APPENDIX IV.

METHOD OF STUDY.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.

THE aim determines the method. The Life of Christ is a chapter of the world's history, and is to be studied first of all historically. The object of the study which the present Harmony is designed to facilitate is to gain a knowledge of the events of the life of Jesus as these are presented to us in the four gospels, and to form a true conception of the historical relations of this life. In other words, it aims to read this life in the true relation of its events to each other, and against the background of the history of the times. To accomplish this:

1. Study the historical background. The gospel writers assume that their readers have some knowledge of the times of which they write. Such knowledge we must acquire, if we would read the gospel history intelligently. In particular:—

a) Become acquainted with the history of the New Testament period, not only of the Roman government and the Gentile world in general, but especially of Jewish life and thought in Palestine. A bare skeleton of the leading events of Jewish history is shown in the table on pp. 281, 282, and the diagram on p. 283. This skeleton should be filled out by further reading.

b) Study the geography of Palestine, becoming familiar with its main physical features, its political divisions, its chief localities.

2. Memorize the material. The facts of this history are by reason of their transcendent importance well worthy of all necessary effort to fix them in memory. Moreover, the facts appear in their true relations only to him who has acquired an easy command of them as facts. In particular: —

a) Learn the full title of each of the nine Parts into which the life of Jesus is divided in the Outline. Let this be done at the outset, thus fixing in mind at the beginning the general framework of the whole gospel narrative.

b) As you take up each Part or chapter, learn the order of events in that Part or chapter. Some will perhaps prefer to learn only the chapter-titles, others only the section-titles. Better than either of these is to learn both chapter-titles and section-titles.

c) From the Scripture passages cited under each section, master the historical substance of the section-all the more important facts therein narrated. Where there are two or more accounts it is best to select the narrative of one

of the gospels as the basis, and then compare the other accounts with this one. Except in the case of brief passages of special importance it is not necessary to commit the passage to memory verbally. What is important to fix in mind is not the words, but the facts. Of the long discourses only the central thought or general outline can be learned in this study.

3. Organize the material. History is not a succession of disconnected events, but an organic unity. It is this unity which we seek to construct. In particular:a) Connect the successive events together as far as possible into a continuous narrative.

b) Locate each event geographically, and trace the journeys of Jesus from point to point.

c) Make frequent reviews from the beginning, especially by naming in order the Parts, chapters, and sections, and by tracing the movements of Jesus by means of a map.

d) Endeavor as a result of these various lines of study to acquire a clearly defined conception of the external life of our Lord in its historical setting, in its chronological order, and in its organic unity, and, so far as may be, of the inner life also-his mental and spiritual history.

Observe that this task, though large, has its limits. The interpretation of Christ's discourses as such, the formulation of his doctrines, the application of his principles to questions of personal duty and of modern life, are tasks for which our present study will lay secure foundations, but which are not included in the study of the Life of Christ, as that study is now ordinarily defined.

The table of Sayings of Christ assigned by the evangelists to more than one historical situation, pp. 262-271, will be useful chiefly in this advanced study of the teaching of Christ.

4. Finally, and above all, seek for spiritual sympathy with this unique person, and for spiritual insight into this unique history. The Life of Christ is biography; it is even more truly history—the history of a great spiritual achievement. Alike as biography and as history, it demands for its true understanding sympathy and insight. The life of the poet and the career of the statesman can be understood only by him who brings to the study of them some measure of sympathy with the person whose life is studied, some power of insight into his plan and work. It is not less true respecting Jesus Christ. The life and work of him who spake as never man spake, and lived as never man lived, reveal their true meaning only to him who comes to their study with a mind open to the beauty and power of the life, and to the grandeur of its far-reaching plan for the redemption of our race.