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ANCIENT IDEALS
A STUDY OF INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL
GROWTH FROM EARLY TIMES TO THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY
BY
HENRY OSBORN TAYLOR
IlrEvfxa 6 Qso?
VOLUME II
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK
27 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
LONDON
24 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND
^t ^nitkcibochtr l^xem i8q6
Copyright, 1896
I)Y
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
PAOE
The Empire : The Public Hope.
The Situation ; Octavius ........ i
The Policy of Augustus ........ 5
Looking to the Past : Its Rustic Virtue ; The Georgics . . 7
Rome's Fortitude : Obeying Divine Destiny .... 10
The ^neid : Power and Sadness of Obedience . . . .11
The Gods Founded Rome . . . . . . . .15
As the Past Declares, so let its Virtues Guard the Future . . 17
Rome's Imperial Charge ........ 18
yEneid VI. .......... 19
Religious and Moral Betterment ; The Carmen Sseculare . . 22 The High Hope Looking to the Emperor ; The Imperial Apo- theosis ........... 24
The Empire's Dignity ........ 28
The Hellenic East, the Latin West 29
CHAPTER XV.
The Empire : The Spiritual Change.
From Homer to Virrjil : Homeric and Virgilian Pathos . . 32
Virgil's Tenderness towards All of Life ..... 40 Horace ; The Pathos of Epicureanism . . . . .41 From the Garden to the Porch ; Horace Preaches Virtue ; Look
Within 46
Persius and Juvena! ......... 49
Love at Rome ; Pliny ........ 52
Roman Law and Greek Thought 53
CHAPTER XVI.
The Empire : Philosophy and Religious Revival.
The Age and its Philosophers 56
VOL. II. ill
IV
CONTENTS.
the Man
Stoical Aphorism and Benevolence : Seneca
Stoical Religiousness : Epictetus
The Pathos of Stoicism : ]\Iarcus Aurelius .
All Things Come from the Gods
Satisfaction of the Rational Soul, the Dissatisfaction of
Three Acts Are the Drama ! The Stoical Failure
From Reason to Ecstasy and Oracle .
Philo ; Appolonius of Tyana ; Plutarch
Plotinus the Neo-Platonist . . . ■
The Absolute "First" ; The Nous; The Soul; The Sensibl
World
Purification unto the Ecstasy of God . The Neo-Platonic Result . . • • Porphyry ; lamblicus ; The Philosophy of Superstition Abidingness of Paganism ; Character of the Religious Revival Julian and Christianity
57 60
65 67 71 76
77
78 80
81 84 86 88 90 92
CHAPTER XVII.
Israel : Deliverance and Consecration.
Israel's Sphere
The Stories of the Patriarchs ; Writing The Exodus and Resulting Thought of God ; Moses . Leadership, Divine and Human ; Samuel and a King Kingly Qualities ; Saul's Failure ....
The Righteousness of David
Solomon ; The Justice and Mercy of the Time .
Israel's Twofold Religious Consciousness ; The Covenant
Jehovah ...•••■•• Religious Ethics of Patriarchal Narrative . The Consecration of Deliverance ; Its Permitted Self-Assertion
with
97 99
lOI
105 loS
109 117
121 123 124
CHAPTER XVITI.
Israel's Spiritual Growth.
Prophetic Lessons ; Elijah
The Hebrew Prophet
Israel's Religion Imperfect ; Modes of Completion Jehovah's Power of Righteousness Prophetic Monotheism : Jehovah God of All Peoples His Love of Israel ...••• Jehovah a Law of Righteousness for Israel : The Righteousness Demanded ....••••••
129 131 133
134 135 137
140
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX. Messianic Prophecy.
Comprehensiveness and Diversity of Messianic Thought
The Covenants and the Messiah-King
The Messiah-King in the Prophets
The Servant of Jehovah ....
The Servant in "Second Isaiah " ; Isaiah liii
Divine Efficiency of Suffering
The Sanction of Righteousness .
The Last judgment .....
Israel's Mediatorial Restoration ; The Presence of Jehovah
146 147 150 154 156 163 165 167 168
CHAPTER XX. The Psalter.
Artist Qualities of Greece and Israel; Character of Hebrew
P°^^^ 172
The Thought of God in the Psalter j-e
Jehovah's Infinity of Righteousness and Love .... 178
The Sense of Self before its God ^82
The Soul's Right Attitude j8
Fret not Thyself ; Trust Jehovah •...']! 186
I am Alveays with Thee j ^
How I Love Thy Law j 2
Can the Dead Praise Thee j_2
Let God Arise, and Let His Enemies be Scattered . . .195
God be Gracious ! The Victory j__
The Psalter's Lyric Universality 2o<i
CHAPTER XXI.
Wisdom and the Law— Later Judaism.
Chokhmah .
202
Teaching of Proverbs : Wisdom, God's Plan ; Wisdom is Fear of the Lord and Righteousness 201
Why Do the Righteous Suffer? The Book of Job a Statement of
the Problem ........ 20S
Ecclesiastes . , „, .
. 214
The Law a Reflex of Jehovah's Ways 216
Thou shalt Love the Lord Thy God [217
Holiness and Righteousness ; the Ritual 218
Him Only shalt Thou Serve .'22"
Babylonian and Persian Influence 223
Hellenism ....
224
Israel's Rigid Strength : The Zeal for the Law and its Tradition 225 Apocalyptic Prophecy ; Immortality and Resurrection . . 228
The Messiah ....
229
VI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
Christianity ; The Synoptic Presentation Origin of Christianity a Scientific Dilemma Hebraic Antecedents ; Abrogation through Fulfilment The Personality of Jehovah ; Messianic Expectations vant of the Lord ......
Christianity cannot be Stated as a System . The Record of the Synoptics ....
Relation to the Fourth Gospel ; Analogies of Method The Oneness of Life ; Christ's Life at One Absolute Benevolence and Love of God The Kingdom of Heaven . Sonship's Sacrifice unto Attainment . Christ ......
Christ's Teachings ; the " Beatitudes " Faith ; Prayer .....
Universality of Christ
It must needs be that Offenses Come .
The Judgment of Omniscient Love
Render unto Cnssar ; Be Ye Perfect ; Resist not Evil
The Things of God ......
The Ser
Judge not
232 235
236
239 240 242
245 249 250 252
255 257 260 263 265 267 26S 273
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Gospel of John.
The Prologue .......... 274
The Great Antithesis : The World and Christ .... 275
The Offer of Life 280
The Way to Christ : Discipleship through Love .... 281
Dilemmas of the Flesh and Life Eternal ..... 284
Disclosure of Life Eternal ........ 2S6
Its Final Revelation to the Disciples : Husbandman, Vine, and
Branches ; The Prayer of Consecration ..... 291
" This is Life Eternal that They should Know Thee " . . 301
" Sanctify Them in the Truth " ; "I in Them and Thou in Me " 305
CHAPTER XXIV.
Apostolic Interpretation.
The Gospels and the Rest of the New Testament Deflections from the Universality of Christ ; James Paul's Views of Marriage ..... Paul's Dialectic ; The Epistle to the Romans " Propitiation " .
309 3" 312
313 317
CONTENTS.
VU
Resurrection and Eternal Life ; Two Aspects of Christ These Two Aspects in Paul ; i Corinthians, xv. . The Function of Faith ..... John's Epistle ; The Unconditioned Spiritual Life The Teaching of Love in Paul and John
s Teaching 317
. 317
. 322
. 325
• 327
CHAPTER XXV.
The Roman World and Christianity.
The New Era ; The Broader Humanity . . , Prosperity and Unrest ; The Religious Mood The Need for Christianity and the Spiritual Obstacles Justice ; Self-Advantage ......
The Impiousness of Divine Self-Sacrifice . Immorality of a Gospel for Sinners ....
The Stumbling- Block of Reason ....
The Gospel, Real, Absolute, Universal, Sure Elements of Pagan Responsiveness : The Appeal to the Conscience ........
The Convert a New Creature .....
The Opposition Roused ; Christians Hated by Jews and as
The Nocturnal Meetings ; The Christians Atheists
Attitude of the Roman Government ; Christianity Illegal
Modes of Proceeding against It : Pliny's Letter .
The Course of Persecution : Its Reasons
Christian Misunderstanding of Them ....
Imperial Jealousy of Corporate Organization
Pagan
Jews
334 336 339 340 341 342 343 344
346 349 350 354 355 356 360 369 374
CHAPTER XXVI.
In Conclusion.
Attainment and Transmission ....... 377
Egypt, Babylonia, China ........ 378
Divergent Lines of Human Growth ...... 379
India ; Mazdaism ; Israel . 380
Rome ........... 384
The Greek Unison : Conduct ; Art ; Philosophy . . . 386
The Sundering of Life ........ 3go
The Great Shortcoming ; The Pale Hope ; The Last Failure . 393
Paganism and the East ........ 396
The Universality of a Religion ....... 398
Christianity ; Its Inclusiveness of Previous Thought . . . 39S
God and Fate ; The Sphere of Man's Desires .... 400
The Final Universality of Christianity : Love .... 408
ANCIENT IDEALS.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE EMPIRE : THE PUBLIC HOPE.
THE last century of the Republic had shown what was to become of Rome when she had no one to fear. With Carthage still a menace across the sea, with Macedonia on her northeast border unsubdued, Rome's rich and poor, Rome's noble few and vulgar
crowd, had need to keep from civil strife.
The After the conclusion of the Punic and Mace- _.^ ^.
Situation.
donian wars, Roman political self-control passed away with portentous rapidity. In the tumults resulting in the deaths of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Rome first tasted civil blood. Soon came the Cimbri peril, making a temporary party truce. Then civil broils broke out again, hardly to be stifled by the pressure of the Italian revolt. Rome's Italian subjects were not pacified when Sulla marched on Rome and Marius fled. And after that came bloody civil war. While Sulla was in the East, fighting Mithridates, Marius and the popular party slaughtered their foes at Rome. Then came the Sullan return and Sullan vengeance, with a re-establish- ment of an effete oligarchy over the prostrate democratic Titan. Meanwhile there was a noble youth at Rome who was to attain to democratic leadership, which, under exist- ing conditions, could be secure only as democratic dicta-
2 ANCIENT IDEALS.
torship. He finally in civil war overthrew the senatorial party and changed the Republic to a monarchy. At his death, once more by civil war the Romans proved their incapacity for self-government, and again demonstrated, this time for all the centuries to come, that the only political question henceforth to arise at Rome was what man should rule the Roman world. This was clear before Actium was fought between the two recognized rulers of the halves of that world, to decide who should rule the whole. Rome had had a century of civil strife, half of which had been open civil war ; now, for a century there was to be no further civil war or civil strife. The family of the Caesars ruled, till it was discovered that Roman emperors could be made elsewhere than at Rome.
After Actium, as indeed before, men longed only for peace. The violence, the vivida vis, of the Republic had spent itself in blood. Few men of note survived. Pom- pey and Caesar had fallen by treachery, and no one of Caesar's murderers escaped a violent death ; they had fallen on their own or others' swords. Before Caesar's death, Curio was slain in Africa; there Cato ended life. Pharsalia, Thapsus, Munda, cut off many. The proscrip- tions cleared away the rest. Cicero's head and hands were nailed above the rostra, and at last his murderer, Antony, fell on his sword in Egypt. After Caesarion was dispatched, Octavius might copy the clemency of Julius, for few malcontents were left worth killing, certainly none to be feared. The Roman world, exhausted by the civil wars, desired only to be ruled in peace,
Julius Caesar never showed greater knowledge of men than in selecting and educating his great-nephew to suc- ceed him. The young Octavius' education included the usual curriculum; the Dictator's part consisted in having it conducted largely in camp among the soldiers. Thereby Octavius might become accustomed to managing them, and they might learn to know and care for him as one brought up among them-
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 3
selves. Octavius' popularity among Caesar's veterans was a source of his strength when, at the age of eighteen, he crossed from Apollonia to Apulia, and proceeded to Rome to claim his inheritance. He made no claim to succeed to the public ofifices of his uncle ; yet the youth's purpose was directed to the goal reached by his manhood. There is an evil and a good part to his career. While he was guarding his own head and using every means to increase his strength, he was dissembling, perfidious, cruel, as might serve his purpose. When he attained to power, he used it for the broadest good of his Empire.
From the moment of his uncle's death, Octavius showed firmness, dignity, understanding of his own po- sition, grasp of the general situation, and a consummate knowledge of men. He immediately declared his intent to carry out the provisions of his uncle's will. Antony had seized the main store of the Dictator's money. Octavius laid open claim to it, while he borrowed freely to pay the Dictator's bequests to the soldiers and the people. By his temperate conduct and firm assertion of a legal pur- pose, he deceived Cicero and others into thinking him the youthful savior of the state, who had no other thought than to aid in restoring the Republic. Although he was not consul, the senate sanctioned his leadership of the army which he had gathered about him, and he felt him- self secure to divulge his purpose that Caesar's murder should not go unavenged, a purpose which he kept openly in view as soon as he and Antony, through Lepidus, had come to agree on a united scheme to hold the supreme power. Now followed the darkest deed of Octavius' career. Marius and his associates had slaugh- tered out of rage and hate and greed. Sulla's proscrip- tions had proceeded from vengeance, calculated as well as felt, from avarice and the need of funds to reward his adherents. But the proscriptions of Marius and Sulla had been directed against bitter enemies; neither one sanc- tioned murder of friends. Antony, Octavius, and Lepi-
4 ANCIENT IDEALS.
dus met, fearful of each other, on an island in the Reno, to divide the sovereignty of Rome, It was give and take. Each sought to weaken the others through destruction of supporters, and each abandoned friends and relatives in return. The proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate combined more kinds of perfidious wickedness than any previous deed in Roman history, and the evillest stroke of all was the murder of Cicero, whom Antony hated above all other men, but to whom Octavius was deeply indebted for counsel and support. From this lowest moral point Octavius' life bettered, gathering more and more the welfare of his country within the compass of its aims.
The collected forces of Brutus and Cassius required all the triumvirs' resources to meet them. After Philippi, the whole realm was divided among the three ; and sub- sequently, when the Octavian chief Agrippa had finally conquered Sextus Pompeius, Lepidus, through his faith- lessness and presumption, lost his portion to Octavius. Thereafter, it was Antony in the East, Octavius in the West, and it was Antony who came to represent tyranny and eastern corruption, while Octavius stood for Roman order and all the good there was in the Roman west. Before Actium, there was no doubt which of the two was Rome's enemy, and Octavius' victory was a true victory for Rome. His consummate policy made the war against Antony appear a war against Egypt. It was in fact a war wherein the strong and good elements of the Roman Empire were clearly arrayed against the evil and corrupt. Italy's war,* it should crush the Aigyptia Conjunx ; and Horace felt that Octavius had delivered Italy from that fatal monster and her evil train ° as sincerely as he felt the horror of the civil wars, from which the Empire now might rest.'
Actium brought lasting internal peace. The work of constituting the Empire was now to be taken up where
' jEneid, viii, 678.
* Carmina, i, xxxvii, 21. ^Jb., i, xxxv, 33-38.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 5
Julius C?Esar had left it. His genius had devised the
plan ; Augustus had to carry it out. Though
a lesser man, he was supremely fitted for the ,. ^ °*^^
of Augustus. task. His powers of dissembling still stood
him in stead, and his keen appreciation of the situation and the nature of his countrymen. If the great Julius had erred at all, it was in openly disregarding Roman sentiments. It had been a necessity with him to hold absolute power, and he had assumed the office of dictator, and perhaps intended to be called king. But the name of king was hateful to the Romans ; the office of dictator, long unpopular, had recently stood for the tyranny of Sulla, and moreover was displeasing to the deeper Roman political sense as being an extraordinary office and not part of the normal government. Augustus, as well as Caesar, meant to concentrate all power in himself. But he chose to dissemble ; as sole triumvir in Italy, he had observed constitutional forms, after Sextus's defeat halt- ing his army to address the people outside of Rome ; and at the expiration of the second five years' term of the triumvirate, he declined to renew it.* After Actium he continued to dissemble, appearing unwilling to assume absolute power as entailing too great responsibilities ; he even at times left the state to revert to disorder by itself, to show how essential he was to its welfare. Through these manoeuvres, the supreme power was continually pressed upon him by all classes.
With a still deeper policy, Augustus respected the con- stitutional sense of his countrymen by establishing the Empire as a continuance of the Republic.'' He showed a deference for the nominal power of the senate and the suffrage of the people, while he actually exercised abso- lute power under a continuance of the regular repub- lican magistracies united in his own person. Continually refusing the office of dictator, he accepted the regular and limited magistracies. After Actium, when he had
' He was consul at the time.
* Certainly Csesar had this in view as well. But he worked less tenderly.
6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
quieted the Empire, he closed the temple of Janus and offered to resign the office of Imperator. But the senate and people insisted on his retaining it. Shortly after, he accepted the appellation of Augustus, a title never borne by man, but applied to many sacred things connected with worship. He also accepted the titular office of Princeps Senatus. Through a natural growth in the import of the first of these words when associated with the holder of supreme power, the limiting word Senatus fell away, leaving the simple word Princeps, which, with the title Imperator and the appellation Augustus, con- tinued to designate the emperors. Being a Patrician, he could not legally be tribune; but he accepted the trihi- nitia potestas, which clothed him with similar power, rendered his person sacred, and gave him the right to propose laws. As the tribunitian office stood for the people's majesty, thoughts surrounding the conception majestas populi gradually attached themselves to Augus- tus. Here also was the source of the imperial concep- tion of treason, crivicn majcstatis. After the year B.C. 23, Augustus declined the office of consul. But he accepted proconsular power coextensive with the Empire; and in B.C. 19 he accepted tXiQ potestas consularis for life. He also accepted successive censorships for terms of five years, and, on the death of Lepidus, was made Chief Pontiff, thus becoming the formal head of the priestly observances which made part of the government of Rome.' The Emperor Augustus thus became the formal unification of the offices and powers of the Roman repub- lican magistracy.
Augustus was also careful that the enactment of laws should follow the usual forms, although he controlled legislation, and the initiative usually proceeded from him.'
' See for these matters Merivale, History of the Romans under the Empire, chap. xxxi.
^ But imperial rescripts, edicts, and letters, as formal expressions of the emperor's will, came to have the force of law. They were all included in the general term Constitiitio. — Gaius, Ins., i, 5.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. J
He continued the forms of free elections of magistrates, afterwards transferred by Tiberius from the Comitia of the people to the senate, to which body the nominal legis- lative power was also transferred by that prince, as well as the criminal jurisdiction, an appeal being reserved to the emperor.
The reorganization of the provinces followed the partly executed designs of Julius Caesar. They were divided into senatorial and imperial. The latter were those where troops were most needed, and, by retaining control of them, the emperor kept military power in his hands. They were governed by imperial legates, the senatorial provinces by proconsuls; the latter class of officials having greater dignity, the former more substantial power and longer tenure of office.'
Augustus had recast the government of Rome. Actu- ally the change was complete; but the cautious temper of the Emperor, deferring to the conservative spirit still surviving at Rome, had continued so far as possible the republican forms. His successors continued to profess obedience to the senate, till the death of Pertinax.'
The admiration with which the Romans of Augustus'
time viewed Rome's period of struggle and attainment,
was heightened by the sense that much of the
ancient strength and virtue which had brought °° *°^ ° -r. . , , T-^. the Past,
empire to Rome existed no longer. Distance
which hallows may consist in differences between the present and the past, as well as in mere years. Serious Romans now looked back upon the past which was no more ; they looked upon the present which was so differ- ent, and saw menace and evil in it. Yet they thought their own Rome great — how could they not? — and looked to better her people and make strong her empire. One
' Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, vol. ii, p. 252, regards the annexation of Egypt after Actium, in the form of an imperial province directly under Augustus' control, as the beginning of the Empire.
' A.D. 193.
8 ANCIENT IDEALS.
way was to bring back the virtues of the olden time; and however impossible and undesirable it was to restore the conditions under which had thriven the " Decii, Marii, magnique Camilli," nevertheless the efforts at reform and betterment were made with the past in view and with some hope of bringing back its virtues.
The idealized conception, which the Augustan age formed of the past, did not relate to material greatness —
for Rome was then small and poor — but to the Its Rustic ajicient Roman character. That was set in Geore-ics pl^i'i and homely virtues, such as Virgil has in
mind throughout the Gcorgics. He loved the fields of Italy, and he followed his natural bent in com- plying with Maecenas' request to write a poem which should quiet men's minds and direct attention to the good in simple rustic life. Though, in Virgil's time, rural industry was carried on by hordes of slaves, the by-paths of Italy may have preserved much to afford him illustra- tion of his theme. But his picture of rustic life, if sketched from the present, is in tone and feeling a reflex of his conception of the past, a conception hallowed, ten- der, imaginative, yet agreeing with thoughts of the past prevalent among Romans.
O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, Agricolas ! quibus ipsa, procul discordibus armis, Fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus.'
Happy rustics for whom the most just earth bears easy food ! The " procul discordibus armis " is a note from the poet's time, introduced into his song of the past. Noticeable is the epithet Justissima tclliis, — the earth which most justly bears food, bears it for those who deserve it by their labor and frugal lives. To them the country brings " secura quies et nescia fallere vita." "
Me may the dear Muses accept, show me the paths of heaven and the stars, but if my slow blood unfits me,
■ Georg., ii, 458. "If'-, ii. 467.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 9
then let me delight in watering rivers and, inglorious, love the streams and woods." * The poet speaks for himself and his own delight in nature, yet is rustic enough to feel the value of rivers which water the farms. Once more he reverts to the thought of lofty knowledge in lines echoing Lucretius:
Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
but returns to the thought that he is also fortunate who knows the rural gods and leads a life far from the world's discord — again a note out of his own time ; and then he speaks of the husbandman's life, his daily round of toil, his home where children's kisses greet him, where chas- tity abides — a virtue of the olden time ! and at the end of the passage, the poet discloses how thoughts of the ancient times had been the pervading motive of his praise :
Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini, Hanc Remus et frater, sic fortis Etruria crevit Scilicet, et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma, Septemque una sibi muro circumdedit arces."
The chief virtue bred of rustic life is the spirit of honest patient toil. Father Jove himself did not wish agriculture to be an easy path,^ but sharpened mortal wits by cares, nor suffered his realms to grow slothful; needs brought inventions, and
labor omnia vincit Improbus, et duris urguens in rebus egestas.*
Labor had further virtue. To Virgil it not only over- comes obstacles and fills the needs of mortals, but makes men men, makes them the conquerors they are born to be, and strong and brave through difficulties vanquished.
' Georg., 475.
* /^., ii, 532. Virgil professes to draw his rules of farming from the olden time : Possum multa tibi veterum praecepta referre. — Georg., i, 176.
^ lb., i, 121. 4 lb., i, 145.
10 ANCIENT IDEALS.
It was thus that Italy nourished a brave race.' Then, was not the husbandman face to face with his gods ? What Hfe so depended on the bounty of the great gods above, as well as the dwellers of the fields. Pales and Pan ? How could his life fail to breed piety ? Good hus- bandry's first maxim is, venerarc dcos.^
And finally, how could one contemplate all the great
men whom Italy had nourished, whom the
Italy! sound, simple life of old Italy had produced,
without revering her, loving her, setting her
first and above all ?
Salve, magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus, Magna virum ! °
This was the love in Virgil's heart when his pen was busy with homely rural themes ; they were part of his love of Italy. A general inspiration of the Gcorgics may have been the thought that honest country life would bring back patriotism.
Such were the country-bred virtues of frugality, chas- tity, patient toil, and hardy bravery, which Virgil, writing the Gcorgics, had in mind as constituting the
omes early Roman character. The maiden-hearted Fortitude. -^ ,
poet knew virtue s power. Romans of other
temperament would, in thinking of their ancestors, give
greater prominence to the courage which rose sterner
from defeat. In Horace's most martial ode, Hannibal
exclaims of the Romans: " the race which from burned
Ilium came forth brave, and, hurled about on the Tuscan
seas, bore its household gods, its sons and aged fathers,
to Ausonian cities — as the oak whose branches the axe
has lopped, through ruin, through slaughter, it draws
' "The dignity of this toil (of husbandmen) is suggested by the constant use of words meaning conquest ; imperat arvis, subactis scrobibus, cogere, domare, etc. ... in the same spirit again is the playful energy of the simile which depicts the farmer like the soldier hurling his seed, grappling the land, laying low the heaps." — A. Sidgwick.
' Georg., i, 337, * lb., ii, 173.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. II
strength and courage from the steel itself. Not the Hydra, its body cut through, is mightier, — plunge them in the depths, they rise more beautiful and overthrow the victor in his strength." '
But these homelier virtues of early Rome, and her for- titude, needed completing, needed to be pointed aright, and guided onward in accord with the power of Obeying fate and will of God. Horace had looked on Divine
Roman fortitude as based on its own human Destiny, strength and by itself upheld. Virgil, though always reverent, composed his Gcorgics as an ethical rather than religious poem. There still lacked a full expression of the ancient Roman piety. The obedience of the early Romans to their gods was an element of their strength. In firm obedience to the divine will, they would endure and conquer. Rome was founded on the fated decrees of Jove, through such obedience. And it was Roman obedi- ence to the will of the gods, set forth through augury and divination, that had guided the course of Rome to the fulfilment of her destinies. The spirit of the Augus- tan age demanded a narrative of Rome's founding which should take up the manly virtues of the race, its patient toil and fortitude, display them strengthened by reliance on the Roman gods, and harmonized, controlled, and guided by obedience to the divine will. Augustus expressed this wish to Rome's greatest poet and the ^neid was the answer.
It is a poem filled with trust in the fated decrees of Jove, and it shouts their sure accomplishment. It is throughout so conceived and wTitten as to make plain that yEneas always relied on Jove and looked for guidance to declarations of his purpose; that he was a pious man in whose mind observance of his duties first to the gods, then to his family and followers, was uppermost ; and that he came to Italy to find the
' Carm., iv, 4, 53-67. Cf. the speech Livy puts in the mouth of Scipio taking command in Spain, ante, p. 403, vol. i.
12 ANCIENT IDEALS.
appointed seats for his household gods and estabhsh there the cult of the great gods who were to become pre- eminently the gods of Rome. His more personal object was to obtain the home promised to himself, and lay the beginnings of the empire assured to his descendants. Such are the main matters of the poem embraced within the personality and agency of its hero. With the gods, above all with Jove, it lies to carry out the decrees of fate, or Jove's own decrees which are fate ; ' to bring ^neas to Italy, get him a foothold there, a bride and a kingdom, with the surely to be accomplished assurance that empire broad and without end shall be the lot of his descendants. That the action of the ^neid is accom- plished through the aid of Jove, is made clear by the paucity and helplessness of the Trojan band. They were but the leavings of the Greeks ; it was the gods who founded Rome on the decrees of fate merited by the piety of yEneas. The purpose of the gods had accomplished itself in Virgil's time; yet theirs was a continuing func- tion to preserve to Rome her empire. It behooved Rome still to deserve their favor.
Dis aliter visum : ^
these are words of deep, religious submissiveness with
which ^neas tells the death of Rhipeus, the most just
follower of right in Troy. It occurred on that
Power and \^^<^ night of destruction. ^Eneas had himself
^. .. been makins^ brave fisrht, till his goddess-
Obedience. '=' , .
mother shows him Troy's inevitable fate, dis- closing to his mortal vision cruel Juno holding the Scsean gate, Pallas on Troy's citadel, and the Father himself giving strength and courage to the Greeks. She bids him flee. Then the pious hero knew that by the will of heaven Troy was falling, just as he was thereafter to learn that by the will of heaven Rome should rise. He seeks his house. His father will not survive Troy. To ^ Cf. JEn., i, 257, et seq. • lb., ii, 428.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 1 3
fly without his father were impiety. Flame plays around Ascanius' brow, an omen confirmed by Jove's thunder at Anchises' prayer. Now the old man sees heaven's will, and is eager to set forth. His son bids him carry the Penates, which his own battle-stained hands are impure to touch,* those Penates which it was the hero's highest care to bring to Latium.^
After the company of Trojans set sail, they chance on Thrace, from which they are warned by the ill-omened crime done there. Then the guidance of Apollo at Delos is sought, and he bids them seek the ancient home of the race. Anchises declares that to be Crete, whither they sail. But there a plague comes on them, and at last, in a dream, the sacred images of his gods rise before yEneas and declare that Italy is the ancient source of the race and its destined seat. Again sailing over the sea, they reach Epirus, where the seer Helenus is found reigning, united by strange turn of destiny to Androm- ache. He declares more particularly what regions of Italy must be sought, and again they sail and sail, till Juno's storm casts them on Dido's shores. This incident constitutes the formal opening of the epic. It is emblem- atic of the whole poem. The sadness and the sorrow of the struggle for Italy are seen in the storm-tossings of the helpless Trojans. A hostile goddess would have destroyed them all, had not a juster god come to the rescue. But they were helpless. In weariness and dejec- tion they throw themselves on the beach — the tired .^neadae. .^neas cheers them with human encourage- ment— "We have borne ills before, and greater; per- haps hereafter it will please us to remember this one too." Then he recalls the divine aid and assurance of reaching Italy, where shall be rest and where Trojan fortunes shall rise again. Thus he shows a hopeful face while he presses down his grief. That reached farther than the present ill — his loved city destroyed, his loved wife perished, all
* ii, 717. ' C/". i, 6 ; vii, 229 ; viii, 11.
14 ANCIENT IDEALS.
that was dearest to him gone, except Ascanius. He was as heartsick as a man can be, who is submissively rehant on the gods, as often and again appears in his tale of Troy's destruction, in his parting from Dido, — that was but a deepening of the shadows which had long filled his heart :
Me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam Auspiciis, at sponte mea componere curas, Urbem Troianam primum dulcesque meorum Reliquias colerem ; Priami tecta alta manerent, Et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis. Sed nunc Italiam magnam Grynseus Apollo, Italiam Lycise jussere capessere sortes. Hie amor, hsec patria est. Si te Carthaginis areas Phoenissam, Libycaeque aspactus detinet urbis, Quae tandem Ausonia Taucros considara terra Invidia est ? Et nos fas axtera qugerere ragna. Me patris Anchisae, quoties humentibus umbris Nox oparit terras, quotias astra ignea surgunt, Admonet in somnis at turbida tarret imago ; Me puar Ascanius, capitisque injuria cari, Quern regno Hasperise fraudo at fatalibus arvis. Nunc etiam intarpres divom, Jove missus ab ipso, (Testor utrumque caput) celeres mandata per auras Detulit. Ipse daum manifesto in lumine vidi Intrantem mures, vocemque his auribus hausi, Desine maqua tuis incendare teque querelis ; Italiam non sponte sequor.'
This is his answer to the passionate queen. He may have been forgetful of his destiny for a few sweet days, — many men have been — but his reply justifies at least his departure. Had fate left him free to lead his life and still his grief, he had remained to raise again the towers of Troy and tend the relics of his dead. But the divine will pointed to Italy, which must be love and fatherland to him. If the sight of Libya held her, a Phoenician,
' iv, 340-361.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. I 5
why envy Trojans Italy ? It is ordained that they should seek a kingdom there. The shade of Anchises had admonished him, and the injury to his boy Ascanius, — and now the messenger of the gods had brought him Jove's command. Not of his free will was Italy his goal.
Every poet is of his time, and reflects its spirit, its loves and interests. A poet of the Augustan age could hardly have written an epic without introducing a love episode. Virgil's greatness as an epic poet was shown in the fitness of the love episode which expands and human- izes and furthers the action of his poem. Apollonius Rhodius' episode of the love of Jason and Medea was great only as a drawing of love's passion. Virgil's epi- sode of Dido is great in many ways. It is admirable as a delineation of passionate love ; it was traditionally fit for the epic of the ^neid, explaining the enmity between Rome and Carthage ; it was a great ethical lesson of the pathos of unhappy love, its impotence, its vain striving against stronger might, against fate. Finally, it showed, for those who would so regard it, -^neas obeying the divine call of duty and forsaking his happiness.
The sadness of forsaking Dido is but a closing note. From the hour of the wretched casting of the fleet on African shores, the words and incidents of the sojourn emphasize the weariness and sorrow of "^^^ Gods the leader, the helplessness of the band of Tro- _
jans, and the ready obedience of all to Jove's commands. The wretched Trojans ! Rehquise Danaum ! These words lay bare the motive of the poem ; — the leav- ings of the Greeks ! what power was theirs to establish them in Italy, big with unborn empires, shouting war ? ' No power but Jove's, and their humble spirit of obedi- ence firm and ready. At Mercury's coming, vSneas is astounded at his own delay; he is eager to obey Jove.' When the tragic parting is over, when all is ready, he
' iv, 229. "^ iv, 279, etc.
l6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
snatches a brief sleep on his ship. A god in Hkeness of Jove's messenger appears and bids him haste; the hero breaks from his sleep, calls to his men, and to the god he speaks his gladdest word of the whole poem : We follow thee, holy god, whichever of the gods thou art, and again obey the command rejoicing.'
Likewise, the story of their establishment in Italy is a story of .^neas's reliance on Jove and of the efforts of human strength to oppose him, efforts rendered vain through divine providence and interposition. Once more, even before their arrival, comes misfortune; Juno incites the women to fire the ships, .^neas prays to Jove :
Tenues Teucrum res eripe leto ! "
In Italy he asks of Apollo only his destined kingdom,' and the Trojan embassy demands of Latinus a little scanty home for their gods.* Juno knows that she can- not foil the Trojan destinies, yet will hinder as she may.* She rouses opposing forces ample to crush the hated band ; but providence provides allies, and there is a per- vading consciousness among the hostile forces that resist- ance is unavailing. Diomede expresses this, ^^'hen wisely refusing to join against the pious hero who is sustained by gods and fate.* Turnus, the bold infatuate leader, ever and anon feels dismay ; his mightiest ally is Mezen- tius, " despiser of the gods."' yEneas is throughout calm, obedient, reliant, faith-keeping with his faithless enemies : " It is lawful for me alone to fight," "* he shouts to his men when Turnus's side has broken truce. He knows that the pact sworn before Jove, which not he but Turnus has broken, insures his victory." Then he is wounded, endeavoring to restrain the fight ; amid the tears of all he is unmoved, patient,'" awaiting his destiny ; — says to Ascanius:
|
iv, 576. |
' V, 690. |
» vi, 66. |
■• vii, 229. |
|
vii, 315, etc. |
' xi, 250. |
' vii, 648. |
* xii, 315. |
|
® xii, 317, |
'"xii, 400. |
THE PUBLIC HOPE. IJ
Disce, puer, virtutem ex me verumque laborem Fortunam ex aliis.'
And when at last the combat with Turnus comes, the heavy hand of Jove bears down the headstrong man. Turnus knew his fate ; his heart had fallen at thought of the inevitable; still he would fight: Is it then so miser- able to die ?^ says he to his sister, the nymph Juturna; and he prays that the gods below may be gracious. At last his fate is on him :
Jam, jam, fata, Sorer, superant ! absisti morari."
A fury drives Juturna away and terrifies the unhappy Turnus. He exclaims to ^Eneas in the encounter: " Not thy fiery words terrify me ; the gods terrify me, and my enemy is Jove." * The human heart of the reader turns towards the unhappy man whose hand the gods palsy, just as the reader's heart turns to the unhappy woman Y.'hose lover the gods have commanded to forsake her. But ^neas must fare onward, and Turnus must die, and the lesson of it all is obedience to god.
^neas is victorious; his destiny is to be accomplished. But the Trojans did not conquer the Latins, — perish the thought ! yEneas thinks not of conquest in his prayer and pact before the combat : in case he overcomes, let Trojans and Italians, both unconquered, with equal rights join in lasting alliance; his be it to ordain the wor- ship of the gods, Latinus shall be king; the Teucrians shall build a city which shall bear Lavinia's name.
So the Georgics of Virgil, Horace's ode, and again
Virgil's jEneid disclose the past as Augustan
As the Past Rome would fondly think of it. The elements Declares
of the Roman character thus idealized were so Let its
the homely domestic virtues of a rustic peo- Virtues
pie, — industry, frugality, chastity, upright- Guard the - \i. 1 ^ • . u Future,
ness, — then the hardier virtues, bravery
and a fortitude enduring all except defeat ; and finally
■ xii, 435. '^ xii, 646. ^ xii, 676. ^ xii, 894.
VOL. II.— 2
1 8 ANCIENT IDEALS.
piety, obedience to the declarations of divine will, trust in the gods. On these virtues and the purpose of the gods were set the walls of Rome. Hence sprang all the human might and human glory, which were never to be thought as severable from the aid and care of those gods who made Rome mistress of the world. The present was founded on the past. To make firm its welfare and assure the future, no jot of Rome's ethical and religious heritage could be neglected. Through preserving the virtues of the past, should Rome's destiny advance.
Virgil's epic shows Rome's beginnings heavy with the future. Each line is conscious of Rome's destiny. On
the voyage, the Trojan fugitives feel themselves
Rome's citizens of the city they are to found, even are
mpena addressed as civcs,^ a word of unspeakable
wealth of association for Romans. The epic story foreshadows the present. Nor does the poem leave the fortunes of Rome to be merely inferred from the direction her face was set in at the start. It has gleaming prophecies of her course of glory and clear definings of her office in the world, to which in Augustus' time the call was clear. Twice the poet discloses the course of Rome. In the first passage the father of gods and men reassures his daughter of the accomplishment of her son's and his descendants' destinies: Manent immota tuorum fata tibi. ^neas shall wage a great war in Italy, subdu- ing fierce nations, shall found his walls and give laws to his people, and pass away in the fourth year of his reign. But the boy Ascanius, who shall be also called lulus, shall reign thirty years and found Alba Longa. Here shall the house rule three hundred years, till priestess Ilia bear her twin offspring to Mars. Romulus shall establish the Mavortian walls and call his people Romans. For them I set no bound ; empire without end have I given them. Harsh Juno shall turn to better counsels and with me cherish the lords of the world, the togaed race. They
' V, 196, 671.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 1 9
shall subdue Phthia and Mycenae. Caesar shall be born, whose empire the Ocean, whose fame the stars shall bound. Him thou shalt receiv^e in heaven, and men shall call on him with offerings. Then the ages shall grow gentle and the gates of war be shut, while hoary Faith and Vesta shall give laws.' This outline of Rome's glory ends in the peace which had come with Augustus, with whom hoary Faith, the Faith of yore, should reign. In the second passage "^ Anchises in the Happy Fields points out to his son the forms of their descendants, pausing upon the destiny of Augustus, who should restore the golden age in Latium. Then follows the roll of Rome's heroes, who should bring her power towards its Caesarian climax; and at the end bursts from the blessed lips a cry prophetic of Rome's god-given, impe- rial function : — Others shall excel thee in other arts and celestial science, but thou : —
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento ; Hae tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem, Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.
The tenor of these passages is similar: both proceed through an outline of Rome's course of achievement to the thought of her place in the world in Virgil's time and her glorious charge in the present and the future, to rule the nations by her command and impose the ways of peace. The sixth book of the Aineid, in a picture of the underworld, blends archaic notions and maturer thought. The poet is presenting the highly ethical spec-
^ r r ^^r • • 1 1 ■^nClQ VI.
tacle of a future life contammg rewards and punishments. The setting is taken mainly from the old Greek poets. Also, as far back as Pindar, Virgil could have found the underlying general thought, that crimes hereafter shall be punished, and virtues rewarded. But in the application of rewards and punishments and in the conceptions of virtues and crimes, he has refined the ' i, 257, etc. ' vi, 755, etc. ; cf. also viii, 670, etc.
20 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ethics of the past, and developed modes of purification or atonement from systems of Greek philosophy.' In this picture of the underworld, with all its inconsistencies, may be seen the ethical and religious thought of Rome's greatest ethical and religious poet, who, as much as can any man who is above his fellows, represented the views of the Augustan age, and especially those of the em- peror.
Penetrating the dark entrance to the underworld, ^neas and his Sibyl guide come to the Styx, where Charon is ferryman, the poet preserving this ancient myth in deference to popular credence and his own fond- ness of the poetical past. The saddest, hardest part of the myth he retains as well, the crowd of shades who move up and down the bank of the infernal river, stretch- ing out their hands towards the other shore. Charon receives only those whose funeral rites have been per- formed ; the others must wander up and down for a hundred restless years, ^neas pauses, thinking many thoughts, moved by the unequal lot of mortal souls.
Beyond the Styx, Virgil's underworld is threefold, Tartarus, the blessed seats of Elysium, and the interme- dial regions of Hades, neither happy nor accursed." The poet makes these middle regions large and populous. His scheme reflects those older, harsher views of fate and divine governance which took less account of human intent than of actual fact.' So he places in these regions those unjustly condemned to death. A hard thought this; yet indeed the fact that they had been unjustly condemned was no merit of theirs, entitling them to enter Elysium. The pagan world never reached that finest thought of compensation which regards the drying of tears as the
' See Boissier, La Religion Romaine, livre i, ch. 5.
^ The thought of three regions of the dead is as old as Homer, who, be- sides Hades and Tartarus, has also the Islands of the Blessed.
3 Says the Sibyl to Palinurus' shade, vainly longing to cross the Styx :
" Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando." — vi, 376, — a line conscious of the hardness of fate, but expressing the unavailingness of remonstrance.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 21
just due of those who have wept. Virgil likewise places here the souls of infants ; they, to be sure, had been cut off before their time, hard fate again ; yet neither had they done anything to merit bliss. Another part of this region is allotted to suicides ; and another, the liigeiitcs canipi, to those who had perished through cruel love. A further motive leading the poet to make large these in- termediate regions may have been a thought of the mass of mankind who have done no great harm or good, have lived the usual lives of men and women, deserving no reward or punishment. There was justice in this, if not pity. It was a view more consonant with the ethics of the time, than the older thought of human lot in the next world dependent on matters, like funeral rites, beyond the man's control.
Virgil places in Tartarus the mythical sinners against the gods, and also those guilty of more usual crimes, those who hated brothers or maltreated a parent or deceived their clients, the great crowd of the avaricious who shared not their wealth, those slain in adultery, those who took up impious arms in civil strife or broke faith with their masters. Seek not to know their punish- ment, says the Sibyl. Yet ^neas might hear the great voice sounding from within the gates:
" Discite justitiam moniti et non temnere dives."*
Elysium is peopled with magnanimous heroes of old and with those who fell for their country, those who were spotless priests or pious poets whose chants were worthy of Phoebus, or those who invented modes of bet- tering life or left enduring memories of good deeds.* These dwellers in Elysium pass their time in pursuits which they loved on earth, or, likt Anchises, contem- plate futurity. Not all, however, are entirely pure from mortal defilement, but must undergo purification and return to earth, and Virgil expresses in beautiful verse
^ vi, 620. * vi, 660,
22 ANCIENT IDEALS.
thoughts taken from the philosophers, especially the Pythagoreans and Plato.'
This picture of the underworld yielded the lesson which Augustus wished to be set before the people. The crimes which Virgil punished in Tartarus were prevalent, the virtues he rewarded in Elysium were those needed in the Roman state. The Greek and Roman world had for centuries received its religion from the songs of poets ; Greek poetry was a repository of the- ology, and though the oldest poems possessed greatest authority, a poem might become at once authoritative through its merit ; for with Greeks or Romans there was no higher revelation than the inspiration of the Muse. Hence, Augustus rightly deemed that a poem of such transcendent merit as he expected from Virgil ' would be more than an ethical influence, would indeed be ac- cepted as an authoritative exposition of religious fact. And there is no reason to doubt the effect of the ^neid, taught in schools and learned by the youth throughout the Latin world. Belief in some sort of existence after death was general, and such a monumental assertion of it as Virgil made in his sixth book, with Virgilian weight and splendor of language, was potent to fix in men's minds the beliefs in accord with which he drew the origin and fortunes of Rome.
The countenance which Augustus gave to Virgil, Hor- ace, or Propertius was part of his effort at religious and social reform. He desired also to connect his
Religious ^^^ imperial rule with the Roman religion, and Moral ...... , , , , .
Betterment ^^'^^ fc^^'"' ^^^ '^ ^''^^^ government the sanction
of the ancient faith. The stronger this faith,
the greater its ethical effect; and bettering men's ways
would make them as citizens more obedient to whatever
' vi, 703-751. See Boissier, livre i, ch. 5, § 2. ^ Propertius expresses the great expectation awaiting the ^neid : " CediteRomani scriptores, cediteGraii, Nescioquid maius nascitur Iliade."
Prop., iii, xxxii, 65.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 23
government might exist. It might be easy to rebuild temples, re-establish cults and ceremonies ; it was harder to turn men's minds sincerely to belief, and quite as hard through laws to make them mend their ways : — Quid leges sine moribus ?
Augustus did his part. He built new temples, and re- stored those which were ruinous, he re-established and purified the worship of the gods.' He himself, as chief pontiff, scrupulously fulfilled the functions of his priestly office ; and once, when a vestal virgin was needed, and the senate held back their daughters, he vowed he would devote one of his granddaughters were they old enough. A reform of manners was needed. Augustus was urged to bring it about by legislation ; the senate pressed him, and zealously swore to conform. Then Augustus pro- mulgated sumptuary laws, and laws severely punishing adultery as well as celibacy, and rewarding fruitful mar- riages. All had succeeded so far with him ; even the Parthians, awed by his power, had returned the standards lost by Crassus; men looked for good result from his reforming legislation, and now, at the height of his pres- tige, he sought to set a religious seal upon it all, by cele- brating the Secular Games in solemn prayer and thanks- giving to the mighty gods who had made Rome great and henceforth would preserve her in her greatness, a reno- vated state. Horace had produced noble odes, either directly warning the people to rebuild the temples of the gods and return to the virtues of the olden time,'' or giv- ing gleaming pictures of courage, fortitude, frugality, how they nobly advantaged their possessors.^ Now he was directed to compose the Secular Hymn* to be sung at the most solemn moment of the festival by a chorus of boys and girls, pure and chaste, of the noblest Roman families.
' See generally Boissier, ib., livre i, ch. i.
* Cami., iii, vi ; iii, xxiv.
^ lb., iii, i-v ; ii, xv.
■* This was B.C. 17. Virgil had died two years before.
24 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" Apollo and Diana, hear us, as we pray in this sacred
time by the Sibyl's commands. Bountiful Sun, giver of
the day, thou lookest upon nothing greater
The Carmen^j^^j^ Rome. Ilithyia protect our mothers, rear Ssscul^rc
our children, prosper our marriage laws, that in
the circling years this festal song may again be sung. Ye Parcae, true declarers of events, add good destinies to our accomplished lots. Hide thy dart, Apollo, and hear thy suppliant boys. Luna, hear thy maidens ! If Rome is your work, and through you ^neas brought his coun- try's remnant to Italy, ye gods grant virtue to the docile youth, peace to placid age, to the race of Romans pros- perity, offspring, and honor. Grant the prayers of Venus' and Anchises' glorious descendant, mighty to the warring, gentle to the prostrate foe. The Medes, the Scythians, the Indians submit. Justice, peace, honor, ancient shame and courage have returned, and the full horn of plenty. May Phoebus extend our happy age into another and still better time. May Diana hear us. We carry home the hope, sure and good, that we are heard by Jove and all the gods."
The Hymn voiced the feeling of the Romans celebrat- ing the solemn festival in power and peace. It prayed for objects which all desired, peace, plenty, The High offspring, purer morals, and a secure continu-
^°P^ ance of the state, with growing honor, in the
ing to the . t-, i . •
Emperor commg years. But there was yet a crownmg
hope, directed toward a mortal who was more than mortal, who, with the ofifice of a god, should bring universal happiness to his Empire, bring back, indeed, the return of blessed times, if such ever existed. Virgil and Horace both expressed it, the former in his larger way; the latter, writing some years afterwards, more defi- nitely.
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo,
sings Virgil in his fourth Eclogue. A new order arises; Saturnian reign returns; a child is sent from heaven,
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 2$
through whom shall end the Iron Age, and a golden race arise upon the earth. The poet describes the glorious course of this child in language fitting an imperial prince, but hardly a child of Pollio, in whose consulship the child was to be born. Then he tells of the earth's happy state, when the stag shall not fear the lion, when the serpent and the noxious herb shall perish, and every land bear all things unfurrowed by the plow : —
O mihi turn longae maneat pars ultima vitse !
The beauty of this poem and the longing hope it carries of rest and blessedness have given rise to many thoughts. Whatever delusion there has been in these, the world was longing for peace and rest, hoping for it, since so many years of civil strife were past; and in Virgil's pure heart, these longings rose perhaps to the hope of a regeneration of mankind. The poet, later in his life, proclaimed that it was Csesar Augustus, a god's son, who should found the golden ages again in Latium ; ' and though mankind remained sufftciently human to dash the realization of this hope, nevertheless the poet spake with true prophecy of Rome's charge, — pacisque imponere morem ; for Rome was to give her world, with one sharp break, two centuries of peace.
Not in the inspired way of Virgil, and yet beautifully, Horace, three years after the Secular Games, reverts to this broad hope. Augustus had been quieting his Empire far from Rome; too long had he been absent: " O good leader, return to thy country, to gladden thy people. As a mother with vows and prayers calls for her far-absent son, his stricken country desires Caesar." Then follows a picture of the good time which is already come. " The ox wanders safe in the fields, Ceres gives fruitfulness, ships fly over the safe sea, guile is no longer, homes are chaste, crime is crushed, no enemies from without are
' ALn., vi, 792.
26 ANCIENT IDEALS.
feared, men dwell in quiet and bless thee, praying that
long mayest thou give festal seasons to Italy." '
Similar though more material hopes filled many minds,
coming with the thought, now felt to be realized, of one
secure world-empire, guarded by a more than
'^^^ . imperial chief. From the old times of Homer's
mperia Zeus-born kings, it had never been a far course Apotheosis. ° '
for pagan thought to deify its heroes. There
were many precedents for the imperial apotheosis in the East, in Egypt, in Greece, in Rome itself, — precedents for holding great men divine ; besides which, the way was made easy by the custom of ancestor worship. The sen- ate had exhausted human honors with Julius Caesar, and after his death a temple was decreed him. The thought of worshipping Augustus grew up throughout the Em- pire, gathering strength from the success and beneficence of his rule. The East first received permission to build temples to him jointly with the goddess Roma, and after- wards the western provinces established his cult. It pene- trated Italy, all people desiring to worship that greatness through which they lived secure. While he lived, Augus- tus permitted no temple to be raised to him in Rome, but the people even there worshipped him privately.^ Virgil had, in terms of bucolic gladness, recognized a god in Augustus, who had restored him to his fields and again permitted his flocks to wander, and himself to play upon the pipe ; and perhaps more seriously did the v/ords of the fifth Eclogue refer to Julius Caesar:
Deus, deus ille, Menalca. Sis bonus, o felixque tuis !
At the opening of the Georgics he invokes earnestly, if with some uncertainty, Caesar Augustus as a god, and
' Carm., iv, v.
- See generally Boissier, ib., livre i, ch. 2. Some indeed reproached Augustus because "nihil deorum honoribus relictum, cum se templis at effigie numinum per flamines et sacerdotes coli vellet." — Tacitus, Annales, i, 10.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 2/
prays him to become accustomed to be called upon with vows. But the younger poet Horace, whose life extended to the years w'hen Augustus' position had clearer recog- nition, expresses more pointedly the imperial aspect of Augustus' deification. In the twelfth ode of the first book, the poet celebrates the gods of Rome, beginning with Father Jove, following with Pallas, Bacchus, and Phoebus Apollo. He then names the demi-gods, Her- cules, and Leda's boys; then Rome's heroes, — Romulus, Numa, Cato, Regulus, Camillus, and Julius, whose star shines like the moon among the lesser fires. Then rises the invocation again to Jove, father and guardian of the human race, to whom by fate is given the care of great Caesar (Augustus): "Thou rulest, Csesar second to thee. Caesar subdues all nations to his sway, Jove thunders above." These last verses ignore the other gods, and show Augustus as the counterpart on earth of Jupiter in heaven, — a thought which is brought to sharper expres- sion in one of the great political odes of the third book:
Caelo tonantem credidirnus Jovem Regnare ; praesens divus habebitur Augustus.'
Augustus IS called divus here, and in a still later ode Horace addresses him:
O tutela praesens Italiae dominaeque Romae,*
an expression which recognizes his divinity, for the word pr(Ese7is, in its connection, signifies propitious, and is applicable only to a god. These lines breathe the feeling of imperial Rome guarded by one imperial chief, and they proclaim that this imperial chief, the head of Rome's religion, the special care of Rome's great gods, is himself divine.
Such was the ideal of the state, the public ideal, which
^ Carm., iii, v, 1-3. " Il>-, iv, xiv, 43.
28 AiVCIENT IDEALS.
pressed upon the minds of men in the opening years of our era. Upon this hope, as well as upon the ^°® . ^ incapacity of the Romans to govern themselves Dignity ^^^ their dependencies, Augustus founded his Empire. That men were no longer politically free, as under the Republic, was a source of pain to many, and of discontent and opposition to the Caesars; for with the Romans, as with the Greeks, the memory of liberty died hard. But, as compensation, the state was more grandly fulfilling its destinies and carrying out the great charge of Rome. The majesty of the commonwealth — res piibliccB, republic, as for centuries it continued to be called — reached its culmination under the Empire. This majesty of the united realm presented a haughty imperial front to the outside w^orld. The Roman people, as in the days of Fabricius and Pyrrhus, needed not to stoop to base conquests of dreaded foes, if indeed Rome dreaded any foes. To the proposals of chiefs of the Chatti to poison Armenius, the senate under Tiberius replied : ' ' Non fraude neque occultis, sed palam et armatum populum Romanum hostes suos ulcisci." * And a mighty sense of this great majesty lived in the soldiers and officers of the Empire, no matter how vile or crazed might be the imperial monster revelling in Rome. Rome had always sons able and brave, and, whether Romans born or Romans through merit and adoption, devoted to the state. When Nero went idly mad, there was a Corbulo to uphold Rome's majesty against her enemies. In the struggles of the succession after Nero's death, whatever might be the weakness or treachery of their leaders, the Roman legions kept their soldiers* honor, faced each other in internecine struggle, and conquered or fell with wounds in front.' And Vespasian, intent upon his con- test for the throne, would no whit relax the desperate war to subdue the Jews, but left Titus, with legions, to bring it to conclusion. One is impressed with the enduring
' Tac, Ann., ii, 88. " See Ibid., Historic, in, passim.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 29
Strength of the Roman Empire, its cohesive soHdarity as
against revolts of provinces. It was this that overcame
the widespread insurrection of Batavians, Gauls, and
Germans under Civilis in the first months of Vespasian's
reign. And as the years and centuries went on, the
thought of the greatness of the Empire gathered dignity ;
it outlived other greatness. Down even through the
Empire's expiring decadence, the traditionary glory of
the Roman Senate, the honor of the Roman Consulate
surrounded these phantoms.
Another portion of Rome's public charge, to impose
the ways of peace, was to make the Roman world one in
habit, thoue^ht, and feeling, and civilize the _.
... The
barbarous races within its bounds. Part of this Hellenic
task it inherited from Alexander. In days East, the when Greece was free, there had often come the Latin
hope of Hellenic unity, the hope that not only ^^ '
the city-states of Hellas, but also the Hellenic islands of the Mediterranean and the cities upon the Bosphorus and along the coasts of Asia Minor, might make one nation as they were one race. Free Greece was never to realize this hope. Subject Hellendom attained it for a moment under Alexander; then his empire fell apart, yet leaving monarchs of Greek race rulers through the eastern Medi- terranean lands. Alexander was no pure Hellene; the final lasting political union of Greek peoples was to come through subjection to Rome, who was no Hellene at all. Yet, while Rome was becoming mistress of the Hel- lenic world, Hellas was entwining herself about her heart- strings. It seemed the purpose of Rome's rule in the East to preserve Greek social and political institutions.' Political honesty and self-control, all capacity for self- government, had left Greek cities before Augustus' time. But throughout Hellas and the East, the motives of civic life were still Greek, and so were even the political insti- tutions. The Romans originated little, but kept the ' See Mommsen, Provinces 0/ the Roman Empire, ii, 254 ; i, 274, etc.
30 ANCIENT IDEALS.
peace with a strong hand, and permitted the Greek cities still to live their lives.' Language, literature, coinage, public and private modes of life, remained Greek; and, under the Empire, Rome herself becomes so Hellenized in thought that it is dif^cult longer to distinguish Greek from Roman elements, as could be done for times of the Republic. In Hadrian's time, Latin literature itself tot- ters, and forty years afterwards a Roman emperor writes his Thoughts in Greek. Greek life and language held their own wherever they had formerly prevailed ; w^hile the Mediterranean world, with all internal barriers lev- elled under imperial rule, became a Graeco-Roman Empire.
But it was the Roman office to civilize the more bar- barous West. Greek institutions did not spring up in Gaul or Spain or Britain.^ There, Hellenism acted only through its previous effect on Rome. It was Roman life, Roman coinage, Italian municipal institutions and the Latin tongue that civilized — Romanized — these countries. They were never distinctly Hellenized. No Greek authors came from them, but many Latin ones, Spain furnishing the elder Seneca, Martial, and Quintilian.^ And to all these western countries imperial Rome freely extended her citizenship, even as she extended her taxation. The edict of Caracalla was an expression of the expanding homogeneity and unity of the Roman world. Beyond this, no factor was more potent in making Spaniards, Gauls, and Britons like-minded members of the Empire, than the Latin language. Speaking Latin by a provincial went far towards Romanizing him ; writing Latin made a man distinctly a Latin author. A language helps to mould, as well as express, character and thought. Using it, a man thinks and feels in accord with the character of the people from whom the language comes, and is imbued
' See Mommsen, Provinces, etc., i, 388.
' Except of course in an old Greek city like Marseilles.
^ See Mommsen, Provinces, etc., i, 74, etc.
THE PUBLIC HOPE. 3 1
with the associations of its words, especially when the new language is that of the ruling race. Strong were the forces drawing Latin-speaking Spaniards, Gauls, and Britons into the currents of the Roman Empire which represented the strength and civilization of the world.' Down to the barbarian invasions the multifarious denizens of the western portions of the Empire continue to become Roman, reaching ever more complete homogeneity ; and in the latest Roman literature, with pagan writers like Claudian or Rutilius, as well as with a Christian poet like Prudentius, there still comes clearly to expression the pervading sense of the unity and greatness of the Roman Empire.^
So Rome's imperial function was to enforce peace throughout the world, civilize the barbarous West, and, for the rest, give play to human life in all its activities. Within the Empire, the Jews alone held themselves aloof; they would buy and sell with the Gentiles; they would submit to Gentile government. Yet they felt no lot in common with the Empire or its destinies. A scattered race, yet intensely national, as before so after the destruction of their holy city, they held themselves severed from other men, expectant on the coming of a kingly Messiah, though the Messiah had already come.
' These influences from using Latin were increased by rhetorical studies, which were prosecuted through the provinces. They made the provincial learners feel like Romans, filling them with the ardor of Roman associa- tions. See Boissier, Fin du Paganisme, i, 228, etc.
* See Boissier, Fin du Pagaiiisme, vol. ii, p. 160. No one of these three writers was a native of Italy.
CHAPTER XV.
THE EMPIRE: THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE.
VIRGIL heralded his times in other ways than by giving expression to the imperial destinies of Rome. He was the herald of the change coming in the hearts of men. This change lay in a fuller appre- ciation of life through feeling, and in the consequent expansion of the entire nature of man through apprehen- sion of more of life's factors. It lay in the awakening of broader feelings of sympathy with joys and sorrows not immediately touching the individual experiencing them ; it lay in a growing sense of the universal pathos of life and in a development of the higher emotions.
Comparisons between Homer and Virgil are trite. Vir- gil could not but borrow a large part of the structure of the ALncid from the Odyssey ; and from both From ^j^g great poems of Homer, Virgil, as a matter
V p-il °^ course, took incidents and similes without number. His mind was imbued with Greek poetry and myth ; they had become part of his artistic personality. It was not thought plagiarism in a Roman poet to borrow from the Greeks ; and Virgil filled his epic with Homeric figure and incident as naturally as a Puri- tan who read nothing but the Bible would have expressed himself in Biblical phrase. To devise a new epic frame and novel mythical events was no more expected of Vir- gil than the invention of a new metre. To be sure, the unavoidable result is that, while Homer is original, or seems so to us, Virgil in many respects is not, and seems
32
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 33
often to poetize at second-hand,' and sometimes to mis- apply his borrowed similes." Again, Virgil, consummate narrator as he is, never attains that living spontaneity of epic narrative which is Homer's always, and no other man's. Further, in naturalness, in creating personalities, in making every epic incident display the character of its actors,' Homer is incomparable; though in solemn gran- deur of tone, the Roman is the equal of the Greek ;^ and yet the tone is different.^
But to realize these matters and then to dispel them from view are first essentials to an appreciation of Virgil's greatness, which is his own and not Homer's. If Homer's epics are splendidly Greek, the jEneid is monumentally Roman, composed with deep patriotic and religious mo- tive. Virgil expresses the sentiments of a mature age, Homer those of a simpler time, the sentiments of each age
' Homeric battles are real ; one can see and hear the men. V^irgil through the second part of the Aineid attempted to copy Homeric fighting ; but Virgil's fighting lacks vividness ; it is monotonous and flat, most of it pro- ducing the impression of matter perfunctorily introduced to fill out the story.
"^ For instance, ^n., i, 497, etc., where Virgil applies to Dido accom- panied by the Sidonian youth a translation of the simile of Diana and her nymphs, wnth which Homer describes Nausicaa and her girls. Virgil is not happier in ^n., i, 588, etc., with the simile descriptive of .(Eneas's first ap- pearance to Dido. Nor is it easy for us to conceive how such a true poet as Virgil could have begun Dido's passionate reproach to vEneas, yEn., iv, 364, with a direct translation from Iliad, xvi, 33, etc., where Patroclus reproaches Achilles with hard-heartedness.
^ Virgil, in the fifth book of the ^neid, certainly tells a stirring story of the games. But Homer, in the twenty-third book of the Iliad, not only gives a vivid narrative of the games, but makes his narrative and every inci- dent of the games, and every word uttered by the contestants or the onlook- ers, set forth the character of his heroes.
* Every line of the jEndd feels the weight of the destinies of Rom.e. The poet, conscious throughout of the grandeur of his general theme and its portentousness, fails to let his style drop suitably in minor passages. But how majestically roll the lines {yEn., i, 254, etc.) in which Jupiter tells Venus the destinies of ^neas's race.
' The grandeur of Achilles is totally unlike anything in the jEneid. So is the height of his reply refusing to spare Lycaon (//. , xxi, 97-113), or tlie height of his consoling speech to Priam (//., xxiv, 599-620).
VOL. II. — 3
34 ANCIENT IDEALS.
heightened into greatness by the genius of its poet. It is in the deeper sense of Hfe, which comes to Virgil through modes of feeling, that may be found most instructive dif- ferences between him and Homer, as well as matter deeply illustrative of the change coming over men's hearts in the Augustan age. Youth does not appreciate the patlios of life, a sense of which comes to men through living. The sweet-tempered wisdom of maturity looks upon all life with tenderness. So in the ages of the world. Homer, writing in its youth, tells splendid things and things most pitiable, himself moved at times by sad events, but not enduing all life, all human acts, with pathos. Virgil, as no human soul before him, felt infinite pagan tenderness and the unutterable sadness of life:
Tu Marcellus eris — manibus date lilia plenis.
The ^neid is touched with feeling and with modes of
pathos unexpressed in Homer, and not fully expressed
by any writer before Virgil. For Virgil is the master of
pathos high and ethical, arising, not from the passing
sad event alone, but from broad thought softened by
tender feeling, pathos broadened into universality and
ennobling the heart.
As Homer was a perfect epic narrator, and as his
narratives embraced the sorrows and tragic phases of life,
he told many sad events, and in a way greatly
Homeric ^^ move the reader. And, matchless poet as
D *.5„- he is, when telling an event constituting the lan Pathos. ' ° =>
triumph of one side and the climax of woe to the other, as he heightens the exultation, so he in- tensifies the pathos. The pathos of Hector's death could not be increased, — he, his country's stay, falls by the hands of the cruel foe who will devote even his dead body to contumely ; he dies before the eyes of his own parents, whose hope he was ; and his wife reaches the city's wall to fall senseless at the sight of his body dragged at Achilles' chariot wheels. No fitting circum- stance of woe is absent. But even in this crowning
THE^SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 35
instance may be noticed this general characteristic of Homeric patlios : it springs from the concrete sad event; it is immediate, and hmited, not made to appear just a touch of the whole woe of the world. If the poet makes a reflection, it is a natural and apparent one, which may intensify but does not necessarily extend the pathos of the event, nor relate it to human sadness in general.' Another characteristic, as it were, of the youth of Homer, is that whenever an event can be told from other interesting points of view, he does not dwell on its pa- thetic elements; he does not notice the pathetic unless the palpable nature of the event suggests it ; nor does he introduce pathetic incidents for the sake of pathos. For instance. Homer tells the night expedition of Diomede and Odysseus to spy out the Trojan camp " as the story of a heroic and successful deed. The Trojan spy, Dolon, is captured and deliberately killed by them, yet his fate is not moving; the poet lays no emphasis upon its pathos. Again, a very different example, Odysseus' sight of the infernal regions and the shades is weird and terrible, but there is little pathos in it.'
' For instance when the dead Hector is dragged at Achilles' chariot wheels
the poet says :
TOTE Si Zsvi Svd/isyeedtv
Sanev deimddadBai i^ iv TCarpidt yaii;).
II., xxii, 403. And notice the reflection of the poet when Achilles receives the body of Patroclus : Him he had sent into the fight with horses and chariot, nor received him again returning. //. , xviii, 237. But these con- siderations do not imply that Homeric pathos is not universal in the sense of embodying the universal in the concrete, which is quite different from broadening the pathos by conscious reflections upon it. For instance, Hector's famous phrase, £v ydp lyoo rods oiSa, etc, //., vi, 447, has come to many noble souls : the younger Scipio is said to have uttered it in tears gazing at Carthage which he had destroyed, thinking of his own great Rome which also might not some day escape ; just as /Eneas's exclamaiion when he sees the rising towers of Carthage, O fortunati quorum iam moenia surgunt ! has found echo in the hearts of thousands whose circumstances re- sembled not at all those of the leader of the Trojan remnant.
* //., X.
^ Od., xi. Likewise the tragic adventures of Odysseus in the Cyclops' cave, with the Loestrygonians, with Sylla, are not told in a pathetic way.
36 ANCIENT IDEALS.
In the main, the unreflecting pathos of Homer rises from incidents of physical suffering, wounds, and death. Yet he has ready heart for the pathos of finer feehng when the occasion suggests it. He felt the woe of Helen breaking in words of sadness as she speaks of Paris and her- self, " upon whom Zeus has placed such evil fate that we shall be a theme of song to men in times to come " ; ' he felt the welling memories of Odysseus when that hero veiled his head and wept at the blind bard's song of the deeds done in the wide Troy land ; ^ he knew how tears would flow as the loathsome swine forms fell from the comrades of Odysseus, and they raised their voices and wept till even the goddess was moved to pity;' and supreme is the pathetic beauty of those simple lines, when Helen looks in vain among the Grecian heroes for her brothers and wonders why they shun the war.* Finally, well knew the poet how the visible woe of a grief-stricken comrade would call to others' eyes tears for their own like sorrows.^ Indeed, both Iliad and Odyssey have, as it were, leading motives of woe, strains which pervade the poems or recur again and again : as in the Odyssey recur the lines, " thence we sailed onward smitten in heart, glad to escape death, lamenting our dear comrades";' while throughout the Iliad one cannot but feel the sub- lime pathos of Achilles' early fate, which the poet does not bring to pass, but keeps ever before the eyes of the hero whom he loves most of all, but smites with grief and loneliness transcending the comprehension of the host. And yet, in fine, though Homer knows that life is short and may be bitter, life is with him an eager course, and unpervaded with the sense of sadness with which the contemplative spirit of Virgil tinged all its scenes,'
One may think that between the time of Homer and
>//.,vi, 357. 3 7^^ X, 388. 5 /i^., xix, 338.
"^ Od., viii, 83. '' //., iii, 243. * E.g^., Od., ix, 62.
' Homer speaks of the eager or raging arrow enntredOai nevtaivooy, II., iv, 126 ; Virgil speaks of non felicia tela, yEn., x, 196, which are burned with the dead ; these epithets show well the contrast between the two poets.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 3/
Virgil, men had come to realize more fully the sorrow of life. Euripides' dramas were full of tears, and there is much pathos in later Hellenic literature. At Rome Lucretius knew life's pathos, and Catullus, the sadness of the near event. Yet the way was but prepared for Virgil. None before him had his high and tender heart, and the broad unembittered sadness of loving wisdom still awaited expression, as well as the high epic pathos of noble endeavor, endeavor frustrated and then again successful, but endeavor always saddened by reflection on the struggle of it all and the sorrow of the sacrifice which attainment ever calls for.
With Virgil the sadness which palpably belongs to the pathetic events and phases of human life, is through the poet's meditation extended to events and phases which are not sad apparently, but may be thought and felt to be sad through reflection on the uncertainty and transi- toriness of the happiest conditions of life. The fair youth stricken by a wound is palpable pathos: but it is only through thoughtfulness that a youth in the full flush of joyous life may seem pathetic. Virgil's mood perceives elements of pathos everywhere, and shades the bright sides of life with thought of toil and misfortune, it may be. Viewing all events as possibly containing pathetic elements, seeing all things tinged with sadness, leads to regarding particular events as instances of the world's whole woe, and to generalizing the expressions suggested by a sad event, a generalizing which may be of two different modes: thoughts may be stated in the form of a general principle, as mentcin viortalia tangunt, or the pathetic event or situation may be brought out through incidents or words suggestive of the all-pervading pathos of mortal life. For instance : all sad yearning of human hearts is brought to expression in the lines telling of the shades who wander by the Stygian bank,
Tendebantque manus ripse ulterioris amore ; ' ' ^«., vi, 314.
38 ANCIENT IDEALS.
just as this yearning, appeased for the moment, is sug- gested in the storm-tost ^neadae pressing to land magno tclhiris aviore.^ Another instance will complete the illus- tration. As the youthful Pallas is about to fight Turnus, he prays to Hercules, his ancestral friend and god, for aid. The hero-god hears, but speaks not :
Audiit Alcides juvenem, magnumque sub imo Corde premit gemituni, lacrimasque effudit inanes.
He knew the vanity of his silent wish to save the youth ;
his tears fall, but no word of supplication does he utter
to his father Jove. Then speaks the father consoling
him :
Stat sua cuique dies ; breve et irreparabile tempus Omnibus est vitre ; sed famam extendere factis, Hoc virtutis opus. Troiae sub moenibus altis Tot gnati cecidere deum ; quin occidit una Sarpedon mea progenies. Etiam sua Turnum Fata vocant, metasque dati pervenit ad sevi.'
No thought is here which may not be found in Homer; but the sadness and futility of all life wells through the words of Jove, who is not bewailing one death or another, but expressing the universal lot of mortals.' It is thus that the pathos of Virgil, as compared with that of Homer, is generalized by reflection or expressed through incidents and circumstances which suggest the sadness of all lots.
Many poets before Virgil, lyrists like Mimnermus, dramatists like Euripides, had seen pathos everywhere; the pathos of life's shortness and grief, in happy events the pathos of imagined change. They had reflected too, and consequently often express generalized modes of pathos, though hardly before Virgil had been attained
' yS«., i, 171. * lb., X, 464, etc.
•'* Compare the scene between Zeus and Hera in regard to the fate of Sarpedon, //., xvi. 431 ; and Achilles' words to Lycaon, //. , xxi, 106-113.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 39
such expressions of life's universal sadness as those just cited from the ^ncid. But Virgil had a heart more set on high endeavor and ethical worth than any of the pathetic writers of Greece. So it came to Virgil to endue the y^Jieid v^\\\\. the pathos of high endeavor, successful or frustrated, but saddened by its struggle, the pathos of the toil which must be undergone by noble hearts with forti- tude. This is the pathos of the character of ^neas, the pathos of the fleeing shores of Italy, which must be reached, for which any intervening joy must be aban- doned. This pathos in yEneas is presaged in the words dis aliter visum, which, enlarged and commented on by his career, mean : be it as God wills. It is more distinctly foretold when, seeking his wife 'midst the expiring flames of Troy, there appears to him the
Infelix simulacrum atque ipsius umbra Creusse,
which tells him his lot :
Longa tibi exsilia, et vastum maris aequor arandum, — '
those long exiles which his heart must endure, the vast seas he must furrow; for on him is a weighty destiny. The full expression of this pathos comes first from ^Eneas's lips when onward he must fare, and leave Helenus and Andromache and their new Ilium, the sight of which made his heart yearn. In tears he bids them farewell:
Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta Jam sua ; nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur. Vobis parta quies, nullum maris sequor arandum, Arva neque Ausoniae semper cedentia retro Quaerenda.'
His wife's very words come back to him — vastum maris
' ii, 772, 780.
' iii, 492. " Farewell happy ye, whose destiny is accomplished ; we are called hence to other fates ; rest is yours, with no seas to plough, no ever- vanishing fields of Italy to seek."
40 ANCIENT IDEALS.
aequor arandum — and his own hitherto fruitless voyagings have taught the sorrow of the fleeing shores of Italy.'
The pathos of high endurance and endeavor, was the form of pathos suited to the lots of the Trojan founders
of Rome, and to the ideal of patient fortitude Virgil's which the Augustan age conceived of Rome's
beginnings. Virgil's heart was as mightily set of Life. o^ what was high and strong as the heart of
Pindar or yEschylus; but it was a heart which also felt tenderness for all the sorrow of life, and most tender love for life's loveliness. It is this tenderness for all of life, that makes Virgil humanize with touch of pathos the little postern gate through which yEneas enters Priam's tottering palace, the gate by which un- happy Andromache used to take Astyanax to see his grandparents ; * it is this tenderness which makes him transform the heroic cruelty of the Homeric Doloneia into the touching episode of Nisus and Euryalus," and conclude the Georgics with Eurydice borne back again to night, holding out helpless hands, — alas! not his, — to Orpheus.* And beyond all, through Virgil's tender sym- pathy and sense of the pitiableness of human woe, the underworld through which ^neas passes unfolds vista after vista of human tears and yearning. To this pic- ture, from Homer's ghastly world of shades, there were eight centuries of growth of the human heart. The ideal outcome of all the manifold pathos of the ^^neid is just this tenderness towards all of human life and pity for all human sorrow. This was a new ideal for man which Virgil, the greatest pagan heart, first brought to large epic expression. After him, the world was not to lose it, and though philosophic self-control was still to look
' This epithet, which sums up much of the sorrow of the ^neid, recurs. Here it is arva cedentia retro ; in v, 629, it is Italiam fugientetn ; in vi, 61, it is Italics fugientes (or tis) oras. Compare it with the simpler note of the Odyssey. {Od. ix, 62, see above.)
' y£»., ii, 455. * lb., ix, 176, etc. * Georg., iv, 497.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 4 1
askance on tears, yet in the end it was pity that was to loose again the heart which philosophy had steeled against sorrow, indeed against the greater part of life,
Virgil was the prophet of the Empire, the spokesman of great things, the establisher of religion. Horace was the preacher of moderation and morality in daily life. If ever a man was fitted for preach- ing morals sound and good, yet not too lofty for the comprehension of men, it was this man of balanced mind, this appreciator of the whole of life, this urbane, tactful man. Horace knew his world of Rome; beyond that he knew mankind, its good traits and its weaknesses. He had his own weaknesses and knew them ; and he also knew strength to be better than weakness, and good to be better than evil. He saw life truly. There have been men of loftier minds and deeper feelings; and to such may be reserved the certain knowledge of truths ultimate for men. But to the full reach of his mind and personal- ity, Horace apprehended truly, and judged everything at its fair proportionate worth. His thoughts, his feelings, his sentiments, are always true, always just. There is never foolishness or unreality in his poems; they contain no conceits, — apt expressions of taking thoughts which are untrue.' There is nothing in Horace lacking applica- tion fair and true in life. And his maturer poems contain tempered wisdom, expressed in modes of universal ap- plication.
The common intercourse and the criticism of personality and example, as well as of expressed opinion, among a large number of cultivated statesmen, men of affairs, and men of literature, — great poets some of them, — tended to give form and evenness, sanity and balance, to Augus- tan literature, and to exclude marked defects. Tibullus,
' Here is an illustration from Tibullus, speaking of a nocturnal adventure : Quisquis amore tenetur, eat tutusque sacerque Qualibet. — i, ii, 27. This is a conceit, being untrue.
42 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Propertius, Ovid, have many excellences ; none of them has any marked defect of literary form ; and no quality in Horace is more frequently noticeable than the perfect expression of his thought, the admirable phrase, its entire adequacy. Yet the intercourse with men of his time may not have had as deep influence on Horace — it certainly had not on Virgil — as study of the literary models afforded by Greece, and by Rome too ; for Virgil had Lucretius, and Horace, Catullus. Just as Lucretius and Catullus had followed Greek models suited to their tem- pers, so Virgil and Horace. Virgil in his youth wandered with Theocritus; his more deeply inspired manhood chose the greatest masters of Greece, Homer, Hesiod, and the dramatists. Horace in the main followed, not the Alexandrians, but the great lyrists. And to whatever the Augustan writers took from Alexandria they gave the larger air and deeper vitality of the greater age in which they lived.' Greek poetry was a granary of thought for Horace, not himself a poet of striking imagination or originality. His views of life he took from Greek philos- ophy, adhering to no one system, but selecting what he would and tempering it to life's conditions.
Horace knew the social arts and flatteries of his time and perhaps recognized their usefulness in living at the Capitol. He could be very worldly wise." But he has finer thoughts of social intercourse. His urbanity and courtesy were sincere; backbiters he thought unfit for decent society.' One should not be ready to carp at another's faults, — thou that perceivest not thine own. Nor quickly impute evil to another, least of all to a friend :
eheu ! Quam temere in nosmet legem sancimus iniquam ! *
' Propertius was especially a follower of Callimachus : see Prop., iv. i. But he is a poet of more depth and truer feeling. "^ See Epis., i, xvii, and xviii and cf. Sat., i, ix. * Sat., i. iv, 8i. * lb., i, iii, 66.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 43
Let my good friend offset my vices with my virtues. Besides, all faults are not equal; if one is harsh to the more venial, how shall he treat the graver?"' Then Horace preaches the more active charity of sharing one's wealth : Why should another lack and thou be rich ? Wherefore should the ancient temples of the gods remain in ruin ? Why, wretch, wilt thou not give thy country something from thy store ? Doubtless to thee alone life will be smooth always, — O thou soon to become a laugh- ter to thine enemies ! '
It is sometimes Horace's way to apply old Greek myth and wisdom to the lives of men about him : How comes it, Maecenas, that no one is content, but each desires another's lot, complaining of his own ? It is all foolish avarice. Yes, laugh, ye wretched men who desire more than you can use, — laugh at the fable of Tantalus; it touches you : de te fabida.^
He recognizes weakness as the source of the restless pursuit of unworthy pleasures; and chides weak incon- sistency, chides it in himself speaking through the mouth of his moralizing slave, who tells him he cries up the ways of yore, and yet, should some god offer him the chance to return to them, he would decline : In Rome you wish for the country, in the country you sigh for the town. You disgrace yourself running after other men's wives, — O totiens servus ! Only fear keeps you from all vices. You are as much a slave as I. Who then is free ? only the wise who controls himself and fears nothing. So the slave concludes with Stoical phrases.* The same refrain of the foolishness of weak desire is heard in half- sad, half-mocking tones through many of the lighter love-odes.'
From the sense of the foolishness of restless desires Horace derives the cardinal principles of his philosophy of life: moderation, contentment with little, an even
' Sat., i, iii, 117. ^ lb., i, i, 69.
' lb., ii, ii, 102. ■• lb., ii, vii.
^ E.g., Carm., i, v, and 1, xxvii, li.
44 ANCIENT IDEALS.
mind in fortune or misfortune, — thoughts which he The Pathos often expresses with varying emphasis and of Epicu- illustration : reanism.
Lsetus sorte tua vivas sapienter, Aristi,'
is a general expression. More pointedly Horace praises the golden mean, atirea mediocritas,^ for he has the old Greek fear of too great prosperity, divested of its super- stition: "Whom prosperity too much delights, will adversity shake ; shun the overmuch."' Nil admirari,* — desire nothing passionately ; and in all things preserve an even mind prepared for changing fortune :
^quam memento rebus in arduis Servare mentem, non secus in bonis.'
These passages are just as accordant with the better Epicureanism as with Stoicism. Horace always preached and practised self-control, moderation, and contentment. But, at least in the earlier part of his life, his point of view wavered between the teachings of Epicurus and the Stoa. The love poems reflect Epicurean leanings; and
this:
dum loquimur fugerit invida ^*Etas : carpe diem, quam minimum credula poster©.*
There is Epicurean flavor in the famous lines :
Laetus in prsesens animus quod ultra est Oderit curare, et amara lento Temperet risu ; nihil est ab omni Parte beatum.'
Even in the ode beginning Equant memento, the philoso- phizing is that of tempered enjoyment of the present; and the ode closes with sad thoughts of life's ending.
' Epist., i, X, 44. ' Epist., i. x, 30 ; c/. Carm., iii, i.
' Carm., ii, x. ^ Epist., i, vi, i.
' Carm., ii, iii ; cf. Carm., ii, x, and see Episi., i, iv, 12.
* Carm.. i. xi. ' lb., ii, xvi.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 45
It may have been possible for some men without sad- ness to be consistent Epicureans. But it was a sorry system. How could men ever learn to recognize in life no other motive than pleasure, and at the same time learn to care for that only a little ? Epicureanism set man's good in pleasurable mental or bodily conditions, fleeting in their nature, and for that reason to be viewed contentedly in their flight. It offered in life nothing of absolute worth, nor any good at the end. In Horace's time it was no new thing, and lacked the cheerful interest of novel experiments. To men of thoughtful tempera- ment it could offer little beyond a tempering of life's sad mortality. Virgil had felt life's higher pathos. Horace was to feel and express the pathos of mortality, the pathos of short-lived pleasure, in fine the pathos of Epi- cureanism :
Pallida Mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas
Regumque turres. O beate Sesti,
Vitae summa brevis speni nos vetat incohare longam.*
Life's short span forbids far hope ! The full compass of the sorrow fills a later poem :
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume, Labuntur anni : —
" Alas, the flying years slip by! no piety holds back old age and death ; with no sacrifice of bulls shalt thou pla- cate Pluto, who quells Geryon and Tityus with that sad wave which must be sailed by all. In vain we shun sea-storm and battle. Needs must be seen the black stream ; needs must be left earth, home, and wife ; nor of the trees thou tendest shall any but the cypress follow its brief lord."* If this ode omits any minor touch of mortal pathos, Horace still can give it :
Non semper idem floribus est honor Vernis.' * Carm., i, iv. * lb., ii, xiv. * lb., ii, xi.
46 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The man who could thus feel the pathos of mortality, needed more in his life than Epicureanism could supply. No simple contentment with fleeting joy could *^°™ t appease such feeling. For Horace, life needed the Porch, something besides moderation. Some un- steady sense of religious awe had come to him,' and a need to connect his principles of conduct with divine Providence. He sought a higher sanction for his maxims. Hence it comes to him in a later ode to say : "The more one denies himself, the more he gets from the gods; to those who seek much, much is lacking; well for him to whom God gives the little which is enough."" This connection of his principles with God's rewarding Providence indicates departure from Epicureanism. But more than this was he yet to bring into his philosophy of life ; he would add the practice of good to his Epicurean contentment, and this, with thoughts of Providence, he took from Stoicism and from current Roman ideas.
Social and political needs and Augustus' efforts at re- form suggested to Horace the virtues which it were well for him with all other men to cultivate. In
orace ^^ rnain they were the sterling virtues of old Preaches -^ -i 1 i 1 1
Virtue. Rome, — frugality, toil, hardihood, patriotic
fortitude and strength of purpose, all of which
he urges in the great odes forming the first part of the third
book. There he praises the fearless man, Justimt et
tenaceni propositi ; there he utters the words, Diilce et
decorum pro patria viori^ and, continuing, in the same ode
he praises that virtue of high endeavor which knows no
repulse, which spurns the earth, and opens heaven for
those who deserve not to die :
Virtus repulsae nescia sordidse Intaminatis fulget honoribus,
' See Carm., i, xxxiv. * lb., iii, xvi ; cf. iii, iv, 66.
3 See Tyrtaeus, 10, i.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 4/
Virtus, recludens immeritis mori Caelum, negata temptat iter via, Coetusque volgaris et udam
Spernit humum fugiente penna.'
This is virtue, showing itself in noble conduct, while within, a virtuous heart is a refuge unto itself: let this be a wall of strength, to be conscious of no crime ; * good men hate to sin through love of virtue.' So Horace turns to the practice of virtue and the inward sense of rectitude as matters of sure worth in life's mortality. Besides which he has connected with divine Providence, not only his early principles of moderation, but also his final sense that a pure conscience is man's best good. God looks to the clean hand, not to the costly sacrifice.* Yet with Horace, Epicurean, Stoic, Pagan, this pure and quiet heart comes not from God. Man must rely on himself for growth in virtue and strength of will; it is God's part to furnish life and opportunity:
Sed satis est orare Jovem, quae ponit et aufert :
Det vitam, det opes : sequum mi animum ipse parabo.'
And the outcome of this life, which has known the joy of pleasure and life's mortal sadness, and thence has turned to a pure heart as a surer satisfaction, is peace at last. 'Midst the ficimmi et opes strepi- Txi-fu- tumque Ronice,^ Horace had ever and anon longed for the quiet of nature,^ and in later life had cared more steadily for his little farm which restored him to himself." There, freed from importunity and social duties, he might enjoy that personal freedom always so
' Carm., iii, ii. There is contempt throughout these odes for the crowd, the malignum vulgus {Carm., ii, xvi, 39), which Horace always despised.
* Epist., i, i, 60.
* lb., i, xvi, 52. * Carm., iii, xxix, 12.
* See Carm., iii, xxiii. ' J^-g., Sat., ii, vi, 59.
' Epist., i, xviii, 112. * Epist., i, xiv, i ; cf. Epist., i, x.
48 ANCIENT IDEALS.
dear to him. Yet after all, city or country was but mat- ter of circumstance ; outward rest was not inner calm :
Patrice quis exsul se quoqiie fugit?'
Laudo manenteMy says Horace ;" I set store on what abides; and what abides, that depends on Fortune, on anything without the man ? Then, no turn of her wheel shall disturb, — yet neither can any chance of hers bring calm ; not by change of scene shall man allay his rest- lessness :
Caelum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt.'
No ; what you seek is here ; * look within and you may find peace. So for himself, as he nears the end of life, Horace feels that it is time to give up toys, abandon verses. Now, as his greater friend Virgil thought to do on completing the yEncid, it is time to turn to philoso- phy, and from her learn life's true numbers,^ and how to profit by old age ; that also has its good to teach — above all the quiet mind which undisturbed shall see life passing away.
Lusisti satis, edisti satis, atque bibisti ; Tempus abire tibi est,"
says Horace quietly. He at least has found himself. "I, whether sailing on a great ship or a small, shall sail one and the same." '
Horace never shut his eyes to the sweetness of pleasant paths, A temperate Epicurean had he been, and to the last did not abandon the full recognition of such good as might lie in life's joys; only in later years he took his pleasures gratefully as from God :
Tu quamcumque deus tibi fortunaverit horam Grata sume manu, neu dulcia differ in annum.*
' Carm., ii, xvi, 19. ^ Episi., i, xi, 27. '73., ii, ii, 144.
' lb., iii, xxix, 53. *Ib., 29. ^ lb., 214.
' lb., IQ9. ^ lb., i, xi, 22.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 49
These lines are the fine essence of Epicureanism and Stoicism tempered together. In them a heart spoke responsive to all the finer sympathies of pagan life. But Horace knew the littleness of pleasure as life went on, and felt the utter sadness of pleasure, if taken as an end of living. Instead of turning bitterly from what was not a full and worthy end of life, he subordinated it to its proper place, and advocated virtuous living as a higher aim. The outer act, in its doing and results, would afford satisfaction to the doer if it sprang from love of right con- duct, while within, even in the pure mind which cherished right, lay the man's immovable peace.
The aspirations of Virgil, the approvals of Horace, the respect of both for the past, represented veritable ideals of the Empire. These, with the Stoicism of Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, stood ^'"^'"san for what was recognized as good. The writ- ings of all the great Latin authors of the time are proofs of this. Poets, historians, rhetoricians, if they lack the heart or the serious moral purpose to set forth these ideals, constantly disapprove their opposites, and that whether this disapproval be light like that of Petronius, or earnest like that of Persius, proud and self-controlled like that of Tacitus, or bitter, fierce, undiscriminating, and exaggerated as in the satires of Juvenal. A man incul- cates morality by encomiums on virtue or by invectives against vice. The latter is the way of satirists like Per- sius or Juvenal.
Persius was a high-minded youth, a Stoic poet and ad- mirer of Horace. He wrote his six satires during the first years of Nero's reign, and died at twenty-eight. Young as he was, he had a sense of life's emptiness — O quantum est in rebus inane ! ' — as he wrote satires in tiirhida Roma^ His lip curls at man's vanity — " It is nothing that you know a thing, unless some one else knows that you know it ! " ' Sham he despises : Ad populum phaleras ! " Off with thy
' Sat., i, i. *i, 5. ^i, 26.
VOL. 11.-4
50 ANCIENT IDEALS.
trappings to the mob! I can look under them and see your skin." ' Like Horace, he has a sharp word for those who see only others' faults," and with Horace he bids men find their store of good within : " Reject what is not thee, live from thyself. ' ' '" He mocks those who would put off serious thought till the morrow,* — none but the wise is free." Persius believes that the gods reward and punish,* and he has a high spiritual idea of the right way to worship them : they do not care for flesh hke gluttons, the true offering is a pure mind careful of duties to God and man.' He prizes virtue, can think of no greater punishment for tyrants than that they should see her as she is, and know they have lost her forever.*
So Persius has thoughts of virtue's worth and beauty, Juvenal's mind is taken up with the foulness of vice. Like other Romans, he looks upon the past as virtue's golden time, and sees the widespread evil of the present flourish because, with the circumstances of Rome's past, her virtues have departed : "In olden days their lowly fortunes kept the Latin women chaste, and their daily tasks, and their husbands standing guard against Hanni- bal. Now we suffer the evils of a long peace ; luxury more cruel than war has fastened on us, and avenges a conquered world. No crime is lacking, nor deed of lust, since Roman poverty ceased. Filthy money brought foreign customs, and softening riches have broken down the times through foul excess."' These lines represent Juvenal's strongest opinion, and the one perhaps least dependent on his warped temper. It was as hard for him as for Dean Swift to see good in the world about him. That world was mostly sham and worthlessness; what- ever human quality Juvenal thought worthy, he also thought of as unrewarded: Probitas laudatur et alget."
'iii, 30, Conington's translation.
'^iv, 23. * V, 73. * iii, 35.
•'iv, 51. * See ii, 24. ''Juv., Sat.,vi, 292.
^v. 65. 'ii, 61-74. '"i, 74-
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 5 1
He could not quite bring himself to see in virtue a suffi- cient end, yet he seems to have thought no evil man happy,' and that he whose life deserved death was as good as dead.' He can recognize the high worth of hero- ism,' and strongly feels the value of an upright example set by father to son :
Maxima debetur puero reverentia.*
His ethics lay entire stress upon intent : he who medi- tates a crime incurs the guilt of the deed/ Juvenal had his thoughts of God. To be sure, he says that not even boys believe the old stories of the Stygian whirlpool over which many thousands pass in a single boat." But he speaks seriously of prayer. " Men often ask for what is bad for them, and are ruined by the gods granting their requests. If you are wise you will leave it to the gods to grant what is best : yet if indeed one must ask for something, let it be for a mens sana in corpore sano. ' ' ' This is a religious advance over Horace who would him- self furnish his own equal mind.
Juvenal expressed the more merciful tendencies of the time: Vengeance is a joy forpetty souls; * if you become governor of a province, be moderate and have mercy on the poor allies.' He himself can feel pity for the poor wretch whose " whole nothing " some fire has con- sumed.'" Finally, he is a poet in full accord with the growing recognition of the human heart: " Nature gave tenderest hearts to men, she who gave them tears, the best part of us. She bids us weep at human sorrow. What man, worthy of Ceres's mystic torch, deems others sorrows not his own ? " "
Despite the immorality of the times, in which the women shared, and despite descriptions of unspeakable
' iv, 8. ■"■ xiii, 208. ' viii, 87.
' See viii, 79. * ii, 149. '" iii, 208.
"See viii, 254, etc. ' x, 356. " xv, 131-142,
■* xiv, 47. *xiii, 175.
52 ANCIENT IDEALS.
feminine depravity in Juvenal/ there had come with the Empire finer conceptions of love between
L0V6 31^
Rome "^^" ^^^^ women than had previously existed.
It was part of the growing refinement of senti- ment. In their lives, Tibullus and Propertius were per- haps no better than Catullus ; yet in their poems may be found higher thoughts of love. Propertius was madly devoted to an inconstant mistress, but never reviled her as Catullus did his Lesbia:
Quod si forte aliqua nobis mutabere culpa, Vestibulum jaceam mortuus ante tuum : '
Catullus could not have thought just this. Tibullus has still finer thoughts.' He sings much of love chaste and tender, a pure absorbing love between a youth and maid, which looks toward marriage :
Tu mihi curarum requies, tu nocte vel atra Lumen, et in solis tu niihi turba locis : ^
" Thou art my ease from cares, a gleam in the black night, an ample multitude for me in places lone." No such sweet thought of love as this had been expressed before.
The more humane temper of the second century of the
Empire appeared in a very unpoetical person, the younger
Pliny, a man representing many of the not
unkindly foibles of his time. He was amiable,
affectionate, somewhat vain, but most indulgent to like
vanities in his friends : "Be gentle to the faults of
' As an offset to which may be set many epitaphs of the Empire speaking of virtuous wives ; and descriptions of lovely feminine character in Pliny : Epist., V, 16 ; vii, 19. Pliny dearly loved his own wife too, Epist., vii, 5 ; and Marcus Aurelius' reverence for his own mother testifies to much.
* Propertius, iii, vi, 31.
'See Tibullus, iii, iii, 23 ; cf. ib., iii, i.
* Tib., iv, xiii, 11. See also Propertius, v, xi, for a touching address of a virtuous wife in her grave to her husband.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 53
others ; pass over them in silence, if by speech no end can be served. Thrasea, one of the mildest and so one of the greatest of men, used to say: ' He who hates vices hates mankind.' " ' There is no more prominent trait in Pliny than his desire for the good opinion of others ; and he moved in a circle of men like himself, amiable, vain, given to writing and reciting speeches and verses, a circle where friendship might be vouched by patiently listening to a friend recite.' Pliny has no sense of the humor of it, no sense of absurdity, when he speaks of a young Piso emulating the virtues of his ancestors by reciting smooth elegiacs on the " legends of the stars." ^ He was a man of different temper from Juvenal, who wished the plague might take all scribblers, and who thought Orestes a milder wretch than Nero because he had not written a poem on Troy.* Pliny was an advocate, and also, in the course of ofifice, had performed the functions of a judge. His kindliness and patience showed in both capacities ; when pleading important cases he was pleased to have talented young men associated with him, to bring them into notice;' as judge, he allowed pleaders unlimited time, lest something bearing on the issue be excluded."
And nowhere was the humane spirit of the times show- ing itself more clearly than in the law, which was now attaining its greatness. The world has seen no greater jurists than those who developed .^ . this most original and splendid product of the Thought. Roman mind, — Julianus, Pomponius, Gaius, Papinianus, Paulus, Ulpianus. The first of these lived in the time of Hadrian ; the greatest of them all, Papin- ianus, in the time of Septimius Severus. Yet the humaner spirit of the Roman law had its far source in
* Pliny, Epist., viii, 22.
' See lb., ^^ii, 12 ; vi, 6. ^ lb., V, 17.
* Juv., Sat., viii, 221. ' Pliny, Ep., vi, 23. '■lb., vi, 2.
54 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Greek philosophy.' By the time of the Antonines the law could no longer treat slaves simply as chattels ; he who killed his own slave without cause was liable to the same punishment as he who killed another's.' After- wards the reason for such a rule was recognized in the principle of public interest, which demands that no one shall misuse his own property.^ The influence of Chris- tianity had to be felt before slavery was declared contrary to the law of nature, since originally all men were born free.*
The Roman law took its general principles and defini- tions from Greek philosophy ; its greatness lay in the practical logic with which these principles were applied and made to solve by certain rule the manifold questions that might arise before the praetor. " Justitia est constans et perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuens. " This definition of justice, with which Justinian's histitutes open, is taken from Ulpianus. But, in its farther source, it is the Platonic justice, viewed, as the Stoics came to view it, not from the point of view of the perfecting of the just individual, but from the point of view of his duty towards others.' Although many fundamental thoughts were thus borrowed from the Greeks, the practical sense of the Roman law was its own, and the logic which it applied in actual controversies. Its final excellence was its cosmopolitan spirit. The minds of the Roman jurists were practical, logical, constructive, and large enough to develop a system neither peculiarly Roman nor Greek,
' " The alleviations of slavery by the imperial law are essentially traceable to the influence of Greek views, e.g., with the Emperor Marcus, who looked lip to the Nicopolitan slave (Epictetus) as his master and model." — Momm- sen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, i, 296.
' Gains, i, 53.
^ Justinian's Ins. , i, 8.
* lb., i, 2. But it was still admitted that " Servitus est constitutio juris gentium." — lb., i, 3.
' Greek philosophy is the source of such definitions as these : Jus est ars boni et aequi. — Dig., i, i, i : Juris praecepta sunt hxc : honeste vivere, alterum non Iredere : suum cuique tribuere. — Jus., i, i.
THE SPIRITUAL CHANGE. 55
but suited to the exigencies of the legal relations which they were forced to analyze and adjudicate in the capital of a world-empire. Through its logical development in accord with such manifold exigencies, the Roman law became adapted to the needs of mankind and the princi- pal source of modern jurisprudence.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE EMPIRE : PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.
THE poets of the Empire naturally express more of the sentiments and emotions of the age than its philosophers. And it was a time when men were advancing through growth of feeling and through the recognition of its ethical worth, and not through the development of reason. Hence the poets The Age represent most fully the spiritual progress of
and Its ^j^g time. The great philosophers of Greece
Philoso- , r ,. , .^ , . ,. .
ohers '^^^ little unattamed in qualities of mind. In
knowledge the world has passed beyond them ; it has seen no men more intellectual. But they left much unattained in the development of the human heart ; and this development went on throughout the entire period from Aristotle to Marcus Aurelius. Such progress as is shown by the philosophers of the Empire lies in the growth of feeling, and in the thoughts to which that growth gave rise. These men represent no philosophical advance, while, even in their disavowals, they show the human heart pressing to recognition. Share in this spirit-growth drives Seneca to rhetorical exaggeration in his denial of the claims of emotion,' strengthens the love of God and man in Epictetus and Marcus, and saddens the Stoic emperor with longings unjustified in his phil- osophy.
