iv] Some Implications of the Incarnation 149 



held by most thoughtful Christians of to-day, surely 

 a reasonable view, when one remembers that His 

 ministry did not begin till He was nearly thirty years 

 old and with the outlines of the Gospel story, that 

 only with the passage of the years did He come to the 

 full understanding of His mission. 



At any rate, we cannot gain more light along the line 

 of investigation we have chosen. 



One cannot do more than express a tentative opinion 

 on a matter that is necessarily beyond our understand- 

 ing; but in honesty one cannot do less than state the 

 opinion to which one is impelled. It may not, and in- 

 deed cannot, be completely satisfactory; but it is worth 

 while to formulate views, even if incomplete and in 

 parts erroneous, that others may envisage the problems, 

 and abler minds lead us gradually nearer to the truth. 

 F. W. Robertson, more than seventy years ago, in His 

 sermon on "The Good Shepherd 1 " insisted on the need 

 for an honest facing of the nature of Our Lord's human- 

 ity 2 . We have been trying to examine some of the more 

 outstanding difficulties of our belief to the best of our 

 ability. The most we can hope is that we have cleared 

 the way for future thought, and have ourselves thought 

 carefully and reverently. However questionable our 

 conclusions may seem to some, the attempt will have 

 been worth while, if it leads them to formulate a more 

 satisfying theory. 



Our own examination has led us to two definite re- 

 sults, (i) Christ was fully Man, with all the limitations 

 that are necessary to manhood, but without the dis- 

 ability which seems probably inherent in fallen man- 

 hood. He put on manhood, but it was perfect. Being 

 perfect, He could identify Himself completely with 



1 Sermons, 2nd series. 



1 See Storr, Development of English Theology in the Nineteenth 

 Century, pp. 416-417. 



