 and necessary relation to every thing which man, as he is 
 constituted, either is, or is to become, that its principles 
 must be appropriate and valid, whatever be the circum- 
 stances of time or place. Christianity will not lose its 
 universally practicable character, until man ceases to be a 
 moral being, capable and in need of improvement. The 
 first and principal requisite to adapt a religion for becom- 
 ing universal, is found in it to a degree not to be met with 
 in any other religion. 
 
 The same is true also of the second. Christianity has 
 all the intelligibleness necessary to procure for it a univer- 
 sal introduction among mankind. The system which Je- 
 sus delivered was not an artificial one, hard to be under- 
 stood. The main doctrines of the religion which he 
 taught are so clear and obvious, that even children can 
 comprehend them. They consist purely of truths which 
 lie so near to reason and moral feeling, that one needs 
 
 * [Baptism represents the object of the Christian religion and the 
 church, which is sanctification. The society into which a man is 
 admitted is to be a pure church. The sacrament, on the other hand, 
 represents the means, a common participation of Christ, and a fra- 
 ternization through him.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 209 
 
 only to have his attention directed to them, in order to- 
 assent to tliem. Jesus delivered them with such a clear- 
 ness and simplicity, such an energy and power, that 
 they commended themselves immediately to every uncor- 
 rupted heart. His instructions exhibited none of those 
 dialectical subtilties, deep speculations, and prolix demon- 
 strations, which abounded in the systems of the old philos- 
 ophers, and rendered them, how much soever good they 
 might contain, totally unfit for the multitude at large. 
 The most important truths, which, in the way of specula- 
 tion and by the greatest efforts of philosophizing reason, 
 had either not been discovered at all, or but imperfectly, 
 were represented by Jesus with such a lucid and touching; 
 simplicity, that they must be obvious to the most illit- 
 erate, and fill the most acute thinkers with admiration. 
 At the same time, he delivered them as the instructions 
 and expressions of God himself, and thereby clothed them 
 with that authority every where and to the highest degree 
 valid, which is indispensable to the great mass of people^ 
 and, with themj holds the place of demonstration and the 
 profound est proofs, without prohibiting reason however 
 from laboring farther upon them, and endeavoring to de- 
 duce them from principles peculiar to itself alone. 
 
 It is well known that reason has made great efforts in 
 this respect, and done it in various ways. Hence origi- 
 nated those divisions of Christians into parties and sects, 
 which have often been connected with such sad concus- 
 sions of whole kingdoms. This, however, from the nature 
 of the case, it was impossible to avoid. If Christianity 
 was to be adapted to all, then it was necessary that it 
 should attract and employ thinkers as well as others. 
 Then it was necessary that its matter should be farther 
 perfected and brought into a scientific form, and also that 
 the human mind should be permitted to make it the object 
 of close investigation, and, even in this respect, gratify 
 its inclinations by reducing it back to ultimate principles. 
 If, while mankind were engaged in this business, they 
 had adhered w^ith inviolable fidelity to the great com- 
 mandment of Christianity which enjoins love, it would 
 18* 
 
210 , 
 
 never have done any hurt. For of what consequence is 
 it, if men do erect various buildings upon the noble and 
 simple foundation which originated with Jesus, and Chris- 
 tians divide themselves into numerous families, each of 
 which dwells in its own house ? Will this frustrate the 
 object which Jesus had in view ? Do they not all stand 
 ultimately upon the same ground ? True, the various 
 buildings erected by Christians upon this foundation must 
 differ greatly in firmness, utility, and goodness ; but can- 
 not these parties, notwithstanding this, live peaceably to- 
 gether, each one in the house which it deems the most 
 convenient ? Shall I hate my neighbour, my brother, or 
 persecute him, because he does not live in the same house 
 with myself, and finds a better one ? And admit his to 
 be in reality worse ; why shall I disturb him, when he can- 
 not be convinced of it, and his own house appears to him 
 good afld commodious ? In this case, he deserves neither 
 my pity nor my hatred. It is enough., that his building 
 rests upon the same firm and lasting foundation as mine. 
 Without images — Christianity has the simplicity, intelli- 
 gibleness, and brevity, which a rehgion must have, in or- 
 der to become universal. It has not been left indeed in 
 the simplicity, with which it was delivered by its founder. 
 Men have cultivated it, and in doing so, separated them- 
 selves into sects, but it has lost nothing thereby. The 
 principal truths have indeed been more or less disfigured 
 in the different systems of Christians, but they are still 
 every where to be met with as taught by Jesus and his 
 friends. The Christian religion, therefore, on the one 
 hand, retains its capacity of becoming universal, while on 
 the other, it lays no constraints upon human reason. It 
 consists of truths which the human mind must apprehend 
 and approve of, as soon as they have been exhibited in a 
 proper light ; and to approve of such truths, and be in 
 subjection to such laws, is not to be under the necessity 
 of wearing chains. Every thing else is left to each one's 
 own judgement and conscience. He may join that party 
 in which these truths appear to be met with in the great- 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 211 
 
 est purity, or he may join none,* and only adhere firmly 
 to the foundation. No one will presume to disturb him 
 in the use of this freedom. Constraint and power, by 
 whatever names they are called, are never to be blended 
 in the affairs of religion. The greatest difference in opin- 
 ions is not to sever that band of fraternal love by which 
 all the admirers and followers of Jesus are connected to- 
 gether. Tn this love all are to be reunited, here all par- 
 ties are again to meet together. Hence, this love is to 
 be holy to them and inviolable. + It was through its 
 means alone, that Jesus intended to form a connexion be- 
 tween them, and not by effacing all sectarian distinctions ; 
 — a thing in itself impracticable. He, therefore, who is 
 offended because Christians are divided into numerous 
 parties, and who labors to abolish this division by forming 
 a definite system of notions, with which all sects shall be 
 satisfied ; he who can even believe it possible, and if so, 
 useful, by the influence of secret associations, to bring all 
 imperceptibly as it were, to unite in harmony, — he compre- 
 hends in reality but very little of the great wisdom exhi- 
 bited in the plan of Jesus. His imagination is heated 
 with an empty dream which is not adapted to human na- 
 ture, and would be very prejudicial to it, could it be real- 
 ized. Let us not draw up new creeds, therefore, nor es- 
 tablish new fraternities, for the purpose of uniting all seels 
 together, and bringing their minds to embrace the same 
 conceptions. Would you command the intellect of mil- 
 lions, to cease operating and following its own thoughts ? 
 Would you take away the nature of the human soul, and 
 rob it of that freedom, which it derived from God, and 
 which it must possess, if the religion which it embraces 
 is a rational one ? Let us learn rather what that means : 
 
 * [The author says the same thing in his Sermon on the Sunday 
 of Misericord. Dora., 1796, Vollst. Pred. 2te. Aufl. S. 134 ff.] 
 
 t [Very fine is what the excellent Turretin says in his Opuscula 
 varii argument!, T. J I. p. 21. [In the Dilucidatt, Philos. Theolog. 
 Vol. I. p. 318, L. B. 1748.] " Nesciunt quid sit credere, qui, a se 
 dissentientibus, irascuntur. Misereri errantium, non eos odisse, 
 decet — Optimum controversiarum compendium, Amor Dei et Prox- 
 imi — " 
 
212 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 I will. have mercy and not sacrifice, in order that we may 
 not condemn the guiltless, Matt. 12: 7. " He who un- 
 derstands the assertion of Jesus," says Origen,* " Bless- 
 ed are the peacemakers, and blessed are the meek, will not 
 hate and abominate those who think differently respecting 
 Christianity from himself." It remains true, therefore, 
 that Christianity can exist, while the greatest difference 
 prevails in modes of thinking, — can extend its blessings 
 over the world, and render every one happy who yields it 
 faithful obedience.f 
 
 And this it can do so much the more, as it is also spir- 
 itual, and hence, can be admitted into all countries, what- 
 ever be the modifications of the civil constitution. Jesus 
 prescribed only two ceremonies, which have a noble sim- 
 plicity and can be observed wherever men reside. Eve- 
 ry thing else was left both by Jesus and his friends, to 
 the judgement and conscience of those who might em- 
 brace this religion. His apostles indeed laid down a few 
 regulations respecting the public worship of God, but in 
 so doing, they were guided by the circumstances and cus- 
 toms of the age ; and besides, they left every society free 
 to change them according to its necessities. There is 
 nothing said of sacred places or stated feasts, of pious 
 journeys and pilgrimages, of troublesome and expensive 
 ceremonies, or a cautious selection of food. The whole 
 earth is God's temple ; in every place, man can lift up holy 
 hands ; every creature of God is clean and good, and noth- 
 ing any longer to be rejected. The external form of the 
 exercises of this religion in one country, may, therefore, be 
 entirely different from that of those in another. The 
 religion itself always remains the same, whatever be the 
 drapery with which it is invested. There will indeed be 
 
 * Contra Cels. 1. V. p. 273. [627, de la Rue.] 
 
 t Respecting the accommodating character of Christianity, vid. 
 (Brastberger) Ueber die Mannigfaltigkeit der Religionsbegriffe, in 
 the Versuche Ober Religion und Dogmatik, I. 1 ff., especially 
 S.74fF. ; and Pfenninger Familie von Eden 1. der Christianer von 
 alien und von keiner Parthey, S. 21 — 34. According to Klopstock, 
 Messias, XIII. 802 fF. Christ is : 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 213 
 
 an important difference between its dresses. In every 
 country, they will have that color which the nation likes 
 the best ; one will be more useful, another more commo- 
 dious, and a third more splendid, than the rest. If, how- 
 ever, they do not entirely disfigure the body, nor impede 
 its activity, these differences are matters of little or no 
 importance.* 
 
 And what can hinder this religion from harmonizing 
 with every state constitution ?f It has nothing immedi- 
 ately to do with political affairs. It fashions every indi- 
 vidual, and produces in him that knowledge and those 
 dispositions and feelings which enable him to live content- 
 ed and happy in any place, and become a useful citizen 
 under every kind of civil constitution, and a faithful sub- 
 ject of every government. It does not according to the 
 principles of its author, erect one state within another, 
 does not in any case disturb the public tranquillity, nor 
 can the interest of the church ever come in collision 
 with that of the government. On the other hand, that 
 state, whose citizens should be in reality formed agreeably 
 to the principles of Christianity, would unquestionably be 
 
 Jedem ein Andrer, 
 Jedena der Eine, den wir vor Allen am innigsten lieben, 
 Jedem, nach seinem Verlangen, ein unerschopflicher Geber, 
 Jedem der Beste ; der Beste, der Liebenswdrdigste Jedem !] 
 [" To every one Christ is another self; to every one according to his 
 desire, the overflowing, the inexhaustible source of good ! to each 
 the most bounteous ! to all the most deserving of their love." Coll- 
 yer's transl., XIII. Vol. II. p. 166, Boston, 1811. Tr.] 
 
 * Frommana's treatise, De religione Christiana omni climati ac- 
 commodata, in the Opuscula philologici et historici argumenti, 
 Tom. II. p. 595seqq., where some other reflections are brought for- 
 ward respecting the possibility of celebrating the sacraments every 
 where, and respecting the likewise universal practicability of the 
 command enjoined by Christianity respecting monogamy. 
 
 t " Non sine foro, non sine macello, non sine balneis, tabernis, offi- 
 cinis, stabulis, nundinis vestris ceterisque commerciis cohabitamas 
 hoc seculum ; nauigamus et nos vobiscum, et militamus, et rustica- 
 mur, et mercatus proinde miscemus; artes, operas nostras publica- 
 mus vsui vestro ; quomodo infructuosi videamur negotiis vestriS, 
 cum quibns et de quibus viuimus, non scio." Thus spoke Tertullian 
 respecting this subject to the Romans, who considered Christianity 
 as inseparable from the state ; in Apologet. c. 42. p. 358, Haverc. ed. 
 
214 
 
 the happiest, and most flourishing. Its rulers would have 
 the most faithful, obedient and active subjects, and the 
 state itself be distinguished for an order which would need 
 no power or constraint for its preservation. In it, the arts 
 and sciences would flourish, without being abused and 
 made the means of poisoning the morals of the people. 
 In it, life would be enjoyed in the most agreeable and tran- 
 quil manner, and all property and rights be perfectly se- 
 cured. No state would be more firmly connected togeth- 
 er, and hence, more terrible and invincible to its enemies.* 
 For even this last circumstance, how much soever it 
 has been doubted, can be clearly proved. Those are al- 
 together mistaken who pretend, sometimes for the pur- 
 pose of defending it,t at others, of attacking it,{ that 
 Christianity treates bravery and heroism as vices and 
 transforms man into a defenceless and suffering creature, 
 which chooses to endure wrong rather than defend itself. 
 It is true, indeed, that the religion taught by Jesus was 
 calculated in all its parts for diminishing the causes of 
 war, preventing unjust aggression and offence, awakening 
 every where a lively perception of what is right and 
 equitable, and gradually bringing about a universal peace 
 upon earth. It is equally certain, however, that the com- 
 mandment enjoining love, which is the soul of all the 
 precepts of Christianity, forbids no man from bravely op- 
 posing unjust oppressors, and maintaining his rights by 
 force, so long as that universal peace does not prevail, and 
 cruel disturbers of public security and repose, and unjust 
 aggressors, are every where to be found. Is it not the 
 
 * To this place, belongs an excellent passage taken from Justin's 
 letter, ad Diognet., p. 235,236, [ed. Col. p. 496 extr.-498}] in 
 which the possibility of Christianity's harmonizing with every po- 
 litical relation is still more finely expressed. [Comp. Neander'sK. 
 G. 1. 1. 92.] 
 
 t Comp. Jenning's well known work, entitled, A View of the In- 
 ternal Evidence of the Christian Religion, p. 18 seqq. andespec. p. 
 45 seqq,, Manchest. (Eng.,) 1799. 
 
 t Vid. Rousseau du Contrat social, liv. IV. chap. 8. p. 170, Bip. 
 cd. [In the edition of bis works of J792, Tom. II. 191 ff.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 215 
 
 business even of that love, whose efforts are directed en- 
 tirely to the promotion of the general good, magnani- 
 mously to offer itself in sacrifice, as soon as this general 
 weal is in danger ? Can he whom it animates, remain 
 idle, when the society of which he is a member, is assail- 
 ed and threatened with danger ? Will he not, on the 
 other hand, select, and be obliged to select, the only way 
 left him in this case, for exhibiting his love, namely, by 
 laying down his life for the brethren ? 1 John 3: 16. 
 Besides, is there not every thing to be met with in the 
 soul of a genuine Christian, from which real bravery and 
 rational heroism may spring in as good, if not a better 
 degree than in others ? Is bravery grounded upon natu- 
 ral courage, a certain, innate intrepidity ? Christianity 
 does not suppress this quality, but only hinders it from 
 degenerating into savageness and temerity. Is genuine 
 bravery accompanied with a contempt of all effeminacy, 
 with diligence and temperance ? Christianity inculcates 
 these virtues as indispensable duties. Is bravery without 
 a desire of honor, impossible ? No one can possess a 
 livelier and more tender sense of honor than the Chris- 
 tian. Does bravery draw its nourishment in a particular 
 manner, from genuine patriotism ? The patriotism pro- 
 duced by Christianity is the noblest, and most zealous 
 that can exist. Finally, are confidence in God and a be- 
 lief in immortality able to contribute any thing towards 
 strengthening courage in danger and rendering men in- 
 trepid ? Then no one has less to fear than the Christian. 
 A religion, which, with the tenderest love, combines such 
 an aversion to all injustice, and so much to encourage in 
 the hour of danger, cannot be prejudicial to genuine 
 bravery, but will merely hinder it from degenerating into 
 savage barbarity and inhuman cruelty. If, therefore, 
 Christianity in an/ state produces in only a part of the 
 citizens, those dispositions and feelings, which its founder 
 intended it should produce, even then, the state, whatever 
 be its regulations in other respects, manifestly loses noth- 
 ing thereby, but, on the other hand, gains infinitely in the 
 improvement of its subjects. 
 
 k 
 
216 
 
 It may seem, indeed, as if Christianity would be pre- 
 judicial to the interests of states, at least from the fact, 
 that it always directs its followers to another life and the 
 rewards of heaven, and exalts them as it were above the 
 affairs of this life, as contemptible trifles. This is an ob- 
 jection to Christianity which one would expect only from 
 such an acute opponent to it as Lord Shaftesbury was. 
 " Private friendship, and zeal for the public and our 
 own country,^^ says this writer, " are virtues purely volun- 
 tary in a Christian. They are no essential parts of his 
 charity. He is not so ty'd to the affairs of this life ; nor 
 is he obliged to enter into such engagements with this 
 lower world as are of no help to him in acquiring a bet- 
 ter. His conversation is in heaven. Nor has he occa- 
 sion for such supernumerary cares or embarrassments here 
 on earth, as may obstruct his way thither, or retard him 
 in the careful task of working out his own salvation."* 
 Were this in reality the spirit of Christianity ; did it de- 
 prive its followers of all activity for this life and transform 
 them into idle dreamers, and induce them to lead a use- 
 less and contemplative life ; then it would not only be un- 
 adapted to the civil constitutions of the human race, but eve- 
 ry state would be obliged as a matter of duty to prevent the 
 extension of such pernicious principles as far as possible. 
 But how little does that man know of the power of 
 Christian philanthropy, who can look upon private friend- 
 ship and zeal for the public, as far as it is concerned, as 
 superfluous ! How litde must he be acquainted with the 
 life of Jesus, not to know that Jesus himself was a most 
 disinterested, active, and tender friend ! John 11: 5, 35, 
 36, and chap. 12: 1. The philanthropy and fraternal 
 love enjoined by Christianity, consist in a man's not being 
 weary in well doing ; and its principles make him a useless 
 and criminal wretch, who leaves unemployed any talent in 
 his possession, which he might have rendered useful to 
 
 * Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, Vol. I, 
 98 — 100, 1727. Helvetius, De 1' homme, Sect. 1. chap. 9, has mere- 
 ly repeated these objections without adding any thing new. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 217 
 
 the world ; aii^ will such a philanthropy quench zeal for 
 the public ? In the eyes of a Christian, every man is of 
 infinite value, and every circumstance that relates to hu- 
 man welfare, of the greatest importance ; for Christians 
 are convinced that the founder of their religion regards 
 every act of kindness, done to the meanest human being, 
 as done to himself; and will these very Christians lightly 
 esteem connexions with this lower world, and deem it 
 superfluous to exercise care for the happiness of man- 
 kind ? Christianity teaches us that a man's soul is saved, 
 if he has been as pious toward God and as kind and be- 
 nevolent to man, as Christ was ; if he has acted like 
 Christ, and, as far as able and circumstances required, 
 imitated Him by offering his own life in sacrifice for the 
 good of the world ; and will such a care for the soul 
 create superfluous idlers, whose conversation is not upon 
 earth? Christianity teaches us that the employments of 
 this life are exercises to prepare us for the higher business 
 of a better world ; that the more faithful a Christian is 
 in attending to whatever is intrusted to him here, the 
 more active, attached to order, and truly benevolent he 
 proves, the greater are the rewards which he is to expect 
 hereafter, and the more important will be the commissions 
 which he obtains ; and can he believe that the disquie- 
 tudes and cares of earth will obstruct his wa}^ to the fe- 
 licities of heaven ? How unjustly that man treats Chris- 
 tianity, which is entirely made up of activity and disin- 
 terested love, who confounds its benevolent doctrines with 
 the conceits of idle hypocrites and foolish enthusiasts, and 
 wrests Scriptural expressions badly understood, as objec- 
 tions against ! If the religion of Jesus has often seemed pre- 
 judicial to the honor of princes and the welfare of states, 
 apparently caused thrones to tremble, and incessantly dis- 
 turbed the general peace ; if it has apparently drawn a 
 great multitude of useful men from society and active life, 
 transformed them into worthless idlers, and shut them up in 
 consecrated prisons ; it is in appearance only. The 
 causes of these disorders are to be sought for somewhere 
 else ; even in the lust of power and the superstition which 
 19 
 
218 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 have assumed its name. Jesus and his friends recom- 
 mended obedience to every government without excep- 
 tion, and required one to submit to every human regula- 
 tion, as long as the society in which he lived, should en- 
 dure. The principal law of universal philanthrophy which 
 they prescribed, does not permit a Christian to be faith- 
 less, restless, or cruel ; it binds him much stronger to his 
 native country and renders him much more active in be- 
 half of the general good, than the irrational, and often 
 very misanthropical patriotism which was so greatly ad- 
 mired by some nations of the old world. The religion, 
 which Jesus undertook to make universal, can indeed, by 
 improving the dispositions and feelings of rulers, shedding 
 light every where, and producing genuine and tender phi- 
 lanthropy, prove the mediate occasion of changes also in 
 civil regulations, but they will be such changes as must ren- 
 der the laws milder and more just, add to the venerableness 
 and sanctity of human rights, and in every respect increase 
 the perfection of a state ; and who would not wish every 
 nation to undergo so happy a revolution ? Otherwise, it 
 harmonizes with all constitutions, and is opposed to no use- 
 ful regulation, and hence, may prosper in every country.* 
 § 94. And such being the character of the religion which 
 Jesus intended to make universal, should we have any 
 fears as to the possibility of expressing its principal truths 
 in all languages ? — these truths, sa short, so intelligible, 
 and in every respect, so adapted to human reason ? Could 
 Christianity have been embraced by so many barbarous 
 
 * [The sophistical reasoning of the Earl of, or Lord, Shaftesbury, 
 here refuted, has, as we are informed, N. Y. Observer, Vol. IX. No. 26. 
 p. 101, lately been revived again by infidels in France, and made 
 the basis of an organized plan for spreading abroad their venom. — 
 How little seriousness do these men exhibit in their inquiries after 
 truth ! How obviously are they governed by a spirit of scorn, levi- 
 ty, and impiety, instead of a spirit of obedience to the will of God ! 
 For some excellent remarks upon this subject, vid. Wilson, On the 
 Evidences of Christianity, Vol. I. Lect. H. p. 46 seqq. For remarks 
 more in detail upon Lord Shaftesbury's reasoning, vid. Essay on the 
 Characteristics, by John Brown D.D., London, 1752 j especially p. 
 206 seqq. Tr.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 219 
 
 nations in the first centuries of its existence, if it were 
 impossible to impart it to such as make use of a barba- 
 rous language ?* It is true, languages have been discover- 
 ed in modern times, of incredible poverty and imperfec- 
 tion ; — languages, into which the -philosophy of Christian- 
 ity cannot be translated ; — which contain no words for 
 the artificial systems into which the religion of Jesus 
 has been transformed. But why is this necessary ? 
 Do we not know from satisfactory attempts, that it is not 
 impossible to express the principal truths of Christianity 
 in the very poorest languages ? And cannot the very 
 roughest language be cultivated, enriched, and rendered 
 pliant ? Were the rich languages of Greece and Rome 
 at first more copious and perfect, than those of the Kam- 
 tschadales and Esquimaux ? As a nation's ideas increase, 
 it gains also in expression. Christianity, therefore, instead 
 of being excluded by the imperfection of language, from 
 an introduction into many regions, may become the means 
 of improving and enriching the languages themselves, and 
 thus opening a way for its own universal extension. f 
 
 * Comp. what Theodoret says respecting this circumstance, Grae- 
 car. affection, curat. Disput. V. p.. 839 seq. Tom. IV. Schulz's ed. 
 
 t This is not a mere conjecture. It is certain from matters of 
 fact that the extension of Christianity can produce this effect. 
 There is a very remarkable confirmation of this important subject 
 to be met with in Loskiel's Geschichto der Mission der evangeli- 
 schen BrUder unter den Iq^ianern in Nordamerika, S. 27. [History 
 of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians of North 
 America, in three parts; by George Henry Loskiel. Translated from 
 the German by Christian Ignatius la Trobe, p. 21, Lond. 1794. -Tr.] 
 " The want of proper expressions in spiritual things, of which they 
 were totally ignorant," says this author, speaking of these people, 
 " was most perplexing. But since the Gospel has been preached 
 among them, the language of the Delawares and Iroquois have gain- 
 ed much in this respect. And in proportion as the believing In- 
 dians grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and his word, 
 their languages improve and become more copious." [Comp. Doe- 
 derlein, Fragm. und Antifr. II. 144 — 155 ; Dobritzhofer, Ge- 
 Bchichte der Abiponer, II. 239 ff., where he remarks how the mis- 
 sionaries went to work in order to express Christian ideas in foreign 
 languages. Our age derives the strongest proof from the transla- 
 tions which have been made of the Bible by the Bible Societies in- 
 to a multitude of languages used without the limits of Europe, and 
 
220 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 § 95. I do not think that any one will resort ultimately to 
 the fact that Christianity has never yet been universal, and 
 thence presume to draw the conclusion that it never can 
 be. The obstacles which have hitherto opposed its univer- 
 sal extension may disappear. Indeed, the general con- 
 nexion between all the nations of the earth which is ex- 
 pected to precede this event, seems, by the united influ- 
 ence of various . causes, to be greatly advanced. More- 
 over, Christianity actually prevails among that portion of 
 the human family which is the most distinguished for 
 knowledge, riches, and power, and exerts a most decided 
 Influence upon all the other regions of the earth. 
 
 Let no one fear that this religion will be destroy- 
 ed or even injured, should the new states of Europe 
 which rise up before our eyes, rob her of all the external 
 authority and civil power with which she has been in- 
 vested under the old constitutions. She does not need 
 this power in order to be preserved and enabled to exert 
 her benevolent influence. She existed for three centu- 
 ries and obtained firm footing in the best countries of the 
 earth, without being the privileged religion of the state ; 
 and had she never been, men could never have made 
 use of her as an instrument of oppression, as they have 
 done. She would not have remained for centuries a degen- 
 erated superstition under the control of ambitious priests, 
 who patronized her for the sake of their own advantage. It 
 would not have cost so much labor and blood, as it ac- 
 
 which are constantly increasing in number ; as one will readily per-* 
 ceive from reading the yearly reports of the Bible Society of Great 
 Britain. Comp. Die Thatigkeit der Brittisch-Auslandischen Bibel- 
 gesellschaft zur Verbreitung der h. S. in den Landern und Sprachen 
 der verschiedenen Welttheile, Hamburg, 1815. Hess, Das Vorse- 
 hungsvolle der Bibelverbreitung, S.90f. ; [the History of the Origin 
 and first ten years of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By 
 the Rev. John Owen, N. Y. 1817; Tr.] and the various reports oftho 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, especially the last, or 2oth, 
 Appendix, p. 130 seq., Lond. 1829, at which place a survey is given 
 of the languages and dialects into which the Bible has been either 
 entirely or in part translated. The number is stated at 145, among 
 which there are 62, into which the Bible had not been translated be- 
 fore the formation of this society.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 221 
 
 tually did, to purify her and restore her. She may there- 
 fore well be left to her own fate. She will sustain herself 
 and make progress. Men will gradually come off from their 
 hostility to her, when the storms of revolutions are allay- 
 ed, and quiet reflection respecting her relations to the 
 public weal, take the place of those passionate commo- 
 tions, which have thus far overturned and destroyed every 
 thing legitimate.^ Besides, it was, as has been shown, 
 not the wish nor the intention of Jesus, that the civil power 
 should come with its despotic laws and authoritative decis- 
 ions, to aid him in the execution of his plan. The proof, 
 however, which we here wish to draw from the plan of Jesus 
 would not be weakened* in the least degree, should this 
 plan never be carried into complete execution ; provided, 
 it is only certain that it is so formed as to contain nothing 
 the execution of which is impossible. 
 
 And it seems to me, that this is perfectly clear from 
 the foregoing considerations. The plan which Jesus de- 
 vised for the general good, has nothing in it chimerical, 
 extravagant, or impracticable. It is constructed in every 
 respect .with reference to the character and wants of hu- 
 man nature and the course of human affairs. It is the 
 greatest and most exalted plan of which the human mind 
 ever conceived. 
 
 II. Jesus the greatest, most exalted of men. 
 
 § 96. But how great must that mind have been which 
 devised it, and thus opened a way which no man had 
 previously discovered ! It is time for us to attend to this 
 consideration and inquire, what kind of qualities a plan 
 
 * [What was here said by way of conjecture with rcferonce to 
 the overthrow of* Christianity among the French, was soon after 
 fulfilled. In the year 1797 — 98, the Theophilanthropicl worship 
 was yet in existence. In the year 1801, it was abolisljed and the 
 Christian worship restored. Vid. Gregoire, Geschichte des Theo- 
 philanthropismus, in Staudlin's Magazin ftlr Religionso-esehichle, 
 IV. 257-401.] ^ ^ o 
 
 19* 
 
222 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 of this character presupposes a soul to possess, and whether 
 we are justified in thence concluding, that Jesus was the 
 greatest and most exahed being that ever thought and 
 acted upon earth. 
 
 §97. There are three kinds of qualities, which, nfiay 
 authorize a human mind to claim the honor of a great 
 mind. First, an extraordinary perfection of the intellec- 
 tual faculties, and their cultivation and exercise in the ac- 
 quisition of a knowledge of truth. It is not necessary 
 that a mind have all these excellencies of the intellectual 
 facuhies, in order to be thus denominated. That mind 
 is called great which possesses but one of them in a high 
 degree. Such a mind is readily distinguished ; for it 
 goes to the utmost boundaries of human knowledge, and 
 ventures out into every abyss in which the truth ap- 
 pears to be concealed. It does not confine itself to the 
 few and imperfect notions with which common souls are 
 satisfied, but it extends its inquiries to every thing within 
 the grasp of reason and fills every chaos of intricate con- 
 ceptions, with order and light. From a gende hint 
 of nature, of which an ordinary intellect would have 
 taken no notice, it discovers the way into her deepest 
 mysteries, and from every degree of experience, however 
 small it may appear, draws a series of the most important 
 conclusions. It not only has the clearest apprehension of 
 the ultimate objects of every thought, effort, and opera- 
 tion, as bearing upon the true destination of rational ex- 
 istence, but in all cases makes them its own, and refers 
 every thing to itself. Finally, under the guidance of 
 such knowledge and sagacity, it projects the most exalted 
 plans, ascertains the remotest effects of every cause, turns 
 every thing to its own account, and while weaker minds, 
 distributed to their posts, are exhausting their whole strength 
 in the small and narrow sphere assigned to them, soars up- 
 ward above them all, and, by a secret, invisible power, 
 brings them to act in conformity to its own views, and by 
 its superiority, induces thousands engaged in active com- 
 bat with each other, to harmonize together, and at every 
 step keeps the goal in view at which it aimed in the 
 outset. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 223 
 
 To an equal degree, however, in the second place, is our 
 attention attracted and our admiration excited by strength 
 of soul, and invincible power in a will, free and obedient 
 to the calls of duty. We cannot refrain from pronoun- 
 cing that mind great which we see acting in every thing 
 that it does, with an energy and firm intention, with an 
 effort and power, which increase with opposition, carry 
 it boldly through every difficulty, and enable it to keep its 
 original goal steadily in view. We are astonished at the 
 constancy and unchangeable firmness with which a strong 
 mind adheres to its purposes and pursues them, without 
 being wearied with difficulties, deterred by dangers, hush- 
 ed to sleep by the slow process of time, or discouraged 
 by want of success. We are penetrated with the most 
 profound respect, whenever we discover an incorruptible in- 
 tegrity, a self-control, which brings every inclination in 
 subjection to the requisitions of law ; and a faithful ad- 
 herence to duty which cannot be made to quake or trem- 
 ble at any thing on earth ; — whenever we discover a 
 strength of good will, which, in order to fulfil its obliga-' 
 tions, disdains both injury and profit, and can neither be 
 infatuated by cunning, nor conquered by power. We 
 consider it a most exalted spectacle, and one that must 
 fill every observer with admiration and reverence, to be- 
 hold a great and virtuous man contending with opposing 
 fate, and, though under its severest strokes, and in the 
 midst of dangers, before which an ordinary man would 
 tremble and flee away, — though deserted on every side, 
 and without deliverance and without hope, yet always dis- 
 playing that tranquillity of soul, that equanimity and pres- 
 ence of mind, that firm adherence to truth and rectitude, 
 which were peculiar to him in propitious circumstances ; 
 — to behold a man whom the falling fabric of the uni- 
 verse may strike to the ground, but cannot make afraid. 
 Spirits of such superiority and strength are certainly 
 made for the purpose of exciting universal admiration, 
 and we are inclined to recognise them as great, in pro- 
 portion to the giddiness created by gazing at the dazzling 
 height on which they stand. 
 
224 Christ's plan proves hjm 
 
 But there is a third class of great minds which extort 
 from us our admiration ; not by a power which humbles 
 and depresses us, but one which fills our hearts with a 
 confidence, a gratitude, and a love, towards them, which 
 render the confession of their greatness, a delicious and 
 most agreeable task. To this class belong those benefac- 
 tors of mankind, whose excellence consists in an exten- 
 sive benevolence, and an all-comprehensive goodness of 
 heart ; whose most zealous, and whose ceaseless efforts 
 are to enlighten, improve, save, and bless all around them ; 
 who can even load an ungrateful world with benefits, and 
 offer up their own lives for their enemies. We cannot 
 avoid indeed being carried away with admiration and as- 
 tonishment at the two first kinds of greatness when unac- 
 companied with this. Our humbled hearts, however, re- 
 main locked up and cold while we gaze upon them, or 
 are filled with envy and aversion. Spirits of such a char- 
 acter we cannot love. As regards persons so dissimilar to 
 us, we cannot feel that confident affection with which we 
 are drawn out towards those in whom we discover phi- 
 lanthropical benevolence. Hence, this latter kind of great- 
 ness conquers every heart, and needs merely to be ex- 
 hibited, in order, not only to be admired, but tenderly 
 embraced and deeply respected by every one in whom all 
 traits of feeling are not entirely extinct. 
 
 § 98. But where is the human mind that has united 
 these three kinds of greatness in itself? Separately we 
 often meet with them in different degrees and great va- 
 rieties. History unquestionably furnishes us with spirits 
 of penetrating sagacity ; men of unshaken firmness, and 
 invincible courage ; philanthropists, gentle, tender, and 
 full of an activity which springs from disinterestedness and 
 magnanimity. Ordinarily, however, there exists but one 
 kind of greatness, which has such a decided preponder- 
 ance as to leave the others in no correct proportion, and 
 of the last kind especially, the most distinguished men of 
 antiquity are totally destitute. The plan devised by the 
 founder of Christianity is a proof that these three kinds 
 of greatness existed in the soul of its author in a harmony 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 225 
 
 and to a degree, of which there is no example in all his- 
 tory. 
 
 § 99. The plan with which Jesns occupied himself, 
 whether we look at its purport or its extent, was perfectly 
 new, and one, of which no human being had ever had 
 the least conception. Many plans had been formed be- 
 fore Christ for the improvement of single nations and 
 states, and many efforts had been made to carry them 
 into execution, but none of them struck deep enough. 
 Their projectors satisfied themselves with checking the 
 grossest abuses and disorders, and never thought of radi- 
 cally curing the evil in existence. The founder of Chris- 
 tianity alone reached an elevation to which no reformer 
 before him h^d ever approached. He conceived the ex- 
 alted, and, in the most appropriate sense of the word, the 
 divine idea of in reality new creating and regenerating 
 the whole human fafnily. It was not his intention to at- 
 tack a few vices, denounce a few abuses, and rectify here 
 and there a disorder. It was his intention to create man- 
 kind anew, and stop up the very sources of wickedness. 
 Think of the greatness presupposed in the formation of 
 such a plan ! No benefactor of mankind before Je- 
 sus, had ever observed how little could be accom- 
 plished by singly attacking the bad habits that pre- 
 vailed, without striking at the root from which they 
 sprung. Hence, he, who as a legislator or ruler, had to 
 do with whole nations, satisfied himself with being able to 
 produce and maintain external order among them ; and 
 he, who as a philosopher and moralist attempted to accom- 
 plish more, and endeavored to effect an internal refor- 
 mation also, limited his efforts, and confined himself to the 
 education of a few select disciples. Jesus possessed 
 deeper, wider, and more correct views, than all the re- 
 formers that preceded him. He alone penetrated into the 
 most secret wants of mankind and knew what was pecu- 
 liarly needful for them. He alone commenced his re- 
 formation where it must be commenced, in order entirely 
 to change the manner of thinking, WMlling, and perceiving, 
 to which men have been accustomed. He alone extend- 
 
226 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 ed his views over the whole human family and included 
 . all nations in his plan. He alone, with a superiority of 
 mind, to which every thing that had previously been at- 
 tempted for the welfare of the human race was far too 
 small and defective, soared to an idea which contained the 
 excellencies of all the plans which had ever been invented 
 for the improvement of man, — to the idea of forming a 
 new moral creation. Even here therefore we discover 
 an acuteness, penetration, and extension of thought, which 
 designate a most extraordinary mind. 
 
 And with what calmness, temperance, and moderation, 
 did Jesus devise and prosecute this great and divine plan ! 
 Nothing is more common than for great men to be so an- 
 imated and carried away with the beauty and excellence 
 of an undertaking, as, in the midst of the enthusiasm thus 
 enkindled, either not to perceive, or else to despise, the 
 difficulties which oppose its accomplishment, and give them- 
 selves up too hastily to the influence of agreeable dreams. 
 No traces of such precipitation, such want of correct 
 judgement and cool reflection, are to be met with in Je- 
 sus. However adapted his plan was to inflame the imag- 
 ination and heat it with beautiful and philanthropical 
 dreams, it seems not to have produced' such an efl^ect up- 
 on him ; for he always appeared entirely free from every 
 wild and furious passion. He neither represented the ex- 
 ecution of his plan as easier, nor its effects as more charm- 
 ing than they actually were, or might be. It was not the 
 aim of Jesus all at once to transform the world into a par- 
 adise. He said nothing of a golden age about to com- 
 mence. He did not encourage his friends with the hope 
 of the easy advancement of their enterprises, nor promise 
 them a quick and splendid victory. No, the whole of the 
 immense project lay spread out before him with its innu- 
 merable difficuhies, hindrances, exceptions, and dangers. 
 He never anticipated any thing more respecting it, than 
 was practicable according to the course and character of 
 human affairs. 
 
 There is one circumstance worthy of particular notice 
 in this place. Men, who occupy themselves with great 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 227 
 
 and ideal plans, and constantly live, as it were in futurity 
 and the unlimited space of universality, are ordinarily ex- 
 travagant beings, and, as regards the affairs of life, useless 
 visionaries. They forget the relations which they actu- 
 ally sustain, overlook what lies near them, and, in their 
 actions and the every day business of life, often violate 
 the most common rules of prudence. In this respect also, 
 the mind of Jesus is most advantageously distinguished 
 from all others. 
 
 Notwithstanding the zeal with which he formed his great 
 plan and kept it in view, he ever possessed a vivid sense 
 of the circumstances in which he was placed among his 
 people, and attended to the smaller matters intrusted to 
 him, with as much practical wisdom, prudence, and reflec- 
 / tion, as if he had thought of nothing else. He was as in- 
 timate and well acquainted with the moral and political 
 constitution of his country, the inclinations, interests, and 
 prejudices of all ranks and parties, all the dispositions, 
 feelings, measures, and undertakings of enemies and 
 friends, and the personal character of every one with whom 
 he had to do, as if he had always confined his thoughts' 
 and observations to practical affairs, and made it his only 
 business to study his condition, and acquire the knowledge 
 of a man, who lived entirely for the circumstances in which 
 he was placed. Accordingly, his mind embraced the 
 whole, and viewed every thing upon a large scale. And 
 yet nothing trifling escaped his notice, however insignifi- 
 cant. He was as capable of projecting a plan whose be- 
 nevolent effects should extend from one end of the earth 
 to the other, and render all mankind happy, as he was of 
 composing the slightest difficulties among his pupils, and 
 laboring with indescribable patience and forbearance in 
 their education. 
 
