ACCOMMODATION
ACTIVITY
tliat He, in solemn and almost sad forelKidinir. warned His followers of the events which wnr soon to try His own fidelity to tlie cause whidi llr so constantly and fearlessly championed, and which were to put their faith to a most cruel test. We are indebted to the writer of the Fourth Gospel for the series of discourses in which He endeavoured to strengthen and encourage His disciples against the coming time of trial. From these we gather that Jesus looked forward to the establishment, on the basis of His own life, of a kingdom amongst men which was to carry on His teaching, even as it received the truth at the hands of His Spirit. The time had not as yet aiTived when they could assimilate the full self- revelation of God (Jn 16'-), but as their experience widened and their understandings became enlarged, they would be made the recipients of 'all the truth' (V.13, of. also IS^S). That He looked beyond the lives of those whom He thus addressed will not, we think, be disputed (cf. els rbv alSiva, 14"^). Certainly His words were so interpreted by His followers (see Mt 28™ ; cf. IS^", Jn U^ 17«, Ac 2^). We are thus emboldened to state our belief that this plan of Divine self-accommodation enters into the very centre of the life of Jesus Himself, and that it is the plan by which the world has receivod it'< cilin^fition from the be- ginning even till tin I i 'i i -■ y^.
•Each of them [Baiiti- i • ■
Jesus) constitutes a m :
supreme, in the dinrl,.]. ; .i
.nd on the cross He was preparii \ can see in these three events • which that develoiiment was sc
! Transfiguration of L'nt important, nay unity of our Lord, on accomplished in
science ran counter to preconceived ideas. The ( Imrch, at times, seemed to have been committed :iliii<ist irrevocably to a false and transient philo- Miphy, to a weak and untenable exegetical process, tt hen she was forced by the onward march of God's self-revelation, grasped and promulgated in the teeth of opjiosition and obloquy by the brightest intellects amongst her children, to review her jwsition, to reject old prejudices, and to bring lier interpretation of the life and teaching of Jesus into line with the newer discoveries which are so constantly revealing to men's minds wider and mofounder ideas of the condescending love of God. The chief object for which the Church exists is, while 'reproving, rebuking, exhorting' (cf. 2 Ti 4"), to interpret the Incarnation as it bears on man's life, and on the destiny of the world and the race, in the light of an ever-increasing knowledge. Her business is not so much to keep back the pro- founder mysteries of a gradually accumulating revelation from the minds of ' the weak ' (1 Co 8"), as to build up and strengthen the entire man, intellectual and spiritual, so that all may learn that there is no department of human life whicli has not its own intimate relationship to the Incar- nate Son of God.
LiTKRATtTRE.— The following works, most of which are either quoted or referred to in the course of this article, are sj^ecially recommended as throwing lijtht on a difficult problem :— Schiirer, IIJP^ which is a veritable mine from which we may e-xcavate an immense amount of information about contem- porary beliefs, customs, modes nf thoufjlit and of teaching; J. B. Movl.y, liulin; Id,;,, in Earb, .I'/..-'; l-Mrrslieim, Vhe Li/e (n„l ri„„ , n/Jr „.< tln-M.s,,„i, ■ ll Wri-., /.. A, a ./oil,
Hofizni-.lw" y,':''i'.-'i. Ti:'!nr- (>; I ii'ifucnljin/..;-,',!,. /,■','« j':H-!tr
The question naturally arises at this stage. How far is this Divine method of educating humanity to enter into the conscious active life of the teach- ing 'liody of Christ' (Eph. 4'=)? How is the Chiirch to exercise her functions as the guide and instructress of the race? Is she to draw lines of distinction between those who 'are able to l.-u' the fulness of the faith delivered to her li. ■';
and tliose whose receptive faculties she (
are not (itted to receive such revelation ? II -« ii is she to practise the doctrine of econujny ui reserve in diselosin" to men 'the faith whicli was once fur all delivered to the saints ' ? ( Jude '*). That grave dangers await a policy which seems to put .such judicial authority into the hands of men, is not to be denied ; nor can we shut our eyes to the tendency which such a course fosters, to hold up different standards of belief and practice before diMiiriit iiiiinls. At the same time, we cannot shut our • \ c^ to ihi- s;id phenomenon of a rent and dis- tiM'i.'l I liii-i' iiiloni, which necessarily implies iii;i)iili(v somewhere to grasp the fundamental verity of Christian life (cf. Jn l.'F). Imiierfcct belief and faith are the causes to wliidi umsl be attributed the vital as well as the niiiK.nlincrcnccs .separating those who ought to belong to the same household. The bearing with each other, the syiiijiatlietic endeavour on each side to understand liie otiier's point of view, seem to be the only worthy methods of continuing the work of love begun by Jesus. It seems, indeed, to be the method which, springing from the love for men which He inculcated. He bequeathed to His teacli- ing Body. We are, however, bound to admit that those occupying the position of Doctores ccclesice have not always marched in the van of human progress, and that often tliey have adopted the role of oUscurantists where the discoveries of