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THE  OPEN  COURT 

Devoted  to  the  Science  of  Religion,  the  Religion  of  Science, 
and    the    Extension    of    the    Religious    Parliament    Idea. 

FOUNDED  BY  EDWARD  C.  HEGELER 


Vol.  46  NOVEMBER,  1932  No.  918 


CONTENTS 
THOMAS  J.  MCCORMACK,   1865-I932. 

Elisabeth  Cams 729 

THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 

Robert  P.  Richardson 732 

THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY. 

Gabriel  Rombotis. 759 

ODERNiziNG  GOVERNMENT.    T.  Szvaun  Harding 774 


M 


AN  ARABIC  VERSION  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

Edward  Ulback 7^^ 

PHILOSOPHY  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCIENCE. 

PROFESSOR  G.    II.   MEAd's  PHILOSOPHY  OF  THE  PRESENT. 

Victor  S.  Yarros 7^7 

BENEDICTUS  DE  SPINOZA,    1632-I932 792 


Published  monthly  by 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
337  EAST  CHICAGO  AVENUE  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Subscription  rates:  $3.00  a  year,  35c   a  copy.   Remittances  may  be  made  by  personal  checks,   drafts, 
post  office  or  express  money   orders,   payable  to  The  Open  Court  Publishtng  Company. 

While  the  editors  welcome  contributions,   they  do  not  hold  themselves  responsible 
for    unsolicited    manuscripts. 

Address  all  correspondence  to  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company. 
337  East  Chicago  Ave.,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

Entered   as    Second    Class   matter   March    26.    1887,    at    the    Post    Office    at    Chicago,    Illinois, 
under   Act   of   March   3,    1879. 

Copyright  1932  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company. 

Printed  in   the   United   States  of  America. 


TIKi.MAS  J.    McCOKMACK 

J-'roiitisf^iccc  to  The  Open  Court 


The  Open  Court 


Volume  XLM  (  Xo.  11)     XOVE.MBER,  1932  Xumber  918 

THOMAS  J.  McCORMACK 
1865-1932 

WITH  the  death  of  Thomas  J.  AlcCormack  on  June  24th  of  this 
year,  his  part  as  a  pioneer  in  secondary  education  has  been 
brought  to  a  close ;  but  what  he  has  accomplished  in  the  La  Salle- 
Peru  Township  High  School  and  his  influence  in  educational  circles 
in  general,  as  well  as  his  many  excellent  articles  and  translations, 
insure  him  immortality,  for  something  of  the  soul  of  a  man  is  at- 
tached to  the  work  which  he  has  produced,  and  the  good  in  it  lives 
on  for  the  future  to  use  and  to  build  upon  as  he  has  used  the  work 
of  his  predecessors  to  form  his  life  and  to  create  his  ideas.  Teach- 
ing is  perhaps  the  most  influential  method  of  molding  future  lives, 
and  Mr.  McCormack,  with  the  rare  combination  of  his  fine  scholar- 
ship and  administrative  ability,  was  an  inspiration  to  all  of  those 
who  came  into  contact  with  him  to  accomplish  great  things  in  the 
spirit  of  Science  and  Truth. 

Mr.  McCormack  came  to  the  Open  Court  in  1888  soon  after  he 
had  completed  his  studies.  He  was  born  in  1865  of  Irish  parentage 
in  Brooklyn.  Here  he  attended  grammar  school  and  high  school. 
He  then  sought  a  classical  education  at  Princeton  University,  Prince- 
ton, X^.  J.,  and  was  graduated  in  1884.  He  continued  his  education 
in  Germany  spending  a  term  each  at  the  universities  of  Leipzig 
and  Tubingen,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  History, 
Political  Science,  and  the  Modern  Languages.  After  his  return  to 
the  United  States,  he  took  up  the  study  of  jurisprudence  first  at 
Columbia  and  later  at  the  Chicago  Law  School  where  he  received 
the  degree  of  L.L.B.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  he  never 
practised  law. 

During  the  first  years  of  Mr.  McCormack's  association  with  the 
Open  Court  his  work  consisted  in  translating  from  German  and 
French  some  of  the  most  notable  essays  of  the  foremost  mathema- 
ticians, physicists,  biologists,  physiologists,  psychologists,  and  theo- 
logians of   Europe.    Among  these  are  included  Lagrange,   Grass- 


730  THE  OPEN   COURT 

mann,  Poincare,  Klein,  Schubert,  Boltzmann,  Hering,  Wundt,  Ribot, 
Binet,  Delboeiif,  Topinard,  Haeckel,  Weismann,  Eimer,  Carus 
Sterne,  Lasswitz,  Cornill,  and  Delitzsch.  Although  all  of  his 
translations  are  excellent  his  most  noteworthy  translation  is  that 
of  Mach's  Science  of  Mechanics  on  account  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  subject-matter. 

In  1897  Mr.  McCormack  became  more  closely  associated  with 
the  Open  Court  in  the  capacity  of  associate  editor. 

Besides  the  many  translations  which  he  rendered  into  English, 
Mr.  McCormack  has  edited  works  by  De  Morgan,  Leibnitz,  Hume, 
Berkeley,  and  Descartes.  He  wrote  a  series  of  biographies  of  mathe- 
maticians and  philosophers  which  were  published  with  portraits 
in  the  Open  Court.  During  this  time  he  also  contributed  many 
critical  notes  on  current  scientific  literature,  and  articles  on  scientific 
and  educational  subjects  both  to  the  Opeii  Court  and  to  the  Monist. 

In  1903  Mr.  McCormack  was  elected  Principal  of  the  La  Salle- 
Peru  Township  High  School.  During  the  fifteen  years  of  associa- 
tion with  the  Open  Court  he  had  always  kept  in  mind  the  theories 
of  education  and  the  latest  scientific  methods  of  teaching.  He  knew 
the  work  of  Dewey,  Parker,  and  many  others.  Not  only  this  type 
of  work,  however,  but  also  the  close  association  with  the  ideas  and 
ideals  of  Dr.  Carus — whose  devotion  to  the  history  and  philosophy  of 
science  established  ideals  for  which  the  Open  Court  has  stood — were 
of  inestimable  value  as  a  foundation  to  his  later  work.  His  work 
as  translator  of  the  writings  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  different 
fields  of  science  and  in  the  beginnings  of  new  sciences  added  to  this 
foundation.  Thus  we  feel  that  he  has  carried  many  of  the  ideals 
of  the  Open  Court  into  new  fields. 

As  Principal  of  the  La  Salle- Peru  Township  High  School,  Mr. 
McCormack  devoted  himself  to  the  problems  of  secondary  educa- 
tion and  with  the  sympathetic  cooperation  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion he  built  up  an  outstandingly  fine  school,  which  has  been  a  great 
influence  in  developing  the  cultural  life  of  that  small,  industrial 
community. 

In  1924  when  the  La  Salle-Peru-Oglesby  Junior  College  was 
started,  he  was  made  Director.  Two  hundred  and  fifty-two  students 
are  now  enrolled  in  the  Junior  College,  which  is  considered  one  of 
the  best  in  the  country. 

The  best  known  of  Mr.  McCormack's  educational  projects,  made 
possible   by   the   generosity   of    Mrs.    Adele   Blow   and   Mrs.    Eda 


THOMAS  J.  McCORMACK,  1865-1932  731 

Mathiessen  and  by  their  interest  in  this  new  venture,  is  the  Bureau 
of  Educational  Counsel,  organized  in  1923  for  the  purpose  of  study- 
ing the  individual  needs  of  the  young  students.  Two  social  psychi- 
atric workers  with  the  cooperation  of  psychiatrists  and  psycholo- 
gists from  the  Institute  of  Juvenile  Research  in  Chicago  carry  on 
the  work.  "The  School,"  wrote  Mr.  McCormack  in  the  introduction 
to  his  first  report,  "must  be  conceived  as  an  ethical  laboratory  in 
which  all  the  mistreadings  of  childhood  are  considered  as  material 
for  ethical  observations  and  as  opportunities  for  ethical  amend- 
ment. . .  .The  salvation,  not  the  punishment  of  the  child,  is  the  goal 
of  all  disciplinary  doctrine.  The  precedent  is  peace,  inward  har- 
mony, emotional  equilibrium."  This  bureau  was  the  first  to  be  es- 
tablished in  a  public  school  which  supplemented  to  academic  train- 
ing the  aid  of  mental  hygiene,  and  similar  bureaus  have  since  been 
established  in  colleges,  universities,  and  other  schools. 

Mr.  McCormack  has  written  many  articles  on  educational  sub- 
jects for  national  and  technical  journals  and  has  been  well  known  as 
a  speaker.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  associate  editor  of  the 
Americmi  Revieiv.  He  was  given  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of 
Science  by  Princeton  University  in  1919,  and  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Northwestern  University  in  June,  1930. 

We  are  grieved  to  have  lost  this  loved  friend  and  noble  man  at 
an  age  when  he  still  had  useful  years  ahead  of  him  in  which  to 
bear  the  fruit  of  his  experience  and  his  scholarship,  but  we  are 
thankful  to  have  known  and  profited  by  his  wisdom  and  his  rare 
ability. 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  X.AZARETH 

BY  ROBERT  I'.  RICHARDSON 

TX  ATTE-MTTIXlj  to  fatliuni  c\ents  veiled  frt  ni  us  by  lack  of 
■^  adequate  contemporary  records  there  is  no  principle  more  use- 
ful than  the  adage:  History  repeats  itself.  Light  can  always  be 
shed  on  the  aims  and  deeds  of  one  personage  by  studying  the  ac- 
tivities of  others  in  the  same  field.  Those  able  to  take  up,  without 
prejudice,  the  study  of  religious  movements  will  find  that  these 
are  no  exception  to  the  rule,  and  that  one  prophet  often  exhibits 
surprising  similarities  to  another.  And  though  the  ardent  disciples 
of  each  declare  him  to  be  su-i  generis  and  utterly  unlike  his  rivals, 
the  impartial  observer  will  never  find  himself  able  to  admit  this 
contention. 

Of  Jesus  of  Xazareth,  in  particular,  we  can  take  a  rational  view 
only  by  ceasing  to  presuppose  him  to  have  been  a  unifjue  member 
of  the  human  race.  We  must  consider  him  as  a  man  of  his  times, 
profoimdly  influenced  by  the  ideals  and  asjjirations  of  the  circles 
in  which  he  moved.  It  is  to  the  inspiration  given  him  by  the  ex- 
hortations of  John  the  Baptist  that  we  must  ascribe  the  appear- 
ance on  the  public  stage  of  Jesus,  the  ex-carpenter  of  X'^azareth  in 
his  new  role  of  preacher  and  reformer.  The  authentic  history  of 
Jesus  really  begins  with  his  baptism,  the  birth  and  infancy  stories 
of  the  canonical  gospels  being  obviously  purely  fabulous ;  as  much 
so  as  the  stories  of  the  apocryphal  gospels  of  the  infancy.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  that  the  Ebionites,  the  Christians  who  traced  their 
spiritual  lineage  to  the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus,  had  a  gospel, 
which  the  Catholic  Church  did  not  allow  to  survive,  beginning 
with  the  words:  "It  came  to  pass  in  the  reign  of  Herod  the  king 
of  Judea,  when  Caiphas  was  high  priest,  that  there  came  a  certain 
man,  John  by  name,  baptizing  with  the  baptism  of  repentance  in  the 
river  Jordan,  who  was  said  to  be  of  the  lineage  of  Aaron  the  priest, 
child  of  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  and  all  went  unto  him."  "After 
a  good  deal  more"  says  Epiphanius  (to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
the  preservation  of  this  fragment)  the  Ebionite  gospel  "continues 
that  'After  the  people  were  baptized,  Jesus  also  came  and  was  bap- 
tized.' "  And  in  much  the  same  way  begins  the  story  of  the  canon- 
ical gospel  of  Mark. 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         72>?> 

The  various  stories  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus  and  an  account  of 
John  the  Baptist  and  his  present-day  followers,  the  Mandaeans, 
will  be  found  in  an  article  by  the  writer :  "Jesus  and  John  the  Bap- 
tist" in  the  October  1929  issue  of  TJie  Open  Court.  Here  we  need 
merely  note  that  everything  goes  to  show  that,  in  the  view  of  the 
early  Christians,  the  baptism  of  Jesus  marked  an  important  epoch 
in  his  life.  It  was  only  then,  the  Ebionites  held,  that  he  became 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  divine  spirit :  that  the  Holy  Ghost  descended 
and  entered  into  him.  There  may  perhaps  be  some  connection  be- 
tween this  view,  that  the  spiritual  birth  of  Jesus  took  place  in  the 
waters  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  practice  among  the  early  Christians 
of  symbolizing  Jesus  as  a  fish.  Such  a  connection  is  in  evidence  in 
the  hostile  Mandaean  tradition  according  to  which  John  the  Bap- 
tist, when  asked  to  baptize  Jesus,  replied  sharply:  "Stinking  fish 
is  not  a  tasty  morsel."  Likewise  the  rival  theory,  that  Jesus  was 
the  "Son  of  God"  from  his  very  conception  (and  not  the  son  of 
Joseph  even  in  a  physical  sense)  could  make  use  of  the  fish  sym- 
bolism, since  fishes  were  popularly  supposed  to  be  generated  with- 
out carnal  contact  between  the  male  and  the  female.  ^ 

Aifter  being  baptized  Jesus,  we  are  told,  went  out  into  the  wilder- 
ness and  fasted  for  "forty  days."  The  "forty"  should  not  here 
be  taken  literally,  it  was  merely  the  conventional  round  number  of 
Hebrew  legend,  and  "a  number  of  days"  would  be  a  more  suitable 
rendition.  We  need  not  be  surprised  that  after  a  prolonged  fast 
Jesus  should  have  had  the  hallucination  of  being  tempted  by  the 
devil :  on  the  contrary  it  would  be  surprising  if  in  such  a  condi- 
tion he  had  not  been  subject  to  hallucinations.  But  we  must  decided- 
ly discredit  that  a  hallucination  of  the  character  in  question  could 
come  to  one  who  believed  himself  to  be  the  Messiah — the  "Son  of 
God."  To  a  person  so  favored  by  Jahveh  the  devil  would  have 
nothing  to  offer.  The  diabolic  bargain  might  indeed  be  alluring  to 
a  humble  follower  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  it  was  presumably  in 
this  light  that  Jesus  then  viewed  himself.  Jesus,  of  course,  with- 
stood the  temptation,  and  returned  to  the  haunts  of  man  firm  in 
the  Baptist  faith.  According  to  Luke  it  was  "in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  Tiberias  Caesar"  that  John  the  Baptist  began  his  work.  Just 
how  long  the  ministry  of  John  endured  we  have  no  means  of  as- 

lOf  course  the  use  of  fish  symbolism  in  religion  is  much  older  than 
Christianity.  See  "The  Fish  in  Christianity"  by  Dr.  Carus  in  The  Open 
Court  V.  25,  p.  435  and  "The  Physiologus  and  the  Christian  Fish  Symbolism" 
by  R.  Garbe,  ibid.  V.  28  p.  405. 


734  THE  OPEN  COURT 

certaining,  hut  at  all  events  it  was  brought  to  an  untimely  end  by 
the  arrest  and  execution  of  John  at  the  command  of  Herod  Antipas. 
The  movement  which  the  Baptist  had  inaugurated  did  not  die  with 
him,  but  has  kept  alive  even  until  this  day.  Obviously  then  his  work 
must  have  been  taken  up  by  his  lieutenants :  by  certain  of  his  disciples 
endowed  with  the  gift  of  leadership,  and  we  shall  not  go  wrong  if 
we  rank  Jesus  as  of  this  category:  as  one  who  in  the  beginning  of 
his  career  was  merely  an  ardent  disciple  of  John  the  Baptist,  de- 
termined at  all  hazards  to  carry  on  the  work  of  his  beloved  mas- 
ter. The  message  he  set  forth  to  deliver,  which  other  enthusiasts 
were  simultaneously  proclaiming  around  the  land,  was  thus,  in 
the  beginning,  not  anything  original,  but  was  merely  a  reitera- 
tion of  what  had  already  been  taught  by  John.  As  it  has  been  put: 
Jesus  caught  up  the  lamp  which  had  fallen  from  the  hands  of  the 
stricken  prophet  and  hurried  on  with  it  towards  the  same  goal. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  Jesus  may  have  worked  previously 
side  by  side  with  John,  shortly  after  being  baptized,  and  it  is  im- 
plied that  this  really  took  place  in  the  suggestion  (originating  with 
Brandt  and  Cheyne)  that  in  certain  remarks,  concerning  one  greater 
than  Jonah  and  Solomon,  Jesus  was  referring  not  to  himself  but 
to  John  the  Baptist.  This  theory,  that  a  testimony  of  Jesus  to  John 
has  been  converted  by  Christian  writers  into  a  vainglorious  boast 
about  himself,  has  the  merit  of  making  clear  some  very  puzzling 
passages.  But  it  requires  a  bold  and  arbitrary  rearrangement  of 
gospel  texts  (i.e.  of  Matthczv  11:7-9,  11;  Luke  11:29,30;  Matthew 
12:41-42  and  11:13-15  and  Luke  7:29,30)  and  moreover  the  sub- 
stitution of  "John"  for  "the  Son  of  man"  in  Luke  11:30.  Making 
the  rather  precarious  assumption  that  this  conjectural  rearrange- 
ment of  texts  is  justified,  it  would  seem  that  on  one  occasion,  natur- 
ally early  in  his  career,  Jesus  was  preaching  as  a  subordinate  of 
John  the  Baptist,  to  behold  whom  a  multitude  had  gathered.  Jesus 
begins  by  assuring  his  audience  that  John  is  much  more  worthy 
of  attention  than  a  reed-like  Jonah  or  a  luxuriously  clad  Solomon. 
"And.  . .  .Jesus  began  to  say  unto  the  multitudes  concerning  John. 
What  went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  to  behold?  A  reed  shaken 
with  the  wind?  But  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see?  A  man  clothed 
in  soft  raiment?  Behold  they  that  wear  soft  raiment  are  in  kings' 
houses.  But  wherefore  went  ye  out?  To  see  a  prophet?  Yea,  I 
say  unto  you  and  much  more  than  a  prophet.  \''erily  I  say  unto 
you:    Among  them  that  are  lx)rn  of  women  there  hath  not  arisen 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         735 

a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist.  This  generation  is  an  evil  gener- 
ation ;  for  it  seeketh  after  a  sign,  and  there  shall  be  no  sign  given 
it  but  the  sign  of  Jonah.  For  even  as  Jonah  became  a  sign  to  the 
Ninevites,  so  shall  also  John  be  to  this  generation.  The  men  of 
Nineveh  shall  stand  up  in  the  judgment  with  this  generation,  and 
shall  condemn  it ;  for  the}^  repented  at  the  preaching  of  Jonah,  and 
behold  a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here.  The  queen  of  the  south  shall 
rise  up  in  the  judgment  with  this  generation,  and  shall  convict  it ; 
for  she  came  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solo- 
mon ;  and  behold  a  greater  than  Solomon  is  here.  For  all  the  prophets 
and  the  law  prophesied  until  John.  And  if  ye  are  willing  to  re- 
ceive it,  this  is  Elijah  which  is  come.  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear  let 
him  hear.  And  all  the  [lowly]  people  that  heard  him,  and  the 
publicans  justified  God,  being  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  John. 
But  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers  rejected  for  themselves  the  counsel 
of  God  being  not  baptized  of  him." 

Unquestionably  there  were,  besides  Jesus,  other  Baptist  leaders 
and  propagandists,  and  an  illustration  of  their  work  is  afforded  by 
the  episode  of  Apollos  (Acts  18  and  19),  the  Alexandrian  Jew  at 
Ephesus  who  knew  "only  the  baptism  of  John."  As  Overbeck  has 
shown,  this  indicates  that  the  first  Ephesian  community  of  "disci- 
ples" of  which  Apollos  was  a  member  had  been  founded  by  the 
followers  of  John  the  Baptist  who  knew  more  or  less  about  Jesus 
but  were  unacquainted  with  what,  in  the  view  of  the  author  of  this 
passage  of  Acts,  was  the  distinctively  Christian  doctrine:  that  of 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  believers.  And  it  has  been  held 
that  the  legendary  association  of  John  the  Apostle  with  Ephesus, 
and  the  ascription  to  him  of  various  New  Testament  writings  eman- 
ating from  that  place  had  as  its  only  foundation  this  fact:  that  the 
Ephesian  Church  was  "Johannine"  in  the  sense  of  tracing  its  ori- 
gin to  the  teachings  of  John  the  Baptist.  History  shows  that  not 
all  the  followers  of  the  Baptist  were  as  amenable  to  Christian  in- 
fluence as  Aipollos  and  the  disciples  of  Ephesus ;  others  remained 
aloof,  as  is  evinced  by  the  line  of  spiritual  succession  traced  back 
to  such  men  by  the  Mandaeans  of  to-day,  a  religious  body  bitterly 
opposed  to  Christianity. 

As  field  of  his  labors  Jesus  chose  his  native  province  of  Galilee. 
"After  that  John  was  delivered  up,"  says  Mark,  "Jesus  came  into 
Galilee,  preaching  the  gospel  of  God,  and  saying:  The  time  is 
fulfilled  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand:    repent  ye  and  be- 


IZfi  THE  OPEN   COURT 

lieve  in  the  Gospel."  In  his  preaching  Jesus  was  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  John  who  had  likewise  proclaimed  the  imminent  com- 
ing of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  in  other  words  the  speedy  realization 
of  the  Messianic  hope  of  the  Jews  which  has  been  well  character- 
ized as  the  "fixed  social  belief  of  the  Jewish  people  that  Jehovah 
would  deliver  Israel  and  erect  it  into  a  glorious  empire  to  w  hicli  a 
conquered  world  would  be  subject."  The  glories  of  the  reign  of 
David  and  Solomon  were  to  be  restored ;  "a  conquering  Israel,  a 
Davidic  king,  a  suppliant,  terrorized,  tortured  [Gentile]  world — 
these  were  the  dreams  which  Jehovah  was  to  make  real."-  Some- 
times the  phrase  "Kingdom  of  Heaven"  was  preferred  to  "king- 
dom of  God,"  on  account  of  the  Jewish  aversion  to  using  the  name 
of  the  deity,  but  in  both  cases  the  meaning  was  the  Kingdom  of 
God  on  earth. '"^  Modern  Christians  however  usually  hold  that  the 
kingdom  to  which  Jesus  aspired  and  the  approach  of  which  he  an- 
nounced was  not  of  this  world.  To  the  Fundamentalists  this  view 
is  inevitable,  for  they  believe  that  Jesus,  having  had  divine  fore- 
knowledge of  what  was  to  befall  the  Jewish  people,  could  not  have 
dreamed  of  beholding  nineteen  hundred  years  ago  the  overthrow 
of  Roman  rule  and  the  establishment  of  an  independent  Jewish  state, 
since  no  such  dreams  came  true.  The  orthodox  theory  thus  inter- 
prets the  predictions  of  John  and  Jesus  of  the  glorious  coming  of 
the  Kingdom  as  having  meant,  so  far  as  the  near  future  was  con- 
cerned, that  John  was  to  be  beheaded,  that  Jesus  after  a  brief  career 
of  one  year,  was  to  be  condemned  as  a  criminal  and  executed,  that 
the  Temple  was  to  be  destroyed  and  Jerusalem  razed  to  the  ground, 
and  that  the  Jewish  people  were  to  lose  even  the  limited  autonomy 
they  had  enjoyed.    More  reasonable  than  this  is  the  view  that  Jesus 

2Siliailer  MatthewTs:  The  Mcssiiniic  Hope  in  the  Nczi'  Testament, 
1905,  p.  3. 

