,,theology ,,and ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,a ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,relations ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,to ,,theology ,,by ,,henry ,,churchill ,,king ,,professor ,,of ,,theology ,,and ,,philosophy ,,in ,,oberlin ,,college ,,second ,,edition ,,hodder ,,stoughton ,,new ,,york ,,george ,h4 ,,doran ,,company ,,copyright1 #aijb ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,set up and electrotyped ,september1 #aijb ,reprinted ,february1 #aijd2 ,july1 #aijg2 ,august1 #aiaj2 ,april1 #aiab4 ,to the ,members of the ,harvard ,summer ,school of ,theology ,,of ,,the ,,year #aija ,,in ,,recognition ,,of ,,their ,,interest ,,in ,,the ,,lectures ,,that ,,formed ,,the ,,basis ,,of ,,this ,,book ,,preface ,there is no attempt in this book to present a complete system of theology1 though much of such a system is passed in review1 but only to study a special phase of theological thinking4 ,the precise theme of the book is the relations of the social consciousness to theology4 ,this is the subject upon which the writer was asked to lecture at the ,harvard ,summer ,school of ,theology of #aija2 and the book has grown out of the lectures there given4 ,in preparing the book for the press1 however1 the lecture form has been entirely abandoned1 and considerable material added4 ,the importance of the theme seems to justify a somewhat thorough-going treatment4 ,if one believes at all in the presence of ,god in history--and the ,christian can have no doubt here--he must be profoundly interested in such a phenomenon as the steady growth of the social consciousness4 ,hardly any inner characteristic of our time has a stronger historical justification than that consciousness2 and it has carried the reason and conscience of the men of this generation in rare degree4 ,having its own comparatively independent development1 and yet making an ethical demand that is thoroughly ,christian1 it furnishes an almost ideal standpoint from which to review our theological statements1 and1 at the same time1 a valuable test of their really ,christian quality4 ,in attempting1 then1 a careful study of the relations of the social consciousness to theology1 this book aims1 first1 definitely to get at the real meaning of the social consciousness as the theologian must view it1 and so to bring clearly into mind the unconscious assumptions of the social consciousness itself2 and then to trace out the influence of the social consciousness upon the conception of religion1 and upon theological doctrine4 ,the larger portion of the book is naturally given to the influence upon theological doctrine2 and to make the discussion here as pointed as possible1 the different elements of the social consciousness are considered separately4 ,it should be noted1 however1 that the question raised is not the historical one1 ,how1 as a matter of fact1 has the social consciousness modified the conception of religion or the statement of theological doctrine8 but the theoretical one1 ,how should the social consciousness naturally affect religion and doctrine8 ,in this sense1 the result might be called1 in ,president ,hyde's phrase1 a social theology2 but1 as ,i believe that the social consciousness is at bottom only a true sense of the fully personal1 ,i prefer myself to think of the present book as only carrying out in more detail the contention of my ,reconstruction in ,theology--that theology should aim at a restatement of doctrine in strictly personal terms4 ,so conceived1 in spite of its casual origin1 this book follows very naturally upon the previous book4 ,some of the same topics necessarily recur here2 and references to the ,reconstruction have been freely made1 in order to avoid all unnecessary repetition4 ,that this social sense of the fully personal has finally a real and definite contribution to make to theology1 ,i cannot doubt4 ,i can only hope that the present discussion may be found at least suggestive1 particularly in the analysis of the social consciousness1 and in the treatment of mysticism and of the ethical in religion1 as well as in the consideration of the special influence of the elements of the social consciousness upon the restatement of doctrine4 ,of the doctrinal applications1 the application to the problem of redemption may be considered1 perhaps1 of most significance4 ,,henry ,,churchill ,,king4 ,,oberlin ,,college1 ,june1 #aijb4 ,,contents ,,introduction ,,page ,,the ,,theme #a ,,the ,,real ,,meaning ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,for ,,theology ,,introduction ,,the ,,point ,,of ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,theologian #e ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,definition ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness #i ,i4 ,the ,sense of the ,like-,mindedness of ,men #i ,,ii4 ,the ,sense of the ,mutual ,influence of ,men #aa #a4 ,contributing ,lines of ,thought #aa #b4 ,the ,threefold ,form of the ,conviction #ac ,,iii4 ,the ,sense of the ,value and ,sacredness of the ,person #af ,,iv4 ,the ,sense of ,obligation #ah ,v4 ,the ,sense of ,love #bj ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,inadequacy ,,of ,,the ,,analogy ,,of ,,the ,,organism ,,as ,,an ,,expression ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness #bc ,i4 ,the ,value of the ,analogy #bc ,,ii4 ,the ,inevitable ,inadequacy of the ,analogy #bd #a4 ,it ,comes from the ,sub-personal ,world #bd #b4 ,access to ,reality1 ,only ,through ,ourselves #bd #c4 ,mistaken ,passion for ,construing ,everything #be ,,iii4 ,the ,analogy ,tested by the ,definition of the ,social ,consciousness #bg ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,the ,,facts ,,of ,,which ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,is ,,the ,,reflection1 ,,if ,,ideal ,,interests ,,are ,,to ,,be ,,supreme #bi ,i4 ,the ,question #bi ,,ii4 ,otherwise1 ,no ,moral ,world at all #cj #a4 ,the ,prerequisites of a ,moral ,world #cj 7#a7 ,a ,sphere of ,law #cj 7#b7 ,ethical ,freedom #cj 7#c7 ,some ,power of ,accomplishment #ca 7#d7 ,members ,one of ,another #cb #b4 ,the ,ideal ,world ,requires1 thus1 the ,facts of the ,social ,consciousness #cb ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,ultimate ,,explanation ,,and ,,ground ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness #ce ,i4 ,how can it be1 ,metaphysically1 that we do ,influence ,one ,another8 #ce #a4 ,not ,due to the ,physical ,fact of ,race-,connection #cf #b4 ,we are not to ,over-,emphasize the ,principle of ,heredity #cg #c4 ,not ,due to a ,mystical ,solidarity #ci #d4 ,grounded in the ,immanence of ,god #dj ,,ii4 ,what is ,required for the ,final ,positive ,justification of the ,social ,consciousness1 as ,ethical8 #dd #a4 ,must be ,grounded in the ,supporting ,will of ,god #dd #b4 ,god's ,sharing in our ,life #dh #c4 ,the ,consequent ,transfiguration of the ,social ,consciousness #di ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,conception ,,of ,,religion ,,introduction #ec ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,opposition ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,to ,,the ,,falsely ,,mystical #ee ,i4 ,what is the ,falsely ,mystical8 #ee #a4 ,nash's ,definition #ee #b4 ,herrmann's ,definition #ef ,,ii4 ,the ,objections of the ,social ,consciousness to the ,falsely ,mystical #eg #a4 ,unethical #eh #b4 ,does not ,give a ,really ,personal ,god #eh #c4 ,belittles the ,personal in ,man #ei #d4 ,leaves the ,historically1 ,concretely ,christian #fb ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,emphasis ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,personal ,,relation ,,in ,,religion1 ,,and ,,so ,,upon ,,the ,,truly ,,mystical #ff ,i4 ,the ,social ,consciousness ,tends ,positively to ,emphasize the ,personal ,relation in ,religion #ff #a4 ,emphasizes ,everywhere the ,personal #ff #b4 ,requires the ,laws of a ,deepening ,friendship in ,religion #fg #c4 ,requires the ,ideal ,conditions of the ,richest ,life in ,religion #fh ,,ii4 ,the ,social ,consciousness thus ,keeps the ,truly ,mystical #gj #a4 ,the ,justifiable and ,unjustifiable ,elements in ,mysticism #ga 7#a7 ,emotion1 the ,test #ga 7#b7 ,subjective ,tendency #gb 7#c7 ,underestimating the ,historical #gb 7#d7 ,tendency toward ,vagueness #gc 7#e7 ,tendency toward ,pantheism #gc 7#f7 ,tendency to ,extravagant ,symbolism #gf #b4 ,the ,protest in ,favor of the ,whole ,man #gh #c4 ,the ,self-,controlled ,recognition of ,emotion #hb ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,thorough ,,ethicizing ,,of ,,religion #hf ,i4 ,the ,pressure of the ,problem #hf ,,ii4 ,the ,statement of the ,problem #hg ,,iii4 ,the ,answer #hi #a4 ,involved in ,relation to ,christ #hi #b4 ,the ,divine ,will ,felt in the ,ethical ,command #ij #c4 ,involved in the ,nature of ,god's ,gifts #ia #d4 ,communion with ,god1 ,through ,harmony with ,his ,ethical ,will #ib #e4 ,the ,vision of ,god for the ,pure in ,heart #ib #f4 ,sharing the ,life of ,god #ic #g4 ,christ1 as ,satisfying ,our ,highest ,claims on ,life #id #h4 ,the ,vision of the ,riches of the ,life of ,christ1 ,ethically ,conditioned #if #i4 ,the ,moral ,law1 as a ,revelation of the ,love of ,god #ih ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,emphasis ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,historically ,,christian #ajb ,i4 ,the ,social ,consciousness ,needs ,historical ,justification #ajb ,,ii4 ,christianity's ,response to this ,need #ajc ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,theological ,,doctrine ,,chapter ,,ix ,,general ,,results #aje ,i4 ,the ,conception of ,theology in ,personal ,terms #ajf ,,ii4 ,the ,fatherhood of ,god1 as the ,determining ,principle in ,theology #aji ,,iii4 ,christ's ,own ,social ,emphases #aaa ,,iv4 ,the ,reflection in ,theology of the ,changes in the ,conception of ,religion #aac ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,like-,,mindedness ,,of ,,men ,,upon ,,theology #aae ,i4 ,no ,prime ,favorites with ,god #aaf ,,ii4 ,the ,great ,universal ,qualities and ,interests1 the ,most ,valuable #aag ,,iii4 ,essential ,likeness ,under very ,diverse ,forms #aba ,,iv4 ,as ,applied to the ,question of ,immortality #abd ,v4 ,consequent ,larger ,sympathy with ,men1 ,faith in ,men1 and ,hope for ,men #abg ,,vi4 ,judgment ,according to ,light1 and the ,moral ,reality of the ,future ,life #acb ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,mutual ,,influence ,,of ,,men ,,upon ,,theology #acf ,i4 ,the ,real ,unity of the ,race #acf ,,ii4 ,deepening the ,sense of ,sin #aci ,,iii4 ,mutual ,influence for ,good in the ,attainment of ,character #ade #a4 ,application to the ,problem of ,redemption #adg #b4 ,the ,consequent ,ethical and ,spiritual ,meaning of ,substitution and ,propitiation #aej ,,iv4 ,mutual ,influence for ,good in our ,personal ,relation to ,god #afj #a4 ,in ,coming into the ,kingdom #afj #b4 ,in ,fellowship within the ,kingdom #afb #c4 ,in ,intercessory ,prayer #afd ,v4 ,mutual ,influence for ,good in ,confessions of ,faith #afg #a4 ,complete ,uniformity of ,belief and ,statement ,impossible #afi #b4 ,complete ,uniformity of ,belief and ,statement ,undesirable #aga ,,vi4 ,the ,consequent ,importance of the ,doctrine of the ,church #agg ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,value ,,and ,,sacredness ,,of ,,the ,,person ,,upon ,,theology #agi ,i4 ,the ,recognition of the ,personal in ,man #ahj #a4 ,man's ,personal ,separateness from ,god #ahj #b4 ,emphasis upon ,man's ,moral ,initiative #aha #c4 ,man1 a ,child of ,god #ahc ,,ii4 ,the ,recognition of the ,personal in ,christ #ahd #a4 ,christ1 a ,personal ,revelation of ,god #ahd #b4 ,emphasizing the ,moral and ,spiritual in ,asserting the ,supremacy of ,christ #ahe #c4 ,the ,moral and ,spiritual ,grounds of the ,supremacy of ,christ #ahh 7#a7 ,the ,greatest in the ,greatest ,sphere #ahh 7#b7 ,the ,sinless and ,impenitent ,one #aib 7#c7 ,consciously ,rises to the ,highest ,ideal #aid 7#d7 ,realizes the ,character of ,god #aie 7#e7 ,consciously ,able to ,redeem ,all ,men #aif 7#f7 ,complete ,normality under this ,transcendent ,god-,consciousness and ,sense of ,mission #aig 7#g7 ,the ,only ,person ,who can call out ,absolute ,trust #aih 7#h7 ,the ,one1 in ,whom ,god ,certainly ,finds ,us #aii 7#i7 ,the ,ideal ,realized #bjj #d4 ,christ's ,double ,uniqueness #bja #e4 ,the ,increasing ,sense of ,our ,kinship with ,christ1 and of ,his ,reality #bje ,,iii4 ,the ,recognition of the ,personal in ,god4 #bjg #a4 ,the ,steady ,carrying ,through of the ,completely ,personal in the ,conception of ,god4 ,guarding the ,conception #bjh #b4 ,god is ,always the ,completely ,personal ,god #bab 7#a7 ,consequent ,relation of ,god to ,eternal ,truths #bab 7#b7 ,eternal ,creation #bad 7#c7 ,the ,unity and ,unchangeableness of ,god #baf 7#d7 ,the ,limitations of the ,conception of ,immanence #bag #c4 ,deepening the ,thought of the ,fatherhood of ,god #bah 7#a7 ,history1 no ,mere ,natural ,process #bah 7#b7 ,god1 the ,great ,servant #bai 7#c7 ,no ,divine ,arbitrariness #bbj 7#d7 ,the ,passibility of ,god #bba #d4 ,as to the ,doctrine of a ,social ,trinity #bbb #e4 ,preminent ,reverence for ,personality1 ,characterizing all ,god's ,relations with ,men #bbf 7#a7 ,reflected in ,christ #bbf 7#b7 ,in ,creation #bcj 7#c7 ,in ,providence #bcb 7#d7 ,in ,our ,personal ,religious ,life #bcc 7#e7 ,in the ,judgment #bcg 7#f7 ,in the ,future ,life #bdj ,,theology ,,and ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,introduction ,,the ,,theme ,no theologian can be excused to-day from a careful study of the relations of theology and the social consciousness4 ,whether this study becomes a formal investigation or not1 the social consciousness is so deep and significant a phenomenon in the ethical life of our time1 that it cannot be ignored by the theologian who means to bring his message to men really home4 ,this book is written in the conviction that1 while men are thus moved as never before by a deep sense of mutual influence and obligation1 they have also as deep and genuine an interest as ever in the really greatest questions of religion and theology4 ,interests so significant and so akin cannot long remain isolated in the mind4 ,they are certain soon profoundly to influence each other4 ,and this mutual influence of theology and the social consciousness form the theme of this book4 ,two questions are naturally involved in this theme4 ,first3 ,has theology given any help1 or has it any help to give1 to the social consciousness8--the question of the first division of the book4 ,second3 ,has the social consciousness made any contribution1 or has it any contribution to make1 to theology8--the question of the second and third divisions4 ,that is to say3 ,on the one hand1 ,have the great facts which theology studies any help to give to the man who faces the problem of social progress--of the steady elevation of the race8 ,on the other hand1 ,has the great fact of the immensely quickened social consciousness of our time1 with all that it means1 any help to give to the theologian in his attempt to bring the great ,christian truths really home to men1 to make them more real1 more rational1 more vital8 ,or again3 ,on the one hand1 do theological doctrines--the most adequate statements we can make of the great ,christian truths--best explain and best ground the social consciousness1 so as best to bring our entire thought in this sphere of the social into unity8 ,is the ,christian truth so great that it not only includes all that is true in this new social consciousness--is fully able to take it up into itself and to make it feel at home there--but also1 so great that it alone can give the social consciousness its fullest meaning1 alone enable it to understand itself1 and alone furnish it adequate motive and power8 ,is the social consciousness1 in truth1 only a disguised statement of ,christian convictions1 and does it really require the ,christian religion and its thoughtful expression to complete itself8 ,must the social consciousness say1 when it comes to full self-knowledge1--,i am myself an unmeaning and unjustified by-product1 if there is not a ,god in the full ,christian sense8 and1 so saying1 confirm again the great ,christian truths8 ,this is the question of the first division4 ,on the other hand1 since the task of any given theologian is necessarily temporary1 and since any marked modification of the consciousness of men will inevitably demand some restatement of theological doctrine1 the question here becomes--,to what changed points of view in religion and theology1 to what restatements of doctrine1 and so to what truer appreciation of ,christian truth1 does the new social consciousness naturally lead8 ,how do the affirmations of the social consciousness1 as the outcome of a careful1 inductive study of the social evolution of the race1 affect our theological statements8 ,this is the question of the second and third divisions of the book4 ,our discussion must of course assume and build on the conclusions of sociology1 and of ,new ,testament theology1 especially the conclusions concerning the social teaching of ,jesus4 ,,the ,,real ,,meaning ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,for ,,theology ,,introduction ,,the ,,point ,,of ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,theologian ,first1 then1 what is the real meaning of the social consciousness1 as the theologian must view it8 ,the answer to this question involves a preliminary one3 ,what is the point of view of the theologian in any investigation8 ,one can only give his own answer4 ,first of all1 the theologian1 as such1 is an interpreter1 not a tracer of causal connections4 ,he builds everywhere upon the scientific investigator1 and takes from him the statement of facts and processes4 ,with these he has primarily nothing to do4 ,with reference to the social consciousness1 therefore1 he does not attempt to do over again the work of the sociologist2 he asks only1 ,what does the social consciousness1 in the light of the whole of life and thought1 mean2 not1 ,how did it come about8 ,the theologian1 too1 is a believer in the supremacy of spiritual interests2 this is his central contention4 ,he affirms strenuously1 with the scientific worker1 the place and value of the mechanical2 but he is certain that the mechanical can understand itself even1 only as it is seen to be simple means1 and thus clearly subordinate in significance4 ,his problem is1 therefore1 everywhere1 that of ideal interpretation1 not of mechanical explanation4 ,but1 while he has nothing to do with the scientific tracing of immediate causal connections1 he recognizes causality itself as requiring an ultimate explanation1 that cannot be mechanically given4 ,the theologian must be in this1 then1 an ideal interpreter1 and an inquirer after the ultimate cause4 ,the theologian assumes1 moreover1 the legitimacy and value of the fact of religion2 for theology is simply the thoughtful1 comprehensive1 and unified expression of what religion means to us4 ,the meaning of the social consciousness to the theologian involves1 therefore1 at once the question of its relation to religious conviction4 ,the point of view of the ,christian theologian involves1 besides1 the reality of the personal ,god in personal relation to persons4 ,theology is in earnest in its thought of ,god1 and knows that ,god is everywhere to be taken into account2 that1 if there is a ,god at all1 he is not to be exiled into some corner of his universe1 but is intimately concerned in all1 is at the very heart of all2 and that1 therefore1 it is not a matter of merely curious interest or of subsidiary inquiry1 whether we are to look at our questions with ,god in mind4 ,finally1 the ,christian theologian tries everywhere to make his point of view the point of view of ,christ4 ,the theology1 upon which he ultimately stakes his all1 is ,christ's theology4 ,he knows that there is much concerning which he cannot refuse to think1 but upon which ,christ has not expressed himself either explicitly or by clear inference2 but in all this unavoidable supplementary thinking he aims to be absolutely loyal to the spirit of ,christ4 ,from this point of view of the ,christian theologian1 now1 what does the social consciousness mean8 ,the answer may be given under four heads3 7#a7 the definition of the social consciousness2 7#b7 the inadequacy of the analogy of the organism1 as an expression of the social consciousness2 7#c7 the necessity of the facts1 of which the social consciousness is the reflection1 if ideal interests are to be supreme2 7#d7 the ultimate explanation and ground of the social consciousness4 ,these four topics form the subjects of the four chapters of the first division of our inquiry4 ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,definition ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,the simplest and probably the most accurate single expression we can give to the social consciousness1 is to say that it is a growing sense of the real brotherhood of men4 ,but five elements seem plainly involved in this1 and may be profitably separated in our thought1 if that is to be clear and definite3--a deepening sense 7#a7 of the likeness or like-mindedness of men1 7#b7 of their mutual influence1 7#c7 of the value and sacredness of the person1 7#d7 of mutual obligation1 and 7#e7 of love4 ,i4 ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,like-,,mindedness ,,of ,,men#a ,if a society is a group of like-minded individuals1 if the all-essential requisites for coperation are like-mindedness and consciousness of kind1 as ,giddings tells us1 then certainly a prime element in the social consciousness is likeness and the sense of it--a growing sense of the mental and moral resemblance and potential resemblance of all men1 and of all classes of men1 though not equality of powers4 ,equality of need among men1 too1#b to which sociology comes as one of its surest conclusions1 implies a common capacity1 even if in varying degrees1 to enter into the most fundamental interests of life1 and so points unmistakably to the essential likeness of men in the most important things4 ,so1 too1 sociology's unquestioning assertion that both smaller and larger groups of men constantly tend toward unity1 assumes potential resemblance4 ,and the uniform experience and prescription of social workers1 that really knowing how the other half lives brings increasing sympathy1 also affirm the fundamental likeness of men4 ,every painstaking investigation of a social question comes out at some point or other with a fresh discovery of a previously hidden1 underlying resemblance between classes of men4 ,from the careful1 inductive study of social evolution1 too1 the men of our day see1 as no other generation has seen1 that the great force always and everywhere at work in that evolution has been likeness and the consciousness of it4 ,for all these reasons1 this generation believes1 as men never believed before1 in the essential like-mindedness of men2 and this deepening sense of the like-mindedness of men is certainly one element in the modern social consciousness4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,mutual ,,influence ,,of ,,men ,a second element in the social consciousness1 and1 perhaps1 that which has most of all characterized it through the larger period of its growth1 is the strong sense of the mutual influence of men--that we are all members one of another4 #a4 ,contributing ,lines of ,thought4--,it is worth seeing how firmly planted the idea is4 ,several lines of thought have united to induce men to emphasize--perhaps even to over-emphasize--this way of thinking of society4 ,the influence of natural science1 in the first place1 has been inevitably in this direction4 ,its root idea of the universality of law forces upon one the thought of a world which is a coherent whole1 a unity with universal forces in it1 in which every part is inextricably connected with every other4 ,so1 too1 the acceptance of the theory of evolution has led science to regard the whole history of the physical universe as an organic growth4 ,psychology1 also1 with its present-day emphasis1 in ,baldwin and ,royce1 upon the constant presence and fundamental character of imitation1 and its insistence upon the still more fundamental impulsiveness of consciousness which ,dewey believes underlies imitation1#c is really proclaiming exactly this element of the social consciousness4 ,and the whole assertion by the later psychology of the unity of man--mind and body1 and of the complex intertwining of all the functions of the mind1 is in closest harmony with a similar view of society4 ,philosophy1 too1 is exerting all along a half-unconscious pressure toward the thought of the organic unity of society4 ,that philosophy may exist at all1 it must start from the assumption of a universe1 a real unity of truth1 and its problem is to find a discerned unity4 ,it knows no unrelated being1 and1 consequently1 whether it theoretically accepts the formulation or not1 it must admit that1 as a matter of fact1 to be is to be in relations4 ,it asserts as a universal fact1 what natural science and psychology both affirm in their own respective spheres1 the concrete relatedness of all4 ,it cannot well deny the same thought when applied to society4 ,its repeated attempts1 moreover1 to conceive all as a developing unity1 and the profound influence of the analogy of the organism upon its history1 both further sustain the organic view of society4 ,christianity1 as well1 has been a powerful factor in this direction from the beginning1 for it really first gave the ,idea of ,humanity4#d #b4 ,the ,threefold ,form of the ,conviction4--,sustained1 now1 by all these movements in natural science1 psychology1 philosophy1 and ,christianity1 this thought of the mutual influence of men has taken three forms3 that mutual influence is inevitable1 isolation impossible2 that mutual influence is desirable1 isolation to be shunned2 that mutual influence is indispensable1 isolation blighting4 7#a7 ,this second element in the social consciousness has meant1 then1 in the first place1 a growing sense of the inevitableness of the mutual influence of all men1 and of all classes of men2 that we are all parts of one whole1 each part unavoidably affected by every other2 that we are bound up in one bundle of life with all men1 and cannot live an isolated life if we would2 that we do influence one another whether we will or not1 and tend unconsciously to draw others to our level and are ourselves drawn toward theirs2 that we joy and suffer together whether we will or not1 and grow or deteriorate together4 7#b7 ,but the mutual influence of men means more than this3 not only that we do inevitably affect one another in living out our own life1 but a growing sense of the fact that we are obviously not intended to come to our best in independence of one another2 that we are made on so large a plan that we cannot come to our best alone2 that we are evidently made for personal relations1 and that1 therefore1 largeness of life for ourselves depends on our entering into the life of others4 7#c7 ,but even more than this is true4 ,it is not only that entering into the life of others is a help in my life1 it is the great help1 the one great means1 the indispensable1 the essential condition of all largeness of life2 it is the very meaning of life1--life itself4 ,we are to find our life only in losing our life4 ,life is the fulfilment of relations4 ,when we try to run away from the variety and complexity of these relations1 we are running away from life itself4 ,the indispensableness of these relations to others is assumed1 also1 in the assertion by the sociologist of an evolution toward a society1 at once more and more complex1 and more and more perfect4 ,but if ,i grow in the growth of another1 the other grows in my growth4 ,if the only thing of value that ,i can finally give is myself1 the value of that gift depends upon the largeness and richness of the self given4 ,for love's own sake1 therefore1 ,i must grow1 must strive to bring to its highest perfection that work which is given me to do4 ,a person is a social being called to contribute to the whole1 in the line of his own best possibilities4 ,one's largest ministry to others is to be rendered1 then1 through sacred regard for one's own calling1 considered as exactly his place of largest service4 ,or1 to put it the other way3 ,i can come to my best only in work so great and in associations so large that ,i may lose myself in them in perfect objectivity4 ,the mutual influence of men1 therefore1 is unavoidable1 is desirable1 is indispensable2 isolation impossible1 hindering1 blighting4 ,this is the true solidarity of the race1 in which there is no fiction1 no hiding in the inconceivable1 and no pretense4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,value ,,and ,,sacredness ,,of ,,the ,,person ,the third element in the social consciousness1 the sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 follows naturally from the sense of like-mindedness and of mutual influence1 but needs distinct and emphatic statement4 ,it is less easily separable than the other elements named1 and1 indeed1 may be made to include all the others1 and does1 in a way1 carry all with it4 ,thus broadly conceived1 it has seemed to the writer that--with the return to the historical ,christ--it might well be called the most notable moral characteristic of our time4#e ,but1 though less easily and definitely discriminated1 one who knows deeply the modern social consciousness would surely feel that the very heart of it had been omitted1 if this growing sense of the value and sacredness of the person did not come to strong expression4 ,reverence for personality--the steadily deepening sense that every person has a value not to be measured in anything else1 and is in himself sacred to ,god and man--this it is which marks unmistakably every step in the progress of the individual and of the race4 ,without it1 whatever the other marks of civilization1 you have only tyranny and slavery2 with it1 though every trace of luxury and scientific invention be lacking1 you have the perfection of human relations4 ,this sense of the value and sacredness of the person not only characterizes increasingly the whole social and moral evolution of the race1 but it is to be seen in the clearly conscious demand for equality of rights1 and1 especially--to take a single example--in the growing recognition that the child is an individual with his own rights2 that he has a personality of his own of a sanctity inviolable by the parent2 that there are clear bounds beyond which no one may go without personal outrage4 ,the recognition by psychology of respect for personality as one of the three or four most fundamental conditions--if not the most essential of all--of happiness1 of character1 and of influence1 is explicit confirmation of the truth of this element of the social consciousness4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,obligation ,but the elements of the social consciousness already named lead directly to a growing sense of obligation4 ,every man carries in himself his only possible standard of measurement of all else4 ,a growing sense of the likeness of other men to himself quickens at once1 therefore1 the sense of obligation1 and leads naturally to the ,golden ,rule4 ,recognition of mutual influence1 too1 inevitably carries with it a deeper sense of obligation2 for1 if we do affect others constantly1 then we are manifestly under obligation not only to do direct service to others1 but so to order our own lives as to help1 not to hinder1 others4 ,the sense of the value and sacredness of the person plainly looks to the same deepening of obligation4 ,as an element of the social consciousness1 the sense of obligation means for a given individual1 a growing sense of responsibility for all2 and for society at large an increase in the number of those who feel the obligation to serve4 ,the growth in each of these directions cannot be questioned4 ,there is no privileged class1 in whose own consciences there is not being recognized more and more the right of the claim that they must justify themselves by service which shall be as unique as their privilege4 ,in consequence1 the conception of the governing classes is steadily changing1 for both the governed and the governing1 to some recognition of ,christ's principle1 that he who would be first must be servant of all4 ,the sharp insistence of the sociologist that organization must be for the organized expresses the same thought4 ,one must add sociology's double assertion1 that society is really advancing toward its goal1 and yet that a chief condition of the progress of society is unselfish leadership4#f ,this can only mean that there is1 increasingly1 unselfish leadership1 more and more of conscious1 willing coperation on the part of men in forwarding the social evolution4 ,none of us can return to the older attitude of comparative indifference1 nor can we honestly defend it4 ,we do have obligations and we own them2 we are judging ourselves increasingly by ,christ's test of ministering love4 ,v4 ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,love ,and the social consciousness ends necessarily in love1 in the broader1 ethical meaning of that word4 ,we shall never feel that the social consciousness is complete1 short of real love4 ,all the other elements of the social consciousness lead to love and are included in it4 ,even the sociologist must bring in as necessary results of the consciousness of kind--sympathy1 affection1 and desire for the recognition of others2#g and he finds these always more or less distinctly at work among men4 ,these further considerations from the study of evolution confirm this result3 that man is preminently the social animal2#h that with man we have clearly reached the stage of persons and of personal relations2#i that the very existence and development of man required love at every step2#aj and that the chief moral significance of man's prolonged infancy is probably to be found in the necessary calling out of love4#aa ,so1 too1 it has become constantly more and more clear that our obligation1 what we owe to others1 is ourselves2 and the giving of the self is love4 ,it seems to be thrust home upon social workers everywhere that there is no solution of any social problem without a personal self-giving in some way on the part of some2 that there is no cheaper way than this very costly one of love1 of the giving of ourselves--whether in the family1 or in charity1 or in criminology4 ,the point1 already noted1 that the progress of society depends on leaders who will serve with unselfish devotion1 is only another emphasis upon love as an indispensable element of the social consciousness4 ,and the social goal--equality1 brotherhood1 liberty1 when these terms are given any adequate ethical content--is absolutely unthinkable in any really vital sense without love4 ,any attempted definition of love1 moreover1 resolves at once into what we mean by the social consciousness4 ,if we define love as the giving of self1 this is exactly what1 with growing clearness and insistence1 the social consciousness demands4 ,if with ,herrmann we call love1 joy in personal life--joy1 that is1 in the revelation of personal life1 this can only come in that trustful1 reverent1 self-surrendering association to which the social consciousness exhorts4 ,if with ,edwards we call love1 willing the highest and completest good of all1 we reach the same result4 ,or if with ,christ in the ,beatitudes1 or with ,paul in the thirteenth of ,i ,corinthians1 we study the characteristics of love1 we shall hardly doubt that a complete social consciousness must have these marks of love4 ,these elements1 then1 make up the social consciousness3 the sense of like-mindedness1 of mutual influence1 of the value and sacredness of the person1 of obligation1 and of love2 and all these1 with their implied demands1 only point to what a person must be if he is to be fully personal4 ,with this definition in mind1 we may now ask1 whether the analogy of the organism can adequately express the social consciousness4 #a ,cf4 ,giddings1 ,elements of ,sociology1 pp4 #f1 #aj1 #fe1 #ff1 #gg4 #b ,cf4 ,giddings1 ,op4 cit41 p4 #cbd4 #c ,see ,the ,new ,world1 ,sept41 #ahih1 p4 #eaf4 #d ,cf4 ,lotze1 ,the ,microcosmus1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #baa4 #e ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 ,chap4 ,,ix1 pp1 #afi ff4 #f ,see ,giddings1 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #cjb1 #cbj-cbb4 #g ,cf4 ,giddings1 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #fe1 #ff4 #h ,cf4 ,giddings1 ,op4 cit41 p4 #bda4 #i ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #ib-if4 #aj ,cf4 ,drummond1 ,the ,ascent of ,man1 pp4 #bgb ff4 #aa ,cf4 ,john ,fiske1 ,the ,destiny of ,man1 p4 #gd2 ,drummond1 ,op4 cit41 p4 #bgi ff4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,inadequacy ,,of ,,the ,,analogy ,,of ,,the ,,organism ,,as ,,an ,,expression ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness#ab ,i4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,the ,,analogy ,the analogy of the organism has played so large a part in the history of thought1 especially in the consideration of ethical and social questions1 that it is well worth while to ask exactly how far this analogy is adequate1 although the danger of the abuse of the analogy is probably somewhat less than formerly4 ,it may be said at once that it is1 undoubtedly1 the very best illustration of these social relations that we can draw from nature1 and it is of real value4 ,it has had1 moreover1 as already indicated1 a most influential and largely honorable history in the development of the thought of men4 ,its classical expression is in the epoch-making twelfth chapter of ,i ,corinthians1 which makes so plain the ethical applications of the analogy4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,inevitable ,,inadequacy ,,of ,,the ,,analogy #a4 ,comes from the ,sub-personal ,world4--,but it ought clearly to be seen1 on the other hand1 that1 considered as a complete expression of the social consciousness1 it is necessarily inadequate2 and it is of moment that we should not be dominated by it4 ,too often it has been made to cover the entire ground1 as though in itself it were a complete expression and final explanation of the social consciousness1 instead of a quite incomplete illustration4 ,for1 in the first place1 the very fact that the analogy comes from the physical world1 from the sub-personal realm1 makes it certain that it must fail at vital points in the expression of what is peculiarly a personal and ethical fact4 ,we cannot safely argue directly from the physical illustration to ethical propositions4 #b4 ,access to ,reality1 ,only ,through ,ourselves4--,moreover1 in this day of extraordinary attention to the physical world1 it is particularly important that we should keep constantly in mind that we have direct access to reality only in ourselves2 that man is himself necessarily the only key which we can use for any ultimate understanding of anything2 or1 as ,paulsen puts it1 ,i know reality as it is in itself1 in so far as ,i am real myself1 or in so far as it is1 or is like1 that which ,i am1 namely1 spirit4#ac ,we are not to forget that1 in very truth1 we know