nity is the key of the arch we have
been building, the consummating member of the development we have
sought to trace, and to withhold any estimate of its character would
be to leave our work most imperfect. It seems better, therefore, that
some hints at least should be offered on this part of the subject.
Christianity cannot indeed be dealt with in the same proportion as
the other religions; that would far exceed our space. But some views
are offered regarding its essential nature, which the writer believes
to be so firmly founded in fact that even those who are not
Christians cannot deny them, and thus to afford a valid criterion for
the comparison of Christianity with other faiths.

In the chapter on the religion of Israel we saw how the prophets
before and during the exile began to cherish the idea of a new
relation between God and man, which would not depend on sacrifice nor
be confined to Israel. God, they declared, was preparing a new age,
in which he would receive man to more intimate communion than before;
and man would be guided in the right path, not by covenants and laws,
but by the constant inspiration of a present deity. The new religion
would be one which all nations could share. Jerusalem, the seat of
the true faith, would attract all eyes; all would turn to her because
of the Lord her God.

But, alas, instead of growing broader to realise its universal
destiny, the religion of Israel grew narrower after the exile, and
seemed to forget the prospects thus opened up to it. Judaism, though
immeasurably enriched in its inner consciousness by the teaching of
the prophets, maintained its earlier semi-heathenish forms of
worship, only surrounding them with new stateliness and new
significance; and clothed itself in a hard shell of public ritual and
personal observance. The Jews separated themselves rigorously from
the world, and cultivated an exclusive pride; as if their religion
had been given them for themselves alone, and not for mankind. Under
the Maccabees they displayed the most heroic courage and tenacity,
maintaining their own beliefs and rites amid the flood of Hellenism
which at one time almost swept them away. That they carried their
nationality unimpaired through this period is one of the most
wonderful achievements of the Jewish race. In the succeeding period,
however, many signs appeared showing that their religion was losing
energy. The rule of the priests and scribes extended more and more
ov