ide himself."[45]

Jesus admitted his impotence as a human being when he said, "I can of
mine own self do nothing."[46] Even with the assistance of his Father he
did not accomplish what he set out to do.

_Prohibition_

The miracle of turning water into wine, providing one hundred gallons of
wine after the people at the party had "well drunk", must appear to
prohibitionists like a mistake on the part of Jesus. Many Methodists
and Baptists would have preferred to have him turn the wine into water;
yet they will not admit that Jesus made a mistake.

_Lack of Experience_

So far as the gospels relate, Jesus never had any experience with three
of the chief difficulties of human life--sex, earning a living and
illness. He was therefore less able to explain those relationships than
one who has struggled through in the customary manner of mankind. To
take the inexperienced Jesus as our guide in practical living would be
like a traveller who was planning a trip over perilous mountains and
engaged as a guide a man who had never crossed the mountains.

As Jesus believed that the end of the world was approaching, and as he
revealed no information about the future, his teachings should be taken
as applying solely to his own time. A divinity living now would preach
far differently from the inadequate doctrines of Jesus.

* * * * *

The abandonment of reliance upon a Jesus who has not changed in nineteen
hundred years, in favor of an Evolutionary philosophy that requires
constant change, leads to a new conception of the world and its
possibilities for man. A person who has thought himself out of
antiquated theology may be expected to have an open mind towards the
betterment of human customs.

Every improvement in human relationships originates secularly and is
adopted by the Church only after a bitter struggle. Faith in Jesus is a
reactionary force. The Christian opposes change in the creations of God;
the Evolutionist seeks to alter every unsatisfactory condition. The
Evolutionist is more responsive than the orthodox Christian to proposals
for promoting the happiness of the human race. Many liberals have
abandoned conservatism because they saw the hypocrisy in Christianity.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Matt. xx, 1-16.

[2] John x, 13.

[3] Luke xvii, 10.

[4] Matt. xxv, 30.

[5] Luke xii, 47-48.

[6] Matt. xviii, 23-34.

[7] Matt. vi, 25-31, discussed under the Sermon on the Mount.