,the ,kernel and the ,husk ,,the ,,kernel ,,and ,,the ,,husk ,letters on ,spiritual ,christianity ,,by ,,edwin ,a4 ,,abbott ,,the ,,author ,,of 8,,philochristus0 ,,and 8,,onesimus0 ,london3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co4 #ahhf ,the ,right of ,translation and ,reproduction is ,reserved4 ,,to ,,the ,,doubters ,,of ,,this ,,generation ,,and ,,the ,,believers ,,of ,,the ,,next ,,to ,,the ,,reader ,the time is not perhaps far distant when few will believe in miracles who do not also believe in an infallible ,church2 and then1 such books as the present will appeal to a larger circle4 ,but1 as things are1 the author would beg all those who worship a miraculous ,christ without doubt and difficulty to pause here and read no further4 ,the book is not intended for them2 it is intended for those alone to whom it is dedicated1 8the doubters of this generation40 ,for there are some who feel drawn towards the worship of ,christ by love and reverence1 yet repelled by an apparently inextricable connection of the story of ,christ with a miraculous element which1 in their minds1 throws a doubt over the whole of ,his acts1 ,his doctrine1 ,his character1 and even ,his existence4 ,others1 who worship ,christ1 worship ,him insecurely and tremulously4 ,they assume that their faith must rest on the basis of the ,bible miracles2 and at times they cannot quite suppress a thrill of doubt and terror lest some horrible discovery of fresh truth1 resulting in the destruction of the miraculous element of the ,bible1 may impair their right to regard ,christ as 8anything better than a mere man40 ,it is to these two classes--the would-be worshippers and the doubtful worshippers of ,christ--that the following ,letters are addressed by one who has for many years found peace and salvation in the worship of a non miraculous ,christ4 ,not very long ago1 but some years after the publication of a work called ,philochristus1 the author received a letter from a stranger and fellow-clergyman1 asking him whether he could spare half an hour to visit him on his death-bed1 8dying of a disease0--so ran the letter 8which will be fatal within some uncertain weeks 7possibly however days1 possibly months74 ,no pains just now1 head clear1 voice sound4 ,and mind at peace1 but the peace of reverent agnosticism44444 ,now ,i have read and appreciated ,philochristus4 ,it would comfort my short remainder of life if you would come and look me dying in the face and say1 #8,this theology and ,christology of mine is not merely literary3 ,i feel with joy of heart that ,god is not unknown to man3 try even now to feel with me4'0 ,of what passed at the subsequent interview nothing must be said except that the dying man 7whose anticipations of death were speedily verified7 expressed the conviction that one reason why he had fallen into that abyss of agnosticism--for an abyss he then felt it to be--was that he had been 8taught to believe too much when young20 and he urged and almost besought that something might be done soon to 8give young men a religion that would wear40 ,these words were not to be forgotten2 they recurred again and again to the author with the force of a command4 ,the present work is an attempt to carry them into effect1 an attempt1 by one who has passed through doubts into conviction1 to look the doubting reader in the face and say1 8,this theology and ,christology of mine is not merely literary4 ,i feel with joy of heart that ,god is not unknown to man4 ,try even now to feel with me40 ,the author does not profess to clear ,christianity from all 8difficulties40 ,if a revelation is to enlarge our conceptions of ,god1 it must involve some spiritual effort on our part to receive the larger truth2 if it claims to be historical1 it may well impose on some of its adherents the labour needed for the judgment of historical evidence2 if it prompts1 without enforcing1 obedience1 it must excite in all some questionings as to the causes which led the ,revealer not to make ,his revelation irresistibly convincing4 ,even the explanations of the mysterious phenomena of motion1 light1 and chemistry1 involve 8difficulties0 in the acceptance of still more mysterious ,laws which we cannot at present explain4 ,nevertheless we all feel that we understand astronomy better in the light of the ,law of gravitation3 and in the same way some may feel that ,christianity becomes more spiritual1 as well as more clear1 when it becomes more natural2 and that many of its so-called 8difficulties0 fade or vanish1 when what may be called its celestial and its terrestrial phenomena are found to rest upon similar principles4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,letter ,page #a ,introductory #a #b ,personal #e #c ,knowledge #bj #d ,ideals #bi #e ,ideals and ,tests #dj #f ,imagination and ,reason #dg #g ,the ,culture of ,faith #ei #h ,faith and ,demonstration #gb #i ,satan and ,evolution #hj #aj ,illusions #ig #aa ,what is ,worship8 #aaa #ab ,the ,worship of ,christ #abe #ac ,what is 8,nature08 #acd #ad ,the ,miracles of the ,old ,testament #adb #ae ,the ,miracles of the ,new ,testament #aeh #af ,the ,growth of the ,gospels #agj #ag ,christian ,illusions #ahe #ah ,are the ,miracles inseparable from #bja the ,life of ,christ8 #ai ,the ,feeding of the ,four ,thousand and #bab the ,five ,thousand #bj ,the ,manifestation of ,christ to ,st4 #bbe ,paul #ba ,the ,development of ,imagination and #bcc its bearing on the ,revelation of ,christ's ,resurrection #bb ,christ's ,resurrection regarded #bdj naturally #bc ,faith in the spiritual ,resurrection #bdf is better than so-called knowledge of the material ,resurrection #bd ,what is a ,spirit8 #beh #be ,the ,incarnation #bfg #bf ,prayer1 ,heaven1 ,hell #bha #bg ,pauline ,theology #bih #bh ,objections #caj #bi ,can ,natural ,christianity commend #cbj itself to the masses8 ,,appendix #cj ,can a believer in ,natural #cci ,christianity be a ,minister in the ,church of ,england8 #ca ,what the ,bishops might do #ced ,,definitions #cfi ,i ,,introductory ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i am more pained than surprised to infer from your last letter that your faith has received a severe shock4 ,a single term at the ,university has sufficed to make you doubt whether you retain a belief in miracles2 and 8,if miracles fall1 the ,bible falls2 and with the fall of the ,bible ,i lose ,christ2 and if ,i must regard ,christ as a fanatic1 ,i do not see how ,i can believe in a ,god who suffered such a one as ,christ thus to be deceived and to deceive others40 ,such appear to be the thoughts that are passing through your mind1 as ,i infer them from incidental and indirect expressions rather than from any definite statement4 ,unfortunately ,i understand all this too well not to be able to follow with ease such phases of disbelief even when conveyed in hints4 ,many young men begin by being taught to believe too much1 a great deal too much4 ,then1 when they find they must give up something1 7the husk of the kernel7 their teachers too often bid them swallow husk and all1 on pain of swallowing nothing3 and they prefer to swallow nothing4 ,an instance of this at once occurs to me4 ,many years ago1 a young man who wished to be ordained1 asked me to read the ,old ,testament with him4 ,we set to work at once and read some miraculous history--,i forget precisely what--in which ,i thought my young friend must needs see a difficulty4 ,so ,i began to point out how the difficulty might be at least diminished by critical considerations4 ,i say 8,i began03 for ,i stopped as soon as ,i had begun1 finding that my friend saw no difficulty at all4 ,he accepted every miracle on every page of the ,old and ,new ,testament on the authority of the ,bible2 just as a ,roman ,catholic accepts every ecclesiastical doctrine on the authority of the ,church4 ,this seemed to me not a state of mind that ,i ought to interfere with3 ,i might do more harm than good4 ,so ,i stopped4 ,but ,i have since regretted it4 ,circumstances prevented me from meeting my friend for some weeks4 ,during that time he had fallen in with companions of negative views1 against which he had no power to maintain his position3 and he had passed from believing everything to believing nothing4 ,that is only too easy a transition2 but ,i hope you will never experience it4 ,surely there is a medium between swallowing the husk1 and throwing the nut away4 ,is it not possible to throw away the husk and keep the kernel8 ,now ,i have no right 7and therefore ,i try to feel no wish7 to extract from you a confidence that you do not care to repose in me4 ,i have never tried to shake any one's faith in miracles4 ,there may come--,i think there will soon come--a time when a belief in miracles will be found so incompatible with the reverence which we ought to feel for the ,supreme ,order as almost to necessitate superstition1 and to encourage immorality in the holder of the belief3 and then it might be necessary to express one's condemnation of miracles plainly and even aggressively4 ,but that time has not come yet3 and for most people1 at present1 an acceptance of miracles seems1 and perhaps is1 a necessary basis for their acceptance of ,christ4 ,in such minds ,i would no more wish to disturb the belief in miracles than ,i would shake a little child's faith that his father is perfectly good and wise4 ,but when a man says1 8the miracles of ,christ are inextricably connected with the life of ,christ2 ,i am forced to reject the former1 and therefore ,i must also reject the latter0--then ,i feel moved to shew him that there is no such inextricable connection1 and that ,christ will remain for us a necessary object of worship1 even if we detach the miracles from the ,gospels4 ,now ,i cannot do this without shewing that the miraculous accounts stand on a lower level than the rest of the ,gospel narrative1 and that they may have been easily introduced into the ,gospels without any sufficient basis of fact1 and yet without any intention to deceive2 so that the discrediting