better what we mean by persons and personal relations1 than we do what we mean by members of a body and by organic relations2 and1 further1 that in point of fact1 all those metaphysical notions by which we strive to think things are ultimately derived from ourselves2 and that then we illogically turn back upon our own minds1 from which all these notions came1 to explain the mind in the same secondary way in which we explain other things4 #c4 ,mistaken ,passion for ,construing ,everything4--,natural science1 with its sole problem of the tracing of immediate causal connections1 naturally provokes a persistent1 but nevertheless thoroughly mistaken1 passion1 as ,lotze calls it1#ad for construing everything1--even the most real and final reality1 spirit2 which wishes to see even this real and final reality explained as the mechanical result of the combination of simpler elements1 themselves1 it is to be noted1 finally absolutely inexplicable4 ,such perverse attempts will be widely hailed1 by many who do not understand themselves1 as highly scientific4 ,and one who refuses to enter upon such investigations will be criticized by such minds as hardly getting into grips with his subject4 ,but it is a false application of the scientific instinct that leads one to seek mechanical explanation for the final reality1 or that urges to precision of formulation beyond that warranted by the data4 ,it is from exactly this falsely scientific bias that theology needs deliverance4 ,for1 as ,aristotle reminds us1 it is the mark of a man of culture to try to attain exactness in each kind of knowledge just so far as the nature of the subject allows4 ,there is a wise agnosticism that is violated alike by negative and by positive dogmatism4 ,it is often overlooked that there is an over-wise radicalism that assumes a knowledge of the depth of the finite and infinite1 quite as insistent and dogmatic as the view it supposes itself to be opposing4 ,i know it is not so1 it ought not to need to be said1 is not agnosticism4 ,the guiding principle in a truly scientific theology is this1 as ,lotze suggests3 ,just so far as changing action depends upon altering conditions1 we have explanatory and constructive problems to solve1 and no farther4 ,no philosophical view can do without a simply given reality4 ,and we shall never succeed in understanding by what machinery reality is manufactured--in deducing the whole positive content of reality from mere modifications of formal conditions4#ae ,we shall not allow ourselves to be misled1 therefore1 by the scientific sound of the detailed application of the analogy of the organism to the facts of the social consciousness4 ,and it is a satisfaction to see that the clearest sociological writers are coming to agree that there is strictly no social mind that can be affirmed to exist as a separate reality1 supposed to answer to society conceived in its totality as an organism4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,analogy ,,tested ,,by ,,the ,,definition ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,when1 now1 we test the analogy of the organism by its competency to express the full meaning of the social consciousness1 as it has been defined1 we must say that the analogy but feebly expresses the likeness of men2 it best expresses the inevitableness of mutual influence1 though even here there is no understandable ultimate explanation2 it fairly expresses the desirableness and indispensableness of mutual influence1 but1 of course1 with entire lack of ethical meaning2 and it quite fails to express the sense of the value and the sacredness of the person1 the sense of obligation1 and the sense of love4 ,we need to see and feel exactly these shortcomings1 if we are not to abuse the analogy4 ,there is no social consciousness that will hold water that does not rest on what ,phillips ,brooks called a healthy and ineradicable individualism1 in the sense of the recognition of the fully personal4 ,we are spirits1 not organisms1 and society is a society of persons1 not an organism1 in a strict sense4 ,why should we wish to make society less significant than it is8 #ab ,cf4 ,king1 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #ib ff41 #agi4 #ac ,introduction to ,philosophy1 p4 #cgc4 #ad ,the ,microcosmus1 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #bfb4 #ae ,lotze1 ,the ,microcosmus1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #fdi ff4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,the ,,necessity ,,of ,,the ,,facts1 ,,of ,,which ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,is ,,the ,,reflection1 ,,if ,,ideal ,,interests ,,are ,,to ,,be ,,supreme ,i4 ,,the ,,question ,with this positive and negative definition of the social consciousness in our minds1 a third question immediately suggests itself to one who wishes to go to the bottom of our theme4 ,why must the facts1 of which the social consciousness is the reflection1 be as they are if ideal interests are to be supreme8 ,what has a theodicy to say as to these facts8 ,why1 that is1 from the point of view of the ideal--of religion and theology--why are we constituted so alike8 so that we must influence one another8 so that the results of our actions necessarily go over into the lives of others8 so that the innocent suffer with the guilty and the guilty profit with the righteous8 so that we must recognize everywhere the claim of others8 so that we must respect their personality8 and so that we must love them8 ,,ii4 ,,otherwise ,,no ,,moral ,,world ,,at ,,all ,the answer to all these world-old questions may perhaps be contained in the single statement1 that otherwise we should have no moral world at all4 ,there would be no thinkable moral universe1 but rather as many worlds as there are individuals1 having no more to do with one another than the chemical reactions going on in a set of test-tubes4 #a4 ,the ,prerequisites of a ,moral ,world4 ,for our human thinking1 assuredly1 there are certain prerequisites1 that the world may be at all a sphere for moral training and action4 ,what are these prerequisites for a moral world8 ,there must be1 in the first place1 a sphere of universal law1 to count on1 within which all actions take place4 ,in a lawless world1 action could hardly take on any significance--least of all ethical significance4 ,that freedom itself should mean anything in outward expression1 there must be the possibility of intelligent use of means toward the ends chosen4 ,there must be1 in the second place1 some real ethical freedom1 some power of moral initiative4 ,we need not quarrel about the terms used2 but1 as ,paulsen intimates1 no serious ethical writer ever doubted that men have at least some power to shape their own characters4#af ,without that assumption1 we have a whole world of ideas and ideals--many of them the realest facts in the world to us--that have no legitimate excuse for being1 that are simple insanities of the most inexplicable sort4 ,the very meaning of the personality1 indeed1 which the social consciousness must demand for men1 is some real existence for self1 that is1 some real self-consciousness and moral initiative4 ,and freedom is not enough2 there must be also some power of accomplishment4 ,to ascribe mere volition to man seems1 it has been justly said1 sophistical4 ,results are needed to reveal the character of our acts1 even to ourselves--to make that character real4 ,lotze's charge that the world is imperfect because it might have been so made that only good designs could be carried out1 or so that the results of evil volitions would be at once corrected1#ag is itself similarly sophistical4 ,such a world1 in which the outward results of action never appear1 would be but a play-world after all--only a nursery of babes not yet capable of character4 ,it could be no fit world for moral training4 ,and still more1 not less1 must this law of the necessary results of actions hold in our relations to other persons4 ,there can be1 least of all1 a moral universe where we are not members one of another4 ,character1 in any form we can conceive it1 could not then exist4 ,our best1 as well as our worst1 possibilities are involved in these necessary mutual relations4 ,moral character has meaning only in personal relations4 ,the results1 therefore1 which follow upon action1 if the character of our deed is to have reality for us1 must be chiefly personal4 ,the realm of character has fearful possibilities4 ,this is no play-world4 ,we can cause and be caused suffering1 and our sin necessarily carries the suffering1 if not the sin1 of others with it4 #b4 ,the ,ideal ,world ,requires1 thus1 the ,facts of the ,social ,consciousness4--,all this could be changed in any vital way only by shutting up every soul absolutely to itself1 and with that result life has simply ceased4 ,for we cannot really conceive a person as having any reason for being without such relations4 ,he would be constantly baffled at every point1 for he is made for persons and personal relations4 ,love1 too1 the highest source of both character and happiness1 requires everywhere personal relations4 ,religion itself1 as a sharing of the life of ,god1 would be impossible without some relation to others2 for ,god1 at least1 could not be separated from the life of all4 ,that is1 persons1 love1 religion1 in such a world1 have gone4 ,this1 then1 simply means that the ideal world ceases to be1 with the denial of the facts that the social consciousness reflects4 ,we must be full persons1 social beings in the entire meaning demanded by the social consciousness--hard as the consequences involved often are--if ideal interests are to be supreme4 ,indeed1 the very moral judgment1 that incessantly prompts the problem of evil for every one of us1 is required1 for its own existence1 to assume the validity of the relations about which it questions4 ,for it complains1 for the most part1 of those facts that follow inevitably from the necessary mutual influence of men2 but the chief sources of the joy it requires1 that it may justify the world1 lie in these same mutual relations4 ,it assumes1 thus1 in its claims on the world1 the validity and worth of the very relations of which it complains in its criticism of the world4 ,or1 slightly to vary the statement1 the major premise1 even of pessimism1 is that a really justifiable world must have worth in the joy it yields in personal life1 impossible out of the personal relations of a real moral universe4 ,and there can be no moral universe without the facts reflected in the social consciousness4 ,the ideal world requires1 then1 the facts of the social consciousness4 #af ,system of ,ethics1 pp4 #dfg ff4 #ag ,philosophy of ,religion1 p4 #abe4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,ultimate ,,explanation ,,and ,,ground ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,the most important and fundamental inquiry as to the possible help of theology to the social consciousness still remains3 ,what is the ultimate explanation and ground of the social consciousness8 ,this question includes two3 7#a7 ,how can it be metaphysically that we do influence one another8 7#b7 ,what is required for the final positive justification of the social consciousness as ethical8 ,theology's answer to both questions is found in the being and character of ,god1 the creative and moral source of all4 ,i4 ,,how ,,can ,,it ,,be1 ,,metaphysically1 ,,that ,,we ,,do ,,influence ,,one ,,another8 ,first1 then1 how can it be that we do influence one another8 ,what is the final explanation of the constant fact of our reciprocal action8 ,for in our final thinking we may not ignore this question4 #a4 ,not ,due to the ,physical ,fact of ,race-,connection4--,it may be worth while saying1 first1 that the physical fact of race-connection1 if that could be proved1 would be no sufficient explanation4 ,the race may1 or may not1 be dependent upon a single pair1 but in any case this is not the essential connection4 ,the race is one by virtue of its essential likeness1 however that comes about4 ,men might have sprung out of the ground in absolute individual independence of one another1 and yet if there were such actual like-mindedness as now exists1 the race would be as truly one as it now is1 and as capable of reciprocal action1 and its members under the same obligation to one another4 ,no ideal interest is at stake1 then1 in the question of the actual physical unity of the race as descended from one pair4 ,one may say1 of course1 that the physical unity of the race would naturally result1 according to the laws apparently prevailing in the animal world1 in likeness4 ,and this may1 therefore1 seem to him the most natural proximate explanation4 ,but1 even so1 it is well to know that our entire moral interest is in the essential likeness and mutual influence of men1 however brought about1 and not in the physical unity of men4 ,theology has no occasion to continue its earlier excessive and quite fundamental emphasis upon this physical unity4 ,moreover1 such an explanation is necessarily but proximate4 ,back of it lies the deeper question1 ,why just these laws1 and modes of procedure8 #b4 ,we are not to ,over-,emphasize the ,principle of ,heredity4--,nor can theology1 from any point of view1 afford to over-emphasize the principle of heredity if it wishes to keep human initiative at all4 ,it is a dangerous alliance which the old-school theology with its racial sin in ,adam has been so ready to make with the principle of heredity4 ,that principle1 as they wish to use it1 proves quite too much2 and careful thinkers1 really awake to ideal interests1 may well rejoice in the comparative relief which science itself1 through the probably somewhat exaggerated protest of the ,weismann or ,neo-,darwinian school1 seems likely to afford from the incubus of a grossly exaggerated heredity4 ,the main interest for the ideal view lies right here4 ,we can see why this law of the inheritance of acquired characteristics1 in ,professor ,james' language1 should not be verified in the human race1 and why1 therefore1 in looking for evidence on the subject1 we should confine ourselves exclusively to lower animals4 ,in them fixed habit is the essential and characteristic law of nervous action4 ,the brain grows to the exact modes in which it has been exercised1 and the inheritance of these modes--then called instincts--would have in it nothing surprising4 ,but in man the negation of all fixed modes is the essential characteristic4 ,he owes his whole preminence as a reasoner1 his whole human quality of intellect1 we may say1 to the facility with which a given mode of thought in him may suddenly be broken up into elements1 which re-combine anew4 ,only at the price of inheriting no settled instinctive tendencies is he able to settle every novel case by the fresh discovery by his reason of novel principles4 ,he is1 par excellence1 the educable animal4#ah ,to over-emphasize the principle of heredity1 then1 is to strike at one of the most fundamental distinctive human qualities1 and so to endanger every ideal interest4 ,the growing like-mindedness of men and their mutual influence are not forthwith to be ascribed to an omnipotent principle of heredity4 #c4 ,not ,due to a ,mystical ,solidarity4--,nor is the mutual influence of men to be explained by any mystical solidarity of the race considered as a finite whole4 ,it is a simple and reasonable scientific demand1 that we should not assume a mysterious1 indefinable and incalculable cause1 where known and intelligible causes suffice to explain the phenomena in question4 ,do we need1 or can we intelligently use1 a mystical solidarity8 ,the only solidarity of the race which we seem really to need1 or with which we seem able intelligently to deal1 is the actual like-mindedness and the actual personal relations themselves--the reciprocal action of spirits--the only kind of reciprocal action which we can finally fully conceive4 ,any other finite solidarity than this1 though it has often figured in theology1 seems to me only a name without significance4 ,in any case1 we need to insist in theology1 much more than we have1 upon that unity of the race which is due to the actual likeness of men and their actual mutual personal influence4 ,such a unity we know and can understand1 and it is of the highest ethical and spiritual importance4 ,but to make much of the physical unity is to ground the spiritual in the physical2 and1 on the other hand1 to take refuge in a mystical solidarity--and this is often felt to be a rather deep procedure--for whatever theological purpose1 is to hide in the fog of the obscure and unintelligible4 #d4 ,grounded in the ,immanence of ,god4--,but back of all finite phenomena1 we may still ask for an ultimate explanation of the possibility of any reciprocal action even between spirits4 ,and it is1 perhaps1 this ultimate explanation after which the idea of a mystical solidarity of the race is blindly groping4 ,unless one chooses to accept reciprocal action as a necessarily given fact in any universe 7and this position1 ,i think with ,f4 ,c4 ,s4 ,schiller1 may be reasonably defended71#ai he must somewhere in his thinking ask for its final explanation4 ,and most of those1 who try to think things through1 feel this pressure4 ,and metaphysics1 we do well to remember with ,professor ,james1 means only an unusually obstinate attempt to think clearly and consistently4#bj ,as ,lotze puts it3 ,how a cause begins to produce its immediate effect1 how a condition is the foundation of its direct result1 it will never be possible to say2 yet that cause and effect do thus act must be reckoned among those simple facts that compose the reality which is the object of all our investigation4 ,but there is an intolerable contradiction in the assumption that1 though two beings may be wholly independent the one of the other1 yet that which takes place in one can be a cause of change in the other2 things that do not affect each other at all1 cannot at the same time affect each other in such a manner that the one is guided by the other4#ba ,this question is fairly thrust upon us by the facts of the social consciousness4 ,how can it be that we do so influence one another8 how is our reciprocal action metaphysically possible8 ,the answer of theistic philosophy to this question is found in the being of ,god4 ,upon the metaphysical side1 theistic philosophy affirms that we can ascribe independent existence in the highest sense only to ,god4 ,all else is absolutely dependent for its existence and maintenance upon him4 ,the kind of reality that we demand for man is not that he be outside of ,god1 independent of him2 this would not make man more1 but less4 ,every thorough-going theistic view must have this at least in common with pantheism1 that it recognizes everywhere a real immanence of ,god4 ,we are1 because ,god wills in us4 ,this metaphysical relation of the finite to the infinite1 to be sure1 is not to be conceived spatially or materially2 nor1 least of all1 is it be so conceived as to deny a real self-consciousness and a real moral initiative to the finite spirit2 but it does involve the absolute dependence of all the finite upon the will of ,god4 ,as to our being1 we root solely in ,god4 ,and the unity and consistency of the being of ,god are the actual ground of our possible reciprocal action4 ,only so is that contradiction of which ,lotze spoke avoided4 ,we are not independent of one another1 because we are all alike dependent for our very being upon ,god4 ,and we are thus members one of another1 ultimately1 only through him4 ,the further fact1 that we are never fully able to trace causal connections anywhere2 that even in the clearest case no possible analysis of one stage in the process enables us to prophesy1 independently of experience1 the next stage1 also compels us to admit that the full cause is not really present in any of the finite manifestations we can follow2 that we have always to take account of the hidden efficacy of the ,infinite everywhere at work1 and so must recognize once again the indubitable immanence of ,god1 the absolute dependence of the finite upon his will1 and our reciprocal action as possible only through him4#bb ,or1 to put the same thing a little differently1 any adequate theory of causality seems to lead us up inevitably to purpose in ,god4 ,as ,professor ,bowne states it3#bc ,the fundamental antithesis of purpose and causation is incorrect4 ,the true antithesis is that of mechanical and volitional causality4 ,and he intimates the probability that all causality1 even in the physical world1 is ultimately volitional4 ,it becomes a question1 he says1 whether true causality can be found in the phenomenal at all1 and not rather in a power beyond the phenomenal which incessantly posits and continues that order according to rule4 ,the unity and consistency of the immanent will of ,god1 then1 are the ultimate metaphysical ground of all reciprocal action4 ,the mutual influence1 that is1 even of spirits1 finds its final full explanation only in ,god4 ,the social consciousness1 therefore1 so far as it is an expression of the possibility and inevitableness of our mutual influence1 is a reflection of the immanence of the one ,god in the unity and consistency of his life4 ,but this1 after all1 is not the most important element of the social consciousness4 ,so far as it is ethical at all1 it can have no final explanation in the metaphysical1 considered as mere matter of fact4 ,we are driven1 therefore1 to ask the second question involved in the subject of the chapter4 ,,ii4 ,,what ,,is ,,required ,,for ,,the ,,final ,,positive ,,justification ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,as ,,ethical8 #a4 ,must be ,grounded in the ,supporting ,will of ,god4--,it is not enough that we should be able to think of the unity of ,one ,life pervading all1 or even of ,one ,will upholding all4 ,if the social consciousness1 as distinctly ethical1 is to have any final justification1 it must be able to believe that it is in league with the eternal and universal forces2 that the fundamental trend of the universe is its own trend2 in other words1 that the deepest thing in the universe is an ethical purpose conceivable only in a ,person2 that the ideals and purposes of finite beings expressed in the social consciousness are in line with ,god's own2 that the loving holy purpose of the ,infinite ,will quickens and sustains and surrounds our purposes4 ,let us distinctly face the fact that1 unless the social consciousness can be so grounded in the very foundation of the universe1 it must remain an illogical and unjustifiable fragment in the world1 without real excuse for being4 ,that is1 if the social consciousness is not to be an illusion1 it must be1 as ,professor ,nash contends1 cosmical1 and not merely individual1 and ethics must root in religion4 ,this is the very heart of his stimulating book1 ,ethics and ,revelation1 expressed1 for example1 in such sentences as these3 ,nothing save a sense of deep and intimate connection with the solid core of things1 nothing save a settled and fervid conviction that the universe is on the side of the will in its struggle for that whole-hearted devotion for the welfare of the race1 without which morality is an affair of shreds and patches1 can give to the will the force and edge suitable to the difficult work it has to do4 ,but this sense of kinship with what is deepest and most abiding in the universe--what else is meant by pure religion4 ,and again3 ,we1 as founders and builders of the true society1 find ourselves shut up to an impassioned faith in the sincerity of the universe and the integrity of the fundamental being4 ,our religion is a deep and wide synthesis of feeling1 whereby that personal will in us1 which grounds society1 comes into solemn league and covenant with the fundamental being4 ,here is the focus-point of the prophetic revelation4 ,at this point1 the deep in ,god answers to the deep in ,man4444 ,all that ,he is ,he puts in pledge for the perfecting of the society ,he has founded4#bd ,paulsen expresses only the same fundamental conviction1 from the point of view of the philosopher1 and1 at the same time1 the heart of his own solution of the relation between knowledge and faith1 when he says3 ,there is one item1 at least1 in which every man goes beyond mere knowledge1 beyond the registration of facts4 ,that is his own life and his future4 ,his life has a meaning for him1 and he directs it toward something which does not yet exist1 but which will exist by virtue of his will4 ,thus a faith springs up by the side of his knowledge4 ,he believes in the realization of this1 his life's aim1 if he is at all in earnest about it4 ,since1 however1 his aim is not an isolated one1 but is included in the historical life of a people1 and finally in that of humanity1 he believes also in the future of his people1 in the victorious future of truth and righteousness and goodness in humanity4 ,whoever devotes his life to a cause believes in that cause1 and this belief1 be his creed what it may1 has always something of the form of a religion4 ,hence faith infers that an inner connection exists between the real and the valuable within the domain of history1 and believes that in history something like an immanent principle of reason or justice favors the right and the good1 and leads it to victory over all resisting forces4 ,and ,paulsen holds that this implicit faith characterizes necessarily every philosophical theory4 ,what the philosopher himself accepts as the highest good and final goal he projects into the world as its good and goal1 and then believes that subsequent reflections also reveal it to him in the world4#be ,we must be able1 then1 to believe that the best we know--our highest ideals--are at home in the world1 or give up all faith in the honesty of the world1 and all hope of philosophy1 to say nothing of religion4 ,ultimately1 now1 this means that nothing short of full ,christian conviction is needed to support the social consciousness4 ,we need to be able to believe that the spirit of the life and death of ,christ is at the very heart of the world4 ,nothing less will suffice4 ,and this is exactly the support which the ,christian revelation offers to the social consciousness4 #b4 ,god's ,sharing in ,our ,life4--,but if the social consciousness is only a true reflection of ,god's own desire and purpose1 then in a sense far deeper than the merely metaphysical1 our life is the very life of ,god4 ,he shares in it4 ,and no man can really see what that means1 and not find a new light falling on all the world1 and himself carried on to take up a new confession of faith in the solemn words of another3 ,for the agony of the world's struggle is the very life of ,god4 ,were he mere spectator1 perhaps1 he too would call life cruel4 ,but in the unity of our lives with his1 our joy is his joy1 our pain is his4 ,and from the vision of this self-giving life of ,god we turn back to our own place of service1 saying with ,matheson3 ,if ,thou art love then ,thy best gift must be sacrifice2 in that light let me search ,thy world4#bf ,we probably cannot better express this unity of our highest ethical life with the life of ,god than by renewing our old faith that we are children of a common ,father1 who have come1 under ,god's own leading--so far as a social consciousness is ours--voluntarily to share in ,god's loving purpose in the creation and redemption of men4 ,we do not work alone2 nay1 we are co-workers with ,god4 #c4 ,the ,consequent ,transfiguration of the ,social ,consciousness4--,and as soon as we have thus really and deeply come into the meaning of ,christ's thought of ,god as ,father1 and into his revelation in his life and death as to what the spirit of that ,fatherhood is1 we turn back to the elements of our social consciousness to find them all transfigured4 ,our likeness is the likeness of common children of ,god reflecting the image of the one ,father1 capable of character and of indefinite progress into the highest4 ,our mutual influence roots in a real ,fatherhood1 both in source of being and in the one purpose of love1 alike creating and redemptively working for all4 ,our sense of the value and sacredness of the person now for the first time gets its full justification4 ,men are not only creatures capable of joying and suffering1 but children of ,god with a preciousness to be interpreted only in the light of ,christ1 and with the power of the endless life upon them4 ,concerning the value of the person1 it is worth stopping just here1 to notice that it is peculiarly true of the social consciousness1 that it is not free to ignore such considerations upon immortality as those which weighed most with ,john ,stuart ,mill and ,sully4 ,of the hope of immortality1 ,mill says3 ,the beneficial influence of such a hope is far from trifling4 ,it makes life and human nature a far greater thing to the feelings1 and gives greater strength as well as greater solemnity to all the sentiments which are awakened in us by our fellow-creatures1 and by mankind at large4 ,and ,sully adds3 ,i would only say that if men are to abandon all hope of a future life1 the loss1 in point of cheering and sustaining influence1 will be a vast one1 and one not to be made good1 so far as ,i can see1 by any new idea of services to collective humanity4#bg ,our sense of obligation deepens with all this deepening of the value of men1 and our conscience becomes only a true response to ,god's own life and character--in no mere figurative sense the voice of ,god in us4 ,and our love becomes simply entering a little way into ,god's own love1 a sharing more and more in his life4 ,and when one has once seen the social consciousness so transfigured in the light of ,christ's revelation1 he must believe that then1 for the first time1 he has seen the social consciousness at its highest1 and that it is impossible for him to go back to the lower ideal4 ,if the social consciousness is not an illusion1 ,christ's thought of ,god and of the life with ,god ought to be true2 and if the world is an honest world1 it is true4 ,it is not only true that ,christ has a social teaching1 but that the social consciousness absolutely requires ,christ's teaching for its own final justification4 ,the ,christian truth is so great that it alone can give the social consciousness its fullest meaning1 alone can enable it to understand itself1 and alone can give it adequate motive and power2 for1 in ,keim's words1 to-day1 to-morrow1 and forever we can know nothing better than that ,god is our ,father1 and that the ,father is the rest of our souls4#bh #ah ,james1 ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #cfg1 #cfh4 #ai ,the ,philosophical ,review1 ,may1 #ahif1 p4 #bbh4 #bj ,psychology1 ,briefer ,course1 p4 #dfa4 #ba ,microcosmus1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #eii4 #bb ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #ed1 #hd1 #ajb4 #bc ,theory of ,thought and ,knowledge1 pp4 #ia1 #aaa4 #bd ,ethics and ,revelation1 pp4 #ej1 #bdc1 #bdd4 #be ,introduction to ,philosophy1 pp4 #h1 #i1 #cac4 #bf ,searchings in the ,silence1 p4 #df4 #bg ,quoted by ,orr1 ,the ,christian ,view of ,god and the ,world1 pp4 #afj1 #gb4 #bh ,quoted by ,bruce1 ,the ,kingdom of ,god1 p4 #aeg4 ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,conception ,,of ,,religion ,,introduction ,from the question of the support which ,christian faith and doctrine give to the social consciousness1 we turn now to the second part of our inquiry3 ,how does this growing social consciousness1 not by any means always consciously religious1 naturally react upon and affect our conceptions of religion and of theological doctrines8 ,in this inquiry1 we cannot always be sure historically of the exact connection1 and1 for our present purpose1 this is not of prime importance4 ,but we can see1 for example1 in this second division of our theme1 the relations of religion and the social consciousness1 and how religion must be conceived if the social consciousness is fully warranted2 and this is the main question4 ,if the definition of theology which has been suggested be adopted--the thoughtful and unified expression of what religion means to us--then it is obvious that any change in conception or emphasis in religion will necessarily affect theological statement4 ,our inquiry as to the influence of the social consciousness1 therefore1 naturally begins with religion4 ,the discussions of this division1 moreover1 will really include all that part of theological doctrine which has to do with the growth into the life with ,god4 ,the natural influence of the social consciousness upon the conception of religion may be1 perhaps1 summed up in four points1 which form the subjects of the four succeeding chapters3 7#a7 ,the social consciousness tends to draw religion away from the falsely mystical2 7#b7 it tends to emphasize the personal relation in religion1 and so keeps the truly mystical2 7#c7 it tends to emphasize the ethical in religion2 7#d7 it tends to emphasize the concretely historically ,christian in religion4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,opposition ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,to ,,the ,,falsely ,,mystical ,i4 ,,what ,,is ,,the ,,falsely ,,mystical8 ,two very clear answers made from different points of view deserve attention4 #a4 ,nash's ,definition4--,in trying to set forth the main mood and motives of religious speculation in the early ,christian centuries1 ,professor ,nash takes1 as perhaps the two strongest influences in determining the type of man to whom ,christian apologetics had then to appeal1 ,philo and ,plotinus1 and says3 ,by what road shall the mind enter into a deep and intimate knowledge of ,god8 ,that is the decisive question4 ,plotinus the ,gentile and ,philo the ,jew are at one in their answer4 ,the reason must rise above reasoning4 ,it must pass into a state that is half a swoon and half an ecstasy before it can truly know ,god4 ,philo gave up for the sake of his theory1 the position of the prophets4 ,plotinus1 for the same theory1 forsook the position of ,plato and ,aristotle4 ,the prophets conceived the inmost essence of things1 the being and will of ,god1 as a creative and redemptive force that guided and revealed itself through the career of a great national community4 ,plato and ,aristotle conceived the essence of life as a labor of reason2 and1 for them1 the labors of reason found their sufficient refreshment and inspiration in those moments of clear synthesis which are the reward of patient analysis4 ,revelation came to the prophet through his experience of history4 ,to the philosopher it came through hard and steady thinking4 ,but ,philo and ,plotinus together declared these roads to be no thoroughfares4 ,the ,greek and the ,jew met on the common ground of a mysticism that sacrificed the needs of sober reason and the needs of the nation to the necessities of the monk4#bi ,mysticism is here conceived as unethical1 unhistorical1 and unrational4 #b4 ,herrmann's ,definition4--,herrmann's definition of mysticism is the second one to which attention is directed4 ,he says3 ,when the influence of ,god upon the soul is sought and found solely in an inward experience of the individual2 when certain excitements of the emotions are taken1 with no further question1 as evidence that the soul is possessed by ,god2 when1 at the same time1 nothing external to the soul is consciously and clearly perceived and firmly grasped2 when no thoughts that elevate the spiritual life are aroused by the positive contents of an idea that rules the soul--then that is the piety of mysticism4 ,he who seeks in this wise that for the sake of which he is ready to abandon all beside1 has stepped beyond the pale of ,christian piety4 ,he leaves ,christ and ,christ's ,kingdom altogether behind him when he enters that sphere of experience which seems to him to be the highest4#cj ,the marks of mysticism for ,herrmann1 then1 are3 that it is purely subjective2 that it is merely emotional and unethical2 and hence that it has no clear object1 and is abstract1 unrational1 unhistorical1 and so unchristian4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,objections ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,to ,,the ,,falsely ,,mystical ,against this neo-platonic1 falsely mystical conception of religion1 the social consciousness seems to be clearly arrayed1 and1 so far as the social consciousness influences religion1 it will certainly tend to draw it away from this falsely mystical idea4 #a4 ,unethical4--,for1 in the first place1 this neo-platonic conception of religion has nothing distinctly ethical in it4 ,the ethical is manifestly not made the test of true religious experience1 as it is in the ,new ,testament4 ,the social consciousness1 on the other hand1 is predominantly and emphatically ethical1 and can have nothing to do with a religion in which ethics is either omitted or is wholly subordinate4 ,at this point1 therefore1 the pressure of the social consciousness is strongly against a neo-platonic mysticism4 #b4 ,does not ,give a ,real ,personal ,god4--,in the second place1 the social consciousness cannot get along with the falsely mystical1 because it does not give a real personal ,god4 ,let us be clear upon this point4 ,is not ,herrmann right when he says that all that can be said of the ,god of this mysticism is that he is not the world8 ,now that is precisely all that mysticism has ever been able to say of ,god as it conceives him4 ,plainly1 the world and the conception of it are all that moves the soul while it thinks thus of ,god4 ,only disappointment can ensue to the soul whose yearning for ,god in such case keeps on insisting that ,god must be something utterly different from the world4 ,if such a soul will reflect awhile on the nature of the ,god thus reached1 the fact must inevitably come to the surface that its whole consciousness is occupied with the world now as it was before1 for evidently it has grasped no positive ideas--nothing but negative ideas--about anything else4 ,mysticism frequently passes into pantheism for this very reason1 even in men of the highest religious energy2 they refuse to be satisfied with the mere longing after ,god1 or to remain on the way to him1 but determine to reach the goal itself1 and rest with ,god himself4#ca ,now we have already seen that the social consciousness can find adequate support and power and motive only in faith that its purpose is ,god's purpose1 that the deepest thing in the universe is an ethical purpose1 conceivable only in a personal ,god2 and1 therefore1 neither an empty negation nor pantheism can ever satisfy it4 #c4 ,belittles the ,personal in ,man4--,the false mysticism1 moreover1 belittles the personal in man as well as in ,god2 for it does not treat with real reverence either the personality1 the ethical freedom1 the sense of obligation1 or the reason of man4 ,this whole thought of a state that is half a swoon and half an ecstasy is a sort of swamping of clear self-consciousness and definite moral initiative1 in which the very reality of man's personality consists4 ,it is a heathen1 not a ,christian1 idea of inspiration which demands the suppression of the human1 whether in consciousness1 in will1 in reason1 or by belittling the sense of obligation to others4 ,but mysticism has at least tended toward failure in all these respects4 ,and