,transcriber's note3 ,notes and quotations in smaller font have been indented two spaces4 ,apparent typographical errors have been corrected2 inconsistent hyphens have been retained2 essay headings have been simplified4 ,oxford ,,horace ,,hart1 ,,printer ,,to ,,the ,,university ,,lux ,,mundi ,a ,,series ,,of ,,studies ,,in ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,incarnation ,,edited ,,by ,,charles ,,gore1 ,m4,a4 ,,principal ,,of ,,pusey ,,house ,,fellow ,,of ,,trinity ,,college1 ,,oxford ,,tenth ,,edition ,a quella ,luce cotal si diventa1 ,che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto impossibil che mai si consenta4 ,,london ,,john ,,murray1 ,,albemarle ,,street #ahij ,all rights reserved ,,essays ,,and ,,contributors4 #a4 ,faith4 ,rev4 ,h4 ,s4 ,,holland1 ,m4,a41 ,canon of ,st4 ,paul's1 sometime ,senior ,student of ,christ ,church4 #b4 ,the ,christian ,doctrine of ,god4 ,rev4 ,,aubrey ,,moore1 ,m4,a41 ,hon4 ,canon of ,christ ,church1 ,tutor of ,magdalen and ,keble ,colleges4 #c4 ,the ,problem of ,pain3 its bearing on faith in ,god4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,r4 ,,illingworth1 ,m4,a41 ,rector of ,longworth1 sometime ,fellow of ,jesus and ,tutor of ,keble ,colleges4 #d4 ,the ,preparation in ,history for ,christ4 ,rev4 ,e4 ,s4 ,,talbot1 ,d4,d41 ,vicar of ,leeds1 sometime ,warden of ,keble ,college4 #e4 ,the ,incarnation in relation to ,development4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,r4 ,,illingworth4 #f4 ,the ,incarnation as the ,basis of ,dogma4 ,rev4 ,r4 ,c4 ,,moberly1 ,m4,a41 ,vicar of ,great ,budworth1 sometime ,senior ,student of ,christ ,church4 #g4 ,the ,atonement4 ,rev4 and ,hon4 ,,arthur ,,lyttelton1 ,m4,a41 ,master of ,selwyn ,college1 ,cambridge1 sometime ,tutor of ,keble ,college4 #h4 ,the ,holy ,spirit and ,inspiration4 ,rev4 ,c4 ,,gore1 ,m4,a41 ,principal of ,pusey ,house1 ,fellow of ,trinity ,college4 #i4 ,the ,church4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,,lock1 ,m4,a41 ,sub-,warden of ,keble and ,fellow of ,magdalen ,colleges4 #aj4 ,sacraments4 ,rev4 ,f4 ,,paget1 ,d4,d41 ,canon of ,christ ,church1 and ,regius ,professor of ,pastoral ,theology4 #aa4 ,christianity and ,politics4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,h4 ,,campion1 ,m4,a41 ,tutor of ,keble ,college4 #ab4 ,christian ,ethics4 ,rev4 ,r4 ,l4 ,,ottley1 ,m4,a41 ,vice-,principal of ,cuddesdon1 late ,senior ,student of ,christ ,church4 ,,preface4 #a4 ,this volume is primarily due to a set of circumstances which exists no longer4 ,the writers found themselves at ,oxford together between the years #ahge-ahhe1 engaged in the common work of ,university education2 and compelled for their own sake1 no less than that of others1 to attempt to put the ,catholic faith into its right relation to modern intellectual and moral problems4 ,such common necessity and effort led to not infrequent meetings1 in which a common body of thought and sentiment1 and a common method of commending the faith to the acceptance of others1 tended to form itself4 ,we1 who once enjoyed this happy companionship1 are now for the most part separated4 ,but at least some result of our temporary association remains1 which it is hoped may justify and explain the present volume4 #b4 ,for this collection of essays represents an attempt on behalf of the ,christian ,creed in the way of explanation4 ,we are sure that ,jesus ,christ is still and will continue to be the ',light of the world4' ,we are sure that if men can rid themselves of prejudices and mistakes 7for which1 it must be said1 the ,church is often as responsible as they71 and will look afresh at what the ,christian faith really means1 they will find that it is as adequate as ever to interpret life and knowledge in its several departments1 and to impart not less intellectual than moral freedom4 ,but we are conscious also that if the true meaning of the faith is to be made sufficiently conspicuous it needs disencumbering1 reinterpreting1 explaining4 ,we can but quote in this sense a distinguished ,french writer who has often acted as an inspiration to many of us4 ,pre ,gratry felt painfully that the dogmas of the ,church were but as an 'unknown tongue' to many of the best of his compatriots4 ',it is not enough1' he said1 'to utter the mysteries of the ,spirit1 the great mysteries of ,christianity1 in formulas1 true before ,god1 but not understood of the people4 ,the apostle and the prophet are precisely those who have the gift of interpreting these obscure and profound formulas for each man and each age4 ,to translate into the common tongue the mysterious and sacred language 444 to speak the word of ,god afresh in each age1 in accordance with both the novelty of the age and the eternal antiquity of the truth1 this is what ,s4 ,paul means by interpreting the unknown tongue4 ,but to do this1 the first condition is that a man should appreciate the times he lives in4 ,hoc autem tempus quare non probatis#a8' #c4 ,we have written then in this volume not as 'guessers at truth1' but as servants of the ,catholic ,creed and ,church1 aiming only at interpreting the faith we have received4 ,on the other hand1 we have written with the conviction that the epoch in which we live is one of profound transformation1 intellectual and social1 abounding in new needs1 new points of view1 new questions2 and certain therefore to involve great changes in the outlying departments of theology1 where it is linked on to other sciences1 and to necessitate some general restatement of its claim and meaning4 ,this is to say that theology must take a new development4 ,we grudge the name development1 on the one hand1 to anything which fails to preserve the type of the ,christian ,creed and the ,christian ,church2 for development is not innovation1 it is not heresy3 on the other hand1 we cannot recognise as the true 'development of ,christian doctrine1' a movement which means merely an intensification of a current tendency from within1 a narrowing and hardening of theology by simply giving it greater definiteness or multiplying its dogmas4 ,the real development of theology is rather the process in which the ,church1 standing firm in her old truths1 enters into the apprehension of the new social and intellectual movements of each age3 and because 'the truth makes her free' is able to assimilate all new material1 to welcome and give its place to all new knowledge1 to throw herself into the sanctification of each new social order1 bringing forth out of her treasures things new and old1 and shewing again and again her power of witnessing under changed conditions to the catholic capacity of her faith and life4 #d4 ,to such a development these studies attempt to be a contribution4 ,they will be seen to cover1 more or less1 the area of the ,christian faith in its natural order and sequence of parts1 but the intention is not to offer complete theological treatises1 or controversial defences of religious truths3 it is rather to present positively the central ideas and principles of religion1 in the light of contemporary thought and current problems4 ,the only one of the essays in fact which has any degree of formal completeness1 is that on ,christian ,ethics1 a subject on which the absence of systematic books of a genuine ,english growth seems to justify a more detailed treatment4 #e4 ,the main omissions of which we are conscious are due to want of space4 ,for instance1 we should have been very glad to attempt a separate treatment of the subject of sin2 though we hope the line that would be taken about it has been sufficiently indicated by more than one writer#b4 ,again1 we have left aside any detailed discussion of historical evidences2 but it will be seen that our attempt has been so to present the principles of the ,christian faith as to suggest the point of view from which evidences are intelligible1 and from which they will1 it is firmly believed1 be found satisfactory4 ,once more1 if we have not found room for a treatment of miracles1 at least we hope that the ,church's conception of ,god1 as ,he manifests ,himself in nature and in grace1 which we have endeavoured to express1 will at once acquit us of any belief in capricious 'violations of law2' and will also suggest a view of the world as disordered by sin and crying out for redemption1 which will make it intelligible that 'miracles' should appear1 not as violating law1 but as a necessary element in its restoration as well as its completer exhibition2 contrary1 not to the fundamental order of the ,divine working1 but only to a superficial or mechanical view of it1 or to a view which sin has distorted or preoccupation with physical science has unduly narrowed4 #f4 ,it only remains to explain that we have written not as mere individuals1 but as ministers1 under common conditions1 of a common faith4 ,this unity of conviction has enabled us freely to offer and accept mutual criticism and suggestion2 so that without each of us professing such responsibility for work other than his own1 as would have involved undue interference with individual method1 we do desire this volume to be the expression of a common mind and a common hope4 ,c4 ,g4 ,,pusey ,,house1 ,michaelmas1 #ahhi4 #a ,gratry1 ,henri ,perreyve1 ,paris #ahhj1 p4 #afb4 #b ,see pp4 #bjh-baa1 #bib-c1 #cah-bj1 #dge-f4 ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,fifth ,,edition4 ,the author of the ,essay ,the ,holy ,spirit and ,inspiration has endeavoured to obviate further misunderstanding of his meaning on one important point by rewriting some sentences on pp4 #cei-fj1 in accordance with the ,corrigenda inserted in the ,fourth ,edition4 ,,preface ,,to ,,the ,,tenth ,,edition4 ,i4 ,there are two things which may fairly be regretted in regard to the criticisms--often the very kind and encouraging criticisms--which1 this book has received4 ,there is1 first1 the disproportionate attention which has been given to some twenty pages on the subject of the inspiration of ,holy ,scripture1 an attention so disproportionate as to defeat the object which the writers had in view in assigning to that subject its place in the general treatment of the work of the ,holy ,spirit--the object1 namely1 of giving it its proper context in the whole body of ,christian truth3 and there is1 secondly1 the fact that we have not generally succeeded in gaining the attention of our critics to the point of view from which these 'studies' were written1 and the purpose they were intended to serve4 ,our purpose was 'to succour a distressed faith' by endeavouring to bring the ,christian ,creed into its right relation to the modern growth of knowledge1 scientific1 historical1 critical2 and to the modern problems of politics and ethics#c4 ,we were writing as for ,christians1 but as for ,christians perplexed by new knowledge which they are required to assimilate and new problems with which they are required to deal4 ,what is needed to help men in such perplexity is not compromise1 for compromise generally means tampering with principle1 but readjustment1 or fresh correlation1 of the things of faith and the things of knowledge4 ,in detail this will1 no doubt1 involve concessions1 and that on both sides1 because both sides have been liable to make mistakes#d2 but in the main what is to be looked for is a reconciliation which shall at once set the scientific and critical movement1 so far as it is simply scientific and critical1 free from the peril of irreligion1 and the religious movement free from the imputation of hostility to new knowledge--as free as any movement can be1 which is intensely concerned to nourish and develop what is permanent and unchanging in human life4 ,such a reconciliation has more than once been effected in the past1 though never without a preliminary period of antagonism#e2 our confidence that it will be effected anew in the future lies partly in the fact that we see it already taking place in some minds which seem to us to represent the best life and thought of our time both scientific and religious4 ,one such at least#f we knew and have lost1 though only from present intercourse1 in ,aubrey ,moore4 ,nobody could know him and think of him as 'compromising' either his faith or his science4 ,he lived primarily and with deepest interest in his religious life and theological study1 but he lived also with intense reality in the life of science4 ,and the debt we owe to him1 over and above the debt under which his personal character lays us for ever1 is that of having let us see how the two lives of faith and of science can melt into one4 ,he felt indeed and wrestled with the difficulties of adjustment4 ,he had not1 as it seemed to us1 nearly finished his work in this respect4 ,but he had done enough for our encouragement3 enough to help us to believe that the best minds of the future are to be neither religious minds defying scientific advance1 nor scientific minds denying religion1 but minds in which religion interprets and is interpreted by science1 in which faith and enquiry subsist together and reinforce one another4 ,the reason why he should have been so soon taken from us and from the ,church on earth--taken when 'our need was the sorest'--lies in the impenetrable mysteries of ,god4 ',si dolemus ablatum1 non tamen obliviscimur quod datus fuit1 et gratias agimus quod habere illum meruimus4444 ,pusillus corde eram et confortabat me2 piger et negligens1 et excitabat me#g4' ,,ii4 ,it seems to us that a due regard to the point of view from which these studies were written would have obviated some of the criticisms upon them4 ,for instance1 it would have explained why we forbore to enter upon the questions which may be raised as to the seat and methods of ,church authority4 ,it was because these questions do not arise practically till the work has been done to which we were attempting to minister4 ,when a man is once reassured that his faith in ,christ is capable of rational justification1 he begins naturally to enquire what exactly the ,christian religion involves in this or that detail1 and how its manifestly authoritative character1 as a ,divine ,revelation1 is to find expression3 but these enquiries hardly begin till the preliminary reassurance has been gained4 ,the moral authority of ,christianity1 of ,christian lives and characters1 does indeed exercise a determining influence on the promotion and recovery of faith2 but men do not often either win a hold on the creed for the first time1 or recover it where it has been lost or impaired1 because the theological authority of the ,church enables them to take it on trust4 ,the very grounds of that authority are for the moment too much in question to admit of the proper amount of deference being given to it4 ,thus it seemed to us better in this volume to be content with general statements as to the principle of ,church authority#h1 leaving out its detailed discussion as unsuitable to our present purpose4 ,of course1 however1 we were conscious all the time that we were ourselves amenable to the bar of authority and were bound to feel sure that nothing we were saying was transgressing the laws which the ,catholic ,church has laid down4 ,we should indeed be unanimous in disclaiming any desire to have 'license to say what we please' in our position as ,church teachers4 ,all meaning would be taken out of the effort and hope this book represents if we could not believe that we were speaking as the ,church would have us speak4 ,as the essay on ,inspiration has been chiefly called in question on the ground of authority1 the author of it must be allowed to plead that he did assure himself he was saying nothing which the ,church in her past action had not left him free to say1 while for the future he does earnestly desire in due course1 and after due enquiry1 an action of ,church authority on the relation of modern critical methods to the doctrine of ,inspiration2 and further he believes that the ,anglican churches1 holding as they do so conspicuous a place in traditional reverence for the ,scriptures1 while they are so free on the other hand from the obscurantist fear of historical enquiry1 are more likely than any other part of the ,church to arrive at determinations on the subject such as will be of material service to the whole of ,christendom4 ,but for the present there can be no doubt the subject is not ripe for any official or formal determinations4 ,,iii4 ,it seems to us also that some of the criticisms on the treatment of ,inspiration in ,essay ,,viii1 which shall be presently dealt with1 have been due to the same forgetfulness of the writer's aim1 and of the general aim of the whole book4 ,our traditional belief in the ,bible is at the present time confronted with a body of critical literature which claims to overthrow a great many of the accepted opinions about the ,old ,testament ,scriptures4 ,the criticism is at least grave and important enough to claim attention1 to necessitate that we should come to a more or less clear understanding of the relation in which our faith stands towards it4 ,the writer of the essay did not write as a biblical critic but as a theological student and teacher1 bound to give a candid consideration to a criticism which bears directly upon the sacred books of our religion4 ,his object was not to discuss and determine questions of biblical criticism1 but to explain1 as it appears to him1 the relation which theology is to take up towards them4 ,and he wrote 'in the mind of those who have felt the trouble in the air3' he wrote to succour a faith distressed by the problems criticism is raising4 ,that faith is very widely distressed by them1 and that not merely in academic circles1 does not admit of question4 ,nor did it seem to him to admit of question that the best way to deal with this distress was not to attempt to solve problems1 which1 because of the immense area over which discussion ranges1 do not admit of ready solutions2 but to attempt to state the main conclusions criticism is claiming to have arrived at1 as the critics themselves would have us state them2 to show that our ,christian faith is not vitally affected by them2 and so to divert an anxious mind from problems which it cannot solve1 at least at present1 and fix it on the central truths of our religion1 helping it to feel how1 if it be once grounded on these central truths1 the issue of the critical discussion can be awaited1 with keen interest indeed1 but without alarm4 ,but this assurance of mind in face of the critical controversy is only possible if we see that the critical positions are in fact compatible with the real inspiration of ,holy ,scripture4 ,now the best way to give reassurance on this point seemed to be for the writer to make it plain that he himself felt the great force and appeal of the critical case1 and that his conviction that the real ,inspiration of the ,old ,testament was unaffected by it1 did not depend upon its being underrated4 ,had the main purpose of the writer been to help to determine critical positions1 he would have been bound to write both at greater length and also with more exactness and discrimination4 ,but on the other hand1 the purpose of reassurance would have had less chance of being successfully accomplished--as in some cases we have reason to believe with thankfulness that it has been accomplished or assisted--if the writer had been more reluctant to accept1 at least hypothetically1 what are claimed as critical results4 ,we all know by experience that freedom and happiness in our attitude as ,christians towards problems not easily solved1 or even easily brought to crucial tests1 are most readily secured if we can feel that our faith is1 at the last resort1 independent of the exact solution arrived at4 ,thus our object was to give to anxious enquirers1 of whom there are surely an immense number most deserving of any help which can be given them1 a freedom in regard to ,old ,testament problems as wide as the ,catholic faith seemed to warrant4 ,,iv4 ,we cannot but accept the very general suggestion of our critics that we ought to have attempted a separate treatment of the problem of sin4 ,some such treatment is now offered in the second appendix1 and offered in the form of a republication of what has previously seen the light1 so that it may be plain that the absence of it from earlier editions was not due to lack of conviction or unwillingness to deal with the subject4 ,the appendix is not in fact more than a drawing out of what is involved in some passages of the essays taken together#i4 ,thus the fifth essay takes up a very clear position as to the practical aspect which sin bears in human life4 ,the fact is emphasized that sin1 as our moral consciousness knows it and ,christianity has successfully dealt with it1 is a phenomenon unique in the world3--it is what nothing else is1 violation of law4 ,now this is the essence of the ,christian doctrine of sin1 as ,s4 ,john states it3 ',sin is lawlessness#aj4' ,sin and lawlessness are coincident terms4 ,this view of sin is primarily practical2 it may be represented in fact as a postulate required for successfully dealing with sin1 a postulate justified and verified by its results4 ,but because it is thus verified and justified1 it passes like any other hypothesis which explains facts1 in proportion to the range and thoroughness of the experience which tests it1 out of the region of mere working hypotheses into that of accepted truths4 ,thus it is to the ,christian consciousness an accepted truth1 that sin1 all down the long history of humanity1 has been a violation of the divine order1 a refusal of obedience1 a corruption of man's true nature4 ,sin1 as such1 has always been a source of confusion1 not of progress4 ,we can indeed recognise how the movement and development in humanity has frequently#aa been in fact conditioned by sin2 but we should still contend that it has never been the sin in itself which has been the spring of force and progress1 but the faculties of will and intellect which sin was using4 ,always the will and intellect would have worked better and more fruitfully in the result if they had been free from the taint of selfishness and rebellion against ,god4 ,always sin1 as such1 has been a lowering and not a raising of human life3 a fall and not a rise4 ,thus sin at the beginning of human life must have been not merely the awakening of moral consciousness1 but the obscuring and tainting of it by lawlessness and disobedience4 ,sin1 as all down its history1 so in its origin1 is a fall2 a fall1 moreover1 entailing consequences on those who come after1 in virtue of the inviolable solidarity of the human race4 ,to this view of sin original and actual1 ,christianity appears to be bound2 and it is a view that1 as we have now endeavoured to show#ab1 brings us into no conflict with scientific discovery4 ,for science never attempts to prove that man might not have developed otherwise than as in fact he has1 or that the actual development has been the best possible3 nor has ,christianity ever in its best representatives1 certainly not in its patristic representatives1 been identified with a denial that human history as a whole has been a development upwards from below#ac4 ,the ,old ,testament is in fact among ancient literatures1 the literature of development1 of progress#ad4 ,v4 ,the criticisms on our treatment of ,inspiration have been so abundant1 and have gone into such detail1 that it will be obvious that any attempt to reply to them must be a more individual effort than the attempt to reply to the criticisms on the general aim and spirit of the book4 ,for while the writers in this volume are at one as to the general attitude which they would wish the ,church to assume towards the critical treatment of the ,old ,testament1 as they are at one in the general line of treatment adopted throughout this volume1 they cannot pretend to be at one on all the details of a complicated subject4 ,the writer of the particular essay alone can be responsible for these3 and with reference to them he must be understood to speak simply in his own person4 #a4 ,the passage about ,inspiration was written under the conviction that recent criticism of the ,old ,testament represents a real advance in analytical method as applied to literature1 and thus a most serious movement of thought4 ,as such it has been estimated by the ,bishop of ,oxford in his recent ,charge4 ,he says1 ',the ,holy ,scriptures of the ,old ,testament are now going through a process of analytical criticism which has1 as we believe1 had no parallel1 for acuteness of investigation1 carefulness of method1 and completeness of apparatus1 since the days in which they began to be regarded as a code of inspired literature1 and certainly not since the days of our blessed ,lord's life on earth2 at which period we understand that to all intents and purposes the books which we receive1 as the ,canonical ,old ,testament ,scriptures1 had taken their existing form#ae4' ,but like the scientific movement of our time1 the critical movement has been accompanied by all the arbitrariness and tendency to push things to extremes which appears to be an almost inseparable attendant upon living and vigorous movements1 ecclesiastical and secular4 ,further than this1 its representatives have been--and here again the conditions of the scientific movement are reproduced--very frequently men personally opposed to the ,christian faith1 and even thoroughly rationalistic in temper and tone4 ,but it does not follow in the case of criticism1 any more than in the case of science1 that we are not to learn a great deal from a movement characterized even predominantly by 'extremeness' and unbelief4 ,and in fact1 in the past fifty years there appears to have been a solid critical advance1 underneath a great deal of controversial arbitrariness and irreligious insolence4 ,now ,i thought that ,i should best serve the purpose with which ,i was writing1 if ,i went as far as ,i could in ungrudging recognition of the claims of criticism1 and involved myself as little as possible in doubtful discussions2 but ,i did also intend to express1 and believed myself to have expressed with sufficient clearness#af1 my own conviction that it was with the more conservative among the recent critics1 and not with the more extreme1 that the victory would lie4 ,thus when ,i said1 in a sentence which has been specially criticized 7partly because its wording was somewhat ambiguous71 that criticism is reaching 'results as sure as scientific enquiry1' what ,i intended so to characterize was not the extreme conclusions of ,wellhausen1 but substantially the conclusions shared in common by ,wellhausen and ,dillmann1 by critics theologically more conservative1 like ,knig and ,riehm1 by ,delitzsch in his last position1 by the ,french ,catholic orientalist1 ,f4 ,lenormant1 as well as by an increasing body of ,english scholars#ag4 ,nor is there a single line of what ,i wrote which would be affected1 so far as ,i see1 even if ,professor ,margoliouth were satisfactorily to make out his case for throwing back the period of the ',middle ,hebrew#ah4' ,as to the grounds on which we have been asked to date the bulk of the ,psalms below the ,captivity1 and even in the ,maccabean period1 they may appear indeed quite unconvincing2 but it would have been utterly beside my purpose1 as it would also have been out of my power1 to give them adequate discussion#ai1 nor would it seem as if even so improbably late a date as that suggested would really affect their ,messianic or spiritual character4 ,let us affirm then without any hesitation that there is a good deal of arbitrariness and extremeness in current criticism as applied to the ,old ,testament4 ,but surely we should be the victims of a dangerous delusion if we were to imagine that because there is a good deal that is unsubstantial in recent criticism1 therefore there is no substantial force in what really represents the successive labours of many generations of students4 ,i do not think that we can conceal from ourselves that if we are to defend a purely conservative attitude in regard to ,old ,testament literature1 we shall require quite different canons of evidence from those which we are able so successfully to use in vindicating the historical character of the ,new ,testament3 or again1 in vindicating the claims of the apostolic ministry and the sacramental system to be part of the original fabric of the ,christian ,church4 ,in other words1 the critical principles of historical enquiry which do so amply justify us in retaining substantially the traditional position in regard as well to the ,new ,testament documents as to our ,church principles1 do not carry us to the same point in the field of the ,old ,testament4 ,no doubt there the vastness of the field is a permanent obstacle to uniformly certain results4 ,a great deal must remain1 and probably for ever1 more or less an open question4 ,but this necessary uncertainty1 if it imposes on critics an obligation of caution1 imposes also on us churchmen an obligation of reserve in dogmatic requirement4 ,we do not wish to run the risk of making a claim on men's minds for the acceptance of positions for which we have only this to urge1 that they cannot be absolutely disproved4 #b4 ,the changed view of the development of ,old ,testament literature1 such as can be truly said to be proposed for our acceptance by modern critics with a great deal of unanimity1 if it be granted for the moment that it is compatible with the real inspiration of the books1 involves no important change in our spiritual use of the ,old ,testament2 in the use of it for the purposes of 'faith and morals4' ,this latter use of ,scripture depends simply on our rightly interpreting the meaning of the books as they exist4 ,there is a great principle enunciated by ,s4 ,augustine in regard to the ,old ,testament which requires to be kept constantly in view4 ,it is that as the ,old ,testament is manifested in the ,new1 so the ,new ,testament is latent in the ,old#bj4 ,in order to recognize this there is no discussion necessary of the method by which our ',old ,testament' received its present shape4 ,the evidence of it lies in the ,old ,testament considered as a finished product4 ,as such1 we cannot study that 'divine library' without being struck both by its unity1 so far greater than belongs to any other literature#ba1 and by the fact that like no other literature it looks forward to an end not yet attained1 a divine event in which is to be its justification and its interpretation4 ,the ,old ,testament demands the ,new to bring out its true meaning3 the ,new appeals back to the ,old to bear witness to the continuity of the divine purpose of which it is the outcome4 ,it is from this point of view that we understand the appeal which1 in the ,new ,testament1 is so constantly made to the older ,scriptures4 ,whether they are appealed to1 as in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 as containing the record of a moral education1 divine though imperfect1 which the ,christ was to complete#bb2 or as by ,st4 ,paul1 as the record of a preparatory and temporary discipline by means of external enactments of ,god1 calculated to awaken the dull conscience of men to the reality and holiness of the divine will1 and so to make men conscious of sin against ,god1 and ready to welcome the dispensation of pardon and grace#bc2 or1 as in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 as a system of ritual and ceremonial observances1 in which were shadowed forth by the inspiring ,spirit#bd the deep truths of the still-needed sacrifice1 and the access to ,god not yet won for man2 or finally1 as by almost all the ,new ,testament writers1 as a prophetic dispensation in which the ,messianic hope found gradual expression in fuller and exacter lineaments1 and produced an anticipation which ,christ only could satisfy#be3--;from any of these points of view1 or from all taken together1 we are concerned only with the ,old ,testament as it finally appears1 not with the method by which it came into being4 ,it cannot be too strongly emphasized that when we seek reassurance in regard to the inspiration of those books of the ,old ,testament1 to which our ,lord and ,his ,church refer us1 we find it primarily in the substance of the books as they are given to us1 not in any considerations of the manner in which they came into existence#bf4 ,and if this is so1 it needs to be borne in mind that the responsibility for bringing it home to the consciences of men1 the responsibility for thus preventing that breach in religious continuity which the change in critical and literary conceptions of the ,old ,testament might otherwise occasion1 lies in a preeminent degree upon those of us who are most impressed with the valid elements of the recent criticism4 ,it belongs to us to see to it that1 so far as lies with us1 the ,bible shall not be less prized by the generations that are coming1 as the divine1 the inspired volume1 than it has been by the generations that are gone4 ,it belongs to us to attend to the double admonition of the ,de ,imitatione3 ',every scripture must be read in the same spirit in which it was written3' and ',do not enquire who said this1 but pay heed to what is said4' #c4 ,there is one appeal which the ,new ,testament makes to the ,old which was not alluded to above1 as it does not in fact fall naturally under ,s4 ,augustine's principle of the ,new ,testament lying hid in the ,old--namely the appeal to it as to a historical record of ,god's actual dealings with ,his people3 a record of things which actually 'happened unto them for ensamples1 and are written for our admonition4' ,but this appeal again would not be invalidated unless it were shown--not merely that there is an ideal element mixed with the history in the ,old ,testament record1 but--that the element which is not mere narrative of events as they happened1 the element of idealism1 reaches to the point of obscuring the real significance of the facts and distorting their divine meaning4 ,whereas the truth is that the ideal element in the narrative comes from the real divine meaning in the facts being brought into emphatic prominence rather than overlooked2 and we may depend upon it that no results of criticism have tended to weaken our belief that the chroniclers of ,israel's history1 whether prophetic or priestly1 were inspired to see its true meaning and tendency1 and from their different points of view to bring it out in its completeness4 ,and it is important to remember in this connection that the ,jewish idea of 'history' was never our modern critical idea of a mere record4 ,they ranked their history from ,joshua to the books of ,kings under the head of 'prophecy1' and intimate to us by this very classification that they see in the historian one who not only records but interprets facts#bg4 #d4 ,the changed view of the ,old ,testament books which modern criticism asks of us1 concerns1 then1 not so much their contents1 as the circumstances of their composition and the method by which they reached their present form4 ,when we pass to this latter class of considerations we are prepared for any information which criticism or tradition can give us1 while at the same time our indestructible conviction1 fortified by the strongest internal testimony of the books1 that here is the ,holy ,spirit's work1 gives us an antecedent expectation that the mode of composition in the case of each book will be such as ,god in ,his condescension can have sanctioned and used4 ,god1 ,i say1 in ,his condescension--because undoubtedly the whole ,old ,testament does represent a condescension of ,god to a low stage of human development4 ,here then we need the recognition of a second great principle which ,s4 ,augustine lays down1 viz4 that 'as wrong is done to the ,old ,testament if it be denied to come from the just and good ,god1 so wrong is done to the ,new if it be put on a level with the ,old#bh4' ,for all the reality of its inspiration the ,old ,testament is on a lower level than the ,new4 ,thus it is now almost universally recognised that ,god in the ,old ,testament is seen appealing to the human conscience at a low stage of its development1 tolerating what was not according to ,his original will or ,his ultimate purpose#bi1 as in the case of divorce1 and even1 as in the case of ,abraham's sacrifice1 appealing to men to do things which in a more fully developed state of the conscience could not be even conceived of as commanded by ,god1 in order that through their very obedience to the appeal they might be led higher into the knowledge of what ,god could1 and could not1 enjoin4 ,how fully this principle in ,god's dealings was recognised and justified by the early ,christian authorities has been already brought out in this volume#cj4 ,again1 the same method of condescending to what was not in itself perfect1 but was susceptible of a gradual education1 appears in the institutions of the ,old ,testament law of worship4 ,modern enquirers are pressing upon us the fact that the ritual law of ,israel is closely akin to the common ritual customs of ,semite races4 ',what ,i may call the natural basis of ,israel's worship1' says ,prof4 ,robertson ,smith1 'was very closely akin to that of the neighbouring cults#ca4' ,the peculiarity of ,israel's religion lay in fact not in the ritual itself1 but in the moral and theological turn given to the ritual4 ,according to this view ,god in the law appears as diverting to good uses1 by an act of condescension1 ritual customs which it would have been premature to abolish4 ,such a view of the ritual is somewhat strange to the ears of modern ,churchmen1 but it was undoubtedly the prevalent view of the law among the great writers of ,christian antiquity4 ,references to illustrate this have been given in the eighth essay#cb4 ,but ,i may add to the passages there referred to another of very striking force4 ,s4 ,chrysostom is explaining why ,god should have appealed to the astrological notions of the wise men and led them by no other leading than that of a star4 ,it is because 'in exceeding condescension ,he calls them through what is familiar4444 ,in imitation of this ,paul too reasons with the ,greeks from an altar1 and adduces testimony from the poets1 while he harangues the ,jews with circumcision1 and makes from the sacrifices a beginning of instruction for those who are living under the law4 ,for since to every one familiar things are dear1 therefore both ,god ,himself and the men who were sent from ,god1 with a view to the salvation of the world1 manage things on this principle4 ,think it not then unworthy of ,him to have called them by a star2 for by the same rule thou wilt find fault with all the ,jewish rites also--both the sacrifices and the purifications and the new moons1 and the ark1 and the temple itself4 ,for all these things had their origin from ,gentile grossness4 ,yet ,god1 on account of the salvation of those in error1 endured to be worshipped by means of the very things through which those outside were worshipping demons1 only giving them a slight alteration1 that little by little he might draw them away from their customs and lead them up to the high philosophy4' ,now if we recognize that ,god in the ,old ,testament can condescend for the purposes of ,his revelation to a low stage of conscience1 and a low stage of worship1 what possible ground have we for denying that ,he can use for purposes of ,his inspiration literary methods also which belong to a rude and undeveloped state of intelligence8 ,if ,he can 'inspire' with true teaching the native ,semite customs of ritual1 why can ,he not do the same with their traditions of old time8 ,how can we reasonably deny that the earlier portions of ,genesis may contain the simple record of primitive prehistoric tradition of the ,semites#cc1 moulded and used by the ,holy ,spirit1 as on all showing the record manifestly has been moulded and used1 to convey the fundamental principles of all true religion8 ,or again1 granted that1 on the 'dramatic' hypothesis1 ,deuteronomy written not by ,moses1 but in ,moses' name1 to incorporate the ,mosaic tradition1 represents a literary method greatly inferior1 in sense of exactitude1 to the method of personal testimony as we have it in ,s4 ,john#cd1 or of careful investigation and use of original testimony1 as we have it in ,s4 ,luke#ce2 granted this--how can we1 in view of the manifest facts of ,god's condescension1 find ourselves in a position to deny that ,he can have used such a method as a vehicle of ,his inspiration#cf8 ,there is1 it must be emphasized1 no critical reason why we should assign the composition of any book of the ,old ,testament to the motive of fraud4 ,no doubt hostile critics have sometimes suggested1 for example1 that the 'discovery' of the book of the law in the ,temple in the days of ,josiah was a 'got up' proceeding1 the book having really been written and hidden at the very time in order to be 'discovered'2 but there is no positive evidence at all to support such a view1 while all the evidence is satisfied by the hypothesis that an earlier prophet1 some hundred years previously#cg1 working upon an actual and possibly written tradition of ,moses' last speech1 had cast this tradition into the dramatic form and promulgated1 as from ,moses' lips1 the law which he knew to represent ultimately ,moses' authority or the authority of ,god in ,moses4 ,that such a method should have been adopted surprises us surely no more than that ,hosea should have been led to use such extraordinary means1 as he seems in fact to have been enjoined to use1 of revealing ,god's mind of love towards ,his people4 ,it involves no intention to deceive1 and the discovery of this 'book of the law1' lost in the careless period which intervened1 was a genuine discovery unattended by any element of fraud4 ,once again1 if the book of ,chronicles contains not pure history but the priestly view of the history1 granted that this priestly point of view was morally part of the divinely intended education of the chosen people1 even though its intellectual method was as imperfect as ordinarily is the case with the treatment of traditions in 'schools' or religious orders1 in nations or churches or families1 is there any priori reason why ,god1 who used so much that was imperfect1 should not have inspired the record of this tradition8 ,here again we must emphasize that all that criticism requires of us is to recognise in the book of ,chronicles the record of the history as it became coloured in the priestly schools2 there is nothing here of a morally unworthy sort from the point of view of the contemporary conscience1 but only the same features as are noticeable in the record of tradition all the world over#ch4 ,fraudulent dealing1 forgery in literature1 always involves the conscious and deliberate use of methods calculated to impose on others1 methods other than those sanctioned by the literary conscience of the time#ci4 ,no doubt a particular writer1 like ,wellhausen1 may make a bias hostile to the supernatural apparent in his use of the critical method1 and may give in consequence an antitheological turn to his reconstruction of history2 just as many a scientific writer has done with scientific facts and scientific method4 ,in view of this we must 'try the spirits' and not attribute too much force to the point of view of a particular individual4 ,but this will not be at all the same thing as rejecting the modern method of criticism or repudiating those results which are certainly accepted by many critics who are as far as possible from rejecting the supernatural#dj4 #e4 ,no serious attempt has1 ,i think1 been made to show that the view of the development of the ,old ,testament literature which the modern critical schools1 with great unanimity1 demand of us1 is contrary to any determination of ,church authority4 ,by this it is not meant that the theology of the ,church suggests this view3 it is not the function of the ,church to advance literary knowledge1 except indirectly2 and thus the ,church has not had the power to anticipate the critical1 any more than it had to anticipate the scientific movement4 ,the advance of knowledge comes in all departments through the natural processes of intellectual enquiry4 ,it is only now1 in fact1 that the critical problem is before the ,church2 but now that it is before the ,church it does not seem that the ,church ought to have any more difficulty in welcoming it and assimilating it1 than it has had in welcoming and assimilating the legitimate claims of science4 ,with reference to the bearing of ,church authority on the present discussion1 there are three points which ,i should wish to urge4 ,first1 that the undivided ,church never took action on the matter1 in spite of an extravagant tendency to allegorism in ,origen and those who were influenced by him4 ,secondly1 that as a result of this the patristic theology leaves a wide opening at least for what we may call the modern way of regarding the opening chapters of ,genesis4 ,thus a ,latin writer1 of the fifth or sixth century1 who gives an interesting summary of the ,catholic faith1 and is clearly nothing else but a recorder of accepted beliefs1 after speaking of the origin and fall of man and woman1 continues thus3 ',these things are known through ,god's revelation to ,his servant ,moses1 whom ,he willed to be aware of the state and origin of man1 as the books which he produced testify4 ,for all the divine authority 7i4e4 the scriptural revelation7 appears to exist under such a mode as is either the mode of history which narrates only what happened1 or the mode of allegory in such sense that it cannot represent the course of history1 or a mode made up of these two so as to remain both historical and allegorical#da4' ,a great deal more in the same sense as this might be produced4 ,thirdly1 it must be urged that since the division of ,christendom no part of the ,church appears really to have tightened the bond of dogmatic obligation4 ,our own formularies are of course markedly free from definition on the subject1 and the refusal of the ,roman ,church to define the scope of inspiration1 beyond the region of faith and morals1 has been remarkable#db4 #f4 ,but does the authority of our ,lord bind us to repudiate1 in loyalty to ,him1 the modern views of the origin of the ,old ,testament books8 ,on this subject ,i wish to express my sincere regret that ,i should have written so briefly in my essay as to lay myself open to be misunderstood to suggest our ,lord's fallibility as a teacher4 ,i trust that the passage1 as it has stood since the fourth edition#dc1 will be at least recognised as plain in its meaning and theologically innocent4 ,i must ask leave to defer to another occasion the fuller discussion of this important subject in connection with the doctrine of the ,person of ,christ4 ,meanwhile ,i would suggest that the longer one thinks of it the more apparent it will become that any hypothesis as to the origin of any one book of the ,old ,testament1 which is consistent with a belief in its inspiration1 must be consistent also with our ,lord having given it ,his authorisation4 ,if ,his ,spirit could inspire it1 ,he1 in that ,spirit1 could give it ,his recognition--,his recognition1 that is to say1 in regard to its spiritual function and character4 ,thus as we scan carefully our ,lord's use of the ,old ,testament books1 we are surely struck with the fact that nothing#dd in ,his use of them depends on questions of authorship or date2 ,he appeals to them in that spiritual aspect which abides through all changes of literary theory--their testimony to the ,christ3 ',search the ,scriptures 444 they are they which testify of ,me4' ,he would thus lead men to ask about each book of the ,old ,testament simply the question1--,what is the element of teaching preparatory to the ,incarnation1 what is the testimony to ,christ1 which it supplies8 ,i do not see how with due regard to the self-limitation which all use of human forms of thought and speech must on all showing have involved to the ,eternal ,son1 it can be a difficulty in the way of accepting the modern hypothesis1 that our ,lord referred to the inspired books under the only name by which ,his reference would have been intelligible to ,his hearers4 ,unless ,he had violated the whole principle of the ,incarnation1 by anticipating the slow development of natural knowledge1 ,he must have spoken of the ,deuteronomist as ',moses#de1' as naturally as ,he spoke of the sun 'rising4' ,nor does there seem in fact any greater difficulty in ,his speaking of one who wrote 'in the spirit and power' of ,moses as ,moses1 than in ,his speaking of one who1 according to the prophecy1 came 'in the spirit and power of ,elias' as himself1 ,elias4 ',if ye will receive it1 this is ,elias4' ',elias is already come#df4' ,once more3 if the ,holy ,spirit could use the tradition of the flood to teach men about divine judgments1 then our ,lord in the same ,spirit can refer to the flood1 for the same purpose4 ,it has however been recently denied that this can be so1 unless the tradition accurately represents history4 ',i venture to ask1' ,professor ,huxley writes#dg1 'what sort of value as an illustration of ,god's method of dealing with sin has an account of an event that never happened8' ,i should like to meet this question by asking another4 ,has the story of the rich man and ,lazarus any value as an illustration of ,god's method of dealing with men8 ,undoubtedly it has4 ,now what sort of narrative is this8 ,not a narrative of events that actually happened1 in the sense that there was a particular beggar to whom our ,lord was referring4 ,the narrative is a representative narrative#dh1 a narrative of what is constantly occurring under the form of a particular typical incident4 ,now the narrative of the flood belongs to a quite different class of literature1 inasmuch as it is not due to any deliberate action of imagination2 but it resembles our ,lord's story at least in being representative4 ,it is no doubt based on fact4 ,the traditions of the flood in all races must run back to a real occurrence4 ,but the actual occurrence cannot be exactly estimated4 ,what we have in ,genesis is a tradition used as a vehicle for spiritual teaching4 ,as the story is told it becomes1 like that of ,dives and ,lazarus1 a typical narrative of what is again and again happening4 ,again and again1 as in the destruction of ,jerusalem1 or in the ,french ,revolution1 ,god's judgments come on men for their sin3 again and again teachers of righteousness are sent to warn of coming judgment and are ridiculed by a world which goes on buying and selling1 marrying and giving in marriage1 till the flood of ,god's judgment breaks out and overwhelms them4 ,again and again1 through these great judgments there emerges a remnant1 a faithful stock1 to be the fountain head of a new and fresh development4 ,the narrative of the flood is a representative narrative1 and our ,lord1 who used the story of ,dives and ,lazarus1 can use this too#di4 ,,vi4 ,professor ,huxley's article alluded to just now is a somewhat melancholy example of a mode of reasoning which one had hoped had vanished from 'educated circles' for ever--that namely which regards ,christianity as a 'religion of a book' in such sense that it is supposed to propose for men's acceptance a volume to be received in all its parts as on the same level1 and in the same sense1 ,divine4 ,on the contrary1 ,christianity is a religion of a ,person4 ,it propounds for our acceptance ,jesus ,christ1 as the revealer of the ,father4 ,the test question of the ,church to her catechumens has never been3 ',dost thou believe the ,bible8' but ',dost thou believe that ,jesus ,christ is the ,son of ,god8' ,if we do believe that1 then we shall further believe in the ,bible3 in the ,old ,testament as recording how ,god prepared the way for ,christ2 in the ,new ,testament as recording how ,christ lived and taught1 and containing the witness borne to ,him by ,his earthly friends and ministers4 ,the ,bible thus 'ought to be viewed as not a revelation itself1 but a record of the proclaiming and receiving of a revelation1 by a body which is still existent1 and which propounds the revelation to us1 namely the body of ,christians commonly called the ,church#ej4' ,the ,bible is the record of the proclamation of the revelation1 not the revelation itself4 ,the revelation is in the ,person of ,christ1 and the whole stress therefore of evidential enquiry should be laid upon the central question whether the ,divine claim made for ,jesus ,christ by the ,church is historically justified4 ,the whole evidential battle of ,christianity must thus be fought out on the field of the ,new ,testament1 not of the ,old4 ,if ,christ be ,god1 the ,son of ,god1 incarnate1 as the ,creeds assert1 ,christianity is true4 ,no one in that case will find any permanent difficulty in seeing that in a most real sense the ,bible1 containing both ,old and ,new ,testaments1 is an 'inspired volume4' ,now faith in the ,godhead of our ,lord is very far from being a mere matter of 'evidences4' ,on this enough is said by more than one writer in this volume#ea4 ,but so far as 'historical evidences' go1 we have them in our generation in quite fresh force and power4 ,for our ,new ,testament documents have passed through a critical sifting and analysis of the most trenchant and thorough sort in the fifty years that lie behind us4 ,from such sifting we are learning much about the process through which they took their present shape4 ,but in all that is material we feel that this critical investigation has only reassured us in asserting the historical truth of the records on which our ,christian faith rests4 ,this reassurance has been both as to the substance1 and as to the quality of the original apostolic testimony to ,christ4 ,as to its substance1 because the critical investigation justifies us in the confident assertion--more confident as the investigation has been more thorough than ever before--that the ,christ of our four ,gospels1 the ,christ with ,his ,divine claim and miraculous life-giving power1 the ,christ raised from the dead the third day and glorified at ,god's right hand1 the ,christ who is the ,son of ,god incarnate1 is the original ,jesus of ,nazareth1 as they beheld ,him and bore witness who had been educated in closest intercourse with ,him4 ,we are reassured also as to the quality of the apostolic testimony4 ,in some ages testimony has been careless--so careless1 so clouded with superstition and credulity1 as to be practically valueless4 ,but in the apostles we have men who knew thoroughly the value of testimony and what depended upon it1 who bore witness to what they had seen1 and in all cases1 save in the exceptional case of ,s4 ,paul1 to what they had seen over a prolonged period of years2 whose conviction about ,christ had been gradually formed in spite of much 'slowness of heart1' and even persistent 'unbelief'2 formed also in the face of ,sadducean scepticism and in the consciousness of what would be said against them2 formed into such irresistible strength and unanimity by the solid impress of facts that nothing could shake it1 either in the individual or in the body4 ,such testimony does all for us that testimony can do in such a case4 ,it supports externally and justifies a traditional faith1 which is commended to us at the same time internally by its self-evidencing power4 ,and with that faith as the strength of our life we can await with confidence the issue of minor controversies4 ,it may be hoped that the discussion which this book has raised may do good in two ways4 ,it may enable people to put the ,bible into its right place in the fabric of their ,christian belief4 ,it may help to make it plain that in the full sense the ,christian's faith is faith only in a ,person1 and that ,person ,jesus ,christ3 that to justify this faith he needs from the ,scriptures only the witness of some ,new ,testament documents1 considered as containing history3 while his belief in the ,bible as inspired is1 speaking logically1 subsequent to his belief in ,christ1 and even1 when we include the ,new ,testament1 subsequent to his belief in the ,church1 as the ,body of ,christ1 rather than prior to it#eb4 ,there is also another good result to which we may hope to see the present controversy minister--the drawing of a clear line in regard to development between the ,old ,testament and the ,new4 ,for all modern criticism goes to emphasize the gradualness of the process through which1 under the ,old ,covenant1 ,god prepared the way for ,christ4 ,now all that can be brought to light in this sense1 the ,church can await with indifference from a theological point of view1 because it is of the essence of the ,old ,testament to be the record of a gradual self-disclosure of ,god continuous and progressive till the incarnation of ,jesus ,christ4 ,it is1 on the other hand1 of the essence of the ,new ,testament revelation that1 as given in ,christ and proclaimed by ,his apostles1 it is1 as far as this world is concerned1 in its substance1 final and adequate for all ages4 ,it is this1 because of its essential nature4 ,if ,christ is 'the ,word made flesh1' the ',son of ,god made ,son of ,man1' then finality essentially belongs to this disclosure of ,godhead and this exhibition of manhood4 ',he that hath seen ,him hath seen the ,father1' and he that hath seen ,him hath seen perfect man1 hath seen our manhood in its closest conceivable relation to ,god1 at the goal of all possible spiritual and moral development4 ,all our growth henceforth can only be a growth into 'the measure of the stature of ,his fulness'--a growth into the understanding and possession of ,him who was once manifested4 ,finality is of the essence of the ,new ,covenant1 as gradual communication of truth was of the ,old4 ,if these two results are obtained1 we shall not be liable any more to be asked 'where we are going to stop' in admitting historical uncertainty4 ',if you admit so much uncertainty in the ,old ,testament1 why do you not admit the same in the ,new8' ,we shall not be liable to be asked this question1 because it will be apparent that the starting-point as of enquiry1 so of security1 lies in the ,new ,testament and then proceeds to extend itself to the ,old4 ,for us1 at least1 the ,old ,testament depends upon the ,new1 not the ,new upon the ,old4 ,nor shall we be liable any more to be asked1 ',why1 if you admit so much development in actual substance in the truth revealed under the ,old ,covenant1 cannot you admit a similar augmentation under the ,new8' ,this question will be prevented1 because it will be apparent that the essential conditions are different in the two cases4 ,progress in ,christianity is always reversion to an original and perfect type1 not addition to it3 it is progress only in the understanding of the ,christ4 ',regnum tuum1 ,domine1 regnum omnium saeculorum2 et dominatio tua in omni generatione et generationem4' ,c4 ,g4 ,,pusey ,,house1 ,july1 #ahij4 ,the chief changes of any importance in this edition are 7#a7 the addition of a note at the end of the first essay2 7#b7 the alteration of a few sentences on pp4 #bhi1 #bif-g of ,essay ,,vii2 7#c7 the alteration of note #b on p4 #cde and note #a on p4 #cdf in ,essay ,,viii2 7#d7 the expansion on p4 #ceg1 #f of the opening sentences2 7#e7 the addition of an appendix on ,the ,christian ,doctrine of ,sin4 #c ,by the phrase 'to attempt to put the ,catholic faith into its right relation to modern intellectual and moral problems' 7,preface to ,first ,edition7 it was not by any means intended to suggest that the modern problems or the modern sciences were the things of the first importance and the faith only secondary4 ,what was intended was that1 as holding the ,faith1 we needed1 as the ,church has often needed1 to bring that with which we are ourselves identified1 into relation to the claims1 intellectual and practical1 made upon us from outside4 #d ,cf4 ,dr4 ,pusey1 ,university ,sermons1 #ahfd-ahgi4 ',unscience1 not science1 contrary to faith1' pp4 #ah ff4 #e ,cf4 the history of the relations of the ,church to ,aristotelian philosophy3 ,milman1 ,latin ,christianity1 ed4 #d1 vol4 ix4 pp4 #aaj ff42 and later the relations of ,christianity to the ,copernican astronomy3 ,salmon1 ,infallibility of the ,church1 p4 #bcj4 #f ,see the tribute to his memory by ,mr4 ,g4 ,j4 ,romanes3 ,guardian1 ,jan4 #bi1 #ahij4 #g ,from ,s4 ,bernard's most touching sermon 7in ,cant4 #bf7 on the death of his brother ,gerard4 #h ,see ,essay ,,vi4 pp4 #bbf-bbg1 #bej ff42 ,essay ,,viii4 pp4 #cbd-cbg2 and ,essay ,,ix4 pp4 #chd-cij4 #i ,see ,preface1 p4 ix4 note #a4 #aj ,cf4 ,dr4 ,westcott's note on #a ,s4 ,john iii4 #d1 4 #aa ,cf4 ,f4 ,lenormant1 ,les ,origines de l'histoire4 ,paris1 #ahhj1 t4 #a1 p4 #aia4 ',c'est dans la race de ,qan que la ,bible place l'invention des arts et des mtiers4 ,les fils du sicle sont plus habiles que les enfants de lumire4' #ab ,cf4 p4 #ecd4 #ac ,cf4 p4 #ece1 note #a4 #ad ,cf4 ,f4 ,lenormant1 ,les ,origines1 t4 #a1 pp4 #fc-ff4 ,it is a pleasure to refer to this work by a distinguished ,catholic and man of learning4 ,the ,preface is an admirable discussion of the relation of scientific enquiry to belief in ,inspiration4 #ae ,oxford ,diocesan ,gazette1 ,july1 #ahij 7,parker1 ,oxford71 p4 #ia4 #af ,the summary statements on pp4 #cea-b as to the historical character of the ,old ,testament represent1 ,i believe1 a 'conservative' attitude1 an attitude towards the history very unlike that1 for instance1 of ,wellhausen4 #ag ,see ,ed4 ,riehm1 ,einleitung in das ,a4 ,t4 7,halle1 #ahhi71 #ae-ah1 #bd1 #bg4 ,f4 ,e4 ,knig1 ,offenbarungsbegriff des ,a4 ,t4 7,leipzig1 #ahhb71 t4 #aa1 pp4 #cba ff4 ,cf4 also ,hauptprobleme der ,altisr4-,religionsgesch4 7,leipzig1 #ahhd74 ,f4 ,delitzsch1 ,genesis1 ,clark's trans4 7,edinb41 #ahhh71 i4 #ai-ch4 ,f4 ,lenormant1 ,les ,origines1 ,prface4 ,i venture to think that those who want to study the modern criticism of the ,old ,testament would be less likely to be prejudiced against it if they were to begin their study with the assistance of ,riehm and ,knig1 rather than of more rationalistic scholars4 ,i ought to add that while the scholars mentioned above agree substantially as to the analysis of the ,pentateuch1 they differ as to the position assigned to the ,priestly ,code1 which ,dillmann and ,riehm hold to be prior to ,deuteronomy1 ,wellhausen1 ,knig and ,delitzsch subsequent to it4 #ah ,essay on the place of ,ecclesiasticus in ,semitic ,literature4 ,oxford3 ,clarendon ,press1 #ahij1 pp4 #bj1 #ba4 ,i allude to this essay because it has excited considerable interest1 but it has not received favourable notice from critics either ,english or ,german4 ,for a review by a very competent critic1 see ,prof4 ,nldeke in the ,lit4 ,centralblatt1 ,july #ab1 #ahij4 #ai ,i may say that the motive for what is said about ,ps4 cx on p4 #cei was simply the conviction that our ,lord in the passage there in question cannot fairly be taken as giving instruction on a critical question of authorship1 not the difficulty of assigning the particular ,psalm to the age of ,david4 ,the solution which ,i propose1 p4 #cei1 as to our ,lord's words is however only one of several which are possible even for those who agree with me in the conviction expressed above4 ,see1 for instance1 ,edersheim1 ,life and ,times of ,jesus the ,messiah 7,london1 #ahhd71 ii4 p4 #djf1 and ,bp4 ,thirlwall as quoted in ,dean ,perowne's ,commentary on the ,psalms 7,london #ahga71 ii4 pp4 #cjb ff4 #bj ,s4 ,augustine1 ,qust4 #gc in ,exod43 ',quamquam et in vetere ,testamento novum lateat1 et in novo vetus pateat4' ,quoted by ,dr4 ,liddon1 ,the worth of the ,old ,testament1 p4 #bh4 #ba ,cf4 ,didymus in ,psalm4 xxi4 #ai1 where he interprets ,christ's 'seamless robe1' of the ,holy ,scriptures which they 'part' who accept one and reject another4 ',this robe of ,jesus is also indivisible1 for it is seamless4 ,its unity is not enforced but natural 2 it is 'from above' from the top1 ,a4,v4 because it is inspired2 it is 'woven throughout1' because in its whole force it is from above4' #bb ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #ag-dh1 cf4 xix4 #h3 ',moses1 because of the hardness of your hearts1' etc4 #bc ,after ,s4 ,paul1 ,s4 ,augustine is the great exponent of this principle in early days2 see esp4 de spiritu et littera1 xix4 7#cd73 ,lex ergo data est ut gratia quaereretur3 gratia data est ut lex impleretur4 #bd ,see esp4 ,heb4 ix4 #h1 ',the ,holy ,spirit this signifying2' and cf4 ,dr4 ,westcott on this ,epistle1 pp4 #bcc ff4 #be ,i would venture to recommend ,riehm's ,messianic ,prophecy 7,clark's trans471 as a summary account of prophecy both reverent and critical4 #bf ,cf4 ,hooker's account of our grounds for believing that ',scripture 444 is divine and sacred4' ',by experience1' he says1 'we all know1 that the first outward motive leading men so to esteem of the ,scripture is the authority of ,god's ,church4444 ,afterwards the more we bestow our labour in reading or hearing the mysteries thereof1 the more we find that the thing itself doth answer our received opinion concerning it4' ,later again1 as against 'infidels or atheists1' we must 'maintain the authority of the books of ,god 444 by such kind of proofs 444 that no man living shall be able to deny it1 without denying some apparent principle such as all men acknowledge to be true4' ,e4 ,p4 ,,iii4 viii4 #ad4 #bg ,the ,chronicles and the later historical books1 as is well known1 were included in the third class of ',hagiographa' with the ,psalmists and ,moralists4 ,the truth of this paragraph depends upon 7#a7 the character1 7#b7 the extent of the idealism of ,old ,testament facts4 ,on this something more is said later on4 ,here ,i am only concerned to distinguish an idealism which truly interprets facts1 even if it throws their spiritual meaning into high relief1 from a merely imaginative treatment which perverts and distorts them4 ,thus if the ,chronicler idealizes1 it is by emphasizing1 beyond the point of actual fact1 the priestly element in the history which at the same time did both really exist and really represent the divine purpose4 #bh ,de ,gestis ,pelag4 v4 7#ae71 ',sicut veteri ,testamento si esse ex ,deo bono et summo negetur1 ita et novo fit injuria si veteri aequetur4' ,s4 ,augustine does not perhaps carry out the recognition of this principle as fully as some other of the ,fathers3 for refs4 see pp4 #bbi ff4 #bi ,s4 ,matt4 xix4 #h4 #cj ,see pp4 #cbi ff4 #ca ,religion of the ,semites4 ,edinburgh1 #ahhi1 p4 #d4 #cb p4 #cbi1 note #b4 ,the passage here added is from ,s4 ,chrysost4 in ,matt4 vi4 #c4 ,the same idea is discerned by ,bp4 ,lightfoot in ,s4 ,paul2 see on ,gal4 iv4 #aa4 #cc ,i use the word 'myth' for those primitive stories on p4 #cef4 ,the legitimacy of this use may be disputed1 see e4g4 ,riehm1 ,einleitung1 p4 #cdb4 ,but ,i endeavour to explain exactly the sense in which the word is used4 ,on ,strauss's application of the myth theory to the ,gospel narratives1 ,i should quite assent to the remarks of ,dr4 ,mill1 ,mythical ,interpretation of the ,gospels 7,cambridge1 #ahfa71 pp4 #ig1 #ih4 #cd ,s4 ,john i4 #ad1 xix4 #ce1 xxi4 #bd2 #a ,s4 ,john i4 #a-c4 #ce ,s4 ,luke i4 #a-d4 #cf ,i would call attention in this connection to ,dr4 ,salmon's remarks on ,s4 ,jude's use1 even in the ,new ,testament canon1 of the traditions contained in the ,assumption of ,moses1 and his quotation of the book of ,enoch3 see at the end of his lecture on ,s4 ,jude's ,epistle in the ,introduction to the ,new ,testament4 #cg ,cf4 ,riehm1 ,einleitung1 i4 p4 #bdf3 ',das ,gesetzbuch kann nicht erst unter ,josia geschrieben sein1 sondern es muss sptestens zur ,zeit des ,hiskia entstanden sein1 und zwar bevor dieser ,knig seine ,reformation ganz durchgefhrt hatte4' #ch ,a common feature in all traditions is what ,wellhausen describes as the main characteristic of the ,chronicler1 'the timeless manner of looking at things which is natural to him4' ,he 'figures the old ,hebrew people as in exact conformity with the pattern of the later ,jewish community4' ,proleg4 to ,hist4 of ,israel 7,edinburgh1 #ahhe71 pp4 #aij-aic4 ,in tradition what is authoritative tends to be represented as what always has been authoritative4 #ci ,thus the ,pseudo-,isidorian ,decretals are properly called forgeries2 and the evidence of this would lie in the fact that the author could not have afforded to disclose the method and circumstances of their production4 #dj ,thus ,riehm1 whose position is described above on p4 xx1 has a noble section 7,einleit4 pp4 #cdi ff47 on the ,pentateuch considered as the record of a ,revelation4 ,the conviction of the revelation of ,god is ascribed in part to 'the immediate impression which the ,pentateuch makes4 ,anyone who reads it1 so as to allow its contents to work upon his spirit1 must receive the impression that a consciousness of ,god1 such as is here expressed1 cannot be derived from flesh and blood4' #da ,de fide ,catholica4 ,the treatise is ascribed to ,boethius3 see ,boetii1 ,opuscula ,sacra 7,teubner ,series71 p4 #agh4 ,on the fresh evidence of the authorship of those treatises supplied by the ,anecdoton ,holderi see ,hodgkin's ,letters of ,cassiodorus1 ,london1 #ahhf1 pp4 #hj-a4 #db ,see the account in ,manning's ,temporal ,mission of the ,holy ,ghost1 ,london1 #ahgg1 pp4 #aef-afj1 and p4 #aff4 ,cf4 also ,newman's words below1 p4 #cej4 #dc pp4 #cei-fj4 #dd ,nothing--except1 on the customary interpretation1 ,his reference to ,psalm cx4 ,this does seem to lay stress on ,david's authorship1 unless it be regarded1 as it certainly seems to me fair to regard it1 as a question1 rather than as positive instruction at all--a question simply calculated to lead the ,pharisees to examine their own principles4 ,unless it be so interpreted it does seem to depend1 as an argument1 on personal authorship1 because unless it be by ,david1 it seems very difficult to suppose it written in ,david's person4 ,it would naturally be a ,psalm in which the ,king is addressed4 #de ,s4 ,john v4 #df-dg4 #df ,s4 ,luke i4 #ag2 ,s4 ,matt4 xi4 #ad2 xvii4 #ab4 #dg ,nineteenth ,century1 ,july1 #ahij1 p4 #bj4 ,the bulk of his argument is directed against a position different from mine4 ,here ,i am only concerned with a single point4 #dh ,the proper name ',lazarus' is presumably used because of its meaning4 ,it should be noticed that the story is not a parable proper like that of the ,sower or the ,prodigal ,son4 #di ,it may be remarked that to regard 'the flood' as a representative or typical expression of a whole class of divine judgments1 helps us in interpreting ,s4 ,peter's use of it in #a ,peter iii4 #ai-bj4 ,there is no reason for an exceptional treatment of those who perished in one particular flood1 but there is every reason why 'the ,gospel should have been preached to those who died' under ,god's physical judgments of old times1 supposing these1 as we must suppose them1 not to represent ,god's final moral judgment on individuals3 see #a ,peter iv4 #f4 #ej ,these words are ,bishop ,steere's3 see the ,memoir of him by ,r4 ,m4 ,heanley1 ,london1 #ahhh1 p4 #djd4 ,he admirably characterizes the true function of the ,bible in the ,church4 ,it is 7#a7 a criterion1 not a teacher2 7#b7 a record of the proclamation of the revelation1 not the revelation itself4 #ea ,see pp4 #bi ff41 #bbi ff41 #ccg ff4 #eb ,cp4 pp4 #cch-cda1 where this is explained4 ,the 'logical' order of belief is often no doubt not the order of experience4 ,the ,bible can draw men to itself1 and through itself to ,christ1 before they take any heed of the ,church4 ,but to feel the power of inspiration is a different thing from having reasoned grounds for calling certain books inspired4 ,,synopsis ,,of ,,contents4 ,i4 ,,faith4 ,,page ,i4 ,faith2 its situation2 its behaviour2 challenged by novel experiences2 alarmed at its own perplexity #c-e ,yet why alarmed8 #e ,perplexity consistent with faith1 when faith is stripped of its habitual corroborations from without3 and summoned to submit itself to internal observation #e-h ,for faith is an elemental act of personal self3 and1 therefore1 like all such acts1 e4g4 of thought2 will2 love2 is1 necessarily1 incapable of offering itself for scientific examination #h-aa ,,ii4 ,what is faith8 #aa-ab ,the motion in us of our sonship in the ,father2 the conscious recognition1 and realization1 of our inherent filial adhesion to ,god #ac-ae ,this intimacy of relationship is capable of indefinite growth1 of 'supernatural' development #ae ,the history of faith is the gradual discovery of this increasing intimacy #af-ah ,the demand for faith is 7a7 universal1 for all are sons2 7b7 urgent1 as appealing to a vital fact2 7c7 tolerant1 as reposing on existent fact #ah-ba ,,iii4 ,faith1 an act of basal personality1 at the root of all outflowing activities2 is present1 as animating force1 within all natural faculties4 ,when summoned out1 into positive or direct action on its own account ,religion1 i4e4 the emergence1 into open manifestation1 of ,fatherhood and sonship1 which lie hidden within all secular life #ba-bh ,faith1 an energy of basal self1 using1 as instruments and material1 the sum of faculties2 therefore1 each faculty1 separately1 can give but a partial vindication of an integral act of faith #bh-bi ,this applies to ,reason2 compare its relation to acts of affection1 imagination1 chivalry2 all such acts are acts of ,venture1 using evidence of reason in order to go beyond evidence #cj-cd ,so faith makes use of all knowledge1 but is1 itself1 its own motive4 ,it uses1 as its instrument1 every stage of science2 but is pledged to no one particular stage #cd-ch ,,iv4 ,faith1 simple adhesion of soul to ,god2 yet1 once begun1 it has a history of its own2 long1 complicated1 recorded in ,bible1 stored up in ,creeds #ch-da ,this involves difficulties1 intricacies1 efforts2 all this1 the necessary consequence of our being born in the 'last days' #da-de ,yet to the end1 faith remains an act of personal and spiritual adhesion #de-df ,v4 ,faith1 not only covers a long past1 but anticipates the future2 it pledges itself ahead1 e4g4 in the case of 'ordination vows4' ,such pledges justified1 because the act of faith is personal2 and the object of faith is final1 i4e4 ',christ1 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever' #df-ed ,,ii4 ,,the ,,christian ,,doctrine ,,of ,,god4 ,i4 ,object of the essay and attitude assumed #eg-ei ,,ii4 ,a broad contrast between the ,god of ,philosophy and the ,god of religion #ei-fj ,attempts to get rid of the opposition 7#a7 by division of territory2 7#b7 by confusion of terms #fj-fc ,,iii4 ,religion demands that ,god shall be ,personal1 and stand in a moral relationship with man #fc-fe ,,iv4 ,growth and purification of the religious conception of ,god #fe-fh ,v4 ,religion and ,morals4 ,collision between the two in ,greece1 and its consequences4 ,synthesis of religion and morality among the ,jews3 and in ,christianity #fh-gh ,subsequent collisions between religion and morals within the ,christian ,church4 ,the ,reformation a moral protest4 ,immorality of its later developments4 ,modern protest against these #gh-hb ,,vi4 ,religion and ,reason4 ,protest of ,greek ,philosophy against ,polytheism4 ,christian ,theology the meeting-point of ,jewish religion and ,greek ,philosophy #hb-hf ,what ,theology is4 ,objection to it from the side of 7#a7 religion1 7#b7 philosophy #hf-ij ,the ,christian doctrine of the ,trinity an appeal to the reason #ij-ia ,its answer to the speculative problems of ,greek thought 7#a7 as to what unity is2 7#b7 as to the immanence of reason in nature #ia-ie ,the witness of the ,fathers #ie ,the doctrine of the ,trinity the true ,monotheism2 the doctrine of the ,logos as personal yet immanent #ie-if ,,vii4 ,the ,christian doctrine of ,god why challenged in the present day #if ,the deism of the last century4 ,the new science of nature4 ,evolution restores the truth of the ,divine immanence which deism denied4 ,pantheistic reaction #if-ajb ,the ,christian doctrine of ,god the safeguard of rational religion against deism and pantheism #ajb-ajc ,,viii4 ,the so-called 'proofs' of the existence of ,god #ajc-ajd ,parallel between the belief in ,god and the belief in nature #ajd-ajg ,verification in experience the only 'proof4' ,reason in both the interpreter of ,faith #ajg-aji ,,iii4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,pain4 ,the problem of pain admits of no new treatment1 but the attempt to use it as an argument against ,christianity calls for a recapitulation of what may be said on the other side #aac ,pain is 7#a7 animal1 7#b7 human4 7#a7 ,animal pain is a thing of which we can only form imaginative conjectures2 and these1 besides being liable to exaggeration1 are not of a nature to form premisses for argument #aac-aaf 7#b7 ,common sense tells us that human pain contributes as 7a7 punitive1 7b7 purgatorial1 7c7 prophylactic1 to the development of the individual and the race #aaf-aai ,natural religion further views it as the necessary condition of approach1 by sinful beings1 to the ,divine2 and looks for its fuller explanation to a future existence #aai-abb ,christianity carries on the view of natural religion1 and sees in pain and suffering3-- 7a7 ,the antidote to sin #abb-abd 7b7 ,the means of individual and social progress #abd-abe 7c7 ,the source of sympathy with man #abe 7d7 ,the secret of union with ,god #abe-abf ,,iv4 ,,preparation ,,in ,,history ,,for ,,christ4 ,general considerations on the study of the historical preparation1 as part of the study of the ,incarnation #abi-acc ,special value of such study in the present age of historical and scientific method which may be able to gauge finally the value of naturalist theories of the origin of ,christianity #acc-acd may find its own congenial 'signs' in the beauty of manifold preparing process2 in the wonder of an apparently unique convergence of lines of preparation #acd-acg ,i4 ,general preparation--in the world at large3 7#a7 ,in the shaping of its external order #ach-adb 7#b7 ,through its inward experiences of ,failure #adb-adf ,progress #adf-aej ,,ii4 ,special preparation--in ,israel3 7#a7 ,the singularity of ,israel's external position at the critical moment of the ,christian ,era #aej-aef 7#b7 ,the paradox of its inward character #aef-aei 7#c7 ,the peculiar influences which had made it what it was3 #aei-afj a4 ,prophecy #afj-afg b4 ,the ,law #afg-afi c4 ,the ,course of its ,history #agj-age ,,iii4 ,the independence of the two preparations2 the paradox of their fulfilment in one ,christ #age-agh ,v4 ,,the ,,incarnation ,,and ,,development4 ,i4 ,the theory of evolution has recalled our minds to the 'cosmical significance' of the ,incarnation1 which was a prominent thought in 7#a7 the early 7#b7 mediaeval church #aha-ahg ,,ii4 ,theology and ,science move in different but parallel planes3 one gives the meaning1 the other the method of creation #ahg-ahh ,thus the doctrine of 'the ,eternal ,word' is compatible with all the verified results of scientific teaching on 7#a7 energy #ahh 7#b7 teleology #ahh-aic 7#c7 origin and antiquity of man #aic-aie 7#d7 mental and moral evolution #aie-aii 7#e7 the relation of philosophy to ,theology #aii-bjb 7#f7 the comparative study of religions #bjb-bje while in the ,christian view1 it both illuminates and is illuminated by those results #bje-bjf ,,iii4 ,but when the planes intersect1 and we say 'the ,word was made flesh1' we are said to traverse experience #bjg 7#a7 ,this charge is only a critical presumption #bjg-bjh 7#b7 ,all novelties traverse past experience #bjh 7#c7 ,moral experience is as real as physical #bjh-bji 7#d7 ,the ,incarnation harmonizes with our moral experience #bji-baj 7#e7 ,by reorganizing morality it reorientates character #baa 7#f7 ,it has therefore a true relation to all phases of human life #baa-bad ,,vi4 ,,the ,,incarnation ,,as ,,the ,,basis ,,of ,,dogma4 ,i4 ,the principle of ,dogma is not to be attacked or defended on priori grounds4 ,the real question is whether the ,incarnation1 as asserted1 is true or false4 ,and this is a question for evidence #bag-bbj ,even scientific 'dogmata' differ less from religious dogmas than is sometimes supposed1 in that 7a7 both are received on evidence1 7b7 both require an experimental verification1 or 7in so far as either are still held along with error7 correction #bbj-bbd ,the acceptance of dogmatic truth is essentially reasonable4 ,its claims to 7a7 authority1 7b7 finality1 are not the ground for accepting it1 but a necessary outcome of the facts accepted in it #bbd-bbi ,,ii4 ,the evidence for the ,incarnation is as many-sided as human life #bbi-bcc ,but primarily historical4 ,the crucial fact is the ,resurrection #bcc-bcf ,everything is involved in the answer to ',what think ye of ,christ8' #bcf-bch ,it is an error to think of the belief of the ,church as an edifice built up in the age of the ,councils #bch-bci ,the decisions of the ,councils represent only a growth in intellectual precision through experience of error #bci-bde ,the creed in its whole substance is the direct outcome of the fact of the ,incarnation #bde-bej ,,iii4 ,the dogmatic creed is to be distinguished from the body of theological literature which comments upon it #bej ,theological comment is variable3 it may err1 it may develop4 ,herein lie most of the disputes of technical1 and the advances of popular1 theology #bej-bee ,even the creeds are human on the side of their language #bee-beh ,,iv4 ,the 'damnatory clauses1' though easily misunderstood1 really mean what is both true1 and necessary #beh-bfj ,christian dogmatism is after all devotion to truth1 for truth's sake #bfj-bfa ,v4 ,the modern reading of the ,scriptures without miracle and the ,christ without ,godhead depends for its justification upon the truth of an hypothesis #bfb-bff ,but this hypothesis explains away1 instead of explaining1 the evidence2 while it is itself incapable of proof #bff-bgj ,historical reality is essential to the truth of the ,incarnation4 ,mere spiritualism ends in unreality #bgj-bgb ,,vii4 ,,the ,,atonement4 ,i4 ,sin and sacrifice in relation to the ,atonement #bge-bgf #a4 ,twofold character of sin3-- 7a7 ,a state of alienation from ,god #bgf-bgg 7b7 ,a state of guilt #bgg-bgi #b4 ,twofold character of sacrifice3-- 7a7 ,the expression of man's original relation to ,god #bgi-bhj 7b7 ,the expiation of sin1 and propitiation of wrath #bhj-bha ,both aspects shewn in the ceremonies of the ,mosaic ,law #bha-bhb #c4 ,inadequacy of man's offerings to satisfy sense of personal guilt #bhb-bhe ,,ii4 ,the death of ,christ answers to the demands of the sense of sin and of the desire for forgiveness #bhe #a4 ,christ's death a sacrifice of propitiation3-- 7a7 ,of the wrath of ,god1 which is-- 7#a7 ,the hostility of ,divine ,nature to sin #bhe-bhg 7#b7 ,the expression of the eternal law of righteousness #bhh 7b7 ,by virtue-- 7#a7 ,of the obedience manifested by ,him #bhi-bij 7#b7 ,of ,his recognition of the ,divine justice #bij 7#c7 ,of ,his death as the necessary form of both #bij-bib ,the propitiatory character of ,his death shewn-- 7i47 ,by the general relation between physical and spiritual death #bib-bic 7ii47 ,because of the nature of ,him who endured it #bic-bid 7iii47 ,because of the results flowing from it #bid 7c7 ,on behalf of men1 for ,he is our ,representative-- 7#a7 ,as ,victim1 by ,his perfect humanity our sinbearer #bid-big 7#b7 ,as ,priest1 able to offer what man could not #big-bih ,the true vicariousness of ,his ,priesthood #bih #b4 ,christ's death the source of life #bih-bii 7a7 ,as delivering us from sin #bii 7b7 ,as bestowing new life #bii 7c7 ,as uniting us to ,god #bii ,but only as connected with and issuing in the ,resurrection and ,ascension #cjj-cja #c4 ,christ's death in relation to man's responsibility #cja 7a7 ,the ,atonement1 being forgiveness1 must remit some of the consequences of sin #cja-cjb 7b7 ,but our mystical union with ,christ ensures our share in the sacrifice #cjb-cjc 7#a7 ,not in its propitiation1 which we can only plead #cjc-cjd 7#b7 ,but by faith which accepts it and recognises its justice #cjd-cje 7#c7 ,and by following ,him in obedience through suffering #cje-cjg ,,iii4 ,consideration of certain erroneous statements of the doctrine #cjg #a4 ,the implied divergence of ,will in the ,godhead #cjg-cjh #b4 ,the view of ,redemption as wrought for us1 not in us #cjh #c4 ,the view that ,christ redeemed us by taking our punishment instead of us #cji 7#a7 ,the essential punishment of alienation ,he could not bear #cji 7#b7 ,the penal sufferings which ,he bore are not remitted to us #cji 7#c7 ,but ,he bore them that we1 like ,him1 may bear them sacrificially1 not as punishment #cji-caj ,,iv4 ,short summary4 #a4 ,the death of ,christ as propitiatory tested by #b4 ,his death as transforming pain and death experience #caj-cab ,,viii4 ,,the ,,holy ,,spirit ,,and ,,inspiration4 ,christianity is an experienced or manifested life3 because its essence is the possession of the ,spirit1 and the ,spirit is ,life #cae-cag ,i4 ,the ,holy ,spirit the life-giver3-- ,in nature #cag-cah ,in man #cah-cai ,in the gradual recovery of man from sin #cai-cbj ,in ,christ #cbj-cba ,in the ,church #cba-cbb ,his work in the ,church3-- #a4 ,social or ecclesiastical #cbb-cbc #b4 ,nourishing individuality3 both of character through the ,sacraments1 and of judgment through authority #cbc-cbg #c4 ,consecrating the whole of nature1 material as well as spiritual #cbg-cbh #d4 ,by a gradual method #cbh ,imperfection of the ,old ,testament #cbh-cca of the ,church #cca-ccb ,the ,holy ,spirit personally present and continually operative in the ,church #ccb-ccc ,,ii4 ,the ,theology of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,real but limited knowledge through revelation #ccd-cce ,he is 7a7 distinct in ,person but very ,god1 7b7 proceeding from the ,father and the ,son1 7c7 ,one in essence with the ,father and the ,son #ccd-cce ,the ,doctrine of the ,trinity not ,tritheistic #cce-ccf ,,iii4 ,the ,inspiration of ,holy ,scripture4 ,fatal results of not keeping this in context with the rest of the ,holy ,spirit's work in the ,church #ccg-cdj #a4 ,it is an article of the ,faith1 not among its bases #cdj-cda #b4 ,it is a necessary article #cda #c4 ,its certain and primary meaning1 as seen by examination of the books of the ,old and ,new ,testaments #cda-cdh #d4 ,its practical meaning and obligation #cdi-cea ,questions raised as to its meaning by ,old ,testament criticism3-- 7a7 ,while the ,old ,testament is1 like the ,new ,testament1 certainly and really historical1 can it admit of elements of idealism in the narrative8 #cea-ced 7b7 ,can it admit of dramatic composition8 #ced-cef 7c7 ,can it admit the presence of primitive myths8 #cef-ceg ,the ,church not prevented from admitting these to be open questions either3-- 7#a7 ,by any dogmatic definitions of inspiration #ceg-ceh 7#b7 ,by our ,lord's language as to the ,old ,testament #ceh-cfj ,we may expect the criticism of the ,old ,testament1 like that of the ,new1 to deepen and enlarge1 not impair1 our reverence for the ',word of ,god' #cfj-cfb ,,ix4 ,,the ,,church4 ,the ,church the final satisfaction of certain social instincts1 viz4 the need of co-operation for life1 for knowledge1 and for worship #cfe ,these instincts are3-- 7#a7 ,universal #cfe-cfh 7#b7 ,embodied in ,judaism1 and combined with the principle of ,god's election of one people to be a source of blessing to others #cfh-cgj 7#c7 ,fulfilled in the ,incarnation #cgj-cgb ,i4 ,the ,church as the centre of spiritual life3 offers its blessings1 without limitation1 to all who are willing to submit to spiritual discipline1 and combines them in a brotherhood of common service #cgb-cge ,hence it is1 of necessity3-- 7#a7 ,a visible body #cge-cgg 7#b7 ,one1 both in its spiritual life and in external organization4 ,this unity implied in the ,new ,testament1 and explained in the second century1 as centering in the ,episcopate4 ,the ,apostolical ,succession is thus the pledge of historic continuity1 and has always been the mark of the ,english ,church4 ,loyalty to the ,church is no narrowing of true sympathy #cgg-chd ,,ii4 ,the ,church as the ,teacher of ,truth3 primarily by bearing witness to truths revealed to it2 secondarily by interpreting the relation of these truths to each other #chd-chg ,hence3-- 7#a7 ,it witnesses to the reality of central spiritual truths and teaches them authoritatively to its members #chg 7#b7 ,it trains its members to a rational apprehension of these truths #chg-chh 7#c7 ,it leaves great freedom on points not central #chh-chi 7#d7 ,it protects the truths themselves from decay #chi-cij ,,iii4 ,the ,church the home of worship3 worship the ,godward expression of its life3 its highest expression in the ,eucharist3 its priestly work earned out from the first by a special class of ministers #cij-cic ,each aspect of the ,church's work completed by the co-operation of the ,blessed ,dead #cid ,causes of the apparent failure of the ,church #cid-djj ,need of its witness and work in modern times #djj-djb ,x4 ,,sacraments4 ,comprehensiveness a characteristic distinction of fruitful and enduring work3 which will here be traced in the sacramental work of the ,church2 with incidental reference to the evidential import of the inner coherence of ,christianity1 and its perfect aptness for humanity #dje-djh ,i4 ,christianity claims to be a way of life for men3 whose nature and life involve two elements2 which are usually distinguished as bodily and spiritual #djh-dji ,the distinction of these two elements real2 their union essential #dji-daa ,it is to be inquired whether this complexity of man's nature is recognised and provided for in the ,church of ,christ #daa ,,ii4 ,grounds for anticipating that it would be so3-- 7#a7 ,in the very fact of the ,incarnation2 and more particularly #daa-dac 7#b7 ,in the character of the preparatory system whose forecasts it met #dac-dad 7#c7 ,and in certain conspicuous features of ,christ's ministry #dad-dae ,the work of ,sacraments to be linked with this anticipation #dae ,,iii4 ,the prominence of the ,sacramental principle in ,christ's teaching3 to be estimated with reference to the previous convictions of those whom ,he taught #dae-daf ,there is thus found3-- 7#a7 ,abundant evidence that the general principle of ,sacraments is accepted1 to be a characteristic of ,christianity #daf-dag 7#b7 ,the authoritative appointment of particular expressions for this general principle3-- ,expressions foreshown in preparatory history3 anticipated in preliminary discourses3 appointed with great solemnity and emphasis #dag-dah ,these expressions such as may be seen to be intrinsically appropriate1 ethically helpful and instructive1 and safeguards against individualism4 #dah-dbj 7#c7 ,an immediate recognition in the ,apostolic ,church of the force of this teaching1 and of the necessary prominence of ,sacraments #dbj-dba ,,iv4 ,the correspondence between the ministry of ,sacraments and the complex nature of man appears in three ways3 since3-- 7#a7 ,the dignity and the spiritual capacity of the material order is thus vindicated and maintained3 so that unreal and negative spirituality is precluded1 and provision is made for the hallowing of stage after stage in a human life #dbb-dbf 7#b7 ,the claim of ,christianity to penetrate the bodily life is kept in its due prominence by the very nature of ,sacraments3 the redemption of the body is foreshown2 and perhaps begun #dbf-dbi 7#c7 ,the evidences of mystery in human nature1 its moments of unearthliness1 its immortal longings1 its impatience of finite satisfaction1 being recognised and accounted for by the doctrine of ,grace are met by ,sacraments3 and led in an ordered progress towards a perfect end #dbi-dcc ,,xi4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,politics4 ,,introductory4--,the twofold problem of ,christianity in its relation to human society-- 7#a7 ,to consecrate2 7#b7 to purify #dcg-ddj ,i4 ,the ,church is neutral as to natural differences1 e4g4 the form of government1 autocratic or democratic leaning #ddj-ddb ,,ii4 ,the ,church supplements the moral influence of the ,state1 in respect of-- 7#a7 ,the appeal to higher motives #ddc-dde e4g4 as to the duties of-- 7a7 ,governors and governed #ddf-dea 7b7 ,owners of property #dea-deb 7#b7 ,the support of the weak against the strong #deb-dee 7#c7 ,the maintenance of religion #dee-dfa ,,iii4 ,the ,church purifies the whole social life of mankind-- 7#a7 ,by spreading ,christian ideas #dfa-dfb 7#b7 ,by maintaining the ,christian type of character #dfb-dfc ,,conclusion4--,the ,church appeals to deeper needs than the ,state and is therefore fundamentally ,catholic1 and only incidentally national #dfc-dfd ,,xii4 ,,christian ,,ethics4 ,general characteristics of the ,christian ethical system #dfg-dfh ,dogmatic postulates3-- 7#a7 ,doctrine of ,god3 ,god a ,personal and ,ethical ,being #dfi-dgj 7#b7 ,doctrine of ,man3 his ideal nature2 his destiny as related to the good through conscience and freedom2 his present condition #dgj-dgf 7#c7 ,doctrine of ,christ3 ,catholic view of ,his ,person #dgf ,i4 ,christ's revelation of the ,highest ,good #dgf-dhj ,the ,kingdom of ,god3 twofold meaning of the term #dgg-dgi ,christian view of the world #dgi-dhj ,,ii4 ,the ,moral ,law2 its authority1 sanctions1 and content #dhj-dhi ,the basis of obligation found in the idea of personal relationship between ,god and ,man #dhj-dhb ,the sanctions1 and motives of ,christian ,morality #dhb-dhd ,the ,law of ,duty embraced in the decalogue #dhd-dhi ,,iii4 ,christ the pattern of character #dhi-ejd ,conditions required in the perfect example #dij-dia ,christ the pattern of filial dependence1 obedience1 and love #dia-did ,virtuous action seen to imply a harmony of the different elements in personality1 postulating a threefold virtuous principle supernaturally imparted #did-dif ,christian character3 the ,christian personality in its relation3-- 7#a7 ,to ,god--,christian ,wisdom #dig-dih 7#b7 ,to ,man--,christian ,justice #dih-eja 7#c7 ,to ,self--,christian ,temperance #eja-ejb 7#d7 ,to the hindrances of environment--,christian ,fortitude #ejb-ejc ,,iv4 ,christ the source of the recreation of character #ejd-eab ,claim of ,christianity to recreate character #ejd-eje ,dogmatic truths implied in the recreative process #eje-ejf ,holiness dependent on a permanent relation to ,christ #ejf ,the ,church a school of character1 and sphere of individual discipline #ejf-ejh ,christian ascetics--their ground in reason1 and effect on character #eji-eab ,v4 ,the consummation of ,god's kingdom #eab-eah ,the intermediate stage #eac ,the final stage of glory3 7i7 ,the kingdom to be finally manifested #eac-ead 7ii7 and purified through judgment #ead ,extent and limits of the final triumph of good #ead-eaf ,perfection of human personality3 the perfect state one of harmony #eaf-eag glory #eag blessedness #eag and fellowship in a moral community #eag ,,vi4 ,conclusion3 relation of ,christian ,ethics to the products of civilization1 to individual character1 to social life #eah-ebj ,,appendix ,i4 ,,on ,,some ,,aspects ,,of ,,christian ,,duty #eba-ebe ,,appendix ,,ii4 ,,on ,,the ,,christian ,,doctrine ,,of ,,sin #ebf-ech ,i4 ,,faith4 ,,henry ,,scott ,,holland4 ,i4 ,in proposing to consider the origin and growth of faith1 we have a practical1 and not a merely theoretical1 aim4 ,we are thinking of the actual problems which are1 at this moment1 encompassing and hindering faith3 and it is because of their urgency and their pressure1 that we find it worth while to go back upon our earliest beginnings1 in order to ask what ,faith itself means4 ,for only through an examination of its nature1 its origin1 and its structure1 will it be possible for us to sift the questions which beset us1 and to distinguish those to which ,faith is bound to give an answer from those which it can afford to let alone4 ,we set out then on our quest1 in the mind of those who have felt the trouble that is in the air4 ,even if we ourselves be not of their number1 yet we all suffer from their hesitation3 we all feel the imparted chill of their anxieties4 ,for we are of one family3 and the sickness1 or depression of some1 must affect the whole body4 ,all of us1 even the most confident1 are interested in the case of those who are fearing for themselves1 as they sadly search their own hearts1 and ask1 ',what is it to believe8 ,do ,i know what it is to believe8 ,have ,i1 or have ,i not1 that which can be called faith8 ,how can ,i be sure8 ,what can ,i say of myself8' ,such questions as these are haunting and harassing many among us who find themselves facing the ,catholic ,creed1 with its ring of undaunted assurance1 with its unhesitating claim to unique and universal supremacy1 and contrast with this their own faint and tentative apprehension of the strong truths1 which are so confidently asserted4 ,such men and women are anxious and eager to number themselves among those that believe3 but can they call this temper 'belief1' which is so far below the level of the genuine response which those ,creeds obviously expect8 ,where is the blitheness of faith8 ,where is its unshaken conviction8 ,where is its invincible simplicity8 ,why is it that they only succeed in moving forward with such painful indecision8 ,now1 it is to this temper that this essay is addressed4 ,it does not aim at convicting a hostile disbelief1 but at succouring a distressed faith4 ,and this it does under the conviction that1 in so doing1 it is responding to the peculiar character and needs of the situation4 ,for the urgency1 the peril of the hour1 lies1 not so much in the novelty1 or force1 of the pressure that is brought to bear against faith1 as in the behaviour of faith itself under the pressure4 ,what has happened is1 not that faith has been confounded1 but that it has been challenged4 ,it has been challenged by new social needs1 by strange developments of civilisation1 by hungers that it had not yet taken into account1 by thirsts that it had not prepared itself to satisfy4 ,it has been challenged by new scientific methods1 wholly unlike its familiar intellectual equipment2 by new worlds of facts opened to its astonishment through discoveries which have changed the entire look of the earth2 by immense masses of novel material1 which it has been suddenly and violently required to assimilate2 by strange fashions of speech in science and history2 by a babel of 'unknown tongues' in all departments of learning and literature4 ,faith is under the pressure of this challenge3 and the primary question is1 how will it behave8 ,what is it going to say1 or do1 in face of this exciting transformation which has passed over the entire surface of our intellectual scenery8 ,how will it deal with the situation8 ,will it prove itself adequate to the crisis8 ,to what extent can it afford to submit to the transforming process which has already operated upon the mind and the imagination8 ,if it submit1 can it survive8 ,and in what condition8 with what loss1 or damage1 or change8 ,on every side these challenges reach it2 they beat at its doors2 they arrive in pelting haste2 they clamour for immediate solutions4 ,now faith1 under these rapid and stormy challenges1 is apt to fall into panic4 ,for this1 surely1 is the very meaning of a panic--a fear that feeds upon itself4 ,men in a panic are frightened at finding themselves afraid4 ,so now with faith2 it is terrified at its own alarm4 ,how is it 7it asks itself7 that it should find itself baffled and timorous8 ,if faith were faith1 would it ever lose its confidence8 ,to be frightened is to confess itself false3 for faith is confidence in ,god1 ,who can never fail4 ,how can faith allow of doubt or hesitation8 ,surely for faith to hesitate1 to be confused1 is to deny its very nature4 ,thus many anxious and perplexed souls retreat before their own perplexities4 ,because their faith is troubled1 they distrust and abandon their faith4 ,the very fact that it is in distress becomes an argument against it4 ,it is at this point1 and because of this particular peril that we are urgently required to consider very seriously the nature and conditions of faith4 ,for our panic arises from our assumption that faith is of such a nature1 that the perplexity1 into which1 now and again1 we find ourselves thrown1 must be impossible to it1 must be incompatible with it4 ,now1 is this so8 ,ought we to expect of faith that its confidence should never fail it--that its light should be always decisive8 ,is faith incriminated by the mere fact that it is in difficulties8 ,let us1 first1 consider what has occurred4 ,perhaps the situation itself1 if we quietly review it1 will give a reason why it is that1 just at the moment when we most need vigour and assurance1 we should find ourselves stripped of all that tends to reassure4 ,for the peculiarity of the disturbance which we have got to encounter lies in this1 that it has removed from us the very weapons by which we might hope to encounter it4 ,faith's evidential material is all corroborative and accumulative2 it draws it from out of an external world1 which can never wholly justify1 or account for the internal reality1 yet which can so group itself1 that from a hundred differing lines1 it offers indirect and parenthetic and convergent witness of that which is1 itself1 beyond the reach of external proof4 ,it is this gradual grouping of an outer life into that assorted perspective in which it offers the most effective corroboration of the inner truth1 which faith slowly accomplishes upon the matter which human science presents to it4 ,when once the grouping is achieved1 so that the outer world1 known under certain scientific principles1 tallies harmoniously with its inner convictions1 faith feels secure4 ,the external life offers it pictures1 analogies1 metaphors--all echoing and repeating the internal world4 ,faith beholds itself mirrored3 and1 so echoed1 so mirrored1 it feels itself in possession of corroborating evidences4 ,but the present scientific confusion seems to have shattered the mirror--to have broken up the perspective--to have dissolved the well-known groupings4 ,it is true1 as some of the essays which follow will try to show1 that the convulsion of which we speak1 lies1 chiefly1 in a change of position1 or of level2 so that great masses of the matter1 now thrown into confusion1 will be found to compose themselves afresh1 under the newer conditions of review1 and will appear again as part and parcel of the scientific scenery4 ,it is a change of perspective more than anything else4 ,but1 no doubt1 such a change is just of the character to upset us1 to disturb us2 for1 during the change1 while shifting from the old position to the new1 we are in the very chaos of confusion2 everything seems1 for the moment1 to be tumbling about around us3 the entire scene grows unsteady2 though1 indeed1 when once we have got our feet firmly placed at the new level of vantage1 much1 that once was familiar1 is discovered to be back again in its place1 looking much the same as of old4 ,it is the first shock of this enforced transition which is so calculated to terrify3 as when1 for instance1 men see their habitual reliance on the evidence for design in nature1 which had been inherited from ,paley1 yield1 and vanish1 under the review of the facts with which the theory of evolution acquaints them4 ,what they feel is1 that their familiar mode of interpreting their faith1 of justifying it1 of picturing it1 has abruptly been torn from them4 ,that which once seemed to evidence it in the outer world1 has ceased to be accepted or trusted4 ,the habitual ways of argument1 the accepted assumptions1 which they had hitherto used as their supports and their instruments--have been withdrawn--have become obsolete4 ,faith is thrown back on itself1 on its own inherent1 naked vitality2 it is robbed for the moment of that sense of solidity and security1 which fortifies and refreshes it1 when the outer world of natural facts1 and the inner world of intellect and fancy1 all corroborate its confidence in itself1 by harmonious attestations of its validity4 ,the old world of things had been brought into this adaptation with the principles of belief4 ,faith was at home in it1 and looked out over it with cheerfulness1 and moved about it with freedom4 ,but that old world is gone2 and the new still lies untested1 unsorted1 unverified1 unassimilated1 unhandled4 ,it looks foreign1 odd1 remote4 ,faith finds no obvious corroborations in it3 there1 where it used to feel buttressed and warm1 it now feels chilly and exposed#ec4 ,this is the first consequence1 and it is serious enough in itself to provoke alarm4 ,faith cannot be at ease or confident1 until the outer world responds to its own convictions2 and yet ease and confidence are exactly what it is challenged to exhibit4 ,and then1 when a man1 under this sense of fear1 deprived of external testimonies1 attempts to exhibit1 to evoke1 to examine1 his inner conviction1 in its inherent and vital character1 as it is in itself1 unsupported by adventitious aids1 he is astonished at his own difficulty in discovering or disclosing it4 ,where is it all fled--that which he had called his faith8 ,he had enjoyed it1 had relied on it1 had again and again asserted it in word and deed3 and now1 when he wants to look at it1 when he is summoned to produce it1 when he is challenged to declare its form and fashion2 he finds himself dazed1 bewildered1 searching helplessly for that which ever escapes him1 grasping at a fleeting shadow1 which baffles his efforts to endow it with fixity and substance4 ,and1 so finding1 he grows yet more desperately alarmed3 it seems to him that he has been self-deceived1 betrayed1 abandoned4 ,he is bitterly sensitive to the sharp contrast between the triumphant solidity with which scientific facts bear down upon him1 certified1 undeniable1 substantial1 and the vague1 shifty1 indistinct phantom1 into which his conviction vanishes as soon as he attempts to observe it in itself1 or draw it out for public inspection4 ,yet1 if we consider what faith signifies1 we shall see at once that this contrast ought to carry with it no alarm4 ,it is a contrast which follows on the very nature of faith4 ,if we had understood its nature1 we could never have expected it to disclose itself under the same conditions as those which govern the observation of scientific facts4 ,faith is an elemental energy of the soul1 and the surprise that we are undergoing at not being able to bring it under direct observation1 is only an echo of the familiar shock with which we learn that science has ransacked the entire bodily fabric of man1 and has nowhere come across his soul2 or has searched the heavens through and through with its telescope1 and has seen no ,god4 ,we are upset for a moment when first we hear this2 and then1 we recover ourselves as we recollect that1 if ,god be what we believe ,him to be1 immaterial and spiritual1 then ,he would cease to be ,himself1 if ,he were visible through a telescope3 and that if the spirit of man be what we believe it to be1 that is the very reason why no surgeon's knife can ever arrive at it4 ,and1 as with the soul1 so with all its inherent and essential acts4 ,they are what it is3 they can no more be visible than it can4 ,how can any of the basal intuitions1 on which our knowledge rests1 present themselves to our inspection in the guise of external and phenomenal facts8 ,that which observes can never1 strictly speaking1 observe itself4 ,it can never look on at itself from outside1 or view itself as one among the multitude of things that come under its review4 ,how can it8 ,it is itself the organ of vision3 and the eye cannot see its own power of seeing4 ,this is why natural science1 which is an organised system of observation1 finds that its own observing mind is absolutely and totally outside its ken4 ,it can take stock of the physiological condition of thoughts or of feelings2 but they themselves1 in their actual reality1 are all rigidly shut out from the entire area of scientific research4 ,wherever they begin1 it ends2 its methods abruptly fail4 ,it possesses no instrument by which to make good its advance further4 ,for the only instrument which it knows how to use1 and by which alone it can search1 and examine1 is itself the object which it desires to submit to examination4 ,but if it is to be examined1 who1 and what1 is to conduct the examination8 ,the observing mind that turns round to explore itself1 carries itself round as it turns4 ,it can never say--',let me look at myself1 as if ,i were a phenomenon1 as a fact presented to my own consciousness1' for it itself would be engaged in the act of looking3 it itself is the consciousness to which it proposes to present itself#ed4 ,so again1 the thought itself can never hope1 by rigid analysing1 to arrive at last at itself1 as the final residue of the analysis1 for it is itself1 all along1 employed as analyst4 ,the process of analysis is1 itself1 the real disclosure of what thought is3 and this disclosure is made just as effectively even though the result of the analysis be to declare that it can discover nothing that corresponds to thought4 ,it is1 indeed1 impossible that anything should so correspond1 except the power to analyse2 but this power is thought3 and every act of the analysis1 which issues in the sceptical conclusion1 has verified the real existence of thought4 ,it is the same with all profound spiritual acts4 ,none of them can ever be offered to public inspection3 they can never be handed across to another1 for him to look at4 ,for they are living acts1 and not external results4 ,how can an act of will1 or of love1 be submitted to observation8 ,its outward result is there to be examined2 but it1 itself1 is incapable of transportation4 ,if anyone were to ask ',what is it you mean by thinking1 or loving1 or willing8' who could tell him8 ,it would be obviously impossible to explain1 except to a being who could think1 will1 and love4 ,you could give him illustrations of what you mean--signs--instances--evidences2 but they can only be intelligible1 as evidences1 to one who already possesses the faculties4 ,no one can do a piece of thinking for another1 and hand it over to him in a parcel4 ,only by thinking1 can it be known what thought is3 only by feeling can it be understood what is meant by a feeling3 only by seeing1 willing1 loving1 can we have the least conception of sight1 or of will1 or of love4 ,and faith stands with these primary intuitions4 ,it is deeper and more elemental than them all3 and1 therefore1 still less than they can it admit of translation into other conditions than its own2--can still less submit itself to public observation4 ,it can never be looked at from without4 ,it can be known only from within itself4 ,belief is only intelligible by believing4 ,just as a man who is asked to say what love is1 apart from all its outward manifestations and results1 must be driven back on the iteration--',love is--what love is3 everyone who loves1 knows2 no one who does not love1 can ever know2' just as a man1 who is challenged to describe and define his feelings or his desires1 when stripped of all the outward evidences that they can possibly give of themselves1 is thrown into inarticulate bewilderment1 and can give no intelligible answer1 and can fashion to himself no distinct feature or character1 and can only assert1 confusedly1 that he feels what he feels1 and that to desire is to desire2--so with faith4 ,the scientific convulsion has shaken and confused its normal modes of self-interpretation1 its usual evidences1 signs1 illustrations3 these outer aids at definition1 by metaphor or by corroboration1 are all brought under dim eclipse for the moment3 their relative values have been thrown into uncertainty3 they are undergoing temporary displacement1 and no one is quite sure which is being shifted1 and which can be trusted to stand firm4 ,faith1 robbed of its habitual aids to expression1 is summoned to show itself on the field1 in its own inner character4 ,and this is just what it never can or may do4 ,it can only reiterate1 in response to the demand for definition1 ',faith is faith4' ',believing is--just believing4' ,why1 then1 let ourselves be distressed1 or bewildered1 by finding ourselves reduced to this impotence of explanation8 ,far from it being an incrimination of our faith1 to find ourselves caught in such a difficulty of utterance1 it is just what must happen if faith be a profound and radical act of the inner soul4 ,it is1 essentially1 an active principle1 a source of energy1 a spring of movement3 and1 as such1 its verification can never take place through passive introspection4 ,it verifies itself only in actions3 its reality can only be made evident through experience of its living work4 ,,ii4 ,we may1 then1 free ourselves from the sinister suspicions which belong to panic4 ,it is not the superficiality of our faith1 which is the secret of our bewilderment1 but its depth4 ,the deepest and most radical elements of our being are1 necessarily1 the hardest to unearth4 ,they are1 obviously1 the most remote from the surface of our lives3 they are the rarest to show themselves in the open daylight3 they require the severest effort to disentangle their identity3 they lie below all ordinary methods of utterance and expression2 they can only be discovered through careful recognition of the secret assumptions which are involved in the acts and words which they habitually produce4 ,by these acts and words their existence and their force is suggested1 but not exhausted--manifested1 but not accounted for4 ,these form our only positive interpretation and evidence3 and such evidence must1 therefore1 always remain inadequate1 imperfect2 we have always and inevitably to go behind it1 and beyond it1 in order to reach and touch the motive-energy which is disclosed to us through it4 ,no wonder that we find this far from an easy matter4 ,no wonder that1 under the pressure of a hostile challenge1 we often lose ourselves in a confused babble1 as we struggle to make plain to others1 or even to ourselves1 these innermost convictions of our souls4 ,indeed1 such things can never be made plain3 no one ought to expect that they should4 ,for1 if we think of it1 the primary acts of spirit must be the last things that can ever be made plain2 for the entire life issuing from them is their only interpretation1 so that only when that life is closed1 can their interpretation be complete4 ,and here1 in faith1 we are at the root of a life which1 as we believe1 it will take eternity to fulfil4 ,and1 if so1 only in and through eternity can its full evidence for itself be produced1 or its right interpretation be yielded4 ,surely1 this truth clears us from many clamorous demands1 which ask of us an impossible verification4 ,for if once we saw that we were employed in verifying the nature of that which1 if it be real1 can1 confessedly1 present us1 on this side of the grave1 only with the most fragmentary evidence of its character1 we should put lightly aside the taunting challenge to produce such proof of our motive principle as will stand comparison with the adequate and precise evidences of a scientific fact1 or which will submit to the rigid tests of a legal examination4 ,if faith be faith1 it could not1 for that very reason1 fulfil the conditions so proposed to it4 ,these legal and scientific conditions are laboriously and artificially limited to testing the presence of a motive1 or a force1 which must be assumed to exist under fixed1 precise1 complete conditions1 here and now4 ,they pre-suppose that1 for all practical purposes1 its quantity cannot vary1 or fluctuate4 ,if it be present at all1 it is present in a distinct and formal manner1 open to definite measurement1 expressing itself in unalterable characteristics4 ,the entire consideration of its activity is strictly confined to the normal horizon of the actual world of present existence4 ,these assumptions are the first necessity of all forms of science1 without making which1 it could not even begin4 ,they are the conditions of all its success4 ,but they are also its limitations3 and as such1 they most certainly exclude from their survey1 anything that professes to exist after the manner of faith4 ,for what is faith8 ,it is no steady force1 existing under certified and unvarying conditions which receive their final determination in the world about us4 ,faith is1 while it is here on earth1 only a tentative probation3 it is a struggling and fluctuating effort in man to win for himself a valid hold upon things that exist under the conditions of eternity4 ,in faith1 we watch the early and rude beginnings1 amid an environment that but faintly and doubtfully responds to it1 of a power still in the womb--still unborn into its true sphere--still enveloped in dark wrappings which encumber and impede4 ,we see here but its blind1 uncertain pushings1 its hesitating moves1 now forward1 now back1 now strangely vigorous and assertive1 and then again1 as strangely weak and retreating4 ,its significance1 its interpretation1 its future possibilities1 its secret of development--all these lie elsewhere1 beyond death1 beyond vision3 we can but dimly guess1 from its action here1 what powers feed it1 on what resources it can rely1 what capacity of growth is open to it1 what final issue determines the measure and value of its efforts and achievements here4 ,such a force as this is bound to upset all our ablest calculations4 ,we can never lay down rules to govern and predict its capabilities4 ,it will disappoint every conceivable test that we can devise for fixing its conditions4 ,it will laugh at our attempts to circumscribe its action4 ,where we look for it to be weak1 it will suddenly show itself strong3 when we are convinced that we may expect a vigorous display of its capacities1 it will mysteriously lapse4 ,all this may terribly disconcert us4 ,it may tempt us into angry declarations that such an incalculable existence is unworthy of scientific attention--is fanciful1 is unreal4 ,but the only lesson which we ought to learn is that methods adapted for one state of things are bound to prove themselves futile when applied to another4 ,if we are employed in observing a life1 which has its ground and its end in a world beyond the present1 then all methods framed for the express and definite purpose of examining life as it exists here and now1 will necessarily prove themselves ludicrously inapt4 ,the futility1 the barrenness1 the ineptitude of our researches1 lies1 not with the faith against which we level our irritable complaints1 but with the methods which1 by their very terms of definition1 proclaim themselves to be misplaced4 ,where1 then1 must we dig to unearth the roots of faith8 ,what are the conditions of its rise and exercise8 ,wherein lie its grounds1 and the justification of its claim8 ,faith grounds itself1 solely and wholly1 on an inner and vital relation of the soul to its source4 ,this source is most certainly elsewhere2 it is not within the compass of the soul's own activity4 ,in some mode1 inconceivable and mysterious1 our life issues out of an impenetrable background3 and as our life includes spiritual elements1 that background has spiritual factors3 and as our life is personal1 within that background exists personality4 ,this supply of life in which we begin1 from out of which our being opens1 can never cease1 so long as we exist1 to sustain us by one continuous act4 ,ever its resources flow in3 ever its vital support is unwithdrawn4 ,in some fashion or other1 we all know that this must be so3 and the ,christian ,creed only lifts into clear daylight1 and endows with perfect expression1 this elementary and universal verity1 when it asserts that at the very core of each man's being lies1 and lives1 and moves1 and works1 the creative energy of the ,divine ,will--'the ,will of our ,father ,which is in ,heaven4' ,we stand1 by the necessities of our existence1 in the relationship of sons to a ,father1 ,who has poured out into us1 and still pours1 the vigour of ,his own life4 ,this is the one basis of all faith4 ,unless this relationship actually exists1 there could be no faith3 if it exists1 then faith is its essential corollary3 it is bound to appear4 ,our faith is simply the witness to this inner bond of being4 ,that bond1 which is the secret of our entire existence1 accounting for all that we are1 or do1 or feel1 or think1 or say1 must become capable of recognition by a being that is1 in any sense1 free1 intelligent1 conscious3 and this recognition by us of the source from whence we derive1 is what we mean by faith4 ,faith is the sense in us that we are ,another's creature1 ,another's making4 ,even as we not only feel1 but feel that we feel2 not only think1 but know that we think2 not only choose1 but determine to choose3 so1 below and within all our willing1 and thinking1 and feeling1 we are conscious of ,another1 whose mind and will alone make possible both the feeling that we feel1 and also the capacity to feel it2 both the thought that we think1 and also the capacity to know it2 both the will that we put forth1 as well as the power to determine it4 ,every act1 every desire1 every motive of ours1 is dependant on the source out of sight3 we hang on ,another's will2 we are alive in ,another's life4 ,all our life is a discovery1 a disclosure1 of this secret4 ,we find it out only by living4 ,as we put out powers that seem to be our own1 still even in and by the very act of putting them out1 we reveal them to be not our own2 we discover that we are always drawing on unseen resources4 ,we are sons3 that is the root-law of our entire self4 ,and faith is the active instinct of that inner sonship3 it is the point at which that essential sonship emerges into consciousness2 it is the disclosure to the self of its own vital secret2 it is the thrill of our inherent childhood1 as it makes itself felt within the central recesses of the life2 it is the flame that shoots into consciousness at the recognition of the touch of our divine fatherhood2 it is the immediate response of the sonship in us to its discovered origin4 ,faith1 then1 is an instinct of relationship based on an inner actual fact4 ,and its entire office and use lies in realising the secret fact4 ,for the bond is spiritual2 and it can only realise itself in a spirit that has become aware of its own laws4 ,no blind animal acceptance of the divine assistance can draw out the powers of this sonship4 ,the reception of the assistance must itself be conscious1 loving1 intelligent1 willing4 ,the natural world can receive its full capacities from ,god without recognition of the source whence they flow in3 but this absence of living recognition forbids it ever to surpass those fixed limits of development which we name 'natural4' ,but a creature of ,god that could not only receive but recognise that it received1 would1 by that very recognition1 lay itself open to an entirely novel development2 it would be susceptible of infinitely higher influences shed down upon it from ,god2 it would admit far finer and richer inpourings of divine succours2 it would be fed1 not only from underground channels as it were1 but by fresh inlets which its consciousness of its adherence in ,god would uncover and set in motion4 ,the action of ,god upon ,his creatures would be raised to a new level of possibility3 for a living and intelligent will has capacities of receptivity1 which were altogether excluded so long as ,god merely gave1 and the creature blindly and dumbly took4 ,faith1 then1 opens an entirely new career for creaturely existence2 and the novelty of this career is expressed in the word 'supernatural4' ,the 'supernatural' world opens upon us as soon as faith is in being#ee4 ,and this career1 it will be seen1 is markedly distinct from the natural in this--that it is capable of ever advancing expansion4 ,all natural things1 which blindly accept their life from ,god1 must1 perforce1 have a decreed and certified development1 limited by the conditions in which they are found existing4 ,their receptivity is a fixed quantity1 determined by the character imposed upon them at creation1 and bound to come to an abrupt arrest at some precise point#ef4 ,but receptivity through conscious recognition is open to a development of which it is impossible for us to fix the limits4 ,for this living recognition itself advances in its capacity to see and understand4 ,every act by which it recognises the ,giver in the gifts1 heightens and intensifies its power to recognise ,him2 and every increase of its power to recognise ,him increases also its capacity to receive2 and this increase will again react on the faculties of recognition4 ,a vision opens out of spiritual growth1 in which every step forward made through incoming grace1 makes a new step possible1 finds a fresh grace ever waiting to crown its latest gift with ever new endowment4 ,the sonship that is at work underground in man1 below the level of consciousness1 at the hidden base of faith1 is one that holds in it capacities which can only be evoked under the appeals of a living and voluntary faith4 ,faith is the discovery of an inherent sonship1 which1 though already sealed to it1 already in action1 nevertheless cannot but withhold its more rich and splendid energies until this discovery is made2 and which discloses them only according to the progressive clearness and force with which the process of discovery advances4 ,the history of faith is the history of this gradual disclosure1 this growing capacity to recognise and receive1 until the rudimentary omen of ,god's fatherhood in the rudest savage who draws1 by clumsy fetich1 or weird incantation1 upon a power outside himself1 closes its long story in the absolute recognition1 the perfect and entire receptivity1 of that ,son of man1 who can do nothing of ,himself1 'but what ,he seeth the ,father do1' and1 for that very reason1 can do everything3 for whatsoever 'the ,father doeth1 the ,son doeth also4' ,faith1 then1 is not only the recognition by man of the secret source of his being1 but it is itself1 also1 the condition under which the powers1 that issue from that source1 make their arrival within him4 ,the sonship1 already germinal1 completes itself1 realises itself in man1 through his faith4 ,not only is the unconscious human nature held by attachment to the ,father who feeds it with hidden succours1 but faith is1 itself1 the power by which the conscious life attaches itself to ,god2 it is an apprehensive motion of the living spirit1 by which it intensifies its touch on ,god2 it is an instinct of surrender1 by which it gives itself to the fuller handling of ,god3 it is an affection of the will1 by which it presses up against ,god1 and drinks in divine vitality with quickened receptivity#eg4 ,what then will be its characteristics8 ,we have only to keep close to the conception of sonship1 and we shall understand them well enough4 ,faith is the attitude1 the temper1 of a son towards a father4 ,that is a relationship that we all can understand for ourselves4 ,we know it1 in spite of all the base and cruel corruptions under which1 in the homes of man1 its beauty lies disfigured4 ,still1 beneath disguises1 we catch sight1 in rare and happy conditions1 of that beautiful intimacy which can spring up between a son and a father1 where love is one with reverence1 and duty fulfils itself in joy4 ,such a sonship is like a spiritual instinct1 which renders intelligible to the son every mood and gesture of the father4 ,his very blood moves in rhythm to the father's motives4 ,his soul hangs1 for guidance1 on the father's eyes3 to him1 each motive of the father justifies itself as a satisfying inspiration4 ,the father's will is felt deliciously encompassing him about2 enclosed within it1 his own will works1 glad and free in its fortifying obedience4 ,such a relationship as this needs no justifying sanction beyond itself3 it is its own sanction1 its own authority1 its own justification4 ',he is my father'3 that is a sufficient reason for all this sympathetic response to another's desire4 ',i am his son'3 that is the final premiss in which all argument comes to a close4 ,the willing surrender of the heart is the witness to a fact which is beyond argument1 which accepts no denial1 yet which is no tyrannous fate1 but is a living and animating bond of blood1 which it is a joy to recognise1 and an inspiration to confess4 ,it is in such a spirit of sonship that faith reveals and realises itself4 ,faith is that temper of sympathetic and immediate response to ,another's will which belongs to a recognised relationship of vital communion4 ,it is the spirit of confident surrender1 which can only be justified by an inner identification of life4 ,its primary note1 therefore1 will be trust--that trust of ,another1 which needs no ulterior grounds on which to base itself1 beyond what is involved in the inherent law of this life4 ,faith will ever discover1 when its reason for action1 or belief1 are traced to their last source1 that it arrives at a point where its only and all-sufficient plea will be ',god is my ,father3 ,i am ,his child4' ,that relationship is its root2 on the top of that relationship faith works2 as a witness to that relationship1 it puts forth all the spiritual temper which1 of necessity1 follows on this intimacy of contact4 ,and1 here1 we find ourselves in the presence of the law by which faith claims to be universal4 ,unless this inner relationship be a fact1 faith could not account for itself3 but if it be a fact1 it must constitute a fixed and necessary demand upon all men4 ,all are1 equally1 'children of ,god'3 and the answer to the question ',why should ,i believe8' must be1 for ever and for all1 valid2 'because you are a child of ,god4' ,faith is nothing but the spiritual temper and attitude1 which belong1 inherently1 to such a fact4 ,no one can escape from such a claim3 for his existence constitutes the claim4 ,if he be a child1 it must be demanded1 of him1 that he should display the characteristics of his childhood3 the father must1 of necessity1 be concerned with the question of his own recognition by his son4 ,our manhood lies in this essential sonship3 and1 if so1 then to be without faith1 without the conscious realisation of the sonship1 is to be without the fulness of a man's proper nature4 ,it is to be inhuman3 to be curtailed of the natural development3 to be maimed and thwarted4 ,it means that the vital outcome of the inner verity has been arrested2 that the sensitive perceptions have been blunted and stunted2 that the sonship in us has1 somehow1 lost touch with its true fatherhood4 ,we learn at once1 as we consider this1 the interpretation of that two-sided character1 which surprises us in ,god's dealings with men3--i4e4 the imperative rigour of ,his stated requirements1 coupled with ,his wide and patient tolerance1 in actual fact4 ,as a ,father of all1 ,he cannot1 conceivably1 be satisfied with anything short of complete recognition by ,his children4 ,he must look for faith2 ,he must require it of them all3 ,he must leave no means untried by which to secure it3 ,he must seek to win it at all costs3 ,his love is inevitably and cruelly hindered1 unless ,he can obtain it3 and when ,he obtains it1 ,he must passionately desire to establish1 evoke1 develope1 perfect it3 for each rise in faith is a rise in capacities of intercourse1 of intimacy1 between ,father and son4 ,we see how strenuous and zealous will be ,his efforts to build up faith in men3 we understand how urgent1 and pressing1 and alarming will become ,his entreaties1 ,his warnings1 ,his menaces1 ,his appeals1 if faith is allowed to slide or fail4 ,loss of faith means a shattered home1 a ruptured intimacy1 a sundered love2 it means that a ,father must look on while the very nature ,he has made in ,his image shrivels and shrinks1 and all hope of growth1 of advancing familiarity1 of increasing joy1 of assured sympathy1 is cut down and blighted4 ,we all know the bitterness of a breach which scatters a family into fragments3 and that is but a faint shadow of all which the great ,father sees to be involved in the broken contact between ,himself and ,his son4 ,what standard have we by which to sound the abyss of divine disappointment1 as ,god waits ready with gift upon gift of endless grace which ,he will pour out upon the child of ,his love1 as the endless years open out new wonders of advancing intimacy2 and lo6 the channel by which alone the gifts can reach him1 is choked and closed8 ,faith is the son's receptivity3 it is that temper of trust1 which makes the entry of succours possible3 it is the medium of response3 it is the attitude of adherence to the ,father1 by virtue of which communications can pass4 ,if faith goes1 all further action of ,god upon the soul1 all fresh arrival of power1 is made impossible4 ,the channel of intercourse is blocked4 ,the demand1 then1 for faith by ,god is bound to be exacting1 and urgent1 and universal4 ,but1 then1 this demand holds in reserve a ground of hope1 of patience1 of tolerance1 of charity1 which we can1 in no single instance1 venture to limit4 ,for the faith1 which it rigorously asks for1 reposes1 as we see1 on an inner and essential relationship1 already existent1 which knits man to his ,god4 ,not even the ,fall1 with all its consequent accumulations of sin1 can avail to wholly undo this primitive condition of existence4 ,the fatherhood of ,god still sustains its erring children2 the divine image is blurred1 but not blotted out4 ,still1 at the close of the long days1 our ,lord can speak to the wondering men who flock about ,him1 of ,one ,who is even now their ,father in ,heaven4 ,this objective and imperishable relationship1 the underlying ground of all our being1 is the pre-supposition of all faith1 without which it would itself be impossible4 ,and1 this being so1 ,god can afford to wait very long for faith to show itself4 ,so long as its primary condition is there1 there is always hope4 ,the stringent demand is not inspired by the mind of a lawgiver1 nor pressed home with the austerity of a judge2 it expresses the hunger of a father's heart1 to win the confidence and to evoke the capacities of the children of its love4 ,such a hunger is1 indeed1 more rigorous and exact than the letter of any law3 it aspires after a more accurate correspondence2 it is sensitive to more delicate distinctions3 but1 nevertheless1 it holds1 in its fatherliness1 far wider capacities of toleration than lawgiver1 or judge4 ,that same heart of the father1 which in its hunger of love is so exacting1 will1 out of the same hunger1 never despair1 and never forsake3 it will never cease from the pursuit of that responsive trust which it desires2 it will make allowances1 it will permit delays1 it will weave excuses1 it will endure rebuffs1 it will condescend to persuasion1 it will forget all provocations1 it will wait1 it will plead1 it will repeat its pleas1 it will take no refusal1 it will overleap all obstacles1 it will run risks1 it will endlessly and untiringly forgive1 if only1 at the last1 the stubborn child-heart yield1 and the tender response of faith be won4 ,here1 then1 we seem to see why the nature of faith allows for two points which surprise us in ,god's dealings1 as if with a contradiction4 ,on the one hand1 we hear ,him1 though prophet and priest1 insisting1 with severe precision1 on the necessity of a right and accurate faith4 ,on the other1 we cannot but recognise1 in the open area of actual life1 the evidences of a wide and almost boundless toleration4 ,again and again it must have seemed to us that the ,church and the world gave1 thus1 antithetical evidence of ,god's character4 ,yet1 in truth1 both speak the voice of one and the same ,god1 ,who1 in ,his undivided love1 both passionately seeks for the delicate and direct response of an accurate faith2 and1 also1 in order not to lose this final joy1 'suffereth long1 and is kind1 beareth all things1 believeth all things1 hopeth all things1 endureth all things4' ,yes6--has even to endure that men should pit ,his toleration against ,his love1 and should argue that1 because ,he will wait so long and quietly for the fruit that ,he desires to reap1 therefore1 ,he does not desire the fruit4 ,in reality1 the degree of the toleration1 with which ,god will patiently wait for the fruits of faith1 is the measure of the extremity of ,his desire for it4 ,just because ,he wants it so much1 ,he waits so long4 ,,iii4 ,if faith1 then1 be the witness and the exercise of our sonship in ,god1 we can recognise at once the place it will hold among the other powers and capacities of our nature4 ,we are so unfortunately apt to rank it as one among many faculties1 and then to find ourselves engaged in agitating controversies concerning its limits and its claims4 ,we have to secure for it1 against the rest1 a field for free dominion2 and that field is hard to define2 and rival powers beset it2 and there are raids and skirmishes on every frontier2 and reason is ever making violent incursions on the one side1 and feeling is actively besieging it on the other3 and the scientific frontiers1 which we are ever on the point of fixing1 shift1 and change1 and vanish1 as soon as we determine them2 and the whole force of ,christian apologetics is spent in aimless and barren border-warfare4 ,but1 if what we have been saying be true1 the whole trouble turns on a mistake4 ,faith is not to be ranked by the side of the other faculties in a federation of rival powers1 but is behind them all4 ,it goes back to a deeper root2 it springs from a more primitive and radical act of the central self than they4 ,it belongs to that original spot of our being1 where it adheres in ,god1 and draws on divine resources4 ,out from that spot our powers divide1 radiating into separate gifts1--will1 memory1 feeling1 reason1 imagination1 affection2 but all of them are but varying expressions of that essential sonship1 which is their base4 ,and all1 therefore1 run back into that home where faith abides1 and works1 and rises1 and expands4 ,at the root of all our capacities lies our sonship2 at the root of all our conscious life lies faith1 the witness of our sonship4 ,by adherence in ,god1 we put out our gifts1 we exercise our functions1 we develop our faculties2 and faith1 therefore1 far from being their rival1 whom they are interested in suspecting1 and curbing1 and confining within its limits1 is the secret spring of their force1 and the inspiration of their growth1 and the assurance of their success4 ,all our knowledge1 for instance1 relies upon our sonship2 it starts with an act of faith#eh4 ,we throw ourselves1 with the confidence of children1 upon an external world1 which offers itself to our vision1 to our touch1 to our review1 to our calculation1 to our handling1 to our use4 ,who can assure us of its reality1 of its truth8 ,we must measure it by those faculties under the manipulation of which it falls3 but how can the faculties guarantee to us their own accuracy8 ,how can we justify an extension of our own inner necessities to the world of outward things8 ,how can we attribute to nature that rational and causative existence which we find ourselves forced to assume in it8 ,our justification1 our confidence1 all issue1 in the last resort1 from our sonship4 ,our powers have1 in them1 some likeness to those of ,god4 ,if ,he be our ,father1 if we be made in ,his image1 then1 in our measure1 we can rely upon it that we close with ,nature in its reality2 that our touch1 our sight1 our reason1 have some hold on the actual life of things2 that we see and know in some such manner1 after our degree1 as ,god ,himself sees and knows4 ,in unhesitating reliance upon our true sonship1 we sally out and deal with the world2 we act upon the sure conviction that we are not altogether outside the secret of objective existence4 ,we refuse absolutely to doubt1 or go behind the reports made to us by feeling1 by memory1 by thought4 ,if once we are clear as to what the report is1 we rest on it2 we ask for no power to stand 7as it were7 outside our own experience1 our own knowledge1 so as to assure ourselves of their veracity4 ,we are certain that our ,father cannot have misguided us2 that we are within ,his influence2 that we are in modified possession of ,his truth2 that our capacities reflect ,his mind4 ,we could not have so confidently recognised1 understood1 and handled the world1 if it had been wholly foreign to us4 ,as it is1 we lay instinctive hold upon it2 we take spontaneous possession2 we exert authority upon it2 we feel our inherent right over it2 we are at home in it2 we move freely about it1 as children in a father's house4 ,acting in this faith1 all our capacities justify themselves to us2 they respond to our reliance upon them2 they develop into ever advancing strength under the motions of this trust2 they form a continual and increasing witness to the verity of that sonship in which we have believed4 ,faith1 then1 belongs to our entire body of activities4 ,we live by faith4 ,by faith1 under the inspiration of faith1 we put out our life1 we set to work1 we exercise faculties1 we close with our opportunities1 we have confidence in our environment1 we respond to calls1 we handle critical emergencies1 we send out far abroad our experimental intelligence1 we discover1 we accumulate experiences1 we build1 and plant1 and develop4 ,an elemental act of faith lies at the root of all this advance2 and every motion that we make1 demands a renewal of that primitive venture4 ,in all secular progress 'we walk by faith4' ,every step revives the demand4 ,just as the earth1 if it necessitates the idea of a primal creation1 requires1 by exactly the same necessity1 an incessant renewal of that first creative act1 so our life1 if it required faith to start it1 requires faith every moment to sustain it4 ,our faculties never arrive at a use which is self-dependent and self-originated1 as if they could grow beyond the tentative conditions of their earliest assays4 ,they originate in a venturous experiment2 and1 however long1 and however complicated that experiment become1 it retains its original character2 it remains experimental to the end4 ,the results1 no doubt1 justify the venture made2 but1 then1 the first venture involved such immense assumptions1 that no results reached can ever complete its justification1 and so remove its tentative nature4 ,for1 by assuming a real correspondence between our faculties and the world with which they deal1 it assumed that such a correspondence would never fail us2 would be capable of infinite verification2 would prove adequate to all possible experiences2 would receive indefinite and progressive extension4 ,no verifications ever reached can1 then1 exhaust the faith of that primitive venture2 they can only serve to exhibit to it how far more was contained within that venture than it could ever have conceived4 ,new knowledge1 new experience1 far from expunging the elements of faith1 make ever fresh demands upon it2 they constitute perpetual appeals to it to enlarge its trust1 to expand its original audacity4 ,and yet the very vastness of those demands serves to obscure and conceal their true character4 ,this is the key to much of our present bewilderment4 ,the worlds of knowledge and of action have assumed such huge proportions1 have accumulated such immense and complicated resources1 have gained such supreme confidence in their own stability1 have pushed forward their successes with such startling power and rapidity1 that we have lost count of their primal assumption4 ,in amazement at their stupendous range1 we are over-awed2 we dare not challenge them with their hypothetical origin1 or remind them that their entire and wonderful structure is but an empty and hollow dream1 unless they are prepared to place their uttermost trust in an unverified act of faith4 ,given that trust1 which relies on the reality of the bond which holds between our inner faculties and the outer world1 then all this marvellous vision is rooted on a rock1 has validity and substance4 ,withdraw that spiritual trust in our sonship1 and all this fairy-world1 won for us by science and experience1 ,these cloud-capped towers1 these gorgeous palaces1 ,the solemn temples1 the great globe itself1 ,yea1 all which it inherit1 shall dissolve1 ,and1 like an unsubstantial pageant faded1 ,leave not a rack behind4 ,our secular and scientific life is an immense experiment in faith1--an experiment which verifies itself by success1 but which justifies itself only if it remembers to attribute all its success to the reality of that hidden relationship to ,god1 which is the key to all its capacities1 the justification of all its confidence1 and the security of all its advance4 ,such a remembrance is not easy for it3 for the exercise of the capacities is instinctive and spontaneous1 and it requires an effort of reflection to question the validity of such exercise4 ,and such an effort seems tiresome and impertinent in the heat of successful progress1 in the thick of crowding conquests4 ,the practical man is apt to give an irritated stamp on the ground1 which to him feels so solid1 and to deem this a sufficient answer to the importunate inquiry how he knows that he has any substantial world to know and to handle4 ,for faith lies behind our secular life1 secreted within it3 and the secular life1 therefore1 can go on as if no faith was wanted2 it need not trouble its head with perplexing questions1 whether its base be verifiable by the same standards and measures as its superstructure4 ,its own practical activity is complete and free1 whether it discover its hidden principle or not3 just as ,mr4 ,jourdain's conversation was complete and free1 long before he discovered that he was talking prose4 ,we have to stand outside our secular life and reflect on it1 to disclose its true spring4 ,the appeal to faith here is indirect4 ,but1 in religion1 this hidden activity is evoked by a direct appeal3 it is unearthed2 it is summoned to come forward on its own account4 ,god demands of this secret and innermost vitality that it should no longer lie incased within the other capacities1 but that it should throw off its sheltering covers1 and should emerge into positive action1 and should disclose its peculiar and native character4 ,god1 the ,father1 calls faith out of its dim background into the front of the scene4 ,he does this under the pressure of invocations1 which address their appeals through1 and by means of1 the secular and visible material1 within and behind which ,he is ever at work4 ,this had1 indeed1 always told of ,his invisible and eternal ,godhead3 but it did so indirectly1 by requiring ,him as its constant pre-supposition and base4 ,now1 it is so used as to bring ,god into direct and positive evidence1 by means of acts1 which bring forward the energies of ,his immediate ,fatherhood4 ,all the growth of ,eden had always testified to the existence and the name of ,god3 but a new stage was reached when ,he was felt moving1 in evening hours1 amid the trees of the garden4 ,and as the ,father presses forward out of ,his silent background1 so the secret sonship in man emerges out of its deep recesses in positive response1 using its own secular faculties by which to carry itself forward into evidence and action4 ,this definite and direct contact between the ,god ,who is the hidden source of all life1 and the faith which is the hidden spring of all human activity--this disclosure by the ,father1 met by this discovery by the son--this is ,religion3 and the history of ,religion is the story of its slow and gradual advance in sanity and clearness1 until it culminates in that special disclosure which we call ,revelation2 which1 again1 crowns itself in that ,revelation of the ,father through the ,son1 in which the disclosure of ,god to man and the discovery by man of ,god are made absolute in ,him ,who is one with the ,father1 knowing all that the ,father does1 making known all that the ,father is4 ,now here we have reached a parting of ways4 ,for we have touched the point at which the distinctions start out between what is secular and what is sacred--between virtue and godliness--between the world and the ,church4 ,if ',religion' means this coming forward into the foreground of that which is the universal background of all existence1 then we cut ourselves free from the perplexity which benumbs us when we hear of the ',gospel of the ,secular ,life2' of the ',religion of ,humanity2' of doctors and scientific professors being ',ministers of ,religion2' of the ',natural ,religion' which is contained within the borders of science with its sense of wonder1 or of art with its vision of beauty4 ,all this is so obviously true in one sense that it sinks to the level of an amiable commonplace2 but if this be the sense intended1 why is all this emphasis laid upon it8 ,yet if more than this is meant1 we are caught in a juggling maze of words1 and are losing hold on vital distinctions1 and feel ourselves to be rapidly collapsing into the condition of the unhappy ,ninevites1 who knew not their right hands from their left4 ,the word ',religion1' after all1 has a meaning3 and we do not get forward by labouring to disguise from ourselves this awkward fact4 ,this positive meaning allows everything that can be asked in the way of sanctity and worth1 for nature and the natural life4 ,all of it is ,god-given1 ,god-inspired1 ,god-directed2 all of it is holy4 ,but the fact of this being so is one thing3 the recognition of it is another2 and it is this recognition of ,god in things which is the core and essence of religion4 ,natural life is the life in ,god1 which has not yet arrived at this recognition3 it is not yet1 as such1 religious4 ,the sacred and supernatural office of man is to press through his own natural environment1 to force his spirit through the thick jungle of his manifold activities and capacities1 to shake himself free from the encompassing complexities1 to step out clear and loose from all entanglement1 to find himself1 through and beyond all his secular experiences1 face to face with a ,god1 ,who1 on ,his side1 is for ever pushing aside the veil which suggests and conceals ,him1 for ever disengaging ,himself from the phenomena through which ,he arrives at man's consciousness1 for ever brushing away the confusions1 and coming out more and more into the open1 until1 through and past the 'thunder comes a human voice2' and ,his eyes burn their way through into man's soul2 and ,he calls the man by his name1 and takes him apart1 and hides him in some high and separate cleft of the rock1 far from all the glamour and tumult of crowded existence1 and holds him close in the hollow of ,his hand as ,he passes by1 and names to him1 with clear and memorable voice1 the ',name of the ,lord1 the ,lord ,god1 merciful1 gracious1 long-suffering1 abundant in goodness and truth1 forgiving iniquity1 and ,who will by no means clear the guilty4' ,here is ,religion4 ,it is the arrival at the secret2 the discovery by the son of a ,father1 ,who is in all ,his works1 yet is distinct from them all1--to be recognised1 known1 spoken with1 loved1 imitated1 worshipped1 on ,his own account1 and for ,himself alone4 ,religion1 in this sense1 is perfectly distinct from what is secular3 yet1 in making this distinction1 it brings no reproach3 it pronounces nothing common or unclean4 ,it only asks us not to play with words3 and it reminds us that1 in blurring this radical distinction1 we are undoing all the work which it has been the aim of the religious movement to achieve4 ,for the history of this movement is the record of the gradual advance man has made in disentangling 'the ,name of ,god' from all its manifestations4 ,religion is the effort to arrive at that ,name1 in its separable identity1 in its personal and distinct significance4 ,it is the fulfilment of the unceasing cry ',tell me ,thy name6' ,in religion we are engaged in the age-long task of lifting the ,name1 clear and high1 above the clang and roar of its works1 that through and by means of all that ,he is1 we may pierce through to the very ,god of gods1 and may close with ,him in the blessed solitude of a love which knits heart to heart and spirit to spirit1 without any withholding interval1 with no veil to hinder or intervene4 ,the growth of faith1 then1 means the gradual increase of this personal contact1 this spiritual intimacy between ,father and son4 ,to achieve this increasing apprehension of the ,father's character and love1 faith uses1 as instruments and as channels1 all its natural faculties1 by which to bring itself forward into action1 and through which to receive the communications1 which arrive at it from the heart and will of ,him1 ,who1 on ,his side1 uses all natural opportunities as the material of a speech1 which is ever1 as man's ear becomes sensitive and alert1 growing more articulate1 and positive1 and personal4 ,the entire human nature1--imagination1 reason1 feeling1 desire1--becomes to faith a vehicle of intercourse1 a mediating aid in its friendship with ,god4 ,but faith itself lies deeper than all the capacities of which it makes use3 it is1 itself1 the primal act of the elemental self1 there at the root of life1 where the being is yet whole and entire1 a single personal individuality1 unbroken and undivided4 ,faith1 which is the germinal act of our love for ,god1 is an act of the whole self1 there where it is one1 before it has parted off into what we can roughly describe as separate and distinguishable faculties4 ,it therefore uses1 not one or other of the faculties1 but all2 and in a sense it uses them all at once1 just as any complete motion of will1 or of love1 acts with all the united force of many combined faculties4 ,a perfect act of love would combine1 into a single movement1 the entire sum of faculties1 just because it proceeds from that basal self1 which is the substance and unity of them all4 ,so with faith4 ,faith1 the act of a willing adhesion to ,god the ,father1 proceeds from a source deeper than the point at which faculties divide4 ,and this has a most vital bearing on the question of faith's evidences4 ,it is here we touch on the crucial characteristic which determines all our logical and argumentative position4 ,for1 if a movement of faith springs from a source anterior to the distinct division of faculties1 then no one faculty can adequately account for the resultant action4 ,each faculty1 in its separate stage1 can account for one element1 for one factor1 which contributed to the result3 and that element1 that factor1 may be of greater or less importance1 according to the rank of the faculty in the entire self4 ,but1 if the movement of faith has also included and involved many other elements which appear1 when analysed out1 in the domains of the other faculties2 then the account which each separate faculty can give of the whole act1 can never be more than partial4 ,its evidence must be incomplete4 ,if the central self has gathered its momentum from many channels1 it is obvious that the amount contributed by any one channel will be unable to justify the force exerted1 or to explain the event that followed4 ,if we track home each faculty employed to this central spring of energy1 we shall see that each points to the result1 contributes to it1 suggests it2 but the result will always be more than the evidence1 so collected1 can warrant4 ,this limitation1 which we may allow about other faculties1 is apt to become a stumbling-block when we apply it to the high gift of reason4 ,reason1 somehow1 seems to us to rise into some supreme and independent throne2 it reviews the other faculties2 and is1 therefore1 free from their limitations4 ,we fear to hint that it has any lord over it4 ,how can we assume such a lordship without dubbing ourselves irrational obscurantists1 who in folly try to stamp out the light8 ,but we are not1 in reality1 dreaming of limiting reason by any limitations except those which it makes for itself4 ,we are not violently attempting to make reason stop short at any point1 where it could go on4 ,we are only asking1 is there any point at which it stops of itself1 and cannot go further8 ,we propose to use reason right out1 to press it to its utmost limit1 to spur it to put forth all its powers2 and we assert that1 so doing1 reason will1 at last1 reveal its inability to get right to the end1 to carry clear home4 ,and why8 ,because the self is not only rational but something more3 it combines1 with its unbroken1 central individuality1 other elements besides reason3 and therefore1 of sheer necessity1 whenever that central