BOOK III. CHRIST THE SOLE SAVIOR, ACTS, iv. 12. PREFACE. THE object of the present Treatise is to solve a problem of very grave import as well as of vast and abiding interest to the human family, and, therefore, in the intelligible apprehension and just appreciation of which, all men of culture and reflection must feel deeply and anxiously concerned. In the prosecution of this arduous design, a fact at once novel and startling confronts us at the outset, for we are taught in orthodox systems of faith to believe that in the Bible an autonomic human development-as a normal expression of psychical growth, is not recognized, and that it is hence not based on the observance of natural and fixed laws, but is dependent on a train of casualism which either ignores free-agency altogether or positively condemns it as sinful. That Book-it is boldly asserted and generally believed, everywhere treats man, viewed especially in his higher destiny or more weighty ethico-mental relations, as a mere passive instrument under the guidance and control of a supernatural Providence-as yielding clay in the plastic hands of the potter! Salvation under such a surprising state of things, cannot be a simple human phenomenon or an autogenous act; for it is clear that mankind thus placed under miraculous supervision and shut up in the trammels of a hopeless tutelage, cannot out of themselves originate a Savior, particularly not in the commonly received acceptation of the term: adequate self-help under the circumstances, is out of the question. Hence the Savior of mankind is to be regarded, it seems, as in an eminent degree or sense, Godprovided or God-sent. It is under this aspect of the case, that Jesus Christ claims our careful attention, and the inquiry accordingly presents itself, Is he the pre-eminently and solely not merely providentially but supernaturally ordained Savior of mankind? If this question is answered in the affirmative, it follows that he must not only be the Savior of man in the future but of man in the past; a Savior of man in all ages and countries; a Savior, in short, co-extensive with the human race. A less ample field for the benignant display of his soterial activity* would evidently impair his claim to the lofty title of Sole Savior of mankind, and besides, involve God in the grievous charge or unjust suspicion of partiality in his exercise of the moral government of the world. What then are the legitimate conclusions which the facts in the case seem to warrant? The investigation-it is apparent, is fraught with no slight or ordinary difficulties, for the ground to be explored is full of dangerous sloughs or precipitous cliffs, all which it will be impossible always to shun much less in every instance successfully to cope with. Yet however difficult the task most undoubtedly is, the prize is tempting and the duty is imperative. * The term soterial is derived from soter-a giver of health or safety; a deliverer, preserver, savior. During eighteen centuries these questions-so eminently pertinent in Christian lore, have been criminally held in abeyance, and tradition and servile credulity basely usurped the honored place and high prerogative of indispensable independent research. It is a fact which is no less sad than it is just cause of profound displeasure, that—as far as our knowledge reveals the past or human manners point out and illustrate mental training, we are warranted in the deplorable inference that the human mind, in its religious manifestations, has in all past ages with rare exceptions been most egregiously mystified and, of course, grievously disappointed or shamefully gulled in its experiences, and thus, alas, made too often, as history testifies, to grope its way in the dark or to find itself the pitiable victim of a crass and fatal delusion. To be agitated by superstitious fears or grasp at phantoms; to be vexed by doubts and tossed by misgivings, was its ordinary heritage which necessarily stamped on it its mournful insignia, indicative at once of mental impotence and spiritual slavery. Alas, alas, man has heretofore in a great measure but lived to cringe, to dream, to grovel; let him henceforth live to think, to understand, to act, and thus reflect and proclaim the divinity within him! But it may be said, a fair, honest statement of facts on the important subject of anthropology, especially in relation to its religious element, is often inexpedient and sometimes injurious, for in a case like the one at issue, it must inevitably more or less unsettle long established beliefs, and thus, perhaps, eventually plunge society into a hopeless state of irreligion and anarchy !" Considerations like these, however weighty or deserving of careful attention they may be, must not for a moment divert the human mind from its hallowed allegiance to truth, to the will of God, and to the voice of conscience! If society cannot be held together and be made to prosper and be happy but by the observance of barren, senseless, often degrading formulas, or a blind and puerile faith, indorsed and sanctified by long ages of ignorance and superstition, and stillin despite of the rebukes of science, obstinately perpetuated to our time by the tricks and blunders of a wily or an ignorant priest-hood, then let it speedily disintegrate and die; for the age of sound knowledge, which demands a reason for its faith and a ground for its hope, with the sacred duty to exercise personal conviction as its inalienable birth-right, has at last happily inaugurated its longwished-for luminous and ameliorating career, and already auroral rays, refulgent in auspicious promise, are reflecting the hopes of a new and a brighter era, hailed with shouts of joy and thanksgiving by all honest, ardent seekers of truth the true priests and servants of God, in all civilized lands and among all disenthralled ranks of men. hail the redemption of the human mind from human bondage; from myths and imposture; from blind credulity and bloody inquisition! Hail Truth, first-born goddess, fairest, loveliest creation in the hallowed Pantheon of the wise and the good! Thy altar, sweet maiden, wooer of the pure and the true: the sure rewarder of the enlightened and the faithful devotee, be ever resplendent in the sun-shine of science; thy offerings be ever the hecatombs of devoted hearts; and thy benign and equitable reign—ever developing and ennobling, be soon for ever dominant from pole to pole; from the Christian to the Buddhist, from the Jew Then to the Mussulman! Then, and not till then, shall the earth celebrate its millennium, and science, hallowed by a devout, universal recognition of "the ways of God to men," triumph in the redemption of our race, owned and blessed by God. Our motto is "To the Law and to the Testimony," Is. viii. 20. He that will learn may be wise. CHAPTER I. The Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament. THE prophecies of the Old Testament every where abound in most encouraging and splendid descriptions of a coming Savior. This ceaseless and ever buoyant anticipation of more peaceful and auspicious times-this child-faith in supernatural agency, believed to be vouchsafed to the chosen Jewish nation, which-as its diversified and generally calamitous history clearly shows, was never well at ease in its relations with the surrounding monarchies, but was, on the contrary, constantly either harassed or menaced by warlike or ambitious princes, insatiate of empire or impatient to revenge a real or a fancied insult, was the natural expression of sentiment among an ignorant and eminently superstitious people, of a deep sense of national distress and the consequent ever-recurring wish of redress or deliverance. However unjust or oppressive may be the domestic policy of a nation, or debased the souls of the citizens under the iron rule of native despotism, |