The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-09-17

overpowering the evil only by the good, and
| which he therefore transferred to God as the
funcamental tendency of his nature From
! this conception of God, observes Zeller
flowed naturally all the moral teaching of
Jesus; the insstanee upon spiritual righteous
ness instead of the mere mechanical OBJ
servance of Mosaic precepts the lcall to be
perfect even as the Father is perfect; the
principle of the spiritual equality of men
before God, and the equal duties of all men
toward each other
How far, in addition to these vitality i'm
portant lessons, Jesus may have taught doc
trines of an ephemeral or visionary character
it is very difficult to decide. We are inclined
to regard the third gospel as of some import
tance in settling this point. The author of
that gospel represents Jesus as decidedly hos
tile to the rich. Where Matthew has "Bessed
are the poor in spirit, Luke has BLESSED are
ye poor" In the first gospel we read,
''Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they will be filed" but in
the third gospel we find, "Blessed are We that
hunger now, for ye will be filed" and this
assurance is Immediately followp by the de-
nunciation, ''Wo 10 you thot are rich, for ye
have received your conso,atlJn! Woe to you
that are full now, for ye will hunger" The
parable of Dives and Lazarus illustrates on-
cretely this view of the case, which is still
further corroborated by the account, given in
both the first and the third gospels, of the
young man who came to seek everlasting life.
Jesus here maintains that righteous
ness is insufficient unless voluntary poverty
be superadded. Though the young man has
strictly fulfilled the greatest of the command
ments-to love his neighbor as himself-he
is required, as a needful proof of his sin
cerity, to distribute all his vast possessions
among the poor. And when he naturally
manifests reluctance to perform so super
oha &l,ot "a
be easier for camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for rich man to share in the
glories of the anticipated Messianic kingdom.
1t is difficult to escape the conclusion that we
have here very primitive and probably au-
thentic tradition, and when we remember the
importance which, according to the "Acts,"
the earliest disciples attached to the principle
of communism, as illustrated in the legend Of
Ananias and Sapphira, we must admit strong
reasons for believing that Jesus himself held
views which tended towards the abolition
OF private property. On this point the
testimony of the third EVANGELIST
singly is of considerable weight, since. at
the time when he wrote, the communistic
theories of the first generation of Christians
had been generally abandoned, and in the
absence of any dogmatic motives, he could
only have inserted these particular tradi-
tions because he believed them to possess
historical value. But we are not dependent
on the third gospel alone The story lust
cited is attested by both our authorities, and
is in perfect keeping with the general views
of Jesus as reported by the first evangelist.
Thus his disciples are enjoined to leave all
and follow him; to take no thought for the
morrow; to think no more of laying up trea-
sures on the earth, for in the Messianic
kingdom they shall have treasures in abund-
ance, which can neither be wasted nor
stolen. On making their journeys they
are to provide neither money, nor
clothes, nor food, but are to live at
the expense of those whom they visit; and
II any town refuse to harbor them, the Mes
siah, on his arrival, will deal with that town
more severely than Jehovah dealt with the
cities OF the plain. Indeed, since the end of
the world was to come before the end of the
generation then living Matt. xiv, "a; l Cor
XIV, 51-56; vii, 29), there could be no need
for acquiring property or making arrange
ments for the future; even marriage became
unnecessary. These teachings of Jesus have
marked Essenian character, as we'll as his
declaration that in the Messianic kingdom
there was to be no more marriage, perhaps
no distinction of sex fMatt. xxi, 30). The
sect of Ebionites, who represented the earli-
est doctrine and practice of Christianity be-
fore it had been modified by Paul, differed
from the Essenes in no essential respect save
In the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Mes
slah, and the expectation of his speedy return
to the earth.
How long, or with what success, Jesus con-
tlnued to preach the coming of the Messiah
IN Galllee, it is impossible to conjecture.
His fellow-townsmen of Nazareth appear to
have ridiculed him in his prophetical capacity;
or, II we may trust the third evangelist, to
have arisen against him with indignation,
and made an attempt upon his life. To them
ne was but carpenter, the son of carpen-
ter Matt. xiii, 55; Mark vi, 81, who told them
disagreeable truths. Our author represents
his teaching in Galilee to have produced but
little result, but the Gospel narratives afford
no definite date for deciding this point. We
believe the most probable conclusion to be
that Jesus did attract many followers, and
became famous throughout Galilee. for
Herod is said to have regarded him as
John the Baptist risen from the grave To
escape the malice of Herod, Jesus then re-
tired to Syro-Phenicia, and during this
eVenttul journey the consciousness of his
own Messiahship seems for the first time to
have distinctly dawned upon him Matt. xiv.
lib; Nv, y; xvi, 1920. Already, it appears.
speculations were rife as to the character of
this wonderful preacher. Some thought he
was ohm the Baptist or perhaps one of the
prophets OF the Assyrian period returned to
the earth. Some, in accordance with gene
ally-recelved tradition, supposed him to be
Elijah, VINO mad never seen death, and had
now at last returned from the regions above
the irManent to announce the coming of the
Messiah in the clouds 1t was generally adj
mitted, among enthusiastic hearers, that he
who spake as never man spake before must
have some divine commission to execute.
These speculations, coming to the ears
of Jesus during his Draanhino in GaliIaa