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Foundations of Nursing Research, 7e (Nieswiadomy)

Chapter 1 Development of Nursing Research

1) What is the best reason that scholars consider Florence Nightingale to be the first nurse
researcher?
A) She changed nursing by basing her practice on her research findings.
B) She identified a body of knowledge unique to nursing.
C) She collected data in a systematic fashion.
D) She communicated the data collected to other nurses.
Answer: A
Explanation: A) Florence Nightingale used the research process as an entity and did not merely
use some aspects of the research process. She used this systematic approach and its resultant
findings to change nursing practice.
B) Only in recent years have nurses concentrated on establishing a unique body of nursing
knowledge. This has occurred in the years since Nightingale.
C) Although Nightingale did begin systematically making and recording data, it was her
admonishment that all nurses do the same that began to change nursing.
D) Whereas Nightingale used observations to influence practice in her sphere of control, it is
unclear how widely she was able to disseminate the information.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Implementation
Learning Outcome: LO 05. Summarize the development of nursing research and future
priorities.

2) Research is important to the nursing profession for many reasons. What is the ultimate goal of
nursing research?
A) Document the cost-effectiveness of nursing care.
B) Ensure credibility of the nursing profession.
C) Promote evidence-based practice in nursing.
D) Provide accountability for the nursing profession.
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Whereas cost-effective nursing care is important, it is not as important as
providing optimum care. Many would argue that cost-effectiveness is a part of optimum care.
B) Whereas nursing research will help to establish credibility of the nursing profession, this
result is not as important as providing optimum care to the client.
C) The major reason for conducting research is to foster optimum care for clients. Evidence-
based practice is nurses making clinical decisions based on the best research evidence, the
nurse's clinical expertise, and the health preferences of the client.
1
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
D) Whereas nursing research does provide rationale for nursing actions, thereby promoting
accountability, this is not as important as providing optimal care to the client.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 02. Describe four goals for conducting nursing research.

3) The National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR) establishes research priorities. Which
option reflects a study that meets the current mission of the NINR?
A) The effect of nurse-led community education on the prevalence of heart disease
B) The number of students entering nursing programs
C) The efficacy of a specific medication therapy for congestive heart failure
D) The job satisfaction level of currently employed nurses
Answer: A
Explanation: A) Promoting health and preventing disease is an area of research emphasis for the
NINR. Evaluating the effects of nurse-led community education about health matches this area
of emphasis.
B) Nursing workforce numbers is not an area of the NINR's current research emphasis. The areas
are promoting health and preventing disease and disability, managing symptoms, and improving
palliative and end-of-life care.
C) Research into medication efficacy is not an area of the NINR's current research emphasis. The
areas are promoting health and preventing disease and disability, managing symptoms, and
improving palliative and end-of-life care.
D) Job satisfaction among nurses is not an area of the NINR's current research emphasis. The
areas are promoting health and preventing disease and disability, managing symptoms, and
improving palliative and end-of-life care.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Assessment
Learning Outcome: LO 05. Summarize the development of nursing research and future
priorities.

4) Nurses involved in research assume different roles, based on their level of education. Which
best describes the role of the BSN-prepared nurse in research?
A) Collaborates with other nurses to design research studies
B) Critiques research studies and applies research to clinical practice
C) Develops policy based on nursing research findings
D) Assumes the role of primary investigator in an independent research study
Answer: B
Explanation: A) This is the role of the master's-prepared nurse.
B) BSN-prepared nurses should read research critically and determine if results are ready to be
used in practice.
C) This is the role of the nurse who holds a practice-focused doctorate.
D) This is the role of the nurse who holds a research-focused doctorate.
Cognitive Level: Applying
2
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Implementation
Learning Outcome: LO 04. Describe the various roles of nurses in research.

3
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
5) Which option reflects the "authority" approach to knowledge development?
A) The nurses on the unit have used a variety of approaches to a client care problem, trying to
find one that is effective.
B) A nurse approaches a client care situation in a specific manner because "that is what seems to
be the best thing to do."
C) When asked why client care is organized in the current manner, the nurse manager states,
"We've always done it that way."
D) When faced with a question regarding provision of nursing care, the nurse consults a nursing
textbook for instruction.
Answer: D
Explanation: A) A series of attempts to solve a problem until a solution is reached is called trial
and error.
B) This approach is the use of nursing intuition.
C) This statement reflects the use of "tradition" in the use of nursing knowledge.
D) This nurse is gaining nursing knowledge by using an authority source, the nursing textbook.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Evaluation
Learning Outcome: LO 05. Summarize the development of nursing research and future
priorities.

6) The nurse researcher is conducting a study to help a nursing unit solve the problem of
increased postprocedure infections in clients who have undergone transurethral prostatectomy.
Which type of nursing research is this researcher conducting?
A) Basic research
B) Applied research
C) Quantitative research
D) Qualitative research
Answer: B
Explanation: A) Basic research is conducted to develop, test, and refine theories and generate
new knowledge.
B) Applied research is directed toward generating knowledge that can be used in seeking
solutions to current clinical problems, whereas basic research is conducted to generate new
knowledge.
C) Quantitative research is concerned with objectivity, tight controls over the research situation,
and the ability to generalize findings. There is not enough information in this question to
determine if this is a quantitative study.
D) Qualitative research is concerned with the subjective meaning of experience to individuals.
There is not enough information in this question to determine if this is a qualitative research
study.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Implementation
Learning Outcome: LO 02. Describe four goals for conducting nursing research.

4
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
7) What is generally considered the most valid means of developing the knowledge base of
nursing?
A) Scientific research
B) Evidence-based practice
C) Qualitative research
D) Outcomes research
Answer: A
Explanation: A) Through scientific research, nurses can determine what they do, how they do it,
and what distinguishes them from other groups in healthcare. These are attributes of a
profession's unique body of knowledge.
B) Evidence-based practice involves the use of research findings but does not entail the broader
perspective of a body of nursing knowledge.
C) Qualitative research is concerned with the subjective meaning of an experience to an
individual and is a type of research approach. Whereas qualitative research may be used to
develop nursing knowledge, this is not a complete answer to this question.
D) Outcomes research is concerned with measurable outcomes of interventions and the cost-
effectiveness of care. Whereas outcomes research may be used to develop nursing knowledge,
this is not a complete answer to this question.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 01. Identify the importance of research to nursing.

