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The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

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terms which this implies—no explanation can be<br />

attempted, if it were only on <strong>the</strong> ground, that we<br />

are utterly ignorant ot <strong>the</strong> conditions under which it<br />

took place.<br />

This much, however, deserves special notice, that<br />

<strong>the</strong>re is one marked point <strong>of</strong> difference between<br />

<strong>the</strong> account <strong>of</strong> this miracle <strong>and</strong> what will be found<br />

a general characteristic in legendaiy narratives. In<br />

<strong>the</strong> latter, <strong>the</strong> miraculous, however extraordinary,<br />

is <strong>the</strong> expected; it creates no surprise, <strong>and</strong> it is<br />

never mistaken for something that might have<br />

occurred in <strong>the</strong> ordinary course <strong>of</strong> events. For, it is<br />

characteristic <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mythical that <strong>the</strong> miraculous is<br />

not only introduced in <strong>the</strong> most realistic manner,<br />

but forms <strong>the</strong> essential element in <strong>the</strong> conception <strong>of</strong><br />

things. This is <strong>the</strong> very raison dUtre <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> myth or<br />

legend, when it attcu3hes itself to <strong>the</strong> real <strong>and</strong><br />

historically true. Now <strong>the</strong> opposite is <strong>the</strong> case in<br />

<strong>the</strong> present narrative. Had it been mythical or<br />

legendary, we should have expected that <strong>the</strong><br />

disciples would have been described as<br />

inunediately recognising <strong>the</strong> Master as He walked

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