•^Keim  well  puts  it,  in  discussing  the  expectations  of  Jesus,  that  "All 
existing  evidence  goes  to  prove  that  his  kingdom  of  heaven  was  a  kingdom 
upon  cartli."  In  fact  Reimarus  was  fully  justified  in  his  contention  that  the 
movement  promoted  hy  Jesus  had,  as  its  essence,  the  political  Messianic  ideal : 
"Away  witii  the  Romans !  Palestine  to  God  and  the  Jews !"  As  regards  the 
apparently  authentic  sayings  of  Jesus  which  seem  to  refer  to  an  immanent 
Kingdom  of  God,  we  may  quote  the  remarks  of  Prof.  Shailcr  Matthews  of 
the  Department  of  Theology  of  the  University  of  Chicago  (op.  cit.  p.  80) 
that  the  adjusting  the  references  of  Jesus  to  "a  present  kingdom  to  his  en- 
tire eschatological  scheme.... is  by  no  means  difficult.  ..  .The  words  of  Jesus 
which  apparently  describe  the  present  kingdom  refer  (1)  to  those  who 
were  to  be  received  into  the  kingdom  when  it  appeared,  and  (2)  to  the 
triumphs  he  and  his  followers  were  winning  over  Satan  and  his  kingdom. 
The  kingdom  was  among  those  to  whom  he  spoke  in  the  sense  that  there 
were  men  present  who  were  to  enter  it  when  it  appeared." 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         111 

made  mistakes  in  his  attempts  to  foretell  the  future.  And'  admit- 
ting that,  like  other  men,  he  was  fallible,  and  that  his  expectations 
were  likely  to  outrun  the  harsh  realities  of  life,  we  cannot  assume 
that  because  certain  hopes  remained  unrealized  these  were  not  in 
the  mind  of  Jesus. 

On  the  disappearance  of  John  from  the  public  stage  Jesus  be- 
gan to  preach  independently,  and  gathered  around  him  a  little  group 
of  comrades  who  accompanied  him  and  lent  their  aid  to  his  mis- 
sion. Probably  the  group  was  formed  gradually.  It  was  only 
after  he  had  begun  this  preaching  that  he  gained  the  support  of  the 
four  fishermen:  Simon  (Peter)  and  Andrew  and  John  and  James 
(the  two  sons  of  Zebedee.)  According  to  Luke,  the  fishermen  were 
induced  to  abandon  their  work  and  follow  the  prophet  of  Nazareth 
after  he  had  preached  from  Simon's  boat  on  the  Lake  of  Tiberias 
to  an  audience  on  the  shore.  The  Ebionite  gospel  quotes  Matthew 
as  saying:  "There  was  a  certain  man  named  Jesus,  and  he  was 
about  thirty  years  old,  who  chose  us.  And  coming  to  Capernaum  he 
entered  into  the  house  of  Simon  who  was  surnamed  Peter,  and 
opened  his  mouth  and  said :  'As  I  passed  by  the  Lake  of  Tiberias, 
I  chose  John  and  James  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  and  Simon  and  An- 
drew, and  Philip  and  Bartholomew,  James  son  of  Alphaeus  and 
Thomas,  Thadaeus  and  Simon  the  Zealot  and  Judas  the  Iscariot,  and 
thou  Matthew,  as  thou  satest  at  the  receipt  of  custom  I  called,  and 
thou  followedst  me.  You  therefore  I  will  to  be  twelve  apostles  to 
bear  witness  unto  Israel.'  "  Some  of  the  twelve  apostles,  tradition 
specifically  tells  us,  were  originally  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  it  is  highly  probable  that  all  of  the  original  group  were  picked 
from  the  Baptist  fold. 

Capernaum,  where  Jesus  seems  to  have  begun  his  preaching, 
was  a  town  on  the  northwest  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  and 
it  has  been  conjectured  that  Alatthew  the  "publican"  (i.e.  tax  col- 
lector) might  have  had  the  office  of  collecting  toll  or  customs  du- 
ties on  the  important  caravan  route  leading  thence  to  Damascus. 
That  Jesus  should  have  fixed  upon  this  particular  place  would  in- 
dicate that  the  Baptist  movement  had  already  gained  some  support 
there.  In  other  respects,  indeed,  it  had  distinct  advantages  for  his 
purpose.  As  Klausner  points  out,  it  was  a  petty  town,  and  in  smaller 
places  the  audiences  of  Jesus  would  not  have  been  sufficiently  large, 
while  in  the  cities  the  people  were  too  sophisticated  and  the  govern- 
rtijent  supervision  more  severe.    Jesus  however  does  not  seem  to 


738  THE  OPEN  COURT 

have  remained  continuously  at  Capernaum  for  any  length  of  time. 
Soon  after  beginning  his  preaching  he  found  it  advisable  to  move 
on,  saying  to  his  disciples:  "Let  us  go  elsewhere  intO'  the  next  towns 
that  I  may  preach  there  also;  for  to  this  end  came  I  forth."  So  he 
proceeded  to  preach  his  message  in  the  "synagogues  throughout 
all  Galilee."  Ultimately  he  found  it  more  advisable  to  speak  from 
a  boat  to  hearers  on  the  shore,  and  in  this  boat  he  quickly  flitted 
from  one  place  to  another.  Leaving  the  Galilee  lakeside  he  crossed 
the  lake  into  the  country  of  the  Gerasenes,  apparently  in  some  haste, 
for  the  crossing  was  effected  during  a  dangerous  storm.  Going 
back  to  Galilee  he  went  to  his  own  countryside  of  Nazareth,  where 
he  had  but  scant  success,  and  following  this  he  gathered  an  audi- 
ence in  an  unspecified  "desert  place,"  following  which  he  again 
speedily  took  refuge  in  a  boat,  and  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the 
lake,  to  Rethsaida.  There  soon  f  olloAved  another  crossing  which  took 
him  to  Gcnnesareth,  and  next  he  proceeded  to  make  his  way  to  the 
border  of  Tyre,  and  passing  through  Sidon  went  back  to  the  Lake 
of  Tiberias  "through  the  midst  of  the  borders  of  Decapolis."  This 
frequent  change  of  quarters,  and  especially  the  preaching  from  a 
boat,  can  have  but  one  reasonable  explanation :  the  fear  of  being 
arrested  and  meeting  the  fate  of  John.  How  harassed  Jesus  found 
himself  by  what  we  would  now  call  the  constabulary  is  shown  by 
his  bitter  complaint :  "The  foxes  have  holes  and  the  birds  of  heaven 
have  nests,  but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head." 
To  the  officials  who  at  that  time  had  charge  of  keeping  order  in 
Palestine  a  Messianic  preacher  could,  in  fact,  appear  only  as  a  dan- 
gerous agitator  who  must  be  quickly  silenced  in  order  to  nip  in  the 
bud  an  incipient  revolt.  It  is  true  that  theoretically  there  were 
quietist  Messianists  among  the  Jews ;  dreamers  who  held  that  if 
the  Jewish  people  bent  themselves  sufficiently  to  the  whims  of  Jah- 
veh  as  set  forth  by  the  priests,  if  the  Lsraelites  carried  out  in  all 
their  petty  minutae  the  ordinances  inflicted  upon  the  people  by  the 
priests  in  the  guise  of  the  Law  of  God,  then  Jahveh  would  gracious- 
ly restore  the  Kingdom  without  other  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
Chosen  People.  But  in  practice  few  of  the  quietists  would  have 
refused  to  give  their  support  to  any  armed  revolt  had  the  occasion 
seemed  propitious.  Even  the  Jews  who  adhered  to  the  Herods  and 
usually  supported  the  established  order  of  things  might  not  have 
been  adverse  to  joining  a  revolt  which  appeared  to  have  good 
chance  of  success  provided  it  aimed  at  putting  a  Herodian  monarch 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         739 

on  the  throne  of  an  independent  Palestine,  but  to  these  practical 
men  of  affairs  Jesus  and  his  disciples  appeared  hopeless  vision- 
aries quite  unaware  of  the  tremendous  power  of  Rome. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  among  the  entourage  of  Jesus  were 
men  who,  not  yet  cognizant  of  the  rank  which  Jesus  was  ultimately 
to  claim  for  himself,  dreamed  of  an  alliance  between  the  followers 
of  the  new  prophet  and  the  forces  of  the  Herodian  princes  for  the 
purpose  of  driving  the  Romans  from  the  land.  And  it  may  well 
have  been  in  reference  to  some  such  futile  hope  that  Jesus  took 
occasion  to  warn  his  followers  to  "take  heed,  beware  of  the  leaven 
of  the  Pharisees  and  the  leaven  of  Herod"  (Mark  8:15)  or  as 
Matthczv  (16:6)  has  it:  "Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees 
and  of  the  Sadducees."  With  this  admonition  we  may  perhaps 
connect  the  statement  of  Luke:  "Now  there  were  some  present  at 
that  very  season  which  told  him  of  the  Galileians  whose  blood  Pi- 
late had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices."  This  can  hardly  have  been 
an}^hing  else  than  a  warning  from  men  who.  while  sympathizing 
with  the  aims  of  the  movement,  were  too  sober  minded  to  take 
part  in  it  and  were  endeavoring  to  make  Jesus  realize  that  piety 
on  the  part  of  himself  and  his  following  would  not  avail  them 
in  the  event  of  hostilities  with  the  authorities.  The  context  here 
would  seem  to  have  been  mutilated  or  distorted,  and  moreover  the 
inspired  writer  goes  astray  in  his  chronolog>%  since  the  massacre 
referred  to  took  place  before  the  time  of  Pilate,  under  the  rule  of 
Archelaus,  who  had  his  soldiers  attack  his  rebellious  subjects  while 
the  latter  were  occupied  with  their  religious  duties,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Jews  (which  Josephus,  probably  exaggerating,  puts  at  three 
thousand)  having  been  killed.  It  would  seem  that  one  of  the  dis- 
ciples put  forward  the  theory  that  the  Jews  thus  killed  must  have 
been  great  sinners,  or  Jahveh  would  not  have  allowed  the  soldiers 
to  strike  them  down  while  in  the  very  act  of  worshipping  him. 
And  Jesus  seized  the  opportunity  to  tell  his  followers  that  they  were 
not  yet  sufficiently  righteous  to  satisfy  God.  Those  sufferers  whose 
blood  had  been  mingled  with  their  sacrifices  were  not  sinners  above 
all  the  Galileians,  but  were  merely  on  a  par  with  the  rest,  and  he 
added  "except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  in  like  manner  perish." 

Jesus  taught  his  disciples  to  pray  for  the  speedy  restoration  of 
the  Davidic  Kingdom — the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth — this  being 
the  sense  in  which  we  must  take  the  clause  "thy  kingdom  come" 
in  the  Lord's   Prayer,  and  his  plans   for  bringing  into  being  the 


740  THE  OPEN  COURT 

Kingdom  of  God  could  hardly  have  contemplated  a  purely  human 
revolutionary  movement  against  Rome.  But  this  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  that  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth  would  have  looked 
askance  on  an  armed  revolt  provided  Jahveh  had  first  been  placated 
and  his  intervention  assured.  The  aid  of  Jahveh  could,  it  was  sup- 
posed, be  obtained  only  by  scrupulously  obeying  his  mandates,  and 
accordingly  Jesus  preached  the  necessity  of  righteousness.  "For  I 
say  unto  you,  that  except  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the 
righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Righteousness  was  so  paramount  that 
all  material  things  were  to  be  neglected  to  attain  it.  "Be  ye  not 
therefore  anxious,  saying,   \\'hat  shall   we  eat?  or  What  shall  we 

drink?  or  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed? But  seek  ye  first  the 

kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness;  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you."  In  fact,  according  to  the  prevailing  belief,  the 
inauguration  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom  would  be  marked  by  rich 
gifts  from  God,  extorted,  as  tribute  and  expiatory  ofiferings,  from 
thfi  Gentile  nations  who  had  so  long  oppressed  the  Jews.  And  it 
was  probably  in  order  to  show  that  this  expectation  had  been 
fulfilled  that,  after  the  death  of  Jesus  and  the  revamping  of  the 
Christian  Messianic  doctrine,  there  was  fabricated  the  legend  of 
the  three  Magi  bringing  gifts  to  Mary's  new-born  babe. 

The  scribes  and  Pharisees,  since  they  did  not  sufficiently  prac- 
tice the  piety  they  preached,  were  regarded  by  Jesus  as  standing  in 
the  way  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  Jahveh  for  the  national  aspira- 
tions, and  sometimes  came  in  for  a  share  of  his  denunciations.  "Woe 
unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye  tithe  mint  and 
anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law,  judgment  and  mercy  and  faith  ;  but  these  ye  ought  to  have 
done  and  not  left  the  other  undone."  None  the  less  the  Pharisees 
could  not,  in  the  begining  at  least,  have  been  wholly  unsympathetic 
towards  Jesus  as  is  shown  by  Luke  13:21.  "There  came  certain 
Pharisees  saying  to  him :  Get  thee  out  and  go  hence ;  for  Herod 
would  fain  kill  thee."  His  reply:  "Go  tell  that  fox:'*  Behold  I 
cast  out  devils  and  perform  cures  to-day,  and  to-morrow  and  the 
third  day  I  am  perfected"  is.  by  orthodox  Christians,  taken  as  pre- 
dicting the  resurrection  of  Jesus  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day. 
But  in  the  phraseology  of  the  Jews  "the  third  day"  was  used  in  an 

^Among  the  Semites  the  fox  was  regarded  not  as  a  cunning  animal  but  as 
one  bloodthirsty  and  rapacious. 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         741 

indefinite  sense,  and  "yesterday  and  the  third  day"  was  a  well-known 
locution  meaning  merely  shortly  before.  What  Jesus  was  expressing 
was  his  firm  conviction  that  quite  soon  in  the  future  ("to-morrow 
and  the  third  day")  his  plans  for  the  establishment  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom  would  come  to  full  fruition,  and  he  would  be  seated  on  the 
throne  of  David  as  monarch  of  an  independent  Palestine.  So  under- 
stood, these  words,  sent  as  a  defiant  message  to  Herod  Antipas,  are 
perfectly  comprehensible.  On  the  other  hand,  construed  as  meaning 
that  Jesus  was  about  to  proceed  to  Jerusalem  with  the  expectation 
of  being  executed  and  rising  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  his 
message  would  be  ridiculous 

On  occasions  Jesus  would  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  wise 
men  of  Israel  as  expounders  of  the  Divine  Law.  Said  he :  "The 
scribes  and  Pharisees  sit  in  Moses'  seat ;  all  things  therefore  what- 
soever they  bid  you,  these  observe,  but  do  not  ye  after  their  works ; 
for  they  say  and  do  not."  Other  passages  of  the  New  Testament  re- 
present Jesus  as  in  conflict  with  these  interpreters  of  the  Law.  Some 
of  these  passages  are  certainly  interpolations  by  Paulinist  redactors. 
For  instance,  in  view  of  the  position  taken  by  the  Ebionites  towards 
the  Mosaic  Dietary  Laws,  we  cannot  possibly  believe  Mark  when 
he  represents  Jesus  as  "making  all  meats  clean"  by  saying  "There 
is  nothing  from  without  a  man  that  going  into  him  can  defile  him" 
(Mark  7:19  and  LS,  Cf.  Mattheiv  15:11).  For  it  was  precisely  the 
opposite  stand  that  the  Ebionites — the  body  of  believers  giving  al- 
legiance to  the  personal  disciples  of  Jesus  rather  than  to  Paul — 
took  against  the  Paulinists.^  Likewise  we  must  reject  as  unhistorical 
the  tales  of  Jesus  healing,  on  the  Sabbath  day,  a  man  with  a  withered 
hand,  another  with  the  dropsy,  and  a  woman  who  was  bowed  (Luke 
12:6-11,  14:  1-6,  13:10-17),  since  a  healer  who  retained  even  the 
slightest  reverence  for  the  Jewish  Law  would  recognize  as  reason- 
able the  Pharisaic  contention  that  works  of  healing  which,  like  these, 
could  well  be  delayed  until  the  morrow,  ought  not  be  performed  on 
the  Sabbath.  It  is  utterly  unbelievable  that  Jesus  thus  went  out  of 
his  way  to  ofl^end  the  susceptibilities  of  his  pious  fellow  citizens, 
and  that  he  designated  as  "hypocrites"  those  who  took  the  perfectly 
reasonable  view  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  {Luke  13:14)  "There 
are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to  work  ;  in  them  therefore  come 
and  be  healed  and  not  on  the  day  of  the  Sabbath." 

5See  an  article  by  the  present  writer:    "Paul  alias  Simon  the  Magician" 
in  The  Open  Court  for  August,  1930. 


742  THE  OPEN  COURT 

On  the  other  hand  we  can  well  believe  that  the  disciples  plucked 
and  ate  raw  grain  on  the  Sabbath  (Mark  2:23;  Afatthew  12:2). 
For  the  reply  of  Jesus  to  his  critics  implies  that  this  hasty  meal 
was  snatched  from  the  stalks  as  the  little  band  passed  hurriedly 
through  a  grain  field  while  fleeing  from  the  agents  of  the  govern- 
ment. And  the  justification  that  this  action  w^as  on  a  par  with  that 
of  David  who,  commissioned  by  Jahveh  to  lead  a  revolt  against 
Saul,  while  evading  the  emissaries  of  the  reigning  monarch,  "en- 
tered into  the  house  of  God  when  Abithar  was  high  priest,  and  did 
eat  the  shew  bread  which  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat,  save  for  the  priest, 
and  give  also  to  them  that  were  with  him"  would  be  quite  reason- 
able from  the  point  of  view  of  one  who,  like  Jesus,  believed  that 
Jahveh  sanctioned  his  own  opposition  to  the  constituted  authori- 
ties of  his  country.  The  passage  however  shows  a  sad  ignorance  of 
Old  Testament  history  on  the  part  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  for 
1  Samuel  21  :l-6  tells  us  that  not  Abithar  but  Ahimelech  was  the 
priest  who  fed  the  band  of  David  on  shew  bread,  and  the  fact  that 
David  was  engaged  in  a  divinely  inspired  revolt  does  not  seem  to 
have  entered  into  the  matter,  the  only  scruple  of  Ahimelech  being 
as  to  whether  those  about  to  eat  had  of  late  "kept  themselves  from 
women.  "^ 

It  would  seem  however  that  Jesus  (probably  without  actually 
infringing  the  Law)  did  offend  the  Pharisees  by  his  disregard  of 
certain  niceties.  He  dined  with  sinners  and  publicans,  he  and  his 
disciples,  even  when  dining  as  guests  of  the  Pharisees,  ate  without 
duly  washing  their  hands,  and  they  refused  to  take  part  in  certain 
fasts.  This  last  innovation  was  ncted  as  a  departure  from  the  cus- 
toms of  John  the  Baptist,  and  indicated  that  Jesus  now  claimed 
higher  rank  than  that  of  a  mere  preacher  of  John's  gospel.  In  fact 
the  ex-carpenter  of  Nazareth  in  a  comparatively  short  time — cer- 
tainly in  less  than  a  year — had  come  to  regard  himself  as  the  very 
Messiah.  Klausner  conjectures  that  his  name,  Jesus  (more  proper- 
sin  the  Israel  of  those  day,  instead  of  there  being  a  single  Temple  at 
which  officiated  a  High  Priest,  supreme  in  the  Jewish  spiritual  hierarchy, 
there  were  a  number  of  sanctuaries,  that  of  which  Ahimelech  was  the  chief 
priest  was  at  Nob  .  At  Nob,  and  probably  at  every  sanctuary,  as  later  in  the 
Jerusalem  Temple,  there  was  a  table  on  which  was  kept  continually  exposed 
bread  ready  for  God  to  eat  should  he  prove  hungry.  At  certain  intervals  this 
"shew  bread"  or  "bread  of  the  face"  or  "bread  of  the  presence"  was  replaced 
by  fresh  loaves,  and  the  discarded  food  of  God  might  be  eaten  by  priests 
or  by  men  who  had  not  been  "defiled"  recently  by  relations  with  women. 
David  and  his  band,  fortunately  coming  at  a  time  when  there  was  bread 
hot  in  the  oven  ready  to  replace  that  on  the  table,  could  eat  the  latter,  since 
they  were  "pure"  having  kept  from  women  for  "about  three  days." 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         743 

ly  transliterated  and  pronounced  Yeshna),  which  signifies  "Jahveh 
shall  save,"  may  have  had  some  influence  in  leading  him  to  believe 
that  it  was  he  who  was  predestined  to  deliver  Israel  and  restore 
the  Kingdom.  Just  when  he  reached  this  conclusion  we  do  not  know. 
The  first  definite  acknowledgement  of  his  Messianic  rank  seems 
to  have  been  given  by  Peter  who,  on  the  way  to  "the  villages  of 
Caesaria  Philippi"  in  reply  to  the  question  put  by  Jesus,  "Who  say 
ye  that  I  am?"  replied:    "Thou  art  the  Christ!" 

Emboldened  by  this  putting  into  words  his  own  thoughts,  Jesus 
began  to  speak  "the  saying  openly."'''    "And  Peter  took  him  up  and 
began  to  rebuke  him.    But  he  turned  about,  and  seeing  his  disciples, 
rebuked   Peter,  and   saith :    Get  thee  behind  me   Satan ;   for  thou 
mindest  not  the  things  of  God,  but  the  things  of  men."    Evidently 
Peter  feared  that  the  boast  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah,  instead  of 
making   friends    for   the   movement,   might   make    foes.    And   this 
would  indicate  that  the  many  wonders  and  miracles  paraded  in  the 
gospel  stories  were  not  really  impressive  enough  to  inspire  his  audi- 
ences with  any  excessively  high  opinion  of  his  powers.    Even  pre- 
vious to  this  Jesus  and  the  rest  of  the  band  had  not  always  been 
open  in  their  speech.    The  parables  of   Jesus,   in   fact,  sometimes 
wrapped  up  in  esoteric  form  what  he  could  not  safely  say  openly. 
And  in  this  connection  we  must  consider  the  alleged  saying  of  Jesus 
to  his  disciples :    "Unto  you  is  given  the  mystery  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God ;  but  unto  them  that  are  without,  all  things  are  done  in  para- 
bles ;  that  seeing  they  may  see  and  not  perceive,  and  hearing  they 
may  hear  and  not  understand ;  lest  haply  they  should  turn  again  and 
it  should  be  forgiven  them."    As  these  words  stand  they  ascribe 
to  Jesus  an  unspeakably  despicable  character,  for  he  is  here  repre- 
sented  as   d,eliberately   consigning  most  of   his   hearers  to  hell  by 
speaking   so   obscurely   that   they   cannot   possibly   understand   the 
truths  that  alone  can  save  them  from  damnation.    It  is  probable 
however  that  the  "inspired"  writers  who  have  transmitted  his  words 
to   us  have  distorted  them  and  done  him  gross  injustice.    What 
we  can  reasonably  conjecture  to  have  been  meant  is  that  in  order 
to  avoid  the  casual  by-standers  learning  of  his  Messianic  plans  and 
betraying  them  to  the  authorities,  Jesus  spoke  in  parables  in  dealing 
with  the  Kingdom  of  God  which  he  expected  would  soon  come  into 

'''Those  who  can  give  no  credence  to  the  stories  of  Jesus  foretelling  his 
failure  and  crucifixion  must  regard  as  an  interpolation  the  passage  in  Mark 
which  would  make  the  "saying"  spoken  openly  and  meeting  Petrine  rebuke 
be  the  prediction  that  Jesus  would  be  rejected,  killed  and  resurrected. 