8) For which role in a research study is special research preparation necessary?

A) Identifier of researchable problems
B) Evaluator of research findings
C) Patient advocate during studies
D) Principal investigator for study
Answer: D
Explanation: A) All nurses, regardless of educational preparation, should be alert for issues that
could be researchable problems. This vigilance strengthens the profession.
B) All nurses, regardless of educational preparation, should be able to evaluate a research study
and determine if the findings of the study are applicable to their individual practice.
C) All nurses, regardless of educational preparation, should act as patient advocates.
D) Special research knowledge is needed by the nurse who serves as the principal investigator in
a research study or scientific investigation.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 04. Describe the various roles of nurses in research.

5
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
9) Acting as principle investigator on a project, a nurse discovers that study results do not
support some of the researcher's long-held beliefs. What is the most significant danger in this
situation?
A) The researcher may tire of the topic before the study is completed.
B) The researcher may abandon the project.
C) The researcher may be unable to remain unbiased in the interpretation of data.
D) The researcher may feel obligated to ask another nurse researcher to act as the principle
investigator on the project.
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Although it is true that the researcher may grow tired of the project, this is not
the most significant danger.
B) Although it is true that the researcher might have thoughts of abandoning the project, an
ethical researcher would continue the investigation. This is not the most significant danger
because if the study is abandoned, no unreliable data would be published.
C) This is the most significant danger. A researcher must be able to separate personal feelings
from data interpretation. If this cannot be done, the data and findings published may be biased or
erroneous.
D) If the researcher's feelings are strong enough, this might be a consideration.
Cognitive Level: Analyzing
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Implementation
Learning Outcome: LO 02. Describe four goals for conducting nursing research.

10) Which research study will most likely be conducted using a qualitative approach?
A) A study comparing the results of two antihypertensive medications given to patients who
have diabetes mellitus
B) A study tracking change in reading level for children treated with behavioral therapy for
attention-deficit activity disorder
C) A study investigating changes in family dynamics following the sudden death of a child
D) A study designed to measure weight-loss trends in middle adults who increase walking
Answer: C
Explanation: A) This study will measure blood pressure numbers, which is a quantitative
measure.
B) This study will measure reading levels, which are reported in numbers and are a quantitative
measure.
C) This study will look at the lived experiences of a family. Such studies are qualitative.
D) This study will measure weight-loss numbers, which is a quantitative measure.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Assessment
Learning Outcome: LO 03. Compare qualitative and quantitative research.

6
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
11) Which situations suggest studies that would be classified as nursing research? Select all that
apply.
A) Nurses wonder if using a different hand soap would decrease postoperative infections.
B) A nurse is curious about a new surgical technique that was developed.
C) Nurses discuss how tired they are at the end of a 12-hour shift.
D) A nurse reads about a wound care technique used by rural mothers in the 1940s.
E) A nurse overhears a discussion about a new medium used for growing cultures in the
laboratory.
Answer: A, C, D
Explanation: A) Investigation of a new hand soap for the purpose of decreasing postoperative
infections is nurse focused and would directly affect patient care. This is a good topic for nursing
research.
B) Choice of surgical technique is not within nursing's scope of practice. Learning more about
the technique would be interesting but is not specifically linked to nursing research.
C) Being tired at the end of a shift directly impacts care provided by nurses. This topic fits the
criteria for nursing research.
D) Nurses often have autonomy in choosing wound care techniques, so this question fits the
criteria for nursing research.
E) Choosing the methods of growing cultures in the laboratory is not within the scope of nursing
practice so this information would not spark a question answerable by nursing research.
Cognitive Level: Analyzing
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 01. Identify the importance of research to nursing.

12) A nurse has tried several methods to contain wound drainage so that a patient can be
ambulatory. The first three attempts were unsuccessful, so the nurse devised a fourth dressing
type. What is the primary disadvantage of this plan?
A) It does not add information to nursing's body of knowledge.
B) It is not systematic or orderly.
C) The reasons the dressings did not work are not determined or documented.
D) The focus is on problem solving, not on developing a generalizable dressing technique.
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Information is being added to this nurse's body of knowledge. This is not the
most comprehensive answer to the question.
B) A benefit of the scientific process is that it is systematic and orderly, but not all knowledge
increasing activities are or need to be.
C) A major disadvantage of "trial-and-error" is that the reasons an intervention did not work are
not fully investigated so that the nurse understands why they were unsuccessful.
D) Individual nurses often focus on solving the clinical problem at hand. Problem solving is not
as generalizable as broad-based research, but generalization is not this nurse's goal.
Cognitive Level: Analyzing
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Evaluation
Learning Outcome: LO 01. Identify the importance of research to nursing.
7
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
13) What is the purpose of the Cochrane Collaboration?
A) To help various individuals and groups of people make well-informed healthcare decisions
B) To form coalitions to support the rights of healthcare workers
C) To establish the United States as the premier provider of healthcare in the world
D) To develop a centralized clearinghouse for nursing research proposals
Answer: A
Explanation: A) The Cochrane Collaboration was established as an international nonprofit
organization with the goal of helping various individuals and groups of people make well-
informed healthcare decisions.
B) The Cochrane Collaboration does not address rights of healthcare workers.
C) The Cochrane Collaboration is an international organization.
D) The Cochrane Collaboration focuses on reviews of research already conducted, not on
proposals for new research.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Implementation
Learning Outcome: LO 05. Summarize the development of nursing research and future
priorities.

14) The nurse has been asked to participate as a study subject in a research project examining
stress and family role definition. What should the nurse do?
A) Decline the invitation because nurses do not have sufficient free time to participate in such
activities.
B) Decline the invitation because nurses have knowledge that would prevent their study answers
from being unbiased.
C) Accept the invitation if permission from the nurse's employer can be obtained.
D) Accept the invitation if the nurse is interested and willing to participate.
Answer: D
Explanation: A) Nurses are autonomous and may make decisions about projects in which they
wish to participate. Because nursing can be a stressful profession, nurses would make good study
participants for this particular study.
B) There is no indication that the nurse's knowledge would skew research results.
C) Permission from the employer is not necessary for this research. The nurse is autonomous.
D) Nurses may act as subjects or participants in research if they are willing and interested.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 04. Describe the various roles of nurses in research.

