"Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ and understand how precious it is unto His Father, because being shed for our salvation it won for the whole world the grace of repentance. Let us review all the generations in turn, and learn how from generation to generation the Master hath given a place for repentance unto them that desire to turn to Him. Noah preached repentance, and they that obeyed were saved. Jonah preached destruction unto the men of Nineveh; but they, repenting of their sins, obtained pardon of God by their supplications and received salvation, albeit they were aliens from God." Neither in this passage nor in the two others where the blood of Christ is mentioned, is there any suggestion of sacrificial atonement. On the other hand, there is a very singular passage concerning the resurrection deserving to be cited as illustrative of the wonderful temper of credulity then prevalent. "Let us understand, dearly beloved, how the Master continually showeth unto us the resurrection that shall be hereafter; whereof He made the Lord Jesus Christ the first-fruit, when He raised Him from the dead. Let us behold, dearly beloved, the resurrection which happeneth at its proper season. Day and night show unto us the resurrection. The night falleth asleep, and day ariseth; the day departeth, and night cometh on. Let us mark the fruits, how and in what manner the sowing taketh place. The sower goeth forth and casteth into the earth each of the seeds; and these falling into the earth, dry and bare, decay; then out of their decay the mightiness of the Master's providence raiseth them up, and from being one they increase manifold, and bear fruit. "Let us consider the marvellous sign which is seen in the regions of the east, that is, in the parts about Arabia. There is a bird which is named the phoenix. This, being the only one of its kind (uovoyevès), liveth for five hundred years; and when it hath now reached the time of its dissolution that it should die, it maketh for itself a coffin of frankincense and myrrh and the other spices, into the which in the fullness of time it entereth, and so it dieth. But, as the flesh rotteth, a certain worm is engendered, which is nurtured from the moisture of the dead creature, and putteth forth wings. Then, when it is grown lusty, it taketh up that coffin where are the bones of its parent, and carrying them journeyeth from the country of Arabia even unto Egypt, to the place called the City of the Sun; and in the daytime in the sight of all, flying to the altar of the Sun, it layeth them thereupon; and this done, it setteth forth to return. So the priests examine the registers of the times, and they find that it hath come when the five-hundredth year is completed. Do we then think it to be a great and marvellous thing, if the Creator of the universe shall bring about the resurrection of them that have served Him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith, seeing that He showeth to us even by a bird the magnificence of His promise? For He saith in a certain place: And Thou shalt raise me up, and I will praise Thee." The Letter of Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan shows in what light the Christians of Pontus presented themselves to an unsympathetic proconsul, who nevertheless, being a man of science, took the trouble to obtain at first-hand correct information as to the character of the sect which he had to deal with. About the year 110 A.D., finding that many persons were brought before him accused of being Christians, he was in some perplexity, because the law laid down no regulations for dealing with the charge. He therefore sought instructions from the Emperor, to whom he wrote that many of every age and rank and of both sexes are involved in the danger, since the contagion of this superstition has seized not only cities but country villages. The temples were almost deserted, their worship mostly suspended, and victims for sacrifice rarely purchased or offered. He himself interrogated several who were brought before him, even examining them by torture. He narrates that all he could learn of them was that the Christians were accustomed to meet before daylight on a certain day in the week and sing a hymn in praise of their God Christus; that they solemnly bound themselves to abstain from theft and adultery, to keep sacredly their word, to deal honestly with property left to their keeping; that after this they separated and reassembled to partake together of a simple meal. Pliny interrogated those brought before him as to whether they were Christians or not, threatening them with execution if they admitted the charge on a second or third interrogation. In cases of obstinate perseverance, he says, he ordered them to be executed for their stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy. The testimony of Pliny presents us with a picture of an inoffensive community, whose simple religion brought life and conduct into the place of the vital issue, leaving dogma and ceremonial as matters of little concern. His accounts, scanty as they are, confirm in every respect the much fuller narrative of the Epistle to Diognetus. The Church of Christ was still a simple, devout, non-hierarchical brotherhood; its Christianity was still of the Apostolic type; its gospel was still a gospel of the resurrection. CHAPTER XVIII The Foundation that is laid "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid: that Jesus is the Christ."-1 COR, iii, 11. “ Θεμέλιον γὰρ ἄλλον οὐδεῖς δύναται θεῖναι παρα τὸν κείμενον, ὅς ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός.” ΤΗ HIS declaration is essentially the same as the Confession of Cæsarea Philippi. Both are statements of the foundation-stone of the wide and all-embracing Church of Christ. This foundation is not itself the orthodox creed, nor is it any one of the three creeds commonly called orthodox. It is shorter, older, more truly Apostolic, simpler. One in which all good Christians, whether labelled Trinitarian or Unitarian, Catholic or Protestant, can join; even some pious and enlightened Jews. Here, at least, there is no divergence between Pauline and Petrine Christianity. Compare it with the Confession of Cæsarea Philippi, as narrated in Matt. xvi. Jesus had been for many months companying with His little band of chosen disciples, going up and down Galilee, teaching the people, healing the sick, showing miracles of human loving kindness, and preaching the Divine doctrine of free forgiveness; calling men to repent because the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. Gradually had He opened to them the mysteries of the Kingdom, and had been leading them from the outward to the inward; inculcating the duties of doing justice, showing mercy, and walking humbly before God; treating as a brother every fellow man; and showing forth the exceeding loving-kindness of the Father in heaven. His personality had perplexed them by its rare perfection, and had won them to passionate allegiance. His tone of authority in spiritual things had surprised them, as He spoke to them in the Name of the Father. Sooner or later, consciously or unconsciously, there was bound to come to them the question as to what that personality and that authority might signify. Perhaps their personal devotion to the Master whom they followed flooded them with such an intense blaze of feeling that no intellectual questioning on these matters ever rose up, or at least ever formulated itself in their minds. But with the spread of His fame, the eager clamours of the people, and the muttered threats of hatred and persecution from the official hierarchy at Jerusalem, the question was bound to be raised. The crisis came during the journey which Jesus and His Apostles made through the borders of Cæsarea Philippi; and it came in a colloquy between Him and His immediate circle of disciples, when He Himself raised the question : Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? Evidently they were taken unawares by the question, the answer to which they had never thought out; and they answered variously : John the Baptist; Elijah; Jeremiah; one of the Prophets. Whom say ye that I am? The question had at |