ppendix XXI.

[13] _The Religions of Authority and the Religion of the Spirit_.

[14] J. Warschauer, _Coming of Christ_.

[15] Whittier, _Our Master_.

[16] R. B. Bartlett, _The Letter and the Spirit_: Bampton Lecture.

[17] Appendix XXII.

[18] Tennyson, _In Memoriam_.

{172}

VI

THE TRIBUTE OF CRITICISM TO CHRIST

'For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being
judges.'--DEUTERONOMY xxxii. 31.

'He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of
Man, am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some
Elias; and others Jeremias or one of the prophets.'--S. MATTHEW xvi.
13, 14.

'What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?--S. MATTHEW, xxii. 42.

'And there was much murmuring among the people concerning Him: for some
said, He is a good man: others said, Nay, but He deceiveth the
people.'--S. JOHN vii. 12.

'Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon
Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life.'--S. JOHN vi. 67, 68.

{173}

VI

THE TRIBUTE OF CRITICISM TO CHRIST[1]

Of the investigations of modern criticism the most serious are those
which have concerned the person of our Lord. It has been felt both by
assailants and by defenders of the Faith that, so long as His supremacy
remains acknowledged, Christianity has not been overthrown. Other
doctrines once considered all-important may fall into comparative
abeyance: whether they are upheld or rejected or modified, matters
little to Christianity as Christianity. But more and more it has grown
clear that Christ Himself {174} is the Article of a standing or a
falling Church. If this doctrine is not of God, if He is not the Way,
the Truth, and the Life, Christianity, whatever benefits may have been
associated with its career, must be ranked among religions which have
passed away. But so long as He is admitted to be the Authority and
standard in the moral and spiritual realm, so long as His name is above
every name, the work of destruction is not accomplished.

Hence, renewed attempts have of late been made to tear the crown from
His brow, to reduce Him to the level of common men, to relegate Him to
the domain of myth, even to deny that He ever existed. Although, in
certain quarters at present, this last and extreme position is loudly
asserted, it is hardly necessary to occupy much time in examining it,
the trend of al