There is another aspect of the change between the earlier and the later philosophers. Greek philosophy,
' See e.g., Ad Marciam de Consolatione, vii, for Seneca's deprecation of grief, yet recognition of it.
56
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 57
until the death of Aristotle, loved knowledge for its own sake, and deemed a search for it to be a crowning part of life. The Stoical as well as the Epicurean philosophy was rather a guide of life, a means of bringing peace to men. Among the Romans these systems became almost exclusively ethical, that is, practical. By the time of Epictetus and Marcus, the helplessness of man without philosophy was felt, and philosophy became more and more what the weaker age was needing, a refuge and a consolation. Yet another stage, and philosophy in Neo- Platonism, satiated with reason or distrusting it, seeks to reach beyond, and turns to revelation and religion.
The '' summiun bonum," says Seneca, " est animus fortuita despiciens, virtute Isetus," ' an ordinary and fun- damental Stoical thought, which Seneca pro- ceeds to expand rhetorically, laying stress — it Stoical
is Seneca's style to lay stress — on freeing one- Aphonsm
Iff 1 • 1 f 1 1 • f s'^d Benevo-
self from the servitude of pleasures and griefs, lence •
whereupon shall arise that inestimable good, Seneca, peace of mind." Seneca has much Stoical aphorism : no evil can happen to a good man ; the wise man abides himself and transmutes whatever happens into his own tone ; adverse things are to be regarded as prac- tice; virtue, unopposed, rusts ; ^ misfortune is virtue's op- portunity; * not what, but how, you bear is important.' He also drew more tempered thoughts from life: a man should retire much within himself, yet needs company as well as solitude ; the mind should not always be kept intense, but given relaxation with mirth ; " a sage does not love riches, yet prefers them ; ' it is preferable to have joys to moderate than griefs to repress ; * but let us accept whatever comes as if it were the thing prayed for ; " omnes mihi ex voto dies cedant." '
' De Vita Beata, iv.
* Cf. De Vita Beata, v, 3 ; viii, 3. * De Tran. An., xvii, 3. '^ De Prov., ii, 1-4. ' lb., xxi, 4.
* lb., iv, 6. ® lb., XXV, 3. ' lb., ii, 4. ' lb., XXV, 2.
58 ANCIENT IDEALS.
After all, the sage is not a stone ; he feels physical pain and the loss of friends and children, and his coun- try's calamities — how could virtue be virtue unless it felt its trials ? ' Stoicism had always recognized the duties of the individual to society, and long before Seneca's time it had conceived the thought of the brotherhood of man. This thought with Seneca is warming into a genuine feel- ing for mankind. But his theories — his rhetoric — will still view all regard for men only through the eyes of reason ; he will look not so much to the woes of others as to how they bear them. Of the unmerited deaths of certain good men, he says: If they were brave, envy their cour- age; if they died cowards, they were no loss." He thinks it better to accept human failings placidly, neither with derision nor yet with tears ; to be moved by others' sor- rows is unending misery, and to take pleasure in them is inhuman;' " sadness is useless ; a wise man will feel no pity, for that entails mental anguish. Let him succor another's woe, not join in it ; he will reach a hand to the shipwrecked, afford refuge to the exile, give to the needy, and not with contempt as if fearing their touch, but as man to man from a common store."* Let us give as we would receive, freely, quickly, and without hesi- tation."
So Seneca would do the kind deeds of life, while hold- ing himself from the feelings which prompt them. Yet, except through sympathy felt and loving, it is a devious course to justification of thoughts like these : " I will con- sider all fields mine, and mine will I consider as belonging to all men. I will live as if born for others. Nature gave me to all and all to me. What I possess I will not keep meanly nor scatter foolishly. I will think nothing so much mine as what I have well bestowed. That shall never be much to me which is worth another's accept-
' See De Constantia Sapientis, x, 4.
^ De Trail. An., xvi, 2. ■• De dementia, ii, vi.
^ lb., XV, 5. ^ De Beneficiis, ii, i, i.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 59
ing. "' One may suspect such rhetoric as this — in a milHonnaire.
Stoicism had always been reverential towards religion. With Seneca its religiousness is beginning to be felt. Its god was indeed more and yet no better than a perfect sage. But perhaps there was no perfect sage, and Seneca is usually willing to look up to God as the righteous ruler of the universe, to obey whom is the freedom of the wise: " in regno nati sumus; deo parere libertas est."' The best that man can do, is to set forth in his life, so far as he may without presumption, the image of God.' " Between good men and gods there is friendship, virtue being the bond. Do I say friendship? Indeed there is veritable likeness. Although a good man differs from God in duration, he is his disciple and emulator and true ofTspring, whom that Great Parent, no light exactor of virtues, educates severely, as stern fathers do their chil- dren. For this reason when you see good men laboring, sweating, climbing upwards through difficulties, while evil men are wantoning in pleasures, think how^ we are pleased with the modesty of our sons and the license of our slaves, God does not keep a good man in pleasures, but tries him, hardens him, and prepares him for him- self."* " There is no spectacle so delightful to God as that of a good man struggling wdth adversity — what could Jupiter see more gladly than Cato erect amid the general ruin ? " * Such a God was not likely to draw the hearts of men. His providence includes within its un- pitying benevolence only the good. He lets the wicked wanton in their lusts ; does a master care for the morals of his slaves ? Such teachings left room for a gospel which should call sinners to repentance,
Seneca's philosophy represents ethical advance upon the views of Cicero, in that it laid more stress on kindly
* De Vita Beat a, xx.
' lb., XV, 7. * De Providentia, i, 5, 6. See also ib., ii, 6.
3 lb., xvi, I. * lb., ii, 9.
6o ANCIENT IDEALS.
social duties. The age may have been weaker than the age of Cicero ; yet it was also an age showing more feel- ing for human suffering — outside of the arena! The virtue of clemency was distinctly recognized. Seneca represented his time when he recommended this virtue to his pupil Nero, and advised him that the only proper ends of punishments were to better the offender or, by making an example, make others better, or afTord a safer life to the community through the removal of the bad.' And the age had shining examples to offer of Stoical virtue: Thrasea was virtue itself, according to Tacitus; and if Seneca could not live as nobly, he died as nobly as Thrasea. From the Stoical standpoint these were perfect deaths. Thrasea, having opened his veins in the presence of the qusestor come to witness his execu- tion, said, as the blood fell on the ground : " We pour to Jove the Liberator. Look, young man, — and may the gods avert the omen, but you are born in a time when it is well to strengthen the soul through observing exam- ples of steadfastness." *
If Seneca's writings give prominence to duties owing
one's fellows and declare the rule of obedience to God,
Epictetus writes about God first and last and all
Stoical the time. He too was a Stoic, though, like all
Religious- philosophers of the Empire, he drew from
ness •
Eoictetus other schools. In character he was a truer
philosopher than Seneca; his writings were
freer from rhetoric. He was a self-poised man, contented
with his lot, scorning evil, unmoved by passion, most
trustingly obedient to God.
Epictetus' philosophy revolves around his thoughts of
God. God is the source and creator of all things, but
especially of human beings who are formed through their
rational nature for communion with him.' By virtue of
' De dementia, i, xxii, i.
'^ Tacitus, Annales, xvi, 35. For Seneca's death see ib., 62.
^ See Discourse, i, 9.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 6l
their reason, men have a share of God within them. Reason and a virtuous will acting in accord constitute the best elements in man, and must be developed in harmony with that whole whereof they are part, the will of their creator. Epictetus' philosophy, more than that of any previous Stoic, refers to God in matters great and small, at every point and always. It is philosophy becoming a praying system, a religion. In Cicero's dialogue De Na- tura Deorum, Gotta the Academician says that no one thanks God for his own virtue or wisdom, or regards these qualities as coming from God, but as resulting from man's inner development; therefore no one prays for them.' Likewise Horace had looked to himself as the source of his calm mind.' Says Epictetus: " Because the gods have given the vine and wheat, we sacrifice to them ; but because they have produced in the human mind that fruit by which they designed to show us the truth which relates to happiness, shall we not thank God for this ?"'
Epictetus is continually thinking of the mind within as a portion of the divine: " You are a portion separated from the deity ; you have in yourself a certain portion of him. . . . Wretch, you are carrying about a god with you, and you know it not. You carry him within yourself, and you perceive not that you are polluting him by impure thoughts and dirty deeds." * And again, with more direct reference to his philosophical system, Epic- tetus holds that it is God who has ordained the law that man's good lies in the man's reason and will: " God has fixed this law, and says, if you would have everything good, receive it from yourself." " For the most part still with Epictetus the human will, in its struggle for virtue, must rely upon reason ; he does not quite reach the clear
' De Nat. Deorum, iii, xxxvi, 86-83. ' Epist., i, xviii, ii2, see anie, p. 47.
' Dis., i, 5. The extracts from Epictetus are from Geo. Long's transla- tion. * lb., ii, 8 ; cf. lb., i, 14 and Frag., cxx. * Dis., i, 29.
62 ANCIENT IDEALS.
thought of seeking divine help in the struggle;' he can even conceive of the human will as beyond the reach of God: " My will not even Zeus himself can overpower."* Yet he clearly recognizes that men should study the workings of God in the world, and strive to conform themselves to his will ; this is in the highest sense con- formity to nature. '* Reflect more carefully, know thy- self, consult the divinity, vv^ithout God attempt nothing." ' "Think of God more frequently than you breathe."* Man should praise God for everything, and most of all for the gift of reason ; and because it is the part of a rational creature to praise God.^ "Would you have any- thing other than what is best ? Is there anything better than what pleases God ? " ° And what right has man to blame his Creator? "After receiving everything from another and even yourself, are you angry and do you blame the giver if he takes anything from you ? " ' God introduced you here to be a spectator and interpreter of his works.* And when God summons you to testify whether anything external to the will can be bad or good, will you disgrace the summons ? ° Let the true philoso- pher " know that he is sent a messenger from Zeus to men about good and bad things, to show them that they have wandered and are seeking the substance of good and evil where it is not." '" Continue always in thankful and entire obedience to God, being sure that God does not hate you or care for you above others, for he "does not neglect any even of the smallest things." " This last is an advance on the Stoic God of Seneca, who cares only for the good.
' He approaches it in Dis., ii, i8.
"^ lb., i, I. The word rendered by " will" is npoaif)e6ii ; it might be also rendered " mental choice."
^ M., iii, 22. ' E>is., i, l6. ' Id., iv, i.
^ Frag., cxix ; cf. Frag., cxviii. * lb., ii, 7. ** lb., i, 6.
* lb., i, 29. God subjects me to trials " for the purpose of exercising me and making use of me as a witness to others." — lb., iii., 24.
'«/*., iii, 22. " /^., iii, 24.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 63
Apart from direct mention of God, yet always with tacit reference to his nature as a pattern and to his power as a sanction, Epictetus' philosophy is in the main an exhorta- tion to setting- one's thoughts and desires solely upon the right action of a virtuous will.' The worth of all things lies not in themselves, but in the use we make of them : ^
Life is indifferent, the use is not indifferent." '
Where is the good ? in the will. Where is the evil ? in the will. Where is neither of them ? in those things which are independent of the will ? " * Knowledge of these principles and a will strengthened by them make a man free, place him beyond the power of tyrants, for they cannot reach him who is careless of riches and fearless of pain. " If I feel that all these things do not concern me, he does not threaten me at all ; but if I fear any of them, it is I whom he threatens. Whom then do I fear ? The master of what ? The master of things that are in my power ? There is no such master. Do I fear the master of things which are not in my power? And what are these things to me ? " ^
So true strength and well-being lie in a virtuous will guided by reason, which preserves peace within, and without displays itself in an honorable and beneficent life. "Do not cast around your house a large court and raise high towers, but strengthen the dwellers by good- will and fidelity and friendship, and then nothing harm- ful will enter it, not even if the whole band of wickedness shall array itself against it." ^
Epictetus does not disapprove of social ties. He expounds friendship from the Stoical point of view ; all men are attached to their own interests; sure friendship can exist only between those who set their interest not in things without them, but solely in their virtuous wills, which v/ill harmonize with each other.'' Marriage may be
' See e. g., Dis., i, 25 ; iv, i.
® lb., ii, 5, * Ih., ii, 16. * Frag., xlv.
^ lb., ii, 6. * //'., i, 29. ' Dis., ii, 22; cf. iii, 3,
64 ANCIENT IDEALS.
well for those who are in a position to fulfil its duties; but for the Cynic, the true philosopher, whose function is to instruct, it is fitting that he should be without its cares, " employed only on the ministration of God, able to go about among men, not tied down to the common duties of mankind, nor entangled in the ordinary relations of life, which if he neglects he will not maintain the character of an honorable and good man." * Affection is well, provided it be kept under control; but '* if through this affection as you name it, you are going to be a slave and wretched, there is no profit in being affectionate. And what prevents you from loving another as a person subject to mortality, as one who may go away from you ? It is not fit for us to be unhappy on account of any per- son, but to be happy on account of all, but chiefly on account of God who has made us for this end. Do you remind yourself that he whom you love is mor- tal, and that what you love is nothing of your own." '
Epictetus often draws lessons from his own time: "Let death and exile and every other thing which appears dreadful be daily before your eyes, but most of all death ; and you will never think of anything mean, nor will you desire anything extravagantly." ' To the sage, life and death in themselves are indifferent ; death is a tragic mask;* it is a change " not from the state which now is to that which is not, but to that which is not now. . . . You will not exist, but you will be some- thing else of which the world now has need." " Yet be not impatient to depart ; "friends, wait for God ; when he shall give the signal and release you from this service, then go to him, but for the present endure to dwell in the place where he has put you." ° Yet when it is useful to
^ Dis., iii, 22 ; cf. i Corinthians vii, 35. ^ Dis,, iii, 24 ; cf. Dis., iii, 13 ; Frag., clix.
■'* Eitcheiridion, xxi. ■* Dis., ii, i. ^I^-, iii, 24.
* //'., i, 9; yet elsewhere Epictetus seems to admit the right to commit suicide. See i, 24 ; ii, i.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 65
men and obedient to God, do not shun death, but die for virtue's and the example's sake, as did Socrates who is still no less useful in the remembrance of his life and death than when he lived.' It is well if death finds you in some beneficent act, or at least conducting yourself virtuously in accordance with reason. Dying, may I stretch out my hands to God and say: " I have not dis- honored thee by my acts. Have I ever blamed thee ? Have I been discontented with anything ? That thou hast given me life, I thank thee for what thou hast given. So long as I have used the things which are thine I am content ; take them back, for thine were all things, thou gavest them to me." '^ So in themselves death and life are nothing; the matter is that one live and die in perfect virtue and obedience to God. The ideal death, thinks Epictetus, was that of Socrates, who passed his last hours exercising his reason, discussing the immortality of the soul, and whose last words were a request to a friend to sacrifice a cock to /Esculapius. Yet for himself Epictetus, dying, would stretch out his hands to God and commune with him, and justify himself in his eyes. This was very different from the death of Socrates, very different from the death of Cato in Utica; it was an approach to the mode in which mankind was soon to wish to die.
The Phrygian slave, a freedman as he afterwards became, of feeble body, of philosophic, virtuous, con- tented disposition, not called by his position to the discharge of public or extensive social The Pathos
duties, but through circumstances enabled to° oicisra,
° Marcus
spend his life in reflection and teaching, found Aurelius.
living in accordance with Stoical principles a
simple and even cheerful matter. So a great emperor
like Trajan, or a good ruler like Antoninus Pius, who
was not endowed with the contemplative mind of his
adoptive son, might with cheerfulness and peace rule the
Empire. But a man by nature and education drawn to
' See Dis., iv, I. * lb., iv, 10, and see iii, 4.
VOL. 11.— 5
66 ANCIENT IDEALS.
philosophy and musing upon Hfe, to whom action must always have been unhappy effort, a man rather inclined to asceticism, endued with intellectual melancholy not unlike Hamlet's, a man of pure heart, caring for his fel- lows, loving still more the principles of truth and justice, one to whom the petty, evil motives of men around him Avere both loathsome and painful, such a man, made em- peror and forced to spend his years fighting northern barbarians, could hardly maintain his cheerfulness. The pathos of mortality pressed hard on him ; the bitter irony of his position, the dark contrast betv/een his imperial endeavors and the mortal shortness of his life with no reward to come from anywhere, and his actual unhappi- ness amid it all, precluded satisfaction save the sense of acting aright in accord with the divine will, precluded content save that which came from thought of the noth- ingness of joy as well as sorrow. Besides, how could the emperor not know the ebbing tide of Roman strength ? A succession of great rulers had preserved the Empire's apparent prosperity. Yet there was no such confidence and hope as filled the dawn of the Augustan time. Year by year the barbarian world outside was more importu- nate, the strength within the Empire's bounds was less. No emperor before him had been forced to wage such ceaseless war against barbarians. Marcus may have felt that his reign was the beginning of the end. With all reverence for the greatness of this great man, one may feel that the burden of his life was more than he could bear, and, though he reached the goal ever a conqueror, there was no victor's gladness in his heart. The never absent shortcoming, let us not say failure, in the life of Marcus lay here, that his circumstances so saddened him that he was forced, in order to bear up against the burden of his life, to lead it in accordance with principles which his heart felt left much of life unrecognized, and to act on assumptions which were unreal. He looked on life obliquely, because its full content v/as more than his phil- osophy could account for or his heart endure.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 6/
No man viewing life from the Stoical standpoint.
indeed no one whose nature was filled with what was best
in paganism, could have guided his life with
fuller reference to God than Epictetus. In this ^" Things
A 1- 1 , 1 1 Come from
respect Marcus Aurelius could not go beyond jj^g Gods
him, yet in devoted obedience to the divine law the emperor was the freedman's equal. Marcus devotes the first book of his Thoughts to telling the bene- fits he had derived from his parents and teachers, how from one he learned good morals and the government of his temper, how from another not to busy himself with trifles, from another not to waste time in speculative studies or rhetoric or poetry-, from another freedom of will and steadiness of purpose, from another a benevolent disposition, from another to love his kin, to love truth and justice, and from another " the idea of a polity in which there is the same law for all, a polity administered w^ith regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed." ' In his adoptive father" he had the pattern of a ruler, one who was mild of temper, unchangeable in things resolved on after due deliberation, not vainglorious, painstaking, ready to listen, persistent in inquiry, firm in rewarding men according to their deserts, careful in checking flattery, patient in enduring blame, watchful over the affairs of the Empire, using the commodities of life which fortune gave, yet just as cheerful without them, a man of invin- cible soul. These qualities Marcus might copy from his predecessor; from his own mother he had learned " piety and beneficence, and abstinence not only from evil deeds, but from evil thoughts; and further, simplicity in my way of living, far removed from the habits of the rich." ^ Marcus is grateful to the human beings through whom he has derived good ; but he gives thanks to the gods as the ultimate sources of it all : "To the gods I am indebted for having good grandfathers, good parents, a good sis-
' Thoughts, i, 14. - Antoninus Pius. ' i, 3.
68 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ter, good teachers, good associates, good kinsmen and friends, nearly everything good. Further, I owe it to the gods that I was not hurried into any offence against any of them, though I had a disposition which, if oppor- tunity had offered, might have led me to do something of this kind ; but through their favor there never was such a concurrence of circumstances as put me to the trial. Further, I am thankful to the Gods . . . that I was subjected to a ruler and a father who was able to take away all pride from me, and to bring me to the knowledge that it is possible for a man to live in a palace without wanting either guards or embroidered dresses, or torches and statues, and such like show; but that it is in such a man's power to bring himself very near to the fashion of a private person, without being for this reason either meaner in thought or more remiss in action with respect to the things which must be done for the public interest in a manner that befits a ruler. I thank the gods that I did not make more proficiency in rhetoric, poetry, and the other studies in which I should perhaps have been completely engaged if I had seen that I was making progress in them ; that I made haste to place those who brought me up in the station of honor which they seemed to desire, that I received clear and frequent impressions about living according to nature, and what kind of a life that is, so that, so far as depended on the gods and their gifts and help and inspirations, nothing hindered me from living according to nature, though I still fall short of it through my own fault and through not observing the admonitions of the gods, and I may almost say, their direct instructions; that my body has held out so long in such a kind of life, . . . that after having fallen into amatory passions I was cured ; and, though I was often out of humor with Rusticus, I never did anything of which I had occasion to repent ; that though it was my mother's fate to die young, she spent the last hours of her life with me ; that whenever I
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 69
wished to help any man in his need, or on any other occa- sion, I was never told that I had not the means of doing it; and that to myself the same necessity never happened to receive anything from another; that I have such a wife, so obedient and so affectionate and so simple . . . for all these things require the help of the gods and for- tune." *
This long quotation shows Marcus's character, his approvals and disapprovals; it also shows how fully he attributed to the gods all the favoring circumstances of his life, and that he attributed to them even his own vir- tuous conduct, his performing his duties to his benefac- tors, his governing his temper and freeing himself from his passions. The general tenor of the passage goes far towards recognizing the direct spiritual aid of the gods in guiding a man's virtuous rational will, Marcus asserts elsewhere the divine care of mankind: "But in truth [the gods] do exist, and they do care for human things, and they have put all the means in man's power to enable him not to fall into real evils. And as to the rest, if there was anything evil, they would have provided for this also, that it should be altogether in a man's power not to fall into it." "* This is to say, the gods have put it in each man's power to live under all circumstances a life of rational virtue, and outside of this there is neither evil nor good. In another passage Marcus asserts that man may well pray for aid even in things within his power, — his real good or ill: " Why dost thou not pray for them to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should not hap- pen or happen ? for certainly if they can co-operate with men, they can co-operate for these purposes. And per- haps thou wilt say the gods have placed them in thy
'i, 17. Quotations from Marcus Aurelius are from George Long's trans- lation. " ii, II.
70 ANCIENT IDEALS.
power, . . . Who has told thee that the gods do not aid us even in the things which are in our power ? Begin then to pray for such things and thou wilt see." ' The highest part of man's nature, his reason and his virtuous will, comes from God, on whom man may well call for aid in willing what is right and acting accordingly. This is a divergence — up to which Seneca and Epictetus were leading — from the earlier Stoicism which limited man's source of strength to his own reason. "Be not ashamed to be helped," says Marcus."
" Reverence the gods and help men. Short is life. There is only one fruit of this terrene life, a pious dis- position and social acts."' The sequence of thought suggests Marcus's way of connecting human virtue with the divine will and obedience to it, as elsewhere he does explicitly, thus, after the mode of Epictetus, giving unity to his system of religious morality: " He who acts un- justly acts impiously. For since the universal nature has made rational animals for the sake of one another to help one another according to their deserts,* but in no way to injure one another, he who transgresses her will is clearly guilty of impiety towards the highest divinity." ^ Yes, men are made for each other, yet not dependent on each other for their own good: " The ruling power of each of us has its own of^ce, for otherwise my neighbor's wickedness would be my harm, which God has not willed. in order that my unhappiness may not depend on an- other." * And in spite of his thought of prayer to God for help, Marcus sometimes reverts to an older pagan standpoint through the thought that man must look to nothing without, to no other man, for strength: " Be cheerful also, and seek not external help nor the tranquil- lity which others give. A man then must stand erect, not be kept erect by others."' The reconcilement of
' ix, 40. - vii, 7. ^ vi, 30.
■• " To care for all men is according to man's nature," iii, 4 ; see viii, 59. * ix, i ; cf. iii, 13. * viii, 56. 'iii, 5.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. J I
this passage with the preceding Hes in the growing thought of God's spiritual nature existing within each man,' so that aid from him is not aid from without; prayer is a seeking of further strength from the divine nature, of which our rational souls are part. Marcus does not express this reconcilement, but his thoughts feel their way towards it.
So "follow God, love mankind," says Marcus ' con- sistently with his principles. " This too is a property of the rational soul, love of one's neighbor" ; ^ a property, mark, of the rational soul, through Satisfac- reason conscious of its affinity to other souls, tionofthe and its higher afifinity to God. The principles g^^j
of Marcus's philosophy did not permit him to recognize instincts of the heart as valid grounds of con- duct ; through reason will he obey God ; through reason will he care for man ; through reason will he lead in every way a righteous life, and in reason find his satisfac- tion. " Hast thou reason ? I have. Why then dost thou not use it ? For if this does its own work, what else dost thou wish ? " * There is nothing better in life than
thy own mind's self-satisfaction in the things which it enables thee to do according to right reason." ' Here the standard of conduct towards others is brought back to its ultimate motive, the well-being of the man him- self, which lies in right conduct according to the man's own rational nature and the reason of God, of which it forms part. Unquestionably Marcus's mind was set upon obedience to God; unquestionably he fulfilled his duties to mankind as he conceived them, and lived a righteous life. Yet, according to his own philosophy, his life was not well-ordered unless it possessed peace and happiness, unless it was contented with itself and free from bitter- ness, and unless he lived it with fair and open eyes, ready always to take to himself whatever was best and to base
' Marcus often speaks of following obediently the divinity within ; e.g., iii, i6. *vii, 31. *xi, l. * iv, 13. 'iii, 6.
72 ANCIENT IDEALS.
his conduct upon verities and not upon unreal assump- tions. We may examine a little further the principles of Marcus's life and test it by them.
" If thou workest at that which is before thee, follow- ing right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but
The Dis- keeping thy divine part pure, as if thou shouldst satisfaction, ,^ ^ , . ., f • ,• , t i
of the Man "^ bound to give it back immediately; if thou
holdest to this, expecting nothing, fearing nothing, but satisfied with thy present activity according to nature, and with heroic truth in every word and sound that thou utterest, thou wilt live happy. And there is no man who is able to prevent this."' This is a state- ment of general principles of living from the Stoical standpoint. Marcus strengthens them with excellent maxims, also of Stoical type: To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to reason ; ' consider that everything which happens, hap- pens justly, and if thou observest carefully thou wilt find it to be so ; ' whatever may happen to thee it was pre- pared for thee from all eternity ; and the implication of causes was from eternity spinning the thread of thy being, and of that which is incident to it ; * the universe loves to make whatever is about to be ; I say then to the universe that I love as thou lovest ; ' think of any trouble not that this is a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is good fortune;^ for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid, and so that which is an obstacle helps us on this road.' With regard to death, that is an operation of nature, like birth and coming to maturity,' a matter of composition and decomposition, generation and decay: " Death is such as generation is. a mystery of nature."^ Nature continually changes all things, making the new from the substance of the old
'v, 20.
* ix, 3. ® iv, 5-
|
' iii, 12. |
^x. 5. |
|
' vii, II. |
^ X. 21. |
|
^ iv, 10, cf. X, 6, |
* iv, 49. |
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 73
that the world may be ever new:' " Everything within [the universal nature] which appears to decay and to grow old and to be useless she changes into herself, and again makes other new things from the very same."'' Any activity ceasing at the proper time suffers no evil ; so we suffer no evil at the cessation of the bundle of activities making up the life of each of us/ Marcus has no expectation — indeed any desire? — of a personal im- mortality.*
These principles of life are stated by Marcus as those in accordance with which he would live. They are quiet statements untouched by feeling. They show their writer to have been a thoughtful, philosophic person ; they do not suggest that his temperament was otherwise than cheerful, that his soul was bitter; they proceed on no consciously unreal assumptions. Yet a human being, in order to content himself with certain matters in life, or with a certain view of life, must be persuaded that other matters are of slight value, that other views are false. Other passages in the Thoughts show that the em- peror had hardly perfect peace and cheerfulness or even certitude in his principles. He is sometimes sad, and feels the need of assuring himself that he is right. "There is nothing new; all things are both familiar and short- lived," ' so he steels himself; again, " near is the forget- fulness of all things, and near is the forgetfulness of thee by all." ° This is world-weariness. Perhaps the thought intruded that there might be something beyond his prin- ciples and outside of his life lived in accordance with them: " Leave me, O imagination!" he exclaims; and again he counsels himself: " Wipe out the imagination. Confine thyself to the present. Understand well what happens either to thee or to another. Divide and distri- bute every object into the causal and the material." ' So he finds refuge in turning life into logic. Next he is forced
' vii, 25. ■ viii, 50. " xii, 25. ■* See iv, 21 ; cf. iii, 3.
* vii, I. ' vii, 21 ; cf. x, 36. ' vii, 29.
74 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to look on life obliquely. "Every moment think stead- ily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom and justice, and to give thyself rehef from all other thoughts ; and thou wilt give thyself rehef if thou dost every act of thy life as if it v/ere the last." ' This is a noble sentence ; yet it shows how Marcus, to sustain his peace of mind, is pressed towards assumptions which are not real — thou wilt give thyself relief by doing every act as if it were the last. This precept does not look upon life fairly ; seldom is it probable that an act will be the man's last.
Passages may be found which would lead one to think that the emperor's philosophy of life largely consisted in keeping his mind fixed on life's short emptiness: Con- sider the people of Vespasian's time, how they warred, feasted, trafficked, married, reared children, heaped up treasure, and desired kingly power — they no longer exist at all. Think then of the times of Trajan, and all is the same — their life too is gone.* " How many, after being celebrated by fame, have been given up to oblivion ; and how many who have celebrated the fame of others have long been dead." ^ A passage like this suggests that the pagan world was weary of its thoughts. The emperor quotes Homer's line, "leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground " — leaves also are thy children, he adds." Touching his own efforts for men, he will content himself when dying by reflecting, "I am going away from such a life, in which even my associates, in behalf of whom I have striven so much, prayed and cared, themselves wish me to depart, hoping perchance to get some little advan- tage by it. . . . Do not for this reason go away less kindly disposed to them." ^
Sometimes his melancholy so presses him that life seems not only short and empty, but disgusting. "Such as bathing appears to thee — oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water,
' ii, 5. "^ iv, 32. ^ vii, 6. ■• x, 34. ' x, 36.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 75
all things disgusting — so is every part of life and every- thing." ' Words like these are more than sad, they are morbid. Indeed, if morbidness means anything like thinking and thinking over the same things, and finding no happiness therein, paganism was becoming morbid in Marcus Aurelius. Perhaps illustration of this lies in the following passage which sums up much of Marcus's thought, and reflects a frequent mood: " Of human life the time is a point, and the substance is in a flux, and the perception is dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of judg- ment. And to say all in a word, everything which belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and a vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger's sojourn, and after-fame is oblivion. What then is that which is able to conduct a man ? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daemon within a man free from violence and un- harmed, superior to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, nor feeling the need of another man's doing or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming from thence, wherever it is, from whence he himself came ; and, finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements ? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil which is accord- ing to nature." '
Marcus may have felt himself ready to meet whatever change was in store for him, and ready to leave earthly matters, of whose littleness his philosophy assured him ; ' viii, 24. * ii, 17.
'j6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
but was it not unsatisfactory to be called away be- fore one's virtuous will had realized itself in Three Acts
., noble action ? Again he acquiesces with the
are the , .
Drama ! thought that a good man's life cannot be incom- plete when fate overtakes him.' And mind- ful of this, in mood of noble calm he closes his book of Thoughts with words of reverent submission : ' ' Wouldst thou say as an actor whom the praetor dismisses from the stage: 'but I have not finished the five acts, but only three of them ? ' Thou sayest well, but in life the three acts are the whole drama ; for what shall be a complete drama is determined by him who was once the cause of its composition and now of its dissolution ; but thou art the cause of neither. Depart thou satisfied, for he also who releases thee is satisfied." ^
One is almost tempted to think that reverence for God, love of him, as it almost became in these Stoical philoso- phers of the Empire, lacked motives having P .. full reality in the nature and destinies of man.
It is a law of individual being that acts bear consequences to the doers. The Greek poets set this forth, and paganism always recognized it as the great ethical principle of life. Herein lay the sanction of all acts, of all feelings and thoughts also, even the thought of fear or reverence or love of God, But Stoicism, as it ends its course in Marcus, still, if with tired mind, presses down the feelings of the heart, still finds man's well-being in the right action of a virtuous will, and looks for noth- ing after death. In all of which lies scant inspiration for a love of God.
Do every act as if it were thy last, says Marcus. Why ? He has no valid reason. His principles are almost sentimental, inculcating much which is hard to be adjusted with life as he conceives it. The fortitude of such philosophy must end in weariness, being without result. Marcus does not see life truly, nor does he see it ' iii, 8. -' xii, 36.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. yj
whole. His philosophy has no place for his great sad- dened heart — wherein it represents the final outcome of the higher paganism.
The Greek spirit loved reason and clear thought. With
Plato, reason had its spirit flights, whence it returned to
dialectic, " trailing clouds of glory." Aris-
totelianism was Platonism with its wings From
clipped ; and, after Aristotle, Greek philosophy ^^*s°" *°
Ecstflsy walked the earth. Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Oracle
Scepticism, — Plato's Academy ! — Eclecticism, all were rational ; very rational was that eclectic Stoicism with which the Emperor Marcus steadied his sad mind. But the color was gone from life resolved by reason into its causal elements ; and Stoicism afforded no refuge against the staleness of living according to its own pre- cepts, when that once had come on men. Perhaps a remedy lay in again recognizing all of life, and in bringing all its elements within the compass of philosophic pre- cept. But this required a masterful grasp of life's greater realities, such as paganism no longer had.
After Greek philosophy had lost the power of originat- ing further systematic thought, it kept gathering and combining various elements from its diverse systems. Such had been the course of the avowed Eclecticism of the last centuries before Christ, as well as of the later Academics, Peripatetics, and Stoics. Likewise the phil- osophers of different ilk who lived during the first centu- ries of the Christian era created no new philosophic or scientific thought, but borrowed according to their lik- ings from the philosophies of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and the Porch, not to mention the Oracles and the Orphic Mysteries. Only in the third century came the sole one of them who had a mind of constructive power. These men have traits in common. No one of them is a materi- alist, and they have many thoughts of the soul's endur- ance after separation from the body. There is among
78 ANCIENT IDEALS.
them a general holding to asceticism. Many Greek phil- osophers had taught suppression of sense-pleasures, but only from the point of view of thereby following reason more completely and attaining an unshakable good in a self-poised will. Asceticism, however, with the Neo- Pythagoreans and Neo-Platonists meant beyond this a purification from the defilement of what was essentially evil — matter — and a step upwards towards union with the purity of Deity. Their asceticism followed from the doctrine of the dualistic opposition between mind and matter — good and evil. Again, these men all look beyond reason for the means of attaining the highest conditions of life, some looking to communications from the gods, and some to a state of ecstasy, which is the im- mediacy of the Divine. Much of their thought and feel- ing represents sense of severance from God and yearning for reunion with him ; it is religious rather than philo- sophic.
Philo, the philosophic Alexandrian Jew who sought to
interpret and systematize the Mosaic law through Greek
philosophy, was the first to set man's highest
Philo ; good in contemplation of the Godhead, which Apollonius , , - . • 1 Tvir 1
ofTvana transcends definite conception. Men know
that God is, but what he is they cannot know.'' He may be apprehended by such as are pure in act and pure of all defilement through attachment to the evil world of matter ; but for this there must be an abandon- ment of self, a throwing of one's self into the infinite, an utter cessation from self-consciousness. Philo held Plato above all other Greek philosophers. There would also seem to have been quite as much Platonism as Pythago- reanism among those religious sages called Neo-Pythago- reans, perhaps from their fondness for the symbolism of number. In their ascetic inclinations they regarded
' Zeller, Philosophie der Griechen, 3d edition, 3* p. 421. For the most part I have followed Zeller in the following statement of the Alexandrian philosophy. ^ lb., p. 356.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 79
themselves as the disciples of Pythagoras, whom they made into a god-inspired sage, even into a god or daemon with the power of farthest prophecy, thus giving a point of attachment to their general beliefs in revelation from the gods to men, Apollonius of Tyana, who wandered about the world in the first century as the sanctified fig- ure of the sect, was a being god-inspired, and possessed of all knowledge derivable from human sources. In youth he travelled to learn ; in manhood he went about working wonders and preaching abstinence from sense- pleasures, animal food, and woollen clothing. To him all gods were divine ; he lived in temples, taught and slept in temples, and held converse in them with the beings in whose cult they stood. The highest god, taught Apollonius, should be worshipped only by pure thought, even spoken words being for him a defilement. But intermediary gods and daemons might be honored according to customary rites. Apollonius and his dis- ciples represent tendencies coming among men towards ascetic mysticism and disregard of rational principles of life.
A more catholic appreciation of life is found in the man who has endeared to us the ancient world. Plutarch was a follower of Plato, but one whose admira- tion for his master was deeper than his under- standing of him. No more than Chjeronaea was a great matter in the world are the philosophic opinions of Plu- tarch of deep value. They show the tendencies of the time working in a man of different temperament from the Neo-Pythagoreans. Plutarch was no ascetic, but a thorough Greek. Following the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, he advocated a fulfilment by each man of the higher parts of his nature, with no suppression of the more animal elements of life, wherein he took issue with the Stoics. Yet in his philosophy the principles of good and evil are at strife ; above all is the highest God, whose exist- ence we can affirm, that he is one, changeless, and eter-
80 ANCIENT IDEALS.
nal, and that he is the source of all good and beauty. The principle of evil, the evil world-soul, comes not from God. Its home is formless matter, which in itself is neither evil nor good. The good soul of the world pro- ceeds from God and is the all-pervading formative influ- ence, triumphing over the evil, which is all-pervading too. So there is Typhon as well as Osiris, as Plutarch calls the two world-souls when philosophizing with Egyptian deities; and there are many evil demons, functionaries of the formlessness of matter, opposed to the finer for- mative processes whereby it is raised towards the beauti- ful and good. Here work the good demons, who are also intermediaries between the gods and men. A man should believe in divination and prophecy, above all in God's providential care of the world. "Without these beliefs life were without support, and impious. Holding to his belief in a highest and therefore remotest God, Plutarch is ready to give credit to all the more respecta- ble gods and modes of worship observed throughout the Graeco-Roman world. God indeed is not held in images; yet through them he may be made real to the worshipper. And why blame the Egyptians for worshipping him in living animals, which are not the work of human hands and wherein is life ? ' As for Oracles and reported mani- festations of the gods and daemons, Plutarch is gently credulous, and, good Greek that he is, ready to support his credulity with reasons having the validity of logical phrase.
Men like Plutarch, Philo, or Apollonius, were forerun- ners of the Neo-Platonists. Plotinus regarded his system as a harmony of previous Greek philosophies Plotinus under the dominant note of Plato. Certainly Plato 'st ^^ took up enough elements of former systems to satisfy persons of Platonic or Aristotelian or Stoic leanings ; and its spirit accorded with the reverence for the classic past prevailing in Alexandria. Moreover, ' See generally his and Osiris.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 8 1
Plotinus was a great metaphysician. His system would satisfy the Greek love of reasoned thought, a love which had outlived confidence in reason as an all-sufificiency for man. And, in answer to the yearnings of the time, he held the highest goal to be ecstatic union of the soul with God, a state not reached through processes of dialectic, but transcending reason, void even of self-consciousness which always attends rationalizing modes. Plotinus's system being thus mystical in its tendency, afforded place for the popular religion. Hence Neo-Platonism became for remaining pagan times the dominant philosophy, became a religious system, became debased through absorption of magical practices and gross superstitions, and was throughout the champion of Polytheism against Christianity.
Plotinus's system was an exposition, so far as such was possible, of the absolute First God, of the Nous with its component Ideas emanating from the First, and of the souls and other existences more or less impenetrated with matter, which emanate immediately or mediately from the Nous. These metaphysics set forth the stages of existence by which the souls of men are separated from God ; and the ethics of the system set forth the means by which a reunion of the soul with God may be attained.
The necessities of a conception of absolute unity
moulded Plotinus's thoughts of God, the original One,
the First, the Source of all else, i.e., of the
Many. Plato, Aristotle, even Philo, had con- .. ;"®
, , „ , , 1 . 1 . • . 1 11 Absolute
ceived of God as the thmkmg prmciple as well „ pj^.^^ „
as the object of thought, the sole object or
content it might be of its own thought. But thought
implies the duality of subject and object, even when the
thinker is the object of his own thought ; in order to
sever absolutely the One from the Many, the One must
transcend thought, — so argued Plotinus. Hence, seeking
beyond Plato's world of ideas, he finds the absolute One
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82
ANCIENT IDEALS.
\i
to transcend being and thought ; nor can its nature be grasped by reason. Yet he tries to conceive the One more nearly, at first by denying it definite qualities ; for all definite existence implies finitude, and the One is absolute ; It is the Infinite. The thought of the Good does not apply definitely to that which transcends all definite quality. It, God, the One, the First, is infinite, indefinite, formless: It is not beautiful, though the source of beauty, which It transcends; It has no will, for voli- tion presupposes desire, as well as the distinction between being and activity. Activity {srepysia) cannot be attri- buted to It, as that implies endeavor, which cannot exist in what is absolute completion in itself; nor can It be conceived as thinking, since that implies duality ; neither can there be attributed to It self-consciousness or life or being.
Passing from these negations, Plotinus seeks a more positive conception of God. The First is the source of the Good ; It may be conceived as the underlying prin- ciple of infinitude and as the source of all existence. From Its manifestations we may work back in thought to It : It is absolute causality, — the absolute cause and the absolute end of all finite existence, and It may be called the One and the Good. But It can be defined thus only from our point of view, that is, as the effect It produces in us or in the universe ; Its causality pertains rather to us than to It. God's causal effect proceeds not from volition, but from his overflowing fulness, as light from the sun. His causality directly effectuates only the next stage of existence below him, the Nous, — perfect and perfected thought.
The Nous is the direct emanation from God. God
transcends thought in his unity and in that he is the
^. „ source of thought. But thought is next to
The Nous. ^,., *', ,, >-ji.--.
God, IS less complete only than God, who is its
immediate source and the proper object of its contempla- tion. Thought is veriest being, and this strictly Platonic
from 13:
mi^m^-mm
'<m
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL.
83
proposition underlies Plotinus's conception of the Nous, the thinking principle. The Nous is perfect contemplat- ing thought, — thought which has reached, not which through dialectic is reaching, its object. The content of this thought is the Nous itself and God. The Nous con- tains the Ideas, as a science contains the theorems of which it is composed. Hence the Ideas are as truly existent as the Nous itself which, in their totalit}^, they constitute. The Nous is at once the knower and the known, the subject and the object of thought ; in both of which phases the Nous is veriest being : as the object of knowledge it is quiescent being, as the subject, it is being — thought — in action.
As the Nous proceeds from God, so the soul issues from the Nous. The coming into being of the soul is not due to an act of creative volition on the part of the _,^ ^ ,
. n • ^^^ Soul.
Nous, but proceeds from its overfiowmg na- ture, as the Nous itself had proceeded from God. The soul is the intermediary between the Nous and the sensi- ble world ; so its nature is intermediate, having within itself the elements received from the Nous, but also per- vaded by the corporeal, which in turn derives its existence from the soul. Yet the soul is nearer the divine than the earthly, and partakes of both phases of the Nous, to wit, existence under the guise of number and form, like the Ideas, and activity, like that of the Nous viewed as the thinking subject. Though far from the light of God, still the soul is light, as opposed to the darkness of mat- ter upon which it bounds; and it is immortal though not existent from all eternity. Only the world-soul issues immediately from the Nous, and from the world-soul the souls of individuals.
As the Nous depends not on the soul which issues from it, so the soul is not dependent upon the body, which issues from the soul and depends on it. But corporeality, the sensible world, besides being dependent on the soul for form
The
Sensible
World.
82 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to transcend being and thought ; nor can its nature be grasped by reason. Yet he tries to conceive the One more nearly, at first by denying it definite qualities ; for all definite existence implies finitude, and the One is absolute ; It is the Infinite. The thought of the Good does not apply definitely to that which transcends all definite quality. It, God, the One, the First, is infinite, indefinite, formless : It is not beautiful, though the source of beauty, which It transcends ; It has no will, for voli- tion presupposes desire, as well as the distinction between being and activity. Activity {evspyaia) cannot be attri- buted to It, as that implies endeavor, which cannot exist in what is absolute completion in itself; nor can It be conceived as thinking, since that implies duality ; neither can there be attributed to It self-consciousness or life or being.
Passing from these negations, Plotinus seeks a more positive conception of God. The First is the source of the Good ; It may be conceived as the underlying prin- ciple of infinitude and as the source of all existence. From Its manifestations we may work back in thought to It: It is absolute causality, — the absolute cause and the absolute end of all finite existence, and It may be called the One and the Good. But It can be defined thus only from our point of view, that is, as the effect It produces in us or in the universe ; Its causality pertains rather to us than to It. God's causal effect proceeds not from volition, but from his overflowing fulness, as light from the sun. His causality directly effectuates only the next stage of existence below him, the Nous, — perfect and perfected thought.
The Nous is the direct emanation from God. God
transcends thought in his unity and in that he is the
^, „ source of thought. But thought is next to
The Nous. ^ , . , ^ , , , >• , i • •.
God, IS less complete only than God, who is its
immediate source and the proper object of its contempla- tion. Thought is veriest being, and this strictly Platonic
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 83
proposition underlies Plotinus's conception of the Nous, the thinking principle. The Nous is perfect contemplat- ing thought, — thought which has reached, not which through dialectic is reaching, its object. The content of this thought is the Nous itself and God. The Nous con- tains the Ideas, as a science contains the theorems of which it is composed. Hence the Ideas are as truly existent as the Nous itself which, in their totality, they constitute. The Nous is at once the knower and the known, the subject and the object of thought ; in both of which phases the Nous is veriest being : as the object of knowledge it is quiescent being, as the subject, it is being — thought — in action.
As the Nous proceeds from God, so the soul issues from the Nous. The coming into being of the soul is not due
to an act of creative volition on the part of the _, ^ ,
J^ The Soul.
Nous, but proceeds from its overriowmg na- ture, as the Nous itself had proceeded from God. The soul is the intermediary between the Nous and the sensi- ble world ; so its nature is intermediate, having within itself the elements received from the Nous, but also per- vaded by the corporeal, which in turn derives its existence from the soul. Yet the soul is nearer the divine than the earthly, and partakes of both phases of the Nous, to wit, existence under the guise of number and form, like the Ideas, and activity, like that of the Nous viewed as the thinking subject. Though far from the light of God, still the soul is light, as opposed to the darkness of mat- ter upon which it bounds ; and it is immortal though not existent from all eternity. Only the world-soul issues immediately from the Nous, and from the world-soul the souls of individuals.
As the Nous depends not on the soul which issues from it, so the soul is not dependent f"
upon the body, which issues from the soul and World depends on it. Rut corporeality, the sensible Avorld, besides being dependent on the soul for form
84 ANCIENT IDEALS.
as well as being, has within itself the qualities of non- being, of extension, of evil, which are qualities of matter. While Plotinus follows Plato in his general determinings of the conception of matter, he goes beyond Plato in calling it the Bad. Evil is lack of good, — privation ; and matter is the first and absolute Bad, the veriest privation of all good, of existence. Corporeality, which indeed has form and substance derived from the soul, is evil in so far as it consists of matter ; and the soul itself may seem polluted through its connection with corporeality. On the other hand, in so far as the sensible world springs from the soul it has form, beauty, harmony ; and to this thought, justifying an appreciation of the beauty of the visible world, Plotinus clung, Greek as he was.' The philosopher will see good in the world of sense so far as it exhibits the spirit forces which bring it to form and beauty and evoke the sympathies and harmonies of nature whereby is shown its relationship to the soul whence comes the Light.
Men are estranged from God, their souls held in the
bonds of sense attachments. In this bondage of the will
lies the imperfection of man's spiritual nature.
Purification and not in the fact of its co-existing with the
unto the body. Hence no sudden sundering of the par- Hcsta,sy . , . r i i 111
of God ticular connection of body and soul — as by
suicide — will carry the soul upwards; for at death the unpurified nature will turn again to fitting cor- poreal envelopments. During life man must purify him- self by turning from things of sense. Plotinus reasoned after Stoical analogies that man's well-being lay in the development of the highest parts of his nature. But his system revolved in the dualistic opposition between spirit and matter. Matter was utterly evil. Hence to Stoical conceptions of human well-being self-poised in the action of a will guided by right reason, he added the ascetic con-
' Plotinus admires the visible world in the spirit of Plato's Timccus. Zeller, ib., 3^, p. 559.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 8$
ception that occupation with things of sense is defile- ment ; that the severing of thought and desire from them is purification. All virtue with Plotinus is purification, loosing of the soul from sense.
The lower stages of this purification, perhaps the only stages attainable by common souls, consist in the ordi- nary- practical virtues of life. These may lead upward toward the speculative virtues of a life of thought and contemplation. Still higher is the immediate apprehen- sion of the supersensual, which does not arise through comparison of conceptions originally based on data of sense, but comes straight from the spiritual object of thought, more especially comes to the soul from the Nous. This direct intuition is possession of the thing known, the self-vision of thought. Its highest stage is vision of the Godhead, wherein all definitude of thought as well as all self-consciousness of the thinker has ceased in mystical ecstasy. This is the apprehension of that highest Godhead, which transcends the power of thought and is not only supersensual but superrational. There must be a cessation of all inclination toward the corporeal through the falling away of every impression of it. Then the soul must pass beyond thought and surrender itself to the vision of the One. For thought is movement; the One is motionless. The soul must abstract itself from every form of the definitely intelligible, must become sheer receptivity, pure indefiniteness ; otherwise no apprehension can come of what transcends all definite attribute.*
This ecstasy is union with the Godhead, all distinction ceasing between the beholder and the vision; it ceases even to be a vision of God, becomes a veritable being- God, complete surrender of self to the infinite, compara- ble only to drunkenness or the madness of love.^ It is indescribable, can only be had by those to whom it comes; one cannot seek, but must wait till suddenly filled
' Zeller, ib., 3^ p. 6il. "^ZeU^x, ib., f, p. 612-615.
86 ANCIENT IDEALS.
with the higher light which streams from the Godhead, which is the Godhead. This enHghtenment brings no knowledge of God, for knowledge implies difference between consciousness and what is known. That He is, is felt ; not what He is. The sum ' of Plotinus's ethics is an endeavor to prove that the summit of human faculty consists in this ecstasy, this vision, this beholding through immediacy. Virtuous conduct, art, speculation, knowl- edge, thought, subserve it ; then it comes.
The system of Plotinus was a reaction against finding
man's whole good in reason and action in accordance
with it. The highest goal for man was mystic
The Neo- ^uijon with an unthinkable God. This was a
Platonic . . ^ i r- • • ,
Result reachnig out alter what btoicism and anterior
pagan philosophy had not recognized ; but it
was a reaching out after something mystic and unreal,
which not for long should afford solace to man. Most
interesting was the recognition that reason did not reach
to the highest good attainable. Plotinus did not see
that reason also was not broad enough, since it did not
include the whole of human nature, which a philosoph}-
adequate for humanity must compass.
His system told a yearning after God. Mortal life is
short, and the soul held by the body. In order to attain
union with God, the soul must seek the aid of gods and
daemons. Though Plotinus's own thoughts turned toward
contemplation of the highest God, the absolute First, his
philosophy made room for innumerable other gods as
well. The overflowing nature of the First might not
contain itself; it would appear in the Nous, and through
it in various forms of divine goodness throughout the
universe. The Nous was the second god. But inasmuch
as it embraced the Ideas as its component parts, those
' " Die Platonische und Aristotelische Philosophie findet ihr Ziel in ob- jectiven Wissen, die neu-platonische in einem subjectiven Gemuthszustand, welcher sowohl die Selbst-erkenntniss als die Erkenntniss des Objects aus- schliesst." — Zeller, ib.^ s'', p. 429.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 8/
also should be thought as divine entities. And from the Nous and the Ideas, the overflowing tide of divinity passed over into lower modes, into the world-soul, also a god, into the spirits of the stars, into numberless gods and daemons existent intermediate between human souls and the higher deities. Things move each other through sympathies springing from likeness of their natures. Through prayer and magic, men bring their natures to likeness with beings above them and thereby move those beings to help them. An apprehension of this sympathy enables men to feel and know the future movements of events, which take place in accordance with the tenden- cies and sympathies of nature ; and this is divination. It came naturally to Plotinus to see his manifold divine spirits under the names of the deities of the popular re- ligions. Stoicism had prepared this course of allegoric fancy, and far more than Stoicism was Neo-Platonism adapted to fall in with the rites and superstitions of poly- theism.
Although it was impossible that Plotinus, living when and where he did, should have been untouched by Ori- ental and more especially Jewish influences, nevertheless Neo-Platonism, as moulded by the master's mind, was Hellenic in most of its derived conceptions and Hellenic in its strenuously reasoned structure; Hellenic also in professing to be but a harmony and completion of previ- ous Greek philosophies. It was also a grand denuncia- tory disavowal of materialism, an assertion, great in its loftiness and strength of argument, that man's true nature was spiritual, and that things spiritual were alone truly existent. So had Platonism before it been the living certainty of the reality of spirit ; the weakness of the later system lay in its loosened grasp upon the verities of human nature, of the human soul and God, and God's relationship to the universe; in place of which it set up colossal structures of reasoned unrealities. The fault was in the weakness of the time. It lay not within the
88 ANCIENT IDEALS.
human possibilities of the age to establish a philosophy of reality and life, and link therewith practical morality and religion.
With Plotinus, speculative interest was dominant. His pupil, Porphyry, set himself the task of uniting Neo- Platonism with the popular polytheism ; yet he protested always against the grosser modes of superstition, and sought to reform religion through philosophy. Even more sharply than Plotinus, Porphyry set all virtue within the idea of purification, and held to ascetic abstention from sense-pleasure. He disapproved the popular modes of worship, denouncing animal sacri- fices. God is to be honored through recognition and imi- tation of his nature. He needs nothing beside himself ; the wise man needs only God ; the true temple of God is the wise man's soul. God is to be approached in silence; for even audible words, pertaining as they do to things sensible, are too impure for him. Yet the gods of lower rank may be called on in words, though only the Good should be asked from them, for that alone is of their nature. But Porphyry bends to popular religious prac- tices in admitting that these lower gods may be wor- shipped with bloodless gifts ; and he stoops still further through the admission that evil daemons should be pro- pitiated by customary theurgic rites, at least by the State in the interest of the whole community. In these propiti- ations wise men need take no part; for evil daemons have no power over pure souls. Practically, Porphyry's intended religious reform would extend only to the wise minority ; let them have purer modes of w^orship. As for the State and the people, let the usual worship go on, and each man honor God after the custom of his country.
In the next generation the man of overweening author- ity in the School, and in the polytheistic world, was Porphyry's pupil, the Syrian lamblichus, no philosophic thinker, but a setter forth and inculcator of religion, or rather of all forms of superstition and magical prac-
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 89
tices. His philosophy consisted in attempted justifica- tion oi every practice of polytheism. The help of the gods, more than philosophy, is needed to purify men's souls; men may look to religion lambli- for everything, since the gods bring everything . "^ ' ^ about ; how, we know not, but must believe that ^f Suoer- everything is possible to them. And as super- stition. rationality was predicated by Plotinus of the nature of the absolute First God and man's apprehension of it, so lamblichus brought down this principle to the natures and actions of his innumerable gods and daemons, alleging that the logical principle of contradiction did not apply to them or their functions, — a philosophic way of justifying every absurdity '
lamblichus had many scholars ; his school flourished and his memory expanded after his death. Thereafter came methodical thinkers at Athens, where Greek philos- ophy went to die. This latter-day Athenian school, among whom is the name of Proclus, endeavored to bring Neo-Platonism and its forerunners to systematic presentation. Attention was paid to Aristotle as a prep- aration for Plato ; but perhaps the Orphic Mysteries held the supreme place of honor. Proclus was a scholastic dialectician, arranging and discussing all the philosophic past, deeply learned, given to asceticism and devotional practices. To him the dialogues of Plato were revelation, like the poems of Homer or the Oracles. The weakness of his understanding shows in his setting Plato with lam- blichus.'' It was fitting that the last breath of Greek philosophy should pass at Athens — it had indeed passed, only its veriest phantom lingered when Justinian closed the schools of philosophy in the year of grace 529.
There is no reason to think that the religious beliefs and superstitions of the uneducated classes throughout
' See Uebenveg, Hist, of Philosophy, i, p. 254. This at least was stated in the book De Mysteriis, a work of one of lamblichus' pupils. -Zeller, ib., 3^, p. 683.
90 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Italy and the rest of the Roman world had weakened
in the last century of the Republic and the first decades
of the Empire. The abidingness of religious
Abiding- feeling made the strength of the Grseco-
_ . Roman polytheism. It was the system Paganism. ^ -^ . ^
handed down from times long past, and would not have become what it was, had it not been suited to the peoples among whom it existed. It continued to evolve new forms of deification ; ' it had unlimited capacity for adopting heterogeneous foreign elements ; and it proved its enduring strength by its long contest with Christianity, a strength which consisted in habits of thought and daily life and recreation as much as in defi- nite beliefs. Early in the histories of both Greece and Rome, Oriental elements had been taken into the received religion. At Rome, successive foreign importations were at first decried or forbidden as pernicious superstitions; in the end they fastened themselves upon the accepted religion, and acquired respect as part of it, and that too despite the opposition between the Greek and Roman spirit and the mysterious ceremonies, ascetic purification, and ecstatic abandonment usual with Oriental cults. The extreme excesses of these cults were mitigated on the soil of Greece and Italy ; the originally Oriental concep- tions of deity became Hellenized. This is true of earlier as well as later periods. In the later times of the pagan Empire the Persian Mithra became the Sun, and Astarte became the Heavenly Juno,^ just as probably, many centuries before, Istar-Astarte had been Hellenized to Aphrodite.
Not only did polytheism retain its strength in the first centuries of the Empire, but a religious reaction set in. Among the influences promoting it, were the growth of feeling and those moods and thoughts of Neo-
' See Friedlander, Romische Sitiengeschichte, 6th ed., iii, pp. 507-607 for the pagan religious condition.
'■^ See Friedlander, ib., iii, 534, etc.
PHILOSOPHY AXD RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 91
Platonfsm which came from the perceived inadequacy of
the mind to sustain itself by force of its own reason and
satisfy the whole of man, as well as from desire
to supplement mortality with lasting life. Character
This religious revival showed itself markedly ^
, r • 1 -1 1 • Religious
among men heretofore given to philosophic Revival
speculation and to regulating their lives accord- ing to rules of conduct based on reason. Possibly religious thought in Greece and Italy might have remained at a higher level had not the wise, in turning from religion to philosophy, left religion to be moulded to the taste of women and the common people. As it was, when the educated classes turned again to religion, they were themselves in a mood reactionary against reason ; and they were lacking in the union of sober thought with earnest religiousness, so marked in many Greeks of the greater periods, as in y^schylus, for instance, or Socrates. The Latin, still more the Greek literature of the second century shows religious feeling coming to that prevalence which it reached in the century following. It was no lofty mode of religion that was spreading, but rather ten- dencies to seek help and guidance in ways according with the cruder conceptions of supernatural aid and revelation. Never was there more general belief in oracles, in dreams, in omens, and astrology. The literature becomes filled with tales of dreams come true and disclosings of the future; and with tales of miraculous cures and callings back from death.' The desire was universal to see into the future and penetrate the secrets of nature or super- nature by other means than reason. Hence came a passion for those mysterious eastern cults which disclosed the unknown, and gave magic control over superhuman agencies. Magicians, sorcerers, from being held disrepu- table witches, became imposing figures, making grave pretence to superhuman natures as well as powers. There took place a growth in the belief in daemons with a dog-
' See Friedlander, id., iii, 551, etc.
92 ANCIENT IDEALS.
matic development of it, which may be found in Plutarch, in Neo-Pythagoreanism and Neo-Platonism. And finally it became the custom to accept all deities that were imagined anywhere, keep open house for all the gods of all the world, although the universal votary might espe- cially cultivate those gods more intimately connected with himself, his family, locality, or state.'
Among the adherents of Neo-Platonism was that inter- esting person who, in view of his abilities, his zeal, and his great station in the world, may be taken as Julian and ^j^ embodiment of the pagan revival directed itv ^^ special opposition to Christianity. Julian
received Christian instruction under circum- stances calculated to foster in him a hatred for everything Christian. That faith was held by the man at whose direction Julian's brother had been put to death, whose suspicions held Julian himself a hostage, and whose com- mands subjected him to instruction in the Christian faith. While forced to smile approval at persons and things detestable, he studied as he might the rhetoric and philosophy he loved, all of which with the religious .and other traditions of the great pagan past he posited in his mind under the name of Hellenism. For Julian in thought and sympathy was a Hellene rather than a Roman ; ^ and the polytheistic revival of which he was the soul was more general in the Hellenic East than in the Latin West.
Julian was a keen-minded man of versatile abilities. Study had been his recourse against the anxieties and tedium of his captivity. Philosophy had given him many thoughts ; rhetoric had made him a facile writer. Save that he came of a race of generals, there was no reason to expect the signal military talents which he showed in Gaul, nor the administrative energy of his im- perial rule. He was not above the superstitions of his
' See Friedlander, ib., iii, p. 516, etc.
* See Boissier, Fin du Paganisme, i, p. 109, etc.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 93
time. He was a philosophize!* and a man of self-control. But the character of his mind may be inferred from his naming Plato and lamblichus as equals.' The higher philosophic side of Julian's temperament shows in the magnanimous contempt with which he treated the scur- rilous citizens of Antioch, and in the principles of tolera- tion which he enunciated at the outset of his reign, and reiterated too, though in practice his prejudices caused deviations from them. " Men should be taught and per- suaded by reason, not by blows, invectives, and corporal punishments. I therefore again and again admonish those who embrace the true religion, in no respect to injure or insult the Galileans. We should rather pity than hate those who in the most important concerns act ill." So he wrote in a letter to the people of Bostra, in which he ordered them to expel a Christian bishop who had insulted the true worshippers. He writes to the Christian bishops to worship as they choose, only keep the peace. Julian's practical intolerance appeared in his decree excluding Christians from professorships in the schools. There pagan literature was taught; it is absurd, reasons the emperor, to let them teach what they must disapprove, and if they teach for the sake of the stipend, they are not fit instructors of youth. Let them go to their churches and teach Matthew and Luke. The Em- peror knew that pagan literature was the sole means of liberal education, and this decree may have looked to make the Christians impotent and despised by keeping them illiterate. Julian further attacked the Church by forbidding the bishops to judge those who submitted themselves to their jurisdiction, and by depriving the Church of its right to receive legacies.
In the main, Julian was a philosopher only as lambli-
' See the oration in honor of King Sun, and frequent mention in his epistles. There was also a sophist of the time named lamblichus, from whose letters Julian derived extreme delight. See Julian's letters to this person.
94 ANCIENT IDEALS.
chus was, looking to philosophy as a means of justifying and — for he was an emperor regulating his realm — reform- ing religious beliefs and practices. He wished to furnish more definite beliefs, dogmas even, for polytheism; as appears in his treatise on King Sun/ Under diverse names, the sun had become the most prominent pagan deity of the third and fourth centuries, the Unconquered Sun, Apollo, Mithra. This cult was spread through Gaul, and had been the mode of worship of Constantius Chlorus, and of Constantine the Great before the latter's conversion to Christianity. Julian devoted his most interesting philosophic treatise to setting forth this wor- ship." The sun is the vital principle of the universe, causing the birth and growth of all on earth, regulating the movements of the spheres, and constituting the central source of the harmony of the heavens. But the visible luminary is only the image of another sun which eyes may not see. So the visible universe is modelled on the unseen perfect world of intelligible principles, a con- ception of which may be reached by abstracting from the visible world all imperfections arising from matter, and by raising towards absolute perfection the elements of good which are seen in the world. The One, or, in Platonic language, the Good, is the centre of the unseen perfect world, giving perfection and being and unity to the intel- ligible principles constituting that world, just as the sun is the centre of the planets and the heavens circling about it. But this v/orld of perfect principles is so far removed from the visible world that an intermediary world is needed, which is the immediate reflection of the highest world, as in turn the sensible world is the image of it. Hence there is a triad of worlds; so there is a corresponding triad of suns. The visible luminary is too
' See Boissier, Fin du Faganisme, i, 130, etc.
^ There is an extensive analysis of this treatise in A. Naville's V Empereur yulien et la Philosophic du Polytheisme, which M. Boissier follows, Fin du Faganisme, i, 130, etc. I have followed these two writers.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS REVIVAL. 95
material to form the final object of adoration, which should rise to the central God — the absolute Good — of the highest world. This God is King Sun.
All of this v.-as fanciful speculation. So Julian seemed to feel. In accord with the trend of his time, he felt that men needed authority and revelation as practical foun- dations of belief. So he turned to the authority of the sages who had heard gods and daemons, and to the pop- ular tales of revelations and disclosures of divine intent and actions. He would found a renovated polytheism on Platonic and mystical interpretations of mythology, with reliance on such divine manifestations as still came to men through prayer and ecstasy, sacrifice and divination.'
Julian borrowed from the Christianity he despised the two practical means by which he hoped to establish his renovated polytheistic faith : organization of a priest- hood, and the combination of moral instruction with worship. Pagan priests had been ordinary magistrates. Now they should be learned philosophers of exemplary life. He sought to establish a hierarchy among them, giving to the high priests throughout the provinces, who presided over the worship of the deified emperors, au- thority to supervise the rest.' " That Hellenism does not succeed as we wish," he writes to Arsacius, high priest of Galatia, "is because of those who profess it. Entreat all priests to be blameless ; let them with their wives and children and servants attend the worship of the gods or be deprived of ofifice." Again he writes: " Let them not frequent brothels or obscene shows nor be inti- mate with charioteers ; let them read appropriate books, Plato, not Epicurus; Homer, not Archilochus." ' He urged on all the doing of good works. " When none of the Jews beg, and the impious Galileans relieve both their own poor and ours, it is shameful that ours should
* See Boissier, ib., 134, etc. ' See Boissier, ib., i, 140, etc.
^ On the Duties of a Priest.
96 ANCIENT IDEALS.
be destitute of our assistance." ' The pagan religion had left moral and religious instruction to philosophy and its professors. But' Julian's priests should hold discourses, teach morality in the temples, and explain the concealed sense of myths and the true nature of the gods, all consti- tuting the dogmas of the new Hellenism. For the reno- vated paganism, with the ideas borrowed from Christianity, was a novel system deserving the novel name of Hellen- ism, which Julian gave it. And in this temple-preaching, no doubt, prominence was given to doctrines of a future life, in which Julian was deeply interested, and as to which the new paganism was to hold a more assured belief than heretofore ; for otherwise, again, how could it compete with the Christian faith ?
So with sincerity and zeal Julian endeavored to re-create pagan beliefs. He failed. Many men whose hearts were in the classic past, went with him. But the zeal of pagan worship had passed away in the preceding reigns. The people had begun to throng the churches. The Emperor could not turn back the tide to the forsaken temples.
However much paganism might evolve new fantasies and assimilate strange gods, its power of organic growth was gone. It might still argue in the schools, still cling to its superstitions, even to its higher thoughts. But its grand course was run. Its life must cast itself anew. The store of human foolishness in paganism was indeed to be reclothed in Christian form, while the strength of its reason and the stanchness of its fortitude should draw deep draughts from the new wine of Christ. Thenceforth, his teachings held the progress of mankind. The heart and understanding of the pagan world, its noble elements of devoted thought, could find a place within the larger universality of Christianity, which also held the god- ward-turned mind and heart of its own antecedent, Israel.
' Epistle to Arsacius.
CHAPTER XVII.
ISRAEL: DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION.
THERE are no close divisions in which may be sched- uled the contributions of the races to the progress of mankind. Yet those brought by the Hebrew and the Greek are readily distinguishable. Within his sphere, either of these mighty opposites held the com- ponent attainments of peoples who in time or
faculty were antecedent. The Hellenic per- ^^^^ ^ : ^ Sphere,
sonality compassed the antecedent growth of
mortal life, — the strength, the thought, the freedom, and the beauty of the world of man. Likewise the Hebrew in his more single, loftier sphere.
That was the thought of God, one, living, personal, righteous, immediate in his governance of the world he made ; and then the supplementing thought of man created in his image, bound to obey his will and imitate his ways. The development and greatening of the He- brew personality was to lie in the enlargement of the thought of God, and in the endeavor to conform human conduct to his will and ways ever more largely known. Herein Israel reasoned and felt consistently and far, drawing inspired inferences which more than included their lesser analogues from other peoples. The Egyptian might attribute to some god full divine function, life- giving and controlling. Israel alone added the inference, that beside such a sole god there were no other gods. Again, the Babylonian and the Assyrian might keep the sense of sin as deflection from the standard of the god,
VOL. II. — 7
97
98 ANCIENT IDEALS.
and might in prayer invoke the forgiveness of his mercy, yet never cease from seeking to constrain the god or demon by magic spell or incantation. Israel alone advanced by understanding the inconsistency of magic with her thought of God. Another people, the Chinese, raised the thought of" Heaven" to all-ruling, ethical law, but lost the living personality of God. Israel held fast to Jehovah, almighty, living, personal, commanding, chiding, ruling, loving, urging men to likeness with him- self. The Aryan prophet, Zarathushtra, knew the mighty moving thought of God, Creator of all righteous- ness and good, and Leader in the conflict with the equally uncreate evil spirit, who created all things ill. But Israel knew her God as all-inclusive of creative power and uni- versal rule ; and knew his purpose so greatly to exceed her ken, that she could leave the pain and evil of the world to the unsearchable purpose of a God necessarily righteous, nor seek a source beyond, impairing the con- sistency of her inspired reason.
Israel's function was to set forth a knowledge of the righteous action of a righteous God, and of right human attitude to him. Her history is a history of man's recognition of God's revelation of himself through his power active in the natural world, in the world of human action, and within each man. Therefore, Israel's history is a history of her religion. Apart from Jehovah, Israel's best mind and heart knew itself impotent, felt itself nothing. Even when thinking thoughts of wisdom touching human life, Israel could not conceive ethics except as related to the standard of God's character and to the sanction of his ways with men ; she could in no wise sit by herself apart from God and ponder upon human lots, regarding which she professed only such knowledge as came from him, no knowledge evolved by the unaided thought of man.
The children of Israel once passed from Egypt to
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 99
Canaan. Neither were they indigenous in the land of Goshen. They came from somewhere ; and no place from its situation is as likely as Canaan to have -pijg
been the somewhere whence they came. Be- Stories fore reaching Goshen, they were nomad shep- °f ^^^
herds, and must hav^e had ancestors or chiefs, * "*^*^ ^* the circumstances of whose lives were similar to those echoed by the stories of Abraham and Jacob. The situation indicated in those narratives apparently reflects ancient tradition, for it corresponds with nothing known of the life of Israel in Canaan in the times of the kings or even of the judges.
Before the period of Moses' prophetic activity, there was among the children of Israel, dwelling in Goshen, a conception of a god who was their god. This was brought with them from the desert, not evolved in Egypt. The Hebrew conception of Jehovah always diiTered from Egyptian thoughts of gods, as personal righteousness differs from the beneficence of nature, and distinct con- ception from its opposite.' No more than other races, are Semites naturally monotheistic ; yet they seem to sever their gods from nature * more entirely than Aryans', and more distinctly to regard all things as created by deity ; hence they never merge their thoughts of divine right- eousness and power in natural law. Nor is it true that monotheism is the child of desert life, though possibly small wandering tribes would be more likely to think of God as one god, going with them whithersoever they went, than larger settled communities who have brought together several tribal or family divinities and absorb the local traditions of their common abiding-place.
' Few scholars still look to Eg>'pt as the source or partial source of Israel's conception of God. There is one conclusive proof to the contrary. The most striking part of Egyptian religion was an elaborate scheme of life in and beyond the tomb. Israel could not have borrowed religious thoughts from Egypt without taking some conception of a future life, the absence of which from early Hebrew thought is well known.
"^ Cf. Elijah's vision, i Kings xix, 11, etc.
lOO ANCIENT IDEALS.
This tribal cult of one god was not monotheism. It did not exclude the incidental adoration of fetishes and idols. Nor was the one chief tribal god thought of as the god of other tribes, far less as God of all. Primitive thought was not so comprehensive. Moreover, a concep- tion of one tribal god, with appendant superstitions, might, as the tribe met other tribes and learned of other gods, become a more equal polytheism or indiscriminate idola- try. A far more strenuous course would be to lift the apprehension of the one tribal god higher and higher, and perfect it with thoughts of all-embracing power and righteousness, until the possibility of any other god should be excluded from the universe. This was the course which Israel alone achieved, under the guidance of her prophets.
The probability that the desert ancestors of Israel wor- shipped a single tribal god, accords with the Genesis account of the god of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. A correspondence may also be assumed between the re- corded characters of these patriarchs and the actual char- acters of Israel's ancestors. The narratives of Genesis testify to the ideals and characters of their authors and the people among whom they were preserved. Those characters sprang not from nothing, but partly from a kindred character in those ancestors of whom the stories tell. If the Hebrews esteemed above all other matters righteous obedience to God, and were to make it all in all, it is probable that the Genesis narrative,. in telling of the faithfulness of Abraham and Jacob, corresponded to the actual fact that Israel's ancestors were, in a higher sense than could be said of other ancient nomads, god-fearing men, with such faith as was not elsewhere to be found.
There is a more definite reason for regarding as histori- cal the narrative portions of the Hexateuch relating to the . Hebrews. That the earliest ancestors of the
Hebrews came from Chaldaea, is hardly open to doubt. If so, they came out of a country where writing was known. Why should they not have been acquainted
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 1 01
with the art ? Passing to Syria, they but passed to a land into which Mesopotamian influence had penetrated to an extent sufficient to account for the fact witnessed by the Tell-el-amarna tablets, that cuniform writing was there in general use.' The Hebrews could also have learned writing in Egypt ; and finally, returning from Egypt to Palestine, they but passed from one country where writing w^as in use, to another country where it was in use.' From Mesopotamia to Egypt, no people was as gifted as the Hebrews ; especially in literature were they to show themselves pre-eminent. There is no reason to discredit any of the earliest allusions to writing in the Old Testament ; nor is there any reason to think that the oldest portions of the Hexateuch, whenever they were composed in their present form, were not based on earlier written records.^
The Exodus is the narrative of Jehovah's deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, through the instrumen- tality of a prophet Moses. This was the con- The ception of the matter pervading the religious ^'^°^"^^°*^ and historical consciousness of Israel.^ There- yj^ .? with correspond the character and life of Moses, of God. and the Mosaic conception of Jehovah's char- acter and demands on men, shown in the rules of conduct
' The Tell-el-amarna tablets date from the fifteenth century, a period when Egyptian influence, though waning, was strong. Had the art of writing come in vogue in Syria at any time between the conquests of Thothmes III and the period of these tablets, it probably would have been Egyptian. The beginning of cuniform writing in Syria must have been prior to the time of Thothmes III, i.e., prior to the sixteenth century at least.
* See Sayce, Higher Criticism and ike Monuments, p. 45 and 387 ; and a review of this work in Edinburgh Review, October, 1894, p. 84. It is not known when the Hebrews first used the Hebrew alphabet, but the Siloam inscription written in Hebrew is not later than Hezekiah's time. See Sayce, ^^■■, P- 35, 376, etc., and same review, p. 95.
' As they sometimes state. See Numbers xxi, 14; Joshua x, 12. As to the historical credibility of the Hexateuch, compare Kittel, History of the Hebrews (English translation), vol. i.
* There is still no evidence from Egypt clearly bearing on the Exodus. See Renouf, Proceediyigs of Society of Biblical Archceology, vol. 15, p. 60,
102 ANCIENT IDEALS.
which took form in the Decalogue and other earliest parts of the Law.
The Mosaic conception of God is the conception which had come from Israel's ancestors, enlarged, raised and inspired by Israel's circumstances and by the revelation of God's relations to her through the great mind and heart of Moses. The essence was this: " I am Jehovah, thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage." It is a conception of God the Deliverer.' In such an emergency, reliance on Jehovah, if it did not break, would gather strength. Then, as ever afterwards, it was Israel's higher Avay, to comprehend and meet emergencies through a strengthening, a broadening and uplifting of her thoughts of God's might and right- eousness and care : it was the lower way of Israel to turn from her one holy God to heathenism. At least, in this emergency of the Exodus, led by her greatest prophet, Israel rose to grander thought of a delivering God. More- over, as throughout her history it is apparent that Jeho- vah requires obedience, and aids only the obedient who trust him, it was natural at the outset of this great deliv- erance that the people should promise obedience to him. And what is obedience but the observance of his will ? And can his will for man be otherwise than according to his nature and his relation to his worshippers ? And was he not even then disclosing his actions and his nature by a strong and merciful deliverance of a people who had no other refuge ? How could Israel but know her own weakness and shortcomings, her sins, which she was ever prone to commit and confess ? Yet was God delivering her, and would tend her through the desert, despite her murmurings. Thus it came to her to know Jehovah's nature: " Jehovah, Jehovah, a God full of compassion, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin ; and that will by no means clear the guilty ; vis-
1 Ewald.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 1 03
iting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children." '
It was thus that Jehovah set forth his nature to Israel, and commanded her to do likewise, as it were, observing- in her human conduct what would be pleasing to him. But what would please him ? "I am Jehovah, thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage " ; here is the statement, and the com- mandments flow from it. " Thou shalt have no other god before me. " Surely not, for Jehovah is the sole de- liverer; let Israel not seek other gods in foolish ingrati- tude. Nor let her make any graven image. Such images the Egyptians made of their gods, who aided in the oppres- sion of Israel. And what image could represent the might and mercy of Jehovah ; — an image, the work of man's hands ! Nor shall Israel take the name of Jehovah her God in vain, — a thought which a devout people would keep far off. And the Sabbath day they should remember to sanctify it. Had they not had all days of labor in Egypt, with no rest, nor opportunity to worship their God as they would ? Now shall they every seventh day both rest and worship him, for so is his service mercy, bringing good to his worshippers even in the act of worship, and keeping them strong together as a people. And then, further demands on them as God-fearing men, who would not live lives repugnant to the nature of Je- hovah as revealed through his merciful acts : they should honor their fathers and their mothers ; they should not kill, nor commit adultery ; nor steal, nor bear false witness ; and beyond these matters, since Jehovah was a God of righteous heart, and to follow him the heart must be kept pure, they should not steal nor kill even in spirit — neither their neighbor's house nor wife should they covet.
The character of Moses cannot have differed essentially from that given him in Exodus. Only a great man would have assumed the leadership in such a crisis ; only
' Ex. xxxiv, 6.
104 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to a great man would the leadership have come. It must have been that in early life Moses could not endure
the oppression of his people ; it might be IVToscs
that he would not restrain his hand from smit- ing the oppressor — then out into the desert, there, as of course, to tend flocks, there as of course to marry, there as of course, and by the highest necessity of his nature, to commune with God, and know his presence, gain his instructions, hear his commands, and, after doubts of self and misgivings, thence to return with Jehovah's mission to deliver Israel. Such a man, strong in himself uncon- sciously, but most consciously reliant on Jehovah, would not hesitate to announce deliverance to his people, would not fear to stand before Pharaoh. And how can a man lead unless he be stronger than his flock ? It needs must have been that the people would stand fearful, in front of them the sea, behind them the Egyptian host : — Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward ! It was Moses' greatness that heard such words, and had need to hear them always. Then, his was grand enduring patience amid despondent murmurings. Moses could not without this have led the people on. It was a patience steadfast not in itself, but in its power of appeal to God.*
Yet Moses sometimes felt the burden of his people to be more than he could bear. He too can murmur against his mission given him of God, as he hears the people weeping and complaining, forever looking back to Egypt's fleshpots.^ Such human depression would come. And again, another failing, necessarily a man's who in Egypt could not endure to witness the sufferings of his people, who indeed under God would deliver them, — the failing of wrath. If his heart sank within him at their weak complainings, so might it surge in wrath at sight of their brutish blindness, wilful failure to see and know Jehovah, so almost inconceivable to him who lived in Jehovah's presence. But then there must have come to > Cf. Excdus xvii, 4. * Numbers xi, 11-14.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. I05
him, especially after times when he had desponded or broken forth in wrath, a sense of his own unworthiness to fulfil a mission from the unfailing, almighty, and long- suffering Jehovah ; and he must have felt humbled within himself. Surely unerring was the main tradition regard- ing Moses' character, that he was a meek man. And finally, he loved his people in the stern, old way, not of plenteous, pitying words, but of ready self-sacrifice and strivings even with God. Humbled at himself, how he must have felt the sinfulness of Israel ; the people surely had fallen into crying sins wherein he had not sinned with them ; Jehovah must be ready to destroy them for their iniquity, the golden calf; and he entreats Jehovah for them till his prayer is heard.' Then, drawing near and beholding the great sin, he gives way to wrath. And as needs was, he caused a slaying of the wicked, but then only to feel more keenly the approach of divine punish- ment and the need of intercession, so that again he beseeches Jehovah to forgive, with entreaties rising to the height of offering his life for an atonement: "And Moses returned unto Jehovah and said. Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, — and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." ^
Israel was brought forth from Egypt under a leadership which should not only conduct the people through the desert, but lead them upwards towards right- eousness through a fuller understanding of '-^^°^''S"iP
T1 Ti/r ^ e rr i-i DlVinC and
Jehovah. Moses set the face of Israel aright. Human But his leadership was not thought to rest on his own ability and wisdom. His greatness lay in the intensity of his realization of Jehovah's nearness to his people. And in so far as Moses was enabled to impress himself on Israel, Israel could not but recognize Jehovah as her guide and ruler. So Israel became conscious that the highest leadership was direct communication of
' Exodus xxxii, 7-14. '^ Ibid., 31, 32.
I06 ANCIENT IDEALS.
the will of Jehovah, and that the lower form of leader- ship, which still might lead aright if humbly and obedi- ently, was leadership by men not themselves interpreters between Jehovah and his people, but endowed with wis- dom and skill enabling them to follow Jehovah's word when spoken through a prophet. It may be that the people, Israel, never felt Jehovah so near to them as in the wilderness ; — the sky is very near the earth in the early morning. Afterwards, many of them were at times to be far from Jehovah ; yet the highest consciousness of the race never fell from the thought that all true leader- ship and rule can be but a reflection of Jehovah's right- eousness and a doing of his will.
The experience of the Exodus and the thought of the sole leadership of the one God, Jehovah, would bind the people into one. But the race would disintegrate when established in Canaan, Then there would be no longer a sole Jehovah-leadership under a Moses, but rather local leaderships, and local cares for settled homes. Israel had as yet no conception of a stable government ; she knew only such government as sprang from the needs of occasional leadership, and, those needs ending, ceased. In Canaan, the people naturally fell back into their nar- rower tribal groups. Then came the Canaanitish influ- ences on a severed people, with the lures of easier and more settled life. And doubtless, too, misfortunes came, clouding the vision of Jehovah's guidance, driving many to idolatry with the peoples of the land. Naturally, there followed temporary loss of race unity and strength, while, conversely, there was no influence more disintegrating than local idolatries taking the place of the worship of Jehovah, Rightly Deborah sang:
" They chose new gods, There was war in the gates." *
' Judges V, 8. These lines are the germ of the oft-recurring moral of the Book of Judges, — the children of Israel did what was evil in the sight of
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. lO/
Still, for the most part, in those times of the Judges, when every man did what was right in his own eyes, what there was of temporary leadership against Israel's foes was thought of mainly as coming ^^"^"®^ f"^'*^ from Jehovah. Needs must the prophetess Deborah arise " a mother in Israel " to inspire Barak to lead the tribes against Sisera ; and even then Barak would not move unless the prophetess went with him. Likewise not of himself, but commanded by Jehovah, Gideon marches against the Midianites. His glory lies in his faith, and the Midianites are overthrown by sound of trumpet before they are smitten by " the sword of Jeho- vah and of Gideon." As for Samson, he was a Nazarite, and his strength was not his own. All these men are instruments. The highest type comes at the last, the single-minded, blameless prophet, whose life is a com- munion with Jehovah, and a declaring of his will. As the child's voice answered, so answers the man's endeav- or: " Speak, for thy servant heareth."
Throughout much of Samuel's life, Jehovah's com- mands to judge the people aright and admonish them to serve their God were matters bringing no great hesitancy to the prophet. But there came an occasion of doubt ; and he waited anxiously for Jehovah's voice and perhaps for Jehovah's reiteration, before complying with what seemed contrary to the early sanctioned course of Israel. The people demanded a king, whose authority should enforce itself throughout the land and hold the people united against the foe. Only a king could make Israel equal to the nations about her. It may be that Samuel doubted, held back reluctant ; he may have felt that the people should serve Jehovah and be ruled by his direct commands, declared by his prophets; and again, he may have foreseen royal oppression and revolt against it, and
Jehovah, and he delivered them into the hand of this enemy or that. This moral is thought, by many, to have been pointed only by much later times ; but Deborah's lines suggest it.
I08 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Israel torn in twain through civil strife. Such question- ings came to Samuel, but he read their answers in Israel broken and impotent against her enemies, her condition threatening her religion as well as her existence as a people.
Prophets were mediators between Jehovah and his people. The sole sanction of their office was the inspira- tion of their God. Not so with Israel's kings.
ing y They stood one degree farther from Jehovah. Qualities. ^ ^ , .
He spoke to them only through his prophets
and his priests,' called the two first to their office through the mouth of the prophet Samuel. The king," a son of Israel, must rightfully from Jehovah be designated king, the anointed of Jehovah. The designation could not fall on a man unfit to do Jehovah's will in the kingly station ; it could not fall upon a wicked man. Nor could the chosen one be other than a man of skill and bravery. To a fit man, Jehovah's choice would bring a mind enlightened and a heart made strong. So it was that, with Samuel's anointing, God gave Saul another heart ; ^ and when, thereafter, the oil w^as poured over the son of Jesse, the spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him from that day forward." Let such anointed ones hold fast the kingly quality of obedience, both to Jehovah's specific com- mands spoken by mouth of prophet and to Jehovah's laws, expressed in ancient God-given words or sacred cus- toms, or proceeding from the spirit of Jehovah within the breast. This obedience, in devoted act and god-fearing refraining and humble thought, constitutes a righteous king, and implies wisdom to discern the righteous act.
Saul was anointed king, and his greatened spirit was soon shown in wrathful sense of outrage done to a city of Israel, and in masterful assembling of the people for the war. So he proved himself worthy. And throughout
' Cf. I Samuel xiv, i8, etc. ; ihid., xxiii, 6, etc.
' See Ewald's History, iii, p. r6, etc.
^ I Samuel x, 9. ■* I Samuel xvi, 13.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. IO9
his reign he failed neither in promptitude nor courage. Yet he failed. With his anointing, when he received an- other heart, his freedom was not taken from
Saul's him, he was still free to disobey. Jehovah's Failure
oil does not constrain a king to righteousness. And so it might be, and in Saul's case came to pass, that the king, through impatience or pride, would fail in obedience. Saul failed to await Samuel's coming;' then more fatally failed to execute Jehovah's destruction on the Amalekites,' for which last sin, as the word came to Samuel to the prophet's sorrow, Jehovah would reject Saul and give the kingdom to another. And that other ! It was with regard to him that Saul's character was to worsen; jealousy of that " better man " made the worse man worse. As the penalty appointed to his disobedi- ence wrought itself out in jealousy of Jehovah's chosen, Saul grew evil, estranged from Jehovah, with no peace within himself, but rather rage and frenzies, till, hav- ing seen despair face to face, he perished defeated in battle.
Samuel's severity and Jehovah's abandonment of Saul were to enforce the lesson for the future, that Israel's king must obey Israel's God; otherwise, the
monarchy would be heathen tyranny, and not
,,.,,. . , ^. Righteous-
established m righteousness, i here was an- ^^^^ ^^
other reason why Saul remained unforgiven ; David,
he was unrepentant, and because he never humbled himself in repentance, but remained defiant, Jehovah's spirit departed from him. Herein lay the rejection of Saul and the acceptance of David. It lies with all men to sin and disobey. But the man whose mind is humble before God, whose erring heart would turn to righteousness, whose sins are followed by self- abasement and repentance, and by strengthened resolve to obey and sin no more, he will not be rejected. If some sins seem final and repentance of no avail, or the sinner ' I Samuel xii, 8-14. * I Samuel xv, 4-31.
no ANCIENT IDEALS.
even kept from repenting, this seeming, as illustrated in Saul's case compared with David's, arises from man's imperfect apprehension of God's knowledge of a human life in all its import. God knows man's repentance before he repents, and knows as well that heart in man which will remain hardened.
So the repentant man is righteous ; for repentance implies a nature trusting God, the unrepentant state implies the opposite ; repentance implies faithful resolve for righteousness ; and unrepentance, intent to sin again. These elements of David's character make him the righteous servant of Jehovah. None is more liable to sin than the man of energy and impulse, who upholds and lives liis life amid all perils, including perilous success. And as a rich nature makes possible a life enlarged beyond the common measure, the same richness of capacity touches temptation everywhere.
The fulness of life throbbed in David. An Israelite he was indeed, and a man ; of perfect bravery, of tireless energy, and with such a frame as these qualities require. And he had beauty. Also he was a man of intense desire, striving mightily to reach his ends, a loving, faith- ful man, indeed a most passionately loving man, with greater breadth of magnanimous impulse than had been before conceived. His clinging love and grief for the rebel son who sought his life was new in the world ; it amazed men. And had he not loved bounteously, he would have won no love like Jonathan's, and still less have known how that such love " was wonderful and passing the love of women." Years afterward, love for Jonathan moves David the King: " And David said, Is there yet any living of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake ? " ' Then David was a poet in the old sense, one who cannot but give rhythmic note to his spirit's intensities, cannot but utter song, be it song of loving praise and thankfulness or
' 2 Samuel ix, i.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. Ill
song of passionate lament.* Such need and faculty of song means strength and happy harmony of nature in the man.
David had a ready, rightly judging, craftily devising mind, an understanding of the ways of men, a cognizance of the ways of God. He drew the hearts of all — of the people, of Saul's sons and daughters. Whatever David did pleased the people. One can hear them weeping in the time of his royal flight, and understand the devotion even of men who, like Ittai the Gittite, were not among his close companions. " Then said the King to Ittai the Gittite, ' Wherefore goest thou also with us ? Re- turn and abide with the King; for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may ? Return thou and take back
' Criticism may long occupy itself with the question, which of the psalms David composed. But history and tradition attribute songs to him and singing, and it is unlikely that these accounts are baseless, just as it is un- likely that the accounts attributing proverbs and other matters to Solomon are untrue. No people, gifted with such impulse and power of poetry as the Hebrews, could pass its climax of national greatness without composing many songs ; and with the Hebrews, as of course, they would be religious songs. And of all men of the time, what man so fit to be a poet as the fullest, most poetical man of all ? The matter presents an analogy with the question of the Mosaic origin of some elements of the " Mosaic" legislation. There certainly was ritual in Moses' time — why should it not be included in that which has come down ? There must have been sacred music and devotional songs in David's time, and the Hebrews could write ; then what reason is there to suppose that all those songs perished, that none of them survive in the Psalter, that all the Psalter was written under far less likely circumstances ?
Hammurabi was probably the first king to rule at Babylon over Semites and Sumerians, united in a young nationality. Assyriologists attribute much literature to this period of rising national life. The analogy between Ham- murabi ruling over a new united power at Babylon, and David ruling over a greatened kingdom at Jerusalem, is close enough to make it probable that the literary phenomena should also show analogies. And the direct evi- dence of David's having composed psalms, and of Solomon's having com- posed other matters, is stronger than the evidence as to the time of any piece of ancient Babylonian literature.
112 ANCIENT IDEALS.
thy brethren ; mercy and truth be with thee.' And Ittai answered the King and said : ' As Jehovah liveth, and as my lord the King Hveth, surely in what place my lord the King shall be, whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be.' And David said to Ittai: ' Go and pass over.' And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him. And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over ; the king himself also passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness." ' In Israel the love of David and his house grew to a national instinct.
The crown as well as basis of David's character was Hebraic ; he was a servant of Jehovah. He set Jehovah's service and Jehovah's honor above all, slaying the Philis- tine that it might be known there was a God in Israel. His heart was open towards Jehovah — " thou knowest thy servant's heart " — and he sought to keep it guileless before his God. He never forgot from what a little sta- tion Jehovah had taken him to make him king in Israel, and in his kingship will he humble himself, despite the taunts of Saul's proud daughter: " How glorious was the King of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself in the eyes of the handmaidens of his servants ! " Answers David:
It was before Jehovah, who chose me above thy father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of Jehovah, over Israel; therefore will I play be- fore Jehovah, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight." *
David's faith never wavered in the God who delivered him out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, and out of the hands of the Philistine, and out of the hands of his enemies:
" Jehovah is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine ;
' 2 Samuel xv, iq. ' 2 Samuel vi, 20.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. I13
The God of my rock, in him will I trust. My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge.
He sent from on high, he took me ;
He drew me out of great waters ;
He delivered me from my strong enemies.
For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah ;
And Jehovah will lighten my darkness.
For by thee I run upon a troop ;
By my God do I leaj) over a wall.
He teacheth my hands to war ;
So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped.
I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them ;
Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of my people ; Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations ; A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
Jehovah liveth, and blessed be my rock ;
And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.
Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, Jehovah, among
the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king ; And showeth loving-kindness to his anointed, To David and his seed for evermore." '
Trust in Jehovah, as helper and deliverer, was one side of David's righteousness. Jehovah also speaks to men through conscience, telling them the right and command- ' 2 Samuel xxii.
114 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ing them to do it ; for he is a righteous God, full of mercy and kindness, loving righteousness and rewarding it :
" Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness ; According to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed
me. For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to
my righteousness ; According to my cleanness in his eyesight. With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect, With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure ; And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward. And the afflicted people thou wilt save ; But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest
bring them down." '
David's direct obedience to Jehovah as the God from w^hom he expects help, and his broader observance of righteousness, were united in David's mind. In the same song of praise, Jehovah's help is sung of, and then Jeho- vah's righteousness. Likewise in David's life, righteous- ness and devotion to his God are the same : as, when he thirsted and his mighty men broke through and got him drink ; it became not David to drink water gotten at such peril; so he pours it forth to Jehovah. Twice Saul is given into his power, but David will not raise his hand against Jehovah's anointed. And without hesitation he punishes the man who laid claim to have slain Saul at his own request: " How wast thou not afraid to put forth thine hand to destroy Jehovah's anointed ? " ' Likewise he punishes the assassins of Ishbosheth, though he was his enemy and not anointed of Jehovah, for they had
' 2 Samuel xxii, 21. ' 2 Samuel i, 14.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. II5
slain a righteous person in his bed.' And again, though he may not then punish, David cries out against the sin of Abner's assassination: " May Jehovah reward the evildoer according to his wickedness ! " * The sinfulness of murder is identical in David's mind with his thought of Jehovah's retribution.
David has become king and has rest from his enemies. He thinks of Jehovah, and plans to build a house for the ark. Jehovah sends the prophet Nathan with words of promise to his servant, whom he had taken from the sheepcote and whose throne he will establish forever. With perfect humility, David makes answer in grateful recognition of Jehovah's mercy and loving-kindness.' And shall he not in human way strive to imitate it, and ever feel his own unworthiness before Jehovah ? It is not for him to let the priests bear the ark forth with the king fleeing from Absalom: " And the king said unto Zadok, ' Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I shall find favor in the eyes of Jehovah, he will bring me again and show me both it and his habitation ; but if he say thus, I have no delight in thee; behold here am I, let him do to me as it seemeth good unto him.' " * Neither is it for David, humbled in trouble, and learning deeply from his sorrow, to avenge himself on his revilers; so he checks those about him who would slay Shimei for his curses: " And the king said. What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah ? Because he curseth, and because Jeho- vah hath said unto him. Curse David, who then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so ? . . . Behold my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life ; how much more may this Benjamite now do it ? Let him alone, and let him curse; for Jehovah has bidden him. It may be that Jehovah will look on the wrong done unto me, and that Jehovah will requite me good for his cursing of me this day." '
' 2 Samuel iv, 11. * 2 Samuel iii, 39. ' 2 Samuel vii.
*2 Samuel xv, 25, 26. * 2 Samuel xiv, 10-12 ; cf. ibiJ., xix, 16-23.
1 1 6 A NCI EN T IDEAL S.
David may have felt there was reason why he should accept the humiliation of Absalom's revolt as punishment for his own sin. How had Nathan once spoken in the years that were past ? ' ' Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do that which is evil in his sight? Thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now there- fore the sword shall never depart from thine house. . , . Thus saith Jehovah, Behold I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives be- fore thine eyes, and will give them unto thy neighbors." ' David had then answered, " I have sinned against Je- hovah." There was no more to say, but much to do and be. The king repented and would show that repentance through a life led in more complete obedience, in humble acceptance of tribulation as punishment, and in striving to sin no more. As he had borne the sorrow of the child's death, so he was to bear the outrage and more bitter grief of Absalom's wickedness, atoning for his sin and gaining in that righteousness which lies in the attitude of a soul always turned towards God. And the final seal of David's righteousness was that he died in peace, and that his last acts were done, his last words spoken, in grateful recognition of Jehovah's mercies: *' Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it." '
" One that ruleth over men righteously, That ruleth in the fear of God, He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun
riseth, A morning without clouds ;
When the tender grass springeth out of the earth, Through clear shining after rain." '
Responsive to David's buoyant heroic character there
' 2 Samuel xii, 9. "^ l Kings i, 48. ^ 2 Samuel xxiii, 3, 4.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. WJ
was an upburst of national spirit in Israel. For a time
she was a mighty nation, and these years engendered
hopes which remained immortal, if unfulfilled.
<-ni • r o 1 1 1 Solomon.
Ihe reign of bolomon was a dream, a dream
of pomp and material splendor foreign to the deeper cur- rents of Israel's life. The temple was built, and what the previous reign had made possible was brought to pros- perous realization. Jehovah's worship may have become turbid. Not that it ever had been free from idolatrous influences; and doubtless the conception of Jehovah and his righteousness for man had not attained its height in David's time. But it is evident that with David and his people Jehovah's worship was single-minded with thoughts set towards the heights reached by the proph- ets. Neither can one fail to see from these narratives how in the time of Solomon came a material prosperity and enjoyment, bringing a less strenuous tone and turn- ing men to those heathen worships which fitly ministered to more luxurious tastes. The particular shortcoming of Solomon and other kings, that of sacrificing in the "high places," was indeed a sin only in the minds of much later men ; and yet a sin in result ; for to worship Jehovah and sacrifice to him wherever the spot seemed fit, led to con- fusing him with heathen gods — led to idolatry.
The glamour of Solomon's reign never passed from Israel's memory, and in her grimmer thoughts its splen- dor served to point the vanity of riches. Yet the king stood for an ideal in Israel, that of " wisdom," the facul- ty which knows life's factors in their true relations, and apprehends the ways of God with men. Ancient and true is the story of his choice of wisdom among the bless- ings offered by Jehovah, and peculiarly Hebrew in its humility.' Resides an understanding heart to judge the people, natural knowledge is also ascribed to him, for " he spake of trees and also of beasts and of fowls and of creeping things and fishes."' This tradition indicates
' I Kings iii, 5-10. ' I Kings iv, 33.
1 1 8 A NCIENT IDEALS.
that in Solomon's reign and under the king's leading, Israel attained a wider knowledge than before, and greater civilization. Indeed Israel now reached her zenith of pros- perity. There was rapid growth of commerce and increase of wealth. That the enterprises and splendor of the mon- archy exceeded the resources of the land appears from the suggestions of Solomon's indebtedness and burden- some taxation, one cause of the kingdom's disruption.'
