but
the
ebb
and
flow
of
His
inner,
spiritual
lite
and
the
sinless
development
ol
the
early
years.
It
is
true
that
such
a
sinless
development
is
incomprehensible
to
us.
To
ethical
psychology
it
remains
an
undecipherable
mystery.
All
we
can
say
is
that
it
is
because
no
one
ever
so
felt
His
utter
dependence
upon
God,
and
hence
knew
how
much
in
God
He
had
to
depend
upon,
that,
from
first
to
last,
Jesus
kept
His
holiness
pure
(cf
.
Du
Bose,
Gospel
in
the
Gospels,
ch.
13).
When
we
think
out
the
idea
of
sinless-ness,
however,
and
consider
how
adult
manhood
rises
with
organic
continuity
out
of
childhood
and
infancy,
we
can
hardly
escape
the
inference
that
Jesus'
stainless
life
had
from
the
first
a
different
personal
content
from
ours.
The
theological
expression
for
this
would
then
be,
that
in
His
case
Divinity
was
the
basis
and
condition
of
perfect
humanity.
7.
Virgin-birth.
—
In
the
Gospels
of
Matthew
and
Luke
the
Divine
Sonship
of
Jesus
is
viewed
as
being
mediated
in
part
by
the
bestowal
of
the
Spirit
at
His
baptism,
in
part
by
the
supernatural
character
of
His
conception.
Weight
may
justly
be
laid
on
the
fact
that
both
Evangel-ists,
divergent
as
their
narratives
of
the
conception
are
in
certain
points,
agree
in
affirming
the
special
action
of
the
Holy
Ghost.
On
the
other
hand,
no
refer-ence
to
the
Virgin-birth
is
to
be
found
elsewhere
in
the
NT.
It
is
not
present
in
Gal
#
or
Ro
V;
and
few
would
say
with
Westcott
that
the
fact
of
the
miraculous
conception,
though
not
stated,
is
necessarily
implied
in
Jn
1".
This
silence
might,
indeed,
have
led
men
to
ask
whether
any
statement
on
the
subject
ought
in
wisdom
to
form
part
of
the
Creed;
and
yet
again,
it
would
be
a
mistake
to
overstrain
the
argumentum
e
sUenlio.
The
very
fact
that
the
eternal
Divinity
of
Christ
could
thus
be
held
and
interpreted
without
re-course
to
the
idea
of
virgin-birth
proves
that
that
idea
did
not
arise
as
a
psychologically
inevitable
religious
postulate,
and
may
therefore
claim
to
have
genuine
tradition
behind
it.
The
present
writer
can
only
say
that
to
him
supernatural
conception
appears
a
really
befit-ting
and
credible
preface
to
a
life
which
was
crowned
by
resurrection
from
the
dead.
That
an
abnormal
fact
in
the
sphere
of
nature
should
answer
to
the
transcendent
spiritual
element
in
the
Person
of
Christ
is
both
a
Scrip-tural
and
a
profoundly
philosophical
thought.
Never-theless,
the
Christian
faith
of
many
will
always
shrink
from
the
assertion
that
virgin-birth
is
a
sine
qua
non
of
real
incarnation,
or
that,
in
any
ultimate
sense,
it
ex-plains
the
wonder
and
glory
of
Jesus'
Person.
II.
Primitive
Apostolic
Doctrine.
—
As
representing
this
stage
of
thought,
we
may
take,
with
some
caution,
the
discourses
of
St.
Peter
in
Acts,
checking
our
results
later
by
comparison
with
his
First
Epistle.
1.
St.
Peter's
discourses
in
Acts.
—
The
Christology
of
these
discourses
is,
on
the
whole,
extremely
simple.
It
would
have
been
strange,
indeed,
had
the
Apostolic
mind
come
to
understand
the
Person
of
Christ
otherwise
than
gradually.
The
words
'Jesus
of
Nazareth,
a
man
approved
of
God
among
you
by
miracles
and
wonders
and
signs'
(Ac
2»),
are
the
earliest
Petrine
description
of
Jesus,
and
the
rudimentary
nature
of
the
suggested
doctrine
is
characteristic.
A
parallel
to
this
is
the
later
verse,
from
the
sermon
in
Cornelius'
house:
'
God
anointed
Jesus
of
Nazareth
with
the
Holy
Spirit
and
with
power:
who
went
about
doing
good,
...
for
God
was
with
hira'
(Id's).
The
gist
of
St.
Peter's
gospel
is
that
this
Jesus
is
the
promised
Messiah,
attested
as
such
by
wonderful
works,
resurrection,
and
ascen-sion
to
glory
(222-M-
»•
»).
Hence
the
name
'Jesus
Christ'
now
appears;
'Christ,'
when
it
occurs
by
itself,
being
an
official,
not
yet
a
personal
title.
The
ministry
of
Jesus
as
teacher
is
scarcely
referred
to,
except
in
10".
But
His
death,
as
Divinely
ordained
and
foreknown,
and
above
all
His
deliverance
from
death,
with
the
exaltation
which
followed,
are
the
themes
to
which
the
speaker
perpetually
recurs.
