all the hopes of humanity upon Him. How will the mere
philosopher explain this wonderful power of personality over men of all
races, if it be not Divine?

But perhaps the most remarkable tribute to the transcendent character of
Christ is seen in the fact that _all_ sects of religionists, the most
fanatical and irrational, seem to claim Him as in some sense their own.
Mormonism, even when plunging into the lowest depths of degradation, has
always claimed to rest on the redemption of Jesus Christ.
Mohammedanism--even the Koran itself--has always acknowledged Christ as
the only sinless prophet. All the others, from Adam to Mohammed, stand
convicted of heinous offences, and they will not reappear on earth;
while He who knew no sin shall, according to Mohammedan prophecy, yet
come again to judge the earth. The worshippers of Krishna, some of whom
are found among us in this land, claim Christ as one of the true avatars
of Vishnu, and heartily commend His character and His teachings. Our
western Buddhists are just now emphasizing the idea that Christ was the
sacred Buddha of Palestine, that he studied and taught "the eight-fold
path," became an arahat, and attained Nirvana, and that the Christian
Church has only misrepresented His transcendent wisdom and purity. The
ablest tract on Theosophy that I have yet seen is entitled "Theosophy
the Religion of Jesus."

How marvellous is all this--that Theosophists, Aryas, Brahmos,
Buddhists, Moslems, though they hate Christianity and fight it to the
death--still bow before the mild sceptre of Christ. As the central light
of the diamond shines alike through every facet and angle, so His
doctrine and character are claimed as the glory of every creed. Many
types of heathen faiths honor Him, and many schools of philosophic
scepticism. Some of the noblest tributes to His unearthly purity have
been given by men who rejected His divinity. In spite of itself the most
earnest thought of many races, many systems, many creeds, has
crystallized around Him. History has made Him its moral centre, the
calendar of the nations begins with Him, and the anniversary of His
birth is the festival of the civilized world. The prediction that all
nations should call Him blessed is already fulfilled.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 167: It is worthy of note that both the Pentateuch and most
heathen traditions agree, as to the order or stages of creation, with
the geological record of modern science.]

[Footnote