2 54 HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS 



able God." That sentiment derives most of its 

 significance from the fact that Jesus has lived. 

 Whether He be considered as the germ of a new 

 evolution, or as the One who more than any other 

 has led the movement of humanity toward the 

 divine, matters little in our present discussion. 



There is still another characteristic of the 

 teaching of Jesus which must not be overlooked. 

 It adjusts itself to all times and conditions. This 

 is not the quality of " depth " which has made 

 it the study and inspiration of subsequent ages, 

 but something altogether different. His teach- 

 ings are principles of universal application, so 

 that when an Oriental receives them he thinks 

 of Jesus as " The Oriental Christ," and when 

 Occidentals study them they think of Him as 

 belonging to the West. This element of adjusta- 

 bility, while difficult of definition, is as real as 

 any force in the history of thought. If one is 

 asked. What was the attitude of Jesus toward 

 the problems which are vexing our time .-• the 

 reply would be, Our problems are our own. 

 They did not then exist. They are the product 

 of millions of forces, not the least of which are 

 the discoveries of science. And yet all must con- 

 fess that the teachings of Jesus have vital rela- 

 tion to nineteenth-century problems, and that 