self puts out an elemental act in which the integral spring of personal energy takes part1--such as an act of will1 or love1 or faith1--then1 reason can be but one factor1 but one element1 however important1 in that issuing act3 and if so1 then it can give but a partial account of it2 its own contribution can not wholly explain1 or justify the result4 ,in ,bishop ,butler's language1 the utmost that reason can do is to make it 'very probable4' ,the real root-question in this time-worn controversy is just this3 is1 or is not1 reason the most primal and elemental act of the integral personality8 ,if it is1 then1 of course1 it regulates and determines all subordinate acts4 ,everything must finally submit to its arbitration3 for everything1 if tracked back far enough1 must terminate in an act of reason4 ,but if1 as ,christianity asserts1 the ultimate and elemental self be a moral will1 that can believe1 and love1 then1 though this self contains in it reason1 it also goes back behind reason4 ,reason is indeed one of its essential elements1 but it is not its entire essence1 for this includes within itself1 that which appears as feeling1 and desire1 and imagination1 and choice1 and passion1 as well as that which shows itself as reason4 ,when1 therefore1 the self puts out its primitive power1 it will do actions which satisfy reason1 indeed1 but which reason cannot exhaustively analyse1 or interpret1 since the entire force of reason1 if it were all brought into action1 would still be only a partial contribution to the effect4 ,as a fact1 we all of us are perfectly familiar with this limitation1 in affairs of affection and friendship4 ,we never have here that paralysing awe of reason1 which haunts us in matters of religion4 ,we never allow ourselves to be bullied into submission to its supremacy4 ,we should laugh at it1 if it attempted to dictate to us2 or to account for all our motives4 ,not that we are at war with it3 or are shirking it3 or are afraid of it4 ,we can have affections and friendships1 which have every possible justification which reason can offer4 ,every conceivable expediency can unite to authorise and approve them4 ,every interest may be served by them4 ,they may stand every test which a cool common-sense1 or a calm impartial judgment1 or an acute calculation of consequences can apply to them4 ,they may be the very embodiment of reason4 ,and yet1 by no amount of calculated expediencies1 by no pressure of rational considerations1 could we dream1 for one moment1 that our friendship was accounted for4 ,if ever it could trace its origin to these motives1 it would cease to be what we thought it4 ,the discovery would destroy it4 ,all possible considerations and calculations might have been present1 and yet they would be utterly powerless to create in us the love4 ,and the love1 however gladly it may recognise the approving considerations1 would repudiate1 with amazement1 and with laughter1 any presumption on their part to say1 'this is why you love4' ,it is the same with all primal acts of heroism4 ,they may be absolutely rational3 yet1 they would cease to be heroic1 they would never be done1 if they did not call upon a force1 which1 indeed1 may determine its direction by reason1 but which uses quite other motives to induce itself to act4 ,utilitarianism1 which attempts to account for such heroic momentum by purely rational considerations1 finds itself reduced to shifts which all those can see through1 who refuse to be juggled out of their own experiences4 ,it is the same with all the higher forms of moral energy4 ,all of them go beyond their evidences4 ,they all lift the rational motives1 which suggest and determine the direction of their activity1 by an impulsive force1 which has in it the power of initiative1 of origination4 ,every high act of will is a new creation4 ,as the gunpowder sleeps1 until the spark alights upon it1 so the directions of reason remain below the level of action1 until the jet of a living will fuses its fire with their material4 ,the act which results may1 indeed1 be capable of complete interpretation on reasonable grounds3 it may be able to show reasons which account for every fragment of it3 yet1 still1 the living force which drew together1 and combined all those separate reasons into a single resultant act1 has a creative and original character4 ,the series of reasons1 however complete1 cannot account for the result1 for they cannot possibly account for their own combination3 and without this combination of their momentum the result would not be there4 ,it is well to recall briefly this character of the moral will1 the affections1 the love1 of man4 ,for these are faith's nearest and dearest allies4 ,it is here1 in these elemental motions1 that faith finds its closest parallel4 ,it is something very like an act of will1 a movement of love1 an heroic and chivalrous moral venture4 ,and whenever we desire to understand its relations to reason1 we must persistently recall the attitude towards reason taken by these fundamental forms of energy2 only remembering that faith is yet more elemental1 yet more completely the act of the central integral self1 even than these4 ,where they leave reason behind1 it will do so yet further4 ,where they call upon something deeper1 and more primitive than reason1 it will do the same1 and yet more triumphantly4 ,it is not that either it or they are without reason3 or that they stand outside reason1 consulting it so far as they choose1 and then dropping it2 it is not that reason may not be found in every corner and fragment of their activity1 pervading1 colouring1 restraining1 limiting1 directing1 justifying it3 but simply that what we call the rational self is not only rational1 but also something more3 that1 if analysed out1 the reason will not appear as the root and core of the man1 but rather as an element inhering in a yet more central base3 and that whenever the energy of vital action is put out1 we are driven to look through and beyond reason1 if we would unearth the source whence the act springs4 ,the relation1 then1 of reason to faith is not strange1 or forced1 or unfamiliar to us1 if it is much the same as its relation to the affections1 or to moral acts and intuitions4 ,we know what to expect1 what part it ought to play in such a case4 ,as in a case of heroic moral daring1 or high affection1 so1 in a matter of faith1 we shall expect that reason1 with its arguments and its evidences1 will play all round and about it1 will go before it1 discussing the path to follow1 will follow after it1 unravelling the secret forces at work in it3 will watch1 and analyse1 and learn1 and warn2 will reconnoitre1 and examine1 and survey1 and discover3 will justify1 interpret1 defend1 assist4 ,but yet we shall expect1 also1 that the act of faith will do more than all the arguments can anticipate3 that it will hold itself free from them all3 that it will appeal1 not to them1 but to its own inherent force1 for the final decision3 that it will move by instinct1 by spontaneity1 by inspiration3 that it will rush past all evidences1 in some great stride2 that it will brush through scruples that cannot be gainsaid1 and obstacles that cannot be got over2 that it will surprise1 that it will outdo1 that it will create2 that it will bring novel forces into play1 invisible1 unaccountable1 incalculable2 that it will fly1 when reason walks2 that it will laugh1 when reason trembles3 that it will over-leap barriers which reason deems final4 ,as with love1 so with faith1 it will take in all evidences1 it will listen to all proofs2 but when they have done their utmost1 it has yet got to begin2 it itself1 after all its calculations1 must make the actual spring1 which is the decision4 ,out of itself1 it draws its strength3 out of itself it makes its effort2 by being what it is1 it sees what it sees1 it does what it does4 ,it uses the evidence2 but uses it to leap from1 to go further4 ,its motives1 advances1 efforts1 issue from within itself4 ,just as the lover's final answer to the question1 'why did you do that8' must be1 'because ,i loved'2 so the final answer of the believer1 in explanation of an act1 can never be wrung out of the reasonable grounds for so acting2 it must always be 'because ,i believed4' ,just as man first acts1 and speaks1 and reason1 following behind1 can at last discover that his actions were all consecutive1 and that his language has a perfect grammar2 so faith has always to make its venture1 prompted and inspired from within1 and only long afterwards can it expect to learn that if it has been true to itself1 to its proper promptings1 then its action can1 by slow and plodding reason1 be thoroughly interpreted and justified4 ,faith is1 above all things1 anticipatory4 ,the sonship1 within1 anticipates what the ,father has in store for it3 by means of affection1 by rapid instincts of love1 it assumes what it cannot yet verify1 it foretells the secrets that lie hidden within the ,father's eyes4 ,so anticipating1 it makes its venture2--a venture which love alone can understand and justify1 though the faithfulness of the eternal and supreme ,father ensures that the anticipation shall receive its full verification4 ,if this be the relation of faith to reason1 we see the explanation of what seems1 at first sight1 to the philosopher1 to be the most irritating and hypocritical characteristic of faith4 ,it is always shifting its intellectual defences4 ,it adopts this or that fashion of philosophical apology2 and then1 when this is shattered by some novel scientific generalisation1 faith1 probably after a passionate struggle to retain the old position1 suddenly and gaily abandons it1 and takes up with the new formula1 just as if nothing had happened3 it discovers that the new formula is admirably adapted for its purposes1 and is1 in fact1 just what it always meant1 only it has unfortunately omitted to mention it4 ,so it goes on1 again and again2 and no wonder that the philosophers growl at those humbugs1 the clergy6 ,but they are criticising faith as if it were a theory1 as if knowledge were its province1 while1 in truth1 the seat of faith lies back behind the region of knowledge4 ,its radical acts and motives are independent of any particular condition of thought or science3 they are deeper recessed2 they exist in their own right1 and under their own conditions4 ,true1 they may not be able to express themselves1 to get their energies forward1 to set themselves free1 to manifest themselves1 except through the mediation of knowledge1--through the instruments and channels which the science of the day provides them4 ,but this does not confuse their inherent and distinct character4 ,they never identify themselves with the tools they use4 ,they sit quite loose to the particular state of thought1 the formula1 the terms1 through which they make their way out into action4 ,and1 moreover1 since the acts of faith are more radical than those of reason1 and since they belong to the entire man acting in his integrity1 they therefore of necessity anticipate1 in their degree1 all that the man1 by slow development1 by the patient industry of reasoning1 will laboriously disclose4 ,lying deeper than all knowledge1 they hold in them the condition under which all knowledge will be arrived at4 ,they constitute the activity which ought to be at the background of all our reasoning4 ,no particular or partial state of knowledge can exhaust their significance4 ,each step knowledge makes does but illustrate1 in some new fashion1 the relation of all knowledge to faith--does but elucidate the characteristics of that primal sonship4 ,in each fresh discovery or generalisation1 faith finds a new instrument for expressing its old convictions2 it is taught to see the weak points1 the imperfections of its former expressions2 it understands where they hold good1 and where they failed2 it gets out more of itself than ever before1 through the new channels opened to it2 it discovers more of its own character by finding better modes in which to manifest it4 ,it does but half know itself1 so long as its expression is encumbered4 ,the advance of secular knowledge1 then1 is for faith1 an acquired gain3 for by it1 it knows itself better2 it sees more of what was involved in its vital convictions4 ,it has a struggle1 no doubt1 in dropping off the expressions that have grown familiar to it1 and in detecting the fresh insight into its own nature which it can win by the new terminology3 but when once it has mastered the terms1 new lights break out upon it1 new suggestions flash1 new capacities disclose themselves4 ,it has won a new tool3 when it has become familiarised with the use of it1 it can do great and unexpected things with it4 ,but1 for all that1 it is but a new tool1 worked by the old convictions2 they have not changed1 any more than love changes1 though the slow development of married life may carry the lovers into unknown experiences1 in foreign lands1 under changed skies4 ,the two1 if they be faithful1 learn far more of what the love they plighted means1 as each sweeping revolution carries them hither and thither1 than ever they understood on the wedding day2 yet it is ever the old love then pledged1 which they hold fast to the end4 ,its identity is emphasised by the changes4 ,so with faith4 ,it may absorb its energies in the joy of wielding the particular instrument with which1 at any one moment1 science supplies it4 ,but it will never the least fear to drop it1 so soon as the advancing skill and the pushing minds of men have elaborated for it some yet more delicate and subtle tool1 wherewith to give free play to its native vitalities4 ,for faith is moved by but one solitary passion--the hope of cleaving1 closer and ever closer1 to the being of ,god4 ,it is1 itself1 nothing but this act of personal adherence1 of personal cohesion2 and all else is1 for it1 material that can be subdued to this single service4 ,each bettering of knowledge intensifies the possibilities of this cohesion2 and1 for that1 it is welcomed4 ,it opens out fresh aspects of the good ,father3 it uncovers new treasures of ,his wisdom3 therefore1 for faith1 it is an ever-mounting ladder1 by which it draws nearer and nearer1 spirit to spirit1 heart to heart4 ,no idle or indifferent matter this2 and right knowledge1 therefore1 is for faith1 a serious and pressing need4 ,and1 moreover1 faith is pledged to use all possible guidance and direction in making its great act of self-surrender to ,god4 ,and it is the peculiar office of reason1 and of the rational conscience1 to guard it from any distorted and unworthy venture4 ,faith has to make its leap2 but to make it exactly in that direction1 and in no other1 where reason points the way4 ,it is bound therefore to use all its intelligent resources3 it may not fall below the level of its highest reason without the risk of sinking to a superstition4 ,this is the radical difference between what we here claim1 and that which a superstition demands of us4 ,a superstition asks faith to shut its eyes4 ,we ask it to open them as wide as it can4 ,we demand this of it as a positive duty4 ,it is bound1 as an act of the whole man1 to use every conceivable means and security which knowledge can bring it4 ,for so alone can it secure itself against the hazards which encompass its adventure4 ,it cannot afford to enter on that venturous committal of itself less equipped and instructed than it was open to it to be4 ,it must put all to use that can better its offer of itself to ,god4 ,it is1 in this seriousness1 that faith is apt to embrace so fast the dominant scientific or philosophical creed4 ,it has found1 through this creed1 a new and thrilling insight into ,god's mind1 and it fastens on this precious gift2 and dwells delightedly on it1 and spends itself in absorbing the peculiar truths which this particular way of thinking brings to the front4 ,so that1 at last1 when the smash comes1 when the floods break in1 when the accumulation of new facts outside the old lines necessitates a total reconstruction of the intellectual fabric1 faith seems to have gone under with the ruined scheme to which it had attached itself so firmly4 ,yet1 if ever it has implicated its own fate with that of any particular form of knowledge1 it has been false to itself4 ,it has no more right to identify itself with any intellectual situation than it has to pin its fortunes to those of any political dynasty4 ,its eternal task lies in rapid readjustment to each fresh situation1 which the motion of time may disclose to it4 ,it has that in it which can apply to all1 and learn from all4 ,its identity is not lost1 because its expressions vary and shift3 for its identity lies deep in personality2 and personality is that which testifies to its own identity by the variety and the rapidity of its self-adaptation to the changes of circumstance4 ,so with faith4 ,its older interpretations of itself are not false1 because the newer situations have called for different manifestations4 ,each situation forces a new aspect to the front4 ,but ever it is ,god and the soul1 which recognise each other under every disguise4 ,now it is in one fashion and now in another3 but it is always one unalterable wisdom which is justified1 recognised1 and loved1 by those who are her children4 ,we will not1 then1 be the least afraid of the taunt1 that we are all accepting and delivering from our pulpits that which once threw us into anger and dismay4 ,only let us learn our true lesson2 and1 in our zeal to appreciate the wonders of ,evolution1 let us hold ourselves prepared for the day which is bound to come1 when again the gathering facts will clamour for a fresh generalisation3 and the wheel will give one more turn2 and the new man will catch sight of the vision which is preparing2 and the new book will startle2 and the new band of youthful professors will denounce and demolish our present heroes2 and all the reviews and magazines will yelp in chorus at their heels1 proclaiming loudly that now1 at last and for ever1 the faith1 which has pledged itself so deeply to the obsolete and discredited theory of ,evolution1 is indeed dead and done with4 ,faith will survive that crisis1 as it has survived so many before3 but it will be something1 if it does not drag behind it the evil record of passion1 and blindness1 with which it has too often disgraced its unwilling passage from truth to truth4 ,,iv4 ,but here our objections take1 perhaps1 a new turn altogether4 ',ah1 yes6' it will be said2 'faith1 if it were a simple surrender of the soul to ,god1 a childlike adhesion of the spiritual sonship in us to its ,father1 ,who is in heaven1 might sit loose to all formul1 theories1 discoveries1 in the way described4 ,faith1 if it limited itself to this mystical communion1 might be beyond the scope and criticism of reason4 ,but this is not the least what you really ask of us4 ,the faith1 for which you practically plead1 the only form of faith actually open to us1 has rashly left these safe confines3 it has implicated itself with a vast body of facts recorded in a book4 ,it has involved itself in intricate statements of dogma4 ,how can you claim to be free from the control of logic and criticism1 in things so directly open to logical treatment8 ,this spiritual faith of yours has mixed itself up with alien matter1 with historical incidents1 with intellectual definitions3 here are things of evidence and proof4 ,here its locks are shorn2 its mystic strength is gone4 ,delilah holds it fast2 it is a prisoner in the hands of the ,philistines4 ,if you will retreat again back into the region of simple spiritual intuitions1 and abandon to reason this debatable land1 how gladly would we follow you6 ,but that is just what you refuse to do4' ,now1 here is the serious moment for us of to-day4 ,it is quite true that all would be plain and easy1 if we might be allowed to make this retreat--if we might limit our claims for the spirit to that simple childlike intuition which1 instinctively1 feels after1 and surrenders to1 the good ,father in heaven4 ,but what would that retreat mean8 ,it would mean an attempt1 desperate and blind1 to turn back the world's story1 to ignore the facts1 to over-leap the distinctions of time and place1 to deny experience1 to force ourselves back into primitive days1 to imagine ourselves children again4 ,simple intuitions of ,god1 simple communion with the ,father1 unquestioned1 undistracted1--this is the privilege of primitive days1 when minds are simple1 when experience is simple1 when society is simple4 ,plain1 easy1 and direct situations admit of plain1 easy1 and direct handling4 ,but our situation is not plain1 easy1 or direct4 ,our minds are intricate and complicated2 our story has been a long and a difficult one2 our social condition is the perplexed deposit of age-long experiences4 ,the faith1 which is to be ours to-day1 must be a faith of to-day4 ,it cannot remain at the level of childhood1 when nothing else in us or about us is the least childlike4 ,it cannot babble out in pretty baby-language1 when the situation with which it has to deal is terribly earnest1 serious1 perilous1 and intense4 ,it must be level with its work2 and its work is complicated1 hard1 disciplined3 how can it expect to accomplish it without effort1 without pain1 without training1 without intricacy8 ,the world is old2 human life is old2 and faith is old also4 ,it has had many a strange and stormy experience2 it has learned much on the way2 it has about it the marks of old troubles2 the care1 the patience1 the completeness of age1 have left their stamp upon it4 ,it has had a history1 like everything else2 and it reaches us to-day1 in a form which that history behind it can alone make intelligible4 ,four thousand years have gone to its making--since ,abraham first laid hold1 in a definite and consistent manner1 of the faith which is ours to-day4 ,all those centuries it has been putting itself together1 growing1 enriching itself1 developing1 as it faced and measured each new issue1 each gathering complication1 each pressing hazard4 ,this long experience has built up faith's history3 and1 by study of that history1 we can know why it was that faith could not stand still at that point where we should find it so convenient to rest4 ,faith appeals to its own story to justify its career2 it bears about that history with it as its explanation1 why1 and how it has arrived at its present condition4 ,that history is its proof how far it has left its first childhood behind it1 how impossible it is1 at the end of the days1 to return to the beginning4 ,the history1 which constitutes our difficulty1 is its own answer4 ,for there1 in that ,bible1 lies the recorded story of the facts which pressed hard upon the earliest intuition of ,god1 and drove it forward1 and compelled it to fix itself1 and to define itself1 and to take a firmer root1 and to make for itself a secure dwelling-place1 and to shape for itself a career4 ,the ,bible is the apology which our faith carries with it1 and offers as a proof of the necessity which has forced it to go beyond its primitive efforts1 until it has reached the stage at which we now encounter it4 ,it portrays there1 before our eyes1 how it all began2 how there came to this man and to that1 the simple augury1 the presage1 the spasm of spiritual insight1 the flash1 the glimpse1 the intimation2 until there came the man1 ,abraham1 in whom it won the emphasis1 the solidity1 the power1 of a call4 ',oh6 that we might be content to feel1 as he1 the presence of the ,everlasting6 ,why not leave us in peace1 we cry1 with the simple faith of ,abraham8' ,and the answer is plain3 'because it is the nineteenth century after ,christ1 instead of the nineteenth century before4' ,we are making a mistake of dates4 ,let us turn to our ,bible and read4 ,there we watch the reasons disclosing themselves why that simple faith could not abide in arrest at its first moment2 why it must open a new career1 with new duties1 and new responsibilities1 and new problems4 ,the seed is sown1 but it has to grow2 to make good its footing amid the thick of human affairs2 to root itself in the soil of human history2 to spread itself out in institutions2 to push its dominion2 to widen its range2 to become a tree that will fill the land4 ,before ,abraham1 it was but a flying seed1 blown by the winds2 now1 it is a stable1 continuous1 masterful growth4 ,it must be this1 if it is ever to make effective its spiritual assertions over the increasing intricacy of human affairs4 ,what1 let us ask1 is that life of faith which historically began with ,abraham8 ,it is a friendship1 an intimacy1 between man and ,god1 between a son and a father4 ,such an intimacy cannot be idle or stagnant2 it cannot arrest its instinctive development4 ,it holds in it infinite possibilities of growth3 of increasing familiarity1 of multiplied communion4 ,and1 thus1 such a friendship creates a story of its own2 it has its jars1 its frictions1 its entanglements2 alas6 on one side1 its lapses1 its quarrels1 its blunders1 its misunderstandings3 and then1 on the other1 its corresponding indignations1 and withdrawals1 and rebukes2 and yet again1 its reconciliations1 its reactions1 its pardons1 its victories4 ,ever it moves forward on its chequered path3 ever ,god1 the good ,friend1 spends ,himself in recovering the intimacy1 in renewing it1 in purging it1 in raising it4 ,its conditions expand3 its demands intensify3 its perils deepen3 its glories gather3 until it consummates its effort in the perfected communion of ,god and man--in ,him1 ,who completes and closes the story of this ever-growing intimacy1 by that act of supreme condescension which brings down ,god to inhabit and possess the heart of man3 and by that act of supreme exaltation1 which uplifts man into absolute union with the ,god ,who made him4 ,this is the story3 the ,bible is its record4 ,as a body of incidents and facts it must be subject to all the conditions of history and the laws of evidence2 as a written record it introduces a swarm of questions1 which can be sifted and decided by rational criticism4 ,this entails complications1 it must be confessed2 but they are inevitable4 ,the intimacy between man and ,god cannot advance1 except through the pressure of connected and recorded experience4 ,a human society which has no record of its past is robbed of its future4 ,it is savage3 it cannot go forward1 because it cannot look back4 ,so with this divine friendship4 ,its recorded experiences are the one condition of its growth4 ,without them it must always be beginning afresh3 it must remain imprisoned at the starting-post4 ,the length and complexity of its record is the measure of its progress2 even though they must present1 at the same time1 a larger surface to the handling of criticism1 and may involve a deeper degree of obscurity in details4 ,and1 after all1 though details drawn out of a dead past permit obscurity1 the nature and character of the main issue become ever more fixed and distinct1 as the long roll of circumstances discloses its richer secrets4 ,the very shift and confusion of the surface-material throws out1 in emphatic contrast1 the firm outlines of the gathering and growing mystery4 ,ever the advance proceeds1 throwing off all that is accidental1 immaterial1 subservient3 ever man becomes clearer in his recognition of the claims made on him by the hope which ,god keeps ever before ,him1 ',they shall be my people3 ,i will be their ,god4' ,ever the necessities of such an intimate affection point to the coming of the ,christ4 ,christ is the end1 the sum1 the completion1 of this historic friendship3 and ,his advent is1 therefore1 absolutely unintelligible unless it is held in relation to the long experience1 which ,he interprets1 justifies1 and fulfils4 ,faith in ,christ is the last result1 the ultimate and perfected condition of that faith of ,abraham1 which enabled him to become the first friend of ,god4 ,and the immense experience that lay between ,abraham and ,st4 ,paul1 can alone bridge the interval1 can alone exhibit the slow and laborious evolution1 through which the primitive apprehension of ,god was transformed into the ,christian ,creed--that mighty transformation1 spread out over two thousand years of varied history1 which our ,lord summed up in the lightning-flash1 ',your father ,abraham rejoiced to see my day3 and he saw it1 and was glad4' ,the ,book is the record of those tested and certified experiments1 which justified our ,lord in asserting that to believe in ,god was1 necessarily1 to believe in ,him4 ,no one can understand that assertion1 unless by seeing it worked out1 in detail1 by the searching logic of experience4 ,faith in ,christ1 then1 includes faith in the ,bible3 and1 in saying that1 we have already cleared away much of the difficulty that beset us4 ,for our faith in ,christ becomes the measure and standard of our faith in the ,bible4 ,we believe in it as the record of our growing intimacy with ,god4 ,faith is1 still1 a spiritual cohesion of person with person1--of the living soul with a living ,god4 ,no details that intervene confuse this primitive relation4 ,only1 that cohesion was not reached at one leap4 ,it is ancient3 it has traversed many incidents and trials3 it has learned much3 it has undergone patient apprenticeship3 it has been bonded by the memory of multitudinous vicissitudes4 ,like all else that is human1 it has grown4 ,the details of events are the media of that growth4 ,in that character they are vitally essential to the formed intimacy3 but in that character alone4 ,they are not valued for their own sake2 but for the cause which they served4 ,belief in ,god never changes its character1 and becomes belief in facts3 it only developes into a deeper and deeper belief in ,god1 as disciplined by facts4 ,the facts must be real1 if the discipline is to be real3 but1 apart from this necessity1 we are indifferent to them4 ,we can listen to anything which historical criticism has to tell us1 of dates and authorship2 of time and place4 ,it may supply all the gaps in our record1 showing how the material there briefly gathered1 had1 itself1 a story1 and slowly came together1 and had sources and associations elsewhere4 ,all such research adds interest to the record1 as it opens out to us the action of the ,divine ,intimacy1 in laying hold of its material4 ,we watch it1 by the aid of such criticism1 at its work of assimilation2 and1 in uncovering its principles of selection1 we apprehend its inner mind3 we draw closer to our ,god4 ,the more nearly we can ally the early conditions of ,israel to those of ,arabian nomads1 the more delicate and rare becomes our apprehension of that divine relationship1 which1 by its perpetual pressure1 lifted ,israel to its marvellous supremacy1 and which1 by its absence1 left the ,arabian to be what he is to-day4 ,the point at which criticism must hold off its hands is1 of course1 a most subtle matter to decide4 ,but we can1 at least1 be sure of this--that such a point will be no arbitrary one2 it will be there1 where criticism attempts to trench on the reality and the uniqueness of the ,divine ,intimacy1 which those incidents served to fashion1 and those books detected and recorded1 and ,christ consummated4 ,our faith in ,christ must determine what1 in the ,bible1 is vital to its own veracity4 ,there is no other measure or rule of what we mean by inspiration4 ,the preparation for ,christ1 then1 necessitates such complications as these4 ,and the character of ,his advent intensified and thickened them4 ,for1 while asking of us the purest form of spiritual adherence1 ,he makes that demand in a shape which is imbedded throughout in concrete historical facts1 which1 as facts1 must be subject to the thumb of critical discussion1 and to all the external handling of evidence and argument4 ,and1 then1 on the top of this1 ,he has1 of necessity1 raised the question of ,his own ,personality to such a pitch of vital value1 that the full force of man's intellectual activities is drawn towards its consideration1--is summoned to contemplate1 and measure1 and apprehend it1--is compelled to examine and face its tremendous issues4 ,the supreme act of personal surrender1 for which ,christ unhesitatingly asks1 cannot conceivably pass beyond its child-stage without forming a direct and urgent challenge to the intellect to say how1 and why1 such an act can be justified1 or such a claim interpreted4 ,no faith can reach to such an absolute condition without finding itself involved in anxieties1 perils1 problems1 complications4 ,its very absoluteness is a provocation to the questioning and disputing mind1--to the hesitating and scrupulous will4 ,and the result1 the inevitable result1 of such a faith--proposed1 as it was1 to a world no longer young and childlike1 but matured1 old1 thoughtful1 experienced--is the ,dogmatic ,creeds4 ,we clamour against these intellectual complications3 we cry out for the simple primitive faith4 ,but1 once again1 it is a mistake of dates4 ,we cannot ask to be as if eighteen centuries had dropped out1 unnoticed--as if the mind had slumbered since the days of ,christ1 and had never asked a question4 ,we cannot hope to be in the same condition after a question has been asked1 as we were before it had ever occurred to us to ask it4 ,the ,creeds only record that certain questions have1 as a fact1 been asked4 ,could our world be what it is1 and not have asked them8 ,these difficulties of a complicated faith are only the reflection of the difficulties of a complicated life4 ,if1 as a fact1 we are engaged in living a life which is intricate1 subtle1 anxious1 then any faith which hopes to cover and embrace that life1 cannot escape the necessity of being intricate1 subtle1 and anxious also4 ,no child's creed can satisfy a man's needs1 hunger1 hopes1 anxieties4 ,if we are asked to throw over the complications of our ,creeds1 we must beg those that ask us1 to begin by throwing over the complications of this social and moral life4 ,but still1 with the ,creeds as with the ,bible1 it is the personal intimacy with ,god in ,christ which alone is our concern4 ,we do not1 in the strict sense1 believe in the ,bible1 or in the ,creeds3 we believe solely and absolutely in ,christ ,jesus4 ,faith is our living act of adherence in ,him1 of cohesion with ,god4 ,but still1 once more1 we must recognise that this act of adhesion has a history3 it has gradually been trained and perfected3 and this has been accomplished through the long and perilous experiences recorded in the ,old ,testament2 and it has been consummated in the final sealing of the perfected intimacy attained in ,him1 in ,whose person it was realised and made possible for us3 and it has been guarded and secured to us in the face of the overwhelming pressure of eighteen strong1 stormy1 and distracted centuries4 ,and therefore it is that we now must attain our cohesion with ,god1 subject to all the necessities laid upon us by the fact that we enter on the world's stage at a late hour1 when the drama has already developed its plot and complicated its situations4 ,this is why we cannot now1 in full view of the facts1 believe in ,christ1 without finding that our belief includes the ,bible and the ,creeds4 ,v4 ,faith is1 still and always1 a spiritual intimacy1 a living friendship with ,god4 ,that is what we must be for ever asserting4 ,that is the key to all our problems2 and once sure of this in all its bearings1 we shall not be afraid of a taunt which is apt to sting especially those of us who are ordained4 ,it is conveyed1 in its noblest form1 in a book of ,mr4 ,john ,morley's1 on ,compromise4 ,no one can read that book without being the better or the worse for it4 ,the intense force of high moral convictions acts upon us like a judgment4 ,it evokes the deepest conscience in us to come forward1 and stand at that austere bar and justify itself1 or1 in failing to justify itself1 sink condemned4 ,and in that book he asks the old question1 with unequalled power3 how can it possibly be honest for men to sign away their reason at the age of twenty-three8--to commit themselves to conclusions which they cannot have mastered--to anticipate beforehand all that experience may have to teach8 ,in committing themselves to positions which any new knowledge or discovery may reverse1 they have forbidden themselves the free use of their critical faculties3 they have resigned their intellectual conscience4 ,what do we answer to that severe arraignment8 ,surely we now know well4 ,faith is an affair of personal intimacy1 of friendship1 of will1 of love3 and1 in all such cases1 we should know exactly what to do with language of this type4 ,we should laugh it out of court4 ,for it is language which does not belong to this region4 ,it is the language1 it expresses the temper1 of the scientific student--a temper1 an attitude specialised for a distinct purpose4 ,that purpose is one of gradual advance into regions as yet untouched and unsuspected--an advance which is for ever changing the relations and classifications of those already partially known4 ,the temper essential to such a purpose must be prepared for discovery1 for development1 for the unexpected2 it is bound to be tentative1 experimental1 hypothetical--to be cool1 critical1 corrective4 ,it deals with impersonal matter2 and it must itself1 therefore1 be as far as possible impersonal1 abstract1 non-moral1 without passion1 without individuality1 without a private intention1 or will1 or fixed opinion4 ,but such a temper1 perfectly justified for scientific purposes1 is absolutely impotent and barren in matters of moral feeling and practice4 ,the man who brings this temper into play in affairs of the will1 or the heart1 or the imagination1 in cases of affection1 friendship1 passion1 inspiration1 generosity1 in the things of home1 of war1 of patriotism1 of love1 is in the wrong world3 he is a living blunder3 he has no cue1 no key1 no interpretation4 ,he is simply absurd4 ,and religion stands with these affairs4 ,just as we see well enough that if love were approached in this scientific spirit1 it could not even begin1 so it is quite as certain that1 if faith were approached in this spirit1 it could not even begin4 ,mr4 ,morley has mixed up two different worlds4 ,he is criticising that form of knowledge1 which consists in spiritual apprehension of another's personality through the whole force of a man's inherent1 and integral1 and personal1 will and desire1 by the standard of another form of knowledge altogether1 which consists in gradual and experimental assimilation of foreign and unknown matter through specialised organs of critical observation4 ,this latter knowledge is bound to be as far as possible emptied of personal elements4 ,but our knowledge is nothing if not personal3 it is the knowledge which issues1 and issues only1 out of the personal contact of life with life4 ,and this is why it can afford to anticipate the future4 ,for a person is a consistent and integral whole3 if you know it at any one point1 you know it in a sense at all points4 ,the one character1 the one will1 disclose themselves through every partial expression1 and passing gesture1 and varying act4 ,therefore it is that1 when two personalities draw towards one another in the touch of love1 they can afford to plight their word4 ,for love is the instinctive prophecy of a future adherence4 ,it is the assurance1 passing from soul to soul1 that no new discovery of what is involved in their after-life together can ever deny1 or defeat1 or destroy their present mutual coherence in each other4 ,that adhesion1 that adaptability1 which has been proved at a few points1 will necessarily be justified throughout4 ,the marriage-pledge expresses the absolute conviction that the present experience is irreversible1 except by wilful sin4 ,whatever novelties the years bring with them1 those two characters will abide what they are to-day4 ,growth cannot radically alter them4 ,love1 then1 is this confident anticipation1 which takes the future in pledge4 ,and where this anticipation breaks down1 it must be through human infirmity1 wrong1 misunderstanding4 ,and our knowledge of ,christ is this knowledge of love2 wherever it exists1 and so far as it exists1 it issues out of personal contact1 personal inter-action4 ,this is why1 in its tested and certified form1 i4e4 in the accumulated and historic experience of the ,catholic community1 it can rationally justify its anticipation of an unbroken adherence4 ,and it can do so with complete confidence1 because1 here1 on the side of ,christ1 there is no infirmity which can endanger the plighted faith3 there is no lapse1 no decline possible4 ,christ must be loyal1 for ,he is sinless4 ,and more3 being sinless1 ,he is consistent4 ,every part of ,him is in harmony with the whole3 in ,him there is no unsteadiness1 no insecurity4 ,such a flawless character is identical with itself3 wherever it is touched1 it can be tested and approved4 ,what1 then1 can upset our trust in ,him8 ,what can disturb our knowledge of ,him8 ,what fear of change can the years bring on8 ,we may know but a tiny fragment1 a fringe of this love of ,his to us1 yet that is enough3 to have felt it at all is to trust it for ever4 ,we cannot hesitate to commit ourselves to ,one ,who1 if we know ,him in any way1 is known to be1 by inward1 personal1 inherent necessity1 the 'same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4' ,yes6--but still it may be pleaded1 that this anticipatory adherence1 which might justifiably be given to a person beloved1 cannot be pledged to dogmatic definitions4 ,these1 at any rate1 are matters not of love1 but of reason3 they must be liable to critical examination1 to intellectual revision4 ,it is the pledge given to believe these dogmas in the future1 which is such an outrage on intellectual morality4 ,now1 this protest1 forcible and obvious as it looks at first sight1 is still guilty of confusing the criticism which belongs to one province of knowledge with that which belongs to another4 ,these dogmas of faith do not the least correspond to the classifications and laws of physical science2 and for this reason1 that the matter to which they relate is wholly different in kind4 ,dogmas represent reason in its application to a personal life3 scientific generalisations represent reason as applied to matter1 from which the conditions of personality have been rigorously and rightly excluded4 ,the difference is vital2 and it affects the entire character of the working of reason4 ,the dogmatic definitions of ,christian theology can never be divorced from their contact in the personality of ,christ4 ,they are statements concerning a living character4 ,as such1 and only as such1 do they come within the lines of faith4 ,we do not1 in the strict sense1 believe in them3 for belief is never a purely intellectual act2 it is a movement of the living man drawn towards a living person4 ,belief can only be in ,jesus ,christ4 ,to ,him alone do we ever commit ourselves1 surrender ourselves1 for ever and aye4 ,but a personality1 though its roots lie deeper than reason1 yet includes reason within its compass3 a personality cannot but be rational1 though it be more than merely rational2 it has in it a rational ground1 a rational construction2 it could not be what it is without being of such and such a fixed and organic character4 ,and a personality1 therefore1 is intelligible2 it lays itself open to rational treatment2 its characteristics can be stated in terms of thought4 ,the ,will of ,god is the ,word of ,god2 the ,life is also the ,light4 ,that which is loved can be apprehended2 that which is felt can be named4 ,so the ,personality of the ,word admits of being rationally expressed in the sense that reason can name and distinguish those elements in it1 which constitute its enduring and essential conditions4 ,the dogmas now in question1 are simply careful rehearsals of those inherent necessities which1 inevitably1 are involved in the rational construction of ,christ's living character4 ,they are statements of what ,he must be1 if ,he is what our hearts assure us2 if ,he can do that for which our wills tender ,him their lifelong self-surrender4 ,unless these rational conditions stand1 then1 no act of faith is justifiable2 unless ,his personality correspond to these assertions1 we can never be authorised in worshipping ,him4 ,but1 if so1 then we can commit ourselves to these dogmas in the same way1 and degree1 as we commit ourselves to ,him4 ,we can do so1 in the absolute assurance that ,he cannot but abide for ever1 that which we know ,him to be to-day4 ,we know ,him indeed1 but 'in part3' but it is part of a fixed and integral character1 which is whole in every part2 and can never falsify1 in the future1 the revelation which it has already made of itself4 ,the real question1 as to ,christian dogma1 lies in the prior question--,is ,christianity justified in claiming to have reached a final position8 ,if the position is rightly final1 then the intellectual expression of its inherent elements is final also4 ,here is the deep contrast between it and science4 ,the scientific man is forbidden1 by the very nature of his studies1 to assume finality for his propositions4 ,for he is not yet in command of his material4 ,far1 very far1 from it4 ,he is touching it on its very edge4 ,he is engaged in slowly pushing tentative advances into an unknown world1 looming1 vast1 dim1 manifold1 beyond his frontier of light4 ,the coherence of his known matter with that huge mass beyond his ken1 can be but faintly imaged and suspected4 ,wholly unreckoned forces are in operation4 ,at any moment he may be called upon to throw over the classification which sums up his hitherto experience2 he may have to adopt a new centre2 to bring his facts into a novel focus2 and this involves at once a novel principle of arrangement4 ,in such conditions dogma is1 of course1 an absurdity4 ,but1 if we are in a position to have any faith in ,jesus ,christ1 then we must suppose that we have arrived at the one centre to all possible experiences1 the one focus1 under which all sights must fall4 ,to believe in ,him at all is to believe that1 by and in 'this ,man1 will ,god judge the world4' ,in ,his personality1 in ,his character1 we are in possession of the ultimate principle1 under which the final estimate of all things will be taken4 ,we have given us1 in ,his sacrifice and mission1 the absolute rule1 standard1 test1 right to the very end4 ,nothing can fall outside it4 ,in ,him1 ,god has summed up creation4 ,we have touched1 in ,him1 the 'last days1' the ultimate stage of all development4 ,we cannot believe in ,him at all1 and not believe that ,his message is final4 ,and it is this finality which justifies dogma4 ,if ,christianity is final1 it can afford to be dogmatic2 and we1 who give our adhesion to it1 must1 in so doing1 profess our adhesion to the irreversible nature of its inherent principles3 for1 in so doing1 we are but re-asserting our belief in the absolute and final sufficiency of ,his person4 ,let us venture1 now1 to review the path that we have travelled1 in order that we may see at what point we have arrived4 ,faith1 then1 is1 from first to last1 a spiritual act of the deepest personal will1 proceeding out of that central core of the being1 where the self is integral and whole1 before it has sundered itself off into divided faculties4 ,there1 in that root-self1 lie the germs of all that appears in the separate qualities and gifts--in feelings1 in reason1 in imagination1 in desire2 and faith1 the central activity1 has in it1 therefore1 the germs of all these several activities4 ,it has in it that which becomes feeling1 yet is not itself a feeling4 ,it has in it that which becomes reason1 yet is not itself the reason4 ,it holds in it imaginative elements1 yet is no exercise of the imagination4 ,it is alive with that which desires1 craves1 loves2 yet is not itself merely an appetite1 a desire1 a passion4 ,in all these qualities it has its part3 it shares their nature2 it has kindred motions2 it shows itself1 sometimes through the one1 and sometimes through the other1 according to the varieties of human1 characters4 ,in this man1 it can make the feeling its main instrument and channel2 in that man1 it will find the intellect its chief minister2 in another1 it will make its presence known along the track of his innermost craving for a support in will and in love4 ,but it will always remain something over1 and beyond1 any one of its distinctive media2 and not one of these specialities of gift will ever1 therefore1 be able to account wholly for the faith which puts it to use4 ,that is why faith must always remain beyond its realised evidences4 ,if it finds1 in some cases1 its chief evidences in the region of feeling1 it is nevertheless open to deadly ruin1 if ever it identifies itself with these evidences1 as if it could rely on them to carry it through4 ,it may come into being by their help2 but it is never genuine faith1 until it can abide in self-security at those dry hours1 when the evidences of positive feeling have been totally withdrawn4 ,and as with feeling2 so with reason4 ,faith looks to reason for its proofs3 it must count on finding them2 it offers for itself intellectual justifications4 ,it may arrive at a man by this road4 ,but it is not itself reason2 it can never confuse itself with a merely intellectual process4 ,it cannot1 therefore1 find1 in reason1 the full grounds for its ultimate convictions4 ,ever it retains its own inherent character1 by which it is constituted an act of personal trust--an act of willing and loving self-surrender to the dominant sway of another's personality4 ,it is always this1 whether it springs up instinctively1 out of the roots of our being1 anticipating all after-proof1 or whether it is summoned out into vitality at the close of a long and late argumentative process4 ,no argument1 no array of arguments1 however long1 however massive1 can succeed in excusing it from that momentous effort of the inner man1 which is its very essence4 ,let reason do its perfect work3 let it heap up witness upon witness1 proof upon proof4 ,still there will come at last the moment when the call to believe will be just the same to the complete and reasonable man as it always is to the simplest child--the call to trust ,another with a confidence which reason can justify but can never create4 ,this act1 which is faith1 must have in it that spirit of venture1 which closes with ,another's invitation1 which yields to ,another's call4 ,it must still have in it and about it the character of a vital motion1--of a leap upward1 which dares to count on the prompting energies felt astir within it4 ,faith cannot transfer its business into other hands to do its work for it4 ,it cannot request reason to take its own place1 or achieve its proper results4 ,there is no possibility of devolution here2 it cannot delegate its functions to this faculty or to that4 ,it is by forgetting this that so many men are to be found1 at the close of many arguments of which they fully acknowledge the convincing force1 still hovering on the brink of faith1 never quite reaching it1 never passing beyond the misery of a prolonged and nerveless suspense4 ,they hang back at the very crisis1 because they have hoped that their reasoning powers would1 by their own force1 have made belief occur4 ,they are like birds on a bough1 who should refuse to fly until they have fully known that they can4 ,their suspense would break and pass1 if once they remembered that1 to enter the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 they must always be as little children4 ,they must call upon the child within them4 ,at the end1 as at the beginning1 of all the argumentative work1 it is still the temper of a child which they must bring into play4 ,there must still be the energy of self-committal1--the movement of a brave surrender4 ,once let them turn1 enforced by all the pressure of reasonable evidence1 to this secret fount of life within the self1 and back flows the strength which was theirs long ago1 when the inspiration of their innate sonship moved sweetly in them1 breeding confidence1 secure of itself1 undaunted1 and unfatigued4 ,that sonship abides in us all1 cumbered and clouded though it be by our sin2 it abides on and on1 fed by the succours of a ,father ,who can never forget or forsake1 and ,who is working hitherto to recover and redeem4 ,and while it abides1 faith is still possible4 ,for its native motions are the spontaneous outcome of that spiritual kinship which1 if once alive and free1 impels us towards ,him by ,whose love we have been begotten4 ,reason and feeling1 proof and argument--these are means and instruments by which we can invoke this sonship into action1 and release it from much which fetters and enslaves4 ,but it is the actual upspringing force of the sonship itself1 which alone can be the source of belief4 ,and as it is given to all to be sons of ,god1 through the eternal sonship of ,christ1 therefore it is open to all to count upon possessing the conditions of faith in ,god4 ,,note4--,this essay has1 for its sole aim1 the reassurance of an existing faith in face of temporary perplexities4 ,it therefore takes faith as a present and possible fact4 ,it assumes man to be a creature who believes4 ,and it tries to show why such belief1 if it be there1 should not be discouraged by difficulties which belong to the very nature of its original grounds4 ,for this it recalls the depth and security with which the roots of faith run back into the original constitution of man2 which original constitution1 however broken1 thwarted1 maimed1 polluted by sin1 remains still in us as the sole pledge and ground of our possible redemption in ,christ1 ,who comes to restore the blurred image of ,god in us1 and ,who must find in us the radical elements of the supernatural nature which ,he enters to renew4 ,to its enduring existence in the heart of man ,christ always appeals4 ,men are still children of their ,father ,who is in heaven2 and therefore ,he can demand1 as the sole and primal condition of redemption1 ,faith1 which is the witness of the unlost sonship4 ,that faith ,he still assumes to be possible1 by the invitation to man to believe and so be healed4 ,he makes this invitation just as if it were in man's own power to respond to it without for the moment touching on the necessity which1 through the very effort to believe1 man will discover for himself--i4e4 the necessity of ,god's gift of the ,spirit to make such belief exist4 ,such a gift belonged to the original condition of unfallen man1 when his nature was itself supernaturally endowed with its adequate and sustaining grace4 ,such a gift had to be renewed1 after the ruin wrought by sin1 both by the restoration of the broken sonship within the man through the beloved ,son1 as well as by the renewal of the evoking and sustaining ,spirit that should lift up1 from within the inner sonship1 its living cry of ,abba1 ,father4 ,the right to believe1 and the power to believe1 had both to be re-created4 ,but all that was so re-created has1 for its preliminary ground1 the original constitution of man's sinless nature2 and1 in all our treatment of redemption1 we must begin by recalling what it was which ,christ entered to restore4 ,that original condition was the pledge of the recovery which ,god would bring to pass2 and1 throughout the interval between fall and rescue1 it could anticipate the coming ,christ by the faith which rejoiced to see ,his ,day1 and saw ,his ,glory1 and spake of ,him4 ,therefore the faith which ,christ raises to its new and higher power by concentrating it upon ,his own ,personality1 is still1 at core1 the old faith which was the prophetic witness given1 under the conditions of the earlier covenant1 by that great army of the ,faithful which is marshalled before us by the author of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 who most certainly considers it possible and justifiable to emphasise the continuity that holds between the faith of ,abraham and the faith of the redeemed4 #ec ,cf4 on all this1 an excellent statement in ,mark ,pattison's ,sermons1 ,serm4 #g4 #ed ,it is not intended to deny that the mind can ever know itself1 but only that such knowledge can ever be won by methods of empirical observation4 #ee ,the word 'super-natural' is obviously misleading1 since it seems to imply that the higher spiritual levels of life are not 'natural4' ,of course1 the higher the life1 the more intensely 'natural' it is2 and the nature of ,god must be the supreme expression of the natural4 ,but the word 'super-natural' is1 in reality1 only concerned with the partial and conventional use of 'nature1' as a term under which we sum up all that constitutes this present and visible system of things4 #ef ,it is this point of arrest which is reached and revealed by the process of ,evolution1 under the pressure of ,natural ,selection4 #eg ,faith is spoken of1 here and elsewhere1 in its perfect and true form1 as if unthwarted by the misdirection1 and hurt of sin4 #eh ,cf4 pp4 #aje-ajg4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,christian ,,doctrine ,,of ,,god4 ,,aubrey ,,moore4 ,i4 ,the object of this essay is not to discuss the so-called 'proofs' of the existence of ,god1 but to shew what the ,christian doctrine of ,god is1 and how it has grown to be what it is1 out of the antagonisms of earlier days2 and then to ask--,what fuller realization of ,god's revelation of ,himself is ,he giving us through the contradictions and struggles of to-day8 ,if it is true that 'the only ultimate test of reality is persistence1 and the only measure of validity among our primitive beliefs the success with which they resist all efforts to change them#ei1' it is of first importance to discover what it is which1 through all the struggles of past history1 the religious nature of man has persistently clung to4 ,much which was once dear to the religious consciousness1 and which seemed at the time to be an integral part of the religious idea1 has been given up4 ,a former age abandoned it with regret1 and looked forward with gloomy foreboding4 ,a later age looks back with thankfulness1 and recognises 'the good ,hand of our ,god' leading us to truer knowledge of ,himself4 ,it would be idle to deny1 after all due allowance has been made for the natural tendency to believe that the present is the critical moment1 not only for us1 but for the world at large1 that the crisis of the present day is a very real one1 and that the religious view of ,god is feeling the effects of the change1 which is modifying our views of the world and man4 ,when such a fundamental idea is challenged1 men are naturally tempted to adopt one of two equally onesided attitudes1 to commit themselves either to a policy of unintelligent protest1 or to a policy of unconditional surrender4 ,and if the one is needlessly despairing1 the other is unwarrantably sanguine4 ,the one asks1--',how much must ,i give up1 of what religion has always been to me1 that a little of the old may survive amidst the new8' ,the other asks1--',how little of the old need ,i keep1 so as not to interfere with the ready acceptance of the new8' ,the one view is pessimist1 the other optimist4 ,both have their representatives in our day1 and each party is profoundly conscious of the danger to which the other is exposed4 ,the advocates of the one view1 finding themselves 'in a place where two seas meet1' think it safer to 'run the ship aground'2 those of the other 'seeing they cannot bear up against the wind' prefer to 'let her drive4' ,but if the spirit of the one is merely protestant1 the spirit of the other is certainly not catholic4 ,in contrast with these one-sided views1 we propose to approach the question in the full conviction that the revelation of ,god in ,christ is both true and complete1 and yet that every new truth which flows in from the side of science1 or metaphysics1 or the experience of social and political life1 is designed in ,god's providence to make that revelation real1 by bringing out its hidden truths4 ,it is in this sense that the ,christian revelation of ,god claims to be both final and progressive2 final1 for ,christians know but one ,christ and do not 'look for another'2 progressive1 because ,christianity claims each new truth as enriching our knowledge of ,god1 and bringing out into greater clearness and distinctness some half-understood fragment of its own teaching4 ,there are1 no doubt1 always to be found ,christians1 who are ready to treat new knowledge as the ,caliph ,omar treated the books in the library of ,alexandria1--'they agree with the ,koran and are unnecessary1 or they disagree with it and must be destroyed4' ,but an intelligent ,christian will not ask1 ',does this new truth agree with or contradict the letter of the ,bible8' but ',how does it interpret and help us to understand the ,bible8' ,and so with regard to all truth1 whether it comes from the side of science1 or history1 or criticism1 he adopts neither the method of protest nor the method of surrender1 but the method of assimilation4 ,in the face of new discoveries1 the only question he is anxious to answer is this1--',what old truth will they explain1 or enlighten1 or make real to us8 ,what is this new world of life and interest which is awaiting its consecration8 ,truth is an ever-flowing river1 into which streams flow in from many sides#fj4 ,what is this new stream which is about to empty itself1 as all knowledge must1 into the great flood of ,divine truth1 that the earth may be filled with the glory of the ,lord1 as the waters cover the sea8' ,such a hopeful attitude does not1 indeed1 imply that the assimilation of the new truths will go on as a matter of course4 ,the ,christian knows that the acceptance of truth is a moral1 as well as an intellectual1 matter1 and in the moral world there is no place for laisser faire4 ,he expects to be called upon to struggle2 he expects that the struggle will need his utmost effort1 moral and intellectual4 ,his work is both to keep and to claim2 to hold fast the faith 'once for all delivered to the saints1' and yet to see in every fragment of truth a real revelation of the mind and will of ,god4 ,he has no cut and dried answer to objections2 he does not boast that he has no difficulties4 ,but he does claim to look out upon the difficulties of his day1 not only fearlessly1 but with hope and trust4 ,he knows that ,christianity must triumph in the end1 but he does not expect all difficulties to be removed in a moment4 ,and he is strong enough1 if need be1 to wait4 ,,ii4 ,whether anyone is really guilty of what ,hume calls the 'multiplied indiscretion and imprudence' of dogmatic atheism1 whether positivism can rightly be so classed1 whether agnosticism is not atheism to all intents and purposes1 are questions which fortunately lie outside the scope of the present enquiry4 ,as for polytheism it has ceased to exist in the civilised world4 ,every theist is1 by a rational necessity1 a monotheist4 ,but we find ourselves1 in the present day1 face to face with two different views of ,god1 which though they constantly1 perhaps generally1 overlap1 and even sometimes coincide1 yet imply different points of view1 and by a process of abstraction can be held apart and contrasted with one another4 ,many devout ,christians are philosophers and men of science2 many men of science and philosophers are devout ,christians4 ,but the ,god of religion is not the ,god of science and philosophy4 ,ideally1 everyone will allow that the religious idea of ,god1 and the scientific and philosophical idea of ,god must be identical1 but in actual fact it is not so1 and in the earlier stages of the development of both1 there is a real antagonism4 ,to accept this antagonism as absolute is1 by a necessary consequence1 to compel one to give way to the other4 ,we cannot long hold two contradictory truths4 ,we find ourselves compelled to choose4 ,we may have ,religion or ,philosophy1 but not both4 ,very few1 however1 are prepared to go this length4 ,it is much more usual to get rid of the antagonism by adopting one of two alternative methods4 7#a7 ,of these the first is a suggested division of territory1 in which religion is allotted to faith1 and philosophy and science to reason4 ,such an expedient1 though not uncommonly1 and perhaps even wisely1 adopted by individuals1 who refuse to give up either of two truths because they cannot harmonize them1 becomes ridiculous when seriously proposed as a solution of the difficulty4 ,moreover the proposed division of territory is unfair to start with4 ',give us the ,knowable1 and you shall have the rest1 which is far the larger half1' sounds like a liberal offer made by science to religion1 till we remember that every advance in knowledge transfers something from the side of the unknown to the side of the known1 in violation of the original agreement4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer calls this division of territory a 'reconciliation#fa4' ,but if anything in the world could make religion hate and fear science and oppose the advance of knowledge1 it is to find itself compelled to sit still and watch the slow but sure filching away of its territory by an alien power4 ,we say nothing here of the fact that ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer's division ignores the truth that knowledge of correlatives must be of the same kind#fb1 and that if knowledge has to do with one and faith with the other1 either faith must be a sort of knowledge1 or knowledge a sort of faith4 ,we merely notice the unfairness of a division which assumes rationality for science1 and leaves irrationality to religion4 ,curiously enough1 however1 there are many devout people1 who would be horrified at the thought that they had borrowed from ,agnosticism1 and who have nevertheless made a similar division of territory4 ,they are the people who stake all upon what reason cannot do4 ,they have no interest in the progress of knowledge4 ,the present gaps in science are their stronghold1 and they naturally resist every forward step in knowledge as long as they can1 because each new discovery limits the area in which alone1 according to their imperfect view1 faith can live4 ,every triumph of science on this theory1 as on ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer's1 becomes a loss1 not a gain1 to religion4 ,the very existence of ,god is bound up with that part of ,his work in nature which we cannot understand1 and1 as a consequence1 we reach the paradox that the more we know of ,his working1 the less proof we have that ,he exists4 ,modern apologetic literature abounds in this kind of argument4 ,it is the devout form of the worship of the unknowable4 ,yet it is no wonder that people who take refuge in gaps find themselves awkwardly placed when the gaps begin to close4 7#b7 ,the other alternative is even more commonly adopted1 for it fits in well with the vagueness and want of precision in language1 which is at a premium in dealing with religious questions4 ,this consists in frittering away the meaning of definite terms till they are available for anything1 or adopting a neutral term which1 by a little management and stretching1 will include opposites4 ,this is the method of indefinite inclusion4 ,the strength of the former alternative lay in the appearance of sharp scientific delimitation of territory3 the strength of the latter in its unlimited comprehensiveness4 ,a term is gradually stripped of the associations which make it what it is1 it is 'defecated to a pure transparency1' and then it is ready for use4 ,the term ',god' is made merely 'a synonym for nature#fc'2 religion becomes 'habitual and permanent admiration#fd1' or 'devout submission of the heart and will to the laws of nature#fe'2 enthusiasm does duty for worship1 and the antagonism between religion and anything else disappears4 ,now so far as this represents1 negatively1 a reaction against intolerance and narrowness1 and positively a desire for unity1 there is not a word to be said against it4 ,its tone and temper may be both ,christian and ,catholic4 ,but the method is a radically false one4 ,it is not a real1 but only an abstract1 unity which can be reached by thinking away of differences4 ,as ,dr4 ,martineau says1 in his excellent criticism of this method1 ',you vainly propose an cirenicon by corruption of a word4' ',the disputes between science and faith can no more be closed by inventing religions of culture than the boundary quarrels of nations by setting up neutral provinces in the air#ff4' ',a ,god that is merely nature1 a ,theism without ,god2 a ,religion forfeited only by the nil admirari can never reconcile the secular and the devout1 the ,pagan and the ,christian mind#fg4' ,as well might we attempt to reconcile the partizans of the gold and silver shields by assuring them that in reality the shields were silver gilt4 ,we are left1 then1 face to face with the opposition between the religious and the philosophic or scientific view of ,god4 ,the counter-charges of superstition and anthropomorphism on the one side1 and of pantheism and rationalism on the other1 serve to bring out the antithesis of the two views4 ,no division of territory is possible4 ,there may be many sciences1 each with its defined range of subject-matter2 but there can be only one ,god4 ,and both religion and philosophy demand that ,he shall fill the whole region of thought and feeling4 ,nor can any confusion or extension of terms help us to a reconciliation1 or blind us long to the true issue4 ,the conflict is too real and too keenly felt to admit of any patched-up peace4 ,the idea of ,god1 which is to claim alike the allegiance of religion and philosophy1 must not be the result of compromise1 but must really and fully satisfy the demands of both4 ,,iii4 ,what then are these demands considered in abstraction from one another8 ,we are at once met by the difficulty of defining religion4 ,but if we cannot define religion1 or trace it back to its hidden source1 we can at least discover its characteristics1 as we know it after it has emerged from the obscurity of prehistoric times1 and before any conscious attempt has been made to reconcile religion and philosophy1 or find a middle term between them4 ,now traditional definitions of religion1 given as it were from within1 and constructed with no view of opposition to1 or reconciliation with1 philosophy1 are agreed in representing religion as a relation between man and the object or objects of his worship1 and this implies1 not only the inferiority of the worshipper to that which he worships1 but also something of likeness between the related terms1 since1 as even ,strauss allows1 in our inmost nature we feel a kinship between ourselves and that on which we depend#fh4 ,it is quite indifferent which of the rival etymologies of the word 'religion' we adopt#fi4 ,s4 ,augustine#gj1 following ,lactantius1 speaks of religion as 'the bond which binds us to ,one ,omnipotent ,god4' ,s4 ,thomas#ga adopts almost unchanged the definition given by ,cicero3 it is 'that virtue which has to do with the worship of a higher nature known as the ,divine4' ,it is not too much to say that1 for the modern religious world1 religion implies at least the practical belief in a real and conscious relation between the inner life of man and an unseen ,being4 ,and whatever of mystery there may be about that unseen ,being1 it would seem as if a real relationship demands so much of likeness in the related terms1 as is implied in personality4 ,it is here that we reach the point at which we are able to distinguish between the religious and the philosophical ideas of ,god4 ,it is not that religion and philosophy necessarily contradict or exclude one another1 but that they approach the problem with different interests4 ,religion demands a personal object1 be that object one or many4 ,it is committed to the belief in a moral relationship between ,god and man4 ,philosophy demands unity1 whether personal or impersonal4 ,for philosophy is nothing if it does not completely unify knowledge4 ,and it seems as if each finds lacking in the other that which it values most and thinks of first4 ,the only hope1 then1 of reconciliation is in the idea of ,god as personal1 and yet one4 ,so long as religion retains a trace of polytheism or dualism1 philosophy can have nothing to say to it4 ,so long as philosophy has no room for a personal ,god1 religion must exclude philosophy4 ,the whole issue of the controversy lies here4 ,if the belief in a personal ,god is to be called anthropomorphism1 religion is hopelessly anthropomorphic4 ,with the disappearance of anthropomorphism in this sense1 as ,professor ,fiske rightly sees#gb1 religion disappears4 ,but we cannot escape anthropomorphism1 though our anthropomorphism may be crude or critical#gc4 ,we do not read our full selves into the lower world1 because we are higher than it2 we do not transfer to ,god all that belongs to our own self-consciousness1 because we know that ,he is infinitely greater than we are4 ,but we should be wrong not to interpret ,him by the highest category within our reach1 and think of ,him as self-conscious life4 ,christianity refuses to call this anthropomorphism1 though it stands or falls with the belief that1 in his personality1 man is in the image of ,god4 ,an anthropomorphic view of ,god for a ,christian means heathenism or heresy3 a theomorphic view of man is of the essence of his faith#gd4 ,the religious idea of ,god may1 of course1 become philosophical without ceasing to be religious4 ,if there is to be a religion for man as a rational being it must become so4 ,but there is a point beyond which1 in its desire to include philosophy1 religion cannot go4 ,it cannot afford to give up its primary assumption of a moral relationship between ,god and man4 ,when that point is surrendered or obscured the old religious terms become increasingly inapplicable1 and we find ourselves falling back more and more on their supposed philosophical equivalents1 the ',infinite' or the ',absolute1' or the ,universal ,substance1 or the ,eternal ,consciousness1 or the ,first ,cause1 or the ,omnipresent ,energy4 ,but these terms1 which metaphysicians rightly claim1 have no meaning for the religious consciousness1 while1 in metaphysics proper ',god' is as much a borrowed term as 'sin' is in non-religious ethics4 ,moral evil is 'sin' only to those who believe in ,god2 and the infinite is only ',god' to those in whom it suggests a superhuman personality with whom they are in conscious relation4 ,even when religion and philosophy both agree to speak of ,god as 'the ,infinite1' for the one it is an adjective1 for the other a substantive4 ,the moment we abandon the idea of ,god as personal1 religion becomes merged in philosophy1 and all that properly constitutes religion disappears4 ,god may exist for us still as the keystone in the arch of knowledge1 but ,he is no longer1 except as a metaphor1 'our ,father1 which is in heaven4' ,,iv4 ,religion then1 properly and strictly1 and apart from extensions of the term made in the interests of a reconciliation1 assumes a moral relationship1 the relationship of personal beings1 as existing between man and the ,object of his worship4 ,when this ceases1 religion ceases3 when this begins1 religion begins4 ,but of the beginnings of religion we know nothing4 ,prehistoric history is the monopoly of those who have a theory to defend4 ,but we may take it as proven that it is at least as true that man is a religious1 as that he is a rational1 animal4 ',look out for a people1' says ,hume1 'entirely destitute of religion4 ,if you find them at all1 be assured that they are but few degrees removed from brutes#ge4' ,hume's statement is confirmed by the fact that those who would prove that there is no innate consciousness of ,deity are driven to appeal to the case of deaf mutes and degraded savages#gf4 ,whether monotheism was a discovery or a recovery1 whether it rose on the ruins of polytheism1 or whether polytheism is a corruption of a purer faith1 is a question we need not attempt to settle4 ,nor need we decide the priority of claim to the title of religion as between nature-worship1 or ancestor-worship1 or ghost-worship4 ,the farther we go back in history the more obviously true is the charge of anthropomorphism so commonly brought against religion4 ,the natural tendency to treat the object of religion as personal1 exists long before any attempt is made to define the conditions or meaning of personality1 and includes much which is afterwards abandoned4 ,for religion in its earliest stages is instinctive1 not reasoned4 ,it is 'naively objective4' ,it is little careful to clear up its idea of the nature and character of its ,god4 ,it is still less anxious to prove ,his existence4 ,it is only when conscience grows strong1 and dares to challenge the religion which had been instinctively accepted1 that men learn to see that ,god not only is1 but must be1 the expression of the highest known morality4 ,it is only when the light of conscious reason is turned back upon religious ideas1 that polytheism becomes not merely untrue1 but impossible and inconceivable4 ,what religion starts with is not any theory of the world1 but an unreasoned belief in a ,being or beings1 however conceived of1 who shall be in a greater or less degree like the worshipper1 but raised above him by the addition of power1 if not omnipotence2 greatness1 if not infinity2 wisdom1 if not omniscience4 ,but1 while implying from the first something of a moral relationship between man and the object of his worship1 religion does not always conceive of that ,object as necessarily holy or perfectly wise4 ,there are religions which are both immoral and childish4 ,they have in them no principle of growth1 and therefore they are the opponents alike of moral and intellectual progress4 ,tantum relligio potuit suadere malorum is the reflexion of ,christian apologists1 as well as of the ,roman poet1 on the religions of heathenism4 ,hence1 it is argued1 ',religion is the enemy of morals and of science4 ,away with it4 ,it is a mere matter of feeling1 which cannot and ought not to stand before the imperious challenge of conscience and reason4' ,such a view has both truth and falsehood in it4 ,the religious idea of ,god must be able to justify itself to our moral and to our rational nature1 on pain of ceasing to exist4 ,but religion cannot be thus shut up to one part of our nature1 nor can one part of our nature be set against the rest4 ,there is1 as ,herbert ,spencer is fond of pointing out#gg1 a kind of idolatry of reason in the present day4 ,reason has exposed many superstitions only to become itself the final object of superstition4 ,men forget that1 after all1 reasoning is only 're-coordinating states of consciousness already coordinated in certain simpler ways1' and that that which is unreasoned is not always irrational4 ,rationality in man is not shut up in one air-tight compartment4 ',there is no feeling or volition which does not contain in it an element of knowledge#gh4' ,this is the truth which ,hegel has seized when he speaks of religion as 'reason talking naively4' ,you can no more shut up faith to the compartment of feeling than reason to the compartment of the intellect4 ,religion claims the whole man1 and true religion is that which can make good its claim4 ,the natural history of religion1 then1 is the history of the process by which that which has its secret birthplace behind all the distinctions of modern psychology1 establishes its claim on man1 absorbing into itself all that is best and truest in his moral and intellectual being1 as conscience and reason successively emerge into conscious activity3 while1 from another point of view1 it is the progressive purification of the religious idea of ,god till ,he is revealed as1 what ,he is to a thinking ,christian of to-day1 the ,object of reverent worship1 the moral ideal1 the truth of nature and of man4 ,such an end is not attained in a moment4 ,it is the result of a process with which we are familiar elsewhere1 viz4 evolution by antagonism4 ,the true has to be separated from the false4 ,immoral and irrational conceptions of ,god have to be thrown aside4 ,it is only after what looks like an internecine struggle between religion and morality that man learns the truth about the character of ,god1 and only after a conflict with philosophy and science1 which seems to threaten the very life of religion1 that he learns what can be known of the ,divine ,nature4 ,for among religions1 too1 there is a struggle for existence1 in which the fittest survive4 ,and the test of fitness is the power to assimilate and promote moral and intellectual truth1 and so to satisfy the whole man4 ,an ideally perfect religion is not 'morality touched by emotion1' but a worship which reflects itself in the highest known morality1 and is interpreted and justified to itself by reason4 ,it is this process1 as we know it in history1 that we proceed to examine4 ,v4 ,the statement that religion1 even in its most elementary forms1 takes for granted some relationship of likeness between the worshipper and the ,object or objects of his worship1 by no means implies that all religion associates the highest morality with its idea of ,god4 ,on the contrary1 we know that not only are there immoral religions1 but that immorality sometimes lingers on in religion long after it is condemned elsewhere1 and that a people will permit as a religious duty what1 according to their thinking1 nothing but religion would justify4 ,we cannot1 then1 at all accurately gauge the moral condition of a people by the received teaching about its gods1 for morality is often far in advance of religion1 and the character which in a god or goddess is protected by a religious halo is looked upon as hateful or impure in man or woman4 ,the sense of dependence1 which1 though it does not constitute the whole1 is yet an essential element in the religious consciousness1 the awe which1 in a low state of development1 shews itself in a grovelling fear of the invisible beings1 makes it impossible for the worshipper to judge his god by the standard he applies to his fellow man4 ,the god may be lustful1 but his lusts must be respected2 he is strong and vengeful and must by all means be kept in a good temper1 cajoled1 or outwitted1 or bribed1 or humoured4 ,his commands must be obeyed1 without question or resistance4 ,but by and bye the moral nature learns its strength1 and begins to assert its independent right to speak4 ,morality outgrows religion4 ,the relations between religion and morals become more strained4 ,some heretic dares to say that the ,gods are immoral2 that they are men 'writ large1' and bad men too4 ,their claim to reverence is challenged4 ,there is a moral awakening4 ,soon the old religion is treated with scorn and contempt1 and either a new religion takes its place1 coming in as it were on the crest of the wave of moral reformation1 or the old religion is purified and becomes the foster-mother of the new morality1 giving to it a divine sanction1 and receiving from it in turn new strength and vitality4 ,or failing these1 men abandon religion in the supposed interest of morals4 ,a religion with mysteries may be tolerated1 but a religion once seen to be immoral is at an end4 ,for a time ethics1 with a background of metaphysics or politics1 prevails1 but gradually it tends to drift into a mere prudentialism1 while a merely mystical philosophy tries in vain to satisfy those deeper instincts which reach out to the unseen4 ,in the history of ,greek thought the collision came in the days of ,xenophanes4 ,long before what is sometimes called the era of conscious morality1 ,greece had outgrown its traditional religion4 ,greek philosophy at its birth was mythology rationalized1 and the beginning of independent morality in ,greece shewed itself in a criticism of the religious teaching of ,homer and ,hesiod4 ,the scathing satire of ,xenophanes reminds us at times of the way in which ,isaiah speaks of the idolatry of his day4 ,it is not only wrong1 it is capable of a reductio ad absurdum4 ,anthropomorphism1 immorality1 childish folly--these are the charges which ,xenophanes brings against the worship of ,magna ,graecia4 ,anaxagoras had already been banished for suggesting that the god ,helios was a mass of molten iron1 but ,xenophanes turns into open ridicule the religion of his day4 ',homer and ,hesiod1' he says1 'ascribe to the gods all that among men is held shameful and blameworthy1 theft1 adultery1 and deceit#gi4' ',one ,god there is mightiest among gods and men1 who neither in form nor thought is like to men4 ,yet mortals think the gods are born and have shape and voice and raiment like themselves4 ,surely if lions and cows had hands1 and could grave with their hands and do as men do1 they too would make gods like themselves1 horses would have horse-like gods1 and cows gods with horns and hoofs#hj4' ,when the age of moral philosophy begins1 amidst the unsettlement of the sophistic period1 the same protest is taken up by ,plato4 ,in ,xenophanes the protest of the reason and the conscience went together4 ,in ,plato the criticism of the received theology is more distinctly a moral criticism4 ,god cannot lie or deceive4 ,he cannot be the cause of evil4 ,he is good1 and only the source of good4 ,he is true in word and deed4 ,if not1 we cannot reverence ,him4 ,it cannot be true that the gods give way to violent emotions1 still less to sensuality and envy and strife#ha4 ',for ,god cannot be unrighteous1 ,he must be perfectly righteous1 and none is like ,him save the most righteous among men#hb4' ,here we have a collision between an immoral religious conception of ,god and a morality which is becoming conscious of its own strength4 ,and what was the result8 ,religion in ,greece received its death blow4 ,it had no real recuperative power4 ,it could not absorb and claim the new morality4 ,homer and ,hesiod1 the ',bible' of the ,athenian1 were too profoundly immoral4 ,a ,kephalus might go back in silent protest to his sacrifice1 but the youth of ,athens turned from religion to morality4 ,when we pass from ,plato to ,aristotle1 the last trace of religion in morals has disappeared4 ,theology has become ,metaphysics1 and has no place in the world of practical life4 ,the religious element has disappeared from philosophy1 and is only revived in the mysticism of ,neo-,pythagoreanism and ,neo-,platonism4 ,in metaphysics and science we owe everything to the ,greeks2 in religion1 as distinguished from theology1 we owe nothing4 ,from the ,greeks we turn to the ,jews1 to whom alone1 among the nations of the pre-,christian age1 we of the modern world trace back our religious lineage4 ,we speak of the religion of the ,old ,testament as 'revealed' in contrast with all other pre-,christian religions4 ,is that distinction tenable8 ,if so1 what does it mean1 and what justifies us in making it8 ,it is clear that the answer must be sought in what the ,old ,testament revelation is1 rather than in the process by which the ,jews became the appointed depositaries of it4 ,for whatever were the prehistoric elements out of which the religion of ,israel came1 whether ,assyrian or ,accadian or ,indo-,german or ,egyptian1 and whatever were the steps by which ,israel was led#hc to that doctrine of ,god which constituted its mission and its message to the world1 as we look back from the point of view of ,christianity we see that the religion of ,israel stands to the teaching of ,christ in a relation in which no ,pagan religion stands#hd4 ,the ,law and the ,prophets were for all the world 'a sacred school of the knowledge of ,god1 and the ordering of the soul#he4' ,if it is true that the ,bible only records the later and more important stages in a process which began in prehistoric times amidst the various forms of polytheistic worship1 even if it could be shewn that the history1 as we have it1 has been subjected to successive revisions1 that its laws have been codified1 its ritual elaborated1 its symbolism interpreted1 it would still remain true that the religion of ,israel1 which begins where its history begins1 and of which1 indeed1 its history is little more than the vehicle1 is bound up with the assertion of ,monotheism4 ,the central fact of its revelation is this1 ',hear1 ,o ,israel1 the ,lord our ,god is ,one ,lord4' ,the central utterance of its law is1 ',thou shalt have none other gods but ,me4' ,the unity of ,god1 that truth which other religions were feeling after and tending towards1 stands out clearly and distinctly as the characteristic of the religion of ,israel1 and is fearlessly claimed as an inheritance from the patriarchal age4 ,and not less remarkable than the assertion of the unity of ,god is the assumption that this ,one ,god is a ,god of ,righteousness4 ,he is 'a ,god of truth and without iniquity2 just and right is ,he4' ,here1 again1 it was not that the religion of ,israel asserted what other religions denied1 but that ,israel proclaimed clearly and with increasing certainty a truth which the highest contemporary religions were struggling to express4 ,in the religion of ,israel the pre-,christian world rose to articulate religious utterance4 ,its highest and truest intuitions found a voice4 ,israel had yet much to learn and much to unlearn as to what true morality is4 ,it had anthropomorphisms of thought and language to get rid of4 ,it had to rise in ,psalmist and ,prophet to moral heights unknown to the patriarchal age4 ,but the remarkable thing is that the claim is made4 ,morality is claimed for ,god3 ,god is declared to be irrevocably on the side of what man knows as righteousness4 ,and this truth is proclaimed not as a discovery but as a revelation from ,god ,himself4 ,it was this1 not less than the proclamation of monotheism1 which made the teaching of the ,old ,testament what it was4 ,it consciously transformed the natural law of 'might is right' into the moral truth that 'right is might4' ,and the consequences of this new departure in the religious history of man were far-reaching4 ,it made the difference between the religion of ,israel and all other religions a difference not merely of degree but of kind4 ,the worship of the ,lord and the worship of the heathen gods becomes not only a conflict between the true and the false in religion1 but between the moral and the immoral in practice4 ,more than this1 it changes the mere emotional feeling of awe and dependence on invisible powers into trust and confidence4 ,if ,god is irrevocably on the side of right1 the nation or the individual1 that is struggling for the right1 is fighting on the side of ,god4 ,it was this which made the great ,hebrew leaders1 and the ,psalmists after them1 take it for granted that their cause was the cause of ,god1 and that the ,lord of ,hosts was with them4 ,even the wars of extermination were the expression in act of the utter antagonism between good and evil1 the cause of ,god and that of ,his enemies4 ,and when ,saul spared ,agag it was from no excess of charity1 no glimpse of a higher morality2 it was an act of moral weakness4 ,finally1 this claim of morality for ,god precluded the possibility of such a collision as took place in the history of the ,greeks4 ,the progressive development of morals in the ,old ,testament1 and the gradual unfolding of a perfect character#hf was also for ,israel a progressive revelation of the character of ,god4 ,step by step the religious idea advanced with moral progress4 ,and1 as they advance1 the contrast with other religions becomes more marked4 ',it was the final distinction between ,polytheism and the religion of ,israel that the former emphasized power1 the latter the moral element to which it subordinated and conjoined power#hg4' ,and this moral conception of ,god was constantly kept before the people4 ,if they lapse into idolatry and adopt heathen practices and heathen ideas of ,god1 the prophets are ready with the warning that ,god is the ,god of ,israel1 only because ,israel is a chosen people to bear ,his name and ,his truth before the world2 and if they are false to their mission1 they will be rejected4 ,if1 again1 the sacrificial system loses its moral significance as the recognition of the holiness of ,god and the sinfulness of the sinner1 and the forward-pointing look towards the great moral fact of the ,atonement1 and becomes merely ritual1 and perfunctory1 and formal1 the prophets dare to denounce even the divinely ordered sacrifices as things which ,god hates4 ,yet it was not that1 in the religion of ,israel1 morality was made the essential thing1 a nucleus of morals1 as it were1 with a halo of religious emotion round it4 ,it was that the religious and the moral consciousness are brought together in a real unity4 ,to love the ,lord is to hate evil4 ,god is ,one who gives ,his blessing to the righteous1 while the ungodly and him that delighteth in wickedness doth ,his soul abhor4 ,he1 then1 who would ascend into the hill of the ,lord and stand in ,his holy place1 must have clean hands1 and a pure heart1 and a lowly mind4 ,the ,lord ,god is holy4 ,he has no pleasure in wickedness1 neither shall any evil dwell with ,him4 ,righteousness and judgment are the habitation of ,his seat4 ,the sacrifice that ,he loves is the sacrifice of righteousness4 ,he is to be worshipped in the beauty of holiness4 ,what ,he requires of man is that he shall do justly1 and love mercy1 and walk humbly with his ,god4 ,all this1 which comes out no doubt with increasing clearness in the ,psalms and ,prophets1 is already implicit in that earlier claim made by the religion of ,israel1 that the true ,god is on the side of righteousness1 and that to be false to righteousness is to be a traitor to ,god4 ,in this union of religion and morality neither is sacrificed to the other4 ,each gains from its union with the other4 ,the religious idea of ,god1 and the religious emotions which gather round it1 are progressively purified with the growth of moral ideas2 and morality receives new life and strength when the moral law is seen to be the unfolding of the character of a ,righteous ,god1 and moral evil is known as 'sin' against a ,personal ,being4 ,the earnest moral protest which in ,greece was directed against the national religion1 is found in the ,old ,testament making common cause with the national religion against the immoral beliefs of heathenism4 ,hence the ,jew was not called upon1 as the ,greek was1 to choose between his religion and his conscience4 ,he never felt the strain which men feel in the present day1 when a high and pure morality seems ranged against religious faith4 ,for the ,jew every advance in moral insight purified1 while it justified1 that idea of ,god1 which he believed had come down to him from the ',father of the ,faithful4' ,his hope of immortality1 his faith in the ultimate triumph of the ,god of ,israel1 were alike based upon the conviction that ,god is a ,god of justice and mercy1 and that the ,righteous ,one could not fail ,his people1 or suffer ,his holy ,one to see corruption4 ,even though with the growth of morality1 and the fuller unfolding of the character of ,god1 there came1 like a shadow cast by light1 the deepening consciousness of sin as the barrier between man and ,god1 the ,jew refused to believe that the separation was for ever4 ,sin was a disease which needed healing1 a bondage which called for a deliverer1 a state of indebtedness from which man could not free himself4 ,but ,israel believed in and looked forward to1 with confidence and hope1 the ,redeemer who should come to ,zion and save ,his people from their sins4 ,the final revelation of ,christianity came outwardly as a continuation and development of the religion of ,israel1 and claimed to be the fulfilment of ,israel's hope4 ,it was a 'republication' of the highest truth about ,god which had been realized hitherto4 ,for it came 'not to destroy but to fulfil4' ,god is still the ,eternally ,one1 the ,eternally ,righteous4 ,not sacrifice but holiness1 not external 'works' but inward 'faith1' not the deeds of the law1 but the righteousness which is of ,god--this is what ,he requires4 ,he is still the ,god of ,israel4 ,but ,israel according to the flesh had ceased to be the ,israel of ,god1 and the children of faithful ,abraham1 in whom1 according to the ancient promise1 all the families of the earth should be blessed1 are to be gathered from east and west and north and south1 from circumcised and uncircumcised1 barbarian1 ,scythian1 bond or free1 and recognised as one family under the one ,father4 ,if ,christianity had been this and this only1 ,christ might have claimed to be a great prophet1 breaking the silence of #djj years1 restoring the ancient faith1 and truly interpreting and carrying forward the spirit of the ancient revelation4 ,but ,he claimed to be more than this4 ,he claimed1 as the ,son of ,god1 to be not only the true1 but the only1 ,revealer of the ,father4 ,for 'no man knoweth the ,father but the ,son1 and he to whom the ,son shall reveal ,him4' ,what fresh characteristics1 then1 has this new revelation to add to the ,old ,testament teaching about ,god8 ,he is still ,one1 the only ,god4 ,he is perfect ,righteousness1 yet1 as even the older religion knew1 a ,god of loving-kindness and tender mercy1 ',who wills not the death of the sinner4' ,but more than all this1 ,he is now revealed to man as ,infinite ,love1 the ,one ,father of humanity1 ,whose only begotten ,son is ,incarnate and 'made man that we may be made ,god4' ,not one jot or tittle of the old revelation of ,god1 as a ,god of ,righteousness1 is lost or cancelled4 ,the moral teaching is stern and uncompromising as ever4 ,god's love1 which is ,himself1 is not the invertebrate amiability1 or weak good-naturedness1 to which some would reduce it4 ',the highest righteousness of the ,old ,testament is raised to the completeness of the ,sermon on the ,mount#hh4' ,the ,new ,testament1' it has been said1 'with all its glad tidings of mercy1 is a severe book#hi4' ,for the goodness and the severity of ,god are1 as it were1 the convex and the concave in ,his moral nature4 ,but what seized upon the imagination of mankind as the distinctive revelation of ,christianity was the infinite love and tenderness and compassion of this ,righteous ,god for sinful man4 ,it was this which shone out in the character of ,christ1 ,he was ,very ,god1 with a ,divine hatred of evil1 yet living as man among men1 revealing the true idea of ,god1 and not only realizing in ,his human life the moral ideal of man1 but by taking human nature into ,himself setting loose a power of moral regeneration1 of which the world had never dreamed4 ,the advance which the ,gospel of ,christ makes upon the ,old ,testament revelation consists then1 not only in the new truth it teaches as to the character of ,god1 but in the new relation which it establishes between ,god and man4 ,so soon as men learn the ,old ,testament truth that ,god is eternally on the side of righteousness1 the awe and cringing fear1 which lies behind heathen religions1 and justifies us in calling them superstitions1 gives place to trustful confidence1 which deepens into faith1 and gathers round it those affections and desires for union with ,god which find expression in the book of ,psalms4 ,the saints of the ,old ,testament could 'rest in the ,lord' and wait for the vindication of ,his ,righteousness in human life2 they could yearn for ,his presence and hope for the day when they should 'see the ,king in ,his beauty4' ,but they were yet separated from ,him by the unobliterated fact of sin4 ,enoch 'walked with ,god1' ,abraham was called 'the friend of ,god1' ,moses 'the ,lord knew face to face1' ,david was 'a man after ,god's own heart1' ,daniel 'a man greatly beloved4' ,but one and all of these fell short1 and necessarily fell short1 of the closeness of that union which is the ,christian's birthright4 ,in the ,gospel1 ,god is revealed as one with man4 ,and this truth changed the whole attitude and atmosphere of worship4 ,there was worship still1 for humanity was not merged and lost in ,godhead4 ,there is no ,christian ring about the statement#ij that 'in ,christianity1 in the consciousness that he is partaker of the ,divine existence1 man no longer sustains the relation of ,dependence but of ,love4' ,rather the antithesis between dependence and freedom is destroyed4 ,as perfect love casts out fear1 yet leaves reverence1 so the consciousness of union with ,god1 as distinct from absorption in ,him1 while it destroys the last remnant of what is servile and degrading in religious emotion1 and gives man freedom1 yet gives the freedom of loving dependence upon ,god4 ,and by this gift it sets free new affections and appeals to new motives4 ,it was the assured consciousness of union with ,god which gave the first ,christians their power in the great moral struggles of their day4 ,their moral ideal with its loftiness1 its purity1 its perfect truthfulness1 would by its very perfectness have paralyzed effort1 had they not believed that they were one with ,him ,who had not only proclaimed but realized it1 that they could do all things through ,christ which strengthened them4 ,and the horror of sin1 which was a characteristic note of ,christian ethics1 was due to the same fact4 ,unrighteousness1 not only as under the ,old ,testament1 ranged a man on the side of the enemies of ,god1 but according to its degree tended to break the supernatural bond which through the ,incarnation united men with ,god4 ,impurity1 which meant so little for the civilized world of the first ,christian centuries1 was for the ,christian not defilement only1 but sacrilege1 for his body was ,god's temple4 ,the love of the world was enmity against ,god1 yet the neglect of social duties1 and of all that is now summed up in the 'service of man1' was for the ,christian ipso facto the declaring himself outside the love of ,god1 just as1 conversely1 the love of the brethren was the proof that he had 'passed from death unto life4' ,thus in primitive ,christianity the religious and the moral consciousness were at one1 as in the ,old ,testament1 but both are now raised to their highest level4 ,free scope is given for the development of both1 and the satisfaction of the demands of both1 in ,christian life and ,christian worship4 ,side by side they fought and triumphed over heathenism1 taking up and assimilating all that was best and truest in non-,christian ethics4 ,and though ,christians were long in learning what manner of spirit they were of1 it seemed as if a real conflict between religion and morals1 within the area of ,christianity1 was impossible4 ,and yet again and again1 in the history of ,christianity1 such a conflict has come about4 ,every moral reformation within the ,church was a protest of the conscience against unworthy views of ,god2 every new ,order that was founded was a nursery of moral reformation4 ,yet every protest against formalism and unreality in religion1 every attack on ecclesiasticism and 'priestcraft' in the ,church1 or on worldliness and laxity in professing ,christians1 owed its strength to the reassertion of the truth1 that in the ,christian idea religion and morals are inseparably united4 ,the moral reformer always claimed ,christianity on his side1 when attacking the ,christianity of his day4 ,this was conspicuously so in the great moral upheaval of the sixteenth century4 ,in actual fact1 religion and morality had separated4 ,and the nearer one got to the centre of ,western ,christendom1 the more open and unabashed the neglect of morality was4 ,in ,italy of the fifteenth century renaissance we see1 in strange confusion1 'all that we love in art1 and all that we loathe in man#ia4' ,it seemed as if1 as in the old riddle1 a swarm of bees had settled in the dead lion's carcass1 and there was sweetness instead of strength1 corruption where once was life4 ,when the new century opened1 ,borgia was the supreme ,bishop of the ,west1 and the strength of the protest of ,christianity against immorality may be gathered from the list of prices to be paid to the pardoner4 ,the devout retired from the contest into the severer discipline of the monastic life1 and hoped against hope for the days of a ,papa angelicus1 who never came4 ,yet when the strained relations of religion and morals resulted in a revolution1 it never occurred to those1 who had a moral reformation at heart1 to say that religion was outgrown1 and morality must henceforth take its place4 ,they appealed from the ,christianity of the sixteenth century to the ,christianity of ,christ4 ,even of those who1 in their fear of popery1 broke away farthest from the ,christian idea of ,god1 all1 if we except the ,anabaptists1 claimed the ,bible on their side4 ,it was a genuine moral revolt against a religion which had come to tolerate immorality4 ,the hatred of 'ecclesiasticism' and 'sacerdotalism' was not at first a rejection of the ,church and the ,priesthood1 but a protest against anything which1 under the sacred name of religion1 becomes a cover for unreality1 or makes sin a thing easy to be atoned for4 ,the ,reformation was a moral protest1 and its results were seen within as well as outside the ,roman communion4 ,the ,council of ,trent was a reforming ,council2 the ,jesuits were the children of the ,reformation2 and ,roman ,christianity in the strength of its own moral revival1 even in the moment of defeat1 became again 'a conquering power#ib4' ,on the other hand1 those whose first impulse was a protest in favour of a moral religion and a belief in a ,god who hates iniquity1 have bequeathed to the world a legacy of immorality1 of which they never dreamt1 and of which we1 in the present day1 are feeling the full effects4 ,lutheranism starts with the belief that ,god is love3 ,calvinism with the conception of ,god as power4 ,with the former1 the desire1 at all costs1 to guard the belief in the freedom of ,god's grace1 led to a morbid fear of righteousness1 as if it were somehow a rival to faith4 ,with the latter1 a one-sided view of the power of ,god gradually obscured the fact that righteousness and justice eternally condition its exercise4 ,if the one was1 as history shews us1 in constant danger of ,antinomian developments1 the other struck at the root of morality by making ,god ,himself unjust4 ,forensic fictions of substitution1 immoral theories of the ,atonement1 'the rending asunder of the ,trinity' and the opposing of the ,divine ,persons1 like parties in a lawsuit#ic1 were the natural corollaries of a theory which taught that ,god was above morality and man beneath it4 ,how deeply these false views of ,god have influenced ,english religious thought is shewn by the fact that every attack on the moral1 as distinguished from the intellectual position of ,christianity1 is demonstrably an attack on that which is not ,christianity1 but a mediaeval or modern perversion of it4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill's well-known words#id1 ',i will call no being good1 who is not what ,i mean when ,i apply that epithet to my fellow creatures1' was a noble assertion of 'immutable morality' against a religion1 which alas6 he mistook for ,christianity4 ,the conscience of to-day1--and it is a real gain that it should be so1--refuses to believe that the imprimatur of religion can be given to that which is not good1 or that ,god would put us to moral confusion4 ,it would rather give up religion altogether than accept one which will not endorse and advance our highest moral ideas4 ,but men do not always stop to make the necessary distinctions4 ,on the one side they see a traditional view of religion which they cannot harmonise with the highest morality2 on the other1 they see a morality1 which1 though it has grown up under the shadow and shelter of religion1 seems strong enough to stand alone4 ,and their first thought is ',away with religion4 ,we have outgrown it4 ,henceforward we will have morals unencumbered by religion4' ,what would be the effect on the morals of a nation of thus renouncing the religious sanction it is not safe to predict4 ,in individuals certainly it sometimes has disastrous results4 ,but there is one thing which those who talk about the 'secularization of morals#ie' seldom take into account1 and that is the effect on what1 in contrast to morals1 they call religion4 ,the religious consciousness always refuses to be treated as defunct1 and the religious emotions1 if they no longer find their object in a ,god of ,righteousness1 and are no longer controlled by morality1 will not be satisfied with the worship of the ,unknowable or of idealized humanity1 but will avenge themselves1 as they have done again and again1 in superstition#if4 ,and the attempt to do without religion in morals is as unphilosophical as it is dangerous4 ,it is parallel to what1 in the region of morality proper1 we all recognise as a false asceticism4 ,it is the attempt to crush out1 rather than to purify4 ,when men realize the danger of giving the rein to the animal passions1 there are always to be found moralists who will treat these passions as in themselves evil1 and advocate the suppression of them4 ,and only after an antinomian revolt against that false teaching do men realize that morality is not the destruction1 but the purification and regulation of the passions4 ,so with religion and the religious emotions4 ,the function of morality is to purify the religious idea of ,god1 and religion and morality are strong and true in proportion as each uses the help of the other4 ,but neither can treat the other as subordinate4 ,god is more than what ,kant makes ,him1 the ultimate justification of morality3 morality is more than what some religious people would have it1 obedience to the positive commands of even ,god ,himself4 ,in experience we find them separate and even opposed3 ideally they are one1 united not confused4 ,separated1 religion tends to become superstitious1 morality to degenerate into a mere prudentialism1 or at least an expanded utilitarianism4 ,united1 religion gives to right that absolute character which makes it defiant of consequences2 morality safeguards the idea of ,god from aught that is unworthy of the worship of moral beings4 ,as the result of all the conflicts which have raged round the idea of ,god so far as morals are concerned1 one truth has burned itself into the consciousness of both the apologists and opponents of religion1 a truth as old indeed as the religion of ,israel1 but only slowly realized in the course of ages1 the truth1 namely1 that the religious idea of ,god must claim and justify itself to the highest known morality1 and no amount of authority1 ecclesiastical or civil1 will make men worship an immoral ,god4 ,and already that truth has thrown back its light upon questions of ,old ,testament morality4 ,we no longer say1 ',it is in the ,bible1 approved or allowed by ,god1 and therefore it must be right4' ,it was this view which1 in every age1 has given its protection to religious wars and intolerance and persecution4 ,but we look back and see in the perspective of history how ,god in every age takes man as he is that ,he may make him what he is not4 ,we see in the ,old ,testament not only the revelation of the ,righteousness of ,god1 but the record of the way in which1 in spite of waywardness and disobedience1 ,he raised ,his people to the knowledge of the truth4 ,,vi4 ,but the religious idea of ,god in our day1 as in former ages1 is challenged not only by conscience1 but by the speculative reason4 ,and there is a close parallelism between the two conflicts4 ,when religion and morals are opposed1 men naturally say1 ',give us morals2 away with religion4' ,and the answer is--,true religion is moral2 that which is not moral is not true2 and morality without religion will not only leave the religious consciousness unsatisfied1 but fall short of its own true perfection4 ,so when religion and philosophy are opposed1 men say once more1 ',give us reason2 away with religion4' ,and the answer again is--,true religion is rational3 if it excludes reason1 it is self-condemned4 ,and reason without religion fails of its object1 since1 if philosophy can find no place for religion1 it cannot explain man4 ,but here again nothing is gained by confusing the issue1 or denying the actual fact of the collision4 ,we may say with ,lacordaire1 ',god is the proper name of truth1 as truth is the abstract name of ,god4' ,but it is not a matter of indifference from which point we start1 whether with religion we approach ,god first as a moral ,being1 or with philosophy seek for ,him as the truth of man and nature4 ,the motto of ,oxford ,university1 ,dominus ,illuminatio mea1 altogether changes its meaning if we read it ,illuminatio ,dominus meus4 ,as ,rville says1 ',a religion may become philosophical1 but no philosophy has ever founded a religion possessing real historical power#ig4' ,and it is a fact patent to the observation of all1 that it is easier to make religion philosophical than to make philosophy in any real sense religious4 ,the reason of this is obvious4 ,religion is not only first in the field1 it covers the whole ground before either morals or science have attained their full development1 or even emerged into conscious life4 ,but when we speak of philosophy1 we have reached a stage in which the reason has already separated itself from1 and set itself over against1 the religious consciousness1 and must either absorb religion into itself1 in which case religion ceases to be religion1 or must leave religion outside1 though it may borrow and appropriate religious terms4 ,if1 then1 the idea of ,god is to appeal to both the religious consciousness and the speculative reason it must be by claiming philosophy for religion1 not by claiming religion for philosophy4 ,it is from within1 not from without1 that religion must be defended4 ,in ,greece the traditional polytheism was challenged1 as we have seen1 at once on the side both of morals and metaphysics4 ,to ,xenophanes1 indeed1 the unity of ,god is even more essential than ,his morality1 and the attack on anthropomorphism is as much an attack upon the number of the gods of ,hesiod as upon the immoral character attributed to them4 ,in the unity1 however1 which ,xenophanes contends for1 the religious idea of ,god is so attenuated1 that we hardly know whether the ,one ,god is a person1 or an abstraction4 ,indeed1 it is hard to see how a champion of ,eleaticism could consistently have held the personality of ,god1 as we understand it1 without falling under his own charge of anthropomorphism4 ,in ,plato the same difficulty appears1 only complicated or relieved by the fact that while from the moral side he talks like a theist1 from the metaphysical his teaching is pantheistic4 ,is the ',idea of ,good' personal8 ,is it a ,god we can love and worship1 or only a ,god we can talk about8 ,is the vision of ,er a concession to popular views1 or the vehicle of moral and religious truth8 ,the question is hardly more easy to decide with regard to ,aristotle4 ,the religious atmosphere1 which lingers on in ,plato1 has disappeared4 ,what of the religious belief8 ,did ,aristotle in any intelligible sense hold the personality of ,god8 ,great names are ranged on both sides of the mediaeval controversy4 ,who shall decide8 ,but whether or no anything of religion survived in philosophy1 it was not strong enough to withstand the attack of the moral and the speculative reason1 still less to claim these as its own4 ,it is not on the side of religion1 but of speculation1 that we are debtors to the ,greeks4 ,among the ,jews1 on the other hand1 speculation seems hardly to have existed4 ,religion was satisfied to make good her claim to the region of morals4 ,god was ,one1 and ,he was ,righteous1 but the mystery which enveloped ,his nature the ,old ,testament does not attempt to fathom4 ',clouds and darkness are round about ,him1' yet out of the thick darkness comes the clear unfaltering truth that ',righteousness and judgment are the habitation of ,his seat4' ,jewish religion and ,greek speculation had little contact1 and less kinship1 till the best days of both were passed4 ,but in the days of the dispersion we get the beginning of the mingling of those streams which were only united under the higher unity of ,christianity4 ',with the ,jews of the ,east1' it has been said1 'rested the future of ,judaism3 with them of the ,west1 in a sense1 that of the world4 ,the one represented old ,israel1 groping back into the darkness of the past2 the other young ,israel1 stretching forth its hands to where the dawn of a new day was about to break#ih4' ,the ,septuagint translation threw open to the ,greek world the sacred books of ,israel4 ,the ,apocrypha1 with all its glorification of ,judaism1 was both an apology and an eirenicon#ii4 ,it seemed as if in ,wisdom personified might be found a middle term between the religion of ,israel and the philosophy of ,greece1 and the life of righteousness might be identified with the life of true wisdom4 ,the ,jews of ,alexandria were thus willing to find a strain of truth in ,greek philosophy1 and ,alexandrian ,greeks were found ready 'to spiritualize their sensuous divinities#ajj4' ,but the result was a compromise1 in which the distinctive elements of each were not harmonized but lost4 ,there was no fusion as yet of ,jewish and ,greek thought1 only each was learning to understand the other1 and unconsciously preparing for the higher synthesis of ,christianity4 ,whether we think of ,christ as the ',son of ,man1' or as the ,revealer of ,god1 ,christianity is bound to transcend national distinctions1 and to claim not only the whole of humanity1 but the whole of man1 his reason1 no less than his heart and will4 ,and this ,christ did in a special way4 ,he not only speaks of ,himself as 'the ,truth1' and as having come 'to bear witness to the ,truth1' but the very complement 7if we may say so7 of ,his revelation of the ,father was the sending 'the ,spirit of ,truth1' who should teach ,his disciples all things4 ,this possession of 'truth' is always spoken of by ,christ as a future thing1 implicit indeed in ,himself1 ,who is the ,truth1 but only to be explicitly declared and brought to remembrance when the ,spirit of ,truth should come4 ,he was to guide them 'into all truth4' ',ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free4' ,it was inevitable1 then1 that the question should arise1--,will this religion1 which has broken through the narrowness of ,judaism1 and yet by its belief in a ,god of righteousness and love combated and triumphed over heathen immorality1 have the power to assimilate and absorb the philosophy of ,greece8 ,the great crisis in the world's history1 as we see it1 looking back from the security of eighteen centuries1 was this3--,will ,christianity1 with all its moral triumphs1 become a tributary to ,greek philosophy1 as represented by the ,schools of ,alexandria1 or will it claim and transform the rational1 as it has transformed the moral1 progress of humanity8 ,the answer of ,christianity is unhesitating4 ,christianity is truth1 and there is only one truth4 ,christianity is wisdom1 and there is only one wisdom2 for the wisdom of the world is not wisdom but folly4 ,and at once the rival claim is made4 ,why not a division of territory8 ,knowledge for the philosopher2 faith for the ,christian4 ,the ,gnostics taught1 as a modern philosopher teaches1 that religion is 'reason talking naively1' and that1 good as it is for ordinary people1 the ,gnostic can afford to do without it4 ,every one knows the answer of the ,apostles to the insidious suggestions of ,gnosticism4 ,to ,s4 ,peter it is 'a damnable heresy1 even denying the ,lord who bought us#aja4' ,to ,s4 ,paul it is the 'science falsely so called#ajb' the 'knowledge which puffs up#ajc2' the 'wisdom of this world#ajd4' ,to ,s4 ,john1 ,cerinthus was 'the enemy of the truth#aje4' ,to ,s4 ,polycarp1 ,marcion is 'the firstborn of ,satan4' ,it never occurred to the ,apostles1 or the ,apologists after them1 to retreat into the fastnesses of a reasonless faith4 ,for with them faith was implicit knowledge1 and the only knowledge that was true4 ,it was the collision of ,christianity with ,greek thought which gave rise to ,christian theology in the strict sense of the term4 ,its necessity was the claiming of ,greek as well as ,jew2 its justification was the belief in the presence of the ,spirit of truth2 its impulse the desire 'to know the things which are freely given to us by ,god#ajf4' ,the first ,christians were not theologians4 ,they were 'unlearned and ignorant men4' ,when ,christ preached1 the common people heard ,him gladly1 the publicans and the harlots believed ,him1 the poor found in ,his teaching 'good news1' and a few fishermen devoted their lives to ,him4 ,but the ,scribes and ,pharisees stood aloof2 and the rationalistic ,sadducees asked ,him captious questions2 and the ,herodians1 the ,erastians of the day1 tried to involve ,him with the secular power4 ,it was only when challenged by an earnest1 but non-religious philosophy1 that reason came forward1 in the strength of the ,spirit of truth1 to interpret to itself and to the world the revelation of ,christ4 ,religion and theology in different ways have to do with the knowledge of ,god and of spiritual truth4 ,they have the same object1 ,god1 but their aims and their methods are different4 ,religion knows ,god2 theology is concerned with the idea of ,god4 ,religion sees2 theology thinks4 ,religion begins and ends in an almost instinctive attitude of worship2 theology rationalizes and defines the characteristics of the ,object of worship4 ,as reason seeks to interpret feeling1 so theology interprets religion4 ,it makes explicit what is implicit in religion4 ',as the intellect is cultivated and expanded1 it cannot refrain from the attempt to analyse the vision which influences the heart1 and the object in which it centres2 nor does it stop till it has1 in some sort1 succeeded in expressing in words1 what has all along been a principle both of the affections and of practical obedience#ajg4' ,it takes the facts which the religious consciousness has seized1 seeks to bring them into distinctness before the mental vision1 to connect them with one another in a coherent system1 and find in them the explanation and unity of all that is4 ,christian theology grows naturally out of the ,christian religion4 ,but religion is a divine life2 theology a divine science4 ,this explains the fact that though both religion and theology have to do with the knowledge of ,god1 and ideally work in perfect harmony1 yet they are often found opposed4 ,theology is always in danger of becoming unreal4 ,what is an interpretation for one age becomes 'a tongue not understanded' in the next4 ,hence when a revival of religious life comes1 it frequently shews itself in an attack on the received theology4 ,theology is no longer regarded as the scientific expression of the very truths which religion values2 it is conceived of as the antithesis of religion1 and reformers dream of a new theology which shall be for them what1 though they know it not1 the old theology was to their predecessors1 the handmaid and guardian of religious truth4 ,when ,martin ,luther said that 'an old woman who reads her ,bible in the chimney corner knows more about ,god than the great doctors of theology1' he was emphasising the severance which1 in his day1 had come1 to exist between a religious life and theological orthodoxy4 ,and when in his ,table ,talk he says1 ',a ,jurist may be a rogue1 but a theologian must be a man of piety1' he touches a real truth4 ,a hundred years later1 amid the confusions and unrealities of the seventeenth century1 ,john ,smith#ajh1 the ,cambridge ,platonist1 said the same3 ',they are not always the best skilled in divinity1' he says1 'that are most studied in those pandects into which it is sometimes digested4' ',were ,i to define divinity1 ,i should rather call it a divine life than a divine science4' ,technically1 no doubt1 he was wrong1 for theology is a science and not a life1 but1 like ,luther1 he was vindicating the truth that it is possible for quite simple people to know ,god1 though they have no knowledge of theology1 and that theology1 when it becomes speculative and abstract1 ceases to be theology4 ,a theologian1 as ,mazzini says of an artist1 'must be a high-priest or a charlatan4' ,but the world dislikes a high-priest1 and good people dislike a charlatan4 ,and the consequence is that theology1 ancient or modern1 is attacked from two very different points of view1 by those who look upon it as the antithesis of 'the simple ,gospel1' and by those who approach it from the side of speculative thought4 ,theology claims to be a divine science4 ,religious people attack it because it is a science2 philosophers because it claims to be divine4 ,to the former1 religion expressed in rational terms ceases to be religion2 to the latter1 that science is no science which claims for itself unique conditions4 ,yet ,s4 ,paul seems to recognise both the necessity and the uniqueness of theology when he says to the ,greeks of ,corinth1 ',we received not the spirit of the world1 but the spirit which is of ,god1 that we might know the things that are freely given us by ,god4' ,it is the relation of ,christian theology to philosophy and science with which we are specially concerned4 ,but it is impossible to pass by the objection to theology which comes as it were ab intra from the side of religion4 ,for if it is valid1 then ,christianity may as well give up at once any idea of being the religion of man4 ,yet people say1 ',why have a theology8 ,human reason cannot search out the deep things of ,god2 it will only put new difficulties in a brother's way2 why not rest content with the words of ,holy ,scripture1 with simple truths like ,god is love1 and simple duties like ,love one another1 and leave theology alone8' ,now without denying what ,george ,eliot calls 'the right of the individual to general haziness1' or asserting that every ,christian must be a theologian1 we may surely say that ,christianity is bound to have a theology4 ,and even individual ,christians1 if they ever grow into the manhood of reason1 must have a theology1 or cease to be religious4 ,the protest against theology from the side of religion looks modest and charitable enough till we remember that religious haziness is generally1 if not always1 the outcome of moral laziness2 that it implies the neglect of a duty and the neglect of a gift2--the duty of realizing to the reason the revelation of ,christ1 and the gift of the ,spirit of ,truth to enable us to do it4 ,more than this1 the protest against theology in the interests of religion is irrational and suicidal4 ,to tell a thinking man that he need not interpret to his reason what religion tells him of ,god1 is like saying to him1 ',be religious if you will1 but you need not let your religion influence your conduct4' ,if ,christianity had been content to be a moral religion1 if it had abandoned its claim to rationality and had left ,greek speculation alone1 it must have accepted either the ,gnostic division of territory1 or recognised an internecine conflict between religion and philosophy4 ,and it did neither2 but1 under the guidance of the ,spirit of ,truth1 ,christian theology arose and claimed the reason of the ancient world4 ,thus as the religion of the ,old ,testament claims morality for ,god1 so ,christianity goes further and claims to hold the key to the intellectual problems of the world4 ,so far as the nature of ,god is concerned1 ,christianity met the intellectual difficulties of the first centuries by the ,doctrine of the ,trinity4 ,from time to time people make the discovery that the doctrine of the ,trinity is older than ,christianity4 ,if the discoverer is a ,christian apologist1 he usually explains that ,god has given anticipatory revelations to men of old1 and points out how they fall short of the revelation of ,christianity4 ,if he is an opponent of ,christianity1 he triumphantly claims to have unmasked the doctrine and tracked it down to a purely natural origin4 ',people think1' says ,hegel1 'that by pronouncing a doctrine to be ,neo-,platonic1 they have ipso facto banished it from ,christianity#aji4' ,men have found the doctrine1 or something like it1 not only in the ,old ,testament but in ,plato and ,neo-,platonism1 and among the ,ophite ,gnostics1 in the ,chinese ,tao-,t-,ching and the ',three ,holy ,ones' of ,bouddhism1 in the ,tri-mrti of ,hinduism and elsewhere4 ,why not8 ,revelation never advances for itself the claim which its apologists sometimes make for it1 the claim to be something absolutely new4 ,a truth revealed by ,god is never a truth out of relation with previous thought4 ,he leads men to feel their moral and intellectual needs before ,he satisfies either4 ,there was a preparation for ,hebrew monotheism1 as there was a preparation for the ,gospel of ,christ4 ,there was an intellectual preparation for the doctrine of the ,trinity1 as there was a moral preparation for the doctrine of the ,incarnation4 ,if the ,christian doctrine of the ,incarnation is distinguished from the avatars of ,hinduism1 and the incarnations of ,thibetan ,lamaism1 by its regenerative moral force1 the ,christian doctrine of the ,trinity is no less distinguished from the pseudo-trinities of ,neo-,platonism and its modern developments by the fact that for eighteen centuries it has been the safeguard of a pure ,monotheism against everything which menaces the life of religion4 ,but ,christian theology is not 'a philosophy without assumptions4' ,it does not attempt to prove sola ratione the doctrine of the ,trinity1 but to shew how that which reason demands is met and satisfied by the ,christian doctrine of ,god4 ,starting with the inheritance of faith1 the belief in the ,divinity of ,christ1 and trusting in the guidance of the ,spirit of ,truth1 it throws itself boldly into the rational problem1 fights its way through every form of ,unitarianism1 and interprets its faith to itself and to the world at large in the doctrine of the ,triune ,god4 ,its charter is the formula of ,baptism1 where the 'treasures of immediate faith are gathered up into a sentence1 though not yet formulated into a doctrine#aaj4' ,to the ,greek mind two things had become clear before ,christianity came into the world1 and it would be easy to trace the steps by which the conclusions were reached4 ,first1 ,reason1 as relation-giving1 seeks for unity in the manifoldness of which it is conscious1 and will be satisfied with nothing less4 ,but ,eleaticism had convincingly proved that an abstract unity can explain nothing4 ,quite apart from questions of religion and morals1 the ,eleatic unity was metaphysically a failure4 ,plato had seen this1 and yet the 'dead hand' of ,eleaticism rested on ,platonism1 and the dialogue ,parmenides shewed how powerless the ,doctrine of ,ideas was to evade the difficulty4 ,thus the ,greeks more than #bjjj years ago had realized1 what is nowadays proclaimed1 as if it were a new discovery1 that an absolute unit is unthinkable1 because1 as ,plato puts it in the ,philebus1 the union of the one and the many is 'an everlasting quality in thought itself which never grows old in us4' ,the ,greeks1 like the ,jews1 had thus had their 'schoolmaster to bring them to ,christ4' ,they had not solved1 but they had felt1 the rational difficulty2 as the ,jews had felt1 but had not overcome1 except through the ,messianic hope1 the separation of man from ,god4 ,but as the ,trinitarian doctrine took shape1 ,christian teachers realized how the ,christian1 as opposed to the ,jewish1 idea of ,god1 not only held the truth of the ,divine ,unity as against all polytheistic religions1 but claimed reason on its side against all ,unitarian theories4 ,they did not1 however1 argue that it was true because it satisfied reason1 but that it satisfied reason because it was true4 ,they started1 indeed1 not with a metaphysical problem to be solved1 but with a historical fact to proclaim1 the fact of the ,resurrection1 and a doctrinal truth to maintain1 the ,divinity of ,him who rose4 ,and starting from that basis of fact revealed in ,christ1 they found themselves in possession of an answer to difficulties which at first they had not felt1 and thus their belief was justified and verified in the speculative region4 ,the truth for which they contended1 which was enshrined in their sacred writings1 was that 'the ,father is ,god1 the ,son is ,god1 and the ,holy ,ghost is ,god4 ,and yet they are not three ,gods1 but one ,god4' ,but the ,fathers do not treat this doctrine merely as a revealed mystery1 still less as something which complicates the simple teaching of ,monotheism1 but as the condition of rationally holding the ,unity of ,god4 ',the ,unity which derives the ,trinity out of its own self1' says ,tertullian1 'so far from being destroyed1 is actually supported by it#aaa4' ',we cannot otherwise think of ,one ,god1' says ,hippolytus1 'but by truly believing in ,father1 and ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost#aab4' ',the supreme and only ,god1' says ,lactantius1 'cannot be worshipped except through the ,son4 ,he who thinks that he worships the ,father only1 in that he does not worship the ,son also1 does not worship the ,father#aac4 ',without the ,son the ,father is not1' says ,clement of ,alexandria1 'for in that ,he is a ,father ,he is the ,father of the ,son1 and the ,son is the true teacher about the ,father#aad4' ,so ,origen argues1--,if ,god had ever existed alone in simple unity and solitary grandeur1 apart from some object upon which from all eternity to pour forth ,his love1 ,he could not have been always ,god4 ,his love1 ,his ,fatherhood1 ,his very omnipotence would have been added in time1 and there would then have been a time when ,he was imperfect4 ',the ,fatherhood of ,god must be coeval with ,his omnipotence2 for it is through the ,son that the ,father is ,almighty#aae4' ,this was the line of argument afterwards developed by ,s4 ,athanasius when he contended against the ,arians that the ,son was the reality or truth#aaf of the ,father1 without whom the ,father could not exist2 and by ,s4 ,augustine1 when he argues that love implies one who loves and one who is loved1 and love to bind them together#aag4 ,even one so unphilosophically minded as ,irenaeus#aah1 cannot but see in the ,christian doctrine of the relation of the ,father and the ,son1 the solution of the difficulty about the infinity of ,god3 ',immensus ,pater in ,filio mensuratus2 mensura ,patris ,filius4' ,while philosophy with increasing hopelessness was asking1 ,how can we have a real unity which shall be not a barren and dead unity1 but shall include differences8 ,christianity1 with its doctrine of ,god1 was arguing that that which was an unsolved contradiction for non-,christian thought1 was a necessary corollary of the ,christian ,faith#aai4 ,the other truth which ,greek thought had realized was the immanence of reason in nature and in man4 ,when ,anaxagoras first declared that the universe was the work of intelligence1 we are told that he seemed 'like a sober man amongst random talkers4' ,but both ,plato and ,aristotle accuse him of losing the truth which he had gained because he made intelligence appear only on occasions in the world1 dragged in1 like a stage-god1 when naturalistic explanations failed#abj4 ,the conception of creation out of nothing was of course unknown to ,anaxagoras4 ,intelligence is only the arranger of materials already given in a chaotic condition4 ,with ,aristotle too it is reason which makes everything what it is4 ,but the reason is in things1 not outside them4 ,nature is rational from end to end4 ,in spite of failures and mistakes1 due to her materials1 nature does the best she can and always aims at a good end#aba4 ,she works like an artist with an ideal in view#abb4 ,only there is this marked difference1--,nature has the principle of growth within herself1 while the artist is external to his materials#abc4 ,here we have a clear and consistent statement of the doctrine of immanent reason as against the ,anaxagorean doctrine of a transcendent intelligence4 ,if we translate both into the theological language of our own day1 we should call the latter the deistic1 the former the pantheistic1 view2 or1 adopting a distinction of supreme importance in the history of science1 we might say that we have here1 face to face1 the mechanical and the organic view of nature4 ,both were teleological1 but to the one1 reason was an extra-mundane cause1 to the other1 an internal principle4 ,it was the contrast between external and inner design1 as we know it in ,kant and ,hegel2 between the teleology of ,paley and the 'wider teleology' of ,darwin and ,huxley and ,fiske2 between the transcendent and immanent views of ,god1 when so held as to be mutually exclusive4 ,it is these two one-sided views which the ,christian doctrine of ,god brings together4 ,religion demands as the very condition of its existence a ,god who transcends the universe2 philosophy as imperiously requires ,his immanence in nature4 ,if either ,religion denies ,god's immanence1 or ,philosophy denies that ,he transcends the universe1 there is an absolute antagonism between the two1 which can only be ended by the abandonment of one or the other4 ,but what we find is that though ,philosophy 7meaning by that the exercise of the speculative reason in abstraction from morals and religion7 the more fully it realizes the immanence of ,god1 the more it tends to deny the transcendence1 religion not only has no quarrel with the doctrine of immanence1 but the higher the religion the more unreservedly it asserts this immanence as a truth dear to religion itself4 ,the religious equivalent for 'immanence' is 'omnipresence1' and the omnipresence of ,god is a corollary of a true monotheism4 ,as long as any remains of dualism exist1 there is a region1 however small1 impervious to the ,divine power4 ,but the ,old ,testament doctrine of creation1 by excluding dualism1 implies from the first1 if it does not teach1 the omnipresence of ,god4 ,for the omnipotence of ,god underlies the doctrine of creation1 and omnipotence involves omnipresence4 ,hence we find the ,psalmists and ,prophets ascribing natural processes immediately to ,god4 ,they know nothing of second causes4 ,the main outlines of natural science1 the facts of generation and growth1 are familiar enough to them1 yet every fact is ascribed immediately to the action of ,god4 ,he makes the grass to grow upon the mountains2 ,he fashions the child in the womb2 ,he feeds the young ravens2 ,he provides fodder for the cattle2 ,he gives to all their meat in due season2 when ,he lets ,his breath go forth they are made2 when ,he takes away their breath they die and return to dust4 ,this doctrine of the omnipresence of ,god1 as conceived by religion1 had however yet to be fused with the philosophical doctrine of immanence4 ,and here again the fusion was effected by the ,christian doctrine of ,god1 as ,trinity in ,unity4 ,the earlier ,apologists concern themselves first with the vindication of the ,divine attributes4 ,god's separateness from the world as against ,greek ,pantheism1 ,his omnipresence in it as against a ,judaising deism4 ,but the union of ,god's transcendence with ,his immanence1 and with it the fusion of the religious with the philosophic idea of ,god1 is only consciously completed by the ,doctrine of the ,trinity#abd4 ,the dying words of ,plotinus1 expressing as they did the problem of his life1 are said to have been1--',i am striving to bring the ,god which is within into harmony with the ,god which is in the universe4' ,and the unsolved problem of ,neo-,platonism1 which is also the unsolved problem of non-,christian philosophy in our day1 is met by the ,christian doctrine of ,god4 ,all and more than all that philosophy and science can demand1 as to the immanence of reason in the universe1 and the rational coherence of all its parts1 is included in the ,christian teaching3 nothing which religion requires as to ,god's separateness from the world1 which ,he has made1 is left unsatisfied4 ,the old familiar ,greek term which1 from the days of ,heracleitus1 had meant to the ,greek the rational unity and balance of the world1 is taken up by ,s4 ,john1 by ,s4 ,clement1 by ,s4 ,athanasius1 and given a meaning which those who started from the ,philonian position never reached4 ,it is the personal ,word1 ,god of ,god1 the ,only ,begotten of the ,father1 who is one in the ,holy ,spirit with the ,father4 ',the ,word was ,god4' ',by ,him all things were made4' ',he the ,all-powerful1 ,all-holy ,word of the ,father spreads ,his power over all things everywhere1 enlightening things seen and unseen1 holding and binding all together in ,himself4 ,nothing is left empty of ,his presence1 but to all things and through all1 severally and collectively1 ,he is the giver and sustainer of life4444 ,he1 the ,wisdom of ,god1 holds the universe like a lute1 and keeps all things in earth and air and heaven in tune together4 ,he it is ,who binding all with each1 and ordering all things by ,his will and pleasure1 produces the perfect unity of nature1 and the harmonious reign of law4 ,while ,he abides unmoved for ever with the ,father1 ,he yet moves all things by ,his own appointment according to the ,father's will#abe4' ,the unity of nature is1 thus1 no longer the abstract motionless simplicity of ,being1 which had been so powerless to explain the metaphysical problems of ,greece4 ,it is the living ,omnipresent ,word1 coeternal and consubstantial with the ,father1 and the philosophical truth becomes an integral part of that ,christian doctrine of ,god1 which1 while it safeguarded religion and satisfied reason1 had won its first and greatest victories in the field of morals4 ,,vii4 ,the ,christian doctrine of ,god triumphed over heathen morality and heathen speculation neither by unreasoning protest nor by unreal compromise1 but by taking up into itself all that was highest and truest in both4 ,why then is this ,christian idea of ,god challenged in our day8 ,have we outgrown the ,christian idea of ,god1 so that it cannot claim and absorb the new truths of our scientific age8 ,if not1 with the lessons of the past in our mind1 we may confidently ask1--,what fuller unfolding of the revelation of ,himself has ,god in store for us1 to be won1 as in the past1 through struggle and seeming antagonism8 ,the fact that the ,christian ,theology is now openly challenged by reason is obvious enough4 ,it almost seems as if1 in our intellectual life1 we were passing through a transition analogous to that which1 in the moral region1 issued in the ,reformation4 ,even amongst those who believe that ,christian morality is true1 there are to be found those who have convinced themselves that we have intellectually outgrown the ,christian ,faith4 ',the only ,god1' we have been told lately#abf1 'whom ,western ,europeans1 with a ,christian ancestry of a thousand years behind them1 can worship1 is the ,god of ,abraham1 ,isaac1 and ,jacob2 or rather1 of ,s4 ,paul1 ,s4 ,augustine and ,s4 ,bernard1 and of the innumerable blessed saints1 canonized or not1 who peopled the ages of ,faith4 ,no one wants1 no one can care for1 an abstract ,god1 an ,unknowable1 an ,absolute1 with whom we stand in no human or intelligible relation4' ',god1 as ,god1' says ,feuerbach#abg1 'the infinite1 universal1 non-anthropomorphic being of the understanding1 has no more significance in religion than a fundamental general principle has for a special science2 it is merely the ultimate point of support1 as it were1 the mathematical point of religion4' ,yet it is assumed that this is all that remains to us1 and we are left in the following dilemma1--',an anthropomorphic ,god is the only ,god whom men can worship1 and also the ,god whom modern thought finds it increasingly difficult to believe in#abh4' ,in such a state of things it is natural that men should turn to pantheism as a sort of middle term between religion and philosophy1 and even claim1 for the unity of the world1 the venerable name and associations of ,god4 ,but the remarkable thing is that in the numberless attempts to attack1 or defend1 or find a substitute for ,theism1 the ,christian1 or ,trinitarian1 teaching about ,god rarely appears upon the scene4 ,devout ,christians have come to think of the doctrine of the ,trinity1 if not exactly as a distinct revelation1 yet as a doctrine necessary for holding the divinity of ,christ1 without sacrificing the unity of ,god4 ,ordinary people take it for granted that ,trinitarianism is a sort of extra demand made on ,christian faith1 and that the battle must really be fought out on the ,unitarian basis4 ,if ,unitarian theism can be defended1 it will then be possible to go farther and accept the doctrine of the ,trinity4 ,it is natural that when ,christians take this ground1 those who have ceased to be ,christian suppose that1 though ,christianity is no longer tenable1 they may still cling to ',theism1' and even perhaps1 under cover of that nebulous term1 make an alliance not only with ,jews and ,mahommedans1 but with at least the more religious representatives of pantheism4 ,it is only our languid interest in speculation or a philistine dislike of metaphysics1 that makes such an unintelligent view possible4 ,unitarianism said its last word in the pre-,christian and early ,christian period1 and it failed1 as it fails now1 to save religion except at the cost of reason4 ,so far from the doctrine of the ,trinity being1 in ,mr4 ,gladstone's unfortunate phrase1 'the scaffolding of a purer theism1' non-,christian monotheism was the 'scaffolding' through which already the outlines of the future building might be seen4 ,for the modern world1 the ,christian doctrine of ,god remains as the only safeguard in reason for a permanent theistic belief#abi4 ,it is not difficult to see how it is that this truth is not more generally recognised4 ,the doctrine of the ,trinity1 by which the ,christian idea of ,god absorbed ,greek speculation into itself1 had but little point d'appui in the unmetaphysical western world4 ,it bore the imprimatur of the ,church2 it was easily deducible from the words of ,holy ,scripture2 it was seen to be essential to the holding of the divinity of ,christ4 ,but men forgot that the doctrine was 'addressed to the reason#acj2' and so its metaphysical meaning and value were gradually lost sight of4 ,in the days of the mediaeval ,papacy1 ecclesiastical were more effective than metaphysical weapons1 and ,scholasticism knew so much about the deepest mysteries of ,god1 that it almost provoked an agnostic reaction1 in the interests of reverence and intellectual modesty4 ,with the ,reformation came the appeal to the letter of ,holy ,scripture1 and the age of biblical1 as contrasted with scientific1 theology4 ,the only scientific theology of the ,reformation period was the awful and immoral system of ,john ,calvin1 rigorously deduced from a one-sided truth4 ,then came the age of physical science4 ,the break up of the mediaeval system of thought and life resulted in an atomism1 which1 if it had been more perfectly consistent with itself1 would have been fatal alike to knowledge and society4 ,translated into science it appeared as mechanism in the ,baconian and ,cartesian physics3 translated into politics it appeared as rampant individualism1 though combined by ,hobbes with ,stuart absolutism4 ,its theory of knowledge was a crude empiricism2 its theology unrelieved deism4 ,god was 'throned in magnificent inactivity in a remote corner of the universe1' and a machinery of 'second causes' had practically taken ,his place4 ,it was even doubted1 in the deistic age1 whether ,god's delegation of ,his power was not so absolute as to make it impossible for ,him to 'interfere' with the laws of nature4 ,the question of miracles became the burning question of the day1 and the very existence of ,god was staked on ,his power to interrupt or override the laws of the universe4 ,meanwhile ,his immanence in nature1 the 'higher pantheism1' which is a truth essential to true religion1 as it is to true philosophy1 fell into the background4 ,slowly but surely that theory of the world has been undermined4 ,the one absolutely impossible conception of ,god1 in the present day1 is that which represents ,him as an occasional ,visitor4 ,science had pushed the deist's ,god farther and farther away1 and at the moment when it seemed as if ,he would be thrust out altogether1 ,darwinism appeared1 and1 under the disguise of a foe1 did the work of a friend4 ,it has conferred upon philosophy and religion an inestimable benefit1 by shewing us that we must choose between two alternatives4 ,either ,god is everywhere present in nature1 or ,he is nowhere4 ,he cannot be here and not there4 ,he cannot delegate ,his power to demigods called 'second causes#aca4' ,in nature everything must be ,his work or nothing4 ,we must frankly return to the ,christian view of direct ,divine agency1 the immanence of ,divine power in nature from end to end1 the belief in a ,god in ,whom not only we1 but all things have their being1 or we must banish ,him altogether4 ,it seems as if1 in the providence of ,god1 the mission of modern science was to bring home to our unmetaphysical ways of thinking the great truth of the ,divine immanence in creation1 which is not less essential to the ,christian idea of ,god than to a philosophical view of nature4 ,and it comes to us almost like a new truth1 which we cannot at once fit it in with the old4 ,yet the conviction that the ,divine immanence must be for our age1 as for the ,athanasian age1 the meeting point of the religious and philosophic view of ,god is shewing itself in the most thoughtful minds on both sides4 ,our modes of thought are becoming increasingly ,greek1 and the flood1 which in our day is surging up against the traditional ,christian view of ,god1 is prevailingly pantheistic in tone4 ,the pantheism is not less pronounced because it comes as the last word of a science of nature1 for the wall which once separated physics from metaphysics has given way1 and positivism1 when it is not the paralysis of reason1 is but a temporary resting-place1 preparatory to a new departure4 ,we are not surprised then1 that one who1 like ,professor ,fiske1 holds that 'the infinite and eternal ,power that is manifested in every pulsation of the universe is none other than the living ,god1' and who vindicates the belief in a final cause because he cannot believe that 'the ,sustainer of the universe will put us to permanent intellectual confusion1' should instinctively feel his kinship with ,athanasianism1 and vigorously contend against the view that any part of the universe is ',godless#acb4' ,unfortunately1 however1 the rediscovery of the truth of ,god's immanence in nature1 coming1 as it has done1 from the side of a scientific theory1 which was violently assailed by the official guardians of the ,faith1 has resulted for many in the throwing aside of the counter and conditioning truth1 which saves religion from pantheism4 ,it seemed as if traditional ,christianity were bound up with the view that ,god is wholly separate from the world and not immanent in it4 ,and ,professor ,fiske has been misled#acc into the belief that ,s4 ,augustine is responsible for that false view4 ,it is almost incredible to anyone1 who has read any of ,s4 ,augustine's writings1 that1 according to this view1 he has to play the rle of the unintelligent and unphilosophical deist1 who thinks of ,god as 'a crudely anthropomorphic ,being1 far removed from the universe and accessible only through the mediating offices of an organized church#acd4' ,and not only is ,s4 ,augustine represented as a deist1 but ,s4 ,athanasius is made a pantheist1 and the supposed conflict between science and religion is1 we are told1 really the conflict between ,athanasian and ,augustinian ideas of ,god#ace4 ,yet1 as a matter of fact1 ,s4 ,athanasius and ,s4 ,augustine both alike held the truths which deism and pantheism exaggerate into the destruction of religion4 ,if ,s4 ,athanasius says1 ',the ,word of ,god is not contained by anything1 but ,himself contains all things4444 ,he was in everything and was outside all beings1 and was at rest in the ,father alone#acf3' ,s4 ,augustine says1 ',the same ,god is wholly everywhere1 contained by no space1 bound by no bonds1 divisible into no parts1 mutable in no part of ,his being1 filling heaven and earth by the presence of ,his power4 ,though nothing can exist without ,him1 yet nothing is what ,he is#acg4' ,the ,christian doctrine of ,god1 in ,athanasian days1 triumphed where ,greek philosophy failed4 ,it accepted the challenge of ,greek thought1 it recognised the demands of the speculative reason1 and found in itself the answer which1 before the collision with ,hellenism1 it unconsciously possessed4 ,it is challenged again by the metaphysics of our day4 ,we may be wrong to speculate at all on the nature of ,god1 but it is not less true now than in the first centuries of ,christianity1 that1 for those who do speculate1 a ,unitarian1 or ,arian1 or ,sabellian theory is as impossible as polytheism4 ,if ,god is to be ,personal1 as religion requires1 metaphysics demands still a distinction in the ,unity which unitarianism is compelled to deny4 ,but1 further1 the ,christian doctrine of ,god is challenged by the science of nature4 ,science1 imperiously and with increasing confidence1 demands a unity in nature which shall be not external but immanent1 giving rationality and coherence to all that is1 and justifying the belief in the universal reign of law4 ,but this immanence of ,god in nature unitarian theism cannot give1 save at the price of losing itself in pantheism4 ,deistic it might be1 as it was in the last century2 deistic it can be no longer1 unless it defiantly rejects the truth which science is giving us1 and the claims which the scientific reason makes4 ,it remains then for ,christianity to claim the new truth and meet the new demands by a fearless reassertion of its doctrine of ,god4 ,it has to bring forth out of its treasury things new and old1--the old almost forgotten truth of the immanence of the ,word1 the belief in ,god as 'creation's secret force1' illuminated and confirmed as that is by the advance of science1 till it comes to us with all the power of a new discovery4 ,slowly and under the shock of controversy ,christianity is recovering its buried truths1 and realizing the greatness of its rational heritage4 ,it teaches still that ,god is the eternally existent ,one1 the ,being on ,whom we depend1 and in ,whom we live1 the source of all reality and the goal to which creation moves1 the ,object alike of religion and philosophy1 the eternal ,energy of the natural world1 and the immanent reason of the universe4 ,it teaches that ,he is the eternally ,righteous ,one1 and therefore the ,judge of all1 irrevocably on the side of right1 leading the world by a progressive preparation for the revelation of ,himself as ,infinite ,love in the ,incarnation of the ,word1 stimulating those desires which ,he alone can satisfy1 the yearning of the heart for love1 of the moral nature for righteousness1 of the speculative reason for truth4 ,when men had wearied themselves in the search for a remedy for that which separates men from ,god1 the revelation is given of ,him ,who 'shall save ,his people from their sins4' ,and when reason had wandered long1 seeking for that which should be ,real and yet ,one1 a ,god ,who should satisfy alike the demands of religion and reason1 the doctrine of the ,trinity is unfolded4 ,it was the gradual revelation of ,god answering to the growing needs and capacity of man4 ,,viii4 ,it follows from the point of view adopted in the foregoing essay that there can be no proofs1 in the strict sense of the word1 of the existence of ,god4 ,reason has for its subject-matter1 the problem of essence1 not of existence1 the question1 ',what is ,god8' not ',is there a ,god8 ,proof can only mean verification posteriori of a truth already held4 ,we approach the problem with an unreasoned consciousness of dependence on a ,being or ,beings who are to us invisible4 ,this we interpret crudely1 or leave uninterpreted4 ,the belief may express itself in ancestor-worship1 or nature-worship1 or what not4 ,but as our moral and intellectual nature develops1 its light is turned back upon this primitive undefined belief4 ,conscience demands that ,god shall be moral1 and with the belief that ,he is1 there comes confidence and trust1 deepening