of the miracles will not discredit their non-miraculous context4 ,in doing this1 ,i might possibly destroy any lingering vestige of belief which you may still have in the miraculous2 and this ,i am most unwilling to do1 if you find miracles a necessary foundation of ,christian faith4 ,i do not therefore quite know as yet how ,i ought to try to help you1 except by saying that ,i have myself passed through the same valley of doubt through which you are passing now1 and that ,i have reached a faith in ,christ which is quite independent of any belief in the miraculous1 and which enables me not only to trust in ,him1 but also to worship ,him4 ,this new faith appears to me purer1 nobler1 and happier1 as well as safer1 than the old3 but ,i do not feel sure that it is attainable 7in the present condition of thought7 without more unprejudiced reflection and study than most people are willing to devote to subjects of this kind4 ,and to give up the old faith1 without attaining the new1 would be a terrible disaster4 ,hence ,i am in doubt1 not about what is best1 but about what may be best for you4 ,do not at all events assume--so much ,i can safely say--that you must give up your faith in ,christ1 if you are obliged to give up your belief in miracles4 ,at the very least1 wait a while2 stand on the old paths2 keep up the old habits1 above all1 the habit of prayer2 pause and look round you a little before taking the next step4 ,i do not say1 though ,i am inclined to say1 8avoid for the present all discussions with people of negative views10 because ,i fear my advice1 though really prudent1 would seem to you cowardly3 but ,i do unhesitatingly say1 8avoid all frivolous talk1 and light1 airy1 epigrammatic conversations on religious subjects40 ,you cannot hope to retain or regain faith if you throw away the habit of reverence4 ,with this advice1 farewell for the present4 ,,ii ,,personal ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you tell me that you fear your faith is far too roughly shaken to suffer now from anything that may be said against miracles3 you are utterly convinced that they are false4 ,as for the possibility of worshipping a non-miraculous ,christ1 8the very notion of it10 you say1 8is inconceivable3 it seems like a new religion1 and must surely be no more than a very transient phase of thought40 ,but you would 8very much like to know what processes of reasoning led to such a state of mind10 and how long ,i have retained it4 ,i think ,i am hardly doing you an injustice in inferring from some other expressions in your letter1 about 8the difficulty which clergymen must necessarily feel in putting themselves into the mental position of the laity10 that you entertain some degree of prejudice against my views1 not only because they appear to you novel1 but because--although you hardly like to say so--they come from a clerical source1 and are likely to savour of clericalism4 ,let me see if ,i can put your thoughts into the plain words from which your own modesty and sense of propriety have caused you to refrain4 8,a clergyman10 you say to yourself1 8has enlisted2 he has deliberately taken a side and is bound to fight for it4 ,after twenty years of seeing one side of a question1 or only so much of the other side as is convenient to see1 how can even a candid1 middle-aged cleric see two sides impartially8 ,all his interests combine with all his sympathies to make him at least in some sense orthodox4 ,the desire of social esteem1 the hope of preferment1 loyalty to the ,church1 loyalty to ,christ ,himself1 make him falsely true to that narrow form of truth which he has bound himself to serve4 ,even if truth and irresistible conviction force him to deviate a little from the beaten road of orthodoxy1 he will find his way back by some circuitous by-path2 and of this kind of self-persuasion ,i have a remarkable instance in the person of my old friend1 who rejects miracles and yet persuades himself that he worships ,christ4 ,he has cut away his foundations and now proceeds to substitute an aerial basis upon which the old superstructure is to remain as before4 ,such a novel condition of mind as this can only be a very transient phase40 ,i do not complain of this prejudice against novelty1 although it comes ungraciously from one who is himself verging on advanced and novel views4 ,it is good that new opinions should be suspiciously scrutinized and passed through the quarantine of prejudice4 ,and when a man feels 7as ,i do7 that he has at last attained a profound spiritual truth which will1 in all probability1 be generally accepted by educated ,christians who are not ,roman ,catholics1 before the twentieth century is far advanced1 he can well afford to be patient of prejudice4 ,even though the truth be not accepted now1 it is pretty sure to be restated by others with more skill and cogency1 and perhaps at a fitter season1 and to gain acceptance in due time4 ,but when you speak of my opinions as a 8transient phase10 which ,i am likely soon to give up1 and when you shew a manifest suspicion that any modicum of orthodoxy in me must needs be the result of a clerical bias1 then ,i hardly see how to reply except by giving you a detailed answer to your question about 8the processes0 by which ,i was led to 8such a novel condition of mind40 ,yet how to do this without being somewhat egotistically autobiographical ,i do not know4 ,some good may come of egotism perhaps1 if it leads you to see that even a clergyman may think for himself1 and work out a religious problem without regard to consequences4 ,so on the whole ,i think ,i will risk egotism for your sake4 ,a few paragraphs of autobiography may serve as a summary of the argument which ,i might draw out more fully in future letters4 ,if ,i am tedious1 lay the blame on yourself and on your insinuation that my views must be 8a transient phase40 ,a man who is getting on towards his fiftieth year and has retained a form--a novel form if you please--of religious conviction for a full third of his life may surely claim that his views--so far at least as he himself is concerned--are not to be called 8transient40 ,prepare then for my ,apologia4 ,during my childhood ,i was very much left to myself in the matter of religion1 and may be almost said to have picked it up in a library4 ,i was never made to learn the ,creed by heart1 nor the ,catechism1 nor even the ,ten ,commandments2 and to this day ,i can recollect being reproached by a class-master when ,i was nearly fourteen years old1 for not knowing which was the ,fifth ,commandment4 ,all that ,i could plead in answer was1 that if he would tell me what it was about1 ,i could give him the substance of the precept4 ,having read through nearly the whole of ,adam ,clarke's commentary as a boy of ten or eleven1 and having subsequently imbued myself with books of ,evangelical doctrine1 ,i was perfectly 8up10 or thought ,i was1 in the ,pauline scheme of salvation1 and felt a most lively interest--on ,sundays1 and in dull moments on week days1 and especially in times of illness1 of which ,i had plenty--in the salvation of my own soul4 ,my religion served largely to intensify my natural selfishness4 ,in better and healthier moments1 my conscience revolted against it2 and at times ,i felt that the morality of ,plutarch's ,lives was better than that of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles--as ,i interpreted them4 ,only to one point in the theology of my youthful days can ,i now look back with pleasure2 and that is to my treatment of the doctrine of ,predestinarianism and necessity4 ,on this matter ,i argued as follows3 8,if ,god knows all things beforehand1 ,god has them1 or may have them1 written down in a book2 and if all things that are going to happen are already written down in a book1 it's of no use our trying to alter them4 ,so1 if it's predestined that ,i shall have my dinner to-day1 ,i shall certainly have it1 even if ,i don't come home in time1 or even though ,i lock myself up in my bedroom4 ,but practically1 if ,i don't come home in time1 ,i know ,i shall not have my dinner4 ,therefore it's no use talking about these things in this sort of way1 because it doesn't answer2 and ,i shall not bother myself any more about ,predestination1 but act as thought it did not exist40#a ,this argument1 if it can be called an argument1 ,i afterwards found sheltering itself under the high authority of ,butler's ,analogy2 and ,i still adhere to it1 after an experience of more than five and thirty years4 ,to some1 this 8,short ,way with ,predestinarians0 may seem highly illogical2 but it works4 ,up to this time ,i had been little1 if at all1 impressed by preaching4 ,our old ,rector was a good ,greek scholar and a gentleman2 but he had a difficulty in making his thoughts intelligible to any but a refined minority among the congregation2 and even that select few was made fewer1 partly by an awkwardness of gesture which reminded one of ,dominie ,sampson1 and partly by a grievous impediment in his speech4 ,consequently ,i had been permitted1 and indeed encouraged1 never to listen1 nor even to appear to listen1 to the weekly sermon2 and as soon as the ,rector gave out his text1 ,i used to take up my ,bible and read steadily away till the sermon was over4 ,this sort of thing went on till ,i was about sixteen years old2 when a new ,rector came to preach his first sermon4 ,that was a remarkable ,sunday for me4 ,to my surprise1 when he read out his text1 and ,i1 in accordance with unbroken precedent1 reached out my hand for the invariable ,bible1 my father1 somewhat abruptly1 took it out of my hand1 bidding me 8for once shut up that book and listen to a sermon40 ,i can still remember the resentment ,i felt at this infringement on my theological and constitutional rights1 and how ,i stiffened my neck and hardened my heart and determined 8hearing to hear1 but not to understand40 ,but ,i was compelled to understand4 ,for here1 to my astonishment1 was an entirely new religion4 ,this man's ,christianity was not a 