8
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
15) What is TRUE of how research priorities in nursing are set? Select all that apply.
A) One central organization sets research priorities for nursing.
B) Some priorities are set based on a sampling of a wide range of nurses.
C) Different specialty groups in nursing may set priorities specific to their practice.
D) Research money is available only to projects authorized by Sigma Theta Tau International.
E) Nursing research priorities focus on clinical research.
Answer: B, C
Explanation: A) No central organization assumes this role for all research in nursing.
B) Because nurses should always be watchful for researchable problems, these samplings are
useful in determining priorities.
C) Specialty groups often identify researchable problems and priorities within their own practice.
D) Sigma Theta Tau International does fund many nursing research projects, but it is not the only
funding source.
E) A good deal of nursing research is clinical research, but many studies are also conducted on
nonclinical areas.
Cognitive Level: Applying
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Planning
Learning Outcome: LO 05. Summarize the development of nursing research and future
priorities.

9
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
16) Which findings may represent qualitative research results? Select all that apply.
A) Use of a specific integrative medicine technique reduces participants' blood pressure by 25%.
B) Six of the eight study participants reported sadness when their oldest child left home for
college.
C) The majority of nurses in the study report that the use of a pain scale is "important" to their
patient care.
D) Half of the 35,000 study participants reduced their weight by more than 5 pounds by using the
study drug.
E) A retrospective review of the medical records of all persons admitted with myocardial
infarction reveals 40% did not experience shortness of breath.
Answer: A, B, C
Explanation: A) There is no reason that results from a qualitative study cannot include statistics.
This study could be qualitative, depending upon the number of participants and how the study
was organized.
B) Qualitative studies have small numbers of participants and often involve personal reports of
lived experiences.
C) This study could be qualitative as the results discuss the nurse's perceptions of the value of
using a pain scale. More information about number of participants and study design are
necessary for a definite answer.
D) The number of participants in this study cues the reader to know this study is not qualitative.
E) A retrospective review of medical records is not a qualitative study. Qualitative studies
depend upon interviews with participants.
Cognitive Level: Analyzing
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Assessment
Learning Outcome: LO 03. Compare qualitative and quantitative research.

10
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
17) Which situations demonstrate a nurse taking accountability for individual practice? Select all
that apply.
A) The nurse chooses to use exam gloves rather than sterile gloves for a clean procedure.
B) The nurse reads practice journals to learn about new procedural techniques.
C) The nurse considers whether a newly prescribed medication dose is safe for a patient.
D) The nurse presents evidence about the effect of nurse-patient ratios on quality of care during a
meeting about a new staffing plan.
E) The nurse wears a well-pressed lab coat to a meeting of the hospital's risk management team.
Answer: B, C, D
Explanation: A) Technically, either type of glove could be used safely for this procedure. The
nurse is demonstrating attention to cost-effectiveness by this action.
B) Reading journals to stay abreast of changes in the profession demonstrates the nurse's
accountability for personal practice.
C) Considering whether any intervention is correct for a patient demonstrates accountability for
personal nursing practice.
D) Basing information in evidence demonstrates accountability for personal nursing practice.
E) Presenting oneself professionally supports the credibility of nursing.
Cognitive Level: Analyzing
Client Need: Safe and Effective Care Environment
Client Need Sub: Management of Care
Nurs./Integ. Concepts: Nursing Process: Evaluation
Learning Outcome: LO 02. Describe four goals for conducting nursing research.

11
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
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 CHAPTER IV.
VIRGIL’S NEW AGE OF JUSTICE AND PEACE.

The slow but steady rise of an obscure inland Italian town, first to the
rule of all Italy, and finally to imperial sway over the whole
Mediterranean world, is as full of problems for the intellect as of
fascination for the imagination. Whence the extraordinary vigour and
practical genius of this city? What gave it so much capacity in
comparison with any other Italian town? Does the secret lie in the
Roman character, the Roman intellect, or in the constitution of the
republican city itself? But other questions still more serious press for
answers: How did the Roman government affect the subject
provinces? How did it react upon the Roman character and upon the
life of the capital? Could a single city furnish men of character and
ability in sufficient numbers for such a prodigious task?
The answer to these grave questions must be sought in the history
of the last century of the existence of the republic. From about 145
B. C. to about 48 B. C. Rome was never at rest: violent political
strife, faction, proscriptions and civil wars eclipse everything else in
the internal history of the imperial city during these years. The old
state machinery was getting worn out; the old families, corrupted by
the immeasurable success of the Rome which was their making,
were grinding the provinces by their cruelty and greed, and would
not budge an inch from their privileges, nor indeed lift a finger, to
save Rome and Italy from the moral and economic ruin with which
they were threatened. The wrongs of the slave, the Italian and the
provincial cried aloud for redress; scarcely less urgent was the need
for the introduction of a great deal of fresh blood into the governing
classes; but the latter were bitterly hostile to every change. Hence
the violent struggles throughout the century between the
Government and the other classes. The empire had proved too
much for the old Roman character.[158] The only force that remained
really efficient was the army.
Who shall describe the ruin, bloodshed, misery, desolation, wrought
by these years? The national character suffered a frightful fall also:
corruption in public, immorality in private, became all but universal.
The weariness and the hopelessness generated by the seemingly
unending strife made men forget their old passion for freedom and
sigh even for tyranny, if only it would bring peace.
Relief came when Julius Cæsar crushed Pompey at Pharsalus in B.
C. 48. There was fighting here and there for two years more, but it
was of little consequence. Pharsalus made Cæsar the monarch of
Rome. He lived barely four years after his victory; for the daggers of
the conspirators found his heart on the 15th of March, 44 B. C.; yet
by a series of masterly administrative and legislative acts he laid in
great broad lines the foundation of the new empire and set in motion
the healthy forces that were needed for the regeneration of Rome
and Italy. His work is Titanic both in conception and execution.
Seldom has such a great man executed such a mighty task.
But his murder loosed all the old fiends again, and they worked
wilder woe than ever. For now the whole gigantic empire was drawn
into the whirlpool, and the provinces were only a little less miserable
than Italy. During Cæsar’s own struggle his mighty genius and his
magnanimity had thrown a glory upon the murky clouds of the storm;
but now that the sun was set, black darkness settled over the
unhappy empire.[159]
There was a pause in the strife, when, in B. C. 40, a treaty was
drawn up between Octavian and Antony at Brundisium and
confirmed by the marriage of Antony to the sister of Octavian. Men
hoped that the end had come at last and that the world would enjoy
a lasting peace.
It was during this bright moment that Virgil, who later was to write the
Aeneid, and so earn for himself a very great name in European
literature, composed a short poem, which finds a place among his
Pastorals, and is named Pollio. Here is a translation of lines four to
twenty-five, which will be found quite sufficient to bring the main
ideas of the poem before us:—