yet1 from the time that ,paul argued with the ,corinthians against their immense overestimation of the gift of speaking with tongues1 this fascination of the merely mystical has been felt in ,christianity4 7#a7 ,the very mystery and unintelligibility of the experience1 7#b7 its ecstatic emotion1 7#c7 its sense of being controlled by a power beyond one's self1 and 7#d7 its contrast with ordinary life--all these elements make the mystical experience seem to most all the more divine1 although in so judging they are applying a pagan1 not a ,christian1 standard4 ,so far as these experiences have value1 it is probably due to the strong and realistic sense which they give of being in the presence of an overpowering being4 ,if thoroughly permeated and dominated with other elements1 this sense is not without its value4 ,but it is interesting to notice that1 although ,paul does not deny the legitimacy of the gift of speaking with tongues1 he nevertheless absolutely subordinates it1 and insists that the most ecstatic religious emotions are completely worthless without love4 ,evidently the considerations which weighed most with the ,corinthians in valuing the gift of unintelligible ecstatic utterance weighed little with ,paul2 and one can see how ,paul implicitly argues against each of those considerations3 7#a7 ,god is not an unknown1 mystic force1 but the definite1 concrete ,god of character1 shown in ,christ4 7#b7 ,he speaks to reason and will as well as to feeling1 and he best speaks to feeling when he speaks to the whole man4 ,true religious emotion must have a rational basis and must move to duty4 7#c7 ,religion1 he would urge1 is a self-controlled and voluntary surrender to a personal ,god of character1 not a passive being swept away by an unknown emotion4 7#d7 ,god has most to give1 be assured1 he would have added1 in the common ways of life4 ,now1 in every one of these protests1 the social consciousness instinctively joins4 ,it cannot rest in a conception of religion that belittles the personal in ,god or man2 for it is itself an emphatic insistence upon the fully personal4 ,and it can1 least of all1 get on with the mystical ignoring of the rational and the ethical1 for it holds that the social evolution moves steadily on to a rational like-mindedness1 and to a definitely ethical civilization4 ,giddings puts the sociological conclusion in a sentence3 ,it is the rational1 ethical consciousness that maintains social cohesion in a progressive democracy4#cb ,now that which is clearly recognized as the goal in the relations of man to man will not be set aside as unwarranted or subordinate in the relations of man to ,god4 ,and we may depend upon it4 #d4 ,leaves the ,historically1 ,concretely ,christian4--,once more1 the social consciousness cannot approve of the mystical conception of religion in its ignoring1 in its highest state1 the historically and concretely ,christian4 ,with mysticism's subjective1 emotional1 and abstract conception of the highest communion with ,god1 and of the way thereto1 the historical and concrete at best can be to it only subordinate means1 more or less mysteriously connected with the attainment of the goal1 and left behind when once the goal is reached4 ,the social consciousness1 on the other hand1 requires historical justification1 and definitely builds on the facts of the historical social evolution4 ,in the case of the prophets and psalmists1 for example1 who alone in the ancient world most fully anticipated the modern social feeling1 the social consciousness plainly arose in the face of the concrete historical life of a people4 ,no result of modern ,old ,testament criticism is more certain4 ,so that1 speaking of the religious aspects of the social struggle in ,israel1 ,mc,curdy can use this strong language3 ,it is not too much to say that this conflict1 intense1 uninterrupted1 and prolonged1 is the very heart of the religion of the ,old ,testament1 its most regenerative and propulsive movement4 ,to the personal life of the soul1 the only basis of a potential1 world-moving religion1 it gave energy and depth1 assurance and hopefulness1 repose and self-control1 with an outlook clear and eternal4#cc ,but it was this standpoint of the prophets that the falsely mystical conception of religion abandoned4 ,we may well take to heart1 in our estimate of mysticism1 the gradual but steady elimination of ecstasy in the development of ,israel1 and its practically total absence in those we count in the highest sense prophets4#cd ,the social consciousness1 moreover1 has almost entirely to do with men1 and hence naturally must lay stress on human history1 rather than on nature1 as a source of religious ideas4 ,indeed1 it will have no doubt that what nature is made to mean religiously will be chiefly determined by the prevalent social ideals4 ,it can1 therefore1 least of all ignore the historical in ,christianity4 ,the social consciousness recognizes increasingly1 too1 with the clearing of its own ideals and with the deepening study of the teaching of ,jesus1 that it really is only demanding1 in the concrete1 and in detailed application to particular problems1 and to all of them1 the spirit shown in its fullness only in ,christ1 as ,professor ,peabody's eminently sane treatment of the social teaching of ,jesus seems to me fairly to have proven4 ,the social consciousness1 therefore1 cannot help becoming more and more consciously and emphatically ,christian4 ,in a single sentence1 because of the steps of its own long evolution1 the social consciousness instinctively distrusts the highly emotional1 unless it is manifestly under equally strong rational control1 and unless it has equal ethical insight and power1 and is historically justified4 ,it tends1 therefore1 necessarily to draw away from the falsely mystical in religion1 which is lacking in all these respects4 ,and the same reasons1 which array the social consciousness against the falsely mystical in religion1 lead it into natural sympathy with a positive emphasis upon the personal1 the ethical1 and the historically concretely ,christian in religion4 #bi ,nash1 ,ethics and ,revelation1 p4 #cc4 #cj ,herrmann1 ,the ,communion of the ,christian with ,god1 pp4 #ai1 #bj4 #ca ,herrmann1 ,op4 cit41 p4 #bg4 #cb ,giddings1 ,elements of ,sociology1 p4 #cba2 cf4 also pp4 #aee ff1 #cjb1 #cbj1 #cbg4 #cc ,mc,curdy1 ,history1 ,prophecy1 and the ,monuments1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #bbc2 cf4 pp4 #bad1 ff4 #cd ,g4 ,a4 ,smith1 ,the ,book of the ,twelve ,prophets1 ,vol4 ,i1 pp4 #cj1 #hd1 #hi2 ,cornill1 ,the ,prophets of ,israel1 pp4 #da1 #df2 ,the ,expository ,times1 ,jan41 ,feb41 #aijb1 article1 ,prophetic ,ecstasy4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,emphasis ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,personal ,,relation ,,in ,,religion1 ,,and ,,so ,,upon ,,the ,,truly ,,mystical ,i4 ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,tends ,,positively ,,to ,,emphasize ,,the ,,personal ,,relation ,,in ,,religion #a4 ,emphasizes ,everywhere the ,personal4--,the social consciousness sees man as preminently the social animal1 made for personal relations1 irrevocably and essentially knit up with other persons4 ,it deepens everywhere our sense of persons and of personal relations4 ,it may be itself almost defined as the sense of the fully personal4 ,religion1 then1 if it is to be most real to men of the social consciousness1 must be personally conceived1 that is1 must be distinctly seen to be a personal relation of man to ,god4 ,and this conception1 as the highest we can reach1 is to be followed fearlessly to the end2 only guarding it against wrong inferences from the simple transference to ,god of finite conditions1 and recognizing exactly in what respects the personal relation to ,god is unique4#ce ,the social consciousness1 moreover1 as we have seen1 must have a conception of religion that can really justify the social consciousness1 and1 therefore1 must do justice to the fully personal in ,god and man2 and this need also leads the social consciousness naturally to the conception of religion as a personal relation4 #b4 ,requires the ,laws of a ,deepening ,friendship in ,religion4--,when this conception is carried out1 it is found that growth in the religious life1 in communion with ,god1 follows the laws of a deepening friendship4#cf ,these laws can1 therefore1 be known and studied and formulated2 and religion1 at the same time1 ceases to be unintelligible and ceases to be isolated--cut off from the rest of life1 and becomes rather that one great fundamental relation which gives being and meaning and value to all the rest4 ,in absolute harmony1 then1 with the genesis of the social consciousness1 religion1 in this conception1 is bound up with the whole of life2 and we catch a glimpse of the real and final unity of life in true love1 the relation to ,god and the relation to man each helping everywhere the other4 ,if religion is truly a personal relation1 and its laws are those of a deepening friendship1 then every human relation1 heartily and truly fulfilled1 becomes a new outlook on ,god1 a revelation of new possibilities in the religious life4 ,and1 on the other hand1 in that mutual self-revelation and answering trust upon which every growing personal relation is built1 every fresh revelation of ,god is an enlarging of our ideal for our relations to others4 ,even biblical literature1 perhaps1 furnishes no more perfect example of the interplay of the human and divine relations than ,hosea's account of his own providential leading through the human relation into the divine1 and back again from the divine to a still better human4 #c4 ,requires the ,ideal ,conditions of the ,richest ,life in ,religion4--,and if religion is to be justified in its supreme claims by the social consciousness1 it must be felt to offer1 besides1 the ideal conditions of the richest life4 ,as a personal relation to ,god1 religion need not shrink from this test4 ,our great needs are character and happiness4 ,psychology seems to me to point to two great means and to two accompanying conditions of both character and happiness4 ,the means are association and work2 the corresponding conditions are reverence for personality1 and objectivity--the mood of both love and work4 ,the great essentials1 therefore1 to the richest life are 7#a7 association in which personality is respected1 and 7#b7 work in which one can lose himself4 ,now1 when would these conditions become ideal8 ,on the one hand1 as to association1 when the association is with him who is of the highest character and of the infinitely richest life1 and relation to whom is fundamental to every other personal relation2 when1 secondly1 ,god is made concrete and real to us in an adequate personal revelation of his character1 and of his love toward us2 and when1 third1 the association is individualized for each one1 who throws himself open to ,god1 in ,god's spiritual presence in us1 constantly and intimately1 and yet unobtrusively1 coperating with us4 ,and1 on the other hand1 as to work1 when the work is ,god-given work1 to which one is set apart1 and in which he may lose himself with joy4 ,these are the ideal conditions of the richest life4 ,just these ideal conditions ,jesus declared actualities4 ,for the fulfilment of just these1 in the case of his disciples1 he prayed in his double petition1--,keep them1 ,sanctify them1 ,keep them in thy name1 that is1 through the divine association4 ,sanctify them--set them apart unto their ,god-given work4 ,as thou hast sent me into the world1 even so have ,i also sent them into the world4 ,such a conception of religion can fairly claim to meet1 broadly and deeply1 the most exacting demands of the social consciousness for emphasis upon the personal relation in religion4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,thus ,,keeps ,,the ,,truly ,,mystical ,i have no predilection for the term mystical1 and would gladly confine it to what ,i have termed the neo-platonic or falsely mystical1 were it not that1 in spite of the dictionaries and the histories of philosophy and the histories of doctrine1 the term is used in two quite different senses4 ,many1 it seems to me1 are defending what they call the mystical in religion1 who have no idea of defending what ,herrmann and ,nash call mystical4 ,and many1 on the other hand1 are defending and teaching the falsely mystical through an undefined fear that else they will lose the truly mystical4 ,theology and religion both greatly need a clear discrimination of terms here4 ,many are involved1 in both living and thinking1 in a self-contradiction1 which they feel but cannot state2 and are urging with themselves and with others a means of religious life and a corresponding method of conception1 which really contradict their highest convictions in other lines of life and thought4 ,can we find our way out of this confusion8 ,if one studies carefully the historical representatives of mysticism1 and especially such a strong type as ,jacob ,bhme1 whom ,erdmann calls the culmination of mysticism1 and still keeps his head1 certain dangers in mysticism1 it would seem1 must become apparent4 ,and it may be worth while to attempt a brief1 but definite1 analysis of the justifiable and unjustifiable elements in these mystical movements4 #a4 ,the ,justifiable and ,unjustifiable ,elements in ,mysticism4--7#a7 ,the first danger in mysticism seems to me to be the tendency to make simple emotion the supreme test of the religious state4 ,whether this emotion is thought of as ecstatic--such as some of the old mystics called being drunk with ,god1 or1 as quietistic--in which imperturbability1 passionlessness1 become the highest good--is comparatively indifferent4 ,the justifiable element here is the insistence that religion is real and is life2 for feeling is perhaps the most powerful element in the sense of reality4 ,so ,james says3 ,speaking generally1 the more a conceived object excites us1 the more reality it has4#cg ,the unjustifiable element is the perilous subjection of the rational and ethical4 ,such a view must always lack any positive and adequate conception of our active life and vocation in the world4 7#b7 ,a second closely connected danger in mysticism is the tendency toward mere subjectivism4 ,there is here a justifiable element in the emphasis on one's own personal conviction and faith2 an unjustifiable element in the tendency to underrate anything but the purely subjective1 to ignore all correcting influences from others1 from the church1 and from the ,scriptures4 7#c7 ,a third danger follows from this3 the marked tendency to underestimate the historical4 ,the justifiable element here is1 again1 the emphasis on personal conviction and faith2 the unjustifiable element is the tendency toward the greatest one-sidedness1 and toward emptiness1 especially of ethical content4 ,advising our young people simply to listen to ,god1 without the strongest insistence upon the historical revelation of ,god at the same time1 is exposing them to the great danger of mistaking for an indubitable1 divine revelation the veriest vagary that may chance in their empty-mindedness next to come into their thought4 ,with the reason in supposed abeyance1 the door is thus thrown open to the grossest superstitions4 ,honest attempts to deepen the religious life may thus become dangerous assaults upon true religion4 7#d7 ,a fourth danger in mysticism is so strong a tendency toward vagueness1 that the common mind is not without warrant in identifying mysticism and mistiness4 ,the justifiable element here is in the real difficulty of expressing the full content of the entire religious experience2 the unjustifiable element is1 once more1 the slighting of the historical1 the ethical1 and the rational1 especially in talking much of the contradictions of reason1 and of what is above reason4 ,mysticism naturally lacks positive content4 7#e7 ,another danger--the tendency toward pantheism--comes in partly1 as ,herrmann has suggested1 as a meeting of this lack of content1 and partly as the logical outcome of such an insistence upon losing oneself in ,god as amounts to a being swept out of one's self--a loss of clear and rational self-consciousness1 which is next interpreted speculatively as a real absorption in ,god1 and is then made the goal4 ,this is the familiar road of ,indian and neo-platonic mysticism1 and its phenomena are real enough1 but probably of only the slightest religious significance4 ,tennyson tells somewhere of the immense sense of illumination that came to him once from simply repeating monotonously his own name--,alfred ,tennyson1 ,alfred ,tennyson4 ,this may be as effective as looking at the end of one's nose and ceaselessly reiterating ,om1 as does the ,hindu ascetic4 ,a still shorter and more certain method is through nitrous-oxide-gas intoxication1 of which ,professor ,james says3 ,with me1 as with every other person of whom ,i have heard1 the key-note of the experience is the tremendously exciting sense of an intense metaphysical illumination4 ,truth lies open to the view in depth beneath depth of almost blinding evidence4 ,the mind sees all the logical relations of being with an apparent subtlety and instantaneity1 to which its normal consciousness offers no parallel2 only as sobriety returns1 the feeling of insight fades1 and one is left staring vacantly at a few disjointed words and phrases as one stares at a cadaverous-looking snow-peak from which the sunset glow has just fled1 or at the black cinder left by an extinguished brand4 ,the immense emotional sense of reconciliation1 he felt to be the characteristic mood4 ,it is impossible to convey1 he says1 an idea of the torrential character of the identification of opposites as it streams through the mind in this experience4#ch ,now it is not safe to ignore such facts1 when we are seriously trying to estimate the religious significance of intense emotional experiences1 the reality of which we need not at all question4 ,the vital question is1 not that of the reality of the experiences1 but that of the real cause of the experiences2 and the only possible test of this is rational and ethical4 ,but from this test1 mysticism tends from the start to shut itself off1 and so1 assuming the experience to be truly religious1 ends often in virtual pantheism4 ,the justifiable element in this insistence upon absorption in ,god is the necessary moral relation of complete surrender to ,god4 ,the unjustifiable element is in belittling the personal in both ,god and man1 and in making essentially religious an experience that has almost nothing of the rational and ethical in it1 and that1 on that very account1 fosters the irreverent familiarity with ,christ so deplored by more than one careful student of mysticism4 ,a natural and common and most dangerous accompaniment of such an intense emotional experience is the tendency afterward1 to excuse sin in oneself4 ,in the case of the most conscientious1 it is worth noting1 such an emphasis upon intense experiences tends to lead them to distrust the reality of the normal ,christian experience if they have not had these intense emotions1 or if they have had them1 tends to bring them into despair when they find these marked experiences actually proving less powerful in effects upon life than they had expected4 7#f7 ,the last danger in mysticism1 to which reference will be made1 is the tendency to extravagant symbolism4 ,this is closely connected with the immense emotional sense of reconciliation1 and is much stronger by nature in some than in others4 ,the born mystic finds his own subjective views symbolized everywhere1 and is in grave danger of being led into an ingenious1 practically unconscious intellectual dishonesty4 ,the justifiable element here is that sense of the unity and worth of things which is the most fundamental conviction of our minds4 ,the unjustifiable element has been sufficiently indicated4 ,the justifiable elements in mysticism1 then1 may be said to include3 the insistence on the legitimate place of feeling in religion as a real and vital experience2 the emphasis on one's own conviction and faith2 the real difficulty of expressing the full meaning of the religious experience2 the demand for a complete ethical surrender to ,god2 and the faith in the real unity and worth of the world in ,god4 ,now if one tries to bring together these justifiable elements in mysticism1 the truly mystical may all be summed up as simply a protest in favor of the whole man--the entire personality4 ,it says that men can experience and live and feel and do much more than they can logically formulate1 define1 explain1 or even fully express4 ,living is more than thinking4 #b4 ,the ,protest in ,favor of the ,whole ,man4--,the element to which mysticism has tried most to do justice is feeling1 and so it has been liable to a new and dangerous one-sidedness4 ,but the truly mystical must be a protest alike against a narrow juiceless intellectualism1 against a narrow moralistic rigorism1 and against a blind and spineless sentimentalism4 ,it is a protest particularly against making the mathematico-mechanical view of the world the only view2 against making logical consistency the sole test of truth or reality2 against ignoring all data1 except those which come through the intellect alone2 that is1 against trying to make a part1 not the whole1 of man the standard2 in other words1 against ignoring the data which come through feeling and will--emotional1 sthetic1 ethical1 and religious data1 as well as those judgments of worth which underlie reason's theoretical determinations4 ,man stands1 in fact1 everywhere face to face with an actual world of great complexity1 that seems to him at first what ,james says the baby's world is1 one big blooming buzzing confusion2 and the universe of all of us is still to a great extent such a confusion1 potentially resolvable1 and demanding to be resolved1 but not yet actually resolved1 into parts4#ci ,in one sense1 man's whole task is to think unity and order into this confusion4 ,the problem really becomes that of thinking the universe through in several kinds of terms1 and then finally bringing all together into one comprehensive view4 ,all these are alike ideals which the mind sets before itself4 ,the easiest of these problems is the attempt to think the world through1 in mathematico-mechanical terms4 ,but the attempt to think the world through in sthetic or ethical or religious terms is equally legitimate1 though it is more difficult4 ,not only1 then1 is the mathematico-mechanical view not the sole justifiable view1 but it really has its justification in an ideal1 and success in this attempt affords just encouragement for the hope of success in the other more difficult problems4#dj ,the truly mystical holds1 then1 that the narrow intellectualism is unwarranted1 because natural science1 the mechanical view of the world1 is itself an ideal--the child of duties1 as ,mnsterberg calls it--and so cannot legitimately rule out other ideals2 because we have just as immediate a conviction concerning the worth1 as concerning the logical consistency of the world2 because a narrow intellectualism would make conscious life but a barren rehearsal of the outer world1 without significance2 because if we can trust the indications of our intellect1 we ought to be able to trust the indications of the rest of our nature2 and because1 thus1 the only possible key and standard of truth and reality are in ourselves--the whole self1 and necessities of thought become necessities of a reason which means loyally to take account of all the data of the entire man4 ,and the same point may be thus stated4 ,we use the word rational in two quite distinct senses3 in the narrow sense1 as meaning simply the intellectual2 in the broad sense1 as indicating the demands of the entire man4 ,the true mysticism stands for the broadly rational4 ,so1 too1 we speak of the necessary fundamental assumption of the honesty or sincerity of the world2 but this includes two quite distinct propositions3 one1 that the world must be thinkable1 conceivable1 construable1 a logically consistent whole1 a sphere for rational thinking1--where the test is consistency2 the other1 that the world must be worth while1 must not mock our highest ideals and aspirations1 must in some true and genuine sense satisfy the whole man1 be a sphere for rational living1--where the test is worth4 ,all our arguments go forward upon these two assumptions4 ,now1 a true mysticism contends that the second principle is as rational as the first1 though it must be freely granted that it is not as easy to employ it for detailed conclusions1 and it is consequently much more liable to abuse4 ,the true mysticism wishes to be not less1 but more1 rational4 ,it knows no shorthand substitute for the hard and steady thinking of the philosopher1 or for the historical experience of the prophet2 it needs and uses both4 ,in all this1 it is plain that the truly mystical is a legitimate outgrowth of the emphasis of the social consciousness upon recognition of the entire personality4 ,phillips ,brooks finds just this in the intellectual life of ,jesus4 ,the great fact concerning it is this1 he says1 that in him the intellect never works alone4 ,you never can separate its workings from the complete operation of the entire nature4 ,he never simply knows1 but always loves and resolves at the same time4#da #c4 ,the ,self-,controlled ,recognition of ,emotion4--,moreover1 it probably may be fairly claimed that all of the mystical recognition of the emotional which is valuable or even legitimate1 is preserved1 and far more safely and sanely conceived1 in a strictly personal conception of religion4 ,it may well be doubted1 if it is possible in any other way1 both to do justice to feeling in religion1 and at the same time to keep feeling in its proper place4 ,is it possible briefly to indicate both the recognition of emotion and the control of emotion in religion8 ,the true mysticism recognizes that the supreme joy is joy in personal life--joy in entering into the revelation of a person2 and it believes with reason that a growing acquaintance with ,god must have such heights and depths of meaning as no other personal relation can have4 ,it is not1 therefore1 afraid or distrustful of true emotion--of joy or peace1 of intense longing or of keen satisfaction--in the religious life4 ,but the true mysticism knows at the same time that deep revelation of a person is made only to the reverent1 that the conditions are in the highest degree ethical1 and above all must be recognized to be so in religion4 ,it does view1 then1 with deep distrust an emotional emphasis in religion that ignores the ethical4 ,it cannot forget that ,christ thought that everything must be tested by its fruits in life4 ,paul1 too1 insisted on applying the test of an active ministering love to the highly valued emotional experiences of the ,corinthians2 and writes to the ,galatians that there is but one infallible proof of the working of the ,spirit in them--a righteous life3 love1 joy1 peace1 longsuffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 faith1 meekness1 temperance4 ,and a true mysticism knows that the spirit1 reverent of personality1 leads to a self-restraint that does not seek the emotional experience simply as such on any conditions2 but1 knowing the supreme psychological conditions of happiness and character and influence1 it loses itself in an unselfish love and in absorbing work1 and understands that it must simply let the experiences come4 ,it will have nothing1 therefore1 to do with strained emotion1 or with the working up of feeling for its own sake4 ,it seeks health1 not merely the signs of health4 ,it prizes1 therefore1 the joy that simply proclaims itself as the sign of the normal life and so positively strengthens and cheers1 but it will have nothing of the strain of emotion which is drain4 ,it is interesting to notice that it is exactly this true psychological attitude concerning the emotional life that ,phillips ,brooks believed that he found perfectly reflected in ,jesus4 ,the sensitiveness of ,jesus to pain and joy1 he says1 never leads him for a moment to try to be sad or happy with direct endeavor2 nor1 is there any sign that he ever judges the real character of himself or any other man by the sadness or the happiness that for the moment covers his life4 ,he simply lives1 and joy and sorrow issue from his living1 and cast their brightness and their gloominess back upon his life2 but there is no sorrow and no joy that he ever sought for itself1 and he always kept a self-knowledge underneath the joy or sorrow1 undisturbed by the moment's happiness or unhappiness4#db ,how far from this objectivity and this healthful emotional life is the atmosphere of most of our devotional books1 and1 one might say1 of all the manuals of ordinary mysticism6 ,that this difficulty should confront us in devotional literature is very natural2 for such writing commonly aims to give the emotional sense of reality in religion2 and is1 therefore1 particularly under the temptation to show and to produce a straining after the emotion1 as for its own sake4 ,moreover1 the very introspection1 almost inevitably involved in the reading and writing of devotional books1 tends to bring about an artificial change in the religious experience1 and so to introduce into it the abnormal4 ,but the social consciousness1 so far as it affects religion1 not only tends to draw away from the falsely mystical1 and to emphasize the personal1 and so to keep the truly mystical1 but it is even more plain that it must tend to insist upon the ethical in religion4 #ce ,cf4 ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 p4 #bja ff4 #cf ,op4 cit41 pp4 #baj ff4 #cg ,james1 ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #cjg4 #ch ,james1 ,the ,will to ,believe1 pp4 #bid1 #bie4 #ci ,psychology1 ,briefer ,course1 p4 #af4 #dj ,cf4 ,james1 ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 #fcc-fgg2 especially #fcc1 #fcd1 #ffg1 #fga1 #fgg2 ,mnsterberg1 ,psychology and ,life1 pp4 #bc-bh4 #da ,brooks1 ,the ,influence of ,jesus1 p4 #bai4 #db ,the ,influence of ,jesus1 p4 #aef4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,thorough ,,ethicizing ,,of ,,religion ,i4 ,,the ,,pressure ,,of ,,the ,,problem ,the social consciousness looks to the thorough ethicizing of religion4 ,if the social consciousness is to be regarded as historically justified1 it must believe that this growing sense of brotherhood and consequent obligation is simply our response to the on-working of ,god's own plan1 ,god's own will expressing itself in us4 ,the purpose to recognize the will of ,god1 thus necessarily involves the recognition of human relations1 since1 as soon as conscience is strongly stirred in any direction1 religion can but feel1 in this demand of conscience1 the demand of ,god1 and1 therefore1 must bring the convictions of the social consciousness into religion4 ,indeed1 it may be well believed that ,kaftan is right in his insistence that it is exactly through the practical1 that is1 in the realm of the ethical1 that knowledge arises from faith4#dc ,in any case1 it is evident that the old problem of faith and works1 of religion and ethics1 of the first and second commandments1 meets us here in a way not to be put aside4 ,with an ethical demand so insistent as that of the social consciousness no religion can be at peace that is not with equal insistence ethical4 ,we are bound1 then1 to show how communion with ,god1 the supreme desire to find ,god1 necessarily carries with it active love for men4 ,we must show how we truly commune with ,god in such active service4 ,the social consciousness1 thus1 positively thrusts upon every religious man1 who believes in it1 the problem of the thorough ethicizing of religion4 ,or1 to put the matter in a slightly different way1 if the sense of the value and the sacredness of the person is one of the two greatest moral convictions of our time1 then religion must be clearly seen to hold this conviction1 or lose its connection with what is most real and vital to us4 ,this is the problem4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,statement ,,of ,,the ,,problem ,all will probably agree that religion is communion with ,god4 ,we have seen why the social consciousness cannot accept a falsely mystical view of that communion4 ,for similar reasons1 it must make absolutely subordinate all non-ethical and simply mysterious means which make no appeal to the conscience and to the reason--the falsely sacramental4 ,only the person is truly sacramental4 ,much else may be of value1 but the touch of personal life is the only absolute essential in religion4 ,we have seen1 also1 why the social consciousness tends to regard religion as a strictly personal relation4 ,our problem thus becomes3 ,how does the desire for personal relation with ,god1 the desire for ,god himself1 lead directly into the ethical life--into the full and practical recognition of the ethical demands of the social consciousness8 ,to guard against any possible misconception1 it is1 perhaps1 well to say at the start that the desire for a personal relation with ,god has no purpose of returning by another route to the false position of mysticism1 in the claim of special private revelations that are exclusively for it4 ,it expects1 rather1 personal conviction of that great revelation that is common to all1 and1 moreover1 it knows well that no personal relation is essentially sensuous1 and it certainly looks for no sensuous relation to ,god4 ,it may be worth while1 too1 to reverse our question for a moment1 and ask how morality necessarily involves religion4 ,the true moral life is the fulfilment of all personal relations1 and as such can least of all omit the greatest and most fundamental relation which gives being and meaning and value to all the rest--the relation to ,god4 ,the fully moral life1 therefore1 must include religion4 ,the unity of the two may be thus seen4 ,but the present inquiry looks at the matter from the other side1 and seeks a careful and thoroughgoing answer to the question3 ,why is the ,christian religion1 as a personal relation to ,god1 necessarily ethical8 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,answer #a4 ,involved in ,relation to ,christ4--,in the first place1 then1 it probably may be safely claimed that there is no test of the moral life of a man so certain as his attitude toward ,christ4 ,setting aside1 now1 any special religious claims of ,christ altogether1 and recognizing him only as earth's highest character1 the supreme artist in living1 who knows the secret of the moral life more surely and more perfectly than any other1 he becomes even so the surest touch-stone of character2 and the iron filings will not be more certainly attracted to the magnet than will the men of highest character be attracted to ,christ when he is really seen as he is4 ,there is no test of character so certain as the test of one's personal relation to the best persons4 ,the personal attitude toward ,christ is the supreme test4 ,in receiving him1 in becoming his disciples in a completer sense than we own ourselves the disciples of any other1 we make the supreme moral choice of our lives2 and1 if no more is true than has been already said1 we so accept as a matter of fact the fullest historical revelation of ,god at the same time4 ,the ethical and religious here fall absolutely together4 ,and all the subsequent choices of our ,christian life1 if true to ,christ1 are necessarily moral4 #b4 ,the ,divine ,will ,felt in the ,ethical ,command4--,in the second place1 the sense of the presence of ,god1 of the divine will laid upon us1 if we have the religious feeling at all1 comes to us nowhere in our common life so certainly and so persistently as in a sense of obligation which we cannot shake off1 a sense of facing a clear duty4 ,to run away from this1 we are made to feel1 is plainly to run away from ,god4 ,is this not a simply true interpretation of the common consciousness8 ,here1 then1 the religious experience is in the very sphere of the ethical1 and identical with it4 #c4 ,involved in the ,nature of ,god's ,gifts4--,again1 ,god's gifts in religion are of such a kind that they simply cannot be given to the unwilling soul2 just to receive them1 therefore1 implies willingness to use them2 and faith becomes inevitably both a gift and an activity4 ,however one names ,god's gifts in religion1 so long as the relation is kept a spiritual one at all1 receiving the gift requires a real ethical attitude in the recipient4 ,a real forgiveness1 for example1 involves personal reconciliation1 restored personal relations2 and reconciliation is mutual4 ,one cannot1 then1 be said in any true sense to accept forgiveness from ,god who is not himself in an attitude of reconciliation with ,god1 of harmony of will with him4 ,in the same way1 peace with ,god1 the gift of the ,spirit1 life1 ,god's own life1 cannot be really given to any man without an ethical response on his part in a definite attitude of will4 ,anything arbitrary here is1 therefore1 necessarily shut out4 ,god's gifts in religion are of such a kind that they simply cannot be given to the unwilling soul4 ,they are not things to be mechanically poured out on men4 ,we have no need1 consequently1 to guard our religious statements in this respect4 ,we cannot even receive from ,god the spiritual gifts of the religious relation without the active will4 ,here1 too1 religion is certainly ethical4 #d4 ,communion with ,god1 through ,harmony with ,his ,ethical ,will4--,or1 one may say1 desire for real communion with ,god seeks ,god himself1 not things1 or some experience merely4 ,but the very center of personality is the will2 any genuine seeking of ,god himself1 therefore1 to commune with him1 requires unity with his ethical will4 ,the deepest religious motive is at the same time1 thus1 an impulse to character4 #e4 ,the ,vision of ,god for the ,pure in ,heart4--,christ's own statement--,blessed are the pure in heart2 for they shall see ,god--suggests another aspect of this essential unity of the religious and the ethical4 ,the connection in the beatitude is no chance one4 ,the highest and completest revelation of personality1 human or divine1 can be made only to the reverent4 ,god reveals himself to the reverent soul1 and most of all to the pure--to those souls that are reverent of personality throughout and under the severest pressure4 ,therefore1 the pure in heart shall see ,god4 ,the secret of the ,lord is with them that fear him4#dd ,the vision of ,god requires the spirit that is reverent of personality1 and this spirit is the abiding source of the finest ethical living4 #f4 ,sharing the ,life of ,god4--,but perhaps the clearest and most satisfactory putting of the relation is this4 ,the very meaning of religion is sharing the life of ,god4 ,as soon1 now1 as ,god is conceived as essentially holy and loving1 a ,god of character1 a living will and not a substance--and ,christianity to be true to itself1 must always so conceive him--so soon religion and morality are indissolubly united4 ,god's life1 according to ,christ's teaching1 is the life of constant and perfect self-giving4 ,to share the life of ,god1 therefore1 to share his single purpose1 is to come into the life of loving service4 ,the two fall together from the point of view of the social