A
tendency
has
been
shown,
in
view
of
the
fact
that
Jesus
is
thus
described
as
'anointed
with
the
Holy
Spirit,'
as
'the
holy
one
and
the
just'
(3"),
and
as
a
great
prophet
(3^2),
to
infer
that
the
primitive
Church
held
a
merely
humanitarian
view
of
His
Person.
We
have
already
conceded,
or
rather
asserted,
that
the
doctrine
is
rudimentary.
Specially
deserving
of
note
is
the
eschatological
light
in
which
the
whole
is
viewed
—
Jesus
being
represented
as
gone
meanwhile
into
heaven,
thds
affording
the
Jews
time
for
repentance,
upon
which
will
ensue
His
return
to
a
restored
creation
(3i»-«').
All
is
as
yet
within
the
limits
of
nationalistic
Messianism.
Yet
when
we
look
more
closely
there
are
clear
indications
of
another
kind.
Jesus
has
been
exalted
to
the
right
hand
of
God,
and
made
Lord
of
all
things;
He
is
the
giver
of
the
Holy
Spirit
(2^);
He
knows
the
hearts
of
all
men
(1^);
He
is
the
Judge
of
quick
and
dead
(10*').
He
is
set
forth
quite
definitely
as
the
theme
of
the
gospel
and
the
object
of
faith,
from
whom
repentance
and
forgiveness
come.
Prayer
is
freely
offered
to
Him
(IM
769).
Again
and
again
His
name,
i.e.
He
Himself
as
revealed
and
known,
is
proclaimed
as
the
only
medium
of
salvation
(2'»
3"
4«
10").
Hence,
while
no
attempt
has
yet
been
made
to
define
His
Person,
the
attitude
of
believers
to
Him
is
quite
clearly
one
of
faith
and
worship.
We
can
scarcely
overestimate
the
significance
for
Jews
of
this
ascription
of
universal
Lordship
to
One
with
whom
they
had
eaten
and
drunk,
and
of
whose
death
they
had
been
witnesses.
2.
The
First
Epistle
of
St.
Peter.
—
The
interest
of
this
Epistle
lies
rather
in
soteriology
than
in
the
doctrine
of
Christ's
Person.
The
sufferings
of
the
Cross
are
viewed
as
having
been
predestined
by
God
and
foretold
by
prophets,
and,
in
connexion
with
the
atonement
accomplished
thereby,
the
sinlessness
of
Jesus
as
sacrificial
victim
is
insisted
on
(1
P
1").
One
significant
fact
indicating
the
writer's
favourite
view
of
the
Saviour's
Person,
is
that,
whereas
the
name
'Jesus'
is
nowhere
used
by
itself,
'Christ'
has
become
a
proper
name;
and
it
is
natural
to
interpret
this
change
as
'due
to
the
fact
that
the
person
of
Jesus
is
contemplated
by
the
Christian
exclusively
in
His
specific
quality
as
Mediator
of
salva-tion'
(Weiss).
It
is
a
disputed
point
whether
1"
in
which
the
Spirit
of
Christ
is
said
to
have
been
present
in
the
prophets,
and
1'"
which
represents
Him
as
fore-
known
before
tlie
foundation
of
the
world,
do
or
do
not
imply
His
real
pre-existence.
The
arguments
on
either
side
are
given
in
the
commentaries;
the
present
writer
can
only
say
briefly
that
the
language
of
1"
appears
to
him
to
be
satisfied
if
we
take
it
to
mean
that
the
Divine
Spirit,
now
so
entirely
bound
up
with
Christ
that
it
can
be
called
His
Spirit,
was
previously
active
in
the
prophets
;
while
the
words
'foreknown
before
the
foundation
of
the
world'
no
more
necessarily
involve
the
personal
pre-existence
of
Christ
than
the
words
'
He
chose
us
in
him
before
the
foundation
of
the
world'
(Eph
1<)
demand
a
similar
conclusion
as
to
believers.
Thus
foreknown
and
predicted,
then,
Christ
has
been
mani-fested
at
the
end
of
the
times
for
our
sakes.
In
His
incarnate
Person
'flesh'
and
'spirit'
are
to
be
distin-guished
(31*);
and
a
careful
investigation
proves
that
by
'spirit'
is
meant
the
Divine
principle
in
a
potency
higher
than
that
in
which
it
dwells
in
man,
and
possessed,
for
that
reason,
of
an
inherent
and
indestructible
energy
of
life.
In
Ac
2**
the
ground
of
Jesus'
resurrection
is
determined
by
prophecy
;
here
the
further
step
is
taken
of
referring
it
to
the
power
of
life
that
was
in
Him
through
the
unction
of
the
Spirit
which
constituted
Him
Messiah.
We
need
not
pause
at
present
on
the
enigma
of
the
descent
to
Hades
(S"
i';
is
it
connected
with
Eph
i"
and
1
Ti
3i«?),
the
clue
to
which
has
been
lost;
but
at
all
events
the
writer
means
it
as
an
illustration
of
the
victorious
and
unparalleled
powers
of
life
that
dwelt
in
Christ
even
prior
to
His
resurrection,
as
well
as
of
the
wonderful
redemptive
efficacy
of
His
death.
The
Christology
of
1
Peter
is
thus
seen
to
be
slightly
more
full
and
elaborate
than
that
of
the
early
chapters