 ^ 100. The greatness of Christ's mind becomes still 
 more apparent, however, when we take into consideration 
 singly, the constituent parts of his plan. It was calculated 
 principally, as has been shown, for the purpose of chan- 
 ging and improving religion, morality, and society. One 
 is astonished to discover the view that he took of these 
 
228 
 
 three things ; to observe how minutely and correctly 
 he understood what ought to be done for each of them ; 
 and finally, to reflect upon the facility and exalted simplic- 
 ity, with which he brought about this improvement, and 
 put an end to wants, for which multitudes of sagacious 
 thinkers, by their various speculations, had sought to pro- 
 vide relief in yain. By abolishing the notions then prev- 
 alent respecting God, and substituting in their stead, one 
 that represented him as a supreme father, filled with love 
 to mankind, and educating them for morality and happi- 
 ness, he freed religion at once, from the corruptions with 
 which it had been disfigured, and imparted to it those ex- 
 cellencies which it ought to have. Before this representa- 
 tion, superstition of every kind, the grand cause of its ob- 
 scurity, immediately vanished away. By this means, re- 
 ligion was changed from an immoral service, prompted 
 by fear, into a worship of God in Spirit and in truth. It 
 thus obtained a clearness and simplicity, which it had nev- 
 er before possessed, and became intelligible even to children 
 in its most exahed dignity. Hitherto it had been an in^ 
 strument of oppression, in the hands of ambitious priests, 
 now it became an affair of the heart. Finally, by means 
 of this representation, religion was transformed into a 
 source of gende consolation in all the adversities of hfe, 
 and made in a convincing manner, to reveal an immortal- 
 ity. — With as much ease and great success, did he rem- 
 edy the evils existing in morality. Here, every thing was 
 reduced to active love to God and man. The law res- 
 pecting this love was not treated by Jesus as a subordi- 
 nate command, as it apparently was in the Mosaic code, 
 but as the principle law, and one which comprehended all 
 the rest. By means of this law, morality was brought in- 
 to close and lasting connexion with religion, from which, it 
 had hitherto been separated, both in theory and practice. 
 In the same way also, it was secured as much against de- 
 gradation and lax principles, as against extravagance and 
 morose severity. It thus obtained an intelligibility and prac- 
 ticalness, and, at the same time, a kindness and warmth, 
 calculated to render it universally efficacious. It was now 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 229 
 
 more than ever before, to model human nature, lead man- 
 kind on to the attainment of every kind of dignity, enjoy- 
 ment and perfection, and by its friendly mediation bring 
 the nations of the earth in closer connexion with each oth- 
 er. — In this way, also, preparation was made, for a radi- 
 cal improvement of the social relations among men. The 
 wisest and greatest characters before Jesus, had felt the 
 need of such improvement ; but as the means of effecting 
 it, they thought only and that unanimously of changing the 
 laws and introducing'a new organization of states. Hence, 
 under the influence of a kind of sunshine zeal, they wrote 
 concerning the best forms and modifications of civil socie- 
 ty, and drew up ideal constitutions. Even here, Jesus took 
 his own, and indeed, the only right way. He alone com- 
 menced with the great truth, that while compulsory laws 
 and political regulations may produce external propriety 
 of conduct, they never can produce genuine morality. 
 The latter however must exist, in order that civil society 
 be prosperous. Accordingly, he kept his establishment en- 
 tirely distinct from the affairs of the state. He began 
 his measures with improving the individual and filling 
 him with a real love of goodness, and felt certain that a 
 state blessed with virtuous citizens, would prosper even 
 with imperfect laws, and be able to provide a better consti- 
 tution for itself without any violent concussion. It was 
 not his object to improve the citizens by the state, but the 
 state by the citizens. 
 
 He, who is acquainted with that part of antiquity before 
 Jesus, and knows what its greatest men thought of religion, 
 morality, and civil society, and what notions they had, res- 
 pecting the relation of these things to each other, and what 
 means they employed for purifying them and uniting them 
 together, will be unable to deny, that what Jesus taught, 
 contrived and accomplished in this respect, was new, pe- 
 culiar to him alone, and directly opposed to the notions 
 then prevalent. No one had contemplated these subjects 
 in this point of view, or penetrated so far into their de- 
 fects, and the wants of human nature in general. No one 
 had been able to speak of them with such clearness, fa- 
 20 
 
230 
 
 cility, and assurance, and reduce every thing to order. 
 For many centuries since his age, reason has been think- 
 ing, exploring, and carrying on investigations, as far as it 
 is possible to carry them ; but it has never yet been able to 
 produce any thing better, more useful, or intelligible, 
 respecting religion and morality, and the relation which 
 they bear to civil society ; and whenever it has departed 
 from the fundamental principles laid down by Jesus, 
 it has inevitably fallen, either upon opinions prejudi- 
 cial to truth, or upon precepts prejudicial to virtue. 
 But what a mind must he have had, who thought and 
 spoke about the most important and most exalted affairs 
 of mankind, in so novel, so original, and so correct a man- 
 ner ; with such penetrating sagacity, and yet so intelligi- 
 bly ; who, in the modest and unpretending capacity of a 
 popular teacher, delivered whatever is useful and true, 
 for which speculation had searched the most secret depths 
 in vain, and pointed out to human reason the results to 
 which it must be brought by all its efforts, if it would re- 
 frain from embracing error !^ 
 
 For Christ's object was, not to disturb reason in respect 
 to its activity, but solely to guide it by the truths which he 
 delivered as from God. Among all the positive religions 
 of the world, there is none which favors genuine reflection ; 
 which requires or compels the human mind to think for it- 
 self. AU without exception set definite and arbitrary 
 bounds to the spirit of investigation, and, in proportion as 
 they engage in laying down precepts for practical life, re- 
 quire a blind obedience. Jesus, on the other hand, 
 though he taught a religion, which contains every thing 
 
 * We may here adduce the testimony of a man, whom no one will 
 pronounce partial in this case. " Je ne sais," says Rousseau in the 
 Lettres ecrites de la Montagne, p. 65, in the note, [Lettre 3me in 
 the Oeuvres Corapl., Tom. XII. 72,] "pourquoi Ton veut attribuer au 
 progres de la philosophic la belle morale de nos livres. Cette mora- 
 le, tiree de I'Evangile, itait chrdtienne, avant d'etre philosophiqve 
 — Les preceptes de Platon sent souvent tres sublimes j mais combi- 
 en n'erre-t-il pas quelquefois, et jusqu'ou ne vont pas ses erreurs ? 
 Quant k Ciceron, peut on croire, que sans Platon ce Rh6teur efit 
 trouve ses Offices ? L'Evanffile seul est, quand k la morale, toujours 
 sdr, toujours vrai, toujours unique, et toujours semblable k lui-m6me." 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. '231 
 
 requisite for man in any situation of life, taught nothing in 
 stated rules ; in precepts developed and established once 
 for all ; in a system of doctrines closed forever, and in- 
 capable of being farther reflected upon and modified, ac- 
 cording to the necessities, knowledge, and progress, of 
 each succeeding age. No ; he imparted merely general 
 doctrines, and useful principles, upon which human rea- 
 son may labor in divers ways. He, who reflects upon 
 these doctrines and knows how to develop the results of 
 these principles, finds them to contain every thing that he 
 needs, and to involve whatever is adapted to guide, 
 improve, and comfort mankind and render them happy, in 
 all possible circumstances. Of this guidance, however, 
 this improvement, this comfort, this happiness, he can ful- 
 ly partake only when he exerts his reason, applies his re- 
 ligion with reflection, and makes its principles useful and 
 valuable by freely following them. It was not the inten- 
 tion of Jesus to think as it were for mankind, and lay be- 
 fore them a connected series of rules and doctrines, which 
 required solely to be committed to memory, and needed 
 no farther reflection from his creatures. On the other 
 hand, to practise and obey his religion was to constitute 
 a powerful charm for human reason, a lasting, and health- 
 ful exercise.* 
 
 Consider also what a freedom from prejudice, what a 
 knowledge of the human heart, what a survey of all the 
 circumstances, conditions, and civil relations in which men 
 are to be met with, was exhibited by Jesus in the directions 
 
 * [Baco, Da Augment. Scient., lib. IX. c. 1. p. 598, ed. Amst., 
 16(52, in 12, [Bacon's Works, ?Lond., 1824, Vol. VII. c. 1. p. 
 468 ; comp. also Wilson, On the Evidences of Christianity, Vol. II. 
 Lsct. XXIII. p. 294. Lect XXIV. p. 324, Bost. 1830 .;:jTr".;] sayslvery 
 aptly : " Christiana. Fides, ut in omnibus sic in lioc ipso eminet, 
 quod aureara servet mediocritatem, circa usuni rationis et disputa- 
 tionis (quae rationis proles est) inter Leges Ethnicorum et Mahome- 
 ti, quae extrema sectantur. Religio siquidem Ethnicorum, Fidei 
 aut Confessionis constantis nihil habebat ; contra in religione Ma- 
 home ti, omnia disputatio interdicta est : ita, ut altera, erroris vagi 
 et multiplicis; altera, vafrae cuiusdam ot cautae imposturae faciem 
 prae se ferat ; cum sancta Fides Christiana rationis usum et dispu- 
 Uti onenj (sed secundum debitos fines) et recipiat et reiiciat."] 
 
232 
 
 which he gave his friends, respecting the extension of his 
 doctrines, and in the means which he employed for carrying 
 his plan into execution. In these respects also, he avoid- 
 ed all those by-paths into which the greatest geniuses be- 
 fore him, fell, and those of the present age do still fall, 
 whenever they speak of efFectingiimportant improvements. 
 How often has power been brought to the aid of virtue 
 and truth, and made use of for the purpose of urging them 
 upon the world. Jesus intended to avoid every thing 
 that might have the appearance of constraint. Others, 
 who perceive the unsuitableness of a compulsory mode of 
 proceeding, think they may guide the world and render 
 it happy, by the aid of secret associations, without being 
 noticed. Even this means of doubtful propriety, Jesus 
 treated with utter neglect. He intended to accomplish 
 every thing that he did, in the most candid and open man- 
 ner. It has been peculiar to the founders of religions al- 
 most universally to fall into the mistake of forming regula- 
 tions, instituting ceremonies, and laying down positive pre- 
 cepts, which will not admit of being observed every where. 
 In this way they have proved beyond question, that they were 
 confined to limited spheres, and had but little acquaintance 
 with:the circumstances of different nations, and the charac- 
 ters of their respective countries. In this respect also Je- 
 sus conducted with a wisdom that took a survey of every 
 thing. His religion contains absolutely nothing which can- 
 not be practised every where. 
 
 § 101. But what shall we think, what conception form 
 of the greatness of a mind that boldly worked its way 
 through the thickest darkness of false opinions and super- 
 stitious prejudices in which his age was enveloped ; out of 
 a mukitude of follies and dreams, selected the most use- 
 ful of every thing that had ever been uttered by man res- 
 pecting the worship of God and true happiness ; and not 
 only purified it and supplied its defects, but represented 
 it with a clearness and simplicity, a brevity and definite- 
 ness, in which it proves amply sufficient for the strongest, 
 without becoming burdensome to the weakest; in which 
 
extrAlOrdinary and divine. 233 
 
 it may serve as a safe guide to the most acute thinkers in 
 all the labyrinths of speculation, while it constitutes a per- 
 fectly plain, and intelligible system of rules for the most 
 unpractised, if honest enough to obey it, as far as they 
 comprehend it ? Let the man be named who has em- 
 braced so much, penetrated through so much, accom- 
 plished so much ; — who, let it be well considered, has fix- 
 ed the principles of religion and morality, which, notwith- 
 standing all the progress made by the human mind, all 
 the discoveries that have enlarged the boundaries of its 
 knowledge, and all the favorable changes that have taken 
 place in the other parts of science, ever remain equally au- 
 thentic, useful, and certain, and must always be recognis- 
 ed as the only sure foundation of human perfection. Let 
 the man be named, who accomplished all this, and that 
 too, in an age in which most intellects had just begun to 
 think and examine for themselves, and under circumstan- 
 ces, which, as I shall show farther on, would naturally have 
 confined the mind of Jesus in the fetters of ignorance and 
 prejudice. Any one, who would avoid partiality, and not 
 rashly contradict the testimony of history, must admit, that 
 the founder,'of Christianity, even in respect to his intellectual 
 greatness, was without precedent, and far excelled all who 
 had ever thought upon earth. 
 
 But he was not merely the greatest thinker. He did 
 not, as other spirits of this kind so often do, give himself 
 up to idle speculations, and project plans, without any se- 
 rious intention of ever carrying them into execution. In 
 h is plan, he also exhibited a strength of soul, a power over 
 his will, free as it was, and obedient to the calls of duty, 
 which equally entitle him to the name of the most exalt- 
 ed and most extraordinary of men. His plan was un- 
 questionably the greatest of which a human mind had ever 
 conceived. On this very account indeed, its execution was 
 necessarily to be connected with more difficuhies, than had 
 attended that of any other plan. Jesus had a full view of 
 all these difficulties. He spoke of them with sufficient fre- 
 quency, and in so doing, proved that he felt how much he had 
 to contend with. He knew that it would require centuries 
 20* 
 
234 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 to carry his plan into execution ; and that ahnost innumera- 
 ble obstacles would be interposed in its way, in the very 
 out-set, by the attachment of the Jews to the religious 
 regulations of Moses ; by the superstition of Heathenism, 
 supported and defended as it was, by the fearful power of 
 the Roman kingdom ; and especially, by the unheard of 
 moral corruption then prevalent in the world. In face of 
 all these difficulties, however, he had courage enough to 
 cherish the thought of reforming this corrupt world, firm- 
 ly resolve to do so, and enter upon its immediate execu- 
 tion. 
 
 This execution itself was at the very commencement 
 of the undertaking a very difficult one. He met with 
 opposition at every step. He had to contend with the pre- 
 judices and shocking ignorance of his people, with a stub- 
 bornness and wickedness altogether peculiar to them, with 
 the greatest poverty, so that he was often destitute of the 
 necessaries of life, and with the hatred of the magistrates, 
 who every where laid snares for him, and sought to effect 
 his destruction ; and yet nothing caused him to shrink 
 back, or allayed his courage. Every day's experience 
 forced upon him the conviction, that his doctrines, admo- 
 nitions, warnings, and prayers, were of little avail. Not even 
 the few friends whom he had selected, and was carefully 
 exerting every effort to educate, would lay aside their 
 own prejudices, and learn to adopt new dispositions, 
 views, and opinions. With the great mass of the peo- 
 ple, his success in this respect was far less. They 
 were too fanatical as a nation, too full of prejudice, too 
 mighty in superstition, and too fiery and powerful in its 
 defence. It was impossible for him therefore, with all 
 the personal sacrifice of strength, convenience and repose, 
 to which he subjected himself, to accomplish any thing 
 considerable among them, and almost all his efforts were 
 in vain. And yet this man, unable to succeed as he was 
 in his own little and despicable country, and carry his 
 plan into operation to any great degree, had strength 
 of mind enough to extend it to all nations, and speak of 
 its success with a conviction and confidence, which ad- 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 235 
 
 mitted not of doubt or uncertainty. Indeed his courage 
 appeared to increase in proportion to the difficulties and 
 hindrances which he met with,* and when his disciples in- 
 formed him, that, notwithstanding his multiplied efforts, he 
 had failed to obtain any victory over the prejudices of 
 his countrymen, he assured them in the most positive 
 manner, that he would nevertheless found a church which 
 should bid defiance to the g;ates of Hell and endure for- 
 ever, Matt. 16: 13 — 18. What other man has ever evin- 
 ced such resolution in the midst of the most adverse cir- 
 cumstances, labored with such ceaseless activity for the 
 accomplishment of an object to all appearance unattaina- 
 ble, and yielded such unconditional obedience to a com- 
 mand of duty which bore all the marks of being useless 
 and extravagant ? 
 
 There is an additional circumstance in this place wor- 
 thy of particular attention. The founder of Christian- 
 ity knew that he was soon to he seized, and put to 
 death. The activity with which he commenced the ex- 
 ecution of his plan was to be interrupted, and that too, be- 
 fore any thing considerable had been accomplished. At 
 the same time, he looked upon death as the most fearful 
 change a man can undergo, and was not ashamed to 
 exhibit that anxiety, which every human being feels on 
 the approach of his dissolution. Indeed, he was very 
 powerfully afiected with horror, and very far removed 
 from that indifference to death and that defiance of it, 
 which was so much extolled by the ancients, though at the 
 foundation, nothing more than a despair under the appear- 
 ance of an heroic presence of mind. Ought not the cir- 
 cumstance, that he was soon to leave human society, and 
 the fear with which he looked forward to this change, to 
 have banished from his mind every thought respecting 
 this immense plan, and have filled him with despondency ? 
 But exactly the reverse were their effects. Jesus never 
 adhered to his plan with more firmness, nor felt more in- 
 ternally convinced that it would be carried into universal 
 
 * " Non est vir fortis et strenuus, qui laborem fugit; verum vbi 
 creacit illi animus ipsa rerum difiicultate." Seneca, Ep. XII. 
 
236 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 execution, than at the very moment of his death. This 
 moment in other cases annihilates all human plans. Here 
 the strongest minds relinquish every thing, and consider 
 themselves at the end of their enterprises and labors. Not 
 so with Jesus. He was most confidently assured that 
 what he had begun would be accomplished, and that death 
 would not frustrate his intentions. Shortly before his 
 passion, a woman impressed with a reverence towards him, 
 poured out a vase full of precious ointment upon him 
 while at a repast, when he took occasion to observe, that 
 he then stood upon the borders of the grave, and that she 
 in so doing, had, as it were, embalmed a corpse ; and 
 though there was then nothing more probable than that 
 his enterprises would perish with his death, yet he added, 
 in a manner indicative of the greatest confidence and the 
 most comforting conviction, that his doctrines would cer- 
 tainly be extended every where, and even the recollec- 
 tion of this small circumstance be preserved to the lat- 
 est generations. Matt. 29: 12, 13. Such courage and 
 firmness in regard to a plan in compass and importance, 
 manifestly the greatest that can be conceived of, is so ex- 
 traordinary, and so superior to every thing that has yet 
 been discovered in the most resolute men, as to be alto- 
 gether without precedent. 
 
 And in regard to it there is no room for any one to sus- 
 pect the existence of enthusiasm. Could that man pos- 
 sibly have been enthusiastic, whose thoughts were deeper, 
 clearer, stronger, and more correct than those of any oth- 
 er human mind ? Who, that is acquainted with human 
 nature, can conceive of enthusiasm and enlightened rea- 
 son's being united together in the same person ?* Enthu- 
 siasts are distinguished for exhibiting a defiance in view 
 of death, a stiff and unnatural insensibility. In Jesus, as 
 has already been observed, we discover nothing of this. 
 On the other hand, after having overcome the strong nat- 
 ural aversion which every uncorrupted man must feel to 
 
 * Comp. the excellent remarks which Eberhard puts into the 
 mouth of his Amyntor upon this subject, S. 229 f. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 2S7 
 
 death,* he was so calm, so attentive to every thing which 
 happened to him, so circumspect in regard to every step 
 he took, and so self-collected amid all the abuses heap- 
 ed upon him, as clearly to evince, that his firmness origi- 
 nated in rational principles and a voluntary obedience to 
 the calls of duty. Matt. 26: 51 — 54. " We may assert," 
 says Origen, " that the mere silence maintained by Jesus, 
 while under the scourge, and amidst the numerous tor- 
 ments inflicted upon him, displayed more bravery and 
 strength in suffering, than all that the Grecian heroes ever 
 said when in similar circumstances." The courage there- 
 
 * The suspicion which is expressed on the 118th page of Bahrdt's 
 Uebersetzung des Neuen Testamentes, that the anxious struggle 
 which Jesus passed through on the Mount of Olives, originated ia 
 the uncertainty in which he found himself as to the result of his ca- 
 reer, is evidently unfounded. He may even then have entertained thi 
 hope of effecting his escape in the night, and finding an opportunity to 
 advance his object in silence. And yet he had often foretold of his 
 death, and only a few hours before this scene of suffering, had point- 
 ed it out in the most definite manner ; and he might even then have 
 effected his escape with perfect ease, had he been disposed to do so. 
 — He may not have expected to he formally arrested by the magistrates f 
 but have been looking for a secret and arbitrary surprisal from his en- 
 emies. And yet, he must for a long time have known that he was to 
 be betrayed to the rulers ; and that in their official capacity they 
 were ''seeking after his life ; — indeed, while in Galilee, he had fore- 
 told, that they should deliver him to the Romans to be put to death. 
 Matt. 20: 17—19. Mark 10: 32—34. But for what purpose is all 
 this ? Jesus had too often expressed a livincf conviction, that even 
 his death would not prove in any respect detrimental to his great 
 undertaking, and too accurately foretold every thing that was to 
 happen to him, to be under the control of a timid uncertainty respect- 
 ing his fate at this time, when every thing was taking place in ex- 
 act accordance with his prophecies. His very prayer, O myfather^ 
 if it be possible, let this cup pass from me! affords ample proof that he 
 was at this time in certain expectation of death, though as the ter- 
 rific event drew near, he was unable entirely to suppress the feelings 
 of nature that arose within him. And yet the cup for whose passing 
 away he prayed, was, perhaps, not the torturing death at hand, for he 
 had evidently formed a considerate and unchangeable resolution to 
 submit to this, but merely the racking pains which had then seized 
 upon him, and proceeded more from the trembling machine of the 
 body than the infirmity of the mind. [Vid. the author's Opusc. 
 Acad. 11.55. Such is Origen's explanation, De Martyrio, c. 29, 
 and contra Cels. II. Opp. I. 292. 410, de la Rue.] He was anxious 
 for the restoration of his former undisturbed self-possession, in order 
 that he^ight be able to take the important step before hira with aU 
 
238 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 fore which shone forth from all his conduct,* and w^is clear- 
 ly exhibited in his projecting this great plan, and what he 
 did to carry it into execution, is, on the one hand, unexam- 
 pled, and exceedingly great ; for no man ever struggled 
 with the burden of such an immense undertaking; on 
 the other, it was altogether rational, of the noblest charac- 
 ter, and perfectly subjected to the calls of duty ; for he 
 manifestly grounded it upon the conviction that his was 
 the plan of God, who by means of it, intended to enno- 
 ble mankind and render them happy, and that to give it 
 up through timidity would be to betray the cause of God, 
 and become unfaithful to one of the most exalted pur-^ 
 poses to which one can be destined. Considered in 
 this point of view, therefore, Jesus is also the greatest of 
 men. 
 
 § 102. But that he was also the greatest of men in res- 
 pect to benevolence and goodness of heart, is beyond all 
 doubt. Such a benevolence as. that which he exhibited 
 is no where to be met with in history. The most exalted 
 
 the reflection and collection of mind requisite for the purpose. Be- 
 sides, the tenderness with which Jesus loved his life, and the deep, 
 internal susceptibility, for which his philanthropical character was 
 in every respect so conspicuous, afford a sufficient solution of the 
 painful struo^gle which he passed through on the Mount of Olives, 
 and give the spirit and manly firmness with which he triumphed over 
 all fear of death, a worth and greatness with which the stoical apa- 
 thy, and fool-hardy inconsiderateness of rough men, who, without 
 any reflection, rush into the very jaws of death, cannot in any res- 
 pect be compared. [In precisely tl:e same way judged Voltaire, 
 Traite sur la Tolerance, Oeuvres, ed. des Deuxp. Tom. 40. p. 340 s. 
 *' Si Jesus Christ sembla craindre la mort, si Tangoisse qu'il ressentit 
 fut si extreme, qu'il en eut une sueur melee de sang, ce qui est le 
 symptome le plus violent et le plus rare, c'est qu'il daigna s' abais- 
 ser a toute la faiblesse du corps humain, qu'il avait revetu. Son 
 corps tremblait et son ame 6tait in6branlable ; il nous apprenait, que 
 la vraie force, la vraie grandeur consistent k supporter des maux, 
 sous lesquels notre nature succombe. II y a un extreme courage k 
 courir a la mort en la redoutant." In like manner also Theodorus 
 Mopsvest., Contra Julianum in Fragmentis PP. Graecor.,ed. MOnter, 
 I. 123 J and the same remark is made respecting the apostle Paul by 
 Chrysostom, Horn. 6,^ in S. Paulum, 0pp. ed. Montf Tom. II. 507 
 seq.] 
 
 + Contra Celsum, I. VII. p. 369 ; [p. 733, de la Rue,] and Eberhard's 
 Amyntor, S. 237, 238. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 239 
 
 Spirits of antiquity were deficient in nothing so much as 
 a benevolent extension of thought. We have already been 
 compelled to remark, that the whole of antiquity was dis- 
 figured with a certain want of humanity. Here we find the 
 opposite. .The founder of Christianity in the formation of 
 his' plan unveiled a goodness of heart, a philanthropical be- 
 nevolence of boundless extent, and absolutely unique in 
 its kind. No human mind, before or since, has approxi- 
 mated so near to the Deity,' or soared so near to his high 
 and perfect pattern of holy goodness, and all comprehen- 
 sive love, as Jesus did. His love, like that of the great 
 Creator, which flows forth in constant and boundless 
 streams of kindness to every being, flowed forth to all 
 mankind, and aimed to make them all happy without ex- 
 ception. Come ye, who dare despise the founder of 
 Christianity, and perhaps even revile his name, come gaze 
 awhile with steady aspect upon this picture. It is one 
 that should thrill you with admiration ! The heart which 
 you mrsapprehend is the purest, noblest, tenderest, most 
 benevolent, that ever beat for the welfare of others. He 
 whomyou calumniate and contemn, is the most zealous, 
 universal, and venerable saviour and friend that can be 
 named by our race. Is it rational, is it noble and just, to 
 rail at those dispositions and feelings which ought to be 
 an object of the deepest, most respectful attention, and thie 
 tenderest emotions of gratitude, even if unaccompanied 
 with any results, and ending in fruidess efforts and a use- 
 less exhibition of kindness ? 
 
 This goodness of heart, this unlimited philanthropy, is 
 also the chief subject of his instruction, and constitutes the 
 foundation of all his precepts. No one can be called his 
 disciple, who has not advanced so far in this benevolence, 
 that he is able to love even his enemy ; to bless those who 
 curse him, do good to those who offend him, and pray to 
 God for those who persecute him. The man, who desires 
 to become his follower, must be merciful as the Father in 
 heaven is merciful, and exert himself to extend goodness, 
 prosperity, and joy around him on every side. He must 
 spend his strength for the welfare of others, and alleviate 
 
240 CHRIST*S PLAN PROVES HIM 
 
 every human want ; with his property feed the hungry, give 
 the thirsty drink, and clothe the naked ; must shed his blood 
 in the cause of truth and rectitude ; relinquish all personal 
 advantage to promote universal happiness ; sacrifice every 
 thing to enlighten, improve, and beatify others, and if duty 
 requires it, offer up his life for an ungrateful World. All 
 this must every one be able to do who follows his system 
 of instruction ; such were the dispositions which he sought 
 every where to awake and strengthen, and which he him- 
 self exhibited in the most perfect and touching manner. 
 And now let the wise man be named whose doctrines 
 breathe such love ; whose precepts and actions came forth 
 from a heart of such enlargement, and originated in a zeal 
 so pure and disinterested in advancing the cause of univer- 
 sal happiness and improvement. 
 
 And finally, the life of Jesus ! — It may be described in 
 a few words ; he went about doing good. His zeal to 
 bring into circulation the better information and knowledge 
 which he came to impart, was unwearied. He denied him- 
 self every convenience and comfort, when by so doing 
 he could accomplish any thing good in respect to a single 
 soul, or alleviate any sufferer of his pain. In his inter- 
 course with the world he was neither dark, morose, nor re- 
 served. He caused no one to feel his superiority and great- 
 ness, in a manner calculated to humble and depress. Full 
 of open-hearted friendship, he shared in festive joys 
 and innocent pleasures, and the severity of his serious- 
 ness was softened by a love of the mildest character which 
 filled every uncorrupted heart with reverence and confi- 
 dence. According to the testimony of history, ail reform- 
 ers have been distinguished in their morals and conduct, 
 by a certain inflexibility and hardness, a certain wild se- 
 verity and stormy vehemence, and it is easy to bring rea- 
 sons to show why those, who, under the influence of a 
 kind of superiority, undertook to renovate the ages in 
 which they lived, and produce an entire change, must 
 have possessed this irresistible firmness, this decisive and 
 authoritative energy. Even here, however, Jesus con- 
 stitutes a remarkable exception. He, the greatest of all 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 241 
 
 reformers, was a man of the most gentle manners and the 
 mildest habits, and not a trace of turbulent zeal, bluster- 
 ing impetuosity, and unfeeling severity, is to be discovered 
 either in his disposition or his actions. In this respect, 
 also, he is unique and unexampled. For every thing 
 whiah he did, had a reference to the welfare of others. 
 He was full of condescension and meekness towards ev- 
 ery man, and never excited, except when compassion for 
 the incorrigible drew tears into his eyes, and unheard of 
 wickedness constrained him to foretell the unhappy con- 
 sequences which always flow from the practice of vice. 
 And now, who, that is acquainted with the nation, fanatical, 
 rough, vicious, and indocile, towards which he exhib- 
 ited such love and forbearance ; who, that knows the dan- 
 ger with which he was daily threatened, and the snares 
 laid with so much art to entrap him ; who, that reflects 
 upon the ingratitude with which he was treated, the con- 
 tempt with which his most benevolent deeds were repel- 
 led, and the most honest dispositions and feelings of his 
 heart, calumniated ; who, that calls to mind the agonies 
 with which he was uhimately put to death, and the insult- 
 ing manner in which his benevolence was recompensed ; — 
 who, I say, that reflects upon all this, will feel competent 
 to measure the height, the depth, the length, and the 
 breadth of that love, which offered itself in sacrifice for such 
 a people; which dissolved in tears over calamities about 
 to come upon such enemies ; and, in the midst of the 
 most inhuman torments a man can suffer, when the 
 racked spirit always has enough to do with itself, and 
 forgets all external objects, could yet by a prayer full of 
 meekness and pardon, seek to mitigate the sentence which 
 divine justice would unavoidably inflict upon such crim- 
 inals ? 
 
 § 1 03. Here, therefore, every thing is unprecedented. 
 Here we discover a wisdom which embraced every 
 thing, and penetrated through every thing, as regards the 
 human intellect, of the greatest difficulty and importance ; 
 a firmness and strength of soul, such as no hero ever ex- 
 hibited; andj in addition thereto, a meekness and love 
 21 
 
242 
 
 which flowed forth to all, and aimed to promote the happi- 
 ness of mankind at large. In whom have these qualities, 
 each of which is sufficient of itself alone to entitle one to 
 the rank of a great man, ever been united together j in whom, 
 to the degree in which they are to be met with here ? 
 What human being has ever possessed them in that celes- 
 tial harmony in which they must have existed in Jesus, in 
 order to enable him to devise the great plan for which, as 
 the founder of Christianity, he is distinguished ? ,His wis- 
 dom was not inactive and dead ; an empty sagacity, which 
 was absorbed in subtle speculations. Under the direction 
 of benevolence, and a zeal in the performance of duty, it 
 was actively and usefully employed in promoting the gen- 
 eral good. The fire and heroic strength of his soul, how- 
 ever great, did not break wildly forth and excite commo- 
 tions and wars. Thsy were under the influence of wis- 
 dom and love, and became a blessing to the world. Fi- 
 nally, his love was not an effeminate feeling, a good- 
 natured disposition, perhaps the result of a delicate 
 organization or happy temperament ; on the other hand, 
 it existed in. connexion with the most enlightened reason, 
 and the most manly courage. Should any one form a con- 
 ception of the highest human greatness^ it must be admitted 
 that these would constitute its traits. According to the plan 
 which Jesus formed for the good of the world, these qual- 
 ities all existed in his soul. He was therefore unques- 
 tionably the greatest man that ever thought and acted 
 upon 
 
 earth.* 
 
 III. Jesus an extraordinary teacher sent of 
 God. 
 
 § 104. Now if we can shew that these qualities were 
 developed in a way altogether incomprehensible to us, and 
 according to laws entirely different from those under 
 which great minds are usually formed ; that it is impossi- 
 
 * Si quis videt hane faciem, altiorera fulgentioremque, quam cer- 
 ni inter humana consueuit : nonne velut numinis occursu obstupefac- 
 tas resistat, et vt fas sit vidisse, tacitus precetur ? Seneca, Ep. CXV. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 243 
 
 ble to see how the founder of Christianity, in the circum- 
 stances in which he lived, could have attained to that ele- 
 vation on which he was so far exalted above every thing 
 that is great among men, inasmuch as those circumstances 
 were directly calculated to smother the growth of his mind 
 and heart, as it were, in the very bud ; and finally, that 
 no rational explanation can be given of this wonderful phe- 
 nomenon, except by the admission of a divine influence in 
 the casCj altogether peculiar ; then we shall be authorized 
 to draw the conclusion, that the founder of Christianity is 
 to be considered as an extraordinary and divine teacher! 
 When the faculties of a human mind are said to develop 
 themselves, it creates no astonishment. Every thing is 
 effected according to definite laws, and with these we 
 have been made acquainted by experience. The most 
 excellent powers of a human mind may be suppressed, or 
 prevented from arriving to any great degree of maturity, if 
 external circumstances render their cultivation difficult, or 
 lay mighty obstacles in its way. Ft is well known, that 
 much depends upon, in what nation, at what time, in what 
 region, and under what circumstances, advantages and en- 
 couragements, a mind is reared. A man of the most ca- 
 pable mind will either remain inactive and perform noth- 
 ing, or hardly rise above mediocrity, if he lives among ig- 
 norant and barbarous people ; if these people are blinded 
 by pernicious prejudices ; if he is prohibited by the state 
 of things from seeking better nourishment for his intellect 
 among foreign nations; if personal circumstances com- 
 press him and impede his progress ; and if he is obliged 
 to struggle at every step, with loads of poverty, obscurity, 
 and contempt. The very strongest powers are unequal 
 to so many difficulties. Confined on every side, and, by a 
 perpetual counteraction, incapacitated for developing, 
 strengthening, and extending its faculties, the mind will, 
 as it were, prey upon itself, and never be able to produce 
 any considerable effect. And admitting that external dif- 
 ficulties are not altogether of so injurious a character; 
 if a man is not an excellent genius and by nature capable 
 of every thing that is great, at least in possession of excit* 
 
244 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 ing examples, every kind of instruction, and teachers, to 
 impart to him sound knowledge and information \ if he is 
 left without guidance, altogether to himself; if he is to 
 draw entirely from his own resources and make his own 
 discoveries ; if he is to remove every obstruction by his 
 own arm and mount every height without the assistance 
 of a director ; how will it be possible for him ever to at- 
 tain to even a moderate degree of perfection ? Under a 
 sky so extremely rough, in a soil so very barren, no hu- 
 man intellect can flourish ; at most, only that of the poet 
 or the hero : for nature alone is every where sufficient 
 for the development of the powers which here come into 
 consideration ; and although, under the influence of ad- 
 vantageous connexions, a mind of this class would arrive 
 at a still greater degree of perfection, yet from the past we 
 learn that even barbarous nations have had courageous 
 heroes and fiery poets. No other kind of greatness, how- 
 ever, is attainable under such circumstances ; and least of 
 all, that which consists in a clear knowledge of truth, 
 extensive goodness of heart, and genuine, moral benevo- 
 lence. Those who are to be distinguished in this way, 
 must not only possess excellent talents, but be instruct- 
 ed, allured by external inducements, carefully cherished, 
 and wisely directed. What Plutarch has said upon this 
 subject will always remain true : that the best natural 
 parts without education, and labor for accomplishing the 
 end, will resemble a fruitful soil, which, notwithstanding 
 much that is good and useful, bears many poisonous 
 weeds, because it has never been cultivated with dili- 
 gence and care."^ — It is indeed the character of a great 
 mind, as such, to break through by force, overcome ev- 
 ery difficulty, and press forward to the goal of its destina- 
 tion with a vehemence which cannot be retarded or ex- 
 tinguished ; but -then we shall always be able, even in 
 this case, to discover the way which it took. In the end 
 we shall find that it was allured onward and put into opera- 
 tion by certain favorable circumstances, and that, notwith- 
 
 * In Coriolano, p. 214. [Xyl. Reisk. Vol. II. 86.] 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE, ll ^ ^ ^ 3k9^ AV D 1 1 X 
 
 Standing the various obstacles which appeareoSla^pre^Q'J^^ >^^ 
 
 it and oppose its progress, it enjoyed various facilmevop= -■-^"'''''^'^^ , 
 
 portunities, and helps, by which it was sustained, direct- 
 ed, and preserved in untiring zeal. On the other hand, 
 let every thing combine together against a mind, if, never- 
 theless, it should soar to a distinguished greatness, it must 
 be in opposition to the ordinary laws of nature, and, of 
 course, it must excite admiration. 
 
 And this appears to have been the case in regard to 
 the founder of Christianity. We have seen, that in the 
 formation of his plan he exhibited a greatness of mind, to 
 be met with no where else, and that hence, he must un- 
 questionably be called the most extraordinary of men, or 
 be treated with the greatest injustice. If therefore we 
 were unacquainted with his history, we should suppose 
 that he was educated under the most favorable circum- 
 stances, which ever combined together for the develop- 
 ment of a human mind. It is well known, however, that 
 exactly the reverse is true, and that every thing, as it 
 were, combined to crush down the founder of Christianity 
 in all his eftbrts to rise, and seemed forever to prohibit 
 him from leaving a state of obscurity, and soaring above 
 the great mass of common and every-day men. 
 
 § 105. Let us be cautious, however, in regard to this 
 subject, and in a matter of such importance, not draw a 
 hasty conclusion. Is it then in reality as certain as com- 
 monly supposed, that the circumstances in which Jesus 
 lived, were altogether of an adverse character ? It can- 
 not be denied that we are totally ignorant of Christ's 
 youth. The credible accounts given of his life, by his 
 friends, are almost entirely confined to the few years which 
 he spent as a teacher of his people, and leave the oc- 
 currences of his youth in the greatest obscurity. From 
 this lack of information, however, shall we be authorized 
 directly to infer, that during the time of which so little 
 is known, there was no favorable combination of circum- 
 stances, no convenient and natural way by means of which, 
 divine Providence might have led Jesus on to the attain- 
 ment of that high degree of excellence manifest in his 
 21* 
 
246 
 
 character, without the aid of a miracle ? From the per- 
 fect silence of the Evangelists respecting the early years 
 of Jesus, evidently, only thus much follows, that we are 
 unable to specify the natural causes, by which his extra- 
 ordinary faculties were awakened, stimulated and elevated. 
 This great deficiency in the history, does indeed deprive 
 us of a splendid spectacle, and prevent us from being able 
 to follow Jesus with an exploring glance through the whole 
 course through which God led him in order to make him 
 a teacher of the world, and the most distinguished bene- 
 factor of mankind. But who w^ould therefore assert that 
 he had no such course, and that divine wisdom could not 
 have ordered circumstances, as they must have been, if 
 exactly the character which has been described, was to be 
 produced according to the ordinary laws of the human 
 mind ? And would Jesus be as deserving of all our rev- 
 erence and gratitude, all our admiration and love as he in 
 reality is, if God had made him what he was by a mira- 
 cle of his almighty power ? Could we by way of merit, 
 impute to him that all comprehensive wisdom, that inimita- 
 ble resolution, that tender love and magnanimous devo- 
 tion of himself to the welfare of mankind, as we are in- 
 clined to do, if assured that these excellencies were not 
 acquired by his own exertions, but originated in the effi- 
 cacious and irresistible power of God? Besides, do not 
 the authors of his history give us to understand, that he 
 was formed by degrees, and under a variety of induce- 
 ments and favorable circumstances, like any other man ? 
 For what else can be the signification of the expressions, 
 that he increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with 
 God and man, Luke 2: 40, 52, than that his excellent 
 powers and talents were progressively developed and grad- 
 ually brought into exercise ? especially so, as the very 
 same modes of expression are used of John the Baptist, 
 Luke 1: 80. For any one therefore who w^ould give a 
 natural account of the origin of the great qualities which Je- 
 sus possessed, and render it intelligible, nothing farther ap- 
 pears to be requisite than in this great historical deficien- 
 cy, to avail himself of such hints as have been preserved, 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 247 
 
 and ground upon them a natural assemblage of causes, 
 by means of which, Jesus, in connection with the uncom- 
 mon parts of intellect and heart that he possessed, must 
 have become what he was. If such suppositions contain 
 nothing that is opposed to the well known history of those 
 times, the mode of thinking then prevalent, the ordinary 
 course of events, and the laws by which the human mind 
 is governed in its operations, then they may compensate for 
 the want of historical information, supply the great defects ' 
 of Christ's history, and convince us that there is no need of 
 admitting the agency of any J;hing supernatural or mirac- 
 ulous in the formation of this wonderful man. 
 
 It will be readily understood, that I here use the words 
 of an author, who, in a well known work,* has, of late, 
 not only attacked the idea that Jesus was educated in an 
 uncommon and supernatural way and the reasons which I 
 have now brought forward in its support, but has presumed 
 to fabricate a connexion of circumstances and events by 
 which Jesus may have been led on to the attainment of the 
 exahed perfections, which, from the examination that we 
 have given his great and benevolent plan, he seems to 
 have possessed. It w^ould be unjust not to confess that this 
 writer has exhibited much sagacity and excellent talents 
 in the manner in which he has dressed up his hypothesis, 
 and endeavored to procure for it, the approbation of his 
 readers. But do his explanations render every thing so 
 intelligible, and so far dispel and annihilate all appearance 
 of the miraculous and extraordinary, that we cannot any 
 longer be justified in going on to perfect the conclusion at 
 which we were aiming, and infer, that as the mind of Je- 
 sus was not developed according to the laws by which 
 minds are usually governed, he must have been made a 
 benefactor of mankind by an uncommon and especial in- 
 fluence of the Deity ? I can not think so by any means. 
 This is not the place indeed for me to prove what I believe 
 in this respect in detail, and enter upon a close examina- 
 tion of the several assertions and fictitious representations 
 
 * Comp. the Briefe Ober die Bibel im Volkston. 
 