consciousness4 ,and we are saved1 we come into the real religious life1 only in the proportion in which we have really learned to love4 ,everyone that loveth is begotten of ,god1 and knoweth ,god4#de ,the old separation of religion and character is impossible from this point of view4 #g4 ,christ1 as ,satisfying ,our ,highest ,claims on ,life4--,but we may still profitably press the question3 ,is the ,christian religion--the special faith in the revelation of ,god in ,christ1 the best way to righteousness8 does it necessarily1 most naturally1 most spontaneously1 and most joyfully carry righteousness of life with it8 ,if this is to be true1 ,christian faith1 in ,herrmann's language1 must give men the power to submit with joy to the claims of duty4#df ,it may be doubted whether any one has dealt with this question as satisfactorily as ,herrmann himself1 and a few sentences may well be quoted from his discussion4 ,we know that the ordinary instinctive way in which men seek the satisfaction of all the needs of life makes it impossible to submit honestly to the demands of duty1 and we see1 also1 the falsity of the childish idea of the mystics that this instinct should be extirpated2 it follows1 then1 that we can only seek moral deliverance in a true and perfect satisfaction of our craving for life4444 ,now just such a feeling of perfect inner contentment is possible to the ,christian1 and he has it just in proportion as he understands that ,god turns to him in ,christ4444 ,this is redemption1 that ,christ creates within us a living joy1 whose brightness beams even from the eye of sorrow1 and tells the world of a power it cannot comprehend4 ,and the power that works redemption is the fact that in our world there is a ,man whose appearance can at any moment be to us the mighty ,word of ,god1 snatching us out of our troubles and making us to feel that he desires to have us for his own1 and so setting us free from the world and from our own instinctive nature4#dg ,christ1 that is1 has no desire to withdraw himself from the test of the largest life4 ,he is able to satisfy the highest demands for life4 ,he courts the trial4 ,he claims to offer life1 the largest life4 ,i came1 he says1 that they may have life1 and may have it abundantly4#dh ,his way of deliverance is not negative but positive1 not limiting but fulfilling4 ,he is able to give such largeness of life in himself1 such inner satisfaction of the craving for life1 as makes a lower life lose its power over us1 the larger and higher life driving out the meaner and lower4 ,this is positive victory1 supplanting the lower with the higher2 just as in literature1 in music1 in friendship1 and in love1 we expect the best to break down the taste for the lower4 #h4 ,the ,vision of the ,riches of the ,life of ,christ1 ,ethically ,conditioned4--,but the thought of ,christ's satisfying our highest claim on life deserves to be carried further1 if it is to be saved from vagueness and to have its full power with us4 ,the highest value in the world is a personal life4 ,so ,christ has made us feel4 ,it is finally the only value1 for all other so-called values borrow their value from persons4 ,the highest joy conceivable is entering into the riches of another's personal life through his willing self-revelation4 ,now it is no fine fancy that the supremely rich life of the world's history is ,christ's4 ,god can only be known1 if we are not to fall back into the vagaries of mysticism1 in his concrete manifestation2 and ,god opens out in ,christ1 the ,new ,testament believes1 the inexhaustible wealth of his own personal life4 ,it is ,god's highest gift1 the gift of himself4 ,no one knoweth the ,son save the ,father2 neither doth any know the ,father1 save the ,son1 and he to whom the ,son willeth to reveal him4#di ,this is life eternal1 that they should know thee1 the only true ,god1 and him whom thou didst send4#ej ,so it seemed to ,paul3 ,unto me1 who am less than the least of all saints1 was this grace given1 to preach unto the ,gentiles the unsearchable riches of ,christ4#ea ,do we not here catch a glimpse of what the depth of that satisfaction with the inner life of ,god in ,christ may be8 ,for ,he who hath the heart of ,god sufficed1 ,can satisfy all hearts1--yea1 thine and mine4 ,only the riches of a personal life can satisfy our claim on life1 our desire for life2 and1 ultimately1 we can be fully satisfied only with ,god's own life in the fullest revelation he can make of it to us men4 ,only this can be the unspeakable gift4 ,the thirst for ,god1 for the living ,god1 is a simply true expression of the human heart when it comes to real self-knowledge4 ,but the riches of the personal life of ,christ are necessarily hidden to one who does not come into the sharing of ,christ's purpose4 ,the condition of the vision is ethical4 ,the very satisfaction1 therefore1 of our craving for life constantly impels to a more perfect union with the will of ,christ2 for such complete entering into the life of another with joy implies profound agreement4 ,the desire for life1 therefore1 for ,god's own life1 for communion with ,god1 itself impels to character4 ,faith does here give the power to submit with joy to the claims of duty1 and religion is ethical in the very heart of it4 #i4 ,the ,moral ,law1 as a ,revelation of the ,love of ,god4--,the same unity of the religious and ethical life is helpfully seen1 if we put the matter in one further and slightly different way4 ,only the ,christian religion1 faith in ,god as ,father revealed in ,christ1 enables us to welcome the stern demands of duty and so gives us inner deliverance1 joy1 and liberty in the moral life2 for now the moral demand is seen1 not as task only1 but as opportunity4 ,for ,christ1 the law of ,god is a revelation of the love of ,god2 it is a gracious indication--a secret whispered to us--of the lines along which we are to find our largest and richest life2 it is not a limitation of life1 but a way to larger life4 ,not1 then1 the avoidance1 as far as possible1 of the law of ,god1 but the completest fulfilment of it is the road to life--following the hint of the law into the remotest ramifications1 and into the inmost spirit1 of the life4 ,the other attitude which assumes that the law is a hindrance to life is a distinct denial of the love of ,god4 ,it implies that ,god lays upon us demands which are not for our good4 ,it refuses to accept as reality ,christ's manifestation of ,god as ,father4 ,real belief in the love of ,god1 on the other hand1 must take the fearful out of his commands4 ,to be freed from the law1 now1 has quite a different meaning3 not the taking off from us of the moral demand1 but the inner deliverance1 that would not have the command removed1 but finds life in it1 and obeys it freely and joyfully4 ,only a thoroughgoing and fundamental faith in the ,fatherhood of ,god can bring such inner deliverance1 even as we have seen that only such a faith can really ground the social consciousness4 ,and such a faith only ,christ has proved adequate to bring4 ,with this light1 now1 we feel1 in every demand of duty1 the presence of ,god1 and in this presence of ,god the pledge of life1 not a limitation of life4 ,the religious life desires ,god1 and it finds ,god never so certainly as in the purpose fully to face duty4 ,every one of the relations of life is1 thus1 turned to with joy by the religious man1 as sure to be a further channel of the revelation of ,god4 ,the thirst for ,god drives to the faithful fulfilment of the human relation4 ,religion becomes joyfully ethical4 ,nor is there any possibility of abandonment to the will of ,god in general1 as the mystic seems often to feel4 ,god's will means particulars all along the way of our life2 and there is no communion with ,god except in this ethical will in particulars4 ,at no point1 therefore1 can the religious life withdraw itself from the daily duty and maintain its own existence4 ,the constant inevitable condition of the religious communion is the ethical will4 ,our providential place is ,god's place to find us4 ,where ,god has put us1 just there he will best find us4 ,this is further seen in the fact that the true ,christian experience is a constant paradox3 ,god ever satisfying1 and yet ever impelling--never allowing us to remain where we are1 but holding up to us the always higher ideal beyond2 the law is ever1 ,of his fulness we all received1 and grace in place of grace4#eb ,the deepening communion with ,god is only through a constantly deepening moral life4 ,such a thoroughgoing ethicizing of religion as the social consciousness demands1 we need not hesitate1 therefore1 to believe is possible4 ,the truer religion is to its own great aspiration after ,god1 the more certainly is it ethical4 ,but the social consciousness1 so far as it influences religion1 not only tends to draw away from the falsely mystical1 and to emphasize the personal and the ethical1 it also tends to emphasize in religion the concretely1 historically ,christian4 #dc ,cf4 ,american ,journal of ,theology1 ,oct41 #ahih1 p4 #hbd4 #dd ,psalm #be3ad4 #de ,i ,john #d3g4 #df ,the ,communion of the ,christian with ,god1 p4 #bcj4 #dg ,op4 cit41 pp4 #bcb-bcd4 #dh ,john #aj3aj4 #di ,matt4 #aa3bg4 #ej ,john #ag3c4 #ea ,eph4 #c3h4 #eb ,john #a3af4 ,cf4 ,herrmann1 ,op4 cit41 pp4 #ib1 #ic4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,emphasis ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,the ,,historically ,,christian ,,in ,,religion ,the fact that the social consciousness tends to emphasize in religion the concretely historically ,christian1 has been so inevitably involved in the preceding discussions1 that it can be treated very briefly4 ,i4 ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,needs ,,historical ,,justification ,the justification of the social consciousness1 we have seen1#ec must be preminently from history4 ,neither nature nor speculation can satisfy it4 ,it needs to be able to believe in a living ,god who is in living relation to living men4 ,it needs just such a justification as historical ,christianity1 and only historical ,christianity1 can give2 it needs the assurance of an objective divine will in the world1 definitely working in the line of its own ideals4 ,it needs also to be able to give such definite content to the thought of ,god as shall be able to satisfy its own strong insistence upon the rational and the ethical as historical4 ,,ii4 ,,christianity',s ,,response ,,to ,,this ,,need ,if religion is to be a reality to the social consciousness1 then1 there must be a real revelation of a real ,god in the real world1 in actual human history1 not an imaginary ,god1 nor a dream ,god1 nor a ,god of mystic contemplation4 ,this discernment of ,god in the real world1 in actual history1 is the glory even of the ,old ,testament2 and it came1 as we have seen1 along the line of the social consciousness4 ,and it is such a real revelation of the real ,god that ,christianity finds preminently in ,christ4 ,it can say to the social consciousness3 ,make no effort to believe1 but simply put yourself in the presence of a concrete1 definite1 actual1 historical fact1 with its perennial ethical appeal2 put yourself in the presence of ,christ--the greatest and realest of the facts of history1--and let that fact make its own legitimate impression1 work its own natural work2 that fact alone1 of all the facts of history1 gives you full and ample warrant for your own being4 ,if this be true1 it can hardly be doubted that1 so far as the social consciousness understands itself and influences religion at all1 it will tend to emphasize1 not to underestimate1 the concretely1 historically ,christian4 ,the natural influence of the social consciousness upon religion1 then1 may be said to be fourfold3 it tends to draw away from the falsely mystical2 it tends to emphasize the personal in religion1 and so to keep the truly mystical2 it tends to emphasize the ethical in religion2 and it needs the concretely1 historically ,christian4 #ec ,cf above1 pp4 #ei ff4 ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,social ,,consciousness ,,upon ,,theological ,,doctrine ,,chapter ,,ix ,,general ,,results ,the question of this third division of our inquiry is this3 ,to what changed points of view1 and to what restatements of doctrine1 and so to what better appreciation of ,christian truth1 does the social consciousness of our time lead8 ,the question is raised here1 as in the case of the conception of religion1 not as one of exact historical connection1 but rather as a question of sympathetic points of contact4 ,it means simply3 ,with what changes in theological statements would the social consciousness naturally find itself most sympathetic8 ,certain general results are clear from the start1 and might be anticipated from any one of several points of view4 ,i4 ,,the ,,conception ,,of ,,theology ,,in ,,personal ,,terms ,in the first place1 the social consciousness means1 we have found1 emphasis on the fully personal--a fresh awakening to the significance of the person and of personal relations4 ,its whole activity is in the sphere of personal relations4 ,hence1 as in the conception of religion1 so here1 so far as the social consciousness affects theology at all1 it will tend everywhere to bring the personal into prominence1 and it certainly will be found in harmony ultimately with the attempt to conceive theology in terms of personal relations4 ,these are for the social consciousness the realest of realities2 and if theology is to be real to the social consciousness1 then it must make much of the personal4 ,theology1 thus1 it is worth while seeing1 is not to be personal and social1 but it will be social--it will do justice to the social consciousness--if it does justice to the fully personal2 for1 in the language of another1 man is social1 just in so far as he is personal4#ed ,the foreign and unreal seeming of many of the old forms of statement1 it may well be noted in passing1 has its probable cause just here4 ,they were not shaped in the atmosphere of the social consciousness4 ,they got at things in a way we should not now think of using4 ,the method of approach was too merely metaphysical and individualistic and mystical1 and the result seems to us to have but slight ethical or religious significance4 ,the arguments that now move us most1 in this entire realm of spiritual inquiry1 are moral and social rather than metaphysical and mystical4 ,it is interesting to see1 for example1 how such arguments for immortality as that of the simplicity of the soul's being--and most of those used by ,plato--and how such arguments even for the existence of ,god as those of ,samuel ,clarke from time and space1 have become for us merely matters of curious inquiry4 ,we can hardly imagine men having given them real weight4 ,a similar change seems to be creeping over the laborious attempts metaphysically to conceive the divinity of ,christ4 ,the question is shifting its position for both radical and conservative to a new ground--from the metaphysical and mystical to the moral and social2 though some radicals who regard themselves as in the van of progress have not yet found it out1 and so find fault with one for not continually defining himself in terms of the older metaphysical formulas and shibboleths4 ,the considerations1 in all these questions and in many others1 which really weigh most with us now1 are considerations which belong to the sphere of the personal spiritual life4 ,ultimately1 no doubt1 a metaphysics is involved here too2 but it is a metaphysics whose final reality is spirit1 not an unknown substance--,locke's something1 ,i know not what4 ,the unsatisfactoriness of even so honored a symbol as the ,apostles' ,creed1 as a permanently adequate statement of ,christian faith1 must for similar reasons become increasingly clear in the atmosphere of the social consciousness4 ,one wonders1 as he goes carefully over it1 that so many concrete statements could be made concerning the ,christian religion1 which yet are so little ethical4 ,the creed seems almost to exclude the ethical4 ,it has nothing to say1 except by rather distant implication1 of the character of ,god1 of the character of ,christ1 or of the character of men4 ,the life of ,christ between his birth and his death are untouched4 ,the considerations that really weigh most with us--as they did with the apostles--in making us ,christians1 certainly do not come here to prominent expression4 ,this whole difference of atmosphere is the striking fact2 and were it not that we instinctively interpret its phrases in accordance with our modern consciousness1 we should feel the difference much more than we do4 ,what the previous discussion has called the truly mystical--the recognition of the whole man1 of the entire personality--is coming in increasingly to correct both the falsely mystical and the falsely metaphysical4 ,we are arguing now1 in harmony with the social consciousness1 from the standpoint of the broadly rational1 not from that of the narrowly intellectual4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,fatherhood ,,of ,,god1 ,,as ,,the ,,determining ,,principle ,,in ,,theology ,one might reach essentially the same general results from the influence of the social consciousness1 by seeing that1 so far as it deepens for us the meaning of the personal1 it will deepen immediately our conception of the ,fatherhood of ,god--the central and dominating doctrine in all theology--and so affect all theology4 ,for1 with a change in the conception of ,god1 no doctrine can go wholly untouched4 ,every step into a deeper feeling for the personal--and the growth of the modern social consciousness is undoubtedly a long step in that direction--deepens necessarily religion and theology4 ,perhaps the possible results here can be illustrated in no way better than by recalling ,patterson ,du,bois' putting of the needed change in the conception of the proper attitude of a father toward his child4 ,we are not to say1 he writes3 ,i will conquer that child1 no matter what it may cost him1 but we are to say1 ,i will help that child to conquer himself1 no matter what it may cost me4 ,now that change in point of view is a well-nigh perfect illustration of the social consciousness in a given relation1 and it cannot be doubted that it is a true expression of ,christ's thought of the ,fatherhood of ,god2 but has it really dominated through and through our theological statements8 ,manifestly1 what it means to us that ,god is ,father depends on what we have come to see in fatherhood4 ,and ,principal ,fairbairn1 in the second part of his ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 has given us a good illustration of how much it means for theology to be in earnest in making the ,fatherhood of ,god the determining doctrine in theology4 ,,iii4 ,,christ',s ,,own ,,social ,,emphases ,again1 if the general influence of the social consciousness upon theological doctrine is to be recognized at all1 it is evident that a ,christian theology must take full account of ,christ's own social emphases4 ,by loyalty to these1 it will expect best to meet the need of an enlightened social consciousness4 ,it will strive thus--to use ,professor ,peabody's instructive summary of the social principles of the teaching of ,jesus--to be true to the view from above1 the approach from within1 and the movement toward a spiritual end2 wisdom1 personality1 idealism2 a social horizon1 a social power1 a social aim4 ,the supreme truth that this is ,god's world gave to ,jesus his spirit of social optimism2 the assurance that man is ,god's instrument gave to him his method of social opportunism2 the faith that in ,god's world ,god's people are to establish ,god's kingdom gave him his social idealism4 ,he looks upon the struggling1 chaotic1 sinning world with the eye of an unclouded religious faith1 and discerns in it the principle of personality fulfilling the will of ,god in social service4#ee ,and every one of these three great social principles of ,jesus has obvious theological applications1 not yet fully made4 ,the social consciousness1 indeed1 well illustrates ,fairbairn's admirable statement of how progress is to be expected in theology4 ,the longer the history of ,christ1 he says1 lives in the ,christian consciousness and penetrates it1 the more does the consciousness become able to interpret the history in its own terms and according to its own contents4 ,the old pagan mind into which ,christianity first came could not possibly be the best interpreter of ,christianity1 and the more the mind is cleansed of the pagan the more qualified it becomes to interpret the religion4 ,it is1 therefore1 reasonable to expect that the later forms of faith should be the truer and purer4#ef ,now the social consciousness itself is a genuine manifestation of the spirit of ,christ at work in the world1 and the mind permeated with this social consciousness is consequently better able to turn back to the teaching of ,jesus and give it proper interpretation4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,reflection ,,in ,,theology ,,of ,,the ,,changes ,,in ,,the ,,conception ,,of ,,religion ,once more1 theology1 as an expression of religion1 will at once reflect any change in the conception of religion4 ,the influence of the social consciousness upon religion1 already traced1 will1 therefore1 inevitably pass over into theology4 ,this means nothing less than a changed point of view1 in the consideration of each doctrine4 ,for theology must then recognize clearly that it can build on no falsely mystical conception of communion with ,god2 but1 while keeping the elements in mysticism which are justified by the social consciousness1 it will require of itself throughout a formulation of doctrine in terms that shall be thoroughly personal1 thoroughly ethical1 and indubitably loyal to the concretely historically ,christian4 ,many traditional statements quite fail to meet so searching a test2 but no lower standard can give a theology that should fully meet the demands of the social consciousness4 ,the general results of the influence of the social consciousness upon theological doctrine1 then1 may be said to include3 ,the emphasis upon the fully personal1 and so conceiving theology in terms of personal relation2 the deepening of the conception of the ,fatherhood of ,god1 and making this the determining principle in theology2 the application of the social principles of the teaching of ,jesus to theology2 the reflection in theology of the natural changes in the conception of religion wrought by the social consciousness4 ,now any one of these general results indicates the certain influence of the social consciousness upon theology1 and any one might be followed out into helpful suggestions for the restatement of theological doctrines4 ,but we shall probably most clearly and definitely answer the question of our theme1 if we ask specifically concerning the several elements of the social consciousness3 ,how does a deepening sense of the like-mindedness of men1 of the mutual influence of men1 of the value and sacredness of the person1 of personal obligation1 and of love1 tend to affect our theological point of view and mode of statement8 ,and our inquiry will follow these separate questions in separate chapters1 except that for the purposes of theological inference1 the last three may be appropriately grouped together4 #ed ,nash1 ,ethics and ,revelation1 p4 #bei4 #ee ,peabody1 ,jesus ,christ and the ,social ,question1 p4 #ajd4 #ef ,fairbairn1 ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 p4 #ahf4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,like-,,mindedness ,,of ,,men ,,upon ,,theology ,in definitely considering the influence of the social consciousness upon theological doctrines1 our first question becomes3 ,how does the deepening sense of the like-mindedness of men affect theology8 ,obviously1 here1 the change will be largely one of mood4 ,we shall look at our themes with a different feeling1 and so speak differently1 modifying our methods of putting things in those slight ways that do not seem specially significant to one who judges in the mass1 but mean very much to one who feels the finer implications of personal life4 ,these finer changes no one can hope to follow out in detail4 ,certain of these finer changes will naturally find incidental expression in the course of the more formal treatment4 ,but our attention must be mainly given to the statement of some of the most important of the plainer results of the principle in theology4 ,i4 ,,no ,,prime ,,favorites ,,with ,,god ,in the first place1 this conviction of the like-mindedness of men means that there can be no prime favorites with ,god4 ,it can hardly help affecting the thought of election4 ,election will1 indeed1 be thought of as qualified by the character of the chosen2 for even ,paul's argument in ,romans clearly recognizes this1 and is1 in fact1 itself a distinct argument against a narrow doctrine of election1 as others have recognized4#eg ,but1 beyond this1 the conviction of the like-mindedness of men will especially view election as a choice for service4 ,the divine method of election must be in harmony with ,christ's fundamental principle of his kingdom1 and with the developing social consciousness3 ,whosoever shall be first among you1 shall be servant of all4#eh ,it is no accident that this thought of election as choice for preminent service1 which is indeed soundly biblical1 has come into special prominence in these days of the social consciousness4 ,the same change is passing over our view of the elect1 as of the privileged and governing classes4 ,we shall not return to the older feeling of prime favorites of ,god1 and the problem of evil will find herein a certain alleviation4 ,we shall feel increasingly that each race and each individual have their calling and have their compensating advantages2 and that1 when it comes down to the final test of opportunity1 the differences in opportunity between individuals are far less than they seem2 for to each one is given the possibility of the largest service any man can render--the possibility of touching closely with the very spirit of his life a few other lives4 ,there are compensations1 as ,james says1 and no outward changes of condition in life can keep the nightingale of its eternal meaning from singing in all sorts of different men's hearts4#ei ,,ii4 ,,the ,,great ,,universal ,,qualities ,,and ,,interests1 ,,the ,,most ,,valuable ,moreover1 since equality of need among men1#fj implies1 as we have seen1 a common capacity--even if in varying degrees--of entering into the most fundamental interests of life1 this belief in the essential likeness of men is likely to carry with it that most wholesome conviction for theology1 that the great universal qualities and interests are the most valuable4 ,not that which distinguishes us from one another1 but that which we have in common is most valuable4 ,as ,howells tells the boys in his ,a ,boy's ,town1 the first thing you have to learn here below1 is that in essentials you are just like every one else1 and that you are different from others only in what is not so much worth while4#fa ,this consideration is no small help in facing that most difficult problem for any ideal view of the world--the problem of evil4 ,in ,god's world1 we feel that the most common things ought to be the best4 ,and this growing conviction of the social consciousness comes in to confirm our faith4 ,the constant and simple insistence of ,christ on receptivity as a fundamental quality in his kingdom is built1 in fact1 on an optimistic faith in the value of the common things4 ,it is interesting to notice the varied confirmations of the value of the common4 ,how often we have to feel that the deepest discussions come out with only deeper insight into the great common truths2 and1 on the other hand1 that in stilted philosophizing1 what seems at first sight a great discovery1 proves only a perversely obscure way of putting a common truth4 ,it is the very mission of genius--of the poet in the larger sense1 we are coming to feel1 to bring out the value of the common4 ,his distinctive mark is that he has kept a fresh sense for the great common experiences of life4 ,so ,kipling prays3 ,it is enough that through ,thy grace ,i saw naught common on ,thy earth4 ,take not that vision from my ken4 ,so1 the greatest in art1 ,hegel contends1 has a universal appeal4 ,it is a wholesome and heartening conviction1 ,i say1 to bring into theology1 that the really best things are common1 accessible to all1 actually shared in1 to an extent beyond that which our superficial vision seems to show4 ,for1 after all1 this conviction of the social consciousness is only bringing home to us1 in a new and appreciable way1 ,christ's own optimism and his own faith in the love of the ,father4 ,it is only another illustration of ,fairbairn's principle of the ,christian consciousness becoming more ,christian1 and so better able to understand and interpret ,christ4 ,and it leads us back by this route of the social consciousness1 to emphasize in life1 and in our theological thinking upon the conditions of entering the kingdom of ,god1 ,christ's own insistence upon the two universally human characteristics found in every child--susceptibility and trust1 which1 voluntarily cherished1 become teachableness and belief in love4 ,if ,god is ,father indeed1 and we are intended to come to our best in association with him1 these qualities must be the most fundamental ones4 ,and they imply no lack of virility1 either1 for the highest self-assertion1 as ,professor ,everett pointed out in his criticism of ,nietzsche1 is in complete self-surrender to such a will as ,god's4 ,when ,jesus said1 ',he that loseth his life shall save it1' he said in effect--,the self-surrender to which ,i call you is the truest self-assertion4 ,we find thus in the teachings of ,christianity a summons to strength far greater than that implied by the self-assertion which is most characteristic of the teachings of ,nietzsche1 because it is the assertion of a larger self4#fb ,our outlook becomes well-nigh hopeless1 when we make our tests of admission to the kingdom so much more exclusive than ,christ himself made them4 ,,iii4 ,,essential ,,likeness ,,under ,,very ,,diverse ,,forms ,it is particularly important for theology that this conviction of the like-mindedness of men has come from a growing power to discern essential likeness under very diverse forms2 for this consideration bears not only on the problem of natural evil1 but also on the problem of sin and of the progress of ,christianity4 ,we have taken some curiously diverse paths to this understanding of diverse lives4 ,travels1 history1 biography1 autobiographical fragments1 anthropology1 sociology1 psychology1 and--to no small degree--fiction1 with its stories of out-of-the-way places and out-of-the-way peoples and of unfamiliar classes1--all have been thoroughfares for the social consciousness here4 ,we are slowly learning to see the likeness under the differences1 and so to transcend the differences even between occidental and oriental4 ,all this means much1 not only for our practical missionary putting of the truth1 but also for our final theological statements4 ,they will inevitably grow simpler1 larger1 more universally human1 and at the same time more deep and solid4 ,we are slowly learning1 too1 to discern a deep inner content of life under conditions that have no appeal for us1 and to see like ideals and aspirations under very diverse forms of expression4 ,take1 for example1 these three or four sentences--a small part of that quoted by ,professor ,james in his essay1 ,on a ,certain ,blindness in ,human ,beings1--from ,stevenson's ,lantern-,bearers3 ,it is said that a poet has died young in the breast of the most stolid4 ,it may be contended rather that a 7somewhat minor7 bard in almost every case survives1 and is the spice of life to his possessor4 ,justice is not done to the versatility and the unplumbed childishness of man's imagination4 ,his life from without may seem but a rude mound of mud2 there will be some golden chamber at the heart of it in which he dwells delighted4#fc ,and1 later1 on the side of ideals1 ,stevenson is quoted once again3 ,if ,i could show you these men and women all the world over1 in every stage of history1 under every abuse of error1 under every circumstance of failure1 without hope1 without help1 without thanks1 still obscurely fighting the lost fight of virtue1 still clinging to some rag of honor1 the poor jewel of their souls6#fd ,and now1 having quoted ,howells and ,stevenson as theological authorities1 ,i shall be pardoned if1 for a moment1 ,i erect ,kenneth ,grahame's ,golden ,age into a theological institute3 ,see1 said my friend1 bearing somewhat on my shoulder1 how this strange thing1 this love of ours1 lives and shines out in the unlikeliest of places6 ,you have been in the fields in early morning8 ,barren acres1 all6 ,but only stoop--catch the light thwartwise--and all is a silver network of gossamer6 ,so the fairy filaments of this strange thing underrun and link together the whole world4 ,yet it is not the old imperious god of the fatal bow--hers hanikate machan--not that--nor even the placid respectable storg--but something still unnamed1 perhaps more mysterious1 more divine6 ,only one must stoop to see it1 old fellow1 one must stoop6#fe ,it means very much for the sanity of our outlook on life1 and for any possible theodicy1 that we can believe the heart of such a view as this for which ,stevenson and ,grahame are here contending4 ,and what is all this attempt to get away from this certain blindness in human beings1 of which ,professor ,james speaks1 but a growing into one of the fixed habits of ,jesus1 what ,phillips ,brooks calls his discovery of interest in people whom the world generally would have found most uninteresting8 ,and this same habit1 he adds1 passing over into his disciples1 made the wide and democratic character of the new faith4#ff ,,iv4 ,,as ,,applied ,,to ,,the ,,question ,,of ,,immortality ,it may probably be safely said that this steadily growing conviction of the social consciousness1 of the essential likeness of all men1 which is daily confirmed afresh1 and the more confirmed the more careful the study1 is not likely to take kindly to the idea--which comes into a part of ,dr4 ,mc,connell's argument concerning immortality1 in his interesting book1 ,the ,evolution of ,immortality--that living creatures classed as men on physical grounds are not1 therefore1 to be so classed on psychical grounds4#fg ,the considerations and illustrations brought forward by ,dr4 ,mc,connell1 in connection with this proposition1 ,i cannot think would seem at all conclusive to either the trained psychologist or sociologist4 ,it is exactly the like-mindedness of men which the social consciousness affirms1 and it has not come hastily to its conclusion4 ,it will not quickly surrender that conclusion4 ,there is an evolution of immortality1 and it has been age-long1 but it is pre-human4 ,the belief in immortality so far as it does not rest purely on the question of the moral quality of a given human life 7where the hypothesis of immortability may properly enough come in7 is grounded upon characteristics--like that of the possibility of absolutely indefinite progress#fh--which in sober scientific inquiry cannot safely be denied to any man1 and must be denied to all creatures below man4 ,in any case1 the new theory of immortability1 so far as it is based upon the proposition here considered1 has its battle to fight out with this established conviction of the social consciousness of the essential like-mindedness of all men4 ,there are various considerations1 not all of them wholly creditable1 which will lead many to turn a willing ear to this new prophesying2 but1 though it makes much of evolution1 it seems to me to have the whole trend of the social evolution against it1 and to give the lie to that patient sympathetic insight into the lives of other classes and peoples1 which is one of the finest products of the ethical evolution of the race4 ,if one is tempted to believe that a good large share of the human race are really brutes in human semblance1--and our selfishness and pride and impatience and unloving lack of insight and desire to dominate may naturally tempt in this direction1--let him read that chapter of ,professor ,james to which reference has already been made1 ,on a ,certain ,blindness in ,human ,beings1 and its pendant1 ,what ,makes a ,life ,significant4 ,it may help his theology4 ,let him recall the words of ,phillips ,brooks concerning this strange hopelessness about the world1 joined to a strong hope for themselves1 which we see in many good religious people4 ,in their hearts they recognize indubitably that ,god is saving them1 while the aspect of the world around them seems to show them that the world is going to perdition4 ,this is a common enough condition of mind2 but ,i think it may be surely said that it is not a good1 nor can it be a permanent1 condition4 ,god has mercifully made us so that no man can constantly and purely believe in any great privilege for himself unless he believes in at least the possibility of the same privilege for other men4#fi ,v4 ,,consequent ,,larger ,,sympathy ,,with ,,men1 ,,faith ,,in ,,men1 ,,and ,,hope ,,for ,,men ,this whole conviction of the social consciousness1 of the like-mindedness of men1 leads naturally to increased sympathy with men1 and this in turn to still better discernment of moral and spiritual realities4 ,and this is of prime importance for the theologian2 for sympathetic insight1 it must never be forgotten1 is the true route to spiritual verities4 ,so far as our insight into actual human life becomes truer1 so far our theology becomes clearer and more reasonable4 ,this conviction leads also to increased belief in men1 and consequently to increased belief in the effectiveness of the higher appeals4 ,the temptation to disbelief in man was one of the underlying temptations of ,christ as he looked forward to his work2 but he turned resolutely from it1 and refused to build his kingdom on any lower appeal that implied a lack of faith in men4 ,nothing seems to me more wonderful in ,christ than his marvelous faith in man2 for1 though he has the deepest sense of the sin of men1 there is not the slightest trace of cynicism in his thought or life4 ,this recognition of likeness under diversity1 too1 leads to increased hope for men1 here and hereafter4 ,in ,james' words3 ,it absolutely forbids us to be forward in pronouncing on the meaninglessness of forms of existence other than our own4444 ,neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer4444 ,no one has insight into all the ideals4 ,no one should presume to judge them off-hand4#gj ,this thought helps us to greater hope for men1 because1 indeed1 it helps us to the discernment of genuine ideals under very different forms of life1 of the universal sense of duty and some loyalty to it1 though there is great diversity of judgment as to what is duty4#ga ,but1 it is here to be noted1 also1 that the thought of the like-mindedness of men brings greater hope1 because it helps to the discernment of likeness1 even under difference in important terms used4 ,we are coming to see that there is sometimes1 at least1 a really strong religious