136 QUAKER ASPECTS OF TRUTH 



teaching and to show that it was in no wise opposed to 

 that of the prophets who went before Him ; but that, on 

 the contrary, it brought forward the teaching of those 

 prophets to its logical conclusion, 



** Think not that I am come to destroy the law or 

 the prophets ♦ I am not come to destroy but to fulfil/* 

 That is to say, to fill full, to complete* And the whole of 

 the rest of the chapter is devoted to examples of this 

 fulfilment or completion* Let us take two of the 

 examples given* 



** Ye have heard that it hath been said an eye for an 

 eye and a tooth for a tooth*'' Such was the ethical 

 standard of that day ; nor must we forget, if we are 

 rightly to understand our Lord's argument, that it wa.s a 

 higher ethical standard than that of more primitive 

 times, when the law of revenge knew no such definite 

 limitations* Of course in very early times the law 

 of revenge knew no limits whatever save only the 

 limits of possibilities* A man would revenge himself 

 to the utmost of his power* Then came the Law, 

 ** An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.*' 

 A man must not revenge himself to a greater extent 

 than that to which he had been wronged* This 

 ** Lex Talionis " is contained in the Mosaic Dispensa- 

 ble tion, but in reality is is far older than that, for we find it 

 "" in the code of Hammurabi, the oldest code of laws that 

 has been discovered* Then came the fulfilment, or 

 completion : *' But I say unto you that ye resist not 

 evil*" 



This command of Jesus has given rise to the unfor- 

 tunate expression, ** the doctrine of non-resistance*" 

 But the true Christian position is not merely that of non- 

 resistance* It is not a negative position at all* It is 

 the resistance of evil with good — hatred with love* 

 It is much more than '' Peace at any price*" It is ** Love 

 at any price*" Even at the price of the Cross* 