The chapters of the Exodus following the Decalogue
belong to the older portions of the Hexateuch, and in
their present form are not later than the ninth
ejus ice^gj^^^jj.^ a ^\^Qy contain the earliest of the and Mercy ^ •'
of thg -pijne Hebrew codes preserved in the Bible, The
growth of institutions is slow in an ancient community. These chapters gave form to recognized law, and their substance undoubtedly existed in writing as early as the reigns of David and Solomon. The laws are indeed suited to a people living under simpler agri- cultural and social conditions than those of Solomon's time; they contain reminiscences of primitive sternness, with no reference to any advanced material civilization. Yet they show traits of kindness and mercy finer than any which obtained general recognition in the great days of Greece and Rome.
Besides the archaic element in them of an apparently quite limited application of the lex talionis,^ these laws exhibit the antique way of regarding much that is now treated as crime against the community, solely as wrong to the individual directly injured, for which he is entitled to compensation.* Yet a clear sense of legal justice ap-
' See I Kings ix, ii ; ib. xii, 4, etc.
''■ The chapters referred to are Exodus xx, 22, — xxiii, 33, and belong to "J." One should put with them the Smaller Book of the Covenant in Exodus, xxxiv. The substance of the Decalogue is older.
^ Exodus, xxi, 23-25.
^ As in the case of theft : " If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep." — Exodus, xxii, i.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. II9
pears in the gradation of compensation for injuries, in the recognition of private rights and liabilities, in dis- crimination as to the punishment of crimes, and in distinguishing between crimes and acts of violence done under justifying circumstances. For example, if in a con- tention a man hurt another so as to lay him up, he shall cause him to be healed and pay for the loss of his time.' If an ox gore a man or woman, so that death ensue, the ox shall be stoned, but its owner shall be quit unless he knew that the ox had gored others, yet did not keep him in ; in which case he shall be put to death or pay a ransom as adjudged to the relatives of the deceased. ' And if one man's ox hurt another's that it die, the dead ox shall be divided and the live ox sold, and its price divided between the two owners ; ' but if the owner, knowing his ox's propensities, do not keep him in, and the ox gore another's ox to death, then he shall pay for it, ox for ox, but shall have the dead ox.* Or again, if a man let his beast loose in another's field, or kindle a fire which consumes standing or harvested corn, he shall make restitution.' This is all very excellent justice. There is also recognition of the greater criminality of deeds done with malice aforethought; if a man kill an- other, not lying in wait, there shall be a city of refuge to which he may flee ; but if a man slay another with guile, he shall be put to death, and may be taken even from the altar.' Justifiable homicide is also recognized, as when one slay a thief in the act of breaking in ; but not after- wards.'
Besides being just, these laws are gracious; one Israel- ite shall not act oppressively towards another, nor press to the utmost the exaction of his due : " If thou lend money to any of the poor of my people, thou shalt not be towards
' Exodus, xxi, 18, 19. "^ Exodus, xxi, 28-32.
' /. £'., the damage was sheer misfortune and shall be divided.
"• Exodus, xxi, 35, 36. * Exodus, xxii, 5, 6.
* Exodus, xxi, 13, 14. ' Exodus, xxii, 2, 3.
1 20 ANCTENT IDEALS.
liim as a money-lender; neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. If thou at all take thy neighbor's cloak to pledge, thou shalt restore it to him before the sun go down; for it is his only covering; it is his cloak for his skin; Avherein shall he sleep ? And it shall come to pass when he crieth unto me that I will hear, for I am gracious." ' Here is the thought of mercy connected with thoughts of Jehovah as a gracious God, and these related thoughts are carried over into the domain of roughly conceived criminal law ; — roughly conceived because the modes of punishment are undefined; but the acts forbidden are regarded as criminal, for they bring Jehovah's wrath upon the wrongdoer: " And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword ; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless."*
The twenty-third chapter ' contains variations of the ninth commandment: " Thou shalt not take up a false report, nor put thine hand with the wicked to be an un- righteous witness." Then follow warnings against flinch- ing from bearing true witness because of clamor, and against turning from truth even to favor a poor man. This chapter also lays injunctions on those administering justice: Slay not the innocent and righteous, for I will not justify the wicked man ; thou shalt take no gift, for a gift blinds the sight of the seeing and perverts the words of the righteous; and no more in judging than in bearing witness shalt thou wrest judgment to favor the poor. The code reaches its ethical climax in enjoining active duties of kindly forgivingness which prefigure the Levit- ical " love your neighbor " and the Christian " love your
' Exodus, xxii, 25-27. See Deut. xxiii, 19 and xxiv, 10.
^ Exodus, xxii, 21-24 I 0^- Deut. xxiv, 14. ^ Exodus, xxiii, 1-3.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 121
enemies." If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt bring it back to him ; and if thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under its bur- den, thou shalt help him to release it.'
In early times the Hebrews came dimly to the twofold consciousness which formed the germ of all their thought. They were conscious that Jehovah was their deliverer out of the land of Egypt and their Israel's deliverer still in all emergencies ; and then, Twofold not only grateful for Jehovah's signal aid but conscious- also with a sense of his ever more clearly ness.
pointed care, they became conscious that they were a people set apart to Jehovah, to obey him, to do his will, and at last effect his purposes among the hea- then. It is clear that the thought of Jehovah as a deliv- erer reverts to the Mosaic deliverance, and must hav^e been felt among the people from that time. The rest of Israel's higher self-consciousness follows as a consequence from this, yet a consequence that might be perceived only by thoughtful men. Such from early times were conscious of Israel's consecration to Jehovah. As for the race at large, it had been brought up from Egypt, it had got possession of Canaan, it had attained power un- der David and Solomon, during all of which time it was much occupied with gaining its earthly bread like other peoples. The thought that it was set apart to Jehovah, to do his will as a holy people, was no clear power with the many, who had not reached consciousness of Israel's destiny, even as a boy knows not the scope of man- hood's purpose. But to the boy comes experience, life's buffets and its sorrows, and if he be of God, his eyes are opened ; and so Israel, the race which was of God, needed the experience of centuries and the blows of Jehovah's many rods, and the bitter sorrow of the Exile's bread, before they learned the purpose of their God, and turned to its fulfilment with failing strength.
' Exodus, xxiii, 4, 5.
122 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The thought of mutual relations based upon binding
words is very old among all peoples; otherwise it accords
with primitive antiquity to think of a positive
non-relationship, an entire absence of mutual Covenant .... ... . . , ,
with obligation, entailing a state of reciprocal watch
Jehovah. and ward, wherein is dormant hostility. The solemn spoken word, the declared acceptance of a relationship, the covenant, forms the basis of ancient family and tribal institutions, binding the parties as well as those on behalf of whom the promises are made, or who may be born within the compass of their intent. The great concern of Israel was her relation to her God ; and the relationship of faithful beneficence from Jehovah toward her could have been conceived only through the thought that there was actual kinship between Jehovah and Israel or a covenant between the two. If the former thought ever existed, it passed away or left its traces only in figurative speech. But there was no period when Israel did not conceive of a covenant between her and her God.
In the period during which came the thought disclosed in the older narratives of the Hexateuch, Israel possessed, or some of her sons possessed, a noble conception of this covenant. And moreover, if it is said that revelation and development must accord, that God reveals himself only according to the capacities of his creatures — which may be an identical proposition — it may be noticed that there was a perception of this very idea in the Israel among whom the older portions of the Hexateuch were forming, and in the writers to whom are due those narratives in their present form. For the covenant relations between God and men are conceived as becoming definite gradu- ally, as Israel's ancestors come into prominence, and as attaining ethical universality and a clearer spirituality with Abraham and Moses. This may be seen by comparing the latter part of the third chapter of Genesis, the fifteenth verse of the fourth chapter, and
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 1 23
Jehovah's resolve no more to curse the earth for man's sake,* with Jehovah's initial comprehensive cove- nant with Abram : "Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee ; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great ; and be thou a bless- ing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse ; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." '
An idealizing people may look to the ancient time for groups of facts which shall embody a more perfect ethical sequence of cause and effect than current life affords. The narratives of the patriarchs set Religious
forth ancient tradition ; but they gained a _ ^^^ics of , , . T 1. f 1 1 1 Patriarchal
deeper truth from Israel s further thought as Narrative
to her own beginnings; for now she was seeing the meaning of these ancient facts and through them all the hand of God. The narrative of Abraham is a story of Jehovah's care. Abraham is a righteous man, just and magnanimous," a ready helper, hospitable to those whom he does not know to be Jehovah's angels, most persist- ently interceding for the city where his nephew dwells,* in every way a prince of the earth's foretime. The sum- mit of his righteousness consists in belief and obedience ; Abraham believed Jehovah, and it was counted to him for righteousness ; ^ believed Jehovah, confided in his faithfulness and in his power to consummate his promises; so Abraham would obey his commands even to the sac- rifice of his only son. Belief and obedience — qualities which when perfect necessarily imply each other — consti- tute Abraham's side of the covenant,* and so this cove- nant, like all true covenants, is mutual.
' Genesis, viii, 21.
'Genesis, xii, 1-3. Repeated Genesis, xxii, 17, 18, and substantially to Isaac, Genesis, xxvi, 4, and to Jacob, Genesis, xxxv, il, 12.
^ See Genesis, xii, 7-1 1 ; xiv, 18, etc. * Genesis, xviii.
'" Genesis, xv, 6 ; cf. Gal., iii, 6. * See also Genesis, xv, 18-21.
124 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Likewise the history of Isaac tells of Jehovah's care, which appears perfectly set forth in the narrative of the happy sending for Rebekah, a story showing lucidly the providential ways of Jehovah with his servants.' So again does Jehovah's providence guide the complex life of Jacob, and work itself out through a father's tears for his beloved son thought to be torn in pieces, but in real- ity preserved " to save much people." The intricate self-deferring yet surely self-accomplishing providence of Jehovah is the palpable matter of Joseph's marvellous career, as after Jacob's death he sums it up in reassuring words to his fearful brethren: "And Joseph said unto them. Fear not, for am I in the place of God ? And as for you, ye meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." '
But Jehovah's mightiest act in the long fulfilment of his covenant with Abraham was the deliverance from Egypt. As Israel through the centuries, dwell- The Con- -^ -^^ ^|^g \-di\\di which Jehovah sware unto her secration of ^ , ,1111 , • 1 1 •
Deliver- lathers, looked back on this deliverance, it
ance. appeared so merciful and loving, so complete
and so exclusively of God, and withal so sig- nificant and purposeful, that she felt herself set apart as holy as Jehovah, devoted to him and forbidden other service ; and then holy too as consecrated to a God whose nature was righteousness and mercy and love, and whose service could consist only in righteousness and mercy and love.
According to the narrative, the consciousness of this consecration was given Israel on reaching Sinai : " And there Israel camped before the Mount. And Moses went up unto God, and Jehovah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagle's
* Genesis, xxiv. " Genesis, 1, ig.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION. 1 25
wings, and brought you unto myself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Jehovah commanded him. And all the people answered together, and said. All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do."'
With Moses himself the consciousness of Israel's true vocation was present always, as may be understood from the anguish and wrath which comes on him at Israel's backslidings, and once at least he is recorded to have spoken out in words of reprimand his own heart's hope. Joshua would have him jealously forbid the elders proph- esying,— seeing for themselves and speaking out for others Jehovah's will. Says Moses: " Art thou jealous for my sake ? Would God that all Jehovah's people were proph- ets, and that Jehovah would put his spirit upon them." * And just as clearly, though less spiritually, was this severance and consecration disclosed to him who was a prophet of Jehovah only by compulsion and bore Israel no free good-will, that strange witness from an alien race, Balaam the son of Beor. He cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah his God,' nor curse those whom God has blessed and severed to himself:
" Lo, it is a people that dwell alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations,"*
The children of Israel were human, they were not all prophets; even under the very present deliverance of Jehovah, they murmured and complained, sought to go backwards, distrusted his ability or will to help them,
' Exodus, xix, 2-8 (E.). ^ Numbers, xxii, 19.
' Numbers, xi, 29. ■* Numbers, xxiii, g.
126 ANCIENT IDEALS.
lusted after things outside his will, sought other gods,
and sinned in every way. So retribution comes from
Jehovah. He is represented as in thought to
. .'Z ., destroy them all, yet — gracious, faithful God! mitted Self- , \ . , r , • , , n •
Assertion — ^^^^ himself be reminded of his covenant and
again and again pardons after punishment. These desert sins of Israel, in the minds of the old narra- tors, were a lack of steadfast trust and a weak disobedient following after other things than those Jehovah had set forth as good. Israel's eyes were not always set on her true aim, declared by Jehovah, accepted by herself. It was no sin, but rather virtue, the stern way in which she executed Jehovah's commands; no sin, but rather virtue, the strong graspingness with which she set herself to seize the land her God had promised. Her virtue for the time was to lie in self-assertion, assertion of the ends and welfare of Jehovah's people; was to take no thought for many centuries of the rest of the covenant — " and in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." With all her strength and cruelty, when it was called for, Israel was to seek what Jehovah had sanctioned to her. Though unconscious of the iinal end, she was shaping herself as an instrument. And this same permitted self- seekingness is reflected in some of the stories of the patriarchs, most prominently in the stories of Jacob. So the end be one sanctioned by Jehovah, Jacob seeks it with eye single thereto, with selfishness, with guile if needs be, but always in recognition of Jehovah, in dis- cernment of his will and obedience to his commands. With utmost selfishness, taking advantage of his foolish brother's need, he gets the birthright ; then by sheer deceit he gets his father's blessing; and so with guile he circumvents the overreaching Laban. Through it all he knows Jehovah, recognizes him, follows him, prom.ises obedience, and puts away strange gods,* and ever with enlightened self-seeking he wrestles on, nor will let go
' Genesis, xxxv, 2.
DELIVERANCE AND CONSECRATION, \2J
until Jehovah bless him. Jacob's strong purposeful striv- ing gets its reward and is commended: " Thou shalt be called Israel, for thou hast striven with God and with men and hast prevailed." '
Joseph's character is finer; but in him too is seen this wise self-seekingness when permitted by Jehovah; for it is in this spirit that is displayed the human skill with which he guides the affairs of Pharaoh for the king, and gains for him his people's land and cattle. Jacob had known Jehovah's will and had obeyed it. Joseph knows it with loftier discernment, sees it to consist in forgive- ness, sees it clearly to consist in refraining from sin, — so he tears himself away from Potiphar's wife: " How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God ? " ' Always and far back of Joseph, conceived as reaching to the time of Adam, Jehovah demanded obedience and punished disobedience; so he demanded right conduct and punished sin, as the divine words come to Cain, not yet a murderer: " If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door." " And for the increasing wickedness of men Jehovah sends his flood, saving only Noah for his right- eousness,* and again brings to naught the wills of men, and scatters them over the earth. Thus was he ever to treat mankind and most of all his people, punishing them for disobedience and blessing them when righteous. He brought the guiltless children into the promised land, though he made Israel to " wander to and fro, in the wil- derness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of Jehovah was consumed." *
' Genesis, xxxii, 28. ' Genesis, xxxix, 9 (J.). ^ Genesis, iv, 7 (J.).
■* If the Hebrew story of the flood had its original in the Babylonian ac- count, it is interesting to notice how the Hebrew inspiration transforms what it takes from other peoples, even as Greek genius transformed its bor- rowed models and foreign suggestions. How very early is to be placed the time of the influence of Babylonian myths on Hebraic thought, see Gunkel, Sckop fling and Chaos, pp. 1 14-170.
* Numbers, xxxii, 13.
128 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heaven for thy help, And in his excellency on the skies. The eternal God is thy dwelling-place, And underneath are the everlasting arms."
' Deut. xxxiii, 26 (Moses' Blessing).
CHAPTER XVIII.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
JEHOVAH had spoken to his people through Moses, through Samuel, and had established kings over them when judges no longer met the needs of grow- ing nationality. He had spoken through his prophets to Israel's earliest kings, heartening, directing, threatening them as heads of the community, for whose
misdeeds it could not but suffer also. Every Prophetic
Lessons ; word spoken through a prophet had been Elijah.
revelation of Jehovah's law for men, had added
to the ethical store of Israel. Thus Nathan came, and
seared David's heart with the consciousness of a foul
crime committed, and of punishment merited and sure to
come. Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt do
no murder; these precepts would be more vivid in Israel
after this instance of Jehovah's word working itself out
in retribution. Then came the time when in fire and
blood was blazoned the command, Thou shalt have no
other gods before me. " And Elijah came near unto all
the people, and said, How long halt ye between two
opinions ? If Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal.
follow him." ' It is clear that Jehovah, if he exist at all,
is such a god that he will have no god beside him. " Call
ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name
of Jehovah; and the god that answereth by fire, let him
be God." There comes no fire from Baal. Elijah calls
on Jehovah, " Let it be known this day that thou art
' I Kings, xviii, 21.
VOL. ...-9 j2g
130 ANCIENT IDEALS.
God in Israel . . . that the people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God." Then the answering iire comes. " And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces ; and they said, Jehovah, he is God. And Elijah said unto them. Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape."
Another lesson did Elijah enforce upon his time, Jeho- vah's hatred of injustice. He will punish man's wrong- ful act against his fellow, which is also sin, failure to know and imitate Jehovah. This is the lesson of Na- both, murdered for his vineyard : " Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou killed and also taken possession ? ... In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." ' And yet one more lesson from the prophet's own experience, foretelling of the times when, on the awakened heart of Israel, Jeho- vah should write his law, spirit speaking unto spirit. Elijah had fled to the wilderness : what could he do against Jezebel seeking his life, and all the people who still followed Baal ? There, in his jealous despair for his God, he is bidden stand on the Mount of Horeb. " And behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake; but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a iire; but Jehovah was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still, small voice." " Yea, Jehovah hath all the might of nature in his hand — wind, earthquake, fire; but these are not he. He speaks with gentle voice; his nature is spirit ; all of which this passage does not tell, but it points to the clear thoughts to come by later prophets.
So Jehovah had not left himself without witness in Israel of his sole divine regnancy, of his righteousness with its corresponding demands on men, his sublime power
' I Kings, xxi.
^ I Kings, xix, literally " a sound of gentle stillness."
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH. I3I
commanding the crashing forces of nature, but above them mind and spirit. His nature was not being apprehended speculatively by Israel, but was becoming revealed to her through life and its ethical exigencies. And in the com- ing centuries those of Israel who had eyes and ears, not for bhndness and deafness but for sight and hearing, were to learn to know him better. In those centuries Jehovah should crush Israel through retributive evil, and humble and expand her heart ; should bring down on her great nations from afar, make worldwide her vision, and teach her that in his holiness and hers, in his righteous- ness and in the righteousness of Israel, lay his supremacy and the superiority he desired for his people. Then would he teach her too his purposeful omnipotence till she should see Assyria to be a dumb axe hewing in the hands of God. Israel's own experiences and the doings of the nations near and far, were object-lessons, which, pointed by the hand of prophets, should teach Israel's seeing remnant Jehovah's nature and Jehovah's will.
It was the office of Israel's prophets, those especially from Amos down, whose writings are contained in the Old Testament, to purify and expand the relig- ion of Jehovah as it had come down from older /^^^ •^ Hebrew times, bring it to definite monotheism, set Prophet.
forth the full character of God as shown in his relations to Israel, impress on Israel the righteousness which she must fulfil if she would be Jehovah's people, and pronounce her mission to the nations of the earth. The prophets were the spokesmen of Jehovah ; their knowledge, wisdom, power, came from him. No prophet thought of himself as considering and by himself gaining any knowledge or principle of human conduct, or as deriv- ing from himself anything whereby he should admonish king or people. He saw Jehovah's word and delivered it; he knew none other. Jehovah's word came to no prophet for his own enlightenment, but to be spoken. A Greek philosopher learned his wisdom of himself or
132 ANCIENT IDEALS.
other men, and unto himself was wise, though he might not teach. No prophet was wise or righteous, or a prophet, to himself, but only as a true proclaimer of Jehovah's righteousness to men. Again, Greek philo- sophic thought of God was ontological, reflection upon divine, essential being. The prophets pondered on the ways of God. These were the reflex of his nature ; but no Hebrew prophet, indeed no Hebrew canonical writer, not the authors of Job, the Proverbs, or Ecclesiastes, began with metaphysical consideration of Jehovah's being, and from the result deduced his ways of action and function in the world. They dwell upon the ways of God with men, the relationship between creator and creature, between the leader and the led, between divine covenantor and Israel the recipient of his promise. From these they reason toward Jehovah's nature, reach- ing a conception of his character, thereupon, it may be, to draw further inferences as to his demands.
So were the prophets very practical and very practi- cally inspired. The main prophetic function was guid- ance of contemporaries. Wise guidance of the present could be such only with reference to the future, with which the present was united in the one righteous polity, obedience to Jehovah, the same for all time, though unfolding as the years went on. Prophetic inspiration lies in righteous guidance of the present, as much as in prediction of the future, which is disclosed for present need. Even the Messianic prophecies, which were not for Israel alone, nor solely for the centuries preceding their fulfilment, were uttered by the speakers with refer- ence to Israel's supreme and ever-present need to see her mission among men and why God had chosen her.
Jehovah had been of a truth Israel's God ever since she had national existence. Many of the people might turn to idols, representing gods closer to the votaries' in- stincts; and Israel's kings might fail in exclusive worship of Jehovah, and follow other gods, led by their wives.
ISRAELS SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 1 33
their circumstances, or their fancy. But the better part of the nation always recognized Jehovah as Israel's God ; and this strenuous worship from a few was responded to waywardly, fitfully, stupidly, Israel's
according to their natures, by the duller mass. jj^g|.fg^^°" Yet the religion of Jehovah, to the time of Modes of Amos and Hosea, perhaps until its culmination Completion, in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, was un- finished, and, in comparison with its clearest revelation and highest attainment, lacked in purity, in theological perfectness, and in finer ethical qualities. It lacked in purity because its worship was not sufficiently disso- ciated from the worship of the Canaanitish gods, and images were tolerated; its theology was still imperfect because, although Jehovah was known as Israel's only God, yet Israel's thoughts had hardly expanded to the complete monotheistic conception of him as the Creator and sole God of all the earth ; and finally, although from earliest times Jehovah has been a God of righteousness, and no mere Chemosh, as yet the sublime, self-sacrificing qualities in Jehovah's faith were but inchoate.
The progress of Jehovah's religion to its culmination was to be entire and complete. Theological perfecting brought purification and worked ethical advance. And these modes of progress went on in accordance with the changing fortunes of Israel. The great fact before the eyes of the prophets was Assyria, and afterwards Bab- ylon, moving nearer, irresistible. Israel's faith must show itself living truth; it was doomed, unless it had the strength to carry itself out to its divine logical conclu- sions. If Assyria's gods were gods at all, they were stronger than Jehovah, a thought to be spurned. Then Jehovah must be God over Assyria, over Babylon, as well as God of Israel; He only is God. Then another matter. Jehovah's righteousness hitherto had been recognized by Israel in his acts of deliverance, his graciousness towards her, his faithful keeping of his covenant. Now he seemed
134 ANCIENT [DEALS.
to be giving his people into the hands of their enemies. Was this righteousness, graciousness, covenant-keeping ? Yes, a righteous graciousness which through punishment should keep Israel true to her highest nature and her highest mission, service and knowledge of him. He would set forth this graciousness to Israel through the Assyrian rod of his anger and Babylonian captivity. And the covenant ? Here too he was faithful; for he was keeping Israel to the fulfilment of its conditions, so that as a righteous God he might fulfil its promises to her and unto all the world.
The prophets make no discrimination between Jeho- vah's power and Jehovah's righteousness.' Rather the underlying unity of the prophetic conception
Jehovah s ^f Jehovah lies in the recognition that divine Power of ,,..., ,
Riehteous- P^^^^^ ^'^^ divme righteousness are one, and ness. together constitute that power of righteousness
which makes, and of necessity must always make, for the furtherance of what is most consonant with eternal verities. This dual-unity of the efficient God- head is disclosed in Isaiah's vision of Jehovah exalted in righteousness, — Holy! Holy! Holy!" — and more ex- plicitly in a passage of exilic prophecy: " Listen unto me, my people, and my nation, give ear unto me; for in- struction shall go forth from me, and my law will I fix for a light of the peoples. Near is my righteousness; gone forth is my salvation ; and mine arm shall judge the peo- ples. For me the countries shall wait, and upon mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath ; for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall fall to pieces like a garment, and the dwellers therein shall die like gnats. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be annulled." "
This is Jehovah's power of righteousness, eternally
' See e. g., Isaiah, xlv, 18-25, especially verse 23.
'■* Isaiah, vi. ^ Isaiah, li, 4, Cheyne's translation.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH. I35
efficient to maintain corresponding qualities in his creat- ures, the quahties which, in the universal harmonizing of things, alone can endure. He will dwell with those who humbly recognize it. " For thus saith the high and exalted One, who dwelleth forever, whose name is Holy- One : I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is crushed and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of those who are crushed." '
The prophets set forth the monotheistic conception of Jehovah by declaring his functions in the universe, which imply his sole godhead: " for here is he who formeth mountains and createth wind, and de- P^ophetic clareth to man what is his mind," maketh sun- theism rise into darkness, and marcheth over the heights of the earth, named Jehovah, the God of Hosts."' With this from Amos may be compared a passage attributed to Zechariah : " Jehovah which stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." * Again, says Hezekiah: "Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, . . . thou art alone the [true] God for all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made the heavens and the earth." * In the latter part of the book of Isaiah the expressions become even clearer : " Jeho- vah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth, that spread forth the earth, with the things that spring out of it, that giveth breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk through it." ^ Very sharply does it then appear that idols, images — and the Hebrews always thought of the gods of other peoples as graven images — are vanities, not-gods. Nothing made by man's hand can be God, even though the image might be
' Isaiah Ivii, 15, Cheyne's translation ; and see ib., Ixvi, i, 2. ' /. e., Jehovah's mind through man's conscience.
* Amos iv, 13, Ewald's translation. ^ Isaiah xxxvii, 16.
* Zech. xii, I. * I/nd., xlii, 5, Cheyne's translation.
136 ANCIENT IDEALS.
connected with Jehovah's worship, clear consciousness of which came to Hosea: Jehovah " hath cut off thy calf, O Samaria. . . . The workman made it, and it is no god." ' And Isaiah cries that Judah is " become full of not-gods; to the work of their hands they do homage." ' Jehovah, the creator of earth and heaven, is also the creator of man's life and spirit. Only spirit can create spirit. The spiritual nature of Jehovah is implied in many passages." His mind is shown in his purposeful ordering of human affairs. "He also is wise,"' says Isaiah scornfully. Kings of the earth are but his instru- ments. It is Assyria's supreme arrogance to think her- self strong in her own might, who is but Jehovah's rod. " Is the axe to vaunt itself against him who heweth with it ? " * " Should the potter be accounted as clay, that the work should say of him that made it, He made me not ? and the thing formed say of him that formed it, He hath no understanding ? " '
Israel always thought herself in very special sense Jehovah's people. But if Israel was near Jehovah, so
much the more stringently were obedience and G d°^f 11 righteousness demanded of her: " You only Peoples, have I known of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will visit upon you all your iniqui- ties." ' This was Amos' reversal of popular ideas. And the same prophet looks on the sins of Israel, and declares that Jehovah will punish her as he punishes other evil peoples, whose destinies also he controls: "Are ye not as the sons of the Kushites unto me, ye sons of Israel ? saith Jehovah. Have I not led up Israel from Egypt, and the Philistines from Kaftor, and the Syrians from Kir ? Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom that I should destroy it from the face of the land, only I will not utterly destroy the house of
' Hosea viii, 5.
* Isaiah ii, g ; see Isaiah xl, 19-26 ; xliv, 9-20. ^ Isaiah x, 15. ^ E. g., Isaiah xxxi, 3. * Is. xxix, 16, cf. Is. xlv, g, etc.
* ^^■, 2. ■ Amos iii. 2.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROIVTH. 1 37
Jacob, saith Jehovah. For behold I shake the house of Israel as corn sifted in a sieve, yet not the least grain falleth to the earth. By the sword shall die all sinners of my people who say, The evil will not reach and fall upon us." '
If Amos declares that Jehovah will punish Israel like other nations, Isaiah declares that other nations shall come to know him, and be regarded by him with Israel ; " the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, even a blessing within the earth, forasmuch as Jehovah Saba- oth hath blessed him, saying. Blessed is my people Egypt and the work of my hands, Assyria, and mine inheritance Israel.""
A clearer consciousness of Jehovah as God of all peo- ples imparted a more absolute nature to the conception of his righteousness. He set the heathen nations up, his hand sustained them ; yet, inasmuch as they denied him, boasting in their own strength and in the idols of their hands, Jehovah, just as he must punish Israel, could not fail to do more to these more evil nations. He was abso- lutely righteous, merciful with that absolute mercy which destroys sin for the sake of man's higher welfare, and gracious with that absolute benevolence which can foster only what is good. To such as Assyria, despite the pro- phetic hope expressed for her, Jehovah's graciousness and mercy could be but the besom of destruction.'
Jehovah had chosen Israel; and since his nature was righteous, faith-keeping, just, creative, seeking and fos- tering like qualities in men, it followed that he desired the highest welfare, the righteousness, £ Israel of his people. And what is the perfect desire of another's welfare but love pure and holy, pure because of the perfectness of its motive, holy because of its aloof-
' Amos ix, 7-10. Special reference here, as throughout Amos, to the destruction to come on the northern Kingdom. * Is. xix, 23-25, Cheync's translation. ^ Compare the later story of Jonah.
138 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ness, its holding itself consecrated to the best that can be educed from the being whose welfare is perfectly de- sired ? And if this love be frustrated by the other's evil will, shall it not, stung with the pain of its frustration, cling to the desire, yea, when it is God who loves, to the purpose, of reclaiming the froward one to righteousness, wherein he shall also subserve the righteousness of God ?
Among the prophets, Hosea first expressed the tender, clinging love of Jehovah for his people, which the prophet symbolizes by telling how he had himself received back and redeemed his own erring, scarcely repentant wife. So shall Jehovah draw Israel back to him, and lead her out again into the wilderness of trouble, and then speak home to her heart as a divine forgiving wooer, till she turn and say. My husband ! ' Jehovah's love for Israel also holds the love of father to a son, and such a father's love, so tender, kind, and all-compassing in its ofifices as to in- clude such fostering as on earth falls to a mother. " When Israel was young, then I loved him, and out of Egypt called my son hither. So much the further have they gone astray; to Baal they sacrifice, and burn incense to the graven images. And yet I taught Ephraim to walk, held him by his arms." ' For Ephraim's iniquity must the sword consume; yet Jehovah's love yearns and clings, has all the mother-love which will never abandon. " Oh, how should I make thee, Ephraim, surrender thee Israel, Oh, how should I make thee like Adma, treat thee as Seboim. I will not execute the heat of my anger, will not destroy Ephraim ; for I am God, and not man, in thy midst an Holy One, and I come not with heat. They will follow Jehovah as a father-lion which roareth ; for he will roar that the sons tremble from the sea hither, tremble like birds from Egypt, like the dove from As- syria." *
It is Jehovah's will that his people trust in him alto-
' Hosea i-iii. " lb., xi, r, etc., Ewald's translation.
'^ lb,., xi, S-ii, Ewald's translation.
ISHAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 1 39
gether. In the last chapter of his prophecy Hosea declares the quickness of Jehovah's love, its glad readiness to fasten itself anew to Israel's repentance: " Return, O Is- rael, unto Jehovah, thy God ! For thou hast stumbled by thy guilt. Take with you words, and return unto Jehovah ; say to him : 'All guilt, O forgive, and accept good things. Let us pay as bullocks our lips ! * The Assyrians shall not help us, upon horses we will not ride,^ nor any more call the work of our hands our God, thou by whom the orphan findeth favor.' ' I will heal their falling away, gladly love them; for my anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel ; he shall blossom like lilies, and his roots strike like Lebanon.' " ^
Hosea's prophecies wail and sob over the evil which sin must bring. With all the prophets, the thought of Jeho- vah's love is strong. The stern shepherd Amos expressed it ; * like the shadowing desert-rock it stands above the grief of Jeremiah.' Even when the walls of Jerusalem are falling, still calls the sorrow-stricken voice: " For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."* But a great prophet of the Exile voices most beautifully Jehovah's purposeful love of his people : " And Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me and the Lord hath forgotten me. Can a v/oman forget her suck- ling, so as not yearn upon the son of her womb ? Should even these forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have portrayed thee upon the palms of the hands, thy walls are continually before me." ^ And Jehovah's love rejoices at thought of Israel's restoration : Ring out, O barren ! Thy husband is thy maker, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. Jehovah hath recalled thee as a wife of youth. In a gush of wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting loving-kindness will I have com-
* I.e., in the place of sacrifice, offer sincere words of repentance.
* Allusion to the Egyptian alliance. * Jer. xxxi, 3. ^ Hosea xiv, 2-5, Ewald's translation. * I,am. iii, 33.
•* Am. vii, I, etc. ' Isaiah xlix, 14-16, Cheyne.
I40 ANCIENT IDEALS,
passion on thee, thou afflicted, storm-tossed, comfortless one. I will set thy stones in antimony, and will found thee with sapphires; and I will make thy battlements rubies; and all thy children shall be disciples of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Through righteousness shalt thou be established.'
Such was Jehovah; so he revealed himself to Israel. Conversely, Israel's ideal of righteousness for herself was a reflex of her thoughts of God. As she had , , . not sought formally to know the divine es- Law of sence, so thoughts of this most comprehensive Righteous- human reflection of divine quality did not seek ness for ^q analyze the essence of righteousness, but were taken up with its relations and workings.
Jehovah, a God of graciousness and mercy, which can- not save the guilty, but only the repentant ; Jehovah, a righteously loving God, whose love cannot but wring from his people qualities like his own, to which it may attach itself : Jehovah's righteousness — his covenant-keeping, his graciousness, his mercy, and his love — must be a retribution-bringing righteousness to a sinful people. In fine, divine righteousness was a law of righteousness, a moral law of cause and effect, which for man ran thus : Sin must bring retribution, yea, and destruction, unless the sinner turn again with repentance felt and living. Woe unto those who draw punishment (iniquity) near with cords of ungodliness and sin, as with cart-ropes.* There is no peace, saith Jehovah, for the wicked.^ Israel had begun to learn of retribution in the wilderness; ]^eborah's song had implied it ; ^ more fully had Amos seen the scope of its unavoidableness, had seen it to be part of the law of Jehovah's righteousness that men should not escape the fruits of their acts. It is only within the range of the possible tliat things occur: " Do
' Is. liv. ^ Ih., xlviii, 22.
* lb., V, 18. * Judges V, 8 ; see ante, p. io6.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH, 141
horses run upon a rock, or doth one plow it with oxen, that ye turn justice into poison, and the fruit of right- eousness into wormwood ? " ' And Hosea, who knows Jehovah's love, knows too the law of righteousness : " Ye plowed wickedness, wrong ye reap, eat the fruit of deception, therefore thou didst trust in chariots, and thy fortresses shall be laid low."' Sure the sequence, — wickedness, infatuation, ruin.
But further still, this retributive law of righteousness is righteousness restoring itself; for " if the wicked be treated favorably, he learneth not righteousness;"' but as soon as Jehovah's judgments come upon the earth, men learn." To guide back the erring is part of the law of Jehovah's righteousness, that a repentant people be re-established in salvation. This forms a large part of the message of " second Isaiah." Had Israel not sinned, there had been no need of all the punishment ; had she always listened to Jehovah's commandments, then had her peace been as a river and her righteousness as the waves of the sea.' Even now it is not too late for repent- ant Israel: " Speak to the heart of Jerusalem that her warfare is accomplished, that her guilt is atoned for, that she has received of the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins." ' Through retribution from Jehovah, through repentance and lifting up her eyes to him, Israel is restored to righteousness, is again vindicated ; and so the thought of human righteousness includes the thought of vindication and establishment by the arm of the righteous Redeemer. And in general, as the thought of Jehovah's righteousness carries the thought of its necessary action upon men as retributive and rewarding law, so man's righteousness or unrighteousness carries the thought of the results which follow necessarily, because of the right- eous workings of Jehovah's will.
' Amos vi, 12, Ewald. * 7(5., 9.
' Hos. X, 13. » Is. xlviii, 18. Cf. Deut. vi, 25.
' Is. xxvi, 10. • Is. xl, I.
142 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Israel's thoughts of righteousness were not given once for all, never to develop and expand. Jehovah's demands always accorded with his character; but his * . character was revealed through the centuries in
ness ways enlarging Israel's thoughts of righteous-
Demanded, ness and her mission in the world. It was all a learning to know Jehovah. His treatment of Israel was absolute graciousness and love towards her, and through her, in its far purposes, to all mankind. It was absolute righteousness, beneficence universal. Isra- el's doing of his will, her human reflection of it, must also have the quality of righteousness absolute and uni- versal, and could not lie in return of human favors for divine favoritism.
In the times of Israel's childhood, Jehovah might be satisfied with the hearty return of gratitude, showing itself in sacrifice and worship offered to him alone. Even then he had commanded his children to act uprightly and humanely with each other. Now Israel had come to man's estate, and many of her people were thinking to satisfy Jehovah by sacrifice while they neglected the weightier matters of the law. Jehovah answered through his prophets that all this hand and lip service, praises, feasts, and sacrifices, were an abomination when coming from evil doers: " I hate, I despise your feasts, I delight not in your solemn assemblies. Yea, though ye offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them. Take them away from me, and tlie noise of thy songs. For I will not hear the melody of thy harps. But let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream." * So speaks Jehovah through Amos; so again through Hosea: " I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." "^
To think to appease Jehovah's wrath with burnt offer- ings was fatally to mistake his nature, fatally to fail in
' Amos V, 21-24. ' Hos. vi, 6 ; see also Micah vi, 6-S.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH. I43
knowledge of his righteousness. Here lay Israel's failing and her sin: "Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land. . . . My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I have also rejected thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me. Seeing thou hast forgot- ten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." ' Fatally Israel ignored Jehovah's intelligence* as well as righteousness, deeming him so undistinguishing of like and unlike as to accept burnt offering instead of repent- ance for sin. " Hear the words of Jehovah, ye judges of Sodom. ... Of what use is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? . . . Bring no more burnt offer- ings. A sweet smoke is an abomination to me. I cannot bear wickedness together with a solemn assem- bly. Your new moons and your set days my soul hateth. . And if ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Even if you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash ye, make you clean, take away the evil of your works from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek out justice, righten the violent man, do justice to the orphan, plead for the widow." '
Said Samuel, To obey is better than sacrifice. Says the Psalmist, The sacrifices of Jehovah are a broken spirit. Says Joel, Rend your hearts, and not your gar- ments. Even in exile, Israel was not free from sin ; her fasts were not all fasts of true contrition, not the fasting which Jehovah chose : " Is not this the fast that I choose, to loose the bands of wickedness, to untie the thongs of the yoke, and set them that are crushed at liberty ? Is it not to break thy bread to the hungry, bring the wretched outcasts to their home, cover the naked ? " *
All transgressions were sins against Jehovah, no matter
' Hos. iv, I, 6. ^ lb. i, Cheyne.
' Cf. Is. xxix, 13-16. * Ih., Iviii, 6, 7.
144 ANCIENT IDEALS.
whether the rule broken was in the Decalogue or in one of the codes where civil and criminal laws, as well as rules of daily conduct, stand vvath ordinances of Jehovah's wor- ship. In these codes are seen the formal and more detailed expression of the elements of that righteousness which the prophets urge upon the people.' The book of Deuteronomy, as brought to light in the reign of Josiah, gives voice to the higher morality of Israel in Jeremiah's time.' Its rules bring the demand of righteousness down to the dealings of man with man. " Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights ; . . . a perfect and a just weight shalt thou have."' "Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates. In his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it, lest he ciy unto Jehovah, and it be sin unto thee."* " The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin." ' " Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless, nor take the widow's raiment to pledge; but thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondsman in Egypt, and Jehovah thy God redeemed thee thence." * " When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it. It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, for the widow ; that Jehovah thy God shall bless thee in all the work of thy hands." ' " Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them. Thou shalt surely bring them
' See for the oldest of them the (jreater Rook of the Covenant, anti', chap, xvii., p. 117.
' See 2 Kings xxii. The call of Jeremiah is put at 626 B.C. ; the finding of Deuteronomy at 621 ; much of the substance of the book is far older.
* Deut. XXV, 14, 15.
* lb., xxiv, 14, 15. 'Deut. xxiv, 17, iS. */^., i6 ; cf., Jer. xxxi, 30; Ez. xviii. 'lb., 19 ; cf. ib., 20, 21.
ISRAEL'S SPIRITUAL GROWTH. 145
again to thy brother. " ' " Thou shalt surely open thine hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to the poor in thy land." '
Israel knew little of the blithe joys of living. " Be- cause the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, mincing as they go, and making a twinkling with their feet ; therefore Jehovah will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts. ' ' ' Phrases like these, followed by passion- ate enumeration of the wretched tiring ornaments, tell the prophet's temperament, — the sterner temper of Israel, — as well as denounce the vanity of her daughters. Israel had no light heart for innocent mirth. With her there was the laugh of scorn and scorn of laughter; but laugh- ter was natural only to the scorner and the fool. Israel was the dark Puritan of antiquity; her high energies were set on the business of her God. In an intense, passion- ate way she cared for the blessings of the promised land, the blessings of her homes: "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine" ; " Love is strong as death; many waters cannot quench it";* " A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband ; her children shall rise up and call her blessed." " No race had a deeper sense than Israel of the worth of love and the blessedness of home.' Nev- ertheless light-hearted, tripping pleasure formed no part of her priestly devoted ideal — there were so many pleas- ures in the groves of Baal !
' Deut. xxii, 1 ; cf. Ex. xxiii, 4, 5, where the precept extends to "thine enemy." * Canticles vi. 3 ; viii, 6, 7.
^ III., XV, II. * Prov. xii, 4 ; xxxi, 28.
^ Isaiah iii, 16, etc. ^ See Ps. cxxvii, cxxviii.
VOL. II. — 10
innimiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiinimiiiiiiiiiiHfflHHiwwwimiBHimwHiiimi
CHAPTER XIX.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
THE Messianic conception, the Messianic ideal, the Messianic hope, was all in all as well as many things to Israel. It was all in all because it com- prehended Jehovah's covenants with Abraham, with Israel at Sinai, and with David ; because it compre- hended Israel's thought of Jehovah's faithful- Comprehen- ness, his guidance, aid, and love, without sivenessand^^,j^j|,j-j jgrael could attain neither righteousness Diversity of . , , • i i ,
Messianic "*-*^ prosperity ; and because it comprehended
Thought. the higher thought, gradually revealed to Israel, of Jehovah's rule over all peoples, a rule intending universal redemption, and within which infinite intent was Jehovah's purpose with his chosen people, that they should be perfected in righteousness for the redemption of all nations.
The Messianic thought was also many things to Israel, assuming divers forms at different times, and affording various modes of cheer and comfort to Israel or to Israel- ites. For the Messianic hope looked forward to a prince of the house of David, who should uphold Israel in right- eous prosperity, dominant over other peoples. Under his rule should come peace and blessedness. Then the Messianic hope took other forms; it looked on Israel as a holy nation of priests to Jehovah, mediating between him and the peoples; then it looked for at least a rem- nant knowing Jehovah and self-devoted to his service, and then forward to a servant of Jehovah, perfect in
146
ittroa
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
H7
The Covenants and the Messiah- King.
righteousness, a suffering redeemer rather than a reigning prince. Its farthest anticipation was of a regenerate time when, on the hearts of his people, chosen from Israel and from all nations, Jehovah should have written his law, so that no longer would there be a seeking to know Jehovah, but universal knowledge of him and the posses- sion of his spirit. Then should Jehovah come a presence upon earth.
The Hebrews knew of covenants made between Jeho- vah and men before the days of Abraham.' Messianic thought may have looked back to them ; it cer- tainly looked back to the covenant between Jehovah and Abraham, when God promised to make him a great nation, " and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed."" The covenant with Abraham was a foundation for all phases of Messianic thought, including the thought of Israel as Jehovah's servant and the conception of a Mes- siah-king. For the period of the Exodus, the covenant at Sinai expresses the first,' and Balaam's prophecy* the second of these conceptions. In Balaam's prophecy the idea of a king in Israel is general. The Messianic con- ception of a royal line first becomes clear in the covenant with David, which Jehovah makes by the mouth of Nathan: " Moreover, Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee an house. When thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men ; but my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be made sure forever before
r:
' See ante, p. 121. * Gen. xii, 1-3.
' See post , p. 155. * Num. xxiii, 21.
f*^1^'
--"M
CHAPTER XIX.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
THE Messianic conception, the Messianic ideal, the Messianic hope, was all in all as well as many things to Israel. It was all in all because it com- prehended Jehovah's covenants with Abraham, with Israel at Sinai, and with David ; because it compre- hended Israel's thought of Jehovah's faithful- Comprehen- ness, his guidance, aid, and love, without siveness and ^^j^jj,j^ Israel could attain neither righteousness Diversity of . , , . i i .
Messianic ^^^ prosperity ; and because it comprehended
Thought. the higher thought, gradually revealed to Israel, of Jehovah's rule over all peoples, a rule intending universal redemption, and within which infinite intent was Jehovah's purpose with his chosen people, that they should be perfected in righteousness for the redemption of all nations.
The Messianic thought was also many things to Israel, assuming divers forms at different times, and affording various modes of cheer and comfort to Israel or to Israel- ites. For the Messianic hope looked forward to a prince of the house of David, who should uphold Israel in right- eous prosperity, dominant over other peoples. Under his rule should come peace and blessedness. Then the Messianic hope took other forms; it looked on Israel as a holy nation of priests to Jehovah, mediating between him and the peoples; then it looked for at least a rem- nant knowing Jehovah and self-devoted to his service, and then forward to a servant of Jehovah, perfect in
146
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. I47
righteousness, a suffering redeemer rather than a reigning prince. Its farthest anticipation was of a regenerate time when, on the hearts of his people, chosen from Israel and from all nations, Jehovah should have written his law, so that no longer would there be a seeking to know Jehovah, but universal knowledge of him and the posses- sion of his spirit. Then should Jehovah come a presence upon earth.
The Hebrews knew of covenants made between Jeho- vah and men before the days of Abraham.' Messianic thought may have looked back to them ; it cer- tainly looked back to the covenant between The Jehovah and Abraham, when God promised to Covenants
make him a great nation, " and in thee shall all « • , ° ' Messian-
the families of the earth be blessed. "'' The King,
covenant with Abraham w^as a foundation for all phases of Messianic thought, including the thought of Israel as Jehovah's servant and the conception of a Mes- siah-king. For the period of the Exodus, the covenant at Sinai expresses the first,' and Balaam's prophecy* the second of these conceptions. In Balaam's prophecy the idea of a king in Israel is general. The Messianic con- ception of a royal line first becomes clear in the covenant with David, which Jehovah makes by the mouth of Nathan: " Moreover, Jehovah telleth thee that Jehovah will make thee an house. When thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men ; but my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be made sure forever before
' See ante, p. 121. 3 See/^j/, p. 155.
* Gen. xii, 1-3. *■ Num. xxiii, 21.
148 ANCIENT IDEALS.
thee; thy throne shall be established forever." ' David answers in prayerful thanksgiving, recognizing Jehovah's choice of Israel for his people and his choice of David's house to earthly kingship over them forever;^ and in the great psalm which is most surely his, David sings at the close :
Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Jehovah, among
the nations, And to thy name will I sing praises, Who giveth great victory to his king, And showeth loving-kindness to his anointed, To David and his seed forevermore.'
Conceptions of the fortunes and character of the ideal king are set forth in a number of psalms, referred by many to the time of David. The king is a righteous ruler;* Jehovah bids him sit on his right hand till he make his enemies his footstool ; the king shall be forever " priest after the order of Melchizedek, " and shall judge among the nations.' The seventy-second psalm, ascribed to Solomon, tells the ideal of kingly function and its beneficent effect :
O God, give thy judgments unto the king.
And thy righteousness to the king's son.
May he decide the cause of thy people with righteousness,
And of thine afflicted with judgment.
May the mountains bring forth peace unto the people,
And the hills in righteousness.
May he judge the afflicted of the people,
Save the sons of the poor,
And crush the oppressor !
(So that) they fear thee as long as the sun (endureth).
Let him be as rain coming down upon the mown grass,
As showers that water the earth.
' 2 Sam., vii, 11-17.
* lb., 18-29. ■* See 2 Sam. xxiii, 1-7.
' Ps. xviii, 49, 50. * Ps. ex.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. I49
Let the righteous flourish in his days,
And abundance of peace till there be no more moon,
And let him have dominion from sea to sea,
And from the river to the ends of the earth.
Before him let the inhabitants of the wilderness bow,
And let his enemies lick the dust.
Let the kings of Tarshish and the isles render gifts,
Let the Kings of Sheba and Saba offer presents.
Yea, let all the kings bow themselves before him.
Let all nations serve him ! '
Evidently the line of David, the kingly Messianic line, in its rule should reflect the righteousness of Jehovah, who had established it ; and the closeness of the ideal king to Jehovah is shown by the declaration of Jehovah's fathership and the king's sonship, expressed in the cove- nant with David, and with more distinct Messianic fore- casting in the second psalm :
Jehovah said unto me. Thou art my son.
This day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations thine inheritance.
And the uttermost parts of the earth thy possession.'
David while he lived was in all respects a sufficient king to Israel, having kingly righteousness and all kingly fac- ulty. The covenant with him was for an establishment of his seed forever, with tacit assumption that his de- scendants would continue righteous kings; or if they erred, would be brought back to righteousness by Jeho- vah's chastisement. But even Solomon in all his glory was not the darling king of Israel as David had been, and after Solomon the kingdom fell in twain. Judah, where David's line continued, was cut off from the greater part of her strength by the establishment of the ten tribes as the Northern Kingdom, and even the reign of an ener- getic monarch like Uzziah failed to bring back more than a short semblance of David's power. With difficulty the
' Ps. Ixxii, i-ii, Perowne's translation. ' Perowne's translation.
I50 ANCIENT IDEALS.
two small unfriendly monarchies maintained themselves against the hostile neighbors who beset them ; and when Assyria began to interfere and conquer, their chances seemed to hang on threads of devious policy and entan- gling alliance. Neither in character nor in power was the line which held the divine promise worthy of it. But the hope of Israel clung to Jehovah's word, and as these monarchs declined from their great pattern, Israel's inspired hope, dashed in its attachment to David's line, gathered itself around an expected scion. The fortunes of both kingdoms were falling; but Jehovah's word was sure. Therefore it must be that a great prince of David's house should arise, and restore the ancient splendor; yes, and more; for, as the visions expanded with the horizons of a later age, this great prince of Israel was conceived as a universal monarch. In the passages from psalms already cited, the thought of ideal kingship has begun to transfer itself from a line to an individual. The prophets, writing in vicious times, saw the kingly Messiah as a restorer, then as a deliverer of Israel not only from her enemies, but from her sins; and finally, not as a con- queror, but as a prince of peace. But never is the Messiah-King surrounded by earthly pomp. He is a righteous king, who draws his breath in the fear of Jeho- vah. His personality carries suggestion of one not alto- gether of the earth.
First Amos prophesies that Jehovah will sift his people
till the sinners of them die by the sword ; then will he
restore the fallen house of David and bring
again his people from the captivity which Amos IVIessi3.h- o 1 A L J
Kine in the ^^^ drawing nigh the Northern Kingdom.' Prophets. Hosea follows with many prophecies of Jeho- vah's loving restoration of Israel. These prophets do not refer to the activity of any human king; but in a following generation is described a victorious prince of peace :
' Amos ix.
MESSIANIC PROPHEC Y. 1 5 I
Exult greatly, O daughter of Zion,
Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem,
Lo, thy king cometh to thee.
Righteous and victorious is he,
Lowly and riding upon an ass,
Even upon a colt, the foal of an ass.
And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,
And the horse from Jerusalem,
And the battle-bow will be cut off,
And he will speak peace to the nations,
And his rule shall be from sea to sea.
And from the river unto the ends of the earth.*
All prophetic passages referring to the restoring or redeeming agency and wide rule of the Messianic king set his power in Jehovah's omnipotence. The Messiah's righteousness is the reflection of Jehovah's, his might is Jehovah's arm ; his entire activity and function is but the visible bringing down to earth of Jehovah's rule ; or Jeho- vah himself is thought as coming to earth, or at least as exerting directly the beneficent activities of a king. "And it shall come to pass in the after days that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall become fixed at the head of the mountains, and be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall stream unto it. And many peoples shall set forth and say, ' Come, let us go up to the moun- tain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob, and let him teach us out of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.' For from Zion shall go forth the instruction, and the word of Jehovah. from Jerusalem. And he shall judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples ; and they shall beat their swords into coulters, and their spears into pruning-knives ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." '
1 Zech. ix, 9-10. Translation from Briggs' Messianic Prophecy, p. 184 j cf. Micah.v, 1-4. The post- or pre-exilic date of the last six chapters of Zechariah is doubtful. See Driver, hitrodtiction to the Old Testament.
* Is. ii, 2-4, Cheyne. Substantially the same as Micah iv, 1-5. Either both Isaiah and Micah quote from an older prophet, or one quotes from the other, probably Isaiah from Micah.
152 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Such a passage shows the righteousness of Jehovah exerting itself in a mode almost identical with the benefi- cent activity of his son and vicar, the Messianic king. It also suggests the wide purpose of Jehovah's restoration of his people, a purpose which partly unfolds itself in passages of Isaiah descriptive of the personality of the Messiah. Ahaz, threatened by the kings of Israel and Syria, will not ask of Isaiah a sign of Jehovah's salvation. Nevertheless, a sign shall there be, Jehovah will give it. A young woman is with child, and shall bring forth a son, and before he knows to reject the evil and choose the good, the land whose kings now terrify Ahaz shall be for- saken, and the young woman — she, and no father of the child mentioned — shall call his name Immanuel.' A simple prophecy this — before the infancy ends of a child already in the womb, the lands of Syria and northern Israel shall be laid waste by the King of Assyria " — a sim- ple prophecy, except for the child's name, God-with-us. The prophet has in mind that being who shall bring Jehovah's reign down to earth, shall bring to pass his own name, God-with-us.
Soon the prophet descries the character and effect of the Messiah. He beholds coming to meet the exigencies of his own times a kingly personality divinely efificient to redeem all time. Those whom Jehovah has seen fit to afflict, their gloom shall be broken; "the people that walk in darkness see a great light ; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, light shineth upon them. Thou hast multiplied the nation, thou hast increased joy; they rejoice before thee as with the joy in the har- vest, as men exult when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden and the staff of his back, the rod of his task-master, thou hast broken as in the day of Mid- ian. . . . For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the rule rests upon his shoulder, and they
' Is. vii, 13-16.
' And devastation shall come on Judah too. — lb., 17, etc.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 1 53
call his name Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty God, Father Everlasting, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his gov- ernment and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to estabhsh it and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from henceforth even forever. The jealousy of Jehovah of Hosts will do this," ' In effect, the Messiah-King is God's presence on earth. There can be no severance of his career from Jehovah's all-effecting will.
Isaiah in his eleventh chapter further describes the character of the Messiah, stating that he shall be of David's line: " And there shall rest upon him the spirit of Jehovah, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah. And he shall not judge according to the sight of his eyes, nor decide according to the hearing of his ears ; but with righteous- ness shall he judge the poor, and arbitrate with equity for the humble in the land ; and smite the terrible with the sceptre of his mouth, and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins."* Then follows a picture of the Messianic time when the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and all things be at peace: " And it shall come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall all the nations seek." ^
This delineation of the Messiah-King seems to spring from a time requiring stern righteousness. Isaiah in a later chapter tells of the king's humaneness, and discloses the regeneration which his rule shall bring in the minds of men: " Behold, righteously the king shall reign; and the princes, justly shall they rule; and a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tem- pest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of those who see shall not be closed, and the ears of those who hear shall hearken ; and the heart of the hasty shall understand
' Is. ix, 2-7. » Is. xi, 1-5. * Is. xi, 10.
154 ANCIENT IDEALS.
knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly." '
After Micah and Isaiah, no prophet added essentially to the conception of the Messiah-King, who in times of the Exile is replaced by the servant of Jehovah, no more a monarch, but a sufferer. The prophecies of Jeremiah mark a midway point. In his time there was still a sem- blance of a king in Judah, but no kingly reality to which the prophet could attach a living hope of Israel's future restoration. There still remained Jehovah's promise of the continuance of David's line. So this prophet of un- shaken faith in Jehovah and passionate despair of tempo- ralities, could look for a restorer only in his God, who, with other blessings for Israel, should then raise up a Branch to reign in prosperity and righteousness, doing justice in the earth." With Jeremiah this Messiah-King is a light which has paled in the one divine effulgence of " Jehovah our righteousness." And in truth what need of a king on earth in that spiritually conceived Messianic time when Jerusalem shall be a habitation of righteous- ness and a mount of holiness, when no child shall suffer for its father's sins, and Jehovah shall write his law on the heart of each redeemed Israelite, and every one shall know him ? ' Then will government be a direct theoc- racy proceeding from the heart of every man.
The Messiah-King did not exhaust the Messianic
thought of Israel. Neither as a righteous, all-ruling
monarch, nor yet as a lowly prince of peace,
did he reflect in the full Jehovah's character Servant of .... , . ... ,
Tehovah ^^ *^ might be brought to realization on earth.
For this phase of Messianic thought hardly
touched the deep intensity of Jehovah's love — love which
clings and yearns and purposes till it redeems; love
which in the meantime, while its self-willed people stray
in sin, cannot but suffer. Neither did prophecies of the
' Is. xxxii, 1-5.
' See Jer. xxiii, 5-7 ; xxxiii, 14-26. ^ Jer. xxxi, 23-35.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. I 55
Messiah-King entirely unfold the purpose of Jehovah's restoration of Israel, suggested in the call of Abram — " in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed " — and more definitely outlined in the Sinai words, " Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation," ' — a kingdom of priests, for the priestly office is to mediate between God and men ; an holy nation, not numbered with the rest of earth's peoples, but set apart, holy to Jehov^ah and sanctified to the spread of the knowledge of him. This is the thought of Israel as Jehovah's servant; and in it may be noted the concep- tion of Israel serving Jehovah as his priest, a mediator in the simple sense between Jehovah and mankind, spread- ing knowledge of him and his will among the nations ; and then the thought of Israel, or an Israelite, revealing on earth the depths of Jehovah's love, suffering as the divine love must suffer at the sins of men, and redeeming men, as love redeems, bringing them back to the presence of their God, and atoning for the sins of others.
The early thought'' that Jehovah chose Israel to be his servant remained united with the consciousness that this vocation to Jehovah's service was Israel's choicest privi- lege. But it was only in the Exile, under the teaching of its suffering, borne in upon the heart of a mature and thoughtful people, that Jehovah revealed to Israel the scope and nature of the service he demanded. Prophetic utterances in the latter part of the book of Isaiah then disclosed the service of universal mediation and of blessed and atoning suffering which was the portion of Jehovah's Servant ; and promises of forgiveness and restoration to her own loved hills were so made parcel of this teaching, that the twice delivered Israel might ever know the pur- pose of the will which led her back with words of peace and comfort to Jerusalem.
In these chapters ' the prophet first addresses Israel as Jehovah's servant. Jehovah loved all the seed of Abra-
' Ex. xix, 6. "^ Cf. Ex. iv, 23 (J.). ^ Is. xli-xliv, xlviii-liii.
156 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ham, would indeed have loved them. But was Israel all righteous ? Was she altogether willing ? Did not the
weak and rebel will within her make many mem- ^"® . bers unfit for that service which must rise to "Second- self-sacrifice, and buffetings received, and mar- Isaiah." tyrdom ? Inasmuch as Israel's part was service
free and willing, Jehovah could not look on all her members as true servants, for they were not. So the conception of " Israel my servant" must perforce restrict itself to the remnant representing the strength and eflfi- cient righteousness of the nation. Then the conception of the service, in its full and perfect sacrifice, rises above the capacities even of a few, till to the prophet's vision it is seen to rest only within the answering personality of One.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her guilt is atoned for, that she hath received of the hand of Jehovah double for all her sins." ' A voice calls. Clear ye for Jehovah a way through the wilderness. Another voice. All flesh is grass, but the word of our God shall stand forever. And Zion's watchers are bidden announce Jehovah's coming ; strength to the weary is at hand. At last Israel is spoken to with words of love: " But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend, thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the cor- ners thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away ; fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God ; I will strengthen thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." ' So far the servant is all Israel, the people of Jehovah chosen unto his sure sheltering; so far the servant is served. But soon is heard what Jehovah seeks, wherein ' Is. xl, I. 5 Is. xli, 8-10,
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. \ 5 7
lies the purpose of his choice of Israel, and his purpose in restoring her. The thought still echoes of Jehovah's aid, as the words begin again: " Behold my servant whom I uphold ; mine elect, in whom my soul is well pleased. I have put my spirit upon him, he shall cause the law to go forth to the nations. He shall not cry or clamor, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A crushed reed he shall not break, and a dimly burning wick he shall not quench ; truthfully shall he cause the law to go forth. He shall not burn dimly, neither shall his spirit be crushed, till he have set the law in the earth, and for his teaching the countries wait. ... I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and taken hold of thy hand, and will keep thee, and will appoint thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations; to open blind eyes, to bring out captives from the prison, and those who sit in darkness from the house of restraint." '
This is Israel, Jehovah's servant, upheld by him; such the service to which she is called, and such the gentle, steadfast, unremitting mode in which her God would be served, that his law should be set in the earth by his ser- vant, called in righteousness to be a light to the nations. It is Israel, all the seed of Abraham, as Jehovah would have them, but as they were not. This description of a perfect servant implies already a winnowing of chaff from wheat — from the little wheat. Between this ideal servant Israel and the race, as it had been ever, as it yet was, still lingering in Babylon after the call to go forth, what contrast ! And in bitterness the prophet's thoughts fall to the actual Israel: " Hear ye deaf, and look ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant, or deaf as my messenger that I send ? . . . Thou seest many things, but thou observest not ; his ears are open, but he heareth not."' Hear ye deaf, look ye blind! Will they never look or hear ? It is you, Israel, my ser- vant, that is blind. For his pleasure hath Jehovah made
' Is. xlii, 1-7, Cheyne. ^ Is. xlii, iS, etc.
158 ANCIENT IDEALS.
your instruction great and glorious, and yet — it is a peo- ple robbed, plundered, snared, become a prey! Who but Jehovah — will no one of you give ear ? — who but Jehovah did this, delivered you up for your sins ?
Again come words of love and assurance, then exhor- tation. Let this servant Israel arise, blind people, yet with eyes, deaf people, yet with ears. They might see and hear. Let them at least bear witness to the sole god-head of their Holy One, Jehovah, who holds them as more than other peoples: I, even I, blot out thy rebel- lions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins;' and I will pour out my spirit on thy seed.' Now admo- nitions follow against sins, the idols which wither and burn in the divine scorn.' Again, more promises of deliv- erance, references to Cyrus, calls to go forth : Go ye out from Babylon, flee from Chaldaea, proclaim it to earth's ends, Jehovah hath redeemed his servant Jacob.*
A new section of prophecy begins at the opening of the forty-ninth chapter. Israel's higher consciousness answers Jehovah's call; Israel, not all the sons of Jacob, but Israel after the spirit, Jehovah's conscious servant, speaks: " Listen, O isles, to me, and hearken ye peoples from far. Jehovah hath called me from the womb, and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and he hath made me a polished shaft ; in his quiver hath he kept me close. And he said unto me, Thou art my servant, Israel in whom I shall be glorified. [And] I said I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought. . Yet my right is with Jehovah, and my recom- pense with my God. And now, saith Jehovah, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring back Jacob to him, and that Israel may be gathered to him, — for I am honored in the eyes of Jehovah, and my God is become my strength — he saith, It is too light a
' Is. xliii. ' lb., xliv.
' lb., xliv, 4. ^ Ib.y xlviii, 20.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 1 59
thing that thou shouldest be a servant unto me to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. So I appoint thee for a light to the nations, to be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Thus saith Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, unto him who is despised of man, whom the people abhorreth, a servant of rulers. Kings shall see and rise up, princes they shall bow down, because of Jehovah who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. Thus saith Jehovah, In a favorable time I an- swer thee, and in a day of salvation I help thee; and I keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to assign the desolate heritages, saying to the bounden. Go forth ; to those who are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger nor thirst ; the mirage and the sun shall not smite them ; for he that hath compassion upon them shall lead them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Lo, these shall come from far ; and lo, these from the north and from the west . . . Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth, for Jehovah comforteth his people, and hath compassion on his afflicted ones." *
Israel's national experience is transformed to the con- sciousness of her call to Jehovah's service. The thought- connection throughout this passage lies in the servant's faith and love of God: Listen, ye nations! Jehovah called me, formed me a ready instrument, kept me safe. I have thought that I labored in vain, yet sure is Jeho- vah's reward, and far reaches his purpose. I am a light to the nations, not to my weak ones alone. Mocked I shall be and abhorred ; yet kings shall bow down to my God, and I am his chosen. My desolate ones, they shall be led back by Jehovah through me; his hand shall lead and provide, from afar shall they come. Sing, O heavens, ' Is. xlix, 1-13.
l6o ANCIENT IDEALS.
Jehovah comforts his people. Here is readiness to serve, faith not in self, but in Jehovah ; exultation over the ser- vice; and at last the Israelite's heart turns to the joy of his own people restored by their gracious God.
The next chapter, the fiftieth, shows the Servant even more completely sanctified, in closer communion with his God, meek in readiness to suffer, strong in certitude of victory: "The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of disciples, that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary ; he wakeneth morning by morn- ing, wakeneth mine ear to hear as disciples. The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backward. I gave my back to the smit- ers, and my cheek to them that plucked out the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. But the Lord Jehovah shall help me, therefore am I not confounded ; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Near is he that justifieth me : who will contend with me ? Let us stand forth together ; who is my adversary? Let him come near to me."' This is the spiritual " he teacheth mine hands to war and my fingers to fight." Where Jehovah is, there is no fear, save fear of the Lord.
The Servant is perfect here. The prophet is looking forward to an entire sanctification, to a perfect service of suffering. Could there be many, even a remnant, in Israel to reach this height ? The prophets of the fore- time were in this prophet's mind — Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and the other devoted ones of times before the Exile. Moses had sinned in wrath, Elijah had laid him down in despair, Isaiah had been called on to suffer only in his outraged righteousness, and Jeremiah had bewailed the day of his birth. If hardly one of these could be thought perfect, could the prophet see or foresee any band of Israel's sons who should surpass them ? Even as the thought of Messiah-kingship had. from a royal line,
' Is. 1, 4-8.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. l6l
turned to an individual, might not the prophet's thought of Jehovah's servant, baffled of the hope of many, un- certain in its expectation of a few, again find refuge in the thought of One ?' This is the meaning of the pic- ture of wisdom, righteousness, and efficient and atoning suffering, presented by the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, which again, be it noticed, follows closely on assurances of aid and loving promises from Jehovah, on joyful bid- dings to Zion to arise and put on strength at the vision on the mountains of the feet of him that bringeth good
tidings.
" Behold my servant shall deal wisely (or prosper), he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Like as many were astonied at thee (his visage ^^^.^^ j... was so marred from that of man and his form from that of the sons of men), so shall he startle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths before him. For that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
' It would be foreign to the prophetic manner for the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah to culminate in more specific assertion than it contains of the final single individuality of Jehovah's servant. Just as, throughout the prophets, the nature of Jehovah is set forth by telling of his functions in the world and relations to mankind, so in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah the essential nature, human or divine, and the individuality of the servant is set forth through telling of his portion among men. The tendency toward dis- criminating individual from individual, not only in character and occupation, but in fortune good or ill, and recompense received from God, had appeared before the Exile. Jehovah's love, shown toward Abraham, was thought to continue to his seed forever. Conversely, the Mosaic Jehovah of the second commandment visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation. So was it natural in David's time that Israel should suffer for the error of her king in numbering her (2 Samuel, xxiv). From such wide retributive consequences, conceived as natural be- cause of the undiscriminated solidarity of the family or nation, it was a far course to Jeremiah's disapproval of the proverb, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge" (Jer., xxxi, 29, 30), —a disapproval which in Ezekiel, writing in the beginning of the Exile, has become detailed statement of the opposite principle : the wicked son of a righteous man shall suffer, but the righteous son of a wicked man shall live (Ez. xviii ; cf. Ez. xiv, 12, and iii, 16). Likewise the question put by
ANCIENT IDEALS.
" Who believed that which we heard, and to whom was the arm of Jehovah revealed ? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He had no form or comeliness that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should desire him. He was de- spised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness ; and as one from whom men hide their faces ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he bore our sicknesses and hath laden him- self with our pains ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.' But he was pierced for our sins, and crushed for guilt that was ours. The chas- tisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep went astray ; we turned every one to his own way ; and Jehovah made to light upon him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself, and
Jeremiah, Why does the way of the wicked prosper (Jer. xii, i ; c/. Hab. i, 13)? and the converse question of the book of Job, Why does the righteous man suffer? — indicate much thinking on the difference of indi- vidual lots, and presuppose discrimination among individuals respecting their deserts from God. These individualistic modes of thought were developed in the Exile, when national life was checked. If Israelites then were suffering for their fathers' sins, would they not think all things over, and from novel points of view ? Jerusalem, the kingdom of Judah, was destroyed, only the name of David's line remained. If it was becoming hard to think of Jehovah as God of a nation which had ceased to be, all the more did sorrow bring to the heart of every consolation-seeking exile the thought of Jehovah as his God. From whatever beginning, or with what- ever motive, individualistic thinking begins among a people, it extends till it completes its course of discrimination or even severance. Thinkers of the Exile would more and more think, act, and speak out their individualities (a mark of Exilic writings — Ewald), reach a keen sense of the moral differ- ences among the exiled people, and perceive who did or did not merit Jehovah's love, and who were worthy to serve him. So for the prophet or prophets of the " second Isaiah," who readily discriminated between the fitness of the nation as a whole and of its better part to serve Jehovah, it was a natural course, as the ideal of that ser\'ice rose, at last to think of one supremely righteous indi\4dual, who alone could answer its demands. ' /. ^., as being a guilty person.
•1^^
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
163
opened not his mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before his shearers is dumb, yea, he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judg- ment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that ' he was cut off out of the land of the liv- ing, for the transgression of my people was he stricken ?' And they made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, although he had done no wrong, neither was deceit in his mouth.
" But it was Jehovah's purpose to bruise him ; he made him sick. If he should lay down his soul an offering for guilt, he would see a [his] seed, would prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah would prosper in his hand. From the travail of his soul shall he see and be satisfied ; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant make many righteous, and he shall bear the burden of their guilt. Therefore will I set him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors ; yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." '
Almost all trouble that is mended on earth, almost all
guilt whose effects on the sinner and on others are done
away, is removed through the effort or toil or
suffering of someone besides the sinner. All Divine
,., ... .... EfBciency
life suggests the vicarious principle, the atone-^j g^^^^.-^
ment which all men, and, most of all. the noblest, pay for each other. Suffering for others, atone- ment, are thoughts which rise from all conceptions of noble-hearted toil.
All peoples have had high thoughts of beneficent effort. It was disclosed to Israel in exile, that the inner working efficiency of such effort lay in loving willingness to suffer. Not in the deed accomplished, the great victory- won, the wise law promulgated, the just judgment decreed, the widow's wrong righted, the starving brother fed, the
' Is. Hi, 13 — liii.
-^^'l^
l62 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" Who believed that which we heard, and to whom was the arm of Jehovah revealed ? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He had no form or comeliness that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should desire him. He was de- spised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with sickness ; and as one from whom men hide their faces ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
" Surely he bore our sicknesses and hath laden him- self with our pains ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.' But he was pierced for our sins, and crushed for guilt that was ours. The chas- tisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep went astray; we turned every one to his own way ; and Jehovah made to light upon him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, yet he humbled himself, and
Jeremiah, Why does the way of the wicked prosper (Jer. xii, i ; cf. Hab. i, 13)? and the converse question of tlie book of Job, Why does the righteous man suffer ? — indicate much thinking on the difference of indi- vidual lots, and presuppose discrimination among individuals respecting their deserts from God. These individualistic modes of thought were developed in the Exile, when national life was checked. If Israelites then were suffering for their fathers' sins, would they not think all things over, and from novel points of view ? Jerusalem, the kingdom of Judah, was destroyed, only the name of David's line remained. If it was becoming hard to think of Jehovah as God of a nation which had ceased to be, all the more did sorrow bring to the heart of every consolation-seeking exile the thought of Jehovah as his God. From whatever beginning, or with what- ever motive, individualistic thinking begins among a people, it extends till it completes its course of discrimination or even severance. Thinkers of the Exile would more and more think, act, and speak out their individualities (a mark of Exilic writings — Ewald), reach a keen sense of the moral differ- ences among the exiled people, and perceive who did or did not merit Jehovah's love, and who were worthy to serve him. So for the prophet or prophets of the " second Isaiah," who readily discriminated between the fitness of the nation as a whole and of its better part to serve Jehovah, it was a natural course, as the ideal of that service rose, at last to think of one supremely righteous individual, who alone could answer its demands. ' /. e., as being a guilty person.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 1 63
opened not his mouth ; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before his shearers is dumb, yea, he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judg- ment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered that ' he was cut off out of the land of the liv- ing, for the transgression of my people was he stricken ?' And they made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, although he had done no wrong, neither was deceit in his mouth.
" But it was Jehovah's purpose to bruise him; he made him sick. If he should lay down his soul an offering for guilt, he would see a [his] seed, would prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah would prosper in his hand. From the travail of his soul shall he see and be satisfied ; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant make many righteous, and he shall bear the burden of their guilt. Therefore will I set him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors ; yet he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." '
Almost all trouble that is mended on earth, almost all
guilt whose effects on the sinner and on others are done
away, is removed through the effort or toil or
suffering of someone besides the sinner. All Divine
Efficiency life suggests the vicarious principle, the atone-^^f g^g.gj.j
ment which all men, and, most of all, the noblest, pay for each other. Suffering for others, atone- ment, are thoughts which rise from all conceptions of noble-hearted toil.
All peoples have had high thoughts of beneficent effort. It was disclosed to Israel in exile, that the inner working efficiency of such effort lay in loving willingness to suffer. Not in the deed accomplished, the great victory won, the wise law promulgated, the just judgment decreed, the widow's wrong righted, the starving brother fed, the
' Is. lii, 13 — liii.
1 64 ANCIENT IDEALS.
enemy's ass delivered from the pit, — not in these acts themselves lay the efficient principle of that service which was eternally righteous and efficient in the redeeming purposes of God. It lay in love, in willingness to suffer, — a loving willingness which here on earth, so long as men shall sin, cannot but find need to realize itself in palpable suffering and self-sacrifice, even in martyrdom. With Israel, man's love of man had the highest motive and the highest sanction in God's love of man, and man's love of God reflecting it. Even as God acts towards his creatures shall man strive to act towards Him. But God is high above, and needs nothing; man must show his love and righteousness, which primarily are a reflex and a recognition of God's ways, by Godlike acts towards men. Israel conceived all human righteousness as a do- ing of Jehovah's commands; and Jehovah's commands to men were chords of his own nature. He uas loving towards men ; ' men should be loving towards each other. And if with enlightened, exiled Israel, man's highest ser- vice of Jehovah lay in loving willingness to suffer and in actual suffering, was Jehovah to be thought to have demanded of man anything of which his own nature was not capable and even might not undergo ? "In the image of God created he him." The highest service of Jehovah's perfect servant lay in suffering; he poured out his soul unto death. Had not Immanuel — God-with-us — suffered himself, and in his land ? "" Was not the Mes- siah-King, in his more fully disclosed personality, to be meek and lowly, qualities which are capacities of suffering patiently if needs be, although there was to be no more suffering when he came ? Israel's highest thought of beings on earth — and she had no clear thought of life some other how or where — was of beings who suffered or could suffer. Moreover, highest love, the pure desire
' At least towards Israel ; and the thought of Jehovah's loving care of all men was beginning in Isaiah and Jeremiah. See Jer. xlviii, 47 ; Is. xix, 23-25 ; xlix, 6. ^ lb., vii, 15 ; viii, 7, 8.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 165
of the beloved's good, entails suffering in the lover when the loved one comes to ill. What ill so sore as sin ? And what love so deep as Jehovah's ? How could Jeho- vah not suffer when men sinned ? Yes, he who longs to be gracious,' suffers for his people when they sin and reap the fruits : " In all his people's affliction he was afflicted. ' ' ' And, with the passion of God, Jehovah struggles for his people: " I have been still and refrained myself; now I will cry out like a travailing woman, I will pant and gasp together." *
And finally, the crowning likeness between Jehovah and his Servant : both love, both suffer, and both redeem. Jehovah is mighty to deliver from captivity. Israel's iniquity obstructs his redeeming purpose.* But the pur- pose of God will not be thwarted; it will surely effect righteousness through the punishment of the guilty, and the suffering even of those w^ho need no repentance. To cause righteousness to increase is part of Jehovah's crea- tive function. As a servant to work with him, he chooses Israel, then a better part, then a perfect one. And by perfect service here on earth, perfect wisdom, perfect righteousness, and love's offering perfected in suffering — perfect atonement corresponding to Jehovah's passionate redemptive purpose — the servant works with Jehovah, bears the burden of iniquity, lays down his soul an offer- ing for guilt, makes many righteous.
Israel was always practical and rational. In the whole compass of her religion, which included ethics, the sanc- tion of every act, the reason of its worth, lay
in its effect, which should be to the doer pros- . ,
, ^ 1 r- 1 Sanction of
penty or a nearer approach to God. buch Rjg-hteous-
sanction formed part of her highest Messianic ness.
thought as well as of the preparatory inferences
which, through her history, she had been drawing from
her experience. And the conception of the sanction
lifted itself up, keeping to the level of the righteous act,
' Is. XXX, 18. "^ lb., Ixiii, 9. » /^_^ jjii, 14. ^Ib., lix.
l66 ANCIENT IDEALS,
as Messianic thought held onward toward perfecting the conception of Jehovah's service.
From the first, there was the thought of prosperity fol- lowing obedience to Jehovah. This was the blessing' attached to Jehovah's service, which is repeated with renewed emphasis and enlarged detail in the successive utterances of the law: " Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all peoples."' This is the outline, and the earliest code more fully ex- presses the blessing thus: " If ye will serve Jehovah your God, he will bless thy bread and thy water, and I will remove sickness from thy midst. There shall not be one failing of her young or barren in the land ; the number of thy days will I fulfil. My terror will I send before thee, and I will discomfort all the people among whom you will come. . . . And I will make thy boundary from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the river. For I will give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou wilt drive them from thy presence." ° Deuteronomy and Leviticus enlarge upon this promised blessing, and apply it more to the condition of a settled community.* The correspond- ing curse is expressed at length in the song of Moses ' and elsewhere in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.'
Although these blessings in the main are promises of earthly prosperity, and the curses threaten earthly mis- ery, it would be improper to apply to them the term " temporal" in the sense of transient. For the prom- ised prosperity was thought to last as long as Israel would
' See Deut. xi, 26; and cf. Gen. xii, 1-3; xiii, 14-18; xv, 4, 5 ; xvii, 1-8 ; xxii, 15-18; xxviii, 13-16; xxxv, 9-12 ; Briggs' Messianic Prophecy, chap. iii.
^ Ex. xix, 5.
^ lb., xxiii, 25-31. Trans, from Briggs, ib., p. 115.
^ Deut. xxviii, 3-13 ; Lev. xxvi, 3-12.
' Deut. xxxii, 20-42.
* lb., xxviii ; Lev. xxvi ; see Briggs, ib., chap. iv.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 167
observe Jehovah's law; and all blessings and curses nec- essarily related to earthly life among a people without clear conception of another. Sheol's recesses were too dim to afford a vista of reward and retribution there ; moreover, this curse and blessing, which at first applied to the present and mortal existence of Israel in the Prom- ised Land, formed the basis of the tumultuous thoughts of a final day of judgment, which came to the prophets/ And perhaps, for this same reason of the incompleteness of the conception of a spiritual life after death, in pro- phetic pictures of the Judgment Day and Messianic bliss, there is a certain mingling of the simple earthly with con- ditions hardly to be materially realized on earth.
Israel had come to conceive her entire history as a series of judgments from Jehovah on her backslidings. It was quite in the course of her thought to
think that a last judgment, a final discrimina- , ,
•' ° Judgment.
tion, should usher in the Messianic time. Israel's restoration to Jerusalem formed a feature of this new beginning; and as she perceived more clearly Jeho- vah's purpose in her restoration, the conception of the Judgment Day broadened to include all nations; to all should like justice be applied, and from out of all peo- ples, those who turned to Jehovah should be saved.
The external features, the symbolic setting of Jeho- vah's day and the time following are familiar. The prophet Joel gives perhaps the general prototype of sub- sequent pictures.* But not all prophecies of the Messi- anic day give the same prominence to the same features. In outline these features are: A regeneration of nature; the earth shall freely give forth food ; all enmities of the brute creation, and between animals and man, shall cease ; * a righteous regeneration and restoration of Israel
' Briggs, ib., p. 117.
' Joel ii, 28 — iii. But not all scholars think Joel pre-exilic. Another early type is Isaiah ii, 1-4 ; Micah iv, 1-5.
^ Joel iii, 18 ; Amos ix, 13-15 ; Hos. ii, 21-23 ! Is. xi, 6-9 ; Is. xxxv.
1 68 ANCIENT IDEALS.
triumphant over her enemies, and a world-wide recogni- tion of Jehovah's sole divinity, all peoples thronging to his holy city ; ' universal peace on earth following storm ; ' the presence of Jehovah among his redeemed.'
Israel shall become holy and secure/ Her saved must indeed have become so, for only those who walk right- eously shall endure Jehovah's fires,' The source and means of Israel's righteousness as declared through Jere- miah is Jehovah's new covenant, when he shall write his law on his people's hearts.' The same thought is in Eze- kiel ; when Jehovah shall have gathered his people he will give them a new spirit, and a new heart of flesh, in the place of their heart of stone, that they may keep his stat- utes; "And they shall be my people, and I will be their God."' Zion's sun shall no more go down; Jehovah will be her everlasting light ; her people shall be all right- eous, they shall inherit the land forever.*
Israel's restoration is part of Jehovah's purpose to make her his witness unto all nations. This thought, Israel's when not expressed, is implicit in all the prom- Mediatorial ises of restoration ; not for herself alone, but Restora- {q^ -^w mankind, was she led back to Jerusalem ; and this thought forms part of the pictures of her Messianic salvation. ° In the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, Jehovah calls his people to assemble themselves from all the nations of their captivity; then the vision broadens beyond Israel: "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there
' Amos ix ; Zech. x, 12 ; viii ; Zeph. iii ; Jer. iii, 14-18 ; Is. xi, 10-16 ; xix, 16-25 ; xxiv-xxvii ; xxxiii ; xlix, 14-26 ; Iii, 7-12 ; Ivi, 6, 7 ; Ix ; Ixvi, 1-8.
^ Micah iv ; Is. ii, 4 ; xiii, 1-13 ; xxxiv ; Ixiii, 1-6 ; Zeph. i ; Hab. iii ; Ezek, xxxviii-xxxix ; Zech. xii ; xiv.
^ Ezek. xxxvii, 26-28 ; xl-xlviii, see Hab. iii. * Jer. xxxi, 31-34.
^ Is. iv, cf. Zech. xiv, 20, 21. ' Ezek. xi, 17-20 ; xxxvi, 26, 27.
' Is. xxxiii, 14, 15, * Is. Ix, 20, 21.
' See ante passim, also Is. xxv, 6 ; li, 1-8 ; Jer. iii, 14, 17 ; Zech. viii ; Zeph. iii, q.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 169
is none else. By myself have I sworn, the word is gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear," ' And at last Israel restored, prophetic — or speaking in the personality of her servantship — beholds her mission: " The spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to the bound ; to proclaim an acceptable year of Jehovah, and a day of vengeance of our God; to comfort the mournful ones of Zion, to give them a coronet instead of ashes, oil of joy for the raiment of mourning, a song of praise for a failing spirit, so that men shall call them oaks of righteousness, the plantation of Jehovah for showing himself glorious. And they shall build up the ruins of antiquity, the desolations of the forefathers shall they raise up, and shall renew the ruined cities, the desolations of past generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and aliens shall be your ploughmen and your vine-dressers; but ye — the priests of Jehovah shall ye be called ; men shall name you the ministers of our God ; the riches of the nations shall ye eat, and of their glory shall ye make your boast."' In this final writing of the Exile, the thought is of Israel — now Israel redeemed — all priests, priests unto mankind. In the desolate days of punishment which were to come and came on Israel for her sins, there would be enough of death and tribulation, mourning and sackcloth, in the land ; but the depths of deso- "^^^
lation lay not in famine-hunger for food, nor of Jehovah! famine-thirst for drink, but in the famine-want of the words of Jehovah, people running from east to west and not finding them, youths and maidens faint- ing for the restoring pity of Jehovah which had for- saken land and people. ' The absence of Jehovah's ' Is. xlv, 22, 23. « lb., Ixi, Cheyne. ^ ggg ^mos viii, 11.
170
ANCIENT IDEALS.
word, the all-covering desolation, God's face turned from his people, abandonment to unrighteousness and ruin, in- stead of his protecting arms, this was the bitterest woe of Israel in exile. But hope was to return. After tribula- tion Jehovah would restore his people, bring them back from captivity and dispersion; and as the thoughts of Israel's restoration brought mingling thoughts of Mes- sianic blessedness, the crowning thought of all was that of Jehovah's guidance, his word returning to his people,' his presence among them once more, in his city and in his people's hearts, as never in their unregenerate times. Jehovah was righteous, only the righteous could seek and find him, could know him; for knowledge of him was righteousness. Only among a wholly righteous people could Jehovah veritably dwell."
Israel had ever thought of her God as with her, most nearly with his servants the prophets. Her iniquities were the only severance. Had she but remained obedi- ent, there had been perennial fulfilment of the promise: " I will walk about in your midst."' But this would come in the Messianic time: " Sing and rejoice, O daugh- ters of Zion ; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah."* In his majesty will Jehovah be there;' " Jehovah is there" shall be the city's name.' " Hark, thy watchmen ! They lift up their voice; they cry together, for they see eye to eye the return of Jeho- vah to Zion." '
Lines of Messianic thought end in the vision of Jeho- vah's presence with his people, and as that vision becomes clearer, the thoughts of the human side of Messianic bringing to fulfilment fade or merge in the sense of divine presence working out the salvation of Israel and all man- kind. Even before the Exile, the Messiah-King has
' See Joel ii, 28. ^ Cf. Is. Ix, 19-22. ^ j^^y ^xvi. 12.
* Zech. ii, 10. ' Is. xxxiii, 21.
* Ezek. xlviii, 35. Through the last chapters of his book, Ezekiel con- ceives of Jehovah as filling his temple. See e.g., Ez. xliii, 1-7 ; and c/. xxxvii, 26-28. ' Is. Hi, 7-8.
^
4lk
1
MESSIANIC PROPHECY.
171
ceased to embody the divine effecting power, but is rather one among many objects of the divine grace/ In the Exile he has passed from the prophetic mind. There is Jehovah, supreme in righteousness and in the power of righteousness on earth. Beneath the shadow of his arms is Israel, his servant, serving him in a service no longer kingly, but priestly and prophetic, till the thought of service rises to suffering made perfect, and the attributes wherein the servant resembles Jehovah are no longer attributes of kingly power, but of martyr-love. Here again is human agency, corresponding with Jehovah's purpose. Perhaps the thought reverts to the first con- ception of Immanuel and the Prince of the four names; but the course of thought which clothed that Prince of God with divine power, is replaced by the conception of Jehovah's attributes as divinely present in a perfect, lov- ing, self-sacrificing, atoning Sufferer for men.' Not the power, but the suffering love of God is here brought down to earth. But again and again, with thoughts of perfect regenerate blessedness, there comes the vision of Jeho- vah's presence in the hearts of men and in his temple, now become a house of prayer for all peoples. The spirit of Jehovah is in his temple and upon the earth, and where so fully as in that Servant whom the prophet's eye beheld in partial vision, that Servant who, through reflecting Jehovah's suffering love, should, as the Messiah-King, but in a way as yet undisclosed to Israel, reflect Jeho- vah's power of righteousness ? Thus should the human spirit, perfect in love, perfect in power from God, take to itself Jehovah's attributes, his love, his wisdom, and his power of righteousness, till on earth there should be realized Israel's furthest dim beholden hope in the Word made flesh.
' See Jer, xxiii, 5-8 ; xxxiii, 14-22 ; and cf. Jer. xxx, xxxi, and ante.
* Possibly Ezekiel xxxiv, 11-31, speaking of " My servant David" and Zechariah iii, 8, speaking of "my servant Branch" connect the servant of Jehovah with the Messiah-King.
^t^^L
170 ANCIENT IDEALS.
word, the all-covering desolation, God's face turned from his people, abandonment to unrighteousness and ruin, in- stead of his protecting arms, this was the bitterest woe of Israel in exile. But hope was to return. After tribula- tion Jehovah would restore his people, bring them back from captivity and dispersion ; and as the thoughts of Israel's restoration brought minghng thoughts of Mes- sianic blessedness, the crowning thought of all was that of Jehovah's guidance, his word returning to his people,' his presence among them once more, in his city and in his people's hearts, as never in their unregenerate times. Jehovah was righteous, only the righteous could seek and find him, could know him; for knowledge of him was righteousness. Only among a wholly righteous people could Jehovah veritably dwell."
Israel had ever thought of her God as with her, most nearly with his servants the prophets. Her iniquities were the only severance. Had she but remained obedi- ent, there had been perennial fulfilment of the promise: " I will walk about in your midst." ^ But this would come in the Messianic time: " Sing and rejoice, O daugh- ters of Zion ; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah."^ In his majesty will Jehovah be there;' " Jehovah is there" shall be the city's name.' " Hark, thy watchmen ! They lift up their voice; they cry together, for they see eye to eye the return of Jeho- vah to Zion." '
Lines of Messianic thought end in the vision of Jeho- vah's presence with his people, and as that vision becomes clearer, the thoughts of the human side of Messianic bringing to fulfilment fade or merge in the sense of divine presence working out the salvation of Israel and all man- kind. Even before the Exile, the Messiah-King has
' See Joel ii, 28. "^ Cf. Is. Ix, 19-22. ' Lev. xxvi, 12.
* Zech. ii, 10. ' Is. xxxiii, 21.
* Ezek. xlviii, 35. Through the last chapters of his l30ok, Ezekiel con- ceives of Jehovah as filling his temple. See e.g., Ez. xliii, 1-7 ; and r/. xxxvii, 26-28. ' Is. lii, 7-8.
MESSIANIC PROPHECY. 171
ceased to embody the divine effecting power, but is rather one among many objects of the divine grace.' In the Exile he has passed from the prophetic mind. There is Jehovah, supreme in righteousness and in the power of righteousness on earth. Beneath the shadow of his arms is Israel, his servant, serving him in a service no longer kingly, but priestly and prophetic, till the thought of service rises to suffering made perfect, and the attributes wherein the servant resembles Jehovah are no longer attributes of kingly power, but of martyr-love. Here again is human agency, corresponding with Jehovah's purpose. Perhaps the thought reverts to the first con- ception of Immanuel and the Prince of the four names; but the course of thought which clothed that Prince of God with divine power, is replaced by the conception of Jehovah's attributes as divinely present in a perfect, lov- ing, self-sacrificing, atoning Sufferer for men." Not the power, but the suffering love of God is here brought down to earth. But again and again, with thoughts of perfect regenerate blessedness, there comes the vision of Jeho- vah's presence in the hearts of men and in his temple, now become a house of prayer for all peoples. The spirit of Jehovah is in his temple and upon the earth, and where so fully as in that Servant whom the prophet's eye beheld in partial vision, that Servant who, through reflecting Jehovah's suffering love, should, as the Messiah-King, but in a way as yet undisclosed to Israel, reflect Jeho- vah's power of righteousness ? Thus should the human spirit, perfect in love, perfect in power from God, take to itself Jehovah's attributes, his love, his wisdom, and his power of righteousness, till on earth there should be realized Israel's furthest dim beholden hope in the Word made flesh.
' See Jer. xxiii, 5-8 ; xxxiii, 14-22 ; and cf. Jer. xxx, xxxi, and ante.
* Possibly Ezekiel xxxiv, 11-31, speaking of "My servant David " and Zechariah iii, 8, speaking of "my servant Branch" connect the servant of Jehovah with the Messiah-King.
CHAPTER XX.
THE PSALTER.
GREECE was the land of man in his full range of attribute foolish and sublime. Yet the greatest Greek sculpture was for the most part religious ; and the highest modes of Greek poetry declared the greatness of the gods, or set forth deep problems and principles of human conduct never unrelated to
retributive fate and divine punishment. But ^ .. .'^**^^,
r 1 1111-1 Qualities of
prmciples of human conduct had their clear Q^eece ^nd
source in the reflection of man ; qualities of the Israel.
gods were ever ideal images of human traits,
and the relations of Greek gods to men had a dramatic
interest like that inherent in the more intense situations
among mankind.
While the Greek beheld gods, nay, created them from
the standpoint of man, the Hebrew looked on man from
the standpoint of God. God created man in his own
image ; man's highest qualities were resemblances to
God. Rules of human conduct sprang not from human
reflection, but were set by God, and stood for principles
of his ways. In Palestine as well as Greece man's life
was a short span ; but in Greece man might be great and
wise and noble in himself while life lasted ; in Palestine
even while he lived, yea, though he live forever, man was
nothing in himself, but was all that he was from God.
Jehovah was his strength, fear and knowledge of Jehovah
was the sum of human wisdom and righteousness. The
Hebrew character gathered greatness from its sense of
172
THE PSALTER. 1 73
God, and its responding endeavor to be like him. From Jehovah came to man all that was of worth, all that was strong, wise, righteous, holy. And yet there was no tinge of pantheism ; creature and Creator-king were dis- tinct ; there was no merging of relationship in identity, but always relations definite and clear. Yearn towards Jehovah as it might, the Hebrew soul never identified itself with him.
The Hebrews had no sculpture and no painting. The nature of their thoughts of God, as well as the commands of their religion, forbade their making graven images of him. His many acts were always in their minds, his mighty deliverances of Israel, and his sustaining guidance of the world and all therein. Yet these were but the whispers of his ways, much less were they a likeness of himself. To represent Jehovah by a graven image was a folly to which Israel never seriously set her mind. Her thoughts of him were of realizing intensity, but were not plastic in the Greek way of beholding God always in the guise of some definite animate form. The Hebrews heard rather than saw God.* And this refraining from sculptural representations of Jehovah was not unrelated to the Hebrew mode of contemplating primarily the ways of God, rather than his essential nature. But the Greeks in philosophy sought to define the essence of the divine, and in sculpture sought to create adequate images of it.
In its very different way, Hebrew thought was as clear as Greek thought ; and the Hebrew as well as the Greek had the faculty of vivid poetic expression in speech and writ- ing. The Greek gift of style was far more manifold, cor- responding with the manifold content of Greek life ; the Hebrew gift was as strong and great, fitted to tell Israel's story of God's purpose with her and her thoughts of him, as the Greek gift was fitted to tell the human tale of Hellas. Israel as well as Greece was endowed with imag-
' As in the instance of Elijah on Horeb, i Kings xix, 8 ; and Jehovah speaking with Moses from the burning bush.
174 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ination. Here again, Greek imagination was more mani- fold, rendering in beauty all the elements of human life ; the Hebrew imagination was a holy thing, sanctified to the presentation of God's sublimities, to human praise of him, and man's yearning towards his Maker. Finally, in Israel there was as much passion of desire as in Greece, only the Greek passion enfolded all of human life and every object of human endeavor; while the passion of Israel's desire set in one channel towards her God.
It may now suggest itself why the poetry of the He- brews should be of a supreme type. They had intellect and language and imagination, there was no Character vagueness in their thoughts ; they had the of Hebrew ^ . , , . , • i • , / ,.• ^ .u
Poetry passion of desire ; their high faculties and the
intensities of their nature set towards one end — Jehovah; and their thoughts of Jehovah and his ways, their yearnings towards their God, were fitted for expres- sion in the concrete emotional modes constituting poetry. There can be no higher kind of poetry than that which expresses, either in form approaching the dramatic, or in lyrical utterances, the fundamental and most universal of human relations, — man's relation to his Maker. Here is supreme opportunity to express in image and emotional mode, truths which apply to all human beings and relate to those highest elements of human life, whereby humanity cHngs and is drawn to God. In the dramatic poem of Job, the Hebrew imagination, in a manner un- paralleled in the literatures of other races, set forth the power of God. But in still more universal modes, with words that have spoken to the hearts of untold millions, the Psalms express religious convictions and emotions. They tell the greatness, the holiness, the righteousness, the spirituality, the universal governance and care of God, his yearning compassion, his mercy and forgiveness, his deliverances unto redemption, — express the full com- pass of Israel's thought of God's loving kindness to her, and tell of the divine face turned towards man. And yet
THE PSALTER. 1 75
this all is but the complement and justification of the main topic of the Psalter, the Psalter's very heart,— man's sense of self before his God and the yearnings which it brings. This sense of self is a sense of sinful- ness, a sense of human shortcoming before the pattern of Jehovah ; yet it may not exclude a sense of integrity, an honest consciousness that the speaker's attitude is right, that his heart is open before God and seeks to do his will. Again, it is a sense of man's nothingness before God's infinitude; a sense of impotence surrounded by power, a sense of awe before God's works, a sense of desolation without God, severed from the fount of life. Then rise the yearnings : the fear of God, love of him, zeal for him, longing for him, for his ever-present presence; heartfelt repentance and turning from iniquity, longings to be pure in God's sight, and to be forgiven; a longing for God's comfort, and God's love, yea, for God's sympathy. It is the full nature of man set towards God. And then there is more than yearning; the sense of God's loving kindness floods the heart in assurance of unfailing good from loving God to loving man ; songs of praise arise ; man has faith and peace.
In the Psalms, as in Job, as in the prophets, the thought of God springs from a sense of the majesty of his ways, the infinitude of his acts : he is God from everlasting to everlasting ; he created the The
world and all things therein, and man ; and his thought of u 1 X.- J 1 1 • 1 -1 . , God in the
whole creation depends on him, daily sustained psalter
by his power immanent in the world ; there is no thought of strength in nature save as direct from God. The one hundred and fourth psalm gives a picture of God's all-creating, all-sustaining, all-pervading might, a picture constituting a view of the world at once poetic, emotional, and true:
Bless Jehovah, O my soul !
O Jehovah, my God, thou art very great,
176 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty,
Thou coverest thyself with light as with a robe,
Thou spreadest out the heavens like a curtain.
Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters,
Who maketh the clouds his chariot,
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind ;
Who maketh the winds his messengers,
His ministers the flaming fire.
He established the earth upon the foundations thereof.