744  THE  OPEN  COURT 

being  and  sweep  away  all  traces  of  Reman  rule.  His  aim  was  per- 
haj)s  to  pose  on  occasions  as  a  pure  quietist  who  in  no  way  advo- 
cated resistance  to  the  governmental  authorities.  Such  a  stand  is 
indicated  by  his  famous  reply  to  the  question  whether  it  was  law- 
ful to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar.  Requesting  that  they  bring  him  a  i)iece 
of  the  tribute  money  he  said,  when  a  coin  was  put  before  him: 
"Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription?  And  they  said  unto  him: 
Caesar's.  And  Jesus  said  unto  them:  Render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's — 
a  reply  that  was  certainly  most  ingenious,  though  showing  a  mind 
far  from  ingenuous. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  story  of  the  swine  of  Gerasa,  which 
as  it  now  stands  is  a  rather  silly  miracle  tale,  may  have  originally 
been  one  of  the  Messianic  parables.  The  story  is  that  of  Jesus 
driving  out  of  a  man  a  host  of  demons  (two  thousand  in  number) 
who  called  themselves  "Legion"  and  sending  them  into  a  herd  of 
swine  who  madly  rushed  over  the  l)rink  of  a  precipice  to  their  death 
in  the  lake  below.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  was  the  Roman  legions 
(each  composed  of  several  thousand  men)  which  f|uartered  in  Pales- 
tine or  Syria  kept  the  Jewish  peo]ile  in  subjection,  and  that  seme  of 
these  legions'*  had  depicted  on  their  standards  the  insignia  of  a 
wild  boar,  it  is  by  no  means  far-fetched  to  presume  that  Jesus  may 
have  related  a  parable  whose  significance  was  that  when  the  Mes- 
siah set  about  the  overthrow  of  the  Reman  rule  and  the  establish- 
ment of  an  independent  Jewish  kingdom  he  would  derange  the 
minds  of  the  Roman  soldiers  and  make  the  legions  bring  about  their 
own  destruction.  Another  point  of  interest  is  the  question  as  to 
how  far  some  of  the  alleged  miracles  of  Jesus  may  not  have  been, 
even  in  the  beginning,  pious  frauds,  pure  and  simple.  Since  belief 
in  the  miraculous  powers  of  Jesus  was  undoubtedly  an  essential  ele- 
ment in  the  hope  for  success  under  his  leadership,  we  can  have  but 
little  dcubt  that  some  of  his  co-workers,  deeply  devoted  as  they 
were  to  the  realization  of  the  national  aspirations  and  an.xious  to 
gain  adherents  for  the  movement,  would  not  scruple  to  spread  re- 
ports of  miracles  performed  by  their  master  which  had  no  basis 
whatsoever  in  fact. 

^E.  R.  the  First  Italica,  the  Second  .Xdjiitrix,  the  Twentieth  Valeria  Vic- 
toria and  the  Tenth  Fretensis.  The  last  is  known  to  have  heen  stationed  in 
Palestine  from  70  to  135  .A.D..  and  one  of  these  legions  may  well  have  heen 
there  at  an  earlier  date.  The  figure  of  the  unfortunate  demoniac,  loaded 
with  chains  and  wandering  among  the  tomhs,  would  symholize  the  captive 
Jewish  people.  See  "Mon  Nom  est  Legion"  hy  Theodore  Reinach  in  the 
Revue  des  Etudes  Juivcs,  1903,  V.  47,  p.  177. 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         745 

From  the  very  beginning  it  would  appear  {Mark  1 :22)  that  Jesus 
spoke  dictatorily:  as  one  "having  authority  and  not  as  the  scribes." 
He  did  not,  like  the  ordinary  interpreters  of  the  Law,  search  for  a 
precedent  and  then,  with  inflexible  logic,  bring  it  to  bear  in  juristic 
manner  on  the  case  in  hand.  Instead  of  saying  "It  is  written"  or 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord"  like  an  ordinary  prophet,  he  would  prefix 
his  admonitions  with  "I  say  unto  you."  In  connection  with  the  dis- 
pute about  his  followers  breaking  the  Sabbath,  after  pointing  out 
that  "the  priests  in  the  temple  profane  the  Sabbath,  and  are  guilt- 
less," he  said  of  himself  :  "One  greater  than  the  temple  is  here." 
Naturally  his  pretensions  were  questioned,  especially  when  he  ar- 
rogated to^  himself  the  divine  prerogative  of  forgiving  sins  {Mark, 
2:5).  Said  the  scribes:  "Why  doth  this  man  thus  speak?  He 
blasphemeth !  Who  can  forgive  sins  but  one,  even  God  ?"  Jesus  an- 
swered by  what  he  deemed  a  conclusive  argument:  an  exhibition 
of  his  ability  to  cure  the  palsy ;  but  though  in  later  days  Christian 
theologians  accepted  this  as  a  valid  syllogism,  logicians  can  look 
upon  it  only  as  a  non  seqiiitiir.  The  Wise  ]\Ien  of  Israel  too  took 
the  rational  view  that  the  performance  of  a  prodig}'  cannot  serve 
as  verification  of  the  doctrines  of  him  who  performs  it,  as  is  shown 
by  a  Talmud  story.  One  day  Rabbi  Eliezer  had  put  forth  his  in- 
terpretation of  certain  points  of  the  Law  which  however  the  other 
Wise  ]\Ien  refused  to  accept.  "Then  he  cried :  If  the  Law  is  as  I 
teach  it,  let  the  carob  tree  decide.  Thereupon  the  carob  tree  moved  a 
hundred  yards,  some  say  four  hundred.  But  the  Wise  Men  said 
unto  him:  No  proof  can  be  adduced  from  the  carob  tree.  Then  he 
said :  If  the  Law  is  as  I  teach  it,  let  the  watercourses  decide.  There- 
upon the  watercourses  went  backward.  Blit  they  said :  No  proof 
can  be  adduced  from  the  watercourses.  Then  he  said:  If  the  Law 
is  as  I  teach  it,  let  the  walls  of  the  school  decide.  Thereupon  the 
walls  of  the  school  assumed  a  slanting  attitude,  as  if  preparing  to 
fall.  Then  cried  out  Rabbi  Joshua:  What  though  the  learned  dis- 
pute about  the  Law !  How  are  ye  concerned  therein  ?  So  in  defer- 
ence to  Rabbi  Joshua  they  fell  not,  and  in  deference  to  Rabbi  Eliezer 
they  remained  slanting!" 

The  demands  of  Jesus  on  those  who  acknowledged  his  preten- 
sions were  by  no  means  slight.  He  who  would  share  in  the  King- 
dom was  enjoined  to  give  all  his  possessions  to  the  poor  and  fol- 
low the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  And  when  a  disciple  (identified  by 
an  extra-biblical   tradition   with  the   Apostle   Philip)    on   the  point 


746  THE  OPEN  COURT 

of  joining  the  band,  said  to  Jesus:  "Lord  suffer  me  first  to  go 
and  bury  my  father!"  Jesus  rephed:  "Follow  me,  and  leave  the 
dead  to  bury  their  own  dead."  The  reward  promised  was  indeed 
commensurate  with  the  sacrifice.  Said  Jesus :  "There  is  no  man  that 
hath  left  house  or  brethren  or  sisters  or  mother  or  father  or  children 
or  lands  for  my  sake  and  fcr  the  gospel's  sake,  but  he  shall  receive 
a  hundred-fold  now  in  this  time."  It  was  quite  natural  that  men  who 
were  asked  to  give  up  everything  on  the  basis  of  such  a  promise 
should  demand  some  sign  indicating  that  Jahveh  stood  back  of 
Jesus,  insuring  victory  under  his  leadership.  But  notwithstanding 
the  wonders  Jesus  is  alleged  to  have  worked,  he  never  acceded  to 
this  reasonable  request.  "And  the  Pharisees  came  and  tempting 
[i.e.  testing]  him  asked  him  to  show  them  a  sign  from  heaven.  But 
he  answered  and  said  unto  them :  When  it  is  evening  ye  say :  It 
will  be  fair  weather,  for  the  heaven  is  red.  And  in  the  morning: 
It  will  be  foul  weather  to-day,  fcr  the  heaven  is  red  and  lower- 
ing. Ye  know  how  to  discern  the  face  of  the  heaven,  but  ye  can- 
not discern  the  signs  of  the  times.  An  evil  and  adulterous  genera- 
tion sceketh  after  a  sign  ;  and  there  shall  be  no  sign  given  unto  it 
save  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah"  {Matthezv  16:  1-4).  By  the 
"sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah"  is  meant,  most  biblical  critics  admit, 
no  sign  at  all,  the  words  added  in  Matthew  12:40  "For  as  Jonah 
was  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  belly  of  the  whale,  so  shall 
the  Son  of  man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the 
earth"  being  a  later  interpolation.  Jonah  merely  appeared  as  a 
prophet  in  Nineveh,  and  Jesus  refused  to  do  more.  According  to 
Luke  (16:20,21)  Jesus  "being  asked  by  the  Pharisees  when  the 
kingdom  of  God  cometh,"  replied,  "The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
with  observation,"  the  last  word  here  being  perhaps  better  rendered 
as  "computation."  In  the  time  of  Jesus  there  were  Messianic  en- 
thusiasts who  attempted  to  calculate  from  the  "prophecies"  of  Scrip- 
ture just  when  the  new  era  was  predestined  to  be  inaugurated,  pre- 
ciselv  as  to-day  Christians  who  read  the  Book  of  Revelations  with- 
out understanding  it,  seek  to  figure  out  the  exact  date  of  the  com- 
ing parousia.  Of  this  character  were  those  who  put  the  question, 
and  in  his  reply  Jesus  seems  to  deny  that  the  Messianic  kingdom 
would  inevitably  be  inaugurated  at  a  certain  fixed  time  regardless 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Jews  towards  Jahveh.  To  bring  it  into  be- 
ing the  people  of  Israel,  Jesus  contended,  must  not  waste  their  en- 
ergy in  idle  computation,  but  must  turn  their  attention  to  their  in- 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         747 

ner  selves  and  heed  his  exhortations  to  repentance  and  righteous- 
ness. He  was  however  so  optimistic  as  to  be  convinced  that  the 
"signs  of  the  times'"  indicated  that  his  preachings  would  bring  about 
the  regeneration  of  enough  Jews  to  placate  Jahveh  and  insure  the 
latter's  restoration  of  the  Kingdom  to  Israel. 

It  is  probable  that  Jesus  rebuked  his  hearers  for  demanding  a 
sign  on  several  different  occasions ;  one  perhaps  being  when  he 
was  speaking  en  behalf  of  John  the  Baptist.  At  all  events  the  gos- 
pels in  dififerent  places  quote  him  as  giving  vent  to  the  same  sen- 
timents in  somewhat  different  language,  as  in  Mark  8:11,12  and 
Luke  12 :54-56.  The  latter  passage  makes  Jesus  say :  "When  ye 
see  a  cloud  rising  in  the  west,  straightway  ye  say :  There  cometh 
a  shower,  and  so  it  cometh  to  pass.  And  when  ye  see  a  south  wind 
blowing,  ye  say :  There  will  be  a  scorching  heat ;  and  it  cometh  to 
pass.  Ye  hypocrites !  Ye  know  how  to  interpret  the  face  of  the 
earth  and  the  heavens  ;  but  how  is  it  that  ye  know  not  how  to  in- 
terpret this  time?"  There  appears  no  justification  here  for  calling 
"hypocrites"  the  men  who  disagreed  with  Jesus  as  to  whether  or 
not  the  times  were  propitious  for  the  overthrow  of  Roman  rule 
and  the  establishment  of  the  Messianic  kingdom  in  Palestine,  and 
history  shows  that  Jesus  was  wrong  in  his  reading  of  the  signs 
of  the  times  and  his  opponents  in  the  right.  And  we  need  not  won- 
der that  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  whom  he  addressed  in  such 
scathing  language  regarded  all  this  as  sheer  arrogance. 

The  "casting  out  of  devils"  by  Jesus,  that  is  the  cure  or  tem- 
porary palliation  of  nervous  disorders  by  suggestion,  was  not  ac- 
knowledged as  proof  that  he  was  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  God,  since 
his  opponents  pointed  out  that  a  magician  in  league  with  the 
devil  might  equally  well  effect  such  prodigies.  This,  more  than 
anything  else,  aroused  the  ire  of  Jesus.  To  say  that  he  was  under 
the  influence,  not  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  of  some  evil  spirit,  was 
in  his  eyes  the  very  worst  of  crimes.  Accordingly  he  proclaimed: 
"all  their  sins  shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons  of  men,  and  their 
blasphemies,  wherewithsoever  they  blaspheme ;  but  whosoever  shall 
blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is 
guilty  of  an  eternal  sin ;  because  they  said :  He  [i.e.  Jesus]  hath 
an  unclean  spirit"  (Mark  3:28-30;  Cf.  Matthew  12:31,32). 

That  the  hearers  of  Jesus  were  often  very  far  from  accepting 
his  preachings  is  quite  obvious.  And  Matthew  11:20-24  is  perfectly 
explicit  on  the  matter.   "Then  began  he  to  upbraid  the  cities  where- 


748  THE  OPEN   COURT 

in  most  of  his  mighty  works  were  done,  because  they  repented  not. 
Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin !  Woe  unto  thee  Bcthsaida !  For  if  the 
mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon  which  were  done 
in  you,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago,  in  sackcloth  and  ashes 
.  .  .  .And  thou,  Capernaum,  shalt  thou  be  exalted  unto  heaven?  Thou 
shalt  go  down  into  Hell ;  for  if  the  mighty  works  had  been  done 
in  Sodom  which  were  done  in  thee,  it  would  have  remained  unto 
this  day/'  In  the  neighborhood  of  his  home  Jesus  fared  worst  of 
all,  for  there  he  "could  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  he  laid  his 
hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk  and  healed  them."  And  when  he  preached 
at  Xazarcth  "they  were  all  filled  with  wrath  in  the  synagogue.  ..  . 
and  they  rose  up  and  cast  him  forth  of  the  city."  It  w-as,  in  fact, 
only  the  dregs  of  society  that  listened  to  his  teachings ;  the  "priests 
and  elders"  disdained  it,  and  the  Pharisees  "scofifcd  at  him"  (Luke 
16:14).  And  Jesus  on  this  account  reproached  them  bitterly,  say- 
ing "the  publicans  and  the  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  be- 
fore you."    (AlattJiczv  21 :3 1,32). 

The  group  surrounding  Jesus  cannot  have  been  very  well  sup- 
plied with  sustenance,  to  judge  from  the  exhortations  he  made  to 
them:  "Be  ye  not  anxious  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  wear;  nor 
yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  .  .  .If  God  doth  so  clothe 
the  grass  which  to-day  is  in  the  field  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into 
the  oven ;  how  much  more  shall  he  clothe  you,  Oh  ye  of  little  faith ! 
And  seek  not  what  ye  shall  eat,  and  what  ye  shall  drink,  neither 
be  ye  of  doubtful  mind ....  Your  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need 
of  these  things.  Howbeit  seek  ye  his  kingdom  and  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you.  Fear  not  little  flock ;  for  it  is  your  Father's 
good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom"  (Luke  12:22-32).  In  the 
meantime,  while  awaiting  the  advent  of  the  kingdom,  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  less  poverty-stricken  of  his  adherents  to  sell  all  they 
possessed  and  give  the  proceeds  towards  the  support  of  the  more 
needy — at  least  this  is  the  most  plausible  interpretation  of  his  re- 
peated admonitions  to  "sell  all  that  thou  hast  and  give  it  to  the 
poor."  And  we  may  reasonably  conjecture  that  this,  like  many  an- 
other religious  movement,  would  have  fallen  flat  at  the  very  outset 
had  it  not  been  for  the  financial  support  of  certain  pious  and  well- 
to-do  women.  For  w^e  are  told  by  Luke  that  Jesus  "went  about 
through  cities  and  \illagcs,  i)reaching  and  bringing  the  good  ti- 
dings of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  with  him  the  twelve,  and  certain 
women  which  had  been  healed  of  evil  spirits  and  infirmities,  Mary 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         749 

that  was  called  Mag-dalene,  from  whom  seven  devils  had  gone  out, 
and  Joanna  the  wife  of  Chuza,  Herod's  steward,  and  Susanna,  and 
many  others,  which  ministered  unto  them  of  their  substance." 
Scant  credit  has  been  given  to  Susanna  and  Joanna  (to  say  nothing 
of  the  latter's  husband  from  whose  pocket  may  well  have  come 
the  greater  part  of  the  funds  at  the  disposal  of  Jesus) — these  names 
are  all  but  unknown  to  the  average  Christian.  As  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalen she  has  had  the  sad  fate  of  being  celebrated  only  for  the  sup- 
posed indiscretions  of  her  youth,  though  in  point  of  fact  the  only 
reason  we  have  for  believing  her  to  have  been  unchaste  is  the  bad 
reputation  of  the  women  of  Magdala.  It  would  be  quite  as  reason- 
able to  take  the  contrary  stand  concerning  the  virtue  of  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, and  this  is  indeed  done  in  the  apocryphal  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin,  where  we  are  told  that  when  the  "virgins"  had  been  sum- 
moned, Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  took  the  hand  of  "one  of  them, 
Mary  Magdalene,  now  very  old." 

It  seems  probable  that  it  was  to  convince  his  followers  that  they 
need  not  be  discouraged  over  the  small  number  of  men  who  had 
given  their  adhesion  to  the  movement  that  Jesus  related  two  para- 
bles recorded  in  Mattheiv  13:31-33.  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is 
like  unto  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  which  a  man  took,  and  sowed 
it  in  his  ffeld  ;  which  is  indeed  less  than  all  seeds  ;  but  when  it  is 
grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the 
birds  of  the  heaven  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof."  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took,  and 
hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till  it  was  all  leavened."  In  other 
parables  (Matthezo  13  :45-46)  Jesus  likens  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
to  a  treasure  and  to  a  pearl,  so  precious  that  a  man  will  gladly  dis- 
pose of  all  he  possesses  to  procure  it.  And  in  a  final  appeal,  before 
going  tO'  Jerusalem,  he  urged  those  who  had  not  joined  his  move- 
ment in  the  beginning  to  come  forward  now,  relating  for  this  pur-- 
pose  the  parable  of  the  workers  in  the  vineyard  {Mattheiv  20:1 :16). 
"For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man.  .  .  .which  went 
out ....  to  hire  laborers  into  his  vineyard,"  those  who  started  work 
only  at  the  eleventh  hour  receiving  the  same  reward  as  those  who 
had  worked  from  the  very  beginning.  Jesus  apparently  thought 
that  no  definite  plan  for  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  was 
necessary ;  that  Jahveh  would  arrange  the  details — at  least  this  seems 
the  most  natural  interpretation  of  the  following  passage:  "And  he 
said :   So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  upon 


750  THE  OPEN  COURT 

the  earth ;  and  should  sleep  and  rise  night  and  day,  and  the  seed 
should  spring  and  grow,  he  knoweth  not  how.  The  earth  beareth 
fruit  of  herself :  first  the  blade  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn 
in  the  ear.  Rut  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  straightway  he  putteth  forth 
his  sickle,  because  the  harvest  is  come"  (Mark  4:26-29). 

It  was  with  such  visionary  expectations  that  in  some  mysterious 
way  the  established  order  of  things  would  be  overturned  and  the 
independence  of  the  Jewish  nation  restored,  that  the  little  band 
started  on  their  journey  to  Jerusalem.  Their  hopes  were  high,  as 
is  showni  by  the  fact  that  the  sons  of  Zebedee  (or  their  mother) 
asked  that  they  might  have  the  places  of  honor  next  to  Jesus  in 
his  kingdom,  which  caused  the  other  ten  apostles  to  be  much  dis- 
gruntled. To  the  twelve  apostles  Jesus  had,  in  fact,  promised  the 
highest  ranks  under  him:  "A'erily  I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  which 
have  followed  me  in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall 
sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  shall  also  sit  upon  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel"  (Mattheic  19:28).  The  disci- 
ples, we  are  told,  "supposed  the  kingdom  of  God  was  immediately  to 
appear"  (Luke  19:11).  And  undoubtedly,  as  Bousset  remarks, 
Jesus  likewise,  in  his  dreams  of  the  future,  was  not  thinking  of  a 
colorless  and  purely  heavenly  beyond,  but  was  picturing  to  himself 
a  state  of  things  existing  on  this  earth,  though  of  course  a  trans- 
figured earth,  and  in  his  own  time.  It  was  probably  during  this 
journey  that  Jesus  encouraged  his  followers  by  painting  in  glow- 
ing colors  the  wonderful  fertility  that  the  earth  would  ex- 
hibit in  the  days  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  According  to  tradition 
as  transmitted  by  Plapias,  Jesus  said :  "The  day  w^ill  come  when 
vines  shall  grow,  each  bearing  ten  thousand  branches,  and  upon 
each  branch  ten  thousand  twigs,  and  upon  each  one  of  the  twigs  ten 
thousand  shoots,  and  upon  every  shoot  ten  thousand  bunches,  and 
upon  each  bunch  ten  thousand  grapes,  and  each  grape  when  pressed 
shall  yield  twenty-five  measures  of  wine.... So  too  the  grain  of 
wheat  shall  produce  ten  thousand  ears,  and  every  ear  shall  bear  ten 
thousand  grains,  and  every  grain  shall  yield  ten  pounds  of  flour, 
white  and  pure."  At  this  prediction  Judas,  less  credulous  than  the 
other  disciples,  showed  a  carping  spirit,  for  "Judas,  the  traitor, 
would  not  believe." 