248 
 
 of that author. The few considerations which follow will 
 suffice to show, that we are still authorized to admit the 
 agency of such causes in the formation of Christ's charac- 
 ter as cannot be observed in the ordinary course of things, 
 and justify us in the conclusion which we wish hereafter 
 to make. 
 
 § 106. In the^rs^ place then, the meaning of the ques- 
 tion of which I here speak, is not, whether, considered in 
 general, it is possible for divine wisdom to project a con- 
 nexion of circumstances, and arrange a series of natural 
 causes by the operation of which, according to the gen- 
 eral laws of the human mind, such a character could be 
 developed as Christ's was. Left in this indefinite state, 
 no one will wish to deny it; for who would not in gen- 
 eral admit it to be possible for divine wisdom and power to 
 operate by any means and arrangements which do not in- 
 volve a contradiction ? But, as has been said, this is not 
 the present subject of inquiry. The question before us 
 is, whether, considering the individual circumstances and 
 relations in which Jesus lived, ordinary causes could 
 have produced as great effects as they must have done, 
 in order to the formation of his mind. In the case before 
 us, therefore, we are not to enter upon the examination 
 of a general possibility, but the explanation of a matter of 
 fact, which, so far as it is made known to us by the inci- 
 dents related in history, assumes a definite form, and 
 must be clearly confined to the limits affixed to it, by the 
 connexion then actually existing between things. 
 
 It is farther to be considered, that he who asserts the 
 agency of something extraordinary, wonderful, supernat- 
 ural, in the education of Jesus, does not in so doing, as- 
 sume an immediate, and irresistible agency of God him- 
 self. What we call supernatural and wonderful in this' 
 case, is to be understood of the mode of education, and 
 implies nothing more than an unquestionable exception to 
 what can be effected by natural causes, so far as we know 
 them and have learned their power from experience. 
 The modest thinker will never presume to declare any 
 effect of so extraordinary a character as necessarily to re- 
 
EXTRAORDINAllY AND DIVINE, 249 
 
 quire God to have produced it by his own immediate op- 
 erations to the entire exclusion of mediate causes ; for to 
 whom has nature revealed all her. secrets ? To whom has 
 God unlocked the great machinery of the universe ? Who 
 is so accurately acquainted with all its springs, and has so 
 perfectly calculated all its moving forces, as to be able 
 to say with regard to every thing, with positive certainty, 
 thus far the power of nature extends, and here her forces 
 are exhausted ? Here the hand of the Almighty is ap- 
 parent ; here his arm produces immediate effects ! For the 
 present, therefore, the particular manner in which the great 
 qualities which make up the character of Jesus, were devel- 
 oped, may be considered as uncertain, and consequently 
 it may be left undetermined, whether Jesus was formed 
 directly by God himself, or through the intervention of 
 secret, and, to us, unknown, mediate causes. In this res- 
 pect, every person may be left to investigate for himself, 
 and follow his own convictions ; for who has a right to 
 complain of any one for searching after the natural means, 
 which divine Providence may have employed in order to 
 make Jesus the greatest benefactor of mankind, provided 
 he does it with becoming modesty and reverence ? If, 
 however, such investigations result in showing, that all the 
 advantages which Jesus actually enjoyed, according to the 
 testimony of history, or may be supposed to have enjoyed 
 with some appearance of probability, come far short of 
 solving the riddle, how he could have attained to an el- 
 evation so superior and unlike to that of the greatest men 
 before him, then we shall evidently be justified in consid- 
 ering the formation and perfection of his great mind as 
 something wonderful, and the unexplained effect of a 
 higher wisdom and power. 
 
 <5' ^ ^'^' ^ow therefore we have only to ask whether the 
 author quoted, who has presumed to attempt an explana- 
 tion of the entire formation of Christ's character, by means 
 of ordinary causes, has been able to discover favorable 
 circumstances enough in the connexions of Jesus, to jus- 
 tify us in pronouncing so extraordinary a phenomenon, 
 a natural one ; — whether, moreover, he has not attributed 
 
250 
 
 more influence and power* to these circumstances than 
 they could have had in the natural way ; — and finally, 
 whether he has been sufficiently candid in pointing out the 
 obstacles which must have opposed and impeded the de- 
 velopment of Christ's faculties, and whether he has ascrib- 
 ed to them that counteracting tendency which they actually 
 possessed. Should his explanation prove deficient in only 
 one of these respects, it would fail to satisfy every impar- 
 tial inquirer acquainted with the human mind and its laws 
 of operation. Now, how much soever attention this wri- 
 ter has paid to every little circumstance of history which 
 might be rendered useful in support of his opinion, and 
 how much soever eloquence and art he has exhibited in 
 the fabrication and representation of his fictions, he seems 
 not to have satisfactorily answered the one or the other of 
 • these inquiries, but in reality to have left all three of them 
 in an imperfect state. 
 
 For what are the advantageous inducements, under the 
 influence of which, the mind of Jesus is said to have 
 arisen to the attainment of a greatness that has not its 
 like in history ? All that the fertile imagination of the 
 author has been able to invent are opportunities to form 
 an acquaintance with the Grecian Jews, with enlightened 
 men among the priests, and with heathen writers.* Now 
 how many thousands of excellent geniuses there may 
 have been at the time of Jesus, who had all these oppor- 
 tunities, and might have used them with far more free- 
 dom and far less disturbance than he, and yet never arose 
 above ordinary men, nor once approached that greatness 
 to which Jesus attained ? Can we consent to look upon 
 such common and ordinary causes as sufficient for the 
 production of an effect which is altogether uncommon, 
 and in its kind, unique and unexampled ? The author 
 would have had trouble enough in accounting for the ori- 
 gin of the extraordinary perfections which Jesus possess- 
 ed, in an intelligible manner, with ample permission to 
 give him a better country, locate him among an enlighten- 
 
 ^ Vid. S. 335, of tho letters above quoted. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 251 
 
 ed people, and bring all the most favorable circumstances 
 at once to bear upon him, which ever combined together 
 for the production of a human mind ; and shall we be 
 persuaded to believe that these few, and in every respect, 
 common advantages are sufficient for the purpose ? If 
 for a moment we suppose so, it is evident that the author, 
 ill bringing the mind of Jesus to the perfection which un- 
 der the influence of these causes, it is said to have ob- 
 tained, must cause it to have taken such huge steps in its 
 progress, as with all his pretended explanations, to leave 
 the thing involved in all the incomprehensibility and won- 
 derfulness which he intended to remove or avoid. 
 
 But are the circumstances to which he alludes and at- 
 tributes so much power in the formation of Christ's char- 
 acter, historically considered, in reality so probable, that 
 we can admit them as causes to have had an agency in 
 this important affair ? No one will think of denying the 
 possibility of Christ's having been acquainted and familiar 
 with the Grecian, and especially the Egyptian Jews. It 
 is worthy of remark, however, that in the credible ac- 
 counts left us of his life, not the least trace of such ac- 
 quaintance is any where to be met with, and that Jesus 
 intentionally avoided intercourse with the Grecian Jews, 
 the only time in which we are informed, John 12: 20 seqq. 
 of their ever having evinced a desire to speak with him. 
 Besides, it is not easy to see what Jesus could have gain- 
 ed by such intercourse. However flourishing the condi- 
 tion of learning at Alexandria under the Ptolemies, the 
 form and character which it had assumed there, would 
 have led Jesus directly away from what he was, and was 
 to become. According to the testimony of history, the 
 Alexandrian scholars were characterized by a love for a 
 useless polymathy, a laborious diligence in learned play- 
 work, a taste for close and subtile meditations, an inclina- 
 tion for a mystical philosophy wrapt up in enthusiasm and 
 superstition, a kind of disposition for trifles, and a deci- 
 ded propensity for a life of idleness, and voluptuous 
 ease.* Jesus, therefore, must have favored these things, 
 
 * Vid. Heyne's treatise, De genio seculi Ptolemaeorum, in the 
 
252 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 had he received his edupation from Alexandrian teach- 
 ers. But in this way would he not have been made ex- 
 actly the reverse of what he was, and was to become ? 
 And with what degree of probability can we suppose 
 that there were men among the Jewish priests of that age 
 who could have contributed any thing for the purpose of 
 forming such a mind as Christ's was ? They were either 
 Pharisees, Sadducees, or ignorant, sacrificing priests. Now 
 it is well known how much the doctrines and designs of 
 Jesus were opposed to the main positions of these parties, 
 how much he differed from them in his fundamental 
 views, and how useless it is to examine him in order to 
 find the least trace of that influence which their instruc- 
 tion may have left in his mind. In saying this, I do not 
 deny that there may have been many excellent, thinking 
 men, among this great multitude of priests, who were 
 free from many pernicious prejudices. But how did the 
 poor and lowly Jesus, blessed with few favorable con- 
 nexions, happen to light upon these choice and excellent 
 men, who, if he ever found them, could not have led 
 him to a point beyond that at which they themselves 
 had arrived, and hence, were unable to say any thing to 
 him respecting the chief matter of his great plan ? 
 That Jesus could not have been indebted to the Essenes 
 in any respect for his education, admitting it possible for 
 him to have been led astray by them, is proved beyond 
 question by the fact, that the recluse principles of this 
 party and his plan were directly at variance.* And that 
 no one can resort in this case to a secret society of wise 
 men which may have existed and in whose bosom and 
 by whose aid and support,* Jesus may have found access 
 to sources of knowledge unknown to the rest of the 
 world has already been shown so clearly as hardly to 
 
 Opusc. acad., T. I. 76—134. [Neander's K. G., 1. 1. CO— 87. Strauss's 
 Helons Wallfahrt nach Jerusalem, Elberfeld, 4 Bde. 1820 fF., also con- 
 tains much that is excellent relative to this subject;} {Helon's Pil- 
 grimage to Jerusalem. A Picture of Judaism in the Centurj which 
 preceded the advent of our Saviour. Translated from the German 
 of F. Strauss, in 2 Vols., Boston, 1825. Tr.] 
 
 * With what is here said and that also on pp. 89, 00, respecting 
 the Essenes, compare Appendix E. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 253 
 
 admit of a doubt. We have seen that not the least trace 
 of any thing of the kind is to be discovered in all his- 
 tory. 
 
 Finally, books of heathen writers may possibly have 
 been found in Galilee, as many of the heathen lived in that 
 region. Here our author, owing to the scarcity and cost- 
 liness of manuscripts in that age, is much troubled to get 
 these books into the hands of the poor Jesus. Admit, 
 however, that he procured them of a rich Alexandrian 
 friend ; how could he have read and usfed them ? This 
 is a difficulty at which the author, like many others, has 
 not even glanced. It is true, indeed, that a Jew could 
 learn the Hellenistic Greek in Palestine in common life. 
 Admit that Jesus understood it, would that have been suffi- 
 cient for understanding the elegant philosophical writings of 
 Grecian antiquity ? Does a man, in order to read Plato 
 to advantage, need nothing more than a knowledge of the 
 corrupt Greek of the Alexandrian Jews ?* And how is 
 it possible, if this reading contributed, so very much to 
 the formation of Christ's mind, as the author would have 
 us suppose, that not the least trace of it should be dis- 
 covered in his discourses, the dress of his thoughts, and 
 his entire mode of teaching ? Why are all his instruc- 
 tions clothed in the drapery of Jewish images and modes 
 of representation, and every thing so far removed from 
 the Grecian urbanity and style of thinking, as to leave no 
 one any room to suspect that he was ever a pupil of the 
 Grecian sages ? 
 
 § 108. If, however, all the suppositions of the author 
 be conceded, it may be asked, whether he does not im- 
 pute too much influence to these favorable circumstances, 
 and from them draw greater effects than they would nat- 
 urally have produced ? It might be shown with perfect 
 clearness, were this the place to do so, that this is an er- 
 ror which prevails throughout the explanation which he 
 
 * There were persons in the first centuries of the Christian era, 
 who believed that Jesus read and made use of Plato. Augustin, 
 De Doctr. Christiana, 1. II. c. 28. § 43. 
 
 22 
 
254 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 has given of the natural development of Christ's mind. 
 Consider, for instance, the causes which are pretended to 
 have matured Christ's education before he was twelve 
 years of age, and then say, whether the trifles fabricated 
 by the author could have led Jesus on to the attainment 
 of that knowledge and extensive philosophical sagacity, 
 which he is said to have exhibited at that period of life 
 in his dialogues with the priests in the temple at Jerusa- 
 lem. Consider whether what Jesus is intimated to have 
 said on this occasion respecting divine miracles and reve- 
 lations, on the supposition of its being altogether true, is 
 agreeable to the mode of thinking which prevailed among 
 the ancients ; who, even when most enlightened, had a 
 great inclination for the marvellous. Whence, then 
 could Jesus have learned ^hose assertions, which are 
 opposed to the whole spirit of antiquity, and mani- 
 festly bear the impress of the last half of our own cen- 
 tury, and what intelligible account can be given of the 
 manner in which during the few preceding years of his 
 life, he acquired this information ? 
 
 There is a single additional remark, sufijcient to show 
 that the author has in every instance attributed too much 
 to the natural causes which are said to have effected 
 Christ's education. All the new light, with which, ac- 
 cording to history, our world has been blessed since the 
 origin and extension of Christianity, and every thing pe- 
 culiar to Christ's plan, to us indeed, aided by the age and 
 experience of many centuries, very clear and intelligible ; 
 all those excellent views and that religious knowledge, so 
 fertile in valuable results, and for which we are indebted 
 to Christianity and its founder, are here ascribed to Per- 
 sians, Alexandrian Jews, and a few priests at Jerusalem, 
 of whom, we are told, Jesus could have learnt them, and 
 by whom he must have been instructed. Can an explana- 
 tion which involves such palpable confusion of ages, and 
 those convictions of truth demonstrably peculiar to each 
 period, be considered as legitimate and valid ? If one may 
 treat the merits of great men as recorded in history in so 
 capricious a manner, it will cost but little trouble to rob 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 265 
 
 every benefactor of mankind, who has discovered any- 
 thing useful and added to the amount of human know- 
 ledge, of all the honor and renown to which he is enti- 
 tled. One has only to attribute what was his, to his 
 teachers and contemporaries, and announce that he 
 acquired it of them, and the riddle is solved. But 
 shall that which would be palpable ignorance, or man*- 
 ifest injustice, if practised upon any meritorious man 
 in history, be looked upon in any other point of view, 
 w^hen practised upon the founder of Christianity ? Are 
 we not under the same obligations to be cautious and im- 
 partially just in regard to his history, that we are in re- 
 gard to any other ? 
 
 § 109. And, finally, how striking it is, that the author 
 has passed over in silence, all the hindrances and difficul- 
 ties, which must have obstructed the development of 
 Christ's powers in the natural way. These obstacles, as I 
 shall show directly, are not conjectures nor ingenious fic- 
 tions, but matters of fact which lie upon the very face of 
 history. Now who does not know that he who undertakes 
 from a certain concourse of external circumstances and 
 a definite series of changes, to give an explanation of the 
 manner in which a human mind became exactly what it 
 was, is bound to look at the unfavorable circumstances as 
 well as the favorable, and form a due comparative estimate 
 of the counteracting effects of each ? Of course, he who 
 adduces only one of the two kinds, and by means of fic- 
 tions and additions, even multiplies and augments it 
 beyond bounds, will fail to give such a practical history 
 of a human mind as a psychologist expects, and at most 
 write nothing more than an agreeable romance. This 
 remark is of especial importance in regard to the history 
 of Jesus. The obstacles which opposed his cultivation in 
 the natural way and must have almost entirely frustra- 
 ted it, are historically certain, and perfectly evident. 
 Those which are said to have favored it consist of possi- 
 bilities and conjectures which have by no means all that 
 probability desirable in an affair of such importance. 
 Now is it compatible with the conscientiousness of a his- 
 
256 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 torian and the integrity of a philosophical investigator in 
 answering the question, how and by what causes Jesus 
 may have been made what he was, to reject historical 
 certainty, substitute fictitious data in its stead, and erect 
 bold explanations upon a foundation so weak ? The cir- 
 cumstances in which, according to unquestionable histor- 
 cal testimony, Jesus actually spent his youth, render it 
 impossible for us to conceive how he could have acquir- 
 ed those uncommon perfections which we have deduced 
 from his plan, or have become the greatest of men, if 
 God, with the intention of making him the means of hap- 
 piness to the world, did not afford him extraordinary 
 assistance. 
 
 There is no need of fearing that the admission of his 
 having received such assistance, will be prejudicial to the 
 meritoriousness of his great qualities. His history in- 
 forms us that while his great talents were developed by 
 degrees, it was accompanied with a wise and free use of 
 his own powers. This is what Luke means when he 
 says, that Jesus increased in wisdom, stature, and grace. 
 Admitting this to be correct, it follows of course, that 
 he was not a mere passive instrument by which the Al- 
 mighty power of God produced its irresistible effects. 
 The voluntary use that he made of the supernatural ad- 
 vantages which he enjoyed, in whatever they may have 
 consisted, secure him sufficiently against this objection. 
 The fact, however, that these advantages were supernat- 
 ural, can no more diminish the moral worth of his great 
 qualities, than it can be deemed an objection to another 
 great man, that he arose to a certain degree of excel- 
 lence hy the diligent use of ordinary advantages. Nor 
 can the assertion that Jesus received extraordinary assis- 
 tance from God, prove in any respect prejudicial to his 
 character, until it be shown, that in conjunction with this, 
 he only arrived at the goal, to which even other great 
 men have' attained. So extraordinary, however, are his 
 excellencies, and so manifest and great is the distance 
 which exists between him and the most exalted of men, 
 that, notwithstanding the various obstacles which external 
 
extraohdinary axd divine. 257 
 
 Circumstances* opposed to his progress, he must have em- 
 ployed the uncommon aid by which he was educated 
 and sustained, in a manner which does him the greatest 
 credit.* 
 
 It is time, however, for me to show, that Jesus actual- 
 ly received such divine assistance, and without it, situat- 
 ed as he was, could never have become, what, judging 
 from his great plan, he in reality did. 
 
 § 110. By what means could that d6ep and penetrat- 
 ing wisdom have been produced in him which is unques- 
 tionably exhibited in his plan? He lived among a people, 
 who were then given up to the most senseless superstition, 
 and did not even know how lo make a proper use of the 
 excellent instruction respecting God and genuine virtue, 
 which they possessed in their sacred books. He was brought 
 up in a region which was known even among these rude 
 and ignorant people, as one of the roughest and most 
 obscure. Judging from the circumstances, therefore, he 
 received no instruction which could have served for the 
 express development of his faculties. Neither did he 
 ever go out of his country for the purpose, for the jour- 
 ney which he vi^as compelled to make into Egypt, when 
 a child, could not have contributed any thing to his for- 
 mation in this respect. Hence, he never experienced the 
 benefits which the arts and sciences are able to confer 
 upon the human mind. In general, during the first thirty 
 years of his life he can have displayed nothing which 
 
 * [The objection to the immediate relation in which Jesus stood 
 to God, to which an answer is here given, has also been made in a 
 similar way in Bahrdt's Briefe Uber die Bibel, Jahrg. II. S. 3 ff. ; 
 also in his Ausfilrung des Plans und Zwecks Jesu, VII. S. 5 ff, and 
 Briefe Uber den Rationalismus, S. 377ff. On the other side, how- 
 ever, in addition to Felix Hess in Lavator's miscellaneous writinors, 
 Winierth. 1775. I. no — 113, particularly worthy of comparison is 
 J. F. Flatt, Bemerkungen aber das Beyspiel Jesu. A contri- 
 bution to the proof of the position : " can Jesus, notwithstanding 
 his extraordinary faculties, be looked upon as an example for us .? " 
 in the ^agazin fUr Christl. Dogm. I. 170—200. ; where, S. 188 ff. it 
 is shown in a striking manner, that those very faculties contributed 
 to increase the difficulties which stood in the way of Christ's per- 
 forming his duties, and enduring the sufferings before him.] 
 
 22* 
 
258 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 distinguished him in any respect from ordinary men, 
 appeared at all striking, or 'attracted the attention of 
 his fellow citizens ; for they did not begin decidedly 
 to oppose him until he had acquired some celebrity 
 in Jerusalem by his mighty works, John 4: 45. Ac- 
 cordingly he not only lived among the lowest ranks, but 
 he even spent his youth in obscurity and an employment, 
 which, while it afforded no nourishment for his mind, was 
 calculated to depress him and sink him down in perni- 
 cious indolence and despondency. His fellow citizens 
 were perfectly aware of this, and knowing that he had 
 enjoyed no means whatever either in respect to education 
 or society for the development of his mental faculties, 
 were struck with his wisdom, and looked upon it as alto- 
 gether incomprehensible, John 7: 1 5. 
 
 If under such circumstances he had accomplished only 
 as much as the greatest philosophers of Greece, it would 
 have seemed to be something impossible ; for they were 
 blessed with a thousand advantages in regard to their ex- 
 ternal circumstances. They often enjoyed the instruc- 
 tion of sagacious teachers, for several years in succes- 
 sion ; they passed their lives in investigation and reflec- 
 tion, and lived among nations by whom the sciences 
 were highly cultivated, and a love of wisdom was honoured, 
 encouraged, and rewarded. Of all this, the founder of 
 Christianity was entirely destitute. He would, therefore, 
 have been far greater than all the philosophers of antiqui- 
 ty, if he had accomplished only as much as they. But 
 he unquestionably did more. His wisdom was not only 
 purer and more exalted but more enlightened and useful. 
 The divine truths which he undertook to spread, were 
 scarcely seen by them at a distance or obscurely hinted 
 at. He resolved to impart to the world a system of 
 truths, which, human reason, notwithstanding the centu- 
 ries which it has had for reflection, the numerous inves- 
 tigations which it has gone through with, and the great 
 progress which it has made in every respect, is still oblig- 
 ed to recognise as the best, surest, and most useful that 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 259 
 
 can be uttered respecting the most important concerns of 
 man, his relation to his creator, and his destination.* 
 
 Nothing in this respect is more worthy of attention 
 than his morality. The most sagacious geniuses of anti- 
 quity had reflected upon, investigated, and discussed, the 
 chief principles of morality ; had furnished themselves 
 with all the means of knowledge then extant, and labor- 
 ed oftener and with more diligence upon ethics than any 
 other branch of human science ; and had apparently ex- 
 hausted the subject, so that nothing new or important 
 could be added to what had already been said. And 
 yet with all their efforts they had failed to represent mo- 
 rality in its true, divine dignity, to perceive the beautiful 
 relation which it sustains to religion, and to give it that 
 intelligibility, warmth, and power which it must have, in 
 order to be useful to all without exception. Without receiv- 
 ing instruction from any one or being acquainted with the 
 investigations of philosophers, and in a country where the 
 most incorrect notions prevailed respecting morality, Je- 
 sus thus exhibited it.f With a simplicity, brevity and 
 distinctness, adapted to the most unskilful of his hearers, 
 he gave instruction respecting the destination and obliga- 
 tions of men, of a far more exalted character than the 
 most sagacious philosophers had ever produced. Is it 
 possible to comprehend how this was effected ? how 
 he, who was destitute of every thing, calculated to lead on 
 to new discoveries in the kingdom of truth, was able to 
 g, perform more than the most excellent geniuses before 
 j|\ him, with all the advantages by which they were sur- 
 1 rounded ? 
 
 |- _ — ^ . . __ 
 
 * Comp. Origen, Contra Cels. 1. 1. § 29. p. 347. [Where he makes 
 precisely the same remarks.] 
 
 t " Sparte etoit sobre, avantque Socrate eut loue la sobriete : avant 
 qu'il eftt defini la vertu, la Grcce abondoit en hommes vertueux. 
 Mais ou Jesus avoit-il pris chez les siens cette morale elevee et pure, 
 dont lui seul a donne les le9ons et I'exemple ? Du sein du plus fu- 
 rieux fanatisme la plus haute sagesse se fit entendre, et la simplici- 
 te des plus heroiques vertus honora le plus vil de tons les peuples." 
 Rousseau, Emile, Liv. IV, p. 99. Bip. ed. [of the edition which has 
 been quoted, Tom. IX. 116.] 
 
260 
 
 His very conduct in the delivery of the truths which he 
 wished to extend, is worthy of the greatest attention. 
 His mode of teaching, especially the manner in which he 
 proceeded with his intimate disciples in this respect, is so 
 wise, considerate, and thoroughly adapted to the cir- 
 cumstances which he met with, that the more one is able 
 to throw himself back into those relations in which Jesus 
 lived and acted, the more perfect it appears. It was so 
 very peculiar however, and formed so little after any known 
 pattern, that it is apparent he in this respect took his own 
 course, without having received any direction from others. 
 Must we not especially admire the wisdom and deep pene- 
 tration with which he avoided the two errors into which all 
 those before him fell, to a greater or less degree, who at- 
 tempted to spread certain doctrines and aimed to bring 
 them into general circulation, — those of pother and inviola" 
 hie secrecy ? The way of free, undisguised, rational instruc- 
 tion, was manifestly the only correct one ; that, in which the 
 genuine illumination and universal reformation of mankind 
 could be the most securely effected. And this was the 
 way that Jesus chose. In this respect also, he is most advan- 
 tageously distinguished from all the sages who ever pre- 
 ceded him. Let no one think however that this is a trifle. 
 Has not experience shown how difficult it is for a human 
 mind when it is zealously enlisted in favor of certain doc- 
 trines, to adhere to this only correct path ? Did not even 
 the followers of Jesus depart from it soon after the times 
 of the apostles, and are not mankind at present weak 
 enough to call in, sometimes compulsory laws, at others, 
 secret institutions, to aid the progress of truth ? How 
 shall we explain the fact that Jesus alone deviated fiom 
 this universal custom, and in this respect also stood alone ? 
 But what surpasses every thing which has hitherto been 
 said, and must fill every reflecting mind with astonishment, 
 is the fact, that Jesus had a conception of his great and 
 comprehensive plan, as early as in the twelfth year of his 
 age. This is perfectly evident from the answer which he 
 gave his parents, when, having missed him on their way to 
 Galilee, and turned back again, they found him in the 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 261 
 
 temple at Jerusalem among the teachers of the people : 
 Wist ye not that I must be about my father^ s business ^ 
 Luke 2: 49. Whatever explanation we give to these words, 
 at the bottom, they evidently contain the idea, that this lad 
 of twelve years of age even then felt himself destined for 
 the great religious reformer, which he afterwards became ; 
 that even then he had a conviction that he had been born 
 for the purpose of effecting a benevolent change on earth 
 in conformity to the decrees of God.* For even at a 
 
 * [This interpretation and application of that passage has been at- 
 tacked in Rohr's Briefe tlber den Rationalismus, S. 187, with 
 which corap. 162. " Reinhard" says he in the place quoted, " to an 
 expression which unbiassed interpreters look upon, as the expression 
 of a childish, but deep religious feeling, appears in reality to have 
 attributed an idea respecting Jesus which was drawn from the lat- 
 ter years of hisUife, or in other words, from the result. 'Its meaning,' 
 Bays Michaelis in his note upon the passage, ' is ; I am in the tem- 
 ple, in the house of God, that is, properly speaking, at home. Why 
 did you not seek for me here ?' Admit that the phrase, iv roig rov 
 TcaxQog iiov, designates the house of God, the temple, even then there 
 are two things to be attended to, upon which its literal impression 
 depends; (1) the words, rov Ttarqog fiov, which are evidently oppos- 
 ed to the words of Mary, thy father and I, ^c. and by which, in or-* 
 der to correct this expression, Jesus reminded Mary of the Being 
 whom alone he recofjnised as his father; whence of course, it fol- 
 lows, that in this place, he expresses a clear and full conscious- 
 ness of his sustaining a higher relation to God, than mankind in gen- 
 eral ; (2) the words, Sei iivai /ts, which point to a feeling of duty, 
 and a consciousness of having received a far more important call 
 to engage in divine affairs than one can expect to meet with, ac- 
 cording to the ordinary course of things, in a youth of twelve years of 
 age. — Gabler in the Neueste Theolog. Journal, (1799) III. 99, ac- 
 knowledges, * that this passage, if one is disposed to rely upon a 
 single, definite expression, preserved by Luke respecting the histo- 
 ry of Christ's youth, in reality affords very decisive evidence, that 
 he was under an uncommon divine influence, and felt himself, even 
 when in his boyhood and amidst very unfavorable circumstances, 
 to be destined to become a religious reformer. How easily,' contin- 
 ues he, ' might expressions have been transferred from the discourses 
 which Jesus afterwards delivered, — when a man — to the history 
 of his youth ; — expressions which in some respects actually resem- 
 bled those that he made use of, when a lad ! For instance, in his 
 reply to what his parents objected to his conduct, had he said ; * Do 
 I act improperly by tarrying in Jehovah's temple ?' how easily 
 might this expression have been transformed into phraseology after- 
 wards used in discharging the duties of his office, thus ; ' Must I 
 not be in the house of my father ?' (iv toi.g rov naxQog iiov Set iivai 
 /*£,) and yet that expression by no means contain all that this is sup. 
 
263 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 later period of life, when his mind was unquestionably fil- 
 led with the great plan, which we have considered, he ex- 
 posed to signify." — What other reason, however, is there, for ques- 
 tioning the credibility of this part of Luke's account, than an imwil- 
 lingness to admit that he says any thing implying that Jesus exhib- 
 ited a wonderful and premature greatness of mind ? If this principle 
 be adopted, every one will be justified in capriciously degrading all 
 that is great and sacred in the community in which he resides. 
 Did not Luke know well from what source he had received his ac- 
 count? Luke 1: 3, 4. Mary carefully preserved the words spoken 
 to her, without forgetting them, though she did not understand their 
 full impart until sometime afterwards. But in what respect could 
 these words have proved enigmatical to her and Joseph, or in general, 
 appeared attracting and worthy of being preserved, had Jesus inten- 
 ded nothing more than to say : " Is it improper for me to remain in 
 the temple ?" At any rate, if this and other accounts are made up of 
 fictions, whence comes it that the fictions of the Gospels are so spir- 
 itual and dignified, while the fictions of the Apocraphy are so spirit- 
 less as immediately to betray their spurious character ? The words of 
 Hern. v. Meyer may here be adduced as a counterpart of the prece- 
 ding quotation, Ehrenfrieds Lehrabende, Erste Fortsetzung, Ft. a. 
 M., 1808., S. 45—48. " The period in which Christ made himself 
 known may be distinguished by three epochs. The firsts is his 
 birth, which was celebrated by prophets, wise men, and a choir of an- 
 gels ; the second, his appearance in the temple, when a boy of twelve 
 years of age ; the third, his entrance upon his ministry as a divine 
 messenger, sustained in this character by the greatest power to work 
 miracles. The first ushered in the kingdom of God with a prelude ; 
 the second, though in itself considered, an epoch worthy of particular 
 attention, was a prelude to the third. — Jesus was twelve years of age, 
 when the heavenly flower of his wisdom unfolded itself. Here was 
 a case in which instruction from others was superfluous, for he was 
 already acquainted with himself and his destination ! ' Wist ye not,' 
 said he, 'that I must be about my father's business V No lad of twelve 
 years of age could have spoken thus, without being the Messiah, and 
 knowing it. To all others these words were unintelligible and they 
 remained locked up in Mary's breast. Yet, the transactions of this 
 occasion were necessary, in order at a time in which it might be 
 done, without any farther peril to the youth, to reanimate the spirits 
 around with the faith of a Simeon and an Anna, strengthen those who 
 were in expectation of the consolation of Israel, and fill the minds of 
 the learned with splendid reflections. A great event which arouses 
 us, is ordinarily announced at an early period. Then it lies still, 
 until it breaks out for the second and third time. He who attends, 
 can recognise the indications of its fulfilment. But as the multitude 
 never attend, as wickedness is blind, so Jesus ripened before and af- 
 terwards, in happy forgetfulness ; no one strove after the king of 
 Judah, the prince of the family of Davi^', after the Life. Satan him- 
 self was the first who found him, having received permission to 
 tempt him. In the mean time, Christ fulfilled the entire lot of hu- 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 263 
 
 plained himself in a similar manner respecting it, and, 
 in so doing, gave his hearers to understand that the con- 
 ception and expression had long been familiar with him, 
 John 4; 34. 8: 29. And, now tell me how a common, in- 
 digent lad of Galilee, who had never enjoyed any of those 
 advantages calculated to fill the mind with great concep- 
 tions and mighty resolutions, could have struck upon a 
 thought to which the greatest men before him had never 
 approached ? Tell me how this thought, and that too 
 at an age when youthful levity and childish play generally 
 occupy the soul, and drive it on in pursuit of delightful 
 sensations and pleasing dreams ; — how this thought, inde- 
 scribably great and serious as it was, could have so com- 
 pletely filled the mind of this boy, and taken such firm 
 possession of it, that he should speak of it with the reso- 
 lute earnestness of a man, and be able to conceal it for 
 years afterwards and shut it up in his breast for the pur- 
 pose of avoiding any useless surprise before the time ? 
 
 With all these unquestionable matters of fact in view, 
 is it possible to explain the laws under whose influence 
 this mind was formed and point out the way which it took 
 in order to arrive at such perfection ? It is true that the 
 sacred books of his nation contained the leading ideas of 
 what he taught and allusions to such a plan as his was. 
 But what are these dawning rays compared with the sur- 
 passing splendor of this sun of righteousness ? Why did 
 not thousands and thousands of his fellow citizens who 
 possessed these books, make his discoveries, and obtain 
 some hint of his plan? Why were the learned men 
 of his nation, who were occupied their whole lives, with 
 these writings, simple fools, and short-sighted, circum- 
 scribed chatterers in comparison with him ? Whence did 
 
 manity. Possessed of an equal eternity with the Father, he passed 
 through the limits of time, not becoming suddenly what he was, 
 but gradually increasing in more extensive wisdom, in manliness, 
 and grace, in the presence of God and man, even after the scene in 
 the temple, and until he had arrived to perfect maturity, becoming 
 a man without equal, and active as the founder of a new, a heaven- 
 ly kingdom upon the theatre of the world." '] 
 
264 
 
 he acquire the intelligibility, definiteness, and highly- 
 wonderful simplicity with which he spoke respecting the 
 most important concerns of mankind, upon which, in 
 touching images and short narrations, he uttered more 
 that is true and useful than can be found upon the subject 
 •in the most laborious investigations of philosophers ? Here 
 every thing is incomprehensible. If God did not enlighten 
 him and destine him for a teacher of the world, it is not 
 easy to see how He, this man from the low crowd, in the 
 midst of an ignorant nation, could have conceived the idea 
 of his great plan, and become the founder of a religion 
 which is more rational, exalted, and benevolent, than any 
 the world ever contained ; how he could have soared to 
 the attainment of a wisdom by which he left all other wise 
 men far behind him. 
 
 §111. But farther ; — it is very difEcult to comprehend 
 how that firmness and strength of soul could have been pro- 
 duced in him, without which he could never have sustained 
 a conception of his great plan, much less, have been able to 
 cherish and carry it through with pleasure. Had the 
 strength of his soul consisted of that wildfire which rages in 
 the conqueror, and drives him on to fool-hardy undertakings, 
 then there would be no cause for wonder. It is evident 
 from a multitude of examples, that this quality is develop- 
 ed with the greatest facility among a barbarous people. 
 But the strength of his mind was the energetic active- 
 ness of an enlightened soul, which, having once rationally 
 considered and resolved upon its enterprises, shuns no 
 difficulty, shrinks from no obstacle. Notwithstanding the 
 zeal with which he operated, the irresistible power with 
 which he pressed on to his goal, he took no precipitate 
 step, adopted no improper measures, and acted with a 
 wisdom and moderation, which one would by no means 
 expect to find in a mind of such strength. His prudence 
 exceeded every thing of the kind that had actually been 
 witnessed among his people, and never suffered him 
 amidst the noisy applauses which sometimes fell to his lot, 
 to be blinded, or seduced into an erroneous opinion. 
 This prudence of itself affords proof of his having had ex- 
 
EXTRA-ORDINARy AND DIVINE. 265 
 
 traordinaiy self-possession ; as nothing is more connmon 
 than for even great men to place too early confidence in 
 the flattering appearance of a favourable event, and either 
 to become far too secure, or begin to act with improvi- 
 dence, John 2: 23—25. 
 
 Now what was there to favor and cherish such strength 
 of mind as that which awakened this courage in the 
 founder of Christianity ? Had he received an education 
 which kindled in him an unextinguishable flame for 
 great undertakings ; — but it is- well known that he had re- 
 ceived nothing of the kind. Had he possessed power, 
 and by means of connexions and affluent circumstances, 
 been able to calculate upon procuring for himself with 
 ease, a great and extensive influence; — but we are in- 
 formed that he was a poor Jew, of mean origin, totally 
 destitute of power and authority, and had nothing to de- 
 pend upon for assistance derived from his condition in 
 life. Had his courage been cherished and his heart in- 
 spired with especial boldness by the rapid success of 
 his undertakings and the hope of soon being able to ar- 
 rive at the goal of his wishes ; — but neither was the case. 
 The result of his most zealous efibrts was upon the whole 
 so bad, that the strongest mind without his heroism would 
 have given up all in despair. The surprise which he 
 created, was not the effect that he desired. He saw 
 indeed, that great crowds ran after him, and people of 
 every class pressed around him. They were put in mo- 
 tion, however, by hopes of earthly greatness and daz- 
 zling power, which bound them in magic fetters, and 
 wrapt them up in sweet and delusive dreams. These 
 he was obliged to suppress ; — a work, which, while it put 
 his courage to a severe test and called upon him to impart 
 to his countrymen better knowledge and information, 
 from their obstinacy he was scarcely able to effect. What 
 should he do with his proud nation, so totally misappre- 
 henslve as it was of its real wants and infatuated almost to 
 madness by the giddiness of extravagant expectations ? 
 which prejudice should he attack in the first place ? How 
 could he infuse into these rough men tliat love of truth, that 
 23 
 
266 
 
 zeal for virtue, that tender benevolence, and that forbear- 
 ing calmness to which they would not even listen, and 
 that, because they desired of him enjoyment and wealth, 
 authority and power, and in particular, dominion over the 
 heathen ; and in case he did not fulfil this desire, were 
 ready to mock, insuh, and crucify him upon the spot ? 
 For several years in succession did he labor with them, 
 and then he was as far from accomplishing his object in this 
 respect, as at first. By all his efforts and journeys and 
 perils he was unable to divest even his own intimate disci- 
 ples of those prejudices, which, if not totally eradicated, 
 would have prevented the execution of his plan.^ Un- 
 der such adverse circumstances, was it possible to pro- 
 duce that firmness and strength of soul, which, in spite 
 of every difficulty, should adhere steadily to the idea of 
 carrying into effect a plan of universal benevolence ? 
 
 It inspires a man with courage to see a goal before 
 him and be able to hope that in process of time he 
 sl>all reach it. Thus circumstanced, he labors, suffers, 
 and struggles, because assured that it will not be in 
 vain. But where was the goal, the sight of which could 
 have sustained the courage of the founder of Christian- 
 ity ? He might easily have known that his extremely 
 rude nation would not long permit him to labor and toil 
 for the execution of his plan. He saw that this execu- 
 tion would require a course of centuries. And yet he 
 shrunk not from the Undertaking, but adhered faithfully 
 to his purpose in death. Were there grounds to suspect 
 him of enthusiasm, I would cease to inquire any longer 
 for those causes in which such unheard of firmness of 
 soul could have originated. But that man must be ig- 
 norant of what enthusiasm is, who is able to discover the 
 
 * Celsus, vid. Origen, lib. II. Sect. 33 seqq. [especially Sect. 39. 
 p. 413 and 417, de la Rue,] adduces the small success of Christ's ef- 
 forts as an objection to Christianity and its founder, and Origen 
 takes great pains to represent the effects of Christ's instruction as 
 great and extensive. He might have saved himself all this trouble, 
 for this small success, rightly contemplated, proves very honourable 
 to the founder of Christianity. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 267 
 
 least traces of it here. Every suspicion of the kind is an- 
 nihilated by the single remark, that the prevailing tone of 
 his mind was not animation, wild zeal, nor raging passion, 
 but a still, rational calmness which no passing attacks of 
 fanatic rage and extravagance could interrupt or disturb.* 
 But it is indeed, altogether incomprehensible how in one 
 and the same person, this cool reflection and calm equa- 
 nimity of temper could have been combined with a burn- 
 ing activity and bold enterprising courage, so far excelling 
 all the fire and courage of the most notable heroes. 
 