That it should not be moved for ever and ever.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment ;
Above the mountains did the waters stand,
At thy rebuke they fled,
At the voice of thy thunder they were scattered ;
They went up by the mountains, they sank down into the
valleys, (Even) to the place which thou hadst established for them. Thou hast set them a bound that they cannot pass. That they turn not again to cover the earth ; Who sendest forth springs along the torrent-beds ; They flow between the mountains ; They give drink to all the beasts of the field ; The wild asses quench their thirst,
Above them the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, (And) sing among the branches. He watereth the mountains from his chambers ; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy work. He maketh grass to grow for the cattle, And green earth for the service of man. That he may bring forth bread from the earth, And wine that maketh glad the heart of man. The trees of Jehovah are satisfied. The cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted ; Where the birds make their nests. As for the stork, the cypresses are her house. The high mountains are for the wild goats ; The steep precipices are a refuge for the conies. He hath made the moon for seasons ; The sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness — and it is night.
THE PSALTER. 1 77
Wherein all the beasts of the forest do move.
The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God :
The sun ariseth — they get them away,
And lay them down in their dens.
Man goeth forth to his work
And to his labor until the evening.
How manifold are thy works, O Jehovah !
In wisdom hast thou made them all.
The earth is full of thy riches.
Yonder is the sea, great and broad.
Wherein are things moving without number,
Beasts both small and great.
There go the ships,
(And there) leviathan whom thou hast formed to take his pas- time therein.
All of them wait upon thee,
That thou mayest give them their food in its season.
What thou givest them, they gather ;
Thou openest thine hand, they are satisfied with good ;
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled ;
Thou takest away their breath, they die.
And turn again to their dust.
Thou sendest forth thy breath, they are created.
And thou renewest the face of the ground.
Let the glory of Jehovah be forever !
Let Jehovah rejoice in his works !
Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth.
When he toucheth the mountains, they smoke.
Let me sing to Jehovah as long as I live.
Let me play unto my God, while I have any being.
Let my meditation be sweet unto him ;
As for me, I will rejoice in Jehovah.
Let sinners be consumed out of the earth,
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless Jehovah, O my soul ! Hallelujah ! *
' Psalm civ. The writer desires to express his obligation to Bishop
Perowne's Book of Psalms, from which this and the subsequent translations
are taken.
VOL. 11—12
178
ANCIENT IDEALS.
The psalmist here, as ever, cannot think of God with- out blessing him, nor without the fervent desire to be acceptable before him, nor finally without the wish that the wicked may as evil spots be consumed from the face of God's creation. This psalm declares God's glorious universal power in nature; and, in the nineteenth psalm, nature is conceived as praising him in the speech of silence, feeling the awe of creature in presence of creator:
The heavens are telling the glory of God ;
And the work of his hands doth the firmament declare :
Day unto day poureth forth speech ;
And night unto night revealeth knowledge.
There is no speech and there are no words,
Their voice is not heard.'
From Jehovah's glory in nature this nineteenth psalm turns naturally to contemplation of Jehovah's righteous- ness. His law is perfect. Indeed the thought of Jehovah's righteousness is never absent from the Psalter; where it is not expressed, it is assumed ; righteousness and holiness are inher- ent in his power; as with the prophets, it is ever the dual-unity, the power of right-
Jehovah's Infinity of Righteous- ness and Love.
eousness :
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy
throne ; Loving-kindness and truth go to meet thy face.*
The loving-kindness of God, his deliverances and com- passionate care, are brought near and applied to the chosen people in such a psalm as the seventy-eighth, which shall teach Israel all that her God has done for her; in such a psalm as the one hundred and sixth, which
' Psalms xix, 1-3 ; cf. xciii. Other Psalms express the veritable fear of nature before God. See cxiv ; civ ; xcvii. * Ixxxix, 14; cf. Ixxxv, 10, II.
Aodii
'
::-^3?:
nf*^m
THE PSALTER.
179
shall bring home to Israel her iniquitous backslidings ; or in such a psalm as the one hundred and fifth, which shall tell Israel his great deeds that she may know how to praise him. The eighteenth psalm shows Jehovah's care of David, a devoted servant among his people; the one hundred and thirty-ninth tells Jehovah's intimate, spirit- ual, loving and forgiving support of man, the universal individual, a preserving care which besets him behind and before, from which he cannot escape if he would :
Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?
If I climb up into heaven, thou art there,
If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there,
If I take the wings of the morning.
If I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
And should I say, Only let darkness cover me,
And the light about me be night ;
Even darkness cannot be too dark for thee.
But the night is light as the day ;
The darkness and light [to thee] are both alike.'
Such psalms as the twenty-third, and phrase after phrase throughout the Psalter, bring home God's love to every human heart, till the heart sings:
Thy loving-kindness is better than life,*
and feels how God's love covers all his creation:
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning to sing for joy.'
And in the Psalter, as in the prophets, Jehovah's love is a love that yearns until it redeems.
From such delineations of Jehovah's character, one turns to the ninetieth psalm where the psalmist thinks
cxxxix, 7-12.
Ixiii.
»lxv.
'Jt^lAS^
178 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The psalmist here, as ever, cannot think of God with- out blessing him, nor without the fervent desire to be acceptable before him, nor finally without the wish that the wicked may as evil spots be consumed from the face of God's creation. This psalm declares God's glorious universal power in nature; and, in the nineteenth psalm, nature is conceived as praising him in the speech of silence, feeling the awe of creature in presence of creator:
The heavens are telling the glory of God ;
And the work of his hands doth the firmament declare :
Day unto day poureth forth speech ;
And night unto night revealeth knowledge.
There is no speech and there are no words,
Their voice is not heard.'
From Jehovah's glory in nature this nineteenth psalm turns naturally to contemplation of Jehovah's righteous- ness. His law is perfect. Indeed the thought Jehovah's of Jehovah's righteousness is never absent from Infinity of ^.j^^ Psalter; where it is not expressed, it is Righteous- 1 . , , 1 ,. . ,
ness and assumed ; righteousness and holmess are mher-
Love. ent in his power; as with the prophets, it is
ever the dual-unity, the power of right- eousness:
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy
throne ; Loving-kindness and truth go to meet thy face.*
The loving-kindness of God, his deliverances and com- passionate care, are brought near and applied to the chosen people in such a psalm as the seventy-eighth, which shall teach Israel all that her God has done for her; in such a psalm as the one hundred and sixth, which
' Psalms xix, 1-3 ; cf. xciii. Other Psalms express the veritable fear of nature before God. See cxiv ; civ ; xcvii. * Ixxxix, 14; cf. Ixxxv, 10, II.
THE PSALTER. 1 79
shall bring home to Israel her iniquitous backslidlngs ; or in such a psalm as the one hundred and fifth, which shall tell Israel his great deeds that she may know how to praise him. The eighteenth psalm shows Jehovah's care of David, a devoted servant among his people; the one hundred and thirty-ninth tells Jehovah's intimate, spirit- ual, loving and forgiving support of man, the universal individual, a preserving care which besets him behind and before, from which he cannot escape if he would :
Whither shall I go from thy spirit ?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?
If I climb up into heaven, thou art there,
If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there,
If I take the wings of the morning,
If I dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
And should I say, Only let darkness cover me,
And the light about me be night ;
Even darkness cannot be too dark for thee.
But the night is light as the day ;
The darkness and light [to thee] are both alike.'
Such psalms as the twenty-third, and phrase after phrase throughout the Psalter, bring home God's love to every human heart, till the heart sings:
Thy loving-kindness is better than life,*
and feels how God's love covers all his creation:
Thou makest the outgoings of the morning to sing for joy.'
And in the Psalter, as in the prophets, Jehovah's love is a love that yearns until it redeems.
From such delineations of Jehovah's character, one turns to the ninetieth psalm where the psalmist thinks
' cxxxix, 7-12. Mxiii. * Ixv.
l8o ANCIENT IDEALS.
upon God's infinitude in contrast with man's frailty and sin, and muses on what thought of God and man such contrast should inspire :
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever thou gavest birth to the earth and the world,
Yea, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest frail man to dust.
A thousand years in thy sight
Are but as yesterday when it passeth,
And as a watch in the night.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret (sins) in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath, We have spent our years as a thought.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger,
And thy wrath, according to the fear that is due unto thee ?
— the fear which is due to the infinite holy God ! The psalmist can only say,
So teach us to number our days That we may gain a heart of wisdom ;
and then humbly pray that Jehovah will turn again his loving-kindness towards his servants.* For Jehovah cares for the afflicted, he is the father of the fatherless ; high as the heavens is his loving-kindness, his righteousness like mountains, his judgments are a great deep.'
Yea, Jehovah is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipo- tent ; in many ways the psalmist thinks these thoughts, Jehovah knows the ways of man, and his thoughts before they are uttered ; and with intense realization of Jeho-
' xc, cf. xxxix. ° xxxvi.
THE PSALTER. l8l
vah's knowledge and power surrounding him, surround- ing me, the psalmist voices the universal sense of man :
O Jehovah, thou hast searched me and known (me) Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.
For before a word is yet on my tongue, Lo, O Jehovah ! thou knowest it altogether. Behind and before hast thou beset me, And laid thine hand upon me.
The psalmist marvels at the inscrutable completeness of the knowledge which Jehovah has of him:
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, It is too high, I cannot attain unto it.
God's spirit follows him everywhere, sustains him in light and darkness. Then comes the wondering thought that God formed him in his mother's womb, and for him- self, God's marvellous work, the psalmist renders the creature's awe-struck praise :
I will give thanks unto thee for that I am fearfully and
wonderfully made ; Wonderful are thy works, And my soul knoweth [it] right well !
Far, far above him is any adequate understanding of the infinite ways of God ; yet what can be so dear to him as thoughts of his creator, encompasser, upholder ?
And how precious unto me are thy thoughts, O God ! How great is the sum of them !
If I would tell them they are more in number than the sand ; When I awake, I am still with thee.'
1 82 ANCIENT IDEALS.
But what shall the psalmist — every man that has such
thoughts of God — think of himself ? What is man ?
Short his life, his only strength, his only hold,
The Sense ig God. But he is sinful, sin-consumed; not
° "^ only weak save in God's strength, but filled
before , & '
qqjj^ with corroding sin, the principle of death.'
The ninetieth psalm sets forth the eternal majesty of God contrasted with the passing frailty of man. Other psalms, like the thirty-ninth, dwell rather on man's nothingness before God. But man's weakness is always to be considered with reference to its most pal- pable element, that which keeps him from the source of life — his sins. All men are sinful, most of them are wicked ; ' the best of them are conceived and brought forth in sin ; ' who can ever perceive his errors and the faults veiled in the frailties of his nature ?* Before Jeho- vah can no living man be righteous." What man does not need Jehovah's continual forgiveness ? Evil shall slay the wicked *, fools without contrition or consciousness of God ; but who is it that shall not sometime be over- taken by his iniquities ?' And God must punish the sin- ner, bring him low, take from him to the extent of his sinfulness ; that is Jehovah's purifying wrath of love. The sinner feels Jehovah's indignation and the too heavy burden of his own iniquities." He must desire in contri- tion to give up that sinful part of him, his sin and all its fruits, hide nothing from Jehovah. So shall he be dehvered from his sin, redeemed, restored, — all of which is declared in the thirty-second psalm :
Blessed is he whose transgression is taken away, whose sin is
covered ; Blessed is the man to whom Jehovah reckoneth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile. For while I kept silence my bones waxed old Through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy ujjon me ;
' Cf. xlix, 14. 3 li^ 5 5 cxliii. ' xl, 12.
' Cf. xiv. •■ Cf. :d::, \2. * xxxiv, 21. ** Cf. xxxviii.
THE PSALTER. 1 83
My moisture was turned into the drought of summer.
[I said] I would acknowledge my sin unto thee,
And mine iniquity did I not cover.
I said I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah,
And thou didst take away the iniquity of my sin.
For this cause let every godly man pray to thee in a time when
thou mayest be found ; [So] of a surety when the great waters overflow they shall not
reach him. Thou art my hiding place ; thou wilt preserve me from
trouble ; Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
Be not as horse or mule, without understanding,
Whose trapping is with bit and bridle to hold them,
Or else they will not come nigh unto thee.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked.
But whoso trusteth in Jehovah, loving-kindness compasseth
him about. Rejoice in Jehovah, and exult, O ye righteous, And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart !
A most beautiful and spiritually repentant psalm is the fifty-first. The sinner's heart has turned ; it is again upright towards its God ; and filled with repentance unto righteousness, a repentance that yearns for renewed purity, for God's holy spirit, for the joy of his salvation ; a repentance which offers a broken heart as the true sacri- fice ; a repentance of renewed zeal in the service of God, and a repentance so filled with the sense of God's holiness that all else passes from the psalmist's mind, and he can think of his sin as a sin only against God ; — a true view, for sin is the creature's deviation from the pattern of the creator's ways, which he has commanded him to follow ; it is primarily offense against God, and only secondarily, through breach of God's laws, a crime against the human sufferer.'
' This is true, whether we consider the sin as a breach of the creator's law, or whether we consider such a sin as David's in its evil effect among
1 84 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The prophets of the Old Testament had set forth the height and depth of Jehovah's compassionate and forgiv- ing love. It was for the psalmist with his
The Souls lyj-j^; human cry to tell man's need of God, Right , ^ . , . r .
Attitude ^^" ^ sense of sm and yearnnig for forgive- ness, and so express the attitude of that soul which may be forgiven and taken back into communion with God, the soul which can receive again God's faith and peace. This attitude of the soul to which forgive- ness is possible is expressed in the one hundred and thir- tieth psalm with its call from out the depths, its waiting for Jehovah, its looking for the Lord, and its sense of Jehovah as a God with whom there is loving-kindness and plenteous redemption, and forgiveness that he may be feared ; for Jehovah's forgiveness is not unto sin, but unto fear of him, which is redemption.' And the next psalm tells the attitude of a soul newly forgiven, received back to God's peace, quieted with return of faith, — stilled and hushed as a weaned child upon its mother. More broadly, these psalms suggest a truth of human righteousness, such righteousness as sinful man can reach. All men sin, none can be perfect ; man's righteousness lies in repentance and more heartfelt striving; it lies in the attitude of the soul towards God, in its reverence, humility, sense of unworthiness, sense of sin, repentance, loving acquiescence in God's chastening, in trust, in faith, — which is all Old Testament foreshadowing of Christian truth. Thus, and not because free from sin, was David a righteous man ; '^ righteous not always in his word and act, but ever quickly turning to Jehovah, stung by sin, his heart contrite, broken, responsive to Jehovah's voice, lov- ing its God ; such righteousness is a very human, loving,
God's chosen people, causing their confidence in their king to fall, leading them to sin, and so thwarting God's purposes. Amidst such magnitude of resulting evil, the simple thought of Uriah slain before the walls of Rabbah may have passed from David's mind.
* Compare Ixix. "^ See ante, chap. xvii.
THE PSALTER. 1 85
passionate phase of that most comprehensive of Israel's thoughts, fear of Jehovah. It is the keynote of the penitential psalms.'
In the thirty-second psalm it was said, blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven, to whom Jehovah reckoneth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Some psalms go beyond this and assert the psalmist's righteous- ness. Yet herein they complete the full circle of the soul's attitude towards God : the sense of nothingness before infinitude, the sense of sins committed and of sinfulness of nature entailing recurrent shortcoming be- fore the divine pattern ; then the yearning towards God the righteousness of power, and heartbroken repentance, and then a sense of pardon and relief rising from a sense of God's forgiveness coupled with sense of the soul's own honesty, nothing concealed from its God. But there are times when man, though knowing his sinful nature, nay, rather because he knows his frailties, has the feeling that he has done right, and in so far is righteous. On this righteous conduct, palpable reward in prosperity may follow or may not ; nay, the man's enemies may seem tri- umphant and himself in the dust. In the one case, the man sees in his prosperity God's seal set on his conduct, and he praises God for faithfulness in rewarding him according to his righteousness ; in the other, the soul, cast down, disturbed, yet conscious of its right endeavor, calls on God to judge it according to its integrity, calls on God for deliverance. Such is the note of the seventh psalm, while the eighteenth gives furthest expression to sense of the righteousness according to which Jehovah has rewarded the royal psalmist.' In other psalms the sense of integrity precedes a prayer for God to judge the
> vi, xxxii, xxxviii, li, cii, cxxx, cxliii.
« In the seventh psalm the psalmist cries ; let his enemy tread him down if he has rewarded evil for good. Conversely in the sixty-sixth, v. 18, a psalm wherein prayer has been answered, he says, If I had seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear me ; but God hath heard.
1 86 ANCIENT IDEALS.
psalmist, try him and purify him ; a connection of ideas showing that the psalmist's sense of righteousness is but a sense of right endeavor.' Or finally the psalmist's sense of his righteousness consists rather in a sense of the divine intimacy, of Jehovah's nearness and knowledge of his heart which he has proved and visited, and wherein he has found no evil thoughts." And in all these psalms, the assertion of the psalmist's righteousness or integrity is joined with such prayer and outpouring of the spirit to Jehovah as to preclude all suggestion of self-sufificiency, or of any righteousness having its source apart from God ; the psalmist's righteousness consists in fulfilling Jehovah's laws. And, largely viewed, these psalms are all compat- ible with such sense of human sinfulness as this :
Enter not into judgment with thy servant ; For before thee no man living is righteous.*
In lyrical modes the psalms assume and express again and again the general teaching of the Old Testament, that the lot of the righteous is blessed and the _ lot of the wicked accursed. Yet many psalms
are cries of troubled souls, and tell the suffer- ing of the righteous. Throughout the psalter there is no deep contradiction of its opening utterance, " Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked; . . . Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish." Nor is there in the psalter any doubt as to Jehovah's power; all that kings and nations meditate against him is a vain thing; the Lord hath them in derision;* for the wrath of man must praise thee.' The thirty-seventh psalm utters Israel's faith:
Fret not thyself because of the evil-doers, Be not envious because of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, ' xxvi. ' xvji. 3 cxliii, 2. * ii. ' bocvi, lO.
THE PSALTER. 1 8/
And like the green herb shall they wither. Trust thou in Jehovah and do good.
And he shall give thee the petitions of thy heart.
Hold thee still for Jehovah and hope in him.
Better is a little that the righteous man hath, Than the riches of many wicked.
Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, For Jehovah upholdeth his hand.
So for a time may the wicked prosper and boast ; but soon shall they be cut down ; it cannot be otherwise ; for Jehovah is judge and in his hand there is a cup for the wicked : *
Consider, O ye brutish among the people !
And ye fools, when Avill ye be wise ?
He that planteth the ear, shall he not hear ?
He that formeth the eye, shall he not see ?
He that instructeth the nations, shall he not reprove ?"
These thoughts are deeply true, however much the sur- face of events may dispute them. Yet they rather ignore the problem of Job. The answer vouchsafed him by the Almighty consisted merely in a jghovah. broader disclosing of the majesty of God.' The Psalter has its answer too, similar to that in Job, but fervent because of the passionate religious feeling of the psalms ; and with a positive religious element added in the assurance not only of God's infinite majesty and holi- ness, but of his blessed all-sufficiency for the righteous
' Ixxv.
' xciv, 8-ro. The ninety-first psalm is a most beautiful expression of the thought of Jehovah's protection of the righteous ; and may be compared (Plumtre) with Eliphaz's words in Job v, 17-23.
* See/<7J/, chap. xxi.
1 88 ANCIENT IDEALS.
man. The seventy-third psalm expresses the troubled questionings of the righteous heart, and offers this trust- ing, fervent answer:
Surely God is good to Israel, [Even] to such as are of a pure heart. But as for me my feet were almost gone, My steps had well-nigh slipt. For I was envious at the arrogant. When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no bands in their death. And their strength continueth firm. They are not in trouble as other men, Neither are they plagued like [other] folk. Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck ; Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eye goeth forth from fatness ; The imaginations of [their] heart overflow. They scoff and speak wickedly, Of oppression loftily do they speak. They have set their mouth in the heavens, And their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people are turned after them, And at the full stream would slake their thirst ; And they say : * How doth God know ? And is there knowledge in the most high ? ' ' Lo, these are the wicked,
And [these men] ever prosperous have increased wealth. Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart. And washed my hands in innocency, And have been plagued all the day long, And chastened every morning. If I had said, ' I will utter [words] like these,' Lo, I should have been faithless to the generation of thy
children. And when I pondered it that I might know this, It was a trouble in mine eyes ; Until I went into the sanctuary of God, [Until] I considered their latter end.
THE PSALTER. 1 89
Surely in slippery places dost thou set them,
Thou hast cast them down to ruin.
How are they brought to desolation in a moment !
They are come to an end, they are cut off because of terrors.
As a dream when one awaketh,
[So] O Lord, when thou arousest thyself dost thou despise
their image. For my heart grew bitter, And I was pricked in my reins ; So brutish was I myself, and ignorant, I became a very beast before thee. And yet as for me, — I am always with thee, Thou hast holden my right hand ; Thou wilt guide me in thy council, And afterward thou wilt take me to glory. Whom have I in heaven [but thee] ?
And there is none upon earth in whom I delight beside thee. [Though] my flesh and my heart fail,
[Yet] God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, they that are far from thee must perish ; Thou hast destroyed everyone that goeth a-whoring from thee. But as for me, it is good to draw near unto God ; I have made in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, That I may tell of all thy works.
The prosperity of the wicked troubled me sore; near was I to uttering foolishness, till I considered their latter end, — that they are set in slippery places till they be cut off. Ah! my heart was bitter; such a brutish beast I was not to know — I am always with thee.
Jehovah was power, Jehovah was righteousness; he was creator of all, and in his hand lay the ordering of nature's ways and the control of human events. The upright man, he who humbly strove to make his words and acts pleasing to Jehovah, was in deep accord with the power which controlled the world ; and that power being a just and loving God, there could be no deeper certitude in life than that it would sustain the ways of the righteous. Life's untoward phases never drove this
190 ANCIENT IDEALS.
conviction from the heart of Israel. God was holy, ex- alted above the praises of Israel, and human understand- ing reached not to a comprehension of his ways. But his ways were righteous, loving, tender ; and he was himself infinitude of power and love towards his people, a father to the fatherless in Zion. It was the sense of this that flooded the passionate hearts of the psalmists; this infi- nite maker and controller of the world was their own lov- ing God, the rock of their heart, they dwelt beneath the shadow of his wings ; he was the necessary foil of evil — what can the wicked do? Jehovah will not forsake his people :
In the multitude of my anxious thoughts within me, Thy comforts refreshed my soul.'
Amidst his enemies sings the psalmist :
I laid me down and slept ;
I awaked, for Jehovah sustaineth me."
and in the evening sings the same steadfast faith :
In peace at once will I lay me down and sleep.'
He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.*
Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, And he shall sustain thee.'
Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want.'
In Jehovah have I found refuge ;
How say ye to my soul,
Flee ye to your mountain, as a bird.'
Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.
And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.
Many are the sufferings of the righteous.
But out of them all doth Jehovah deliver him.*
' xciv, 19. ■' iv, 8. ' Iv, 22. ' xi.
' iii, 5. * cxxi, 4. ' xxiii, cf. xxxi. •* xxxiv, 18, 19.
THE PSALTER. I9I
0 God, in the greatness of thy loving-kindness, answer me
with the truth of thy salvation.'
But Jehovah is more than a very present help in time of trouble, more than a rock and deliverance. The right- eous may dwell with him." He, his holiness ,
•' ' 1 am
and righteous ways, the presence and the Always thought of him, is their portion, their life: with Thee.
With thee is the fountain of life ; In thy light do we see light.^
This dwelling in the sufficiency of God, enraptured with the thought of Him, is the life of the righteous, his crowning blessing, in which the wicked cannot share; they have their lot in fleeting prosperity, and God fills their bellies ; but the righteous shall behold his face ; * and this — God's being, God's life, God's presence — is enough ; "Jehovah is my portion forever."
Keep me, O God, for I have found refuge in thee. I have said to Jehovah, thou art my Lord, I have no good beyond thee.'
And this is the yearning and the rapture of prayer and worship, and the felt presence of the living, loving God :
Like as a hart which panteth after the water-brooks.
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul is athirst for God, for the living God.*
How lovely are thy dwellings, O Jehovah of Hosts !
My soul longeth, yea even fainteth, for the courts of Jehovah ;
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand [elsewhere] ;
1 had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.'
' Ixix, 13. ^ xxxvi, 9. ^ xvi, 1, 2.
' XV ; xxiv ; xxvii. * See xvii, 14; xi, 7. ^xlii. ' Ixxxiv.
192
ANCIENT IDEALS.
I /
Next to the rapture of Jehovah's presence there is the deHght in his will, in doing it, in fulfilling
Thy Law *^^ ^^^ ' ^°^^ °^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ P^'^^ °^ ^^^ ^°^^ °^ the law-giver:
Then said I : Lo, I come ;
In the roll of the Book it is prescribed to me, — To do thy pleasure, O my God, I delight, Yea, thy law is in my inmost heart.'
And wherever in the psalms mention is made of the law, it is with love and a rush of zeal to fulfil it in its spiritual essence; not by burnt offering and sacrifice,' but by a broken and contrite heart accordant with Jehovah's spirit :
The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul ;
The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enHghtening the eyes ; '
O how I love thy law ;
It is my meditation all the day.
Theism
Deitiv
me-ik
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts. So shall I meditate of thy wondrous works.*
Knowledge of Jehovah's law is knowledge of his way; it opens the soul's eyes to his infinite glory.
In many of the psalms so perfect is the communion
Can th *^^ ^^^ ^°"^ ^^^^^ ^^^ eternal God that the Dead Praise^^"^^ °f mortality passes ; the relationship of Thee? the soul to God is taken out of time:
Jehovah is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. Thy loving-kindness is better than life.*
' xl. 7, 8. « See 1, xl.
*cxix. The prolonged extolment of the law.
xix, 7, 8. Ixiii, 3.
tha'. V I ot
OUttCT
THE PSALTER.
193
The Israelite's love of Jehovah was at times so great as to be satisfied with God, without thought of the endur- ance of the human lover. But it was also too great to limit itself consciously to a few mortal years. And in the psalms comes the hope, not very definite, but yet a hope, of living on with God after death.' This hope renders itself more distinct by the contrasted thought of the annihilation of the wicked :
^5
I
Like a flock they are gathered to the unseen world ; Death is their shepherd.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the unseen world.'
And yet there are depths of woe in the Psalter, and cries of desolation rendered more desolate by the fervor of the love whose object stands aloof: My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?' ^//j hast thou forsaken me — the soul cannot understand. The wicked rage, the soul is hard pressed, in the darkness God seems far off, the waters overwhelm, there is no present help. They that sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy — are words of sorrow's blessing come to pass. Not thus in black moments does it seem to the psalmist. Then no comfort lies in vague feeling; a promise visible is needed, reaching out beyond the grave. And in one psalm, faith in Jeho- vah, communion with the God of the living, breaks in sorrow for want of the assurance of immortality. The psalmist puts no longing for it in words, but its lack crushes his soul :
0 Jehovah, God of my salvation,
1 have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee, Incline thine ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
*Seexi, 7; xvii, 15. 'xlix, 14, 15. ^xxii, i.
VOL. II.— 13
192 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Next to the rapture of Jehovah's presence there is the delight in his will, in doing it, in fulfilling
Th L ^^^ ^^^ ' ^^^^ °^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ P^^^ ^^ ^^^ \o\Q of the law-giver:
Then said I : Lo, I come ;
In the roll of the Book it is prescribed to me, — To do thy pleasure, O my God, I delight. Yea, thy law is in my inmost heart.*
And wherever in the psalms mention is made of the law, it is with love and a rush of zeal to fulfil it in its spiritual essence; not by burnt offering and sacrifice,' but by a broken and contrite heart accordant with Jehovah's spirit :
The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul ;
The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes ; '
O how I love thy law ;
It is my meditation all the day.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts. So shall I meditate of thy wondrous works.*
Knowledge of Jehovah's law is knowledge of his way; it opens the soul's eyes to his infinite glory.
In many of the psalms so perfect is the communion
_ ^, of the soul with the eternal God that the
Can the
Dead Praise^^"^^ ^^ mortality passes ; the relationship of Thee? the soul to God is taken out of time:
Jehovah is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
Thy loving-kindness is better than life.*
' xl, 7, 8. «See 1, xl. ^ xix, 7, 8.
*cxix. The prolonged extolment of the law. * Ixiii, 3.
THE PSALTER. I93
The Israelite's love of Jehovah was at times so great as to be satisfied with God, without thought of the endur- ance of the human lover. But it was also too great to limit itself consciously to a few mortal years. And in the psalms comes the hope, not very definite, but yet a hope, of living on with God after death.' This hope renders itself more distinct by the contrasted thought of the annihilation of the wicked :
Like a flock they are gathered to the unseen world ; Death is their shepherd.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the unseen world.'
And yet there are depths of woe in the Psalter, and cries of desolation rendered more desolate by the fervor of the love whose object stands aloof: My God, my God ! why hast thou forsaken me ? ' Why hast thou forsaken me — the soul cannot understand. The wicked rage, the soul is hard pressed, in the darkness God seems far off, the waters overwhelm, there is no present help. They that sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy — are words of sorrow's blessing come to pass. Not thus in black moments does it seem to the psalmist. Then no comfort lies in vague feeling; a promise visible is needed, reaching out beyond the grave. And in one psalm, faith in Jeho- vah, communion with the God of the living, breaks in sorrow for want of the assurance of immortality. The psalmist puts no longing for it in words, but its lack crushes his soul :
0 Jehovah, God of my salvation,
1 have cried day and night before thee. Let my prayer come before thee, Incline thine ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,
•Seexi, 7 ; xvii, 15. ^ xlix, 14, 15. ^xxii, i.
VOL. 11.-13
194 ANCIENT IDEALS.
And my life draweth nigh to the unseen world. I am counted with them that go down into the pit, I am become as a man that hath no strength, Among the dead, cast away, Like the slain, lying in the grave, Whom thou rememberest no more, But they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit. In darkness, in the deeps. Upon me thy fury lieth hard. And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Thou hast removed my familiar friends far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination unto them ; I am shut up, so that I cannot go forth ; Mine eye wasteth away because of affliction ; I have called upon thee, O Jehovah, every day, I have stretched forth my hands unto thee. Wilt thou show wonders unto the dead ? Shall the shades below arise and give thee thanks 1 Shall thy loving-kindness be told in the grave. Thy faithfulness in destruction ? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark ? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness ? But as for me — unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried, And in the morning my prayer cometh to meet thee. Why, O Jehovah, castest thou off my soul ? [Why] hidest thou thy face from me ? , I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up, I have suffered thy terrors till I am distracted. Over me thy fierce wrath hath passed ; Thy horrors have cut me off.
They have compassed me like waters all the day long, They have come round about me together. Thou hast removed lover and friends from me. My familiar friends — are darkness.'
The Old Testament was not the New, though Christ's spirit was slumbering in it. Violence was essential to the
' Ixxxviii.
THE PSALTER. 1 95
establishment of a small people and their religion in the midst of enemies. Necessarily many of the deliverances which Jehovah wrought for his people con- sisted in the overthrow of their enemies ; ' and Let God
neither law nor prophet hesitates to command ■'^"^^ ^^°-
, , . . , Let His
extermmation of ioreign priests or peoples, Enemies be
from whom corruption or violence may threaten Scattered. Israel's religion. David also executes cruel vengeance on the Ammonites for indignities put on his ambassadors.^ There are passages in the Psalter where the psalmist prays for the destruction of his enemies.' But usually such prayers are not prayers of naked ven- geance; they have further purport. A prayer for his enemies' destruction might be but another way of praying for his own deliverance. And one notices that, in the psalms, the problem of Job — Why do the righteous suffer ? — is stated in terms of its usual converse, Why do the wicked prosper ? for prosperity of the wicked consists in oppression, of the righteous it may be. But beyond this, the cause of Israel was the cause of Jehovah, the cause of righteousness and the establishment of the wor- ship of the true God :
Should I not hate them which hate thee, O Jehovah ?
And should I not be grieved with them that rise up against
thee? With perfect hatred do I hate them, I count them mine
enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart ; Try me and know my thoughts ; And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.*
The one hundred and fourth psalm, after picturing
' C/. Ixviii.
- 2 Samuel x, xii, 26-31. Just as any civilized nation to-day will exact reparation, bloody if need be, for injury or indignity. Violence is not sweet persuasion yet !
^ See XXXV, Ixix, 22-28 ; cix. * cxxxix, 21-24.
196 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Jehovah's creation and immanent governance of the world, concludes naturally with the prayer that sinners may be consumed and cease to be. Sometimes the prayer is simply that the wickedness of the wicked cease and that the righteous be established ; ' or that evil doers be rewarded according to the work of their own hands,' which is a prayer that justice may abound. Again, prayer for divine vengeance on the wicked is put more fervently, indeed more fiercely, with its further pur- pose expressed, that men may know there is a righteous God who judgeth the earth,' or that men may know that God ruleth in Jacob.* In national or individual adversi- ties, the bitterest fear that had ever come to prophet's or psalmist's heart had been for the honor of Jehovah. Moses in the wilderness besought God, for his own sake, not to destroy Israel, lest the Egyptians say, For evil did he bring them out;' Joel would have prayers uttered to Jehovah to spare his people that the nations may not say. Where is their God?' Likewise is the psalmist fear- ful for the fame of Jehovah and the honor of his people inseverable from it.' So he ever prays most earnestly that Jehovah will bless his people, will bring low their enemies, or will arise as judge pleading his own cause, to the end that his ways may be known among the nations and that all peoples may fear him : The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God;* Oh, let his folly be brought home to him ! There is no God, — that is the sum of the wicked man's devices:*
Arise, O God, plead thine own cause ;
Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day
long.'" Fill their face with confusion, That they may seek thy name, O Jehovah."
' vii, g. * xxviii, 4. ^Iviii, 10. ■* lix, 13. 'Ex. xxxii, 12.
* Joel ii, 17 ; cf. Micah vii, 10. ' cxv, 2 ; Ixxix, 10; xlii, 3.
"xiv, I. ^x, 4. "* Ixxiv, 22. " Ixxxiii, 16.
THE PSALTER. 1 97
So Israel mingles gall of hate in higher thoughts of the purpose of divine retribution. And how does q^^j ^,g she pray for blessing on herself ? Gracious 1
God be gracious unto us, and bless us, And cause his face to shine among us ; That thy way be known upon earth, Thy salvation among all nations.*
Thus Israel prays for the blessing of her God, and when the blessing has come, like thoughts well through her thankfulness :
Jehovah hath made known his salvation,
Before the eyes of the nations hath he revealed his righteous- ness.
He hath remembered his loving-kindness and his faithfulness to the house of Israel ;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.*
And as in thoughts of blessings prayed for and acknowl- edged, Israel thought ever on the honor of her God, so in burning words which tell her love of Zion, her pride's quintessence is the thought that there Jehovah dwells:
How I passed with the festal throng,
How I led them in procession to the house of God ! *
Great is Jehovah and highly to be praised,
In the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
Is the mountain of Zion . .
The city of the great king.
God in her palaces
Hath made himself known as a high tower.*
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth.' ' Ixvii, 1, cf. civ, 47. 'xcviii, 2, 3. ^ xlii, 4. * xlviii, 1-3. '1, 2.
igS ANCIENT IDEALS.
So Israel's love of Zion, her love of self, her prayers for blessings and her hopes of vengeance,' are all included in their higher part, Jehovah's love of her, her love of him, and her desire to extend his kingdom. This is the reach of Israel's desire, as it is her final hope that Jeho- vah will come and reign on earth, a hope which broadens, humanizes to the wish that not as victor over foes cast down, but as one God and King over one people, Jeho- vah from Zion may reign throughout the earth, when he Cometh to judge the world in righteousness and the peo- ples with his faithfulness : '
For he hath looked down from his holy height.
From heaven hath Jehovah beheld the earth,
To hear the sighing of the prisoner,
To set at liberty those that are doomed unto death ;
That men may declare the name of Jehovah in Zion,
And his praise in Jerusalem ;
When the peoples are gathered together,
And the kingdoms to serve Jehovah.^
His foundation upon the holy mountains doth Jehovah love, [He loveth] the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O City of God ! ' I will mention Rahab and Babylon among them that know
me ; Lo Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia : This one is born there.' And of Zion it is said : * One after another is born in her, And the Most High himself shall stablish her.' *
Jehovah is king, king in Zion,* king over all the earth in righteousness, no alien peoples any more, but all his subjects and his heritage; the afflicted is comforted, the
' See that perfect lyric, cxxxvii.
' xcvi, cf. xxii, 27, 28. ^ cii, 19-22. *lxxxvii. ''See xciii-xcix.
THE PSALTER. 1 99
prisoner is set free ; no more sighing, no more sorrow, no more sin. This is the farthest, sweetest vision of the psalms. In faith the psahnist has conquered ; through deep waters has he come, but Je- victo hovah has led him by the hand, as he led his people out of Egypt, through the sea, through the wilderness, giving them food and drink, guidance and the law of righteousness, till he brought them to their land, there still to guide and help them, try them, purify them with affliction, drive them thence in exile, unto redemp- tion, unto him, that they might be a purer light to all the earth. In faith the psalmist conquers; all that his faith knows and foreknows, his eyes had not seen nor were to see. Never had he been unsurrounded by sorrow and by sin ; never had Israel attained the purpose of her God. And still in faith the psalmist conquers; the light in his eyes is from Jehovah, — that farthest light disclosing to him God's power of righteousness, which underlay and overshone all the shortcoming and backsliding, the actual sin and degradation wherein he lived, he the striving, god-turned soul, symbol of Israel's best righteousness; his loftiest words were those which she might speak ; his farthest hopes were those which she might feel; his joy- ful certitude of faith was hers as she gathered in festal throng before her God. Praise Jehovah, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits! Forget not all his faithful- ness; fear not man; be righteous, sure in thy God. If the Psalter opened with the firm words: " Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked," it were most fitting that songs of Hallelujah — praise to Jah — should press each other towards the end, and that the Psalter close with the high call on sun and moon and stars and heavens, on angels and on fire and hail, on every- thing that hath breath, to swell the anthem.'
The manner of great art is essentially the same, whether that art be the lyrical expression of religious sentiment as
' cxlviii ; cl.
200 ANCIENT IDEALS.
in the psalms, or the epic expression of national god- guided, man-attained majesty as in the ^neid, or the expression of ideal manhood and man-reflecting The divinity as in Phidian sculpture. The last, seek-
Psalters -^ man's ideal perfection of beinor, avoided
Lvric
Univer- every hampering reference to near historical
sality. events and the delineation of features stamped
with the actual imperfection of contemporary and historic forms. As Phidian art avoided all short- coming of the actual in import and in form, so Virgil chose the tale of the mighty qualities which founded Rome and made her mistress of the world, because it was a tale whose setting lay far back of actual entanglements and was untouched by the small deed and selfish motive which needs must fill up the history of known events. And so the psalmist, — the many psalmists who are one in their great strain of lyric outpour of the soul to God, — if he gave his thought a setting of historical events, he chose them from the deliverances wrought by his God, ideal events, free from failure and shortcoming, free from the littleness of selfish aim.' Otherwise, with the true instinct of great art, which is but another name for the fulness of the human soul in universal attitudes and modes which may relate to every man and may by every man be taken to himself as of himself, — otherwise the psalmist avoided reference to special circumstances which might narrow the application of the psalm," pre-
' The seventy-eighth psalm is an instance ; and between it and the fourth Pythian ode of Pindar interesting comparisons as to matters of form might be made. In form and contents this psalm is to other psalms as the fourth Pythian is to other odes of Pindar, and it may be noticed from these two poems how there is but one great lyric mode of narration — to mark the striking facts, suggest the rest, and with quick flight pass from fact to similar or contrasted fact. And, of course, the narrative verses must make for the setting forth of the dominant thought or mood ; and nothing be out of accord with that. Herein lies the lyric unity.
* It may be said that hardly a single psalm, except for those who credit the headings, has been by any scholar attached to any special event of Israel's history, so as to carry conviction to the majority of other scholars.
THE PSALTER, 201
vent its being a fit expression of an attitude of man towards God, of every man, man universal, crushed with the woe which casts a shadow over his vision of his God, touched with the sorrow which opens new knowledge of God's love ; man praising God, wondering at his works, ascribing all to him ; man moved with awe at thought of the creation's Lord, or filled with love, feeling the ten- der hand which leads him on.
It were foolish to cite and analyze passages in order to illustrate this universality ; the proof of it is in the hearts of Jew and Gentile, in the hearts of all who in joy or sor- row, in every deep experience of life, feel the shadowing presence, the inner strength and consolation, guidance and light, which is from God in man : My soul waits on God — My heart and flesh cry aloud to the living God — Like as the hart panteth for the water-brooks — By the rivers of Babylon — Cast thy burden on the Lord — How long, O Lord ! — I am ever with Thee — In joy and praise I will wake the morning dawn — My times are in thy hand — Cast me not away in old age — The Lord is my Shepherd — A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand — He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep' — Not unto us, not unto us! — Praise God !
The unconvincingness of such attempts may be seen by a perusal of Prof. Cheyne's Origin and Religious Contents of the Psalter (Bampton Lectures for 1889). As for David's authorship, see ante^ note to p. iii.
' Speaking critically, notice how these words in terms of the concrete — He that keepeth Israel, — and in terms of the near human, — Doth neither slumber nor sleep, — express a sense of the divine watchfulness over all men, over me.
CHAPTER XXI.
WISDOM AND THE LAW — LATER JUDAISM.
ALL Hebrew wisdom was turned towards God. It was religious wisdom directed towards right con- duct, and no motive or justification was considered apart from the character of God and his relations to men. The Wisdom-literature (Chokhmah) of the Old Testa-
„, . ment should be viewed as the lower stagfe of
Chokhmah, ^ ,, ... , , , . ,
Israel s religious thought ; yet this lower stage
was not the foundation of the rest, but rather derived its own validity from the more direct revelation, the more immediate sense of God's personality and commands, and the more intense religious feeling, which mark the books of the prophets and the Psalms. It sets forth the reason of right conduct, showing in gnomic rather than syllogistic fashion, that for man wisdom and fear of God and righteousness are one, having their single source and transcendent sanction in the character of Jehovah, crea- tor and ordainer. This literature, from standpoints look- ing towards God, yet not identical with his simple fiat, considers men, their ways, and conduct, nature and for- tunes. And Israel's wisdom and observation, the best consideration of life that was in her, sets the stamp of approval on Israel's religion. The Proverbs contain the general teaching; Job and Ecclesiastes consider certain problems which Israel's thought could not avoid.
The teaching of Proverbs rests on the primary truths of Genesis : In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, all things therein, and finally man in his own
WISDON AND THE LA W, 203
image. Proverbs make clear that the Almighty, not by his hands and strength of arm, but by wisdom founded the earth and by understanding established the heavens;' and then it is pointed out that God ^^
created the mind and purpose, all the higher^^ p^^j^gj.jjg faculties of man, wherein man most resembles his creator and shares his nature, — a lamp of Jehovah is man's spirit." This point, made explicit, shows how nec- essarily man's faculties and ways lie within the compass of Jehovah's purpose, and cannot, because linked with that infinite purpose, be fully understood by man himself; man's goings are of Jehovah, how can man understand his way ? ^ But Jehovah comprehends it. Sheol and destruction are clear in Jehovah's sight; how much more the hearts of men.'
Wisdom is God's plan; the spirit of wisdom in the heart of man is that which enables him to observe God's way and fall in with it. Those who fear him
listen while Wisdom declares his plan and will. ^ ,, o, '
^ God s Plan.
She stands and cries in the city-gates, ready to
pour out her spirit, the spirit of God's truth, on man.*
" Unto you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.
For my mouth shall utter truth ;
And wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
All the words of my mouth are righteousness.
Receive my instruction, and not silver ; And knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies,
And all things that may be desired are not to be compared with her.
' iii, 19. ' XX, 27, cf. XX, 12. ' XX, 24, cf. xxi, r.
* XV, II ; cf. xvii, 3. ' i, 20, etc.
204 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil : Pride and arrogancy and the evil way And the froward mouth do I hate. Counsel is mine and efficient insight. I am understanding ; I have might. By me kings reign, And princes decree justice.
I love them that love me,
And those that seek me diligently shall find me.
Riches and honor are with me ;
Durable riches and righteousness.
Jehovah formed ' me in the beginning of his way Before his works of old.
When he established the heavens, I was there ;
When he set a circle upon the face of the deep ;
When he made firm the skies above ;
When the fountains of the deep became strong,
When he gave to the sea its bound,
That the waters should not transgress his commandment ;
When he appointed the foundations of the earth ;
Then I was by him, as a master-workman,
And T was daily his delight,
Rejoicing always before him.
Rejoicing in his habitable earth :
And my delight was with the sons of men.
Now therefore, my sons, hearken unto me ;
For blessed are they that keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
And refuse it not.
Blessed is the man that heareth me,
Watching daily at my gates.
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoso findeth me findeth life.
And shall obtain favor of Jehovah ;
' The rendering of the margin of the Revised Version. Ewald also renders " schuf."
WISDOM AND THE LA W. 205
But he that misseth me wrongeth his own soul, And they that hate me love death." *
The thought-sequence of this chapter is plain : Listen and understand, ye sons of men; my mouth utters truth, utters righteousness, utters that which stands and shall stand in and by the fear of Jehovah ; counsel is mine; by me kings reign; seek me and ye shall find me and wealth and honor; I walk in paths of justice that I may bless those who love me, — the righteous. I am Jehovah's righteous plan, which he devised first, in accord with which he created all things. I am still his master-work- man. Men are my chief care; blessed is he that heareth me; he shall obtain life, favor of Jehovah; those who reject me perish.
Wisdom is Jehovah's plan of all creation. For man,
wisdom means reverent submission to Teho- .,,. .
.,,..,, >A/isdom IS
vah, strivmg to follow his will; it is the fear of Fear of the
Jehovah : Lord and
Righteous-
" My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee ; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, And apply thine heart to understanding ; Then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, And find the knowledge of God."*
Search diligently for wisdom, and thou shalt gain that reverent apprehension of God's way and conformity to his will by which a man lives best. Only those who hunger and thirst shall be filled ; only those desiring wisdom can get it.^ The fool despiseth rebuke; but he is in the way of life that heedeth instruction." There is an arrogance and froward self-sufficiency which keeps a man from perceiving truth, even though such an one may seem to himself to seek it : a scorner seeketh wisdom and
' viii. - ii, 1-5.
* xviii, 15 ; see i, 5 ; x, 8 , xv, 14. * x, 17 ; xv, 32 ; xvii, 10.
2o6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
findeth it not." Only the humble-minded, those who are wise to see that there is much beyond them, and over all a God almighty in righteousness, can learn anything; cer- tainly only such can learn that deepest wisdom which recognizes the highest power working out its truth. No evil man, arrogant, self-wise, brutishly hating reproof," can understand good, righteousness, eternal verity, God :
" Evil men understand not judgment ; ' But they that seek Jehovah understand all things." *
For all of which there is a deeper reason ; men are God's creatures; man is in God's image, his spirit has its source in Him. A human soul, which turns away from its source, cannot retain its vital strength, its power to learn and know, its power to apprehend the righteous ways of its maker, or any power even to live, for life must be conformity to the creator's plan. Such a soul has made itself negative, repelling and repelled by all life's princi- ples. And so long as this rebel state continues, the soul must be repelled by what is true and good, and repel itself from knowledge, wisdom, fear of God, — from life. Such a man's heart is made fat, so that it understands not, and the man hears not with his ears nor sees with his eyes.'' This state is Jehovah's retribution, the very oppo- site of the state of him to whom " all things work together for good."
Throughout the Proverbs it is evident that for man wisdom and the fear of Jehovah are identical in essence and in the results they bring of prosperity, honor, life.' Again, wisdom and fear of Jehovah are righteousness viewed from the standpoint of understanding, and the results of righteousness are the same as theirs.' More
' xiv, 6 ; cf. xxvi, 12. ^ " Das Recht," Ewald.
8 xii I. '' xxviii, 5 ; cf. xxix, 7.
* Cf. Isaiah vi, 9, 10. This is the general teaching of the Proverbs ; cf. Ewald, Einleitung, p. 16, Dichter des Alien Bundes, Band ii.
" C/. i, 7 ; ix, 10 ; x, 27 ; xv, 33 : xix, 23 ; xxii, 4 ; and Vrovtxhs passim. ' See xiii, 6 ; xxi, 21 ; cf. xii, 28 ; x, 2 ; iv, 18 ; cf. xv, 24.
IV/SDOM AND THE LA IV. 20/
explicitly, righteousness, wisdom, fear of Jehovah, is to shun what Jehovah hates, and follow what he loves; — to hate haughtiness and lies, wicked devices, and the shed- ding of innocent blood, bearing false witness, sowing discord,' cheating, unhallowed revenge," and exulting over fallen enemies,' fornication and adultery,* and the oppression of the fatherless and poor ; ^ to act with prudence and humility,* which is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice,' to love mercy and truth : "
" He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to Jehovah, And his good deed will he repay him again." If thine enemy hunger, give him bread to eat ; And if he thirst, give him water to drink, For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, And Jehovah shall reward thee." "
The Book of Proverbs knows retribution to be a law which cannot fail in a world created and governed by a righteous God : He that soweth iniquity shall reap calam- ity." The adulterer is a fool, stubbornly ignorant of God's righteous law; stolen waters are sweet; in merry ignorance he enters, and makes one wath the guests of death;'" as an ox he goeth to the slaughter.'' It is the righteous law of cause and effect :
" Can a man take fire in his bosom, And his clothes not be burned ? " '*
But is there no help for the sinner ? Can he not turn from his course of destruction ? Let him turn from scorning to the love of instruction, and be no longer
' vi, 16-19. ^xvi, 6.
^ xiv, 31 ; xxiv, 29 ; c/. Job xxxi, 29. 'xix, 17.
' xxiv, 17. "^xxv, 21, 22 ; c/. x, 29 ; iii, 33-35.
* vi, 24, etc. " xxii, 8.
' xxii, 22 ; xxiii, 10 ; xiv, 31 ; xvii, 5. '^ ix, 13-18.
* See XXV, 6, 7, 17. '^ vii, 22. ' xxi, 3. " vi, 27.
vT
208
ANCIENT IDEALS.
brutish ;' perhaps his heart will be opened, so that he may seek wisdom ; then may his iniquities be purged by con- fession and amendment, by good deeds proceeding from a righteous heart :
" By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil.""
And let neither the sinner who would turn, nor the right- eous man, harden his heart against the instruction of suffering, Jehovah's chastening; it is sent in love:
" For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth. Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." ^
Suffering and all modes of human ill coming as retribu- tion for a wrong committed were comprehensible to ancient
peoples. The Greek saw further, and recog- Whydothe j-ij^gj "from suffering, knowledge." To the s'ff T*"^ Hebrew, all good and ill came from Jehovah,
and for the most part was regarded as reward and punishment. Then came the thought grandly stated by the prophets, of Jehovah's strokes working his peo- ple's redemption. His blows are blows of love. The Proverbs also recognize the justice of retribution to the wicked, and the efficiency of Jehovah's chastening, to which man should respond with humble repentance. But this teaching of the Proverbs and the prophets affords no answer to the problem of Job: Why does ill come to the righteous man, who needs no correction ? How reconcile this with God's righteousness ?'
The Book of Job includes within its discussion such
' See xii, i ; xv, 32.
* xvi, 6 ; cf. xxviii, 13.
^ iii, 12 ; cf. xix, 18 ; xxii, 15. Many of the proverbs, not exactly religious or didactic, show a deep inner knowledge of life, and practical wisdom of universal application. See e. g., xiii, 12; xiv, 10; xv, 13; xvii, 22 ; and passim.
^ This problem is in the mind of Jeremiah (Jeremiah, xii) and Habakkuk (Habakkuk, i, 13).
bv'
EliphiJ-'
til/
ItV IV.
:;ea aa
WISDOM AND THE LAW.
209
principles as have been arrived at in the Proverbs regard- ing human suffering. The view of ill as retribution ex- tends throughout the book, and is admitted by Job to be a general fact, although there is The Book
at least this negative exception, that oftentimes of Job a T , , • 1 ■ 1 , I T-1 Statement
Jehovah permits the wicked to prosper. ihe of the
view that ill is God's chastening is also found. Problem.
Happy the man whom God correcteth, says
Eliphaz." Without denying these views, Job holds that
they do not apply to him, for he asserts himself righteous,
blameless before God.
Neither Job nor his friends saw any source except God for all things good or ill that came to men ; nor was there any difference of opinion between them, that afflic- tion demonstrated that God was afflicting the sufferer, and therefore must be holding him in offence. And up to the time of Job's afifliction none of them, not Job him- self, had ever doubted the justice of God, — that he held guilty and so visited with affliction evil men and not the righteous. But a violent difference of opinion rose when Job's friends applied this to him and became emphatic, as the dispute went on, in the expression of their convic- tion that Job must have committed crimes. But Job, unshaken in the consciousness of his innocence, and sup- ported by the proof of his own case, denies that the righteous always prosper, denies that God does not often afflict them, or crush them with the arms of the wicked. A survey of affairs shows this. God destroys both the perfect and the wicked.^ Is this righteous in God ? Is his rule just ? Here is the problem; the arguments of the friends, including Elihu, together with Job's refuta- tions of them, constitute an expanded statement of it.
There is no dispute in the Book of Job as to God's greatness, his power and height, all beyond his creatures' comprehension. The friends and Elihu feel his absolute righteousness, his necessary justice :
' Job, xxi.
VOL. II. — 14
' V, 17 ; and see xxxiii.
ix, 22.
,f^jfi**-
f9%m
208 ANCIENT IDEALS.
brutish ;' perhaps his heart will be opened, so that he may seek wisdom ; then may his iniquities be purged by con- fession and amendment, by good deeds proceeding from a righteous heart :
" By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil."'
And let neither the sinner who would turn, nor the right- eous man, harden his heart against the instruction of suffering, Jehovah's chastening; it is sent in love:
" For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth. Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." '
Suffering and all modes of human ill coming as retribu- tion for a wrong committed were comprehensible to ancient peoples. The Greek saw further, and recog- Whydothe j^j2g(^ "from suffering, knowledge." To the S ffer? Hebrew, all good and ill came from Jehovah, and for the most part was regarded as reward and punishment. Then came the thought grandly stated by the prophets, of Jehovah's strokes working his peo- ple's redemption. His blows are blows of love. The Proverbs also recognize the justice of retribution to the Avicked, and the efficiency of Jehovah's chastening, to which man should respond with humble repentance. But this teaching of the Proverbs and the prophets affords no answer to the problem of Job: Why does ill come to the righteous man, who needs no correction ? How reconcile this with God's righteousness ?*
The Book of Job includes within its discussion such
' See xii, i ; xv, 32.
' xvi, 6 ; cf. xxviii, 13.
^ iii, 12 ; cf. xix, 18 ; xxii, 15. Many of the proverbs, not exactly religious or didactic, show a deep inner knowledge of life, and practical wisdom of universal application. See e. g., xiii, 12; xiv, 10; xv, 13; xvii, 22; and passim.
* This problem is in the mind of Jeremiah (Jeremiah, xii) and Habakkuk (Habakkuk, i, 13).
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 209
principles as have been arrived at in the Proverbs regard- ing human suffering. The view of ill as retribution ex- tends throughout the book, and is admitted by Job to be a general fact, although there is The Book
at least this negative exception, that oftentimes of Jod a T , 1 .1-11 1 -T-1 Statement
Jehovah permits the wicked to prosper. Ihe of the
view that ill is God's chastening is also found. Problem.
Happy the man whom God correcteth, says
Eliphaz." Without denying these views, Job holds that
they do not apply to him, for he asserts himself righteous,
blameless before God.
Neither Job nor his friends saw any source except God for all things good or ill that came to men ; nor was there any difference of opinion between them, that afflic- tion demonstrated that God was afflicting the sufferer, and therefore must be holding him in offence. And up to the time of Job's affliction none of them, not Job him- self, had ever doubted the justice of God, — that he held guilty and so visited with affliction evil men and not the righteous. But a violent difference of opinion rose when Job's friends applied this to him and became emphatic, as the dispute went on, in the expression of their convic- tion that Job must have committed crimes. But Job, unshaken in the consciousness of his innocence, and sup- ported by the proof of his own case, denies that the righteous always prosper, denies that God does not often afflict them, or crush them with the arms of the wicked. A survey of affairs shows this. God destroys both the perfect and the wicked.' Is this righteous in God ? Is his rule just? Here is the problem; the arguments of the friends, including Elihu, together with Job's refuta- tions of them, constitute an expanded statement of it.
There is no dispute in the Book of Job as to God's greatness, his power and height, all beyond his creatures' comprehension. The friends and Elihu feel his absolute righteousness, his necessary justice :
' Job, xxi. ' V, 17 ; and see xxxiii. ^ ix, 22.
VOL. 11. — 14
210 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" Far be it from God that he should do wickedness ; And from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity. For the work of a man shall he render him, And cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, of a surety God will not do wickedly, Neither will the Almighty pervert judgment." *
As for man's wisdom and righteousness, that profits him- self, not his Maker ; Canst thou find out the deep things of God ?' Knowest thou his secret ?* How can man be more just than God, or pure before his Maker?' This all expresses religious truth, felt rather than demon- strated. Such is God, what is man ? But the friends turned it into questionable half-truth when they drew the conclusion that palpable good or ill always comes to man on earth according to his righteousness or iniquity. Says Eliphaz to Job: Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, and thy hope the integrity of his ways ? ' This is a true religious sentiment ; but Eliphaz from a narrow view of God's providence straightway misapplies it : Remember, I pray thee, whoever perished being innocent ? Or where were the upright cut off ? ' This contradicts the visible facts of life. Yet Job's friends held it to be the true view ; Job himself thought it ought to be, but knew it was not; and one final elevating effect of Job's experience was to disabuse his mind of it, although indeed to him was not disclosed — though himself a proof — how to them that fear God all things inscrutably work together for the developing of the man in righteousness. Well does Job know the amplitude of God's power. But the friends argue untruthfully, unrighteously for God, respect his person in the controversy. He will reprove them.* Bold ill innocence, as well as desperate in trouble,* Job will not
' xxxiv, IO-I2 (Eliliu). ^ xxii, 2, 3 ; xxxv, 7. ^ xi, 7.
* XV, 8. * iv, 17. ^ iv, 6. '' iv, 7. * xiii, 7-10.
* See Dean Bradley's Lectures on Job, iii and iv, which bring out Job's spiritual desperation. The writer would also acknowledge his indebtedness to Dr. Davidson's admirable Job in the " Cambridge Bible."
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 211
flinch from his own knowledge; will leave no atom of fact out of account, though it impeach God's righteousness. He has human self-respect, and asserts the virtue of his own righteousness, or rather of the power of righteousness which may be in man as well as God :
" Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow. Upright men shall be astonied at this, And the innocent shall stir up himself against the godless. Yet shall the righteous hold on his way, And he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger."'
Nor does Job think of himself alone ; he has the seeing eye of man, and will close it to no evil fact ; he knows the oppression of the poor, the slaughters and the groans, the wicked vaunting themselves in wickedness; he knows the shortness and sorrow of life ; man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble." From out of the populous city men groan, and the soul of the wounded crieth out.' The unutterable dark question of evil fills him with terror:
" Even when I remember, I am troubled, And horror taketh hold on my flesh. Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power ? " *
Why should he not be impatient ? For why is he troub- led of God beyond his deserts, nay, out of proportion to his insignificance ? I loathe my life ; let me alone, O God, for my days are as a breath. What is man that thou shouldst magnify him, set thine heart on him, visit him every morning, try him every moment ?* Wilt thou harass a driven leaf ? ' Oh, if God would set forth his
' xvii, 7-9. * xxiv, 12. * vii, 16.
' xiv, I. * xxi, 6, 7. * xiii, 25.
\
r^}.
^ '
212
ANCIENT IDEALS.
cause that I might know what guilt he has against me ! And again and again he returns to his own righteousness, which he will not abjure, though he cannot establish it with God. This is the human truth of Job's position. He will shut his eyes to no atom of life's misery and evil. It seems to be unjust, and Job will credit no justification of the ways of God to man that ignores facts.
Job's own religiousness does for him what the argu- ments of his friends could not — turns him again towards God, brings a higher contemplation of Him, even before the Almighty speaks from the storm. His deepest mis- ery is not the afflictions he has suffered, the loss of sons and possessions, the loathsome disease, — but that God has abandoned him. He looks for no other end to mis- ery than death, when he shall vanish as a cloud — go down to Sheol forever.' O, might God only cease from troub- ling him, that he might have a moment of calm before going to that land of darkness I* The friends have spoken much of God's greatness. Job is stung to show- ing that he knows it too, can declare it more fully than they who think so narrowly of God that they must argue deceitfully for him, glossing over truth.' The storm still rages within him — a condemned abomination, as men think — but above it rise thoughts of God, to whom his religious nature cannot but turn :
dencc
My friends scorn me,
But mine eye poureth out tears unto God." *
Will not God ever hear, yea, and explain? It cannot be but that the infinite eternal one, who has broken down Job's life on earth, will hereafter bear witness in his behalf.' If it is God the destroyer now, then it shall be God the justifier.' Thoughts of God rise and fill his mind till he can argue against his friends' idea of God's provi-
vii, 9. X, 20-22.
XU, Xlll.
'xri, 20.
' xvi, ig. xix, 25.
^fm^
*^-
WISDOM AND THE LA IV.
213
dence, from a higher stand than theirs. Again the wave of his affliction surges on him, and the evil of the world, the might of the wicked, and the wish that he might lay his cause before God's judgment-seat.' Then his thoughts of God lift him above his doubts of God's righteousness. He sees God in his works, his infinite creations and ordainings :
" Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways. And how small a whisper do we hear of him !
But the thunder of his i)ower, who can understand ? " *
* *
It then comes home to Job, though he, the righteous man, may suffer, that it cannot go well with the wicked ; the wicked must be desolate at heart, his cry unheard of God; and he shall not escape dishonor, — it cannot be.' Job's mind calms, and he sees an aspect of a farthest truth for man. Man may dig silver and gold, search out the earth and the sea; but that which the falcon's eye has not seen, nor the eyes of the living or dead, wisdom the priceless, which is God's alone, God's plan and under- standing of the world, — this is beyond man forever. The ways of God exceed man's understanding; such is the decree of him who hath said that for man the fear of Jehovah is wisdom, and to depart from evil is under- standing." This also is the sum of the teaching of Proverbs. Job sees it from the point of view of the unsearchableness of God's plan. Henceforth he is at peace, though in sorrow. He yearns for restored com- munion with God ; yearns for those days when God watched over him, and he walked by God's light in honor and prosperity, because he was righteous before God and man, delivering the poor that cried and the fatherless, causing the widow's heart to sing with joy. Then he thought his days would multiply, his life prosper to the end! '
xxiii, 3, etc.
'xxv:, 14.
'xxvii. ^xxviii, 28.
xxix-xxxi.
m.
4iok&.;
212 ANCIENT IDEALS.
cause that I might know what guilt he has against me ! And again and again he returns to his own righteousness, which he will not abjure, though he cannot establish it with God. This is the human truth of Job's position. He will shut his eyes to no atom of life's misery and evil. It seems to be unjust, and Job will credit no justification of the ways of God to man that ignores facts.
Job's own religiousness does for him what the argu- ments of his friends could not — turns him again towards God, brings a higher contemplation of Him, even before the Almighty speaks from the storm. His deepest mis- ery is not the afflictions he has suffered, the loss of sons and possessions, the loathsome disease^ — but that God has abandoned him. He looks for no other end to mis- ery than death, when he shall vanish as a cloud — go down to Sheol forever.' O, might God only cease from troub- ling him, that he might have a moment of calm before going to that land of darkness ! * The friends have spoken much of God's greatness. Job is stung to show- ing that he knows it too, can declare it more fully than they who think so narrowly of God that they must argue deceitfully for him, glossing over truth.' The storm still rages within him — a condemned abomination, as men think — but above it rise thoughts of God, to whom his religious nature cannot but turn :
" My friends scorn me, But mine eye poureth out tears unto God." *
Will not God ever hear, yea, and explain? It cannot be but that the infinite eternal one, who has broken down Job's life on earth, will hereafter bear witness in his behalf.' If it is God the destroyer now, then it shall be God the justifier.' Thoughts of God rise and fill his mind till he can argue against his friends' idea of God's provi-
' vii, 9. *xii, xiii, ''xvi, 19.
' X, 20-22. *xvi, 20. * xix, 25.
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 21 3
dence, from a higher stand than theirs. Again the wave of his affliction surges on him, and the evil of the world, the might of the wicked, and the wish that he might lay his cause before God's judgment-seat.' Then his thoughts of God lift him above his doubts of God's righteousness. He sees God in his works, his infinite creations and ordainings :
*' Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways, And how small a whisper do we hear of him ! But the thunder of his power, who can understand ? " '
It then comes home to Job, though he, the righteous man, may suffer, that it cannot go well with the wicked ; the wicked must be desolate at heart, his cry unheard of God; and he shall not escape dishonor, — it cannot be.' Job's mind calms, and he sees an aspect of a farthest truth for man. Man may dig silver and gold, search out the earth and the sea; but that which the falcon's eye has not seen, nor the eyes of the living or dead, wisdom the priceless, which is God's alone, God's plan and under- standing of the world, — this is beyond man forever. The ways of God exceed man's understanding; such is the decree of him who hath said that for man the fear of Jehovah is wisdom, and to depart from evil is under- standing." This also is the sum of the teaching of Proverbs. Job sees it from the point of view of the unsearchableness of God's plan. Henceforth he is at peace, though in sorrow. He yearns for restored com- munion with God ; yearns for those days when God watched over him, and he walked by God's light in honor and prosperity, because he was righteous before God and man, delivering the poor that cried and the fatherless, causing the widow's heart to sing with joy. Then he thought his days would multiply, his life prosper to the end! '
' xxiii, 3, etc. 'xxvi, 14. ^xxvii. ^xxviii, 28. ' xxix-xxxi.
214 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Job's state is now such that he can feel if not under- stand the vision of divine power put before him by Jehovah, answering from the whirlwind. That answer explains nothing to Job's mind, but fills his soul with a sense of God's power and wisdom. O man, behold the infinitude of God's workings! Dost thou know anything whereby thou shouldst judge of the ways of God ? Any- thing whereby thou canst sound his plans to judge his righteousness? Job's reply is man's only reply: I lay my hand upon my mouth.
The problem of Job touches life's deepest pain. Ko- heleth's questionings have dulled and broadened: where is the good in life ? Both books rest on the general gnomic wisdom contained in Proverbs, and in both, such answers as are given are simi- lar. If Koheleth shows Hellenistic traces, it is in the general form of the book and in certain turns of expres- sion, rather than by reflecting doctrines peculiar to any system of Greek philosophy. Koheleth writes somewhat in syllogistic wise, and the confused composition shows how alien was dialectic to the Hebrew mind. The argu- ment is neither continuous nor sustained; only the mel- ancholy mood of the preacher remains.
Koheleth is dwelling on the gifts of life, its good things and its joys; most of which had ever been vanity in Israel ; and now, when Hebrew thought brings itself to ponder on them, they are still vanity. Vanity of van- ities, says Koheleth, all is vanity. What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth? Mortality is weigh- ing on him, as it had not weighed on Israel in her strong times when faith in Jehovah was enough, though promis- ing no clear life beyond the grave. — And there is no new thing under the sun. Did I not apply my heart and know wisdom? — a striving after wind. In much wisdom is much grief. And I have proved my heart with mirth ; but I said of laughter, it is mad. I got me all good things — vanity, all ! Still I saw that wisdom excelled
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 21 5
folly ; yet one event happeneth to the wise man and the fool.
There is nothing better for man than that he should eat and drink and make his soul enjoy good; this is from the hand of God. God hath set its season to all things, and made everything beautiful in its time, and there is noth- ing better than to rejoice and do good as long as life lasts. Man cannot find out God's work; God hath done it that men should fear before him. As for wickedness, which stands in the judgment-place where righteousness should be, why God shall judge both the righteous and the wicked, and God seeks to prove the sons of men. He would teach them they are as beasts in what befalleth them. Then when I turned and looked on all the oppres- sions and beheld the tears of the oppressed, and power with oppressors, then I praised the dead !
Yet fear God, keep thy foot when thou goest to his house, be not rash with thy mouth to utter M'hat thou knowest not ; for God is in heaven, thou upon the earth ; let thy words be few. If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violence instead of justice, marvel not; one higher than the high regardeth.
As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laugh- ter of the fool. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; better the patient in spirit than the proud. Wisdom is a defense, it preserveth the life of him that hath it. Who can make straight what God hath made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful; in the day of adversity consider. There is not a righteous man on earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
And withal I saw the wicked buried ; and they that had done right went away from the holy place and were also forgotten. This is vanity, which is as things seem. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, Man by wisdom cannot find out the work of God. Yet this I laid to my heart, that the
2l6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy; Hve joyfully with thy wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, for that is thy portion of life. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding; but time and chance hap- peneth to all. Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.
This is the end of the matter; fear God, and keep his commandments; this is the whole man. God shall bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good or evil. Dark Koheleth ! Yet a Jew, his face turned towards God. Hebrew wisdom ends in the dark, waiting the revelation of another life.
Jehovah's character and ways were the source of the teaching of the prophets, and the standard of the instruc- tion of Wisdom. Likewise the foundation of The Law a the Law, its sanction and binding force on Reflex of Israel lay in the qualities of Jehovah, and his Wavs relation to his people. Jehovah, Israel's god,
is one God ; ' God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath, there is none else;" He is holy, right- eous, just, faithful, and compassionate.' No nation has a God so nigh as Israel ; * God has worked for no other nation such merciful and mighty works, such complete and marvellous deliverance;^ to no other nation has God so taught knowledge of himself and his commandments." Jehovah did not choose Israel because she was more in number than any people ; for she was fewest of all peoples ; but because Jehovah loved her and would keep the cove-
' Deut. vi 4. * lb., iv, 7.
" lb., iv, 39. '^ lb., iv, 32-35.
^ lb., passim. * /^., iv, 8, 35, 36.
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 21/
nant made with her forefathers.' He is also a devouring fire, a jealous God ; " a fire which must consume wicked- ness, a jealous God demanding full recognition of his power and righteousness, a recognition incompatible with worship of idols or with acts of sin. And he chose Israel for a holy people, to be entirely consecrate to him. Israel's promise and effort to fulfil the law constituted her answer of obedience to Jehovah's will; that repre- sented her endeavor to preserve the right relationship of chosen worshipper to the holy and almighty God.
The central command of the law, and that which in Deuteronomy at least is repeatedly announced as of the essence of all other requirements, is: " Thou
shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine "^^"^ ^^^^/^
, . , ,, 1 , 1-1 11 1 Love the
heart and with all thy soul and with all thy i^^^^ yhy
might." ' This command follows as of course God.
from the character of Jehovah's relationship towards Israel, — he loves her ; and most completely it betokens that imitation of him which is commanded of his people. Soon it is expanded in explanation and em- phasis and God's wherefore: "And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jeho- vah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good. Behold, unto Jehovah thy God, belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that therein is. Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples as at this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. For Jehovah your God, he is God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, the great God, the mighty and the terrible, which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and the ' Deut. vii, 7, 8. ' lb., iv, 24. ' lb., vi, 5.
2l8
ANCIENT IDEALS.
widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and
raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger ; for ye were
strangers in the land of Eg>'pt. Thou shalt fear Jehovah
thy God, him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou
cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear. He is thy
praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Thy fathers went down into Eg>-pt with three score and
ten persons ; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee
as the stars of heaven for multitude." '
The command to love Jehovah, thus amplified, consists
in two requirements which constitute the whole law, the
requirements of holiness and righteousness, two
Holiness aspects of one matter. Holy means set apart,
and Right- ^ . . , V, , . ,.
^^„.„=.^, made sacred, consecrated to God; it applies to €OUaness. ' -c^-t^
sacred land, buildings, utensils, which may be used only for purposes of worship. Jehov'ah chose Israel, set her apart as a peculiar people, made her holy unto himself; and Aaron, because a priest, is termed the holy one of Jehovah.' As applied to God, the word denotes his height and aloofness, his purity from sin, his separateness from all contamination of wickedness or im- potence, his sacredness unto his own nature ; more metaphysically speaking, his essential Godhead.' But righteousness in God is his efficient Godhead, his might, his power of righteousness,* which as the active manifes- tation of his holiness, brings back the world to a state of holiness to him. Righteousness in man, in Israel, means conduct pursuant to Jehovah's righteous will, accordant with Jehovah's holy nature ; it means that conduct which accords with consecration to an essentially holy and manifestly righteous God. It is the active, efficient side of Israel's consecration to Jehovah.
Ancient religions largely consisted of formal observ- ance whereby the worshipper maintained his due relation- ship to his god, in order that his god might reciprocate
•Deut.x, 12-22. 'Psalmscvi, i6. ^ See Isaiah vi. ^See^Jw/^, p. 134.
'^^uMum
\?
i
WrSDOM AND THE LA W.
2ig
»?■
with benefit and protection. They all conceived of holy things, sacred to the god, and of certain acceptable or holy acts on the part of his votaries ; even some of his votaries might as priests be altogether devoted to his service. Likewise in all ancient religions there would be some conception of righteousness, that is, of a positive line of conduct on the part of the worshippers among themselves and towards other men which should be pleas- ing to the god. These conceptions of right conduct often remained limited to the narrow reciprocity existing be- tween the god and his worshippers. If the worshipper ren- dered the god his due of rite and sacrifice, the god would remain favorable ; and if the worshipper refrained from injuring other worshippers of the god, he satisfied the god's demand of right conduct. Mankind outside the circle were not under the protection of the god. But Jehovah was God over all men, and a God of righteous- ness absolute and universal, and the righteousness he looked for in his people not only consisted in his worship and called for an extension of kindness to those of the community most needing it, the widow, the fatherless, and the dumb beast, but demanded a universalizing of right conduct towards all mankind. This is the teaching of the law as well as prophets. Jehovah " regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward; he doth execute the judg- ment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth tJie stranger." Therefore injustice to any man, Israelite or heathen, is an act of unrighteousness before Jehovah, a sin against him. Here is a demand of positive universal righteousness. And the ethics of the law call for justice as well as acts of mercy, forbid vengeance, and culminate in the command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- self." ' To be sure, Jehovah permitted distinctions be- tween Israel and the outside world, and though he demanded of his people justice towards all men," he did
'Lev. xix, i8. See also generally Lev. xix, and xxv, and Deut. passim. ' Deut. xxiv, 17.
fi
*»##* V
2l8 ANCIENT IDEALS.
widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and
raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger ; for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear Jehovah
thy God, him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou
cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear. He is thy
praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with three score and
ten persons ; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee
as the stars of heaven for multitude." '
The command to love Jehovah, thus amplified, consists
in two requirements which constitute the whole law, the
requirements of holiness and righteousness, two
Holiness aspects of one matter. Holy means set apart, and Right- ^, , , ^ , • ,.
eousness i^i^de sacred, consecrated to God ; it applies to
sacred land, buildings, utensils, which may be used only for purposes of worship. Jehovah chose Israel, set her apart as a peculiar people, made her holy unto himself; and Aaron, because a priest, is termed the holy one of Jehovah.' As applied to God, the word denotes his height and aloofness, his purity from sin, his separateness from all contamination of wickedness or im- potence, his sacredness unto his own nature ; more metaphysically speaking, his essential Godhead.' But righteousness in God is his efficient Godhead, his might, his power of righteousness,* which as the active manifes- tation of his holiness, brings back the world to a state of holiness to him. Righteousness in man, in Israel, means conduct pursuant to Jehovah's righteous will, accordant with Jehovah's holy nature ; it means that conduct which accords with consecration to an essentially holy and manifestly righteous God. It is the active, efficient side of Israel's consecration to Jehovah.
Ancient religions largely consisted of formal observ- ance whereby the worshipper maintained his due relation- ship to his god, in order that his god might reciprocate
' Deut. X, 12-22. ' Psalms cvi, i6. ^See Isaiah vi. *See ante, p. 134.
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 219
with benefit and protection. They all conceived of holy things, sacred to the god, and of certain acceptable or holy acts on the part of his votaries ; even some of his votaries might as priests be altogether devoted to his service. Likewise in all ancient religions there would be some conception of righteousness, that is, of a positive line of conduct on the part of the worshippers among themselves and towards other men which should be pleas- ing to the god. These conceptions of right conduct often remained limited to the narrow reciprocity existing be- tween the god and his worshippers. If the worshipper ren- dered the god his due of rite and sacrifice, the god would remain favorable; and if the worshipper refrained from injuring other worshippers of the god, he satisfied the god's demand of right conduct. Mankind outside the circle were not under the protection of the god. But Jehovah was God over all men, and a God of righteous- ness absolute and universal, and the righteousness he looked for in his people not only consisted in his worship and called for an extension of kindness to those of the community most needing it, the widow, the fatherless, and the dumb beast, but demanded a universalizing of right conduct towards all mankind. This is the teaching of the law as well as prophets. Jehovah " regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward; he doth execute the judg- ment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger.'' Therefore injustice to any man, Israelite or heathen, is an act of unrighteousness before Jehovah, a sin against him. Here is a demand of positive universal righteousness. And the ethics of the law call for justice as well as acts of mercy, forbid vengeance, and culminate in the command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- self." ' To be sure, Jehovah permitted distinctions be- tween Israel and the outside world, and though he demanded of his people justice towards all men,' he did
'Lev. xix, 18. See also generally Lev. xix, and xxv, and Deut. passim. ' Deut. xxiv, 17.
220 ANCIENT IDEALS.
not command them to act towards other nations, in such fullness of love and charity as among themselves; the religion of Jehovah was not Christianity.'
Such was the universal, absolute nature of the right- eousness which Jehovah in his law demanded of his peo- ple. The more peculiar requirements of the The Ritual., . vi ■ 4-i r t u
law come rather within the compass of Jeho- vah's demand that Israel should remain as he had chosen her to be, a people set apart unto him, sanctified, holy. But to be holy unto Jehovah required a zealous devotion of such character as should accord with Jehovah's holi- ness, his purity, his absolute sinlessness. Only by striv- ing to preserve in the community such qualities as these, could Israel hope to maintain toward her God the right relationship of chosen worshipper consecrated to his ser- vice. Jehovah was pure and sinless ; so must Israel be; or rather, since no community can remain free from sin, she must be ever striving to purify herself and atone for sin, and keep herself in right relation towards her God. To this end were the requirements of Israel's ritual, the carefully discriminated institution of the priesthood — a holier and mediating Israel within Israel,^ — the members of which should be of a certain lineage ' and should main- tain themselves spotless by cleansing ceremonial, by abstention from strong drink,* by avoidance of unchaste defilement;' to this end, with a view to periodical purifi- cation and renovation, were the weekly Sabbaths, the Sabbath months, and Sabbath years;" to this end, the careful definings of the forms of temple service — the
^ E. g., Israelites were forbidden to take usury of Israelites, Exodus xxii, 25 ; Deut. xxiii, 19 ; or to take Israelites as bondservants. They should buy bondsmen of the nations round about, Lev. xxv, 39 cf. Ex. xxi, 2, etc. Likewise there was no duty to redeem a stranger from bondage, but only a near of kin. See Lev. xxv, 47, etc.
^ See Ewald, Antiquitiex, p. 269, 271.
* Priesthood limited to Aaron and his sons, Ex. xxix, 9 ; viii-x.
* Before entering the sanctuary, Lev. x, 9. This shut off much of bestial Canaanitish revelry.
* See Lev. xviii, xxi, xxii. ^ See Ewald, Antiquities, p. 337, etc.
WISDOM AND THE LAW. 221
service of the temple where Jehovah dwelt ' — and of the many forms of sacrifice, thank-offerings, and guilt-ofTer- ings. The religion of Jehovah, though spiritual, had its formal accompaniments, of value in keeping the people obedient and minded towards their God. It never was a principle of Jehovah's religion that form, sacrifice of a bullock for example, would of itself atone for wilful guilt or purify an unrepentant man. An offering might atone for an unwitting sin," but to atone for any wilful sin, as fraud or violence, there must be restitution and confes- sion ; after which a guilt-offering might be accepted by a forgiving God.' Men who are careful of religious forms, tend to rely on them ; thus the religion becomes unspir- itual, immoral, corrupt. Against such corruption the prophets cried out.* But in Israel a strong reason for scrupulous form and ritual lay in the need of keeping Jehovah's religion distinct from Canaanitish rites; and hence in Deuteronomic times sacrifices were forbidden on the " high places " where worshippers confused Jehovah with Baal. Deuteronomy enjoins sacrifice at Jerusalem alone,' in order to avoid heathen influences. And from this time on, the ritual was recognized as a means of keep- ing Jehovah's religion pure.
So it came that ritual, the visible form of the religion, attained special sanctity, and the details became essential ; to violate them was a sin. This is the Levitical stand- point. The corruption lay in recognizing the forms as saving in themselves without regard to the worshipper's, spiritual state, of unrepentant wickedness it might be. But aside from such corruption, the forms of Israel's
^ Ex. XXV, 8. "^ Num. xv, 27. ^ See Num. v, 7 ; Lev. vi, 1-7.
^ In periods when intent is clearly distinguished from outward act, there may be consciousness of distinction between the righteous heart and the ceremonial act. But primitive thought does not make this distinction, a consciousness of which may come only with recognition of inconsistency be- tween the character of God, as the higher thought of the community at length conceives him, and the conduct of those who comply with the cere- monial requirements of the religion.
' xii, 11-14 ; xvi, 5, 6.
222 ANCIENT IDEALS.
religion, the rites and festivals and sacrifices, became an endeared expression of her devoted, minute, and all- observing obedience to her God ; it was one expression of her love, and if to many Israelites it became more than form, more than expression, verily the thing itself, it was also inseparable from holiness of conduct, and awakened holiest devotion of the heart, the eager observance of the loved law of a loving God, such as finds voice in the one hundred and nineteenth psalm. If in that psalmist's mind Jehovah's commands of mercy and justice stood on no higher plane than Jehovah's commands of worship and sacrifice, it was far from his heart to pass over any portion of the law which came from an holy and righteous God.
The ritual covered many secondary matters not to be
overlooked by a people set on keeping itself clean and
pure, holy before a sinless God. But the main
Him Only element of Israel's holiness, the essence if not Shalt Thou , r , • i i •
Serve ^ ^\xYi\ of her right relation as chosen wor-
shipper and devoted servant, was that she should worship and pray to Jehovah alone, as the one and only God, and serve him and cleave to him alone, and abjure all thoughts of other gods,' and keep herself in the condition of due humility and adoring reverence towards Jehovah and his name. " I am Jehovah. Sanc- tify yourselves, and be ye holy," ' pure and spotless, free from sin, free from defilement. " I am Jehovah, and ye shall not profane my holy name ; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel ; I am Jehovah which hallow you, that brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be
' The Israelite who serves other gods, shall be stoned, Deut. xvii, 5 ; his kin shall not conceal or spare him ; but the hand of his nearest kin shall stone him first of all, and afterwards the hand of all the people, Deut. xiii, g. Marriages with the heathen nations of Canaan are prohibited, Deut. vii, 3 ; see xx, 16-18. Let the Israelites follow no prophet bidding them sei-ve other gods, though he do signs and wonders and they come to pass ; " for Jehovah your God proveth you to know whether ye love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deut. xiii, 3.
' Lev. XX, 7.
LA TER JUDAISM. 223
your God." ' It is in and through Jehovah that Israel is sanctified, is hallowed, is holy, is righteous, is strong, — through following him, and copying him and knowing him ; the sum of Israel's holiness, righteousness, and life, holds ratio to the fulness with which she makes him her God. " I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse ; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; to love Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days ; that thou mayest dwell in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." '
LATER JUDAISM*
When the Jews returned to Jerusalem by the permis- sion of Cyrus, they had been exposed for some years to the influences of the gross material civilization of Babylon. Exilic and post-exilic literature Babylonian show that the size and scarlet glory of Babylon influence impressed the Israelite imagination. There the Jews dwelt in communities by themselves, with probably but little intercourse between them and the rest of Nebuchadnezzar's subjects. It is difificult to point to elements in the subsequent life of the Jews traceable to Babylonian influence.
The influence of the Persians was greater. They were recognized as deliverers, and Cyrus was regarded as Jeho- vah's instrument, chosen to restore the tribes of Judah. Moreover, assuming that the religion of Zarathushtra, as set forth in the older portions of the Avesta, was the religion of the Achsmenian Persians, there must have been religious affinities between the Jews and Persians which perhaps they would have recognized if acquainted with each other's faith. But this is the point as to which
' Lev. xxii, 32, 33 ; cf. Lev. xxiv, 16. * Deut. xxx, 19, 20.
224 ANCIENT IDEALS.
there is no direct testimony beyond tiie likelihood that there were opportunities of intercourse in Babylonia and afterwards in Palestine. The inquirer has to rely on such inferences as may be drawn from a comparison of Mazdaism with later Jewish writings; nor can he con- clude that whatever is found in later Judaism with its apparent counterpart or prototype in Mazdaism must for that reason have been borrowed. Both systems had much in common before there was any contact between them, and likely in their later development would show similar conceptions and practices. On the whole, basing an opinion on coincidences of name and fact too partic- ular to be accounted for on the principle that similar stages of similar systems produce closely related thoughts, it may be said that Mazdaism had much to do with determining the particular forms assumed by Jewish con- ceptions, though it does not follow that those concep- tions would not have reached a like stage of development had Judaism never come in contact with the religion of Zarathushtra. Contact with Mazdaism probably influ- enced Jewish thoughts regarding ceremonial uncleanness, regarding angels and the evil spirits, and regarding the resurrection of the dead and final judgment.'
The Greek influence on Judaism was as important as the Persian, and may be more surely traced. It did not
affect the Jewish religion directly, but gave
Hellenism. 111^^1 1' r ..u
new knowledge to the upper classes ot the
Jews, and some philosophical ideas to which they might
endeavor to adjust their thoughts of God and man. It
' On the other side, the development of thoughts of angels and other spirits was a natural accompaniment of the growing thought of God's far off transcendence, and the idea of Satan can largely lie accounted for without looking to the dualism of Zarathushtra. The Satan of Job is, as yet, very far from being the Devil, but a conception of an evil spirit was one natural answer to Job's problem ; and also was suggested by the trend of Hellenistic philosophy. Says Renan : " Une observation gcnerale, cependant, c'est que presque toutes ces croyances communes a I'lran et a la Judee sont des de- ductions tout a fait naturelles de croyances anterieures." — Histoirc du Pettple d' Israel, vol. iv, p. 170.
LA TER JUDAISM. 225
gave them also novel views of living, and a sense of an- noyance at being marked by their customs as peculiar. Jewish Hellenism was largely an affectation of fashions which the Jew at heart did not care for. He got little of the Greek sympathy with human life, little of Greek reason; he was at best a poor philosopher. The Hellen- ized Jew was a sterile hybrid ; only the Alexandrian Philo evolved some thoughts which influenced Plotinus and gave perhaps a phrase to the author of the Fourth Gospel. But Philo may have taken quite as important elements of his logos-conception from Hebrew Chokh- mah as from Greek philosophy. He was the greatest of Hellenizing Jews. The other end of the scale was the would-be athlete, trying to hide his circumcision.
Through these later Jewish times, the strength of Judaism, for good or ill, lay within itself. The Israel which clung to the Law as God's strict com- mand, brincj-ing- a sure reward ; the Israel which Israel s hoped for the Messiah, regal or spiritual ; the streneth Israel which moved on to Christ or dashed it- self against Rome, was Israel unaffected by Greek thought. It is a marvellous piece of history, the con- duct and fortunes of the Jewish race, between the return from Babylon and the death of Christ. Amid influences at one time calculated to crush, at another to disintegrate the race, the Jews hardened more intensely into Jews, and, so hardening, kept themselves a nation ; nor did they lose the propagandist spirit, or the belief that all nations would come to worship their God and acknowl- edge them as his chosen people, entitled for that reason to dominate the world. Israel continued to believe in the absolute validity of the commands and promises of her religion. But the race was no longer growing or creative, and its faith became an unyielding shell within which it went on elaborating in detail the Law of Moses, and out of the great hopes of its prophets spinning apoc- alyptic webs.
226 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Jehovah's promises to Israel in the wilderness had been coupled with commands and made conditional on Israel's obedience. Those promises would surely ful- The Zeal fil themselves, if Israel fulfilled their condi- or t e Law ^.j^j^g of obedience. And the Jews in these Tradition later days were believing more fixedly than ever in the rewards attached to obedience to Jehovah's law. The canonical books of the Old Testa- ment as a whole leave no doubt that the way of the right- eous prospers on earth. To this rule there were apparent exceptions, which might lead to individual questionings, but in the end would reach their answers in a strength- ened faith. In olden times the relations of the individ- ual to the justice of God had not been considered fully. Jehovah's promises were to Israel as a people; and their fulfilment depended on the people's obedience. But the people were prone to disobedience, and their just punishment might entail the ruin of the righteous ones among them. Or the sins of one generation might bring ruin to the next, as the Babylonian Exile taught, and the Jews brought from exile a keener sense of the shortcom- ing and suffering of mortal lives, and the ineradicable evil of the world.
From such thoughts they drew some general inferences. Jehovah's justice must discriminate between righteous and wicked Israelites ; righteousness is desirable; for, as a rule, the righteous prosper. Earthly conditions entail apparent exceptions ; but God is scrupulously just, rewarding every individual according to his works, if not in this life, then in a future state. Inasmuch as Jeho- vah's justice is perfect and does not fully show itself in men's mortal lives, a future retribution and reward is a matter of absolute certainty and transcendent impor- tance. Let every man shape his life with reference to it ; let every man obey God and observe the law in every detail, for that is God's full command, and its observance is righteousness which brings reward. Hence the steady, intense, and, when opposed, passionate desire of the Jews
LA TER JUDAISM. 22/
to fulfil the law ; ' it was for the great and sure reward to come. Yet such zeal carried unselfish devotion to Jehovah's ordinances, and the zealots of the law often lost sight of self in their ardent devotion to the great and sure commands of God, and there was response in many hearts to the saying of the Rabbi : " Be not like ser- vants, who serve their master for the sake of reward, but be like those who do service without respect to reward." ^
In the strength of their religion, which now more than ever made their life, the Jews, though hated and despised of men, were the chosen race of God. Therefore were they assuredly some time to be the ruling race, if only they would observe his commands, the law. The more strictly it was observed, the more surely would the great future be realized. That lay within the power of the people if they devoted themselves to the law's observ- ance. Let the learning it be their sole study, the doing it their sole endeavor. But the law in the Pentateuch did not cover every act of daily life, not even every detail of religious observance. The Jews yearned to bring their entire lives within its compass. So by comparisons and devices and new precepts ingeniously drawn from ancient rules, the learned scribes supplemented the law till its " tradition " resulted in the astounding detail and elabo- ration of the Mishna.' And thus it came that as every act of life of every law-observing Pharisaic Jew was made to conform to definite authoritative precept, their lives became a complex, scrupulous observance, which left lit- tle place for the spontaneous action of a righteous con- science.
Not all the Jews went along with this. Many of the leading priestly families would observe only the law of Moses, as written in the Pentateuch. These men be- came in time the Sadducees, who would not recognize
' See Schurer, History of the Jezvish People in the Time of Christ, vol. ii, div. ii, p. go, etc.
* Cited Schiirer, ibid., p. 93.
^ See Schiirer, ibid., ii, i, 320, etc. ; ii, ii, 96, etc.
:-'S AXCIE.VT IDEALS.
the additions made and observed by Scribes and Phari- sees. Hence they recognized no resurrection, which was not promised by the law of Moses. They also inclined towards the notions and customs of their Hellenic neigh- bors. But the strength of Israel was with the party of the Pharisees, and the Sadducaic party had outwardly to conform in order to maintain their political influence.'
It was characteristic of the period of excessive develop- ment of legal observance that the spirit of prophecy, which of old had been a living guidance to liv- po*-3.yp icjj^g men. abandoned the present and its needs, and occupied itself with that future which Aivas to make amends for all the sufferings and untoward circumstances of the Jews. This is true even of the Book of Daniel, dating from early Maccabean times, which from its fervid spirit exerted great influence and was received into the Hebrew canon. Its gaze is fixed upon the future, and even its moving exhortations to humble righteousness before God speak not from the point of view of the worth of a present righteous life, but look far beyond the reach of earthly realization to the kingdom of the saints to come. More emptied of reality and life are the later elaborate Apocalv-pses of Enoch, Baruch, and Ezra. They dogmatize as artificially on the Judg- ment Day and Ufe to come as the schools of the Scribes upon the Law. The living force of Old Testament prophecy is gone from them.
The future lots of men were regarded from two points
of view, the one Hellenic, and the other in the main
Jewish, though influenced by Persian thought.
Greek philosophy tended to view the soul of
man as the man himself and as immortal. To
this view Hellenized Jewish thinkers attached
themselves, and regarded souls as living after
death, immortal, and punished or rewarded according to
the sinfulness or righteousness of their mortal lives in the
' See Schurer, Hid., ii. ii, 28, etc.
itya:id ReSTirrec-
tion.
r
I
M^^M^MM^sM^^Mi
LA TER JUDAISM.
229
flesh.* But the real Jewish view looked for a resurrection of the dead at the Judgment Day, or for the Messianic Kingdom, for which the Greek thought of continuous immortality of the soul left no proper place. According to later conceptions, when that Kingdom came, there would be, not simply a restoration to power of the Israel then living in the flesh, but a resurrection from the dead of all departed righteous ones, if not of sinners. The Book of Daniel gives the outline which subsequent apoc- alypses were to elaborate." " And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince v/hich standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was, since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and
ever." '
Pictures of the last times disclose the reward which the Jews expected from obedience to the law. The feature in them altogether Jewish was that of the Mes- siah. Daniel sees the vision of one coming in jyigggj^h. the heavens like unto a son of man. Under this form the prophet probably intended to figure the saints of the Most High, v/hose kingdom should succeed the evil kingdoms of the world and have no end.* But the figure, taken more literally, bore another meaning which mav have been also in the prophet's mind. The writer of a part of the Book of Enoch took up the phrase
1 See especially the Book of Wisdom, the teachings of which are not dear on the point, whether at death the wicked are annihilated or kept in pain.
- For the detaOs of these later thoughts of the Messianic time, as drawn out in Enoch and the Apocalypses of Banich. etc.. see Schurer. iHd., ii. u, pp. 126-187-
3 Daniel xii, 1-4. ' ^^<^-^ ^' ^3, U, i/- iS.
I
m
228 ANCIENT IDEALS.
the additions made and observed by Scribes and Phari- sees. Hence they recognized no resurrection, which was not promised by the law of Moses. They also inclined towards the notions and customs of their Hellenic neigh- bors. But the strength of Israel was with the party of the Pharisees, and the Sadducaic party had outwardly to conform in order to maintain their political influence.'
It was characteristic of the period of excessive develop- ment of legal observance that the spirit of prophecy, which of old had been a living guidance to liv-
poca yp 'Cjj^ men, abandoned the present and its needs, Prophecy. fc> ' r
and occupied itself with that future which
was to make amends for all the sufferings and untoward circumstances of the Jews. This is true even of the Book of Daniel, dating from early Maccabean times, which from its fervid spirit exerted great influence and was received into the Hebrew canon. Its gaze is fixed upon the future, and even its moving exhortations to humble righteousness before God speak not from the point of view of the worth of a present righteous life, but look far beyond the reach of earthly realization to the kingdom of the saints to come. More emptied of reality and life are the later elaborate Apocalypses of Enoch, Baruch, and Ezra. They dogmatize as artificially on the Judg- ment Day and life to come as the schools of the Scribes upon the Law. The living force of Old Testament prophecy is gone from them.
The future lots of men were regarded from two points
of view, the one Hellenic, and the other in the m.ain
Jewish, though influenced by Persian thought.
Immortal- Greek philosophy tended to view the soul of
ity and xvL2i\\ as the man himself and as immortal. To
.. this view Hellenized Jewish thinkers attached
tion. •'
themselves, and regarded souls as living after death, immortal, and punished or rewarded according to the sinfulness or righteousness of their mortal lives in the ' See Schiirer, ibid., ii, ii, 28, etc.
LA TER JUDAISM. 229
flesh.' But the real Jewish view looked for a resurrection of the dead at the Judgment Day, or for the Messianic Kingdom, for which the Greek thought of continuous immortality of the soul left no proper place. According to later conceptions, when that Kingdom came, there would be, not simply a restoration to power of the Israel then living in the flesh, but a resurrection from the dead of all departed righteous ones, if not of sinners. The Book of Daniel gives the outline which subsequent apoc- alypses were to elaborate.' " And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince v/hich standeth for the children of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was, since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars, for ever and ever. ' ' '
Pictures of the last times disclose the reward which the Jews expected from obedience to the law. The feature in them altogether Jewish was that of the Mes- siah. Daniel sees the vision of one coming in ^. . ^ 11 fi r TT , Messiah,
the heavens like unto a son of man. under
this form the prophet probably intended to figure the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom should succeed the evil kingdoms of the world and have no end.* But the figure, taken more literally, bore another meaning which may have been also in the prophet's mind. The writer of a part of the Book of Enoch took up the phrase
' See especially the Book of Wisdom, the teachings of which are not clear on the point, whether at death the wicked are annihilated or kept in pain.
'^ For the details of these later thoughts of the Messianic time, as drawn out in Enoch and the Apocalypses of Baruch, etc., see Schiirer, ibid., ii, ii, pp. 126-187.
^ Daniel xii, 1-4. * Ibid., vii, 13, 14, 17, 18.
230 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" the son of man," and applied it definitely to the per- sonal Messiah/ whom he viewed as more than human, named before the creation of the sun and stars, chosen and hidden with God before the world was made ; his is per- fect righteousness and his power from eternity to eternity.'
A description of the Messiah-King, whose might lies in his perfect righteousness and in the power of holiness from his God, is given in the Psalms of Solomon :
" Behold, O Lord, and raise up unto them their king the son of David, in the time which thou, O God, know- est, that he may reign over Israel thy servant ; and gird him with strength that he may break in pieces them that rule unjustly. Purge Jerusalem from the heathen that trample her down to destroy her, with wisdom and with righteousness. He shall thrust out the sinners from the inheritance. . . . He' shall destroy the ungodly nations with the word of his mouth, so that at his rebuke the nations may flee before him, and he shall convict the sinners in the thoughts of their hearts. And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in right- eousness; and shall judge the tribes of the people that hath been sanctified by the Lord his God. And he shall not suffer iniquity to lodge in their midst; and none that knoweth wickedness shall dwell with them. And the sojourner and the stranger shall dwell with them no more. He shall judge the nations and the peoples with the wis- dom of his righteousness. And he shall possess the nations of the heathens to serve him beneath his yoke; and he shall glorify the Lord in a place to be seen of the whole earth; and he shall purge Jerusalem and make it holy, even as it was in the days of old. So that the nations may come from the ends of the earth to see his glory, bringing as gifts her sons that had fainted ; and a righteous king and taught of God is he that reigneth over them ; and there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst, for all shall be holy, and their king is the Lord
* Enoch xlvi, 1-4 ; xlviii, 2. and elsewhere in the chapters up to Ixxii. " Ibid., xlvi-xlix.
