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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
to discard a series of misconceptions arising from the inferiority of the disciples. These painted him as they understood him, and often in thinking to raise him they have in reality lowered him."--(Life of Jesus).
The fact is that, while they lived with their master, the disciples of Jesus neither understood nor cared to understand the doctrine of the New Faith,' and, after their separation from him, it was too much for them to read between the lines of his fragmentary aphorisms, to sort and classify his numerous sayings, and to reduce them to a uniform system of philosophical thought. They were not only not desirous of doing so, but also had not the capacity for the work. Their ambition, be it said to their credit, never soared above their intelligence, and, thus, what in the hands of people accustomed to follow systematic thought would have been cleared up at once, became buried in obscurity and lost in confusion. The latter-day biographers tried to remove the cobwebs of superstition, and to search out the real truth ; but they failed for want of comprehension of the kind of material of which the Saviour's teachings are composed. Thus, failing to reconcile the higher truths of Spirituality with their limited knowledge of the material Universe, they lost their mental balance and ended by seeing only rustic simplicity' and 'unsophisticated candour' in the utterances of the founder of the ‘New Faith. The clerics, on the other hand, could never bring impartial judgment to bear on the point, and insisted on people believing the black to be white. Thus, all sources of information are deceptive and misleading, and the seeker after the truth of the Saviour's teachings has no alternative but to proceed
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