 Let the natural way, therefore, be pointed out which 
 the mind of Jesus took to acquire such greatness ; let 
 reasons be given to show why he unquestionably had 
 greater courage than the boldest spirits of antiquity, and 
 exercised it in a way entirely different from what they 
 were accustomed to do. The men of great internal 
 power before him were usually conquerors ; and he also 
 might have been one, if he had chosen. According to 
 the common course of things he must almost have been 
 obliged to be one. He lived in a country in which every 
 heart was inflamed with a spirit of insurrection. No 
 persons were more sensitive and passionate, none more 
 ready to fly to arras at the least hint, than the restless 
 Galileans among whom he was brought up.f How was 
 it possible for his mind, full of ardor, activity and cour- 
 age, not to be affected witH the same mode of thinking 
 prevalent among his countrymen, driven on to warlike 
 enterprises, nor even in tender youth, to receive a false 
 direction ? In the latter part of his life, he was not only 
 presented with excellent opportunities for undertaking 
 something great, but he was expressly called upon to free 
 his native country from the disgraceful yoke of foreigners, 
 and place himself at the head of the nation. His Gali- 
 
 * Comp. Hess, Ueber die Lehren, Thaten, und Schicksale unsers 
 Herrn, S. 244 ff. [Ausg. von 1806, zweite Halfte, S. 196 ff.] 
 
 t [Josephus bears particular testii»ony to the warlike character of 
 the Galileans ; De bello Jud. III. 3, 2. Haverc. 11. 233, with which 
 compare Wetstein upon Luke 23: 4. Tom. I. 742. j 
 
268 Christ's plan proves him 
 
 ]ean citizens were in a state of very great excitement, as 
 Herod had caused John the Baptist to be beheaded.* 
 Had Jesus only seized upon this occasion, he might have 
 soon rendered himself terrible to this odious ruler. But 
 so far was he from stimulating the exasperated nation, 
 that, in order not to be the cause of disturbances inciden- 
 tally, he withdrew himself from the multitude which sought 
 him with such eagerness, and retired into the region of 
 the sea of Galilee. More than once, great crowds, un- 
 der the influence of the hopes which they entertained of Je- 
 sus, having been inflamed and rendered as courageous as 
 lions, were resolved to take him by force and make him 
 their leader. He was a descendant of David, that ever 
 honored hero and king ; and his mother had been in- 
 formed by an angel, that God would give her son the 
 throne of David his father, and exalt him to be ruler of 
 the people Israel, Luke 1: 32, 33. His very birth, there- 
 fore, seemed not only to justify him in thinking of the 
 deliverance of his countrymen, who had long fought and 
 striven to shake ofl" the foreign yoke, and who burnt with 
 desire to wash away the reproach which they had hitherto 
 suffered, in the blood of the heathen, but to absolutely 
 compel him to do so. Finally, he was required to do this 
 at an age, when he possessed the strength of youth and 
 all the glowing fire of a great and enterprising mind. 
 Even here, however, his exalted spirit took a way new 
 and altogether peculiar to himself. Amidst all the sedu- 
 cing excitements with which he was surrounded, he re- 
 mained faithful to his plan, in the execution of which no 
 force was to be employed, and treated the renown of a 
 hero for which the greatest men before him had thirsted, 
 with magnanimous contempt. f Whence all this moderation 
 
 * Comp. Hess, Geschichte der drey letzten Lebensjahre Jesu, 
 Th. I. B. IV. K. 1. S. 235. [Nach der 8n. Ausg. v. 1822, S. 523 ff.] 
 
 t [Comp. Hess, Lehre, That. u. Schicks. uns. Herrn, H. 61 f. 
 (15 f. der A. v. 1816.) " Jesus must have heard much said of a Judas 
 of Galilee, and his seditious undertakings in a country which was 
 soon to be the theatre of his own actions. Such an example as that 
 set by this restless zealot, especially among a people as enterprising 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 269 
 
 and forbearing meekness on the one hand, and this un- 
 questionable firmness and strength on the other ? How 
 could Jesus, left as he was to himself, and under circum- 
 stances which would naturally have produced directly the 
 opposite effects, have attained to such cultivation ? How 
 can that courage be accounted for, with which, though 
 animated by no appearance of happy results, he adhered 
 to his plan even to the last, and the firmest, indeed, when 
 God and man had as it were united against him, and 
 every thing seemed to result in nothing ; at the time of 
 his death ? If he was not sustained by the Deity, 
 upon whom in a plan of this character, every thing im- 
 mediately depends; if the Creator did not make him a 
 benefactor of his race, I know not what to answer. At 
 least, he was not deceived in his hopes. So far was his 
 plan from being frustrated by his death, that its execu- 
 tion went on much easier and better than before. 
 
 <^112. And, finally, what shall I say of the benevo- 
 lence, embracing all mankind, that lay at the basis of 
 this plan, which the founder of Christianity had delineat- 
 ed before him for the good of the world ? Here he is 
 
 as the Galileans in general, and as irritable and fickle as the inhabi- 
 tants of Nazareth in particular, (Luke iv. comp. v. 22 with vs. 28, 
 29,) might easily have lighted up the breast of a youth full of talent 
 and fire, but destitute of firmness, and a self-control under the guid- 
 ance of wisdom, with the invincible sparks and impulse of freedom, 
 and that to a most dangerous flame. But then such an one would 
 hardly have remained a mere spectator until thirty years of age. 
 It is worthy of particular remark in regard to our Lord that he was 
 able to live for so long a time among so seditious a people as the 
 Jews, without allowing himself to become in the least degree a 
 partizan and partake in their spirit of revenge, or among so irrita- 
 ble countrymen, without being' infected with their obstinacy and 
 their prejudices. What he saw or heard of brooding uproar seem- 
 ed rather to produce an opposite eff'ect upon him, and confirm him 
 in his resolution to have nothing to do with any thing of the kind. 
 When the account came from Jerusalem, that Pilate had caused 
 some Galileans to be slain while engaged in the business of sacri- 
 ficing, (an account of itself alone sufficient to inflame the irritable 
 Jews to a sedition,) not a bitter word escaped from his mouth. He 
 represented their fate as a misfortune, not absolutely undeserved, 
 nor yet particularly deserved, but as a warning to those around 
 him."] 
 
 23* 
 
270 
 
 entirely without example. We have searched all the an- 
 cients to find such a plan, in vain. His taste in this re- 
 spect differed ahogether from theirs. Moreover nothing 
 could have been less favorable to this magnanimous and 
 unparalleled benevolence than the mode of thinking pe- 
 culiar to the nation in which Jesus lived. It is not easy 
 for a people to be farther removed from genuine, active 
 philanthropy, than the Jews were at the time of Christ. 
 They looked upon the heathen with the greatest con- 
 tempt, and even shunned intercourse with them as far as 
 possible for fear of being contaminated. By means of 
 the odious reign of Herod the Great, who was a foreign- 
 er and recognised the Jewish religion only in appear- 
 ance, and by means of the Roman supremacy, under 
 which the country afterwards fell, this aversion had been 
 greatly increased, and finally it ended in universal exas- 
 peration. Under such circumstances was Jesus brought 
 up, and one would suppose that with the strength of mind 
 which he possessed, and the ardent courage with which 
 he braved the greatest difficuhies, he would have become 
 the deliverer of his country, and have endeavored to pro- 
 cure for his nation that dignity, which, according to Jewish 
 pride, they were to maintain among nations less beloved, 
 or perhaps even reprobated by their Creator ; especially as 
 he found his fellow citizens, as I remarked above, very 
 much bent upon such an undertaking. But his soul was not 
 narrow and contracted enough to devote itself to such a 
 plan. In the midst of circumstances which might have 
 bound it up entirely in the fetters of Jewish selfishness, 
 and in senseless, national pride, it enlarged itself to an ex- 
 tent of benevolence, to a universal feeling of kindness, to 
 a tenderness and philanthropy, of which history furnishes 
 us with no similar example. In the plan formed by Je- 
 sus, not a trace is to be discovered of that aversion to 
 heathen nations, so peculiar to the Jews in Palestine. On 
 the other hand, one of its principal objects was the re- 
 moval of that distinction which had hitherto existed be- 
 tween Jews and heathen. Mankind were to be saved, 
 educated, and blessed, by its influence, whatever they were. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 271 
 
 How was it possible for a man who embraced all the na- 
 tions of the earth in the greatest love, and projected one 
 of the most benevolent plans that ever sprung from a 
 human mind, to derive his origin from a nation which de- 
 spised all other nations, made hatred to them a religious 
 duty, and considered it criminal to approach them or 
 form connexions with them ? Here every thing is new 
 and incomprehensible ; every thing governed by strange 
 laws. External circumstances and relations are constant- 
 ly at variance with the disposition and feelings of Jesus, 
 and produce in him effects directly the opposite to what 
 they usually do in other cases. Under such circumstan- 
 ces, no human mind has ever developed such qualities. 
 If God was not with this man, it is not easy to see how 
 he became what he was ; how he could possibly have 
 acquired that heavenly dignity, greatness, and elevation, 
 with which he stands forth unequalled and alone in the 
 vast space of history, far surpassing in splendor all that 
 is worthy of admiration upon earth. 
 
 § 113. And now let him, who has a sense of what true 
 greatness of mind is, who can rejoice to hear of genuine 
 magnanimity, bold undertakings, and benevolent plans, 
 and is impartial and just enough to acknowledge, esteem, 
 and love, truth, exaltation, and goodness, wherever found, 
 reflect, once more, upon the extraordinary plan which I 
 have been considering ; call to mind the qualities for 
 which its author was so strikingly distinguished, and then 
 ask his heart, whether it is rational and just, to treat with 
 indifference, and perhaps with base ridicule and profane 
 contempt, the conception of such a man as Christ was ; 
 who, without any external aid, could not only undertake 
 the most important work that was ever attempted, but 
 even effect a movement which should reach to so many na- 
 tions and last for centuries ; let him consider whether 
 such conduct is not a most biting satire upon the mind 
 and heart of him who can so far forget himself as to be 
 guilty of it ; and whether the conviction of the many 
 thousands, who have been induced by numerous other 
 reasons, to look upon the founder of Christianity as a 
 
272 EXTRAORDINARY AND DIVINE. 
 
 most exalted ambassador from God to our race, as well 
 as their Redeemer and Saviour, is not far more rational 
 than that frivolity, which, without any rational proof, be- 
 lieves the contrary. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 A. p. 6. 
 
 Respecting the manner in which Reinhard has apprehended the 
 plan of Jesus. 
 
 Some Christian readers, having hearts familiar and 
 thoroughly penetrated with the entire representation giv- 
 en by the Evangelists of the work of redemption wrought 
 out by Jesus Christ, may be surprised, and after all, 
 dissatisfied, on finding that this production of Reinhard 
 contains but a partial representation of Christ's plan. It 
 must be recollected, however, that Reinhard exhibits the 
 plan of Jesus only as that of an institution calculated for 
 the religious instruction and improvement of mankind at 
 large, and, at the very commencement (p. 5) expressly 
 declares it not to be his intention to speak of the appro- 
 priate work of redemption accomplished by Christ, that 
 is, of the expiation of sin effected by his death, and the 
 salvation of mankind from guilt and condemnation. That 
 Reinhard had any doubts as to this part of Christ's work, 
 or confined his entire merit as a Saviour, to his merit as 
 a teacher, no one can believe, who has ever glanced at 
 his other writings, especially his Sermons, Theology, and 
 Confessions.'^ The question however may arise : What 
 
 * [The following places among others may be consulted : Ser- 
 mon on the Reformation, Predigten, Vol. II. for 1800 ; Gestaudnisse, 
 Br. IX. S. 90 ff., Sulzb., 1810; Dogmatik, § 89 ff. 4te. Aufl., espe- 
 cially § 107 ; where, after having mentioned various minor objects 
 which were to be accomplished by Christ's death, ho concludes with 
 stating the grand one } namely, to deliver mankind from the guilt 
 and punishment of sin, and then goes on to guard and defend the 
 doctrine that Christ's sufferings were vicarious, against the Socini- 
 ans, Universalists, &c. Comp. also. Biblical Theology, transl. from 
 the work of St(Jrr and Flatt by Schmucker, Vol. II. pp. 218, 229. Tr.] 
 
274 APPENDIX, A 
 
 induced Reinhard to take such a general view of Christ's 
 plan, and whether this part of it can be separated from 
 Christ's other work ? 
 
 The reasons of Reinhard's mode of proceeding in this 
 respect, are easy to be discovered. It is necessary, in 
 the first place, to go back to the occasion of the present 
 publication in the year 1781. This was the appearance 
 of the Wolfenbuttel Fragment respecting the object of 
 Jesus shortly before, or in the year 1778. In this work, 
 the ethical character of Christ's plan was entirely mis- 
 taken and the plan itself degraded into an ignoble, though 
 unsuccessful one, for assuming the control of the nation. 
 How it was possible for a man of Reimarus' noted moral* 
 character and distinguished, learned, and scientific edu- 
 cation, thus to misapprehend the object of Jesus, so 
 clearly laid down in the New Testament, and treat his 
 personal character with insult, and often with rude pro- 
 fanity, will always belong to psychological problems. 
 To the Wolfenbuttel Fragmentist, succeeded Bahrdt 
 who did not impute to Christ a political plan indeed, for 
 he acknowledged the moral tendency of his plan, but 
 yet, in another point of view, he brought suspicion upon 
 Christ's character and mode of introducing his doctrines, 
 by making him employ the deceptions of a secret society 
 for the purpose, which would necessarily obscure the per- 
 sonal dignity of Jesus and the pure splendor of his work. 
 In opposition to these calumnies, Reinhard came forward 
 in behalf of Christianity, and triumphantly defended the 
 
 * That Reimarus was the author of the Fragmente, Meusel con- 
 sidered onhj as probable in the Lexicon der 1750 — 1800, verst. 
 teutsch. Schriftst. XI. 132; but since the communications made 
 by Hartmann in the Leipz. Litt. Zeit. 1825, Sep. Nr. 231 , 232, and by 
 Oertel, Decemb. Nr. 299., also in the Zweifel, 1826, Marz, Nr. 60, to 
 which, Nr. 61, and 1827, Marz, Nr. 55, an answer has been written by 
 Gurlitt, may be looked upon as decided. Had it not been far from 
 Reimarus' intention to publish The Fragments, one would be tempt- 
 ed here to adopt the opinion of Samuel Johnson, respecting the 
 publication of Bolingbroke's works after his death. Vid. BoswelPa 
 Life of Johnson, Vol. I. 171. [Vol. I. p. 210, Bost., 1807. To this 
 may also be added the opinion of Geo. Whitefield. Vid. his Eigh- 
 teen Sermons, S. XVI. p. 205, N. B. N. J., 1802. Tr.j 
 
APPENDIX^, A. 275 
 
 purity of its founder both in respect to his object and 
 the means which he selected for its accomplishment. If 
 these circumstances be kept in view, it will be perceived 
 that Reinhard could not well have given greater extent 
 to his labor than he has done, and that an investigation of 
 the entire work . of redemption accomplished by Christ, 
 was necessarily excluded. He was obliged to adhere to 
 the general question : Was the tendency and influence of 
 Christ's plan ethical in the main or not ? Moreover 
 Reinhard thought that some readers, who were still un- 
 decided in their opinion respecting Christianity and its 
 author, and very far from believing in the doctrine of 
 expiation, needed a general introduction to the truths of 
 the Gospel ; and hence, that it would be very appropri- 
 ate for such readers to have an explanation given in the 
 first place, of the moral dignity of Christ and his work 
 simply, in order that their hearts might be thus rendered 
 susceptible of true reverence towards the person of Jesus 
 Christ. That Reinhard has accomplished this object in 
 regard to many persons can be admitted with certainty.* 
 A man could now hardly be found who would repeat the 
 defamations which have been uttered in the Wolf. Frag, 
 respecting the sacred name of Jesus, or refuse to pro- 
 nounce all his arguments, sophisms. It would be diffi- 
 culr to find a man who would give his assent to the fic- 
 tions of Bahrdt. The investigation respecting the purity 
 of Christ's plan, is decided and brought as it were to a 
 close ; and who can doubt, that Reinhard's work exerted 
 an essential influence in giving a better direction to gen- 
 eral opinion in this respect ? 
 
 Then the compass to which this work of Reinhard is 
 confined, may also be defended, if it be considered in a 
 scientific point of view. It is an apologetical perform- 
 
 * Comp. for example, the honorable opinion of the spirited and 
 accomplished philologist, Morlin, in Lenning's Encyclopadie der 
 Freimaurerei, I. 187, aus dem Altenb. Journal far Fr. Maurerei, B. 
 II. Heft. 1. u. 2, where he expressly acknowledges that Reinhard 
 has developed the arguments brought forward against Bahrdt's hy- 
 pothesis, in a clear and acute manner. 
 
276 APPENDIX, A. 
 
 ance, and to be looked upon as a " contribution to the 
 proofs of the Christian religion." Apologetics, however, 
 according to the views which Grotius* has correctly taken 
 of them, have nothing to do with defending the single 
 doctrines and positive precepts of Christianity. If this 
 were the case, it would be necessary for them to com- 
 prehend the whole of theology and polemics, for which 
 however, they only prepare the way. The object which 
 they aim to accomplish, is a scientific exhibition of the 
 arguments in proof of the divine authority of Christian- 
 ity as a revelation in general. They inquire, therefore, 
 whether, and how, Christ was accredited as a divine 
 messenger. They begin with a preliminary examination 
 respecting the genuineness of the divine credentials, 
 which Christ received, and then proceed to a closer 
 scrutiny of the purport of his heavenly commission. If, 
 therefore, the views taken by Reinhard of Christ's plan, 
 are brought forward as a series of apologetical deduc- 
 tions, it is sufficient; there is no need of doing any thing 
 more than giving a general prominence to the moral part 
 of this plan, the part worthy of God. 
 
 If, in regard to this subject, the question be asked ; 
 where shall we begin with skeptics, and those who op- 
 pose Christianity, in order to incline them to favor it in 
 only a general degree, every one will readily see that it 
 would not be easy to commence with the expiation of 
 sin by Christ, which is one of the deeper mysteries. The 
 first step to be taken in order to lead such persons to be- 
 lieve at all in Christ, is, evidently, to make them acquaint- 
 ed with his character and his plan so closely connected 
 with it, or the pecuHar spirit which pervaded his whole 
 life and all his actions, as being in a moral point of view, 
 to the highest degree venerable and deserving of love. So 
 long as a person entertains doubts respecting the purity of 
 Christ's character, he cannot be expected to have gen- 
 
 * Comp. the article Apologetik in the 4th Bde. der Ersch-Gruber- 
 schen Enryclopadie. [Vid. the article also in the Encyclop. Am. 
 or Conv. Lex. Consult also Sack's Apologetik, Harab.. 1829. Tr.] 
 
APPENDIX, A. 277 
 
 ulne faith in him, and he who has not unhesitatingly re- 
 cognised Christ as the holy one an^ong men, is by no 
 means prepared to recognise him as a mediator. 
 
 Perhaps many readers and even critics of Reinhard's 
 work, by overlooking the above named point, will be led to 
 impute to him a view of Christianity from which he was 
 very far removed, and make him look upon it as nothing 
 more than the means employed by Providence for the ad- 
 vancement of rational religion. This supposition may even 
 procure for this work the approbation of many persons 
 who would otherwise have rejected it with disdain. 
 Should this be the case, however, it would be unjust to 
 make use of it for the purpose of censuring the author, 
 and accusing him of having been the occasion of de- 
 ception in this thing, by taking an imperfect or impartial 
 view of the object and work of Jesus. 
 
 If, however, abstracted from all this, the question 
 should be asked, whether in real, practical Christianity, 
 in the contemplation of a Christian feeling for Christ, 
 it be possible to form a conception of his plan and 
 keep it distinct from his entire and complete work as a 
 Redeemer, it would scarcely need a reply, for obviously 
 it is not. Christ himself is one ; his work is one great 
 work. As this work is not divisible in itself, so neither is 
 it, as an object of a living faith. Faith is to adopt and em- 
 brace the whole Christ, who of God is made unto us wis- 
 doirij and righteousness, and sandification, and redemption, 
 1 Cor. 1: 30. This Christ is to remain inseparable, or to 
 use an old figure which Reinhard, (vid. his Life by Po- 
 litz, IT. S. 265,) after the example of Cyprian (De unitate 
 Ecclesiae ab init., p. 181. ed. Prior. Par. 1666,) and 
 Whitefield, (vid. Burkhard's Geschichte der Methodisten, 
 II. S. 99,) also delighted to employ, the coat of Christ was 
 without seam, and remained undivided. If then the plan 
 of Jesus was intended for the advancement of genuine 
 morality in close connexion with love to God, then not 
 to recognise who he was, and how in his mission and the 
 sacrifice he offered for us, he has laid before us the high- 
 est and strongest motive for inducing us to love God and 
 24 
 
278 APPEiiDix, B. 
 
 man, John 3. 16. 1 John 4: 16, 19, is to sever its very 
 nerves. The establishing of the kingdom of God and 
 the reception of mankind into it, could not have been 
 effected without the complete reconciliation of mankind 
 with God. 
 
 B. p. 28. 
 
 Concerning the first quality and the original extent of Christ's 
 plan. 
 
 Reinhard assumes that Jesus had a perfectly clear con- 
 ception of the plan which he intended to form and exe- 
 cute, at the very commencement of his career, and, as far 
 as this was concerned, always remained the same ; as al- 
 so that this plan in the mind of Jesus had that unlimited 
 universality imputed to it in the Gospels. Both positions 
 have lately been questioned, and other views proposed in 
 their stead. 
 
 I. In relation to the first, it has been asserted, that, 
 notwithstanding the obviously moral and religious nature 
 of Christ's intentions, and his decided aversion to political 
 undertakings and violent revolutions, he did not reject all 
 idea of exerting a mediate and indirect influence in im- 
 proving the external condition of his people and effecting 
 their civil deliverance ; that, during the first period of his 
 public life in particular, he had hoped to be publicly recog- 
 nised as the Messiah on the part of the nation ; in which 
 case, according to the notions entertained by his coun- 
 trymen upon the subject, as their theocratical king, he 
 would have been entitled to the supreme power in the 
 state, though it does not appear that he had thought of 
 the relation which the theocratical king of the people 
 would in this case sustain to the Roman government; 
 that afterwards, when Jesus clearly saw the fate which 
 awaited him and the error of this hope, he rejected all 
 the national and political relations of his plan, and adhered 
 solely to the religious part of the theocracy ; and that 
 
APPENDIX, B 279 
 
 hence, originated the formation of the plan of a spiritual 
 kingdom, though perhaps he was not lead to this measure 
 without great internal conflicts ; that it is even probable 
 that Jesus did not immediately and unconditionally relin- 
 quish all effort for the establishment of an external theoc- 
 racy, even after he had taken this resolution, but rather 
 left the decision of the matter solely to the will of God as 
 indicated in the unalterable course of things.^ 
 
 In proof of these assertions it is maintained : (1) That this 
 theocratical hope was necessarily connected with the no- 
 tions which the Jews had of the Messiah, and it is not ea- 
 sy to see for what purpose he needed this name, as a mere 
 teacher of morality and a religious founder, and that 
 his very entrance into Jerusalem, Matt, xxi., excited such 
 political hopes ; (2) that expressions are to be met with, 
 in which Christ indicated an expectation of beholding his 
 kingdom solemnly commenced during his lifetime, as 
 for instance. Matt. 10:23. 16; 27, 28. 24:34; (3) that 
 it is evident that Jesus entertained such a hope during the 
 former part of his life from the prevailing serenity by which 
 he was characterized, and afterwards gave it up, from the 
 anxious melancholy which he passed through ; and that 
 the mental struggle he endured in Gethsemane was oc- 
 casioned by the destruction of such hopes ; especially, 
 as he had previously expressed the same sorrow in view 
 of the approaching desolation of his people, Luke 19: 41 
 — 44 ; (4) that the belief of the apostolic church, that. 
 Christ was to establish an external kingdom, betrays this. 
 It will be proper to subjoin something by way of confu- 
 ting the most weighty arguments in favor of the above 
 assertions. 
 
 * So Hase in particular, Das Leben Jesu,S. 85—89. 100 f. 109—113. 
 129. 149 f. 174 f., L. 1829, the fundamental traits of whose represen- 
 tation are to be found in De Wette, Commentat. de morte I. C. ex- 
 piatoria, p. 87 seqq., with which however compare his Bibl. Dogm. 
 § 216 seqq. S. 195 fF. ; so also in part, Ammon, Bibl. Theol. II. 378 f. ; 
 Paulus, Leben Jesu, 1. 2. S. 106 f. II. 2. XI. &c. , as also many passages 
 of his commentary ; Gieseler, Lehrbuch des K. G., 1.67fF. ; and 
 the author of the work, Der Streit der Kirche ; a Work dedicated to 
 the Christian nobility of the German ^nation^ I. c. 2, L. 1827. 
 
^ ' 280 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 The Messiahship of which Jesus conceived, was not 
 in any respect a political theocracy, but purely a spir- 
 itual one. He did not draw it from the notions which 
 the people entertained upon the subject, but from the 
 word of God, and it was proper that he should com- 
 mence by doing so. Now he was this true Messiah, 
 and the Saviour having been announced in the Old Tes- 
 tament under this name, he could not do otherwise than 
 confess and show himself to be such. Had Jesus consid- 
 ered the idea of a Messiah only as an incidental, national, 
 and temporal one, he would not have made use of it. 
 He looked upon it however as positively certain, as firm- 
 ly decreed by God, that a Messiah should make his ap- 
 pearance, and that Ae himself v^^s the person. The exe- 
 cution of his entire work, therefore,- was connected with 
 his being recognised as the Messiah. He could not be 
 the spiritual Saviour if he were not the divine instrument 
 of redemption pointed out in the Old Testament, under the 
 name of the Messiah. As the Jews, however, had blend- 
 ed erroneous, impure, and secondary conceptions with the 
 pure idea of the Messiah, Jesus was obliged to conduct 
 with much reserve in making known his claims to this digni- 
 ty and correct the notions entertained by his countrymen up- 
 on the subject. All his operations and instructions were di- 
 rected to the accomplishment of this object, as has alrea- 
 dy been shown by Reinhard with sufficient clearness, by 
 whom also a lucid explanation has been given of the real 
 character of his last entrance into Jerusalem. 
 
 That (2) in the places cited, Christ has expressed even 
 a hope of commencing the establishment of an earthly king- 
 dom, cannot be admitted without directly contradicting the 
 explanations which he himself has given of them in other 
 places. The coming of Jesus can unquestionably be un- 
 derstood of different events as is the case with the coming 
 of God in the Old Testament, and from Matt. 26: 64, 
 when Jesus was already devoted to death, and cannot 
 possibly have been thinking of the establishment of his 
 kingdom as an earthly one, it is evident, that this coming 
 was a revelation of his heavenly dominion and power 
 
APPENDIX, B. 281 
 
 which Was soon to be commenced and gradually be devel- 
 oped ; that this revelation commenced immediately after 
 his resurrection from the dead, became manifest in the 
 out pouring of the spirit and the establishment of the 
 church, was exhibited in the judgement brought upon 
 the whole Jewish nation, was continued in guiding and 
 extending the church, and will be continued from age to 
 age until the final judgement of the world. This coming 
 of Jesus, therefore, many of his contemporaries actually 
 lived to see. 
 
 (3) That a change took place in the direction of Christ's 
 nind; — that in the former period of his life, it was serene, 
 and in the latter, melancholy, is an assumption altogether 
 without proof, a pure matter of fiction. The joy which 
 je feh on the successful commencement of his work by 
 the messengers whom he had sent forth, Luke 10: 21, 
 had not the least connexion with the hope of being pub- 
 licly recognised by his nation. On the other hand, the 
 expression of joy which he uttered on this occasion, fol- 
 lowed the denunciation of fearful woes against those cities 
 which believed not on his name, vs. 13. — 15. Nor in 
 Luke 4: 18 — 21, is there any thing to be found of those 
 high and serene hopes which Jesus is supposed to have 
 had at the commencement of his career. On the contra- 
 ry, having sharply censured the insensibility of his hearers, 
 vs. 23 — 27, the short and transitory emotions which he 
 had excited in their minds, were followed by the greatest 
 aversion and contempt, vs. 28, 29. — To attribute the suf- 
 ferings of Jesus in Gethsemane to disappointed hopes, is 
 to assume as proved what in the first place needs proof. 
 Or was this frustration of cherished hopes the only con- 
 ceivable cause of the struggle which he there endured ? 
 Certainly other and deeper causes are to be discovered. 
 With such a tender heart indeed as Jesus possessed, he 
 could not avoid being deeply afflicted on looking forward 
 to the civil destruction of his nation, especially when in it, 
 he recognised the judgement of God, a sign of the great- 
 est corruption and obduracy of heart, and the coming, far 
 more extensive, spiritual deterioration of his countrymen, 
 24* 
 
282 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 Matt. 12: 45. That Jesus, however, ever flattered him- 
 self with being able to effect the civil deliverance of his 
 people, this circumstance does not afford the least proof. 
 
 And finally, (4) as to the earthly expectations of the 
 apostles or the Chiliastic opinions of later Christians, we 
 Jcnow, that Christ labored incessantly to oppose the for- 
 mer from the very commencement, and that the latter 
 were introduced into Christianity from Judaism, and can- 
 not possibly be deduced from Jesus. 
 
 The assertion respecting the belief of the apostolic 
 church is not merely destitute of tenable proof. It stands 
 directly opposed to the strongest arguments. The whole 
 Evangelical history shows that from the very out-set, Je- 
 sus expected nothing else than to be misapprehended and 
 rejected by his people, and consequently, that he can never 
 have thought of being able to effect their civil deliverance. 
 He declared his expectations, on his very first appearance in 
 Nazareth, as we find in Luke 4: 23 — 27, where he says 
 expressly, that it was not in his native country, but among 
 the heathen and strangers that he should find persons to ac- 
 knowledge him, as was formerly the case with Elijah and 
 Elisha, and the event even in Nazareth showed how cor- 
 rectly he had judged in this respect. Hence, he not only 
 calculated that many in Jerusalem would exercise a short 
 and superficial faith in him, John 2: 23, but he went so 
 far as to maintain a wise and shy reserve in regard to them, 
 because he knew what was in man, vs. 24, 25. In one 
 of the first discourses which he delivered to his disciples. 
 Matt. 5: 11. Luke 6: 22, he declared that they would be 
 reviled and persecuted on his account ; that men would 
 hate them, excommunicate them, reproach them, and 
 cast out their name as evil for the Son of man's sake. 
 How can such annunciations as these made by Jesus at 
 the very commencement of his ministry, be reconciled 
 with the supposition that he entertained the hope of being 
 recognised ? When, as we are told in Matt. 8: 8, 9, the 
 heathen centurion exhibited remarkable faith in Jesus, he 
 immediately broke out in the confession that no such faith 
 was to be found in Israel ; that the children of the king- 
 
APPENDIX, B. 283 
 
 dom were to be rejected, while strangers from afar should 
 be introduced into his kingdom. How plainly do such 
 sudden assertions, called forth as they were, by some in- 
 cidental circumstance, betray the expectations of his 
 soul ! Where can a single assertion of the opposite kind 
 be met with, the meaning of which is equally clear ? Not 
 even his brethren and relatives believed upon him, John 
 7: 5. Could he anticipate any thing more from the rest 
 of the multitude ? He was well acquainted with them, 
 and knew that it was impossible to please them. Matt. 
 11: 16 — 19. On this very account, he could not think 
 of the civil deliverance of his people ! Even John 
 the Baptist had a presentiment of the approaching de- 
 struction of his nation. Matt. 3: 10. Was Christ less 
 acquainted with the future ? — With passages taken from 
 the latter part of Christ's life we have nothing to do here, 
 as it is admitted that then he had relinquished all idea 
 of being recognised by his people as their theocratical 
 king. — Should it be asked by way of objection, why 
 Jesus nevertheless used his utmost exertions to bring the 
 people to believe in him as the Messiah ? why he act- 
 ed as if he supposed they would recognise him as such, 
 if he indulged in no hope of the kind ? a satisfactory 
 answer is at hand. Jesus was called to be the Saviour 
 of mankind, to found a kingdom of God and invite all 
 men into it. He was obliged to fulfil this call, and make 
 known the truth to every one, whatever might be the con- 
 sequence. The performance of a duty does not depend 
 upon the failure or success of the operations con- 
 templated. The herald of truth is obliged to lay down 
 his testimony, whether men listen to it or not. Love 
 should never grow weary in making efforts, and new 
 ones too, for reforming those who err, however ineffectual 
 they may be.* Jesus acted in such a spirit. He worked 
 the works of Him who sent him, how litde soever the 
 result corresponded with his efforts. How truly were the 
 
 * Fichte has some excellent remarks upon this subject, Anweis. 
 zum seligen Leben, S. 301 f. 
 
S84 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 words of the prophet Isaiah, 49: 4, fulfilled with regard 
 to him : " Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have 
 spent my strength for nought and in vain. Yet surely 
 my judgement is with the Lord, and my work with my 
 God." He was bound, at least, not to fail by his re- 
 missness to exculpate God in this respect, and deprive 
 the nation of all excuse. Besides, it should be recollect- 
 ed, that though the nation as a body did not receive him, 
 yet there were not wanting individuals who believed upon 
 him, and became a good seed from which issued the 
 first church of Christ. In this respect, his labor was not 
 in vain. 
 
 Moreover, the supposition that Jesus expected to be 
 recognised by his nation and thus enabled to found an 
 external theocracy, is in direct opposition to the fact, that, 
 from the very commencement of his career, he had a 
 positive conviction that he was to suffer a violent death. 
 Of the importance of this fact we may be assured from 
 the strenuous efforts which its opposers have made to de- 
 prive those passages brought forward in its favor, of all 
 their force ; or ratlier, as this is impossible, from the vio- 
 lence with which these opposers have assailed them. 
 John 2: 19: 22, has already been remarked upon in a 
 note on pp. 72 and 73. Another meaning has indeed 
 been opposed to the one given to these verses by the 
 Evangelist, but if the authors of it were honest, they 
 would confess that it has been brought forward merely 
 because of its incompatibility with Christ's prediction of 
 his death and resurrection. Christ, however, foretold his 
 death with equal clearness in the dialogue which he held 
 with Nicodemus. This dialogue bears the strongest marks 
 of genuineness and authenticity, as it exhibits a clear con- 
 nexion, and a regular and well meditated progression. 
 Jesus continues the thread of the discourse wnth a steady 
 hand, notwithstanding all the digressions of Nicodemus. 
 He first informs this ruler of the necessity there is of his 
 being born of the spirit through an external consecra- 
 tion, inasmuch as the Jews must experience such a new 
 birth before they can be admitted into the kingdom of 
 
 J 
 
APPENDIX, B. 285 
 
 heaven. He then speaks of the means by which this 
 spiritual regeneration must be effected, and after severely- 
 censuring Nicodemus for the ignorance which obliges him 
 though a scribe to inquire after this means, leads him deeper 
 and deeper into the secrets of the divine will, and affirms 
 that he himself is the Messiah sent from heaven for this 
 purpose, and to effect it and procure the redemption of all 
 according to the requisitions of the love of God, must be 
 lifted upon the cross. And, finally, he concludes with se- 
 riously reminding Nicodemus, and that too in a manner 
 which must have cut him to the heart, that he must believe 
 on the Son of God and openly advocate this cause as an in- 
 dispensable condition of salvation, and also that unbelief 
 springs out of a corrupt heart and will end in destruction. 
 In close connexion with the chain by which all parts of 
 this dialogue are linked together, is to be found the lifting 
 v'p of the Son of man by which this redemption is to be 
 effected ; — a thing reckoned among heavenly things, or 
 those which can be known only by divine revelation, and 
 entirely distinct from earthly things or those which can 
 be ascertained by common experience (such as the deep 
 ruin of mankind and their need of salvation,) and extoll- 
 ed as affording the highest proof of the love of God ;-^ 
 in far too close a connexion indeed, and constituting too 
 essential a part of the chain itself, to allow of listening to 
 the accusation that the passage was foisted in by John.* 
 
 "" Comp. the Commentary of De Wette just quoted, p, 89, Note. 
 There is no reason given sufficient to show why John may not have 
 been admitted as a hearer to take part in this important dialogue. 
 It is true, that Nicodemus wished for no witnesses. It is certain, 
 however, that he had nothing to fear from any but the inimical, 
 and had no reason to suspect that the innocent apostles would be- 
 tray him to the rulers as a secret disciple of Jesus. The supposi- 
 tion that Jesus treated his apostles in so exoteric a manner as to 
 exclude them from dialogues which he held with still more secret 
 and more confidential friends than they were, is a groundless fic- 
 tion, and one which agrees but badly with the frankness of Christ's 
 character and the intimacy of his intercourse with the apostles. To 
 suppose in addition to this that Matt. 17: 3 refers tp secret allies 
 altogether unknown to the apostles who allowed themselves to em- 
 ploy a pretended voice of God for the purpose of deception, is to 
 fall directly into the profanations of the history of Jesus whieh 
 
286 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 In addition to this proof taken from the Gospel of John, 
 we find testimony of an equally early date, in Matt. 9: 
 15, that Jesus entertained a certain expectation of death, 
 in the figurative language of his reply to the question, 
 " Why do not thy disciples fast?" The days will come 
 when the bridegroom shall he taken away from the chil- 
 dren of the bride-chamber; language which evidently 
 alludes to his death and the sorrow with which it would 
 fill his disciples. 
 
 But how can it any longer be considered as in the 
 least degree incredible that Jesus knew the destiny which 
 awaited him from the very commencement of his career, 
 when it is beyond controversy that he did, early in the 
 second period of it ? The causes which authorized him 
 to entertain such an expectation then, were in active oper- 
 ation and well known to him when he entered upon his 
 ministry. He had long been familiar with the spirit of 
 the age, the wicked dispositions of the rulers and the 
 people, and the impetuosity of the Pharisees and Saddu- 
 cees. What else could have been implied in the pro- 
 phetical language of Simeon, with which Christ was cer- 
 tainly acquainted, Luke 2: 34, 35, than that a painful 
 exit awaited him ? That was the sword which was to 
 pierce through the soul of Mary. And, finally, if we 
 reflect upon the predictions relating to the Messiah con- 
 tained in the prophets in which his history and destina- 
 tion are clearly pointed out, (xar« to ojgia^svov, Luke 
 22: 22,) with which Christ must certainly have been for 
 a long time acquainted when he commenced his public 
 ministry, we shall find that nothing could have been 
 •more certain to him than the death to which his calling 
 would subject him. 
 
 Moreover, any one who is inclined to admit the sup- 
 position which we are here controverting, ought very se- 
 riously to consider, how the whole world could have 
 been brought by the united will of the Jewish nation 
 
 originated with Bahrdt, upon which the stamp of reprobation has 
 Jong since been affixed. 
 
APPENDIX, B. 287 
 
 to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, without the pro- 
 duction of great political commotions, and, indeed, 
 a complete overthrow of the existing state of things. 
 To accomplish such an object, the spiritual authority, 
 which could never have been expected to yield assent 
 to the decision of the nation, must have been entirely 
 destroyed ; and this could hardly have been effected 
 without coming in contact with the Roman governmeiit 
 by which this authority was recognised and defended. 
 Whither would this have led ? How directly opposed 
 would such undertakings have been to Christ's character 
 and what he intended to effect ! 
 
 The last view which we have to take, is, whether this 
 supposition is reconcilable with the dignity of Christ's 
 character. It is said that the groundless hopes which 
 Jesus first entertained, resulted merely from an error of 
 the understanding, or an opinion too favorable to man- 
 kind, benevolent persons often being deceived in this re- 
 spect, and hence, cast no reflections upon the good- 
 ness of his heart; that on the other hand, it proves 
 much to the honor of Jesus, that though he had enter-- 
 tained the highest, earthly hopes, yet he relinquished them 
 as soon as he found that the will of God was different re- 
 specting him. But is it very much to be doubted wheth- 
 er even this view of the subject will remove every ob- 
 jection to it out of the way ? It must necessarily diminish 
 our reverence for Jesus to admit, that he at least com- 
 menced his public career under the influence of vain 
 hopes, and was only brought by a course of time to re- 
 cognise his delusion to such a degree as to change his 
 mode of thinking and feeling in this respect. This is 
 not the character of a wise mind, perfectly free, clear, 
 and unconstrained. Besides, the hopes here alluded to 
 were not purely spiritual, but mixed with earthly expec- 
 tations ; — expectations of an earthly recognition, which 
 could not have remained in his breast without thoughts 
 of earthly honor and distinction. He who entertains 
 such hopes, does it certainly because he wishes for their 
 accomplishment* Hopes belong more to the heart than 
 
 I 
 
288 APPENDIX, B 
 
 to the understanding. In maintaining tiiat Jesus " receiv- 
 ed these errors from imbibing the views of his country- 
 men," we admit him to have been touched and infect-^ 
 ed with their impure and national spirit, notwithstanding 
 the entire opposition which he ever evinced to it. A 
 heart perfectly pure, preserves the intellect from all the 
 deceptions of false hopes, and what diminishes our es- 
 teem towards any one in whom we discover such weak- 
 ness, is, to find ourselves unwillingly obliged to trace 
 them from the undertanding to the heart. Now if Jesus 
 in the last struggle of his soul, w^as pained at the annihi* 
 lation of his hopes, and even indulged a momentary anti- 
 cipation of temporal deliverance, then it affords us proof 
 that he had not even then entirely relinquished them 
 as vain, and that they must have been deeply rooted in hi$ 
 heart, inasmuch as they fluttered before him in the very 
 face of death. Is this reconcilable with the dignity of 
 Christ ? Can we admit this and yet retain a full and un- 
 limited reverence for his person ? 
 