“The last epoch of the Sybil’s prophecy has come at length; the
great series of the ages is being born anew; at length the virgin,
Justice, is returning, returning too the reign of Saturn; at length a
new race of men is being sent down from heaven high. Do thou,
Lucina, but smile thy chaste smile upon a boy with whose
coming at last ceases the iron race and the golden springs up
throughout the world; do so, Lucina: it is thine own Apollo that
now reigns. It is in thy consulship, Pollio, that this glorious age
will come in, and the months of the great year will begin their
march. Under thy leadership all traces that remain of Roman
crime in civil strife shall pass away, and passing, free the lands
from constant fear.
“He shall receive the life of the gods, and shall behold gods and
heroes mingling together; and himself shall be beheld by them;
and with his father’s virtues he shall rule the world at peace.
“Unasked the earth shall shower upon thee, sweet boy, thy first
baby gifts, the gadding ivy with the fox-glove, and lily-bean
entwined with smiling bear’s-foot. The goats shall bring home
uncalled their milk-filled udders; the harts shall no longer fear
great lions; and flowers shall spring to caress thee where’er thou
liest down. The asp shall perish; the treacherous, poison herb
shall perish too; and everywhere shall spring Assyrian balm.”[160]

The Greeks and Romans had a great system of cycles and ages, not
unlike the Hindu Kalpas and Manvantaras. One cycle follows
another, the beginning of each being marked by the sun, moon and
stars all occupying their original positions. The Roman phrase for
cycle is “great year.” Each great year is subdivided into “months,”
that is ages. The first age of each great year is the golden, when
Saturn reigns, and a divine race of men occupies the earth; the last
is the iron age, when Apollo reigns, and men are sinful.
Virgil declares, then, that the end of the old cycle has come, and that
the new cycle is about to begin with all the splendour of the golden
age. Saturn will reign; Justice and Peace will return to the earth; a
god-like race of men will spring up all over the world; nature will be
redeemed; and primitive simplicity and innocence will reappear.
Idyllic scenes of peace and plenty—trade and manufacture all
forgotten—give the poem a wonderful charm.
The most outstanding idea of the prophecy, however, is that the new
age opens with the birth of a boy, who is to receive special divine
help, and is to be at once the pattern and the prince of the new time.
Who the boy was that Virgil had in mind, the critics have not been
able to decide.[161] Clearly he was a son born in 40 B. C. to one of the
leading Romans; but we can say no more. Evidently Virgil believed
that the civil wars were over, that a new era of peace had begun, and
that this boy might be looked forward to as the ruler who should
effectively transform the empire, revive primitive virtue and simplicity,
and banish the foul demon war forever.
His prediction was not verified: no boy born in 40 B. C. became a
world-ruler and regenerator; and, besides, nine long years of doubt
and fear, horror and blood, had to be endured, before Octavian
became, by the battle of Actium, the acknowledged master of the
Roman world; and, while he completed the task of Cæsar, and
succeeded in doing the work of a great ruler in a marvellous fashion,
no one would dream of saying that he fulfilled the ideal of this poem.
It is an unfulfilled prophecy; yet it is not without interest and value for
men to-day. First of all it is of interest as a revelation of the ideas and
the hopes that filled men’s minds in Virgil’s time. “The anticipation of
a new era was widely spread and vividly felt over the world; and this
anticipation—the state of men’s minds at and subsequent to the time
when this poem was written—probably contributed to the acceptance
of the great political and spiritual changes which awaited the
world.”[162] But it is of still greater interest as a revelation of what
Virgil himself thought, Virgil, who was perhaps the purest and most
interesting personality in the Græco-Roman world then. Men
generally were looking for a regeneration of the world; we have here
Virgil’s own thoughts on the great subject. He shared with others the
idea that the world was on the verge of the dawning of a new day, a
day of renewed justice and peace; but he had an idea of his own,
that of a great personality, a man of high moral character, specially
endowed by the gods for his great task as leader and ruler of the
new time. Scarcely less prominent is his idea of the nobler race of
men that shall spring up in the new era. It is no picture merely of
good government such as Augustus gave the world that we have
here; but a prophecy of the moral regeneration of mankind under the
influence of a divinely prepared leader.
 CHAPTER V.
JESUS OF NAZARETH.