Near  Jerico  a  blind  beggar  on  being  told  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
was  passing,  greeted  him  as  "Son  of  David."  a  recognition  of  his 
claim  to  Messiahship,  since  the  Messiah  was  commonly  reputed  to 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         751 

come  of  Davidic  stock.  Although  the  genealogies  of  Matthew  and 
Ltike  would  represent  Joseph  as  descended  from  David  (of  course 
implying  that  in  the  original  documents  Joseph  was  taken  to  be  the 
physical  father  of  Jesus)  yet  we  know  that  Jesus  himself  made  no 
such  claim  of  Davidic  descent,  since  (Matthew  22 :41 :46)  he  was 
at  much  pains  to  argue  that  the  Messiah  ["Christ"]  would  not  be 
the  "son  of  David."  And  hence  we  must  conclude  that  these  geneal- 
ogies are  hopelessly  spurious.  Matthew,  in  fact,  in  order  to  arrive 
at  the  number  of  generations  desired  by  him,  fourteen  in  each  of 
the  three  series  of  his  list,  cooly  leaves  out  three  links  in  the  series 
of  the  kings  of  Judah,  viz.  Ahaziah,  Joash  and  Almaziah.  In  this 
connection  we  may  note  the  admonition  of  the  Epistle  to  Titus 
(3:9)  to  "shun  foolish  questions  and  genealogies,"  indicating,  per- 
haps, that  at  the  time  this  epistle  was  written  the  Davidic  genealo- 
gies of  Jesus  were  being  put  forward  by  certain  Christians  in  sup- 
port of  the  ^Messianic  claims,  but  were  recognized  by  the  more  so- 
ber believers  to  be  obviously  fraudulent. 

When  the  procession  reached  Jerusalem  a  dramatic  entry  was 
staged.  As  Keim  remarks  all  the  gospels  are  agreed  that  Jesus  went 
into  Jerusalem  in  an  unusual  manner  and  with  accompaniments  that 
unmistakably  exhibited  his  Alessianic  claims.  There  was  a  widely 
believed  prophecy  that  the  Messiah  would  come  riding  on  an  ass, 
and  Talmudic  writers  have  devoted  a  good  deal  of  attention  to 
this  phase  of  the  entry  of  the  Messiah,  describing  in  glowing  terms 
the  beauty  of  the  ass.  In  order  to  fulfill  the  prophecy  Jesus  solemn- 
ly mounted  an  animal  of  this  species,  his  disciples  having  previous- 
ly placed  their  garments  on  its  back  to  serve  as  saddle,  just  as 
the  officers  of  Jehu,  when  they  made  him  king  of  Israel,  "took  every 
man  his  garment,  and  put  it  under  him"  (2  Kings  9:13).  As  Jesus 
rode  into  the  city  his  adherents  "spread  their  garments  in  the  way, 
and  others  cut  branches  from  the  trees,  and  spread  them  in  the 
way"  crying  out  "Hosanna  to'  the  son  of  David,  blessed  is  he  that 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Hosanna  in  the  Highest."  Not 
all  the  by-standers  were  pleased  with  this ;  apparently  the  Pharisees 
regarded  Jesus  as  very  far  from  having  demonstrated  his  right  to 
be  accepted  as  the  Messiah.  So  they  "said  unto  him:  Master,  re- 
buke thy  disciples.  And  he  answered  and  said:  I  tell  you  that  if 
these  shall  hold  their  peace  the  stones  will  cry  out."  John  would 
have  us  believe  that  a  great  multitude  of  the  populace  of  Jerusalem, 
hearing  that  Jesus  was  coming,  took  the  branches  of  palm  trees  and 


752  THE  OPEN  COURT 

went  forth  to  meet  him.  But  as  Keim  points  out  "the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Jcrusalcmites.  .  .  .never  existed  at  all,  according  to  the  earli- 
er gospels,  which  dcscrihe  the  astonishment  of  the  Jerusalemites 
as  contrasting  violently  with  the  juhilation  of  those  who  accom- 
panied Jesus."  In  fact  Matthcii'  tells  us  that  "when  he  was  come 
to  Jerusalem  all  the  city  was  stirred,  saying:  Who  is  this?  And 
the  multitude  said :  This  is  the  prophet,  Jesus,  from  Nazareth  of 
Galilee."  Entering  Jerusalem,  Jesus  went  into  the  Temple,  and 
"when  he  had  looked  about  upon  all  things,  it  being  now  eventide,  he 
went  out  into  Bethany  with  the  twelve."  Apparently  this  was  the 
first  visit  of  Jesus  to  the  city,  for  according  to  MattJwzv  his  disci- 
ples wished  to  show  him  the  sights :  "his  disciples  came  to  him  to 
show  him  the  buildings  of  the  temple." 

Bethany,  where  Jesus  passed  the  nights  during  his  activities  in 
Jerusalem,  was  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  to  the  east  of  the  city. 
Klausner  thinks  it  probable  that  the  reason  Jesus  withdrew  to  this 
place  every  night  was  that  from  the  very  first  he  feared  arrest. 
The  Mount  of  Olives  seems  moreover  to  have  been  regarded  as 
the  predestined  place  for  the  Messiah  to  abide.  In  messianology  and 
apocalyptic  literature  it  is  repeatedly  referred  to,  and  the  Old  Testa- 
ment apocalypse  of  Zechariah  says  ( 14 :4)  that  in  the  coming  day 
of  the  Lord  "His  feet  shall  stand.  ..  .upon  the  Mount  of  Olives 
which  is  before  Jerusalem  to  the  east."  Nor  was  Jesus  the  only 
pretender  to  the  throne  of  David  who  made  it  his  headquarters. 
Josephus  tells  us  of  an  "Egyptian  false  prophet"  who  took  up  his 
post  there.  "A  charlatan  who  had  gained  for  himself  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  prophet,  this  man  appeared  in  the  country,  collected  a 
following  of  about  thirty  thousand  dupes,  and  led  them  by  a  cir- 
cuitous route  from  the  desert  to  the  mount  called  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  From  there  he  proposed  to  force  an  entrance  to  Jerusalem, 
and  after  overpowering  the  Roman  garrison,  to  set  himself  up  as 
tyrant  of  the  people,  employing  those  who  poured  in  with  him  as 
his  bcxlyguard."  The  Roman  procurator  however  took  his  forces 
and,  joined  by  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem  that  remained  loyal  to  the 
authorities,  went  out  to  meet  and  fight  the  rebel.  The  result  was 
that  "The  Egyptian  escaped  with  a  few  of  his  followers ;  most  of 
his  force  were  killed  or  taken  prisoner."  There  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  in  those  days  a  nian  who  posed  as  a  prophet  and  at- 
tempted to  make  himself  master  of  the  Jewish  lands  would  have 
proclaimed  himself  as  Messiah  had  the  revolt  been  successful.    A 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         753 

confusion  between  this  "Egyptian  false  prophet"  and  Jesus  may 
perhaps  have  been  the  origin  of  the  Jewish  tradition  which,  ad- 
mitting that  Jesus  was  a  worker  of  wonders,  ascribed  them  to 
magic  learned  during  a  sojourn  in  Egypt. ^ 

While  Jesus  was  at  Bethany  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Leper 
(or  Simon  the  Lowly,  as  Chajes  thinks  it  might  be  read)  a  woman 
"came  with  an  alabaster  cruse  of  ointment  of  spikenard,  very  cost- 
ly ;  and  she  brake  the  cruse  and  poured  it  over  his  head."  A  ques- 
tion that  here  arises  is  whether  this  anointment  had  any  connection 
with  the  expected  inauguration  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  with  Jesus 
as  its  king.  "Messiah"  in  Hebrew  (like  "Christ"  in  Greek)  means 
"the  anointed  one,"  and  in  early  times  the  term  had  been  applied 
to  earthly  kings  because  they  only  were  anointed.  It  would  seem 
not  unnatural  that  when  Jesus  was  about  to  enter  upon  his  king- 
dom (as  he  and  his  disciples  supposed)  a  ceremony  of  unction 
w^ould  be  performed  on  him.  The  only  other  mention  of  anointment 
of  Jesus  in  the  gospels  is  in  Luke  where  (as  in  John  12:1-8)  the 
ointment  from  the  alabaster  cruse  is  poured  on  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
and  this  is  represented  as  taking  place  in  Galilee  at  a  much  earlier 
time.  At  Bethany  the  time  and  place  would  be  well  suited  for  the 
anointment  of  Jesus  as  Messiah,  and  it  has  been  held  that  what 
really  took  place  at  the  house  of  Simon  was  a  Messianic  anointment 
of  Jesus,  and  that  what  Judas  betrayed  to  the  authorities  was  the 
fact  that  this  ceremony  had  been  performed. 

In  attempting  to  discern  the  truth  about  the  events  narrated 
by  the  gospels  we  must  keep  in  mind  that  religionists  are  none  too 
scrupulous  as  to  veracity  when  telling  about  a  beloved  prophet. 
And  especially  do  they  go  to  great  lengths  to  keep  out  of  sight 
facts  that  are  unedifying  and  might  be  harmful  to  the  cause  which 
it  is  their  dearest  desire  to  promote.  In  the  case  of  Jesus  it  would 
not  do  to  admit  that  his  expectations  were  entirely  falsified  by  the 
events.  Hence  the  gospel  tales  have  been  garbled  to  indicate  that 
he  had  no  intention  of  taking  possession  of  an  earthly  kingdom, 
and  that  he  all  the  while  foresaw  his  own  crucifixion :  that  he  de- 
liberately took  a  course  which  he  knew  would  lead  to  his  condem- 
nation and  execution  because  this  disgraceful  death  would  be  of 
incalculable  benefit  to  the  human  race.  The  rational  view  however 
is  that  the  kingdom  to  which  Jesus  aspired  was  not  that  of  a  far 

9See  "Jesus  and  Jewish  Tradition"  in  The  Open  Court  for  September, 
1930,  p.  552,  note  6. 


754  THE  OPEN  COURT 

distant  parousia,  but  was  to  be  of  this  world  and  of  those  very 
days  in  which  he  gathered  together  his  disciples.  And  it  follows 
that  we  must  presume  him  to  have  had  in  mind  for  the  attainment 
of  his  ends  much  the  same  methods  that  were  used  by  the  other 
would-be  Messiahs  of  whom  history  tells  us.  In  this  connection 
we  must  remember  that  it  was  not  the  desire  of  the  Pauline  Christ- 
ians to  antagonize  the  Roman  government.  Indeed  tradition  tells 
us  that  converts  were  soon  gained  in  the  imperial  household  itself, 
and  these  believers,  of  course,  would  have  been  compromised  by 
a  record  being  kept  of  a  rebellious  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
Christ.  Hence  the  New  Testament  writers  strove  to  exhibit  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  as  lambs  in  the  midst  of  wolves,  and  have  ob- 
scured the  facts  which  contravene  this  point  of  view.  They  were 
however  somewhat  clumsy  in  their  work,  and  notwithstanding  the 
reticence  of  the  gospels  there  have  been  handed  down  to  us  say- 
ings which  distinctly  point  to  warlike  methods  having  been  con- 
templated for  bringing  into  being  the  Kingdom  of  God.  One  is 
the  admonition  recorded  by  Luke  (22:36)  as  given  at  the  Last  Sup- 
per: "He  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  cloak  and  buy  one" 
— a  text  that  must  have  good  foundation  in  tradition,  as  it  has 
no  particular  connection  with  the  context,  nor  any  raison  d'etre 
which  would  explain  its  interpolation  if  not  founded  on  fact.  The 
next  verse  does  not  fit  in  with  this  at  all,  but  in  verse  38  we  find : 
"And  they  said :  Lord,  behold  here  are  two  swords.  And  he  said 
unto  them:  It  is  enough" — a  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  of 
the  incident,  the  account  of  which  has  evidently  been  much  mu- 
tilated by  the  redactors.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  swords 
referred  to  here  were  the  short  stabbing  weapons  which  the  Sicarri 
or  Zealots  wielded  so  murderously  while  mingled  in  a  crowd  of 
their  enemies.  One  of  the  twelve  apostles,  Simon  the  Zealot  (whose 
other  surname,  "the  Cananaan"  is  simply  the  Greek  transliteration 
of  the  Hebrew  word  for  Zealot)  was  presumably  not  unacquainted 
with  the  favorite  weapon  of  his  sect,  and  it  might  well  have  been 
he  who  came  forward.  And  it  has  been  contended  that  in  all  prob- 
ability the  reply  of  Jesus  was  meant  as  an  expression  of  satisfac- 
tion that  one  of  his  followers  had  already  been  thoughtful  enough 
to  arm  himself,  and  that  a  bloody  affray  was  in  view  as  the  first 
step  towards  the  inauguration  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  In  this  con- 
nection we  must  remember  that  enormous  shedding  of  blood  was 
a  prominent  feature  in  the  apocalyptic  representation  of  the  com- 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         755 

ing  of  the  "good  times"  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  Enoch  says 
the  horses  shall  walk  up  to  the  breast  in  the  blood  of  sinners  (1 
Enoch  100,3)  while  the  Book  of  Revelations  describes,  for  the 
delectation  of  believers,  a  scene  in  which  "there  came  out  blood 
from  the  winepress,  even  unto  the  bridles  of  the  horses,  as  far  as 
a  thousand  and  six  hundred  furlongs"  (14:20).  Jesus  himself  de- 
clared, according  to  the  Ebicnite  gospel  (see  Clementine  Recog- 
nitions 6:4)  "I  am  come  to  cast  fire  on  the  earth,  and  how  I  wish 
that  it  were  kindled,"  a  passage  which  in  our  Luke  (12:49)  takes 
the  improbable  form:  "I  am  come  to  cast  fire  on  the  earth,  and 
what  will  I  if  it  is  already  kindled?"  Matthciv  (10:34-36)  quotes 
him  as  saying:  "Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  cast  peace  on  the 
earth ;  I  am  come  not  to  cast  peace  but  a  sword."  According  to  the 
Ebionite  gospel  (see  Recognitions  2:29)  Jesus  charged  the  believers 
to  have  peace  among  tJiemselves,  and  it  was  only  in  this  sense  that 
he  said  "Blessed  are  the  peace-makers!"  Another  passage  which 
might  be  construed  as  bearing  on  the  question — and  certainly  more 
reasonably  than  by  taking  it,  as  do  Catholic  theologians,  to  uphold 
the  monstrous  doctrine  of  transubstantiation — is  the  remark  made 
by  Jesus  at  the  Last  Supper  concerning  "the  blood  of  the  covenant 
which  is  shed  for  many."i'^  It  is  quite  possible  that  this  may  have 
been  a  reference  to  an  uprising  planned  for  the  morrow  on  which 
occasion  the  disciples  had  been  asked  by  Jesus  to  covenant  to  shed 
blood  (that  of  others  and  if  necessary  their  ow^n)  to  bring  about 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  And  this  conjecture  is 
given  more  plausibility  by  the  fact  that  it  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Judas  finally  decided  to  betray  his  master,  and  by  the  utterance 
with  which  Jesus  closed  the  proceedings:  "I  say  unto  you  I  will 
no  more  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  that  day  when  I  drink 
it  new  in  the  Kingdom  of  God.''^^  Nor  can  we  regard  as  without 
significance  the  fact,  recorded  by  Luke,  that  at  this  very  supper 
the  disciples  had  a  quarrel  over  which  of  them  should  be  the  great- 

lOBiblical  critics  now  admit  that  the  appended  words  "unto  remission 
of  sins"  is  no  part  of  the  original  tradition  but  is  the  interpolation  of  some 
redactor. 

llAfar/t,  14:24-25;  Cf.  Matthezi'  16:28,29.  Luke  (22:16-18)  quotes  Jesus 
as  saying  he  will  "not  any  more  eat"  of  "this  passover"  "until  it  fulfilled 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  and  as  the  best  opinion  of  biblical  critics  is  that 
the  Last  Supper  (at  which  no  meat  is  recorded  as  having  been  served)  was 
not  the  passover  meal,  this  would  seem  to  mean  that  Jesus  expected  the 
Kingdom  of  God  to  be  brought  into  being  before  the  time  came  for  cele- 
brating the  passover — probably  the  next  evening. 


756  THE  OPEN  COURT 

est :  that  is,  which  should  have  the  highest  rank  under  Jesus  in 
the  restored  Davidic  kingdom — the  "Kingdom  of  God." 

It  was  some  days  before  this  supper,  almost  immediately  after 
the  arrival  of  the  band  at  Jerusalem,  that  the  so-called  "Cleansing 
of  the  Temple"  is  represented  as  having  taken  place.  According 
to  Mark,  Jesus,  on  the  morning  after  he  reached  Jerusalem,  "en- 
tered into  the  temple,  and  began  to  cast  out  them  that  sold  and  them 
that  bought  in  the  temple,  and  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  money 
changers,  and  the  seats  of  them  that  sold  the  doves  ;  and  he  would 
not  suffer  any  man  should  carry  a  vessel  through  the  temple."  In 
doing  this  Jesus,  of  course,  was  interfering  with  the  customary  re- 
ligious exercises  of  the  worshippers  in  the  Temple,  the  money 
changers  and  dove  sellers  being  both  there  by  permission  of  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities  for  the  convenience  of  the  Jews  who  came 
to  worship  in  the  Temple.  The  former  exchanged  the  pagan  money 
brought  by  the  worshippers  for  the  Jewish  coins  which  alone  were 
acceptable  as  Temple  tribute,  while  from  the  latter  those  who  wished 
to  offer  sacrifice  to  Jahveh  (as  their  religion  bade  them)  could 
purchase  doves  for  this  purpose.  A|nd  needless  to  say,  all  the 
Christians  of  to-day  who  applaud  Jesus  for  this  "Cleansing  of  the 
Temple"  would  regard  analogous  behavior  in  a  modern  Christian 
church  as  utterly  outrageous. i-  The  implication  given  by  the  gos- 
pel stories  is  that  Jesus  met  no  resistance,  and  that  it  was  not  un- 
til the  next  day,  when  he  returned  to  the  Temple,  that  the  "chief 
priests,  and  the  elders  of  the  people"  came  unto  him  and  timidly 
asked :  "By  what  authority  doest  thou  these  things  and  who  gave 
you  this  authority?"  And  Jesus  is  quoted  as  coolly  replying:  "I 
also  will  ask  you  one  question,  which  if  ye  tell  me,  I  likewise  will 
tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things.  The  baptism  of  John, 
whence  was  it,  from  heaven  or  from  man?  And  they  reasoned  with 
themselves,  saying:  If  we  shall  say  from  heaven,  he  will  say  unto 
us:  Why  then  did  ye  not  believe  him?  But  if  we  shall  say  from 
men,  we  fear  the  multitude,  for  all  hold  John  as  a  prophet.  And 
they  answered  Jesus  and  said :  We  know^  not.  He  also  said  unto 
them :  Neither  tell  I  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things" 
(Matthezv  21:23-27). 

It  is  surprising  that  this  story  should  ever  have  been  taken  as  a 

12Lnther,  with  sound  common  sense,  said  that  the  Cleansing  of  the  Tem- 
ple ought  not  to  he  taken  as  an  example.  Greatly  scandalized  at  this,  Canon 
Farrar  stigmatized  it  as  "an  unhecoming  and  mistaken  remark"  showing 
"how  even  the  hcst  and  greatest  fail  to  rise  to  the  height  of  that  universal 
morality  of  which  the  life  of  Jesus  is  the  sole  human   exemplar." 


THE  MESSIANIC  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH         757 

precise  presentation  of  fact.  Unless  Jesus  had  at  his  heels  a  mob 
of  considerable  size  the  Temple  merchants  and  money  changers 
would  certainly  not  have  tamely  submitted  to  being  thrown  out, 
and  Jesus  would  have  found  himself  roughly  handled  by  them  and 
the  Temple  guards  before  getting  very  far  in  his  work.  The  proba- 
bilities are  that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  came  to  the  Temple,  over- 
turned a  few  of  the  tables  and  created  an  uproar,  and  then  hur- 
riedly left  before  the  Temple  police  could  be  summoned.  The  only 
alternative  to  this — the  supposition  that  Jesus  had  rallied  a  num- 
erous body  of  men  to  his  support — would  have  meant  nothing  less 
than  a  riot,  an  incipient  insurrection,  which  Pilate  would  undoubted- 
ly have  severely  suppressed  and  in  so  doing  have  killed  a  consider- 
able number  of  the  rioters.  But  all  biblical  accounts  agree  that 
Jesus  was  the  sole  victim  of  his  attempts  to  install  himself  on  the 
Davidic  throne.  It  is  however  quite  possible,  not  to  say  probable, 
that  a  riot  was  precisely  what  Jesus  and  his  companions  vainly  en- 
deavored to  bring  about  in  the  Temple :  that  they  were  attempting 
to  incite  an  insurrection  of  the  people,  aimed  first  at  the  Temple 
priests  and  next  at  the  Romans  whose  puppets  these  were.  This 
abortive  attempt,  bloodless  though  it  was,  must  certainly  have  drawn 
the  attention  of  the  Jerusalem  authorities  to  Jesus,  and  he  could 
hardly  have  remained  unmolested  for  as  long  afterwards  as  the 
gospels  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  So  we  must  presume  this  epi- 
sode to  have  been  antedated.  Most  probably  it  took  place  on  the 
day  on  which  the  Last  Supper  was  held,  and  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  arrest  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  And  it  would  not 
be  unreasonable  to  conjecture  that  the  failure  of  this  first  attempt 
at  inaugurating  the  Kingdom  of  God  led  Judas  to  realize  how  little 
chance  of  success  had  the  project  of  Jesus,  and  brought  to  him  the 
thought  of  selling  to  the  police  the  information  at  his  disposal  con- 
cerning this  pretender  to  the  Davidic  throne. 

Jesus,  while  unwilling  to  abandon  what  he  deemed  to  be  his 
mission,  was  doubtless  sad  and  disheartened  at  the  ill  success  of  his 
initial  attempt  to  rouse  the  populace.  And  the  tale  of  the  passion 
of  Jesus  at  Gethsemane  may  well  reflect  this  momentary  discour- 
agement. If  however  he  was  then  really  so  low  in  spirit  as  to  an- 
ticipate his  own  arrest  and  death,  the  most  plausible  explanation 
is  that  on  broaching  his  new  plan  at  the  Last  Supper  he  had  noted 
a  decided  lack  of  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  his  followers.  This 
plan,  in  fact,  involved  something  more  bloody  than  the  rough  and 


758  THE  OPEN   COURT 

tumble  fight  that  had  taken  place  at  the  "Cleansing  of  the  Temple," 
since  swords  were  to  be  used.  Against  whom  these  weapons  were 
to  be  directed,  the  Temple  guards  or  the  Roman  soldiery,  we  can 
hardly  tell.  Rut  after  the  fight  had  begiui  Jesus  unquestionably 
expected  legions  qf  armed  angels  to  come  to  reinforce  his  band,  as 
is  indicated  by  the  remark  ascribed  to  him  at  his  arrest:  "Thinkest 
thou  that  I  cannot  beseech  my  Father,  and  he  shall  even  now  send 
me  more  than  twelve  legions  of  angels!"  {Matthew  26:53).  It  was 
doubtless  this  illusion  that  angelic  forces  would  join  themselves  to 
his  following  that  had  made  Jesus  so  sanguine  of  the  success  of 
his  scheme.  In  reality  the  attempt  to  start  a  revolution  would  have 
been  perfectly  futile,  and  would  have  had  as  only  tangible  result 
the  production  of  a  number  of  widows  and  orphans.  But  the  pro- 
jected insurrection  never  came  to  pass,  for  that  very  night  Jesus 
was  arrested  by  the  authorities,  and  thus  his  Alessianic  career  was 
brought  to  a  close. 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRYi 

AN   INQUIRY  INTO  A  GRAECO-TURKISH   CULTURAL  CONFLICT 
BY    GABRIEL    ROMBOTIS 

ONE  phase  of  the  history  of  Greece  during  the  Ottoman  domin- 
ion much  misunderstood  by  historians  and  critics  is  the  Hfe 
and  work  of  the  Greek  groups  known  as  Klephts. 

