H. G. Wells says more about what he considered to be part of the teaching of Jesus. Page 446 of H. G. Wells' book says the following.
"And not only did Jesus strike at patriotism and the bonds of family
loyalty in the name of God’s universal fatherhood and brotherhood of all
mankind, but it is clear that his teaching condemned all the gradations
of the economic system, all private wealth, and personal advantages.
All men belonged to the kingdom; all their possessions belonged to the
kingdom; the righteous life for all men, the only righteous life, was
the service of God’s will with all that we had, with all that we were.
Again and again he denounced private riches and the reservation of any
private life."
On page 447 Wells quotes from Mark chapter 10 which says the following.
“And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God! And the
disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again, and
saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches
to enter into the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.”
That message of no private wealth in the kingdom is one which would have been a very hard message for most people to accept, except mostly for the poorest of the poor.
On pages 447-448 of the edition of 1971 Wells says the following.
"It was not merely a moral and a social revolution that Jesus proclaimed;
it is clear from a score of indications that his teaching had a
political bent of the plainest sort. It is true that he said his kingdom
was not of this world, that it was in the hearts of men and not upon a
throne; but it is equally clear that wherever and in what measure his
kingdom was set up in the hearts of men, the outer world would be in
that measure revolutionized and made new."
Page 453 of the edition of Wells' book from 1971 says the following. "The early Nazarenes, as the followers of Jesus were called, present from the first a spectacle of a great confusion ..., his teaching, on the one hand, and the glosses and interpretations of the disciples on the other. They continued for a time his disciples of the complete subjugation of self; they had their goods in common, they had no bond but love. Nevertheless, they built their faith upon the stories that were told of his resurrection and magical ascension, and the promised return. Few of them understood that the renunciation of self is its own reward, that it is itself the Kingdom of Heaven; they regarded it as a sacrifice that entitled them to the compensation of power and dominion when presently the second coming occurred. They now all identified Jesus with the promised Christ, the Messiah so long expected by the Jewish people."
It is those words from pages 447-448 and from page 453 (and from the first paragraph of page 453, which I did not include in the quotes) of the 1971 edition of Wells' book which give me the impression that Wells did not believe that Jesus taught an apocalyptic message (though for awhile I had thought that Wells did believe that Jesus taught such an apocalyptic message).
