should be noted: (a)
There was a defective view of God. They regarded God as too far away;
(b) They laid too much stress upon outward obedience and, thereby,
left no place for motive in their service; (c) This led them to rest
salvation upon a system of works and to multiply rules of obedience;
(d) This led to too great demand for respect for the learned and of
subordination to them; (e) The Jews thought that they had a special
place in the salvation of God and as children of Abraham only felt the
need of national deliverance. (2) Hopeful signs. Several conditions
that bespeak good should be noted: (a) The Jews did have the truest
conception of religion to be found anywhere in the world; (b) Their
religion was a matter of deep concern to them and they showed an
undying devotion to their religious institutions; (c) There was a keen
sense of the worth of the individual; (d) There were many synagogues
which led to a zeal to proselyte foreigners and opened the way for
Gentile evangelism; (e) There was a widespread expectation of the
Messiah whom the whole world could receive as its spiritual king; (f)
The home life of the Jews was strongly religious and children were
held in high esteem.

For Study and Discussion. (1) The career of Alexander the Great. (2)
The reign of Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphus in Egypt. (3) The
acts of Antiochus Epiphanes. (4) The story of Judas Maccabeus. (5) The
story of the subjection of Judea to Rome. (6) The persecution of the
Jews under the several rulers of the different countries to which they
were subject during this period. (7) The religious parties of the
period, especially the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Literature. The information necessary to understand these topics may
be found in any one of the better Bible dictionaries, in Josephus and
more or less in text books on Biblical history such as Blakie.

Chapter XVIII.

From the Birth to The Ascension of Jesus.

The Four Gospels.

The Story of this Period. It is common to designate this period as the
"Life of Christ," meaning the time he spent on earth. There is,
however, no scripture life of Jesus. The gospels do not claim to
present such a life. They do, however, give us a vast amount of
material and though different in purpose and consequently in content,
they do present the same general picture of Jesus. The matter of
arranging the material in an orderly way presents much difficulty. If
a topographical outline is att