We will examine the account of Jesus’s leaving this world so soon, to discover if possible, what end was to be obtained by his sudden departure from the scene of his suffering and degradation. It seems reasonable to suppose that it was of the highest importance for Jesus to stay on earth to establish Christianity on a sure foundation. It is written that he told his disciples that it was for their good that things were so arranged that he should leave them, for if he went away, he would send the comforter to them, who was to be their guide, and to bring to their remembrance the things he had told them; and also that the Holy Ghost, the comforter, would, to make up for his absence, lead them into the way of truth. This is, in substance, what they were to expect. But unfortunately it did not take place, but the reverse; for, from the accounts which have come down to us, a great number of sects sprang up in a few years after Jesus left the world, and numerous gospels were extant, which, for a number of years were quoted by the early Fathers of the Church, and were considered authentic; but were afterwards rejected, and are now bound up together and called “The Rejected Gospels.” In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christian sects were not only numerous, but began to assume a spirit of intolerance and persecution, and when that monster, Constantine, became a convert to Christianity, religious quarrels were of the most violent character. Not to dwell on the particulars of these religious differences, we may ask, what did they quarrel about? The answer is at hand. They quarrelled about something that Jesus was reported to have said or taught. Their disputes were not of a moral, but of a theological description. In these disputed subjects no standard of reference could be set up. Jesus was at the right hand of his Father, and their differences could not be settled by him. Quarrel after quarrel followed in quick succession; the strong persecuted the weak; and the earth was deluged with blood. Constantine, the Roman Emperor, hoisted the banner of the cross; and after having murdered nearly the whole of his own family, he sought consolation from that religion which says, that “the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin.”