8scheme of salvation02 it was a faith in a great ,leader1 human yet divine1 who was leading the armies of ,god against the armies of ,evil2 8,each for himself is the ,devil's own watchword3 but with us it must be each for ,christ1 and each for all40 ,the scales fell from my eyes4 ,after all1 then1 ,christianity was not less noble than ,plutarch's lives2 it was more noble4 ,there was to be a contest2 yet not each man contending for his own soul1 but for good against evil4 ,a ,christian was not a mercenary fighting for reward1 nor a slave fighting for fear of stripes1 but a free soldier fighting out of loyalty to ,christ and to humanity4 ,but what about the doctrine of the ,atonement1 ,justification by ,faith1 and the other ,pauline doctrines8 ,about these our new ,rector did not say much that ,i could understand4 ,he was a foremost pupil of ,mr4 ,maurice1 and in ,mr4 ,maurice's books 7which now began to be read freely in my home7 ,i began to search for light on these questions4 ,but help ,i found none or very little1 except in one book4 ,mr4 ,maurice seemed to me1 and still seems1 a very obscure writer4 ,partly owing to a habit of taking things for granted and 8thinking underground10 partly 7and much more7 owing to a confusing use of pronouns for nouns and other mere mechanical defects of style1 he requires very careful reading4 ,but his book on ,sacrifice1 after ,i had three times read it through1 gave me more intellectual help than perhaps any other book on ,christian doctrine2 for here first ,i learned to look below the surface of a rite at its inner meaning1 and also to discern the possibility of illustrating that inner meaning by the phenomena of daily life4 ,it was certainly a revelation to me to know that the sacrifice of a lamb by a human offerer was nothing1 except so far as it meant the sacrifice of a human life1 and that the sacrifice of a life meant no more 7but also no less7 than conforming one's life to ,god's will1 doing 7and not saying merely7 8,thy will1 not mine1 be done40 ,if one theological process could be illustrated in this way1 why not another8 ,if 8sacrifice0 was going on before my eyes every day1 why might there not be also justification by faith1 imputation of righteousness1 remission of sins1 yes1 even atonement itself8 ,thus there was sown in my mind the seed of the notion that all the ,pauline doctrines might be natural1 and that ,redemption through ,christ was only a colossal form of that kind of redemption which was going on around me1 ,redemption through ,nature4 ,this thought was greatly stimulated by the study of ,in ,memoriam1 which was given to me by a college friend about the time when ,i lost a brother and a sister1 both dying within a few weeks of one another4 ,i read the poem again and again1 and committed much of it to memory2 and it exerted an 8epoch-making0 influence on my life4 ,however1 for a long time this notion of the naturalness of ,redemption existed for me merely in the germ4 ,meantime1 as to the miracles ,i had no doubts at all1 or only such transient doubts as were suggested by pictures of ,holy ,families and other sacred subjects1 which exhibited ,christ as essentially non-human1 with a halo around his head1 or as an infant with three outstretched fingers blessing his kneeling mother4 ,as a youth1 ,i took it for granted that ,god could not become man save by a miracle1 and therefore that the ,god-man must work miracles4 ,further1 ,i assumed that ,moses and some of the prophets had worked miracles1 and if so1 how could it be that the ,servants should work miracles and the ,son should not8 ,as ,i grew towards manhood1 such rising qualms of doubt as ,i felt on this point were stilled by the suggestion 7which ,i found in ,trench's book on miracles7 that the miracles of ,christ must be in accordance with some latent law of spiritual nature4 ,it was a little strange certainly that these latent laws should be utilised only for the children of ,abraham1 and it was inconvenient that the miracles of ,moses should be1 materially speaking1 so stupendously superior to those of ,christ2 but ,i took refuge in the greater beauty and emblematic meaning of the latter4 ,even at the time when ,i signed the ,thirty-nine ,articles ,i had no suspicion that the miracles were not historical4 ,partly1 ,i had never critically and systematically studied the ,gospels as one studies ,thucydides or schylus2 partly the miracles had always been kept in the background by my ,rector and the books of the ,broad ,church ,school1 and ,i had been accustomed to rest my faith on ,christ ,himself and not on the miracles2 and so it came to pass that1 for some time after ,i was ordained1 ,i was quite content to accept all the miracles of the ,old and ,new ,testaments1 and to be content with the explanation suggested by 8latent laws40 ,but now that ,i was ordained1 ,i set to work in earnest 7the stress of working for a degree and the need of earning one's living had left no time for it before7 at the study of the ,new ,testament4 ,of course ,i had 8got it up0 before1 often enough1 for the purpose of passing examinations2 but now ,i began to study it for its own sake and at leisure4 ,while reading for the ,theological ,tripos ,i had been struck by the inadequacy of many of the theological books that ,i had had to 8get up40 ,especially on the first three ,gospels--looking at them critically1 as ,i had been accustomed to look at ,greek and ,latin books--,i was amazed to find that little or nothing had been done by ,english scholars to compare the different styles and analyse the narratives into their component parts4 ,for such a task ,i had myself received some little preparation4 ,i had picked up my classics without very much assistance from the ordinary means1 mainly by voluntarily committing to memory whole books or long continuous passages of the best authors1 and so imbuing myself with them as to 8get into the swing of the author40 ,i had early begun to tabulate these differences of style2 and in my final and most important ,university examination ,i remember sending up more than one piece of composition rendered in two styles4 ,though ,i was never a first-rate composer1 owing to my want of practice at school1 this method had succeeded in bringing me to the front in 8my year02 and ,i now desired to apply my classical studies to the criticism of the first three ,gospels4 ,it seemed to me a monstrous thing that we should have three accounts of the same life1 accounts closely agreeing in certain parts1 but widely varying in others1 and yet that1 with all the aids of modern criticism1 we should not be able to determine which accounts1 or which parts of the three accounts1 were the earliest4 ,at the same time ,i began to apply the same method1 though without the same attempt at exactness1 to the study of the text of ,shakespeare2 in which ,i perceived some differences of style that implied difference of date1 and some that appeared to imply difference of authorship4 ,about this time people began to talk in popular circles concerning ,evolution1 and alarm began to be felt in some quarters at the difficulty of harmonizing its theories with theology4 ,with these fears ,i never could in the least degree sympathize4 ,i welcomed ,evolution as a luminous commentary on the divine scheme of the ,redemption of mankind4 ,that most stimulating of books1 the ,advancement of ,learning1 had taught me to be prepared to find that in very many cases 8while ,nature or man intendeth one thing1 ,god worketh another02 and it was a joy to me to find new light thrown by ,evolution on the unfathomable problems of waste1 death1 and conflict4 ,death and conflict could never be thus explained--,i knew that--but one was enabled to wait more patiently for that explanation which will never come to us till we are behind the veil1 when one found that death and conflict had at least been subordinated to progress and development4 ,so ,i thought2 and so ,i said from the pulpit of one of the ,universities in times when the clergy had not yet learned to call ,darwin 8a man of ,god40 ,my doctrine was thought 8advanced0 in those days2 but time has gone on and left me1 in some respects1 behind it4 ,i should never have thought1 and should not think now1 of calling ,darwin 8a man of ,god10 except so far as all patient seekers after truth are men of ,god3 but ,i still adhere to the belief that ,evolution has made it more easy to believe in a rational1 that is to say a non-miraculous1 though supernatural1 ,christianity4 ,in this direction1 then1 my thoughts went forward and1 so far1 found no stumbling block4 ,guided by the poets and analytic novelists1 ,i was also learning to find in the study of the phenomena of daily life fresh illustrations of the ,pauline theology1 confirming and developing my notion 7now of some years' standing7 that the ,redemption of mankind was natural1 nothing more than a colossal representation of the spiritual phenomena that may be seen in ordinary men and women every day of our lives2 just as the lightning-flash is no more than 7upon a large scale7 the crackling of the hair beneath the comb4 ,good men and women1 ,i perceived1 are daily redeeming the bad1 bearing their sins1 imputing righteousness to them1 giving up their lives for them1 and imbuing them with a good spirit4 ,this thought1 as it gained force1 was a great help towards a rational ,christianity4 ,but now my feet began to be entangled in snares and pitfalls4 ,i had begun the study of the ,greek ,testament1 believing that it would bring forth some new truth1 and assuming that all truth must tend to the glory of ,god and of ,christ4 8,christ10 ,i said1 8is the living ,truth1 so that ,i have but1 as ,plato says1 to #8follow the ,argument1' and that must lead me to the truth1 and therefore to ,him40 ,but ,i was not prepared for the result4 ,after some years of work ,i found myself gradually led to the conclusion that the miraculous element in the ,gospels was not historical4 ,a mere glance at the ,old ,testament shewed that1 if there