Abstract
IT will always be a paradox that the gentlest and most lovable character in the whole of the recorded history of mankind should not only be the source of such bitterness and hatred as mark the story of Christianity, but also that He Himself should have been fully aware that the consequences of His teaching would constantly be averse from the spirit of His doctrine. Of all the utterances of Our Lord, that which displays most clearly His insight into the heart of man, and has been most completely fulfilled, is the declaration that he brought into the world not peace, but a sword. Not only did He knowingly set up insurmountable barriers between those who followed Him and their families, friends and fellows in the community, but also when He turned from the Jews to send the seventy disciples on their mission to the world, He informed His religion with an inflexible will to the conversion of the heathen?in other words, of those not of like belief?which in its methods and its results has belied the promise to mankind of peace and goodwill.
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Religion—a Changing Force?. Nature 138, 1–3 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138001a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138001a0