Til AGNOSTICISM 233 



Jesus, recorded in the Gospels, which directly bear 

 on the question sometimes, apparently, in oppo- 

 site directions ? 



So, if I am asked to call myself an " infidel/' I 

 reply : To what doctrine do you ask me to be 

 faithful ? Is it that contained in the Nicene and 

 the Athanasian Creeds ? My firm belief is that 

 the Nazarenes, say of the year 40, headed by 

 James, would have stopped their ears and thought 

 worthy of stoning the audacious man who pro- 

 pounded it to them. Is it contained in the so- 

 called Apostles' Creed ? I am pretty sure that even 

 that would have created a recalcitrant commotion 

 at Pella in the year 70, among the Nazarenes of 

 Jerusalem, who had fled from the soldiers of Titus. 

 And yet, if the unadulterated tradition of the 

 teachings of " the Nazarene " were to be found 

 anywhere, it surely should have been amidst those 

 not very aged disciples who may have heard them 

 as they were delivered. 



Therefore, however sorry I may be to be unable 

 to demonstrate that, if necessary, I should not be 

 afraid to call myself an " infidel/' I cannot do it. 

 " Infidel " is a term of reproach, which Christians 

 and Mahommedans, in their modesty, agree to 

 apply to those who differ from them. If he had 

 only thought of it, Dr. Wace might have used the 

 term "miscreant," which, with the same etymo- \ 

 logical signification, has the advantage of being 

 still more " unpleasant " to the persons to whom 



