The Person and Work of Jesus Christ 109 their human and purely naturalistic view of Jesus was really contained in the New Testament records, the modern ra- tionalists are outspoken in their assertion that their own view is radically different from that of the New Testament writers. They do not in the least try to bridge over this chasm, but state Emphatically as Julicher does: “Where even the first apostles have totally misunderstood Jesus we must try to understand Him better.” This is the picture of Christ which the leading liberal theologians of today have scattered broadcast in tens of thousands of copies of cheap pamphlets, which is described Sunday after Sunday in thousands of pulpits both in Germany, and, somewhat modified and as yet retouched, also in Amer- ica. But again a reaction has set in, the sweep of which can not as yet be wholly comprehended. THE VERDICT OF INFIDELITY A pupil of modern liberal theologians, the former pastor Gustav Frenssen, who is a novel-writer of great force, wrote a novel, “Hilligenlei” (Holy Land), of which hundreds of thousands of copies were sold. The hero of this novel, Kai Jans, is, as is generally admitted, a true reproduction of the picture of Christ as painted by the liberal theologians. This book, as well as some other recent publications, gave rise to a number of reviews of the “modern Christ” by eminent literary men and by philosophers who do not claim to be Christians, but are known and desire to be known as leaders of free thought. Some of them were formerly theologians, but have lost their faith in the fundamental truths of Chris- tianity. Of these writers I mention Adolf Bartels, editor of the “Kunstwart,” Leo Berg, Eduard von Hartmann, A. Drews, W. Von Schnehen, C. A. Bernoulli, Dr. Kalthoff, the President of the League of Monists, and also two physicians, Doctors De Loosten and E. Rasmussen.
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