by him will shoot forth and spread out green branches; and over the nations scattered under its shadow the blessings of the sacrifice will descend. The gateway of a new life and temple in the heart of man, opened by the Saviour, will be without bolt or bar, for he will release the mind from its innumerable fetters. No more smoking sacrifices will be offered; no blood of animals will be shed; no idols, carved in stone or wood, will be worshipped, but the inward purity of the mind, and the perfect resemblance of God, will be restored; and in this manner, all those who fell in Adam will arise in our Lord, and through his mediation all will regain freedom to act and work in faith and love.

This regeneration of man will not, however, be brought about in a moment, and influence all hearts like lightning, but will progress silently and slowly, but surely and irrestrainably, according to the infallible laws of nature. Thousands of years will pass by before the whole flock will be gathered into one fold. But this new teaching will restore to all and every one that receive it the original freedom and perfection of the mind; in all it will ripen the fruits of holiness, of love, and happiness.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John, iii. 16.)

Did Christ really appear with the divine mission of Saviour of the world? The following reasons convince me that in Christ the divine Mediator and, at the same time, Saviour, appeared:

(1.) That the same spirit which formerly announced the word of God through the prophets spoke fully in Christ.

(2.) That all prophets witnessed of him that all those who believed in him, and followed him, should receive forgiveness of their sins (Acts, x. 43).

(3.) That all circumstances of Christ's advent, till his ascension, were foretold.

(4.) I am further convinced by the contents of Christ's teachings; by the Spirit of the life of Jesus; his miracles and prophecies; the agreement of his teachings with the expectations of earlier ages, and with the necessities of humanity; and, lastly,

(5.) That all who believe in Christ, and receive his spirit, since his advent, gain inward peace, and do that in his name which he has promised his disciples.

This anthropological digression might appear to many unnecessarily introduced; but I do not consider it superfluous to make the belief in Christianity stronger than it usually is; that an easily-accepted belief may not become superstition, and thereby be placed as a counterpoise to rationalism; that by such an easily-acquired faith everything inexplicable is believed in; for it is as common on one side to believe too easily, without caring about investigation, as on the other to believe little or nothing, when the circumscribed knowledge does not agree with the subject of belief. The contradictions, which are believed to exist, arise mostly in the diverging polar opposites of faith and knowledge. I would rather strengthen the objective comprehensiveness of the common religious belief in the divinity of Christ, which is in general much more difficult, except in individual cases, than knowledge; not by dialectical specialities, but by a harmonious equalisation; and would follow the system of the investigator of nature, who does not construe anything novel in nature, but endeavours to comprehend the subject of investigation.

In this manner we shall justify the universal popular belief (which unconsciously contains almost always more germs of truth than the most elaborately chiselled systems of the philosophers of the age), and introduce truth into the knowledge, as we do not alone believe the idea possible in the event, but found the event upon a basis accordant with nature, which is not imaginary. Such a profound conception of the meaning of Christianity is, however, absolutely necessary to the proper understanding of the magical appearances of later ages, which still remain to be mentioned; and I here take the opportunity of speaking of the connection of magnetism with the Christian miracles, as in modern times they have been declared to be nothing more than magnetic, and Christ himself a magnetist; while on the other hand magnetism has been regarded as purely spiritual. Here several questions arise, which at present are imperfectly explained: to these belongs that question, upon the similarity or equality of the Christian prophecies

and miracles, and the magnetic phenomena. Is all this a natural influence, only varied in intensity, or is there a higher miraculous influence through Christ? These questions are to be answered by different courses of reasoning, according as we regard magnetism from an elevated or low point of view; or as a higher or lower condition of existence; or as any theory may adapt itself to analogy. Thus, one declares the miracles of Christ magnetic, because there is no supernatural power, and because all miracles are far removed from minute criticism, and may be compared to magnetism, which obeys natural laws, more or less known. Another regards Christ as the highest manifestation of intelligence in the telluric sleep-life, in which the negative power of the believing mind becomes, in fact, the active principle in the cure. Again, another looks upon it as supernaturally miraculous, and a comparison with doubtful or uncredited magnetism is inadmissible, while in an opposite manner, magnetism is regarded by some as a continuation of the Gospel, and by others, on the contrary, as the work of the devil.

