time, of the specifically Christian experience of salvation. But
we should cherish no prejudice against the possibility of the ap-
pearance of another spiritual personality equally great--or
even greater, for that matter, unless, indeed, this practically
inconceivable. If it did occur, it would be a revelation of the
divine to be profoundly grateful for; and it would seem to be
equally desirable beforehand. But as to whether or not it will
take place, who can say? No doubt the divine Reality would
have been revealed as fully as it was in Jesus of Nazareth long
before the beginning of our era, had there been a human being
of equal native endowment who fulfilled equally well all the
other conditions of the incoming of the divine power, and had
the social environment been equally capable of receiving the
revelation; and no doubt the same thing would happen again
under the same conditions. The only necessary further quali-
fication of this statement is that which should be made in view
of the fact that revelation, as actual revealing, or presenting in
such a way as to make new knowledge possible, is always rela-
tive to what was there before, as the actual illumination due to
a new source of light in inversely proportion to the quantity
of light preceding its appearance. But beyond these statements
we must remain again critically agnostic. Practically speaking,
however, it would seem that our chief need is not for the appear-
ance of a greater spiritual leader that Jesus of Nazareth, but for
the social propagation of the spirit of Jesus and the social ap-
plication of his principles--in other words, for a modern social
adaptation of what he himself called "Kingdom of God."

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