They equally proclaim the paradox
of its insignificance and its importance.
But above all the prophet was not and is not like other prophets;
and the proof of it is to be found not primarily among
those who believe in him, but among those who do not.
He is not dead, even where he is denied. What is the use of a modern
man saying that Christ is only a thing like Atys or Mithras,
when the next moment he is reproaching Christianity for not
following Christ? He does not suddenly lose his temper and talk
about our most unmithraic conduct, as he does (very justly as a rule)
about our most unchristian conduct. We do not find a group of ardent
young agnostics, in the middle of a great war, tried as traitors
for their extravagant interpretation of remarks attributed to Atys.
It is improbable that Tolstoy wrote a book to prove that all modern
ills could be cured by literal obedience to all the orders of Adonis.
We do not find wild Bolshevists calling themselves Mithraic Socialists
as many of them call themselves Christian Socialists. Leaving orthodoxy
and even sanity entirely on one side, the very heresies and insanities
of our time prove that after nearly two thousand years the issue
is still living and the name is quite literally one to conjure with.
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