Historically  speaking,  the  Klephts  were  a  minority  of  armed 
Greeks  who  broke  away  from  the  Ottoman  authority,  and  retired 
to  the  mountains  in  order  to  maintain  their  independence.  They 
were  not  ordinary  "highway  bandits"  or  "brigands"  but  organized 
groups  with  their  own  code  of  ethics  and  regulations. 

The  opinions  and  judgments  concerning  the  Klephts  and  their 
poetry  vary  according  to  the  more  or  less  adequate  information  or 
the  personal  preconceptions  and  prejudices  of  the  authors.  From 
Adamantios  Coraes,  Dodwell,  John  Comstock  to  the  ethnocentric 
Greek  historians  of  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  the  writers 
of  the  Cambridge  Modern  History  (X,173)  ;  from  the  German  or 
French  historians,  or  R.  W.  Seton-Watson,  Finlay  and  F.  Tozer 
to  the  precursor  of  the  Greek  Revolution  of  1821,  Rhigas  Pherraios, 
and  some  of  the  contemporary  Greek  historians,  the  reactions  toward 
the  Klephts  have  varied  from  uncritical  appreciation  to  extreme 
hostility. 

The  writer  undertook  the  study  of  the  character  and  work  of 
the  Klephts,  as  impartially  and  objectively  as  possible,  in  order  to 
discover  what  was  their  quest  for  the  good  life,  how  they  answered 
this  quest,  if  they  did,  and  how  religion  helped  them  toward  the 
realization  of  their  life-ideal.  The  problem  seemed  to  be  neither 
theological  nor  apologetic,  but  religious — as  these  people  understood 
their  own  religion  and  their  attitude  toward  the  rival  religion  of 
Islam ;  also  ethical,  the  term  used  etymologically,  that  is  directed  by 
the  consciousness  of  these  individuals  and  groups  according  to  their 
nwres  and  customs. 

Information  was  taken  from  available  sources,  histories,  mem- 
oirs, biographies,  and  particularly  from  the  popular  Klephtic  songs. 
These  sources  have  sufficiently  passed  through  the  higher  and  lower 

IThis  is  the  synopsis  of  the  essential  parts  of  a  dissertation  in  candi- 
dacy for  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  the  Division  of  the  Hu- 
manities, Department  of  Comparative  Religion,  the  University  of  Chicago, 
June,  1932. 


760  THE  OPEN   COURT 

criticism  of  competent  European  and  Greek  scholars  of  whom  the 
names  of  Campiiroglou,  Candeloros,  and  Pohtis  are  outstanding. 

The  Klephts  were  an  immediate  outcome  of  the  Ottoman  con- 
quest of  Greece,  where  Islam  came  as  an  antagonist  to  Christianity. 
During  the  entire  period  of  bondage  of  the  Greek  land  until  its 
independence  in  1821.  the  Klephts  stood  against  the  tyranny  of  the 
ruler.  To  his  arbitrariness  they  responded  by  violence;  to  his  des- 
potism, by  insolence  and  defiance.  To  Islamic  fanaticism  and  aloof- 
ness they  opposed  their  own  religion  preserved  by  the  Millet  sys- 
tem. If  the  Ottoman  Government  had  been  true  to  the  highest  ideals 
of  Islam,  the  Klephts,  in  all  probability,  would  never  have  appeared. 
As  an  internal,  intractable  group  of  the  Ottoman  Dominion,  the 
Klephts  may,  to  a  great  extent,  be  considered  as  forerunners  of  the 
contemporary  internal  revolution  in  the  Ottoman  Empire.  To  un- 
derstand the  Klepht-situation  is  to  understand  most  of  the  reasons 
and  factors  that  caused  the  actual  overthrowing  of  the  bases  of  the 
old  Ottoman  political  regime  and  culture  by  pioneer,  progressive, 
Turkish  leaders. 

\\"ith  the  political  and  cultural  conflict  resulting  from  the  Otto- 
man c(  nquest  of  Greece,  the  Greek  people,  who  were  not  complete- 
ly assimilated  by  adherence  to  Islam,  accommodated  themselves 
to  the  best  of  their  ability  by  a  complete  abandonment  of  self-re- 
sponsibility in  government  affairs,  and  by  taking  refuge  in  the  spon- 
taneous forms  of  social  integration  within  the  Greek  communities, 
namely  the  folk-memories,  traditions,  myths,  political  and  religious 
beliefs,  dogmas  and  creeds,  ceremonies,  the  mores  and  customs  of 
the  community,  which  through  public  opinion  were  crystallized  in 
the  folkways. 

However,  among  the  masses  of  the  Greek  people  there  were 
some  who  openly  refused  to  submit  to  the  new  political  regime,  and 
decided  to  defend  themselves  by  their  strength.  Retiring  to  the 
mountains  they  maintained  a  warlike  policy  of  systematic  plunder, 
killing,  kidnaping,  often  waging  a  many-day  combat  against  the 
oppressor.    They  were  known  as  Klephts. 

The  origin  of  the  Klephts  was,  in  all  probability,  from  the 
Greek  groups  who,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  joined  those  military 
bodies  in  Europe  known  as  stradioti.  The  name  stradioti  derived 
from  sfrada,  meaning  road ;  it  was  given  to  them  because  they  were 
always  on  foot  and  had  no  permanent  residence.  The  Greek  stradi- 
oti were  mainly  under  the  patronage  of  Venice.    After  the  loss  of 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  761 

her  Greek  possessions,  \>nice  could  not  extend  her  poHtical  pro- 
tection to  them.  On  the  other  hand  the  adventurous  Hfe  in  Europe 
in  the  Middle  Ages  did  not  present  a  real  interest  to  the  Greek 
stradioti.  Their  groups  were  dispersed  leaving  to  Modern  Greek 
language  the  word  strat'wtcs  which  now  means  'soldier.'  It  was 
after  the  dispersion  from  Europe  of  the  Greek  stradioti  that  the 
wildest  mountains  of  Greece  were  filled  with.  ..  .the  Klephts. 

There  is  no  historical  record  as  to  the  exact  date  when  the  des- 
ignation "Klepht"  w^as  applied  to  these  people ;  nor  when  they 
were  organized.  Apparently  the  word  was  used  by  the  Ottomans 
as  a  term  of  contempt,  because  in  Greek  it  was  synonymous  with 
the  term  robber.  There  exist,  however,  official  records  of  appoint- 
ments of  leading  Klephts  as  Aruiatolcs  in  the  reign  of  Suleiman  the 
Magnificent  (1520-1566).  An  Armatole  was  a  chief  of  an  author- 
ized police  body,  copied  by  the  Ottoman  on  the  pattern  of  the  By- 
zantine militia  of  the  Akritai  or  guardians  of  the  frontier  in  the 
tenth  century.  However,  in  the  twelfth  century  the  word  used  by 
Venice  for  similar  bodies  of  armed  men  posted  on  the  mountain 
passes  and  other  places  was  Armati.  The  name  "Armatole''  is  the 
Grecized  word  "Armati."  What  should  be  remembered  is  that 
whether  as  Klephts  or  as  Armatcles  these  men  formed  a  distinct 
class  quite  different  from  the  non-Moslems  or  rayahs.  The  Arma- 
tole was  paid  by  the  Government  and  was  granted  certain  privileges. 
The  organization  of  the  Armatoles  w-as  fundamentally  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Klephts.  When  the  Government  dissatisfied  the  Arma- 
tole, he  returned  to  his  previous  status  as  a  Klepht.  People  had  a 
special  name  for  the  Armatole :  He  was  a  "tamed  Klepht"  ;  and 
when  he  ceased  to  be  an  Armatole  he  was  designated  a  "wild  Klepht." 
Thus  as  time  went  on  the  Officio  of  the  Armatole  and  that  of  the 
Klepht  became  interchangeable  in  the  mind  of  the  people. 

The  tenacious  and  audacious  attitude  of  the  Klephts  toward  the 
Ottoman  Government  gradually  attracted  the  admiration  of  some 
talented  members  of  the  Greek  people  out  of  whom  the  popular 
poets  grew.  As  the  Klephts  were  the  result  of  the  political  regime 
in  Greece,  the  Klephtic  Poet  was  the  outcome  of  the  Klephtic  sit- 
uation. The  authors  of  these  songs  were  indifferent  to  honors  of 
authorship.  Thus  by  absorbing  and  assimilating  from  the  individ- 
ualities of  their  successive  makers  who  brought  casual  changes 
in  various  verses,  these  songs  became  automatically  impersonal  and 
were   considered   as   the   "common   property"   of   the   Greek   Com- 


762  THE  OPEN   COURT 

munity.  Scholarly  collectors  such  as  Fauriel,  Passow,  Politis  and 
others  published  these  poems  later  in  book  form  which  are  now  the 
sources  of  the  popular  poetical  Muse  of  Greece. 

These  song^s,  through  successive  generations,  were  gradually 
incorporated  with  the  mores,  customs,  and  traditions  of  the  differ- 
ent communities  thus  crystallizing  themselves  in  the  folk  memory. 
The  tremendous  appeal  of  these  poems  to  the  Greek  people,  their 
numerical  supremacy  over  all  other  popular  Greek  songs,  can  be 
explained  primarily  by  the  fact  that  they  answered  the  actual  secret 
wishes  of  the  folk.  These  poems  were  for  oppressed  people  a  psy- 
chic means  of  achieving  the  motion  of  power.  The  w^eak  was  no 
longer  so  ashamed  of  himself :  at  least  now  he  could  sing  these 
songs,  or  hear  others  sing  them.  His  thought  and  feeling,  disin- 
tegrated as  they  were  through  fear,  became  for  a  moment  har- 
monized through  the  refreshing  imagery  of  constructive  thought 
equal  to  his  understanding,  and  corresponding  to  tangible  realities 
with  which  he  was  acquainted  in  his  everyday  existence.  His  life 
then  appeared  to  him  more  worthy  of  living.  He  could  carry  on 
more  easily. 

The  Component  Elements  of  the  Klephts'  Character 
and  Personality 
One  of  the  most  important  factors  that  entered  into  the  com- 
position of  the  Klephts'  personality  was  the  mountains,  especially 
those  where  they  had  their  strategic  residences  or  lemeria.  The  most 
famous  of  these  lemeria  were  in  Thessaly,  in  Valto,  Acarnania,  in 
Maina  and  Morea,  in  Peloponnesus,  in  Souli,  in  Epirus.  Many 
Klephtic  songs  reveal  the  effect  of  these  mountains  upon  the  attitudes 
of  the  Klephts. 

Farewell  high  mountains  and  you  fields  full  of  roses ; 
Morning  dew,  nights  full  of  moonlight,  farewell. 
Farewell  you  too,  dear  Sons  of  Klephts, 
Who  are  so  courageous  that  war  cannot  frighten  you. 
But  you  fall  to  it  like  lions. 

Olympus  and  Kissavos 
Olympus  and  Kissavos,  these  two  mountains  quarrel : 
Olympus  then  turns  toward  Kissavos  and  says : 
"Do  not  quarrel  with  me,  O  Kissavos,  you  Turk-trodden! 
I  am  Old  Olympus,  so  renowned  o'er  the  world. 
I  have  foTty-two  summits,  sixty-two  fountains. 
On  each  fountain  a  banner,  a  Klepht  on  each  tree-branch ; 
And  on  my  highest  peak  an  eagle  is  sitting." 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  763 

The  Klephtic  life  was  really  difficult.  Nevertheless  the  Klepht's 
love  for  independence  made  him  persevere.  The  following  two 
poems  depict  the  motives  of  the  Klepht  as  well  as  the  harshness  of 
his  occupation. 

Vassili 

"Vassili,  be  wise,  be  a  landlord,  get  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  cows, 

Fields  and  vines,  and  boys  for  your  service." 
"Mother,  I  don't  want  to  be  a  landlord, 
To  get  vines,  and  boys  to  serve  me. 
While  I  myself  am  a  slave  to  the  Turks, 
A  servant  to  the  Elders. — Fetch  me  the  light  sword 
And  the  heavy  gun,  that  I  may  fly  like  a  bird,  high  on  the 

mountain-peaks  ; 
Go  along  the  mountains,  walk  through  the  woods,  discover  the 

lemeria  of  the  Klephts, 
Their    Chieftains'    retreat ;   whistle    like    a    Klepht,    join    the 

comrades 
Who  war  against  Turkey  and  the  Albanians." 
In  the  morning  he  kisses  his  mother,  in  the  morning  he  starts. 
"Greeting   to   you    mountains    with    your    precipices,    gorges 

covered  with  fog!" 
"Be  welcome,  worthy  fellow,  valorous  Pallikar." 

The  Life  of  the  Klepht 

Fellows,  if  you  want  youthful  vigor,  if  you  wish  to  be  a  Klepht, 

Ask  me  and  FU  tell  you  about  the  Klepht  troubles  and  torments. 

— Hard  is  the  life  we  live,  we  poor  Klephts ! 

Never  change  we  our  clothes,  never  wear  white  garments ; 

We  are  all  day  at  war,  the  night  on  guard. 

I  have  been  Captain  of  Klephts  for  twelve  years. 

I  never  ate  warm  bread,  never  slept  on>  a  mattress ; 

I  never  even  had  enough  sleep,  never  enjoyed  the  sweetness  of 
sleep ; 

But  I  used,  for  a  pillow,  my  hand ;  my  sabre,  for  a  mattress ; 

And  as  a  sweetheart  my  arms  embraced  my  dear  gun. 

The  inequality  of  the  Klephts'  struggle  against  their  adversary, 
numerically  so  superior,  induced  the  Klephts  to  develop  their  physi- 
cal strength  as  well  as  their  sense  perception  to  an  almost  incredi- 
ble degree.  Their  ability  in  shooting,  running,  yelling  with  a  for- 
midable voice,  using  their  sabres  supremely  well,  equaled  their  capa- 
city O'f  resistance  to  hunger,  thirst,  and  sleep.  Their  limited  num- 
ber made  them  extremely  careful:  they  became  acquainted  with 
every  path  and  precipice  which  they  used  either  for  attack  or  for 
escape.    Vigilence,  perseverence,  sobriety  were  essential.    In  one  of 


764  THE  OPEN   COURT 

many  poems  that  describe  these  quahties  of  the   Klephts,   Captain 
Totskas  is  assumed  to  speak  as  follows : 

"My  boys,  if  you  want  a  youthful  vigor  and  a  life  of  freedom 
Make  your  hearts  hard  as  steel,  give  your  feet  the  resistance 

of  iron. 
Never  drink  wine,  love  not  sleep : 
Sleep  is  dangerous  as  death,  and  wine  leads  astray." 

As  time  went  on  the  need  of  organization  was  more  definitely 
felt  and  established.  This  organization  was  simple  and  essentially 
aristocratic  in  character:  Only  the  bravest  or  the  wisest  could  be- 
come chieftains.  The  men  who  composed  the  company  were  ranked 
in  four  classes  according  to  valor.  They  were  called  pallikars,  a 
word  derived  from  Pallas,  meaning  youth,  brave,  noble.  Their 
number  varied  from  thirty  to  one  hundred,  very  seldom  more.  This 
strictly  aristocratic  organization  was  deeply  democratic  in  mores : 
The  strong  ought  to  be  also  the  righteous.  The  chief  who  trans- 
gressed this  unwritten  law  of  the  group,  generally,  paid  with  his 
Hfe. 

Solidarity  and  mutual  assistance  were  parts  of  the  internal  dis- 
cipline of  the  Klephtic  groups.  This  spirit  continued  after  death 
also :  It  was  an  unspeakable  ignonimy  for  a  dead  Klepht  to  have 
his  head  taken  by  the  Turks.  So  it  became  a  custom  among  Klephts 
to  save  at  any  price  the  body  of  the  slain  companion  ;  and  if  im- 
possible, to  cut  and  take  his  head  with  them. 

It  would  be  an  error  to  think  that  the  special  hatred  of  the 
Klephts  against  the  Turks  and  their  associates  made  them  lose  their 
sense  of  humor.  When  hate  is  the  outcome  of  a  social  conflict  of 
the  nature  of  our  study,  and  possesses  a  purposeful  activity  deeply 
felt  by  the  subject,  such  a  hate  becomes  a  social  force  par  excel- 
lence. For  the  Klephts  life  became  a  sport  and  variation  of  vissi- 
citudes,  a  definite  expectation.  When  not  at  work,  the  Klephts  re- 
cuperated their  forces  with  plays  and  games  of  their  own.  They 
also  participated  in  the  festivities  and  religious  ceremonies  of  their 
communities,  often  defying  the  Turkish  authorities  with  their  pres- 
ence. It  is  a  historical  fact,  for  example,  that  the  famous  Klepht 
Zacharias  Barbitsiotis,  in  the  festival  of  \'resthena  used  to  dance 
and  sing  his  favorite  quatrain : 

I  swore  on  my  sabre 

And  on  my  amulet 

To  hunt  down  a  Turk 

And  deliver  a  Greek. 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  765 

On  snch  occasions  their  external  personal  appearance  was  very- 
impressive:  They  girt  their  gold  and  silver  embroidered  shawls  or 
posia  around  their  heads,  and  their  white  kilt  or  foustancUa  around 
their  waist ;  they  put  on  their  ornamental  guns  and  weapons,  ad- 
justed their  vests  and  their  tsapratzia  or  small  shields  protecting 
the  knees  and  the  hip.  In  the  following  poem  the  poet  picturesque- 
ly described  the  celebrated  Klephts,  Colocotronis,  when  they  ap- 
peared in  public  festivals. 

As  snow  glistens  on  mountains  and  the  Sun  lights  the  gorges 

So  are  glittering  the  sabres  of  the  Colocotronis. 

They  are  covered  with  silver,  silver  their  swords. 

Five  ranks  of  buttons  on  their  vests,  and  six  on  their  tsaprafaia. 

They  do  not  deign  to  step  on  the  ground: 

Their  bread  they  eat  mounted  just  as  they  fight ; 

Mounted    they   take    the   "Jwly    bread"    from   the    hand    of    the 

priest. 
Sequins  is  their  offering  to  the  A'irgin  and  to  the  Saints. 
But  to  Lord  Jesus  they  present  their  silver  sabre: 
"O  Christ,  bless  our  sabre  as  well  as  our  hands." 

The  home-ideal  of  the  Klephts  was  admirable.  Blood  relation- 
ship, a  large  family  were  the  bases  of  this  ideal.  This  attitude  cul- 
tivated a  deep  respect  for  women  as  demanded  by  the  customs  and 
mores  of  the  Greek  communities.  Even  when,  for  the  sake  of  ran- 
som, beautiful  maidens  (ordinarily  from  the  class  of  priests  or 
primates)  were  kidnaped,  they  were  scrupulously  respected  by  the 
kidnapers. 

On  account  of  the  achievements  of  their  chiefs,  the  Klephts' 
families  were  very  prcud  of  their  lineage.  And  "family  pride"  con- 
tributed to  the  maintenance  of  family  traditions  of  courage  and 
tenacity  of  purpose.  This  was  equally  true  of  men  and  of  women. 
Also  their  vigorous  esprit  de  corps  among  members  of  the  family 
developed  individual  habits  of  devotion  and  affection  toward  one 
another.  In  this  respect  the  Greek  family  bonds  proved  superior 
to  those  of  the  Roman  family  where  reciprocity  of  sentiments  be- 
tween its  members  was  hindered  by  the  very  formalism  and  rigid- 
ity of  the  organization. 

As  hospitality  has  been  an  outstanding  feature  of  the  Greek 
social  code,  the  Klephts  were  received  everywhere  it  was  possible 
by  friends  and  relatives.  However,  by  means  of  "koumparoship" 
(the  nearest  English  equivalent  of  which  would  be  "best  man"  and 
"god-father")  the  Klepht  secured  hospitality  for  himself  more  eas- 


ANDRITSOS  OR  ANDROUTSOS  VEROUSSOS 

This  famous  Klepht  from  Livadia  died  in  prison  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  betrayed  and  delivered  by  Venice  to  the  Sublime  Porte.  This  portrait,  now 
in  the  National  Museum  of  Athens,  is  the  only  original  portrait  of  a  Klepht,  dated 
from    his   time,   which   has  come  down   to   us. 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  767 

ily:  Koumparoship  was  considered  a  "spiritual  relationship."  The 
element  of  socialization  resulting  from  that  relationship  can  hard- 
ly be  overestimated,  because  the  wandering  Klephts  made  con- 
nections in  different  communities,  which  other  Greeks  could  not 
make  on  account  of  lack  of  a  system  of  communication  between 
villages. 

The  dominant  figures  of  the  Klephtic  groups  were  the  Captains. 
Each  group  was  known  by  the  Captain's  name.  Determination,  de- 
finiteness  of  purpose,  supreme  ability  in  the  indispensable  require- 
ments of  the  profession,  generosity  when  needed,  gallantry,  tena- 
city and  inflexibility  of  character  in  the  face  of  any  event  even 
death,  fairness  to  his  fellow-Klephts,  power  of  persuasion — such 
were  the  predominant  qualities  of  the  leader.  Nevertheless  rival- 
ries among  chieftains  often  gave  opportunity  to  Pashas  to  attract 
them  to  their  Palaces  and  treacherously  to  put  them  to  death. 

The   f  ollcwing   song   describes   such  policies : 

Katsoiidas 

"Passer-by,  do  you  know  what  happened  to  the  Sons  of  Kat- 
soudas? 

They  no  longer  appear  either  at  Patras  or  at  Saint-Sosti : 

O  that  proud  Floros ;  that  terrible  Katsoudas, 

Who  set  up  his  standard  both  in  the  vale  and  on  the  moun- 
tain-peaks ; 

Whose  running  was  the  eagle's  flight,  whose  walk  was  the 
running  of  hares." 

— "Katsoudas  went  to  Yiannina,  went  to  give  allegiance  to 
Ali  Pasha." 

"Long  live  my  Lord." — "Be  welcome  Katsoudas. 

Katsoudas  sit  down,  eat,  drink  and  come  afterward,  I  have  a 
question  for  you." 

— "I  was  given  breakfast  at  the  house  of  Divitsi." 

— "Katsoudas  taste  the  sweets,  have  your  drink." 

— "My  Lord,  I  am  getting  dizzy  from  all  this  eating  and 
drinking." 

— "Much  news  has  come  to  me  from  all  the  Vilaets,  (dis- 
tricts) 

From  Agrapha,  Patras,  Valto  and  Carpenisi: 

Katsoudas,  I  was  told  that  you  burnt  villages  and  made  many 
slaves." 

"You're  told  the  truth,  A€endi,  and  now  I  come  to  subrnit. 

I  now  earned  a  thousand  sequins,  and  am  willing  to  give 
them  to  you. 

