Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/545

 CHRISTIANITY 533 great deliverer of his nation, toward whom all previous history had pointed. For the whole generation of men to whom he appeared he professed to be more important than any or all others. Their moral character was to be tested, and their final state decided, by the reception or rejection of himself as their spiritual guide and Saviour. Nay, more, for all men, and to the end of the world, this preeminence both in a historical and moral point of view was to re- main the same. He claimed, in short, to be the one individual on whom the well-being of all men depended. This is certainly a unique position to be assumed by any individual of the human race. If true, there is nothing in his- tory that approaches it in sublimity and im- portance. How many correspondences does this suppose between himself and a broad sweep of historical events stretching from age to age ! If such is his real character, it must be the key to the whole moral and religious history of mankind. Every new century must, with its train of coincidences, confirm the marvellous view. That he actually enter- tained such a view of himself does not admit of a doubt. The whole history of the apostolic age would be an enigma on any other supposi- tion. The Jews often accused him of it du- ring his public ministry. The general idea, under a great variety of forms, is exhibited by Christ in his public discourses, as reported by the evangelists. The whole structure and ar- gument of most of the epistles presuppose it. The primitive church itself was organized on this as a fundamental principle. What, now, was the effect produced upon society by the appearance of Christ as such a historical char- acter? The first thing which arrests our at- tention is the stupendous power which he ex- erted upon the minds of all classes of people with whom he came in contact. With what- ever feelings his enemies approached him, they always stood in awe and often in fear of him, after having encountered him. After many attempts by means of argument to strip him of his influence with the people, they clearly saw that nothing but physical force could overcome him. They crucified him because it was not safe for them that he should live. What mortal ever addressed the people with such convincing power as he ? We admire the teachings of So- crates as represented by Plato ; but what are they compared to the conversations and dis- courses of Christ as reported by John ? We may think that Socrates owes somewhat of his celebrity to the splendor of Plato's genius. We will not deny that it was well that there was such a disciple as John, one so happily fitted to receive and record the peculiar spirit of Christ's teachings. But to suppose that Christ is indebted to John for the loftiness, purity, and simple majesty of his instructions, is only to transfer the marvellous power to another person. It would only make John superior to Christ, which would be not only more unhistorical, but more enigmatical in all respects than the contrary view. ' Still more striking was the moral influence of Jesus upon the men whose distinctive character as Chris- tians was formed by him. What were Peter, John, and Paul, as he found them ? And what were they as he left them ? Think of the rough and dashing Peter as first seen on the sea of Galilee. How subdued and chastened, when the risen Lord said to him, " Feed my sheep." With what power and wisdom does he stand up before the multitude on the day of Pente- cost! With what moral elevation, dignity, and completeness of character does he appear at the healing of the lame man at the entrance of the temple! With what respect, venera- tion, and awe must he have been regarded at the scene of the death of Ananias and Sapphi- ra! Who can read his first epistle, addressed to the dispersed of Israel, without feeling that the touching power of his eloquence came from a soul that had received something beyond what the ordinary experience of life had given it? The transformation of his character is cer- tainly surprisingly great. In tracing the change wrought in the character of John, we have similar evidence of the operation of a superhuman power. At the beginning he is a fiery, ambitious youth, calling for vengeance upon those who teach differently from his Master, and seeking for a position of rank and honor in Christ's future kingdom. After his long and peculiar intimacy with Jesus, how strangely does he appear to be changed into the same image. Was it not the Spirit of his Lord and Master that changed him ? Would his natural genius, without any extraordinary influence, have enabled him to write such an angelic gospel as that which bears his name ? Who but Jesus of Nazareth made of the mis- guided, frantic, persecuting Saul the most splendid human character, perhaps, that adorns the history of mankind ? Before his conver- sion it cannot be said that he had such a moral preeminence above other men. Without such a conversion, without the influence of Chris- tianity, though he might have been a man of great natural power, there is no reason to suppose that he would have approached that character which the new religion gave him, and which made him the moral hero of his age. We may safely challenge all the heathen world to present two such men as John and Paul, or a single book of such moral sublimity and beauty as the gospel of the former, or any writings of such religious depth, compass, and power as the epistles of the latter. We have selected these single individuals for the sake of giving a microscopic view, as it were, of the spiritual power of Jesus over the minds and characters of men. If our space allowed us to extend the examination to hundreds and thou- sands of other individuals, we should find in them as genuine, if not as brilliant, specimens of high moral excellence produced by the power of Christ. What communities ever pre- sented such a spectacle of sublime moral ac-