into faith and hope and love3 the speculative reason demands that ,god shall be ,one1 the immanent unity of all that is4 ,and the doctrine of ,god1 which is best able to satisfy each and all of these demands1 persists as the permanent truth of religion4 ,but neither conscience nor the speculative reason can demonstrate#ach ,god's existence4 ,and it is always possible for men to carry their distrust of that which is instinctive so far as to assume that it is always false because they have found that it is not always true4 ,reason cannot prove existence4 ,the so-called proof1 a contingentia 7which underlies ,h4 ,spencer's argument for the existence of the ,unknowable71 is an appeal to that very consciousness of dependence which some people consider a weakness1 and a thing to educate themselves out of4 ,the appeal to the consensus gentium can establish only the generality1 not the strict universality1 of religion4 ,it will always be possible to find exceptions1 real or apparent1 to the general rule2 while as for what is known as the ontological argument1 which on principles of reason would justify the instinctive belief1 it requires a metaphysical training to understand it or at least to feel its force4 ,there remain1 however1 the two great arguments from conscience and from nature1 which are so frequently discussed in the present day4 ,with regard to the first1 there is no doubt that the belief in ,god will in any age find its strongest corroboration in the conscience4 ,even in the mind of a ,felix the ideas of 'righteousness1 temperance1 and judgment to come' had a strange and terrifying coherence4 ,there is that much of truth in the statement that religion is founded in 'fear4' ,but the argument from conscience has been weakened by being overstated4 ,conscience1 as we know it1 has won1 not indeed its existence1 but the delicacy of its moral touch1 and the strength of its 'categorical imperative1' from the assured belief in a real relationship between man and a holy and loving ,god4 ,when that belief has ceased to exist1 conscience still survives1 and it is possible and justifiable to appeal to it as a fact which can be explained by religion1 but without religion must be explained away4 ,but it is a mistake to suppose that we can take the untrained and undeveloped conscience1 and argue direct from it to a righteous ,god4 ,the lumen naturale1 in its lowest development1 gives but a faint and flickering gleam4 ,we cannot argue back from it to a ,god of love1 or even a ,god of righteousness1 unless we interpret it in the fuller light of the conscience which has been trained and perfected under the growing influence of the belief4 ,the idea of 'duty1' which is so hard to explain on utilitarian grounds1 is not to be found1 as we know it1 in ,greek ethics4 ,for it implies a fusion of morals with religion1 as we can trace it in the history of ,israel1 and the teaching of ,christian ethics4 ,if it is impossible to explain duty as the result of association between the ideas of public and private advantage1 it is no less impossible to make it an independent premise for a conclusion which is presupposed in it4 ,the argument from nature is closely parallel4 ,it is hard for those1 whose lives have been moulded on the belief in ,god1 the ,maker of heaven and earth1 to understand the inconclusiveness of the argument to those who have abandoned that belief1 and start1 as it were1 from outside4 ,consequently it has been made to bear more than it can carry4 ,no doubt the evolution which was at first supposed to have destroyed teleology is found to be more saturated with teleology than the view which it superseded4 ,and ,christianity can take up the new as it did the old1 and find in it a confirmation of its own belief4 ,but it is a confirmation not a proof1 and taken by itself is incomplete4 ,it is a great gain to have eliminated chance1 to find science declaring that there must be a reason for everything1 even when it cannot hazard a conjecture as to what the reason is4 ,but apart from the belief of our moral nature1 that in the long run everything must make for righteousness1 that the world must be moral as well as rational1 and that the dramatic tendency in the evolution of the whole would be irrational if it had not a moral goal1 the science of nature is powerless to carry us on to a ,personal ,god4 ,but the strength of a rope is greater than the strength of its separate strands4 ,the arguments for the existence of ,god are1 it has been said1 'sufficient not resistless1 convincing not compelling#aci4' ,we can never demonstrate the existence of ,god either from conscience or from nature4 ,but our belief in ,him is attested and confirmed by both4 ,in this matter1 the belief in ,god stands on the same level with the belief in objective reality4 ,both have been explained away by philosophers4 ,neither can be proved but by a circular argument4 ,both persist in the consciousness of mankind4 ,both have been purified and rationalized by the growth of knowledge4 ,but the moment reason attempts to start without assumptions1 and claims exclusive sovereignty over man1 a paralysis of thought results4 ,there have been1 before now1 philosophers who professed to begin at the beginning1 and accept nothing till it was proved1 and the result was a pure ,pyrrhonism4 ,they could not prove the existence of an external world4 ,they believed it1 even if they did not1 like ,hume1 exult in the fact that belief triumphed over demonstration1 but there was no sure ground for believing that the world was not a mere cerebral phenomenon1 except the curiously rational coherence of its visions4 ,even ,prof4 ,huxley1 in his ultra-sceptical moods1 admits this4 ,he says#adj that 'for any demonstration that can be given to the contrary effect1 the collection of perceptions1 which makes up our consciousness1 may be an orderly phantasmagoria generated by the ,ego1 unfolding its successive scenes on the background of the abyss of nothingness4' ,but no one1 least of all a man of science1 believes this to be so4 ,he takes reality for granted1 and only tries to interpret it aright1 i4e4 in such a way as to make a rational unity of the facts perceived4 ,tell a scientific specialist1--',i am not going to let you beg the question4 ,you must first prove that nature exists1 and then ,i will hear about the science of nature1' and he will say ',that is metaphysics1' which to him is probably a synonym for an intellectual waste of time4 ',look at nature1' he will say1 'what more do you want8 ,if nature had been merely a phantasmagoria there would have been no science of nature4 ,of course you must make your act of faith#ada4 ,you must believe not only that nature exists1 but that it is a cosmos which can be interpreted1 if you can only find the key4 ,the proof that nature is interpretable is that we have1 at least in part1 been able to interpret her4 ,there were people in ,john ,locke's day who professed to doubt their own existence1 and he was content to answer them according to their folly4 ,if anyone1 he says#adb1 pretends to be so sceptical as to deny his own existence 7for really to doubt of it is manifestly impossible7 let him1 for me1 enjoy his beloved happiness of being nothing1 until hunger1 or some other pain1 convince him to the contrary4' ,we do not call a scientific man unreasonable if he answers thus1 though he is justifying his premisses by his conclusion4 ,we know that he that would study nature must believe that it is1 and that it is a rational whole which reason can interpret4 ,and 'he that cometh to ,god must believe that ,he is1 and that ,he is the rewarder of such as diligently seek ,him4' ,we feel our kinship with both before the instinctive consciousness is justified by reason4 ,and there is a remarkable parallelism in the process of verification4 ,the counterpart of the theological belief in the unity and omnipresence of ,god is the scientific belief in the unity of nature and the reign of law4 ,but that belief1 though implicit in the simplest operation of reason#adc1 is not consciously attained till late in the history of science4 ,and even when it is reached1 it is not at once grasped in all its wealth and fulness4 ,it is thought of as mere uniformity1 a dull mechanical repetition of events1 which is powerless to explain or include the rich variety of nature and the phenomena of life and growth4 ,it is to meet this difficulty that ,j4 ,s4 ,mill naively assures us that 'the course of nature is not only uniform1 it is also infinitely various#add4' ,but soon the truth is grasped1 that the reign of law is a unity which is higher than mere uniformity1 because it is living and not dead1 and includes and transcends difference4 ,it is the analogue in science to that higher and fuller view of ,god in which ,he is revealed as ,trinity in ,unity4 ,but as these parallel processes of verification go on1 the truth is forced upon the world that religion and philosophy must either be in internecine conflict1 or recognise the oneness of their ,object4 ',we and the philosophers1' says ,s4 ,clement1 'know the same ,god1 but not in the same way#ade4' ,philosophy and religion have both been enriched by wider knowledge1 and as their knowledge has become deeper and fuller1 the adjustment of their claims has become more imperatively necessary4 ,few in our day would willingly abandon either1 or deliberately sacrifice one to the other4 ,many would be ready to assent to the words of a ,christian ,father2 'when philosophy and the worship of the gods are so widely separated1 that the professors of wisdom cannot bring us near to the gods1 and the priests of religion cannot give us wisdom2 it is manifest that the one is not true wisdom1 and the other is not true religion4 ,therefore neither is philosophy able to conceive the truth1 nor is religion able to justify itself4 ,but where philosophy is joined by an inseparable connection with religion1 both must necessarily be true1 because in our religion we ought to be wise1 that is1 to know the true ,object and mode of worship1 and in our wisdom to worship1 that is1 to realize in action what we know#adf4' ,it is sometimes argued1--,you have let in more than the thin end of the wedge4 ,you admit that 'it is the province of reason to judge of the morality of the ,scripture#adg4' ,you profess no antagonism to historical and literary criticism4 ,under the criticism of reason1 ,fetichism has given way to ,polytheism1 ,polytheism to ,monotheism1 even ,monotheism has become progressively less anthropomorphic4 ,why object to the last step in the process1 and cling to the belief in a ,personal ,god8 ,simply because it would make the difference between a religion purified and a religion destroyed4 ,the difference between the #cj1jjj gods of ,hesiod1 and the ,one ,god of ,christianity1 is a measurable difference3 the difference between a ,personal ,god and an impersonal reason is1 so far as religion is concerned1 infinite4 ,for the transition from ,monotheism to ,pantheism is made only by the surrender of religion1 though the term 'theism' may be used to blur the line of separation1 and make the transition easy4 ,religion has1 before all things1 to guard the heritage of truth1 the moral revelation of ,god in ,christ1 to 'contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints1' and to trust to the promised guidance of the ,spirit of ,truth4 ,and reason interprets religion to itself1 and by interpreting verifies and confirms4 ,religion therefore claims as its own the new light which metaphysics and science are in our day throwing upon the truth of the immanence of ,god3 it protests only against those imperfect1 because premature1 syntheses1 which in the interests of abstract speculation1 would destroy religion4 ,it dares to maintain that 'the ,fountain of wisdom and religion alike is ,god3 and if these two streams shall turn aside from ,him1 both must assuredly run dry4' ,for human nature craves to be both religious and rational4 ,and the life which is not both is neither4 #ei ,fiske1 ,idea of ,god1 p4 #aci1 quoting ,h4 ,spencer4 #fj ,s4 ,clem4 ,alex4 ,strom4 ,i4 v4 #fa ,cf4 ,herbert ,spencer1 ,first ,principles1 ,pt4 ,i4 #fb ,see this criticism excellently stated in ,caird's ,phil4 of ,religion1 pp4 #cb1 etc4 #fc ,natural ,religion1 iii4 p4 #de1 quoted by ,martineau4 #fd ,ibid41 iv4 p4 #gd4 #fe ,frederic ,harrison's ,new ,year's ,address1 #ahhd4 #ff ,a ,study of ,religion1 vol4 i4 pp4 #aa1 #ab4 #fg ,ibid41 p4 #ae4 #fh ,old ,faith and ,new1 #da4 #fi ',hoc vinculo pietatis obstricti ,deo et religati sumus1 unde ipsa religio nomen accepit1 non ut ,cicero interpretatus est1 a relegendo1' ,lact4 ,inst4 iv4 #bh4 #gj ,de ver religione1 sub fin4 #ga ,sum4 ,theol4 #b4 #b4 #ha4 ,art4 #a4 #gb ,idea of ,god1 p4 #aag4 #gc ,see ,seth's ,hegelianism and ,personality1 pp4 #bbc1 #bbd1 one or two sentences from which are1 almost verbatim1 transferred to the text4 #gd ,justin ,martyr 7,exhort4 ad ,graec41 ch4 xxxiv7 explains the anthropomorphisms of polytheism as an inversion of the truth that man is in the image of ,god4 #ge ,hume1 ,essays1 ,,ii4 #dbe4 #gf ,h4 ,spencer1 ,eccl4 ,inst41 p4 #a4 #gg ,psych4 vol4 ii4 #chh-cia4 #gh ,caird1 ,philosophy of ,religion1 p4 #afb4 #gi ,ritter and ,preller1 ,hist4 ,phil4 ,graec41 #gth ed4 #hb4 #hj ,ibid41 #hc4 #ha ,plat4 ,rep4 #cgg-che4 #hb ,theaet4 #agf ,c4 #hc ,h4 ,spencer1 of course1 follows ,kuenen in assuming a polytheistic origin of ,hebrew monotheism4 ,see ,kuenen1 ,religion of ,israel1 i4 #bbc4 #hd ,it is strange that ,mr4 ,darwin should have failed to see that this was the answer to his difficulty4 ,it appeared to him1 he tells us 7,autobiography1 p4 #cjh71 'utterly incredible that if ,god were now to make a revelation to the ,hindoos1 he would permit it to be connected with the belief in ,vishnu1 ,siva1 c41 as ,christianity is connected with the ,old ,testament4' ,incredible1 no doubt4 ,but why8 ,for the very reason which makes it 'incredible' that man should be evolved directly from a fish1 as ,anaximander is said to have taught1 and not incredible that he should be evolved1 as ,darwin teaches1 from one of the higher vertebrates4 ,the very idea of development1 whether in species or religions1 implies a law1 and order in the development4 #he ,s4 ,athan4 ,de ,incarn4 c4 xii4 #hf ,it is needless to say that this section is largely indebted to ,dean ,church's ,discipline of the ,christian ,character4 #hg ,edinb4 ,rev41 ,apr4 #ahhh1 p4 #eab4 #hh ,discipline of the ,christian ,character1 p4 #he4 #hi ,ibid41 p4 #hg4 #ij ,hegel1 ,phil4 of ,hist41 p4 #bdg1 ,eng4 ,tr4 #ia ,cont4 ,rev41 ,oct4 #ahgh1 p4 #fde4 #ib ,ranke1 ,popes1 i4 #cie4 #ic ,dollinger1 ,the ,church and the ,churches1 p4 #bci4 #id ,examination of ,sir ,w4 ,hamilton's ,philosophy1 p4 #ajc4 #ie ,h4 ,spencer1 ,data of ,ethics1 pref4 #if ,see ,ihne's remarks on the separation of morals and religion in ,rome at the time of the ,punic wars4 ',the religious cravings were not satisfied1 and men were carried either to the schools of ,greek ,philosophy or to the grossest and meanest superstition4' ,hist4 of ,rome1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #dgg1 #dgh4 #ig ,history of ,religions1 p4 #bb4 #ih ,edersheim1 ,life and ,times1 i4 p4 #ag4 #ii ,see ,edersheim1 i4 pp4 #ca1 etc4 #ajj ,hegel1 ,philosophy of ,history1 p4 #cdc1 ,eng4 ,tr4 #aja #b ,s4 ,pet4 ii4 #a4 #ajb #a ,tim4 vi4 #bj4 #ajc #a ,cor4 viii4 #f4 #ajd #a ,cor4 iii4 #ai4 #aje ,euseb4 iii4 #bh4 #ajf #a ,cor4 ii4 #ab4 #ajg ,newman's ,arians1 ch4 ii4 #a4 #ajh ,natural ,truth of ,christianity1 #a1 #b4 #aji ,phil4 of ,hist41 p4 #cdc1 ,eng4 ,tr4 #aaj ,dorner4 ,hist4 of ,doct4 i4 pp4 #cfb1 etc4 #aaa ,adv4 ,prax4 ch4 iii4 #aab ,cont4 ,noet4 xiv4 #aac ,inst4 iv4 c4 #bi4 #aad ,strom4 v4 #a4 #aae ,de ,princ4 ,i4 ii4 #aj4 #aaf ,adv4 ,arianos i4 #bj4 #aag ,de ,trin4 viii4 #aj and ix4 #b4 #aah ,iren4 ,adv4 ,haer4 ,,iv4 iv4 ,i4 #b4 #aai ,cf4 pp4 #ccc-ccf4 #abj ,plat4 ,phaed4 #ih ,b4 ,arist4 ,met4 #aba p4 #deeag4 ,the references are to the ,berlin edition4 #abb p4 #aiih1 #ah3 #daeag3 #gcabd4 #abc p4 #ajgjg1 #ajcch1 #gecc4 #abd ,dorner1 ,hist4 of ,doct4 i4 p4 #cff4 #abe ,s4 ,athan4 ,contra ,gentes1 #db4 #abf ,morison's ,service of ,man1 p4 #dh4 #abg ,quoted by ,w4 ,s4 ,lilly1 ,nineteenth ,century1 ,aug4 #ahhh1 p4 #bib4 #abh ,morison1 ,service of ,man1 p4 #di4 #abi ,it is far from our purpose to undervalue the work of ,dr4 ,martineau4 ,no more earnest and vigorous1 and so far as it goes1 no truer defence of religion has been published in our day4 ,but his strength lies mainly in his protest against what destroys religion1 and in his uncompromising assertion of what religion1 as a condition of its existence1 demands4 ,he has done little to shew us how these demands can be rationally satisfied1 how the personal ,god1 which religion demands1 is even an intelligible idea4 ,he wavers between a view which logically developed must result in pantheism1 and a view implying a distinction in the ,divine nature1 which carries him far in the ,trinitarian direction4 ,more often he contents himself with leaving the speculative question alone1 or storming the rational position by the forces of religion and morals4 ,see ,a ,study of ,religion1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ade compared with p4 #aib4 #acj ,newman's ,arians1 p4 #hd4 #aca ,cf4 ,fiske1 ,idea of ,god1 pp4 #ajc1 #ajd4 ,martineau1 ,a ,study of ,religion1 ii4 #agb1 #agc4 #acb ,idea of ,god1 cf4 v4 and pp4 #aje-aaj4 #acc ,apparently by ,prof4 ,allen's ,continuity of ,christian ,thought4 #acd ,fiske1 ,idea of ,god1 p4 #id4 #ace ,ibid41 vii4 #acf ,de ,incarn4 c4 #ag4 #acg ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 vii4 c4 xxx2 cf4 too ,de ,gen4 ad lit4 iv4 c4 #ab2 ,enchir4 ad ,laur4 c4 #bg4 #ach ,s4 ,thoa4 ,aq4 ,sum4 ,theol4 ,i4 i4 ,quaest4 #b1 says that the ,existence of ,god is demonstrable1 but he explains that he does not mean strict demonstration1 demonstratio apodeictica but demonstratio ab effectibus4 #aci ,the ,existence of ,god4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,clarke1 ,s4,j41 p4 #f4 #adj ,huxley's ,hume1 p4 #ha4 #ada ',the one act of faith in the convert to science1 is the confession of the universality of order and of the absolute validity1 in all times and under all circumstances1 of the law of causation4 ,this confession is an act of faith1 because1 by the nature of the case1 the truth of such propositions is not susceptible of proof4' ,huxley in ,darwin's ,life and ,letters1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bjj4 #adb ,essay ,,iv4 #aj4 #b4 #adc ,cf4 ,green's ,works1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bhd4 #add ,log4 ,bk4 ,,iii4 ch4 iii4 #b4 #ade ,strom4 vi4 #e4 #adf ,lact4 ,institt4 ,,iv4 iii4 #adg ,butler's ,analogy1 ,pt4 ,,ii4 ch4 iii4 p4 #ahc4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,problem ,,of ,,pain4 ,j4 ,r4 ,,illingworth4 ,the problem of pain1 always prominent in a sensitive age1 has been exceptionally emphasized in the literature of modern pessimism as an objection to ,theism in general1 and ,christianity in particular4 ,the existence of pain is urged as incompatible with the belief in a ,god who is at once omnipotent and benevolent1 that is with ,theism in its ordinary form2 while ,christianity is further charged with being a religion of pain1 a religion which has increased the sum of actual1 and the expectation of prospective pain1 darkening the shadow that lies upon our race4 ,suffering is not a subject upon which anything new can be said4 ,it has long ago been probed1 to the utmost limit of our capacity1 and remains a mystery still4 ,but1 in face of the adverse use now made of it1 it may be well to bear in mind how much has been said and is to be said upon the other side4 ,to begin with1 there are two classes of pain1 animal and human1 which however intimately they may be connected must1 for clearness1 be considered apart4 ,the universality of pain throughout the range of the animal world1 reaching back into the distant ages of geology1 and involved in the very structure of the animal organism1 is without doubt among the most serious problems which the ,theist has to face4 ,but it is a problem in dealing with which emotion is very often mistaken for logic4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill's famous indictment of nature1 for example1 is one of the most emotional pieces of rhetoric of which a professed logician was ever guilty4 ,when a certain class of facts is urged in objection to our ,christian belief1 we are entitled to ask how many of those facts are known1 and how many are only imagined4 ,there is of course a scientific use of the imagination1 but it is only permissible within the bounds of possible1 or at least conceivable1 verification4 ,imaginative conjectures which1 from the nature of the case1 will never admit either of verification or disproof are poetry and not science1 and must be treated as such in argument4 ,with all the changes that have passed over our knowledge1 we may still do well to attend to the caution with which ,butler begins his ,analogy3-- ',one cannot but be greatly sensible how difficult it is to silence imagination enough to make the voice of reason even distinctly heard2 as we are accustomed from our youth up to indulge that forward delusive faculty1 ever obtruding beyond its sphere2 of some assistance indeed to apprehension1 but the author of all error3 as we plainly lose ourselves in gross and crude conceptions of things1 taking for granted that we are acquainted with what indeed we are wholly ignorant of4' ,this needs repeating1 because much of the popular knowledge of the day consists in the acceptance of results without examination of the methods of their attainment2 somewhat as1 in the countryman's simple faith1 a thing must needs be true because he has seen it in a book4 ,while the case in point is further confused by the fact that imagination has an important bearing on all our conduct towards the lower animals1 and cannot1 for that purpose1 be too emotionally developed4 ,but it is one thing to err on the safe side in practice1 and another to convert such possible error into argument4 ,what then do we really know about the suffering of animals8 ,no reasonable man doubts that they suffer4 ,but the degree and intensity of their suffering is almost entirely a matter of conjecture4 ,we speak of1 and are affected by the mass of animal suffering2 but we must remember that it is felt distributively4 ,no one animal suffers more because a million suffer likewise4 ,and what we have to consider is the amount which an individual animal suffers4 ,we have no knowledge1 but we are entitled to meet conjecture by conjecture4 ,we may fairly suppose that the animals do not 'look before and after1' and it is this that gives its sting to human pain4 ,again1 they would seem like children to give strong indications of slight pain4 ,further1 many muscular contortions which simulate extreme suffering are believed on scientific evidence to be due to quite other causes4 ,and then there are the phenomena of fascination1 which may well resemble the experience of ,livingstone in the lion's mouth4 ,while many pains are prophylactic and directly contribute to the avoidance of danger and maintenance of life4 ,all these considerations may mitigate our view of animal suffering4 ,but a stronger argument is to be drawn from our profound ignorance of the whole question4 ,animals can perceive colours invisible to us2 they seem to have organs of sensation of whose nature we know nothing2 their instincts are far more numerous and finer than our own2 what compensations may they not have8 ,again1 what are they8 ,had they a past8 ,may they not have a future8 ,what is the relation of their consciousness to the mighty life which pulses within the universe8 ,may not ,eastern speculation about these things be nearer the truth than ,western science8 ,all these questions are in the region of the unknown1 and the unknowable2 and in face of them the ,theistic position is simply this4 ,we believe1 on complex and cumulative proof1 in an omnipotent and benevolent ,creator4 ,that belief is a positive verdict of our reason1 interpreting evidence which we consider irresistible4 ,and against such a conclusion no presumption of the imagination1 which from the nature of the case cannot possibly be verified1 has any logical validity at all3 not to mention that such presumptions admit of being met by as probable presumptions on the other side4 ,we decline to arraign our ,creator for a deed which we have not even the means of knowing that ,he has done4 ',all difficulties as to how they 7the animals7 are to be disposed of are so apparently and wholly founded in our ignorance that it is wonderful they should be insisted upon by any but such as are weak enough to think they are acquainted with the whole system of things4'444 ',what men require is to have all difficulties cleared2 and this is1 or at least for anything we know to the contrary it may be1 the same as requiring to comprehend the ,divine nature1 and the whole plan of providence from everlasting to everlasting#adh4' ,but with human suffering the case is different1 for here we are in a measure behind the scenes4 ,we watch the process no longer from the outside but from within2 and though it still remains mysterious1 its mystery is full of meaning4 ,in saying this we make two assumptions2 first1 that moral evil is an ultimate fact for us1 in our present state of being1 in the sense that it can neither be explained nor explained away3 and1 secondly1 that character and not pleasure1 being1 and not feeling1 or to phrase it more generally1 the greatest goodness of the greatest number1 is the primary end of ethics4 ,the first of these assumptions most men are willing to admit1 while the few philosophical attempts to disprove it have conspicuously failed4 ,the second has the assent of all moralists except the hedonists1 and those who without being aware of it are hedonists in disguise2 the pessimism1 for example1 which makes so much of pain1 being simply disappointed hedonism4 ,starting then from these premises1 the problem of practical ethics is the formation of character in the face of moral evil4 ,and in the solution of this problem pain and sorrow have a place which no other known agency conceivably could fill4 ,to begin with its simplest if lowest aspect1 pain is a punishment2 and without importing any a priori notions into the question1 we find punishment to be a necessary element in the evolution of character4 ,punishment is a complex thing1 and the tendency of civilization is to lay stress upon its corrective rather than its vindictive aspect4 ,but we must remember that with uncivilized races this cannot be the case2 and that pains and penalties1 considered simply as retrospective vengeance for the past1 have been historically1 and in some cases still are1 essential to our social development4 ,indeed1 it is a shallow view that regards vengeance as a survival of savagery4 ,vengeance is intimately bound up with our sense of justice1 and the true difference between the savage and the sage is that what the one eagerly inflicts upon his neighbour1 the other would far more willingly inflict upon himself4 ,plato expressed this once for all when he said that the sinner who is punished is happier than the sinner who escapes scot free4 ,we rightly shrink1 as far as possible1 from sitting in judgment on our fellow-men2 but we feel none the less that our own ill deeds demand a penalty1 which may vary from bodily suffering to interior shame1 but which in one form or another must be endured before we can recover our self-respect4 ,and self-respect is a necessary factor in all moral progress4 ,punishment1 then1 considered as vengeance1 is a necessity for the social development of barbarous races2 and though less obviously1 quite as really for the personal progress of the civilized man4 ,now1 without committing ourselves to the statement that suffering was introduced into the world by sin1 which is not a ,christian dogma1 though it is often thought to be so1 a vast amount of the suffering in the world is obviously punishment1 and punishment of a very searching kind4 ,for not only are obvious vices punished with remorse1 and disease1 and shame1 but ignorance1 impatience1 carelessness1 even mistakes of judgment are punished too1 and that in a degree which we are apt to consider disproportionate2 forgetful that consequences are ,god's commentaries1 and this apparent disproportion may reflect light upon the real magnitude of what we often are too ready to consider trivial things4 ,but these punishments1 it is urged1 fall on the innocent as well as the guilty4 ,and this leads us to another point of view4 ,pain is not only punitive4 ,it is also corrective and purgatorial4 ,and this again is a fact of ordinary experience1 quite apart from the further consideration of why it should be so4 ,among primitive races the penalties of law1 by the merely mechanical process of forcibly restraining certain actions1 slowly elevate the social tone4 ,and as men rise in the scale of development and begin to be a law to themselves1 the same process is continued within the individual mind4 ,the pains and penalties of evil doing1 physical and mental1 tend to correct and purify the character2 and when we say that men learn wisdom by experience1 we mostly mean by experience of something painful4 ,of course1 the most obvious form of this correction is that in which the suffering can be recognised by the sufferer as merited1 because due to his own misdeeds4 ,but apart from such causal connection1 what we call unmerited suffering exercises the same influence in an even greater measure4 ,its forces1 not being exhausted in the work of neutralising past evil1 are able to expand and expend themselves in a positive direction1 elevating1 refining1 dignifying the character to an infinite degree4 ,the men of sorrows are the men of influence in every walk of life4 ,martyrdom is the certain road to success in any cause4 ,even more than knowledge1 pain is power4 ,and all this because it develops the latent capacities of our being as no other influence can4 ,it requires no mystic insight to see the truth of this4 ,however unable we may be to account for it1 it is a fact of everyday experience1 visible to ordinary common sense4 ,and this being so1 there is nothing of necessity unjust in what we call unmerited suffering1 not even in the sad inheritance by children of the results of parental sin4 ,for while the sight of the miserable entail may1 if rightly used1 become the parent's punishment1 its imposition may be the child's call to higher things4 ,true1 like all other useful agencies1 it often fails of its end2 but such failure is of the problem of evil1 not of the problem of pain4 ,and1 lastly1 with men1 as with animals1 suffering is largely prophylactic4 ,bodily pain sounds the alarm bell of disease in time for its removal4 ,mental and moral pain arrest the issues of ignorant or evil courses before it is too late4 ,while the desire to remove pain from ourselves1 or better still from others1 is among the strongest incentives of the scientific discoverer1 the patriot1 the philanthropist4 ,and though it may seem a fallacy to credit pain with the virtues which spring from the desire for its removal1 common sense rises above logic and recognises the real value of a spur without which many of our noblest activities would cease4 ,now1 though all these considerations naturally lead on into theology for their further treatment1 yet it should be noticed that they are in no sense exclusively theological4 ,the penal1 the corrective1 the preventive1 and the stimulating uses of pain are all recognised in the average man's philosophy of life4 ,indeed1 they are too obvious to need dwelling on at any length4 ,but the point to be noticed is1 that taken together1 they cover a very great deal of ground4 ,for it is hardly too much to say that in one or other of its various aspects1 every human being has need of suffering for the due development of his character4 ,and this is a fact which should go far to outweigh much brilliant declamation of the pessimists4 ,pessimism1 in fact1 stereotypes and gives a fictitious permanence to what is only one among our many moods of thought4 ,it harps upon the fact that we naturally shrink from pain4 ,it ignores the fact that we are conscious of being the better for it1 and unable to conceive progress without it4 ,and though these considerations afford no solution to the speculative mystery of pain1 they make in the direction of a speculative solution4 ,they do not explain why pain exists1 but they shew us that its existence1 in the only region in which we can really test it1 is eminently useful1 and therefore consistent with providential and beneficent design4 ,their precise logical relation to the ,theistic argument might be put as follows3 ,arguments drawn from many departments of life and thought converge in favour of ,theism1 but one large and important department1 that of human suffering1 blocks the way4 ,when1 however1 we isolate and examine that department1 we find that even within its limits the evidence of provident purpose is prominent1 if not preponderant4 ,its prominence is certainly enough to neutralize the negative bearing of the department upon the general argument4 ,its preponderance1 which many if not most men would admit1 carries us further and makes the net evidence of the whole department an affirmative contribution to ,theism4 ,so far common sense carries us4 ,but when we turn to the place of pain in the religions of the world1 two further thoughts are suggested4 ,in the first place1 the belief in a future life1 which is common to almost all religions1 at once opens endless vistas of possibility before us4 ,the pain which has failed to purify here1 may yet purify hereafter2 the high-handed wrong-doing1 which has seemed to go unpunished here1 may there meet with its righteous due4 ,the pains which we have thought excessive here1 may there be found to have worked out for us a far more exceeding weight of glory4 ,and so the particular difficulty which arises from the unequal incidence of earthly suffering may one day find its adequate solution4 ,no doubt there is an element of truth in the familiar taunt that belief in a future life has been a curse as well as a blessing to the world4 ,in some stages of culture1 for example1 the future life has been supposed only to emphasize the inequalities of the present3 the slave living on in everlasting slavery1 and the warrior in incessant war4 ,but this has been a partial and a passing phase of thought1 which rapidly gave way before more ethical conceptions4 ,the ethical conceptions in their turn1 which were based on future rewards and punishments1 confessedly could not produce a very high type of morality4 ,but they have filled their place1 and that a large one in the history of human development1 while even after ceasing to be the dominant motives1 they still witness to the ineradicable expectation of our race1 that holiness and happiness1 sin and failure1 shall one day coincide4 ,more serious and sad is the fact that distorted dreams of future punishment have often reflected a lurid light upon the whole of life2 goading zealots into cruelty1 sinners into madness1 thinkers into unbelief2 and have lingered on1 as savage survivals1 even into ,christian times1 to the hopeless obscuration1 in many minds1 of the creed that ,god is ,love4 ,but even here we must draw distinctions4 ,early races express intensity by an accumulation of material metaphors--fecundity by an hundred breasts1 omnipotence and omniscience by an hundred arms or a thousand eyes4 ,and so1 when they saw the unrighteous man enjoy the fruits of his unrighteousness1 and die in unrebuked defiance of laws human and divine1 their sense of outraged justice could not but express itself in terms of material horror4 ,we have grown to be more pitiful1 more refined in our moral thinking1 less dogmatic about unknown things3 yet neither our moral experience nor our ,christianity has availed to remove the dread of that unutterable 'pain of loss1' which the passing of a soul in obdurate impenitence has ever suggested to the mind of man4 ,and however confidently therefore we may put aside the distortions1 and debasements1 and interested exaggerations which have darkened the thought of future punishment1 we must remember that the thought itself was no alien introduction into history2 but due to the instinctive craving of the human heart for justice2 man's own tremendous verdict on his sin#adi4 ,but the universality1 or at least extreme generality of the belief in a continued existence1 is quite distinct from the particular pictures of it which the imagination has variously drawn2 much as the universality of conscience is distinct from its varying content among diverse races and in different ages4 ,and the broad fact remains that from the dawn of history the majority of mankind have believed in and looked with confidence to a future life to rectify1 and therefore justify1 the inequalities of earthly suffering2 however much their views have varied as to what should constitute rectification4 ,secondly1 there is an instinctive tendency in all religions1 from the savage upwards1 to view pain1 whether in the form of asceticism or sacrifice1 as inseparably connected with an acceptable service of the gods or ,god4 ,the asceticism of poor ,caliban foregoing his little mess of whelks1 and that of the ,hindoo whose meritorious sufferings are expected to prevail1 by intrinsic right with heaven2 the hideous holocausts of ,mexico1 and the paper substitutes for offerings of the parsimonious or hypocritical ,chinee are widely different things4 ,but they all spring from a common instinct1 variously distorted1 yet persistent through all distortions1 and progressively refined1 till it culminates in the ,hebrew substitution of the broken heart for the blood of bulls and of goats4 ,it is the custom of some modern writers to represent the higher forms of sacrifice as merely survivals of the savage desire to propitiate the gods by food4 ,but this is not an adequate analysis even of the savage creed4 ,naturally enough the primitive hunter1 to whom food is the chief good1 may think food the worthiest offering to the gods4 ,but it is not simply food1 but his own food1 that he offers1 the choicest morsel1 that which it costs him something to forego4 ,in other words1 the root of sacrifice is self-sacrifice1 however crudely it may be expressed4 ,of course1 the primitive hypocrite would seek to evade personal suffering as naturally as the civilized hypocrite will give alms at another man's expense4 ,but sincerity must come before hypocrisy1 and the sacrificial instinct is in origin sincere4 ,its first account of itself may be irrational1 and its earlier manifestations often blundering and repulsive2 and if it were now only a survival1 the same should be true of its later forms1 for survivals are not commonly improved in the process of surviving4 ,but so far from this being the case1 it has been refined by successive developments and is as integral an element of later as of earlier religions1 being in fact the symbolic statement that a more or less painful self-surrender is the necessary condition of all human approach to the divine4 ,natural religion then1 in the widest use of the term1 carries us on beyond common sense1 in attributing a mysterious value to suffering here1 and expecting an explanation of its anomalies hereafter4 ,the first belief may be called mystical1 the second hypothetical1 and yet the two together have done more to reconcile man to his burden of sorrow than all the philosophic comments on the uses of adversity2 for they have seemed to lift him1 though blindfold1 into a loftier region1 where he felt himself inbreathing power from on high4 ,and so here1 as in other things1 natural religion leads on into ,christianity4 ,the relation of ,christianity to the problem of pain1 may be best seen by contrasting it with the empirical optimism of common sense4 ,enlightened common sense1 as we have seen1 is fully aware of the uses of sorrow2 but it looks at the usefulness through the sorrowfulness1 as a compensation which should make the wise man content to bear his pain4 ,the change which ,christianity has effected consists in the reversal of this view of the subject4 ,once for all1 it has put the value before the painfulness in our thoughts4 ,the ,author and ,finisher of our faith1 'for the joy that was set before ,him1 endured the ,cross1 despising the shame1' and 'our light affliction1 which is but for a moment1 worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of glory1 while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are unseen4' ,it bids us not wait 'till the sorrow comes with years1' but take up our cross1 from the first moment of our conscious discipleship4 ,and accordingly the real ,christian looks at sorrow not from without1 but from within1 and does not approach its speculative difficulty till he is aware by experience of its practical power4 ,consequently he cannot explain himself to the merely external critic4 ,he may urge in argument such general considerations as have been touched upon above1 and meet the pleas of pessimism with the counterpleas of philosophic optimism2 but if pressed for the inner secret of his own serenity1 he can only answer with the esoteric invitation1 ',come and see4' ,enter the dim sanctuary of sorrow through the shadow of the ,cross4 ,abide there1 and as your eyes grow accustomed to the darkness1 the strange lines upon its walls which seemed at first so meaningless1 will group themselves into shapes and forms of purposeful design4 ,once for all the sinless suffering of the ,cross has parted sin from suffering with a clearness of distinction never before achieved4 ,the intellectual ,greek had tended to confuse the two as kindred forms of ignorance2 the weary ,oriental as kindred consequences of our imprisonment in the body1 'the too too solid flesh2' the self-righteous ,jew viewed blindness1 or death from a falling tower1 as evidence of exceptional sin4 ,everywhere in the ancient world the outlines of the two were undefined1 and their true relation of antagonism misunderstood4 ,but the sight of perfect sinlessness1 combined with perfect suffering1 has cleared our view for ever4 ,sin indeed always brings suffering in its train1 but the suffering we now see to be of the nature of its antidote2 an antidote often applied indeed with inexorable sternness1 but in its intention wholly merciful4 ,thus every sin has its appropriate suffering4 ,bodily indulgence brings bodily disease2 cruelty ends in cowardice2 pride and vanity in shame4 ,and though the suffering of itself cannot convert the sinner1 it can and does prevent both the gratification and contagion of the sin4 ,then comes the more terrible sorrow of remorse2 and remorse is potential penitence1 and penitence potential purification4 ,but while sin thus involves suffering1 suffering does not involve sin4 ,it is not only an antidote1 but one of those antidotes which taken in time is prophylactic4 ,and this is not only true of the pains of self-denial and self-sacrifice1 the voluntary bearing of the cross1 but of many an involuntary sorrow also4 ,delicate health1 ,plato's bridle of ,theages1 inherited pain1 privation1 bereavement1 may all refine the character and train the spiritual eye to that purity of heart that shall see ,god4 ,pain in fact1 in its manifold methods1 is like the angel of the ,eastern story1 changing its form incessantly to cope with the shifting shapes of sin1 and passing by turns into a lion1 a bird1 a sword1 a flood1 a flame1 in sleepless eagerness to follow and find1 and slay and quench and burn away the least last lingering particle of evil4 ,so far from being our enemy it is our safest ally in the battle of life1 and we fail through shrinking from the stern alliance4 ,we suffer because we sin2 but we also sin because we decline to suffer4 ,still1 the very sharpness of the severance between sin and suffering on the ,cross forces upon us the further question--,why should the sinless suffer8 ,the vicarious suffering of ,christ is said to conflict with our sense of justice4 ,and it does so1 as misrepresented in much popular theology4 ,but rightly viewed1 it is the climax and complete expression of the process to which we owe the entire evolution of our race4 ,the pleasures of each generation evaporate in air2 it is their pains that increase the spiritual momentum of the world4 ,we enter into life through the travail of another4 ,we live upon the death of the animals beneath us4 ,the necessities1 the comforts1 the luxuries of our existence are provided by the labour and sorrow of countless fellow-men4 ,our freedom1 our laws1 our literature1 our spiritual sustenance have been won for us at the cost of broken hearts1 and wearied brains1 and noble lives laid down4 ,and this is only the human analogue of that transference of energy by which all life and movement is for ever carried on4 ,the sun is so much the cooler by the heat it daily gives to earth2 the plant and tree the weaker by the force that has matured their fruit2 the animal generations exhausted in continuing their kind4 ,and how should their ,creator draw all men unto ,him1 but through the instrumentality of ,his own great law of sacrifice8 ,if we shrink from our share in the conditions of the solemn legacy1 it is easy to persuade ourselves that the system of things is wrong4 ,but if we accept it1 and resolve that we too in our turn will spend and be spent for others1 we find beneath all the superficial suffering the deep truth of the benediction1 ',it is more blessed to give than to receive4' ,and in the experience of that benediction we see further still into the mysterious significance of sorrow4 ,further2 but not yet to the end4 ,for the human heart desires more than merely to work for others4 ,it desires to be one with those for whom it works4 ,love is the highest form of that unity2 but even short of actual love1 we instinctively crave communion and sympathy with our kind4 ,and it is no morbid view of life to say that sorrow brings about this union in a way that joy does not4 ,there is something1 under our present conditions1 in the very expansiveness of joy which dissociates1 while sorrow seems to weld us1 like hammer strokes on steel4 ,it is the nationality whose members have together struggled for existence1 the soldiers who have faced the shock of battle side by side1 the persecuted party1 the husband and wife who have known common suffering that are most intimately1 indissolubly one4 ,nor is this union merely negative like the bond which fellow-prisoners feel1 and yet would eagerly escape from if they could4 ,it is due to a distinct sense that the common crisis has aroused all that is highest and noblest and most spiritual1 and therefore most sympathetic in the soul4 ,but again1 it is only in the light from the ,cross1 that we can see why pain should possess this power4 ,for in that light we understand how pain unites us to each other1 because1 as even natural religion dimly felt1 it unites us to ,god1 and therefore through ,him to those who in ,him live and move and have their being4 ,it unites us to ,god because it purifies us1 because it detaches us from earth1 because it quickens our sense of dependence1 because it opens our spiritual vision1 and above all because ,he too1 as man1 has suffered4 ,but the mystics who have seen furthest into heavenly things have felt that it unites us to ,god in still more vital wise1 as being1 at least in its form of sacrifice1 the very beating of the heart of love4 ,and so they have raised the question1--,has it not an antitype far in the illimitable depths of the unseen8 ,for we are told that ,god is ,love2 and love1 as we know it1 must be shewn in sacrifice2 though the sacrifice grows painless in proportion as the love is pure4 ,and when we recall how in the days of our ,lord's ministry on earth1 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,spirit bore their witness each to other1 but no one of the ,holy ,persons ever to ,himself1 we are led on to wonder whether 'in the light that no man can approach unto1' where the ,three are ,one1 some higher analogue of what we call sacrifice does not for ever flame2 whose radiant reflection on the universe only becomes shadow when it falls on a world of sin4 ,but however these high things may be1 the simplest ,christian feels and knows that1 in his present state1 the unitive way1 the way to union with both ,god and man1 is the 'via dolorosa1' the way of the cross3--a serious and solemn belief1 which is very far from leading to complacency1 in presence of the awful spectacle of animal and human pain2 but still is based on sufficient experience to justify the hope that all its mystery will be one day solved4 ,more than this we do not expect1 for the intellect1 in our ,christian view1 is as much on its probation and as liable to error as the will2 and inordinate curiosity not less misleading than inordinate desire4 #adh ,butler1 ,analogy4 #adi ,cf4 pp4 #ead-af4 ,,iv4 ,,preparation ,,in ,,history ,,for ,,christ4 ,,edward ,s4 ,,talbot4 ,the paradox of ,divine mystery implied in the words ',the ,word was made flesh1' is not exhausted by a right understanding of the ,person of ,christ4 ,it extends to the relations between ,christ and ,history4 ,on the one hand1 the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god appears as supreme1 solitary1 unique1 transcending all analogies of experience1 all limitations of nationality or generation1 determined before the world was1 beyond the power of any antecedents to produce1 the entry of a new thing into the world4 ,it appears1 in short1 as a miracle4 ,but1 on the other hand1 it appears as an historical event1 occurring at a particular date1 appealing to the feelings and fulfilling the hopes of the time1 a climax and a new point of departure in the historical order4 ,it does this1 necessarily1 because this is involved in the act of taking flesh1 of entering simply1 literally1 naturally into the conditions of human life4 ,such a thing occurs1 and must occur1 in the natural order4 ,to say this is not to dictate what a ,divine revelation must be1 but only to shew what ,christianity asserts of itself4 ,in this way it was good in ,god's sight that ,his revelation should come4 ,it follows from this1 in the first place1 that there must be two ways1 both valid and necessary1 of approaching in thought and study ,christ manifest in the flesh4 ,we may treat the fact of ,his appearing with little or no reference to historical relations1 for its own inherent unchanging truth and meaning4 ,we may also treat it as clothed in historical event1 to be understood in its relations with what went before and followed after and stood around4 ,the two methods supplement one another4 ,it may be true that the simple personal claim which the solitary figure of ,jesus ,christ makes upon us1 by its unalterable moral dignity and beauty1 its typical humanity1 its unearthly authority1 is the strongest that can be made3 none the less may that claim be confirmed and reinforced if we see the same figure as it were upon an historical throne2 if it should become clear that what went before 7and what followed after7 does1 in any way1 pay homage to ,him2 if the manner of ,his appearing in place and time be calculated to heighten the impression which the fact of it makes4 ,and in the second place1 it follows that to start in any historical treatment of the subject of this paper from the central twofold assertion as to ,christ1 made by ,s4 ,john in the phrase ',the ,word was made flesh1' is to obtain at once the right clue to the lines which it should follow4 7#a7 ,to do so is not to beg the question or to fetter the enquiry1 but only to define what kind of evidence1 if any1 the study of ,christ's relation to foregoing history can yield4 ,we see that it must be such as works in us the conviction that ,he both does1 and does not1 occur 'naturally' at the time and place when ,he appeared2 that history leads up to ,him and prepares ,his way1 and yet that no force of natural antecedents can account for ,him or for ,his work4 ,it is true that evidence for either side of this two-sided impression may have sufficient weight to determine faith especially with individual minds4 ,the contrast between ,christ and all else in history1 arresting the attention and suggesting the thought of special ,divine presence1 may of itself be a spring of faith3 or1 upon the other hand1 a clear discernment of ,his natural supremacy in history may lead a man on to higher truth4 ,but the true evidence1 as corresponding to the true and full claim1 will be that which suggests the conclusion with simultaneous and equal force from either side4 7#b7 ,if the aim is not evidence but instruction1 and we desire simply to understand better what is true of our ,lord's relation to history1 it will still advantage us greatly to start from the same point4 ,we shall be able to recognise freely and without fear of contradiction or confusion1 on the one side1 the way in which the lines of history1 of human experience1 aspiration1 achievement1 character1 need1 lead up to ,christ and issue in ,him3 and on the other1 the unearthly and peculiar greatness of ,him ,who spake as never man spake1 ,who taught as one that had authority and not as the ,scribes1 ,who was not convinced by any of sin3 ,whose daily intimacy with a disciple issued in that disciple's confession1 ',thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the ,living ,god4' ,such a method1 starting from the ,christian claim1 and trying to trace out all that it involves1 need not be only for the believer1 any more than the quest for evidence or witness is for those only who do not believe4 ,the ,christian tests the foundations1 and welcomes every corroboration1 of his faith3 while1 in dwelling on the character of the work and of its relations to all else1 the non-believer may come to find the conviction grow upon him that it was indeed 'wrought of ,god4' 7#c7 ,from the same point1 we see at once to what double misunderstanding or double attack the ,gospel not only may but must be liable4 ,on the one side1 it may be refused a hearing as miraculous2 it may be understood as violating the natural order which it transcends2 it may be regarded and resented as an anomaly in history4 ,on the other side1 a consideration of the aptness of its occurrence when and where it did occur1 and of its harmonious relations to many lines of tendency will suggest the suspicion that it may be after all only a result1 though a supreme and surprising result1 of historical forces4 ,in a word1 it may be accused at once from separate1 possibly from the same1 quarters as too supernatural and too natural to be what it claims to be4 ,it is all-important to notice at the outset that liability to this double attack is an inevitable incident of its true character and of that which makes its glory1 viz4 the presence of true ,godhead under truly human conditions4 ,but to return to the main point4 ,the importance and interest of the subject of this paper may be inferred1 as we have seen1 directly from what the ,incarnation claims to be4 ,but we are not left to infer it for ourselves4 ,nothing is clearer or more striking than the place which it occupied from the outset in the declaration of the ,gospel4 ,jesus ,himself spoke of the ,scribes of the kingdom as 'bringing forth out of their treasure things new and old'2 and laid it down as a first principle of ,his kingdom that ,he was 'not come to destroy1 but to fulfil#aej4' ,while with surprising and commanding clearness ,he centres men upon ,himself1 and distinguishes ,himself from all who came before ,him1 from 'the prophets and the law which prophesied until ,john'2 ,he yet with evident care draws the new out of the old1 and fits it on to the old3 ,he delineates ,his own mission as a climax in a long appeal of ,god to ,israel#aea1 and the opposition to ,him and ,his1 as a chapter of dnouement in the history of an old conflict between ,god and the ungodly#aeb4 ,he sees a 'necessity' for the happening of things to fulfil what had been said of old#aec4 ,the very pith of the disciples' ignorance is their failure to see how the features of ,his work and character had been traced beforehand1 and the supreme teaching which they receive from ,him is that which discloses ,his correspondence to the whole tenor of the ,scriptures of the past#aed4 ,the teaching of the ,apostles1 and of those who followed them1 is faithful to these lines4 ,though they have to convince the world of an ,event which works a revolution1 which is to turn men from darkness to light3 though their perfect confidence in their own truth makes them see the things that went before as elements1 'weak and beggarly elements#aee1' and they have moreover battles to fight against these 'elements' set up again as antagonists3 though their adherence to the ,old ,testament was an ever fruitful source of difficulty and attack 7of which ,judaizing and ,gnostic controversies are the record71 yet nevertheless they unswervingly maintained the inspiration of the ,old ,testament1 and stood upon it2 and we distinguish without hesitation as their normal1 primary1 characteristic method that of appeal to the correspondence between their ,gospel and every hope and word of ,israel's faith3 the 'revelation of the mystery 444 is 444 by the scriptures of the prophets 444 made known to all nations#aef4' ,the ,hebrews who wistfully look back to their temple1 law1 and ritual1 are not taught a stern forgetfulness of what had been1 nor led vaguely to spiritualize its meaning1 but are led to recognise in each part of the ancient system a line which leads up to ,christ4 ,finally1 the disciple who sets the true being of his ,master in monumental and awful splendour as the ,word who 'was with ,god and was ,god' now made manifest in the flesh1 in the same breath carries us to the very core and source of all that can be implied in preparation by declaring the same ,word to have been 'in the world' before1 to have been the author of all things1 and the unseen light of men#aeg4 ,the relation of ,christ to history1 or the preparation for the ,gospel1 is then no afterthought of our own or any recent time4 ,it was ,augustine's saying that ,christianity was as old as the world#aeh3 and ,tertullian's 7one of almost venturesome boldness7 that in the previous history ,christ was schooling ,himself for incarnation#aei4 ,but it is not difficult to see that our own time is one which is specially fitted to appreciate and handle this aspect of the ,christian truth4 ,our cultivation of the historical method1 our historical realism or sense of the relation of persons or events to historical setting1 our recognition of the part played in forming structure1 function1 character1 by gradual process1 by heredity1 by evolution1 our developed understanding of the links by which the parts and successions in all nature1 and not least in what is human1 are bound together--all these go to form a habit of mind which in presence of such a ,revelation as that of the ,gospel will at once busy itself1 whether for satisfaction1 for edification1 for controversy1 or for interpretation1 with the relation of the ,truth to the world into which it came1 to all from amongst which it sprung4 ,in such a time it is natural that attack should try to shew that facts which historical criticism has done much to secure1 and a ,life which it has become impossible to treat as a myth1 are simply explicable according to the natural laws of historical causation4 ,it is natural that ,christianity should be explained as the flower and bloom of ,judaism1 or as sprung from the fusion of ,greek and ,jewish influences in a ,galilean medium4 ,such explanations may not be new1 but they are urged with new resources and a more subtle ingenuity4 ,they have the advantage of being the sort of explanations which are naturally most congenial to the time4 ,but out of the very stress of such attacks may come a special corroboration of ,christian truth4 ,the experiment is crucial3 it can hardly be expected that attack of this kind can ever command greater skill and resource than it does at present4 ,if therefore it should be proved to fail3 if we are able to look men in the face and ask whether when all allowance is made for the subtle 'chemistries' of history and for the paradoxical way in which historical results spring from what precedes them1 it is possible to think that ,jesus ,christ and ,his religion were a mere growth from antecedents--then we have here the prospect of such a confirmation of faith as no age less historically scientific could1 in that kind1 give and receive4 ,but this negative result1 great as its value may be1 can only be part of what ,christian science may yield in this sphere for the elucidation and support of faith4 ,it should surely be able to display with greater breadth and delicacy than ever before that correspondence between the ,revelation of ,christ and what went before it1 which was of old indicated by saying that ,christ came in the 'fulness of the time4' ,it should be able to enhance1 and not 7as men fear7 to impair1 the evidence of a ,divine presence and influence1 preparing for that which was to come1 moulding the plastic material of history for a 'far-off ,divine event4' ,it may seem as if this was not so4 ,it may seem1 for example1 as if the severity and activity of historical and linguistic criticism had dimmed the clearness of those correspondences between prophetic utterances spoken centuries before ,christ and the points in ,him or ,his work whereby they were fulfilled1 which were once so clear4 ,it may seem1 it is evidently true1 that stricter canons of interpretation forbid for us that unbounded use of the happy expedient of allegory which could make everything in the ,old ,testament speak of ,christ4 ,but even if this were so 7and with regard to prophecies we only partially grant it71 is there no countervailing gain to reckon8 ,the hand of ,god may be seen in what is marvellous1 startling1 exceptional1 unexplained4 ,can it not be seen as distinctly and as persuasively in what is orderly1 steadfast1 intelligible1 and where our reason1 made in ,god's likeness1 can follow along in some degree with the how and the why of ,his working8 ,it was ,christ's will to give special signs1 yet the curiosity which 'sought after a sign' was not honoured by ,christ like that wisdom which 'discerned the signs of the times1' and so could see the force of the special signs that were given because it saw them in their true moral and spiritual context#afj4 ,have we any reason to hope that our time may be suffered to do 7and even be doing7 something for the interpretation of the witness of history to ,christ which has not been done before1 and which is even an advance upon what has been done8 ,let us consider for a moment 7in order to answer this question7 what it is which specially engrosses the interest and admiration of all of us in the different branches of modern study and enquiry4 ,it is the beauty of process4 ,the practical men among us watch process in its mechanical forms as contrived by invention4 ,the naturalists and the men of science have to an extraordinary extent developed our perception of it in nature3 they shew us its range1 and its incredible delicacy1 flexibility1 and intricacy2 they shew us its enormous patience in the unceasing yet age-long movements which by microscopic or less than microscopic changes accumulate the coal1 or lessen the mountain2 they shew us the wonderful power of adaptation by which it accommodates itself to surroundings1 and appropriates and transforms them to its need4 ,the embryologist developes its wonders as it makes 'the bones to grow in the womb of her that is with child4' ,and the historians in their sphere do the like3 it is for them1 if not the beginning and end of their work1 at least the most powerful of their methods1 to shew the processes by which institutions1 customs1 opinions1 rise and decline2 to arrange the facts so as to display on their chart the steps of growth1 the stages of decay2 to shew influences blending to form events1 and parting again to destroy or re-shape them4 ,there is beauty in all this1 more than we can1 perhaps1 altogether analyse or explain4 ,as living beings we sympathise with the life and movement of it all 7or1 as in the case of intricate machinery1 with the imitation of life7 compared with what stands stark1 solid1 unchanging2 as intelligent beings we revel and delight in its intricacy1 and1 further1 we are gratified by the way in which it subdues with explanation what would be anomalous1 abrupt1 motiveless1 in the way of change or event4 ,it gives us something like the pleasure which we take in the beauty of the exquisite subtle curves and shaded surfaces of a ,raphael figure compared with the rough outline of a ,drer woodcut4 ,but we could not long rest in the admiration of mere process1 whether delicate or colossal4 ,there is a rational element present in1 or controlling1 our sense of beauty1 which asks whence and whither1 which demands unity in detail2 and this finds altogether new and delightful gratification when it can see a relation1 a meaning1 a grouping1 a symmetry1 of which processes are the ministers and instruments4 ,it is1 then1 this idea of beauty in process that we bring with us as we approach to behold the facts and method of ,god's ,redemptive ,work4 ,it is altogether too strong in us to be left behind as we cross the threshold of this region2 it is too much connected with all our thinking and experience4 ,it is very possible that there may be exaggeration about it in us3 and it is indispensable for us to recognise this1 'le dfaut de notre qualit4' ,but all the same we cannot disown1 though we must control1 what is so specially our own4 ,and if our love of process is prepared to be critical1 it is also prepared to be gratified3 and there is opened a prospect of fresh witness to the truth of the unchanging ,gospel1 if it should be found that its introduction into this world is ushered in by all the beauty of process1 with all the grandeur of slow unhasting preparation1 the surprises of gradual transformation1 the delicacies of combination1 which process allows4 ,such a sight is much more than wonderful1 and has in it1 if our ideas of what is ,divine are not very narrow1 much more evidence of ,god's hand than any mere wonder can have4 ,but it is as wonderful as anything can be4 ,and if we still plead that our sense of wonder stipulates for exceptionalness1 it has its own way of satisfying this--the way of uniqueness4 ,for those features which we admire in process are capable1 if combined with a certain degree of grandeur1 completeness1 and particularity1 of conveying to us the impression of a unique thing4 ,we may dismiss as a dialectical refinement the objection which has been made that1 as is doubtless true1 'everything is unique4' ,none the less1 there is a meaning in our ordinary language when it applies the epithet 'unique' to certain persons1 classes1 or things4 ,a man of science may properly speak of a certain uniqueness in the way in which natural conditions are combined so as to make life possible3 a historian will certainly miss truth if he does not recognise a special uniqueness in certain historical epoch-making moments4 ,in proportion as we believe in ,mind ordering the things of nature and history1 such uniqueness will have speaking significance4 ,and as uniqueness has its degrees1 and rises according to the scale1 quantity1 character and completeness1 of that which goes to make it up1 so its significance will rise proportionately1 until at last1 arriving at uniqueness1 which seems to us absolute1 we gain evidence that there is before us a ,supreme ,thing1 a true centre to the world4 ,the evidence is not indeed demonstrative1 but it is in a high degree corroborative1 and it is the highest which history can offer4 ,it is this evidence of uniqueness which1 as it seems to me1 we of the present day may with special fitness seek1 and shall with special welcome find3 7#a7 in the shaping of world-history towards the ,christian era1 7#b7 in the special preparation of the ,jewish nation4 ,within the compass of a paper like the present1 it is impossible to do more than indicate the lines which1 even without any high degree of special education1 a ,christian's thought may travel in tracing the ,divine work of preparation and witness4 ,i4 ,in the first part of our enquiry the distinction between an outward and an inward working suggests itself as convenient1 though necessarily imperfect3 the one consisting in a moulding of the material facts of history1 such as the geographical distribution of peoples1 and the political and social order2 the other in a like use of the changes in thought1 feeling1 and the like4 7#a7 ,it can never be altogether too hackneyed to dwell on the strange value to the world's history of the two peninsulas which we know as ,greece and ,italy1 thrust out into that ,mediterranean ,sea1 which was itself so remarkable as a centre and 'medium' of the western world1 binding its many nations together4 ,they share with other lands of the temperate zone all its possibilities of hardy and vigorous life3 but1 besides this1 their sky and sea1 their conveniences and difficulties1 had a special stimulus to give to their early inhabitants4 ,they were extraordinarily well suited to be the seed-plots of civilization4 ,and these seed-plots were aptly fertilized1 first by the ,phoenicians1 those carrier-birds of antiquity dropping seed along the ,mediterranean coasts3 and then by the happy contact between ,greece and the other ,greece opposite1 to which the island bridges of the ,aegean linked it1 where1 on the narrow strip of coast plain and rich river valley between the sea and the high plateaus of ,asia ,minor1 the ,ionians enjoyed1 as ,herodotus says#afa1 the fairest climate in the world4 ,upon this debouched1 with the rivers from the interior1 the highways along which travelled westward the civilization or the power of the dimly known but highly important early ,phrygian monarchy1 or from yet farther east1 of the mighty ,assyria4 ,the recent discoveries of ,prof4 ,ramsay and others re-interpret and emphasize to us this early connection between the ,asian lands and ,greece in ,europe1 of which the ,lion ,gate of ,mycenae is a monument4 ,what ,greece thus took with her left hand she could pass across with her right to yet another ,greece1 ',great ,greece1' in ,sicily and ,southern ,italy4 ,but we may easily fail to recognise how much all this delicate and tender growth depended on favourable circumstance1 and we cannot too carefully mark how space was made awhile for it to spring4 ,the 'hills stood about' both peninsulas on the ,north to shelter them from intrusion3 but this barrier1 sufficient for ordinary times1 would hardly have resisted the heavy thrust of the later pressure of population from the ,east and ,north-,east1 which1 when it did begin1 so nearly crushed ,rome1 and which1 if it had come earlier1 might have easily stifled ,greek and ,roman civilization in the cradle4 ,the reader of the ,persian ,wars will watch almost with awe within how little ,greece came of what appeared alike to ,asiatic and ,greek a certain subjection to the ,persian4 ,a difference of twenty years earlier1 the chance of a different temper in the little ,athenian people1 the use by ,darius of the methods of ,xerxes1 would1 humanly speaking1 have decided the other way the fate of western civilization4 ,it is easier again to admire than to explain the happy fortune which brought the mountain kingdom of ,macedon to its moment of aggression just too late to hurt the flowering and fruitage of ,greece1 just in time to carry its seed broadcast over ,eastern1 ,syrian1 and ,egyptian lands4 ,from all the sequence of the ,graeco-,roman history which follows1 and in which nothing is more important to all the purposes of ,providence than the simple fact of the order of these two1 ,greek first1 ,roman second1 we can here select only one feature of capital importance1 viz4 the transformation of a world intensely localized and sub-divided into one as singularly united and homogeneous4 ,follow ,s4 ,paul and see his circuits1 watch him claiming the safeguard of the same ,roman citizenship in the ,macedonian town and in the capital of ,palestine1 laying hold at ,caesarea on the horns of a central tribunal of justice at ,rome1 borne thither by the sails of the carrying trade in the 'ship of ,alexandria1' meditating a journey into ,spain1 numbering among his ,roman converts1 as seems probable1 one who had a direct connection with ,roman ,britain1 writing in the same ,greek to ,rome and to the highlanders of ,galatia1 never crossed in his journeys by any track of war1 never stopped by any challenge of frontier or custom-house3 these are so many object-lessons to shew what the ',pax ,romana' and the ,roman unity of power and organization imported for the growth of a world-religion4 ,this was the time when it could be complained that it was impossible to flee from the ,caesar's wrath because the ,caesar owned the world4 ,and to make the impression more distinct1 let the eye travel backward a little1 or forward a little3 backward into the second or even the first century ,b4,c41 when this same ,mediterranean world was still in greater part an unconsolidated chaos of political dbris2 when the tumult of the ,macedonian and ,syrian wars of ,rome and then of her desolating civil strife filled the world with noise and occupied its thought and destroyed its peace2 when the sea was impassable because of pirates1 and when the ,west was still in great part unsubdued and formidable barbarism3 or forward1 across the space during which the ,gospel had spread its influence and struck its roots and won its power1 to the time so soon following1 when the lands that had known no war were again traversed by the armies of rival emperors1 and the barbarians began to dismember the ,west1 and the gloom of a great fear preoccupied men's hearts4 ,to say nothing of the middle ages1 what unity of the ,mediterranean world and the lands affiliated to it has the whole of later history got to shew1 that can compare for a moment with the unity of the early ,empire1 focussed in its cosmopolitan capital ,rome8 ,and in this there is much more than a mechanical provision for the progress of a world-religion4 ,it is not merely that its heralds find a complete facility of communication1 peaceful conditions1 and a 'lingua franca' ready for their use4 ,we must realize how the unity had been obtained4 ,it had been by pulverizing separate nationalities1 separate patriotisms1 separate religions2 by destroying or leaving only in a municipal form the centres round which human energy and loyalty had been wont to gather4 ,thus the world had been turned into that 'cold and icy plain' of which ,m4 ,renan speaks4 ,and it is not too much to say that this process had destroyed just so many barriers to the entrance of ,christianity4 ,we have only to realize what had been previously the universal character of the worships of the western world1 viz4 that they had been local1 the common and exclusive possession of the citizens of one place or state1 and inextricably bound up with the being and welfare of that particular community4 ,such religions1 and people bred under them1 would have met ,christianity1 not so much with criticism of its doctrines1 or with rival doctrines of their own1 as with ideas and a frame of mind so alien to a spiritual and universal religion like the ,gospel that it would have found no foothold in attacking them4 ,conceive the force with which what even in the second century after ,christ the heathen objector urged1 'it is not creditable to alter the customs handed down to us from our fathers#afb1' would have come from the ,roman of the earlier ,republic1 or the ,greek of the times of freedom4 ,nay1 we may without rashness hazard the conjecture that had it been possible for the ,gospel to overcome these conditions it would have done so prematurely and with loss3 that they were in their time and place ministers of good3 that they were bound up with that vigorous energy of development within one small limited horizon1 by which1 as we shall see1 the preparation of the heathen world was carried out4 ,it was the negative aid of the ,empire to ,christianity that it destroyed these4 ,but it lent more positive help4 ,it created a demand1 or at least a need1 for a universal religion4 ,of this there are several proofs4 ,the religious phenomena of the time other than ,christianity supply the first4 ,there is an attempt1 or more than one attempt1 to provide such a religion4 ,there is the attempt by way of comprehension1 of making all the gods live together as joint inhabitants of a common ,pantheon4 ,there is the attempt by way of construction1 in the worship of the one ,power about which there was no doubt1 the ,goddess ,rome1 and of the ,emperor her deified representative4 ,there is also1 we may perhaps add1 the attempt by way of philosophic thought4 ,for philosophy at this time had a religious bent which increased not improbably as the circulation of ,christian thought stole unknown through the veins of society3 and it felt after the ,one ,being whose ,personal existence and ,fatherhood it waveringly discerned1 but whom yet it could not steadily distinguish from a personified order of nature4 ,such a religious idea1 needed to complete ,cicero's commonwealth of the ,universe comprehending ,gods and men1 may be seen with increasing clearness in ,seneca1 ,epictetus1 and ,aurelius4 ,the need of a universal religion is thus directly shewn4 ,but other proofs1 as clear though less direct1 are to be drawn from the other departments of human thought4 ,for literature was already a unity1 into which whatever the genius of provincials like ,lucan1 or ,seneca1 or ,pliny contributed was gathered up4 ,and it is a commonplace that the greatest constructive result of the imperial period was the creation or development of a universal code of law4 7#b7 ,in what has been last said we have almost crossed the imaginary line by which we were to divide the preparation in external fact from that which was more inward in thought and feeling4 ,to deal with this latter may seem almost ridiculous3 since to do so must involve the presumption of summarizing in a few lines the drift of the literature and thought of antiquity4 ,yet1 in the briefest words1 it may be possible to suggest a few true outlines of the shape which an account of that drift should take4 ,it would certainly represent the mental history of the classical world in its relation to the ,gospel as supplying a double preparation1 positive and negative3 a positive preparation by evolving ideas which the ,gospel could work into its own fabric1 or a frame of mind which would make for it a suitable 'nidus' and a receptive soil3 a negative preparation by the breakdown of human nature's own constructive and speculative efforts1 and by the room thus left for a revelation which would unite the broken and useless fragments of thought and minister to unsatisfied needs4 ,and of these the negative seems the more predominant and the more direct4 ,in so saying we are guided by what appears to be the teaching of the ,new ,testament4 ,it seems as though the main upshot of that time was1 and was meant to be1 the failure of the world 'by wisdom#afc' to find the truth3 though when this has been recognised and acknowledged1 then the world might find1 as we may find1 that all the while in this unattaining and abortive thought ,god had put impulses from ,his own wisdom1 and prepared materials for ,his own coming work4 ,it is the typical history of the 'natural man'3 and though what is primary and indispensable is that the natural man should learn the poverty and misery of his own state1 and be ready to die to his life1 yet the natural man too is the true though perverted work of ,god1 and in his thoughts and instincts1 his emotions and speculations1 must be found a witness to which the revelation will appeal1 and a response which it will elicit4 ,it is impossible not to follow the track so suggested1 and to see in the early stages of ,greek life1 the lusty youth-time of the natural man4 ,casting off the bright and truthful simplicity1 and the happy story-telling of its childhood1 it begins 7we speak of the times between #fjj and #dej ,b4,c47 to try its young energies upon the problems of the world3 it suggests its explanations1 quick1 ingenious1 one-sided1 changing1 of how the world came to be3 'it came from water1' 'from air1' 'from fire3' 'it came from the dance of atoms3' 'nay1 but these give us only the how1 it came from something more than these1 it came from mind3' 'are you sure what it is8 fix upon any part of it and you will find it slip through your fingers1 for all is change1 and change is all we know2' these are the quick premires bauches of its young speculation4 ,but already there is a sound of alarm in the air4 ,that challenge asking whether there was an 'it' at all2 and if so1 whether by parity of cavil there was any solidity in the other assumptions of thought1 in 'good' and 'evil1' 'truth' and 'falsehood1' 'beauty' and 'ugliness2' or at least anything beyond such mere relative and convenient meaning as there is in 'big' or 'little1' 'thick' or 'thin1' 'wet' or 'dry'--this sobers men4 ,thought feels its own dangers4 ,it must try its hand more seriously at some true constructive work3 and so there follows that great period in which1 steadied by the strong grip and sharp discipline of the great prophet of natural conscience and natural instinct1 ,socrates1 it addresses itself to its great task of wringing her secret from the world4 ,it is done and necessarily done in the sheer self-reliance of the unaided mind1 yet of the mind in the fullest sense of the word2 not the mere critical understanding1 but the whole spiritual and rational energy of the man1 not disowning its dependence on a discipline of character and a severe and painful training of its own powers4 ,the results1 so splendid and yet so inadequate1 so rich in great intuitions and suggestions1 so patient and successful in much of its detail1 is preserved to us in the work of ,plato and ,aristotle4 ,christian thought can never be interested in disparaging that work3 ,christian thinkers at different times have done special honour to different aspects of it3 and the position of ,aristotle in the works of ,dante1 and of ,aquinas1 and in the frescoes of the ,spanish chapel1 is the sign of the ungrudged admiration given by what in our modern way we might regard as among the least appreciative and discriminating of ,christian times4 ,but the most ungrudging admiration cannot prevent our seeing1 and history compels us to see1 what it lacked4 ,it lacked a foundation upon a ,rock4 ,it had the certainty1 if certainty at all1 which belongs to profound intuitions and to a wide interpretation of experience1 not that which makes a definite1 settled1 and above all communicable conviction4 ,all the while narrower1 pettier1 more captious1 or more ordinary minds had been asking 'what is truth' in a very different spirit2 had displayed the independence and captiousness of youth1 and not its hopeful and trustful creativeness4 ,and more and more this lower element began to prevail4 ,when it became a question not of projecting systems which should impress and absorb the higher minds of a few generations1 but of providing that which should pass on with men1 the common run of men1 into the advancing years1 and stand the strain of the world's middle life2 then it was found that the human mind unaided was more powerful to destroy than to build or to maintain4 ,the dark horse of ,plato's chariot pulled down his fellow3 in the unaided human understanding the critical faculty proved stronger than the constructive3 without the point of attachment in a central truth to which men's high thoughts could reach and cling1 or 7to change the figure7 without a clearly-disclosed goal of truth towards which they could be seen to tend and converge1 they could not maintain or justify themselves3 'the carnal mind' was against them and unworthy of them3 as regards any real adoption of them by mankind for fruitful and trustworthy convictions1 they passed away1 according to that law of which the modern poet speaks3-- ,eternal hopes are man's ,which when they should maintain themselves aloft ,want due consistence3 like a pillar of smoke ,that with majestic energy from earth ,rises but1 having reached the thinner air1 ,melts and dissolves1 and is no longer seen#afd4 ,we shall not be wrong in saying that the course of philosophy after ,aristotle displayed increasingly the collapse of the experiment of speculative self-reliance4 ,scepticism was not confined to the ',sceptics1' nor even shared only by the ,epicureans3 it deeply underlay the philosophy of the ,stoics4 ,but as with advancing life men baffled in their early sanguineness fall back 7both for good and evil7 and content themselves with the energies of practical life1 so the mind of that day baffled and despairing of the speculative problem did not abandon1 but transferred1 its self-reliance2 men threw themselves with a sort of defiance into the organization of conduct2 'imperturbableness' and 'self-sufficiency' became watchwords of their thought#afe4 ,this is the character of ,stoicism3 this explains its vogue and wide indirect influence2 its curious likeness to its apparently quite alien contemporary1 ,epicureanism1 in a common cultivation of self-sufficingness2 and1 finally1 its ready alliance with the natural tendencies of ,roman character when it passed from ,greece to ,rome4 ,here again was a great experiment1 which had no mean success4 ,we admire almost with awe its unsparing thoroughness1 its austerity1 its unworldliness1 its courage1 its endurance4 ,in its later forms1 when some power has touched it with gentleness1 we yield it even a warmer and tenderer admiration4 ,only what we cannot do is to disguise its failure as a great spiritual experiment4 ,we cannot forget how it left the mass of men untouched1 how it concentrated strength by what it neglected of human sympathy and effort1 how it revealed a disease and palsy of human nature which it could not cure3 how at its heart it had no certainty of conviction to give peace and to resist the forces of decay4 ,humanity will never1 perhaps1 wind itself higher4 ,but it was a height on which human strength is insufficient to stand4 ,there lacked a sure word of truth3 the joy and fruitfulness of an inspiration3 a grace which could minister to the weakness1 as well as summon the forces1 of human nature4 ,we cannot be blind to its failure unless we share it3 unless1 that is1 we are trying to satisfy ourselves by some philosophy of life which misses its secrets1 has no key to many of its problems1 and at heart despairs of its solution4 ,the experiment of moral self-reliance1 then1 failed in its turn4 ,but we spoke of a positive as well as a negative upshot to all this ,gentile history3 a positive contribution to the preparation for ,christ4 ,where shall we look for this8 ,surely alongside of1 and in the same plane with1 the failures4 ,if one chief result of the history of the ancient world was to exhibit the insufficiency of man's efforts to find truth and righteousness and life1 this must be completely shewn in proportion as the efforts were noble1 and therefore in proportion as they realized 7though1 at the moment1 only for disappointment7 the capacities1 the possibilities1 the true desires and ideals of man4 ,if man the race1 like man the individual1 was finally to find salvation by dying to himself1 to his own natural man1 he could only do this when it had been adequately and magnificently proved both that he could not save himself1 and how splendidly worth saving he was4 ,he must do his best1 that he may despair of his best4 ,do we not feel that this is just what was worked out by the histories of ,greece and ,rome8 ,they are splendid experiments of human power4 ,diverse in their method1 they combine in this result4 ,in ,greece the experiment is by way of spontaneity1 of free lively development1 conditioned only by its own instincts of taste and beauty4 ,and ,rome represents the alternative plan of seeking strength by discipline1 by subordination1 by distrust of novelty1 by sacrifice of individuality to the corporate life1 and of sentiment and opinion to the rule of law4 ,both realize deathless types of matured human life1 of its beauty1 its brilliant graces1 its dignity1 its honour1 its strength4 ,perhaps1 according to the one-sidedness which limits so severely the works and lives of men1 it might have been impossible that these possibilities of his nature should have been first realized with the same solidity and fulness in presence of those mighty truths1 speaking of what was above man1 which brooded over the history of the ,jews and came forth into the world with the ,gospel4 ,yet they are indispensable to the fulness of the ,christian work3 they are the human material3 and that material must be first-rate in its kind4 ,we owe it perhaps permanently to ,greece and ,rome that we recognise fully the grace of ,god's original workmanship in man1 the validity of his instincts1 his individual value1 the sacredness and strength of all his natural social bonds1 the wisdom and power possessed by his incorporated life4 ,these are things which we could never have realized if all the world had been brought up in the barbarous societies of ancient ,europe or under the great despotisms of ,egypt and ,asia4 ,the religions of ,asia may perhaps shew us by contrast the immense importance to a religion of being able to build with sound and adequate materials on the human side4 ,that ,greece and ,rome did contribute specially in this way to the work of the true religion may be shewn by the way in which men have again and again turned back to these original sources for fresh impulses of liberty or vigour4 ,but these things had their day and passed4 ,the age of ,pericles and of ,demosthenes1 the great days of the ,roman ,republic1 are only epochs in the history1 long past at the era of our ,lord4 ,we look to see whether there is any positive preparation for ,him and ,his ,gospel in the whole drift of that history1 and especially in tendencies which took a developed form closer to the era of ,christianity#aff4 ,general and popular impressions about the character and course of the history will put us on the track of a true answer4 ,it is impossible to look at the history of the classical world without getting a double impression1 that it is a history of failure and degeneracy1 and yet that it is a history of bettering and progress4 ,if we take the world at the ,christian era1 the times of political brilliancy and energy are over1 and men are sinking into a uniformity of servility and stagnation3 morally the ancient severity is lost1 and the laws of ,augustus are feebly coping with the results of a general dissoluteness as to morality and marriage3 economically society is disfigured by a vast slave system1 by the disappearance of honest and thriving free labour1 and by great developments of luxury and pauperism3 in literature1 though it is the 'golden age1' the signs are not wanting1 in artificiality and the excessive study of form1 of imminent rapid decline into the later rhetorical culture3 in philosophy speculation had run itself out into scepticism and self-destruction3 and in religion a disbelief in the ancient gods and a doubt of all ,divine providence is matter of open profession4 ,and yet there is a bettering4 ,the laws of the ,empire become a model of humanity1 equitableness1 and simplicity4 ,seneca and ,epictetus rise to thoughts of moral purity and sublimity and delicacy which at times seem hardly unworthy of the ,new ,testament3 and their humane and comprehensive ideas have cast off the limitations which the narrow life of ,greek cities set to those of their greater predecessors4 ,here then is a great clearing of the stage1 and a great predisposing of thought and sentiment1 for a religion which proclaimed a good tidings for all men without distinction of ',jew or ,greek1 ,barbarian and ,scythian1 bond or free'2 for a religion of compassion2 for a religion wholly spiritual and unpolitical4 ,there are traces distinct and widespread of special tendencies to such a religion1 and they are connected with the best side of the life of the time4 ,the enormous diffusion of the 'collegia' or clubs1 in which the members were drawn together without distinction of rank1 or even of free and slave1 in a partly religious bond1 shews the instinct of the time feeling for a religion of brotherhood4 ,there is a delicacy of family life as seen in ,plutarch1 in ,pliny1 in ,fronto1 which shews readiness for a religion such as should regenerate the simple instincts and relations of humanity4 ,in the position and function of the philosophers 7who sometimes half-remind one of mendicant friars#afg1 sometimes of the confessor or chaplain in families of rank1 in their relation to education and to the vicissitudes of later life7 there is implied a concentration of thought and interest upon character and upon the discipline of individual life1 a sensibility to spiritual need1 which all indicates a ground prepared for ,christian influence4 ,and1 finally1 whether it be from the stealing in of ,eastern influences1 or from a reaction against the cold scepticism of ,ciceronian times1 or from a half-political half-genuine sense of the necessity of religion to society1 or from a sort of awed impression created by the marvellous fortune of ,rome1 or from the steady impact of the clear strong deep religious faith of the ,jews scattered everywhere1 and everywhere1 as we know1 to an extraordinary extent leavening society1 or1 as time went on1 from a subtle influence of ,christianity not yet accepted or even consciously known1--there was1 it is notorious1 a return towards religion in the mind of men4 ,the temples were again thronged3 priests became philosophers4 ,in ,neo-,platonism thought again looks upward1 and the last phase of ,greek philosophy was in the phrase of the dry and dispassionate ,zeller#afh 'a philosophy of ,revelation' which sought knowledge partly in the inner revelation of the ,deity and partly in religious tradition4 ,this movement was indeed a rival of ,christianity2 it came to put out some of its strength in conscious rivalry1 or it tried in ,gnostic heresies to rearrange ,christianity on its own lines3 but it was the result and witness of a disposition of men's hearts which made way for the ,gospel4 ,it was not1 then1 merely true that the failures of the heathen world left it empty1 hungering1 distrustful of itself2 nor merely that the world of that particular epoch gave extraordinary facilities of an outward kind for the diffusion of a world-religion3 but also that in some of its most characteristic and deepest workings1 in thoughts and dispositions which it had purchased at a great cost of ancient glories and liberties and of all that was proud and distinctive in ,greek and ,roman religion1 there was that which would make men ready for ,christianity and cause it to be to them1 as it could not have been to their ancestors1 intelligible1 possible1 and congenial4 ,,ii4 ,dr4 ,westcott has drawn1 in a useful phrase1 the invaluable distinction between a tendency towards1 and a tendency to produce1 the truth of ,christianity#afi4 ,if we have been able to trace a real shaping of the lines inward and outward of the world's order disposing it for a true religion1 the impression which this makes on us must be enormously increased if 7#a7 we can see that that religion1 when it comes1 is most obviously a thing which comes to the ,gentile world1 and does not grow out of it either by blending of tendencies1 or by constructive individual genius3 and if 7#b7 we are able to indicate another and perfectly distinct course of shaping and preparation which at the required moment yielded the material and equipment for the religion which was to go out upon the world4 ,that this was so is in a sense upon the face of history4 ,the ,christian ,church1 it has been said1 appeared at first as a ,jewish sect4 ',the salvation' ,christ declared was 'of the ,jews4' ,he came 7'not to destroy but7 to fulfil' the system amidst which ,he arose4 ,such sayings put us upon the track of a special preparation for the ,gospel4 ,let us follow it4 ,and 7as the phrase is chosen to imply7 we look here for something kindred indeed in many of its methods to that general preparation which we have hitherto traced1 but yet more coherent1 positive1 and concentrated4 ,for we pass in a sense at this point 7to use language of the day71 from the preparation of an environment suitable to the ,gospel1 to a preparation of the organism itself4 ,such language is obviously open to criticisms and misconceptions of more kinds than one4 ,but it is sufficiently defensible historically and theologically to justify us in gaining the clearness which it gives4 ,i shall attempt to present the signs of this preparation by considering successively these three points4 7#a7 ,the relations between ,israel and the world at the ,christian era4 7#b7 ,the fitness of ,israel to be the seed-plot of a world-religion1 and of the world-religion given by ,christ4 7#c7 ,the character of the process by which the ,israel1 so fitted1 and so placed1 had come to be4 7#a7 ,many a reader of ,mommsen's ,history of ,rome will have been surprised by finding that the ideal political construction which the writer's knowledge and imagination have ascribed to ,caesar was to consist of three elements--the ,roman1 the ,hellenic1 and the ,jewish#agj4 ,yet striking as the paradox is1 it is chiefly in the facts themselves4 ,whether we look at the ethnological character of the ,jews amidst a system whose strength is from the ,west2 or at their historical position1 as a nation in some sense in decadence1 with a history of independence and glories long lost2 or at the minuteness of their original seat1 and its insignificance at that time as 7ordinarily7 a subordinate district under the ,roman province of ,syria1 it is alike surprising that it should be possible to speak of them as the third factor of the ,roman ,empire4 ,yet1 in the main1 the same surprise is created by any acquaintance with the circumstances of the ,jewish ,dispersion1 as it may be learnt from easily accessible books1 such as ,edersheim's or ,schrer's#aga4 ,there is first the ubiquity of the race3 testified alike by ,josephus1 ,strabo1 and ,philo1 and by the witness of inscriptions4 ,they are everywhere1 and everywhere in force1 throughout the ,roman world4 ,outside the ,roman world their great colonies in ,babylon and ,mesopotamia are another headquarters of the race4 ,they are an eighth part 7one million7 of the population of ,egypt3 they yield #aj1jjj at the least to one massacre in ,antioch4 ,to numbers and ubiquity they add privilege in the shape of rights and immunities1 begun by the policy of the successors of ,alexander1 but vigorously taken up and pushed by ,rome as early as #aci ,b4,c41 greatly developed by ,caesar round whose pyre at ,rome they wept1 and maintained by the almost consistent policy of the earlier ,empire3 rights of equal citizenship in the towns where they lived1 and equal enjoyment of the boons granted to citizens3 rights of self-government and internal administration3 and rights or immunities guarding their distinctive customs1 such as their observance of the ,sabbath or their transmission of tribute to ,jerusalem4 ,the opportunities thus secured from without were vigorously turned to account by their trading instinct1 their tenacity1 their power of living at a low cost1 and above all by their admirable freemasonry among themselves1 which bound ,jews throughout the world into a society of self-help1 and must have greatly assisted the enterprises which depend on facility of information1 communication1 and movement4 ,so far we merely get an impression of their importance4 ,but there are other points which1 while they greatly heighten this impression1 add to it that of remarkable peculiarity4 ,to ask what was their influence plunges us into a tumult of paradoxes4 ,they had1 for example1 everywhere the double character of citizens and strangers1 speaking the language of the countries where they dwelt1 'being ,antiochenes1' as ,josephus says1 'at ,antioch1 ,ephesians at ,ephesus1' and so forth3 possessing and using the rights and franchises of citizens1 and yet every one of them counting the ,holy ,land his country and ,jerusalem his capital3 respecting the ,sanhedrin of ,jerusalem as the supreme authority of the race3 sending up their tribute annually1 flocking thither themselves in vast numbers to keep the feasts1 or again not seldom returning there to die4 ,they possessed in fact the combined advantages of the most elastic diffusion1 and the strongest national concentration4 ,such a position could hardly make their relations to their neighbours entirely simple or harmonious4 ,it 'involved an internal contradiction#agb4' ,it could not but be felt that while enjoying all the advantages of citizenship1 their hearts were really elsewhere4 ,from all the religious and social side of the common life1 which in the ancient world was far less separable from the political than it is now1 they were sensibly aliens4 ,they were visibly making the best of two inconsistent positions4 ,and accordingly the irritation against them in the towns 7we have a glimpse of it in ,acts xix4 #cd7 and the ensuing encroachments and riots1 form as chronic a feature of the position1 as does their protection by the ,empire4 ,but the causes of irritation went wider and deeper4 ,it has been said that 'the feelings cherished towards the ,jews throughout the entire ,graeco-,roman world were not so much those of hatred as of pure contempt#agc4' ,their exterior was doubtless unlovely3 a ,jewry1 as ,m4 ,renan reminds us1 was perhaps not more attractive in ancient than in modern times4 ,but what was even more offensive1 especially to that cosmopolitan age1 and what struck it as altogether the dominant characteristic of the ,jews1 was their stubborn and inhuman perversity4 ,they would be unlike all the rest of the world4 ,tacitus has even formulated this for them as the principle guiding their whole action1 reduced to practice in details which were singularly well fitted to exhibit its offensiveness#agd4 ,his picture should be read by any one who wishes to realize how cultivated opinion thought of them3 and1 even if evidence were lacking1 we can see that this was just the kind of dislike to be shared by all classes1 cultivated and uncultivated alike4 ,yet it is against the background of this intense prejudice1 ever more scornful and irritated as it was exasperated by the incidents of daily contact at close quarters1 that we have to paint the phenomena1 as striking and as abundantly testified1 of the vast and penetrating influence of the ,jews over their neighbours4 ,these also lie upon the surface4 ,in very various degrees multitudes 7of whom women doubtless formed a considerable majority7 adopted the customs and brought themselves into connection with the religion of the ,jews4 ,the boasts or claims of ,josephus1 who refers any sceptical contemporary to 'his own country or his own family1' are confirmed by the admissions of classical writers1 by the indignant sarcasms directed against the converts1 and by the vivid touches in the ,acts of the ,apostles#age4 ',victi victoribus leges dederunt' is the strong phrase of ,seneca1 and it was a very persuasive influence which could cause it to be said that in ,damascus 'nearly the whole female population was devoted to ,judaism'3 which could give ,s4 ,paul's ,jewish opponents in the towns of ,greece and ,asia ,minor the power at one time of raising the mob1 at another of working upon the 'chief' and 'honourable women1' the ladies of the upper classes3 or which could bring 'almost the whole city' together in a provincial town because a new teacher appears in the ,jews' synagogue#agf4 ,this influence had its results in a considerable number of actual proselytes who through circumcision received admission1 somewhat grudging indeed and guarded1 within the ,jewish pale1 but still more in a much larger number of adherents 7the 'devout persons1' 'devout ,greeks1' c41 of the ,acts#agg7 attracted by the doctrines1 and acquainted with the ,scriptures of ,israel1 who formed a fringe of partly leavened ,gentile life round every synagogue4 ,we hardly need evidence to shew us that to this picture of the influence of ,jew over ,gentile1 there need to be added another which will shew how the subtle1 persuasive1 and powerful culture of the ,graeco-,roman world made itself felt upon the ,jews of the ,dispersion4 ,the contrast between the ,jews of ,palestine and those of the ,dispersion1 the translation of the ,scriptures into ,greek1 the rise of a literature which in different ways tried to recommend what was ,jewish to the heathen or to fuse what was ,jewish with what was ,greek1 the single figure of ,philo at ,alexandria1 are all evidences of an influence1 which must have told continually with penetrating power on all that was ablest and most thoughtful in the ,jewish mind4 ,it was not the least considerable result of this that all the great thoughts and beliefs of ,israel learned to talk the language of the civilized world1 and so acquired before the time of ,christ an adequate and congenial vehicle4 ,such was the position of ,israel at the ,christian era4 ,it was one which had been gradually brought about during the last three centuries ,b4,c42 but it only came to its full growth in the last few decades 7the ,jewish settlement in ,rome may date from ,pompey's time7 under favour of the imperial policy and the peace of the times3 and it was soon to change2 indeed the fall of ,jerusalem ,a4,d4 #gj altered it within and without4 ,thus it stood complete during the half-century in which the work of founding the ,christian ,church throughout the ,empire was accomplished1 and then passed away4 ,we remark upon it how admirable an organization it offered for the dissemination of a world-religion1 originated upon ,jewish soil4 ,the significance of this1 occurring at the time when such a religion actually appeared1 is heightened when we observe that the position had continued long enough fully to try the experiment of what by its own forces ,judaism could accomplish for the world4 ,as ,s4 ,james argued#agh ',moses had1' now for a long time1 in every city them that preach him1 being read in the synagogues every ,sabbath day'--and it might have so gone on for ever without any conversion of the ,gentile world4 ,that world could never have been drawn within a system1 which1 however zealous to make proselytes1 had nothing better to offer to those whom it made than that they might come in1 if they liked1 and sit down in the lowest place1 tolerated rather than welcomed1 dependents rather than members of an intensely national community1 leaving father and mother and all that they had1 not for a position of spiritual freedom1 but for a change of earthly nationality4 7#b7 ,but we trench upon the second question4 ,what was the nation that held this position of vantage8 ,what signs are there about it which suggest a special preparation for a purposed result8 ,it is one answer to this question to say that this wonderfully placed people had1 alone among the nations1 a genuine faith1 a genuine hope1 and a genuine charity4 ,they at least1 says ,seneca1 when he complains of their influence1 'knew the reasons of their customs4' ,there was a raison d'tre to their religion4 ,in a world which still kept up the forms of worship and respect for gods whose character and existence could not stand the criticism of its own best moral and religious insight1 any more than that of its scepticism2 or which was framing for itself thoughts of ,deity by intellectual abstraction2 or which was betraying its real ignorance of the very idea of ,god by worshipping the two great powers which1 as a matter of fact1 it knew to be mighty1 ,nature and the ,roman ,empire1--the ,jew had a faith1 distinct1 colossal1 and unfailing1 in a ,living ,god1 ,maker of heaven and earth4 ,this we may be sure was the inner secret of the true attraction which drew the hearts of such men as ,cornelius the centurion to the despised and repulsive ,jew4 ,this ,god1 they further believed1 was their ,god for ever and ever4 ',let us kneel1' they said1 'before the ,lord our ,maker1 for ,he is the ,lord our ,god4' ,and therefore1 let them have gained it how they may1 they had an indomitable hope1 or rather1 confidence1 which all unpropitiousness of outer appearances had only served to stimulate1 that ,he would bring them through1 that ,he had a purpose for them1 and that ,he would bring it to pass3 that the world was no mechanical system of meaningless vicissitudes1 but an order1 of which indeed they little realized the scope1 moving under the hand of a ,ruler for a purpose of glory and beneficence4 ,that the confidence of the extraordinary destiny which1 under this order1 was reserved for ,israel1 as well as the present possession of the ,divine law and covenant1 should have produced an intense sense of unity and fellowship was a matter of course4 ,the ,roman is obliged to recognise their mutual charity1 however deformed1 as he thinks1 by their antipathy to all who were not of their kindred and faith4 ,but such an answer to our question1 though it brings before us a sign1 and a sign of the very highest1 that is of the moral and spiritual1 order1 does not perhaps set us at the point from which the whole meaning of the position opens to us most naturally4 ,it may do this more effectually to ask whether there was any material in ,judaism for a world-religion1 and for that world-religion which grew out of it8 ,perhaps if we performed the futile task of trying to imagine a world-religion1 we should1 with some generality of consent1 define as its essentials three or four points which it is striking to find were fundamentals of the religion of ,israel1 and at that time of no other4 ,we should require a doctrine of ,god1 lofty1 spiritual1 moral3 a doctrine of man which should affirm and secure his spiritual being and his immortality3 and a doctrine of the relations between ,god and man1 which should give reality to prayer and to the belief in providence1 and root man's sense of responsibility in the fact of his obligation to a righteousness outside and above himself1 a doctrine in short of judgment4 ,it needs no words to shew how the religion of ,israel in its full development not only taught these truths1 but gave them the dignity and importance which belong to the cornerstones of a religion4 ,but then along with these that religion taught other beliefs as clearly conceived1 which seemed to be of the most opposite character3 just as distinctive and exclusive as the former were universal4 ,it taught the obligation in every detail of a very stringent written law1 and of a ceremonial and sacrificial system1 centred at ,jerusalem1 and forming the recognised communication between ,god and man4 ,it taught a special election of ,israel and covenant of ,god with ,israel1 a special purpose and future for ,israel4 ,nor was the conception of the participation by other nations in the blessings of ,messiah's rule1 7to which we1 reading for example the prophecies of ,isaiah in the light of the sequel1 cannot but give a dominant place17 more to an ,israelite than a striking incident in a distinctively ,israelite glory4 ,it would seem then1 combining these two sides1 that there was in ,israel the foundation on which a religion for the world could be laid1 but that it could only be made available under stringent and1 as it might appear1 impossible conditions4 ,an attempt to make a religion by extracting the universal truths in ,judaism would have been simply to desert at once the vantage-ground which it was proposed to occupy1 because it would have conflicted directly with every ,jewish instinct1 belief1 tradition1 and hope4 ,if the thing was to be done1 it must be done by some power and teaching which1 while extricating into clearness all that was truest in the theology and morality of ,israel1 was also able to shew to the judgment of plain men and earnest seekers1 that it constituted a true climax of ,israel's history1 a true fulfilment of the promises and prophecies which ,jews had now made matters of notoriety everywhere1 a true final cause of all the peculiar and distinctive system of ,israel4 ,it must be able to take ,israel to witness1 and therefore it must be able to convince men not only that it had a high theology and a refined morality1 but that ,god had 'visited ,his people'3 and that 'what ,he had spoken unto the fathers ,he had so fulfilled4' ,it must produce accordingly not only doctrine1 but fact4 ,it must carry on1 what was implied in the whole discipline of ,israel1 the assertion that truth was not a matter of speculation1 but a word from ,god2 or the knowledge of a dealing of ,god with man clothing itself with reality1 embodying itself in fact1 making a home for itself in history4 ,it is true that the ,judaism of the synagogue in its idolatry of the law1 had assumed the appearance of a paper system1 but in that form it had no promise or power of expansion3 and on the side where the religion of ,israel admitted of development into some higher and wider state1 it was distinctly a religion not of theory or teaching only1 but of ,divine action revealing itself in history4 ,it will not escape any observer of the beginnings of ,christianity that it was precisely this attempt which the ,gospel of ,jesus made4 ,if we watch ,s4 ,paul speaking to his ,gentile audiences at ,lystra or ,athens1 he brings to bear upon the instincts of his hearers the strong magnet of a clear and definite ,theism4 ,but these addresses themselves implicitly contain another element3 and we must now look to them for examples of the process1 the careful earnest process1 by which the ,gospel did its rapid and yet most gradual work of conversion4 ,unquestionably1 as ,s4 ,paul himself affirms1 and as the ,acts and the early apologetic writers shew us1 it was done by asserting1 and making good the assertion with careful proof and reasoning1 that in the historical appearance and character of ,jesus ,christ1 in ,his treatment while on earth1 in ,his resurrection and heavenly exaltation1 was to be found the true1 natural1 and legitimate fulfilment of that to which the ,scriptures in various ways1 direct and indirect1 pointed1 and of that which the hope of ,israel1 slowly fashioned by the ,scriptures under the discipline of experience1 had learnt to expect4 ,this could be pressed home most directly on ,jews1 but it was available also for the large prepared class among ,gentiles1 to whom the pre-existence of these prophecies and anticipations was known matter of fact1 and to some of whom the ,jewish ,scriptures had been a personal discipline3 the truth of the ,gospel was one 'now made manifest and by the ,scriptures of the prophets1 according to the commandment of the everlasting ,god1 made known to all nations for the obedience of faith4' ,the double requirement was fulfilled1 and a religion1 intrinsically universal and eternal1 was seen by spiritually clear-sighted eyes to be in a most real and organic sense the flower of ,israel's stalk4 7#c7 ,if it has appeared that in the placing of the nation at the era1 and in its character and belief1 there was something much to be 'wondered at1' and1 more definitely1 something marvellously suited1 not indeed to generate such a religion as that of the ,gospel1 but to foster and assist its growth when the seed of ,divine fact should be sown on the prepared soil2 then we shall ask1 finally1 whether there is anything of like striking significance in the way in which this state of things had come about8 ,let us pass by the causes by which the people of ,israel obtained their external position4 ,these1 even including a thing so remarkable as the spontaneous restoration by an ,oriental ,empire of a deported people1 are not in themselves different from the ordinary workings of history2 though in combination they may contribute to deepen the impression of a hand fashioning out of many elements1 and in many ways1 a single great result4 ,but how had the ,jews come to be what they were8 how had they gained the religious treasure which they possessed1 and the tenacity of religious and national life which played guardian to it8 ,the whole course of ,israel's history must1 in one sense1 give the answer to this question3 and there are no controversies more difficult or more unsolved than those which are now raging round the problem of that course1 its origin1 stages1 and order4 ,but it may be possible to make some reflections on it without entangling ourselves very much in those controversies4 7a7 ,at the outset it is impossible not to be struck by the interest which the ,jews themselves felt in the process of their history4 ,that interest belongs to the very centre of their life and thought4 ,it is not an offshoot of national vainglory1 for 7as has been so often remarked7 it resulted in a record full-charged with the incidents of national failure and defection3 it is not the result of a self-conscious people analysing its own moral and other development1 for though the moral judgment is indeed always at work in the narratives and the poems1 it is more occupied in drawing out the teaching of recurring sequences of sin and punishment than in framing a picture of the whole4 ,the result is to lay a picture of development before us1 but the aim is to treasure and record every detail of ,god's dealings with the nation of ,his choice4 ,this is what gives continuity and unity to the whole3 this is what lends to it its intense and characteristic uniqueness4 ,and when we look steadily at this1 we perceive afresh1 what familiarity almost conceals from us1 the distinctive quality of ,israel's religion2 that it is not a system of teaching1 nor a tradition of worship1 nor a personal discipline1 though it may include all these2 but that it is in itself a belief in the working of ,god1 ,who is the ,god of all the earth1 but specially the ,god of ,israel1 and ,who works indeed everywhere1 but in an altogether special sense in ,israel4 ,in reflecting on their history they contemplate the object of their faith4 ,hence truth is to them not a philosophic acquisition1 but lies in the words which had come from ,god faithfully treasured and received3 it is revealed in word and act3 goodness1 in man or nation1 is the faithful adherence to those conditions1 under which the good purpose of ,god can work itself out and take effect3 it is a correspondence to a purpose of grace3 and the centre and depositary of their hope is neither the human race1 nor any association for moral and religious effort1 but an organism raised by ,him who raises all the organisms of nature from a chosen seed1 and drawn onwards through the stages by which family passes into nation and kingdom1 and then through that higher discipline by which the natural commonwealth changes into the spiritual community of the faithful 'remnant4' ,if any one will try to realize the impression which ,christianity made upon the heathen world1 he will not fail to see how the new truth was able to impress men because it found these conceptions of revelation1 grace1 and an organic society of ,god's choice and shaping1 all so strange and so impressive to the heathen world1 ingrained as the natural elements of religion in the men whom it made its instruments4 ,but why did the ,jews so regard their history8 ,for the answer we may revert to the other question1 ,what made them what they were at the ,christian era8 ,for they had gone through a crisis calculated to destroy both their existence and their religion4 ,it has been in fashion with some writers to emphasize the resemblances1 and minimize the differences1 between the religion of ,israel and that of its neighbours4 ,in view of this it becomes important to note the specific peril of ancient religions4 ,that peril was that the close association of the nation with its god caused the failure of the one to appear a failure of the other1 and to endanger or destroy the respect paid to him4 ,the religion of a subdued or ruined people was1 as we may say1 a demonstrated failure4 ,sennacherib's defiance of ,hezekiah urges this with a conqueror's irony#agi4 ,the case of the ,ten ,tribes had1 probably1 given an illustration of it within the circle of ,israel itself4 ,and in ,judah1 upon any shewing1 there was enough of the feeling that ,jehovah was responsible for ,his people1 of the conviction that ,he would certainly protect ,his own1 of the confidence resting on prosperity and liable to be shaken by its loss1 to make the downfall of the state1 carrying with it that of the ,temple and the outer order of religion1 an enormous peril to the religion itself and with it to the very existence of ,israel4 ,it is not difficult to discern the agency by which the peril was averted4 ,that agency was ,prophecy4 ,modern criticism1 though it may quarrel with the inspiration or predictive power of the prophets1 has given fresh and unbiassed witness to their importance as an historical phenomenon4 ,kuenen#ahj1 for example1 points out how at every turning-point in ,israel's later history there stands a man who claims to bring a word of ,god to the people4 ,prof4 ,huxley#aha1 in a recent article1 has told us that 'a vigorous minority of ,babylonian ,jews1' that is1 the ,jews upon whom the full forces of prophecy bore1 'created the first consistent1 remorseless1 naked ,monotheism1 which1 so far as history records1 appeared in the world 444 and they inseparably united therewith an ethical code1 which1 for its purity and its efficiency as a bond of social life1 was1 and is1 unsurpassed4' ,of whatever fact may underlie this description1 the prophets are at once evidence and authors4 ,now prophecy confronted the impending peril in the name of ,jehovah3 on the one side it displayed the enemy 7whether as by ,isaiah it prescribed a bound to his advance1 or as by ,jeremiah announced the catastrophe to be wrought by him7 as himself utterly in ,jehovah's hands1 ,his axe or saw for discipline upon the trees of the forest2 on the other side it shewed that ,jehovah's obligation to ,israel was conditioned by ,his essential righteousness2 that national disaster might be ,jehovah's necessary vengeance1 and that ,his purpose for ,israel--which it re-asserted with fullest emphasis--might need to be realized for an ,israel purified by such discipline1 a shoot from the stock of the felled tree1 the remnant of an 'afflicted and poor people#ahb4' ,and prophecy was beforehand with all this3 it was not an afterthought to explain away a calamity3 and so it fashioned in ,israel at least a core of spiritual faith1 to which outward disaster of polity and religion1 however destructive1 was not confounding1 and which had stamina enough in it to draw wholesome though bitter nourishment from the hard ,captivity discipline4 ,this1 when the flood came1 was an ark for ,israel's religion1 and1 in its religion1 for the national life1 which re-organized itself under new conditions round the nucleus of the religion4 ,thus1 at the crisis and hinge of the historical development which issued in the wonderfully placed and constituted ,israel of ,christ's time1 and which was crowned by the ,new ,religion1 we find this agency1 which in itself would arrest our wonder4 ,the more we look at it1 the more wonderful it is4 ,every suggestion of comparison with heathen oracles1 divination and the rest1 can only bring out with more vivid effect the contrast and difference between it and all such things4 ,it claims by the mouth of men transparently earnest and honest1 to speak from ,god4 ,it brings with it the highest credentials1 moral1 spiritual1 historical3 moral1 for it spends what at first sight seems all its strength in the intrepid and scathing rebuke of the evils immediately round it1 especially in the high places of society1 against the lust1 cruelty1 avarice1 frivolity1 insolence1 foul worships1 which it found so rankly abundant3 spiritual1 for it speaks the language of an absolutely unworldly faith1 and accomplishes a great spiritual work1 such as we can hardly over-estimate1 unless indeed with ,prof4 ,huxley we distort its proportions so as to prejudice the earlier religion from which it sprang or the ,christianity to which it contributed3 historical1 because occurring at the very crisis of ,israel's history 7#gej-eej71 it gained credence and authority from the witness of events1 and dealt with an emergency of the most perilous and bewildering kind1 as not the most skilful opportunist could have dealt with it1 by a use1 as sublime as simple1 of the principles of righteousness and faith4 ,if we compare what the prophets did for their contemporaries and what they did for the future of ,israel and the world1 and see that this was done1 not by two sets of utterances working two different ways1 but by a single blended strain of prophecy1 we gain a double impression1 of which the twofold force is astonishing indeed4 ,it is gained without pressing their claim to predictive power1 at least beyond the horizons of their own period4 ,but it is impossible for any careful and candid reader of the words of the prophets to stop there1 and not to feel that there is another element in them1 not contained in a passage here and there but for ever reappearing1 interwoven with the rest1 and evidently felt by the prophets themselves to be in some sense necessary for the vindication and completion of their whole teaching4 ,it is an element of anticipation and foresight4 ,we see that this is so1 and we see in part the method of it4 ,it is bound up with1 it springs out of1 all that is spiritually and morally greatest in the prophets4 ,their marvellous1 clear-sighted1 steady certainty that the ,lord who sitteth above rules all1 that ,he is holy1 and that unrighteousness in man or nations cannot prevail2 their insight piercing through the surface of history to underlying laws of providential order2 the strange conviction or consciousness1 felt throughout the nation but centring in the prophets1 that this ,god had a purpose for ,israel3--these deep things1 which1 however they came and whatever we think of them1 make ,israel's distinctive and peculiar glory1 were accompanied by1 and issued in1 anticipations of a future which would vindicate and respond to them4 ,just as the belief in a future life for ,god's children was not taught as a set doctrine to the ,jews1 but grew with the growth of their knowledge of the ,living and ,holy ,god1 and of man's relation as a spiritual being to ,him1 so with the predictions of which we speak4 ,as it was given to the prophets to realize the great spiritual truths of present because eternal moment which they taught1 it was given to them also to discern that these truths pointed to a future which should bring them vindication4 ,the cloudy time of trial and confusion would one day come to a close2 the ,sun whose rays they caught would one day shine out2 the partial and passing deliverances in which they taught men to see ,god's hand must one day issue in a deliverance of deeper moment1 of lasting and adequate significance2 there would be an unbaring of ,god's arm1 a manifesting of ,his power to decide1 to justify1 to condemn1 and it would be seen in some final form why and how ,israel was1 in a distinctive sense1 the people of the ,god of the whole earth2 that union between ,god and ,his people1 of which the prophets were themselves mediators and which was so miserably imperfect and so constantly broken1 would one day be complete2 and1 finally1 even the very instruments which ,he was using in the present1 the ,anointed ,king1 the chosen ,royal ,house1 the ,prophet-,servant of ,god1 the holy hill of ,zion1 were charged with a meaning of which the significance was only in the future to become clear4 ,thus1 in this free1 deep1 spiritual--let us say it out1 inspired--manner the predictions of prophecy emerge and gather shape4 ,thus among the people which was most conservative and jealous of its own religious privilege1 the promise most deeply cherished was one in which all nations of the earth should be blessed1 and there is heard the strange announcement of a 'new covenant4' ,thus it comes about that the most satisfying and satisfied of all religions becomes the one which1 in its deepest meaning1 in the minds of its most faithful followers1 strains forward most completely beyond itself4 ,thus1 as it has been said1 ',prophecy takes off its crown and lays it at the feet of ,one who is to be4' ,thus a people who have become intensely and inexorably monotheistic and to whom the ,deity becomes more and more remote in awful majesty so that they do not dare to name ,his ,name1 carry down with them ,scriptures which discover the strange vision of a human ,king with ,divine attributes and strain towards some manifestation of ,god in present nearness4 ,thus amidst the pictures in which1 with every varying detail1 using the scenery1 the personages1 the nations1 the ideas of its own day1 the instinct of prophetic anticipation finds expression1 there emerges1 with gradually gathering strength1 a definite ,hope1 and some clear lineaments of that which is to be4 ,for1 be it observed1 at this point interpretation1 declaring what the prophets seem to us to-day to mean1 passes into and gives way to historical fact4 ,the most sceptical cannot deny either that the words in which the prophets spoke of the future1 did as a matter of fact crystallize into a hope1 a hope such as has no parallel in history1 and of which distorted rumours were able to stir and interest the heathen world3 or that they were1 long before the time of ,jesus1 interpreted as sketching features1 some general and shadowy1 some curiously distinct and particular1 of ,messiah's work and kingdom4 ,and then1 face to face with this1 stands another fact as confessedly historical4 ,for1 'in the fulness of the time1' it did appear to men of many kinds who had the books in their hands1 men with every reason for judging seriously and critically1 and in most cases with the strongest prejudice in favour of an adverse judgment1 that these prophecies were fulfilled in a ,king and a ,kingdom such as they never dreamt of till they saw them4 ,it would be a strange chapter in the history of delusion1 if there were no more to add4 ,but there is to add1 first1 that the ,king and the ,kingdom whereto1 7in no small part upon the seeming perilous ground of this correspondence with prophecy17 these men gave their faith1 have proved to win such a spiritual empire as they claimed3 and1 further1 that men like ourselves1 judging at the cool distance of two thousand years1 are unable to deny that in the truest sense of 'fulfilment1' as it would be judged by a religious mind1 ,jesus and ,his ,kingdom do 'fulfil the prophets1' fulfil their assertion of a unique religious destiny for ,israel by which the nations were to profit1 of a time when the righteousness of ,god should be revealed for the discomfiture of pride and sin and for the help of the meek1 of a nearer dwelling of ,god with ,his people1 of a new covenant1 and of the lasting reign of a perfect ,ruler4 ,to some minds it may weaken1 but to others it will certainly intensify1 the impression thus created1 if they are asked to observe that now and again there occur in the ,jewish ,scriptures words1 passages1 events1 in which with startling distinctness1 independence1 and minuteness there stand forth features of what was to be4 ,it is as if the anticipation which fills the air with glow focussed itself here and there in sparkling points of light which form and flash and fade away again4 ,we may confidently assert that in the case of such passages as the #bbnd and #aajth ,psalms or the #ith and #ecrd ,chapters of ,isaiah the harder task is for him who will deny1 than for him who will assert1 a direct correspondence between prediction and fulfilment4 ,if they stood alone1 general scientific considerations might make it necessary to undertake the harder task4 ,standing out as they do from such a context and background as has been here indicated1 the interpretation which sees in them the work of a ,divine providence shaping out a 'sign' for the purpose which in each ,christian age1 and especially in the first1 it has actually subserved1 is the interpretation which is truest to all the facts4 ,they are the special self-betrayal of a power which is at work throughout1 of which the spiritual ear hears the sound1 though we are often unable distinctly to see the footprints4 ,it seems then impossible1 upon such a view of the phenomena of prophecy as has been here roughly and insufficiently indicated1 to deny that whatever appearance of preparation we may discern in the condition outward and inward of the ,jews in the time of ,christ1 is strongly corroborated by a like appearance of preparation in the process by which they had become what they were4 7b7 ,we have selected out of all the foregoing history the epoch and the influence of the prophets for several reasons4 ,they preside over the most critical period of ,israel's history4 ,they seem to bring to most pronounced expression the spirit and character which pervades the whole of that history4 ,they are known to us through their own writings3 and we are therefore on ground where 7comparatively speaking7 the premises are uncontroverted4 ,and as it is the fashion perhaps to discredit the argument of prophecy--partly1 no doubt1 on account of the technical form in which it was ordinarily presented--it is important to re-assert that in all its main strength that argument holds its ground1 reinforced indeed1 as we think1 by the increased power to apprehend its breadth and solidity which our more historically trained modern minds should have gained4 ,but selection of what is most salient should imply no neglect of the rest2 and the argument1 or view of the facts1--which has here for clearness sake been abbreviated1 and mainly centralized upon the work and implications of prophecy1--can be deepened as the drift of the great lines of ,israel's discipline is more deeply realized4 ,thus1 for example1 little or nothing has been here said of the ,law4 ,yet1 without foreclosing any discussion as to its sources and development1 we can see that the law of ,god was a factor in every stage of ,israel's history1 and that in the making of the prepared ,israel of ,christ's time1 the law in its fullest and most developed shape was1 and had been for ages1 a paramount influence4 ,no influence more concentrated and potent can be found in history4 ,and to see the deepest drift of it we have no need to speculate on what might have been1 or was sure to be4 ,historical documents point us to what was4 ,the ,epistles to the ,romans and the ,galatians1 and the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 lay open respectively two ways of its working4 ,on the one side it appears as a great witness for righteousness4 ,men were schooled to live under a sense of peremptory obligation2 to comply scrupulously1 exactly1 submissively with an unquestioned authority4 ,this sense and temper is liable to great abuse3 it lends itself when abused to a mechanical morality1 to a morbid casuistry1 to the complacency of an external perfectness4 ,it was so abused very widely among the ,jews4 ,but it is nevertheless an indispensable factor in a true morality1 to which it lends the special power of command3 and in ,israel it conferred this power because it connected obligation with the will of a righteous ,god4 ,this is expressed in the repeated sanction ',i am the ,lord your ,god1' following precept after precept of the law1 and in the summary claim ',be ye holy1 for ,i am holy4' ,evidently here there is that which transcends all mechanical schemes of obedience2 there is an infinite standard4 ,as such it pointed and impelled onwards towards the true religion in which faith and holiness should be entirely at one4 ,as such meanwhile it stimulated and dismayed the deeper spirits3 stimulating them by the loftiness of its demand1 dismaying them by the proved impossibility of that perfect compliance which alone was compliance at all4 ,thus the foundations were laid of a temper at once robust and humble1 confident and diffident2 though they were laid upon a contradiction which the law had in itself no power to resolve4 ,there was indeed 7here we take up the guidance of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews7 one part of the law which acknowledged that contradiction1 which half promised to resolve it1 but having no real power to do so1 could only shape and deepen the demand for some solution4 ,this was1 of course1 the sacrificial system4 ,the sacrificial system opens up quite other thoughts from those of strict demand and strict obedience4 ,it points to quite another side of religious and moral development4 ,yet it starts from the same truth of a ,holy ,god ,who requires1 and inasmuch as ,he is holy must require1 a perfect obedience4 ,only it acknowledges the inevitable fact of disobedience4 ,it embodies the sense of need4 ,it appeals to1 and as part of the ,divine law it reveals1 a quality in the ,supreme ,goodness which can go beyond commanding and condemning1 to forgive and reconcile4 ,it creates in a word the spirit of humility1 and it feels1 at the least1 after a ,god of love4 ,what a profound preparation there is in this for the life which ,christ blessed in the ,beatitudes and inaugurated by all that ,he was and did1 and for the truth of the ,divine being and character which was set forth in ,him4 ,yet the law only prepared for this1 and made the demand which this met4 ,it made no answer to its own demand4 ,it could not reconcile its own severity1 and its own hopes of mercy3 its apparatus of sacrifice was in itself absolutely and obviously insufficient for any solution of the contradiction4 ,it was a marvellous discipline which1 while it trained its people so far1 demanded the more urgently something which all its training could never give nor reach4 7c7 ,the work of prophecy and the work of the law was also 7if we can distinguish causes which were so much affected by one another7 the work of history4 ,to the work of the prophets1 indeed1 the history of both the past and the succeeding times was essential1 the former to supply their work with a standing ground1 the latter to engrain its teaching into the life of the nation4 ,we look back1 and we ask1 ,what gave the prophets their advantage1 what was the fulcrum of their lever8 ,trained to observe the processes of religious evolution1 we must refuse to believe with ,professor ,huxley that a lofty monotheism and a noble morality sprang out of the ground among a 'minority of ,babylonian ,jews4' ,but we shall be prepared to find that the rudimentary stages differ much from the mature4 ,the beginnings of life1 as we know them1 are laid in darkness3 they emerge crude and childish3 the physical and outward almost conceals the germ of spiritual and rational being which nevertheless is the self1 and which will increasingly assert itself and rule4 ,it may be so with that organism which ,god was to make the shrine of ,his ,incarnation4 ,we may have to learn that the beginnings of ,israel are more obscure1 more elementary1 less distinctive from surrounding religions1 than we had supposed4 ,we need not fear to be as bold as ,amos in recognising that what was in one aspect the unique calling of ,god's ,son out of ,egypt#ahc was in another but one among the ,divinely ruled processes of history1 such as brought up the ,philistines from ,caphtor and the ,syrians from ,kir#ahd4 ,we need not be more afraid than ,ezekiel to say that the peculiar people were an offshoot 7if so it should be7 of natural stocks1 with the ,amorite for father and the ,hittite for mother#ahe4 ,but all this will hardly take from us that sense of continuous shaping of a thing towards a ,divine event which has always been among the supports of faith4 ,we shall see that the prophetic appeals imply a past1 and that their whole force lies in what they assume1 and only recal to their hearers2 the special possession of ,israel by ,jehovah1 ,his selection of them for ,his own1 ,his deliverances of them from ,egypt and onwards1 giving the earnest of a future purpose for which they were preserved1 and for which ,his definite promises were committed to them1 to the seed of ,abraham1 the house of ,israel1 the line of ,david4 ,these things the prophets imply1 standing upon these they speak with all the force of those who need only bid the people to realize and to remember1 or at most to receive from ,god some fresh confirmation and enlargement of their hopes#ahf4 ,or again1 from the work of the prophets we look forward1 and when we have recovered from our surprise at seeing that a dreary interval of five centuries separates the ,evangelical prophecy1 which seemed so ready for the flower of the ,gospel1 from the time of its blooming1 we discern how the processes of that interval were utilized in realizing1 ingraining1 diffusing the great truths of prophetic teaching4 ,the return without a monarchy and under an ecclesiastical governor1 and the dispersion through many lands1 necessitated in act that transformation of the political into the spiritual polity1 almost of the nation into the ,church1 of which ,isaiah's work was the germ4 ,the institution of the synagogues1 which belongs to this time and in which public worship was detached from all local associations and from the ancient forms of material sacrifice1 was1 as it were1 the spiritual organ of the new ubiquitous cosmopolitan ,jewish life4 ,yet contemporaneously the centralizing influences gained strength4 ,the conservative work of ,ezra and of the ,scribes and ,rabbis at whose head he stands1 gathered up and preserved the treasures which gave a consciously spiritual character to ,israel's national loyalty2 and guarded with the hedge of a scrupulous literalism1 what needed some such defence to secure it against the perils implied in being carried wide over the world4 ,by the resistance in ,palestine under ,syrian rule to ,hellenizing insolence1 and in the ,dispersion to the fascinations and pleasures of ,hellenizing culture1 and by the great ,maccabean struggle1 the nation was identified with religious earnestness and zeal in a way of which we only see the caricature and distortion in the ,pharisaism which our ,lord denounced4 ,thus1 if we compare our ,lord's time with the great age of prophecy1 we see how much has been acquired4 ,time has been given for the prophetic influences to work4 ,there has been loss1 but there has also been gain4 ,that conscious1 explicit1 and magnificently uncompromising ,monotheism1 which in the mouth of the ,evangelical prophet was quivering with the glow and passion of freshly inspired realization1 has by 'the end of the age' had time to bring everything in the sphere of religion under its influence4 ,it had discovered its points of contact with the highest aspirations of the ,greek thought which on intellectual lines felt its way towards ,god4 ,and it had unfolded its own corollaries3 it had drawn along with it the great spiritual truths which cohere with the belief in one ,living and ,true ,god3 and ,israel in the ,pharisee epoch had passed1 we hardly know how1 into secure if not undisputed possession of the belief in a future life1 in a world of spirits1 and in the spiritual character of prayer4 ,but there was another and more direct manner1 in which the work of history interlaced with what we have indicated as the work of the law4 ,in the formation of the temper of chastened confidence which is so characteristic of later ,israel1 a part must evidently be given to the discipline of national experience saddened by departed glory1 and with the shadows thickening over it4 ,just as we can see that the populations of the ,empire were in a sense more ready to learn of ,christ than the young self-reliant ,greeks of ,sparta or ,athens could have been1 so we can see in such language as that of the #aaith ,psalm or of the #ith chapter of ,daniel a temper to which the meek and lowly ,christ would make an appeal which might have been lost upon the rough times of the judges or the prosperous age of the monarchy4 ,old age has come and with it the wisdom of a chastened spirit4 ,this is not difficult to see1 and it is important to take it into account4 ,it means that the comparatively normal discipline of life has brought with it 7as doubtless it is meant to do alike in personal and national life7 a spiritual gain4 ,but it is important to see how much of the process and the effect remains unexplained4 ,the chastening is obvious1 but whence the confidence8 ,it is in some far less normal cause1 in something which seems distinctive of ,israel1 that we have to find the adequate explanation of the whole result4 ,we have to ask 7as ,pascal so keenly felt#ahg7 why a nation records its failures and misfortunes as being chastisements of wilful1 repeated1 and disgraceful fault1 and then jealously guards the record as its most cherished possession4 ,it would be easy to suggest that there is in this an egotism clothing itself in humility3 and to point out that this egotism would explain the confidence which still looked forward to the future1 which anticipated greatness for an 'afflicted and poor people1' and a blessing to all the nations of the earth from its own history4 ,only this is just to slur the difficulty1 and under the invidious word 'egotism' to disguise that wonderful instinct of a destiny and a mission which is so strangely unlike egotism1 and which allowed1 or even produced1 in so profound a form the self-condemnation which egotism refuses4 ,doubtless the effects of these preparing forces were felt1 and their meanings discerned1 only by a few4 ,not only were they 'not all ,israel that were of ,israel1' but the bulk of the nation and its representative and official leaders were blind4 ,they were off the way1 down the false tracks of literalist ,rabbinism1 or of one-sided ,essene asceticism1 or of earthly visions of a restored kingdom1 or 7as in ,alexandria7 of a philosophized ,judaism4 ,the issues were the crucifixion of the ,lord1 and all which ,judaism1 without and within the ,church1 did to extinguish the ,gospel and persecute its followers in its first age4 ,it is right to refer to this1 but there are probably few to whom it would cause any difficulty4 ,to the observer of the world's history it is a common sight that the true issues and the distinctive work of a people is worked out not by the many or by the prominent1 but by the few1 and often the obscure4 ,to the student of ,jewish history that which has made ,israel what it is in world-significance appears throughout the course of its history as a gold thread running through a web of very different texture4 ,it can be no surprise that the end should be of a piece with the rest4 ,there1 in a climax of sharpest contrast1 we see the antithesis which marks the history throughout4 ,the training issues in a ,s4 ,mary1 a ,simeon1 in those who 'waited for the consolation of ,israel' on the one side1 and in the ',scribes and ,pharisees1 hypocrites1' on the other4 ,the natural issue of ,israel's life and tendencies is seen in the cold and sterile impotence which1 because it is the 'corruption of the best1' is the most irreversible spiritual ruin2 while beside and amidst this there was fashioned by a grace and power above nature1 though in a perfectly natural way1 the true ,israel which realize all that ',israel according to the flesh' professed yet betrayed1 guarded yet obscured4 ,and if we have at all rightly discerned as a principle of ,divine preparation that it should be negative as well as positive1 and should demonstrate to the world before ,christ was given1 how little the world's own wisdom or effort could supply ,his place3 we shall not wonder that time was thus given for ,israel to try out as it were its second experiment1 and to shew that by its selfishness and arrogance1 by its 'carnalness1' it could warp and distort its later spiritual constitution1 even more than its former temporal one1 out of all likeness of what ,god would have it be4 ',the last state of the man' was 'worse than the first#ahh4' ,but the observation of these predominant currents and forms of ,jewish life and thought and religion has this further value1 that it shews the variety1 the energy1 and the unlikeness to one another of the tendencies present in ,israel4 ,they emphasize the fact that the history of ,israel was in no sense working itself out towards the production by its own forces of the true religion which went forth from the midst of it4 ,they remind us how intractable the problem of finding by human ingenuity the solution which could harmonize in one issue elements so powerful and so alien from each other2 which with a perfect spiritual liberty could combine an assertion of the permanent value of the law2 which with no withdrawal from and despair of the world could secure all that was sought by ,essene purity and self-denial2 which1 itself utterly unworldly1 could satisfy the idea of a restored monarchy and a glory for ,israel2 which while bringing no philosophy could achieve what ,jewish philosophizing had desired1 in a capture of the world's reason by ,jewish truth4 ,,iii4 ,in the last words we touch that with which this essay may perhaps fitly end4 ,if its drift has been in any sense true1 there stands before us1 as perhaps the most striking feature of the whole situation1 the co-existence of the two preparations1 the one general1 indirect1 contributory1 and consisting only in an impressive convergence and centering of the lines of ordinary historical sequences2 the other special1 directly introductory1 and characterized by the presence of a distinctive power1 call it what we may1 a genius for religion1 or more truly and adequately a special grace of the ,spirit of ,god1 which is new and above ordinary experience1 even as life is when it enters the rest of nature1 and reason is when it appears in the world of life4 ,the two preparations pursue their course unconscious of one another1 almost exclusive of one another4 ,greek wisdom and ,roman power have no dream of coming to receive from the narrow national cult of humbled and subject ,israel4 ,and ,israel1 even taught by the great prophets1 could hardly find a place in her vision of the future for any destiny of the nations of the world4 ,to this antagonism1 or more strictly this ignoring of one another1 there are exceptions1 exceptions of the kind which emphasize the character of the situation which they hardly modify4 ,two streams of such force and volume as those of ,jewish religion and classical life or culture could not touch and leave one another altogether uninfluenced1 though the influence was characteristically different4 ,on the side of the world the spiritual needs of individuals caused numbers1 not inconsiderable1 to receive influences which made them ready to act as seeding ground and ferment for the ,gospel4 ,on the side of ,israel1 the strong sense of mission and of truth made the contact with ,greek culture suggest the ambition to use it as a great instrument1 to teach it to acknowledge and witness to the ,god of ,israel1 who was ,god of the whole earth3 and the results1 in the ,greek of the ,septuagint and in the ,helleno-,judaic writings of ,alexandria and elsewhere1 were invaluable in fashioning language and thought for ,christ's service4 ,but all the more distinctly1 in the first case1 does the antagonism1 the gulf fixed1 the mutual aversion1 the impossibility humanly speaking of fusion between ,jew and ,gentile come out before our eyes4 ,and1 in the second case1 the unreal romancings of the ,sibylline works1 the apparently isolated work of ,philo1 and the opportunism of a politician like ,josephus1 have all the character of hybrids1 and shew no sign of the vital fusion by which out of a great wedlock a new thing comes to be4 ,the two preparations stand apart3 they go their own way4 ,there is indeed in them a strange parallelism of common human experience and human need4 ,both have tried their experiments1 made their ventures1 won their successes1 gone through their disciplines of disenchantment and failure4 ,both are conscious of the dying of life3 in ,israel there is 'no prophet more'2 outside it philosophy has not the creativeness and energy of youth but the quiet acquiescence and mild prudence of age1 and life1 public and private1 is without adequate scope or aim4 ,in both the 'tendencies towards' a ,gospel are as far as possible from making a 'tendency to produce' one4 ,in both there is the same desire for which the ,jew alone can find conscious expression3 it is ',quicken me6' ,both need life4 ,both have no help in themselves4 ,but in the lines which they follow and the hopes which they frame there is neither likeness nor compatibility4 ',the ,greeks seek after wisdom#ahi4' ,the intellect1 and those who are distinctively men of the intellect1 can hardly imagine human advance otherwise than in terms of the intellect4 ,philosophy conceives of it as a conquest of philosophical result1 or even as an increase of philosophical material4 ,it is the pain of an advanced and critical time1 like that of which we speak1 to feel this1 and yet to feel that the experiments of speculation have gone far enough to shew that by none of their alternative ways can there be any way out to the peace of certain truth4 ,and yet it seems that1 without abdication of reason1 there is no possibility of going any other way3 the ,greeks 7and in this sense all the world was ,greek7 could only look for what they wanted in the form of a new philosophy4 ,but 'the ,jews require a sign4' ,totally different1 but equally exclusive1 were the conditions under which the ,jew could conceive of a new epoch4 ,the dread of exhausted resources did not haunt him1 for he looked not to human capacity but to ,divine gift and interposition4 ,but he thought that he knew the form in which such interposition would come2 it was not to be primarily a teaching1 7it is the ,samaritan and not the ,jew who is recorded as expecting in ,messiah one who1 'when ,he is come1 will tell us all things#aij'72 it must appear in action1 'with observation#aia1' with pomp and scenic display1 with signs1 and signs which1 in a very visible and tangible sense1 should seem to be from heaven#aib1 in particular with circumstances of triumph and conquest1 and with an exaltation of ,israel to the glories of her monarchy many times enlarged4 ,such are the demands2 the things sought and needed2 the conditions prescribed2 definite1 severally uncompromising1 mutually unlike1 and even conflicting4 ,and then from out of ,israel1 without moral or political earthquake1 without overwhelming display of supernatural force1 nay even1 to a superficial eye1 with all the appearance of weakness and failure1 without any rescue for ,israel1 with no attempt to present itself in philosophical form1 with none of the strain and elaboration of a conscious effort to combine many in one1 but rather with a paradoxical and offending 'simplicity' and 'foolishness' of mere assertion3--there comes forth a ,thing in which on the one side ,jews--whom we all recognise to be the best ,jews1 ,jews in the truest and deepest sense--find the whole spirit and meaning1 even down to its detail1 of the life and the hope of ,israel summed up and fulfilled2 which left them no sense of disappointment1 but rather a consciousness of having had hopes only too narrow and low2 which gave them the exulting sense of 'reigning as kings1' with a ',king of ,israel'3 while on the other side this same ,thing was felt by ',greeks' as a 'wisdom' flooding their reasons with a light of truth and wisdom 7sophia71 which met the search of philosophy 7philo-sophia7#aic1 but also in simple and wise alike drew forth and ministered to needs which philosophy had but half seen and wholly failed to satisfy1 enabling conscience to be candid and yet at peace1 building up a new cosmopolitan fellowship1 and restoring to human life dignity and value1 not only in phrase and