05.03.01 - The Witness of the Moral Character of Christ

(1) The Witness of the Moral Character of Christ

Look for one moment at the character of Jesus Christ, into which enters so much of the miraculous and the Divine, and the place it holds in the moral evidences of Christianity. That character is al together unique, unlike any other among the sons of men, while its spiritual supremacy is attested on all hands, and witnessed to by the most hostile Critics of supernatural revelation. To quote the recorded testimonies concerning Him from that of Pilate, who declared, “ I find no fault in this man,” down to that of Carlyle, who called Jesus of Nazareth “ our divinest symbol,” would be to write many pages.

These quotations would attest in innumerable ways that Christ was the divinest Being that ever appeared on earth sinless and perfect, wise and holy, blame less and harmless, the Teacher sent from God, the Author and Perfecter of Faith, the perfect Man, the true Son of God. No human mind could have conceived such a character, no imagination could have invented it, no amount of advocacy could have given it currency apart from reality. This conception of uniqueness, of superiority, of moral grandeur, of Divinity, has been the belief and teaching of men in all ages from the beginning of the Christian Era until now; and this unanimity of conviction and belief is explicable only by the truth of it, which has spread so widely and perpetuated itself so firmly in literature and religion, and helped to mould and fashion the lives of the noblest sons of men. In this unique character and its influence among men, we have a witness to the reality of Divine revelation, and to the Divine authority of those Scriptures which bear witness of Him, and which proclaim them to be a standard of faith and morality for the world.