LA TER JUDAISM. 23 1
Messiah (j/jz^toV nvpios). For he shall not put his trust in horse or rider and bow, nor shall he multiply unto himself gold and silver for war, nor by ships shall he gather confidence for the day of battle. For he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth even for ever- more. He shall bless the people of the Lord with wis- dom and gladness. He himself also is pure from sin, so that he may rule a mighty people, and rebuke princes and overthrow sinners by the might of his word. And he shall not faint all his days (because he leaneth) upon his God ; for God shall cause him to be mighty through the spirit of holiness {Ttvevfxari ayicp) and wise through the counsel of understanding, with might and righteous- ness. And the blessing of the Lord is with him in might, and his hope in the Lord shall not faint." '
The Messiah was usually the central feature of the final day of glory and the kingdom of the saints. The times and manner of his coming vary.' The matter of supreme importance for the Jewish race was how its Messiah and Messianic glory should be awaited and attained. What was the nature of the kingdom of the saints ? And by what means were their enemies to be subjected ? The thought of the Messiah evidently included loftiest con- ceptions of his righteousness and spiritual power from God; it also included many gleaming thoughts of his great power as the coming king of men. Was his com- ing to mean the spiritual regeneration and salvation of the world ? Or was it to usher in the national domina- tion of the Jewish race over the proud and hateful Gen- tiles ? These were the two strains of expectation, the one prophetic, spiritual; the other royal and material. The mass of the Jewish people, with firm, mistaken faith in their God, interpreted the hope in accordance with their race-pride and hatred, and relied on it to their com- plete overthrow by Titus and their final destruction as a nation under Hadrian.
' Psalms of Solomon, xvii (Ryle and James), date about 70 B.C. ' See Schi'irer, ibid., ii, ii, 137-187. .
CHAPTER XXII.
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION.
THE origin of Christianity cannot be scientifically- treated. Science is explanation, an explanation of antecedent and consequent, cause and effect. It may seem that no great matter of the past is entirely open to scientific treatment, since historical knowledge is always partial. But with regard to other great Origin of events, partial knowledge points towards ex-
C ristian- pi^nation, suggests that with fuller knowledge
ity a Scien-
tific Di- ^^^ matter might be set forth scientifically in
lemma. its complete causal setting. Our historical knowledge respecting the origin of Christianity is also partial ; but so far as it reaches, it points, not to explanation, but to mystery.
The dilemma is this. It is certain that Christianity had birth in the intense belief of the apostolic circle that Christ was risen from the dead. To this belief there is one explanation, — the fact that he was living, and in some mode had manifested himself to his disciples. Every other hypothesis is involved in contradictions ; that is to say, enough historic fact is known of the life and death of Jesus Christ, of the people and the times in which he lived, of his followers before his death and afterwards, to contradict every other hypothesis suggested ; nay, more, to point to the exclusion of any hypothesis save the ver- ity of the resurrection. Hence, either the belief of the apostolic circle in the resurrection of Christ sprang from the only fact which accounts for it, — a fact transcending scientific treatment, — or this fact never occurred, we have
232
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 233
no explanation of apostolic belief, and again scientific treatment is excluded. For if we seek an explanation in the personality of the living Jesus, and say, the resurrec- tion as a fact is incredible, the circumstances of Christ's life and death offer no explanation of apostolic belief, therefore the explanation, though beyond our knowledge, must be the personality of Jesus, still no explanation is to be expected. For, not because of our ignorance, but through such knowledge as we have, is it evident that no one can solve the mystery of the personality of Christ. He who thinks he fathoms it, is merely blind to the con- tradictions it includes. The qualities which faith attri- butes to the infinite personality of God are in their union contradictions if man attempts to think them in any finite being, the only being which human finitude can compre- hend. The personality of Christ presents actual contra- dictions analogous to the metaphysical difficulties which the human mind encounters in attempts to conceive God. As in the uncritical centuries which are past, so now, after subjection to criticism, the records of the life of Christ present enough sure fact to make his personality as deep a mystery as the apostolic belief in his resurrection.*
So for the origin of Christianity we are thrown back on the mystery of Christ. Christian faith was either based on the fact of the resurrection, or sprang from an inexplicable delusion in some way connected with Jesus' mysterious personality, a delusion which was most intense among those who had known him intimately, had eaten and drunk, lain down and risen and passed their days in intercourse with one whom, even during his life and cer- tainly after his malefactor's death, they, strict mono- theistic Jews, held to be the Messiah, and the Son of God."
From another point of view, it will appear vain to
' Cf. Hamack, Dogmengeschichte, second ed., vol. i, pp. 59, 73-76.
' The writer has no intention of discussing the evidences of the resurrec- tion. He merely states his position — that he can see no explanation of the Christian faith except on the assumption that the resurrection of Christ
234 ANCIENT IDEALS.
expect complete scientific treatment of the origin of Christianity. Christianity was a complete fulfilment of its antecedents. They were taken into it, perfected and transformed. Not only did Christianity include organ- ically its own antecedents, but it contained potentially that manifold experience of life which constituted the civilization of the Graeco-Roman world. There was place in it for all the goodness, truth, and beauty which Greece had garnered from mortality; there was place for the surging, hitherto aimless, mystic emotionalism of the East ; there was place for Roman will and Roman law. And Christianity was itself a complete response to all the longings of the time. But when i4:s antecedents have been pointed out, when its scope and the conditions of its rapid spread have been indicated, its existence is still unaccounted for; no adequate cause has been shown. Christ was a Jew; as the soil of Judea was needed for his feet to stand on, so was the Old Testament the germal antecedent of his gospel. Moreover, from the first, the limitations and conditions of the time entered into the apprehension of his gospel. And after his crucifixion, as
actually occurred, in itself certainly a matter most difficult to believe. Here is an example of one of the simpler facts which make any other explana- tion vain. Many regard the first chapters of Acts as unreliable, would not admit Peter's speech in the second chapter as direct evidence of the sudden change of a frightened Galilean into an assured prophet of a new faith. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the quick advance of the faith after the crucifixion presupposes just such assurance in the apostolic circle as Peter's speech reflects. The apostles must have been different men after Christ's death, and before. If we will reason about the cause of the change, let us not at least argue as some do substantially : Christ did not rise, therefore they were all assured of his resurrection.
The case of James, the Lord's brother, is peculiarly striking in the diffi- culties it presents to any other explanation. It is not questioned that James did not in Christ's lifetime believe on him ; it is not questioned that soon after Christ's death, James is a leading and fervent member of the Christian band. What changed him ? Surely, not the fact that Christ met his death at the hands of the authorities, — just the ending which members of Jesus' family who did not believe in him might have been anticipating. Paul (i Cor. XV, 7) says Christ appeared to James. If this is untrue, I still can see no other explanation.
CHRIS TIA NITY : THE S YNOP TIC PRE SEN TA TION. 235
Christianity spread, extraneous elements attached them- selves to Christ's teaching, and Christianity passed under the influences of different moods of men and modes of life. It entered different phases ; was corrupted, limited, diverted from its truth of all of Christ. Thus we find the reasons of its perversions, and trace extraneous ele- ments to their sources. But all this is only to explain things transient and extraneous, not Christianity itself, Christ's life and teachings. Christianity was a new power in the world, which sprang not altogether from its antecedents, and still less was given birth to by any cir- cumstances of the time. The historian is thus again thrown back on the inexplicable personality of Christ.'
The Old Testament is the ancient record of the spirit- ual development of a race ; conversely viewed, it is the progressive revelation of God. While many of its religious and ethical ideas remain valid Hebraic for all men, throughout may be discerned a Antece-
progress which disclaims finality. But besides .. ^° ^'
, ^ . , , . 1 ^ , . Abrogation
that mcompleteness which represents a condi- through
tion of advance, much in the Old Testament is Fulfilment, such that advance must involve its abrogation. As to the formal features of the law, one expression of Israel's devotion to her God, it is plain that their abso- lute fulfilment in spirit involved abrogation of the letter, which was made of no avail, and that the universalizing of Israel's religion in Christianity would mean service of God through deeds of love towards all mankind, rather than that mode of race charity and worship which had kept Israel Jehovah's people. Moreover, beyond those elements of Israel's religion which had been valid at one time, but were inconsistent with farther advance, later
' The above remarks are intended to indicate the limits of scientific historical treatment. Attempts to pass them have not hitherto been success- ful. But to say that they never will be passed by historical investigation would be as illogical as the dogmatic assertion that the alleged facts of Christ's life and death, which pass the bounds of normal experience, are fictitious.
236 ANCIENT IDEALS,
Judaism had fallen into a formalism out of accord with its own progressive spirit, and had its embittered mo- ments, since it raised its God out of the heart's reach. Prophet's and psalmist's inspiration of God's near might had with the Preacher turned to sense of distance. The Jewish mind was become too narrow for the two great thoughts — God high and lifted up, God in the midst of Israel. Such matters of hardening or deflection were not taken up in Christ's teachings, but served with him as a point of departure.*
The elements, then, of Israel's religion which were true elements, and also such that they could be perfected and fulfilled without being thereby abrogated, passed into Christianity, Conversely, in Christianity the religion of Israel was universalized and spiritualized ; the relation- ship between Israel and God was broadened to God's common fatherhood to all mankind ; and every act of life was referred for the test of its righteousness to the spirit of the love of God.
The history of Israel in the Old Testament was one long story of the ways of God, in the course of which, under prophetic delineation, the personality and The Per- character of Jehovah appeared in mighty lines, Tehovah This grand personality, this character sublimely drawn, has ever been a mainstay in Christian- ity, holding Christians to the clear thought of one per- sonal and living God, keeping them free from idolatry and pantheism. In the Old Testament, even to convey thoughts of the divine love and care, the term " Father " is rarely applied to God, Creator was he always, al- mighty, ruling God, righteous, holy, and loving. But the gathering greatness and power of the conception of Jehovah, though it did not always tend to remove him from Israel, may have been one reason why Israel before
' For other examples, naturally the earlier commands to kill enemies who threatened the race and its religion were not taken up into Christianity, nor were the erroneous views as to the mechanical justice of God which Job's friends set forth.
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 237
Christ did not reach a sense of sonship and the intimate assurance of divine consolation which that relationship suggests. Israel had done and thought all things with reference to God, her own face turned Godward. Christ showed the absolute communion of man the son with God the Father. So the Old Testament thought of Jehovah was clothed upon with a more perfect love; and the fear of God, which to the Hebrew was righteousness, was fulfilled in Christ as the perfect love which casteth out fear.
Through centuries Israel's Messianic yearnings had been heightening in answer to her thoughts of God, his ways and his demands. These yearnings were fulfilled better than her prophets knew in Messianic Christ, But in Judea, when Christ was born, tions
the common expectations of a Messiah were unspiritual. With Christ, these Jewish expectations served to show, to himself and others, what he was not.' It was the higher ideal of loving service of God which he fulfilled, a service which also could not fail to bring ineffa- ble blessing to the serving sons of God. And he made his own fulfilment of prophecy part of his life and teach- ing, showing how the true lines of Israel's course led on and upwards to attainment on Calvary.
No writer but says foolish things when he attempts to draw the character of Christ. There is in literature, out- side of the gospel record, one delineation of his character which, as far as it reaches, is true. "
Touches of it are seen in prophetic pictures of i^ovA
the Messianic King, meek and lowly, whose career is inseverable from Jehovah's all-effecting will. The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
' It may be that the three temptations (Matt, iv, i, etc.) are not discon- connected with popular notions of the Messiah, which Jesus condemned in resisting the temptations. "Command that these stones be made bread," " Cast thyself down," seem perhaps related to the indiscriminate expecta- tion of " sign "-working from the Messiah (cf. i Cor. i, 22). The third temptation, " Rule over the earth," is more clearly connected with the popular conception.
238 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Father doing, says Christ. The fuller picture is in the latter part of Isaiah. The fifty-third chapter tells of the lot of Jehovah's servant, and through his sufferings shows his character.' Christ's lot on earth corresponds to that servant's lot ; but still more subtly does the character of the servant outline the character of Christ. One may look beyond the fifty-third chapter for this: The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of disciples that I should know how to sustain with words him that is weary ; he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as disciples. The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ears, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away backward. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.'" So speaks the servant; and now Jehovah: Behold my servant whom I uphold. . . . He shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break; and the dimly burning wick shall he not quench.^ The correspondence of Christ's character to that of the servant of Jehovah, which is the correspondence of a greater to the less which it includes,* shows how Christ embodied in himself the highest conceptions of Israel, and made them into the organic foundation of Christianity.'
' See ante, chap. xix. - Isaiah 1, 4. ^ Ibid., xlii.
* The Old Testament outline of the character of Jehovah's servant did not bring out the love-evoking qualities of Christ's personality. Yet such qualities might be fitted into the Old Testament outline.
* It has reasonably suggested itself to the critical mind that such palpable agreement between incidents of Christ's life and the Old Testament as is shown for instance in the entry into Jerusalem and the parting of the gar- ments of the crucified Jesus, suggests in the one case intentional fulfilment of prophetic detail on the part of Christ, in the other, pious imaginative in- vention on the part of some one. Such criticisms do not apply to the broader fulfilment which the life of Christ discloses, nor to the coincidences in character just referred to. But the spirit of the time raises still another question : If Christ's life did agree with the details of prophecy, what of it? One should not blame the prophet if details come true, contrary to our ideas of propriety. But deeply and broadly considered there is confirma-
CNRISTIAA'ITY : THE SY.V OPTIC PRESENTATION. 239
If it is impossible to treat the origin of Christianity scientifically, it is for somewhat analogous reasons impos- sible to set forth Christianity systematically. Life transcends systematization. The story of Christian- a human life may be told, though perhaps ^^^ cannot never adequately. The simplest life embraces^^g^g ^^j^j a complex of incident and experience operating on a manifold of human quality. There results a subtle thing called personality, whose palpable phase is charac- ter, which is the sum of the man's tendencies. The content of an individual's character may conceivably be separated into elements, and they may be classified. But in the process, the personality has disappeared. The greater the personality, the more will the life defy reduc- tion to system, even defy analysis.
Christianity was not a philosophy, not a doctrine, nor a number of doctrines or ethical or religious principles. It was Christ ; it was a life, — a life which, under the stress of exigency and trial, constantly acted true to the highest motive, and expressed itself in correspondent utterances, beyond the application and guidance of which no life has passed. Besides this human life, so repre- sentative of all human life, there were mysterious sug- gestions of the divine. The fuller recognition of Christ's nature came to his followers only when he walked no more among them. But from the time when they first followed him, their minds were never free from the vague, questioning thought, that the Master was more than man. Likewise, all who look into Christ's life, fol- lowing with as much discrimination as they will the rec- ords of it, must recognize the fact thai even while he lived, his personality suggested divinity. And yet more. In the consciousness of Christ himself, and as he always
tory value in great predictions fulfilled with truth transcending matters of detail. Does it not show that predictor and event, prophet and Messiah, are in accord with the sure purpose and the plan and truth of God ? Other- wise, God's law, working on in the centuries after the prophet spoke, could hardly have produced events which he foresaw ; and so the fulfilment also is esta'ulished in the verity of God.
AS^CI£J.--
^ _ : : .-ce dear to his disciples, his human life, with
- ~ ^ - ■ ■ : .!' "" : as but a fragment. It \\-as
: : ; ::s of sin, by them hemmed
i: - \?Yful expansion in beneficence ; and it
" ., / ^ " . ':,-.l ending which 5'--:.:'i be tran-
: -. , . - - .e life of Christ c/. ;;-.:'.•. carried f : : . ~ .". --- ;- : -.Ting experiences of eternity.
V . ~ - , '■•■ 7'-.ristianit\- cannot be stated s}-s-
t;.. ..-:.----- .' ■: '- "e outset. There is a cognate
reason "wrhy it cannot, save in the words of Christ, be -:,-.:;/. a:,: ^ : "■ in any manner. Christianit^- is abso- . .. : V : . : - - - - - - . ". ~ ", the erttire realitj* of human life, on
:.- .:.;:: :' ■ v.: ;..". his relationships ; it is uni-
vefs<ij.. because its scope is sufHdent for ever}- phase of every human life ; it is final. — the \-aried life and thought of the last eighteen hundred years has found it perfect ;:. - - i-Iete, and human thought cannot conceive of
^..■, . _,:::crment to it which is not in it, a\i-aiting life's disclosure. Human life may go on, heighten and broaden, ii::: r.e"-^ iieals, attain new knowledge. WTiat ever life ':. :-;- r--:~tianit}- awaits life there; for Christianity-, : - : . ^ : /.ing and example of the infinite perfectibihty of man. and its v-ision of an eternity wherein no element :- ;;-: ■-- eve- l:?t. is all the possibilit\- of life. Every ,:. _, -■■.::■. ir Jhristianity partially; no man can make
a nr.al statement of it. The truth of this may gradually :-_■:■: : -.-, T>.e first task is to tr\- to construct an outhne : J ;.:--. \ :■- as tt emanated from the life and teachings of Christ. ;- : .. :f the Gospel.
Two s - - : . i 'i' oresent Christianity- in its abso- lute and - , - ._ -.^ ::::],- — ^present, that is to say, the '__:- :.: :. :v;.;'"-:ng of Jesus Christ, These are T-tR = :::c--^ --,■; - ; j spels ar ". :'.: - ~ -eel of John. qII"!. .- Th^-; ' :_ :^:r itrcr. : - zriweenthem ':_:':. '..:, : :. . v ':-:::. :. iiunted for more - ". .:; bv siniply iaymg, tJaey are discrepan- ir..:. -i there is a dinerent choice of facts;
satii cies.
'^ ?^fM"**r
sast^
ST. as
I
again, the same facts are referred to in ways difficult to reconcile. Among the synoptics themselves there are also discrepancies. As to the main period of Christ's ministry^ they follow substantially the same narrative. Mark has no record of anj^hing preceding that period ; Matthew and Luke diverge in the manner of setting forth the birth and childhood of Jesus; again, the three gospels diverge in details as they near the crucifixion. The different modes of relating the nativity and childhood are accounted for by assuming that different stories of what the apostles had no personal knowledge reached the apostohc circle, and so came to form parts of the two s>Tioptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, between which there seems to be no direct dependence. The divergence in the accounts of the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection is what might be expected in writers whose information regarding it came independently from the same general source, the apostolic circle or some of its members. Those were events of unspeakable import, which brought quickly fear, sorrow, panic, and reassurance. It was nat- ural that the facts should have been apprehended differ- ently and that the accounts should have differed. On the other hand, times of great events are times of truth. The occurrences fill the minds of those immediately con- cerned ; there is no place for conscious invention, and as yet no motive has arisen for it ; nay, the facts fasten the minds of witnesses and hold narrators to substantial truth. Thus it is with the trial, crucifixion, and subse- quent appearances of Christ ; details, settings, and sequences var>- ; but as to the substance of the matter there is vital accord among the synoptics, and between them and John.*
* There would be no advantage in entering on any critical discussion ; there is so much of it, and it is so fully set forth in so many books. The problem of the composition of the synoptics is still far from final answer. The present writer has no opinion more definite than the general one : that Mark is substantially, as tradition says, Peter's account given through Mark; that Matthew was constructed from the Lcgia of Matthew the
VOL. u. — 16
240 ANCIENT IDEALS.
sought to make clear to his disciples, his human life, with its whisperings of the divine, was but a fragment. It was led among untoward conditions of sin, by them hemmed in from its full, joyful expansion in beneficence; and it looked forward to a mortal ending which should be tran- sition to eternal life. The life of Christ on earth carried foreshadowing experiences of eternity.
These reasons why Christianity cannot be stated sys- tematically appear at the outset. There is a cognate reason why it cannot, save in the words of Christ, be stated adequately in any manner. Christianity is abso- lute, because based on the entire reality of human life, on the full nature of man and all his relationships; it is uni- versal, because its scope is sufficient for every phase of every human life ; it is final, — the varied life and thought of the last eighteen hundred years has found it perfect and complete, and human thought cannot conceive of any betterment to it which is not in it, awaiting life's disclosure. Human life may go on, heighten and broaden, adopt new ideals, attain new knowledge. Whatever Hfe reaches, Christianity awaits life there; for Christianity, with its teaching and example of the infinite perfectibihty of man, and its vision of an eternity wherein no element of life is ever lost, is all the possibility of life. Every age apprehends Christianity partially ; no man can make a final statement of it. The truth of this may gradually appear. The first task is to try to construct an outline of Christianity as it emanated from the life and teachings of Christ, an outline of the Gospel.
Two series of records present Christianity in its abso- lute and universal validity — present, that is to say, the
life and teaching of Jesus Christ. These are The Record ^y^^ synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John. g .. There are certain discrepancies between them
which have never been accounted for more satisfactorily than by simply saying, they are discrepan- cies. Sometimes there is a different choice of facts;
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 24I
again, the same facts are referred to in ways difficult to reconcile. Among the synoptics themselves there are also discrepancies. As to the main period of Christ's ministry, they follow substantially the same narrative. Mark has no record of anything preceding that period ; Matthew and Luke diverge in the manner of setting forth the birth and childhood of Jesus ; again, the three gospels diverge in details as they near the crucifixion. The different modes of relating the nativity and childhood are accounted for by assuming that different stories of what the apostles had no personal knowledge reached the apostolic circle, and so came to form parts of the two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, between which there seems to be no direct dependence. The divergence in the accounts of the trial, crucifixion, and resurrection is what might be expected in writers whose information regarding it came independently from the same general source, the apostolic circle or some of its members. Those were events of unspeakable import, which brought quickly fear, sorrow, panic, and reassurance. It was nat- ural that the facts should have been apprehended differ- ently and that the accounts should have differed. On the other hand, times of great events are times of truth. The occurrences fill the minds of these immediately con- cerned ; there is no place for conscious invention, and as yet no motive has arisen for it; nay, the facts fasten the minds of witnesses and hold narrators to substantial truth. Thus it is with the trial, crucifixion, and subse- quent appearances of Christ ; details, settings, and sequences vary ; but as to the substance of the matter there is vital accord among the synoptics, and between them and John.'
' There would be no advantage in entering on any critical discussion ; there is so much of it, and it is so fully set forth in so many books. The problem of the composition of the synoptics is still far from final answer. The present writer has no opinion more definite than the general one : that Mark is substantially, as tradition says, Peter's account given through Mark ; that Matthew was constructed from the Logia of Matthew the
VOL. u.— 16
242 AJVCIENT IDEALS.
There is no systematic formulation of Christianity in
the synoptics or in the Gospel of John. Yet the two
records are different, but hardly discordant,
Relation to certainly not irreconcilable. If Christ in the
the Fourth synoptics were all of Christ, the Gospel of
Gospel; r , i , , i -r t i .
Analogies J^hn could not be a true record ; nor, if John s of Method, record were exhaustive, could the synoptics be true. But as the Christian world knows, the two accounts are deeply complementary, though, of course, the Gospel of John was not written to supply matters omitted from the synoptics. Nor were it proper to say, the synoptics give their apprehension of Christ, and John gives his, if it be thereby meant that the work of any evangelist was creative, in adding materially to the life and teachings of Christ, or was misapprehensive or imperfect in a positive sense, setting forth Christ's life or teachings narrowed from their universality of import and application or deflected from their truth.' The synoptic gospels set forth truly those features of Christ's life and teaching which impressed themselves on certain of his followers; the fourth evangelist likewise sees primarily the facts which most impressed themselves on him ; and it is with deep thought as to the significance of Christ's life that he sees and selects the facts which he records, as well as those portions of Christ's teachings which were to him of furthest import. These were not altogether the same facts nor the same conversations as those recorded in the synoptics ; but just as truly were they teachings of Christ.
Apostle and the Gospel of Mark ; but as to the authorship of Matthew he has no opinion. Luke appears to have been written with the use of the Login and Mark (or the original Mark), but independent of our present Matthew. There seems no strong reason to think it was not written by Luke, and critics are agreed that it has the same author as the Acts. As to John, I have never been seriously shaken in the conviction that its author or immediate source was the apostle John, the author also of the first epistle bearing his name.
' This is meant broadly and deeply, and does not refer to palpable dis- crepancies of detail of fact or utterance.
CHRISTIANITY . THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 243
With all the dissimilarity between the literary form of Christ's discourses in John and in the synoptics, there are deep resemblances which point to truthful correspondence to the original in all these records of Christ's teaching, a correspondence which itself is part of the great fact that Christianity is Christ, his life and teaching; that it is absolute and universal, and, like life, too great to admit of formulation. In the synoptics, Christ always uses aphoristic modes of expression. No parable applies to all of life,' but illuminates a situation. Likewise when not speaking in parable, Christ speaks in short, distinct, definitely applicable utterances ; there is no formulation or dogmatic connection of one portion of his teachings with the rest. They have unity because they He within the compass of one self-consistent life. This mode of state- ment is palpably the best way of stating truths inti- mately related to actual human life. Such utterances state a side or phase of truth, of the truths applying to life; no one of them attempts to include all, or so cor- relate itself with other statements that together they may form a systematic formulation of all that may be truly predicated of the manifold of life. To do this is not prac- ticable; nor is it life's way, which never presents all its problems at once. Every conceivable situation in life presents some definite problem, or several, but never all. The presence of some difficulties always implies the absence of others. Accordingly. Christ's teachings are distinct and separate, aphoristic in form. Yet no situa- tion in human life gives rise to doubts or questionings that do not find an answer in some saying of his; each saying is completely true for the circumstances of life to which it applies, and the universality of the teaching of Christ lies in the twofold fact that among his utterances there is always one applying to any given situation, and none of them ever ceases to be true. Human life
' The series of parables showing the various aspects of the idea of the kingdom of heaven illustrate this.
244 ANCIENT IDEALS.
outgrows none of them, and each seems fitted to life forever.
Beneath the apparently different form of Christ's dis- courses in John, the method is the same as in the synop- tics. All of Christ's life and teaching was at one. There was no higher or lower to it ; but all formed a perfect human unity in its full relationship to God and his crea- tures. As the psalmist had cried, " Against thee only have I sinned," so Christianity recognizes that all man's relationships with men find their sanction and unification in and through God ; for the duty of man to man is not direct, but lies in the common fatherhood of God, which makes all men brethren. Thus every utterance of Christ was religious, for every duty was viewed in its relation to God. Nevertheless some of Christ's utterances referred more directly to the ordinary acts of life, others pointed more directly aloft towards God, or rather toward abso- lute communion with God in life and love unconditioned by the limitations of mortality ; they were directly con- cerned with the divine assurances of man's eternal rela- tionship to God. These are the topics in the Gospel according to John. They do not admit of such sim- ple statement as the matters more prominent in the synoptics. And yet Christ's mode in John's Gospel of unfolding the relationship of man to God in its furthest reaches is analogous to the mode in which he states the lowlier religious principles of daily life. In the discourses in John, what is most palpable is that one aspect of divine fact is stated at a time, in such a way as to form by itself a truth, a message from the life of God. Care- ful reading discloses the correlations between one statement and another. Their connection is such that successive phrases state other aspects of a truth stated before, or unfold the original truth so as to make explicit its previous content.
If the aphoristic way in the synoptics is best for telling life's lowlier religious duties, Christ's analogous method
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 245
in the Gospel of John is the only mode in which the truths of God may be set forth for the apprehension of men. The human mind can grasp only one by one the truths of God, his love, his mercy, his justice, his almighty power. When it attempts to combine and sys- tematize its apprehensions of God's verities, it becomes, because of its finite nature, involved in contradictions, or, in striving to avoid them, finds itself pushed into emptiness, forced away from modes of thought corre- sponding to anything in human experience or real to man. The ultimate endeavor of philosophy, as of science per- force, is to unify phenomena in a cause. Likewise each man seeks to bring his life to unity. A cause
sufificient to account for man must contain ^ "
, , ■ • 1 1- • 1 r "ess of
mtellectual and spiritual qualities and power 01 j^j^^
will. Endue the cause with these, and it be- comes a personality, becomes God. The unity of the cause, the oneness or individuality of God, must be thought to consist in purpose, in a will eternally at one. So must man find the unity of his life in purpose and endeavor. And since he knows himself to be a creature, he must relate his purpose to his creator's.
A human life is an aggregate made up of the action and reaction of a personality on its circumstances and on all that influences it. In order that a life have unity, the personality must be at one in the singleness of a purpose which shall be so all-inclusive that no act or circumstance of life lies without its scope. To dominate the whole of life, a purpose must correspond with the man's highest and furthest understanding of the best. Every man knows his weakness and mortality ; and knows that all attainment depends on matters beyond him. His own will, realizing itself in endeavor, is his contribution to the outcome. A purpose cannot live, unless there be a hope that the endeavor which it inspires will reach success. Failing such hope, endeavor ceases, and the purpose, even if it does not die, cannot remain the dominant of life.
ii^-
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i#yl dcav^ *at T!is2: ^ s»5r« -jor ana. Tie awnrrs ■»' i^-
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CHEISTlAHriTY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 247
man sees in them God's plaji. TMs recognition is an act of faith, for the cc - ' \ which men draw are verily in
proportion to the li,:,.-:^. of thr . . , .- --_ -
bounds of inference. Apart f r , , _
^>eaking in these a. priori dednxaions of man's gwit, the data of life ar-; ' ------ ^ -
from. Henct — • .
unity to man's life •arhich : prt'
grves it tht jt <A 'verity and accom'
must be aii av
God. And if :: _,;. ., :... - ... , .: ....
every incident "a^th referenre to G' -efer th^
of whatever th^ . al can get •' ■
' ■' '~-'-'^'s TBiH — ..^ . T best C-""'
3nt, ance God's plan i- eiements of life in isrth^sH progress '^
u It
iyill of God
.1 £ IS
to nnity. ^v-.e. A
:e can have nr.
-,-, irt&. in in '.
God.
i'"-!'-- rr. ', live, to dc* l?i* l^atii^r's
i^.:.-it of God'i .'Tsrites itse,:
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- -' G-od's Tt'-- - |
- ' ' |
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246 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The higher and broader the scope of the Hfe's purpose, the more must the man recognize his inabihty to bring his endeavor to success ; and before him Hes an alterna- tive : either he must disregard success, because beyond his control, with the result that for him the best becomes regulation of the will, self-restraint, endurance, and renun- ciation ; or he must for the outcome rely on powers out- side himself — in brief, rely on God ; he must have faith. And faith, whatever else it be, is the hope of things un- seen, the sure sense that there is and shall be a reality corresponding to the highest conceptions of the mind and heart — a reality of the ideal. Man must think in his creator all good of which he is conscious in himself. With the expansion of his thought, his conception rises of the prototype, creator, and perfecter, bringer to pass of all. And according to the finer qualities of his nature — justice, mercy, love — he must think the same of God and of God's relationship to him. Faith then becomes the conviction of the absolute verity in God of the furthest good the mind can think or the heart desire, with a convic- tion of God's perfect love, which carries import bej^ond the definite conception of man, who must recognize that God knows best what is good for him.
The source of faith lies within, rather than in the exer- cise of reason on the data of sense. In so far as faith springs from reason, it is rather reason drawing ^/rz(?r/ deductions from its consciousness of man's inner nature and man's furthest hopes. Mortal life is a glimmer between two walls of darkness. Into this twilight gleam come certain appearances, linked successions of events. Do they point some whither ? Do they advert back to some source ? Hardly in and of themselves, for they are short, uncertain, hemmed in and permeated with all modes of the unknown. The events and circum- stances of life which may be observed point with no sure finger anywhither, disclose nothing certainly, save as through faith, the consciousness of self reflecting God,
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 247
man sees in them God's plan. This recognition is an act of faith, for the conclusions which men draw are verily in proportion to the nobility of the man's nature, out of the bounds of inference. Apart from faith, the voice of God speaking in these ^ priori deductions of man's spirit, the data of life are insufficient to draw any great conclusion from. Hence faith — religion — is needed to give that unity to man's life which can exist only when one com- prehensive purpose holds it all.
This purpose must relate itself completely to God who gives it the assurance of verity and accomplishment. It must be an attempted perfect conforming to the will of God. And if it dominate the whole of life, it will act in eveiy incident with reference to God, and refer the value of whatever the individual can get or know to the standard of God's will — man's best conception of his universal plan. But, since God's plan includes the fostering of all elements of life in farthest progress and development, there is no human knowledge or attainment which may not enter the scope of the man's purpose when that be to do the will of God.
Thus is every element of life proportioned and brought to unity. The unity of life must lie in singleness of pur- pose. A human life can have no such confidence in its outcome as to confide itself to the dominance of any single purpose, unless it feel itself in union with its source, in harmony with the almightiness of God. Only in God, can man be at one with himself.
All Christ's life was at one within the compass of a
single motive, to do his Father's will. His life was the
spirit of God's will, which never writes itself in
letter. It was a human copy of God's ways, _ ., ^_
^ ^ ■' Life at One.
God's righteousness and love, and so a final pattern for the lives of men ; it was man in the image of God, the image full, entire, and perfected to the full scope of man's capacity to be like God, of human capacity for perfection. No man can advance towards the harmoni-
248 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ous perfecting of himself without approaching Jesus. Out of harmony with himself and the indwelling God, man can indeed perfect some mortal faculty in ways that lead from Christ ; but only towards Christ can he, using and perfecting all elements of his nature, under the domi- nance of a purpose which answers his mind's farthest reach, bring the fulness of his life to oneness with itself and God. No man cometh to the Father but by me — for Christ is all the ways to God.
All passages of the Gospels which have summed up Christianity to so many millions suggest this oneness of Christ's and the Christian's life. Consider for example the commands which Christ, far better than the ancient law-givers who pronounced them, knew to contain all the law: " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment ; the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." ' This is the Christian sum of the Old Testament. The man who makes these two commands the dominant of his life will fulfil his life according to its full capacities, and bring all acts and knowledge and attainment into unity. Again, another fulfilment of the law: "All things there- fore, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them ; for this is the law and the prophets."' The second passage is the converse of the first ; to do one is to do the other. The connection be- tween loving God and doing as one would be done by, is elsewhere shown in that marvellous demonstration of the service of God as the service of man: " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me ;" ^ — a demonstration, too, which is bound up with faith's assurance of blessing to him who loves and serves.
' Matt, xxii, 37-39. The quotations are from Deut. vi, 5 ; and Lev. xix, 18.
^ Matt. vii. 12. ^ lb., xxv, 31-46.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 249
To love God and do his will in love of man, Christian- ity's summary fulfilment of the law, was a fulfilment abolishing all limitations upon the absolute beneficence of motive involved in recognition Absolute
of the relationship of man to God. " Thou^^"^^!^""
• 1 1 > > A 1 -11 &^di Love\
shalt love thy neighbor. And my neighbor, ^^ q^^^
who is he? one of my tribe? Life is neigh- bor to all life in loving service ; this the good Samaritan made plain. Nay further, this absolute beneficence of motive — love — extends not only to those for whom we should naturally not care, but to those we should natu- rally hate. " Ye have heard that it was said. Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy ; but I say unto you. Love your enemies, and pray for them that perse- cute you, that ye may be the sons of your Father zvhicJi is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." ' A man cannot do as he would be done by, cannot love his neighbor as himself, much less his enemy, consistently through life, fully recognizing love's spontaneous impera- tive, unless he love God with all his heart and mind. For the love of God is that wherein is contained propor- tioned all love of fellow-creatures, who are fellows because sons of the same God. Through loving God, man links himself to man ; only in love towards him whose love is life to all, can ways of love to fellow-men be rightly ordered. Apart from this, one might love another as himself, out of proportion to the rest of life. We hold our human loves to true proportions in our love of God. Further, the love of God is absolute, as no love of any fellow-being can be. It is the relationship of creature-son to the source and inhering power of his life. Conversely, a human being's love for us may cease, the dearest life may turn aside from ours, and life go on, in sorrow, yet progressive and aright; but God's love taken, life is cut off from the source.
' Matt. V, 43.
250
ANCIENT IDEALS.
With Jesus, God was very near and very loving, his power the source, his will the guide of life. The word which told all this was Father, and all men who, follow- ing Christ, would recognize this full relationship of God to men were sons of God, hence brethren. Man's sense of his relationship to God, to be a full dominant of life, must be a vital principle growing with life which always grows. This should be the spirit of absolute sonship to the Almighty Father, the spirit of love. Love is man's living response to the liv'ing will of a personal God. Duty responds rather to the thought of fate turned law, before which man must bow ; it cannot constitute the full relationship of man to God, nor fully do God's will, which grows with man's life, continuing to fill out all its parts. Love lives and grows, but duty merely does what it is bid, and when the command is done, it sees no more to do ; it does not know its master. Love sympathizes, enters the master's spirit, makes that spirit its own, and so becomes creative with the master's will, seeking and finding, and devising ever new modes of doing it.
Since Moses* time Israel had known that righteousness was to do God's will, follow his ways; that waywardness and disobedience, rebellious doing of the indi- The King- yi^j^^i'j^ j^st, was sin, a wilful severing of self from God. Hence, " Turn again, O Israel! " had been the psalmist's and the prophet's cr>'. So with a sense of something near, a sense that that was imminent towards which Israel's higher vision had been ever strained, John cried, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" And away from the law-bound city, in the free desert, he was baptizing and heralding the baptism of repentance to the remission of sins." The cries of Israel's prophets had been always reversals of current ideas; so Amos' cries and Isaiah's, and so John's: Change your minds, do differently, repent, and bring forth repentance's fruit. Abram was your father ? Ye
' Matt, iii, 2 ; Mark i, 4.
dom of Heaven
"^m^imm^
WJ^^
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 2$ I
his Stock ? The axe lies near the root of the tree ; that tree — even you — shall be cut down and cast into the fire, unless it bring forth good fruit. So cried John to Phari- sees and Sadducees, those who taught and ruled the peo- ple. Then Jesus too began to preach and say, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." '
And what is the kingdom of heaven ? Jesus never said what it was. But he said what it was like, spoke of its ways and manifestations, viewed it now as the creative beneficence of God, his subtle redeeming influence; again, he glanced at it from the standpoint of man's answering endeavor, or brute failure, to enter in. It is like seed sown in the earth ; the sower sleeps and it springs up, he knows not how ; it is like the grain of mustard-seed, like the little leaven, like the net cast into the sea, like the good seed in which the tares were mixed, like the householder w^ho hired laborers into his vineyard and made the last equal to the first ; but it is also — beware ! — like the king who took account of his slaves and cast out the unprofitable servant, Hke the king who made a marriage for his son, and slew his enemies, and even cast out him who had no wedding garment. Then Jesus looks at it from the side of man, who needs to enter in, if only he knows this and is ready. For the kingdom of heaven is like the ten virgins, of whom but five were wise, and on five the doors were shut. He who knows what is the great commandment is not far from it." Happy the man who knows its value; for it is like the treasure hid in the field, for the joy of buying which a man sells all he has, even as the merchant who has found the pearl of great price. And the new Hfe is builded from the old ; for every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who takes from his treasure things new and old. To the old dispensation is brought new light, to the old character of Israel, a new spirit.
' Matt, iv, 17. " See Mark xii, 34.
II
250 ANCIENT IDEALS.
With Jesus, God was very near and very loving, his power the source, his will the guide of life. The word which told all this was Father, and all men who, follow- ing Christ, would recognize this full relationship of God to men were sons of God, hence brethren. Man's sense of his relationship to God, to be a full dominant of life, must be a vital principle growing with life which always grows. This should be the spirit of absolute sonship to the Almighty Father, the spirit of love. Love is man's living response to the living will of a personal God. Duty responds rather to the thought of fate turned law, before which man must bow ; it cannot constitute the full relationship of man to God, nor fully do God's will, which grows with man's life, continuing to fill out all its parts. Love lives and grows, but duty merely does what it is bid, and when the command is done, it sees no more to do ; it does not know its master. Love sympathizes, enters the master's spirit, makes that spirit its own, and so becomes creative with the master's will, seeking and finding, and devising ever new modes of doing it.
Since Moses' time Israel had known that righteousness was to do God's will, follow his ways; that waywardness
and disobedience, rebellious doing of the indi- The King- ^{(juars lust, was sin, a wilful severing of self Heaven ^^°"^ Go^. Hence, " Turn again, O Israel! "
had been the psalmist's and the prophet's cry. So with a sense of something near, a sense that that was imminent towards which Israel's higher vision had been ever strained, John cried, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" And away from the law-bound city, in the free desert, he was baptizing and heralding the baptism of repentance to the remission of sins.' The cries of Israel's prophets had been always reversals of current ideas; so Amos' cries and Isaiah's, and so John's: Change your minds, do differently, repent, and bring forth repentance's fruit. Abram was your father ? Ye
' Matt, iii, 2 ; Mark i, 4.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 2%\
his stock ? The axe lies near the root of the tree ; that tree — even you — shall be cut down and cast into the fire, unless it bring forth good fruit. So cried John to Phari- sees and Sadducees, those who taught and ruled the peo- ple. Then Jesus too began to preach and say, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." *
And what is the kingdom of heaven ? Jesus never said what it was. But he said what it was like, spoke of its ways and manifestations, viewed it now as the creative beneficence of God, his subtle redeeming influence; again, he glanced at it from the standpoint of man's answering endeavor, or brute failure, to enter in. It is like seed sown in the earth ; the sower sleeps and it springs up, he knows not how ; it is like the grain of mustard-seed, like the little leaven, like the net cast into the sea, like the good seed in which the tares were mixed, like the householder who hired laborers into his vineyard and made the last equal to the first; but it is also — beware ! — like the king who took account of his slaves and cast out the unprofitable servant, like the king who made a marriage for his son, and slew his enemies, and even cast out him who had no wedding garment. Then Jesus looks at it from the side of man, who needs to enter in, if only he knows this and is ready. For the kingdom of heaven is like the ten virgins, of whom but five were wise, and on five the doors were shut. He who knows what is the great commandment is not far from it." Happy the man who knows its value; for it is like the treasure hid in the field, for the joy of buying which a man sells all he has, even as the merchant who has found the pearl of great price. And the new life is builded from the old ; for every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who takes from his treasure things new and old. To the old dispensation is brought new light, to the old character of Israel, a new spirit.
' Matt, iv, 17. "^ See Mark xii, 34,
252 ANCIENT IDEALS.
When comes it, then, this kingdom? Does not God work ever, and where is he not ? Is he not now calHng laborers to his vineyard, sowing his good seed, casting his net into the sea ? The little leaven, is it not already working ? Lies not the grain of mustard-seed already in the earth ? the treasure in the field ? And may we not have the pearl of great price even now? Yea, and trans- form the old treasures of our life in union with the new ? True, the consummation, the final severing unto life or death, may still be hidden in the will of God ; but the Gospel is preached, and as life here is part of life to come, so is God's kingdom near us, in our midst, and — if we can receive it — even within us.
Thus, in no formulation transcending human compre- hension, but phase by phase, aspect by aspect, is the kingdom of heaven disclosed, till it be seen to be salva- tion offered here and now unto eternal life; till it be seen to be the ready and acceptant life of man turning again toward God ; till it be seen to be the bringing of life's elements to loving service of the King of life, the treas- ures of the heart and of the mind, the old and new trans- formed and clothed upon, developed into fulness, all unto God according with his will, all unto man according to his love. The kingdom of heaven is the full relationship between God and man, conceived not only as the domi- nant, but as the sum and substance and the good of every human life. Failure to enter in, means casting one's self out and off from life. And again, only with reference to this kingdom, only by complete endeavor to enter in, only by making that the sole dominant of life, can man be at one with himself and God.
With all the sorrow and the sword it was to be to those who would take up the cross and follow Christ, Chris- tianity came a flood of light and joy into the world. The Gospel was a glad tidings of great joy; it was the knowledge of salvation in the remission of sins ; God's heart of mercy opened, the dayspring from on high shining
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 253
on them that sat in darkness in the shadow of death, guid- ing their feet into the way of peace.' Christ's Gospel was a summons unto Hfe. No seeker after the king- dom of heaven, no follower of Christ, but must Sonship's
be always willing to give up all to follow him ^aacn ce
^ ^ ^ unto At-
into God's kingdom. The spirit of sacrifice tainment.
was inherent in Christianity as in all high endeavor. No race of men but had learned something of this most universal lesson of life. Christianity set for each man's goal the very farthest height and compass of human attainment : Be ye perfect. Likewise Christianity has clear consciousness of the sacrifice demanded in those who would attain. But what is man compared to God ? Man's impotencies compared with God's power ? And he is our Father. It could not be that any sacrifice to do his will would not return a hundredfold reward." Christianity was no system of barter; it was love running to meet love. As a gift ye have received ; freely give. Yet Christ, even when asking everything, asked nothing unconnected with the man's obtaining and attaining in himself. Swerving from doing God's will is fatal; he who seeketh his own life shall lose it, but he who loseth his life for my sake shall find it, man's own life. Even for God's sake, no man shall give up himself forever. However the reward be thought, materially or spiritu- ally, in the way of possessions or the way of life, all ethics, all religions, are unreal phantasy when they cease to recognize the connection between the doer and the result of his act, fail to see that motives of conduct with human beings must have their roots in personality ; must maintain themselves from the elements of their source, and accord with the conditions of individual life. That men are individuals, that every life, as it is precious to
' The opening of Luke reflects this joyfuhiess of the Gospel message, the joy it was felt to be in the early days of Christianity.
* Luke xviii, 29, 30, is an assurance that no sacrifice shall be without its attainment in the enlargement and deepening of life on earth as well as life eternal.
254 ANCIENT IDEALS.
God, is absolutely precious to itself, that righteousness and sacrifice and love shall bring heightened life, nay, an eternal life, life absolute, to the man himself, was part and parcel of that realest thing that ever came within the range of man's experience, Christ's life and teaching, Christianity.
The kingdom of heaven, the eternal life, was for all men, no man unenfolded with God's love. Not a spar- row falleth to the ground without your Heavenly Father knowing it. Fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Christ came to call sinners; that is to say, he came to call men, for all men are sinners. His voice could be heard only by those who were listen- ing, or would listen, not by those who were self-suflficient in their self-righteousness. And the kingdom of heaven was God's kingdom to be given by him ; men must accept it, as children from a father; any other spirit precluded full recognition of man's relationship to God, precluded recognition of man's weakness before God's goodness, disclaimed the fatherhood of God ; so could not a son enter his father's kingdom. Then, if the man was to bring his life to oneness with itself, bring it altogether under the domination of a single highest motive, there was needed faith in the beneficent power of God to reas- sure man, conscious of his own mortality. And faith there could be only for him who sought to conform him- self to God. The trustfulness and faith of those who would enter must be strong; else how could they love ? How could they strive with that single strength of mo- tive, that service of one master, which Christ taught ?
From every point of view, with parable and precept, Christ emphasized the necessity of setting the kingdom of God above all. Seek ye the kingdom of God ; lay not up treasures for yourself on earth ; if thy right eye or thy right hand cause thee to stumble, pluck it out, cut it off; strive without ceasing; let your loins be girt about; he who putteth his hand to the plow and looketh back is not
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 255
fit for the kingdom of God. But this strenuous endeavor, this entire sacrifice if called for, has clear object in attain- ment set before it, in higher life, nay, in the only real life. Have no care for your life what ye shall eat ; do not look at life from that standpoint. Life is more than food, and the body than raiment. A man's life consists not in the abundance of what he possesses.* What profiteth it a man to gain the whole world and lose him- self, his soul, his life ?" It is ever the giving up of the unimportant, the surrender of life's tinsel, of life's joys perhaps, for life itself. No pointless sacrifice is asked, but sacrifice is always seen from the other side as well, the result of it. Let him who would be great among you be your servant.* This is complemented by the assurance, he that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted/
Christ points always to his own life, not only as an example for men of a perfect human life, but as an image of God's ways, as a concrete presentation of the righteousness and power and authority of God. The kingdom of heaven was in Christ ; to reach him was to attain that. He teaches his disciples always to look to God, and pray to God, not to him. But just as much as the kingdom of heaven was a presentation of God's ways and governance, of God's relationship to man and man's to God, so was Christ. It is with himself as a goal, just as with the kingdom of heaven as a goal, that Christ teaches entire endeavor and devotion. To come to Christ, just as to enter the kingdom, is to attain the relationship towards God wherein is eternal life. " All things have been delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son willeth to reveal Him. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
' Luke xii, 22 and 15. ' Matt, xx, 20-28.
* Mark viii, 37. * Ibid., xxiii, ir, 12.
256 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." ' " He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, . . . and he that doth not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He that find- eth his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." ' Furthermore, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is the kingdom of Christ,' in which he shall come in his glory, and of which he was the embodiment on earth. Finally, following Christ is doing the will of God ; and doing the will of God is to follow Christ. " Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother." * Christ's will, his life, his whole being, is in such complete accord with God's will as to reach iden- tification with it, and so represent the v/ays and right- eousness and authority of God on earth. Therefore, he has authority on earth to forgive sins — unto life ; as in the consummation towards which all things tend, he will admit to his and his Father's kingdom not every one who shall then call. Lord, Lord, or here on earth shall have called him Lord, but only him " that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." '
Thus, not simply as the perfect example of a man, Christ set himself before his disciples. One cannot under- stand the synoptic view of Christ without seeing that in it he is more than man, that all leads up to Peter's avowal, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Yet in the synoptics Christ is perfect man, and more than man, not in himself, but by reason of his perfect oneness with the will of God his Father. Herein is he the Mes- siah, the Christ, God's ways and will on earth; and herein is he also that absolute example of what God's will requires of a man who seeks to be a son of God.
' Matt, xi, 27-30. ' Ibid., x, 37-39 ; xvi, 24, 25.
* See e. g.. Ibid., xvi, 27, 28. •• Ibid., xii, 50. * Ibid., vii, 21.
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 257
But Christ could not be Jesus presenting perfectly the entire nature of man, were he not really on earth subject to conditions of human existence ; and the synoptics con- tain nothing inconsistent with this. Christ is really subject to all the limitations, as of knowledge, which humanity, not its imperfections, entails; and it is really true that he is man and son of man, and hath nowhere to lay his head. Christ's dependence on his Father, his mortal w^eakness in himself, is real. Christ's faith in God is the perfect faith of a man in God. Thus Christ's life showed a complete example of a human life perfectly at one with itself in the only oneness that a human life can attain. — oneness with itself in God.
Christ did not formulate his teachings nor present them systematically. They were the utterances of his life, pre- cepts which accorded with it ; a commentary which made clear its meaning and explained its Christ's
principles. But Christ's life was a perfect .*^ mgs;
the Be- unity. Hence his teachings, — expressions of atitudes "
that life, — could not but be consistent through- out. The letter killeth, so does the formula. The spirit maketh to live; therein lies the vital unity of the teach- ings of Christ.
The deepest expressions of the principles of Christ's life, the most complete expressions of its relationship to God, the final expressions of God's nature which is love, are to be found in the Gospel of John. And yet the truths there set in words can be fully appreciated only when the mind brings to them the synoptic data of Christ's life, the more directly practical and every-day phases of his teaching. John's Gospel presents the deeper meaning, the final inference; not an inference which the evangelist constructed for himself, but one formed by placing together those utterances of Christ which set it forth.
Christ's life in the synoptics was a life of beneficence; his teaching was an inculcation of all that was real and
258 ANCIENT IDEALS,
true and good, a denunciation of what was unreal and false and bad. It was clear upon the surface that this beneficence sprang from love of man; it was equally- manifest that Christ's love of man was founded in his love of God, a love again which was the living image of God's love of man, God's love of every man. Christ's will was the Father's will ; his love was the Father's love; his life was to do the Father's work of love toward man. Jesus' life was for man the perfect example, and all his precepts utter his own character.
This appears from the " beatitudes " of the Sermon on the Mount. Together they set forth a character corre- sponding to Christ's, except in so far as they suggest the incompleteness of all humanity save his. Each condition or quality called " blessed " in these successive " beati- tudes " is consistent with the rest, and even implies them. The state of a Christian man on earth is suggested ; a Christian character is outlined. Fully to apprehend this character, there is need to regard the successive " beati- tudes " as a whole, and their respective rewards not sim- ply as rewards related as consequences to good qualities, but as part of those qualities, and so as further explica- tions of their nature. The word "blessed" at the begin- ning of each statement shows that blessedness is organic to the good quality ; the reward further defines that quality, and tells more explicitly the nature of the bless- edness which comes of it.
For example, blessed are the poor {nrooxoi, beggars) in spirit ; what sort of poor ? What sort of poor in spirit ? " For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This phrase, while it states a consequence, defines what precedes, and, by disclosing the nature of the blessedness, indicates that the blessed poor in spirit are those who are not so self-sufficient that they cannot learn, nor so self-right- eous as to feel no need of being better. They are those who have a beggary within, who are open to teaching, fit to receive the kingdom and to fulfil the conditions of
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 259
entering. And it is not said, For theirs shall be the king- dom of heaven, but, theirs is {avxGiv earn) the kingdom of heaven even now in their humble desire of it. Then comes, " blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Is all grief to be comforted ? The evil doer is calamity unto himself. Similar statements of Christ recorded by Luke ' seem to regard the drying of tears as the due of all who have wept. But here in Matthew it is those mourners who, if they are mourners because of calamity from actual crime, are at least mourn- ers unto repentance. In Matthew it would seem to be only tears of repentance, and the innocent tears of those who suffer for righteousness' sake, that shall be dried in heaven.
In some of the subsequent " beatitudes" it is even more plain that the rewards are part of the quality or state called " blessed." " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness" — how can they not be- come righteous ? How can they not be filled ? "Blessed are the pure in heart " — how can they not know good, their eyes and hearts open to all goodness and the higher life, shut against sin ? How can they but be such as shall see God ? That vision is the fulness of the quality of being pure in heart.
Thus the rewards bring out the nature of the blessed- ness inherent in the states called blessed ; and if uncer- tainty remains as to the meaning of any beatitude by itself, it is cleared away by recognizing that the beati- tudes constitute a whole, and their several meanings must be consistent throughout, for even if not all spoken at the same time, they were all utterances of the perfect unity that was in Christ.
If the reward of each good quality is implicit in it, though reaching consummation only through God's power of love ; and if the qualities together outline Christian righteousness ; then the rewards, taken to-
• Luke vi, 20-26.
26o ANCIENT IDEALS.
gether, show the complete outcome of such righteous- ness, and also indicate that perfect blessedness is not only a consequence of righteousness but part of it, and that righteousness is blessedness for the righteous, and shall in righteousness hereafter become consummate through the power and love of God, — even as the king- dom of heaven is theirs now, yet shall be perfected here- after. Blessed, completely blessed, then, are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hun- ger and thirst after righteousness, who are merciful, pure in heart, peace-makers, yea, and persecuted for right- eousness' sake ; theirs is the kingdom of heaven and the consummation thereof;' they shall obtain mercy, they shall be comforted, with righteousness shall they be filled, they shall see God and be called the sons of God ; let them rejoice and be exceeding glad, great is their reward in heaven.
Such is the Christian man, such the Christian righteous- ness, and such its course unto the fruit thereof. Not only, as in all Christ's teachings, is no endeavor or endur- ance asked without a clear disclosure of its fruit ; but the reward, the consequence, the blessedness is shown to lie implicit in righteousness, therewith to be unfolded per- fectly and unto God. Christian endeavor. Christian en- durance, Christian sacrifice, is consecration, devotion, attainment ; it is not renunciation.
Evidently these Christian virtues do not seek their source of strength within the man himself, nor their sanc- tions in what comes to him on earth. The . character they outline is the opposite of self- reliant, yet consistent and at one with itself. Its right- eousness, strength, and justification lie in man's relation- ship to God. It points to a growth and development, but such as the man could see neither assurance of, nor
' The phrase, " for they shall inherit the earth" — ■H'\.7]povnin'6()v6t rrjv yrjv — apparently refers to the expected kingdom of the Messiah. See Thayer's New Testament Lexicon, under nXrjpovuj^eoo.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 261
any guiding principle therefor, save in God, his nature, his ways towards men, his power and righteousness and love. The character thus outlined was an imitation of Christ and, without faith, would have had neither unify- ing motive nor enabling strength. The faith which he taught his followers to have, and prayed his Father that they might have ' was a conviction of what God was in his ways towards his creatures, in his universal power and righteousness and love, and what he would be to each individual who would strive to do his will and seek his beneficence like Christ ; — who would become a son of God.
For centuries the Jew had not doubted of the power and holiness of God, but the power had become lifted up, the holiness most awful. Christ once more brought God close to man, and showed him as a loving Father. The psalmist's strains of the young lions seeking their prey from God were renewed in love more intimate: are not five sparrows sold for a farthing, and no one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father ; ye are of more value than many sparrows.^ Shall ye who seek to do his will fear for anything ? be anxious over food and clothes ? Your heavenly Father feeds the fowls of the air and clothes the grass of the field, O ye of little faith ! He knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
The heavenly Father's care reaches his smallest creat- ure, supplies its wants ; shall his sons fear for such mat- ters ? Not so to be anxious is the beginning of faith. After this manner pray ye : Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us as we forgive, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
' Luke xxii, 32. * Matt, x, 29-31.
' Ibid., vi, 25-33.
?f^i>
iinin^iPiflTi:
262
ANCIENT IDEALS.
The disciples drew faith in God from the personality of Jesus as well as from his words. He was living faith. God will act — can he act otherwise ? — accord- rayer. .^^ ^^ j^.^ righteous purpose and with a justice that shall trample on no atom of mankind. Men are free, free to fall in with his righteousness, free to reject his grace. In myriad ways God moulds man's will to will as he wills, but forces good on no unwilling man. The will must be acceptant towards God, and — the same matter in another aspect — the man must have faith in God's benef- icence and love. With that there is no bound to the conformity to the will of God to which man may attain ; there is no end to the good which, through faith and prayer in conformity to God's will, he may get or reach. Yet the good man of faith cannot see as God sees, can- not know as God knows, what in conformity to God's will is most expedient for him. Hence man cannot know how God will answer his truest prayer, which always carries with it faith's final utterance, Thy will be done. No faithful man can doubt that if he being evil, knows how to give good gifts unto his children, much more shall his heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask.*
In this spirit Christ taught his disciples to pray,' to pray always, unremitting and incessant in their prayers: ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find. According to the petitioner's faith and unto his fullest good, God answers prayer. Without faith nothing is possible ; unto faith, all things are possible, as with God.' Christ himself who was the power of prayer, the power of conformity to God's will, and the power of faith on earth, could do all — but only according to the faith of those who asked him ; and whether the faith which he demanded was faith in him or faith direct towards God,
' Luke xi, 11-13.
* lb. xviii, 1-8 ; xi, 5-10.
^ C/., Mark ix, 23 ; Matt, xxi, 21, 22.
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CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 263
it was a faith in his Messiahship, his Christhood, his power from God to heal.'
Christ preached the kingdom of heaven, the entering therein even now, to the end of hfe therein forever. Better enter the kingdom maimed or halt, than not at all ; better still that the whole man enter in, bring every element of life within the dominant purpose of serving God, and perfect his entire nature. The life and teaching which, for all men forever, should set forth that purpose and exemplify its scope, must touch the possibilities of every life. Christ's life and teaching, Christianity, would fail in universal appli- cation if a human life should ever pass beyond, or need for its perfecting aught outside the purpose-scope of life set forth by Christ. Christianity must offer scope for every element of life, and found itself upon the whole of man, nor fail to recognize life's limitations, or it could be no universal religion for mankind.
There was significance in the initial fact that Christ's disciples were ordinary elemental men and women. At its start Christianity was even by the conditions of its existence opposed to the class exclusiveness of Scribes and Pharisees, and independent of any special mode of living, such as that which the Essenes looked on as all- important. Likewise, as afterwards appeared, it was opposed to the aristocracy of knowledge of the Hellenic world. Jesus moving among all kinds of people, con- versing with publicans and sinners, made natural oppor- tunity for teachings which should touch all sides of human nature, and rest on fundamental human traits. His own life set forth beneficence to all; he heals mul- titudes, all the sick. No one was outside the compass of his love; all might come within the range of his restor- ing power. " Go your way and tell John the things which ye do hear and see ; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and
' Matt, viii, 5-13 ; Luke viii, 43, 48 ; Mark vi, 5.
15-
I
\\
262 ANCIENT IDEALS.
The disciples drew faith in God from the personality of Jesus as well as from his words. He was living faith. God will act — can he act otherwise ? — accord- ing to his righteous purpose and with a justice that shall trample on no atom of mankind. Men are free, free to fall in with his righteousness, free to reject his grace. In myriad ways God moulds man's will to will as he wills, but forces good on no unwilling man. The will must be acceptant towards God, and — the same matter in another aspect — the man must have faith in God's benef- icence and love. With that there is no bound to the conformity to the will of God to which man may attain ; there is no end to the good which, through faith and prayer in conformity to God's will, he may get or reach. Yet the good man of faith cannot see as God sees, can- not know as God knows, what in conformity to God's will is most expedient for him. Hence man cannot know how God will answer his truest prayer, which always carries with it faith's final utterance. Thy will be done. No faithful man can doubt that if he being evil, knows how to give good gifts unto his children, much more shall his heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask.'
In this spirit Christ taught his disciples to pray,' to pray always, unremitting and incessant in their prayers: ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find. According to the petitioner's faith and unto his fullest good, God answers prayer. Without faith nothing is possible ; unto faith, all things are possible, as with God.^ Christ himself who was the power of prayer, the power of conformity to God's will, and the power of faith on earth, could do all — but only according to the faith of those who asked him ; and whether the faith which he demanded was faith in him or faith direct towards God,
' Luke xi, 11-13.
" lb. xviii, 1-8 ; xi, 5-IO.
^ C/., Mark ix, 23 ; Matt, xxi, 2i, 22.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 263
it was a faith in his Messiahship, his Christhood, his power from God to heal/
Christ preached the kingdom of heaven, the entering therein even now, to the end of hfe therein forever. Better enter the kingdom maimed or halt, than not at all ; better still that the whole man "f chdst" enter in, bring every element of life within the dominant purpose of serving God, and perfect his entire nature. The life and teaching which, for all men forever, should set forth that purpose and exemplify its scope, must touch the possibilities of every life. Christ's life and teaching, Christianity, would fail in universal appli- cation if a human life should ever pass beyond, or need for its perfecting aught outside the purpose-scope of hfe set forth by Christ. Christianity must offer scope for every element of life, and found itself upon the whole of man, nor fail to recognize life's Hmitations, or it could be no universal religion for mankind.
There was significance in the initial fact that Christ's disciples were ordinary elemental men and women. At its start Christianity was even by the conditions of its existence opposed to the class exclusiveness of Scribes and Pharisees, and independent of any special mode of livin"-. such as that which the Essenes looked on as all- important. Likewise, as afterwards appeared, it was opposed to the aristocracy of knowledge of the Hellenic world. Jesus moving among all kinds of people, con- versing with publicans and sinners, made natural oppor- tunity for teachings which should touch all sides of human nature, and rest on fundamental human traits. His own life set forth beneficence to all; he heals mul- titudes, all the sick. No one was outside the compass of his love ; all might come within the range of his restor- ing power. " Go your way and tell John the things which ye do hear and see ; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and
' Matt, viii, 5-13 ; Luke viii, 43, 48 ; Mark vi, 5.
264 ANCIENT IDEALS.
the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them." '
The absolutely free-gift nature of his love, that it was not extended to the worthy only, that it looked for no direct return, v/as shown in every act, and in nothing more than in his love for children. He lays his hands on them and blesses: " Suffer little children to come unto me ; of such is the kingdom of heaven;"* — the needy trust of childhood, without it no one can come to God. Beware how ye cause one of these little ones to stumble! Christ's love warns evil off, and threatens. He taught his disciples that Christian love is but rudimentary until it reach out to objects from which no return may be ex- pected: if ye love them who love you, what reward have ye ? and only the deserving ? Your heavenly Father sendeth rain upon the just and also on the unjust.
Christ's love evoked a love which was new on earth, a passion of devotion. No love is told in all antiquity like that of the woman who bathed his feet with her tears." Her sins which were many were forgiven her, because she had loved much. What wonder? A new love abso- lute had met her, from the very heart of man and heart of woman and heart of God, that was in Christ.
And not love alone; in Christ other human emotions converged unto the service of God ; human anger was transformed to wrathful denunciation of evil, especially of that lying self-righteousness the hypocrisy of which may cease to be conscious. Christianity was to ignore no emotion of man ; if reason should contribute to the Christian structure, that structure should be set on the spontaneities of the human heart, all turned to the full completion of life for the kingdom of God. Jewish self- righteous formalism stifled such spontaneities just as much as did Hellenic philosophy. The Father had
' Matt, xi, 4 ; I.iike vii, 22.
' Mark x, 13-16 ; Luke xviii, 16, 17.
* See especially Luke's beautiful appreciative narrative, Luke vii, 36-50.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 265
hidden the Gospel from such wise and prudent, had revealed it unto babes,' — unto the native goodness of humanity, when weary and heavy laden, in beggary of spirit, it goes to Christ to take his easy yoke and so pass into peace.' Christ's command of love — love God, love all men — directs itself immediately to the part of man that loves; not to human reason, not to a consideration of the reward. Love is emotion ; so Christ recognized, and here as ever set his teachings in reality. He will say in John's Gospel, " We love him because he first loved us. " God's reason is unknown ; it is the fact of the divine love that presents itself; man's love turns to that, thinks not of the reward. This is the only way of Christian love, which however fails not in assurance of return.
The Greek conception of fate always included matters which man could not avert, and which seemed unrelated to desert, those hard, residuary, unethical ele- ments of human lot which have no regard for ^* Must justice, but are in part matters of circumstance, , ^_ in part matters of mortality. Many an Israel- sesCome. ite had also felt that human lots were not always in accordance with human righteousness. But with the Hebrew, God's plenary power left no place for fate. Whatever came on man came from God ; and even less than the Greek, had the Hebrew any questionings as to human freedom of will. If life from without was in- exorable, superior to human power, overriding human will, even blind to human righteousness, still it was all the inexorableness of God ; and shall not the judge of all the world do right ?
Christ's teachings also recognized the hard features of life; its seemingly unethical elements and necessities. If benefactions came to man from the circumstances of his life or the capacities of his nature, may it not also be beyond his power to escape evil ? More than once, Christ says, as if in recognition of some principle of life : Unto
' Matt, xi, 25. "^ Eli slpTJytjv, Mark v, 34 ; Luke vii, 50.
266 ANCIENT IDEALS.
him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, shall be taken what he hath, or seemeth to have. Such is the answer to the servant who had hid the talent in the earth, knowing his lord to be an austere man.' And so Christ answers the disciples asking why he speaks to the multitude in parables: " Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance."
He then refers to the multitude's fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy " Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not under- stand," and adds, " Verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not."' Again, as from a vision of the whole of life, he cries: " Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come ; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh." '
Thus Jesus's wisdom recognized those refractory mat- ters which the Greeks perforce grouped under fate. He brought to their solution the inferences which faith draws from its assurance of God's power and love. This solu- tion lies— like all life — within the antithesis of two ex- treme facts, the absolute holiness of the Creator and the insurmountable creaturehood of man. " Good master ! Why callest thou me good ? There is none good but God." That is the extreme fact at one end of the scale. On the other side — " Who is there of you having a bond- servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway and sit down to meat ; and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken ; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink ? Doth he thank the bond- servant because he did the things that were commanded ? Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things
' Matt. XXV, 14-30 ; Luke xix, 12-27 ; <"/• Luke vii, 18.
"^ Matt, xiii, 10, seq. ^ Matt, xviii, 7 ; cf. Mat. xxvi, 24 ; Luke xvii, I.
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 267
that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable bond- servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do." ' Every one with a sense of self and sense of God must recognize that in the sight of God shall no man liv- ing be justified. This is the extreme fact at the other end of the scale. The two constitute the setting of the question. The full answer lies hidden in the mind of God. Christ's teachings outline aspects of it suitable to human comprehension and human needs. The faith in which he lived, and which he taught, though it saw the absolute holiness of God, also knew God as our heavenly Father, bountiful and loving, wise with a wisdom which holds all life, and just with a justice wherein shall be measured perfectly those human demerits which human hardness of heart gives him no opportunity to forgive.
It must needs be that offenses come ; for men are free, free to err and free to sin, free even to pursue such course of sin as shuts the heart against repentance and the voice of God. But the foolish fearful ser- The Judg-
vant who hid his lord's money in the earth, was ^ "?^°. °
1- , • 1 i-,TT 111 1 Omniscient
not his condemnation hard ? How could he do Love.
beyond the capacity of his nature? Shall im- potence be judged ? There are different kinds of impotence : the impotence of finitude ; that is merely the condition wherein human power and freedom work. Then there is the impotence of power unused, of freedom unavailed of. This is self-bondage; with each unused opportunity the fetters strengthen and contract. There is no human sin more hopeless, no more complete dis- loyalty to God. That human impotence, shortcoming, sin, shall be judged with infinite discrimination; that the Creator's bounty and the Father's love leaps to meet the first stirring of repentance, the first movement of the will to use its freedom, Christ teaches plentifully.
No human intelligence reaches to the adequate judg- ment of another's smallest act. Christ says, and repeats under different circumstances, as if to point out how men
' Luke xvii, 7-10.
268 ANCIENT IDEALS.
cannot know to judge: The last shall be first, and the first last/ This is the vaguest suggestion which faith makes regarding those elements of human lots which it cannot understand. But the Gospel gives more definite assurance of discriminating justice: "And that bond- servant which knew his lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And to whom- soever much is given, of him shall much be required."'
Christ's teaching does not stop with God's justice. He teaches the bountiful beneficence of God ; which will give the full kingdom of heaven to those who enter, though they enter late; " it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee." ^ And he declares the Father's yearning love, running to meet repentance while it is yet a long way off, making ready eternal life for every prodi- gal who will arise and go unto his Father.
These are answers which Christ's faith and teaching make to problems touching the lot of man. He sees man's mortalities and weaknesses, not as beneath the crushing wheel of fate, but as they shall be taken to an omniscient Father's love. And in order that man's answering endeavor might find and serve its God on earth, Christ showed how it might come to him in prison, visit him when sick, clothe him and give him shelter, feed and give him drink."
Besides the question of its positive contents, if the teaching of Christ was to be final and universal, it must avoid organic joinder with transient conditions Render ^nd views of life which suit a time, then change ; ""*^° it must, for instance, be independent of all
forms of secular institutions which change with circumstances, must abstain from social rules which will not suit a different condition of society, and if it utter
' See Luke xiii, 30 ; Mark x, 31 ; Matt, xx, 16.
" Luke xii, 47, 48. •* Matt, xx, 14. ■* Ibid., xxv, 31-46.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 269
precepts specially applicable to any social institution, those precepts must embody what is ideally best and fit- test for all time.
Christ's life was a manifestation of a perfect relation- ship with God, his teachings were religious teachings. A complete relationship with God may be attained, a relig- ious life may be led, under any circumstances ; and, more- over, all circumstances, as well as all elements of life, may be brought to the completion of the religious life and made to fill out the scope of the supreme purpose of per- fecting the whole man unto the service of God. Christ taught no special mode of living. According to circum- stances, one man might be called on to surrender posses- sions in exchange for the kingdom of heaven ; so there also might be some who should be eunuchs for that king- dom's sake. Christ himself came eating and drinking, living as those about him. His was the fulness of human life, whence the individualities of all men may perfect themselves. There is nothing in his teachings to hamper the development of the individualities of any man or woman, provided that development be unto righteous- ness and the kingdom of God. All types of men have been good Christians; for Christianity affords universal scope and opportunity of life; formulates no detail which would have impaired its elastic universality.
Likewise, Christ did not regard as essential either the observance or non-observance of any kind of form. He was not an innovator of custom ; but a renewer of life. If man was thoroughly good, modes of living were unes- sential. Not so, however, the principle of obedience to existing authority; that was involved in love and charita- ble regard for fellows; it was also involved in respect for ordinances which were not to pass away, but to be merged in their own fulfilment. So Christ tells the leper to show himself to the high priest and offer the gift com- manded by Moses ; ' he himself pays the temple tax ; ' and ' Luke V, 14. " Matt, xvii, 24.
270 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to his own disciples as well as to the multitude he says: " The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; all things therefore whatsoever they bid you^ do and observe, but do not after their works, for they say and do not."' Obey the law, as its ministers declare it ; but be not hypocrites like them. He denounces those whitened sepulchres, not for fulfilling the law's minutiae, but for leaving undone its weightier matters.^ More definitely Christ recognizes that the imperial government, which was secular and not representative of Moses' law, was outside his sphere as a religious teacher of man. " Ren- der unto Caesar the things of Caesar," was a word of final wisdom, for people situated like the Jews in the Empire. Christianity was to be a religion indifferent to forms of secular government, and to be occupied with rendering unto God the things of God ; which indeed should be all man's life; and might mean open opposition to the gov- ernment, as the early church was to find.
Even more positively, Christ refused to act in a matter where worldly interests clashed: "And one of the multi- tude said unto him, Master, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me. But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you ? " ^ This man's motive was not justice, but greed ; and so the Master follows his refusal with warnings against covetousness. To have acted in such case would have been against the spirit of his own command not selfishly to insist on one's rights, not to resist the wrongful demand of him who would go to law to take your cloak ; nor could he estimate the importance of possessions as this man would have had him.
That Christianity be universal and final it was necessary that every precept should be suited to the best in man forever. Christ's teachings answer this condition. He always speaks from the standpoint of his command, Be
' Matt, xxiii, 1-3. "^ Cf. also Luke xi, 42.
' Ibid,, xii, 13, 14.
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 2/1
ye perfect. Not that he expected perfection in men; but he always looks on life from the standpoint of the best, and his teachings never deflect from requiring
it/ Thus he would not look on marriage from „ ^ ^*
^ Perfect,
the level of changing human lust and weak- ness: What God has joined together let not man put asunder, — a command comporting not only with the best in human nature when Christ lived, but with all sanctify- ing thought since then of two lives made one in God forever.*
In no respect has human nature passed beyond the absolute moral verity of Christ's commands. This does not mean that proper understanding of Christ's precepts calls for no consideration of the con- ^^^ist not nection in which they stand and the circum- jy^ ^^^ stances under which they were spoken. The connection often shows the meaning. Each precept of Christ is set in elemental human life, as it is and by every man is felt to be. The Sermon on the Mount contains pre- cepts which are impracticable if not rightly understood : Resist not evil; judge not that ye be not judged. These should be considered each in the connection in which it stands, and both under the larger illumination of the spirit of Christ's life and teachings. " Ye have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ; but I say unto you, Resist not (him that is) evil; but who- soever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also." '
Legally viewed, a man cannot be unjust to himself,
1 See Matt, v, 28.
"^ Comparing Mark x, 2-12 ; Matt, v, 31-32 and Matt, xix, 3-12, it is clear that Christ forbade divorce except for adultery. It would seem from the account in Mark that he forbade divorce for any reason ; at all events it is the clear sense of the passage in Mark, and not out of accord with the passages in Matthew, that any subsequent marriage of a divorced person is adulterous.
2 Matt. V, 38-40.
272
ANCIENT IDEALS.
consequently wrongs no one by not insislinj; on his ru" Many precepts of the old law enjoined beneficence to insist upon one's due, is giving, and a fulfilment law on its beneficent side. Christ's command. Rlm evil, was a complete fulfilment in the spirit of un^ ness and absolute beneficence, the spirit of lovi . precept was uttered from the depths of hi ' the power of love, the power which lovin. on the violent claimant. Accordingly, and as i from the command which follows, Lovi- the command. Resist not evil, rests in the , icent love and has therein its .sanction. It is thcrcf- to be pressed to foolishness; the letter killeth .f spirit makcth to live; and the command. Resist n ' may often in the verv- spirit of Christ be fulfil! resisting it for the evil-doer's good.
"Judge not that ye be not judged." Again a ; to be understood with reference to the context an'i taken in the spirit of Christ. " For with what ju<; ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what • mete, it shall be measured to you. And wh) thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye but con not the beam which is in thine own eye?"' i: Matthew. The connection in which Luke states tii' mand makes its meaning even clearer: " Be ye m even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, shall not be judged, and condemn not, a:- ' ■ be condemned ; release, and ye shall be and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pres.'-l down, shaken together, running over, shal' your bosom. For with what measure ye :;. . . measured to you again."* Thus this command i it is another aspect of Resist not evil.* It clearly mc that all shall judge in the spirit of Christian charity, a : in the bounty of love act for the other's good. Bu: does not mean things opposed to beneficence, docs r
* Matt vii, I. ' Luke \-i. 36-38. * Or of " do as ye would be done r
A
^^iti^^'
CHRISTIANITY: THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 273
iiiean that we shall not judge and correct a child for its ^ood, does not mean that those in authority shall not execute judgment for the good of society. Again, it is the letter that killeth and the spirit that maketh to live. Whatever a man does in love will be in obedience to these commands. Both are part of Christ's teaching which has its unity in the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the absolute beneficence of God ; freely, as a gift, have ye received, freely give.
And in such giving, lies the grand attainment. Christ says to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou con- siderest not the things of God, but the things of man:— the things of man, the things of the'^^®'^*''"^^ individual's immediate, inconsiderate, selfish ° ° ' desire; the things which oppose the great and eternal getting, the marshalling of all life into God's service, unto its own eternal perfecting in accordance with the eternal will. And eternal life,— the things to come. The synop- tics have a great tumultuous picture of troublous times approaching.' But for the resurrection and the after life, Christ clearly said it was not life in mortal flesh ; ' and for the means of reaching it he pointed to his hfe, his teaching, in a word, himself. According to Matthew, he has just been speaking of the Father's care even of the sparrows, " Fear not, ye are of more value than many spar- rows. ' ' Then he speaks of himself : ' ' Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.'" And as for the nature of the judgment when the Son of man should come in his glory, Christ showed who were the blessed of his Father, who should inherit the kingdom prepared for them, even those who had lived lives of Christian love on earth."
' Matt, xxiv ; Mark xiii ; Luke xxi.
" The answer to the Sadducees, Matt, xxii, 29 ; Mark xii, 25 ; Luke xx, 34
' Matt. X, 32, 33. "Z^.. XXV, 31-46.
VOL. II.— 18
2/2 ANCIENT IDEALS.
consequently wrongs no one by not insisting on his rights. Many precepts of the old law enjoined beneficence. Not to insist upon one's due, is giving, and a fulfilment of the law on its beneficent side. Christ's command, Resist not evil, was a complete fulfilment in the spirit of unselfish- ness and absolute beneficence, the spirit of love. The precept was uttered from the depths of his knowledge of the power of love, the power which loving giving up has on the violent claimant. Accordingly, and as is clear from the command which follows, Love your enemies, the command, Resist not evil, rests in the spirit of benef- icent love and has therein its sanction. It is therefore not to be pressed to foolishness; the letter killeth and the spirit maketh to live; and the command, Resist not evil, may often in the very spirit of Christ be fulfilled by resisting it for the evil-doer's good.
"Judge not that ye be not judged." Again a phrase to be understood with reference to the context and to be taken in the spirit of Christ. " For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye but considerest not the beam which is in thine own eye?"' This is Matthew. The connection in which Luke states the com- mand makes its meaning even clearer: " Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful. And judge not, and ye shall not be judged, and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned ; release, and ye shall be released ; give, and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. "^ Thus this command is plain; it is another aspect of Resist not evil.^ It clearly means that all shall judge in the spirit of Christian charity, and in the bounty of love act for the other's good. But it does not mean things opposed to beneficence, does not
' Matt, vii, I. ° Luke vi, 36-3S. '^ Or of " do as ye would be done by."
CHRISTIANITY : THE SYNOPTIC PRESENTATION. 273
mean that we shall not judge and correct a child for its good, does not mean that those in authority shall not execute judgment for the good of society. Again, it is the letter that kiileth and the spirit that maketh to live. Whatever a man does in love will be in obedience to these commands. Both are part of Christ's teaching which has its unity in the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the absolute beneficence of God ; freely, as a gift, have ye received, freely give.
And in such giving, lies the grand attainment. Christ says to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou con- siderest not the things of God, but the things of man : — the things of man, the things of the ^ , i,"^^ individual's immediate, inconsiderate, selfish desire ; the things which oppose the great and eternal getting, the marshalling of all life into God's service, unto its own eternal perfecting in accordance with the eternal will. And eternal life, — the things to com.e. The synop- tics have a great tumultuous picture of troublous times approaching.' But for the resurrection and the after life, Christ clearly said it was not life in mortal flesh ; " and for the means of reaching it he pointed to his life, his teaching, in a word, himself. According to Matthew, he has just been speaking of the Father's care even of the sparrows, " Fear not, ye are of more value than many spar- rows. ' ' Then he speaks of himself : ' ' Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven."' And as for the nature of the judgment when the Son of man should come in his glory, Christ showed who were the blessed of his Father, who should inherit the kingdom prepared for them, even those who had lived lives of Christian love on earth."
' Matt, xxiv ; Mark xiii ; I.uke xxi.
' The answer to the Sadducees, Matt, xxii, 29 ; Mark xii, 25 ; Luke xx, 34.
' Matt, x, 32, 33. ■*/^.,xxv, 31-46.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
THE Gospel of John is throughout conscious of the relation of the life of Christ on earth to God's eternal creative and beneficent power; this relation is stated in the first eighteen verses of the first chapter. In this so-called prologue, the evangelist's vision reaches to the first coming into existence of all things
\l ^ throup-h God's creative power: "In the begin-
Prologue. °
ning was the Word/ and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made [became] through him, and without him was nothing made [noth- ing became] which was made [became]. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness overcame it not [or failed to
' For the thought which the evangelist intended to convey by the term /ogos, one must look to the prologue, and also to the rest of the Gospel of John. To be sure, the evangelist did not originate the term, which has a long and complex history, and ancestors Hebrew as well as Greek. On the Hebrew side the Logos goes back to " wisdom," God's plan, as poetically personified in Proverbs. On the Greek side, there is not only the AoyoS of the Stoa, but also all the suggestiveness of the Platonic " idea," which was a creative power as well as a type. Philo of Alexandria forms his elaborate but wavering conception from all these sources ; and while his writings may have been well known to the evangelist who wrote at Greek Ephesus, John may have been likewise familiar with the term from contemporary Palestin- ian writings (Westcott). John's great fact, — the Word became flesh, — has no origin beyond the life of Christ and the mind of the evangelist ; and John's meaning is to be gained from his Gospel rather than from the ante- cedents of his phrase.
274
THE GOSPEL OF ST. J0Hf7. 2/5
apprehend and appreciate it]." This outlines the crea- tion by that power of God which continues to impart life as well as light whereby men may live ; and it implies the statements which are introduced by a reference to the man sent by God to bear witness to the true light which lighteth every man, and was even then to appear in the form of man. " The true light which lighteth every man, was coming into the world.' He was in the world, and the world was made [became] through him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and they that were his own received him not." But as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us."
" I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the bless- ing and the curse. Therefore, choose life that thou mayst live, thou and thy seed; to love ^n^jthesis Jehovah thy God, to obey his voice, and to cleave unto him, for he is thy life and the length of thy days." ' This is the closing note of the antithesis run- ning through the Book of Deuteronomy." Israel's national life assured through loving obedience to Jeho- vah; Israel's exile and dispersion the certain fruit of disobedience and idolatry. In John's Gospel this antith- esis ' is carried beyond Israel's limits, and spiritually set forth in terms of universal contrast between knowl- edge and love of God which is truth and life, and wilful darkness, selfishness, hatred, sin, and vanity. " In him was life, and the life was the light of men." This life
' The Greek appears ambiguous ; it may also mean, the light, the true (light) was (existing), which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
'' The reference here is to the Jews. ^ Deuteronomy xxx, 19, 20.
- See lb. passim, and especially xi, 26, and xxviii.
^ In the Pharisee's answer to Nicodemus, vii, 49 : " But this multitude which knoweth not the law are accursed \).Ttd ftcxr oi\r there seems an echo of Deuteronomy.
2/6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
and light from God, which was in Christ and is offered to mankind, is to be set forth, by the Gospel, in its abso- luteness, freed from material and temporal conditions; but the Gospel also sets it forth antithetically. Christ's life on earth is given clearer line by its contrast to the evil which opposed it. It was unity contrasted with discord, truth with vanity, love with hate, life with death. Just as Christianity, which is very life perfected, tran- scends formulation, so the opposition between Christian- ity and all that is not life cannot be formulated, d Ch ■ t "^^^s opposition is as broad as life, it pervades all mortal experience. The fourth evangelist, in speaking of it as the opposition between Christ and the world, uses the term o uofffxos in senses somewhat differ- ent, although related. The ho a /.tog is the whole world of creature-kind created through the Word. Then the term carries the signification of by itself or apart from its creator; then the still further meaning of opposition to its creator, — it is out of accord with its source, obeys not its God, exercises its will sinfully to its own blind ends, follows not the ways of life.' Then the term passes to a still more exclusively evil sense, signifying the very ele- ments of this disobedience, the modes of turning aside from the way of life, the lusts and lures leading to death, all of which involve darkness, ignorance of God, hatred of good; and, since these lead to death, the term finally signifies transient, the vanity of what appears, but only to pass away, temporary and unreal modes of life as con- trasted with life veritable and eternal. ° So it sometimes refers simply to the mortal life of man on earth.' Inas-
' Hence, Christ came to take away the sin of the world in this sense (John i, 2g) ; and in this sense he is the saviour of the world (iv, 42) ; and God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, — sent not his Son to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him (iii, 16, 17).
^ These significations appear sharply in the First Epistle of John ii, 15-17. The evil is personified as the prince of the world (John xii, 31 ; xiv, 30),
^ E. g., John xii, 25.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 2'J'J
much, however, as Christianity is very life in its uni- versahty and fulness, the opposition between Christ and the world is not to be so regarded as to place on the side of evil, or exclude from Christianity, any real or positive element of life.
Life comes from God ; he created man in his own like- ness. The conception of generation — fatherhood and sonship — implies likeness between the father and son. So does the idea of creation. The creature can have no positive and real qualities not in the creator; nor is it conceivable that a creator can create except out of quali- ties he possesses. Therefore the creature must contain some likeness to him. Man creates in some likeness of himself. The sculptor forms the statue ; he creates, not the marble, but the thought which in marble he brings to expression ; and that thought is part of him, and when expressed bears some likeness to its source. So all the positive elements of man the creature must be in likeness to God. Moreover, God's relation to his creatures does not end with first creation, but is one of ceaseless imma- nence. He never ceases to guide, sustain, and impart life, and all in necessary accord with his own nature and his will and ways. Man is God's conscious creature, and the only true way of life for man lies in full recognition of his relationship to God and in endeavor to do his Father's will, as Christ did. Only in union with God can man really live. Hence, broadly stated, the World which is opposed to Christ is everything in mankind which is out of accord with the will of God ; out of the true way of life ; or, more strictly speaking, since evil is veritable fail- ure and negation, the evil KOffpio? is failure to know God and do his will, failure of life.
More definitely, this contrast may be viewed in many ways, aspects of each other. It is the contrast between beneficence and selfishness, giving and grasping for one's self, love and infinite occasion for hate. Again, it is the difference between what really is and what cannot con-
278 ANCIENT IDEALS.
tinue. The real elements of human life are those ac- cordant with God's will and nature; his will and nature cannot be thought except as primarily creative and sus- taining, then ordering and adjusting, bringing out the higher elements in his creatures, hence beneficent, finally- loving. Men, on the other hand, cannot be viewed as isolated creatures, but as creature-kind, creatures of one God, and so related ; finally, sons of one Father and so brethren. Those elements in human life may not be regarded as real, as permanent, which cannot increase alike with all men, cannot be added to with some without taking from others. Along these directly selfish, grasp- ing, cruel ways of men, a betterment for all, increase of life and joy, completion and perfection, cannot be con- ceived even with reference to mortal life ; whatever is unloving, seeking its own at others' cost, raising itself by pulling others down, is against the very thought of uni- versal betterment and good. Far less can such elements be conceived as faring on, continuing in a life made per- fecter after the grave is passed. They must meet death, so plainly are they opposed to the eternal life-giving plan of God's creative and perfecting love, so palpably are they unfit for the kingdom of heaven. Then, is not real- ity greater than vanity ? The eternal more than that which passes away ? Thus may the contrast between Christ and the world be stated in terms of proportion ; for it is the contrast of more and less, the eternal and the transient, reality and show. It is thus a matter of see- ing things in their true values.'
It is plain how the contents of human life are to be grouped and judged with reference to this opposition
' And perhaps the idea of the conflict between Christ and the world com- pletes itself in the consideration that this earthly life not only does not represent all, but, inasmuch as it is transient, is different ; and thus neither Christ nor his followers are of it, inasmuch as their life is not transient, but eternal ; and Christ's call to them is a call out of essential transience into an eternal state, as in John xv, ig ; xvii, 16.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 279
between the world and Christ. It is all a matter of sub- ordination, of bringing every element into harmony with the source of its first being and continuing power, ordering the whole of life with reference to the all-proportioning will of God ; and so employing and developing all sides of the man's nature in his service. Within the compass of this motive, men may bring their attainments and the full expansion of their natures to the side of Christ. This it is not to try to serve two masters, God and Mammon ; this it is to be not of the world, even as Christ is not of the world.'
Sharply, more ascetically perhaps than his master, the evangelist himself, in his epistle, states the conflict :
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vain- glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." * Set not your heart on things of the world to desire them as ends; that draws the heart's eyes from God. The lust of the flesh is blind, the lust of the eyes does not perceive the true beauty ; and likewise all the rest of the apparent and the luring, which is not the real, all the vainglory of liv- ing," which is but veiled death, is not of the Father.
One thing more. As long as last the conditions of conflict between Christ and the world, there must be shown the developing, discriminating, proportioning working of God's love, crushing the lower forms of life for the benefit of the higher, and enabling the higher, in ways of self-sacrifice, to find and to attain, reach onward towards the highest.*
' John xvii, 16. "^ i lb., ii, 15-17.
' The dXa^ovia tov /Siov is the very opposite of the way, the truth, and the life. * C/. John xii, 23, etc.
28o ANCIENT IDEALS.
The Word became flesh ; the world knew him not ; to
as many as received him, he gave power to become sons
of God. The incarnation had a twofold result,
, ^ .. " — as to the world which would not receive the of Life.
revelation of God in man ; as to those who ac- cepted Christ and believed on his name. The divine purpose of the incarnation may be partly thought under conceptions of reconcilement of man to God, of redemp- tion from sin, of salvation, of the bestowal of life and promulgation of the truth: " For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- lieveth on him should not perish, but have eternal life." ' " I am come that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. " '' " To this end I was born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth." '
God's purpose in sending his Son was one of beneficent restorative love; it was not punitive. Yet, setting before men the life and truth of God became necessary self-con- demnation in those who preferred darkness. " For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He that believeth on him is not judged; he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only Son of God; " he has delib- erately or waywardly, through desire of what is not life, failed to accept life, the only true life which is from God ; he has chosen judgment. " And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light ; for their works were evil," * Elsewhere Jesus says: I came not to judge but save the world; he that rejecteth me is judged in the word I speak, which he rejecteth ; for this word is the commandment of the Father, and that is eternal life,^ — which, in rejecting Christ, a man rejects. So the offer
' John iii, i6. - lb., x, lo. ^ lb., xviii, 37.
•» lb., iii, 17-19. ' lb., xii, 48-50.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 28 1
of life carries the choice of death, Christ's coming sets
before men the blessing or the curse, results in judgment.
For this he also came.' And this judgment of wayward
sin upon itself, this choice of death, must still go on when
Christ no longer walks on earth, when the Paraclete is
come, the spirit of truth, — in failure to know whom, the
same world which rejected Christ shall judge itself.'' It is
the old burden of Isaiah,^ the heart of the people made
fat, falsehood repelled at truth, and the world set in its
way at sight of the way to God.
How comes man to Christ ? In the beginning God
created man in his own likeness, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life. Like knows like.
Only the likeness to God which is in man can ^ ^, ^J •^ to Christ,
recognize God and his truth. But when man
has chosen all that is not God, and made himself unlike him, his nature cannot know the truth, nor respond to the grace of God, which must be met. All things come of God. A man can receive nothing except it have been given him from heaven." " No man can come to me ex- cept the Father which sent me draw him," ' — draw him by the grace of God which within man speaks only to God's likeness; draw him by the wonder of God's ways, which only the likeness of God in man can behold ; and draw him finally by God's Son lifted up upon the cross,' a spectacle of divine love which speaks in tones audible only to those who have still some likeness and love of God in them. "It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Everyone that hath heard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me." * The prophets had shown also what sort of people could not learn of God, and even more directly Christ himself speaks to Jews who were turning from him. " If God
' See John ix, 39-41. ^ John iii, 27, words of the Baptist.
* lb., xiv, 17. ^ lb-, vi, 44.
' See lb., xii, 37-40. ' lb., xii, 32.
* Cf. I Cor. ii, 15, 16. 8 lb., vi, 45.
282 ANCIENT IDEALS.
were your Father, ye would love me ; for I came forth and am come from God. . . . Why do ye not know my speech ? Because ye cannot hear my word. If I say truth, why do ye not believe me ? He that is of God heareth the words of God; for this cause ye hear them not, because ye are not of God."' He who no longer has God's nature in him cannot know God or understand the speech of him whom God hath sent.*
In conversation with Nicodemus,^ Christ puts most ex- clusive emphasis on the part which God takes in man's reaching eternal life. It is regeneration, re-birth, birth anew or from above, as much beyond the unaided power of man as his first entry on the world of flesh. And yet, although eternal life is the gift of God, there is needed free action on the part of those who would be Christ's disciples. They must desire to do the will of God, thereupon shall they know. " Jesus therefore answered them and said. My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God."^ Thus men become Christ's disciples unto eternal life. God's gracious love, which draws them, is met by the responsive action of that likeness to God which is in each man who has not destroyed himself.
As in order to become a disciple one must will to do
the word of God, which Christ spoke, so to be truly a
disciple, one must abide in that word.'' He
Disciple- jg Christ's friend and disciple who keepeth
, ^ , his commandments ; he who keepeth Christ's
Love. commandments loveth him ; " and Christ's
repeated command to his disciples is that
they love one another, even as he had loved them.''
How he had loved them the years of ministry had shown.
Yet, at the last supper, as an example of the sweetness and
' John viii, 42-47. ^ lb., iii, 1-15. * lb., viii, 31.
"^ Cf. lb., X, 14. ^ lb., vii, 16, 17. * lb., xiv, 21 ; xv, 14.
■" lb., XV, 12.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 283
humility of the divine love, he washed the feet of all the Twelve, even of the one whom he knew to be his betrayer. Solemnly he pointed to this act to show them love's spirit : " Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, a ser- vant is not greater than his lord ; neither one that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them." '
It was after this, when the betrayer had gone out, that Jesus said to them: " Little children, yet a little while I am with you. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you." * Even as I have loved you ; — even as the Father hath loved me I also have loved you ; ' greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.* Thus they were to love one another, in perfect humility and abnegation — Christ had washed thei*" feet ; unto the giving up of life — Christ was about to die for them. And, as it were inclusive of such consummate acts, and in order that all their lives might be held in the spirit of love absolute, Christ's disciples were to love each other with the love of God, — in all the boundlessness and cease- lessness of the love with which the Father loved the Son ; so had the Son loved them.
The life of perfect love which Jesus led on earth was such that it could be known only though loving Jesus. And likewise Christ's teaching, as it starts from God's perfect love and the Son's perfect love not only of tho^e who would be brethren and followers, but of all the world who still rejected him, this teaching also assumes love for Christ ; it speaks to love, and only through love of Christ can it be known, its truth and power be felt. Christian- ity is love speaking unto love. Love may address itself
' John xiii, 13-17. "^ Jb., xiii, 33. '■ lb., xv, g. ■* lb., xv, 13.
;S4
AXCIEXT IDEALS.
to those who have it not. but cannot be understood by them until they love.
John's Gospel also demands faith in Christ: "As many as received him. to them ga\e he power to become chil- dren of God. e\en to them who believed on his name." So to the question of the multitude. What must we do that we may work the works of God ? Christ answers, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' He also speaks to his disciples of their belief in his relation to the Father: " Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me."" But the fourth evani:^elist most willing^ly sets these matters forth from the standpoint of faith transformed to lo\-e. It is loving Christ, and in love doing his commandments, that shall bring knowledge of God and his indwelling truth and being.'
It is ditticult to conceive of life except as under its
present conditions. This difficulty, as well as the wish
to entangle Jesus in his words, lay behind the
Dilemmas question of the Sadducees. Whose wife shall
of the Flesh i u • ^i ►• • *i ii i j
^ . ., she be \\\ the resurrection, seemg thev all had and Life ^ .
Eternal. ^^^''' ^' Jesus answers, \e do err, not knowing the Scriptures, — for the doctrine of resurrection is in them. — nor the power of God. The dilemmas of the flesh are not to be transferred to the kingdom of heaven. The contradictions of finite being are not such in God, wov is his life and power to impart it limited to conditions of life on earth. Here was Nicodemus' difficulty: How can a man be born again ? Jesus tells him, " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." Xicodemus understands this kind of birth. "That which is born of the spirit is spirit." Jesus is speaking of the need of a new and spiritual birth before entering God's kingdom.' To many i: must remain a mystery: "Thou hearest the wind, but
' John vi. 2S, 2Q. * lb., xiv. ii. ' Cf. lb., xiv, 20-23.
* Matt, xxii, 24, etc. * C/. John i, 13.
ttf^
>»*#.tfc
:v k
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
285
vaicn
knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goeth ; thus is everyone that is born of the spirit," — the Holy Spirit of God. Nicodemus could conceive only of birth from a mother's womb: how could he understand if Jesus told him of heavenly things ?
The Samaritan woman is in like difficulty ; she cannot conceive of spiritual life, nor how life could be nourished save on physical food. With her and Nicodemus, as after- wards with others of the Jews and Pharisees, it is not simply a failure to catch the significance of Christ's metaphors. The difficulty was deeper ; Christ was expounding a differ- ent life, a life independent of earthly meat and drink,' of earthly conditions generally. He was not misunderstood because he spoke in images. That always was a manner of the East. Christ was disclosing to men a life without physical and mortal limitations. It was a life upon which a believer might enter while on earth, yet it was not earthly life, such as people then understood. And here appears one aspect of the perhaps unconscious plan of John's Gospel : In the teachings of Christ as therein recorded, the life of man, or the life which through Christ man is capable of, is set forth gradually freed from limi- tations, gradually lifted out of conditions of earthly exist- ence, gradually shown as eternal, absolute. And yet no real element of life is lost, no atom of man's positive and God-accordant attainment or individuality destroyed. It is not the metaphysical disclosure of the Absolute through the elimination of qualities which exclude their opposites and, in defining, limit. That is neo-Platonism. John's Gospel discloses life absolute in fulness of quality, life absolute in absence of limitation. And the discourses of Jesus, in which this life is set forth, proceed without self-contradiction, because, in manner analogous to the aphoristic mode of the synoptics," they set forth different aspects of it successively ; and the farthest reaches of this life eternal, the deepest thoughts of its relations with its
' Cf. also iv, 31-34. ' See ante, p. 24'?.
:i^ "^
284 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to those who have it not, but cannot be understood by them until they love.
