,,the ,,expositor',s ,,library ,,modern ,,substitutes ,,for ,,christianity ,,by ,,the ,,very ,,rev4 ,,pearson ,mc,a,d,a,m ,,muir ,d4,d4 ,,minister ,,of ,,glasgow ,,cathedral ,,chaplain ,,in ,,ordinary ,,to ,,the ,,king ,christus vincit1 ,christus regnat1 ,christus imperat ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london -- ,,new ,,york -- ,,toronto ,first ,published 4 4 4 ,december #aiji ,second ,edition 4 4 4 ,october #aiab ,,in ,,memoriam ,s4 ,a4 ,m4 ,,june #c1 #ahdg4 ,,october #e1 #ahga ,,february #ab1 #aijg vii ,,contents ,i ,,page ,,popular ,,impeachments ,,of ,,christianity 4 4 4 4 4 #a ,,ii ,,morality ,,without ,,religion 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ca ,,iii ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,universe 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #fc ,,iv ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,humanity 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #ia viii ,v ,,theism ,,without ,,christ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #abe ,,vi ,,the ,,tribute ,,of ,,criticism ,,to ,,christ 4 4 4 4 4 4 #aga ,,appendices 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bai ,,authorities ,,consulted 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #beg ,,index 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 #bfe #b ,i ,,popular ,,impeachments ,,of ,,christianity ',why call ye ,me ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things which ,i say8'--,s4 ,,luke vi4 #df4 ',the name of ,god is blasphemed among the ,gentiles through you4'--,,romans ii4 #bd4 ',what if some did not believe8 shall their unbelief make the faith of ,god without effect8'--,,romans iii4 #c4 ',by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of4'--#b ,s4 ,,peter ii4 #a4 ',so is the will of ,god1 that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men4'--#a ,s4 ,,peter ii4 #ae4 #c ,i ,,popular ,,impeachments ,,of ,,christianity ,that there is at present a widespread alienation from the ,christian ,faith can hardly be denied4 ,sometimes by violent invective1 sometimes by quiet assumption1 the conclusion is conveyed that ,christianity is obsolete4 ,whatever benefits it may have conferred in rude1 unenlightened ages1 it is now outgrown1 it is not in keeping with the science and discovery of modern times4 ',the good ,lord ,jesus has had ,his day1'#a is murmured in pitying condescension towards those who still suffer themselves to be deceived by the antiquated superstition4 ,the statements in which our forefathers embodied the relations #d between ,god and man are no longer1 except by a very few1 considered adequate2 and there is everywhere a demand that those statements should be recast4 ,is not all this an irresistible proof that the beliefs of the ,church have been abandoned1 that the old notions of the ,divine care1 the spiritual world1 the everlasting life1 cannot be maintained1 must be relegated to the realm of imagination8 ,the blessings with which ,christianity is commonly credited spring from other sources3 the evils with which society is infected are its result1 direct or indirect4 ,i ,such accusations1 it may occur to us1 cannot be made seriously3 they bear their refutation in the very making2 they cannot be propounded with any expectation of being accepted4 ,this may seem self-evident to us3 it is not self-evident to multitudes of eager1 #e earnest men4 ,the accusations are persistently made by vigorous writers and impassioned speakers1 and are received as incontrovertible propositions4 ,however astonishing1 however painful1 it may be for us to hear1 it is well that we should know1 what1 in largely circulated books and periodicals1 and in mass meetings of the people1 is said about the ,faith which we profess1 and about us who profess it4 ,listen to some of the terms in which ,christianity is impeached4 ',i undertake1' says ,mr4 ,winwood ,reade1 ',i undertake to show that the destruction of ,christianity is essential to the interests of civilisation2 and also that man will never attain his full powers as a moral being1 until he has ceased to believe in a personal ,god1 and in the immortality of the soul4 ,christianity must be destroyed4'#b ',the hostile evidence1' says ,mr4 ,philip #f ,vivian1 'appears to be overwhelming4 ,christianity cannot be true4 ,provided that we see things as they really are1 and not as we wish them to be1 we cannot but come to this conclusion4 ,we cannot get away from facts4 ,modern knowledge forces us to admit that the ,christian ,faith cannot be true4'#c ',i want1' exclaims ,mr4 ,vivian ,carey1 who has apparently1 like ,lord ,herbert of ,cherbury1 received a revelation to prove that no revelation has been given1 ',i want to destroy the fetich of centuries and to instil in its place a life of duty1 and of faith in ,god and man1 and ,i believe there is a power that has impelled me to attempt this task4444 ,a system that has produced such results must be essentially bad4444 ,it will not be difficult to create a faith and a religion that will serve the needs of humanity1 where ,christianity has so deplorably failed4'#d #g ',if ,christianity1' argues ,mr4 ,charles ,watts1 'were potent for good1 that good would have been displayed ere now4444 ,the ties of domestic affection1 the bonds of the social compact1 the political relations of rulers and ruled1 all have surrendered themselves to its influence4 ,yet with all these advantages1 it has proved unable to keep pace with a progressive civilisation4'#e ',in a really humane and civilised nation1' ,mr4 ,robert ,blatchford contends1 'there should be and need be no such thing as ,ignorance1 ,crime1 ,idleness1 ,war1 ,slavery1 ,hate1 ,envy1 ,pride1 ,greed1 ,gluttony1 ,vice4 ,but this is not a humane and civilised nation1 and never will be while it accepts ,christianity as its religion4 ,these are my reasons for opposing ,christianity4'#f ',christianity1' he iterates and reiterates1 'is not true4'#g ',onward1 ye children of the new ,faith6' #h exultantly cries ,mr4 ,moncure ,d4 ,conway4 ',the sun of ,christendom hastes to its setting1 but the hope never sets of those who know that the sunset here is a sunrise there6'#h ,such is the manner in which the downfall of ,christianity is now proclaimed4 ,and the impression is prevalent that1 though in all ages ,christianity has been the object of doubt and of scorn1 yet never has it been rejected with such intensity of hatred as now1 never have keen criticism and deep earnestness1 wide learning and shrewd mother-wit been so combined in the attack4 ,it is not merely the reckless1 the dissolute1 the frivolous who turn away from its reproofs1 seeking excuses for their self-indulgence1 but it is the thoughtful1 the austere1 the high-principled1 the reverent1 the unselfish1 who are engaged in a crusade against all that we1 as ,christians1 hold dear4 ',to the old spirit of mockery1 coarse or refined1 to the old wrangle of argument1 #i also coarse or refined1 has succeeded the spirit of grave1 measured1 determined negation4'#i ,men whose integrity and elevation of character are beyond suspicion1 take their places among the rebels against the authority of ,christ4 ,they are fighting1 they assert1 not for the removal of a check to their vices1 but for the introduction of a nobler ideal4 ,in the demolition of ,christianity1 in the sweeping away of every vestige of religious belief1 religious custom1 religious hope1 they imagine themselves to be conferring inestimable benefits upon mankind4 ,christianity1 in their view1 is the product of delusion and the buttress of all social ills4 ,,ii ,the contrast which so many are drawing between the present and the past is not a little exaggerated4 ,there have been few periods in which ,christianity has not been the #aj object of animadversion and attack1 in which its speedy downfall has not been confidently predicted4 ,it was two hundred years ago that ,dean ,swift wrote ,an ,argument to prove that the ,abolishing of ,christianity in ,england may1 as things now stand1 be attended with some ,inconveniences1 and perhaps not produce those many good effects proposed thereby'3 the ,dean1 with scathing sarcasm1 ridiculing at once the conventional customs by which ,christianity was misrepresented1 and the supercilious ignorance which assumed that it was extinct4#aj ,it was about a quarter of a century later that ,bishop ,butler1 in the advertisement to his ,analogy of ,religion to the ,constitution and ,course of ,nature1 stated1 ',it is come1 ,i know not how1 to be taken for granted by many persons that ,christianity is not so much as a subject of inquiry1 but that it is now1 at length1 discovered to be fictitious4 ,and accordingly they treat it as if1 #aa in the present age1 this were an agreed point among all people of discernment2 and nothing remained but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule1 as it were1 by way of reprisals for its having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world4' ,and the ,bishop drily gave as the aim of the ,analogy3 ',thus much1 at least1 will be here found1 not taken for granted but proved1 that any reasonable man who will thoroughly consider the matter1 may be as much assured as he is of his own being1 that it is not1 however1 so clear a case that there is nothing in it4' ,the assumption that ,christianity is a thing of the past can hardly be more prevalent now than it was then2 and the groundlessness of the assumption then may lead to the conclusion that the assumption is equally groundless now4 ,since the days of ,butler or of ,swift1 the progress of ,christianity has not ceased3 its developments of thought and #ab life have been among the most remarkable in its whole career4 ,the exultation over its decay in the twentieth century may possibly be found as premature and as vain as the exultation over its decay in the eighteenth century1 or in any of the centuries which have gone before4 ,,iii ,the most popular impeachments of ,christianity are mainly these4 ,it is a mass of false and superstitious beliefs long exploded4 ,it is the opponent of progress and inquiry1 the discoveries of science having been made in direct defiance of its teaching and its influence4 ,it is the champion of oppression and tyranny4 ,it aims at keeping the poor in ignorance and destitution4 ,it prostrates itself before the rich and seeks the patronage of the great4 ,it so insists on people being absorbed in #ac the thought of heaven that it practically precludes them from doing any good on earth4 ,it is a system of selfishness1 inculcating the dogma that no one need care for anything except the salvation of his own soul4#aa ,it is the foster-mother of all the evil and misery by which society is distressed4 ,dishonesty1 cruelty1 slavery1 war1 persecution1 avarice1 drunkenness1 vice1 would seem to be its natural fruits4 ',how calm and sweet the victories of life1' shrieked ,shelley in one of his early poems4 ',how terrorless the triumph of the grave 444 444 but for thy aid ,religion6 but for thee1 prolific fiend1 ,who peoplest earth with demons1 hell with men1 ,and heaven with slaves6 ,thou taintest all thou look'st upon6'#ab ,what shall we say to these accusations8 ,christians have been credulous and superstitious1 have argued and acted as if only in #ad the abnormal and exceptional could the ,divine ,presence be found1 as if ,god were a hard ,taskmaster and capricious ,tyrant4 ,they have resisted progress and inquiry1 blindly refusing to see the light which was streaming upon them4 ,they have unquestionably been guilty of miserable pride towards inferiors in wealth or in station1 and guilty of miserable sycophancy towards the rich and the powerful4 ,christians have too frequently neglected the material well-being of the community1 have suffered disgraceful outward conditions to remain without protest1 have not striven to shed abroad happiness and brightness in squalid and wretched lives4 ,christians have been art and part in fostering such conditions as wrung from compassionate and indignant hearts the ,song of the ,shirt and the ,cry of the ,children4 ,christians have imagined that correctness of belief would make up for falseness of heart1 and loudness of profession for depravity of #ae practice4 ,christians have supposed that in religion all that has to be striven for is the salvation of one's own soul1 have even represented the joy of the redeemed as heightened by a contemplation of the torments of the lost4 ,christians must bear the responsibility of much of the abounding vice which they have not earnestly tried to combat where it already exists1 and which1 in various forms1 they have introduced into regions where it was unknown before4 ,lawlessness and degradation in the slums1 fraud and dishonesty in trade1 gross revelations in the fashionable world2 bigotry1 slander1 scandals in the ecclesiastical world2 plots1 wars1 treacheries1 assassinations1 in the political world3 these things ought not so to be4 ,the fiercest denunciations1 the most withering satires1 which unbelievers have employed1 do not exceed in intensity of condemnation the judgment which ,christian preachers and ,christian writers have pronounced4#ac #af ,in all ages of the ,church the most powerful weapon against ,christianity has been the example of ,christians4 ,the ,faith which they nominally hold has been judged by the lives which they actually lead4#ad ',christianity1' said a bishop of the eighteenth century1 'would perhaps be the last religion a wise man would choose1 if he were guided by the lives of those who profess it4'#ae ,but is this to admit that the hope of the world lies in renouncing ,christianity8 that in confining ourselves to the seen and the temporal1 we shall best elevate mankind8 that the prospect of annihilation and the absence of wisdom1 love1 and ,providence in the order of the universe constitute the most glorious gospel which can be proclaimed8 ,nothing of the kind4 ,it is only proved that many ,christians are not acting according to their belief1 that their practice does not square with their #ag profession4 ,the belief and the profession are not proved to be wrong and bad4 ,it would be unreasonable to argue that1 because a man who has been vehemently sounding the praises of truthfulness is convicted of deliberate lying1 therefore truthfulness is shown to be worthless4 ,it is equally unreasonable to identify ,christianity with everything to which it is most definitely opposed1 to represent it as the enemy of everything which it was intended to maintain1 and then to conclude that ,christianity is discredited4#af ,as we should argue from the detection of a liar1 not that lying is right1 but that he should return to the ways of truth1 so we should argue from the lives of ,christians who live in flagrant contradiction to the precepts of our ,lord and ,his ,apostles1 not that the precepts should be rejected1 but that they should be kept2 not that ,christianity should be abolished1 but that it should be obeyed4 #ah ,christians have created prejudice1 hatred1 against ,christianity1 but it is not ,christianity which they have been exhibiting4 ,we repudiate the hideous travesty which they have made1 the hideous travesty which is credulously or maliciously accepted by assailants as a correct representation4 ,christianity is not a religion of darkness and superstition3 it calls to its disciples ',be children of light3 prove all things3 hold fast that which is good4' ,christianity does not sycophantishly court the rich and despise the poor3 it tells the stories of the ,rich ,man and ,lazarus1 and of the ,rich ,fool1 and it declares ',ye cannot serve ,god and ,mammon4' ,christianity does not teach that the life which a man leads is of less consequence than the belief which he professes3 it demands1 ',why call ye ,me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things which ,i say8' ,christianity is not selfish1 is not a system which inculcates the saving of one's own soul as the first and last of duties3 #ai ',he that loveth his life shall lose it4 ,bear ye one another's burdens1 and so fulfil the law of ,christ4 ,by this shall all men know that ye are ,my disciples if ye have love one to another4' ,it is surely reasonable to demand that ,christianity shall be judged1 not by its misrepresentations1 but by what it is in itself1 not as it has been perverted by bitter enemies1 or by false disciples1 but as it is proclaimed and manifested in its ,author and ,finisher4 ,,iv ,in the face of such tremendous indictments1 what is the duty incumbent on us who profess and call ourselves ,christians8 ,certainly not that we should abjure the name1 but that we should remember what the name signifies4 ,we ought to consider our ways1 to give ourselves to self-examination4 ,there must be something amiss when such hideous portraits can be painted with any expectation of their being taken as correct likenesses4 ,it is right #bj that we should repel with indignation the ludicrous and intolerable caricatures which are presented as our belief1 the unwarrantable consequences which are deduced from it4 ,it is right that we should remove misapprehensions and refute calumnies2 but1 above all it is necessary that we should take heed to our own conduct and our own character4 ,the scandals which we have so much reason to deplore owe their existence1 not to ,christianity1 but to the absence of ,christianity4 ,and the very sneers which greet any departure from rectitude or morality on the part of a professing ,christian prove that such a departure is not a manifestation1 but a renunciation of ,christianity1 that what is expected of ,christians is the highest and the best that human nature can produce4 ',if1' argues ,mr4 ,blatchford1 'if to praise ,christ in words and deny ,him in deeds be ,christianity1 then ,london is a ,christian city and ,england is a ,christian nation4 ,for it is #ba very evident that our common ,english ideals are anti-,christian1 and that our commercial1 foreign1 and social affairs are run on anti-,christian lines4'#ag ,as ,mr4 ,blatchford's life is spent in deploring the baseness of 'our common ,english ideals1' and in exposing the iniquity of the methods in which 'our commercial1 foreign1 and social affairs' are conducted1 the logical inference would seem to be that1 as anti-,christian ideals and anti-,christian lines have so signally failed1 it might be well to give ,christian ideals and ,christian lines a trial4 ',in a really humane and civilised nation1' ,mr4 ,blatchford maintains1 'there should be1 and there need be1 no such thing as ,poverty1 ,ignorance1 ,crime1 ,idleness1 ,war1 ,slavery1 ,hate1 ,envy1 ,pride1 ,greed1 ,gluttony1 ,vice4 ,but1' he continues his curious argument1 'this is not a humane and civilised nation1 and never will be while it accepts ,christianity as its religion4 ,these1' #bb so he adds as an irresistible conclusion1 'these are my reasons for opposing ,christianity4'#ah ,very good reasons1 if ,christianity taught such a creed and encouraged such a morality4 ,but that any human being should give such a description of the purpose of ,christian ,faith indicates either that the describer is swayed by blindest prejudice or else that no genuine ,christian has ever crossed his path4 ',what if some do not believe8 shall their unbelief make the faith of ,god of none effect8 ,god forbid3 yea1 let ,god be true1 but every man a liar4' ,truth continues to be truth1 though people who talk much about it may be false4 ,goodness continues to be goodness1 though people who sing its praises may be thoroughly depraved4 ,generosity does not cease to be generosity1 though its beauty should be extolled by a miser4 ,courage does not cease to be courage1 though its heroism should be extolled by a coward4 ,temperance #bc is temperance1 though we should be assured of the fact by the thick speech of a drunkard4 ,the virtue is admirable1 even when those who acknowledge how admirable it is do not practise it4 ,that ,christianity towers so far above the attainments of its average disciples1 nay1 above the attainments of its saintliest1 is itself a kind of evidence of its divine origin4 ',when the ,king of the ,tartars1 who was become ,christian1' says ,montaigne1 'designed to come to ,lyons to kiss the ,pope's feet1 and there to be an eyewitness of the sanctity he hoped to find in our manners1 immediately our good ,s4 ,louis sought to divert him from his purpose3 for fear lest our inordinate way of living should1 on the contrary1 put him out of conceit with so holy a belief4 ,and yet it happened quite otherwise to this other1 who going to ,rome to the same end1 and there seeing the dissolution of the ,prelates and people of that time1 settled #bd himself so much the more firmly in our religion1 considering how great the force and dignity of it must necessarily be that could maintain its dignity and splendour amongst so much corruption and in so vicious hands4' ,god's truth abides whether men receive it or deny it4 ,christ is the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life1 though every so-called ,christian should become apostate4 ,the woes of the world are to be cured by more ,christianity1 not by less2 and on us1 in whose hands have been placed its holy oracles1 rests the responsibility of proving its inestimable advantage ourselves and of conferring it on all mankind4 ,wherever ,christianity has really flourished1 untold blessings have been the result4#ai ,with all the sad deficiencies and sadder perversions by which its course has been chequered1 no influence for good can be compared with it in elevating character1 in diffusing peace and #be goodwill1 in fitting men to labour and to endure4 ,the diffusion of the spirit of ,christianity is a synonym for the diffusion of all that tends to the true well-being of the world4 ,only as genuine ,christianity1 the ,christianity of ,christ1 prevails1 will mankind be morally and spiritually lifted into a higher sphere4 ,put together the wisest and most ennobling suggestions of those who regard ,christianity as obsolete and you find that it is virtually ,christianity which is delineated4 ,it is in the prevalence of principles and practices which1 however they may be designated1 are in reality ,christian1 that the salvation of society and of individuals will be found4 ,in the absence of such principles and practices will be found the secret of ruin1 disorder1 dissolution1 and decay4 ,it is false ,christianity against which the tornado of abuse is really directed4 ,where genuine ,christianity appears1 and is recognised as genuine1 it commands respect4 #bf ,even the most virulent of recent assailants1 who seriously considers that1 until we get rid of the 'incubus of the modern ,christian religion1 our civilisation will so surely decay that we shall become an entirely decadent race1' and who complacently announces that 'it will not be difficult to create a faith and a religion which will serve the needs of humanity where ,christianity has so signally failed1' even he is graciously pleased to allow1 ',i have no quarrel with ,christianity as a code of morals4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount1 no matter who preached it1 is quite sufficient1 if its teaching was only practised instead of preached1 to make this world an eminently desirable place in which to live4 ,my quarrel is concerned with the professional promoters and organisers of religion who have made the very name of ,christianity to stink in the nostrils of honest men4' ,in other words1 it is not to ,christianity1 but to ,christians by whom it is misrepresented1 that he is opposed1 and he #bg cannot refrain from granting1 though surely with transparent inconsistency1 that it is by the noble lives of ,christians that ,christianity has been so long preserved4 ',it won1 with its beauty and sentiment1 the allegiance of many who were true and manly4 ,and it is such as these who have raised the ,gospel from the slough of infamy4 ,it is such as these who1 in the darkest ages1 have perpetuated by the goodness of their lives the faith that is left to-day4 ,it is the virtues of ,christians1 not the virtue of ,christianity1 that keeps the faith alive4'#bj ,the very opposite is nearer the truth4 ,the virtues of ,christians are simply the outcome of the virtue of ,christianity3 it is the vices of ,christians which compose the deepest 'slough of infamy' into which the ,gospel has ever been plunged4 ,but from all these charges and counter-charges1 it would seem to be clear that real #bh ,christianity compels respect even where it is viewed with aversion1 that its progress is hindered by nothing so much as by the unworthiness of its adherents1 that it gains assent by nothing so much as by the manifestation of ,christian lives4 ,will any one venture to deny that the world would be vastly improved were every one in it to be a genuine ,christian1 animated by ,christian motives1 doing ,christian deeds8 ,the revolution would be immense1 indescribable3 it would be the end of all evil3 it would be the establishment of all good4 ,no man's hand would be against another1 all would strive together for the welfare of the whole1 there would be no contention save how to excel in love and in good works4 ,the human imagination cannot depict anything more glorious1 more ennobling1 than the will of ,god done on earth as it is done in heaven1 and this is what would be if the thoughts of every heart were brought #bi into captivity to the obedience of ,christ4 ,the most splendid dreams of the most exalted visionaries would be more than fulfilled3 everything true and lovely and of good report would be ratified and confirmed3 everything false and vile would be changed and purified1 and nothing to hurt or destroy or defile would remain4 ,the fulfilment of that ideal is simply the universal prevalence of ,christianity1 the universal triumph of ,christ4 ,the systems and tendencies at which we are about to glance owe their vitality to the ,faith which they attempt to supersede4 ,they are1 in so far as they are good1 either tending towards ,christianity or borrowing from it4 ,the insufficiency of mere material well-being1 the irresistible association of ,religion with ,morality1 the worship of the ,universe1 the worship of ,humanity1 all are signs of the ineradicable instinct of the ,unseen and ,eternal1 of the unquenchable thirst for the ,living ,god2 and belief in the ,living #cj ,god finds its noblest illustration and confirmation in ,him ,who said1 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father1' in ,him to whom the searching scrutiny of critical inquirers1 as well as the fervid devotion of believers1 bears so marvellous a witness4 ,we hope to show not only that the abolition of ,christianity might 'be attended with sundry inconveniences1' or that the assumption of there being 'nothing in' ,christianity is 'not so clear a case1' but we hope to show that if1 amid present perplexity and estrangement1 many feel themselves obliged to go back and walk no more with ,christ1 we1 for our part1 as we hear ,his voice of tender reproach1 ',will ye also go away8' can only1 with heartfelt conviction1 give the answer1 ',lord1 to whom shall we go8 ,thou hast the words of eternal life4' #a ,tennyson1 ,in the ,children's ,hospital4 #b ,the ,martyrdom of ,man4 #c ,the ,churches and ,modern ,thought4 #d ,parsons and ,pagans4 #e ,secularists' ,manual4 #f ,god and my ,neighbour4 #g ,ibid4 #h ,earthward ,pilgrimage4 #i ,dean ,church1 ,pascal and other ,sermons1 p4 #cdh4 #aj ,appendix ,i4 #aa ,appendix ,,ii4 #ab ,queen ,mab4 #ac ,hans ,faber1 ,das ,christentum der ,zukunft4 #ad ,appendix4 #ae ,sir ,leslie ,stephen1 ,english ,thought in the ,eighteenth ,century1 vol4 i4 p4 #add #af ,appendix ,,iv4 #ag ,god and my ,neighbour4 #ah ,god and my ,neighbour1 ch4 ix4 p4 #aig4 #ai ,appendix ,v4 #bj ,parsons and ,pagans4 #cb ,,ii ,,morality ,,without ,,religion ',i am sought of them that asked not for ,me3 ,i am found of them that sought ,me not4'--,,isaiah lxv4 #a4 ',not the hearers of the law are just before ,god1 but the doers of the law shall be justified4 ,for when the ,gentiles1 which have not the law1 do by nature the things contained in the law1 these1 having not the law1 are a law unto themselves2 which shew the work of the law written in their hearts1 their conscience also bearing witness1 and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another4'--,,romans ii4 #ac-ae4 ',strangers from the covenants of promise1 having no hope and without ,god in the world4'--,,ephesians ii4 #ab4 ',the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness4'--,,titus i4 #a4 #cc ,,ii ,,morality ,,without ,,religion ,that ,religion and ,morality have no necessary connection is a popular assumption4 ,in books1 in pamphlets1 in magazines1 on platforms1 in ordinary conversation1 it is loudly proclaimed or quietly insinuated that the morality of the future will be ,independent ,morality1 ,morality without ,sanction4 ,morality1 it is iterated and reiterated1 can get on quite well without ,religion3 ,religion is a positive hindrance to ,morality4 ,this view is1 no doubt1 extreme4 ,perhaps it is only here and there in the writings which fall into the hands of most of us1 or in the circles with which most of us mingle1 that the matter is stated so bluntly and so plainly4 ,but in #cd not a few writings of wide circulation1 and in whole classes of the community1 the statement is made as if beyond contradiction4 ,even in works which we are all reading1 and in companies where we daily find ourselves1 the logical conclusion of arguments1 the natural inference from assumptions1 would be simply that extreme position4 ,there is no use in evading the fact that if some highly popular opinions are accepted1 no statement of the uselessness of ,religion in any form or system can be too extreme4 ,the