 II. That Christ's plan had the greatest universality, and 
 comprehended all the human race of every age, is a 
 point of the greatest importance in Reinhard's investi- 
 gation, and hence, it has been clearly and circumstantially 
 developed, pp. 17 — 28; and had no other passages of 
 the Evangelists been appealed to, but those which prop- 
 erly belong to the subject, it is impossible to see how 
 any one could ever have had any doubts respecting the 
 compass of Christ's plan. Doubts, however, have been 
 raised. It is admitted and must be, that a plan of uni- 
 versal extent is ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels ; but, 
 says one, " neither Jesus nor his apostles ever actually 
 had such a comprehensive plan before them, but it was 
 formed in the secret counsels of Providence, who car- 
 ried the work commenced by Jesus and his apostles to 
 a much greater extent than they ever anticipated, and 
 brought it to an extraordinary result ; just as the oppo- 
 sition of Martin Luther to the sale of indulgences proved 
 the means of effecting the reformation. The assertions, 
 therefore, ascribed to Jesus respecting such a plan, es- 
 
APPENDIX, B. 289 
 
 pecially in the Gospel of John which was evidently writ- 
 ten at a late period, are nothing more than the views of 
 later reporters formed after the event. Paul, however, 
 in particular, contributed towards giving Christianity uni- 
 versal extension, as without him it would probably have 
 always been confined to Syria and Palestine, and have 
 had a corresponding character."^ In support of this 
 opinion, appeals are made in part to the words of Je- 
 sus, Matt. 10: 5. 15: 24, the meaning and application 
 of which have already been unfolded by Reinhard, p. 
 8 ; and in part to the history of the aposdes, which 
 is said clearly to prove, that, during the first years of their 
 ministry, they had no idea of spreading the Gospel among 
 the heathen, and were utterly averse to receiving them into 
 the Christian church ; while, had Peter been acquainted 
 with Matt. 28: 19, 20, and believed it to be Christ's will 
 that he should preach the Gospel to all nations, it is im- 
 possible to comprehend why a vision should have been 
 necessary to persuade him to visit the house of Cornelius. 
 We have, in the first place, to answer these arguments. 
 That Jesus did not permit the apostles to go and preach 
 the Gospel to the heathen at the very commencement of 
 
 * Preparation had in some measure been made for this assertion 
 by the Fragment vom Zweclte Jesu, inasmuch as the politico-na- 
 tional plan of Jesus is said to have been first transformed into a 
 universal, spiritual one, by his disciples. Vid. 1. c. S. 72fF. 117 f. 
 Then, the following have expressed the same opinion : Robr in the 
 Briefe, S. 41. Not. 7. 174. 254. 261, though in doubtful terms, comp. 
 S. 144. 169—171 ; Kaiser, Bibl. Theologie, I. 15—22. 25—27. 243 f. ; 
 H^feli, Nachgelass. Schriften, herausg. v. Stoln, Winterth., II. 1814 
 — 15, B. II. S. 73 f. ; the author of the work : Der Zweck Jesu, ge- 
 schichtlich u. seelkundlich dargestellt, L. 1816, S. 14. 17—19. 104 s. 
 123. 125 ; against which work perhaps the Christmass Prograra- 
 ma of Tittmann, De lesu Christo, rerum e consilio patris peragen- 
 darum vere sibi conscio, 1816, was drawn up ; particularly the re- 
 viewer of Planck's Geschichte des Christenthums, during the pe- 
 riod of its first introduction into the world by Christ and his apos- 
 tles, Getting. 1818, II., in the Leipz. L. Z., 1810, Sept. Nr. 240. S. 
 1917. The following, on the other hand, adhere to Reinhard's view 
 of the subject: Henke, K. G. I. § 8. S.40. 5e Ausg. ; Linde, in 
 the above, S. 29, and elsewhere ; Oertel, Christologie, S. 781 — 
 810, where a complete abstract is given of Reinhard ; Kestner, Agape, 
 S. 43. Not. ; Planck, 1. c. Kap. I. VI. XL— XIII ' ' " 
 
 ijeben Jesu, S. 50 ff. 
 
 25 
 
290 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 their labors, was, for the very wise reason, that it was of 
 prime importance to scatter seed and lay a foundation 
 among the Jews before thinking of the conversion of 
 the heathen. The apostles however would have been 
 prevented from all access to the Jews, had they at this 
 very time, opened intercourse with the gentiles. Hence, 
 the rule laid down by Jesus for the direction of his apostles, 
 Matt. 10: 5, was evidently applicable only to their first 
 commission during his lifetime, and not intended for 
 all subsequent periods. "Distingue tempora et con- 
 cordabit scriptura." The same is also true of Matt. 
 15: 24.* In this verse, Jesus speaks of the limits to 
 which, during his earthly career, his own personal ef- 
 forts were to be confined, and not of the whole extent of 
 his commission as a Saviour. — ^In regard to the apostles, 
 it cannot appear strange to us, that at the commence- 
 ment of their ministry they confined themselves to the 
 boundaries of Judea, and made it their first object to lay 
 a firm foundation for a church among their own country- 
 men, and to preserve and strengthen it as soon as it was 
 planted. To infer from their conduct in this respect, 
 
 * This passage is a testimony of the faithfulness with which, even 
 in the midst of persecution from which he was obliged to withdraw, 
 Jesus observed that part of his commission which called him to at- 
 tend personally to his own ungrateful country, and of the purity 
 with which he kept himself from every ambitious desire for extend- 
 ing the sphere of his earthly labors as for as possible ; — an example 
 which should serve as a reproof to those men who conduct direct^ 
 the opposite, and endeavor to extend the sphere of their oper- 
 ations to a great distance, while they leave what lies immedi- 
 ately about them, undone. (Plutarch, De Exil. VIII. 375. 2n(XQ- 
 rav iXax^?, ravrtjv xoo^ui ) The apparent hardness of the words 
 addressed to the Canaanitish woman, vanishes, when, with La- 
 vater in his Vermachtniss an s. Freunde, II. 139, 140, we sup- 
 pose, that Christ did not express his own views of the subject, 
 but those of the Jews in general, and intended to try the woman to 
 see whether she would impute to him the same mode of thinking. 
 Or, if this supposition is not authorized by the text and the an- 
 swer of the woman, perhaps Jesus intended by means of this pro- 
 verbial comparison, to remind her of the uncleanness and unworthi- 
 ness of the heathen, and accordingly to bring her to the last and try- 
 ing test. He, pure and holy as he was, might certainly in the se- 
 rious language of the law, upbraid sinners with their deep ruin. 
 
APPENDIX, B. 291 
 
 that the idea of receiving the heathen into the church 
 was entirely foreign from their minds, we have no author- 
 ity. Peter speaks of the destination of Christianity to 
 become universal in the very first sermon that he deliver- 
 ed, in which he says, " For the promise is unto you, and 
 to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many 
 as the Lord our God shall call," Acts 2: 39. The afar 
 off in this place can be no others than the heathen.* 
 The same is also true of Acts 3: 25, 26, in which he makes 
 the promise given to Abraham, that in Ms seed all the na- 
 tions of the earth should he blessed, refer to Christ, and 
 gives us clearly to understand that he looked upon Christ 
 as the Saviour of all nations ; and when he adds, " unto 
 you first, God having raised up his Son Jesus," it is an 
 evident intimation, that, in his time, the Gentiles were 
 also to be called in due order. When the apostles were 
 to commence preaching to the heathen, was indeed not 
 yet certainly known to them. They had received no 
 command respecting it from their Lord. It was natural, 
 therefore, that they should wait until they had received 
 a hint from him to this effect, and were called to enter 
 upon the work under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 During this first period, also, it could do no injury for 
 them to permit the Jewish Christians to observe the ex- 
 ternal forms of the Jewish law, and keep out of view all 
 idea of their abolition, although the words of Stephen, 
 Acts 6: 1 1 — 14, which the Jews interpreted as scandal, 
 authorize us to conclude that the idea, that the temple 
 was to be destroyed and an end put to the Mosaic con- 
 stitution, was not altogether a foreign one to the first 
 Christians. In the mean time, the period arrived, when 
 God intended the Gospel should be extended beyond 
 the boundaries of Judea and the heathen called in, and 
 
 * With respect to oi li$ ^laxqav, compare Isa. 57: 19. Eph. 2: 13, 
 Vfisig oi Ttots ovttg uaxqav, (in which place Wetstein is to be com- 
 pared, and Schottgen, Hor. Hebr., I. 761, who from Rabbinical pas- 
 sages, prove, that the Jews called the heathen, CJiilrn,) for which, 
 ifl V. 12, we have, a7iii7.lorqmuiv()i rtjg noXireiag rov la'qatjk, y,ai 55- 
 yoi TOiV dia&rixwv rtjg inayytXiag. 
 
292 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 then it appeared as if Peter had not concerned himself 
 at all with the thought of receiving the heathen into the 
 bosom of the Church, as if, indeed, he had been totally- 
 ignorant of any such intention. Acts 10: 34, 35, and hence, 
 an especial vision was necessary in order to bring him to 
 Cornelius. It is easy however to remove even this suspi- 
 cion. We may either admit with Semler (Beantwortung 
 des Fragments, S. 116 f.) that this vision did not appear 
 for the sake of Peter alone, who, from associating with 
 his master, had long since learned to hold intercourse 
 with the heathen and the Samaritans, but for the sake 
 of weak Jewish Christians, who considered it unlawful 
 to associate with foreigners in domestic life ; or, if 
 the vision was necessary for Peter himself, it should 
 be recollected, that, though the idea of the heathen's 
 being called in, was not a new one to him, yet the exe- 
 cution of it, partly on account of his deep-rooted, nation- 
 al aversion to the heathen in general, and partly on ac- 
 count of his fearfulness and timidity at the offence which 
 it would create among the zealous, Jewish Christians, 
 might appear difficult, and render a vision necessary for 
 giving him a strong impulse and enabling him to over- 
 come every thing like prejudice.* This object was ac- 
 complished, and a beginning actually made by Peter at 
 converting the gentiles. Those who contended with him 
 about it. Acts 11:2, were not the apostles, who would 
 not have been called ol Ix neQiTOf-irjg^ but they were 
 other Jewish Christians, probably such as were attached 
 to the Pharisees, as from Acts 15: 5, we learn that some 
 of this sect rose up against the apostles. 
 
 * The words " of a truth I perceive," trt^ ah]9iiag xaraXau^avo- 
 f.iai. Acts 10: 34, need not be supposed to imply that Peter had now 
 obtained this view of the subject for the first time, but may prop- 
 erly be understood as referring to a conviction rendered more percep- 
 tible by the thing itself, and a living and confirmed apprehension of 
 the truth. Ernesti, Neueste Theol. Bibliothek, III. 72 ; nunc factp, 
 ipso usu intelligo ; now I am taught by the thing itself, now I see 
 from a plain and obvious example, namely, the truth of what I was 
 formerly taught by Jesus, that God, &c. Storr, Observatt. ad Ana- 
 log, et Syntax. Hebr., p. 8; penitius intelligo. 
 
APPENDIX, B. 293 
 
 If the arguments which have now been examined are 
 not sufficient to prove that the expressions contained in 
 Christ's discourses, indicative of the greatest universality, 
 were ?l post factum interpolation, then, on the other hand, 
 there are the strongest reason's to be brought forward 
 against this supposition, and in support of the conviction, 
 that Jesus himself has clearly spoken of the universality 
 of his plan. That declarations of this kind are to be 
 met with chiefly or especially in the Gospel of John, is 
 not a fact, but is opposed to occular testimony. Should 
 any one be inclined to count them, it is a question, 
 whether he would not find the number of such passages 
 the most numerous in the three first Gospels. But of 
 what use is it to do so? It is enough that the number of 
 those expressions which go to prove the universality of 
 Christ's plan, is exceedingly great. And were none of 
 them uttered by Christ himself? Were they all foisted 
 into his discourses in the first place, by the Evan- 
 gelists ? Can we imagine that they may have done this 
 m total ignorance ? or, if they were conscious of doing 
 it, can we reconcile such conduct with their honesty ? If 
 so, it would follow, that the aposdes far exceeded Jesus 
 in mental cultivation and benevolent extension of thought, 
 as his unlimited plan would have derived its greatness and 
 extent from them in the first place, and this, to every 
 considerate man would be a manifest absurdity. What 
 militates most decidedly against the pretension that 
 Christ's discourses were thus interpolated or extended, is 
 the fact, that these expressions are so thoroughly and 
 firmly interwoven with the whole construction and the 
 historical incidents of every discourse, as to render it ne- 
 cessary for him, who imagines a few single words or 
 phrases to have been added, also to admit that these dis- 
 courses, historical narratives and parables, were either 
 forged or have been totally disfigured. This can be ren- 
 dered evident by various examples. How naturally is 
 Christ's expression, Matt. 8: 11: 12, respecting the ad- 
 mission of the heathen into the kingdom of heaven and 
 the exclusion of the Jews, occasioned by the admiration 
 25* 
 
294 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 into which he had just been thrown by observing the 
 strength of a heathen's faith ! How exactly does the 
 similar expression, Matt. 21: 43, that the kingdom of 
 God should be taken from the Jews and given to the 
 heathen, correspond with what is said in the parable, 
 V. 41, respecting the husbandman and his vineyard ! How 
 intimately is a similar denunciation, Luke 13: 28 — 30, 
 connected with his answer to a question which had just 
 been proposed to him, vs. 23 — 27 ! Who in such and 
 similar cases can point out the least traces of later addi- 
 tions obviously made by a foreign hand ? And what 
 shall we say of the parables, in which, under figurative 
 representations, Christ so often represents his kingdom as 
 designed to embrace all mankind ? When he explains 
 the field as meaning the world, Matt. 13: 38, and com- 
 pares his church to a grain of mustard-seed which a 
 man took and sowed in his field, which, though the 
 least of all seeds, when grown, is a tree of such great ex- 
 tent, that the birds of the air come and make nests in 
 the branches of it, 31, 32 ; — when, in the parable of the 
 vineyard. Matt. 21: 33 — 41, and that of the royal mar- 
 riage, 22: 1 — 10, he exhibits the alternating destiny of 
 the Jews and heathen ; — when, in Luke 15: 11 — 32, un- 
 der the image of a younger son, he so touchingly portrays 
 the actual return of the heathen to the house of their 
 Father, God ; — do none of these parables originate with 
 Jesus himself? Have they all been foisted into his dis- 
 courses by the Evangelists ? What a strange, presump- 
 tuous, gratuitous supposition is this ! The most important 
 of Christ's directions. Matt. 28: 18 — 20, also bears the 
 internal characteristics of genuineness. It is perfectly 
 connected in itself, and corresponds exactly with sim- 
 ilar directions in Mark 16: 15. Luke 24: 47. John 20: 
 21 — ^23. As to those expressions of Jesus respect- 
 ing his kingdom which are to be met with in John, it may 
 be observed, that they are not less intimately interwoven 
 with the context of the discourses in which they are to 
 be found in this* Gospel, than those in the others. The 
 discourse of Jesws contained in the third chapter of 
 
APPENDIX, B. 295 
 
 John, respecting which we made some remarks, p. 284, is 
 distinguished for its progression and the manner in which 
 he gradually opens a wide and clear prospect to the still 
 contracted mind of Nicodemus. After having assured this 
 ruler that the lifting up, (v. 14) or the giving (v. 16) of 
 the Son of man was necessary in order that whosoever 
 believed in him should be saved, (v. 15) Jesus gives him 
 a full explanation of the meaning of this phraseology, 
 which was doubtless strange to him, by asserting in vs. 1 6, 
 17, that the love of God extended to all, and that the Son 
 of God had not been sent into the world for its punish- 
 ment, as the Jews thought, but for its salvation. Now who, 
 in a discourse so clearly and closely connected as this is, 
 can discern the garbling hand of an interpolator ? And yet 
 were any part of it interpolated we should certainly discov- 
 er its traces. We go on to the fourth chapter. In what a 
 natural and easy manner is the important declaration of Je- 
 sus, vs. 21 — ^24, brought in by way of reply to the question 
 of the Samaritan woman ? and how plainly does it refer 
 to a universal worship of God, — a worship, to be limited 
 to no place ? What reason is there for any suspicion that 
 this dialogue has received any ornamental touches from a 
 second hand? We find the same to be true also with 
 respect to chap, vi ; in which, by way of contrast with 
 the manna procured for the people by Moses, Christ, with 
 perfect ease, introduces a description of the spiritual bread 
 which is presented in himself and is indispensable to all, 
 and carries it through his entire discourse. Chap. 10: 
 16 contains one of the clearest expressions respect- 
 ing those who are considered as belonging to his king- 
 dom. Can this verse be excepted as a base interpola- 
 tion and at variance with all the rest ? The same ques- 
 tion may be repeated with respect to chap. 12: 23, 24, 
 where the much fruit which the death of Christ was to 
 bring forth, certainly refers to something more than mere- 
 ly to the Jewish nation, and where these words are most 
 intimately connected with the visit of the Greeks, v. 20, 
 which occasioned them. In chap. 14: 12, the single 
 He that belie veth on me shall do greater 
 
296 APPENDIX, B. 
 
 works than those which I do,"* has a definite reference to 
 the blessed effects which should attend the labors of the 
 apostles among the heathen, and is a sentence which no 
 interpolator would ever have thought of falsely ascribing 
 to Christ. The prayer which Christ uttered, chap. 
 XVII., will certainly produce an impression upon every 
 susceptible reader, which must constrain him to admit, that 
 it flowed from Christ's very heart, and yet, even this 
 contains traces of a heart in Jesus which embraced all 
 men in its grasp, vs. 2, 18, 20, 21, 23. And, finally, 
 the testimony which Christ bore in the presence of Pi- 
 late respecting the purely spiritual nature of his kingdom 
 and its destination to become more extensive than all the 
 other kingdoms of the world, chap. 18: 36, 37, bears 
 upon the very face of it, marks of the dignified character 
 of its author. Now he, who declares all these expres- 
 sions of Christ, by no means few in number, to be spurious, 
 to be additions made by reporters, notwithstanding their 
 internal marks of truth and the close connexion in which 
 they stand with the context of the rest of the discourse,— he, 
 who does this, if he does not wish strong expressions and 
 wilful hypotheses to pass for valid proof, is bound to sup- 
 port his assertion by clear and convincing arguments. 
 Until he does so, we are justified in putting perfect con- 
 fidence in the accounts of the Evangelists. 
 
 And this we are justified in doing so much the more 
 from the fact, that these accounts respecting the univer- 
 sality of Christ's plan harmonize completely with the 
 other contents of the Gospels. The supposition that Je- 
 sus intended to labor for the salvation of all mankind, 
 agrees with the spirit of what he taught ; whereas the 
 
 * The word ««/Loj'« in this place cannot refer to miracles, for in 
 this respect, the apostlies did nothing which could be denominated 
 greater than v^hat Christ did ; but it must be taken in an absolute 
 sense. Christ speaks of what was to be effected in the spiritual 
 world, or of the regeneration of the heathen, which would be a 
 greater miracle than any of those which he performed in the visible 
 world, and consequently in this respect, he was to be excelled by the 
 apostles. Comp. Storr, Opusc. Acad. III. 151 — 155. 
 
APPENDIX, B. 297 
 
 opposite does not. The religion which he made known 
 was in every respect adapted to become the religion of the 
 world. It satisfies all the religious necessities of our 
 hearts. The position, that the paternal love of God ex- 
 tends to all, is one of the most definite marks of its uni- 
 versal character. Now are we not authorized from this 
 to draw an inference as to the similar character of 
 its founder ? Had his intentions been limited to his own 
 people, his religion would also have assumed a national 
 character. The universality of a system of religion, how- 
 ever, constrains us to admit that its author's plan was also 
 universal. The same is likewise true of the manner in 
 which Christ speaks of himself. He lays claim to 
 the qualities, dignity and authority, of an exalted, superhu- 
 man, and divine personage ; (as may here be taken as a 
 lemma from the Articles of faith.) If we admit this, we 
 must accede to Christ the dignity of a universal Saviour. 
 If he represents himself as the supreme messenger of God, 
 as having come from heaven itself, can he have any thing 
 less in view than the good of all men ? He lays claim to 
 all power in heaven and earth. What else can he intend 
 than that all shall submit to him ? He calls himself the 
 future judge of man. Does not this presuppose a gen- 
 eral relation in which he stands to all men, and a uni- 
 versal extension of the word by means of which they are 
 to be brought to recognise him as such ? He asserts his aid 
 to be indispensable to the happiness of all, and represents 
 himself alone as having opened a way to the Father. How 
 could he say in plainer terms that he is a universal Saviour ? 
 And, finally, he affirms that He is the Saviour announced 
 by the prophets ; — that in him those prophecies are fulfilled. 
 They, however, are unquestionably of universal applica- 
 tion and speak in the clearest terras of the salvation, not 
 of the Israelitish nation merely, but of all nations. He, 
 therefore, who declares himself to be the object of these 
 prophecies, must have had a definite plan in view for ef- 
 fecting the salvation of all men. In short, the whole 
 picture which the Evangelists have spread open before 
 us respecting Jesus, must be altogether a false and dis- 
 
298 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 figured one, and besides, have been invented by men en- 
 tirely destitute of art, if that which constitutes its princi- 
 pal trait, — a heart filled with love and a warm regard for 
 the interests of the whole human race — was added by 
 another hand. 
 
 C. p. 85. 
 
 Respecting the hypothesis of the early extension of Christianity 
 by means of a secret order. 
 
 That Jesus never once availed himself of the assist- 
 ance of a secret order for the execution of his plan, has 
 been shown by Reinhard in opposition to Bahrdt, in a very 
 clear and convincing manner, pp. 84 — 112. The hy- 
 pothesis proposed by Kestner in his Agape,^ may be 
 considered as a good piece to hang up by the side of 
 Bahrdt's ; for though the plan of spreading Christianity 
 over the world by means of a secret society, is not, in this 
 case, ascribed to Jesus, yet it is ascribed to apostolical men 
 of the first century. The essential parts of this hypothe- 
 sis, at which Wieland had already hinted, f are here giv- 
 en in the author's own words, S. 17 — 22. 
 
 " Clement, a Roman patrician, after the death of those 
 zealous apostles, Peter and Paul his instructors, de- 
 
 * Die Agape oder der geheime Weltbund der Chrir^ten, von Kle- 
 mens in Rom unter Domitians Regierung gestiftet, dargestellt von 
 Dr. August Kestner, ausserord. Prof d. Th. (died. 27th Oct. 1821, in 
 the 27th year of his age,) Jena, 1819. This hypothesis is not only 
 unanimously rejected by the reviewers of this work, Der Gott. Anz., 
 1820, St. 3; Hall. L. Z., 1820, N. 1—3; Hermes, 1819, St. 4. S. 285 
 —299 ; Jen. L. Z., 1819, Novemb., N. 201—203 ; Leipz. L. Z., 1821, 
 Octb., N. 272, 273 ; but it is expressly opposed in the Programmata 
 of Eichstadt: " Lucianus nura scriptis suis adjuvare religionem 
 Christianam voluerit," Jen., 1820 ; and the Exercitationes Antoninia- 
 nae, I— VI., len., 1821. 
 
 + In the Uebersetzung des Lucian, III. 59 — 64. 101 f., and in the 
 Geheime Geschichte des Philosophen Peregrinus Proteus, L. II. 
 1790. Sammtl. Werke, B. 33 u. 34. 
 
APPENDIX, C. 299 
 
 vised a plan for effecting a revolution of the state of 
 things in the world, which should procure for the to 
 him sacred cause of Christianity, the victory over 
 the religions, practical principles, moral habits, and the 
 institutions of old times, and render a Christian mode 
 of thinking and acting, the all-pervading spirit of a later 
 age. By means of a secret society, throughout the Ro- 
 man empire, the strict discipline of which should accus- 
 tom irregular and unrestrained people to order and the 
 performance of duty, gradually moralize the legal, and at 
 the same time, prepare the morally strong by carrying 
 them through the degrees of a symbolical, mystical sys- 
 tem of instruction, for the overthrow of the old, politico- 
 religious government of the world, and station every one, 
 susceptible of entering into the revolutionary plan, at a 
 definite post of the organized machinery of this united 
 body, when in active operation ; — by means of such a secret 
 association, this acute, political man, animated by the re- 
 ligion of Jesus, supposed he should be able to obtain a 
 decisive triumph for the Christian cause, and one which 
 would conduce to the welfare of the human race. The 
 destruction of Jerusalem gave the first signal for the es- 
 tablishment of this Christian confederacy embracing the 
 whole world, and, under the despotic reign of Domi- 
 tian, when all nations and countries were sighing after 
 an improvement in the state of things, it was easily put 
 into operation. By a multitude of writings fabricated 
 agreeably to the spirit of the age and the object of the 
 confederacy, and attributed to the names of Christians 
 every where honored ; by the introduction of a new 
 mode of interpreting the genuine books of the prophets 
 and apostles, invented for the purpose of favoring the 
 cause of the confederacy, as well as by wise, faithful, and 
 powerful aids in many regions, Clement was enabled, in 
 the first place, to unite the different apostolical sects into 
 one body, and regulate and discipline them all agreeably 
 to his will and in accordance with the requisitions of the 
 so called Apostolical Constitution of his confederacy. At 
 the same time, the extension of Jewish and heathen, pro- 
 
300 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 phetical writings, either interpolated by Christians or 
 newly fabricated for the purpose, gained many Jews and 
 gentiles over to the interest of the Christian cause. 
 Then, some of the Clementinian confederates by their 
 cunning, purloined the records and private books of the 
 so called Secret Society of Theologians established by John 
 the Evangelist; and the founder of the confederacy con- 
 nected the consecrating ritual of John's mysteries, with 
 Jewish and heathen ceremonies and mystical symbols of 
 a masonical character, and thus, after establishing a 
 Christian priesthood, ordained a mysterious worship of 
 God, which was introduced by its missionaries and abet- 
 tors, into all parts of the then civilized world, in Pales- 
 tine and in Spain, on the Euphrates and on the Rhine, 
 with the full approbation of all religious parties and ranks. 
 Upon the martyrdom of Clement, his undertaking, difficult 
 as it was, had been so far realized, that the brotherhood 
 which he had founded had been extended into all regions 
 of the world, and, according to a probable estimate, 
 numbered over a million of firm adherents. 
 
 Domitian discovered the existence of this secret con- 
 federacy without being able to touch it. The hoary 
 Nerva was raised to the throne by its members, and he 
 suffered them to act for a long time in quiet. 
 
 Trajan persecuted them according to military regula- 
 tions as state criminals, and his political measures suc- 
 ceeded in enabling him to seize the authors and heads 
 of this confederacy and punish many thousands of its 
 members with exile and death. 
 
 The confederacy of brethren, being shaken by this 
 persecution, contrived, under a mask of societies of oper- 
 ative mechanics, in which they concealed themselvesj to 
 obtain the favor of Hadrian, who was a lover of the me- 
 jchanical arts. 
 
 Under Antoninus Pius, who caused the Christian con- 
 federacy to be guarded with great strictness as far as 
 politics were concerned, but who looked upon its mem- 
 bers as at heart worshippers of God, they endeavored to 
 justify themselves in the eyes of the government, by 
 
APPENDIX, C. 301 
 
 numerous apologies written in their own defence and sent 
 to it, from the different regions where they resided ; while 
 many powerful men made their appearance in the differ-, 
 ent Christian sects, who, sustained by Lucian, carried on 
 a spiritual contest with rich success against the system 
 of conceptions and the mode of life peculiar to the Jew- 
 ish, heathen, and Christiano-Gnostic contemporaries. 
 
 Marcus Aurelius caused himself to be initiated into 
 the mysteries of Christians, carried on a correspond- 
 ence, and held intercourse with many of them, and while 
 at the head of government conducted as their protector ; 
 and, having with great consideration completed his pire- 
 parations for the purpose, he would, for moral-religious 
 reasons, have made Christianity the state religion of the 
 Roman empire, if he had not been prevented from so 
 doing by the prevalence of the too powerful anti-chris- 
 tian spirit of the age, and been overtaken in the midst of 
 warlike enterprises by a sudden death. 
 
 Even down to the reign of Antoninus, the followers of 
 Clement by means of their authority, continued to hold 
 this immense confederacy attached both internally and 
 externally to its presidential chair at Rome, though it cost 
 much trouble to do so, and they could secure their au- 
 thority only by very sly and artful means. When Pius, 
 however, with an almost papal arrogance, began to issue 
 decrees for the whole confederacy of Christians, the re- 
 sult was its severance for the first time, — a severance 
 which could be healed again only by the aged Polycarp, 
 who was one of the first spreaders of the £gape, and by 
 the calmness and forbearance of Anicetus the succeeding 
 Roman President. With greater danger was the con- 
 federacy threatened on the part of the Montanistic rebell- 
 ion, which continued to foment within the pale of the 
 Agape, until the rebels were rejected from all connexion 
 with those who had been enabled, not more by their 
 revolutionary power than their spiritual superiority, to ob- 
 tain a victory for the religion of Jesus, over the almost 
 expiring spirit of ancient times." 
 26 
 
 i 
 
302 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 This hypothesis was brought forward in part, for the 
 purpose of opposing the assertions of Reinhard, p. 105, 
 and with reference to it, the author has expressed great con- 
 fidence. "We rejoice," says he, (Agape, S. 165 f. Anm.) 
 " to receive the wished for result of Reinhard's investi- 
 gation, that Jesus never intended to put the hidden 
 springs of a secret society in motion for the execution of 
 his plan, (p. 112.) A thorough investigator, however, 
 will doubtless find the views which I have now presented 
 respecting the formation of a secret society by a man 
 who was not even one of Christ's disciples, not to be 
 altogether destitute of foundation, provided the inquiry 
 come within the sphere to which his labors have been 
 confined and he enter upon it with judgement and ex- 
 perience." It seems to be proper, therefore, in this place, 
 to give a short and connected representation of the 
 main points to be attended to, in a critical examination 
 of this hypothesis, and it will be such an one, I hope, as 
 would accord with the views of Reinhard, were he living. 
 
 The first question that forces itself upon every one 
 who enters upon this examination, is : From what sources 
 was this hypothesis drawn ? And here it must appear 
 strange to every one, that the author has drawn it for the 
 most part, from writings admitted to be spurious, or at 
 least, very greatly interpolated, by the unanimous decis- 
 ion of Catholic theologians as well as Protestant. He 
 makes use of the Recognitions of Clement (S. 27, 28) 
 as a sure source of the history of this man, though they 
 are nothing more than a Christian romance, which was 
 composed according to Mosheim, (De turbata per recen- 
 tiores Platonicos Ecclesia, § 34, in the Dissertatt. ad 
 Hist. EccL, I. 174 — 192,) in the third century of the 
 Christian era, by a Platonizing Jew of Alexandria ; or, 
 according to Neander, (Gnostische Systeme, S. 361 ff., 
 and K. G. I. 2. 620,) by an Ebionite, at the close of 
 the second.* He takes it for granted, also, (S. 38. 55. 
 
 * Hence Tzschirner also, Fall des Heidenthums, I. 382, has cen- 
 sured this abuse. 
 
APPENDIX, C. 303 
 
 219,) that the first letters of Isidore's Decretals, which have 
 been ascribed to this same Clement, are, in a great measure, 
 genuine ; whereas, it is necessary to read only the first 
 of the Decretal letters addressed to the apostle James, 
 even as translated by Rufinus, and compare it with the 
 first and genuine Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, in 
 order to find irrefragable proof that this father was not its 
 author, as is now acknowledged by all able critics, both 
 Catholic and Protestant.* He uses the fragment of a 
 commentary upon the Revelation of John taken from 
 Fabricius, Codex Apocr. N. T., III. 721, and said to have 
 been written by Caecilius a pupil of James, S. 94, without 
 saying a single word respecting what Fabricius adds, p. 
 722 — 724, that this fragment which was found in Spain 
 belongs to the 16th century. He considers the works 
 ascribed to Dionysius the Areopagite as the genuine pro- 
 ductions of this pupil of the apostle Paul, (S. 231. 291,) 
 without paying any attention to the irrefutable arguments 
 of those who assign it to the fourth century or one still 
 later.f These facts are sufficient of themselves to excite 
 a suspicion as to the correctness of the author's supposi- 
 tion. 
 
 Let us ask, however, what he has discovered favorable 
 to it in the memorials of church history, whether gen- 
 uine or spurious ? And here it is to be wished that the 
 author had followed the excellent rule laid down by Pe- 
 
 * The Epist. I. dementis ad Jacoburn, is to be found in Cotelerii 
 PP. Apost., I. 611 — 614, ed. Cler. prim., and also together with the 
 other epistles in the Collections of Councils, e. g. in Harduin, I. 39 — 
 62; also printed at large in Dav. Blondel's Pseudo-Isidorus et Tur- 
 rianus vapulantes, Genev., 1628, 4. S. 1 — 100, whose arguments 
 L Wilh. lanus, in the Disp. de Barbaria medii aevi, p. 24, pronounced 
 invictae demonstrationes, which Catholics also admit. Comp. Ittig. 
 Do PP. Apost., p. 107seqq.; Schrdckh,K. G. XXII. 14 ff. ; Planck, 
 Gesch. der christl. kirchl. Gesellschafls-Verfassung, II. 806—828. 
 
 • t In addition to Schrockh, K. G.XVII. 367—370, comp. Nean- 
 der, K. G. II. 2. 747 ff., especially the Acta Sanctor. Mens. Octob. 
 Tom. IV. 802 — 856, where the writings of Dionysius are treated of 
 in a minute and thorough manner. Doderlein gives an abstract in 
 the Theol. Bibliothek, II. 181-187. 
 
304 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 ter in the Recognitions of Clement,^ and kept it before 
 him as valid. In every instance, he is obliged to foist in 
 his preconceived notion respecting an Agape-confederacy. 
 In no case, is a remote hint expressed in relation to it. 
 This assertion of mine is the result of an examination 
 of the most important testimonies to which he has resort- 
 ed. As the first of these, and which the author himself, 
 S. 10 fF., calls, " the first key to the secret mine of his- 
 torical notices respecting the Christian confederacy," he 
 adduces the commencement of Origen's work against 
 C^lsus. In this passage, he represents the latter as re- 
 proaching Christians with having a secret and unlawful 
 confederacy, and Origenf as admitting that Celsus refers 
 in what he says to the so called Agape of Christians, or 
 to obhgations of a stronger character ^than ordinary, con- 
 federate oaths, into which they had mutually entered, on 
 account of the common danger to which they were ex- 
 posed, and says : " From the whole context of the passage 
 it is perfectly evident that ayanfj in this place, does not 
 
 * Recognitiones, 1. X. c. 42, Coteler. I. 591. " Petrus ait : Mul- 
 tas, ut video, ingeniosi homines, ex his, quae legunt, verisimilitudi- 
 nes capiunt ; et ideo diligenter observandurn est, ut Lex Dei cum 
 legitur, non secundum proprii ingenii intelligentiam legatur. Sunt 
 enim multa verba in Scripturis divinis, quae possunt trahi ad eum 
 sensura, quem sibi unusquisque sponte praesumsit : quod fieri non 
 oportet. Non enim sensum, quem extrinsecus attuleris, alienura et 
 extraneum debes quaerere, quem ex Scripturarum auctoritate con- 
 firmes ; sed ex ipsis Scripturis sensum capere veritatis : et ideo 
 oportet ab eo intelligentiam discere Scripturarum, qui eam a majori- 
 bus, secundum veritatem sibi traditam servat : ut et ipse possit ea 
 quae recte suscepit, competentur adserere." This passage is also to 
 be met with in the fifth epistle of Clement, in Harduin, p. 62, and in 
 Blondel, p. 98 ; and when Kestner, S. 157, Not. 226, says ofBahrdt, 
 " that none but a frivolous investigator possessed of acute wit un- 
 seasonably applied, can, sustained by passages drawn from the New 
 Testament, represent Jesus as having been the head of a secret or- 
 der," — Who will not throw the remark back again upon himself? 
 
 t Orig. contra Cels., I. 1. 0pp. I. 319. Uqanov tw Ks?Mio xEipa- 
 ?.aiov eon pov?.oi.uvco 6ia^a).i.iv Xqiariaviajiov, cog ovv&tjxag xqv^dtiv 
 TtQog aXkrjJ.ovg tcoiov^i^vojv XQianavMv naQa ra rsvouioueva, 6ri xwv ovv- 
 ■9r]xo}V al /lISv nOi (pavsqai, ooai y.ara vouovg yiyvovrai • al Ss aipavsig, 
 ooat Tcaqa ra vsvouiausva gvvte?.ovvtui. Kai ^ovksrai dia^akdv ryjv 
 xa/iovi.i£vr]v ^yany]v Xoioriavoiv, jvQog a?J.rjXovg, aico rov y.oivov y.itdv- 
 vov vipiora^ievtjv, y.ai dwaueriji' VTnqoqy.ia' 
 
APPENDIX, C. 305 
 
 mean Christian love, as this could not be designated as 50 
 called, but the Love-confederacy J^ The unprejudiced 
 reader, however, will readily perceive, #iat he has not 
 only represented the whole passage in a wrong light, but 
 also given "an incorrect meaning to single words. (I) 
 Origen does not in any respect seem to admit the re- 
 proach of Celsus to be well founded. " The prime ob- 
 ject with Celsus," says he, " is to calumniate Christianity 
 by representing Christians as secretly, and hence, illegally 
 confederated together ;" and anticipating that the reader 
 would inquire for what purpose this groundless reproach 
 was made, he adds : (2) " He wishes to bring suspicion 
 upon the love of Christians so celebrated as binding them 
 together in the hour of danger with more firmness than 
 any oath." The great love of Christians was often spoken 
 of by the heathen, with astonishment and aversion."^ The 
 term ayccm], however, may be understood of the Love-feast 
 as it is used of this institution in general, even in the singular 
 number ; being so used by Tertullian, Apologet. c. 39. 
 
 (3) When Origen speaks of this ayanrj, as being xaXov- 
 (xivri, he evidently means that it was something tslhed of, 
 and, consequently, something that must have been well 
 known ; which could not have been said of a secret order. 
 
 (4) As he speaks of this love being stronger than an 
 oath, it follows, that he cannot have had reference to any 
 order into which persons were initiated by means of a 
 solemn oath. (5) Immediately after, Origen speaks of 
 a covenant into which Christians had absolutely entered 
 
 * Tertullian, Apologet. c. 39. After having described the char- 
 ity-tax of Christians, he adds : " Sed ejusinodi vel maxime dilectionis 
 operatio notam nobis inurit penes quosdam. Vide, inquiunt, ut in- 
 ' vicem se diligant; (ipsi enim invicem oderunt) et ut pro alterutro 
 mori sint parati ; (ipsi enim ad occidendum alterutrum paratiores 
 erunt.) — Minucius Felix, in Octavio, c. 31. Sic mutuo, quod doletis, 
 aniore diliginms, quoniam odisse non novimus : sic nos, quod invi- 
 detis, fratres vocamus, et unius Dei parentis homines, ut consortes 
 fidei, ut spei cohaeredes." — lulianus inFragm. Orationis Epistolae- 
 ve in fin. Opp, ed. Spanh.305. Tov avrov y.ai avroi [Christiani] tqo- 
 7C0V aQ^a/iisvoi dia r rj g ^ayousrTje 7ia(/ avroic ayaTtJjg xeci 
 VTVoSo^^g xaX diaxovtag ToaTisLwv niorovg svtjyayov sig rriv Ci?£OT>;Ta. 
 