was not evidence enough for the miracles in the ,new ,testament1 much less was there for the miracles in the ,old4 ,before me rose up day by day fresh facts and inferences1 not only demonstrating the insufficiency of the usual evidence to prove that the miracles were true1 but also indicating a very strong probability that they were false4 ,often1 as ,i studied the accounts of a miracle1 ,i could see it as it were in the act of growing up1 watch its first entrance into the ,gospel narrative1 note its modest beginning1 its subsequent development3 and then ,i was forced to give it up4 ,worst of all1 that miracle of miracles which was most precious to me1 the ,resurrection of ,christ1 began to appear to be supported by the feeblest evidence of all4 ,i had not at that time learned to distinguish between the ,resurrection of ,christ's material body and the ,resurrection of ,his ,spirit or spiritual body4 ,christ's ,resurrection seemed to me therefore in those days to be either a ,resurrection of the material and tangible body or no ,resurrection at all4 ,now for the ,resurrection of the material body ,i began to be forced to acknowledge that ,i could find no basis of satisfying testimony4 ,i had heard an anecdote of the ,head of some ,college of ,oxford in old days1 how he fell asleep after dinner in the ,combination ,room1 while the ,fellows over their wine were discussing theology1 and presently made them all start by exclaiming as he awoke1 8,after all there is no evidence for the ,resurrection of ,christ60 ,i realized that now1 not with a start1 but gradually1 and with a growing feeling of deep and wearing anxiety4 ,if the ,resurrection of ,christ fell1 what was to become of my faith in ,christ8 ,amid this impending ruin of my old belief ,i saw one tower standing firm4 ,it was clear that something had happened after the death of ,christ to make new men of ,his disciples4 ,it was clear also that ,st4 ,paul had seen something that had induced him to believe that ,christ had risen from the dead4 ,that which had convinced ,st4 ,paul1 an enemy1 might very well convince the ,apostles1 the devoted followers of ,christ4 ,what was this something8 ,it seemed to me that ,i ought to try to find out4 ,meantime1 ,i determined to adopt the advice ,i gave you in my last letter--to stand upon the old ways and look around me and consider my path before taking another step4 ,circumstances had placed me in such a position that ,i was not called on to decide whether a clergyman could entertain such views as were looming on me1 and remain a clergyman4 ,i was not engaged in any work directly or indirectly requiring clerical qualifications2 and as far as my affections and sentiments were concerned1 ,i went heartily with the services of the ,church of ,england4 ,so ,i resolved to put aside all theology for two or three years and to devote myself1 during that time1 to literary work of another kind4 ,meantime1 ,i would retain1 as far as possible1 the old religious ways of thought1 and1 at all events1 the old habits4 ,none the less1 ,i would not give up the intention of investigating the whole truth about the ,resurrection4 ,that there was some nucleus of truth ,i felt quite certain2 and even if that truth had been embedded in some admixture of illusion1 what then8 ,were there no illusions in the history of science8 ,were there no illusions in the history of ,god's ,revelation of ,himself through the ,old and ,new ,testaments8 ,might it not be ,god's method of ,revelation that men should pass through error to the truth8 ,this line of thought seemed promising1 but ,i would not at once follow it4 ,i would wait three years and then work out the question of the influence of illusion on religious truth4 ,an old college acquaintance1 an agnostic1 whom ,i met about this time1 was not a little startled when ,i told him my thoughts4 ,he frankly informed me that1 though ,i was 8placed in a painful position10 ,i was 8bound to speak out40 ,i also thought that ,i was 8bound to speak out02 but ,i did not feel bound to obtrude immature views upon the world1 with the result perhaps of afterwards altering or recanting them4 ,so ,i took time1 plenty of time2 ,i looked about me1 on life as well as on books2 ,i formed a habit of testing assumptions and asking the meaning of common words1 especially such words as knowledge1 faith1 certainty1 belief1 proof1 and the like4 ,believing that theology was made for man and not man for theology1 ,i began to test theological as well as other propositions by the question 8,how do they work80 ,meantime ,i tried my utmost to do the duties of my daily life without distraction and with the same energy as before1 hoping that life itself1 and the needs of life1 would throw some light upon the question1 8,what knowledge about ,god is necessary for men who are to do their duty8 ,and how can that knowledge be obtained80 ,by these means ,i was led to see that a great part of what we call knowledge does not come to us1 as we falsely suppose it does1 through mere logic or ,reason1 nor through unaided experience1 but through the emotions and the ,imagination1 tested by ,reason and experience4 ,even in the world of science1 ,i found that the so-called 8laws and properties of matter10 nay1 the very existence of matter1 were nothing more than suggestions of the scientific ,imagination aided by experience4 ,a great part of the environment and development of mankind appeared to have been directed towards the building up of the imaginative faculty1 without which1 it seemed that religion1 as well as poetry1 would have been non-existent4 ,so by degrees1 it occurred to me that perhaps ,i had been on the wrong track in my search after religious truth4 ,i had been craving a purely historical and logical proof of ,christ's divinity1 and had felt miserable that ,i could not obtain it4 ,but now ,i perceived that ,i was not intended to obtain it4 ,not thus was ,christ to be embraced4 ,there must indeed be a basis of fact3 but after all it was to that imaginative faculty which we call 8faith10 that ,i must look1 at least in part1 for the right interpretation of fact4 ,that ,christ could be apprehended only by faith was a ,pauline common-place2 but that ,christ's ,resurrection could be grasped only by faith1 and not by the acceptance of evidence1 was1 to me1 a new proposition4 ,but ,i gradually perceived that it was true4 ,i might be doubtful whether ,thomas touched the side of the risen ,saviour1 yet sure that ,christ had risen from the dead in the ,spirit1 and had manifested ,himself after death to ,his disciples4 ,my standard of certainty being thus shifted1 many things of which ,i had formerly felt certain became uncertain2 but1 by way of compensation1 other things--and these the most necessary and vital became more certain than ever4 ,i felt less inclined to dogmatize about the existence of matter2 but my soul was imbued with a fuller conviction of the existence of a ,god2 and deeper still became the feeling that1 so far as things are known to me1 there is nothing in heaven or earth more divine than ,christ4 ,thus at last light dawned upon my darkness2 and when the sun rose once more upon me1 it was the same sun as before1 only more clearly seen above the mists of illusion which had before obscured it4 ,the old beliefs of my youth and childhood remained or came back to me1 exhibiting ,jesus of ,nazareth as the ,incarnate ,son of ,god1 the ,eternal ,word triumphant over death1 seated at the right hand of the ,father in heaven1 the source of life and light to all mankind4 ,like ,christian in ,pilgrim's ,progress1 ,i found myself suddenly freed from a great burden--a burden of doubts1 and provisos1 and conditions which1 in old days1 had seemed to forbid me from accepting ,jesus as the ,lord and ,saviour of mankind unless ,i could strain my conscience to accept as true a number of stories many of which ,i almost certainly knew to be false4 ,in order to believe in ,christ1 it was now no longer needful to believe in suspensions of the laws of ,nature3 on the contrary1 all ,nature seemed to combine to prepare the way to conform humanity to that image of ,god which was set forth in the ,incarnation4 ,i did not1 as some ,christians do1 ignore the existence of ,satan 7and almost of sin7 which ,christ ,himself most clearly recognized2 but ,i seemed to see that evil was being gradually subordinated to good1 and falsehood made the stepping-stone to truth4 ,through evil to good2 through sin to a righteousness higher than could have been attained save through sin2 through falsehood to the truth2 through superstition to religion--this seemed to me the divine evolution discernible in the light that was shed from the cross of ,christ4 ,no longer now did it seem impossible or absurd that the ,gospel of the ,truth might have been temporarily obscured by illusions or superstitions even in the earliest times4 ,i think it must be now some ten years since ,i settled down to the belief that the history of ,christianity had been the history of profound religious truth1 contained in1 and preserved by1 illusions2 an ascent of worship through illusion to the truth4 ,a belief that has been fifteen years in making1 and for ten years more has been reviewed1 criticized1 and finally retained as being historically true and spiritually healthful1 you must not call1 ,i think1 8a transient phase04 ,but ,i forgive you the expression4 ,a dozen pages of autobiography are a sufficient penalty for three offending words4 ,footnote #a3 ,that children1 even at a much younger age than ten1 do sometimes exercise their young minds to very ill purpose about these subtle metaphysical questions is probably within the experience of all who know anything about children1 and it is amusingly illustrated by the following answer 7which ,i have on the authority of an intimate friend7 from a seven-years-old to his mother when blaming him for some misconduct3 8,why did you born me then8 ,i didn't want to be borned4 ,you should have asked me before you borned me40 ,,iii ,,knowledge ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you ask me to explain1 in detail1 what ,i mean by asserting that the ,imagination is the basis of knowledge4 8,apparently10 you say1 8our knowledge of the world external to ourselves seems to you to spring1 not from the sensations as interpreted by the ,reason1 but 7at all events to a large extent7 from the sensations as interpreted by the ,imagination4 ,if you mean this1 ,i wish you would show how the ,imagination thus builds up our knowledge of the world4 ,but ,i think ,i must have misunderstood you40 ,you have not misunderstood me4 ,i would go even further than the limits of your statement3 for ,i believe that we are largely indebted to the ,imagination for our knowledge1 not only of the external world1 but also of ourselves4 ,however1 suppose we first take a simple instance of the knowledge of external things3 8,this inkstand is hard4 ,how did ,i come to know that it was hard8 ,how do ,i know that it is hard now80 ,let us begin from the beginning4 ,i am an infant scrambling on the floor where the said inkstand is casually lying4 ,having a congenital impulse 7commonly called 8instinct07 to touch and suck anything that comes in my way1 and especially anything bright1 ,i greedily and rapidly approximate my lips to the corner of this polished object4 ,i recoil with a sharp shock of pain4 ,the pain abates4 ,the instinctive recoil from the inkstand has left in me an instinctive aversion to the pain-causing object3 but my touching and sucking instinct again revives1 and as soon as it prevails over the recoiling instinct1 ,i am impelled again towards the inkstand1 not so rapidly as before1 but still too rapidly4 ,i recoil again1 with pain lessened but still acute4 ,i am acquiring 8knowledge03 ,i 8know10 though ,i cannot put it into words1 that ,i have twice found the inkstand not-to-be-rapidly-approached-under-penal ty-of-a-certain-kind-of-pain1 in other words1 8hard40 ,but ,i try again2 ,i try four1 five1 six times3 ,i find that when ,i approach with less velocity my pain is less1 and when with sufficiently diminished velocity1 there is no pain at all2 ,i touch and suck in peace3 but when ,i forget my experience and suppose that the inkstand--even though ,i dash wildly at it after my old fashion--will 8behave differently this time10 ,i find that ,i am mistaken3 the inkstand will not 8behave differently02 it always behaves in the same way4 ,by this time then ,i know something very important indeed4 ,but pause now1 my friend1 and ask yourself how much this infant has a right to say he 8knows10 so far as the evidence of the senses guides him4 ,all that the senses have told him is that on five1 six1 seven1 say even seventy1 occasions1 he found the inkstand hard4 ,but is this all that he 8knows08 ,you know perfectly well that he knows infinitely more3 he has made a leap from the past into the future and knows that the inkstand will be found hard whenever he touches it4 ,when he grows up and attains the power of speech he will generally express his knowledge in the ,present ,tense3 8,i must not strike the inkstand with my mouth for it is hard03 but in reality this 8is0 implies 8will be02 8,i must not strike the inkstand with my mouth for ,i shall find it hard40 ,now what is it that has produced in him this conviction which no philosopher can justify by mere logic1 but which every baby acts on8 ,it seems to have arisen thus4 ,the baby has received in rapid succession two sensations1 first1 that of a violent approximation to the inkstand1 secondly1 a sudden shock of pain4 ,having received this pair of sensations very frequently1 he cannot help associating them together in his thoughts2 so that now the thought of a violent approximation to the inkstand necessarily suggests to him the thought that it is not-to-be-approached-violently1 or 8hard40 ,he began by learning to expect that perhaps1 or probably1 the first sensation would be followed by the second2 but having found1 after constant experiments1 that the second sensation1 so far as his experience goes1 always follows the first1 he gradually passes from belief into certainty1 or knowledge1 that the second always will1 or must1 follow the first4 ,a similar transition is going on at the same time in the infant's mind--,i mean the transition from belief to certainty--in regard to thousands of other propositions besides the one we have selected1 8this inkstand is hard40 ,every single case of such transition facilitates the transition in other cases1 by making the child feel that1 if he is to get on in the world and make his way through it without incurring the constant pains and penalties of ,nature1 he must not disregard these juxtapositions1 or pairs of sensations1 7which1 when he grows older1 he will1 if ever he becomes an educated man1 call 8cause0 and 8effect071 but must take them to heart and remember them2 when the first of a familiar pair comes1 he must be prepared to find the second immediately following4 ,not unfrequently the child's limited experience associates together in his mind sensations that ,nature has not associated2 as1 for example1 when he infers that a clock must tick because he has never yet in his life seen a clock that has stopped4 ,in this and other cases the child has afterwards to dissociate what he had too hastily joined together1 and to correct his conclusions by wider experience4 ,but1 on the whole1 the transition from belief to certainty1 in any one case1 is facilitated by the great majority of similar cases in which the same transition is going on with results that are confirmed by his own experience and by that of his elders4 ,what helps the transition1 in each case1 is its general success2 it works3 it helps the child to move more and more confidently in the world without subjecting himself to the punishments which ,nature has attached to ignorance4 ,now therefore1 reviewing the stages of the progress upwards1 we see that the knowledge of which we are speaking is based upon an inherent and fundamental belief of which we can give no logical justification whatever4 ,why should an inkstand always be hard8 ,the child can allege no reason for this except that1 having found the inkstand to be hard in a great number of past instances1 he is compelled to believe that it will be always hard1 with such a force of conviction that he cannot but feel and say he 8knows0 it4 ,but of course there is no logical justification for this assertion4 ,he might argue for some months or even years1 in precisely the same way about a clock1 and say that 8a clock always ticks10 because he has seen the clock tick times innumerable and never known it not to tick4 ,why should not a larger experience confute his so-called knowledge in the case of the inkstand as in the case of the clock8 ,as the clock collapses1 why should not the nature of the inkstand collapse--be1 come unwound1 so to speak1 or altogether transmuted8 ,there is no possible answer to this question for the child1 at present1 except the following3--8,it never has done so1 and therefore ,i believe that it never will4 ,i believe in the uniformity of ,nature4 ,the sequences of observed cause and effect are ,nature's promises1 and if she does not keep them1 life will break down4 ,i am compelled to believe1 and to act on the belief1 that life will not break down4 ,i believe that this inkstand is hard1 because this belief works40 ,i conclude therefore that all knowledge of the kind we are now describing is based on belief 7viz4 the belief that what has been will be7 tested by experience4 ,i think it must also be admitted that ,imagination contributed to the result3 for the child not only remembers his two past consecutive sensations but gradually images in his mind a kind of bond between them1 which memory pure and simple could not have contributed4 ,memory reproduces 8,inkstand and then hardness20 ,imagination paints1 or begins to paint1 a new idea1 8,inkstand and therefore hardness40 ,again1 ,memory reproduces vaguely numerous instances1 8,the inkstand was hard ten1 eleven1 twenty1 many times20 then comes ,imagination and at a leap sets before the mind an entirely new notion1 and invents for it the word 8always40 ,concerning other and more complex kinds of knowledge what need is there to say a word8 ,for if such simple propositions as 8a stone is hard10 are shown to depend upon ,imagination for suggesting1 and ,faith for retaining1 a conviction of the uniformity of ,nature1 much more must these influences be presupposed if the child is to attain knowledge about matters avowedly future1 e4g4 8the sun will rise to-morrow40 ,in reality all knowledge of any practical value has to do with a future1 immediate or remote2 and therefore ,i do not think ,i shall be exaggerating in saying that for all knowledge about things outside us we depend largely upon ,imagination and ,faith4 ,but ,i pass now to consider a child's knowledge about himself4 ,take for example such a proposition as this1 8,i like sugar40 ,is ,faith or ,imagination required to enable a child to arrive at the knowledge of this proposition about himself8 ,i think so4 ,the very use of the word 8,i10 if used intelligently1 appears to need some imaginative effort4 ,of course ,i do not deny that this subtle metaphysical idea may have been suggested to us originally by our faculty of touch1 and especially the faculty of self-pinching or self-touching4 ,i dare say you have read how men have sometimes caught hold of their own benumbed hand by night1 and awakened a household by shouting that they had caught a robber3 has it ever occurred to you that1 if you never had the power of distinguishing your own hand from anybody else's hand by the sense of touch1 you might have gone through life with no sense1 or with a very tardily acquired sense1 of your own identity8 ,if the monkey who boiled his own tail in the caldron had felt no pain1 might he not have been excused for doubting sometimes whether the tail belonged to him8 ,and if his head were equally painless or joyless