(vii.) 'J'lie Unexplained Element in Miracles. — When all the above considerations are borne in mind, some may still think that there is a residuum which is not wholly explained — not so much as to the fact of miracles, or as to their congruity with the Person of Jesus, but rather as to the method of particular miracles in the form in which they have conic <lowii to us. It is iiuite inevitable that there should be such a residuum, which is only another name for the irreducible interval which must, when all is done, .sejiarate the reflective science-traini'd inteUeet of the nineteenth century from the n.aive chroniclers of the lirst. .lesus Him- self would seem to have been not without a pre- .seience that this would be the ea.se. At any rate there is a iiermaneiit signilicance, nnexhausteil by the occasion wliich gave rise to it, in His reply to the disciples of the Baptist, while appealing to works which, however beiielicent, would. He knew, fail to realize all the Baptist's expectations : ' Hle,s.seil is he that shall lind no scandal — or stumbling- block — in me' (Mt 11" I). There was iloubthss something left in the mind of John whii-h he I'ouM not perfectly piece together witli the rest of .•iuch mental outlit as he had. .\nd so we mav be .sure
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JESUS CHRIST
JESUS CHRIST
ihiit it will be in every age, though age after age has only helped to strengthen the couvictiim that llif uuHles of thought of the Zi itijiist luay ami do continually change, but that tlie worth for man of the Person of de&Ms does not change but is eternal.
LiTEKATURE, — Probabl)* the best work In k,if;lt»h nt tlit- iin-^vnt utoniLMit on the I^resUi^I^u^ltlons of the Oosp"! Mtn»cle> «oiiM be Illimrworth's [ntine Illtmtlnene({\^9^).&^^<^av\\<^h\s /I'tinj'ton Lffturen US1H>. Itnmy be worth while to conipare Don*. Jititit/t, Lfct, U^yn. On tlio o'ther himd, Mo/Iey'j* L-etures on the »ttnie foillulutloll for 1S(»5 have reference ruther to a phase of the con- troversy which Is now pust. There Is. of course, much on the sul'iect'in the various treatises ou Apolojretlcs ; an<l articles are constantly apnearini; fn niaf^azinos, as well as shorter niono- Kniphs. both British and Forelsn. The present writer cannot sav— or at least cannot remember— that he has ^aUuM) as much ft-iiin these several sources as In the case of the teaehltic of .lesus. He woulil like, however, to mention with (rralltude. OiouudHOf Tlitittic and V/iiUliaii Etliff. by Dr. O. 1'. KIslier of Yale (New York, 1^S:)■, also nub. In London), a ver)' clear and temperate statement of the evidence for the Crospel Mirncles on older lines; the eliap. on Miracles In Dr. A. H. Uruce, Chit/ Knd vf Itevthilion (:)rd ed. 1IS91I) : and three short lectures, entitled Tlit Sujitinaturul in C/irixliiiiiilu (by Drs. Kalnv, Orr, and .Marcus Dods, In reply to Ptleldcrer, Edlnh. ISW).
The mos* considerable attempt In Eni'llsh to construct C'hrlsllanltv without Miracles Is Dr. Kdwln A. Abbott's T/ie Krriifl iiiiil the Hunk (ISSGl, and The Spirit on the M'dlera (IsJtT). With this may be compared Dr. Salmon's Xon-ntir- aevlouM Chriittinnity'iiindvther Serjnon>i),
There are well-known systematic works on tho Gospel Miracles by tho late Abp. Trench and Dr. A. B. Bruce.
C. Middle on Culj/ixa tixg Feriod of the ACTI ve Mixistr y.
Scene. — Galilee, with an excursion across the
northern border. Time. — Passover to shortly before Tabernacles A.D. 28.
Mt 141-18M, Mk 6>*-9", Lk 9'-", .Tii 6. This is a period of culmination.s, in which tlie prophecy of Simeon begins to be conspicu- ously fultilled : ' Behold, this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against' (I.k 2^*). The main culminations are (i.) of the zeal of tlie populace, followed by their disappoint- ment and falling away ; (ii.) the still greater embittorment of the scribes and Pliarisees ; (iii.) the awakening at last of a more intelli- gent faith in the disciples, reaching its highest point in St. Peter's confession; (iv.) the Divine testimony to .Jesus in the Transfigura- tion ; (v.) the consciou-sness of victory virtually won in .lesus Himself (Mt 11-5-3'', j'k lon-ai); (vi.) at the same time He sees clearly, ancl begins to announce the seeming but transient catastrojihe, the final humiliation and exalta- tion, in which His work is to end. The time of this period is clearly marked by the occurrence of the Passover of the year ad. 28 at its beginning, and the Feast of Tabernacles (in October of the same year) at the end. It is prob- able that within these six months all the .salient events referred to below may be included. The place is, broadly speaking, Galilee, beginning with the sliores of the lake (Jn 6); but in the course of the period there falls a wider circuit than any tliat had been hitherto taken. In this circuit .lesus tottched on, and probably crossed, the borders of the heathen districts of Tyre and Sidon (Mk "-*!!); He then turned eastwards through the neighbour- hood of Ca;sarea Philippi (Jlk 8-'||); and He finally returned to Capernaum, not directly, but after taking a round to the east of the lake and through Decapolis (Mk 7"). The motive was probably not so much on this occasion extended preaching as to avoid the ferment excited among the population of Central Galilee. Observe Mk ~^* and the strict injunctions of secrecy in Mk 7*> 8^''ll 9'|l. If we may follow our authorities (Mk T^-"'- Sif- ""'•) there was a certain amount of active work at the end of