' L. Abbott, Signs of Promise, 271.
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1, A contrast is drawn between the fragmentariuess of the Old Testament dispensation, and the full-orbed revelation of the Xew. " By divers portions." The single word that is rendered " at sundry times " properly means " in numerous parts " or " parcels," which, however, were no doubt given at " sundry times " ; so that the rendering in the Authorized Version, though imperfect, is legitimate. The idea is that God did not at once open up the fulness of His mind, and unfold to view the treasures of His grace. His plan proceeded on the principle of "here a little " and " there a little." His revelation was given piece- meal. It came bit by bit, as the fathers might be able to receive it.
^ Mahometanism has but a single prophet. Its sacred book is the work of one man. Its doctrines were all proclaimed at one time. Its theology was built up from beginning to end in the course of a single life. It had no period of preparation. It came into the world as an adult system; at least its maturity was reached so rapidly that it might be described as adult. I am not of course speaking of Mahometanism as a historical phenomenon. Historically it has its antecedents, and those antecedents can be explained and traced ; but as a prophet Mahomet had no precursors. He brought his own credentials; he delivered his own message ; he left that message in a form which he intended to be final, and to need no supplementing by others. In all these respects the faith of Christ and that of Mahomet stand in marked contrast. Mahomet, indeed, had Christianity and Judaism to build upon, or he would never have reached the height that he did. He himself to some extent recognized his obligations. But when we think of Mahometanism, we think of a religion pro- mulgated once for all as a whole. And the difference when we turn to our own Bibles helps us to realize what is meant by " divers portions." ^
2. A second contrast is drawn between the diversity of means used for disclosing truth in old times and the one majestic dis- closure that eclipsed them all. The old revelation was not only "in numerous parts," or "portions"; it was given "in divers manners." The reference is to the various forms which the subject-matter of the communications was made to assume, as it passed on through the prophets to the people at large. There
1 W. Sanday, The Oracles of God, 2.
28o PROGRESSIVE REVELATION
were commandments. There were promises. There was history. There were exhortations, expostulations, invitations, warnings, pleadings, threatenings. There were predictions and types, parables and proverbs, psalms and songs. God spoke, as Cardinal Cajetan observes, " to the intellect, to the imagination, to the senses." He addressed at one time the principle of hope, at another the principle of gratitude, at another still the principle of competition and rivalry, then perhaps the principle of fear, or the nobler principle of conscience, and of the consciousness of a certain Divine imperative speaking in authoritative tones within the conscience. Thus, " in manifold fashion," did God reveal His mind to " the fathers."
^ God is at work in all history and in the life of every man. It is He who gives to each his daily bread ; He leadeth men by ways they know not. But from most of them His activity is hidden as by thick veils, so that they see only the human part in all that happens, whilst in the Old Testament we have history with the veils removed, history meditated and brooded over until it has given up its secret, and God's part is seen. It would be a great calamity if we consented to regard that older story as a Divine exception, floating vaguely in high heaven, in strong contrast to the laws and possibilities of our life to-day. " These things were written for our learning" says St. Paul, and we cannot learn from what is of a different kind from our own. What is written about Israel corresponds to the view which faith takes of the life of any man to-day ; however blank and common that may seem to those who see it from outside, it is a life beset by Divine kindness, appealed to and shepherded by God, and some day becoming aware of God. To faith it is clear that every blessing which reaches us, the light of the sun, and the sweet airs, and all that quickens life in men, comes because God means it so. There is nothing insignificant, and if we understood life better we should feel its wonder more ; for to watch the movement of events, to see the grace that follows and encompasses men, and offers itself, and continually is rejected — that brings us near to adoration of the miracle of God's patience.^
3. There is a further contrast between " the prophets " and
" the Son." The author says nothing about rites, institutions,
dispensations, and laws. The reason apparently is that he wishes
to compare with the revelation in Christ the highest, purest, and
^ W. M. Macgregor, Some of God^s Ministries, 237.
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