 26* 
 
306 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 with each other in opposition to the tyrants of the world, 
 to Satan, and falsehood. (6) Finally, it is evident both 
 from the accu^tion of Celsus, and Origen's answer to it, 
 that the whole discourse had reference to Christians at 
 large, as being firmly united together by love, and not 
 to a secret and select number of Christians, constituting 
 an order among themselves. Thus little can there be 
 gathered from the principal passage to which Kestner ap- 
 peals in proof of the existence of a secret confederacy. 
 Much less can there be gathered from the others. Without 
 any authority and contrary to the import of the language 
 and the connexion of the discourse, he makes the word 
 ayantj, mean a secret confederacy. Thus, S. 13, the 
 passage, (Martyr. Clem. Cotel. PP. Ap. I. 808, extra, 
 marginal reading,) in which, after having described Clem- 
 ent's zeal to effect the conversion of all, the writer says of 
 him ; vno navxoiv te ccyancofievogj nccviccg t?^ etg Xqigtov 
 ayanri avvdeiv enoieno anovdrjv ' rjyccnovv ^lav avrov ol 
 '^Ellrivsg etc., is rendered : " He exerted himself to 
 imite all together in the Ayanri f as if the clause, eiQ 
 ^(^^i#^i (which in this case is prudently omitted, but, on 
 p. 36, is translated, " the Agape-confederacy resting upon 
 Christ,") were not the object of the love, and as if the 
 preceding ayccncof^svog, and the succeeding rjyccnovv, did 
 not require the usual signification of ayanrj. In the su- 
 perscription of the Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, 
 (Col. II. 26,) among various other titles given the Rom- 
 ish church, is that of nQOKcc&rjf^svt] rrjg ^yani^g, which is 
 rendered, " The superintendent of the Agape ;" and yet 
 from the other predicates, it is evident, that this phrase 
 designates nothing more than the precedency in love, and 
 is intended merely to imply that this church excelled 
 others in love, as in the very beginning of the epistle, it 
 is said; q)Opovfiat,T?]v ayanr]v vfioiv, firj avtrj fis cidiXtjGr], 
 (I fear your love will hold me back from martyrdom.) 
 The beginning of Ignatius' Episde to the Magnesians, 
 (Cotel. II. 55,) ypovg vf.i(av to noXvevtaxtov Tt^g icccrcc 
 -d-eov ayanfjg, is said to mean : " When I heard that the 
 Agape was well regulated among you ;" whereas the neg- 
 
APPENDIX, C. 307 
 
 lected words, xaxa d^eov, show that he speaks of love 
 to God, The same remark may be made respecting, 
 Tta^cacalo) Vfiag, ovvi eyw, aU' ri ayanrj, I. X., (Ep. ad 
 Trail, c. 6. ; Cotel. p. 65,) which is evidently an imitation 
 of Phil. 2; 1 ; and also, f^rjnoie d^XtpiVTeg ilaa&evrians 
 fv T7] ayanr} ' alia navreg em to avto yvvta^f, (Ep. ad 
 Philad. c. 6 ; p. 83,) which is an imitation of Phil. 
 2:^ 2. But to adduce a few other instances of ca- 
 pricious interpretation : On p. 51 f., Barnabas, in a 
 single isolated fragment,"*^ which runs thus : " In wick- 
 ed combats the conqueror is the most unfortunate, for 
 he goes away with the most sins upon his head," is 
 said to have expressed his first thoughts respecting a 
 dangerous confederacy ! ! — On p. 54, after having men- 
 tioned the 2d Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, the 
 genuineness of which was called in question at a very early 
 period, he says : " All at once the Epistle closes like a 
 fragment. \i\ thought, however, we read farther, and 
 feel persuaded that Clement, after having 'given this cir- 
 cumstantial preface and introduction, in which allusion is 
 often [? not at all] made to the Agape, went on to lay down 
 his plan for connecting a select number of Christians to- 
 gether in the Agape-confederacy." And thus one can 
 read every thing, if he reads according to his own 
 thoughts. — He proceeds in the same manner in making 
 use of the work entitled, Pastor Hermae, or the Shepherd 
 of Hermas ; which, S. 78, Anm., is called "a masonic 
 book," because in it the Agape-confederacy is represent- 
 ed, as he thinks, under the figure of a tower. This book, 
 however, contains not the least intimation respecting a se- 
 cret confederacy. It is altogether of a moral, ascetical ten- 
 dency, and the comparison or allegory of a tower refer- 
 red to, is nothing more than a farther painting out of 1 
 Pet. 2: 5.f Even the books of the New Testament, 
 
 * Grabe, Spicileg. SS. PP. I. 308. Baqva^aq 6 Anooru).og etpyj- ev 
 uiLii).?.aig 7tovri(jaig a^?.torrsQog 6 rixtjaag, diori tnsQ/srai n?~sov ijrtav 
 Ttjg uuaQTiag. It is taken from a codex which contains an alphabet- 
 ical collection of sentences taken from sacred and profane writers. 
 
 t The word ayaTrr] is certainly to be met with in the Shepherd of 
 Hermas, which the reviewer in the Hermes, denied ; lib. I. c. 8. Cotel. 
 
308 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 however, are resorted to by the author, and made to ex- 
 hibit traces of the pretended confederacy. The 2d Epis- 
 tle of Peter, the Epistle of Jude, (vid. S. 85 — 87. and 
 221— -226. 1 17,) as also the Epistle to the Hebrews, (S. 
 114 — 116. 192 — 200,) are said to be the productions of 
 this confederacy, written either by Clement, or under his 
 direction. The first of these epistles he supposes, (S. 
 86,) to have been sent to the hesitating members of the 
 confederacy for the purpose of confirming them. The 
 seven virtues named, 2 Pet. 1: 5—7, and also Hermas, 
 Past. I. Vis. in. c. 8, he represents as the seven genii, to 
 which, those who enter the confederacy were obliged to 
 swear allegiance ; so that imxoQ'nyeiv, (v. 5,) probably 
 refers to the choral dances which the genii of these vir- 
 tues conducted in the Clementinian mysteries (!). In 
 verses 6, 7, he finds that the »^gape not without allusion 
 to the secret orders of John which rose up agai-nst it, is 
 placed far above the Gnosis, [Has Paul a similar allu- 
 sion, 1 Cor. 8: 1 ?] This, however, is far surpassed by 
 what is said (S. 114) to be contained in Heb. 6: 10, 
 where the text is changed without any authority whatev- 
 er, and eveds'iacyds substituted for ^vsdei'^aG&i ; " a word" 
 adds he, " which the transcribers could not understand 
 without an acquaintance with the confederacy ;" [as if the 
 connexion of the terms, egyov, ^onov, and ^laaoprjaavng 
 did not refer to the active love of the Hebrews.] In 
 chap. 5: 12, the writer of the epistle is said to regret, 
 that though the time was near in which the brethren of 
 the confederacy ought to be advanced to the Master''s 
 degree of the Agape, yet they were still employed in ac- 
 quiring the first principles of the very lowest degree of 
 the confederacy ! According to p. 115, chapters vi. and 
 VII. speak of Christian priests whose oath of allegiance 
 to the constitution of the confederacy, ^oyog ogyiMfAoaiag^ 
 c. VII. 28, had higher significancy than the conse- 
 
 I. 81. Caritas, for which in the Greek text preserved by Clement of 
 Alexand. Strom. II. 384 s., Sylb., we find aya7r/;,.means love, and is 
 named with other virtues as the fruit of faith. 
 
APPENDIX, C. 309 
 
 crating ritual by which the old Hebrew priests were 
 inducted into office ; [and yet the discourse speaks 
 of only one high priest,] and according to p; 116, in 
 chap. 12:4 — 12, the readers were admonished not to 
 take oiFence at the strict discipline of the confederacy, 
 and according to p. 196 f. and 273, chap. 12: 18—24 
 give a description of the awful rites of initiation into the 
 new n)ysteries, the symbolical scenery of which he inter- 
 prets of the new church (the Christian confederacy,) 
 and the New Jerusalem, (the goal of the confederacy.) 
 The person received is said to have been led to a smoking 
 and ignivomous mountain, been exposed to an unexpected 
 storm and the sound of trumpets, and to have had his 
 attention directed to the calling and singing of thundering 
 voices approaching at a great distance &c ; [here the author 
 must have entirely overlooked the negation of the IBth 
 verse in order to be able to deduce such theatrical and 
 foolish play from the passage !] These examples will 
 suffice to show how the words of the ancient writers have 
 been abused in this work ! 
 
 But we ask farther ; where is there any testimony that 
 Clement was the founder of this secret confederacy ? 
 There is a not a single intimation to this effect which can 
 be relied on. It is uncertain even, whether this bishop 
 of Rome was a Roman, and as such, possessed of superior 
 education, political acuteness, and versatility. According 
 to Tillemont,"^ who has carefully collected together every 
 thing relative to Clement, it is rather probable (from I. Ep. 
 Clem, ad Cor. c. 4. Cotel. I. 148, o nccirjg i^ficov /axw/?,) 
 that he was a Jew.f Be this, however, as it may, the 
 
 * Memoires pour servir a I'histoire eccles. des six premiers sie- 
 cles, Tom. II. p. 162 seqq., original ed. publ. at Paris. 
 
 t Hess, Gesch. u. Schriften der Apostel, III. 542. (or 541, 4te A.) 
 " In general, this epistle of Clement has too much Jewish splendor 
 about it to have been written by a native and well educated Roman, 
 as Clement by many has been considered, though it is not composed 
 altogether in the style and manner of the Apostles. It is not un- 
 worthy however in this respect, of an overseer of the church for 
 which a Peter and Paul had labored, of which also honorable men- 
 tion is made. 
 
310 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 only piece of his to which we can appeal with confidence 
 m. reference to him, is his 1 Epistle to the Corinthians, and 
 the allusions of this epistle to the Agape according to Kest- 
 ner himself, S. 14f. are somewhat obscure. Many passages, 
 however, are unhesitatingly referred to the Christian con- 
 federacy. And what? we ask. The exhortations, c. 
 21, 32, and especially c. 49, (Cotel. I. 175,) in which 
 Clement, making an appropriate use of the aposde's rep- 
 resentation of love or charity, 1 Cor. xiii., exhorts the 
 Corinthian Christians who were then divided with bick- 
 erings and party-spirit, to the duty of charity. No one 
 that reads this epistle can discover a single hint in any 
 passage respecting an order. Every thing that is said 
 of the ayantj, is said, as is evident from the connexion, 
 solely of the virtue of love, and in many cases this word 
 if taken in the signification of a secret confederacy would 
 make nonsense. The traces of a hierarchical spirit and 
 state of things are likewise very weak. Chap. 40, extr. 
 p. 169, is nothing more than a comparison with the reg- 
 ulations of the Old Testament to show the order which 
 should exist in divine worship in the Christian church. 
 In chap. 37, subordination, and reverence towards over- 
 seers and elders is recommended, and that very appro- 
 priately ; as, according to c. 47, p. 174, a spirit of insurrec- 
 tion against the elders had broken out among the Corinthi- 
 ans, [oraaictCeiv nQog tovg ngia^vTaQovg.") The whole 
 episde is written with such plainness and sobriety, and in 
 so mild and modest a spirit, that it is difficult for any one 
 to impute to its author the deep and cunningly concerted 
 plan of a secret order. There is as litde to be gathered 
 from the Recognitions, provided it should be considered 
 as a sure source of the history of Clement, respecting 
 his having established an order. 
 
 And farther ; how could an order, which, at the begin- 
 ning of the second century (S. 164) extended from Je- 
 rusalem and Alexandria to Lyons, from the Pillars of 
 Hercules to the regions of Pontus, and had members 
 from all ranks and classes of people, whether Jews, hea- 
 then, or Christians, (S. 163) in number over a million, have 
 
APPENDIX, C. 311 
 
 continued to keep its existence so secret that none of its 
 transactions should ever have been betrayed ? — so secret, 
 that it could escape the searching eyes of the Roman police ? 
 How is it possible to conceive that Trajan, if he had had any 
 intimations of the existence of this confederacy, and had 
 discovered traitors among Christians sworn to oppose the 
 emperor and the empire, could have given orders, that 
 they should not be looked up ? (Plin. Ep. X. 98. Con- 
 quirendi non sunt : si deferantur et arguantur, puniendi 
 sunt ;) that they should be punished only for their obsti- 
 nacy and headstrong superstition, and because they would 
 not render the usual honor to the genius of the pmperor ; 
 but in case they renounced their faith, should be dismiss- 
 ed ?^ Why in general were they nev^er accused of being 
 engaged in such a dangerous, political confederacy, and 
 hence, rejected by their apologists ? For the expressions, 
 factio, coitio, conspiration which were applied to Chris- 
 tians, had no reference to a secret order in Christianity, 
 but were applied to all Christians in general, inasmuch 
 as they were intimately united together, and kept them- 
 selves separate from heathenism ; and the author is al- 
 together incorrect, when (S. 16, 17,) he says, " Ter- 
 tullian, Apologet., c. 39, admits, that a portion of the 
 Christian sects constituted a state party," as he spoke this 
 of the great body of Christians as is evident from the 
 whole chapter, but especially from the conclusion : 
 " In cuius perniciem allquando convenimus? Hoc sumus 
 congregati, quod et dispersi : hoc universi, quod et sin- 
 guli ; neminem laedentes, neminem contristantes. Cum 
 probi, cum boni coeunt, cum pii, cum casti congregantur, 
 non est factio dicenda, sed curia." 
 
 I'he phenomena in the Christian church which (S. 
 3 ff.) are said not to have been intelligible until the exis- 
 tence of the secret confederacy was discovered, are in 
 
 * Tertullian, ad Scapul. (ab init.^ ed. Rigalt, p. 85s. "Circa 
 majestatem imperatoris infamaoiur : tamen nunquam Albiniani, nee 
 Nigriani, vel Cassiani inveniri potuerunt Christiani. — Christianus 
 nuUius est hostis, nedum imperatoris : quern sciens a Deo suo con- 
 stitui, necesse est ut et ipsum diligat, et revereatur, et honoret et 
 salvum velit. 
 
312 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 part, dated too early, and, in part, can be perfectly ex- 
 plained without this hypothesis. The hierarchical form 
 of the church and the regulation respecting the ranks of 
 the spiritual class began to be introduced in the second 
 century, and were the gradual and spontaneous result of 
 the increase of Christian society, and the forcible intro- 
 duction by the priesthood, of Jewish and heathen notions 
 which derived their sustenance from the natural ambition 
 of mankind. The same causes also in conjunction with 
 the unity of Christianity itself and the living sensibility 
 with which believers, strangers,- as they were, and op- 
 pressed, in the world, were animated as a community, 
 necessarily gave rise to a closer and closer external con- 
 nexion, though the churches were by no means divested 
 of all freedom nor delivered from all difference of belief 
 at the close of the second century. The increasing strict- 
 ness of church discipline, was the result of the moral fer- 
 vor with which the community, in proportion to its dan- 
 ger and the attention fixed upon it, was obliged to watch 
 over its purity. Some particular regulations of the Christian 
 church may also have been derived from the synagogue. 
 To these historical reasons, however, there are other, 
 reasons which may justly be added, sufficient in them- 
 selves, to secure the heart in a great measure, against the 
 reception of this hypothesis. How is it possible to re- 
 concile the^ idea that the pupils of the apostles consider- 
 ed it necessary and lawful for them to employ such mis- 
 erable and human means as a secret order must have 
 been, which made it one of its maxims to murder tyrants, 
 to procure the victory for Christianity, of whose divinity 
 they were convinced, (S. 101 f. 122 ;)^ — how is it possi- 
 
 * The assertion of Origen contra Cels. I. 1. p. 320, may strike 
 one as suspicious: MOirso yao, si vthq xov rvqawov 7iQo/.a(iotra ra rtig 
 Tio/.Btag avi?.siv, ovv-9-rjxag rivtc xQv(iSriv sjioiovrro, y.a7.<x)g av stcoiovv ' 
 QVT(o Stj y.ai Xoiartaroi, rvQavrovrtog rov nw/: avroig xa?.6vusrf>v dia^o- 
 Xov y.ai Tof -il'svdovg^ avr&ijxag Ttoiovvrai, naQara rfvouiauavcc rco dia- 
 (ioXo)' But the suspicion vanishes when we consider (1) that he' here 
 speaks according to the notions of the Greeks, and refers every 
 thing to past times : '' If those were formerly esteemed as noble men 
 who had put a t^'rant out of the way because he subjugated the city, 
 
APPENDIX, C. 313 
 
 ble, I say, to reconcile such an idea with the moral puri- 
 ty and Christian piety, for which, taken as a body, they 
 were noted ? Could Clement ever have learnt from a 
 Peter and a Paul thus to advance the cause of Christ ? 
 Could he have so far lost all sense of shame, as to es- 
 tablish a regular counting-house for the purpose of man- 
 ufacturing supposititious works in the gross and imputing 
 them to celebrated men in order to advance the ob- 
 jects of his confederacy ? Would he presume to draw 
 such venerable men as a Timothy, an Ignatius, a Poly- 
 carp, yes, and even a James the apostle, into his secret 
 plans and make them dependent upon him as the chief of 
 the confederacy ? And how weak, blinded, and forget- 
 ful of their own dignity would they have shown them- 
 selves by entering into his plan and consenting to become 
 his instruments? Again, on the other hand, is it possible 
 to conceive that the apostle John (S. 81) could have pro- 
 jected the plan of a Secret Society of Tiieologians, as it is 
 called, for preserving certain mysterious doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, ypMOfig, from the eyes of the profane world and im- 
 parting them only to the initiated,* and Clement have op- 
 posed to this secret. Gnostic confederacy, his more active 
 Agape-confederacy, though the materials of the latter were 
 drawn in a great measure from the mysteries of the former ?f 
 
 why should not Christians also be so considered ?" and (2) the ap- 
 plication which he makes of it to a purely spiritual conflict against 
 a spiritual enemy. Who can thence draw any inference to prove 
 that he justified assassination ? 
 
 * This is drawn from Pionys. Areop. Hierarch. Eccles. c. 1. §1. 
 [ed. Corder. Tom. I. 230. J The discourse in this place, however, 
 does not speak of a mystical order, but of the caution recommended 
 agreeably to the esoteric mode of teaching, not to impart the holy 
 to the unholy. Dionysius says nothing about John's having es- 
 tablished a mystical order. 
 
 t Among other things it is said that the Apocalypse kept concealed 
 by John's society, was purloined by Papias and brought to Clement, 
 S. 213 — 217; and that this transaction was allegorically represented 
 in the well known account of the youth whom John intrusted to the 
 protection of a bishop, and who, having been drawn into a band 
 of robbers, [the confederacy of the Agapists] was followed after by 
 John and again rescued. Clemens Alex. Quis Dives Salvetur, c. 
 42 seqq. p. '957— 960, ed. Pott., and Euseb. H. E. III. 23, comp. 
 
 27 
 
314 APPENDIX, C. 
 
 and that, by means of some connexions which Clement 
 had at the imperial court, he made preparations for the 
 banishment of John to the Isle of Patmos, (S. 85) the 
 accomplishment of which caused many of the pupils of 
 the latter to pass over to the Agape ? What do those 
 mean who thus degrade the first propagators of Chris- 
 tianity ? 
 
 Serious and severe, but just and true, are the remarks 
 made by a critic^* respecting this work ; and such is 
 their value, that they well deserve to be read in this 
 place. " He, who gives a historical representation for 
 the purpose of degrading human nature, deals in false- 
 hood and is a traitor of his race. The same may be 
 said of him, if his work extends only to individuals. 
 That historical representation of a nation which does not 
 aim at exhibiting the phenomena of the human mind in 
 its exaltation, beauty, and dignity, is, on that very ac- 
 count, to be rejected. Human nature always remains 
 human nature, and deserving of respect even in the midst 
 of its degradation. Now he, who, in addition to this, suf- 
 fers himself to be Winded by unworthy notions with re- 
 gard to that which shines in its natural dignity, and dis- 
 figures the moral and spiritual beauty of a phenomenon 
 without necessity, grievously transgresses and exhibits 
 himself in all his own unworthiness. 
 
 We come now to the case before us. The author had 
 to investigate the history of the first formation and exten- 
 sion of the Christian church. He, who undertakes a 
 historical investigation of the Christian church, must be 
 guided by a belief in the truth and high power of the 
 Christian spirit, and never relinquish this belief. In the 
 midst of fhe corruptions and aberrations of the church, 
 
 Lampe, respecting this account, Commentar. in Evangel. loann. 
 Tom. I. Prolegg., p. 71 — 78, where there is a representation, and 
 a good critical examination of the various views which have been ta- 
 ken of the subject 
 
 ** Hall. Allg. Litt. Zeit, I. S. 19, 20, 1820.' There is much suggested 
 in opposition to Kestner, in Tzschirner, Fall des Heidenthums, as for 
 instance, S. 214, 215, corap. 351, respecting the age of Athenagoras' 
 apology; S. 217, 218, respecting the Epistle to Diognetus; S. 300f. 
 
APPENDIX, C. 315 
 
 he must be able to recognise and trace the constant 
 workings of this spirit, nor should he ever look upon 
 them as impure and corrupt until he has gone through 
 with the most conscientious examination ; and then, in con- 
 nexion with them, he should always be able to discover 
 the traces of the pure and incorruptible spirit. If he 
 fails to do this, he denies the Christian faith ; if he creates 
 the wicked where it does not exist, he is a wilful offender. 
 From the very nature of the case, it is evident, that the 
 Christian spirit was much purer and more powerful in the 
 early ages than it was, afterwards. In order to find its 
 corruptions there, we must of course be guided by clear 
 and credible testimonies. The author, however, finds 
 them without the aid of any such testimonies, and he 
 basely and capriciously creates them for himself when- 
 ever he wants them. We shrink back with horror from 
 a survey of all the impurities and corruptions which he 
 ascribes to the pupils of the apostles ; in the first place, 
 that distrust in the almighty power of the Christian spirit, 
 as well as in Christian truth and love, from which Clement 
 must have derived bis idea of this confederacy, and then 
 the rfteans of cunning, force, and deceit, which he is said 
 to have employed to carry this idea into effect ; — a se- 
 ries of profane and mysterious contrivances worse than 
 the Jewish and heathen priests ever employed, who could 
 not thus profane the truth itself, because they knew it 
 not ; the forging of numerous fraudulent works ; the out- 
 witting and persecuting of Christian brethren, (the mem- 
 bers of John's Society of Theologians,) a multitude of 
 secret deeds of violence, and the murdering and poison- 
 ing of emperors ; — and all this, without a single trace of 
 evidence worthy of historical credence. The whole 
 hypothesis of the author originated in a want of belief in 
 the exaltation of human nature and in Christianity, its 
 most sacred concern ; and a vain wish to make some 
 new discovery." 
 
 respecting Hadrian; S. 304— 313, respecting Marcus Aurelius, all 
 of which agrees with what Eichstadt has said upon the same sub- 
 ject; and S. 315 — 322, respecting Lucian not a friend of Christians. 
 
316 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 D. p. 187. 
 
 Whether the idea of founding a kingdom of God upon earth is to 
 be met with before the time of Christ. 
 
 It is an essential* link in the chain of Reinhard's in- 
 vestigation, to prove, that no human mind before Jesus 
 ever conceived the exalted idea of uniting the w'hole 
 human family together in a kin^^dom of God, and found- 
 ing a universal church for the salvation of all. The au- 
 thor has exhibited the historical deduction of this asser- 
 tion in a very clear and convincing manner, and v^rith re- 
 gard to it entered into such detail as to include persons, 
 who may seem as it were to have stood too low to be 
 deemed worthy of a comparison with Jesus ; and many 
 have expressed their cordial approbation of the conclusion 
 to which he has arrived.* There are not wanting 
 those, however, who dissent from him, in this respect, 
 maintain the opposite, and believe the idea of a king- 
 dom of God to have had an existence long before the 
 time of Christ. 
 
 I. (a) Fesslerf appeals, in the first place, to the language 
 
 * Zacharia, Die Einheit des Staats und der K., 1797, S. 9. Anm. 
 *' Whence comes it, that the heathen philosophers, who, since the 
 time of Anaxagoras, [? vid. Ritter, Geschichte der lonischen Philoso- 
 phic,] have certainly brought forward some very worthy notions re- 
 specting the Godhead; have never ortce conceived the idea of a 
 church?" Tzschirner, Der Fall des Heidenthums, S. 37. "The 
 religious creed of the Greeks embodied no such idea as that of a 
 kingdom of God." [It is an idea of which men must remain desti- 
 tute until they receive it from God, from whom it derives its exis- 
 tence, — until he himself founds a kingdom and calls mankind into 
 it. Comp. Kant, Religion innerhalb der Grenzen d. bl. V., S. 141. 
 2te. A.. " To found a moral people of God, is a work, therefore, the 
 execution of which cannot be expected from men, but only from 
 God himself."] 
 
 t Ansichten von Relig. u. Kirchenthum, I. 180. " The sublime 
 and rational idea of Jesus had had an existence as a contemplation 
 in the minds of many select persons, long before it was expressed 
 undor the symbol of a kingdom of God founded among men, and, 
 through the influence of religion, filled with eternal peace ; and 
 these persons, penetrated with the sacred feeling of religion, had 
 
APPENDIX, D. 317 
 
 of Hermes Trismegistus in Poemander, without asking a 
 single word respecting the age to which this w^ork be- 
 longs. The critic cannot date it farther back than the 
 fourth century of the Christian era, as it commingles 
 Christian notions and in part New Testament express- 
 ions, with cabalistic and New Platonic ones.* Besides, 
 one would deceive himself should he expect to find the 
 subject of which I am now speaking, mentioned in these 
 Hermetical oracles. The passages collected together 
 by Fessler contain nothing but such general religious 
 views respecting the nature of God, the relation of God 
 to the world, and raising one's self to him in language, as 
 we might expect from the above named schools. Ttie 
 same writer farther appeals to the Pythagoreans and Es- 
 senes,f who founded religious communities in Egypt and 
 Palestine. As regards those of the Pythagoreans, who, 
 when this society was destroyed, fled into Egypt, there 
 is not the least particle of proof that they ever thought 
 of a universal kingdom of God in any of their connex- 
 ions with this order. Such an idea seems to have been 
 as foreign from their mind as from that of their master. 
 Nor do those writers by whom the names of several of 
 these Pythagoreans have been preserved, say a single 
 syllable respecting such a plan.f With respect to the 
 
 collected around them associates, and such as were susceptible of 
 their own illumination, and, for tile purpose of representing the in- 
 finite in the finite, united them together in churches." The passa- 
 ges are, as is evident from a comparison, taken, without any very 
 accurate reference, from the translation of Pcemander by Tiede- 
 mann, Berl., 1781 ; especially from S. 79. 87. 96. 45. 73, 74. 
 
 * Vid. Exercit. Antibar. according to Casaubon, I. c. 10. p. 66 
 —80, ed. Gen., 1663; Fabric, Biblioth. Grace, I. 46seqq. ; Cud- 
 worth, Syst. Int. ed. Mosh., Ten., p. 373—389 ; [True Intellect. Syst. 
 ofthe Universe, Vol. I. pp. 319—334,2ded.Lond. 1743. Tr.] ; Bruck- 
 er, Hist. Crit. Philos., 1.260 seqq ; especially Meiner, Versuch Ober 
 die Religionsgesch. d. alt. Volker, bes. d. Aegypt. S. 202 — 249, which 
 is not weakened by Kreuzer, Symbolik, I. 363 ff. 381 f 
 
 t In the Ansichten, S. 184 ff". 
 
 t Diogen. Laert. 1. VIII. Segm. 46. p. 524, ed, Wetst. ; lamblich., 
 De vita Pythaff.,'c. 36. p. 215, ed. Kust. 
 
 27* 
 
318 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 Essenes, Fessler himself acknowledges, (S. 187 f.) " that 
 they were occupied with the dignity and sanctity of their 
 internal life, rather than possessed of the dignity and 
 sanctity of religion itself, and hence, fell into absolute 
 exclusiveness." It is in vain to seek for any thing among 
 them, therefore, which can be opposed to the proof of 
 Rein hard. 
 
 (6) But did not Plato, in the conception which he form- 
 ed of his state, also include the conception of a kingdom 
 of God ? One might, perhaps, be inclined to admit this 
 from the fact, that the state, a plan of which he projected, 
 was an ideal one, the original of which was to be found 
 on!y in the celestial world ;^ and that his state was not 
 merely a juridical, but an ethical commonwealth, in which, 
 the moral culture of the citizensf was to be promoted 
 by a good educationj and by religion, which he consid- 
 ered as essential parts of his state, and blended with all 
 its regulations.^ Some intimations at least made with 
 a reference to this subject, have been given in our 
 time. II These intimations, however, are not of such a 
 
 * T)e Republ., 1. V. p. 51. 1. IX. 281, (Bip. Tom. 7;) comp. 
 Clem. Alex., Strom., 1. 4, extr. p. 543. Sylb., lofuv ds y.ai rtjv ZKa- 
 twvog noXiv, naqadny^ia iv ov()av(a xtiutvtjv. 
 
 t De Republ., 1. IV. 378, (Tom. 6.) VI. 114. VII. 1.33. VIII. 186, 
 (Tom. 7.) De Legg., I. 16seqq. IV. 164. V. 203. 217, (Tom. 8.) 
 IX. 4. 21, (Tom. 9.) 
 
 t De Republ., II. 246 seq. IV. 334 ; De Legg., I. 18 seq. 41 seq. 
 VI. 279 seq., especially 1. VII. from the beginning p. 320, (Tom. 8.) 
 
 § De Republ., II. 253; De Legg., 1. I. from the beginning, IV. 
 185. VI. 185, 266. VII. 352, and especially X. from the beginning 
 p. 66 seqq. (Tom. 9.) 
 
 II Koppen, Politik nach Platonischen Grundsatzen mit Anwen- 
 dung auf unsre Zeit, S. 79, L. 1818. " Plato and Christ originally 
 had precisely the same thing in view, namely, promoting the wel- 
 fare of the human race, by putting them in possession of a very 
 high degree of virtue and an internal moral harmony of the free 
 mind, which should prove a source of many commendable deeds, 
 and of lasting good to.,inankind." — S.81. " We find essentially the 
 same (namely the moral and religious perfection of the feelings by 
 means of the church,) to be the object of a state Qonstructed upon 
 Plato's principles." — S. 97. " The object of Plato's state and of 
 
APPENDIX, D. 319 
 
 character as to Imply, that the idea which Plato had of 
 his state, was Identically that of the Christian church. 
 Indeed, the oudines of Plato's conception "will by no 
 means justify such intimations. — Admit the state of which 
 Plato conceived to be a mental creation, as he conceived 
 of certain archetypes for all the objects of philosophical in- 
 vestigation, yet it was a mental creation only of a politi- 
 cal, earthly state. The heavenly world in which the pro- 
 totype of this state was to be found, was not such a heav- 
 en as the Christian has in view, — the glorious kingdom of 
 spirits, but the intellectual world of ideas, (De Republ. VII. 
 157seqq. ;) and hence, the first thing to be done, is to 
 find out the form of that conception. Now inspection is 
 sufficient of itself to teach us that the republic of Plato 
 was as far removed from bearing any resemblance to the 
 church of Christ as the earth is from heaven. The 
 church is a union which calls men to separate themselves 
 from the world and become members of a higher and 
 divine community. Plato's state, on the other hand, be- 
 gan altogether with the earth, was confined to the narrow 
 sphere of a city, and constructed with a reference to sub- 
 lunary wants, (De Republ. II. 230 seqq.) " Plato's ob- 
 ject was to form a Grecian state, the inhabitants of which 
 should be lovers of Greece, and for this purpose he pro- 
 jected one which should serve as a pattern for his nation 
 and countrymen," (Koppen, 1. c. S. 73 ;) but It was very 
 far removed from being a universal kingdom of God, 
 comprehending the whole human family. On the con- 
 trary, he often presupposes this state to be engaged in 
 war with its neighbours, and one important object to be 
 kept in view in all its acts, was to form bold defenders 
 of the country ; and hence, even women were to be pre- 
 
 Christianity and its exalted faith is the free choice of the highest 
 good together with the harmonious dispositions and charitable emo- 
 tions before which, selfishness and physical enjoyment shrink away 
 in silence." — S. 347. " The republic of Plato, though very far from 
 ever having been realized, kept the nature of all right, and moral 
 harmony, in view, and, in its civil regulations, sought to furnish 
 means for producing genuine and lasting moral effects." 
 
320 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 pared by education to share in the labors of war, (De , 
 Republ. V. p. 8 ; De Legg. VII. 373.) Of course this 
 state could not be left destitute of moral education ; for 
 as it contained no church or ecclesiastical institutions 
 which aimed at the moral and religious education of its 
 members, so it was obliged to furnish a remedy for these 
 defects ; to accomplish which object, political education 
 and moral were blended together, as ethics and politics 
 were always united among the ancients.* The result of 
 this, however, was, that the idea of a purely moral and re- 
 ligious community of men, exalted above all civil rela- 
 tions, was kept entirely out of view. 
 
 The first requisite, however, in forming a kingdom of 
 God, is to lay a pure religion at the basis, and form a 
 creed adapted for community at large, and of universal 
 authority, and at the same time of such a character as to 
 unite all hearts together and bind them to God himself. 
 If Plato, therefore, ever had any idea of a genuine king- 
 dom of God, we ought to discover hints in his works re- 
 specting the introduction of a pure religious creed instead 
 of the Polytheism then prevalent and so prejudicial to the 
 union of mankind. So far, however, are we from find- 
 ing any thing in them respecting the abolition of a re- 
 ligion which had once been sanctioned by the state, that 
 on the other hand, he urges the legislator with all earnest- 
 ness to preserve it unchanged. "No man," says he, 
 " who has sense, whether he undertakes to erect a 
 new state from the very foundation, or merely to re- 
 store an old one which has been broken down, will at- 
 tempt to change those things relative to the gods and to 
 sacred ceremonies which ought to be stable, — from what- 
 ever gods or demons they may have received their ap- 
 
 * Koppen, 1. c. S, 1 — 35. 58, shows this very circumstantially and 
 goes so far as to recommend this combination at the present time. 
 He even asserts, S. 79, that, for this very reason, modern states 
 when compared with the ancient, would scarcely have retained any 
 spiritual life, had not Christianity by its mighty operation excited 
 higher reflection, and proved the means of advancing an internal 
 virtue at which the state had not aimed. 
 
APPENDIX, D. 321 
 
 pellation. Nor should the legislator touch in any respect 
 that which is founded upon the authority of the ora- 
 cle, or upon sacred old sayings."'^ In perfect accord- 
 ance with this serious admonition is his prescription that 
 every archon should offer sacrifice for himself and the 
 state every day of the 365, (De Legg. Vlll. 396,) as 
 well as for those who have been guilty of bitter resent- 
 ment against the gods, and contemning the old religion 
 which they drew in from their mother's breast, (lib. 
 X. 71. Tom. 9.) It cannot appear strange that as 
 long as this Polytheistical religion existed, their remain- 
 ed no sacred, internal bond for uniting together the 
 hearts of the members of this community ; and hence, 
 that, in order to produce such a close connexion between 
 them, Plato fell into the error of recommending to his 
 state, a community of wives ;f thinking in this way to 
 induce all to consider each other as brothers and sisters. 
 Such they would have been indeed, but in what sense? 
 Certainly none but a physical one.J Such a regulation 
 
 * De Legg. 1. V. 226, 227, (Bip. Tom. 8.) Ovr' av xairijv «! aq- 
 j(rjg Tig 7toi\i, ovr' av naXaiav discp^aQ/nsvyjv t7iioy.tvaLy]rai^ tibqi &£(jjv 
 re xai isQvjv urxa re ev rt] TtoXei exaaroig idQVO&ai det, y.ai mv rivotv 
 enovouaLeo&ai -d^ecav t] daiuovwv, ovdsig e/ii/eiQtjOEi xivslv vow t/wr. 
 ' Ooa ex JeXifwv — y] rireg erceioav 7ra?.aioi Xoyoi, — r ovrwv voi.iodfi\l ro 
 a/nixqaraTov uTvavrtov ovSsv xi.vr]reov. So also Plutarch, De Is. et Osiris, 
 Opp. VII. 419, afterwards called a wish to make changes in an es- 
 tablished religion, — a wish, a;;^t'^/Ta y.irsiv, and hence, p. 420, bitter- 
 ly censured Evemerus; Max. Tyr. Diss. 8. I. 14G, Reisk. ra xei- 
 f.ieva evniev, rag (pijUag tcov xfeiov anode j^ousvoi, y.at ipvkarrovreg au- 
 Tojv ra avfi^oX.a, wanto y.ai ra ovouara, 
 
 t Not merely in the De Republ. 1. V. 19seqq., but also in the De 
 Legg. 1. V. 229, which books relate more to practical legislation, and 
 were written in the latter part of his life. 
 
 t De Republ. V. 32. 24 seq., where he expresses a belief that a 
 better race of men can be produced by physical means. Comp. III. 
 319, where he evinces an anxiety to have the citizens persuaded by 
 means of fiction to consider themselves as autochthons, as sprung 
 entirely from the earth, in order that, as yrjYereig, they might think 
 and feel towards each other, like brethren. The idea which he had 
 of his community as well as much of a general character, was proba- 
 bly borrowed from the Spartan constitution, in which state, accord- 
 ing to Plutarch, Lycurg., Opp. I. 194 s., something of this kind was 
 actually to be found, and the women were celebrated for being <pat- 
 
322 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 would not have accomplished the object for which it was 
 intended, but necessarily have proved detrimental to the 
 interests of the nobler moral community. As unworthy 
 as this means would have been of an ethical commu- 
 nity,* others are recommended which would have been 
 equally immoral and improper ; as, for instance, the use 
 of deceptive arts for the purpose of controlling the peo- 
 ple, such dissimulation being extolled as noble, De Re- 
 publ. 1. III. 318. V. 23; the dancing of the two sexes 
 together naked, De legg. VT. 291 ; and also the drinking 
 of wine, De legg. I. 54 s. 11. 58. 86. By looking at the 
 nature of the means to be employed for purposes of ed- 
 ucation and improvement, we may sufficiently ascertain the 
 character of the spirit of the state which was to apply them. 
 Moreover, apart from the preceding considerations, 
 what Plato uttered relative to this subject, was merely by 
 way of sporting with ideas and without any intimation of 
 a serious effort to realize the state which he described. 
 This he frankly admits,f and once, indeed, he goes so far 
 as to make a humiliating confession in this respect. 
 " Those," says he, " who are acquainted with the insan- 
 ity of man, and aware of the impossibility of their ac- 
 complishing any thing in opposition to a rough nation, 
 (which he compares to a wild beast, De Republ. VI. 88,) 
 choose the tranquillity of retirement and attend exclu- 
 sively to their own concerns. Sensible that death would 
 overtake them before they could do any thing for their 
 friends or the state should they make the attempt, and 
 consequently, th^t their labors would be useless both to 
 themselves and others, they seek shelter within their own 
 
 romjQidsg, and avSnouavBig, Comparat. Lycurg. et Numae, p. 306 — 
 308. [Plutarch's Lives, &c. Vol I. p. 128. Tr.] 
 
 * It was customary in Rome for women to read Plato's Republic ; 
 Why ? says Epicteti Fragm, 53, in the Schweighaus. Monumenta, 
 Tom. III. 84. 
 
 t De Legg. V. 222 ; ?.oyco y^ san ra vw, aX?.^ ovx tQym TTQarrofitva. 
 Perhaps it is with reference to this passage, that Gregor. Naz. says, 
 Orat. adv. lulian., 8. p. QG; nojg Ss ov -^avaatnv a^iov rovrovg, oi xat 
 koyto 7i?MTTovai TioXeigf rag s^yw avarrjvai firj dvvafisvvcg ; 
 
APPENDIX, D. 323 
 
 walls from the storm, as it were, which rages without, 
 satisfied with the hope of preserving themselves pure 
 from injustice and unhallowed acts, and closing their lives 
 in cheerfulness and well-wishing, without having been 
 able to do any thing of very great importance unless by 
 chance they may have been born in a state favorable to 
 them in this respect."* It is evident that Plato was very 
 faint-hearted, and could hardly express how incapable he 
 felt of undertaking any thing serious even for his own 
 corrupt citizens in Athens, and making any proposals to 
 them for effecting a radical cure. The opinion of Diog- 
 enes respecting him and one which he used to repeat 
 whenever he heard Plato praised, though severe, was 
 certainly well founded : " What has this man done wor- 
 thy of honor, who, notwithstanding the length of time he 
 has attended to philosophy, has never yet caused any one 
 to grieve ; [that is, according to the connexion] has never 
 yet brought any one to the salutary pangs of repentance ?"f 
 with which, the opinion of Origen agrees :{ '' What Pla- 
 to said respecting the chief good, however true, aided 
 neither his hearers nor himself, notwithstanding he had 
 philosophized so much about it, in attaining to genuine 
 piety ; while the simple language of the sacred S.criptures 
 fills those who read them correctly, with holy ardor of 
 soul." Eusebius also evinces a thorough acquaintance 
 with the true cause of Plato's inefficacy as well as that 
 of all the ancient philosophers, when he says :§ " Plato 
 
 * De Rep., 1. VI. 95, 96. 
 
 t Plutarch De Virtute Morali extr. 0pp. VII. 776. Tl S' sxuvo? 
 tj(ti Osuvov, 6g rooovTov ;|fQovov (fi?.oao(p(}}v, ov$Bva ?.tkv7i:Tjxsr' ', 
 
 X Contia Cels., 1. VI. c. 5. Opp. I. 633. 'Oqa on »; f,iiviv ID.arwvi 
 TttQt rovTov uXii&eia ovdev w? TiQog siPuxQivrj evos^siav tovrjot rovg tvrvy- 
 jravovrag^ a?.X^ ovS^ avrov ra roiavra nsQi rov TtQwrov aya&ov q>i?.ooo' 
 fprjaavra ' tj ds r<x>v -d-eivciv yqaiiuaruiv tvrsXyig /fs^S ev&ovaiav Tcsjtoiyjxa 
 
 § Demonstrat. Evangel. 1. III. c. 6. p. 129, 130, Col. Exsiva 
 ft,tv xai Ǥyov evQsiv sSoxsi ra nqayua xai rjv ai$ a?.7]-9-a}g ^uyiaxov udv- 
 varov 8s rjv avrin Itytiv tig rcavrag, on iirj tiuqiiv avrco roaavrtj rig evas- 
 ^siag $vva^ig, oat] roig Iijaov jiia&rjTaig, oig dia rtjg rov 8i8aoxaXov aw- 
 
324 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 seems to have considered it a difficult problem to obtain 
 a knowledge of the true God and Father and to make 
 him known, (Timaeus, Opp. IX. 303 ;) and indeed it 
 was also the principal one. It was impossible, however, 
 for him to announce what he knew of the Deity to all, 
 because of his being destitute of that strength of piety 
 which the disciples of Jesus possessed, under the influ- 
 ence of which in connexion with the assistance of their 
 master, it was not only easy for them to discover God, 
 and obtain a knowledge of the Father and Creator of the 
 universe, but also, after they had discovered him, to ex- 
 tend this knowledge to all classes of people and proclaim 
 it to mankind at large." But should any one after all, 
 adhere to the belief, that Plato's conception of his state, 
 resembled Christ's, of the kingdom of God, yet it remains 
 unquestionable that not the least trace is to be found in 
 Plato's works of an intention to carry this conception in- 
 to actual execution. 
 