when he thumped it or scratched it1 ought he to be condemned for disowning his own head8 ,and if a monkey1 or even a child1 could not lay claim to its own head1 it seems to me doubtful whether he could ever claim such a separation from the outside world as would necessitate his using the word 8,i40 ,but1 as it is1 having this self-pinching faculty1 the child soon finds that to pinch a ball1 or a bladder1 or a sister1 is an entirely different thing from pinching himself3 and this self-touching faculty confirms the evidence suggested by the bumps and thumps of the external world2 all of which lead him to the belief that he has a bodily frame of his own1 liable to pain and to pleasure1 and largely dependent for pain and pleasure on his own motions1 which motions he dimly perceives dependent upon something that appears to be inside himself4 ,but neither this nor any other explanation of the manner in which the sensations prepare the way for the construction of the idea of the 8,i10 ought to prevent us from recognizing that the idea itself is the work of the ,imagination1 and not of the unaided sensations1 nor of the unaided reason4 ,self-pinching and contact with the rough external world might convince the child that he was different from his environment at the time when he made his last experiments and underwent his last experiences2 but they could not convince him that he is different now1 or that he will be different in the next instant2 and for this conviction he depends upon faith4 ,again1 the imagination of the 8,i0 seems closely bound up with two other nearly simultaneous imaginations1 those of ,force and ,cause4 ,first he feels a desire to touch the inkstand1 then he feels himself moving towards the inkstand1 then he feels the inkstand touched4 ,these sequences of desire1 action1 result1 he can repeat as often as he likes4 ,by their frequency therefore1 as well as by their vividness1 they impress him more powerfully than sequences of phenomena not dependent on himself2 and it is from these probably that he first imagines the idea of 8must10 or 8necessity10 or 8cause and effect40 ,if he feels a desire to move a limb1 the motion of the limb immediately follows2 it always obeys him2 it must obey him4 ,he pushes a brick2 what caused the brick to fall8 ,he feels that it was his own force that caused it2 he no longer looks upon the push and the fall as if the former merely preceded the latter2 he imagines a connection of necessity between the push and the fall1 the cause and the effect1 and gradually comes to imagine himself as the causer of the cause4 ,but all these imaginations are mere imaginations1 not proofs4 ,to gather together all the sensations of which he retains the memory1 the sensations of which he is at present conscious1 and the sensations to which he looks forward1 and to put an 8,i0 behind or below all these1 as the foundation of them all1 and partial causer of them all--what an audacious assumption is this6 ,not ,plato and ,aristotle combined could prove to a child1 or to the most consummate of philosophers1 that he has a right to call himself 8,i10 or that he is any other than a machine and a part of the universal machinery4 ,how can ,i prove and vindicate my independence1 my right to an 8,i08 ,by saying that ,i will do1 or not do1 and by then doing1 or not doing1 any conceivable thing at any conceivable time8 ,such an attempt is futile4 ,the retort is unanswerable3 8,in the great machine which you call the universe1 that small part which you call #8,i' was so constructed and wound up that it could no more help saying and doing what it did and said1 than a clock could help pointing and striking40 ,what then is the real proof that we are right in using the word 8,i0 and in distinguishing ourselves from other objects which we call external8 ,there is no proof at all except that1 first1 we are led to this way of looking at things by ,nature and ,imagination1 and secondly1 this way of looking at things works best4 ,the 8,i-view0 is better fitted than the 8machine-view0 to develop in us the faculties of judgment and self-control1 to give us a sense of responsibility and a capability of amendment1 and to make us ultimately more hopeful and more active4 ,so too1 the belief in 8cause and effect0 works better than a mere mental record of past antecedents and sequences1 accompanied by a blank and strictly logical neutrality of mind as to what will happen in the future4 ,faith in 8cause and effect0 is the foundation of all stable life and all regular progress alike in the individual and in the state4 ,the unfaithful unbeliever in causality is the ,esau1 both in the moral and in the intellectual world1 the happy-go-lucky hunter who depends on stray venison and refuses to resort to system in order to make a sure provision for the needs of the future2 the believer is the quiet plodding ,jacob who has his goats in the fold where he knows he can find them when wanted4 ,the unbeliever is the unimaginative savage who has not faith enough to see the harvest in the seed2 the believer is the man of civilisation who can trust ,nature through six long months of waiting and can say to her1 not in the language of hope1 8do ut des10 but in the language of conviction1 8do daturae40 ,nevertheless1 convenient as these ideas may be for our comfort1 nay1 though they may be even necessary for our existence1 we are bound to recollect that they are merely ideas4 ,like the ideas of force1 cause1 effect1 necessity1 so the idea of 8,i10--though produced with the aid of experience and tested by appeal to experience and reason--appears to be nothing but a child of the ,imagination1 and a foster-child of ,faith4 ,perhaps your conclusion from all this is that ,i am proving that we can know nothing8 ,not in the least4 ,what ,i am saying does not prove that we know less or more than we profess to know at present4 ,i am merely showing that our knowledge comes to us from sources other than those which are ordinarily assumed4 ,,iv ,,ideals ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you ask me to pass to the consideration of knowledge of a new kind1 knowledge of mathematical truth4 8,here at least10 you say1 8severe reasoning dominates supreme1 and ,imagination has no place40 8,two and one make three10 8,the angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal30 8surely we may assume that ,imagination has nothing to do with these propositions4 ,they must be decided by pure ,reason40 ,never was assumption more grotesque4 ,excuse me2 but by what other adjective can ,i characterize the statement that the ,imagination has 8nothing to do with0 propositions for the very terms of which we are indebted to the ,imagination8 ,i maintain without fear of contradiction that the knowledge of these propositions requires an effort of the ,imagination so severe that the very young and the completely untrained cannot attain to it4 ,for1 in the first place1 what do you mean by 8one10 8two10 and 8three08 ,i have never had any experience of such things2 nor have you2 nor can you4 8,two0 oranges1 8two0 apples1 and the like1 we have had experience of1 and can realize2 but to think of 8one0 or 8two0 by themselves 78one0 or 8two0 with 8anythings01 or with 8nothings0 after them71 8one0 or 8two0 as 8abstract ideas0--this really is a most difficult or rather 7,i am inclined to say7 an impossible task4 ,when ,i say 8one0 and 8two10 ,i think ,i see before me dimly 8one0 or 8two0 dots or small strokes1 and ,i perceive that two and one of these dots or strokes make up three dots or strokes4 ,when ,i speak of 8twenty0 and 8thirty10 ,i do not see any images of these existences2 and when ,i say that 8twenty0 and 8thirty0 make 8fifty10 ,i do not realize the process of addition at all visibly2 ,i merely repeat the statement on the authority of previous observations and reasonings mostly made by others and not by myself4 ,but so far as ,i approximate to the realization of an abstract number1 ,i do it by a kind of negative imagination4 ,and in any case we can hardly deny that all arithmetical propositions1 since they employ terms that denote mere imaginary ideas1 must be regarded as based on the imagination4 ,it is the same with ,geometry4 ,the whole of what we call 8,euclid0 is based upon a most aerial effort of the ,imagination4 ,we have to imagine lines without thickness1 straightness that does not deviate the billionth part of an inch from perfect evenness1 perfectly symmetrical circles1 and--climax of audacity6--points that have 8no parts and no magnitude60 ,obviously these things have no existence except in the dreams of ,imagination2 yet ,euclid's severe reasoning applies to none but these things4 ,if you step from your ideal triangle in ,dreamland into your material triangle in chalk-land1 you step from absolute truth into statements that are not absolutely true4 ,the angles at the base of your chalk isosceles triangle are not exactly equal1 if you measure them with sufficient accuracy4 ,in a word the whole of ,geometry is an appeal to the ,imagination in which the geometer says to us1 8,i know that my propositions are not exactly true except with respect to invisible1 ideal1 and imaginary figures1 planes1 and solids4 ,these ideas1 therefore1 you must endeavour to imagine4 ,in order to relieve the strain on your imagination1 ,i will place before you material and visible figures about which my reasoning will be approximately true4 ,from these ,i must ask you to try to rise upward to the imagination of their archetypes1 the immaterial realities40 ,what shall we reply to our overbearing mathematician who in this abrupt and audacious manner introduces the non-existent and imaginary creatures of his brain as being 8realities08 ,shall we deride him1 and the arithmetician likewise8 ,shall we bid the latter exchange his calculations in abstract numbers for manifestly useful sums about sacks of wheat and casks of beer8 ,shall we bid the mathematician descend from his high geometrical theories to the practical measurements of