faith where men do not acknowledge the term4 ,thus1 ,bradley says3 ,all of us1 ,i presume1 more or less1 are led beyond the region of ordinary facts4 ,some in one way1 and some in others1 we seem to touch and have communion with what is beyond the visible world4 ,in various manners we find something higher1 which supports and humbles1 both chastens and transports us4 ,and1 as a philosopher he adds1 with certain persons1 the intellectual effort to understand the universe is a principal way of thus experiencing the ,deity4#gb ,even where the term ,deity would be entirely abjured1 we have seen with ,paulsen1#gc that a real faith essentially religious in character may be clearly manifest4 ,we are even coming to see that men may seem to themselves to be contending upon opposite sides of so fundamental a question as that of the personality of ,god1 and yet be near together as to their own ultimate faith and attitude1 and possibly even as to their real philosophical views of ,god2 but the same term has come to have such different connotations for the men1 from their different education and experience1 that they simply cannot use it with the same meaning4 ,i have not the slightest desire to reduce the concrete1 ethical1 definitely personal religion of ,jesus to the ambiguities of philosophical dreamers2 the world is going to become more and more consciously and avowedly ,christian4 ,but ,i do not1 on the other hand1 as a ,christian theologian1 wish to shut my eyes to great essential likenesses in fundamental faiths and ideals and aspirations1 because they are clothed in different garb4 ,the life and teaching of ,jesus have worked and are working in the consciousness of men far beyond the limits our feeble faith is inclined to prescribe4 ,there is doubtless much unconscious ,christianity1 much unconscious following of ,christ4#gd ,and we are only following ,christ's own counsel1 when we refuse to forbid the man who is working a good work in his name1 though he follows not with us4#ge ,certainly1 if we accept the witness of a man's life against the witness of his lips when the witness of his lips is right1 we ought to accept the witness of his life against the witness of his lips when the witness of his lips is wrong4 ,with reference to all the preceding inferences from the deepening sense of the like-mindedness of men1 it is particularly worthy of note1 that this conviction of the essential likeness of men has come into existence side by side with the growing conviction of the moral unripeness of many men1 and in spite of that conviction4 ,the careful study of different social classes is forcing upon both the scientific sociologist and the practical social worker1 the sense of the ethical immaturity of men4 ,but deeper than this recognition of moral unripeness1 deeper than the vision of the sad defectiveness of moral and spiritual ideals and standards1 deeper than the clear sense of the immense differences among men as to what is duty1 deeper than the differences in even the most important terms used1 lies this great conviction of likeness--that all men are moral and spiritual beings1 made for relation to one another and to ,god2 that they have ideals that have a wide outlook implicit in them1 and have some loyalty to these ideals2 that they do have a sense of obligation2 that the moral and spiritual life is a reality1 a great universal human fact4 ,,vi4 ,,judgment ,,according ,,to ,,light1 ,,and ,,the ,,moral ,,reality ,,of ,,the ,,future ,,life ,it is no accident1 now1 that accompanying this double social conviction1 there has come into theology a new insistence upon the principle of judgment of a man according to his light1 and consequently also1 what ,professor ,clarke calls a tendency toward the recognition of greater reality and freedom in the other life1 and thus toward the possibility of moral change4#gf ,our conception of the future life was certain to be modified by the social consciousness2 and it may be doubted if any influence of the social consciousness upon theology can be more clearly traced historically than this4 ,the motives that have been working in our minds here include1 on the one hand1 a wholesome sense of the imperfection of even the best human lives2 a glad discernment1 on the other hand1 of the presence of genuine ideals in lives where we had thought there were none2 the certainty that1 as ,dr4 ,clarke says1 for at least one-third of mankind the entire life of conscious and developed personality is lived in the other world2#gg an experienced unwillingness to say1 where we cannot see1 the precise point at which the very diverse lives of men under very diverse conditions come to full moral maturity2 and the conviction that a life that is to be moral at all must be moral everywhere and through all time1 and that where even we can see a little1 ,god can see much more4 ,all these motives1 now1 make us refuse1 with ,christ1 to answer the question1 ,are there few that be saved8 ,and both with increasing hope1 and with that increasing sense of the seriousness and significance of life which so characterizes the social consciousness1 to urge3 ,strive to enter in4 ,the growing sense of the likeness of men does affect our thought of the future life4 ,the best men1 under the clearest light1 have only begun2 for the best1 there is still much need of growth4 ,who has not begun at all8 ,for whom is there no growth8 ,let us make no mistake here4 ,it is no light-hearted indifference to character1 to which the genuine social consciousness leads4 ,no age1 indeed1 ever saw so clearly as ours that the most essential conditions of happiness are in character1 or was more certain that sin carries with it its own inevitable consequences4 ,it is not a less1 but a more1 profound sense of the seriousness of the problem of moral character1 that makes us hesitate to dogmatize concerning the future life4 ,to bring together1 now1 the conclusions of the chapter3 ,the first element in the social consciousness--the deepening sense of the likeness of men--seems likely to affect theology1 especially by modifying the thought of election through emphasis upon choice for service1 and through the clear recognition that there are no prime favorites with ,god2 by strengthening the conviction that the great common qualities and interests are the most valuable1 and that genuine and largely common ideals may be found under very diverse forms and conditions2 and thus1 on the one hand1 by opposing the denial of the psychical likeness of men1 as applied to the problem of immortality1 and1 on the other hand1 by bringing us to larger sympathy with men1 to larger faith in men1 and to larger hope for men2 and1 finally1 by laying new emphasis upon judgment according to light1 and upon the moral reality and freedom of the future life4 #eg ,cf4 e4 g41 ,clarke1 ,outline of ,christian ,theology1 p4 #ade4 #eh ,mark #aj3dd4 #ei ,james1 ,talks on ,psychology and ,life's ,ideals1 p4 #cja4 #fj ,cf4 ,giddings1 ,elements of ,sociology1 p4 #cbd4 #fa ,howells1 ,a ,boy's ,town1 p4 #bje4 #fb ,the ,new ,world1 ,dec41 #ahih1 pp4 #gjb1 #gjc4 #fc ,james1 ,talks on ,psychology and ,life's ,ideals1 p4 #bcg4 #fd ,op4 cit41 p4 #bhb4 #fe ,p4 #aab4 #ff ,brooks1 ,the ,influence of ,jesus1 p4 #bec4 #fg ,mc,connell1 ,the ,evolution of ,immortality1 pp4 #ge ff4 #fh ,cf4 ,james1 ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #cdh ff41 p4 #cfg2 ,lotze1 ,the ,microcosmus1 ,book ,v1 especially ,vol4 ,i1 pp4 #gac1 #gad4 #fi ,the ,candle of the ,lord1 and ,other ,sermons1 p4 #aed4 #gj ,talks on ,psychology and ,life's ,ideals1 pp4 #bfc1 #bfe4 #ga ,cf4 above1 p4 #aba ff4 #gb ,bradley1 ,appearance and ,reality1 pp4 #e1 #f4 #gc ,cf4 above1 pp4 #df1 #dg4 #gd ,cf4 ,fremantle1 ,the ,world as the ,subject of ,redemption1 pp4 #bej ff1 #cbj ff2 ,lyman ,abbott1 ,the ,outlook1 ,dec4 #bd1 #ahih4 #ge ,mark #i3ch1 #ci2 ,cf4 ,matt4 #aj3dj-db4 #gf ,an ,outline of ,christian ,theology1 p4 #dge4 #gg ,op4 cit41 p4 #dfi4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,mutual ,,influence ,,of ,,men ,,upon ,,theology ,from this first element of the social consciousness1 we turn now to the second1 and ask1 ,how does the deepening sense of the mutual influence of men affect theology8 ,i4 ,,the ,,real ,,unity ,,of ,,the ,,race #a4 ,first1 then1 taken with the sense of the likeness of men1 it can hardly be doubted that sociology's strong feeling of the mutual influence of men deepens for theology the thought of the real1 not the mechanical1 unity of the race4 ,the theologian believes1 more than he did1 in a race whose unity is preminently moral1 rather than physical or mystical4 ,the truly scientific position for the theologian seems to be1 to make no mysterious assumptions1 where well-known causes are sufficient to account for the facts2 and those causes which the social consciousness clearly sees to be at work seem1 in all probability1 adequate to account for the facts in discussion so far as those facts are finite at all4#gh ,the theologian knows1 then1 a true moral universe1 with a unity which is that of the close personal1 mutual relations of like-minded spiritual beings4 ,the natural goal of such a race1 the only one in which they can truly find themselves1 is the kingdom of ,god4 ,this conception of ,christ is first thoroughly at home with us1 when we see that the true unity of the race is that of personal moral relation4 ,so far as men turn from that goal1 this same racial unity of the inevitable and most intimate personal relations converts them into something approaching ,ritschl's conception of an opposing kingdom of sin4 ,are we prepared to be thoroughly loyal to just this conception of the unity of the race throughout our theological thinking2 and so to give up cherished ideas of common1 transmitted1 inherited1 or racial sin or righteousness1 of mystical solidarity1 and racial ideal representation1 etc48 ,it probably may be said with truth that few1 if any1 theological systems have been thus loyal4 ,indeed1 under what seems a mistaken application of the social consciousness1 and particularly under the misleading influence of the analogy of the organism1 men have believed themselves attaining a deeper theological view1 when they have1 in fact1 turned away from the sober teaching of the social consciousness4 ,it may not be in vain for our theology to hear and receive with patience a sociologist's definition of the social mind4 ,upon this point ,professor ,giddings says explicitly3 ,there is no reason to suppose that society is a great being which is conscious of itself through some mysterious process of thinking1 separate and distinct from the thinking that goes on in the brains of individual men4 ,at any rate1 there is no possible way yet known to man of proving that there is any such supreme social consciousness4 ,nevertheless1 he adds3 ,to the group of facts that may be described as the simultaneous like-mental-activity of two or more individuals in communication with one another1 or as a concert of the emotions1 thought1 and will of two or more communicating individuals1 we give the name1 the social mind4 ,this name1 accordingly1 should be regarded as meaning just this group of facts and nothing more4 ,it does not mean that there is any other consciousness than that of individual minds4 ,it does mean that individual minds act simultaneously in like ways and continually influence one another2 and that certain mental products result from such combined mental action which could not result from the thinking of an individual who had no communication with fellow-beings4#gi ,just so far1 it may well be supposed1 and no farther may we go1 in theology1 in moral and spiritual inferences from the unity of the race4 ,we are members one of another for good and for ill1 one in the unity of the inevitable1 mutual influence of like-minded persons4 ,,ii4 ,,deepening ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,sin ,and this conviction1 in the second place1 not only deepens our sense of the real unity of the race1 it deepens also the sense of sin4 ,and we can hardly separate here the influence of the third element of the social consciousness--the sense of the value and sacredness of the person4 ,as against a rather wide-spread and often expressed contrary feeling1 this deepening sense of sin may yet1 it is believed1 be truthfully maintained1 so far as the social consciousness is really making itself felt4 ,there are some disintegrating tendencies here1 no doubt1 like the tendency under some applications of evolution and evolutionary philosophy to turn all sin into a necessary stage in the evolution4 ,but had not ,drummond reason to say3 ,there is one theological word which has found its way lately into nearly all the newer and finer literature of our country4 ,it is not only one of the words of the literary world at present1 it is perhaps the word4 ,its reality1 its certain influence1 its universality1 have at last been recognized1 and in spite of its theological name have forced it into a place which nothing but its felt relation to the wider theology of human life could ever have earned for a religious word4 ,that word1 it need scarcely be said1 is sin4#hj ,contrast this modern sense of sin with the almost total lack of it among even so gifted a people of the ancient world as the ,greeks1 and feel the significance of the phenomenon4 ,but it is particularly to be noted that this sense of sin in literature is largely due to a keener social conscience4 ,in fact1 if the social consciousness is not a thoroughly fraudulent phenomenon1 it could hardly be otherwise2 for the social consciousness1 in its very essence1 is a sense of what is due a person2 and sin is always ultimately against a person1 failure to be what one ought to be in some personal relation1 including finally all the relations of the kingdom of ,god4 ,we simply cannot deepen the sense of the meaning and value of personal relations1 and not deepen1 at the same time1 the sense of sin4 ,the meaning of the ,golden ,rule1 and so the sense of sin under it1 deepens inevitably with every step into the meaning of the person4 ,if the one great commandment is love1 then the sin of which men need most of all to be convicted is lack of love4 ,the self-tormenting and fanciful sins of some of our devotional books very likely are less felt4 ,but the very existence of the social consciousness seems to be proof that there never was so much good1 honest1 wholesome sense of real sin as to-day--such sin as ,christ himself recognizes in his own judgment test4 ,it may be that1 in temporary absorption in the human relations1 the relation of all this to the ,all-,father may seem forgotten2 even so1 we may well remember ,christ's ,ye did it unto me4 ,but1 in fact1 we must go much farther and say1 ,the social consciousness can only be true to itself finally1 as it goes on to see its acts in the light1 most of all1 of that single1 personal relation which underlies all others4 ,we have already seen that the social consciousness requires for its own justification its grounding in the manifest trend of the living will of ,god4 ,with this felt identification of the will of ,god with love for men1 men can still less shake off easily the conviction of sin4 ,probably1 most religious men argue a diminishing sense of sin1 because they feel that less is made of those consequences of sin which have been usually connected with the future life4 ,there may be real danger here from shallow thinking2 but here1 too1 the social consciousness has only to be true to itself to be saved from any shallow estimate of the consequences of sin here or hereafter4 ,as the sin itself is always1 finally1 in personal relations1 so the most terrible results of sin1 in this life and in all lives1 are in personal relations4 ,what it costs the man himself in cutting him off from the relations in which all largeness of life consists1 what it costs those who love him1 what it costs ,god1--this alone is the true measure of sin4 ,so judged1 sin itself is feared as never before4 ,surely1 ,principal ,fairbairn is right in saying3 ,and so even within ,christendom1 sin is never so little feared as when hell most dominates the imagination2 it needs to be looked at as it affects ,god1 to be understood and feared4#ha ,but it is the inevitable result of the social consciousness to bring us to the deepest conviction of all these personal relations1 and so to the deepest conviction of sin4 ,another consideration deserves attention4 ,we have a growing conviction that our social ideal is personally realized only in ,christ1 and we have given unequaled attention to that life and have such knowledge of it1 in its detailed applications1 as no preceding generation has ever had4 ,this simply means that we have both such a sense of our moral calling1 and are face to face with such a living standard1 as must steadily deepen in us a genuine sense of real sin1 in our falling so far short of the spirit of ,christ4 ,theology needs1 further1 to make unmistakably clear1 and to use the fact1 that this mutual influence of men holds for good as well as for evil2 that few greater lies have ever been told1 than the insinuation that only evil is contagious1 the good not4 ,and this conviction of the contagion of the good1 of mutual influence for good1 concerns theology particularly in three ways1 all of which may be regarded simply as illustrations or aspects of the one kingdom of ,god4 ,we are members one of another 7#a7 in attainment of character1 7#b7 in personal relation to ,god1 and 7#c7 in confession of faith4 ,and each of these forms of mutual influence will need careful attention4 ,in considering separately here attainment of character and relation to ,god1 it is not meant for a moment to admit that separation of ethics and religion which has been already denied1 but only to single out for distinct treatment the one most important and fundamental relation of life--relation to ,god4 ,we are certainly never to forget that the indispensable condition of right relations to ,god1 is that a man should have been won into willingness to share ,god's own righteous purpose concerning men4 ,,iii4 ,,mutual ,,influence ,,for ,,good ,,in ,,the ,,attainment ,,of ,,character ,we know no deeper law in the building of character1 than that righteous character comes through that association with the best in which there is mutual self-giving4 ,the problem of character implies not only a bare recognition of a man's moral freedom1 but a sacred respect at every point for his personality4 ,if a man is ever to have character at all1 it must be absolutely his own2 he must be won freely into it4 ,in this free winning to character1 no association counts for its most that is not mutual4 ,i become in character most certainly and rapidly like that man with whom ,i constantly am1 to whose influence ,i most fully surrender1 and who gives himself most completely to me4 ,we may analyze the phenomenon psychologically1 as1 indeed1 we have already done in showing that a true personal relation to ,christ necessarily carries with it a true ethical life4 ,and that which held true for religion cannot be false for theology1 we may be sure4 ,but1 in any case1 we always come back finally to the fact1 that character is truly and inevitably contagious in an association in which there is mutual surrender4 ,character is caught1 not taught4 ,the inner strength of another life to which we surrender is1 as ,phillips ,brooks somewhere says1 directly transmissible4 ,i suspect that the ultimate psychological principle at work here is that of the impulsiveness of consciousness4 ,but1 whether that be true or not1 the witness to this contagion is wide-spread among students of men4 ,the greatest gift the hero leaves his race1 one of our great novelists says1 is to have been a hero4 ,in almost identical language1 a great ethical and philosophical writer adds3 ,the noblest workers of our world bequeath us nothing so great as the image of themselves4 ,their task1 be it ever so glorious1 is historical and transient1 the majesty of their spirit is essential and eternal4 ,but one might still think1 here1 only of an example4 ,the other life1 however1 must be more to me than mere example4 ,for the highest attainment in character ,i need the association of some highest one1 who will give himself to me unreservedly4 ,redemption to real righteousness of life cannot be without cost to the redeemer4 ,and it is a psychologist1 facing the ultimate problem of will-strengthening1 who urges in words that might seem almost to look to ,christ3 ,the prophet has drunk more deeply than any one of the cup of bitterness2 but his countenance is so unshaken1 and he speaks such mighty words of cheer1 that his will becomes our will1 and our life is kindled at his own4#hb ,it is the one great certain road to character--as it is to appreciation of every value--to stay in the presence of the best1 in self-surrender to it4 ,no wonder ,christ said1 ,i am the ,way4 #a4 ,the ,application to the ,problem of ,redemption4--,it is hardly possible to ignore this one great known law of character-making1 which the social consciousness so presses upon us1 in any thinking that is for a moment worth while concerning our redemption by ,christ4 ,and whatever our point of view1 this consideration ought to have weight with us4 ,nay1 must we not make it necessarily the very center of all our thought here8 ,for all the realities in this problem of redeeming a man from sin to righteousness are intensely personal1 ethical1 spiritual4 ,now1 are we to reach a deeper view of redemption1 by turning away from the deepest ethical fact to the unethical8 ,do we so ground our view the more securely8 ,is there something holier than the holy ethical will seen realized in ,christ's life and death8 ,for1 if it is the will in his death by which we are sanctified1#hc there can be no sharp separation of the life and death4 ,must we not rather expect that the clearest light1 on the holiest in ,god and our personal relation to him1 will be thrown by the holiest we know in life1 in our human personal relations8 ,is not the precise method of redemption1 then1 to no small degree1 cleared for us right here1 in this conviction of the social consciousness of the contagion of the good in a self-surrendering association--the only solidarity of which we can be certain8 ,christ saves us1 in the only certain way we know that any man is ever saved to better living1 through direct contagion of character1 through his immediate influence upon us4 ,the power of the influence of a redeeming person must depend upon two facts3 the richness of the self that is given1 and the depth of the giving4 ,the supremely redeeming power must be the giving of the richest self1 unto the uttermost4 ,god has not yet done his best for men1 until he gives himself in the fullest manifestation which can be made through man to men1 and gives to the uttermost1 with no drawing back from any cost4 ,is it not because1 after all1 back of all theories and even in spite of theories1 men have seen in the life and death of ,christ just this eternal giving of ,god himself1 that they have been caught up into some sharing of the same spirit1 and so felt working directly and immediately upon them the supremest redeeming power the world knows8 ,the cross of ,christ has been ,god's not only saying1 ,i will help that child to conquer himself1 whatever it costs me1 but ,god doing it1 and perpetually doing it4 ,not less than that must be the cost of a man's redemption4 ,character is directly transmissible in an association in which there is mutual self-giving4 ,it is most easily so transmissible1 only at its highest1 in its most perfect manifestation1 in its completest self-giving at any cost4 ,the self-giving on the part of one trying to win another into character must precede the self-giving of the sinner2 for the sinner's own willingness to yield himself to the influence of the character of the other must first of all be won4 ,this initial winning of the coperative will of the other is the heart of the whole battle4 ,and here the power relied on is not only the unconscious contagion and imitation of character that enlists a man's interest almost by surprise1 but also the mightiest influence men know in breaking down the resisting will and winning men consciously and with final abandon--the influence of a patient1 long-suffering1 persistent1 self-sacrificing love that cannot give the sinning one up4 ,most certainly1 then1 redemption cannot be without cost to the redeemer of men--not only that cost to the hero of the superior showing of superior character in a superior task1 but that other cost1 indissolubly linked indeed with this1 of reverently1 patiently1 to the bitter end1 helping another to conquer himself--the inevitable suffering of all redemptive endeavor for those whom one loves4 ,this involves 7#a7 suffering in contact with sin1 7#b7 suffering in the rejection by those sinning1 and most of all1 7#c7 suffering in the sin itself of those one loves because one loves them--suffering which is the more intense1 the more one loves4 #b4 ,the ,consequent ,ethical and ,spiritual ,meaning of ,substitution and ,propitiation4--,can we go yet a step farther here8 ,it may be fairly taken for granted that where the church has strongly and persistently stood for certain modes of putting a doctrine--though the precise putting may be unfortunate--that in all probability there is there some real and important truth after which the consciousness of the church is dimly feeling4 ,starting1 now1 from this same great law of the contagion of character and the inevitable influence of an association in which there is mutual self-giving1 is it not possible to show that there is a strict ethical and spiritual sense that we can understand1 in which ,christ's suffering may be truly called vicarious1 and himself a substitute for us1 and a propitiation8 ,it is1 of course1 not for a moment forgotten that1 in ,dr4 ,clarke's language1 a ,god who will himself provide a propitiation has no need of one in the sense which the word has ordinarily borne4 ,some richer and nobler meaning must be present if the word is appropriate to the case4#hd ,but it is not likely that a purely ethical and spiritual view of the atonement1 which sees the problem as a strictly personal one--and this seems to the writer the only true position--can ever succeed in the hearts of the great body of the membership of the churches1 if it cannot show1 at the same time1 that it is able in some real way to take up into itself these thoughts of substitution and propitiation4 ,the writer finds much of the old language about the atonement as offensive to his moral sense as any man well can4 ,but that there is an absolutely universal human need for something like that to which the old language of substitution and propitiation looked1 he cannot doubt4 ,it seems to show itself in this1 that no man with real moral sense1 probably1 cares to put himself at the end of his life1 say1 in the attitude of the ,pharisee rather than in that of the ,publican4 ,if one sets aside all spectacular elements in the judgment1 and even denies altogether any great single final assize for all men1 still he cannot avoid the thought of some judgment upon his life4 ,as ,dr4 ,clarke says again3 ,we are not our own masters in going out of this world2 we go we know not whither4 ,yet our going is not without its just and holy method4 ,our place and lot in the life that is beyond must be determined righteously1 in accordance with the life that we have lived thus far1 that the next stage in our existence may be what it ought to be4#he ,however1 now1 that judgment of ,god may be expressed1 no man can hope to face the test proposed by ,christ in the twenty-fifth of ,matthew1 still less the test implied in ,christ's own life1 and feel that he has already attained4 ,he knows himself to be at best only a faulty growing child1 with some real spirit of obedience in his heart4 ,and it is particularly to be noted1 that exactly that man must stand most definitely for the reality of some genuinely ethical judgment1 who has most insisted upon the necessarily ethical character of the religious life4 ,moreover1 the normal experience of the deepening ,christian life is an increasing sense of sin4 ,upon this point1 too1 the social consciousness is witness4 ,what1 now1 makes it possible for a man to expect1 in any sense1 a favorable judgment of ,god upon his life8 ,if ,god makes any separation of men in the world to come1 he certainly cannot divide them into perfect and imperfect men4 ,judged by any complete standard1 all are imperfect4 ,or if1 without separation1 ,god in any sense1 in the most inner way1 passes judgment1 how does approval fall upon any8 ,and upon whom does it fall8 ,must not every man who wishes to be clear and honest with himself fairly face these questions8 ,and ,christ's own thought of ,god as ,father must be our key here4 ,and the matter may well be counted worth a more careful analysis than it often gets4 ,how does a father distinguish between what he calls an obedient and a disobedient child8 ,both are faulty4 ,how in any fair sense may one be called obedient8 ,to the earthly father1 that child is called an obedient child1 not who is deliberately setting his will against his father's with no intention to coperate with the father's purpose for him1 but whose loyal intention is to do the father's will1 really to coperate with the father in the father's own purpose for the child's life4 ,when1 now1 this child is carried away by some gust of temptation and disobeys1 and then returns in penitence to the father1 evidently viewing the sin1 so far as his experience allows1 as the father views it1 and heartily putting it away1 the father1 either with or without penalty1 restores the child to full personal relation to himself2 and that is the vital point4 ,and1 though he neither judges the past life as without failure1 nor expects the future to be without failure1 he approves the child1 as in a true sense obedient4 ,he is an approved child4 ,what is it that satisfies the father in such a case8 ,upon what does he rely in his hope for matured character in the child8 ,what1 in biblical language1 covers for the father the actual disobediences of the past and the certain disobediences of the future1 and enables him in a sense to ignore both in his approval of the child8 ,certainly1 the present purpose of the child1 the child's honest intention to coperate with the father in the father's purpose for him4 ,yes2 but as certainly1 it seems to the writer1 not that alone4 ,the father's hope for his child's steady growth in righteousness depends not only on the child's present intention1 but much more upon the father's own intention never to give up in his attempt at any cost to help that child to conquer himself4#hf ,the father may be said here in a true sense to propitiate himself2 and his own fixed purpose has become a partial substitute for the wavering purpose of the child4 ,and the child's full righteousness is seen1 not merely in an attitude of immediate present obedience1 but especially in his loyal acceptance of his filial relation--in his honest surrender to his father's influence4 ,and the father can now say1 ,because my child accepts heartily his relation to me1 and honestly throws himself open to it to let it be to him all it can and work its own work in him1 ,i may approve him2 for this relation to me which he so takes has only to go on1 to work out its complete results in a matured character4 ,in the hearty acceptance of this filial relation to me1 there is contained the promise of the end4 ,just this attitude exactly1 and no other1 it seems to the writer1 ,god takes toward men in his revelation in ,christ4 ,christ is ,god's own showing forth of himself4 ,god was in ,christ reconciling the world unto himself4#hg ,propitiation1 ,beysclag truly says1 is blotting out1 making amends for sin in ,god's eyes4 ,now what can cover the sin of the world in ,god's eyes8 ,only a personality and a deed which contain the power of actually delivering the world from its sin4#hh ,we have seen1 it may be hoped1 just how ,god's self-revealing in ,christ does have this actual power1 and becomes1 thus1 a true propitiation in the highest moral sense1 in the only sense in which ,god can wish a propitiation1 and in the only sense in which we can ever need a propitiation4 ,our final hope for that true salvation1 which is the sharing of the life of ,god and the involved likeness of character with ,god1 is in ,god's own long-suffering1 redeeming activity4 ,only as that may be remembered1 in connection with our surrender to it1 may we hope to stand approved before the judgment of ,god4 ,we are not judged alone before the judgment of ,god4 ,in a very real sense the judge himself stands with us4 ,not what ,god is able to believe about this man thought of as standing alone1 but what he may believe about this man standing in a living1 surrendering association with himself1 is the ground of judgment4 ,we may not separate here the work of ,god and the work of ,christ1 as the ,new ,testament does not separate them4 ,in constant reliance upon the constant redeeming activity of the ,father here and hereafter1 we children go hopefully on our way4 ,put into the language of the blood covenant1 where the blood has all its significance as life--the giving of life1 the sharing of life1 the closest and most indissoluble union of lives--this is to say1 there is no atonement1 no reconciliation1 no remission of sins1 no forgiveness--and these are all essentially identical terms--without shedding of blood1 that is1 without complete giving of life on both sides1 ,christ giving himself not only for us in seeking us out1 but to us in complete reconciliation and renewal of life4 ,it means that only ,god1 the very life of ,god1 sharing ,god's life1 can really save one from his sins4 ,god must pour his life into one1 and he does1 in ,christ4 ,this seems to be the heart of the whole matter2 but certain considerations may be still added1 as indicating how far a purely ethical and spiritual view of the atonement may go1 in meeting the human need expressed in these older terms of substitution and propitiation4 ,there must be a wrath of ,god against wilful sin1 a complete disapproval of it1 and all the more because ,god loves the sinner4 ,god is a consuming fire for sin in us1 because he loves us4 ,that wrath cannot be propitiated1 that disapproval cannot be satisfied1 in any effective way1 so long as the sin continues4 ,the punishment of the sin in its inevitable consequences1 will go on in the very fidelity of ,god4 ,but for any real satisfaction of ,god1 the sin itself must cease1 and there must be assurance of righteousness to come4 ,the sinner must come to share ,god's hatred of the sin and ,god's positive purpose of love4 ,hence the expiation of the sin1 the propitiation of the wrath of ,god1 the satisfaction of ,god--so far as these terms still have meaning1 and so far as they express ,christ's work--consist 7#a7 in winning men to repentance1 to sharing ,god's hatred of their sin1 7#b7 in helping men to a real power against sin1 and 7#c7 in the assurance of perfecting righteousness which is contained in the relation to ,god honestly accepted by men4 ,when1 now1 the unfilial spirit is thus changed into a completely filial spirit--through the fullest acceptance by the child of the father's purpose for him1 and through the child's throwing himself completely open to the influence of the father--the personal relation is thereby inevitably changed1 personal reconciliation is achieved4 ,it is impossible to think it otherwise4 ,and so the chief pain in the previous relation is done away both for ,god and man2 though the punishment1 in the consequences of sin in other respects1 is not thereby set aside4 ,but1 further1 so far now as the power of this new personal relation to ,god in ,christ begins actively to counteract the consequences of sin in us1 as it will assuredly do1 ,god's work in ,christ becomes a direct substitute for that punishment of us that would else inevitably follow4 ,and yet the process is wholly ethical2 for the results of righteousness can actually occur in us1 only in so far as we come into harmony with ,christ's purpose for us4 ,even so far1 we may believe1 does the social consciousness1 in its emphasis upon the mutual influence of persons go1 in leading us into the secret of the attainment of character--into the heart of ,god's redemption of men4 ,,iv4 ,,mutual ,,influence ,,for ,,good ,,in ,,our ,,personal ,,relation ,,to ,,god ,what1 now1 in the second place1 does the mutual influence of men for good mean for theology in the individual relation to ,god8 ,here it may be said at once1 that faith is as directly contagious as character4 #a4 ,in ,coming into the ,kingdom4--,we are introduced through others into all spheres of value1 including friendship even with ,god4 ,in the atmosphere of those who already feel the value1 our interest is aroused2 we find it possible at least to take those initial steps of a dawning attention1 which give the value opportunity to make its own impression upon us1 and bring us to an appreciation1 to a faith of our own4 ,only so is that most difficult of all tasks in the redemption of a man--that first stirring of a new appetite1 a new desire1 a new aspiration1 a new ideal--accomplished4 ,we are members one of another here to an extent that deserves ever fresh emphasis4 ,we cannot too often say to ourselves1 ,had it not been that there were those who actually entered into the meaning of the revelation of ,god in ,christ--who1 in ,john's language1 beheld his glory--the record of that revelation never could have come down to us4 ,christianity must have perished at its birth4 ,hence1 in the vital language of ,herrmann1 the picture of his inner life could be preserved in his church or 'fellowship' alone4 ,but1 further1 this picture so preserved can be understood only when we meet with men on whom it has wrought its effect4 ,we need communion with ,christians in order that1 from the picture of ,jesus which his ,brotherhood has preserved1 there may shine forth that inner life which is the real heart of it4 ,it is only when we see its effects1 that our eyes are opened to its reality so that we may thereby experience the same effect4 ,thus we never apprehend the most important element in the historical appearance of ,jesus until his people make us feel it4 ,the testimony of the ,new ,testament concerning ,jesus is the work of his church1 and its exposition is the work of the church1 through the life which that church develops and gains for itself out of this treasure which it possesses4#hi ,the ,christian is no ,melchizedek1 then1 without father or mother2 he comes into life in a community of life1 and usually1 moreover1 through the personal touch of some other individual life4 ,it is the one primal law1 of life through life4 #b4 ,in ,fellowship within the ,kingdom4--,and not only in coming into the kingdom1 but also within the religious fellowship of the kingdom1 we are emphatically members one of another4 ,in bringing us into that love which is ,god's own life1 ,god evidently has no intention of allowing us to cut ourselves off from our brethren1 to climb up to heaven by some little individual ladder of our own4 ,that humility or open-mindedness1 which constitutes the first beatitude