 (c) We have now to inquire, whether any intimations 
 of the idea at present before us are to be discovered 
 among the stoics, especially the later ones of Epictetus' 
 school.* These sects looked upon the world as a whole, 
 and mankind as its inhabitants. They imagined all men 
 to be united together in one exalted state, subjected to 
 one order, and bound by one law of universal validity ; 
 and hence, they deduced the obligation of all men to 
 consider each other as brethren and to exert their efforts 
 and offer themselves in sacrifice to promote the general 
 good.f These conceptions may at first glance seem to 
 
 iQyiaq, rov naxtqa xai di]uiovQyov tov okmv tvQtiv re xai yvon-ai ^aSiov 
 ysyors, xat sVQovoiv stg nav ysyog avdiitnTioiv i'i,hviyy.ii\., avaxa?.vy,'ai re 
 xai Ti?-tjQojOai, xai xyjov^ai rijv yrwoiv naaiv. 
 
 • Ammon in the Summa Theolog. Christ., ed. 3, p. 8, after hav- 
 ing shown the spiritual purport of the Scriptural representation of 
 the kingdom of God, observes that " Eodem tendunt, quae Stoici 
 de mundo, comrauni hominum et numinis civitate (Cicero Fin. III. 
 19,) et de sacro universi vinculo (avrdsoig [fQa, Antonin. De se ipso, 
 lib. VII. § 9,) seu veritate a numine proveniente philosophati sunt." 
 
 t The principal passages in addition to those quoted in the above 
 
APPENDIX, D. 325 
 
 resemble that of Christ. Upon a closer and more thor- 
 ough examination of them, however, it will be impossi- 
 ble not to perceive an essential difference. 
 
 It is true, the Stoics gave an exahed description of the 
 order of the world and the harmony of the universe. 
 Of this, the hymn of Cleanthes is a splendid memorial.* 
 The order, however, which they described was only that 
 existing in the kingdom of nature,- to which man himself 
 belonged as a part, and not in any respect that of a king- 
 dom of freedom or a kingdom of grace, in which hearts 
 are united together in the harmony of faith and love, 
 and of a free community entered into by mankind for 
 this purpose. Their idea of the order of the world is ren- 
 dered very clear and intelligible from the explanation given 
 of it by Zeno the founder of the Stoical school, in Diogenes 
 Laertius, (lib. VII. Segm. 138 s. p. 451, Wetst.) in which, 
 after having mentioned the different meanings which the 
 Stoics attached to the word xoof^og, he says : " The world 
 
 note, are the following : Arriani Dissertatt. Epictet. 1. I. c. 3. et 9. I. 
 II. c. 5. §26.c.l0. §3s. C.14. § 11 s. 25 s. 1. III. c. 24. § 10. 15 et 
 66, in the first vol. of Sweighaus. Epictetet. Philos. Monumenta; 
 Dio Chrysostomus in the Oratt. ed. Reiskiae, Tom. I, p. 56 s. 388. 
 391s. 41 3s. 556ss. Tom. II. 88s. 91 -s. 176. and Oratio 75, De 
 Lege p. 406—9. In the books of Marcus Antoninus, IIsqi 'Eavrov, 
 there are very many passages ; as for instance, II. 1 et 16 extr. III. 
 11. IV. 4. 14 et 23. V. 8 et 3] . VI. 14. 42—44. VII. 13 et 55. ,VIII. 
 7. 27 et 36. IX. 1. 9 et 23. XII. 31 ;• Maxiraus Tyr. Diss. 12. 17. 19, 
 Reisk. I. 222. 316 s. 337 s. 363 s. 370 ss.; of Cicero, the following 
 passages belong here; De Offic. III. 5, De legg. I. 7. De Republ. 
 I. 13. III. 22, from which there is an excellent fragment preserved by 
 Lactant. Instit. Div. VI. 8 ; Seneca, De Otio Sap. c. 31. De Be- 
 nef IV. 7 et 8. Epist. 95. Natur. Quaest. II. 45. [Much can also 
 be found to the purpose in Cudworth, True Intellectual System of 
 the Universe, Vol. I. p. 419 seqq. 2d. ed. Lond. 1743, and Leland, Ad- 
 vantage and Necessity of the Christian Revelation, Vol. I. Chap. 
 XIII. p. 231 seqq. Vol. II. Chap. IX. 122 seqq. and elsewhere, Dubl. 
 1766. The most full and satisfactory account, however, of the prin- 
 ciples of the Stoics, is to be found in Tennemann, Geschichte der 
 Philosophic, 4er Band., S. 38fF. 5er B. S.42fF. S. 140 ff. and else- 
 ,where. Tr.] 
 
 * [This hymn together with a Latin translation is to be found in 
 Cudworth, True Intellectual System of the Universe, p. 432 seqq., 
 2d. ed.. Lond., 1743. Tr.] 
 28 
 
326 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 is that which gives to the substance of the universe its pe- 
 culiar quality or form, or the system of the heaven and 
 earth and the natures they contain ; or the system compos- 
 ed of gods and men and those things created for their sake. 
 The heaven is the ultimate circle within which the whole 
 Deity resides. The world is governed by a spirit, and by 
 providence, and the spirit pervades all parts of the world, 
 as the soul does all parts of us."** Here, clearly ex- 
 pressed, we have the notions of the Stoics respecting the 
 existing order of the physical world, as handed down in the 
 works of the rest of this sect. According to their views, 
 this order was already in existence and with immovable 
 necessity pursued its course, while all things were obliged 
 to yield to it, (oAcu? yag € ax iv dgiiovva fxia, Marc. Ant., 
 V. 8 ;) and as we all have one common spirit, one rea- 
 son, one law, so likewise we are all citizens and partakers 
 of one state ; and consequently, the world is as it were 
 a state. f How different is this from the Christian king- 
 dom of God, which does not even exist in nature in our 
 world, and to which man indeed, does not naturally be- 
 long ; but which had first to come into the world, and into 
 which, man is first introduced by the new birth ! How- 
 ever splendid the natural order of the world may be, it 
 does not furnish man with that saving remedy, which, in 
 his present universal moral corruption, he needs.f To 
 
 * Man xooitiog 6 iSiwg noiog [or i^io/rotoc] t»;5 tcov oXov ovaiag, tj 
 overrj^ia f| ovqavov y.ai yf;$, >foti twv sv rovroLg ^vdsojv " r} ovorr^ina sx 
 -^scov y.ai av&QVJTTOJv, xai Tcor svsxa xovxtav yiyovoioiv ovqavog 8s tariv ij 
 BOxarrj nsQicpsQeia, sv tj nav iSqvrai to ^siov rov dyj y.oouov oixnod^at 
 y.ara vow y.ai nqovoiav, iig anav avrov utfjog Sir^xovrog rov vov, xa&a- 
 mq cy' ijuav rrjg xjjvxrjg. [Comp. Leland, Advantage and Necessity 
 of the Christian Revelation, &c. Vol. I. 242, Dublin, 1766. Tr.] 
 
 t Marc. Anton. IV. 4. Ei to vosqov ^/itv xoivov, xai o layog, xa^* 
 ov y.oyixoi sousv, xoivog ' si rovro, xai 6 nQooraxrixog rarv TtoitjXtojv ij 
 jUj/, Xoyog xoivog ' ti rovro ^ xai 6 voiiog xoivog ' si rovro, nolirai sousv * 
 £t rovroy nokirsvt.iarog rivog jUeTs/o^ifv* ci rovro, 6 xoouog MOavsi no2.ig 
 tan' 
 
 X Excellent is the remark of Tatianus, Orat. ad Graec. p. 458, ed. 
 Col. KoOfiov jiiiv 7j xaraaxsvT], xa7.ri' to 8t iv avrm noXirsv/na, ipavlov. 
 xai, xa&amq sv navyjyvQsi, ■9sarQOX07ioviisvovg svsanv idsiv, rovg ovx 
 et(JoTag Tov -d^sov 
 
APPENDIX, D. 327 
 
 this it should be added, that the notions of the Stoics 
 respecting the order of the world incline very strongly to- 
 wards Pantheism and Fatalism ; and this destroys ev- 
 ery thing like the pure idea of a moral kingdom of God, 
 or at least, renders it very obscure. If man resembles 
 a player's ball which is now thrown up, and then knocked 
 down, (Marc. Anton. VIII. 20. IX. 17 ;) if every thing 
 that happens to him has been destined from eterni- 
 ty, and the concatenation of causes has interwoven 
 our personal self and these external circumstances into 
 one ;* if man is to bear every thing that befalls him with 
 an inflexible, apathetic resignation, merely because he is 
 an unchangeable part of the whole, and what does not in- 
 jure the whole cannot injure the individual parts, (M. A. 
 V. 22. X. 6 and 34. XI. 8 and 18;) if man is altogether 
 uncertain of his future destination and doubtful whether the 
 soul being the vapor of blood, (V. 33) is entirely to 
 perish, or to pass through a transmutation, {a(3iGtg. 
 fifTaavaocg, V. 33,) or to be dissolved into the uni- 
 verse, (TV. 14 and 21. Vll. 10. X. 7;) if, therefore, 
 suicide is expressly to be permitted, (III. 1. V. 29. X. 8 ;) 
 and, finally, if destruction threatens the whole world, and 
 Jupiter, after this great conflagration, is to remain alone, 
 (Arrian, Diss. Epict. III. 13. §4, comp. Schweighauser's 
 Anm., Tom. II. P. 2. p. 671 ;) — if such are the princi- 
 ples of the Stoics, then must our opinion of the views they 
 entertained respecting the world, rank very low. Now admit 
 that the Stoical school was acquainted with the moral law as 
 a holy law, of universal validity and written upon every heart, 
 (as excellently described by Cicero, De Republ. III. 22 ;) 
 there is still a very great chasm between this knowledge 
 and the fixed plan of procuring for this law universal 
 influence, and, for this purpose, calling mankind into a free 
 community, and consequently establishing a genuine king- 
 
 y,r^ av ooi av^i^aivrt, Tovro ooi s^ aionog TCQO/iaTsoy.svatsro ' , y.ai 
 »/ erciTcP.oy.r} rwv airnav ouvsyj.uj^s rijv rs or]v vrcooxaoiv «! a'Cdtov, teat 
 rr}v rovrov auufiaaiv Marc. Ant, X. 5. Buddeus in the treatise at 
 the commencement of the Well. Ausg. p. 45, understands the avvdi- 
 Gi$ itQci, VII. 9, of the band of fate. 
 
328 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 dom of God. How much so ever these Stoics were ac- 
 quainted with the name of citizens of the world^ which 
 they borrowed from Socrates and Diogenes, we find among 
 them nothing like a determination, to procure for the sacred 
 law of God a public and external influence and spread the 
 truth over the earth. Antoninus despaired of ever obtain- 
 ing better hopes for this world. "Fidelity and modesty, 
 justice and truth," complains he, " have fled from earth to 
 heaven. What then is there left to detain thee here ?" (V. 
 33.) " Hope not for a Platonic state, but satisfy thyself with 
 making the least progress in the business of thy calling,"(IX. 
 29.) Seneca, according to Augustin, (DeCivit. Dei, VI. c. 
 10, in the Fragments of Seneca, Nr. 34, in the first part 
 of Tom. I., Elsevir's ed. 1672,) spoke with great frank- 
 ness in his works against the prevailing, popular relig- 
 ion, but did nothing to substitute a better religion in its 
 stead ; on the other hand, he satisfied himself with that 
 in existence. '* Haec omnia sapiens servabit, tanquam 
 legibus iussa, non tanquam Diis grata." The vivifying 
 spirit of the holy and active love which can come only 
 from that vivifying love made manifest by God, breathed 
 not in the Stoa^ and this is the reason why we cannot 
 here find any thing that fully compares with the idea of 
 the kingdom of God.f 
 
 II. From the soil of heathen philosophy, we will now pass 
 
 * Respectiag Socrates, vid. Plutarch, De Exilio, VIII. 371, and 
 Cicero, Tusc. V. 37; respecting Diogenes, Plutarch, De Animi 
 Tranq., VII. 865, This appellation is mentioned by way of ridicule 
 in Lucian, Vitar. Auct. 0pp. Bip. III. 89. 
 
 t What Kestner has said in the very excellent Appendix to his 
 Agape, S. 42, is very true : *' The Stoics strove after a resemblance 
 to God, but the moral pattern which they had before them was not 
 that of a living God, a perfect and holy Being, but the cold order 
 of the willess universe. They pretended to encircle the world and 
 its inhabitants in the arms of love, but their love was a mere spe- 
 culative concern ; the principle of moral inclination was to them 
 the gravitating power of nature which holds similar particles to- 
 gether, (M. Ant. Eiq savr. X. 9.) The love of the Stoics was a 
 maxim, not a feeling; an acquired principle, not the natural tone 
 of a religious feeling." 
 
APPENDIX, D. 329 
 
 over to the region of divine revelation in the Old Testa- 
 ment. And here an examination of the question, Wheth- 
 er any intimations or prophecies of a definite character 
 are to be found respecting a future kingdom of God 
 which should be the means of extending true religion 
 among all nations of the earth, will bring us to a different 
 result from those to which we have hitherto been led ; 
 for it is manifest at first glance, that the prophets of the 
 Old Testament had clear views of the future, in this re- 
 spect. Reinhard acknowledges this,* though he has but 
 slightly touched upon this important subject, (pp. 263, 
 264.) It may be well, therefore, to investigate this point 
 so far as our present object requires. It is presented 
 to us in the Old Testament in two ways ; first, in gen- 
 eral promises of a time in which the darkness of the 
 earth should give away, idolatry be destroyed, sin .ex- 
 tirpated, and the knowledge and the worship of the true 
 God be spread abroad over the world, (vaticinia Mes- 
 siana sensu latiori ;) and second, in particular predictions 
 and representations of the great instrument by which 
 the salvation of mankind was to be effected, (vaticinia 
 Messiana sensu strictiori.) Our object is to show how a 
 reference to the salvation of the whole human family, 
 runs throughout the Old Testament ; and this requires us 
 to attend only to the first. Traces of such a reference 
 are to be found in the most ancient parts of the Old Tes- 
 tament history. The promises that were made to Abra- 
 
 * It is worthy of remark that the first sermon printed by 
 Reinhard, which few doubtless have seen, treats of this subject, 
 and is headed : " Respecting the influence wiiich was exerted by 
 those prophecies of the Old Testament that treat of Christ and iiis 
 kingdom, in the cultivation of the heart as regards piety ; a sermon 
 delivered by F. V. R. in the parish-church at Wittemberg on 
 Mary's Visitation, in 1776," [from the lesson, Isa. 11: 1 — 5, upon 
 which he comments in his CFiristmas Program ma of 1783, Opusc. 
 Acad. II. 1 — 29 ;] pp. 52, strictly speaking, only 3G. In this sermon, 
 with all its defects in other respects, we recognise Reinhard's spirit 
 and language. The first and longest part takes into consideration 
 the prophecies themselves together with their matter and proper in- 
 terpretation. The second describes (1) the influence which these 
 prophecies are adapted to exert upon our present knowledge, be- 
 lief, and hope. 
 
 28* ^ 
 
330 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 ham, that in him (Gen. 12: 3. 18: 18,) or in his seed, 
 (Gen. 22: 18,)* all the nations of the earth should be 
 blessed, -^promises, which the reasons added, (18: 19. 
 22: 18,) will not allow us to interpret of a temporal, but 
 must be understood of a spiritual Messing, — evidently re- 
 fer to a universal plan, which God, by means of Abra- 
 ham's posterity, intended to carry into execution for a 
 blessing to mankind. With these before us, therefore, 
 we should expect nothing else than to find allusions in 
 the Psalms of David to the age in which the heathen 
 should be converted to the true God, (Ps. 22: 28, 29. 
 72: 8, 11, 17 — 19,) and to the extension of the Mes- 
 siah's kingdom over the world, (Ps. 2: 8.) Now definite 
 predictions of this kind are crowded together in great 
 numbers in the prophets. The most essential traits of their 
 representations in painting the splendid future, are these : 
 Jehovah is to be acknowledged and worshipped as the 
 only true God ; his name is to be feared from the west, 
 and his glorv from the rising of the sun, (tsa. 2: 2 — 4. 
 12: 4, 5. 59: 19. Mai. 1: 11.) Idolatry is to be abol- 
 ished and exhibited in its nothingness, (Isa. 2: 18. 40: 
 21. 41: 24. 42:8, 17. 44: 11. Zeph. 2: 11.) The 
 heathen are to be animated with a desire after salvation, 
 (Hag. 2: 7,) are to turn to the true God and with his an- 
 cient worshippers to become a nation of God, (Isa. 42: 
 6.45:22—24.49:6. 55:5. 60:3—5.65:1.) The 
 Lord is to destroy the vail spread over all nations, (Isa. 
 25: 7,) sacrifice together with the ark of the covenant is 
 to be taken away, (Jer. 3:.16,) and a new covenant, 
 not a cavenant of bondage, but of a free and willing mind, 
 is to take the place of the old one, (Jer. 31: 31 — 34 ;) 
 for the spirit of God is to be poured out upon all flesh, 
 (Ezek. 36: 25— 28. Joel 2: 28. Zech. 12:10.) They 
 are to worship God in truth and righteousness, (Zech. 8: 
 
 * The correct meaning of these passages has been defended 
 against Jurieu. Clericus, and some later writers, by Jahn, Bibl. Ar- 
 chaol., II. 2. S. 214—217; Ej. Appendix Hermeneut., II. 197— 
 206; Ammon, Bibl. Theol. II. b2iF; and Hengstenborg, Christolo- 
 gie des A. T., X. 54 ff. 
 
APPENDIX, D. 331 
 
 85) under the standard of a good shepherd and king 
 whom God will give them, (Isa. 11: 1—10. 62: 10, 11. 
 Jer. 23: 5, 6. 33: 15, 16. Ezek. 34: 23,) whose kingdom 
 is to be divine and eternal, and to comprehend all na- 
 tions, (Dan. 2: 44. 7: 13, 14, 18,) and whose standard 
 IS to be planted like a cedar tree on a high hill, under 
 which, even in the shadow of its branches every fowl of 
 every wing is to dwell, (Ezek. 17: 23.) Who, in examin- 
 ing all these passages^ and declarations of Scripture which 
 might easily be multiplied, can fail to discover a decided 
 belief expressed, that God had determined to enlighten 
 and animate all the nations of the earth with the light of 
 his word ; that he had already selected the instrument for 
 accomplishing it ; and hence, that a saving institution was 
 to be founded for the good of all, especially as prophets 
 were then from time to time sent forth to effect the con- 
 version of the heathen ?* 
 
 The great and splendid views of the future, which were 
 laid open before the prophets of the Old Testament in a 
 manner of which we find no example in the religious his- 
 tory of other nations, have been considered as at most 
 nothing more than predictions, the application of which 
 was a secret, until the time of their fulfilment arrived ; 
 and hence, of doubtful value as regards the particular age 
 to which they belong.f This however seems not to have 
 been the case. On the other hand, they were genuine 
 and real preparations for the kingdom of God which was 
 to be established by the Messiah, and were adapted to ex- 
 ert a healthful, moral and religious influence upon the 
 contemporaries of the prophets themselves ;{ we will en- 
 
 * Jesus must have considered what is said respej3ting the mission 
 of Jonah to the Ninevites and the effects of his preaching, as genuine 
 history ; for he could not possibly have expected his guilty contem- 
 poraries to receive a rebuke in the day of judgement from fabulous 
 persons, — from a fable, Matt. 12: 41. 
 
 t Ammon, Bibl. Theol. II. Einleitung, S. 32. 
 
 t Some remarks are made upon this subject, though it is by no 
 means exhausted, in Staudlin's Gcschichte der Sittenlehre Jesu, I. 
 321—331 ; and Hengstenberg's Christologie, I. 1. 16—18. 
 
832 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 deavor to show mainly in what respects. And in the first 
 place, predictions of the ultimate approach of a better, 
 more perfect and happier age, must have awakened lively 
 feelings of the spiritual misery of the ages to which they 
 severally belonged ; and hence, have produced a clear 
 consciousness of the peculiar guilt and corruption of the 
 nation. All the descriptions given of a new generation 
 to.be raised up which should be more righteous, pious 
 and pleasing in the sight of God, were likewise so ma- 
 ny testimonies against the living one, and so many com- 
 plaints of its deep moral corruption. Every internal and 
 external want with which the nation was oppressed, was 
 thus made to appear as the consequence of the vice pre- 
 valent, while all prospect of relief was founded upon the 
 coming of a better generation. These ideal representa- 
 tions of the splendid state of things in prospect, however, 
 were, at the same time, earnest admonitions for hasten- 
 ing this period, and consequently, for striving after per- 
 fection. Hence, they served as powerful excitements to 
 thorough improvement, and must have been productive of 
 so much greater effects in this respect from the positive 
 assurance with which they were accompanied, of its be- 
 ing agreeable to the will of God, and of his directing all 
 things to the accomplishment of this end ; for with these 
 predictions, the prophets actually connected exhortations, 
 (Isa. 2; 5. 8: 13. lviii. Jer. 3: 22. 31: IS, 22. Ezek. 16: 
 55.)''^ Farther, these predictions must also have served to 
 extend purer and more honorable notions respecting God. 
 They represented him as the almighty and benevolent 
 ruler of the world ; who exercised care over the heathen 
 
 * In regard to ail these prophetical testimonies, in which the pre- 
 sent and the future are so closely connected together, it is important 
 to recollect, that in the Bible in general, they are founded upon 
 the view which considered the whole nation, the existing gen- 
 eration together with the future, as one person ; — a view which has a 
 deep foundation and is to be met with in other-books than the Bible. 
 For the classics upon this subject, vid. Plutarch, De sera Num. 
 vindicta, T. VIII. particularly p. 213—217; comp. Wolf, ad. De- 
 mosth.adv. Lept. p. 230; Storr, De Sensu Hist. Not. 183, Op. Ac. I. 
 75—77. 
 
APPENDIX, D. » 333 
 
 nations as well as that of the Jews, and intended they should 
 acknowledge and worship him as such ; and hence, by no 
 means as a being who had selected one nation to be his 
 chosen people forever, but who, on the other hand, might 
 choose others in its stead. How directly opposed was 
 all this to the inclinations of the Jews to consider them- 
 selves as God's favorites to the exclusion of all oth- 
 ers ! How much it was calculated to humble their nation- 
 al pride ! How could the willingness of the future heath- 
 en to yield obedience to the calls of God, be laid before 
 ,the obstinate nation which had rejected its ancient, and 
 the 'true God, without exciting in it sensible emotions 
 of shame! Isa. 65: 1, 2. This was directly calculated to 
 subdue its inimical and haughty feelings towards the 
 heathen and create in it an esteem for them, — an esteem 
 as the future people of God, and in general, to teach it 
 to consider the history of the world in a religious aspect 
 and view the hand of God in every thing that happened ; 
 inasmuch as these prophecies were interwoven with the 
 history of other nations. If we follow out this train of 
 thought in respect to individuals, we shall find that particu- 
 lar prophecies exerted a particular and especial influence. 
 The destruction of idolatry announced by the prophets 
 with the strongest assurance as an event which would 
 infallibly take place, exhibited the folly of those who 
 gave themselves up to it, and was calculated to create a 
 preponderance in opposition to the allurements by which 
 heathenism, then clad in splendor and universally preva- 
 lent, might have blinded the single and weak nation of the 
 Jews, as well as to animate true Israelites to remain faith- 
 ful to their God, before whom all were one day to bend 
 the knee. The description given of an age in which a 
 spiritual worship of God was to take the place of the 
 limited external worship then in vogue, and the nation to 
 be guided by a childlike disposition and willing obe- 
 dience instead of a servile submission and the law of 
 bondage, was calculated to excite the nation even then to 
 honor God with something more than sacrificial services, 
 
334 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 and render him the worship of the heart, — to elevate it 
 from the low state in which it then was, and lead it to 
 strive after the noble relationship of the children of 
 God. The prospect opened before the separated tribes 
 of Judah and Israel of being ultimately united together 
 again, (Isa. 11: 13. Jer. 3: 18,) was an admonition for 
 ihem even then, to lay aside all hostility and forgive each 
 other. No representation, however, was calculated to 
 exert a holier and more effectual influence upon the 
 contemporaries of the prophets than that given of the 
 Messiah himself. In him, the highest consolations were 
 presented to all, and the grace of God and forgiveness 
 of sin, rendered certain. The prophecies uttered re- 
 specting him, constituted as it were a Gospel before 
 any had been written by the Evangelists. They served 
 to mitigate the chastising severities of the law by exhibit- 
 ing the soothing consolations of divine compassion. When- 
 ever the nation felt itself trodden down and treated with 
 contempt, a belief in the promise of God to send them a 
 Saviour by whom he was to continue the exercise of his 
 authority over them, was calculated to raise the sinking 
 courage of the desponding and preserve them against to- 
 tal degradation and despair. The representation given of 
 the Messiah, however, was also adapted to exert some- 
 times a correcting, at others an animating influence upon 
 individuals. It held up an example to kings and magis- 
 trates which should have shone before them, have reminded 
 them of their duty and dignity, have guarded them against 
 tyranny and injustice, and excited them to become the 
 fathers of the nation. It exhibited to priests the sanctity 
 of their office, in the person of the supreme and divine 
 Priest, and rebuked them for their unfaithfulness and 
 negligence in regard to the spiritual welfare of the 
 people, (Ezek. xxxiv.) It furnished even the pro- 
 phets with the archetype, which, in laying down their 
 testimony for the truth and passing through the sufferings 
 incidental to their calling, they were to strive to resemble, 
 and in short was adapted to yield consolation and strength 
 
APPENDIX, p. 93^ 
 
 to all the pious who had to struggle, and suffer. — I do 
 not say that the prophecies of the Old Testament pro- 
 duced these effects and impressions upon all, but that the 
 prophecies themselves were calculated to produce them ; 
 and if only a kw made use of these prophecies for this 
 purpose, it was because of indolence and corruption. 
 At all times, however, there certainly were those who 
 read them with a spirit of deep inquiry, and by this means 
 were excited to out-strip the age in which they lived. 
 In the very commencement of the New Testament we 
 find mention of some persons who were animated with 
 the spirit of nobler hopes respecting the Messiah, (Luke 
 1: 74—79. 2: 30—32, 34, 35, 38,) and this fact renders 
 it so much the more evident that these prophecies were 
 as introductory labor to prepare the way for the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 Accordingly Christ found the idea of such a universal 
 kingdom of God in the Old Testament,^ and we know 
 also that this fact was one of great importance to him. 
 All that he taught and did, was in continuation of the Old 
 Testarnent. His object was to complete what God had there 
 begun. The annunciations of the prophetical writings were 
 to him so many divine hints to which he accurately at- 
 tended ; so many predictions of what was absolutely to be 
 done to him and by him. Hence, the most important 
 problem he had to solve was the initiation of his disciples 
 into that spirit of the Old Testament which referred ex- 
 clusively to him, and thereby to furnish them with a key 
 for rightly understanding the holy Scriptures and obtain- 
 ing a knowledge of the unity of the divine plan laid down 
 
 *Hess, Lehre, Thaten und Schicksale unsers Herrn, II. 171. 
 ** Strictly speaking, our Lord never formed a plan. The great un- 
 dertaking which was to be executed by him and his disciples (or 
 rather by him alone, making use of his disciples as instruments,) 
 was not one of his projecting, but one which he found already pro- 
 jected in the former course of things and the connexion of divine insti- 
 tutions and transactions, from the time of Abraham down to his own 
 day. This plan lay spread out before him from its first germ to its 
 final development and consummation. Having a knowledge of this 
 sublime plan and his own destination to be its executor, it was alto- 
 gether improper and superfluous for him to think of plans of his own." 
 
336 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 in the Old Testament. That in making use of the Old 
 Testament, Christ did not act from the full convictions of ^ 
 his own heart, but an endeavor to accommodate himself 
 to the representations then prevalent and to the feelings of 
 the nation in general, is one of the most groundless and 
 objectionable opinions that have been advanced in modern 
 times.* Not to speak of the impossibility always in the 
 way of reconciling such an accommodation with a strict 
 love of the truth ; it may be asked, if Christ was not seri- 
 ous in everything that he did, how he could have evinced 
 such religious earnestness in considering himself under ob- 
 ligations to fulfil the Scriptures ; how he could have thus 
 censured his contemporaries for neglecting to attend to 
 the testimony of the Scriptures, (John 5: 39, 46, 47 ;) how 
 he could have taken such pains to instruct his disciples in 
 the Scriptures ; and how in his prayer to the Father, 
 (John 17:12,) he could have gone so far as to appeal to 
 the Scriptures ?f The fact, however, that these early an- 
 nunciations respecting the kingdom of God were already 
 in existence, did not divest this thought of its originality in 
 the mind of Jesus. There was one source from which it 
 flowed both in regard to Jesus and the prophets them- 
 selves, — that of the same divine spirit. Jesus found him- 
 self, found his own spirit in the prophets ; and instead of 
 saying that Christ was indebted for his knowledge, to the 
 prophets, we may say, if we believe the intimations of the 
 New Testament (I Pet. 1: 11,) that the prophets were in- 
 debted for their illumination to the spirit of Christ. To all 
 this, however, it may be added, that though the prophets, 
 speaking as the organs of God, cast many remote glances 
 to this divine plan, yet none of them ever conceived the 
 
 * Semler, Von Untersuchung des Canon, 1. 125 ff. 2e Ausg. 
 
 t The view which Jesus took and the manner in which he made 
 use of the Old Testament, have been accurately and completely ex- 
 plained by Hess, 1. c. Abschnitt, Nr. VIII ; Ueber Verschiednes, 
 was zur Bildung seines Characters beigetragen, Th. II. S. 81 — 145; 
 especially S. 40 f. 68 f. of the last edition, Theil 20e. of his collected 
 works. Comp. also Cramer, Bibliologia N. T. L.' 1819.. 
 
APPENDIX, D. 337 
 
 idea of carrying the plan itself into execution. This none 
 of them could or ought to have done, as none of them had 
 been called upon by God for the purpose. Jesus was 
 the first one endowed with such power. He not only 
 conceived the idea of the kingdom of God itself, but 
 brought it to the realization. In him we discover a clear 
 and decided resolution to perform this work and actually 
 found a kingdom of God which should embrace the whole 
 human family, as also positive evidence that he was con- 
 scious of having received a call from God to this effect. 
 In this respect, he was resembled by none of his prede- 
 cessors. 
 
 III. Not even hyJohn the Baptist ; for to him in the last 
 place, have some endeavored to ascribe the honor of hav- 
 ing formed the plan of a kingdom of God before Jesus. 
 "Indeed it was he," say they, "who first led Jesus to think 
 of it ; for John having been put to death at an early peri- 
 od of his labors, Jesus completed the plan which the 
 former had commenced, and then the church was called 
 after him ; so that there is the same relation between them 
 as between Columbus and Americus."* Who would 
 have rejected such honor as undeserved, sooner than John, 
 whose chief ornament in the presence of Jesus, was deep 
 humility ? The whole supposition is nothing more than a 
 crude, fanciful conceit, to prove which in a clear and con- 
 vincing manner, resort is had in vain to genuine history. 
 " John came forward at an earlier period, and was the 
 first to announce the near approach of the kingdom of 
 God." This was agreeable to his destination ; for he 
 was sent to prepare the way for the greater person who 
 was to come after him, and on this very account he can- 
 not have been what this latter person was to be. How 
 can this latter, more exalted character have been first no- 
 
 * So the anonymous author of the essay, Johannes u. Jesus ', in 
 Henke's Neues Magazin, VI. 373 — 440. To this place belongs the 
 first division as far as to p. 411, and then follows the second : Ueber 
 die Begriffe vom Messianischen Reiehe. 
 
 29 
 
338 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 tified of his calling by John ? The prophets made their 
 appearance at a still earlier period. Are they therefore 
 to be considered as the founders of the kingdom of God ? 
 The time does not determine the question. " But John 
 was engaged in the same calling as Jesus ; he preached 
 the same kingdom of God, delivered the same serious 
 and sacred instructions in regard to duty, and exhibited 
 similar zeal for the truth and the thorough reformation of 
 his people." He preached the kingdom of God which the 
 prophets had spoken of long before, as very near, called Je- 
 sus the founder of it, and urged repentance as the only con- 
 dition upon which any one could be admitted into this 
 kingdom ; but with the few hints left us respecting John's 
 preaching, by what nieans shall we prove that his system 
 of instruction was in every respect equal to Christ's ? To 
 do him justice, we must acknowledge his moral greatness, 
 but are we authorised to place him on an equality with Je- 
 sus ? "John's school rivalled that of Christ, and continued for 
 a long time the sole opponent of the Christian church ; a 
 fact which betrays a suspicion that John himself expected at 
 first to lay claim to the Messiahship," (S. 392, 397.) John 
 had no school of his own, nor did he attach his disciples to 
 his name. He educated them for the school of Christ, 
 and pointed them to him. He had disciples indeed for 
 some time after Christ entered upon his public career, but 
 never received any censure from him for it. The reason 
 is manifest. He was not an enemy to the latter but a 
 friend, and engaged in promoting the same cause ; and 
 his disciples, on his decease, could join Christ's communi- 
 ty. And that a particular sect arose after his death which 
 assumed liis name and exalted itself above Jesus, is not to 
 be charged upon him, — foe he had certainly been explicit 
 enough in declaring that he had no intention of founding 
 a community of his own. 
 
 The entire relation which existed between Jesus and 
 John as clearly laid down by the Evangelists, is directly 
 opposed to the gratuitous hypothesis in question. From 
 the very commencement, John, as is evident from every 
 
APPENDIX, D. 339 
 
 thing that he said and did, kept one uniform purpose be- 
 fore him. The calling to which he was destined had al- 
 ready been pointed out to him by the prophetical declara- 
 tions of his father, with which he was certainly acquainted, 
 (Luke 1: 76 — 79;) and that he ever thought of being 
 able to become the Messiah, is directly opposed to his re- 
 peated and most public assertions, (John 1: 20. Luke 3: 
 l6.)He knew that he was sent to prepare the way for the 
 Messiah, by exhortation to repentance and by pointing 
 immediately to Jesus, who on being baptized was openly 
 manifested to him as such ; and to perform his commis- 
 sion in this respect, was made the business of his whole 
 life. It was not with " sadness and passionate feelings," 
 (S. 400) but with evident joy, (John 3:29, 39) that he 
 saw the increase of the Lord, and felt assured that hearts 
 would apply to him. How, from the very commence- 
 ment of his career did he humble himself before the exal- 
 ted Jesus, and confess his own inferiority and unworthiness ! 
 He even went so far as to concede to Jesus an exclusive- 
 ly superhuman dignity, a heavenly origin, (John 3: 31 — 
 36,) and urge faith in him as an indispensable condition 
 of salvation. How could John have done this in an hon- 
 orable manner, if he had considered Jesus as his equal, 
 and been the very means of first bringing him to a con- 
 sciousness of his calling? And then from the unworthy 
 accusation of the Fragmentist, (Fragment v. Zweck Jesu, 
 S. 134, 135,) it would seem as if every thing that passed 
 between Jesus and John had been the result of agreement 
 and dissimulation ! Impossible ! The strict veracity of 
 John compelled him not in appearance but in reality, to 
 humble himself deeply before Jesus, — to humble himself, 
 the son of earth, before the celestial Son of God ! Not- 
 withstanding the reverence which as Christians, we still 
 owe him, we must upon his own testimony admit, that 
 he had not the light and the perfect wisdom, that he could 
 not claim for himself the holiness and purity which the 
 Lamb of God must have possessed, (John 1: 29 ;) that he 
 was destitute of the perfect spiritual freedom which the Sa- 
 viour exhibited, (Matt. 9; 14. 1 1: 1 8 seq.) and never permit- 
 
340 APPENDIX, D. 
 
 ted like him to baptize with the Holy Spirit. How is it 
 possible for any one who reflects upon all this difference 
 made by John in person between himself and Jesus, to 
 think of forcing upon him an honor which his humble 
 heart so earnestly strives to reject ?* 
 
 And finally, how shall the hypothesis in question be re- 
 conciled with the conduct and character of Jesus ? Where 
 has Jesus uttered a single word giving us to understand 
 that he was indebted to John for any thing? It is true that 
 he presented himself to John for baptism. He did so, 
 however, in order, in a manner agreeable to the divine will, 
 to attest the coming of the kingdom of God, and especial- 
 ly for the purpose of being made known to John as the 
 Messiah. He appealed to the testimony of John, but not 
 because he needed it, but for the sake of contemporaries 
 (John 5: 34.) On the other hand, how far above John 
 does Jesus represent himself ! He recognises John only as 
 the messenger sent before him to prepare his way, and 
 accordingly, as his servant, (Matt. 11: 10.;) and even 
 says " He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater 
 than he," v. 1 1 . Not that every professor of Christ and 
 every herald of the Gospel excels John in personal worth. 
 This is incredible. But that he who should live and la- 
 bor in the kingdom of God when actually founded, would 
 be in a more spiritual condition ; inasmuch as he would 
 have more sources of knowledge and enjoy greater means 
 of grace, than John ;+ whence we see again what impor- 
 
 * In this place, compare Ammon's sermon : " John the Baptist, a 
 teacher of virtue without faith ;" in the Sermons, Ueber Jesum und 
 s. Lehre, I. 135 — 156 ; though it must be allowed that he here gives 
 too unfavorable a representation of John ; as Jesus did not consider 
 the question which John proposed to him in such a trying state of 
 mind as every good man has sometimes to encounter, as ihe result 
 of a complete surrender of faith, or even of a hesitancy, fMatt. 11: 
 7, extr. ;) for on the other hand, he afterwards recognised him as 
 the true successor of the ancient Elias, (Matt. 17: 12,) and one who 
 had been obliged to encounter similar internal dijSiculties ; Rom. 
 11:2,3. 
 
 t The explanation which Chrysostom, Luther, Zuinglius,'Calovius 
 and the late writers, Menken, Betrachtungen Uber das Ev. M. IL 
 
APPENDIX, E. 341 
 
 tance Jesus attached to himself and kingdom, when 
 brought in comparison with John. How could Jesus have 
 done so, had John excelled him in any thing, and been 
 the first to call- his attention to the kingdom of heaven? 
 
 E. pp. 89, 252. 
 
 Whether Jesus received his education and his principles, from the 
 school of the Essenes. 
 
 Among all the attempts that have been made to de- 
 duce the education of Jesus and his principles from a 
 definite source, perhaps no one has assumed such an ap- 
 pearance of probability or tended more to dazzle, than 
 that to deduce them from the Essenes. Of this hypoth- 
 esis, of which it seems proper here, in the first place, to 
 give a short literary history, Voltaire and Frederic II. are 
 commonly considered as the authors.* The former, 
 however, does not state it as his opinion but that of some 
 learned men, that Jesus was an Essene.f It is highly 
 
 232 ff.; Fritzsche, on this passage; and Fleck, De regno div. p. 
 83, have given of Matth. 11: 11, that by the least in the kingdom of 
 heaven Christ understood himself, does not seem to be appropriate. 
 One who is in this kingdom is a citizen and subject at the same 
 time, but not the king of the kingdom. Christ in other places calls 
 the members of his kingdom little ; Matt. 10: 42. 18: 6. comp. Luke 
 12: 32. The explanation of aftcwv adopted above, is agreeable to 
 the usages of the language. Comp. Slorr, Ueber den Zweck des 
 Johannes, S. 459 ff. on John XIV, 28. The actual truth of the pas- 
 sage was especially and gloriously confirmed by the apostles, as they 
 accomplished more in the kingdom of Christ than John was able 
 to do. 
 
