I once listened to an eloquent preacher of New Theology who pictured the character of Jesus before his audience as a perfect model in all respects--holy, righteous, kind, loving, gentle, meek, humble, patient, strong, brave, and so on. It was a most exquisite portraiture of human character. But all the while I was listening I felt as though I was standing before a marble statue, beautiful to look at, but cold and lifeless. He was not introducing a living Saviour to his audience, but only showing them that there was such a good man who once lived upon this earth, and who had this beautiful character. That was all. This Jesus may have had such deep love for his disciples who were contemporary with him, but he could not have loved you and me, because he could not have known us at such a distant time. He was a man of nineteen centuries ago. This preacher was praising the character of Jesus just as the novelist praises his heroes. By listening to such a painting of the character of the human Jesus how can we feel true personal love toward him? True and supreme love comes from the living and direct touch of heart with heart, as a fire flashes by the friction of steel and flint. When I lost my faith in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ as my ever-living, personal Saviour, I lost my supreme love for him also. Henceforth I regarded and honored him as a historical personage, perhaps the holiest and greatest and best of all men who ever lived on this earth. But that warmth and joy of the living, personal love to the living, personal Saviour were all gone, and my Christian faith became dead and cold, or rather it should be said that it became simply an intellectual appreciation of the beautiful character of an old sage.