theory1 but in truth4 ',there came forth a ,thing1' or rather there came forth ,one1 in ,whom all this was done4 ,the question rises1 ',whom say we that ,he is8' ,and though the answer must be reached in different ways by different men1 and the witness to ,him in ,whom is the sum of all1 must needs be of many kinds2 yet the convergence of many lines 7as we have been permitted to trace it7 to ,one in whom they are all combined and yet transcended1 to ,one whom they can usher in but were powerless to produce1 may be no slight corroboration of the answer which was accepted1 as we have to remember1 by the lowly ,jesus with significant solemnity3 ',thou art the ,christ1' the ,fulfiller of all high and inspired ,jewish hope2 'the ,son of the ,living ,god#aid1' ,his ,son1--as the ,son of ,man1 in whom all that is human reaches fulness2 and as the ,son of ,god1 who brings down to man what he has been allowed to prove to himself that he cannot discover or create4 #aej ,s4 ,matt4 xiii4 #eb2 v4 #ag4 #aea ,s4 ,matt4 xxi4 #cc-ch4 #aeb ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #ab2 xxiii4 #cj-cg4 #aec ,s4 ,mark xiv4 #di2 ,s4 ,luke xxii4 #cg4 #aed ,s4 ,luke xxiv4 #be1 #bf1 #dd4 #aee ,gal4 iv4 #i4 #aef ,rom4 xvi4 #bf4 ,so the pages of the early apologists are to our feeling almost cumbered by the profuseness of their appeal to these ,scriptures4 #aeg ,s4 ,john i4 #a1 #ad1 #i1 #aj4 #aeh ,ep4 cii4 #ab4 #aei ,de ,carne ,christi vi4 ,eum ,christum qui jam tunc et adloqui 444 humanum genus ediscebat in carnis habitu3 cp4 adv4 ,prax4 xvi4 ediscebat ,deus in terris cum hominibus conversari4 #afj ,s4 ,matt4 xi4 #d1 #e2 xii4 #ci2 xvi4 #c4 #afa ,hdt4 i4 #adb4 #afb ,clem4 ,alex4 ,protrept4 cx4 init4 #afc #a ,cor4 i4 #ba4 #afd ,wordsworth1 ,excursion iv4 #afe 7,epicurean73 4 #aff ,the words 'era of ,christianity' are used intentionally rather than the more precise 'era of ,christ1' because anything which 7without being influenced unless in the most impalpable way by ,christianity7 prepared the world through the first and even the second century of the era to receive the ,gospel may be fairly included as preparation for the revelation of ,christ4 #afg ,capes1 ,age of ,antonines4 #afh ,philosophy of the ,greeks3 ,eclectics1 p4 #bj 7tr4 ,alleyne74 #afi ,gospel of the ,resurrection 7#crd ed471 p4 #gb4 ,it is interesting to notice that according to so dispassionate an observer as ,m4 ,gaston ,boissier 7,la ,religion ,romaine d',auguste aux ,antonins71 who has done so much to trace the better tendencies of the ,imperial period1 the evidence suggests some such distinction1 even as regards some of the main practical results of ,christianity4 ,for example1 there was a tendency to ameliorate slavery on principles of general humanity1 but there was no hint of a possibility of an end to slavery4 ,there were some signs of mutual interest between classes1 but no progress towards the effective appearance of a true philanthropy such as the ,christian4 ,in such cases1 however1 the validity of the distinctions must be debatable and fluctuating4 ,it is absolute as regards the ,incarnation4 #agj ,bk4 ,v4 c4 xi4 ,the ,new ,monarchy4 #aga ,edersheim's ,life and ,times of ,jesus the ,messiah3 ,schrer1 ,history of the ,jewish ,people in the time of ,jesus ,christ4 #agb ,schrer1 ,,ii4 ii4 #bgc4 #agc ,schrer1 ,,ii4 ii4 #big4 #agd ,tac4 ,hist4 v4 #d4 #age ,schrer1 ,,ii4 ii4 #cjh4 #agf ,acts xvii4 #e1 xiv4 #e1 xiii4 #ej1 #dd4 #agg ,acts xiii4 #dc1 c4 #agh ,acts xv4 #ba4 #agi ,isaiah xxxvi4 #ah4 #ahj ,hibbert ,lectures1 #ahhb1 p4 #bca4 #aha ,nineteenth ,century1 ,april1 #ahhf4 #ahb ,isaiah x4 #ae2 xi4 #a2 ,zeph4 iii4 #ab4 #ahc ,hosea xi4 #a4 #ahd ,amos ix4 #g4 #ahe ,ezekiel xvi4 #c4 #ahf ,it is interesting to note that1 according to the record preserved by ,israel of their own history1 that which ,kuenen says of later time1--that 'at each turning-point of the history stands a man who claims to bring a word from ,god4'--is exactly true of the older history too2 ,abraham1 ,moses1 ,samuel1 ,david1 are all in this sense prophets4 ,yet there is no appearance of a later age forming a past in its own likeness4 ,the prophets do not imagine an earlier row of prophets like themselves1 put in like the portraits of the early ,scottish kings at ,holyrood1 to fill the blanks of history4 ,the early figures are not cut to prophetic pattern2 they have each their distinct individuality of character and office1 only they have a unity of ,divine commission and service4 #ahg ,penses1 ii1 #g #b4 #ahh ,s4 ,matt4 xii #de4 ,it should be observed that the words were spoken of 'this wicked generation4' #ahi #a ,cor4 i4 #bb4 #aij ,s4 ,john iv4 #be4 #aia ,s4 ,luke xvii4 #bj4 #aib ,s4 ,matt4 xii4 #ch2 ,s4 ,john vi4 #cj1 #ca1 in each case following some of our ,lord's own signs4 #aic ,this comes before us vividly in ,justin ,martyr's account of his own conversion4 ,dial4 c4 ,tryph4 #c ff4 ',thus and for this reason ,i am a philosopher4' #aid ,s4 ,matt4 xvi4 #af4 ,v4 ,,the ,,incarnation ,,and ,,development4 ,j4 ,r4 ,,illingworth4 ,i4 ,the last few years have witnessed the gradual acceptance by ,christian thinkers of the great scientific generalization of our age1 which is briefly1 if somewhat vaguely1 described as the ,theory of ,evolution4 ,history has repeated itself1 and another of the 'oppositions of science' to theology has proved upon inquiry to be no opposition at all4 ,such oppositions and reconciliations are older than ,christianity1 and are part of what is often called the dialectical movement2 the movement1 that is to say1 by question and answer1 out of which all progress comes4 ,but the result of such a process is something more than the mere repetition of a twice-told tale4 ,it is an advance in our theological thinking2 a definite increase of insight2 a fresh and fuller appreciation of those 'many ways' in which ',god fulfils ,himself4' ,for great scientific discoveries1 like the heliocentric astronomy1 are not merely new facts to be assimilated2 they involve new ways of looking at things4 ,and this has been pre-eminently the case with the law of evolution2 which1 once observed1 has rapidly extended to every department of thought and history1 and altered our attitude towards all knowledge4 ,organisms1 nations1 languages1 institutions1 customs1 creeds1 have all come to be regarded in the light of their development1 and we feel that to understand what a thing really is1 we must examine how it came to be4 ,evolution is in the air4 ,it is the category of the age2 a 'partus temporis'2 a necessary consequence of our wider field of comparison4 ,we cannot place ourselves outside it1 or limit the scope of its operation4 ,and our religious opinions1 like all things else that have come down on the current of development1 must justify their existence by an appeal to the past4 ,it is the object of the following pages to consider what popular misconceptions of the central doctrine of our religion1 the ,incarnation1 have been remedied2 what more or less forgotten aspects of it have been restored to their due place2 what new lights have been thrown upon the fulness of its meaning1 in the course of our discussion of the various views of evolution4 ,in face of the historical spirit of the age1 the study of past theology can never again be regarded as merely a piece of religious antiquarianism4 ,and there are two classes of mind to which it should be of especial service4 ,many an earnest worker in the ,christian cause1 conscious how little the refinements of philosophy can influence for good or evil the majority of men1 and generously impatient of all labour wasted1 when the labourers are so few1 is apt to under-estimate what he considers the less practical departments of theology2 forgetful that there are souls1 and those among the noblest1 to whom the primary avenue of access is the intellect1 and who can only be led homeward by the illuminative way4 ,the ,christian of this type may be materially helped towards welcoming wider views1 by being convinced that what he has been too easily apt to regard as metaphysical subtleties1 or as dangerous innovations1 or as questionable accommodations of the ,gospel to the exigencies of passing controversy1 are after all an integral part of the great ,catholic tradition4 ,on the other hand1 many plausible attacks upon the ,christian creed are due to the inadequate methods of its professed interpreters4 ,fragments of doctrine1 torn from their context and deprived of their due proportions1 are brandished in the eyes of men by well-meaning but ignorant apologists as containing the sum total of the ,christian faith1 with the lamentable consequence that even earnest seekers after truth1 and much more its unearnest and merely factious adversaries1 mislead themselves and others into thinking ,christianity discredited1 when in reality they have all along been only criticising its caricature4 ,such men need reminding that ,christianity is greater than its isolated interpreters or misinterpreters in any age2 that in the course of its long history it has accumulated answers to many an objection which they in their ignorance think new2 and that1 in the confidence of its universal mission and the memory of its many victories1 it still claims to be sympathetic1 adequate1 adaptable to the problems and perplexities of each successive age4 ,the general tendency of thought since the ,reformation has been in the direction of these partial presentations of ,christianity4 ,the ,reformers1 from various causes1 were so occupied with what is now called ,soteriology1 or the scheme of salvation1 that they paid but scant attention to the other aspects of the ,gospel4 ,and the consequence was that a whole side of the great ,christian tradition1 and one on which many of its greatest thinkers had lavished the labours of a lifetime1 was allowed almost unconsciously to lapse into comparative oblivion2 and the religion of the ,incarnation was narrowed into the religion of the ,atonement4 ,men's views of the faith dwindled and became subjective and self-regarding1 while the gulf was daily widened between things sacred and things secular2 among which latter1 art and science1 and the whole political and social order1 gradually came to be classed4 ,far otherwise was it with the great thinkers of the early ,church2 and that not from an under-estimate of the saving power of the ,cross1 which was bearing daily fruit around them1 of penitence1 and sanctity1 and martyrdom2 but from their regarding ,christian salvation in its context4 ,they realized that redemption was a means to an end1 and that end the reconsecration of the whole universe to ,god4 ,and so the very completeness of their grasp on the ,atonement led them to dwell upon the cosmical significance of the ,incarnation1 its purpose to 'gather together all things in one4' ,for it was an age in which the problems of the universe were keenly felt4 ,philosophical thinking1 if less mature1 was not less exuberant than now1 and had already a great past behind it4 ,and the natural world1 though its structural secrets were little understood1 fascinated the imagination and strained the heart with its appealing beauty4 ,spiritualism1 superstition1 scepticism1 were tried in turn but could not satisfy4 ,the questionings of the intellect still pressed for a solution4 ,and the souls of ,christians were stirred to proclaim that the new power which they felt within them1 restoring1 quickening1 harmonizing the whole of their inner life1 would also prove the key to all these mysteries of matter and of mind4 ,so it was that the theology of the ,incarnation was gradually drawn out1 from the teaching of ,s4 ,paul and of ,s4 ,john4 ,the identity of ,him ,who was made man and dwelt among us1 with ,him by ,whom all things were made and by ,whom all things consist2 ,his eternal pre-existence as the reason and the word of ,god1 the ,logos2 ,his indwelling presence in the universe as the source and condition of all its life1 and in man as the light of ,his intellectual being2 ,his ,resurrection1 ,his ,ascension1--all these thoughts were woven into one magnificent picture1 wherein creation was viewed as the embodiment of the ,divine ideas1 and therefore the revelation of the ,divine character2 manifesting its ,maker with increasing clearness at each successive stage in the great scale of being1 till in the fulness of time ,he ,himself became man1 and thereby lifted human nature1 and with it the material universe to which man is so intimately linked2 and triumphing over the sin and death under which creation groaned and travailed1 opened by ,his ,resurrection and then by ,his ,ascension vistas of the glorious destiny purposed for ,his creatures before the world was4 ',factus est quod sumus nos1 uti nos perficeret esse quod est ipse#aie4' ,such is the view of the ,incarnation in what may be called its intellectual aspect1 which we find gradually expressed with increasing clearness by the ,fathers1 from ,justin to ,athanasius4 ,and with all its deep suggestiveness1 it is still a severely simple picture1 drawn in but few outlines1 and those strictly scriptural4 ,it was born of no abstract love of metaphysic1 and stands in striking contrast to the wild speculations of the time4 ,its motive and its method were both intensely practical2 its motive being to present ,christianity to the mind as well as to the heart2 and its method no more than to connect and interpret and explain the definite statements of ,s4 ,paul and ,s4 ,john4 ,passing over the dark ages1 when thought was in comparative abeyance1 and the energies of the ,church absorbed in the work of conversion and organization1 we come1 in the twelfth and following centuries1 to a second period of intellectual ferment1 less brilliant than that which characterized the decadence of the old civilization1 but instinct with all the fire and restlessness of youth4 ,unsobered as yet by experience1 and unsupplied with adequate material from without1 thought preyed upon itself and revelled in its new-found powers of speculation4 ,fragments of the various heresies which the ,fathers had answered and outlived reappeared with all the halo of novelty around them4 ,religions were crudely compared and sceptical inferences drawn4 ,popular unbelief1 checked in a measure by authority1 avenged itself by ridicule of all things sacred4 ,it was a period of intense intellectual unrest1 too many-sided and inconsequent to be easily described4 ,but as far as the anti-,christian influences of the time can be summarized they were mainly two3--the ,arabic pantheism1 and the materialism which was fostered in the medical schools2 kindred errors1 both concerned with an undue estimate of matter4 ,and how did ,christian theology meet them8 ,not by laying stress1 like the later ,deists1 upon ,god's infinite distance from the world1 but upon the closeness of ,his intimacy with it3 by reviving1 that is1 with increased emphasis the ,patristic doctrine of the ,incarnation1 as the climax and the keystone of the whole visible creation4 ,there is a greater divergence of opinion1 perhaps1 among the ,schoolmen than among the ,fathers2 and a far greater amount of that unprofitable subtlety for which they are apt to be somewhat too unintelligently ridiculed4 ,but on the point before us1 as on all others of primary importance1 they are substantially unanimous1 and never fail in dignity4 ',as the thought of the ,divine mind is called the ,word1 ,who is the ,son1 so the unfolding of that thought in external action 7per opera exteriora7 is named the word of the ,word#aif4' ',the whole world is a kind of bodily and visible ,gospel of that ,word by which it was created#aig4' ',every creature is a theophany#aih4' ',every creature is a ,divine word1 for it tells of ,god#aii4' ',the wisdom of ,god1 when first it issued in creation1 came not to us naked1 but clothed in the apparel of created things4 ,and then when the same wisdom would manifest ,himself to us as the ,son of ,god1 and so was seen of men#bjj4' ',the ,incarnation is the exaltation of human nature and consummation of the ,universe#bja4' ,such quotations might be multiplied indefinitely from the pages of the ,schoolmen and scholastic theologians4 ,and the line of thought which they indicate seems to lead us by a natural sequence to view the ,incarnation as being the predestined climax of creation1 independently of human sin4 ,the thought is of course a mere speculation1 'beyond that which is written1' but from its first appearance in the twelfth century it has been regarded with increasing favour2 for it is full of rich suggestiveness1 and seems to throw a deeper meaning into all our investigations of the world's gradual development4 ,again1 from the relation of the ,word to the universe follows ,his relation to the human mind4 ,for 'that life was the light of men4' ',the created intellect is the imparted likeness of ,god1' says ,s4 ,thomas2 and again1 ',every intellectual process has its origin in the ,word of ,god ,who is the ,divine ,reason4' ',the light of intellect is imprinted upon us by ,god ,himself 7immediate a ,deo74' ',god continually works in the mind1 as being both the cause and the guide of its natural light4' ',in every object of sensitive or rational experience ,god ,himself lies hid#bjb4' ,all intelligences know ,god implicitly1 in every object of their knowledge#bjc4' ',christ is our internal teacher1 and no truth of any kind is known but through ,him2 though ,he speaks not in language as we do1 but by interior illumination#bjd4' ',the philosophers have taught us the sciences1 for ,god revealed them to them#bje4' ,,ii4 ,the point to be noticed in the teaching of which such passages are scattered samples1 is that the ,schoolmen and orthodox mystics of the middle age1 with ,pantheism1 materialism1 rationalism surging all around them1 and perfectly conscious of the fact1 met these errors1 not by denying the reality of matter1 or the capacity of reason1 as later apologists have often done1 but by claiming for both a place in the ,theology of the ,word4 ,and this ,theology of the ,word was1 in reality1 quite independent of1 and unaffected by1 the subtleties and fallacies and false opinions of the age1 cobwebs of the unfurnished intellect which time has swept away4 ,it was a magnificent framework1 outside and above the limited knowledge of the day and the peculiarities of individual thinkers2 an inheritance from the ,patristic tradition1 which the ,fathers1 in their turn1 had not invented1 but received as ,apostolic doctrine from ,apostolic men1 and only made more explicit by gradual definition1 during centuries when1 it has been fairly said1 'the highest reason1 as independently exercised by the wise of the world1 was entirely coincident with the highest reason as inspiring the ,church#bjf4' ,we have now to consider whether this view of the ,incarnation1 which1 though in the countries most influenced by the ,reformation it has dropped too much out of sight1 has yet never really died out of the ,church at large1 is in any way incompatible with the results of modern science2 or whether1 on the contrary1 it does not provide an outline to which science is slowly but surely giving reality and content4 ,and at the outset we must bear in mind one truth which is now recognised on all sides as final--viz4 that the finite intellect cannot transcend the conditions of finitude1 and cannot therefore reach1 or even conceive itself as reaching1 an absolute1 or1 in ,kantian phraseology1 a speculative knowledge of the beginning of things4 ,whatever strides science may make in time to come towards decomposing atoms and forces into simpler and yet simpler elements1 those elements will still have issued from a secret laboratory into which science cannot enter1 and the human mind will be as far as ever from knowing what they really are4 ,further1 this initial limitation must of necessity qualify our knowledge in its every stage4 ,if we cannot know the secret of the elements in their simplicity1 neither can we know the secret of their successive combinations4 ,before the beginning of our present system1 and behind the whole course of its continuous development1 there is a vast region of possibility1 which lies wholly and for ever beyond the power of science to affirm or to deny4 ,it is in this region that ,christian theology claims to have its roots1 and of this region that it professes to give its adherents certitude1 under conditions and by methods of its own4 ,and of those conditions and methods it fearlessly asserts that they are nowise inconsistent with any ascertained or ascertainable result of secular philosophy4 ,as regards the origin of things1 this is obvious4 ,science may resolve the complicated life of the material universe into a few elementary forces1 light and heat and electricity1 and these perhaps into modifications of some still simpler energy2 but of the origin of energy 7 7 it knows no more than did the ,greeks of old4 ,theology asserts that in the beginning was the ,word1 and in ,him was life1 the life of all things created3 in other words1 that ,he is the source of all that energy1 whose persistent1 irresistible versatility of action is for ever at work moulding and clothing and peopling worlds4 ,the two conceptions are complementary1 and cannot contradict each other4 ,but to pass from the origin to the development of things3 the new way of looking at nature was thought at first both by its adherents and opponents alike to be inimical to the doctrine of final causes4 ,and here was a direct issue joined with ,theology at once3 for the presence of final causes or design in the universe has not only been in all ages one of the strongest supports for natural religion2 it is contained in the very notion of a rational creation1 a creation by an ,eternal ,reason4 ,and this was supposed to be directly negatived by the doctrine of the survival of the fittest through natural selection3 for if of a thousand forms1 which came by chance into existence1 the one which happened to correspond best with its environment survived1 while the remainder disappeared1 the adaptation of the survivor to its circumstances would have all the appearance of design1 while in reality due to accident4 ,if1 therefore1 this principle acted exclusively throughout the universe1 the result would be a semblance of design without any of its reality1 from which no theological inference could be drawn4 ,but this consequence of natural selection obviously depends upon the exclusiveness of its action4 ,if it is only one factor among many in the world's development2 while there are instances of adaptation in nature1 and those the more numerous1 for which it fails to account1 what has been called its dysteleological significance is at an end4 ,now its own author soon saw and admitted the inadequacy of the theory of natural selection1 even in biology1 the field of its first observation1 to account for all the facts3 while countless phenomena in other regions1 such as the mechanical principles involved in the structure of the universe1 the laws of crystallography and chemical combination1 the beauty of nature taken in connection with its effect upon the mind1 irresistibly suggest design1 and render the alternative hypothesis1 from its mere mathematical improbability1 almost inconceivable4 ,and there is now1 therefore1 a general disposition to admit that the force of this particular attack upon the doctrine of final causes has been considerably overstated4 ,but in the course of its discussion an important difference has been brought to light between external and internal purposes or ends4 ,the kind of design in nature which first arrested early thinkers was its usefulness to man4 ,even in scenery1 it has been suggested1 they saw the utility before the beauty4 ,and so they came to look upon all natural phenomena as having for their final cause the good of man2 and the world as a machine1 a contrivance of which the parts have no value except as contributing to the work of the whole1 and the whole exists only to produce a result outside and independent of itself1 an external end1 as if corn should exist solely to provide food for man4 ,this was not an untrue conception2 a shallow thing to say of the reason for which ,socrates believed in ,god2 but it was partial and inadequate1 as ,bacon and ,spinoza shewed4 ,and we have now come to regard the world not as a machine1 but as an organism1 a system in which1 while the parts contribute to the growth of the whole1 the whole also reacts upon the development of the parts2 and whose primary purpose is its own perfection1 something that is contained within and not outside itself1 an internal end3 while in their turn the myriad parts of this universal organism are also lesser organisms1 ends in and for themselves1 pursuing each its lonely ideal of individual completeness4 ,now when we look at nature in this way1 and watch the complex and subtle processes by which a crystal1 a leaf1 a lily1 a moth1 a bird1 a star realize their respective ideals with undisturbed1 unfailing accuracy1 we cannot help attributing them to an intelligent ,creator4 ,but when we further find that in the very course of pursuing their primary ends1 and becoming perfect after their kind1 the various parts of the universe do in fact also become means1 and with infinite ingenuity of correspondence and adaptation1 subserve not only one but a thousand secondary ends1 linking and weaving themselves together by their mutual ministration into an orderly1 harmonious1 complicated whole1 the signs of intelligence grow clearer still4 ,and when1 beyond all this1 we discover the quality of beauty in every moment and situation of this complex life2 the drop of water that circulates from sea to cloud1 and cloud to earth1 and earth to plant1 and plant to life-blood1 shining the while with strange spiritual significance in the sunset and the rainbow and the dewdrop and the tear2 the universal presence of this attribute1 so unessential to the course of nature1 but so infinitely powerful in its appeal to the human mind1 is reasonably urged as a crowning proof of purposeful design4 ,the treatment which these various aspects of teleology have received1 during the last few years1 may be fairly called exhaustive3 and the result of all the sifting controversy has been to place the evidence for design in nature on a stronger base than ever3 partly because we feel that we have faced the utmost that can be urged against it2 partly because1 under scientific guidance1 we have acquired a more real1 as distinct from a merely notional apprehension of the manifold adaptations of structure to function1 which the universe presents2 and these adaptations and correspondences1 when grasped in their infinite multiplicity1 furnish us with a far worthier and grander view of teleology than the mechanical theory of earlier days4 ,all this is in perfect harmony with our ,christian creed1 that all things were made by the ,eternal ,reason2 but more than this1 it illustrates and is illustrated by the further doctrine of ,his indwelling presence in the things of ,his creation2 rendering each of them at once a revelation and a prophecy1 a thing of beauty and finished workmanship1 worthy to exist for its own sake1 and yet a step to higher purposes1 an instrument for grander work4 ,god tastes an infinite joy ,in infinite ways--one everlasting bliss1 ,from whom all being emanates1 all power ,proceeds3 in whom is life for evermore1 ,yet whom existence in its lowest form ,includes2 where dwells enjoyment1 there is ,he3 ,with still a flying point of bliss remote1 ,a happiness in store afar1 a sphere ,of distant glory in full view4 ,and science has done us good service in recalling this doctrine to mind4 ,for it has a religious as well as a theological importance1 constituting1 as it does1 the element of truth in that higher ,pantheism which is so common in the present day4 ,whether the term higher ,pantheism is happily chosen or not1 the thing which it denotes is quite distinct from ,pantheism proper1 with its logical denial of human personality and freedom4 ,it is the name of an emotion rather than a creed2 that indescribable mystic emotion which the poet1 the artist1 the man of science1 and all their kindred feel in contemplating the beauty or the wonder of the world4 ,vague as it is1 and indefinite1 this sentiment is still one of the strongest of which our nature is susceptible1 and should be recognised1 as an integral element in all true religion4 ,yet for want of such recognition on the part of ,christians it is often allowed to gravitate nearer and nearer to pure ,pantheism1 with which it has1 in reality1 no essential affinity4 ,we cannot therefore over-estimate the importance of restoring to its due place in theology the doctrine of the ,divine immanence in nature1 to which this sentiment is the instinctive witness4 ,fathers1 schoolmen1 mystics1 who were quite as alive to any danger of ,pantheism as ourselves1 yet astonish us by the boldness of their language upon this point2 and we need not fear to transgress the limits of the ,christian tradition in saying that the physical immanence of ,god the ,word in ,his creation can hardly be overstated1 as long as ,his moral transcendence of it is also kept in view4 ',god dwelleth within all things1 and without all things1 above all things and beneath all things#bjg1' says ,s4 ,gregory the ,great4 ',the immediate operation of the ,creator is closer to everything than the operation of any secondary cause1' says ,s4 ,thomas#bjh4 ,and ,cornelius a ,lapide1 after comparing our dependence upon ,god to that of a ray on the sun1 an embryo on the womb1 a bird on the air1 concludes with the words1 ',seeing then that we are thus united to ,god physically1 we ought also to be united to ,him morally#bji4' ,here are three typical theologians1 in three different ages1 not one of them a mystic even1 using as the language of sober theology words every whit as strong as any of the famous ,pantheistic passages in our modern literature2 and yet when met with in that literature they are commonly regarded as pleasing expressions of poetic dreams1 very far away from1 if not even inconsistent with what is thought to be dogmatic ,christianity4 ,to sum up then1 the reopening of the teleological question has not only led to its fuller and more final answer1 but has incidentally contributed to revive among us an important aspect of the ,theology of the ,word4 ,the next point upon which the theory of evolution came in contact with received opinion1 was its account of the origin of man4 ,man1 it was maintained1 in certain quarters1 was only the latest and most complex product of a purely material process of development4 ,his reason1 with all its functions of imagination1 conscience1 will1 was only a result of his sensibility1 and that of his nervous tissue1 and that again of matter less and less finely organized1 till at last a primitive protoplasm was reached2 while what had been called his fall was in reality his rise1 being due to the fact that with the birth of reason came self-consciousness2 or the feeling of a distinction between self and the outer world1 ripening into a sense1 and strictly speaking an illusory sense of discord between the two4 ,theologians first thought it necessary to contest every detail of this development1 beginning with the antiquity of man2 and some are still inclined to intrench themselves in one or two positions which they think impregnable1 such as the essential difference in kind between organized and inorganic matter1 or again between animal instinct and the self-conscious reason of man3 while others are content to assume a sceptical attitude and point to the disagreement between the men of science themselves1 as sufficient evidence of their untruth4 ,but none of these views are theologically needed4 ,the first is certainly1 the second possibly unsound1 and the third1 to say the least of it1 unkind4 ,it is quite true that the evolution of man is at present nothing more than an hypothesis1 and an hypothesis open to very grave scientific objections4 ,the attempts to analyse reason and conscience back into unconscious and unmoral elements1 for all their unquestioned ingenuity1 are still far from being conclusive2 and then there is the geological admissibility of the time which it would require1 and that is still a matter of hopeless controversy between scientific experts4 ,and even if these and numerous kindred difficulties were to be removed in time to come1 the hypothesis would still be no nearer demonstration2 for the only evidence we can possibly obtain of prehistoric man is his handiwork of one kind or another1 his implements or pictures1 things implying the use of reason4 ,in other words1 we can only prove his existence through his rationality2 through his having been1 on the point in question1 identical in kind with what now he is4 ,and suspense of judgment therefore upon the whole controversy is1 at present1 the only scientific state of mind4 ,but there are facts upon the other side2 the undoubted antiquity of the human race2 the gradual growth which can be scientifically traced1 in our thought and language and morality1 and therefore1 to the extent that functions react upon their faculties1 even in our conscience and our reason too2 and then the immense presumption from the gathering proofs of all other development1 that man will be no exception to the universal law4 ,all these positive indications at least suggest the possibility that the difficulties of the theory may one day vanish1 and its widest chasms close4 ,and we cannot therefore be too emphatic in asserting that theology would have nothing whatever to fear from such a result4 ,when we see energy and atoms building up an harmonious order1 we feel there is an inner secret in the energy and atoms1 which we cannot hope to penetrate by merely watching them at work4 ,and so1 when we see human minds and wills weaving a veil over the universe1 of thought and love and holiness1 and are told that all these things are but higher modes of material nature1 we only feel that the inner secret of material nature must be yet more wonderful than we supposed4 ,but though our wonder may increase1 our difficulties will not4 ,if we believe1 as we have seen that ,christian ,theology has always believed1 in a ,divine ,creator not only present behind the beginning of matter but immanent in its every phase1 and co-operating with its every phenomenon1 the method of ,his working1 though full of speculative interest1 will be of no controversial importance4 ,time was when the different kinds of created things were thought to be severed by impassable barriers4 ,but many of these barriers have already given way before science1 and species are seen to be no more independent than the individuals that compose them4 ,if the remaining barriers between unreason and reason1 or between lifelessness and life should in like manner one day vanish1 we shall need to readjust the focus of our spiritual eye to the enlarged vision1 but nothing more4 ,our ,creator will be known to have worked otherwise indeed than we had thought1 but in a way quite as conceivable1 and to the imagination more magnificent4 ,and all is alike covered by the words 'without ,him was not anything made that was made3 and in ,him was life4' ,in fact the evolutionary origin of man is a far less serious question than the attack upon final causes4 ,its biblical aspect has grown insignificant in proportion as we have learned to regard the ,hebrew cosmology in a true light4 ,and the popular outcry which it raised was largely due to sentiment1 and sentiment not altogether untinged by human pride4 ,we may pass on therefore from the evolution of man and his mind in general1 to his various modes of mental activity in science and philosophy and art4 ,here the ,christian doctrine is twofold3 first1 that all the objects of our thought1 mathematical relations1 scientific laws1 social systems1 ideals of art1 are ideas of the ,divine ,wisdom1 the ,logos1 written upon the pages of the world2 and secondly1 that our power of reading them1 our thinking faculty acts and only can act rightly by ,divine assistance2 that the same 'motion and power that impels' 'all objects of all thought' impels also 'all thinking things4' ,and both these statements are met by objection4 ,in the first place1 it is urged1 there is no fixity in the universe1 and it cannot therefore be the embodiment of ,divine ideas4 ,all things live and move under our eyes4 ,species bear no evidence of having been created in their completeness2 on the contrary they are perpetually undergoing transmutation1 and cannot therefore represent ideas1 cannot have been created on a plan4 ,for ideas1 in proportion to their perfection1 must be definite1 clean-cut1 clear4 ,the answer to this objection is contained in what has been already said upon the subject of organic teleology4 ,but an analogy drawn from human thinking may illustrate it further4 ,it is in reality the ideas which our mind has done with1 its dead ideas which are clean-cut and definite and fixed4 ,the ideas which at any moment go to form our mental life are quick and active and full of movement1 and melt into each other and are ever developing anew4 ,a book is no sooner finished and done with1 than it strikes its author as inadequate4 ,it becomes antiquated as soon as its ideas have been assimilated by the public mind4 ,and that because the thought of author and public alike is alive1 and ever moving onward2 incapable of being chained to any one mode of expression2 incapable of being stereotyped4 ,the highest notion we can frame therefore of a mind greater than our own is of one that has no dead ideas1 no abstract or antiquated formulae1 but whose whole content is entirely1 essentially alive4 ,and the perpetual development which we are learning to trace throughout the universe around us would be the natural expression therefore of that ,logos ,who is the ,life4 ,but when we turn from the objective to the subjective side of knowledge1 we are met with a second objection4 ,the doctrine that the ,divine ,logos co-operates with the human reason1 is supposed to be inconsistent with the undoubted fact that many earnest and successful thinkers have been if not atheistic1 at least agnostic2 unable1 that is1 to attain to the very knowledge to which1 as it would seem on the ,christian hypothesis1 all intellectual effort should inevitably lead4 ,but this difficulty is only superficial4 ,when we say that the ,divine reason assists1 we do not mean that it supersedes the human4 ,an initiative still lies with man2 and he must choose of his own accord the particular field of his intellectual pursuit4 ,when he has chosen his line of study1 and followed it with the requisite devotion1 he will arrive at the kind of truth to which that particular study leads1 the physicist at laws of nature1 the philosopher at laws of thought1 the artist at ideal beauty1 the moralist at ethical truth3 and in each case1 as we believe1 by ,divine assistance1 his discoveries being in fact revelations4 ,but the method1 the education1 the experience involved in different studies are so distinct1 that few in a lifetime can reach the eminence that teaches with authority1 or even the intelligence that thoroughly appreciates1 more than one department of the complex world of thought4 ,and if a man wanders from his own province into unfamiliar regions1 he naturally meets with failure in proportion to his hardihood4 ,in the case of the special sciences this is universally recognised4 ,no astronomer would think of dogmatizing on a question of geology1 nor a biologist on the details of chemistry or physics4 ,but when it is a question between science and philosophy1 the rule is often forgotten2 and the spectacle of scientific specialists blundering about in metaphysics is painfully common in the present day3 while strange to say1 in the case of theology this forgetfulness reaches a climax1 and men claim casually to have an opinion upon transcendent mysteries1 without any of the preparation which they would be the first to declare needful for success in the smallest subsection of any one of the branches of science4 ,nor is preparation all that is wanted4 ,science is impossible without experiment1 and experiment is the lower analogue of what in religion is called experience4 ,as experiment alone gives certainty in the one case1 so does experience alone in the other4 ,and it is only the man who has undergone such experience1 with all its imperative demands upon his whole character and life1 that can justly expect satisfaction of his religious doubts and needs2 while only those who1 like ,s4 ,paul or ,s4 ,augustine1 have experienced it in an exceptional degree1 are entitled to speak with authority upon the things to which it leads4 ,here again a human analogy may help us4 ,for in studying a human character there are different planes upon which we may approach it4 ,there are the external aspects of the man1 the fashion of his garments1 the routine of his life1 the regulation of his time1 his official habits2 all which1 it may be noted in passing1 in the case of a great character1 are uniform1 not because they were not once the free creation of his will1 but because he knows the practical value of uniformity in all such things2 and all these externals are open to the observation even of a stranger4 ,then there are the man's thoughts1 which may be withheld or revealed at his pleasure2 and these can only be understood by kindred minds1 who have been trained to understand them4 ,lastly1 there are his will and affections1 the region of his motives1 the secret chamber in which his real personality resides2 and these are only known to those intimate friends and associates whose intuition is quickened by the sympathy of love4 ,now all these stages are gone through in the formation of a friendship4 ,first we are struck by a man's appearance1 and so led to listen to his conversation1 and thence to make his acquaintance1 and at last to become his friend4 ,and so with the knowledge of ,god4 ,the man of science1 as such1 can discover the uniformities of ,his action in external nature4 ,the moral philosopher will further see that these actions 'make for righteousness' and that there is a moral law4 ,but it is only to the spiritual yearning of our whole personality that ,he reveals ,himself as a person4 ,this analogy will make the ,christian position intelligible2 but for ,christians it is more than an analogy4 ,it is simply a statement of facts4 ,for1 to ,christians1 the ,incarnation is the final sanction of 'anthropomorphism1' revealing the ,eternal ,word as strictly a ,person1 in the ordinary sense and with all the attributes which we commonly attach to the name#baj4 ,consequently1 upon all this we are quite consistent in maintaining that all great teachers of whatever kind are vehicles of revelation1 each in his proper sphere1 and in accepting their verified conclusions as ,divinely true2 while we reject them the moment they transgress their limits1 as thereby convicted of unsound thinking1 and therefore deprived of the ,divine assistance which was the secret of their previous success4 ,and though such transgression may in many cases involve a minimum of moral error1 there are abundant instances in the history of thought that it is not always so4 ,francis ,bacon1 and the penitent1 pardoned ,abelard are typical1 in different degrees1 of a countless multitude of lesser men4 ',for our knowledge of first principles1' says ,s4 ,augustine1 'we have recourse to that inner truth that presides over the mind4 ,and that indwelling teacher of the mind is ,christ1 the changeless virtue and eternal wisdom of ,god1 to which every rational soul has recourse4 ,but so much only is revealed to each as his own good or evil will enables him to receive#baa4' ',nor is it the fault of the ,word1' adds ,s4 ,thomas1 'that all men do not attain to the knowledge of the truth1 but some remain in darkness4 ,it is the fault of men who do not turn to the ,word and so cannot fully receive ,him4 ,whence there is still more or less darkness remaining among men1 in proportion to the lesser or greater degree in which they turn to the ,word and receive ,him4 ,and so ,john1 to preclude any thought of deficiency in the illuminating power of the ,word1 after saying that life was the light of men1 adds the light shineth in darkness1 and the darkness comprehended it not4 ,the darkness is not because the ,word does not shine1 but because some do not receive the light of the ,word2 as while the light of the material sun is shining over the world1 it is only dark to those whose eyes are closed or feeble#bab4' ,it has been necessary to dwell upon this doctrine because it has an important bearing upon two further questions1 which the philosophy of evolution has brought into new prominence1 the relation of ,christianity to previous philosophy and other religions4 ,it was the fashion1 not long ago1 to give an undue value to the part played by environment or surrounding circumstances in the creation of characters and institutions and creeds1 to the exclusion of all elements of native originality4 ,and the attempt was made accordingly1 in various ways1 to represent ,christianity as the natural product of the different religions and philosophies which were current in the world at the time of its appearing4 ,but the further study of evolution has qualified this whole mode of thought by the way in which1 as we have seen above1 it has led us to look at things as organisms rather than machines4 ,a machine has no internal principle of unity4 ,its unity is impressed upon it from without4 ,and it may be granted therefore1 for the sake of argument1 that we might conceive a machine or number of machines as formed like the patterns in a caleidoscope by a happy coincidence of atoms2 and man1 if he were only a machine1 as strictly the creature of circumstance4 ,but an organism is a different thing4 ,dependent as it is upon its environment in an hundred various ways1 it is yet more dependent upon its own selective and assimilative capacity1 in other words upon its own individuality1 its self4 ,and so the notions of individuality1 originality1 personal identity have been restored to their place in the world of thought4 ,the old error lingers on1 and is sometimes crudely re-asserted1 especially in its anti-,christian bearing2 but it has been discredited by science1 and is in fact a thing of the past4 ,and in consequence of this1 the attempt can no longer be plausibly made to account for ,christianity apart from the personality of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the mythical theories have had their day4 ,and it is recognised on all hands that mere aspiration can no more create a religion than appetite can create food4 ,a foundation needs a founder4 ,but the attack thus diverted from our religion glances off on our theology4 ,the ,christian religion1 it is granted1 was founded by ,jesus ,christ2 but its theological interpretation is viewed as a misinterpretation1 a malign legacy from the dying philosophies of ,greece4 ,this objection is as old as the second century1 and has been revived at intervals in various forms1 and with varying degrees of success4 ,modern historical criticism has only fortified it with fresh instances4 ,but it has no force whatever if we believe that the ,divine ,word was for ever working in the world in co-operation with human reason2 inspiring the higher minds among the ,jews with their thirst for holiness1 and so making ready for the coming of the ,holy ,one in ,jewish flesh3 but inspiring the ,greeks also with their intellectual eagerness1 and preparing them to recognise ,him as the ,eternal ,reason1 the ,word1 the ,truth2 and to define and defend1 and demonstrate that ,truth to the outer world4 ,the fact that ,greek philosophy had passed its zenith and was declining did not make its influence upon ,christianity an evil one1 a corruption of the living by the dead4 ,it was only dying to be incorporated in a larger life4 ,the food that supports our existence owes its power of nutrition to the fact1 that it too once lived with an inferior life of its own4 ,and so the ,greek philosophy was capable of assimilation by the ,christian organism1 from the fact that it too had once been vitally inspired by the life that is the light of men4 ,and the true successors of ,plato and ,aristotle were the men of progress who realized this fact2 not ,celsus1 ,lucian1 ,porphyry1 but the ,fathers of the ,church4 ,clement and ,origen1 ,athanasius and ,augustine1 the ,gregories and ,basil understood ,greek philosophy as clearly as ,s4 ,paul understood ,judaism1 and recognised its completion as plainly in the ,incarnation of the ,word4 ,nor was this view of the ,incarnation in the one case1 any more than in the other1 assumed for a merely apologetic purpose4 ,these men were essentially philosophers1 among the foremost of their age4 ,they knew and have testified what philosophy had done for their souls1 and what it could not do2 how far it had led them forward2 and of what longings it had left them full4 ,true1 philosophy had as little expected ,wisdom to become incarnate1 and that amongst the barbarians1 the outcast and the poor1 as ,judaism had expected ,messiah to suffer1 and to suffer at the hand of ,jews4 ,but no sooner was the ,incarnation accomplished1 than it flooded the whole past of ,greece no less than ,judaea with a new light4 ,this was what it all meant2 this was what it unwittingly aimed at2 the long process of dialectic and prophecy were here united in their goal4 ',those who lived under the guidance of the ,eternal ,reason as ,socrates1 ,heraclitus1 and such-like men1 are ,christians1' run the well-known words of ,justin ,martyr1 'even though they were reckoned to be atheists in their day4' 7,ap4 i4 #df47 ,different minds have always differed1 and will continue to differ widely as to the degree in which ,greek thought contributed to the doctrines of the ,trinity and the ,incarnation4 ,it is a difficult and delicate question for historical criticism to decide4 ,but the essential thing to bear in mind is that the ,christian doctrine of the ,logos amply covers any possible view which criticism may establish upon the point4 ,for1 in the light of that doctrine1 it is merely a question of the degree in which the ,eternal ,word chose to reveal ,himself through one agency rather than another4 ,any attack1 therefore1 upon our theology for its connection with ,greek thought1 is powerless to disturb us2 since we accept the fact but give it another1 a deeper interpretation3 while we rejoice in every fresh proof that the great thoughts of the ,greek mind were guided by a higher power1 and consecrated to a nobler end than ever their authors dreamed of2 and that the true classic culture is no alien element but a legitimate ingredient in ,catholic1 complete ,christianity4 ,and the same line of thought gives us a clue to the history of religious development1 the latest field to which the philosophy of evolution has been extended4 ,for though a superficial comparison of religions1 with a more or less sceptical result1 has often been attempted before1 as for instance in the thirteenth century with its well-known story of the three impostors2 anything like a scientific study of them has been impossible till now4 ,for now for the first time we are beginning to have the facts before us2 the facts consisting in the original documents of the various historic creeds1 and accumulated observations on the religious ideas of uncivilized races4 ,in both these fields very much remains to be done2 but still there is enough done already to justify a few generalizations4 ,but the subject is intensely complex1 and there has been far too great a tendency1 as in all new sciences1 to rush to premature conclusions4 ,for example1 there is the shallow scepticism which seizes upon facts1 like the many parallelisms between the moral precepts of earlier religions and the sermon on the ,mount1 as a convincing proof that ,christianity contains nothing that is new4 ,no serious student of comparative religions would justify such an inference2 but it is a very common and mischievous fallacy in the half-culture of the day4 ,then there is the rash orthodoxy1 that is over eager to accept any result that tallies with its own preconceived opinions as1 for instance1 the belief in a primitive monotheism4 ,no doubt several very competent authorities think that the present evidence points in that direction4 ,but a majority of critics equally competent think otherwise4 ,and meanwhile1 there is a mass of evidence still waiting collection and interpretation1 which may one day throw further light upon the point4 ,under such circumstances1 therefore1 it is as impolitic as it is unscientific to identify ,christian apology with a position which may one day prove untenable4 ,attention has already been called to a similar imprudence in connection with ,biogenesis1 and the history of past apology is full of warnings against such conduct4 ,then1 again1 there is the converse view which is often as glibly stated as if it were already a scientific truism2 the view that religion was evolved out of non-religious elements1 such as the appearance of dead ancestors in dreams4 ,this rests1 to begin with1 on the supposition that the opinions of uncivilized man1 as we now find him1 are the nearest to those of man in his primitive condition2 which1 considering that degradation is a recognised factor in history1 and that degradation acts more powerfully in religion than in any other region1 is a very considerable assumption4 ,but even granting this1 the psychological possibility of the process in question1 as well as the lapse of time sufficient for its operation1 are both as yet unproved4 ,it is an hypothetical process1 happening in an hypothetical period2 but1 logically considered1 nothing more4 ,all this should make us cautious in approaching the comparative study of religions4 ,still1 even in its present stage1 it has reached some general results4 ,in the first place1 the universality of religion is established as an empirical fact4 ,man1 with a few insignificant exceptions which may fairly be put down to degradation1 within the limits of our observation1 is everywhere religious4 ,the notion that religion was an invention of interested priestcraft has vanished1 like many other eighteenth century fictions1 before nineteenth century science4 ,even in the savage races1 where priestcraft is most conspicuous1 the priest has never created the religion1 but always the religion the priest4 ,beyond this fact it is unsafe to dogmatize4 ,there is abundant evidence of early nature-worship in very various forms1 but whether this was the degraded offspring of purer conceptions1 or as is more generally supposed the primitive parent from which those conceptions sprang1 is still an open question4 ,the universality of the fact is all that is certain4 ,again1 there is a progressive tendency observable in the religions of the world2 but the progress is of a particular kind1 and largely counteracted by degeneracy4 ,individuals elevate1 masses degrade religion4 ,there is no progress by insensible modifications2 no improvement of a religion in committee4 ,councils like those of ,asoka or ,chosroes can only sift and popularise and publish what it needed a ,buddha or ,zarathustra to create4 ,and so religion is handed on1 from one great teacher to another1 never rising above the level of its founder or last reformer1 till another founder or reformer comes2 while in the interval it is materialized1 vulgarized1 degraded4 ,and from the nature of this progress1 as the work of great individuals1 another consequence has historically followed2 viz4 that all the pre-,christian religions have been partial1 have emphasized1 that is to say1 unduly if not exclusively one requirement or another of the religious consciousness1 but never its complex whole4 ,for the individual teacher1 however great1 cannot proclaim with prophetic intensity more than one aspect of a truth2 and his followers invariably tend to isolate and exaggerate this aspect1 while any who attempt to supply its complement are regarded with suspicion4 ,hence the parties and sects and heresies of which religious history is full4 ,the simplest illustration of this is the fundamental distinction between ,theism and ,pantheism1 or the transcendence and immanence of ,god2 the one often said to be a ,semitic1 the other an ,aryan tendency of thought4 ,but however this may be1 both these principles must be represented in any system which would really satisfy the whole of our religious instincts2 while1 as a matter of fact1 they were separated by all the pre-,christian religions1 and are separated by ,mahometanism and ,buddhism1 the only two religious systems which compete with ,christianity to-day4 ,these1 then1 are a few broad results of our comparative survey of religions4 ,that religion1 however humble the mode of its first appearing1 is yet universal to man4 ,that it progresses through the agency of the great individual1 the unique personality1 the spiritual genius2 while popular influence is a counter-agent and makes for its decay4 ,that its various developments have all been partial1 and therefore needed completion1 if the cravings of the human spirit were ever to be set at rest4 ,and all this is in perfect harmony with our ,christian belief in a ,god ,who1 from the day of man's first appearance in the dim twilight of the world1 left not ,himself without witness in sun and moon1 and rain and storm-cloud1 and the courses of the stars1 and the promptings of conscience1 and the love of kin3 and ,who the while was lighting every man that cometh into the world1 the primaeval hunter1 the shepherd chieftain1 the poets of the ,vedas and the ,gathas1 the ,chaldaean astronomer1 the ,egyptian priest1 each1 at least in a measure1 to spell that witness out aright2 ever and anon when a heart was ready revealing ,himself with greater clearness1 to one or another chosen spirit1 and by their means to other men2 till at length1 in the fulness of time1 when ,jews were yearning for one in whom righteousness should triumph visibly2 and ,greeks sighing over the divorce between truth and power1 and wondering whether the wise man ever would indeed be king2 and artists and ascetics wandering equally astray1 in vain attempt to solve the problem of the spirit and the flesh2 'the ,word was made ,flesh and dwelt among us1 full of grace and truth4' ,the pre-,christian religions were the age-long prayer4 ,the ,incarnation was the answer4 ,nor are we tied to any particular view of the prehistoric stages of this development4 ,we only postulate that whenever and however man became truly man1 he was from that moment religious1 or capable of religion2 and this postulate deals with the region that lies beyond the reach of science1 though all scientific observation is1 as we have seen1 directly in its favour4 ,in short1 the history of the pre-,christian religion is like that of pre-,christian philosophy1 a long preparation for the ,gospel4 ,we are familiar enough with this thought in its ,jewish application from the teaching of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,but it seems to be often forgotten that the principles laid down in that ,epistle admit of no limitation to any single race of men4 ,they are naturally illustrated from ,hebrew history in a writing addressed to ,hebrews4 ,but their scope is universal4 ,they compel their own application to every religious history1 which the growth of our knowledge brings to light4 ,and from this point of view the many pagan adumbrations of ,christian doctrine1 similarities of practice1 coincidences of ritual1 analogies of phrase and symbol1 fall naturally into place4 ,the fathers and early missionaries were often perplexed by these phenomena1 and did not scruple to attribute them to diabolic imitation4 ,and even in the present day they are capable of disturbing timid minds1 when unexpectedly presented before them4 ,but all this is unphilosophical1 for in the light of evolution the occurrence of such analogies is a thing to be expected2 while to the eye of faith they do but emphasize the claim of ,christianity to be universal1 by shewing that it contains in spiritual summary the religious thoughts and practices and ways of prayer and worship1 not of one people only1 but of all the races of men4 ',in the whole of our ,christian faith1' says ,thomassin1 'there is nothing which does not in the highest degree harmonize with that natural philosophy which ,wisdom1 who made all things1 infused into every created mind1 and wrote upon the very marrow of the reason2 so that1 however obscured by the foul pleasures of the senses1 it never can be wholly done away4 ,it was this hidden and intimate love of the human mind1 however marred1 for the incorruptible truth1 which won the whole world over to the gospel of ,christ1 when once that ,gospel was proclaimed#bac4' ,but when all this has been said1 there is a lingering suspicion in many minds1 that even if the details of the doctrine of development are not inconsistent with ,christianity1 its whole drift is incompatible with any system of opinion which claims to possess finality4 ,and if ,christianity were only a system of opinion1 the objection might be plausible enough4 ,but its claim to possess finality rests upon its further claim to be much more than a system of opinion4 ,the doctrine of development or evolution1 we must remember1 is not a doctrine of limitless change1 like the old ,greek notion of perpetual flux4 ,species once developed are seen to be persistent1 in proportion to their versatility1 their power1 i4e4 of adapting themselves to the changes of the world around them4 ,and because man1 through his mental capacity1 possesses this power to an almost unlimited extent1 the human species is virtually permanent4 ,now in scientific language1 the ,incarnation may be said to have introduced a new species into the world--a ,divine man transcending past humanity1 as humanity transcended the rest of the animal creation1 and communicating ,his vital energy by a spiritual process to subsequent generations of men4 ,and thus viewed1 there is nothing unreasonable in the claim of ,christianity to be at least as permanent as the race which it has raised to a higher power1 and endued with a novel strength4 ,,iii4 ,but in saying this we touch new ground4 ,as long as we confine ourselves to speaking of the ,eternal ,word as operating in the mysterious region which lies behind phenomena1 we are safe it may be said from refutation1 because we are dealing with the unknown4 ,but when we go on to assert that ,he has flashed through our atmosphere1 and been seen of men1 scintillating signs and wonders in ,his path1 we are at once open to critical attack4 ,and this brings us to the real point at issue between ,christianity and its modern opponents4 ,it is not the substantive body of our knowledge1 but the critical faculty which has been sharpened in its acquisition that really comes in conflict with our creed4 ,assuming ,christianity to be true1 there is1 as we have seen1 nothing in it inconsistent with any ascertained scientific fact4 ,but what is called the negative criticism assumes that it cannot be true1 because the miraculous element in it contradicts experience4 ,still criticism is a very different thing from science1 a subjective thing into which imagination and personal idiosyncrasy enter largely1 and which needs therefore in its turn to be rigorously criticised4 ,and the statement that ,christianity contradicts experience suggests two reflections1 in limine4 ,in the first place the origin of all things is mysterious1 the origin of matter1 the origin of energy1 the origin of life1 the origin of thought4 ,and present experience is no criterion of any of these things4 ,what were their birth throes1 what were their accompanying signs and wonders1 when the morning stars sang together in the dawn of their appearing1 we do not and cannot know4 ,if therefore the ,incarnation was1 as ,christians believe1 another instance of a new beginning1 present experience will neither enable us to assert or deny1 what its attendant circumstances may or may not have been4 ,the logical impossibility of proving a negative is proverbial4 ,and on a subject1 whose conditions are unknown to us1 the very attempt becomes ridiculous4 ,and secondly1 it is a mistake to suppose that as a matter of strict evidence1 the ,christian ,church has ever rested its claims upon its miracles4 ,a confirmatory factor indeed1 in a complication of converging arguments1 they have been1 and still are to many minds4 ,but to others1 who in the present day are probably the larger class1 it is not so easy to believe ,christianity on account of miracles1 as miracles on account of ,christianity4 ,for now1 as ever1 the real burden of the proof of ,christianity is to be sought in our present experience4 ,there is a fact of experience as old as history1 as widely spread as is the human race1 and more intensely1 irresistibly1 importunately real than all the gathered experience of art and policy and science1--the fact which philosophers call moral evil1 and ,christians sin4 ,it rests upon no questionable interpretation of an ,eastern allegory4 ,we breathe it1 we feel it1 we commit it1 we see its havoc all around us4 ,it is no dogma1 but a sad1 solemn1 inevitable fact4 ,the animal creation has a law of its being1 a condition of its perfection1 which it instinctively and invariably pursues4 ,man has a law of his being1 a condition of his perfection1 which he instinctively tends to disobey4 ,and what he does to-day1 he has been doing from the first record of his existence4 ,video meliora proboque1 ,deteriora sequor4 ,philosophers have from time to time attempted to explain this dark experience away1 and here and there men of happy temperament1 living among calm surroundings1 have been comparatively unconscious of the evil in the world4 ,but the common conscience is alike unaffected by the ingenuity of the one class1 or the apathy of the other2 while it thrills to the voices of men like ,s4 ,paul or ,s4 ,augustine1 ,dante or ,john ,bunyan1 ,loyola or ,luther2 recognising in their sighs and tears and lamentations1 the echo of its own unutterable sorrow made articulate4 ,nor is sin confined to one department of our being4 ,it poisons the very springs of life1 and taints its every action4 ,it corrupts art2 it hampers science2 it paralyses the efforts of the politician and the patriot2 and diseased bodies1 and broken hearts1 and mental and spiritual agony1 are amongst its daily1 its hourly results4 ,it would seem indeed superfluous to insist upon these things1 if their importance were not so often ignored in the course of anti-,christian argument4 ,but when we are met by an appeal to experience1 it is necessary to insist that no element of experience be left out4 ,and moral evil1 independently of any theory of its nature or its origin1 is a plain palpable fact1 and a fact of such stupendous magnitude as to constitute by far the most serious problem of our life4 ,now it is also a fact of present experience that there are scattered throughout ,christendom1 men of every age1 temperament1 character1 and antecedents1 for whom this problem is practically solved3 men who have a personal conviction that their own past sins are done away with1 and the whole grasp of evil upon them loosened1 and who in consequence rise to heights of character and conduct1 which they know that they would never have otherwise attained4 ,and all this they agree to attribute1 in however varying phrases1 to the personal influence upon them of ,jesus ,christ4 ,further1 these men had a spiritual ancestry4 ,others in the last generation believed and felt1 and acted as they now act and feel and believe4 ,and so their lineage can be traced backward1 age by age1 swelling into a great multitude whom no man can number1 till we come to the historic records of ,him whom they all look back to1 and find that ,he claimed the power on earth to forgive sins4 ,and there the phenomenon ceases4 ,pre-,christian antiquity contains nothing analogous to it4 ,consciousness of sin1 and prayers for pardon1 and purgatorial penances1 and sacrifices1 and incantations1 and magic formulae are there in abundance2 and hopes1 among certain races1 of the coming of a great deliverer4 ,but never the same sense of sin forgiven1 nor the consequent rebound of the enfranchised soul4 ,yet neither a code of morality which was not essentially new1 nor the example of a life receding with every age into a dimmer past1 would have been adequate to produce this result4 ,it has all the appearance of being1 what it historically has claimed to be1 the entrance of an essentially new life into the world1 quickening its palsied energies1 as with an electric touch4 ,and the more we realize in the bitterness of our own experience1 or that of others1 the essential malignity of moral evil1 the more strictly supernatural does this energy appear4 ,when1 therefore1 we are told that miracles contradict experience1 we point to the daily occurrence of this spiritual miracle and ask 'whether is it easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee1 or to say arise and walk8' ,we meet experience with experience1 the negative experience that miracles have not happened with the positive experience that they are happening now3 an old argument1 which so far from weakening1 modern science has immensely strengthened1 by its insistence on the intimate union between material and spiritual things4 ,for spirit and matter1 as we call them1 are now known to intermingle1 and blend1 and fringe off1 and fade into each other1 in a way that daily justifies us more in our belief that the possessor of the key to one must be the possessor of the key to both1 and that ,he who can save the soul can raise the dead4 ,here then is our answer to the negative criticism1 or rather to the negative hypothesis1 by which many critics are misled4 ,of course we do not expect for it unanimous assent4 ,it is founded on a specific experience2 and strangers to that experience are naturally unable to appreciate its force4 ,but neither should they claim to judge it4 ,for the critic of an experience must be its expert4 ,and the accumulated verdict of the spiritual experts of all ages1 should at least meet with grave respect from the very men who are most familiar with the importance of the maxim1 ',cuique in sua arte credendum4' ,christianity distinctly declines to be proved first1 and practised afterwards4 ,its practice and its proof go hand in hand4 ,and its real evidence is its power4 ,we now see why the ,atonement has often assumed such exclusive prominence in the minds of ,christian men4 ,they have felt that it was the secret of their own regenerate life1 their best intellectual apology1 their most attractive missionary appeal2 and so have come to think that the other aspects of the ,incarnation might be banished from the pulpit and the market-place1 to the seclusion of the schools4 ,but this has proved to be a fatal mistake4 ,truth cannot be mutilated with impunity4 ,and this gradual substitution of a detached doctrine for a catholic creed1 has led directly to the charge which is now so common1 that ,christianity is inadequate to life2 with no message to ordinary men1 in their ordinary moments1 no bearing upon the aims1 occupations1 interests1 enthusiasms1 amusements1 which are human nature's daily food4 ,but we have already seen what a misconception this implies of the ,incarnation4 ,the ,incarnation opened heaven1 for it was the revelation of the ,word2 but it also reconsecrated earth1 for the ,word was made ,flesh and dwelt among us4 ,and it is impossible to read history without feeling how profoundly the religion of the ,incarnation has been a religion of humanity4 ,the human body itself1 which heathendom had so degraded1 that noble minds could only view it as the enemy and prison of the soul1 acquired a new meaning1 exhibited new graces1 shone with a new lustre in the light of the ,word made ,flesh2 and thence1 in widening circles1 the family1 society1 the state1 felt in their turn the impulse of the ,christian spirit1 with its touches of things common1 ,till they rose to touch the spheres4 ,literature revived2 art flamed into fuller life2 even science in its early days owed more than men often think1 to the ,christian temper and the ,christian reverence for things once called common or unclean4 ,while the optimism1 the belief in the future1 the atmosphere of hopefulness1 which has made our progress and achievements possible1 and which1 when all counter currents have been allowed for1 so deeply differentiates the modern from the ancient world1 dates1 as a fact of history1 from those buoyant days of the early church1 when the creed of suicide was vanquished before the creed of martyrdom1 ,seneca before ,s4 ,paul4 ,it is true that secular civilization has co-operated with ,christianity to produce the modern world4 ,but secular civilization is1 as we have seen1 in the ,christian view1 nothing less than the providential correlative and counterpart of the ,incarnation4 ,for the ,word did not desert the rest of ,his creation to become ,incarnate4 ,natural religion1 and natural morality1 and the natural play of intellect have their function in the ,christian as they had in the pre-,christian ages2 and are still kindled by the light that lighteth every man coming into the world4 ,and hence it is that secular thought has so often corrected and counteracted the evil of a ,christianity grown professional1 and false1 and foul4 ,still1 when all allowance for other influence has been made2 and all the ill done in its name admitted to the full2 ,christianity remains1 the only power which has regenerated personal life1 and that beyond the circle even of its professed adherents1 the light of it far outshining the lamp which has held its flame4 ,and personal life is after all the battle-ground1 on which the progress of the race must be decided4 ,nor ever indeed should this be more apparent than in the present day4 ,for materialism1 that old enemy alike of the ,christian and the human cause1 has passed from the study to the street4 ,no one indeed may regret this more than the high-souled scientific thinker1 whose life belies the inevitable consequences of his creed4 ,but the ruthless logic of human passion is drawing those consequences fiercely2 and the luxury of the rich1 and the communistic cry of the poor1 and the desecration of marriage1 and the disintegration of society1 and selfishness in policy1 and earthliness in art1 are plausibly pleading science in their favour4 ,and with all this ,christianity claims1 as of old1 to cope1 because it is the religion of the ,incarnation4 ,for the real strength of materialism lies in the justice which it does to the material side of nature--the loveliness of earth and sea and sky and sun and star2 the wonder of the mechanism which controls alike the rushing comet and the falling leaf2 the human body crowning both1 at once earth's fairest flower and most marvellous machine4 ,and ,christianity is the only religion which does equal justice to this truth1 while precluding its illegitimate perversion4 ,it includes the truth1 by the essential importance which it assigns to the human body1 and therefore to the whole material order1 with which that body is so intimately one2 while it excludes its perversion1 by shewing the cause of that importance to lie in its connection1 communion1 union with the spirit1 and consequent capacity for endless degrees of glory4 ,and though its own first vocation is to seek and save souls one by one1 it consecrates in passing every field of thought and action1 wherein the quickened energies of souls may find their scope4 ,it welcomes the discoveries of science1 as ultimately due to ,divine revelation1 and part of the providential education of the world4 ,it recalls to art the days when1 in catacomb and cloister1 she learned her noblest mission to be the service of the ,word made ,flesh4 ,it appeals to democracy as the religion of the fishermen who gathered round the carpenter's ,son4 ,it points the social reformer to the pattern of a perfect man1 laying down ,his life alike for enemy and friend4 ,while it crowns all earthly aims with a hope full of immortality1 as prophetic of eternal occupations otherwhere4 ,and however many a new meaning may yet be found in the ,incarnation1 however many a misconception of it fade before fuller light2 we can conceive no phase of progress which has not the ,incarnation for its guiding star2 no age which cannot make the prayer of the fifth century its own-- ',o ,god of unchangeable power and eternal light1 look favourably on ,thy whole ,church1 that wonderful and sacred mystery2 and by the tranquil operation of ,thy perpetual ,providence1 carry out the work of man's salvation2 and let the whole world feel and see that things which were cast down are being raised up1 and things which had grown old are being made new1 and all things are returning to perfection through ,him1 from whom they took their origin1 even through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ#bad4' #aie ,irenaeus4 #aif ,s4 ,thom4 ,aq4 c4 ,gent4 iv4 #ac4 #aig ,h4 de ,boseham 7,migne7 v4 #aij4 p4 #acec4 #aih ,scot4 ,er4 7,migne7 v4 #abb4 p4 #cjb4 #aii ,s4 ,bonav4 ,in ,eccles4 ci4 t4 ix4 #bjj ,h4 de ,s4 ,victor4 7,migne7 v4 #agg4 p4 #ehj4 #bja ,s4 ,thom4 ,aquinas4 #bjb ,s4 ,bonav4 de ,reduct4 sub fin4 #bjc ,s4 ,thom4 ,aq4 de ,verit4 #bb4 #b4 #a4 #bjd ,s4 ,bonav4 ,lum4 ,eccles4 ,s4 #ab4 #bje ,id4 ,lum4 ,eccles4 ,s4 #e4 #bjf ,mark ,pattison4 #bjg ,mag4 ,mor4 ii4 #ab4 #bjh ,s4 ,thom4 ,aq4 ii4 ,sent4 i4 #a4 #bji ,in ,act4 ,apost4 c4 #ag4 v4 #bh4 #baj ,cp4 p4 #fd4 #baa ,s4 ,aug4 de ,magist4 #ch4 t4 i4 p4 #iaf4 #bab ,s4 ,thom4 ,aq4 cont4 ,gent4 iv4 #ac4 #bac ,thomassin1 ,incarn4 i4 #ae4 #bad ,gelasian1 quoted by ,bright1 ,ancient ,collects1 p4 #ih4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,incarnation ,,as ,,the ,,basis ,,of ,,dogma4 ,r4 ,c4 ,,moberly4 ,i4 ,many years ago1 in undergraduate days1 ,i was speaking once to a friend of my hope of beginning some little acquaintance with ,theology4 ,i well remember the air of nicely mingled civility and contemptuousness1 with which my friend1 wishing to sympathize1 at once drew a distinction for me between speculative and dogmatic ,theology1 and assumed that ,i could not mean that the mere study of dogmatic ,theology could have any sort of attractiveness4 ,i do not think that ,i accepted his kindly overture2 but it certainly made me consider more than once afterwards1 whether the 'mere study of dogmatic ,theology' could after all be so slavish and profitless an employment as had been implied4 ,on the whole1 however1 ,i settled with myself that his condemnation1 however obviously candid and even impressive1 must nevertheless remain1 so far as ,i was concerned1 a surprise and an enigma4 ,for what1 after all1 did the study of dogmatic ,theology mean1 but the study of those truths which the mind of ,christ's ,church upon earth has believed to be at once the most certain and the most important truths of man's history1 nature and destiny1 in this world and for ever8 ,it is impossible1 however1 not to feel that my friend1 in his objection1 represented what was1 and is1 a very widespread instinct against the study of dogma4 ,some think1 for instance1 that to practical men exactnesses of doctrinal statement1 even if true1 are immaterial4 ,others think that any exactness of doctrinal statement is convicted1 by its mere exactness1 of untruth2 for that knowledge about things unseen can only be indefinite in character4 ,if1 indeed1 religious knowledge is a process of evolution simply1 if it means only a gradual development towards ever-increasing definiteness of religious supposition1 then no doubt its exactness may be the condemnation of dogma4 ,but then1 no doubt1 to make room for such a view1 the whole fact of historical ,christianity must be first displaced4 ,is it put as an impossibility1 that there cannot be any definite or certain ,theology8 ,can there1 then1 be a ,revelation8 ,can there be an ,incarnation8 ,those only are consistent1 who assert that all three are impossible1 and who understand that in so doing they are limiting the possibilities1 and therefore pro tanto questioning the reality of a ,personal ,god4 ,but if there be a ,personal ,god1 what are the adequate grounds on which it is nevertheless laid down that ,he cannot directly reveal ,himself8 ,or1 if ,he can reveal ,himself1 on what ground can the priori assertion rest1 that theological truth must be uncertain or indefinite8 ,the ,christian ,church claims to have both definite and certain knowledge4 ,these claims can never be met by any priori judgment that such knowledge is impossible4 ,such a judgment is too slenderly based to bear the weight of argument4 ,to argue from it would be to commit the very fault so often imputed to the dogmatist4 ,it would be a flagrant instance of dogmatic assertion 7and that for the most important of argumentative purposes7 of what we could not possibly know4 ,the claim of the ,church to knowledge through the ,incarnation can only be rationally met1 and only really answered1 when the claim itself1 and its evidence1 are seriously examined4 ,herein lies1 and will always lie1 the heart of the struggle for or against the dogmatic character of the ,church4 ,anything else is only the fringe of the matter4 ,any rebutting of priori presumptions against dogma is a mere clearing of the way for battle4 ,thus it is said1 perhaps1 that the objection is to the degree of definiteness1 or to the tone of authority4 ,it is fancied that dogma in its very nature1 quite apart from its contents1 is a curtailment of the rights1 and a limitation of the powers1 of mind4 ,is dogma1 the most definite and authoritative1 fettering to the freedom of intellect8 ,we can see in a moment the entire unreality of the objection1 by simply substituting for it another question4 ,is truth fettering to intellect8 ,does the utmost certitude of truth limit freedom of mind8 ,because1 if not1 dogma1 so far as it coincides with truth1 cannot fetter either4 ,if perfect knowledge of truth could paralyse the intellect1 what 7it is worth while to ask7 do we mean by intellect8 ,do we mean something which must for ever be struggling with difficulties which it cannot overcome8 ,is it necessary for the idea of mind that it should be baffled8 ,is it a creature only of the tangle and the fog8 ,and if ever the day should come1 when after struggling1 more or less ineffectually1 with the tangle and the fog1 man should emerge at last in clear sunshine upon the mountain top1 will mind cease to have any faculty or place1 because the knowledge of truth has come8 ,at least1 if we understand this to be the conception of mind1 it need not frighten us quite so much as it did1 to be told that dogma interferes with mind4 ,but if1 however different from our experience the employment of mind would be in the presence of perfect knowledge1 we cannot so conceive of mind as to admit that truth could possibly be its enemy or its destruction1 then we may certainly insist that no amount of dogma1 so far as it is true1 can limit or fetter the freedom of intellect4 ,but then we are at once thrown back upon the question2 is the dogmatic teaching of the ,church true8 ,no statement which absolutely coincides with truth can hurt the freedom of mind4 ,but mistaken presumption of truth can1 and does1 limit it2 and so does authority1 if it prevents the examination of truth4 ,dogma1 then1 is1 as dogma1 a wrong to mind1 just so far as it can be convicted of either of these things2 so far as it forbids examination1 or so far as it asserts what is not strictly true4 ,as to the first of these two suggestions against dogma1 it is quite enough simply to deny it4 ,the ,church1 as a teacher of dogmatic truth1 does not forbid the freest and completest inquiry into the truths which she enunciates4 ,the question is not whether dogmatic theologians have ever dreaded inquiry into truth2 but whether the dogmatic ,church1 as such1 precludes or forbids it4 ,true1 she enunciates some truths as true2 and holds those1 in different measures1 unwise and wrong1 who contradict her truths4 ,but she does not1 therefore1 forbid the fullest exercise of intellect upon them2 nor tremble lest intellect1 rightly wielded1 should contradict them4 ,indeed for eighteen centuries she has been engaged1 and will be engaged to the end1 in examining with a power and discipline of intellect1 which she alone ever has1 or could have1 evoked1 into the meaning and exactness of her own knowledge4 ,but she does warn inquirers that successful inquiry into her truths is no work of merely ingenious disputation1 but needs the exactest discipline and balance of all the faculties of our human nature4 ,we return1 then1 to the second suggestion2 and ,i repeat that the question has for us become1 not whether dogma in the abstract is desirable or undesirable1 but whether the dogmas of the ,christian ,church are true or not true4 ,dogma that is true can only be undesirable in so far as truth is undesirable4 ,whether the dogmas of the ,church are true or not true1 is itself a question of evidence4 ,before1 however1 making any remark upon the nature of this evidence in the case of religion1 we may remember that the possession of dogma is in no way peculiar to religion4 ,there is no region of research or knowledge which does not present to the student its own 'dogmata1' or truths ascertained and agreed upon2 nor does any one1 in the name of freedom of intellect1 persist in treating these always as open questions4 ,but perhaps if we venture thus to claim the ascertained truths of any science as dogmas1 the scientific answer will be ready4 ,they differ1 it will be felt1 from the nature of religious dogmas1 in two important respects4 ,the first difference is1 that they are offered for acceptance with their full proofs1 from the first moment that they are offered at all4 ,the student could not1 it may be1 have discovered for himself the law of gravitation1 or the circulation of the blood2 but he can1 when these discoveries are once set before him by another1 see forthwith not only the coherency of the principles1 but the cogency of their proof4 ,the second difference is1 that when they have been accepted by the student1 proof and all1 they still claim no allegiance beyond what his intelligence cannot but freely give2 he is still free to supersede or upset them1 if he can4 ,he accepts them indeed provisionally1 as identical with the truth so far as the truth on the subject is yet known2 yet not necessarily as final truth4 ,he accepts them as truths which all his further study will comment upon2 presumably indeed in the way of continual illustration and corroboration1--so that what he accepts for study will be more and more certainly proved by the study--but also1 if you please1 in the way of correction2 for if his study can supersede1 or even in any measure correct or alter them1--why1 so much the better both for science and for him6 ,why should not this be equally true of ,theology8 ,why should religious dogmas be received without these conditions1 as certainly and finally true8 ,to begin with1 then1 some exception may be taken to the statement that the student who accepts a scientific doctrine1 has the full evidence before him from the beginning4 ,that it is not altogether so is evident from the simple consideration1 just mentioned1 that his work is a progressive one2 and that the whole course of his experience tends1 and will tend1 to deepen the certainty of his first principles4 ,but in so far as the proof of any leading principle is being deepened and strengthened by the student's daily work1 so far it is clear that the amount of certainty about his principles with which at first he began1 must be less than that with which he ends at last2 and therefore that the proof presented to him at the beginning1 however much it may have been adequate to the purpose1 7even though it may have been the completest proof capable of being presented in the way of exposition from the lip to the ear7 was nevertheless most incomplete in comparison with the fulness of attainable proof4 ,and further1 it may certainly be said also1 that in the convincingness of this evidence as at first presented1 authority1 whether more or less1 had an undoubted part4 ,at the very least it had a negative place1 as a guarantee to the young mind rejoicing in the ingenuity of the apparent demonstration1 that the apparent demonstration was not vitiated by some unseen fallacy1 or that there was not a series of other considerations behind1 which would rob the lesson just learnt of its practical usefulness4 ,often1 indeed1 the degree of authority in the first scientific convictions would be very much higher4 ,often1 however helpful the arguments or illustrations of a principle may seem1 the really overruling consideration will at first be this1 that the whole scientific world has absolutely accepted the principle as truth4 ,so much is this the case1 that if an average student should find himself unable in any point to receive the ascertained truths of his science with intelligent agreement1 he would not hesitate to assume that the whole fault lay with himself2 he would really be convinced in his soul that the dicta of his scientific teachers were right1 and that he himself would see the certainty of them by and by4 ,now in both these two respects the acceptance of religious dogma is not essentially in contrast1 but rather is parallel1 with that of scientific principles4 ,for religious truth is neither in its first acceptance a mere matter of blind submission to authority1 nor is it stagnant and unprogressive after it is accepted4 ,however different in other ways the leading truths of the ,creed may be from scientific principles2 in this respect at least they are not different1--that not one of them is ever brought for the acceptance of men without some really intelligent evidence and ground for acceptance4 ,if any man is asked to accept them1 without any intelligent ground for the acceptance1 we may be bold perhaps to assert that it would be his duty to refuse4 ,of course1 however1 authority will itself be a large part of his intelligent ground2 a larger part or a smaller according to circumstances4 ,but then there is no proper antithesis between believing in deference to authority1 and believing in deference to reason1 unless it is understood that the authority believed in was accepted at first as authority without reason1 or maintained in spite of the subsequent refusal of reason to give confirmatory witness to its assertions4 ,even in the cases in which there seems to be least use of reason1 the case of a young child learning at his mother's knee1 or of a man whose spirit has suffered and been broken1 and who gives himself up at last to the mere guidance of a friend or a teacher1 the authority1 when accepted at all1 is accepted on grounds essentially reasonable4 ,the child's reasoning may differ in quality from the prodigal's2 but the child trusts father or mother on grounds which are wholly1 if unconsciously1 a product of the strictest reason2 and the prodigal has felt in his inmost soul alike the deadness of his own spiritual being1 and the power and the beauty which are in the life of the teacher upon whom he throws himself4 ,and this is not the only point2 for the reasonable mind in one is not a thing different in nature from the reasonable mind in another1 or from the eternal reason which is in ,god4 ,the truths1 therefore1 which we are taught about ,god1 and man1 and ,christ1 about sin1 and redemption from sin1 and the heaven of holiness1 and which seem to be accepted as a mere act of not unreasonable dutifulness1 do reasonably withal commend themselves1 in some shape or measure1 even to the callow mind from its earliest immaturity4 ,there is that in the very consciousness of child1 or of criminal1 with which they are in essential harmony4 ,that in him with which they are in essential correspondence bears witness of them4 ,nor is anyone1 in his acceptance of them1 wholly insensible of this witness to their truth1 which is1 in fact1 engraven upon his own conscious being4 ,to 'take religion on trust1' then1 as it is sometimes derisively called1 is not really to act in defiance of1 or apart from1 reason4 ,it is an exercise of reason up to a certain point1--just so1 and so far as1 the experience of the person warrants4 ,he sees what to trust1 and why4 ,he sees where understanding and experience which transcend his own would point4 ,and he seeks for the rational test of further experience in the only way in which it can be had4 ,he defers to the voice of experience1 in faith that his own experience will by and by prove its truthfulness4 ,on a medical question1 men would not dispute1 they would loudly proclaim1 the reasonableness and wisdom of such a course4 ,yet there are those who suppose that the truths of religion are to admit of a complete preliminary intellectual verification1 a verification apart from special training and experience1 such as they might more reasonably expect in any other subject-matter than religion1 but such as1 in fact1 they hardly expect elsewhere4 ,the doctrines of the ,church1 then1 accepted at first on reasonable evidence1 which in a greater or less degree1 but perhaps never wholly1 consists in authority reasonably accepted as authority1 are then in all the experience of spiritual life receiving continual comment1 explanation1 corroboration4 ,the whole experience of ,christian life must be a growth in the apprehension and certainty of ,christian truth4 ,a ,christian neophyte may believe every word of his ,creed1 and believe neither ignorantly nor unintelligently4 ,but the veteran ,christian of four-score will transcend the child at least as much in the degree of certainty1 with which the doctrines of the ,church are to his entire faculties mental1 moral1 and spiritual1 proved and known to be true1 as he can possibly do in his merely intellectual apprehension of the history or meaning of the words4 ,we may say1 indeed1 that the life of a professing ,christian which is not a life of growth in the apprehension of doctrinal truth1 must necessarily be a retrogression2 just as the life of so-called scientific study1 which is not continually illuminating afresh1 and deepening the certainty of its own scientific principles1 must gradually come to hold even its own scientific principles less and less certainly1 and to mean by them less and less4 ,but even if it may be shewn that there is not quite so essential a contrast as there seemed to be1 between the character of theological and scientific dogmas1 by reason of the proofs which are offered1 along with his principles1 to the student of any science2 yet still it will be felt that they differ essentially in the tone and manner with which they respectively speak to intellect4 ,the truths of the one claim at once to possess an intellectual finality1 and to command a moral allegiance1 which the truths of the other do not4 ,it may be worth while to say in reply1 first of all1 that there cannot be a real contrast of finality between them1 so far as they are both really true4 ,what is really true is really true4 ,neither 'absolutely1' 'finally1' nor any other adverb in the language will make the statement a stronger one4 ,what we call scientific truths are not in fact liable to correction1 except in so far as they may perhaps1 after all1 not be quite scientific truths1 except 7that is7 in respect of such admixture of erroneous supposition1 as still has clung to them after general acceptance4 ,and on the other hand1 so far as any mistaken assumptions are mixed up with our apprehension of religious truths1 so far these too are liable to receive1 and in the history of ,church doctrine are continually receiving1 correction4 ,it is1 after all1 a truism4 ,in either sphere the truths1 so far as they really are truths1 are true absolutely3 but are corrigible in so far as our statement of them still contains anything that is other than truth4 ,we may put it1 perhaps1 in another way still4 ,if1 to assume an impossible hypothesis1 any one could really prove1 not merely that there were some exaggerations or misconceptions in the traditional mode of statement of some doctrinal truths1 but that our really essential ,faith was wrong1 we may grant hypothetically 7seeing that truth is supreme7 that he would do us all a mighty service1 at however tremendous a cost4 ,similarly of course it must be owned1 that if any one could prove the earth to be flat and stationary1 and the law of gravitation to be the precise contradictory of truth1 he would do immense service to science4 ,but none the less1 the scientific certainty on these points is so complete1 that if anyone seriously assailed them1 it would be felt that he could only be dealing with the evidence in a way which tended to compromise the credit of his own reason2 and he would therefore be reasonably held to be1 as it is roughly phrased1 a fool or a madman4 ,and we must claim that for us the certainty of some theological propositions is so complete1 that when anyone assails them1 we are no less reasonable in regarding him with concern1 rather for his own truth's sake than for the truth of our religion2 and that1 if miracles or 'an angel from heaven' should seem to bear witness for him1 it would still be no bigotry1 but in the strictest sense our reasonable course1 to refuse the witness1 and to treat it as merely an attempt to ensnare us into falsehood to the real requirements of our reason and conscience4 ,is the conclusion1 then1 that there is after all no difference at all between the truths of ,theology and of ,science1 in respect of their claim to authority8 ,on the contrary1 there remains a perfectly real contrast of authority between them2 only it is to be looked for elsewhere than among the conditions upon which our belief in them respectively is based4 ,there are two distinct senses in which the doctrines of the ,creed may be said to be authoritative4 ,it may be meant that the authoritativeness is in the manner in which they are presented to us2 that is to say1 that 7whatever their content may be7 they are statements which we believe1 and are to believe1 on the sole ground that we are told to do so1 without any appeal to reason of our own2 or it may be meant that they are statements whose content is of such nature and inherent importance1 that we cannot1 in fact1 believe them1 without thereby necessarily being involved in a train of consequential obligations of thought and life4 ,in this latter case the authoritativeness lies not in the manner of their presentation to us or our acceptance of them1 but in that which is involved in the nature of the truths themselves1 if and when they are believed4 ,is it true to say of the ,creeds that they are 'authoritative' in the former sense8 that is to say that they challenge our allegiance1 and we are bound to believe them1 because we are told that they are true1 without examination on our part1 and without reason8 ,it has indeed been stated already that1 as between pupils and teachers1 there is in religious learning1 as there is in all human learning whatever1 scientific or otherwise1 a certain legitimate and important field for authority reasonably accepted as authority1 that is1 the authority of men more learned and experienced than ourselves4 ,even this1 of course1 means that the pupil believes the things taught to be strictly rational to the teacher1 though they be not so1 as yet1 to himself4 ,but is it true1 in speaking of religion1 to carry this one step further2 and to say that in this sphere our whole belief1 and duty of belief1 rests upon authority as its ultimate foundation1 the authority not of man's experience1 but of ,god's command8 ,it must1 no doubt1 be freely owned on all sides1 that if there be a creed commanded of ,god1 we certainly are bound to believe it4 ,but is there8 or when1 or how1 was it commanded8 ,does anyone answer1 through our ,lord ,jesus ,christ8 or through ,his ,church8 or through the ,bible8 ,but who is ,he8 or what is the ,bible8 or how do we know8 ,to accept doctrines1 which we otherwise should not accept1 because we are told to do so1 without knowing first who told us1 or why we should believe him1 is simply not a reasonable possibility4 ,but to ask these questions and to have answers to them1 and believe because we are satisfied in some way as to the answers to them1 is certainly not to rest the act of believing on a foundation of mere authority3 essentially rather it is1 to go over part of the ground of the ,creed first1 and be satisfied as to the correctness of its main substance1 and therefore to believe it4 ,a ,christian will not deny that the doctrines of the ,creed are entitled in fact to be held as authoritative1 in both of the senses distinguished above4 ,but we cannot believe them on ,god's authority till we have first believed in the authority of ,god4 ,and1 therefore1 their authoritativeness in what we have called the first sense is not really the ultimate ground of our accepting them3 for it is not itself accepted and apprehended by us1 except as a consequence of our first believing that which is the main substance of the ,creed4 ,it may be the warrant to us of this or that detail considered apart3 but it is not1 and cannot ever be1 the original and sufficient cause of our believing the whole4 ,credo ut intelligam may be the most true and most reasonable motto of the large part of ,christian faith and life3 but it is not inconsistent with--it is founded upon--an ultimate underlying intellexi ut crederem4 ,there is1 then1 a real and abiding difference between theological and scientific dogmas1 in respect of the authority with which they speak to us4 ,but the difference is one which does not affect at all the method or grounds of our original belief in them respectively3 it is to be found exclusively in the different subject-matter of the two when believed4 ,and herein1 also1 it is that we find the real answer to the other form of question1 viz41 why should ,theology claim to be so much more final than science8 ,much as science has conquered of the realm of truth1 it does not profess to have conquered more than a little4 ,of the vast residuum it says nothing4 ,it has no idea how small a proportion its present knowledge may bear to that which will one day be known4 ,nay1 the further it advances in knowledge of truth1 so much the smaller a proportion does its realized truth seem to it to bear to that which remains unexplored4 ,why should the theologian be less patient of additions to theological knowledge1 such as may some day throw all his present creeds into comparative obscurity8 ,why should the ,christian ,creed be fixed and inexpansive8 ,the question is formidable only in an abstract form4 ,the reasonable answer to it confronts us the moment we consider what is the subject-matter of the ,creed4 ,scientific principles are in their very nature fragments of a truth which is practically infinite4 ,but the ,christian ,creed1 if true at all1 cannot possibly be a fragment of truth4 ,for the ,christian ,creed does not simply enunciate so many abstract principles of natural or supernatural life or governance4 ,it introduces us straight to a supreme ,person1 ,himself the beginning and end1 the author and upholder of all4 ,such a doctrine may be false2 but it cannot be a fragment4 ,the child who believes in ,god1 believes in everything1 though he knows hardly anything4 ,he has infinitely more yet to learn1 as to what his own belief means4 ,but he has nothing to add to it4 ,the perfect knowledge of the universe would not add to it1 but would only explain it4 ,it is1 then1 by virtue of his personal relation to a ,personality which is ,itself supreme and all inclusive1 that he is guilty of no presumption1 even though in the face of the modest disavowals of scientific men1 he must maintain that his own creed is1 in its proper nature1 even when all admissions have been made1 rather a complete and conclusive1 than a partial or a tentative1 statement of truth4 ,but this difference between him and them is the result neither of any arrogance in his temper1 nor any lack in his logic1 but it follows necessarily from the nature of the subject-matter of his creed1 if and when it is believed4 ,but still this fact that1 if true1 they are truths which by the obvious necessity of their subject-matter speak to our intellects and consciences with a tone of such ,divinely commanding authority1 ought not to make me or anyone accept them as true1 unless the evidence for them is adequate4 ,the question is not how authoritative they would be1 if true2 nor how important or inclusive they would be1 if true2 nor is any amount of contingent importance or authority adequate evidence for their truth1 but only a motive for inquiring into its evidence4 ,the question is1 are they true8 or are they not true8 and the question is a question of evidence4 ,,ii4 ,and now1 in recurring once more to the subject of the evidence by which the dogmas of religion are proved1 from which we diverged just now1 we find1 in respect of it1 a second reality of contrast between theological truths and the truths of material science4 ,for whilst in both cases equally we depend upon evidence1 and evidence that is adequate2 it does not follow that the evidence for both is in all points similar in kind4 ,in great part indeed it is so2 but it is certainly not so altogether4 ,for when we speak of the evidence of religious truths1 it is to be remembered that the full evidence by which our consciences are wholly convinced of them1 is not of one kind only1 but of all kinds4 ,the facts of religion address themselves to the whole nature of man2 and it is only by the whole nature of man that they can ever be fully apprehended4 ,man is not a being of intellectual conceptions or faculties only4 ,and because he is not so1 therefore no set of principles which could be apprehended by the intellect alone 7as the theorems of ,euclid may appear to be71 and which make for their acceptance no demand at all upon the qualities of his moral or spiritual being1 could really present1 as religion professes to present1 a system of truth and life which would be adequate to the scope of his whole nature4 ,it is undoubtedly the case that just as the truths of religion account for1 and appeal to1 his whole being1 so the evidence for them appeals to his whole being also4 ,for its complete appreciation there are requirements other than intellectual4 ,there must be not only certain endowments of mind1 but the life of a moral being4 ,there must be moral affections1 moral perceptions1 spiritual affinities and satisfactions4 ,even if the primary conviction of his reason may be apart from these1 yet of the fully developed evidence1 which is the real possession of the ,christian believer1 these are a most important and necessary part4 ,without these1 his certainty1 adequate though it might be1 would be far less profound than it is4 ,these are to him essential ingredients in the richness and the fulness of the evidence which to him is everywhere4 ,now for this necessary width of the full confirmatory evidence of religion1 it is impossible for the religious man1 with the utmost desire to make every allowance and apology that is possible1 to offer any apology at all4 ,so far from being a mark of inconsistency or feebleness1 it is a necessary note of the completeness of religion4 ,religion professes to have for its subject-matter1 and in a measure incomplete1 but relatively adequate1 to include1 to account for1 and to direct1 the whole range of all man's history1 all man's capacities1 explored or unexplored1 all man's destiny now and for ever4 ,if its truths and their evidence were found to address themselves exclusively to the intellect1 in isolation from the other qualities and experiences of man's nature1 it would be self-convicted of inadequacy4 ,if men full of worldliness of heart and self-indulgence could be capable of understanding the revelation of religious truth as accurately1 of embracing it as completely1 of apprehending the depth and the width of the evidence for it 7with which all human nature really is saturated7 as thoroughly as the prayerful and the penitent1 this would not mean that religion or religious evidence had been lifted up1 on to a higher and more properly scientific level1 but rather that it had shrunk down into correspondence merely with a part1 and not the noblest part1 of man's present nature4 ,it would be far beyond the scope of this paper to discuss kinds of evidence1 or argue in defence of the position that there is real evidence for religious truth1 which is none the less properly evidence1 because it is different in kind from the evidence for the propositions of material science3 but it may be permissible1 at least1 in passing to record the claim1 and to insist that religious men1 in confining themselves to strictly historical or logical arguments1 are necessarily omitting much which is nevertheless1 to them1 real ground4 ,there are evidences which can speak to the heart1 the imagination1 the conscience1 as well as the intelligence4 ,or1 perhaps1 we shall come nearer to an exact expression of the truth1 by saying that the intelligence1 which can apprehend and pronounce upon the evidence of truths of spiritual consciousness1 is an intelligence identical in name1 but not identical in nature1 with that which can well weigh and judge purely logical--or even that which can pronounce upon moral--problems4 ,the intelligence of a moral character1 or of a spiritual personality1 differs not in range only1 but in quality1 from that of a merely 'rational animal4' ,if the moral and the spiritual intelligence did not contain quite other elements1 drawn from quite other experiences and possibilities1 they could not work upon their higher subject-matter at all4 ,to the religious man1 therefore1 it must seem strictly unreasonable1 in the examination of truths which professedly correspond to man's whole nature1 and need his whole nature and experience for the interpretation of them1 to begin by shutting out1 as irrelevant1 what we will modestly call the half of man's nature2 and to demand that the truths shall be so stated and so proved1 as that the statements and proofs shall correspond exclusively with the other half1 and find in that other half their whole interpretation1 and their whole evidence4 ,it may1 indeed1 be desirable to guard against a misconception1 by the express admission that there is some necessary ambiguity in the terms employed4 ,we may seem to have unduly extended both the verbal meaning1 and the sphere of importance1 of 'evidence' and 'proof4' ,undoubtedly there is a sense in which it would be1 not merely true to admit1 but important to insist1 that in the acceptance of religious truth1 ,faith neither is1 nor ever can be1 displaced1 in order that ,demonstration may be enthroned in her place4 ,but then ,demonstration is a word which belongs to strictly logical nomenclature4 ,and the very point here insisted on is that the strictly logical presentment of religion is1 in reference to the real presentment of religion1 most inadequate4 ,undoubtedly1 if everything else is shorn away1 and religion remains solely and only in the form of strict logic1 without sentiment1 without imagination1 without experience of duty1 or sin1 or right1 or aspiration1 or anything else which belongs to the spiritual consciousness of human personalities1 the logic of it is1 and must be1 imperfectly conclusive4 ,now words such as 'evidence1' 'proof1' 'intelligence1' are no doubt often used in connection with processes of the intellect taken apart--the intellect of a being merely rational4 ,in insisting1 therefore1 that the word evidence1 when used in reference to religious subject-matter1 must include data which1 to the observer of physical phenomena1 would seem vague and impalpable2 and that intelligence1 as adequately trained to apprehend and give judgment upon religious evidence1 is in some respects other1 and more1 than that intelligence which can deal with evidence into which no element of spiritual consciousness enters2 we differ1 perhaps1 at the most1 more in form than reality1 from those who simply deprecate the appeal to 'evidence' or 'proof' in matters of faith4 ,to the religious man1 then1 the fulness of ,christian evidence is as many-sided as human life4 ,there is historical evidence1--itself of at least a dozen different kinds1--literary evidence1 metaphysical evidence1 moral evidence1 evidence of sorrow and joy1 of goodness and of evil1 of sin and of pardon1 of despair and of hope1 of life and of death2 evidence which defies enumerating2 into this the whole gradual life of the ,christian grows2 and there is no part nor element of life which does not to him perpetually elucidate and confirm the knowledge which has been given him4 ,everything that is or has been1 every consciousness1 every possibility1 even every doubt or wavering1 becomes to the ,christian a part of the certainty--an element in the absorbing reality--of his ,creed4 ,but this is rather the end than the beginning4 ,certainly it is not thus that the ,creed of the ,church can present itself to those whose life is still independent of the ,creed4 ,let us consider1 then1 how the truths of the ,creed did first1 in fact1 introduce themselves to human consciousness4 ,there are three several stages of its presentment in history1 of which the central one is so overmastering in importance1 that it alone gives their character to the other two4 ,they are1 first1 the leading up1 in the world's history and consciousness1 to the life of ,jesus ,christ2 secondly1 the life and death of ,jesus ,christ2 thirdly1 the results1 in history and consciousness1 of the life and death of ,jesus ,christ4 ,we may say1 perhaps1 that of the first of these the main outcome was belief in ,god2 and such a ,god1 that belief in ,him carried with it the two corollaries of aspiration after righteousness1 and conviction of sin4 ,we may say that the third of these means the establishment of the ,church upon earth1 and the articulating of her consciousness according to the ,creeds4 ,but in any case all the three are plainly historical1 matters of historical inquiry1 of historical evidence2 and all plainly depend entirely upon the intermediate one1 the history of a certain human life which purports to be--which either is1 or is not--the hinge-point of all history whatever4 ,all turns1 then1 upon a certain passage of history4 ,is the history1 as believed by ,christians1 true or false8 ,the ,christian record of that history is the ,new ,testament4 ,indeed1 of that history1 the ,new ,testament is the only record4 ,is1 then1 the history of the teaching and the work1 the life and the death1 of ,jesus ,christ1 presented to us in the ,new ,testament as a chapter of historical fact1--is it historical fact1 or is it not8 ,the ,incarnation is either a fact1 or a fiction4 ,the ,incarnation means also for ,christians the ,atonement4 ,for our present purpose1 the ,incarnation may be taken as necessarily including the ,atonement4 ,but still of this complex fact the dilemma stands4 ,if it is not true1 it is false4 ,there is no middle term4 ,if it is not true1 then1 whether dogma in itself is1 or is not1 desirable1 at least all the dogma of the ,christian ,church is false4 ,the ,incarnation and the ,atonement together are not presented in the ,new ,testament as1 by their own mere statement1 guaranteeing themselves4 ,on the contrary1 there is one single1 definite1 historical fact1 which is represented there as the central heart and core of the evidence upon which the conviction of their truth depends4 ,this fact is the resurrection of ,jesus ,christ from the dead4 ,though this is not the whole of the ,christian ,creed1 yet this1 according to ,s4 ,paul1 is1 to the whole of the ,christian ,creed1 crucial4 ',if there be no resurrection from the dead1 then is ,christ not risen2 and if ,christ be not risen1 then is our preaching vain1 and your faith is also vain4 ,yea1 and we are found false witnesses of ,god2 because we have testified of ,god1 that he raised up ,christ2 whom ,he raised not up1 if so be that the dead rise not4 ,for if the dead rise not1 then is not ,christ raised2 and if ,christ be not raised1 your faith is vain1 ye are yet in your sins4' ,to be direct personal evidence of a certain fact1 and that fact the resurrection2--this was1 in the view of ,s4 ,peter and the ,apostles1 the first qualification1 and the central meaning1 of ,apostleship3 'must one be ordained to be a witness with us of ,his resurrection2' 'this ,jesus hath ,god raised up1 whereof we all are witnesses4' ,upon the historical truth or falsehood1 then1 of the resurrection1 hangs the whole question of the nature and work of ,jesus ,christ1 the whole doctrine of ,incarnation and ,atonement4 ,but in saying this1 it is necessary to guard our proper meaning4 ,if we admit the fact of the ,resurrection to be cardinal1 what is the fact of the ,resurrection which is in question8 ,it is as far as possible from being simply a question whether 'a man' could or could not1 did or did not1 reappear1 after death1 in life4 ,when we speak of the historical fact1 we must mean at least the whole fact with all that it was and meant1 complex as it was and many-sided2 not with its meaning or its proof isolated upon a single page of the book of history1 but having far-reaching affinities1 parts essentially of its interpretation and of its evidence1 entwined in the depths of the whole constitution of our nature1 and the whole drama of history from the first moment to the last4 ,however much ,christians may have at times to argue about the simple evidence for the 'yes' or 'no' of the ,resurrection of ,jesus1 as if it were the alleged resurrection of any other man that was in question1 neither the question itself1 nor the evidence about it1 can possibly be1 in fact1 of the same nature or upon the same level1 as the evidence about another4 ,no amount of conviction of the reappearance in life of any other man1 would have any similar meaning1 or carry any similar consequences4 ,the inherent character of ,him who rose1 and the necessary connection between what ,he was1 and had said and claimed for ,himself1 on the one hand1 and on the other ,his rising out of death2 this is an essential part of that fact of the resurrection1 which comes up for proof or disproof4 ,the fact that ,jesus ,christ1 being what ,he was1 the climax and fulfilment of a thousand converging lines--nay1 of all the antecedent history of mankind--rose from the dead1 and by that fact of resurrection 7solemnly fore-announced1 yet none the less totally unlooked for7 illuminated and explained for the first time all that before had seemed enigmatical or contradictory in what ,he was1--and indeed in all humanity2 this is the real fact of the resurrection which confronts us4 ,it is this vast fact which is either true or false4 ,the resurrection of the crucified ,jesus cannot possibly be a bare or simple fact4 ,when viewed as a material manifestation of the moment only1 it is at least misunderstood2 it may be unintelligible4 ,it is1 no doubt1 an event in history2 and yet it confronts us1 even there in its place and witness in history1 not simply as a finite historical event1 but as an eternal counsel and infinite act of ,god4 ,yet there are times when we must consent to leave much of all this1 for the moment1 on one side4 ,whatever else the event in history may carry with it1 of course it must stand its ground as a mere historical event4 ,the mere fact may be but a part of it2 yet all will be overthrown if the fact be not fact4 ,and so1 though the truths of the ,christian religion1 and the evidence for them1 be at least as wide as was represented above1 yet they present themselves to our minds still1 as they presented themselves at first to the minds of men1 within the sphere and the rules of ordinary human history and historical evidence4 ,here are events written on the page of history4 ,examine them4 ,are they historically false or true8 ,if they be not false1 what do they mean and involve8 ,this is the modest way in which they present themselves4 ,no one will now dispute that ,jesus died upon the ,cross4 ,if ,he did not1 on the third day1 rise again from that death to life2--cadit quaestio--all ,christian dogma1 all ,christian faith1 is at an end4 ,something might still be true which might be of interest2 something1 even1 which for sheer want of a better1 might be still the most interesting fact in the world's long history2 but something which1 from the first line to the last1 would be essentially different from the ,catholic faith4 ,but1 on the other hand1 if ,he did so rise again1 then the fact of ,his resurrection necessarily raises further questions as to ,his nature and being1--necessarily requires the understanding of further truths for its own intelligent explanation4 ,now the present paper is not an evidential treatise4 ,it is no part of our task to attempt to prove the historical reality of the resurrection4 ,what it does concern us to notice is the way in which the determination of all ,christian truth hinges upon it4 ,if it falls1 all the rest will drift away1 anchorless and unsubstantial1 into the region of a merely beautiful dreamland4 ,as dreamland1 indeed1 it may still captivate and inspire2 but anchor of sure fact there will be none4 ,it will only be a beautiful imagination1--a false mirage reflected from1 based upon1 falsehood4 ,no doubt imagination is sovereign in the lives of men4 ,but then imagination means the vivifying of truth1 not the spectral embodiment of a lie4 ,on the other hand1 if the fact of the resurrection stands1 then it cannot stand alone4 ,if ,jesus ,christ so lived and taught as even the most indefinite believers concede that ,he lived and taught1 if ,he then died on the ,cross1 and rose again the third day from1 the dead1 you have indeed already the foundation dogma of the ,creed2 and having that1 you cannot possibly rest in it3 that foundation fact will absolutely compel you to ask and to answer certain further necessary questions2 and whatever intelligible answer you may choose to give to them will be essentially a dogmatic definition4 ,who or what was this man who thus lived1 thus spoke1 thus died1 and thus rose from the dead8 ,as a matter of fact1 the whole ,church of ,christ in history 7including the men who had been ,his own companions1 trained and inspired by ,himself17 taught and believed1 without shadow of hesitation1 that ,he was very ,god4 ,very gradually1 indeed1 had they advanced to this2 step by step1 through their growing intimacy with a character whose very excellences were only enigmatical and confounding1 so long as the master-truth1 which lay behind them1 was ignored4 ,and very tentative1 on ,his side1 was the method of ,his self-revelation2 through qualities1 through inherent powers1 through explicit teachings1 slowly felt1 slowly recognised1 as transcendent1 as impossible1 except in relation to a truth which1 after long misconceptions and perplexities1 is seen by them at last not only to be true1 but to be the essential truth which ,he ,himself requires of them4 ,for1 be the method as gradual and as tentative as you please1 these witnesses1 who are1 in fact1 the only witnesses the world ever has had1 or can have1 of ,his inner life and teaching1 testify unhesitatingly not only that all true acceptance of ,him was1 in their judgment1 acceptance of ,him as ,god1 but that ,his life and death were penetrated by the consciousness of ,his own ,godhead2 and by the deliberate purpose 7through whatever unexpected patience of method7 of convincing the whole world in the end of ,his ,godhead1 and receiving universal belief1 and universal worship1 as ,god4 ,now no one to-day disputes that ,he was truly man4 ,is it true that ,he was very ,god8 ,it is either true or false4 ,as to the fact there are only the two alternatives4 ,and between the two the gulf is impassable4 ,if it is not false1 it is true4 ,if it is not absolutely true1 it is absolutely false4 ,according to the faith of the ,catholic ,church it is absolutely true4 ,according to the highest form of ,arianism1 not less than according to the barest ,socinianism1 it is 7however you may try to gloss it over7 absolutely false4 ,once more1 it is quite beyond our province to marshal or press argumentatively the proofs that ,he was indeed ,god4 ,but it is necessary to see with perfect clearness1 how the question must have been raised1 and being raised must have been answered4 ,the very life of the ,church was belief in ,him2 and she could not remain fundamentally uncertain as to who or what ,he was in whom she believed4 ,this was the one thing which had never been allowed to those who drew near ,christ4 ,all through ,his ministry those who came near ,him1 and felt the spell of ,his presence1 ,his holiness1 ,his power1 were undergoing a training and a sifting4 ,moment by moment1 step by step1 the accumulating evidence of ,his transcendently perfect humanity kept forcing more and more upon them all the question which ,he would never let them escape1 the question by which they were to be tested and judged2 ',what think ye of ,christ8' ',if ye believe not that ,i am ,he1 ye shall die in your sins4' ,if there is a true historical sense in which the clear definition of the doctrine of the ,divinity of ,jesus ,christ must be assigned to the ,councils of the fourth and fifth centuries1 yet it would be a great historical blunder to state or imagine1 as inference1 that till then the doctrine was only held partially or with imperfect consciousness in the ,catholic ,church4 ,the ,church did not1 as a result of those controversies1 develop the consciousness of any new doctrine3 the development of her consciousness was rather in respect of the shallow but tempting logic which would deform1 or the delusions which might counterfeit1 her doctrine1 and of the perils to which these must lead4 ,it may be a question1 indeed1 how far the words implicit and explicit do1 or do not1 represent the distinction between the dogmatic consciousness of the ,apostolic and the ,conciliar ages4 ,the difficulty in determining depends solely on this1 that the words themselves are used with different meanings4 ,thus1 sometimes men are said to hold implicitly what they never perhaps suspected themselves of holding1 if it can be shewn to be a more or less legitimate outcome1 or logical development1 of their belief4 ,if such men advance inferentially from point to point1 their explicit belief at a later time may be1 in many particulars1 materially different from what it had been at an earlier2 even though it might be logically shewn that the earlier thought was1 more or less directly1 the parent of the later4 ,now in any such sense as this we shall stoutly maintain that1 from the beginning1 the ,church held dogmatic truths not implicitly1 but explicitly and positively4 ,they who baptized into the threefold ,name of the ,father1 and of the ,son1 and of the ,holy ,ghost2 whose blessing was ',the grace of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and the love of ,god1 and the communion of the ,holy ,ghost2' who1 living in the ,spirit1 lived in ,christ2 whose highest worship was the ,communion of the ,body and the ,blood of ,christ1 and whose perfectness of life was ,christ2 they1 so living and worshipping1 did not hold the ,godhead of ,jesus ,christ implicitly2 they did not hold something out of which the doctrine of the ,trinity might come to be unfolded4 ,on the other hand1 you may use the same contrast of words1 meaning merely that you have1 through cross-questioning or otherwise1 obtained a power which you did not possess1 of defining1 in thought and in words1 the limits of your belief1 and distinguishing it precisely from whatever does not belong to it4 ,you hold still what you always meant to hold4 ,you say still what you always meant to say4 ,but it is your intellectual mastery over your own meaning which is altered4 ,like a person fresh from the encounter of a keen cross-examination1 you are furnished now1 as you were not before1 with distinctions and comparisons1 with definitions and measurements1--in a word1 with all that intellectual equipment1 that furniture of alert perception and exact language1 by which you are able to realize for yourself1 as well as to define to others1 what that meaning exactly is1 and what it is not1 which itself was before1 as truly as it is now1 the very thing that you meant4 ,in this sense1 no doubt1 the definitions of councils did make ,christian consciousness more explicit in relation to positive truth4 ,they acquired1 indeed1 no new truth4 ,primarily they were rather1 on this side or on that1 a blocking off of such false forms of thought or avenues of unbalanced inference1 as forced themselves forward1 one by one1 amidst the intellectual efforts of the time1 to challenge the acceptance of ,christian people4 ,primarily they are not the ,church saying 'yes' to fresh truths1 or developments1 or forms of consciousness2 but rather saying 'no' to untrue and misleading modes of shaping and stating her truth4 ,only indirectly1 in that effort1 the ,church acquires through them a new definiteness of mastery for the intellect in reference to the exactness of her own meaning4 ,it is comparatively easy for those who are convinced of a truth to struggle against its open contradiction4 ,but false modes of stating their truth1 and unbalanced inferences from their truth1 are often staggering to minds which would be unperplexed by any less insidious form of error4 ,it may be that1 in all ages of the ,church1 even those who are born and bred in undoubting faith in the ,person of ,jesus1 have to pass1 more or less explicitly1 through their own experience of hesitation and exaggeration1 of reaction and counter-reaction1 before they are quite in a position to define1 or maintain by argument in the face of insidious alternatives1 the exact proportion of their own ,catholic belief4 ,not unsuggestively1 indeed1 nor indirectly1 do the oscillations of the public consciousness in the era of the councils1 as to the due expression of ,catholic belief1 reproduce on a larger scale1 and therefore with more magnified clumsiness1 the alternating exaggerations of such a single struggling mind4 ,the natural thought begins1 as a matter of course1 as ,apostles had begun of old1 with the perfect and obvious certainty that ,jesus was a man4 ,then comes the mighty crisis to natural thought4 ,with infinite heavings and strugglings1 and every conceivable expedient of evasion1 it strains to avoid the immense conclusion which challenges it1 catching eagerly at every refinement1 if so be it may be possible to stop short of full acceptance of a truth so staggering 7when it comes to be measured intellectually7 as that the ,man ,jesus was ,himself the ,eternal ,god4 ,now however grossly unjust it might be to think of ,arianism as if it ever meant1 or held1 ,jesus ,christ to be merely a man2 yet it is true that in respect of the one great question which is at the root of ,christian faith1--is ,he ,god1 or is ,he not8--it stands as offering alternatives and expedients1 by which the plain answer 'yes' may be avoided2 by which therefore the answer 'no' is in effect maintained2 for between ',god' and 'not ,god' the distinction cannot be bridged4 ,this1 then1 is the real hinge-point of the ,catholic faith4 ,but when this1 the greatest of all battles of belief1 is won at last1 in spite of every variety of ,arian and semi-,arian refining2 forthwith the undisciplined mind1 always ready to exaggerate1 always difficult of balance1 begins so to run into ardour of expression of its truth1 as in effect to make unreal the other half of the doctrine of the ,incarnation4 ,the first great wonder once grasped1 it is so natural1 in fervour of insistance on the very ,godhead1 to forget or deny the simple completeness of the very ,manhood6 ,it seems so hard1--almost wanting in reverence1--still to conceive of ,him then as perfectly human1--human body and human soul6 ,what more obvious reaction in the mind of any pupil not yet perfectly steadied and balanced8 ,yet these few short sentences represent not untruly the real process of education1 painfully accomplished by those intellectual struggles which culminated in the councils of ,nicaea and ,constantinople1 in #cbe and #cha respectively4 ,and when the pupil is steadied from this second excess1 and the ,godhead and the ,manhood are both grasped1 each severally1 each completely1 there follows again a perfectly natural result in a new uncertainty about the union of the two in ,jesus4 ,again it seems an instinct of reverence which shrinks from the truth4 ,for the ,manhood1 it is urged1 though complete1 body1 soul1 and spirit1 must yet remain1 in ,him1 a thing separable and separate from ,his own original ,divine personality4 ,but if the human nature was not verily ,his own nature1 if it was animated by any consciousness which was not absolutely ,his own consciousness1 the consciousness of ,his one undivided personality1--what or whence in ,him was this other than ,his own individual consciousness8 ,is it so1 then1 the mind begins necessarily to ask itself1 that the mystery of the ,incarnate ,life was the mystery of a double consciousness1 a double personality8 two distinguishable existences1 two selves1 two identities1 side by side1 harmonious1 allied1 yet nowhere really meeting in any one underlying principle of unity8 ,it was necessary that the doubt should be raised1 that its meaning and results might be measured4 ,but it is this which becomes the ,nestorianism against which the council of ,ephesus in #dca set the seal of ,catholic belief4 ,once more1 the natural reaction from ,nestorianism1 when the believer is keenly alert against its danger1 is so to insist upon the indivisible ,personal unity1 as to shrink from the admission of any distinguishableness in ,him1 actual or possible1 between the two natures or characters which ,he united1 between the human and the ,divine elements in ,his one consciousness4 ,but this is either once more to curtail the true completeness of the human nature1 or to fuse it with the ,divine into some new thing not truly identical with either4 ,and this is the ,monophysitism of #dea1 the subject-matter of the fourth great general council at ,chalcedon4 ,it is said1 indeed1 that the ages of councils were uncritical ages2 and that their decisions are therefore not to be accepted as authoritative on questions of minute theological criticism1 for which their uncritical spirit made them specially unfit4 ,the assertion is perhaps a little beside the mark4 ,you have not to plead that they were likely to be uncritical1 but to shew that they were in fact wrong4 ,it is clear that they were not specially unfit either to arrive at a definiteness of meaning1 or to express what they meant4 ,they were sure what they meant2 and have expressed it with perfect clearness4 ,the question is not how critical they were likely to be1 but whether their meaning--which is clear--is right or wrong4 ,whatever antecedent probability there may be either in the minds of nineteenth century critics against their correctness1 or in the minds of ,churchmen accustomed to defer to them in favour of it2 it is certain that no one who is really doubtful about the truth of ,christianity1 will be called upon to accept it in deference to the mere authority of the ,councils4 ,however much more they may be to ourselves1 to such an one as this they must stand at least as witnesses of what the consciousness of the ,christian community set its seal to1 in the way of interpretation of its own original deposit of belief4 ,we do not much care to argue whether they belonged to an age of criticism or not4 ,yet we must needs be ready to listen to anyone who can prove that their determinations were wrong4 ,councils1 we admit1 and ,creeds1 cannot go behind1 but must wholly rest upon the history of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,if anyone could seriously convict the ,creeds of being unscriptural1 we must listen to him and bow1--as scientific men would have to bow to anyone who really could prove the fundamental propositions of their science to be wrong4 ,but meanwhile1 so complete is the historical acceptance of the ,creeds1 and their consecration in the consciousness of the ,church2 that there is at least as clear a presumption that we are uncatholic in differing from them1 as there would be that we were unscientific if we dissented from the most universally accepted faiths of science4 ,now even this1 the most commonplace statement of the growth of ,christian definitions1 will serve to mark what the nature of dogma is4 ,so far from faith without it being a thing more spiritual or pure1 faith without it is a thing irrational4 ,faith in what8 ,i cannot have faith without an object4 ,faith in ,jesus ,christ8 ,but who is ,jesus ,christ8 ,is ,he a dead man8 ,is ,he1 as a dead man1 no longer in any existence8 ,or am ,i1 at least1 necessarily ignorant as to whether ,he and other dead men have any existence1 actual or probable8 ,or is ,he a man indeed1--no more2 and dead indeed2 but1 as other good men1 alive after death somehow in the blessedness of ,god8 ,and what then did ,his life mean8 or ,his strange deliberate dying8 or what connection have they of meaning or power with me8 ,and this ,god that you speak of2 do ,i know anything of ,him8 or what8 or how8 ,or again1 is ,jesus ,himself the living ,god8 ,and are the things true which are handed down to me in the ,church as taught by ,himself about the relations of ,god8 ,is ,he my living ,master2 my very ,redeemer by the ,cross2 my eternal ,judge8 and where and how have ,i contact in life or soul with the benefits of ,his ,cross1 or the power of ,his help8 ,if indeed ,i have nothing to do with ,him1 and no interest in ,his history1 it is possible for me to go on without caring to answer such questions4 ,but faith in ,him can have no meaning while these are ignored4 ,the question whether ,he is or is not ,god1 is one which cannot but be asked and answered4 ,and either answer to the question is alike dogmatic4 ,the ,arian is no less dogmatic than the ,catholic4 ,a dogmatic faith is only a definite faith2 and that upon questions upon which it has become irrational to remain indefinite1 after ,i have once been brought to a certain point of acquaintance with them4 ,the question between the ,catholic and the ,arian is1 not whose doctrine evades definiteness of determination1 but whose dogma is in accord with the truth and its evidence4 ,the negative answer to the question proposed would only be unjudicial1 not undogmatic4 ,meanwhile1 the affirmative answer would be so complete a concession of the whole position1 that if it has once been made1 as much has really been admitted1 so far as any battle1 about dogma goes1 as if the whole formal statement of the ,athanasian ,creed had been expressly1 as it will have been implicitly1 included4 ,there is nothing1 then1 really to fight against in these words1 ',the right faith is1 that we believe and confess that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 is ,god and ,man2 ,god1 of the substance of the ,father1 begotten before the worlds3 and ,man1 of the substance of ,his mother1 born in the world2 perfect ,god1 and perfect ,man3 of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting2 equal to the ,father1 as touching ,his ,godhead2 and inferior to the ,father1 as touching ,his ,manhood4 ,who although ,he be ,god and ,man3 yet ,he is not two1 but one ,christ2 ,one2 not by conversion of the ,godhead into flesh2 but by taking of the ,manhood into ,god2 ,one altogether2 not by confusion of substance1 but by unity of ,person4' ,another thing which perhaps the same commonplace statement may illustrate as to the character of ,christian dogma1 is its largeness and equity4 ,it is harmony2 it is proportion2 it is the protest of balanced completeness against all that partiality1 which1 by exaggerating something that is true1 distorts the proportion and simplicity of truth4 ,every several form of error1--we admit it willingly1--grew out of1 and represented1 a truth4 ,catholic doctrine alone preserves the proportion of truth4 ,to work and to think within the lines of dogmatic faith1 is to work and to think upon the true and harmonious conception of the ,person of ,jesus ,christ--',quem nosse vivere1 ,cui servire regnare4' ,in this knowledge certainly there is no limitedness1 and in this subordination no slavery4 ,the meaning of ,christian dogma1 then1 so far as we have at present had anything to do with it1 is simply this4 ,it is the self-realizing of the consciousness of the ,christian community in respect of the answer to be given to that one great question1 fundamental and inevitable1 with which all in all times who would approach ,christ must be met1--',whom say ye that ,i am8' ,but1 it will be felt1 it is all very well to insist so much upon this one point1 which it is comparatively easy to represent as the necessary answer of a truthful conscience to a question which is forced upon it by the plainest evidence2--but are there not a great many ,christian doctrines besides8 ,what of the rest of them1--'all the articles of the ,christian faith1' as the ,catechism says8 ,i have ventured to speak at length upon this one1 not because it is easier to handle conveniently than the others1 but because it directly carries1 if it does not contain1 everything4 ,it is not only that this is in itself so tremendous a dogma1 that no one who affirms this can possibly quarrel any longer with the principle of dogmatic definition1 but that this so inevitably involves all the other propositions of the ,creed1 that no one1 whose conscience has accepted this1 will find it easy to separate between it and the whole ,christian faith4 ,the ,christian ,creed consists of three parts only2 and all three are1 ',belief in ,god4' ',i believe in ,god1 the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost' is1 in brief1 the whole ,christian ,creed4 ,its shortest expression is in three words 7which three words are but one71 ',holy1 ,holy1 ,holy4' ,the definitions of the ,apostles'1 of the ,nicene1 and of the ,athanasian ,creeds1 none of them really travel outside of this4 ,take1 for example1 the doctrine of the ,holy ,trinity4 ,intellectually it is1 of course1 antecedent to the doctrine of the ,incarnation and the ,atonement4 ,but it will be observed that it is made known to us not antecedently1 but as a consequence of our previous conviction of the ,incarnation4 ,moreover1 when it is made known1 it is made known rather incidentally than directly4 ,even though it is1 when revealed and apprehended1 the inclusive sum of our faith1 yet there is1 in the revelation1 no formal unfolding of it1 as of a mysterious truth set to challenge our express contemplation and worship4 ,there is nothing here to be found in the least corresponding with the explicit challenge1 ',whom say ye that ,i am8' or ',on this rock will ,i build ,my ,church2' but rather indirectly1 so far as our contemplation of the ,incarnation1 and its abiding consequences1 requires for its own necessary interpretation to our understanding1 that we should have some insight into the mystery of the distinction of ,persons in the ,godhead1 so far1 and in reference to that purpose1 the mystery of the ,holy ,trinity grows gradually into clearness of revelation to our consciousness4 ,it is clear that any distinctness of conception whatever as to the meaning of ,incarnation would be impossible1 without some revelation of mutual relations between the ,sender and the ,sent1 the ,immutable and the ,incarnate1 the ,father and the ,son4 ,if it is less clear from the first1 it is surely not less certain1 that any conception we may have of the relation so revealed between the ,father and the ,son1 would be fainter by far1 and less intelligible than it is1 if it were not for that which our ,lord ,jesus ,christ has told us as to the office and nature of the ,holy ,spirit2 if with our growing conception of distinctness and relation as between the ,sender and the ,sent1 we had not also some added conception of that ,blessed ,spirit of ,holiness1 ,who1 emanating from both1 is the ,spirit of both alike1 and is thereby also the very bond of perfectness of ,love whereby both are united in ,one2 and whereby1 further1 all spirits in whom ,god's presence dwells1 are united1 so far1 in a real oneness of spirit with one another and with ,god4 ,and it is quite certain1 that whether we seem to anyone to be right or no in treating this revelation of the ,holy ,ghost as a necessary1 if incidental1 part of what we had need to be taught of the revelation of the ,father and the ,son1 in order to make ,incarnation properly intelligible2 it is altogether essential for that other purpose1 in connection with which the revelation is more immediately made1 that is1 for any understanding on our part of the abiding work of ,god in ,his ,church1 after the ,resurrection and ,ascension4 ',the holy ,catholic ,church1 the ,communion of ,saints1 the ,forgiveness of sins1 the ,resurrection of the body1 and the life everlasting2' these are not miscellaneous items thrown in at the end of the ,creed after the doctrine of the ,holy ,trinity is finished1 but they are essential parts of the understanding of the doctrine of the ,holy ,ghost3 and on the other hand1 without the revelation of the ,person and work of the ,holy ,ghost1 these doctrines1 practical though they be1 and vital for practice1--no less indeed than the very essence and meaning of the work of the ,incarnation from the day of ,ascension forwards1 that is to say the whole historical effect and fruit of the ,incarnation1--would be evacuated of all living meaning1 and would become for us only the empty phrases of a far-away baseless yearning1 which even now 7apart from the life of the ,holy ,spirit informing us7 they are ever too ready to become4 ,it is hoped that even such brief statements may at least serve to indicate how it is true that the whole of our ,christian creed1 even those parts which seem most separable from it1 or antecedent to it1 are for us really contained in the one crucial doctrine of the ,incarnation1 that is1 of the eternal ,godhead of the ,man ,christ ,jesus4 ,and this will compel us once more to recognise the simplicity of ,christian dogma4 ,it does not mean a complicated system of arbitrary definitions upon a great variety of subjects of religious speculation1 formulated one after another by human ingenuity1 and imposed by human despotism upon the consciences of the unthinking or the submissive2 it means rather the simple expression 7guarded according to experience of misconception7 of the fundamental fact of the ,incarnation1 together with such revelation as to the relations of the ,divine ,being1 and the wonder of ,his work amongst men1 as is clearly lit up by the event of the ,incarnation itself1 and is required for such apprehension of the meaning and effects of the ,incarnation1 as ,jesus ,christ held to be meet and necessary for us4 ,and so it is with all parts of ,christian doctrine4 ,if they would be found to be necessarily contained in a full unfolding of the great truth which the ,creed so briefly and simply declares1 then they really are parts of our faith1 because they are really involved in the understanding of the threefold revelation to man of the ,name of ,god1 which is the sum total of our faith4 ,but if the ,name of our ,god does not contain them1 they are not in our creed or our faith4 ,is there1 for example1 a visible ,church8 ,is there an ,apostolic ,ministry8 ,the answer depends on the inquiry as to what is revealed1 first in ,scripture1 and then in history1 as to the method of the working of the ,spirit of ,christ in the world4 ,did the ,old ,testament prefigure1 in action and in utterance1 did the ,incarnation require1 did the ,gospels interpret or comment upon1 did the ,apostles organize or govern1 any definitely articulated society1 with ceremonies or officers1 rules or discipline1 of its own8 ,was this1 the method of association and membership1 or was some other1 the mode of the working of the ,spirit of the ,christ among men8 ,is the work of ,christ1 in redeeming and reconciling to ,god1 is ,his present relation to the world1 properly intelligible1 or not1--apart from the ,church8 ,is the ministry of the ,church1 or are the sacraments of the ,church1 to those who thoughtfully read ,scripture and history1 a demonstrable part1 or normal condition1 of the working of the ,holy ,ghost in the ,church8 ,if so1 belief in them is contained in my words1 not only when ,i say1 ',i believe in the holy ,catholic ,church1' but also1 though less plainly1 when ,i say1 ',i believe in the ,holy ,ghost4' ,but if not1 it is not contained4 ,if they are really separable from the ,catholic ,church1 truly understood1 or from the understanding of the ,holy ,spirit and ,his work1 then they are no part of what any ,christian need believe4 ,but so far as the holy ,catholic ,church1--so far as the orderly1 covenanted work of the ,holy ,spirit in the world1--involves and contains the idea of the ministry or the sacraments1 so far every ,christian will know1 just in proportion as he knows the true meaning of his creed1 that he is bound to them4 ,it is no part of my business to pursue the question of the sacraments or the ministry further here4 ,it may be observed1 perhaps1 that the ,creed contains no proposition expressly about ourselves1--about the fall1 for instance1 or about sin4 ,yet in and from the first word of the ,creed1 ,i of course am present there3 and as to formal propositions about myself1 it may be that they are not so much articles of belief1 as1 rather1 conditions of mind antecedent to belief1 conditions of self-consciousness to which belief fits and responds1 and without which the ,creed itself would be unintelligible4 ,but what is thus necessarily implied and involved in the terms of the ,creed1 is after all substantially contained in that ,creed to which it is a condition of intelligibleness4 ,of course my creed necessarily presupposes myself4 ,i cannot believe at all1 except ,i am1 and have a certain history and faculties4 ,i cannot believe in ,god as ,father1 as ,almighty1 as ,creator1 without implying and including within that belief the fundamental facts of my nature and relation to ,him4 ,i cannot believe in the ,incarnation and the ,redemption1 their meaning or their consequences1 ,i cannot believe in the ,holy ,spirit1 or have any intelligent apprehension of ,his working1 except there be implied1 as conditions of my consciousness necessary to that intelligence1 some apprehension of that which is meant by the fall1 some inalienable sense of evil1 of sin1 of the banishment from ,god which is the fruit of sin1 of the inherent contradiction to my nature1 the unnatural penalty and horror1 which the banishment of sin involves4 ,so probation1 judgment1 heaven1 hell1 are beliefs which grow by inevitable consequence out of the apprehension1 once grasped1 of the nature and distinction of good and evil2 they are necessary corollaries from the full perception of the eternal rightness of right1 the eternal wrongness of wrong1 the eternal separation and contrast between right and wrong2 in a word1 from belief in ,god on the part of man4 ,perhaps this illustration may serve to shew how much1 that is not obvious in the letter1 may nevertheless be really contained in man's utterance of the ,name of ,god4 ,,iii4 ,but while the doctrines of the ,church which her ,creeds express are thus as simple as they are profound1 it is no doubt true that there has grown up round about them a considerable body of theological teaching1 more or less complicated1 which is really of the nature of comment upon them1 or explication of their nature and meaning4 ,when we speak of the dogmas of ,christianity1 it is right to distinguish1 with the clearest possible line of demarcation1 between all this mass of explanatory teaching 7more or less authoritative as it may from time to time appear to be7 and the central truths themselves1 which are our real certainties4 ,the doctrine itself is one thing3 the theories explicative of the doctrine are another4 ,they may be of the highest value in their own time and place2 but they are not the immutable principles of ,church truth4 ,to say this is not really to depreciate the work of theological writers and teachers of different ages2 but it is to assign to their work its true position4 ,the current mode of explaining a doctrine in one age1 and bringing it home by illustrations to the imagination of men1 may be discredited and superseded in another4 ,when the current mode of statement or illustration begins to be more or less discredited1 the minds of quiet people are apt to be distressed4 ,this is because very few of us can distinguish between the truths themselves which we hold1 and the 7often mistaken7 modes of expression by which we seem to explain our truths to ourselves4 ,even when our explanation is substantially true1 the doctrine is still a different thing from our explanation of it2 and if any imperfection is detected in our explanation of it1 it is not truth which suffers2 it is only that truth is being distinguished from our imperfect and unconscious glosses2 and thereby in the end the truth can only be served4 ,perhaps no illustration of this can be more convincing than that which the history of the doctrine of ,atonement supplies4 ,that ,christ died upon the cross for us1 that ,he offered ,himself as a sacrifice1 and that we are redeemed through ,his blood1 this is a belief fundamental to ,christianity2 nor has the ,church ever wavered for an instant in her strong faith in this4 ,but when we go further1 and come to the different illustrations that have been given to make the precise nature of ,atonement clear to human logic1 when in fact we enter upon the domain of explicative theories1 we have not only left the sure ground of the ,creeds1 and embarked upon views which may or may not be correct1 but we find1 as a fact1 that the modes of thought which seemed adequately to explain the doctrine to the conscience of some ages1 have not only failed to satisfy1 but have actually shocked and offended1 others4 ,the teaching that ,god was angry1 but that ,jesus1 as a result of gentler mercy1 and through ,his innocent blood1 appeased1 by satisfying1 the wrath of the ,father1 and so reconciled ,god to us2 the teaching that ,satan had obtained a right over man1 but that ,jesus1 by giving up ,himself1 paid a splendid ransom into the hands of ,satan2 the teaching that a debt was due from humanity to ,god1 and that ,jesus1 clothed as man1 alone could deliver man by discharging ,god's debt3 these--be they popular blunderings1 or genuine efforts of ,theology--may1 in their times1 have both helped and wounded consciences2 but whether they be to us as helps or hindrances1 it is of the utmost importance that we should discriminate them1 or others which may have succeeded to them as theories explanatory of the ,atonement1 from our cardinal belief in the ,atonement itself4 ,we may have rightly seen what is vicious in these statements1 and we may have greatly improved upon them1 but however much more helpful our modes of exposition may prove themselves to our own minds or those of our hearers1 we may only be repeating the old error1 and leading the way to fresh distresses in the future1 if we confound our mode of explanatory comment with the truth of the doctrine itself1 and claim that the mysterious fact of the ,atonement means exactly that which is our own best approach to a statement1 in illustrative words1 of what it expresses to us4 ,but it may be asked1 ,are you not saying too much8 ,does not this seem to mean that the doctrines themselves are little better than unintelligible symbols1 which need not indeed be changed for the simple reason that they can be made to mean whatever is necessary to suit the times8 ,no1 the truth of them does not change2 and even the changeful modes of presenting them are less changeful1 after all1 than they seem4 ,they cannot indefinitely vary2 there is one thing which unites them all1 and that is the truth itself which lies behind them all4 ,the ,atonement is a fact1 whether ,i can