mediators with God on behalf of the chosen people, and
propitiators of His wrath (see especially _Assumption of Moses_, xi,
and passages from _Baruch_ cited above). But the doctrine of the
Atonement, when it is examined, proves to have one feature which puts
it into marked opposition with the Judaic doctrine of human merit.

According to the Christian doctrine of the Atonement, Christ is purely
and simply God's gift to man. He is the Son of God, given to man by
the Father, in order that, taking our nature upon Him, living the
perfect human life, and dying the death of perfect obedience, He might
satisfy the divine requirement, which we could not satisfy, and procure
for us what we could not procure for ourselves, no, not the best of us.
Therefore this doctrine {263} puts all men, the best and worst alike,
in the common attitude of simply receiving from God, as an unmerited
boon, the gift of forgiveness and reconciliation in Christ. It is in
fact the strongest possible negation of the Jewish idea of human merit,
personal or vicarious.

In other respects the doctrine of _The Apocalypse of Baruch_ affords at
once interesting contrasts and parallels to St. Paul's doctrine. Thus--

(_a_) In Baruch as in St. Paul, we have a combination of the doctrine
of divine predestination with the insistence on human free will and
responsibility. lxix. 4: 'Of the good works of the righteous which
should be accomplished before Him, He foresaw six kinds' should be
compared with Eph. ii. 10: 'Good works which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.'

(_b_) The eschatology of the New Testament, including St. Paul's, is of
course especially Jewish. It does not however concern us much in the
Epistle to the Ephesians; but we notice that in _The Apocalypse of
Baruch_ the idea of 'the consummation of the times' (cf. Eph. i. 10,
'the fulness of the times') appears and reappears constantly. See
xiii. 3; xxi. 8, 17; xxx. 3; xlii. 6; liv. 21; lvi. 2; lix. 4; lxix. 4,
5; cf. _The Assumption of Moses_, i. 18: 'The consummation of the end
of the days.'

(_c_) The connexion of St. Paul's doctrine with the Jewish doctrine is
also illustrated in _The Apocalypse of Baruch_ on the following points.
_That the Gentiles had the opportunity of the knowledge of God through
His works in nature, but refused it_. See _Baruch_, liv. 18, and cf.
Romans, i. 20: _The pre-existence of the Messiah_. This is suggested
but not very clearly stated i