Zeno, Socrates, and Plato, beacon lights in early Grecian philosophy, originated and adopted the dialectic method of teaching; Jesus used that of illustrating by parable. Unlike those preceding him, the Master was not only profound, but extremely simple. Simplicity was a pre-eminent quality of his; a quality admired and understood by the people, and both marveled at and coveted by the teachers of his time. These "wise men" were learned in philosophy, students of both Grecian and Roman metaphysics, and had advanced in thought only so far as had Plato whose vague conceptions of Deity they accepted. They looked upon Plato as a subtle thinker, profound as he undoubtedly was, and they strove to emulate his example and to deduce abstract conclusions from that subject which can only be elucidated, at least to the understanding of the people, in simple and logical terms.
Jesus was born at the time when the world had become dissatisfied with the doctrines of Plato; when the people hungered for a demonstrable philosophy rather than a conjectural one, and when religious evolution had paved the way for the coming of the Master who should reveal to them the true religion, and prove his authority by works. His philosophy embraced all that was good and true of what had been previously uttered. At the same time it rendered obsolete the innumerable false theories and conjectures regarding God, man, and the soul. It simplified religion, made known to man the living God, and gave to the world an infallible, because demonstrable, philosophy which even the child could understand.
The Master accomplished that which his predecessors, despite their learning, could not,—that is, he gave the people tangible proof that his teachings were true, he was the prophet of simple truths which he applied to daily life and made practical in the healing of both the sick and the sinning.