adequately expound it or no4 ,the ,atonement is a fact1 which my attempted expositions do indeed represent1 more or less correctly1 more or less clumsily1 even when ,i seem most to have failed4 ,much as they may seem to differ1 and inconsistent as they may appear with each other1 yet not one of them really represents untruth but truth4 ,imperfect images they may be1 and in respect of their imperfections1 diverse and distorting2 yet there is not one of the theories of ,atonement referred to above--not even such as are now seen to contain most error--which did not1 as seriously held1 represent and convey some real image of the truth4 ,it may be that the truth which they represented was conveyed in an inexact way2 and that afterwards1 when attention was concentrated on the points of inexactness1 the statement became1 and would have become1 more and more misleading2 it was no longer then a possible vehicle of truth2 but what it had really conveyed to those to whom it was living1 was a real soul-enlightening image of the truth of the ,atonement4 ,it was an imperfect image2 it was even in part a distorted image1--as everything that ,i see through my window is in part distorted4 ,but it was a real image of the real truth none the less4 ,local and popular modes of exposition then are often as the medium through which dogmatic truth is seen and apprehended1--not always1 certainly1 without distortion4 ,but the more catholic the truth1 the more it retains its identity of form1 however remote from each other1 in place or time1 the diverse types of mind which view and teach it1 so much the purer must it be from accidental or temporary conditionings2 so much the nearer1 in rank1 to a fundamental doctrine of the ,catholic ,church4 ,we do not1 of course1 distinguish ,catholic dogma from theological literature1 as though the one were bare facts1 and the other all explanations of the facts4 ,but we may rightly confine the use of the word 'dogma' to the fundamental facts1 together with such explanation of them as the ,church has agreed1 by universal instinct1 or by dogmatic decree endorsed through ecumenical acceptance1 to be essential to a reasonable apprehension of the facts4 ,it is the more important to guard with unfaltering clearness this distinction between dogma on the one hand1 and theological literature on the other1 because it is1 no doubt1 in the sphere of explanatory theories and expressions1 that most of those controversies find their place1 which distress quiet minds1 and rouse hot battles of orthodoxy between sincere ,christian combatants4 ,if it could be recognised at the time how far the apparent innovators of successive generations were really questioning not the doctrines themselves1 but certain traditional modes of thought and teaching which have wrongly adhered to the doctrines1 there would be fewer accusations of heterodoxy1 and less distress and perplexity amongst the orthodox4 ,but it is natural enough that this should not be perceived by the defenders1 when the innovators themselves are so often both blind and indifferent to it4 ,and it is just herein that the different innovators are apt to make themselves indefensible4 ,too often they think that they are making real advance upon the doctrines of the ,church and her ,creeds1 and they are elated1 instead of being ashamed1 at the thought4 ,they make light of loyalty1 they despise the birthright of their ,churchmanship1 and find their own self-exaltation in the very consciousness of offending their brethren4 ,this1 whether done under provocation or no1 is to depart from the spirit of the ,church of ,christ1 in temper and meaning at least1--even though their work in the long run should prove 7as it must so far as there is truth in it7 only to serve the interest and work of the ,church4 ,it is easier to see this in retrospect than in struggle4 ,but perhaps those who look back upon the struggles of the last generation within the ,church1 will recognise that the orthodox thought of the present day has been not a little cleared and served1 not merely by the work of orthodox defence1 but in no small part by the work of the 'liberalizers' also4 ,to say this1 is by no means necessarily to acquit the liberalizers1 or to cast a slur upon those who fought against them4 ,such condemnations or acquittals depend upon other considerations1 which do not concern us here4 ,but putting wholly aside as irrelevant all condemnation or acquittal of individuals1 we may yet acknowledge that the work done has in the end served the cause of the truth and the ,church4 ,this is said1 of course1 of its real intellectual outcome2 certainly not of the unsettling of souls by the way4 ,and it is also to be noted that even when the fruit of their work has been in a real sense1 after all1 accepted and incorporated1 it is hardly ever in the sense1 and never quite with the results1 which they1 so far as they had allowed themselves to be malcontents1 had supposed4 ,but if whatever is good and true in their work becomes1 after all1 an element in the consciousness of the ,church1 might not the work itself have been done1 all along1 in perfect ,church loyalty8 ,in so far as different earnest writers of a generation ago1 or of to-day1 are really1 whether consciously or not1 making a contribution to one of the great theological tasks of our time1 in so far 7that is7 as they are helping towards the correction of erroneous fancies of popular theology1--helping1 for instance1 to modify that superstitious over-statement about 'justification' which would really leave no meaning in 'righteousness2' or to limit the grossness of the theory often represented by the word 'imputation2' or to rebuke the nervous selfishness of religionists whose one idea of the meaning of religion was 'to be saved2' or to qualify the materialism or superstition of ignorant sacramentalists2 or to banish dogmatic realisms about hell1 or explications of atonement which malign ,god's ,fatherhood2 or the freezing chill and paralysis of all life supposed before now to be necessarily involved in the ,apostolic words 'predestination' and 'election2' so far they are really1 though it may be from the outside and very indirectly1 doing the work of the ,church4 ,but the pity of it is that the men who do this kind of service are so apt to spoil it1 by overvaluing themselves and forgetting the loveliness and the power of perfect subordination to the ,church4 ,we may own that ,church people and ,church rulers have too often been the stumbling-block4 ,it is they who again and again have seemed to fight against everything1 and by intellectual apathy1 and stern moral proscription of every form of mental difficulty 7wherein oftentimes are the birth-throes of enlightenment7 to drive living and growing intelligence out of the ,church4 ,it is true that the greatest of ,churchmen would1 if the badge of their work were submissiveness1 have sometimes to wait awhile1 and bear delay1 and wrong from inferior minds1 with the patience of humility4 ,yes2 but that work of theirs1 if it once were stamped with this seal of patient submissiveness1 would be a glory to the ,church for ever1 like the work of her quiet confessors1 the work of a ,scupoli1 a ,ken1 or a ,fnelon2 instead of being1 as it more often seems to be1 a great offending and perplexing of thousands of the very consciences which deserve to be treated most tenderly1 and therefore also a wrong and a loss to the conscience and character of the writer4 ,are statements like these a concession to the antidogmatist8 ,if so1 they are one to which1 in the name of truth1 he is heartily welcome4 ,and perhaps1 under the same high sanction we may add what will look1 to some minds1 like another4 ,we claimed some time since that the ,creed must be1 to ,christians1 rather a complete and conclusive than a partial or a tentative statement of truth4 ,yet there is one sense in which we may own that even the definitions of the ,creeds may themselves be called relative and temporary4 ,for we must not claim for phrases of earthly coinage a more than earthly and relative completeness4 ,the ,creeds are temporary1 in that they are a complete and sufficient statement of truth only for time4 ,and therefore they are only quite perfectly adequate to express those truths which have their place in time4 ,but we1 in respect of truths which transcend time1 if we cannot as yet be freed from the trammels and limits of earthly thought and expression1 yet can recognise at least the fact1 that we are1 even in our ,creeds1 still labouring within those trammels4 ,we may have ground for believing the ,creeds of the ,church to be the most perfectly balanced and harmonious expression of the truth whereof our earthly knowledge is1 or will be1 capable4 ,yet when we struggle1 as in the language of the ,athanasian ,creed1 to express the relations which have been exhibited to us in the eternal ,godhead through the use of the words ',person' and ',substance1' or and 2 or when we thus profess our belief in the ,person of the ,holy ,ghost1 ',the ,holy ,ghost is of the ,father and of the ,son3 neither made1 nor created1 nor begotten1 but proceeding1' need we fear to own that the instruments which1 perforce1 we make use of upon earth1 even in the ,creeds of the ,church1 are necessarily imperfect instruments2 the power of conception imperfect2 the power of phrase and imagery imperfect also2 and that their sufficiency of truth 7though not their correctness meanwhile7 is so far temporary that it is limited to earth and to time2 and that1 in the perfect light and knowledge of the presence of ,god1 the perfectest knowledge represented by them will be superseded and absorbed1 while the glosses and materialisms with which1 in various ways1 we may have been unconsciously clothing them to our own imaginations1 will be--not superseded only but corrected1 and1 it may be1 reproved8 ,moreover1 if the truths represented in the ,creeds are wider and deeper than our conceptions of them1 we can admit that there may possibly be particulars in which1 even now1 the experience of spiritual life may deepen and enlarge the meaning1 to us1 of our ,creeds2 as1 for instance1 the words heaven and hell may present to us ideas differing1 in the direction of more correctness1 from those which they presented to some of our forefathers4 ,it is not that the ,creeds will be some day corrected4 ,it is not that we shall see hereafter how false they were1 but how far the best conceptions which they opened to us1--the best1 that is1 that our earthly faculties were capable of1 lagged in their clumsiness behind the perfect apprehension of the truths which they had1 nevertheless1 not untruly represented2 but which we then shall have power to see and know as they are4 ,the truth which is dimly imaged for us in the ,creeds1 will never belie1 but will infinitely transcend1 what their words represented on earth4 ,but it will very naturally be asked by what right we speak thus of the ,creeds4 ,in the very moment of admitting1 in one sense1 their incompleteness and want of finality1 by what right do we lay down still that they are final and complete to the end of time2 that is1 perhaps1 through ages of human advance1 of which we may have now no conception at all8 ,such a question does not apply to the strictly historical statements which constitute the foundation of our creed1 but to those interpretations of historical fact1 and to those assertions about the ,divine ,being and its relations1 which necessarily transcend time and experience4 ,and after all1 perhaps1 the answer is not difficult4 ,we have to consider1 first1 that for the very reason that these beliefs do absolutely transcend time and experience1 therefore no human development which belongs merely to time and experience1 can1 in itself1 displace or improve upon them2 and secondly1 that our knowledge of these truths is really derived from a ,divine revelation1 which took place1 as we believe1 within time and experience4 ,we may say1 indeed1 that the statements of this ,divine revelation are corroborated to us1 by such elements of thought as our reason 7which we believe to be also in its reality ,divine7 is able to supply4 ,it remains1 however1 that they can only really be proved or disproved1 by arguments which go to prove or disprove the truth of the historical ,incarnation1 and of the revelations which it contains4 ,it follows from hence that we have a valid right to hold them not only true1 but final in their statement of truth for this present world1 exactly so far as we have a right to believe that our historical revelation is1 for time1 a final one4 ,should there1 indeed1 be a wholly fresh revelation1 the amount of truth hitherto revealed might be superseded2 but nothing short of a revelation can supersede it4 ,the idea that any advance of human reason could be inconsistent with it1 involves for the ,christian who believes human reason to be divinely reflected and divinely implanted1 nothing less than an unthinkable contradiction4 ,we may therefore believe it in any case to be final1 till the coming of a further revelation3 and so far as there is anything in the truth already revealed to us1 which may warrant us in feeling confident that there is no fresh revelation in store1 within the limits of time1 by which the revelation of ,jesus ,christ will be superseded1 just so far and no further are we justified in claiming for those clauses in the ,creed1 whose subject-matter transcends time and experience1 that they are the completest expressions of their truths which can be reached in time4 ,,iv4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be a matter of prudence to refer for a moment to what are called the 'damnatory clauses' of the ,athanasian ,creed2 though it would not be necessary to do so for the purpose of any positive statement or explanation of ,christian doctrine4 ,these clauses1 however1 to the positive statement add a negative4 ,it is easy to misunderstand them1 and even1 by misrepresenting1 to make them appear grotesque4 ,but if the question be as to what they really mean1 they are1 after all1 to the ,christian1 an obvious and necessary corollary of the ,creed which is his life4 ,there is but ,one ,god1 and ,one ,heaven1 and ,one ,salvation2 not a choice of alternative salvations1 or heavens1 or gods4 ,there is ,one ,incarnation1 ,one ,cross1 ,one ,divine restoring and exalting of humanity4 ,there is ,one ,spirit of ,god1 ,one ,church--the fabric and the method of the working of the ,spirit1--,one ,spiritual ,covenant with man4 ,man must have part in this ,one1 or he has part in none2 for there is no other4 ,man must have knowledge of this ,one1 belief in this ,one2 or there is none for him to believe in or to know4 ,god's covenant is with ,his ,church on earth2 and the statements of the ,creed are the representation in words of that knowledge of the truth which the ,church possesses1 the possession of which is her life4 ,the ,athanasian ,creed is not addressed to outsiders1 but to those who are within the ,church4 ,for encouragement1 or 7if necessary7 for warning1 it insists to them on the uniqueness of their faith4 ,to have hold on ,god is to have hold on ,life4 ,to revolt from ,god is to revolt from ,life4 ,this is so1 to those who have or ought to have learnt that it is so1 both in fact and in thought4 ,thus1 in fact1 to drop out of communion with the ,incarnation of ,christ1 is to drop out of communion with the inner realities and possibilities of humanity4 ,but the mind1 and its convictions and meanings1 cannot wholly be separated from the facts of the life4 ,there comes1 at least in most lives1 a time when the man's own allegiance to the facts is a necessary condition of his identification with them4 ',if ye believe not that ,i am ,he1 ye shall die in your sins4' ,there comes a point at which the mind's refusal of the doctrines of religion is the man's revolt from the facts2 and such a revolt is repudiation of the ,one revelation of ,god1 the ,one ,incarnation1 the ,one ,salvation1 the ,one ,church or ,covenant4 ,this must be broadly true1 true in the abstract1 as principle1 unless truth and falsehood1 right and wrong1 are fundamentally false distinctions1 and every man is to be equally good1 and equally compelled to heaven4 ,at what point any individual person1 or class of persons1 does1 or does not1 in the sight of the ,judge who knows the whole inward history1 and tries the most secret motive1 fall within the scope of this principle1 and incur the final condemnation of rebellion against the one light and hope of all humanity1 is another question altogether4 ,any such application of the principle to the case of individuals belongs only to ,god the ,judge1 and would be an arrogant impiety in any man4 ,even when such a question may have to be determined ecclesiastically1 the ecclesiastical condemnation and sentence1 though expressly representing in shadow the eternal sentence1 is none the less quite distinct1 and indeed in its ultimate motive even contrasted with it4 ,but however unchristian it may be to say that ,a or ,b will perish everlastingly1 the principle nevertheless is true1 that the truth which the ,creed embodies1 the truth of which ,christ's ,incarnation is the pivot and centre1 is the only deliverance from everlasting perishing2 and that whole-hearted union and communion with this truth1 is that true state of ,church life which alone has the certain seal of the covenant of ,god4 ,this broad truth it is1 the necessary complement of any holding of the ,christian creed as true1 which these clauses affirm4 ,if it be said1 'your ,athanasian ,creed is simple and trenchant2 it has no qualifications such as you admit'2 our reply would be threefold4 ,first1 the ,creed is part of our heritage from the past1 and its phraseology is not our handiwork2 but we know that the necessary qualifications with which we understand its phraseology have been generally recognised by the ,church from which we inherit it4 ,secondly1 the ,quicunque vult is1 strictly1 not so much a creed as a canticle2 it has never been used as a test of ,church communion2 and it speaks1 on a point like this1 as the ,te ,deum would speak1 in the language not of judicial award but of devotional loyalty4 ,thirdly1 the qualifications with which we say that any generalisation about man's responsibility for belief1 whether in this 'canticle' or in scripture1 must necessarily be understood1 are only such as all men apply to any similar generalisation about responsibility for conduct4 ',if ye believe not that ,i am ,he1 ye shall die in your sins1' is paralleled by ',they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of ,god4' ,we claim only to interpret the one as rationally as all men understand the other4 ,it has seemed to be desirable1 while insisting upon the claims of dogma1 not indeed in the name of allegiance to imposed authority1 but in the name of truth1 and on the ground of its simple identity with truth1 to try to state1 with the utmost possible plainness1 whatever could be truly admitted in the way of apparent qualification of those claims4 ,truth is supreme1 and eternal2 and dogma1 so far as it coincides with truth1 is1 of course1 all that truth is4 ,for the dogmatic position of the ,church and her ,creeds1 we claim that it is the true and simple expression upon earth of the highest truth that is1 or can be1 known4 ,but dogmatic theologians are not infallible1 and so far as the name of dogma has been claimed for mistaken presumption or misleading statement of truth1 so far may dogma have seemed to fight against truth4 ,the words1 indeed1 'dogmatic' and 'dogmatism' have acquired a bad reputation4 ,but this is not the fault of dogma4 ,a dogmatist1 in the invidious sense of the word1 does not mean one who studies dogma1 but rather one who foolishly utters what are not dogmas as if they were4 ,the dogmatic temper is the temper of one who is imperiously confident that he is right when he is not4 ,that is to say1 the words dogma1 dogmatic1 dogmatize1 etc41 are commonly used of something which is the mere abuse and travesty of their proper meaning4 ,it is hard that dogma itself should be prejudiced by this caricaturing misuse of its name4 ,meanwhile1 if real charges be brought against any part of our dogmatic creed1 we are willing most honestly to examine into them4 ,in so far as they are made against current suppositions1 which are separable from our essential belief1--separable as1 for example1 we now see various details of traditional belief about the first chapter of ,genesis to be separable--we join our critics in the examination with a mind as open as they could desire4 ,and it must1 in simple candour1 be admitted further1 that upon the appearance of any new form of thought1 ,churchmen have not generally been quick of mind to discriminate the essential from the non-essential1 so as to receive at first1 with any openness of mind1 what they had afterwards to admit that they might have received from the first4 ,but not even this admission must prevent us from claiming1 that when that to which exception is taken does really belong to the essential truths of our creed1 which to us are more absolutely established certainties than anything in heaven and earth besides1 they must pardon us if1 while we are still willing to give the most candid hearing possible to everything that they have to urge1 we yet cannot1 if we would1 divest ourselves of the deepest certainties of our existence2--cannot therefore pretend to argue with more openness of mind than would scientific professors--say with a champion who undertook to prove that the globe was flat1 or that the sun went round the earth4 ,we are ready to listen to everything4 ,we are fully prepared to find that the champion may produce in evidence some phenomena which we shall be unable to account for4 ,we have found it before2 we are not unaccustomed to finding it 7though1 in good time1 the perplexity always unravels itself72 and we shall be in no way disconcerted if we find it again4 ,but we cannot pretend meanwhile to hold all the truth which our consciences have known in suspense4 ,v4 ,what was said just now about the ,creeds will not1 it is hoped1 appear to any minds to fail in the entire respect which is due to them4 ,yet it makes it1 perhaps1 the more incumbent upon us to take notice of another form of attack upon dogma1 which connects itself with an attitude about the ,creeds1 such as may seem at first sight to be not wholly dissimilar2 though presently all the foundations of dogma are dissolved by it4 ,but in point of fact1 if we admit that what the ,creeds mean on earth1 is less than what the same truths will mean in heaven1 or that there may be1 even here1 a clumsier1 and a completer1 understanding of them2 this is a position essentially different from maintaining that what the ,creeds both say and mean1 is not only less than1 but 7if strictly taken7 inconsistent with1 the real truth2 and that not in any transcendent sense1 as celestial beings1 with wholly other faculties1 may conceivably have power of apprehending it in heaven1 but as the more intelligent among us may1 and do1 see it now4 ,this is not only to admit that the ,creeds are built up1 perforce1 of materials which belong to this earth2 but to treat them as mere serviceable fictions for the teaching of the uncivilized or the young4 ,the deliberate unbeliever1 indeed1 assumes that the ,creeds mean what they say1 and that the ,church understands the ,creeds4 ,assuming this1 he parts company with the ,church1 because he holds that the statements of her ,creeds are1 in fact1 fictitious4 ,but it may surprise us to find that there is another form of this view of the fictitiousness of ,creeds1 and that here the critic speaks1 not at all in the character of an unbeliever1 but rather in that of an enlightened ,churchman4 ,all ,christian truth1 he says1 is true4 ,even the ,creeds in a real sense represent the truth4 ,but the ,church's understanding and expression of ,christian truth in the ,creeds1 is1 none the less1 strictly1 a misrepresentation of the truth4 ,though the truth of ,christ lies behind the ,church's ,creeds1 yet they have so overlaid1 and thereby1 in strict speech1 misstated it1 that it is only the patience of criticism1 which cutting bravely adrift from the authority of traditional interpretation1 has succeeded in discriminating between the ,creeds and the meaning of the ,creeds1 and behind what are practically the fictions of dogmatic ,christianity1 has re-discovered the germs of ,christian truth4 ,neither the facts of the life of ,jesus ,christ1 nor ,his teaching1 nor ,his consciousness in regard of ,himself1 were as we have been taught1 but were something different4 ,he never thought nor taught of ,himself as personally ,god1 nor did ,he perform any miracles1 nor did ,he rise on the third day from the dead4 ,whatever scriptures state these things explicitly1 are proved by that very fact to be glosses or errors4 ,and yet1 all the while1 everything is true spiritually4 ,the record of the ,incarnate ,life is true literally1 it may be1 at comparatively few points2 certainly not the story of the ,birth2 certainly not the story of the ,resurrection2 certainly not any incident which involves1 or any expression which implies1 miracle4 ,but the ,birth1 the ,resurrection1 the miracles1 every one of them1 represent1 in the most splendid of imaginative language and portraiture1 essential spiritual truths4 ,they are fictions1 but vivid representations1 in fiction1 of fact2 splendid truths1 therefore1 so long as they are understood to be literally fictitious1 but perversions of truth1 if taken for truth of fact4 ,it is this conception which was set forth not long ago with a singular power and persuasiveness by the author of ,the ,kernel and the ,husk4 ,the lofty level of thought1 the restraint and felicity of language1 above all the deeply religious spirit of the author1 invest his arguments with a charm of unusual attractiveness4 ,the arguments are not such as it is wholly pleasant to see thus recommended4 ,he deals in detail1 in the course of the volume1 with much of the narrative of ,scripture1 with the purpose of shewing how one by one the various records1 including of course the ,birth and ,resurrection1 have grown to their present form out of realities which contained no miracle1 and which therefore differed essentially from the historical scriptures and faith of the ,church4 ,it is no part of our task to enter upon such details4 ,nor is it necessary4 ,the struggle against such a theory of ,christianity will not be fought out on details4 ,it may be conceded that many of the miracles1 taken singly1 can easily be made to fall in with conjectural theories as to a mythical origin1 if only the antecedent conviction against their reality as miracles be cogent enough really to require that the necessary force should be put upon the evidence4 ,some indeed may lend themselves to the process with a facility which fairly surprises us4 ,others seem still to be very obstinate1 and force the rationalizer into strange hypotheses4 ,but after all1 the real question1 through one and all1 is not how easily this or that miracle can be made1 by squeezing of evidence1 to square with a rationalizing hypothesis2 but what is the strength of the argument for the rationalizing hypothesis itself1 which is the warrant for squeezing the evidence at all4 ,the ,evangelists say that ,jesus taught in the synagogue at ,capernaum4 ,our author takes for granted that ,he did so4 ,the ,evangelists say that ,jesus miraculously multiplied loaves and fishes in the wilderness4 ,our author takes for granted that ,he did not so4 ,now why this contrast8 ,incidentally1 indeed1 it may be remarked that on the author's own general method1 this multiplication of loaves ought to be one of the most certain facts in the life of ,christ1 as it is emphasized in every ,gospel4 ,but this is by the way4 ,the real ground of the contrast in the treatment of the same evidence is a certain prior conviction with which the evidence is approached4 ,now we are not contending that any such sifting of evidence in the light of prior tests is inadmissible4 ,on the contrary1 there is hardly anyone who does not1 on a similar principle1 explain the differences 7for example7 in the accounts of the title upon the ,cross1 or the difficulty as to whether ,jesus healed one blind man or two1 on the way into1 or out from1 ,jericho2 but we do say that the admissibleness of such a method of interpreting absolutely depends upon the certainty of the correctness of the prior conviction itself4 ,the various details of ingenuity1 then1 with which he explains away particular incidents1 are to us of quite subordinate interest4 ,everything depends upon the cogency of the grounds for explaining away at all4 ,a large part of the book is occupied in explaining away the facts of ,christianity1 as the ,christian ,church has hitherto understood them2 an explaining away which may be more or less necessary1 more or less satisfactory1 if the premisses which require it are once admitted2 but which certainly is wholly unnecessary1 and wholly unsatisfactory1 if those premisses are denied4 ,the prior conviction in the book in question is that miracles neither do1 nor did1 happen in fact1 and therefore that any narrative which involves them is incredible4 ,all the ingenuities of conjecture on individual points become relevant subsequently to1 and in reliance upon1 this underlying principle4 ,admit this1 and they are forthwith interesting and valuable4 ,deny this1 and they lose their importance at once4 ,it is the pressure of this prior conviction which seems to give life and force to a number of suggestions1 about other stories1 and particularly about that of the ,resurrection1 which1 apart from this animating conviction1 would be felt to be very lifeless2 and to a total experiment of subjective reconstruction1 which1 but for the strength of the antecedent conviction1 would have been impossible to men of reverent thought and modest utterance4 ,the teaching of the book will therefore really be accepted or the reverse1 precisely according as the minds of its readers do1 or do not1 incline to admit the hypothesis upon which it depends4 ,it is probable1 indeed1 that the author would demur to this statement1 at least when put so simply2 on the ground that1 though he avows the conviction1 yet he has reached the conviction itself by no priori road1 but as the result of wide observation and unprejudiced scrutiny of evidence4 ,now it is not at all meant to be asserted that the conviction against miracle is itself reached merely by an priori method4 ,no doubt it has1 in fact1 been arrived at1 in those minds which have fully arrived at it1 not priori1 but as the result of a great induction from experience2 practically indeed1 as it seems to them1 from experience as good as universal4 ,the weight of the evidence in this direction is neither denied nor forgotten4 ,yet even when it most impresses us1 of course it is obvious still to reply to ourselves that however powerful this array of experience may appear so long as there are no instances to the contrary1 yet any one contrary instance will break at once the cogency of the induction4 ,the case of ,jesus ,christ is put forward as being unique4 ,its uniqueness is not really qualified by the fact that some others1 among those nearest to ,himself1 were by ,him enabled--avowedly in ,his power1 not their own1--to do acts which were impossible to other men4 ,this is only a wider extension of ,his unique power1 not a qualification of it4 ,against such a case1 put forward on evidence definite and multiform1 and put forward as essentially unique1 an argument from induction is no argument at all4 ,it is a misnomer to call the induction an argument4 ,the induction1 in fact1 is merely an observation that other persons did not perform similar miracles2 and that1 if ,jesus ,christ did so1 ,he was unique4 ,but this is no answer to the ,christian position4 ,it is part of the position itself4 ,and so the matter must be referred for settlement to the evidence that is actually forthcoming about ,jesus ,christ4 ,but it is plain that the inductive presumption against miracle1 derived from experience of other men1 must not come in to warp or rule this evidence4 ,it may be present indeed as a sort of cross-examining counsel1 as a consideration requiring that the evidence should be most minutely scrutinized1 and suggesting all sorts of questions with a view to this4 ,but into the evidence itself1 it cannot be permitted to intrude4 ,now1 it is part of our complaint against such writers as the author of ,the ,kernel and the ,husk1 that however much their general presumption against miracle may have been inductively and patiently reached2 yet when they come to deal with the evidence about ,jesus ,christ1 this conviction 7which ought to stand on one side inquiringly7 becomes to them an underlying postulate2 it is settled beforehand2 it is present with them in their exegesis1 not simply as a motive for sifting the evidence carefully1 but as a touchstone of truth by which it may all be tried4 ,probably the author would believe that he has reached his conviction against the miracles of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 not merely from a general induction as to the absence of miracle in the lives of others1 but also from an unprejudiced scrutiny of the evidence of the life of ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,but this is just what we are not at all prepared to concede4 ,on the contrary1 we maintain that his scrutiny is wholly prejudiced4 ,examine the evidence with a bias sufficiently powerful against belief in miracle2 and you may end in the result which this author reaches4 ,examine it without such a bias2 and you will find yourself at every turn protesting against his mode of treating the evidence4 ,it is a scrutiny of the evidence on the basis of the inadmissibleness of miracles1 which gives him that coherent theory about the growth of the ,christian tradition1 and those consequent principles of interpretation of the text of the ,gospels1 which he appears to regard as the simple result of the evidence itself4 ,we shall very likely be surprised to find that1 after all1 the abstract impossibility of miracle is not laid down1--nay1 is expressly disclaimed1--by him4 ,miracle 7if we rightly understand7 is not impossible absolutely1--not even1 he adds1 priori improbable2 yet it is equivalent to an impossibility1 because the will of the ,father indwelt wholly in ,jesus1 and because the perfect uniformity of natural processes as we have experienced them1 is1 in fact1 and with no exceptions1 the will of the ,father#bae4 ,no general reflections upon our dependence1 in ordinary life1 on the good faith of an uniform nature1 ought to blind us to the fact that this last position neither has1 nor can have1 any adequate ground at all4 ,it is surprising that with so weak a statement of the impossibility of miracle1 the principle of the impossibility of miracle should have to bear the extraordinary weight that is put upon it4 ,nothing short of a demonstration of this impossibility would fully justify the critical position that is adopted4 ,for it is1 in fact1 upon this impossibility that the whole re-reading of the history is based4 ,it is probably true that if once the hypothesis of the impossibility of miracle be accepted as practically certain1 an earnest mind1 penetrated with this as its overruling principle1 and dwelling upon the ,gospels always and only in the light of this1 will be compelled gradually to re-read in one place and re-interpret in another1 until the whole has been1 by steps that upon the hypothesis were irresistible1 metamorphosed into a form as unlike as possible1 indeed1 to what it wore at first1 but still one which can be felt to be precious and beautiful4 ,but we are entitled to point out how absolutely this re-reading of the evidence depends upon the truth of the principle which underlies it4 ,for the sake of this1 all sorts of violence has to be done to what would otherwise be1 in one incident after another1 the obvious meaning of words1 the obvious outcome of evidence4 ,without the certainty of this1 the new method of reading must be critically condemned as baseless and arbitrary4 ,this alone makes it rationally possible4 ,without the strong cogency of this it falls instantly to pieces4 ,now orthodox ,christians are sometimes accused of reading their historical evidence in the light of a preconception4 ,they begin with the doctrine of the ,creed1 and read all records of fact with the conviction of that doctrine in their hearts and consciences4 ,we need not be altogether concerned to combat this statement4 ,perhaps few records are read1 or would ever be read intelligently1 except in the light of the reader's preconceptions4 ,but our point is to see clearly that at all events the new reading of the ,gospel history is itself so entirely the outcome and creature of its antecedent principle1 that it cannot without that hold together for an instant4 ,let us be content1 for the moment1 to view the orthodox ,christian and the new rationalist as both alike really reading the ,gospel narrative in the light of a preconceived principle2 the one viewing everything on the basis of the perfect ,divinity of the historical ,jesus ,christ 7with the corollary that it is impossible for us to determine priori what power ,his perfect ,humanity--for which we have no precedent--would1 or would not1 naturally and necessarily exhibit72 the other viewing everything on the basis of the absolute impossibility1 or at least the incredibleness1 of miracle4 ,we might point out that the former in his hypothesis has a principle which absolutely fits and perfectly accounts for every part of the evidence which confronts him2 while the latter is compelled1 by the cogency of his principle1 to reconstruct for himself almost every chapter of the evidence4 ,and if we go one step further back1 and ask1 what is the antecedent reasonableness of the one hypothesis1 or of the other8 from what source is each derived8 ,we must claim it as simple fact1 that the former hypothesis is itself the direct outcome of the evidence1--the inevitable outcome1 indeed1 so long as the evidence stands3 while the other is at bottom1 an assumption1 held absolutely in the teeth of the evidence actually existing in respect of the life and consciousness of ,jesus of ,nazareth1 and itself on other grounds not merely unproved1 but essentially incapable of proof#baf4 ,but if our hypothesis is itself the outcome of the evidence1 and fits with perfect exactness into all its intricacies1 then we yield far too much if we treat it as on the level of a mere preconception4 ,to persist in reading the ,new ,testament by the light of the preconception of the dogma of ,christ's ,godhead 7with the corollary that no miracle is incredible as miracle71 is to be prejudiced only in the same sense in which the scientist is prejudiced who persists in studying the records of astronomy in the light of certain preconceptions as to the parabola or the law of gravitation4 ,but what is the case with the other hypothesis8 ,by it the historical ,jesus ,christ is swept away2 and another personality1 which does not exist in the history at all1 but which the history has suggested to certain earnest-minded critics of our own day1 is substituted in ,his place4 ,all those who witnessed of ,his words and deeds to the ,church1 all those whose witness the ,church has accepted and sealed1 are thoroughly mistaken1 mistaken in the very points which to them were fundamental4 ,however honest they may have been in their superstitious ignorance1 they certainly bore to the world what was1 in fact1 false testimony4 ,it is impressive1 with a strange impressiveness1 to follow this hypothesis through the story of ,christ's life2 and see with what ingenuity1 often plausible1 often pathetic1 the old facts are refashioned to meet the new principle4 ,cardinal1 of course1 in difficulty as in importance1 is the narrative of the ,resurrection2 that plain statement of fact1 to testify whereto was the primary qualification1 and primary function1 of ,apostleship2 and which1 from ,s4 ,peter and ,s4 ,paul downwards1 has always been recognised as cardinal to the faith of the ,church4 ,now given2 first1 the certain conviction that no miracle occurred2 and secondly1 a working hypothesis as to the growth of the ,christian ,scriptures1 which not only enables1 but requires1 you to set aside1 on grounds of subjective criticism1 all such evidence as seems to you to be improbable2 and it follows that1 if you are still of a very religious mind1 you will probably have to take refuge in what may yet be to you the beautiful story of a ,resurrection exclusively spiritual4 ,you must1 of course1 deal very violently with the direct evidence4 ,but that is already covered by the general theory you have reached as to the historical genesis and value 7or lack of value7 of the books of the ,new ,testament4 ,and1 of course1 in adopting such a view of the books of the ,new ,testament1 you are reducing to a phantasm the reality of your belief in the ,holy ,catholic ,church1 which has enshrined and consecrated1 as perfectest truth1 what are really at best only fables1--capable1 indeed1 of clumsily representing the truth to the childish or the stupid1 but beginning to be absolutely pernicious to minds which have reached a certain point of intelligent education4 ,tolerating these things1 however1 you may admit the truth of the ,resurrection 7as you may admit every proposition of the ,creed7 in words2 only in a sense so refined1 so exclusively spiritual1 that no bodily reality of resurrection is left4 ,there is no resurrection in your creed correlative to the dying4 ,there is no resurrection more1 or more demonstrable1 than what we believe to be true of men in general4 ,there is no resurrection which enters within the ordinary sphere of human history1 or admits any direct contact with the normal methods of human evidence or human proof4 ,the question raised is not whether current imaginations of the ,resurrection may possibly be more or less exaggerated in the way of materialism1 but whether there was any corporeal reality of resurrection at all4 ,and the question is settled in the negative4 ,the foundation fact of the ,creed is etherealized away2 and all the rest1 with it1 becomes together impalpable and subjective4 ,we do not say that there is not a large element which is true1 in the thought of such a writer as we have been considering4 ,where the mind is so devoutly in earnest1 it is no hard task to believe that it too must be animated originally by truth4 ,we need not say1 therefore1 that the work of this earnestness may not serve us all1 and contribute to the thought of us all4 ,it may well be true that in our bald understanding of the doctrine of the ,resurrection1--or indeed of the whole ,incarnation1 from beginning to end1--we have1 many of us1 too little imagined the scope and depth of its spiritual import4 ,if our orthodoxy has been so well content with insisting mechanically upon the literal fact1 as not only to forget1 but to disdain or disown in any measure1 the vast spiritual realities which it ought to express to us2 then our stupidity1 or narrowness1 in orthodoxy1 is in part to blame1 for the distaste which they have created towards orthodoxy in some natures more sensitive than our own4 ,in so far as they can1 in this respect1 return good for evil1 we will not be slow to acknowledge our debt to them4 ,we will be grateful for any new suggestion they can discover1 as to the moral beauty or import of the ,resurrection1 or of the ,incarnation1 or of any or every other miracle considered upon its moral side as allegory4 ,some ways at least there may be1 in which their insistance may tend to deepen for us our understanding of truths1 whose more spiritual aspects we had dwelt upon perhaps1 in some cases1--perhaps had even imagined1--far too little4 ,but doubtless that true element of their work1 which the mind of the ,catholic ,church will assimilate1 will be greatly modified from the form in which it now presents itself--to them as to others4 ,it will1 to say the least1 be positive rather than negative2 stimulating spiritual sensibilities1 but not by explaining away the facts of the body2 widening 7it may be7 our insight into the divineness of history1 and the depth of the meaning of certain events which happened in it1--but not shattering both it and them1 by dissolving their historical truth4 ,meanwhile of the one-sided aspect we can but say that no doubt transcendental spiritualism has a great attractiveness4 ,the ,magian aspiration always was fascinating4 ,individuals1 indeed1 of enthusiastic sympathies1 trained themselves in dogmatic truth1 and indulging their freest speculations always on a background of inveterate dogmatic instinct1 may fancy the 'spiritualized ,christianity' to be in itself a stable and a living completeness2 but as a system1 it will neither produce life nor perpetuate it4 ,it is an attempt to improve upon the ,church of ,christ1 upon the conditions of human nature1 upon the facts of history4 ,the ,church of ,christ is not so4 ,the ,church of ,christ does not ignore the fundamental conditions of human experience4 ,the ,church of ,christ is balanced1 harmonious1 all-embracing1 all-adjusting4 ,the ,incarnation was the sanctifying of both parts of human nature1 not the abolition of either4 ,the ,church1 the ,sacraments1 human nature1 ,jesus ,christ ,himself1 all are twofold2 all are earthly objective1 as well as transcendental spiritual4 ,and so long as this world is real as well as the next2 so long as man is body as well as soul2 so long all attempts to evaporate the body and its realities are foredoomed to a necessary and a salutary failure4 ,the religion1 which attempts to be rid of the bodily side of things spiritual1 sooner or later loses hold of all reality4 ,pure spiritualism1 however noble the aspiration1 however living the energy with which it starts1 always has ended at last1 and will always end1 in evanescence4 #bae ,see especially the concluding paragraphs of letter xix4 #baf ',the question of miracles seems now to be admitted on all hands to be simply a question of evidence4' ,these are the words as much of ,professor ,huxley as of the ,duke of ,argyll4 ,nineteenth ,century1 ,april #ahhg1 p4 #dhc3 cp4 ,feb4 #ahhg1 pp4 #bja1 etc4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,atonement4 ,,arthur ,,lyttelton4 ,i4 ,theological doctrine1 describing1 as it professes to do1 the dealings of an all-wise ,person with the human race1 must be a consistent whole1 each part of which reflects the oneness of the will on which it is based4 ,what we call particular doctrines are in reality only various applications to various human conditions of one great uniform method of ,divine government1 which is the expression in human affairs of one ,divine will4 ,the theological statement of any part of this method ought to bear on its face the marks of the whole from which it is temporarily separated2 for though it may be necessary to make now this1 now that doctrine prominent1 to isolate it and lay stress on it1 this should be done in such a way that in each special truth the whole should1 in a manner1 be contained4 ,we must be able to trace out in each the lines of the ,divine action which is only fully displayed in the whole4 ,neglect of this not only makes our faith as a whole weak and incoherent1 but deprives the doctrines themselves of the illumination and strength which are afforded by the discovery in them of mutual likeness and harmony4 ,they become first unintelligible and then inconceivable1 and the revelation of the character of ,god1 which should be perceived in every part of ,his dealings with men1 becomes confused and dim to us4 ,this has been especially the case with the ,atonement4 ,in the course of religious controversy this doctrine has become separated from the rest1 at one time neglected1 at another over emphasized1 till in its isolation it has been so stated as to be almost incredible4 ,men could not indeed be brought to disbelieve in forgiveness1 however attained1 and the conviction of remission of sins through and in the ,blood of ,christ has survived all the theories which have been framed to account for it2 but nevertheless1 the unreality of these theories has been a disaster to the ,christian faith4 ,some of them have strained our belief in the moral attributes of ,god1 others have given men easy thoughts of sin and its consequences4 ,this has been so because they have treated the ,atonement apart from the whole body of facts which make up the ,christian conception of ,god and ,his dealings with men4 ,in this essay the attempt will be made to present the doctrine in its relation to the other great ,christian truths3 to the doctrines1 that is1 of ,god1 of the ,incarnation1 of sin4 7#a7 ,on the human side the fact with which we have to deal is the fact of sin4 ,of this conception the ,bible1 the most complete record of the religious history of man1 is full from the first page to the last4 ,throughout the whole course of ,jewish development1 the idea that man has offended the justice of ,god was one of the abiding elements in the religious consciousness of the race4 ,but it was by no means confined to the ,jews4 ,they have been truly called the conservators of the idea of sin2 but it has never been permanently absent1 in some form or other1 from the human mind1 although we learn most about it1 and can see it in its clearest1 most intense form1 in the ,hebrew religion4 ,now this conception of sin in its effect on the human soul is of a twofold character4 ,sin is felt to be alienation from ,god1 ,who is the source of life1 and strength1 and peace1 and in consequence of that alienation the whole nature is weakened and corrupted4 ,in this aspect sin is a state in which the will is separated from the ,divine will1 the life is cut off from the life of ,god which ,he designed us to share4 ,when men come to realize what is meant by union with ,god1 and to feel the awful consequences of separation1 there arises at once the longing for a return1 a reconciliation2 but this longing has by itself no power to effect so great a change4 ,to pass from alienation to union is to pass from darkness to light1 from evil to good1 and can only be accomplished by that very power1 the power of a life united to ,god1 which has been forfeited by sin4 ,only in union with ,god can man accomplish anything that is good2 and1 therefore1 so long as he is alienated from ,god1 he can only long for1 he cannot obtain1 his reunion with the ,divine life4 ,sin therefore1 thus considered1 is not only wickedness2 it is also misery and hopelessness4 ,sinners are 'without ,god in the world1' and for that reason they 'have no hope4' ,this is the aspect of sin as a state of the sinful soul1 and as affecting the present relation between man and ,god4 ,it has destroyed the union1 has broken down even the sacrificial bridge1 for it has made all acceptable offerings impossible4 ,man's will is weakened1 therefore he has not strength to offer himself completely and unreservedly to ,god2 his nature is corrupted and stained1 therefore his offering1 could he make it1 could not be accepted4 ,sin is a hopeless state of weakness and uncleanness4 ,but there is another1 in one sense an earlier1 more fundamental aspect of sin4 ,the sins of the past have produced not merely weakness and corruption1 but also guilt4 ,the sinner feels himself guilty before ,god4 ,if we examine the idea of guilt1 as realized by the conscience1 it will be seen to contain the belief in an external power1 or law1 or person against whom the offence has been committed1 and also an internal feeling1 the acknowledgment of ill-desert1 a sense of being under sentence1 and that justly4 ,whether the punishment which is felt to be the due reward of the offence has been borne or not1 the conception of punishment1 when the offence has been committed1 cannot be avoided1 and it brings with it a conviction of its justice4 ,these two elements1 the external and the internal element1 seem to be necessary to the full conception of guilt4 ,the common fallacy that a self-indulgent sinner is no one's enemy but his own would1 were it true1 involve the further inference that such a sinner would not feel himself guilty4 ,but it is precisely because the consciousness of sin does not and cannot stop here that1 over and above any injury to self1 any weakness or even corruption produced by sin1 we speak of its guilt4 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned1 and done that which is evil in ,thy sight4' ,this belief in an external power1 whose condemnation has been incurred by sin1 may take various forms2 for the power may be represented as impersonal or as personal1 as law or as ,god4 ,for our present purposes1 however1 the distinction is immaterial3 the essential point is that it is something external to ourselves1 not merely the echo of the sinner's own self-inflicted pain and injury4 ,we cannot1 however1 limit it to this4 ,for it is not merely an external power1 it is also a just power that is presented to the sense of guilt4 ,before bare power1 unrighteous or non-moral1 an offender may be compelled to submit1 but he will not feel guilt4 ,the state of mind expressed by ,mill's well-known defiance is his who has offended a superior power which he cannot believe to be just1 and it is very far removed from the feeling of guiltiness#bag4 ,the sense of guilt implies the righteousness as well as the power of that against which we have offended2 it is a moral conviction4 ,guiltiness1 then1 regarded in one aspect is the sense of sin1 in another it is the recognition of the law of righteousness1 or1 if we may now assume the religious point of view1 it is the conviction of the wrath of ,god against sin4 ,it is plain1 if we will only scrutinise closely and candidly the conception of sin and guilt1 that no merely 'subjective' explanation will account for the facts revealed by our consciousness4 ,even if we had no scriptural evidence to guide us1 the evidence1 that is1 to take it at the lowest1 of a series of specially qualified witnesses to religious phenomena1 our own hearts would tell us of the wrath of ,god against sin4 ,it is irresistibly felt that there is a ,power hostile to sin1 and that this ,power has decreed a righteous punishment for the offences which are the external signs and results of the sinful state4 ,whatever the punishment may be1 a question we need not now discuss1 the sinner's conscience warns him of it4 ,he may apparently1 or for a time1 escape it2 but it is none the less felt to be the fitting expression of ,divine wrath1 the righteous manifestation of the hostility of ,god's nature to sin and all its consequences4 ,guilt1 then1 like sin1 has its twofold character4 ,it is the belief in an external hostility to sin expressing itself in punishment1 and also the conviction that such punishment is righteous and just4 ,thus1 when once ,god is recognised as the offended ,person1 the acknowledgment of the righteousness of ,his judgment follows4 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned1 and done that which is evil in ,thy sight2 that ,thou mightest be justified when ,thou speakest1 and be clear when ,thou judgest4' 7#b7 ,corresponding to the sense of sin in its twofold aspect we find1 not only in the ,mosaic system or in the scriptural history1 but almost universally established1 the system of sacrifice4 ,it is not necessary to maintain that sacrifice1 in its essential idea1 was intended to express the consciousness of sin4 ,rather1 it seems to be1 essentially1 the expression of the very opposite of sin1 of that relation of man to ,god which sin destroyed#bah4 ,it is sometimes said that sacrifice is the recognition of ,god's sovereignty1 the tribute paid by ,his subjects4 ,this is1 of course1 a necessary element in the conception of sacrifice1 for ,god is our ,king2 but it does not satisfy the whole consciousness which man has of his original relation to ,god4 ,that is a relation1 not of subjection only1 but of union at least as close as that of sons to a ,father1 a union whereby we derive life from ,his life1 and render back absolute unquestioning love to ,him4 ,sacrifice is1 in its highest1 original meaning1 the outward expression of this love4 ,as human love naturally takes outward form in gifts1 and the closer1 the more fervent it is1 makes those gifts more and more personal1 till at last it wholly gives itself2 so sacrifice should be the recognition of our union with ,god1 an expression of our love for ,him1 giving ,him all that we have and all that we are4 ,submission1 reverence1 love are the original feelings which sacrifice was intended to represent2 and it may be called1 therefore1 the expression of man's relations to ,god in their purest form1 unmarred and unbroken by sin4 ,but this is only the original1 ideal meaning1 for with the intrusion of sin another element appears in sacrifice2 and men attempt1 by their offerings1 to expiate their offences1 to cover their sins1 to wipe out their guilt1 to propitiate ,divine wrath4 ,but though this new element is introduced1 the original intention is not altogether lost4 ,the union has been destroyed by sin1 but even in the sin-offerings under the ,law there was expressed the endeavour to regain it1 to enter once more into living relations with ,god3 while the normal sacrifices of the congregation went beyond this1 and represented the exercise of a right based on union with ,god1 the presentation of the people before ,him4 ,thus we must recognise in the ,mosaic sacrifices--the most complete and typical form of the sacrificial idea--the twofold aspect which corresponds to the twofold effect of sin on the human race4 ,there is the offering1 sometimes the bloodless offering1 by which was typified simply man's dependence on ,god1 his submission to ,him1 his life derived from ,him and therefore rendered back to ,him4 ,from this point of view the sacrifice culminated1 not in the slaying and offering of the victim1 but in the sprinkling of the blood1 the 'principle of life1' upon the altar4 ,the priestly mediators brought the blood1 which 'maketh atonement by reason of the life1' before ,god1 and sprinkled it upon the altar1 in order that the lost union with ,god in the covenant might be restored1 and life once more derived from ,god as it had been offered to ,him4 ,the whole system was indeed only partial1 temporary1 external4 ,the ,mosaic sacrifices 'sanctified unto the cleanness of the flesh1' they did not 'cleanse the conscience from dead works to serve the living ,god4' ,so the restoration which the special sin-offerings accomplished was merely external and temporary1 the reunion of the offender with the congregation of ,israel from which his fault had separated him4 ,but as this excommunication symbolised the loss1 brought about by sin1 of life with ,god1 so the reunion with the congregation typified the reunion of the sinner with ,god4 ,as a system1 then1 the ,mosaic sacrifices both corresponded to a deep desire of the human heart1 the desire to recover the lost relation to the ,divine life1 and also by their imperfection pointed forward to a time when1 by means of a more perfect offering1 that restoration should be complete1 accomplished once for all1 and eternal4 ,this is one aspect of the sacrificial system4 ,but before this typical restoration of life1 there came the mysterious act which corresponded to the sense of guilt4 ,leaving aside the lesser offerings of the shew-bread and the incense1 it may be said generally that in every sacrifice the slaying of a victim was a necessary element4 ,and there is deep significance in the manner in which the slaying was performed4 ,the hands of the offerer laid upon the victim's head denoted1 according to the unvarying use of the ,old ,testament1 the representative character of the animal offered1 and thus the victim was1 so to speak1 laden with the guilt of him who sought for pardon and reconciliation4 ,the victim was then slain by the offerer himself1 and the death thus became an acknowledgment of the justice of ,god's punishments for sin3 it was as if the offerer declared1 ',this representative of my guilt ,i here1 by my own act1 doom to death1 in satisfaction of the righteous law of vengeance against sin1 for the soul that sinneth it shall die4' ,it was not1 therefore1 till the sense of personal guilt had been expressed by the act which constituted the victim a representative of the offerer1 and by the slaying which typified the need of expiation by suffering for sin1 that the sacrifice was fit to be presented before ,god by the mediation of the priest1 and the blood1 'the life which had willingly passed through death#bai1' could be sprinkled as a token of restored life in ,god4 ,a careful study of the ,mosaic sacrifices will shew the twofold character impressed upon them4 ,both aspects are necessary1 they may even be described as two sides of the same fact4 ,before ,god can be approached by a sinner he must expiate his sin by suffering1 must perfectly satisfy the demands of the law1 must atone for the past which has loaded him with guilt3 and then1 as part of the same series of acts1 the life so sacrificed1 so purified by the expiatory death1 is accepted by ,god1 and being restored from ,him1 becomes the symbol and the means of union with ,him4 ,forgiveness for the past1 cleansing in the present1 hope for the future1 are thus united in one great symbolic ceremony4 ,the ,mosaic system was only external1 'sanctifying unto the cleanness of the flesh'2 partial1 for it provided no expiation for the graver moral transgressions2 temporary1 for the sacrifices had to be repeated 'day by day'2 provisional1 for 'if there was perfection through the ,levitical priesthood 444 what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of ,melchizedek8' ,in spite1 however1 of these obvious defects and limitations in the ,mosaic system1 there was a constant tendency among the ,jews to rest content with it1 to rely upon the efficacy of these external sacrifices and ceremonies for their whole religion1 to believe that 'the blood of bulls and goats' could 'put away sin1' and that no inner spiritual repentance or renovation was required4 ,and the highest minds of the nation1 represented by the prophets1 were keenly alive to this danger3 their rebukes and remonstrances shew how strongly they felt the imperfection of the sacrificial system1 how it failed to satisfy the really religious cravings of spiritual minds4 ,yet there it was1 divinely ordained1 clearly necessary as the expression of the national religious life1 profoundly significant4 ,it could not be dispensed with1 yet it could not satisfy3 in its incompleteness1 as well as in its symbolism1 it pointed forward1 and foreshadowed a perfect expiation4 7#c7 ,this examination of the sacrificial system of the ,old ,testament is necessary in a discussion of the doctrine of the ,atonement1 for several reasons4 ,the institutions of the ,law were1 in the first place1 ordained by ,god1 and therefore intended to reveal in some degree ,his purposes1 ,his mind towards man4 ,we thus find in them traces of the fuller revelation which came afterwards1 and the two dispensations throw light on each other4 ,then again1 it was from the ,law that the ,jews derived their religious language3 their conceptions of sacrifice1 of atonement1 of the effects of sin1 were moulded by the influence of the ,mosaic ceremonies4 ,for this reason the apostolic doctrine of the ,atonement must be looked at in connection with the ideas inspired by the ,law1 although1 of course1 the life and work of our ,lord so enlarged the religious conceptions of the ,apostles as to constitute a fresh revelation4 ,but it was a revelation on the lines1 so to speak1 of the old2 it took up and continued the ideas implanted by the ,mosaic religion1 and displayed the fulfilment of the earlier promises and forecasts4 ,it is1 therefore1 from the ,old ,testament that we have to learn the vocabulary of the apostolic writings4 ,as the ,messianic hopes and phraseology throw light upon the apostolic conception of the ,kingdom of ,christ1 so the sacrificial ceremonies and language of the ,law throw light upon the apostolic conception of the ,sacrifice1 the ,atonement of ,christ4 ,but this is not all4 ,the ,mosaic institutions1 in their general outlines1 were no arbitrary and artificial symbols1 but corresponded to religious feelings1 needs1 aspirations that may truly be called natural and universal4 ,this conception of sin in its twofold aspect of alienation and of guilt1 and this idea of sacrifice as effecting man's restoration to union with ,god1 and also as expiating his guilt by suffering1 correspond to what the human conscience1 when deeply and sincerely investigated1 declares to be its inmost secret4 ,every man who has once realized sin1 can also realize the feelings of the ,jew who longed to make an expiation for the guilt of the past1 to suffer some loss1 some penalty that would cover his sin1 and who therefore brought his offering before ,god1 made the unconscious victim his representative1 the bearer of his guilt1 and by slaying it strove to make atonement4 ,we feel the same need1 the same longing4 ,this load of guilt has to be laid down somehow3 this past sinfulness must meet with a punishment which will make expiation for it3 before this lost union with ,god can be restored we must be assured of pardon1 must know that the wrath of ,god no longer abides on us1 but has been turned away1 and finds no longer in us the sin which is the one obstacle to the free course of ,divine love4 ,and then we know further that bitter truth which came to the loftiest minds among the ,jews1 that no sacrifice of ours can have atoning value1 for ,god demands the offering of ourselves1 and we are so weakened by sin that we cannot give ourselves up to ,him1 so polluted by sin that we cannot be well-pleasing in ,his eyes4 ,in order to atone1 sacrifice must be no outward ceremony1 the offering of this or that possession1 the fulfilment of this or that externally-imposed ordinance1 but the entire surrender of self to ,god1 and to ,his law1 a surrender dictated from within by the free impulse of the will4 ,therefore1 just as the spiritually-minded ,jew felt the continual discrepancy between the external ceremonies which he was bound to fulfil1 and the complete submission to the will of ,god which they could not effect1 and without which they were wholly inadequate1 so every awakened conscience must feel the fruitlessness of any outward expression of devotion and obedience so long as there is no complete sacrifice of self4 ,these1 then1 seem to be the conditions which must be satisfied before an atonement can meet the needs of the human heart and conscience1 whether these are inferred from an examination of the ,hebrew religious institutions or are gathered from our own knowledge of ourselves and of others4 ,there is1 first of all1 the consciousness of guilt1 of an offended ,god1 of a law transgressed1 of punishment impending1 to expiate which some sacrifice is necessary1 but no sacrifice adequate to which can be offered by us as we are4 ,propitiation is the first demand of the law1 and we cannot1 of ourselves1 propitiate ,him whose anger we have righteously incurred4 ,secondly1 we long for an abiding union with ,him1 and for the full bestowal of the ,divine life which results from that union alone4 ,propitiation is not enough by itself1 though propitiation is the necessary first step in the process of reconciliation4 ,aliens1 by our own sinful acts1 and by the sin of our forefathers1 from the life of ,god1 we yet long to return and to live once more in ,him4 ,but this is equally impossible for us to accomplish of ourselves4 ,by sin we have exiled ourselves1 but we cannot return by mere force of will4 ,both as propitiation1 therefore1 and as reunion1 the ,atonement must come from without and cannot be accomplished by those who themselves have need of it4 ,but there is a third condition1 apparently irreconcileable with the other two4 ,this same consciousness of guilt which demands an expiation demands that it shall be personal1 the satisfaction of the sense of personal responsibility1 and of the unconquerable conviction of our own freedom4 ,the propitiatory sacrifice which is to effect our reunion must1 for we are powerless to offer it1 come from without3 but at the same time we cannot but feel that it must come into contact with the will1 it must be the inward sacrifice1 the freewill offering of the whole nature that has sinned4 ,,ii4 ,if the redemptive work of ,christ satisfies these conditions it is evident that it is not a simple1 but a very complex fact4 ,the fault of many of the theories of the ,atonement has been that1 though none of them failed to be partially true1 they were limited to one or other of the various aspects which that mysterious fact presents4 ,it is certain1 again1 that of this complex fact no adequate explanation can be given4 ,at every stage in the process which is generally summed up in the one word ,atonement we are in presence of forces which issue from infinity and pass out of our sight even while we are contemplating their effects4 ,and even if the ,atonement could be altogether reduced1 so to speak1 to terms of human experience1 it will be shewn that man's forgiveness1 the nearest analogy of which we have any knowledge1 is an experience of which no logical explanation can be given1 which seems to share1 indeed1 something of the mystery of its ,divine antitype4 ,but though it is almost blasphemous to pretend to fathom the depth of the ,atonement1 to lay out the whole truth so as to satisfy the formulae of human reason1 it is necessary so to understand it as to discern its response to the imperative demands of the sense of sin and the desire for forgiveness4 ,whatever the ultimate mysteries of the death of ,christ may be1 it is certain that it has had power to convince men of forgiveness and to give them a new life4 ,it must therefore in some way satisfy the conditions which1 as we have seen1 are laid down by human consciousness and experience4 ,it is under the threefold aspect required by those conditions that the doctrine of the ,atonement will be here presented4 #a4 ,the death of ,christ is1 in the first place1 to be regarded as propitiatory4 ,on the one hand there is man's desire1 natural and almost instinctive1 to make expiation for his guilt3 on the other there is the tremendous fact of the wrath of ,god against sin4 ,the death of ,christ is the expiation for those past sins which have laid the burden of guilt upon the human soul1 and it is also the propitiation of the wrath of ,god4 ,as we have seen1 over against the sense of sin and of liability to the ,divine wrath there has always existed the idea of sacrifice by which that wrath might be averted4 ,man could not offer an acceptable sacrifice3 it has been offered for him by ,christ4 ,that is the simplest1 and it would seem the most scriptural way of stating the central truth1 which is also the deepest mystery1 of the ,atonement1 and it seems to sum up and include the various other metaphors and descriptions of the redemptive work of ,christ4 ,but its mere statement at once suggests questions1 the consideration of which will lead to a fuller understanding of the doctrine4 ,thus we have to ask4 ,what is it which is propitiated by ,christ's death8 ,in other words1 ,what is meant by the wrath of ,god against sin8 7a7 ,it should be remembered that though there is great danger in anthropomorphism1 and though most of the superstition which has ever been the shadow cast by religion on the world has arisen from an exaggerated conception of the likeness of ,god to ourselves1 yet there is1 after all1 no other way of knowing ,god than by representing ,him under conceptions formed by our own consciousness and experience1 and this method is pre-eminently incumbent upon us who believe that man is made 'in the image of ,god4' ,we are certain1 for instance1 that love1 pity1 justice1 are affections which1 however imperfectly they may be found in us1 do make for goodness1 and if we may not ascribe these same affections1 infinitely raised and purified1 to ,god1 we have no means of conceiving ,his character1 of knowing 'with whom we have to deal4' ,our knowledge1 even of ourselves1 is after all fragmentary#bbj1 and thus truths of whose certainty we are convinced may seem irreconcileably opposed to each other4 ,our conception of love1 for example1 is a fragment1 and we cannot trace it up to the meeting-point at which it is reconciled with justice1 so that in our moral judgments we are continually oscillating1 as it were1 between the two4 ,but this fact should not hinder us from ascribing to ,god in their fullest degree both love and justice1 confident that in ,him they are harmonized because we are confident from the verdict of our own consciences that both are good1 and because even in such imperfect reflections of ,his image as1 for instance1 parental love1 we see at least a partial harmony of them4 ,when then a doubt arises as to the literal explanation of the phrase 'the wrath of ,god1' the difficulty must not be met by the simple assertion that we cannot reconcile the idea of wrath with that of the love of ,god3 we must ask whether wrath1 as it exists in us1 is a good and righteous affection1 or whether it is always and entirely evil4 ,to this question there can be but one answer4 ,we are conscious of a righteous anger1 of an affection of displeasure that a good man ought to feel against sin and evil1 and this is amply justified by the scriptural references to righteous anger1 and by the accounts of our ,lord's displays of indignation against evil4 ,but though we are thus compelled to find room1 so to speak1 for anger in our conception of ,god's character1 it is not therefore necessary to ascribe to ,him that disturbance of the spiritual nature1 or that change in the direction of the will1 which are almost invariable accompaniments of human anger4 ,these are the defects of the human affection1 from which arises the sinful tendency in our anger1 and which cannot be thought of in connection with the all-holy and all-wise ,god4 ,on the other hand1 it is not possible to limit the conception of the 'wrath of ,god' to the acts whereby sin is or will be punished1 which was the explanation of some of the ,fathers1 or to think of it as in the future only1 to come into existence only on the day of judgment1 as has been attempted by some modern theologians4 ,the scriptural expressions1 including as we must the passages which speak of our ,lord's anger1 cannot be so weakened4 ',the wrath of ,god' seems to denote no changeful impulse or passing feeling1 but the fixed and necessary hostility of the ,divine ,nature to sin2 and the idea must further include the manifestation of that hostility1 whenever sin comes before ,god1 in external acts of vengeance1 punishment and destruction4 ,god's anger is not only the displeasure of an offended ,person3 it is possible that this is altogether a wrong conception of it3 it must be further the expression of justice1 which not only hates but punishes4 ,the relation of the ,divine ,nature to sin is thus twofold3 it is the personal hostility1 if we may call it so1 of holiness to sin1 and it is also the righteousness which punishes sin because it is lawless4 ,the two ideas are intimately connected1 and not unfrequently1 when we should have expected to find in the ,bible the wrath of ,god spoken of1 the language of judgment and righteousness is substituted for it4 ,sin is necessarily hateful to the holiness of ,god1 but also1 because sin is lawlessness1 it is judged1 condemned1 and punished by ,him in accordance with the immutable law of righteousness1 which is the law of ,his own ,nature4 ,therefore1 to turn from ,god's wrath against sin to the mode in which that wrath may be averted1 it results that the sacrifice offered for sin must be both a propitiation and a satisfaction4 ,anger1 so we think1 is but a feeling1 and may be ousted by another feeling2 love can strive against wrath and overcome it2 the ,divine hatred of sin need raise no obstacle to the free forgiveness of the sinner4 ,so we might think2 but a true ethical insight shews us that this affection of anger1 of hatred1 is in reality the expression of justice1 and derives from the law of righteousness1 which is not above ,god1 nor is it dependent on ,his ,will1 for it is ,himself4 ',he cannot deny ,himself'2 ,he cannot put away ,his wrath1 until the demands of ,law have been satisfied1 until the sacrifice has been offered to expiate1 to cover1 to atone for the sins of the world4 ,the reconciliation to be effected is not merely the reconciliation of man to ,god by the change wrought in man's rebellious nature1 but it is also the propitiation of ,god ,himself1 whose wrath unappeased and whose justice unsatisfied are the barriers thrown across the sinner's path to restoration4 7b7 ,but how1 we ask further1 was this propitiation made by the ,sacrifice on the ,cross8 ,or1 to put the question rather differently1 what was it that gave to the death of ,christ its propitiatory value8 ,in attempting to suggest an answer to this question it is necessary to bear in mind the distinction between the actual event1 or series of events1 which constituted the ,propitiatory ,sacrifice1 and that inner element which was thereby manifested1 and which gave to the actual event its worth4 ,s4 ,bernard expressed the distinction in the well-known words ',not ,his death1 but ,his willing acceptance of death1 was pleasing to ,god1' and there can be no doubt that throughout the ,new ,testament special stress is laid upon the perfect obedience manifested in the life and death of ,christ1 upon the accomplishment of ,his ,father's will which ,he ever kept in view1 and upon the contrast thus marked between the ,mosaic sacrifices and the one atoning offering4 ',sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin ,thou wouldest not1 neither hadst pleasure therein 444 then hath ,he said1 ,lo1 ,i am come to do ,thy will4' ,that the perfect obedience displayed in the passion and death of our ,lord was the element which gave to the sacrifice its propitiatory value will be more readily understood when it is remembered that the essence of man's sin was from the first disobedience1 the rebellion of the human will against the commands of ,god4 ,the perfect sacrifice was offered by ,one ,who1 being man with all man's liability to temptation1 that is with all the instruments of sin at ,his disposal#bba1 and exposed to every suggestion to set up ,his will against that of the ,father1 yet throughout ,his life continued unswervingly bent on doing 'not ,his own will1 but the will of the ,father ,who sent ,him1' and ,who thus displayed the original perfection of human nature1 the unbroken union with the life of ,god4 ,on the cross the final struggle1 the supreme temptation took place4 ,the obedience shewn throughout ,his life was there manifested in death4 ',he became obedient unto death1 even the death of the cross4' ,at any moment of the passion a single acquiescence in evil1 a single submission to the law of unrighteousness1 a single swerving of ,his will from its choice of absolute obedience1 would1 we may believe1 have ended all the shame and torture4 ,and therefore there was needed at every moment a real effort of ,his human will to keep itself in union with the will of ,god#bbb2 it was not a mere submission at the outset once for all1 but a continuous series of voluntary acts of resignation and obedience4 ,here then is the spirit of sacrifice which ,god demands1 and which could not be found in the sacrifices of the ,mosaic law1 or in any offering of sinful man4 ,the essence of the ,atonement was the mind of ,christ therein displayed1 the obedience gradually learnt and therein perfected1 the will of ,christ therein proved to be one with the ,father's will4 ,but we may discern a further element of propitiation in the death of our ,lord4 ,the law of righteousness1 the justice of ,god1 demands not only obedience in the present1 but retribution for the past4 ',the sins done aforetime' had been 'passed over in the forbearance of ,god' for ,his own purposes1 which are not revealed to us3 this 'passing over' had obscured the true nature of sin and of the ,divine justice4 ,men had come to have easy thoughts of sin and its consequences2 the heathen felt but vaguely the burden of guilt1 the ,jew trusted in the mere external works of the law4 ,in the death of ,christ a manifestation was made of the righteousness of ,god1 of ,his wrath1 the absolute hostility of ,his nature to sin4 ',god set ,him forth to be a propitiation1 through faith1 by ,his blood1 to shew ,his righteousness1 because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime1 in the forbearance of ,god4' ,but this manifestation of ,divine justice might have been made by mere punishment3 it became a propitiation1 in that ,he1 the self-chosen victim1 by ,his acceptance of it1 recognised the righteousness of the law which was vindicated on the cross4 ,men had refused to acknowledge ,god's justice in the consequences of sin2 nothing but the willing acceptance of suffering1 as the due portion of the human nature in which the sin was wrought1 could have so declared the justice of ,god's law as to be a propitiation of ,divine wrath4 ,the cross was1 on the one hand1 the proclamation of ,god's ordinance against sin1 on the other it was the response of man at length acknowledging the righteousness of the condemnation#bbc4 ,but on looking more closely into the matter1 it is obvious that these explanations are not by themselves enough to account for the scriptural facts which we call the ,atonement4 ,we cannot ignore that1 whether we consider the ,old ,testament anticipations1 or the ,new ,testament narrative of our ,lord's work1 ,his death1 apart from the obedience manifested in it1 occupies a unique place1 and that stress is laid on it which would be unaccountable were it only the extreme trial of ,his obedience4 ,the frequent declaration that it was necessary1 that 'it behoved ,christ to die1' seems to point to something exceptional in it1 something more than the mere close of ,his spotless life4 ,so again the mysterious dread and horror with which ,he looked forward to it testify to something in it which goes far beyond any human experience of death#bbd4 ,and what we gather from the ,new ,testament must be combined with the ,old ,testament premonitions of ,christ's death1 as typified by the ,mosaic sacrifices4 ,there can be no question that death was1 speaking generally1 an integral part of the idea of sacrifice for sin1 and that the distinguishing ceremonial of the slaying of the victim points to a special significance in death as connected with expiation and propitiation4 ,therefore1 although we may still recognise that it was the spirit of obedience and voluntary submission which gave atoning value to the death of ,christ1 we cannot ignore the necessity of death as the appointed form which the obedience took4 ,had ,he not obeyed1 ,he would not have atoned2 but had ,he not died1 the obedience would have lacked just that element which made it an atonement for sin4 ,the obedience was intended to issue in death4 ,s4 ,bernard's saying1 though true as he meant it1 is1 if taken quite literally1 too sharp an antithesis4 ,there is nothing well-pleasing to ,god in death alone1 it is true2 but there is1 so ,he has revealed it1 something well-pleasing to ,his righteousness1 something propitiatory in death1 if as a further condition the perfect obedience of the victim is thereby displayed4 ,we are driven to the same conclusion by the second explanation of our ,lord's sacrifice given above4 ,it is not enough to say that ,he died in order to manifest ,god's righteous judgment against sin1 for the question remains1 ,why is death the requisite manifestation of judgment8 ,if ,he endured it because it is the only fitting punishment1 why is it in such a signal manner the penalty of sin8 ,we can point indeed to the ,divine principle1 ',the soul that sinneth1 it shall die1' as we can point to ,god's declared will that expiation shall be made by means of death1 but in neither case1 whether death be looked upon as the punishment or as the expiation of sin1 is there any explanation of its unique position4 ,it may well be that here we are confronted by the final mystery1 and that the propitiatory virtue of ,christ's death1 typified by the slaying of animal victims under the law1 foreshadowed by the almost universal belief in the expiation of blood1 acknowledged with wondering gratitude by the human heart1 depends upon the unsearchable will and hidden purposes of ,god1 except in so far as we can see in it the manifestation at once of ,christ's perfect obedience and of the righteousness of ,divine judgment4 ,if an attempt is made to penetrate further into the mystery of ,redemption1 it can be but a speculation1 but it will be saved from overboldness if it follows the general lines of ,god's action as revealed in ,his ,word4 ,some light may be thrown upon the mystery of ,christ's death by considering the scriptural view of death in general as the penalty of sin4 ,it is not the mere physical act of dying1 for that1 as ,s4 ,athanasius says1 is natural to man#bbe1 and can be traced in the animal world in the ages before man existed4 ,besides1 our ,lord is said to have delivered us from death1 and this clearly cannot mean physical death1 since to this all men are still subject1 but rather spiritual death2 and the death which is spoken of as the penalty of sin must therefore also be spiritual4 ,in this sense death can be no other than the final removal from us of ,god's presence1 the completion of the alienation from the ,divine life which sin began4 ,but1 considering the close connection1 throughout the ,bible1 of physical and spiritual death1 may it not be that the former is more than the symbol and type of the latter1 that it is actually its consummation8 ,if1 again1 death be truly represented by the ,christian consciousness as the close of man's probation1 does not this also point to its being the moment when the light of ,god's presence1 the strength of ,his life1 is finally withdrawn from the impenitent sinner1 and the spiritual death1 which is the one essential punishment of sin1 falls upon him8 ,the sentence of death1 then1 under which the whole world lay apart from the ,atonement#bbf1 was the declaration that every man who by inheritance and by his own act shared in ,adam's sin1 should at the moment of physical death experience also the full measure of spiritual death4 ,the common lot of death thus involved the consciousness of separation from the life of ,god1 and when we so regard it1 we can understand something of the horror which its anticipation brought upon the soul of the ,son of ,god#bbg4 ,he must pass through this last and most awful human experience2 not only because it was human1 but because by the victorious endurance of it alone could the propitiation be accomplished4 ,the thought throws light upon the prominence given to the death of ,christ1 upon ,his dread of it1 upon ,his mysterious cry of dereliction upon the cross4 ,it shows us how1 though the experience was common to man1 yet in ,him it was in a twofold manner unique4 ,the withdrawal of ,god's presence1 awful as it is to the sin-hardened nature of man1 must have been immeasurably more bitter to ,him ,who was ,one with the ,father1 whose 'meat was to do the will of ,his ,father4' ,just as we may believe the tortures of the cross to have been specially grievous to the perfect body which was unstained by sin1 though other men have endured them1 so1 though all have to pass through death with its accompanying terror of the loss of ,god's presence1 none can realize what that experience was to ,him1 because ,he was the ,son of ,god4 ,the death of ,christ was therefore unique because of the nature of ,him ,who underwent it4 ,but it was also unique in its results4 ,no other death had been a propitiation for sin1 for in no other death had this overwhelming consciousness of dereliction been endured victoriously1 with no failure of perfect obedience1 no shrinking of the will from the ordained task4 ,in this final experience the offering was complete1 the essence of the propitiation was secured1 for the actual result of all human sin was herein made the very revelation of holiness itself1 the means whereby the union with the will of ,god1 so far from being finally broken1 was finally perfected4 ,the propitiatory value1 therefore1 of the sacrifice of ,christ lay in ,his absolute obedience1 in ,his willing acceptance of suffering which was thereby acknowledged as the due reward of sin1 and in the death which was the essential form of both1 for death is the culminating point of the alienation from ,god1 which is both sin and its punishment4 ,he alone endured it victoriously and without sin2 ,he alone1 therefore1 transformed it from the sign and occasion of ,god's wrath into a well-pleasing offering2 ,he took the punishment and made it a propitiation4 ',the chastisement of our peace was upon ,him2 and with ,his stripes we are healed4' 7c7 ,so far we have considered the sacrifice of ,christ in its aspect ,godwards3 we have tried to find an answer to the question1 ,how did the death of ,christ propitiate the wrath of ,god8 ,there remains the further question1 ,how was it a sacrifice for us8 ,it was1 we can see1 a perfect offering acceptable to ,god3 but how has it availed 'for us men'8 ,the mind shrinks from a purely external ,atonement1 and part of the imperfection of the ,mosaic sacrifices consisted in the merely artificial relation between the offender and the victim4 ,in the perfect sacrifice this relation must be real2 and we are thus led to the truth1 so often overlooked1 but impressed on every page of the ,new ,testament1 that ,he who died for our sins was our true representative in that ,he was truly man4 ,without for the present going into the more mystical doctrine of ,christ as the second ,adam1 the spiritual head of our race1 what is here emphasized is the reality and perfection of ,his human nature1 which gave ,him the right to offer a representative sacrifice#bbh4 ',for verily not of angels doth ,he take hold1 but ,he taketh hold of the seed of ,abraham4 ,wherefore it behoved ,him in all things to be made like unto ,his brethren1 that ,he might be a merciful and faithful ,high ,priest in things pertaining to ,god1 to make propitiation for the sins of the people4' ,being thus 'taken from among men1' ,he was 'appointed for--or1 on behalf of--men' and the justification of ,his ,priesthood is the complete reality of ,his humanity1 which1 if we may so speak1 overlay and hid ,his ,divinity1 so that 'though ,he was a ,son1' unchangeably 'in the form of ,god1' 'yet learnt ,he obedience by the things which ,he suffered1' and thus became for us a perfect ,priest4 ,the sinless perfection of ,christ1 far from removing ,him out of the sphere of our sinful lives1 made ,him perfectly representative2 for ,he not only possessed in their greatest perfection all the powers and capacities which are the instruments of sin1 but in the strength of ,his sinlessness and of ,his love ,he could feel for all men and accept them as ,his brethren1 though they were sinners4 ,our ,high ,priest 'hath been in all points like as we are1 yet without sin4' ,the holiest man has some part of his nature stunted and repressed by sin1 and is so far incomplete1 unrepresentative3 but ,he1 unweakened and unmarred in any point by sin1 can without holding anything back represent human nature in its perfection and entirety4 ,the representative character of ,christ is manifested in a different aspect1 according as ,he is regarded as the victim or as the priest offering the sacrifice4 ,as the victim ,he must be the sin-bearer1 for the transfer of guilt--which under the ,mosaic system was merely symbolised by the act of laying hands on the victim's head--must for a true propitiatory sacrifice be more than external and artificial4 ,that is to say1 there must be a real meaning in ,s4 ,paul's tremendous words1 ',him ,who knew no sin ,he made to be sin on our behalf1' in the passages in which ,he is described as bearing our sins#bbi1 in the great prophecy which told that 'the ,lord hath laid on ,him the iniquity of us all4' ,how can we find an explanation of the paradox so boldly stated by ,s4 ,paul1 that ,he who knew no sin was yet made sin8 ,we may not surely take all these plain phrases to mean that ,he bore the punishment of our sins3 it would have been easy to say that had it been meant4 ,no1 the relation typified by the ,mosaic offerings must be real1 and yet the expression ',he made ,him to be sin' cannot without blasphemy be understood to mean that ,god the ,father actually made ,his ,son to sin4 ,the solution of the difficulty can only be found in the truth of the ,incarnation4 ,in order that the sacrifice might be representative1 ,he took upon ,him the whole of our human nature1 and became flesh1 conditioned though that fleshly nature was throughout by sin#bcj4 ,it was not only in ,his death that we contemplate ,him as the sin-bearer1 but throughout ,his life ,he was1 as it were1 conditioned by the sinfulness of those with whom ,his human nature brought ,him into close and manifold relations4 ,the ,crucifixion does not come as the unexpectedly shameful end of a glorious and untroubled life1 though it was undoubtedly in a special sense the manifestation of the 'curse' under which ,he laid ,himself4 ,we cannot say that at a given moment in ,his life1 as when the sinner's hands were laid upon the victim's head and his guilt was transferred1 ,he began to bear our iniquity1 for the very nature which ,he took1 freed though it was in ,him from hereditary guilt1 was in itself1 by its necessary human relations1 sin-bearing4 ,nor did ,his personal sinlessness make this impossible or unreal2 rather it intensified it4 ,as ,s4 ,matthew tells us1 even in relation to bodily sickness and infirmity1 that ,he bore what ,he took away--',himself took our infirmities1 and bare our diseases'--so it was with our redemption from sin4 ,in taking it away1 ,he had to bear its weight1 intensified by reason of that very self-sacrificing love which made ,him realize with more than human keenness the sinfulness of the human nature into which ,he had come4 ,there is thus nothing artificial or external in ,his sin-bearing1 for ,his human nature was so real and so perfect that ,he was involved1 so to speak1 in all the consequences of the sin which is so tremendous a factor in human life1 even to the enduring of the very sufferings and death which in us are the penal results and final outcome of sin1 but in ,him were the means of ,his free self-sacrifice4 ,once more ,he was our representative as the ,priest who offered the sacrifice4 ,the requisite conditions of such an office are stated1 in the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 to be complete human sympathy1 and yet such separateness from sin1 and from all limitations of incompleteness1 as can only be ,divine4 ',it behoved ,him in all things to be made like unto ,his brethren1 that ,he might be a merciful and faithful high priest2' 'but ,he1 because ,he abideth for ever1 hath ,his priesthood unchangeable 444 for such a high priest became us1 holy1 harmless1 undefiled1 separated from sinners1 and made higher than the heavens2' 'for the law appointeth men high priests1 having infirmity2 but the word of the oath1 which was after the law1 appointeth a ,son1 perfected for evermore#bca4' ,in these and similar passages the doctrine of the ,priesthood of ,christ is developed1 and it is obvious that quite as much stress is laid on ,his unlikeness1 as on ,his likeness to us#bcb4 ,he is our representative as ,priest1 because ,he is both man and more than man1 and can therefore perform for us what we could not and cannot perform for ourselves1 in offering the perfect propitiatory sacrifice4 ,here is the true vicariousness of the ,atonement1 which consisted1 not1 as we shall see later1 in the substitution of ,his punishment for ours1 but in ,his offering the sacrifice which man had neither purity nor power to offer4 ,from out of the very heart and centre of the human nature which was so enslaved and corrupted by sin that no human offering was acceptable to ,god there is raised the sinless sacrifice of perfect humanity by the ,god-,man1 our great ,high ,priest3 human in the completeness of ,his sympathy1 ,divine in the unique power of ,his ,priesthood4 ,so is the condition of the law of righteousness fulfilled1 and the sacrifice of obedience unto death is offered by ,his submission to all that constitutes in sinners the consummation and the punishment of their sin1 which ,he transformed into the occasion and the manifestation of ,his perfect holiness4 ,and it is a representative sacrifice1 for unique though it is1 it consists of no unheard-of experience1 of no merely symbolical ceremony1 unrelated and unmeaning to us2 but of just those universal incidents of suffering which1 though ,he must have felt them with a bitterness unknown to us1 are intensely human--poverty1 misunderstanding1 failure1 treachery1 rejection1 bodily anguish1 spiritual desolation1 death4 ',surely ,he hath borne our griefs1 and carried our sorrows4444 ,the chastisement of our peace was upon ,him1' and therefore 'by ,his stripes we are healed4' #b4 ,it is not enough to consider the death of ,christ only as propitiatory1 or as standing alone in relation to our redemption4 ,we have seen how it secured our propitiation1 and in what sense it has a unique place in relation both to our ,lord ,himself and to man4 ,there remains the further aspect of ,his redemptive work1 in which it is regarded as effecting our reunion with ,god by delivering us from the power of sin1 and by filling us with the ,divine gift of life4 ,this1 it should be noticed1 is the conception of our ,lord's work which was chiefly in the minds of the early ,christian writers1 though in almost all it was combined with the acknowledgment of ,his deliverance of man from guilt and from the wrath of ,god by ,his representative propitiation#bcc4 ,but to their consciousness the power of sin and of the spiritual forces with which man is surrounded was so continually present1 that they were naturally inclined to look mainly at that side of the ,atonement which represents it as the victory over sin and ,satan and the restoration of man to the life of ,god4 ,and this view1 though by no means to the exclusion of the propitiatory aspect1 is amply justified by the ,bible4 ,considered as restoration1 there seem to be three grades or stages of redemption indicated in the ,new ,testament4 ,first1 there is the unanimous declaration that the object of our ,lord's life and death was to free us from sin4 ,in the most sacrificial descriptions of ,his work this further result of the ,atonement is implied4 ,the ',lamb of ,god' is to 'take away the sin of the world'2 ,his ,blood was to be 'shed for the remission of sins'2 by 'the precious ,blood of ,jesus ,christ as of a ,lamb without blemish' men were 'redeemed from their vain conversation'2 ,he 'gave ,himself for us1 that ,he might redeem us from all iniquity4' ,in the next place1 this deliverance from sin is identified with the gift of life1 which is repeatedly connected with our ,lord's life and death4 ',i am come that they might have life'2 for ',i will give ,my flesh for the life of the world4' ',he died for all1 that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves1 but unto ,him who died for them and rose again4' ,he 'bare our sins in ,his own body on the tree1 that we being dead to sins might live unto righteousness4' ,lastly1 this new life is to issue in union with the life of ,god in ,christ4 ',christ suffered for sins1 the just for the unjust1 that ,he might bring us to ,god4' ',in ,christ ,jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the ,blood of ,christ4' ,in such passages the ,apostles are only drawing out the meaning of our ,lord's own declaration1 ',i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4' ,our ,lord's death is thus intimately connected by the ,new ,testament writers with the restoration of man to union with ,god by means of the gift of life2 but it should be noticed that1 unique and necessary as ,his death was1 it is continually spoken of in close connection with the ,resurrection or the ,ascension1 for in these1 as was foreshadowed by the typical ceremonies of the ,law1 the sacrifice culminated by the presentation of the 'life which had willingly passed through death' before the altar of ,god's presence4 ,the reason is clear4 ,pardon for the past1 deliverance from guilt1 propitiation of the just wrath of ,god1 are necessary and all-important2 but they cannot stand alone4 ,they must1 for man is helpless and weak1 be succeeded by the gift of life1 and for this we must look to those mighty acts in which the ,one ,sacrifice reached its full consummation4 ,thus our ,lord ,himself declares that ,he died in order to rise again2 ',i lay down ,my life that in order that ,i may take it again4' ,so to ,s4 ,paul the ,resurrection is the necessary completion of the process which was begun by the death4 ',he was delivered for our offences1 and was raised again for our justification4' ',if while we were enemies1 we were reconciled to ,god through the death of ,his ,son1 much more being reconciled1 shall we be saved through in ,his life4' ',we were buried with ,him through baptism unto death2 that in order that like as ,christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the ,father1 so we also might walk in newness of life4' ,even the passages which speak of our salvation as effected by virtue of ,christ's ,blood1 refer1 according to the ,jewish conception of the 'blood which is the life1' not only1 or even chiefly1 to the bloodshedding in death1 but to the heavenly 'sprinkling' of the principle of life1 its presentation in heaven by means of the ,resurrection and ,ascension4 ,the whole process is described in what may be called the central core of ,s4 ,paul's theology1 the eighth chapter of the ,epistle to the ,romans4 ',it is ,christ ,jesus that died1 yea rather1 that was raised from the dead1 who is at the ,right ,hand of ,god1 who also maketh intercession for us4' ,it has been the fault of much popular theology to think only of our deliverance from wrath by the sacrificial death of ,christ1 and to neglect the infinitely important continuation of the process thus begun4 ,the ,gospel is a religion of life1 the call to a life of union with ,god by means of the grace which flows from the mediation of the risen and ascended ,saviour4 ,we need not discuss the comparative importance of the two aspects of the work of ,atonement1 for propitiation and reunion1 pardon and life are alike necessary elements in salvation1 and by the love of ,god in ,christ are united in the sacrifice which was begun on ,calvary1 and is for ever presented for our redemption before the throne of ,god in heaven4 #c4 ,so far we have been considering the ,atonement as our ,lord's work on behalf of men3 we have now to consider it as meeting the inevitable demand of the human conscience that this vicarious sacrifice shall in some way satisfy man's sense of personal responsibility2 that by means of the ,atonement man shall1 so far as he can1 make amends for his own sin4 ,the charge of injustice1 as it is generally urged against the doctrine of the ,atonement1 rests1 as will be shewn1 upon a fundamental misconception as to the nature of ,christ's work for us2 but it is also commonly assumed that by the death of ,christ all was done for man1 and nothing in man1 so that we are thereby relieved of all responsibility for our own wilful acts4 ,it is this notion that we have now to investigate4 ,first1 however1 we must acknowledge the truth contained in it4 ,the ,atonement is1 after all1 ,god's forgiveness of us in ,christ1 and no forgiveness is conceivable which does not in some degree relieve the offender of the consequences of his offence4 ,human forgiveness1 though it may in some cases1 perhaps1 remit no part of the external penalty due to wrong-doing1 must1 in the very act of forgiving1 put away and abolish the anger of the offended person1 the alienation which the offence has caused1 and which is certainly part1 sometimes the greatest part1 of the penal consequences of an offence4 ,human forgiveness1 therefore1 necessarily transgresses the strict law of retribution3 yet no one can seriously contend that forgiveness is either impossible or immoral4 ,and more than this1 there is even in our imperfect forgiveness a power to blot out guilt1 and to restore the offender to new life4 ,inexplicable though the fact may be1 experience tells us that forgiveness avails to lift the load of guilt that presses upon an offender4 ,a change passes over him that can only be described as regenerative1 life-giving2 and thus the assurance of pardon1 however conveyed1 may be said to obliterate in some degree the consequences of the past#bcd4 ,it is true that this result of forgiveness cannot be explained logically so as to satisfy the reason1 but the possibility and the power of pardon are nevertheless facts of human experience4 ,the ,atonement is undoubtedly a mystery1 but all forgiveness is a mystery4 ,the ,atonement undoubtedly transgresses the strict law of exact retribution1 but all forgiveness transgresses it4 ,and we may believe that human forgiveness is1 in spite of all its imperfection1 like that of ,god1 for this is surely the lesson of the ,lord's ,prayer1 ',forgive us our trespasses1 as we forgive them that trespass against us4' ,experience and conscience1 therefore1 lead us to expect that the ,divine method of forgiveness will both disprove the exaggerated idea of personal responsibility1 which is based on a false estimate of man's power1 and will also transcend reason by rising into a region of mystery and of miracle#bce4 ,we have to deal in this sphere of pardon with a ,god ,who 'declares ,his almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity4' ,one aspect of this mystery is to be found in the truth1 stamped on every page of the ,new ,testament1 of the mystical union between ,christ and ,his people4 ,by virtue of this union ,his acts are ascribed to us2 and thus1 according to ,s4 ,paul1 we died in ,him1 we are raised in ,him1 and the sacrifice which ,he offered1 we have also offered1 as in ,him4 ,the doctrine of the ,second ,adam1 of the spiritual headship of ,christ1 would not indeed if it stood alone satisfy the demands of the conscience2 but when taken in connection with the practical sacramental teaching which is based upon it1 it points to the solution of the problem4 ,by the ,incarnation we are taken up into ,him1 and therefore the acts that in ,his human nature ,he performed are our acts1 by virtue of that union which is described by ,him as the union of a vine with its branches1 by ,s4 ,paul as that of the head with the members of a body4 ,but in considering the results of this union1 the reciprocal communication of the weakness of our bodily nature to ,him1 of ,his victorious deeds in the body to us a distinction must be drawn between that part of ,his work which can1 and that which cannot be shared by us4 ,of one part of ,his work1 of the sacrifice which ,he offered for man's guilt1 the essence was its vicariousness4 ,man could not and never can offer a sacrifice which can avail to propitiate for the sins of the past4 ,it is only in virtue of that one final and perfect propitiation that we can draw nigh to ,god1 can accomplish anything good1 can recognise that we are delivered from wrath4 ,the sins of the past are cancelled1 the guilt is wiped out3 in this respect all was accomplished by ,him for us who are in ,him1 and nothing remains for us to do4 ,he as our ,representative1 because ,he shares our nature1 can offer for us a prevailing sacrifice2 only as ,his brethren1 because ,he has united us to ,him1 are we enabled to plead the sacrifice which ,he offered4 ,it is indeed offered for us1 for it was utterly impossible that we could offer it for ourselves2 it was the necessary initial step1 which man could not take1 towards union with the righteous ,father4 ,as our spiritual head1 the second ,adam1 the captain of our salvation1 ,he had the right of offering on our behalf2 as in ,him by virtue of the ,incarnation we are empowered to claim the infinite blessings of the redemption so obtained#bcf4 ,if this is mysterious1 irrational1 transcendental1 so is all morality2 for at the root of all morality lies the power of self-sacrifice1 which is nothing but the impulse of love to make a vicarious offering for its fellows1 and the virtue of such an offering to restore and to quicken#bcg4 ,the righteousness of ,god required from the human nature which had sinned the sacrifice of a perfect obedience manifested in and through death3 that is the unique and unapproachable mystery of the ,atonement2 but that the sacrifice should be offered by a sinless ,man1 and that we should be accepted by ,god in virtue of ,his propitiation and because of our union with ,him1 that1 though mysterious enough1 as human reason counts mystery1 is prefigured and illustrated and explained by all the deepest experiences of the race1 by all that is most human1 though it most evades logical analysis1 in our moral consciousness#bch4 ,there is then no additional propitiation demanded from us4 ,the ,atonement1 in this aspect1 requires nothing from us1 for the forgiveness is there1 bestowed upon us by ,god in consequence of the sacrifice of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but like the gifts of grace which come after forgiveness1 the forgiveness itself has to be personally accepted by us2 it must be brought into contact with each man's will4 ,so regarded1 the ,atonement1 though the great gift of reconciliation is absolutely free1 the product of the spontaneous love of ,god1 does lay upon us an obligation4 ,on our part faith is demanded that we may realize1 and appropriate1 and associate ourselves with the pardon which is ours in ,christ4 ,this is not the place for a full discussion of justifying faith3 it is enough to indicate what seems to be its relation to the ,atonement1 as being man's share in the propitiatory work of ,christ4 ,it is often said that the faith which justifies is simply trust#bci1 but it must surely be a more complex moral act than this4 ,if faith is the acceptance of ,christ's propitiation1 it must contain1 in the first place1 that longing for reconciliation which springs from the personal consciousness of sin as alienation from ,god1 and from horror of its guilt and power4 ,there must then ensue the recognition of man's complete powerlessness to free himself from sin1 and a deeply humble sense of dependence on ,god's mercy2 but this mere trust in ,his mercy is not enough1 for it would not satisfy the sense of sin4 ,the sinner has to own that ,god is not merely benevolent1 and that sin must be punished4 ,therefore faith must contain the recognition of the justice of the ,divine law against sin1 manifested in the death of ,christ4 ,faith1 in short1 starts from the longing for a representative to atone for us1 and it ends with the recognition of ,christ as our representative1 of ,his ,atonement as sufficient1 and of ,his death as displaying the due reward of sin4 ,for the ,atonement cannot be a mere external act4 ,if ,christ is our representative1 ,he must be acknowledged by those whom ,he represents3 otherwise ,his endurance of suffering would avail nothing for them1 for ,god will not be satisfied with the mere infliction of punishment4 ,but if the result of ,his death is that men are brought1 one by one1 age after age1 to acknowledge the righteousness of the law for which ,he suffered1 to recognise the result of sin to which sin has blinded them1 then there has been made on their part the first step towards the great reconciliation4 ,faith identifies the individual with the sacrifice which has been offered for him1 and therefore with ,christ's attitude towards ,god and towards sin1 and though it is but the first step1 yet it is emphatically that by reason of which we are justified4 ,for since we are thus identified with the sacrifice1 ,god accepts the first step for the whole course1 of which it is the pledge and anticipation4 ,we are justified because we believe in ,god1 but also because ,god believes in us#bdj4 ,faith1 being what it is1 a complex moral act whereby ,christ's propitiation is accepted by man1 implies an attitude of mind towards sin so right that1 though it is but the first movement of the soul in ,christ1 ,god takes it for the whole1 sees us as wholly in ,him1 reckons it to us as righteousness4 ,but only because it is as a matter of fact the first1 the hardest1 perhaps1 and the most necessary1 but still only the first step towards complete sanctification4 ,and1 if we now ask what is the further course of sanctification1 the answer will shew the full relation of the sacrifice of ,christ to man's will and conscience4 ,for the life of sanctification is nothing else but the 'imitation of ,christ' in that task of 'learning obedience' to which ,his life was devoted1 and which ,his death completed4 ,in us1 too1 as in ,him1 that task has to be accomplished by suffering4 ',he learnt obedience by the things which ,he suffered4' ',it became ,him 444 in bringing many sons unto glory1 to make the ,captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings4' ,that same path towards perfection lies before all who are justified by faith in ,his atoning sacrifice4 ,for justification is a spiritual act answering to the spiritual act of faith4 ,the spiritual germ of vitality thus implanted in us has to be developed in the sphere in which the consequences of sin naturally and inevitably work themselves out1 in the bodily nature of man4 ',even we1' says ,s4 ,paul1 'which have the first fruits of the ,spirit1' even we are waiting for the further process1 for 'the adoption1 to wit1 the redemption of our body4' ,and the process consists in so following 'the ,captain of our salvation' that1 like ,him1 we accept every one of those sufferings which are the consequences of sin1 but accept them not as punishment imposed from without upon unwilling offenders1 but as the material of our freewill sacrifice4 ,from no one pang or trial of our nature has ,he delivered us1 indeed1 ,he has rather laid them upon us more unsparingly1 more inevitably4 ,but the sufferings from which ,he would not deliver us ,he has transformed for us4 ,they are no longer penal1 but remedial and penitential4 ,pain has become the chastisement of a ,father who loves us1 and death the passage into ,his very presence4 ,and this ,he has done for us by the bestowal upon us of spiritual vitality4 ,the germ is implanted by the act of forgiveness which removes the wrath and the impending death1 and this germ of life1 cherished and developed by the gifts which flow from ,his mediation and intercession1 by the ,holy ,spirit ,whom ,he sends to dwell in us1 works on all the penalties of sin1 and makes them the sacrifice which we offer in ,him4 ,this is the 'law of the ,spirit of life4' ',if ,christ be in you1 the body is dead because of sin2 but the ,spirit is life because of righteousness4 ,but if the ,spirit of ,him that raised up ,jesus from the dead dwell in you1 ,he that raised up ,christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by ,his ,spirit that dwelleth in you4' ,our personal share then in the ,atonement is not mere passivity4 ,it consists1 first1 in the acceptance of ,god's forgiveness in ,christ1 our self-identification with ,christ's atoning attitude1 and then in working out1 by the power of the life bestowed upon us1 all the consequences of forgiveness1 the transformation of punishment into sacrifice1 the imitation of ,christ in ,his perfect obedience to the law of righteousness1 the gradual sanctification of body1 soul and spirit by the grace which enables us to 'suffer with ,him4' ,,iii4 ,the doctrine of ,atonement1 more than any of the great truths of ,christianity1 has been misconceived and misrepresented1 and has therefore not only been rejected itself1 but has sometimes been the cause of the rejection of the whole ,christian system4 ,the truth of the vicarious sacrifice has been isolated till it has almost become untrue1 and1 mysterious as it undoubtedly is1 it has been so stated as to be not only mysterious1 but contrary to reason and even to conscience4 ,one most terrible misconception it is hardly necessary to do more than mention4 ,the truth of the wrath of ,god against sin and of the love of ,christ by which that wrath was removed1 has been perverted into a belief in a divergence of will between ,god the ,father and ,god the ,son1 as if it was the ,father's will that sinners should perish1 the ,son's will that they should be saved2 as if the ,atonement consisted in the propitiation of the wrathful ,god by the substituted punishment of the innocent for the guilty4 ,it will be seen that while this statement seems to represent the ,catholic doctrine1 in reality it introduces a most vital difference4 ,there can be no divergence of will between the ,persons of the ,blessed ,trinity2 and1 in regard to this special dealing with man1 we have the clearest testimony of ,revelation that the whole ,godhead shared in the work4 ,here1 as always1 ,god the ,father is revealed as the source and origin of all good4 ',god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish1 but have everlasting life4' ',god was in ,christ reconciling the world to ,himself4' ,the beginning and the end of the ,atonement is the love of ,god3 the death of ,christ was not the cause1 but the revelation of that love#bda4 ,that it was the second ,person of the ,trinity who was actually the means of our redemption may be ascribed to that original relation of the ,logos to the human race1 by which ,he was both its ,creator and its perfect exemplar#bdb4 ,but nothing can be further from the truth than to imagine that ,his was all the love which saved us1 the ,father's all the wrath which condemned us4 ,if the death of ,christ was necessary to propitiate the wrath of the ,father1 it was necessary to propitiate ,his own wrath also2 if it manifested ,his love1 it manifested the ,father's love also4 ,the absolute1 unbroken1 unity of will between the ,father and the ,son is the secret of the atoning sacrifice4 ,again1 the isolation of the truth of the ,atonement from other parts of ,christian doctrine has led to a mode of stating it which deprives us of all motive to action1 of all responsibility for our own salvation4 ,just as the misconception noticed above arose from a failure to grasp the whole truth of our ,lord's ,divinity1 so this error springs from ignoring ,his perfect ,humanity4 ,christ is regarded as having no vital or real relation to us1 and ,his work is therefore wholly external1 a mere gift from above4 ,but what has already been said will shew that from the first the ,atonement has been taught as the offering of our spiritual ,head1 in ,whom we are redeemed1 and whose example we are able to follow as having ,him in us4 ,salvation is thus given to us indeed1 but it is given to us because we are in ,christ1 and we have to work out our share in it because of the responsibility1 the call to sacrifice which that union with ,him lays upon us4 ',work out your own salvation with fear and trembling1 for it is ,god which worketh in you both to will and to do4' ,it is all from ,god and of ,god2 but ,god has come into our life1 and taken us up into ,him1 and called upon us to follow ,him in the way of the cross4 ,and this leads us to consider another error1 or rather another form of the same error4 ,nothing is more common than to hear the doctrine of ,atonement stated as if the work of ,christ consisted in ,his endurance of our punishment in order that we might not endure it4 ,this view of the doctrine leads to the objections--perhaps the commonest of all the difficulties found in what men take for ,christianity--that the punishment of the innocent instead of the guilty is unjust1 and that punishment cannot be borne by anyone but the sinner4 ,we have seen that the real vicariousness of our ,lord's work lay in the offering of the perfect sacrifice3 the theory we are now considering holds1 on the contrary1 that it lay in the substitution of ,his punishment for ours4 ,a partial truth is contained in this theory2 for our ,lord did endure sufferings1 and1 as has been already said1 they were the very sufferings which are1 in sinners1 the penalties of sin4 ,but as a simple matter of fact and experience1 the sufferings and the pains of death which ,he endured have not been remitted to us2 and that which is remitted1 the eternal penalty of alienation from ,god1 was not1 could not be endured by ,him4 ,for alienation from ,god is1 essentially1 a state of sin2 it is sin1 regarded both in its origin and in its necessary result4 ,it could not1 therefore1 be borne by ,christ1 'in ,whom was no sin1' between ,whom and the ,father was no alienation4 ,attempts have been made to establish a quantitative relation between our ,lord's sufferings and the punishment which is thereby remitted to us1 to prove that the eternal nature of the ,sufferer made ,his death equivalent to eternal punishment4 ,but even if such attempts1 in so mysterious a region1 could succeed1 it would be vain to establish a quantitative equivalence where there is no qualitative relation4 ,eternal punishment is 'eternal sin#bdc1' and as such could never be endured by the sinless ,son of ,god4 ,but we have to face the question which naturally follows4 ,what1 then1 did ,his sufferings and death mean8 ,why did ,he endure what are to us the temporal penalties1 the diverse consequences of sin8 ,and if ,he endured them1 why are they not remitted to us8 ,it is true1 as has been shewn1 that ,he bore just those sufferings which are the results and penalties of sin1 even to that tremendous final experience in which man loses sight of ,god as he enters the valley of the shadow of death2 but ,he bore them1 not that we might be freed from them1 for we have deserved them1 but that we might be enabled to bear them1 as ,he did1 victoriously and in unbroken union with ,god4 ,he1 the ,innocent1 suffered1 but the guilty do not 'go free2' for the very end and object of all the obedience that ,he learnt was1 that ,he might lead man along the same path of suffering1 not 'free1' but gladly submissive to the pains1 which1 but for ,him1 would be the overwhelming penalties of our sins4 ,it may be true that 'punishment cannot be borne by anyone but the sinner#bdd1' and therefore it may be right not to call ,christ's sufferings punishment1 especially as the expression is significantly avoided in the ,new ,testament4 ,but it is certainly not true that the sufferings which result from sin cannot be borne by anyone but the sinner3 every day demonstrates the falsity of such an assertion4 ,sufferings borne in the wrong spirit1 unsubmissively or without recognition of their justice1 are penal2 but the spirit of humility and obedience makes them remedial and purgatorial4 ,christ1 by so bearing the pains which sin brought upon human nature1 and which the special sin of ,his enemies heaped upon ,him1 has not only offered the one perfect sacrifice1 but has also given us strength to make the same submission1 to learn the same obedience and to share the same sacrifice4 ,,iv4 ,there are many topics connected with the ,atonement which it is impossible here to discuss1 but which seem to fall into their right place and proportion if those aspects of ,christ's redeeming work which have been dwelt upon are kept firmly in mind4 ,the central mystery of the cross1 the forgiveness1 the removal of wrath1 thereby freely bestowed upon us1 remains a mystery1 and must always be an insuperable difficulty to those who depend wholly on reason1 or who trust wholly in man's power to extricate himself from the destruction wrought by his sin1 as it was an offence to the ,jew1 and foolishness to the ,greek4 ,but mystery though it is to the intellect1 there is a moral fitness#bde in the bestowal of forgiveness because of the obedience of ,christ shewn in ,his sacrificial death1 which appeals irresistibly to the moral consciousness of mankind4 ,the witness of this is the trustful gratitude with which the doctrine of ,christ crucified has been accepted by ,christians1 learned and unlearned1 from the age of its first preaching4 ,the human heart accepts it1 and by the cross is assured of forgiveness3 'to them which are called' it is ',christ the power of ,god1 and the wisdom of ,god4' ,but if we may appeal to experience in support of this mysterious truth1 much more may we claim the same support for the plainer1 more human aspect of the ,atonement4 ,as ,s4 ,athanasius in his day#bdf1 so we in ours may appeal for the practical and visible proof of the ,atonement1 to the complete change in man's relation to sorrow and suffering1 and in the ,christian view of death#bdg4 ,this is no small matter4 ,when we realize what suffering is in human life1 the vast place which it has in our experience1 its power of absorbing the mind1 its culmination in the final pangs of death1 and when we see the transformation1 however gradual and imperfect it may be1 of all this into the means and material of the sacrifice which the follower of ,christ is gladly willing to offer to the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 we realize the full force of the great words telling of the destruction 'through death of him that had the power of death1 that is the devil1' and of the deliverance of 'them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage4' ,and the transformation1 the destruction1 the deliverance1 consist in this that from these sufferings ,his sacrifice has removed the element of rebellion1 the hopelessness of alienation1 the sting of sin4 ,they are ours1 because they were ,his2 but they are ours as they were ,his1 purified and perfected by obedience1 by the offering of a holy ,will2 'by the which ,will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of ,jesus ,christ once for all4' #bag ,mill1 ,examination of ,sir ,w4 ,hamilton's ,philosophy1 p4 #ajc4 ',i will call no being good1 who is not what ,i mean when ,i apply that epithet to my fellow-creatures2 and if such a being can sentence me to hell for not so calling him1 to hell ,i will go4' #bah ,cf4 ,holland1 ,logic and ,life1 pp4 #ajg1 #ajh4 #bai ,milligan1 ,the ,resurrection1 p4 #bgh4 #bbj ,cf4 ,mozley1 ,university ,sermons1 p4 #agg 7#bnd ed473 ',justice is a fragment1 mercy is a fragment1 mediation is a fragment2 justice1 mercy1 mediation as a reason of mercy--all three2 what indeed are they but great vistas and openings into an invisible world in which is the point of view which brings them all together8' #bba ,cf4 ,ch4 ,quarterly ,review1 xvi4 p4 #bhi on ',our ,lord's ,human ,example4' ',christ1 of course1 had every faculty of human nature1 everything that man sins with1 and therefore every instrument or faculty of sin4' #bbb ,in the last two sentences a slight change has been made in consequence of a criticism which showed that it was possible to misunderstand the language originally employed1 which however was intended to convey precisely the same meaning1 and which could be amply justified by such a passage as e4g4 ,s4 ,anselm1 ,cur ,deus ,homo1 ii4 #aj1 ',possumus igitur dicere de ,christo quia potuit mentiri1 si subaudiatur1 si vellet4' ,cf4 also ,boetius c4 ,eutychen et ,nestorium1 c4 viii4 7,opuscula ,sacra1 ed4 ,peiper1 pp4 #bad ff47 #bbc ,cf4 ,m,leod ,campbell1 ,the ,nature of the ,atonement1 pp4 #aag1 #aah1 #aai1 #abg1 #cdg3 ',that oneness of mind with the ,father1 which towards man took the form of condemnation of sin1 would in the ,son's dealing with the ,father in relation to our sins1 take the form of a perfect confession of our sins4 ,this confession1 as to its own nature1 must have been a perfect ,amen in humanity to the judgment of ,god on the sin of man4' ',in ,christ tasting death as the wages of sin 444 was a perfecting of the ,divine response in humanity to the ,divine condemnation of sin4' #bbd ,see ,dale1 ,atonement1 pp4 #di ff42 ,schmidt in ,herzog's ,real4 ,encykl4 xvi4 #djc4 #bbe ,de ,incarn4 ,verbi #d1 ',man is by nature mortal4' ,s4 ,athanasius held1 however1 that this 'natural corruption' would have been suspended1 but for the ,fall1 by the help of the ,logos empowering man to live the ,divine life4 ,see on the whole subject1 ,the ,christian ,doctrine of ,sin1 ,app4 ii4 p4 #ecf4 #bbf ,it should be remembered that the ,church has always regarded the ,atonement as having a retrospective effect1 extending back to the first representatives of the human race4 #bbg ,cf4 ,schmidt in ,herzog's ,real4 ,encykl41 ,art4 ,versnung1 vol4 xvi4 p4 #djc4 #bbh ,irenaeus is full of this thought1 though it is not disentangled from other explanations of the death of ,christ4 ,cf4 especially ,v4 xxiii4 #b3 ',recapitulans enim universum hominem in se ab initio usque ad finem1 recapitulatus et mortem ejus4' ,cf4 also ,athanasius1 de ,incarn4 ,verbi #i1 in which he suggests that it was the ,divine power of the ,logos in the bodily nature of ,christ that made ,his sacrifice representative1 as well as ,his death victorious over death4 #bbi ,see especially ,heb4 ix4 #bh1 which is an echo of the ,,lxx4 of ,is4 liii4 #ab4 #bcj ,athan4 c4 ,ar4 i4 #dc3 ',he put on the flesh which was enslaved to sin4' ,cf4 also ,augustine1 de ,musica ,,vi4 iv3 ',hominem sine peccato1 non sine peccatoris conditione suscepit4 ,nam et nasci humanitus1 et pati et mori voluit4' ,i owe this reference to ,norris1 ,rudiments of ,theology1 p4 #fa n4 #bca ,heb4 ii4 #ag2 vii4 #bd1 #bf1 #bh3 cf4 ix4 #ac1 #ad1 #bd1 #be1 #bf2 x4 #aa1 #ab1 #ac1 #ad4 #bcb ,cf4 ,athan4 c4 ,ar4 ii4 #fi3 ',he sends ,his own ,son1 and ,he becomes ,son of ,man1 by taking created flesh2 that1 since all were under sentence of death1 ,he1 being other than them all1 might ,himself for all offer to death ,his own body4' #bcc ,the two aspects of the ,atonement are frequently presented by ,s4 ,athanasius1 de ,incarn4 ,verbi4 ,thus 7ch4 #aj7 ',by the sacrifice of ,his own ,body ,he both put an end to the law which was against us1 and gave us a fresh beginning of life1 in that ,he bestowed on us the hope of resurrection4' ,cf4 also chs4 #h and #i4 ,again 7ch4 #be71 ',as ,he offered ,his ,body unto death for all2 so by it ,he again threw open the way to heaven4' #bcd ,cf4 ,westcott1 ,historic ,faith1 p4 #acc4 #bce ,cf4 ,magee1 ,the ,gospel and the ,age1 pp4 #bgj ff4 ,bishop ,magee1 however1 seems to exaggerate the certainty and relentlessness of the temporal punishment of sin 7cf4 against this ,dale1 ,the ,atonement1 ,lect4 viii7 and to overlook the force of the analogy from human experience of forgiveness4 #bcf ,cf4 ,ath4 c4 ,ar4 iii4 #cd4 ',as the ,lord in putting on the body1 became ,man1 so we men are made gods by the ,word1 being taken into ,him through ,his ,flesh1 and from henceforth inherit life eternal4' #bcg ,for this thought fully drawn out1 see ,holland1 ,creed and ,character1 pp4 #bab ff4 #bch ,on the truth of the solidarity of all men in ,christ1 see ,westcott1 ,the ,victory of the ,cross1 pp4 #f-ec4 #bci ,see e4g4 ,moule1 ,outlines of ,christian ,doctrine1 p4 #ahe4 #bdj ,cf4 ,aug4 de ,trin4 i4 #aj3 ',tales nos amat ,deus1 quales futuri sumus1 non quales sumus4' #bda ,this is well stated by ,m,leod ,campbell1 l4 c4 p4 #af4 #bdb ,cf4 ,athan4 de ,inc4 passim1 esp4 chs4 #bj and #db4 ,hooker1 ,eccles4 ,pol4 ,v4 li4 #c1 ',it seemeth a thing unconsonant that the world should honour any other as the ,saviour but ,him ,whom it honoureth as the ,creator of the world4' #bdc ,cf4 the true reading of ,s4 ,mark iii4 #bi1 ,r4,v4 #bdd ,w4 ,r4 ,greg4 #bde ,it should be noticed that the ,greek ,fathers and the ,english divines for the most part confine themselves to shewing this moral fitness and consonance with ,god's moral nature in the ,atonement1 and do not attempt to prove its absolute necessity4 ,cf4 ,athanasius1 de ,incarn4 ,verbi1 ch4 #f2 ,hooker1 ,eccles4 ,pol4 ,v4 li4 #c2 ,butler1 ,analogy1 pt4 ii4 c4 #e4 #bdf ,cf4 ,de ,incarn4 ,verbi1 chs4 #bg1 #bh1 #bi4 #bdg ,cf4 ,carlyle's apostrophe to ,marie ,antoinette on her way to the scaffold3 ',think of ,him ,whom thou worshippest1 the ,crucified1--,who also treading the winepress alone1 fronted sorrow still deeper2 and triumphed over it1 and made it ,holy1 and built of it a ,sanctuary of ,sorrow for thee and all the wretched4' ,miscellaneous ,essays1 vol4 v4 p4 #afe 7ed4 #ahgb74 ,,viii4 ,,the ,,holy ,,spirit ,,and ,,inspiration4 ,,charles ,,gore4 ,i4 ,the appeal to 'experience' in religion1 whether personal or general1 brings before the mind so many associations of ungoverned enthusiasm and untrustworthy fanaticism1 that it does not easily commend itself to those of us who are most concerned to be reasonable4 ,and yet1 in one form1 or another1 it is an essential part of the appeal which ,christianity makes on its own behalf since the day when ,jesus ,christ met the question ',art thou ,he that should come1 or do we look for another8' by pointing to the transforming effect of ,his work2 ',the blind receive their sight1 and the lame walk2 the lepers are cleansed1 and the deaf hear2 the dead are raised up1 and the poor have the ,gospel preached to them4' ,the fact is that in current appeals to experience the fault1 where there is a fault1 lies not in the appeal but in the nature of the experience appealed to4 ,what is meant by the term is often an excited state of feeling1 rather than a permanent transformation of the whole moral1 intellectual1 and physical being of man4 ,or it is something which seems individual and eccentric1 or something confined to a particular class of persons under special conditions of education or of ignorance1 or something which other religions besides ,christianity have been conspicuous for producing4 ,when a meaning broad and full1 and at the same time exact enough1 has been given to experience the appeal is essential to ,christianity1 because ,christianity professes to be not a mere record of the past1 but a present life1 and there is no life where there is no experience4 ,it will be worth while1 then1 to bear in mind how freely the original defenders of the ,christian ,church appealed1 like their ,master1 to facts of experience4 ,thus we find an individual1 like ,s4 ,cyprian1 recalling the time of his baptism1 and the personal experience of illumination and power which it brought with it3-- ',such were my frequent musings3 for whereas ,i was encumbered with the many sins of my past life1 which it seemed impossible to be rid of1 so ,i had used myself to give way to my clinging infirmities1 and1 from despair of better things1 to humour the evils of my heart1 as slaves born in my house1 and my proper offspring4 ,but after that life-giving water succoured me1 washing away the stain of former years1 and pouring into my cleansed and hallowed breast the light which comes from heaven1 after that ,i drank in the ,heavenly ,spirit1 and was created into a new man by a second birth1--then marvellously what before was doubtful became plain to me1 what was hidden was revealed1 what was dark began to shine1 what was before difficult1 now had a way and a means1 what had seemed impossible1 now could be achieved1 what was in me of the guilty flesh1 now confessed that it was earthy1 what was quickened in me by the ,holy ,ghost1 now had a growth according to ,god#bdh4 ,again1 we find an apologist like ,s4 ,athanasius1 resting the stress of his argument on behalf of ,christ upon what ,he has done in the world1 and specially on the spiritual force ,he exercises on masses of men1 'drawing them to religion1 persuading them to virtue1 teaching them immortality1 leading them to the desire of heavenly things1 revealing the knowledge of the ,father1 inspiring power over death1 shewing each man to himself1 abolishing the godlessness of idolatry#bdi4' ,the ,fathers of the ,christian ,church appealed in this way to experience1 because ,christianity1 as they knew1 is essentially not a past event1 but a present life1 a life first manifested in ,christ and then perpetuated in ,his ,church4 ,christianity is a manifested life1--a thing1 therefore1 like all other forms of life1 known not in itself but in its effects1 its fruits1 its results4 ,christianity is a manifested life1 and it is this because it is the sphere in which the ,spirit1 the ,life-giver1 finds ,his freest and most unhindered activity4 ,the ,christian ,church is the scene of the intensest1 the most vigorous1 the richest1 the most 'abundant' life that the universe knows1 because in a preeminent sense it is the ',spirit-bearing body4' ,the ,spirit is life2 that is ,his chief characteristic4 ,we may indeed elucidate the idea of spirit by negations2 by negation of materiality1 of circumscription1 of limitation2 but the positive conception we are to attach to spirit is the conception of life2 and where life is most penetrating1 profound1 invincible1 rational1 conscious of ,god1 there in fullest freedom of operation is the ,holy ,spirit#bej4 ,thus1 obviously enough1 the doctrine of the ,spirit is no remote or esoteric thing2 it is no mere ultimate object of the rapt contemplation of the mystic2 it is the doctrine of that wherein ,god touches man most nearly1 most familiarly1 in common life4 ,last in the eternal order of the ,divine ,being1 'proceeding from the ,father and the ,son1' the ,holy ,spirit is the first point of contact with ,god in the order of human experience#bea4 ',i believe in the ,holy ,ghost1 the giver of life4' ,all life is ,his operation4 ',wherever the ,holy ,spirit is1 there is also life2 and wherever life is1 there is also the ,holy ,spirit#beb4' ,thus if creation takes its rise in the will of the ,father1 if it finds its law in the being of the ,word or ,son1 yet the effective instrument of creation1 the 'finger of ,god1' the moving principle of vitalization is the ,holy ,spirit1 'the divider and distributor of the gifts of life#bec4' ,nature is one great body1 and there is breath in the body2 but this breath is not self-originated life1 it is the influence of the ,divine ,spirit4 ',by the word of the ,lord were the heavens made1 and all the host of them by the breath of ,his mouth4' ,the ,spirit1 the breath of ,god1 was brooding upon the face of the waters of chaos ere life and order were4 ,it is the sending forth of the breath of ,god1 which is the giving to things of the gift of life2 it is the withdrawal of that breath which is their annihilation#bed4 ,so keenly indeed were the ,christians of the early period conscious of the one life of nature as the universal evidence of the one ,spirit1 that it was a point of the charge against ,origen that his language seemed to involve an exclusion of the ,holy ,spirit from nature1 and a limitation of ,his activity to the ,church#bee4 ,the whole of life is certainly ,his4 ,and yet1 because ,his special attribute is holiness1 it is in rational natures1 which alone are capable of holiness1 that ,he exerts ,his special influence4 ,a special in-breathing of the ,divine ,spirit gave to man his proper being#bef4 ,in humanity1 made after the ,divine ,image1 it was the original intention of ,god that the ,spirit should find ,his chiefest joy1 building the edifice of a social life in which nature was to find its crown and justification3 a life of conscious and free sonship1 in which the gifts of ,god should be not only received1 but recognised as ,his1 and consciously used in willing and glad homage to the ,divine ,giver1 in reverent execution of the law of development impressed by the ,divine ,reason1 in the realized fellowship of the ,blessed ,spirit of knowledge and love4 ,the history of humanity has in fact been a development1 but a development the continuity of which is most apparent in that department in which man appears simply as the child of nature1 the most perfect and interesting of her products1 consciously adapting himself to his environment and moulded by it4 ,this indeed has been so much the case that the facts of the history of civilization have been used1 at least plausibly1 as an argument against our race really possessing moral freedom at all4 ,such a use of the facts is1 we recognise1 not justifiable4 ,it leaves out of consideration some of the most striking elements in human history1 and some of the most certain facts of human consciousness4 ,but the very plausibleness of the argument is suggestive4 ,it means that comparatively very few men have been at pains to realize their true freedom2 that men in masses have been dominated by the mere forces of nature2 or1 in other words1 that human history presents broadly the record of a one-sided1 a distorted development4 ,for man was not meant for merely natural evolution1 mere self-adaptation to the 'things that are seen4' ,the consciousness that he was meant for something higher has tinged his most brilliant physical successes1 his greatest triumphs of civilization and art1 with the bitterness of remorse1 the misery of conscious lawlessness4 ,our race was created for conscious fellowship with ,god1 for sonship1 for the life of spirit4 ,and it is just in this department that its failure has been most conspicuous4 ,it is here that the ,divine ,spirit has found ,his chiefest disappointment4 ,everywhere ,he has found rebellion--not everywhere without exception1 for 'in every age entering into holy souls1 ,he has made them sons of ,god and prophets'3 but everywhere in such a general sense that sin in fact and in its consequences covers the whole region of humanity4 ,in the highest department of created life1 where alone lawlessness was possible1 because what was asked for was the co-operation of free service to carry out a freely accepted ideal#beg1--there alone is the record of lawlessness1 the record of the ,spirit striving with man1 but resisted1 rejected1 ignored1 quenched4 ,thus the word1 which in fact most forcibly characterizes man's spiritual history1 so far as it has been according to the mind of ,god1 is not progress1 but recovery1 or redemption4 ,it is not natural but supernatural--supernatural1 that is1 in view of the false nature which man made for himself by excluding ,god4 ,otherwise the work of redemption is only the reconstitution of the nature which ,god designed4 ,it is the recovery within the limits of a chosen race and by a deliberate process of limitation1 of a state of things which had been intended to be universal#beh4 ,the 'elect' represent not the special purpose of ,god for a few1 but the universal purpose which under the circumstances can only be realized through a few4 ,the hedging in of the few1 the drawing of the lines so close1 the method of exclusion again and again renewed all down the history of redemption1 represents the love of the ,divine ,spirit ever baffled in the mass1 preserving the truth of ,god in a 'remnant1' an elect body2 who themselves escaping the corruption which is in the world1 become in their turn a fresh centre from which the restorative influence can flow out upon mankind4 ,rejected in the world1 ,he secures for ,himself a sphere of operations in the ,jews1 isolating ,abraham1 giving the law for a hedge1 keeping alive in the nation the sense of its vocation by the inspiration of prophets4 ,again and again baffled in the body of the ,jewish nation1 ,he falls back upon the faithful remnant1 and keeps alive in them that prospective sonship which was meant to be the vocation of the whole nation3 sometimes in narrower1 sometimes in broader channels1 the purpose of love moves on till the ,spirit finds in the ,son of ,man1 the ,anointed ,one1 the perfect realization of the destiny of man1 the manhood in which ,he can freely and fully work3 ',he came down upon the ,son of ,god1 made son of man1 accustoming ,himself in ,his case to dwell in the human race1 and to repose in man1 and to dwell in ,god's creatures1 working out in them the will of the ,father1 and recovering them from their old nature into the newness of ,christ#bei4' ,in ,christ humanity is perfect1 because in ,him it retains no part of that false independence which1 in all its manifold forms1 is the secret of sin4 ,in ,christ humanity is perfect and complete1 in ungrudging and unimpaired obedience to the movement of the ,divine ,spirit1 ,whose creation it was1 ,whose organ it gave itself to be4 ,the ,spirit anoints ,him2 the ,spirit drives ,him into the wilderness2 the ,spirit gives ,him the law of ,his mission2 in the power of the ,spirit ,he works ,his miracles2 in the ,holy ,spirit ,he lifts up the voice of human thankfulness to the ,divine ,father2 in the ,spirit ,he offers ,himself without spot to ,god2 in the power of the ,spirit ,he is raised from the dead#bfj4 ,all that perfect human life had been a life of obedience1 of progressive obedience1 a gradual learning in each stage of experience what obedience meant#bfa2 it had been a life of obedience which became propitiatory as it bore loyally1 submissively1 lovingly1 all the heritage of pain and misery in which sin in its long history had involved our manhood1 all the agony of that insult and rejection in which sin revealed itself by antagonism to ,him--bore it1 and by bearing it turned it into the material of ,his accepted sacrifice4 ,he was obedient unto death4 ,and because ,he thus made our human nature the organ of a life of perfect obedience1 therefore ,he can go on to make that same humanity1 freed from all the limitations of this lower world and glorified in the ,spirit at the right hand of ,god1 at once the organ of ,divine supremacy over the universe of created things1 and 7itself become quickening ,spirit#bfb7 the fount to all the sons of obedience and faith of its own life4 ,christ is the second ,adam1 who having 'recapitulated the long development of humanity into ,himself#bfc1' taken it up into ,himself1 that is1 and healed its wounds and fructified its barrenness1 gives it a fresh start by a new birth from ,him4 ,the ,spirit coming forth at ,pentecost out of ,his uplifted manhood1 as from a glorious fountain of new life#bfd1 perpetuates all its richness1 its power1 its fulness in the organized society which ,he prepared and built for the ,spirit's habitation4 ,the ,church1 ,his ,spirit-bearing body1 comes forth into the world1 not as the exclusive sphere of the ,spirit's operations1 for 'that breath bloweth where it listeth#bfe2' but as the special and covenanted sphere of ,his regular and uniform operation1 the place where ,he is pledged to dwell and to work2 the centre marked out and hedged in1 whence ever and again proceeds forth anew the work of human recovery2 the home where1 in spite of sin and imperfection1 is ever kept alive the picture of what the ,christian life is1 that is1 of what common human life is meant to be and can become4 ,of the work of the ,holy ,spirit in the ,church we may note four characteristics4 #a4 ,it is social4 ,it treats man as a 'social being1' who cannot realize himself in isolation4 ,for no other reason than because grace is the restoration of nature#bff1 the true1 the redeemed humanity1 is presented to us as a society or ,church4 ,this is apparent with reference to either of the gifts which summarize the essence of the ,church's life1 grace1 or truth4 ,sacraments are the ordained instruments of grace1 and sacraments are in one of their aspects social ceremonies--of incorporation1 or restoration1 or bestowal of authority1 or fraternal sharing of the bread of life4 ,they presuppose a social organization4 ,those who have attempted to explain why there should be in the ,church an apostolic succession of ministers1 have seen the grounds of such appointment in the necessity for preserving in a catholic society1 which lacks the natural links of race or language or common habitation1 a visible and obligatory bond of association#bfg4 ,the same fact appears in reference to the truth1 the knowledge of ,god and of the true nature and needs of man1 which constitutes one main part of the ,christian life4 ,that too is no mere individual illumination4 ,it is 'a rule of faith1' an 'apostolic tradition1' 'a pattern of sound words1' embodied in ,holy ,scripture and perpetuated in a teaching ,church1 within the scope of which each individual is to be brought to have his mind and conscience fashioned by it1 normally from earliest years4 ,it would be going beyond the province of this essay to stop to prove that from the beginnings of the ,christian life1 a man was understood to become a ,christian and receive the benefits of redemption1 by no other means than incorporation into the ,christian society4 #b4 ,but none the less on account of this social method the ,spirit nourishes individuality4 ,the very idea of the ,spirit's gift is that of an intenser life4 ,intenser life is more individualized life1 for our life becomes richer and fuller only by the intensification of personality and character4 ,thus ,christianity has always trusted to strongly marked character as the means by which religion is propagated4 ,it does not advance as an abstract doctrine1 but by the subtle1 penetrating influences of personality4 ,it is the illuminated man who becomes a centre of illumination4 ',as clear transparent bodies if a ray of light fall on them become radiant themselves and diffuse their splendour all around1 so souls illuminated by the indwelling ,spirit are rendered spiritual themselves and impart their grace to others#bfh4' ,thus1 from the first1 ,christianity has tended to intensify individual life in a thousand ways1 and has gloried in the varieties of disposition and character which the full life of the ,spirit develops4 ,the ,church expects to see the same variety of life in herself as she witnesses in ,nature4 ',one and the same rain1' says ,s4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem to his catechumens1 'comes down upon all the world1 yet it becomes white in the lily1 and red in the rose1 and purple in the violets and pansies1 and different and various in all the several kinds2 it is one thing in the palm tree and another in the vine1 and all in all things4 ,in itself1 indeed1 it is uniform and changes not1 but by adapting itself to the nature of each thing that receives it1 it becomes what is appropriate to each4 ,thus also the ,holy ,ghost1 one and uniform and undivided in ,himself1 distributes ,his grace to every man as ,he wills4 ,he employs the tongue of one man for wisdom2 the soul of another ,he enlightens by prophecy2 to another ,he gives power to drive away devils2 to another ,he gives to interpret the ,divine ,scriptures2 ,he invigorates one man's self-command2 ,he teaches another the way to give alms3 another ,he teaches to fast and train himself2 another ,he trains for martyrdom2 diverse to different men1 yet not diverse from ,himself#bfi4' ,nor was this belief in the differences of the ,spirit's work a mere abstract theory4 ,in fact the ,church life of the early centuries did present an aspect of great variety3 not only in the dispositions of individuals1 for that will always be observable where human nature is allowed to subsist1 but in the types of life and thought cultivated in different parts of the ,church4 ,early in the life of ,christianity did something like the ,roman type of ,catholicism shew itself1 but it shewed itself as one among several types of ecclesiasticism1 easily distinguishable from what ,alexandria or ,africa or ,antioch nourished and produced4 ,and what is true in the life of religion as a whole is true in the department of the intellect4 ,here again the authority of the collective society1 the 'rule of faith1' is meant to nourish and quicken1 not to crush1 individuality4 ,each individual ,christian owes the profoundest deference to the common tradition4 ,thus to 'keep the traditions' is at all times1 and not least in ,scripture1 a common ,christian exhortation4 ,but this common tradition is not meant to be a merely external law4 ,it is meant to pass by the ordinary processes of education into the individual consciousness1 and there1 because it represents truth1 to impart freedom4 ,thus ,s4 ,paul speaks of the developed ,christian1 'the man who is spiritual1' as 'judging all things and himself judged of none4' ,and ,s4 ,john makes the ground of ,christian certainty to lie not in an external authority1 but in a personal gift3 'ye have an unction from the ,holy ,one and ye know all things2' 'ye need not that any one teach you#bgj4' ,there is then an individual 'inspiration#bga1' as well as an inspiration of the whole body1 only this inspiration is not barely individual or separatist4 ,as it proceeds out of the society1 so it ends in it4 ,it ends by making each person more individualized1 more developed in personal characteristics1 but for that very reason more conscious of his own incompleteness1 more ready to recognise himself as only one member of the perfect ,manhood4 ,the idea of authority is in fact a perfectly simple one4 ,it never received better expression than by ,plato when he describes it as the function of the society by a carefully regulated education to implant right instincts1 right affections and antipathies1 in the growing mind of the child1 at a time when he cannot know the reason of things3 in order that as the mind develops it may recognise the right reason of things by a certain inner kinship1 and welcome truth as a friend#bgb4 ,authority1 according to such a view of it1 is a necessary schooling of the individual temperament4 ,thus1 we are told that in the judgment of the philosopher ,hegel1 ',the basis of sound education was 444 the submission of the mind to an external lesson1 which must be learnt by every one1 and even learnt by rote1 with utter disregard of individual tastes and desires2 only out of this self-abnegation1 and submission to be guided and taught1 could any originality spring which was worth preserving#bgc4' ,in fact1 we all recognise the necessity for such external discipline in all departments4 ,few people like good art1 for instance1 at first4 ,probably they are attracted by what is weak but arrests attention by obvious and superficial merits4 ,the standards which artistic authority has erected1 the accepted canons of good taste and judgment1 do not commend themselves at first as right or natural4 ,but modest and well-disposed people take it for granted at starting that the orthodox judgment will turn out to be right2 and they set themselves to school to learn why the artists and poets of great name are great1 till their own judgment becomes enlightened1 and they understand what at first they took on trust4 ,it was the instinctive perception of this function of authority which made the ,church insist so much on the principle 'credo ut intelligam4' ,the ,creed represents the catholic judgment1 the highest knowledge of ,god and the spiritual life granted to man by the ,divine ,revelation4 ,let a man put himself to school in the ,church with reverence and godly fear1 and his own judgment will become enlightened4 ,he will come to say with ,s4 ,anselm1 ',i give thee thanks1 good ,lord2 because what first ,i believed by ,thy gift1 ,i now understand by ,thy illumination#bgd4' ,such an idea of authority leaves much for the individual to do4 ,it is the reaction of the individual on the society which is to keep the common tradition pure and unnarrowed4 ,the ,church has in ,holy ,scripture the highest expression of the mind of ,christ4 ,the familiarity of all its members with this flawless and catholic image is to ward off in each generation that tendency to deteriorate and to become materialised which belongs to all 'traditions4' ,the individual illumination is thus to react as a purifying force upon the common mind of the ,christian society4 ,the individual ,christian is to pay the debt of his education1 by himself 'testing all things and holding fast that which is good4' ,specially gifted individuals from time to time will be needed to effect more or less sudden 'reversions to type1' to the undying type of apostolic teaching#bge4 ,but such a true reformer is quite distinct in idea from the heretic4 ,he reforms2 he does not innovate4 ,his note is to restore2 not to reject4 ,and the absence of necessity