(d) So far we have dealt chiefly with authority ; when we consider the few cases in the Gospels where the call is generalized — ' not the righteous butsinners'(Mk2"l| Mt 9" || Lk 5=-) ; 'many called, few chosen ' (Mt '2-2^-')—inritrition comes to the front. The parable depicting the Kingdom of God as a feast (Mt 22=t-, Lk U>«»-), while, of course, a parable and not to be pressed too far, emphasizes this. Its language recalls Pr 9. .\nd it has been remarked that the well-known lovely ' gospel invitation ' (Mt !!=«•*>) strongly suggests Divine Wisdom speaking. More questionable is the idea started by Bruce in the Expos. Gk. Test, that Jesus literally invited outcasts to a free meal at a jmblic hall in the name of Levi (Matthew) — a sort of Free Breakfast or Midnight Supper. On the other hand, the very earliest form of the general call is pure authority ; ' Repent' (Mt 4", Mk I'S).
In all these cases, language itself helps us to vindicate the great truth, that the call of Christ is not merely a call to some external form of serWce under rapidly vanishing conditions, but a call addressed to heart and conscience ; in other words, that Christianity is essentially a religion. Of course, this i ml h l..(r,iii,s clearer in'the Epistles, or in the Fourtli Ih>-|,,1, i1i,ui in the earlier and less reflective Ch-imIs; hut, in regard to our 'calling,' as in all respects, the teaching of Christ Himself traces the plain outlines within which His Apostles afterwards work. Perhaps we ought to note here a difference at least in language between Christ and St. Paul. To the latter, the ' called ' are eo ipso the ' elect ' or ' predestinated ' (Ro 8=»- ™- ^) ; to Christ, ' calling ' (inviting) comes first (Mt 22"), and selection follows ; ' after trial,' as it has been expressed. Our Lord's words, therefore, mark our Christian calling as a calling to service and as a probation. Though we are admitted to His friendship and love, all is not assured. According to His language in the Fourth Gospel, one 'given'
to Christ may ' perish ' (.In 17'-). The ' unfruit- ful ' branch is ' taken away,' ' cast forth,' ' burned ' ( Jn 15-- ^). All must stand before His judgment- seat ; a thought which the parables spoken in view of separation, parables addressed to His own, parti- cularly emphasize (Mt 25 ; some parallels). All must 'take up the cross' and 'follow Christ' to the uttermost (Mk 8" etc. etc.). The last com- mand addressed to a friend by Christ, like the first, is ' follow me ' (Jn 21'«- -).
The question has been raised whether Jesus' call did not imply a sort of fanaticism based on a mistaken expectation of the near end of the world. This is at least suggested by the purely eschato- logical view of the Kmgdom of God (see art. KING- DOM OF God, below) in the Gospels, as taught by Bousset, J. Weiss, and others. If the imputation of fanaticism were historically warranted, all Christians must have been required to live in a fashion possilile only to the first few ; tlie call to repent must have been swallowed up in the call to share the Master's wandering life ; our ' high calling' (Ph 3"), as declared by Christ, must have been deeply tinged with delusion. It is enough to point in reply to women friends of Jesus ; to homes whose hospitality He consented to share ; to a con- vert under exceptional circumstances not called nor even permitted to be with Christ, hut sent home to be a witness there (Mk 5'" II Lk S^"). The grain of truth in this heap of error has been indi- cated above. Our Christian calling is not merely to salvation, it is to service. One may add, that the principles of the Master's own teaching are likely to reveal lessons of severity for the Chris- tian conscience which have been neglected in the past — to the great loss of both Church and world.
LiTERATi'RE.— See further, for (a), the present writer's Christ and the Jewish Law ; A. Ritschl. .fustifx-atitin and Reconcilia- tion, vnl. iii. (tmiT^htinnl p. 11-: r iMrT,.n,-r-pr, .^etbslbe-
Christnf}l,.t<.r,,,n,l .,f Ej,.,r ■, , 1- .;, p '-,;|T. IV,r (6) see
for (c) and {d) compare Eece Hoiao, ch. 6, ' Christ's Winnowinjr Fan' [characteristically dwelling rather on the inoral aspects of the Divine message] ; also Brace's treatment of Mt 9»-13 and parallels [notes on all three should l.e nad iii Exjjo.^. Gr. Testa- ment]. The last paragr-ipli it tlie il... , irfi-o, vrf.'rs to dis- cussions hegun by J. w.i-- /. . /■ ;< ,r /. .. ,„ Reiche Gottes, 189'i; Bousset, .'. ; ■ ^iiz zum
J«[ie?l(i™, 1892 ; cf. als" i i " \.:i-hfolije
Christi und die Predi'jt <!' <■ '- ■■'. l^i.' ; -• d reply m
Harnack's Wesen des Chnslnilhiim.'i. l:niii (traiisiation, ' What is Christianity?'); interesting reference to such views and to later developments in Lewis Muirhead's Bruce Lecture on ' The Eschatology of Jesus,' 1903.
RoiiERT Mackintosh. CALVARY.— See Golgotha.
CAMEL, CAMEL'S HAIR. -The camel is by far the most useful of all animals in the East. There are two kinds of camels— the Turkish or Bactrian camel and the dromedary. The first is larger, has a double hump, and is capable of sus- taining greater burdens ; the latter is swifter, has a single hump, and is far less att'ected by extreme heat. The camel has been domesticated from time immemorial ; it is now at least nowhere found in its aboriginal wild state, and nature has adapted it to its specific environment. Its nostrils are close and flat, to exclude the dust of the desert ; its feet are heavily padded, and its an- atomy shows provision for the enduring of great privation. It mocks hunger and thirst alike ; it can go without water from sixteen to forty days.