New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-05-08


IN which Jesus Appeared the characters VINO SUI
rounded him, the opinions beliefs, and piJuo'c'S
of the Jewish secs and people; 70 eNIint MIN ~ "o
may have appeared 90 the people OF his own Gay,
mud especially TO enter into his own purpose ana
expectati0n-his own view of tho Messiah aAd hS
kingdom. lie proposes t. folio" middle ,'"''o
between that elias which stauds on the Church
tradition and creed, and, assuming Jesus 10 nave
been mysorous,y and absolutely divine, tries 10
ha4nonize his human life according 20 This assnmp-
tion" and the class which taking IFS S'anH Oh
the staple Immunity Of Jesus" tCnds to strip o" an
mystery 10 explain away al that seems ."' ,I''
cable and 10 deny M the possibility "l "H''
.v., a,,fears suuernafural." The autlors treat
mcnt of the rtat central figure OF the No'p'iS Is III
once revereut admirng and ahectionate; put W''au-
not feel that hc has accomplished his proposed end
His book is a damaging comment on the H''oIp'
in naedo iaiis,n.sr; and h.s portTaitirr. ia hls
striving for hrcrl reality. is quite rs de''" 'i
raHtyv rs those which inspired los faiih in me
absolute divinity Of Christ. The figure which ho
has sought 10 rescue from the vasucucss OF thho-
logical prcpossessou Is still more vague IN It's me-"
environment Mr. Clarke clearly states the secret
of his own failure. The supernatural elements
he remarks form such integral part oil TIE
narrative that thcy only De removed oy IT,
ducing the historical value of the four Gospels ID IT'S
minimum When we read critical narrative OF the
how it was If hc was mo- more than this that he mas
ruled the religious thought of tine most advanced
races of men during so many centuries" IhAt Is
the very question we are prompted to asS oh read
ING the present volume The historical narrative ot
the life and words of Christ, and the historical mar
rative of his miracles stand on precisely the Same
ground. They are of one piece. Ihe authority Tor
the one - the same IA the authority for the other
They cannot he separated 10y the philosophical OBJ
lection 10 the supernatural elements OF Chilsts lie
and work for the objection which is fatal 20 these
Is equally fatal 10 tho history of his eating and
drinking and preaching If Christ as Il super
natural phenomenon is philosophicsly impossible.
he Is historically impossible The Christ OF the
New Testament must be taken entire OF not at all;
and consequently every attempt 20 eliminate the
supernatural from the history or TO determine ITS
limits on pur,ly rational grounds, results not IN q
portrait hut in q torso.
Mr. Clarke does not reject the supernatural from
the life of Christ bat neither does hc unc0mwOui'-
ingy admit 10. he opens the door for % hostat-
mglv keeping Dr., hand firmly the latch lie is
suspicious of mira lc and his refuge from facts
which hc can neither deny nor explain is Eesd. ncc
Christ has some extraordinary power over nature
but what it is how far 1t reaches. bee cannot tell
tie Will not say il is divine or ut least that lt
argues divinity. And in this partial admission of
The supernatural h. fares tflc # any better than he
would have done ~ complete exclusion. He Is at
least not true 90 th poustrr of the Gospels wh re
The supernatural enter, in nO qualified or hcsialng
way but copiously strongly, decidedly. -criu- it,
self without qualification "a dominant element
both in the character and in the work of Christ.
dad the author found himself able 10 reject the
mpcrnatmal atoecJher he might have gwen us
~ array OF facts which would either as hc himself
hints have suggested and demanded some deeper
explanation would have satisfied MS that the
character was not worth our study; but % intro
luce into the history u clucnt Of approximation
held in and 81 sula,ed by the Aoodsatcs OF "a semi
:atOua~t,c theory j, 90 mystify his readers and t0
impose upon himself the very dc.icat. and diucait
ask OF closing the gates at the right point. The
moment such q position is allowed. tho final test Of
the reality aud meaning Of Chrisfs works is trans
ierrcd 80 the reason OF the student aad becomes a
mbjcctvc test. When Mr.. Clarke stands revercutly
beside the great Healer le restores the lunatc
.hiid conf .,-ng a mysterious lncNp. able power,
md NJ the same time resolve, The finding Of the coin
n the f,ls mouth into q lisherman's Proycrh. the
critical faculty of another may reject the healing
Of the child as a myth. When Mr. Clarke declares
his belief in Chrsts resurrection. but expresses hi,
doubts about the stlug Of the tempest Oh the
ground thai such power over nature seems %
pass the limits of what is reasonable 10 - Tor him
10 explain why the one event Is any more mason
able than the other Another mind may refuse ~
believe either IN short the picture of Christ must
be drawn on one OF two theories either on that
which uutes with his real humanity equally real
though mysterious" divinity. or that which
excludes the latter element altogether. If This be
not true alternative Mr Clarke at least has not
shown ~ a middle point After what the author
tells rs of his car iul study of his subject. must
confess our surprise at hs statement that DC has rc
Trained from reading some works composed
plan similar % his own because he did not wish las
own conception 20 D. confused by the influence of
work written pcrhap- from different point Of
view If Nh Clarke's conception Of Christ and
Rn effectively truthful portrait of Chris, meant
to be the same things, would naturally suppose
that lac would welcome light from any point of
view.
With the Fundamental defect We have indicated
un1erl, ing the book it is srpr sing 10 lind the
author bctrl, ed into int Expectations which Of
fancy rather than of scholarly cNeg',is. For cN-
ample the passage in which Christ cNhor- ms fol-
lowers 10 fear Him who is able TO destroy both soul
and BODY refers either TO God To satan IS the
agent OF destruction; but the explanation. fear
those tempters. che sataus about %, here DO can
cast the soul after il is murdered into the hell Of
evil has only the merit Of originality To say that
ClTi-ts words ruing the angels Of the little
ones always behoding the Fathers face, mean that
the souls of living children behold Gods face be-
cause of their innocence IA 10 give 20 the word
sangcls "a meaning it never bore. and 20 substitute
pretty fancy for sound eNegesls When De rep
rcsents Chrst as saving that he had erased to judge
md condemn any man Tor his sins, how does he ex
plain Christ's frequently expressed Judgment ami
condemnation Of the hypocrtical Scribes ana Phar
eesf
la saortiwe must repeat that we cannot regard
Mr.. ClaTkes book a. successful Ia radical fault
lies ill its partial aud Insulating concession Of the