Never was
there any evidence of a fall. But if there were no
fall, then what became of the atonement, of the
redemption, of original sin, of a large part of
Christian mystical philosophy? Even if it were as
reasonable in itself as it is actually unreasonable, it
would still be quite divorced from the facts.
Again, too much seemed to be made of Christ's
death. It is no uncommon thing to die for an idea.
Every religion has equally had its martyrs. Men die
continually for their convictions. Thousands of our
lads are doing it at this instant in France. Therefore
the death of Christ, beautiful as it is in the Gospel
narrative, has seemed to assume an undue importance, as
though it were an isolated phenomenon for a man to die
in pursuit of a reform. In my opinion, far too much
stress has been laid upon Christ's death, and far too
little upon His life. That was where the true grandeur
and the true lesson lay. It was a life which even in
those limited records shows us no trait which is not
beautiful--a life full of easy tolerance for others, of
kindly charity, of broad-minded moderation, of gentle
courage, always progressive and open to new ideas, and
yet never bitter to those ideas which He was really
supplanting, though He did occasionally lose His temper
with their more bigoted and narrow supporters.
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