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Rev. Henry Churchill King, D.D., LL.D., president of Oberlin College, delivered the second of the Noble lectures on "The Ethics of Jesus" in the Lecture Room of the Fogg Art Museum last evening. He discussed the ethical teaching in Schmiedel's "Foundation Pillar" passages and explained several quotations from the "doubly attested" sayings of Christ.
Dr. King first declared his intention of discussing only the ethical attitude of Jesus, because his most important work was ethical and it is through this part of his teachings that his influence has become so vast.
One of the great beliefs of Jesus was in the necessary inwardness of religious life. He believed, too, in the necessity of moral freedom and independence. Whatever Jesus preached, he preached earnestly and passionately; he realized that life was serious and that a frivolous existence could, be but temporary. Together with this serious conception of life, he believed in the absolute integrity of existence.
Dr. King then outlined a critical study of the "doubly attested" sayings as given by Burkitt, which he declared to possess tremendous power because of their very simplicity. In these sayings the element of love is dominant as the supreme power of all. Here also we find the qualities noticed in Schmiedel's work: the earnest attitude toward life and the belief in a personal religion. Christ believed in the marvellous growth of good from humble beginnings. Our life should be one of sacrifice. In the utterance, "For he that hath to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath," we at first may see an element of injustice. But as we study it more carefully, we realize that it is but another phase of Christ's belief; the ability to attain any goal comes not so much from the possession of power as from the exercise of it.
The third of the Noble lectures will be given in the Fogg Lecture Room tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock. The subject of the lecture will be "The Ethical Teaching in Mark, and in the Other Common Source of Matthew and Luke; Oldest Sources." the lecture will be open to the public.
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