The Jew had one quality in common with the Greek. They both saw life clearly and saw it as a harmonious whole. But they each saw it from an opposite standpoint. The thoroughness, consistency, and unity of each ideal by itself only rendered its incompatibility with the other more complete. It is to this incompatibility that must be attributed the failure of Hellenism in Western Asia generally and among the Jews in particular. A system of life reared upon a purely intellectual basis had no charm for a race essentially spiritual. The cold language of reason conveyed no message to the mind of the Hebrew who, in common with most Orientals, looks to revealed religion alone for guidance in matters of belief and conduct. The Oriental never feels happy except in a creed, and the Hellene offered him nothing better than an ethical code. How mean and how earthy must this code have appeared in the eyes of men accustomed to the splendid terrors of the Mosaic Law! Again, the intellectual freedom--the privilege of investigating all and testing all before accepting anything as true--which the Greek has claimed from all time as man’s inalienable birthright, and upon which he has built his noble civilisation, was repugnant to a people swathed in the bands of tradition and distrusting all things that are not sanctioned by authority. The Greek had no word for Faith as distinct from Conviction. He revered intelligence and scorned intuition. What man’s mental eye could not see clearly was not worth seeing, or rather did not exist for him. Palestine was the home of Revelation; Hellas of Speculation. The one country has given us Philosophy and the Platonic Dialogues; the other the Prophets and the Mosaic Decalogue: the former all argument, the latter all commandment. The following conversation between two representatives of the two worlds brings their respective attitudes into vivid relief. One is Justin Martyr, the other a mysterious personage--probably a fictitious character--who sowed in Justin’s mind the seed of the new religion. JUSTIN. Can man achieve a greater triumph than prove that reason reigns supreme over all things, and having captured reason and being borne aloft by it to survey the errors of other men? There is no wisdom except in Philosophy and right reason. It is, therefore, every man’s duty to cultivate Philosophy and to deem that the greatest and most glorious pursuit, all other possessions as of secondary or tertiary value; for, if these are wedded to Philosophy, they are worthy of some acceptance; but, if divorced from Philosophy, they are burdensome and vulgar. STRANGER. What is Philosophy and what the happiness derived therefrom? JUSTIN. Philosophy is the Knowledge of that which is and is true. The happiness derived therefrom is the prize of that knowledge. STRANGER. How can the Philosophers form a correct notion of God, or teach anything true concerning him, since they have neither seen him nor heard of him?