I. The difference between ancient and modern times in Europe is

vital. Human society is never stagnant; development in one direction
or another is constant; so that in the course of a few centuries
changes, both numerous and noticeable, take place everywhere.
Thus the Europe of the middle ages differs very markedly from the
Europe of to-day. Yet the one is the direct outcome of the other. On
the other hand, the civilizations of Greece and Rome, although we
owe them an incalculable debt, are marked off from modern
civilization by differences which can only be spoken of as essential.
For it is not any single element that has been added externally to
ancient life so as to produce modern society; it is rather a subtle
spirit, which has modified all thinking, altered the values of things,
produced organic changes in government and society, and recreated
art and literature. The unexampled development of science and
invention, and the extraordinary activity and vigour of European
commerce and arms, which are often spoken of as the chief
characteristics of modern civilization, are rather to be regarded as
indications of unparalleled vitality and efficiency in the social
organism than as essential products of its spirit. Science and
invention flourished among the Greeks; the Roman empire was as
vigorous as any modern state in matters of war. These things prove
the healthy vitality of the society of the West; its essential spirit is to
be sought elsewhere.
A comparison of ancient and modern life reveals differences at once
very numerous and greatly significant. The economics of Europe
have been revolutionized; for the labour, the manufacture and the
commerce of ancient times rested on a basis of slavery.[163]
Government has been turned upside down; for the ruling principle of
ancient politics was hereditary and exclusive citizenship in a city-
state;[164] while modern politics have been created by the great
principles of the equality of men irrespective of birth or station and
the indefeasible sovereignty of the people.[165] In ancient society
human life as such had no value: infanticide was practised openly by
all as a right and proper thing necessary for the well-being of the
family and the state;[166] prisoners taken in war, if not killed, were
made slaves, and as slaves their lives and persons were absolutely
at the mercy of their masters;[167] aliens had a place in the state only
on sufferance: society stood in no relation to them and had no duties
towards them.[168] The social organism of modern times, on the other
hand, is a new creation, produced by the conception of the inherent
sanctity of human life and the divine dignity of the human personality.
[169]
Modern education is in form and method Greek; but the results it
produces are altogether new; first, because it carries the modern
spirit within the ancient forms, and secondly, because modern men
regard education as part of the birthright of every human being.
Moral ideals show very important differences, chiefly in the direction
of the elevation of humility, meekness, sympathy, forgiveness and
self-sacrifice, and the extraordinary advance in the conception of the
right of individual freedom. In ancient times the individual citizen had
no rights as against the State;[170] now we demand not only freedom
in matters of profession and business, as against caste restrictions,
but intellectual, moral and religious liberty. The differences between
ancient and modern religion are very extraordinary in many ways.
For the present we need only note the one far-reaching distinction,
that to the ancients religion was a political duty, which the citizen
was bound to fulfil, and a civic privilege, which only those in whose
veins ran the sacred blood of the community could share;[171] while
modern religion is the loftiest activity of the human spirit, as far
transcending the narrow limits of the State as it does the petty
distinctions of race and blood. The differences, then, between
ancient and modern life are not accidental but essential.
A second thing to be noticed is the altogether unexampled vitality
and pervasiveness of modern civilization. During the nineteenth
century alone, while the population of the rest of the world remained
nearly stationary, the actual numbers of the European peoples rose
from 170,000,000 to 500,000,000.[172] Here is physical life on a
gigantic scale. Let readers think, next, of the extraordinary advances
made during the nineteenth century in every province of natural
science, from mathematics and physics up through the biological
sciences to psychology and the science of religion, the swift upward
progress made in literary, historical and philosophical method, and
the innumerable inventions that have been produced for facilitating
every form of human activity. Are not these facts evidence of an
amazing store of intellectual vitality in the society of the West? Think
also of the buoyancy, the hope, the youthful delight in action, the
glance into the future, which characterize the progressive peoples of
Europe and America. Colonization, on the other hand, exploration,
missions, world-wide commerce, domination over other races,
whether you call them bad or good, are incontestable proofs of
energy, physical, moral and intellectual. Further, these forms of vital
force are clearly of the greatest practical importance in the world. In
the process of natural selection which, whether we like it or not, is
ceaselessly being carried on among the races of mankind, the
possession of such energy is one of the crucial factors in the
struggle. But this civilization has also an altogether unique power of
entering into other civilizations and working revolutionary changes
there: its pervasiveness is almost as remarkable as its vitality. We
need only point to India and Japan to-day for proof of this.
Western civilization, then, is a thing by itself, not more clearly
distinguished from ancient life than from the civilizations that have
arisen in other parts of the world. What is it that has made the
difference? What subtle spirit is it that appears in every aspect of the
civilization, that assumes so many forms, and generates such
transcending energies?
There can be but one answer: it is Christianity. In every community
religion is the life principle, the central fire, which fills the whole with
living force, and communicates its own spirit to every cell of the
organism.[173] That is a law which is becoming ever more apparent in
all anthropological, sociological and religious science. From this
general law we might conclude in this particular case, that it is the
religion that gives the civilization its character. But we need not
appeal to general principles; history tells us in the clearest tones that
the peculiarities which distinguish Western civilization from every
other spring directly or indirectly from the Christian faith.
Now one way of classifying religions is to divide them into two
groups, spontaneous and founded. The former are results of the
united unconscious action of a tribe or people: for example, the
religions of Greece and Rome. The latter spring from some particular
man, and are inseparably connected with his life: for example,
Buddhism, Christianity and Mohammedanism.
That Christianity is a founded religion, and that it springs from Christ,
admits of no question. Tacitus, the Roman historian, in speaking of
the great fire at Rome in 64 A. D., which devastated ten of the
fourteen districts into which the Imperial city was divided, says that
the people got their heads filled with the suspicion, that the Emperor
himself (Nero was then on the throne) had used his agents to set the
city on fire. He then continues:—

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt

and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their
abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from
whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty
during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our
procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous
superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not
only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome,
where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the
world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an
arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their
information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much
of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.
Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with
the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished; or
were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt,
to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.
 “Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a
show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress
of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals
who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose
a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the
public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being
destroyed.”[174]