agriculture8 ,pouring scorn on his avowal that the objects of his reasoning are 8invisible1 ideal1 and imaginary10 shall we decline to study a science that is confessedly--so we can word it--visionary and illusive8 ,if we do1 he will not be without a reply1 somewhat after this fashion3 8,my practical friends1 it will be the worse for you if you despise these invisible1 ideal and imaginary objects4 ,i say nothing about the mental training and development to be derived from the study of these things2 for to this argument you do not appear to me to be at present accessible3 but ,i will take your own line--the practical4 ,do you then want to measure your fields with ease and to make accurate maps and charts2 to construct houses that shall stand longer1 ships that shall sail faster1 cannon that shall shoot further1 engines that shall pull harder1 than any known before2 do you want to utilize electricity for lighting1 gas for motion1 water for pressure2 in a word do you wish to make yourselves lords over the material world and to have all the forces of ,nature at your beck and call8 ,if you do1 you must not despise the non-existent numbers of my arithmetical brother1 nor my immaterial and imaginary lines4 ,give me leave to repeat1 in spite of your indignation1 that though they are 7in this present visible world of ours7 non-existent1 yet these lines and numbers are #8realities4' ,that they are realities1 and that our conclusions about them are real and true1 is proved by the one test of truth3 our conclusions work4 ,our discoveries are in harmony with the universe4 ,a perfect circle you never saw and never will see3 yet it is as real as a beefsteak and a pint of porter4 ,i believe in a perfect circle by ,faith2 ,i accept it with reverence as an impression1 if ,i may so dare to speak1 on the ,mind of the ,universe1 which ,he has communicated to me4 ,what is more1 ,i believe that ,he intended us to study this and other immaterial realities that our minds might approximate to ,his4 ,take a cone1 my practical friends4 ,what do you see in it8 ,nothing1 ,i fear1 except a shape that reminds you of an extinguisher or a fool's cap4 ,yet this little solid contains within itself the suggestions of all the mysteries of motion in heaven and earth4 ,slice your cone parallel to the base3 there you have the perfect circle4 ,slice it again1 parallel to one of the sides3 there you have the parabola1 the curve of terrestrial motion4 ,slice it once more1 midway between these two sections3 there you have the ellipse1 the curve of celestial motion for which all the astronomers were seeking in vain through something like a score of centuries4 ,seriously now1 my half-educated friends1 in spite of the sense you may for the most part entertain of your own importance1 do you not in your more modest moods sometimes feel inclined to say that1 #8,a circle is1 after all1 a reality1 perhaps more real than ,i am myself'80 ,what do you think of all this8 ,for my part1 ,i am inclined to think the ,mathematician has the best of it4 ,a good deal will turn upon the meaning of that dangerous word 8reality10 about which ,i will give you my notions1 perhaps1 hereafter4#b ,but even if you dispute his assertions about the reality of his 8ideas10 you cannot1 ,i am sure1 deny the immense practical importance1 as well as the universal acceptance1 of his conclusions and discoveries2 and you will do well to remember that this immensely important1 this undisputed and indisputable knowledge1 could never have been attained if we had not called in the ,imagination to create for us ideas that never will be1 and never can be1 realised in this present material world4 ,let us pass now from knowledge about things to knowledge about persons1 i4e4 about actions and motives4 ,our knowledge about actions depends on 7#a7 personal observation2 7#b7 testimony2 7#c7 circumstantial evidence or any combination of these three4 ,the knowledge that we derive of actions from our own observation is of course independent of ,faith1 so far as concerns the past2 but it is very limited1 and entirely useless and unpractical1 except as a basis for knowledge about the present and future2 for which knowledge 7as we have seen7 ,faith in the permanence of ,nature is absolutely necessary4 ,the knowledge of actions that comes to us from evidence1 direct and circumstantial1 is largely dependent on ,faith4 8,julius ,csar invaded ,britain0--how certain we all feel of that6 ,yet how slight the testimony6 ,simply a few pages of narrative1 written by the supposed invader himself1 and some casual remarks by one or two contemporary letter-writers about ,csar's doings in ,britain and the ,senate's reception of the news4 ,why should we believe on so apparently flimsy a basis8 ,why should not ,csar have sent one of his lieutenants to invade the island1 and afterwards have taken the credit of it himself8 ,or there might have been no invasion at all1 nothing but a reconnaissance grossly exaggerated and intermixed with facts derived from travellers4 ,yet we believe in the invasion without the slightest hesitation4 ,csar1 we say1 would not have told the lie2 or1 if he had1 it would have been quickly exposed by his enemies4 ,in other words1 we believe in the truth of the narrative1 because a belief in its falsehood does not 8work10 that is to say1 does not suit with what we know 7or1 more properly1 with what others know7 of ,csar's character and ,csar's times4 ,of precisely the same kind is almost all our knowledge about history3 it is based upon evidence1 but it is belief2 and the only test of its truth is1 does it 8work10 i4e4 does it fit in with other knowledge which we regard as established truth8 ,but you see that1 even in dealing with a simple action of ,csar's1 we have already drifted into a reference to ,csar's motives3 and obviously knowledge about 8motives0 is an important and indeed a paramount element in knowledge about persons4 8,my father10 says the child1 8has his brows knit2 his face looks dark2 he speaks very loud2 his eyes look brighter than usual30--this is knowledge about actions derived from personal observation1 but1 so far1 perfectly useless1 until something is added to it4 8,whenever my father has looked and spoken like this before1 he has been angry and has punished somebody3 therefore he is angry and will punish somebody now0--this is not knowledge1 it is only belief2 but it is belief not about actions simply1 but about motives as well as actions1 and it may be of the greatest use4 ,how do we gain knowledge about motives1 the moving powers of the human machine8 ,since we cannot take this machinery to pieces1 or experiment with it freely1 we must derive our knowledge largely from the consciousness of our own motives4 ,tickling produces laughter in us1 and pricking1 a cry2 affection1 and the command of those whom we love1 produce in us obedience2 desire of a result or reward produces effort2 fear of pain or penalty produces avoidance of certain actions1 performance of others4 ,hence we infer that1 in others also1 similar effects have been produced1 or will be produced1 by similar causes4 ,in either case1 our inference is based partly upon our observation that these causes have preceded these effects in other persons1 and partly upon our faith that other people's machinery is like our own4 ,but we have not yet touched one of the most powerful of motives1 that power within us which we call ,conscience 78joint-knowledge072 as though there were in us an ,assessor sitting in judgment by the side of the mysterious 8,i10 the two together pronouncing sentence of 8,right0 or 8,wrong0 upon the several propositions and intentions which are1 as it were1 called up before their tribunal4 ,the development of ,conscience and our sensibility to its dictation appears to me largely due to the ,imagination4 ,if a philosopher tells me that when ,conscience appears to us to say 8,right0 it really says 8,expedient for society and ultimately for yourself10 or 8,calculated to gain esteem for yourself10 or 8,conducive to your own peace of mind10 ,i am obliged1 with all deference to him1 but with greater deference to truth1 to assure him that 7however correct he may be as to the origin of this feeling in my own infant mind or in the matured mind of my primval ancestors7 he is mistaken1 at all events in my own case1 as to the action of ,conscience now4 ,i may possibly have been long ago guided to my idea of 8,right0 by my observation of what is expedient3 but1 to me1 now1 the sense of 8right0 is as different from the sense of 8expedient10 as the eye is different from some sensitive protuberance which may ultimately be developed into an eye1 but is at present responsive only to the touch4 ,how then do we gain this knowledge of right and wrong8 ,for of course it is not enough to reply that we gain it by the voice of ,conscience3 such an answer only makes us repeat our question in a different shape3 8,in the very young1 ,conscience1 though it may be existent1 is certainly latent2 when and whence does it begin to work80 ,i should reply that the first idea of good and evil is communicated to the very young through the habit of obedience to their parents or those who stand to them in the parental position4 ,a child is so created as to be in constant dependence on the favour and good-will of his mother4 ,when he is obedient to her he finds himself at peace and happy1 and he welcomes on her face that sunshine which indicates that she is pleased with him4 ,when he is disobedient1 harsh sounds follow1 a lowering darkness on the countenance close to his1 obstacles to his freedom1 restrictions of his pleasures1 perhaps sharper pains or penalties3 and he is now out of harmony with his little ,universe4 ,all this strange and subtle evil inside him and outside him he has brought on himself by disobeying the maternal will2 and hence there gradually springs up in his mind an ,imagination of some unnameable thing1 which is his first idea of right4 ,but as he grows older and widens his sphere of observation