character are the gifts of God.
Cicero has truly remarked[223] that men justly thank God for external
blessings, but never for virtue, or talent, or character. All that is
regarded as their own. And such is the conceit of human
self-righteousness in all man-made religions, whether Hindu or Greek,
ancient or modern. Philosophy is in its very nature haughty and
aristocratic. Even Plato betrays this element. It is only the Christian
apostle that is heard to say, with heartfelt emotion, "By the grace of
God I am what I am." The Buddha declared that he recognized no being in
any world to whom he owed any special reverence; and especially in his
later years, when his disciples had come to look upon him as in a sense
divine, he regarded himself as the highest of all intelligences on the
earth or in the various heavens. Such assumptions in both Buddha and
Confucius will explain the fact that for ages both have been virtually
worshipped. "At fifteen," said Confucius, "I had my mind bent on
learning. At thirty I stood firm. At forty I had no doubt. At fifty I
knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty my ear was an obedient organ for
the reception of truth. At seventy I could follow what my heart desired
without transgressing what was right."[224] Yet neither of these great
teachers claimed to be a divine Saviour. They were simply exemplars;
their self-righteousness was supposed to be attainable by all.

I cannot do better in this connection than point out a striking contrast
in the recorded experiences of two well-known historic characters. Islam
honors David, King of Israel, and accords him a place among its
accredited prophets. Both David and Mohammed were guilty of adultery
under circumstances of peculiar aggravation. Mohammed covered his
offence by a blasphemous pretence of special revelations from God,
justifying his crime and chiding him for such qualms of conscience as he
had. David lay in dust and ashes while he bemoaned not only the
consequences of his sin and the breach of justice toward his neighbor,
but also the deep spiritual offence of his act. "Against Thee, and Thee
only, O God, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight."
Profoundest penitence on the one hand and Heaven-daring blasphemy on
the other, the Bible and the Koran being witnesses!

Another marked distinction is seen in the moral purity of the Christian
Scriptures as contrasted with the so-called sacred books of all other
religions. That which is simply