And  if  you  want  the  worthy  Katsoudas  as  your  help, 


768  THE  OPEN   COURT 

Let  us  chase  away  the  Armatoles  of  \'alto,  and  the  Contoy- 

ianni." 
When  AH  Pasha  heard  this,  his  executioner  he  called  in. 
And  while  the  Klepht  howed,  off  went  his  head. 

Another  noteworthy  fact  regarding  the  Klephtic  leader  was 
his  contact  with  other  lands  than  Greece.  Famous  chieftains,  like 
Androutsos  \'eroussos,  Zacharias  ]>arhitsiotis,  the  Colocotronis,  and 
others  communicated  with  England,  France,  \'enice,  Russia,  the 
Ionian  Islands ;  and  always  they  participated  in  the  various  at- 
tempts for  revolution  against  the  Ottomans,  under  the  auspices  of 
Russia  and  other  European  powers. 

An  attitude  common  to  all  Klephts  was  their  loyalty  to  the 
Church.  Under  the  actual  circumstances  of  foreign  domination  the 
Church  hecame  the  highest  symbol  of  the  Greek  ethnic  and  reli- 
gious aspirations.  Dy  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as 
historical  records  show,  the  Klephts  began  to  manifest  their  claims 
by  mottoes  on  their  flags  and  by  the  style  of  their  letters.  They  posed 
as  "protectors  of  the  Christians"  and  later,  as  "the  defenders  of 
the  Cross,  of  the  Christian  faith,  of  the  Church  and  of  the  honor 
of  women."  Among  their  ranks  clergymen  were  found  taking 
the  lead  "in  the  name  of  the  country  and  of  the  faith." 

Nevertheless  the  Klephts'  loyalty  to  the  Church  did  not  prevent 
them  from  being  hostile  to  certain  priests  and  prelates  whom,  wrong- 
ly or  rightly,  they  considered  as  political  agents.  This  conduct, 
however,  did  not  diminish  the  piety  of  the  Klephts :  their  respect 
toward  the  churches  with  all  objects  of  cult,  even  silver  and  gold 
was  scrupulously  maintained.  They  also  participated  in  religious 
sacraments  and  ceremonies.  Their  religious  recollections  were  vivid. 
They  liked  worship.  And  at  Christmas  or  Easter  time,  when  alone 
on  the  mountains,  they  celebrated  singing  whatever  hymns  they 
could  remember. 

Pari  passu  with  their  loyalty  to  the  Church  went  their  belief 
in  the  ethnic  and  religious  traditions  especially  those  connected  with 
the  Fall  of  Constantinople  and  the  transformation  of  Saint-Sophia 
into  a  Mosf|ue.  The  popular  Poet  expressed  his  impressions  of 
these  happenings  in  the  following  verses. 

The  Fall  of  Constantinople  (1453) 

They  have  taken  the  City,  they  have  taken  it :  they  have  taken 

Salonica. 
Thev  also  have  taken  Saint-Sophia,  the  Great  Monastery, 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  769 

Which  has  three  hundred  syuiandra  and  sixty-two  large  bells. 

And  for'  each  bell,  a  priest ;  and  for  each  priest,  a  deacon. 

Just  at  the  moment  when  the  Sacrament, 

When  the  King  of  the  world  came  out  (from  the  sanctuary) 

A  voice  from  Heaven  came  down  from  the  mouths  of  angels : 
"Leave  off  your  psalmody,  set  down,  on  the  altar,  the  Most 
Holy : 

And  send  a  message  to  the  land  of  the  Franks 

In  order  that  they  may  come  and  take  it ; 

That  the}'  may  take  the  golden  cross,  and  the  holy  gospel ; 

And  the  holy  table,  so  the  Turks  may  not  soil  it." 

When  the  Lady  (Virgin  Mary)   heard  that,  her  icons  began 
to  cry. 
"Calm  thyself,  O  Lady,  do  not  shed  tears,  do  not  weep. 
"With  years,  with  time,   (all  these  things)   once  more  will  be 
thine." 

Around  these  two  fundamental  events  history  was  reconstructed 
in  the  mind  of  the  Greek  folk.  Easily  accepted  legends  led  them 
to  expect  the  dead  Emperor  of  Byzantium,  Constantine  Paleologue 
XI,  who  "was  transformed  into  marble"  and  hidden  under  the  earth 
by  an  angel,  to  rise  from  the  dead  and  assume  leadership  and  chase 
the  Turk  out  of  Constantinople.  Conjointly  it  was  believed  that 
the  priest,  who,  at  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  was  celebrating  Mass 
in  Saint-Sophia  and  miraculously  disappeared  inside  the  wall  of 
the  altar  wdien  a  Janissary  attempted  to  kill  him,  would  reappear 
to  complete  "the  unfinished   Mass." 

As  time  went  on  without  the  realization  of  the  Greek  people's 
hopes,  more  traditions  and  legends  were  successively  created  afresh 
to  support  their  expectations:  "Signs"  were  perceived,  mysterious 
psalmodies  at  Easter  time  were  heard  around  Saint-Sophia,  by 
specially  gifted  individuals.  However,  a  little  apocalyptic  book  called 
"Agathangelos,"  written  in  Greek  by  a  homonymous  Greek  monk 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  translated  into  Italian,  and  retranslated 
into  Greek  in  the  eighteenth  century,  became  as  helpful  in  sustain- 
ing hopes  among  the  Greek  folk  as  it  has  been  fateful  and  disas- 
trous in  the  misinterpretations  of  "the  coming  hour."  The  Klephts 
were  victims  of  these  misinterpretations  and  often  were  exploited  by 
political  impostors  who  took  advantage  of  their  credulity. 

With  reference  to  the  solution  of  problems  beyond  their  con- 
trol, the  Klephts  had  adopted  a  few  techniques  of  the  Greek  com- 
munities. They  seriously  believed  in  the  secret  power  of  amulets, 
oracles  and  auspices ;  but  scapidimancy,  or  the  so-called  ability  of 


770  THE  OPEN   COURT 

predict inj:^  future  events  as  revealed  from  signs  on  the  shoulder- 
blades  of  sheep,  was  even  more  authoritative  among  the  Klephts. 
Another  way  of  protection  and  security  the  Klephts  found  in 
the  propitiation  of  supernatural  beings ;  and  the  offerings  and  sac- 
rifices of  the  Klephts  were  proportional  to  the  good  they  expected 
from  the  Saints  they  invoked.  Their  prayers  were  petitions  dic- 
tated by  the  spirit  of  do  tit  des,  logically  a  part  of  their  way  of  reli- 
gious feeling  and  reasoning.  Thus  Theodore  Colocotronis  prayed 
to  the  Virgin  Mary  in  1803:  "Help  us  to  free  our  country  from 
the  tyrant,  and  I  will  rebuild  thy  church  (whose  roof  was  wrecked) 
as  it  was  before."  This  prayer  was  heard  in  1822,  so  the  petitioner 
tells  us  in  his  Memoirs,  and  he  then  kept  his  promise  and  rebuilt 
the  church.  However,  the  outstanding  feature  in  the  religious  life 
of  the  Klephts  was  their  firm  belief  and  trust  in  God  and  immor- 
tality. God  was  for  the  Klephts  the  highest,  unquestioned  guaran- 
tee of  trustworthiness  and  loyalty.  This  fact  differentiated  the 
Kle])hts,  as  a  whole,  from  the  other  Greek  folk  whose  religious 
practices  dealt  more  frequently  with  Saints  and  Intercessors.  This 
attitude  of  the  Klephts  was,  very  probably,  due  to  the  nature  of 
their  occupation :  The  Klephts  could  trust  nobody  completely.  And 
psychologically  speaking,  trust  was  what  the  Klephts  needed  most. 
Thus,  for  them  Gcd  was  scmeo^e  supreme,  in  whom  they  could 
believe  without  any  bargaining  or  reservation  of  mind.  There  is 
no  example  known  of  a  "faithless,"  "atheistic"  Klepht. 

Such,  in  the  main,  were  the  character  and  personality  of  the 
Klephts  until  their  decimation  in  1806  by  the  combined  persecution 
of  the  Sultan  and  the  Patriarch  Callinicos  \'  who  used  his  terri- 
ble power  of  excommunication  causing  such  a  fright  and  constern- 
ation among  the  Greek  people,  that  they  refused  to  help  the  per- 
secuted Klephts.  Deprived  of  everything  and  starving,  those  who 
survived  the  catastrophe  crossed  over  to  the  Ionian  Islands.  There, 
new  contacts,  as  well  as  the  growing  spirit  of  nationalism  from  the 
French  Revolution  caused  a  permutation  in  their  social  personality. 
When  the  Greek  Revolution  started  in  1821  many  of  the  old  chief- 
tains, such  as  Marco  Botsaris,  Karaiskakis,  Colocotronis,  Niketaras, 
became  generals  and  contributed  greatly  to  important  victories  of 
the  Greek  armies. 

Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  their  career,  with  a  narrow  scope  aim- 
ing at  self-independence,  the  Klepht  continued  his  occupation  imi- 
tating the  Ottoman  policies  and  applying  them  to  the  rulers.    Simil- 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  771 


THEODORE    COLOCOTRONIS,    1770-1843 
Klepht  and  Warrior 


itude  of  motives,  tendencies  and  means  brought  some  fellow-Klephts 
together:  Organization  began.  Numerically  this  organization  was 
very  limited.  In  order  to  counter-balance,  as  much  as  possible,  the 
enormity  of  their  adversary,  the  Klephts  had  to  increase  their  own 
forces  qualitatively:  They  succeeded  supremely  well.  For  all  things 
they  could  do,  or  thought  they  could  do,  they  relied  upon  them- 
selves. Without  any  formal  education,  generally  speaking,  with  a 
world-view  basically  the  same  as  that  of  the  Greek  folk,  the  Klephts 
defined  for  themselves  the  meaning  of  good  and  evil  according  to 
their  professional  group-conscience  and  also  to  the  essentials  of 
the  social  code  of  the  Greek  community.  Thus  the  ideal  of  the 
good-life  of  the   Klephts  gradually  fixed  itself.    Its  program   in- 


Ill  THE  OPEN   COURT 

eluded  a  finished  manhood  as  exacted  by  the  needs  of  their  occu- 
pation :  a  sworn  hatred  ag^ainst  the  ruler  and  his  associates ;  a  loyal 
defense  of  the  rights  of  religion  and  of  the  community ;  will  to 
power  and  self-assertiveness  even  unto  death. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  realization  of  their  own  uni(|ue 
capacities  in  order  to  fulfill  the  demands  of  their  occupation,  the 
Klephts  accomplished  their  purpose  fully :  They  were  good  in  the 
Aristotelian  sense.  As  to  those  things  beyond  their  control  the 
Klephts,  following  the  spirit  of  the  social  environment  in  which 
they  were  born  and  grew,  turned  either  to  their  religion  or  to  magi- 
cal and  primitive  devices  in  order  to  seek  protection  or  anticipate 
future  events. 

The  Role  of  the  Kleplit  in   the  Cultiiral  Conflict 

\\'hat  was  the  role,  in  general,  that  the  Klepht  played  in  this 
Graeco-Turkish  cultural  contlict? 

As  we  look  retros]:)ectively  into  the  nature  and  the  results  of 
this  conflict,  it  is  obvious  that  the  role  of  the  Klepht  was  social, 
political,  moral,  military,  and  religious. 

With  no  formal  education  and  with  only  his  physical  strength, 
his  common  sense,  and  long  practical  experience,  the  Klepht  stood, 
as  a  vigilant  Greek  Nemesis  between  the  strongly  antagonistic  Greek 
and  Ottoman  cultures.  He  prevented  their  fusion  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. His  haughty  refusal  to  adhere  to  Islam,  his  proud  scorn  of 
death  kept  the  morale  of  the  Christians  high.  His  duplicity  with 
the  Pashas  and  their  auxiliaries  made  him  j^enetrate  more  deeply 
into  the  technicpie  and  secrets  of  the  Ottoman  Government  and  he 
became  a  "diplomat"  at  its  expense.  His  opposition  to  Greek 
Magistrates,  associates  of  the  Turk,  could  not  help  but  bring  to  light, 
and  restrain,  their  injustices. 

By  living  the  Klephtic  life  for  so  many  generations,  the  Klepht 
thoroughly  learned  the  topography  of  Greece  and  made  acquain- 
tances everywhere  in  a  time  when  communication  of  inhabitants 
of  different  Greek  villages  was  impracticable.  ^loreover,  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  Greek  territory  proved  in\aluable  when  he  helped  in 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  Revolution  for  Independence  in  1821. 
throughout  the  country. 

With  his  perseverence.  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  indomitable  am- 
bition the  Klepht  became  a  special  expert  who  provided  the  Revolu- 


THE  KLEPHTS  IN  MODERN  GREEK  POETRY  IIZ 

tion  with  exceedingly  capable  generals,  such,  for  example,  as  Theo- 
dore  Colocctronis  and  George   Karaiskakis. 

During  all  the  time  of  his  struggle,  the  Klepht  saved  the  moral 
dignity  of  the  Greek  people  and  served  as  a  vigorous  stimulation 
to  their  courage,  which  often  began  to  fail  under  the  pressure  of  a 
tyrannical  regime.  One  important  result  of  this  invigoration  was 
the  birth  and  growth  of  the  popular  Klephtic  Poet. 

The  Klepht  differentiated  between  the  functions  of  a  politician 
and  those  of  the  clergy,  and  disapproved  of  the  intervention  of  the 
Church  in  politics.  This  attitude  often  made  him  accuse  members 
of  the  clergy  of  acting  as  political  agents.  As  to  his  religion,  de- 
spite his  naive  credulity  in  many  matters,  and  his  use  of  magical 
devices  and  techniques,  the  Klepht  remained  freer  and  stronger 
in  his  religious  sentiments  and  behavior  than  the  masses  of  the  folk 
of  the  Greek  communitv. 


MODERNIZING  GOVERNMENT 

BY  T.   SVVANN"   HARDING 

CERTAIN  lil)t'ral  thinkers  about  social  (juestions  seem  animated 
by  a  pathetic  faith  in  the  possibility  of  renovating  our  system 
of  government  by  electing  the  "right"  men  to  ofifice.  They  seem  to 
overlook  the  point  that  there  may  be  something  so  fundamentally 
wrong  with  this  system  of  government  itself  that  it  can  not  success- 
fully be  adapted  to  the  new,  complex,  meclianistic  age  in  which  we 
live.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is  (juite  true  that  the  application  of 
intelligence  and  foresight  to  the  problem  actually  can  make  our  ob- 
solete county  system  work  efficiently  and  well  in  isolated  instances, 
but  it  is  an  open  question  whether  we  should  retain  this  obsolete  and 
old-fashioned  portion  of  our  system  of  government  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  only  an  unusual  and  extraordinary  combination  of  intelli- 
gence and  ethics  in  public  office  can  enable  it  to  function  efficiently. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  we  do  not  live  under  a  functional  govern- 
ment. Nor  have  we  yet  evolved  an  intelligent  functional  society. 
In  his  Acquisitive  Society,  R.  H.  Tawney  thus  defines  functional 
society : 

A  society  which  aimed  at  making  the  acquisition  of  wealth 
contingent  upon  the  discharge  of  social  obligations ;  which 
sought  to  proportion  remuneration  to  service  and  denied  it 
to  those  by  whom  no  service  was  performed,  which  inquired 
first  not  what  men  possess  but  what  they  can  make  or  create 
or  achieve,  might  be  called  a  Functional  Society,  because  in 
such  a  society  the  main  subject  of  social  emphasis  would  be 
the  performance  of  social  functions. 

Such  a  society  would  have  a  functional  government  designed  to 
serve  the  needs  of  the  people.  Our  society  could  scarcely  be  more 
antithetical  to  this  ideology  than  it  is  at  present. 

In  our  society  the  acquisition  of  wealth  is  usually  contingent 
upon  the  discharge  of  antisocial  duties.  Remuneration  is  propor- 
tioned to  greed  and  to  shrewdness,  not  to  service  performed.  A 
Faraday  could  live  in  our  society  and,  if  he  adhered  strictly  to  pure 
research,  attain  no  more  than  the  salary  fit  for  the  valet  of  a  lord. 
Our  banks  do  not  loan  money  upon  the  potential  ability  of  individ- 
uals to  create  or  achieve,  but  upon  tangible  securities  and  real  es- 
tate ofifered  as  collateral — in  short,  upon  what  men  possess.  The 
social   emphasis    in    our   society    is    not   upon    the   performance   of 


MODERNIZING  GOVERNMENT  775 

social  functions,  but  upon  the  acquisition  of  wealth  and  the  legal 
protection  of  those  who  acquire  wealth,  regardless  of  their  devious- 
ly ethical  procedures  in  such  acquisition.  Furthermore,  no  purely 
acquisitive  society  living  under  the  aegis  of  individualistic  profit 
economy  possesses  a  functional  government ;  it  quite  naturally  pos- 
sesses a  political  government  designed  purely  to  serve  the  interests 
of  the  acquisitive.  Hence  it  is  pathetically  na'ive  to  presume  that  the 
injection  of  a  few  intelligent  liberals  into  the  machinery  of  such 
government  could  possibly  serve  any  good  purpose  by  and  large. 

Again,  the  day  of  native  intelligence  is  past.  It  would  be  quite 
impossible  today  for  a  Socrates  to  govern  this  nation  wisely  unless 
he  used  his  broad,  profound,  general  intelligence  for  the  purpose 
of  synthesizing  larger  truths  from  the  facts  and  smaller  truths 
which  would  be  brought  to  his  attention  by  those  experts  in  spe- 
cialized knowledge  whom  we  call  scientists.  However,  if  Socrates 
were  elected  President  of  the  United  States  by  means  of  the  aver- 
age political  methods,  he  would  find  himself  so  impeded  by  politi- 
cians in  his  efiforts  to  draw  correct  and  logical  conclusions  from 
the  facts  ofifered  to  him  by  scientists  that  his  hands  would  be  tied 
completely.  It  thus  becomes  apparent  that  we  have  gone  headlong, 
willy  nilly,  into  an  age  of  science  while  obstinately  retaining  a  form 
of  government  so  desperately  archaic  that  it  is  quite  unwilling  to 
use  the  verifiable  knowledge  already  accumulated,  which  knowl- 
edge a  functional  society  would  put  into  practical  operation  as 
rapidly  as  it  accumulated. 

In  spite  of  these  facts  there  have  surreptitiously  crept  into 
the  government  service  certain  functional  units.  One  of  these  that 
might  be  cited  as  an  instance  is  the  Food  and  Drug  Administration 
which  has  recently  been  organized  upon  modern,  scientific  prin- 
ciples to  effect  the  enforcement  of  the  food  and  drug  law.  This 
unit  originally  came  into  being  as  the  result  of  a  vision  on  the  part 
of  Dr.  Harvey  W.  Wiley.  Precisely  why  a  thinker  so  easily  con- 
fused and  of  such  relatively  narrow  vision  should  have  had  this 
ideal  baffles  complete  explanation.  Perhaps  it  takes  a  fanatic  with 
a  fanatic's  zeal  and  overemphasis  to  badger  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  into  passing  legislation  functionally  beneficial  to  the 
public  at  large.  Certainly  Dr.  Wiley's  administrative  technique  was 
no  match  for  his  fanatic  zeal  and  ultimate  reorganization  was  in- 
evitable. 

The   Food   and   Drug  Administration   of    today   is   a   strangely 


nt  THE  OPEN   COURT 

economical  unit  of  g^overnnient  which,  at  a  cost  of  about  one  cent 
per  caput,  perhaps  offers  the  American  pubHc  a  greater  return  for 
its  money  than  any  other  investment  it  makes  in  taxation.  This 
does  not  mean  that  its  administration  is  perfect.  When  one  con- 
siders the  wide  variety  of  food  and  drug  products  in  import  or  in- 
terstate commerce  which  constantly  demand  the  attention  of  its 
five  hundred  and  thirty  employees  one  can  readily  understand  that 
imperfections  must  exist.  The  point  is  that  by  very  intelligent  or- 
ganization this  unit  accomplishes  miracles  on  a  pitiably  small  appro- 
priation, and  if  the  public  desires  better  protection  from  fraud  it 
should  pay  the  piper.  The  policy  of  the  Administration  is  square- 
ly in  line  with  the  best  modern  economic  and  sociological  theory 
and  even  with  advanced  criminal  practice.  It  is  educational  and 
corrective  rather  than  punitive  in  its  operations,  and,  by  acting 
sincerely  upon  these  principles,  it  has  not  only  reduced  violations 
to  a  niininium  but  has  built  up  valuable  cooperative  good-will  among 
the  cut-throat  competitors  whose  business  it  is  called  upon  to 
regulate. 

This  policy,  opposed  as  it  was  to  Dr.  Wiley's  more  traditional 
notions  of  criminal  justice — his  idea  being  that  when  you  see  a 
head  take  a  rap  at  it  and  judge  the  vigilance  of  the  bureau  by 
the  convictions  secured — naturally  brought  down  his  wrath  upon 
the  operations  of  an  organization  which  he  no  longer  understood. 
He  therefore  delivered  himself  of  ill-founded  attacks  which,  by 
reason  of  his  earlier  prestige,  made  the  work  of  the  unit  more  diffi- 
cult. In  addition  it  had,  and  has  constantly,  to  stand  the  continued 
and  unceasing  assaults  of  a  large  section  of  the  drug  and  patent 
medicine  trade.  Engaged  as  they  are  in  an  essentially  unethical  traf- 
fic in  superfluous  quackeries,  these  business  firms  find  it  to  their 
advantage  continually  to  misinterpret  and  contort  the  decisions  of 
the  Administration,  and  to  impede  its  efiforts  in  every  possible  way. 

Basically  this  government  unit  is  engaged  in  the  strangely  com- 
munistic work  of  making  the  known  facts  of  science  of  immediate 
value  to  the  American  consumer.  Backed  by  the  results  of  pains- 
taking laboratory  research,  the  stafif  of  the  Food  and  Drug  Admin- 
istration seeks  to  protect  the  health  and  the  pocketbook  of  every 
Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry  of  us.  In  doing  so,  it  will  be  observed, 
it  serves  no  particular  group.  It  is  not  seeking  to  make  more  profit 
for  dairymen  or  animal  husbandmen  ;  it  does  not  undertake  to  de- 
velop practices  which  will  enable  business  and  manufacturing  con- 


MODERNIZING  GOVERNMENT  111 

cerns  to  increase  dividends  by  standardizing  their  products  ;  it  is 
not  stocking  streams  with  fish  nor  is  it  showing  orchardists  how 
to  reahze  more  money  on  their  fruits.  It  Hes  directly  across  the 
current  of  devil-take-the-hindmost  business  practices  and  says : 
'"That  you  can  not  do  because  it  defrauds  the  general  public  or  in- 
jures the  health  of  the  consumer ;  whether  you  make  money  or  are 
driven  into  bankruptcy  you  can  not  continue  that  practice." 