He who is not perfectly acquainted with magnetism, and only regards it in certain aspects, will form an opinion of it according to his individual position and his own theory concerning it. Whoever on the one side accepts too much influence of nature in life, and on the other regards Christ only as an individuality among fleeting events, will never be able to answer the above questions properly. But if we know Christ as the Evangelists and Apostles represent him, if we pay attention to the events before and after the advent of Christ, we shall not find it difficult to gain proper views upon the worth and intention of magnetism on the one side, and of the being and dignity of Christ as a divine manifes tation and as a miracle in nature on the other.

However, the analogies in the phenomena of prophecy as well as in manipulation, as for instance laying on of hands, and the mutual rapport by communion in faith, are to be denied just as little (which might serve to recommend magnetism) as they are to be accepted literally. Christ lived and worked in nature, also as a man by ordinary natural agents: he had flesh and blood from his fathers Abraham's and David's seed, and was born of a virgin in the village of

Bethlehem; his existence till he appeared as the announcer of the word of God passed so calmly, according to the usual course of nature, that nothing extraordinary is known. His communication with other men, eating and drinking, the occurrences of his life, even the life and death, happened in the usual manner.

If, however, his power of prophecy may be compared to the phenomena of clairvoyance, and his cures follow the exercise of the will as in the magnetist, the intention and object, the signification and direction, must be clearly defined and distinguished. Christ is not the suffering somnambulist on one side; he is not the healing, somnambulism-producing physician on the other; he does not limit his endeavours to the curing of a man for a moment of time from his bodily ailments; but he wishes to purify him from sin, and influencing others through him to bring grace and salvation to all. Christ is at the same time physician and remedy for soul and body. He did not come to foretell the fortunes of this or that person; he is the great prophet who was to come into the world and to the Jews; to preach the word to them, and announce the promise of eternal life. He did not teach how such and such diseases might be cured, but he sent his disciples and apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and all heathens throughout the world. He was a perfect teacher and prophet, who incorporated a supernatural power with his preachings, and whose words so penetrated the hearts of his hearers that "they were astonished," and said, never man spake like this man." He accompanied his teachings by miracles, which he performed through his own power, and sealed them by a holy immaculate life. According to the wisdom of his mind he was guided entirely by time and circumstances, and therein followed the laws of nature's

course.

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He did not seek renown among men by signs and wonders, which he also commanded to be kept secret (Matthew, viii. 4, 9, 30); he sought to spread the glory of God among men, and to unite them with the Eternal Father. His prophetic mission he transferred to able teachers, who though weak in flesh, were strong in spirit, and provided them with power and grace to perform his works; they

were by supernatural means to bring men to repentance and to a sound knowledge and power; to remain and increase in the community-the church. To make his office of preacher successful, he built in his wisdom upon such firm foundation that the gates of hell could not overcome it, and that it will endure as long as the world stands.

If Christ lived and worked in nature, and in a natural manner, the active power in him was not the less supernatural, a higher divine influence, for he changed water into wine, the winds and the sea obeyed him, and he healed the lame and sick instantaneously: the fig-tree withered by the road side, the blind were made to see, and the dead were raised; evil spirits obeyed him, the leprous became clean; and all these were not effects produced by any known human powers. And even if these historical facts are to be regarded as exaggerations of enthusiasm, although that would be impossible to a comprehensive criticism; if we sought for analogies in these miracles, and only admitted a higher degree of influence, such as is here and there met with in magnetism, or if we substituted a mere parable or a subjective deception of the first narrators to those which will not agree with the explanation; yet are all these endeavours so forced, so one-sided, so flat, with all the acuteness employed so unprofitable, that these facts have always remained single in nature, unapproached in the glory of truth, and so unshaken during the lapse of ages, that their reception has been universally spread over the world.

But if we admit no miracle in the person or life of Christ, and irrespectively of the believed in, doubted and criticised, facts; irrespectively of the fact that he attracted all to him by the irresistible might of his loving grace and truth; that he did not defend his kingdom against his adversaries with earthly power, yet must the miraculousness of Christ be of a far different nature. The true miracle lies in the divine manifestation of God in the flesh through Christ himself, which occurred at a fixed time and place. The true miracle lies in the rent of the veil of the temple, which, after the death of Jesus, was destroyed, as he had foretold; the whole Jewish community was dispersed, so that they could not be gathered together again, or rebuild the temple? The true