* Ct. Philo, De Spec. Legg. Tom. ii. p. SI4, ed. Mang.
784
ETHICS
ETHICS
by certain spiritual qualities, and to leave on one side their relation to the ordinary standards of the world. The opinion of the world is, as such, of no value ; all that matters is the spiritual condition of the citizens of the kingdom. In like manner, later on in the sermon, the motive to prayer and fa.sting is found in the same region. The critical temper is excluded from the true life (Mt 7'"°, Lk gsT-sSj . and it is distinctly asserted that care is to be exercised in the presentation of that which is holy. The whole temper indicated is inward and spiritual, though it is affirmed that the character must be expressed in act : the tree is to be known by its fruit.
(B) Similar principles appear in our Lord's Para- holic teachings. A large number of tlie parables refer to the general characteristics of the new Society, and therefore do not immediately concern us.* But others deal directly >vith moral char- acter. Thus the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant deals with the law of forgiveness ; that of the Pharisee and the Publican condemns self-righteous- ness ; the Good Samaritan defines the duty of the love of our neighbour ; that of the Two Sons distinguishes true and false obedience. Dives and Lazarus illustrates the peril of the love of this world. Besides these, the Prodigal Son, the Unjust Judge, and the Friend at midnight declare the relations between the true believers and God. In these, and in the generality of the teaching recorded in the synoptic Gospels, our Lord uses a quasi-proverbial method. He does not promulgate rules of conduct, but describes in indirect fashion the principles upon which true conduct is to be based.
(C) In the more profound teaching recorded in St. John's Gospel, we are taken still further into the inner secrets of the moral life. While in the Synoptists we have the life presented in the simple picture of the Two Ways, St. John represents the true and the false life as two opposed conditions of being — Life and Judgment. This, while it con- tains ultimately the same idea as the simpler lan- guage in St. Matthew, lies deeper, and contains assumptions which do not appear elsewhere. In this type of teaching, as in the other, the essential principle is that human life is trulj seen only on its spiritual side, and that in this view of it tnere is a single issue offered for the determination of each particular man. That course which places man on the side of God is described as Life ; the other is in itself Judgment. Further, whereas in synoptic tradition we find our Lord opening His mission with the preaching of repentance, so, in the first discourse recorded Dy St. John (ch. 3), He sets forth the necessity of regeneration for the recognition of and entry into the new kingdom. Here, again, the positions are ultimately the same, but that in St. Jonn is the deeper. The new birth spoken of is essential to the repentance. Once more, the need of faith, which is constantly em- phasized in the synoptic Gospels, is by St. John shown to involve moral issues of a serious kind. It is the self-assertion, the self-seeking of the Jews, that prevents their understanding the claims of Christ. And, lastly, it is union with Christ, and dependence upon His life, which sustains those who are His representatives in the world. And thus, again, a moral virtue inculcated in the synoptic tradition is asserted in deeper form in St. John. The love which the followers of Christ are to have to one another rests upon tlieir union with Christ, the indwelling of the Spirit, and has as its ideal the love of the Father and the Son.
In this Gospel there is very little direct exhorta- tion, even of the proverbial kind. The most con-
* Such are ; the Leaven, the Dnw-net, the Hidden Treasure, the Seed g^rowing secretly, et^-
spicuous parenetic passage is that in which otu Lord (as also in the other Gospels) lays down the absolute necessity of sacrifice for all (Jn 12^). The discourses are concerned rather with the exposition of the final conditions of moral action, and in this sense they are of vital importance for the Christian ethic. It should be noticed that they deal with action, so it seems at first sight, very simply. Truths which are complementary are stated, sometimes in antithesis, sometimes with- out any sign in the context of the complementary truth, which may appear elsewhere also without qualification. Thus, in ch. 6, the mysterious relations of the work of the Father and the coming of men to Christ are asserted, but not connected by any theory. Or, on the other hand, the judg- ment given is said to be the coming of the light into the world, and the consequent action of men {3'") ; whereas in w.^- *> judgment is placed in the control of the Son of Man. This is largely due to the close connexion of the discourses in this Gospel with the circumstances under which they were delivered, and to the fact that, in life, different aspects of complex unities have a tendency to emerge into exclusive prominence. But the great importance of aU these passages for our present purpose is this : they represent the Christian development of the principles already asserted in Judaism — the connexion of the character of God with moral life, and the historic operation of God in the lives of men. Where God declares Himself as a merciful God — in answer to the request of Moses to see Him — and declares His condemnation of the guilty (Ex 34'), Christ in St. John sets out the love of God as the rule of life for the Christian society (Jn 17^). Whereas in the OT the hand of God is seen in the guidance of man throughout his life and history, Christ in St. John affirms definitely the entry of tlie Father's will into the actual life and choice of individual man. The im- portance of this, in regard to life, can hardly be exaggerated. U means that the apparent simplifi- cation of moral ideas attained by referring all things to a spiritual standard must not be regarded as extinguishing all moral problems. The Gospel of St. John contains no elaoorate discussion of such problems, such as we find in St. Paul's Epistles ; it only indicates, in the direct way which lies close to immediate experience, that they are present. Thus we derive from the preaching of Christ, not only a deeper view of positive duty, but also an indication of a large held of moral thought of which comparatively little had been known before. (D) In turning to the Apostolic Epistles we find the Church engaged in the endeavour to introduce the Christian law into the world. We derive, therefore, from these writings some knowledge of the effect of Christianity upon the life of Greece and Rome. And, further, we find in the Epistles, especially in those of St. Paul, an endeavour to connect the faith of the Church with its practice. It will be desirable to consider these points in the reverse order, as the dogmatic basis of Christian