Conservative *
CHRIST AND THE GOSPELS.
The religious system of Christianity
'centers around the person of Jesus
Christ. But the opinions among Chris
tians respecting that personality are
numerous and widely different. The
Catholic churches , both Greek and
Roman , as also the majority of Protest
ant sects , regard Jesus Christ as God ,
the second person of the divine Trinity ,
of which all three persons are equal ,
coexistent , and coeternal. This form of
belief is manifestly founded entirely
upon the authority of supposed divine
revelation , and has no support from hu
man reason or from human experience.
Other Christian sects regard Jesus as a
divinely-inspired man , the son of God
in a peculiar sense a belief equally im
possible to define ; others , again , con
sider him a mere man , exceptionally
wise and good , and therefore a worthy
example for the whole human race to
follow.
The prevalence of so many and so
contradictory conceptions of the same
character proves the lack of authentic
knowledge in the premises , and recent
discoveries have tended to negative the
authority of Jesus as a spiritual leader ,
through the unavoidable suspicion , fast
growing to a certainty , that no such
being ever existed This argument is
founded principally upon the undeniable
fact that there is no mention of Jesus in
contemporary literature , either Jewish
or Pagan. Authentic history is abso
lutely silent as to such a personality.
The only record of his supposed life on
earth is found in the Gospels of the
New Testament , in certain epistles as
cribed to Paul , in certain statements by
the earliest "Fathers" of the Christian
church , in certain legends contained in
the miscellaneous portions of the Jewish
Talmud , and in a very few allusions by
Pagan writers. But not one of these
sources is contemporary with the career
of Jeus. The earliest trace is to be
found in epistles written more than half
a century after the beginning of the
Christian era , and asserted to be by
Paul , who never saw Jesus , and knew
nothing about him except by hearsay
the Pagan references are still later , and
were made by men who were entirely
ignorant of the actual circumstances
the Gospels were not composed until the
latter part of the second century ; the
Synoptic Gospels are evidently compila
tions from unknown writings , and the
Fourth Gospel , a still later work , differs
widely from the others , and betrays a
distinct purpose in its composition
The celebrated passage in Josephns
which was long considered the ohie :
evidence in the case , is not a subject for
discussion , as it is now acknowledged
by all competent authorities to be an
interpolation.
Is the New Testament Inspired ?
Christians are taught to believe that
the Gospels of the New Testament are a
complete work , inspired by God , and
containing a full account of the life and
ministry of Jesus. But the fact is that
the books now regarded as canonical
were chosen out of a mass of npoch-
ryphal writings , the choice depending
upon the decision of a committee of
men in nowise especially gifted with
prescience for the task. The rejected
works contain many legends of the in
fancy and youth of Jesus , in all of
which he is shown to be endowed with
superhuman power over the laws of
nature , which power he displayed in a
benevolent or malevolent spirit , accord
ing to his own views of the merits of the
case. The only mention of him in Jew
ish records consists in a collection of
legends manifestly built up in contra
diction and in derision of the Christian
claim of divinity for the founder of the
new religion. Some of these legends
are trivial , others malicious , others in
decent. They describe Jesus as a mis
chievous imp in childhood and a dan
gerous rowdy as a man ; their falsity is
as obvious as the occasion of their exis
tence , and they belong , like the legends
of which they are the caricature , to a
much later period than the supposed
lifetime of Jesus.
Christians are taught that the four
Gospels were written by the four dis
ciples ; Matthew , Mark , Luke , and John ,
whereas , those compositions were not
known to the early Christians until
nearly two hundred years after the sup
posed events which they record.
If these disciples ever really existed
they certainly were not alive at that
time , and there is no proof that they
left any writings. There is a tradition
that Matthew wrote a book entitled
"Oracles of Our Lord , " but if such a
work ever existed it was not the Gospel
called by his name.
Matthew's writings are said to have
been translated into Greek , but the
Goupel bears evidence of original Greek
authorship , and is not a translation at
all.
There is evidence that all the Gospels
were borrowed from an earlier source ,
but whether that source was history or
romance , and whether the author or the
later compilers dressed up foreign and
ancient materials in local and contem
porary attire , cannot be known.
The earliest "Fathers" of the Chris
tian church do not mention nor allude
to any one of the Gospels , but they do
quote from some other work or works
in language similar to , and in substance
sometimes agreeing with , sometimes
differing from , the canonical Gospels.
Varying Opinions of Early Sects.
It is a fact well known to Biblical
critics that the early Christians were di
vided into various sects and parties ,
holding widely different opinions re
specting the value of the New Testament
writings. Some rejected the so-called
Pauline compositions altogether ; others
rejected the Gospels entirely or in part ;
others regarded the whole work as spur
ious. Maroion , the Gnostic Ascetic ,
whose collection is the earliest known ,
accepted ten of the Pauline epistles and
the Gospel of Luke , and these only after
being revised by himself.
It was a frequent complaint that the
Christians altered their sacred texts to
suit their convenience , and one of the
most prominent leaders of one of the
most powerful sects declared that the
Gospels were made up out of vague
rumors and borrowed legends.
Recent discoveries seem to confirm
the suggestion that nascent Christianity
took its rise from the ferment of Orien
tal and Grecian ideas then beginning to
be mingled with Jewish beliefs , through
the rapidly increasing intercourse be
tween the far East and the shores of the
Mediterranean , the intellectual impulse
of which movement centered at Alex
andria and spread as far as Rome.
It is a favorite assertion of orthodox
divines and teachers that Christ came
when the world was sunk in the lowest
depths of ignorance and sin ; humanity
had reached the extreme of degradation ;
no help was to be found from any
source ; the whole creation was groan
ing and travailing together.
But this is not a true picture of that
remote time. The world was no worse
then than it was before and has been ever
since. Then , as now , ignorance bred
violence ; luxury bred vice ; knowledge
ameliorated manners , and virtue spread
happiness and peace.
It is true , however , that the religious
systems of Greece and Rome were in a
state of decay. The wisest among the
people had ceased to believe in the
oracles and worship the gods , and the
masses instinctively recognized the in
difference of their superiors , and lost
confidence in what they had been
taught , while unable , through ignorance
to solace themselves with the consola
tions of the learned. Like everything
else in this world , religious systems
have their period of birth , growth , de
cay and death , and Greece and Rome
were now awaiting a final change.
The Jewish religion also had become
formal and lifeless , and added to spirit
ual apathy were the discontent and dis
couragement of a conquered race.
Their hope lay in the promise of a
Messiah , who should deliver them from
the detested Roman yoke and restore
the nation to more than its former
splendor. Elizabeth E. Evans , In "The
Christ Myth. "
The quarterly circular of information
issued by the University of Chicago
announces a new course in political
science , called the "History of Political
Theory , " to bo given by Dr. O. E. Merriam -
riam , formerly of Columbia University ,
New York. The course will trace the
development of the theory of politics
from the classical period down to the
French revolution.