mere assurance that ,religion is a reality1 is a benefit1 is a necessity1 though it may not seem a great deal to establish1 though it may leave a host of problems still to solve1 would be a gain to many1 would sweep away the chief doubts by which they are perplexed4 ,there need not1 on our part1 be any hesitation in declaring1 to begin with1 that ,religion #ce without ,morality is worthless4 ,the attempt to keep them apart1 to regard them as independent of each other1 has often enough been made by nominal champions of ,religion4 ,the upholding of certain views regarding ,god and ,his relations to mankind has been considered sufficient to make up for neglect of the duties incumbent on ordinary mortals4 ,the performance of certain rites and ceremonies has been considered an adequate compensation for the commission of deliberate crimes4 ,instances might easily be cited of persons engaged in villainous schemes1 achieving deeds of dishonesty which will cause ruin to hundreds of innocent victims1 executing plots of fiendish revenge1 with little regard for human life1 and no regard at all for truth1 but exceedingly punctilious in attention to religious observances4 ,one of the most cold-blooded murderers that ever disgraced the habitable globe was careful not to neglect any act of devotion1 and while #cf perpetrating the most nefarious basenesses never failed to write in his diary the most pious sentiments4 ,that kind of religion is worse than nothing1 was rightly regarded as increasing the horror and loathsomeness of the monster's life4 ,in a minor degree1 we have all seen illustrations of the same incongruity1 we may even have detected indications of it in ourselves1 the tendency to imagine that the more we go to church or frequent the ,sacraments or read the ,bible1 we are entitled to latitude in our conduct4 ,there is no tendency against which we need to be more constantly on our guard1 none which is more strongly1 more terrifically1 denounced in the ,old ,testament and in the ,new1 by prophets and apostles1 and by the ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,unbelievers in ,christianity are perfectly right when they say that ,religion without ,morality is absolutely worthless4 #cg ,,ii ,we may go further4 ,we may admit1 nay1 we must vehemently maintain1 that ,morality without ,religion is far better than ,religion without ,morality4 ,look at this man who makes no profession of ,religion1 but who is temperate1 honest1 self-sacrificing for the public good4 ,look at that man who made a loud profession1 but who was leading a life of secret vice1 who was false to the trust reposed in him1 who appropriated what had been committed to his charge4 ,can there be any doubt1 we are triumphantly asked1 that of these two1 the religious is inferior to the irreligious8 ,there can be no doubt whatever1 would be the reply of every well-instructed ,christian4 ,morality without ,religion is incalculably better than ,religion without ,morality4 ,but what does this prove with regard to ,christianity8 ,it simply proves how eternally true is the parable #ch of our ,lord3 ',a certain man had two sons1 and he came to the first and said1 ,son1 go work to-day in my vineyard4 ,he answered and said1 ,i will not1 but afterwards he repented and went4 ,and he came to the second and said likewise4 ,and he answered and said1 ,i go1 sir1 and went not4 ,whether of them twain did the will of his father8 ,they say unto ,him1 ,the first1' and our ,lord confirmed the answer4 ,,iii ,that kind of comparison between ,religion and ,morality is most misleading1 for such ',religion' is not ,religion at all4 ,it may be hypocrisy1 it may be superstition1 it may be self-deception3 ,christianity it is not1 and never can be4 ,the contrast is not really between ,morality and ,religion1 but between ,morality and ,immorality1 ,falsehood1 ,fraud1 and ,wilful ,imposition4 ,whatever else the ,kingdom of ,god may be1 it is at least #ci ,righteousness3 where there is no ,righteousness1 there can be no ,kingdom of ,god4 ,whatever else ,christian doctrine may be1 it is at least a doctrine according to godliness1 a teaching in accordance with the eternal laws of righteousness4 ,for purposes of analysis and convenience1 we may distinguish between ,religion and ,morality1 and show them working in different spheres1 but it is utterly erroneous to suppose that they can be actually divorced4 ,in every right and rational representation of the ,christian ,religion1 ,morality is included and imbedded1 otherwise it is only a maimed and mutilated ,religion which is held out for acceptance4 ,on the other hand1 in all true ,morality1 especially in its highest and purest manifestations1 ,religion is present4 ,it is possible to decry ,morality4 ',mere ,morality1' in the current acceptation of the phrase1 may lack a good deal1 may be a phase of self-righteousness1 self-interest1 cold calculation1 #dj a keeping up of appearances before the world1 but ,morality itself is of a higher strain3 it is the fulfilment of every duty to one's self and to one's neighbour3 it implies that each duty is done from the right motive3 the purer and loftier it becomes the more it encroaches on the religious domain3 it is crowned and glorified with a religious sanction3 it is1 visible or hidden1 conscious or unconscious1 a doing of the will of ,god4 ,morality1 to hold its own1 must be 'touched by emotion1' and ,morality touched by emotion is identical with ,religion4 ,to admit moral obligation in all its length and breadth1 and depth and height1 is to admit ,god4#a ,,iv ,a curious illustration of the fact that ,morality1 to be permanent1 needs the inspiration of ,religion1 that ,morality1 at its best and purest1 tends to become ,religion1 is #da afforded in such a work as ,dr4 ,stanton ,coit's ,national ,idealism and a ,state ,church4 ,dr4 ,coit has for twenty years been engaged in founding ethical societies1 and his high and disinterested aims need not be called in question4 ,but the book is evidence that in order to support the lofty principles which he so earnestly expounds1 he is obliged to call in the aid of principles which he imagined himself to have discarded4 ,he begins by denying the ,supernatural in every shape and form4 ,he will have none of a personal ,god1 or of a personal immortality4 ,there is no higher being than ,man4 ,all trust must be shifted from supernatural to human agencies4 ',combined human foresight1 the general will of organised society1 assumes the rle of ,creative ,providence4' ',this is1 then1 the presupposition of all moral judgment in harmony with which ,i would reconstruct the religions of the world3 that no crime and no good deed that happens in this world shall #db ever be traced to any other moral agencies than those actually inhabiting living human bodies and recognised by other human beings as fit subjects of human rights and privileges4' ,in other words1 ,morality1 ,morality alone1 ,morality without any sanction from ,above1 or any hope from ,beyond1 is the all-sufficient strength and ennoblement of man4 ,but what is the superstructure which ,dr4 ,stanton ,coit proceeds to build upon this foundation8 ,one would naturally expect that ,prayer and ,churches and ,sacraments would have no place4 ,but these are exactly what he insists on retaining2 these will apparently be more important1 more necessary1 in the future than in the past4 ',we should appropriate and adapt the materials furnished us by the rites and ceremonies of the historic ,church4 ,as the woodbird1 bent on building her nest1 in lieu of better materials makes it of leaves and of feathers from her breast1 so may we use what is familiar1 old1 #dc and close at hand4 ,it is all ours2 and the homelike beauty of the ,church of the future will be enhanced by the ancient materials wrought into its new forms4' ,so much enhanced1 indeed1 that most people will be inclined to tolerate the new forms simply because of the ancient materials which are allowed to remain4 ,among the ancient materials which ,dr4 ,coit appropriates or adapts1 prayer occupies a prominent place4 ,and he is severe upon those1 e4g41 ,comte and ,dr4 ,congreve1 who would banish petition from the sphere of worship4 ,he delights in pointing out that1 in despite of themselves1 they include requests for personal blessings4 ,nor is prayer to be a mere aspiration or inarticulate longing of the soul4 ',no mental activity can become definite1 coherent1 and systematic1 and remain so1 except it be embodied and repeated in words4444 ,a petition that does not1 or cannot1 or will not1 formulate itself in words1 and let the lips move to shape them1 and the #dd voice to sound them1 and the eye to visualise them on the written or printed page1 becomes soon a mere torpor of the mind1 or a meaningless movement of blind unrest1 or a trick of pretending to pray4 ,perfected prayer is always spoken4' ,to whom1 or to what1 this prayer1 uttered or unexpressed1 is to be offered1 may be difficult of comprehension4 ,it is not to ,god1 as we have hitherto employed that sacred name2 but ,dr4 ,coit insists that the word ',god' shall be retained1 and that we have no right to deny to this ,god the attribute of ,personality4 ',any one who worships either a concrete social group or an abstract moral quality may justly protest against the charge that his ,god is impersonal3 he may insist that it is either superpersonal or interpersonal1 or both4' ,the worship of ,nature appears to be discouraged1 and to be considered as of comparatively little worth4 ',we dare never forget that moral qualities stand to us in a #de different dynamic relation from the grass and the stars and the sea--no effects upon us or upon these will result from petitions even of a most righteous man to them4 ,but no one can deny that prayers to ,purity1 ,serenity1 ,faith1 ,humanity1 ,england1 ,man1 ,woman1 to ,milton1 to ,jesus1 do create a new moral heaven and a new earth for him who thirsts after righteousness4' ,leaving the name of our ,lord out of the discussion1 why should a prayer to ,serenity have more moral influence than a prayer to the ,sea8 ,why should a prayer to the ,stars be less efficacious than a prayer to ,milton1 whose soul was like a star and dwelt apart8 ,we have only to invest the stars and the sea with certain qualities evolved from our own imagination to make them as worthy of worship as either ,milton or ,serenity4 ,dr4 ,coit is scathing in his criticism of the ,positivist prayers1 whether of ,comte or of ,dr4 ,congreve3 they are 'screamingly funny'3 'the most monstrous #df absurdity ever perpetrated by a really good and great man4' ,the epithets are possibly justified2 but are they quite inapplicable to one who supposes that an invocation of the ,living and ,eternal ,god means no more than an invocation of ,england1 or ,faith1 or ,woman8 ,it is only when ,god has become to us an abstraction that an abstraction can take the place of ,god4 ,a manual of services fitted to a nation's present needs is what1 according to ,dr4 ,coit1 is required to ensure the progress and triumph of the ethical movement4 ',until the new idealism possesses its own manual of religious ritual1 it cannot communicate effectively its deeper thought and purpose4 ,the moment1 however1 it has invented such a means of communication1 it would seem inevitable that a rapid moral and intellectual advancement of man must at last take place1 equal in speed and in beneficence to the material advancement which followed #dg during the last century in the wake of scientific inventions4' ,the ritual of ethical societies will not outwardly differ much from the ritual to be found in existing religions4 ,its details have yet to be arranged or 'invented4' ,the only things certain are that a book of prayers ought to be provided at once1 and that in ,swinburne's ,songs before ,sunrise may be found an 'anthology of prayer suitable for use in the ,church of ,humanity1' prayers 'as sublime and quickening in melody and passion as anything in the ,hebrew prophets or the ,litany of the ,church4' ,dr4 ,coit does not denounce theology as theology1 he even insists on being himself ranked among theologians4 ,his readers may be surprised to learn on what doctrines he dwells with particular fondness4 ,he laments that belief in the existence and power of the devil should be waning4 ',we may not believe in a personal devil1 but we must believe in a devil who acts very like a person4' #dh ,he predicts that teachers will more and more teach a doctrine of hell-fire4 ,out of kindness they will terrify by presenting the evil effects1 indirect and remote1 of selfish thoughts and dispositions4 ',we must frighten people away from the edge of the abyss which begins this side of death4' ,finally1 though1 of course1 the word is not used in the ordinary sense1 the necessity of the doctrine of the ,incarnation is upheld4 ',the ,incarnation must for ever remain a fundamental conception of religion4 ,until all men are incarnations of the principle of constructive moral beneficence1 and to a higher degree1 ,jesus will remain pre-eminent2 and it is quite possible that in proportion as he is approached1 gratitude to him will increase rather than diminish4' ',even should any one ever in the future transcend him1 still it will only be by him and in glad acknowledgment of the debt to him4 ,there never can in the future be a dividing of the world into ,christianity #di and not ,christianity4 ,it will only be a new and more ,christian ,christianity1 compatible with liberty and reason4' ,thus the drift and tendency of this book bring us back1 however unintentionally1 to the ,faith of which it appears1 at first sight1 to be the renunciation4 ,it establishes irresistibly that ,morality1 to be living and permanent1 must have religious sanction and inspiration1 that we need to be delivered from the awful thraldom of evil1 that the supreme realities are the things which are unseen2 that prayer is the life of the soul2 that public worship is a necessity2 that in ,christ the greatest redemptive power has been embodied1 and the purest vision of the ,eternal has been granted2 and that1 in its adaptation to human needs1 its fostering of human aspirations1 its ministering to human sorrows1 its renewal of human penitence1 its consecration of life and its hope in death1 no ,ethical ,society yet devised gives any #ej symptom of being able to supplant the ,church of ,him ,who said1 ',come unto ,me1 all ye that labour and are heavy laden and ,i will give you rest4' ,v ,now1 from the fact that ,morality at its best assumes a religious tinge1 merges itself in ,religion1 we may legitimately infer that1 without the inspiration of ,religion1 ,morality at its best will not long prevail4#b ',love1 friendship1' said ,sir ,james ,fitzjames ,stephen1 'good nature1 kindness carried to the height of sincere and devoted affection1 will always be the chief pleasures of life1 whether ,christianity is true or false2 but ,christian ,charity is not the same as any of these1 or all of these put together1 and ,i think that if ,christian ,theology were exploded1 ,christian ,charity would not survive it4'#c ,at present1 when ,religion has pervaded everything with its sacred sanctions1 it is easy to say that ,religion #ea would not be greatly missed were it discarded1 and that ,morality would be unaffected4 ,this is pure conjecture4 ,to test its worth we should need a state of society from which every vestige of ,religion had disappeared4 ,it will not do to retain any of the beliefs or the customs which owe their origin to a sense of the ,unseen and ,eternal1 to a sense of any ,power above ourselves1 ruling our destinies and instilling into our minds thoughts and desires and hopes beyond the visible and the material4 ,if ,morality1 in the limited acceptation of the term1 is sufficient for the elevation and welfare of mankind1 it is not to be supported by any admixture of ,religion3 it must prove its power by itself4 ,religion must be utterly abolished1 its every sanction must be universally rejected1 its every impulse must have universally ceased before it can be contended with any measure of assurance that the world will be none the worse1 may be even the better1 for its vanishing4 #eb ,if ,religion is a delusion1 remember what must be eliminated from our convictions4 ,there can be no higher tribunal than that of man by which our actions can be judged4#d ,a life of outward propriety is the utmost that can be demanded of us1 if it is only against the wellbeing of our neighbour or the promotion of our own happiness that we can transgress4 ,what has human law to do with our hearts8 ,what legislation can deal with 'envy1 hatred1 malice1 and all uncharitableness1' unless they manifest themselves in outward acts8 ,a base1 unloving1 impure1 acrimonious1 untruthful man may crawl through life1 never having been arrested1 never having been sentenced to any term of penal servitude4 ,he can stand erect before all the laws of the country and say1 ',all these have ,i kept from my youth up4' ,and unless there be a higher law than the law of man1 unless there be a law written on our hearts by the ,finger of #ec ,god1 unless there be ,one to whom1 above and beyond all earthly appearances1 we can mournfully declare1 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned1' nothing more can be reasonably demanded4 ,if there is nothing higher than the visible1 it can be only visible results which are of any value4 ,the giving of money to help the needy1 and the giving of money in order to obtain a reputation for generosity1 must stand on the same level4 ,the widow's mite will be worth infinitely less than the shekels which come from those who devour widows' houses4 ,if there be none to search the heart1 none save poor frail fellow-mortals to whom we must give account1 what an incentive to purity of motive and loftiness of aspiration is removed6 ,but let men talk as they will1 there is a conscience in them which whispers1 ,it does matter whether our hearts as well as our actions are right2 it does matter whether we have good motives1 good intentions2 there is a scrutiny of hearts1 #ed making and to be made more fully yet2 there is ,one before ,whom1 even though we have not broken the law of the land1 we confess with anguish1 ,against ,thee have ,i sinned and done evil in ,thy sight3 where ,i appear most irreproachable1 ,thine eye detecteth error3 it is not the occasional trespass that ,i have chiefly to lament1 it is the sin that is almost part and parcel of my very being1 the sin that corrodes even where it does not glare1 the sin that undermines even where it does not crash4 ,,vi ,the most thoughtful of those who have lost faith in the ,living ,god and in fellowship with ,him hereafter1 look on this life with a pessimistic eye4 ,without trust in the ,unseen and ,eternal1 life is worthless1 an idle dream4 ,with its harassing cares1 with its petty vexations1 with its turbulence and strife1 its sorrows1 its breaking up of old associations1 its quenching the light of our #ee eyes1 ',o dreary were this earth1 if earth were all6' ,on the stage of the world1 'the play is the ,tragedy ,man1 the hero the conqueror worm6' ,we cannot but extend the deepest sympathy1 the warmest admiration to those who1 bereft of belief and of hope1 yet cling tenaciously to moral goodness4#e ',what is to become of us1' asks the pensive ,amiel1 'when everything leaves us1 health1 joy1 affections1 the freshness of sensation1 memory1 capacity for work1 when the sun seems to us to have lost its warmth1 and life is stripped of all its charms8 444 ,there is but one answer1 keep close to ,duty4 ,be what you ought to be2 the rest is ,god's affair4444 ,and supposing there were no good and holy ,god1 nothing but universal being1 the law of the all1 an ideal without hypostasis or reality1 duty would still be the key of the enigma1 the pole star of a wandering #ef humanity4'#f ,who does not see that it is the lingering faith in ,god which gives strength to this conviction and that1 were the faith obliterated1 the natural conclusion would be for the cultured1 ',vanity of vanities3 all is vanity'2 and for the multitudes1 ',let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die4' ',i remember how at ,cambridge1' says ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers of ,george ,eliot1 ',i walked with her once in the ,fellows' ,garden of ,trinity on an evening of rainy ,may3 and she1 stirred somewhat beyond her wont1 and taking as her text the three words which have been used so often as the inspiring trumpet calls of men--the words ,god1 ,immortality1 ,duty--pronounced with terrible earnestness1 how inconceivable was the first1 how unbelievable the second1 and yet how peremptory and absolute the third4 ,never1 perhaps1 have sterner accents affirmed the sovereignty of impersonal and uncompromising ,law4 ,i #eg listened and night fell3 her grave1 majestic countenance turned toward me like a sibyl's in the gloom1 and it was as though she withdrew from my grasp one by one the two scrolls of promise1 and left me the third scroll only1 awful with inevitable fates4 ,and when we stood at length and parted1 amid that columnar circuit of the forest trees1 beneath the last twilight of starless skies1 ,i seemed to be gazing1 like ,titus at ,jerusalem1 on vacant seats and empty halls1 on a sanctuary with no presence to hallow it1 and heaven left lonely of a ,god4'#g ,withdraw belief in a ,god above and in a life beyond1 the only reason for obedience to ,duty and ,morality will be either our own pleasure1 the doing what is most agreeable to ourselves2 or sympathy1 the bearing of others' burdens1 in the hope that when we have passed away there may be some on earth who will reap the harvest which we have #eh sown2 or public opinion1 the views which are prevalent in a particular time in a particular region2 and these reasons are hardly likely to produce a morality which will be other than that of self-indulgence1 of despair1 or of conventionality4#h ',we can get on very well without a religion1' said ,sir ,james ,fitzjames ,stephen1 'for though the view of life which ,science is opening to us gives us nothing to worship1 it gives us an infinite number of things to enjoy4 ,the world seems to me a very good world1 if it would only last4 ,it is full of pleasant people and curious things1 and ,i think that most men find no difficulty in turning their minds away from its transient character4' ,if it would only last6 ,but it does not last3 those dearer to us than ourselves are snatched away4 ,could anything be more selfish1 more despicably base than to go about saying1 ,all that is of no #ei consequence1 so long as ,i meet with pleasant people and have an infinite number of things to enjoy8 ,it is true that an infinite number of my fellow-creatures may not be enjoying an infinite number of things1 may have trouble in recalling almost anything worthy of the name of enjoyment1 but why should ,i be depressed by that8 ,i find no difficulty in turning away my mind from the misfortunes of others4 ',we can get on very well without religion4' ,no doubt without it some of us can have agreeable society and a variety of pleasures more or less refined2 but this does not prove that religion is no loss4 ,on the same principle1 we can get on very comfortably without honesty1 without sobriety1 without purity1 without generosity4 ,we can get on very comfortably indeed without anything except without a heart which is intent on self-gratification1 and which excludes all thought of the wants and woes of the world4 ',let us eat and drink1 for #fj to-morrow we die1' is the irresistible1 though rather inconsistent1 conclusion of that sublime austerity which so indignantly repudiates the merest hint of reward or hope within the veil1 and which so sensitively shrinks from the mercenariness of the ,religion of the ,cross4 ',the wages of sin is death3 if the wages of ,virtue be dust1 ,would she have heart to endure for the life of the worm and the fly6'#i ,what are the facts8 ,what is the growing tendency where men think themselves strong enough to do without religious beliefs1 when they have been proclaiming that the suppression of ,religion will be the exaltation of a purer ,morality8 ,there are plenty of indications that the laws of ,morality are found to be as irksome as the dictates of ,religion4 ,the first step is to cry out for a higher ,morality1 to censure the ,morality of #fa the ,new ,testament as imperfect and inadequate1 as selfish and visionary4 ,the next step is to question the restraints of ,morality1 to clamour for liberty in regard to matters on which the general voice of mankind has from the beginning given no uncertain verdict4 ,the last step is to declare that ,morality is variable and conventional1 a mere arbitrary arrangement1 which can be dispensed with by the emancipated soul4 ,the literature which assumes that ,religion is obsolete does not1 as a rule1 suffer itself to be much hampered by the fetters of ,morality4 ,the non-,religion of the ,future is what1 we are confidently told1 increasing knowledge of the laws of ,sociology will of necessity bring about4 ,should that day ever dawn1 or rather let us say1 should that night ever envelop us1 it will mean the diffusion of non-,morality such as the world has never known4#aj #a ,appendix4 #b ,appendix ,,vi4 #c ,nineteenth ,century1 ,june #ahhd4 #d ,appendix ,,vii4 #e ,appendix ,,viii4 #f ,journal ,intime1 ii4 #g ,modern ,essays4 #h ,appendix ,,ix4 #i ,tennyson1 ,wages4 #aj ,appendix ,x4 #fd ,,iii ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,universe ',whither shall ,i go from ,thy spirit8 or whither shall ,i flee from ,thy presence4'--,,psalm cxxxix4 #g4 ',do ,i not fill heaven and earth8 saith the ,lord4'--,,jeremiah xxiii4 #bd4 ',the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain ,thee4'--#a ,,kings viii4 #bg4 ',in ,him we live1 and move1 and have our being4'--,,acts xvii4 #bh4 ',one ,god and ,father of all1 ,who is above all1 and through all1 and in you all4'--,,ephesians iv4 #f4 ',of ,him1 and through ,him1 and to ,him are all things3 to ,whom be glory for ever4 ,amen4'--,,romans xi4 #cf4 ',that ,god may be all in all4'--#a ,,corinthians xv4 #bh4 #fe ,,iii ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,universe ,among proposed substitutes for ,christianity1 none occupies a more prominent place than ,pantheism1 the identity of ,god and the universe4 ',pantheism1' says ,haeckel1 'is the world system of the modern scientist4'#a ,pantheism1 or the ,religion of the ,universe1 is1 in one aspect1 a protest against ,anthropomorphism1 the making of ,god in the image of man4 ,it is in supposing ,god to be altogether such as we are1 to be swayed by the same motives1 to be actuated by the same passions as we are1 that the most deadly errors have arisen4 ,robert ,browning1 in ,caliban upon ,setebos1 represents a half-brutal #ff being who lives in a cave speculating upon the government of the world1 wondering why it came to be made1 and what could be the purpose of the ,creator in making it4 ,every motive that could sway the savage mind is in turn discussed3 pleasure1 restlessness1 jealousy1 cruelty1 sport4 ',because ,i1 ,caliban1' such is the process of his reasoning1 'delight in tormenting defenceless animals1 or would crush any one that interfered with my comfort1 or do things because my taskmaster obliges me to do them1 so must it be with ,him ,who made the world4' ,with great grotesqueness1 but with marvellous power1 the degraded monster argues as to the reasons which could have prompted the ,unseen ,ruler to frame the earth and its inhabitants4 ,everything that he attributes to ,god is in keeping with his own base nature4 ,what is the explanation of the horrors which have been perpetrated in the ,name of ,god8 ,the sacrifice of human #fg beings1 of vanquished enemies1 or of the nearest and the dearest1 the agonies of self-torture1 did not these originate in the transference to the ,invisible ,god of the emotions and principles by which men were guiding their own lives8 ,they had no notion of forbearance and forgiveness and patience1 therefore they did not think that there could be forgiveness with ,god4 ,they were to be turned aside from their fierce1 revengeful purposes by bribes and by the protracted sufferings of their foes1 therefore they thought that ,god might be bribed by gifts or propitiated by pains4 ,what they were on earth1 delighting in bloodshed and conquest and revelry1 that1 they supposed1 must be the ,being or the ,beings who ruled in the world unseen4 ,i ,god is not as man is1 this was a lesson which ancient prophets struggled to teach4 ,he is not a man that ,he should lie1 or a son #fh of man that ,he should repent4 ,he is not to be conceived as influenced by the petty hopes and fears and jealousies which influence the mass of mortals4 ',my thoughts are not as your thoughts1 neither are your ways my ways1 saith the ,lord4 ,for as the heavens are higher than the earth1 so are ,my ways higher than your ways and ,my thoughts than your thoughts4' ,he is infinitely exalted above the best and wisest of ,his children and to see in ,him only their likeness is not to see ,him aright4 ,it is not to be denied that the writers of the ,old ,testament employ anthropomorphic language to vivify the justice and goodness of the ,eternal4 ,they speak of ,his ,eyes and of ,his ,face1 of ,his ,hands and of ,his ,arm and of ,his ,voice4 ,they speak of ,him walking in the ,garden and smelling a sweet savour4 ,they speak of ,him repenting and being jealous and coming down to see what is done on earth4 ,such figures1 however1 as a rule1 have a force #fi and an appropriateness which never can become obsolete or out of date4 ,they even heighten the ,majesty and ,spotless ,holiness of ,god4 ,they