the finite Creation is not man's fault but God's will,
and is a means toward a great end.

CHAPTER V

JESUS THE DIVINE MAN

+The centrality of Jesus.+--All that has been said hitherto is but a
preparation for the discussion of the greatest subject that at present
occupies the field of faith and morals, that of the personality of
Jesus and His significance for mankind. It has been repeatedly pointed
out both by friends and foes of the New Theology that the ultimate
question for the Christian religion is that of the place occupied by
its Founder. Who or what was Jesus? How much can we really know about
Him? What value does He possess for the religious consciousness
to-day? All other questions about the Christian religion are of minor
importance compared with these, and if we are prepared with an answer
to these we have by implication answered all the rest. Christianity is
in a special sense immediately dependent upon its Founder. No other
religion has ever regarded its founder as Christians regard their
Master. Christianity draws its sustenance from the belief that Jesus
is still alive and impacting Himself upon the world through His
followers. Other great religions trace their origin to the teaching
and example of some exceptional person; Christianity does the same, but
with the added conviction that Jesus is as much in the world as ever
and that His presence is realised in the mystic union between Himself
and those who know and love Him. If this be true, it is a fact of the
very highest importance and one which can neither be passed over nor
relegated to a subordinate position. Christianity without Jesus is the
world without the sun. If, as I readily admit, the great question for
religion in the immediate future is that of the person of Jesus, the
sooner we address ourselves to it the better.

Before discussing what theology has to say of Him let us note in
general terms what the civilised world is saying, theology or no
theology. I suppose the most out-and-out materialist would admit that
in the western world the name of Jesus exercises an influence to which
no other is even remotely comparable. Perhaps he would even go so far
as to admit that there is no name anywhere which means so much to those
who hear it. It is not merely that the strongest civilisation on earth
reverences that name, but that there is no other civilisation which can
produce a parallel to it. The nearest approach to it is