Orthodox Christians accept both Old and New Testaments as authority for their actions, whereas Modernists are not much concerned with the commands of Jehovah but maintain that Jesus is the pattern for their lives. Religious liberals feel that the troubles of the world come largely from failure to follow the teachings of the Nazarene. They look upon him as the perfect example of what a man should be. In their opinion, if everyone would act as Jesus did all would be well. On December 7, 1931, Dr. Henry Van Dyke preached at the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York City, that the way to end the financial depression was to act as Jesus would: "We can judge only by what he did and said in the first century, an age not so different from our own, an age of unsettlement, violence, drunkenness and license. Christ would tell us not to yield to panic.... Christ would not tell us to join any political party or social group...." Such a sermon sounds encouraging but, as a matter of fact, Jesus has not shown any of his ministers how to end the depression. To trust him for guidance in our modern world is to pin faith on an incompetent instructor. We can learn how to end the depression by examining the records of our own time and by correcting the errors that have been made. It is not safe to rely upon a person who had no knowledge of America's practical needs and whose acts and advice regarding worldly affairs in Jerusalem fell short of the best ethical values. In this treatise it has been shown that Jesus made mistakes. Every instance cited may not appeal to all readers as worthy of criticism, but there can be no doubt in the mind of any honest thinker that several at least of Jesus' ideas were erroneous. His theology was filled with superstitions, his cosmology was that of the pre-scientific era, he expected the end of the world within a generation, his conception of sin was theological rather than ethical, he failed to convince his hearers by his oratory, he exaggerated the results from prayer and he related parables that gave a false sense of values. Now we shall turn to his personal character and teachings to see if he was always the meek, gentle soul portrayed by the conventional Christ. _Cursing Nature_ The act in Jesus' life that has been most difficult for theologians to explain was the cursing of the fig tree. The tree was created to bear fruit in the Summer, but when Jesus found it without fruit in the Spring, he cursed it so that it withered away. "Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, and when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away."[1] "For the time of figs was not yet."[2]