John's Gospel also demands faith in Christ: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become chil- dren of God, even to them who believed on his name." So to the question of the multitude, What must we do that we may work the works of God ? Christ answers, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' He also speaks to his disciples of their belief in his relation to the Father: " Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me."' But the fourth evangelist most willingly sets these matters forth from the standpoint of faith transformed to love. It is loving Christ, and in love doing his commandments, that shall bring knowledge of God and his indwelling truth and being."
It is difficult to conceive of life except as under its
present conditions. This difficulty, as well as the wish
to entangle Jesus in his words, lay behind the
Dilemmas question of the Sadducees, "Whose wife shall
^ ^ ., she be in the resurrection, seeing they all had and Life ' ,
Eternal. ^*^'' ^* Jesus answers, Ye do err, not knowing
the Scriptures, — for the doctrine of resurrection
is in them, — nor the power of God. The dilemmas of the
flesh are not to be transferred to the kingdom of heaven.
The contradictions of finite being are not such in God,
nor is his life and power to impart it limited to conditions
of life on earth. Here was Nicodemus' difficulty : How
can a man be born again ? Jesus tells him, " That which
is born of the flesh is flesh." Nicodemus understands
this kind of birth. "That which is born of the spirit
is spirit." Jesus is speaking of the need of a new and
spiritual birth before entering God's kingdom.' To many
it must remain a mystery: "Thou hearest the wind, but
' John vi, 23, 2g. ' lb., xiv, n. '■ Cf. lb., xiv, 20-23.
* Matt, xxii, 24, etc. ' Cf. John i, 13.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 285
knowest not whence it comes nor whither it goeth ; thus is everyone that is born of the spirit," — the Holy Spirit of God. Nicodemus could conceive only of birth from a mother's womb: how could he understand if Jesus told him of heavenly things ?
The Samaritan woman is in like difficulty ; she cannot conceive of spiritual life, nor how life could be nourished save on physical food. With her and Nicodemus, as after- wards with others of the Jews and Pharisees, it is not simply a failure to catch the significance of Christ's metaphors. The difficulty was deeper ; Christ was expounding a differ- ent life, a life independent of earthly meat and drink,' of earthly conditions generally. He was not misunderstood because he spoke in images. That always was a manner of the East. Christ was disclosing to men a life without physical and mortal limitations. It was a life upon which a believer might enter while on earth, yet it was not earthly life, such as people then understood. And here appears one aspect of the perhaps unconscious plan of John's Gospel : In the teachings of Christ as therein recorded, the life of man, or the life which through Christ man is capable of, is set forth gradually freed from limi- tations, gradually lifted out of conditions of earthly exist- ence, gradually shown as eternal, absolute. And yet no real element of life is lost, no atom of man's positive and God-accordant attainment or individuality destroyed. It is not the metaphysical disclosure of the Absolute through the elimination of qualities which exclude their opposites and, in defining, limit. That is neo-Platonism. John's Gospel discloses life absolute in fulness of quality, life absolute in absence of limitation. And the discourses of Jesus, in which this life is set forth, proceed without self-contradiction, because, in manner analogous to the aphoristic mode of the synoptics,^ they set forth different aspects of it successively ; and the farthest reaches of this life eternal, the deepest thoughts of its relations with its
* Cf. also iv, 31-34. *See ante, p. 24?.
286 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Source, never transcend the range of human feeling, always address themselves to man's whole nature, to his heart of love as well as to his mind of thought ; are con- sequently always real and living, never vague, never empty, never metaphysical. Christ states the deepest truths of life in terms of love.
This conception of life eternal and absolute, now and forever freed from all conditions of earthly existence, as set forth in the Fourth Gospel, is not inconsistent with Christ's teachings in the synoptics. On the contrary, there is deep consistency between it and Christ's way of speaking of the kingdom of heaven sometimes as a king- dom almost palpably to come, sometimes as a spiritual condition which may exist now among men as well as hereafter; or again sometimes from the point of view of the unseen working of God's re-creative power, and some- times from the point of view of man's acceptance or fail- ure to accept the gift of God.' This manner of bringing out the different and apparently inconsistent aspects of the kingdom of heaven is analogous to Christ's method in John's Gospel of setting forth the modes of life eternal, a life which is not subject to earthly conditions, and so in- volves in contradiction all speech of it in terms of life in the flesh.
One may trace throughout John's Gospel the disclosure of this life from God. Christ sets it forth, by pointing to himself and his relationship to God as the em- Disclosure bodiment of it, and by showing how through Eternal ^^^"^ T(\&\\ may attain it. But whether speaking of himself or with direct reference to men, Christ's successive discourses make clear that this life of which he speaks is subject neither to conditions of ordi- nary earthly existence nor to limitations of time and space.
When pursued by the Jews for healing the sick man at the Bethesda pool on the Sabbath, Jesus said, " My
' See ante^ p. 251.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 287
Father worketh even until now, and I work. " ' The Jev/s took this for simple blasphemy, — a man asserting himself the Son of God, holy, high, and lifted up. Jesus' words pointed to the identity of the life which was in him with the life of God ; and he continues showing how the life which is in the Son must work according to the life and will of the Father, and can impart itself in spiritual ways, and in modes which indicate that essential life is essential righteousness and can exist only in accord with the will of God. " He that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but has passed from death into life. For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself; and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man." The life which is in the Son includes the power of judgment ; the Son imparts life only to those who seek to live according to the will of God, life's source:
I can of myself do nothing. . . . my judgment is righteous because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me." This shows conversely that the life which is in the Son is life because of its identity with the life of God; and for the same reason is the Son's judgment righteous.
Similar thoughts appear under different images in the discourses of the sixth chapter. The multitude have seen the feeding of the five thousand, and follow Jesus across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. Jesus says : " Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you." At first they are not con- scious how deeply they misunderstand his words, and ask him what they must do to work the works of God. Jesus answers, Believe in him that he hath sent. They then ask for a sign, and speak of the manna which was given as bread from heaven. " My Father giveth you the true
' John V, 17.
288 ANCIENT IDEALS.
bread . . . which cometh down out of heaven and giveth life unto the world." They then ask him for this bread. " I am the bread of hfe. He that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. . . . Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and they died. ... I am the living bread which came down out of heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. . . . He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, abideth in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me." '
The Jews might have understood the metaphors used by Jesus had it not been that the thought which the metaphors conveyed was beyond them. He was speak- ing of modes of life transcending conditions of the flesh ; a spiritual life coming through him from God, who is spirit." The condition of its imparting was the doing of the will of God in belief on the veritable embodiment of that will which was before them. So many of the Jews murmured. Jesus said to them, "It is the spirit that giveth life ; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life."' Thus he declared that spirit is the source of life, even of those phases passed under conditions of the flesh. The flesh giveth it not. The words of Christ are the command- ment, the will, of God. They and it are spirit and life, and so can give life. As many turned away, Jesus said to the Twelve, Would ye also go away? The answer of Peter shows that he is gathering a meaning: " Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast words of eternal life."* Peter begins to discern that the body's meat and drink is not the source of life.
In the seventh chapter the Jews in Jerusalem argue
' John vi, 35, 49, 51. 54, 56. The intervening verses of the chapter must be read to obtain the full connection and import of the thought.
« lb., iv, 24. 3 7^ _ yj^ 5^. ■• lb., vi, 68, 69.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 289
among themselves that Jesus cannot be the Christ, be- cause his origin was known. Jesus repHes, " Ye both know me and know whence I am," my place of birth and parentage. The real source of my life and mission ye do not know. I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, aXTjdivos. This word means more than truthful in the sense of veracious (aXtjdjjs) ; it means true in the sense of veritable, real, — true-being rather than true- speaking. It is here applied to God as the source of the life true, real, and eternal, which Christ is setting forth. And the same word is used when Jesus speaks of his judg- ment as being true because he is not alone, but the veri- table Father is with him, speaking in him.'
The latter half of the eighth chapter shows the failure of the Jews to understand the life which Jesus there speaks of as an abiding in the truth which maketh free. " If ye abide in my word ... ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." There was nothing strange in the thought of a teacher enabling hearers to know the truth ; but the fmt/i shall make them free, — that they do not understand, especially as they were not in bondage to any man. Jesus is speaking of the bondage of sin. He who committeth sin is a bondservant of sin, and abideth not in the house forever; hath not the eter- nal life of God, had only by those whom the Son and his truth accepted have made free from sin, which leadeth away from God unto death. Life is here set forth under the aspect of accepting and abiding in the truth of God ; and the discussion leads to Jesus' declaration, " If a man keep my word, he shall never see death," and to the Jews' reply, " Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead and the prophets. Art thou greater than Abraham? Whom makest thou thyself?" Jesus tells them that Abraham rejoiced to see his day, whereat the Jews exclaim, Thou art not yet fifty years old ! And Christ's great answer not only states that before Abraham ' John viii, 16.
290 ANCIENT IDEALS.
was born, Christ was, but makes known his eternal life as absolute, freed from categories of past and future, uncon- ditioned on such successiveness as lingers out the life of earth : before Abraham was I am.
The parable of the good shepherd makes up most of the tenth chapter. Towards the end, in reply to the Jews' demand whether he be the Christ, Jesus answers, " I told you, and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." Those works bore witness of that life which was in Christ and which might manifest itself here in its life-imparting power. Each of the miracles was an instance of the eter- nal life from God manifesting itself in modes independent of the conditions of ordinary earthly phenomena, Jesus continues speaking of his sheep: " My sheep hear my voice . . . and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand ... no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." The life from God which Christ imparts is mightier than the powers of evil, and cannot be destroyed. And Christ's words as to himself and God — I and the Father are one — again indicate the transcendent nature of this life; that it is something which sense perception cannot grasp, nor men whose thoughts are bounded by sense imagine. Nor is it subject to any limitation arising from the distinctness of the personality of the recipient from the personality of the Giver. "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.
Two expressions of the nature of the life which was in Christ, and which he gives, must be spoken of before passing to the final discourses with the disciples. Before the raising of Lazarus, Jesus says to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 29 1
and believeth on me shall never die. " ' I am the resurrec- tion and the life. I am both, and the two are the same. Eternal life is resurrection in itself; it is never dead ; it is always risen, though the body be in the tomb.
Again: " He that beholdeth me beholdeth him that sent me," ' — a phrase indicating how the life of Christ in God, of God in Christ, transcends all conditions that men could apply to the relationship of sender and him who is sent. " And I know that his commandment is eternal life, " ^ — a last statement for the world; the power of God, the will of God, the commandment of God, to men through Christ, is life to them that believe, accept, and do.
Christ's communings with his disciples and his prayer of consecration to the Father * contain his final words of life eternal, and these farthest truths are pre- sented set in the motive and the means of Fmai ,., , . , . . e , ^1 • . Revelation lite s attamment, the spirit of love. Christ s ^^ ^j^^
love could not be told to men who hated him. Disciples. In the hearts of disputing Scribes and Phari- sees, there was no love to which his love might speak. But the disciples loved him, and from the heart of love could know the life which lies in love, and apprehend it as the world could not. In the world Jesus had been the fulness of humanity. He had been the heart of love, the helping and life-giving hand of love as well. Had he not too in jealous wrath driven desecrators from his Father's house? And had he not groaned in his spirit, indignant at the ways of man which make the power of death and all earth's pain. Jesus wept, — he was a man, and loved his friend, wept at his grave. At last he shows his disci- ples God's love washing the feet of men; and now, in
' John xi, 25, 26. ' lb., xii, 45. ^ lb., xii, 50.
* lb., xiv-xvii. The following short setting forth of these chapters may indicate Jesus' way in John's Gospel of expounding the nature of the life of man and God, and the relation between them, by successive statements, each one complete in itself, yet each one developing the previous thought by stating a further aspect of it.
292 ANCIENT IDEALS.
telling them of the life he is, the life they are through him in God, his words ever meet their love, their grief at the Master's going, ever turn back to the heart of man and God which was in Jesus Christ, and thence return to those poor, God-touched Jews with that heart's mes- sages of love and life and union of all hearts which love in God.
" Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.' In my Father's house are many mansions." The promised life is veiled in the image of a house with room for all ; but the spiritual nature of this life appears when the same word, j-iovai, which is here translated " mansions " is used in a subsequent verse thus : " If a man love me, he will keep my word ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [i^iovr^v) with him." The abiding of Christ and the Father with the disciple on earth is iden- tical with the " mansion," the abiding of the disciple in God hereafter. Such a conception of life eternal here and now, and unconditioned save on relationship to God, removes reality from death, makes it the merest appar- ent change.
Love lingers to assure the disciples: " If it were not so I would have told you." And to this reassurance Jesus adds a new statement : " For I go to prepare a place for you ; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto myself ; that where I am there ye may be also. And whither I go, ye know the way." These last words make at least one disciple con- scious that he does not understand ; and from Jesus' answer it is again evident that such language as " I go to prepare a place, I come again," is not to be referred to any separation, as of distance and reunion in one locality.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest ; how know we the way ? Jesus saith unto
' Cf. the Syriac reading of the Sinai Codex, " Believe in God, and in me \e are believing."
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 293
him, I am the way, the truth, and the Hfe." This is a further statement of the unconditioned and spiritual nature of life. Life is truth ; it is a property of life to impart itself ; so is it a property of truth to disclose itself, its verity, that it is truth, to such as may comprehend and believe and enter on the way of life and truth. And this was Christ, life giving itself, truth disclosing itself. He was the way to God, and he is all the way. "No one Cometh unto the Father but by me." Christ and his teachings included all of life and the bringing of all ele- ments of man to unity in God.' Moreover, Christ is the Logos, through whom all things were made. He is the entire relationship of God to man. " For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judg- ment unto the Son."" While conversely, "No man Cometh unto me except the Father which sent me draw him,"' — a statement to be understood with those fre- quent phrases which link the nature of Christ to God, one of which immediately follows in the present chapter:
If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also ; from henceforth ye know him and have seen him."
At this another disciple stumbles : " Lord, show us the Father." Philip's question leads to an unfolding of what is implied in the previous thought : " Jesus saith unto him. Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How sayest thou then. Show us the Father ? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me ? The words that I say unto you I speak not from myself; but the Father abiding in me doeth his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me ; or else believe me for the very works* sake." Dost thou not know me, who I am and what I am, and the nature and source of the life that is in me, that is me? He that hath seen me hath seen the life
' See ante, p. 245.
' John V, 22. ^ lb., vi, 44 ; cf. lb., vi, 37-39 ; Jb., xvii, 12, 24.
294 ANCIENT IDEALS.
which is identical with God. Believest thou not ? — this is a matter the mind of man on earth cannot know except through the word of Christ — beHevest thou not that such is the nature of the Hfe in me (Hfe spiritual and absolute, subject to no conditions of severance in space or succession in time) that I am in the Father and the Father in me ? My words are God's ; it is the Father in me that doeth his works. My words are his commandment, which is eternal life. The works which he abiding in me does, are works of this same eternal life. Canst thou not see its manifestation in them, and so believe that they are of the life absolute of God the Father who is in me ?
This life and power of God may be in those who be- lieve in Christ. Life eternal is given in a mode tran- scending earthly comprehension. " He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also " ; and " whatso- ever ye [who believe and have life] shall ask in my name." — according to my words, which are the commandment and the will of God, — " that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son," through humanity restored through the Son to the life of God by the Hfe which the Son imparts.
Christ's words now turn to his disciples' love towards him, and the enlightenment and life which shall be theirs thenceforth. " If ye love me ye will keep my command- ments ; and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another advocate [or comforter], that he may be with you forever, the spirit of truth. He shall be in you." Then, beginning with the words of love, Christ unfolds further thoughts : " I will not leave you desolate, I come unto you." He suggests his death to the world : " Yet a lit- tle while and the world beholdeth me no more ; but ye behold me; because I live, ye shall live also." Ye know me, believe on me, and shall live because I live. These sayings are disclosures of the eternal and spiritual life of the disciples which they receive from Christ ; and the thought is completed thus : " In that day ye shall know
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 295
that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The life is not limited by separateness of personality.
The thought returns now to the disciples' love, and its effect in giving them the knowledge and life of Christ in God: " He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I wall love him, and will mani- fest myself unto him." " If a man love me, he will keep my word ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." Here is the final mode of this life of God and its imparting. It is given through knowledge of the truth unto him that is thereby made free from sin ; through belief in Christ unto him that believes; now it comes through knowledge and belief turned love. And unto love, love manifests itself and giveth life. " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." This is the peace of Christ, the peace of God, into which the believer enters who in love has brought all of himself to the way, the truth, and the life; not as the world giv- eth— in no respect as the world giveth — give I unto you. The difference is not special or limited, but universal as the contrast between Christ and all that is not of God.
The fifteenth chapter is the final setting forth of the disciples' relationship in and through Christ to God ; and since it is through Christ that life is imparted to men, this chapter expresses the relationship Husband- of human life to God. " I am the true vine " ' \
— again the word (xXtjdivrjj veritable, real, — Branches. " and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.'" The unfruitful branches cease
' There are statements in John which indicate the unity of the divine. The image of the Father as the husbandman is to be connected with them. Thus, the Logos is the full relationship of God to men ; but so perfectly is the Logos one with God that Christ can say, No man cometh to me except the Father which sent me draw him.
296 ANCIENT IDEALS.
living and imparting life according to the will of God, and so fall off from life, cease absolutely ; the husband- man taketh them away. But the branches which are liv- ing and give life, he prunes, reproves, and chastens,' leads them not into temptation, but delivers them from evil, that their life may flow more strongly.
" Already are ye clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you." This identifies the action of Christ with the power of God. My word, which is the commandment of God, which is eternal life, has already purified you. "Abide in me and I in you," — keep me in you by abiding in me. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in me." Except in me, ye are severed from the commandment, the life-giving will, of God. " I am the vine, ye are the branches " — an explicit statement and summary of what precedes. " He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit." One may imagine ceaseless transmission of vitality between the vine and fruitful branches ; nevertheless, the conception of absolute life which Christ is, and which is in disciples, such absolute spiritual life as is suggested by the " I in him and ye in me and I in you,"'' passes beyond the image of the vine and branches. The image remains ade- quate, however, for the negative statement following : " For apart from me " — severed — " ye can do nothing." The spiritual nature of life is again brought forward in the negative restated: " If a man abide not in me," — then the result transparently veiled in an image — " he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." This last change of the form of statement, from metaphor to explicit simile, means that no metaphor from the world of sense can show the nature of life. So Jesus leaves the image of the vine, and speaks in terms of spiritual life: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask
' Rev. iii, 19. '^ John xiv, 20,
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 297
whatsoever ye will, and it shall come to pass unto you." ' The desire of the man at one with God in Christ shall be accomplished in the power of God. " Whatsoever ye will"; the man's whole individuality is in accord with God, yet remains consciously developing and perfecting itself along the ways of life, which is from God. Here is no renunciation, no merging of self, even in the will of God.
The discourse reverts for an instant to the initial image of the chapter, the husbandman and the vine: " Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit and be my disciples." These words follow the assurance that what- soever the disciple in Christ seeks, shall be accomplished unto him, to the development of his self, Jiis life from God.^ This is also a glorification of God, inasmuch as it is a bearing of fruit, a doing of God's will, an imparting and extension of his life. The reference to the Father pre- pares for the full statement of the perfect relationship between God and man, which is love. " Even as the Father hath loved me," — in the fulness, comprehensive- ness, unremittingness, and depth of love divine, — " I also have loved you. Abide ye in my love." Abide in my love towards you ; bring and keep every element of your lives within the Father's will, within the scope of my love which is also his; and this shall be if ye continue in love towards me. This is it to abide in my love: " If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." Even as I have conformed entirely to my Father's will, and so abide in his love, so shall ye abide in my love if ye keep my commandments, as I keep his through love. There is no other way than love to keep the command-
' A more explicit statement of John xiv, 14.
* This is restated in the sixteenth verse : " Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide ; that whatsoever ye may ask the Father in my name, he may give it you."
AXCJEsr :
mcnta of Christ-' " Tfc- - that my joy may be in fall " — rendered complete ;.
The relationship be! these verses may thus the relationship of human ; its source — z. source n^ • nent, continuously self. ... not continue vhen separatc b>- abiding in the hfe of Gc ^"ax"-^ of man's life to God in ' God's will, obedience to Chr as man continues in this har e%-er he aslcs — accomph'shes i in and by the will of God. ^ obedient will, active in desire to ing to God's will. (3, T' not perfunctory-, but a 1: . ship, responding to the bencf fested in Christ : it is love. (4 in response to perfect love em and self-imparting life, there love giving itself, accepted ar of human love surrendering iisc. the love of God.
The sixteenth chapter vs a ch. tion. It contains the fu!' who shall bring comfort the disciples into all the truth. 'I filled with sorrow and perplexity httle while, and ye behold me r while, and ye shall see me." He to the sorrow of a woman in trava joy. " I wiU see you again, a- ' and your joy no man taketh
they shall themselves pray to the Fat
Cf. John xiv le.
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7W^ GOSPEL OF JOHN.
299
uses words whch the disciples feel they understand : " For the Fatbr himself loveth you because you have loved me, and ave believed that I came forth from the Father. I cam out from the Father, and am come into the world ; agai, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. . . These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye nay have peace. In the world ye have tribulation. Bt be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Tribiation in the world of conflict and temp- tation, but ChBt showed the way to victory ; and in him his disciples shd have peace, the peace of life eternal, life made one in th heart of God.
" Father, thhour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glori/ thee, even as thou hast given him au- thority over alllesh, that whatsoever thou hast given him, to tem he should give eternal life. Prayer
And this is lifeiternal, that they should know cration thee the only rue God and him whom thou didst send, Je:is Christ, I glorified thee on the earth, having accompshed the work which thou hast given me to do. And nw, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with te glory which I had with thee before the world was."
If the gloryof God is in any way to be thought in terms of the giry of men, it were well to note that true human glory inot vanity lauded by vanity, the unthink- ing applause apower which grasps the lives of other men. Human glory s human goodness, the high quahties of man developin themselves in service, and recognized by the good, butibove all, by God; it is life recognized by life. Analogusly, God's glory must lie along the ener- gies of his natire, its manifestations in creation, its self- impartings toand through those creatures which have most of it, me who are in the likeness of God. " Herein is my Father lorified that ye bear much fruit." Only thus may Go's glory be conceived, as the joy of his nature fulfiUiir itself in creation, beneficence, and lo\'e.
298 ANCIENT IDEALS.
ments of Christ.* " These things have I spoken unto you that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full" — rendered complete and perfect.
The relationship between God and man set forth in these verses may thus be partly summarized : (i) It is the relationship of human life, in and through Christ, to its source — a source not separate nor apart, but imma- nent, continuously self-imparting. The life of man can- not continue when separated from the source, but only by abiding in the life of God in Christ. (2) The relation- ship of man's life to God in Christ is one of harmony with God's will, obedience to Christ's word of God. So long as man continues in this harmony, his own will— whatso- ever he asks — accomplishes itself, and is brought to pass in and by the will of God. Prayer is an attitude of this obedient will, active in desire to accomplish itself accord- ing to God's will. (3) This relationship of obedience is not perfunctory, but a living, spontaneous, free relation- ship, responding to the beneficence and love of God mani- fested in Christ : it is love. (4) And as love perfects itself, in response to perfect love emanating from absolute power and self-imparting life, there is the divine joy of perfect love giving itself, accepted and responded to, and the joy of human love surrendering itself unto self-attainment in the love of God.
The sixteenth chapter is a chapter of love's consola- tion. It contains the fullest promise of the Paraclete, who shall bring comfort and enlightenment, and guide the disciples into all the truth. The disciples' hearts are filled with sorrow and perplexity at Christ's words, " A little while, and ye behold me no more ; again a little while, and ye shall see me." He compares their sorrow to the sorrow of a woman in travail, which is turned into joy. " I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." In that day they shall themselves pray to the Father. Then Christ ' Cf. John xiv, 15.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 299
uses words which the disciples feel they understand : " For the Father himself loveth you because you have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from the Father. I came out from the Father, and am come into the world ; again, I leave the world, and go unto the Father. . . . These things have I spoken unto you that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation. But be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." Tribulation in the world of conflict and temp- tation, but Christ showed the way to victory ; and in him his disciples shall have peace, the peace of life eternal, life made one in the heart of God.
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee, even as thou hast given him au- thority over all flesh, that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life. ^"^ Prayer And this is life eternal, that they should know cration thee the only true God and him whom thou didst send, Jesus Christ. I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."
If the glory of God is in any way to be thought in terms of the glory of men, it were well to note that true human glory is not vanity lauded by vanity, the unthink- ing applause at power which grasps the lives of other men. Human glory is human goodness, the high qualities of man developing themselves in service, and recognized by the good, but above all, by God ; it is life recognized by life. Analogously, God's glory must lie along the ener- gies of his nature, its manifestations in creation, its self- impartings to and through those creatures which have most of it, men who are in the likeness of God. " Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit." Only thus may God's glory be conceived, as the joy of his nature fulfilling itself in creation, beneficence, and love.
300 ANCIENT IDEALS,
It cannot be thought in the way of grasping, so must be thought rather in the way of giving and self-sacrifice.
" Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee." That this glorification of the Son unto the Father's glory related to Calvary is clear. That this glory lay also in the imparting of life by the Son to those given him by the Father, lay in God's giving of himself, is evident from the close union of all parts of the sentence: "Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy Son, that the Son may glorify thee, even as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that whatsoever thou hast given him, to them he should give eternal life." The power of God made flesh for the imparting of life — which is here the element of giving in the glory of God — complements the element of self-sacrifice. God is glorified not only in self-sacrifice but in self-imparting and extension, self- fulfilment, if such term may be used of God. The words accord: " I glorified thee on the earth, having accom- plished the work which thou hast given me to do. . . . I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world."
So far the thought is of Christ's mission on earth and its results, a finite portion, as it were, of the infinite glory of God, now spoken of: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." These words suggest the Son's union with the Father after the crucifixion, and the relationship between them of eternal life, each in the other. But this only opens the vista. We cannot see into it, yet must think that if we could, we should be looking at a vision absolute and eternal of the joy of God in his own beatitude, a vision of the love of God directed towards God's loving energy manifesting itself in the crea- tion of new objects of this love, a vision of the joy and love of God forever flowing out, encompassing its objects, endowing them with life, being in and of them, and so drawing them towards the absolute selfhood of God to their own perfecting at one with him.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 30 1
"And this is life eternal, that they should know thee,
the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, Jesus
Christ." In life as set forth in the Gospel of
John, there is a place and call for knowledge ; ^ ., ^^^ '^ . , , . ^ Life Eter-
life s activity and means of growth is viewed as n^l that
knowledge of the truth.' And here the means They
and end of life eternal are " that they should Should
know" him who is the fulness of knowledge ^. "°^
== Thee,
and the source of life. Life eternal is even
here and now ; on earth the disciple enters the eternal
way, begins to know God, in knowledge of whom he shall
progress eternally.
" That they should know thee, the only true God," — God real, veritable, aX?/div6y, whose being holds all life, and every real and veritable quality in absolute perfec- tion,— power and intelligence, love, justice, mercy; God the source, God the creator, God the sustaining mind, and God the Father. "And him whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ." This complements the knowing of God. Per here Christ is not viewed from the side of his divinity, not as the Word, the creative and sustaining energy of God, but as the Word made flesh, become man. Hence this means knowledge of man, for Jesus was a man. But Jesus Christ, Jesus the man as Christ, the " sent " of God, whose life was man doing God's will, and so was life eternal; who was man in perfect relationship to God. Thus to know Jesus Christ means to know perfect man in full relationship to God, means to know human life. Moreover, to know man, the creature with his sonship revealed to him, means to know God's will for man, his commandment, which also is eternal life, — life in obedi- ence and love of God, in oneness with the Father.
Here, then, is signified knowledge of God approached in many ways. God was revealed through Christ ; and knowledge of God comes through the reasonings of man. The universe is God's creation, declares his glory, and in every least detail God may be learned. All natural sci-
' Compare John viii, 31, 32, with John xviii, 37.
302 ANCIENT IDEALS,
ence is a learning to know God ; so also is knowledge of mankind, their ways and thoughts and loves, powers and attainments. And knowing God is to know power and life, faculty and accomplishment. In exercise of faculty, knowledge grows, and knowing how to fashion and create is faculty of doing, giving, creating, living. Accordingly, " to know thee, the only true God and him whom thou hast sent, Jesus Christ," means knowledge all-inclusive, knowledge of all of life and faculty to live ; it means all truth. But how can knowledge of truth be life?
There are three stages of truth. First, correspondence of thought or statement to a fact perceived or remem- bered. Secondly, truth is related correspondence to many connected facts : a thought or statement is true because it corresponds to a large amount of experience, correlates itself therewith, or will account for it. This stage of truth is an enlargement or generalizing of truth of the first kind, which is simple correspondence to fact.
The third stage is the highest and most perilous. If we consider as broadly and deeply as possible, so as to reach most comprehensive truths of the second stage, we may look around and back of us, and formulate concep- tions of the courses of events, and note long ranges of an- tecedents and consequents, causes and effects. Through all, we note directions, as it were, whither things seem to tend, note what seems an advance somewhither, and our thoughts convince us that this advance is from a lower to a higher, a worse to a better — in a word, is progress and development. From observation of this progress, we may reach the thought of plan, and conceive this progress to correspond to the purpose of an infinite, all-ruling, and beneficent mind, the bent and purpose of which may par- tially be discerned in the progress hitherto. Even should it be unallowable to pass from observed progress to the thought of plan, there is still discernible a progress toward a better. This is the tending toward manifold betterment, toward life and life's perfecting, toward the
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 303
perfect and ideal. And the third stage of truth is that corresponding to this goal of plan-evincing tendency. It is the truth which corresponds to that which everything would be if perfect of its kind. And moreover, since nothing exists of and in itself, but completes its existence in its relations to all else, so this highest stage of truth must, when fully generalized, correspond to the correlated perfecting of all the manifold of life. Truth of the second stage is the truth of actuality, the truth of the progress hitherto. The third stage of truth, from a theistic point of view, and much more definitely from the standpoint of the Christian theism of love, is correspondence to God's purpose, the truth of that towards which each creature after its kind is straining, the truth of the manifestation of the sons of God.
This final stage of truth is but another form of beauty, which is perfection, perfect correspondence to God's plan, regarded from the point of view of its being perfect, while truth is this perfection regarded rather from the point of view of intellectual apprehension and formulation. Ideal beauty exists in hope; it is the truth of things hoped for. Moreover, this God-accordant truth and beauty are aspects of goodness, which may consistently be regarded as the creation's energy of correspondence with the power and will of God which make for life. And when in the crea- tion this goodness making for life, making towards the accomplishment of the plan of God, is the free will of an intelligent creature, then will answers will, and love meets love. Thus qualities of creature and creator meet, become united, "in each other," to use a Fourth Gospel expression.
Clearly, this human goodness, which is love of God, is based on thought of God, is based on faith.' Christ's first demand on his disciples was that they should believe him. But his word was the word of God, the expression of the Father's will ; it was knowledge of God imparted to man,
' As to faith, see ante, p. 246.
isC-a^v.'
304
ANCIENT IDEALS.
a knowledge of God's beneficence and love. To under- stand and believe Christ was to love him, and God in and through him ; was to have such knowledge of the infinite and creative love that the believer could not but render love in return: "We love him because he first loved us." Really to know God is to love and obey. And when the disciple knows and loves the Father, and obeys his will, he conforms to that will and command which is eternal life. He is within the power and truth and promise of the eternal life-giving, life-sustaining will of God. Hence knowledge of God gives eternal life, and is eternal life to man.
These thoughts are not unthinkable. The connection between mind and body, which seems to make a person- ality out of a living in the flesh, this is the mystery, and not that spirit may still be itself when freed from what cannot be conceived as one with it. God is spirit, and divine creation can be thought of only as an act of will. We are the product of his thought. The spiritual person- ality of man, man's true personality, may be conceived as absolute growth through the ceaseless, immanent crea- tiveness of God. As it is the nature of matter, or material force, that it should remain constant in quantity, so may it be the nature of spirit — i. c, of spiritual personalities, for only as personality is spirit conceivable — that it should increase. Mechanically, nothing can be added to a thing, and not taken from something else ; and material force imparted means so far exhaustion in the source. It is observably otherwise with mind and spirit. You impart knowledge to me. My mind, my self, has increased; yours has not diminished, probably it has also gained, through exercise, through the giving of itself. Thus may be conceived spiritual growth through knowledge or truth imparted from another, yet with nothing taken from the giver. And God may be conceived as absolute infinite spirit, ever giving and creating spirit in men without him- self diminishing.
P^i'
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.
305
Conversely, no system of ethics but assumes that the lives of men may be affected, injured or perfected, in spiritual modes, even such as are set forth in John's Gos- pel. By gain in knowledge and belief in good, does not a man's character develop ? Does not the spirit's strength and life increase by sorrow endured, temptation resisted, labor undergone ? What is such progress but the life which, as Christ teaches, comes to man and is in man through love and faith and knowing God ?
And again, the life eternal, taught by Christ, corre- sponds to the highest imaginings of man which, to be sure, he cannot combine into a consistent whole. It cor- responds with his thoughts of the possibility of existence, with his supreme conceptions of love's communion, un- hindered by separation in space, unimpeded b)^ condi- tions of bodily personality, as well as purified from all fleshly incitement.
"Sanctify" {dyiaffov, consecrate, render holy and
devoted) " them in the truth: Thy word is truth.'" In
these words Christ sums up the prayers he has
been uttering for the disciples.' Thy word is ^f"^ '/
* '■ -^ Them in
truth, the word which is the life of Christ and t^e Truth.
which the Father has been revealing through him, the commandment which is one with the will of God and is eternal life. Sanctify them in the truth, in thy word, that they may know thee; consecrate them, make them holy, render perfect their apprehension of thy word that they may fulfil it, realizing in themselves the perfect giving of self, which is the will of God, which is eternal life; sanctify them, keep them from evil, bring their whole lives within the moulding of thy will, that they, in giving all to thee, may bring each element of their per- sonalities into the way of life, and so develop their entire nature in thy service, doing thy will, which is self-sacri- fice unto self-attainment, a hating of life unto the keep- ing of it forever.
■ John xvii, 17. ' 16. xvii, 9-16.
►^.
^_S^
'*'^^
>^
^wj»«k^;;^
ii
304 ANCIENT IDEALS.
a knowledge of God's beneficence and love. To under- stand and believe Christ was to love him, and God in and through him ; was to have such knowledge of the infinite and creative love that the believer could not but render love in return: "We love him because he first loved us." Really to know God is to love and obey. And when the disciple knows and loves the Father, and obeys his will, he conforms to that will and command which is eternal life. He is within the power and truth and promise of the eternal life-giving, life-sustaining will of God. Hence knowledge of God gives eternal life, and is eternal life to man.
These thoughts are not unthinkable. The connection between mind and body, which seems to make a person- ality out of a living in the flesh, this is the mystery, and not that spirit may still be itself when freed from what cannot be conceived as one with it. God is spirit, and divine creation can be thought of only as an act of will. We are the product of his thought. The spiritual person- ality of man, man's true personality, may be conceived as absolute growth through the ceaseless, immanent crea- tiveness of God. As it is the nature of matter, or material force, that it should remain constant in quantity, so may it be the nature of spirit — i. c, of spiritual personalities, for only as personality is spirit conceivable — that it should increase. Mechanically, nothing can be added to a thing, and not taken from something else ; and material force imparted means so far exhaustion in the source. It is observably otherwise with mind and spirit. You impart knowledge to me. My mind, my self, has increased; yours has not diminished, probably it has also gained, through exercise, through the giving of itself. Thus may be conceived spiritual growth through knowledge or truth imparted from another, yet with nothing taken from the giver. And God may be conceived as absolute infinite spirit, ever giving and creating spirit in men without him- self diminishing.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 305
Conversely, no system of ethics but assumes that the lives of men may be affected, injured or perfected, in spiritual modes, even such as are set forth in John's Gos- pel. By gain in knowledge and belief in good, does not a man's character develop ? Does not the spirit's strength and life increase by sorrow endured, temptation resisted, labor undergone ? What is such progress but the life which, as Christ teaches, comes to man and is in man through love and faith and knowing God ?
And again, the life eternal, taught by Christ, corre- sponds to the highest imaginings of man which, to be sure, he cannot combine into a consistent whole. It cor- responds with his thoughts of the possibility of existence, with his supreme conceptions of love's communion, un- hindered by separation in space, unimpeded by condi- tions of bodily personality, as well as purified from all fleshly incitement.
"Sanctify" {ocyiaGov, consecrate, render holy and
devoted) " them in the truth: Thy word is truth."' In
these words Christ sums up the prayers he has
been uttering for the disciples." Thy word is -r-t"^ ^^ ° . ^ ■' Them in
truth, the word which is the life of Christ and t^e Truth, which the Father has been revealing through him, the commandment which is one with the will of God and is eternal life. Sanctify them in the truth, in thy word, that they may know thee ; consecrate them, make them holy, render perfect their apprehension of thy word that they may fulfil it, realizing in themselves the perfect giving of self, which is the will of God, which is eternal life ; sanctify them, keep them from evil, bring their whole lives within the moulding of thy will, that they, in giving all to thee, may bring each element of their per- sonalities into the way of life, and so develop their entire nature in thy service, doing thy will, which is self-sacri- fice unto self-attainment, a hating of life unto the keep- ing of it forever.
* John xvii, 17. ' lb. xvii, 9-16.
3o6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world," revealing unto them the mission which was thy truth, thy will, for them. " And for their sakes I sanctify myself," consecrate myself to the visible doing of thy will on earth, devoting all myself unto thy service, and giving thee my life upon the cross, thus revealing that God is sacrifice and giving; " that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth," knowing thee and thy will for them, devoting themselves to the doing of thy will, which is eternal life.
" Neither for them only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word ; that they may all be one, that there may be one fold and one *'I in Them shepherd " ; that all believers in the present or ^ M '°" ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^° come may bring their lives to uni- son in the will and way of God, which is eternal life ; within which will and life there is no severance, but communion absolute; " even as thou. Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that thou didst send me. ' ' A looked-for end, that the community of believers may include mankind.
"And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them," the glory which is the self-evincing nature of God, in the disciples manifesting itself in acts of life, acts of self-sacrifice, which is a giving and an attainment. " That they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me." The thought of bringing every act of life under the dominance of one motive, of bringing the individual's life to oneness with itself, which can be only in the will of God,' is expressed in these verses in terms of absolute life. It is so ex- pressed as to show that this bringing of a man's life to oneness with itself within the will of God is for that man the attainment of life eternal. This is attainment of the ' See ante, p. 245.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 307
fulness of all desire, the completion of every ideal, abso- lute fulfilment of self. It is the development of the whole man within the compass of that will which is all life ; the development of the whole man in the service of God, unto absolute life. There is no limitation, no con- dition, save that of continuing relationship to God. Severance has ceased ; no bound to living and commun- ing in love. In God and Christ, God and Christ in them, the disciples are perfected into one in life and love. Each life has attained the absolute and infinite.
This is progressive self-fulfilment to the utter bounds of life. It is no loss of individuality; all is gained, noth- ing is lost. There is no merger, no losing of self in God. Whatsoever ye will — your true individualities — are ful- filled unto you, are kept and perfected. In Christianity every sacrifice brings back its sheaves of blessing; in Christianity the individual, without loss of self, reaches the absolute life of God: " Father, that which thou hast given me, I will that where I am, they also may be with me ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me. For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world." " That which thou hast given me" shows the workings of the Father; it is one of the phrases which keep the disciples from thinking of the Father as apart from Christ, from thinking of the absolute mode of the Godhead as different from the energy of God. " I will " — here Christ utters his will as identical in action with the Father's " giving unto him," — " I will that they also may be with me," they, the disciples and all believers who do the will of God. There is explicit here the opposite of loss of individualities in the eternal life. " That they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." Christ's glory was the glory of the Father, — as he had said of those whom the Father had given him, " for they are thine, and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them (the disciples)."*
' John xvii, 10.
H^mtti
308
ANCIENT IDEALS.
These words express perfect sharing of life and its con- tents; yet if "mine" is " thine, " there is still a" me" and " thee " ; individuality is not lost. And so ** I in thee and thou in me," perfect communion, but the " I " and " thou " preserved. And again, " I in them, and thou in me," perfect communion extended in the disciples, but personalities retained, the " I " and " thou " and " they." " My glory which thou hast given me"; — here the thought of Christ's glory would seem to refer to mani- festations of his nature, untouched by space and time; this glory was in Christ from the Father, a self-imparting unto self-fulfilment of the Godhead's eternal love; " for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
" O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee ; and these knew that thou didst send me ; and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known ; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them." Love is the final mode of life. These — whom my Father giveth me — know that Christ came from God, and unto them Christ makes known the Father, and will never cease from making them know God, the Father that he is, the source of life, the power of love. In those who thus know God and love him with the love that knowledge of his nature brings, in those shall be the fulness of that love divine with which the Father loved the Son ; and in them shall be Christ — life absolute, and love, desire realizing itself and fulfilled unto eternal joy.
data If.- iv:
CHAPTER XXIV.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION.
INASMUCH as Christianity — the hfe and teachings of Jesus Christ — compasses the full possibility of human life, no age can show a complete application of it, or offer a final interpretation. The apostolic age was no ex- ception, though it included men to whom companionship with Jesus had been inspiration, and men on whom, in years following the crucifixion, thereThe Gospels had come large measure of his spirit. and the
As records of Christ's life and teaching, and NewTesta- as speaking from the standpoint of Jesus alive ment.
on earth, the Gospels are essentially prior to all other writings of the New Testament, From the first reunion after the crucifixion, all apostolic teaching was based on Christ, on his life and death and resurrection, on his teachings, on some apprehension of his nature, his mission, his relationship to man and God. This early apostolic teaching was not based on our present Gospels, which were not yet written, but it was based on the data which the four Gospels contain ; and knowledge of these data is presupposed by all other New Testament writings. There is no epistle which does not voice the writer's con- ception of Christ, none which may not be regarded as the writer's inference from his knowledge of Christ's life and teaching, death and resurrection — the data of the Gos- pels. Paul had not known Jesus, and in his preaching the Lord's death and resurrection chiefly held his heart and mind. But knowledge of Jesus' life appears in
3og
308 ANCIENT IDEALS.
These words express perfect sharing of life and its con- tents; yet if "mine" is " thine, " there is still a" me" and ' ' thee ' ' ; individuality is not lost. And so " I in thee and thou in me," perfect communion, but the " I " and " thou " preserved. And again, " I in them, and thou in me," perfect communion extended in the disciples, but personalities retained, the " I " and " thou " and " they." " My glory which thou hast given me"; — here the thought of Christ's glory would seem to refer to mani- festations of his nature, untouched by space and time; this glory was in Christ from the Father, a self-imparting unto self-fulfilment of the Godhead's eternal love; " for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
" O righteous Father, the world knew thee not, but I knew thee ; and these knew that thou didst send me ; and I made known unto them thy name, and will make it known ; that the love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them." Love is the final mode of life. These — whom my Father giveth me — know that Christ came from God, and unto them Christ makes known the Father, and will never cease from making them know God, the Father that he is, the source of life, the power of love. In those who thus know God and love him with the love that knowledge of his nature brings, in those shall be the fulness of that love divine with which the Father loved the Son ; and in them shall be Christ — life absolute, and love, desire realizing itself and fulfilled unto eternal joy.
CHAPTER XXIV.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION.
INASMUCH as Christianity — the hfe and teachings of Jesus Christ — compasses the full possibility of human life, no age can show a complete application of it, or offer a final interpretation. The apostolic age was no ex- ception, though it included men to whom companionship with Jesus had been inspiration, and men on whom, in years following the crucifixion, thereThe Gospels had come large measure of his spirit. and the
As records of Christ's life and teaching, and NewTesta- as speaking from the standpoint of Jesus alive ment.
on earth, the Gospels are essentially prior to all other writings of the New Testament. From the first reunion after the crucifixion, all apostolic teaching was based on Christ, on his life and death and resurrection, on his teachings, on some apprehension of his nature, his mission, his relationship to man and God. This early apostolic teaching was not based on our present Gospels, which were not yet written, but it was based on the data which the four Gospels contain ; and knowledge of these data is presupposed by all other New Testament writings. There is no epistle which does not voice the writer's con- ception of Christ, none which may not be regarded as the writer's inference from his knowledge of Christ's life and teaching, death and resurrection — the data of the Gos- pels. Paul had not known Jesus, and in his preaching the Lord's death and resurrection chiefly held his heart and mind. But knowledge of Jesus' life appears in
309
3IO ANCIENT IDEALS.
Paul's epistles; and the blind reading they would make to any one who had no Gospel knowledge of Christ is further proof that Paul had such knowledge, and assumed it in those to whom he wrote.
The Gospel and first epistle of John afford apt illustra- tion of this general principle of Gospel priority. Few question that these two writings are from the same author, though great is the controversy as to who he was. Which of the two was first written is not known ; but the Gospel is essentially prior, being the author's presenta- tion of Christ's life and teaching; while the epistle is a statement of moral and religious inferences from the data of the author's Gospel.
The New Testament writings, which are logically sub- sequent to the Gospels, are a record of the first reception of Christianity among men, and a restatement of it in terms which do not profess to be the words of Christ. Christ spoke inevitable truth. These followers of his, filled with his spirit though they were, failed sometimes in the statement of truth absolute and universal. In their writings may be found : statements of moral and religious precepts deflected from the uncompromising height and universality of truth which never fails the utterances of Christ ; statements of religious truth in modes of reason- ing no longer valid ; and general inferences drawn perhaps too close to contain the verity of Christ. On the other hand, these men unfolded Christ, setting forth much that was implicit in his life and teaching. In modes of intense appropriation of his truth, they developed conceptions of faith and love to explicit correspondence with needs of human intelligence and conditions of human life.
There was power of devotion and clearness of religious and moral insight in the men who had been companions of Jesus, or members of that circle which had experienced the power of Christ risen from the grave. Any judgment of that early age, which does not find in apostolic circles a unifying and all-mastering devotion to Christ, contra-
APOSTOLIC INTERPRE TA TlOt^. 3 1 1
venes known facts as well as a priori probabilities. Acute differences of opinion there were. Such had to arise among personalities of less or greater range of mind and feeling. But Christ had been devotion and incarnate love. His commandment to his disciples had been to love one another. And it was the spirit of love and de- votion to Christ, and to mankind for whom Christ died, that was to conquer the world. It is out of reason to suppose that these men — brothers, as they soon came to call themselves — could convince the world in the power of love divine and human, unless they had that love among themselves. James may have been narrow; Peter may have vacillated ; Paul was earnest to the verge of passion. But nothing is known of James contrary to the sainted character which he was to hold in Christian memory ; Peter was a great heart of love ; and as for Paul, he who was ready to be anathema for Israel's sake, whose were the words, " Love sufTereth long and is kind," who knew and felt that, without love, no giving up of goods, no offering of body to the fire, could profit aught, whose life was a passion of devoted love to Christ, — why, leave out love, and there were no Paul, though possibly a certain bitter, unconverted Saul.
Although New Testament writings, following the Gos- pels, express Christian principles with a depth and reach and fervor separating them from all other liter- ature, the writers sometimes speak from the Deflections
platform of their own circumstances, or fail to . *"
Universal' view a social institution in the light of its pos- j^. ^^
sibilities of good. An instance is the epistle of Christ; James, an early writing, but one as to whose James. authorship there was not complete agreement in the early church. The writer feels the unreality of all religious faith that has not in it the need to work in love's service ; his is the spirit of love manifesting itself in works : " Be ye doers of the word " ; "If any man thinketh him- self to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but
312
ANCIENT IDEALS.
deceiveth his heart, that man's religion is vain " ; " Pure religious service and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic- tion, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Then, emphasizing the value of practical religion, and the vanity of those who say they have faith ' while they live barren lives, he states the value of works in a way which nearly loses sight of the necessary efficacy of faith that is real. These passages in James do not intend to set value on works as such apart from faith ; but in laying stress on one side of the matter, they leave the other out of view. Likewise Paul seems at times to ignore works in empha- sizing faith.' In such a way as this, Christ's precepts in the Gospels are never one-sided, though they may refer to a single aspect of life.
Again, James seems to speak from the standpoint of one who sets value on poverty for its own sake, and who regards the rich almost with class animosity.' His tone is different from that of Jesus pointing out the difficulty of a rich man entering heaven. Yet these are but small and questionable points of failing in a writing which is sweetly religious and sturdily ethical. Outside of the Gospels, the universality of Christ is to be sought in the rest of the New Testament writings, as they supplement each other.
Certain of Paul's statements as to marriage offer an
illustration of a New Testament writer looking upon a
social institution from the level of his time,
Paul's ^^^ failing to see all the good which Christian-
Views of
Marriage. ^^7 ^^^^ to call forth in it. Paul knew that mar- riage might hinder entire devotion to God's service: He that is unmarried mindeth the things of the Lord; he that is married, the things of his wife.* On the other hand, perhaps he recognized that married life might
' James ii, 14.
' But that Paul's faith looks for works from believers, see Gal. vi, 7-10.
^ James v ; cf. James ii, 1-9.
* Cor. vii, 32-34.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION.
313
•-10,
make both husband and wife nobler servants of God,' and in marriage he certainly found no sin." But Paul spoke as a man who saw not beyond his time and its corrup- tions when he said, " Because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ... I say unto the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they have not continency, let them marry ; for it is better to marry than to burn." ' Christ could not have uttered such words. He recognized no makeshifts as good at all ; never looked on any matter save from the standard of the best. He would never have sanctioned marriage because it was better to marry than to burn, never would have sanctioned it at all had he not recog- nized it as absolutely holy. And yet not for all. The kingdom of heaven demands complete devotion, and there is nothing which, according to circumstances, a man or woman may not be required to sacrifice for it.*
One may doubt whether the dialectic form is favorable for the statement of religious truth. Jesus used argu- ment to show the error of opponents. To state p „ his positive truths, he uses parables and figures. Dialectic, shows truth itself applied in concrete instances of universal principles. Paul's way is hortatory and di- dactic ; he does not speak or write in parables, though using similes as illustrations. His mental sight is intense and quick; he sees a matter as it were successively, — does not see it at once in its bearings and qualifications. He sees these afterwards. He is apt to make unqualified statements, and afterwards state the qualifications. For example, he exclaims at the parties among the Corinth- ians who say, "I am of Paul, I of Apollos, and I of
' I Cor. xi, II, 12. Besides of course recognizing that a believing wife or husband might turn the other to belief. And there is the fine thought of Eph. V, 25, that husbands should love their wives even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her purification ; i. e., marriage should be mutual consecration to God.
' I Cor. vii, 25. 2 lb. vii, 2, 8, 9. * See Matt, xix, 12.
^3r^
t.
312 ANCIENT IDEALS.
deceiveth his heart, that man's religion is vain " ; " Pure religious service and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflic- tion, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Then, emphasizing the value of practical religion, and the vanity of those who say they have faith ' while they live barren lives, he states the value of works in a way which nearly loses sight of the necessary efficacy of faith that is real. These passages in James do not intend to set value on works as such apart from faith ; but in laying stress on one side of the matter, they leave the other out of view. Likewise Paul seems at times to ignore works in empha- sizing faith.' In such a way as this, Christ's precepts in the Gospels are never one-sided, though they may refer to a single aspect of life.
Again, James seems to speak from the standpoint of one who sets value on poverty for its own sake, and who regards the rich almost with class animosity.^ His tone is different from that of Jesus pointing out the difficulty of a rich man entering heaven. Yet these are but small and questionable points of failing in a writing which is sweetly religious and sturdily ethical. Outside of the Gospels, the universality of Christ is to be sought in the rest of the New Testament writings, as they supplement each other.
Certain of Paul's statements as to marriage offer an
illustration of a New Testament writer looking upon a
social institution from the level of his time,
„f" , and failing; to see all the good which Christian- views of
Marriage. ^^7 '^^^ ^° ^'^^ forth in it. Paul knew that mar- riage misfht hinder entire devotion to God's service: He that is unmarried mindeth the things of the Lord ; he that is married, the things of his wife.* On the other hand, perhaps he recognized that married life might
' James ii, 14.
^ But that Paul's faith looks for works from believers, see Gal. vi, 7-10.
* James v ; cf. James ii, 1-9.
* Cor. vii, 32-34.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRE TA TION. 3 1 3
make both husband and wife nobler servants of God/ and in marriage he certainly found no sin.' But Paul spoke as a man who saw not beyond his time and its corrup- tions when he said, " Because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ... I say unto the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they have not continency, let them marry ; for it is better to marry than to burn." ^ Christ could not have uttered such words. He recognized no makeshifts as good at all ; never looked on any matter save from the standard of the best. He would never have sanctioned marriage because it was better to marry than to burn, never would have sanctioned it at all had he not recog- nized it as absolutely holy. And yet not for all. The kingdom of heaven demands complete devotion, and there is nothing which, according to circumstances, a man or woman may not be required to sacrifice for it.*
One may doubt whether the dialectic form is favorable for the statement of religious truth. Jesus used argu- ment to show the error of opponents. To state p ., his positive truths, he uses parables and figures. Dialectic, shows truth itself applied in concrete instances of universal principles. Paul's way is hortatory and di- dactic ; he does not speak or write in parables, though using similes as illustrations. His mental sight is intense and quick; he sees a matter as it were successively, — does not see it at once in its bearings and qualifications. He sees these afterwards. He is apt to make unqualified statements, and afterwards state the qualifications. For example, he exclaims at the parties among the Corinth- ians who say, " I am of Paul, I of Apollos, and I of
' I Cor. xi, II, 12. Besides of course recognizing that a believing wife or husband might turn the other to belief. And there is the fine thought of Eph. V, 25, that husbands should love their wives even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her purification ; i. e., marriage should be mutual consecration to God.
' I Cor. vii, 25. ^ lb. vii, 2, 8, 9. * See Matt, xix, 12.
314 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Cephas, and I of Christ." He demands, Was Paul cruci- fied for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul ?* Then he fervently recalls the fact that he himself bap- tized but few; it could not be said that there had been baptism in his name. Note his way of saying this: " I thank God that I baptized none of you save Crispus and Gaius ; lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name ; and I baptized also the household of Stephanus ; besides, I know not whether I baptized any other."'
This mode of statement is a quality of Paul's dialectic, which he used because it was a necessity of his nature to state the truth of Christ in this form. Paul was a Phari- see, a Hebrew of Hebrews, the last incarnation of the Hebrew genius. Bred to knowledge of the law, its con- ceptions of righteousness, its modes of thought, were part of him. Hebrew righteousness justified the possessor before God. The law set forth the works a man should do to keep himself so justified. Love God and thy neighbor; that had been the law's supreme command; it was indeed the law's spirit. But the spirit had escaped in that process by which duty towards God and man had become a scheduled doing and avoidance. Thus the ful- filment of the law had become a doing of its works; and this was the righteousness which should justify man before God.
There is no reason to think that Saul of Tarsus had doubts as to the validity of the law and the certainty of the justification which lay in fulfilling it. Yet such a man would look through the law's details to its supreme command. And he may have felt his carnal
^ One must notice the absence of all invidious spirit here where the apostle is intensely earnest. How different if he had said, " Was Cephas crucified for you ? "
' I Cor. i, 14-16. Perhaps this peculiarity of Paul's might profitably be considered in regard to the controversy as to discrepancies between Paul's statements in Gal. i and ii, and the accounts of the same matters in the Book of Acts.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 315
inability to fulfil this command and in its spirit perform all acts required by the law. Even before the journey to Damascus he may have felt that the law of his members warred against the law of God, prevented its complete fulfilment, and kept him from a condition of sure justifi- cation.' Whether this was so before that journey, at all events the spiritual consciousness which that experience awakened made clear to him that never could he find peace of soul, justification before God, by any works of the law which he could do. But, likewise from that same time, when he saw Christ, and it pleased God " to reveal his son in me," ' Paul knew and felt with heart and mind, once and forever, that belief in Christ and faith's devotion was righteousness, justification before God. Faith justi- fied ; the works of the law no man could do. Therefore without the law, without its works as such, faith in Christ and the heart's devotion which that meant, was man's salvation.
These were Paul's certainties. To adjust them was a necessity of his strong reasoning mind. He could reason only in those modes which from his youth had made his intellectual life. Only in modes of legal dialectic could he think out his freedom from the law, and settle the relation of his faith in Christ to all his former life. And pressed along by the course of the argument which freed him from the law, he might be forced to state in like modes of argument the contents of his faith.
It is possible to distinguish Paul's deep understanding of the truth of Christ from his dialectic of the law. The Epistle to the Romans is the great example. One may not differ from its chief conclusions; to the
and yet the mode in which they are reached is Romans, no longer part of human life. " We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." ' Here, stated in Hebraic legal terms, is the conclusion of an argument by which the law is
' See Rom. vii. " Gal. i, 16. ^ Rom. vi, 23.
3l6 ANCIENT IDEALS.
reasoned away most legally. Again in the fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters there is much reasoning which we can follow only with difficulty, so very far is it all from pres- ent life. Yet the conclusion states a truth beyond whose universality life does not reach: " For the wages of sin is death ; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
For a final example, it may be said that the reasonings of the chapters following the eighth are difficult to grasp and acquiesce in. In part they are connected with some verses of the eighth chapter, which themselves make a questionable explanation of one of Paul's great utter- ances: " For we know that to them who love God all things work together for good."' There could be no more fundamental truth to any faith in God ; but how does the epistle continue ? " Even to them that are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many breth- ren ; and whom he foreordained them he also called ; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified."'' No one can reason away from God's foreknowledge ; and Paul's arguments as to " election " are hard to refute. But to-day men do not think in those categories, which no longer contain valid reconcilements of the facts of life.
These may suffice for illustrations of Paul's possible deflections from universal truth, caused by the attempt, which he could not forbear, to systematize his belief. With arguments he strove to justify what he knew with the faith that was his life, " that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ^
' Rom. viii, 28. Or another reading, "God workethall things with them for good."
2 lb. viii, 28-30. ^ lb. viii, 38, 3g.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 317
An example of an inference which may perhaps be
regarded as drawn too close to include the verity of
Christ, or as reached in a mode of reasoning
taken from the Jewish ritual, is the statement ^^^} ^*' •' . tion."
of Paul and John that Christ is a propitiation '
for the sins of men. This conception is insufificient, if in- tended to include the whole function of the incarnation;' and moreover it is a conception difificult to think except along lines of Hebrew thought.
Christ's Gospel was an announcement of life eternal. Just as the kingdom of heaven was a condition to come, but also a present reality if men would accept it, so likewise Christ stated this eternal life in ^. " terms takmg account of that apparent change Eternal called death — that is, stated it as resurrection Life; Two from the dead ; but he also set it forth as life Aspects of
absolute now and forever, conditioned only on ^ "^ ^
Teaching, relationship to God. New Testament writers
took these two aspects of Christ's teaching of eternal life with real and intense appropriation. Plainly they declare the doctrine of the resurrection. But, on the other hand, much in Paul's and John's epistles can be understood only through an understanding of the conception of life eternal contained in the Gospel of John. Frequently both aspects of the teaching are combined.
Paul's speech to the Athenians as recorded in the sev- enteenth chapter of the Acts affords an apposite illustra- tion.' It is broad and philosophical, and just
such an elementary statement of fundamentals ^f^ ^°
Aspects of the Christian faith as might be addressed to -^^ Y's.xA.
an audience neither sympathetic nor hostile,
but inquiring and intelligent. Paul boldly makes the
assumption — justifiable for the purposes of his address,
' I John ii, 2, iXa6/uui ; Rom. iii, 25, tXa6rf//3iov.
■ Cf. Jno. iii, 16 ; xviii, 37.
' Even though this speech, in accordance with certain critical views of the Acts generally, be not considered Paul's, it still serves as illustration. The present writer, however, believes it to be what it purports to be, a
3l8 ANCIENT IDEALS.
but contrary to fact — that the Athenian worship of local but unknown deities might be regarded as addressed to the true God, whom Paul would now declare to them, the Creator of all things, who dwells not in temples, nor can be served by men's hands, himself being the giver of life and all things. He made of one all nations of men, and appointed their bounds and seasons, " that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from each one of us ; for in him we live and move and have our being." Here, in setting forth God's purpose in creating men — "that they should seek God," the apostle is in correspondence with the thought of John's Gospel, "And this is life eternal that they should know thee, the only true God." And his next words express God's immanence in terms of that life which Christ sets forth as absolute and unconditioned.'
The speaker then continues: Since, as your own poet says, we are God's offspring, we cannot think him like anything carved by man's hand. God overlooked times of ignorance, but now commands men to repent, for he will judge the world by the man he has ordained ; where- of he has given visible assurance in raising him from the dead." Thus the apostle suggests eternal life in terms of resurrection from the dead ; at which his audience mocks, for Greek thoughts of immortality ran in other grooves.
Elsewhere in the Acts Paul states the resurrection in a
substantially correct account of Paul's speech, for the following reasons : I. The writer believes the Acts to be in general a faithful record in matters pertaining to Paul. 2. This speech is a very great speech and marvellously adapted to the audience, showing that knowledge of the Greek character which Paul evinces, e. g., in i Cor. i, 22. 3. The structure of the speech corresponds to Paul's way of stating things. One could not, for instance, break it up into short successive statements, each complete in itself, yet de- veloping the preceding thought, as is possible to do with John xv. 4. There is no valid reason to think Paul did not make it.
' Cf. Jno. xvii, 21, 23, and ante, chap, xxiii.
^ Cf. I Peter i, 3 : " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 319
way comprehensible to Jewish thought, and speaks of it as constituting Israel's national hope.' In his own epis- tles, however, wherever Paul states the eternal life of man in terms of resurrection from the dead, he not only- removes the element of flesh and spiritualizes the risen life, but unites the resurrection conception to the more absolute conception of life enunciated by Jesus in the Gospel of John.^
With Paul the supreme fact, the type as well as proof of the believer's life after death, was the manifestation of the living Christ after he had been raised from the dead. He was the " first fruits " ianapxv') ^ ^°""^^'"
1 , 1 - 1 . ■ ^"S, XV.
of them who slept, a word, m this connection, meaning that believers also shall rise to a life like his, and implying the workings of God, that husbandman of whose vine those who live and die in Christ are branches. Paul expounds this in the fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians. He opens with a succinct statement of the appearances of the risen Christ ; and then shows that as surely as Christ was raised we shall rise. Then he proceeds to set forth the nature of resurrection. " For since by man came death, by man came also resurrection of the dead ; for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." These antitheses were shaped by Paul's Jewish reasoning; but the clause " in Christ shall all be made alive " is in full correspondence with Christ's teach- ings in John's Gospel, and implies the spiritual nature of that life and its imparting. Paul then outlines the increase
' Acts xxvi, 6-8 ; xxiv, 15.
"^ It is only by a supreme effort of the metaphysical imagination that we can conceive existence except in time, i. e., in modes of temporal continu- ance which is succession. Though believing that we have even now eternal life, we must think it as continuing after the change called death. More- over, death is palpably an ending of the individual's life under conditions of the flesh. This palpable ending of mortal existence calls for a " resur- rection " which human thought must regard as the beginning in time of the existence which is freed from conditions of the flesh. It is also natural to think it as resurrection " from the grave," for we must think it the begin- ning of a life freed from conditions of place.
320 ANCIENT IDEALS.
and progress of this spiritual life, the passing away of all power save Christ's, the destruction of death, the uni- versal realization of the Father's will which is the final consummation, that God may be all in all ; ' that is to say, opposition, sin, and death ceasing, the will, the power, the life of God and from God, constitute all ele- ments of every being ; all are filled with life absolute and eternal which is God's; — "perfected into one," says Jesus.*
The apostle now considers objections to the conception of a resurrection. In his analogy of the seed which is not quickened into an enlarged life except it die, there is no apparent fallacy, if the seed be regarded, as the apostle was thinking of it, by itself, apart from its parent plant. ^
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dis- honor, it is raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power ; it is sown a natural body {Gw^xa ^lwxif<-ov), it is raised a spiritual body {<5(5)}xa nvavjxaxinov).'' "
The apostle could hardly have used fitter language to suggest this spiritual life, which cannot be expressed in figures drawn from earthly experience. His words lead up to the statement that as there is a natural or physical body, whose sustenance and individuality are subject to conditions of the flesh, so there is a spiritual body, or individual existence, which is freed from those con- ditions.
He now restates his thought in negative form : " Flesh
' I Cor. XV, 23 ; 'iva y b 6i£d5 ncivza kv 7ta6iv. This expression is not meant pantheistically. That is plain from Paul's doctrines in general, and also from the fact of his using a like phrase with no pantheistic meaning : "And there are diversities of working, but the same God, — 6 kvepywv TO. Ttdvva: hv it6c.6iv (r Cor. xii, 6).
* John xvii, 23 ; see ante, p. 306.
^ Cf. John xii, 24. The analogy here is not to be pressed beyond its in- tent, any more than one of Jesus' parables should be pressed beyond its application.
•* I Cor. XV, 42-44.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 32 1
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." The thought is twofold. First the simple thought, our earthly bodies are not for life eternal ; then the ethical consideration implied in the term "inherit" and the word "flesh" {aap^) which connotes all the sinful proclivities of earthly- life/ and is the term Paul uses to express thoughts which in John's Gospel and John's epistle appear under terms of the opposition between Christ and the world. The " flesh " is no heir to the promise which is in Christ, As the apostle says in the epistle to the Romans: " For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For the mind of the flesh {cpporrjixa riis Gapno^ — that which the flesh considers, takes thought of) is death ; but the mind of the spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God. . . . But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall endue with life your mortal natures ^ through his spirit that dwelleth in you. . . . For as many as are led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are
' Cf. Gal. V, 19, etc.
' Here the Greek is Z,<JdOTtou)6Ei rd OvTfrd dd/uara vncSv, shall quicken or make alive your mortal bodies. Well known are the difficulties of getting clear thought of what Paul means by 6dp^, a term which he does not always use with the same .shade of meaning. So in translating as above I have endeavored to suggest the apostle's thought and avoid a possible con- tradiction which he did not intend. Body, 6wi.ia, is with Paul here an organism and a substratum to personality, a something necessary to individ- uality. There may be flesh and blood in the 6(2na, but that is not the chief part of the conception in the apostle's mind.
VOL. II — 21
hi^^fri
322
ANCIENT IDEALS.
the children of God ; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified with him." '
Thus Paul's conception of the resurrection joins with the thought of life absolute, eternal. The union of con- ceptions is made in such way as to relate eternal life to righteous and believing acceptance of the spirit of God in Christ.'' When Paul says, " if any man hath not the spirit of Christ," he is not speaking figuratively, but means real possession of the divine spirit of Christ ; he speaks in terms of spiritual life. " Ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear," ' but ye received the spirit of adoption, the spirit of sonship, the spirit of love meeting love. Says John in his epistle, " Perfect love casteth out fear." So are ye children of God and joint heirs with Christ, participants in the eternal life which is in Christ, if so be that ye suffer with him in order that, as all suffer- ing in Christ brings its eternal blessing, ye may be also g-lorified with him."
o
Paul had a strong conception of this absolute and eter- nal divine life which was from God in Christ, and through Christ in believers. Its imparting was condi- tioned on faith, that initiative strong apprecia- tion of God and man's relationship to him through Christ, by which the grace of God opens to man the fellowship of love. The Gospel preached by Paul was Christ's Gospel, Christ's message of salvation, to be appropriated through believing acceptance working itself out in love. This Gospel was an expression of God's will, his commandment, which we know to be eter-
' Rom. viii, 5-17.
"^ Cf. Rom. vi, 12-23 ; Gal. v, 16-24 ; vi, 7-10.
^ The reference here is to the " law."
■• Cf. Rom. vi, 4-1 1, 23 ; 2 Cor. iv, 10, 11. It is clear that Paul's con- ception of life eternal, like Christ's in John's Gospel, was not negative, nor reached by a process of removal of positive qualities. He regards it as a new life added, nothing real taken away ; we shall not be " unclothed" but " clothed upon." See 2 Cor. v, 2-4.
The Func tion of Faith.
by;
in!
etc:- in
ir.,:
ther-i
* « €c'«5*^^2!*w
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION,
nal life, as Jesus says in John. With Paul the Gospel " is the power of God {dvvcc}.a^ Q^ov) unto salvation to every one that believeth." ' " For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness ; but unto us who are being saved, it is the power of God."" We preach Christ crucified, " the power of God and the wis- dom of God."^ Those who have accepted the Gospel, in whom therefore is the power and the wisdom of God, that is to say, those in whom is Christ, they have re- ceived this absolute spiritual life ; Christ dwells in them * and they in him, and " if any one is in Christ, [he is] a new creation ; the old things are passed away, behold, they are become new. ' ' ^
As in the Gospels, so in Paul's epistles, this life eternal can come only to those who believingly accept it, there- by through Christ placing themselves within the will of God ; it comes through faith. But as in the Gospels, so in Paul, it is always clear that this is no matter of incon- sequent magic, no imparting of life eternal to those who merely fulfil a mental condition while indifferent to all it means. " Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for what a man sows that shall he reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the spirit, shall of the spirit reap eternal life. And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."^ In the matter of faith as well as in the matter of works, Chris- tians shall be ministers of the spirit, not of the letter of the new covenant ; " for the letter killeth, but the spirit maketh to live." '
The conception of faith in the eleventh chapter of He- brews looks directly to the deeds of the Old Testament and to that strength of belief in Jehovah's power of righteousness which was the power of action in ancient
' Rom. i, i6. * I Cor. i, i8 ; Cf. i Cor. iv, 20. " lb., i, 24.
* See Gal. ii, 20; Col. iii, 4. ^ 2 Cor. v, 17 ; cf. Gal. vi, 15.
^ Gal. vi, 7-9. '' 2 Cor. iii, 6 ; cf. John vi, 63.
■?•;*
♦ :^
322 ANCIENT IDEALS.
the children of God ; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified with him." '
Thus Paul's conception of the resurrection joins with the thought of life absolute, eternal. The union of con- ceptions is made in such way as to relate eternal life to righteous and believing acceptance of the spirit of God in Christ.'' When Paul says, " if any man hath not the spirit of Christ," he is not speaking figuratively, but means real possession of the divine spirit of Christ ; he speaks in terms of spiritual life. " Ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear," ' but ye received the spirit of adoption, the spirit of sonship, the spirit of love meeting love. Says John in his epistle, " Perfect love casteth out fear." So are ye children of God and joint heirs with Christ, participants in the eternal life which is in Christ, if so be that ye suffer with him in order that, as all suffer- ing in Christ brings its eternal blessing, ye may be also glorified with him."
Paul had a strong conception of this absolute and eter- nal divine life which was from God in Christ, and through Christ in believers. Its imparting was condi-
e unc- |.jQj-^g^ Qj-^ faith, that initiative strong apprecia- Faith. ^'^'^ ^^ God and man's relationship to him
through Christ, by which the grace of God opens to man the fellowship of love. The Gospel preached by Paul was Christ's Gospel, Christ's message of salvation, to be appropriated through believing acceptance working itself out in love. This Gospel was an expression of God's will, his commandment, which we know to be eter-
' Rom. viii, 5-17.
^ Cf. Rom. vi, 12-23 ; Gal. v, 16-24 ; vi, 7-10.
"* The reference here is to the " law."
■* Cf. Rom. vi, 4-1 1, 23 ; 2 Cor. iv, 10, 11. It is clear that Paul's con- ception of life eternal, like Christ's in John's Gospel, was not negative, nor reached by a process of removal of positive qualities. He regards it as a new life added, nothing real taken away ; we shall not be " unclothed" but " clothed upon." See 2 Cor. v, 2-4.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 323
nal life, as Jesus says in John. With Paul the Gospel " is the power of God {pVYaj-ws Seov) unto salvation to every one that believeth." ' " For the word of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness ; but unto us who are being saved, it is the power of God."" We preach Christ crucified, " the power of God and the wis- dom of God."' Those who have accepted the Gospel, in whom therefore is the power and the wisdom of God, that is to say, those in whom is Christ, they have re- ceived this absolute spiritual life ; Christ dwells in them * and they in him, and " if any one is in Christ, [he is] a new creation ; the old things are passed away, behold, they are become new. ' ' '
As in the Gospels, so in Paul's epistles, this life eternal can come only to those who believingly accept it, there- by through Christ placing themselves within the will of God ; it comes through faith. But as in the Gospels, so in Paul, it is always clear that this is no matter of incon- sequent magic, no imparting of life eternal to those who merely fulfil a mental condition while indifferent to all it means. " Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for what a man sows that shall he reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth unto the spirit, shall of the spirit reap eternal hfe. And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."^ In the matter of faith as well as in the matter of works. Chris- tians shall be ministers of the spirit, not of the letter of the new covenant ; " for the letter killeth, but the spirit maketh to live." '
The conception of faith in the eleventh chapter of He- brews looks directly to the deeds of the Old Testament and to that strength of belief in Jehovah's power of righteousness which was the power of action in ancient
' Rom. i, 16. * I Cor. i, 18 ; C/. i Cor. iv, 20. " lb., i, 24.
*■ See Gal. ii, 20; Col. iii, 4. ^ 2 Cor. v, 17 ; cf. Gal. vi, 15.
' Gal. vi, 7-9. ' 2 Cor. iii, 6 ; cf. John vi, 63.
324 ANCIENT IDEALS.
heroes of the faith. The chapter is a triumphant setting forth of the might that hes in faith in God. With Paul, however, the Old Testament sense of sin and man's utter vileness before God,' becomes the conviction that no man can be righteous — be justified — by his works of the law; while Old Testament trust in God with Paul is deepened and spiritualized into his life's conviction that faith in Christ, and in God's power of love which was in him, is access to the relationship of love reciprocal between God and man which is salvation unto eternal life.^ " For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth. . . .^ If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." *
Faith is the access ; it pertains to life in the flesh, wherein men may not walk by sight,' but by faith, which is the realization of things unseen.* Yet even here on earth faith that is really faith in Christ, who is God's love made manifest, must itself pass into love. This is out- lined in a passage which, if it be not Paul's, is Paul : " For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his spirit in the inward man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith ; to the end that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be strong to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled unto all the fulness of God.'"
' As e. g., in Psalms or Job. * See Rom. v, 11 ; Rom. iii, 25, 28.
3 lb. X, 4.
* Jb. X, g, ID ; cf. Gal. iii, 26 ; 2 Tim. ii, 12. A man's faith in Christ measures his righteousness, Rom. xii, 3.
^2 Cor. V, 7. Faith pertains to life after death as well, if that be progres- sive knowledge of God. * See Heb. xi, i. ' Eph. iii, 14-19.
APOSTOLIC interpretation: 325
The first epistle of John is written to beHevers ; it as- sumes faith in Christ, and urges love, to which faith must transform the believers' lives. Throughout it
speaks in terms of the absolute life eternal of ,- -^^P^
Epistle;
the Fourth Gospel, and its message is saving the Uncon- faith in Christ, showing itself in the obedience ditioned of love which is living apprehension of God's Spiritual truth and participation in eternal life. * ^'
The epistle opens, as does the Gospel, with verses of general summary :
The life eternal which was with the Father, which was from the beginning, as revealed to us in Jesus Christ, we declare unto you that you may partake of our fellowship, which is fellowship with God the Father and his Son.
God is light ; if we walk in darkness, saying that we have no sin, we do not the truth, the truth is not in us. But if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from sin. Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoso keepeth his word, in him hath the love of God been perfected. Here- by we know that we are in him ; he that saith he abideth in him ought to walk even as he walked.' Those who walk in the light of God have that faith and love of Christ which cleanse from sin. Who does Christ's com- mands has in him the love of God ; and abides in Christ.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light ; he that hateth his brother, is in the darkness.^
" Whosoever denieth the Son hath not the Father; he that confesseth the Son JiatJi the Father also.'" Not to believe in the manifestation of God on earth debars from life which is of God ; he who shows forth his belief in the Son possesses life which is of the Father through the Son in the believer. The writer speaks in terms of absolute
' The structure of the epistle, especially of this first part, is very compli- cated, and filled with manifold meaning, much more than is meant to be suggested in the above condensed paraphrase. See Westcott's edition.
* I John ii, 10, II. ^ lb. 23.
326 ANCIENT IDEALS.
spiritual life, in terms of which he is also speaking when he says : " if ye know that he is righteous, know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him."' He that doeth righteousness becomes thereby God's son, and a recipient of life eternal/ And the apostle shows how faith in Christ, righteousness, and love of God and man, and knowledge of God who is true, are modes of life eternal as well as means by which it is im- parted. " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God, and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. Hereby we know that we love the children of God when we love God and do his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his com- mandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is begot- ten of God overcometh the world ; and this is the victory that hath overcome the world — our faith. And v/ho is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. . . . And it is the spirit that beareth witness, because the spirit is the truth, . . . He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him. . . . And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath the life ; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. . . . And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true (aXr^Qivov')-^ and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children guard yourselves from idols." °
Thus these modes of attaining life pass into each other and are perfected in the truth of God. The epistle closes with a comprehensive warning against all the oppo- sites of these, against all elements of untruth, the idols which are false vanities of the world of sin, and transient unto death.
' I John ii, 29. 2 Cf. iii, 7-10. ^ I John v.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 327
Love is a perfect mode of life eternal ; lov^e was a final comprehensive aspect of Christ's Gospel; for it was the truth of God's relationship to man; the ideal -pjjg -j-g^^.j^. truth of man's relationship to God; and this ing of Love relationship of man to God was to include, and in Paul would mould unto itself, all the relations of ^"d John, man to man — all acts of daily life. Hence love was the final principle, as well as the content, of Christ's teach- ings; it was the vital principle of the Christian religion, and the means whereby that religion was to keep itself living and real, and inclusive of the whole content of human lives. The conception of love is unfolded in the epistles of John and Paul, and it was love itself that enlarged and unified their lives.
Freely — as a gift — ye have received, freely give." Paul never heard Jesus utter these words, but it was thus he had received the Gospel, freely, undeservedly, himself a persecutor ; and therefore freely, with the full devotion of life, to be given to all. Not only to Jews, but to Greeks and barbarians he owed the Gospel gift,' a debt of love,
Paul often regarded the character and outcome of his life as proof of his apostolic authority. He has occasion more than once thus to outline it: " Are they ministers of Christ, I more, in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in strifes above measure, in deaths oft," and he tells of his shipwrecks, his perils, his fast- ings, and nakedness, and thereto his anxiousness for all the churches, the anxiousness of love which cannot but suffer when others suffer, " Who is weak and I am not weak ? Who is made to stumble, and I burn not ? " '' And at the end he sums up his life to Timothy: " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness." ' Thus strove Paul to discharge
' Rom. i, 14. ' 2 Cor. xi, 23-29 ; cf. 2 Cor. vi, i-io ; i Cor. ix.
' 2 Tim. iv, 6-8. Notwithstanding the many things which may be urged against Paul's authorship of the Pastoral Epistles, 2 Timothy can have been written by no one else.
328 ANCIENT IDEALS.
his debt of love with his life and death ; the necessity was laid on him in Christ: " Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel," '
His admonishments to others reflect the inspiration of his life. " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, — your reasonable service.* Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another, in honor preferring one another, in diligence not slothful, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribula- tion, continuing steadfast in prayer, communicating to the necessities of the saints, pursuing hospitality. Bless them that persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that rejoice, weep with them that weep." ' The last words speak love's very spirit, a new spirit in the world, the spirit of Christ. " Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." " And it is in the spirit of Christ's charity that he admonishes the brethren as to observances: Why shouldst thou judge ? We shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; but judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself save to him that accounteth it unclean. If because of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. De- stroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died."
Paul had learned of Christ's spirit that the whole law is fulfilled in the command, " Thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself."^ Through Christ also had he learned who was his neighbor — all mankind. Paul had been Christ's enemy; but Christ called him in love, and if Paul walked in love, as Christ walked, and lived in Christ, how could he fail to recognize every human being as within
' I Cor. ix, i6. - Rom. xii, i. ' lb. xii, 9-15.
* Gal. vi, 2. ' Rom. xiv, 10, etc. "^ Gal. v, 14 ; Rom. xiii, 8-10.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 329
the compass of his debt of love ? It was the appropria- tion of Christ's spirit of universal love that universalized all Paul's conceptions. It freed his mind from prejudices of Jew and Gentile, bond and free. Christ died for all, all should be in Christ made one. " For ye are all sons of God through faith, in Christ Jesus. . . . There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." ' Hence also Paul saw that in any calling a man or woman could fulfil the spirit of love ; so let each in his own calling therein abide with God."
With Paul love is a giving and a doing, consecration of self for others, but nevertheless — and herein is the com- pletion of the thought — unto the increasing of self in love.' " Look not each of you unto his own things, but also unto the things of others, and have in you the mind of Christ who humbled himself unto the death of the cross; wherefore hath God exalted him." * Likewise, for himself and all others who follow Christ in love, Paul looks forward to attainment therein, to the fulfilment and perfecting of self in service of Christ. " And I do all things for the Gospel's sake, that I may be a joint par- taker thereof." ^ Well knows Paul the spirit of the great antithesis — " he who loseth his life shall save it"; so, in behalf of ministers of Christ he speaks, " as dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, yet pos- sessing all things." *
Likewise, in the light of this antithesis, the spirit of love's self-sacrifice unto the attainment of eternal life, Paul sees the contrast between the Gospel of Christ and the wisdom of man, between the knowledge of God's truth and that self-seeking wisdom of the world which is foolishness with God.' Those have the truth of God,
' Gal. iii, 26-28. ' r Cor. vii, 17-24. ^ See Eph. iv, 16.
■• Phil, ii, r-ii. *" i Cor. ix, 23 ; cf. i Cor. iii, 8. * 2 Cor. vi, 9, 10.
' Cf. I Cor. i, 18 ; ii, 16 ; iii, 18-23.
330 ANCIENT IDEALS.
true faith, true hope, true love, who have the mind of Christ. And we know that to them that love God — those in whom there is a love, into communion with which God's love may come — God worketh all things together for good, because nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now may be seen how fitly Paul puts together his thought of love in his lyric chapter: " If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am be- come sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy and all knowledge, and faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am 7wthing'' — husk, without life, for love is life's being. " And if I bestow all my goods and give my body to be burned, but have not love, I am profited nothing." No farthest deed of palpable sacrifice is of import ; the spirit giveth life, the spirit of love ; only that can attach itself to the great self-sacrificing love wherein God fulfils himself in his creatures.
Then the apostle tells those qualities of love through which the passion of his life had poured. It is long- suffering and kind, and envies not. How can it, when it wishes all men well ? It seeketh not its own ; love is not provoked, — turns not to hate, — imputeth no evil ; it rejoiceth not in unrighteousness — one of its opposites — but rejoiceth with the truth ; — truth is of love's own nature. " Love beareth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." Love cannot attach itself to that as to which it hopes no good ; nor without hope can love exist, for love is also hope of self-fulfilment.
Love never faileth, — it is absolute, cannot be done away, cannot be made vain, cannot be superseded by a better; prophecies fail to guide with change of circum- stances, or with fulfilment pass away; tongues cease; knowledge is superseded by fuller knowledge ; the perfect does away what is in part ; childhood and its thoughts give way to the full-grown man.' And now we see but
' Cf. Eph. iv, 13.
APOSTOLIC I.VTERPRETATION. 33 1
darkly ; then face to face ; then shall we know even as we are known, — fully. " These three abide, faith, hope, love " : faith which as knowledge grows, itself expands in scope ; and hope which heightens as the feet ascend ; and love, that is the greatest, for with absolute attainment there may be no need of hope ; with perfect knowledge there may be no need of faith; but love can only grow.'
While Paul knows well that love is from God, he usu- ally regards it from the side of its ef^ciency in the actions of men. In the fourth chapter of John's epistle, love is viewed as God's nature and the very essence of his rela- tionship to men ; and the chapter speaks in terms of the absolute life which is conditioned only on relationship to God, and therefore which is love. John draws one infer- ence, to substantiate which appears to be his purpose at the opening : men should love each other.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and know- eth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." The faith which is the opening of the heart to love is here assumed. God, very life and source of life, is love. In men love brings and is this life which is of God. He that loveth is born again — of God. He that loveth not cannot know God. Only like knows like. Herein was manifested the love of God in us, that God sent the Son, his only begotten, into the world that we might live through him."' God sent the Son into the world to show the divine love, and that in love men might turn to the revelation of love in Christ, and so have life.
" Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins." The divine love is absolute initiative; not evoked by any love of man ; it is a gift ; it is also creative of love in men, and love is life.
' Cf. Augustine, De Doctrina Christi, i, 42 ; Gregory of Nyssa, The Soul and the Resurrection. ' Compare Rom. v, 8.
332 ANCIENT IDEALS.
" Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath beheld God at any time ; if we love one another, God abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us." '
Then the apostle sums all up : " God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him." No statement could be clearer, if understood as John meant it, speaking in terms of that absolute life which is not limited in its imparting or its being by any diversity of personality. Such life is completed exist- ence, communion absolute, an abiding in God, a having God forever in us.*
In Paul's epistles, love was set forth as the essential of practical Christian life ; it is a doing for others, a giving of one's self in sympathy, a sharing of their joys, a light- ening of their griefs, an enduring and a hoping all things ; and to the individual man who thus lives out the love of Christ in him, the fruit thereof which he shall reap is life eternal. In John's epistle, love is set forth more directly as of God. God is love ; and love is God's relationship to men. If his love is fulfilled in them, they love each other, and God abides in them. It is love that from the side of God completes the human creature, enables him to perfect his life in taking to himself the love of God and loving all mankind. Paul, as well as John, knows that the love of God in man is life eternal. Christ's discourse in the Fourth Gospel contains the synthesis of both apos- tles'thoughts.' Love is completed existence. In it exist- ence necessarily expands to include the life of at least one other. Greater love expands to include the life of
^ Cf. I John iii, 14.
- With men love is not initiative, but the reflex of God. " We love, be- cause he first loved us." Our love must correspond to God's, hence must include all beings who are within the range of our activity, as God's love includes all beings whatsoever. Hence, " if a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. . . . And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also." (i John iv, 19-21).
^ See ante, p. 2gi, et seq.
APOSTOLIC INTERPRETATION. 333
mankind, and — so far as the creature may know him — to include the Hfe of God. Thus love brings all — the infinite — to realization in the individual; yet the very concep- tion of love necessarily preserves the individual's unmerged personality. Finitely speaking, God's love also may be regarded as the completion of his being, the unfolding of himself; his being includes the eventual consummation of all that he creates; and God fulfils himself in every holy man.
The New Era.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY,
BEFORE the battle of Actium the Mediterranean lands of Europe, Asia, and Africa were ill-fitted for the reception and transmission of a universal religion. Rome, absorbed in civil war and agitation, had done little to transform heterogeneous though submis- sive countries into provinces of an Empire. Till that was effected, general intercourse was likely to remain limited, and modes of life and thought distinctly racial. But with the peaceful union of the Graeco-Roman world under Augustus, a new im- perial era was entered on. Thenceforth cessation of hostility between land and land, peaceful roads, and sea voyages safe from pirates facilitated commerce, inter- change of thought, and tolerant recognition of diverse ways of living, towards which the subtle influence of cos- mopolitan Hellenism had been disposing men from the time of Alexander. There could be no further centraliz- ing of political power already held in the hand of one man at Rome ; but there was still scope for more complete Hellenizing of the East, more complete Latinizing of the West, and for making the denizens of all lands of the Em- pire more like-minded subjects of one emperor. These processes continued during the first two or three imperial centuries.
If the Mediterranean countries till Augustus' time were ill-adapted for the reception of any universal religion, it seems also clear that before the centuries when Christian-
334
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY.
335
ity was offered to the world, there did not exist among men capacity and disposition to accept it. Under the Empire, Christianity encountered all manner of opposi- tion ; it did not encounter the utter failure to apprehend and desire it, on which it would have fallen in the Athens of Pericles or the Rome of the Punic wars. Not alto- gether was it an ascent from the Greece of Pericles and Sophocles, of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, to the Hel- lendom of Plutarch and Epictetus and Plotinus. But the latter are representative of the times when Christianity was accepted by many men. Plutarch may never have heard of Christ; Epictetus and Plotinus did not accept him. But the ethics of all three were nearer Christ's spirit than the ethics of Aristotle, and they all felt a need, unfelt by their greater predecessors, of what Christianity supplied. Again, great was the change in Roman dispo- sitions from Ennius and Cato Major to Horace, Juvenal, and Marcus Aurelius. Compared with Cato's unfeeling and unconscious strength, the emperor was weary self- resolve. But Marcus had need of Christ, though he received him not. Bitter Juvenal knew the heart's sym- pathy of tears ; ' and perhaps some of Christ's sayings would not have been incomprehensible to the man who wrote :
#
Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit, Ab dis plura feret.'
But it was the spacious soul-scope of Virgil that, as rep- resentative of the fuller comprehension of life through feeling, was most largely representative of the spiritual growth which was preparing the pagan world to under- stand Christ.
Simply living in an Empire, where millions of people of diverse race were more nearly equal before the law than such multitudes had ever been, might foster the thought
' See ante, chap, xv, p. 51.
^ Horace, Cartn., iii, xvi, 21.
*m«i^
The New Era.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY.
BEFORE the battle of Actium the Mediterranean lands of Europe, Asia, and Africa were ill-fitted for the reception and transmission of a universal religion. Rome, absorbed in civil war and agitation, had done little to transform heterogeneous though submis- sive countries into provinces of an Empire. Till that was effected, general intercourse was likely to remain limited, and modes of life and thought distinctly racial. But with the peaceful union of the Grseco-Roman world under Augustus, a new im- perial era was entered on. Thenceforth cessation of hostility between land and land, peaceful roads, and sea voyages safe from pirates facilitated commerce, inter- change of thought, and tolerant recognition of diverse ways of living, towards which the subtle influence of cos- mopolitan Hellenism had been disposing men from the time of Alexander. There could be no further centraliz- ing of political poAver already held in the hand of one man at Rome ; but there was still scope for more complete Hellenizing of the East, more complete Latinizing of the West, and for making the denizens of all lands of the Em- pire more like-minded subjects of one emperor. These processes continued during the first two or three imperial centuries.
If the Mediterranean countries till Augustus' time were ill-adapted for the reception of any universal religion, it seems also clear that before the centuries when Christian-
334
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 335
ity was offered to the world, there did not exist among men capacity and disposition to accept it. Under the Empire, Christianity encountered all manner of opposi- tion ; it did not encounter the utter failure to apprehend and desire it, on which it would have fallen in the Athens of Pericles or the Rome of the Punic wars. Not alto- gether was it an ascent from the Greece of Pericles and Sophocles, of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, to the Hel- lendom of Plutarch and Epictetus and Plotinus. But the latter are representative of the times when Christianity was accepted by many men. Plutarch may never have heard of Christ ; Epictetus and Plotinus did not accept him. But the ethics of all three were nearer Christ's spirit than the ethics of Aristotle, and they all felt a need, unfelt by their greater predecessors, of what Christianity supplied. Again, great was the change in Roman dispo- sitions from Ennius and Cato Major to Horace, Juvenal, and Marcus Aurelius. Compared with Cato's unfeeling and unconscious strength, the emperor was weary self- resolve. But Marcus had need of Christ, though he received him not. Bitter Juvenal knew the heart's sym- pathy of tears ; ' and perhaps some of Christ's sayings would not have been incomprehensible to the man who wrote :
Quanto quisque sibi plura negaverit, Ab dis plura feret.'
But it was the spacious soul-scope of Virgil that, as rep- resentative of the fuller comprehension of life through feeling, was most largely representative of the spiritual growth which was preparing the pagan world to under- stand Christ.
Simply living in an Empire, where millions of people of diverse race were more nearly equal before the law than such multitudes had ever been, might foster the thought
' See ante, chap, xv, p. 51. "^ Horace, Car?n., iii, xvi, 21.
336 ANCIENT IDEALS.
that all men were essentially like, and that relations of
amity and beneficence existing among members of a
family and friends, or among people of the
'^^^ same race, might properly extend to mankind.
roa er ^^^^ conditions of life in the Roman Empire did nutnanity. '■
not originate these thoughts. They had been
fostered by political and social conditions of Hellenic and Eastern life throughout the kingdoms into which fell the Empire of Alexander, But they began in the Greek philosophies. Stoicism touched the conception of the brotherhood of men, and developed the accordant thought that every man owed duties of beneficence to all. These ethics tended towards the thought of uni- versal love ; but no strong love came from them. Not from ethics springs love's spontaneity. Seneca rhetor- ically reasoned that his property belonged to all men; yet he kept it. Greek philosophy had taught for centu- ries that man's own welfare was the criterion of good and right for him. Now when the same course of reasoning was reaching the thought that man's welfare consisted largely in fulfilment of duties towards others, and might be something like love, the mode in which this thought had been approached sapped its vitality. Yet it all served as intellectual preparation for the Gospel.
In these first imperial centuries, prosperity was general. No province of the Empire lay beyond the emperor's care.
But man does not live by bread alone. Mate- Prospenty ^.j^^ prosperity may attend the soul's stagnation and Unrest. , ,, ^ t-i u
or the soul s unrest. The pagan world was
possessed with yearnings which nothing that it had could satisfy — nay, yearnings which its best thought did not even justify.
The power and glory of Rome had been lifted to uni- versal supremacy. Under an absolute ruler, politics no longer absorbed the best Roman minds. In the prov- inces there was no longer any idea of power or even safety independent of Rome. The Empire was so large, its
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 337
power so absolute ; it transcended the scope of the indi- vidual's interests, and stood above the range of his activ- ities. Alen's thoughts turned to themselves, and to others, not as fellow-citizens or fellow-subjects, but as fellow-men. It was the human being that was occupy- ing the human mind. Humanity was engrossed in itself as such.
Herein lay the dilemma ; humanity was in no condi- tion to satisfy itself. Intellectually the time was not progressive or expectant. The power and wealth of thought which Greece bequeathed, j^^g Mood the present time inherited as a store whence it might select, but to which it could not add. There was no living hope of the attainment of some great good through advance in knowledge. Stoics, like Epictetus and Marcus, realizing that men could not attain by them- selves, sought comfort in the thought of the human will in ready conformity to the ways of the universe, or the will of God. From the side of the human conforming, their thought was lofty. But they had no God. For the god of Stoicism was little more than fate turned law. And these men were to be no longer wise unto them- selves alone, but messengers from God.' Yet they had no clear message from a living God, and could give no assurance of sure good. Neither pagan philosophy nor pagan religion could serve God mightily. Paganism had no faith ; lacking a god who was almighty power and love, it lacked that trust whereby a man shall with his heart of love give his life to God, knowing through that highest apprehension, wherein the heart and mind unite, that God's love will render him eternity.
Epictetus, dying, would stretch out his hands and con- fess himself to God. It was not likely that he would prevail on many men to stretch out their hands to such an unavailing god as his. Yet widespread was this mood, which no longer relied on self, but longed for a
' See Epictetus, Discourses, iii, 22. VOL. n. — 23
338 ANCIENT IDEALS.
loving God to love. It was preparation for the Chris- tian's devotion to the Father who so loved the world. Likewise it was a mood which might dispose men to ac- cept the sure fulness of return which Christianity prom- ised from God's love. Men would be ready to take their good from the source from which Christianity offered it.
Probably positive disbelief in some dim life beyond the grave had never widely spread or penetrated far in Greece or Rome. At all events, thoughts of such life returned with the first centuries of the Empire, feeding on long- ings when there was no belief. Some sort of post-mor- tem anticipation was well-nigh universal. Yet it was but tempered presentiment, empty expectation, which might be filled, however, with Christianity's assurance.'
Obviously all these tendencies of thought, manifesting themselves in later Stoicism, in Neo-Platonism and relig- ious revival, had in common the sense of man's need of God, low need or high need, as the case might be.' They all represented moods of men discouraged with themselves, seeking other life and power; men, in fine, desiring the husks and phantasies of all whereof Chris- tianity offered the reality and living fruit. In such moods they might be touched with the knowledge and desire of Christ. And moreover, the dualism latent in Stoicism, recognized in Neo-Platonism, and phantastic in the popular struggles of good and evil demons, might pre- pare men for the opposition between Christ and the world.
Thus throughout a vast Empire men stood under the authority of one strong, energetic, and, on the whole beneficent, government, whose policy was gradually to bring all men to equal civic rights. They had reached a certain degree of material comfort and dwelt in peace. Back of their present conditions lay long trains of cir- cumstances and long courses of thought. The decades
' Friedlander, Romische Sitten-geschichte, iii, pp. 739, et seq. (6th ed.), shows at length how nearly universal were such thoughts ; and then, pp. 770 et seq., shows that they did not constitute a firm or happy belief.
^ For all these matters see ante, chap. xvi.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 339
and centuries nearest the present, represented a growth and spread of finer ethical conceptions, though indeed it was a development not unrelated to the absence of some of the strong qualities of the , p, . past ; the self-sustaining power of creative tianity, and thought was gone. So with the expansion of the Spirit- men's hearts which had also come. Men had "^' Obsta- quicker, wider sympathies ; more pity for others ; also more pity for themselves, and more than heretofore they felt life's pathos. This also meant that buoyant civic enterprise and eager courage, and the strength which stops not for its own or others' pain, had Avaned. Men were no longer self-reliant ; the more thoughtful felt and recognized that human will and reason were not enough, while the masses gave themselves to low and thoughtless modes of getting the gods' help. The age felt its human weakness and in every way a need of God.
In the desire of knowledge, confident of man's ability to get it, Greek philosophy had raised itself. Platonism was a great faith ; a faith that rose creative in the con- viction of the reality of things ideal and spiritual, the conviction that there existed absolutely real archetypes of the furthest thoughts of men.* Platonism was to find all that it had not, and rest in final culmination in Christianity — in the Gospel of John. But in the mean- time, after Aristotle's reasoning grasp of all of life, Greek thought narrowed to ethics, and for want of faith, re- nounced. Stoicism was renunciation of all outside the rightly tempered will. Epicureanism was renunciation of the best of life. Neo-Platonism was unreal union with modes of dialectically imagined unreality; and the pagan religious revival stood for unrealities of a lower kind. This complex of thought and wantonly satisfied or yearn- ing mood, meant that the time was ready to receive something it had not. That which was offered to it was of
' See atite, vol. i, chap, x, p. 321, et seq.
340 ANCIENT IDEALS.
such universal content that no age has ever appropriated more than a part. Christianity could satisfy that time, and in its greater scope take up and fulfil all pagan good, all that the Greek had reached, the Roman mastered, or the mystic East had darkly dreamed. Yet the Graeco- Roman world, because it was what it was, because of its antecedents and the paths by which it had reached its present state, and because of its consequent manifold incapacities to apprehend the truth of Christ, was to offer cruel opposition to its own salvation. Despite the preva- lent empty and acceptant moods of men, and despite pagan approximations to Christian precepts, there were mental habits and conceptions of life, human and divine, which made it difficult for pagans to accept Christianity.
The great thought of paganism was justice. It was fully conceived and it was felt ; it was a part of pagan . . life ; it was something that the whole pagan
world understood. If the ways of justice were not the ways by which the pagan world had reached what it was, at least justice was the ideal which the pagan world might feel itself endeavoring to realize. Justice is a rendering to each man his due; \t \s 2i quid pro quo; love is a perfect giving. " As a gift ye have received, freely — as a gift — give." Christianity was the bounty of God's love ; the Gospel had not come to men because of their merits. Pagan gods were recognisant ; they re- turned good to their worshippers ; they were just. But along the lines of justice, paganism could never reach the conception of the spontaneity and initiative of love, which is in God's beneficence.
