THE PROBLEM OF THE PERSON OF CHRIST 253 



Has any other spiritual or social teacher taken 

 one step in advance of Jesus in His teaching 

 concerning God, concerning duty, concerning the 

 ideal for the individual and society ? If so, I am 

 ignorant of his name. Moreover, His teaching 

 is reverently and gratefully acknowledged to be 

 the inspiration of nearly all the advanced thought 

 of our time, as it has been of every era since He 

 became well known. There is a large difference 

 of opinion in the interpretation of His teachings, 

 but little concerning their value and their leader- 

 ship toward the far-away goal of humanity. In- 

 deed He has both set the goal, and is leading 

 the movement toward the prize. Whatever the 

 theory concerning the person of Jesus, few would 

 deny that with Him a new era opened in history. 

 He was the germ of a new spiritual evolution. 

 There is a deep reason for the unanimity with 

 which modern civilization dates all events from 

 His birth. Principal Caird closes his work on 

 " The Evolution of Religion " with these words : 

 "This long, unhasting process of the evolution 

 of religion is itself the best evidence we can have 

 that there is a divine meaning in the world, and 

 that mankind have not laid the sacrifice of their 

 efforts and their thoughts, their prayers and their 

 tears, upon the altar of an unknown or unknow- 