and the initial step into the kingdom1 and that self-sacrificing love1 which constitutes the last beatitude and the crown of the ,christian life1 are both possible and cultivable only in personal relations to others4 ,no man ever got them alone4 ,and1 for this very reason1 in the discussion of the religious life1 we found the ,new ,testament guarding most carefully against all over-estimation of marvelous experiences as such4 ,for these tended to make a man feel that he had such an individual ladder of his own to heaven1 and had no need1 consequently1 of his brethren2 and so led him into the very reverse of the fundamental ,christian qualities--into unteachableness instead of humility and open-mindedness1 and into censoriousness instead of love4 ,that objective attitude which is essential in all character and work and happiness1 cannot be unimportant in our specifically religious life4 ,even in this most individual relation to ,god1 then1 men's outlook is varied and but partial4 ,we need to share1 and can share1 one another's visions4 ,the meaning of the many-sidedness of even a great human personality gets home to us only so--through the various impressions gained by different men4 ,much more can ,god be revealed to us1 even approximately1 only so4 ,the great and surpassing value of the ,new ,testament lies exactly herein1 that it gives the varied impressions upon the first ,christian generation of ,god's supreme revelation--the most important individual reflections of ,christ4 ,the ,new ,testament comes to stand1 thus1 in no merely external and mechanically authoritative relation to the life and faith of the church1 but in the most interior and vital relation4 ,and ,bible study gets a new significance for us1 as we see it1 as at one and the same time our chief way to our own vision of ,god's actual1 concrete self-revelation1 and our deliverance from our merely subjective dreaming4 ,we come to share in some living way the vision of these others who have seen most directly and most largely4 #c4 ,in ,intercessory ,prayer4--,one particular application to our religious life1 of this conviction of the social consciousness of our mutual influence1 seems worthy of mention--its bearing upon intercessory prayer4 ,few other things in religion1 one may suspect1 seem less real to modern men4 ,can we ground the matter a little more deeply for ourselves1 and give it reality1 by showing its close connection with this deep-rooted conviction of the social consciousness8 ,we have already seen1#ij if character and love are to be realities to us1 if the world is to be a real training-ground for moral character1 and not a mere play-world--a nursery continually set to rights from without1 that we must all be most closely knit together2 that our choices must have effects in the lives of others2 that we must be bound up in one bundle of life4 ,and we do affect one another's lives in a thousand ways4 ,in manifold directions we condition the happiness and temptations of one another4 ,the unspoken mood of another1 an expression of countenance1 a tone1 an emphasis1 may affect our whole day4 ,now1 if the spiritual world is real at all1 it is to be counted upon4 ,apparently1 there is such a thing1 for example1 as a spiritual atmosphere in an audience--not1 it may well be supposed1 a magical matter1 but really determined by the tone of the minds composing the audience4 ,the actual mood of the hearers and of the speaker makes a difference4 ,results1 great and important1 are so changed often quite unconsciously4 ,it may well be that ,god is the medium in all this4 ,the attitude of the auditors is like unconscious1 silent praying to ,god--the praying of their life1 of their spirit4 ,but1 whether one cares to look at this special case in such a way or not1 we are1 in any event1 in our spiritual lives in the deepest way members one of another4 ,our spiritual condition inevitably affects others4 ,we cannot sow to the flesh and reap life anywhere1 in ourselves or in others4 ,this is particularly true1 of course1 of those to whom we are bound in the closest life relations4 ,that this is absolutely true in normal personal relations1 when we are in the presence of our friends1 all of us fully believe4 ,the question simply is1 ,may this law of mutual influence hold of those bound up with our lives even when they are distant from us or estranged8 ,in giving the privilege of intercessory prayer1 it may well be believed1 ,god simply allows us to be1 even then1 what we are always so fully under other circumstances--an influence upon them1 a condition of the good and growth of others4 ,he simply allows the regular law of the spiritual and moral world to hold without exception4 ,we are still1 though distant or estranged1 members one of another4 ,it would be a very human1 defective1 faulty ,god1 who could not put us thus in touch with our loved ones everywhere4 ,but this is possible through him1 and therefore in prayer1 and under strictly ethical and spiritual conditions1 and not as a matter of mere whimsical and wilful will on our part1 and it opens no door to magical superstition4 ,is not the recognition of the place and value of intercessory prayer1 then1 an only just extension of the prime conviction of the social consciousness8 ,v4 ,,mutual ,,influence ,,for ,,good ,,in ,,confessions ,,of ,,faith ,theology has1 once more1 in the third place1 to recognize the importance of mutual influence for good in confession of faith1 in creeds4 ,when1 to-day1 we seek the common grounds of belief for ,christian thinkers1 so far as the social consciousness really moves us1 we approach the problem in a way somewhat different from that of previous generations4 ,we do not now seek to elaborate a second1 modern ,westminster confession2 nor do we seek a mere average of ,christian ideas that in reality expresses no one's whole living thought4 ,still less is there sought the barest minimum of ,christian belief4 ,rather1 in harmony with the social consciousness1 we seek a unity that is organic4 ,our age1 therefore1 must recognize that1 in the confession of its faith as in all else1 we are genuinely members one of another4 ,the unity sought not only tolerates differences1 but welcomes and justifies them1 as themselves helps to a deeper unity4 ,it believes in equality1 but not in identity4 ,it is true that ,christianity looks everywhere to life2 and we may be sure that any statement of ,christian doctrine that does not obviously bear on living is still inadequate and incorrect4 ,it is true that we do well to emphasize the strictly religious and practical purpose of the ,bible2 that the ,bible is interested in both nature and history so far and only so far as either reveals ,god and inspires to godly living4 ,it is true that in all ,christian thinking ,christ is our ultimate appeal4 ,but1 on the other hand1 we must not confuse the issue4 ,we cannot expect agreement in detailed intellectual statements even with fullest loyalty to ,christ1 and the most earnest desire after truth4 ,to each his own message4 ,nor can we confine1 nor is it desirable to confine1 expressions of ,christian faith to the merely practical side4 ,we need to seek to understand the meaning of our ,christian experience1 not only for the sake of our intellectual peace1 but also for the sake of deepening our ,christian experience itself4 ,now1 it is here contended that in our confessions of ,christian faith we need one another1 and that complete uniformity of belief and statement is both impossible and undesirable4 #a4 ,complete ,uniformity of ,belief and ,statement ,impossible4--,it is impossible1 for1 in the first place1 it is difficult1 in any case1 to tell our real inner creed4 ,some of its most important articles are quite certain to be implicit and unconfessed1 even to ourselves4 ,the only important creed1 in the case of the individual1 is that which finds its expression in life4 ,there are assumptions implied in deeds and spirit2 and the spirit of a man throws more light on his real creed than his formal statements do4 ,his doctrines may be radical1 his spirit thoroughly constructive1 or vice versa4 ,if all thought tends to pass into act1 as modern psychology insists1 we have a right to urge that those articles of a man's creed which find expression in living1 are for him the really important articles4 ,the will has a creed1 as well as the intellect1 and the real creed is the creed of life rather than of lips2 it is wrought out1 rather than thought out4 ,and this real1 inner1 living creed probably no man can state with accuracy even in his own case4 ,and if he is ever able even approximately to do so1 it will be at the end1 rather than at the beginning1 of his life's work and experience4 ,moreover1 complete uniformity of belief and statement is impossible1 for1 even exactly the same words cannot mean the same to different individuals1 for they are interpreted out of a different experience2 they cannot mean precisely the same thing1 even to the same individual1 at different times1 for his interpreting experience1 too1 is a changing thing4 ,we need sometimes to remind ourselves that there is never any literal transfer of thought from mind to mind1 still less from statement to mind2 all thinking of even the most passive kind has an element of creation in it1 for terms must be interpreted1 and the interpretation is inevitably limited by previous experience4 ,sabatier#ia is quite right1 therefore1 in asserting that credal statements must change their meaning just as words change4 ,but it is to be noted that this principle means not only that unalterable doctrine1 in this sense1 is impossible between the generations2 but also that identical doctrine is impossible in the same generation4 ,out of the different experiences1 too1 grow the different points of view and the different emphases4 ,and these different points of view1 and the different distribution of emphasis1 give the same creed very different meanings for different men4 ,it is as impossible to avoid this1 as it is to avoid change and individuality4 ,it is true of a man's creed as of his environment1 that the only effective portions are those to which he attends--those which he emphasizes1 not those to which he gives a bare assent2 and this varying attention and emphasis cannot be the same in different individuals4 ,the only logical outcome of a thorough-going attempt to reach an identical creed is the church of one member4 #b4 ,complete ,uniformity of ,belief and ,statement ,undesirable4--,but complete uniformity of belief and statement is not only impossible2 it is undesirable4 ,for1 in the first place1 it is only by these differing but supplementary finite expressions that we can approximate to the infinite truth4 ,like ,leibnitz's mirrors in the market-place1 it is only by combining the points of view of all that a complete representation is possible4 ,we need one another here1 as elsewhere2 we need the fellowship of the church1 and of the whole church2 the strictly individual view must be fragmentary4 ,our message needs the supplement of the messages of others2 through each member ,god has something unique to say4 ,they without us1 we without them1 are not to be made perfect4 ,we need to share1 in such measure as is possible1 the experiences of others2 but this is possible only through vital contact4 ,moreover1 we are not to forget how truth comes--not by surrender of convictions1 not by the silence of each1 but by each standing earnestly for the truth which is given to him1 in a union of conviction and charity4 ,for only he who has convictions can be tolerant1 as only he who has fears can be courageous4 ,once more1 we cannot and must not simply repeat each other4 ,nothing is so fatal to spiritual life as dishonesty4 ,to attempt an identical creed involves something of such untrue repetition of the experience of others4 ,for1 as ,herrmann has said1 doctrines are an expression of life already present1 and are of value only so2 they are not themselves a condition of life4 ,if the doctrines we profess are not the honest expression of a real life in us1 they are a hindrance1 not a help4 ,conscious untruth tends to drive from ,christ4 ,for every one of these reasons1 now1 it is positively undesirable to forbid varying theories or to check the varied expressions of ,christian faith1 whether in accordance or not with certain standard formulas4 ,a growing life requires a growing expression1 which must be justified by its history1 not dogmatically by reference to some supposed fixed standard of doctrine in the past4 ,the very meaning and health of ,christian fellowship demand that we should welcome and encourage the honest expression of the varied manifestations of the ,one ,spirit1 that we may be the more certain to get the whole truth1 the whole life which ,god intends4 ,we are members one of another1 in doctrine as in life4 ,it becomes increasingly clear1 thus1 where the real ,christian unity is1 and where the common grounds of ,christian belief must be sought4 ,the real unity of ,christians is in their common life1 in the common experience1 in the possession of the common personal self-revelation of ,god in ,christ1 in the inworking of the ,one ,spirit4 ,it is the meaning of this one central ,christian experience1 which we strive to express in our doctrinal statements4 ,our expressions must vary2 the life1 the personal relation to ,god1 is one4 ,the best analogy we have of the case lies in what the same great friend means to different persons4 ,our creeds are at best poor and partial expressions of the meaning for us of the divine friendship1 of ,god's self-revelation to us4 ,it is1 then1 precisely in our ,christian experience and in that personal relation to ,god revealed in ,christ which makes a man a ,christian at all1 that all the common grounds of ,christian belief lie4 ,the solution of ,christian unity here1 that is1 is not by increasing abstraction1 but by frank concreteness2 not by false simplicity1 but by living fullness2 not by relation to propositions1 but by relation to facts2 not by emphasis on natural religion1 but by emphasis on historical religion2 not by bringing nature into prominence1 but human nature2 not by relation to things1 but by relation to persons1 to the one great world fact1 the one person1 to ,christ4 ,i am the ,way4 ,the ,christian faith is faith in a person2 the ,christian confession of faith is confession of ,christ4 ,and if we are really in earnest with this word ,christian1 we already have our basis of unity in our personal relation to ,christ1 our common ,lord4 ,but that personal relation to ,god in ,christ is always more than a credal statement can express1 though we may never cease to attempt such expression2 and for the sake of the larger realization1 by ourselves and by the church1 of the meaning of the personal relation to ,christ1 we must welcome every honest expression of his ,christian life by another4 ,altogether1 we shall at best but dimly shadow forth its full meaning4 ,and such a concrete relation to the personal ,christ is a far better test of genuine ,christian faith than any creed1 whether more or less elaborate1 since in the personal relation character inevitably comes out2 and any test that allows even for the moment the ignoring of the ethical1 cannot remain even intellectually adequate1 for ,christian doctrine looks always and certainly to life4 ,even if one is thinking only of the correct intellectual expression of the common ,christian life--the maintenance of orthodoxy1 so far as that is possible to us--it should be remembered that the most conservative of all influences is love of a person1 and1 by no means1 subscription to a set of propositions4 ,would ,christ so think8 ,would he so speak8--these are questions far more certain to keep ,christian thinking true1 than any intellectual test of man's devising4 ,we do not expect1 therefore1 we do not seek1 any common grounds of belief for ,christian thinkers1 other than are involved in the simple fact that we are ,christians at all1 in the common recognition of the revelation of ,god in ,christ--of the ,lordship of ,christ4 ,we confess ,christ4 ,for1 no man can say1 ,jesus is ,lord1 but in the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and other foundation can no man lay1 than that which is laid1 which is ,jesus ,christ4 ,now1 in this common confession1 it is here especially maintained1 we are1 as everywhere1 members one of another and need one another2 and the unity we seek1 therefore1 is not the unity of identical credal statement--which can only make us isolated atoms not necessary to one another--but the deeper and larger organic unity of the richly varying manifestations of the common life in ,christ4 ,we may come1 through the witness of another1 to an appreciation of ,christ which is really our own1 but to which we should not have come if the other had not spoken4 ,men do mutually influence one another for good1 in their confessions of ,christian faith4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,consequent ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of ,,the ,,church ,in this recognition of the vital and essential importance of mutual influence in the attainment of character1 in the individual relation to ,god1 and in creed1 theology is brought to a new sense of the significance of the doctrine of the church4 ,on the one hand1 it cannot derive its importance from having to do with an unalterably fixed and infallibly organized external authority2 and1 on the other hand1 it can be no longer an unimportant addendum concerned only with methods of organization and government1 and with ecclesiastical ordinances and procedure4 ,so far as the social consciousness has influence upon theology at this point1 theology must see that the doctrine of the church is the doctrine of that priceless1 living1 personal fellowship1 in which alone ,christian character1 ,christian faith1 and ,christian confession can arise and can continue4 ,the doctrine of the church becomes thus the doctrine of the very life and growth of ,christianity in the world4 ,it is the doctrine of the real kingdom of ,god1 ,christ's own great central theme4 #gh ,cf4 above1 pp4 #ce ff4 #gi ,the ,elements of ,sociology1 pp4 #aai1 #abj1 #aba4 #hj ,the ,ideal ,life1 p4 #adi4 #ha ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 p4 #dee4 #hb ,james1 ,psychology1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #egi4 #hc ,cf4 ,hebrews #aj3aj4 #hd ,an ,outline of ,christian ,theology1 p4 #cce4 #he ,op4 cit41 p4 #dei4 #hf ,cf4 ,romans #h3bf-ci4 #hg ,,ii ,corinthians #e3ai4 #hh ,the ,theology of the ,new ,testament1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #ddh4 #hi ,the ,communion of the ,christian with ,god1 p4 #fa2 cf4 p4 #hg4 #ij ,cf4 above1 p4 #cb4 #ia ,the ,vitality of ,christian ,dogmas and their ,power of ,evolution4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,deepening ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,value ,,and ,,sacredness ,,of ,,the ,,person ,,upon ,,theology ,in the discussion of the influence of the social consciousness upon theological doctrine1 we turn now to ask concerning the third element of the social consciousness1 ,how does the deepening sense of the value and sacredness of the person affect theology8 ,and with this sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 we may well include1 so far as the influence upon theology is concerned1 the remaining elements of the social consciousness--the deepening sense of obligation1 and of love4 ,for1 as we have already seen1 the sense of obligation and of love follow so inevitably from a deep sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 that it would be a needless refinement1 probably1 to try to analyze out their separate influence upon theological thinking4 ,we should find them all leading us to essentially the same great emphases4 ,when1 now1 through the social consciousness1 the personal has become the supreme value for us1 and regard for it our eternal motive and goal1 we cannot fail to demand that theology give a real personality to ,god and man--a consciousness marked1 in ,professor ,howison's language1 with that recognition and reverence of the personal initiative of other minds which is at once the sign and the test of the true person4#ib ,i4 ,,the ,,recognition ,,of ,,the ,,personal ,,in ,,man ,in the first place1 the social sense of the value and sacredness of the person will emphasize the full personality of man4 #a4 ,man's ,personal ,separateness from ,god4--,the sense of the value of the person cannot admit for a moment such a one-sided emphasis upon a universal cosmic evolution1 or upon the immanence of ,god1 as should make impossible a true personality in man4 ,it seeks1 in its view of both ,god and man1 a really personal idealism4 ,it does not forget1 but earnestly asserts1 the dependence of all other spirits upon ,god2 and1 consequently1 looks for no metaphysical separateness in this sense from ,god4 ,but a genuine recognition of the personality of man does require that man be conceived as separate from ,god in just this sense3 7#a7 that he has a clear self-consciousness of his own1 and 7#b7 that he has real moral initiative1 which makes his volition truly his own4 ,these two factors constitute all of separateness that need be demanded for man4 ,possessing these1 he is outside of ,god in the only sense in which a personal idealism feels concerned to assert separateness4 ,but for these factors it is concerned2 for without them1 it believes1 no truly ideal view1 no moral world1 no religious life1 are possible4 #b4 ,emphasis ,upon ,man's ,moral ,initiative4--,in particular1 the application of the sense of the value and sacredness of the person in theology1 means the emphatic recognition of the moral initiative of man--of the possession of a real will of his own4 ,the whole social consciousness1 especially in this third element of it1 rests upon the assumption that man has worth1 as a being capable of character as well as of happiness1 and so deserves in some worthy sense to be called a child of ,god4 ,if the social consciousness is1 as we have seen1 with any fairness to be called the recognition of the fully personal1#ic this reverence for the personal initiative of men cannot be lacking in it4 ,its influence upon theology at this point1 therefore1 is hardly to be doubted4 ,and theology itself is vitally concerned4 ,for the whole possibility of the conceptions of government and providence requires this4 ,these terms are words without meaning1 having absolutely no place in theology or philosophy1 if man has no moral initiative4 ,nor should it escape our notice1 that we strike at the very root of all possible reverence for ,god1 if we deny a real initiative to man4 ,we have no possible philosophic explanation of either sin or error1 consistent with any real reverence for ,god1 if a true human will is denied4#id ,in ,professor ,bowne's vigorous language3 ,in a system of necessity every thought1 belief1 conviction1 whether truth or superstition1 arises with equal necessity with every other4444 ,on this plane of necessary effect the actual is all1 and the ideal distinctions of true and false have as little meaning as they would have on the plane of mechanical forces4444 ,the only escape from the overthrow of reason involved in the fact of error lies in the assumption of freedom4 ,moreover1 if real human initiative is denied to men1 we conceive ,god as having really less respect for persons in his dealing with them1 than the most elementary ethics requires of men in their relations to one another4 ,a one-sided doctrine of immanence1 thus1 degrades both man and ,god4 ,it degrades man1 in denying to him a true personality1 and so making him simply a thing4 ,it degrades ,god1 in making him the real responsible cause of all sin and error1 and in making him treat possible persons as things4 ,the influence of the social consciousness1 which leads us to measure the moral growth of a man and of a civilization by the deepening sense of reverence for the person1 is fairly decisive at this point4 ,it must see in ,god the most absolute guarding of man's personality1 and especially of his moral initiative4 #c4 ,man1 a ,child of ,god4--,the ,christian faith1 that man is a child of ,god1 is a faithful expression of the insistence of the social consciousness upon the recognition of the full personality of man4 ,it expresses both man's entire dependence upon ,god for his being and maintenance1 and at the same time his infinite value and sacredness as a spirit made in the image of ,god1 capable of indefinite progress1 and capable of personal relation to ,god4 ,it voices thus ,christianity's characteristic humbly-proud conception of man--humble in view of the eternal and infinite plans of ,god2 proud1 as called to an imperishable work in the world4 ,it is1 indeed1 but a concrete statement of that faith in love at the heart of things1 and in the all-embracing plan of a faithful ,god1 which we found required1 if the social consciousness itself was to have any justification4#ie ,,ii4 ,,the ,,recognition ,,of ,,the ,,personal ,,in ,,christ ,in the second place1 under this impulse of the sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 theology is likely to insist on the recognition of the personal in the conception of ,christ4 #a4 ,christ a ,personal ,revelation of ,god4--,this recognition of the personal in ,christ will mean1 first1 that we are to conceive ,christ as a personal revelation of ,god1 rather than as containing in himself a divine substance4#if ,it cannot forget1 that if ,god is a person1 and men are persons1 the adequate self-revelation of ,god to men can be made only in a truly personal life2 and that men need above all1 in their relation to ,god1 some manifestation of his ethical will1 and this can be shown only in the character of a person4 ,a merely metaphysical conception of the divinity of ,christ in terms of substance or essence1 as these are commonly thought1 must1 therefore1 wholly fail to satisfy4 ,we must be able to recognize and bow before the personal will of the personal ,god revealed in ,christ1 if we are really to find ,god through him4 ,a strong sense of the personal1 then1 such as the social consciousness evinces1 must see in ,christ1 above all1 a personal revelation of a person4 #b4 ,emphasizing the ,moral and ,spiritual in ,asserting the ,supremacy of ,christ4--,this implies that the dominant sense of the value and sacredness of the person will certainly tend to bring into prominence the moral and spiritual in asserting the supremacy of ,christ1 rather than the metaphysical or the simply miraculous4 ,so far as these latter come into its representation at all1 they will follow rather than precede1 and be accepted because of the moral and spiritual1 or as simply working hypotheses enabling us to bring into a thought-unity what we have to recognize in the moral and spiritual realm4 ,if one faces the matter fully and frankly1 is it not plain that ,christians of all shades of belief are increasingly finding the real reason for their faith in ,christ in his moral and spiritual supremacy8 ,many may choose to express their faith in him1 when once reached1 in terms of the miraculous or metaphysical2 but the miraculous and the metaphysical are not the primary reasons for their faith4 ,it is the inner spirit of ,christ himself which really masters us and calls out our confident faith and our eager submission4 ,and it is only when we have already gotten this sense of the stupendousness of his personality1 that the so-called miraculous in his life becomes to our thought natural and fitting1 and we are driven to think him standing in some unique relation to ,god and so requiring to be conceived in unique metaphysical terms4 ,it is easy1 no doubt1 to indulge in a false polemic against the miraculous and metaphysical4 ,one of the surest bits of autobiography we have from ,christ1 the narrative of the temptations1 implies1 as ,sanday has acutely pointed out1#ig the clear consciousness on the part of ,christ of the possession of what we call supernatural powers4 ,it is a far less simple problem to rid the gospels of the miraculous element1 than our age1 with its greatly exaggerated estimate of the mathematico-mechanical view of the world1 is likely to think4 ,the so-called miraculous in connection with ,christ is not to be impatiently and dogmatically set aside4#ih ,so1 too1 the demand of thought1 that we form finally some metaphysical conception of the great personality which we meet in ,christ cannot be denied as wholly illegitimate4 ,all this is to be freely granted and asserted4 ,but it is of the greatest importance for ,christian thought1 that it still keep ,christ's own absolute subordination of both the miraculous and metaphysical to the moral and the spiritual4 ,the same narrative of the temptation1 that so clearly implies supernatural powers in ,christ1 has its whole point in ,christ's answering determination absolutely to subordinate these supernatural powers to moral and spiritual ends4 ,his whole ministry evinces the greatest pains upon this point4 ,and he evidently thinks a theory of his metaphysical relation to ,god 7as ordinarily conceived7 of so little vital importance that even such slight hints as we get of it in the ,new ,testament apparently do not come from him at all4 ,the present tendency1 therefore1 naturally demanded by the social consciousness1 to emphasize the moral and spiritual in ,christ in asserting his supremacy1 is quite in harmony with ,christ's own insistence4 ,he will be followed for what he is in himself4 ,the real supremacy of ,christ1 his truest divinity1 we may be sure1 comes out for our time in those statements which we are able to make concerning his inner spirit4 ,here1 and here only1 the real power of his personality gets hold upon us4 ,what are these grounds of the supremacy of ,christ8 ,how is it that we come to ,god through him8 #c4 ,the ,moral and ,spiritual ,grounds of the ,supremacy of ,christ4#ii--7a7 ,in the first place1 ,jesus ,christ is the greatest in the greatest sphere1 that of the moral and spiritual2 and this1 by common consent of all men4 ,both the depth and the consensus of conviction concerning ,christ are profoundly significant4 ,if our earth has ever seen one of whom it could be truly said1 ,he is a moral and spiritual authority1 preminently the one great authority in this greatest sphere1--that person is ,jesus ,christ4 ,seeing the moral problem more broadly than any other ever saw it1 tracing the motives of life more deeply than any other ever traced them1 applying those principles of the life which he sees with a tact and delicacy and skill that no other ever approached1 speaking with an authority in this moral and spiritual sphere to which no other can for a moment lay claim1--this man is easily the greatest in the greatest sphere4 ,it is1 perhaps1 to say only the same thing in a little different way1 when one says with ,fairbairn1 that ,christ is transcendent among founders of religion1 and to be transcendent here is to be transcendent everywhere1 for religion is the supreme factor in the organizing and the regulating of our personal and collective life4#ajj ,the present age is1 more than any other1 the age of the scientific study of religion4 ,the last forty years1 indeed1 have seen such attention to the study of comparative religion as the world never saw before4 ,what has been the outcome of that study8 ,to make the relative position of ,jesus among the founders of religion lower8 ,i do not so understand it4 ,no1 the outcome is such that it is a manifestly inadequate statement to say1 that he is transcendent among the founders of religion4 ,the very most that we may hope to say about the founder of any other religion is1 that in some single particular at a long distance he can be brought into comparison with ,jesus4 ,but let one think for a moment what it means for a man to be a founder of religion4 ,we talk of leadership4 ,do we know what a founder of religion does8 ,he makes the light1 in which millions of men look upon all the events of their life1 in which they see the past of the world's history1 in which they look forward to the entire future4 ,the very mood and atmosphere of men's lives are determined by these founders of religion2 and among these preminent leaders1 ,jesus1 beyond all mistake1 is transcendent4 ,let the nature of his kingdom1 too1 be his witness4 ,he calmly aims to found a kingdom that shall be spiritual1 universal1 eternal4 ,one must face the fact that this man of ,nazareth in ,syrian ,galilee1 purposes in coolness of deliberation to found a kingdom that shall be absolutely spiritual1 that shall make no appeal to any of the lower elements of man2 one must see that this man1 in those temptations through which he passed concerning the form of his work1 deliberately set aside the kingdom by bread1 the kingdom by marvel and ecstasy1 and the kingdom by force1 and purposed to found a kingdom solely upon moral and spiritual forces4 ,and observe that he confidently expects this kingdom to be universal--appealing to men of all races and of all times1 and to be eternal--still standing when all else shall have passed away4 ,and upon his belief in this character of his kingdom he stakes his life1 and calmly gives to himself as the goal of his life the establishment of just such a kingdom2 and remains to the end confident of his success4 ,the mere vitality of will in such a purpose is hard to take in1 and alone may well give us pause4 ,and because he is the greatest in the greatest sphere1 transcendent among founders of religion1 the founder of a kingdom spiritual1 universal1 and eternal1 he becomes for us a personalized conscience1 a spiritual1 moral authority for us even beyond our own conscience--an authority that grows upon us with our growth1 and submission to which is earth's highest moral test4 7#b7 ,and there must be added to this first proposition1 that ,jesus is the greatest in the greatest sphere1 a second3 ,he alone is the sinless and impenitent one4 ,and it is to be noticed that it is this man who sees more clearly than any other the moral and spiritual1 who knows1 as no other does1 what character is and what moral life means1--it is he1 who claims to be the sinless one4 ,no other ever intelligently made this claim2 for no other was it ever intelligently made4 ,the words of the great historian ,ranke seem to us to be simple truth when he says3 ,more guiltless and more powerful1 more exalted and more holy has naught ever been on earth than his conduct1 his life1 and his death4 ,the human race knows nothing that could be brought even afar off into comparison with it4 ,only such an one could intelligently make for himself the claim of sinlessness4 ,and for no other was this claim of sinlessness ever intelligently made4 ,men know each other too well to make it for others when moral consciousness has fully awakened4 ,but he fights his battle in the wilderness1 and there is no record of failure so far as he himself can see it1 and none that disciple ever ascribed4 ,and this claim of sinlessness for ,christ is to be urged1 not so much because of any special statements by ,christ as because of that remarkable fact to which ,dr4 ,bushnell has called attention1--his impenitence4 ,jesus alone among all good men is a man of impenitent piety2 and by this he is marked off absolutely from every other good man4 ,what happens in the life of any other good man is this3 that1 as he goes forward1 the sense of sin grows upon him1 the ideal rises before him and he feels increasingly that his own life is inferior to it4 ,of ,jesus this is not true4 ,he shows no sign of consciousness of failure4 ,there is no evidence that he feels that he has fallen short in any degree4 ,he is absolutely without that universal characteristic of all other good men1 absolutely without penitence4 ,contrast him for a moment with the man1 who perhaps all would agree was the greatest of all his disciples1 the man to whose devotion there seems to be no limit--the ,apostle ,paul2 and notice1 that years after his persecution of the church and of the cause of ,jesus1 with growing sense of what ,jesus is1 and of his own inexhaustible debt to him1 there comes over him with increasing1 not lessening1 power the sense of his sin1 and he writes to the ,ephesians1 ,unto me1 who am less than the least of all saints1 was this grace given me that ,i might preach unto the ,gentiles the unsearchable riches of ,christ2 and in one of the very last letters that comes down to us from him1 says again1 ,faithful is the saying and worthy of all acceptation1 that ,christ ,jesus came into the world to save sinners2 of whom ,i am chief4 ,what evidence have we that ,christ ever felt in the slightest degree such penitence8 7#c7 ,but more than this is true4 ,with the highest ideal1 ,jesus not only does not consciously fall short of it1 but consciously rises up to it1 and1 as ,herrmann says1 compels us to admit that he does rise to it4 ,it were very much that a man with any ideal1 however inferior1 should be able to say to himself1 ,i have not fallen short of this ideal2 but that one1 who sees more clearly than any other in the realm of the moral and spiritual1 and who has an ideal of simply absolute love and of unbounded trust in ,god1--that he should show not only no consciousness of falling short1 but should consciously rise to his ideal and compel us to admit that he rises to it3 this is a fact unparalleled in the history of the world4 ,it is far more than mere sinlessness2 there is here a positiveness of moral achievement so great--a fact so tremendous--that we seem able but feebly to take it in4 7#d7 ,and even that is not all4 ,jesus has such a character that we can transfer it feature by feature to ,god1 not only with no sense of blasphemy1 not only with no sense of his coming short1 but with complete satisfaction4 ,i do not now ask at all as to any man's metaphysical theory about ,jesus ,christ2 ,i only ask that it be noticed that those who question common theories altogether still get their ideal of ,god from ,jesus ,christ2 and that this is the wonderful thing that has happened on our earth3 that there has once lived a man--daily moving about among men1 a concrete circumstantial account of whose life in many particulars we have--the features of whose character one can transfer absolutely to ,god and say1 ,that is what ,i mean by ,god4 ,one simply cannot add anything to the character of ,god himself in the highest moments of his imagination1 that is not already revealed in ,jesus ,christ4 ,i take it that the words of ,fairbairn are literally true3 he was the first being who had realized for men the idea of the ,divine4 ,when1 therefore1 ,philip said to him1 ,lord1 show us the ,father and it sufficeth us1 he could only reply as he might any day to us1 ,have ,i been so long time with you1 and dost thou not know me1 ,philip8 he that hath seen me hath seen the ,father4 7#e7 ,and one cannot stop here4 ,jesus is consciously able to redeem all men4 ,with such sense of the meaning of sin and of moral conduct as no other ever had1 understanding1 therefore1 the sin and need of men as no other ever did1 and having such a vision of what it is perfectly to share the life of ,god as no other ever had1 still1 facing the masses of men1 he could say to himself1 ,i am able to take these men and lift them