The  result  is  inevitable  as  has  been  made  apparent  by  a  Senatorial 
investigation  during  1930.  In  this  particular  instance  a  commer- 
cial broker  of  almost  infinite  persistence,  who  had  a  marked  talent 
for  prevarication  which  bordered  on  absolute  genius,  aided  and 
abetted  by  four  scientific  men  who  either  did  not  know  what  they 
were  talking  about,  or  else  did  not  care,  so  befuddled  the  liberal 
intellectual  editors  of  certain  newspapers  and  magazines  that  in- 
vestigation was  called  for  with  loud  screams.  The  most  promi- 
nent advocate  of  such  investigation  happened  to  be  a  leading  liberal 
Senator  whose  native  intelligence,  unassisted,  proved  ciuite  incapable 
of  coping  adequately  with  the  problem  presented.  The  problem  it- 
self was  technical  and  scientific ;  it  was  intricate  in  the  extreme  and 
extended  to  the  more  obstruse  reaches  of  obstetric  practice,  pharma- 
cology, and  pharmaceutical  chemistry.  Certain  members  of  the 
Senate  who  happened  to  have  had  scientific  training — ^as  well  as 
Senator  McNary,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  undertaking  the 
investigation,  who  seems  blessed  with  a  sharp  and  very  keen  in- 
telligence— began  to  understand  the  problem,  realized  they  had  to 
do  simply  with  a  base,  commercial  onslaught  upon  the  disinter- 
ested scientific  work  of  a  functional  government  unit,  and  absolved 
what  is  probably  as  honest,  sincere,  and  competent  a  group  of  of- 
ficials as  can  be  found  in  the  government  today.  Those  interested 
in  details  which  cannot  be  presented  here  may  consult  the  Journal 
of  the  Ahnerkan  Medical  Association  for  September  6,  1930,  where- 
in will  be  found  the  story  in  full. 

Our  interest  here  is  in  the  broader  social  and  economic  impli- 
cations of  the  afifair.  Here  we  have  a  functional  unit  of  government 
putting  scientific  knowledge  disinterestedly  to  practical  use  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public.  It  deals  necessarily  wnth  complex  chemical 
and  pharmaceutical  problems.  It  not  only  performs  research  con- 
stantly, but  it  continually  checks  its  decision  against  the  labora- 
tory work  of  specialists  of  sorts.  It  does  not  show  anybody  how  to 
make  money,  but  it  does  prevent  certain  corporations  and  individ- 


778  THE  OPEN  COURT 

uals  from  making  money  by  fraudulent  means.  It  is,  therefore, 
bound  to  be  attacked  with  the  utmost  vigor  and  viciousness.  In 
such  attacks  it  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  a  clever  man 
so  to  misconstrue  technical  matters  that  the  naive  intelligent  liberal 
can  become  completely  confused,  and  scent  incompetence  and  treach- 
ery where  these  do  not  exist.  Even  with  the  best  intentions  in  the 
world  it  is  almost  impossible  for  such  liberals  to  comprehend  the 
truth,  so  deficient  are  they  in  the  most  rudimentary  knowledge  of 
scientific  method  and  the  value  of  scientific  evidence. 

Add  to  this  situation  the  curious  ethical  deflection  of  three  or 
four  scientists  of  standing,  one  of  whom  seemed  commercially  in- 
terested in  the  plot,  and  whose  real  reputation  was  made  in  a  field 
collateral  with,  yet  distinctly  separated  from,  medicine,  and  you 
get  the  liberal  intellectual  still  worse  confused.  In  spite  of  the 
fact  that  two  of  these  scientists  withdrew  from  the  fray  and  all 
but  retracted  what  they  had  first  said,  the  initial  impression  created 
was  all  to  the  bad.  Ultimately  the  naive,  liberal  intellectual  feels 
quite  certain  that  he  must  have  been  hornswoggled  because  he  was 
all  indignant,  wasn't  he,  and  there  must  surely  have  been  something 
to  be  indignant  about?  Finally,  there  is  also  the  somewhat  pathetic 
squirming  of  the  honest,  sincere,  and  intelligent  men  under  inves- 
tigation, for  they  did  not  seem  to  realize  fully  that  the  very  lay 
of  the  entire  situation  so  placed  them,  that  their  work  would  be 
much  more  often  maliciously  and  untruthfully  attacked  than  ap- 
preciated at  full  \alue,  and  that  unnecessarily  discouraged  them 
at  times.  Certainly  the  ineptitude  of  native  intelligence  in  coping 
with  such  complex  problems  is  quite  obvious. 

As  may  be  seen  by  a  consultation  of  Bailey's  article  in  The 
American  Journal  of  Sociology  for  July,  1930,  the  pure  food  law 
was  fought  bitterly  every  time  it  was  brought  up  in  Congress  by 
politicians,  who  were  determined  to  see  that  the  government  per- 
formed as  few  social  functions  as  possible.  Some  of  the  most 
famous  Senators  resolutely  stood  out  against  the  bill  and  did  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  defeat  it.  They  were  disingenuous,  of  course, 
and  usually  insisted  that  certain  other  bills  were  so  much  more  im- 
portant that  pure  food  legislation  must  yield  its  place  on  the  calen- 
dar. Actually,  however,  they  realized  that  the  passage  of  the  bill 
would  materially  interfere  with  the  ill-gotten  gains  of  many  of  their 
constituents,  and  they  felt  that  remuneration  should  not  be  denied 
to  those  by  whom  no  social  service  is  performed. 


MODERNIZING  GOVERNMENT  779 

Naturally  a  bureau  like  Chemistry  and  Soils,  also  of  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  is  in  a  far  stronger  position  in  a  profit 
economy.  It  can  tell  ignorant  commercial  cake-bakers  to  save  money 
by  mixing  all  their  batter  together  at  once  rather  than  following  the 
traditional  method  of  creaming  the  fat  and  sugar  first,  and  then 
adding  the  other  contents  :  for  the  traditional  method  actually  has 
no  advantages:  It  can  show  how  millions  of  dollars  worth  of 
hides  now  spoiled  by  wasteful  handling  before  they  reach  the  tan- 
nery can  be  saved  and  sold  more  profitably.  It  can  discover  for 
the  dairyman  that  lactose  may  be  useful  in  producing  hard  candy 
in  order  to  render  it  less  hygroscopic.  It  can  evolve  methods  for 
canning  and  preserving  the  culled  citrus  fruits  so  long  ignorantly 
wasted  by  producers  ;  it  can  show  them  how  to  ripen  fruit  rapidly 
by  ethylene  treatments.  It  can  enable  another  industry  to  erect 
more  efficient  turpentine  stills  than  it  ever  thought  of  erecting  on  its 
own  initiative,  and,  in  a  moment  of  tremendous  vision,  it  can  ac- 
tually close  the  naphthanthraquinone  ring  in  the  preparation  of 
alpha-benzoyl-benzoic  acid  and  thus  increase  profits  on  the  com- 
mercial production  of  phthalic  anhydride. 

It  is  not  argued  that  these  services  are  unimportant  or  that  they 
should  necessarily  be  discontinued.  In  a  more  rationally  organized 
economic  society  they  are  precisely  the  services  which  should  be 
performed  by  functional  government.  The  argument  is  that  such 
services  are  quite  obviously  profitable  to  large  financial  interests 
and  bring  to  the  bureau  concerned  a  natural  increment  of  affec- 
tion which  is  never  paid  to  a  governmental  unit  charged  with  the 
duty  of  preventing  fraud  for  the  sake  of  the  individual  consumer. 

For  years  no  attention  has  been  paid  to  noise.  Recently  scien- 
tific investigation  demonstrated  that  a  reduction  from  forty-five  to 
thirty-five  decibels  in  the  noise  regularly  surrounding  a  group  of  in- 
surance workers  improved  their  output  twelve  per  cent  although  no 
other  office  changes  were  made.  Moving  an  assembly  department 
of  a  temperature-regulator  from  its  old  place  next  a  boiler  shop  to 
a  quieter  room  resulted  in  a  reduction  in  rejections  at  inspection 
of  over  seventy-five  per  cent,  while  the  output  in  the  same  depart- 
ment increased  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  ten  per  cent.  A 
twelve  per  cent  increase  in  output  occurred  in  another  department 
merely  by  stopping  the  noise  of  a  large  ventilating  fan,  while  lower- 
ing the  noise  in  the  telephone  operating  room  of  a  telegraph  com- 
pany from  fifty  to  thirty-five  decibels  resulted  in  a  forty-two  per 


780  Till-:  OPEN   COURT 

cent  reduction  in  errors  made  and  a  three  per  cent  reduction  in 
costs  per  message.  These  things  are  so  simple  as  to  be  ahnost 
obvious  but  industry  has  so  long  1)c-c'n  hell-bent  for  profits  that  it 
ignores  such  technological  problems  aluK  st  entirely. 

Standardization  had  to  be  suggested  and  taught  to  millionaire 
industrialists  by  a  government  bureau.  Ways  and  means  of  utilizing 
waste  products  for  profits  have  constantly  to  l)c  called  to  the  atten- 
tion of  laisscz-fairc  industrialists  by  the  communistic  or  socialis- 
tic government  bureaus  which  make  the  facts  of  science  freely 
available.  These  things  are  common  everyday  functions  of  govern- 
ment today,  but  they  are  social  and  economic,  not  political  func- 
tions. It  is  discovered  that  one  milk-bottling  plant  breaks  two  and 
a  half  pounds  of  bottles  a  day  and  another  of  the  very  same  size 
seventeen  pounds.  \'ery  simple  rearrangements  of  apparatus  and 
methods  of  handling  bring  both  breakage  figures  down  to  the  lower 
level  mentioned.  The  milk  bottler  i)rofits  and  pockets  the  profits. 
He  does  not  necessarily  reduce  the  price  of  his  milk.  He  is,  in  fact, 
under  no  social  obligation  to  do  so  according  to  his  ethics  and  the 
ethics  of  individualistic  competition. 

Quite  naturally,  then,  the  position  of  a  functional  administrative 
unit  of  the  character  of  the  Food  and  Drug  Administration  is  anom- 
alous in  a  profit  economy.  It  violates  almost  all  the  set  rules  of  the 
game.  Whatever  Dr.  Wiley  may  originally  have  had  in  mind,  this 
administrative  unit  has  developed  into  an  organization  which  in- 
sists that  package  labels  mean  something ;  which  declares  that  manu- 
facturers simply  can  not  increase  profits  by  label  declarations  which 
are  untruthful ;  which  holds  that  the  consumer  should  not  be  com- 
pelled to  i)ay  as  much  for  a  substitute,  or  a  synthetic  food  product, 
as  he  does  for  the  real  thing  imless  it  be  plainly  labeled  as  to  weight 
and  nature  of  contents  and  he  does  so  of  his  own  free  will  and 
after  perusing  the  label.  It  condemns  the  widespread  magazine  and 
newspaper  advertising  of  certain  products  in  grossly  unscientific 
terms,  though  a  joker  in  the  law  forces  it  to  confine  its  legal  atten- 
tion to  container  labels  and  gives  it  no  jurisdiction  over  advertis- 
ing distributed  sejxirately  from  the  pro<luct.  It  permits  the  admis- 
sion of  imix)rted  food  and  drug  products  on  a  basis  of  lal)el  and 
quality,  and  quite  regardless  of  port  or  country  of  origin,  ownership, 
or  the  part  a  shipment  may  take  in  making  or  breaking  a  "corner" 
in  some  commodity. 

An  interesting  sidelight  on  the  scientific  method  followed  by  this 


MODERNIZING  GOVERNMENT  781 

organization  appeared  recently  when  it  published  certain  standards 
for  food  products.  Thus,  instead  of  laying  down  the  law  about  such 
a  thing  as  "raisin  bread"  it  initially  defined  that  commodity  in  the 
following  terms : 

Raisin  bread  is  the  product,  in  the  form  of  loaves  or 
smaller  units,  obtained  by  baking  a  leavened  and  kneaded 
mixture  of  flour,  water,  salt,  yeast,  and  raisins,  with  or  with- 
out edible  fat  or  oil,  milk  or  a  milk  product,  sugar  and/or 
other  fermentable  carbohydrate  substance.  It  may  contain 
diastasic  and/or  proteolytic  ferments,  and  such  minute 
amounts  of  unobjectionable  salts  as  serve  solely  as  yeast  nu- 
trients. The  flour  ingredient  may  include  not  more  than  3  per 
cent  of  other  edible  farinaceous  substance.  The  finished 
product  contains  not  less  than  3  ounces  of  raisins  to  the  pound. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  liberal  thinkers  habitually  settle  world-prob- 
lems by  utilizing  vague  and  undefined  terms  like  "democracy,"  "so- 
cial justice,"  or  "social  control,"  this  basically  scientific  procedure 
is  itself  worthy  of  study. 

It  is  for  this  reason  a  most  uniquely  interesting  bureau  and  de- 
serves the  serious  consideration  of  students  intelligently  interested 
in  the  proper  functioning  of  non-political  government  based  square- 
ly upon  verifiable  scientific  findings.  It,  indeed,  ofi^ers  a  passing  hint 
to  the  optimistic  liberal  intellectual  with  his  enthusiasm  for  native 
intelligence.  He  should  inspect  this  administrative  unit,  examine 
its  work,  explore  its  methods,  seek  to  understand  its  functioning, 
and  he  would  get  some  idea  of  the  basis  upon  which  government 
for  service  would  operate.  Its  contentions  with  misguided  politi- 
cians, disappointed  brokers,  ambitious  nature-faking  food  and  drug 
purveyors,  and  even  at  times  with  political  government  itself  should 
be  a  lesson  to  him.  The  very  enemies  it  has  made  recommend  it, 
and  it  is  more  of  a  sign  and  a  portent,  perhaps,  than  either  liberal 
intellectuals  or  its  own  administrative  officials  are  aware. 


AN  ARABIC  VERSION  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

BY   EDWARD   ULHACK 
Member   of   the    Archaeological    Institute    of    America 

RABBI  Saadia  ben  Josef  is  one  of  the  brightest  names  in  Hebrew 
literature.  Born  at  Fayoum  in  Egypt  in  A.D.  892,  he  quickly 
displayed  great  aptitude  for  learning.  Unlike  most  Jewish  scholars, 
he  did  not  confine  his  attention  to  Judaism,  but  studied  the  rival 
systems  of  Islamism  and  Christianity  under  the  best  masters  of  the 
day.  The  Jews  of  that  period  enjoyed  great  prosperity  and  con- 
sideration. A  large  commtmity  of  them  existed  at  Irak  (the  an- 
cient Babylonia)  and  their  chief,  David  ben  Zakkai,  under  the  ti- 
tle of  "Prince  of  the  Captivity,"  lived  at  Baghdad  in  a  style  of  regal 
magnificence.  The  fame  of  the  young  Egyptian  scholar  spread 
throughout  the  Jewish  world,  and  the  Prince  invited  him  to  Bagh- 
dad, and  made  him  Gaon  of  the  Academy  of  Sora,  almost  the 
only  instance  of  such  an  honor  being  conferred  upon  any  one  who 
had  been  educated  in  the  Babylonian  schools.  This  was  in  928. 
Saadia  occupied  his  new  position  with  great  credit  until  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  933,  when  he  was  deposed  by  the  Prince  of  the 
Captivity  because  he  refused  to  sanction  one  of  the  decrees  of  that 
despot.  Freed  from  the  cares  of  office,  Saadia  resumed  his  studies 
at  Baghdad,  which  was  then  the  center  of  Moslem  culture ;  and  his 
reputation  became  so  great  that  David  ben  Zakkai  was  constrained 
to  elevate  him  once  more  to  the  dignity  of  Gaon  of  Sora,  which  he 
exercised  until  his  death  in  A.D.  942. 

When  we  remember  that  Saadia  died  at  the  comparatively  early 
age  of  forty-nine,  his  industry  and  learning  seem  almost  incredible. 
He  translated  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  into  Arabic,  and  wrote 
a  commentary  upon  each  book.  He  also  translated  the  Mishna,  and 
composed  many  treatises  upon  the  Jewish  law  and  Talmudical  mat- 
ters. In  addition  to  this  he  founded  the  science  of  Hebrew  grammar, 
and  wrote  treatises  upon  peculiarities  of  the  IMassoretic  text ;  be- 
side being  the  author  of  several  polemic  works  directed  against  the 
Karaite  Jews  who  rejected  the  authority  of  the  Talmud.  In  all 
these  labors  he  had  to  rely  u^on  himself  alone,  for  he  moved  in 
a  world  of  thought  unknown  to  his  predecessors  ;  and  he  thus  became 
a  creator  and  initiator  in  Hebrew  theology,  exegesis,  philosophy,  and 


AN  ARABIC  VERSION  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  783 

grammar,  whose  influence  endured  for  centuries,  and  in  some  places 
still  continues.  When  the  Arabs  had  conquered  Egypt  and  Persia, 
they  speedily  absorbed  the  ne\y  culture  with  which  they  came  into 
contact,  and  under  the  Abbaside  Khalifs,  Moslem  learning  made  its 
greatest  advances  in  all  its  departments.  This  was  the  atmosphere 
which  surrounded  and  stimulated  Rabbi  Saadia  ben  Joseph.  New 
ideas  were  suggested  to  him  by  the  Arab  schools  of  philosophy ;  and 
the  researches  of  the  Moslems  into  Arabic  philosophy  induced  him 
to  apply  the  same  principles  for  the  first  time  to  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage. In  the  days  of  Rabbi  Saadia,  Arabic  liad  become  the  com- 
mon vernacular  of  the  Oriental  Jews,  and  his  translations  were  un- 
dertaken chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  his  co-religionists ;  but  not  ex- 
clusively so,  for  he  always  had  the  w^orld  of  Islam  in  view.  His  own 
name  shows  that  his  family  had  close  Arabian  connections,  and  all 
his  life  he  was  in  intimate  association  with  the  Moslem  scholars  of 
Egypt  and  Babylonia.  Consequently  he  took  great  pains  to  recon- 
cile the  leading  tenets  of  Judaism  with  the  current  ideas  of  Arab 
philosophy ;  and  it  is  said  that  he  habitually  wrote  his  works  in 
the  Arabic  character  in  order  to  recommend  them  to  Moslem  readers, 
though,  as  might  have  been  expected,  all  the  manuscripts  which  have 
been  preserved  to  us  are  written  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet  which  was 
principally  affected  by  the  Jewish  copyists. 

In  1892  the  French  Orientalists  decided  to  signalize  the  millen- 
ium  of  the  birth  of  Saadia  by  publishing  a  complete  edition  of  all 
his  extant  writings.  The  work  of  preparing  this  edition  was  en- 
trusted to  the  well-known  Semitic  scholar,  Monsieur  Joseph  Deren- 
bourg,  who  labored  at  the  task  with  great  enthusiasm  until  his 
death  on  the  29th  of  July,  1895.  At  the  time  of  his  decease  he  was  en- 
gaged upon  Saadia's  version  of  the  Book  of  Job ;  and  to  his  son. 
Monsieur  Hartwig  Dferenbourg,  fell  the  filial  duty  of  completing 
the  work  which  is  now  before  us.i  The  Arabic  text  and  Hebrew 
commentary  have  been  prepared  under  the  able  editorship  of  Wil- 
helm.Bacher  of  Budapest,  who  has  employed  for  the  purpose  two 
manuscripts  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford,  England, 
a  manuscript  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Berlin,  Germany,  and  a  fourth 
manuscript  which  Monsieur  Joseph  Derenbourg  procured  from  Jeru- 

"i^CEuvres  Completes  de  R.  Saadia  hen  Josef  Al-Fayyoumi.  Publication 
commencee  sous  la  direction  de  Joseph  Derenbourg,  Membre  de  ITnstitut. 
Continuee  sous  la  direction  de  M.  M.  Hartwig  Derenbourg  et  Meyer  Lam- 
bert.   Volume  cinquieme.    "Version  Arabe  du  Livre  de  Job." 


784  THE  OPEN  COURT 

salem,  together  with  some  minor  fragments.  This  accurate  and  ex- 
cellent text  will  be  of  the  greatest  value  to  Orientalists ;  but  the  or- 
dinary occidental  reader  will  derive  more  benefit  from  the  admirable 
French  translation  commenced  by  Monsieur  Joseph  Derenbourg,  and 
completed  by  his  son,  Monsieur  Ilartwig  Derenbourg.  The  latter 
explains  that  his  endeavor  throughout  has  been  to  carry  out  the 
work  in  the  same  spirit  as  his  father ;  that  is  to  say,  to  render  the 
very  words  of  Saadia  into  French,  with  the  greatest  possible  accur- 
acy and  fidelity,  quite  irrespective  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  original,  or  our  notions  of  the  Book  of  Job.  It  is  needless 
to  say  that  this  endeavor  has  been  crowned  with  complete  success, 
and  the  student  who  reads  French  can  now  acquaint  himself  with 
the  exact  views  held  by  this  celebrated  rabbinical  scholar  of  the 
tenth  century. 

Saadia  calls  the  work  'The  Book  of  Justification,  which  is  at- 
tributed to  Job."  Why  he  gives  it  this  title  will  best  be  explained  in 
his  own  words. 

The  Wise  One  — glorified  be  He- —  has  written  for  us 
the  history  of  Job  and  his  friends,  and  has  given  it  to  us  as 
a  pattern  for  our  instruction,  to  dispose  us  to  piety ;  so  that 
when  sorrow  and  misfortune  come  to  us  we  may  know  that 
they  fall  into  one  of  the  two  following  categories :  Either 
they  are  because  of  former  sins ;  and  then  they  are  called 
punishment.  (In  this  case  it  behooves  us  to  search  out  these 
sins,  that  we  should  correct  our  deeds,  and  that  we  should 
cease  to  be  negligent ;  as  it  is  said,  "Let  us  search  and  try  our 
ways,  and  turn  again  to  the  Lord.  Lam.  iii:40).  Or  else  the 
misfortune  is  a  trial,  that  the  Wise  One  has  sent  us,  to  the 
end  that  we  should  support  it  with  resignation,  and  He  will 
recompense  us  for  it.  We  must  not  in  either  case  attribute 
any  injustice  to  the  Creator  ;  but  we  must  recognize  the  truth 
of  the  attribute  which  He  has  applied  to  Himself  in  His  book, 
"The  Lord  in  the  midst  of  her  is  righteous  :  He  will  not  do 
iniquity,"  Zeph.  iii  :5.  For  this  reason  the  work  has  been  called 
"The  Book  of  Justification. 

Saadia's  constant  object  was  to  convey  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  as  he  understood  it.  His  translations,  therefore,  were  not  mere 
literal  renderings ;  but  were  more  in  the  nature  of  paraphrases.  And 
he  never  hesitated  to  depart  slightly  from  the  letter  of  the  original, 


AN  ARABIC  VERSION  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  785 

if  by  so  doing  he  could  more  clearly  exhibit  the  spirit,  or  show  the 
logical  connection  of  the  various  parts.  Naturally,  in  such  cases, 
he  showed  his  weakness  as  well  as  his  strength,  for  he  thus  con- 
stituted himself  the  interpreter  as  well  as  the  translator  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Like  all  other  oriental  poetry,  the  Book  of  Job  abounds  in 
peculiar  and  enigmatic  passages,  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
Saadia  with  all  his  immense  erudition  has  invariably  caught  the 
correct  sense.  As  an  instance  of  his  method,  one  may  cite  his  ren- 
dering of  the  well-known  passage.  Job.  xix: 

If  but  my  words  were  now  written  ;  if  only  they  were 
traced  in  the  book ;  if,  with  a  stylus  of  iron  or  of  lead  they 
were  graven  in  the  rock  forever,  so  that  I  might  know  that 
my  friends  will  continue,  and  that  a  later  generation  shall 
appear  after  them  upon  the  earth.  After  my  skin  shall  have 
perished,  my  history  shall  be  transmitted ;  and  by  the  maladies 
of  my  body  I  shall  show  the  power  of  God  ;  as  I  see  myself, 
and  as  m}'  eyes  contemplate  me,  not  those  of  another,  though 
my  piercing  gaze  shall  penetrate  my  breast. 

