Article April 22, 1911 Issue

FROM OUR EXCHANGES

with contributions from Anson Phelps Stokes, Jr., J. Y. Montague, J. E. Rattenbury, Mary E. McDowell

[Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Jr., in Outlook.]

It is true that the man who approaches Jesus as the one eternal God is not likely to get any real grip on his complete humanity; but he who first thinks of him as a man who lived a human life in Palestine may get to see that he completely transcended the realm of the human as we know it, and will like to call him divine.

It is upon the last words of St. Paul's phrase that I wish to lay special emphasis. Jesus was the first-born "among many brethren." It is apparent, then, that Jesus believed that there would some day be many men sharing his view of life, his possibility of living in complete union with the Father—men whom he could call brothers, although realizing that it was only through his help that they could reach his level. And this encouraging verse is not an isolated statement. The Bible is full of the thought. The fourth Gospel says: "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Paul writes, "We are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." And in another place we read: "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him." Listen also to the words of Jesus: "Be ye therefore perfect;" and "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." These verses truly represent the view of the New Testament itself, that there was nothing in Jesus' power which men might not reproduce.

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