Christ, then, is a historical person. He was a Jew; He founded

Christianity; and He was executed by Pontius Pilatus during his
procuratorship of Judæa, i.e., between 27 and 37 A. D.[175] Other
facts enable scholars to fix the date of His death within narrower
limits: a few adopt 30 A. D., but by far the greatest number prefer 29
A. D.;[176] and that date we adopt here.
Here, then, are the facts: Christ was put to death by the Roman
Governor of Judæa in 29 A. D., but this did not extinguish
Christianity; for it spread not only in Judæa but beyond; so much so,
that in 64 A. D. “an immense multitude” of Christians were found in
Rome, and were for their faith put to death with horrible barbarities.
Such is the first chapter of the history of Christianity in Europe. From
this point onwards the facts are well known. The furious hostility
visible here in the spirit of the Roman Empire against the Christian
faith ended in the victory of the latter, in its gradual acceptance by
the races of Europe, and the continuously increasing infiltration of
Christian ideas into the minds of the people. The process is far from
complete; for the contrast between the old spirit and the new is so
extreme that only long ages of discipline and the slow processes of
evolution will suffice to work the transformation. We have seen how
essentially different the spirit in our modern life is from the spirit of
Græco-Roman life: how much greater would be the contrast, if one
were to oppose the pure spirit of Christ to the spirit of Paganism!
When men accept Christ, they are conscious of the authority of His
perfect character and His heavenly life, and they know that He
claims their complete submission to Him; but they have no idea how
far-reaching this claim is. Christ demands that not only every part of
the individual’s life—thoughts, feelings, words, deeds—but every
aspect of social and political life as well should be made subject to
His law of love. This is easily stated: how hard is it to work it out,
except in a long series of generations!
But imperfect as has been the perception of Christ’s aims, and still
more imperfect the execution of these by the peoples of Europe, yet
the results of even their very partial submission to them have been,
as we have seen, momentous in the highest degree. Christ has
made modern Europe.
Now we found from our study of Virgil’s prophecy that he believed
that a new age was just about to open. Like other thinking men of his
day, he felt that the civilization under which he lived was played out,
that new life was needed, new morals and a fresh organization of
society. He believed that in the new age the leader and king would
be a great Roman, and that under him the world would be
transformed.
Further, it is sufficiently striking that, while his prophecy received no
literal fulfilment, yet the new age did actually begin shortly after the
time when he wrote, an age which has produced a new race of men,
new moral ideas and an altogether fresh organization of society, and
vitality and virility, besides, such as Virgil never dreamed of. He
spoke of a great leader favoured of the gods, a noble Roman. The
new age did come in under the guidance of a new leader, but he was
no aristocratic Roman, but a Jew, and a man of the people, Jesus of
Nazareth.

II. Christ’s name and life are well-known outside Christendom. He is

spoken of in very high terms in the book which all Mohammedans
revere; and contact with the West has brought a certain amount of
knowledge about him to the peoples of India, China and Japan. Now
the most striking fact in this connection is this, that while most of
these Mohammedans, Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucians condemn
Christians violently, and many write against Christianity, they one
and all speak with the highest praise of the character of Christ. The
same is true of sceptics and agnostics in Christian lands. One might
compile a most fascinating volume consisting merely of extracts from
non-Christian writers, in which Christ is spoken of as the best of
men, as the ideal man, as the man whom all men should not only
admire, but imitate.
Now we have in this a most remarkable fact. There is no other
character in history that is so universally revered. There is no other
man whom all men join in praising with so much heartiness. Charles
Lamb speaks for the human race when he says: “If Shakespeare
were to enter this room, we should all spring to our feet; if Christ
were to enter, we should all fall on our knees.”
But HE WAS CRUCIFIED. This, the purest and noblest of men, was
subjected to the most shameful form of death possible. Nor was
there only the bare execution: every circumstance that could make
death bitter to the noble human spirit was added. He was betrayed
by one of His own chosen Twelve; the remaining eleven deserted
Him; one plucked up heart and followed at a distance, but only to
deny him. Indeed the universal breakdown of human character
around Him is one of the saddest things in history. The Jewish
priests and scribes, the common people, the Roman Governor and
the common soldiers, all reveal their worst passions in the presence
of Christ, while He stands amongst them in all the silent majesty of
innocence.[177]
We here quote three short paragraphs from St. Matthew’s Gospel.
[178]
The first describes what took place after the members of the
Jewish Sanhedrin had decided that Jesus deserved to be put to
death:—

“Then did they spit in His face, and buffet Him; and some smote
Him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us,
Thou Christ: who is he that struck Thee?”[179]

Then those model judges carried their prisoner before Pontius Pilate,
the Roman Governor, and after much persuasion got him to
condemn Jesus to death, when the following scenes took place:—

“Then the soldiers of the Governor took Jesus into the palace,
and gathered unto Him the whole band. And they stripped Him,
 and put on Him a scarlet robe. And they plaited a crown of thorns
and put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they
kneeled down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King
of the Jews!’ And they spat upon Him, and took the reed and
smote Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they
took off from Him the robe, and put on Him His garments and led
Him away to crucify Him.”[180]
“And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name; him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear
His cross. And when they were come unto a place called
Golgotha, that is to say, The place of a skull, they gave Him wine
to drink mingled with gall: and when He had tasted it, He would
not drink. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His
garments among them, casting lots: and they sat and watched
Him there. And they set up over His head His accusation written,
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then are there
crucified with Him two robbers, one on the right hand, and one
on the left. And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their
heads, and saying, ‘Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest
it in three days, save Thyself: if Thou art the Son of God, come
down from the cross.’ In like manner also the chief priests
mocking Him with the scribes and elders said, ‘He saved others:
Himself He cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let Him now
come down from the cross, and we will believe on Him. He
trusteth on God; let Him deliver Him now, if He desireth Him: for
He said, I am the Son of God.’ And the robbers also that were
crucified with Him cast upon Him the same reproach.”[181]

How was it that of all men Jesus should be the man subjected to all
this? How can we reconcile His character and His destiny?
Let us recollect what Plato had written 400 years earlier:—

“The just man will be scourged, racked, fettered, will have his
eyes burned out, and at last, after suffering every kind of torture,
will be crucified.”
Now we do not insist on the correspondence in detail between the
words of Plato and the death of Christ, although that, while not
complete, is sufficiently remarkable; but we wish to emphasize, with
all possible force, this most extraordinary fact, that Plato foresaw that
a man of the character of Jesus would suffer as He did.
How are we to explain the fact? What is the reason why the men of
Christ’s day treated this most humane of men with such barbarous
inhumanity? The answer is that it was inevitable. Jesus is the
revelation of the uttermost holiness of God, and His attempt to lay
that standard upon the human spirit[182] roused to its utmost fury
against Him all the sinfulness of our common human nature. It is the
same contest of which we are each conscious in our daily life
between inclination and conscience; only, in the case of Jesus, it
seems as if all the little battles of every individual life had met in one
gigantic struggle between sinful human nature and its Lord. And the
same struggle necessarily continues wherever Christianity goes. The
persecutions of the Roman Empire are merely the external signs of
the convulsive efforts of the spirit of Paganism to resist the march of
the Spirit of God. In every land Christ is met by the same opposition.
Everywhere selfishness, self-interest and passion dissuade men
from following the Man of Sorrows; and the struggle is there, terrible
in its reality and intensity, even if it never break out into open
persecution. But, in surveying these surging battles, the careful
observer is much struck with this fact, that, while human passions
inevitably fight against Christ, yet He has in Conscience an ally,
which neither by bribes nor by bullying can be made to desert Him.
He is the objective conscience of the human race. He is Plato’s just
man.