are felt to be1 at most1 words struggling to express what no words can ever convey3 they are the readiest means of impressing on the dull understanding of men their practical duty1 of letting them know with what purity and righteousness they have to do4 ,it is not in such figures that any harm can ever lie4 ,the error of taking literally such phrases as ',hands' or ',arm' or ',voice' is not very prevalent1 but the error of framing ,god after our moral image is not distant or imaginary4 ,there is a mode of speaking about ,divine ,purposes and ,divine ,motives which must jar on those who have begun to discern the ,divine ,majesty1 to whom the thought of the ,all-,embracing ,presence has become a reality4 #gj ,,ii ,the representation of the ,almighty and ,eternal as one of ourselves1 as animated by the lowest passions and paltriest prejudices of mankind1 as a 'magnified and non-natural' human being1 is recognised as ludicrously inadequate and terribly distorted4 ,the representation of the ,creator as 'sitting idle at the outside of the ,universe and seeing it go1' as having brought it into being and afterwards left it to itself1 as mingling no more in its events and evolution1 is utterly discarded4 ,it is1 however1 to such representations that the assaults of modern critics are directed1 and in the overthrow of such representations it is imagined that ,christianity itself is overthrown4 ,the assailants maintain that ,christianity in attributing ,personality to ,god makes ,him in the image of man1 and separates ,him from the ,universe4 ,but what is meant by ,personality8 ,it does not mean a #ga being no higher than man1 with the limitations and imperfections of man4#b ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer1 who would not ascribe ,personality to ,god1 yet affirmed that the choice was not between ,personality and something lower than ,personality1 but between ,personality and something higher4 ',is it not just possible that there is a mode of being as much transcending ,intelligence and ,will as these transcend mechanical motion8'#c ,the description of ,personality given by the author of the ,riddle of the ,universe would be repudiated by every educated ,christian4 ',the monistic idea of ,god1 which alone is compatible with our present knowledge of nature1 recognises the divine spirit in all things4 ,it can never recognise in ,god a personal being1 or1 in other words1 an individual of limited extension in space1 or even of human form4 ,god is everywhere4'#d ,that conclusion1--we #gb are not concerned with the steps by which the conclusion is reached1--does not strike one as a modern discovery4 ,in what authoritative statement of ,christian doctrine ,god is defined as not being everywhere1 or 'an individual of limited extension in space1 or even of human form1' we are unaware4 ,there is apparent misunderstanding in the supposition that we have to take our choice between ,god as entirely severed from the world1 and ,god existing in the world4 ,god1 it is asserted in current phraseology1 cannot be both ,immanent and ,transcendent2 ,he cannot be both in the world and above it4 ',in ,theism1' so ,haeckel draws out the comparison1 ',god is opposed to ,nature as an extra-mundane being1 as creating and sustaining the world1 and acting upon it from without1 while in ,pantheism ,god1 as an intra-mundane being1 is everywhere identical with ,nature itself1 and is operative within the world as force or #gc energy4'#e ,if there is no juggling with words here1 it can hardly be juggling with words to point out that so far as 'space' goes1 an intra-mundane being1 rather than an extra-mundane1 is likely to be 'limited in extension4' ,,iii ,the imagination that the ,christian ,god is a ,personality like ourselves1 and is to be found only above and beyond the world1 finds perhaps its strangest expression in some of the writings of that ardent lover of ,nature1 the late ,richard ,jefferies4 ',i cease1' so he writes in ,the ,story of my ,heart1 'to look for traces of the ,deity in life1 because no such traces exist4 ,i conclude that there is an existence1 a something higher than soul1 higher1 better1 and more perfect than deity4 ,earnestly ,i pray to find this something better than a god4 ,there is something superior1 higher1 more good4 ,for this ,i search1 labour1 #gd think1 and pray4444 ,with the whole force of my existence1 with the whole force of my thought1 mind1 and soul1 ,i pray to find this ,highest ,soul1 this greater than deity1 this better than ,god4 ,give me to live the deepest soul-life now and always with this soul4 ,for want of words ,i write soul1 but ,i think it is something beyond soul4' ,could anything be more pathetic or1 at the same time1 more self-refuting8 ,how can anything be greater than the ,infinite1 more enduring than the ,eternal1 better than the ,all-,pure and ,all-,perfect8 ,it could be only the ,god of unenlightened1 unchristian teaching1 ,whom he rejected4 ,the ,god ,whom he sought must be not only in but beyond and above all created or developed things4 ,it was1 indeed1 the ,higher than the ,highest that he worshipped4 ,it was for ,god1 for the ,living ,god1 that his eager soul was athirst1 and it is in ,god1 the ,living ,god1 that his eager soul is now1 we humbly trust1 for ever satisfied4 #ge ,,iv ',the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain ,him4' ',whither shall ,i go from ,thy ,spirit8 or whither shall ,i flee from ,thy presence8' ',my thoughts are not your thoughts1 neither are your ways my ways saith the ,lord4' ',in ,him we live and move and have our being4' ',of ,him and through ,him and to ,him are all things1 to ,whom be glory for ever4 ,amen4'#f ,now it cannot be denied that some who have striven to express after this fashion the unutterable majesty and the universal presence of ,god1 who have endeavoured to demonstrate that ,god is in all things1 and that all things are in ,god1 have at times failed to make their meaning plain4 ,either from the obscurity of their own language1 or from the obtuseness of their readers1 they have been considered ,atheists4 ,while vehemently asserting that ,god is #gf everywhere1 they have been taken to mean that ,god is nowhere4 ,the actual conclusion to be drawn from the treatises of ,spinoza1 the reputed founder of modern ,pantheism1 is still undecided4 ,but no one now would brand him with the name of ,atheist4 ,he was excommunicated by ,jews and denounced by ,christians1 yet there are many who think that his aim1 his not unsuccessful aim1 was to establish faith in the ,unseen and ,eternal on a basis which could not be shaken4 ,so far from denying ,god1 he was1 according to one of the greatest of ,german theologians1 'a ,god-intoxicated man4' ',offer up reverently with me a lock of hair to the manes of the holy1 repudiated ,spinoza6 ,the high world-spirit penetrated him3 the ,infinite was his beginning and his end3 the ,universe his only and eternal love4444 ,he was full of religion and of the ,holy ,spirit1 and therefore he stands alone and unreachable1 master in his art above the profane multitude1 #gg without disciples and without citizenship4'#g ,dean ,stanley went so far as to say that 'a clearer glimpse into the nature of the ,deity was granted to ,spinoza1 the excommunicated ,jew of ,amsterdam1 than to the combined forces of ,episcopacy and ,presbytery in the ,synod of ,dordrecht4'#h ,such a judgment is rather hard upon the divines who took part in that celebrated ,synod1 but at any rate it indicates that the great philosopher1 misunderstood and persecuted1 was elaborating in his own way1 this great truth1 ',in him we live and move and have our being4' ',of ,him1 and through ,him are all things4' ,v ,in their loftiest moments1 contemplating the marvels of the heavens above and the earth beneath1 devout souls have1 wherever they looked1 been confronted with the ,vision of ,god4 ',what do ,i see in all #gh ,nature8' said ,fnelon1 ',god4 ,god is everything1 and ,god alone4' ',everything1' said ,william ,law1 'that is in being is either ,god or ,nature or ,creature3 and everything that is not ,god is only a manifestation of ,god2 for as there is nothing1 neither ,nature nor ,creature1 but what must have its being in and from ,god1 so everything is and must be according to its nature more or less a manifestation of ,god4' ,it is the thought which has inspired poets of the most diverse schools1 which has been their most marvellous illumination and ecstasy4 ,now it is ,alexander ,pope3 ,all are but parts of one stupendous whole ,whose body ,nature is1 and ,god the soul4 ,now it is ,william ,cowper3 ,there lives and works ,a soul in all things and that soul is ,god4 ,now it is ,james ,thomson of ,the ,seasons3 ,these1 as they change1 ,almighty ,father6 these ,are but the varied ,god4 ,the rolling year ,is full of ,thee4 #gi ,now it is ,william ,wordsworth3 ,i have felt ,a ,presence that disturbs me with the joy ,of elevated thoughts1 a sense sublime ,of something far more deeply interfused1 ,whose dwelling is the light of setting suns1 ,and the round ocean and the living air1 ,and the blue sky1 and in the mind of man ,a motion and a spirit which impels ,all thinking things1 all objects of all thought1 ,and rolls through all things4 ,now it is ,lord ,tennyson3 ,the sun1 the moon1 the stars1 the seas1 the hills and the plains1 ,are not these1 ,o ,soul1 the vision of ,him ,who reigns8 99 99 99 99 99 ,speak to ,him thou1 for ,he hears1 and ,spirit with ,spirit can meet4 ,closer is ,he than breathing and nearer than hands or feet4 ,certainly1 we may say1 nothing atheistic in utterances like these3 they are the utterances of lofty thought1 of profound piety1 of soaring aspiration1 and of childlike faith4 ,they have a pantheistic tinge3 what is there to dread in ,pantheism8 ,not much in #hj ,pantheism of that kind3 would there were more of it6 ,but it will be observable that1 in the instances cited1 though ,god is in ,nature and manifesting ,himself through it1 there is a clear distinction between ,nature and ,god4 ,it may seem as if it were merely the sky1 the sun1 the stars1 the ocean1 that are apostrophised3 in reality it is a ,life1 a ,spirit1 a ,power not themselves1 in which they live and move and have their being3 not to them1 but to ,that1 are the prayers addressed4 ,and1 we venture to think1 it is scarcely ever otherwise3 scarcely ever is the ,visible alone invoked3 identify ,god as men will with the material universe1 or even with the force and energy with which the material universe is pervaded1 when they enter into communion with it1 in spite of themselves they endow it with the ,life and the ,will and the ,purpose which they have in theory rejected4 ,but the absolute identification of ,god and the ,universe1 the assumption that above and #ha beneath and through all there is no conscious ,righteousness and ,wisdom and ,love overruling and directing1 that is a belief to be resisted1 a belief which enervates character and enfeebles hope4#i ',whoever says in his heart that ,god is no more than ,nature3 whoever does not provide behind the veil of creation an infinite reserve of thought and beauty and holy love1 that might fling aside this universe and take another1 as a vesture changing the heavens and they are changed1 444 is bereft of the essence of the ,christian ,faith1 and is removed by only accidental and precarious distinctions from the atheistic worship of mere natural laws4'#aj ',in our worship we have to do1 not so much with ,his finite expression in created things as with ,his own free self and inner reality 444 all religion consists in passing ,nature by1 in order to enter into direct personal relation #hb with ,him1 soul to soul4 ,it is not ,pantheism to merge all the life of the physical universe in ,him1 and leave ,him as the inner and sustaining ,power of it all4 ,it is ,pantheism to rest in this conception3 to merge ,him in the universe and see ,him only there3 and not rather to dwell with ,him as the ,living1 ,holy1 ,sympathising ,will1 on ,whose free affection the cluster of created things lies and plays1 as the spray upon the ocean4'#aa ,,vi ,god is not as we are1 and yet ,he is as we are4 ,god is not made in the image of man1 but man is made in the image of ,god4 ,it is through human goodness and human purity and human love that we attain our best conceptions of the ,divine ,goodness and ,purity and ,love4 ',if ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children1 how much more will your ,heavenly ,father #hc give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him8' ,picture to yourself what is highest and best in the human relationship of father and child3 be sure that the ,heavenly ,father will not fall below1 but will infinitely transcend1 that standard4 ,all the justice and goodness which we have seen on earth are the feebler reflection of ,his4 ,it is by learning that the utmost height of human goodness is but a little way towards ,him that we learn to think of ,him at all aright4 ,but the justice and the love by which he acts are different only in degree1 and not in kind1 from ours4 ,when we think of ,god as altogether such as we are1 we degrade ,him1 we have before us the image of the imperfect2 when we try to think of ,him under no image and to discard all figures1 ,he vanishes into unreality and nothingness1 but when we see ,him in ,christ1 we have before us that which we can grasp and understand1 and that in which there is no imperfection4 #hd ,if there is no ,god but the universe1 we have a universe without a ,god4 ,worship is meaningless1 ,faith is a mockery1 ,hope is a delusion4 ,if the universe is ,god1 all things in the universe are of necessity ,divine4 ,the distinction between right and wrong is broken down4 ,in a sense very different from that in which the phrase was originally employed1 ',whatever is1 is right4' ,nothing can legitimately be stigmatised as wrong1 for there is nothing which is not ,god4 ',if all that is is ,god1 then truth and error are equally manifestations of ,god4 ,if ,god is all that is1 then we hear ,his voice as much in the promptings to sin as in the solemn imperatives of ,conscience4 ,this is the inexorable logic of ,pantheism1 however disguised4'#ab ',i know1' says ,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison1 'what is meant by the ,power and ,goodness of an ,almighty ,creator4 ,i know what is meant by the genius and patience #he and sympathy of man4 ,but what is the ,all1 or the ,good1 or the ,true1 or the ,beautiful8 444 ,the ,all is not good nor beautiful3 it is full of horror and ruin4444 ,there lies this original blot on every form of philosophic ,pantheism when tried as the basis of a religion or as the root-idea of our lives1 that it jumbles up the moral1 the unmoral1 the non-human and the anti-human world1 the animated and the inanimate1 cruelty1 filth1 horror1 waste1 death1 virtue and vice1 suffering and victory1 sympathy and insensibility4'#ac ,where these distinctions are lost1 where this confusion exists1 what logically must be the consequence8 ,honesty and dishonesty1 truth and falsehood1 purity and impurity1 kindness and brutality1 are put upon a level1 are alike manifestations of the ,one or the ,all4 ,it is said that in our day the sense of sin has grown weak1 that men are not troubled #hf by it as once they were4 ,there is a morbid1 scrupulous remorsefulness for wrong-doing1 a desponding conviction that repentance and restoration are impossible1 which may well be put away4 ,but that sin should be no longer held to be sin1 that evil should be wrought and the worker experience no pang of shame1 would surely indicate moral declension and decay4 ,were the time to come when1 universally1 mankind should commit those actions and cherish those passions which1 through all ages in all lands1 have gone by the name of sin1 should become so heedless to the voice of conscience1 that conscience should cease to speak1 the time would have come when men1 being past feeling1 would devote themselves with greediness to anything that was vile1 so long as it was pleasant1 the bonds of society would be loosened and destruction would be at hand4 ,the ,religion of the ,universe ignores the facts of life1 the sorrow1 the struggle1 #hg the depravity1 the need of redemption4 ,fortunately1 human beings in general are still inclined to mourn because of imperfection or of baseness3 still they are inclined at times to cry out1 ',who shall deliver me from the body of this death8' and still they have the opportunity of joyfully or humbly saying1 ',i thank ,god through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4' ',and now at this day1' listen to the ungrudging admission of perhaps the most earnest ,english apostle of ,pantheism1 ,mr4 ,allanson ,picton3 ',we of all schools1 whether orthodox or heterodox so-called1 whether believers or unbelievers in supernatural revelation1 all who seek the revival of religion1 the exaltation of morality1 the redemption of man1 draw1 most of us1 our direct impulse1 and all of us1 directly or indirectly1 our ideals from the speaking vision of the ,christ4 ,such a claim is justified1 not merely by the spiritual power still remaining in the ,church1 #hh but almost as much by the tributes paid1 and the uses of the ,gospel teaching made in the writings of the most distinguished among rationalists4444 ,such writers have felt that somehow ,jesus still holds1 and ought to hold1 the heart of humanity under ,his beneficial sway4 ,excluding the partial1 imperfect and temporary ideas of ,nature1 spirits1 hell1 and heaven1 which the ,galilean held with singular lightness for a man of ,his time1 they have acquiesced in and even echoed ,his invitation to the weary and heavy laden1 to take ,his yoke upon them and learn of ,him4 ,and that means to live up to ,his ,gospel of the nothingness of self1 and of unreserved sacrifice to the ,eternal ,all in ,all4'#ad ,if such is the conclusion of ,rationalism and of ,pantheism1 how much more ought it to be the conclusion of ,christianity4 ,the imagination of a ,god confined to times and places1 visiting the world only occasionally1 #hi manifesting ,himself in the past and not in the present1 ought to be as foreign to the ,christian ,church as to any ,rationalist or ,pantheist4 ,be it ours to show that we believe in ,god ,who filleth all things with ,his presence1 ,who is from ,everlasting to ,everlasting1 that to us there is but one ,god the ,father1 by ,whom are all things and we in ,him1 and one ,lord1 ,jesus ,christ1 by ,whom are all things and we by ,him1 that ,god has identified ,himself with us in ,jesus ,christ1 ,his ,son4 ,be it ours to lose ourselves in ,him4 ,for1 after all our questionings as to the government of the world1 as to abounding misery and degradation1 as to what lies beyond the veil for ourselves and for others1 this is our hope and our confidence3 ',god hath concluded all in unbelief that ,he might have mercy upon all4 ,o the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of ,god6 how unsearchable are ,his judgments and ,his ways past finding out4 ,for who hath #ij known the mind of the ,lord8 or who hath been ,his counsellor8 or who hath first given to ,him1 and it shall be recompensed unto ,him again8 ,for of ,him and through ,him and to ,him are all things3 to ,whom be glory for ever4 ,amen4' #a ,riddle of the ,universe4 #b ,appendix ,,xi4 #c ,first ,principles4 #d ,confession of ,faith of a ,man of ,science4 #e ,riddle of the ,universe4 #f ,appendix ,,xii4 #g ,schleiermacher4 #h ,st4 ,andrews ,addresses4 #i ,appendix ,,xiii4 #aj ,martineau1 ,hours of ,thought1 ii4 p4 #aaj4 #aa ,martineau1 ,hours of ,thought1 ii4 p4 #aad4 #ab ,faith of a ,christian4 #ac ,creed of a ,layman1 p4 #bjc4 #ad ,religion of the ,universe4 #ib ,,iv ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,humanity ',and ,god said1 ,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness4'--,,genesis i4 #bf4 ',when ,i consider ,thy heavens1 the work of ,thy fingers1 the moon and the stars which ,thou hast ordained1 what is man that ,thou art mindful of him8 and the son of man that ,thou visitest him8 ,for ,thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour4'--,,psalm viii4 #c-e ,thou hast put all things in subjection under ,his feet4 ,for in that ,he put all in subjection under ,him1 ,he left nothing that is not put under ,him4 ,but now we see not yet all things put under ,him4 ,but we see ,jesus ,who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour1 that ,he by the grace of ,god should taste death for every man4'--,,hebrews ii4 #h1 #i4 #ic ,,iv ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,humanity ,the position which ,religion1 and especially the ,christian ,religion1 assigns to man1 to man as he ought to be1 is very high4 ,he is made in the image of ,god1 he is a little lower than the angels1 a little lower than ,god1 he is a partaker of the ,divine ,nature4 ,but as the corruption of the best is the worst1 there is nothing in the whole creation more miserable1 more loathsome1 than man as he has forgotten his high estate and plunged himself into degradation4 ',what man has made of man1' is the saddest1 most deplorable sight in all the world4 ,amid the awful splendour of the winning loveliness of ,nature1 'only man is vile4' ,that is the terrible #id verdict which may be pronounced upon him renouncing his birthright1 surrendering himself to the powers which he was meant to keep in subjection4 ,it is not the verdict to be pronounced on ,man as ,man1 the child of the highest and the heir of all the ages4 ,the appeal of ,religion1 the appeal of ,christianity above all1 has continually been1 ,o sons of men1 sully not your glorious garments1 cast not away your glorious crown4 ,i ,it is irreligion1 it is unbelief1 which comes and says1 ,lay aside these fantastic notions as to your greatness3 you are the creatures of a day3 you belong1 like other animals1 to the world of sense1 and you pass away along with them3 a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast4 ,banish your delusive hopes2 confine yourselves to reality2 waste not your time in the pursuit of phantoms3 make the best of the world in #ie which you are3 seize its pleasures3 shut your eyes to its sorrows3 enjoy yourselves in the present and let the future take care of itself3 follow the devices and desires of your own hearts in the comfortable assurance that there is no judgment to which you can be brought1 save that which exists in the realm of imagination4 ,listening to such whispers1 obeying such suggestions1 walking in such courses1 the spectacle which man presents can be viewed only with compassion1 with horror1 or with disdain4 ,his ideals1 his aspirations1 his self-sacrifices are only so many phases of self-deception4 ,the natural conclusion to be drawn from denying the spiritual origin and eternal prospects of man must be that he is of no more account than any of the transitory beings around him1 that1 if he has any superiority over them1 it is only the superiority of a skill with which he can make them the instruments of #if his purposes4 ,with no glimpses of a higher world1 with no inspirations from a ,spirit nobler than his own1 he can hardly regard the achievements of heroism as other than acts of madness1 he can be fired with no desire to emulate them1 he cannot well be trusted to perform ordinary acts of honesty and morality1 let alone extraordinary acts of generosity and magnanimity1 should they come in collision with his objects and ambitions4 ,unless above himself he can ,erect himself1 how mean a thing is ,man6 ,deny his divine fellowship1 extirpate his heavenly anticipations1 and it might seem as if no race on earth would be so poor as do him reverence4 ,,ii ,one thing is assumed by not a few1 the absurdity of the ,almighty caring for such a race1 and therefore the impossibility of the ,incarnation4 ',which1' asks ,mr4 ,frederic #ig ,harrison1 'is the more deliriously extravagant1 the disproportionate condescension of the ,infinite ,creator1 or the self-complacent arrogance with which the created mite accepts1 or rather dreams of1 such an inconceivable prerogative8 ,his planet is one of the least of all the myriad units in a boundless ,infinity2 in the countless ons of time he is one of the latest and the briefest2 of the whole living world on the planet1 since the ages of the primitive protozoon1 man is but an infinitesimal fraction4 ,in all this enormous array of life1 in all these ons1 was there never anything living which specially interested the ,creator1 nothing that the ,redeemer could care for1 or die for8 ,if so1 what a waste creation must have been6 444 ,why was all this tremendous tragedy1 great enough to convulse the ,universe1 confined to the minutest speck of it1 for the benefit of one puny and very late-born race8'#a #ih ,but is it not the fact that along with the discovery of ,man's utter insignificance1 there has come the discovery of powers and faculties unknown and unsuspected1 so that more than ever all things are in subjection to him1 his dominion has become wider1 his throne more firmly established8 ,is it not the fact that the whole realm of ,nature is explored by him1 is compelled to minister to his wants or to unfold its treasures of knowledge8 ,is it not the fact that more than ever it can be said3 ,the lightning is his slave3 heaven's utmost deep ,gives up her stars1 and1 like a flock of sheep1 ,they pass before his eye1 are numbered1 and roll on4 ,the tempest is his steed3 he strides the air4 ,and the ,abyss shouts from her depth laid bare ',heaven1 hast thou secrets8 ,man unveils me3 ,i have none4'#b ,is it not the fact that deposed from his position of proud pre-eminence as centre of the universe1 ,man has by his labours and his ingenuity reasserted his high prerogative #ii to be lord of the creation8 ,the printing-press1 the railway1 the telegraph1 how have inventions like these invested him with an influence which he did not possess before6 ,and is it not the fact that when most conscious of our nothingness before the immensities around us1 when humbled and prostrate before the ,infinite of which we have caught a transitory glimpse1 we are also most conscious of our high destiny1 we are lifted above the earthly to the heavenly1 we discern that1 though we cannot claim a moment1 yet ,eternity is ours8 ',what1 then1 is ,man6 ,what1 then1 is ,man6 ,he endures but an hour and is crushed before the moth4 ,yet in the being and in the working of a faithful man is there already 7as all faith1 from the beginning1 gives assurance7 a something that pertains1 not to this wild death element of ,time2 that triumphs over ,time1 and is1 and will be1 when ,time shall be no more4'#c #ajj ,man's place in the universe may1 according to ,dr4 ,alfred ,russel ,wallace1 be nearer the centre of things than has so commonly come to be accepted4 ,modern discovery1 he maintains1 has thrown light on the interesting problem of our relation to the ,universe2 and even though such discovery may have no bearing upon theology or religion1 yet1 he thinks1 it proves that our position in the material creation is special and probably unique1 and that the view is justified which holds that 'the supreme end and purpose of this vast universe was the production and development of the living soul in the perishable body of man4' ,and another1 a convinced and ardent disciple of ,evolution1 the late ,professor ,john ,fiske1 argues that1 'not the production of any higher creature1 but the perfecting of humanity is to be the glorious consummation of ,nature's long and tedious work4444 ,man seems now1 much more clearly than ever1 the chief among ,god's #aja creatures4444 ,the whole creation has been groaning and travailing together in order to bring forth that last consummate specimen of ,god's handiwork1 the ,human ,soul4'#d ,if this be so1 this conclusion arrived at by those who do not hold the ordinary faith of ,christendom1 then the objection that the ,incarnation could not have taken place for the redemption of such a race as ours1 in a world which is so poor a fraction of the infinite universe1 falls to the ground2 and the protest of a devout modern poet carries conviction with it3 ,this earth too small ,for ,love ,divine6 ,is ,god not ,infinite8 ,if so1 ,his ,love is infinite4 ,too small6 ,one famished babe meets pity oft from man ,more than an army slain6 ,too small for ,love6 ,was ,earth too small to be of ,god created8 ,why then too small to be redeemed8#e ,man may1 or may not1 occupy a 'central position in the universe'3 other worlds may1 #ajb or may not1 be inhabited3 this earth may be but a minute and insignificant speck amid the mighty ,all1 this at least is certain1 that not by mere magnitude is our rank in the scale of being to be decided1 and that in the spirit of man will be found that which approaches most nearly to ,him who is ,spirit4 ',the man who reviles ,humanity on the ground of its small place in the scale of the ,universe is1' according to ,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison1 'the kind of man who sneers at patriotism and sees nothing great in ,england1 on the ground that our island holds so small a place in the map of the world4 ,on the atlas ,england is but a dot4 ,morally and spiritually1 our ,fatherland is our glory1 our cradle1 and our grave4'#f ,,iii ,hence1 one of the ablest attempts to supersede ,christianity is that which goes by #ajc the name of ,positivism or the ,religion of ,humanity1 which sets ,man on the throne of the universe1 and makes of him the sole object of worship4 ',a helper of men outside ,humanity1' said the late ,professor ,clifford1 'the ,truth will not allow us to see4 ,the dim and shadowy outlines of the ,superhuman ,deity fade slowly away from before us1 and1 as the mist of ,his ,presence floats