174 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



proclaim what their hearers did not already know or accept, namely, 

 that Jesus rose through the heavens to the throne of God. 



But we have not even yet recovered the essence of the apostolic 

 teaching. The apostoHc teaching was in all its parts a gospel. It was 

 practically helpful. It was essentially a working hypothesis, if that 

 cold-blooded term may be pardoned. Being a working hypothesis, its 

 essence can be discerned only by considering its practical import. The 

 full practical import of the doctrine of the ascension of Christ we can- 

 not here set forth. Space forbids and it is not necessary for our argu- 

 ment. It will be sufficient if we select but one aspect of it, choosing 

 the simplest aspect that occurs to us. 



It will be remembered that the New Testament quite as fre- 

 quently says that Jesus was raised by God as that Jesus rose; using 

 the passive rather than the active voice. The ascension thus con- 

 ceived furnished among other things the apostolic answer to the per- 

 plexing question why Jesus was allowed by God to suffer and fail. He 

 had been, his followers believed, a perfectly good man. He had tried, 

 as no one else had ever dared to try, the experiment of trusting himself 

 wholly to God and righteousness. He had spurned all alliance with 

 the devil, even when the devil offered him all the kingdoms of the 

 world and the glory of them. Apparently his trust was disappointed. 

 His enemies cried about the cross, "He trusted in God that he would 

 deliver him. Let him deliver him now." The primitive Christians 

 believed that God met the challenge: that God raised Jesus to his 

 right hand, the place of honor and most intimate communion, there 

 to await a final and complete triumph. 



Modern Christianity shares in its essentials this primitive convic- 

 tion. Modern Christians, too, believe that the agony of the cross was 

 but a gate to glory; that Jesus still lives with God and that he will 

 yet overthrow his enemies. They draw from that conviction the same 

 inspiration that the apostles did. They share the apostles' working 

 hypothesis that God and righteousness can be absolutely trusted and 

 that God will surely justify his faithful servants. The primitive 

 gospel therefore does still persist. Men are still Christians. But 

 the conceptions in which the apostles presented their gospel have 