III. Let us now try to realize what kind of a being the founder of
Christianity was. Our chief sources of information are the Gospels;
for from the other books of the New Testament and from outside
literature we learn only scattered facts about His life on earth. We
shall not appeal to the fourth Gospel, for there are still numerous
questions with regard to it unsettled, but shall confine ourselves to
Matthew, Mark and Luke, books recognized on all hands as of high
historical value, and as having been written between 65 and 95 A.D.
[183]
Anyone may very speedily convince himself of the splendid
historical reliability of these simple narratives. From Josephus and
other Jewish writers of the first and second centuries, and from
casual remarks in Greek and Roman books, we are able to learn
what the life of these days was like;[184] but nowhere do we get such
vivid, detailed, realistic pictures as in the Gospels. “They are full of
feeling for the time; they understand its men, schools, classes,
parties; they know the thoughts that are in the air, the rumours that
run along the street; they are familiar with the catchwords and
phrases of the period, its conventions, questions, modes of
discussion and style of argument. And all is presented with the
utmost realism, so grouped round the central figure as to form a
perfect historical picture, He and His setting being so built together
as to constitute a single organic whole.”[185]
How then does Christ appear in them?—His name was Jesus;[186]
Christ is a title springing from his teaching, as we shall see. He lived
in the small town of Nazareth, in the district of Galilee[187] in
Palestine, and worked as a carpenter there.[188] At length, in 26 A.D.,
He gave up carpentry and began His public career as a preacher.[189]
The picture given of Him in the Gospels is a most attractive one.
Wherever He goes, the sick, the suffering, the distressed crowd
around Him. Blind beggars, outcast lepers, hopeless paralytics, even
uncontrollable lunatics, receive help from His healing power. He
feeds the hungry, breathes hope into the downcast, lifts up the
enfeebled patient, helps the helpless. But while every form of
suffering and sorrow appeals to His compassion, His heart is set on
winning the souls of men. So we find Him preaching in the
synagogue and by the sea, on the mountain-side and in the busy
street, now stirring vast crowds, now dealing with an individual, and
again pouring His rich teaching into the ears of the chosen Twelve.
No man ever had such power of convincing men of sin and leading
them to repentance: the simple fisherman,[190] the fallen woman,[191]
the wealthy custom-house officer[192] and the dying robber,[193] all felt
condemned in His presence, and through Him entered into the new
life.
The character revealed in His words and deeds is beautiful beyond
comparison. The most outstanding feature of it is His love for God
and the perfect and unbroken serenity of His intercourse with Him.
Love for man also shines out everywhere. But the most extraordinary
point is this, that He in whom the moral ideal was so lofty, so deep
and so broad, He who was so keenly conscious of sin in others, and
had such power to make them feel it, betrays absolutely no
consciousness of sin Himself, never asks for pardon, and never
speaks of having repented, or of having passed through any crisis of
the nature of conversion.[194] On the other hand the perfect balance
of His character is almost as marvellous as His sinlessness: judicial
severity controlled by perfect love; supreme authority that is also
supreme gentleness; strength filled with tenderness; regal dignity
shown in acts of lowliest service; holiness that led Him among the
unholy;(sublimest self-consciousness, never leading to anything but
self-effacement and self-sacrifice.) And yet again, is there anything
about Him so wonderful as His power of winning human love? The
Gospels are full of instances of it, and to-day how many millions of
men, women and children would count it a supreme joy to die for His
sake!
His teaching is a perfectly articulated and unified whole, as may be
seen from the scientific studies of it that have been published during
the last twenty years.[195] But we must not attempt to deal with that
fascinating subject here, except in so far as the whole is implied in
what He says about Himself. For it is only that part of it, namely, His
account of Himself and His mission, that we propose to touch on.
We shall understand it best, if we begin with what happened at His
crucifixion; for it was only at the end of His life that He made
perfectly clear to the whole world what His claims were. People often
wondered whether He were not THE CHRIST, i.e., The Messiah, the
Anointed One, the great national deliverer whom the Jews were so
earnestly expecting and praying for;[196] but during the three years of
His public life He seldom openly made the claim.[197] When, however,
He went to Jerusalem for the last time, He made a royal entry into
the sacred city,[198] cleansed the Temple from the desecration of its
cattle-market,[199] and began to teach in the Temple courts,[200] thus
by both word and act publicly claiming recognition as the Christ.
The Jewish leaders had been often bitterly incensed by His teaching
and His actions before. His bold seizure of authority now decided
them: they resolved on His death.[201] He was apprehended[202] and
brought before the Sanhedrin,[203] i.e., the High Court of Judæa.
Evidence was led against Him, but it proved very unsubstantial;[204]
so the High Priest, the president of the court, formally asked Him,
“Art thou the Christ, the Son of God?” and He answered in the
affirmative.[205] Since they did not believe His claim, they could only
come to the conclusion that He was an irreligious impostor, impiously
arrogating divine authority to Himself. Consequently they declared
that He ought to be put to death for blasphemy against God.[206]
But the Sanhedrin could not put anyone to death; the sanction of the
Roman Governor was necessary.[207] He was therefore dragged
before Pilate. Here they did not charge Him with blasphemy, but with
rebellion against the Roman Emperor. ‘The King of the Jews’ was a
synonym for ‘the Christ’; so they argued that Jesus, in claiming to be
the Christ, claimed the sovereignty of the Jews, and was therefore
guilty of rebellion against Tiberius.[208] Pilate knew perfectly well that
the Jewish leaders were jealous of Jesus, and that the charge was a
mere pretence;[209] his Roman sense of justice revolted against the
execution of an innocent man; and he wished to save Him; but they
played upon his fears, and finally succeeded in wringing a
condemnation from him.[210] It was because the Roman soldiers were
struck with the extreme absurdity of the idea of Jesus being a rival of
Tiberius, that they got up their pitiable comedy of a court, and did
Him mock homage as King of the Jews.
So He was led away to Calvary and crucified, and above His head
on the cross was written, in three languages (Hebrew, Greek and
Latin), the charge against Him,—

