The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1910-02-10
The Historical Jesus.

myths, the Middle Ages loved Won
der tales. Ours is scientific era,
that has exchanged legends for his
tory. Historical criticism has taken
away the mother wolf and her adop-
ted Romulus and Remus and discov-
cred new founders for the city Of
Rome. In like manner have passed
away the heroes of Greece until
Achilles and Cadmus now exist in the
realm Of poetry alone. What our
age asks for is the exact fact in any
case. This is particularly true with
respect to Jesus. Men of a scien-
tific spirit are not interested in the
metaphysical speculations of Athan-
asius, but they are deeply interested
in Jesus who is as historical as Lin
coin or Washington and as real as
Cicero or Socrates. We believe in
Abraham Lincoln's existence. That
belief is based upon the testimony
Of living men. There are men in
this room one of whom head Lin
coin at Gettysburg, one in Washing
ton and one met him first within this
room. We believe in Washington
| upon the testimony of men who lived
with Washington, the artists who
painted his portraits, the statesmen
who were in his cabinet, the soldiers
who fought under his leadership.
Our belief in Cicero and Socrates
rests upon evicence of the same
nature, but not of the same quality
Unfortunately, the Vandals and
Huns who looted the Mediterranean
cities burned many of the libraries.
All books of that time were written
either on antelope skin or papyrus.
What with dampness and rough
handling, incident to heround rolls,
the ordinary book lasted scarcely
more than one lifetime, while the
vellum was too expensive for ordi-
nary use. For that reason, our faith
in the writing Of Caesar and Cicero
rests on very slender thread.
When Constantinople fell before
the Turks, an old scholar fled to Flor
ence with certain rolls. Soon Loren
70, the magnificent, discovered that
this fugitive had brought the story
of Troy, the wanderings OF Ulysses,
the eloquence of Demosthenes, the
history Of Socrates. But, scarcely
one Of these papyrus rolls or vellum
sheets was more than two hundred
years old. One manuscript claimed
Cicero as it's author, but this left at
least a thousand years gap to be
bridged. Now it so happened that
there were certain inscriptions OH
marble tablets in Rome, taken from
Cicero's orations. A comparison of
that inscription and the old manu-
script showed the accuracy Of the
copyist. The conclusion was that
this manuscript really represented
the genius of Cicero. The belief in
Socrates and Aristotle was more slen-
der Only one copy was found of
Aristoile's books, while the eighth
book had never been recovered, as
it was missing from the manuscript.
By the same methods Of historical
criticism scholars have scrutinized
the Memorabilia Of Jesus. But the
materials in his case are larger in
quantity. When the scholars of the
world assembled in Westminster Alb
hey, about 1870, to revise the New
Testament, they had spread out be-
fore them not one manuscript, as in
the case of Aristotle, but nearly
seven hundred manuscripts. They
did not have to leap chasm of four
teen centuries from the time that
manuscript was written to the year
that Aristotle died, for the old vel
lum Testament found by Professor
Tischendorf in the monastery at Mt.
Sinai goes back, it is believed, to
Constantine's request that Eusebius
prepare fifty copies of the life of
Christ, each to be written on ante
lope skin. These seven hundred
manuscripts represent old rclls,
worn sheets of vellum, skins with fa-
ded ink, versions from Ethiopia, A
rabia, Persia, are written in Arimaic,
Syriac, Arabic, Greek; to these wit
nesses must be added several thous-
and inscriptions, epitaphs on broken
tablets, emblems in catacombs of It.
ally and the tombs of Egypt, in the
deserts east Of the Jordan. These in
scriptions take us back to the very
time when the apostles were work.
ing in these countries. There is no
gap. Christianity is a historical re-
ligion. Where there Is one reason
for believing in Aristotle or Socrates.
there are one hundred for believing
in the historical Jesus. He is in some
respects the best accredited person
in history. Jesus is just as real a per-