286 AGNOSTICISM: A KEJOINDER vill 



have been subsequently worked over and inter- 

 polated ; and of the historical sense, or want of 

 sense, and the dogmatic tendencies of their 

 compilers and editors. Let us see if there is any 

 other road which will take us into something 

 better than negation. 



There is a widespread notion that the " primi- 

 tive Church," while under the guidance of the 

 Apostles and their immediate successors, was a 

 sort of dogmatic dovecot, pervaded by the most 

 loving unity and doctrinal harmony. Protestants, 

 especially, are fond of attributing to themselves 

 the merit of being nearer "the Church of the 

 Apostles " than their neighbours ; and they are 

 the less to be excused for their strange delusion 

 because they are great readers of the documents 

 which prove the exact contrary. The fact is that, 

 in the course of the first three centuries of its 

 existence, the Church rapidly underwent a process 

 of evolution of the most remarkable character, 

 the final stage of which is far more different from 

 the first than Anglicanism is from Quakerism. 

 The key to the comprehension of the problem 

 of the origin of that which is now called 

 "Christianity," and its relation to Jesus of 

 Nazareth, lies here. Nor can we arrive at any 

 sound conclusion as to what it is probable that 

 Jesus actually said and did, without being clear on 

 this head. By far the most important and 

 subsequently influential steps in the evolution of 