 * Aramon has alluded to this in the Bibl. Theologie, II. 300, and 
 his allusions in this case, as in others, have passed over into sev- 
 eral works. 
 
 t In the Dictionaire Philosophique, sub v. Esseniens, Oeuvres des 
 Deuxp. T. 57. p. 229. " Quelques savans ont cr6, que J. C. etait 
 un de ces Esseniens, qui fuyaient le tumulte des affaires et qui cul- 
 tivaient en paix la vertu." 
 
 29* 
 
342 APPENDIX, E. 
 
 probable that Voltaire received it from England as he 
 did most of his Rationalistic wisdom. That the Deists of 
 this country, as early as the beginning of the 18th cen- 
 tury, maintained Christianity to have had its origin among 
 the Essenes, is shown by Prideaux.* Indeed there are 
 allusions to this fact in Bohngbroke,f from whose works 
 and oral communications Voltaire appropriated so much 
 to himself. At the same time, however, if not still earli- 
 er, John George Wachter a German scholar, distinguish- 
 ed for his various acquisitions, but somewhat notorious al- 
 so for his paradoxies, attempted, in an investigation insti- 
 tuted for the express purpose, to represent Essenism as 
 the source of Christianity. The work upon the subject 
 which belongs to this place, De Primordiis Christianae 
 Religionis libri duo : quorum prior agit de Essaeis, 
 Christianorum inchoatoribus, alter De Christianis Essae- 
 orum Posteris, is extant indeed only in manuscript ; but 
 Brucker has given a sufficient description of it accom- 
 panied with an abstract. { This same opinion is ascribed 
 
 * In the Connexion, II. 449, German transl. by Titel. [Eng. ed. 
 Lend., 1808, Vol. III. p. 429 seqq. Tr.] 
 
 t The Philosophical Works, II, 310, of the quarto ed. He finds 
 much as he supposes of an Essene character, especially in the Ser- 
 mon on the mount. 
 
 X In the 6th or supplementary volume of the Hist. Crit. Philos. 
 p. 445—452. Wachter lived from 1673 to 1757, at last, in Leipzig, 
 and received a considerable pension from the Leipzig magistrate, 
 in whose library under Wachter's Manuscripts, the above is proba- 
 bly to be found. A copy of this work belong^s to that part of the 
 university library formerly in this place [Wittem.] which bears the 
 name of Von Ponickau, and it agrees in every respect with Bruck- 
 er's description. It consists of 84 tolerably closely written quarto 
 pages, and contains almost every thing that has lately been said in 
 support of the hypothesis in question. Wachter, however, in what he 
 says, does by no means intend to encroach upon the divine authority 
 of Jesus. His words, § 29, " An lesus fuerit Essaeus,aut moribus et 
 doctrina Essaeorum institutus .''" p. 39, MS. Witt., are as follows : 
 " Constat, lesum pro aetate sapientia et doctrina profecisse, Luc. 
 2: 52, ut sclent omnes prophetae in pueritia 1 Sam. 2: 26. Et tamet- 
 si hoc nuspiam scriptum esset, omnes tamen intelligerent, Divinita- 
 tem non impertire dotes suas humanaQ naturae simul et semel, sed 
 praeceptoribus et exemplis ad nos formandos uti. Hoc ergo sup- 
 posito inquirendum nunc est, cuius Sectae discipulus fuerit lesus ? 
 
OF THS 
 APPENDIX, E. X^Kf ^ ^? . 
 
 to the Jesuits ;* and it has also been defended oy^Tn^niy--'^^'^'^ 
 Free-masons in connexion with the supposition that their 
 
 Fuerunt autem circa tempora lesu quatuor tantum in universa lu- 
 daea docentium et discentium scholae ; Pharisaeorum, Sadducae- 
 orum, Essaeorunij et Sicariorum. De prima aut secunda lesum 
 fuisse, nemo, opinor, dixerit. Nam Pharisaeos et Saducaeos, eorum- 
 que mores, dogmata et instituta, lesum palam damnavit. De pos- 
 trema idem sentiendum. Nam Caesarem lesus agnovit, eidemque 
 tanquam Domino obedientiam et censum praestandum dixit. Matt. 
 22: 21. Restat ergo, ut fuerit de Schola Essaeorum, quia de aliqua 
 ilium schola fuisse necesse est. Et decebat sane Servatorem mundi 
 optimos et sapientissimos gentis suae viros habuisse praceptores, 
 quales omnino erant Essaei," On another page, however, in-the 
 Conclusio Operis, § 54, p. 83s. MS., it is said again : " Ex antece- 
 dentibus manifestum est, Christianam Religionem non subito aut 
 improviso venisse in mundum, ut Palladium aut Ancile de caelo 
 lapsum, sicut vulgus hominum existimat : sed omnino per causas 
 secundas a divina providentia e longinquo praeparatas, paulatim ad ■ \ 
 
 res humanas demissam esse, adeo, ut origo eius et progressus sciri 
 et cognosci possit. Nos enim, si verum dicere fas est, ludaica 
 Secta sumus, nee aliunde quam ex celebri Essaeorum ordine 
 oriundi. Hi sunt illi pauperes, quibus Evangelium primum an- 
 nunciatum est. Luc. 7: 22. Matt. 11: 6. Ab his ad primitives 
 Christianos promanavit ComTnunio honorum^ abstinentia a militia, 
 sacramentum religionis, jejunia, nodes feriatae, hymni, preces ad 
 orientem, hierarchia et cultus angelorum, disciplina ecclesiastical 
 monachismus, et universus, sc. sacram interpretandi modus alle- 
 goricus. Quae cum ita sint, perspicuum est, Essaeos Christianorum 
 inchoatores, et Christianos Essaeorum posteros esse. Hue procul 
 dubio digitum intendit Lactantius dum, 1. V. c. 23, ait : Nos Chris- 
 tianos ludaeorum successores et posteros esse. Quorum autem ludae- 
 orura .'' Certe non Pharisaeorum aut Saducaeorum. Quid enim 
 Christian© geueri cum illis commune? Igitur Essaeorum. Quod 
 suscepimus demonstrandum." In the conclusion we find the fol- 
 lowing remarks : " Hunc tractatum fecit an. 1713, refecit 1716, tan- 
 demque multis accessionibus auctum in presentem ordinem digessit 
 an. 1717, I, G. W." From the words quoted, it will be infer- 
 red, that Wachter has taken up with many things in his proof 
 vrhich are altogether untenable, and some of these have already been 
 censured by Brucker ; as for instance, (§ 27, p. 37, MS.) that those 
 pronounced righteous in the New Testament, Matt. 10: 41, were 
 Essenes ; as Joseph, Matt. 1: 19; Simeon, Luke 2:25; Joseph, 
 Acts 1: 23 ; — that the icay of righteousness, Matt. 21: 32, means the 
 sect of the Essenes, and others. In the mean time, however, he 
 has omitted nothing, which goes to show that there is a resemblance 
 between Essenism and Christianity. 
 
 * Frh. von Wedekind, Der pythagor. Orden, die obscurantenver- 
 cine und die Fr. Maurerei, L. 1820, S. 104, says : " Every Friday- 
 ! afternoon the Jesuits held secret chapters and attended to the culti- 
 
344 APPENDIX, E. 
 
 order likewise sprung from the Essenes.^ Not to men- 
 tion other writers of less importance,t however, it may be 
 added that this opinion has found its most skilful advo- 
 cate in Staudlin, who, (Geschichte der Sittenlehre Jesu, 
 I. 570 — 582,) declares it probable, " that Jesus spent his 
 childhood among the Esseues and received his education 
 and instruction from them until he became a young man ; 
 and then was pitched upon by the order to effect a great 
 moral revolution and sent forth upon the execution of the 
 commission." There are so many weighty arguments, 
 however, to be brought forward in opposition to this opin- 
 ion that it can hardly be looked upon by any one as ten- 
 able.f As Reinhard has said but little about it, though 
 very excellent, I shall here give a condensed survey of 
 the considerations by which it is opposed. 
 
 vation of their esoteric doctrines, as to which they are said (as I 
 think I know from good authority,) to consider themselves as the 
 successors of the Essenes, from which sect they believe that Christ 
 received his education, having been formed by it for the express 
 purpose of the order (the Essenes and afterwards the Jesuits.") 
 
 * Ragotzky, Der Freidenker in der Maurerei, Berlin, 1793, S. 
 183—192; Cothner, Taschenbuch far Fr. Maurerei, 1800, S. 219— 
 228; comp. Lenning, Encyclopadie der F. M., Art. Essenes, I. 162 
 — ~i Jt). 
 
 t Riem, Christus u. die Vernunft, S. C68— 706;" Richter, Das 
 Christenthum u. die altesten Religionen des Orients, S. 243 ff.; 
 Der Zweck Jesu geschichtlich und seelkundlich dargestellt, S. 45 
 —47. 64. 
 
 t This opinion has been contested since Loderwald by Bengel, 
 Flatt's Magazin, VII. 126—180 ; Amraon, Religiose Moral, Gottin- 
 gen, 1800, S. 72 f ; Bibl. Theol. II. 300 ff. ; Thiess, N. Krit. Kom- 
 mentar, II. 408 ; Eelkonis Tinguae, Oratio de I. C. doctore -S^todi- 
 day.rui, minime Esseno, Greening., 1805 ; Von Meyer's Ehrenfrieds 
 Lehrabende, Erste Fortsetz., Frankf., 1808, 1—104 ; " Jesus self- 
 taught;" Bandelin, Ueber die Bildung des grossen Propheten von 
 Nazareth zum ersten Religionslehrer auf Gottes Erde, Lub., 1809; 
 Planck, Geschichte des Christenthums in d. Periode s. ersten Ein- 
 fahrung, I. 57 — 67. Among Masons, Morlin has opposed it in the 
 well written letters, Ueber den Bund der EssSer, im Altenburgs. 
 Journ. f. Freimaurerei, B. II. Heft 1 and 2, of which the two last let- 
 ters belong to this place ; extracts from which are to be found in Len- 
 ning's Encyclopadie, I. 186 — 193, and Fichte's Anweisung zum se- 
 ligenLeben, S. 347 f. 
 
APPENDIX, E. 345 
 
 I. The proofs in favor of this hypothesis are unsatis- 
 factory. " It is thought to afford a satisfactory explanation 
 of the disappearance of Jesus from the page of history 
 between the 12th year and 30th of his life." The si- 
 lence of the Evangelists respecting this period of Christ's 
 life can be explained without any such hypothesis. Their 
 principal object was to develop that part of Christ's pub- 
 lic life in which he appeared and acted as a Saviour, and 
 not to write annals, there being nothing which required 
 them to do so. Besides, during this period, he lived in 
 obscurity away from the view of the world, without rashly 
 making himself public. How can it seem strange to us 
 that the Evangelists have said nothing of these years ? 
 Admit that Jesus did not spend them in Nazareth, we 
 have as much right to suppose that he grew up in some 
 other favorite place. " Even Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. II. 
 17,) considers the Therapeutae as Christians ; a fact 
 which betrays the great similarity which existed between 
 the Essenes and Christians." Not between them and 
 Christians in their original simplicity, but the later Chris- 
 tian ascetics and monks. The marks which Philo found 
 among the Therapeutae were not those of the Christian 
 faith, but the Jewish.* Eusebius was seduced by his 
 anxiety to find early traces of Christianity, to discover 
 them in a place to which it could scarcely have been 
 extended at the time when Philo wrote. " Jesus opposed 
 the Pharisees and Sadducees, but never said a word against 
 the Essenes. They are never mentioned by way of censure 
 in the New Testament. May not Jesus himself have belong- 
 ed to this sect ?" Jesus belonged to no sect. He was exalt- 
 ed above all sectarian distinctions. He never spoke in di- 
 rect terms against the Essenes because no occasion pce- 
 sented for him to do so. In the cities, markets, syna- 
 
 * Schrockh, K. G. II. 103. [Comp. Prideaux's Connexion', Vol. 
 III. p. 427. '• The words of Philo," says he, which are quoted at 
 large in some preceding sections, "manifestly prowe, first, that these 
 Therapeutae could not be Christians, and secondly, that they were 
 most certainly Jews." Tr.] 
 
346 APPENDIX, E. 
 
 gogues, and the temple, where he taught, there were no 
 Essenes to be met with. They never rose up in hostihty 
 against him. In this respect his words, " He that is not 
 against us is for us," Luke 9: 50, may be considered as 
 true of them. " Essenism and Christianity bear a great 
 resemblance to each other. Both are moral religious 
 fraternities." Of very different kinds, however ; and 
 there was a church even in the Old Testament. " In 
 both a community of goods was introduced." Not in the 
 church universally, but only among Christians in the 
 church at Jerusalem, and there, as a voluntary thing for 
 temporary and local reasons, and not because it was en- 
 joined by any command from Christ or his apostles, or 
 any law of general obligation ; whereas the Essenes made 
 the renunciation of all property an indispensable condi- 
 tion of admission into their fraternity. In all other 
 churches each one retained his own property, with refer- 
 ence to which, many directions are given, and on the uni- 
 versal extension of Christianity, every thing like a com- 
 munity of goods immediately ceased. "The regulations 
 of both fraternities respecting the worship of God are 
 very much alike." The resemblance springs from a 
 common source, the synagogue, the regulations of which, 
 Christians, who had received no liturgical precepts from 
 Jesus, were at liberty to imitate so far as appropriate to 
 their purpose. " Many of their moral principles agree ; 
 as for instance, those of love to God and one's neighbour, 
 of fraternal equality, of oaths, and of celibacy." They 
 are either contained in the Old Testament, as the first for 
 instance, or else they are quite dissimilar. Among the 
 Essenes there were four orders of different degrees, be- 
 tween which there was such a distance, that one of a 
 higher class considered himself as defiled if touched by 
 one of a lower class, and washed himself as if he had 
 rendered himself common by associating with a total 
 stranger, (Josephus, De Bell. lud. II. 8: 10.) The oath 
 in Christianity is disapproved of, but not absolutely forbid- 
 den. The Essenes, on the other hand, required those 
 who were to be initiated into their fraternity, to take a 
 
APPENDIX, E. 347 
 
 horrible oath. The regulations also of the Christian church 
 respecting marriage are unlike those of the Essenes, for 
 the former do by no means absolutely enjoin a state of cel- 
 ibacy ; on the other hand, they exhibit the sanctity of 
 marriage in a religious point of view. 
 
 II. There is an essential difference between Essenism 
 and Christianity. The spirit of Christianity is pure, 
 free, and painfully confined down to no narrow forms, k 
 leaves each individual to make choice of his own external 
 exercises and urges upon him nothing more than internal 
 sanctity of heart. Essenism was slavishly confined to 
 stated forms. It produced a kind of monkish piety and 
 debased the mind. " Its pupils in their dress and the 
 management of their bodies, resembled children who act 
 under the influence of a fear of their masters," (Jose- 
 phus, De B. I. IT. 8. 4.) The Sabbath was observed with 
 more than Pharisaical punctiliousness, washing before 
 meals was most strictly attended to, and anointing with 
 oil and the use of wine was prohibited under severe 
 penahies. How far is Christianity elevated above these 
 merely external exercises ! Christ explains the command 
 respecting the Sabbath as subordinate to higher purposes, 
 permits innocent enjoyments, and makes devotion subser- 
 vient to the promotion of a happy spirit. Essenism in 
 regard to its entire form and institutions is nothing but 
 Separatism. It draws its followers away from the world, 
 forbids the extension of the secret principles of the or- 
 der and makes virtue the property of a few initiated per- 
 sons. Christianity extends infinitely heyond the bounda- 
 ries of this narrow horizon and is in every respect of a 
 universal character. It directs its followers while in the 
 world to act for the world, requires them to preach the 
 truth as the common property of mankind, upon the 
 house-tops, and aims as far as possible at connecting all 
 together for the purpose of mutually improving the heart. 
 Essenism was the affair of an order, which contracted 
 the heart ; Christianity is an affair of mankind and it en- 
 larges the heart. There is a difference also between the 
 
348 APPENDIX, E. 
 
 two in regard to single doctrines, as the Essenes admit, 
 the doctrine of a fate by which the destinies of all are 
 predetermined, thus opposing the idea of human freedom, 
 and also admit the immortality of the soul, but deny the 
 resurrection of the body. 
 
 III. There are many historical circumstances directly 
 opposed to the hypothesis in question. Not one of the 
 jancient writers who speak of Christ and of Christians, 
 reckons them among the Essenes. Josephus, who had 
 acquired his information of the latter not from foreign ac- 
 counts but from actual experience, having been through their 
 school as also those of the other sects, (De vita sua, c. 2,) 
 would certainly have known it, had the founder of Chris- 
 tianity which was then well known and very extensively 
 spread abroad, been educated in this school. Would he 
 both in his description of the sects, and in his account of 
 Jesus and of John, (whom we must then also consider 
 as an Essene) have altogether passed over this circum- 
 stance ? Would he not, on the other hand, have ob- 
 served that the Christian party originated with the Es- 
 senes ? If this, however, was the case, and Jesus labored 
 only for the cause of the Essenes, how comes it to pass, 
 that they took no interest in his cause ? That they did 
 not pass over to the church of Jesus in which they 
 saw the sublime object so vigorously advanced ? In- 
 stead of doing so, they continued a distinct sect until 
 the total destruction of their native country, when their 
 society was probably dissolved. Some individuals of 
 them may have been admitted into the Christian church, 
 but it is evident that Paul must have guarded against the 
 errors thus introduced. Had Christ himself been an in- 
 strument of the Essenes, he would in all probability have 
 had such persons for assistants as agreed with him in prin- 
 ciples. He chose none, however, from among the Es- 
 senes. The persons whom he chose for his apostles and by 
 whom without any support from others, the Gospel was 
 to be spread, were ignorant Galileans and evidently did not 
 belong to the school of the Essenes. How can it be ac- 
 
APPENDIX, E. 349 
 
 counted for that the apostles never give the least intima-^ 
 lion of Christ's having been connected with the Essenes ? 
 Is it supposable that they have designedly passed over the 
 thing in silence, for the purpose of procuring for their 
 Lord the honor of a higher education and a superior mes- 
 sage ? They were too unskilful and too honest to descend 
 to such a crafty measure. And would they have been 
 totally ignorant of any thing of the kind ? when we con- 
 sider how familiarly they lived with Jesus, and how well 
 acquainted they were with his most intimate associates, 
 such a supposition becomes incredible. Their silence at 
 least affords room for a doubt respecting the hypothesis 
 in question. But farther : They indirectly contradict it, 
 as they tell us that Jesus spent the years of his life before he 
 made his appearance in public, in no other place than at 
 Nazareth, where he was brought up, (Luke 14: 16;) a 
 place, (Matt. 4: 13, cbmp. 2: 23,) which he did not leave 
 until he entered upon his ministry. The inhabitants of Naz- 
 areth knew him well as their countryman, (Matt. 13: 54 — 
 57. Luke 4: 22 — 24. John 6: 42,) and were ignorant of 
 his ever having been absent for a long time in some* educa- 
 tional institution. On the other hand, they asserted with 
 great positiveness that he had not studied in any human 
 school, (John?: 15,) and, on that very account, were aston- 
 ished at his wisdom and oratorical powers. Had Jesus been 
 in a school a long time for the purpose of attending to this 
 kind of learning, the inhabitants of Nazareth, particularly his 
 relatives, would certainly have known it. He would not 
 have struck them as being so humble a character nor 
 have appeared to them so much like an equal. His edu- 
 cation would no longer have remained to them a mystery.* 
 That the Jews in general, particularly those in Jerusalem, 
 did not look upon him as an Essene, is evident from the 
 fact that Jesus was never interdicted from entering the 
 
 * Well worth reading upon this subject, is Reinhard's sermon, 
 entitled, " A glance at the domestic life of Jesus," 1802, 1.Nr. ^, 
 upon John 2: 1 — 11, 
 
 30 
 
350 APPENDIX, E. 
 
 ;^temple, whereas Josephus says, (Archaeol. XVIII. L 
 5,) that the Essenes were excluded from the common 
 court of the temple. 
 
 IV. To these historical reasons may be added a reason 
 decidedly moral. The hypothesis in question is directly 
 opposed to the character of Jesus Christ. If Jesus had re- 
 ceived his wisdom, and an idea of his great work from a 
 man or from a human institution, gratitude and veracity 
 would have required him to make it known. Instead 
 of doing so, Jesus denies that his work had any human or- 
 igin, and admits the agency of no one in the business but 
 his heavenly Father, upon whose commission alone he 
 acted.* He therefore who, notwithstanding all this, con- 
 jectures that Jesus received his education arid his call from 
 a human source, must bring his love of veracity in ques- 
 tion and throw an obscurity over his character. He who 
 goes thus to work, does no service "to mankind or the 
 public authority of religion. f The purity and upright- 
 ness of Jesus, therefore, constrain us absolutely to reject 
 an opinion with which they cannot be reconciled. J 
 
 * Classical upon this subject is the sufficiently regarded and irrefu- 
 table work of SUsskind : " In what sense did Jesus maintain the di- 
 vinity of his moral and religious doctrines ?" (In welchem Sinne 
 hat Jesus die Gottlichkeit s. Religions-u. Sittenlehre behauptet ?) 
 Tub., 1802. With this Gelbke seems not to be acquainted in the work : 
 Jesus von sich, ein Beitrag zur StSrkung des Glaubens an ihn,L, 
 1829, the first division of which from p. 8 to 37, belongs to this 
 place ; though in respect to fundamental exegesis, it will be neces- 
 sary to supply its defects out of SUsskind. 
 
 f Morlin at the place quoted. " An acute genius by resorting to 
 fiction and availing himself of the aid of such an hypothesis, might 
 indeed clear up much that is obscure in the history of Jesus and his 
 apostles, but by so doing, he would I fear veil the character of Jesus 
 with a thick shadow, — that very point from which light and life 
 stream forth upon the whole. Jesus forbade his disciples from 
 having any thing to do with mysterious institutions and even declar- 
 ed, John 18: 19 — 21, that he himself had never done his work in se- 
 cret corners. The history of the world becomes vastly poorer if di- 
 vested of the purity and integrity of this worthy character." 
 
 t Fichte at the place quoted,* " Jesus did not receive his doctrines 
 from external sources, — from tradition ; for from the truly exalted 
 frankness and integrity by which his words and actions were always di«- 
 
APPENDIX, F. 351 
 
 F. 
 
 A critical examination of the objections which have been made to 
 the legitimacy of Reinhard's conclusion. 
 
 I. The present work of Reinhard is distinguished to a high 
 degree for clearness, lucid order, and a logical connexion ; 
 excellencies which all his works possess. The plan of it 
 is simple and to be looked through at a glance.* " Jesus 
 conceived the idea of a kingdom of God, — he alone, no 
 one had done it before him ; — he conceived this idea, a 
 thing which presupposes the highest cuhivation of the in- 
 tellect and heart, and did it under circumstances which 
 will not account for the perfection to which he attained in 
 this respect ; and therefore, he must have been prepared in 
 an extraordinary manner and destined by God for this ex- 
 press purpose." This is the train of thought, and it is so 
 clearly developed and so closely connected, that it cannot 
 easily fail to produce its effect upon the reader. The con- 
 clusion drawn from the preceding considerations, however, 
 has been subjected to different attacks. Offence has, in 
 the first place, been taken at the position, that Jesus himself 
 devised apian. " It is fundamentally wrong," says Kleu- 
 ker,f " to consider Christ as having done what he did upon 
 earth by way of executing a plan which he himself devis- 
 ed. He undertook nothing but the execution of a divine 
 plan, which had been devised and definitely fixed before 
 
 tinguished it is evident, that in this case, he would have told of it, and 
 pointed his own disciples to these same sources, — in saying which to 
 my reader, I suppose him by his own relationship to such virtue 
 and a deep study of the biography of. Jesus, to have obtained a clear 
 comprehension of the integrity which he possessed." 
 
 * According to Bottiger's Zeichnung von Reinhard, S. 33, comp. 
 51, Note 46, no one has more finely apprehended or more correctly 
 estimated Reinhard's plan than Blessig, Sur 1' influence de la relig. 
 protest. — Sermon de R. — avec une notice sur Reinhard, Strasb,, 
 1808, p. 50—55. 
 
 t Johannes, Petrus und Paulus als Christologen, S. 109—111. 
 
352 APPENDIX, F 
 
 the foundation of the world. It is as the performer of 
 the great work for the completion of which he had been 
 endowed with full power by the will of his heavenly father, 
 and not as a plan-deviser that he merits the confidence of 
 mankind in life and in death." Such also was the opin- 
 ion of J. A. Weise,* of an anonymous writer to every par- 
 ticular,f and finally of the worthy veteran, Bishop J. 
 Michael von Sailer : J " The expression, Jesus devised an 
 all-comprehensive plan, has a signification which not only 
 contradicts the testimony of history, but most directly de- 
 tracts from the impression that we have of divinity ; 
 for Jesus constantly affirms that the plan the execution of 
 which he had before him was not his, but his Father's, by 
 whose decision he had been set at work, and under whose 
 commission he was laboring." These objections however, 
 appear to have originated in misapprehension, and may 
 
 * Christeuthum auf Geschichte fest gegrUndet, Gera, 1788, Vorr. 
 S, XVIII. f. " Indeed Ernesti speaks of imputing the formation of 
 plans and engaging in projects, to the blessed God, with censure, and 
 often with aversion ; as God forms determinations, and resolves upon 
 the happiness of mankind, but never projects plans as men do. Nor 
 more did Jesus as the founder of Christianity meddle with plans dur- 
 ing his sojourn on earth. To seek for the divinity of Christianity 
 in a plan the invention and execution of which appear to excel the 
 possibility of all human wisdom, leads to pure delusion and decep- 
 tion. To do so, is plausibly to deceive and delude, and it can easily 
 be shown that Reinhard in his plan deceives both himself and others 
 without intending to do so." 
 
 t Alternative Ober das Resultat der Reinh. Schrift, in Augusti's 
 Theolog. Monathsschrift, 1801, St. 1. S. 40—51. " Jesus never 
 spoke of the plan as his, but only as his Father's. This is evident 
 from all the Evangelists, especially from John. He who denies it, 
 must deny all the historical credibility of these men and exalt Je- 
 sus at the expense of truth. By this means, many a hot-headed genius 
 may be impelled on to similar undertakings, and in the deficiency 
 of his own powers call on God in vain for assistance, having alto- 
 gether mistaken his duty." 
 
 t In his excellent work : Grundlehren der Religion, Iste A. MOn- 
 chen, 1805, S. 209— 212, in the 2n A. 1814, S. 278— 282; Jacobi in 
 his Briefwechsel, II. 459, considers this book " as the best of this 
 distinguished man's productions and in general one of the best in the 
 German language." Comp. also the same, S. 54, the opinion ex- 
 pressed respecting Sailer's Glttckseligkeitslehre. 
 
APPENDIX, F. 353 
 
 easily be explained away ; for the object that Reinhard 
 had in view, was to show, that the plan which we find with 
 Jesus was not the work of a man but of God ; and that, 
 as Jesus had been raised up and educated by God for the 
 express purpose of its execution, he must have possessed 
 the highest authority as a divine messenger. Had Rein- 
 hard actually formed a conception of this plan as one that 
 had been devised and prosecuted by Jesus after the man- 
 ner of men, he would indeed have utteVed the most striking 
 inconsistency. Reinhard does indeed speak in his prem- 
 ises as if this plan had been devised by Jesus himself, but 
 he does so because he was not at liberty to assume as 
 proved what he was about to prove ; namely, that it was 
 the plan of God. If in addition to this it should be objec- 
 ted, that the author speaks of a plan devised by Jesus, 
 upon the very tide page,* it would relate only to the phra- 
 seology there employed, and Reinhard would readily sub- 
 scribe to the whole of what Sailer has said, in the place 
 quoted, S. 281 f. " In order to make the contents of this 
 work more agreeable to me, I translate it into different 
 language, such as follows : ' The mind of Jesus contained 
 the great idea of founding a kingdom of God upon earth 
 which should comprehend all ages and nations and be 
 the means of effecting the salvation of the world ; and 
 this great idea was contained in no mind but his, and 
 was as distinct from all others in the manner of its 
 execution, as it was in its character ; and this in every 
 respect unique idea evidently bears the splendid im- 
 press of divinity ; and this evidently divine idea exhibits 
 its divine origin with still more clearness when we take 
 into consideration the manner in which human nature 
 is developed in general, and the time and circumstances 
 in which Jesus made his appearance. 
 
 Now this very thing is the highest seal of the mission of 
 Jesus, showing, that he. did not come into the world to do 
 
 * [The word devised belongs to the German title, as also the phrase 
 quoted on the top of page 276. Tr.] 
 
 30* 
 
354 APPENDIX, F. 
 
 his own will or to execute his ow^n plan. Being one with 
 the Father, he taught only his word and performed only 
 his will."' 
 
 With this solution before us, all inconsistencies vanish 
 of their own accord, and with them, the very suspicion 
 that Christ's undertaking may allure other minds falsely 
 and capriciously to imitate him. 
 
 II. Very important are the objections which have been 
 made to Reinhard's* concluding position. If we admit all 
 the greatness and exaltation of Christ's plan, says one, it 
 will not thence follow that he was educated by God for 
 this purpose solely in a supernatural and extraordinary 
 way. It is possible to conceive of a natural course of ed- 
 ucation which would be sufficient to enable Jesus ta be- 
 come what he actually did.* In accordance with this re- 
 mark, men early made attempts to deduce the formation of 
 Christ's powers from external sources of very different 
 kinds. t Finding however that these attempts proved un- 
 satisfactory, they assumed an intellectual self-education for 
 Jesus. { In so doing however they sometimes lost sight of 
 historical truth, at others, went beyond the bounds of mod- 
 esty, and a reverence for the Scriptures ; for it is dif- 
 ficult for him to avoid the accusation of arrogance, who, 
 with a kind of boldness, persists in efforts to crowd him- 
 self into the secret history of Christ's soul and exhibit the 
 causes to which he was indebted for its peculiarity. 
 Should the interest of the historical investigator demand 
 
 * So also the reviews of Reinhard in the Hall. Journal f. Prediger, 
 XXXVI. 246—248 Gabler, Neuestes Theol. Journal, HI. 35—42; 
 Rohr, Briefe, S. 143 ff. 181 f. 
 
 t To the late attempts of this kind, may now be added, what is as- 
 serted in the codex of John's Gospel described by MOnter, vid. 
 MOnter, Notitia Codicis Graeci, Evangelium Johannis variatum 
 continentis, Haun. 1828 ; where Jesus is said to ha^* been instructed 
 by the Egyptians or Hellenes. S. 31, ad c. VI. 42, it is said : /nyjTrwg 
 y.a&oxL xaroiityjosv na^a rtav "^ E^^Xrjvoyv, eQjfExai SiiiXsiv nQog i^uag ov- 
 Tws* Ti Tcoivov £(TTt, vcTCBQ £$iS(XX^V "^oiqa roig jLiyvTCTLOig, xai utceq ot 
 TiaxBqsg {fiatv sdida^av rijuag. At c. VI. 70, 71, Svoaco vf.uv rtjv dwafiiv 
 
 7^v tXa^ov sv roj vaoa ortov diatrjQsiTai 6 aqrog trig aioiviov Oocpiag, 
 
 At. C. VII. 16, lit] ^iiia&YjTCcog SI fii] ra yqaf.iuaxa xurv '^EXXi^van'. 
 
 t Greiling in Henke's Museum, II. 2. 297—341. 
 
^ fTJNIVEB.SITY 
 
 APPENDIX, F. V -^ ^^ 
 
 such an inquiry, still it should not be forgot _ 
 moral-religious interest to be kept in view is far niore im- 
 portant, and hence, the first question to be asked is, wheth- 
 er this will gain or lose thereby. In general, the mode 
 of proceeding derived from Spinozistic principles, to re- 
 duce every thing in Christianity back again as far as pos- 
 sible to nature, rigidly applied, cannot be demanded as a 
 requisite to a religious mode of thinking; as its application, 
 instead of bringing God nearer to the heart, places God 
 farther and farther out of view. To examine in this place 
 all the experiments that have been made respecting the 
 educationof Jesus, would lead us too far. In our opin- 
 ion they are all unsatisfactory and will always remain so, 
 because they all lead to the error, that a man is obliged on 
 the one hand, to invent means for effecting the mental ed- 
 ucation of Jesus which are not authorized by historical 
 proof, and to over-estimate their effects ; or, on the other, 
 to diminish the great and incomparable of which Jesus was 
 exclusively possessed and bring them nearer to a common 
 standard. Now, though we should admit it to be impos- 
 sible to give an apodictical demonstration of the wonder- 
 ful education of Jesus, a thing which c^n seldom be done 
 in historical matters, yet the supposition that Jesus was ex- 
 pressly furnished by God in the natural way with an ed- 
 ucation and a preparation of soul for the work which he 
 undertook, superior to every thing common among men, 
 would justify the conclusion, that God had destined even 
 this Jesus for something peculiar and extraordinary ; and 
 for what but to become the teacher, guide, and spiritual head 
 of mankind ? The manner in which this influence of God 
 was exerted upon Jesus, would not here come into the ac- 
 count. We have only to ask, what God intended to perform 
 by means of Jesus ? As what shall we recognise him ? Now 
 he who admits a divine preadaptation of all those circum- 
 stances which combined together to educate Jesus for 
 his work, must also find in them an expression of the will 
 of God indicating, that we are to look upon Jesus as the 
 appropriate instrument of God and put unlimited confi- 
 
356 APPENDIX, F. 
 
 dence in him as God's delegate. Should we refuse 
 to accede to him that divine authority which binds our 
 conscience the object which God agreeably to this 
 supposition intended to accomplish by him, would be 
 frustrated. 
 
 This historic-psychological way, however, is not the 
 only one, in which Christ's divine mission can be deduc- 
 ed from his plan. It may also be deduced from it by 
 means of a moral-religious consideration, and thus the 
 force of Reinhard's proof be greatly increased."^ It is not 
 Christ's recognition and knowledge of the supreme Be- 
 ing which make him so unique and above all men worthy 
 of reverence, but the purity and decision of his will in act- 
 ing for this Being, (as, in general, all knowledge is impure 
 and defective without a pure will.) Instead of asking 
 therefore how Jesus acquired his knowledge of the su- 
 preme Being, and of the institution necessary for the sal- 
 vation of mankind, we may inquire, whence did Jesus re- 
 ceive his call to found this institution and become a sa- 
 viour ? and in answer to it we say, that Jesus could not 
 have considered himself called to engage in this work in 
 merely a natural way, or by any thing short of an imme- 
 diate revelation from God ; as nothing else could justify 
 him in attempting to become a Saviour of mankind. This 
 follows frona a general reason, and from a particular na- 
 tional one. 
 
 The duty to become the founder and head . of an eth- 
 ical-religious community or a church is not a duty com- 
 mon to all, (officium commune,) but a particular and per- 
 sonal one, (officium singularej) that is, it is not a duty 
 common to many or to all, but a duty which can belong 
 to but one. If one has actually become the founder and 
 head of a church, no other one can. Now to speak of 
 
 * I received the first hints as to taking this view of the subject, from 
 one of my deceased teachers, Mr. Klotzsch, formerly professor in this 
 place, in the course of some occasional remarks upon Reinhard's 
 work. — I have since found the germ of it in Kant's Relig., S. 141. 
 144, 2e A. 
 
APPENDIX, F. 357 
 
 positive certainty, it is evident, that natural conscience 
 cannot be sufficient to convince a man that this duty is 
 incumbent upon him alone of all the millions of mankind ; 
 for can this teach any one for certainty that he possesses 
 exactly that measure of wisdom, which he must possess, 
 who attempts to unite all men to one religious creed in 
 common ? whether his strength has perfectly grown to 
 tjiat single, supreme duty ? whether his time and circum- 
 stances have been adapted and actually destined by God ? 
 whether he has that moral superiority over all men that 
 ever have been or are to be, which the founder of the 
 church must have ? One is incapacitated from knowing all 
 this in a natural way in exact proportion as he recognises 
 the universal corruption of mankind which renders it impos- 
 sible for any one to have an infallible knowledge of what 
 lies within at the bottom of his own heart. He can not 
 know but that a greater or better one will come after him, 
 nor, if he is conscious of no higher connexion with God, 
 of no immediate commission and call from. God, be cer- 
 tain that God will not render another man as efficient by 
 an extraordinary influence and mission, as he himself is 
 merely the natural means. And further, how could he, 
 directed by the natural information in his possession, pre- 
 sume to declare himself once for all the first and best 
 guide of mankind, and all those who after him may as- 
 sume this dignity, to be deceivers ? Without an immediate 
 divine call there remains something arbitrary and pre- 
 sumptuous in announcing one's self, merely under the gui- 
 dance of natural feelings, to be a founder of the church. 
 Nothing but an immediate call from God and one the 
 possibility of which is incontrovertible, can authorize a 
 man to do any such thing. If we recognise Jesus as pos- 
 sessed of the clearest self-consciousness, the highest wis- 
 dom, and the most undoubted purity of will, then this 
 dignity of his requires us to believe that be did not re- 
 solve to undertake and execute the magnificent work in 
 question without being infallibly certain of the express will 
 and commission of God in the case. In short, a call to 
 
 r 
 
358 APPENDIX, F. 
 
 become the moral head of the whole human family, is one, 
 the execution of which, for moral considerations, cannot 
 be undertaken without an immediate command from God. 
 
 This reason derives strength from a national one appli- 
 cable to Jesus. He in common with all the rest of his 
 countrymen, believed in the high and extraordinary reve- 
 lations of God. They were received by the prophets, and 
 related in a great measure to the Messiah. If therefore 
 Jesus believed that God intended to send the Messiah of 
 the Old Testament, and by him found an eternal king- 
 dom for the good of all men, and yet received no divine 
 and miraculous intelligence in regard to his own person 
 •in this respect, this fact would have furnished him with 
 sufficient proof that he himself had not been destined to 
 become the Messiah ; and if, nevertheless, he had under- 
 taken the calling of the Messiah, he would have done it 
 without any order and in opposition to the will of God. 
 Christ's convictions of truth, . therefore, derived as they 
 were from the ancient prophecies, were of such a charac- 
 ter as to lead us to the conclusion, that morally he could 
 never have undertaken to found a kingdom of God upon 
 earth without a high, and divine commission. 
 
 To deny that Jesus immediately received any such di- 
 vine call, and make him have determined to become the 
 Messiah from a heroic act of his own will, as well as to 
 clothe what is thought to have passed at the same time in 
 the interior of his own heart in romantic monologues,* is 
 the right way to deduce the actions of Jesus from an en- 
 thusiastic exaltation or one less noble ; to imagine him 
 secretly ensnared in a fine self-deception ;f and, at the 
 bottom, to assume that one understands the internal 
 springs of his life better than he did himself. When it 
 comes to this pass, it is, as has long been admitted, self- 
 evident, that nothing more can be said of that perfect self- 
 
 * Such an one is to be found in the Briefe Ober d. Ration., S. 172 — 
 174, in every respect a la Bahrdt and Venturini. 
 
 t As Carus himself has done, Psychologie der Hebraer, S. 305. 
 
APPENDIX, F. 359 
 
 resignation to Christ in which his word and work become 
 binding upon the heart and conscience, and we put our 
 confidence in him.* None can have faith in Jesus 
 Christ Taut those who recognise him as a divine messen- 
 ger ; not in that vague sense in which any distinguished 
 man may say, but in the only sense grounded upon the 
 Sacred Scriptures and the testimony of Jesus himself. 
 This is the only faith by which Christianity, the church, 
 and religion, can be sustained among us. 
 
 * Plank points out this tendency of the new theology in a very 
 excellent manner in the Erste Amtsjahre des Pfarrers von S. Gott., 
 1823, S. 19. " The first theological teacher commenced his first 
 lesson with declaring that he felt himself compelled to initiate us 
 into nothing but pure and sublime Christianity. A new theology has 
 arisen the advocates of which have finally with a bold hand torn 
 away from Christianity, the vail in which for almost 18 centuries it 
 had been inwrapped ; " for," say they, " it can no longer be conceal- 
 ed that the time of believing in Christ has passed by." 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 121, 1st line, for These, read There. — Page 89, Note, 16th 
 line, for C. read E. — Page 168, 21st line, read Evemerus. — Page 1, 
 Note, 21st line, after y, insert 4te A. — Page 125, 15th line, before by, 
 insert up. — Page 183, Note, 13th line, before Prideaux, insert [. 
 
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