2. Pre-requisites of religious experience. — The great fundamental pre-requisites of religious experi- ence the Gospels take for granted. There is no more of an attempt to prove God's existence than man's existence, or God's power of speech than man's. God loves to speak to man, and man can under- stand. God is the imperative preliminary to all religious life ; He is the chief factor in its continu- ance and perfecting. Each soul possesses as its birthright a knowledge of moral distinctions, a sense of moral obligation, a conscious power of obedience or disobedience to such law as the soul knows. All this, where not affirmed, is assumed by all the Gospel writers.
3. Pre-Christian religious experience. — Much of the religious experience described in the Gospels is pre - Christian. Primitive Christianity never imagined that a rich religious experience was not possible outside the Christian community. The Divine Shepherd has 'other sheep' besides the Israelites (Jn 10''). Jesus Himself expressly affirms
* Professor James, from a study perhaps too largely devoted to abnormal developments of the religious emotions, reaches nevertheless the significant conclusion that, ' if intercourse between man and God is not a fact, then religion does not simply contain elements of delusion, but is rooted in delusion altogether ' (<q>. cit. p. 46.5, cf. p. 547).
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this, and refers to Naaman the Syrian, the widow of Zidon, the Roman centurion, and the Syro- phoenician woman as possessing better religious experience than their Jewish neighbours, and definitely announces tiiat ' many ' shall come from the heathen nations and enter the future Kingdom in peace (Jn 12-o- ^s, Lk 4^^--», Mk 7-^ Mt 8'" 15^8). So, the Samaritans were at various times praised by Jesus, and one of them Avas selected as the ideal type of brotherhood (Lk T'^- ^^ lO^s-s^). Yet, while Jesus proclaimed faith and gratitude and compas- sion to be religious virtues wherever found, and evidently preferred honest heresy to thoughtless orthodoxy. He nevertheless regarded Gentiles and Samaritans as heretics, and the Jews as the natural ' children of the kingdom ' (Mt 8^2 ; of. 18^^ Jn 422). The Apostles were all Jews, and the holy men and women whose prayers and hymns filled the earth with prophetic hope at the birth of John and Jesus were representative OT saints. They had been ' prepared for the Lord ' (Mk V'), and were ' prayer- ful,' ' devout,' and 'righteous' people who ' rejoiced in God,' being 'filled with the Holy Ghost,' and could depart this world ' in peace ' (Lk 1«- *'^- "^ 225-29, cf. Jn 1^^). Such religious fruit does not grow on a tree with a rotten root.
i. Christian experience contrasted with all other religious experience. — Nevertheless, as com- pared even with the best religious experiences of the Old Covenant, those of the New seemed like ' new wine ' (Mk 222), |[]^g neAvly discovered treasure (Mt 13^^), like a wedding day (Mt 9'^^), like the 'one pearl of great price' (Mt 13*^), like a king's banquet (Mt 222), jjj^g ^jjg rising of the sun (Lk 1™, cf. Jn 1-"). The religious knowledge and outlook even of that holy prophet and herald of whom Jesus Himself said that there had been ' none greater born of women/ were to be so eclipsed that he who was 'little' in the New Kingdom should be greater than he (Mt 1 1"). New standards, new ideals, new spiritual magnitudes, above all, a new spiritual dynamic had appeared, and with these a totally new spiritual experience. The new things introduced by the gospel have often been catalogued, but Jesus was the supremely new thing in the new religion. Much of the teaching, even its central Golden Rule, was old, but He was new. He, not His teaching, was the centre of the new gospel. He was the gospel ; Himself tlie glad tidings of great joy. His coming brought a new morning to the world (Lk V^), and originated a new vision of righteousness and a new sunrise type of religious experience in the souls of men.
5. Religious experience of Jesus. — But although Jesus created a new religion characterized l)y strangely new religious dispositions, it is a difficult task to discover from the records the facts con- cerning His own soul life. That He prayed and had the inner certainty of reply ; that He was tempted ; accepted the Father's will even when unexplained to Him ; that He had great confidence in God, and felt a peculiar harmony between Him- self and the Infinite Goodness, — all this, and much more, is known. But did the self-identity with the moral law which He claimed (Jn 14", cf. Mk S^* 1021 13^^. Mt 51'') involve the consciousness of self-identity with Jehovah ? So St. John's Gospel certainly teaches. According to all the Gospels, He claimed a jurisdiction here and hereafter wiiich no other sane man has ever ventured to claim. He showed no hesitancy in calling Himself ' meek and loAvly,' while in almost the same breath He de- manded absolute submission of intellect and will from all who expected to remain His 'friends,' or hoped to be at peace Avith God hereafter {e.q. Mt 72"^- 1128ft-, Lk 6^6^ Jn 151^). Even in Mk. He is represented as claiming, without misgiving, to be the expected Messiah and Judge of the world (S^),