for fundamental rejection comes from this simple fact1 that the ,christian ,creed is rational and true4 ,if any man comes to us and says that he has studied and assimilated the ,christian ,creed with all the care and reverence in his ability1 and has rejected it because he finds it irrational and false1 we cannot complain of him#bgf4 ,we cannot ask him to accept it though he thinks it false4 ,we do not at all complain of his having inquired and thought freely--only we venture to assure him1 with a confidence which can hardly fail to be irritating1 because it is confident1 that he is mistaken1 that he has thought not only freely1 but erroneously4 ,when ,christianity adopts1 as in the modern ,romanist system1 a different tone1 proscribing free inquiry as 'rationalistic1' and making the appeal to antiquity1 in order to test the present teaching of the ,church1 a 'treason and a heresy#bgg1' it is abjuring its own rational heritage1 and adopting a method which ,charles ,kingsley had good reason to call ,manichaean4 ,it is the test of the ,church's legitimate tenure that she can encourage free inquiry into her title-deeds4 #c4 ,thirdly1 the ,spirit claims for ,his own1 and consecrates the whole of nature4 ,one ,spirit was the original author of all that is2 and all that exists is in its essence very good4 ,it is only sin which has produced the appearance of antagonism between the ,divine operation and human freedom1 or between the spiritual and the material4 ,thus the humanity of ,christ1 which is the ,spirit's perfect work1 exhibits in its perfection how every faculty of human nature1 spiritual and physical1 is enriched and vitalized1 not annihilated1 by the closest conceivable interaction of the ,divine ,energy4 ,this principle1 as carried out in the ,church1 occupies a prominent place in the earliest theology2 in part because ,montanism1 with its pagan idea of inspiration1 as an ecstasy which deprived its subject of reason1 gave the ,church an opportunity of emphasizing that the fullest action of the ,spirit1 in the case of her inspired men1 intensified and did not supersede their own thought1 judgment1 and individuality2 still more because ,gnostic dualism1 turning every antithesis of nature and grace1 of spirit and flesh1 of natural and supernatural1 into an antagonism1 forced upon the ,church the assertion of her own true and comprehensive ,creed4 ,that everything in ,christianity is realized 'in flesh as in spirit' is the constantly reiterated cry of ,s4 ,ignatius1 who of all men was most 'spiritual4' ,that the spiritual is not the immaterial1 that we become spiritual not by any change or curtailment of nature1 not by any depreciation or ignoring of the body1 is the constantly asserted principle of ,s4 ,irenaeus#bgh4 ,and the earliest writers in general emphasize the visible organization of the ,church1 and the institution of external sacraments1 as negations of the false principle which would sunder nature from ,god1 and repudiate the unity of the material and the spiritual which the ,word had been made ,flesh in order to reveal and to perpetuate4 #d4 ,but the unity of the spirit and the flesh1 of faith and experience1 of ,god and the world1 is certainly not an accomplished fact4 ,on the contrary1 dualism is always making appeals which strike home to our present experience4 ,thus if the ,church was to maintain the unity of all things1 it could only be by laying great stress upon the ravages which sin had wrought1 and upon the gradualness of the ,spirit's method in recovery4 ,the ,old ,testament1 for example1 presented a most unspiritual appearance4 ,its material sacrifices1 its low standard of morals1 its worldliness1 were constantly being objected to by the ,gnostic and ,manichaean sects1 who could not tolerate the ,old ,testament canon4 ',but you are ignoring1' the ,church replied1 'the gradualness of the ,spirit's method4' ,he lifts man by little and little1 ,he condescends to man's infirmity3 ,he puts up with him as he is1 if only ,he can at the last bring him back to ,god4 ,it is of the essence of the ,new ,testament1 as the religion of the ,incarnation1 to be final and catholic3 on the other hand1 it is of the essence of the ,old ,testament to be imperfect because it represents a gradual process of education by which man was lifted out of depths of sin and ignorance4 ,that this is the case1 and that in consequence the justification of the ,old ,testament method lies not in itself at any particular stage1 but in its result taken as a whole1 is a thought very familiar to modern ,christians#bgi4 ,but it is important to make plain that it was a thought equally familiar to the ,fathers of the ,christian ,church4 ,thus ,s4 ,gregory of ,nazianzus1 speaking of ,god's dealings with the ,jews of old1 describes how1 in order to gain the co-operation of man's good will in working for his recovery1 ,he dealt 'after the manner of a schoolmaster or a physician1 and while curtailing part of their ancestral customs1 tolerated the rest1 making some concession to their tastes1 just as physicians make their medicines palatable that they may be taken by their patients4 ,for men do not easily abandon what long custom has consecrated4 ,thus the first law1 while it abolished their idols1 tolerated their sacrifices2 the second1 while it abolished their sacrifices1 allowed them to be circumcised3 then when once they had accepted the removal of what was taken from them1 they went further and gave up what had been conceded to them--in the first case their sacrifices1 in the second their practice of circumcision--and they became instead of heathens1 ,jews1 instead of ,jews1 ,christians1 being betrayed as it were by gradual changes into acceptance of the ,gospel#bhj4' ,again1 ,s4 ,chrysostom explains how it is the very merit of the ,old ,testament that it has taught us to think things intolerable1 which under it were tolerated4 ',do not ask1' he says1 'how these 7,old ,testament precepts7 can be good1 now when the need for them is past3 ask how they were good when the period required them4 ,or rather1 if you wish1 do inquire into their merit even now4 ,it is still conspicuous1 and lies in nothing so much as what now enables us to find fault with them4 ,their highest praise is that we now see them to be defective4 ,if they had not trained us well1 so that we became susceptible of higher things1 we should not have now seen their deficiency4' ,then he shews how under the old law swearing by the true ,god was allowed to avoid swearing by idols1 the worse ill4 ',but is not swearing at all of the evil one8' he asks4 ',undoubtedly1 now1 after this long course of training1 but then not4 ,and how can the same thing be good at one time and bad at another8 ,i ask rather1 how should it not be so1 when we have regard to the plain teaching of the fact of growth in all things1 fruits of the earth or acquirements of man8 ,look at man's own nature2 the food1 the occupations which suit his infancy1 are repulsive to his manhood4 ,or consider facts of history4 ,all agree that murder is an invention of ,satan1 yet this very act at a suitable time made ,phineas to be honoured with the high priesthood4 ,phineas' murder was reckoned to him for righteousness4 ,just in the same way ,abraham obtained an even higher honour for being not a murderer only but what was much worse1 a child-murderer4 ,we must not then look at the facts in themselves only1 but investigate with attention the period also1 the cause1 the motive1 the difference of persons1 and all the attendant circumstances3 so only can one get at the truth#bha4' ,once more ,s4 ,basil3 ',surely it is absolutely infantile and worthy of a child who must be really fed on milk1 to be ignorant of the great mystery of our salvation--that just as we received our earliest instruction1 so1 in exercising unto godliness and going on unto perfection1 we were first trained by lessons easy to apprehend and suited to our intelligence4 ,he ,who regulates our lives deals with us as those who have been reared in darkness1 and gradually accustoms our eyes to the light of truth4 ,for ,he spares our weakness1 and in the depth of the riches of ,his wisdom and the unsearchable judgments of ,his understanding adopts this gentle treatment1 so well adapted to our needs1 accustoming us first to see the shadow of objects1 and to look at the sun's reflection in water1 so that we may not be suddenly blinded by the exposure to the pure light4 ,by parity of reasoning1 the law being a shadow of things to come1 and the typical teaching of the prophets1 which is the truth darkly1 have been devised as exercises for the eyes of the heart1 inasmuch as it will be easy for us to pass from these to wisdom hidden in mystery#bhb4' ,in the same spirit was the ,church's answer to the difficulties which facts of personal experience were constantly putting in the way of her claims4 ,churchmen were frequently seen to be vulgar1 ignorant1 imperfect1 sinful4 ,if1 in spite of manifold evils existing within her1 the ,church could still appeal to her fruits1 it must be by comparison with what was to be found elsewhere1 or by taking in a large area for comparison1 or by appealing to her special grounds of hope4 ,in fact1 what she represented was a hope1 not a realization2 a tendency1 not a result2 a life in process1 not a ripened fruit4 ,but then she claimed that this was ,god's way4 ',he loves us not as we are1 but as we are becoming#bhc4' ,let but a man once lay hold of the life-giving principle of faith1 and ,god sets a value on him1 life has a promise for him1 altogether out of proportion to present attainments4 ,for ,god estimates him1 in view of all the forces of a new life which are set loose to work upon him1 and he can assure himself that the movement of recovery which he has begun to feel stirring within him will carry him on through eternal ages1 beyond what he can ask or think4 ,it is because of this gradualness of the ,spirit's method that it lays so great a strain on human patience4 ,the spiritually-minded of all ages have tended to find the visible ,church a very troubled and imperfect home4 ,most startling disclosures of the actual state of ecclesiastical disorder and moral collapse1 may be gathered out of the ,christian ,fathers4 ,thus to found a 'pure ,church' has been the instinct of impatient zeal since ,tertullian's day4 ,but the instinct has to be restrained1 the visible ,church has to be borne with1 because it is the ,spirit's purpose to provide a home for the training and improvement of the imperfect4 ',let both grow together unto the harvest4' ',a bruised reed will ,he not break1 and smoking flax will ,he not quench4' ,the ,church must have her terms of communion1 moral and intellectual3 this is essential to keep her fundamental principles intact1 and to prevent her betraying her secret springs of strength and recovery4 ,but short of this necessity she is tolerant4 ,it is her note to be tolerant1 morally and theologically4 ,she is the mother1 not the magistrate4 ,no doubt her balanced duty is one difficult to fulfil4 ,at times she has been puritanical1 at others morally lax2 at times doctrinally lax1 at others rigid4 ,but however well or ill she has fulfilled the obligations laid on her1 this is her ideal4 ,she is the guardian1 the depository of a great gift1 a mighty presence1 which in its essence is unchanging and perfect1 but is realized very imperfectly in her experience and manifested life4 ,this is what ,s4 ,thomas ,aquinas means when he says 'that to believe in the ,church is only possible if we mean by it to believe in the ,spirit vivifying the ,church#bhd4' ,the true self of the ,church is the ,holy ,spirit1 but a great deal in the ,church at any date does not belong to her true self1 and is obscuring the ,spirit's mind4 ,thus the treasure is in earthen vessels1 it is sometimes a light hid under a bushel2 and the ,church is the probation of faith1 as well as its encouragement4 ,it will not be out of place to conclude this review of the ,spirit's method in the ,church by calling attention to the emphasis which1 from the first1 ,christians laid upon the fact that the animating principle both of their individual lives and of their society as a whole1 was nothing less than the ,holy ,spirit ,himself4 ,to know ,him was 7as against all the philosophical schools1 and in a sense in which the same could not be said even of the ,divine ,word7 their peculiar privilege1 to possess ,him their summary characteristic4 ,under the old covenant1 and in all the various avenues of approach to the ,church1 men could be the subjects of the ,spirit's guidance and could be receiving gifts from ,him2 but the 'initiated' ,christian1 baptized and confirmed1 possessed not merely ,his gifts but ,himself4 ,he is in the ,church1 as the ',vicar of ,christ1' in ,whose presence ,christ ,himself is with them4 ,he is the consecrator of every sacrament1 and the substance of ,his own sacramental gifts4 ,the services of ordained men indeed are required for the administration of sacraments1 but as ministers simply of a ,power higher than themselves1 of a ,personal ,spirit ,who indeed is invoked by their ministry1 and pledges ,himself to respond to their invocations1 but never subjects ,himself to their power4 ,therefore the unworthiness of the minister diminishes in no way the efficacy of the sacrament1 or the reality of the gift given1 because the ministry of men neither creates the gift nor adds to or diminishes its force4 ,he is the giver of the gift1 and the gift ,he gives is the same to all4 ,only the meagreness of human faith and love restrains the largeness of ,his bounty and conditions the ,thing received by the narrowness and variability of the faculty which receives it4 ,according to our faith is it done to us1 and where there is no faith and no love there the grace is equally1 in ,s4 ,augustine's phrase1 present and profitless#bhe4 ,,ii4 ,in something of this way the early ,christian writers--and it has seemed better to let them speak for us--teach the doctrine of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,what they teach is grounded in part on actual experience1 in part on the revelation of the being and action of ,god made once for all in the ,person of ,jesus ,christ and recorded in the ,new ,testament4 ,on this mingled basis of experience and ,holy ,scripture they passed back from the doctrine of the ,holy ,spirit as ,he is operative in the world1 to the ,theology of ,his ,person4 ,they passed back but slowly1 with great hesitation1 even unwillingness4 ,nothing1 we may say1 was further removed from the ,fathers than the easy-going assumption that because we are the subjects of a revelation1 therefore we are able to speculate with tolerably complete information about the mysteries which lie beyond experience4 ,the truth that 'we know in part1' we see 'in a glass darkly1' was profoundly impressed upon their minds4 ,god manifested ,himself1 ,s4 ,gregory of ,nazianzus tells1 in such a way as to escape the nets of our syllogisms1 and to shew ,himself superior to our logical distinctions4 ,if we expect to find our logic equal to express ,him1 we shew only our mad presumption1 'we who are not able even to know what lies at our feet1 or to count the waves of the sea1 or the drops of rain1 or the days of the world1 much less to fathom the depths of ,god1 and give account of ,his nature which transcends alike our reason and our power of expression#bhf4' ,besides this1 the early theologians realized the obligation of keeping to ,holy ,scripture--of not being wise 'above that which is written'--and they were conscious of the danger of building on isolated texts of ,scripture or of treating its 'simple and untechnical' language as if it was the language of a formal treatise#bhg4 ,for these reasons they were cautious in theological speculation4 ,yet the facts and relationships introduced into the world of experience by the revelation of the ,son represent eternal realities1 if under great limitations yet still truly1 and thus make possible a real security up to a certain point on what lies beyond the unassisted human knowledge4 ,thus1 first1 when the ,arian movement passed from the denial of the true ,godhead of ,christ to a similar position with reference to the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,christian ,church felt itself fully justified alike by its past traditions#bhh1 and by its ,scriptures1 in emphasizing the personal distinctness and the true ,godhead of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,unless all ,christ's language was an illusion1 the ,holy ,spirit was really personal and really distinct from ,himself and the ,father2 nor could ,one who was associated with the ,father and the ,son in all the essentially ,divine operations of nature and grace1 be less than truly and really ,god1 an essential element in the ,eternal ,being4 ,the ,arian controversy in its earlier stages had disposed of the notion that ,christian theology could at any cost admit the conception of a created personality1 clothed with ,divine attributes and exercising ,divine functions4 ,secondly1 the consideration that the relations manifested in the ,incarnation in terms of our experience between the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost1 express transcendent and eternal relations1 led the ,church to speak of the ,holy ,ghost as proceeding from the ,father1 as the unique fount of ,godhead1 through the ,son3 or in somewhat less nicely discriminated language 'from the ,father and the ,son#bhi4' ,in the fifth century there is a tendency to use in the ,east the former1 in the ,west the latter mode of expression1 but without any essential difference4 ,nor can it be said that the causes which were at work later to divide the ,eastern and the ,western ,churches on the subject of the procession of the ,holy ,ghost1 were so much really theological as ecclesiastical and political4 ,thirdly1 the accurate consideration of the language in which is expressed the relation of ,christ to the ,holy ,spirit1 helped the ,church to guard the doctrine of the ,trinity from the associations of ,tritheism4 ,for the coming of the ,holy ,spirit is clearly spoken of in ,holy ,scripture as coincident with and involving the coming of ,christ4 ',while we are illuminated by the ,holy ,spirit1 it is ,christ who illuminates us3 when we drink in the ,spirit1 it is ,christ we drink4' ,the ,spirit is distinct from ,christ--'another ,paraclete'--yet in ,his coming1 ,christ comes3 in ,his indwelling is the indwelling of the ,father and the ,son#bij4 ,how can this be8 ,because the ',persons' of the ,holy ,trinity are not to be thought of as distinct individuals1 as three ,gods4 ,no doubt in our ordinary language1 persons are understood to be separate1 and mutually exclusive beings4 ,even in regard to ourselves deeper reflection shews us that our personalities are very far from being as separate as they appear to be on the surface3 and with regard to ,god1 it was only with an expressed apology for the imperfection of human language that the ,church spoke of the ,divine ,three1 as ,three ,persons at all4 ,but 'we have no celestial language1' and the word is the only one which will express what ,christ's language implies about ,himself1 the ,father1 and the ,spirit4 ,only while we use it1 it must be understood to express mutual inclusion1 not mutual exclusion4 ,wherever the ,father works1 ,he works essentially and inevitably through the ,son and the ,spirit2 whenever the ,son acts1 ,he acts from the ,father by the ,holy ,spirit2 whenever the ,holy ,spirit comes1 ,he brings with ,him in ,his coming the ,son and the ,father4 ,thus when an image was necessary to interpret in part the ,divine relationships1 the ,fathers sought it nowhere so much as in the three distinct yet inseparable elements of man's spiritual nature2 the triune character of which ,plato had already brought into notice1 and which is in fact an earthly image1 however inadequate1 of the ,triune ,god#bia4 ,,iii4 ,hitherto nothing has been said about that part of the ,holy ,spirit's work which is called the inspiration of ,scripture4 ,it has been kept to the last because of the great importance of putting it in context with less familiar truths4 ,the ,scriptures have1 it is a commonplace to say1 suffered greatly from being isolated4 ,this is as true whether we are considering them as a source of evidence or as the sphere of inspiration4 ,as a source of evidence they contain the record of historical facts with some of which at any rate the ,creed of ,christendom is inseparably interwoven4 ,thus it is impossible for ,christians who know what they are about1 to depreciate the importance of the historical evidence for those facts at least of which the ,creed contains a summary4 ,but the tendency with books of historical evidence has been1 at least till recently1 to exaggerate the extent to which the mere evidence of remote facts can compel belief4 ,what we should make of the ,new ,testament record1 what estimate we should be able to form of the ,person of ,jesus ,christ and the meaning of ,his life and work1 if it was contained simply in some old manuscripts1 or unearthed in some way by antiquaries out of the ,syrian sand1 it is impossible to say4 ,in order to have grounds for believing the facts1 in order to be susceptible of their evidence1 we require an antecedent state of conception and expectation4 ,a whole set of presuppositions about ,god1 about the slavery of sin1 about the reasonableness of redemption1 must be present with us4 ,so only can the facts presented to us in the ,gospel come to us as credible things1 or as parts of an intelligible universe1 correlated elements in a rational whole4 ,now the work of the ,spirit in the ,church has been to keep alive and real these presuppositions1 this frame of mind4 ,he convinces of sin1 of righteousness1 of judgment4 ,he does this not merely in isolated individuals however numerous1 but in an organized continuous society4 ,the spiritual life of the ,church assures me that in desiring union with ,god1 in feeling the burden of sin1 in hungering for redemption1 ,i am not doing an eccentric1 abnormal thing4 ,i am doing only what belongs to the best and richest movement of humanity4 ,more than this1 it assures me that assent to the claims and promises of ,jesus ,christ satisfies these spiritual needs in such a way as to produce the strongest1 the most lasting1 the most catholic sort of human character4 ,the historical life of the ,church thus in every age 'setting to its seal' that ,god's offer in ,christ is true1 reproduces the original 'witness1' commends it to conscience and reason1 spans the gulf of the ages1 and brings down remote and alien incidents into close and intelligible familiarity4 ,lotze speaks of revelation as 'either contained in some divine act of historic occurrence1 or continually repeated in men's hearts#bib4' ,but in fact the antithesis is not an alternative4 ,the strength of the ,christian ,creed is that it is both4 ,it is a revelation continuously renewed in men's hearts by an organized and systematic operation of the ,spirit in the ,church1 while at the same time it finds its guarantee and security in certain ,divine acts of historic occurrence4 ,once more1 the belief in the ,holy ,scriptures as inspired requires to be held in context by the belief in the general action of the ,holy ,spirit upon the ,christian society and the individual soul4 ,it is1 we may perhaps say1 becoming more and more difficult to believe in the ,bible without believing in the ,church4 ,the ,apostles1 indeed1--and the ,new ,testament canon consists largely of the words of ,apostles--have an authority which1 reasonably considered1 is unique1 and stands by itself as that of the accredited witnesses of ,christ2 but when we find them appealing to members of the ,church1 they appeal not as the possessors of an absolute authority or of a ,spirit in which others do not share4 ,they are the ministers of a 'tradition' to which they themselves are subject1 a tradition 'once for all delivered#bic3' they appeal to those who hear them as men 'who have an unction from the ,holy ,one and know all things4' ,the tone in fact of the apostolic writers forces us to regard the spirit in which the ,church lives1 as co-operating with1 and in a real sense limiting1 the spirit in which they themselves speak and write4 ,thus in fact the apostolic writings were written as occasion required1 within the ,church1 and for the ,church4 ,they presuppose membership in it and familiarity with its tradition4 ,they are secondary1 not primary1 instructors2 for edification1 not for initiation4 ,nor1 in fact1 can a hard and fast line be drawn between what lies within and what lies without the canon4 ,for example1 ,protestantism of an unecclesiastical sort has built upon the ,epistle to the ,hebrews as much as upon any book of the ,new ,testament4 ,this book is of unknown authorship4 ,if ',pauline' it is pretty certainty not ,s4 ,paul's4 ,in large part it is the judgment of the ,church which enables us to draw a line between it and ,s4 ,clement's 'scripture4' ,the line indeed our own judgment approves4 ,the ,epistle to the ,hebrews and ,s4 ,clement's letter are closely linked together1 but the latter depends on the former3 it is secondary and the other is primary4 ,yet how narrow is the historical interval between them4 ,how impossible to tear the one from the other4 ,how seemingly irrational to attribute absolute authority to the anonymous ,epistle to the ,hebrews which represents apostolic teaching at second hand#bid1 and then to interpret it in a sense hostile to the ,epistle of ,clement1 which represents exactly the same stream of apostolic teaching only one short stage lower down4 ,for ,clement interprets the high priesthood of ,christ in a sense which1 instead of excluding1 makes it the basis of1 the ministerial hierarchy of the ,church4 ,or to put the matter more broadly1 how irrational it is1 considering the intimate links by which the ,new ,testament canon is bound up with the historic ,church1 not to accept the mind of the ,church1 especially when we have its consent down independent lines of tradition1 as interpreting the mind of the apostolic writers4 ,most rational surely is the attitude of the early ,church towards ,scripture4 ,the ,scripture was regarded as the highest utterance of the ,spirit1 the unique and constant test of the ,church's life and teaching4 ,but the ,spirit in the ,church interpreted the meaning of ,scripture4 ,thus the ,church taught and the ,scripture tested and verified or corrected her teaching3 and this because all was of one piece1 the life of the ,church including the ,scriptures1 the inspired writers themselves appealing to the ,spirit in the ,churches#bie4 ,and now1 what is to be said about this1 at present1 much controverted subject of the inspiration of ,holy ,scripture8 ,what does the doctrine imply1 and what attitude does belief in it involve towards the modern critical treatment of the inspired literature8 #a4 ,let us bear carefully in mind the place which the doctrine holds in the building up of a ,christian faith4 ,it is in fact an important part of the superstructure1 but it is not among the bases of the ,christian belief4 ,the ,christian creed asserts the reality of certain historical facts4 ,to these facts1 in the ,church's name1 we claim assent3 but we do so on grounds which1 so far1 are quite independent of the inspiration of the evangelic records4 ,all that we claim to shew at this stage is that they are historical3 not historical so as to be absolutely without error1 but historical in the general sense1 so as to be trustworthy4 ,all that is necessary for faith in ,christ is to be found in the moral dispositions which predispose to belief1 and make intelligible and credible the thing to be believed3 coupled with such acceptance of the generally historical character of the ,gospels1 and of the trustworthiness of the other apostolic documents1 as justifies belief that our ,lord was actually born of the ,virgin ,mary1 manifested as the ,son of ,god 'with power according to a spirit of holiness1' crucified1 raised again the third day from the dead1 exalted to the right hand of the ,father1 the founder of the ,church and the source to it of the informing ,spirit4 ,in all this no claim is made for any special belief as to the method of the ,spirit's work in the ,scripture or in the ,church4 ,logically such belief follows1 does not precede1 belief in ,christ4 ,indeed1 in the past1 ,christian apologists have made a great mistake in allowing opponents to advance as objections against the historical character of the ,gospel narrative1 what are really objections not against its historical character--not such as could tell against the substantially historical character of secular documents--but against a certain view of the meaning of inspiration4 ,let it be laid down then that ,christianity brings with it indeed a doctrine of the inspiration of ,holy ,scriptures1 but is not based upon it#bif4 #b4 ,but such a doctrine it does bring with it4 ,our ,lord and ,his ,apostles are clearly found to believe and to teach that the ,scriptures of the ,old ,testament were given by inspiration of ,god2 and the ,christian ,church from the earliest days postulated the same belief about the ,scriptures of the ,new ,testament4 ,to disbelieve that 'the ,scriptures were spoken by the ,holy ,ghost1' was equivalent to being 'an unbeliever#big4' ,thus1 when once a man finds himself a believer in ,christ1 he will find himself in a position where alike the authority of his ,master and the 'communis sensus' of the society he belongs to1 give into his hand certain documents and declare them inspired4 #c4 ,what in its general idea does this mean8 ,s4 ,athanasius expresses the function of the ,jews in the world in a luminous phrase1 when he describes them as having been the 'sacred school for all the world of the knowledge of ,god and of the spiritual life#bih4' ,every race has its special vocation1 and we recognise in the great writers of each race the interpreters of that vocation4 ,they are specially gifted individuals1 but not merely individuals4 ,the race speaks in them3 ,rome is interpreted by ,virgil1 and ,greece by ,aeschylus or ,plato4 ,now every believer in ,god must see in these special missions of races1 a ,divine inspiration4 ,if we can once get down to the bottom of human life1 below its pride1 its wilfulness1 its pretentiousness1 down to its essence1 we get to ,god and to a movement of ,his ,spirit#bii4 ,thus every race has its inspiration and its prophets4 ,but the inspiration of the ,jews was supernatural4 ,what does this mean8 ,that the ,jews were selected--not to be the school for humanity in any of the arts and sciences which involve the thought of ,god only indirectly1 and can therefore be carried on without a fundamental restoration of man into that relation to ,god which sin had clouded or broken1--but to be the school of that fundamental restoration itself4 ,therefore1 in the case of the ,jews the inspiration is both in itself more direct and more intense1 and also involves a direct consciousness on the part of its subjects4 ,in the race1 indeed1 the consciousness might be dim2 but the consciousness1 as the prophets all assure us1 did belong to the race1 and not merely to its individual interpreters4 ,they speak as recalling the people to something which they know1 or ought to know1 not as preachers of a new religion4 ,they were 'the conscience of the state#cjj4' ,but special men1 prophets1 psalmists1 moralists1 historians1 were thus the inspired interpreters of the ,divine message to and in the race3 and their inspiration lies in this1 that they were the subjects of a movement of the ,holy ,ghost1 so shaping1 controlling1 quickening their minds and thoughts and aspirations1 as to make them the instruments through which was imparted 'the knowledge of ,god and of the spiritual life4' ,various are the degrees of this inspiration3 the inspiration of the prophet is direct1 continuous1 absorbing4 ,the inspiration of the writer of ,ecclesiastes1 on the other hand1 is such as to lead him to ponder on all the phases of a worldly experience1 passing through many a false conclusion1 and cynical denial1 till at the last his thought is led to unite itself to the great stream of ,divine movement by finding the only possible solution of the problems of life in the recognition of ,god1 and in obedience to ,him4 ,various also are the sorts of literature inspired3 for the supernatural fertilizes and does not annihilate the natural4 ,the ,church repudiated the ,montanist conception of inspiration1 according to which the inspired man speaks in ecstasy1 as the passive unconscious instrument of the ,spirit2 and the metaphors which would describe the ,holy ,spirit as acting upon a man 'like a flute player breathing into his flute1' or 'a plectrum striking a lyre1' have always a suspicion of heresy attaching to their use#cja4 ,as the humanity of ,christ is none the less a true humanity for being conditioned by absolute oneness with ,god1 so the human activity is none the less free1 conscious1 rational1 because the ,spirit inspires it4 ,the poet is a poet1 the philosopher a philosopher1 the historian an historian1 each with his own idiosyncrasies1 ways1 and methods1 to be interpreted each by the laws of his own literature4 ,and just as truly as physiology1 in telling us more and more about the human body1 is telling us about the body which the ,son of ,god assumed1 so with the growth of our knowledge about the kinds and sequences of human literature1 shall we know more and more about the literature of the ,jews which the ,holy ,spirit inspired4 ,what then is meant by the inspiration of ,holy ,scripture8 ,if we begin our inquiry with the account of creation with which the ,bible opens1 we may take note of its affinities in general substance with the ,babylonian and ,phoenician cosmogonies2 but we are much more struck with its differences1 and it is in these we shall look for its inspiration4 ,we observe that it has for its motive and impulse not the satisfaction of a fantastic curiosity1 or the later interest of scientific discovery1 but to reveal certain fundamental religious principles3 that everything as we see it was made by ,god3 that it has no being in itself but at ,god's will3 on the other hand1 that everything is in its essence good1 as the product of the good ,god3 that man1 besides sharing the physical nature of all creation1 has a special relation to ,god1 as made in ,god's image1 to be ,god's vice-gerent3 that sin1 and all that sin brings with it of misery and death1 came not of man's nature but of his disobedience to ,god and rejection of the limitations under which ,he put him3 that in spite of all that sin brought about1 ,god has not left man to himself1 that there is a hope and a promise4 ,these are the fundamental principles of true religion and progressive morality1 and in these lies the supernatural inspiration of the ,bible account of creation#cjb4 ,as we pass on down the record of ,genesis1 we do not find ourselves in any doubt as to the primary and certain meaning of its inspiration4 ,the first traditions of the race are all given there from a special point of view4 ,in that point of view lies the inspiration4 ,it is that everything is presented to us as illustrating ,god's dealings with man--,god's judgment on sin3 ,his call of a single man to work out a universal mission3 ,his gradual delimitation of a chosen race3 ,his care for the race3 ,his over-ruling of evil to work out ,his purpose4 ,the narrative of ,genesis has all the fullest wealth of human interest1 but it is in the unveiling of the hand of ,god that its special characteristic lies4 ,as we go on into the history1 we find the recorders acting like the recorders of other nations1 collecting1 sorting1 adapting1 combining their materials1 but in this inspired--that the animating motive of their work is not to bring out the national glory or to flatter the national vanity1 nor1 like the motive of a modern historian1 the mere interest in fact1 but to keep before the chosen people the record of how ,god has dealt with them4 ,this1 as we perceive1 gives them a special sense of the value of fact#cjc4 ,they record what ,god has done1 how ,god did in such and such ways take action on behalf of ,his peculiar people1 delivering them1 punishing them1 teaching them1 keeping them1 disciplining them for higher ends4 ,and none who have eyes to see ,god's spiritual purposes can doubt that those historians read aright the chronicles of the kings of ,israel4 ,the spiritual significance which they see is the true significance4 ,god's special purpose was on ,israel4 ,it is not necessary to emphasize in what consists the special inspiration of psalmists or of prophets4 ,the psalmists take some of the highest places among the poets of all nations1 but the poetic faculty is directed to one great end1 to reveal the soul in its relation to ,god1 in its exultations and in its self-abasements4 ',where 444 did they come from1 those piercing lightning-like gleams of strange spiritual truth1 those magnificent out-looks upon the kingdom of ,god1 those raptures at ,his presence and ,his glory1 those wonderful disclosures of self-knowledge1 those pure out-pourings of the love of ,god8 ,surely here is something more than the mere working of the mind of man4 ,surely 444 they repeat the whispers of the ,spirit of ,god1 they reflect the very light of the ,eternal ,wisdom#cjd4' ,in the case of prophets once more we get the most obvious and typical instances of inspiration#cje4 ,the prophets make a direct claim to be the instruments of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,not that the ,divine ,spirit supersedes their human faculties1 but ,he intensifies them4 ,they see deeper under the surface of life what ,god is doing1 and therefore further into the future what ,he will do4 ,no doubt their predictive knowledge is general1 it is of the issue to which things tend4 ,it is not at least usually a knowledge 'of times and of seasons which the ,father hath put in ,his own power4' ,thus at times they foreshorten the distance1 and place the great deliverance and the 'day of ,jehovah' in the too immediate foreground#cjf4 ,the prophetic inspiration is thus consistent with erroneous anticipations as to the circumstances and the opportunity of ,god's self-revelation1 just as the apostolic inspiration admitted of ,s4 ,paul expecting the second coming of ,christ within his own life-time4 ,but the prophets claim to be directly and really inspired to teach and interpret what ,god is doing and commanding in their own age1 and to forecast what in judgment and redemptive mercy ,god means to do and must do in the ,divine event4 ,the figure of the king ,messiah dawns upon their horizon with increasing definiteness of outline and characteristic1 and we1 with the experience of history between us and them1 are sure that the correspondence of prophecy and fulfilment can be due to no other cause than that they spoke in fact the 'word of the ,lord4' ,thus there is built up for us in the literature of a nation1 marked by an unparalleled unity of purpose and character1 a spiritual fabric1 which in its result we cannot but recognise as the action of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,a knowledge of ,god and of the spiritual life gradually appears1 not as the product of human ingenuity1 but as the result of ,divine communication3 and the outcome of this communication is to produce an organic whole which postulates a climax not yet reached1 a redemption not yet given1 a hope not yet satisfied4 ,in this general sense at least no ,christian ought to feel a difficulty in believing1 and believing with joy1 in the inspiration of the ,old ,testament3 nor can he feel that he is left without a standard by which to judge what it means4 ,christ1 the goal of ,old ,testament development1 stands forth as the test and measure of its inspiration4 ,the ,new ,testament consists of writings of ,apostles or of men of sub-apostolic rank1 like ,s4 ,luke and probably the author of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,there is not1 except perhaps in the case of the ,apocalypse1 any sign of an inspiration to write1 other than the inspiration which gave power to teach4 ,what then is1 whether for writing or for teaching1 the inspiration of an ,apostle8 ,if ,jesus ,christ both was1 and knew ,himself to be1 the ,revealer of the ,father1 it almost stands to reason that ,he must have secured that ,his revelation should be1 without material alloy1 communicated to the ,church which was to enshrine and perpetuate it4 ,thus1 in fact1 we find that ,he spent ,his chief pains on the training of ,his apostolic witnesses4 ,and all the training which ,he gave them while ,he was present among them was only to prepare them to receive the ,holy ,ghost ,who1 after ,he was gone1 was to be poured out upon them to qualify them to bear ,his witness among men4 ',ye shall receive power1 when the ,holy ,ghost is come upon you1 and ye shall be ,my witnesses3' ',these things have ,i spoken unto you while yet abiding with you4 ,and the ,comforter1 even the ,holy ,ghost1 ,whom the ,father will send in ,my name1 ,he shall teach you all things1 and bring to your remembrance all that ,i said unto you4' ',i have yet many things to say unto you1 but ye cannot bear them now4 ,howbeit when ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 is come1 ,he will guide you into all the truth#cjg4' ,thus the ,church sees in the ,apostles men specially and deliberately qualified to interpret ,christ to the world4 ,it understands by their inspiration an endowment which enables men of all ages to take their teaching as representing1 and not misrepresenting1 ,his teaching and ,himself4 ,in ,s4 ,john's ,gospel1 for example1 we have an account of our ,lord which has obviously passed through the medium of a most remarkable personality4 ,we have the outcome of the meditation1 as well as the recollection1 of the ,apostle4 ,but1 as the evidence assures us that the ,gospel is really ,s4 ,john's1 so the ,church unhesitatingly accepts ,s4 ,john's strong and repeated asseveration that he is interpreting and not distorting the record1 the personality1 the claims of ,jesus ,christ4 ',he bears record1 and his record is true#cjh4' ,this assurance is indeed not without verification3 it is verified by the unity of testimony which1 under all differences of character and circumstance1 we find among the apostolic witnesses4 ,the accepted doctrine of the ,church when ,s4 ,paul wrote his 'undoubted ,epistles1'--the points of agreement amidst all differences between him and the ,judaizers--gives us substantially the same conception of the ,person of the ,incarnate ,son of ,god as we find in ,s4 ,john#cji4 ,the same conception of what ,he was1 is required to interpret the record of what ,he did and said in the ,synoptic ,gospels4 ,further1 the witness of the ,apostles1 though it receives its final guarantee through the belief in their inspiration1 has its natural basis in the prolonged training by which--'companying with them all the time that ,he went in and out among them1 beginning from the baptism of ,john1 until the day that ,he was received up1'--they were prepared to be ,his witnesses4 ,thus if an act of faith is asked of us in the apostolic inspiration1 it is a reasonable act of faith4 ,if we pass from the writings properly apostolic to those like ,s4 ,luke's records1 which represent apostolic teaching at second hand1 we do not find that the inspiration of their writers was of such sort as enabled them to dispense with the ordinary means or guarantees of accuracy4 ,the simple claim of ,s4 ,luke's preface to have had the best means of information and to have taken the greatest care in the use of them1 is on this score most instructive4 ,we should suppose that their inspiration was part of the whole spiritual endowment of their life which made them the trusted friends of the ,apostles1 and qualified them to be the chosen instruments to record their teaching1 in the midst of a ,church whose quick and eager memory of 'the tradition' would have acted as a check to prevent any material error creeping into the record4 #d4 ,it will be remembered that when inspiration is spoken of by ,s4 ,paul1 he mentions it as a positive endowment which qualifies the writings of those who were its subjects1 to be permanent sources of spiritual instruction4 ',every ,scripture inspired of ,god is also profitable for teaching1 for reproof1 for correction1 for instruction which is in righteousness#caj4' ,following out this idea of ,holy ,scripture then1 we are led to think of the belief in inspiration as having this primary practical result3 that we submit ourselves to the teaching of every book which is given to us as inspired4 ,we are to put ourselves to school with each in turn of the inspired writers2 with ,s4 ,james1 for example1 in the ,new ,testament1 as well as with ,s4 ,john and ,s4 ,paul2 with ,s4 ,luke as well as with ,s4 ,matthew2 with the ,pastoral ,epistles as well as with the ,epistle to the ,galatians#caa4 ,at starting each of us1 according to his predisposition1 is conscious of liking some books of ,scripture better than others4 ,this1 however1 should lead us to recognise that in some way we specially need the teaching which is less attractive to us4 ,we should set ourselves to study what we like less1 till that too has had its proper effect in moulding our conscience and character4 ,it is hardly possible to estimate how much division would have been avoided in the ,church if those1 for example1 who were most ecclesiastically disposed had been at pains to assimilate the teaching of the ,epistle to the ,romans1 and those who most valued 'the freedom of the ,gospel' had recognised a special obligation to deepen their hold on the ,epistles to the ,corinthians and the ,pastoral ,epistles and the ,epistle of ,s4 ,james4 ,to believe in the inspiration of ,holy ,scripture is to put ourselves to school with every part of the ,old ,testament1 as of the ,new4 ,true1 the ,old ,testament is imperfect1 but for that very reason has a special value4 ',the real use of the earlier record is not to add something to the things revealed in ,christ1 but to give us that clear and all-sided insight into the meaning and practical worth of the perfect scheme of ,divine grace which can only be attained by tracing its growth#cab4' ,we see in the ,old ,testament the elements1 each in separation1 which went to make up the perfect whole1 and which must still lie at the basis of all rightly formed life of individuals and societies4 ,thus to believe1 for instance1 in the inspiration of the ,old ,testament forces us to recognise a real element of the ,divine education in the imprecatory ,psalms4 ,they are not the utterances of selfish spite#cac3 they are the claim which righteous ,israel makes upon ,god that ,he should vindicate ,himself1 and let their eyes see how 'righteousness turns again unto judgment4' ,the claim is made in a form which belongs to an early stage of spiritual education2 to a time when this life was regarded as the scene in which ,god must finally vindicate ,himself1 and when the large powers and possibilities of the ,divine compassion were very imperfectly recognised4 ,but behind these limitations1 which characterize the greater part of the ,old ,testament1 the claim of these ,psalms still remains a necessary part of the claim of the ,christian soul4 ,we must not only recognise the reality of ,divine judgments in time and eternity1 bodily and spiritual2 we must not only acquiesce in them because they are ,god's2 we must go on to claim of ,god the manifestation of ,his just judgment1 so that holiness and joy1 sin and failure1 shall be seen to coincide4 ,to recognise then the inspiration of the ,bible is to put ourselves to school in every part of it1 and everywhere to bear in mind the admonition of the ,de ,imitatione 'that every ,scripture must be read in the same spirit in which it was written4' ,so far it will not be a point in dispute among ,christians what inspiration means1 or what its purpose is4 ',the ,councils of ,trent and the ,vatican1' writes ,cardinal ,newman1 'tell us distinctly the object and the promise of ,scriptural inspiration4 ,they specify faith and moral conduct as the drift of that teaching which has the guarantee of inspiration#cad4' ,nor can it be denied that the more ,holy ,scripture is read from this point of view1 the more confidently it is treated as the inspired guide of faith and conduct1 no less in the types of character which it sets before us than in its direct instruction1 the more the experience and appreciation of its inspiration grows upon us1 so that to deny or to doubt it comes to mean to deny or to doubt a matter plain to the senses4 ,indeed what has been said under this head will probably appear to those practised in the spiritual use of ,holy ,scripture as an understatement1 perhaps not easy to justify1 of the sense in which the ,scripture is the ,word of ,god1 and the spiritual food of the soul#cae4 #e4 ,but here certain important questions arise4 7a7 ,the revelation of ,god was made in a historical process4 ,its record is in large part the record of a national life3 it is historical4 ,now the inspiration of the recorder lies1 as we have seen1 primarily in this1 that he sees the hand of ,god in the history and interprets ,his purpose4 ,further1 we must add1 his sense of the working of ,god in history1 increases his realization of the importance of historical fact4 ,thus there is a profound air of historical truthfulness pervading the ,old ,testament record from ,abraham downward4 ,the weaknesses1 the sins1 of ,israel's heroes are not spared4 ,their sin and its punishment is always before us4 ,there is no flattering of national pride1 no giving the reins to boastfulness4 ,in all this the ,old ,testament appears to be in marked contrast1 as to contemporary ,assyrian monuments1 so also to a good deal of much later ecclesiastical history4 ,but does the inspiration of the recorder guarantee the exact historical truth of what he records8 ,and in matter of fact can the record1 with due regard to legitimate historical criticism1 be pronounced true8 ,now1 to the latter of these two questions 7and they are quite distinct questions71 we may reply that there is nothing to prevent our believing1 as our faith certainly strongly disposes us to believe1 that the record from ,abraham downward is in substance in the strict sense historical4 ,of course the battle of historical truth cannot be fought on the field of the ,old ,testament1 as it can on that of the ,new1 because it is so vast and indecisive1 and because 7however certainly ancient is such a narrative as that contained in ,genesis xiv47 very little of the early record can be securely traced to a period near the events4 ,thus the ,church cannot insist upon the historical character of the earliest records of the ancient ,church in detail1 as she can on the historical character of the ,gospels or the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,on the other hand1 as it seems the more probable opinion that the ,hebrews must have been acquainted with the art of writing in some form long before the ,exodus1 there is no reason to doubt the existence of some written records among them from very early days#caf4 ,internal evidence again certainly commends to our acceptance the history of the patriarchs1 of the ,egyptian bondage1 of the great redemption1 of the wanderings1 as well as of the later period as to which there would be less dispute4 ,in a word we are1 we believe1 not wrong in anticipating that the ,church will continue to believe and to teach that the ,old ,testament from ,abraham downwards is really historical1 and that there will be nothing to make such belief and teaching unreasonable or wilful4 ,but within the limits of what is substantially historical1 there is still room for an admixture of what1 though marked by spiritual purpose1 is yet not strictly historical--for instance1 for a feature which characterizes all early history1 the attribution to first founders of what is really the remoter result of their institutions4 ,now historical criticism#cag assures us that this process has been largely at work in the ,pentateuch4 ,by an analysis1 for instance1 the force of which is very great1 it distinguishes distinct stages in the growth of the law of worship3 at least an early stage such as is represented in 'the ,book of the ,covenant#cah1' a second stage in the ,book of ,deuteronomy1 a last stage in 'the ,priestly ,code4' ,what we may suppose to have happened is that ,moses himself established a certain germ of ceremonial enactment in connection with the ark and its sacred tent1 and with the 'ten words'2 and that this developed always as 'the law of ,moses1' the whole result being constantly attributed1 probably unconsciously and certainly not from any intention to deceive1 to the original founder4 ,this view would certainly imply that the recorders of ,israel's history were subject to the ordinary laws in the estimate of evidence1 that their inspiration did not consist in a miraculous communication to them of facts as they originally happened3 but if we believe that the law1 as it grew1 really did represent the ,divine intention for the ,jews1 gradually worked out upon the basis of a ,mosaic institution1 there is nothing materially untruthful1 though there is something uncritical1 in attributing the whole legislation to ,moses acting under the ,divine command4 ,it would be only of a piece with the attribution of the collection of ,psalms to ,david and of ,proverbs to ,solomon4 ,nor does the supposition that the law was of gradual growth interfere in any way with the symbolical and typical value of its various ordinances4 ,once again1 the same school of criticism would assure us that the ,books of ,chronicles represent a later and less historical version of ,israel's history than that given in ,samuel and ,kings#cai3 they represent1 according to this view1 the version of that history which had become current in the priestly schools4 ,what we are asked to admit is not conscious perversion1 but unconscious idealizing of history1 the reading back into past records of a ritual development which was really later4 ,now inspiration excludes conscious deception or pious fraud1 but it appears to be quite consistent with this sort of idealizing2 always supposing that the result read back into the earlier history does represent the real purpose of ,god and only anticipates its realization4 ,here then is one great question4 ,inspiration certainly means the illumination of the judgment of the recorder4 ',by the contact of the ,holy ,spirit1' says ,origen1 'they became clearer in their mental perceptions1 and their souls were filled with a brighter light#cbj4' ,but have we any reason to believe that it means1 over and above this1 the miraculous communication of facts not otherwise to be known1 a miraculous communication such as would make the recorder independent of the ordinary processes of historical tradition8 ,certainly neither ,s4 ,luke's preface to his ,gospel1 nor the evidence of any inspired record1 justifies us in this assumption4 ,nor would it appear that spiritual illumination1 even in the highest degree1 has any tendency to lift men out of the natural conditions of knowledge which belong to their time4 ,certainly in the similar case of exegesis1 it would appear that ,s4 ,paul is left to the method of his time1 though he uses it with inspired insight into the function and meaning of law and of prophecy as a whole4 ,thus1 without pronouncing an opinion1 where we have no right to do so1 on the critical questions at present under discussion1 we may maintain with considerable assurance that there is nothing in the doctrine of inspiration to prevent our recognising a considerable idealizing element in the ,old ,testament history4 ,the reason is of course obvious enough why what can be admitted in the ,old ,testament1 could not without results disastrous to the ,christian ,creed1 be admitted in the ,new4 ,it is because the ,old ,testament is the record of how ,god produced a need1 or anticipation1 or ideal1 while the ,new ,testament records how in fact ,he satisfied it4 ,the absolute coincidence of idea and fact is vital in the realization1 not in the preparation for it4 ,it is equally obvious1 too1 that where fact is of supreme importance1 as in the ,new ,testament1 the evidence has none of the ambiguity or remoteness which belongs to much of the record of the preparation4 7b7 ,but once again2 we find all sorts of literature in the inspired volume3 men can be inspired to think and to write for ,god under all the forms of natural genius4 ,now one form of genius is the dramatic3 its essence is to make characters1 real or imaginary1 the vehicles for an ideal presentation4 ,it presents embodied ideas4 ,now the ,song of ,solomon is of the nature of a drama4 ,the ,book of ,job1 although it works on an historical basis1 is1 it can hardly be denied1 mainly dramatic4 ,the ,book of ,wisdom1 which with us is among the books of the ,bible1 though in the second rank outside the canon1 and which is inside the canon of the ,roman ,church1 professes to be written by ,solomon#cba1 but is certainly written not by him1 but in his person by another author4 ,we may then conceive the same to be true of ,ecclesiastes1 and of ,deuteronomy2 i4e4 we may suppose ,deuteronomy to be a republication of the law 'in the spirit and power' of ,moses put dramatically into his mouth4 ,criticism goes further1 and asks us to regard ,jonah and ,daniel1 among the prophetic books1 as dramatic compositions worked up on a basis of history4 ,the discussion of these books has often been approached from a point of view from which the miraculous is necessarily unhistorical4 ,with such a point of view we are not concerned4 ,the possibility and reality of miracles has to be vindicated first of all in the field of the ,new ,testament2 and one who admits them there1 cannot reasonably exclude their possibility in the earlier history4 ,the question must be treated simply on literary and evidential grounds#cbb4 ,but we would contend that if criticism should shew these books to be probably dramatic1 that would be no hindrance to their performing 'an important canonical function1' or to their being inspired4 ,dramatic composition has played an immense part in training the human mind4 ,it is as far removed as possible from a violation of truth1 though in an uncritical age its results may very soon pass for history4 ,it admits of being inspired as much as poetry1 or history1 and indeed there are few who could feel a difficulty in recognising as inspired the teaching of the books of ,jonah and ,daniel#cbc4 ,it is maintained then that the ,church leaves open to literary criticism the question whether several of the writings of the ,old ,testament are or are not dramatic4 ,certainly the fact that they have not commonly been taken to be so in the past will be no evidence to the contrary1 unless it can be denied that a literary criticism is being developed1 which is as really new an intellectual product as the scientific development1 and as such1 certain to reverse a good many of the literary judgments of previous ages4 ,we are being asked to make considerable changes in our literary conception of the ,scriptures1 but not greater changes than were involved in the acceptance of the heliocentric astronomy4 7c7 ,once again3 an enlarged study of comparative history has led to our perceiving that the various sorts of mental or literary activity develop in their different lines out of an earlier condition in which they lie fused and undifferentiated4 ,this we can vaguely call the mythical stage of mental evolution4 ,a myth is not a falsehood2 it is a product of mental activity1 as instructive and rich as any later product1 but its characteristic is that it is not yet distinguished into history1 and poetry1 and philosophy4 ,it is all of these in the germ1 as dream and imagination1 and thought and experience1 are fused in the mental furniture of a child's mind4 ',these myths or current stories1' says ,grote writing of ,greek history1 'the spontaneous and earliest growth of the ,greek mind1 constituted at the same time the entire intellectual stock of the age to which they belonged4 ,they are the common root of all those different ramifications into which the mental activity of the ,greeks subsequently diverged2 containing as it were the preface and germ of the positive history and philosophy1 the dogmatic theology and the professed romance1 which we shall hereafter trace1 each in its separate development4' ,now has the ,jewish history such earlier stage3 does it pass back out of history into myth8 ,in particular1 are not its earlier narratives1 before the call of ,abraham1 of the nature of myth1 in which we cannot distinguish the historical germ1 though we do not at all deny that it exists8 ,the inspiration of these narratives is as conspicuous as that of any part of ,scripture1 but is there anything to prevent our regarding these great inspirations about the origin of all things1--the nature of sin1 the judgment of ,god on sin1 and the alienation among men which follows their alienation from ,god1--as conveyed to us in that form of myth or allegorical picture1 which is the earliest mode in which the mind of man apprehended truth8 #f4 ,in spite of the arbitrariness and the irreligion which have often been associated with the modern development of historical criticism in its application to the ,old ,testament1 the present writer believes that it represents none the less a real advance in literary analysis1 and is reaching results as sure1 where it is fairly used1 as scientific inquiry1 though the results in the one case as in the other are often hard to disentangle from their less permanent accompaniments4 ,believing this1 and feeling in consequence that the warning which the name of ,galileo must ever bring before the memory of churchmen1 is not unneeded now1 he believes also that the ,church is in no way restrained from admitting the modifications just hinted at1 in what has latterly been the current idea of inspiration4 ,the ,church is not restrained1 in the first place1 by having committed herself to any dogmatic definitions of the meaning of inspiration#cbd4 ,it is remarkable indeed that ,origen's almost reckless mysticism1 and his accompanying repudiation of the historical character of large parts of the narrative of the ,old ,testament1 and of some parts of the ,new#cbe1 though it did not gain acceptance1 and indeed had no right to it 7for it had no sound basis71 on the other hand never roused the ,church to contrary definitions4 ,nor is it only ,origen who disputed the historical character of parts of the narrative of ,holy ,scripture4 ,clement before him in ,alexandria1 and the mediaeval ,anselm in the ,west1 treat the seven days' creation as allegory and not history4 ,athanasius speaks of paradise as a 'figure4' ,a mediaeval ,greek writer1 who had more of ,irenaeus than remains to us1 declared that 'he did not know how those who kept to the letter and took the account of the temptation historically rather than allegorically1 could meet the arguments of ,irenaeus against them4' ,further than this1 it cannot be denied that the mystical method1 as a whole1 tended to the depreciation of the historical sense1 in comparison with the spiritual teaching which it conveyed#cbf4 ,in a different line1 ,chrysostom1 of the literal school of interpreters1 explains quite in the tone of a modern apologist1 how the discrepancies in detail between the different ,gospels1 assure us of the independence of the witnesses1 and do not touch the facts of importance1 in which all agree4 ,the ,church is not tied then by any existing definitions4 ,we cannot make any exact claim upon any one's belief in regard to inspiration1 simply because we have no authoritative definition to bring to bear upon him4 ,those of us who believe most in the inspiration of the ,church1 will see a ,divine ,providence in this absence of dogma1 because we shall perceive that only now is the state of knowledge such as admits of the question being legitimately raised4 ,nor does it seem that the use which our ,lord made of the ,old ,testament is an argument against the proposed concessions4 ,our ,lord1 in ,his use of the ,old ,testament1 does indeed endorse with the utmost emphasis the ,jewish view of their own history4 ,he does thus imply1 on the one hand1 the real inspiration of their canon in its completeness1 and1 on the other hand1 that ,he ,himself was the goal of that inspired leading and the standard of that inspiration4 ',your father ,abraham rejoiced to see ,my day3' ',i am not come to destroy1 but to fulfil4' ,this1 and it is the important matter for all that concerns our spiritual education1 is not in dispute4 ,what is questioned is that our ,lord's words foreclose certain critical positions as to the character of ,old ,testament literature4 ,for example1 does ,his use of ,jonah's resurrection1 as a type of ,his own1 depend in any real degree upon whether it is historical fact or allegory#cbg8 ,it is of the essence of a type to suggest an idea1 as of the antitype to realize it4 ,the narrative of ,jonah suggested certainly the idea of resurrection after three days1 of triumph over death1 and by suggesting this gave our ,lord what ,his discourse required4 ,once more1 our ,lord uses the time before the flood#cbh to illustrate the carelessness of men before ,his own coming4 ,he is using the flood here as a typical judgment1 as elsewhere ,he uses other contemporary visitations for a like purpose4 ,in referring to the flood ,he certainly suggests that ,he is treating it as typical1 for ,he introduces circumstances--'eating and drinking1 marrying and giving in marriage'--which have no counterpart in the original narrative4 ,nothing in ,his use of it depends on its being more than a typical instance4 ,once more1 ,he argues with the ,pharisees on the assumption of the ,davidic authorship of ,psalm cx#cbi4 ,but it must be noticed that ,he is asking a question rather than making a statement--a question1 moreover1 which does not admit of being turned into a statement without suggesting the conclusion1 of which rationalistic critics have not hesitated to avail themselves1 that ,david's ,lord could not be ,david's son4 ,there are1 we notice1 other occasions when our ,lord asked questions which cannot be made the basis of positive propositions#ccj4 ,it was in fact part of ,his method to lead men to examine their own principles without at the time suggesting any positive conclusion at all4 ,it may also fairly be represented1 on a review of our ,lord's teaching as a whole1 that if ,he had intended to convey instruction to us on critical and literary questions1 ,he would have made ,his purpose plainer4 ,it is contrary to ,his whole method to reveal ,his ,godhead by any anticipations of natural knowledge4 ,the ,incarnation was a self-emptying of ,god to reveal ,himself under conditions of human nature and from the human point of view4 ,we are able to draw a distinction between what ,he revealed and what ,he used4 ,he revealed ,god1 ,his mind1 ,his character1 ,his claim1 within certain limits ,his ,threefold ,being3 ,he revealed man1 his sinfulness1 his need1 his capacity3 ,he revealed ,his purpose of redemption1 and founded ,his ,church as a home in which man was to be through all the ages reconciled to ,god in knowledge and love4 ,all this ,he revealed1 but through1 and under conditions of1 a true human nature4 ,thus ,he used human nature1 its relation to ,god1 its conditions of experience1 its growth in knowledge1 its limitation of knowledge#cca4 ,he feels as we men ought to feel3 he sees as we ought to see4 ,we can thus distinguish more or less between the ,divine truth which ,he reveals1 and the human nature which ,he uses4 ,now when ,he speaks of the 'sun rising' ,he is using ordinary human knowledge4 ,he willed so to restrain the beams of ,deity as to observe the limits of the science of ,his age1 and ,he puts ,himself in the same relation to its historical knowledge4 ,thus ,he does not reveal ,his eternity by statements as to what had happened in the past1 or was to happen in the future1 outside the ken of existing history#ccb4 ,he made ,his ,godhead gradually manifest by ,his attitude towards men and things about ,him1 by ,his moral and spiritual claims1 by ,his expressed relation to ,his ,father1 not by any miraculous exemptions of ,himself from the conditions of natural knowledge in its own proper province4 ,thus the utterances of ,christ about the ,old ,testament do not seem to be nearly definite or clear enough to allow of our supposing that in this case ,he is departing from the general method of the ,incarnation1 by bringing to bear the unveiled omniscience of the ,godhead1 to anticipate or foreclose a development of natural knowledge4 ,but if we thus plead that theology may leave the field open for free discussion of these questions which ,biblical criticism has recently been raising1 we shall probably be bidden to 'remember ,tbingen1' and not be over-trustful of a criticism which at least exhibits in some of its most prominent representatives a great deal of arbitrariness1 of love of 'new views' for their own sake1 and a great lack of that reverence and spiritual insight which is at least as much needed for understanding the books of the ,bible1 as accurate knowledge and fair investigation4 ,to this the present writer would be disposed to reply that1 if the ,christian ,church has been enabled to defeat the critical attack1 so far as it threatened destruction to the historical basis of the ,new ,testament1 it has not been by foreclosing the question with an appeal to dogma1 but by facing in fair and frank discussion the problems raised4 ,a similar treatment of ,old ,testament problems will enable us to distinguish between what is reasonable and reverent1 and what is high-handed and irreligious in contemporary criticism whether ,german1 ,french1 or ,english4 ,even in regard to what makes prima facie a reasonable claim1 we do not prejudice the decision by declaring the field open3 in all probability there will always remain more than one school of legitimate opinion on the subject3 indeed the purpose of the latter part of this essay has not been to inquire how much we can without irrationality believe inspiration to involve2 but rather1 how much may legitimately and without real loss be conceded4 ,for1 without doubt1 if consistently with entire loyalty to our ,lord and ,his ,church1 we can regard as open the questions specified above1 we are removing great obstacles from the path to belief of many who certainly wish to believe1 and do not exhibit any undue scepticism4 ,nor does there appear to be any real danger that the criticism of the ,old ,testament will ultimately diminish our reverence for it4 ,in the case of the ,new ,testament certainly we are justified in feeling that modern investigation has resulted in immensely augmenting our understanding of the different books1 and has distinctly fortified and enriched our sense of their inspiration4 ,why then should we hesitate to believe that the similar investigation of the ,old ,testament will in its result similarly enrich our sense that ',god in divers portions and divers manners spake of old times unto the fathers1' and that the ,inspiration of ,holy ,scriptures will always be recognised as the most conspicuous of the modes in which the ,holy ,spirit has mercifully wrought for the illumination and encouragement of our race8 ',for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning1 that we through patience and comfort of the ,scriptures might have hope4' #bdh ,cyprian1 ad ,donatum #c4 ,trans4 in ,library of the ,fathers1 iii4 p4 #c4 #bdi ,athanasius1 de ,incarnatione1 #ca1 #dh-eb4 #bej ,see ,s4 ,basil's fine definition of the term in his treatise on the ,holy ,spirit1 ix4 #bb4 ,this treatise has been translated by the ,rev4 ,g4 ,lewis for the ',religious ,tract ,society4' #bea ,see ,basil1 as above1 xvi4 #cg3 ',we must not suppose because the ,apostle 7#a ,cor4 xii4 #d7 mentions the ,spirit first1 and the ,son second1 and ,god the ,father third1 that the order at the present day has been quite reversed4 ,for he made his beginning from our end of the relation3 for it is by receiving the gifts1 that we come in contact with the ,distributor2 then we come to consider the ,sender2 then we carry back our thought to the ,fount and ,cause of the good things4' ,cf4 xviii4 #dg3 ',the way of the knowledge of ,god is from one ,spirit1 by the one ,son1 to the one ,father3 and reversely1 the natural goodness of ,god1 ,his holiness of nature1 ,his royal rank taking their rise from the ,father1 reach the ,spirit though the ,only-begotten4' #beb ,ambrose1 de ,spiritu ,sancto1 i4 #ae1 #agb4 #bec ,so ,irenaeus1 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 ,athanasius1 ,basil1 ,didymus1 ,victorinus1 express the relation of the ,divine ,persons in ,creation4 #bed ,ps4 xxxiii4 #f2 ,gen4 i4 #b2 ,ps4 civ4 #bi1 #cj4 #bee ,huet4 ,origeniana1 ,l4 ii4 ,qu4 #b4 c4 xxvii4 ,cf4 ,athan4 ,epp4 ad ,serapion4 i4 #bc-ca2 iv4 #i-ab4 #bef ,gen4 ii4 #g4 #beg ,athan4 de ,incarn4 xliii4 #c4 #beh ,athan4 l4c4 xii4 #e1 xliii4 #d4 #bei ,iren4 c4 ,haer4 iii4 #ag1 #a4 #bfj ,s4 ,mark i4 #aj1 #ab4 ,s4 ,luke iv4 #a1 #ah2 x4 #ba4 ,s4 ,matt4 xii4 #bh4 ,heb4 ix4 #ad4 ,rom4 viii4 #aa4 7,these two last passages at least imply the action of the ,holy ,spirit in the ,sacrifice and ,resurrection of ,christ47 #bfa ,heb4 v4 #g-aj4 ,phil4 ii4 #h4 #bfb #a ,cor4 xv4 #de1 ',the last ,adam became a life-giving ,spirit4' ,s4 ,john vi4 #fc1 ',spirit and ,life4' #bfc ,iren4 iii4 #ah1 #a1 and frequently elsewhere4 #bfd ,iren4 iii4 #bd1 #a4 ,cf4 ,h4 ,c4 ,g4 ,moule's ,veni ,creator1 pp4 #ci-dj4 #bfe ,s4 ,john iii4 #d4 ,the intention of this passage is to express not that the ,spirit is lawless in ,his operations1 but that ,he is beyond our control4 #bff ,aug4 de ,spiritu et ,littera1 xxvii4 #dg1 ',grace is not the negation of nature1 but its restoration4' #bfg ,raymund of ,sabunde1 ,theol4 ,nat4 tit4 #cjc4 #bfh ,basil1 de ,spiritu ,sancto ix4 #bc 7,lewis' translation74 ,cf4 ,newman's ,univ4 ,sermons1 ',personal ,influence the means of propagating the truth4' #bfi ,cyril1 ,catech4 xvi4 #ab4 ,the attention to the differences of individual character is very noticeable in ,s4 ,basil's monastic rule3 see the ,regulae fusius tractatae1 resp4 #ai1 and the ,constit4 ,monast4 #d4 ,also in the writings of ,gregory of ,nazianzus1 ,chrysostom1 and ,gregory the ,great on the ,pastoral ,office4 #bgj #a ,cor4 ii4 #ae4 #a ,s4 ,john ii4 #bj-bg4 #bga ,clement ,alex4 ,strom4 v4 #ac4 #hh4 #bgb ,republic1 #dja ,d1 #djb ,a4 #bgc ,caird's ,hegel 7,blackwood's ,philosophical ,classics71 p4 #gb4 #bgd ,anselm1 ,proslog4 #d2 he adds1 ',so that even if ,i were unwilling to believe that ,thou art1 ,i could not cease to understand it4' ,but the whole relation of authority and reason is most completely grasped and stated by ,s4 ,augustine3 see ,cunningham1 ,s4 ,austin 7,cambridge ,univ4 ,press1 #ahhf71 pp4 #i1 #aeg ff4 #bge ,dr4 ,salmon1 ,infallibility1 p4 #aae1 has a clever comparison of the authority of the ,church to that of the town clock4 ,the value we assign to having such an authoritative standard of the right time does not prevent our recognising the importance of having it regulated4 ',and if we desired to remove an error which had accumulated during a long season of neglect1 it would be very unfair to represent us as wishing to silence the clock1 or else as wishing to allow every townsman to get up and push the hands backwards and forwards as he pleased4' #bgf ,but cf4 pp4 #aif-h1 #bbi-bcb1 #beh-bfj4 #bgg ,manning1 ,temporal ,mission of the ,holy ,ghost1 third edit4 pp4 #i1 #bi1 #bch-bdj4 #bgh ,see1 for instance1 c4 ,haer4 v4 #aj1 #b4 ',the wild olive does not change its substance when it is grafted in1 see ,rom4 xi4 #ag1 but only the quality of its fruit1 and takes a new name1 no longer being called an oleaster but an olive2 so also man when he is by faith grafted in1 and receives the ,spirit of ,god1 does not lose his fleshly substance1 but changes the quality of the works which are his fruits1 and takes another name indicating his improved condition1 and is no longer described as flesh and blood1 but as a spiritual man4' ,so also v4 #f1 #a1 'whom the apostle calls spiritual because they have the ,spirit1 not because they have been robbed of the flesh and become bare spirit4' ,it is the recognition of this principle that makes most of the language of the ,fathers on fasting so healthy and sensible4 ,the end of fasting is not to destroy the flesh1 but to free the spirit4 #bgi ,see especially ,mozley's ,lectures on the ,old ,testament1 x43 ',the end the test of progressive revelation4' #bhj ,greg4 ,naz4 ,orat4 xxxi4 #be4 ,many of the greatest of the ancient ,christian writers depreciate the sacrificial law as a mere concession1 made to avoid worse things1 when the incident of the calf shewed that the first legislation of the ,ten ,commandments was too spiritual3 so ,jerome in ,isai4 #a1 #ab1 ,in ,jer4 vii4 #ba4 ,cf4 ,justin1 ,trypho #ai4 ,chrys4 adv4 ,jud4 iv4 #f4 ,epiphan4 ,haer4 lxvi4 #ga4 ,constt4 ap4 i4 #f2 vi4 #bj4 ,this method of interpretation is perhaps derived from the ,epistle of ,barnabas1 #b-d4 #bha ,chrys4 in ,matth4 ,homil4 xvii4 #e-f 7slightly abbreviated74 ,cf4 ,libell4 ,faustin4 et ,marcellin4 in ,bibl4 ,vet4 ,patrum4 tom4 v4 #feg d4 #bhb ,on the ,holy ,spirit1 xiv4 #cc 7,lewis' trans474 #bhc ,aug4 de ,trin4 i4 #aj1 #ba4 ,this principle alone gives a basis for the doctrine of 'imputation' so far as it is true4 ,god deals with us1 e4g4 in absolution1 by anticipation of what is to come about in us1 in ,christ4 #bhd ,thom4 ,aq4 ,summa ,theol4 pars sec4 sec4 ,qu4 #a4 ,art4 ix4 #bhe ,the above paragraph is a summary of expressions constantly met with in the ,fathers4 ,it is ,s4 ,ambrose who protests against the idea that the priest can be spoken of as having power over the ,divine ,things which he ministers1 see ,de ,spiritu ,sancto1 praef4 #ah1 lib4 i4 #aa1 #aah3 'nostra sunt servitia sed tua sacramenta4 ,neque enim humanae opis est divina conferre4' ,s4 ,augustine1 among others1 draws the distinction between gifts from the ,spirit and the gift of ,himself4 ,ep4 cxciv43 'aliter adiuvat nondum inhabitans1 aliter inhabitans3 nam nondum inhabitans adiuvat ut sint fideles1 inhabitans adiuvat iam fideles4' ,didymus1 de ,spiritu ,sancto #ae1 calls attention to the distinction in the ,new ,testament between 7without the article7 i4e4 'a spiritual gift1' and 1 i4e4 the ,spirit ,himself3 cf4 ,westcott on ,s4 ,john vii4 #ci4 #bhf ,greg4 ,naz4 ,orat4 xxxi4 #h4 #bhg ,see ,athan4 ,epp4 ad ,serapion4 i4 #ag4 ,cyril ,hieros4 ,cat4 xvi4 #bd4 ,iren4 v4 #ac1 #b4 ,basil1 de ,spiritu ,sancto1 iii4 #e4 #bhh ,the ,dict4 of ,chr4 ,biog41 ,art4 ,,holy ,,ghost 7by ,dr4 ,swete71 has an admirable summary of the theology of the subject4 #bhi ,see ,godet on ,s4 ,john xv4 #bf1 #bg4 #bij ,athan4 ,epp4 ad ,serap4 i4 #ai4 ,s4 ,john xiv4 #af1 #ah1 #bc4 #bia ,plato's human trinity is made up of reason1 spirit 1 and desire3 ,s4 ,augustine's of memory 7i4e4 personal identity71 reason1 and will2 or mind1 knowledge1 and love4 ,nothing has been said in the text of ,patristic and more recent attempts to express the function of the ,holy ,spirit in the inner relations of the ,trinity4 ,some of the ,fathers speak of the ,holy ,spirit as completing the circle of the ,divine ,life1 or as 'the return of ,god upon ,himself1' 'the bond of the ,father and the ,son4' ,this eternal function would interpret ,his temporal mission to bring all creatures back into union with ,god4 ,not very differently ,s4 ,augustine speaks of ,him as the ,love of the ,father and the ,son3 ',vides ,trinitatem si caritatem vides4 ,ecce tria sunt2 amans et quod amatur et amor4' ,and this ,love is itself personal and coordinate3 'commune aliquid est ,patris et ,filii2 at ipsa communio consubstantialis et coaeterna4' ,but in such speculation they allow themselves with much reserve and expression of unwillingness4 ,in fact it is easy to see that an eternally living ,god1 knowing and loving1 must be a ,god ,whose ,being involves eternal relationships4 ,knowledge involves a relation of subject and object3 to make love possible there must be a lover and a loved4 ,it is more difficult to see how a perfect relationship must be threefold2 but there are true lines of thought which lead up to this1 such1 for instance1 as make us see first in the family1 the type of complete life4 ,love which is only a relation of two1 is selfish or unsatisfied3 it demands an object and a product of mutual love4 ,see especially ,richard of ,s4 ,victor1 de ,trin4 ,pars i4 lib4 iii4 cc4 #ad1 #ae3 ',communio amoris non potest esse omnino minus quam in tribus personis4 ,nihil autem 7ut dictum est7 gloriosius1 nihil magnificentius1 quam quicquid habes utile et dulce in commune deducere3 444 hujusmodi dulcedinis delicias solus non possidet qui in exhibita sibi dilectione socium et condilectum non habet2 quamdiu condilectum non habet1 praecipui gaudii communione caret4' ,see also ,sartorius1 ,doctrine of ,divine ,love 7,clark's ,foreign ,theol4 ,libr471 p4 #af4 #bib ,microcosmus1 ,b4 ix4 ,c4 iv4 7,e4 ,t4 vol4 ii4 p4 #ffj47 #bic ,see especially ,gal4 i4 #h1 #i4 #bid ,heb4 ii4 #c4 #bie ,see further on the fatal results of separating the ,spirit's work in ,scripture1 from ,his work in the ,church1 ,coleridge1 ,remains iii4 #ic1 iv4 #aah2 or quoted by ,hare1 ,mission of the ,comforter1 ,note ,h4 vol4 ii4 pp4 #dfh1 #dgd4 #bif ,this distinction was drawn by ,bishop ,clifford1 ,fortnightly ,review1 ,jan4 #ahhg1 p4 #ade4 #big ,cf4 the quotation in ,eusebius1 ,h4 ,e4 v4 #bh4 #bih ,athan4 de ,incarn4 #ab4 ,cf4 ,ewald's preface to his ,history of ,israel4 #bii ,see ,gratry1 ,henri ,perreyve1 pp4 #afb1 #afc4 #cjj ,delitzsch1 ,o4,t4 ,history of ,redemption1 p4 #ajf4 ,cf4 ,prof4 ,robertson ,smith1 ,prophets of ,israel1 p4 #ajh4 #cja ,see ,epiphan4 ,haer4 xlviii4 #d4 ,westcott1 ,introd4 to the ,study of the ,gospels1 ,app4 ,b1 sect4 ii4 #d1 sect4 iv4 #d4 ,mason1 ,faith of the ,gospel1 p4 #bee4 #cjb ,see ,professor ,driver's admirable article on 'the cosmogony of ,genesis4' ,expositor1 ,jan4 #ahhf4 #cjc ,professor ,cheyne1 speaking of such narratives of ,scriptures as the record of ,elijah1 protests against the supposition that they are 'true to fact4' ',true to fact6 ,who goes to the artist for hard dry facts8 ,why even the historians of antiquity thought it no part of their duty to give the mere prose of life4 ,how much less can the unconscious artists of the imaginative ,east have described their heroes with relentless photographic accuracy6' 7,the ,hallowing of ,criticism1 p4 #e47 ,but it seems to me that such a passage1 by treating the recorders of the ,old ,testament as 'artists1' ignores their obvious intention to lay stress on what ,god has actually done1 the deliverances ,he has actually wrought4 ,they1 at least1 like the ,greek historical 'artist' of the defeat of ,persia1 would have laid great stress on the facts having happened4 #cjd ,church1 ,discipline of the ,christian ,character1 p4 #eg4 ,this work seems to me the best existing answer to the question1 in what does the inspiration of the ,old ,testament consist4 #cje ,cf4 pp4 #afa-afg4 ,in view of criticisms it may be explained that in the account of the prophet given above only that view of his inspiration is taken into consideration which appeals first to the enquirer 7cf4 the words in the next paragraph 'in this general sense at least'74 ,when once this primary assurance of inspiration is gained the evidence of detailed prophecies will be found cogent4 ,as we compare the anticipations of the ,messiah or of the ',righteous ,servant' in such passages as ,ps4 xxii41 ,is4 liii41 vii4 #ad1 or ix4 #f1 #g1 with their fulfilment in ,jesus ,christ1 we recognise a special action of the ,holy ,ghost1 marking even in details the continuity of ,his method4 ,cf4 p4 #afg referred to above4 #cjf ,see for instance ,micah v4 #b-f4 ,on the subject of the limitations of prophetic foresight1 as on the whole subject of prophecy1 let me refer to ,dr4 ,ed4 ,riehm1 ,messianic ,prophecy 7,clark's trans47 pp4 #gi1 #hf ff41 #aad1 #aeg-afb4 #cjg ,acts i4 #h4 ,s4 ,john xiv4 #be1 #bf2 xvi4 #ab1 #ac4 #cjh ,s4 ,john xix4 #ce2 xxi4 #bd4 #a ,s4 ,john i4 #a-c4 #cji ,see ,prof4 ,sanday's ,what the first ,christians thought about ,christ4 7,oxford ,house ,papers3 ,rivington47 #caj #b ,tim4 iii4 #af4 #caa ,mr4 ,horton's book on ,inspiration and the ,bible is almost naively lacking in this quality of impartial regard to inspired books4 #cab ,prof4 ,robertson ,smith1 ,prophets of ,israel1 p4 #f4 #cac ,cf4 ,prof4 ,robertson ,smith1 ,the ,old ,testament in the ,jewish ,church1 ,lect4 vii4 p4 #bjg3 ',another point in which criticism removes a serious difficulty is the interpretation of the imprecatory psalms4' #cad ,see ,nineteenth ,century1 ,feb4 #ahhd1 p4 #ahi4 #cae ',when from time to time1' says ,s4 ,bernard to his monks1 'anything that was hidden or obscure in the ,scriptures has come out into the light to any one of you1 at once the voice of exultation and thankfulness for the nourishment of spiritual food that has been received1 must rise as from a banquet to delight the ears of ,god4' #caf ,see the ,annual ,address 7#ahhi7 delivered at the ,victoria ,institute by ,prof4 ,sayce1 on the cuneiform tablets of ,tel el-amarna1 pp4 #d1 #ad f43 ',we learn that in the fifteenth century before our era--a century before the ,exodus--active literary intercourse was going on throughout the civilized world of ,western ,asia1 between ,babylonia and ,egypt and the smaller states of ,palestine4444 ,this intercourse was carried on by means of the ,babylonian language and the complicated ,babylonian script4 ,how educated the old world was1 we are but just beginning to learn4 ,but we have already learnt enough to discover how important a bearing it has on the criticism of the ,old ,testament4' #cag ,see ,driver1 ,crit4 notes on ,sunday-,school lessons 7,scribner3 ,new ,york74 #cah ,ex4 xx4 xxii-xxiii4 xxxiii4 #cai ,the ,books of ,kings seem to be compiled from the point of view of the ,deuteronomist4 #cbj ,origen1 c4 ,cels4 vii4 #d4 #cba ,e4g4 chs4 vii4 ix4 ,the ,roman ,church admits that it is1 to use ,newman's phrase1 'a prosopopeia'2 'our ,bibles say1 it is written in the person of ,solomon and it is uncertain who was the writer1' l4c4 p4 #aig4 ,it is important to bear in mind that the ,western ,church in general has1 since ,s4 ,augustine's day1 admitted into the canon a book the literary method of which is thus confessedly dramatic4 ,newman makes this the ground for saying that the same may be true of ,ecclesiastes4 #cbb ,on the evidence of ,o4,t4 miracles ,i may refer to ,mr4 ,samuel ,cox's ,essay3 ,miracles1 an ,argument and a ,challenge4 7,kegan ,paul1 #ahhd47 #cbc ,of course the distinction must be maintained in the case of the book of ,daniel between a 'pious fraud' which cannot be inspired1 and an idealizing personification which1 as a normal type of literature1 can4 ,further study will probably solve the special difficulty which on the critical hypothesis attaches to the book of ,daniel from this point of view3 see ,stanton1 ,jewish and ,christian ,messiah1 p4 #aji1 note #a4 #cbd ,this is certainly true of the ,church as a whole4 ,for the most that can be said in the same sense of the ,roman ,church1 see ,newman in the article above cited4 #cbe ,de ,principiis1 iv4 #ae1 #af1 #ag4 ,his point is that incidents which could not have occurred in fact1 or at least did not occur1 are inserted in the narrative of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 that their very historical impossibility or improbability may drive us to the consideration of their spiritual significance4 ',the attentive reader may notice 444 innumerable other passages1 like these1 so that he will be convinced that in the histories that are literally recorded1 circumstances are inserted that did not occur4' ,cf4 ,bigg1 ,christian ,platonists1 pp4 #acg-h4 #cbf ,cf4 ,jerome1 ad ,nepotian4 ep4 lii4 #b4 #cbg ,s4 ,matt4 xii4 #dj4 #cbh ,s4 ,matt4 xxiv4 #cg-ci4 #cbi ,s4 ,matt4 xxii4 #da-df4 #ccj ,see especially ,s4 ,mark x4 #ag-ah 7and parallel passages71 where our ,lord's question1 if converted into a positive proposition1 suggests a repudiation of personal goodness4 ,cf4 also the question in ,s4 ,john x4 #cd-cf where1 though the argument is a fortiori1 still the true character of our ,lord's sonship is hardly suggested4 #cca ,this limitation of knowledge must not be confused with fallibility or liability to human delusion1 because it was doubtless guarded by the ,divine purpose which led ,jesus ,christ to take it upon ,himself4 #ccb ,of course ,he gave prophetic indications of the coming judgment1 but on the analogy of inspired prophecy4 ,he did not reveal 'times and seasons1' and declared that it was not within the scope of ,his mission to do so4 ,see esp4 ,s4 ,mark xiii4 #cb4 ,he exhibits supernatural insight into men's characters and lives4 ,but ,he never exhibits the omniscience of bare ,godhead in the realm of natural knowledge2 such as would be required to anticipate the results of modern science or criticism4 ,this 'self-emptying' of ,god in the ,incarnation is1 we must always remember1 no failure of power1 but a continuous act of ,self-sacrifice3 cf4 #b ,cor4 viii4 #i and ,phil4 ii4 #g4 ,indeed ,god 'declares ,his almighty power most chiefly' in this condescension1 whereby ,he 'beggared ,himself' of ,divine prerogatives1 to put ,himself in our place4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,church4 ,,walter ,,lock4 ,christianity claims to be at once a life1 a truth1 and a worship2 and1 on all these accounts1 it needs must find expression in a church4 ,for1 in the first place1 the life of an individual remains dwarfed and stunted as long as it is lived in isolation2 it is in its origin the outcome of other lives2 it is at every moment of its existence dependent upon others2 it reaches perfection only when it arrives at a conscious sense of its own deficiencies and limitations1 and1 therefore1 of its dependence1 and through such a sense realizes with thankfulness its true relation to the rest of life around it4 ,again1 the knowledge of truth comes to the individual first through the mediation of others1 of his parents and teachers2 as he grows1 and his own intellect works more freely1 yet its results only gain consistency1 security1 width1 when tested by the results of other workers2 and directly we wish to propagate these results1 they must be embodied in the lives of others1 in societies1 in organizations4 ,without these1 ideas remain in the air1 abstract1 intangible1 appealing perhaps to the philosophic few1 but high above the reach of the many1 the simple4 ',all human society is the receptacle1 nursery1 and dwelling-place of ideas1 shaped and limited according to the nature of the society--ideas which live and act on it and in it2 which are preserved1 passed on1 and transmitted from one portion of it to another1 from one generation to another2 which would be merely abstractions or individual opinions if they were not endowed with the common life which their reception in a society gives them#ccc4' ,these two principles are1 obviously1 not confined to religious questions4 ,they apply to morality1 to society1 to politics4 ,they are assumed in all ethical and political treatises4 ,the need of co-operation for common life underlies the whole structure of the ,republic of ,plato2 it is implied in ,aristotle's definition of man as a social animal1 and in his close association of ,ethics with ,politics3 it has created the family1 the tribe1 the state2 each fresh assertion of the principle1 each breaking down of the barriers which separate family from family1 tribe from tribe1 nation from nation1 has been a step forward in civilization4 ,the strength of co-operation for the propagation of ideas is seen in the persistence with which certain nations retain hold on political theories or peculiar features of character2 it is seen in the recurring formation of philosophic schools or religious sects or guilds1 as soon as any new truth1 intellectual or religious1 has been discovered1 or any moral quality1 such as temperance or purity1 has needed to be emphasized4 ,the most individualistic of ,christian sects have found themselves forced to be ecclesiastical1 to define their creeds and to perfect their organization1 as soon as they have begun to be missionary4 ,these principles are as wide as society2 but religion takes them up and applies them on the highest level4 ,religion is1 almost universally1 the link which binds man to man1 no less than that which binds man to a ,power above him4 ,so in the ,christian ,church--if we may anticipate1 for a moment1 our special application of the principle--the new-born child is taken at once and incorporated into a body of believers2 from the first it draws its life from ,god through the body2 it is taught that throughout life it must keep in touch with the body2 it must be in a right relation to the other members2 it must draw life from them2 it must contribute life to them4 ,and1 further1 this body has existed always and exists still as the home of certain ideas1 ideas about ,god and about human life1 which were revealed in ,jesus ,christ1 and which it has to attest in its teaching and embody in its life4 ,it is to be a body of visible persons1 themselves the light of the world1 expressing so that others can see the manifold wisdom of ,god1 winning others to belief in the unity of ,god1 by the sight of their own one-ness4 ,the first principle might be expressed in the words of ,festus to ,paracelsus1 when the latter had claimed to be ,god's special instrument in the world2 ,were ,i elect like you1 ,i would encircle me with love1 and raise ,a rampart of my fellows3 it should seem ,impossible for me to fail1 so watched ,by gentle friends who made their cause my own ,they should ward off fate's envy3--the great gift1 ,extravagant when claimed by me alone1 ,being so a gift to them as well as me#ccd3 the second principle by lines applied originally to the ,incarnation1 but which we may legitimately transfer to the ,church1 which continues the work of the ,incarnation1 ,and so the ,word had breath1 and wrought ,with human hands the ,creed of ,creeds ,in loveliness of perfect deeds1 ,store strong than all poetic thought#cce4 ,but1 further1 religion adds a third application of its own to this principle of co-operation3 for a church grows also out of the necessities of worship4 ,the ritual needed for the offering of sacrifice almost necessitates of itself a number of persons for its performance4 ,no doubt1 an individual can worship ,god in private1 but so his worship tends to be self-centred and narrow3 for the full expression of his religious relation to others1 for expiating a wrong done by him to his neighbours or to the whole community1 for expressing gratitude for mercies which have come to him through others1 there must be the common meeting3 and the community as a whole has its great victories for which to thank ,god1 its national dangers for which to pray1 its national sins for which to offer expiation2 and hence1 common religious acts have been the universal accompaniment of national life1 and have in their turn reacted upon it4 ,the idea of a ,church1 then1 as conceived in its most general form1 and without especial reference to the ,christian ,church1 is this1 that it widens life by deepening the sense of brotherhood2 that it teaches1 strengthens1 and propagates ideas by enshrining truth in living witnesses1 by checking the results of isolated thinkers by contact with other thinkers1 and by securing permanency for the ideas2 and that it expands and deepens worship by eliminating all that is selfish and narrow1 and giving expression to common aims and feelings4 ,we pass from such priori ideas to the evidence of the ,bible4 ,there we find that these principles were embodied first in ,judaism4 ,there the whole nation was the ,church4 ,the ,jew entered into the religious privileges of his life1 not by any conscious act of his own1 but by being born of ,jewish parents2 he retained his true life by remaining in contact with his nation4 ,the union of the different members of the nation with each other is so intimate that the whole nation is spoken of as a personal unit4 ,it is called ',god's ,son1 ,his 'first-born ,son1' ',jehovah's servant4' ,the ideal of prophecy is essentially that of a restored nation rejoicing in the rule of national righteousness4 ,again1 the nation was chosen out specially to bear witness to truth1 truth about the nature of ,god1 the ,almighty1 the ,eternal1 the ,holy2 truth embodied in the facts of history1 and deepened in the revelations of prophecy2 truths which the fathers teach their children1 'that they should not hide them from the children of the generations to come#ccf4' ,in the striking phrase of ,s4 ,athanasius1 the law and the prophets were 'a sacred school of the knowledge of ,god and of spiritual life for the whole world#ccg4' ,their worship1 too1 was essentially social and national4 ,from the first it centred round great national events1 the fortunes of the harvest1 or the crises of national history3 the individual was purified from sin that he might be worthy to take part in the national service2 the events of the nation's history were celebrated in religious hymns2 the capital of the nation became the one and only recognised centre for the highest worship4 ,but ,judaism adds to these principles a further principle of its own4 ,it claims that such privileges as were granted to it1 were not granted to it for its own sake1 but that it might be a source of blessing to all nations3 it assumes that they are on a lower religious level than itself2 that instead of each nation progressing equally along the line of religious life1 truth1 and worship1 other nations have fallen backward and the ,jew has been chosen out for a special privilege4 ,it is the principle that ,god works by 'limitation1' by apparent 'exclusiveness1' by that which is in its essence 'sacerdotalism'2 the principle that ,god does not give ,his gifts equally to all1 but specially to a few1 that they may use them for the good of the whole4 ,this principle seems at first sight to offend some modern abstract ideas of justice and equality2 but the moment we examine the facts of life1 we find it prevailing universally4 ,each nation has its peculiar gift3 the ,greek makes his parallel claim to be specially gifted with the love of knowledge and the power of artistic expression2 the ,roman with the power of rule and the belief in law4 ,or1 again1 within a single nation1 it is the artist who enables us to see the beauty of a face or a landscape which had escaped us before3 ,art was given for that1 ,god uses us to help each other so1 ,lending our minds out4 ,it is the poet who interprets our inner nature or the magic of the external world1 and becomes ,a priest to us all ,of the wonder and bloom of the world1 ,which we see with his eyes and are glad3 he sings ,till the world is wrought ,to sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not#cch4 ,and this principle does not stop short of religious influences ,conscience is itself a witness to it1 as it implies that all parts of our nature are not sufficient guides to themselves1 but that ,god has gifted one special faculty with power to control the rest4 ',men of character1' it has been said1 'are the conscience of the society to which they belong4' ,in the ,jewish nation itself1 the prophets were the circle of ,jehovah's friends2 they knew ,his secrets1 they kept alive the ideal of the nation4 ',what the soul is in the body1 that are ,christians in the world' was the parallel claim of an early apologist#cci4 ,analogies crowd in1 then1 on every side1 to shew how rational is this claim on the part of ,judaism4 ,revelation only accepts this fact1 and adds to it the assertion that it is no accident but a part of the ,divine ,purpose4 ,it is the result of ,god's election4 ,the ,jewish nation1 and subsequently the ,christian ,church1 is not only a blessing to the rest of the world1 but it is conscious that it is a blessing4 ,this truth has been revealed to it partly to keep it ever mindful of its sense of dependence upon the ,giver of all good gifts1 partly to give it tenacity and courage to cling to a gift which it knows to be of inestimable value for all mankind4 ',the election was simply a method of procedure adopted by ,god in ,his wisdom by which ,he designed to fit the few for blessing the many1 one for blessing all#cdj4' ,it must be from considerations such as these that we approach the foundation of the ,christian ,church and the ,incarnation of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ on which it rests4 ,we approach it with the expectation that we shall find these principles embodied in it1 for ,christianity sprang directly out of ,judaism1 and so would naturally inherit its principles3 and to go deeper still1 the very essence of the ,incarnation lies in the consecration of human life and human means4 ,he who before had been acting invisibly upon the world as the ,word1 implanting life and light in man1 now entered visibly into human flesh4 ,all tendencies which made for the fulness of life and truth before ,his coming1 all that tended to enlighten1 elevate1 combine men1 had been ,his unknown working3 now they are known to be ,his4 ,the ,infinite appears in finite form2 the spiritual takes the material in which to express itself2 human media are consecrated to deeper ends1 and charged with a fuller meaning than before3 so that1 in ,hooker's words1 ',we cannot now conceive how ,god should1 without man1 exercise ,divine power or receive the glory of ,divine praise#cda4' ',what you do now even after the flesh1 that is spiritual' is the bold paradox of ,s4 ,ignatius2 and he adds the reason1 'for you do all in ,christ ,jesus#cdb4' ,thus-- ,in this twofold sphere1 the twofold man ,holds firmly to the natural1 to reach ,the spiritual beyond it4444 ,the whole temporal show related royally ,and built up to eterne significance ,through the open arms of ,god#cdc4 ,the ,incarnation1 then1 takes up all the three principles of which we have spoken3 but1 from the very finality which it claims for itself1 it puts a mark of finality upon each of them1 and so1 in this respect1 marks off the application of them in the ,christian ,church from all other applications of the same principles4 ,the principle of co-operation for spiritual life is taken up2 the ,jewish nation is expanded into an universal brotherhood2 this includes all men1 without any distinction of race2 it includes the quick and the dead2 it aims at the highest spiritual perfection4 ,it is final in this sense1 that nothing can be wider in extent or deeper in aim2 but it is final also in the sense that the life has been manifested4 ,christians do not combine to work up to some unsuspected ideal3 they combine to draw out and express in their common life the perfection that was in ,christ4 ,the principle of association for the propagation of ideas is taken up1 but they are truths about ,god and ,his relation to human nature3 they are truths which have been revealed1 which have been once for all delivered to the saints4 ,finally1 the principle of association for worship is taken up2 the worship is made as wide as humanity2 it is to be as spiritual as ,god2 but it1 too1 rests on final facts1 on the facts of creation and redemption3 it centres round the one complete sacrifice for sin4 ,let us consider each of these points more in detail4 #a4 ,the ,church is an organization for the purpose of spiritual life2 an universal brotherhood knit together to build up each of its members into holiness2 'the only great school of virtue existing4' ,but if this is so1 if it is universal1 is the principle of 'limitation1' of 'exclusiveness1' gone8 ,certainly not4 ,it is there1 and it is most instructive to notice how it arises#cdd4 ,christ chose a small body of disciples to be in close contact with ,himself1 to share ,his work1 and to receive ,his deeper teaching4 ,this will not surprise us after the analogies of the prophets1 the poets1 the artists of the world4 ,the saints too may be few1 and ,god may lend their spirits out for the good of others4 ,but1 moreover1 in the first formation of the ,church we are able to watch the process of limitation1 as historically worked out2 and we see that it arises not from any narrowness1 any grudging of ,his blessings1 on the part of ,christ1 but from the narrowness1 the limitations in man4 ,man is 'straitened' not in ,god1 not in ,christ1 but in his own affections4 ,god willed all men to be saved3 ,christ went about doing good and calling all to a change of heart1 to a share in the kingdom of ,heaven3 but such a call made demands upon ,his hearers2 it required that they should give up old prejudices about the ,messianic kingdom1 that they should be willing to leave father and mother and houses and lands for the truth's sake1 that they should lay aside all the things that defile a man1 that they should aim at being perfect1 that they should not only hear but understand the word1 that they should trust ,him even when ,his sayings were hard4 ,and these demands produced the limitations4 ,the ,pharisees preferred the glory of men to the glory which came from ,god2 the masses in ,galilee cared only for the bread that perisheth2 many of the disciples turned back2 and so ,he could not commit ,himself unto them1 because ,he knew what was in man4 ,not to them1 not to any chance person1 but to the ,twelve1 to those who had stood these tests1 to those who had1 in spite of all perplexity1 seen in ,him the ,son of the ,living ,god1 to them ,he could commit ,himself1 they could share ,his secrets2 they could be taught clearly the certainty and the meaning of ,his coming death1 for they had begun to learn what self-sacrifice meant2 they could do ,his work and organize ,his ,church2 they could bind and loose in ,his ,name2 they could represent ,him when ,he was gone4 ,these are the elect2 they who had the will to listen to the call#cde2 they who were 'magnanimous to correspond with heaven'2 to them ,he gave at ,pentecost the full conscious gift of the ,holy ,spirit1 and so at last formed them into the ,church1 the ,church which was to continue ,his work1 which was to convey ,his grace1 which was to go into the whole world1 holding this life as a treasure for the sake of the whole world1 praying and giving thanks for all men1 because the unity of ,god and the unity of the mediation of ,christ inspires them with hope that all may be one in ,him#cdf4 ,the day of ,pentecost was thus the birthday of the ,church4 ,before there were followers of the ,lord2 now there was the ,church3 and this as the result of a new act1 for which all that preceded had been but preparation3 now the ,church was born in becoming the possessor of a common corporate life4 ,the ,spirit was given to the whole body of ,christians together3 it was not given to an individual here and there in such a way that such ,spirit-bearing individuals could then come together and form a ,church4 ,it was given corporately1 so that they who received the ,spirit realized at once a unity which preceded any individual action of their own4 ,so the ,church has gone forth offering its message freely to all2 in ,christ ,jesus there is neither ,jew nor ,gentile2 the message is given openly1 'without any veil1' to all2 all are accepted who will submit themselves to ,baptism1 i4e4 all who recognise the element of evil and of weakness in their own life1 who are willing to die to it and receive fresh life and strength from the ,risen ,lord1 and to submit their life to ,his discipline4 ,that is the ,church as presented to us in the ,new ,testament4 ,metaphor after metaphor is lavished upon it by our ,lord and by ,s4 ,paul in order to make clear the conception of it4 ,he is the ,vine1 ,his disciples are the branches2 they draw all their life from ,him3 apart from ,him they can do nothing2 if in union with ,him1 they bear fruit4 ,the ,church is a household1 a scene of active work1 of 'skilled and trained activity'3 each member with his own work1 some as mere members of the household1 others as rulers set over the household to give them meat in due season1 each with talents to be used faithfully for the ,master4 ,it is a family1 in which 'all ye are brethren1' laying obligations of love between brother and brother1 calling out self-sacrifice for the good of others1 deepening in each the sense of the value of the lives of others4 ,it is the ,body of ,christ1 that which grows stronger and stronger1 that which draws its life from the ,head and must hold to ,him1 that in which ,christian is linked to ,christian in sympathy and complete interdependence1 that without which the ,head would be incomplete1 the necessary organ for completing ,christ's work on earth1 that which the ,spirit takes as its channel for manifesting to the world the very 'life of ,god4' ,it is ,god's ,temple2 visible1 made up of parts1 which are fitted in to one another in symmetry2 beautiful with a spiritual beauty2 for there a living ,god is present2 there ,he speaks to ,his own2 there they offer to ,him a rational service#cdg4 ,it is the ,bride of ,christ1 the dearest object of ,christ's love1 which gives herself to ,him for ,his service1 which for ,his sake keeps herself pure in life and doctrine2 which receives from ,him all the treasures of ,his love1 so that as ,he had received the fulness of ,god1 'the aggregate of the ,divine attributes1 virtues1 and energies' from the ,father1 the ,church receives all this from ,him and manifests it forth to the world of men and of angels4 ,but this picture1 it will be urged1 is only a prophecy of the future2 the evidence of ,s4 ,paul's ,epistles will also shew us a very different scene in real life1 a body with tendencies to divisions1 to selfishness1 to sin4 ,this is quite true1 but the ideal is never thought of as something different from the real2 the ideal is not simply in heaven nor the real simply on earth2 the real is the ideal1 though not yet completely developed2 the ideal is the actual basis of the real as much as the goal to which the real is tending4 ,the members of the ,church have been consecrated2 they are holy2 they are 'unleavened'2 they have put on ,christ2 they have by their self-committal to ,him received a righteousness which they can work out into perfection4 ,again1 they are brothers2 they have been made children of ,god by adoption3 as they have realized the sense of sonship1 they realize also the closeness of the tie between themselves and the other sons1 their common sympathies1 hopes and aims4 ,true1 they are not yet perfect either in holiness or in love3 the very purpose of the ,church is to make them perfect4 ,it takes the individual at his birth1 it incorporates him into its own life1 it watches over him from beginning to end1 it feeds him with spiritual food1 it disciplines him by spiritual laws1 it blesses him at all the chief moments of life1 it takes him away from his own isolation1 trains him in social aims and social duties by social sacraments1 finally1 gives him back to ,god with its benediction4 ,such a conception of the ,church as a nursery1 a school1 a home1 implies of necessity that it should be visible1 and that it should be one4 ,it is a visible body1 because it has in some sense to represent the ,incarnate ,lord4 ,in the ,incarnation spirit took material form and expressed itself thereby2 in the risen ,lord--and it is the risen ,lord who gives the ,spirit to the ,church--there was still a spiritual body4 ,this is not to deny the invisible reality of spiritual unity which underlies the external visible unity4 ,it is only to say that completeness means both4 ,in the language of ,s4 ,ignatius1 as ,christ ,jesus was at once material and spiritual1 so1 the unity of the ,church should be at once material and spiritual#cdh4 ,the idea of an invisible ,church to express the body of true believers1 who alone are the ,church1 to whatever community they belong1 so that the visible ,church becomes an unimportant thing1 is an idea entirely at variance with ,scripture and all pre-reformation teaching4 ,the phrase is first found in almost contemporary writings of ,luther and of ,zwingli2 it is akin to the teaching of ,hus and of ,wiclif2 and1 no doubt1 there are thoughts and phrases in earlier writers that are more or less akin to it4 ,from the first there was obviously a distinction between the true and untrue ,christian1 between the spiritual and the fleshly1 between the vessels to honour and the vessels to dishonour1 and the first of these classes1 those who persevere to the end1 whom man cannot know and ,god only knows1 those who1 if thought of in the light of ,god's eternal purposes1 are the predestined1 these were treated and spoken of as 'the ,church properly so called1' 'the true body of ,christ4' ,christians 'who do the will of the ,father will belong to the first ,church1 the spiritual ,church founded before the sun and moon4' ,those who have lived in perfect righteousness according to the ,gospel 'will rest in the holy hill of ,god1 in the highest ,church1 in which are gathered the philosophers of ,god#cdi4' ,again1 the ,church on earth is regarded as 'a copy of the ,church in heaven in which ,god's will is done'3 but in each case there is no contrast between the visible and the invisible ,church4 ,the invisible ,church is in these cases either the ideal of the visible2 or that part of the visible organized ,church which has remained true to its aims4 ,so too with regard to those who are not conscious believers2 the possibility of their salvation1 in a qualified way1 is heartily recognised1 but the confusion is not made of calling them members of the ,church4 ,the fatal danger is when the belief in the invisible ,church is used to discredit the visible ,church and the importance of belonging to it4 ,it is scarcely too much to say1 that all stress laid upon the invisible ,church tends to lower the demands of holiness and brotherhood4 ,it is a visible ,church1 and such a ,church as can attract outsiders1 which calls out the fruits of faith into active energy2 it is a visible ,church such as can combine ,christians in active work1 which tests brotherhood1 which rubs away idiosyncrasy1 which destroys vanity and jealousy1 which restrains personal ambition1 which trains in the power of common work1 which1 as our own powers fail1 or are proved inadequate1 for some task on which our heart had been set1 still fills us with hope that ,god will work through others that which it is clear ,he will not work through us4 ,it is a visible ,church alone which is 'the home of the lonely4' ,encompassed as we are now from our birth by ,christian friends and associations1 we tend to forget how much we depend on the spiritual help and sympathy of others4 ,the greatness of our blessings blinds us to their presence1 and we seem to stand in our own strength while we are leaning upon others4 ,the relation of the soul to ,god is a tender thing2 personal religion1 which seems so strong1 while in a ,christian atmosphere1 tends to grow weak1 to totter1 to fall1 as we stand alone in some distant country1 amid low moral standards and heathen faiths4 ,such solitude does indeed often1 in those who are strong1 deepen1 in a marvellous way1 the invisible communion with ,god and the ties that knit us with the absent2 but the result is often fatal to the weak4 ,it throws both strong and weak alike into closer sympathy with those who share a common faith4 ,it is a visible ,church which supplies this sympathy1 which gives the assurance that each soul1 as it is drawn to ,god1 shall not stand alone2 but that it shall find around it strengthening hands and sympathetic hearts1 which shall train it till1 as in the quiet confidence of a home1 it shall blossom into the full ,christian life4 ,the principle of the unity of the ,church is very similar4 ,that1 again1 is primarily and essentially a spiritual unity4 ,the ultimate source is1 according to the ,lord's own teaching1 the unity of the ,godhead3 'that they may be one1 even as we are one4' ,the effect of the outpouring of the ,spirit is to make the multitude of them that believed 'of one heart and one soul4' ,baptism becomes the source of unity1 ',in one ,spirit were we all baptized into one body3' the 'one bread' becomes the security of union4 ',we who are many are one bread1 one body1 for we all partake of the one bread4' ,more fully still is the unity drawn out in the ,epistle to the ,ephesians4 ',there is one body and one ,spirit1 even as ye are called in one hope of our calling1 one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism1 one ,god and ,father of all4' ,the unity starts with being spiritual2 it is the power of the ,one ,god drawing men together by ,his action upon their spirits2 uniting them in the service of one ,lord who has redeemed them1 but it issues in 'one body4' ,nothing can be stronger than the assertion of such unity4 ,but in what does this unity lie1 and what is to be the safeguard of it8 ,no one answer is possible to this question4 ,clearly1 one part of the answer is1 a unity of spiritual aim1 'one hope of your calling3' another answer is1 a common basis of belief1 common trust in the same ,lord1 'one faith2' a further answer is1 common social sacraments1 'one baptism1' 'one bread4' ,all these lie on the face of these passages of ,s4 ,paul4 ,are we to add to them 'a common government1' 'an apostolical succession8' ,was this of the essence or a late addition1 a result of subsequent confederation intended to guarantee the permanence of dogma8 ,no doubt1 the circumstances of subsequent history moulded the exact form of the ministry1 and emphasized the importance of external organization under particular circumstances2 but this is no less true of the other points of unity2 the unity of spiritual life was worked out in one way in the times of public discipline and penance1 in another way when these fell into disuse3 the unity of faith was brought into prominence in the times of the formulating of the ,creeds4 ,so the unity of external organization was emphasized when it was threatened by the ,gnostic1 ,novatian1 and ,donatist controversies4 ,but the germ of it is there from the first1 and it was no later addition4 ,the spiritual unity derived from the ,lord is imparted through ,sacraments2 but this at once links the inward life and spiritual unity with some form of external organization4 ,and so the writer of the ,epistle to the ,ephesians after his great description of ,christian unity1 goes on at once to speak of the ministry4 ,the apostles1 prophets1 evangelists1 pastors1 teachers1 these are special gifts of the ascended ,lord to the ,church2 and they are given for the very purpose of securing unity1 'for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministering1 unto the building up of the body of ,christ1 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith4' ,no less significantly1 when ,s4 ,paul is applying to the ,church the metaphor of the body and its members in order to emphasize the unity of the whole1 does he rank apostles1 prophets1 teachers1 as the most important members of the body#cej4 ,the history of the early ,church1 so far as it can be traced1 points the same way4 ,the ,lord appointed ,his body of twelve3 ,he gave them the power to bind and to loose1 the power to exercise discipline over offending members of the ,church4 ,at first1 the ,christian ,church is a purely ,jewish body2 it continues in the ,apostles' fellowship as well as doctrine2 they distribute its alms2 they punish unworthy members2 they arrange its differences2 they appoint subordinate officers2 they ratify their actions1 and sanction the admission of ,samaritans and proselytes to the ,church2 but the various members throughout ,judea1 ,galilee1 and ,samaria1 are embraced in the single conception of one ,church#cea4 ,then under the guidance of ,paul and ,barnabas1 the ,gentiles are brought in and formed into churches2 the danger to unity becomes acute4 ,according to the ,acts of the ,apostles1 it is surmounted by reference to the ,church at ,jerusalem2 the ,apostles and ,elders there decide the question1 and the ,gentile ,churches are thus kept in communion with it4 ,s4 ,paul's letters1 with all the difficulty there is of reconciling every detail with the historian's account1 present us with essentially the same picture4 ,in dealing with his own ,churches1 he claims absolute right1 as apostle1 to hand on and lay down traditions1 to punish1 to forgive1 to govern3 he leaves some class of ministers in every ,church under his guidance2 each ,church is to administer discipline over unworthy members4 ,but the ,churches cannot act independently3 the ,church at ,corinth is not to act as though it were the fountain head of ,christianity1 or the only ,gentile ,church2 it is to remember the customs in other ,churches4 ,further than this1 above 'all the ,churches1' appears already as one body 'the ,church1' in which ,god has set apostles#ceb2 within it there are separate spheres of work1 ,paul and ,barnabas are to go to the ,gentiles1 the leading ,jewish apostles to the ,jews2 ,s4 ,paul will not intrude beyond the province assigned to him2 he makes his ,gentile ,churches to contribute to the needs of the ,jewish ,church1 and realize the debt which they owe to them4 ,any divisions in a local ,church cannot be tolerated1 as being inconsistent with the unity of ,christ1 with ,his cross1 and with the significance of baptism4 ,peter stands condemned when he wishes to separate himself and so causes division between ,jew and ,gentile4 ,the importance attached to external organization is surely implied in all of this1 and the circumstances of the second century forced out into clearness what was so implied4 ,gnosticism1 ,montanism1 ,novatianism all tended to found new bodies1 which claimed to be the true ,church4 ,how was the individual ,christian to test their claims8 ,it was in the face of this question that ,church writers1 notably ,s4 ,cyprian and ,s4 ,irenaeus1 emphasized the importance of historical continuity in the ,church as secured by the apostolical succession of the episcopate4 ,the unity of the ,church came primarily1 they urged1 from ,god1 from heaven1 from the ,father2 it was secured by the foundation of the ,church upon the ,apostles2 the bishops have succeeded to the ,apostles and so become the guardians of the unity of the ,church4 ,as soon then as we find the ,christian episcopate universally organized1 we find it treated as an institution received from the ,apostles and as carrying with it the principle of historic continuity4 ,so it has remained ever since1 side by side with the other safeguards of unity1 the sacraments and the common faith4 ,the ,roman ,church has added to it what seemed a further safeguard of unity1 the test of communion with itself2 but this was a later claim1 a claim which was persistently resented1 and which was urged with disastrous results4 ,the ,reformed ,churches of the ,continent1 in their protest against that additional test1 have rejected the whole principle of historic continuity2 they have remained satisfied with the bond of a common faith and of common sacraments3 but the result can scarcely be said to be as yet a securer unity4 ,even an ,unitarian historian recognises heartily that the characteristic of the ,church in ,england is this continuity4 ',there is no point1' urges ,mr4 ,beard#cec1 'at which it can be said1 here the old ,church ends1 here the new begins4444 ,the retention of the ,episcopate by the ,english ,reformers at once helped to preserve this continuity and marked it in the distinctest way4444 ,it is an obvious historical fact that ,parker was the successor of ,augustine1 just as clearly as ,lanfranc and ,becket4' ,this1 then1 is what the ,church claims to be as the home of grace1 the channel of spiritual life4 ,it claims to be a body of living persons who have given themselves up to the call of ,christ to carry on ,his work in the world2 a body which was organized by ,himself thus far that the ,apostles were put in sole authority over it2 a body which received the ,spirit to dwell within it at ,pentecost2 a body which propagated itself by spiritual birth2 a body in which the ministerial power was handed on by the ,apostles to their successors1 which has remained so organized till the present day1 and has moved on through the world1 sometimes allied with1 sometimes in separation from the ,state1 always independent of it2 a body which lays on each of its members the duty of holiness1 and the obligation of love1 and trains them in both4 ,but two objections arise here1 which must be dealt with shortly4 ,it is urged first1 this is an unworthy limitation3 we ought to love all men2 to treat all men as brothers2 why limit this love1 this feeling of brotherhood to the baptized1 to the ,church8 ,true1 we ought to love and honour all men1 to do good to all men4 ,the love of the ,christian1 like the love of ,christ1 knows no limits2 but the limitations are in man himself4 ,all human nature is not lovable3 all men are not love-worthy4 ,love must1 at least1 mean a different thing2 it must weaken its connotation if applied to all men2 there may be pity1 there may be faith1 there may be a prophetic anticipating love for the sinner and the criminal1 as we recall their origin and forecast the possibilities of their future2 but love in the highest sense1 love that delights in and admires its object1 love that is sure of a response1 the sense of brotherhood which knows that it can trust a brother--these are not possible with the wanton1 the selfish1 the hypocrite4 ,though man has social instincts which draw him into co-operation with others2 he has also tendencies to selfishness and impurity which work against the spirit of brotherhood and make it impossible4 ,not till we have some security that the man's real self is on the side of unselfishness1 can we trust him2 and baptism with its gifts of grace1 baptism with its death to the selfish nature1 baptism with its profession of allegiance to the leadership of ,christ1 this1 at least1 gives us some security4 ,even ,comte1 with his longing for brotherhood1 tells us that in forming our conception of humanity we must not take in all men1 but those only who are really assimilable1 in virtue of a real co-operation towards the common existence1 and ,mr4 ,cotter ,morison would eliminate and suppress those who have no altruistic affection4 ,we limit1 then1 only so far as seems necessary to gain reality2 we train men in the narrower circle of brotherhood1 that they may become enthusiasts for it1 and go forth as missionaries to raise others to their own level4 ,as for those who lie outside ,christianity1 the ,church1 like our ,lord ,himself in the parable of the sheep and the goats1 like ,s4 ,paul in his anticipation of the judgment day1 recognises all the good there is in them2 like ,justin ,martyr and many of the early ,fathers1 it traces in them the work of the ,divine ,word2 and yet none the less did these writers claim and does the ,church still claim for itself the conscious gift of spiritual life1 in a sense higher than anything that lies outside itself4 ,but many1 who would follow thus far1 would draw another line1 and would include within the ,church all the baptized1 whether professing churchmen or not4 ,once more1 so far as we draw any distinction within the limits of the baptized1 it is for the sake of reality4 ,we recognise that every atom of their faith is genuine1 that so far as they have one ,lord1 one faith1 one baptism1 they are true members of the ,church2 that so far as they have banded themselves together into a society1 they have something akin to the reality of the ,church1 and gain some of its social blessings4 ,but then it is they who have banded themselves together into a society3 and that means they have done it at their own risk4 ,we rest upon the validity of our sacraments1 because they were founded by the ,lord ,himself1 because they have ,his special promises1 because they have been handed down in regular and valid channels to us4 ,have they equal security that their sacraments are valid8 ,again1 we must hold that schism means something of evil3 that it causes weakness3 that it thus prevents the full work of brotherhood1 of knitting ,christian with ,christian in common worship3 that so it prevents the complete witness of the ,church in the world2 that in so far as such ,christians are schismatic1 they are untrue and harmful members of the ,church4 ,the full complete claim of the ,church is that it is a body visibly meeting together in a common life1 and forming by historical continuity a part of the actual body founded by our ,lord ,himself4 ,it would be unreal to apply this conception of a complete historic brotherhood to those who have separated themselves from the ,church's worship1 and whose boast is that they were founded by ,wesley1 or ,luther1 or ,calvin4 ,a ,church so founded is not historically founded by ,christ4 ,it may have been founded to carry on the work of ,christ1 it may have been founded in imitation of ,him1 and with the sincerest loyalty to ,his person1 but it cannot be said to have been founded by ,him4 ,even if circumstances have justified it1 it is at any rate not the ideal2 and whatever confessions the historic ,church may have to make of its own shortcomings1 it still must witness to the ideal of a visible unity and historical continuity4 ,amid the divisions of ,christendom1 and in face of her own shortcomings1 the ,church of ,england does not claim to be the full complete representation of the ,church of ,christ4 ,she is only one national expression of the ,catholic ,church3 she feels that 'it is safer for us to widen the pale of the kingdom of ,god1 than to deny the fruits of the ,spirit#ced2' she has ever on her lips the prayer1 ',remember not1 ,lord1 our offences1 nor the offences of our forefathers1 neither take vengeance of our sins1' and yet she must make her claim boldly and fearlessly to have retained the true ideal of the ,church2 to be loyal to the essential principle that her life comes historically from ,christ and not from man4 ,,ii4 ,but the ,church is the school of truth as well as the school of virtue4 ,its ministers form a priesthood of truth as well as a priesthood of sacrifice4 ,its priests' lips have 'to keep knowledge4' ,christianity is1 as the ,school of ,alexandria loved to represent it1 a ,divine philosophy1 and the ,church its school4 ,this conception of the ,church starts from our ,lord's own words4 ,his ,apostles are to be as scribes instructed unto the kingdom of ,heaven2 they are to have the scribes' power to decide what is and what is not binding in the kingdom2 the ,spirit is to lead them into all truth2 they are to make disciples of all the nations1 'teaching them to observe all things whatsoever ,i commanded you4' ,the function of the ,church then with regard to truth is primarily to bear witness to that which has been revealed4 ,it does not primarily reveal1 it tells of the truths which have been embodied in the historic life of ,jesus ,christ or explained in ,his teaching4 ',one is its teacher2 ,one is its master1 even the ,christ4' ,it holds a 'faith once delivered to the saints4' ,hence1 from the first1 there grew up some quasi-authoritative formula1 in which we can see the germ of the later ,creeds1 which each ,christian ,missionary would teach to his converts4 ,s4 ,paul himself received from others and handed on to the ,corinthians1 as his first message to them1 some such half-stereotyped ,creed1 narrating the central facts of the ,death and ,resurrection of the ,lord2 his teaching was as a mould which shaped the lives of the converts as they were poured1 like so much molten metal1 into it4 ,it was authoritative1 not even an angel from heaven could preach another gospel4 ,as time went on and false teaching spread1 this side of the ,church's work is emphasized more and more4 ,the ,church is to be the pillar and ground-work of the truth4 ,timothy and ,titus are to hold fast the deposit1 to prevent false teaching1 to secure wholesomeness of doctrine no less than sobriety of life4 ,the contests of the next centuries bring out this idea of witness into clearer prominence1 and the ,episcopate1 as it had been the guarantee of unity1 becomes now the guarantee of truth4 ,thus1 ,s4 ,ignatius is face to face with ,docetic and ,gnostic teaching2 with him the bishops are 'in the mind of ,jesus ,christ2' they are to be treated 'as the ,lord2' to avoid heresy1 it is necessary to avoid 'separation from the ,god of ,jesus ,christ1 from the ,bishop and the ordinances of the ,apostles2' the one bishop is ranked with the one ,eucharist1 the one flesh of ,jesus ,christ1 the one cup1 the one altar1 as the source of unity2 submission to the ,bishop and the ,presbyters is a means towards holiness1 towards spiritual strength and spiritual joy#cee4 ,these are incidental expressions in letters written at a moment of spiritual excitement3 but the same appeal reappears in calmer controversial treatises4 ,s4 ,irenaeus argues against ,gnosticism on exactly the same grounds4 ,truth is essentially a thing received2 it was received by the ,apostles from ,christ4 ,he was the truth ,himself2 ,he revealed it to ,his ,apostles2 they embodied it in their writings and handed it on to the ,bishops and ,presbyters who succeeded them2 hence the test of truth is to be sought in ,holy ,scripture and in the teaching of those ,churches which were founded directly by the ,apostles#cef4 ,with equal strength ,tertullian urges that the truth was received by the churches from the ,apostles1 by the ,apostles from ,christ1 by ,christ from ,god2 it is therefore independent of individuals2 it must be sought for in ,holy ,scripture1 but as the canon of that is not fixed1 and its interpretation is at times doubtful1 it must be supplemented by the evidence of the apostolic ,churches2 and he challenges the heretics to produce the origin of their churches and shew that the series of bishops runs back to some ,apostle or apostolic man#ceg4 ,the ,church is thus primarily a witness3 the strength of its authority lies in the many sides from which the witness comes2 but the exigencies of controversy1 and indeed of thought even apart from controversy1 rendered necessary another function in respect to truth4 ,the ,church was compelled to formulate1 to express its witness in relation to the intellectual difficulties of the time4 ,christianity is indeed essentially a matter not of the intellect1 but of the will1 a personal relation of trust in a personal ,god4 ,its first instinct is1 as the first instinct of friendship would be1 to resent intellectual analysis and dogmatic definition4 ,but as the need of telling others about a friend1 or defending him against slander1 would compel us to analyse his qualities and define his attractiveness2 so it was with the ,church's relation to the ,lord4 ,it bore witness to the impression which ,his life had made upon ,his followers that ,he was ,divine2 it bore witness to the facts of the life that attested it and to ,his own statements4 ,but the claim was denied2 it needed justifying2 it needed to be shewn to be consistent with other truths1 such as the unity of ,god1 and the reality of ,his own human nature1 and so definition was forced upon the ,church4 ,the germ of such definitions is found in the ,new ,testament2 the deeper ,christological teaching of the ,epistles to the ,ephesians and to the ,colossians1 and of the prologue of ,s4 ,john are instances of such intellectual analysis and formulation1 and were evidently written in the face of controversy4 ,the technical decisions of the great councils of the fourth and fifth centuries and their expression in the ,nicene and ',athanasian' ,creeds are the outcome of the same tendency4 ,yet even in them1 the ,church acts1 in a sense1 as a witness2 the ,scriptures are appealed to as the ultimate authority2 the ,creed is the summary of its chief doctrines3 the one aim is to secure and express the truth witnessed to by churches throughout the world1 to eliminate novelty and caprice2 the new definitions are accepted1 because they alone are felt to express the instinct of the ,church's worship4 ,by this time the canon of ,holy ,scripture was fixed4 ,it becomes thenceforth an undying fountain of life from which the water of pure doctrine can be drawn4 ,tradition and development can always be checked by that4 ,in the truths then which the ,church teaches we may distinguish two classes4 ,first1 there are the central truths to which it bears absolute witness2 such as the ,fatherhood of ,god1 the ,person and work of ,jesus ,christ1 the ,redemption of all mankind1 the origin and purpose of human life4 ,these it teaches authoritatively4 ,its conduct is exactly analogous to that of a parent teaching the moral law to his children2 teaching the commandments authoritatively at first1 till the child can be educated to understand the reason of them4 ,so the ,church says to her children1 or to those who are seeking after truth 'there is an absolute truth in religion as well as in morality3 we have tested it2 generations of the saints have found it true4 ,it is a truth independent of individual teachers2 independent of the shifting moods of opinion at any particular period2 and you must accept it on our authority first4 ,further1 these are truths which affect life1 therefore they cannot be apprehended merely by the intellect4 ,you must commit yourself to them2 act upon them2 there is a time when the seeker after truth sees where it lies2 then it must cease to be an open question4 ,you must seek till you find1 but when you have once found truth1 you must commit yourself to it#ceh4 ,you must believe that you may understand2 but it is that you may understand4' ,the dogma is authoritatively taught1 that the individual may be kept safe from mere individual caprice and fancifulness1 but also that he himself may come to a rational understanding of his belief4 ,no doubt the truth is so wide that to the end of our lives we shall still feel the need of guidance and of teaching4 ',as long as we live1' said ,calvin1 'our weakness will not allow us to be discharged from school4' ,like ,s4 ,ignatius on his way to martyrdom1 the ,christian may feel at his dying day1 ',now ,i begin to be a disciple2' but the aim of the ,church is to make each member have a rational hold upon his faith4 ,when we are young we accept a doctrine because the ,church teaches it to us2 when we are grown up1 we love the ,church because it taught us the doctrine4 ',the ,churchman never surrenders his individual responsibility4 ,but he may and must surrender some portion at least of his independence1 and he benefits greatly by the surrender#cei4' ',submission to the authority of the ,church is the merging of our mere individualism in the whole historic life of the great ,christian brotherhood2 it is making ourselves at one with the one religion in its most permanent and least merely local form4 ,it is surrendering our individuality only to empty it of its narrowness#cfj4' ,secondly1 there are other truths1 which are rather deductions from these central points or statements of them in accordance with the needs of the age2 such as the mode of the relation of the ,divine and human natures in ,christ1 of free-will to predestination1 or the method of the ,atonement1 or the nature of the ,inspiration of ,holy ,scripture4 ,if1 in any case1 a point of this kind has consciously come before the whole ,church and been reasoned out and been decided upon1 such a decision raises it into the higher class of truths1 which are taught authoritatively2 but if this is not so1 the matter remains an open question4 ,it remains a question for the theologians2 it is not imposed on individual ,christians2 though it may at any time become ripe for decision4 ,the very fixity of the great central doctrines allows the ,church to give a remarkable freedom to individual opinion on all other points4 ,practically1 how much wider is the summary of the rule of faith as given in ,irenaeus 7,,iii4 #d71 or ,tertullian 7,praescr4 #ac71 or ,origen 7,de ,principiis71 or in the ,apostles' or ,nicene ,creed1 than the tests of orthodoxy that would be imposed in a modern religious1 or scientific circle6 ,s4 ,vincent of ,lerins is the great champion of antiquity as the test of truth2 yet he who lays it down that 'to declare any new truth to ,catholic ,christians over and above that which they have received never was allowed1 nowhere is allowed1 and never will be allowed1' also insists on the duty of development1 of growth1 within the true lines of the central truths4 ',is there1' he assumes an objector to urge1 'to be no growth within the ,church8 ,nay1 let there be growth to the greatest extent2 who would be so grudging to man1 such an enemy to ,god1 as to attempt to prevent it2 but yet let it be such that it be growth1 not change of the faith4444 ,as time goes on1 it is right that the old truths should be elaborated1 polished1 filed down2 it is wrong that they should be changed1 maimed or mutilated4 ,they should be made clear1 have light thrown on them1 be marked off from each other2 but they must not lose their fulness1 their entirety1 their essential character#cfa4 ,so it has happened in the course of the ,christian history2 doctrines like that of the ,atonement have been restated afresh to meet the needs of the age4 ,so it is happening still2 doctrines like that of the method of creation or of the limits of inspiration are still before the ,church4 ,the ,church is slow to decide1 to formulate3 it stands aside1 it reiterates its central truths1 it says that whatever claims to be discovered must ultimately fit in with the central truths2 creation must remain ,god's work2 the ,bible must remain ,god's revelation of ,himself2 but for a time it is content to wait1 loyal to fact from whatever side it comes2 confident alike in the many-sidedness and in the unity of truth4 ,while he accepts and while he searches1 the ,churchman can enjoy alike the inquiry of truth which is the love-making or wooing of it1 the knowledge of truth which is the presence of it1 and the belief of truth which is the enjoying of it1 and all these together1 says ,lord ,bacon1 are the sovereign good of human nature#cfb4 ,thus far we have in this part considered the ,church's function with regard to truth from the point of view of those whom it has to teach4 ,its function is no less important from the point of view of the truth itself4 ,as spiritual life is a tender plant that needs care and training2 so spiritual truth is a precious gem1 that may easily be lost and therefore needs careful guarding4 ',the gem requires a casket1 the casket a keeper4' ,truth is indeed great and will prevail1 but not apart from the action of men3 not unless there are those who believe in it1 take pains about it and propagate it4 ,this is the case even with scientific truths2 fortiori therefore1 with moral and religious truths which affect life and need to be translated into life before they can be really understood4 ,the comparative study of religions is shewing us more and more how much of deep spiritual truth there is in heathen religions1 but it is shewing us equally how little power this truth had to hold its own1 how it was overlaid1 crushed out1 stifled4 ,the truth of the unity of ,god underlies much of the polytheism of ,india1 ,greece1 and ,rome2 but it is only the philosopher and the scholar that can find it there4 ,it is only in the ,jewish ,church1 the nation which stood alone from other nations as a witness to the truth1 that it retained its hold as a permanent force4 ,the ,fatherhood of ,god is implied in the very names and titles of most of the chief heathen gods2 but what a difference in its meaning and force since the time of ,jesus ,christ6 ,it is not only that ,he expanded and deepened its meaning1 so that it implied the fatherhood of all men alike1 and a communication of a spiritual nature to all2 it is also1 and much more1 that ,he committed the truth as a sacred deposit to a ,church1 each member of which aimed at shewing himself as the son of a perfect ,father1 and which witnessed to the universal ,fatherhood by the fact of an universal brotherhood4 ,the very truths of natural religion1 which heathenism tended to degrade1 found a safe home within the ,church2 the knowledge of the ,creator1 ,his eternal power and ,godhead1 which the nations had known but lost1 because they glorified ,him not as ,god1 neither were thankful1 has been kept alive in the ,eucharistic services of the ,church1 repeating through the ages its praise of the ,creator3 ',we praise ,thee1 we bless ,thee1 we worship ,thee1 we give thanks to ,thee1 for ,thy great glory1 ,o ,lord ,god1 heavenly ,king1 ,god the ,father ,almighty4' ,,iii4 ,we pass naturally to the third point3 the ,church is the home of worship4 ,it is the ,temple of the ,lord4 ,as a teaching body1 it had carried on and spiritualized the work of the ,jewish ,synagogue3 it also took up and spiritualized the conceptions of prayer and praise and sacrifice which clustered round the ,jewish ,temple4 ,the ,body of ,christ was to take the place of the ,temple when the ,jews destroyed it#cfc4 ,and here1 as in all other respects1 the body is the organ and representative of the risen ,lord4 ,he1 when on earth1 had been a priest in the deepest sense of the word3 ,he1 as the representative of the ,father1 had mediated the ,father's blessings to man3 ,he1 as one with man1 had become a merciful and faithful high-priest for man2 ,he had offered ,his whole life to ,god for the service of man2 ,he had by the offering of ,his pure will made purification of sins3 ,he lives still1 a priest for ever1 pleading1 interceding for mankind4 ,and so the ,church1 ,his body1 carries on this priestly work on earth4 ',sacerdotalism1 priestliness1 is the prime element of her being#cfd4' ,she is the source of blessing to mankind2 she pleads and intercedes and gives herself for all mankind4 ,christians1 as a body1 are 'a royal priesthood4' ,christ made them 'priests unto ,his ,god and ,father1' they can 'enter in into the holy place1' like priests1 'with hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and bodies washed with pure water4' ,they are 'the genuine high-priestly race of ,god3' 'every righteous man ranks as a priest3' 'to the whole ,church is a priesthood given#cfe4' ,this priesthood is exercised throughout life1 as each ,christian gives his life to ,god's service1 and the whole ,church devotes itself for the good of the whole world4 ,but it finds its expression in worship1 for worship is the ,godward aspect of life4 ,it expresses1 it emphasizes1 it helps to make permanent the feelings that mould life4 ,it is the recognition that our life comes from ,god3 that it has been redeemed by ,god2 it is the quiet joyous resting upon the facts of ,his love2 it is the conscious spiritual offering of our life to ,god2 it is the adoration of ,his majesty4 ,this worship the ,church leads and organizes4 ',in the ,church and in ,christ ,jesus' is to be given 'the glory to ,god unto all generations for ever and ever4' ,in the ,apocalypse1 it is pictured as praising ,god alike for ,his work in ,creation and in ,redemption4 ,in the ,eucharist the ,church shews forth the ,lord's ,death till ,he come#cff4 ,hence this act of ,eucharistic worship1 above all others1 has become the centre of unity4 ,in it the ,church has offered its best to ,god3 all the more external gifts of art1 such as architecture1 painting1 and music1 have been consecrated in worship3 but deeper still1 in it each ,christian has taken up his own life1 his body and soul1 and offered it as a holy1 lively1 and reasonable sacrifice unto ,god1 a service in spirit and in truth3 and deeper still1 he recognises that his life does not stand alone2 through the common ties of humanity in ,christ he is linked on by a strange solidarity with all mankind2 his life depends on theirs and theirs on his1 and so he offers it not for himself only but for all2 in the power of ,christ he intercedes for all mankind3 and deeper still1 he feels in the presence of the ,holiness of ,god how unworthy his own offering and his own prayers are1 and he pleads1 he recalls before the ,father1 as the source of his own hope and his own power of self-sacrifice1 the one complete offering made for all mankind4 ,so the ,church performs its universal priesthood#cfg2 so it leads a worship1 bright1 joyous1 amidst all the trials and perplexities of the world1 for it tells of suffering vanquished2 simple in its essence1 so that poor as well as rich can rally round it2 yet deep and profound in its mysteries1 so that the most intellectual cannot fathom it4 ,it is an universal priesthood1 for it needs the consecration of every life3 and yet this function too of the ,church naturally has its organs1 whose task it is to make its offerings and to stand before it as the types of self-consecration4 ,the ,church has from the first special persons who perform its liturgy1 its public ministering to the ,lord#cfh4 ,it is in connection with worship1 and the meetings of the ,church that ,s4 ,paul emphasizes the need of unity and subordination1 and dwells upon ,god's special setting of ,apostles1 ,prophets and ,teachers in the ,church#cfi4 ,the ,epistle of ,clement to the ,corinthians may be open to difficult questions of interpretation in its language about the ministry1 but this at least is clear that order and subordination are treated as the necessary outcome of love1 which is of the essence of the ,church2 that this order and subordination is specially needed in all details of worship2 that it had been so in ,judaism1 and must be so1 fortiori1 in the ,christian ,church2 that as ,christ came from ,god1 so the ,apostles from ,christ1 and their successors from them2 and therefore it must be wrong to throw off subordination to those who were so appointed and who have blamelessly offered the gifts#cgj4 ',the ,church1' said ,s4 ,augustine1 'from the time of the ,apostles1 through most undoubted succession of the bishops1 perseveres till the present moment1 and offers to ,god in the ,body of ,christ the sacrifice of praise#cga4' ,as the teaching function of the whole ,church does not militate against the special order of teachers1 so the priestly function of the whole does not militate against a special order of priests4 ,we cannot speak of those who are ordained as 'going into the ,church'--and it is hard to estimate the harm done by that fatal phrase--for that implies that the laity are not of the ,church1 but we can call them priests in a special sense2 for they give themselves up in a deeper way to the service of ,god2 they are specially trained and purified for ,his service2 they are put as representatives of the whole ,church in a way in which no other is1 able to know and to sympathize with its wants1 its joys1 its failings2 able therefore to intercede for it with ,god and to bring ,his blessings to it4 ,as the ,church stands in relation to the world1 so they stand to the ,church2 they fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of ,christ in their flesh for ,his body's sake which is the ,church1 whereof they are made ministers2 they convey spiritual gifts and benediction to the ,church4 ,to complete the conception of the ,church1 it would be necessary to add the thought of the ,church expectant and triumphant1 the presence of the blessed dead4 ,for they too strengthen and complete each aspect of the ,church's work4 ,the great cloud of witnesses1 the heroes of faith1 who watch their brethren on earth1 they1 by their example1 aid the spiritual life and strengthen us to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us3 their virtues reflect parts of the manifold glory of the ,son of ,man4 ,with their heirs noblesse oblige2 each ,christian born of such ancestry is able to be like the ,athenian ,lycurgus1 independent of the world1 bold and outspoken1 because of his noble birth#cgb4 ,the record of their writings strengthens the witness to the faith once delivered to the saints1 and binds us to loyalty to that which has stood the test of ages4 ,they1 'the general assembly and church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven1' themselves1 we believe1 worship ,god with a purer worship than ours2 the thought of their presence in worship1 as we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven1 lifts our hearts to a wider1 more spiritual adoration4 ,but for our present purpose it is with the ,church militant we have to deal3 the ,church on earth1 the visible organ of the risen ,lord1 the organ of redemption1 of revelation1 of worship2 the chief instrument designed by the ,lord for the establishment of the kingdom of ,heaven upon earth4 ,that is our ideal of it4 ,but what of the reality8 of the historical facts8 ,has not the ,church crushed out individual life and freedom8 has it not thrown its shield over laxity8 has it not repressed zeal and so driven piety into nonconformity8 has it not tried to check scientific truth and condemned a ,galileo8 has it not made worship a matter of form and reduced it to externalism8 ,so its opponents ask1 and its defenders admit that there is much of truth in these charges4 ,they admit that it has looked very different from its ideal4 ',it has looked like an obscure and unpopular sect2 it has looked like a wonderful human institution vying with the greatest in age and power2 it has looked like a great usurpation2 it has looked like an overgrown and worn-out system2 it has been obscured by the outward accidents of splendour or disaster2 it has been enriched1 it has been plundered2 at one time throned above emperors1 at another under the heel of the vilest2 it has been dishonoured by the crimes of its governors1 by truckling to the world1 by the idolatry of power1 by greed and selfishness1 by their unbelief in their own mission1 by the deep stain of profligacy1 by the deep stain of blood#cgc4' ,the ,church has1 indeed1 many confessions to make1 of its failure to be true to its ideal4 ,but there are several considerations which must be borne in mind when we pass judgment upon it4 ,in the first place1 it was committed to human hands1 'the treasure is in earthen vessels2' and while it gains thus in reality1 in human sympathy1 in touching the facts of everyday life1 it is exposed to all the risks of imperfection1 mistake1 perversion4 ,but further1 as ,s4 ,augustine said1 we still can say1 ',non adhuc regnat hoc regnum4' ,the ,church has never had free play2 it has never been in a position to carry out its ideal4 ,at first1 a persecuted sect1 it had not the power2 then1 when it became established and gained the power1 there burst into it an influx of half-,christianized converts who lowered its moral level or misunderstood its doctrines2 then1 with the break up of the ,roman ,empire1 it had to tame and civilize the new races of ,europe2 and finally1 the divisions of the ,reformation have weakened its witness in the world4 ,but1 more important still1 the very greatness of the ideal has caused the difficulty of its realization1 and has exposed itself to caricature and to one-sidedness4 ,the richer1 the more many-sided1 the more complete an ideal is1 the less possible is it for any one generation to express it completely1 the more likely is it that one side of truth will be pressed to the exclusion of some1 if not of all the rest4 ,this may be tested in each of the points which we have considered4 ,the ,church is an organization for spiritual life1 for holiness4 ,it makes the bold claim to be the society of saints2 but at once there arises the conflict between the ideal and the actual state of men4 ,press the ideal1 and you will narrow the ,church to those who are externally leading good lives or who are conscious of conversion to ,christ4 ,this was the line taken by the ,novatians1 by the ,donatists1 by the ,puritans1 by the ,baptists1 and the ,church was thereby narrowed4 ,on the other hand1 dwell only on the actual state1 the weakness1 the failures of human nature1 and you acquiesce