From Bethlehem to Calvary

From Bethlehem to Calvary
Table of Contents

Foreword

This book goes out with the earnest wish that its effect may be wholly constructive and result in a deepening of our belief in Christ and a broader recognition of the work which He came to initiate. Many years of work as an evangelist and as a teacher in the field of Christian principles, and a difficult cycle in which I faced the problem of my own relation to Christ and to Christianity, have brought me to two definitely clear and clean cut recognitions: first, a recognition of the reality of the Individuality of Christ and of His Mission; and secondly, a recognition that the development of the Christ Consciousness and the Christ Nature in individual man, and in the race as a whole, carries with it the solution of our world problem. Most heartily do I endorse the words of Arthur Weigall when he says:

"Yet the Jesus of History as distinct from the Jesus of Theology, remains 'the way, the truth, and the life'; and I am convinced that concentration upon the historic figure of our Lord and upon His teaching can alone inspire in this Twentieth Century that fervent adherence and service which in former ages could be obtained from the average layman by the expounding of theological dogmas, the threat of hell, and the performance of elaborate rites and ceremonies."
- The Paganism in Our Christianity, by Arthur Weigall, p. 16

The kingdom of God is now in process of rapid formation, as all those with forward-seeing vision and a realization of the rapidly emerging beauty and divinity of man can bear testimony. We are passing through the transition period between the old age and the new, and the true mission of Christ, so deeply and frequently obscured by theological implications and disputations, embodies in itself the coming revelation. The development of humanity guarantees the recognition of Christ and His work and its participation, consciously, in the kingdom of God. [viii]

The conscious evocation of the Christ Life in the human heart and our rapid integration into the kingdom of God are the immediate tasks ahead, embodying our responsibility, opportunity and destiny.

In closing, I would like to offer my grateful thanks to Mr. William Cummings and Mr. Alan Murray for the willing and intelligent help they have given me. They have made the writing of this book possible. [ix]

Contents