MEDITATIONS AND CRITICISMS 199 



Had the record made Jesus suddenly appear as a 

 great potentate, or even as a full-grown man, as the 

 angels are represented as appearing, or had it repre- 

 sented him as the child of some nymph, like certain 

 other heroes of antiquity, the fabulous character of the 

 story would have been apparent. But he came as a 

 man, lived as a man, and died as a man ; was indeed 

 completely immersed in our common humanity. No- 

 thing God-like but his teachings. Even the reputed 

 miracles become him not ; they mar his perfect hu- 

 manity. They belong to the conception of him as 

 a supernatural being, and not as a man. The notion 

 of the Immaculate Conception also jars upon our 

 sense of the human completeness of his character. 

 He came as the great saviours in all ages have come, 

 and was rejected and denied in the usual way. His 

 lot was not exceptional. His character and mission 

 were not exceptional, except that he spoke more fully 

 to our sense of the divine than any man has before 

 spoken. 



XI 



I have often asked myself, What is the merit of the 

 mingled feeling of admiration and approval which 

 we experience toward people who devoutly hold a 

 religious creed in the truth of which we have no 

 confidence ? In yonder house is an aged woman 

 slowly dying of an incurable disease. She can no 

 longer rise from her bed, or even move herself with- 

 out help. Her son has come from the far West to 

 be with her in these last days of her life. Every 

 morning the son reads a chapter from the Bible, and 