in a low level of morality4 ,the ,church aims at being true to both2 it will not exclude any from its embrace who are willing to submit to its laws2 it takes children and trains them2 it takes the imperfect and disciplines them2 it rejects none1 save such as rejoice in their iniquity and deliberately refuse to submit to discipline4 ,but again1 this suggests another class of difficulties1 all those which are associated with the relation of the individual to the society1 difficulties which are parallel to the difficulties in politics1 which are not yet solved there1 and which are always needing readjustment4 ,here again it is possible to overpress either side3 the claims of the society may be urged to the detriment of the individual1 the central organization may crush out national life and give no scope for individual development1 and so there arises the imperial absolutism of the mediaeval ,church4 ,on the other hand1 it is equally possible to exaggerate the claims of individualism1 of independence1 of freedom1 and the result is division and disaster to the whole society2 the individual is only anxious to save his own soul1 and religion is claimed to be only a thing between a man and his ,god2 common ,church life becomes impossible1 and the witness of the ,church to the world1 and thereby its power for missionary work1 becomes weakened4 ,as before1 the ,church ideal strives to combine both sides of the truth4 ,it values1 it insists on1 the rights of each individual soul2 its mission is to convey the ,spirit to it1 that is to say1 to waken it up to a consciousness of its own individual relation to ,god1 its own personal responsibility in ,god's sight2 it does bid each individual save his own soul4 ,but it keeps also before him the claims of the society2 it says to him that in saving his soul he must lose it in service for others2 when his soul is saved1 it must be used for active service with others in joint work4 ,it does say that the society is more important for the world than any one individual member of it1 and that each individual gets real strength when he speaks and acts not for himself but as representing the society behind him4 ,it is possible to think of the ,church as an organization existing for the spiritual good of the individual2 but it is possible also1 and it is a deeper view1 to think of the individual as existing for the good of the ,church1 like a singer training himself not to display his own voice but to strengthen the general effect of the whole choir4 ,that is the ideal of the ,church1 a body which quickens the individual into full conscious life1 that the individual may devote his life to the service of the whole4 ,its life is like that of a great moving flight of birds1 each with its own life1 yet swaying and rising and turning as by a common impulse1 ,their jubilant activity evolves ,hundreds of curves and circlets1 to and fro1 ,upwards and downwards2 progress intricate ,yet unperplexed1 as if one spirit swayed ,their indefatigable flight#cgd4 ,the ,church1 again1 is the teacher of truth2 but in the acquisition of truth there are always two elements4 ,there are the fixed facts of life1 with which theory deals1 and the accumulation of past thought upon the facts2 there is also the creative spirit which plays upon these1 which re-adapts1 combines1 discovers4 ,the teacher of any science has to convey to his pupil the accumulated theories of the past and to quicken in him fresh power of thinking3 he speaks first with authority1 though of course with assurance that his authority is rational1 and that the pupil will understand it ultimately4 ,the teacher of morality1 the parent1 teaches even more strongly with authority1 though he too trusts that the child will ultimately accept the law on rational grounds4 ,the pupil needs at once a receptive and a critical faculty4 ,the absence or exaggeration of either is equally fatal4 ,here again the ,church ideal tries to combine both sides and to insist upon the real unity of all truth1 and this makes its task so difficult4 ,at times the whole stress has been laid on the permanent elements in the faith1 and the result has been1 as often in the ,oriental ,church1 a tendency to intellectual stagnation3 at other times the present speaking voice of the ,church has been emphasized1 and any theory has been hastily adopted as absolutely true1 without due consideration of its relation to other truths4 ,at times authority has been over-emphasized1 and the acceptance of dogma has seemed to be made the equivalent of a living trust in a personal ,god3 at others the duty of individual search after truth1 of individual conviction has been pressed2 the traditions of the past have been ignored2 nothing has been of value except that which has commended itself to the individual reason1 and the result has been confusion1 uncertainty1 the denial of the greatness and the mystery and the width of truth1 and too often a moral and spiritual paralysis4 ,meanwhile the ,church has tried to hold to both sides3 it has insisted on the ultimate unity of all knowledge3 starting from the axiom that ,one is our teacher1 even ,christ1 and believing that all truth comes from ,his inspiration as the ,word of ,god1 it has refused to acquiesce in intellectual contradiction2 it has ever held1 with ,king ,lear1 'that ay and no too is no good divinity4' ,the truths of philosophy and religion must be one3 the truths of science and religion must be one#cge4 ,in the desire to see this1 the ,church has been hasty1 it has rejected scientific truth1 because it did not fall in with its interpretation of the ,bible4 ,it has made its mistakes1 but it has done so out of a noble principle4 ,it would be easy to gain consistency by sacrificing either side2 it is hard to combine the two3 and this is what the ,church has tried to do3 it has upheld the belief of the ultimate synthesis of all knowledge4 ,in exactly the same way1 the sects have often gained force1 popularity1 effectiveness for the moment by the emphasis laid on some one truth2 the ,church has gained strength1 solidity1 permanence1 by its witness to the whole body of truth4 ,the same tendency may be shortly illustrated with regard to the function of worship4 ,that too is a complex act2 in that there should be the free conscious act of the individual1 worshipping in spirit and in truth a ,god whom he knows as a personal ,god2 but clearly this is not all2 the whole society must express its corporate life in corporate worship4 ,its influence is something over and above the influence of its individual members1 and that influence must be exercised on the side of ,god2 it must be recognised as coming from ,god2 it must be solemnly consecrated to ,god's service4 ,the society has a right then to call upon its individual members to join in this corporate action4 ,on the one hand lies the danger of the overpressure of the society1 where the service of the individual is unwilling or apathetic3 on the other hand the danger of individualism and sectarianism1 in which the whole conception of public worship is lowered and the individual is never trained in religious matters to feel the kindling power of a common enthusiasm1 to be lifted above himself in the wave of a common joy4 ,the ,church has aimed at combining both2 by the insistance on confession and absolution it has tried to train the individual to a sense of personal penitence and personal gratitude3 but these have only prepared him to share in the common worship of the society4 ,but the ,church has had to do even more than this4 ,not only has it aimed at keeping in due proportion the conflicting elements in life1 in truth1 and in worship2 it has also had to keep alive the three sides at once1 and to keep them in their true relation to each other4 ,to be at one and the same time the home of life and truth and worship1 this belongs to its ideal and this adds new difficulties4 ,sometimes one element has preponderated1 sometimes another3 but its aim is always to preserve the three4 ,it has historically preserved the synthesis of the three more than any other ,christian body4 ,it has moved through the ages doing its work1 however imperfectly4 ,it has kept historic continuity with the past3 it has disciplined life and raised the standard of morality and united the nations of the world4 ,it has been a witness to a spiritual world1 to the fact that men have interests above material things1 and that these deeper spiritual interests can combine them with the strongest links4 ,it has gone out as a ,catholic ,church1 knowing that it contains in its message truths that can win their way to every nation2 and therefore it has never ceased to be a ,missionary ,church1 as it needs that each nation should draw out into prominence some aspect of its truth1 and reveal in life some side of its virtue4 ,it has enshrined1 protected1 witnessed to the truth2 both as an 'authoritative republication of natural religion1' keeping alive the knowledge of ,god1 and of ,his moral government of the world#cgf1 and as a revelation of redemption4 ,it has drawn up the canon of ,holy ,scripture and formulated its ,creeds3 it still witnesses to the unity of knowledge3 it has held up before the world an ideal of worship1 at once social and individual4 ,its truths have indeed spread beyond itself1 so that men find them now in bodies opposed to it2 and therefore are perplexed and do not know where their allegiance is really due4 ,it has indeed been itself often untrue to its mission2 but ever and again it has re-asserted itself with a strange recuperative power1 for1 as the fountain of its life1 there is ever the power of the ,holy ,spirit1 sent by the risen ,lord2 to check temporary failures or accretions of teachings1 there has been the perpetual re-appeal to ,holy ,scripture and the ,creeds2 to control idiosyncrasies of worship1 there has been the permanent element of its ,liturgies4 ,its very failures have come from its inherent greatness2 they are the proof of great capacities1 the omen of a greater future4 ,like ,s4 ,paul1 it holds on its way 'by glory and dishonour1 by evil report and good report1 as deceiving and yet true1 as unknown and yet well-known2 as dying and behold it lives2 as chastened and not killed2 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing2 as poor and yet making many rich2 as having nothing and yet possessing all things4' ,does the world need the witness of the ,church's life less now than in past ages8 ,less8 nay1 for many reasons more4 ,the widening opportunities of intercourse are opening up new nations1 whose existence had only been suspected before2 they are bringing the various parts of human kind into a closer touch with each other4 ,the problems of civilization are more complex2 and the more complicated a piece of machinery is1 the more difficult it is to keep it in order2 so small a defect may throw the whole out of gear4 ,the wider our knowledge of humanity1 the greater need of a ,catholic ,church1 which shall raise its voice above the din of conquest and the bustle of commerce1 and insist that all races shall be treated with justice and tenderness as made of one blood2 which shall welcome all men freely into its own brotherhood1 and conveying to them the gifts of the ,spirit1 shall help them to shew forth in their lives fresh beauties of the richly-variegated wisdom of ,god4 ,the growth of our huge towns1 'where numbers overwhelm humanity1' and the accumulation of wealth bring the danger nearer home3 amidst social upheavings and the striving of class with class1 there is need of a ,church to rise above rich and poor alike1 which shall embrace both2 which shall teach both a real visible brotherhood amid all external inequalities2 which shall teach the poor the dignity of labour wrought for the good of the whole society1 and teach the rich the duty and the blessing of the consecration of their wealth4 ,with the wider use of machinery and the restless rush of money-getting1 it is important that there should be the appeal of the ,church that no man or woman shall be degraded into being a mere machine2 because each is a living soul1 capable of personal responsibility1 capable of a pure life1 capable of a knowledge of ,god4 ,amid the increasing specialization of studies1 amid all the new discoveries of science and historical criticism1 with all the perplexities that arise as to the interpretation and inspiration of the ,bible1 now1 if ever1 there is need of a ,church1 which conscious of its own spiritual life1 knowing that its spiritual truths have stood the test of centuries1 has patience and courage to face all these new facts and see their bearing and take their measure2 which all the while shall go on teaching to its children with an absolute but rational authority the central facts of the spiritual life1 and shall never doubt the ultimate unity of all truth4 ,amid the uncertainties of individualism1 the fantastic services of those who tend to reduce worship to a mere matter of emotion1 amid the sorrows and perplexities of modern life1 the world needs the witness of a rational and corporate worship1 which recognises the deepest sufferings of human nature enshrined in its very heart1 yet recognises also the way in which suffering when accepted freely1 is blessed of ,god2 which worships at once a crucified and a risen ,lord4 ,over against the divisions of race and continent the ,church raises still its witness to the possibility of an universal brotherhood3 over against despair and dispersion it speaks of faith and the unity of knowledge3 over against pessimism it lifts up a perpetual ,eucharist4 #ccc ,the ,dean of ,s4 ,paul's on ,the ,christian ,church4 ,oxford ,house ,papers1 ,no4 xvii4 where this truth is excellently worked out and applied to the ,church4 #ccd ,browning1 ,paracelsus1 ii4 p4 #cj1 ed4 #ahhh4 #cce ,tennyson1 ,in ,memoriam1 xxxvi4 #ccf ,ps4 lxxviii4 #c1 #d4 #ccg ,de ,inc4 #ab4 #cch ,browning1 ,fra ,lippo ,lippi3 ,m4 ,arnold1 ,the ,youth of ,nature3 ,shelley1 ,the ,skylark4 #cci ,ep4 ad ,diogn4 vi4 #cdj ,bruce1 ,the ,chief ,end of ,revelation1 p4 #aaf4 #cda ,eccl4 ,pol4 v4 #ed4 ,cf4 ,iren4 adv4 ,haer4 iii4 #bj3 ',gloria enim hominis ,deus2 operationis vero ,dei et omnis sapientiae ,ejus et virtutis receptaculum homo4' #cdb ,ign4 ad ,eph4 viii4 1 4 #cdc ,aurora ,leigh1 vii4 p4 #cjb4 #cdd ,cp4 ,h4 ,s4 ,holland1 ,creed and ,character1 ,sermons ,,iii-,,viii4 #cde 1 1 1 ,clem4 ,alex4 ,strom4 ,i4 xviii4 #hi4 #cdf ,cp4 #a ,tim4 ii4 #a-f4 #cdg ,for the whole of this last paragraph cf4 ,h4 ,s4 ,holland1 ,on behalf of ,belief1 ,sermons ,,vi and ,,vii4 #cdh ,s4 ,ignatius1 ad ,eph4 vii4 1 1 as compared with ad ,magn4 xiii4 4 #cdi ,pseudo-,clem4 ,rom4 ,ep4 ii4 #ad2 ,clem4 ,alex4 ,str4 vi4 #ad2 iv4 #h4 ,for these and other illustrations cf4 ,seeberg1 ,der ,begriff der christlichen ,kirche 7,erlangen1 #ahhe71 cap4 i2 and ,gore1 ,church and the ,ministry1 ed4 i4 pp4 #ai1 #bh1 #acf4 #cej #a ,cor4 xii4 #bh4 #cea ,cp4 ,acts ix4 #ca 4 #ceb #a ,cor4 xii4 #bh1 xv4 #i2 ,gal4 i4 #ac2 ,phil4 iii4 #f2 ,eph4 i4 #bb1 iii4 #aj1 #ba2 ,col4 i4 #ah1 #bd2 #a ,tim4 iii4 #ae4 #cec ,hibbert ,lectures1 #ahhc1 p4 #caa4 #ced ,bp4 ,forbes1 ,explanation of the ,nicene ,creed1 p4 #bij4 #cee ad ,eph4 ii4 iii4 vi4 xx2 ad ,trall4 vii4 xiii2 ad ,phil4 iv4 vii2 ad ,smyrn4 viii4 ix4 #cef ,irenaeus1 adv4 ,haer41 cp4 esp4 ,i4 #aj1 ,,ii4 #i1 ,,iii4 #a1 #b1 #c1 #e1 #ab1 #bd4 #ceg ,praescript4 adv4 ,haereticos2 cp4 esp4 #c1 #f1 #ae-ba4 #ceh ,tertullian4 ,praescr4 #i3 ',quaerendum est donec invenias1 et credendum ubi inveneris4' #cei ,hawkins' ,sermons on the ,church1 p4 #gg4 #cfj ,rev4 ,c4 ,gore1 ,roman ,catholic ,claims1 p4 #ea4 #cfa ,commonitorium ix4 and xxiii4 #cfb ,bacon1 ,essay on ,truth4 #cfc ,s4 ,john ii4 #ai-ba4 #cfd ,from a striking and bold article by ,prof4 ,milligan1 in the ,expositor1 ,march1 #ahhi4 #cfe #a ,s4 ,peter ii4 #i2 ,rev4 i4 #f2 ,heb4 x4 #ai4 ,justin ,martyr1 ,dialog4 c4 ,tryph4 #aaf2 ,irenaeus iv4 #h2 ,origen1 ,hom4 vi4 in ,lev4 #e4 ,for other instances1 cp4 ,seeberg1 ubi sopra1 or ,gore1 ,church and the ,ministry1 pp4 #hg-ij4 #cff ,eph4 iii4 #ba 7,r4,v472 ,rev4 iv4 #aa1 v4 #aa-ad2 #a ,cor4 xi4 #bf4 #cfg ,cf4 the striking account of the true ,christian sacrifice in ,s4 ,aug4 ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 x4 #f3 ',profecto efficitur ut tota ipsa redempta civitas1 hoc est congregatio societasque sanctorum universale sacrificium offeratur ,deo per sacerdotem magnum1 qui etiam se ipsum obtulit in passione pro nobis1 ut tanti capitis corpus essemus4444 ,hoc est sacrificium ,christianorum1 multi unum corpus in ,christo4 ,quod etiam sacramento altaris fidelibus noto frequentat ecclesia1 ut ei demonstretur1 quod in ea re1 quam offert1 ipsa offeratur4' #cfh ,acts xiii4 #a4 #cfi #a ,cor4 xi-xiv42 cp4 #a ,tim4 ii4 #cgj ,clem1 ad ,cor4 #a4 esp4 #dj-de4 #cga ,contra ,adv4 ,leg4 et ,proph4 xx4 #ci4 #cgb 1 ,plutarch4 ,vitae x ,orat4 #g4 #cgc ,the ,dean of ,s4 ,paul's1 ,advent ,sermons1 p4 #gc4 #cgd ,wordsworth1 ,the ,recluse4 #cge ,cp4 ,socrates iii4 #af 1 1 4 ,s4 ,aug4 de doctr4 ,chr4 ii4 #ah3 'quisquis bonus verusque ,christianus est1 ,domini sui esse intellegat ubique invenerit veritatem4' #cgf ,butler's ,analogy1 ,pt4 ii4 ch4 #a4 ,x4 ,,sacraments4 ,,francis ,,paget4 ,it is the characteristic distinction of some men's work that they are resolute to take into just account all the elements and conditions of the matter with which they deal4 ,they will not purchase simplicity at the expense of facts2 they will not1 by any act of arbitrary exclusion or unreal abstraction1 give up even the most distant hope of some real attainment for the sake of securing a present appearance of completeness4 ,they recognise and insist upon all the complexity of that at which they look2 they may see many traits in it to which they can assign no definite place or meaning1 but they will not ignore or disparage these2 they will not forget them1 even though for a while they may have to defer the closer study of them2 they will dutifully bear them in mind1 and carry them along through all their work2 they will let them tell with full weight in qualifying1 deferring1 or precluding the formation of any theory about that of which these traits1 trivial or important1 explained or unexplained1 are a genuine part4 ,it is difficult to find a name for this rare and distinctive excellence4 ,but it is that which more than any other quality gives permanence and fruitfulness to work3 for even the fragmentary and loosely ordered outcome of such thought is wont to prove germinant and quickening as time goes on4 ,patience1 honesty1 reverence1 and unselfishness1 are virtues which appear congenial with such a character of mind2 and the high1 undaunted faith which is the secret of its strength and the assurance of its great reward has been told by ,mr4 ,browning in ,a ,grammarian's ,funeral3-- ,was it not great8 did not he throw on ,god 7,he loves the burthen7-- ,god's task to make the heavenly period ,perfect the earthen#cgg8 ,it will be the chief aim of this essay to shew that in the embodiment and presentation of ,christianity by the ,church of ,christ there may be seen an excellence analogous1 at least1 to this distinctive characteristic of the work that all approve as best and truest upon earth2 that in contrast with many religious systems1 attaining a high degree of moral beauty and spiritual fervour1 the historic ,church meets human life in full front2 that it has been taught and enabled1 in its ministry of ,sacraments1 to deal with the entirety of man's nature1 not slighting1 or excluding1 or despairing of any true part of his being4 ,but it is necessary at the outset to define1 in general and provisional terms1 the nature and the principle of that element in the ,church's faith and life which is here under consideration1 and in which especially this amplitude and catholicity of dealing with human nature is to be sought4 ,by the ,sacramental system1 then1 is meant the regular use of sensible objects1 agents1 and acts as being the means or instruments of ,divine energies1 'the vehicles of saving and sanctifying power#cgh4' ,the underlying belief1 the basal and characteristic principle of this system1 may be thus stated4 ,as the inmost being of man rises to the realization of its true life1 to the knowledge and apprehension of ,god and of itself1 in the act of faith1 and as ,he whose ,spirit quickened it for that act1 greets its venture with fresh gifts of light and strength1 it is ,his will that these gifts should be conveyed by means or organs taken from this world1 and addressed to human senses4 ,his ,holy ,spirit bears into the faithful soul the communication of its risen ,lord's renewing manhood2 and for the conveyance of that unseen gift ,he takes things and acts that can be seen1 and words that can be heard2 ,his way is viewless as the wind2 but ,he comes and works by means of which the senses are aware2 and ,his hidden energy accepts a visible order and outward implements for the achievement of its purpose4 ,the limits of this essay preclude the discussion of the larger questions which beset the terms of these definitions4 ,previous essays have dealt with those truths which are necessarily involved in any declaration of belief about the ,christian ,sacraments4 ,the ,being of ,god1 the ,incarnation of the ,eternal ,word1 the ,atonement1 the ,resurrection and ,ascension of ,christ1 the ,person and ,mission of the ,holy ,ghost1 these are indeed implied in the ,sacramental system of the ,church1 not simply as component and essential parts of the same building1 nor as mere logical data1 but rather as the activities of the bodily life are pre-supposed in the exertion of the body's strength4 ,but these cannot here be spoken of3 it is from preceding pages of this book that thoughts and convictions must be gathered1 without which much that is here said will seem either unsubstantial1 or merely technical4 ,it must be owned that the severance of any subject from its context entails not only incompleteness1 but also a certain disproportion and obscurity in its treatment2 since the lines of thought which run out into the context are lines down which light comes1 light that is lost if they are closed4 ,indeed anything like a full presentation or a formal defence of a detached part of ,christian teaching and practice seems intrinsically very difficult1 and within the limits of an essay impossible4 ,there are1 however1 two questions which must be asked concerning each several part of the whole structure1 and in regard to which something may here be said4 ,the first is3 ,does this part match with its surroundings in ,christianity2 is it a harmonious and congenial element in the whole order1 in the great body of doctrine to which it claims to belong8 ,the second is3 ,does it match with the surroundings on which it claims to act1 with its environment in human life2 is it apt for the purpose to which it is addressed and the conditions among which it comes8 ,it is here proposed1 as has been said1 to consider in regard to the ,sacramental system the second especially of these two questions3 but its consideration will involve some thoughts which may perhaps be a sufficient answer to the first4 ,and thus something may also be gained beyond the range of the present inquiry2 for it seems fair to hold that any part of ,christian teaching in regard to which both these questions can be answered in the affirmative1 has a strong tendency at all events to commend the claim of the whole scheme with which it is inwoven and essentially continuous4 ,for the perfection of inner coherence in a structure whose main lines1 at least1 were projected in the world under circumstances which preclude the thought of scientific or artificial elaboration1 and the perfection of adaptation1 not to the wishes and tastes of men1 nor to the arrangements of society1 but to the deepest1 fullest1 surest truth of humanity2 these are characteristics which we should expect to find in a revelation from ,god to man1 and be surprised to find elsewhere4 ,i4 ,probably there come to most men who have got beyond the happy confidence of youth1 and the unhappy confidence of self-satisfaction1 times at which they seem to themselves to be living in a somewhat perplexed and dimly lighted world1 with tasks for which their strength is insufficient1 among problems which they cannot solve4 ,and ,christianity is held out to them1 or has been received by them1 as a way of life under these circumstances1 as a method and a means of living rightly2 a system which does not indeed take all the perplexity out of the world1 or all the difficulties out of their course1 but which will give them light and strength enough to keep in the right track1 to use their time well1 to take their proper place1 and do their proper work1 and so to move towards the realization of all the many parts and possibilities of their nature2 a goal which may seem to grow both larger and more distant the more one thinks about it4 ,christianity professes to be that ,divine word1 which was faintly surmised of old#cgi1 and in due time was sent forth to bear men wisely and surely through this world4 ,plainly one of the first and fairest questions which may be asked in regard to it is1 whether it shews a perfect understanding of the nature with which it claims to deal1 and the life which it claims to guide4 ,now when we set ourselves to think what we are for whom a possible and satisfactory way of life is sought1 what that nature is1 whose right principles and conditions of development are to be determined1 one of the first things which we discern is an apparently invincible complexity4 ,the life we have to order is a twofold life1 it moves through a twofold course of experience3 the facts1 the activities in which we are conscious of it1 are of two kinds2 and men ordinarily distinguish them as bodily and spiritual4 ,some such distinction is recognised and understood by the simplest of us3 it is imbedded beyond possibility of expulsion in all language3 stubbornly and successfully it resists all efforts to abolish it4 ,we know for ourselves that either of the two groups of facts may stand out in clearer light1 in keener consciousness1 at certain times3 we may even for a while1 a little while1 lose sight of either of them and seem to be wholly occupied with the other3 but presently the neglected facts will re-assert their rights3 neither the one group nor the other may long be set aside without risk of the ,nemesis which avenges slighted truths3--the ,nemesis of disproportion and disease4 ,we may confuse our sense of the distinction2 we may shift or blur or bend whatever line had seemed to mark it3 we may insist on the qualifying phenomena which forbid us to think of any barrier as impenetrable2 but we cannot so exalt or push forward either realm as utterly to extrude1 absorb1 or annihilate the other3 we cannot1 with consistency or sanity1 live as though our life were merely spiritual or merely bodily4 ,it is as impossible steadily to regard the spirit as a mere function or product of the body1 as it is to treat the body with entire indifference1 as a casually adjacent fragment of the external world4 ,but further1 as the distinction of the two elements in our being seems insuperable1 so does their union seem essential to the integrity of our life4 ,any abstraction of one element1 as though it could detach itself from the other and live on its own resources1 is felt to be unreal and destructive of our proper nature4 ,so it has been finely said1 ',materialism itself has here done valuable service in correcting the exaggeration of a one-sided spiritualism4 ,it is common1 but erroneous1 to speak of man's body as being related to his spirit only as is the casket to the jewel which it contains4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 the personal spirit of man strikes its roots far and deep into the encompassing frame of sense1 with which1 from the first moment of its existence1 it has been so intimately associated4444 ,the spirit can indeed exist independently of the body1 but this independent existence is not its emancipation from a prison-house of matter and sense2 it is a temporary and abnormal divorce from the companion whose presence is needed to complete its life#chj4' ,if we try to imagine our life in abstraction from the body we can only think of it as incomplete and isolated2 as impoverished1 deficient1 and expectant4 ,and certainly in our present state1 in the interval between what we call birth and death1 the severance of the two elements is inconceivable3 they are knit together in incessant and indissoluble communion4 ,in no activity1 no experience of either1 can the other be utterly discarded3 'for each action and reaction passing between them is a fibre of that which forms their mutual bond#cha4' ,even into those energies of which men speak as purely spiritual1 the bodily life will find its way1 will send its help or hindrance3 sickness1 hunger1 weariness1 and desire3 these are but some of its messengers to the spirit1 messengers who will not always be denied4 ,and in every conscious action of the bodily life the presence of the spirit is to be discerned4 ,the merely animal fulfilment of merely animal demands1 devoid of moral quality1 is only possible within that dark tract of instinct which lies below the range of our consciousness4 ,when once desire is consciously directed to its object1 7wherever the desire has originated and whatever be the nature of the object17 a moral quality appears1 a moral issue is determined3 and the act of the body becomes an event in the life of the spirit#chb4 ,the blind life of brute creatures is as far out of our reach as is the pure energy of angels3 we can never let the body simply go its own way2 for in the essential complexity of our being1 another sense is ever waiting upon the conscious exercise of those five senses that we share with lower animals3--the sense of duty and of sin4 ,thus complex are we1--we who crave more light and strength1 who want to find the conditions of our health and growth1 who lift up our eyes unto the hills from whence cometh our help4 ,it would be interesting to consider from how many different points of view the complexity has been recognised1 resented1 slandered1 or ignored2 and how steadily it has held its own4 ,it may need some exercise of faith 7that is to say1 of reasonable patience amidst half-lights and fragments7 to keep the truth before one1 and to allow it its just bearing upon thought and conduct1 without exaggeration1 or self-deception1 or one-sidedness2 but there is neither health of body nor peace of mind in trifling with it4 ,to us1 then1 being thus complex1 ,christianity presents a plan1 a principle1 a rule of life4 ,and that primary and inevitable question which has been already indicated may therefore take this definite form3--,does the scheme proposed to us acknowledge this our complexity8 does it provide for us in the entirety of our nature1 with all that we feel to be essential to our completeness8 or must a part of our being be huddled out of sight as we enter the precinct of the ,church8 ,,ii4 7#a7 ,certainly the whole history and character of the ,christian ,revelation would encourage us to hope that its bearing upon life would be as broad as the whole of human nature2 and that no true part of our being would be excluded from its light1 refused its welcome1 or driven from its feast4 ,when we consider how ,christianity came into the world1 it would seem strange and disappointing if its hold on human life were partial and not inclusive3 if1 for instance1 the body found no place prepared1 no help or hope provided for it4 ,this was excellently said by ,alexander ,knox3 ',the gospel commenced in an accommodation to man's animal exigencies which was as admirable as it was gracious2 and which the hosts of heaven contemplated with delight and wonder4 ,the ,incarnation of the co-eternal ,son1 through which ,s4 ,john was enabled to declare what he and his fellow ,apostles had seen with their eyes1 what they had looked upon1 and their hands had handled1 of the ,word of ,life1 was in the first instance1 so to consult human nature in its animal and sensitive capacity1 as to give the strongest pledge that a dispensation thus introduced would1 in every subordinate provision1 manifest the same spirit and operate on the same principle4 ,for could it be thought that the first wonderful accommodation of ,godhead to the sensitive apprehensions of man should be wholly temporary8 and that though that mystery of godliness was ever to be regarded as the vital source of all spiritual benefits and blessings1 no continuance of this wise and gracious condescension should be manifested in the means1 whereby its results were to be perpetuated1 and made effectual#chc8' ,it would be possible to follow this mode of thought to a remoter point1 and to mark in the revealed relation of the ,eternal ,word to the whole creation a sure ground for believing that whensoever1 in the fulness of time1 ,god should be pleased to bring the world1 through its highest type1 into union with ,himself1 the access to that union would be as wide as the fulness of the nature in which ,he made man at the beginning3 that the attractive and uplifting bands of love would hold and draw to ,him every true element of that nature4 ,but it is enough for our present purpose to look steadily at the ,advent and the ,life of ,christ3 to see how carefully and tenderly every fragment of the form ,he takes is disentangled from the deforming evil which ,he could not take3 how perfect are the lineaments of the humanity ,he wears1 how freely and clearly all that is characteristic of our nature is displayed in ,his most holy life2 where 'the hiding of ,his power1' the restraining of the beams of ,deity#chd leaves room for the disclosure in ,him of whatever weakness and limitation properly belongs to us4 ,surely it would be strange if the grace and truth which came among us thus1 proved partial or restricted in their later dealing with our manhood3 if any tract of our life were unvisited by their light and blessing3 if anything which ,he took were slighted in ,his kingdom1 forgotten in ,his ministry1 precluded from ,his worship4 ,the ,incarnation was indeed in itself a great earnest of the recognition which would be accorded in the ,christian life to the whole of our complex nature4 ,but there are1 more particularly1 two points in the coming and work of our ,lord which seem peculiarly intended to foreshow some abiding elevation of the material and visible to share the honour of the spiritual element in our life4 ,they are so familiar to us that it may not be easy to do full justice to their significance4 7#b7 ,for it does seem deeply significant that when the ,word was made flesh and dwelt among us1 ,he took up the lines of a history replete with forecasts of the consecration of material things3 ,he met the truest aspirations of a people trained to unhesitating exultation in a visible worship1 encouraged by manifold experience to look for the blessings of ,divine goodness through sensible means1 accustomed and commanded to seek for ,god's especial presence in an appointed place and amidst sights on which their eyes would rest with thankful confidence4 ,that ,church and nation 'of whom as concerning the flesh ,christ came1' must have seemed indeed irrevocably and essentially committed to the principle that when man is brought near to ,god it is with the entirety of his manhood3 that ,god is to be glorified alike in the body and in the spirit3 and that ,his mercy really is over all ,his works4 ,doubtless barriers were to be broken down1 when the time of prophecy and training passed on into the freedom of realization3 limitations were to be taken away1 distinctions abrogated by ,him in ,whom is neither ,jew nor ,greek1 neither bond nor free1 neither male nor female3 but religion would surely have grown in reality narrower and not wider1 if the body had been dismissed from its duty and gladness in the light of ,god's countenance1 if the spirit alone had been bidden to draw near1 to worship1 to taste and see how gracious the ,lord is4 ,through all the amplitude of the ,christian dispensation1 there would have been a sense of loss1 of impoverishment1 of expectation encouraged and unsatisfied1 had this been so2 for in the preparatory system of ,judaism1 whatever had been lacking1 still the whole nature of man had felt the ,hand of ,god and heard ,his ,voice4 ,it would have seemed strange if with the wider extension of ,god's light to all the world there had been a narrowing of its range in the life of each several man#che4 7#c7 ,and then1 again1 it is to be marked that our ,lord ,himself by repeated acts sustained and emphasized this acceptance of the visible as the organ or vehicle of the ,divine4 ,his blessing was given by the visible laying on of hands1 and ,his miracles were wrought not by the bare silent energy of ,his ,almighty will1 not even in many cases by the mere utterance of ,his word1 but through the employment of acts or objects1 impressive to the bodily element in man1 and declaring the consecration of the material for the work of ,god4 ,alike in the blessings bestowed and in the manner of their bestowal men must have felt that there was with ,him no disparagement of the body1 no forgetfulness of its need1 no lack of care for its welfare1 its honour1 or its hope4 ,perhaps it may even be that had we watched the scene in the ,galilean town as the sun was setting1 and in the cool of the evening they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto ,him2 as ,he moved about among those wasted1 suffering forms1 and on one after another laid ,his hands and healed them2 it may even be that what would have struck us first of all would have been the bringing in of a better hope for the bodily life of man and the replenishing of a familiar act1 a common gesture1 with a grace and power that it had but vaguely hinted at before4 ,we have1 then1 7#a7 in the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god1 7#b7 in the essential character of the history ordered as an especial preparation for ,his coming1 and 7#c7 in certain conspicuous features of ,his ministry on earth1 a strong encouragement to expect that in the life thus brought into the world1 in the way thus opened out1 there would be evinced a large-hearted care for the whole nature of men3 that no unreal abstraction would be demanded1 and no part of humanity be disinherited3 that in the choice of its means1 in the scope of its beneficence1 and in the delineation of its aim1 ,christianity would deal with us as we are1 and prove that ,god has not made us thus for nought4 ,an endeavour will be made to shew how this great hope is greeted in the ,sacramental system1 and uplifted and led on towards the end of all true hope4 ,but it seems necessary first to adduce the grounds for saying that that system has been from the beginning an integral part of ,christianity4 ,,iii4 ,when we turn to look at the presentation of the ,sacramental principle in the ,gospels1 our first impression may be that the place it holds there is less than that which is given to it in the teaching and practice of the ,church3 that it is by a disproportionate growth that the doctrine of ,sacraments has gained so much space and so great prominence in ,catholic theology4 ,but the impression certainly ought not to be lasting4 ,for it is due to our forgetfulness of the conditions under which ,christianity came into the world3 the characteristics and habits of religious thought with which it had to deal4 ,we can draw no reasonable inference from the brevity or length with which a truth is enunciated in the ,gospels until we have inquired what were the previous convictions of those to whom our ,lord spoke3 what preparation had in that particular regard been made for ,his teaching4 ,we ought to look for some difference in the manner of revelation corresponding to the difference of need when a wholly new principle of thought has to be borne into unready minds1 and when a fresh direction has to be given to an expectation already alert and confident1 a new light to be thrown on the true worth and meaning of an existing belief about ,god's ways towards men4 ,amplitude and iteration would indeed have been necessary for any teaching which was to dislodge the ,sacramental principle out of the minds of those among whom our ,lord came--to preclude them from seeking the mercy of ,god through visible means4 ,but if the ,divine purpose was not to destroy but to fulfil2 not to discredit as mere misapprehensions the convictions men had received1 but to raise and purify them by disclosing the response which ,god had prepared for them3 to disengage them from that which had been partial1 preparatory1 transient1 and to fasten them on their true satisfaction3 then we might reverently expect that the method of this teaching would probably be such as in the ,new ,testament is shewn to us in regard to the doctrine of ,sacraments4 7#a7 ,for1 in the first place1 we find abundant and pervading signs that the general principle is taken up into ,christianity and earned on as a characteristic note of its plan and work4 ,the regular communication of its prerogative and characteristic gift through outward means3 the embodiment of grace in ordinances3 the designation of visible agents1 acts1 and substances1 to be the instruments and vehicles of ,divine virtue3--this principle is so intimately and essentially woven into the texture of ,christianity that it cannot be got out without destroying the whole fabric4 ,as our ,saviour gradually sets forth the outlines of ,his design for the redemption of the world1 at point after point the ,sacramental principle is affirmed1 and material instruments are designated for the achievement of ,his work4 ',he proclaims ,himself the ,founder of a world-wide and imperishable ,society1' 'the ,kingdom of ,heaven' or 'the ,kingdom of ,god#chf2' and while the claims and energies of this kingdom penetrate the hidden depths of life1 so that it is indeed 'a moral empire1' and 'a realm of souls1' yet none the less is it openly to take its place in human history4 ,it is not an unsubstantial haze of vague spirituality1 precarious and indistinct1 hovering or said to hover half way between earth and sky1 with no precise attachment to either4 ,at once1 it is the kingdom of ,heaven1 and it is to have all the apparel of a visible society3 it touches this earth with a definite and inclusive hold2 it ennobles material conditions by a frank acceptance4 ,as in the ,incarnation1 so also in the preparation of the ,church to be the ever-present witness to ,christ1 the guardian of ,his truth1 and the home of ,his people1 the principle was sustained that1 in the redemption of the world1 ,god would be pleased to take the instruments of ,his work out of that world which ,he was renewing3 that the quickening ,spirit would not repel or destroy the material order1 but would assume1 pervade1 and use it4 7#b7 ,and1 in the second place1 the particular expressions of the general principle thus reaffirmed were authoritatively appointed3 the approved anticipation of men was left in no uncertainty as to its response and sanction2 men were told plainly what were the outward and visible signs which ,god had chosen in this world to be the means whereby ,his inward and spiritual grace should be received4 ,it is difficult indeed to imagine any way in which more weight and incisiveness could have been given to the appointment of the two great ,sacraments than in the way which ,christ was pleased to use3--any way in which ,baptism and the ,eucharist could have been more firmly and impressively designated as the vital and distinctive acts of the ,christian ,church4 ,we can hardly wonder at their pre-eminence in ,christian thought and life when we remember how they were fastened upon the consciousness of the ,church4 ,their antecedents lay in that long mysterious course of history which ,almighty ,god had led on through the strange discipline of the changeful centuries to the coming of ,christ4 ,and then1 there had been in ,christ's teaching certain utterances which seemed to have a peculiar character3 which were plainly of essential importance1 concerning things necessary for all ,his disciples1 bearing on the primary conditions of their life3 and yet utterances which were left unexplained1 however men might be troubled1 offended1 overstrained1 discouraged by them3 left as though their explanation was impossible1 until the occurrence of events which could not be forestalled#chg4 ,but such utterances1 if they could not be understood1 could still less be forgotten3 they lived in the memory1 they haunted the imagination1 they sustained expectancy3 they were as a prophetic conviction in the mind1 strong1 deep1 fragmentary1 and unsatisfied4 ,who can measure the consilient force with which1 in moments of intensest thought and feeling1 moments when all the besetting conditions seemed quick with some imminent disclosure1 the ,divine commands1 meeting1 illuminating1 establishing those former utterances1 would be riveted upon the hearts of men and clenched for ever into the faith and practice of the ,church1 with a dominance never to be forgotten or infringed1 as a very primal law of life8 ,in the unique1 controlling awe of ,his impending agony and crucifixion3--in the heralded majesty of ,his appearance to the disciples upon the mountain where ,he had appointed them1 and with the proclamation of the absolute authority given to ,him in heaven and in earth3 so did our ,lord enact the ordinances to which ,his earlier words had pointed1 and in which at length their meaning was made clear3 so did ,he institute ,his two great ,sacraments3 so did ,he disentangle the ,sacramental principle from all that had been temporary1 accidental1 disciplinary1 accommodated1 in its past embodiment1 and determine what should be the form of its two main expressions1 for all ages and for all men in ,his ,church 'until ,his coming again1' 'even unto the end of the world4' ,it may be in place here briefly to suggest a few thoughts with regard to that which was secured by this authoritative designation of the outward sign in each great ,sacrament1 beyond all that could have been attained by the general enunciation of the ,sacramental principle4 ,much might be said--and much more1 doubtless1 be still left unsaid--about the especial fitness of the very elements thus chosen from the material world to be the vehicles of saving grace3--for the water and the bread and wine are called to their place in the ,divine work with deep and far-reaching associations already belonging to them4 ,again1 the very simplicity and commonness of the elements taken into ,god's nearest service may have been a part of the reason why they were appointed3 for in no other way could the minds of men have been more surely and permanently hindered from many of the mistakes to which in the past they had been prone3 in no other way could the ,sacramental principle have been more perfectly disengaged from the misconceptions which had confused its purity3 in no other way could men have been more plainly taught that in no expense of this world's goods1 in no labour of their own hands1 in no virtue of the material elements1 but only in the sustained energy of ,his will1 who took and penetrated and employed them1 lay the efficacy of the ,sacrament4 ,the very plainness of the element hallowed in the ,sacrament was to urge up men's thoughts from it to ,him4 ,but1 above all1 the decisive appointment of particular signs and acts may seem to have been necessary in order that the ,sacraments might take their places as acts emanating from1 upheld by1 and characteristic of the ,church's corporate life1 and not merely concerned with the spiritual welfare of the individual4 ,so ,s4 ,paul appeals to ,baptism and to the ,eucharist as both effecting and involving the communion of saints#chh4 ,by ,sacraments men are to be taken out of the narrowness and isolation of their own lives1 out of all engrossing preoccupation with their own state1 into the ample air1 the generous gladness1 the unselfish hope of the ,city of ,god3 they are to escape from all daily pettiness1 all morbid self-interest1 all preposterous conviction of their own importance1 into a fellowship which spans all ages and all lands4 ,by ,baptism and the ,eucharist the communion of saints is extended and sustained3 they are the distinctive acts of the ,body of ,christ3 and as such ,he designated their essential form1 to abide unaltered through all that changed around them4 ,and even those who stand aloof from them and from the faith on which they rest1 may feel the unmatched greatness of an act that has held its place in human life through all the revolutions of more than #ahjj years3 an act that in its essential characteristics is to-day what it was when imperial ,rome was venerated as eternal3 an act that is every day renewed1 with some measure1 at least1 of the same faith and hope and love1 in every land where ,christ is owned4 7#c7 ,the ,sacramental principle had been most plainly adopted by our ,lord3 the spiritual forces with which ,he would renew the face of the earth were to be exerted through material instruments3 and ,he ,himself had secured the principle from uncertainty or vagueness or individualism in its expression by appointing1 with the utmost weight and penetration of ,his authority1 the definite form of two great ordinances1 which were to begin and to advance the supernatural life of ,his members1 to extend the range of ,his ,church1 and to maintain its unity4 ,in the acts and letters of ,his apostles we see how ,his teaching and bidding had been understood3 how promptly and decisively ,his ,church declared its life1 its work1 its mission1 to be ,sacramental4 ,the meaning and emphasis of ,his commandment appear in the obedience of those to whom it was given3 in the first words of authoritative counsel uttered by an apostle3 in the first act of the ,spirit-bearing ,body3 and thenceforward in the characteristic habits of the ,christian life#chi4 ,from the first the prominence of ,sacraments and ,sacramental rites is constant4 ,in the teaching of later ages their prominence may have been relatively greater1 in contrast with the poverty of faith and life in those who insisted on their power while they forgot their meaning2 but absolutely it would be hard to devise a higher place for them than that which they hold in ,s4 ,paul's ,epistles4 ,to be living a life received1 nourished1 and characterised by ,baptism and by the ,eucharist--this is the distinctive note of a ,christian--thus does he differ from other men4 ,the ,sacrament by which he became a member of ,christ's body must determine throughout the two distinctive qualities of his inner life3 its severance from all forms of worldliness1 all dependence on natural advantages1 or natural strength1 all confidence in the satisfaction of external rules2 and its unfailing newness1 as issuing from ,him who1 being raised from the dead1 dieth no more1 and as carrying through all its activities the air and light of heaven#cij4 ,and the ,sacrament which continually renews in him the presence of his ,lord1 meeting with unstinted wealth the demands of work and growth1 assuring and advancing the dominance of the new manhood in him3 this in like manner must determine the sustained simplicity of his bearing towards those who with him are members of the one ,body1 quickened and informed by the one ,life#cia4 ,that men may receive eternal life through ,jesus ,christ3 this is the end of all labours in ,his name3 to this all else is tributary and conducive3 and there is no hesitation as to the visible means by which ,god will effect this end in all those who have 'faith to be healed4' ,and in this sense it may perhaps be said that in ,christianity even doctrine holds not indeed a subordinate but 7that which involves nothing but dignity7 a subservient place2 since it is the strength and glory of ,christian doctrine that it essentially 'leads on to something higher--to the sacramental participation in the atoning sacrifice of ,christ#cib4' ,,iv4 ,thus then there appears at the beginning the dominance of that note which has sounded on through all succeeding ages2 thus may we trace from the first days the dispensation of ,divine energy through agents and acts and efficacious symbols gathered out of this visible world4 ,it remains to be shewn with what reason it can be alleged that herein the ,church evinces its recognition of the complexity of human nature1 and guards the truth1 that in the entirety of his being man has to do with ,god1 the ,creator1 ,redeemer1 ,sanctifier of his soul and body4 ,along three lines of thought this may in some degree appear2 and if the evidence that can be indicated is recognised as in any measure real1 it would be unphilosophic to set it aside because it may be fragmentary and inconclusive3 since fragments are all that in such a matter we are likely as yet to see4 7#a7 ,first1 then1 there is a profound far-reaching import in the bare fact that material and visible means are thus hallowed to effect the work of ,god1 to bear ,his unseen grace4 ,for it must not be thought that in this ,sacramental union of the visible and the invisible we have only an interesting parallel to the twofold nature of man1 a neat and curious symmetry1 a striking bit of symbolism or accommodation4 ,nor is the deepest significance of the ,sacramental principle brought out when it is said quite truly that 'it has pleased ,god to bind ,his invisible operations to outward and visible methods1' 'lest that which is thus invisible should for that reason be disbelieved or counterfeited or in any of the various ways in which human incredulity or human enthusiasm might do it wrong1 abused to the injury of man#cic4' ,we may see in this aspect of the system that it has indeed secondary advantages of the highest worth2 but its surpassing glory is in its primary and essential character1 as the regular employment of visible means for the achievement of ,divine mysteries4 ,for thus our whole estimate of this world is affected4 ,its simplest objects have their kindred1 as it were1 in the court1 in the very presence chamber of the ,most ,high2 and actions such as we see in it day after day have been advanced to a supreme distinction4 ,and so through ,sacramental elements and acts ,christianity maintains its strong inclusive hold upon the whole of life4 ,the consecration of material elements to be the vehicles of ,divine grace keeps up on earth that vindication and defence of the material against the insults of sham spiritualism which was achieved for ever by the ,incarnation and ,ascension of ,jesus ,christ4 ,we seem to see the material world rising from height to height2 pierced1 indeed1 and1 as it were1 surprised at every stage by strange hints of a destiny beyond all likelihood2 yet only gradually laying aside the inertness of its lower forms1 gradually seeming to yield itself1 not merely to the external fashioning of spirit1 but also to its inner and transforming occupation3 till in humanity it comes within sight of that which ,god has been preparing for it1 even the reception of ,his own image and likeness4 ,and yet this is but the beginning3 and though sin delays the end1 and holds back the crown of all1 it is but for a time2 in due season there is made known that absolutely highest honour to which ,god has been leading on the work of ,his hands1 even that in its highest type it should be taken into ,god2 that the ,eternal ,word should be made man1 and from a human mother receive our nature1 so that a material body should be ,his body2 ,his in birth1 and growth1 and death2 ,his in all its relations with the visible world2 ,his for suffering1 for weariness1 for tears1 for hunger2 ,his upon the cross and in the tomb2 ,his to rise with2 and1 at length1 ,his at the right hand of ,god4 ,thus was the visible received up into glory2 thus was the forecast of spiritual capacity in the material perfectly realized2 and by the body of the ascended ,saviour1 an entrance for the whole being of man into the realm of spirit is assured4 ',there is a spiritual body#cid3' no part of the material order can be quite untouched by the light that issues from those astounding words1 and from the triumph they record4 ,and that truth1 that triumph1 that possibility of unhindered inter-penetration between the spiritual and the material is pre-eminently attested upon earth by the two great ,sacraments of the ,christian ,church4 ,in those mysteries where water is sanctified to the washing away of sin1 and where material substances are made spiritual food1 there is a continual witness of the victory that has been won1 a real earnest of that which shall hereafter be achieved1 a vivid declaration that the barrier between the spiritual and the material is not absolute or eternal4 ,nor is this deep truth without practical and far-reaching consequences in human life4 ,for immediately it thus appears that the unreal spirituality which consists in a barren and boastful disparagement of ritual observance or of outward acts#cie1 of earthly relationships or of secular life1 of natural feelings or of bodily health1 clashes with ,christian teaching as sharply as it does with human nature and with common sense4 ,and then1 in perfect accordance with this principle1 the spiritual energy of the ,church is sacramentally conveyed for the hallowing of stage after stage in the due order of a human life1 as body1 soul1 and spirit are advanced towards the end for which they were created4 ,not only in the initial act whereby all are bidden to enter into the kingdom of ,god1 and1 at the dawn of consciousness1 the onset of evil is forestalled by the cleansing and regenerating work of ,god the ,holy ,ghost--not only in the ever-needed1 ever-ready mystery of glory whereby1 amidst the stains and sorrows of the world1 all may again and again be 'filled with the very essence of restoration and of life#cif2' but at other moments too1 when the soul of man rises up towards ,god in the divinely-quickened venture of faith1 the strength of the ,most ,high is perfected in human weakness1 and in ,sacramental acts the things that are not seen enter into the history of the things that are seen4 ,it is most unfortunate that the associations of controversy should hinder men from frankly and thankfully recognising the wide range of ,sacramental action in ,christian life4 ,the dispute as to the number of the ,sacraments is indeed 'a question of a name#cig2' and it ought to have been acknowledged all along that the name was being used with different and shifting meanings4 ,that men knew that it did not designate an essentially distinct class of exactly equivalent units is shewn on all sides2 ,s4 ,thomas ,aquinas seems to doubt1 at least1 whether there are not more than seven ,sacraments1 divides the seven into groups with very important notes of difference1 and decides that the ,eucharist is ',sacramentorum omnium potissimum#cih3' ,calvin was not unwilling that the laying on of hands should be called a ,sacrament1 though he would not reckon it 'inter ordinaria ,sacramenta#cii2' the ,council of ,trent has an anathema for anyone who says that the seven ,sacraments are so equal that none is more worthy than another#djj3 ,richard ,baxter distinguishes between 'three sorts of ,sacraments2' in the second sense of the name1 in which it is taken to mean 'any solemn ,investiture of a person by ministerial delivery1 in a state of ,church-privileges1 or some special gospel-mercy1' he grants 'that there are five ,sacraments--,baptism1 ,confirmation1 ,absolution1 the ,lord's ,supper and ,ordination2' and elsewhere he declares that 'they that peremptorily say without distinguishing that there are but two ,sacraments in all1 do but harden them 7the ,papists7 by the unwarrantable narrowing of the word#dja4' ,there is indeed no reason why anyone should hesitate to mark the ,love of ,god meeting in ,sacramental ordinances the need of man at point after point in the course of his probation4 ,differences in the manner of appointment or in the range of application may involve no difference at all in the reality of the power exercised and the grace conveyed4 ,and so we may see the ,spirit-bearing ,church1 with whole-hearted recognition of all the elements and wants of human life1 proffering to men through visible means the manifold gifts of grace needed for their progress and welfare in the way until they reach the ,country4 ,as temptation grows more complex and severe1 and the soul begins to realize the warfare that it has to wage1 the ,personal indwelling of the ,holy ,ghost1 vouchsafed by the laying on of hands1 completes the preparation of ,christ's soldier3 as the desolating sense of failure threatens to unnerve the will and to take such hold upon the soul that it is not able to look up1 the authoritative message of forgiveness brings again the strength of purity and the light of hope1 and recalls the scattered forces of the inner life to expel the encroaching evil and to regain whatever had been lost4 ,for special vocations there are special means of grace2 by ordination ,god vouchsafes to guilty men the glory of the priesthood3 and in ,christian marriage ,he confers the grace that hallows human love to be the brightness and the safeguard of an earthly home1 and the earnest of the home in ,heaven4 ,and thus in the manifold employment of the ,sacramental principle there again appears that characteristic excellence of ,christianity which is secured in the very nature of ,sacraments3 namely1 its recognition of the whole problem with which it claims to deal4 ,it speaks to us as we are3 there is no true need of which it will not take account3 it will lead us without loss to the realization of our entire being4 7#b7 ,secondly1 ,sacraments are a constant witness against our readiness to forget1 to ignore1 or to explain away the claim of ,christianity to penetrate the bodily life1 and to affect the body itself1 replenishing it here with powers which are strange to it1 lifting it out of the reach or mastery of passions which falsely boast that they are congenial with it1 leading it on towards its everlasting rest1 beyond all weakness and dishonour1 in the glory of ,god4 ,this claim1 with the deeply mysterious but wholly reasonable hope which it engenders1 has been set forth by ,hooker1 with his unfaltering strength of thought and words3 ',doth any man doubt that even from the flesh of ,christ our very bodies do receive that life which shall make them glorious at the latter day1 and for which they are already accounted parts of ,his blessed body8 ,our corruptible bodies could never live the life they shall live1 were it not that here they are joined with ,his body1 which is incorruptible1 and that ,his is in ours as a cause of immortality1 a cause by removing1 through the death and merit of ,his own flesh1 that which hindered the life of ours4 ,christ is therefore1 both as ,god and as man1 that true ,vine whereof we both spiritually and corporally are branches4 ,the mixture of ,his bodily substance with ours is a thing which the ancient ,fathers disclaim4 ,yet the mixture of ,his flesh with ours they speak of1 to signify what our very bodies through mystical conjunction receive from that vital efficacy which we know to be in ,his3 and from bodily mixtures they borrow divers similitudes rather to declare the truth1 than the manner of coherence between ,his sacred and the sanctified bodies of saints#djb4' ,the body1 as well as the spirit1 is accessible to the ,divine life3 there are avenues by which the energy of ,christ's perfect and glorified manhood can penetrate1 inform1 affect1 transfigure our whole being1 bodily and spiritual4 ,his prevalence in the life of the body and the change ,he works in it1 may be very gradual1 discerned in incoherent fragments1 interrupted by surprising disappointments1 hampered by limitations which it would be unlike ,him now to overbear3 but the change is real4 ,the body is not left inert and brutish and uncheered1 while the spirit is being carried on from strength to strength1 with growing light and freedom and majesty3 it also rises at its ,saviour's touch1 and finds from ,him the earnest of its liberation and advancement4 ,the work of grace upon the bodily nature of man may indeed be a matter of which we ought not to think save very humbly and tentatively3 it is easy and perilous to overstate or to mis-read the evidence3 but there is peril also in ignoring it4 ,the language of our ,blessed ,lord2 the clear conviction of ,his apostles2 the intrepid quietude of ,his martyrs2 the patience of the saints2 their splendid and unrivalled endurance in ,his service2 the change that may be marked in the looks and voices and instinctive acts of some who seem to be most nearly ,his3--here is such guidance for thought and hope as we ought not to dismiss because we cannot make up a theory about it4 ,there are real facts--though they may be fragmentary1 and require very careful handling--to warrant us in praying that our sinful bodies may be made clean by ,his body1 as well as that our souls may be washed by ,his most precious blood4 ,it is this truth1 with the higher aspirations1 the more venturous hopes and efforts which it suggests1 that the ,sacramental system of the ,church keeps in its due prominence4 ,it is at all events not incongruous to think that the spiritual grace which is conveyed by visible means may pass through our spiritual nature to tell upon that which is visible4 ,he who comes spiritually under a visible form may well be believed to work spiritually upon a visible nature4 ,it is not1 of course1 to be thought for a moment that our bodies can at all after their own manner receive that ,food which is wholly spiritual3 nor that the visible element in a ,sacrament gives to our bodies any hold upon the invisible grace1 any power to appropriate to themselves by their own proper energies that which is incorporeal and supra-sensuous4 ',only the soul or spirit of man can take in and feed upon a spiritual nutriment#djc3' it is only 7so far as our thoughts can go7 through the avenue1 by the medium of the faithful soul that the spiritual force of the ,sacrament can penetrate to the body4 ,but the fact that the spiritual virtue comes to us under a form of which our bodily senses take cognizance is at least a pledge that the body is not forgotten in the work of sanctification4 ,and it is something more than this3--it is an assurance of that invasion and penetration of the material by the spiritual which is the very ground of all our hope for the redemption of the body4 ,there is in the very nature of a ,sacrament the forecast of some such hope as this3--that ,he who said of the material bread ',this is ,my ,body1' may1 in ,his own time1 through changes which we cannot imagine1 take to ,himself and lift into the transfiguring realm of spirit our material bodies as well as our souls2 seizing1 disclosing1 perfecting capacities which under their present conditions we hardly suspect in them4 ,and1 perhaps1 yet more than this may be said3 for there would seem to be warrant for trusting that1 in spite of all hindrance and delay1 ,his word of power even now goes forth towards this work1 and in the holy ,eucharist has its efficacy throughout our whole nature4 ,it is the thought to which ,hooker points in words of endless import3 'there ensueth a kind of transubstantiation in us1 a true change both of soul and body1 an alteration from death to life2' words which rest on those of ,s4 ,irenaeus3 ',as bread from the earth receiving the invocation of ,god is no longer common bread but the ,eucharist1 consisting of two things1 an earthly and a heavenly2 so our bodies also receiving the ,eucharist are no longer corruptible1 having the hope of the ,resurrection#djd4' ,alike in us and in the ,sacrament the powers of the world to come invade the present1 and already move towards the victory which shall be hereafter4 7#c7 ,and thus1 in the third place1 the ministry of ,sacraments is a perpetual prophecy of the glory that shall be revealed in us2 the glory that shall pervade and transfigure our whole being4 ',till ,he come2' 'until ,his coming again2' that note of expectancy1 of looking towards the east and watching for the return of a great light1 discloses a deep truth about the ,christian ,sacraments4 ,they sanction and confirm1 as ever-present witnesses of a ,divine assent1 certain thoughts which will not let men rest in any low contentment with the things of time--with the approval1 the success1 the gratification1 or the systems of this world4 ,they declare with a perpetual insistence the mysteriousness of our present being3 they have a certain fellowship with those strange flashes and pulsations we have felt of a life which seems astray and alien here1 which yet somehow suggests the thought that could we commit ourselves wholly to its guidance1 could we be replenished with its power1 we should not walk in darkness1 but rather1 even in this world1 be as the children of light3--and so they take the side of faith and patience against the attractions of completeness and security and achievement and repose4 ,for they offer to guide into the way of peace1 to welcome into an ordered1 hallowed1 course of loving service and of steady growth1 those passing thrills of an intenser life1 which if they be forgotten1 denied1 misunderstood1 or surrendered to the abuse of wilfulness and vanity1 may so subtly and terribly be unto us an occasion of falling4 ,it is given sometimes to a poet to sink a shaft1 as it were1 into the very depths of the inner life3 to penetrate its secret treasuries1 and to return1 ,prometheus-like1 with a gift of fire and of light to men4 ,the venturesome words that record such a moment of penetration and insight never lose their power3 they seem to have caught something of the everlasting freshness of that world of which they speak3 and one man after another may find in them1 at some time of need or gladness or awakening1 the utterance of thoughts which else he might have been too shy or too faint-hearted to acknowledge even to himself4 ,there is such a splendid venture of courage for the truth's sake in those lines of ,wordsworth which surely no familiarity can deprive of their claim to reverence and gratitude2 the lines in which he tells his thankfulness1 ,for those obstinate questionings ,of sense and outward things1 ,fallings from us1 vanishings2 ,blank misgivings of a creature ,moving about in worlds not realized1 ,high instincts before which our mortal nature ,did tremble like a guilty thing surprized3 4444 ,those first affections1 ,those shadowy recollections1 ,which1 be they what they may1 ,are yet the fountain-light of all our day1 ,are yet a master-light of all our seeing2 ,uphold us1 cherish1 and have power to make ,our noisy years seem moments in the being ,of the eternal ,silence4 ,it may be doubted1 whether any life is left wholly unvisited by some misgiving1 some dim1 faltering instinct1 some pulse of hope or sorrow1 which is akin to that which these words disclose2 and the moments of such visitation are the supreme opportunities of a human soul1 the crises of its tragedy4 ,then the things that belong to its peace are being proffered to it2 then the ,sibyl stands before it with the treasures of unimagined wisdom4 ,we rise1 and we live and grow and see by the right understanding and employment of such moments2 by the fresh acts of self-committal which they render possible3 and in all the infinite pathos of this world there is no misery comparable with this--that they should cease to trouble us4 ,whatever a man may believe or disbelieve1 he will do well to trust these moments when they come3 and1 perhaps1 if he has grace to know and use them1 he may be nearer to the kingdom of ,god than he at all suspects4 ,but ,christianity does not leave such 'shoots of everlastingness' wholly unexplained or unprovided for4 ,they are in truth the fountain light of all our seeing1 for they are the disclosure1 the assertion1 the stepping forward of ,his presence who alone sustains our life1 our thought1 our love4 ,and1 being this1 they are therefore also the tokens1 the emerging witness of a work that has begun in us1 a life that is astir1 a process of change that may be carried forward to an issue which1 even faintly surmised1 might make all other desire die away in us4 ,that we should be perfectly set free from sin2 that ,god should so dwell in us and pervade our whole being that no part should lag behind the other2 that whatsoever weakness or reluctance or coarseness may have clung about the body here should utterly pass away1 being driven back by the victorious onset of the ,spirit of ,god1 claiming us wholly1 body1 soul1 and spirit for ,his own2 that whatsoever pure and true delight has here engaged us should be found1 faultless and unwearied1 in that energy which shall be at once our work and our rest for ever2--this is how ,christianity represents to us the end of our development3 and if indeed the powers which are to achieve so vast a change are already setting about their work in us1 it is not strange that we should be disturbed now and then with some suspicion of it4 ,we may understand alike the severity of external discipline1 and the sharp disturbance and upheaval of anything like complacency1 in a nature that is being here led on towards so splendid and inconceivable a transfiguration4 ,but ,christianity does not merely declare to us the origin and meaning of these strange invasions of our ordinary life2 these emergings1 as it were1 of that which is behind our normal activity1 when the light1 the strength1 the love in which alone we live seems to push aside the curtain on which the background of our daily life is painted1 and to appear unveiled among the things of time4 ,he who telleth the number of the stars and calleth them all by their names1 ,he who sendeth the springs into the valleys1 and sweetly and mightily ordereth all things2 ,he would not have these moments of intenser life1 of keener consciousness1 of quicker and more excellent growth1 to be precarious and unaccountable1 to be abrupt and arbitrary as the rush of the meteor which is gone before the eye has clearly seen it1 or could use its light4 ,they come from ,him2 they are the moments in which ,he makes ,his power to be known2 in which ,his hand is felt1 and ,his voice pervades the soul2 the moments when ,his presence advances1 as it were1 and bends over us1 and we know that it is ,he1 ,himself4 ,and must we merely wait in blank and idle helplessness for that which we so greatly need2 for that which is our only source of strength and growth8 ,must we wait1 flagging and fruitless1 with just a vague hope that the quickening presence may chance to visit us again1 lighting on us with arbitrary beneficence1 as the insect lights upon the plant1 that it may bring forth fruit in due season8 ,must we wonder through days and months1 yes1 and through years perhaps of dim and desolate bewilderment1 whether it was a real presence that came to us2 with nothing but the fading memory of an individual and unconfirmed impression to sustain our hope1 to keep the door against the gathering forces of doubt and worldliness and despair8 ,must we find our way as best we can1 by guidance given long ago1 imperfectly realized even then1 and more and more hazily remembered1 more drearily inadequate as time goes on1 and the path grows rougher and less clear8 ,is the greatest effort to be demanded of us just when our strength is least and our light lowest#dje8 ,surely it is not ,his way to be thus arbitrary in compassion1 thus desultory and precarious in shewing mercy4 ,surely ,he would not have us stray and faint and suffer thus4 ,no1 ,his compassions fail not2 and1 with the orderliness of a father's love1 ,he has made us sure of all we need2 and the historic ,church and the triumphs of ,his saints declare that ,he is true4 ,he has1 with the certainty of ,his own unchanging word1 promised that the unseen gift1 which is the power of saintliness in sinful man1 shall be given to all faithful1 humble souls by ordered means through appointed acts4 ,we need not vaguely hope that we may somehow receive ,his grace2 for ,he has told us where and how we are to find it1 and what are the conditions of its unhindered entrance into our souls4 ,we need not be always going back to wonder whether our sins have been forgiven1 or laboriously stirring up the glow of a past conviction2 for there is a ministry which ,he has empowered to convey to us that cleansing glory which is ever ready to transfigure penitence into peace and thanksgiving4 ,we need not live an utterly unequal life1 stumbling to and fro between our ideal and our caricature#djf2 for ,he has prepared for us a way which leads from strength to strength2 and we know where ,he is ready to meet us and to replenish us with life and light4 ,there is a glory that shall be revealed in us2 and here on earth we may so draw near and take it to ourselves that its quiet incoming tide may more and more pervade our being2 with radiance ever steadier and more transforming2 till1 in this world and beyond it1 ,he has made a perfect work3 till we are wholly ruled and gladdened by ,his presence1 and wholly wrought into ,his image4 ,for not by vague waves of feeling or by moments of experience which admit no certain measure1 no unvarying test1 no objective verification1 but by an actual change1 a cleansing and renewal of our manhood1 a transformation which we can mark in human lives and human faces1 or trace in that strange trait of saintliness which ,christianity has wrought into the rough fabric of human history1 may the reality of ,sacramental grace be known on earth2 known clearly enough1 at all events1 to make us hopeful about its perfect work in those who shall hereafter be presented faultless in body1 soul and spirit before the throne of ,god4 #cgg ,in ,rabbi ,ben ,ezra the true measure of such work's beneficence is shewn3-- ,not on the vulgar mass ,called 'work1' must sentence pass1 ,things done1 that took the eye and had the price2 ,o'er which1 from level stand1 ,the low world laid its hand1 ,found straightway to its mind1 could value in a trice3 ,but all the world's coarse thumb ,and finger failed to plumb1 ,so passed in making up the main account2 ,all instincts immature1 ,all purposes unsure1 ,that weighed not as his work1 yet swelled the man's amount4 #cgh ,cf4 ,a4 ,knox1 ,remains1 ii4 #ach4 #cgi ,cf4 ,plato1 ,phaedo1 #he ,c1 ,d4 #chj ,h4 ,p4 ,liddon1 ,some ,elements of ,religion1 pp4 #aaf1 #aag4 ,cf4 the wonderful venture towards a conception of the disembodied soul and of its manner of life1 in the ,dream of ,gerontius3 and also in ,battle and ,after1 by ,r4 ,st4 ,john ,tyrwhitt1 p4 #g4 #cha ,lotze1 ,microcosmus1 ,bk4 ,,iii4 c4 i4 #b4 #chb ,cf4 ,t4 ,h4 ,green1 ,prolegomena to ,ethics1 ,bk4 ,,ii4 ch4 ii4 #abe1 #abf4 #chc ,a4 ,knox1 ,remains1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #bbh1 #bbi4 ,the writer of this essay desires to acknowledge with gratitude the help he has found in the remarkable treatise here referred to4 #chd ,cf4 ,hooker1 ,v4 liv4 #f4 #che ,cf4 ,a4 ,knox1 ii4 #baj4 #chf ,h4 ,p4 ,liddon1 ,bampton ,lectures1 pp4 #aja-aje4 #chg ,cf4 ,s4 ,john iii4 #c-ac2 vi4 #ea-fg4 #chh #a ,cor4 x4 #ag2 ,gal4 iii4 #bg1 #bh2 ,eph4 iv4 #e4 #chi ,acts ii4 #ch1 #da1 #db4 #cij ,cf4 ,rom4 vi4 #c1 #d2 ,gal4 iii4 #bg1 #bh2 ,col4 ii4 #ab1 #bj-bc4 #cia ,cf4 #a ,cor4 x4 #ag1 xii4 #be1 #bf4 #cib ,w4 ,shirley1 ,the ,church in the ,apostolic ,age1 p4 #ajc4 #cic ,moberly's ,bampton ,lectures1 pp4 #bi1 #cj4 #cid #a ,cor4 xv4 #dd4 #cie ,cf4 ,professor ,milligan1 ,the ,resurrection of ,our ,lord1 ,lect4 vi4 ,pt4 i4 c4 #cif ,bright's ,ancient ,collects1 p4 #aeb4 #cig ,c4 ,gore1 ,roman ,catholic ,claims1 p4 #agj4 #cih ,s4 ,th4 iii4 ,qu4 ,,lxv4 ,art4 #a1 #d1 #c4 #cii ,calv4 ,inst4 ,,iv4 xiv4 #bj4 #djj ,conc4 ,trident4 ,sess4 ,,vii4 ,can4 iii4 #dja ,richard ,baxter1 ,confirmation and ,restauration pp4 #hh1 #hi2 ,ecclesiastical ,cases of ,conscience1 ,qu4 #ii4 ,cf4 ,j4 ,s4 ,pollock1 ,richard ,baxter on the ,sacraments1 #eh4 #djb ,hooker ,v4 lvi4 #i3 cf4 ,e4 ,b4 ,pusey1 ,university ,sermons1 p4 #aa1 ',this is 7if we may reverently so speak7 the order of the mystery of the ,incarnation1 that the ,eternal ,word so took our flesh into ,himself1 as to impart to it ,his own inherent life2 so then we partaking of it1 that life is transmitted on to us also1 and not to our souls only1 but our bodies also1 since we become flesh of ,his flesh1 and bone of ,his bone1 and ,he who is wholly life1 is imparted to us wholly4 ,the ,life which ,he is1 spreads around1 first giving its own vitality to that sinless flesh which ,he united indissolubly with ,himself1 and in it encircling and vivifying our whole nature1 and then1 through that bread which is ,his flesh1 finding an entrance to us individually1 penetrating us1 soul and body and spirit1 and irradiating and transforming us into ,his own light and life4' #djc ,j4 ,b4 ,mozley1 ,lectures and other ,theological ,papers1 p4 #bjd4 #djd ,hooker ,v4 lxvii4 #aa2 ,s4 ,irenaeus iv4 #ah4 #dje ,cf4 ,a4 ,knox1 ii4 #bcd-f4 #djf ,cf4 ,martensen1 ,christian ,dogmatics1 p4 #ahb4 ,,xi4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,politics4 ,w4 ,j4 ,h4 ,,campion4 ,the aim of this essay is to investigate some of the relations of ,christianity to human society1 and to point out some of the main lines of influence which the ,christian ,church brings to bear on the organized centres of social life4 ,we are met at the outset by two widely-differing conceptions of the mode and direction in which ,christianity acts as a regenerating influence on the life of mankind4 ,on the one side1 ,christianity is identified with civilization1 and the function of the ,church is regarded as simply the gathering up1 from age to age1 of the higher aspirations of mankind3 her call is to enter into1 to sympathize with1 and to perpetuate whatever is pure1 noble1 and of good report1 in laws and institutions1 in art1 music1 and poetry1 in industry and commerce1 as well as in the moral and religious usages and beliefs1 of mankind4 ,christianity is thus not a higher order1 standing over against and correcting a lower1 but is itself the product or rather the natural outgrowth of the progressive moral consciousness of mankind4 ,the value of this mode of thought is in emphasizing the sacredness of secular interests and duties1 and in its protest against dividing the field of conscience1 and assigning to the one part a greater sanctity than to the other4 ',as our salvation depends as certainly upon our behaviour in things relating to civil life1 as in things relating to the service of ,god1 it follows that they are both equally matters of conscience and salvation#djg4' ,its weakness lies in its not sufficiently recognising one decisive fact of human nature1 the fact of sin4 ,no one1 as it seems to us1 looking at human nature1 in himself or others1 with clear1 open1 unprejudiced eyes1 can doubt the existence of sin1 its corrupting influence on the whole nature1 and yet its fundamental unnaturalness4 ,but if states and societies are as the individuals who compose them1 then any theory of society must rest on a theory of man2 and the theory of man is imperfect unless it recognises the fact of sin4 ,on the other hand1 the recoil from secularism1 or the overwhelming sense of the power and destructiveness of sin in the lives of men and of societies1 leads others to draw sharp the distinction between things sacred and things secular4 ,the order of things1 it is said1 of which the ,incarnation is the starting-point1 is admittedly higher than that secular order which existed before it1 and which even now surrounds it as darkness encompasses light4 ,let us put on one side political life1 local and national interests1 all that sphere of mixed social relations1 which is so imperfect1 so full of fierce passions1 of strife1 envy1 and ambition1 so productive of distractions and entanglements4 ,let us concentrate our own thoughts on sin1 and devote our own lives to its remedy4 ,let us at least keep our own hands clean1 and use for our own discipline that narrower sphere which is sufficient4 ,no doubt individuals will find their vocation in some such attitude as this3 and for some it may be wise to abstain from political and social interests1 in order thus to strengthen their influence in other directions4 ,but we are not now considering the call of individual ,christians1 but the attitude of the ,christian ,church as a whole3 and it would be easy to accumulate references to shew that the leading minds of ,christendom have declined to recognise1 except in cases of special vocation1 as the duty of ,christians1 the abdication of responsibility for the problems1 the entanglements1 the more or less secular issues of the ordinary social life of mankind4 ,christianity1 in the words of a modern writer1 has both to deliver humanity from its limitations1 and to bring it to a true knowledge of itself#djh4 ,these two conceptions of the relation of the ,christian society to the issues and interests of the life amid which it moves1 correspond to two aspects of the ,incarnation1 which the deepest ,christian thought holds in solution4 ,on the one side1 the human life of the ,word of ,god may be regarded as a fulfilment1 the restoration of an order1 marred1 indeed1 and broken1 but never completely lost1 the binding together of all truth1 all goodness1 all beauty1 into one perfect life2 on the other1 it is a reversal1 the beginning of a new order1 the undoing of a great wrong which has eaten deep into human nature1 the lifting up of mankind out of the helpless slavery of sin into the freedom of righteousness4 ,these two aspects of the ,incarnation are not contradictory but complementary4 ,however difficult it may be for us to find their unity in thought1 they had their unity in a life4 ,in the same way1 the problem with which ,christianity has to deal in its relations to human society has two sides4 ,it cannot hold itself aloof from the great currents and movements of that ever-flowing and ebbing human life1 in which it shares1 which it has to redeem1 to purify1 and to quicken4 ',in the great sea of human society1 part of it1 yet distinguishable from it1 is the stream of the existence of the ,church#dji4' ,and yet it has to maintain1 as a debt it owes to future generations as well as the present1 the purity of its own moral standard1 the independence of its own deepest life4 ,to spiritualize life without ceasing to be spiritual1 to maintain a high morality while at the same time inter-penetrating a non-,christian or very imperfectly ,christianized society with its own moral habits and manners1 is a task which presupposes great cohesion and tenacity on the part of the ,christian ,church4 ,and it is for that reason that in speaking of the ,church we shall have mainly in view that solid1 highly articulated1 permanent core of ,christendom#daj1 which1 however broken into fragments1 and weakened by its own divisions1 maintains a clearly-marked type1 on the side of doctrine in its creeds and sacred writings1 on the side of worship in its sacraments and traditional liturgies1 on the side of organization in its ministry1 as well as holding the life of ,christ its standard of perfect living4 ,those ,christian bodies which float1 more or less closely knit together1 around the central core of the ,church1 have often rendered great services in advancing on special points the standard of social and personal morality1 and they are more flexible1 and able rapidly to throw themselves into new crusades2 but it may well be doubted if their work could have been done at all without the more rigid and stable body behind them1 with its slow movements1 but greater ,catholicity of aim and sympathy2 and certainly it would in the long run have been better done1 if1 like the great monastic bodies1 they had remained as distinct organizations within the ,church4 ,what1 then1 is the attitude of the ,church towards human society1 and especially towards human society as gathered up and concentrated in ,states8 ,what duties does it recognise towards nations1 towards human society as a whole8 ,i4 ,there is a certain order of debated questions1 on which it cannot be said that the ,christian ,church is pledged to one side or the other--she leaves them open4 ,individual ,christians take one side or the other4 ,the ,christian society recognises that the differences are due to diversities of temperament and national character1 and to the varying conditions under which human societies live1 and therefore that they may be best left to human experience to solve4 ,in this class of questions would come the problem debated since the time of ,herodotus1 but to which no general answer is really possible1 ,what is the best form of government8 ,on this problem the ,church is1 so to speak1 frankly opportunist4 ,here we may quote the view of ,s4 ,augustine1 as stated in the ,de ,civitate ,dei#daa3 ',the ,heavenly ,city1 in its wanderings on earth1 summons its citizens from among all nations 444 being itself indifferent to whatever differences there may be in the customs1 laws1 and institutions by which earthly peace is sought after or preserved1 not rescinding or destroying any of them1 but rather keeping and following after them as different means adopted by different races for obtaining the one common end of earthly peace1 provided only they are no obstacle to the religion by which men are taught the worship of the one supreme and true ,god4' ,in the same spirit1 in his dialogue ,de libero ,arbitrio#dab1 he dwells on the mutable character of human law4 ,that law is temporal1 which1 'though just1 may yet be justly changed from time to time1' i4e4 as the conditions change4 ,thus1 a ,democracy is best adapted to a grave and temperate people1 public-spirited and willing to make sacrifices for the common good2 while it is better for a more corrupt1 more easily flattered people1 greedy of private gain1 to be under an ,aristocracy or a ,monarchy4 ,or if we wish for a more modern statement of the traditional view of the ,christian ,church1 we shall find it in an encyclical letter#dac of ,leo ,,xiii3 ',the right of sovereignty in itself is not necessarily united with any particular form of government3 it can rightly assume1 now one form1 now another1 provided only that each of these forms does in very deed secure useful results and the common good4' ,it will be noticed that two qualifications are introduced1 the one by ,s4 ,augustine1 the other by ,pope ,leo1 limiting their acceptance of all forms of government4 ,it is possible for ,christian citizens to take an active part in every de facto government which 7#a7 does not hinder the free and peaceable practice of the ,christian religion1 and 7#b7 whose real aim is the common good1 and which does1 in fact1 work for the advantage of its subjects4 ,not all governments1 even in the nineteenth century1 satisfy these tests4 ,in the same way1 there have been the widest differences between ,christian thinkers on the most important questions1 in which autocratic and democratic leanings shew themselves1 such1 for instance1 as that of the origin of sovereignty1 i4e4 of that rule of man over man1 which is the foundation of civil society4 ,the view indicated1 though not worked out by ,s4 ,augustine#dad1 that the rule of man over man had its origin in the ,fall1 and was therefore part of the secondary1 not the primary condition of mankind1 is used by ,gregory ,,vii as a weapon of assault on the temporal power1 by ,bossuet as a safe ground on which to rest the duty of obedience to an absolute ,monarchy4 ,the other side is taken by ,s4 ,thomas ,aquinas4 ,he finds the origin of temporal rule in the social nature of man1 accepting and making his own the ,aristotelian account of man as by nature a being fitted for a common life4 ,thus1 in a state of innocence1 there would have been no slavery indeed1 but government1 with its recognition of the differences in ability and knowledge among men1 and of the consequent duty incumbent on the wise and experienced of using their faculties for the common good4 ,political rule would thus be1 not a consequence of sin1 but a result of man's inherently social nature4 ,differences such as these among those who equally start from fundamentally ,christian presuppositions can only be taken to shew that we are wrong in supposing that the ,christian ,church is bound up with either of the two great political leanings which have appeared in civil communities in all ages of the world1 and which have their ground in human nature itself4 ',in every country of civilized man1 acknowledging the rights of property1 and by means of determined boundaries and common laws1 united into one people or nation1 the two antagonist powers or opposite interests of the ,state 444 are those of permanence and of progression#dae4' ,the ,church recognises these diverse powers or interests as natural1 and therefore accepts the fact of their existence1 without identifying herself with either of them4 ,,ii4 ,but it would surely be a mistake to suppose that because the ,church is neutral on certain questions of ,politics1 that therefore she has no direct teaching to give on the vital questions which arise with regard to the organized common life of mankind4 ,in the rebound from the minimizing views of the function of the ,state1 which were associated in ,england with the ,ricardian ,school of ,economics and the philosophic ,radicalism of ,j4 ,s4 ,mill1 men are ready to go all lengths in exalting the position of the ,state as the moral guide of social life4 ,the tendency is to assign the whole sphere of public morals to the ,state1 and 'private' morals to the individual1 acting1 if he pleases1 under the guidance of one or other of the ,christian bodies4 ,however much we may welcome the freer recognition of corporate responsibility1 and the nobler conception of the ,state as having a moral end2 yet we cannot help perceiving that certain limitations are1 as by a self-acting law1 imposed on its moral influence4 7#a7 ,the ,state has been called the 'armed conscience of the community#daf4' ,looked at on the moral side1 as a guide of the conscience of individuals1 its arms are its defect4 ,but that defect is not remediable3 it is inevitable4 ,for the ,state has to deal with various grades of character1 responding to a vast complexity of motives1 which may be roughly classified under three heads1 those of duty1 self-interest1 fear of punishment4 ,to some 'you ought' is a sufficient appeal1 to others 'you had better1' while to a third class the only effective appeal is 'you must4' ,now the ,state in order to perform its most elementary business1 that of securing the conditions of an ordered and civilized life1 has to deal first of all with those who are only susceptible of the lowest motive1 the dread of punishment4 ,and in dealing with them1 it must of necessity use coercive force#dag4 ,but the force-associations which thus grow up around all ,state-action weaken and enervate its appeal to the higher motives1 those of duty and rational self-interest4 ,the very suspicion of compulsion taints the act done from duty4 ,again1 there can be little doubt of the vast influence exercised on morals by human law and institutions4 ,it is well known to those who are at all acquainted with the life of the poor in large towns1 that in many cases conscience is mainly informed by positive law4 ,but all that human law can do is to secure a minimum of morality#dah4 ,no doubt it is true that indirectly positive law can do something more than this1 because good citizens will abstain from all actions which1 in however remote a degree1 are likely to bring them into collision with the law4 ,but in the main it is true to say that what law can secure is the observance on pain of punishment of a minimum moral standard1 which itself shifts with the public opinion of society1 rising as it rises1 falling as it falls4 ,certainly the ,state is sacred3 it is 'of ,god'3 it is no necessary evil3 but a noble organ of good living4 ,but yet there are these natural limitations to the effective exercise of its functions1 as a moral guide4 ,firstly1 it has to use force1 and1 therefore1 its appeal to the higher motive is weakened4 ,secondly1 it can only secure a minimum of morality1 shifting with the general morality of the community4 ,now it is exactly at these points that the ,church steps in to supplement the moral action of the ,state1 not as one part supplements another part of a single whole1 but rather as a higher supplements a lower order4 ,it is in its appeal to the higher motives that the ,state is weak3 it is in its appeal to the higher motives that the ,church is strong4 ,if there have been times when the ,church has allowed herself to claim or to assume temporal power1 or without assuming it1 to be so closely implicated with the secular authority that ,church and ,state appeared to men as one body interested in and maintaining the existing order1 if she has used the weapons of persecution1 or handed men over to the secular arm1 then has she so far weakened and loosened her own hold on the higher motives which move men to action4 ,she may have become apparently more powerful1 but it has always been at the cost1 perhaps unperceived at the time1 of some sacrifice of her own spirituality1 and of the loftiness of that moral appeal in which her true strength lies4 ',there is something in the very spirit of the ,christian ,church which revolts from the application of coercive force#dai4' ,and so1 alongside of the moral minima of the secular law1 the ,christian ,church maintains moral maxima1 moral ideals1 or rather a moral ideal1 ',be ye therefore perfect1 even as your ,father which is in heaven is perfect#dbj4' ',till we all come unto a perfect man1 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of ,christ#dba4' ,it is not that the law is undervalued1 or condemned1 but that ,christians are urged to bring their conduct under principles which will carry them far beyond the mere obedience to law4 ,it is sufficient to quote from the ,sermon on the ,mount1 ',blessed are the meek4444 ,blessed are ye1 when men shall revile you1 and persecute you1 and say all manner of evil against you falsely1 for my sake4444 ,i say unto you1 that ye resist not evil3 but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek1 turn to him the other also4 ,and if any man will sue thee at the law1 and take away thy coat1 let him have thy cloke also#dbb4' ,the law and institutions of a people rest upon and give expression to a group of moral principles and ideals3 they are not the only realization of those principles and ideals1 but one2 art and literature would be others2 further1 they realize them mainly on the negative side1 in the mode of prohibition4 ,as that group of principles and ideals changes1 they change1 sometimes for the better1 sometimes for the worse4 ,at first sight it seems as if there was no essential difference in this respect between the laws and institutions of a nation1 and the manners and institutions of the ,christian ,church1 except that the one gives a more positive and constructive expression to the moral standard of the time than the other4 ,but there is this difference1 that the ,christian ,church has its moral standard in the past1 in the life of the ,son of ,man2 it too recognises change1 as age succeeds age1 but the new duties are regarded not as new1 but as newly brought forth out of an already existing treasure1 as the completer manifestation under new conditions of the meaning of the life of ,christ4 ,on the threshold of ,christian morality there lies that by which all its subsequent stages may be tested1 and which is the measure of advance or retrogression4 ,it is this permanent element1 preceding the element of change and of development1 in ,christian morality1 which gives it its authority as against the moral product of one nation or one age4 ,it is exactly this authority which has enabled the ,church to appeal with such force to duty as precedent to right1 and to love as higher than justice4 ,we can best illustrate this steady appeal to higher motives by tracing the steps by which ,christian teachers have brought out1 one by one1 the different aspects of the relations of governors and governed looked at in the light of ,christian anthropology and ,christian sociology4 ,the first principles governing the attitude of individual ,christians towards the various organizations of human society are laid down in the words of ,christ1 ',render unto ,caesar the things which are ,caesar's1 and unto ,god the things that are ,god's#dbc4' ,the command1 taken in connection with its context1 involves two principles1 first1 the recognition of the claims of civil society1 and1 secondly1 their limitation by a higher order of claims1 where they come into conflict with the first4 ,the passage in the ,epistle to the ,romans#dbd1 in which ,s4 ,paul deals with the duties of ,christians towards 'the powers that be1' is a commentary on his ,master's teaching4 ,it shews the connection of the first of these principles with the second1 by tracing it back to its ground in the will of ,god4 ,it brings it into relation to love1 the central motive of the ,christian character4 ,briefly summarized1 the stages of ,s4 ,paul's argument are as follows3 7#a7 he shews that all power is of ,divine origin3 'there is no power but of ,god4' ,thus those who wield secular power are ministers of ,god4 7#b7 ,the administration of earthly rewards and punishments by the secular power makes for good1 and for this reason ,god uses it in ,his governance of the world4 ,therefore temporal authority is to be obeyed 'not only for wrath1 but also for conscience sake1' i4e4 not merely to avoid earthly punishment1 but as a duty4 7#c7 ,this duty may be regarded as one application of the general maxim of justice1 ',render to all their dues4' ,but 7#d7 all these scattered dues are to a ,christian summed up under one vast debt1 always in process of payment1 but never completely paid4 ',owe no man anything1 but to love one another4' ',love is the fulfilling of the law4' ,these passages of the ,new ,testament put in the clearest light the duty of obedience to civil authority4 ,they lay down its theological ground in the derivation of all power from ,god2 and its moral ground by shewing that such obedience is one form of justice1 and justice itself one aspect of love4 ,they thus give to the commands of those wielding authority in human society the firmest sanctions4 ,if on the one side ,christianity seems to set up conscience1 as the guardian of the things of ,god1 against positive law1 it gives on the other a ,divine sanction and consecration to the whole order of things connected with the ,state by shewing its ministerial relation to1 its defined place and function in1 ,god's ordering of the world4 ,this was the side of our ,lord's saying which needed enforcing on the ,christians of ,s4 ,paul's time4 ,the civil authority was the ,roman ,empire with its overwhelming force and its almost entire externality to ,christianity4 ,the danger1 then1 was the spirit of passionate revolt against the secular power4 ,men who were filled with the new wine of the ,spirit1 who were turning the world upside down1 found it hard to submit to the decrees of an alien power1 wielded by heathen3 they pleaded their ,christian liberty2 they could not understand that such a power was 'ordained of ,god4' ,the early ,christian ,fathers found it sufficient1 even when the ,roman ,empire was gradually becoming ,christian1 to bring home to consciences the teaching of ,s4 ,paul4 ,there was no need then to emphasize in words the other side of our ,lord's saying4 ,there was little danger of undue subservience to the civil power being regarded with anything but disapproval3 the danger was of men not giving it the obedience which was its due4 ',we honour the ,emperor1' says ,tertullian#dbe1 'so far as we may1 and so far as honour is due to him1 as the first after ,god 444 as one who has only ,god for his superior4' ',if the ,emperor demands tribute1' says ,ambrose#dbf1 'we do not refuse it3 the lands of the ,church pay tribute2 if the ,emperor wishes for our lands1 he has the power to take them--none of us will resist him 444 we render to ,caesar what is ,caesar's4' ,s4 ,augustine1 with his ,stoical leaning and his ,roman sense of order1 was little inclined to encourage men to resist1 in any case1 established powers4 ',what matters it under whose rule a man lives who is to die1 provided only his rulers do not force him to do impious and unjust things#dbg8' ,only in one passage of ,s4 ,chrysostom#dbh1 among the writers of the first four centuries1 is a gloss given to ,s4 ,paul's words1 ',there is no power but of ,god1' which distinguishes the delegation of power in general from ,god1 and the delegation of power by ,god to any particular ruler1 and so suggests the possibility of a de facto ruler to whom obedience was not due4 ,but this attitude of the early ,christian teachers was a very different thing from that attitude of the ,english ,caroline divines1 which gave so fatal a bent to the teaching of the ,english ,church of the seventeenth century in the sphere which lies on the borderland of ,theology and ,politics4 ,what the early ,fathers taught their ,christian followers was that it was their duty to obey in secular matters the powers lawfully set over them4 ,what the ,english divines taught was the ,divine right of princes and the subjects' duty of non-resistance4 ,in the great battle which was being fought out in ,england between arbitrary power and freedom1 they threw the whole weight of the ,english ,church on the side of the former4 ,it was a fatal error as a matter of policy1 for it was the losing side4 ,but1 what is hardly sufficiently realized1 it was most untrue to the tradition of the ,church1 and of the ,church in ,england4 ,it was contrary to the tradition of the ,church4 ,for after the rise of ,christianity to the high places of the world1 followed by the break-up of the ,roman ,empire1 and the formation of the mediaeval ,states1 weakly knit together by personal ties1 and with uncertain claims on the allegiance of their subjects1 two new aspects of the relations of governors and governed had been brought out in ,christian teaching4 ,first1 stress was laid on the duty of those holding power4 ,emperors and kings1 magistrates and officers1 who were ,christians1 had a claim for guidance and instruction in the exercise of their various functions4 ,the claim was met by shewing them that1 whatever the earthly source of authority may be1 all just power is of ,god1 and therefore must be regarded1 not as a privilege1 nor as a personal right1 but as a trust to be undertaken for the good of others1 and as a ministry for ,god and man4 ,thus a government which has for its aim anything else than the common good is1 properly speaking1 not a government at all4 ,whether its form is monarchical or not1 it is simply a tyranny#dbi4 ,secondly1 the ,middle ,age theologians supplemented ,s4 ,paul's teaching by shewing the possible right of resistance to an unlawful government1 or to one that failed to perform its duties4 ,such right of resistance might arise in two cases3 7#a7 that of unjust acquisition of power1 7#b7 that of its unjust use4 ,unjust acquisition might take place in two ways3 7a7 when an unworthy person acquired power1 but by legitimate means3 in this case it was the duty of subjects to submit1 because the form of power came from ,god2 7b7 when power was acquired by force or fraud3 in this case1 subjects had the right to depose the ruler1 if they had the power1 supposing1 however1 that the illegitimate assumption of power had not been legitimated by subsequent consent4 ,unjust use might also take place in two ways3 7a7 when the ruler commanded something contrary to virtue1 in which case it was a duty to disobey2 or 7b7 when he went outside his rights1 in which case subjects were not bound to obey1 but it was not necessarily their duty to disobey4 ,and so cases might arise in which it was lawful to enfranchise oneself1 even from a legitimate power4 ',some who have received power from ,god1 yet if they abuse it1 deserve to have it taken from them4 ,both the one and the other come of ,god#dcj4' ,nor was the political teaching of the ,caroline divines in agreement with the tradition of the ,church in ,england4 ,it is not necessary to go back to the great ,archbishops who led1 in earlier days1 the struggle for ,english freedom4 ,it is sufficient to recur to the teaching of the greatest of ,english post-,reformation theologians1 at once soaked through and through with the spirit of ,catholic antiquity1 and in complete agreement with the ,english ,reformation settlement4 ,richard ,hooker had no sympathy with that doctrine of ,divine right which his mediaeval masters looked upon as a quasi-heretical doctrine#dca4 ,he found the first origin of government in the consent of the governed1 and he anticipates ,hobbes and ,locke in his account of the 'first original conveyance1 when power was derived from the whole into one#dcb4' ,further1 he points out that the king's power is strictly limited 7except in the case of conquest or of special appointment by ,god71 not only by the original compact1 but also by after-agreement made with the king's consent or silent allowance#dcc4 ,and men are not bound in conscience to obey such usurpers 'as in the exercise of their power do more than they have been authorized to do#dcd4' ,but on the other hand1 he maintains strongly1 as against those who thought that human laws could in no sort touch the conscience1 the duty of civil obedience in agreement with the law of ,god1 and the sacredness1 the ',divine institution1' of duly-constituted authority1 whether ',god ,himself doth deliver1 or men by light of nature find out the kind thereof4' ,thus1 the main points which have been brought out by ,christian teaching as to the relation of ,christian citizens to the civil authority are3 7#a7 first and foremost1 the duty of obedience for conscience' sake1 a duty which stands on the same level1 and is invested with the same sanctions as the most sacred claims2 7#b7 the duty1 in case of the civil authority issuing commands contrary to virtue or religion1 of disobedience on the same grounds as those which lead to obedience in the former case2 7#c7 the duty of those wielding authority to use it for the common good1 and so as not to hinder1 if they cannot promote1 the ,christian religion2 7#d7 the right1 which may be said in certain extreme cases to rise almost to a duty1 of resistance to the arbitrary or unconstitutional extension of authority to cases outside its province4 ,the same emphasis on higher motives is characteristic of ,christian treatment of the questions connected with property4 ,christianity is certainly not pledged to uphold any particular form of property as such4 ,whether property had better be held by individuals1 or by small groups1 as in the case of the primitive ,teutonic villages1 or of the modern ,russian or ,indian village communities1 or again by the ,state1 as is the proposal of ,socialists1 is a matter for experience and common sense to decide4 ,but where ,christian ethics steps in is1 firstly1 to shew that property is secondary not primary1 a means and not an end4 ,thus1 in so far as ,socialism looks to the moral regeneration of society by a merely mechanical alteration of the distribution of the products of industry or of the mode of holding property1 it has to be reminded that a change of heart and will is the only true starting-point of moral improvement4 ,on the other hand1 it cannot be too often asserted that the accumulation of riches is not in itself a good at all4 ,neither riches nor poverty make men better in themselves4 ,their effect on character depends on the use made of them1 though no doubt the responsibility of those who have property is greater1 because they have one instrument the more for the purposes of life4 ,and so1 secondly1 ,christianity urges that if there is private property1 its true character as a trust shall be recognised1 its rights respected and its attendant duties performed4 ,these truths it keeps steadily before men's eyes by the perpetual object-lesson of the life of the early ,church of ,jerusalem1 in which those who had property sold it1 and brought the proceeds and laid them at the ,apostles' feet1 and distribution was made unto every man according to his needs#dce1 an object-lesson enforced and renewed by the example of the monastic communities1 with their vow of voluntary poverty1 and their common purse4 ,so strongly did the early ,fathers insist on the duty1 almost the debt1 of the rich to the poor1 that isolated passages may be quoted which read like a condemnation of all private property#dcf1 but this was not their real drift4 ,the obligation which they urged was the obligation of charity4 7#b7 ,so far we have considered the way in which ,christianity has strengthened and defined on the side of duty1 which itself is one form of charity or love1 the motives which make men good citizens1 good property-holders1 and so has supplemented the moral forces of the ,state1 by raising the common standard of opinion and conviction on which ultimately all possibility of ,state-action rests4 ,but the word charity is used not only in the wider1 but also in a narrower sense1 of one special form of love1 the love of the strong who stoops to help the weak4 ,it is admitted on all hands that charity in this sense has been a mark of the ,christian type of character1 but the uniqueness of ,christian charity has probably been exaggerated4 ,the better ,stoics recognised the active service of mankind1 and especially of the poor and miserable1 as part of the ideal of a perfect life4 ,their severity was crossed by pity4 ,as ,seneca puts it in one pregnant phrase1 they held that 'wherever a man is1 there is room for doing good#dcg4' ,and so ,stoicism had1 its alimentationes1 or homes for orphan children1 its distributions of grain1 its provisions for the sick and for strangers#dch4 ,christianity and ,stoicism1 it may seem1 were walking along the same road2 but the difference was this1 'what pagan charity was doing tardily1 and as it were with the painful calculation of old age1 the ,church was doing1 almost without thinking about it1 in the plenary masterfulness of youth1 because it was her very being thus to do#dci4' ,she did it with all the ease and grace of perfect naturalness1 not as valuing charity without love1 for 'if ,i bestow all my goods to feed the poor1 and if ,i give my body to be burned1 but have not love1 it profiteth me nothing#ddj1' but because love forthwith blossomed forth into charity4 ',and the disciples were called ,christians first in ,antioch4 ,and in these days came prophets from ,jerusalem unto ,antioch4 ,and there stood up one of them named ,agabus1 and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world4444 ,then the disciples1 every man according to his ability1 determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in ,juda#dda4' ,and so it became the recognised and traditional duty of the ,church to maintain the cause of the weak against the strong1 of the poor against the rich1 of the oppressed against the oppressors4 ,the ,bishops of the fourth and fifth centuries exercised 'a kind of religious tribunate#ddb4' ,in the ,middle ,ages1 the ,church urged on those in public and private stations the duties of charity1 pity1 humanity4 ,the author of the latter part of the ,de ,regimine ,principum#ddc ascribed to ,s4 ,thomas ,aquinas lays down as one of the chief duties of a king1 the care of the weak and the succour of the miserable4 ,nor did the ,church in ,england in pre-,reformation times fail in her duty in this respect4 ,she pleaded for the manumission or at least the humane usage of the serfs4 ,she undertook through her monasteries the relief of the poor4 ,her prohibition of usury1 however mistaken it may seem to us1 was a real protection to debtors against one of the worst forms of tyranny1 that of the unscrupulous creditor4 ,since the ,reformation her record has not been so clean4 ,the shock of the ,reformation left her weak4 ,the traditional sanctions of her authority were shaken4 ,in the long struggle of the seventeenth century her close association with the ,stuart cause left her powerless to touch the stronger half of the nation4 ,she was not independent enough to act as arbiter1 and in committing herself without reserve to opposition to the national claim for freedom she was untrue to her earlier and better traditions4 ,at the same time allowance must be made for the licence1 the disorder1 and the recklessness with which the claims of liberty were associated1 and for the identification of the popular party with views of religion1 which1 whatever else may be said for them1 are not those of the ,church4 ,the leading churchmen believed that its triumph meant the disappearance of that historical ,church1 which they rightly regarded as the only effective safeguard of ,english ,christianity4 ,after the ,restoration the ,church was stronger1 and the increase of strength shews itself on the one side in greater independence of the ,crown1 and on the other in the outburst of numerous religious and charitable societies and foundations4 ,queen ,anne's ,bounty is an instance of the charity1 if it be not rather the justice1 of one distinguished daughter of the ,church4 ,the ',religious ,societies' which in a quiet and unassuming way were a great influence in social life1 had among their objects the visiting and relief of the poor1 the apprenticing of the young1 the maintenance of poor scholars at the ,university4 ,charity schools were established throughout the country3 hospitals and parochial libraries founded1 while societies like the ,society for the ,propagation of the ,gospel in ,foreign ,parts1 and the ,society for ,promoting ,christian ,knowledge date back to the last years of the seventeenth and the first of the eighteenth centuries#ddd4 ,then as the ,georgian period begins1 all this vigorous life seems for a long period to die down1 or only to find vent in the great ,wesleyan movement which1 beginning within the ,church1 passes out beyond it1 and ultimately becomes stereotyped in more or less pronounced separation from her communion4 ,it was the policy of the ruling ,whig oligarchy to keep down the ,church1 and they succeeded--to the grave loss of ,english morality4 ,if in some degree the ,church in ,england at the present time is speaking with firmer accent on questions of personal and class morality1 and giving more effective witness against the luxury and neglect of their work-people1 which are the besetting sins of the great ,english manufacturing classes1 it is due partly to the revival in ,england of the true idea of the ,church as a great spiritual society1 and partly to the fact that ,english statesmen1 from sheer inability owing to the conditions of political life to do otherwise1 have left her more free to manage her own business and to develop her mission to the ,english people in accordance with the laws and aspirations of her own inner life4 ,it is especially necessary in a great industrial society such as that of modern ,england that the ,christian law of self-sacrifice1 which crosses and modifies the purely competitive tendency leading each individual to seek his own interest and that of his family1 should be strongly and effectively presented4 ,no doubt it is true that the increased knowledge of the structure and laws of social life which we possess1 have made charity more difficult than in the ,middle ,ages3 they have not made it less necessary1 or a less essential feature of the ,christian character4 ,and so1 in a democratic age1 the protection of the weak and the oppressed will take a different colour4 ,whether supreme control is in the hands of one or many1 it may be used tyrannically4 ,and the most effective exercise of the tribunate of the ,church will lie in guarding the rights of conscience and the great national interest of religion against hasty and unfair pressure4 ,and this brings us to our next point4 7#c7 ,the drift of the argument has been to shew the incompleteness and inevitable limitations of the ,state1 considered as a moral guide of the social life of mankind4 ,but that incompleteness rises to its maximum1 those limitations press most closely when we pass from morality to religion4 ,if it is the highest duty of the ,state to maintain true and vital religion#dde1 it is a duty which of itself it is altogether incompetent to perform4 ,if the experience of the ,middle ,ages shewed conclusively that the subordination of the ,state to the ,church did not tend either to good government1 or to the maintenance1 pure and undefiled1 of the ,christian religion1 the experience of ,english post-,reformation history has as conclusively shewn that the subordination of the ,church to the ,state leads on the one hand to the secularization of the ,church1 and on the other to a grave danger to national life1 through the loss of a spiritual authority strong enough1 as well as vigilant and independent enough1 to reprove social sins and to call to account large and influential classes4 ,the conditions under which the ,tudor idea of a ,christian commonwealth was possible have passed away1 and there seem to remain two possible conclusions from the premises4 ,the first is that it is expedient in the interests of both that ,church and ,state should be separate from one another1 as e4g4 in ,america1 and left free to develop1 each on its own lines1 their respective missions in the national service--'a free ,church in a free ,state4' ,the current of opinion in ,england in favour of disestablishment1 undoubtedly a strong1 though probably not at the present time an increasing one1 is fed from many smaller streams4 ,there are ,agnostics who believe that religion is the enemy of progress1 and that ,christianity especially shackles free thought1 and hinders the advance of social reformation1 and to whom therefore it seems a clear duty to undermine by every means open to them the hold of ,christianity on the centres of social and intellectual life1 on schools and universities1 families and states4 ,they favour disestablishment as one means to this end4 ,two principal causes seem to move those who are primarily statesmen in the direction of disestablishment4 ,one is the conception of the ,state as the great controlling and guiding organization of human life#ddf1 supreme over all partial societies and voluntary associations formed to guard parts or sides of life1 and the attempt to mould national life by this guiding idea and its logical consequences4 ,this attempt is encouraged by the extreme simplicity of the ,english ,constitution in its actual working1 and by the legally unlimited power of ,parliament#ddg4 ,the other is their practical experience that in view of the divided condition of ,english ,christianity1 the most stubborn and intractable difficulties in legislation arise from1 or are aggravated by1 religious differences4 ,they suppose that these would be lessened if the ,state took the position of impartial arbiter between rival denominations4 ,among ,nonconformists there are no doubt some who1 looking at the ,church as the natural rival of their own society1 think to weaken her by disestablishment1 but there are also many who believe that disestablishment would be a gain to ,english religion1 and that the life of the ,church would be more real1 more pure1 more governed by the highest motives1 if she were freed from all direct connection with the ,state4 ,lastly1 there is no doubt that the idea of the return to the looser relations between ,church and ,state which prevailed in the earliest ,christian centuries1 has a great attraction for a considerable body of churchmen4 ,they would perhaps have been willing enough to accept the royal supremacy under a religious sovereign in thorough harmony with the beliefs and modes of working of the ,church1 but the revolution by which the ,house of ,commons has risen to supreme power in ,england1 has given it1 not in the theory1 but in the actual working of the constitution1 the ultimate control over matters ecclesiastical as well as civil1 and they hold that by stifling the free utterance of the voice of the ,church the ,house of ,commons is doing an injury to religion compared to which disestablishment would be a lesser evil4 ,on the other hand1 if we look beyond our own country1 we have the opinion of the venerable ,dr4 ,dllinger1 reported by ,dr4 ,liddon1 that the disestablishment of the ,church in ,england would be an injury to the cause of religion throughout ,europe4 ,and so weighty an opinion may well make us carefully scrutinize those difficulties and tendencies which make for disestablishment4 ,it is no doubt true that from one point of view the idea of the ,church as a great spiritual society seems to require her entire freedom to control her own development1 and therefore the absence of all formal connection with the ,state4 ,but there is nothing more deeply illogical and irrational1 in any sense of logic in which it is near to life and therefore true1 than the attempt to solve a great problem1 spiritual1 moral1 political1 social1 by neglecting all its factors but one1 even if it be the most important one4 ,nor does it follow that1 because we recognise that in a certain condition of things1 more harm than good will be done by a particular application of a truth which we accept1 therefore we have ceased to hold that truth4 ,it only shews that our ideal is complex4 ,and so from another point of view the most perfect ordering of things would seem to be one in which ,church and ,state were two parts of one whole1 recognising one another's functions and limits1 and mutually supporting one another4 ,thus religion would be put in its true place as at once the foundation and the coping stone of national life4 ,and the ,state with all its administration would be given a distinctly ,christian character4 ,the difficulty in ,england is to maintain this point of view in connection with the increasingly non-religious 7not necessarily anti-religious7 colouring of the ,state1 and of the fierce struggles of party government which destroy the reverence which might otherwise attach to the ,state and its organs4 ,as the ,state has become increasingly lay1 its moral weight has sunk1 its hold on consciences become less4 ,but the truth remains that religion is an element in the highest national life4 ',a national ,church alone can consecrate the whole life of a people#ddh4' ,and a national ,church can only mean an established ,church1 and a ,church which either has great inherited wealth of its own1 or is supported in part by national funds4 ',of all parts of this subject1' says ,mr4 ,gladstone#ddi1 'probably none have been so thoroughly wrought out as the insufficiency of the voluntary principle4' ,it is insufficient 7i4e4 for maintaining national religion71 first1 because after a certain level of moral deterioration has been reached by individuals or masses of people1 the demand for religion is least where the want is greatest2 and secondly1 because in consequence of the structure of social life there are always large classes of the community who1 while just provided with the bare necessaries of life1 have not sufficient means to enable them to sustain the expense of the organs of the higher life in any form4 ,we recognise this in the case of education2 we can hardly refuse to recognise it in the case of religion4 ,for these reasons we are thrown back on the second possible conclusion from the data1 viz4 that it is desirable that there should be some definite and permanent connection between ,church and ,state1 but not such connection as will either subordinate the ,state to the ,church or the ,church to the ,state4 ,and such a result would seem to be best attainable by some such system of relations as that between the ,established ,church and the ,state in ,scotland1 or the ,roman ,catholic ,church and the ,state in ,france4 ,thus in ,scotland1 on the critical point of jurisdiction1 the position is this4 ,the ,church ,courts are final3 there is no appeal to a ,civil ,court except on the ground of excess of jurisdiction4 ,and the judgment of the ,church ,courts1 so far as it involves civil consequences1 may be enforced by application to the ,civil ,courts#dej4 ,in ,france we have to distinguish the relations of ,church and ,state as constitutionally defined from those relations in their actual working4 ,no constitutional relations1 however admirable1 can work when the ,state constantly encroaches1 and where its whole attitude is one of hostility to the ,church4 ,in theory1 however1 the position in ,france is1 except on one point1 much the same as in ,scotland4 ,there is a complete system of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the ,roman ,catholic ,church based on the ,canon ,law and administered by the bishops acting as judges4 ,from their decisions there is no appeal to the ,civil ,courts except on the ground of abuse 7appel d'abus74 ,on the other hand1 the ,ecclesiastical ,courts have no coercive jurisdiction1 nor are their sentences carried out by the ,civil ,courts#dea4 ,they bind1 therefore1 only in foro conscientiae and this is found sufficient4 ,there is one point worthy of special notice in the ,french system1 that while the relations of the ,state to the ,roman ,catholic 7once the ,gallican7 ,church are regulated by a special ,concordat1 two leading ,protestant bodies1 the ,french ,reformed ,church1 and the ,church of the ,augsburg ,confession1 as well as the ,jewish body1 are also endowed4 ,alongside of a system by which the ,church is established there is a concurrent endowment of other ,christian and even non-,christian denominations4 ,in ,scotland the relations of ,church and ,state rest on the ,act of ,union1 in ,france on the ,concordat made by ,napoleon with the ,pope in #ahja4 ,in ,england there is no definite formulated agreement2 and any such agreement would be entirely contrary to the ,english genius4 ,but in a deeper sense1 there is a contract1 which is the product of #abjj years of history1 of which the terms vary from generation to generation1 and which is commended by each age to the forbearance and the statesmanship of its successors4 ,the terms of that contract are in the main fixed by the ,state4 ,in any case1 whether the ,church remains established or not1 the ,state has ultimate power over her temporal possessions1 as over all temporal possessions held within its territory4 ,but1 if the ,church is to remain connected with the ,state1 perpetual difficulties must arise1 unless means are found to leave the ,church free1 in matters as well of doctrine as of ritual1 both to legislate through her own organs1 and to exercise an independent spiritual jurisdiction4 ,it is for the interest of the ,state that the ,church should be allowed to make her service for the ,english nation as fruitful1 as powerful1 and as little a hindrance to her own spirituality as possible4 ,,iii4 ,lastly we may consider the way in which the ,church1 quite irrespective of any direct connection with the ,state1 as a natural consequence of its position as a spiritual society and of its teaching as to fundamental moral and spiritual truths1 acts as a purifying and elevating agent on the general social life of mankind1 on all its manifestations and organs4 ,if man is 'metaphysical nolens volens1' it is equally true that he is metapolitical1 to use ,martensen's happy word1 nolens volens4 ,and metapolitic means 'that which precedes the political as its presupposition1 that which lies outside and beyond it as its aim and object1 and by which the political element is to be pervaded as by its soul1 its intellectually vivifying principle#deb4' ,every statesman1 every real leader of men1 has consciously or unconsciously1 such a metapolitic2 he holds1 that is1 certain views as to man's place in the world1 as to the meaning and possibility of progress1 as to the aims as distinct from the machinery of government1 as to the relations of nations to one another and to humanity1 which determine his general attitude towards all kinds of questions with which he has to deal4 ,it is clear1 for instance1 that the groups of ideas which govern the fatalist1 the pessimist1 and the humanitarian1 are widely different4 ,now the ,church is the home and dwelling-place of certain great regulative ideas as to man's destiny and function1 and his relation to ,god and other men1 the treasure-house to which they were committed1 or the soil in which they germinated4 ,these ideas1 if accepted and acted on1 or so far as accepted and acted on1 must transform and remodel1 not only the inward life1 but also the whole outward life in all its spheres4 ,thus ,s4 ,paul deduces from the ,christian conception of man1 the duties of husbands1 wives1 fathers1 children1 masters1 servants1 subjects1 rich persons1 old men1 old women1 young men1 young women4 ,and so1 now rapidly1 now slowly1 according to the vigour and purity at successive periods of the ,christian society1 now thrown inwards by periods of persecution or by the rising tide of evil1 now borne outwards in periods of rapid expansion and missionary enterprise1 now brought to bear on new conditions of life and new social groupings1 now traced back to their source1 and tested by the life and words of the ,word of ,god1 the ,christian ideas of man1 and of his relation to ,god radiate through the life of mankind1 at once sustaining and correcting its aspirations1 and its ideals of righteousness4 ,the root ideas of this ,christian anthropology rest on the ,christian conception of ,god as one yet threefold4 ,thus on the one side1 ,christianity attaches to the individual personality a supreme and infinite value as the inmost nature of one made in the image of ,god1 redeemed by the self-sacrifice of ,christ1 and indwelt by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,and thus it develops the sense of separate personal responsibility4 ,it is on this basis that what is true in humanitarianism rests4 ,behind all class and social differences lies the human personality in virtue of which all men are equal#dec4 ,but on the other side it frankly recognises man's inherently social nature4 ,it is not good for man to be alone4 ,and family1 ,state1 and the ,church on earth are training places for a perfected common life in the ,city of ,god4 ,the effect of this conception of man and his destiny is to place the ,state and its associations in their true position as not ultimate but secondary1 as means and not ends4 ,alongside of the earthly kingdom1 with its wealth1 its honours1 its ambitions1 its wide and far-reaching influence1 it sets another kingdom1 the ,city of ,god1 with its own standards1 its own principles1 its own glory1 its own blessedness1 as the end of mankind1 the goal of history4 ',the nations shall walk amidst the light thereof1 and the kings of the earth do bring their glory into it#ded4' ,and1 in so doing1 it judges and corrects the splendour of earthly ,states4 ,in thus contrasting the earthly ,state with the ,city of ,god1 ,christianity is no doubt exposed to the old accusation1 that it makes men bad citizens4 ,and the old answer is still true1 'let those who think that the doctrine of ,jesus ,christ cannot contribute to the happiness of the ,state1 give us soldiers and officers such as it bids them to be1 subjects and citizens as faithful as ,jesus ,christ commands1 husbands1 wives1 fathers1 mothers1 children1 masters1 servants1 kings1 judges1 living according to the laws of religion1 men as punctual in their payment of taxes1 as pure in their handling of public funds as are the true ,christians3 they will be soon forced to admit that the maxims of the ,gospel when practised cannot but give a ,state great happiness and great prosperity#dee4' ,it is not too much but too little ,christianity which destroys ,states2 for passion and wilfulness are the great disintegrating forces of the world1 and everything which strengthens individuals to resist them1 so far strengthens the bonds of social union4 ,but the service which ,christianity renders to ,states goes far beyond this negative result4 ,if the true meaning of progress be moral1 and not material1 there can be no greater contribution to the well-being of society than that of maintaining the ,christian type of character with its humility1 its purity1 its sincerity1 and again its strong and beneficent activity4 ,in the present discussion the ,state has been put first and the ,church second4 ,in order of time the ,state is first4 ,and what has been attempted has been to shew how starting with the ,state and its institutions1 the higher order which was initiated by the historical ,incarnation 7though not without preparatory and imperfect anticipations in earlier and especially in ,jewish history71 comes in to mould1 to purify1 and to supplement4 ,but these words only express partial aspects of the whole process by which a higher order acts on a lower4 ,it interpenetrates far more deeply than can be expressed in any classification of the modes of its operation4 ,the ,christian religion has been acting on the group of ,states which we call ,christendom from the first days when stable organizations formed themselves after the entrance of the new life of the ,germanic races into the remains of the dying ,roman ,empire4 ,it has been the strongest of all the influences that have moulded them throughout their history4 ,it has pierced and penetrated the life of individuals1 the life of families1 the life of guilds1 as well as the laws and institutions1 the writings and works of art in which they have embodied their thoughts and hopes4 ,they are in a sense its children4 ,it is impossible to regard them as ,s4 ,augustine regarded pagan ,rome4 ,but deep and penetrating as has been her influence and manifold her consequent implications with the existing national and social life of mankind1 the ,church is essentially ,catholic1 and only incidentally national4 ,it is their ,catholic character so far as it remains1 at least their ,catholic ideal1 which gives to the different fragments of the ,church their strength and power4 ,the ',church of ,england' is a peculiarly misleading term4 ,the ,church of ,christ in ,england is1 as ,coleridge pointed out1 the safer and truer phrase4 ,and this fundamental ,catholicism1 this correspondence not to one or another nation1 but to humanity1 rests on the appeal to deeper and more permanent needs than those on which the ,state rests4 ,it is thus that the true type of the ,church is rather in the family than in the ,state1 because the family is the primitive unit of organized social life4 ,not in the order of time1 but in the order of reason1 the ,church is prior to the ,state1 for man is at once inherently social and inherently religious4 ,and therefore it is only in the ,church that he can be all that it is his true nature to be4 #djg ,law1 ,third letter to the ,bishop of ,bangor1 second edition1 #agfb1 p4 #ff4 #djh ,martensen1 ,christian ,ethics1 special part1 second division1 ,eng4 ,transl4 p4 #ih4 #dji ,church1 ,oxford ,house ,papers1 ,no4 xvii1 ,the ,christian ,church1 p4 #aj4 #daj ,holland1 ,creed and ,character1 first edition1 #ahhg1 p4 #aef4 #daa xix4 #ag4 #dab i4 #f4 #dac ,immortale ,dei4 #dad ,aug4 ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 xix4 #ad1 #ae4 #dae ,s4 ,t4 ,coleridge1 ,church and ,state1 edited by ,h4 ,n4 ,coleridge1 #ahci1 ,p4 #bd4 #daf ,a4 ,c4 ,bradley1 ',aristotle's ,conception of the ,state1' in ,hellenica1 #ahhj1 p4 #bdc4 #dag ',metu coercet1' ,aug4 ,de lib4 ,arb4 i4 #ae4 #dah ,compare ,aug4 ,de lib4 ,arb4 i4 #e4 #dai ,art4 on ',future ,retribution1' ,church ,quarterly1 ,july1 #ahhh4 #dbj ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #dh4 #dba ,eph4 iv4 #ac4 #dbb ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #e1 #aa1 #ci1 #dj4 #dbc ,s4 ,matt4 xxii4 #ba4 #dbd ,rom4 xiii4 #a-aj4 ,compare ,s4 ,peter's teaching in #a ,s4 ,pet4 ii4 #ac-ag4 #dbe ,ad ,scap4 ,,ii4 #dbf ,oratio in ,auxentium de basilicis tradendis4 #dbg ,aug4 ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 v4 #ag1 but cp4 ,de bono ,conj4 #af1 for a recognition of the possibility of the unjust use of legitimate power4 #dbh ,hom4 xxiii4 on ,rom4 xiii4 #a4 #dbi ,tyrannicide was defended by some of the more extreme opponents of the temporal power1 like ,john of ,salisbury1 the secretary of ,thomas ,becket 7,policraticus ,,viii4 #ag1 ',tyrannus pravitatis imago2 plerumque etiam occidendus'74 ,but it was condemned by the sounder judgment of ,aquinas 7,de ,reg4 ,princ4 ,i4 #f1 ',hoc apostolicae doctrinae non congruit'74 #dcj ,thomas ,aquinas1 ,comm4 ,sent4 ,,xliv4 q4 #b a4 #b2 q4 #a a4 #b4 ,in ,comm4 ,pol4 v4 #a #b he goes so far as to make ,insurrection in certain cases a duty4 #dca ,janet1 ,histoire de la ,science politique1 third edition1 #ahhg1 vol4 i4 p4 #ccj4 #dcb ,hooker1 ,eccl4 ,pol4 ,,viii4 ii4 #e1 #i4 ,cp4 ,i4 x4 #d4 #dcc ,eccl4 ,pol4 ,,viii4 ii4 #aa4 #dcd ,eccl4 ,pol4 ,,viii4 ,app4 ,no4 ,i4 7ed4 ,keble47 ,cp4 ,i4 x4 #h4 #dce ,acts iv4 #cd1 #ce4 #dcf ,especially in ,s4 ,ambrose2 the passages are collected in ,dubief1 ,essai sur les ides politiques de ,s4 ,augustin1 #ahei1 ch4 vi4 ,s4 ,augustine himself opposed the obligatory ,communism1 advocated by ,pelagianism2 cp4 ,ep4 #aeg 7,ed4 ,bened47 to ,hilary1 quoted by ,dubief4 #dcg ,sen4 ,de vita beata1 #bd4 #dch ,uhlhorn1 ,christian ,charity in the ,ancient ,church1 ,eng4 ,transl4 #ahhc1 ,bk4 ,i4 ch4 i4 pp4 #ah-ba1 #da1 #db4 #dci ,pater1 ,marius the ,epicurean1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ch4 xxii4 p4 #abg4 #ddj #a ,cor4 xiii4 #c 7,r4,v474 #dda ,acts xi4 #bf-bi2 cp4 also ,acts iv4 #cd1 #ce1 quoted above4 #ddb ,dubief1 p4 #aa4 #ddc ,,ii4 #ae4 #ddd ,overton1 ,life in the ,english ,church1 #affj-agad1 ,ch4 v4 #dde ,hooker1 ,eccl4 ,pol4 ,,viii4 i4 #d4 ,in all commonwealths1 things spiritual ought above temporal to be provided for4 ,and of things spiritual1 the chiefest is religion4 ,cp4 ,v4 i4 #b4 #ddf ,we have already shewn reasons for thinking that though no doubt the ,state has a great co-ordinating and regulative function in regard to human life1 it is not fitted for the part of the moral guide of mankind4 #ddg ,dicey1 ,law of the ,constitution1 second edition1 #ahhf1 lecture ii4 p4 #cf1 ',the principle of ,parliamentary sovereignty means neither more nor less than this1 namely1 that ,parliament thus defined has1 under the ,english ,constitution1 the right to make or unmake any law whatever2 and1 further1 that no person or body is recognised by the law of ,england as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of ,parliament4' #ddh ,westcott1 ,social ,aspects of ,christianity1 ch4 v4 p4 #gf4 #ddi ,the ,state in its relations with the ,church1 p4 #da4 #dej ,report of the ,ecclesiastical ,courts ,commission1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #fja4 ,answers to questions1--,scotland1 ,established ,church4 ',no appeal lies to a ,civil ,court in matters of discipline or on the ground of excess of punishment4 ,but if under the form of discipline the ,church ,courts were to inflict ,church censures 7involving civil consequences7 on a minister for e4g4 obeying the law of the land1 a question 444 might be brought before the ,civil ,court on the ground of excess of jurisdiction4 ,it is believed that in no case would the ,civil ,court entertain an appeal from a judgement of an ,ecclesiastical ,court on a question of doctrine1 or enter on an examination of the soundness of such a judgement before enforcing its civil consequences4 ',any questions which have arisen on points of ritual 444 have hitherto been decided exclusively by the ,church ,courts4' 7,a qualifying sentence follows as to possible extreme cases justifying1 on the failure to obtain redress from the ,general ,assembly1 an appeal to the ,civil ,court47 #dea ,report of ,eccl4 ,courts ,commission1 ,vol4 ,,ii4 p4 #fje4 ,answers to questions1--,france4 ',the ,state remains lay1 and does not interpose1 except when the acts of the clergy are offences at ,common ,law1 or when there is a cas d'abus in which either the public order or individual interests are injured4 ,in which case the ,council of ,state is summoned at the instance of the ,government1 or on the complaint of the citizens1 to repress abuses and annul the acts of abuse 7actes d'abus7 on the part of the clergy4 ',to recapitulate1 the minister1 as citizen1 has to submit to the ,common ,law2 as priest1 he belongs entirely to the jurisdiction of the ,church1 with which the ,state does not interfere1 and with which it has not to interfere1 for it is solely in the domain of conscience4' #deb ,martensen1 ,christian ,ethics1 special part1 second division1 ,english ,translation1 p4 #ajj4 #dec ,cp4 ,aug4 ,de ,civ4 ,dei1 v4 #bd1 of ,christian ,emperors1 'we think them happy if they remember themselves to be men4' #ded ,rev4 xxi4 #bd 7,r4,v474 #dee ,aug4 ,ep4 ad ,marcellinum1 #ach1 #ae4 ,,xii4 ,,christian ,,ethics4 ,,robert ,,ottley4 ,the study of early ,church ,history suggests the conclusion that the ,christian religion was recognised as a rule1 or fashion of life1 before it was discovered to be a philosophy and a creed4 ,to be complete1 therefore1 any account of ,christianity must include the presentation of it as a ,divine 'way of life'--a coherent system of practical ethics1 marked by characteristic conceptions of freedom1 duty1 the moral standard1 the highest end of life1 and the conditions of human perfection4 ,such is the task we are about to attempt4 ,to the necessary limitations of a sketch in outline1 the reader may ascribe a general avoidance of controversial1 and a preference for positive1 statements2 as also the fact that some large and interesting branches of the subject are dismissed with no more than a passing allusion4 ,it may be admitted1 at the outset1 that non-religious ethical speculation has in a measure paved the way for a re-statement of the ,christian theory1 by its inquiries into the source and nature--the rational basis and binding force--of moral obligation4 ,for it may be maintained that in ,christianity1 rightly understood1 is to be found an adequate answer to the question which all schools of thought agree in regarding as fundamental--the question ',why must ,i do right8' ,on the other hand1 the ,christian ,church claims to meet the plain needs of average human nature by her answer to the question1 ',how am ,i to do right8' ,she claims to have at command practical means of solving a problem which is admittedly abandoned as hopeless by the ethics of naturalism4 ,if ,jesus ,christ gave profound extension to the ideas of duty and obligation1 ,he was also the first who pointed humanity to the unfailing source of moral power4 ,in this respect ,christianity presents a favourable contrast to other systems1 the tendency of which is to be so concerned with the ,ideal as to underrate the importance and pressure of the ,actual4 ,christianity claims to be in contact with facts2 such facts as sin1 moral impotence1 perverted will1 the tyranny of habit4 ,and while she is large-hearted and eagle-spirited in her scope--dealing with all possible relationships in which a human being may stand1 whether to ,god above him1 his fellow-men about him1 or the sum of physical life below him2 the ,church is none the less definite and practical in method and aim2 witness the importance she attaches to the individual character1 the recreation of which is at least a step towards a regeneration of society4 ,the chief point of distinction1 however1 between ,christian and non-,christian ethics is to be found in a difference of view as to the relation existing between morality and religion4 ,a system which so closely connects the idea of ,good with the doctrine of ,god1 must needs at every point present conduct as inseparably related to truth1 and character to creed4 ,it has been noticed indeed that ,pliny's letter to ,trajan--the earliest record we possess of the impression produced on an intelligent ,pagan by the new religion--testifies to the intimate connection of morals with dogma and worship4 ,what the ,christian consciousness accepted as truth for the intellect1 it embraced also as law for the will4 ,whether then we have regard to the practical purpose1 or the wide outlook of the ,christian system1 we shall feel the difficulty of giving even a fair outline of so vast a subject in so limited a space4 ,if the idea of ,good corresponds in any sense to the conception of ,god1 that idea must have an infinite depth of significance1 and range of application4 ,if the recreation of human nature be a practicable aim1 no department of anthropology or psychology can be without its interest for ethics4 ,it must suffice to indicate1 rather than unfold1 the points which seem to be of primary importance4 ,christian ,morals are based on dogmatic postulates4 ,the foundation of our science is laid1 not merely in the study of man's nature1 his functions and capacities1 but in revealed truths as to the nature and character of ,god1 ,his creative purpose1 ,his requirement of ,his creatures4 ,we believe that ,christ came to liberate human thought from systems of morality having their centre or source in man#def4 ,man is not ,god1 but hath ,god's end to serve2 ,a ,master to obey1 a course to take1 ,somewhat to cast off1 somewhat to become4444 ,how could man have progression otherwise8 ,the postulates may conveniently be distributed under three main heads3 the doctrine of ,god1 of ,man1 of ,christ4 ,for the purpose of ethics1 two simple truths as to the ,being of ,god require attention4 ,god is an ,infinite1 but ,personal ,being2 existing from eternity in the completeness of ,his own blessedness1 yet willing to become the centre of a realm of personalities4 ,to this end ,he called into existence a world of personal beings1 in a sense independent of ,himself1 but destined1 in communion and intercourse with ,himself1 to find and fulfil the law of their creaturely perfection4 ,to these free and rational beings1 ,almighty ,god deigns to stand in self-imposed relations4 ,again1 ,god is an ,ethical ,being3 ,he is essentially ,holy and ,loving4 ,he is ,holy2 and appoints that for the entire realm of personality1 as for ,himself1 holiness should be the absolute law4 ,he alone can communicate to ,his creatures the idea of holiness2 of a supreme1 eternal1 ethical ,good4 ,the ,good exists only in ,him2 is the essential expression of ,his ,nature1 the reflected light of ,his ,personality4 ,the idea of ethical ,good is not therefore due to a natural process by which the accumulated social traditions of our race are invested with the name1 and sanction1 of moral ,law4 ,the idea is communicated1 derived from the living ,source of ,good freely acting on the faculties of intelligent creatures who are capable of receiving such communications 'in divers parts and in divers manners#deg4' ,the apprehension of moral ,law thus appears to correspond with a progressive apprehension of ,god4 ,along with the idea of the unity and absoluteness of ,god1 heathendom lost the sense of an absolute moral ,law#deh2 and conversely1 in proportion as the ,divine ,nature manifests ,itself more fully to human intelligence1 the idea of moral ,good gains expansion and depth4 ,god is also ,love3 a truth which as it helps our thought to a more profound and consistent view of ,his mysterious ,being1 so implies that ,god must needs will ,his rational creature to be what ,he ,himself is1 'holy and blameless before ,him#dei2' to engage itself in activities resembling ,his own2 to be free with ,his ,freedom2 enlightened by ,his ,light#dfj4 ,nor can we think that ,divine ,love is content with a bare revelation of moral requirement4 ,we believe that what ,god requires1 ,he is ready and able to impart2 ,he will empower man to render what ,his righteousness exacts4 ,finally1 if ,his purpose for man be interrupted or thwarted1 ,he will 'devise means' for its final and victorious fulfilment4 ,he1 the ,author of ,creation1 will in due time provide for a recreation1 not less potent and complete in its effects than the evil power which has invaded and marred the first creation#dfa4 ,for we can form no idea of ,love other than that of an active1 energizing principle by which a personal ,being reveals ,himself2 a ,being tenacious of ,his purpose1 multiform in ,his expedients1 supremely patient in ,his beneficent activity4 ,the ,god presupposed in ,christian ,ethics is ,one who displays holiness combined with power1 love controlled by wisdom3 in a word1 ,he is the ,god of redemptive history4 ,thus morality finds its starting-point in theology#dfb4 ,the ,christian account of ,man next engages attention4 ,we confine ourselves to an inquiry into three points3 what is man's essential nature1 his ideal destiny1 his present condition8 ,we have already observed that in ,christian ,ethics man is not the central object of study4 ,the moral universe tends towards a more comprehensive end than the perfection of humanity4 ,nevertheless ,christianity is specially marked by a particular conception of man4 ,regarding him as a being destined for union with1 capable of likeness to ,god1 she offers an account of man's failure to fulfil his true destiny1 and witnesses to a ,divine remedy for his present condition4 ,the familiar contrast between humanity as it might become1 and as it is1 gives significance to the peculiarly ,christian doctrine of sin4 ,it is the dignity of the sufferer that makes the mischief so ruinous2 it is the greatness of the issue at stake that makes a ,divine movement towards man for his recovery at once credible1 and worthy of ,god#dfc4 ,first1 then1 we presuppose a certain view of man's nature4 ,christianity lays stress on the principle of personality1 with its determining elements1 will and self-consciousness4 ,it is for psychology to accurately define personality4 ,for ethics it is simply an ultimate1 all-important fact4 ,it is that element in man which makes him morally akin to ,god1 and capable of holding communion with ,him2 that which places him in conscious relation to ,law2 gives him a representative character as ,god's vice-gerent on earth1 and conveys the right to dominion over physical nature4 ,if religion consists in personal relations between man and ,god1 religious ethics must be concerned with the right culture and development of personality4 ,but in virtue of his creaturely position1 man's personality cannot be an end to itself#dfd4 ,the tendency of ,greek thought was to regard man as a self-centred being2 to look for the springs of moral action1 and the power of progress1 within human nature itself4 ,thus ,aristotle's ideal is the self-development of the individual under the guidance of reason1 and in accordance with the law of his being4 ,the question is1 what is this law1 and what the ground of its obligation8 ,personality1 we answer1 marked man from the first as a being destined for communion with1 and free imitation of ,god#dfe4 ,personality enables man to be receptive of a message and a call from ,god4 ,it confers on each possessor of it an absolute dignity and worth4 ,personality--here is our crucial fact2 enabling us to take a just measure of man1 and of our duty towards him4 ,one of the deepest truths brought to light by the ,gospel was the value of the personal life1 of the single soul1 in ,god's sight4 ,man is great1 not merely because he thinks1 and can recognise moral relationships and obligations2 but chiefly because he was created for union with ,god2 and was destined to find blessedness and perfection in ,him alone4 ,christianity therefore rates highly the worth of the individual2 and her task is to develop each human personality--to bring each into contact with the ,personality of ,god#dff4 ,for1 secondly1 man has an ideal destiny#dfg--life in union with ,god1 a destiny which1 as it cannot be realized under present conditions of existence1 postulates the further truth of personal immortality#dfh4 ,man is capable of progressive assimilation to ,god of ever deeper spiritual affinity to ,him#dfi4 ,such must be the ideal end of a being of whom it is revealed that he was made 'in the image of ,god4' ,but the thought of the ',divine image' leads us a step further4 ,whatever be the precise import of the expression1 it at least implies that the ,good1 which is the essence of the ,divine1 is