true kingdom of God,
which each one bears in his heart.

[Footnote 1: The great soul of Philo is in sympathy here, as on so
many other points, with that of Jesus. _De Confus. Ling._, Sec. 14; _De
Migr. Abr._, Sec. 1; _De Somniis_, ii. Sec. 41; _De Agric. Noe_, Sec. 12; _De
Mutatione Nominum_, Sec. 4. But Philo is scarcely a Jew in spirit.]

[Footnote 2: Galatians iv. 6.]

This name of "kingdom of God," or "kingdom of heaven,"[1] was the
favorite term of Jesus to express the revolution which he brought into
the world.[2] Like almost all the Messianic terms, it came from the
book of Daniel. According to the author of this extraordinary book,
the four profane empires, destined to fall, were to be succeeded by a
fifth empire, that of the saints, which should last forever.[3] This
reign of God upon earth naturally led to the most diverse
interpretations. To Jewish theology, the "kingdom of God" is most
frequently only Judaism itself--the true religion, the monotheistic
worship, piety.[4] In the later periods of his life, Jesus believed
that this reign would be realized in a material form by a sudden
renovation of the world. But doubtless this was not his first idea.[5]
The admirable moral which he draws from the idea of God as Father, is
not that of enthusiasts who believe the world is near its end, and who
prepare themselves by asceticism for a chimerical catastrophe; it is
that of men who have lived, and still would live. "The kingdom of God
is within you," said he to those who sought with subtlety for external
signs.[6] The realistic conception of the Divine advent was but a
cloud, a transient error, which his death has made us forget. The
Jesus who founded the true kingdom of God, the kingdom of the meek and
the humble, was the Jesus of early life[7]--of those chaste and pure
days when the voice of his Father re-echoed within him in clearer
tones. It was then for some months, perhaps a year, that God truly
dwelt upon the earth. The voice of the young carpenter suddenly
acquired an extraordinary sweetness. An infinite charm was exhaled
from his person, and those who had seen him up to that time no longer
recognized him.[8] He had not yet any disciples, and the group which
gathered around him was neither a sect nor a school; but a common
spirit, a sweet and penetrating influence was felt. His amiable
character, accompanied doubtless by one of those lovely faces[9] which
sometimes appear in the Jewish race, threw around