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Thus Jesus took good care that there should be no doubt as to what
He claimed to be: He did not write a book, nor cut an inscription on a
rock, but He let Himself be crucified, that all men to the end of time
might know that He claimed to be the Christ.[211]

Now let us see what He meant when He called Himself the Christ. To
get to understand this fully would be to learn the complete meaning
of His teaching; for it is such a perfect organism that every member
of it is closely related to every other member; yet we may gain
sufficient insight for our purpose from a broad survey.
The subject of the whole teaching of Jesus was the Kingdom of God.
He held that God had been working from the very beginning for the
winning of man to Himself, and that especially among His own
people Israel He had shown His hand. They had not only come to
know Him as the God of righteousness whose law was holiness;
they had enjoyed His love; they had experienced His mercy and His
power to redeem. But with the coming of Jesus Himself a new era of
the world had opened:[212] God was now drawing near to all men, in a
new relationship of love and mercy, with the purpose of saving them.
[213]
This was the coming of the Kingdom of God.[214] The history of
Israel had been a long discipline in preparation for this.[215] On the
ground cleared in Israel, and on the basis of the revelation already
made to them, God would now reveal Himself to all men. The destiny
of Israel—“I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles”[216]—would now
be fulfilled.[217]
God, then, was about to enter into a new relationship with the whole
human race. That new relationship would be, like the old one with
Israel, characterized not only by His righteousness, but by His
redeeming love. His eternal purpose, which had been in
contemplation all through the centuries of Israel’s training, would
now be unfolded. The childhood of the world was over: its first simple
lessons had been learned; the real business of Time could now be
begun. The partial unveiling of God’s face which it had been Israel’s
privilege to behold would now become a full revelation in the sight of
the nations. The King of Israel would be seen to be the Father of
men. Further, as Israel had learned her lessons through Jehovah’s
redemptive acts at the Red Sea, on Zion, and in Babylon, so
mankind would learn the Father’s love through the great redemptive
acts involved in the coming of the Kingdom.
The chief conviction that Jesus had about Himself was that in and
through and by Him the Kingdom of God was coming: this it was that
constituted Him THE CHRIST. His self-consciousness is the most
marvellous phenomenon within the compass of history; there is
nothing else comparable with it. The primary element in it seems to
have been the knowledge that He was the true man, man as God
wishes Him to be, faultless both morally and religiously.[218] Closely
connected with this is another element, quite as unparalleled in
human experience, a feeling of close kinship to all men, a
consciousness of solidarity with the whole race and of personal
connection and sympathy with every individual.[219] These two
elements of His nature—His perfection as man, and His relationship
to the race as a whole—He summed up in the phrase which He used
so often to describe Himself, THE SON OF MAN.[220] Correspondent
to this double relationship to man stands a double relationship to
God: first, He stands in the closest personal kinship to God—the Son
with the Father—; so that He alone can reveal God, and God alone
can reveal Him;[221] and secondly, He is God’s representative to the
human race.[222] This dual relation to God He expressed by calling
Himself THE SON OF GOD.[223]
The life of a being of this order, standing in great, pregnant relations
to God on the one hand and to the human family on the other, would
necessarily be of transcendent significance. So we find that He
regarded His own words and acts and all the great experiences of
His life as of supreme importance in the history of the world:[224] His
coming opens a new era;[225] His public life is a wedding feast in the
otherwise grey experience of men;[226] His teaching is the final
revelation of God;[227] His acts are glimpses of the divine activity;[228]
His death, which to the casual observer is but a coarse judicial
murder, is the solemn sacrifice that ratifies the establishment of the
new relationship between God and man.[229]
Since such were the chief convictions Jesus held about Himself and
His mission, authority was naturally the chief note of His teaching.
His hearers marked that characteristic at the very outset;[230] and a
modern student cannot fail to be impressed with it as he reads the
Gospels. He states quite frankly that He has come to fulfil the law
and the prophets;[231] He sets up His own “I say unto you” not only
against the Jewish traditions,[232] but against the definite provisions of
the Mosaic law;[233] and over and over again He demands from men
such love, faith, submission, obedience, as can be rightly given only
to a Divine Master.[234]
In Jesus of Nazareth, then, we have a historical person, whose time
and environment are well known to us, and whose teaching and life
also stand out clear and unmistakable; and the most prominent thing
about Him is this, that, by word and deed, and finally by His
crucifixion, He made it clear to all men that He claimed to be both
Son of Man and Son of God.
Here, then, we have the secret of that similarity which we are all so
clearly conscious of, when we read a Gospel alongside of the Gītā.
In the Gospels we have in historical form the authoritative utterances
of the historical Jesus; in the Gītā we have the imaginations of a
poet-philosopher who was clear sighted enough to realize that an
incarnate god would have many things to say about himself, and that
his teaching would bear the note of authority. When, however, we
look for exact parallels between the two, they are hard to find: the
books are so utterly diverse in origin and teaching that they have
little in common except the tone of the master. In a few cases,
however, the resemblance is rather striking: here, then, we place
side by side the words of Jesus and the imaginations of the writer of
the Gītā.

Sayings of Jesus.
All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.
Matt., 28, 18.

Verses from the Gītā.

Nature gives birth to movables and immovables through me,
the supervisor, and by reason of that the universe revolves.
IX, 10.