ssibility, not the reality of the appearance. But this with its
historically not deducible power is the decisive thing. If some one has
recently said that "the historical speciality of the person of Jesus" is
not the main thing in Christianity, he has thereby betrayed that he does
not know how a religion that is worthy of the name is founded,
propagated, and maintained. For the latest attempt to put the Gospel in
a historical connection with Buddhism (Seydel, Das Ev von Jesus in
seinen Verhaeltnissen zur Buddha-Sage, 1882: likewise, Die Buddha-Legende
und das Leben Jesu, 1884), see, Oldenburg, Theol. Lit-Z'g 1882. Col. 415
f. 1884. 185 f. However much necessarily remains obscure to us in the
ministry of Jesus when we seek to place it in a historical
connection,--what is known is sufficient to confirm the judgment that
his preaching developed a germ in the religion of Israel (see the
Psalms) which was finally guarded and in many respects developed by the
Pharisees, but which languished and died under their guardianship. The
power of development which Jesus imported to it was not a power which he
himself had to borrow from without; but doctrine and speculation were as
far from him as ecstasy and visions. On the other hand, we must remember
we do not know the history of Jesus up to his public entrance on his
ministry, and that therefore we do not know whether in his native
province he had any connection with Greeks.]

[Footnote 72: See the brilliant investigations of Weizsaecker (Apost.
Zeitalter. p. 36) as to the earliest significant names,
self-designations, of the disciples. The twelve were in the first place
"[Greek: mathetai]," (disciples and family-circle of Jesus, see also the
significance of James and the brethren of Jesus), then witnesses of the
resurrection and therefore Apostles; very soon there appeared beside
them, even in Jerusalem, Prophets and Teachers.]

[Footnote 73: The Christian preaching is very pregnantly described in
Acts XXVIII. 31. as [Greek: kerussein ten Basileian tou Theou, kai
didaskein ta peri tou Iesou Christou].]

[Footnote 74: On the spirit of God (of Christ) see note, p. 50. The
earliest Christians felt the influence of the spirit as one coming on
them from without.]

[Footnote 75: It cannot be directly proved that Jesus instituted
baptism, for Matth. XXVIII. 19, is not a saying of the Lord. The reasons
for this assertion are: (1) It is only a later stage of the tradition
that represen