Even  the  LXX  translators  were  puzzled  over  this  passage.  The 
rendering  of  the  English  Authorised  Aversion  is  derived  from  the 
Vulgate  of  St.  Jerome ;  and  the  Revised  Version  only  suggests  "Vin- 
dicator" in  the  margin,  instead  of  Redeemer.  Saadia's  rendering 
seems  to  be  aimed  chiefly  at  the  LXX,  which  was,  of  course,  the 
only  Christian  version  with  which  he  was  acquainted.  The  LXX 
translates  verses  25  and  26  as  follows : 

Eor  I  know  that  he  is  eternal  who  is  about  to  deliver  me, 
and  to  raise  up  upon  the  earth  my  skin  that  endures  these  ;  for 
these  things  have  been  accomplished  to  me  of  the  Lord. 

In  the  Hebrew  commentary,  which  accompanies  the  Arabic  trans- 
lation, Saadia  is  careful  to  inform  us  that  he  understands  the  ori- 
ginal word  Goel  (i.e.  Redeemer  or  \'indicator)  to  refer  to  the  chil- 
dren of  men  and  not  to  God;  his  idea  being  that  Job  desired  his 
words  to  be  preserved  as  a  lasting  memorial,  in  order  that  Job 
might  be  justified  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  of  men  who  came  after, 
and  that  they  might  know  how  God  will  establish  the   righteous. 

The  above  instance  of  Saadia's  method,  however,  is  perhaps  an 
extreme  one,  for  even  the  best  expositor  may  occasionally  be  led 
astray  by  preconceptions ;  and  we  must  not  forget  that  Saadia  wrote 


786  THE  OPEN  COURT 

as  an  orthodox  Jew,  who  had  no  desire  to  place  weapons  in  the  hands 
of  adversaries.  But,  apart  from  doctrinal  considerations,  this  Arabic 
version  of  the  Rook  of  Job  is  a  work  of  exceptional  ability,  which 
may  be  read  with  profit  by  any  one,  and  which  gives  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  Hebrew  poem.  When  we  reflect  that  this 
translation  was  made  in  the  tenth  century — a  period  of  the  grossest 
intellectual  darkness  in  Europe — we  are  lost  in  wonder  that  such 
a  work  could  have  been  executed  in  so  masterly  a  fashion  with  the 
means  at  the  disposal  of  an  oriental  scholar.  Not  merely  will  the 
Semitist  be  indebted  for  this  excellent  edition  of  Rabbi  Saadia,  but 
the  ordinary  student  will  be  ever  grateful  to  Monsieur  Hartwig 
Derenbourg  for  placing  in  our  hands  such  a  lucid,  complete,  and 
able  exposition  of  the  work  of  this  bright  particular  star  of  He- 
brew learning. 


PHILOSOPHY  IX  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCIENCE 
Prof.  G.  H.  Mead's  "Philosophy  of  the  Present" 

BY  VICTOR  S.   YARROS 

THERE  are  philosophers  and  philosophers.  The  late  Professor 
George  Herbert  Mead — whom,  by  the  way,  the  writer  knew 
intimately  for  over  thirty  years — was  a  philosopher  and  an  effective 
and  inspiring  professor  of  philosophy,  but  he  was  also  a  metaphy- 
sician and  a  life-long  student  of  the  exact  sciences.  His  position  in 
American  philosophy  was  quite  unique,  therefore,  and  his  sudden 
death  last  year  was  a  real  tragedy  in  the  realm  of  American  thought 
and  speculation. 

It  is  fortunate,  however,  that  Prof.  Mead,  who  was  an  extreme- 
ly modest  man,  with  an  overdeveloped  faculty  for  self-criticism, 
was  invited  to  deliver  the  third  series  of  lectures  on  the  Paul  Carus 
Foundation.  The  volume  comprising  these  lectures,  as  well  as  some 
additional  essays,  now  published  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing 
Company,  under  the  title  ''The  Philosophy  of  the  Present"  gives  the 
public  interested  in  philosophy,  ethics  and  social  psychology  a  fair 
and  adequate  summary  of  some  fundamental  and  fruitful  aspects 
of  Prof.  Mead's  total  contribution  to  American  philosophy. 

To  understand  and  appreciate  the  importance  of  this  volume,  it 
is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  the  interesting  fact  that  Mr.  Mead  was 
profoundlv  impressed  and  influenced  by  modern  science  and  modern 
metaphysics,  and  felt  that  the  moral  and  social  implications  and 
bearings  of  such  revolutionary  ideas  as  Relativity,  the  Quantum 
theory,  Indeterminism,  Emergent  Evolution,  ought  to  be  traced  and 
elucidated  for  the  benefit  of  philosophy  and  progressive  thought 
and  action. 

Prof.  Mead  did  not  agree  with  Huxley  that  there  was  an  ir- 
reconcilable conflict  between  Nature  and  civilized  Humanity.  He 
was  certain  that  any  notable  advance  in  the  interpretation  of  na- 
ture, or  reality,  must  find  reflection  in  the  interpretation  of  human 
phenomena. 

It  cannot  be  truthfully  said  that  Prof.  Mead  succeeded  in  con- 
structing a  synthetic  philosophical  system  based  on  modern  science 
and  modern  metaphysics.  He  made  no  such  claim,  and  perhaps  the 
time  has  not  yet  come  for  so  stupendous  and  ambitious  an  attempt. 
We  must  not  overlook  the  collapse  of  Spencer's  Synthetic  Philosophy. 


GEORGE    HERBERT    MEAD 


PHILOSOPHY  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCIENCE  789 

Prof.  Mead  assured  the  writer  that  Spencer  was  right  in  contending 
that  philosophy  today  had  no  function  or  mission  other  than  that 
of  co-ordinating,  fusing  and  building  up  a  synthesis  resting  on  and 
fashioned  by  the  established  truths  and  generalizations  of  all  the 
sciences.  But  Spencer  was  hasty  and  premature,  and  Prof.  Mead 
profited  by  the  mistakes,  crudities  and  arbitrary,  illogical  conclu- 
sions of  that  thinker.  What  we  have  in  "The  Philosophy  of  the 
Present" — the  Carus  lectures  and  supplementary  chapters  or  frag- 
ments— is  a  valuable,  seminal  series  of  propositions,  hints  and  sug- 
gestions that  challenge  attention  and  demand  further  study  and 
elaboration.  In  other  words,  Prof.  Mead  has  left  us  a  number  of 
arresting,  well-defined  problems,  together  with  pregnant  concep- 
tions, intimations  and  a  definite  point  of  view. 

The  subject-matter  of  Prof.  Mead's  lectures,  as  Prof.  IMurphy, 
in  his  admirable  and  lucid  introduction  to  the  volume,  points  out,  is 
divided  as  follows :  First,  there  is  a  theory  about  the  nature  of  time 
and  emergence ;  second,  there  is  a  theory  about  Relativity  and  its 
social  implications,  and,  thirdly,  a  theory  of  emergence  as  social 
and  of  sociality  as  a  character  of  emergent  evolution. 

It  may  be  stated  at  once  that  Prof.  IMead's  work  has  conferred 
new  dignity  upon  and  considerably  enhanced  the  philosophical  pres- 
tige of  Pragmatism. 

Take  the  following  passage  from  the  chapter  on  "The  Implica- 
tions of  the  Self" : 

"The  functional  boundaries  of  the  present  are  those  of  its  un- 
dertaking— of  what  we  are  doing.  The  pasts  and  futures  indicated 
by  such  activity  belong  to  the  present.  They  arise  out  of  it  and  are 
tested  and  criticised  by  it.  The  undertakings  belong  however,  w'ith 
varying  degrees  of  intimacy,  within  larger  activities,  so  that  we 
seldom  have  the  sense  of  a  set  of  isolated  presents.  .  .  . 

"For  instance,  the  present  history  of  the  sun  is  relevant  to  the 
undertaking  of  unraveling  the  atom  and,  given  another  analysis  of 
the  atom,  the  sun  will  have  another  history  and  the  universe  will 
be  launched  into  a  new  future.  The  pasts  and  the  futures  are  impli- 
cations of  what  is  being  undertaken  and  carried  out  in  our  labora- 
tories." 

Other  writers  have  emphasized  the  dependence  of  the  past  upon 
the  present  in  the  sense  that  our  aippraisal  of  past  events — laws, 
reforms,    revolutions,    inventions — undergoes    changes    and,    there- 


790  THE  OPEN  COURT 

fore,  our  pictures  of  the  past  vary.  Prof.  Mead,  plows  deeper  and 
considers  the  "functional"  boundaries  of  the  present. 

But  the  extension  of  the  present  into  the  past  and  the  past  into 
the  present  does  not  preclude  the  idea  of  novelty  and  emerg^ence. 
The  past  does  ncjt  fitUy  determine  the  present,  "liecause,"  says 
Prof.  Mead,  "an  animal  is  both  alive  and  a  i)art  of  a  phsysico-chemi- 
cal  world,  that  life  is  an  emergent  and  extends  its  influence  to  the 
environment  about  it.  It  is  because  the  conscious  individual  is  both 
an  animal  and  is  also  able  to  look  before  and  after  that  conscious- 
ness emerg^es  with  the  meanino^s  and  values  with  which  it  informs 
the  world." 

Perhaps  Prof.  Mead's  most  original  and  dariiig  generalization 
concerns  sociality  as  a  principle.  Under  Newtonian  relativity,  he 
shows,  sociality  was  confined  to  thought,  but  modern  science  tends 
to  prove  that  there  is  sociality  in  nature — in  this  sense,  that  "the 
emergence  of  novelty  requires  that  objects  be  at  once  both  in  the 
old  system  and  in  that  which  arises  from  the  new,"  for  "relativity 
reveals  a  situation  within  which  the  object  must  be  contemporan- 
eously in  different  systems  to  be  what  it  is  in  either."  And,  clearly, 
if  we  postulate,  on  the  one  hand,  sociality  throughout  nature  and, 
on  the  other,  emergent  evolution,  the  claim  is  not  too  extravagant 
that  the  highest  and  finest  product  of  the  whole  evolutionary  pro- 
cess is  the  ideal  of  human  solidarity,  human  co-operation,  justice 
and  altruism. 

"The  appearance  of  mind,"  says  Prof.  Mead  "is  only  the  culmin- 
ation of  that  sociality  which  is  found  throughout  the  universe,  its 
culmination  lying  in  the  fact  that  the  organism,  by  occupying  the 
attitudes  of  others,  can  occupy  its  own  attitude  in  the  role  of 
another." 

Prof.  ]\Iead  continues  the  argument  thus : 

We  human  beings  are  members  of  societies,  or  systematic  or- 
ders of  individuals,  and  our  activities  are  diflferentiated — perhaps 
excessivelv  differentiated — under  our  present  civilization.  But  the 
social  structure  is  reflected  in  each  of  us.  It  is  l^ecause  of  this  struc- 
ture that  we  can  take  the  parts  of  others  while  taking  our  own  re- 
spective parts.  There  results  the  part  "of  the  generalized  other." 
Thought,  ideas,  communication,  imply  individual  realization  and 
spontaneous,  as  well  as  deliberate,  manifestation  of  generalized 
otherness. 


PHILOSOPHY  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  SCIENCE  791 

Thus,  according  to  Prof.  Mead,  there  is  no  break  in  evolution. 
The  science  of  social  psychology  continues  and  carries  on  the  work 
of  individual  psychology,  of  animal  psychology,  of  biology  and  of 
physics,  mathematics  and  astro'-physics.  True,  we  must  not  over- 
rate our  human  achievements.  We  still  have  long  distances  to 
traverse.  But  we  know  our  goal,  and  we  are  justified  in  affirming 
that  science  and  philosophy  countenance  that  goal.  "If  we  can  bring 
people  together,"  writes  Prof.  Mead,  "so  that  they  can  enter  into 
each  other's  lives,  they  will  inevitably  have  a  common  object,  which 
will  control  their  common  conduct." 

Examples  of  the  gratifying,  if  limited,  success  of  the  effort  to 
bring  people  together  and  substitute  beneficial  co-operation  for 
wasteful  antagonism  Prof.  Mead  finds  in  the  league  of  nations,  the 
world  court,  the  Geneva  arms  conferences,  and  like  developments. 

Thus  the  metaphysician  and  the  philosopher  in  Prof.  Mead's 
rich  personality  find  themselves  in  harmony  with  the  humanitarian 
and  pragmatist.  It  will  not  do  to  allege  that  Prof.  Mead  reached 
conclusions  by  the  process  of  "wishful  thinking,"  or  that  he  knew 
in  advance  the  results  he  was  bound  to  reach.  Those  who  knew  him 
well  never  doubted  his  intellectual  integrity  or  his  interest  in  pure 
science.  If  his  strictly  scientific  studies  had  led  him  to  the  pessi- 
mistic conclusion  that  moral  progress,  human  brotherhood,  true  in- 
ternationalism were  idle  dreams  and  illusions,  he  would  not  have 
hesitated  to  accept  the  painful  truth.  But  Einstein,  Minkowski, 
Planck,  Whitehead,  Bergson,  Meyerson  and  other  thinkers  whose 
thought  challenged  his  attention  convinced  him  that  a  correct,  pro- 
found interpretation  of  Nature  in  its  totality,  and  of  the  actual  re- 
lations between  the  present,  in  which  we  live  and  move,  and  the 
past  and  future,  furnish  adequate  support  for  his  theory  of  the 
emergence  and  growth  of  sociality — of  the  certainty  that  the  human 
self,  which  is  a  social  self,  will  increasingly  identify  itself  with 
larger  groups  and  will  find  itself  completed  and  fulfilled  in  that 
larger  self. 

It  is  the  duty  of  American  thought  to  test,  verify  and  expand 
Prof.  Mead's  stimulating  contributions  to  philosophy  and  social 
psychology. 


Benedict  us   de  Spi:NrozA. 

Cui  na-tura.Deus.rerum  cui  cog-nitws   ordo , 
Hoc  Spinofa  ftatu  confpiciendus    erat. 

Expreflere  viri  faciem.fedpiiig-ere  nietiteni 
Zenacidxs   artifices    non  "vaJuefe  tnanus  . 

Ilia  vige^     fcriptis  :  illic  Tublmna  tractai:: 
Huiicquicunquecupis  nofcere.fcripta  lege. 


B.V   Courtesy   of  Mr.   Lcssiug  Kosciithal 

Here  Spinoza  may  be  seen  who  knew  of  Nature  and  of  God 
And  of  the  Cosmic  Order — his  face  but  not  his  spirit 
Which  the  very  skill  of  Zeuxis  could  not  paint, 
But  which  lives  in  the  books  he  wrote  of  the  sublime: 
Who  e're  would  know  his  spirit — let  him  read. 


SOME  RECENT  BOOKS 

Character   in    Human   Relations.     Bv    Hugh    Hartshorne.     Charles    Scribner's 

Sons.  New  York,    1932.    Pp.   .xiv  +  367.     ($2.50) 

Character  building  is  the  chief  objective  of  education  and,  in  recent 
years,  techniques  and  methods  based  upon  results  of  scientific  studies  have 
begun  to  be  used  in  the  conscious  practices  of  teachers.  Dr.  Hartshorne,  in 
this  excellent  and  thorough  study  of  the  nature  of  character  and  its  develop- 
ment, offers  ideas  for  the  improvement  and  extension  of  the  practices  al- 
ready existing.  This  book  will  be  of  great  value  not  only  to  educators  but 
also  to  all  those  who  are  interested  in  sharing  (as  individuals)  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  development  of  the  community  as  a  functional  whole.  To 
quote':  "Education  which  forms  character  is  education  which  includes  the 
teacher  as  well  as  the  taught— adults  as  well  as  children— society  as  well  as 
the  individual — in  joint  efforts  to  make  life  more  abundant  for  all." 

An  Essay   Concerning   the   Understanding,  Knozdcdge,   Opinion,  and  Assent. 
By  John  Locke,  Edited  with  an   introduction  by  Benjamin  Rand,   PHD. 
LLD.  Harvard  University  Press,  Cambridge,  1931.    Pp.  lx  +  306    ($3.50) 
This  hitherto   unpublished   draft   of   Locke's   famous  Essay  gives   an   op- 
portunity to   scholars   to   study  the   development  of   Locke's  thought   for  this 
manuscript  was  dated  1671  and  the  Essay  was  first  published  in  1690.    The 
introduction  contains  a  comparison  of  the  two  texts  with  editorial  and  criti- 
cal .comments.    A  great  addition  to  the  source  material   of   English  philoso- 
phy, especially  for  students  of  Locke,  has  been  made  available  by  the  publi- 
cation  of   this   book. 

Wise   Men    Worship.     Compiled   and   edited   by    JNIabel    Hill    with   a    Preface 
bv  William  Lyon   Phelps.    E.   P.   Dutton  and  Co.,  Inc.,   New   York,   1932. 
■     Pp.  134. 

A  compilation  of  excerpts  from  writings  by  distinguished  scientists, 
philosophers,  and  professional  men  on  the  relation  of  Science  and  Religion 
setting   forth   their   interpretation   of  God   and   the   LIniverse. 

Jesus  Came  Preaching.    By  George  Buttrick.    Charles   Scribner's   Sons,   New 

York,   1931.    Pp.  xiv  +  239.     ($2.50) 

This  book  is  concerned  with  the  preacher's  approach  to  modern  life  and 
the  content  of  his  message.  Dr.  Buttrick  finds  the  pivotal  issue  to  be  whether 
Christ  is  still  the  preacher's  authority.  After  deciding  this  question  in  the 
affirmative  he  developes  the  theme,  and  closes  with  an  appeal  for  a  re- 
turn to  the  preaching  of  the  Cross. 

Of   the    Tribe    of   Homer,   Being   ar.    Enquiry    info    the    Theory   and    Practice 

of  English  Narratii'c   I'erse  Since    /5?J.    By   Willem   Van   Doom.     N.V. 

De  Arbeiderspers,   .Amsterdam,   1932. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  a  leading  exponent  of  individualism,  published  in 
1833  an  essay  on  poetry  in  which  he  developed  the  view  that  "all  poetry  is 
of  the  nature  of  soliloquy."  Today  this  seems  prophetic  as  one  sees  the 
tendency  during  the  past  century  to  subordinate  narrative  in  poetry  to  lyri- 
cism. The  poets  of  the  century  are  discussed  beginning  with  Horen,  Morris, 
and  Arnold.  In  Tennyson  narrative  is  subordinated  to  symbolical  matter. 
The  author  considers  Swinburne  unsuccessful  as  a  narrative  poet,  "who's 
artificiality  becomes  manifest  the  moment  one  sets  oneself  to  translate  it 
into  another  language."  In  Browning,  he  finds,  true  narrative  as  well  as 
a  reconciliation  between  narrative  and  lyric.  In  opposition  to  Mill,  Mr.  Van 
Doom  sees  a  future  to  poetical  narrative  which  is  well  suited  to  hold  an 
unsophisticated  audience. 

The  detached  point  of  view  of  a  Dutchman's  criticism  is  novel  and  val- 
uable for  the  student  of  contemporary  tendencies  in  English  poetry. 


THREE    IMPORTANT   ADDITIONS 

To  our  select  list  of  books  on  higher  mathematics 
Published  by  G.  Bell  &  Sons,  London 

ADVANCED  TRIGONOMETRY 

By  C.   y.  Dlrell,  M.A.,   W'inolioter  College 
and   A.  Robson,  M.A.,  Marlborough   College 

Pp.  344.    Price,  cloth,  $3.00 

Most  teachers  will  agree  that  at  the  present  time  the  work  of  mathematical  special- 
ists in  schools  is  heavily  handicapped  by  the  a1)scnce  of  suitaljle  text-books.  There 
have  been  such  radical  changes  in  method  and  outlook  tliat  it  lias  become  neces- 
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notes;  especially  is  this  true  of  Algebra,  Trigonometry  and  the  Calculus. 

The  interest  and  value  of  advanced  trigonometry  lies  in  regarding  it  as  an  in- 
troduction to  modern  analysis.  The  methods  by  which  results  are  obtained  are 
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that  idea  and  teachers  will  find  this  book  extremely  interesting  and  a  very  im- 
portant contribution  to  the  practice  of  mathematical  teaching. 

THE  TEACHING  OF  ELEMENTARY  ALGEBRA 

By    Clement    V.    Durell 

Pp.  144.    Price,  cloth  $1.25 

This  book  is  for  the  most  part  concerned  with  the  details  of  procedure  in  the 
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intended  for  teachers  with  only  a  few  years  of  experience  and  for  training  col- 
lege students.  Experienced  teachers  may  be  interested  in  comparing  the  contents 
of  these  pages  with  their  own  experience. 

READABLE  RELATIVITY 

A  Book  for  Non-Specialists 
By  Clement  V.  Durell 

Pp.  146.    Price,  cloth  $1.25 

Although  no  book  about  Relativity  which  rules  out  mathematics  altogether  can 
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of  Einstein's  theory.  While,  therefore,  this  book  does  not  require  trained  mathe- 
matical qualities  for  its  understanding  it  makes  use  of  elementary  mathematics, 
without  which  it  is  impossible  to  convey  tlie  reasoning  by  which  the  theory  is  de- 
veloped, or  to  see  it  in  its  proper  perspective.  The  author  shows  that  a  far  more 
concrete  acquaintance  with  Einstein's  tlieory  can  be  obtained  in  this  way  than  by 
the  ordinary  popular  treatment,  and  that  Einstein's  view  of  the  universe  can 
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Third  Series  of  the  Paul  Carus  Lectures 

The  Philosophy  of  the  Present 

BY 

GEORGE  HERBERT  MEAD 

EDITED  BY 

ARTHUR  E.  MURPHY 
Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Brown  University 

WITH  PREFATORY  REMARKS  BY  JOHN  DEWEY 
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THE  REVOLT  AGAINST  DUALISM. 

An  Inquiry  Concerning  the  Existency  of  Ideas. 

By  Arthur  O.  Lovejoy, 

Professor  of  Philosophy,  The  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

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EXPERIENCE  AND  NATURE. 

By  John  Dewey. 

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metaphysical  basis  of  his  singularly  humane  and  liberalizing  philosophy 
of  life.  .  .  With  monumental  care,  detail,  and  completeness  Professor 
Dewey  has  in  this  volume  revealed  the  metaphysical  heart  that  beats  its 
unvarying  alert  tempo  through  all  his  writings     Price    $4.00* 

*  A.  L.  A.  recommendation. 


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