And on this subject, too, we quarrel among ourselves, whether a God-
Father troubles himself about little things only or about great
things too, such as the forgiveness of sins. We do the same thing
with Jesus. We speak of him as of a unique personality, as the
highest revelation of the Father, and the like, but always connected
with a certain skeptical undercurrent of thought; but we do not
appreciate him in his deepest soul and in the great motives of his
life. He is not for modern theology what he is for orthodoxy, the
Saviour of the world and the Redeemer of mankind."

Quite naturally this open confession of a pronounced liberal
attracts more than ordinary attention. The liberal papers, including
the _Christliche Welt_ itself, pass it by without further comment,
but the conservatives speak out boldly. Representative of the latter
is the _Evangelische Lutherische Kirchenzeitung_, of Leipzig, which
says:

"The psychological and spiritual solution of Rittelmeyer's problem
is not so hard to find. The soul of man can not live on negations. To
stir the soul there must be positive principles and epoch-making
historical facts, such as are offered by the Scriptural teachings of
Christ and his words. There can be religious life only where there is
faith in him who is the truth and the life. Liberal theology has
failed because it has nothing to offer."


Dr. Harnack, its great high priest, found it an unsatisfying portion,
and, doubtless influenced by its failure, has resigned and turned his
energies into other channels.