also a vital element in the perfection of ,human nature4 ,it remains to indicate the way in which man is capable of recognising ,good as the law of his being1 and embodying it in a character4 ,christianity1 as a moral system1 offers an account of conscience and of freedom4 ,the ,scriptural doctrine of conscience represents it as the faculty which places man in conscious relation to moral ,law1 as the expression of the ,divine nature and requirement4 ,in a brief sketch it is enough to lay stress on two points4 #a4 ,conscience appears to be an original and constant principle in human nature4 ,to assign to it a merely empirical origin--to derive it from social evolution1 from the circumstances1 prevalent beliefs1 traditional customs of a human community1 is inadequate1 inasmuch as no such supposed origin will satisfactorily account for the authoritativeness1 the spontaneity1 the 'categorical imperative' of conscience#dgj4 ,further1 the functions attributed to this faculty in ,scripture1 e4g4 'judging1' 'accusing1' 'witnessing1' 'legislating'--all convey the idea that man stands in relation to moral ,law as something outside and independent of himself1 yet laying an unconditional claim on his will4 ,in the ,christian system the existence of conscience in some form is regarded as a primary and universal fact4 ,its permanent character is everywhere the same2 its function1 that of persistently witnessing to man that he stands in necessary relation to ethical ,good4 #b4 ,the language of the ,bible throughout implies that conscience in its earliest stage is an imperfect organ1 capable like other faculties of being cultivated and developed4 ,our ,lord's reference to the inward 'eye' 7,s4 ,matt4 vi4 #bb7 suggests a fruitful analogy in studying the growth of conscience4 ,in its germ1 conscience is like an untrained sense1 exercising itself on variable object-matter1 and hence not uniform in the quality of its dictates4 ,it is enough to point out that this fact is amply recognised by ,new ,testament writers4 ,s4 ,paul speaks more than once of progress in knowledge and perception as a feature of the ,christian mind1 and the faculty of discerning the ,good is said to grow by exercising itself on concrete material#dga4 ,so again1 the moral faculty is impaired by unfaithfulness to its direction2 the moral chaos in which the heathen world was finally plunged resulted from such unfaithfulness on a wide scale4 ,the ,gentiles knew ,god1 but did not act on their knowledge4 ,they 'became darkened2' they lost the power of moral perception#dgb4 ,to enlarge on this subject forms no part of our present plan4 ,it is fair1 however1 to cordially acknowledge that ,christian thought is indebted to psychological research for deeper and more accurate conceptions of the moral faculty2 and the possibility of large variation both in the dictates of conscience1 and the certainty of its guidance1 may be freely admitted4 ,and yet it has been justly observed that the question of the origin of this faculty is not one with which ethics are primarily concerned4 ,that inquiry is wholly distinct from the question of its capacities and functions when in a developed state#dgc4 ,the unconditional claim of conscience--this is the constant factor which meets us amid all variations of standard and condition4 ,it is enough that conscience is that organ of the soul by which it apprehends moral truth1 and is laid under obligation to fulfil it4 ,a ,christian is content to describe it as ,god's voice2 or1 in a poet's words1 ,god's most intimate presence in the soul ,and ,his most perfect image in the world4 ,for ,conscience1 while making an absolute claim on man's will1 appeals to him as a being endowed with a power of choice3 and thus we pass to the subject of freedom4 ,what is freedom1 in the ,christian sense8 ,in the ,new ,testament freedom is connected with truth4 ',the truth1' it is said1 'shall make you free4' ,if man stands in a real relation to the ,good1 his true freedom can only mean freedom to correspond with1 and fulfil the law of his nature#dgd4 ,the formal power of choice with which man is born--a power which in fact is seen to be extremely limited#dge--;is only the rudimentary stage of freedom4 ,will is as yet subject to numberless restrictions1 such that they seem utterly to preclude an unfettered choice4 ,it is limited1 for example1 by the influence of heredity to an extent which often appears to determine unconditionally the choice between different courses of action4 ',determinism' has at least liberated our thinking from the crude idea of freedom as man's power 'to do as he likes4' ,true liberty can only mean freedom from false dependence1 emancipation of the will from the undue pressure of external forces1 or inherited tendencies4 ,the condition of 'perfect freedom' is that in which man yields an unforced accord to the ,good--his correspondence with it as the law of life4 ,and as his formal power of choice becomes by habit more and more determined towards a fixed adherence to the ,good1 he begins to taste the 'glorious liberty' of a right relation to ,god and ,his ,law4 ,he becomes free with the liberty which is 'freedom not to sin1' he finds himself 'under the sole rule of ,god most free#dgf4' ,lastly1 ,christianity as a moral system is distinguished by her view of man's present condition4 ,his upward development has been interrupted4 ,in theological language he is a 'fallen' being1 and the path of ethical progress is a way of recovery#dgg4 ,man's capacity of corresponding with the ideal1 of free self-conformity to it1 though not destroyed1 is at least seriously impaired4 ,his spiritual capacities are not what they were once in a fair way to be2 they are weakened and depraved1 and man's advance towards a free power of self-determination is in fact hindered by a radical defect of will--in ,christian language by the principle of ,sin4 ,the ,bible gives an account of sin1 its first cause1 its consequences in human history4 ,christian ,ethics make allowance for this factor2 systems which overlook it or minimize it inevitably lose contact with the actual problem to be solved1 with life as it is4 ,their tendency at best is to treat moral1 as on a level with physical1 evil3 as an obstruction1 a hindrance1 but not a vital defect inherent in human nature4 ,not such is the ,christian view of sin4 ,for sin conditions the work of the ,incarnate ,son ,himself4 ,not only does ,christ set ,himself to re-erect the true standard of character4 ,he devotes ,himself also to dealing with the actual ravages of moral evil4 ,he teaches its intrinsic nature1 its source in the will1 the inviolable law of its retribution2 ,he reveals the destructive potency of its effects2 ,he labours as the ,good ,physician to remove its temporal penalties2 ,he provides1 in ,his atoning ,sacrifice of ,himself1 the one and only countervailing remedy#dgh4 ,such postulates respecting the ,nature of ,god and of ,man find their complement and point of contact in the ,catholic doctrine of the ,incarnation4 ,as to the ,person of ,christ1 it is enough to premise that the ,christian system of ethics is intelligible only on the basis of a complete recognition of all that our ,lord claimed to be4 ,he came to reveal among men the nature1 the ways1 the will of the ,all-,holy2 to present the true pattern of human goodness2 to be the perfect representative of man before ,god#dgi4 ,he is the ,revealer of ,god1 as being ,himself in the fullest sense ,one with ,god2 ,he is the pattern of humanity1 in virtue of ,his sinless manhood2 the representative1 through ,his organic union with our race4 ,his ,resurrection and ,ascension together are the condition of ,his recreative action as a quickening ,spirit on the entire nature of man4 ,in a word ,his ,person1 ,his work1 ,his character form the central point of ethical inquiry and contemplation#dhj4 ,to arrive at the true differentiae of ,christian morals we need to study more profoundly the character and purpose of ,jesus ,christ4 ,i4 ,christ's ,revelation of the ,highest ,good4 ,to the ,christian moralist the entire universe presents itself in the light of a revealed purpose as capable of receiving a spiritual impress1 and as moving towards an ethical consummation4 ,for although man is the crown of the physical creation1 he cannot be independent of it in his advance towards the proper perfection of his being4 ,the destiny of nature is bound up with that of humanity1 in so far as nature tends towards some form of ethical consciousness1 presents the material conditions of moral action1 is capable of being appropriated or modified by moral forces--will and personality4 ,thus an inquiry into the ,highest ,good for man gives to ethics a natural point of contact with metaphysics#dha4 ,christ ,himself points our thought to this ideal region by presenting to us as the ,highest ,good1 as the ultimate object of moral effort1 the kingdom of ,god#dhb4 ,a precise definition of this expression may be left to a formal treatise2 but a certain complexity in the idea may be briefly elucidated4 ,in the first instance the kingdom of ,god is spoken of by our ,lord as a ,good to be appropriated by man1 through conscious and disciplined moral effort4 ,in this sense the kingdom is already 'within' men#dhc1 though not in its mature1 or perfected stage4 ,it is an actual state1 spiritual and moral2 an inward process or movement2 a present possession4 ,the attainment of this state involves ',blessedness'--a word the true meaning of which is open to misconception4 ',blessedness' is not 'a mere future existence of imaginary beatitude#dhd2' not a bare independence of natural necessities2 nor is it identical with1 though it may include1 'happiness4' ,the instinct in human nature to which ,christ appealed is more fundamental than the desire of 'happiness4' ,the word employed by ,him to convey ,his meaning had by ancient usage been connected with supposed conditions and modes of the ,divine existence4 ',blessedness' in fact consists in a living relation to ,god1 in a progressive likeness to ,him2 in its final stage it is nothing less than the possession of ,god4 ,god is the ,highest ,good#dhe4 ,the kingdom of ,god is also to be conceived as the goal of the entire movement of the universe3 but while nature tends blindly towards some ideal end1 the history of mankind is the record of a ,divinely-directed movement carried on through free human agency#dhf4 ,for an ethical world two factors are required2 physical nature1 the sphere of force and necessity2 rational personality1 conscious of freedom and of the claim of authority4 ,the goal of the universe is therefore a kingdom in which each element1 physical nature and personality1 finds its appropriate sphere1 the one subordinate1 the other dominant4 ,we discern a prophecy of this result in ,bacon's great conception of a 'regnum hominis' attainable by intelligent obedience to nature4 ,the ,bible is full of a greater thought4 ,it foresees a kingdom of intelligent beings whose law is the service of ,god2 a state in which the inner harmony of man's restored nature will be reflected in a worthy outward environment4 ,this ideal kingdom1 however1 has its preparatory stage on earth4 ,though the present condition of it only faintly foreshadows the promised glory of the future1 it has nevertheless been in fact set up among men1 'not in word1 but in power4' ,for the main factor that makes such a kingdom ideally possible1 already operates--namely1 creaturely life realizing its true dependence on ,god1 human will and human character responding to the will and purpose of ,god#dhg4 ,such is the kingdom for which we look1 and its ,centre and ,head is the living ,christ#dhh4 ,he is the type after which the new personality is to be fashioned4 ,he who unveils this world of spiritual beings and powers1 is ,himself the source of its movement1 the centre of its attraction1 the surety of its final triumph4 ,there cannot but result from this hope a particular view of the present world4 ,it is characteristic of the ,christian spirit frankly to recognise the natural world in its due subordination to personality1 in its subserviency to ethical ends4 ,an absolute idealism is not less alien to this standpoint than a crude materialism4 ,the ,christian is not blind to the tokens of interdependence between the worlds of matter and spirit2 the fact indeed of such relation gives peculiar colour to the ,christian regard for nature4 ,nature is precious as the sphere in which a ,divine ,life is manifested1 as the object of ,divine ,love#dhi4 ,and yet1 in the light of revelation1 the universe cannot be contemplated without mingled emotions4 ,the ,christian knows something of the pain1 and of the satisfaction which in their unchastened form we call ,pessimism and ,optimism4 ,for there must be sorrow in the recollection of the causal link that unites physical to moral evil4 ,though pain has value as the condition of nobler phases of life1 and heightened spirituality of character1 it is nevertheless an evil producing in a healthy nature something more than a transient disturbance4 ,pain is the sensible1 even if remote1 outcome of moral perversity1 of misdirected desire4 ,it pervades impartially the physical universe1 but seems in manifold instances to point beyond itself to its source in human sin4 ,and yet there is a ,christian optimism--a thankful joy even amid present conditions4 ,there is the joy of at least a rudimentary realization of the chief ,good2 the joy of setting a seal1 as it were1 to the truth of ,god#dij4 ,the 'powers of the world to come' are already within reach2 they can be set in motion1 felt1 tested1 enjoyed4 ,there is a known end of creation by the light of which all forms and products of human enterprize can be judged4 ,thus even the growth and organized strength of evil does not dismay the ,christian2 for he knows that the advance of the kingdom is certain1 whatever be the hindrances opposed to it1 and that ,god's invincible will controls and overrules all that seems most lawless1 and hostile to ,his purpose4 ',the city of ,god1' says ,s4 ,augustine1 'is a pilgrim sojourning by faith among evil men1 abiding patiently the day when righteousness shall turn to judgment1 and victory bring peace4' ,in his assurance that 'all things work together for good to them that love ,god1' that the end is certain1 and human fears are blind1 the ,christian can be free from illusions or extravagant hopes1 yet not cast down1 'sorrowful1 yet alway rejoicing1' 'perplexed1 but not in despair#dia4' ,,ii4 ,christ's ,revelation of the ,moral ,law1 its authority1 sanctions1 and content4 ,on the place and meaning of freedom in ,christian ,ethics we have already touched4 ,our formal freedom is the ground of moral responsibility--that element in us to which ,law makes its authoritative appeal4 ,from the thought of freedom in relation to a moral universe we pass naturally to that of ,law4 ,and first1 it is convenient to inquire what is the revealed basis of obligation in general8 ,the most conspicuous feature of the ,sermon on the ,mount--that first great outline of ,christian morality--is its authoritative tone4 ,we instinctively turn to it in searching for a fundamental principle of obligation1 a ground of authority for ,law4 ,nor are we disappointed1 for our question is met by the consideration that this great discourse is primarily a revelation of the personal ,god in ,his holy relation to mankind4 ,it is with this personal relationship that the claim of moral ,good on man's will is seen to be uniformly connected4 ,the ,good in fact presents itself to man in the shape of a personal appeal3 ',be ye holy1 for ,i am holy4' ,morality appears as ,god's exhortation to man to embrace and fulfil the true law of his nature4 ',be ye perfect1' it is said1 'even as your ,father which is in heaven is perfect#dib4' ,the ,good is thus at once the explicit declaration of the ,divine will1 and the condition of human perfection4 ,already the coldness of abstract ,law begins to disappear4 ,law is seen to be not an abstraction merely1 but inseparably connected with the living ,personality behind it4 ,it is the self-revelation of a loving ,being1 appealing to the object of ,his ,love1 and seeking its highest welfare4 ,obligation is transformed1 and is seen to be the tie of vital relationship between persons#dic4 ,further1 it must be borne in mind that ,christ's teaching as to obligation was accompanied by the promise of a supernatural gift--the gift of a new capacity to fulfil the ,law4 ,the ,good had hitherto been known1 howsoever imperfectly1 as requirement4 ,ethical progress before ,christ's coming could only tend to deepen this knowledge4 ,we know indeed what was the object of that long providential discipline of humanity which culminated in the ,incarnation3 how it ended by driving man to look and long for a condition of things which should no longer be marked by hopeless severance of the actual from the obligatory4 ,with the advent of the ,redeemer1 a new joy dawned on the world--the possibility of goodness4 ,we learn then that the ground of obligation is ,god's will for the perfection of ,his creatures--,his desire that they should be like ,himself#did4 ,the sense of obligation is indeed never absent from the consciousness of ,christ ,himself4 ',we must work1' ,he says1 'the works of ,him that sent ,me while it is day4' ',my meat is to do the will of ,him that sent ,me1 and to finish ,his work#die3'--;in which utterances we discern the principle we need4 ,only when duty presents itself in the form of personal appeal1 only when obedience is kindled and enriched by feeling1 can law become a bond1 not of constraint1 but of love4 ,it follows that obligation1 thus founded on personal relationship to ,god1 is absolute and independent of variation in the specific demands of ,law4 ,human goodness will consist in correspondence to the will of ,god1 and the degree of clearness with which a man apprehends that will is the measure of his obligation4 ,this principle seems to preclude any idea of 'supererogatory works1' and tends to neutralise for the individual conscience the distinction between 'commands' and 'counsels of perfection1' the spirit in which ,law is ideally fulfilled being that of sonship1 eager1 loyal1 and generous#dif4 ,the universal obligation of moral ,law is by ,christ connected for practical purposes with a system of sanctions4 ,as to the ,christian doctrine of rewards and punishments it is only necessary to observe1 that any ethical system which has regard to the condition of man as he is1 finds itself constrained1 for disciplinary ends1 to lay a certain stress on this point4 ,further1 it should be noticed that the nature of these sanctions is seldom clearly understood4 ,they occupy a place in ,christ's teaching1 because it is ,his wont to deal with human nature as ,he finds it3 ,he points1 however1 not so much to a future state1 as to a present spiritual sphere in which conduct is indissolubly linked to consequence1 and there operate 'the searching laws of a spiritual kingdom#dig4' ,the sanctions with which ,christ enforces ,his doctrine may thus be regarded as pointing to a reign of ,law in the spiritual realm which ,he reveals to mankind4 ,he seems indeed to recognise the occasional need of appeals to fear1 as likely to rouse the conscience and will4 ,he sets before us the prospect of spiritual judgments acting1 at least partially1 in the sphere of the present life4 ,his more frequent appeal1 however1 is to what may be called the enlightened self-interest of men4 ,their true life1 ,he tells them1 is to be found or acquired in a consecration1 a sacrifice of the natural life to the claims and calls of the ,divine kingdom#dih4 ,such sacrifice1 such co-operation with ,god1 is its own ineffable reward4 ,what then1 it may be asked1 are the motives1 the inducements to action1 appealed to by ,christianity8 how far are imperfect motives recognised8 and in view of the fact that no mere sense of relation to ,law is in general likely to move the human will1 where does the ,gospel find its 'moral dynamic'--its highest motive8 ,we have seen that ,christianity in a peculiar degree combines the presentation of duty with an appeal to feeling4 ,in the same way by connecting obligation to obey ,god with a revelation of ,his ,love1 ,jesus ,christ solves the most difficult problem of ethics4 ,the highest motive is ,love to ,god1 kindled not only by the contemplation of ,his ,perfections1 but also by a passionate sense of what ,he has wrought in order to make possible the fulfilment of ,his ,law4 ',we love ,him1' says ,s4 ,john1 'because ,he first loved us4' ,we do not1 however1 expect the motive of actions to be in all cases identical1 or uniformly praiseworthy4 ,a practical system must recognise very different stages of maturity in character2 and the possibility of imperfect or mixed motives is frankly allowed by ,christian thinkers1 and seems to be sanctioned by our ,lord ,himself#dii4 ,it may be said on the whole that while the ,gospel ever appeals to man's desire for his own good1 it adapts itself and condescends to widely varying forms and degrees of that desire1 by way of educating it to greater disinterestedness and purity#ejj4 ,we may fittingly speak of 'a hierarchy of motives1' and can view with equanimity those attacks on ,christianity which represent it as a thinly-disguised appeal to selfishness4 ,for the reward promised to man is one which will only appeal to him in so far as he has parted with his old self1 and has made the ,divine purpose his own4 ,the reward is joy--the 'joy of the ,lord2' the joy of a worthy cause embraced and advanced2 of a task achieved1 of labour crowned by nobler and wider service4 ,such joy could only be an inspiring motive to self-forgetful love1 which finds the fulfilment of every aspiration1 the satisfaction of every desire in ,god and in ,his work#eja4 ,christian duty1 the content of the ,law1 demands somewhat larger treatment4 ,it has been suggested that the conception of morality as a ,divine code1 as 'the positive law of a theocratic community1' which seems characteristic of early ,christian writings on morals--is a legacy from ,judaism#ejb4 ,be this as it may--the distinctive feature of ,christianity is that henceforth the ,law is not contemplated apart from the ,personality of ,god4 ,the ,law is 'holy1 just1 and good1' because it reflects ,his character4 ,obedience to it is acknowledged to be the indispensable condition of true union between ,god and ,his creatures4 ,for ,jesus ,christ teaches us to discern in the ,law the self-unveiling of a ,being whose holiness and love it reflects1 as well as ,his purpose for man4 ,the revealed ,law is comprised in the ,decalogue4 ,it seems needless to vindicate at length the paramount place which this fundamental code occupies in ,christian thought#ejc4 ,suffice it to say that in broad outline it defines the conditions of a right relation to ,god1 and to all that ,he has made4 ,and the ,law is 'spiritual#ejd4' ,though for educative purposes primarily concerned with action1 it makes reference to inward disposition1 and thereby anticipates the main characteristic of ,christian goodness4 ,it also recalls the great landmarks of ,god's redemptive action2 it sets forth ,his gracious acts1 partly as an incentive to gratitude1 partly as a ground of obligation4 ,in our ,lord's teaching we find two truths implied3 7#a7 ,the absolute priority and permanence of the ,decalogue in relation to all other precepts of the ,jewish ,law4 7#b7 ,its essential unity viewed as a ,law of love4 ,this latter aspect is anticipated in the book of ,deuteronomy1 and is explicitly set forth by our ,lord4 ,there are1 ,he tells us1 two commandments3 the first and greatest1 love to ,god2 the second 'like unto it1' love to man1 with the limitation annexed1 ',thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4' ,thus guided by precedent1 a ,christian1 in examining the ,law's content1 may take the ,decalogue as a natural basis of division4 ,it may be shortly analysed as embracing a comprehensive outline of man's duty towards 7i7 ,god1 7ii7 his fellow-men1 and implicitly towards himself and non-personal creatures4 ,first stand duties towards ,god1 resulting directly from the personal contact assumed to be possible between ,god and man4 ,the all-embracing command which involves the fulfilling of the ,law is contained in the words1 ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy mind#eje4' ,in this 'great commandment' we find the widest point of divergence from ,pagan ethics4 ,man's true centre is ,god4 ,his perfection is to be sought in creaturely subjection and free conformity to the ,divine purpose#ejf4 ,the general sphere of ,god-ward duty is defined in the first four commandments1 which are seen to give moral sanction1 not only to the outward expression1 but to the actual substance of belief2 the distinctive duties enjoined therein have been summarily described as faith1 reverence1 service#ejg4 ,the fourth precept lays down the principle that man is bound to honour ,god by consecrating a definite portion of time to ,his worship1 and by providing space for the due recreation of that human nature which by creative right is ,god's1 and is destined for union with ,him4 ,the duty of love to our fellow-men follows upon that of love to ,god4 ,every man's personality gives him absolute and equal worth in ,god's sight1 and therefore lays us under obligation towards him4 ,heathen moralists confined the sphere of obligation to a few simple relationships1 e4g4 family-life1 friendship1 civic duty4 ,but the revealed law of love to man embraces every relationship4 ',every man is neighbour to every man#ejh4' ,it is clear that any adequate outline of this precept involves the whole treatment of social duty4 ,men have their rights1 i4e4 lay us under obligation1 both individually and collectively4 ,the individual has his 'duty' to fulfil to the family1 the association1 the class1 the city1 the state1 the ,church which claims him4 ,the immense field of our possible duties towards society1 and towards each individual1 so far as he comes in contact with us1 may be regarded as embraced in the second table of the ,decalogue4 ,thus the fifth commandment lends important sanction not only to the parental claim1 but also to the authority of fundamental moral communities--the family1 the state1 the ,church4 ,the following precepts regulate the security of life and personality1 of marriage and sexual distinctions1 of property1 honour1 and good name4 ,the tenth commandment anticipates that 'inwardness' which constitutes the special feature of ,christian morality4 ',it is the commandment1' says an ethical writer1 'which perhaps beyond any of the rest was likely to deepen in the hearts of devout and thoughtful men in the old ,jewish times1 that sense of their inability to do the will of ,god1 and to fulfil the ,divine idea of what human life ought to be1 which is indispensable to the surrender of the soul to ,god#eji4' ,but according to the ,christian theory there are duties to self1 which seem to follow from the relation in which man stands to ,god1 and form the true measure of his regard for others3 ',thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4' ,there is a right self-love1 a right care of the personality as being itself an object of ,god's ,love1 and so included in the category of things ethically good4 ,what the ,christian ought to love1 however1 is not the old natural self1 but the 'new man1' the true image of himself which has absolute worth#eaj4 ,a moral complexion is thus given to all that concerns the personal life--the care of health1 the culture of faculties1 the occasions of self-assertion4 ,every moment of conscious existence1 and every movement of will1--all in fact1 that relates to the personality--is brought within the domain of ,law4 ,christianity 'claims to rule the whole man1 and leave no part of his life out of the range of its regulating and transforming influence#eaa4' ,for in every situation1 transaction1 or display of feeling1 will is required to declare itself3 moral activity takes place4 ,duties to self1 as loved by ,god1 are thus implied in the 'great commandment4' ,for ,god therein requires of man a consecration of the entire self1 an inward self-devotion1 a reasonable1 heartfelt service3 ,he asks for love4 ,from this point of view1 sin--the false claim to independence--is simply wrong self-love4 ,some would even class all shapes of sin as falling under two main forms of self-assertion1 arrogance and sensuality4 ,and ,s4 ,augustine suggests a profound view of the development of the true1 as compared with the false society1 when he says3 ',the two cities owe their being to two forms of love2 the earthly1 to self-love2 the heavenly1 to the love of ,god#eab4' ,it remains to extend the principle of love to the non-personal sphere with which man is in contact4 ,we have seen that absolute worth belongs only to personality4 ,but man's relation to the creatures below him in the scale of development1 implies a field of duties of which ethics must take cognizance4 ,the non-personal part of nature is ordained for subjugation by man4 ,it is included in his dominion3 terram dedit filiis hominum4 ,yet even in the ,mosaic ,law we find respect enjoined for certain distinctions of nature1 which are not to be overridden or confounded4 ,the physical order1 like the moral1 was to be regarded as sacred#eac4 ,duties1 then1 of this kind exist3 and they are apparently comprehended in the fourth commandment1 which expresses ,god's creative claim on typical orders of living creatures1 ordaining that 'cattle' are to share the benefit of the ,sabbath rest4 ,the sixth and eighth commandments again imply the sanctity of physical life1 and of personal property4 ,and if we pass behind the decalogue1 we find animals included in a sense within ,god's original and irreversible covenant#ead4 ,the control therefore of human will over nature1 animate and inanimate1 though comparatively absolute1 is yet subject to the restrictions which love suggests4 ,for the natural world also displays the omnipresent control1 and watchful providence of a ,being ',whose mercy is over all ,his works4' ,physical life in this sphere may be treated as a means2 but it must also be dealt with 'in harmony with the creative ,thought#eae4' ,in quitting the subject of duty1 we do well to mark the infinite extension given to the idea by the treatment of it in connection with the doctrine of an ,infinite and ,holy ,god4 ,our ,lord1 illustrating ,his exposition of the ancient ,law by a few significant examples1 not only opened to ,his hearers the possibility of a spiritual1 transcendent morality1 but also laid down a far-reaching principle of obligation4 ,the self-unveiling of the ,infinite ,being evidently makes an infinite claim on the will and affection of intelligent creatures4 ,with this extension of morality we might compare a somewhat parallel feature in the aesthetic sphere4 ,into the arts also1 notably into architecture and music1 the ,christian spirit introduced the element of mystery1 and found expression in them for the idea of infinity--an idea so alien to the ,greek genius1 which had ever contemplated beauty1 and therefore ethical ,good1 as something essentially limited1 measurable1 symmetrical1 exact#eaf4 ,such a thought might suggest a line of abstract discussion2 but practical needs remind us that the true range of obligation is best interpreted to us by a living ideal4 ,as the writer of ,ecce ,homo remarks1 ',the law which ,christ gave was not only illustrated1 but infinitely enlarged1 by ,his deeds4 ,for every deed was itself a precedent to be followed1 and therefore to discuss the legislation of ,christ is to discuss ,his character2 for it may be justly said that ,christ ,himself is the ,christian ,law#eag4' ,the transition from the discussion of moral ,law to that of ,christian character seems at this point natural and simple4 ,,iii4 ,christ the ,pattern of ,character4 ,the stress which in ,christian ,ethics is laid upon personality scarcely requires further illustration4 ,the principle of personality underlies our fundamental assumption that man is capable of free communion with1 and imitation of1 ,god4 ,we believe that the union between ,god and man was consummated in and through a ,person4 ,further1 the spirit in which fulfilment of the ,law is possible--the spirit of filial love--can only exist in personal relations4 ,it corresponds with this general prominence of personality that ,christianity presents the ideal standard of human character in a ,person4 ,in passing may be noted the fact that this principle to some extent emerges in ancient systems4 ,aristotle's definition of virtue naturally occurs to us as admitting the function of an 'expert' 7 1 71 in the right estimation of moral action4 ,the ,stoic again seeks or invents a trustworthy standard in his ideal conception of the 'wise man4' ,it seems possible that modern non-,christian ethics will ultimately substitute for the cultivated sense of mankind some form of personal ideal#eah4 ,for 'the ,law attains its lovable form1 its beauty1 only when it becomes personal#eai2' and it might be said with truth that no idea can be formed of virtues in the harmony of their combination1 until they are seen embodied in a person4 ,just as theology has in the study of ,divine truth concentrated her gaze on the ,person of ,jesus ,christ as a revelation of ,god2 so ethics1 in the effort to formulate the law of moral perfection1 must study the same ,divine ,person as a type of character4 ,it is necessary therefore at the outset to recall some salient features of the great ,example4 ,the character of ,jesus ,christ has been a subject of study to thinkers of every period in ,christian history1 and of infinitely varied qualifications for the task4 ,some have in the supposed interest of morality been tempted to lay disproportionate stress on the fact of our ,lord's manhood4 ,they ask how ,christ can be an example to humanity1 unless he be a ,man like other men#ebj8 ,from a ,christian standpoint1 however1 it is clear that the efficacy of that ,example depends on ,christ's being a ,man unlike other men--unlike them in ,his relation to the ,divine requirement1 unlike them in ,his power of contact with the entire race4 ,thus we find ourselves in correspondence with dogmatic truth4 ,the mystery of atonement necessitates a sinless ,victim2 the ,christian conception of human life requires a sinless ,example4 ,the perfect pattern of mankind must in one material respect be as far as possible isolated and removed from the race ,he came to redeem3 for sinlessness is a part of the ,divine thought concerning human nature4 ,if again we take into account the scope and significance of ,his redemptive work1 it is vain to compare ,christ with 'other great men4' ,he came not merely as the ,example1 but as the ,redeemer and ,saviour of humanity4 ,were ,he merely the ,example1 ,his departure would have left mankind in even deeper anguish and helplessness than before ,his coming4 ,man would have seen the ,light1 and felt its attraction1 only to find himself powerless to follow4 ,and thus1 because ,christ is a ,man unlike all other men1 we need in contemplating ,his character the caution that 'the ,divine ,reality is apart from1 and even greater than what the greatest have thought of it and said of it#eba4' ,the ideal conception of character presented either in ,pagan thought1 or even in the volume of ,messianic prophecy1 has been indefinitely enriched1 and illuminated by the ,,life which had before been only dimly foreshadowed1 or at the best darkly understood4 ,now it may be said1 with no violation of the proportion of truth1 that the most important part of the ,gospel revelation concerned man's true relation to ,god4 ,in the forefront of ,christ's teaching is set the doctrine of the ,divine ,fatherhood4 ,he impressed this truth on men not more by ,his express utterances1 than by the example of ,his own habitual attitude towards ,god4 ,it may be justly allowed that our ,lord taught1 and displayed among men 'a new type of goodness1 the filial and dependent4' ,in ,him we see the activity of 'a perfectly filial will#ebb4' ,it will be useful to expand this suggestive thought somewhat more fully4 ,first1 then1 we see in ,christ the perfect example of filial dependence on ,god#ebc4 ,this dependence is not mere passivity of will--such as the record of the ,temptation exhibits2 not simply a confiding trust in the providence and sustaining power of ,god4 ,we rather see in ,christ's spirit of dependence a motive which impels ,him to fearless1 unfettered activity1 and supports ,him under the keenest stress of trial and suffering4 ,he speaks and acts ever as ,one who1 in each situation1 is aware of the controlling hand of infinite ,wisdom and ,love4 ,he has that entire security in the certainty of ,divine guidance1 to which no emergency comes as a surprise1 no call for action brings disturbance4 ,he knows that 'the works' which tax ,his human faculties1 and weary ,his bodily frame1 are such as the ,father 'has given ,him to perfect4' ,a filial trustfulness is thus the secret at once of ,his energy and ,his repose2 ,his promptness in action and ,his calmness in awaiting the suitable moment for it2 ,his unbroken heavenly-mindedness and ,his self-spending devotion in ministry and works of love4 ,it makes possible the majestic serenity which never deserts ,him during the scenes of ,his ,passion4 ',i am not alone1' ,he says1 'because the ,father is with ,me#ebd4' ,in such a spirit of dependence may be recognised the true law of creaturely life2 and there is nothing in that spirit which degrades or impairs the true dignity of human nature4 ,nay1 there is something in this dependence of a filial heart which seems to chasten and exalt the character1 while it quickens the intelligence of man4 ,for in fulfilling his own true law1 and responding to the will of his ,maker1 man finds himself admitted to the secret of the universe2 he is in harmony with the purpose that underlies and guides its entire movement4 ,so also1 we venture to say1 it is with the ,ideal ,man4 ',everywhere ,he sees the ,divine unity of thought which permeates1 embraces1 and binds all things together1 the spiritual and the material1 the visible and the invisible1 the earthly and the heavenly1 in one vast economy#ebe4' ,to ,him the promise seems fulfilled1 ',thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field1 and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee4' ,to ,him the world of humanity1 and the world of physical nature disclose their inner law2 ,he knows what is in them2 ,he intuitively reads their secret2 ,he can trace beneath the apparent discords of the universe the outlines of a broken1 but recoverable1 harmony4 ,and thus the attitude of filial dependence on ,god is found to be the condition of a right relation to all that ,he has made2 it opens the way to a true understanding of ,god's ways1 and of that living principle of ,love which binds all things in one--binds them indeed by gold chains about the feet of ,god4 ,next1 we may contemplate ,christ's character as the type of filial obedience#ebf1--of a complete harmony between human will and the law of holiness4 ,in ,christ the ideal of free will is realized#ebg4 ,we are not now concerned with the vast issues of that sinless obedience4 ,it is enough to study it as embodying a principle of purely human perfection1 enjoined indeed repeatedly in the ,old ,testament as the one condition of covenantal union with ,god1 but once only in history adequately fulfilled in a human life4 ,obedience1 based on absolute trust in the character and purpose of ,god2 an 'obedience of faith1' yet in its essence the obedience not of a servant1 but of a son2 an obedience that refuses nothing1 shrinks from nothing1 questions nothing that presents itself as ,divine requirement3 such is seen to be the law of ,christ's ,life1 the law to ,him of action and of endurance1 the rule of prayer1 the principle of sacrifice1 the motive of service1 the well-spring of thanksgiving and joy4 ,if the entire completeness of this obedience becomes ,one who wears 'the form of a servant2' the willingness of it marks the glad service of a ,son4 ,and because the fulfilment by ,jesus of the ,father's will is spontaneous1 free1 whole-hearted1 sacrificial1 it wins acceptance as the offering of ,one 'well-pleasing' and 'beloved4' ,perfected by submission to suffering and death1 the obedience of ,jesus is stamped with the token of ,divine satisfaction by ,his rising from the dead4 ,and finally1 ,christ is the perfect pattern of filial love4 ,he taught the human heart that the ,all-,holy ,god can be the object of its highest affection1 its purest passion1 its deepest joy4 ,in ,christ we see the filial character consummated2 in ,him we find the union of serene repose with consuming zeal1 unwavering loyalty1 and sympathetic self-devotion to the ,father's work2 in other words we find creaturely perfection1 combined with the spirit of sonship4 ,in many and mysterious ways indeed1 does this filial love of the true ,son display itself3 in a hunger and thirst after righteousness2 in a patience which can bide the time1 and endure the chastisements1 of ,god2 in an overflowing tenderness towards all ,god-created beings because they are ,his and in their measure bear witness of ,him2 in a faith which 'hopeth all things' and labours to make all things perfect4 ,such is the spirit of the ,son3 and we 'learn of ,him' the loftiness of the height to which a filial love of ,god may raise human character1 the tenacious strength it may impart to human will1 the peace it may shed on a human heart4 ,love is 'the bond of perfectness1' and to wear the image of the ,son is to be conformed through ,love to the likeness of the ,father ,himself#ebh4 ,the example of virtue is thus seen in a character1 of which some aspects have been just considered3 and we may pause at this point1 in order to form some conclusion as to the factors of virtuous action judged from the ,christian standpoint4 ,to have moral worth1 an action must be the outcome of an entire bent1 or disposition of the agent4 ,good fruit is to be expected only from a good tree#ebi4 ,in the virtuous act the agent's personality is engaged as a whole2 his whole nature is directed towards a single object4 ,this inward unity is perhaps what we really mean by 'simplicity4' ,in such action1 the human being most nearly approaches the concentrated and harmonious energy of the ,divine ,life#ecj4 ,the person acts as an undivided whole1 each part of his nature is for the time directed aright4 ,but we are here reminded that man's nature is disordered3 it can produce nothing truly good1 except in so far as it is restored to harmony by ,divine power4 ,god1 says ,thomas ,aquinas1 calls us to a supernatural end1 which by his natural powers man could not attain4 ,god ,himself must therefore impart the supernatural principle necessary to aid man in responding to the call#eca4 ,no act1 in short1 can be strictly called 'good' which is dissociated from the direct action of ,god3 for 'there is none good but ,one1 that is ,god3' ,o work thy works in ,god2 ,he can rejoice in nought ,save only in ,himself1 and what ,himself has wrought#ecb4 ,we conclude that in a good action there is a true harmony of the different elements in personality--intelligence1 affection1 will2 and further that such harmony presupposes the action of supernatural power on man's nature4 ,it agrees with this that ,christian moralists give to the chief principles of virtuous action the name of 'theological virtues1' and regard them as supernaturally imparted4 ,a good action1 then1 implies right intelligence4 ,there must be an exercise of faith1 which is a principle of knowledge--a correspondence between human faculties and an unseen object4 ,faith accepts the good as the proper element of man's perfection2 takes ,god at ,his word1 and aims at pleasing ,him4 ',without faith it is impossible to please ,him#ecc4' ,next1 will asserts itself4 ,will is directed towards an end desirable and attainable by effort3 and thus is inspired by ,hope4 ,a study of ,christ's example suggests that the highest object of hope for man is the perfection of his nature through the means appointed by ,god#ecd4 ,we see in ,christ something of the desire1 and the joy of moral achievement4 ,when ,he said that 'the workman is worthy of his reward1' ,he pointed to the possibility of a true1 unselfish pleasure in good work as such3 of that thirst for perfection and self-dissatisfaction which distinguishes the true artist from common men4 ,lastly1 there remains that which is the dominant factor in ,christian goodness4 ,love4 ,there is an element of passion in ,christlike holiness1 which differentiates it from philosophic conceptions of virtue as a tranquil1 balanced state#ece4 ,love gives worth to the fulfilment of duty2 embraces1 in union with ,god1 the ,divine aim of creation2 and manifests itself in spontaneity and inventive activity1 transforming the fulfilment of obligation into an occasion of joyous and delightful service4 ,our ,lord represents this 'ardent1 passionate1 devoted state' of heart as the real root of virtue4 ,without it the most punctilious obedience is nothing2 for not to love is not to live#ecf4 ,having thus indicated the place of intelligence1 will1 and affection in virtuous activity1 we are free to study the ,christian character1 and perhaps ascertain its permanent features--those elements in it which have survived the test of such wide variety of historical conditions4 ,we have to inquire what is common to the types of ,christian life which different ages1 states of civilization1 and forms of nationality have produced8 ,for character is that which is capable of development in varied situations1 of free and spontaneous self-adaptation to every change of environment4 ,circumstance proves its quality1 offers it a field of exercise1 and ministers to its growth4 ,our task is rather to sketch a character than to classify virtues4 ',the earliest ,christians1' says the writer of ,ecce ,homo1 'felt a natural repugnance to describe the goodness at which they aimed by the name of ,virtue4' ,within limits indeed such a classification is possible3 and a principle of division may be applied even to a thing so mysterious1 so subtle in its shapes and gradations1 so fruitful in surprises1 as character4 ,we may1 for instance1 take as a basis the principle of personality1 and consider the ,christian personality in its threefold relationship3 to ,god1 to itself1 to its neighbour1 and in contact with the hindrances1 moral and physical1 presented by its environment#ecg4 ,i4 ,the ,christian personality in relation to ,god4 ,the distinctive feature of ,christian character consists in consciousness of that filial relation to ,god which ,grace restores2 of the spiritual bond that exists between the human soul and ',him who is invisible4' ,hence the goodness at which the ,christian aims is that which will bear the searching light of the ,divine eye4 ',he chose us out of the world1' says ,s4 ,paul1 'that we might be holy and blameless before ,him4' ,thus in its essence ,christian character is based on a peculiar sense of relationship to ,god2 there underlies it a constant desire of union with ,god1 a temper of loyalty1 a spirit of thankful dependence1 a feeling of nearness to the ,divine presence4 ,were it true1 as has been said1 that 'the ,divine service' had 'become human service#ech1' ,christian character as a distinct type would have ceased to be4 ,from this attitude of mind and will two results follow3 first1 singleness of aim1--the 'single eye4' ,the sense of personal relation to ,god gives directness1 truthfulness1 simplicity to speech1 action1 and thought4 ,so far as he is true to his profession a ,christian is independent of the current opinions of his age1 or community1 seeking only to live 'in all good conscience' towards ,god4 ,the conviction of an unseen ,presence guides his actions2 an unseen ,witness penetrates his thought2 an unseen ,master holds him accountable4 ,indeed1 ,s4 ,paul seems to regard holy living as consisting simply in the endeavour to 'please ,god#eci4' ,and a second characteristic of the ,christian is his view of life in the world1 of nature1 of humanity itself4 ,he observes1 judges1 estimates all things from the standpoint of the spiritual mind4 ,he aims at bringing his own thoughts and desires into harmony with the ,divine will and purpose4 ,he looks out on the world1 with its complex social order1 its fascinating interest1 its appealing needs1 as a sphere in which for a while he is called to move1 and to labour4 ,into the varied tasks and interests of life he can throw himself with large-hearted sympathy1 and with the greater fervour because the time is short1 and the need of self-forgetful activity urgent4 ',once a real ,christian1' writes ,lacordaire1 'the world did not vanish before my eyes2 it rather assumed nobler proportions as ,i myself did4 ,i began to see therein a noble sufferer needing help4 ,i could imagine nothing comparable to the happiness of ministering to it under the eye of ,god1 with the help of the ,cross1 and the ,gospel of ,christ#edj4' ,but the world is not the ,christian's 'abiding city4' ,he walks in it1 and passes through it in pilgrim fashion1 with heart detached from it and all that it can give4 ,he cannot commit himself to the world1 nor identify himself with it4 ,he has the internal freedom of a heart that has found its true centre2 he is able to estimate visible things at their real worth1 and ,to stand in freedom loosened from this world#eda4 ,thus to have the 'mind of ,christ' is to judge of life and the things of time with ,his judgment1 to see with ,his eyes1 to be inspired by ,his ,wisdom4 ,so we find ourselves in natural contact with the division of character by 'cardinal virtues4' ',prudence' or ',wisdom' is the outcome of a right relation to ,god4 ,god only1 ,s4 ,augustine says1 is to be loved2 this world1 and all sensible things1 are to be used4 ,prudence is love discerning between the things which bring it nearer to ,god1 and those which hinder it from approaching ,him#edb4 ,,ii4 ,in relation to humanity1 and creaturely life in general1 the ,christian finds scope for 'active morality#edc1' for ministering love4 ,the life of union with ,god inspires and prompts the life of service to mankind4 ,the infinitely varied relationships of life constitute so many forms of moral obligation4 ,christian ,justice means nothing less than rendering to all their due4 ,the desire to imitate ,god is at once the motive and the rule of ,christian activity#edd4 ,and this desire finds expression in two distinctively ,christian graces3 the spirit of forgiveness and the spirit of compassion4 ,the inculcation of forgiveness is 'the most striking innovation' in the ethics of the ,gospel#ede4 ,greek thought on the subject presents a remarkable contrast4 ,aristotle is inclined to regard forgiveness as a form of weakness1 but allied to virtue in so far as it involves resistance to passion4 ,the ground of ,christian forgiveness is very different4 ,the duty of it follows partly of course from a consideration of the common human nature which the offender shares with the injured2 partly also from a dispassionate view of the injury inflicted4 ,in exercising forgiveness we suppress that false self-love or partiality which magnifies a private injury4 ,the ,christian loves himself not more than he loves his neighbour4 ,he can put himself in the offender's place1 and consider what is for his highest good4 ,he will not allow the sense of injury to interfere with1 or override the exercise of good-will even towards enemies4 ,certainly1 the sense of his own moral frailty1 and of his indebtedness to ,divine mercy1 will restrain the ,christian from vindictiveness or harshness in regard to the faults of others2 while the fact of the equality of men in relation to their common ,father1 invests even the anti-social sinner with the dignity of brotherhood#edf4 ,but forgiving love is no mere expression of self-distrust4 ,it is fired by something of the generous hopefulness1 the quickness to detect latent capacities of nobleness even in the worst1 which is the glory of the ,divine forgiveness4 ,it 'rejoiceth not in iniquity1 but rejoiceth with the truth2' 'believeth all things1 hopeth all things4' ,the ,greek indeed had his idea of forbearance2 to him it meant something less than strict justice2 it was a virtue difficult to place or estimate4 ,logically1 it was scarcely to be praised4 ,at the best it would never have implied the habitual duty of active forgiveness4 ,not less distinctive of the ,christian character is compassion#edg1 and the active beneficence which results from it4 ,humanity1 by ,jesus ,christ1 was transformed3 it was 'changed 7to adopt a celebrated phrase7 from a restraint to a motive4' ,compassion may display itself in readiness both to relieve the physical needs of another1 and to edify his character4 ,to love one's fellow-man as one's self implies willingness to benefit him in body and estate by every means2 but it is also incompatible with unconcern or apathy as to his spiritual and moral welfare4 ,love is communicative1 and will not withhold its best treasure4 ,hence compassion prompts missionary activity1 and zeal for moral and social reforms4 ,nor has 'humanity' ceased to be a restraint by becoming a motive4 ,christian justice contains the principle of 'innocentia' as well as of 'benevolentia4' ',love worketh no ill to his neighbour2' it can inflict no wrong1 it can withhold no good2 'therefore love is the fulfilling of the ,law#edh4' ,active morality has many departments4 ,duty to the 'powers that be'--the order of society1 human law1 the state1 the ,church3 all this1 into which the science of politics inquires1 forms part of the obligation involved in love to man4 ,how comprehensive is the reply of an early ,apologist to the charge of disloyalty1 'we behave towards ,emperors exactly as we do towards our neighbours4 ,to wish1 or to do1 or to think evil is equally forbidden to us in any case#edi4' ',thou1' cries ,s4 ,augustine1 apostrophizing the ,church1--',thou bringest within the bond of mutual love every relationship of kindred1 every alliance of affinity2 ,thou unitest citizen to citizen1 nation to nation1 man to man1 not only in society1 but in fraternity4 ,thou teachest kings to seek the welfare of their peoples1 and peoples to be subject to kings4444 ,thou shewest how to all love is due1 and injury to none#eej6' ,,iii4 ,in the life of active beneficence1 self-sacrifice is no 'occasional heroism1' but an 'habitual mood#eea4' ,and yet from the very nature of ,christian love it follows that there is a right self-regard1 a zeal for ,god's kingdom in the soul1 a desire for the highest welfare of the personality as an object of worth in itself1 and destined to find its perfection in ,god4 ,love to self becomes ,temperance1 that is1 the spirit of purifying discipline4 ,thus1 a mark of ,christian character is the passion for holiness3 i4e4 the desire to combine inward purity of thought1 desire1 and motive1 with the external fulfilment of duty4 ,this process of self-purification is both mental and moral4 ,it includes the culture of imagination not less than the control of appetite2 'sobriety' not less in judgment and reflection than in the indulgence of desire2 humility in self-estimate1 not less than restraint of passion#eeb4 ,the dominant feature of ,christian character in this connection is a peculiar self-severity1 a deep sense of the ideal as something not yet attained1 a strict fidelity to known truth and the claim of moral law1 sensitiveness to moral evil1 and watchfulness against even its distant approach2 in a word1 disciplined rule in the affections1 intellect1 and will4 ,for as the ,hellenist sage says of ,wisdom1 ',the very true beginning of ,her is the desire of discipline1 and the beginning of discipline is love#eec4' ,temperance includes that reverent care of the body which receives so high a sanction in the ,new ,testament2 indeed1 respect for the sanctity of the body may be viewed as reverence for the presence of ,god ,himself1 and for the place of ,his abode#eed4 ,,iv4 ,finally1 in relation to the hindrances which ,virtue encounters--the stress of circumstance1 the pressure of misfortune1 persecution1 loss1 temptation1 and the like--,love displays itself as ,fortitude1 and finds both a passive and active sphere of exercise4 ,as a passive virtue fortitude is the 'world-resisting' element in character4 ,the hostility of the world to virtue is only one form of its hostility to ,god#eee4 ,fortitude is thus essentially the same in all stages of social development4 ,when the world-principle was embodied in a concrete form1 and became in the imperial power of ,borne a definite force hostile to the ,church#eef1 fortitude displayed itself for the most part as patience under persecution 7,s4 ,augustine in his treatment of this virtue naturally contemplates it under this aspect72 but the precise form of influence to be resisted will obviously vary from age to age1 while the element of resistance in ,christian character remains constant4 ,the name of 'fortitude1' however1 must not be restricted to passive endurance1 prominent as this virtue is in ,christ's teaching4 ,fortitude embraces spheres of action1 and will display itself on occasion as resentment4 ,righteous anger has its source in the temper exactly opposed to ,stoic apathy respecting sin--that 'loveless view' of mankind which said ',trouble not thyself2 thy neighbour sins1 but he sins for himself#eeg4' ,there can be no true love of good without a just abhorrence of evil4 ,hence it sometimes occurs that love takes the form of indignation and holy zeal--when directed1 for example1 against oppression1 cruelty1 ingratitude1 deceit1 selfishness4 ,such resentment is a natural and generous emotion1 born of sympathy with ,god ,himself4 ,comparing with the ,christian conception of resentment ,aristotle's discussion of anger1 we find that ,christian teachers lay stress on the social end of resentment4 ,what the good ,christian resents is not a personal hurt1 but injury and wrong-doing viewed as injurious to his neighbour or the community2 such resentment is distinguished by purity of motive2 in certain circumstances it is not unwilling to inflict pain4 ,moral courage1 again1 is the form which fortitude assumes under other circumstances1 too numerous to be specified4 ,generally it is displayed on occasions when the ,christian is bearing witness to the cause of truth or righteousness before men4 ,no ,christian can rid himself of his share in the function of witness1 committed to ,his followers by ,christ4 ,and fortitude1 or manliness1 is the virtue of a witness--of the solitary champion of a good cause confronting opposition in any of its forms4 ,the name 'athlete1' which we find applied to martyrs in early times1 may remind us that the task which beyond others must needs test a man's power to endure1 and to stand alone1 is that of witnessing stedfastly for righteousness and truth4 ,yet the call to bear witness comes in ways unexpected1 and difficult to define or classify3 it may1 for example1 be a man's difficult duty to withstand not opponents1 but adherents and friends2 to hold his own not against 'the sneers and opposition of the bad1 but the opinion and authority of the good#eeh4' ,with this passing remark we quit the subject4 ,in the above sketch of ,christian character we have confined ourselves to some salient features4 ,we have said nothing of the gracious union it presents of delicacy with strength1 of communicativeness with reserve1 of energy with restfulness1 of passion with tenderness4 ,it is difficult to delineate character without giving a look of formality to what is essentially a mysterious1 albeit well-marked1 product4 ,in ,christian goodness we see the handiwork of the ,spirit of ,god1 and where ,he is1 there is liberty4 ,it is indeed objected that this type of character is too rare1 too exalted for the majority of mankind4 ,it is said that a standard of perfection is set before them which it is hopeless to think of attaining2 that men are disheartened2 that ,christian teachers 'ask for the impossible1' and undermine belief in the possibility of virtue4 ,it is further suggested that the rarity of the type proves that the saint 'is born1 not made2' and that radical change of character and disposition is impossible#eei4 ,the last point may be noticed in another connection4 ,at present we may suggest1 in reply to these reflections1 one consideration4 ,the objector forgets that ,christianity does not merely present a moral standard to men2 it provides them with an entire system of moral education4 ,the ,church recognises different degrees of maturity and attainment in her children4 ,it is no part of her method1 though possibly an accident of a particular age or set of conditions1 that she sets strong meat before babes1 and appeals to children as if they were grown men4 ,that very 'individual treatment' of characters on which the writer of the ,service of ,man insists1 is a fundamental principle of the ,christian system#efj4 ,,iv4 ,christ the ,source of the ,recreation of ,character4 ,the subject which we now approach is1 taken as a whole1 peculiar to ,christian ,ethics4 ,for it will be admitted that ,christianity alone offers a solution of the practical problem1 how is the ideal of virtue to be translated into life and practice8 ',it is the essential weakness1' says a living writer1 'of all mere systems of morality1 and of most1 if not all1 other religions1 that they confine themselves to pointing out what the facts of life ought to be1 and make no provision whatever for dealing with facts as they are4444 ,it is their main defect1 not that they conflict with ,christianity1 but that they fail to touch the problem with which it most directly deals#efa4' ,of course1 in advancing this claim for ,christianity1 we imply that it is something vastly greater than a system of morals4 ,it is a ,divine way of salvation1 that is1 of deliverance from sin1 as well as from its effects2 the process by which the ideal becomes actual in life and character is also1 as we have seen1 a process of restoration4 ,christianity1 in fact1 professes to be a ,divinely-provided remedy for disorder and disease2 strictly speaking1 therefore1 a treatise on ethics must investigate the pathology of sin1 regarded as the violation of moral order1 and the fatal misdirection of desire4 ,this aspect of the ,gospel has been too much disregarded1 even by ,christian thinkers#efb4 ,it follows1 however1 from the ,scriptural account of man that he has lost something which can only be supernaturally restored3 and it is the practical task of ethics to point out the means of renewal1 which ,divine ,wisdom has provided4 ,the mysterious facts which lie at the root of the recreative process must be briefly noticed4 ,christian holiness is the reproduction in the individual of the life of the ,incarnate ,son of ,god4 ,that this might be possible1 there took place that series of events which ,s4 ,john describes as the glorification of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the life1 perfectly well-pleasing to ,god1 and therefore the supreme standard of holiness1 passes through the stage of death4 ,the ,sacrifice on ,calvary removes the barrier raised between the ,creator and ,his creatures by sin4 ,the ,resurrection is1 on the one hand1 the seal of ,god's acceptance stamped upon ,his ,son's atoning work2 on the other1 marks the final stage in that process by which ,christ's human nature is 'perfected#efc4' ,for by the ,resurrection that ,nature is spiritualized1 is released from earthly limitations1 and becomes available as a recreative force4 ,the ,ascension is the condition of ,christ's manifestation as 'a quickening ,spirit1' as the 'power of ,god4' ,by sacramental channels ,he communicates to our entire nature ,his life-giving humanity1 as the means of our recreation after the image of ,god4 ,thus the life of the ,incarnate is extended in the life of the redeemed1 and by a natural and orderly growth1 the character of ,christ is reproduced in ,his members through the continuous operation of the ,spirit1 whose office it is to 'take of the things of ,christ and shew them unto' men4 ,he who is outwardly our example thus becomes an inward principle of life4 ,we now are in a position to estimate the extent to which ,christian morality depends on dogmatic truths4 ,apart from ,jesus ,christ there can be no true life4 ,the secret of holiness lies in a permanent relation to a living ,christ4 ,he1 by ,his life and death1 'became unto us ,wisdom1 ,righteousness1 ,sanctification1 ,redemption#efd4' ,the example was not upheld in vain2 for ,christ placed within our reach the spiritual forces by which alone the pattern can be reproduced in human life4 ',sanctification' means the progressive appropriation by man of the life of the ,son of ,god2 the formation in him1 by successive stages1 of the very image of ,christ4 ,the objective aspect of ,sanctification is clearly presented in the ,old ,testament2 holiness there implies consecration1 and is thought of chiefly as an objective work of ,god4 ,in the ,new ,testament1 the idea of holiness passes from the sphere of worship to that of morality4 ,but the ,old ,testament conception is not lost2 it is expanded4 ,holiness1 according to the ,christian view1 results not from the efforts of man1 but from the outflow and operation of a ,divine ,life4 ,holiness is spoken of as 'the righteousness of ,god1' as a 'free gift' imparted to man2 and in the first instance requires receptivity rather than activity on the part of the human soul4 ,the ethical significance of baptism is thus intelligible4 ,by baptism the individual is brought into vital contact with the ,source of the new life1 and enters the sphere within which radiate the spiritual forces that flow from the glorified humanity of ,christ2 the germ of a new personality is imparted2 the kingdom of ,god is entered4 ,but in this new birth the work is only begun2 for the ',grace of ,god that bringeth salvation' has an abiding home among men4 ,it is misleading to speak of ,grace as 'an unknown factor4' ,still more so to assert that ',theology has always been celebrating the power of ,grace to the depreciation of ,ethics#efe4' ,grace has its fixed channels and methods1 its orderly movement and outflow1 its certain conditions1 its appointed places and seasons1 its definite1 though mysterious1 laws of operation#eff4 ,grace is1 so to speak1 stored and dispensed within the mediatorial kingdom which ,christ founded in ,his ,church4 ,from an ethical standpoint the ,church of ,god is before all else a school of character#efg1 the ,divinely-appointed sphere in which1 normally1 the recreation of personality proceeds1 in which men are sanctified by being kept in living union and contact with ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,to enumerate the several 'means of grace' committed to the stewardship of the ,church is the task of theology1 as also to explain the conditions of fruitfully using them4 ,on one point only it may be worth while to make a few remarks4 ,to ,christianity1 as we have seen1 each individual personality is an end in itself4 ,each has a right to moral education2 each was called into being that it might embody a particular thought of ,god1 that it might fulfil good works prepared specially for it1 and correspond with its own separate ideal#efh4 ,hence1 true to the spirit of ,him who was a ,physician of the sick1 ,christianity offers her ,divine remedies to the worst and most hardened natures4 ,she believes in her power to renew and transfigure them1 to achieve in them a moral miracle4 ,nobler natures1 again1 she endeavours to train up to the full stature of ,christ-like character1 sanctifying1 consecrating1 and elevating the innate capacities of each4 ,her healing mission extends to all men4 ,she knows nothing of the aristocratic temper of ancient ethics1 which would confine the very possibility of a moral life to the few4 ,she rejoices in the infinite variety of typical forms which character may assume4 ,a ,christian poet has said-- ,there is not on the earth a soul so base ,but may obtain a place1 ,in covenanted grace2 ,so that his feeble prayer of faith obtains ,some loosening of his chains ,and earnests of the great release1 which rise ,from gift to gift1 and reach at length the eternal prize4 ,all may save self2--but minds that heavenward tower ,aim at a wider power1 ,gifts on the world to shower4 ,and this is not at once2 by fastings gained ,and trials well sustained2 ,by pureness1 righteous deeds1 and toils of love1 ,abidance in the truth1 and zeal for ,god above#efi4 ,now this idea of individual perfection1 so characteristic of ,christianity1 is in the ,new ,testament not dissociated from the idea of a society1 family1 or household of ,god1 in which alone the full development of ,christian character can be achieved4 ,corporate life1 with its network of relationships1 its mutual services1 its common worship1 its visible pledges of brotherhood--this is ,god's great instrument in the edification of character4 ,so far1 indeed1 as the body is divided or weakened1 the pressure it exerts on the individual is hindered1 and the free play of its forces diminished#egj4 ,in the ,church1 then1 we have the true school of character1 the true 'home of individuality1' and sphere of spiritual edification4 ,the normal course of spiritual growth is one of widely varied experiences3 it passes through the stage of repentance with its appropriate works2 it is schooled by the chastening discipline of common life#ega2 it is marked by progressive power of submission to the leadings of grace4 ,this would suggest an interesting line of study1 and one suitable for ethical treatment1 but must not now detain us4 ,it is advisable1 however1 in this connection not to overlook the subject of ,christian ascetics3 a word which has often excited unjust suspicion and contempt1 and thereby been robbed of the noble associations which rightfully belong to it4 ,the name 'ascetics' is suitably applied to those ,divinely-sanctioned exercises which1 by precept and example1 ,christ commended as aids to holiness--,prayer1 ,almsgiving1 and ,fasting4 ,reflection1 indeed1 shews that these ordinances occupy a conspicuous place in the ,gospel1 because they have a natural connection with the three principal spheres of ,christian duty1--duty towards ,god1 towards man1 towards self4 ,they are ways in which devotion to ,god1 love to man1 discipline of self1 find each an appropriate expression4 ,reason and experience alike suggest that the ,christian character1 with its harmonious beauty and delicate strength1 can only be the product of continuous spiritual discipline1 wise restraint1 and regulated effort4 ,a feature1 therefore1 of ,christ's practical teaching is ,his provision for what is1 to average human nature1 at least a moral necessity4 ,presenting ,himself as the supreme example of the freedom which can control and use circumstances for a spiritual end1 ,he lays down the threefold rule of ,christian ascetics1 to guide the wills and affections of those whom ,he calls to follow ,his steps4 ,the end of discipline is1 of course1 freedom3 that is1 the perfect dominion of the ,spirit in man4 ,aiming at this liberty the ,christian looks on the threefold ordinance of prayer1 almsgiving1 and fasting as a help to his development2 it is to him no mere arbitrary direction imposed by authority1 no vexatious restraint on lawful pleasure2 but an efficacious aid to ,christ-like holiness commended by the practice1 and proved by the experience1 of holy men in every age1 and expressly enjoined by our ,lord ,himself#egb4 ,it may surprise us somewhat to find ,prayer included among ascetic exercises4 ,for prayer is the ordinary activity of the human spirit in relation to ,god3 man's natural expression of self-dedication3 his effort to embrace ,god's ,will as his choice1 ,god's ,law as his rule1 ,god's ,perfection as his pattern4 ,yet because prayer implies regularity1 discipline1 persevering effort2 because it has its different parts1 its proper occasions1 and methods2 because it is the exercise of a distinct faculty2 in short1 because it is an arduous work1 it finds a place among exercises which seem at first sight to be of a more formal character4 ,this will appear more clearly on consideration of the different parts of prayer4 ,thus prayer is in part to be viewed as humble acknowledgment of an ideal unattained1 and consequent renewal of desire in that direction4 ,as containing1 therefore1 an element of self-purification1 of striving after deeper self-knowledge1 prayer includes the practice of self-examination and confession of sin4 ,regarded1 again1 as an exercise of affection and intellect1 prayer takes the form of contemplation1 and communion with ,god1 as the supreme object of reverence and love4 ,thus it is evident that prayer is a real exercise1 well fitted to be an education1 of the soul1 and arduous because it implies an intense activity of the entire personality4 ,even the body has its share in this exercise4 ,it is the appointed instrument of man's spiritual self-oblation2 and prayer is the acknowledgment not only that ,god is the ',father of spirits1' but that the body also 'is for the ,lord#egc4' ,almsgiving is placed by ,christ among known and admitted forms of devotion4 ,viewed simply as an action1 it is an obvious outlet of ,christian love to man#egd4 ,but almsgiving has another aspect1 on which early writers insist with some fullness4 ,it is a means of grace1 a purifying element in the spiritual life of the agent4 ,it is not often1 perhaps1 that this side of the duty is adequately taught4 ,the danger of 'charity' becoming reckless or ill-directed is real1 and may cause ,christian teachers to be reticent on the subject4 ,yet this aspect of the truth must not be suppressed4 ,and after all1 almsgiving seems to be specially mentioned by our ,lord as a type of all works of mercy#ege4 ,love1 in its effort to imitate ,god1 need not be less discriminating than communicative4 ,the ,fatherly providence of ,god is in fact the ,christian's inspiration and his model3 and we interpret the scope of our ,lord's commandment by study of ,his life who 'for our sakes1 though rich1 became poor1' and 'went about doing good1' and who taught us in one pregnant sentence the mysterious efficacy of almsgiving#egf4 ,it need not be added that true ,christian charity is ever controlled by a due sense of the dignity of human nature1 and of the moral bond that unites giver and receiver4 ,each of the three exercises under consideration is conditioned and aided by the other two4 ,there is a specially close connection1 however1 between prayer and fasting4 ,as a means of self-discipline1 fasting has been strangely neglected4 ,some regard it as a burdensome restraint on the will2 others as 'unsuited to a spiritual religion2' others as unduly interfering with ,christian liberty4 ,chiefly1 perhaps1 the neglect of fasting is due to inexperience of its value as a condition of spiritual power1 and forgetfulness of the place assigned to it in the teaching of our ,lord and of the early ,church4 ,it is thus right to insist1 first1 on its claim to be a ,divine ordinance#egg4 ,there can be nothing superfluous or incongruous in a practice which ,christ is so careful to regulate1 and which ,he commends by ,his own example4 ,but the practice of fasting justifies itself as a point of simple wisdom in the care of the personal life4 ,christian holiness requires1 as we have seen1 an inward unity of the personality1 in which no one element has undue predominance4 ,bodily instincts and passions1 the powers of thought and imagination1 the bias of temperament--all have to be brought into subjection to the controlling will4 ,and the result is a character exhibiting a due balance of different elements3 a chastened spirit of dependence1 spiritualized affections1 subdued thoughts1 sober judgment1 a purified heart1 a sensitive conscience1 a just fear of unbridled appetite1 a true simplicity4 ,such is ,christ-like holiness2 and one great condition of its attainment is fasting1 chiefly in its literal sense of regular abstinence from food#egh1 though its forms may be as varied as are the avenues of sense-impressions4 ,the motive of fasting may not be always the same3 sometimes it is the expression of penitential sorrow for sin1 or of the passion for inward purity2 sometimes it is used as a special aid to prayer2 sometimes1 again1 it is the sign of wearisome conflict with the lower nature2 in any case it should be an exercise of love4 ,thus we regard fasting1 not as mere soulless1 joyless abstinence2 but as a needful condition of purity1 energy1 vigour of will1 clearness of moral insight1 and capacity to impart spiritual gifts to our fellow-men4 ',wise souls1' says ,s4 ,leo1 'mortify their bodies and crucify their senses2 and therein set before themselves ,god's will1 loving themselves the more1 in proportion as for the love of ,god they love not themselves#egi4' ,our apology for touching on topics so homely might well be that the practical aim of ethics gives such points importance4 ,there can be no excuse needed1 however1 in days of wide-spread luxury1 and of much needlessly imperfect ,christianity1 for recalling and re-asserting the necessity of the discipline1 as well as of the moral precepts1 of the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,v4 ,christ's teaching as to the ,consummation of ,god's ,kingdom4 ,an outline of ,christian ,ethics would be incomplete without some reference to those eschatological truths which occupy so large a place in theology1 and have so direct a bearing on morals4 ,we have already touched on them in connection with the ,christian doctrine of the ,chief ,good4 ,it remains to consider them in relation to the perfection of man's nature4 ,the word 'perfection' reminds us that there is a goal of the moral process exhibited in history4 ,the visible order of the universe and the history of mankind are verging towards a consummation1 a catastrophe1 which relatively to us must be regarded as an end4 ,it is no part of our task to discuss the intermediate stage through which the kingdom of ,god is destined to pass3 that stage in which there is to be a supreme manifestation of moral evil1 a culmination of those tendencies and an outburst of those forces which already seem to threaten not the framework merely1 but the foundations of society4 ,the decay of ,christian ,churches1 the profound corruption of social life1 the tyranny of materialistic lawlessness--these seem to be plainly foretold in ,scripture1 and with a purpose3 that of shielding men from a moral despair which might paralyse their efforts1 or undermine their patience1 as they witness the beginnings of these 'birth-pangs#ehj' of a new order4 ,the ,christian will ever guard against such a temper of alienation1 or self-isolation1 from the world1 as will lead him to depreciate the national1 political1 or civil movements of his time4 ,for civilization is appointed to reach1 through whatever convulsions1 an ethical consummation1 the prospect of which must inspire strength to labour1 and patience to endure4 ,the last stage of the kingdom of ,god is one of glory1 to be exhibited in the perfection of the moral community4 ,it is for this that creation waits3 to this1 as the goal of history1 that inspired prophecy points4 ,two revealed truths are intended to guide our conception of this prospect4 ,in the first place1 the kingdom of ,god is to be finally manifested in its true character#eha3 an event which must involve momentous consequences for the physical creation4 ,scripture sometimes speaks as if beneath the outer semblance of visible nature there lay concealed an inner glory1 destined1 when the semblance passes1 to shine forth in full radiance and splendour#ehb4 ,the truth is thus symbolically conveyed that since man is the crown and lord of the physical universe1 his final emancipation will carry with it a corresponding change in his outward environment4 ,but this consummation1 no less than the progressive movement of mankind towards it1 is due to the deliberate working and intervention in history of ,god ,himself4 ,naturalism points to a precarious prospect of human happiness in the future1 as contingent upon 'a perfect adjustment of society#ehc4' ,christianity does not look to any improvement in material conditions1 nor to any social process1 as likely to bring about an ideal state of humanity4 ,neither the physical universe1 nor man himself1 can attain to the goal of their development1 or to the perfection of their nature1 apart from ,god#ehd4 ,again1 the kingdom of ,god is to be purified through judgment4 ,the exact nature of this judgment it is impossible for thought to anticipate4 ,but the teaching of revelation is at least so explicit as to discredit any conception of the judgment which would confine its operation to this present scene1 or restrict its meaning to any merely natural process4 ,the judgment is1 in fact1 appointed for a definite hour1 and is prefigured in definite historical catastrophes4 ,it will be parallel to1 but transcending1 those manifestations of ,divine power in history which mankind has already experienced4 ,and the effect of this final intervention will be to put an end to that mixed condition of human things which it is our tendency to accept and assume as inevitable and perpetual4 ,out of ,god's kingdom will be gathered 'all things that offend2' and the collective mass of humanity will be1 with whatever gradations in the stage of perfection attained by each individual1 a 'congregation of saints#ehe4' ,the principle of ,good will so achieve its final triumph4 ,when we further inquire1 as we are impelled to do1 what will be the extent of this final triumph1 we are met by the fact of our own ignorance1 and of ,christ's reserve4 ,his simple1 severe statements seem intended to discourage fruitless speculation4 ,we are thrown back in this as in other perplexities1 on our unfailing assurance of ,god's character1 and on the faint analogies furnished by the present order of things4 ,the ,gospel speaks of a righteous dominion1 the sphere of which is to be without limit4 ,we read of a gathering into the kingdom of all that is in true harmony with its purpose4 ,we find warrant for the belief in an intermediate state in which imperfect character may be developed1 ignorance enlightened1 sin chastened1 desire purified4 ,and yet we are assured that the consequences of action and choice abide1 and are eternal in their issue2 and we know that impenitence must finally1 and under awful conditions1 separate the soul from ,god4 ,but we have not enough for a coherent system4 ,all that we can affirm is that the victory of ,good seems to demand the preservation of all that has not wilfully set itself in antagonism to ,divine ,love1 ,holiness1 and ,power4 ,we cannot think that helpless ignorance1 or inevitable poverty of character will finally sever a human soul from ,god4 ,analogy suggests that there will be scope in a future dispensation for the healing ministries1 and inventive service of ,love4 ,so again1 ,scripture does not expressly teach that the lost will for ever be in a state of defiance and rebellion4 ,even in the awful state of final severance from the ,divine presence there is room for assent1 order1 acceptance of penalty2 and so far1 evil1 in the sense of the will antagonistic to ,god's righteous ,law--may have ceased to exist4 ,truth will have prevailed2 and all orders of intelligent creatures will render it homage4 ,the final issue will be seen1 and the justice confessed1 of all those 'ways' of ,god which are 'unsearchable and past finding out4' ,in a word1 there will be a complete manifestation of supreme ,holiness and ,love3 of ,him1 whose 'mercy is over all ,his works1' and who will continue to stand in direct relation to every soul that ,he has made1 revealing ,himself to each either as loving ,father or as righteous ,judge#ehf4 ,it must however be added that what is called ',universalism' finds no support either in the solemn statements of ,jesus ,christ1 or in the analogy of nature4 ,man's very power of choice implies the possibility of a sinful state admitting neither of repentance nor of remedy2 not of repentance--for character1 growing by separate acts of choice1 may become fixed and hardened in its persistent refusal of the good2 not of remedy--for1 as even the ,greek moralist1 with all his belief in the moulding power of law1 confesses1 there is a degree of moral perversion 'incurable'--that namely which ensues when sin has finally destroyed the faculties to which moral appeal is possible--desire1 fear1 hope1 affection1 the sense of shame4 ,with the end of history corresponds that of the individual man4 ,the ultimate perfection of human character is not only regarded as possible in ,scripture--but is suggested by analogy#ehg3 and of the conditions of perfected human nature1 we are enabled to form some idea partly by our knowledge of angelic beings1 partly by a study of our ,lord's ,humanity in its risen state#ehh4 i4 ,thus human personality1 in its perfected form1 implies a state of harmony4 ,as each element in human nature will be preserved in its appropriate condition1 so each will fulfil its rightful function#ehi4 ,the relation between body and spirit will be that which is ethically the highest conceivable4 ,in man will be represented1 as in a microcosm1 a state of being in which the first creation has been appropriated by1 and made the organ of the ,divine ,spirit#eij4 ,the material body will become one perfectly subservient to1 and expressive of1 the free movements of a purified spirit#eia4 ,and to this state of personality will belong a final harmony between moral law and freedom4 ,human beings will have become 'partakers of the ,divine ,nature1' so far as to experience in themselves the union of liberty1 holiness1 and love3 ,indulging every instinct of the soul ,there where law1 life1 joy1 impulse1 are one thing#eib4 ii4 ,perfection further implies a state of glory2 a word which1 whether used of ,christ ,himself or of ,his followers1 seems in the ,new ,testament to mean the outward manifestation of a holy character4 ,the gradual assimilation to ,god1 which is the law of true human development on earth1 is the law of an unending progress4 ,but in the perfect state1 character will find due splendour of outward expression4 ,man's bodily frame will pass through successive stages 'from glory to glory1' to a semblance faithfully reflecting the inward supernatural life#eic4 ,and in the marvellous union of outward with inward recreation consists the 'glory1' of which human nature is capable4 iii4 ,perfection is consummated by blessedness4 ,the conception of bliss as transcending happiness 77 is peculiar to ,christian ,ethics4 ,happiness is a word of earth1 and represents a good which may be attained independently of life in ,god4 ,bliss is inseparable from a living relation to ,god4 ,it implies union with ,god4 ,but though it is true that 'man possesses the plenitude of his perfection in ,god1' the analogy of the present dispensation points to a further element in 'blessedness1' namely1 that of fellowship in a moral community3 the redeemed 'have fellowship one with another1' in an 'indissoluble life#eid4' ,in fact the perfection of the individual1 according to ,god's separate ideal for each1 demands that of the moral community4 ,blessedness thus means that state wherein1 by a society of renewed personal beings1 'the ,highest ,good is loved and enjoyed#eie4' ,this community of free and perfected beings1 with ,god as its ,centre1 is the revealed ethical consummation of our race4 ,and as the manifestation of ,god's kingdom is to ,christians the supreme object of aspiration1 and the highest matter of prayer1 so the effort to advance and extend its sphere is the worthiest task that can be embraced by the will4 ,the conception of such a kingdom1 to be made actual through the exertion of human faculties co-operating with the invincible energy of the ,divine will1 is the greatest thought that ever enriched mankind4 ,in the attempt to further the limits1 or promote the welfare of this kingdom1 man finds his truest happiness1 and his noblest field of activity4 ,for he is engaged in the same work as ,god ,himself#eif3 he has the same interest in its accomplishment4 ,he has found the absolutely good sphere of effort and desire2 all else in which men busy themselves can only be ethically good in proportion as it bears on1 or hastens the approach of1 that 'one far off ,divine event4' ,,vi4 ,conclusion4 ,it is our ,lord's method to present to men an ideal1 before ,he descends to the requirements of practical life4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount describes the life of 'blessedness' before it treats of duty2 and from duty1 passes to the means of holiness4 ,such an example suggests one or two concluding reflections4 ,first we may recall the true bearing of a methodical inquiry into ,christian ,ethics4 ,the kingdom of ,god stands in contrast with1 but in special relation to1 all modes and products of social activity4 ,it makes use of all the material which human life offers1 or human faculties supply1 so far as it is capable of serving a ,divine purpose1 or revealing any aspect of the ,divine ,life4 ,for that ,life having once for all intervened in history1 continues ever to appropriate and hallow all that comes within the wide range of ,its outflow2 ,education1 ,criticism1 ,science1 ,art2 ,industry1 ,wealth2 ,law1 ,polity--all these are capable of becoming ethical forces1 of ministering to man's true end1 of contributing something to the highest life4 ,into the ,holy ,city the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour3 and to a ,christian ,church are addressed the far-reaching words1 ',all things are yours#eig4' ,there is in fact a 'world-appropriating' element in ,christianity1 as the ethical religion2 and it is essential that the significance of this fact should be grasped1 if ,christian morality is to be rightly apprehended1 or fairly presented in systematic form4 ,further1 in advancing a claim to mould and regenerate human society1 the ,christian ,church can only continue to rely on her traditional instrument1--the recreation of individual character4 ,the social movements which an enlightened ,christian judgment approves1 are those gradual and irresistible changes which result from the slowly-reached apprehension of some neglected moral truth1 as it gradually commends itself to individual consciences4 ,and such movements are to be judged as they display1 or bear upon character4 ,if for example a ,christian mistrusts the extravagant schemes of some forms of ,socialism1--it is not because he is insensible to the wrongs and miseries which suggest a violent remedy1 but because all such sweeping proposals would merge the individual life1 would repress and mar the fulness of that organized social life which gains elements of richness and diversity from the free play of individuality4 ,the study of ideals will also have suggested the relation which the ,church bears to modern life4 ,the ,church1 we have seen1 is the school of human character2 the nurse1 therefore1 of such civil and social virtues as give stability to human institutions4 ,in her midst1 ,divine forces are really and manifestly at work1 tending to bring about the regeneration of mankind4 ,and in connection with this view of the ,church1 we need to observe the power of character2 the practical 'supremacy of goodness1' or at least its tendency to be supreme2 its capacity to control and modify the pressure of circumstance4 ,a condition of all true thinking about the social future will surely be a just estimate of character as a social and industrial force2 it is a growing sense of this truth that is doing much to revolutionize our economic theories4 ,we are learning perhaps that manfulness1 mercy1 self-control1 pity are among the forces which must be taken into account by social science4 ,and if the ,church is a gift of ,god to mankind1 and there be but one end of all ,his gifts1 namely1 the restoration of ,his image in man1 we must believe that the fairest fruits of ,christianity1 and the many-sided fulness of ,christlike character1 can appear only in those who live loyal to the moral discipline of the ,church1 who are ruled by her wisdom1 chastened by awe of her beauty1 penetrated by her spirit4 ,the kingdom of ,god is more--infinitely more--than an ideal condition of human society2 but we know that the kingdom1 even in this limited sense of the word1 will be the heritage only of a nation 'bringing forth the fruits thereof4' #def #a ,s4 ,pet4 i4 #ba 4 #deg ,heb4 i4 #a4 #deh ,see ,dorner1 ,syst4 of ,christian ,ethics1 #ce4 #dei ,eph4 i4 #d4 #dfj ,cp4 ,plato1 ,tim4 xxix4 ,e4 #dfa ,athan4 de ,incarn4 x4 #dfb ,clem4 ,alex4 ,quis ,dives1 etc4 vii4 1 1 444 1 1 1 4 #dfc ,aug4 de moribus ,eccl4 xii4 #dfd ,athan4 cont4 ,gentes1 iii4 describes the aversion of man from ,god as beginning in 'self-contemplation' 7 74 #dfe ,ath4 c4 ,gent4 ii4 #dff ,wace1 ,boyle ,lectures1 ser4 #a1 ,lect4 vii4 ,cp4 ,col4 i4 #bh4 #dfg #b ,cor4 v4 #d1 #e 4 #dfh ,lactant4 ,div4 ,inst4 iii4 #ab1 ',haec vita praesens et corporalis beata esse non potest1 quia malis est subjecta per corpus4444 ,si cadit beatitudo1 ergo et immortalitas cadit in hominem1 quae beata est4' #dfi ,eph4 v4 #a4 ,ep4 ad ,diog4 x4 #dgj ,bp4 ,butler's sermons emphasize this side of the doctrine of conscience1 esp4 the ,preface4 ,cp4 ,flint1 ,theism1 lect4 vii4 #dga ,see ,phil4 i4 #i1 and ,heb4 v4 #ad 7the ,greek74 #dgb ,rom4 i4 #ba4 ,athan4 cont4 ,gentes1 iii-xi4 #dgc ,wace1 ,boyle ,lect41 ser4 #a1 ,lect4 ,,ii4 #dgd ,anselm1 ,cur ,deus ,homo1 ,i4 xii4 ',libertas non est nisi ad hoc quod expedit aut quod decet4' #dge ,see ,martineau1 ,types of ,eth4 ,theory1 vol4 i4 #ic2 ii4 #ci ,ed4 #b4 ,holland1 ,creed and ,character1 ,serm4 ,x4 #dgf ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 xxi4 ',deo solo dominante liberrimus4' ,observe that as freedom grows1 the choice becomes more restricted by the law 1 7#a ,cor4 x4 #bc74 ,cp4 ,pet4 ,lomb4 ,sent4 ii4 xxv4 #g4 #dgg ,cyp4 de op4 et eleem4 i4 ',pater ,filium misit ut reparare nos posset4' ,such language is usual with the ,fathers4 #dgh ,the whole subject of sin1 guilt1 punishment is germane to our subject1 but for present purposes must be left on one side4 #dgi ,iren4 iii4 #ah4 #g ,stieren 1 1 4 #dhj ,heb4 iii4 #a4 ,cyp4 de idol4 van4 xi4 ',quod homo est1 esse ,christus voluit1 ut et homo possit esse quod ,christus est4' #dha ,bern1 de consid4 v4 #a1 ',quid quod et inferioribus eges8444 ,nonne praeposterum hoc et indignum8 ,plane superiorum quaedam injuria est inferiorum operam desiderare3 a qua injuria nemo hominum perfecte vindicabitur nisi cum quisque evaserit in libertatem filiorum ,dei4' #dhb ,s4 ,matt4 vi4 #cc4 #dhc ,s4 ,luke xvii4 #ba2 ,s4 ,matt4 xiii4 #de foll4 7,parable of the ,pearl74 ,cp4 ,rom4 xiv4 #ag 444 444 4 #dhd ,wace1 ubi sup4 ,lect4 ,,viii4 ,ambr4 de off4 min4 ii4 #c1 #d4 #dhe ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 xiii4 ',bonorum summa ,deus nobis est2 ,deus est nobis summum bonum4' ,ib4 xviii4 ',secutio ,dei1 beatitatis appetitus est2 consecutio1 ipsa beatitas4' #dhf ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 ,qu4 i4 #b1 ',illa quae rationem habent seipsa movent ad finem1 quia habent dominium suorum actuum per liberum arbitrium4444 ,illa vero quae ratione carent tendunt in finem propter naturalem inclinationem quasi ab alio mota1 non autem a seipsis1 cum non cognoscant rationem finis2 et ideo nihil in finem ordinare possunt1 sed solum in finem ab alio ordinantur4' #dhg ,see ,godet1 ,comm4 on #a ,corinthians ,clark1 vol4 i4 p4 #bcf4 #dhh ,s4 ,matt4 xix4 #bh2 ,s4 ,luke xxii4 #cj4 #dhi ,s4 ,john iii4 #af4 #dij ,s4 ,john iii4 #cc4 ,see ,dorner's ,system of ,ethics ,clark1 #dg4 #dia #b ,cor4 iv4 #h2 vi4 #aj4 ,cp4 ,rom4 viii4 #bh4 #dib ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #dh4 ,butler1 ,serm4 #c ',your obligation to obey this ,law is its being the ,law of your nature4444 ,the correspondence of actions to the nature of the agent renders them natural4' #dic ,cp4 ,bp4 ,ellicott1 ,the ,being of ,god1 p4 #abj4 #did ,rom4 ii4 #ah 7 7 implies that when a man knows ,god's will1 he knows his duty4 #die ,s4 ,john ix4 #d2 iv4 #cd4 ,cp4 vi4 #dj2 ,s4 ,luke iv4 #dc4 ,see also ,rom4 xii4 #b2 ,eph4 v4 #ag1 etc4 #dif ,the case of the young man 7,s4 ,matt4 xix4 #ba7 shews how obligation is extended by contact with ,christ1 i4e4 by closer relation to ,god4 ,the general principle is that each is bound to follow the law of his personal perfection as it unveils itself to him4 ,see ,bengel in loc4 and cp4 ,s4 ,luke xvii4 #aj4 #dig ,wace1 ,lect4 ,,ii4 #dih ,s4 ,matt4 xvi4 #be1 #bf4 ,the discussion of ',christian consolations1' by ,mr4 ,cotter ,morison1 ,service of ,man1 overlooks the fact that ,christ's object was not to 'console' men1 but to set before them the truth1 and the law of their own perfection4 ,the 'consolations' of ,christianity can be won only if they are never made the object of life4 ,they are a reward1 but never1 in the higher forms of ,christian consciousness1 an aim4 ,see ,church ,quart4 ,rev41 ,jan4 #ahhh1 p4 #bfh4 #dii ,witness the discussions on fear commonly found in mediaeval theology4 ,bruce1 ,parabolic teaching of ,christ1 p4 #cei foll41 has some good remarks on this point4 ',the parabolic form of instruction does not afford scope for the play of the highest class of motives4 ,it is essentially popular wisdom1 and it is the way of that which aims at teaching the million1 to make action spring from homely motives4' #ejj ,butler1 ,analogy1 i4 #e4 #eja ,see ,h4 ,s4 ,holland1 ,creed and ,character1 ,serm4 ,,xviii4 ,cp4 ,s4 ,matt4 xxv4 #ba1 ,heb4 xii4 #b4 ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 ii4 ii1 xxviii4 #ejb ,sidgwick1 ,outlines of the ,hist4 of ,ethics1 chap4 #c4 #ejc ,iren4 iv4 #af1 #c ,stieren4 ,god appears in the decalogue 'praestruens hominem in suam amicitiam 444 et ideo verba similiter permanent apud nos1 extensionem et augmentum sed non dissolutionem accipientia per carnalem ,eius adventum4' ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 ,qu4 c4 ,art4 #c1 ',omnia praecepta moralia legis sunt quaedam partes praeceptorum decalogi4' #ejd ,rom4 vii4 #ad4 #eje ,s4 ,matt4 xxii4 #cg4 ,cp4 ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 xviii-xx2 de doc4 ,christ4 i4 #bi4 #ejf ,aug4 l4c4 ',maxime ,ei propinquat homo subjectione ista qua similis fit4' #ejg ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 c4 #e1 ',principi communitatis tria debet homo1 fidelitatem1 reverentiam1 famulatum4' ,cp4 ,butler1 ,analogy1 pt4 ii4 #a4 #ejh ,aug4 de disc4 ,christ4 iii4 ',proximus est omni homini omnis homo1' etc4 #eji ,r4 ,w4 ,dale1 ,the ,ten ,commandments1 p4 #bda4 ,cp4 ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 c4 #f2 ,martineau1 ,types1 etc41 ii4 #bf4 #eaj ,summa1 i4 ii4 c4 #e1 ',dilectio sui ipsius includitur in dilectione ,dei et proximi2 in hoc enim homo vere se diligit quod se ordinat in ,deum4' ,ib4 ii4 ii4 xix4 #f1 ',homo se propter ,deum1 et in ,deo diligit4' ,aug4 ,serm41 ccxvi4 #h1 ',amate quod eritis3 eritis enim filii ,dei4' ,pascal1 ,penses1 ,art4 xviii4 #ae1 ',que l'homme s'aime1 car il a en lui une nature capable de bien4' ,cp4 ,butler1 ,serm4 i4 etc4 #eaa ,sidgwick1 ,outlines etc41 p4 #ajh4 ,cp4 ,dorner1 ,system1 etc41 p4 #dei ,clark4 #eab ,aug4 de ,civ4 ,dei1 xiv4 #bh4 #eac ,see ,ex4 xxi4 #cc foll42 ,deut4 xxii4 #i foll42 ,levit4 xix4 etc4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 i4 #b1 ',tota irrationalis natura comparatur ad ,deum sicut instrumentum ad agens principale4' #ead ,consider ,gen4 ix4 #aj4 ,cp4 ,gen4 viii4 #a2 ,prov4 xii4 #aj1 etc4 #eae ,martensen1 ,special ,ethics 7,indiv471 p4 #bgh ,clark4 #eaf ,see ,trench1 ,mediaeval ,church ,history1 ,lect4 ,,xxvii4 ,cp4 ,plato1 ,phileb4 #fd ,e foll4 #eag ,ecce ,homo1 c4 x4 ,cp4 ,s4 ,john xxi4 #be4 #eah ,it is significant that ,mr4 ,cotter ,morison in his ,service of ,man discusses personal types of ,christian saintliness4 #eai ,dorner1 ,system1 etc41 p4 #cgg4 #ebj ,see some remarks on this tendency in ,liddon1 ,bampton ,lectures1 viii2 and an ,art4 in the ,church ,quart4 ,rev41 ,july1 #ahhc1 on ',our ,lord's ,human ,example4' ,for what follows1 cp4 ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,general71 pp4 #bdb1 #bef4 #eba ,dean ,church1 ,serm4 on ,christ's ,example ,gifts of ,civilization1 ,serm4 ,,iii4 #ebb ,r4 ,h4 ,hutton1 ,essay on the ,incarnation and ,principles of ,evidence4 ,cp4 the remarkable definition of ,lactantius1 ,div4 ,inst4 iii4 #i1 ',pietas nihil aliud est quam ,dei parentis agnitio4' ,ib4 #aj1 ',efficitur ut is agnoscat ,deum1 qui unde ortus sit1 quasi recordetur4' #ebc ,see ,trench1 ,syn4 of the ,n4,t4 #db 7on 74 ',in ,his ,human ,nature ,christ must be the pattern of all humility1 of all creaturely dependence4444 ,he evermore1 as ,man1 took the place which beseemed the creature in the presence of its ,creator4' #ebd ,s4 ,john xvi4 #cb4 #ebe ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,general71 p4 #bee4 ,cp4 ,job v4 #bc4 #ebf ,christ's earthly life and work are described summarily as 1 ,rom4 v4 #ai4 ,cp4 ,phil4 ii4 #h4 #ebg ,aug4 de ,praed4 ,sanct4 xxx4 ',an 444 in ,illo non libera voluntas erat1 ac non tanto magis erat1 quanto magis peccare non poterat8' ,quoted by ,liddon1 ,bampt4 ,lect4 ed4 #aa1 note c4 #ebh ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 xxiii4 ',fit ergo per caritatem ut conformemur ,deo4' #ebi ,dorner1 pp4 #ccf1 #chh4 ,cp4 ,ecce ,homo1 p4 #acf4 #ecj ,arist4 ,eth4 vii4 #ad4 #h remarks that human nature is not simple 771 adding 1 4 1 444 ,cp4 ,bk4 x4 cc4 #d4 #i1 and #g4 #h4 #eca ,summa1 i4 ii4 ,qu4 lxii4 ,art4 #a4 ,cp4 ,s4 ,matt4 xix4 #ag4 #ecb ,abp4 ,trench4 #ecc ,heb4 xi4 #f4 ,cp4 #a ,s4 ,john iv4 #af2 ,rom4 xiv4 #bc4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 ,qu4 lxii4 art4 #c4 ',quantum ad intellectum adduntur homini quaedam principia supernaturalia1 quae divino lumine capiuntur2 et haec sunt credibilia de quibus est fides4' ,ib4 art4 #d1 ',per fidem apprehendit intellectus ea quae sperat et amat4 ,unde opportet quod ordine generationis fides praecedat spem et caritatem4' #ecd ,s4 ,john iv4 #cd2 v4 #cf2 xvii4 #d4 ,cp4 ,h4 ,s4 ,holland1 ,serm4 on ',the ,energy of ,unselfishness4' ,with regard to the relation of ,pleasure to action1 we may observe that pleasure is inseparable from the right and effective exercise of any faculty2 and therefore accompanies virtuous activity1 but can never be the moral end of action4 ,cp4 ,arist4 ,eth4 vii4 #ab4 #c1 etc4 #ece ,see ,ecce ,homo1 c4 xiii4 #ecf ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 xix4 ',id ipsum quo diligimus ,deum mori non potest1 nisi dum non diligit ,deum3 cum mors ipsa sit non diligere ,deum4' ,cp4 ,cyp4 de ,unit4 xiv4 #ecg ,such classification1 corresponding to three cardinal virtues1 seems to be implied in ,s4 ,paul's words1 ,tit4 ii4 #ab 444 1 4 #ech ,j4 ,cotter ,morison1 ,the ,service of ,man1 p4 #aid ed4 #c4 ,see ,eph4 i4 #d2 ,col4 i4 #bb2 ,s4 ,luke i4 #ge4 #eci ,rom4 viii4 #h2 #a ,cor4 vii4 #cb2 #a ,thess4 iv4 #a4 ,an instructive contrast might be drawn between the ,pagan and ,christian use of the word 4 #edj ,lacordaire1 a biographical sketch1 ,h4 ,s4 ,lear1 p4 #cd4 #eda ,wordsworth1 ,the ,excursion4 ,ep4 ad ,diog4 v4 1 4 ,this spirit does not exclude a true patriotism1 and other civil virtues4 ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,social71 #hb4 #edb ,de mor4 ,eccl4 xxxvii and xxv4 ,cp4 ,bern4 de ,consid4 v4 #a4 #edc ,see the chap4 with this title in ,ecce ,homo4 #edd ,s4 ,matt4 v4 #dd foll4 ,leo1 ,serm4 in ,quad4 vii4 ',forma conversationis fidelium ab exemplo venit operum divinorum et merito ,deus imitationem ,sui ab eis exigit1 quos ad imaginem et similitudinem suam fecit4' ,cp4 ,iren4 iv4 #ac4 #c4 #ede ,ecce ,homo1 c4 xxii4 ,cp4 ,butler1 ,serm4 ix4 etc4 #edf ,leo1 ,serm4 in ,quad41 passim1 esp4 v1 vi1 ix4 ,ecce ,homo1 c4 xxiii4 ,for what follows1 see ,arist4 ,eth4 v4 #aj4 ,cp4 ,eph4 iv4 #cb4 #edg ,mozley1 ,univ4 ,serm4 ix4 ',ancient philosophy never opened the mine of happiness which lay in this principle4 ,it was a discovery1 like that of a new scientific principle1 when it was made2 and ,christianity made it4' #edh ,rom4 xiii4 #aj4 ,note the following words of ,s4 ,aug4 7de doct4 ,christ4 i4 #bi73 ',velle debemus1 ut omnes nobiscum diligant ,deum1 et totum quod vel eos adjuvamus vel adjuvamur eis1 ad unum illum finem referendum est4444 ,hinc efficitur ut inimicos etiam nostros diligamus4444 ,misereamur1 quia tanto magis nos oderunt1 quanto ab illo quem diligimus separati sunt4' ,cp4 de disc4 ,chr4 v4 ',necesse est ut quem diligis tanquam te ipsum1 illuc illum trahas ad quod et tu amas4' ,ecce ,homo1 cc4 xvii1 xviii4 #edi ,tert4 ,apol4 #cf4 #eej ,de mor4 ,eccl4 lxiii4 ,clark ,obs4 ,there are duties imposed by our relationship even to the dead1 to posterity1 and of course to the impersonal creature4 ,see ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,indiv471 #aaf-aah4 ,on duties to posterity1 see a beautiful passage in ,ruskin1 ,seven ,lamps of ,architecture1 vi4 #i4 #eea ,dean ,church1 ,disc4 of the ,christian ,character1 p4 #aja4 ,cp4 ,ecce ,homo ed4 #ac1 p4 #agh4 #eeb ,see ,rom4 xii4 #c2 #b ,cor4 x4 #e4 #eec ,wisdom vi4 #ag4 #eed #a ,cor4 vi4 #ai4 #eee ,ep4 ad ,diog4 vi4 1 4 #eef ,see ,westcott1 ,essay on ,the ,church and the ,world in his ed4 of ,s4 ,john's ,epp44 #eeg ,trench1 ,syn4 of ,n4,t4 xxxvii4 ,on ',resentment' see ,ecce ,homo1 c4 xxi2 ,butler1 ,serm4 viii4 ,cp4 ,arist4 ,eth4 iv4 #e4 ,see also ,dale4 ,the ,atonement1 ,lect4 ,,viii4 #eeh ,dean ,church1 ,gifts of ,civilization1 p4 #cbc4 ,cp4 ,martineau1 ,types of ,eth4 ,theory1 vol4 ii1 pp4 #bjj-bjb4 #eei ,see ,service of ,man1 cc4 vii and ix4 ,those objections have been often met4 ,see ,dean ,church1 ,serm4 on ',christ's ,example4' ,liddon1 ,bampt4 ,lect4 ed4 #aa p4 #acj4 #efj ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 lxiii4 ',tu ,ecclesia pueriliter pueros1 fortiter juvenes1 quiete senes prout cuiusque non corporis tantum1 sed et animi aetas est1 exerces ac doces etc4' ,cp4 ,amb4 de ,off4 ,min4 i4 #ag4 #efa ,wace1 ,boyle ,lect4 7ser4 #a7 v4 ,cp4 ,ecce ,homo1 c4 ix4 ,we may consider how ,christ gives a practical turn to speculative inquiries4 ,s4 ,luke xiii4 #bc1 #bd2 ,s4 ,john xxi4 #ba foll4 #efb ,e4g4 ,clem4 of ,alexandria4 ,see ,bigg1 ,the ,christian ,platonists of ,alexandria1 p4 #hj4 #efc ,s4 ,luke xiii4 #cb2 ,heb4 ii4 #aj1 v4 #i4 ,cp4 #a ,cor4 xv4 #de2 and see ,gal4 ii4 #bj1 iv4 #ai4 ,also an ,art4 in ,ch4 ,qu4 ,rev4 ,no4 xxxii1 on ',our ,lord's ,human ,example4' #efd #a ,cor4 i4 #cj4 ,cp4 ,rom4 viii4 #bi4 ,for the thought that follows1 see ,prof4 ,bruce on ,heb4 ii4 #aa-ah in ,expositor1 ,no4 #ej4 #efe ,service of ,man1 pp4 #hd1 #he4 #eff ,chrys4 in ,joh4 hom4 x4 #b 1 1 444 #efg ,see ,tit4 ii4 #aa1 #ab 444 ,s4 ,matt1 xxviii4 #ai1 #bj4 ,aug4 de disc4 ,chr4 i4 ',disciplinae domus est ,ecclesia ,christi4' ,butler1 ,analogy1 pt4 ii4 c4 #a4 #efh ,consider ,col4 i4 #bh2 ,eph4 ii4 #aj4 #efi ,lyra ,apostolica1 ,no4 xxxvii signed 4 #egj ,consider ,phil4 ii4 #b1 where the description of the ,christian example and character is prefaced by an impressive appeal for ,unity4 ,the moral guilt of heresy partly lies in its being a principle of disunion4 ,cyp4 de ,unit4 xxvi4 complains of particular ways in which disunion injures ,christian character4 #ega ,bruce 7,expositor1 ,no4 #ej1 p4 #hd74 ',god's paternal discipline1 our own self-effort1 ,christ's example1 priestly influence and sympathy1 all contribute to the same end1 persistency and progress in the ,christian life4' ,it is specially instructive to contrast the ,christian with the ,pagan estimation of ,labour1 as a factor in the formation of character4 ,see ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,social71 p4 #abi4 #egb ,for what follows1 see especially the ,lenten sermons of ,s4 ,leo4 ,also a very useful book by ,canon ,furse1 ,helps to ,holiness4 #egc #a ,cor4 vi4 #ac4 ,see ,cyp4 de orat4 ,dom4 iv1 on the part of the body in prayer4 #egd ,the particular shape which ,almsgiving will assume is obviously to be 'suggested by the special conditions' of the age4 ,see a noble passage in ,ecce ,homo ed4 #ac1 p4 #ahd1 pointing out the way in which the ,christian spirit is likely to regard social problems4 ,cp4 ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,social71 p4 #acb4 ,this point seems completely overlooked in the ,service of ,man1 c4 vii4 #ege ,aug4 ,enchir4 lxxii4 ',multa sunt genera eleemosynarum1 quae cum facimus adjuvamur4' ,see also ,cyp4 de op4 et eleem4 xxv4 ,leo1 in ,quad4 v4 #d2 de ,res4 i4 #a2 de ,pent4 i4 #f1 etc4 ,bruce1 ,parabolic ,teaching1 etc41 pp4 #cga-cge1 has some striking remarks4 #egf ,s4 ,luke xi4 #da4 #egg ,leo1 in ,quad4 xii4 #b1 ',in caelestibus ,ecclesiae disciplinis1 multum utilitatis adferunt divinitus instituta jejunia4' ,cp4 ,hooker1 ,bk4 v4 #gb4 #egh ,ep4 ad ,diogn4 vi4 4 #egi ,serm4 de ,pass4 xix4 #e4 ,cp4 ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,indiv471 p4 #afj2 ,martineau1 ,types1 etc41 vol4 ii4 #cha4 #ehj ,s4 ,matt4 xxiv4 #h 4 #eha ,rom4 viii4 #ai4 #ehb #a ,cor4 vii4 #ca2 #a ,s4 ,john ii4 #ag1 etc4 #ehc ,cp4 ,the ,ethics of ,socialism1 by ,e4 ,belfort ,bax1 p4 #ai4 #ehd ,cp4 ,bern1 de consid4 v4 #aa4 #ehe ,ps4 cxlix4 #a4 #ehf ,see the ,bp4 of ,exeter's ,primary ,charge on this subject4 ,on the principle involved in this 'dual classification' see an impressive passage in ,martineau1 ,types1 etc41 ii4 #fe-fi4 #ehg #b ,cor4 v4 #e2 ,col4 i4 #bh2 ,butler1 ,analogy1 i4 c4 #e4 #ehh ,s4 ,luke xx4 #cf 444 4 ,cp4 ,leo ,magn4 ,serm4 in ,res4 ,dom4 i4 c4 #d4 #ehi ,vinc4 ,lirin4 ,common4 c4 xiii4 ',unoquoque hominum sine fine victuro1 in unoquoque hominum sine fine necessario utriusque substantiae differentia permanebit4' #eij ,dorner1 ,system1 etc41 #b4 #eia ,aug4 de ,fid4 et ,symb4 xiii4 ',spirituale corpus intelligitur quod ita spiritui subditum est1 ut caelesti habitationi conveniat4' ,the ,resurrection of the flesh is thus seen to have vital relation to the idea of moral perfection4 ,cp4 ,thom4 ,aquin4 ,summa1 i4 ii4 ,qu4 iv4 ,art4 #f-h4 #eib ,iren4 iv4 #bh4 #b1 ',hi semper percipiunt regnum1 et proficiunt4' ,pet4 ,lomb4 ,sent4 ii4 xxv4 #g1 ',post confirmationem vero 444 nec vinci poterit nec premi homo3 et tunc habebit non posse peccare4' #eic ,s4 ,matt4 xiii4 #dc2 #b ,cor4 iii4 #ah2 #a ,s4 ,john iii4 #b4 #eid #a ,s4 ,john i4 #c-g2 ,heb4 vii4 #af2 ,westcott1 ,hist4 ,faith1 p4 #adg4 #eie ,aug4 de mor4 ,eccl4 iv4 ',beata vita1 cum id quod est hominis optimum1 amatur et habetur4' #eif 1 ,s4 ,john vi4 #bh4 ,cp4 ,s4 ,matt4 vi4 #cc4 #eig #a ,cor4 iii4 #bb4 ,,appendix ,i4 ,,on ,,some ,,aspects ,,of ,,christian ,,duty4 ,the conception of morality as a system of positive ,divine ,law1 and the 'juridical method' which is said to mark early ,christian writers on ethics#eih1 is perhaps attributable to the growth of an imperial spirit in the ,church when she found herself confronted with the task of reducing to order the social chaos into which the fall of the ,empire plunged ,europe4 ,s4 ,leo may be said to embody this spirit in a majestic personal form4 ,the mark of ,roman authority rests on the ordinances of the ,church of this period4 ,it may be that her rules of duty wear something of the aspect of a fixed1 unvarying code4 ,the moral problems with which she has to deal are comparatively simple2 they admit of clear1 concise treatment1 in accordance with a fixed system of discipline2 sharp distinctions are possible3 and the ,gospel thus presents to the world the features of an external ,law4 ,be this as it may1 widely different conditions seem now to demand a definite system of ,christian duty1--a study of 'special' or 'applied ethics4' ,the main feature of modern life is not social disorganization1 but complexity of relationships2 and although in the abstract no such thing is possible as a 'conflict of duties2' yet it is clear that duty is not always simple1 or obvious4 ,we need in fact something like a system of casuistry2 of ethics applied to novel spheres1 and special points of obligation4 ,it is indeed reasonable to expect that as civilization advances1 and new realms open up which the ,christian spirit must appropriate1 the ,law of duty will be enriched2 there will be expansion of its content3 e4g4 the development of ,industry makes desirable the formulation of the ',ethics of ,labour2' the rise of a special class may raise the question whether 'class virtues' are to be recognised1 and how they are to be estimated1 by ,ethics#eii4 ,in this appendix some purpose may be served by noticing a few pressing moral problems of our time2 some spheres of duty as to which guidance or development of principles seems called for4 i4 ,in the sphere of self-regarding duty a point which needs attention is the truth of personal responsibility4 ,there are influences at work which threaten the sense of accountability1 whether for conduct or belief4 ,there are of course speculative difficulties surrounding the question of freedom2 there is wide misconception of its true meaning2 but it needs to be clearly taught1 that granted all limitations of the power of choice1 moral responsibility remains for the use of the character1 as of the property1 which a man inherits#fjj4 ,a man's moral constitution1 rigidly defined though it be by heredity1 is yet his 'heritage1' his natural endowment1 for the right direction of which he is responsible4 ,the weak sense of this plain fact is noticeable in the lax and indulgent tone often used respecting criminals4 ',to some of us1' it has been justly said1 'the individual is always innocent and society always guilty#fja4' ,the degree of guilt1 however1 may be minimized 7e4g4 by the plea of ignorance71 while the fact of it remains4 ,in this connection statistics of crime have a value which needs to be estimated4 ,do they point to conditions of society which must be faced as unalterable8 or do they not rather usefully indicate the proper channels into which the stream of social energy should be directed8 ,again1 in the matter of personal belief1 it is often assumed that there is no responsibility4 ,the question1 however1 for each individual1 if rightly stated1 is simply this1 ',what has been my attitude towards that which has presented itself to me as truth#fjb8' ,another point of importance is the moral culture of ,imagination1 in relation chiefly to aesthetic recreation in its different forms1 the ,theatre1 the pursuit of ,art1 the reading of ,fiction4 ,we are learning by serious experience the enormous power of fancy to kindle passion1 and to colour human actions4 ,in view of the spread of depraving literature1 energetic assertion of duty towards this department of personality is needed4 ,such duty seems to be recognised in ,phil4 iv4 #h4 ii4 ,passing to the sphere of family obligations1 it is natural to remark on the break-up of family life which is so common a consequence of highly-developed industry4 ,the employment of women in factories1 etc41 tends to make them unfit for domestic duties2 while that of children encourages a spirit of independence which is not without social danger2 thus not only the sense of parental duty1 but the respect for parental authority1 is impaired4 ,christians are bound to discountenance1 or at least to counteract1 this state of things so far as it interferes with the rudiments of moral discipline4 ,the pressing need of our day1 however1 would appear to be some clear teaching on the subject of marriage4 ,there are different aspects of the marriage contract recognised in ,scripture4 ,but ,christianity can make no terms with those theories which have borne fruit in lax legislation on divorce1 with all its mischievous results4 ,marriage1 according to the ,christian view1 is a serious vocation1 with its own sacred duties1 and special consecration4 ,improvident marriage is as immoral from a ,christian as from an anti-,christian point of view#fjc4 ,ethical considerations ought to guide or restrict the intention to marry2 and with regard to the question of population1 ,christianity condemns any theory which offers a substitute for rational self-restraint4 ,the true end of marriage1 again1 is something higher than 'happiness'2 it is appointed for the mutual enrichment of personality1 mutual freedom to fulfil the true ideal of human life4 ,the whole subject has indeed become involved in difficulties which cannot be encountered by any mere statement of principles4 ,there is no doubt1 however1 of the end which the ,christian treatment of this point must keep in view4 iii4 ,as to the social sphere generally1 we begin by remarking that1 from the ,christian standpoint1 every transaction between man and man is to be regarded as personal1 and therefore ethical4 ,the most significant fact perhaps of our time is the process of transition from 7so-called7 political to ethical economics4 ,to reason rightly on social problems we must ever have regard to personality4 ,for ethical purposes the abstract terms ,capital1 ,labour1 ,production1 ,wealth1 etc41 must be replaced by personal terms1 ,employer1 ,employ1 ,producer1 ,man of ,wealth1 etc4 ,our problem is how to supersede the technical and legal relation by the personal#fjd4 ,this being our fundamental point of view1 we find that ethics will treat equally of rights and duties4 ,a ,christian theory of rights is required4 ,the prevailing view of them is individualistic4 ,it is forgotten that the rights of one man have their ground in the obligations of another2 they are limited by the claims of other personalities on our own2 'right' is1 in fact1 a condition making possible the fulfilment of duty4 ,it is thus a matter of ,christian concern 7to suggest mere examples7 that workers should attain to the possibility of free self-development3 healthy conditions of work1 the enjoyment of domestic life1 security of maintenance1 perhaps permanence of contract1 opportunities of recreation and culture1--everything1 in fact1 which will give them fair chance of healthful and worthy human life4 ,christianity can be content with nothing short of this4 ,on the other hand duties call for notice4 ,modern capitalists form a class whose responsibilities it is difficult adequately to measure4 ,the general principle1 however1 is easily repeated3 that it is the duty of the wealthy1 or those who employ workers1 to respect the personality of their employs1 to treat them not as machines1 but as men4 ,thomas ,carlyle well describes the aim that should guide this influential class3 'to be a noble master among noble workers1 the first ambition3 to be a rich master1 only the second4' ,industrial development indeed brings into prominence many questions of duty and right1 which can be solved only by deeper apprehension of the ,christian standpoint3 and of 'morality as an industrial force#fje3' for the ties which bind men in the relation of brotherhood and sonhood are the noblest and strongest4 ,the duties of a state are matters of controversy1 and open a field not lightly to be entered4 ,it is clear1 however1 that adequate pressure can only be brought to bear on governing classes by an educated public opinion1 rather we should say an enlightened moral sense1 in the community4 ,it is impossible to foresee the results that might ensue from the growth of moral opinion on such points as the state regulation of vice1 the just causes of war1 the restriction of the hours of labour1 the treatment of semi-civilized dependencies1 the true lines to be followed by education4 ,it is this tremendous potency of public opinion that points to the great need of modern democracy3 the education1 namely1 of feeling and character2 the cultivation of reverence and the faculty of admiration1 of self-control and sobriety in judgment and thought4 ,how far a merely intellectual training will produce this character can scarcely be a matter of controversy4 ,a vast field of inquiry and study is thus evidently open to economic moralists3 and it has been opportunely suggested that the effort to study1 'in the light of the revealed will of ,god1 the intricate problems of society1' might be a common bond between different sections of ,christendom1 and might promote that unity of ,god's ,church1 which is the true condition of effectual social reform#fjf4 iv4 ,in the ,church1 or moral community which embraces and leavens the state1 special points of duty arise3 e4g4 respecting the limits of the ,church's self-adaptation to the tendencies of the age1 and her relation to the anti-,christian principle in society4 ,hence arise difficult questions as to the true bases of ,toleration1 and of submission to the civil power4 ,we may be sure that principles of action and thought can be reached only by closer study of ,christ's words in relation to modern life#fjg1 as the practical instinct of the ,church has interpreted them4 ,a similar problem is raised by the advance of ,science and ,criticism4 ,christians are charged with being behind scientific men in their apprehension of 'the morals of assent#fjh4' ,whatever truth there is in such a reproach1 it at least utters a note of warning4 v4 ,once more1 if we consider the non-personal realm with which man is brought in contact1 we must face the problem of duties towards the lower animals4 ,we have seen that such duties have a ground in reason3 but their nature and extent are not well defined4 ,it is important to study our ,lord's attitude towards nature1 for which ,he uniformly exhibits1 especially in ,his parables and miracles1 such feeling and love4 ,the practice of vivisection1 for example1 raises a question as to the limits of the dominium naturae committed to man2 and his right to employ creaturely life as a means4 ,there is of course a practice of vivisection which is utterly immoral3 as when it is prompted by mere pleasure in experimenting1 or by idle curiosity2 or is carried on without strict intention and reasonable prospect of meeting a particular need4 ,within the limits of an essay it would be presumptuous to do more than raise such questions as the foregoing2 we perhaps best display a sense of their gravity by leaving them as suggestions for systematic discussion4 ,for it has been justly observed with regard to ethical problems that 'the actual solution is itself an art1 a gift which cannot be taught4' #eih ,sidgwick1 ,outlines1 etc41 p4 #ajh4 #eii ,these are perhaps implied in ,s4 ,luke iii4 #aj-ad4 #fjj ,cp4 ,mr4 ,cotter ,morison1 ,service of ,man1 p4 #bad4 #fja ,r4 ,w4 ,dale1 ,cont4 ,rev41 ,may1 #ahhi4 ,consider ,s4 ,luke xxiii4 #cd4 #fjb ,see ,dean ,church1 ,human ,life and its ,conditions1 ,serm4 ,,iii4 init4 #fjc ,see ,service of ,man1 pref4 xxv4 foll4 #fjd ,see ,ingram1 ,pres4 ,condition and ,prospects of ,pol4 ,economy1 p4 #ah3 ',by habitually regarding labour from the abstract point of view1 and overlooking the personality of the labourer1 economists are led to leave out of account some of the considerations which most seriously affect the condition of the working man1' etc4 ,cp4 ,carlyle1 ,past and ,present1 the last book4 #fje ,see the chapter with this title in ,t4 ,e4 ,brown1 ,studies in ,modern ,socialism and ,labour ,problems1 c4 xii4 #fjf ,see an ,article on ',christian ,union1' by ,earl ,nelson1 ,cont4 ,rev41 ,feb4 #ahhi4 #fjg ,see ,martensen1 ,ethics 7,ind471 #ic4 ,dean ,church1 ,gifts of ,civilization1 ,serm4 ,,ii4 #fjh ,mr4 ,huxley in ,nineteenth ,century for ,nov4 #ahhg4 ,,appendix ,,ii4 ,,on ,,the ,,christian ,,doctrine ,,of ,,sin#fji4 ',jesus did not commit ,himself unto them1 because ,he knew all men1 and needed not that any should testify of man3 for ,he knew what was in man4'--,s4 ,john ii4 #bd1 #be4 ',sin is lawlessness4'--#a ,s4 ,john iii4 #d4 ,r4,v4 ',he knew what was in man4' ,the words describe our ,lord in presence of a fact universally recognized--man's moral unsatisfactoriness4 ,he looks steadily at man's first offer of service1 at man's first enthusiasm1 when 'many believed in ,his name1' and ,he discerns behind it a disqualifying cause2 something which prevents ,him from trusting man as he is1 and from committing to him the great work of ,his kingdom4 ,he sees sin in man and all that sin involves of moral failure1 of refusal to endure1 of spiritual blindness1 of lawless self-assertion1 of passion1 of selfishness1 of self-will4 ,that there is in human nature this disqualifying taint of sin is1 we may say1 a fact universally recognized4 ,it is the fact which in slow embittering experience has turned philanthropists into cynics and saddened the wisest4 ,but to our ,lord it was a fact present from the first4 ',he needed not that any should testify of man4' ,he reckoned with sin to start with4 ,therefore ,he could not use mankind1 as it offered itself1 for ,his purposes4 ,it needed a fresh start1 a vital re-creation1 to fit it for such high ends4 ',except ye be converted and become as little children1 ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven4' ',except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of ,god4' ,christ recognizes the fact of sin4 ,all men more or less come to recognize it within them and without4 ,but yet there have been very different ways of explaining it4 ,for upon the surface it is tempting to interpret the struggle between good and evil1 as we know it so sadly well in our narrow experience1 as representing a universal conflict between opposite principles4 ,the world is a composite thing1 men have supposed1 the result of the antagonism of two ,principles1 two kingdoms1 two ,gods1 one good and the other evil2 or they have explained the world as representing the action of a good ,god upon an intractable material1 eternal as ,himself1 which limits ,his power and restrains ,his hand4 ,on either of these cognate theories#faj the soul of man is naturally represented as a creation of the good ,principle or a particle of it1 embedded in a vile body of material evil which clogs and hinders and impedes it1 which is the seat of lusts and passions1 defiling the purity of the spiritual element4 ,the spirit is good and the body is evil4 ,this is the theory upon which so much of ,oriental asceticism has proceeded4 ,the object of such asceticism is to liberate the pure spirit from the trammels of the corrupting and imprisoning body4 ,that is most spiritual which is least material4 ,purification is abstraction from the body4 ,the spirit is akin to ,god1 and will one day win its way up to be re-absorbed in ,god4 ,the body is material and evil1 the seat of sin1 and to be dealt with as such4 ,hence the remorseless persecution of the body which has been exhibited by the devotees of ,gnosticism or ,brahmanism--the denunciation of marriage1 of animal flesh and wine4 ,hence1 on the other hand1 the wild rebound into licentiousness which has sometimes characterized ,gnostic or ,manichaean sects4 ,for1 after all1 when asceticism has done its utmost we are still in the body4 ,if connection with the body is sin1 eating and drinking at all is as sinful as excess2 marriage the same as licence4 ,outward acts become indifferent--indifferently bad4 ,this principle explains the reaction from extreme mortification to extreme licence which characterizes ,orientalism4 ,once more1 in modern times1 from a different point of view1 materialism has again interpreted sin as an essential part of nature4 ,ignoring the distinction of what is moral and what is physical1 the materialistic ,positivism1 for instance1 of ,mr4 ,cotter ,morison represents goodness and badness in men as the simple product of natural forces like goodness and badness in fruits of the earth1 each class of good and bad men being essentially and inevitably what it shows itself to be4 ',nothing is gained1' he says1 'by disguising the fact that there is no remedy for a bad heart and no substitute for a good one#faa4' ,it is common to all the anti-,christian views of sin that at the last resort they make sin natural1 a part of nature4 ,it is characteristic of ,christ's view of sin--of the ,scriptural view of it--that it makes it unnatural4 ,it is characteristic1 again1 of the non-,christian view that it makes the body1 the material1 the seat of sin4 ,it is essential to the ,christian view to find its seat and only source in the will#fab4 ,take the vilest crime1 and ,christianity assures you that throughout the transaction1 as you may observe it1 there is nothing evil in the natural material which is employed1 there is only the lawless misuse of material which is in itself good4 ,the worst passions are but the disorderly exercise of feelings and faculties in themselves good and capable of redemption4 ,lust is only love uncontrolled by the will1 and1 therefore1 lawless4 ,take the lowest criminal1 and ,christianity assures you that1 however habituated all his nature to run to evil1 if you can once get his will--what ,scripture calls his 'heart'--set right and given to ,god1 that right direction of the will1 the heart1 will after long battle at last carry with it all the nature2 the forces of grace are set free to act when the obstacle of the will's rebellion or apathy is removed1 and 7though it takes ages beyond this mortal life7 at last the whole being will be purified1 and what began in the surrender of the will will take effect in the illumination of the intellect and the purifying of the affections4 ,thus it is that ,christianity can represent ,god as justifying the sinner in virtue of faith4 ,faith is the first movement of the will and heart by which the sinner1 from the far-off country of his exile1 seeks his true home1 from the depth of his sin1 claims ,christ as his own4 ,at this first movement ,god welcomes him4 ,he meets him with ,his acceptance4 ,he claims him as ,his true son1 because in that first movement of the moral being ,god sees the pledge of all that is to come4 ,he sees the forces let loose which will bring the final victory4 ,he deals with the sinner by a ,divine anticipation1 not as he is1 but as he is on the way to become#fac4 ',his faith is reckoned for righteousness4' ,let us dwell on the ,christian view of sin1 in its essence1 in its appeal1 in its practical justification1 in its anthropological results4 7#a7 ,in its essence4 ,it is expressed by ,s4 ,john1 ',sin is lawlessness3' 4 ,the two terms are coincident4 ,for ,god1 and ,god only1 made the world1 and there is no other ,creator1 no other creation4 ,he made it1 and pronounced it very good in its completeness4 ,the universe1 in all its sum of forces and existences1 is good1 and of ,god4 ,the very existence of anything is a pledge of its natural goodness4 ,it exists only because ,god created it and sustains it and dwells in it4 ,it must cease to exist1 ,s4 ,augustine tells us1 if it were simply evil#fad4 ,positive existence is always1 so far1 good4 ,what then is sin in men or in devils8 ,in one word1 lawlessness--the violation of nature1 the misuse of good by rebellion of the will4 ,physical decay1 death1 dissolution1 change1 these are of nature2 sin1 on the other hand1 is contrary to nature4 ,it is simply misuse1 disorder4 ,it has no positive substance4 ,a sinful man is not the man as ,god made him with something else introduced called sin4 ,he is simply the man as ,god made him1 disordered by ignoring ,god1 by claiming independence of ,god1 by lawlessness4 ,the same act may constitute either the sin of murder or the heroism of a soldier fighting in his country's defence2 either the sin of adultery or ,christian marriage1 because in the one case the act is done in accordance with the ,god-given law of our being2 in the other case in defiance of it4 ,the humanity of ,christ and the humanity of the greatest criminal are consubstantial the one with the other4 ,all that the criminal sins with belongs to ,christ's nature2 ,he has all the faculties that are used for sin4 ',he could sin if ,he could will to sin1' the ,fathers tell us1 'but ,god forbid that we should think of ,his willing it#fae4' ,what is disordered1 ungoverned in the criminal is in ,christ perfectly subordinated to a will1 itself controlled in loving harmony by the ,divine ,spirit4 ,if it sounds preposterous to say that the nature of the criminal is not of itself sinful1 to make the statement reasonable and true we have only to bear in mind the results of sin which have taken slow effect upon his nature in the sequence of generations of bad habit4 ,the body may have become so accustomed to sin1 so moulded to sin by forces within and without as to justify ,s4 ,paul calling it a 'body of sin#faf1' but only in the sense in which our ,lord calls money or mammon 'the mammon of unrighteousness#fag4' ,money1 our ,lord meant1 has become so accustomed1 so to speak1 to lend itself to the purposes of unrighteousness that it requires attention as alert1 wisdom as far-sighted1 as that of the unjust steward1 in the children of light1 to divert it again to its true uses4 ,the body in the same way has been so moulded to sin1 accustomed to sin1 that it requires the strong hand of an asceticism1 rightly motived1 to 'keep it under1' to lead it as a slave1 to wrest it to good uses4 ,it requires the cutting off of the right hand or the plucking out of the right eye--the disuse for a time1 that is1 by doing violence to oneself of what has become so misused1 so lawless4 ,the bow must be bent violently back1 if it is to be made straight4 ,but the end of all this ,christian asceticism is the restoration of our whole nature to its true law4 ,we mortify our bodies only to offer them at last a living sacrifice of rational service4 ,at last all the impulses and passions and parts of even the criminal nature shall be subjugated again to the law of the ,spirit4 ,christ shall purify the impure and harmonise the disorderly4 ,thus down the vista of an endless future ,christianity forces us to see the nature of the criminal1 if he will but turn ,godwards1 only reconstituted1 not substantially changed1 one with ,christ in glory4 ,this is the ,christian doctrine of sin1 the doctrine that ,athanasius and ,augustine and ,anselm1 the ,christian ,fathers as a whole1 repeat and reiterate2 that sin has no substance2 that there is no positively sinful nature2 that sin lies not in things1 but in our relation to things2 that the introduction of sin is simply the privation of order2 that moral recovery waits for nothing but the conversion of will#fah4 7#b7 ,this is the ,christian doctrine1 and its appeal is to moral experience4 ,looking at the world from the point of view of physical science1 it may appear as if goodness and badness were like good and bad fruit2 but to suppose this is to leave out of sight the whole witness of moral experience4 ,it was not ,christian belief but inextinguishable consciousness that made ,byron cry-- ',our life is a false nature--'tis not in ,the harmony of things4' ,or ,shelley3-- ',the universe ,in ,nature's silent eloquence declares ,that all fulfil the works of love and joy1 ,all but the outcast man#fai4' ,in proportion as the moral consciousness is keen and active1 in that proportion men know that sin is not nature1 but its violation2 that they are not what they are meant to be in sinning2 that sin has no analogy in the failures of nature1 because it is what they are not1 avoidable and morally wrong2 that it violates what they fulfil1 the law of the world4 ,natural failure is part of the world's fruitfulness4 ,the seeds that fail supply material for the seeds that grow4 ,moral failure--sin1 that is1 as distinguished from mere imperfection--is never fruitful4 ,sins are always the 'unfruitful works of darkness#fbj4' 7#c7 ,and the justification of this ,christian theory lies in its success4 ,the moral triumphs of the ,church depend upon it4 ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer constantly assures us that the fundamental postulates of human experience are assumptions or hypotheses at the bottom1 which are continuously verified and justified by the correspondence of the results reached4 ,that is true of the ,christian postulate of sin4 ,the hypothesis that sin is not nature1 but lack of will1 is verified by the victory which follows action upon it4 ',according to thy faith be it done to thee'--that is ,christ's challenge4 ,man after man sick of moral paralysis lies at ,christ's feet explaining why he cannot get up4 ',take up thy bed and walk1' ',according to thy faith be it unto thee1' is the word of ,christ4 ,claim for your own the morally best4 ,act on ,christ's promise as if it were true and you find it is4 ,this is faith--to act on what transcends experience1 to act on what you do not feel possible1 to act in faith on a promised strength1 and to find it really given only in the using4 ,faith involves the recognition of our own weakness1 the surrender of our own independence into the hands of ,god2 it gains as its reward the promised help2 it sets free the 'virtue which goes out' of ,christ4 ,reason can only analyse and rationalise what it already experiences4 ,faith can do what reason1 what understanding1 at any rate1 cannot do--it can yield life up to higher forces than it has yet known4 ,only when the forces have become in experience thoroughly familiar can they be subjected to the analysis of reason4 ,credo ut intelligam4 ,the justification of the ,christian view of sin as something which is not nature1 but failure or disorder of will--something therefore which faith1 that is the right direction and use of will1 can overcome1 or put in the way to be overcome--the justification of this view is1 ,i say1 to be found in experience4 ,act against sin1 in ,christ's name1 as if you had strength1 and you will find you have4 ,expect and you receive4 ,it finds its justification not in the recovery of our own lives only1 but in that of others4 ,the ,christian lifts others by believing in them4 ,he sees in each the subject of redemption4 ,behind heaps of sin1 ingrained habits of sin1 he sees a man's true self1 true nature1 as ,god made it and intended it to grow1 and to this he appeals4 ',according to thy faith be it unto thee' means not only ',you can be saved1 if you believe2' it means also ',you can save others'--save them by believing in them and in ,god1 save them1 not according to your own foolish desires1 but in accordance with ,god's intention for them1 with the original law of their being4 ,the best modern novel literature is full of this truth4 ,what are the moral recoveries of ,jean ,valjean in ,les ,miserables1 and of ,sidney ,carton in the ,tale of ,two ,cities1 and of the selfish old peer in the child story of the ,little ,lord ,fauntleroy1 but so many instances of the redemptive power of ,christian love because it 'believeth all things1 hopeth all things1' believes past belief1 hopes beyond hope4 ,the justification of the ,christian view of sin lies1 then1 in its success2 partly in the results it actually produces1 partly in the larger promise which it opens out beyond the horizon of what we see4 ',there is no remedy for a bad character and no substitute for a good one'--that is the only outcome of the physical view of sin4 ',according to thy faith1 be it unto thee'--that is the ,christian answer2 there is for thyself no limit to what thou mayest become1 on the lines1 that is to say1 not of thine own ambition1 but of ,god's purpose1 except what thou settest by thine own want of faith1 thine own failure of moral appetite2 there is in the case of others no limit to what thou mayest help them to become1 on the lines1 once again1 of their fundamental nature--except the limits of their faith and thine4 7#d7 ,this ,christian view of sin determines in part its whole anthropology4 ,what sin is in us1 and now1 and in recorded history1 sin is also in the whole of humanity4 ,sin actual is of a piece with sin historical1 with sin original4 ,each man does not start afresh4 ,he inherits the moral conditions from which his life starts4 ,i am aware that a modern school of biologists1 headed by ,professor ,weissmann1 is modifying the current doctrine of heredity so far as to deny that acquired character can be transmitted1 so far as to deny that the acts or habits of men can physically modify the organisation of their descendants4 ,it is not yet clear that this view1 in its extreme form1 is at all likely to gain acceptance4 ,but ,i suppose ,christianity can await the result with patience4 ,it may not be in any region to which scientific analysis or investigation can penetrate1 but at least in the inner region of man's personality ,christianity must maintain that the individual does not start afresh4 ,he starts the subject of sinful tendencies which he did not originate1 but which those who went before him did1 if not originate1 at least let loose from restraint1 and so make sinful4 ,sin is in the race as well as in the individual2 stayed more or less by moral effort and resistance here2 let loose by self-indulgence or luxury there3 in varying force and alterable sway therefore1 but everywhere more or less present1 everywhere making a man conscious not merely of imperfection1 but of inward taint1 everywhere needing re-creation1 recovery1 redemption4 ,and everywhere sin is of a piece4 ,my sins are only fresh specimens of what has been going on all along4 ,they work just the same result upon humanity as a whole as the sins of my predecessors1 as the first sin3 ,i am driven logically as well as theologically to extend my theory of sin and to generalise it beyond present experience4 ,sin1 not in the individual1 as ,i know him merely1 but in the whole of humanity from the first1 has been always rebellion1 not nature4 ,at the beginning of human life1 properly so called1 when first a being truly called a man woke up to consciousness of his relation to ,god1 to nature1 to himself1 he did not find sin part of his being2 he might have obeyed the movement of the ,spirit of ,god and realised his true sonship by keeping his animal nature under the control of the spirit3 so he would have fulfilled the law of his destined manhood4 ,sin at the origin of our human life1 as through all its history1 was treason to our higher capacity1 which made man the slave of the flesh4 ,the 'slave of the flesh1' because he was not meant to be an animal3 he was meant to be a spiritual being4 ,and it was the capacity for the higher life which turned to sin his choice of a lower2 which tinged it with the colour of 'remorse1' with the bitterness of 'self-contempt#fba4' ,as the essential ,christian doctrine of sin finds the guarantee of its permanence in the moral consciousness1 so it would not appear to involve any conflict with the disclosures of science4 ,yet it has been sufficiently distorted in statement for a conflict to have arisen4 ,and the points at issue are briefly three4 7a7 ,broadly1 it is said1 the ,christian religion represents man as starting in a state of perfection and gradually degrading4 ,science1 with all the evidences on its side1 represents man as starting in a state of savagery and gradually rising4 ,this is a most delusive antithesis4 ,it is certainly true that progress has not been uniform4 ,there is such a thing as moral deterioration4 ,a history of the progress of sin from will to intellect1 from intellect to heart1 till it penetrates the whole nature and plunges it into the lowest depths of denaturalisation represents what has been a fact both in the individual and in society4 ,such a record of one element in human experience ,s4 ,paul gives us in ,romans i#fbb4 ,its truth cannot be denied4 ,but so far is this from representing the ,christian view of human history as a whole that1 on the contrary1 the ,scriptures stand alone among ancient literatures in presenting the idea of gradual progress1 gradual education1 movement onwards to a climax4 ,the ,bible is the book of development4 ',god ,who in many parts and many manners spoke of old time 444 hath in the end of these days spoken by ,his ,son2' and still we move on in the realisation and appropriation of all that is revealed and given in ,christ 'till we all come 444 unto the perfect man4' ,nor is it the least true to say that this development is only the attempt to regain the platform on which man was first placed4 ,the idea of the first man as a being of developed intellectual and spiritual capacity1 perfect in all the range of his faculties--the idea which would admit of our saying with ,robert ,south that 'an ,aristotle was but the rubbish of an ,adam1 and ,athens but the rudiments of ,paradise'--may be1 indeed has been1 found in theologians1 it may have passed into the imagination of the ,english nation as part of the debt1 theologically very largely a debt of evil1 which we owe to the great poem of ,milton2 but it is not ,scriptural1 it is not ,christian theology at its best#fbc4 ,all the fabric of civilisation the ,bible represents as being gradually built up1 whether by ,jabal1 'who was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle1' or by ,jubal1 'who was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ1' or by ,tubal ,cain1 'who was the instructor of every artificer of brass and iron4' ,there is no impression given us that any of the arts or the knowledge of civilisation existed before4 ,all that we are led to believe is that the historical development of man has not been the development simply as ,god meant it4 ,it has been tainted through its whole fabric by an element of moral disorder1 of human wilfulness4 ,we cannot draw a picture of how human nature was intended to fight the battle of progress4 ,we cannot relate the state of the savage to the intention of ,god1 any more than we can relate the present state of our great cities to that intention#fbd4 ,all we can say is that the state of things as they were in days of savagery1 or as they are in days of civilisation1 represents a parody of the ,divine intention for the childhood and manhood of the race4 ,man was made to grow by gradual effort in range and exercise of every faculty of his being4 ,but all this gradual growth might have been conditioned by a conscious fellowship with ,god1 which would have introduced into it an element of nobility and stability which in fact it has lacked4 ,for the historical development of man has been a development with ,god only too often left out1 the development under conditions of merely physical laws of a being meant to be spiritual#fbe4 7b7 ',but no1' the biologist rejoins2 'you will not get off thus easily4 ,christianity regards even so absolutely natural a fact as death1 a fact so inextricably interwoven into the structural growth of the world1 as a mere consequence of sin4 ,christianity is refuted by every evidence of death being a law of physical nature4' ,so far from this being true1 it is the case that the early ,christian writers1 ,s4 ,augustine as well as ,s4 ,athanasius1 emphasise the truth that death is the law of physical nature2 that when man died he was undergoing what belonged to his animal nature4 ',paul1' says ,augustine1 'describes man's body as dead1 not as mortal1 because of sin4 ,mortal it was by nature1 because1 as being animal1 it was subject to death#fbf4' ,in being left to death1 ,athanasius teaches1 man was only left to the law of his physical being#fbg4 ,what1 in fact1 the ,christian teachers hold is not that death1 but death as it has been known among men1 is the penalty of sin1 because man's spiritual or supernatural life would have blunted the forces of corruption and lifted him into a higher immortal state4 ,man would not have died because he would have been spiritual rather than animal4 ,and even here1 if we are asked what this means1 we must hesitate in our answer4 ,if sin is said to have brought human death1 ,christ is said to have abolished it4 ',this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die4' ',if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever4' ',whosoever liveth and believeth on ,me shall never die4' ',christ ,jesus 444 abolished death4' ,sin1 we may suppose1 only introduced death in the sense in which ,christ abolished it#fbh4 ,christ has not abolished the physical transition1 but it ceases to be what death implies3-- ',henceforth is death ,but the gate of life immortal4' ,death as it has borne upon sinful man has been the sad ending of hopes1 the rending of his heart-strings1 the collapse of his plans1 the overshadowing fear1 the horrible gulf1 the black destruction4 ,in all that makes it death1 it has been the result of sin1 of the misdirection of his aims and hopes4 ,had man not sinned there might1 indeed1 have been a passage from one state to another1 a physical dissolution1 a moral victory--but it would not have been what men have known as 'death4' ,if this be the right way of regarding the matter1 as it is certainly permissible1 we shall be able to echo in all its breadth ,athanasius's teaching1 that sin did not directly alter things1 but only our attitude towards them#fbi4 7c7 ,but1 once again1 and for the last time1 the opponent objects3 ',all this theory of original sin is built simply on the supposition that the early chapters of ,genesis represent literal history4 ,it falls to the ground if they are myth and not history4' ,once again1 this is not at all the case4 ,the ,christian doctrine of sin finds its chief authorisation in ,christ's attitude towards it4 ,sin 7if ,christ's witness is true7 is not nature2 it does not represent ,god's intention1 but something that has baffled for a time ,god's intention1 something that ,christ is come to conquer4 ,moreover1 this doctrine of sin is not a mere dogma enunciated on external authority2 it finds its verification in experience4 ,the moral experience of ,christendom confirms it1 and this experience of eighteen centuries reflects itself inevitably on the whole of human life4 ,what interprets sin within this area interprets it through the whole history4 ,with this authority of ,christ1 verified in the ,christian experience1 as his firm foundation1 the ,christian does not hesitate to see in the early chapters of ,genesis the action of the inspiring ,spirit4 ,it was only the inspiring ,spirit ,which could assure man that the whole universe was of ,god's making and very good1 that the state in which he found himself represented not his nature1 as ,god meant it to be1 but the result of his rebellion1 the result1 moreover1 which ,god meant to counter-work1 nay1 which in gradual process ,he was counter-working4 ,in all the account then of the creation1 of the nature of man1 of the origin of sin1 the ,christian sees an action of the inspiring ,spirit4 ,he sees it all the more when he compares the record of ,genesis with those which are parallel to it in other races4 ,but if an ,irenaeus1 a ,clement1 an ,athanasius1 an ,anselm could treat the record or part of it as rather allegorical than historical1 we can use the same liberty4 ,this is not our present subject4 ,all ,i want to make clear is that the ,christian doctrine of sin rests on a far broader and far surer foundation than the belief that the early chapters of ,genesis belong to one form or stage of inspired literature rather than to another4 ,it rests on the strong foundation of the authority of our ,lord1 accepted and verified by man's moral consciousness4 #fji ,a sermon preached before the ,university of ,cambridge1 at ,great ,st4 ,mary's ,church1 on ,sunday1 ,march #ag1 #ahhi1 by the ,rev4 ,charles ,gore1 and printed in the ,guardian1 ,march #bg4 ,a paragraph of practical exhortation is omitted at the end4 ,some apology is no doubt needed for the introduction of a ,sermon into a volume of ,essays4 ,but it was felt 7#a7 that there was under the circumstances an advantage in producing what was not written in view of the criticisms on ,lux ,mundi2 7#b7 that the sermon was not specially homiletic4 #faj ,the first is that of the ,manichaeans and some ,gnostics4 ,the second that of the ,platonists and other ,gnostics4 ,but both the theories represent tendencies very commonly at work both among ,orientals and in ,europe4 ,recently ,john ,stuart ,mill was disposed to embrace the latter theory3 see ,three ,essays on ,religion1 #crd edition1 ,london1 #ahgd1 pp4 #eh1 #bdc4 #faa ,the ,service of ,man1 ,london1 #ahhg1 p4 #bie4 ,cf4 p4 #bic1 ',it will perhaps be said that this view does away with moral responsibility4444 ,to which the answer is1 that the sooner the idea of moral responsibility is got rid of1 the better it will be for society and moral education4' #fab ,see1 for instance1 ,tertullian1 de paenit4 #c2 ,anselm1 ,cur ,deus ,homo1 i4 #aa4 #fac ,augustine1 de ,trin4 i4 #aj4 #ba4 #fad ,aug4 de mor4 ,man4 ii4 #c1 ',ut ab essentia deficiant et ad non esse tendant8 quod malum generale esse clamat verissima ratio4' ,op4 imp4 c4 ,jul4 i4 #aad1 ',non enim potest esse ullum malum nisi in aliquo bono2 quia non potest esse nisi in aliqua natura2 omnis autem natura1 in quantum natura est1 bonum est4' #fae ,for references1 see p4 #bij1 note4 #faf ,rom4 v4 #f3 see ,godet's ,commentary in loc4 ,clark's ,foreign ,theol4 ,libr4 i4 p4 #daf2 and cf4 ,col4 ii4 #aa1 4 #fag ,s4 ,luke xvi4 #i4 #fah ,see ,origen1 ,c4 ,cels4 iv4 #fe-ff2 ,athan4 ,c4 ,gentes1 #f-g2 and cf4 the index to ,s4 ,augustine s4 v4 malum4 ,so far1 however1 as each individual identifies himself with sin1 it becomes 'his nature'3 a false nature1 obscuring the true1 but never annihilating it2 cf4 ,tertullian1 de ,an4 #da1 ',naturae corruptio alia natura est1' etc42 and ,bernard1 in ,cant4 ,serm4 #hb4 #b1--;admirable passages4 #fai ,see in ,mozley1 ,lectures1 etc41 x4 p4 #aei4 #fbj ,cf4 in explanation of this1 the ,preface1 p4 xviii4 #fba ,there is a fundamental mistake in the popular excuse for sensual sin--that it is 'natural4' ,the mistake lies in the idea that man's animal and spiritual natures are separable1 that he can live as pure animal in one part of his life1 and pure spirit in another4 ,but as a fact man's life is only lived 'according to nature1' where every part of it is lived 'in flesh and in spirit'3 the spiritual motive must control the bodily organ4 ,only so are his acts really human4 ,if he tries to act as a mere animal he becomes sinful4 ,the evidence of this lies in the fact that while the physical nature of animals contains within itself the check on sensual indulgence1 the check in man's case lies in his spiritual faculties4 ,you can have a 'dissipated' man1 i4e4 a man whose bodily impulses are uncontrolled by will or spirit2 you cannot have a 'dissipated' animal4 #fbb ,it is not intended as a complete account1 cf4 ,rom4 ii4 #ad-ae4 #fbc ,in answer to the question whether ,adam was formed perfect or imperfect 1 ,clement replies3 ',they shall learn from us that he was not perfect i4e4 complete in development1 in respect of his creation1 but in a fit condition to receive virtue4' ,clem4 ,alex4 ,strom4 vi4 #ab4 #if4 ,cp4 ,iren4 c4 haer4 iv4 #ch4 #fbd ,but we can recognize that before civilisation had developed the checks which society supplies against abrupt deterioration1 collapse into savagery would have been much more rapid than it can be in a more developed state4 #fbe ,cf4 ,aubrey ,moore's ,evolution and ,christianity 7,oxford ,house ,papers71 pp4 #cb-c4 ',the change which took place at the ,fall was a change in the moral region2 but it could not be without its effect elsewhere4 ,even the knowledge of nature becomes confused1 without the governing truth of the relation of man to ,god4 ,the evolution which should have been the harmonious development of the whole man1 is checked and impeded in one part1 and that the highest part of his nature4 ,and therefore1 in spite of all the physical and intellectual advance which man has made1 he is always and everywhere the worse for the ,fall4 ,however great his development has been1 it is still a retarded development1 a development slower than it need have been1 less regular and less sure than ,god meant it to be4' #fbf ,aug4 ,de gen4 ad litt4 vi4 #cf1 ',mortalis erat conditione corporis animalis4' #fbg ,athan4 de ,incarn4 #d4 #fbh ,cf4 ,westcott's ,ep4 to the ,hebrews1 p4 #ed 7on ,hebr4 ii4 #af74 #fbi ,athan4 ,c4 ,gentes #g2 cf4 ,aug4 on ,gen4 iii4 #ah 7,de ,gen4 ad litt4 iii4 #ah1 #bh71 where it is said that it is difficult to suppose that 'thorns and thistles' were first produced on the occasion of sin3 but we may understand that they then first began to be obstacles to man in the cultivation of the ground3 'spinas et tribulos pariet tibi4'