Jesus Christ revealed none of the scientific knowledge that it is possible for man to acquire by the use of his own reason. He confirmed the truth of that which reason can attain concerning God and the human soul, besides enlightening us regarding that sphere of truth which is inaccessible to reason, that is to say, the life of God Himself.
Let us recall the fact that the God of Israel had always claimed it as His office to bring back the lost tribes to Himself. He had accomplished this through the prophets; but those very prophets had foretold a great manifestation to come, the manifestation of God Himself coming in person to inaugurate His kingdom, and it was towards such a coming of God that their most ardent desires were directed: “O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and wouldst come down?” Similar passages are very numerous and very clear. It is true that this coming down of God appeared more glorious in their eyes than His descent upon Sinai, to be accompanied by convulsions of nature, the hills leaping with transports of joy, accompanied also by triumph for Israel; but it is necessary to understand all these things in a figurative manner. Yet in truth, this imagery, grandiose as it was, was after all but a feeble expression of the unspeakable honor promised to human nature. The spiritual, but for this very reason all the more real, manner of that coming of God had been shown by Isaias. He had foretold the birth of a child named Emmanuel, that is, God with us; the child was also named “God-hero” (Isaias 9:5), and Isaias had predicted in so many words that a remnant of Jacob should return to the “God-hero” (Isaias 10:21). Now there never was any question of Israel being converted to any other than God. It was God, therefore, who was in question in that litany of Isaias where there is an alternation of human properties and divine attributes: “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God-Hero, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaias 9:5).
The Alexandrine Jews had recoiled at the thought of the divinity of the Messiah; hence they had rendered all this as “Angel of great counsel.” But the Apostles understood that these terms were to be taken literally, and more than one independent exegete is of that opinion today. Daniel, foretelling the passing of empires and indicating each of these empires by the symbol of a terrible beast which principally typified their sovereign, had denoted the kingdom of God by a supernatural being like unto a son of man; yet it was Jesus that he had had in mind, as the latter declared when He stood before His judges. That heavenly being advanced to the Ancient of Days, the symbol of the Father, and received from Him an everlasting dominion. He was not proclaimed to be God, but since He had come from heaven He would return thither in order to be near God, where a throne was prepared for Him.
The prophecies seemed to be divergent. Some spoke of a man, others used the name of God; some enumerated the sufferings of the Servant of God in the work of expiating sin, others promised to the Messiah an universal dominion. But although the prophecies seemed like lines running parallel to infinity, nevertheless they all converged on the person of Jesus. He was the God whom men awaited, who alone had the power to save His people; He was also the man who was to be the son of David, subject to suffering and death. In a word He was the Man-God that He claimed to be, in whom the Scriptures were fulfilled.
Enamored as it is of the positive sciences, our age dislikes being referred to miracles and prophecies; it would rather put its faith in a scholar than in a wonder-worker. Jesus did nothing for the advance of science. If only He had prophesied one of the discoveries of which we are now so proud, if only He had foretold that we should one day traverse marvelous distances in the air at a speed of which they had no conception in former days, then we should no longer refuse to believe in Him! But He did no such thing, He “made no inventions,” as Pascal said long ago, and at first perhaps Pascal’s scientific mind was surprised at it. The reason of this was because Jesus kept Himself to His own sphere, that of holiness, and it was better so.
Do we not see that, if He had made the prophecy of which we have spoken, it would have been an obstacle to men of good will? It would have led those who were well disposed towards Him to treat Him as a charlatan right up to the beginning of the twentieth century. By that way He would have converted no one, and He would have remained unknown. And supposing that our contemporaries were to discover such a prophecy as that in some old document, what conclusion would they draw except that it was merely a presentiment of genius? Further, such a prophecy, suitable though it might be to the requirements of the time in which we live, would it not exhaust the chances of progress that are reserved for the future? Λ revelation in the scientific sphere would hold good for people of all ages only on condition that it contained absolute and complete truth. But God alone is such truth as that.
We repeat, therefore, that Jesus Christ revealed none of the scientific knowledge that it is possible for man to acquire by the use of his own reason. He confirmed the truth of that which reason can attain concerning God and the human soul, besides enlightening us regarding that sphere of truth which is inaccessible to reason, that is to say, the life of God Himself. He unfolded to mankind the secret of the love that God bears for men, a great love which makes God desire to be loved in return. Thenceforward those unfathomable depths of divinity, the object of man’s restless desire here below, were sufficiently revealed to him to serve as a guide for moral conduct. In consequence, the way was thrown open for the best representatives of human culture to reshape the conditions of family and social life, to base philosophy on solid foundations, and in the course of time to carry on the work of the ancient Greek thinkers so far as to bring the sciences to the wonderful state in which we now find them, with a promise of still further progress in the future. The danger is that our own generation allows itself to be so captivated by these fascinating conquests, already won or else promised as a result of efforts to come, that it turns away its eyes from the eternal truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The essential point of the message of that Gospel is that Jesus Christ is both man and God. The fourth evangelist was not responsible for the beginning of that doctrine; he merely urged it with greater insistence and gave it fresh expression.
This is an essay from The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Vol. 2.
Republished with gracious permission from Cluny Media.
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The featured image is “The Raising of Lazarus” (1310-1311), by Duccio di Buoninsegna, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.