ever and always a restlessness indicative of great results. Men palpably think life "out of joint," and seek to remedy its ills by new triumphs over material resources; or they fancy that progress along intellectual lines, the dispelling of ignorance, the enlightening of the human mind, and the attendant results in better laws, better institutions, and a more righteous and equitable government, will prove the desired and needed remedy. Thus we achieve splendid and ever-increasing results along these lines, which are to-day, however, but weakly and poorly prophetic of those surpassing achievements which the future now conceals.

There are those, however, who, while they agree with their brethren in an ardent desire for better conditions, find that neither complete mastery over the material world, nor exhaustive triumphs in the intellectual realm, will prove the elixir of life. In their view, the wound of humanity lies deeper than matter or mind. Man, they declare, is more than body or matter, more than intellect or mind. Man is also spiritual and religious; character is his greatest endowment. And just here lies their dissatisfaction. Man is not, spiritually and religiously, what he ought to be. In the view of this class of malcontents, man is vitally affected in the spiritual part of his nature; therefore, the patent need of the world and of the individual, is character. "Give us," they say, "all possible material and intellectual progress; but above all, and crowning all, give us greater progress toward God!" A closer relationship to the Deity is demanded; new triumphs are craved here. And so, a boundless dream-albeit called by some, iridescenthaunts their thoughts: they have a vision of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom of God they desire, in which God's law shall be understood and known of all men, and in which God's will shall prevail, and God's will, not the will of man, be done.

This was the vision of Jesus of Nazareth; just here Jesus had His starting point. He was the chief exponent of the Kingdom of God,-the leader of those who would remedy the individual and the social ills of the world by the redemption of man's moral nature. Speaking in a general way, those who seek the betterment of human conditions may be classified as materialistic reformers, intellectual reformers, and spiritual re

formers; that is, in each instance, the reformer places the emphasis upon the material, or the intellectual, or the spiritual things of life. Usually men are controlled in their efforts at reform by one of these principles, often to the exclusion, or sad neglect, of the others. Hence, their efforts are unsuccessful, and often vapid and inane, because partial and divisive, in that they deal with man, not as man, but as body, or intellect, or spirit. Man is, however, a living soul, and the strength of Christianity, so far as man is concerned, lies in the fact that Jesus Christ in His attempt at reform, took into account man's three-fold nature-body, mind, and spirit-and made adequate provision therefor. While the foundation of His reformation lay in the redemption of man's moral nature, Jesus was in no way deaf to the appeal either of the body or the mind, as His numerous miracles, and His strenuous endeavors to instruct, amply attest. His vision, as we have said, was of the Kingdom of God; a Kingdom large enough to include all the needs of man while based upon man's moral needs.1

The unique position held by Jesus of Nazareth in the history of the world for well-nigh two thousand years, is admitted by all; nor is it going beyond the bounds of truth to say that, great as has been the homage paid to the Carpenter of Nazareth in the past, greater is the reverence felt toward Him in the present; and more intelligent and enduring is the homage paid, because it is founded upon a more just appreciation of His worth as a man, and not merely upon an easy and unquestioning acceptance of Him as the supernatural Son of God.

For

1 The reader of the Synoptic Gospels does not proceed far before he is convinced that Jesus' remedy for the ills of the world was "the Kingdom of God." He may be at a loss to know just what Jesus meant by the expression-"Kingdom of God"-which was so often upon His lips; but he is fully aware that Jesus laid great stress upon the importance of the Kingdom to the world. example, he is at once confronted by so remarkable an announcement as this: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). This absolute direction is given to mankind by Jesus without any qualification whatsoever. If one reads further, he finds Jesus always placing great emphasis upon the Kingdom; an emphasis which soon warrants the belief that, in the view of the Master, the great need of the world and of man is the Kingdom of God. However, more of this anon. See Appendix A, "The Theme of Jesus' Preaching."

Remarkable testimony to the innate grandeur of the Christ can be adduced from many sources: orthodoxy and heterodoxy, believer and unbeliever, radical and conservative, Jew and Christian alike, unite in chanting the praises and acknowledging the unique greatness of Him who is, more and more, being crowned King of Men. Mr. Lecky, in his "History of European Morals," does not pay too high encomium to the Founder of Christianity, when he remarks: "It was reserved for Christianity to present to the world an ideal character, which, through all the changes of eighteen centuries has filled the hearts of men with an impassioned love and has shown itself capable of acting on all ages, nations, temperaments, conditions; has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the highest incentive to its practice." The testimony of a noted Rabbi also is no less emphatic in praise of Jesus than the customary Christian eulogy. Delivering an address before the Epworth League of St. James' Methodist Church, Chicago, Dr. Emil G. Hirsch declared: "If Jesus Christ should return to the earth to-morrow, He would be welcomed in every Jewish synagogue in the land, and every Jew would say with David, 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.'" While this very cordial welcome may well be doubted in view of the singularly inhospitable reception extended centuries ago, the purport of the declaration is evident, in that it voices the admiration felt by many Jews for the Christ life and the Christ character.

