Ecce Homo Author:John Robert Seeley Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 6i CHAPTER VI. Christ's Winnowing Fan. r I "'HE first step in our investigation is now taken. We have considered the Christian Church in its idea, that i... more »s to say, as it existed in the mind of its founder and before it was realized. Our task will now become more historical and will deal with the actual establishment of the new Theocracy; but we shall endeavor to keep the idea always in view and sedulously to avoid all such details as may have the effect of obscuring it. The founder's plan was simply this, to renew in a form adapted to the new time that divine Society of which the Old Testament contains the history. The essential features of that ancient Theocracy were: (i) the divine Call and Election of Abraham ; (2) the divine legislation given to the nation through Moses ; (3) the personal relation and responsibility of every individual member of the Theocracy to its Invisible King. As the new Theocracy was to be the counterpart of the old, it was to be expected that these three features would be reflected in it. Accordingly we have found Christ undertaking to issue a Call to men such as was given to Abraham, to deliver a Legislation such as Israel had received from Moses, and to occupy a personal relation of Judge and Master toevery man such as in the earlier Theocracy had been occupied by Jehovah himself without representative. Such was the plan. In proceeding to consider the execution of it, these three essential features will afford the means of a convenient arrangement, and the correspondence of the new Theocracy to the old in respect of them will afford a constant instructive illustration. Our investigation divides itself from this point into three parts. We shall treat in order the Call, the Legislation, and the Divine Royalty of Christ, and in proceeding no...« less