viii AGNOSTICISM: A REJOINDER 303 



Judaism. Again, who is to say whether Jesus 

 proclaimed himself the veritable Messiah, ex- 

 pected by his nation since the appearance of the 

 pseudo-prophetic work of Daniel, a century and a 

 half before his time ; or whether the enthusiasm 

 of his followers gradually forced him to assume 

 that position? 



But one thing is quite certain : if that belief in 

 the speedy second coming of the Messiah which 

 was shared by all parties in the primitive Church, 

 whether Nazarene or Pauline; which Jesus is 

 made to prophesy, over and over again, in the 

 Synoptic gospels ; and which dominated the life 

 of Christians during the first century after the 

 crucifixion ; if he believed and taught that, then 

 assuredly he was under an illusion, and he is re- 

 sponsible for that which the mere efHuxion of time 

 has demonstrated to be a prodigious error. 



When I ventured to doubt "whether any 

 Protestant theologian who has a reputation to 

 lose will say that he believes the Gadarene story/' 

 it appears that I reckoned without Dr. Wace, 

 who, referring to this passage in my paper, 

 says : 



He will judge whether I fall under his description ; but I 

 repeat that I believe it, and that he has removed the only objec- 

 tion to my believing it (p. 363). 



Far be it from me to set myself up as a judge 



135 



