CHRISTIANITY
also
the
writings
of
that
Apostolic
group
which
moved
in
the
immediate
light
of
His
manifestation
as
that
was
given
not
only
in
His
life
on
earth,
But
in
His
death
and
resurrection
and
their
extraordinary
spiritual
results.
(2)
On
the
other
hand,
we
must
avoid
the
error
of
those
who,
when
they
insist
on
going
'back
to
Christ,'
and
demand
the
substitution
of
the
Christ
of
history
tor
the
Christ
of
dogma,
assume
that
nothing
that
is
super-natural
can
be
historical,
and
that
the
Christ
whom
we
find
in
the
NT
—
the
Christ
of
the
Incarnation
and
the
Resurrection
and
the
Atonement
,
the
Christ
who
wrought
miracles
and
claimed
to
be
the
Son
of
God,
and
was
so
accepted
by
those
who
had
known
Him
in
the
flesh
and
subsequently
knew
Him
in
the
Spirit
—
is
not
the
Jesus
of
history
at
all.
To
this
it
can
only
be
said
here
that
the
reality
of
alleged
supernatural
facts,
like
the
reality
of
any
other
alleged
facts,
depends
upon
the
evidence,
and
is
not
to
be
ruled
out
by
any
presuppositions.
Further,
that
while
from
the
nature
of
the
case
there
is
a
difference
between
the
teaching
of
Jesus
during
His
earthly
ministry
and
the
teaching
of
the
Apostles
regarding
the
risen
Christ,
the
evidence
of
our
Lord's
own
consciousness
and
history,
even
as
we
find
it
in
the
Synoptic
Gospels,
points
to
the
correctness
of
the
ApostoUc
conclusions
about
Him.
We
therefore
hold
that
whatever
Christianity
is,
it
is
not
what
certain
modern
writers
describe
as
'the
religion
of
Jesus,'
but
something
very
different;
and
that
as
it
is
not
to
be
confounded
with
churchly
dogmas
and
institutions,
it
is
just
as
little
to
be
identified
with
an
ethical
theism
based
on
the
beauty
of
Christ's
character
and
the
pure
precepts
of
His
Sermon
on
the
Mount.
The
men
who
were
first
called
Christians
(Ac
IV)
had
never
seen
Jesus
or
listened
to
His
teaching,
and
the
gospel
that
laid
its
grasp
upon
them
and
won
for
them
this
distinctive
name
was
neither
a
bare
repetition
of
the
Master's
teaching
nor
a
mere
exhibition
of
His
perfect
life.
On
the
contrary,
it
was
such
a
gospel
as
meets
us
in
the
Epistles
of
St.
Paul
and
the
sermons
reported
in
Acts
—
the
gospel
of
One
who
not
only
lived
a
spotless
life
and
spake
as
never
man
spake,
but
died
for
our
sins
and
was
raised
again
for
our
justification,
and
was
thereby
'
declared
to
be
the
Son
of
God
with
power.
It
is
in
accordance,
therefore,
with
the
original
application
of
the
name
'Christian'
that
in
seeking
for
the
meaning
of
the
word
'Christianity'
we
should
make
full
use
of
the
Apostolic
testimony
regarding
Christ.
1.
As
a
religion
appearing
in
history,
Christianity
had
its
historical
relations
and
its
historical
roots,
(a)
It
was
related
to
all
the
old
ethnic
faiths,
and
to
every
religious
experience
of
vision
and
longing,
of
striving
and
despair,
that
the
soul
of
man
had
ever
known.
The
modern
study
of
Comparative
ReUgion
is
enabling
us
to
realize
this
as
it
has
never
been
realized
before;
but
the
NT
makes
the
general
truth
perfectly
plain.
God
speaks
to
man
in
the
visible
world
(Ro
l^o).
He
writes
His
law
on
the
natural
heart
(2"),
He
never
leaves
Himself
without
witness
(Ac
14").
And
on
their
part
men
grope
through
the
darkness
after
God
(Ac
17"),
being
dimly
conscious
of
the
truth
that
they
are
also
His
offspring
(v."').
And
so
when
Christ
comes,
He
comes
not
only
as
the
Light
of
the
world
(Jn
S'^),
but
as
the
true
Light
which
lighteth
every
man
that
cometh
into
it
(1')
—
a
state-ment
which
implies
that
even
apart
from
His
historical
manifestation
in
Judaea,
the
heavenly
Christ
was
the
Light
and
Life
of
all
men,
and
that
there
is
a
sense
in
which
a
soul
may
be
'naturally
Christian'
as
TertuUian
said.
(6)
But
while
Christianity
was
and
is
related
to
all
the
ethnic
faiths,
it
was
deeply
rooted
in
the
soil
of
the
OT.
In
the
pagan
reUgions
we
find
many
anticipations
of
Christianity,
but
in
Judaism
there
is
a
definite
and
Divine
preparation
for
it.
Law
and
prophecy,
priest-hood
and
sacrifice
all
contributed
directly
to
this
result.
St.
Paul
declares
that
'the
law
was
our
schoolmaster
to
bring
us
unto
Christ'
(Gal
3^).
The
Evangelists
CHRISTIANITY
draw
attention
again
and
again
to
the
fact,
so
evident
to
every
discerning
reader
of
Scripture,
that
the
prophets
were
heralds
of
the
Christ
who
was
to
come.