Pagan philosophy had never doubted that the highest good for man was his own welfare. Greek and Roman
life had been lived on no other theory. Its
Self-
advantae-e P^^^tical ethics had been those of strong en- deavor; and endeavor calls for sacrifice. For
his greater self, his country, a Spartan or a Roman would
die. There had been many glorious examples of such
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 34I
heroism. Nevertheless paganism regarded Hfe from the side of getting — self-advantage. But it took this view intelligently. It reasoned far and finely, reached a sense of the propriety of not unduly grasping, indeed of self- restraint and self-denial. Yet this philosophic self-denial, which might be the truest getting for the wise man, was acquiesced in only because of mortal impotence. It was mortality's best makeshift, and not life's ideal. Chris- tianity reversed all this; approached life from the side of giving, of lowliness, self-sacrifice, and love's endurance. True, this giving, through God's grace and love, vv-as to be a surer, farther self-fulfilment and attainment unto self than paganism had conceived. But paganism lacked faith for this vision, — which was not clearly visible from the pagan point of view.
To paganism, viewing life from the side of getting, and with justice as the highest social motive, fundamental principles of Christianity might appear not only preposterous but impious. To the pagan, God The Im- might be wise, all-ordering, and benevolent ; but Piousness , , 1 r 1 • 1 -11, of Divine
he could not feel pam at human wickedness and Self-Sacri-
misfortune; hence pagan thought could not at- fice.
tribute to him veritable love, which must suffer when its object does wrong. That God should be grieved at human wrong was a preposterous thought to paganism ; still more preposterous that he should so love the world as to send his Son to suffer; and most preposterous of all that the divine nature should take the form of lowly man in order to suffer maltreatment, and death upon the cross. These ideas were not only absurd, they were impious, con- tradicted all highest pagan thoughts of God as reason and the excellence of power and wisdom. To paganism the thought of God's self-sacrificing love was inconceiv- able ; it contravened all standards of the best, and the personality and career of one who was pursued by the authorities, forsaken by his followers, evidently unable to help himself, contravened not only pagan thoughts of
342 ANCIENT IDEALS.
divinity, but all conceptions of apsri} and virtus, the courage and power to help oneself, which were insever- able from the pagan ideal of manhood.*
If Christianity was thus absurd and impious to pagan thoughts of God, it was also immoral to pagan thoughts of justice among men. It disregarded human f G soel ^sfits, offered its best, its all, to wicked men, for Sinners, to the base and ignorant. In justice the Gospel should address itself only to the virtuous and wise. Virtue was strictly a matter of the man's own compassing; the merit of it was exclusively his. Such remained the pagan view, although paganism did touch the thought that man might pray to God to help him even here. Above all, virtue was a matter of the human will. And without knowledge how could that will be right ? Herein was the union of pagan thoughts of vir- tue and of wisdom; and herein was ethical justification of the intellectual pride of paganism, which despised the ignorant as unmeritorious. Christianity, addressing itself to all men, perhaps to the poor and needy and foolish of this world before the rest, roused pagan scorn, as in ad- dressing itself to sinners it met pagan condemnation." As late as the beginning of the fifth century the pagan poet Rutilius calls Christianity the root of folly — radix stidtitics.^
Paganism had ready credulity ; its philosophy prevented it from comprehending Christian faith. There were few pagans, even among the educated, who had not unstinted
' This is all borne out by the views of Celsus, not only when he pretends to speak as a Jew, but when he speaks as himself : because of Christ's lowly station, his misfortunes and sufferings and felon death, he cannot have been divine. See Origen, Contra Celsiim, i, 67, 6g, 70; ii, 5, 9, 17, 23, 31, 33, 35, 44, 45, 79 ; iv, 1-18, 73, 99 ; vi, 73, 75 ; vii, 13, 53 ; viii, 41. " Eum (Christum) quippe in ipsa carne contemsit (Porphyrias) quam propter sacrificium nostra purgationis assumpsit " (Augustine. Civitas Dei, x, 24).
^ So Celsus : see Origen, Cotitra Celsum, i, 27, 61, 62 ; iii, 18, 44, 55, 59, 62, 71. Celsus says the Christians repel the wise, and invite only the ignorant, iii, 18, 44, 45.
^ See Boissier, Fiji dii Paganisme, ii, p. 233.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 343
belief in prodigies. It was not the habit of philosophy
to subject them to investigation. Philosophers might
rationally reject many absurdities; yet just as likely
would the religious, or the superstitious, unin-
vestirating side of their nature believe them.' ,T.^^ ^^""1" ^ , .. , , , • , 1 . bling-block
But philosophy had no idea that a man s ^^ Reason.
apprehension and knowledge might be related to other faculties besides reason. Although knowl- edge was essential to philosophic virtue, philosophy had not the converse thought that a man's capacity for apprehending some far truth might depend, not on his reason alone, but on his goodness, his lovingness, and the range of his feeling. Philosophy did not recognize that man apprehends according to his whole nature, no element whereof but will affect his view of life, his knowl- edge of the world and God. The blind cannot know color; the impure man cannot know purity; the liar can- not know truth ; without love or capacity for loving, no man can apprehend the life of Christ on earth or know the Father. ' ' But if you say, ' Show me your God, ' I will reply, * Show me yourself, and I will show you my God. ' Show then that the eyes of your soul are capable of see- ing, and the ears of your heart able to hear. When there is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God. Do you therefore show me yourself, whether you are not an adulterer, or fornicator, or a thief, or inso- lent, or a slanderer, or passionate, or envious, or proud
^ Thus the same Celsus who has such lofty intellectual scorn as he expresses in Origen, Contra Celsum, iv, 23, who can broadly argue that all things were not made for man any more than for any other animal (iv, 74) ; but that all things were ordered by Providence for the perfected Whole, the Kosmos (iv, gg) — this same Celsus can argue thus ; because man has ideas of the divine, he thinks himself superior to beasts, yet this faculty is claimed for them ; for what is more divine than the power of foreknowledge and prediction, a faculty which man has acquired from other animals, especially from birds. Thus birds seem nearer God than we. And intelligent men say that birds hold sacred councils, and no race of animals is more observant of oaths than elephants, which would seem to be because they have some knowledge of God. lb. iv, 88.
fxvr*.''
344
ANCIENT IDEALS.
for to those who do these thhigs God is not manifest, unless they have first cleansed themselves from all impurity. . . , Thus also do iniquities involve you in darkness, so that you cannot see God." *
Christianity was the fulness of all life; so it came to the world. Not as a simple fact, which the eye may see and the intellect at once perceive and classify, was it to be apprehended. The fulness of life and love was to be apprehended according to the whole nature of him to whom it was presented : each man would accept and understand according to all that was he — his intellect, his moral nature, his range of feeling, his capacity for the highest and broadest rightly pointed emotions. Accord- ingly, it is easy to understand how, when paganism set itself to reason on Christianity which it could not accept, and cast about for some rational principle of Christian faith, it would find that faith to be senseless acceptance of impossibilities, would find it dumb, unreasoning, ob- stinate.^
Thus the pagan world was needing and consciously desiring what Christianity had to offer, yet was set The Gospel against Christianity by some of the good ele- Reai, Abso- ments of paganism and by ways of life and lute, Uni- thinking which still shaped themselves accord- versa , "'■^'ii-ig to the tendencies of their antecedents. To this world Christianity came as a religion and a way and means of life, at once real, absolute, and universal, and sure with the new certitude of revelation confirmed by the experience of Christian life.
Christianity was real. The great relationship between God and man, which it held forth as fact and precept, was love. Love is the realest thing in life ; no human being that is not touched by it ; it is felt as well as thought; its existence does not depend on reason, which it may transcend or sink below ; yet by reason also may it
' Theophilus of Antioch, Apologia ad Autolycum, i, 2.
- See Celsus in Origan, Contra Celsum, i, 9; iii, 17, 39, 43, 72-Sl.
^ 4 Hi.^^^v^ ^wa\3J
T//E ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY.
prove and justify itself. Christianity announced that God's relationship to man was love, and pointed to the Christ on earth. It announced that love was man's rela- tionship to God ; it founded man's love of God on man's whole nature, heart and mind, responding to God's love of man; and then it filled out man's love of God with all of earth's realities of love and kindly act of man to man.
Christianity was absolute; soar as the human spirit might, it could not pass the compass and content of the eternal life assured Christ's followers. It was universal; for every man and woman, Jew, Gentile, slave and free. Each in his trade and calling could accept the Gospel, fulfil its conditions, gain eternal life. It asked only that the brethren should do every act of life in love of man, for love of God, through love of Christ. This command each might obey in his station, and in carrying out all his gifts and faculties to their natural fulfilment — unto the perfecting of his own individuality from out the universal fulness of the nature of Christ. " Now there are diversi- ties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God who worketh all things in all.'" There was no demand in Christianity that all Christians should become of one type or conform to any mode of living. The Christian was cut off from nothing — "all things are yours."" Christianity was to take up and purify and fulfil all elements of human life.
A comprehensive revelation from God was new to paganism. In the revelation of Christ, there was assur- ance of all the pagan world had hoped for with wavering hope. The Gospel was presented to the heathen by men sure of its truth with an assurance novel in power. These men were themselves transformed by it, new crea-
' I Cor. xii, 4-6.
' This was Christianity, and thus did Paul present it to the heathen world. That it was afterwards narrowed and presented in ascetic modes, was the result of its partial acceptance according to the then needs and moods of men.
344 ANCIENT IDEALS.
for to those who do these things God is not manifest, unless they have first cleansed themselves from all impurity. . . . Thus also do iniquities involve you in darkness, so that you cannot see God." '
Christianity was the fulness of all life ; so it came to the world. Not as a simple fact, which the eye may see and the intellect at once perceive and classify, was it to be apprehended. The fulness of life and love was to be apprehended according to the whole nature of him to whom it was presented : each man would accept and understand according to all that was he — his intellect, his moral nature, his range of feeling, his capacity for the highest and broadest rightly pointed emotions. Accord- ingly, it is easy to understand how, when paganism set itself to reason on Christianity which it could not accept, and cast about for some rational principle of Christian faith, it would find that faith to be senseless acceptance of impossibilities, would find it dumb, unreasoning, ob- stinate.'
Thus the pagan world was needing and consciously desiring what Christianity had to offer, yet was set The Gospel against Christianity by some of the good ele- Reai, Abso- ments of paganism and by ways of life and lute, Uni- thinking which still shaped themselves accord- versa , ure.jj^g ^^ ^j^^ tendencies of their antecedents. To this world Christianity came as a religion and a way and means of life, at once real, absolute, and universal, and sure with the new certitude of revelation confirmed by the experience of Christian life.
Christianity was real. The great relationship between God and man, which it held forth as fact and precept, was love. Love is the realest thing in life; no human being that is not touched by it ; it is felt as well as thought ; its existence does not depend on reason, which it may transcend or sink below ; yet by reason also may it
' Theophilus of Antioch, Apologia ad Aniolycu/n, i, 2.
- See Celsus in Origan, Contra Celsum, i, 9; iii, 17, 39, 43, 72-Sl.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 345
prove and justify itself. Christianity announced that God's relationship to man was love, and pointed to the Christ on earth. It announced that love was man's rela- tionship to God; it founded man's love of God on man's whole nature, heart and mind, responding to God's love of man; and then it filled out man's love of God with all of earth's realities of love and kindly act of man to man.
Christianity was absolute; soar as the human spirit might, it could not pass the compass and content of the eternal life assured Christ's followers. It was universal; for every man and woman, Jew, Gentile, slave and free. Each in his trade and calling could accept the Gospel, fulfil its conditions, gain eternal life. It asked only that the brethren should do every act of life in love of man, for love of God, through love of Christ. This command each might obey in his station, and in carrying out all his gifts and faculties to their natural fulfilment — unto the perfecting of his own individuality from out the universal fulness of the nature of Christ. " Now there are diversi- ties of gifts, but the same spirit, and there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God who worketh all things in all.'" There was no demand in Christianity that all Christians should become of one type or conform to any mode of living. The Christian was cut off from nothing — "all things are yours." ^ Christianity was to take up and purify and fulfil all elements of human life.
A comprehensive revelation from God was new to paganism. In the revelation of Christ, there was assur- ance of all the pagan world had hoped for with wavering hope. The Gospel was presented to the heathen by men sure of its truth with an assurance novel in power. These men were themselves transformed by it, new crea-
' I Cor. xii, 4-6.
' This was Christianity, and thus did Paul present it to the heathen world. That it was afterwards narrowed and presented in ascetic modes, was the result of its partial acceptance according to the then needs and moods of men.
346 ANCIENT IDEALS.
tures. In their lives and words was faith's conviction, and the power of Christ's spirit. Christ hved in them, and in their words was that power of God which the Gospel was to such as were being saved. Men were con- fronted with a new vivida vis?
To this power of the spirit with which the Gospel was
presented, there rose respondent proof within the hearts
and minds of those touched by it. They
Elements of fQ^rld the Gospel correspondent with the an-
agan e- g^gj-jj^p- experience of a larger life- they found sponsive- o i ... '
ness. ^^^ truth of Christ within themselves. Hence-
forth their faith, their new experiences, their inner cumulative proofs of Christ were further Gospel power unto themselves and others. Even before conver- sion, despite the fact that some strong pagan thoughts indisposed men to the full Gospel of Christ, there was much in the pagan consciousness to which a first presen- tation of Christianity might attach itself, without rousing the opposition of other elements of pagan thought. At these vantage-points of agreement the Gospel might gain provisional acceptance, and awaken confirmatory thoughts.
Paul at Athens ^ addresses himself to the monotheistic feeling of intelligent pagans. This one sole God, after which pagan thought was groping, as yet lacked character
' Lactantius, Div. Inst., iii, 30, contrasts the certain revelation which Christianity had to offer with the doubt and weakness of pagan philosophy : " Why look to these philosophers for healing, who are sick themselves ; shall we wait till Socrates knows something, or till Anaxagoras finds light in the darkness, or till Uemocritus pulls truth out of the well, or Epicurus widens the path of his soul, or till Arcesilaus and Carneades see, feel, and perceive? Eccc vox de ccelo veritatem docens." This was what the pagan world wanted.
^ Acts xvii, 22-31. As before remarked, there is no reason to doubt that this speech is substantially Paul's. But if it were not, it would still be a typical illustration of the mode of preliminary presentation of the Gospel to the heathen. It is to be noted that the expression " for in him we live and move and have our being," which taken alone is wellnigh pantheistic (see ante, p. 320, note), was a phrase adapted to Greek thoughts of God, which at this time lacked character rather than comprehensiveness.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 347
and life. To declare this unknown god, and give him life and love, was Paul's first task. This he would accom- plish with the Gospel of Christ — God realized in man ; for the vivid appreciation and setting forth of which, Paul's Hebrew consciousness of the personality of Jehovah had qualified him. How vague in the pagan world was any thought of one sole God is plain from the popular cry that Christians were atheists. Yet the thought was there, strong in educated minds, and wavering dimly above the masses. In it the Gospel found a foothold.
Paul's speech closes with the announcement of final judgment, implying universal resurrection and existence after death. Christianity's whole rationale related to eternity; "If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Here again. Chris- tian preaching offered a definite assurance to the uncer- tain longings of the world. And moreover, though the Jewish and Christian conceptions of a resurrection were set in different form from Graeco-Roman thoughts of the soul's or shade's continuing immortality, there still was this point of contact, that pagan thought had come to regard the future life, whatever it was, as conditioned on the conduct of the man on earth, and to this thought the Christian " last judgment " might appeal.
Paul's Roman epistle was written to a community of believers. Nevertheless the first two chapters offer thoughts which would touch a pagan. They show how Christianity could be presented to Appeal the heathen so as to attach itself to strong and pag-an Con- real elements in paganism, thus making use of science, pagan preparation for its reception. It is the Christian appeal to the pagan conscience, to the higher pagan sense of the divine, which could not but be stung by exposure of pagan religious practices and the abomi- nations which existed because men would not recognize the righteousness of God. It is a grand " is it not so, O man! " The Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation
348 ANCIENT IDEALS.
to everyone that believeth; it is the revelation of God's righteousness through faith therein unto the believer's faith. This is the Gospel statement. Then appeal is made to the pagan consciousness: God's wrath against unrighteousness is revealed from heaven in man ^ and unto man. For the invisible nature of God, his everlast- ing power and divinity, has been ever manifest in his cre- ation ; and men senselessly worship the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of beasts. The truth of God they exchanged for a lie ; hence God gave them over to all the wickedness and abominations which flowed from wilful ignorance of him. God's long-suffering is to the end that men repent. But he will render to every man according to his works, to the righteous, eternal life, to the wicked, anguish and tribulation. And in that day your own consciences (O Gentiles!) shall approve or con- demn you, when God judgeth the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to this Gospel of Christ which I set forth to you.''
TertulHan reflects these preachings of Paul : Christians worship the great one God, creator of all, invisible, yet to be seen in his works. The greatest crime is to ignore him of whom man cannot be ignorant. When the soul of man comes to its true self, it calls " God! " — Deum nominat, — exclaims at his greatness and goodness, prays to him instinctively, and proclaims him judge. O tcstiuwnium animcB 7iatnralitcr Christiana; I °
The pagan world knew its abominations ; it had a con- science. So far, it had not recognized that all worships which did not correspond to lofty conceptions of God were productive of immorality. The presentation of the Gospel would make this plain, and at the same time would appeal to the general sense of shortcoming and immorality, the broader sense of need of God, the feeling of separation and estrangement from the power and pu-
' By his moral conscience ; compare Rom. i, 19 with Rom. ii, 15. * Rom. ii, 15, 16. 3 TertulHan, Apobgeticus.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 349
rity of the divine, all of which it would change to a sense of sin ; and then it would show that the true reconcile- ment and elevation of the man to the level of his highest thoughts, and so to God, was through repentance and forgiveness in the faith of Christ. Again one notices that the Christian reconcilement was made up of most real elements ; for, when once the conscience is awakened as to God, the sense of sin is very real, and repentance, forgiveness, and love's faith are very real salvation.
Thus with the assurance of indubitable revelation, Christianity offered itself to the world. It excluded no
real and good element of life ; it appealed to _ _
r , , , , • • r ^ The Con-
much of the pagan best, and so obtammg foot- ^^^^ ^ ^^^
hold, gradually confirmed itself from out the Creature, greatened life of him who "was being saved." And the Christian character was a new character in the world. Many of its elements had existed in men before, even in races ; but as a whole it was novel, and to pagans incomprehensible; therefore it often excited contempt. For a man to add a new cult to his religious habits, was an everyday matter in the Empire ; it caused no surprise, roused no opposition ; it had no effect. Christianity was an all-comprehensive and inner force, seizing and shaping all the motives of the man. It changed the convert from Avhat he was before. Ancient religions were forms in which race character was shown. They developed or changed with the character of the people. Never did they transform a single man. But pagans who had be- come Christians were transformed ; their standpoints were reversed, they saw life differently. In the first centuries, the change was so complete, and apparently so sudden, that it is difficult to follow the transition stages. The man has ceased to care, at least in the same way, for what he had cared before ; he now cares overwhelmingly for a new kind of life, new in its contents, its hopes and loves; his life is changed and he is changed, a new creature, literally a new created being.
350 ANCIENT IDEALS.
Pagans would not have been so angered at the conver- sion of relatives and friends, had it not worked such change as to lift the convert out of sympathy The Op- with his previous round of habits and associa- Roused tions. All this was incomprehensible to those who remained pagan. For no pagan ever understood Christianity, since there could be no under- standing of it without love of Christ, which meant con- version. From the general fact that the Christian life and faith was incomprehensible to pagans, yet in palpable and manifold opposition to their modes of thought and life ; and from the further general fact that whatever pagan prejudices were left undisturbed by Christians as individ- uals, were roused to repugnance and alarm by the Chris- tian communities as organizations, it follows that pagan opposition to Christianity was so broad and various that it is impossible exhaustively to specify the modes and causes.
Men are usually irritated at enthusiasms which they do not feel. Propagandist zeal disturbs and alarms, especially when the zeal is unconquerable and the propa- ganda resistless, while at the same time threatening every habit and prejudice. To pagan conservative habit, mis- sionary zeal for anything was unreasonable and disturb- ing; let all people fcontinue in the worship to which they were born, and to which ties of family and race should bind them.' It is unwise to disturb the relations of the gods to men.
Then, the mode and content of Christian propaganda outraged social forms and threatened every social tie. Says Celsus, for instance: " Ignorant Christian artificers and slaves in private households do not dare to speak to the elders and the wise, but to women and children, and teach them to disobey. They are in fear when they see a teacher or father approaching, except indeed the bold-
' The ordinary Roman view ; see Celsus in Origen, Contra Celsum, iii, 5 ; V, 25, 35 ; Minucius Felix, Octavius.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 35 1
est, who whisper to the children to throw off the yoke, leave their fathers and instructors, and go with them to the women's apartment or the fuller's shop to attain per- fection!"* Again says Celsus, "Those who bid to other mysteries invite everyone with clean hands, pure from evil, who has lived justly ; but Christians invite everyone who is a sinner, who is a child, or whoever is unfortunate. Is not this calling together the unjust and robbers and thieves and poisoners and sacrilegious ? What others would a man invite to an assemblage of robbers ? " '^
Thus pagan prejudice saw the matter. If propagan- dism was itself distasteful to educated pagans, and if Christianity countered their prejudices and threatened their institutions, it is easy to understand their doubled rage at incomprehensible Christian zeal to spread per- nicious doctrines by ways and means which ignored all proprieties.
Almost any change of life in a community touches someone's livelihood. To threaten men's livelihoods is to rouse their hate. Hence some of Christianity's earli- est troubles. In Philippi the men whose gain from their slave's faculty of divination has ceased, incite the magis- 'trates to imprison Paul and Silas ;^ at Ephesus, the riot is caused by the makers of silver shrines for Artemis.* Many trades were connected with festivities and public games and popular worship of the gods. Here was a wide source of hate and popular outcry."
By action in accordance with their faith, the Christians at Jerusalem first incurred the hatred of the Jews; on the other hand, because of the resemblance of their faith to the Jewish religion, and because Christianity at first was
' Origen, contra Celsum, iii, 55. '^ lb.. Hi, 59. ^ Acts xvi, 19.
•* lb., xix, 23, etc. See Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, ch. vii.
' This matter of the pocket was a burning one within Christianity. Could converts who had been actors or sculptors continue to practise their trades ' Tertullian said not ; so did Cyprian [Epist., Ixi). See also Pliny's letter to Trajan, and Ramsay, ib., pp. 198-200.
352 ANCIENT IDEALS.
deemed a more malignant type of Judaism, Christians inherited the detestation in which all peoples held the Jews.
Notwithstanding the crucifixion of their Lord, strong ties of blood and education held the first Jewish Chris- tians to Judaism. These Christian brethren Christians ^^j^ ^^^^ cease to think themselves Jews; but
T ^ ^ J as thev felt the mission of their Christ, and Jews and -^
as Jews. broadened with the consciousness thereof, their freed activities brought on them that vio- lent persecution from the Jews which quieted into settled hate only after Christianity had completely gone forth from the synagogues to the Gentiles. Stephen was fore- most in this first free Christian activity, and the first martyr to the hatred it aroused. Jewish persecution made Christians realize more clearly the differences between their faith and Judaism." Thus they became conscious of severance from the Jews, or rather of being themselves the only true Israel, soon after their realization that Christianity was for all mankind.* But not so soon did the pagan world recognize that Christians were not what their origin betokened, a Jewish sect.
Naturally, had the various peoples of the Empir*^ detested that one race which drew back its robe from everything outside itself as from defilement, a race not only hatefully repellant, but, as it was unappreciative of the finer sides of pagan life, so was it what that unappre- ciativeness implied, ugly and unrefined in modes of liv- ing. Pagan gods were not jealous; their anger was not roused by honors paid to other divinities, if only they received their due.^ Neither was there any spirit in their
' See Weizsacker, Das Apostoliche Zcitalter, second ed., pp. 58, etc.
"^ By the end of the apostolic age, Christianity found itself more actively opposed by paganism than by Judaism, it having somewhat passed out of the range of the latter. See Lechler, Apostolic Age, i, 258-262.
'This quite often appears in Celsus ; ^<te. e. g., Origen, Contra Celsiim, viii, 21.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 353
worshippers prompting them to insult and outrage the gods of other people. In times more rude and ancient, when all peoples were naturally enemies, each people's gods were hateful to the rest. This conception of general divine hostility passed away with the amelioration of men's thoughts as to men of other race. At the time of the Roman Empire, the gods were in a state of amity ; and as the votaries of none of them had risen to a mono- theistic worship, there was no reason against general rec- ognition of the rest. There was no conception in the pagan world of one true religion, and the rest false. But Jehovah was the only true and living God, and he was a jealous God. Recognition of any other god — idolatry — was to the Jew the sin of sins. And as against Antiochus Epiphanes the Jews proved their readi- ness to die rather than commit this sin, so they would have risen in revolt, had Caligula set up his statue in their temple.
So the Jews maintained their rigid monotheism and hatred of idolatry, and held from social intercourse with pagans. The pagan world so far failed to comprehend their monotheism that it called them "atheists." Yet seeing that whatever was holy to all men, or to any man, was an abomination to the Jews, it repaid scorn with con- tempt, and most reasonably hated those whom it regarded as possessed with hatred of mankind.' Christianity, repudiated by the race in which it had its birth, and itself casting off from Judaism because it was a Gospel for mankind, might not, to the world's eyes, so doff its par- entage.^ It confronted the world dowered with the world's contempt.
This dowry would soon bear fruit a hundredfold. For many reasons Christianity roused more active hate than
' See the scorn and hate of Tacitus' famous passage, Hist., v, 2-5.
' As between Jews and Christians, Roman feeling would be rather on the side of the former, as the state against which the Christians had rebelled. See Celsus in Origen, Con. Cel., iii, 57.
VOL. II. — 23
354 ANCIENT IDEALS.
had been accorded to the Jews. The ancient world had a strong sense of racehood, and respected the ties and in- heritances of birth. Nothing seemed more natural and fitting than that men should observe the customs of their ancestors. Herein lay a defence and justification of the Jews.' They were a people and an ancient one; the Grasco-Roman world, while it detested, had learned to tolerate their ways. But the Christians could not excuse their lives by pleading observance of ancestral custom ; neither were they a race, but made up from the sinners of all lands. Hence they were without excuse in the eyes of pagan peoples, because of the same facts which were to render them illicit in the eye of the law.
The Jews had never been entirely disloyal to the com- mands and nature of their God ; they recognized Jehovah as the God of all mankind. There was always a prose- lyting spirit in Judaism; but for many reasons, in fact because Judaism was Judaism, and Christianity, Chris- tianity, the Jews had won scattered proselytes where the Christians were drawing masses to their faith. Hence Jewish proselyting was never regarded with real appre- hension, while Christianity appeared infectious madness, spreading like the plague.
Christian life and worship aroused suspicion. Christians
seemed always to be meeting secretly by night. There
has never been an age or land in which secret
^^ ^ . meetings have not been suspected by people as Nocturnal ^ _, ^, / r r
Meetings. ^^'^^ ^s government. The Christians said they met in " love-feasts," and to worship. Of love-feasts paganism had its own ideas — it knew the rites of Venus and Astarte ; and since there were no visible objects of worship, such as those in pagan cults, the pagan imagination supplied rites disgraceful, bloody, and obscene.'
' The only point at which Tacitus can sympathize with the Jews is just this fact, that their abominable customs were inherited from their ancestors. - See Minucius Felix's Octavius, 9 ; Celsus in Ongen, Contra Cel., i, 7.
The Chris-
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 355
The Christian would take no part in pubhc worship, festivals, and games, which constituted the greater part of pagan social life. Thus he seemed to show himself hostile to the institutions of society. And since temple worship and public festivals Atheists were for the honor of the gods, and rendered them propitious, men who held aloof were atheists,* insulters of the gods; their actions would bring ill-luck and divine vengeance on mankind. Such men were ene- mies of the human race.' Christianity opposed the wor- ship of the Gods, was emptying their temples.' It was only too natural that pagan hatred and religious fear should lay public calamities at Christian doors. One need not doubt the literal truth of Tertullian's words: " If Tiber overflows the walls, if Nilus does not reach the fields, if there is drought, earthquake, famine, plague, — at once the cry, Christianos ad Iconcm .' " *
Thus the causes of pagan popular hatred of Christian- ity coextend with pagan thought and life, ranging from the deeper religious and ethical ideas which Christianity countered, through every phase Attitude of
of pagan life and pagan prejudice, and finding Roman .-,.,• -1 r • • r Govern-
their climax m the rage of superstitious fear. ^t^^xiX. •
It were fallacious to see in any one circum- Christian- stance, and not in all of pagan life, the cause ity Illegal, of the popular opposition to Christianity. This opposition was as broad as that between the world and Christ ; correspondingly broad were the reasons for the
' The term abf.01 was regularly applied to Christians and Jews. By it, is not to be understood a person who believes there is no God. This is a far more inner conception than would have come to the pagan mind. Pagan religion was not a matter of the spirit, but of outward observance ; Jews and Christians were atheists because they took no part in public recognition of the gods.
'- Tacitus' famous passage, Ann., xv, 44, condenses in a few lines these various moods of pagan hatred, fear, and contempt.
^ Probe iam desolata templa. — Pliny, Ad Trajanum, Ep., 96.
* Tertullian, Apol., 40.
356 ANCIENT IDEALS.
attitude and action of the Roman government. One may best approach this matter from the legal side.' In the first place, there was never, either under the Republic or the Empire, any legal principle of toleration whereby foreign religions could claim recognition from the state. Such principle could no more have existed than could a principle giving legal recognition within Roman limits to the duty of allegiance to a foreign government.' Conse- quently, until expressly permitted by the emperors, the Christian religion had no legal right to exist ; it was illicit, and from this point of view, the law might properly say to the Christians, Non licet esse vos.^ Moreover, there seem always to have been recognized principles of law and polity whereby foreign and illicit religions might be suppressed. These principles, however, were exercised only when there was special reason for suppressing a cult. In fine, though toleration was not a legally recognized principle, intolerance was but occasional.*
Christianity was thus defenceless before the law. There
were a number of modes in which the government might
proceed against it. It might prosecute the
Christians for those crimes which popular pre-
against It. judice held them guilty of ; this appears to
have been the way of the persecution under
Nero. But such mode was not a proceeding taken
against them formally on the ground of their religion.
Christians might also be proceeded against as guilty of
majcstas — the Roman drag-net crime of treason. Under
the bad emperors, he walked warily who kept his feet
therefrom. Christian majcstas lay in contumacious denial
' The writer is here indebted to Ramsay's Church in the Roman Empire and Mommsen's article in the Hisiorische Zeitschrift, vol. Ixiv, 1 890, pp. 389-429, Der Religions-frevel nach Romischen Recht.
^ The Jewish religion was expressly recognized as legal for Jews ; but it was forbidden for others, especially for Roman citizens. See Mommsen, ib., p. 407.
''Tertullian, Apol., iv.
* E.g., suppression of the Bacchanalia, B.C. 86.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 357
of the gods of the Roman people (dii populi Romani), more especially in the refusal of due religious honors to the emperor.* Christians might clear themselves of crimes vulgarly imputed to them, but the crime of maj'cs- ias they could not refute without denial of the name they bore.* Nevertheless, this mode of procedure against the Christians was unusual, at least until the persecutions of the latter half of the third century.'
Ordinarily, magistrates took action against the Chris- tians, not under forms of legal procedure with reference to some definite and formal law, but by virtue of their imperiuni, the regular administrative and police author- ity pertaining to their office. This power was pre- ventive or repressive rather than punitive; not a power whereby definite punishments were awarded for accom- plished crimes ; but a wide discretion to use compulsory measures to preserve order and uphold the laws. To this end, magistrates might banish or execute lawless per- sons. Thus, without express authority, provincial gov- ernors might suppress immoral or riotous rehgious rites and illegal assemblies. But such action was not neces- sarily connected with the religious policy of the Empire. As to this, while liberty was generally permitted in the adoption of deities and modes of worship, it was clear Roman law and polity to maintain the worship of the Roman gods, and compel all men, but especially Roman citizens, to participate in the imperial religion, including the divine honors paid to emperors. Moreover, there was inherited from the Republic the principle that Roman citizens should worship only gods recognized by the state. Under the Empire, this was not enforced where there was no failure to conform to the state re- ligion. But at all events, it was the plain duty of gover- nors and other magistrates, and within the authority of
' See Mommsen, ib., p. 396, referring to TertuUian's Apology, xxiv, xxviii. ' Here the Jews would have been protected by their special exemptions. ' Mommsen, ib., p. 397.
358 ANCIENT IDEALS.
their impcruiiJi, to enforce observance of the state re- ligion, at least from all citizens, and prevent their adopting a religion which forbade it. Not only was Christianity such a religion, but all Christians, whether citizens or not, were indiscriminate proselyters, lawless in that re- spect at least. And under the social and political condi- tions of the Empire, when citizens and non-citizens were mixed together, and citizenship itself was becoming well- nigh universal, it was impossible to discriminate and suppress Christianity among citizens, while leaving non- citizens undisturbed in the practice and dissemination of it, even had there been, as there was not, any principle whereby non-citizens could claim the right of withhold- ing due honor from the religion of the state under whose laws they dwelt.
Not long after Jesus* death, came the time when his followers were thrust out of the synagogues ; and the
death of Stephen fulfilled the words : " The Pliny's Letter hour cometh that whosoever killeth you shall
think that he offereth service to God." ' This was persecution from the Jews. Nor was it long before there should also come from the Gentiles persecution " for my name's sake." " When was that time ? When were Christians condemned by the Roman magistrates simply as Christians for the name ? That was not the case in the persecution of Nero ; then they suffered be- cause popular prejudice had already fastened every crime on them ; but it was for those crimes of which they were falsely accused that they were condemned, and not for- mally because of the name of Christ.
This was the year 64. In the year 112, Pliny, from his province of Bithynia and Pontus, writes to Trajan, saying that never having been present at cognitioncs^ oi Q\\x\%- tians, he had been in doubt whether a difference was to be made on account of the culprit's age, and whether the
' John xvi, 2. '^za ro ovof.id f.tov. Matt, xxiv, 9.
^ Magisterial investigations, not judicial trials.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 359
name itself, or the crimes attaching to it, should be pun- ished. He asks the emperor's instructions, and says that so far he had pursued the course of ordering to exe- cution those who persisted in their confession of the name, except such as were Roman citizens, whom he re- served to be sent to Rome. The emperor replies that Pliny's action was correct — that is, in executing those who had persisted in the name, although guilty of no other fault ; also that no fixed rule applicable to all cases could be laid down. Christians were not to be sought for, but when formally accused by open, not anonymous, accusers, those who persisted were to be punished ; those who denied that they were Christians and sacrificed to the gods, were to be accorded grace, even though suspected in the past.'
Pliny was a just Roman and a scrupulous follower of form and precedent. Being personally inexperienced in Christian investigations, questions arose in his mind to refer to the emperor, since the fate of large numbers was involved. But Pliny had himself already acted in the matter, and vigorously, as he would not have done had he not known of precedents in the like action of other Roman governors. In accordance with his temperament and habit, however, he wished for definite instructions from the emperor, as indeed he at other times had asked instructions in matters as to which he must have known the emperor's policy.' Neither Pliny's action nor Trajan's approval of it began a new policy, nor for the first time declared the name itself worthy of punishment.' Hence it was during the period which had elapsed since the beginning of persecution under Nero, that Roman magis- trates had come to condemn for the Christian name without inquiry as to any other crime. A specific date
^ There is much else in these two letters not to the immediate purpose here.
"* E.g., in asking about permitting men to form associations for ap- parently innocent purposes, see Epist., 33, 34.
* Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, chap. x.
360 ANCIENT IDEALS.
cannot be fixed/ but that date is nearer Nero's day than Trajan's ; it was prior to the composition of the first Epistle of Peter,* and the use of the word " martyrs " to designate the sufferers for Christ would seem to carry the time back to the composition of Acts and Revelation ; for this word means " witness" and here means witness to a name or faith. It would hardly have been chosen while Christians were condemned only for crimes falsely imputed to them/
Such was the legal aspect of Christian persecution till the formal edicts of the persecuting emperors of the third century. Legally the condition of Chris- The Course ^-j^ns was most precarious ; at any time they cution might be condemned for the name they bore.
While persecution was thus always legal, and in that sense continuous, as matter of fact it was occa- sional and intermittent ; for, since it was for the most part a matter of administrative magisterial action, it was directly influenced by the views of the reigning emperor ; and moreover its violence and efficiency depended on the feelings of the populace, which frequently, but not con- tinuously, pressed persecution on the government.
The course, then, of the persecution of Christians by the imperial government seems to have been as follows.''
' Strictly speaking, there likely was no date ; that is to say, froni the condemnation of Christians for crimes imputed to them, the transition was gradual to regarding Christians as of course guilty of those crimes, then to viewing the name as conclusive evidence of crimes, and then to leaving out all question of any special crime, and condemning for the name.
* See I Peter iv, 16, 17. " .Spatestens aus dem Aufgang des zweiten Jahrhunderts," says Mommsen. See Ramsay, ib., ch. xiii.
' In Acts xxii, 20, Paul uses the phrase, ru cxuia ^recpavov rov juaprvpoi 60V. Stephen was certainly a witness to the name or faith of Christ under Jewish persecution ; but the reference of Rev. xvii, 6, is clearly to Roman persecution. See also Rev. ii, 13, and compare Rev. xx, 4. The suggestion is from Mommsen in the article referred to, p. 395.
* In this much-disputed matter, Where there is so much radical difference of opinion, the writer does not attempt accuracy of detail, but merely general correctness as to the course of the matter.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 361
As being in their origin a Jewish sect, the Christians met with popular dislike or contempt, the dishke deepening into hate as the nature of Christianity and the Christian life, so entirely opposed to the life of the time, became evident. Of the general hatred, and also of the fact that for the most part the Christians of the time belonged to the Lower orders of society, Nero took advantage when he wished to turn the popular suspicion from himself. Thereupon many Christians were dragged to punishment, falsely accused of having set fire to Rome, an accusation which, on the whole, to pagan hate and prejudice, was quite appropriate ; for the ways of the Christians, their withdrawal from common social life, their repugnance to many social institutions, the discords which conversions caused in households and communities, filled out the alleged criminal attitude of the Christians, summed up in the words, hatred of the human race, — odium generis humani^ This was not persecution for the name, though that name confessed " brought death from popular hate and imperial villainy. Then rose the Flavian dynasty — rose, as it were, on its experience of the rebellious force of that religion of which Christianity appeared as the more malignant child. Vespasian and Titus must have seen danger in Christianity. Domitian saw danger every- where, and was possessed with sinister fanaticism. Nat- urally, under this dynasty the name of Christian, from being presumptive proof of crimes, became itself so rep- resentative of impiety and rebellious contumacy that its persistent avowal constituted resistance to the state, and became a crime to be suppressed ; and the cruellest Fla- vian suppression was in the reign of Domitian, whom later Christians always regarded as a bitter oppressor of the Faith.
Nerva's reign was short. A great emperor followed him. Trajan had not fought the Jews. His mind was
' Cf. of course Tacitus, Ann., xv, 44. * C/. Tacitus' Correpti qui Jatei/anUtr,
362 ANCIENT IDEALS.
large; he cared for all his subjects, yet from the point of view of one who ruled, and demanded first of all obe- dience to the emperor's lawful majesty, represented in the person of the emperor. To Trajan, the great gen- eral, the great ruler, life presented itself as government, its duties, needs, and rights ; on the one side, authority, lawful and benign ; on the other, obedience thereto. The famous Pliny letter, and the iron but not cruel an- swer, set forth the Christian situation and the imperial temper.'
Trajan's successor was not the same great general and ruler.* No martinet, behind his ruler's mask lurked a sardonic smile. This emperor was no god to himself ; he liked his art, his great villa and luxuries; he loved to travel and distract himself ; perhaps in his case wide in- formation had destroyed fixed principles. He despised informers, likewise fanaticism; religions interested him. While he was not so honestly and energetically just as Trajan, he was good-natured when not irritated. In fine, Hadrian had no inchnation to persecute Christians; he did not seriously consider Christianity a malignant thing nor a dangerous belief; he seems not to have regarded it as inimical to the Empire. Yet Hadrian had no real sympathy with Christians, and did not care to take the decisive and unpopular step of legalizing their religion. So he continued the policy of Trajan, making its con- demnatory features somewhat vaguer, hinting in his famous rescript that Christians should be proved guilty of some conduct contrary to law. He forbade magistrates to yield to popular outcry, and commanded them to pun- ish false accusers.' Yet condemnations of Christians by no means ceased under Hadrian, nor under his successor
' See above.
"^ To be sure, under Hadrian Jewish wars again broke out ; but by this time the Christians were known as distinct from the Jews.
^ The rescript of Hadrian is to be found at the end of Justin's first Apology. There has never been any well-founded doubt as to its genuine-
THE ROMAX WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 363
Antoninus, the most sweet-tempered of all Roman em- perors.
The philosopher who next occupied the throne was more severe and active. Marcus was deeply pious in the pagan way, and Christianity opposed the very marrow of his philosophic thoughts, which he held to more sternly from the bitterness of his unsatisfied heart. Moreover, in the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus, there had come a revival of pagan religiousness, wherein opposition to the rapid spread of Christianity may have played a part. With a devout pagan philosopher and saint upon the throne, this revival reached its height. Marcus had not the stern serenity of Trajan's strength, nor the mild serenity of Antoninus' temper; nor had he Hadrian's broad, contemptuous tolerance of human folly. He de- sired earnestly to make men wise and pious, like himself. Hence more active and more largely cruel measures were taken against Christians in his reign. They were sought out for condemnation, and freer rein was given pagan hate.
Under the worthy emperor's unworthy son, Commo- dus, Christians fared better. He had no principles, but a mistress, Marcia, who was well-disposed toward them. Neither did they fare ill under Septimius Severus, who nevertheless, apparently by general edict, forbade con- version either to Christianity or Judaism.' Under Cara- calla there were martyrdoms wherever the temper of a governor was hostile to the Faith. Heliogabalus tol- erated Christianity, himself devoted to a foreign super- stition, the Syrian worship of the sun. From actual sympathy with Christ's precepts, Alexander Severus was well-disposed to Christians, and tacitly recognized their religion, but did not expressly make it lawful. Under Maximin the fury of persecution in certain provinces again broke forth, but Philip the Arabian so favored Christianity that Eusebius calls him the first Christian
' Judseos fieri sub gravi poena vetuit. Item etiam de Christianis sanxit. See his life by yElius Spartianus, chapter xvii, i.
364 ANCIENT IDEALS.
emperor. The year 249 A.D., in which Decius overthrev/ him, is the beginning of a iinal era of persecution ; for Decius forbade Christianity by edict, and proceeded to suppress it by measures general throughout the Empire. In this course, after some wavering leniency. Valerian followed, both emperors, as was intelligent, directing their sternest measures against the bishops. But Galli- enus, first among the emperors, on his accession, issued an edict according to Christians the free exercise of their religion, and permitting the churches to hold property. Aurelian also recognized the church, yet from fanaticism would have persecuted in the end had he not been assas- sinated. For some years the church had peace, till, at the over-persuasion of the fierce and fanatically pagan Galerius, Diocletian, in the year 303, issued the edict for the last and fiercest and most thorough persecution of the church. After eight years of intermittent lull and fiercer outbreak, Galerius, now emperor, recognized the futility of persecution, revoked the edict, and in words in which hate and fear were hardly concealed beneath offi- cial language, permitted Christians to be Christians, and asked their prayers.
Such was the general course of the imperial persecution of Christianity. Inasmuch as the pagan government was a part of paganism, the sentiments which Reasons caused the opposition of the pagan world en- tered into the motives of the government's repressive measures. Yet there was a difference. The government, emanating from superior and self-controlled men, was not likely to be moved by sudden rage, save as it yielded to popular outcry. On the other hand, because it was the government, it was moved to suppress Chris- tianity by certain motives which would move the people but little. These lay in the exigencies of government, first of all to uphold its supremacy and make itself obeyed ; and according to its lights to maintain piety, morality, and order among the people.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 365
The first Csesars had experienced inconvenient opposi- tion from those whose mindfulness of the Republic could not be quenched ; not without danger was the conviction of the human right to liberty which existed among stoic- ally-minded noble Romans, who could not but feel the outrage of imperial tyranny.' Even so normally good an emperor as Vespasian felt impelled to banish philosophers and execute the intractable Helvidius Priscus. Yet in such individuals lurked merely danger of a chance con- spiracy, no menace to a stable government. Usually an imperial nod would bring them to submission. But in Christianity lay the disobedience of a far surer conviction and the menace of numbers and organization.
Render unto Caesar the things of Csesar, Christ's fol- lowers at the outset tried to act out this precept. Earn- estly Paul preached obedience to government ; he was in sympathy with its function, regarding it as ordained of God." So urges Peter, writing in times of rising persecu- tion: " Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. . . . For so is the will of God that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of fool- ish men." ^ Likewise Christians should abide in the call- ings in which they were called, slaves continuing obedient to masters, children to parents, wives in decent subjection to their husbands. The purpose of Christianity was neither political nor social reform, but a new creature. The Gospel was renewed relationship of man to God, and change of heart to fellow-men, Christianity offered no new social forms or institutions, desired to destroy noth- ing, but purify all. Christian conformity to social insti- tutions had motives similar to those which made up the Christian wish to obey the laws. If government was ordained of God, so might also be the institutions which it sanctioned ; surely marriage was. Moreover, law and institution were for the most part but morality formally
' See Boissier, L' Opposition sous les Chars.
» I Rom. xiii, i. * i Peter ii, 13.
366 ANCIENT IDEALS.
expressed, and a good man, without laws, would do what the laws enjoined.
These motives of obedience and conformity Christians might have with other men. But the Christian duty of love offered a more special reason. Within the brother- hood, this duty forbade the doing of aught which would cause another to stumble in the way. Were not the brethren also to approach the world in the spirit of love ? And was not forbearance part of this ? On what Christian did not love's highest duty lie, to save men in Christ ? " Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives." * So was it for the Lord's sake that all Christians should be subject to every ordinance of man, and by well-doing put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, that the law-abidingness of the Christian life might be respected, and the Gospel spread abroad. Christians of evil conduct doubly sinned, causing the name of Christ to be blasphemed : " If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are ye. . . . Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil- doer. "^ " Be sober, be watchful." ^
Thus the obedience of Christians to the law had for its final motive that they might live and do the will of Christ and spread his Gospel. The things of Caesar they would render unto Caesar, that they might more fully render unto God the things of God. When the commands of Caesar forbade the promulgation and confession of the one true faith, the motive for obedience fell away, and in its place rose God's prohibition. The Christian would not obey the emperor when he might not in obedience to God. Hence, as obedience to Christ was the highest Christian motive for obedience to the emperor, the Chris- tian's obedience was not obedience to the emperor at all, but rather an element of larger disobedience absolute,
' I Peter iii, r.
* lb., iv, 14. See this epistle /"aj-jr/w. ^ lb., v, 8.
THE ROMAiV WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 367
a disobedience which would declare and flaunt itself before the eyes of Caesar.
The watchful and suspicious government of Rome was not slow to find this out. It was even then receiving an object-lesson from the Jewish nation's fierce resistance, the life of which Titus and Vespasian knew to lie in the Jews' religious hopes. The fact that Christians took no part in the defence of Jerusalem, if known to the emper- ors, was outweighed by the Jewish origin of their religion, and by their resolve to recognize no pagan worship. From the first, pagan dislike imputed foul modes of\law- less licentiousness to the Christians ; did the emperors know the falsity of this ? If so, they also knew of Chris- tian ways contravening usual customs, and the suspect tendency of Christians to organize a life among them- selves, secret and corporate, against the Empire's policy. The government could not but take notice of the absten- tion of Christians from those religious forms in which the people expressed their loyalty and submission ; nor could it fail to detect the Christian principle of absolute alle- giance to a higher law of their faith and a way of life ordained among themselves. The Empire would not permit a number of its subjects to manifest such disobe- dience and live in negative rebellion to the state. If pop- ular prejudice, confirmed by Nero's ready condemnation, saw in the Christians hatred of the human race, would the government fail for long to see in Christian contumacy a hatred of the state, which only full submission might disa- vow ? The plain and universal feature of imperial perse- cution was the endeavor on the part of the government to force certain of its subjects to submit and recognize its supreme authority, by some open act, trivial or indiiTerent but for the refusal.
The pagan government could see nothing in Christian non-conformity except sheer rebellious contumacy, since it had no understanding of the Christian reason for refusal. Had Jewish persecution of the Christians ever
368 ANCIENT IDEALS.
reached the stage when Jewish fanaticism held up to them the choice of death or disavowal of the name of Christ, and had Christians answered in such strait ; " Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you, rather than unto God, judge ye,'" though the Jews would have stoned them for their blasphemous wickedness, they would have understood the Christian position, that a man had better die than disavow his faith. But just as the pagans never understood the rigid monotheism of the Jews, so now pagan magistrates had no conception of the sin it was for a Christian to offer incense co the emperor or to Jupiter; they had no under- standing of the Christian reason ; they could not realize its existence or believe that it did exist/ What they saw was that this man before them refused to recognize the emperor's authority, human or divine, which stood for the Empire's defence, the Empire's might, and the Em- pire's prosperity.
Pagans failed to comprehend that the truth of Chris- tianity meant to Christians the malignant falsity of poly- theism. They did not understand the attitude of a religion which had for its antecedent Israel's thought of Jehovah as a jealous God, who permitted no worship of idols; they had no idea of the Christian reality and defin- itude of faith, nor any conception of that ethical religious conviction which knows that in true faith in a true and living and a righteous God, lies righteousness for man;
' Peter and John to the Jewish authorities, Acts iv, 19.
' From the enlightened pagan standpoint Celsus argues thus : Why can- not Christians tolerate temples, altars, and images ; only a child thinks the images to be really gods (but see as to this, Arnobius, Contra Gentes, i, 39). Christians say this is worship of demons ; but why should men not worship demons, whom God has placed as powers under him ? That is pleasing to the supreme God. He is not jealous, to object to the worship of those powers under him. Or, if idols are nothing, what harm in sacrificing to them? Besides, Christians do not worship only one God, but his minister as well. No ; Christians shrink from altars and temples and images as a mark of their secret society. .See Origen, Contra Celsum, vii, 62, 68 ; viii, 2, 12, 17, 21, 24, 33, 35.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 369
while deviation from this faith, unworthy thoughts of God, recognition of other gods and idols, is sin and brings sin, lowering man's righteousness in every way. All this was incomprehensible from the point of view of pagan religious conceptions, although indeed pagans connected ethics with religion, and could understand the thought that man had better die than act against those moral laws over which watched the deity. Sophocles set this forth in his Antigone and Socrates died for it. Says pagan Celsus: "To be sure we ought to suffer death rather than do anything shameful or impious, but it is not shameful or impious to offer a paean in honor of Athene, or do honor to the sun." '
The preposterous sinfulness of idolatry, the deep dis- honoring sin of denying Christ, has been so many cen- turies felt in the Christian world that it is difficult to understand that pagans could form Christian no conception of it. But it is strange, perhaps, isunder- that Christian apologists of the second and of Them, third centuries could not perceive the pagan difficulty. To pagan misconception of Christianity they opposed misunderstanding of the government's motives for condemning Christians, and bore this interesting wit- ness to the change wrought in them by conversion to the faith of Christ.
The apologists easily refute the vulgar charges against Christians, the Thyestian feasts and worse than CEdipean intercourse. They readily show that the precepts of Christ compel his followers to pure and blameless lives, and that in fact the morals of Christians were far better than those of pagans. They can easily refute the charge of atheism, and show the loftiness of their mode of wor- shipping God ; and they fill their books with well-founded, though irrelevant, countercharges of the vile acts of pagan gods and the licentiousness of pagan worship. The mode of these attacks on polytheism shows, how- ' Origen, Contra Celsum, viii, 66.
VOL. II — 34
f^:^/Yy0 'i^:^Vi
370
ANCIENT IDEALS
ever, that men who had turned to Christianity could no longer understand the finer religious elements of pagan- ism. The pagan gods were wicked demons ; in them was no good whatsoever. Tatian, Justin, Athenagoras are sarcastic or reviling, bitter and unsparing in their censure. Usually they speak with such unsympathetic misunder- standing of what was at least not ignoble in paganism, that their writings in this regard were likely to make no favorable impression, so open were they to the pagan answers: that is not what we think or mean; only the ignorant herd thinks so. A later writer, however, Minu- cius Felix, in his apologetic writing called Octaviiis after its chief speaker, sets forth the Christian arguments against paganism in such way as to appeal to the pagan mind ; and shows a faculty of refuting paganism through an understanding of it." It was natural that by the third and fourth centuries there should be approach to an understanding of each other on the part of paganism and Christianity. Like Minucius Felix, the later apologists, Arnobius and Lactantius, write with more genuine appre- ciation of paganism. Yet still usually with conversion to the higher religion comes misprisal of the good in pagan religion, if not in pagan life.
' There is imitation of Cicero in the form and setting of this interesting dialogue. The pagan side is opened with reflections from the pagan speaker on the general state of pagan doubt, because of so many philosophies ; all human affairs are " dubia, incerta, suspensa, magisque omnia verisimilia quam vera." The Christian Octavius draws arguments for the greatness and universality of the one God, from the adaptation of all parts and organs to their uses ; he then proceeds to show the opinions of poets and phi- losophers in favor of a sole god and — a usual reference with Christian apologists — refers to Plato having in the Timreus called God mundi parens and artifex animce. He says men should not believe foolish tales about the gods because their ancestors did, and proceeds to expound theism rather than Christianity. Perhaps the treatise is specifically Christian only in name ; but it was well-adapted to refute understandingly certain sides of pagan opposition to Christianity. Thus : " You say we have no temples ; how could we build a temple to him whom the world cannot hold? Nonne melius in nostra dedicandus est mente, in nostro imo consecrandus est
tea!
!re'
tliey p^
argumf"' orlv
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THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY.
If the apologists understood, they certainly ignored the real contention of the government, that Christians should show their submission to the emperor by overt recogni- tion of the state religion. Hence their arguments are frequently beside the point. Athenagoras, for example, argues: "You permit all people in the Empire, except ourselves, to worship whatever gods in whatever manner they please. Why will you not permit us ? " ' A liberal argument indeed, but one ignoring the real point, that only Christians " refused to recognize the imperial re- ligion. Christianity did not tolerate polytheism.
Again, Tertullian argues in his great and passionate Defence,* that more than other people are the Christians free from crimes, while they are unjustly condemned be- cause they will not deny being what they are. In trials for crimes, the endeavor is to reach the truth, and denial on the part of the accused is treated naturally with sus- picion ; but from Christians the magistrate tries to elicit lies, endeavoring to force them untruthfully to deny that they are Christians, Of course this sarcasm does not touch the pagan reason for condemning for the name, to wit, rebellious persistence in avowing it and spurning the
pectore? . . . qui innocentiam colit, Domino supplicat ; qui justitiam, Deo libat ; qui fraudibus abstinet, propitiat Deum ; qui hominem periculo surripit, optimam victimam casdit . . . apud nos religiosior est ille qui justior." We perceive our God in his works ; and would you see God when you cannot see your own soul, by which you live and speak ? But if you say that God in heaven is far off and ignorant of man's deeds, you err. Ubique non tantum nobis proximus, sed infusus est. He points out the superiority of Christian morals ; the jails are full of pagans, there are no Christians in them, unless one who is accused for his religion's sake, or is a deserter. And he utters a sentence which echoes Seneca : " Quem pulchrum spectaculum Deo, quum Christianus adversum minas et supplicia et tor- menta componitur." Octavius then speaks of the shortness of ill-condi- tioned happiness : Are you a king, you fear ; are you rich, you hardly trust fortune, et magno viatico breve vitae iter non instruitur sed oneratur, — just a phrase to touch a pagan, if not itself pagan in tone.
' See Athenagoras, UpEdfiEia, i. e., embassy to Marcus Aurelius, ch. i.
* And Jews of course. ^ Apologeticus, i.
370 ANCIENT IDEALS
ever, that men who had turned to Christianity could no longer understand the finer religious elements of pagan- ism. The pagan gods were wicked demons ; in them was no good whatsoever. Tatian, Justin, Athenagoras are sarcastic or reviling, bitter and unsparing in their censure. Usually they speak with such unsympathetic misunder- standing of what was at least not ignoble in paganism, that their writings in this regard were likely to make no favorable impression, so open were they to the pagan answers : that is not what we think or mean ; only the ignorant herd thinks so. A later writer, however, Minu- cius Felix, in his apologetic writing called Octavius after its chief speaker, sets forth the Christian arguments against paganism in such way as to appeal to the pagan mind ; and shows a faculty of refuting paganism through an understanding of it.' It was natural that by the third and fourth centuries there should be approach to an understanding of each other on the part of paganism and Christianity. Like Minucius Felix, the later apologists, Arnobius and Lactantius, write with more genuine appre- ciation of paganism. Yet still usually with conversion to the higher religion comes misprisal of the good in pagan religion, if not in pagan life.
' There is imitation of Cicero in the form and setting of this interesting dialogue. The pagan side is opened with reflections from the pagan speaker on the general state of pagan doubt, because of so many philosophies ; all human affairs are " dubia, incerta, suspensa, magisque omnia verisimilia quam vera," The Christian Octavius draws arguments for the greatness and universality of the one God, from the adaptation of all parts and organs to their uses ; he then proceeds to show the opinions of poets and phi- losophers in favor of a sole god and — a usual reference with Christian apologists — refers to Plato having in the Timaeus called God mundi parens and artifex animce. He says men should not believe foolish tales about the gods because their ancestors did, and proceeds to expound theism rather than Christianity. Perhaps the treatise is specifically Christian only in name ; but it was well-adapted to refute understandingly certain sides of pagan opposition to Christianity. Thus : " You say we have no temples ; how could we build a temple to him whom the world cannot hold? Nonne melius in nostra dedicandus est mente, in nostro imo consecrandus est
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 37 1
If the apologists understood, they certainly ignored the real contention of the government, that Christians should show their submission to the emperor by overt recogni- tion of the state religion. Hence their arguments are frequently beside the point. Athenagoras, for example, argues: "You permit all people in the Empire, except ourselves, to worship whatever gods in whatever manner they please. Why will you not permit us ? " ' A liberal argument indeed, but one ignoring the real point, that only Christians ' refused to recognize the imperial re- ligion, Christianity did not tolerate polytheism.
Again, Tertullian argues in his great and passionate Defence,' that more than other people are the Christians free from crimes, while they are unjustly condemned be- cause they will not deny being what they are. In trials for crimes, the endeavor is to reach the truth, and denial on the part of the accused is treated naturally with sus- picion ; but from Christians the magistrate tries to elicit lies, endeavoring to force them untruthfully to deny that they are Christians. Of course this sarcasm does not touch the pagan reason for condemning for the name, to wit, rebellious persistence in avowing it and spurning the
pectore? . . . qui innocentiam colit, Domino supplicat ; qui justitiam, Deo libat ; qui fraudibus abstinet, propitiat Deum ; qui hominem periculo surripit, optimam victimam caedit . . . apud nos religiosior est ille qui justior." We perceive our God in his works ; and would you see God when you cannot see your own soul, by which you live and speak ? But if you say that God in heaven is far off and ignorant of man's deeds, you err. Ubique non tantum nobis proximus, sed infusus est. He points out the superiority of Christian morals ; the jails are full of pagans, there are no Christians in them, unless one who is accused for his religion's sake, or is a deserter. And he utters a sentence which echoes Seneca : " Quem pulchrum spectaculum Deo, quum Christianus adversum minas et supplicia et tor- menta componitur." Octavius then speaks of the shortness of ill-condi- tioned happiness : Are you a king, you fear ; are you rich, you hardly trust fortune, et magno viatico breve vitae iter non instruitur sed oneratur, — just a phrase to touch a pagan, if not itself pagan in tone.
' See Athenagoras, TIpedfiEia, i. e., embassy to Marcus Aurelius, ch. i.
* And Jews of course. ^ Apologdicus , i.
372 ANCIENT IDEALS.
imperial worship. And one may notice how other points in the Defence ignore the issue. Christians were loyal subjects, as Tertullian argues earnestly. Pagan magis- trates who read this argument might also know of the same author's strenuous protests against Christians serv- ing in the army.' Indeed some of the great passages in the Defence could hardly fail to rouse the government to greater exertion to suppress such power of lofty resist- ance as the Christians showed. Dicimus, ct palam dici- nius, et vobis torquentilms laccrati et crucnti vociferamur : Deuin colivius per Christiun.'^ The fiery advocate would hardly gain favor for his sect by showing how, by the irreligion of the Romans and the overthrow of gods after- wards worshipped by them, grew Rome's power. Tot sacrilegia Ronianornin qnot tropcBa ! '
The emperor was but a man ; so Tertullian asserts, and so most emperors knew; yet he was a central feature of the state religion, which was loyalty to Rome. Grand but rebellious was Tertullian's avowal that he would never worship him ; and was it politic to add that the general worship of the emperor was only simulation ? ' Christians will not retaliate the wrongs they suffer, but Tertullian suggests that they have the power: " Hesterni sumus et vestra omnia implevimus urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa, tribus, decurias, sena- tum, forum ; sola vobis reliquimus templa. "' Such an assurance that Christians chose not to retaliate would quiet the fears of the government as little as would the noble picture drawn by Tertullian of the Christian com- munity : " We are a body, — Corpus sumus de conscientia
' De Idolatria, ig. In the same treatise he maintains that Christians must give up all occupations connected with heathenism, e.g., astrology, school-teaching, image-making, selling of incense, training of gladiators. Of course, as matter of fact, as Tertullian himself says in ApoL, 42, Chris- tians were soldiers. More at length, in De Corona, he maintains that no Christian can be a soldier.
^ Apol., 21. ^11,., 25.
^ lb., 28-36. » lb., 37,
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 373
religionis et disciplinae divinitate et spei foedere. We meet as a congregation that we may encompass God with our prayers and pray for the emperors, for their ministers, for the welfare of the world, for peace, for delay of the end. Then we meet to read the scripture when the times call for warnings or remindings. By holy words we nour- ish faith, raise hope, stablish confidence and strengthen discipline. Our tried elders preside over us. On the monthly day each gives to the chest what he likes ; this is spent in supporting and burying the poor and aged and orphan, the infirm and shipwrecked, and those sent to the mines, or imprisoned for religion's sake. We do not escape hatred. ' See, ' men say, ' how these Christians love each other. ' They who hate each other say this, and object that we call each other ' brother.' All things with us are common except our wives. Our suppers are de- cried— their name describes them — ayaTtrj. It is a religious service, nothing evil is permitted. First prayer, then temperate eating and drinking, and talk as of men who know that God hears; then washing of hands, and lights ; then each one sings a hymn, prayer closes the supper, and all pass out decorously as if we had supped on discipline."
This was no reassuring picture to the government ; and the apology closes, not with conciliation, but with defiance : Vicinius cum occidimur — go on with your tortures, our numbers thereby increase — senum est san- guis Christianorum. Who, seeing our " obstinacy " does not inquire what may be in the matter ? And does not after inquiry join us ? So we thank you. As there is strife between the human and the divine, when we are condemned by you, we are absolved by God.
So wrote Tertullian in his general defence of Chris- tianity. When writing to a proconsul on the eve of per- secution, his language broadens to the noble statement that it is a natural right of every man to worship as he
374 ANCIENT IDEALS.
deems best,' a right indeed which the Empire tacitly accorded to those who would also worship as the govern- ment prescribed. But as if Tertullian would have the Empire know what Christians meant by the freedom of worship which they asserted, he declares, " Magistrum neminem habemus nisi Deum solum."'' Such " apolo- getic " phrases would confirm the government's convic- tion that Christianity must be suppressed.
If the general object of government persecutions was to force the Christians to show submission to the em- peror's supreme authority by recognition of Imperial the imperial religion, a particular reason for the
jea ousy of suppression of Christians was, that the com-
Corporate
Org-aniza- rno'^ ^i^s of their rebellious faith and the close
tion. fellowship among them were fast becoming
organized and corporate life, affiliated through- out the Empire.
The emperors always saw in corporate organization a danger of conspiracy and sedition. Except for a few limited purposes, the laws forbade men to form associa- tions ; and this prohibitory policy of the Empire was carried out most jealously by the ablest emperors, who time and again refused to allow even small bodies of men to associate for objects desirable in themselves and appar- ently far removed from political affairs.' To be allowed, an association had to be one of a class pronounced worthy by universal sentiment and proved innocent by past experience; or one formed for a purpose which the gov- ernment desired to aid. Associations could be formed for gold, and silver, and salt mining, and for tax collecting, matters not connected with social purposes and in which
' When the imperial government had become Christian, it soon en- deavored to suppress paganism by force.
' Ad Scapulam, 5 ; it is to be remembered that Tertullian represented the extremists among Christians.
'■'• A well-known example is Trajan's refusal to permit a company of one hundred and fifty firemen to be formed in the city of Nicomedia. Pliny, Epis. ad Traj., 33, 34.
THE ROMAN WORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 375
the government was interested. Beyond these, the poor might form mutual benefit associations, for example to ensure the decent burial of the members. But the mem- bers, except for religious purposes, were allowed to meet only once a month in order to bring their contributions to the common fund.'
Such being the pohcy of the Empire, it is evident that even if Christians had not otherwise been regarded with suspicion, they would not have been permitted to asso- ciate together in any such manner as Tertullian describes in his picture of a Christian community. Corpus sjtiiius, says Tertullian ; the Empire permitted nothing of the kind,' But the Christians were generally disliked, and were suspected of various kinds of licentious and seditious conduct ; while their treasonable contumacy regarding the state religion was notorious and avowed. The gov- ernment would view with suspicion any meeting of such men ; its suspicions would be roused to hostile fear at the common faith and hope and life of Christian communi- ties, which were becoming each year more completely organized, and were united through the Empire. Hoav could the government not see malignant hostility in such union, knowing that Christians banded more closely to- gether and perfected the afhliation of their separate com- munities to resist government measures ? Two broad connected facts must have been each year more evident to the government : First, that while Christians showed respect for many social institutions, their lives were changed and necessarily opposed to many customs and habits, and by the very force of the new Christian spirit were opposed to the absolute and irresponsible power of the imperial government. Secondly, the more palpable
' See Dig., iii, iv, i, and Dig., xlvii, 22.
' For example, the common meals of Christians were a prominent feature in their life. Pliny says they had given them up when he wrote to Trajan : Epis. , 97. The same emperor Trajan refused to permit common meals among people who were not Christians.
376 AiVCIENT IDEALS.
fact, that while Christians professed themselves loyal sub- jects, and observers of the laws, they refused to obey whatever ordinances conflicted with their consciences and the principles of their religion, set forth under the author- ity of their own illegal organizations.*
' Though it was not the specific form of the Christian organizations that the government condemned, but rather the fact of such organizations, their practical nature and comprehensive purposes, still it may be remarked, to render the foregoing statements more precise, that it was the church organ- izations of deacons, presbyters, and iTCidHOTCCi, that were illegal and pro- scribed by the government. On the other hand, at some time before the middle of the third century and perhaps as early as the time of Hadrian, Christian communities had attempted to enroll themselves as Benefit Societies of the Poor {collegia tenuiorum) in order that they might hold property, especially burial-places, in a corporate name. Thus they may legally have held property while Christianity itself was a crime. See Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, p. 431, etc.
CHAPTER XXVI.
IN CONCLUSION.
THE long course of human growth, that is to say, the evolution of those mental and spiritual qualities that distinguish man, is a process of attainment, which is wrought out ceaselessly by human endeavor, working within the power of God.' There is always a
past as well as a present to human progress, .
1 1 1 11 f .1 ^ Attainment
and the present may not hold all of the past. ^^^ xrans-
Races appear in history, reach such develop- mission, ment as they are capable of, under the condi- tions of their environment, then cease to progress, and usually lose elements which made part of their race per- sonality at its best. Within the race not all its gain is handed on forever, nor is all transferred to fresher races that may come in contact with it, perhaps when its decline has commenced. All men are inheritors; and, as the centuries are told, the sum rolls up of past attainment, which each succeeding time inherits according to its op- portunities and capability. Rarely are these sufificient to enable an age to use the whole wealth of its inheritance ; and the past, when not obliterated, remains an exhaust- less and increasing store for future men.
Inasmuch as the desires of the early races were indis- criminate,' their contributions to the development of human personality appear somewhat vague. Yet they were building up its cruder elemental traits. There is
' See chapter i. Introductory. * See volume i, p. 6.
377
378 ANCIENT IDEALS.
hardly need to point again to the Egyptians as a first
great example of a race whose ideals followed life's
palpable suggestions. The resulting Egyptian personality
presents a round of moderately developed human faculties,
set in a mighty power of toil. The race had
Egypt* but a poor gift of reason: it understood neither
Babylonia, . , ^ ^ , , / ,. ,
China mference nor the force of generalized statement.
Hence the puerilities of its literature, the in- eradicable errors of its art, and the unyielding conserv- atism which abandoned no thought because contradictory to other thoughts. The Egyptian personality remained its unchanged, ancient self, and so potently as to turn to half Egyptians the foreign conquerors of the land, and to make the architecture and sculpture of the Ptolemies, and of the Roman governors after them, merely a later stage of Egyptian art.
So in the years to come was the enduring race solidarity of the Chinese to make Chinamen of their conquerors. China, even more consciously than Egypt, made a fetish of the past. The Chinese personality was an analogue to the Egyptian, yet reached fuller ethical consistency through a faculty of formulating the practical principles of life. But the Chinese ethical ideal never emancipated itself from its ceremonial expression. And this ethical bondage was not unrelated to the race's incapacity for civic freedom, an incapacity which was absolute with Egyptians and the peoples of Mesopotamia. Of these last, the ancient Babylonians resembled the Egyptians in that they also formed no clear ideals consciously selected with logical discrimination. Theirs also was a primitive personality, fashioned by the influences of environment, rather than developed through self-assertive race individ- uality. It was deficient in finer spiritual traits; but, like Egyptians and Chinese, the early Babylonians had the capacity for sustained toil which achieves material civil- ization. The ideals of Assyria wrought themselves out in extensive conquest and a warrior personality. Thereto,
IN CONCLUSION. 379
in crude and savage fashion, she added close dependence on her gods and pitiless endeavor to conform to the stand- ard of their will and character. Herein, following upon ways of earlier Babylonian thought, the Assyrians reached a sense of sin as deflection from the divine pattern and commands. But the same incapacities for spiritual rea- soning, which bound them to magic incantations, pre- vented an uplifting of Assyrian divinities towards any conception of a single, righteous God, and the ethics of the race remained savage and tribal. Assyrians, Baby- lonians, Chinese, and Egyptians, through all their cen- turies, show no capacity for growth beyond an elementary humanity.
Besides common elements, related to common human traits and common needs, there has been marvellous diver- gence in the objects upon which races have set their high desire, and marvellous difference in ^^i^ergent the answering growth of personality. Certain Human broadly divergent lines of chief desire and ac- Growth. complishment may be distinguished. Men are supremely interested in themselves. This interest, how- ever, may consciously address itself to human beings, their achievements and relationships. What is not man is chiefly viewed as human setting and environment, and as the external elements of human destiny.' Or again, human interest and yearning may relate to God, or to the infinite and absolute impersonally conceived.^ It is evi- dent that human interest and ideal endeavor, centred in man intelligently, or uplifted toward infinitude or God, will result in a growth of human personality beyond the scope of early men. It is also evident, inasmuch as the aims of the later races diverge, that this growth will present the development of certain sides of humanity, but not necessarily a catholic enlargement of the whole man.
■ Greece and Rome will be the examples. ' India and Israel will be the examples.
38o ANCIENT IDEALS.
The Vedic Aryan entering India, in that he was a free- man, possessed a heightened sum of human capacity, which should soon display itself in lofty thought.' As the centuries passed, this Aryan man, having become Hindoo, reached the conception of the infinite, and his yearnings extended with his thoughts. No satisfaction of this infinite craving lay in finite things, which are neither boundless nor permanent, but change and pass. " The infinite is bliss"; be finitude and im- permanence abhorred at their true worthlessness. Hindoo yearning turned from man's activities among his fellows, and set itself upon the eternal and unchanging Absolute. Having conceived it, he attained it, through thinking of the symbol as the fact, and of desire as realization. This last thought hovers between truth and folly. It is folly, when not limited to modes of that which desires; it touches truth, when it is connected with the intrinsic ethical value of intent and will, which cannot but be what they seek to be.
Gotama's strong hand tore down this metaphysical structure; and, with the downfall of the Absolute, fell the human soul. Buddhism was a revulsion from unreal- ity, which overturned things real. It also was clear spir- itual vision, in that it perceived the narrowness of caste and the unspiritual, degrading folly of priestly sacrifices and ascetic penances. But its sorrow-stricken scheme offered no positive justification for any element of life. All mortal living had become stale to the Hindoo spirit, yearning for the infinite. Gotama, destroying this, left to men release from sorrow as the final peace.
Of a truth, that which is finite, that which ends and ceases, cannot satisfy the yearnings of the soul, when once it has risen to the thought of the unceasing and the un- changing. To reach conception of the infinite and the essentially eternal, means that man's thought has tran- scended things of sense, that he has felt the divine within
' See ante, vol. i, p. 58, et seq.
IN CONCLUSION. 38 1
him and the immortality which is its due. So have his yearnings risen, his ideals enlarged to infinite potentiality ; and his highest endeavors must accord. Elements of enormous import have been added to his personality. The ideal of the Infinite and Absolute, with the attain- ment of sundry benevolent and noble thoughts, was India's achievement. But she reached it along paths of abandonment of those strong individual endeavors, with- out which life is futile dreaming, bringing such sad awak- ening as the Buddha saw.
India represents the growth of human personality, through conception of the infinite and the desire to at- tain it. Another Ayran people, or at least an Aryan prophet, represents humanity uplifted through a spiritual conception of a living God, and through endeavor set upon loyalty towards him. Zara- thushtra's religion of conformity to Ahura's will was spiritual and enlightened ; for it demanded belief, as well as works of righteousness. Its power of sincerity was displayed in its militant intolerance and propagandist zeal. But it lacked completeness; for it left a co-ordinate evil spirit to dispute Ahura's sole supremacy ; and, unlike Buddhism, it failed to dispel many racial superstitions, dogmas, and practices.
More than inclusive of Mazdaism's partial spirituality, was Israel's attainment, extending farther back in time and reaching more complete development through a mighty line of prophets. Israel is the most complete ancient example of men centring their interests not upon themselves in themselves, nor on direct relations to their fellows, but on relationship to God.
To Israel it was given to reach the conception, not merely of a single god, but of God himself, necessarily by reason of what he was. Creator and Effector, omnipotent and universal, acting in self-ordaining and world-ordering righteousness. The denial of all other gods, the con- demnation of idols as things of nought, stood not on the
?YV-?^i'«r
AXCIE.%''T IDEALS,
""'"^:tT of its own rea^j aab leaess. but was an unavoid- resolt of the nature and character of Jehovah. Be- ade hfm theme could be no other gods, nor any self -potent counteracticr -"--"-' - -- ---;[^ such as Zarathushtra con- ceived as d- r ^ - -er with Ahura. And this necessarily omiversai God, Jehovah, maintained himself a personal being, very archetypal character and personality. Israel's ideal and achievement lay in the nature, charac- ter, and ways of this great Person, and in her endeavor to conf • " ' " :nce, all Israel's ideals were
held------ - -: ..-r God. He was her ideal of
the -s-orM's nr.d^ ordering; he was the ideal of things near to every man. And Israel's endeavor was to bring qual- ities of her God f -•-''• -5.tion in herself, and so maintain towards htm the ' jf righteous — chosen and vindi-
cated— worshipper.
Israel's progress lay in the enlargement and completion of her thought of Jehovah, and in endeavor after corre- spondent action- In the attainment of her conception of God. Israel grea.tened. But from the first, the strength of the Hebrew personality was shown in its intensitj^, its power of intent. Even as out from Egypt her God had delivered her with a complete divine deliverance, so would she respond to his commands with a complete human devotion. Devotion which would rise to abiding consecration, needs clear sight and reason. In the grow- ing thought regarding this consecration, the nature of its object and the qualities needed in the devoted people, appeared the reach and beauty of Hebrew spirituality. Through consciousness of consecration to God, was com- pleted the thought of holiness as severance and aloofness from lust and self-will, impurity and sin. And the com- plementing thought of efHcient righteousness was uplifted, broadened, universalized, to accord with the character of a God who sought to make men perfect in holiness and r!."''*:^'':''.^S3.' Herein was shown unique spt'it'j^l tr.tel- ^ See amU, p. 133, £t uq.
^ >
Wiillltr
■Mil
IN CONCLUSION.
3S3
ligence, even as the same was shown in the discernment that righteousness and holiness must be of the heart, a conviction symbolized in the looked-for supercession of the graven tablets of the law by the new covenant written on the heart. Spirituality becomes complete in the con- ception of the suffering and redeeming service of Jeho- vah's Ser\-ant,' in which there was final completion of the thought of serving God. And this perfect service is sup- plemented with the sense of the fulness of its blessings to those who serv^e, as the Psalter in modes of beautiful spiritual emotion pours forth the Hebrew heart's assur- ance of the all-sufficiency to man of his relationship to
God.
Not all Israehtes saw God ^-ith the same eyes ; not all thought ahke of him. Nevertheless, toward him they all looked, if from somewhat different standpoints, and with the varying sidelights of diverse temperaments. Israel's circumstances changed from age to age, and raisc-d her thoughts of God. Some Israelites saw God's worship in the heart set right ; with some, Jehovah's jealousy- became punctiliousness of demand in ritual and offering. \ et the real Israel ^vas ever severed from the part which was not Israel by the dominant motive of knowing God, honoring him, doing his will in obedience by conduct like his own, and in human mode helping to bring about his universal rule. After the Exile, the sanctit>- of the religion of Jehovah was intensified, for Israel had reached clearer consciousness that her religion was her alL And if before the Exile, still more after that experience of tribulation and redemption, Israel could never bound her hopes by her narrow circumstances, could never look for a deliver- ance but her thoughts would surge above the factss and range beyond the definite and earthly possible towards the further compass of Messianic fulfilment, for which the extension of Jeho\-ah's kingdom was the chief prepa- ration and of which Jeho\-ah's presence was the croxnTi. > See ante, p. 165, et ssq.
l^f^f
^•^-A^
«^«fll
382 ANCIENT IDEALS.
validity of its own reasonableness, but was an unavoid- able result of the nature and character of Jehovah. Be- side him there could be no other gods, nor any self-potent counteracting principle of evil, such as Zarathushtra con- ceived as disputing the power with Ahura. And this necessarily universal God, Jehovah, maintained himself a personal being, very archetypal character and personality. Israel's ideal and achievement lay in the nature, charac- ter, and ways of this great Person, and in her endeavor to conform herself thereto. Hence, all Israel's ideals were held in her conception of her God. He was her ideal of the world's wide ordering ; he was the ideal of things near to every man. And Israel's endeavor was to bring qual- ities of her God to realization in herself, and so maintain towards him the position of righteous — chosen and vindi- cated— worshipper.
Israel's progress lay in the enlargement and completion of her thought of Jehovah, and in endeavor after corre- spondent action. In the attainment of her conception of God, Israel greatened. But from the first, the strength of the Hebrew personality was shown in its intensity, its power of intent. Even as out from Egypt her God had delivered her with a complete divine deliverance, so would she respond to his commands with a complete human devotion. Devotion which would rise to abiding consecration, needs clear sight and reason. In the grow- ing thought regarding this consecration, the nature of its object and the qualities needed in the devoted people, appeared the reach and beauty of Hebrew spirituality. Through consciousness of consecration to God, was com- pleted the thought of holiness as severance and aloofness from lust and self-will, impurity and sin. And the com- plementing thought of efficient righteousness was uplifted, broadened, universalized, to accord with the character of a God who sought to make men perfect in holiness and righteousness.' Herein was shown unique spiritual intel-
' See ante, p. 133, et seq.
IN CONCLUSION. 383
ligence, even as the same was shown in the discernment that righteousness and holiness must be of the heart, a conviction symbolized in the looked-for supercession of the graven tablets of the law by the new covenant written on the heart. Spirituality becomes complete in the con- ception of the suffering and redeeming service of Jeho- vah's Servant,' in which there was final completion of the thought of serving God. And this perfect service is sup- plemented with the sense of the fulness of its blessings to those who serve, as the Psalter in modes of beautiful spiritual emotion pours forth the Hebrew heart's assur- ance of the all-sufficiency to man of his relationship to God.
Not all Israelites saw God with the same eyes ; not all thought alike of him. Nevertheless, toward him they all looked, if from somewhat different standpoints, and with the varying sidelights of diverse temperaments. Israel's circumstances changed from age to age, and raised her thoughts of God. Some Israelites saw God's worship in the heart set right ; with some, Jehovah's jealousy became punctiliousness of demand in ritual and offering. Yet the real Israel was ever severed from the part which was not Israel by the dominant motive of knowing God, honoring him, doing his will in obedience by conduct like his own, and in human mode helping to bring about his universal rule. After the Exile, the sanctity of the religion of Jehovah was intensified, for Israel had reached clearer consciousness that her religion was her all. And if before the Exile, still more after that experience of tribulation and redemption, Israel could never bound her hopes by her narrow circumstances, could never look for a deliver- ance but her thoughts would surge above the facts, and range beyond the definite and earthly possible towards the further compass of Messianic fulfilment, for which the extension of Jehovah's kingdom was the chief prepa- ration and of which Jehovah's presence was the crown, ' See ante^ p. 163, et seg.
384 ANCIENT IDEALS.
In all of which the true Israelite was a great man/ But for the development of a full human personality, a broader range of human life, than could be in any severed people, is needed to disclose more completed thoughts of self-per- fecting and more generous modes of doing the will of God.
Israel represents the pointing of the human personality toward God. The wider lower plain of human develop- ment was to be wrought out through endeavor intelligently and spiritually set upon human achievement, and through hum.an interests centred in man's direct relations to his fellows — and his enemies. Herein lay the attainment of the Greek and Roman. The Roman contribution was the simpler; his was manhood's sturdy strength ; and it was his, with keen intelligence and power of resolve and self-control, to perfect man's fortitude in ways of civic government and war waged purposefully, and in the gain and holding fast of wide imperial rule.
Through its enduring strength, the Roman character ceaselessly enlarged Rome's destiny and formed her insti- tutions ; while as ceaselessly, from Rome's career and from the impress of the institutions which the Roman character had formed, that character gained in distinctness, consist- ency, and power. In the Roman family most fundamen- tally appeared Roman obedience and responsible com- mand. The son's obedience is implicit, and the father's power is as absolute as his duty to use it aright. Likewise the power of the state, manifested in a government which, as the Roman genius wrought itself out, became ever more completely representative of the virtue, intelligence, and strength within the city. The Roman state, the Roman self-directing commonwealth, is absolute in its power to command the lives of citizens, yet for no despotic end,
' For an illustration here, we may go beyond the characters set forth as historical, like Abraham or Moses, and observe what greatness lay in the dramatically presented personality of Job.
IN CONCLUSION. 385
but unto the furtherance of common honor, welfare, and safety. On his side, the good Roman citizen is devoted in obedience to the state, whether that obedience be shown in lowly station or in consular command — which last also is obedience to duty. And the Roman army, in march and camp and line of battle, exhibits the same devotion of obedience and command.
Strict and stern were Roman ethics, domestic and inter- national ; ungiving and unyielding, doing the letter of the bond. Of like character was the Roman religion, which was an adjunct to the state and family. It was no heart- spontaneity. Let the private worshipper or the state strictly give the gods their due in modes prescribed. Like-minded also was the Roman law, that perfect ex- pression of the Roman spirit. The principle of law is justice, the rendering unto each man of what is due him by virtue of a contract competently made, or by virtue of such recognized protection as the state accords to incom- petence. It is of the essence of law that it may be enforced. Therefore spontaneity, free-giving, is not of the law : to prescribe that implies a contradiction. There were no traits of bounteous free benevolence in Rome to turn the law's development from justice. The law reached that, and reached it most adequately, through the clear practical Roman intelligence and faculty of reason. And in the law appeared the courage of conviction, the unwav- ering carrying out of principles of responsibility to conclu- sions, which might, however, be refined with the gradual tempering of social life. It showed the power of Roman reason that the Roman law was free from solecism and peculiarity, suited to the exigencies of the Empire and of future times as well.
Thus universal was the Roman law, rendering decisions on principles of reasoned justice, and ever advancing towards like treatment of all men. Not unrelated to its progress were popular tendencies to extend Roman rights beyond the city's walls, tendencies which reached their
386 ANCIENT IDEALS.
goal in Julius Caesar and the Empire that levelled race barriers and made all men like. Therein was the final outcome of Rome's genius. Within the city, in the times gone by, the government had gradually recognized the necessity of admitting ever-widening circles to the privi- lege of civic and military sway. So, in a time when civic self-control had partly failed, and a monarch was a neces- sity, that same Roman insight, incarnate in the imperial government, continued to equalize and to liken in privi- lege and right the masses of its subjects. Thereby it gained whatever strength of solidarity the Mediterranean world still held ; and Roman stanchness lived on supreme in this imperial rule and law.
Such were the elements of the Roman personality.
Finer, more manifold and subtle, were the gifts of Greece.
The remains of Mycenaean art present a stage
The Greek jn the long growth through which the Hellenic
Unison. personality was attained. In the epics, the Conduct, r- '
^rj race has reached a clear Hellenic youth, hold-
Philosophy, ing the promise of what Greek maturity was to be. There is in Homer appreciation, felt as well as rationally apprehended, of all the elements of life that might exist under the comparatively simple social conditions pictured in the epics. Already is there per- ception of the weight and interplay of life's factors, with intelligent realization of their proportionate values; there is already recognition of man's greatness, held though he be by mortality and fate ; already burns desire for glory, — that the hero and his deeds be known and prized by other men, even in times to come ; and already is life altogether eager and capable of joyfulness; keen is desire for knowledge, and all-enfolding is the love of beauty.
Then onward fares the Greek development in utmost human catholicity, seeking such complete fulfilment of the whole man as should hold his highest faculties supreme, and yet make due account of all the rest. It is the growth of human freedom, individual, social, civic;
IN CONCLUSION. 387
the many-sided, self-directing evolution of the human spirit, ever consciously seeking what is better. The progress lies through finer determination of criterions of what is best ; it is progress through spiritualization of the Greek ideals of life, which is to say, progress through deeper understanding of what is man.
This progress towards the attainment of the mature Greek personality, is seen in Greek modes of conduct, as related to broad consideration of the acting subject's wel- fare and the nature of the forces which enclose the life of man ; also in the spiritualization of ethical principles, and in the greatening round of objects of desire which inspired the men of Hellas. It is evident how very practically wise the Greeks had become, how true and sound was the development of ethics, as the best wisdom of the land reflects itself in the plays of ^Eschylus and Sophocles and in the lyrics of Simonides and Pindar. It is evident how broadly they cared for all sides of life, and how they sought to holds its elements to that accordance with respective worth which makes life beautiful in its deeds ; and how they also sought to hold life one — fame, honor, temperance, beauty, all gleamings of the self-same gold. It is evident how, with ever finer and more spiritually discriminating perception, they laid their ideals in what was essentially germane to human life because a part of man. A Panathenaic procession in honor of Athene and her city, shows Athens' veritable glory, her elders rev- erent, her youths and maidens strong and fair. No bands of slaves follow, bearing a display of all the wealth and incidental power which these veritable Athenian qualities had brought. It is also evident how the eagerness where- with life's crowns were prized made life itself a thing to hazard for success — achievement of the noble, life-fulfill- ing deed, glory-giving, fame-insuring. Thence sprang the clear Pindaric thought that the perfect act is noble, absolutely worthy in itself, though but a flash, and though the doer thereby die. So knew not only those
388
ANCIENT IDEALS.
who strove to gain an olive crown, but those as well who at Salamis and Platsea hasted to set a crown of freedom upon Hellas.
In Greece toil was toil, and the painfulness of straining endeavor was recognized. Those who hasted to set that crown of freedom upon Hellas, hasted not for the wounds and sweat, but for the meed of glory to themselves, and that all Greeks might be free, free to live highly and humanly and in that happiness which consists in free- minded exercise aright of human faculty. Men should be such as to be able not only to engage rightly in affairs but also to spend their leisure nobly.' Leisure was not for amusements which were not ends in themselves, but were merely relaxations suited to periods of business. Rather the happiness in leisure spent nobly is the end of life. How to spend it, who should say for all men ? Tastes and temperaments differed then, as now. Yet we may let our minds wander to Athens, and view the inter- course of her citizens, feel the pleasure from wit and satire, and the tragic calm of the great dramas, hear discourse of orator or rhetor, know the happiness from new knowledge which philosophers were finding, or let our eyes follow the sacred march of graceful forms, around the Acrop- olis, up through the Propylaea, to Athene's temple. So might suggestions come of how Greeks nobly spent their leisure, those Greeks who also did so much so well. Their leisure fitted them for action ; the act achieved made their leisure fairer. " For v/e are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness."^ This the Greeks did as they perfected their personalities, following life in its fulness and human verity, — achievement, leisure, beauty, knowledge, joy.
Thus it was with Greek conduct and the eager life which throbbed in Hellenic cities. Similar ideals were em- bodied in the creations of art and literature; in that
■ Arist., Pol, viii, iii. •' Thuc, ii, 40, Jowett's translation.
iree-
III
IJV CONCLUSION.
Phidian sculpture which set forth the divinity of gods, and human personahties complete, ennobled, and en- larged ; in that lyric uplifting of human faculty through the greatness of its deeds and the splendor of its fame, which is Pindar's way ; and in the high Athenian drama's interplay of human will and consequential act with Zeus' laws and destiny's award.
And so philosophy as well. It was itself the exercise of highest human faculty ; it was man enlarging his per- sonality through knowledge gained and reason perfected. It began as physics. Then from man's setting, the uni- versal frame wherein he seems to live, — the palpable first matter for objective, open-eyed investigation, — philoso- phy turned homeward to the man, seeking to know his nature and the principles whereby knowledge is truth. Thereupon the subject of inquiry became the whole of man, and a search critical after what was best in him and for him. Finally, Plato knows that spirit is the ultimate reality in man, and that mortal life is but a fragment of the soul's eternity. He knows, and illustrates with argu- ment, that the body is the soul's perishable prison, but that the soul is immortal and imperishable, even as God and life itself will never perish.' And then, Plato's ideal- ity, that is to say, his final judgment upon man, brings previous Greek ideals and opinions for adjudication to the criterion, one yet catholic, of this furthest reality of spirit and the demands of its perfectionings. Platonism was the most absolute of all Greek appreciations of life. As the far peak Olympian, the master set the spiritual beau- tiful and good, the final real. For the mortal man's transitionary state, the best is knowledge — of the real ; then virtue, the realization in conduct of this knowledge ; and due regard for body too, owning its beauty, but with the soul on guard.
Plato's view of life was the ultimate Greek attainment; that wherein the as yet entire Greek spirit reached farth-
' Phado, 83, 106.
^^
J^-%
*i
388 ANCIENT IDEALS.
who strove to gain an olive crown, but those as well who at Salamis and Plataea hasted to set a crown of freedom upon Hellas.
In Greece toil was toil, and the painfulness of straining endeavor was recognized. Those who hasted to set that crown of freedom upon Hellas, hasted not for the wounds and sweat, but for the meed of glory to themselves, and that all Greeks might be free, free to live highly and humanly and in that happiness which consists in free- minded exercise aright of human faculty. Men should be such as to be able not only to engage rightly in affairs but also to spend their leisure nobly.' Leisure was not for amusements which were not ends in themselves, but were merely relaxations suited to periods of business. Rather the happiness in leisure spent nobly is the end of life. How to spend it, who should say for all men ? Tastes and temperaments differed then, as now. Yet we may let our minds wander to Athens, and view the inter- course of her citizens, feel the pleasure from wit and satire, and the tragic calm of the great dramas, hear discourse of orator or rhetor, know the happiness from new knowledge which philosophers were finding, or let our eyes follow the sacred march of graceful forms, around the Acrop- olis, up through the Propylaea, to Athene's temple. So might suggestions come of how Greeks nobly spent their leisure, those Greeks who also did so much so well. Their leisure fitted them for action ; the act achieved made their leisure fairer. " For we are lovers of the beautiful, yet simple in our tastes, and we cultivate the mind without loss of manliness."* This the Greeks did as they perfected their personalities, following life in its fulness and human verity, — achievement, leisure, beauty, knowledge, joy.
Thus it was with Greek conduct and the eager life which throbbed in Hellenic cities. Similar ideals were em- bodied in the creations of art and literature; in that
' Arist., Pol., viii, iii. '^ Thuc. , ii, 40, Jovvett's translation.
IN CONCLUSION. 389
Phidian sculpture which set forth the divinity of gods, and human personahties complete, ennobled, and en- larged ; in that lyric uplifting of human faculty through the greatness of its deeds and the splendor of its fame, which is Pindar's way; and in the high Athenian drama's interplay of human will and consequential act with Zeus' laws and destiny's award.
And so philosophy as well. It was itself the exercise of highest human faculty ; it was man enlarging his per- sonality through knowledge gained and reason perfected. It began as physics. Then from man's setting, the uni- versal frame wherein he seems to live, — the palpable first matter for objective, open-eyed investigation, — philoso- phy turned homeward to the man, seeking to know his nature and the principles whereby knowledge is truth. Thereupon the subject of inquiry became the whole of man, and a search critical after what was best in him and for him. Finally, Plato knows that spirit is the ultimate reality in man, and that mortal life is but a fragment of the soul's eternity. He knows, and illustrates with argu- ment, that the body is the soul's perishable prison, but that the soul is immortal and imperishable, even as God and life itself will never perish.' And then, Plato's ideal- ity, that is to say, his final judgment upon man, brings previous Greek ideals and opinions for adjudication to the criterion, one yet catholic, of this furthest reality of spirit and the demands of its perfectionings. Platonism was the most absolute of all Greek appreciations of life. As the far peak Olympian, the master set the spiritual beau- tiful and good, the final real. For the m.ortal man's transitionary state, the best is knowledge — of the real; then virtue, the realization in conduct of this knowledge ; and due regard for body too, owning its beauty, but with the soul on guard.
Plato's view of life was the ultimate Greek attainment; that wherein the as yet entire Greek spirit reached farth-
' Phcedo, 83, 106.
390 ANCIENT IDEALS.
est growth, that wherein Greek ideals achieved themselves in the utmost greatening of Greek personality. Up unto the spiritual self-consciousness of man converged the cone of life. This fulness of attainment was soon to be lost, because there lacked the only principle which could hold this ideal one and entire, an adequate realization of the archetypal personality of God, the eternal sanction and the standard of man's endeavor to perfect himself.
Aristotle's systematic analysis, although embracing all life, resolved it to its parts, and so prepared the way for the philosophies of a part of life which were to The Sun- foUow. But the time of Aristotle was the time Life when in many ways Greek life began to fall
asunder from its catholicity. Had not the strenuousness of Greece been waning, Philip had not reached the political leadership which he bequeathed his son. Conversely, the omnipotence of Alexander made civic freedom impossible and furnished justification for the lessening of interest in the public welfare. The Greek man was ceasing to be citizen, law-maker, soldier. He was turning to his own affairs and special occupations. The general tendency was towards limitation of interest and specialization of faculty. In the development of particular capacities, the Greek might now surpass his forefathers, but his was not the strength of character, nor the full round of human faculty which was theirs.
Like tendencies appeared in literature. The breadth of ethical principle set in the characters large and master- ful of the older tragedy interested audiences no longer; Euripides, child of his time, had dramatized the smaller motives of common human traits; his characters, lacking the higher range of human attributes, appealed to pas- sions which seemd to grow intenser in a time when free self-directing energy and power of will were failing. Likewise, the plays of Aristophanes, with their public motives of satire, gave place to Menander's comedies of domestic frailty and foible. And so in plastic art, which
IN CONCLUSION. 39 1
now instead of adorning the glory of the city, ministered to private luxury. It also had ceased to strive for grand embodiments of life and beauty ; it too had turned from ethos to pathos, and sought to set forth subtle sentiment and emotion, careless of the subject's complete personal- ity. The sculptured gods were gradually to lose their high divinity. The grand breadth of the unspecialized ideal had fallen from them.
Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics followed hard on Aris- totle. In diverse modes, they represented the waning vigor of Greek intellect, and the narrowing of life through intellectual weakness, if not through intellectual fear. The grasp which held life whole was slackening, and the mental strength which in its buoyancy and hope loved knowledge for its own sake, was declining. Philosophers were seeking knowledge for its utility. The individual was conscious of his helplessness in conflict with the powers of the world ; and so men felt the need, never felt by Plato, to retreat within their reason and detach them- selves from the life without that they might not feel its pains. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, setting reason above all, had not feared to recognize at its proper lesser worth the rest of man and his casual attachments to external things. But now men feared life's storms, and grasped at the conviction that external things were of slight value, being no part of man, and that yearnings for aught out- side the man should be suppressed. Free and self- sustained, out of the reach of fate, might be a life self-centred in reason and the will. This was life accord- ing to nature, said the Stoics, man's true nature, all of him that was worth considering; this was virtue, the only good for man, wherein lay his happiness. Others set up pleasure instead of virtue, but viewed it from the same standpoint; for Epicurean " pleasure " in its best sense was a thing poised in the man himself, dependent on his reason, will, and self-control; indeed, on his restraint and abstinence.
392 ANCIENT IDEALS.
So virtue, or, as with Epicurus, a life self-centred and self-poised, was the supreme good for man. Yet since man lived but a few years, might any instant die through virtuous conduct, and since nothing was assured beyond the grave, was not his virtue transient with the man him- self ? True. But it was a perfect good ; time had no more to do with it than with the perfect heroic deed. This is Stoic unison with the Pindaric thought.
A high element of the Greek personality had been its sense of joy, springing from keen appreciation of the beauty and happiness of living and the splendid worth of life. In his power of appreciating life, the Greek was greater than other men. Dearly he loved its happiness, sharp was the sorrow when its joys were dashed; yet in the strength of great Greek days, life's bitter pains, bit- terest of all its dark uncertain end, did not destroy the joy of what was joyful in it. But pleasure ever lacked the absolute worth which compensates high achievement for its transcience. And though Hellenism remained pleasure-loving, seeking to care for life's joys and beau- ties with blithe heart, nevertheless, as human energies became less eager, the later Greek and the Hellenized Roman — the final pagan man — could not but look on pleasure from the point of view of its fleetingness and cessation. So pagan joy tended to turn to sadness, the Horatian pathos of the flying years.
