(ORIGINS 39 



though it were the union of two functions, that 

 caused the transmission of evil." (Op. cit. 99.) 

 How inconsistent are they who admit that Joseph 

 was competent to be the instructor and governor 

 of the child Jesus, but not to be His physical fa- 

 ther, and yet allow that to be the spiritual father 

 of a child is a much higher function than that of 

 being his physical father! We believe that we 

 are marching rapidly toward that day when the 

 spiritual will take a primary place in life and be 

 emancipated from the hitherto dominance of the 

 physical. 



A further examination of this particular 

 author, and possibly of others who draw similar 

 conclusions, would show that he entirely mistakes 

 the part which heredity plays, as when, for exam- 

 ple, he speaks of Jesus inheriting from His 

 mother " faith in, and surrender to, God." We 

 shall show later on that moral and spiritual, in- 

 dividual as distinguished from race, qualities are 

 not transmissible by heredity. (Vid. chapter 

 VII.) Nor is he scientifically justified when he 

 says (p. 105): "The pre-natal influence of the 

 mother on the child was a channel of grace, con- 

 firming the tendency of faith." 



Finally, the question may be considered to 

 have bearings in three directions: (1) The in- 

 tegrity of the manuscripts. That is a question 

 for the lower or textual critics to decide. (2) The 

 influence of the doctrine of hereditary sin in the 

 origin of the account in the Gospels. That ques- 



