es La Touche, _The Person of Christ in Modern Thought_,
pp. 150 ff.

[57] 1 John iv. 21.

[58] Matt. xxii. 37.

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CHAPTER IX

THE STANDARD AND MOTIVE OF THE NEW LIFE

In every system of Ethics the three ideas of End, Norm, and Motive are
inseparable. Christian Ethics is unique in this respect that it presents
not merely a code of morals, but an ideal of good embodied in a person
who is at once the pattern and inspiration of the new life. In this
chapter we propose to consider these two elements of the good.

_Christ as Example_.--The value of 'concrete examples' has been
frequently recognised in non-Christian systems. In the 'philosopher
king' of Plato, the 'expert' of Aristotle, and the 'wise man' of the
Stoics we have the imaginary embodiment of the ideal. A similar tendency
is apparent in modern theories. Comte invests the abstract idea of
'Humanity' with certain personal perfections for which he claims homage.
But what other systems have conceived in an imaginative form only,
Christianity has realised in an actual person.

The example of Christ is not a separate source of authority independent
of His teaching, but rather its witness and illustration. Word and deed
in Jesus are in full agreement. He was what He taught, and every truth
He uttered flowed directly from His inner nature. He is the prototype
and expression of the 'good' as it exists in the mind of God, as well as
the perfect representative and standard of it in human life. In Him is
manifested for all time what is meant by the good.

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1. If Christ is the normative standard of life it is extremely important
to obtain a true perception of Him as He dwelt among men. But too often
have theology and art presented a Christ embellished with fantastic
colours or obscured by abstract speculations. Recently, however, there
has been a revival of interest in the actual life of Jesus. Men are
turning wistfully to the life of the Master for guidance in practical
matters, and it is beginning to dawn upon the world that the highest
ideals of manhood were present in the Carpenter of Nazareth. We must
therefore go back to the Gospels if we would know what manner of man
Jesus was. The difficulty of presenting the Man Christ Jesus as the
eternal example to the world must have been almost insurmountable; and we
are at once struck with two remarkable features of the synoptics'
portrayal of Him. (1) The writers make no attempt to pr