The
author
of
Hebrews
shows
us
that
the
ministries
of
Taber-nacle
and
Temple
were
examples
and
shadows
of
Christ's
heavenly
Priesthood.
In
the
Fourth
Gospel
we
find
Jesus
Himself
affirming
that
'salvation
is
of
the
Jews'
(Jn
4=2).
and
in
that
very
sermon
in
which
He
sets
forth
the
manifesto
of
His
own
Kingdom,
He
proclaims
that
He
came
to
fulfil
and
not
to
destroy
the
Law
and
the
Prophets
of
Israel
(Mt
5").
2.
But
notwithstanding
its
historical
connexions
with
the
past,
Christianity
was
o
religion
absolutely
new.
The
pagan
faiths,
so
far
from
explaining
its
origin,
serve
rather
to
reveal
the
world's
great
need
of
it.
St.
Paul
seized
on
this
truth
when
he
saw
in
the
altar
at
Athens
inscribed
'
To
an
Unknown
God,'
an
uncon-scious
appeal
to
the
Christian
missionary
to
declare
the
God
and
Father
of
Jesus
Christ
(Ac
IT'^-).
And
even
Judaism
no
more
accounts
for
Christianity
than
the
soil
accounts
for
the
mighty
tree
which
springs
out
of
it.
While
carefully
relating
Himself
to
Judaism,
Jesus
no
less
carefully
discriminated
between
the
permanent
and
the
passing
in
its
institutions.
He
claimed
the
right
not
only
to
give
a
fresh
reading
of
its
ancient
laws
(Mt
S^i"-
^'ff),
but
even
to
abrogate
certain
laws
alto-gether
(vv.™-
'^-
*^).
He
set
Himself
not
merely
above
'them
of
old
time'
(Mt
5
passim),
but
above
Moses
(19"-||,
22Ma-||,
Jn
6^-)
and
Solomon
(Mt
12«||),
Abraham
(Jn
8™)
and
David
(Mt
22>"'-\\).
It
was
.this
freedom
of
Jesus
in
dealing
with
the
old
religion
that
astonished
His
hearers:
'
He
taught
them
as
having
authority,
and
not
as
their
scribes'
(7^").
More-over,
His
attitude
of
independence
towards
Judaism
is
illustrated
by
the
opposition
of
the
Jewish
leaders
to
Himself.
His
condemnation
and
crucifixion
is
the
standing
proof
that
He
and
His
religion
did
not
grow
out
of
Judaism
by
any
process
of
natural
evolution.
St.
Paul
sets
the
immense
difference
between
the
two
faiths
in
the
clearest
light
by
his
contrast,
so
fully
worked
out
in
Rom.
and
Gal.,
between
the
Law
of
Moses
and
the
grace
of
Christ.
And
very
soon
in
the
history
of
the
early
Church
there
came
that
inevitable
crisis
which
decided
that
though
Judaism
had
been
the
cradle
of
Christianity,
it
was
not
to
be
its
nursing-
mother
(cf
.
Fairbairn,
Christ
in
Modern
Theology,
p.
52)
;
that
Christianity
was
not
a
mere
spiritualized
Judaism,
but
a
new
and
universal
religion
recognizing
no
dis-tinction
between
Jew
and
Greek,
circumcision
and
uncircumcision,
and
seeing
in
Christ
Himself
the
'all
in
all.'
3.
When,
with
the
NT
as
our
guide,
we
seek
for
the
essential
features
of
objective
Christianity,
the
following
characteristics
present
themselves:
—
(o)
It
is
a
revelation
of
God
through
the
life
and
in
the
Person
of
Jesus
Christ.
Upon
this
the
vast
majority
of
those
who
call
themselves
Christians
are
practically
agreed.
'God
was
in
Christ'
(2
Co
S");
and
in
the
human
face
of
Jesus
there
so
shone
the
brightness
of
the
Eternal
Glory
(4»)
that
he
that
hath
seen
Him
hath
seen
the
Father
(Jn
14»).
In
His
teaching
Jesus
re-vealed
God
to
us
as
our
Father
in
heaven;
in
His
own
tenderness
and
pity
and
boundless
love
for
men
He
showed
us
what
the
heavenly
Fatherhood
really
means.
And
so,
as
we
read
the
Gospels,
the
assurance
grows
that
in
looking
on
the
face
of
Jesus
Christ
we
are
seeing
right
into
the
heart
of
the
invisible
God.
There
are
those,
however,
who,
while
fiilly
admitting
all
this,
yet
hesitate
to
reco^ize
in
the
historical
Jesus
a
peraonal
revelation
of
the
Divine
nature
in
human
form.
For
them
Jesus
as
the
R
evealer
has
the
worth
of
God
without
being
Himself
God.
But
this
is
not
the
Christ
who
is
pre-sented
to
us
in
the
NT;
and
if
we
fall
short
of
the
NT
view
of
Christ,
our
Christianity
will
not
be
the
Christianity
of
the
NT.
If,
on
the
other
hand,
we
take
the
Gospels
and
Epistles
as
our
authorities,
we
must
hold
upon
their
evi-dence
not
only
that
'
God
was
in
Christ,'
but
that
He
so
