redibility of parts of the
New Testament, and as to what is called the miraculous element in
history. There is also room for difference of opinion as to the nature
of the person of Jesus, and as to His supernatural mission; but few
would deny that, if they could feel sure that He was actually from
above, they would accept His message because it contains all the ethical
and spiritual knowledge that men need in their earthly lives.

A single assumption is made at the beginning of our study. It is as
follows: What satisfies our minds and hearts, in their hours of deepest
need and brightest illumination, should always be accepted as true until
it is proven to be false.

The profoundest subjects of thought and life are illuminated by the
ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ. The last word concerning
these subjects has not yet been spoken. Even our Bible is but a
collection of scattered rays of the true light. What vaster revelations
may come to men in future ages no one can predict. As growth goes on,
the soul will be fitted to receive messages which it could not now
understand; but all that men need to know in their present stage of
development is clearly revealed in the teaching, and the example, of the
Man of Nazareth and Calvary. He is the brightest light on the deepest
and darkest problems.

Let us try to understand and define the place of Jesus Christ in the
ascent of the soul.

Jesus Christ has given the world a rational and satisfying doctrine of
God. Other teachers have tried to answer the inquiry, Does God exist?
Jesus treated that question as an astronomer treats the sun. No sane
scientist would fill his pages with speculations as to the reality of
the sun. It moves and shines in the heavens; beginning with that fact,
the astronomer asks concerning the function which the sun performs in
the solar system and in the universe.

Jesus discarded speculation and found the key to the doctrine of God in
the family, the simplest and most elemental of human institutions. There
may be wide differences concerning the nature of government, the
sanctions of law, etc., but there is no room for debate concerning the
meaning of the parental relation. It interprets itself. Tell a child
that a man is his father, and he can be told no more. The name
interprets the relation. In earlier times the vastness of the creation
was but dimly appreciated, and then the idea of God was equally
contracted. Jesus taught that the Deity,