the past,
however violent, is never thoroughgoing. In consequence the old affects
the new in various ways. Thus in Buddhism the presuppositions which
Buddha uncritically took over work out their logical results in the
Mah[=a]y[=a]na, so that great sects calling themselves "Buddhist" affirm
what the Master denied and deny what he taught. Christianity takes
Judaism (see HEBREW RELIGION) for granted--rejects it in part as a
merely preparatory stage, in part reinterprets it, and does not submit
what it accepts to rigorous scrutiny. As a result the Old Testament (see
BIBLE) remains not only as the larger part of the Christian canon, but,
sometimes, in some churches, as obscuring its distinctive truth.
Moreover, in the transference of Christianity from the Jewish to the
Greek-Roman world again various elements were taken into it. More
properly perhaps we might consider the Greek and Roman civilization as
the permanent element--so that the relationship to it was not different
from the relationship to Judaism--in part it was denied, in part it was
of purpose accepted, in still larger part unconsciously the Greek-Roman
converts took over with them the presuppositions of their older world
view--and thus formed the moulds into which the Christian truth was run.
Here again, in some instances the pre-Christian elements so asserted
themselves as to obscure the new and distinctive teaching.

Relation with Judaism.

Christianity, regarded objectively as one of the great religions of the
world, owes its rise to Jesus of Nazareth, in ancient Galilee. (See
JESUS CHRIST.) By reverent disciples his ancestry was traced to the
royal family of David, and his birth is ascribed by the church to the
miraculous act of God. His life was spent, until the beginning of his
public ministry, in humble circumstances as the son of a carpenter and
his wife, Joseph and Mary. Of Joseph we hear nothing after the boyhood
of Jesus, who followed the same trade, supporting himself and perhaps
his mother and younger brothers and sisters. Of this period we have only
a few fragmentary anecdotes and a stray reference or two. At thirty
years of age he appeared in public, and after a short period (we cannot
determine how long, but possibly eighteen months) he was crucified, upon
the accusation of his countrymen, by the Roman authorities. He was
without technical education, but he had been carefully trained in the
sacred books, as was usual with his people. Belong