aside1 we perceive with greater and greater clearness the shape of a yet grander and nobler figure1 of ,him who made all gods and shall unmake them4 ,from the dim dawn of history1 and from the inmost depths of every soul1 the face of our ,father ,man looks out upon us with the fire of eternal youth in ,his eyes1 and says1 ,before ,jehovah was1 ,i am4 ,the founder of the organised ,religion of ,humanity was ,auguste ,comte1 who died in the year #aheg4 ,he held that in the development of mankind there are three stages3 the first1 the ,theological1 in which #ajd worship is offered to ,god or gods2 the second1 the ,metaphysical1 in which the human mind is groping after ultimate truth1 the solution of the problems of the universe2 the third1 the ,positive1 in which the search for the illusive and the unattainable is abandoned1 and the real and the practical form the exclusive occupation of the thoughts4 ,on ,sunday1 ,october #ai1 #ahea1 he concluded a course of ,lectures on the ,general ,history of ,humanity with the uncompromising announcement1 ',in the name of the ,past and of the ,future1 the servants of ,humanity1 both its philosophical and practical servants1 come forward to claim as their due the general direction of this world4 ,their object is to constitute at length a real ,providence1 in all departments1 moral1 intellectual1 and material4 ,consequently they exclude1 once for all1 from political supremacy1 all the different servants of ,god1 ,catholic1 ,protestant1 or ,deist1 as being at once behindhand and #aje a source of disturbance4' ,all religions were banished by the truly 'uncompromising announcement'3 they were all condemned as futile and unreal4 ,the best that could be said of the worship of the past was that it directed 'provisionally the evolution of our best feelings1 under the regency of ,god1 during the long minority of ,humanity4' ,but the fact that ,religion will not be banished1 that it must somehow find expression1 never received fuller verification4 ,we do not dwell upon the private life of ,comte1 its eccentricities and inconsistencies1 but this at least cannot be omitted3 he practised a course of austere religious observances1 he worshipped not only ,humanity at large1 but he paid special adoration to a departed friend such as hardly the devoutest of ,roman ,catholics has ever paid to the ,virgin ,mary4 ,positivism became1 what ,professor ,huxley called it1 ',catholicism minus ,christianity4' ,comte laid down for the guidance of his #ajf disciples1 who are potentially all mankind1 rules which no existing religious communion can surpass in minuteness4 ,the ,supreme ,object of ,worship is the ,great ,being1 ,humanity1 the ,sum of ,human ,beings1 past1 present1 and future4 ,but as it is only too evident that too many of these beings in the past and the present1 whatever may be said about the future1 are not very fitting objects of worship1 ,humanity1 the ,great ,being1 must be understood as including only worthy members1 those who have been true servants of ,humanity4 ,the emblem of this ,great ,being is a ,woman of the age of thirty1 with her son in her arms2 and this emblem is to be placed in all temples of ,humanity and carried in all solemn processions4 ,the highest representatives of ,humanity are the ,mother1 the ,wife1 and the ,daughter2 the ,mother representing the past1 the ,wife the present1 and the ,daughter the future4 ,these are in the abstract to be regarded as the guardian #ajg angels of the family4 ,to these angels every one is to pray three times daily1 and the prayers1 which may be read1 but which must be the composition of him who uses them1 are to last for two hours4 ,humanity1 the ,world1 and ,space form the completed ,trinity of the ,positivist ,religion4 ,there are nine sacraments3 ,presentation1 ,initiation1 ,admission1 ,destination1 ,marriage1 ,maturity1 ,retirement1 ,transformation1 ,incorporation4 ,there is a priesthood1 to whom is committed the duties of deciding who may or may not be admitted to certain offices during life1 of deciding also whether or not the remains of those who have been dead for seven years should be removed from the common burial-place1 and interred in 'the sacred wood which surrounds the temple of humanity1' every tomb there 'being ornamented with a simple inscription1 a bust1 or a statue1 according to the degree of honour awarded4' ,the priests are to receive so comprehensive #ajh a training that they are not to be fully recognised till forty-two years of age4 ,they are to combine medical knowledge with their priestly qualifications4 ,three successive orders are necessary for the working of the organisation3 the ,aspirants admitted at twenty-eight1 the ,vicars or ,substitutes at thirty-five1 and the ,priests proper at forty-two4 ,the ,religion of ,humanity has a ,calendar1 each month of twenty-eight days being in one aspect dedicated to some social relation1 and in another to some famous man representing some phase of human progress3 ,moses1 ,homer1 ,aristotle1 ,csar1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,gutenberg1 ,shakespeare4 ,each day of the year is dedicated to one or more great men or women1 five hundred and fifty-eight in number1 and the last day of the year is the ,festival of ,all the ,dead4 ',our ,calendar is designed to remind us of all types of the teachers1 leaders1 and makers of our race3 of the many modes in which the servants of ,humanity #aji have fulfilled their service4 ,the prophets1 the religious teachers1 the founders of creeds1 of nations and systems of life3 the poets1 the thinkers1 the artists1 kings1 warriors1 statesmen and rulers3 the inventors1 the men of science and of all useful arts4444 ,every day of the ,positivist year is in one sense a day of the dead1 for it recalls to us some mighty teacher or leader who is no longer on earth4444 ,but the three hundred and sixty-four days of the year's calendar have left one great place unfilled4444 ,those myriad spirits of the forgotten dead1 whom1 no man can number1 whose very names were unknown to those around them in life1 the fathers and the mothers1 the husbands and the wives1 the brothers and the sisters1 the sturdy workers and the fearless soldiers in the mighty host of civilisation--shall we pass them by8 444 ,it is those whom to-night we recall1 all those who have lived a life of usefulness in their generation1 though #aaj they tugged as slaves at the lowest bank of oars in the galley of life1 though they were cast unnoticed into the common grave of the outcast1 all whose lives have helped and not hindered the progress of ,humanity1 we recall them all to-night4'#g ,,iv ,the ,religion of ,humanity has numbered among its adherents1 in part or in whole1 several celebrated persons in this country1 such as ,richard ,congreve1 ,dr4 ,bridges1 ,professor ,beesley1 ,cotter ,morison1 ,george ,eliot4 ,but at present it has no more eloquent and earnest advocate than ,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison1 who1 in ,the ,creed of a ,layman1 and several other recent volumes1 has passionately proclaimed its principles4 ,for more than fifty years he has been its apostle3 'every other aim or occupation has been subsidiary and instrumental to this4'#h ,it #aaa is true that in some points he has retained his independence1 and while those outside accuse him of fanaticism1 some of his fellow-believers suspect him of heresy4#i ,but he himself is assured that in the worship of ,humanity he has obtained the solution of his doubts#aj and the satisfaction of his spirit1 and on his gravestone or his urn he would have inscribed the words1 ,he found peace4#aa ,there is much that is marvellously elevated in thought as well as exquisite in expression1 profoundly devout as well as brilliantly argued1 in the narrative of his progress towards his present position4 ,but when his vehement statements are carefully examined1 it will almost inevitably be seen that all that is good and sensible in them is an unconscious reproduction of ,christianity4 ,his negations disappear3 the affirmations which he makes are those which the ,church has always #aab maintained4 ,the faith of his childhood permeates and strengthens and beautifies the creed which he adopted in his maturer years4 ,the unity of mankind1 the memory of the departed1 the necessity of living for others1 these are no novelties in ,christianity4 ,it is in ,christ that they have specially been brought to light1 in ,him that they find their highest ratification1 without ,him they remain unfulfilled1 with ,him they attain to consistency and power4 ,the ,great ,being1 ,humanity1 is only an abstraction4#ab ',there is no such thing in reality1' ,principal ,caird reminds us1 'as an animal which is no particular animal1 a plant which is no particular plant1 a man or humanity which is no individual man4 ,it is only a fiction of the observer's mind4' ,there is logical force as well as humorous illustration in the contention of ,dean ,page ,roberts1 that there is no more a humanity apart #aac from individual men and women than there is a great being apart from all individual dogs1 which we may call ,caninity1 or a transcendent ,durham ox1 apart from individual oxen1 which may be named ,bovinity4'#ac ,nor does the geniality of ,mr4 ,chesterton render his argument the less telling3 ',it is evidently impossible to worship ,humanity1 just as it is impossible to worship the ,savile ,club3 both are excellent institutions to which we may happen to belong4 ,but we perceive clearly that the ,savile ,club did not make the stars and does not fill the universe4 ,and it is surely unreasonable to attack the doctrine of the ,trinity as a piece of bewildering mysticism1 and then to ask men to worship a being who is ninety million persons in one ,god1 neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance4'#ad ,can it be doubted that the ,great ,being1 #aad the sum of human beings1 is less conceivable1 less worthy of worship than the ,great ,being1 the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ8#ae ,can it be doubted that the claim of ,humanity to worship is less credible if we exclude the ,perfect ,man1 ,christ ,jesus1 from our view8 ,can it be doubted that the ,positivist motto1 ',live for others1' gains a force and a meaning unapproached elsewhere from the ,life and ,death of ,him ,who said1 ',the ,son of ,man came not to be ministered unto1 but to minister and to give ,his ,life a ransom for many8' ,humanity knit together in ,one1 purified from every stain1 glorious and adorable1 is a lofty and inspiring idea1 but nowhere has it been disclosed save in the ,man ,christ ,jesus1 the ,word made ,flesh1 the ,brightness of the ,father's glory and the ,express ,image of ,his ,person4 #aae ,v ,dr4 ,richard ,congreve owns that much of the ,religion of ,humanity exists already in the ,christian ,faith1 but1 in one respect1 he asserts that the ,religion of ,humanity can claim to be entirely original4 ',we accept1 so have all men4 ,we obey1 so have all men4 ,we venerate1 so have some in past ages1 or in other countries4 ,we add but one other term1 we love4'#af ,that is what distinguishes this new religion and proves its superiority to the old3 its votaries have attained this new principle and mode of life3 they love one another4 ,the boldness of the claim may stagger us4 ,we turn over the pages of the ,new ,testament4 ,we see that ,love is the fulfilling of the ,law2 is the end of the commandment2 is the sum of the ,law and the ,prophets2 is placed at the very summit of ,christian graces2 is the bond of perfectness2 #aaf is manifested in a ,life and a ,death which1 after nineteen centuries1 remain without a parallel4 ,we recall the touching legend that in his old age the ,apostle ,s4 ,john was daily carried into the assembly of the ,ephesian ,christians1 simply repeating to them1 over and over1 the words1 ',love one another4 ,this is our ,lord's command1 fulfil this and nothing else is needed4' ,we recall that in early centuries the sympathy and helpfulness by which ,christians of all ranks and races were united called forth from heathen spectators the amazed and respectful exclamation1 ',see how these ,christians love one another6' ,recalling these things1 we cannot but be startled that1 in the nineteenth century of the ,christian era1 a teacher should1 with any expectation of being believed1 have ventured to affirm that the great discovery which it has been reserved for the present day to make is that of loving one another4 ,ignorance of ,christianity1 misrepresentation #aag of ,christianity1 we may well call it3 ignorance inconceivable1 misrepresentation inconceivable3 and yet1 as we consider the state of ,christendom1 do we not see what palliates the ignorance and the misrepresentation8 ,have we not reason to confess that1 if the commandment be not new1 universal obedience to it would be new indeed8 ,may the calm assurance that love is foreign to ,christianity not startle us into the conviction that we have forgotten what1 according to our ,lord's own declaration1 the chief feature of ,christianity ought to be8 ',by this shall all men know that ye are ,my disciples1 if ye have love one to another4' ,,vi ',how can we1' it has been well said1 'be asked to give the name of ,religion of ,humanity to a religion that ignores the greatest human being that ever lived1 and the very source from which the ,religion of ,humanity #aah sprang8'#ag ,man in himself1 man so full of imperfections1 man having no connection with any world but this1 man unallied to any ,power higher1 nobler than himself1 is this to be our ,god8 ,which is more reasonable3 to set up the race of man1 unpurified1 unredeemed1 worthless and polluted1 as the object of adoration1 or to maintain that ',man indeed is the rightful object of our worship1 but in the roll of ages1 there has been but one ,man ,whom we can adore without idolatry1 the ,man ,christ ,jesus'8#ah ,the ,religion of ,humanity1 so called1 would have us worship ,man apart from ,christ ,whom yet all acknowledge to be the glory of mankind1 but we call on men to worship ,christ ,jesus1 for in ,him we see ,man without a stain1 we see our nature redeemed and consecrated1 we see ourselves brought nigh to the ,infinite ,god4 ,we adore ,humanity1 but ,humanity #aai in its purity3 we adore ,humanity1 but only as manifesting in the ,only ,begotten ,son the glory of the ,eternal ,father4 ,thus we place no garland around the vices of the human race3 thus we abase1 and thus we exalt3 thus are we humbled to the dust1 thus are we raised to the highest heavens4 ,apart from ,christ1 the magnitude of the creation may well depress and overwhelm3 apart from ,christ the human race is morally imperfect instead of being a fit object of blind adoration4 ,seeing ,christ1 we not only feel our inconceivable nothingness in presence of the ,infinite ,majesty1 but we stand erect and unpresumptuously say1 ',we wonder not that ,thou art mindful of those for whom that ,son of ,man lived and died1 we are in ,him partakers of the ,divine ,nature4 ,there thou beholdest ,thine ,own ,image4' ,made in the image of ,god1 such is the ideal of ,man that comes to us from the beginning of his history2 and such is the ideal #abj that once1 and once only1 has been realised4 ',ecce ,homo6 ,behold the ,man6' said ,pontius ,pilate1 in words more full of significance than he knew1 pointing to the victim of priestly hatred and popular fickleness4 ,behold the ,man6 man as he ought to be1 the ,image of ,god4 ,before that ,divine ,humanity we reverently bow1 to that ,divine ,humanity we humbly consecrate ourselves1 in fellowship with ,it alone we learn and manifest the true worth and dignity of ,man4 ,one writing frantically to exalt mankind and to depreciate ,christianity1 tells us how he sat on a cliff overhanging the seashore and gazed upon the stars1 murmuring1 ',o prodigious universe1 and ,o poor ignorant1 that could believe all these were made for him6' but the sight of a steamship caused him to rejoice at the triumph of ,art over ,nature1 and to exclaim1 ',if man is small in relation to the universe1 he is great in relation to the earth3 he abbreviates distance and time1 #aba and brings the nations together4' ,then he saw that man is ordained to master the laws of which he is now the slave2 he believed that if man could understand this mission1 a new religion would animate his life1 and1 in the strength of this revelation1 the writer says that he sang in ecstasy to the waters and winds and birds and beasts1 he felt a rapture of love for the whole human race1 he resolved to preach the ,new ,gospel far and wide1 and proclaim the glorious mission of mankind4#ai ,on the whole the ,old ,gospel will be found as ennobling1 as inspiring1 as practical as the ,new4 ,all that this new ,gospel aims at1 we1 as ,christians1 already believe3 and we possess a ,divine ,token1 a ,sacred ,pledge which is foreign to it3 we believe that a higher destiny is in store for us than even the construction of wonders of mechanical skill4#bj ,stripped of all rhetoric1 the conclusion of unbelief in ,god and ,immortality can only #abb be ',man is what he eats'3 the conclusion of ,christianity1 ',there is but one object greater than the soul1 and that is its ,creator4' ,one in a certain place testified1 saying1 ',what is man1 that ,thou art mindful of him1 or the son of man that ,thou visitest him8 ,thou madest him a little lower than the angels3 ,thou crownest him with glory and honour1 and didst set him over the works of ,thy hands3 ,thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet4' ,for in that ,he put all in subjection under him1 ,he left nothing that is not put under him4 ,but now we see not yet all things put under him4 ,but we see ,,jesus ,who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death1 crowned with glory and honour4 ,we see ,him ,who is our ,brother and our ,forerunner within the veil2 and in ,his ,exaltation we behold our own4#ba ,no vision of the future can surpass that which the ,christian ,church #abc has cherished from the beginning1 that we shall all 'come in the unity of the faith1 and of the knowledge of the ,son of ,god1 unto a ,perfect ,man1 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of ,christ 444 from ,whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth1 according to the effectual working in the measure of every part1 maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love4' #a ,creed of a ,layman1 p4 #fg4 #b ,shelley1 ,prometheus ,unbound4 #c ,thomas ,carlyle4 #d ,man's ,destiny1 p4 #ca1 #e ,aubrey de ,vere4 #f ,creed of a ,layman1 p4 #gf4 #g ,frederic ,harrison1 ,creed of a ,layman4 #h ,memories and ,thoughts1 p4 #ad4 #i ,memories and ,thoughts1 p4 #ae4 #aj ,appendix ,,xiv4 #aa ,creed of a ,layman4 #ab ,appendix ,,xv4 #ac ,some ,urgent ,questions in ,christian ,lights4 #ad ,heretics1 p4 #if4 #ae ,appendix ,,xvi4 #af ,appendix ,,xvii4 #ag ,e4 ,a4 ,abbott1 ,through ,nature to ,christ4 #ah ,frederick ,william ,robertson1 ,sermon on ,john's ,rebuke of ,herod4 #ai ,winwood ,reade1 ,the ,outcast4 #bj ,appendix ,,xviii4 #ba ,appendix ,,xix4 #abf ,v ,,theism ,,without ,,christ ',ye believe in ,god1 believe also in ,me4'--,s4 ,,john xiv4 #a4 ',i am the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life3 no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me4'--,s4 ,,john xiv4 #f4 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4'--,s4 ,,john xiv4 #i4 ',neither is there salvation in any other2 for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved4'--,,acts iv4 #ab4 ',he that abideth in the doctrine of ,christ1 he hath both the ,father and the ,son4'--#b ,s4 ,,john #i4 #abg ,v ,,theism ,,without ,,christ ,by ,theism without ,christ is not meant a system like ,judaism or ,mohammedanism1 but a modern school which maintains that faith in ,god becomes weakened and impaired by being associated with faith in ,jesus4 ,there are those who cling with tenacity to the first article of the ,apostles' ,creed1 ',i believe in ,god the ,father ,almighty1' but who reject with equal fervour the second article of the ,creed1 ',and in ,jesus ,christ1 ,his only ,son1 our ,lord4' ,they resist with horror the suggestion that the world is under no overruling ,providence1 or that the humblest human being is not regarded with the tender love of the ,infinite ,god3 they rival the most #abh mystical worshipper in the ardour of the language with which in prayer they address the ,father in ,heaven1 but they refuse to bow in the ,name of ,jesus3 they go to the ,father1 as they think1 without ,him3 they assert that to look to ,him is virtually to look away from ,god4 ,they are as hostile as we can be to the ,substitutes for ,christianity which we have been considering4 ,they have no sympathy with those who loudly deny that there is a ,god1 or with those who say that it is impossible to find out whether there is a ,god or not1 or with those who think that the ,creator and the ,creation are one1 that the universe is ,god1 or with those who1 not believing in any ,unseen and ,eternal ,god1 insist that the proper object of the worship of mankind is man4 ,in the proclamation of the existence of an ,all-,wise and ,all-holy ,being1 in the proclamation that ,he has made the world and rules it to its minutest detail1 in the proclamation that #abi there is a life beyond the grave1 they are the allies of the ,christian ,church4 ,but then they go on to argue1 ,for those who hold these doctrines1 ,christ is quite superfluous3 to hold them in their purity ,christ must be dethroned and ,his name no longer specially revered4 ,some may still wish to speak of ,him as among the ,great ,teachers of the world1 but some1 in order to preserve these precious truths unmixed1 decline in a very fanaticism of unbelief to assign ,him even that position4 ,i ,the declaration of our ,lord1 ',no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me1' has been a chief stumbling-block and rock of offence4 ,are we to believe1 it is asked1 that only the comparatively few to whom the knowledge of ,jesus ,christ has come can possibly be accepted of the ,father8 ,when the words were spoken the number of ,his disciples was exceedingly small4 ,did he mean that the #acj ,father could be approached only by that handful of people1 that all beyond were banished from the ,divine ,presence and must inevitably perish8 ,that this is what ,he meant both the friends and the foes of ,christianity have at times been agreed in holding4 ,the friends have imagined that they were thereby exalting the claim of ,christ to be the ,one ,mediator4 ,it may be a terrible mystery that the vast majority of the human race should have no opportunity of believing in ,him1 should be even unacquainted with ,his ,name4 ,we can only bow before the inscrutable decree1 and strive with all our might1 not only that our own faith may be deepened1 but that the knowledge of ,christ may be diffused over all the earth1 so that some here and there may be rescued4 ,there is little wonder that such a view should have given rise to questionings and opposition1 should have been rejected as inconsistent with mercy and with justice4 ,it is an #aca interpretation on which hostile critics have laid stress as incontestably proving the narrowness and bigotry of the ,christian ,creed4 ,if we bear in mind ,who it is that is presumed to say1 ',no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me1' the misconception disappears4 ,it is not merely an individual man1 separate from all others1 giving ,himself out as a wise and infallible ,teacher4 ,he ,who makes the stupendous claim is ,one ,who by the supposition embodies in ,himself ,human ,nature in its perfection1 ,who is identified with ,his brethren1 ,who says1 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4' ,the ,life which ,he manifests is the ,life of ,god4 ,he is set forth as the ,way to the ,father3 in mercy and in blessing the ,way is disclosed in ,him3 it is not in harsh and rigid exclusiveness that ,he speaks1 debarring the mass of mankind3 it is in tender comprehensiveness1 inviting all without distinction of race or circumstance1 opening a new #acb and living way for all into the ,holiest4 ,it is the breaking down of all barriers between man and man1 between man and ,god1 not the setting up of another barrier high and insurmountable4 ,when ,christ declares ',no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me1' ,he is not declaring that the way is difficult and impassable1 ,he is pointing out a way of deliverance which all may tread4 ,so far from laying down a hard and burdensome dogma to be accepted on peril of pains and penalties1 ,he is imparting a hope and a consolation in which all may rejoice4 ,if we believe ,him to be the ,word of ,god made ,flesh1 if we see in ,him the ,brightness of the ,father's glory1 it becomes a truism to say that only through ,him can life and healing be imparted to mankind4 ,when ,he ,himself says1 ',i am the ,way1 the ,truth and the ,life1' it is natural for ,him to add1 ',no man cometh unto the ,father but by ,me4' ,it will #acc be granted by all who believe in ,god that1 apart from ,god1 no soul of man can have life eternal4 ,the most strenuous advocate of the salvation of the virtuous heathen will grant that their salvation does not descend from the idol of wood and stone before which they grovel4 ,it is from the ,true ,god1 the ,living ,god1 that the blessing proceeds4 ,it is ,his touch1 ,his ,spirit1 ,his ,presence which has consecrated the earnest though erring worship of the poor idolater4 ,no one who believes in the ,infinite and ,eternal ,god could possibly say that the monstrous image whose aid is invoked by the devout heathen is itself the answerer of his prayer1 the cause of his deliverance from sin1 the bestower of immortality upon him4 ,the utmost that can be said is that in the costly sacrifices1 the painful penances1 the passionate prayers which he presents to the object of his adoration1 the ,almighty ,love discerns a longing after something nobler and better1 #acd and accepts the service as directed really1 though unconsciously1 to ,him4 ,the feeble hands and helpless1 ,groping blindly in the darkness1 ,touch ,god's right hand in that darkness ,and are lifted up and strengthened4#a ,but it is the hand of ,god that they touch4 ,it is from the ,one ,omnipotent ,god that every blessing comes3 it is the ,one ,omnipotent ,god ,who turns to truth and life and reality every sincere and struggling and imperfect attempt to serve ,him on the part of those who know not ,his ,nature or ,his ,name4 ,and what is true of ,god is equally true of ,christ1 the manifestation of ,god4 ,only grant ,him to be the ,incarnate ,word of ,god1 and it becomes plain that salvation can no more exist apart from ,him than apart from the ,father4 ,this ,word of ,god is the ,light that lighteth every man4 ,whatever truth1 whatever knowledge of the ,divine1 anywhere #ace exists is the result of that illumination4 ,the sparks which shine even in the darkness of heathendom betoken the presence of that ,light1 not wholly extinguished by the folly and ignorance of man4 ,that is the ,one ,sun of ,righteousness which gives light everywhere1 though in many places the clouds are so dense that the beams can scarcely penetrate4 ,now1 if that ,word has become ,flesh1 if that ,light has become embodied in ,human ,form1 we are still constrained to say1 ,there is no true ,light but ,his1 it is in ,his ,light that all must walk if they would not stray1 there is no ,guide1 no ,deliverer1 save ,him4 ,christ discloses1 brings to view1 all the saving health which has ever been1 all the power of restoring1 cleansing1 healing1 which has ever worked in the souls of men4 ,the one ,power by which any human being1 in any age or in any land1 has ever been fitted for the presence of the ,all ,holy ,god1 is made manifest in ,christ4 ',neither is there #acf salvation in any other1 for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved4' ,we need have no hesitation in asserting that all who in any age or in any land1 or in any religion1 have come to the ,father must have come through the ,son of ,man1 the ,eternal ,word made ,flesh4 ,we do not contend1 as has too frequently been contended1 that beyond the limits of ,christianity1 beyond1 it may be1 the limits of one section of ,christianity1 there is no truth believed1 no acceptable service rendered4 ,we hail with gratitude the lofty thoughts and the noble achievements of some who do not in word acknowledge ,christ as ,lord4 ,in the vision of the ,light that lighteth every man1 we see ,how light can find its way ,to regions farthest from the fount of day4#b ',now1' as is well said by the present ,bishop #acg of ,birmingham1 who will hardly be accused of any tendency to minimise the claims of ,christianity1 'this is no narrow creed4 ,christianity1 the religion of ,jesus1 is the ,light3 it is the one final ,revelation1 the one final ,religion1 but it supersedes all other religions1 ,jewish and ,pagan1 not by excluding1 but by including all the elements of truth which each contained4 ,there was light in ,zoroastrianism1 light in ,buddhism1 light among the ,greeks3 but it is all included in ,christianity4 ,a good ,christian is a good ,buddhist1 a good ,jew1 a good ,mohammedan1 a good ,zoroastrian2 that is1 he has all the truth and virtue that these can possess1 purged and fused in a greater and completer light4 ,christianity1 ,i say1 supersedes all other religions by including these fragments of truth in its own completeness4 ,you cannot show me any element of spiritual light or strength which is in other religions and is not in ,christianity4 ,nor can you #ach show me any other religion which can compare with ,christianity in completeness of light3 ,christianity is the one complete and