into the very presence of ,god and present them spotless before the throne of his glory4 ,have we taken in what it means1 that1 in the consciousness of a man in form like ourselves1 there could be1 even for a moment1 the actual belief that he was the one that was to take away the sin of the world1 and had power to redeem men absolutely unto ,god8 ,in another's words3 ,jesus knows no more sacred task than to point men to his own person4 ,he is himself ,god's greatest gift1 himself the way1 the truth1 the life1--not only fighting his own battles1 but consciously able to redeem all men4 7#f7 ,this simply implies1 as ,dr4 ,denison has suggested1 that ,jesus has such ,god-consciousness and such sense of mission as would simply topple any other brain that the world has ever known into insanity1 but which simply keeps him sweet1 normal1 rational1 living the most wholesome and simple and noble life the world has ever seen4 ,how are we to explain that fact8 ,on the one hand1 the sense of being of even a little importance in the kingdom of ,god proves singularly intoxicating to men4 ,how often1 when one is strongly possessed by the idea that he is a special channel of manifestation for ,god1 do moral sanity1 influence1 and character all suffer6 ,on the other hand1 there is no burden of suffering that men can bear so great as suffering in the sin of one loved--thus bearing the sin of another4 ,but here is one who can believe that1 when men come to him and simply see him as he is1 they catch their best vision of ,god2 here is one who bears consciously the sin of all men1 and who can believe that he has absolute power to revolutionize the lives of other men and make them what they were meant originally to be1 children of ,god2 and yet1 believing this1 can1 under that consciousness1 keep sweet and normal1 wholesome and simple1 energetically ethical and thoroughly rational1--can keep sane4 ,indeed1 he lives a life so sane1 that1 to pass even from some of our best religious books into the simple atmosphere of the story of his life often seems like passing from the super-heated1 artificially lighted1 heavily perfumed and exhausted atmosphere of the crowded drawing-room into the open fresh air of day under the heaven of ,god4 ,in the very act of the most stupendous self-assertion1 ,jesus can still characterize himself as meek and lowly of heart1 and we feel no self-contradiction--so completely has he harmonized for even our unconscious feeling his transcendent self-consciousness and his humble simplicity of life4 ,has the world anywhere a phenomenon comparable to this8 7#g7 ,in consequence of all this1 ,jesus is in fact the only person in the history of the race who can call out absolute trust4 ,as little children1 we knew something of what it meant to have complete trust4 ,there were a few years when it seemed to us that there was nothing in either power or character that was not true of our fathers and mothers4 ,we soon lost such trust1 even as children4 ,is there any way back to the childlike spirit8 ,let us ponder these golden words of ,herrmann3 ,the childlike spirit can only arise within us when our experience is the same as a child's2 in other words1 when we meet with a personal life which compels us to trust it without reserve4 ,only the person of ,jesus can arouse such trust in a man who has awakened to moral self-consciousness4 ,if such a man surrenders himself to anything or any one else1 he throws away not only his trust1 but himself4 ,there has been one life lived on earth1 in whose hands one may put himself with absolute confidence and have no fear as to the result4 ,jesus1 and ,jesus alone1 can call out absolute trust4 7#h7 ,moreover1 ,jesus is the only life ever lived among men in whom ,god certainly finds us1 and in whom we certainly find ,god4 ,and1 once again1 ,i am not now asking whether one is able to come to any theory of the nature of ,christ4 ,that is a matter of comparative indifference4 ,the great fact is this3 ,that there has been lived among us men such a life that1 if a man will simply put himself in the presence of it and stay there1 he will have brought home to him with unmistakable conviction the fact that ,god is1 and is touching him and that he is touching ,god2 that1 coupled with such a sense as he never had before of his sin1 there will be also the sense of forgiveness and reconciliation with ,god1 and so1 such evidence of the contact of ,god with his life as he can find nowhere else4 ,so ,harnack believes3 ,when ,god and everything that is sacred threaten to disappear in the darkness1 or our doom is pronounced2 when the mighty forces of inexorable nature seem to overwhelm us1 and the bounds of good and evil to dissolve2 when1 weak and weary1 we despair of finding ,god at all in this dismal world1--it is then that the personality of ,christ may save us4 7#i7 ,and all this means1 finally1 that ,jesus is for us the ideal realized4 ,let not the commonplaceness of the words rob us of their meaning4 ,the fact is far enough from the commonplace4 ,philosophy must always tell us that we have no right to expect anywhere a realized ideal1 except in the absolute whole of things4 ,certainly1 we never find in any of the inferior spheres a fully realized ideal4 ,what does it mean1 then1 that in this highest of all spheres1 the sphere of the moral and spiritual life1 we have the ideal realized2 that our very highest vision is a fact8 ,what is there that one would add to1 what1 that one would take away from1 the life of ,christ1 that it might be more completely than it is the ideal realized8 ,but ,thee1 but ,thee1 ,o ,sovereign ,seer of time1 ,but ,thee1 ,o poet's ,poet1 wisdom's tongue1 ,but ,thee1 ,o man's best ,man1 ,o love's best ,love1 ,o perfect life in perfect labor writ1 ,o all men's ,comrade1 ,servant1 ,king or ,priest1-- ,what if or yet1 what mole1 what flaw1 what lapse1 ,what least defect or shadow of defect1 ,what rumor1 tattled by an enemy1 ,of inference loose1 what lack of grace ,even in torture's grasp1 or sleep's1 or death's1 ,oh1 what amiss may ,i forgive in ,thee1 ,jesus1 good ,paragon1 thou crystal ,christ8 #d4 ,christ's ,double ,uniqueness4--,it seems hardly possible to do justice to the facts now passed in review1 without recognizing1 at least1 that they point to a double uniqueness on the part of ,christ in his relation to ,god1 reflected in his own language concerning himself and in the spontaneous confessions of his disciples in all times4 ,he alone1 in the emphatic sense1 is the ,son4 ,the contrasts between ,christ and other men1 which the simple facts of the life and consciousness of ,christ have compelled us to make1 naturally1 then1 demand recognition from thought4 ,the recognition of the facts is the vital matter1 but thought can hardly see them unmoved4 ,how are we to think of ,christ8 ,with clear remembrance1 now1 that ,christian teaching itself insists upon the kinship of ,god and men2 that absolute barriers1 therefore1 cannot anywhere be set up2 that a revelation unrelated to all else could be no revelation2 and that ,christ himself often pointed out the likeness between his own life and work and those of his disciples2--still we may not ignore actual differences1 and must honestly strive to do justice to them in our own conception of ,christ4 ,one may not forget that there is much here that we can hardly hope ever to fathom2 and that into this secret of ,christ's relation to the ,father theology has often tried to press with a precision of statement that was quite beyond its possible knowledge1 and that damaged rather than helped the religious consciousness2 but one may try to think in simple1 straightforward fashion what the facts mean4 ,now these actual and momentous moral and spiritual differences already pointed out seem1 at least1 to assert1 ,i say1 a genuine double uniqueness in ,christ4 ,christ's relation to ,god is absolutely unique1 that is1 in two senses3 in the absolutely unique purpose of ,god concerning him2 in the absolutely perfect response of ,christ to that purpose4 ,if one chooses to use the language1 he may say1 that the first uniqueness is metaphysical2 the second1 ethical4#aja ,first1 then1 ,god has a purpose concerning ,christ1 that he has concerning no other1 for he purposes to make in him his supreme self-manifestation4 ,this sets him apart from all others4 ,his transcendent sense of ,god and sense of mission only correspond to the absolute uniqueness of this eternal purpose of ,god concerning him4 ,we are utterly unable to see that they could be borne by any being that we know as man4 ,he is the manifested ,god--the visible presentation of the invisible ,god4 ,this cannot be said1 in the same sense1 of any other4 ,now1 our only adequate statement of the inner reality--the essential meaning--of any being1 can be given only in terms of the purpose which ,god calls that being to fulfil4 ,to see1 then1 that ,god's purpose concerning ,christ is absolutely unique1 and that ,god's purpose is1 to make in ,christ the completest possible personal manifestation of himself1 is to see that ,christ's essential relation to the ,father is absolutely his own1 unshared by any other4 ,and1 it may be added1 there is no reason why this purpose of ,god concerning ,christ should not be regarded as an eternal purpose1 eternally realized4 ,but ,christ is as clearly unique in his simply perfect response to this purpose of ,god4 ,our facts seem to point directly to the conclusion1 that in him there was no moral hindrance to the fullness of the revelation ,god would make through him4 ,his life is perfectly transparent1 allowing the full glory of the character of ,god to shine through it4 ,the harmony of his will with ,god's will is complete4 ,if it be said that this last uniqueness is1 after all1 only difference in degree from other men1 it must be answered1 first1 that degree here is so vast as to be practically kind4 ,this is the perfect of ,christ set over against the varyingly imperfect of all other men4 ,moreover1 to ask here for difference in kind in any other sense1 is probably to make an unintelligent and impossible demand2 for1 in the nature of the case1 the relations involved are spiritual and personal1 and there cannot be1 in strictness1 in the fulfilment of such relations any real differences in kind4 #e4 ,the ,increasing ,sense of ,our ,kinship with ,christ1 and of ,his ,reality4--,side by side with this recognition of the nature of ,christ's uniqueness1 there deserves to be set1 as another outcome of the emphasis upon conceiving ,christ as a personal revelation of ,god1 the increasing sense of our kinship with ,christ and of his reality4 ,the connection here is by no means accidental1 though it may seem almost paradoxical4 ,we have plainly come in our day to our clearest recognition of the divinity of ,christ through the sense of his transcendent character4 ,but revelation in character requires the reality of his human life4 ,the very route1 therefore1 by which we have most certainly reached our sense of ,christ's divinity1 leads also to an increasing sense of kinship with ,christ1 and so of his reality4 ,so long as we seemed driven to conceive the divinity of ,christ in terms that had no relation and no meaning for human life1 just so long must he seem to us to be really moving in another world and to take on the unreality of that other world quite hidden from us4 ,but now ,christ's life has meaning2 we can enter into it and feel that it is real4 ,with all its transcendence1 the life does not move now simply in the sphere of the mysterious4 ,it is no unreal drama1 no play-struggle1--utterly failing to meet our real moral and spiritual needs4 ,least of all1 in this supreme work for man1 can the revealing life be only a show4 ,it feels real4 ,it is real4 ,and1 with clear sense of the inevitable inadequacy of the analogy1 we still rest confidently in the conviction that ,god's relation to ,christ may be best conceived after the analogy of the relation of the ,spirit of ,god to our spirits2 and that1 when we try to press beyond that1 we are attempting to rise into that sphere of a supposed supra-personal1 for which we have no possible organ of vision1 and where1 therefore1 we are thinking not more1 but less1 truly4#ajb ,with this sense of the reality of the personal1 spiritual life of ,christ1 there naturally comes home to us the appropriateness and practicability of his ideals4 ,they are seen to belong to us more surely1 and properly to make demands upon us4 ,it is1 probably1 not too much to say that1 under the influence of the social consciousness1 there has been a definite1 growing approach to ,christ's way of thinking1 and to his ideal of life4 ,this means a consciousness increasingly ,christian in tone1 and1 therefore1 in turn1 increasingly better able to interpret the teaching and life of ,christ1 and so to give promise of a more ,christian theology4 ,none of us1 probably1 are fully conscious of the more subtle inconsistencies of even our best theological thinking1 when measured by a completely ,christian spirit4 ,at least1 with the insistence upon ,christ as a personal revealer of a personal ,god1 it must become more true that the meaning of all terms for the work of ,christ shall be more clearly reasonable1 more consistently ethical1 and more completely spiritual2 and then the immediate rooting of ,christian theology in the ,christian religion can be seen and felt4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,recognition ,,of ,,the ,,personal ,,in ,,god ,the sense of the value and sacredness of the person must lead to the special recognition of the personal not only in man and in ,christ1 but also in ,god4 ,we have already seen reasons for believing that the social consciousness is peculiarly bound strongly to emphasize the personality of ,god1 as in the end absolutely essential to its own justification4 ,the social consciousness represents an ethical movement that can live only in the atmosphere of the personal4 #a4 ,the ,steady ,carrying through of the ,completely ,personal in the ,conception of ,god4 ,guarding the ,conception4--,this pressure of the social consciousness toward an imperative faith in the fully personal ,god is most valuable1 as offsetting the tendency in many quarters toward a scientific or even idealistic pantheism or monism that is quite impersonal4 ,for1 in the language of ,professor ,howison1 the very quality of personality is1 that a person is a being who recognizes others as having a reality as unquestionable as his own1 and who thus sees himself as a member of a moral republic1 standing to other persons in an immutable relationship of reciprocal duties and rights1 himself endowed with dignity1 and acknowledging the dignity of all the rest4#ajc ,as this is preminently the spirit of the social consciousness1 it is plain that we have in the social consciousness an increasingly powerful motive for guarding the full personality of ,god4 ,it needs particularly to be noted1 that we know no definite supra-personal4 ,pantheism or any impersonal monism is forced1 therefore1 when it leaves the personal conception of ,god1 to take a lower line of development1 not a higher4 ,the result is1 that it is obliged to deny the highest attributes to ,god1 and then1 as ,browning is fond of arguing1 man steps at once into the place of ,god4 ,men cannot permanently remain satisfied with a philosophical view1 of which that is the logical outcome4 ,certainly1 such a view can get no support from the social consciousness1 with its deep conviction of the supreme value and sacredness of the person4 ,moreover1 it is not to be forgotten1 in estimating the value of a cosmic monism1 that what the cosmological really means1 ethically and religiously1 to a people1 must always depend upon their social ideals4 ,the natural in itself contains no command4 ,for any effective vital interpretation1 therefore1 even of its impersonal ,absolute1 pantheism is constantly thrown back upon the personal4 ,only a clear1 steady carrying through by theology of the completely personal in its conception of ,god can ultimately satisfy this sense of the value and sacredness of the person4 ,professor ,nash does not speak too strongly when he says3 ,to fulfil her function the church must develop the doctrine of a ,divine ,personality4 ,she has not always been true to it in the past4 ,too often1 by her sacraments1 by her theology1 by her theory of inspiration1 she has glorified the impersonal4#ajd ,now1 such an attempt1 it is perhaps worth saying once more1 is not to be thought of as a running away from a thorough-going metaphysical investigation4 ,it rather takes the ground1 indicated in the earlier discussion1 of what may be called1 in ,professor ,howison's language1 personal idealism2 and holds that spirit1 person1 is for us the ultimate metaphysical fact3 the one reality to which we have immediate access2 the reality from which all our metaphysical notions are originally derived2 and1 in consequence1 the one reality which we can take as the key to the understanding of all else4 ,and it believes that even essence and substance1 the great words of the old metaphysics1 can be really understood only as they are interpreted in personal terms4 ,ultimately1 theology would hold1 this would mean the interpretation of the essence of things in terms of the purpose of ,god concerning them--what he meant them to be4 ,in the attempt1 then1 clearly and steadily to carry through the conception of ,god as completely personal1 theology may well guard carefully certain points4 ,in the first place1 theology does not mean to transfer to ,god human limitations2 rather1 it conceives him to be the only complete personality with perfect self-consciousness and full freedom1 no part of whose being is in any degree foreign to himself4 ,nor1 in the second place1 does it mean to forget that the personal relations in which ,god stands to other persons are unique1 and that1 in three definite respects3 that conviction of the love of ,god1 as of no other1 must underlie1 as a great necessary assumption1 all our thinking and all our living2 that ,god is himself the source of the moral constitution of man1 which must thus be regarded as an expression of the personal will of ,god1 and the personal relation to ,god so have universal moral implications such as no other personal relation can have2 and in that ,god is such in his universal love for all1 that it is impossible to come into right personal relation to ,god1 and not at the same time come into right relation to all moral beings4#aje #b4 ,god is ,always the ,completely ,personal ,god4--,if1 now1 theology is to do justice to the demands of the social consciousness for a full recognition of the personal in ,god1 it must see clearly that ,god is always the completely personal ,god4 ,certain conclusions1 not always admitted1 are believed to follow from this position4 7#a7 ,the ,consequent ,relation of ,god to ,eternal ,truths4--,in the first place1 there can be no sphere of eternal truths1 thought of as either created outright by the will of ,god1 or as existing of themselves independently of ,god and only to be recognized by him4 ,the difficulty is not merely that at least one of these views would put ,god in the same dependent relation to truth as we finite beings1 and thus practically put a ,god above ,god4 ,nor is the difficulty merely that it is impossible to think the real existence of such a sphere of eternal truth1 since truths or laws can be said to exist only in one of two ways3 either as the actual mode of action of reality1 or as the perception and formulation in an observing mind of that mode of action4 ,and these difficulties are both sufficiently serious4 ,but1 from our present point of view1 the great difficulty is1 that trying to conceive ,god as either creating or coming to the recognition of truth1 assumes1 as ,lotze points out1 a fragmentary ,god1 a ,god for whom truth is not yet4 ,it assumes an action of the will of ,god apart from his reason1 that is1 a ,god not yet completely personal1 not yet the full ,god of truth and character4 ,a ,god for whom truth and duty are not yet1 is certainly no true person4 ,most1 if not all1 of our metaphysical puzzles connected with the relation of ,god to what we call eternal truths1 seem to me to grow out of this thought of an essentially fragmentary ,god4 ,we are driven1 consequently1 to a denial of both the ,scotist and ,thomist positions1 as ordinarily conceived4 ,it is true neither that the truth is true and the good is good because ,god wills it1 nor yet that ,god wills the true because it is true and the good because it is good4 ,both views alike assume the possibility of a fragmentary ,god1 a ,god for whom at some time truth and goodness were not yet4 ,but ,god has always been the completely personal ,god of truth and love1 never a bare will and never a bare intellect4 ,hence1 neither as an independent object to be recognized1 nor yet as the external product of his will1 can we think of the realm of eternal truth and goodness4 ,we must rather say1 ,god alone is the eternal being and absolute source of all1 always complete in the perfection of his personality2 and1 therefore1 what we call the eternal truths are only the eternal modes of ,god's actual activity4 ,this alone seems to the writer to give a thorough-going theistic view1 free from self-contradiction4#ajf 7#b7 ,eternal ,creation4--,but1 further1 if ,god is to be thought as always the completely personal ,god1 we are led1 also1 immediately to the doctrine of eternal creation4 ,if ,god has had always a completely personal life1 his entire being must have been always in exercise4 ,can we really think of such a ,god as simply quiescent1 and not as always active8 ,is not his activity involved in his complete personality8 ,the thought of his possible quiescence arises probably out of an unconscious1 but nevertheless unwarranted1 transfer to ,god of our finite separation of will and act4 ,but ,god is here1 too1 no fragmentary ,god2 he has always been the completely personal ,god1 always acting4 ,a second consideration carries us to the same conclusion4 ,theologians have felt that they have made a distinct step in advance in tracing creation to love in ,god1 as1 for example1 ,principal ,fairbairn does4 ,but this gives no real help as an explanation of creation as beginning in time2 for one must at once ask1 ,was not the love of ,god eternal1 and if this were the real reason leading to creation1 must not1 then1 creation be eternal8 ,so far as ,i am able to see1 there is nothing to lose and much to gain in clearness and satisfactoriness of thought in a frank acceptance of the doctrine of eternal creation4 ,not1 of course1 in the sense of an eternal dualism1 in the sense of the thought of an eternity of matter set over against ,god1 but in the clear sense of the eternal creative activity of ,god4 ,and to such a doctrine of eternal creation1 the social consciousness1 in its emphasis on the completely personal1 seems to me to lead4 7#c7 ,the ,unity and ,unchangeableness of ,god4--,and1 once more1 if ,god is always the completely personal ,god1 we shall conceive his own unity not as monotonous self-identity1 but only as consistency of meaning4 ,we shall not1 therefore1 transfer to ,god1 pluming ourselves meanwhile upon a highly philosophical view1 the mechanical unchangeableness of a rock2 but we shall be rather concerned with the consistency of his character and the unchangeableness of his loving will1 which would be the very reasons for his changing1 adapting attitude toward his changing children4 ,from this point of view1 too1 the sphere of law and the sphere of the actual1 will seem to us1 necessarily1 to root in the sphere of the ideal2 the is and the must1 to rest in the ought2 though we may not hope to trace the connections in detail4 ,in a ,god1 then1 who is a completely harmonious person1 never acting in fragmentary fashion1 whose will and whose reason and whose love are never at cross purposes--only in such a ,god can the world find its adequate and unifying source4 ,the world itself has real unity only in so far as it is the expression of the consistency of meaning of the purpose of ,god concerning it4 ,and this same thought of the consistency of the meaning of the purpose of ,god1 ,i have elsewhere argued1#ajg saves us from the necessity of a self-contradictory conception of the miraculous or supernatural1 by its recognition of the dominant spiritual order4 ,it also enables us to see1 with ,professor ,nash1 if the word personal is given sufficient breadth1 that the true supernatural is the personal1 and wheresoever the personal is discovered1 whether in the life of conscience or the life of reason1 whether in ,israel or ,greece1 there the supernatural is discovered4 ,upon this conception of the supernatural as the personal1 apologetics must found the claims of ,christianity4 ,the divine and the human personality stand within ',nature1' that is1 within the total of being4 ,but they both1 the human as well as the divine1 transcend the scope and reach of visible ,nature4#ajh 7#d7 ,the ,limitations of the ,conception of ,immanence4--,indeed1 it ought to be clearly recognized on all sides by those who believe in religion at all1 that we cannot so exclusively emphasize the immanence of ,god1 as many are now doing1 and have a ,god at all1 beyond the finite manifestations4 ,when the matter is so conceived1 there is no real personal ,god with whom there can be any personal communion4 ,religion1 thus1 in any ordinary sense of it1 is by this process made simply impossible2 ,positivism is the only logical result1 and ,frederic ,harrison becomes the one sole1 clear-sighted prophet among us1 a lone voice crying in the wilderness4 ,such an outcome is possible for any1 because1 and in so far as1 they are not true to the social consciousness in its demand for the completely personal ,god1 who1 in ,martineau's language1 is a genuinely free spirit4#aji #c4 ,deepening the ,thought of the ,fatherhood of ,god4--,but the influence of the social consciousness in its deepening sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 of obligation and of love1 not only tends to insist upon the completely personal in the conception of ,god1 but also tends to deepen our thought of the ,fatherhood of ,god4 7#a7 ,history no ,mere ,natural ,process4--,no mere on-going of an unfeeling ,absolute1 whatever name be given it1 will ever satisfy the social consciousness4 ,the new sense of the sorrow and ethical meaning of the historical process demands1 in the first place1 that history shall not be regarded as a mere necessitated development1 but a movement in which men effectively coperate1 never more consciously and clearly than to-day2 and secondly1 it demands a ,god who cares1 who loves1 who guides4 ,history cannot be a mere holocaust to ,god4 7#b7 ,god1 the ,great ,servant4--,rather1 as we saw in the fourth chapter1 the social consciousness requires a ,god whose purpose shall completely support its own purpose1 and so requires us1 with ,fairbairn1 to put ,fatherhood before ,sovereignty1 not ,sovereignty before ,fatherhood1 and requires us definitely to conceive ,god after ,christ1 as self-giving ministering love4 ,it is one of the anomalies of ,christian history1 that the church has been so slow to cast off a pagan conception of ,god1 and to come to a truly ,christian view4 ,we can hardly take in ,christ's own revelation of ,god without some sharing in his sympathy for men4 ,some experience of our own is needed to unlock the revelation4 ,and1 so1 the steady deepening of the social consciousness1 both as to the value of the person and as to the sense of obligation1 has certainly helped us to see that if ,god is to be highest1 he must be love1 and thus the great servant1 with transcendent obligations1 entering really and sympathetically into all our life4 7#c7 ,no ,divine ,arbitrariness4--,with such a conception of ,god1 every trace of arbitrariness disappears4 ,calvinism1 however strenuously insisted upon1 means a far different thing for any man who really feels the pressure of the modern social consciousness1 who has come to some real sense of the value and sacredness of the person1 that is1 who really sees ,god in ,christ4 ,the great truth of ,calvinism1 that ,god is the ultimate source of all1 was perhaps never more secure than to-day2 but that ,god1 who is the absolute and ultimate source of all1 is the fully personal ,god1 whose will is never divorced from his reason and love1 who knows no such abstraction as a bare and empty omnipotence without content or direction1 but who is himself always living love4 ,the bane of much so-called ,calvinism is in this supposition of a fragmentary ,god1 like a motion without direction or rate of speed4 ,arbitrary decrees are conceivable only from such a fragmentary ,god1 not yet full and complete in his reality and personality4 7#d7 ,the ,passibility of ,god4--,it would seem1 also1 that any vital defense of the ,fatherhood of ,god1 required by the social consciousness1 involves further the frank admission of the passibility of ,god1 whether it has the look of an ancient heresy or not4 ,we must unhesitatingly admit that1 without which ,god can be no real ,god to us4 ,theology has no falser idea than that of the impassibility of ,god4 ,if he is capable of sorrow1 he is capable of suffering1 and were he without the capacity for either he would be without any feeling of the evil of sin or the misery of man4 ,the very truth that comes by ,jesus ,christ may be said to be summed up in the passibility of ,god4#aaj ,with the growing sensitiveness of the social consciousness1 the problem of suffering and of sin presses increasingly1 and itself almost compels the assertion of the passibility of ,god4 ,nothing less can satisfy our hearts1 nor indeed allow us to keep our reverence for ,god4 ,certainly1 with the increasingly clear vision1 which the social consciousness is giving us1 of sympathetic1 unselfish1 definitely self-sacrificing1 loving leadership even among men1 we shall not rest satisfied with less in ,god4 ,we must have a suffering1 seeking1 loving ,god2 because our ,father1 suffering in our sin1 bearing as a burden the sin of each1 and not satisfied while one child turns away2 no mere on-looker1 but in all our afflictions1 himself afflicted4 ,the cross of ,christ1 then1 is only an honest showing of the actual facts of ,god's seeking1 suffering love4 #d4 ,as to the ,doctrine of a ,social ,trinity4--,one inference for theology widely drawn from the social consciousness1 it ought in fairness1 perhaps1 to be said1 seems to me unjustified1--the doctrine of a so-called ,social ,trinity4 ,one must question the constant cool assumption made in these discussions of a social ,trinity1 that this view is the only alternative to what is called an abstract simplicity4 ,in any case1 one would suppose1 we must have in ,god all the richness and complexity of a complete personal life1 freed from the limitations of finite personality4 ,something of the much that that involves we have been trying to point out4 ,here certainly is no abstract simplicity4 ,moreover1 the conception of a social ,trinity1 so far as the writer can see1 carries us inevitably to a tritheism of the most unmistakable kind4 ,social involves full personality4 ,nothing requires more complete personality than love1 which the view affirms to exist between the persons of the immanent ,trinity1 between the distinctions in the very ,godhead4 ,the relations of ,christ to ,god were1 of course1 distinctly and definitely personal2 but it must not be forgotten that we are not permitted1 on any careful theological view1 to transfer these directly to the immanent relations of the ,godhead4 ,the distinction drawn by ,dr4 ,w4 ,n4 ,clarke1#aaa between the doctrine of the biblical ,trinity and the doctrine of the ,triunity1 ,i count of decided value2 but after one has made the distinction1 one may doubt the value of the contribution made by the doctrine of the ,triunity4 ,the really immanent relations of the ,godhead are necessarily hidden from us1 and are1 also1 so far as the writer can see1 without ethical or religious significance for us1 except in the way of possible injury through substituting some supposed altogether mysterious and incomprehensibly sacred1 for the well-known and truly sacred shown in the ethical relations of common life4 ,the doctrine of the ,triunity seems to have been originally intended to enable the church to hold the divinity of ,christ4 ,if we now get at that and hold that from quite a different point of view1 the older way becomes less essential4 ,we must1 indeed1 keep the ancient treasure1 but we need not keep it in the same ancient chest4 ,none of us--not the most orthodox--really find the reasons for holding the divinity of ,christ in the doctrine of the ,triunity4 ,it is interesting to observe how widely separated from the doctrine of the ,triunity are the considerations which really move men to faith in the divinity of ,christ4 ,that doctrine is1 at the very most1 only our philosophical supplement intended to bring that1 which on other grounds we have come to believe1 into unity with our thought of ,god4 ,but1 at least1 we must so conceive the divinity of ,christ1 as not to get two or three ,gods4 ,and a ,social ,trinity does not seem to me to avoid that1 except in terms4 ,however1 therefore1 we are to solve our problem1 we are not to take that way out4 ,what ,dr4 ,clarke calls the biblical doctrine of the ,trinity1 on the other hand1 seems to me to contain the very heart of ,christianity1 whatever philosophical theory we put beneath it2 and it became1 therefore1 as expressed in the baptismal and benediction formulas1 the great daily confession of the church1 since it strongly expresses that of which we have been speaking1--the living love of ,god1 a life of absolutely self-giving love1 of eternal ministry4 ,the biblical ,trinity is1 in truth1 what it has sometimes been called1 the trinity of redemption2 and1 for me1 directly emphasizes the great facts of redemption4 ,here there are three great facts3 ,first1 the ,fatherhood of ,god1 that ,god is in his very being ,father1 ,love1 self-manifesting as light1 self-giving as life1 self-communicating1 pouring himself out into the life of his children1 wishing to share his highest life with them1 every one4 ,second1 the concrete1 unmistakable revelation of the ,father in ,christ1 revealed in full ethical perfection1 as an actual fact to be known and experienced2 no longer an unknown1 hidden1 or only partially and imperfectly revealed ,god1 but a real1 living ,god of character1 counting as a real1 appreciable1 but fully spiritual fact in the real world4 ,and1 third1 the ,father revealing himself by his ,spirit in every individual heart that opens itself to him1 in a constant1 intimate1 divine association1 which yet is never obtrusive1 but reverent of the man's personality1 making possible to every man the ideal conditions of the richest life4 ,what metaphysical theory we put under that confession of our full ,christian faith1 does not seem to me to be of prime importance4 ,men may count it of great importance2 but it can hardly be of first importance1 since1 at the very most1 only the beginnings of such a theory can be found in the great ,new ,testament confession of ,christ4 #e4 ,preminent ,reverence for ,personality1 ,characterizing all ,god's ,relations with ,men4--,but the very heart of the conviction1 on the part of the social consciousness1 of the value and sacredness of the person1 is its reverence for personality2 and this thought has much significance for theology1 for1 if this judgment of the social consciousness is justified1 it must be regarded as preminently characterizing ,god in all his relations with men4 7#a7 ,reflected in ,christ4--,when1 in the first place1 we turn to ,christ as the supreme revelation of ,god1 we cannot fail to see that this reverence for the personal marks every step he takes4 ,it begins1 of course1 in the priceless value which ,christ gives to each person1 as a child of the living1 loving ,father4 ,and it seems to determine his whole method with his generation and with his disciples4 ,it is shown in the initial battle in the temptations1 as to the form his work was to take1 and as to the means to be employed4 ,there was here1 as we have seen1 from the start an absolute subordination of all unspiritual and unethical methods in the building of the kingdom4 ,there is to be no over-riding of the free personality anywhere4 ,he faced successively the temptations to place his dependence on the mere meeting of men's material needs--the kingdom by bread2 the temptation to place his dependence on that which appealed most strongly to the oriental mind--the use of wonder-working power--the kingdom by marvel or ecstasy2 the temptation to place his dependence on force--the kingdom by force4 ,but ,christ sees clearly that ,god is no mere supplier of bread2 that ,god is no mere wonder-worker1 no mere giver of wonderful experiences2 and that ,god is not a tyrant to conquer by force4 ,everywhere1 therefore1 he sets aside whatever may override the free personality4 ,he would replace all the attractive and seemingly rapid methods of the kingdom by bread1 the kingdom by marvel1 and the kingdom by force1 with the slow and tedious and costly but reverent method of the spiritual kingdom by spiritual means1 the kingdom of ,god by ,god's way--of a trust freely won1 a humility spontaneously arising1 a love gladly given4 ,he can take no pleasure in any kingdom but one of free persons4 ,in the same way1 in his dealings with the inner circle of his disciples1 there seems to have been the most scrupulous regard for their own needed initiative4 ,he apparently makes no clear announcement of himself as ,messiah even to the disciples until late in his public ministry1 and1 then1 only after they have been brought1 through weeks1 if not months1 of unusually close personal contact and impression of his spirit1 into their own confession of him4 ,he steadily abjures1 that is1 all dogmatism about himself1 and leads them along by a purely spiritual method to a confession of him1 that may be truly their own4 ,there is no piling up of proof-texts from the ,old ,testament1 to show that he is the ,messiah4 ,he seems never to have attempted any proof with his disciples4 ,indeed1 he seems purposely to have chosen the rather ambiguous title1 the ,son of ,man1 that men might be left free to come by moral choice to him4 ,the surpassingly significant fact1 that ,christ's chief work in the establishment of the kingdom of ,god1 as seems to me beyond doubt1 was his personal association with a few men2 that1 probably1 a full third1 perhaps more1 of his very brief so-called public ministry was taken up with a period of definitely sought comparative retirement with the inner circle of the disciples--all this points to the same recognition of the fundamental importance in ,christ's eyes of such a reverence for the person4 ,the kingdom of ,god can be founded only by the full winning of free persons into his discipleship4 ,the kingdom is first and last a kingdom of free persons1 in ,dr4 ,mulford's language1 always a ,republic of ,god4 ,professor ,peabody's emphasis on the essential importance of ,christ's individualism1 that ,jesus approaches life from within1 through the inspiration of the individual1#aab it need not be said1 