Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself
have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our
genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love,
and to this very day millions will die for Him. I think I understand
something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am
a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man.
I have
inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would
have died for me but to do this is was necessary that I should be
visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of
my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lightened up the flame of
self-devotion in their hearts. Christ alone has succeeded in so raising
the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the
barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years,
Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others difficult to
satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek in vain at
the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of
her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He
will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and
forthwith His demand is granted.
Wonderful! In defiance of time and
space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an
annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him,
experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This
phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man’s
creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish
this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a
limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often
thought of it. This it is which proves to me quite convincingly the
Divinity of Jesus Christ.
(Napoleon)