final religion1 and the elements of truth in other religions are rays of the ,one ,light which is concentrated and shines full in ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4'#c ,,ii ,from whatever cause1 whether as a reaction against the mode in which this great truth has been at times presented1 there have been1 and there are1 attempts to supersede ,christianity because of its narrowness4 ,religion must not be identified with any one name3 ,god manifests ,himself to all1 and no ,mediator is needed4 ,theism1 therefore1 the worship of the ,one ,almighty and ,eternal ,being1 not ,christianity1 in which a ,human ,name is associated with the ,divine ,name1 can alone pretend to be the ,universal ,religion1 the #aci ,religion of all ,mankind4 ,it is not the first time that such an attempt to do without ,christianity and to do away with it has been made4 ,in the eighteenth century there was a similar movement4 ,to this day at ,ferney1 near ,geneva1 is preserved the chapel which ,voltaire erected for the worship of ,god1 of ,god as distinguished from ,christ as ,divine or as ,mediator between ,god and man4 ,voltaire thought that he could overthrow and crush the ,faith of ,christ1 but he none the less erected a temple to ,god4 ,the ,deists upheld what they called the ,religion of ,nature and repudiated ,revelation4 ,christianity not ,mysterious2 ,christianity as old as the ,creation1 were among the works issued to show the superiority of ,natural ,religion1 its freedom from difficulties1 its agreement with reason1 its universality4 ,the most enduring memorial of the controversy is ,bishop ,butler's ,analogy of ,religion to the ,constitution and ,course of ,nature1 #adj in which it was argued that the ,natural ,religion of the ,deists was beset by as many difficulties as the ,revelation of the ,christians1 that those who were not hindered from believing in ,god by the problems which ,nature presented need not be staggered by the problems which were presented by ,christianity4 ,bishop ,butler's argument was directed against a special set of antagonists1 an argument1 it may be said1 of little avail against the scepticism of the present day4 ,the argument seems to have been unanswerable by those to whom it was addressed4 ,the grounds on which they rejected the ,revelation of ,christ were shown to be inadequate4 ,when they accepted this or that article of ,natural ,religion1 they had accepted what was as difficult of belief as this or that part of the ,revelation which they rejected4 ,the mysteries which existed in the religion with which they would have nothing to do were in harmony with the #ada mysteries which existed in the religion which they declared to be necessary for the welfare of society4 ,that retort may be made with even more effect to those who so far occupy that same ground to-day4 ,they rejoice to believe that there is a ,god1 that ,he is not far off1 that ,he communicates ,himself to their souls1 that the love which we bear to one another is but a faint image of the love which ,he bears to us1 that the noblest qualities which exist in us exist more purely1 more gloriously in ,him1 that we are in very deed ,his children and are called to manifest ,his likeness4 ,it is by prayer1 both in public and in private1 both in congregations and alone with the ,alone1 that ,his ,love and ,his ,help can be comprehended and used4 ,he is no absent ,god3 ,his ,ear is not heavy that it cannot hear1 nor ,his arm shortened that it cannot save4 ,with this belief we1 as ,christians1 have no dispute3 we gladly go along with ,theists in asserting it3 we #adb only wonder at their unwillingness to go along with us a little further4 ,for if ,god be such as they glowingly depict ,him1 if our relations to ,him be such as they esteem it our greatest dignity to know1 there is nothing antecedently impossible in the thought that ,one ,man has heard ,his ,voice more clearly1 has surrendered to ,his ,will more entirely1 than any other in the history of the ages and the races of mankind3 nothing antecedently impossible in the thought that to ,one ,man ,his ,truth has been conveyed more brightly1 more fully than to any other2 that in ,one ,man the lineaments of the ,divine ,image may be seen more distinctly than in any other4 ,if ,god be such1 and if our relations to ,god be such1 as ,theists describe1 why should they shrink with distrust or with antipathy from a ,son of ,man ,who has borne witness to those truths in ,his ,life and in ,his ,death with a steadfastness of conviction which none other has ever surpassed2 ,who1 according #adc to the records which we possess of ,him1 habitually lived to do the ,father's ,will and died commending ,his ,spirit into the ,father's ,hands3 a ,son of ,man ,who could truly be said to be in heaven while ,he was on earth8 ,if ,god be such1 and our relations to ,god be such1 as ,theists describe1 would not that ,son of ,man be the confirmation of their thoughts8 ,would not ,his testimony be of infinite value on their side8 ,would ,he ,himself not be the radiant illustration1 the eagerly longed for proof of the truth for which they contend8 ,they believe in ,god3 why should it1 on their own showing1 be so hard to believe in ,christ8 ,,iii ,the ,theism of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is in some respects different from the ,deism of the eighteenth4 ,it is not so cold1 the ,god in whom it believes is not so distant from ,his creatures4 ,but it is not #add less vehement in its depreciation of ,christianity as a needless and even harmful addition to the ,religion of ,nature4 ,conspicuous among the advocates of this modern ,theism have been ,francis ,william ,newman1 ,miss ,frances ,power ,cobbe1 and the ,rev4 ,charles ,voysey4 ,francis ,newman1 in his youth1 belonged1 like his brother the famous ,cardinal1 to the strictest sect of ,evangelicals1 but1 like the ,cardinal also1 drifted away from them1 though in a totally different direction4#d ,as he found the untenableness of certain views which he had cherished1 the insufficiency of certain arguments which he had employed1 he came with much anguish of mind to the conclusion that the whole fabric of historical ,christianity was built upon the sand4 ,he rapidly renounced belief after belief1 and caused widespread distress and dismay by a crude attack upon the moral perfection of #ade our ,lord4 ,his conviction that ,christianity had nothing special to say for itself1 and that one religion was as good as another1 seems to have been mainly brought about by a discussion which he had with a ,mohammedan carpenter at ,aleppo4 ',among other matters1 ,i was particularly desirous of disabusing him of the current notion of his people that our ,gospels are spurious narratives of late date4 ,i found great difficulty of expression1 but the man listened to me with much attention1 and ,i was encouraged to exert myself4 ,he waited patiently till ,i had done and then spoke to the following effect3 ,i will tell you1 sir1 how the case stands4 ,god has given to you ,english many good gifts4 ,you make fine ships1 and sharp penknives1 and good cloth and cottons1 and you have rich nobles and brave soldiers2 and you write and print many learned books 7dictionaries and grammars73 all this is of ,god4 ,but there is one thing that ,god has withheld #adf from you and has revealed to us2 and that is the knowledge of the true religion by which one may be saved4'#e ,but although ,newman was led to give up ,christianity1 and practically to hold that one religion was as good as another1 he clung tenaciously to what he supposed to be common to all religions1 belief in ,god1 a belief deep and ardent4 ,the rationalism of the ,deists did not approve itself to him4 ',our ,deists of past centuries tried to make religion a matter of the pure intellect1 and thereby halted at the very frontier of the inward life3 they cut themselves off even from all acquaintance with the experience of spiritual men4'#f ,he nourished his soul with psalms and hymns3 he sought communion with ,god4 ,he saw the weakness of ,morality without the inspiring power of ,religion4 ',morals can seldom gain living energy without the impulsive force derived from ,spirituals4444 ,however #adg much ,plato and ,cicero may talk of the surpassing beauty of virtue1 still virtue is an abstraction1 a set of wise rules1 not a ,person1 and cannot call out affection as an existence exterior to the soul does4 ,on the contrary1 ,god is a ,person2 and the love of ,him is of all affections by far the most energetic in exciting us to make good our highest ideals of moral excellence and in clearing the moral sight1 so that that ideal may keep rising4 ,other things being equal 7a condition not to be forgotten7 a spiritual man will hold a higher and purer morality than a mere moralist4 ,not only does ,duty manifest itself to him as an ever-expanding principle1 but since a larger and larger part of ,duty becomes pleasant and easy when performed under the stimulus of ,love1 the ,will is enabled to concentrate itself more on that which remains difficult and greater power of performance is attained4'#g ,where shall we find a more #adh vivid or more spiritual description of the rise and progress of devotion in the soul than in the words of this man1 who placed himself beyond the pale of every ,christian communion8 ',one who begins to realise ,god's majestic beauty and eternity and feels in contrast how little and transitory man is1 how dependent and feeble1 longs to lean upon him for support4 ,but ,he is outside of the heart1 like a beautiful sunset1 and seems to have nothing to do with it3 there is no getting into contact with ,him1 to press against ,him4 ,yet where rather should the weak rest than on the strong1 the creature of the day than on the ,eternal1 the imperfect than on the ,centre of ,perfection8 ,and where else should ,god dwell than in the human heart8 for if ,god is in the universe1 among things inanimate and unmoral1 how much more ought ,he to dwell with our souls6 and they1 too1 seem to be infinite in their cravings3 who but ,he can satisfy them8 ,thus a restless #adi instinct agitates the soul1 guiding it dimly to feel that it was made for some definite but unknown relation towards ,god4 ,the sense of emptiness increases to positive uneasiness1 until there is an inward yearning1 if not shaped in words1 yet in substance not alien from that ancient strain1 ,as the hart panteth after the water-brooks1 so panteth my soul after ,thee1 ,o ,god2 my soul is athirst for ,god1 even for the ,living ,god4'#h ,mr4 ,newman1 in his later days1 we understand1 had modified the bitterness of his opposition to historical ,christianity and was ready to avow himself as a disciple of ,christ4 ,miss ,frances ,power ,cobbe was another devout spirit who1 with less violence but equal decisiveness1 accepted ,theism as apart from ,christianity4 ,in her case1 even more visibly than in ,mr4 ,newman's1 it was not ,christianity which she rejected1 but sundry distortions of it with which it had in her mind become #aej identified4 ,she wrote not a few articles so permeated with the ,christian spirit and imbued with the ,christian hope that the most ardent believer in ,christ could read them with entire approval and own himself their debtor4 ,she took an active part in many philanthropic movements1 and she was an earnest and eloquent advocate of faith in the ,divine ,ordering of the world and in human immortality4 ',theism1' she said1 'is not ,christianity minus ,christ1 nor ,judaism minus the miraculous legation of ,moses1 nor any other creed whatsoever merely stripped of its supernatural element4 ,it is before all things the positive affirmation of the ,absolute ,goodness of ,god3 and if it be in antagonism to other creeds1 it is principally because of1 and in proportion to1 their failure to assert that ,goodness in its infinite and all-embracing completeness4'#i ',god is over us1 and heaven #aea is waiting for us all the same1 even though all the men of science in ,europe unite to tell us there is only matter in the universe and only corruption in the grave4 ,atheism may prevail for a night1 but faith cometh in the morning4 ,theism is bound to win at last3 not necessarily that special type of ,theism which our poor thoughts in this generation have striven to define3 but that great fundamental faith1 the needful substruction of every other possible religious faith1 the faith in a ,righteous and ,loving ,god1 and in a ,life of man beyond the tomb4'#aj ',all the monitions of conscience1 all the guidance and rebukes and consolations of the ,divine ,spirit1 all the holy words of the living1 and all the sacred books of the dead1 these are our primary ,evidences of ,religion4 ,in a word1 the first article of our creed is ,i ,,believe ,,in ,,god ,,the ,,holy ,,ghost4 ,after this fundamental dogma1 we accept #aeb with joy and comfort the faith in the ,creator and ,orderer of the physical universe1 and believe in ,,god ,,the ,,father ,,almighty1 ,,maker ,,of ,,heaven ,,and ,,earth4 ,and lastly we rejoice in the knowledge that 7in no mystic ,athanasian sense1 but in simple fact7 these two are ,one4 ,the ,god of ,love and ,justice ,who speaks in conscience1 and ,whom our inmost hearts adore1 is the same ,god ,who rolls the suns and guides the issues of life and death4'#aa ,in an able paper1 ,a ,faithless ,world1 in which ,miss ,cobbe combated the assertion of ,sir ,james ,fitzjames ,stephen1 that the disappearance of belief in ,god and ,immortality would be unattended with any serious consequences to the material1 intellectual1 or moral well-being of mankind1 she forcibly said1 ',i confess at starting on this inquiry1 that the problem1 ,is religion of use1 or can we do as well without it8 seems to me #aec almost as grotesque as the old story of the woman who said that we owe vast obligations to the moon1 which affords us light on dark nights1 whereas we are under no such debt to the sun1 who only shines by day1 when there is always light4 ,religion has been to us so diffused a light that it is quite possible to forget how we came by the general illumination1 save when now and then it has blazed out with special brightness4' ,the comment is eminently just1 but does it not apply with equal force to ,miss ,cobbe herself8 ,the ,theism which she professed was the direct outcome of ,christianity1 could never have existed but for ,christianity1 was1 in all its best features1 simply ,christianity under a different name4 ,that ,theism1 as a separate organisation1 gives little evidence of conquering the world is shown by the fact that1 after many years1 it boasts of only one congregation1 that of the ,theistic ,church1 ,swallow ,street1 ,piccadilly1 #aed of which the ,rev4 ,charles ,voysey is minister4 ,mr4 ,voysey was at one time vicar of a parish in ,yorkshire1 where he issued1 under the title of ,the ,sling and the ,stone1 sermons attacking the commonly accepted doctrines of the ,church of ,england1 and was in consequence deprived of his living4 ,he is distinctly anti-,christian in his teaching2 strongly prejudiced against anything that bears the ,christian name3 criticising the sayings and doings of our ,lord in a fashion which indicates either the most astonishing misconception or the most melancholy perversion4 ,but his sincerity and fervour on behalf of ,theism are unmistakable4 ,he describes it as ,religion for all mankind1 based on facts which are never in ,dispute4 ,the book which is called by that title is written for the help and comfort of all his fellowmen1 'chiefly for those who have doubted and discarded the ,christian ,religion1 and in consequence have become ,agnostics or #aee ,pessimists4' ,it is prefaced by a dedication1 which is also a touching confession of personal faith3 ',in all humility ,i dedicate this book to my ,god ,who made me and all mankind1 ,who loves us all alike with an everlasting love1 ,who of ,his very faithfulness causeth us to be troubled1 ,who punishes us justly for every sin1 not in anger or vengeance1 but only to cleanse1 to heal1 and to bless1 in ,whose ,everlasting ,arms we lie now and to all eternity4'#ab ,mr4 ,voysey has compiled a ,prayer ,book for the use of his congregation4 ,the ordinary service is practically the morning or evening service of the ,book of ,common ,prayer1 with all references to our ,lord carefully eliminated4 ,the hymn ,jesus1 ,lover of my ,soul is changed to ,father1 ,refuge of my ,soul2 and the hymn ,just as ,i am without one plea1 ,but that ,thy blood was shed for me1 ,and that ,thou bidst me come to ,thee1 ,o ,lamb of ,god1 ,i come1 #aef is rendered3 ,just as ,i am without one plea1 ,but that ,thy lore is seeking me1 ,and that ,thou bidst me come to ,thee1 ,o loving ,god1 ,i come4 ,the service respecting our duty1 and the service of supplication have merits of their own1 but1 except for the wanton omission of the ,name which is above every name1 there is nothing in them which does not bear a ,christian impress4 ',christianity minus ,christ' would seem to be no unfair definition of their standpoint3 and without ,christ they could not have been what they are4 ,the ,father ,who is set forth as the ,object of worship and of trust is the ,father ,whom ,christ declared1 the ,father ,who1 but for the manifestation of ,christ1 would never have been known4 ,far be it from us to deny that the ,father has been found by those who have sought ,him beyond the limits of the ,church3 this only we affirm that those by whom ,he #aeg has been found1 have1 consciously or unconsciously1 drawn near to ,him by the way of ,christ4 ,nothing of value in modern ,theism is incompatible with ,christianity3 nothing of value which would not be strengthened by faith in ,him ,who said1 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4' ,,iv ,the strange objection to faith in ,christ is sometimes made that it interferes with faith in the ,father4 ,the notion of mediation is regarded as derogatory alike to ,god and to man4 ,there is no need for any one to come between3 no need for ,god to depute another to bear witness of ,him3 no need for us to depute ,another to secure ,his favour1 as from all eternity ,he is ,love4 ,the assumption1 the groundless assumption1 underlying this conception is that the ,mediator is a barrier between man and ,god1 a hindrance not a help to fellowship with the ,divine3 that one #aeh goes to the ,mediator because access to ,god is debarred4 ,whatever may occasionally have been the unguarded statements of representatives of ,christianity1 it is surely plain that no such doctrine is taught1 that the very opposite of such doctrine is taught1 in the ,new ,testament4 ',we do not1' says ,m4 ,sabatier1 'address ourselves to ,jesus by way of dispensing ourselves from going to the ,father4 ,far from this1 we go to ,christ and abide in ,him1 precisely that we may find the ,father4 ,we abide in ,him that ,his filial consciousness may become our own2 that the ,spirit may become our spirit1 and that ,god may dwell immediately in us as ,he dwells in ,him4 ,nothing in all this carries us outside of the religion of the ,spirit3 on the contrary1 it is its seal and confirmation4'#ac ,the whole object of the work of ,christ1 as proclaimed by ,himself1 or as interpreted #aei by ,his ,apostles1 was to show the ,father1 to bring men to the ,father4 ',believest thou not that ,i am in the ,father1 and the ,father in ,me8 the words that ,i speak unto you ,i speak not of ,myself3 but the ,father that dwelleth in ,me1 ,he doeth the works4' ,he 'came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh4 ,for through ,him we both have access by one ,spirit unto the ,father4' ,to argue that to come to ,christ is a substitute for coming to ,god1 is an inducement to halt upon the way1 is an absolute travesty and perversion4 ,to refuse to see the glory of ,god in the ,face of ,jesus ,christ is not to bring ,god near3 it is to remove ,him further from our vision4 ,that ,god should come to us1 that we should go to ,god1 through a mediator1 is only in accordance with a universal law4 ',why1' says one1 who might be expected from his theological training to speak otherwise1 ',why1 all knowledge is mediated even of #afj the simplest objects1 even of the most obvious facts3 there is no such thing in the world as immediate knowledge1 and shall we demur when we are told that the knowledge of ,god the ,father also must pass1 in order to reach us at its best and purest1 through the medium of that ,son of ,god and ,son of ,man in ,whom was the fulness of the prophetic spirit and the filial life8 444 ,of this at least ,i feel convinced1 that where faith in the ,father has grown blurred and vague in our days1 and finally flickered out1 the cause must in many instances be sought--,i will not say in the wilful rejection1 but--in the careless letting go of the message and ,personality of the ,son4'#ad ,so far from the thought of the ,father being ignored or set aside by the thought of ,christ1 we may rather say with ,s4 ,john1 ',whosoever denieth the ,son1 the same hath not the ,father3 he that confesseth the ,son hath the ,father also4' ',he #afa that abideth in the doctrine of ,christ1 he hath both the ,father and the ,son4' ,the homage that we render ,thee ,is still our ,father's own2 ,nor jealous claim or rivalry ,divides the ,cross and ,throne4#ae ,v ,the notion that ,theism as contrasted with ,christianity is a mark of progress and of spirituality is a pure imagination4 ',more spiritual it may be than the traditional ,christianity which consists in rigid and stereotyped forms of practice1 of ceremonial1 of observance1 of dogma3 but not more spiritual than the teaching of ,christ ,himself1 the end and completion of ,whose work was to bring men to the ,father1 to teach them that ,god is a ,spirit1 and to send the ,spirit of the ,father into the hearts of the disciples4 ,it would be a strange perversity if men should reject ,christ in the name of spiritual #afb religion when it is to ,christ1 and to ,him alone1 that they owe the conception of what spiritual religion is4'#af ,to preach the doctrines of ,theism without reference to ,christ is to deprive them of their most sublime illustration1 their most inspiring force1 and their most convincing proof4 ,it is as ,christ is known that ,god is believed in4 ,the attempt to create enthusiasm for ,god while banishing the ,gospel of ,christ meets with astonishingly small response4 ,the ',religion for all ,mankind' makes but little progress1 is1 in spite of the labours of five-and-thirty years1 confined1 as we have seen1 almost to a solitary moderately sized congregation4 ,and whether or not the 'facts' on which the religion is based 'are never in dispute1' the religion itself is often-times disputed very keenly4 ,modern assaults upon religious faith are1 as a rule1 directed quite as much against ,theism as #afc against ,christianity4#ag ,it is the ,love1 or even the existence1 of the ,living ,god1 it is human responsibility1 it is life beyond the grave1 that are called in question as frequently as the ,resurrection of ,christ4 ,the assurance that ,god at sundry times and in divers manners has spoken by prophets renders it not more but less improbable that ,he should speak by a ,son3 the assurance that there is life beyond the grave for all renders it not more but less improbable that ,jesus rose from the dead4 ,conversely those who believe in ,jesus believe with a double intensity in ,him ,whom ,he revealed4 ',ye believe in ,god1' said ,christ1 'believe also in ,me4' ,for many of us now1 it is because we believe in ,christ that we believe also in ,god4 ,the ,almighty and ,eternal is beyond our ken3 the grace and truth of ,jesus ,christ come home to our hearts4 ,the ,word that was in the beginning with ,god and was ,god1 #afd is wrapt in impenetrable mystery3 the ,word made ,flesh can be seen and handled3 has wrought ,with human hands the ,creed of ,creeds ,in loveliness of perfect deeds1 ,more strong than all poetic thought4#ah ,and however it may be in a few exceptional cases1 where people nominally renouncing ,christ desperately cleave to a fragment of the faith of their childhood1 the fact remains that1 where ,he ceases to be acknowledged1 faith in the ,father ,whom ,he manifested tends1 gradually or speedily1 to vanish4 ,,vi ,the superiority of ,theism to ,deism simply consists in its being more ,christian4 ,with the ideas of ,god which ',theists' hold1 we can1 as ,christians1 most cordially sympathise4 ,we can sincerely say1 ',hold to them firmly1 they are your life3 let no man rob you of #afe them by any vain deceit4' ,but we cannot help also asking1 ',whence have you drawn those lofty ideas8 where have you obtained so exalted a conception of the ,divine ,being in ,his mingled ,majesty and lowliness1 in ,his inconceivable greatness1 and ,his equally inconceivable compassion8 ,we turn from the picture of ,god which1 with so much labour1 so much skill1 so much moral earnestness1 you have exhibited1 and we behold the ,original in ,christ and ,his ,teaching4 ,however unconsciously1 it is ,his ,truth1 it is ,his ,features1 that you have reproduced4 ,you have been brought up in the ,church of ,christ1 or you have been brought into contact with its influences1 and you have imbibed its teachings1 perhaps more deeply than some who would not dare to question its smallest precepts4 ,still1 ,christ's teaching you have not outgrown1 from ,christ ,himself you have not escaped4 ,you cannot go from ,his presence or flee from ,his ,spirit4 ,those #aff views which you hold so strongly1 which are to you the most ennobling that have ever been given of ,god and of religion1 where is it that alone they are to be found8 ,in places where ,christianity has gone before4 ,no doubt1 belief in ,god is not confined to ,christian countries3 worship of the ,maker of heaven and earth exists where the name of ,christ has never been heard1 but not such belief1 such worship1 as that for which those persons contend4 ,the ,god ,whom they adore will not be found anywhere save where ,christianity has penetrated4 ,in this country it is the desperate clinging to one portion of the ,christian ,faith when all else has been abandoned3 in other lands1 in ,india1 for example1 where representatives of this way of thinking are not uncommon1 it is the rapturous welcome of one of the sublime truths of ,christianity before which the idolatries of their forefathers are passing away4 ,it is safe to call it a transition stage3 #afg it will either part with the fragment of ,christianity which it retains and become merged in doubt and speculation and unbelief2 or it will include yet more of the ,christianity of which it has grasped a part3 its belief in ,god will be crowned and confirmed by its belief in ,christ4 ,for1 speaking to those who cherish faith in the ,all-,righteous and ,all-,loving ,god as the only hope for the regeneration of mankind1 we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that where faith in ,christ fades1 faith in ,god has a tendency to become vague and dim4 ,he ceases to be thought of as a ,friend and ,help at hand3 ,he is resolved into a ,creator infinitely distant or into a ,law1 immovable1 inexorable1 a blind1 unconscious ,fate4 ,it is ,christ ,who gives life to the thought of ,god4 ,it is the ,word made ,flesh that makes the ,eternal ,word more real4 ,the attempt of the ,deists to purify religion by the preaching of a ,god who had not #afh revealed ,himself1 and could not reveal ,himself1 in a ,son1 came to nothing4 ,voltaire's chapel at ,ferney still stands1 but nobody worships in it4 ,religion seemed to slumber3 belief in ,god seemed to be decaying1 when the preaching of the name and the work of ,christ again aroused it into life4 ,and so it is now4 ,whatever the ability1 whatever the sincerity of the advocates of belief in ,god without reference to ,christ1 it lacks motive-power1 it lacks the missionary spirit4 ,if we may judge by the past1 ,theism without ,christ is a faith which will not spread1 which will not lay hold on the labouring and the heavy laden3 which may be maintained as a theory1 but which will not be as a fire in the souls of men diffusing itself by kindling other souls4 ,it is from ,christ alone1 from ,christ the manifestation of what ,god is in ,heart and ,mind1 from ,christ the manifestation of what man ought to be1 from ,christ ,who said1 ',in ,my ,father's house are many #afi mansions3 he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father1' that there comes with an authority to which1 in face of the difficulties besetting the present and the future1 the human soul will bow1 with a soothing power to which the human spirit will gladly yield--it is from ,christ alone that there comes the ,divine injunction1 ',let not your heart be troubled1 ye believe in ,god1 believe also in ,me4' ,it is as ,he is clearly seen and truly known that the clouds of error and superstition vanish from the ,face of ,god1 and men are drawn to worship and to trust4 #a ,longfellow1 ,song of ,hiawatha4 #b ,keble1 ,christian ,year4 #c ,bishop ,gore1 ,the ,christian ,creed4 #d ,appendix ,,xx4 #e ,phases of ,faith4 #f ,the ,soul3 its ,sorrows and ,aspirations4 #g ,the ,soul3 its ,sorrows and ,aspirations4 #h ,the ,soul4 #i ,alone to the ,alone4 #aj ,alone to the ,alone4 #aa ,alone to the ,alone4 #ab ,appendix ,,xxi4 #ac ,the ,religions of ,authority and the ,religion of the ,spirit4 #ad ,j4 ,warschauer1 ,coming of ,christ4 #ae ,whittier1 ,our ,master4 #af ,r4 ,b4 ,bartlett1 ,the ,letter and the ,spirit3 ,bampton ,lecture4 #ag ,appendix ,,xxii4 #ah ,tennyson1 ,in ,memoriam4 #agb ,,vi ,,the ,,tribute ,,of ,,criticism ,,to ,,christ ',for their rock is not as our ,rock1 even our enemies themselves being judges4'--,,deuteronomy xxxii4 #ca4 ',he asked ,his disciples1 saying1 ,whom do men say that ,i1 the ,son of ,man1 am8 ,and they said1 ,some say that ,thou art ,john the ,baptist2 some ,elias2 and others ,jeremias or one of the prophets4'--,s4 ,,matthew xvi4 #ac1 #ad4 ',what think ye of ,christ8 ,whose ,son is ,he8--,s4 ,,matthew1 xxii4 #db4 ',and there was much murmuring among the people concerning ,him3 for some said1 ,he is a good man3 others said1 ,nay1 but ,he deceiveth the people4'--,s4 ,,john vii4 #ab4 ',then said ,jesus unto the twelve1 ,will ye also go away8 ,then ,simon ,peter answered ,him1 ,lord1 to whom shall we go8 ,thou hast the words of eternal life4'--,s4 ,,john vi4 #fg1 #fh4 #agc ,,vi ,,the ,,tribute ,,of ,,criticism ,,to ,,christ#a ,of the investigations of modern criticism the most serious are those which have concerned the person of our ,lord4 ,it has been felt both by assailants and by defenders of the ,faith that1 so long as ,his supremacy remains acknowledged1 ,christianity has not been overthrown4 ,other doctrines once considered all-important may fall into comparative abeyance3 whether they are upheld or rejected or modified1 matters little to ,christianity as ,christianity4 ,but more and more it has grown clear that ,christ ,himself #agd is the ,article of a standing or a falling ,church4 ,if this doctrine is not of ,god1 if ,he is not the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life1 ,christianity1 whatever benefits may have been associated with its career1 must be ranked among religions which have passed away4 ,but so long as ,he is admitted to be the ,authority and standard in the moral and spiritual realm1 so long as ,his name is above every name1 the work of destruction is not accomplished4 ,hence1 renewed attempts have of late been made to tear the crown from ,his brow1 to reduce ,him to the level of common men1 to relegate ,him to the domain of myth1 even to deny that ,he ever existed4 ,although1 in certain quarters at present1 this last and extreme position is loudly asserted1 it is hardly necessary to occupy much time in examining it1 the trend of all criticism1 even of the most rationalistic1 being so decidedly opposed to #age it4 ,to deny that ,he existed is commonly felt to be the outcome of the most arbitrary prejudice1 the conclusions of ,whately's ,historic ,doubts relative to ,napoleon ,buonaparte remaining grave and weighty in comparison4 ,that ,jesus of ,nazareth lived and taught and was crucified1 that1 immediately after ,his ,death1 ,his disciples were proclaiming that ,he had risen1 and was their living inspiration1 these are facts which can be denied only by the very extravagance of scepticism4 ,and the admission of these simple facts implies a great deal more than is commonly supposed4 ,i ,it is the fashion for hostile critics to say1 ',christianity is not dependent upon ,christ3 it is the creation of the semi-historical ,paul1 not of the unhistorical ,jesus4 ,there is at best no more connection between ,christendom and ,christ than between ,america and #agf ,amerigo ,vespucci4#b ,see how much ,christians have been obliged to give up3 see how belief after belief has had to be surrendered2 see how they are now left with the merest fragment of their ancient ,creed1 how evidently they will soon be compelled to part with the little to which they still desperately cling4' ,the conclusion is somewhat hasty and premature4 ,the fragment which remains is after all the main portion of the ,creed of the early disciples4 ,where that fragment is declared and held and lived in1 there is the presence and the power of the ,christian ,faith4 ,we need not trouble ourselves about sundry points which1 at one epoch or another1 have come to be denied or ignored3 we need not say anything either for them or against them4 ,we have to take our stand on what is accepted1 not on what is rejected4 ,and for the moment we may #agg venture to take our stand only on what is accepted by the critics least biassed in favour of the traditional views of ,christendom4 ,those who have come to imagine it to be a mark of advanced culture to break with all religion1 to confine their attention to the fleeting present1 to reject all that claims to have ,divine sanction1 may listen with respect to the words of some who appear in fancied hostility to ,christianity4 ,we are not assuming that because men are great in ,science or ,history or ,philosophy they must be great in spiritual things4 ,their achievements in their own sphere1 let us gratefully recognise2 their uprightness1 their single-heartedness1 let us imitate2 and if by chance they are sincere ,christians as well as able men1 let us rejoice2 if they are not professing ,christians at all and yet bear witness to the beneficial influence of ,christianity and the unique power of the words and character of ,christ1 let us hail with #agh pleasure their tribute of admiration as a testimony impartial and unanswerable to the pre-eminence of our ,lord1 but let not our faith in ,god1 our knowledge of our ,saviour1 be dependent on their verdict4 ,the ,faith of the ,gospel does not stand or fall with their approval or disapproval4 ,in matters of criticism we do well to defer to scholars1 in matters of science we do well to defer to men of science4 ,but in matters pertaining to the inner life1 to the development of character1 to the knowledge of things pure and lovely and of good report1 such men have no exclusive claim to be listened to4 ,and it would be absurd to say that we cannot make up our minds as to whether ,christ is worthy to be revered and loved and followed until we have ascertained what is said about ,him by authorities in physics1 or geology1 or astronomy1 by statesmen or novelists or writers of magazine articles1 by inventors of ingenious machines or authors of #agi sensational stories4 ,if they speak scoffingly1 if they do not recognise any sacredness in ,his ,spirit and ,life1 it will be impossible for us to take ,him as our ,moral and ,spiritual ,guide4 ,we might almost as well say that we will not trust the truthfulness or goodness of our father or mother or brother or friend of many years1 unless1 from persons eminent in literature or science or politics1 we have testimonials assuring us that our affection for those with whom we are so closely associated is not a delusion4 ,that is a matter1 we should all feel1 with which the great and distinguished1 however justly great and distinguished1 have really nothing to do4 ,it is a matter for ourselves1 a matter in which our own experience is worth more than the verdict of people1 however learned in their own line1 who do not1 and cannot1 know the friend or relative as we know him ourselves4 ,still1 we regard it as an additional #ahj compliment to his worth1 and an additional confirmation of our own faith1 if those who have been jealously scrutinising his conduct declare that they can find no fault in him4#c ,if it is made plain that the positive teaching of men unconnected with any ,church1 untrammelled by any creed1 is a virtual assertion of much that is most dear to ,christianity1 if it is made plain that even where there is strong denial there is also much reference to ,christ1 it may have more weight than the most cogent arguments or the most glowing appeals of orthodox divines or devout believers4 ,the ,evangelists delight to record instances of unexpected1 unfriendly1 unimpeachable testimony to the power of ,christ4 ,it is not only that the simple-minded people were astonished at ,his doctrine1 but that the soldiers who were sent to silence ,him #aha returned1 smitten with amazement1 saying1 ',never man spake like this ,man4' ,it is not only that a grateful penitent washed ,his ,feet with tears1 but that the unprincipled governor who sentenced ,him to death declared ',i find in ,him no fault at all4' ,it is not only that an ,apostle confesses1 ',thou art the ,christ the ,son of the ,living ,god1' but that the centurion who watched over ,his ,crucifixion exclaimed1 ',certainly this was a ,righteous ,man3 this was a ,son of ,god4' ,it is similar unprejudiced witness that we may hear around us still1 the witness of those who profess to have another rule of life than ours1 and to be in no degree influenced by our traditions4 ,we must not expect too much from this kind of evidence3 we must not expect clear logical proof of every article rightly or wrongly identified with the popularly termed 'orthodox' ,creed4 ,it would destroy the value of the evidence #ahb simply to quote orthodox doctrines in orthodox language4 ,what we rather offer is the testimony of those who have resigned their grasp on much that we may deem essential4 ,it is because in a sense we may call them 'enemies' that we ask them to be 'judges' in the great controversy4 ,it is exactly because they are incredulous1 or sceptical1 or irreligious that we cite them at all4 ,we confine ourselves to the utterances of men who are commonly cited as hostile to the commonly accepted ,faith of ,christ1 or who do not rank among the number of ,his nominal disciples1 or who at least have discussed ,his claims by critical and historical methods1 endeavouring fairly to take into account all the facts which the circumstances warrant4 ,we say to those who disown the authority of ,christ3 ,it is not to the words of ,evangelists or preachers that your attention is sought3 it is to the words of those whom you #ahc profess to respect1 of those because of whose supposed antagonism to ,christianity you are rejecting ,him4 ,we ask you to listen to them and to consider whether ,he of ,whom such men speak in such terms is to be so lightly set aside as you have fancied4 ,,ii ,it will be strange if1 accepting even that scanty creed1 we do not find ourselves speedily accepting much more4 ,when it is heartily acknowledged that ,jesus of ,nazareth lived and died1 and that ,his first followers found strength and irresistible power in the conviction that ,he had conquered death and the grave1 it is of necessity that we go further4 ,the extreme sceptics who maintain that ,he never existed are1 for the purpose of controversy1 wise in their generation1 for1 once ,his existence is admitted1 ,his mysterious power begins to tell4 ,we are confronted #ahd with an ,influence by which1 consciously or unconsciously1 we must be affected1 a knowledge which we must acquire1 an ,authority to which we must bow4 ,let us not think merely of those who have1 in utter devotion1 yielded their hearts and souls to ,him through all the centuries1 of the institutions and customs which owe their existence directly to ,him2 let us think of the manifestations which are so often visible in those who do not suspect whence the manifestations come1 let us think of the tributes of affection1 of homage1 of devotion which are paid by those to whom the ancient faith in ,his ,divinity appears to be an illusion or an impossible exaggeration4 ,scarcely any critic of recent years has been regarded as more destructive than ,professor ,schmiedel4 ,indignant attack after indignant attack has been made upon him for arguing that only nine sayings attributed to our ,lord can be accepted as genuine1 that #ahe all else is involved in suspicion4 ,what ,schmiedel really does maintain is that these nine sayings must of necessity be accepted as genuine1 cannot be rejected by any sane canon of criticism1 and that the acceptance of these nine sayings1 these 'foundation-pillars1' compels the acceptance of a great deal besides4 ',what then have ,i gained in these nine foundation pillars8 ,you will perhaps say ,very little3 ,i reply1 ,i have gained just enough4 ,having them1 ,i know that ,jesus must really have come forward in the way ,he is said to have done4444 ,in a word1 ,i know1 on the one hand1 that ,his ,person cannot be referred to the region of myth2 on the other hand1 that ,he was man in the full sense of the term1 and that1 without of course denying that the ,divine character was in ,him1 this could be found only in the shape in which it can be found in any human being4 ,i think1 therefore1 that if we knew no more we should #ahf know by no means little about ,him4 ,but as a matter of fact the foundation-pillars are but the starting-point for our study of the life of ,jesus4'#d ,and this study1 he concludes1 gives us nothing less than 'pretty well the whole bulk of ,jesus' teaching1 in so far as its object is to explain in a purely religious and ethical way what ,god requires of man and wherein man requires comfort and consolation from ,god4' ,the standpoint of ,professor ,schmiedel is not the standpoint of the ,church as a whole3 he fearlessly and aggressively endeavours to remove any misconception on that subject3 all the more remarkable that1 renouncing so much1 he incontrovertibly establishes so much1 incontrovertibly establishes1 we may not unreasonably contend1 a great deal more than he admits3 he cannot1 we may think1 stop logically where he does4 ,all this may1 or may not1 be legitimately argued3 there can #ahg be no doubt that one whose dislike of traditional dogmas is excessive1 and whose scrutiny of the ,gospel records is minute and unsparing1 forces us to say of ,jesus1 ,what manner of ,man is this8 ,it is the same with the general tendency of modern criticism4 ,from the day that ,strauss accomplished his destructive work1 the ,figure of ,jesus as a ,historical ,reality has been more and more endowed with power4#e ,no age has so occupied itself with ,him1 none has so endeavoured to recall the features of ,his character1 to apply ,his teachings to the solution of social questions1 as this age of ruthless inquiry4 ,the inquirers may have abjured tradition1 but almost without exception they have profoundly reverenced1 if they have not actually worshipped1 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and they have found in ,his ,gospel moral and spiritual light and life4 #ahh ,some thirty years ago1 ,m4 ,andr ,lefvre1 a fervid disciple of ,materialism1 an uncompromising and bitter opponent of every symptom of religious manifestation1 could not help discerning 'with the clairvoyance of hatred1' the influence of ,christianity in modern thought4 ',descartes1 ,leibnitz1 ,locke1 ,condillac1 ,newton1 ,bonnet1 ,kant1 ,hegel1 ,spinoza himself1 ,toland and ,priestley1 ,rousseau1 all are ,christians somewhere4444 ,voltaire himself has not completely eliminated the virus3 his ,deism is not exempt from it4'#f ,the same thing is still occurring4 ,in the most unexpected quarters we find the fascination of ,christ remaining4 ,men not acknowledging themselves to be ,his followers1 defiantly proclaiming that they are not ,his followers1 that they can hardly be even interested in ,him1 are yet perpetually returning1 in what they themselves will confess as their higher moments1 to the thought of #ahi ,him1 trying to make plain why it is that for them there is in ,him no beauty that they should desire ,him4 ,for example1 this is how ,mr4 ,h4 ,g4 ,wells1 the popular author of so many imaginative works1 attempts frankly to explain his attitude3 ',i hope ,i shall offend no susceptibilities when ,i assert that this great and very definite ,personality in the hearts and imaginations of mankind does not1 and never has1 attracted me4 ,it is a fact ,i record about myself without aggression or regret4 ,i do not find myself able to associate him in any way with the emotion of salvation4' ,but ,mr4 ,wells goes on to say3 ',i admit the splendid imaginative appeal in the idea of a divine human friend and mediator4 ,if it were possible to have access by prayer1 by meditation1 by urgent outcries of the soul1 to such a being whose feet were in the darknesses1 who stooped down from the light1 who was at once great and little1 limitless in power #aij and virtue1 and one's very brother2 if it were possible by sheer will in believing to make and make one's way to such a helper1 who would refuse such help8 ,but ,i do not find such a being in ,christ4 ,i do not find1 ,i cannot imagine such a being4 ,i wish ,i could4 ,to me the ,christian ,christ seems not so much a humanised ,god as an incomprehensibly sinless being1 neither ,god nor man4 ,his sinlessness wears his incarnation like a fancy dress1 all his white self unchanged4 ,he had no petty weaknesses4 ,now the essential trouble of my life is its petty weaknesses4 ,if ,i am to have that love1 that sense of understanding fellowship which is1 ,i conceive1 the peculiar magic and merit of this idea of a ,personal ,saviour1 then ,i need some one quite other than this image of virtue1 this terrible and incomprehensible ,galilean with his crown of thorns1 his bloodstained hands and feet4 ,i cannot love him any more than ,i can love a man #aia upon the rack4' ',the ,christian's ,christ is too fine for me1 not incarnate enough1 not flesh enough1 not earth enough4 ,he was never foolish and hot-eared and inarticulate1 never vain1 he never forgot things1 nor tangled his miracles4'#g ,there is no disputing about tastes2 and it is impossible to refute one who tells us that he cannot see and cannot understand1 though we may lament and be astonished at his disabilities4 ,why a man upon the rack should not be loved1 or why the prime qualification for the ,saviour of mankind should be the plentiful possession of petty weaknesses1 or why it should be necessary for ,him to be sometimes foolish and to have a bad memory1 or what necessary connection there is between hot-ears and the salvation of the world1 need not detain us long4 ,for in spite of this apparently curious longing for a ,deliverer who shall be weak and vain #aib and forgetful and hot-eared1 and foolish1 and of the earth earthy1 ,mr4 ,wells shows us that the urgent outcry of his soul is for a ,being limitless in power and virtue and one's very brother2 and though he says that he does not find such a ,being in ,christ1 it is exactly what ,christians have in all ages been finding4 ',we have not an ,high ,priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 but was in all points tempted like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,let us therefore come boldly unto the ,throne of ,grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in times of need4' ,,iii ,the instance which we have cited is exceptional among modern doubters1 among those who have deliberately set themselves without violent prejudice to study the claims of ,christianity4 ,be it in poetry or prose1 in scientific criticism or in imaginative #aic biography1 with remarkable unanimity1 while stubbornly refusing to accept the ,creed of the ,church1 they so depict ,him that the natural conclusion of their representation is1 ',oh1 come let us adore ,him4' ,there is scarcely any of them who would not sympathise with the admission and aspiration of ,b4 ,wimmer in his confession1 ,my ,struggle for ,light3 ',i cannot but love this unique ,child of ,god with all the fervour of my soul1 ,i cannot but lift up eyes full of reverence and rapture to this ,personality in whom the highest and most sacred virtues which can move the heart of man shine forth in spotless purity throughout the ages4 ,even if many a trait in ,his portrait1 as the ,gospels sketch it for us1 be more legendary than historical1 yet ,i feel that here a man stands before me1 a man who really lived and has a place in history like that of no other man3 indeed ,i feel that even the legends concerning ,him possess a truth in that they spring from the #aid ,spirit which passed from ,him into ,his ,church4 ,i know what ,i have to thank ,him for4 ,i would in my inmost self be so closely united with ,him that ,he may live in my spirit and bear absolute sway in my soul4 ,i will not be ashamed of ,his ,cross and ,i will gladly endure the insults which men have directed1 and still often enough direct1 against ,him and ,his truth4' ,that is the characteristic and dominant note of the more recent criticism4 ,the almost universal conclusion is that the ,perfect ,ideal has been depicted in the ,christ of the ,gospels1 and has been depicted because the ,reality had been seen in ,jesus of ,nazareth4#h ,is it not allowable to declare that the writers1 let them say what they will about their rejection of the doctrine of the ,church concerning the ,incarnation and the ,atonement of ,christ1 are practically ,his disciples1 that the ardour of their faith in ,him not #aie infrequently puts to shame the coldness of us who call ,him ,lord8#i ,there is scarcely extravagance in the assertion that1 as we recognise the part which ,strauss and ,renan played1 and the unconscious help which they rendered1 'we may well say now noster ,strauss and noster ,renan4 ,they were1 in their measure1 and1 according to their respective abilities1 defenders of the ,faith4'#aj ,while it is possible to lament that among ,christian apologists there are timid surrenders and faithless forebodings1 it is yet more possible to reply that ',whereas our critics were at one time infidels and our bitter enemies1 they are now proud of the name of ,christian and ready to be the friends1 as far as that is permitted1 of every form of orthodoxy in ,christianity4'#aa ,the language in which1 at any rate1 they express their conception of ,him is sometimes #aif more devout1 more exalted1 than the language which used to be employed by professed apologists4 ,the ,hindu ,theist1 ,protab ,chandra ,mozoomdar1 who stood outside the fold of ,christianity1 joyfully proclaimed1 ',christ reigns4 ,as the law of the spirit of heavenly life1 ,he reigns in the bosom of every believer4444 ,christ reigns as the recogniser of ,divine humanity in the fallen1 the low1 and the despicable1 as the healer of the unhappy1 the unclean1 and the sore distressed4 ,reigns ,he not in the sweet humanity that goes forth to seek and to save its kin in every land and clime1 to teach and preach1 and raise and reclaim1 to weep and watch and give repose8 ,he reigns as sweet patience and sober reason amid the laws and orders of the world2 as the spirit of submission and loyalty ,he reigns in peace in the kingdoms of the world4444 ,christ reigns in the individual who feebly watches ,his footprints in the tangled mazes of life4 #aig ,he reigns in the community that is bound together in ,his name4 ,as ,divine ,humanity1 and the ,son of ,god1 ,he reigns gloriously around us in the ,new ,dispensation4'#ab ,or listen to the rhapsody with which ,mrs4 ,besant1 once an ,atheist1 now a ,theosophist1 depicts ,his influence from age to age3 ',his the steady inpouring of truth into every brain ready to receive it1 so that hand stretched out to hand across the centuries and passed on the torch of knowledge1 which thus was never extinguished4 ,his the ,form which stood beside the rack and in the flames of the burning pile1 cheering ,his confessors and ,his martyrs1 soothing the anguish of their pains and filling their hearts with ,his peace4 ,his the impulse which spoke in the thunder of ,savonarola1 which guided the calm wisdom of ,erasmus1 which inspired the deep ethics of the ,god-intoxicated ,spinoza4444 ,his the beauty that allured ,fra #aih ,angelico and ,raphael and ,leonardo da ,vinci1 that inspired the genius of ,michael ,angelo1 that shone before the eyes of ,murillo1 and that gave the power that raised the marvels of the world1 the ,duomo of ,milan1 the ,san ,marco of ,venice1 the ,cathedral of ,florence4 ,his the melody that breathed in the ,masses of ,mozart1 the sonatas of ,beethoven1 the oratorios of ,handel1 the fugues of ,bach1 the austere splendour of ,brahms4 ,through the long centuries ,he has striven and laboured1 and1 with all the mighty burden of the ,churches to carry1 ,he has never left uncared for and unsolaced one human heart that cried to ,him for help4'#ac ,when we read sentences like these by themselves we say1 ,here is unqualified acceptance of the ,christian ,faith4 ,and even when we are told that we must not take the sentences in their literal and natural meaning1 that they apply not to ,him ,whose earthly #aii career is sketched in the ,gospels1 but to an ,ideal ,being evolved out of the writer's imagination1 we are surely entitled to answer1 ,it is of ,jesus that the words are spoken1 whether their meaning is to be taken literally or figuratively2 if they have any meaning at all1 they indicate a ,being without a parallel4 ,that there should be so extraordinary a conflict of opinion regarding ,him1 that the greatest intellects as well as the simplest souls should hail ,him as ,divine1 that the most critical should still find their explanations insufficient to account for the impression which ,he made upon ,his contemporaries and continues to wield to this day1 at least renders ,him absolutely unique4 ,men may disbelieve a great deal2 they cannot disbelieve that this ,amazing ,personality has a place in the heart of the world which no other has ever occupied4 ,the alleged imaginary ,ideal has had on earth only one approximate ,embodiment4 ,nay1 we are #bjj forced to confess1 without the actual ,character disclosed from ,nazareth to ,calvary1 the ,ideal would never have been conceived4 ,,iv ,robert ,browning has described in his ,christmas ,eve a certain ,german professor lecturing upon the myth of ,christ and the sources whence it is derivable4 ,but as the listeners wait for the inference that faith in ,him should henceforth be discarded1 'he bids us1' says the supposed narrator of the story1 'when we least expect it take back our faith'3 ,go home and venerate the myth ,i thus have experimented with4 ,this ,man1 continue to adore ,him ,rather than all who went before ,him1 ,and all who ever followed after4 ,this is a correct though humorous summary of much prevalent scepticism4 ,while critics destroy with the one hand1 they build up #bja with the other2 while they seem intent on rooting out every remnant of trust in ,christ1 they frequently conclude by passionately beseeching us to make ,him our ,model and our ,king1 our ,pattern and our ,guide4 ,if there is anything which is calculated at once to arouse us who profess and call ourselves ,christians and to make us ashamed1 it is that the diligence with which ,his ,example is followed1 the earnestness with which ,his words are studied1 by some whom we hold to have abandoned the ,catholic ,faith1 throw into the shade the obedience1 the love1 the earnestness which prevail among ourselves4 ,they who follow not with us are casting out devils in ,his name4 ,it is with us1 they are careful to say1 and not with ,him that they are waging war4 ,they may dispute the incidents of ,his recorded ,life3 they may insist on reducing ,him to the level of humanity1 but they also insist that in so doing they act according to ,his ,own #bjb ,mind1 that they refuse1 for the very love which they bear ,him1 to surround ,him with a glory which ,he would have rejected4 ,devoid of the errors which have led astray ,his successors1 exalted far above the wisest and the best of those who have spoken in ,his ,name1 it is the function of criticism to show ,him in ,his fashion as ,he lived1 to sweep away the falsehoods which have gathered round ,him in the course of ages4#ad ,we do not seek to read into the emotional language of such writers a significance which they would repudiate1 but we are surely entitled to point out that in spite of themselves they are bringing their tribute of homage to the ,king of the ,jews1 the ,king of all mankind4 ,they grant so much that1 it seems to us1 they must grant yet more4 ,we1 at any rate1 cannot stop where they deem themselves obliged to stop4 ,we must go further1 we hear other voices swell the #bjc chorus of adoration1 we have the witness not only of those who1 in awe and wonderment have exclaimed1 ',truly this was a ,son of ,god1' but we have the witness of those who from heartfelt conviction are able to say1 ',the life which ,i now live in the flesh ,i live by the faith of the ,son of ,god1 ,who loved me and gave ,himself for me4' ,and to them we humbly hope to be able to respond1 ',now we believe not because of the language of others1 whether honest doubters or devout disciples1 for we have heard ,him ourselves1 and know that this is indeed the ,christ1 the ,saviour of the world4' ',restate our doctrines as we may1' to sum up all in the words of one who began his career as a teacher in the confidence that ,jesus of ,nazareth was merely a man1 but whom closer study and deepening experience have brought to a fuller faith1 'reconstruct our theologies as we will1 this age1 like every age1 beholds in ,him the ,way to ,god1 the #bjd ,truth of ,god1 the ,life of ,god lived out among men3 this age1 like every age1 has heard and responds to ,his call1 ,come unto ,me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and ,i will give you rest3 this age1 like every age1 finds access to the ,father through the ,son4 ,these things no criticism can shake1 these certainties no philosophy disprove1 these facts no science dissolve away4 ,he is the ,religion which ,he taught3 and while the race of man endures1 men will turn to the crucified ,son of ,man1 not with a grudging1 ,thou hast conquered1 ,o ,galilean6 but with the joyful1 grateful cry1 ,my ,lord and my ,god4'#ae ,v ,he who was lifted up on the ,cross is drawing all men to ,himself1 wise and unwise1 friend and foe1 devout and doubting1 is ruling even where ,his authority is disavowed1 is #bje causing hearts to adore where intellects rebel4 ,the patriotic ,english baron1 ,simon de ,montfort1 as he saw the ,royal forces under ,prince ,edward come against him1 was filled with admiration of their discipline and bearing4 ',by the arm of ,s4 ,james1' he cried1 recalling with soldierly pride that to himself they owed in great measure their skill1 'they come on well3 they learned that not of themselves1 but of me4' ,the ,church of ,christ1 when confronted with the benevolence1 the integrity1 the zeal of some who are arrayed against her1 may naturally say1 ',they live well indeed3 they learned that not of themselves1 but of me4' ',you are probably1' was the homely expostulation of ,benjamin ,franklin with ,thomas ,paine1 'you are probably indebted to ,religion for the habits of virtue on which you so justly value yourself4 ,you might easily display your excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous subject1 and thereby obtain a rank amongst #bjf our most distinguished authors4 ,for among us1' continued ,franklin satirically1 'it is not necessary1 as among the ,hottentots1 that a youth1 to be raised into the company of men1 should prove his manhood by beating his mother4' ,the blows inflicted on ,christianity come from unfilial hands and hearts1 from hands and hearts which have been strengthened and nurtured on ,christianity itself1 from hands and hearts which1 but for the lingering ,christianity that still impels them1 would soon be paralysed and dead4 ,the ideals which systems intended to supersede ,christianity set before them are1 to all intents and purposes1 only ,christianity under another name4 ,where the ideals go beyond ordinary ,christian practice1 they are only a nearer approximation to the ,supreme ,ideal which has never been fulfilled save in ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,wherever there is truth in them which is not generally accepted1 or which comes as a surprise1 investigation #bjg will show that it is an aspect of ,christianity which ,christians have been neglecting1 that it is a manifestation of the mind of ,christ1 a development of ,his principles4 ,look where we will1 the men that are making real moral and spiritual progress are those who are in touch with ,him4 ,their beliefs about ,him may not be accurate1 their conception of ,his nature and work may be defective1 but it is ,his ,name1 ,his ,spirit1 ,his ,power1 it is ,himself that is the secret of their life4 ,one part of ,his teaching has sunk into their hearts1 one element of ,his character has mysteriously impressed them4 ,they have touched the hem of ,his garment1 the shadow of ,his ,apostle passing by has glided over them1 and they have been roused from weakness and death4 ',he that was healed wist not ,who it was1 for ,jesus had conveyed ,himself away4' ,so it happened in the days of ,his flesh3 so is it happening still3 they that are set free may not yet know to ,whom #bjh their freedom is to be ascribed4 ,now1 as on the way to ,emmaus1 when men are communing together and reasoning1 ,jesus ,himself may be walking with them1 though their eyes are holden that they do not know ,him4 ,john ,stuart ,mill1 whose acute intellect1 whose spotless rectitude1 whose public spirit1 whose non-religious training naturally made him the idol of those to whom ,christianity was a bygone superstition1 came in his later days1 not indeed to accept the orthodox creed1 but yet to stretch out his longing hand to ,christ1 believing that ,he might have 'unique commission from ,god to lead mankind to truth and virtue4' ,george ,eliot1 whose genius was ever labouring to fill up the void which the rejection of her early faith had made1 consoled her dying hours1 as she had inspired her most ennobling pages1 with the ,imitation of ,christ4 ,matthew ,arnold1 most cultured of critics1 joins hands with the most fervid of evangelists in maintaining that #bji 'there is no way to righteousness but the way of ,jesus4' ,the name of ,christ--none other name under heaven given among men will ever prove a substitute for that4 ,renouncing faith in ,christ1 is there life1 is there salvation for man to be found in the doctrines1 the names1 the influences which are so vehemently extolled8 ,is there one of them which so satisfies the cravings of the heart1 which enkindles such glorious hopes1 which inspires to such holy living1 which inculcates so universal a brotherhood1 as ,christianity8 ,is there one of them which1 at the best1 is more than a keeping of despair at bay1 than a resolute acceptance of utter overthrow1 than a blindness to the tremendous issues which are involved8#af ,will the culture which is devoted1 and cannot but be devoted1 exclusively to the outward1 which imparts a knowledge of ,science or ,art or ,literature1 be found sufficient to #baj rescue men from the slavery of sin or from the torment of doubt8 ,will the progress which is altogether occupied with the material and the physical1 with providing better houses and better food and better wages1 produce happiness without alloy and remove the sting and dread of death8#ag ,will the reiteration of the dogma that we are but fleeting shadows1 that there is nothing to hope for in the future1 that we are all the victims of delusion1 tend to elevate and benefit our downcast race8 ,will the attempt to worship what has never been made known1 what is simply darkness and mystery1 be more successful in raising men above themselves than the worship of the ,righteousness and the ,love which have been made manifest in ,christ8 ,will the attempt to supplant the worship of ,jesus ,christ1 in ,whom was no sin1 by the worship of ,humanity at large1 of ,humanity stained with guilt and crime as #baa well as illumined here and there with deeds of heroism1 of ,humanity sunk to the level of the brutes as well as exalted to the level of whatever we may suppose to be the highest1 seeing that there is really no higher existence with which to compare it--will this worship of itself1 with all its baseness and imperfection1 this turning of mankind into a ,mutual ,adoration ,society1 make ,humanity divine8 ,will even the assurance that far-distant ages will have new inventions1 fairer laws1 more abundant wealth be any deliverance to us from our burdens1 any salvation from our individual sorrow and guilt and shame8 ,can we to whom the likeness of ,christ has been shown1 can we imagine that any of these efforts to answer the yearning of mankind for deliverance from the body of this death will prove an efficient substitute for ,him8 ,and if we forsake ,him1 it must be in one or other of these directions that we go4 #bab ,,vi ,but the signs of the times are full of hope4 ,in social work at home1 in the progress of missions abroad1 in revivals of one kind and another1 in growing reverence for holy things1 in a renewed interest in religion as the most vital of all topics1 even in strange spiritual manifestations not within the ,church1 we have1 amid all that is discouraging and depressing1 indication of the coming kingdom4 ,the cry1 ',back to ,christ1' with all the truth that is in it1 is only half a truth if it does not also mean ',forward to ,christ4' ,he is before us as well as behind us1 and the ,hope of the ,world is the gathering together of all things in ,him4 ,should there be1 as there has been over and over again in days gone by1 a widespread unbelief1 a rejection of ,his ,divine ,revelation1 of this we may be sure--it will be only for a time4 ,when the sceptical physician1 in ,tennyson's poem1 murmured3 ',the good ,lord ,jesus has had his day1' #bac the believing nurse made the comment3 ',had8 has it come8 ,it has only dawned3 it will come by and by4' ,a thought most sad1 though most inspiring4 ',only dawned4' ,why is ,christianity after all these centuries only beginning to be manifested8 ,it is at least partly because of the apathy1 the divisions1 the evil lives of us who profess and call ourselves ,christians1 because we have wrangled about the secondary and the comparatively unimportant1 and have neglected the weightier matters of the law1 because we have so left to those beyond the ,church the duty of proclaiming and enforcing principles which our ,lord and ,his ,apostles put in the forefront of their teaching4 ,we have narrowed the ,kingdom of ,christ1 we have claimed too little for ,him1 we have forgotten that ,he has to do with the secular as well as with the spiritual1 that ,he must be ,king of the ,nation as well as of the ,church4 ,but now in the growing #bad prominence of ,social ,questions1 which so many fear as an evidence of the waning of religion1 have we not an incentive to show that the social must be pervaded by the religious1 that our duties to one another are no small part of the ,kingdom of ,christ8 ,for all sorts and conditions of men1 for masters and servants1 for rulers and ruled1 for employers and employed1 there is ever accumulating proof that only as they bear themselves towards each other in the spirit of the ,new ,testament can there be true harmony and mutual respect2 that only1 in short1 as the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our ,lord and of ,his ,christ will men in reality bear one another's burdens2 that only as the ,everlasting ,gospel of the ,everlasting ,love prevails will all strife and contention1 whether personal or political or ecclesiastical or national1 come to an end2 that only as men enter into the fellowship of that ,son of ,man ,who came not to be #bae ministered unto but to minister and to give ,his ,life a ransom for many will the glorious vision of old be fulfilled3 ,i saw in the night vision1 and behold ,one like the ,son of ,man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ,ancient of ,days and they brought ,him near before ,him4 ,and there was given ,him dominion and glory and a kingdom1 that all people1 nations and languages shall serve ,him4 ,his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and ,his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed4 #a ,in this ,lecture are included some paragraphs from a sermon long out of print1 ,the ,witness of ,scepticism to ,christ1 preached before the ,synod of ,lothian and ,tweeddale4 #b ,g4 ,lommel1 ,jesus von ,nazareth 7quoted in ,pfannmller's ,jesus im ,urteil der ,jahrhunderte74 #c ,appendix ,,xxiii4 #d ,jesus in ,modern ,criticism4 #e ,h4 ,weinel1 ,jesus im neunzehnten ,jahrhundert4 #f ,quoted in ,e4 ,naville1 ,le ,tmoignage du ,christ4 #g ,first and ,last ,things3 a ,confession of ,faith and ,rule of ,life4 #h ,appendix ,,xxiv4 #i ,appendix ,,xxv4 #aj ,lux ,hominum1 ,preface4 #aa ,lux ,hominum1 p4 #hd4 #ab ,the ,oriental ,christ4 #ac ,esoteric ,christianity4 #ad ,appendix ,,xxvi4 #ae ,j4 ,warschauer1 ,the ,new ,evangel4 #af ,appendix ,,xxvii4 #ag ,appendix ,,xxviii4 #bai ,,appendices ,,appendix ,i ',i hope no reader imagines me so weak to stand up in defence of real ,christianity such as used in primitive times 7if we may believe the authors of those ages7 to have an influence upon men's beliefs and actions4 ,to offer at the restoring of that would indeed be a wild project3 it would be to dig up foundations3 to destroy at one blow all the wit and half the learning of the kingdom1 to break the entire frame and constitution of things1 to ruin trade1 extinguish arts and sciences1 with the professors of them2 in short1 to turn our courts1 exchanges1 and shops into deserts2 and would be full as absurd as the proposal of ,horace1 where he advises the ,romans all in a body1 to leave their city1 and seek a new seat in some remote part of the world1 by way of cure for the corruption of their manners4'--,,dean ,,swift1 ,an ,argument to ,prove that the ,abolishing of ,christianity in ,england may1 as things now stand1 be attended with some ,inconveniences4 #bbj ,,appendix ,,ii ,while the state of our race is such as to need all our mutual devotedness1 all our aspiration1 all our resources of courage1 hope1 faith1 and good cheer1 the disciples of the ,christian ,creed and ,morality are called upon1 day by day1 to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling and so forth4 ,such exhortations are too low for even the wavering mood and quacked morality of a time of theological suspense and uncertainty4 ,in the extinction of that suspense and the discrediting of that selfish quacking ,i see the prospect for future generations of a purer and loftier virtue1 and a truer and sweeter heroism than divines who preach such self-seeking can conceive of4'--,,harriet ,,martineau1 ,autobiography1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dfa4 ',noble morality is classic morality1 the morality of ,greece1 of ,rome1 of ,renaissance ,italy1 of ancient ,india4 ,but ,christian morality is slave morality in excelsis4 ,for the essence of ,christian morality is the desire of the individual to be saved3 his consciousness of power is so small that he lives in hourly peril of damnation and death and yearns thus for the arms of some saving grace4'--,f4 ,nietzsche1 by ,a4 ,r4 ,orage1 p4 #ec4 #bba ',they ,christians have never learnt to love1 to think1 to trust4 ,they have been nursed and bred and swaddled and fed on fear4 ,they are afraid of death3 they are afraid of truth3 they are afraid of human nature3 they are afraid of ,god4444 ,they deal in a poor kind of old wives' fables1 of lackadaisical dreams1 of discredited sorcery1 and white magic1 and call it religion and the holy of holies4 ,they wander about in a sickly soil of intellectual moonshine1 where they mistake the dense and sombre shadows for substances4 ,they want to stop the clocks of time that it may never be day1 and to hoodwink the eyes of the nations that they may lead the people as so many blind4'--,,robert ,,blatchford1 ,clarion1 ,march #c1 #aije4 #bbb ,,appendix ,,iii ',in ,georgia1 indeed1 as the ,jesuits had found it in ,south ,america1 the vicinity of a white settlement would have proved the more formidable obstacle to the conversion of the ,indian4 ,when ,tounchichi was urged to listen to the doctrines of ,christianity1 he keenly replied1 ,why1 there are ,christians at ,savannah6 there are ,christians at ,frederica6 ,nor was it without good apparent reason that the poor savage exclaimed1 ,christian much drunk6 ,christian beat men6 ,christian tell lies6 ,devil ,christian6 ,me no ,christian6'--,,southey1 ,life of ,john ,wesley1 vol4 i4 p4 #eg4 ',i was then carried in spirit to the mines where poor oppressed people were digging rich treasures for those called ,christians1 and heard them blaspheme the name of ,christ1 at which ,i was grieved1 for to me ,his name was precious4 ,i was then informed that these heathens were told that those who oppressed them were the followers of ,christ1 and they said among themselves1 ,if ,christ directed them to use us in this sort1 this ,christ is a cruel tyrant4'--,journal of ,john ,woolman1 p4 #bfd4 #bbc ,,appendix ,,iv ',what many upright and ardent souls have rejected is a misconception1 a caricature1 a subjective ,christianity of their own1 a traditional delusion1 which no more resembles real ,christianity than the conventional ,christ of the painted church window resembles ,jesus ,christ of ,nazareth4 ,it is true that at this moment the great majority of the people of this country never go to any place of worship1 and this is yet more the case on the ,continent of ,europe4 ,does it in the least degree indicate that the masses of the ,european nations have weighed ,christianity in the balance and found it wanting8 ,nothing of the sort4 ,the overwhelming majority of them have not the faintest conception of what ,christianity is4 ,i myself have met a great number of so-called ,agnostics and ,atheists in our universities1 among our working-men1 and in society1 but ,i have never yet met one who had rejected the ,christianity of ,christ4'--,,hugh ,,price ,,hughes1 ,preface to ,ethical ,christianity4 #bbd ,,appendix ,v ',wheresoever ,christianity has breathed it has accelerated the movement of humanity4 ,it has quickened the pulses of life1 it has stimulated the incentives of thought1 it has turned the passions into peace1 it has warmed the heart into brotherhood1 it has fanned the imagination into genius1 it has freshened the soul into purity4 ,the progress of ,christian ,europe has been the progress of mind over matter4 ,it has been the progress of intellect over force1 of political right over arbitrary power1 of human liberty over the chains of slavery1 of moral law over social corruption1 of order over anarchy1 of enlightenment over ignorance1 of life over death4 ,as we survey this spectacle of the past1 we are impressed that this study of history is the strongest evidence for ,god4 ,we hear no argument from design but we feel the breath of the ,designer4 ,we see the universal life moulding the individual lives1 the one ,will dominating many wills1 the ,infinite ,wisdom utilising the finite folly1 the changeless truth permeating the restless error1 the boundless beneficence bringing blessing out of all4444 ,and what shall we say of the future8 444 ,ours is a position in some respects analogous to that of the mediaeval world3 the landmarks of the past are fading1 the lights in the future are but dimly seen4 ,yet it is the study of the landmarks that helps us to wait for the light1 and our highest hope is born of memory4 ,in the view #bbe of that retrospect1 we cannot long despair4 ,we may have moments of heart-sickness when we look exclusively at the present hour3 we may have times of despondency when we measure only what the eye can see4 ,but looking on the accumulated results of bygone ages as they lie open to the gaze of history1 the scientific conclusion at which we must arrive is this1 that the course of ,christianity shall be1 or has been1 the path of a shining light1 shining more and more unto the perfect day4'--,g4 ,,matheson1 ,growth of the ,spirit of ,christianity 7chap1 xxxviii41 ',dawn of a ,new ,day'74 #bbf ,,appendix ,,vi ',shadows and figments as they appear to us to be in themselves1 these attempts to provide a substitute for ,religion are of the highest importance1 as showing that men of great powers of mind1 who have thoroughly broken loose not only from ,christianity but from natural ,religion1 and in some cases placed themselves in violent antagonism to both1 are still unable to divest themselves of the religious sentiment or to appease its craving for satisfaction4 ',that the leaders of the anti-theological movement at the present day are immoral1 nobody but the most besotted fanatic would insinuate3 no candid antagonist would deny that some of them are in every respect the very best of men4444 ,but what is to prevent the withdrawal of the traditional sanction from producing its natural effect upon the morality of the mass of mankind8 444 ,rate the practical effect of religious beliefs as low and that of social influences as high as you may1 there can surely be no doubt that morality has received some support from the authority of an inward monitor regarded as the voice of ,god4444 ',the denial of the existence of ,god and of a future state1 in a word1 is the dethronement of ,conscience3 and society will pass1 to say the least1 through a dangerous interval1 before social conscience can fill the vacant throne4'--,,goldwin ,,smith1 ',proposed ,substitutes for ,religion1' ,macmillan's ,magazine1 vol4 xxxvii4 #bbg ,,appendix ,,vii ',it no less takes two to deliver the game of ,duty from trivial pretence and give it an earnest interest4 ,how can ,i look up to myself as the higher that reproaches me8 issue commands to myself which ,i dare not disobey8 ask forgiveness from myself for sins which myself has committed8 surrender to myself with a martyr's sacrifice8 and so through all the drama of moral conflict and enthusiasm between myself in a mask and myself in propria persona8 ,how far are these semblances1 these battles in the clouds1 to carry their mimicry of reality8 ,are we to worship the self-ideality8 to pray to an empty image in the air8 to trust in sorrow a creature of thought which is but a phenomenon of sorrow8 ,no1 if religious communion is reduced to a monologue1 its essence is extinct and its soul is gone4 ,it is a living relation1 or it is nothing3 a response to the ,supreme ,reality4 ,and vainly will you search for your spiritual dynamics without the ,rock ,eternal for your ,greek pou st'--,,james ,,martineau1 ,essays iv4 #bhb1 ,ideal ,substitutes for ,god4 #bbh ,,appendix ,,viii ',it is an awful hour--let him who has passed through it say how awful--when life has lost its meaning and seems shrivelled into a span--when the grave appears to be the end of all1 human goodness nothing but a name1 and the sky above this universe a dead expanse1 black with the void from which ,god himself has disappeared4 ,in that fearful loneliness of spirit 444 ,i know but one way in which a man may come forth from his agony scathless3 it is by holding fast to those things which are certain still--the grand1 simple landmarks of morality4 ',in the darkest hour through which a human soul can pass1 whatever else is doubtful1 this at least is certain4 ,if there be no ,god and no future state yet even then it is better to be generous than selfish1 better to be chaste than licentious1 better to be true than false1 better to be brave than to be a coward4 ,blessed beyond all earthly blessedness is the man who1 in the tempestuous darkness of the soul1 has dared to hold fast to these venerable landmarks4 ,thrice blessed is he who1 when all is drear and cheerless within and without1 when his teachers terrify him and his friends shrink from him1 has obstinately clung to moral good4 ,thrice blessed1 because his night shall pass into clear bright day4'--,f4 ,w4 ,,robertson1 ,lectures1 ,addresses1 etc41 p4 #di4 #bbi ,,appendix ,,ix ',let me say at once that if after the elimination of all untruths from ,christianity1 we could build a belief in ,god and ,immortality on the residue1 we should then have a far more powerful incentive to right conduct than anything that ,i am about to urge4'--,,philip ,,vivian1 ,churches and ,modern ,thought1 p4 #cbc4 #bcj ,,appendix ,x ',without prejudice1 what would be the effect upon modern civilisation if the ,divine ,ideal should vanish from modern thought8 ',it would be presumptuous to attempt a description1 rather because it is so hard to picture ourselves and our outlook deprived of what we have held during thousands of generations1 our very raison d'tre1 than because we cannot calculate at least a part of what would have to happen4 ,without pretending to undertake that exercise1 it may not be too bold to conclude definitely1 what has been suggested argumentatively throughout3 namely1 that moral goodness1 as we trace it in the past1 as we enjoy it in the present1 as we reckon upon it in the future1 would be found undesirable and therefore impracticable4 ,a new morality would doubtless take its place and set up a new ideal of goodness2 but the former would no more represent the elements we so far call moral than the latter would embody the conceptions we now call good3 the more logically the inevitable system were followed up1 the more progressively would moral inversion be realised4 ',it does not seem credible that the new morality could escape being egoistic and hedonistic1 and these principles alone would dictate complete reversal of all our present notions as to what is noble1 what is useful1 what is good4 ,an egoist hedonism that should not be selfish and sensual is a fond #bca superstition2 it would have to be both and frankly4 ,all the prophylactic expedients whereby a reciprocal egoism must safeguard its sensuous rights would certainly be there2 and they represent in spirit and in practice whatever we have learned to consider execrable4 ,we do not require ,professor ,haeckel#a to inform us1 with the triumphal rhetoric that accompanies a grand new discovery1 of the prudential homicide which is to confer a supreme blessing upon humanity1 for it has raged throughout antiquity1 and still stalks abroad in daylight wherever the kingdom of men is not also the kingdom of ,christ4 ,ten minutes' thought is sufficient to convince any rational man or woman what must inevitably follow in a world of animal rationalism1 where no souls are immortal1 where the human will is the supreme will and there is eternal peace in the grave4 ,it could scarcely transpire otherwise than that euthanasia should replace care of the chronic sick and indigent aged2 that infanticide should be in a large category of circumstances encouraged1 and in some compelled2 that suicide should offer a rational escape from all serious ills1 leaving a door ever hospitably ajar to receive the body bankrupt in its capacity for sensual enjoyment1 the only enjoyment henceforth worthy of the name4 ,these are the virtues under the new morality2 there are other things of which it were not well to speak4 ,imagination turns its back4 ,in a world that has never been without its gods1 among human creatures who have never existed without a conscience1 deeds have been done and horrors have been practised through centuries1 through ages1 that make annals read like ogre-tales and books of travels like the works of morbid novelists2 and the worst always goes unrecorded4 ,what then ought we to anticipate for a world yielding obedience to nothing loftier #bcb than the human intellect1 seeking no prize obtainable outside the individual life time1 logically incapable of any gratification outside the individual body1 convinced of nothing save eternal oblivion in the ever-nearing and inevitable grave1 and reposed on the calm assurance that goodness and badness1 virtue and vice 7whatever these terms may then correspond to7 are recompensed1 indifferently1 by nothing better and nothing worse than physical animal death8'--,,jasper ,b4 ,,hunt1 ,b4,d41 ,good without ,god3 ,is it ,possible8 p4 #ea4 #a ,see ,the ,wonders of ,life1 chap4 v41 popular translation1 and other works4 #bcc ,,appendix ,,xi ',when we say that ,god is personal1 we do not mean that ,he is localised by mutually related organs2 that ,he is hampered by the physical conditions of human personality4 ,we mean that ,he is conscious of distinctness from all other beings1 of moral relation to all living things1 and of power to control both from without and from within the action of every atom and of every world4 ,this is what we mean by personality in ,god4 ,it is not a materialistic idea4 ,it is essentially spiritual4 ,it is a breakwater against the destruction of the very thought of ,god1 or the submersion of it in the mere processes of eternal evolution4 ,there is a ,pantheism which obliterates every trace of ,divine personality1 which takes from ,god consciousness1 will1 affection1 emotion1 desire1 presiding and over-ruling intelligence4 ,but such ,pantheism is better known as ,atheism4 ,it destroys the only ,god who can be a refuge and a strength in time of trouble4 ,it annihilates that mighty conscience which drives the workers of iniquity into darkness and the shadow of death1 if possible1 to hide themselves4 ,it closes the ,divine ,ear against the prayer of faith4 ,it abolishes all sympathy1 all communion between the ,father and the children4 ,it makes ,god not the world's life1 but the world's grave4 ,therefore1 against all such ,pantheism our being revolts4'--,,peter ,s4 ,,menzies1 ,sermons 7',christian ,pantheism'74 #bcd ,,appendix ,,xii ',there is an ,old ,testament ,pantheism speaking unmistakably out of the lips of the ,prophets and the ,psalmists1 444 so interwoven with their deepest thoughts of ,god1 that any hesitation to receive it would have been traced by them most probably to purely heathen conditions of thought1 which ascribes to every divinity a limited function1 a separate home1 and a restricted authority4444 ,but undoubtedly the most unequivocal and outspoken ,pantheist in the ,bible is ,st4 ,paul4 ,he speaks in that character to the ,athenians1 affirming all men to be the offspring of ,god1 and1 as if this were not a sufficiently close bond of affinity1 adding1 ,in ,him we live and move and have our being4 ,his ,pantheistic eschatology casts a radiance over the valley of the shadow of death1 which makes the #aeth chapter of #ast ,corinthians one of the most precious gifts of ,divine inspiration which the holy volume contains4 ,and when all things shall be subdued unto ,him1 then shall the ,son also ,himself be subject unto ,him that put all things under ,him1 that ,god may be all and all4 ,nor1 if he had wished to administer a daring shock to the ultra-,calvinism of our own ,confessional theology1 could he have uttered a sentiment more hard to reconcile with any view of the ,universe that is not ,pantheistic than that contained in the #cbnd verse of the present chapter3 ,for ,god hath concluded them all in unbelief that ,he might have mercy upon all4 ,it #bce is quite clear in the face of all this ,scripture evidence that there is a form of ,pantheism which is not only innocent1 defensible1 justifiable1 but which we are bound to teach as of the essence of all true theology4 ,nothing could be more childish than that blind horror of ,pantheism which shudders back from it as the most poisonous form of rank infidelity4'--,,peter ,s4 ,,menzies1 ,sermons 7',christian ,pantheism'71 #bcf ,,appendix ,,xiii ',pantheism gives noble expression to the truth of ,god's presence in all things1 but it cannot satisfy the religious consciousness3 it cannot give it escape from the limitations of the world1 or guarantee personal immortality or 7what is most important7 give any adequate interpretation to sin1 or supply any adequate remedy for it4444 ,christian theology is the harmony of ,pantheism and ,deism4 ,on the one hand ,christianity believes all that the ,pantheist believes of ,god's presence in all things4 ,in ,him1 we believe1 we live and move and are2 in ,him all things have their coherence4 ,all the beauty of the world1 all its truths1 all its goodness1 are but so many modes under which ,god is manifested1 of whose glory ,nature is the veil1 of whose word it is the expression1 whose law and reason it embodies4 ,but ,god is not exhausted in the world1 nor dependent upon it3 ,he exists eternally in ,his ,triune ,being1 self-sufficing1 self-subsistent4444 ,god is not only in ,nature as its life1 but ,he transcends it as its ,creator1 its ,lord--in its moral aspect--its ,judge4 ,so it is that ,christianity enjoys the riches of ,pantheism without its inherent weakness on the moral side1 without making ,god dependent on the world1 as the world is on ,god4'--,,bishop ,,gore1 ,the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god1 p4 #acf4 #bcg ,,appendix ,,xiv ',the ,supreme ,power on this petty earth can be nothing else but the ,humanity1 which1 ever since fifty thousand--it may be one hundred and fifty thousand--years has slowly but inevitably conquered for itself the predominance of all living things on this earth1 and the mastery of its material resources4 ,it is the collective stream of ,civilization1 often baffled1 constantly misled1 grievously sinning against itself from time to time1 but in the end victorious2 winning certainly no heaven1 no millennium of the saints1 but gradually over great epochs rising to a better and a better world4 ,this ,humanity is not all the human beings that are or have been4 ,it is a living1 growing1 and permanent ,organism in itself1 as ,spencer and modern philosophy establish4 ,it is the active stream of ,human ,civilization1 from which many drop out into that oblivion and nullity which is the true and only ,hell4'--,f4 ,,harrison1 ,creed of a ,lagman1 p4 #gb4 #bch ,,appendix ,,xv ,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison's ,creed 'is open to every objection which he so justly brings against what he regards as ,mr4 ,spencer's ,creed4 ,these reasons are broad1 common1 and familiar4 ,so far as ,i know they never have been1 and ,i do not believe they ever will be1 answered4 ,the first objection is that ,humanity with a capital ,h 7,mr4 ,harrison's ,god7 is neither better nor worse fitted to be a ,god than his ,unknowable with a capital ,u4 ,they are as much alike as six and half-a-dozen4 ,each is a barren abstraction to which any one an attach any meaning he likes4 ,humanity1 as used by ,mr4 ,harrison1 is not an abstract name for those matters in which all human beings as such resemble each other1 as1 for instance1 a human form and articulate speech4444 ,humanity is a general name for all human beings who1 in various ways1 have contributed to the improvement of the human race4 ,the ,positivist calendar which appropriates every day in the year for the commemoration of one or more of these benefactors of mankind is an attempt to give what a lawyer would call further and better particulars of the word4 ,if this1 or anything like this1 be the meaning of ,mr4 ,harrison's ,god1 ,i must say that he1 she1 or it appears to me quite as ill-fitted for worship as the ,unknowable4 ,how can a man worship an indefinite number of dead people1 most of whom are unknown to him even by name1 and many of whose characters #bci were exceedingly faulty1 besides which the facts as to their lives are most imperfectly known8 ,how can he in any way combine these people into a single object of thought8 ,an object of worship must surely have such a degree of unity that it is possible to think about it as distinct from other things1 as much unity at least as the ,english nation1 the ,roman ,catholic ,church1 the ,great ,western ,railway4 ,no doubt these are abstract terms1 but they are concrete enough for practical purposes4 ,every one understands what is meant when it is asserted that the ,english nation is at war or at peace2 that the ,pope is the head of the ,roman ,catholic ,church2 that the ,great ,western ,railway has declared a dividend2 but what is ,humanity8 ,what can any one definitely assert or deny about it8 ,how can any one meaning be affixed to the word so that one person can be said to use it properly and another to abuse it8 ,it seems to me that it is as ,unknowable as the ,unknowable itself1 and just as well1 and just as ill1 fitted to be an object of worship4'--,,sir ,,james ,,fitzjames ,,stephen1 ',the ,unknowable and ,unknown1' ,nineteenth ,century1 ,june #ahhd4 #bdj ,,appendix ,,xvi ',deism and ,pantheism are both so irrational1 so utterly inadequate to explain the simplest facts of our moral and spiritual life that neither of them can long hold mankind together4 ,positivism1 which has made a systematic and memorable attempt to fill the gap1 itself bears witness to the craving of human nature for some stronger bond than such systems can supply2 while its appreciation of the necessity of ,religion gives it an importance not possessed by mere ,agnosticism4 ,yet it is impossible to look at an encyclopdic attempt to grasp all knowledge and all history1 such as that made by the founder of ,positivism1 without a deep1 oppressive sadness4444 ',can men heap fact upon fact and connect science with science in a splendid hierarchy and find no better end than this8 ,is such a review to come to this1 that we must worship either actual humanity with all its meanness and wickedness1 or ideal humanity which does not yet exist1 and1 if this world is all in all1 may never come into being8 444 ,for ideal humanity1 however moral and enlightened1 if unaided by ,god1 as the ,posivitist holds1 is still earth-bound and sense-bound4444 ,we are told that it is common sense to recognise that much is beyond us4 ,perfectly true4 ,but it is not common sense to worship an ignorant and weak humanity which certainly made nothing1 and has in itself no assurance #bda of continuance in the future1 nay rather1 a very clear probability of destruction1 if simply left to itself4 ',what ,positivism surely needs to give it hope and consistency is the doctrine of the ,logos1 of the ,eternal ,word and ,reason1 the ,creator1 ,orderer1 and ,sustainer of all things1 ,who has taken a stainless human nature that ,he might make men capable of all knowledge4 ,this ,divine ,humanity of the ,logos1 drawing mankind into ,himself1 is indeed worthy of all worship4 ,in loving ,him1 we learn really what it is to live for others4 ,in looking to ,him we cease from selfishness and pride4 ,such a worship of humanity is not a mere baseless hope1 but a reality appearing in the very midst of history1 a reality apprehended by ,faith indeed1 but by a ,faith always proving itself to those1 and by those1 who hold it fast in ,love4 ,there is room1 then1 ample room1 and a loud demand for the re-establishment of a ,christian ,philosophy based upon the ,incarnation4'--,,john ,,wordsworth 7,bishop of ,salisbury71 ,the ,one ,religion1 pp4 #cjg-cji4 #bdb ,,appendix ,,xvii ,the invariable laws under which ,humanity is placed have received various names at different periods4 ,destiny1 ,fate1 ,necessity1 ,heaven1 ,providence1 all are so many names of one and the same conception3 the laws which man feels himself under1 and that without the power of escaping from them4 ,we claim no exemption from the common lot4 ,we only wish to draw out into consciousness the instinctive acceptance of the race1 and to modify the spirit in which we regard them4 ,we accept3 so have all men4 ,we obey3 so have all men4 ,we venerate3 so have some in past ages or in other countries4 ,we add but one other term--we love4 ,we would perfect our submission and so reap the full benefits of submission in the improvement of our hearts and tempers4 ,we take in conception the sum of the conditions of existence1 and we give them an ideal being and a definite home in space1 the second great creation which completes the central one of ,humanity4 ,in the bosom of space we place the world1 and we conceive of the world and this our ,mother ,earth as gladly welcomed to that bosom with the simplest and purest love1 and we give our love in return4 ,thou art folded1 thou art lying ,in the light which is undying4 ',thus we complete the ,trinity of our religion1 ,humanity1 the ,world1 and ,space4 ,so completed we recognise power to #bdc give unity and definiteness to our thoughts1 purity and warmth to our affections1 scope and vigour to our activity4 ,we recognise its powers to regulate our whole being1 to give us that which it has so long been the aim of all religion to give--internal union4 ,we recognise its power to raise us above ourselves and by intensifying the action of our unselfish instincts to bear down unto their due subordination our selfishness4 ,we see in it yet unworked treasures4 ,we count not ourselves to have apprehended but we press forward to the prize of our high calling4 ,but even now whilst its full capabilities are unknown to us1 before we have apprehended1 we find enough in it to guide and strengthen us4'--',the ,new ,religion in its ,attitude towards the ,old3 ,a ,sermon preached at ,south ,field1 ,wandsworth1 ,wednesday1 #aith ,moses #ga 7#aith ,january #ahei71 on the anniversary of the birth of ,auguste ,comte1 #aith ,january #agih1 by ,,richard ,,congreve4' ,j4 ,chapman3 #h ,king ,william ,street1 ,strand1 ,london4 #bdd ,,appendix ,,xviii ',we have compared ,positivism where it is thought to be strongest with ,christianity where it is thought to be weakest4 ,and if the result of the comparison even then has been unfavourable to ,positivism1 how will the account stand if every element in ,christianity be taken into consideration8 ,the religion of humanity seems specially fitted to meet the tastes of that comparatively small and prosperous class who are unwilling to leave the dry bones of ,agnosticism wholly unclothed with any living tissue of religious emotion1 and who are at the same time fortunate enough to be able to persuade themselves that they are contributing1 or may contribute1 by their individual efforts to the attainment of some great ideal for mankind4 ,but what has it to say to the more obscure multitude who are absorbed1 and wellnigh overwhelmed1 in the constant struggle with daily needs and narrow cares1 who have but little leisure or inclination to consider the precise rle they are called on to play in the great drama of humanity1 and who might in any case be puzzled to discover its interest or its importance8 ,can it assure them that there is no human being so insignificant as not to be of infinite worth in the eyes of ,him ,who created the ,heavens1 or so feeble but that his action may have consequence of infinite moment long after this material system shall have crumbled into nothingness8 ,does it offer consolation to those who are in grief1 hope to those who #bde are bereaved1 strength to the weak1 forgiveness to the sinful1 rest to those who are weary and heavy laden8 ,if not1 then whatever be its merits1 it is no rival to ,christianity4 ,it cannot penetrate or vivify the inmost life of ordinary humanity4 ,there is in it no nourishment for ordinary human souls1 no comfort for ordinary human sorrow1 no help for ordinary human weakness4 ,not less than the crudest irreligion does it leave us men divorced from all communion with ,god1 face to face with the unthinking energies of ,nature which gave us birth1 and into which1 if supernatural religion be indeed a dream1 we must after a few fruitless struggles be again resolved4'--,,right ,,hon4 ,,arthur ,j4 ,,balfour1 ,the ,religion of ,humanity4 #bdf ,,appendix ,,xix ',truly if ,humanity has no higher prospects than those which await it from the service of its modern worshippers its prospects are dark indeed4 ,its normal state is a vague and distant future4 ,but better things may yet be hoped for when the true ,light from ,heaven shall enlighten every man1 and the love of goodness shall everywhere come from the love of ,god1 and nobleness of life from the perfect ,example of the ,lord4'--,,john ,,tulloch1 ,d4,d4 ,,ll4,d41 ,modern ,theories in ,philosophy and ,religion1 p4 #hf4 #bdg ,,appendix ,,xx ,mr4 ,frederic ,harrison came under the influence of both the ,newmans4 ',john ,henry ,newman led me on to his brother ,francis1 whose beautiful nature and subtle intelligence ,i now began to value4 ,his ,phases of ,faith1 ,the ,soul1 ,the ,hebrew ,monarchy deeply impressed me4 ,i was not prepared either to accept all this heterodoxy nor yet to reject it2 and ,i patiently waited till an answer could be found4'--,the ,creed of a ,layman4 #bdh ,,appendix ,,xxi ,even ,mr4 ,voysey admits the constraining power of the ,cross3 ',that is still the noblest1 most sublime picture in the whole ,bible1 where the ,christ is hanging on the ,cross1 and the tears and blood flow trickling down1 and the last words heard from ,his lips are ,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,that love and pity will for ever endure as the type and symbol of what is most ,divine in the heart of man4 ,thank ,god6 it has been repeated and repeated in the lives and deaths of millions besides the ,christ of ,calvary4 ,but wherever found it still claims the admiration1 and wins the homage of every human heart1 and is the crowning glory of the human race4--,c4 ,,voysey1 ,religion for ,all ,mankind1 p4 #aje4 #bdi ,,appendix ,,xxii ',not only the ,syrian superstition must be attacked1 but also the belief in a personal ,god which engenders a slavish and oriental condition of the mind1 and the belief in a posthumous reward which engenders a selfish and solitary condition of the heart4 ,these beliefs are1 therefore1 injurious to human nature4 ,they lower its dignity1 they arrest its development1 they isolate its affections4 ,we shall not deny that many beautiful sentiments are often mingled with the faith in a personal ,deity1 and with the hopes of happiness in a future state2 yet we maintain that1 however refined they may appear1 they are selfish at the core1 and that if removed they will be replaced by sentiments of a nobler and purer kind4'--,,winwood ,,reade1 ,martyrdom of ,man1 p4 #edc4 #bej ,,appendix ,,xxiii ',there is a servile deference paid1 even by ,christians1 to incompetent judges of ,christianity4 ,they abjectly look to men of the world1 to scholars1 to statesmen1 for testimonies to the everlasting and self-evidencing verities of heaven6 ,and if they can gather up1 from the writings or speeches of these men1 some patronising notices of religion1 some incidental compliment to the civilising influence of the ,bible1 or to the aesthetic proprieties of worship1 or to the moral sublimity of the character or gospel of ,christ1 they forthwith proclaim these tributes as lending some great confirmation to the ,truth of ,,god6 ,so we persist in asking1 not ,is it true8 true to our souls8 or1 ,has the ,lord said it8 but1 ,what say the learned men1 the influential men1 the eloquent men8 ,shame upon these time-serving concessions1 as unmanly as they are fallacious4 ,go back to the hovels1 rather1 and take the witnessing of the illiterate souls whose hearts1 waiting there in poverty or pain1 or under the shadow of some great affliction1 the ,lord ,himself hath opened4'--,f4 ,d4 ,,huntingdon1 ,christian ,believing and ,living4 #bea ,,appendix ,,xxiv ',it is foreign to our purpose to discuss the various theories which have been advanced to explain the genesis and power of the ,christian ,religion from the cynical ,gibbon to the sentimental ,renan and the ,rationalist ,strauss4 ,one remark may be permitted4 ,it has been our lot to read an immense amount of literature on this subject1 and with no bias in the orthodox direction1 we are bound to admit that no theory has yet appeared which from purely natural causes explains the remarkable life and marvellous influence of the ,founder of ,christianity4'--,,hector ,,macpherson1 ,books to ,read and ,how to ,head ,them4 #beb ,,appendix ,,xxv ,the ,song of a ,heathen ,sojourning in ,galilee1 ,a4,d4 #cb4 ,if ,jesus ,christ is a man1 ,and only a man1 ,i say ,that of all mankind ,i cleave to ,him1 ,and to ,him will ,i cleave alway4 ,if ,jesus ,christ is a ,god1 ,and the only ,god1 ,i swear ,i will follow ,him through heaven and hell1 ,the earth1 the sea1 and the air6 ,,richard ,,watson ,,gilder4 #bec ,,appendix ,,xxvi ',i distinguish absolutely between the character of ,jesus and the character of ,christianity--in other words between ,jesus of ,nazareth and ,jesus the ,christ4 ,shorn of all supernatural pretensions1 ,jesus emerges from the great mass of human beings as an almost perfect type of simplicity1 veracity1 and natural affection4 ,love one another was the ,alpha and ,omega of ,his teaching1 and ,he carried out the precept through every hour of ,his too brief life4444 ,but how blindly1 how foolishly my critics have interpreted the inner spirit of my argument1 how utterly have they failed to realise that the whole aim of the work is to justify ,jesus against the folly1 the cruelty1 the infamy1 the ignorance of the creed upbuilt upon ,his grave4 ,i show in cipher1 as it were1 that those who crucified ,him once would crucify ,him again1 were ,he to return amongst us4 ,i imply that among the first to crucify ,him would be the members of ,his ,own ,church4 ,but nowhere surely do ,i imply that ,his soul1 in its purely personal elements1 in its tender and sympathising humanity was not the very divinest that ever wore earth about it4'--,,robert ,,buchanan in ,letter of ,january #ahib to ,daily ,chronicle regarding his poem ,the ,wandering ,jew4 ,robert ,buchanan3 ,his ,life1 ,life's ,work1 and ,life's ,friendships1 by ,harriett ,jay1 pp4 #bgd-e4 #bed ,,appendix ,,xxvii ',i do not believe ,i have any personal immortality4 ,i am part of an immortality perhaps1 but that is different4 ,i am not the continuing thing4 ,i personally am experimental1 incidental4 ,i feel ,i have to do something1 a number of things no one else could do1 and then ,i am finished1 and finished altogether4 ,then my substance returns to the common lot4 ,i am a temporary enclosure for a temporary purpose3 that served1 and my skull and teeth1 my idiosyncrasy and desire will disperse1 ,i believe1 like the timbers of the booth after a fair4'--,h4 ,g4 ,,wells1 ,first and ,last ,things1 p4 #hj4 #bee ,,appendix ,,xxviii ',the estate of man upon this earth of ours may in course of time be vastly improved4 ,so much seems to be promised by the recent achievements of ,science1 whose advance is in geometrical progression1 each discovery giving birth to several more4 ,increase of health and extension of life by sanitary1 dietetic1 and gymnastic improvement2 increase of wealth by invention and of leisure by the substitution of machinery for labour3 more equal distribution of wealth with its comforts and refinements2 diffusion of knowledge2 political improvement2 elevation of the domestic affections and social sentiments2 unification of mankind and elimination of war through ascendency of reason over passion--all these things may be carried to an indefinite extent1 and may produce what in comparison with the present estate of man would be a terrestrial paradise4 ,selection and the merciless struggle for existence may be in some measure superseded by selection of a more scientific and merciful kind4 ,death may be deprived at all events of its pangs4 ,on the other hand1 the horizon does not appear to be clear of cloud4444 ,let our fancy suppose the most chimerical of ,utopias realised in a commonwealth of man4 ,mortal life prolonged to any conceivable extent is but a span4 ,still over every festal board in the community of terrestrial bliss will be cast the shadow of approaching death2 and the sweeter life becomes the more bitter death will be4 #bef ,the more bitter it will be at least to the ordinary man1 and the number of philosophers like ,john ,stuart ,mill is small4'--,,goldwin ,,smith3 ,guesses at the ,riddle of ,existence 7',is ,there ,another ,life8'74 ',in return for all of which they have deprived us1 some prophets of modern science are disposed to show us in the future a ,city of ,god minus ,god1 a ,paradise minus the ,tree of ,life1 a ,millennium with education to perfect the intellect1 and sanitary improvements to emancipate the body from a long catalogue of evils4 ,sorrow no doubt will not be abolished2 immortality will not be bestowed4 ,but we shall have comfortable and perfectly drained houses to be wretched in4 ,the news of our misfortunes1 the tidings that turn the hair white1 and break the strong man's heart will be conveyed to us from the ends of the earth by the agency of a telegraphic system without a flaw4 ,the closing eye may cease to look to the land beyond the ,river2 but in our last moments we shall be able to make a choice between patent furnaces for the cremation of our remains1 and coffins of the most charming description for their preservation when desiccated4'--,archbishop ,,alexander3 ,witness of the ,psalms to ,christ and ,christianity1 p4 #dh4 #beg ,,authorities ,,consulted ,abbott1 ,e4 ,a41 ,through ,nature to ,christ4 ,armstrong1 ,e4 ,a41 ,back to ,jesus2 ,man's ,knowledge of ,god2 ,agnosticism and ,theism in the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,arthur1 ,w41 ,god without ,religion2 ,religion without ,god4 ,aveling1 ,f4 7edited by71 ,westminster ,lectures4 ,balfour1 ,a4 ,j41 ,religion of ,humanity2 ,foundations of ,belief4 ,ballard1 ,f41 ,clarion ,fallacies2 ,miracles of ,unbelief4 ,barker1 ,joseph1 ,life of4 ,barry1 ,w41 ,heralds of ,revolt4 ,bartlett1 ,r4 ,e41 ,the ,letter and the ,spirit4 ,besant1 ,annie1 ,esoteric ,christianity4 ,blatchford1 ,r41 ,god and ,my ,neighbour4 ,blau1 ,paul1 ',wenn ihr ,mich ,kennetet4' ,bousset1 ,w41 ,jesus2 ,what is ,religion82 ,the ,faith of a ,modern ,protestant4 ,brace1 ,g4 ,loring1 ,gesta ,christi4 ,bremond1 ,h41 ',christus ,vivit' 7,epilogue of ,l',inquitude ,religieuse74 ,broglie1 ,l',abb ,paul de1 ,problmes et ,conclusions2 ,la ,morale sans ,dieu4 ,brooks1 ,phillips1 ,bishop1 ,the ,influence of ,jesus4 ,butler1 ,bishop1 ,the ,analogy of ,religion4 #beh ,caird1 ,e41 ,the ,evolution of ,religion2 ,the ,social ,philosophy and ,religion of ,comte4 ,caird1 ,j41 ,fundamental ,ideas of ,christianity4 ,cairns1 ,d4 ,s41 ,christianity in the ,modern ,world4 ,carey1 ,vivian1 ,parsons and ,pagans4 ,caro1 ,e41 ,l',ide de ,dieu et ses ,nouveaux ,critiques2 tudes ,morales2 ,problmes de ,morale ,sociale4 ,chesterton1 ,g4 ,k41 ,heretics2 ,orthodoxy4 ,church1 ,k4 ,w41 ,gifts of ,civilization2 ,pascal and other ,sermons4 ,clarke1 ,j4 ,freeman1 ,steps to ,belief4 ,cobbe1 ,frances ,power1 ,a ,faithless ,world2 ,broken ,lights2 ,autobiography4 ,coit1 ,stanton1 ,national ,idealism and a ,state ,church4 ,comte1 ,auguste1 ,catechism of ,positive ,religion 7translated by ,richard ,congreve74 ,contentio ,veritatis4 ,conway1 ,moncure ,d41 ,the ,earthward ,pilgrimage4 ,craufurd1 ,a4 ,h41 ,christian ,instincts and ,modern ,doubt4 ,crooker1 ,j4 ,h41 ,the ,supremacy of ,jesus4 ,d',alviella1 ,g41 ,revolution ,religieuse ,contemporaine4 ,davies1 ,o4 ,maurice1 ,heterodox ,london4 ,davies1 ,llewelyn1 ,morality according to the ,lord's ,supper4 ,do we ,believe8 7,correspondence from ,daily ,telegraph47 ,drawbridge1 ,c4 ,l41 ,is ,religion ,undermined8 ,drummond1 ,j41 ,via1 ,veritas1 ,vita4 ,du ,bose1 ,w4 ,p41 ,the ,gospel and the ,gospels4 ,eaton1 ,j4 ,r4 ,t41 ,the ,permanence of ,christianity4 ,faber1 ,hans1 ,das ,christentum der ,zukunft4 ,fairbairn1 ,a4 ,m41 ,christ in ,modern ,theology4 #bei ,farrar1 ,a4 ,s41 ,critical ,history of ,free ,thought4 ,farrar1 ,f4 ,w41 ,seekers after ,god2 ,witness of ,history to ,christ4 ,fiske1 ,john1 ,the ,idea of ,god as ,affected by ,modern ,knowledge2 ,through ,nature to ,god2 ,man's ,destiny4 ,fitchett1 ,w4 ,h41 ,beliefs of ,unbelief4 ,flint1 ,r41 ,theism2 ,anti-,theistic ,theories4 ,footman1 ,h41 ,reasonable ,apprehensions and ,reassuring ,hints4 ,fordyce1 ,j41 ,aspects of ,scepticism4 ,forrest1 ,d4 ,w41 ,the ,christ of ,history and of ,experience4 ,frommel1 ,gaston1 tudes ,religieuses et ,sociales2 tudes ,morales et ,religieuses4 ,gindraux1 ,j41 ,le ,christ et la ,pense ,moderne 7,translation from ,pfennigsdorf74 ,gladden1 ,washington1 ,how ,much is ,left of the ,old ,doctrines8 ,gore1 ,o41 ,bishop1 ,the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god2 ,the ,christian ,creed4 ,guyau1 ,m41 ,l',irrligion de l',avenir2 ,la ,morale sans ,sanction4 ,haeckel1 ,e41 ,riddle of the ,universe2 ,the ,confession of ,faith of a ,man of ,science4 ,harnack1 ,adolf1 ,what is ,christianity82 ,christianity and ,history4 ,harrison1 ,a4 ,j41 ,problems of ,christianity and ,scepticism4 ,harrison1 ,frederic1 ,memories and ,thoughts2 ,the ,creed of a ,layman4 ,haw1 ,george 7edited by71 ,religious ,doubts of ,democracy4 ,henson1 ,h4 ,hensley1 ,popular ,rationalism2 ,the ,value of the ,bible4 ,hillis1 ,n4 ,d41 ,influence of ,christ in ,modern ,life4 #bfj ,hoffmann1 ,f4 ,s41 ,the ,sphere of ,religion4 ,hunt1 ,jasper ,b41 ,good without ,god4 ,hunt1 ,john1 ,christianity and ,pantheism4 ,hutton1 ,r4 ,h41 ,essays ,theological and ,literary2 ,contemporary ,thought and ,thinkers2 ,aspects of ,religious and ,scientific ,thought4 ,huxley1 ,t4 ,h41 ,evolution and ,ethics4 ,illingworth1 ,j4 ,r41 ,personality ,human and ,divine2 ,divine ,immanence4 ,is ,christianity ,true8 7,lectures in ,central ,hall1 ,manchester74 ,jastrow1 ,morris1 ,the ,study of ,religion4 ,jefferies1 ,richard1 ,the ,story of my ,heart3 ,my ,autobiography4 ,jones1 ,harry 7edited by71 ,some ,urgent ,questions in ,christian ,lights4 ,kutter1 ,herrmann1 ,sie ,mssen4 ,lecky1 ,w4 ,e4 ,h41 ,history of ,european ,morals4 ,liddon1 ,h4 ,p41 ,the ,divinity of our ,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ2 ,some ,elements of ,religion4 ,lilly1 ,w4 ,s41 ,the ,great ,enigma2 ,the ,claims of ,christianity4 ,lodge1 ,sir ,oliver1 ,the ,substance of ,faith4 ,lucas1 ,bernard1 ,the ,faith of a ,christian4 ,lux ,hominum4 ,lux ,mundi4 ,maitland1 ,brownlow1 ,theism or ,agnosticism2 ,steps to ,faith4 ,mallock1 ,w4 ,h41 ,reconstruction of ,belief4 #bfa ,marson1 ,o4 ,l41 ,following of ,christ4 ,martin1 ,a4 ,s41 ',christ in ,modern ,thought' 7,hastings's ,dictionary of ,christ and the ,gospels1 ,appendix74 ,martineau1 ,harriet1 ,autobiography4 ,martineau1 ,james1 ,ideal ,substitutes for ,god2 ,a ,study of ,religion2 ,hours of ,thought4 ,matheson1 ,g41 ,growth of the ,spirit of ,christianity4 ,matheson1 ,a4 ,scott1 ,the ,gospel and ,modern ,substitutes4 ,menzies1 ,allan1 ,s4 ,paul's ,view of the ,divinity of ,christ4 ,menzies1 ,p4 ,s41 ',christian ,pantheism' 7in ,sermons74 ,momerie1 ,a4 ,w41 ,belief in ,god2 ,immortality2 ,origin of ,evil4 ,monod1 ,wilfrid1 ,aux ,croyants et aux ,athes2 ,peut-on rester ,chrtien8 ,mories1 ,a4 ,s41 ,haeckel's ,contribution to ,religion4 ,morison1 ,j4 ,cotter1 ,the ,service of ,man4 ,mozoomdar1 ,protab ,chandra1 ,the ,oriental ,christ4 ,myers1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h41 ,modern ,essays4 ,naville1 ,ernest1 ,le ,pre ,cleste2 ,le ,christ2 ,le ,temoignage du ,christ et l',unit du ,monde ,chrtien4 ,neumann1 ,arno1 ,jesus4 ,newman1 ,f4 ,w41 ,the ,soul3 ,its ,sorrows and ,aspirations2 ,phases of ,faith4 ,nolloth1 ,c4 ,f41 ,the ,person of our ,lord and ,recent ,thought4 ,oxenham1 ,h4 ,n41 ,essays ,ethical and ,religious4 ,oxford ,house ,tracts4 ,palmer1 ,w4 ,s41 ,an ,agnostic's ,progress2 ,the ,church and ,modern ,men4 ,peile1 ,j4 ,h4 ,f41 ,the ,reproach of the ,gospel4 ,pfannmller1 ,gustav1 ,jesus im ,urteil der ,jahrhunderte4 #bfb ,picard1 ,l',abb1 ,christianity or ,agnosticism82 ,la ,transcendance de ,jsus ,christ4 ,picton1 ,j4 ,allanson1 ,the ,religion of the ,universe2 ,pantheism3 ,its ,story and ,significance4 ,plumptre1 ,e4 ,h41 ,christ and ,christendom4 ,present ,day ,tracts 7,r4 ,t4 ,s474 ,pringle-,pattison1 ,a4 ,seth1 ,man's ,place in the ,cosmos4 ,reade1 ,winwood1 ,the ,martyrdom of ,man2 ,the ,outcast4 ,religion and the ,modern ,mind 7,st4 ,ninian's ,society ,lectures74 ,renesse1 ,jesus ,christ and ,his ,apostles and ,disciples in the ,twentieth ,century4 ,robinson1 ,o4 ,h41 ,human ,nature a ,revelation of the ,divine2 ,studies in the ,character of ,christ4 ,romanes1 ,g4 ,j41 ,thoughts on ,religion4 ,sabatier1 ,a41 ,the ,religions of ,authority and the ,religion of the ,spirit4 ,sanday1 ,w41 ,life of ,christ in ,recent ,research4 ,savage1 ,m4 ,j41 ,religion for ,to-day2 ,the ,life ,beyond4 ,schmiedel1 ,p4 ,w41 ,jesus and ,modern ,criticism4 ,seaver1 ,r4 ,w41 ,to ,christ through ,criticism4 ,secularist's ,manual4 ,seeley1 ,j4 ,r41 ,ecce ,homo2 ,natural ,religion4 ,sen1 ,keshub ,chunder1 ,india asks1 ,who is ,christ8 ,sheldon1 ,h4 ,o41 ,unbelief in the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,simpson1 ,p4 ,carnegie1 ,the ,fact of ,christ4 ,smith1 ,goldwin1 ,guesses at the ,riddle of ,existence2 ,lectures on the ,study of ,history2 ,the founder of ,christianity4 ,smyth1 ,newman1 ,old ,faiths in ,new ,light4 ,stanley1 ,a4 ,p41 ',theology of the ,nineteenth ,century' 7in ,essays on ,church and ,state72 ,christian ,institutions4 #bfc ,stephen1 ,j4 ,fitzjames1 ',the ,unknowable and ,unknown' 7,nineteenth ,century1 ,june #ahhd72 ,liberty1 ,equality1 and ,fraternity4 ,stephen1 ,leslie1 ,an ,agnostic's ,apology2 ,english ,thought in the ,eighteenth ,century4 ,swete1 ,h4 ,b4 7edited by71 ,cambridge ,theological ,essays4 ,swift1 ,dean1 ,the ,abolishing of ,christianity4 ,topics for the ,times 7,s4 ,p4 ,c4 ,k474 ,tulloch1 ,j41 ,modern ,theories in ,theology and ,philosophy2 ,movements of ,religious ,thought4 ,van ,dyke1 ,h41 ,the ,gospel for an ,age of ,doubt2 ,the ,gospel for a ,world of ,sin4 ,vivian1 ,philip1 ,the ,churches and ,modern ,thought4 ,voysey1 ,c41 ,religion for ,all ,mankind4 ,wace1 ,h41 ,christianity and ,morality4 ,wallace1 ,alfred ,russel1 ,man's ,place in the ,universe4 ,warschauer1 ,j41 ,the ,new ,evangel2 ,jesus3 ,seven ,questions2 ,anti-,nunquam2 ,jesus or ,christ8 ,watkinson1 ,w4 ,l41 ,influence of ,scepticism on ,character4 ,weinel1 ,h41 ,jesus im ,nevmzehnten ,jahrhundert4 ,welsh1 ,r4 ,e41 ,in ,relief of ,doubt4 ,wells1 ,h4 ,g41 ,first and ,last ,things1 ,a ,confession of ,faith and ,rule of ,life4 ,wilson1 ,j4 ,m41 ,problems of ,religion and ,science4 ,wimmer1 ,r41 ,my ,struggle for ,light4 ,wordsworth1 ,john1 ,bishop1 ,the ,one ,religion4 ,young1 ,john1 ,the ,christ of ,history4 #bfe ,,index ,abbott1 ,edwin ,a41 #aag4 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