VIII AGNOSTICISM: A REJOINDER 301 



The open proclamation of their special view about 

 the Messiah was doubtless offensive to the 

 Pharisees, just as rampant Low Churchism is 

 offensive to bigoted High Churchism in our own 

 country ; or as any kind of dissent is offensive to 

 fervid religionists of all creeds. To the Sadducees, 

 no doubt, the political danger of any Messianic 

 movement was serious ; and they would have been 

 glad to put down Nazarenism, lest it should end 

 in useless rebellion against their Eoman masters, 

 like that other Galilean movement headed by 

 Judas, a generation earlier. Galilee was always a 

 hotbed of seditious enthusiasm against the rule of 

 Rome ; and high priest and procurator alike had 

 need to keep a sharp eye upon natives of that 

 district. On the whole, however, the Nazarenes 

 were but little troubled for the first twenty years 

 of their existence ; and the undying hatred of the 

 Jews against those later converts, whom they 

 regarded as apostates and fautors of a sham 

 Judaism, was awakened by Paul. From their 

 point of view, he was a mere renegade Jew, 

 opposed alike to orthodox Judaism and to ortho- 

 dox Nazarenism ; and whose teachings threatened 

 Judaism with destruction. And, from their point 

 of view, they were quite right. In the course of 

 a century, Pauline influences had a large share in 

 driving primitive Nazarenism from being the very 

 heart of the new faith into the position of scouted 

 error ; and the spirit of Paul's doctrine continued 