Moreover, the severer pagan thought of these later centuries looked askance on pleasures as attachments to things outside the will — were they not fetters ? Likewise it frowned upon emotion. The wise man will keep him- self from the fetters of deep feeling for others, will neither burden his heart with grief nor allow it to become filled with love. The wisdom of Epictetus and Marcus shuts out the sunlight, with the storm of life. The higher paganism tended to close its mind against all that reason did not justify, against feeling and emotion, strong affec- tion, against joys as well as griefs. Stoicism in fact rec-
IN CONCLUSION. 393
ognized these, for the heart of man was unconquerable. But this recognition was an inconsistency, a weak allow- ance made for weakness. Only with misgivings could a Stoic love his wife or child ; to preserve his reason free he must be always saying, " neither wife nor child is yours; be kind to them, but ready always to look on them as nothing to you ; ' leaves also are thy children.' "
It was a great lesson, this final lesson of the higher paganism, this steeling of man through reason against fate, against the whole mass of possible evils
from without or from within, the violence of Great 11 r 1-1 1 Short- tyrants, the loss of everythmg dear, the tor- ^„„:„„ •^ ' J is 1 coming.
tures of uncontrolled desire. It was a lesson of self-control, self-poise, self-sufficiency. Yet it was no gospel for mankind. Paganism had started from the full compass of human nature, but it had not followed up all of life. Its great shortcoming lay in its failure to recog- nize the ethical value of emotion, the ennoblement of man through his heart. The greatest of Greek philoso- phers through not recognizing the function of human feeling had imagined a Republic where there should be no fond father's love, no foolish child's blind clinging to its dear parents, no closest tie of heart to heart. "From suffering, knowledge," .^schylus had said it. But this knowledge was mainly warning : crime brings punishment ; avoid it ; folly comes with over-fortune ; beware. Sopho- cles had shown GEdipus enlightened through pain, but with his heart unsoftened. Neither poet knew how suf- fering might greaten man's soul in love, and lift him up through tears.
The centuries rolled on. As the time of Christ ap- proached, the human heart was pressing to recognition. Virgil was feeling, as no soul had felt before, the universal pathos of life. Horace was touched by the same spirit. The light flashed on Juvenal's dark eyes — " the sense of tears is the best part of us, what man's sorrow is not mine?" These deepening feelings were an element of
394 ANCIENT IDEALS.
human growth. Yet the severer paganism — Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus — still shut its mind against its heart ; and though these philosophers reached the thought of God's love of man, man's broad love of fellow-man and loving obedience to God, nevertheless it remained but a thought conceived, of little vital force, because this love was recognized only as reason and not as springing from the heart.
For all of which there was a farthest reason. The god of Stoicism was little more than fate turned law. He lacked personality, therefore was not loving, for only as belonging to a personality can love be conceived, far less trusted in. The Stoic god could not be really loved, though Marcus might use the phrase. And human crea- tures dwelling in a world wherein the highest power was this unfeeling god, might find no final sanction for those high emotions to which there was no correspondence in the iron nature that ordained its laws. Would they resemble God, let them control themselves in reason, and act justly; let them not feel love's devoted enchainments to the welfare of another — so loves not God. As for sor- row, the pagan man shall bear it ; it can hardly be for him the visitings of a loving God who seeks to draw his prodigal nearer himself. In the later philosophic nar- rowing of the Greek spirit, the enlightening effect of pain, touched by Sophocles, instead of reaching clearer appre- hension, was lost.
Paganism was a thing of this world in its instinctive joys and its severer thought. Though the idea of life beyond the grave never quite failed, it had been a lifting strength only to Plato, to Soc- rates perhaps, and a few others. Usually with Greek and Roman it was a dim thought. Cicero might say, " me nemo de immortalitate depellet," ' but for him it was a pleasing topic of discussion, no source of strength in life's dark hours. With the Empire, behefs in immor-
' Ttis. Dis., i, 32.
IN CONCLUSION. 395
tality gained in prevalence, yet became no real assurance to men. Among the common people, they were but a dim expectation of something not as good as life, while the higher pagan minds had rarely brighter thoughts of death than that it was a release, at least would bring no evil. And as for paganism blithe and eager, which cared for life's joys and felt the worth of man, that paganism still, as through the centuries which were past, was ever and anon struck to the heart with woe for lack of assur- ance reaching beyond the grave. The thought of man's mortal helplessness, uttered by Homer, never left the Greek and Roman world ; it was against this that philos- ophy finally sought to arm men with renunciation, and place them within the fortress of the human will. And yet the pagan world knew w^ell that man was born to have and do and attain, and not to live within the thought that things are worthless because beyond his reach ; and it knew the sadness of the life which can see in death only a release. Uncertainty of immortality has never made men prize this life more highly; that uncertainty did not make the pagan world as noble as it was.' On the con- trary, because of that uncertainty paganism reached not the fullest life, which can spring only from the farthest and most certain hope.
Yet paganism made a last attempt to recover life's un- bounded worth, to reach out beyond the limitations of
reason, bring back to life positive elements in
. The L3.st
the place of the self-restraint which was turning Failure
to bitter weariness, and supplement mortality
with the enduring spiritual existence of the soul. There
had come the realization that reason and the will acting
in accord were not the sum of man : mortal life was felt
to be sadly incomplete, and to be estranged from God
through too long reliance on human reason and strength
of will. But the reaction which issued from paganism
was fashioned by the past, and was more fatally limited
' Friedlander, Romische Siitetigeschichte, iii, 770, etc.
396 ANCIENT IDEALS.
by the lessened strength of pagan thought and its slack- ened grasp on reality.
The culmination of this counter-movement of the pa- gan soul was Neo-Platonism with its trains of religious thought. That was a protest against seeing the goal of humanity in the right action of the human reason ; it was a protest also against materialism, and it set forth the mode in which, through religion and mystic ecstasy, men might return to God and ensure the soul's purer existence after the body's dissolution. But it represented pagan weakness rather than pagan strength ; there was in it no inspiring thought of the worth of the perfect act ; gone was the intellectual enthusiasm which found its joy in buoyant endeavor and accomplishment ; gone was the strength of living and the strong pre-occupation with the act in hand; gone, the sufficiency of reason; even the thought of the will's unmoved poise had become stale; the self-reliance of the human mind was shattered. The unbalanced ardor of the Neo-Platonic protest against materialism overleaped itself in fantastic horror of matter and the sense elements of life. This unhinged thought and sublimated mysticism had no root in reality. The religion it sustained was also foolishness because founded on no real conception of the relation between God and man. Neo-Platonism and these last modes of pagan religion, revolting from the sole supremacy of reason, lacked vital strength to broaden to the comprehension of the whole man. It was all too engrossed in mystical un- realities to recognize the human heart.
Other elements than those included in the final weary courses of the pagan spirit might enter the personality of a dv/eller in the Empire, over which was still Paganism |.j^g Roman imperially ruling through his law East ^^^ orderings, his power of defence and pax
Roniana upheld by mighty hand. Throughout the Empire dwelt the Jews, dispersed, holding sterile hopes, for which they would still win proselytes. Besides
IN CONCLUSION. 397
Jewish doctrines, through the eastern provinces there was indefinite conglomerate survival of multifarious modes of thought and life, which had been racial and peculiar, and which still retained characteristics uneffaced by Hellen- ism. From such stores, in former centuries, the Greek himself had taken many ideas to use in his own Hellenic way of re-creation ; and now in less transforming, more syncretic fashion, the Hellenistic denizens of the Empire were borrowing thoughts, fancies, and superstitions adapted to satisfy the tendencies and quell the yearnings of the time.
So this manifold survival maintained itself; Egyptian animal-worship in Egypt ; Syrian fancies and rites of lust in Syria; and through these lands as well as Asia Minor a mass of conjurings and mystical divinings, and worships manifold, indigenous or carried from land to land, or from the farther East. Mysteries, ecstasies, and irra- tionality, appealing to corresponding traits of eastern human nature, were common to these cults. But in the strong appeal, which this conglomerate of superstition and unreason made to educated men, there may have been strains of thought once rational from India. For Buddhism had extended to the north and westerly. How definitely its teachings maintained their dogmatic features in their journeyings is hard to say. But of a certainty, Indian thought and mood filtered through the variegated mass of cult and mysticism to which men were giving themselves from the Euphrates to the Nile, and throughout that region there were moods and ways of thought to which the Indian dissatisfaction with the finite and transitory might attach itself.
Primitive men think to influence natural phenomena by such means as affect themselves; and, as of course, seek to aid their own efforts and gain their desires by charm and incantation or by offering and appeal to better- thought-of gods. In this way religion, which may remain
398 ANCIENT IDEALS.
primitive when in other respects its votaries are more advanced, co-extends with every human act. But it is as yet no scheme holding a unifying standard for the
whole of life. Religious progress lies in higher The Urn- understanding of God, whereby men may ap- a^ReHe-fon P^ehend some principle which shall order life
and determine how and for what objects men may pray. When religion thus, from a fetish adjunct to every act, has become a spiritually determining principle, the question whether it is universal may be put. Is it real and all-inclusive ? Is it set upon the verities of human nature and on all of them ? Are its precepts such that to the sanction of their proportionment may be brought the whole of life ? A final spiritual religion covers all life as a standard of proportionment, a criterion and scheme by which all things are to be esteemed, and into which all true elements of human life may be brought. Such a religion does not itself carry and pre- sent life's manifold contents; but offers scope for the proportioning and unifying of the whole, and the com- pletion of human personality within the sanction of its principles.
Christianity, as contained in the life and teachings of Christ, was absolute in that it included and set forth the
fulfilment of the highest and farthest possibil- Christian- ities of life ; it was universal in that it afforded ity ; its In- g^^Qpg fQj- ^-^g inclusion of all qualities and capa-
f D • cities of mankind, and for the development of 01 Previous ' ^
Thought, the whole man in the service of God ; it was real in that it was founded on veritable rela- tions between God and man, — creation and that imma- nent guidance unto similitude with the Creator which is love, — and in that it touched and ordered all things in man's daily life.
There are preliminary considerations to be borne in mind with respect to the qualities of reality and univer- sality in a religion. As long as there is no conception of
IN CONCLUSION. 399
a life absolute and eternal, while the thought of any exist- ence after death is but shadowy and wavering, earthly living makes up the sum of life. Then, any system to be real must hold in prominent view all matters of daily living, and to be universal must palpably include all human interests and attainments which fill out the breadth and height of mortal life. Obviously, with a firm faith in life beyond the grave, the life of earth ceases to be all; and, in life's full conception, the values attached to elements of life on earth are affected by their conceived relation to the life to come. Hence a re- adjustment, a laying of less stress on many matters. Nay more, as it may from time to time appear that cer- tain of the factors making up mortal life are inconsistent with the higher universality of which mortal life is part, the absolute universality of a final religion will take up into itself and fulfil many elements of antecedent thought through necessary supercession. There would be needed much readjustment and some exclusion in adapting the breadth of Hellenism to the universality of Christianity.
Despite this necessary supercession, nay in deep accord with it, for it was true fulfilment, in Christianity the divine economy of progress was perfect ; no valid element of previous life but was taken up and clothed upon. The elements of life contained in the human attainment of the Greeks, the Romans, and the Hindoos, together with the God-regarding or religious phases of development reached by Israel and her cruder Semitic kin, and by Mazdaism, were contained within the transforming synthesis of Christ; which shows beautifully life's oneness, whereof no bit falls to the ground, but all in vital consistency may be gathered into the completed personality.
Tracing the elements of previous thought which were fulfilled in Christianity, as a first broadest illustration it may be noticed how both the Indo-Germanic tendency to discern a law and potency in the nature of things, and the Semitic mode of seeing power only in the gods or God,
400 ANCIENT IDEALS.
are included in the Christian thought of God the Creator of all, omniscient and omnipotent in his perfect law- ordaining, law-abiding righteousness and love. Here the grand preparation was the Hebrew Jehovah, be-
God and comingj- with the prophets universal God. That Fate. r r
God whose throne was the heaven and whose
footstool the earth, but who also abode with the humble in heart, became awful and lifted up to later Israel. Now through Christ was he forevermore the Father, dwelling with each son in the immanence of unceasing love. And God was spirit, not mere mentality reasoning always, as with Aristotle ; but spirit, that is to say a person, loving, desirous, yearning for the ever-increasing welfare of his creatures. First Creator was he, of man and all things, and immanent Creator still, bettering his creature-sons, vitally increasing them, making them more in number and each one a larger personality with more of life in him. God ever loved his creation, and in love created. Has his love ceased that he should cease creating, making his creatures more in likeness to himself ? His love works ever in his creatures, and most completely in his sons who in responsive love turn to him. To them he reveals his nature in myriad ways.
The thought of revelation follows from the thought of the creation of creature-sons in that abiding immanence of love which must lead ever unto similitude with God. Shall God create men free to sin, free to fall away from him, and not guide them to righteousness, likeness with him ? Man's sense of the divine always carried the thought of moving the god in some way, of communicat- ing with him, and in return receiving signs or revealings of his will. This thought changes and grows with thought of what God is, and is as veritable as the other elements of whatever conception of God it may form part. Assurance of the reality of communion with the divine underlies all the fantastic unimaginable shapes in which mankind in different statjes have sought to avail
IN CONCLUSION. 4OI
themselves of the guidance and succor of their gods. Only in modes having some affinity to current ways of thinking, can men think as real God's communings with them and his revelation of his will. The Hebrew, as he has sublimest thought of God, also thinks the noblest thoughts as to the mode and manner of God's communi- cations. Relying on the spiritual perceptions of the pro- phetic nature, the Hebrew alone condemns necromancy and divination as evil and untrue, because they are below his thought of God and the mode in which God speaks to man. All thoughts of communication with the divine find their spiritual culmination in the sense of God's in- dwelling revelation, which with Christ was so single, clear, and full of light, that his words were to be for men direct transmission of the truth and life of God.
It is evident that the Christian thought of God, which completed the Hebraic conception of Jehovah, included all elements of verity contained in the lesser thoughts of God and gods held by other peoples. And inasmuch as the Christian God is eternal purpose and omnipotent intelligence controlling his creation through all time, the fulness of his Godhead and divine function includes the force and potency of things created by him, the laws and nature of which he has set. He holds within himself the power of Fate and Rita. The conception of Fate's fore- ordainings is all included in God's purpose and foreknowl- edge, nay rather his fore-love. Likewise the thought of Fate's inevitable retributive nature is held within God's righteousness, the law of righteous retribution and reward which is as sure and fixed for man as any yEschylean- Sophoclean thought of Fate. And this rewarding and retributive righteousness of God, our Father, effectuates itself in modes which more than hold all Greek and Indian thoughts of suffering's efficiency toward good, and of the " power of the act," and crime which works itself out surely in further crime and ruin.
But with vast difference of ethical result. Fate came
402 ANCIENT IDEALS.
indeed to hold the thought of righteous retribution ; and yet it also stood for all the seeming brutal happenings to man; and, lacking personality, it lacked purpose, abso- lutely lacked the purpose, inscrutable though it be, of the divine love. In consequence, it ever tended to justify in man thoughts of a refuge from its power. Free and self-sustained, out of the reach of Fate, so would the Stoic be. So also is the Christian free, through knowl- edge of the truth of God and the voluntary obedience of love which springs from it ; but self-sustained, out of reach of God's love though it smite, that, from the Chris- tian point of view, were death ; and Christian faith in that love supplements short mortal vision, which may not always see in pain the purpose.
The Christian thought of God included in its absolute harmony of omnipotence and love all previous concep- tions of divine governance and Fate. It was
The Sphere ^^^ enlargement of the personality of those to
of Man's , . , . ..
Desires whom it came, for human personality greatens
in the attainment of the thought of the abso- lute personality of God. Conversely, from the point of view of human desire and the conception of the content and possible issue of human life, Christianity included all, transforming and converging to unity the sum of human life attained by all the peoples of the earth.
It would seem as if the compass of India's yearnings could not be surpassed, for she set her mind and heart upon the absolute and infinite; in view of that, she would surrender all things transient as worthless. There is in Christianity as full a desire of the infinite, as full a sense that without it the finite is nothing, as in any mode of Indian thought. But Christianity recognizes each ele- ment of the individual life as part of an eternal human personality, and also as related to God's plan for men. It recognizes that every human act is an element of man's relationship to God, and that God's infinity is immanent in every human act. So every act and element of a human
IN CONCLUSION. 403
life is of transcendent value. Indian thought tended to reject each single element and act and circumstance of life, nay every individual life, because not in itself the evident and all-embracing whole of God, the absolute Whole. Again, Christianity sets before man the attain- ment of eternity, and the perfecting of his relationship to God, in modes which accord with the conditions of man's life on earth, answer their demands, and use their oppor- tunities for spiritual growth. Indian thought seeks to ignore these conditions; it renounces the happiness and worth which lie in their fulfilment, and, in final aban- donment of individuality, it abandons the necessary condi- tion of the attainment of the absolute. So Christianity held the desire of the infinite, and kept that desire real through the reality of the modes in which the infinite was made a goal of human life. The Indian yearning was included and added to, the Indian catastrophe avoided.
Besides the thought of reaching the absolute, ancient peoples had in other ways conceived of existence as not terminated at death. The Egyptians had elaborated a reflex of physical earthly life sustained indefinitely after death through the galvanic force of magic incantation. Its means of continuance were in full detail made similar to the modes of sustaining earthly life. Life after death was subject to all earthly physical conditions, yet lacked the living body's power to fulfil them. Such a concep- tion holds so many shocking inconsistencies, that it could be elaborated only among a race incapable of logical thinking. Death palpably entails the body's dissolution. No ancient race reached any real conception of spiritual life freed from conditions of the flesh. Consequently, ancient races, in proportion to their intelligence, refrained from constructing realistic schemes of future life wherein each added feature made the Avhole more glaringly ab- surd ; and hence, Greek and Hebrew conceptions were markedly meagre and shadowy. Even Plato spoke of life after death in terms of myth and fancy. But Christ's
404 ANCIENT IDEALS.
teachings, especially those preserved in the inexhaustibly- suggestive language of the Fourth Gospel, disclose eter- nal life freed from conditions of the body, thus pointing to the only mode in which the life to come is thinkable. That life, which also may be now, is spiritual and uncon- ditioned, save on relationship to the Source. So were avoided the inconsistencies of a quasi-physical future life, dependent on conditions which it could not fulfil ; and, as the life disclosed by Christ rose above these dilemmas of the flesh, it might be eternally real and absolutely comprehensive.'
Greece was the opposite of India, loving all that India loathed in bitterness. She sought each element of human life, sought to retain and add to it ; then she discrimi- nated, seeking to hold as best whatever was most verita- bly part of man. Yet, in the end, life's factors slipped from her grasp because her life and her philosophy, her conception of man and his relations to the powers which make his destiny, yielded no principle of synthesis sufifi- cient to comprehend, unite, and hold all of life's factors; she conceived no aim and purpose and assured event of human life, which might embrace all faculties of man and every element of his nature, leave nothing out, but hand all on to eternal perfecting. Christianity was an organic synthesis of all life's elements, life's farthest loves and loftiest devotions; and in Christianity, knowledge of the truth, of the true God and his relationship to his creation, w^as life eternal.
The great thoughts and principles of Greek life were held entire in Christianity. First of all, the clear dis-
' These remarks apply to Christ's teachings ; of course commonly among Christians the conception was not to be thus spiritual.
Physical science at present tends to show that mankind cannot endure forever, inasmuch as the conditions under which animal life is possible, are slowly passing. Hence, a spiritual immortality is needed to take life out of the power of fate, and would seem a not unjustifiable inference from any postulate of the existence of God as omnipotent, omniscient, creative, and loving.
IN CONCLUSION. 405
criminating thought of " nothing too much"; let all things be desired and loved in proportion to their worth But Christianity, not Greece, held the final pr.nc.p e of all-proportionment, that love of God, wherem all loves of human beings are contained duly proportioned, and whereunto all man's endeavors find their right purpose and their end. In Christianity, moreover, to know God _the •• to know Thee "-not only holds the principle of proportionmcnt of all human yearnings, but is an intel- kctually proportioning principle for thought as well ;--let all things be known and reflected upon, as related withm this all-tompassing knowledge of God.
The severe outcome of pagan ethics, that man shall content himself within the self-poise of his will, was found comfortless at last by pagan thought; an earlier ethical deduction was the general human truth uttered by ^schylus: the just man shall not be utterly destroyed. This was more than included in Christianity s divine assurance, that he shall be blessed.
Splendidly had the Greek in life and literature brought to expression the thought that the perfect deed has worth, despite its impermanence and the doer s own mo - Tality In Christianity, each perfect deed, each right- eous loving act, is of transcendent worth in its relation to the will li G^d and as an element of the doer's eterna life The Greek thought is crowned with a sanction of love and immortality. Likewise the Greek knew the worth of life which holds these perfect deeds, ana rationally reflects upon them; he saw the dignity of 1"-" J^e ex- istent man who had attained to what he was. The Chns- tan sees life's dignity, nay, its blessedness, in its eternal Derfectibility ; humble in what he is before God s standard, he L inspired and proud in what through God he shal be But as to plastic art, which holds embodiment of idea qualities in their beauty, what may be said «=P«""g "'^ Llusion in Christianity ? Beauty seen by the eye he beauty of the human form, is the visibl. excellence of the
406 ANCIENT IDEALS.
good qualities of man. But man in his highest qualities is spirit, which cannot be seen, but only suggested by its usual physical accompaniment of noble and lovely form and feature. Sculpture, painting, cannot express the spiritual directly, and never completely, because of the inherent impossibility of things material portraying spirit. Even in the presence of the noblest art, the soul yearns on and upward, no sensuous form shall stay it ; for the soul breaks through this image of an image of reality, seeking purer, more spiritual, more universally real prin- ciples of beauty; this is Platonism, this is truth, this is Christianity.
There is profound artistic truth in the principle that the highest visible beauty is that which suggests the invisible beauty of higher modes of life, and ultimately that abso- lute beauty and goodness which is God. Though this is Platonism as well as Christianity, there is a difference be- tween them here. Plato cared supremely for the beauty not contained in visible forms; but his unseen beauty was intellectual beauty, that of the qualities of order, law, proportion, fitness. The Christian unseen spiritual beauty includes these; it adds to them the beauty of the higher emotions, and, consequently, the beauty of a broader range of ethical qualities, constituting a fuller manhood and an incomparably fuller divinity. It in- cludes the beauty of love, God's love of man, and man's love reflecting it; and to the qualities of man's finitude, it brings infinity, and suggests the aspirations of man enduring, suffering, straining upwards to the love of God and the everlasting arms of pity.'
And finally, the Greek happiness, the " be thou joyful, be thou young, my soul," — was there not scope for that in the Gospel of glad tidings of eternal life ? The Greek had joy in living, joy in his faculties rightly exercised, joy in deeds of mind and body, joy in all that entered
' These differences find illustration in Christian painting and Gothic cathedrals, as compared with Greek temples and Greek sculpture.
IN CONCLUSION. 407
into the making him the broad man he was. Yet again, even as Greek thought did not aiTord an enduring prin- ciple of synthesis whereby Hfe ever miglit be held whole, so did it yield no principle whereby life's full joy might be kept. In Christianity comes the entire joy which leaves no part of life unblessed, joy in the exercise of the highest spiritual faculties, joy in knowledge and in love, — the all-compassing joy of serving God, doing his will, bringing the whole of life to oneness unto its eternal perfecting.
Such were modes in which Christianity held Greek ele- ments of life. Then all the serious strong Roman traits, might not they too be held within its universality of life and opportunity of serving God ? And the final civil and political ideal of Greece and Rome, that of wide civilizing empire, which levels barriers and makes men equal throughout its bounds and at least partly free to live their lives, — this ideal was realized by the Roman Empire, and it was more than held in Christianity, which knew neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek, nor bond or free ; save that all were free. All the elements of Greek and Roman freedom might be transformed and perfected in the kingdom of heaven.
Mortal life is but a fragment, as Plato knew, and strove to link it to eternity; John's Gospel makes clear the joinder. And the human life which through Christ shall be eternal was more in compass than with Plato. It held the human heart, those gathering heart -beats which had throbbed on in the intervening centuries, despite the frowns of pagan reason. It was part of Christ's full idealism, that, as he enjoined always what was the abso- lute best, so he excluded no means and mode of fuller life, lest it should bring pain, and forbade nothing not evil in itself, lest it be abused. Christianity founded itself on human life entire, on the heart of the world as well as on its intellect. Jesus wept — in these words lies a new dispensation. Life shall enfold all pity, love, and
408 ANCIENT IDEALS.
sympathy. No more was the mind to steel the heart against the greater part of hfe ; but the heart should quicken and the mind should guide on through reaches of humanity unknown before.
It may thus appear that Christianity comprised all posi- tive and valid elements of previous life and thought. Its universality may be also indicated by reference The Final to more general considerations. John's Gospel
Univer- completes the synoptic record of Christ, and sality of .... n 111 -1 1 r 1 T
Christian- ^^S"^ ^^ renected back upon it by the unfoldmg
ity. of Christ's teachings in the subsequent books
of the New Testament. Christianity, as thus set forth, offers a synthesis of life, a synthesis of all ideals, absolute self-fulfilment along the lines of high desire.
As men emerge from savagery, they display two sets of motives, apparently distinct and frequently opposed. The first is to satisfy the immediate wants and desires of the individual, which urge him to get for himself, gratify his lusts, fulfil his nature from the side of grasp- ing and enjoying. These motives include the animal de- sires and much more besides; but, broadly speaking, they are selfish, egoistic. Often in conflict with the selfish motives, are motives which do not have for their imme- diate end the satisfaction of the man's desires with sole regard to self. Rather their immediate end is the wel- fare of others, — children, parents, husband, wife, the tribe, the state. Conflicts between these two kinds of motives are not life's only complication. For, as human beings become more rational and foreseeing, there must often arise a conflict among the selfish motives, or even among the unselfish ones. There is such conflict in all endeavor ; action or inaction in accordance with one motive is foregone to satisfy the pressure of another. Endeavor involves sacrifice for an end. Institutions, morals, systems of ethics and religion are attempted reconcilements of human motives and endeavors, and aim to satisfy the greatest sum of human desires; especially
IN CONCLUSION. 409
they are attempted adjustments of the opposition be- tween selfish and unselfish desires. One may trace the solutions offered by Greek civic and social life, by the systems of Greek philosophy — Platonism, for instance ; then the narrower solutions of the Porch and Epicurus. Again, one may trace the mighty, turbid solutions offered by Rome; or those which the Hebrew sought within the compass of Jehovah's will. The solution which Chris- tianity offered was adequate; was final; it reconciled the special conflicts with reference to the standard of the all- proportioning, life-giving will of God, wherein the less shall ever be given for the greater, the bounden for the free, the transitory for the eternal. And the solution which Christianity offered of the opposition between selfish and unselfish motives, was not the suppression of the one class, in order that the other might have freer play ; it was a reconcilement which united farthest and most rational satisfaction of self with entire devotion to God and fellow-men. For Christianity set forth and made living, as the universal reconcilement of life's oppositions, the sacrifice of self unto self's absolute fulfilment. It was a final exposition of the mode in which the human being must perfect himself; a final exposition of the living law of human progress, the law of sacrifice unto attainment, sacrifice of the lower elements of self unto the perfecting of the higher. Without endeavor, without sacrifice, there is no gain. With every endeavor, with every sacrifice, with every giving of the soul, there is gain absolute in the growth of true elements of the giver's self, which accord with the will of the All-giver and are fit for life eternal.
The spiritual principle of this self-sacrifice for God and fellow-beings, unto the completion of self in God's ful- ness of life, is love. Love is primarily desire for immediate satisfaction of itself ; but, early in its genesis, there is suggestion that the existence of another has been considered, and soon comes a conception
410 ANCIENT IDEALS.
of the Other's welfare. With Homer, love desires and love guards ; with Sappho, love is pale and red desire ; at last, in the Symposium, Eros' wings unfold. And love, with Plato, is desire of perfect beauty and of highest good. This desire starts from the man's self, its object is his happiness, his welfare ; a proper object, without which reality of motive passes from individual life. But even at the discourse's close, love's votary does not see that he must lay his life upon the altar ; he does not see, out from his heart, that love is a giving of one's self, a service of God unto the increase of God's life among his creatures, unto the bringing of others into the goodness and beauty of God's will and way, and unto the bringing of one's self thereby into full participation in the life of God. Life is love, and, to complete itself, must serve and give itself entire, whereby, and in no other way, shall it bring to reality within itself that supplementing life of all of God. In Christianity, love is not only motive and the principle of life's endeavor, but in itself attainment. He who giveth his life utterly unto the will of God, liv- eth along the eternal ways of God's life-giving will. Only Christian love, consecrated to sacrifice and service, can bring into itself the life of all that hierarchy of being which it loves to serve and give itself unto.
Love which gives itself, yet gives up nothing, and in the end gains all, as it is the perfect mode of Chris- tian life, so it is the type of all in Christianity. By himself, man can hold himself erect only in modes of renunciation ; witness India, witness Greece. But Chris- tianity was attainment absolute and universal; and every Christian act, through belief, obedience, faith, and love of God, contained within itself the power of God's com- mand, which is eternal life. Followers of Christ gain all and give up nothing: they give themselves, and perfectly save and fulfil themselves. The universal, the infinite, God and all his creation, is reached; the Christian's indi- viduality is retained. Not love alone, but the kingdom
IN CONCLUSION. 411
of heaven, and everj^ mode of the hfe absolute and eter- nal as set forth by Christ, implies distinction between subject and object, and asserts the eternal continuance of individual personalities. For faith there must be a believer and an object ; for hope there must be one who hopes and something hoped for ; for love there must be the lover and the loved ; and knowledge requires a knower and a known. If human personalities were merged even in God, there could not be for man that life eternal which is to know God.
These modes of life pass into each other. God the source of all, God's ways and nature; and the great veri- ties of God's power and righteousness and love; these constitute the truth of God for man. In man, according to the truth of Christ, life dawns with belief and obedi- ence, rising and broadening to faith, then love and knowl- edge, and again knowledge, shown by love, and love increased by further knowledge to perfect love at last, complete abiding in the love of God.
THE END.
r-ry^'r
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Hui,.
Wi/i;.'
I
INDEX TO SOME GREEK WORDS COM MENTED UPON.
dyia6ov, ii, 305
abeoi, ii, 355, note
aidajif i, 241, 242, 245, 387
aida, i, 167 et seq., 173, 204
d\7j6iv6i, ii, 289, 295, 301
dvdyHTf, i, 205, note 4, 218
dvayvc6pi6tS, i, 291
dnapxv, ii, 319
dpET7i, i, 179, 372 ; ii, 342
dp^o^'ia, i, 262
drixpaXia, i, 383
drrj, i, 160, 202, 206, 209, 212, 233
/Sz'o? QeooprjTi-Ho'i, i, 341 (iovXi} jdtoi, i, 173
yvc^Si 6avTOV, i, 304
dai/uGOv, i, 204, 210, 218, 256, 311 Sidvota, i, 291 et seq.
Eidoi, i, 327 evdaijuovia, i, 372, 381 svTtpa^ia, i, 318, 319 evrv;i;z'a-, i, 319
rjSovrj, i, 379
37605. i, 218, 291 ^/. seq., 311
Binii, i, 214, 247 SecJ^jarot', i, 174, note 4
iSia, i, 327
xdOcxpdi?, i, 298 KaA/loS, i 186 xaAo5, i 185, 247, 260, note HaXonayaOia, i, 293, 337 HdjUOVTSi, i, 164
413
^Jif >%#::« <3fr I
lii-
H7}p, i, 167 et seq., 174, note 4, 213 Hod/uoi, i, 261, 262 ; ii, 276-279
Aoyo?, ii, 274
jusyaXoipvxux, i, 337.
/.itjSev ayav, i, 202, 233, 304, 320,
note, 337 Hij.ir](5ii, i, 287, note /.loipa (/lopo?), i, 167 et seq., 174.
204, 213, 322, note, 326 juovai, ii, 292 MvQoS, i, 288, 289
v£/iis6i?, i, 387 vovi, i, 312 ; ii, 82
TtEpiTtETEia, i, 291 TtivvTr], i, 179 TToAfS, i, 234, 309
TtOTfMOZ, i, 167 ^/J^^.
6apc,, ii, 321 6o(pia, i, 318, 332 6(2)^a, ii, 320, 321, note 6Gog}po6vvr/, i, 202, 245, 318, note, 322
Texvr], i, 266
v/Spti, i, 177, note, 202, 212, 233,
235 VTtepnopov, i, 169, note 5
q)vd, i, 21S
^a'pzS, i, 186, 262
ipvxv, i. 161
INDEX TO SOME GREEK WORDS COM- MENTED UPON.
dyia6ov, ii, 305
adeoi, ii, 355, note
aiScJi, i, 241, 242, 245, 387
ai6a, i, 167 et seq., 173, 204
aT^rj^nvoi, ii, 289, 295, 301
dvoiyxTf, i, 205, note 4, 218
dvayvojpi6ti, i, 291
dirapx?}, ii, 3^9
dpsTTJ, i, 179, 372 ; ii, 342
dpjuovia, i, 262
dnxpazia, i, 383
arrj, i, 160, 202, 206, 209, 212, 233
/Si'os QEOopTjTiHo?, i, 341 fJovAij Jtoi, i, 173
yvc^Si 6avT0V, i, 304
8ai/UGDv, i, 204, 210, 218, 256, 311 didvoia, i, 291 et seq.
eido?, i, 327 Evdaijuovia, i, 372, 381 evTtpa^ia, i, 318, 319 evrvxtcXf i, 319
TiSovrj, i, 379
^o5, i, 218, 291 et. seq., 311
()£/.ni, i, 214, 247 Setj^jardy, i, 174, note 4
^5£'a, i, 327
xdOapdi?, i, 298 xaAA.oS, i 186 KaAds, i 185, 247, 260, note xaXondyaOia, i, 293, 337 Hajuovres, i, 164
K77/3, i, 167 et seq., 174, note 4, 213 «d(J//o5, i, 261, 262 ; ii, 276-279
Ad;'o?, ii, 274
HeyaXcyil)vxux, i, 337.
firjSev dyav, i, 202, 233, 304. 320,
note, 337 jui'nTjdii, i, 287, note /wipa (/uopo?), i, 167 et seq., 174,
204, 213, 322, note, 326 juovai, ii, 292 MvOoiy i, 288, 289
v£U£6ii, i, 387 j'ou?, i, 312 ; ii, 82
TTspiTTETeYa, i, 291 Ttivvrr], i, 179 ffoAfS, i, 234, 309
TtOTHOZ, i, 167 ^/ Ji?^.
6ap%, ii, 321 6ocpia, i, 318, 332 dc^ua, ii, 320, 321, note 6coq)po6vvr}, i, 202, 245, 318, note, 322
TExyVf i. 266
v(ipi<i, i, 177, note, 202, 212, 233,
235 VTtepuopov, i, 169, note 5
9)fa, i, 218
X<xpi?, i, 186, 262
Tpvxv, i, 161
413
GENERAL INDEX.
Abraham, ii, gg, loo, 123
Absolute, the, Indian conceptions, i, 71 et seo.
Accad, see Sumer-Accad
Achsean league, i, 346, 350
Achasans, relation to Mycenaean civilization, i, 146 ; expelled by Dorians, i, 146
Achilles, his fate, i, 168, 174; char- acter, i, 188 et seq.; night scene with Priam, i, 190 ; pathos of, i, 194 ; in Hades, i, 194, note
^gisthus, i, 171, 211
^neas, in Homer, i, 170, 172 ; his character in the jEtieid, ii, 11-17
yEneid, the, expresses the public ideal of the Augustan Age, ii, 11-19 ; its religiousness, ib.; the sixth book, ii, 19 ; pathos in, ii, 32-40 ; characteristics in common with the Psalms, ii, 200
^olians, migration of, i, 147
iEschylus, i, 213, et seq.^ "zia, et seq., 251 ; ii, 3S7, 405
Agamemnon, the, i, 210, 226, 289, 290
Agathon, encomium on love in the Symposium, i, 255
Agis, i, 346
Agni, Indian god, i, 60, 67, et seq.
Agrarian struggle, at Rome, i, 396
Ahura Mazda, god in the Avesta, i, 107 ; his character, i, ill, 113
Ajax, i, 181
Ajax Oileus, i, 171, 181
Alcseus, i, 354
Alcestis, the, i, 296
Alcibiades, i, 151
Alexander the Great, i, 348 ; ii, 29, 390
Alexandria, 1, 351, 354
Alexandrian literature i, 351, et seq.; the love-motive, i, 351-354; Callimachus, i, 355 ; Apollonius Rhodius, i, 355 ; love stories, i, 356; Theocritus, i, 357-360; the Anthology, i, 361
Allegory, in later Greek sculpture,
i. 365 Alphabet, Phoenician and Greek, i,
136 ; the Hebrew, ii, loi, note 2 Amenemhat, Egyptian pharaoh, i,
23
Amon, Amon-ra, Egyptian gods, i, 21, 22
Amos, ii, 135, 137, 140, 142, 150
Amshaspands, Zarathushtrian con- ceptions, i, 108, III, 114
Anacreon, i, 354
Anaxagoras, i, 312
Anaximander i, 303, 306
Anaximenes, i, 307
Andromache, the, i, 353
Angro Mainyu, the Avesta evil spirit, i, III, 112, 118 ; Ahriman, i, 119
Ani, Egyptian scribe, i, 20, 25, note
Animal worship, Egyptian, i, 21
Anthology, the Greek, i, 361
Antigone, the, i, 210 and note 2 ; i, 217, 228, 290, 294, 300 ; ii, 369
Antioch, i, 351
Antisthenes, the Cynic, i, 371-373
Antony, Mark, ii, 3, 4
Aphrodite, originally Ishtar-As- tarte, i, 136 ; her character in Homer, i, 160
Apocalyptic prophecies in later Juda- ism, ii, 228 ; the Messiah, ii, 229- 231
Apollo, his character in Homer, i, 158, 192
Apollonius of Tyana, ii, 78, 79
415
4i6
GENERAL INDEX.
Apollonius Rhodius, the Argonau- tic a, i, 355
Apostolic interpretation, ii, 309 et seq.; principle of Gospel priority, ii, 309-311 ; deflections from the universality of Christ, ii, 311 ; epistle of James, ii, 311 ; Paul's views of marriage, ii, 312 ; Paul's dialectic, 313; the epistle to the Ro- mans, ii, 313-316 ; freedom from the law, ?'^./ "election," ii, 316; propitiation, ii, 317 ; the resurrec- tion and life eternal with Paul, ii, 317 ; function of faith with Paul, ii, 322 ; John's epistle : the un- conditioned spiritual life, ii, 325 ; the teaching of love in Paul and John, ii, 327-332
Apotheosis of Augustus, ii, 24-27
Apoxyomenus, the, i, 364
Arahats, in Indian Buddhism, i, 100
Aratus, i, 347, 350
Arcesilaus, i, 384
Archilochus, i, 350
Architecture, Egyptian, i, 28 ; Per- sian, i, 119, note 4, 124; Myce- naean, i, 140, 141 ; Greek, i, 268 ; at Rome, i, 429
Ares (Mars), his character in Homer, i, 159, 160
Argonautica, the, i, 355
Aristippus of Gyrene, i, 371-373
Aristocracies, Greek, i, 235
Aristophanes, i, 352 ; ii, 390
Aristotle, on the Greek state, i, 234 et seq.; view of music, i, 245 ; definition of art, i, 266 ; of tragedy, i, 287, et seq.; dis- tinguishes between virtue and knowledge, i, 336 ; virtue a habit in the mean, i, 337 ; metaphysics, i) 338 ; the four causes i, 338 ; pleasure, i, 340 ; stimmum bomwi, i, 341 ; position in pre-Chris- tian progress, ii, 390, 400
Arnobius, ii, 370
Art, Egyptian, i, 28 ; Assyrian, i, 44 ; of MycenK, i, 140 et seq.; Greek, as exemplifying Greek ideals, i, 249 ; conception of beauty in, i, 260 et seq.; the uni- versal dn the concrete, i, 263 ; definition of from Greek stand- points, i, 266 ; later Greek, i, 361- 370 ; allegory in, i, 365 ; pathos in, i, 3&6 ; realism in, i, 368 ; at Rome under the Republic, i, 429
Art and Christianity, ii, 405
Artemis, i, 158, 192
Aryans, primitive institutions, i, 59 ; were free, i, 59, 61, 125, 240 ; religious conceptions compared with those of the Semites, i, 63 ; ii, 99 ; survival of the name, i, 105, note 3
Asceticism, in India, i, 80 ; of Neo- Pythagoreans and Neo-Platonists, ii, 78, 84, 90
Assurbanipal's Prayer, i, 39
Assyrians, intellectually unde- veloped, i, 42 ; ii, 373 ; traits, i, 43 ; art and literature, i, 44, 278
Astarte, originally Ishtar, i, 136
Astronomy and Astrology, Baby- lonian, i, 34
Ate (Folly), in Homer, i, 160
Athenagoras, ii, 370, 371
Atheists, Jews and Christians called so by Pagans, ii, 353, 355
Athene, her character in Homer, i, 159, 171 ; temple of, at yEgina, i, 279 ; in the Parthenon pediments, i, 280 ; Phidias' statue of, i, 285
Athens, i, 232, 235, 236 et seq. ; glory of set forth in the Parthenon, i, 284 ; ii, 387 ; in Demosthenes' time, i, 344
Athletes in Greek sculpture, i, 277
Atma, Indian conception, i, 71 et seq.
Atomist philosophy, i, 313
Atreus, house of, i, 206 et seq.
Auguria, the, i, 407
Augustan Age, its ideal of the past, ii, 7 et seq.; expressed in the j^neid, ii, 11-19 ; the spiritual change, ii, 32 et seq.
Augustus, policy of, ii, 5-7 ; his social and religious reforms, ii, 22 ; his deification, ii, 24-27
Aura-Mazda, 119, see Ahura Mazda
Aurelius, Marcus, ii, 65-76
Auspicia. the i, 406-408
Avesta, earliest record of the Iranians, i, 105 ; translations of i, 105, note ; Ahura Mazda and the Amshaspands, i, 111-I15 ; dualism, i, iir et seq.; the good and evil spirit, i, 112 ; righteous- ness in, i, 113-115 ; later Avesta religion, i, 116 et seq.; purity, i, 117 ; resurrection, i, 118 ; the re- ligion of the Medes and Persians, i, iKjetseq, 6".?^ Zarathushtra
GENERAL INDEX.
417
B
Baal, ii, 130, 145
Babylonians, beliefs of as to a future life, i, 19 ; incantations and sense of sin, i, 35 ; magic texts, hymns, and penitential psalms, i, 37 ; limi- tations of their manhood, i, 56; ii, 378 ; early intercourse with Egypt, i, 131 ; influence on the Jews, ii, 223 Balaam, ii, 125, 147 Beatitudes, the, of the Sermon on
the Mount, ii, 257 Beauty, Greek conception of, i, 153 ; in Homer, i, 184 ^^ seq. ; Greek thought of regarding conduct, i, 246 ; Greek love of, i, 252 ; con- ceptions of with Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, i, 259 ; analysis of the conception, i, 260 et seq. ; a form of truth, ii, 303 Benihassan, tombs of, i, 31 Bhikkhus, Buddhist monks, i, 91 ,
96 Book of the Dead, i, 18, 25, 27 Brahma, the absolute, Indian con- ception, i, 71 et seq.; meaning prayer, ib. Brahmanaspati, Indian god, i, 71 Brahmans, the, Indian caste, i, 79 Brihaspati, Indian god, i, 71 Buddha, the, life of, i, 87 et seq. ;
death of, i, 97 Buddhism, in China, i, 55 Buddhism, in India, dogmatically a revolution, i, 84 ; no god in, i, 85 ; chain of causation, i, 87 ; Mara, i, 88, 90 ; Karma and self- hood, i, 89, 93 ; the preaching at Benares, i, 90 ; the eightfold path and the four noble truths, i, 91 ; the Bhikkhus and the Order, i, 91, g6 ; ethics, i, 93 ; no penances, sacrifices, or prayer, i, 96 ; women admitted, i, 96, note 4 ; Nirvana, i, 99 ; Arahats, i, 100 ; the result, i, loi ; place in huoiaa develop- ment, ii, 380, 397
Caesar, Julius, factors of his states- manship, i, 451-454 ; his career, i, 455-461
Callimachus, hymns of, i, 355; ALtia, i, 356 ; Ilccale. i, 359, note
Camps, Roman, i, 401
Canaanitish influences on Israel, ii,
106 Carmen Scsculare, of Horace, ii, 23,
24
Carneades, i, 384, 440
Cassandra, i, 210
Cato, the elder, i, 418, 423, 431, 440, 441, 442
Cato, the younger, i, 441-443
Catullus, i, 426-429 ; ii, 52
Caudine Forks, illustration of Ro- man ethics, i, 404
Celsus, views of Christianity, ii, 342, notes, 343, note, 350, 351, 368, note 2, 369
Censorship, the Roman, i, 386
Chaldasan epic, i, 35
Chaldseans, intellectually undevel- oped, i, 42 ; see Babylonians, Sumer-Accad
Chandogya-Upanishad, i, 74 et seq.
Charites, in Homer, i, 160
Chatti (Cheta), i, 132
Chinese, peaceful character of civil- ization, i, 15 ; origin, characteris- tics, and early history, i, 45 ; for- mulation of an ideal of character, i, 45 ; the early emperors, i, 46 ; Confucianism, i, 47-54 ; Equilib- rium and Harmony, i, 49 ; filial piety, i, 50 ; Confucian concep- tion of poetry and music, i, 51 ; " Heaven " and human endeavor, i, 53 ; Taoism, i, 54 ; Buddhism in China, i, 55 ; Chinese limita- tions, i, 56 ; ii, 378
Chokhmah, of the Hebrews, ii, 202 et seq.
Chorus, function of, in Greek trag- edy, i, 289
Christianity, its origin a scientific dilemma, ii, 232 ; Hebraic ante- cedents ; fulfilment through abro- gation, ii, 235 ; the personality of Jehovah, ii, 236 ; Messianic ex- pectations ; the servant of the Lord, correspondence of character to Christ, ii, 237, 238 ; Christianity cannot be stated as a system, ii, 239 ; the record of the synoptic gospels and its relation to John, ii, 240-245 ; the oneness of life ; ii, 245-247 ; faith, ii, 246, 260 ; Christ's life at one, ii, 247 ; benev- olence absolute and love of God, ii, 249 ; the kingdom of heaven, ii, 250; sonship's sacrifice unto attainment, ii, 253 ; Christ, ii,
4i8
GENERAL INDEX.
255; the "beatitudes," ii, 257; prayer, ii, 262 ; universality of Christ, ii, 263 ; it must need be that offenses come, ii, 265 ; the judgment of omniscient love, ii, 267 ; render unto Csesar, ii, 268 ; be ye perfect, ii, 270 ; resist not evil, ii, 271 ; judge not, ii, 272 ; the things of God and the last judgment, ii, 273 ; its inclusion of previous thought, ii, 339, 398- 408 ; God and Fate, ii, 399-402 ; the sphere of man's desires, im- mortality, India, Greece, Rome, ii, 402-408 ; art, ii, 405-406 ; joy- fulness, ii, 406 ; the emotions, ii,
407 ; the final universality of, ii,
408 ; see Gospel of John, Apostolic Interpretation, Roman World and Christianity
Christianity and the Emperor Julian, ii, 92-96
Chrysippus, i, 374, 375, 385
Cicero, religious thought, i, 433, 434 ; ii, 394 ; his Hellenism and human- itas, i, 444 ; his ideal of oratory, i, 445 ; his philosophic position, i, 446 ; ii, 61 ; character, i, 449 ; death, ii, 2, 4
City-State, the Greek, i, 234 et seq.
Cleanthes, i, 376
Cleomenes, i, 346
Cognitiofies, ii, 358
Comedy at Rome, i, 420, 425
Commodus, ii, 363
Confucianism, i, 47-54
Conscience, conception of, in Stoi- cism, i, 379
Consulship, the Roman, i, 394, 398, 406
Covenants, the, between Jehovah and Israel, ii, 122 ; relating to the Messiah, ii, 147, 155
Creation of the world, in ancient Indian thought, i, 66
Cuniform writing in Syria, ii, loi
Curse, Greek conceptions of, i, 206 et seq.
Cynic philosophy, i, 371-373
Cyrenaic philosophers, i, 371-373
Cyrus, worshipper of Ahura, i, 122 ; career, i, 122 et seq.
D
Daniel, the Book of, ii, 228, 229 Darius, makes firm the Persian Em- pire, i, 123 ; his inscription, i, 124 David, ii, 109-116; authorship of
certain psalms, ii, 11 r, note ; in Messianic psalms, ii, 146, 148-150, 171, note
Dead, book of the, i, 18 ; i, 25 ; i, 27
Death, see Future life
Deborah, ii, 106, 107, 140
Debtor and Creditor, law of, in Twelve Tables, i, 410-414 ; rela- tions between at Rome, i, 396 ; Ccesar's measures, i, 457
Decalogue, the, ii, 103, 118
Decius, ii, 364
Deification, of Augustus, ii, 24-27
Deluge, the, i, 4 ; Chaldaean, i, 35, 37 ; Hebrew story of, ii, 127, note
Demetrius Poliorcetes, i, 345
Demochares, i, 346
Democracy, Greek, i, 235
Democratic party, tendencies of, at Rome, i, 450 ; Csesar's position as leader of, i, 452 ; the Empire a part realization of the ideal of, i, 461
Democritus, i, 262 ; his philosophy and ethics, i, 313 ; his atomic theory borrowed by Epicurus, i, 382 ; by Lucretius, i, 438
Demosthenes, i, 344
De Natura Deorttm, Cicero's dia- logue, ii, 61
Deus Fidius, i, 409
Deuteronomy, l^ook of, ii, 144, 166, 216-223, 275
Development, human, parallelisms of, i, 2 ; modes of, 5-10 ; diver- gence in, ii, 379
Dialectic, of Paul, ii, 313-316
Diocletian, ii, 364
Divorce, Gospel utterances regard- ing, ii, 271, note
Domitian, ii, 361
Dorian invasion, i, 147
Doryphoriis, the, i, 263, 364
Drama, at Rome, i, 420-425 ; Greek, see Tragedy
Dramatic modes of setting forth per- sonality, i, 264 ; see Tragedy
Drawing, Egyptian, i, 29
Dualism, of Zarathushtra, i, ill ; of Neo-Platonism, ii, 84
Ea, Sumerian god, i, 33 East, the, and paganism, ii, 90-95, 396, 397
GENERAL INDEX.
419
Ecclesiastes, book of (Koheleth), ii,
214-216 Eclecticism, in Greek philosophy, i,
Eclogue, the fourth, of Virgu, 11, 24 Education, Greek, i, 242, 245 Egyptians, peaceful character of, i, 15 ; mental crudities of, i, 15 et seq., 56; ii, 378; unprogressive- ness of, i, 16 ; beliefs as to a fu- ture life, 3, 17, 28 ; Book of the Dead, i, 18 ; their gods, i, 20-22 ; animal worship, i, 21 ; ethics, i, 22-25 ; Pharaoh, i, 23 ; literature, i, 26 ; architecture, i, 28 ; the Great Pyramid, i, 28 ; mathe- matics, i, 29 ; temples, i, 29 ; painting, i, 29 ; sculpture, i, 31 ; early intercourse with Babylonia, i, 131 ; relations with Phoenicia, i, 133 ; hieroglyphics adopted by Phoenicians, i, 137 ; early Aryan attacks upon, i, 144 Eleatic school of philosophy, i, 308 Election, Paul's reasonings, ii, 316 Electra, the (of Euripides), i, 353 Elijah, ii, I2g, 130 Elysian plain, in Homer, i, 161 Elysium, in ^neid VI., ii, 20-22 Empedocles, i, 311, 425 Ennius, i, 422, 435 Enoch, the Book of, ii, 22S, 229 Epicharmis, i, 435 Epics, of India, i, 78 ; of Greece,
see Homer Eoictetus, ii, 60-65, 335, 337, 392,
*394 Epicureanism, at Rome, 1, 440 Epicureanism, pathos of, in Horace,
ii, 44, 45
Epicurus, philosophy of, i, 381-383, 385 ; ii, 339 ; influence on Lucre- tius, i, 436 ; position in human progress, ii, 391
Equilibrium and Harmony, State of, Confucian conception, i, 49
Eran, see Iran
Eratosthenes, i, 356
Erinyes, i, 207-215
Eros, the Platonic conception, i, 254 ; with Empedocles, i, 312
Essenes, ii, 263
Eternal life, in John's Gospel, ii, 284-308 ; in Paul's writings, ii, 317-322 ; in John's epistle, ii,
325 Ethics, of the Egyptians, i, 22-25 ', of Brahminism, i, 79 etseq.; of
Buddhism, i, 93 ; Homeric, i, 176 ; Greek development, i, 205 etseq. ; of Greek philosophers, see under names of the philosophers ; of Stoicism, i, 377 ; religious, of the yEneid, ii, 11-22
Ethos, in Greek tragedy, i, 291 et seq.
Etruria, influence of Greece upon, i, 416
Euhemerus, i, 435
Eumaeus' story, i, 134, 181
Eumenides, i, 214
Eu7ne7iides, the, i, 227
Euripides, i, 230 ct seq. ; ii, 390 ; lack of ethos in dramas, i. 295 et seq. ; a forerunner of Alexan- drian literature, i, 352
Exile, the, of Israel, prophecies of, ii, 155 et seq., and note to ii, 161
Exodus, influence on Hebrew thought of God, ii, loi, 106, 124 ; character of Moses in, ii, 103
Fabius Pictor, i, 424
Faith, ii, 246, 260, 303 ; function of, with Paul, ii, 322 ; in He- brews xi, ii, 323
Fame, Greek love of, i, 189, 201, 203, 242, 243
Family, the Russian, i, 389
Fate, conception of, in Homer, i, 165 et seq.; relation to the gods, in Homer, i, 171 et seq.; later Greek conceptions, i, 204 et seq. ; ethical development of fate, i, 205 et seq. ; retributive nature of, i, 212 _,• compared with Indian rita, i, 64 ; Greek conception of, how included in Christianity, ii, 265, 266, 400
Federation, in Greece, i, 346
Ferice publiea, i, 409
Fetiales, i, 405
Filial piety, in China, i, 50_
Fire, Agni, Indian god of, i, 68
" Flesh," Paul's use of the term, ii, 321
Flood, see Deluge
Fors Fortuna, i, 499
Fourth Gospel, see Gospel of John.
Freedom, incapacity for, in China, Chaldffia and Egypt, i, 56 ; among primitive Arj'ans, i, 59, 61 ; of primitive Persians, i, 125 ; Greek, i, 233 et seq. ; of Aryan peoples in Europe, i, 240
420
GENERAL INDEX.
Frieze, of the Parthenon, i, 273, 282 Future life, thoughts of savages, i, 16; Egyptian beliefs, i, 17; ii, 403 ; Babylonian beliefs, i, 19 ; Vedic Indian beliefs, i, 66 ; in the Avesta, i, 118 ; in Homer, i, 161 ; in Pindar, i, 223 ; in yEneid VI, ii, 19 ; Hebrew conceptions, ii, 167, 228 ; under the Roman Em- pire, ii, 22, 338, 395 ; in Gospel of John, ii, 284-308 ; Christian and previous beliefs, ii, 403
Galerius, persecutes Christians, ii, 364
Gallienus, ii, 364
Gan}Tnede, i, 207
Gaihas, oldest portion of Avesia, i, 105, 108, 113, 117 ; the ideal ex- pressed in them, i, 115
Gauls, of later Greek sculpture, i, 369
Georgics, the, ii, 8, 11, 26
Gilgames epic, i, 35
Glaucus, in Homer, i, 163
Glory, Christian conception of, ii, 299, 306 ; see Fame
God, the Hebraic conception of, see Jehovah.
God, and human development, i, l-io ; revelation of, ii, 400
Gods, the, Egyptian gods, i, 20-22 ; Indian gods, i, 61 et seq. ; the, in Homer, i, 155 et seq., 176 ; rela- tion of to fate, i, 171 et seq., 204 ; Greek conceptions of, i, 218 et seq. ; Roman, i, 406
Gospel of John, relations to the synoptic gospels, analogies of method, ii, 240-245, 257, 2S6, 408 ; the prologue (the logos), ii, 274 ; the incarnation, ii, 274, 280 ; the great antithesis (echo of Deu- teronomy), ii, 275 ; Christ and the World, ii, 276 ; the offer of life, ii, 2S0 ; the way to Christ, ii,
281 ; discipleship through love, ii,
282 ; eternal life, ii, 284-308 ; husbandman, vine, and branches, ii, 295 ; the prayer of consecra- tion, ii, 299; " This is life eternal, that they should know Thee," ii, 301-305 ; " sanctify them in the truth," ii, 305 ; " I in them and thou in me," ii, 306 ; the eternal preservation of individualities, ii.
307 ; relation of Christ's discourses in John to Paul's and John's Epistles, ii, 317, 332
Gospels, the, and the rest of the New Testament, ii, 309
Gospels, the synoptic, ii, 240 ; rela- tion of to the Fourth Gospel, an- alogies of method, ii, 242-425 ; question of the composition, ii, 241, note
Gotama, see Buddha
Gracchus, Caius, i, 444, 451
Greece, characteristics, i, 127 ; con- dition of in Macedonian times, i, 344-34S ; specialization of occu- pations, i, 349 ; individualism, i, 350
Greek drama, at Rome, i, 420-425 ; see Tragedy
Greek genius, the, i, 150 et seq., 201
Greek influence, upon early Rome, i, ^\b et seq. ; upon early Roman literature, i, 419-429 ; upon Ro- man art and architecture, i, 429 ; upon Roman religion, 1,431 ; upon Cicero, i, 444 ; upon Csesar, i, 452,461 ; in the time of the Em- pire, ii, 29 ; on Roman law, ii, 53 ; in Book of Ecclesiastes, ii, 214 ; on later Judaism, ii, 224
Greek philosophy, origin and char- acter, i, 302 ; attitude toward re- ligion, i, 305 ; Ionian school, i, 306 ; Pythagoras and the Eleatics, i, 308; Heraclitus, i, 310; Em- pedocles, i, 311 ; Anaxagoras, i, 312 ; the Atomists, i, 313 ; Sophists, i, 316 ; Socrates, i, 317- 321 ; Platonism, i, 321-326 ; modes of Plato's teaching, the ideas, i, 328 ; Platonic physics and ethics, i, 330-335 ; Aristotle, i. 336-342 ; Cynics and Cyrenaics, i, 371 ; Stoicism, i, 374-381 ; Epi- curus, i, 381-383 ; Sceptics and Eclectics, I, 3S4 ; see Philosophy at Rome, Philosophy in the time of the Roman Empire
Greeks, the, racehood, i, 7, 127 et seq. ; witness of archjeological finds, i, I2g ; external sources of civilization, Egypt and Babylonia, i, 131 ; Hittites, i, 132, Phoeni- cians, i, 132 et seq. ; the alphabet, i, 136 ; primitive art and architec- ture from Mycense, Tiryns, Or- chomenus, i, 140 et seq. ; attacks on Egypt and Troy, i, 144 ; genius
GENERAL INDEX.
421
of, i, 150 et seq. ; love of beauty, i, 153 ; imagination of, i, 154 ; idea of fate (in Homer), i, 165 et seq.; ethics (in Homer), i, 176 et seq.; later thoughts of fate, i, 204 et seq. ; ethical development, i, 205 et seq. ; conceptions of the gods, i, 218 ^'/ seq.; civic freedom, i, 233 et seq. ; the city-states, i, 234 et seq. ; art and poetry of, i, 249 et seq. ; architecture, i, 268 et seq. ; drama, see Tragedy ; artist qualities of compared with those of Israel, ii, 172,200; their posi- tion in human progress, ii, 386- 396 ; in relation to Christianity, 404-407 Growth, human, modes of, i, 7 ; ii, 377 ; divergent lines of, ii, 379
H
Hades, in Homer, i, 161, 162
Hadrian, ii, 30, 362
Hammurabi, Babylonian King, i, 33 ; ii, III, note
Heaven (God), Confucian concep- tion, i, 48, 53
Heaven, kingdom of, ii, 250
Hebrews, their developed individu- ality, i, 7 ; their incapacity for dialectic, ii, 214 ; see Israel and Judaism
Hector, i, 174, i8r
Helen, i, 1S7, 252
Heliogabalus, ii, 363
Helius, in Homer, i, 158 note, 166
Hellenism and the East, i, 347
Hellenism, term used by Julian, ii, 92, 9.5, 96
Helvidius Priscus, ii, 365
Hephaestus, i, 160
Hera, her character in Homer, i, 15S, 161, 172
Heracles, i, 161, 163
Heraclitus, i, 218, 236, 262, 306, 339; his philosophy, i, 310, 315
Herodotus, references in, to Persian character and customs, i, 120 notes, 124-126
Hesiod, i, 214, 220, 303
Hexateuch, credibility of patriarchal narratives, ii, 99-101 ; early laws in, ii, riS-i2i ; see Decalogue, Deuteronomy
Hezekiah, ii, 135
Hieroglyphic writing, borrowed by Phoenicians, i, 137
Hindoos, see India
Hippocrates, i, 316
Hippolytus, the, i, 296
Hittites, i, 132
Holiness, the Hebrew conception, ii, 218
Homer, portrayal of Phoenicians by, i, 134 ; tradition of birth at Smyrna, i, 147 ; origin of epics and Mycenaean civilization, i, 147 et seq. ; imagination of, i, 154; the gods, i, 155 et seq. ; future life, i, 161 ; thoughts on life, i, 163 ; conception of fate and its relation to the gods, i, 165 et seq.; ethics, i, 176 f/" seq.; full humanity disclosed by, i, 179 ; ii, 3S6 ; conception of beauty, i, 184 et seq. ; realization of man's great- ness, i. 188 ; AchiUes, 188 et seq. ; Odysseus, 18S, 194 et seq.; thought of honor, i, 242, note r ; praises wisdom as well as virtue, i, 320 ; statues of, i, 365
Homeric and Virgilian pathos, ii, 32-40
Homeric epics, relation to Myce- nsean civilization, i, 146, et seq.
Homeric Hymns, i, 220, 355, note
Honor, Greek conception of, i, 241 et seq.
Horace, ii, 10, 17 ; Carmen Sieeu- lare, ii, 23, 24 ; deification of the Emperor, ii, 27 ; character and literary models, ii, 41-43 ; sense of pathos, ii, 44, 45 ; turns to Stoicism and preaches virtue and mental calm, ii, 46-49
Hosea, ii, 136, 138, 139, 142, 150
Hymns, Babylonian, i, 37 ; Ho- meric, i, 220, 355, note
lamblichus, and the philosophy of
superstition, ii, 88, 8g Ideals, human, their function in hu- man development, i, 5-10 ; indis- tinct with primitive races, i, 10 Ideas, the, of Plato, i, 328 Ideographs, the early form of writ- ing, i, 138 Idolatry, forbidden in Israel, ii, 222 Imagination, the artistic, i, 266 " Imitation," in tragedy, i, 287 Immanuel, ii, 152, 164, 171 Immortality, no true thought of in ^gyp^ i> 16, 17, 32 ; see Future life
422
GENERAL INDEX.
Incantations, character of, i, 27 ; i,
Incarnation, the, ii, 274, 280 India, ancient, i, 58 et seq. ; the Vedic Aryans, i, 58 et seq. ; Vedic poetry, i, 60 ; the gods, i, 61 ; sense of sin, i, 63 ; Rita, i, 64 ; future life, i, 66 ; origin of the world, i, 66 ; Soma and Agni, i, 67 et seq. ; sacrifices, i, 67 et seq. ; symbolism and subjectivity, i, 67 et seq. ; Yajur Veda, i, 70 ; Brah- ma and prayer, i, 71 ; death and transmigration, i, 72 et seq. ; Upanishads, i, 72 et seq.; Brah- ma, the absolute, i, 73 et seq. ; the Atma, i, 71 et seq. ; popular religion, i, 78 ; epics, i, 78 ; Brahman ethics, i, 79 ; hermits and ascetic penances, i, 80 ; law- books, i, 7g et seq. j Karma, i, 82; result of Indian thought, i, 102 ; position in human development, ii, 380, 402 ; see Buddhism Individualism, in later Greek times, ii 350 ; in Israel of the exile, ii, 161, note Individuality, human, retained in
the Christian scheme, ii, 307 Individuality of races, i, 6 ; i, 127 Indo-Germanic, i, 59 ; see Aryans Indra, Indian god, i, 61, 69, 71 Infinite, the Indian yearning for, i,
71-75, 102 Institutes, of Justinian, ii, 54 Intent, as determining guilt, i, 215 Ion, the, i, 2g6, 353 lonians, migration of, i, 147 Iran, the Avesta land, its character,
i, 104 ; see Avesta Iranians, resemblances to Vedic Aryans, i, 104-106 ; see Persians Isaac, ii, 124 Isaiah, ii, 136, 137, 151, 152, 153,
154
Ishtar's Descent, i, 19, note ; i, 37 Isocrates, extract from his Helen, i,
252 Israel, sphere of and characteristics, ii, 97, 381-384 ; stories of the patriarchs, ii, 99, 123 ; early conception of Jehovah, ii, gg ; writing, ii, 100 ; Exodus and resulting thought of God, ii, loi ; Moses, ii, 102-105 ; deca- logue, ii, 103 ; Canaanitish in- fluences, ii, 106 ; the Judges, ii, 106, 107 ; Samuel and the ques-
tion of a king, ii, 107 ; Saul, ii, 108, 109 ; David, ii, 109-116 ; the time of Solomon, ii, 117 ; early laws and ethics of the Hexa- teuch, i, 118-121, 123; the early two-fold religious consciousness, ii, 121 ; the covenant with Jeho- vah, ii, 122 ; the consecration of deliverance and its permitted self- assertion, ii, 124-128; prophetic lessons; Elijah, ii, 129, 130; the prophetic character and function, ii, 131 ; the completing of Israel's religion, ii, 133; Jehovah's power of righteousness, ii, 134 ; pro- phetic monotheism, ii, 135 ; Jeho- vah's love, ii, 137 ; Jehovah a law of righteousness, ii, 140 ; Deuteronomy, ii, 144, 217; Mes- sianic prophecy, ii, 146 et seq. and 229-231 ; the Messiah-King, ii, 147-154; the servant of Jehovah, ii, 154-165 ; the Last Judgment, ii, 167, 229 ; restoration from exile and the presence of Jehovah, ii, 168-171 ; artist qualities of as compared with those of Greece, ii, 172, 200 ; the Psalms, ii, 172- 201 ; wisdom-literature (Chokh- mah), ii, 202 ; Proverbs, ii, 202- 208 ; Job, ii, 208-214 ; Ecclesias- tes (Koheleth), ii, 214-216 ; the Law, ii, 216-222 ; later Judaism, ii, 223-231 ; relation to Christian- ity, ii, 234-238
J
Jacob, ii, gg, 100, 124, 126
Jehovah, Israel's pattern and stand- ard of right, ii, g7 et seq., and chapters xvii-xxi, passij?i ; the early conception, ii, gg ; influence of the Exodus, ii, loi ; his cove- nant with Israel, ii, 122 ; pro- phetic teachings as to his nature, ii, I2g-i40 ; his love of Israel, ii, 137. 154 ; Jehovah a law of right- eousness for Israel, ii, 140 ; the servant of, ii, 154-165 ; presence of, in Israel, ii, i6g-i7i ; the thought of in the Psalter, ii, 175 ; his love in the Psalter, ii, 178 ; personality of. influence on Chris- tianity, ii, 236, 400
Jeremiah, ii, 154
Jews, under the empire, ii, 31, 3g6 ; Christians hated as and by, ii.
GENERAL INDEX.
423
352 ; looked on as atheists by pagans, ii, 353 ; ^^^ Judaism, Israel. Job, the problem of, ii, 208-214 ; dramatic greatness of personality, ii, 384, note Jocasta, i, 207
John, first epistle of, ii, 279 ; life
eternal, ii, 325; teaching of love
in, ii, 327, 331, 332 ; see Gospel
of John
John the Baptist, preaching of, ii,
250 Joseph, ii, 124, 127 Joyousness, a principle of Greek life, i, 152 ; ii, 392 ; included in Christianity, ii, 406 Judaism, the later, Babylonian and Greek influence on, ii, 223-225 ; the strength of Israel, ii, 225 ; the law and its tradition (Mishna), ii, 226 ; Pharisees and Sadducees, ii, 227 ; Apocalyptic prophecy, ii, 228 ; immortality and resurrec- tion, ii, 22S ; the Messiah, ii, 229-231, 237 Judges, time of the, ii, 106, 107 Judices, in early Roman law, i, 412 Julian, character and opposition to Christianity, ii, 92, 93 ; his phi- losophy and sun-worship, ii, 94 ; attemped revival of paganism, ii,
95 Justice, as a pagan conception, 11,
340 Justin, ii, 370 Justinian's Institutes, ii, 54 Juvenal, ii, 49-51, 393
Karma, Indian conception, i, 82 ;
in Buddhism, i, 89, 93 Khufu and Khafra, Egyptian pha-
raohs, i, 23, 32 Kingdom of Heaven, ii, 250 Koheleth (Ecclesiastes), ii, 214-216
Lactantius, ii, 370 Laius, house of, i, 206 et seq. Laocoon, the, i, 367 Lao-tze, Chinese sage, i, 54 Last Judgment, the, Hebraic con- ception, ii, 167, 228 Latin language, effect on provin- cials, ii, 30
Latins, demand a share in Roman
government, i, 395 Law, the early Roman ; Twelve Tables, i, 410 ; debtor and creditor i, 411-414; under the Empire, ii, 53 Law, the Hebrew, ii, 11 1, note; a reflex of Jehovah's ways, ii, 216 ; " thou shalt love the Lord thy God, "ii, 217; Holiness and right- eousness, ii, 21S ; the ritual, ii, prohibition of idolatry, ii, 222 ; 220 ; the law and its tradition (Mishna) in later Judaism, ii, 226 ; character of its fulfilment by Christianity, ii, 235 ; Paul's views, ii, 313-316, 322 Legion, the Roman, i, 400 Legis actio sacrainento, i, 411, 413 Leisure, Greek idea of, ii, 388 Lepidus, ii, 3, 4 Lesbia and Catullus, i, 427 Leucippus, i, 313 Liberty, see Freedom Life after death, see Future life Litje (Prayers) in Homer, i, 160 Livius Adronicus, i, 4:9 Love, in Homer, i, 181 et seq. ; the Platonic conception, i, 254 ; in Euripides' dramas, i. -zq^ et seq. ; as a motive in Alexandrian litera- ture, i, 351-361 ; love-stories, i, 356 ; thoughts of at Rome under the Empire, ii, 52; in Israel, ii, 145 ; christian, ii, 263-268, 282- 284, 291, 294, 295, 297, 298, 300, 303, 311, 409-411 ; the teaching of in Paul and John, ii, 327-332 ^ Love and Hate, in Empedocles'
philosophy, i, 312 Lucilius, i, 424, 435 Lucretius, as poet, i, 425 ; his tem- perament and philosophy, i, 435- 439 ; influence on Virgil, ii, 9 Lyric mode of narration, ii, 200,
note I Lyric poetry, loss of, possible con- tents, i, 354 Lyric unity, ii, 200, note i Lyric universality of the psalms, ii,
199-201 Lysippus, characteristics of his art,
i, 364
M
Magians, relations to Zarathush- trianism, i, 119 ^/ seq.
424
GENERAL INDEX.
Magic, Chaldasan, i, 35 ; magical effect of sacrifices and penances in India, i, 70, 80, note 3
Magistracies, at Rome, i, 394, 407, 412
Maha-bharata, Indian epic, i, 78
Alajestas, ii, 6, 356
Manlius Torquaius, i, 402
Manu, and other Indian codes, i, 79 et seq.
Marcus Aurelius, ii, 30, 65-76 ; his character and the pathos of his philosophy, ii, 65 ; his religious- ness ii, 67 ; insufficiency of his philosophy, ii, 71-77, 335. 337, 392, 394 ; persecution of the Christians, ii, 363
Marius, i, 401, note
Marriage, Paul's views, andChrist's, ii, 312 ; divorce, ii, 271, note
" Martyrs," use of the word in the New Testament, ii, 360
Maruts, Indian gods, i, 62
Mastaba, Egyptian tomb, i, 17
Mazda, see Ahura Mazda
Mazdaism, its possible influence on the Jews, ii, 223 ; position in human development, ii, 381 ; see Avesta, Zarathushtra
Mean, the, in Greek thought, i, 202, 227, 241 ; with Aristotle, i, 337
Medes, connection with Zarathush- trianism, i, 119
Megarian philosophy, i, 372
Menander, his comedies translated by Plautus, i, 420, and by Terence, i, 425 ; supplants Aristophanes, ii, 390
Mercurius, i, 409
Merodach, Babylonian god, i, 37, 40 ; referred to in Cyrus's inscrip- tion, i, 122, note
Mesopotamian culture, i, 32 ; see Sumer-Accad
Messiah, the, in later Judaism, ii, 229-231 ; relations to Christianity, ii, 237
Messianic prophecy, ii, 132, 146 et seq., 228-231 ; diversity and com- prehensiveness of, ii , 146; the covenants and the Messiah-King, Messianic psalms, ii, 147 ; the Messiah-King in the prophets, ii, 150-154; the servant of Jeho- vah, ii, 154-165 ; Isaiah liii, ii, 161 ; the Last Judgment, ii, 167 ; Israel's restoration, ii, 16S ; pres- ence of Jehovah, ii, 169-171
Metempsychosis, ancient Indian thoughts, i, 72
Military organization, in early Rome, i, 400
Miltiades, i, 233
Mimnermus, i, 152, 221 ; ii, 38
Minos, i, 163
Minstrelsy, in Homer, i, 180
Minucius, Felix, ii, 370
Mithra worship, ii, 90, 94
Mitra, Indian god, i, 63,65
Mosaic legislation, ii, iii, note
Moschus, i, 358
Moses, ii, 102-105, 124, 125
Muses, in Homer, i, 160
Music, Confucian conception, i, 51 ; with Plato and Aristotle, i, 245, 246
Mycena?an civilization, i, 139 ; archi- tecture, goldsmith's work, pottery, i, 140 et seq. ; its Greek spirit, i, 143 et seq. ; attacks on Egypt and on Troy, i, 144 ; date of Myce- naean civilization, i, 145 ; relation to the Homeric epics, i, 146
Myron, i, 274 ; discus-thrower, i, 277
Mysteries, the, ii, 77, 89, 397
Mythology, basis of, in conflict of natural powers, i, 21
N
Naboth, ii, 130
Nsevius, i, 421
Nathan, ii, 115, 129, 147
Nausicaa, i, 182
Nebuchadnezzar's inscription, 1, 40
Neo-Platonism, ii, 57, 77, 80 et seq., 285; transition to, ii, 77 ; champion of Polytheism, ii, 81 ; Plotinus, his system, ii, 80 ; the " First," ii,8i ; the Nous, ii, 82 ; the soul, ii, 83 ; the sensible world, ii, 83 ; ethics, purification, union with God, ii, 84-87 ; the result, ii, 86-88, 396 ; its dualism as preparatory for Christianity, ii, 338 ; Porphyry, ii, 88 ; lamblichus, ii, 88, 89 ; Pro- clus, ii, 89 ; Julian, ii, 92-96
Neo-Pythagoreans, ii, 78, 79
Nero, ii, 28, 60 ; persecutions of Christians, ii, 35S, 359, 361
New Academy, the, i, 384
New Testament, priority of Gospels to the rest of, ii, 309 ; deflections from the universality of Christ, ii,
3" Nicodemus, discourse with, ii, 284
GENERAL INDEX.
425
Nineveh, destruction of, i, 43
Niobe, in Homer, i, 192
N'icbc, the, i, 367
Nirvana, i, gg
Northern Buddhism, i, loi, note 2
Northern Kingdom, the, of Israel,
ii, 149, 150 Nous, the, of Anaxagoras, i, 312 ;
of Plotinus, ii, 81, 82
O
Octavius, his career until Actium,
ii, 2. See Augustus Octavius, the, of Minucius Felix, ii,
370 Odysseus, sayings, i, 163, 177 ; his
character, i, 188, ig4 e( set^. Odyssey, description of Phoenicians
in. i- 134 CEdipus, i, 207 et seq. CEdiptts Colonetis, the, i, 216 (Edipus, the, i, 289, 290, 291, 294 Oligarchies, Greek, i, 235 Oracles, ii, 77, 80 Oriental elements in paganism, ii,
go-94 Ormazd and Ahriman, i, 119. See
Ahura-Mazda Osiris, Egyptian god of the dead,
i, 19 Osiris, the, i, 19 ; i, 25 Ovinian law, i, 398
Paganism, strength of, ii, go ; last revival under the Empire, ii, gi ; elements opposed to Christianity, ii. 339-344 ; justice, self-advan- tage, ii, 340 ; virtue, ii, 342 ; its shortcoming, and final failure, ii, 393-396
Painting, Egyptian, i, 29
Pansetius, i, 424, 441
Panathenaic procession, i, 282 ; ii,
Papinianus, ii, 53
Parables, Christ's use of, ii, 243, 251, 313, 320, note ; the Platonic, i,
321
Paraclete, the, ii, 2g8
Parmenides, i, 310, 311, 315
Parrhasius, i, 368
Parthenon, the, i, 269 ; avoidance of straight lines, i, 271 ; sculpture in the frieze, i, 273, 282 ; in the pediments, i, 2 7g-28i ; character- istics, i, 281 et seq.; ii, 387
Pathos, in Homer, i, 180, 194 ; ii, 32-40 ; in Virgil, ii, 32-40 ; in Catullus, i, 426 ; in Horace, ii, 44, 45 ; in later Greek sculpture, i, 366 ; the AHobe and the Lao- coon, i, 367
Patria potestas, the, i, 390
Patriarchs, the narratives of, ii, 99 ; ethics of those narratives, ii, 123
Patricians and jilebeians, i, 395, 399
Patroclus, i, 170-172, 189
Paul, acquaintance with Gospel data, ii, 309; love of Christ, ii, 311; seems to ignore works, ii, 312; views of marriage, ii, 312 ; his dialectic, ii, 313 ; epistle to the Romans, ii, 315, 347; freedom from the law, ib. ; "election," ii, 316 ; propitiation, ii, 317 ; resurrection and life eternal, ii, 317-322; I Cor. XV, ii, 319; the function of faith, ii, 322 ; his teaching of love, ii, 327-332 ; presentation of the Gospel to pagans, ii, 318. 346-34S ; at Phil- ippi and Ephesus, ii, 351
Paulus, L. yEmilius, i, 424
Pediments of Parthenon and temple at ^gina, i, 279-281
Penances in India, i, 80 ; none in Buddhism, i, 85, 96
Pentaur, poem of, i, 27
Pergamon, realistic sculpture from, i, 368
Pericles, i, 151, 232, 242
Persecutions of Christians, ii, 355- 364 ; their causes, ii, 350-355, 364-369
Persephone, i, 163
Persian influence on the Jews, ii, 223
Persian Kings, tombs of, i, 119, note
4
Persians, connection with Zarathush- trianism, i, 119 et seq.; burial customs, i, 119 ; character and empire, i, 122 et seq.; architec- ture, i, 124 ; originally freemen, i, 125 ; adopt cuniform writing, i, 138
Persius, ii, 49, 50
Personality, human, i, 7-10, 264 ; ii, 377 ; spirit conceivable only as, ii, 304
Peter, ii, 241, note, 256, 273, 288, 311 ; first epistle of, ii, 360, 365, 366
Petronius, ii, 49
426
GENERAL INDEX.
Phseacians, i, 182
PhiTcio, the, i, 283, 322
Pharaohs, i, 23 ; statues of, i, 32
Pharisees, ii, 227, 228, 251, 263, 270
Phidian sculpture, characteristics in common with the Psahns, ii, 200
Phidias, his greatening of human quality, i, 251, 263, 265 ; qualities of his art, i, 274 ei seq. ; ii, 389 ; sculpture in Parthenon pediments, i, 280, 281 ; statue of Athene, i, 2S5 ; compared with Scopas and Praxiteles, i, 363
Philip the Arabian, ii, 363
Philo of Alexandria, ii, 78, 274, note
Philosophy, see Greek Philosophy
Philosophy at Rome in the time of the Republic, i, 439-444 ; position of Cicero, i, 446
Philosophy in the time of the Roman Empire, ii, 56 et seq.; differences between the earlier and the later philosophy, ii, 56, 335-336 ; Sen- eca, ii, 57-60 ; stoical religious- ness, ii, 59 ei seq. ; Epictetus, ii, 60-65 ; pathos of stoicism, Marcus Aurelius, ii, 65-76 ; the stoical failure, ii, 76, 77 ; transition to Neo-Platonism, ii, 77 ; Philo, ii, 78 ; Neo-Pythagoreans, Apollo- nius of Tyana, ii, 78, 79 ; Plutarch, ii, 79 ; Plotinus and Neo-Plato- nism, ii, 57, 77, 8o<?/ seq., see Neo- Platonism ; Porphyry, ii, 88 ; lamblichus, ii, 88, 89 ; Proclus, ii, 89 ; Julian, ii, 92-96
Philosophy, Indian, i, 72 et seq.
Phcebus Apollo, his character in Homer, i, 158, 192
Phcenicians, i, 132 ; Homeric por- trayal of, i, 134 ; influence on Greece, the Alphabet, i, 136
Pindar, i, 202, 204, 205, 218, 222 et seq., 243, 352, 360; 11,387, 389; thoughts of future life, i, 223 ; his way of greatening human qualities, i, 250 et seq. ; fourth Pythian ode compared with seventy-eighth psalm, ii, 200, note I
Plato, thoughts on music, i, 245, 246 ; extract from the Phcedrus, i, 253 ; the Symposium, and the con- ception of Eros (love), i, 253 et seq.. 325 ; his conception of beauty, i, 259 ; nature of his philosophy, i, 321-326, 371 ; metaphysics of definition, i, 326 ; modes of his
teaching, the Ideas, i, 328 ; phys- ics, i, 330; ethics, i, 331 ; God and the Idea of the Good, i, 329- 331 ; virtue and knowledge, i, 332-334 ; pleasure, i, 335 ; influ- ence on Cicero, i, 446 ; place in human progress, ii, 389, 406, 407, 409, 410
Platonism and Christianity, ii, 339, 406, 407, 409, 410
Plautus, i, 420, 435
Plebeians, assertion of political rights, i, 395, 399
Pliny, ii, 52 ; letter to Trajan as to the Christians, ii, 358
Plot, the, in Greek tragedy, i, 2S8
Plotinus the Neo-Platonist, ii, So ; the " First," ii, 81 ; the Nous, ii, 82 ; the soul, ii, 83 ; the sensible world, ii, S3 ; ethics, purification, union with God, ii, 84-87 ; char- acter and outcome of his phi- losophy, ii, 86-88
Plutarch, ii, 79
Poetics, the, of Aristotle, i, 286 et seq.
Poetry, Confucian conception of, 1, 51 ; of the Pig- Veda, its character, i, 60 ; Greek, exemplifying Greek ideals, i, 249. See under names of the poets.
Polybius, i, 397, 417, 424, 434
Polyclitus, i, 262, 275
Polygnotus, i, 294
Polytheism, as championed by phi- losophy under the Empire, ii, 81, 87 et seq.; strength of, ii, go et seq.
Populus Romanus, i, 394
Poseidon, his character in Homer, i, 159, 170, 172, 200
Posidonius, i, 441
Pottery, Mycenaean, i, 142
Prastor, legal functions of, i, 412
Praxiteles, characteristics of his art, i. 273, 361 et seq.; the Niohe, i,
367 Prayer, ancient Indian conceptions, i, 71, 78 ; in Homer, i, 160, 178 ; in Christianity, ii, 262, 398 Priam, i, 186, 187 ; scene with Achil- les, i, 190 Proclus, ii, 89
Progress, human, i, i-io ; ii, 377 Prometheus Boitiid, the, i, 224 Propertius, ii, 22, note 2, 52 Prophets, the Hebrew, function and character of teachings, ii, 129- 132 ; completers of Israel's re-
GENERAL INDEX.
427
ligion, ii, 133 ; Monotheism, ii, 135 ; conception of Jehovah's love, ii, 137 ; conception of Jehovah as a law of righteousness, ii, 140 ; Messianic prophecy, ii, \:^be' seq.; the Messiah-King, ii, 150-154 ; the servant of Jehovah, ii, 154- 165 ; the Last Judgment, ii, 167 ; Israel's restoration and Jehovah's presence, ii, 169-171 Propitiation, ii, 317 Protagoras, i, 317
Proverbs, the Book of. its teachings, ii, 202 ; wisdom. Cod's plan, ii, 203 ; fear of the Lord, righteous- ness, ii, 205 Providence, conception of, in Stoi- cism, i, 376. 377 Provinces, of Roman Empire, Caesar's care for, i, 45S ; organization, ii, 7 ; Latin language in, ii, 30 Psalms, Babylonian, i, 37 Psalms, the, artist qualities of Greece and Israel, ii, 172, 200 ; Hebrew poetrj', ii, 174 ; the thought of Jehovah in the Psalter, "« 175 ; Jehovah's love, ii, 178 ; the psalmist's sense of self and God, ii, 182 ; the soul's right atti- tude, ii, 184 ; love of Jehovah, ii, 191 ; thoughts of death, ii, 192 ; let God arise, ii, 195 ; lyric uni- versality of the psalms, ii, 199- 201 ; Davidic origin, ii, in, note Psalms of Messianic character, ii,
148, 749 Psalms of Solomon, ii, 230, 231 Ptah, Egyptian god, i, 21 Ptahotep, Egyptian nomarch, i, 16,
20 ; precepts of, i, 24 Purity, conception of, in Avesia, i,
117 Pyramid, the Great, i, 28 Pyrrho, i, 384, 385 Pythagoras, i, 308, 309
Quintilian, i, 276
R
Ra, Egyptian god, i, 19, 21, and
note. Races, individuality of, i, 16, 128 Ramaydna, Indian epic, i, 78 Ramses II., i, 24, 27 Realism in later Greek sculpture, i,
368
Religion, character of the early Roman, i, 406-410 ; the auspicta, i, 406, 40S ; festivals, i, 409 ; com- pared with Greek religion, i, 409 ; influence of Greece upon, i, 431 ; of Egyptians, sde Egyptians ; of Babylonians, see Babylonians ; of Chinese, see Chinese ; of India, see India and Buddhism ; of Israel, Ji--? Israel ; universality of, wherein consists, li, 388. .See Christianity Religiousness of later Stoicism, ii,
59 ^/ se(j. Religious toleration at Rome, ii, 357 Republic, the Roman, final political development of, in government by the Senate, i, 397. See Romans Responsa priidentiian, i, 410 Resurrection, in the Avesta, i, 118 ; in later Jewish thought, ii, 228 ;' of Christ, ii, 233, note 2 ; in Paul's writings, ii, 317-322 Retribution and fate, i, 212 Revelation of God, ii, 344, 345, 400 Righteousness (Hebrew), ii, 218 Righteousness of Jehovah, ii, 134 ; a law of righteousness for Israel, ii, 140 ; sanction of, ii, 165 Rig- Veda, i, 58 et seq.; character of the poems, i, 60 ; the gods, i, 61 ; future life, i, 66 ; origin of the world, i, 66 Rita, Indian conception, i, 64 ; ii,
401 Ritual, the Hebrew, ii, 220 ; Mosaic
origin, ii, 11 1, note Roman art and architecture under
the Republic, i, 429 Roman comedy, i, 420, 425 Roman Empire, the, the situation in Augustus's time, ii, i et seq.; re- organization of provinces, ii, 7 ; the political and social ideal, ii, 7 et seq.; the dignity of, ii, 28 ; the Hellenic east, the Latin west, ii, 29 ; the Jews, ii, 31. See Roman World and Christianity Roman law, the early, i, 410-414 ;
under the Empire, ii, 53, 385 Roman religion, see Religion Roman women, under the Republic,
i, 391 ; under the Empire, ii, 52 Roman World and Christianity, ii/ 334 et seq. ; the new era, ii, 334 ; the brotherhood of man, ii, 336 ; spiritual condition and religious mood, ii, 336-338 ; need of Chris- tianity, and the spiritual obstacles;
428
GENERAL INDEX.
justice, self-advantage, impiety of divine self-sacrifice, immorality of a Gospel for sinners, reason, ii, 339-344 ; presentation of the Gos- pel, and the elements of pagan responsiveness, ii, 344-349 ; Paul's speech at Athens and Epistle to the Romans, ii, 318, 346-348 ; the appeal to the pagan conscience, ii, 347 ; the change in converts, ii, 349 ; the opposition roused, ii, 350; Christians hated as Jews, ii, 352 ; nocturnal meetings, ii, 354 ; Christians called atheists, ii, 355 ; government measures against them, ii, 355-360; the Roman principle of intolerance, ii, 357 ; Pliny's letter to Trajan, ii, 358 ; the course of the persecutions, ii, 360-364 ; its reasons, ii, 364-369 ; Christian misunderstanding of them, ii, 369-374 ; imperial jeal- ousy of corporate organization, ii, 374-376
Romans, characteristics, i, 386, 400, 402, 407, 414, 417 ; ii, 10 ; ability for self-government, i, 3S7 ; native literature and art, i, 389, 429 ; the Family, i, 389 ; patria potestas, i, 390; wife's position, i, 391; early
■ constitution of the state, i, 392 ; the king, i, 393 ; kingship abol-
. ished, i, 394 ; magistracies, i, 394 ; patricians and plebeians, i, 395 ; demands of the Latins, i, 395 ; agrarian struggles, i, 396 ; politi- cal development, i, 397 ; senate and senatorial government, i, 398 ; early military organization, i, 400 ; camps, i, 401; international ethics, i, 403; religion, i, 406 ; the early law of debtor and creditor, i, 410- 414 ; early Greek influence upon, i, 416 et seq.; art and architecture under the Republic, i, 429 ; their position in human progress, ii, 384, 385. See Roman Empire
Romans, Paul's epistle to, ii, 315
Rome, advantages of situation, i, 38S ; condition in Cresar's time, i. 453. 454- See Roman Empire, Romans
Rutilius, ii, 342
Sacramento^ legis actio, i, 411, 413 Sacrifices, conception of in Ancient • India, 1,67, f/j'^'^./ connection with
penances, i, 80, note 3 ; none in Buddhism, i, 96 ; in the A vesta, i, 117, note; with the Hebrew- prophets, ii, 142, 143
Sadducees, ii, 227, 228, 251, 263
Samaritan woman, discourse with, ii, 285
Samnites, i, 404
Samuel, ii, 107- 109
Sappho, i, 247, 253, 353, 354
Sargon of Accad, i, 33
Satires of Lucilius, i, 424, 435 ; of Persius, ii, 49 ; of Juvenal, li, 50, 51
Saturnian metre, i, 418, 422
Saul, ii, 108, 109
Sceptics, later Greek philosophers, i, 384
Scipio Africanus, (the elder) speech of, i, 403 ; attitude towards Cjreek culture, i, 424
Scipio Africanus, the younger, i, 424
Scopas, i, 273 ; characteristics of art, i, 361 ; the Niobe, i, 367
Sculpture, Egyptian, i, 31
Sculpture, Greek, its mode of setting forth personality, i, 265 ; progress in, i, 271 ; early examples, i, 272 ; the beauty sought, i, 273 ; differ- ences in carving gods and athletes, i, 277 ; unity and symmetry, i, 278 ; in relief, i, 278 ; pediments of Parthenon and the temple at -(Egina, i, 278-2S1 ; later Greek, i. 361-370
" Second Isaiah," ii, 141 ; passages from, ii, 139 ; the servant of Jehovah in, ii, 155 ct seq.
Semites and Aryans, conceptions of sin, i, 63 ; conceptions of deity, ii, 99
Semites, in Mesopotamia, i, 32
Senate and Senatorial government at Rome, i, 398 ; remodelled by Cresar, i, 45S
Seneca, ii, 57-60, 394
Sermon on the Mount, ii, 258, 271
Servant, the, of Jehovah, ii, 154- 171 ; correspondence in character with Christ, ii, 238
Severus, Alexander and Septimius,
ii, 363 _
Shades, conception of in Homer, i,
161 Shun, Chinese emperor, i, 46 Simonides iambograph, i, 221 Simonides of Keos, i, 221 ; li, 387
GENERAL INDEX.
429
Sin, sense of, in Babylonia, i, 35 ; among Semites and Aryans, i, 63 ; in the Avesta, i, 112. See Israel
Siren song, in Homer, i, igg
Slaves, modification of their condi- tion under Roman Empire, ii, 54
Social war, i, 396
Socrates, speech upon love in the Symposium, i, 256 ; conception of beauty, i, 260, note ; philosophy andethics,i, 317-321, 37i ; death of, i, 308 ; ii, 65, 369
Solomon, ii, 117, 118 ; psalms of, ii, 230, 231
Solon, i, 221
Soma, ancient Indian god, i, 67 et seq.
Son of Man, the, in the books of Daniel and Enoch, ii, 229, 230
Sophists, the, i, 316, 384
Sophocles, i, 216, 228 et seq.; ii, 387, 394 ; his mode of greatening human quality, i, 251, 263 ; ethos in his dramas, i, 294
Sparta, i, 235, 241 ; in the time of Cleomenes, i, 346
Spells, see Magic, Incantation
Spirit, conceivable only as person- ality, ii, 304
Spurius Cassius, i, 450
State, the Greek, i, 234 et seq.
Stilpo, the Megarian philosopher, i, 372
Stoicism, i, 374 ; 11, 336, 339 ; phys- ics, i, 375 ; conception of God, i, 376 ; ii, 337 ; Providence, i, 376, 377 ; ethics, i, 377 ; ii, 336 ; apathy, i, 37S ; conscience, i, 379 ; at Rome under Republic, i, 441 ; in the time of the Roman Empire, ii, 56 et seq.; Seneca, ii, 57-60 ; its religiousness and thoughts of God, ii, 59 et seq.; Epictetus, ii, 60-65 ; its pathos, Marcus Au- relius, ii, 65-76 ; the stoical fail- ure, ii, 76, 77 ; place in human progress, ii, 391
Sumer-Acad, peaceful character of, i, 15 ; beliefs of as to a future life, i, 19 ; culture, i, 32 ; Ea, i,
33 Sun, late pagan worship of, ii, 90,
94 Suppliants, the, i, 226 Symbolism, in Ancient India, i, 67
et seq. Symmetry in Greek sculpture, i,
278
Synoptic gospels and their relation to the Fourth Gospel, analogies of method, ii, 240-245 ; question of their composition, ii, 241, note
Tacitus, ii, 49
Talionis, lex, in early Roman law, i, 414, note ; in Israel, ii, 118
Taoism, Chinese philosophy, i, 54
Tartarus, in ^neidYl, ii, 2i
Tathagata, title of Buddha, i, 91
Tatian, ii, 370
Teiresias, in Hades, i, 163
Telemachus, i, 175, 182
Tell elAmarna, cuniform tablets,!, 131 ; ii, loi
Temperance, Greek, i, 202, 241,^/ seq.
Temples, Egyptian, i, 29 ; Greek, i, 269, 281
Terence, i, 425
Tertullian, ii, 34S, 371-375
Thales, i, 303, 306
Themis, i, 205, 206, 214, 247
Themistocles, i, 233
Theocritus, i, 355, 357
Theognis, i, 202, 221
Thetis, i, 160, 168
Thothmes III., i, 24
Thoughts, the, of Marcus Aurelius, ii, 67 et seq.
Thrasea, ii, 60
Tibullus, ii, 41, 52
Tiryns, i, 140 ; fresco from palace, i, 141
Tragedy, Greek, origin, i, 286 ; Aristotle's definition, i, 287 ; the plot, i, 28S ; function of chorus, i, 2S9 ; the messenger in, i, 290 ; ethos in, i, 291 et seq. ; Sophocles and Euripides, i, 294 et seq. ; effect of, i, 29S ; the tragic char- acter, i, 298
Trajan, and the Christians, ii, 359, 361, 362
Transmigration, Ancient Indian thoughts, i, 72
Treaties, formal requirements in regard to, at Rome, i, 405
Troy, civilization of, i, 129
Truth, the, " shall make you free," ii, 289 ; the three stages of, ii, 302, 305 ; sanctification in, ii,
305 Turnus, character in the ./Eneid, ii, 16, 17
430
GENERAL INDEX.
Twelve Tables, i, 410, 413 Tyrtseus, i, 220
U
Ulpianus, ii, 53, 54
Unity, in Greek sculpture, i, 278,
285 , in Greek tragedy, i, 287 Universal, the, in the Concrete, in
art, i, 263 Upanishads, Indian Treatises, i, 72
et seq.
Vaphio, gold cups from, i, 142 Varuna, Indian god, i, 63, 65 Veda, see Rig- Veda and Yajur- Veda Vedic Aryans, i, 58 ; institutions, i, 59 ; affinity with Iranians, i, 104- 106 Ver sacrum, i, 408 Vespasian, ii, 28, 361, 365, 367 Vindex, in early Roman law, i, 412 Virgil, his love of Italy, ii, 8, 9 ; the Georgics, ib. ; the yEneid ex- pressive of the public ideal of the age, ii, 11-19; episode of Dido, ii, 14, 15 ; the underworld, ALneid VI., ii, 19; the Golden Age, the fourth Eclogue, ii, 24 ; deifi- cation of the emperor, ii, 26 ; Virgil heralds the coming spir- itual change, ii, 32 ; Virgil and Homer, ii, 32 ; pathos in the ALneid, ii, 33-40 ; tenderness towards all life, ii, 40 ; representa- tive of pagan preparation for Christianity, ii, 335, 393 Virtue, the Socratic conception, 318 ; the Platonic conception, 332 ; Aristotle's distinctions, 336 ; in Stoicism, i, 377-381 ; the general pagan conception, ii, 342
W
Wisdom, the Book of, ii, 229,
note r Wisdom-literature of the Hebrews,
ii , 202 et seq.
Women, permitted to form Buddhist communities, i, 96, note 4 ; posi- tion in early Rome, i, 391 ; morality at Rome under the Em- pire, ii, 51, 52
Word, the, in the prologue to John's Gospel, ii, 274
World, the, and Christ, in John's Gospel and Epistle, ii, 276-279
Writing, the alphabet, i, 136 ; among the Hebrews, ii, 100
X
Xanthus of Sardis, reference to
Zoroaster, i, 122 Xenophanes, i, 305, 308-310
Yao, Chinese emperor, i, 46 Yu, Chinese emperor, i, 46
Zarathushtra, personality, i, 106 ; character of his religion, i, 109 ; vicissitudes of his reform, i, no; dualism, i, in ; sin and right- eousness according to, i, 111-113; the later corruption of his faith, i, 116; connection with the Medes and Persians, i, 119; probably a Magian, i, 120, 121 ; his date, i, 121 ; possible influence on the Jews, ii, 223 ; position in human development, ii, 381. See Avesta
Zechariah, ii, 135
Zend-Avestra, see Avesta, Zara- thushtra
Zeno, the Stoic, i, 374, 385
Zeus, his character in Homer, i, 156, 157, 164, 171, 172, 173; relations to fate, i, 174, 191, 204 ; later conceptions of, i, 218 et seq. ; in Stoic philosophy, i, 374 et seq.
Zeus, the Olympian, of Phidias, i, 276
Zeuxis, i, 294
Zoroaster, see Zarathushtra
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