t the Baptism, and so that the Logos manifested its whole
Divine individuality through the personality of Jesus as far as it was
possible to express Divinity by human means. Such was the unique
character of the Christ Jesus.

VII

THE GOSPELS

The accounts of the life of Jesus which can be submitted to historical
examination are contained in the Gospels. All that does not come from
this source might, in the opinion of one of those who are considered
the greatest historical authorities on the subject (Harnack), be
"easily written on a quarto page."

But what kind of documents are these Gospels? The fourth, that of St.
John, differs so much from the others, that those who think themselves
obliged to follow the path of historical research in order to study
the subject, come to the conclusion: "If John possesses the genuine
tradition about the life of Jesus, that of the first three Evangelists
(the Synoptists) is untenable. If the Synoptists are right, the Fourth
Gospel must be rejected as a historical source" (Otto Schmiedel, _Die
Hauptprobleme der Leben Jesu Forschung_, p. 15). This is a statement
made from the standpoint of the historical investigator.

In the present work, in which we are dealing with the mystical
contents of the Gospels, such a point of view is neither to be
accepted nor rejected. But attention must certainly be drawn to such
an opinion as the following: "Measured by the standard of consistency,
inspiration, and completeness, these writings leave very much to be
desired, and even measured by the ordinary human standard, they suffer
from not a few imperfections." This is the opinion of a Christian
theologian (Harnack, _Wesen des Christentums_).

One who takes his stand on a mystical origin of the Gospels easily
finds an explanation of what is apparently contradictory, and also
discovers harmony between the fourth Gospel and the three others. For
none of these writings are meant to be mere historical tradition in
the ordinary sense of the word. They do not profess to give a
historical biography (_cf._ p. 140 _et seq._). What they intended to
give was already shadowed forth in the traditions of the Mysteries, as
the typical life of a Son of God. It was these traditions which were
drawn upon, not history. Now it was only natural that these traditions
should not be in complete verbal agreement in every Mystery centre.
Still, the agreement was so close that the Buddhists narrated the life
of