What,  then,  was  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom
which  Jesus  held  and  taught,  and  in  what  respect
did  it  differ  from  that  of  His  contem-  jesus'  idea
poraries  ?  These  are  questions  to  J^^®  pj^^J
which  a  complete  answer  is  impossible,  dualism.
for  we  have  nothing  to  go  upon  except  these
fragmentary  gospel  records  written  long  after  the
occurrences  we  have  been  examining.  But,  on
the  whole,  to  be  honest,  I  feel  we  must  admit
that  there  is  very  little,  if  anything,  which  differ-
entiates the  essential  teaching  of  Jesus  from  that
of  the  other  teachers  of  His  time  beyond  the  fact
that  it  was  simple  and  clear,  and  went  straight
to  the  root  of  the  matter  in  hand.  He  never
repudiated  the  Jewish  law,  but  He  did  not  hesitate
to  abrogate  some  of  its  precepts  when  they  were
out  of  harmony  with  His  fundamental  principle
of  love  for  God  and  man.
"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said,  *  Thou
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  and  hate  thine
enemy,' "  (Lev.  xix.  i8).  "  But  I  say  unto  you,
Love  your  enemies,  and  pray  for  them  that
persecute  you"  (Matt.  v.  44).
The  force  of  a  saying  like  this  is  best  under-
stood when  it  is  remembered  that  to  a  Jew  the

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Christianity  and  the  Social  Order

enemy  was  the  foreigner,  and  that  at  the  moment
the  oppressor  for  whom  they  were  thus  exhorted
to  pray  was  the  cruel  Roman ;  nothing  could
be  much  more  completely  in  contrast  with  the
mood  of  the  time  than  this  particular  utterance.
