But let the general tendency once begin to conflict with it, and its inherent weakness in an instant becomes apparent.

We may see this by considering the moral character of Christ, and the sort of weight that is claimed for His example.

This example, so the Christian world teaches, is faultless and infallible; and as long as we believe this, the example has supreme authority.

But apply to this the true Protestant method, and the authority soon shows signs of wavering.

Let us once deny that Christ was more than a faultless man, and we lose by that denial our authority for asserting that he was as much as a faultless man.