Bible Pictures.

THE DEVIL PLACES CHRIST ON THE TOP OF AN EXCEEDINGLY HIGH MOUNTAIN-THE DEVIL PLACES CHRIST ON A PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE.

From our Holy Scriptures we are able to gather a fair knowledge of the events that occurred in the Holy Land at the time that our Saviour was upon earth. It seems that he used to travel about the country to a considerable extent, sometimes in the company of the Devil. Our Saviour was not provided with wings; but the Devil, who had wings, occasionally gave him a fly, as will be seen by the following: "And the Devil, "taking him up into a high mountain, shewed unto him "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. "And the Devil said unto him, All this power will I *** give thee, and the glory of them : for that is delivered **unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine "" (Luke iv, 5 7). "And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a “pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, 'If thou be "the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence' (Luke iv, 9).

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The attention of my Chinese readers is particularly called to the above. It will be observed that the Devil, in the presence of God himself, claimed the ownership of all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and that God did not dispute his claim. There is, therefore, every reason why the Devil should occupy first place in the Christian religion.

To face p. 341

"One of the most distinguished New Testament "critics is Dr. Paul W. Schmiedel, Professor of "Theology at Zurich, and it is a well-known fact that "he regards the major portion of the material found "in the four Gospels as purely legendary. He says:"Doubts as to the reliability of our authorities "have recently increased to such an extent that for "about six years the view that Jesus Christ never

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really lived has gained an ever-growing number of "supporters. It is no use to ignore it, or to frame. "resolutions against it in meetings of non-theo"logians. It is little use merely to say in a vague "way that the figure of Jesus as portrayed in the "Gospels could not possibly have been invented. "In the case of the fourth Gospel, a school of "theology of a seriously scientific character does not "itself make this contention; and since it finds very "much even in the first three Gospels that is a "product of later myth-making, it may easily seem “'that_the_advance would not be so very great if the "whole record of Jesus's life were referred to the "domain of myth.

"If we found witnesses to Jesus among non-Chris"tian writers, we should have absolutely certain 'proof of his existence. But it is not certain that "the Jewish historian Josephus, in the year 93 or 94, "'really refers to him; and the earliest mention of "'him as a person by heathen writers in the years "112-20-that is to say, eighty or more years after "his death, are far too late to preclude a doubter "'from saying that during these years, supposing that "Jesus had not existed as a real historical person, "there was time enough for a complete legend to