as the time of Moses. He performed no miracles; but
they seemed miracles to the eye-witnesses. He uttered no real
prophecies, but his mind was so full of the future that some of his
predictions came to pass because of the natural foresight possessed by
him. His cures are all attributable to his skill as a physician, for
every Jew of that day had some medical knowledge. His apostles
propagated Christianity because of the influence wrought upon them by
their master. Fortunately for his fame, Paul published him far and wide.
Had it not been for that apostle, Christianity would never have gone
further than Palestine. There is nothing more remarkable in the spread
of this religion than in that of Mohammedanism, which has made such
great inroads upon Arabia, Egypt, Northern Africa, and Spain. Roehr,
however, reaches the climax of skeptical praise when he says of Christ
that he was a "Rationalist of pure, clear, sound reason; free from
prejudice, of ready perceptions, great love of truth, and warm
sympathies,--an exalted picture of intellectual and moral greatness. Who
would not bow before thee?"

The Rationalists made each act of Christ the subject of extended remark.
Whenever they came to a serious difficulty they boldly attempted its
solution by a few dashes of their unscrupulous pen. We may take the
temptation in the wilderness as an example. One writer says that Christ,
after his baptism, went into the wilderness full of the conviction that
he had been called to a great work. He was hungry; and the thought came
to him whether or not he was able to change the stones into bread. Then
the conviction arose that his authority was not great enough to enchain
the affections of the people. He wondered if God would not support him
if he fell; but Reason answered, "God will not sustain you if you
disobey the laws of nature." Then, standing on the top of a mountain,
he conceived the idea of possessing the surrounding lands, and of
placing himself at the head of the people to overthrow the Roman power.
The whole affair was a mere individual conflict.

From what we have now said, the opinions of the Rationalists on all
points of Christian doctrine become apparent. The sacraments are only
symbols of an invisible truth. Baptism is merely a sign of the purity
with which a Christian ought to live. The Lord's Supper is but a
memorial of the death of Jesus, and unites us with him only morally. The
church is a human institution, whose teach