goes upon the same assumption of ,christ's reverence for the person4 ,in his really public ministry the same spirit appears2 for ,jesus seems to me here constantly to be standing with a kind of moral shudder between the spirit of contempt in the ,pharisees and ,sadducees1 and the outraged personality of the common people1 even of the publicans and sinners4 ,he feels the contempt even for these least1 as a blow in his own face4 ,that glimpse which the ,revelation gives us of ,christ standing and knocking at the heart's closed door1 is a true picture forevermore not only of the attitude of ,christ's earthly life1 but of ,god's eternal relation to us4 ,men may over-ride and outrage us1 and even think that they show the more love thereby2 ,god1 never4 ,this principle1 then1 we may take as absolutely crucial1 in our judgment of ,god's dealings with us4 7#b7 ,in ,creation4--,it is fundamental even in creation4 ,the very fact of the creation of persons implies it4 ,such a creation can have no significance1 if1 in the language already quoted from ,howison1 ,god's consciousness is void of that recognition and reverence of the personal initiative of other minds which is at once the sign and the test of the true person4 ,and if love is1 for a moment1 to be thought of as the motive of creation1 it required for any satisfaction of it1 persons who could freely respond to that love4 ,the definite bestowal of the fateful gift of moral freedom1 with the practical certainty of sin--the creation of beings who could choose against him--shows how deeply planted in the very being of ,god is this principle of reverence for the person4 ,here1 too1 the impossibility of arbitrary divine decrees meets us4 ,this would be treating a person as a thing1 and ,god himself may not do that and remain ,god4 ,if a man cannot see his way to a faith both in the divine foreknowledge and in the moral initiative of men1 therefore1 he must not hesitate to choose even the divine nescience of the free acts of men1 rather than think of ,god as compelling men4 ,our whole moral universe tumbles about our ears1 if he who is the source of all is not in earnest with persons4 ,and yet there is much theological thinking1 of which the common notions of a personal reign of ,christ on the earth may be taken as an example1 that practically looks to a kingdom by compulsion4 ,a kingdom of free spirits cannot be merely decreed4 7#c7 ,in ,providence4--,and this same principle of reverence for personality must be felt to be the guiding motive and key1 as well1 in the providence and government of ,god4 ,god keeps his hands off4 ,he must so act as to call out1 not to suppress1 individual initiative4 ,this is1 perhaps1 the deepest reason for a sphere of law1 that there may be a realm in which a person can have his own free development1 uninterfered with by any moral compulsion4 ,if1 now1 this sphere of law is to be any true training ground for character1 as we saw in the third chapter1 results must not be forthwith set aside1 the mutual influence of men must hold all along the line4 ,even in the case of great evils1 ,god does not step in at once to set things right4 ,character is an exceedingly costly product4 ,this is no play-world1 either as to mutual influence or as to freedom4 ,god guards most jealously the freedom and personality of men4 ,he never forgets that character must be from within4 ,he will not accept1 as ,christ would not1 a faith compelled by signs4 ,hence1 too1 we are left to ask1 and much is left to depend on our asking4 ,so1 also1 ,god does not remove all difficulties and give sight in place of faith4 ,he seems even careless1 often1 of how things go2 for he would not only appeal to the heroic in us1 but he wishes to make it impossible for us to confuse prudence and virtue in ourselves or others1 and so to give us the opportunity and the joy of a real moral victory1 of knowing that we have made a genuinely unselfish surrender to the right4 ,in the light of this deep-lying principle of ,god's sacred reverence for the person1 one learns to hush his former complaints1 and with full heart to thank ,god that he lives in a world where righteousness and happiness do not always seem to fall together1 and where1 therefore1 he can serve ,god for naught4 ,oh1 let us know1 that it is not that ,god does not care1 but that he cares so much--too much to sacrifice to present comfort the character of the child he loves--too much to shut him out from his highest opportunity4 7#d7 ,in ,our ,personal ,religious ,life4--,and the same principle holds in our personal religious life4 ,the unobtrusiveness of ,god's relation to us1 of which we often complain1 is rather to be taken as evidence of his sacred respect for our own moral initiative1 and proof of his careful adaptation to our moral need4 ,wherever a strong personality is in relation to a weaker1 the stronger must maintain a conscientious self-restraint1 lest he dominate the personality of the other1 to the other's moral injury and to the hindering of his individuality4 ,it is possible for a boy to be injuriously tied to his mother's apron-strings4 ,much more is it necessary that ,god's relation to us should not be obtrusive4 ,god must guard our freedom and our individuality4 ,he must even take pains to hide his hand1 as a strong1 influential1 but wise friend would do4 ,as we go higher1 our life is and must be increasingly one of faith1 the ,father's relation less and less obtrusive4#aac ,the times of vision are given to make us patient in our progress toward the goal4 ,and after the vision comes often what ,rendel ,harris calls the dark night of faith1 when every step has to be taken in absolute dependence upon ,god and assurance that the vision was truth and was no lie4#aad ,we need the invisible ,god for character4 ,it is for this reason1 no doubt1 that ,god makes so rare use of overwhelming experiences in the religious life4 ,he would be chosen with clear and rational self-consciousness1 and so he rarely overpowers4 ,and even in experiences which seem most overpowering1 if the person is really awake to their true ethical and spiritual import1 they will probably be found delicately adapted to call out the individual's own response4 ,but for most of us such experiences prove a real temptation1 because we allow the passively emotional to absorb our attention1 and so lose the ethical and spiritual fruit4 ,where these marvelous experiences have been most marked1 and have plainly given real help1 they seem still1 usually1 to have been needed because of some false conception of ,god and the spiritual world that required a powerful corrective4 ,here they seem really to have been granted1 as probably the transfiguration of ,christ was to the disciples1 as a concession to men's weakness1 ,god consenting reluctantly to use for the time a lower line of appeal1 because men are unable to rise to the higher appeal4 ,we have already seen the danger of the neo-platonic over-estimation of emotional experience1 and of sudden and magical crises in religion2 and this danger is especially seen in much that is said concerning the work of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,it seems as if it were simply true1 for many earnest and sincere ,christians1 that the superstitions1 which they had conscientiously put aside elsewhere in religion1 all came back in their thought of the work of the ,spirit4 ,here their relation to ,god has ceased to be thought of as a personal or moral or truly spiritual one2 and they are looking more or less definitely for bodily thrills1 for marked and overwhelming emotional experiences1 or for sudden transformations--hardly to be called transformations of character--in the passive half-magical removal of temptations altogether4 ,that is1 they are looking for moral and spiritual results from unmoral and unspiritual processes4 ,the exact point is this3 ,doubtless we are not narrowly to limit what the personal influence of the personal ,spirit of ,god may do in transforming human life--the possibilities probably far transcend what we think--but we are clearly to see that the relation is personal1 that the influence is spiritual and under strictly ethical conditions1 if we are to escape from simply pagan superstition4 ,let us see that1 if ,god is a ,personal ,spirit and not an impersonal substance1 then1 as ,herrmann says1 he communes with us through manifestations of his inner life1 and when he consciously and purposely makes us feel what his mind is1 then we feel himself4#aae ,and1 then1 let us add1 as has been already earlier said1 that the deepening life in the ,spirit becomes plainly a deepening personal friendship and communion with ,god1 with laws--those of a growing friendship--that we may study and know and obey2 and among these laws1 none is of more central importance than this of the reverence for the person4 7#e7 ,in the ,judgment4--,and when we turn to ,god's relation to us in the judgment1 we can be sure1 ,i think1 of a further application of this principle1 contrary to common teaching and expectation4 ,we have no reason to look forward to a time when the secrets of all1 or of any1 hearts shall be laid bare to all4 ,in so doing1 ,god would violate1 it seems to me1 the principle of his entire dealing with men1 and give the lie to his own revelation in ,christ and in history4 ,for myself1 ,dr4 ,clarke's words carry immediate conviction3 ,no man needs to know the secrets of his neighbor1 and be able to trace the justice of ,god through his neighbor's life1 and no man who respects the sacredness of individuality will desire it4 ,neither revelation of his own secrets nor knowledge of another's seems a good thing to a self-respecting soul4#aaf ,even the judgment itself proceeds1 no doubt1 in clear recognition of the free personality4 ,we are judged by the law of liberty4 ,and we really choose our own destiny1 as ,phillips ,brooks suggests in one of his most striking paragraphs4 ,by this law we shall be judged4 ,how simple and sublime it makes the judgment day6 ,we stand before the great white throne and wait our verdict4 ,we watch the closed lips of the ,eternal ,judge1 and our hearts stand still until those lips shall open and pronounce our fate1 heaven or hell4 ,the lips do not open4 ,the ,judge just lifts his hand and raises from each soul before him every law of constraint whose pressure has been its education4 ,he lifts the laws of constraint1 and their results are manifest4 ,the real intrinsic nature of each soul leaps to the surface4 ,each soul's law of liberty becomes supreme4 ,and each soul1 without one word of commendation or approval1 by its own inner tendency1 seeks its own place4444 ,the freeing of souls is the judging of souls4 ,a liberated nature dictates its own destiny4 ,could there be a more solemn judgment seat8 ,is it not a fearful thing to be judged by the law of liberty8#aag ,and we may be most certain1 that1 in any judgment by ,god1 there can be no thought of human waste4 ,the man must remain for ,god1 to the end1 a child of ,god1 a person of sacredness and value1 to be dealt with always as capable of character4 ,and it is along just this line that1 independently of exegetical grounds1 it seems to me1 we are led to a decisive rejection of the doctrine of annihilation4 ,and ,i know no more convincing putting of the matter than this brief but comprehensive statement of ,fairbairn3 ,if there is any truth in the ,fatherhood1 would not annihilation be even more a punishment of ,god than of man8 ,the annihilated creature would indeed be gone forever--good and evil1 shame and misery1 penalty and pain1 would for him all be ended with his being2 but it would not be so with ,god--out of his memory the name of the man could never perish1 and it would be1 as it were1 the eternal symbol of a soul he had made only to find that with it he could do nothing better than destroy it4#aah 7#f7 ,in the ,future ,life4--,doubtless our difficulties are not at an end even so2 but1 at least1 our conception of ,god is saved from self-contradiction2 and the ,father is seen as suffering in the sin of the son1 and perpetually desiring and seeking his return1 never satisfied so long as any child of his still refuses his place in the ,father's love4 ,this deep-going principle of reverence for personality1 with which we are dealing1 is the finest flower of human ethical development1 and seems completely to shut out the possibility of compulsion by ,god at any time in the future life4 ,a person will never be treated as a thing4 ,the soul that turns to ,god must be won voluntarily4 ,and if1 then1 the abstract possibility of endless resistance to ,god by men cannot be denied2 so neither can the possibility--perhaps one might even say1 the practical probability--be denied that ,god1 in his infinite love and patience and wisdom1 may finally win them all out of their resistance4 ,and the eternal hope is at least open2 but it is open1 it should be noted1 only upon the fulfilment by men of precisely those moral conditions which hold now in the earthly life1 and which ought now to be obeyed4 ,there will never be an easier way to ,god4 ,it is shallow thinking that supposes that1 if there be any possibility of turning to ,god in the future life1 it is of small moment that one should now put himself where he ought to be4 ,the full results of all our evil sowing1 we must receive4 ,the utmost that on any rational theory1 then1 can be held out to men1 is the hope that1 facing a greater heritage of evil than now they face1 they might return to ,god under the same condition of absolute moral surrender1 which now holds1 and the fulfilment of which is now far more easily possible to them4 ,and it ought not to be overlooked that1 even if the principle of reverence for personality be much less far-reaching than is here affirmed1 the annihilation of a soul by ,god could seem justified only upon the assumption that ,god foresaw the entire future1 and knew that the soul would never turn to righteousness and ,god4 ,but if the doctrine of annihilation is to be justified on that ground1 it is to be observed1 that the same foreknowledge would have enabled ,god to know before creation all the finally incorrigible1 if there were to be any such1 and so he need not have called these into being at all4 ,a goal1 therefore1 as great if not far greater1 than that offered by the annihilation theory would be1 thus1 attainable simply upon the same assumption that must rationally be made by that theory1 and1 at the same time1 the great objection to that theory--its violation of personality--would be avoided4 ,it seems probable that this very principle of reverence for personality contains the chief reason why more has not been revealed to us concerning the future life4 ,christianity is very far from satisfying our curiosity here4 ,it gives little more than the absolutely needed assurance of the fact and worth of the life beyond4 ,details are either quite lacking1 or given only in broadest symbols4 ,this reticent silence of revelation seems needed if our individual initiative is not to be hindered1 either by excess of motive on the one hand1 or by the depression of an unappreciated ideal on the other hand4 ,on the one hand1 that is1 so far as we could understand a detailed revelation of the future life1 to set it forth with the realism of the present life would be to interfere with that unobtrusive relation of ,god to us1 which we have seen to be so necessary to our highest moral training4 ,we need1 in this time of our training1 a certain obscurity of spiritual truth2 we need to walk by faith1 not by sight4 ,to be able so obviously to weigh the eternal realities against the temporal1 would hinder rather than help our growth in loyal1 unselfish character4 ,on the other hand1 if a complete and indubitable revelation of the future life were given us1 no doubt there would be much that could make but small appeal to us1 and might even prove positively depressing1 because we have not yet the experience which would interpret to us its meaning and open to us its joy4 ,our earthly life may furnish us an analogy4 ,the joy of a grown man is often preminently in his work1 but he would find it difficult to explain to a child the source of his joy4 ,and if the child were told that there would come a time in a few years when his chief joy would be found in work1 the prospect would probably not seem to him inviting4 ,the wisest of us may be as little prepared to enter in detail into the meaning of the future life4 ,we may be content to know that the future life is1 and is of value beyond that which we can now understand2 and we may be assured that at least what we have already seen to be the ideal conditions of the richest life1#aai as now we understand life1 will be fully met in the future life4 ,we can hardly doubt1 therefore1 that the two great centers of the life beyond must be association and work2 though we may not know the precise forms that these will take1 nor how greatly both may deepen beyond our present conception4 ,steadily deepening personal relations1 rooted in the one absolutely satisfying relation to ,god in ,christ1 there must be2 and work1 in which one may lose himself with joy1 because it is ,god's work4 ,this1 at least1 the future life will contain4 ,we can hardly go farther with assurance4 ,but perhaps even this may suggest1 that men may vary much in the proportionate emphasis laid upon these two great sources of life1 and still alike come into a genuine and rewarding relation to ,god4 ,that ,god has counted individuality among men to be of prime significance1 the facts of creation hardly allow us to doubt4 ,possibly it is only another application of this same principle of reverence for the person1 in the recognition of that individuality which has its great joy in work1 which is to be found in what ,professor ,george ,f4 ,genung suggestively calls an apocalypse of ,kipling4 ,in ,kipling's poem to ,wolcott ,balestier1 ,professor ,genung sees the discovery of a religion1 or assignable and eternally rewardable relation to ,god1 in those whose inner life is not introspective or self-expressive4 ,their spiritual life serves ,god with the joy which comes of following and satisfying1 in the sphere of his plans1 the eager bent of a conquering will4 ,it is the religion of work and of daring4 ,and it is only in the open vision of an eternal world that their secular ardor1 which was unconsciously serving ,god all along1 begins to come to the perception of a transcendent master and to be transformed into an adoration1 an obedience and loyalty1 a 'will to serve or to be still as fitteth our ,father's praise4' ,it is quite possible that through our very failure to enter into ,god's own deep reverence for the person1 in the recognition of man's divinely given individuality1 as well as through failure to recognize the essential like-mindedness of men1 we have been shutting the door of hope1 where ,god has not shut it1 and have limited beyond warrant the divine mercy4 ,even in the life of heaven men cannot be all alike4 ,who art thou that judgest the servant of another8 to his own lord he standeth or falleth4 ,yea1 he shall be made to stand2 for the ,lord hath power to make him stand4#abj #ib ,the ,limits of ,evolution1 p4 x4 #ic ,cf4 above1 pp4 #bb1 #ff1 #ajf4 #id ,see especially ,bowne1 ,theory of ,thought and ,knowledge1 pp4 #bci1 #cgg1 #cgh2 ,james1 ,the ,will to ,believe1 pp4 #ade ff4 #ie ,cf4 above1 p4 #dd ff #if ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #bda ff4 #ig ,hastings1 ,dictionary of the ,bible1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #fbf4 #ih ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 ,chaps4 ,,vi and ,,vii4 #ii ,i aim here to bring out with some fullness the significance of the propositions briefly summarized in the ,reconstruction in ,theology1 p4 #bdd2 and ,i venture to repeat1 also1 two quotations from that book1 because they fit so closely into the argument here4 #ajj ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 p4 #cgh4 #aja ,cf4 ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #bcb1 #bcc1 #bdh1 #bdi4 #ajb ,see ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 p4 #bji2 and below1 p4 #bji4 #ajc ,the ,limits of ,evolution1 p4 #g4 #ajd ,ethics and ,revelation1 p4 #bgj4 #aje ,cf4 ,king1 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #bje ff4 #ajf ,cf4 ,lotze1 ,the ,microcosmus1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #fij ff4 #ajg ,see ,reconstruction in ,theology1 ,chapter ,,vi4 #ajh ,ethics and ,revelation1 p4 #bgj4 #aji ,see the fuller statement in the ,reconstruction in ,theology1 pp4 #if-ajh4 #aaj ,fairbairn1 ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 p4 #dhc4 #aaa ,outline of ,christian ,theology1 pp4 #afa1 ff4 #aab ,jesus ,christ and the ,social ,question1 p4 #aja4 #aac ,cf4 ,fairbairn1 ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 pp4 #dcd1 #dce4 #aad ,union with ,god1 p4 #aji4 #aae ,the ,communion of the ,christian with ,god1 p4 #adc4 #aaf ,an ,outline of ,christian ,theology1 p4 #dfd4 #aag ,the ,candle of the ,lord and ,other ,sermons1 p4 #aig4 #aah ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 p4 #dfg4 #aai ,see above1 pp4 #fh ff4 #abj ,romans #ad3d4 ,,index ,abbott1 ,lyman1 reference to1 #aca4 ,american ,journal of ,theology1 ,the1 reference to1 #hf4 ,analogy of ,organism4 ,see ,organism4 ,annihilation1 doctrine of1 why rejected1 #bci ff4 ,arbitrariness1 excluded in ,god1 #bbj ff4 ,aristotle1 quoted1 #bf2 his position abandoned by mysticism1 #ef4 ,association1 personal1 in redemption1 #adi ff2 in personal relation to ,god1 #aei ff2 in confessions of faith1 #afg ff4 ,assumption of the book1 #c4 ,atonement1 in the light of social consciousness1 #adg ff1 #aej ff2 the cost of1 #aej2 substitution and propitiation in1 #aej ff2 analogy of father and child in1 #aed ff2 blood covenant applied to1 #aeg4 ,baldwin1 ,j4 ,m41 reference to1 #ab4 ,biblical ,trinity1 #bbd1 #bbe4 ,blood covenant1 as applied to doctrine of atonement1 #aeg4 ,bhme1 ,jacob1 referred to1 #ga4 ,bowne1 ,b4 ,p41 on causality and purpose1 #dc2 on freedom1 #ahb1 #ahc4 ,bradley1 ,f4 ,h41 on the religious feeling in philosophy1 #abi4 ,brooks1 ,phillips1 reference to1 #bh1 #adf2 on the intellectual life of ,jesus1 #ha2 on the emotional life of ,jesus1 #hd2 on the universal interest of ,jesus1 #abd2 on the likeness of men1 #abf2 on judgment according to the law of liberty1 #bch4 ,bruce's ,the ,kingdom of ,god1 reference to1 #eb4 ,bushnell1 ,h41 on impenitence of ,jesus1 #aic4 ,calvinism1 #bbj4 ,causality and purpose1 #db1 #dc4 ,christ1 ,see ,jesus4 ,christian1 the historically1 emphasized by the social consciousness1 #ajb ff4 ,christianity1 as contributing to sense of mutual influences1 #ac2 sometimes unconscious1 #acj4 ,church1 the1 importance of the doctrine of1 #agg ff4 ,clarke1 ,w4 ,n41 referred to1 #aaf1 #bbd2 quoted1 #acb1 #acc1 #aeb2 on propitiation1 #aea2 on doctrine of ,trinity and ,triunity1 #bbc2 on revelation of inner life at judgment1 #bcg4 ,common qualities and interests1 most valuable1 #agg ff4 ,confessions of faith1 ,christian fellowship in1 #afg ff2 uniformity in1 impossible1 #afi ff2 and undesirable1 #aga ff4 ,corinthians1 first1 twelfth chapter of1 as expression of analogy of organism1 #bc2 against false mysticism1 #fj-fa1 #hc4 ,cornill1 reference to1 #fd4 ,creation1 eternal1 #bad ff2 reverence for person in1 #bcj ff4 ,creed1 ,christian fellowship in1 #afg ff2 uniformity in1 impossible1 #afi ff2 and undesirable1 #aga ff4 ,denison1 ,j4 ,h41 referred to1 #aig4 ,devotional literature1 difficulty in1 #hd2 referred to1 #ada4 ,dewey1 ,john1 referred to1 #ab4 ,drummond1 ,h41 reference to1 #ba2 on sin1 #adj4 ,du ,bois1 ,patterson1 on true spirit of fatherhood1 #aaj4 ,edwards1 ,jonathan1 referred to1 #bb4 ,election1 in ,paul1 #aaf2 a choice for service1 #aaf4 ,emotion1 extreme emphasis on1 a danger in mysticism1 #ga2 cf4 #ace ff4 ,eternal creation1 #bad ff4 ,eternal truths1 ,god's relation to1 #bab ff4 ,ethical1 the1 in religion1 #hf ff2 proofs that religion must be1 #hi ff4 ,ethicizing of religion1 #hi ff2 involved in relation to ,christ1 #hi2 the divine will in ethical command1 #ij2 involved in nature of ,god's gifts1 #ia2 communion with ,god through harmony with his will1 #ib2 the vision of ,god for the pure in heart1 #ib2 sharing the life of ,god1 #ic2 ,christ1 as satisfying our claims on life1 #id2 attraction to ,christ1 ethically conditioned1 #if2 the moral law1 a revelation of the love of ,god1 #ih4 ,ethics and religion1 #hg1 #hi ff4 ,everett1 ,c4 ,c1 criticism of ,nietzsche1 #abj4 ,expository ,times1 ,the1 reference to1 #fd4 ,fairbairn1 ,a4 ,m41 his ,the ,place of ,christ in ,modern ,theology1 mentioned1 #aaj2 on the ,christian consciousness1 #aab2 referred to1 #aai1 #aif1 #bae1 #bcd2 on sense of sin1 #adc2 on ,christ as transcendent1 #ahi2 on passibility of ,god1 #bba2 on annihilation1 #bci4 ,faith1 necessity of1 in life1 #dc1 #dd4 ,faith in men1 increased by sense of likeness1 #abh4 ,father and child1 the analogy of1 applied to redemption1 #aed ff4 ,favorites1 none with ,god1 #aaf ff4 ,fellowship1 ,christian1 help of1 in coming into kingdom1 #aei ff2 within the kingdom1 #afb ff2 in intercessory prayer1 #afd ff2 in confessions of faith1 #afg ff4 ,fiske1 ,john1 reference to1 #ba4 ,freedom1 in man1 #aha ff2 ,bowne on1 #ahb1 #ahc2 references on1 #ahb4 ,fremantle1 ,w4 ,h41 reference to1 #ada4 ,friendship1 laws of1 as holding in religion1 #fg4 ,future life2 moral reality of1 #acb ff2 reverence for person in1 #bdj ff4 ,galatians1 ,epistle to1 referred to1 #hc4 ,genung1 ,g4 ,f41 on an apocalypse of ,kipling1 #bde4 ,giddings1 ,f4 ,h41 reference to1 #i1 #aj1 #ai1 #bj1 #fb1 #aag2 on the social mind1 #ach4 ,god1 immanence of1 as related to social consciousness1 #dj ff2 his will1 ethical basis of social consciousness1 #dd ff2 sharing in our life1 #dh2 will of1 felt in ethical command1 #ij2 his gifts require ethical attitude to receive them1 #ia1 #ib2 our sharing his life1 #ic2 we cannot do his will in general1 #ajj2 a thoroughly personal conception of1 needed1 #bjg ff2 guarding the conception of1 #bjh ff1 #baa2 suprapersonal in1 #bji2 ,nash on doctrine of personality of1 #baj2 always completely personal1 #bab ff2 relation to eternal truths1 #bab ff2 as eternally creating1 #bad ff2 unity and unchangeableness of1 #baf ff2 limiting conception of immanence of1 #bag ff2 deepening thought of ,fatherhood of1 #bah ff2 as the great servant1 #bai2 no arbitrariness in1 #bbj2 passibility of ,god1 #bba2 trinity in1 #bbb ff4 ,grahame1 ,kenneth1 on love1 #abc2 referred to1 #abd4 ,harnack1 ,a41 on ,christ1 #bjj4 ,harris1 ,j4 ,r41 quoted1 #bcd4 ,hegel1 on greatest in art1 #aai4 ,heredity1 not to be over-emphasized1 #cg2 ,james1 on1 #cg1 #ch4 ,herrmann1 ,w41 referred to1 #bb1 #gj1 #agc2 his definition of mysticism1 #ef1 #eg2 on pantheistic tendency in mysticism1 #eh1 #gd2 on our satisfaction in ,christ1 #id2 on the help of the fellowship of the church1 #afa2 on ,christ's rising to his ideals1 #aid2 on ,christ's calling out absolute trust1 #aii2 on personal relation to ,god1 #bcg4 ,historical1 the1 under-estimated by mysticism1 #gb4 ,historical justification needed by social consciousness1 #ei ff1 #ajb ff4 ,historically1 the1 ,christian1 emphasized by the social consciousness1 #ajb ff4 ,history1 no mere natural process1 #bah ff2 ,god in1 vii1 #bai4 ,holy ,spirit1 doctrine of1 often made superstitious1 #bcf4 ,honesty of the world1 double meaning of1 #hj4 ,hope for men1 increased by sense of likeness1 #abh4 ,hosea1 as illustration of inter-play of human and divine relations1 #fh4 ,howells1 ,w4 ,d41 his ,a ,boy's ,town1 quoted1 #aah2 referred to1 #abc4 ,howison1 ,g4 ,h41 on the person1 #ahj1 #bjh1 #bcj2 referred to1 #baj4 ,humanity1 idea of1 from ,christianity1 #ac4 ,ideal view1 requires the facts of the social consciousness1 #bi ff1 #cb ff4 ,imitation1 to be avoided1 #agb ff4 ,immanence of ,god1 as metaphysical ground of facts of social consciousness1 #dj ff2 ,lotze on1 #dj1 #da2 limitations in conception of1 #bag ff4 ,immortability1 discussed1 #abd ff4 ,immortality1 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill on1 #ej2 ,sully on1 #ej2 doctrine of1 as affected by sense of likeness of men1 #abd ff2 references on1 #abe4 ,indian mysticism1 #gd4 ,israel1 significance of its social struggle1 #fc2 ecstasy among its prophets1 #fd4 ,james1 ,william1 on heredity1 #cg2 on metaphysics1 #dj2 on sense of reality1 #gb2 on nitrous-oxide-gas intoxication1 #gd2 on the world as a confusion1 #gh2 reference to1 #gi1 #abb1 #abd1 #abf2 on compensations1 #aag2 on varied ideals1 #abh2 on catching faith and courage1 #adg4 ,jesus1 ,brooks on his intellectual life1 #ha2 on his emotional life1 #hd2 relation to1 necessarily ethical1 #hi1 #id1 #if2 satisfies our highest claims on life1 #id2 his social emphases1 #aaa ff2 ,brooks on his interest in the uninteresting1 #abd2 the great ,christian confession1 #agd ff2 loyalty to1 best assurance for doctrine1 #age2 the personal in1 #ahd ff2 a personal revelation of ,god1 #ahd ff2 the moral and spiritual in his supremacy1 #ahe ff2 grounds of his supremacy1 #ahh ff2 among founders of religion1 #ahi ff2 his sinlessness1 #aib ff2 his impenitence1 #aic2 rises to highest ideals1 #aid ff2 shows character of ,god1 #aie ff2 consciously able to redeem all men1 #aif2 transcendent ,god-consciousness and sense of mission1 #aig ff2 calls out absolute trust1 #aih ff2 in him ,god certainly finds us1 #aii ff2 the ideal realized1 #bjj ff2 his double uniqueness1 #bja ff2 sense of kinship with1 and reality of1 #bje ff2 divinity of1 as related to ,trinity1 #bbd2 reverence for person in1 #bbf ff4 ,judgment1 according to light1 #acb ff2 how ,god's can be favorable1 #aec ff2 reverence for person in1 #bcg ff2 according to law of liberty1 #bch ff4 ,kaftan1 ,j41 referred to1 #hf4 ,keim1 quoted1 #eb4 ,king1 references to his ,reconstruction in ,theology1 #af1 #bj1 #bc1 #dc1 #fg1 #ahe1 #ahg1 #ahh1 #bjc1 #bje1 #bab1 #bag1 #bah4 ,kipling1 ,r41 on the value of the common1 #aai2 ,g4 ,f4 ,genung on1 #bde4 ,lanier1 ,s41 quoted1 on ,christ1 #bja4 ,leibnitz1 referred to1 #agb4 ,life1 the richest1 ideal conditions of1 #fh ff4 ,like-mindedness of men1 #i ff2 an element of social consciousness1 #i ff1 #dg2 influence on theology1 #aae ff2 summary on1 #acd2 seen under diverse forms1 #aba ff4 ,lotze1 reference to1 #ac1 #be1 #ca1 #db1 #bac1 #bad2 on passion for construing everything1 #be1 #bf2 on immanence of ,god1 #dj4 ,love1 sense of1 #bj2 element in social consciousness1 #bj1 #ea2 as motive in creation1 #bae4 ,man1 the personal in1 #ahj ff2 separateness from ,god1 #ahj ff2 freedom in1 #aha ff2 a child of ,god1 #ahc ff4 ,matheson1 ,george1 on sacrifice1 #di4 ,mc,connell1 ,s4 ,d41 objection to one part in his argument as to immortality1 #abd ff4 ,mc,curdy1 on the significance of the social struggle in ,israel1 #fc4 ,metaphysical1 not to be emphasized1 in conception of ,christ1 #ahe ff2 how to be thought1 as to ,christ1 #bjc1 #bjd2 in doctrine of ,trinity1 #bbf4 ,mill1 ,j4 ,s41 on immortality1 #ej4 ,moral world1 prerequisites of1 #cj ff2 sphere of law1 #cj2 ethical freedom1 #cj2 some power of accomplishment1 #ca2 members one of another1 #cb4 ,mistiness in mysticism1 #gc4 ,moral initiative in men1 #aha ff4 ,moral law1 a revelation of the love of ,god1 #ih4 ,mulford1 ,e41 referred to1 #bbi4 ,mnsterberg1 ,h41 referred to1 #gi2 reference to his ,psychology and ,life1 #gi4 ,mutual influence of men1 #aa ff2 contributing lines of thought1 #aa ff2 threefold form of the conviction1 #ac ff2 as element of social consciousness1 #aa ff1 #ej2 influence upon theological doctrine1 #acf ff2 for good1 #add ff2 in attainment of character1 #ade ff2 in personal relation to ,god1 #afj ff2 in confession of faith1 #afg ff4 ,mystical1 the falsely1 opposition of the social consciousness to1 #ee ff1 #eg ff2 ,nash's definition of1 #ee1 #ef2 ,herrmann's definition of1 #ef1 #eg2 unethical1 #eh2 no real personal ,god1 #eh2 belittles personal in man1 #ei2 ,paul's rejection of1 #fj1 #fa2 leaves historically ,christian1 #fb ff4 ,mystical1 the truly1 emphasized by the social consciousness1 #ff ff1 #gj ff2 requires laws of a deepening friendship1 #fg2 requires ideal conditions of the richest life1 #fh2 protest in favor of whole man1 #gh ff2 its self-controlled recognition of emotion1 #hb ff4 ,mysticism1 its relation to the social consciousness1 #ee ff2 false1 #ee ff2 true1 #ff ff1 #gj ff2 justifiable and unjustifiable elements in1 #ga ff2 its dangers3 emotionalism1 #ga2 subjectivism1 #gb2 under-estimating historical1 #gb2 mistiness1 #gc2 pantheism1 #gc ff2 symbolism1 #gf4 justifiable elements in1 summed up1 #gg4 ,nash1 ,h4 ,s41 on ethical basis of social consciousness in will of ,god1 #de ff2 his definition of the mystical1 #ee1 #ef2 referred to1 #gj2 on doctrine of divine personality1 #baj2 on the supernatural1 #bag4 ,neo-,darwinian school1 referred to1 #cg4 ,neo-,platonic mysticism1 #ee ff1 #gd4 ,new ,world1 ,the1 reference to1 #ab1 #abj4 ,neitzsche1 criticism of1 by ,everett1 #abj4 ,obligation1 sense of1 #ah ff2 element in social consciousness1 #ah1 #ea4 ,organism1 analogy of1 #bc ff2 value of1 #bc2 classical expression in ,i ,cor4 #ab2 inadequacy of1 for social consciousness1 #bd ff3 comes from the sub-personal world1 #bd2 access to reality only through ourselves1 #bd2 mistaken passion for construing everything1 #be2 tested by definition of social consciousness1 #bf ff4 ,orr's ,the ,christian ,view of ,god and the ,world1 reference to1 #ea4 ,pantheism1 tendency to1 in mysticism1 #eh1 #gd4 ,paul1 his rejection of the falsely mystical1 #fj1 #fa1 #hc4 ,paulsen1 on key to reality1 #be2 reference to1 #cj1 #abi2 on necessity of faith1 #df1 #dg4 ,peabody1 ,f4 ,g41 referred to1 #fe2 on the social principles of ,jesus1 #aaa2 on ,christ's individualism1 #bbi4 ,person1 value of1 #af ff1 #ej2 influence of sense of value of1 on theology1 #agi ff2 reverence for1 characterizing all ,god's relation to men1 #bbf ff4 ,personal1 the1 recognition of1 #agi ff2 recognition of1 in man1 #ahj ff2 recognition of1 in ,christ1 #ahd ff2 recognition of1 in ,god1 #bjg ff4 ,personal idealism1 #ahj1 #aha1 #baj4 ,personal relation1 in religion1 emphasized by social consciousness1 #ff ff2 leads to the truly mystical1 #gj ff4 ,philo1 as representative of mysticism1 #ee4 ,philosophical ,review1 ,the1 reference to1 #dj4 ,philosophy1 as contributing to sense of mutual influence1 #ab4 ,plato1 his position abandoned by mysticism1 #ef4 ,plotinus1 as representative of mysticism1 #ee4 ,prophets1 the1 their standpoint abandoned by ,philo1 #ee2 their sense of the significance of the social struggle in ,israel1 #fc2 ecstasy in1 #fd4 ,propitiation1 ethical meaning of1 #aej ff1 #aef1 #aeh ff4 ,providence1 reverence for person in1 #bcb ff4 ,psychology1 as contributing to sense of mutual influence1 #ab4 ,purpose and causality1 #db1 #dc4 ,race-connection1 not prime cause of unity of men1 #ce ff4 ,race1 real unity of1 #acf ff2 its solidarity1 how conceived1 #af1 #ce1 #cj1 #acg4 ,ranke1 on ,christ1 #aib4 ,rational1 two senses of1 #hj4 ,reconstruction in ,theology1 references to1 #af1 #bj1 #bc1 #dc1 #fg1 #ahe1 #ahg1 #ahh1 #bjc1 #bje1 #bab1 #bag1 #bah4 ,redemption1 as viewed from point of view of mutual influence for good1 #adg ff2 the cost of1 #aej2 substitution and propitiation in1 #aej ff4 ,religion1 and theology1 #f1 #aac2 influence of the social consciousness upon1 #ec ff1 #gj ff2 the personal relation in1 emphasized by the social consciousness1 #ff ff2 its thorough ethicizing demanded by social consciousness1 #hf ff2 and ethics1 #hg2 a supreme factor in life1 #ahi4 ,reverence for the person characterizing all ,god's relations to men1 #bbf ff2 reflected in ,christ1 #bbf ff2 in creation1 #bcj ff2 in providence1 #bcb ff2 in the personal religious life1 #bcc ff2 in the judgment1 #bcg ff2 in the future life1 #bdj ff4 ,ritschl1 ,a41 referred to1 #acg4 ,royce1 ,josiah1 reference to1 #ab4 ,sabatier1 ,a41 reference to1 #aga4 ,sanday1 ,w41 reference to1 #ahg4 ,schiller1 ,f4 ,c1 ,s41 reference to1 #dj4 ,science1 as contributing to sense of mutual influence1 #aa4 ,scotist position as to ,god1 #bac4 ,separateness from ,god1 meaning of1 #ahj ff4 ,sin1 sense of1 deepened by social consciousness1 #aci ff2 ,drummond on1 #adj2 lack of sense of1 among ,greeks1 #adj2 when most feared1 #adc4 ,smith1 ,g4 ,a41 reference to1 #fd4 ,social consciousness1 definition1 #i ff2 elements in1 #i ff2 meaning of1 for theology1 #e ff2 analogy of organism1 inadequate for1 #bd ff2 analogy1 tested1 #bf ff2 necessity of its facts for ideal interests1 #bi ff2 the question1 #bi2 else1 no moral world1 #cj ff1 #cb ff2 ultimate explanation and ground of1 #ce ff2 metaphysical ground1 #ce ff3 not due to physical race-connection1 #ce ff2 nor primarily to heredity1 #cg ff2 nor to mystical solidarity1 #cg ff2 but to immanence of ,god1 #dj ff2 ethical basis1 #dd ff2 supporting will of ,god1 #dd2 ,nash on1 #de2 ,paulsen on1 #df2 ,god's sharing in our life1 #dh ff2 consequent transfiguration of1 #di ff4 its influence upon religion1 #ec ff2 opposed to the falsely mystical1 #eg ff2 emphasizes personal relation in religion1 and so the truly mystical1 #ff ff2 demands the ethicizing of religion1 #hf ff2 needs historical justification1 #ajb ff2 its influence upon theological doctrine1 #aje ff3 general results1 #aje ff2 influence of like-mindedness of men1 #aae ff2 of mutual influence of men1 #acf ff2 of sense of value of person1 #agi ff4 ,social mind1 real meaning of1 #ach2 ,giddings on1 #ach4 ,social ,trinity1 #bbb ff4 ,solidarity1 a mystical1 not to be pressed1 #ci4 ,solidarity of race1 often falsely conceived1 #af1 #ce1 #ci1 #acg ff4 ,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 on the poetical and ideal in men1 #abb2 referred to1 #abc1 #abd4 ,subjectivism1 tendency to1 in mysticism1 #gb4 ,substitution1 ethical meaning of1 #aej ff1 #aeh ff4 ,sully1 ,j41 on immortality1 #ej4 ,supra-personal1 the1 in ,god1 #bji4 ,symbolism1 strong tendency to1 in mysticism1 #gf4 ,sympathy with men1 increased by sense of likeness1 #abg4 ,tennyson1 his self-hypnotism1 #gd4 ,theme of the book1 #a ff4 ,theologian1 the1 an interpreter1 #e2 a believer in the supremacy of spiritual interests1 #f2 assumes the fact of religion1 #f2 assumes a personal ,god1 #g2 takes point of view of ,christ1 #g4 ,theologian's1 the1 point of view1 #e ff4 ,theology1 and religion1 #f1 #aac2 in personal terms1 #ajf ff2 ,fatherhood of ,god1 determining principle in1 #aji2 as influenced by social consciousness1 #aje ff2 general results in1 #aje ff2 influence of likeness of men on1 #aae ff2 influence of mutual influence of men on1 #acf ff2 influence of value of person on1 #agi ff4 ,thomist position as to ,god1 #bbc4 ,trinity1 doctrine of1 #bbb ff2 biblical1 #bbd1 #bbe4 ,trinity1 ,social1 #bbb ff4 ,tritheism1 involved in a real social trinity1 #bbb ff4 ,triunity of ,god1 doctrine of1 #bbc ff4 ,truths1 eternal1 ,god's relation to1 #bab ff4 ,unchangeableness of ,god1 #baf ff4 ,unconscious ,christianity1 #acj4 ,uniqueness1 a double1 in ,christ1 #bja ff2 metaphysical1 #bjc1 #bjd2 ethical1 #bjd1 #bje4 ,value and sacredness of person1 #af ff2 sense of1 element in social consciousness1 #af1 #ej4 ,weismann1 referred to1 #cg4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,page #ahb1 ,g,od changed to ,god4 ,inconsistent hyphenation retained4 ,apparent printer's punctuation errors corrected4 ,italics indicated by underscores and transliterated ,greek by plus signs4