directly and wholly from God; and if so, then its form also - its letter - must be authentic and

authoritative. Thus much on the surface, and for all. But the student must search deeper into it,

his senses, as it were, quickened by Greek criticism; he must `meditate' and penetrate into the

Divine mysteries. The Palestinian also searched into them, and the result was the Midrash. But,

whichever of his methods he had applied - the Peshat , or simple criticism of the words, the

Derush, or search into the possible applications of the text, what might be `trodden out' of it; or

the Sod, the hidden, mystical, supranatural bearing of the words - it was still only the letter of

the text that had been studied. There was, indeed, yet another understanding of the Scriptures,

to which St. Paul directed his disciples: the spiritual bearing of its spiritual truths. But that needed

another qualification, and tended in another direction from those of which the Jewish student

knew. On the other hand, there was the intellectual view of the Scriptures - their philosophical

understanding, the application to them of the results of Grecian thought and criticism. It was this

which was peculiarly Hellenistic. Apply that method, and the deeper the explorer proceeded in

his search, the more would he feel himself alone, far from the outside crowd; but the brighter

also would that light of criticism, which he carried, shine in the growing darkness, or, as he held

it up, would the precious ore, which he laid bare, glitter and sparkle with a thousand varying

hues of brilliancy. What was Jewish, Palestinian, individual, concrete in the Scriptures, was only

the outside - true in itself, but not the truth. There were depths beneath. Strip these stories of

their nationalism; idealise the individual of the persons introduced, and you came upon abstract

ideas and realities, true to all time and to all nations. But this deep symbolism was Pythagorean;

this pre-existence of ideas which were the types of all outward actuality, was Platonism! Broken

rays in them, but the focus of truth in the Scriptures. Yet these were rays, and could only have

come from the Sun. All truth was of God; hence theirs must have been of that origin. Then were

the sages of the heathen also in a sense God-taught - and God-teaching, or inspiration, was

rather a question of degree than of kind!

One step only remained; and that, as we imagine, if not the easiest, yet, as we reflect upon it,

that which in practice would be most readily taken. It was simply to advance towards

Grecianism; frankly to recognise truth in the results of Greek thought. There is that within us,

name it mental consciousness, or as you will, which, all unbidden, rises to answer to the voice of

intellectual truth, come whence it may, just as conscience answers to the cause of moral truth or

duty. But in this case there was more. There was the mighty spell which Greek philosophy

exercised on all kindred minds, and the special adaptation of the Jewish intellect to such subtle,

if not deep, thinking. And, in general, and more powerful than the rest, because penetrating

everywhere, was the charm of Greek literature, with its brilliancy; of Greek civilisation and

culture, with their polish and attractiveness; and of what, in one word, we may call the `time-

spirit,' that tyrannos, who rules all in their thinking, speaking, doing, whether they list or not.

Why, his sway extended even to Palestine itself, and was felt in the innermost circle of the most

exclusive Rabbinism. We are not here referring to the fact that the very language spoken in

Palestine came to be very largely charged with Greek, and even Latin, words Hebraised, since

this is easily accounted for by the new circumstances, and the necessities of intercourse with the