Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-10-30

revealed IN least and in greatest things; in
might irresistible. in essence unsearchable.
The Jews final conception of God, and the
Jews IDEA OF the worth and dignity Of
man as told in job and expressed in the
Proverbs and in many OF the Psalms have
come down TO our times and TO our own
religions as the highest spiritual and phil
osophic expression conceived in the brain
OF man.
New Testament Analysed.
Passing to the consideration OF ,he New
Testament. there is no such gap Of silence,
says the author, between the writings Of
the two testaments as one may think, had
he only canonical book to go by. The
period OF the Christian Era was one Of
more than usual literary activity. So much
writing meant much thinking. and some of
the thinking took a forward look The
real distinction between Judaism and
Christianity Is not so much principle as
policy The older faith never came to the
full consciousness of any mission to convert
the world. It is essentially the religion OF
race, and works no propaganda. And
yet there are signs Of the awakening of a
wider thought in the later centuries Of the
Jewish state. From the time of the Baby
lonian exile, 600 years before Christ. inti-
nations appear with growing frequency Of
a belief that the whole human race will
eventually come to the service of God.
Comparing the Old Testament with the
New. says Mr.. Mann, there is no change
In the doctrine of God, but a continuation
OF the God-idea which had grown in the
minds OF men for more than 1000 years
And this is true because the writer's of
the New Testament were nothing II not
Jews The divine tenderness received more
emphasis. The sermon on the Mount coll
lides here and there with the Pentateuch.
but not with the Proverbs Step by step
through the centuries the growth of moral
ideas can be traced approaching the ethics
of the New Testament.
Jesus IA strong Personality.
As literary production. the New Tes-
lament forms itself around a personality
There are four biographies of Jesus In
the Old Testament there is nothing that
approaches biography. In the New Tesla
ment there Is no verse, while in the Old
| Testament there is almost as much verse
as prose. While many of the later prophets
| Of the Old Testament wrote out their
words, the Prophet of Nazareth wrote
nothing Neither does it appear that He
instructed anyone to commit His sayings
to writing. The book of Acts, which I'M
dertakes to narrate the doings OF the
apostles, was not written, according to
| latest authority. until about 100 years after
the death of Jesus. So that the making
of the written record, as 1t has come to
us, was left to generation or more after
Jesus The probabilities are that fragments
of writings made by contemporaries touch
ing Jesus, His word and His work were
In existence, and gospel writer's who wrote
/ in the name of the apostles knit these
sayings Of Jesus together with oral ira
ditions and later legends into a connected
! story. The voluminous writings attributed
! to Paul were not Pauls at all, but were
( the work OF a group of writer's, some of
whom were Jews. but many probably
Greek converts. following each other, liv-
| ing some 80 years after Christ 1t was
mainly through the Pauline writers and
! their teachings that the church acquired
theology of its own, and the followers
! Of Christ, then becoming known as Chris
! tians, parted company with the Jews as
| distinct religious belief. The transition
| from the early simple faith, as described
| by Mark, to the complex theology of Paul,
Mr. Mann calls a remarkable development.
! The movement which made of the gospels
|
! on the acceptance OF which salvation is
conditioned, was. a ,prodigious step. Paul
/ inism became the cornerstone of Christian
! theology. 1t was the gospel most readily
acceptable to the Roman world, allying
! itself most naturally with pomp of cere-
mony dear 10 the hearts of converts from
! Greek and Roman paganism, and, better
than the simple original gospels could have
| done, served the age in which It fiourished.
After sixteen hundred years of such In
| huence the effort of Christianity at the
present day, continues the writer, is TO
begin anew with the teachings OF Jesus.
| Away from the doctrines of Paul and back
! to the religion of Christ is the cry. But
the task OF making the Christian religion
appear to be a life and not a belief is
rendered enormously difficult by the age
long theology derived from Paul.
Changed Conception of the bible.
! Mr.. Mann's interesting study closes with
! these words:
! Critical studies do not change the Bible
subjective conception of 1t, and not in a
! way to involve any such loss the timid
most searching studies all precious things
are there that ever were there-high
thoughts about God: the clear voice voice j.. OF
mood. the exaltation of spiritual above ma
! terial values all are there as before, how
/ ever accompanied by the errors and mis-
conceptions of early human experience. our
only loss is lack of an ancient and impos-
| ing deIusion as to how the teachings came
there. The question is liberty-liberty TO
| choose and to follow the good.
| As a parting word, II is safe to say, how
ever, that THE Evolution of a Great Liter
ature." will not be adopted as a textbook
for orthodox Sunday schools-for some time
| to come at least.
CHARLES S ELGUTTER.