The San Francisco call., 1906-03-25

Luke only to the extent of telerating
poetic license. He puts Luke in the
position of adapting myths into his mar
rative for the purpose of accomplishing
faith effects. For instance, in prelud-
ing his gospel narrative with an ex-
PLANTATION of the birth OF John the Bap-
list he draws on the stories of the birth
of Gods men of old, Samuel and Sam
son. Probably employing a mythical
tradition OF Johns disciples by which
they glorifed their master, Luke made
out John to be q sort of wonder child"
IT is not wholly TO condemn that Pflei-
derer mentions this method of Luke. He
says:
throughout evidences Of great skill in au-
thorship are apparent the Transformation of
given material and the poetic gift of enrich
beauty: he created the artistic form for the
new religion. the pregnant noble picture-lan-
comprehensible in the garb of poetry and holds
captive the heart and the Imagination OF
christian peoples by its magic.
In regard to Matthew the critic does
not hesitate TO say that the author of
that gospel altered the original story as
told by Mark OF Christ's saying, why
callest thou me good? there is none good
but Cod and made this change for
apologetic reasons. so that as told in
Matthew the passage should show no con-
fiict with the teaching of the doctrine of
Christs perfection and divinity. This one
item will show that the method of the
critic is TO apply TO Matthew and the
other gospel writer's the same license of
analysis as scholars give to secular writ
ings. AS for the Gospel of st. John,
his doubt of the historical worth of that
is the most sweeping of all. To accept
the critics view is almost to consider st.
Johns Gospel narrative an eloquent ale
CORY invented to teach religious doctrine.
Indeed some of the stories Of st. John are
plainly stated to be wholly aliegorical, as
for instance the water-wine miracle story
Of the marriage feast at Cana, and the
account of the incident at Jacobs we'll
when Jesus talked with the woman of
Samaria.
There is passage on page lis which
gives q curious glimpse of this theolo-
gian's method Of reasoning about the d.
vinity of Christ He says that Christ's
power over sick souls and bodies, mi
raculous as IL might seem. was not an
absolute divine omnipotence, but condi-
toned by the faith of the sick" Now
Christian believer might reply that such
an argument as that could be applied to
God himself and prove that his power
was not .absolute, divine omnipotence;"
for it is easy to conceive that Gods power
is conditioned on divine laws and the
eternal fitness of things. For all we know
# may be strictly in accord with the
eternal fitness of things that some boons
OF healing be not granted, even by Di-
vinity itself, except solely on condition Of
faith on the part Of the recipient.
This volume is not intended for peo-
pie who wish to study Christianity as
faith accepts it; the viewpoint is purely
historical The author at the very outset
avows that IL the faith-feunded view of
the supernatural origin of Christianity is
accepted then that origin is a complete
miracle. incapable of any historical ex-
planafion. The value of the work will be
to those many men and women who have
ceased to hold the traditional church
faith, but who are possessed Of an
urgent desire to learn what is to be
thought. from the standpoint of modern
science. concerning the origin of this
in it." To the mind of this
nhiIosopher, who has made a lifelong
study OF 1.-The Philosophy of Religion"
and written yoluminously about 1t, it
matters not how completely criticism
skaters belief in events supposed to have
taken place III the past. The real sub
iect of pious belief is not what has been,
but what is eternal. To express this view
he quotes: THAT alone which never
transpired in any place, never becomes
Here are some extracts which will give
An idea of the tribute paid to the pre-
eninence of Christ by this religious
The first one given might
have been culled to express what is su-
perlatively the Christian origin, even as
estimated by a denier of the divinity Of
Tarns. II also sounds like a subscription
% the cariyiian doctrine Of the rightness
1f hero-worship:
rreervvhere else in historical new forma- |
ions the sum total of existing energies and
sfforts Is directed into one channel by the |
lesd ~ a heroic personality; he fixes the goal |
md gathers them UP into an organism pos
,essinr vitality Just so the first impulse to |
re- fornatIon OF the Christian CONGREGATION |
must have found a beginning at some par !