Nor can we forbear to quote here the very eloquent tribute of Monsieur Renan, in the closing paragraph of his Vie de Jesus: "As for us, eternal children, condemned to weakness, we who labor without harvesting, and shall never see the fruit of what we have sown, let us bow before these demi-gods. They knew what we do not know: to create, to affirm, to act. Shall originality be born anew, or shall the world henceforth be content to follow the paths opened by the bold creators of the ancient ages? We know not. But whatever may be the surprises of the future, Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will grow young without ceasing; His legend will call forth tears without end; His sufferings will melt the noblest hearts; all ages will proclaim that among the sons of men there is none born greater than Jesus."

Similar testimony, from most dissimilar sources, might be multiplied at will; but, not to weary the reader, we will pass to the point in view: The growing conviction of our age that the truest and best appreciation of Jesus of Nazareth is gained along the line of a study of the Man Himself, and His teachings and acts; and not primarily from a study of what others have taught about Him. "He stood the more a King when bared to man." His message to the world, indeed, is best heard from His own lips; and His ideas are best gained by a close study of His own words as we find them reported by his faithful followers. We cannot but feel that the world has suffered an immeasurable loss, in that the teaching of the Master has been somewhat obscured by the teaching of the Church about the Master. Against the teaching of the Church we have no word to utter; at the same time, what is eternally and logically and chronologically of chiefest importance, is the Teaching of Jesus Himself.

We have indicated briefly that the engrossing theme of Jesus was the Kingdom of God, and that this seemed to the Preeminent Man of the human race, the world's great need. We think, therefore, that if this solution of the evils of human life was offered by Him whom millions of men acknowledge to be the Son of God, and whom all acknowledge to be the ideal man, it becomes the duty, and it is the privilege of every thoughtful mind to inquire, "What is meant by "The Kingdom of God'? What is this Kingdom which men are to seek?" For the conviction, so aptly expressed by Richard Watson Gilder, is deepening universally and steadily:

"If Jesus Christ is a man,

And only a man, I say

That of all mankind I cleave to Him,

And to Him will I cleave alway.

If Jesus Christ is a God,

And the only God, I swear

I will follow Him through Heaven and Hell,

The earth, the sea, and the air."

It is, therefore, our purpose to consider the Kingdom of God in its essential characteristics, as it is revealed in the Teaching of Jesus. Preparatory, however, to the more detailed investigation, we will consider:

1. The meaning of the phrase, "The Kingdom of God" or "The Kingdom of Heaven."

2. The origin and pre-Christian development of the idea which the phrase embodies.

3. The significance attached to the expression when used by Jesus.

Now first let us consider the phrase itself and its meaning.1 The expressions, "The Kingdom of God" and "The Kingdom of Heaven," are apparently unequivocal and definite. This definiteness, however, soon begins to recede when one endeavors to define the meaning of the phrase. What is the significance? Can the reader give any ready answer? And yet this expression stands prominently on many pages of the New Testament, and is written large on almost every page of the Synoptic Gospels. Surely we have a right to expect that those who would read their Bible intelligently, should determine at the earliest possible moment the meaning of an expression which is certainly among the most important in the Sacred Book, and which furnishes the key without which very many passages are most effectually sealed.

Now, as to the significance of the phrase, first let us consider the word "Kingdom." We are inclined to believe that we know the force of this word: it seems simple and easily intelligible, but a little reflection proves the word ambiguous. In our common speech, "kingdom" is used in different senses. For instance, we speak of the Kingdom of England, and a moment or two later perhaps, of the Vegetable or the Mineral Kingdom. Is the sense of the word the same in both expressions? Manifestly, it is not; and we recognize the difference at once. The word may be used, indeed, to define the territory or the country that is subject to a king; when it is used in this sense, the foreign possessions of the country are not commonly included in the idea. We speak, for instance, of the Kingdom of England without including Canada or Australia. So in this way the word has a definite, concrete, territorial sense: it is synonymous with "realm." But there is another sense almost as popular as this territorial one, in which the word is used. We refer to the inhabitants of a country, or to the popula

1 See Appendix B, "The Phrases, 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Kingdom of God.''