The Prophet of Nazareth

conception of the world, of man's origin, nature and destiny, and of his fall and redemption. The universe was regarded as having been brought into existence through the fiat of a supra-mundane divinity. The first man was supposed to have been fashioned from clay by the hands of the deity, and the first woman to have been made of a rib taken from man. By their disobedience this couple was thought to have made the whole race subject to death, brought all their descendants into the power of the devil, and plunged them into the everlasting torments of hell. Such a complete ruin of a being made in the image of God was considered as having occasioned a divine scheme of salvation. As the utter helplessness of man's condition and the need of redemption could only become apparent in the course of his history, his depravity was allowed to increase until "the fulness of time," when the Saviour should appear. Meanwhile, however, the divine plan?so it was thought?had been gradually revealed to men, partly through the sure prophetic word, shining as a lamp in a dark place, partly through a series of divinely ordained types pointing to the coming Redeemer and his reign on earth. According to this interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Messianic prophecy furnished also a present means of salvation to those who did not live to experience its fulfilment, but, seeing it from afar, believed and were justifiedby faith. Since without a knowledge of Christ man must utterly perish,...