So having advanced the hypothesis that we have left the purely mechanical aspect of Evolution far behind, like bows and arrows in warfare, and that Evolution is now transferred entirely to the mental and spiritual worlds so far as Man is concerned, let us revert to the mind of Jesus, to see what he had to contribute. Or rather what the modern mind would see it could contribute, when looking through his eyes.
But first let us try to look for a moment through Jesus’ own eyes; but expressing it in the first person. Being a carpenter in Nazareth, I would not have read Herodotus; but I might conceivably have realized that the world was waiting for a world religion, although my idea of history would have been limited to Samuel, Kings, Chronicles. It would have been pretty parochial. I would have seen that I must displace the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees, both by saying, “… but I say unto you..”, and also by mighty acts of power which were beyond anything they could do. But I would not have discredited the religion they professed; I would have accepted that. In other words, I would have accepted the world in which they lived; and used such power as I had only to do good. How much I had, only experience would show. I would have wanted to discredit them; but I would have realized that my acts of power would only discredited them, if I could honesty say that they could have done all that I had done, if they had had the Divine authority. I would have wanted to meet them on equal terms. The battle-ground I would have chosen would simply have been, “Who has the Divine Writ?”
Any unnecessary display of power would show me up as a magician, and would do my cause no good at all. So I would have avoided it. Besides, no prophet dare be egotistical; quite apart from Divine disapproval, egotism destroys one’s sense of strategy. Certainly my followers, if I had any, could not have carried on from where I left off, if I had indulged in egotism; which was one of the promises in the Last Discourses. I would have wanted them to be able to do all I was able to do, and greater things still when society had made away with me. Only by claiming to be filled with God’s spirit, and by telling my disciples that they could be similarly filled, could I claim to be the Messiah fulfilling the law and the prophets, and carrying things a stage further. So I would not have sought to free the slaves, nor to undermine Roman power by refusing to pay taxes and threatening fire from heaven if there were any reprisals; I would not have sought to change society, only the way people behaved in the society which we all accepted. To attempt more was beyond me.
But what would I do if people refused to listen; or listened attentively, but without any intention of doing more than listen? The obvious alternatives would be either to back down, or raise the stakes.