Article April 1, 1916 Issue

From Our Exchanges

with contributions from John M. Thomas, John Whitehead, William Temple, Gordon L. Thompson

[John M. Thomas, D.D., in The Congregationalist and Christian World]

The Christ of men's hearts today is the Christ of the highest reaches of belief and veneration. Not with creeds toned down, with claims for Jesus lessened, is the gospel successfully presented today. The world was never more sure of the fact than now that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." The confession of that divinity in Christ is necessary from the world's experience of the increasing Christ.

The divineness of our Lord is no formula composed in the clouds and flung down at us ready made. It came out of things that happened to people just like ourselves, in a world just like our world. Jesus walked the streets of Capernaum like any carpenter's son. His clothes were what other people wore; his bearing was not noticeably peculiar. Except for a very short time of his life he went out and in unnoticed, one of the millions of the poor and the humble. But "he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit," and many other things of like sort. He stretched out his hand and blessed little children and the poor. Men remembered what he did, treasured what he said, talked it over with others, wrote it on bits of parchment, and they found—could not help finding—that the God of the martyred prophets was working at them through these remembered words; that a power had hold of them, not themselves, working with the power of the almighty God for righteousness, for kindliness, for eternal life. They were every-day people; they were not looking for a Son of God. The very idea was contrary to their training. But they could not help themselves. The Son of God revealed himself in their hearts. Jesus of Nazareth increased to that measure of fulness in their souls.

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