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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
them deluded rustics or unmeaning simpletons. We shall not permit hollow adjectives and wordy bubbles to mar our vision. Some of the biographies of Jesus simply end by showing that the author would have done better if he had abstained from writing the book altogether. Some of these books, no doubt, are masterpieces of flowery style and beautiful diction, but as throwing any light on the true, the beautiful and the good' in the life of the person whose biography they are supposed to be narrating, they are utterly worthless and misleading.
We do not think that Jesus can be said to have had no knowledge of the general state of the world; he was not illiterate. At a remarkably early period of life, he was found sitting in the midst of the doctors,' hearing and questioning them, to the astonishment of all present. The Bible assures us that he was a wise man, Luke recording:“ And Jesus increased in wisdom” (Luke, II. 52).
That he could write is obvious from the four gospels. Once or twice he is said to have written something on the ground before giving a reply to the questions put to him. It might be that it was merely a ruse for gaining time, but one not accustomed to write would hardly think of it. Luke (IV. 16-20) bears testimony to his reading the book of Isaiah, and thus puts the matter beyond controversy. Besides, Jesus had travelled over a considerable portion of the surrounding countries, and had actually lived for some years in Egypt, albeit as a child. What he did with himself during the period intervening between the twelfth and the thirtieth year of
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