er the whole of life, tradition and observance grew more and more
extensive, but the moral judgment lost its elasticity. The sense of
the divine presence grew faint, and multitudes of spirits filled the
air instead, oppressing human life with a sense of vague anxiety. As
political independence was lost, the people became less happy and
more easily excited. But while formalism held increasing sway over
their actions, imagination was free, and surrounded both the past
history of Israel and its future triumphs with manifold
embellishments.

In such a condition was the religion of the Jews when Jesus appeared
in Palestine and created a new order of things. Christianity was at
first a movement within Judaism. Like all the religions which trace
their history to personal founders, it grew from very small
beginnings; but its doctrine was of such a nature, that if
circumstances favoured, it could not fail to spread beyond Judaism,
to men of other lands and other tongues.

The doctrine consisted primarily in a declaration that that great
religious consummation, the kingdom of God, which the prophets had
foretold, which was regarded by the fellow-countrymen of Jesus as a
far-off hope, and which had just been heralded by John the Baptist as
being immediately at hand, had actually taken place. The perfect
state was announced to have arrived, and to be a thing not of the
future but of the present. The long-expected intercourse of God and
man on new terms of perfect agreement and sympathy, had come into
operation; any one who chose could assure himself of the fact. The
title by which Jesus described the intimate relationship of man and
God which he announced, sufficiently shows its character. God is the
Father in heaven; men are his children, and all that men have to do
is to realise that this is so, to enter the circle and begin to live
with God on such terms. The great God seeks to have every one living
with him as his child; and religion is no more, no less, than this
communion. Father and child dwell together in perfect love and
confidence; no outward regulations are needed for their intercourse,
no bargains, no traditions, no ritual, no pilgrimage, no sacrifice.
The intercourse can be carried on by any one, anywhere. It is not a
matter of apparatus, but a purely moral affair, an affair of love.
The Father knows all about the child, is able to give him all he
needs, even before he asks it; is willing to forgive his sins when he