Photo by the American Colony at J erusaleuj 



THE SUPPOSED POIXT OF THE CROSSING OE THE JORDAX BY THE CHilLDREN OF ISRAEL 



Religion, history, and nature conspire to make the Jordan the most famous river of the 

 earth. Across it the hosts of Israel were led into the Promised Land; in its waters the 

 Christian right of baptism had its birth ; up and down its vallej^ many civilizations in the 

 morning of history rose and fell. Perhaps the strangest thing about this famous river is 

 that none of the ancients ever guessed that its mouth was below the level of the sea. It was 

 not until 1874 that accurate measurements were made and the mouth of the river was found 

 1,292 feet below the Mediterranean, less than sixty miles away. 



the teaching becomes ideal and universal, 

 like that of the New Testament. 



It ought perhaps to be added that the 

 incidents of Chronicles in the Old Testa- 

 ment belong (except, of course, when the 

 element of marvel comes in) to what may 

 be called normal history, and can there- 

 fore be realized just as easily as we 

 realize the wars of the Crusaders and 

 the deeds of Sultan Saladin. 



THE GOSPEL AND PALESTINE 



We picture to ourselves the battle of 

 Saul and the Philistines at Gilboa as we 



picture the battle of Napoleon against 

 the Turks, a few miles farther north. It 

 is much harder to fit the Gospel with the 

 framework of Jerusalem or Galilee, be- 

 cause its contents are unlike anything 

 else in history. An Indian Mussulman 

 scholar -or a thoughtful Buddhist from 

 Japan might not feel this, but it is hard 

 for a European or American Christian 

 not to feel it. 



Whether these explanations be true or 

 not, it is the fact that to some travelers 

 the sight of the places that are mentioned 

 in the Gospel seems to bring no further 



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