| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: significance of Jesus' work. The epistle of Jude--if it be really
written by Jesus' brother of that name, which is doubtful--is
solely a polemic directed against the innovations of Paul. And
the Apocalypse, the work of the fiery and imaginative disciple
John, is confined to a prophetic description of the Messiah's
anticipated return, and tells us nothing concerning the deeds of
that Messiah while on the earth.
Here we touch upon our third consideration,--the consideration
which best enables us to see why the historic notices of Jesus
are so meagre. Rightly considered, the statement with which we
opened this article is its own explanation. The Jesus of history
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Essays & Lectures by Oscar Wilde: called to thee and thou didst not hearken, and thine ears were
closed to the cry of My afflicted. The inheritance of the
fatherless thou didst take unto thyself, and thou didst send the
foxes into the vineyard of thy neighbour's field. Thou didst take
the bread of the children and give it to the dogs to eat, and My
lepers who lived in the marshes, and were at peace and praised Me,
thou didst drive forth on to the highways, and on Mine earth out of
which I made thee thou didst spill innocent blood.'
And the Man made answer and said, 'Even so did I.'
And again God opened the Book of the Life of the Man.
And God said to the Man, 'Thy life hath been evil, and the Beauty I
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: the world, something gravely suggestive of essential eccentricity,
something unpretentiously breathing of intellectual effort, that
could not fail to hit the fancy of this hot-brained boy. The
unbroken enamel of courtesy, the self-restraint, the dignified
kindness of these married folk, had besides a particular attraction
for their visitor. He could not but compare what he saw, with what
he knew of his mother and himself. Whatever virtues Fleeming
possessed, he could never count on being civil; whatever brave,
true-hearted qualities he was able to admire in Mrs. Jenkin,
mildness of demeanour was not one of them. And here he found per
sons who were the equals of his mother and himself in intellect and
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