he finds--if he is placed in anything like those favourable circumstances which ,nature has appointed for most of us--that this parental will is in harmony with the widening world around him4 ,the parents say1 8,do not play with fire20 ,nature says the same1 and punishes him if he transgresses4 ,the parents say1 8,do not touch that knife20 again ,nature confirms their authority by inflicting a penalty on disobedience4 ,thus1 if the parents have anything of parental forethought1 the child gradually associates them with the governing powers of his growing ,universe1 and begins to feel that the parental will is also the will1 or order1 of ,nature4 ,they are as ,god to him3 and the confirmed habit of obedience to them deepens in his heart the conviction--but still a conviction rather springing from ,imagination than from ,reason--that the power which thus induces him to obey is a great and grand ,power1 orderly1 not to be resisted2 wise and justified by results1 but to be obeyed without thinking about results2 it ought to be obeyed2 it is ,right4 ,now he steps out into the world of other human beings2 and here he learns to widen his idea of ,right4 ,perhaps he also learns to alter it4 ,if he was born and reared among thieves1 his conscience may have been altogether perverted so that he actually thought it honourable to steal4 ,but in any case1 even though he may come from the best of homes1 he often learns that the parental will is not always in harmony with the highest and best will2 and gradually he forms a different standard of 8,right0 from that which he held before4 ,it was once the will of his parents1 now it is often the will of ,society4 ,conforming himself to the will of ,society he is free from pains and penalties2 he is at peace with those around him1 and he is generally at peace with himself4 ,i say generally1 not always3 for by this time he has begun to think for himself and to see that ,conscience ought to speak in the interests not merely of his parents1 nor of a select circle of his own friends or companions1 but of all mankind4 ,his ,imagination pictures for him an ideal ,order such as he has never actually experienced4 ,he feels that he 8ought0 to be at peace and in harmony with this imaginary ,order1 and not with some distorted and narrowed conception of it conveyed to him by his 8set10 his class1 his city1 his nation1 or his church4 ,in his conscience1 he hears the voice of this ,moral ,order of humanity4 ,hence it is that men have been sometimes impelled to thoughts beyond1 or even against1 the conscience of their contemporaries2 to protest1 for example1 against unjust wars1 against war of any kind1 against slavery1 against duelling1 against legalized oppression4 ,in every case the impelling power has been the same1 a sense of discord between the man's imaginary ideal and the actual environment in which these evils and disorders have existed4 ,others1 his commonplace companions1 have been content to go with the world around them--to be kind slave-holders1 honourable duellists1 moderate oppressors--and they have felt no pangs of conscience4 ,but by a few1 a chosen few1 there has been acquired a keener sense of the ideal of moral harmony1 a keener eye for detecting moral disorder1 and an abhorrence of it which will not permit them to live in peace amid such evils3 they must either die or mend them4 ,they often do die in mending them2 but while in the process of dying1 or preparing for death--with all deference to the clergyman who lately maintained that 8if there is no hereafter1 and if the only reward of self-sacrifice and the only punishment of crime are those which happen in the present life1 it would have been far better to have been ,fouch than ,paul0--they have at least a peace of mind which they could not have attained by conformity with the world4 ,the grosser conscience that 8worked0 well enough in their companions would not have 8worked0 in them4 ,even1 therefore1 though they appear to be exceptions to the rule that tests truth by its 8working10 they are not really exceptional4 ,they have been in discord with the world but in concord with themselves4 ,often they prove to others the truth of their conceptions by raising up the world to their level1 and by pointing to the moral order which has issued from the fulfilment of their ideas4 ,but in any case1 though they may fail for a time or 7apparently7 for all time1 they have had in themselves a sufficient test of the truth of their ideas3 they have followed their conscience and they have found that this course 8worked0--that is to say1 suited and developed their nature--as no other course could have worked for them4 ,but in order thus to hear and obey the voice of conscience and to discern its highest truths1 how much of faith1 how much of imagination has been needed6 ,but this digression about ,conscience has led me a little astray from my subject1 which was 8the knowledge of persons30 ,i must return to it in my next letter4 ,footnote #b3 ,see the ,definitions at the end of the book4 ,v ,,ideals ,,and ,,tests ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,let us now return to the consideration of the 8knowledge of persons40 ,how do we gain knowledge of a human being1 that is to say of his motives8 8,by observing his actions in many different circumstances1 especially in extremities of joy1 sorrow1 fear1 temptation1 and then by comparing his actions with what we1 or others1 have done in the same circumstances80 ,but this is a very difficult and delicate business1 especially that part of it which involves comparison4 ,here we may easily go wrong2 and we therefore naturally ask what test have we that our knowledge is correct4 ,one test of any useful knowledge of a machine would be1 not our power to discourse fluently about it1 but our power to 8work0 it1 i4e4 to make it perform the work for which it is intended3 and similarly one test of useful knowledge of a human being must be our power to 8work0 him1 i4e4 to make him perform the work for which he is intended4 ,a perfectly selfish man of the world may have considerable knowledge of men and 8work0 them cleverly in a certain sense3 he is not cheated by them2 he is perhaps obeyed by some1 not thwarted by others2 he knows the weak points of all1 jostles down one1 persuades another to lift him up1 gets something out of every one1 and is1 in a word1 largely successful in making men help him to do what he intends4 ,but this is a very poor kind of 8working10 as compared with that which has been practised by the lawgivers1 poets1 philosophers1 and founders of religion2 who have moulded and fashioned great masses of men so as to be better able than they were before to do the noblest works that men can do1 the works for which they are intended4 ,now ,i think it will not be denied that the men who1 in this sense1 have 8worked0 mankind have had great ideas of what men could do and ought to do4 ,sometimes they have had ideas so high that they have seemed impossible of attainment and almost absurd1 even as ideas4 ,yet these are the men1 these idealizers of humanity1 who have most helped mankind on the path of progress4 ,and this would lead us to the conclusion that the men who have 8worked0 mankind best have been those who have refused to accept men as they are4 ,constrained by the ,imagination1 they have kept before their eyes an ,ideal of humanity1 towards which they have aspired and laboured with sanguine enthusiasm4 ,to the same effect tends our observation of mankind in smaller groups1 and especially in that smallest of groups called the family4 ,it is generally the parents who have most influence over their child1 most power to 8work0 him2 and we can often see that the reason of their influence does not arise from the power to reward or punish1 but from their affection for him1 and from their faith in him4 ,especially do we perceive this in the familiar but mysterious process called forgiving4 ,we see parents1 yes even wise parents1 constantly placing faith in a child beyond what seems to a dispassionate observer to be warranted by facts1 treating him as though he were better than he has shewn himself to be1 better than he appears to us likely ever to become4 ,and1 strange to say1 this imaginative system has on the whole proved more successful than the impartial and dispassionate disposition which would take a human being exactly for what he is1 and treat him as being that and no more4 ,i do not mean to say that there have not been blind and fond parents in abundance who--having no high moral standard and being merely desirous to see comfort and bright faces around them--have done their children harm by ignoring their faults and regarding them as perfect3 but on the other hand1 ,i call on you to admit the paradox that just1 wise1 and righteous parents1 who have had a high moral standard1 have been most successful in enabling their child to rise to that standard1 by treating him as though he were better than he really has been4 ,further1 ,i say that this system has been pursued by all those who have forgiven others1 and by ,him above all others who has done most to make forgiveness 8current coin0 among mankind4 ,i can understand a man of cold-blooded and dispassionate temperament objecting to any such idealization of humanity4 8,the whole theory10 he might say1 8is radically unfair and unreasonable4 ,you argue that you ought to love a man and ignore his faults if you wish to know him and move him4 ,you might just as well argue that you ought to hate a man and ignore his virtues for the same purpose4 ,hate is as keen-eyed as love4 ,hate spies out the least defects1 anticipates each false step1 predicts each hasty word1 and caricatures beforehand each hasty gesture4 ,hate makes a study of its objects3 hate1 therefore1 as well as love1 might be said to stimulate us to know others4 ,but the right course is neither to hate1 nor to love1 but to judge4 ,as hate blinds us to virtues1 so love blinds us to vices4 ,we ought to be blind to nothing1 to extenuate nothing1 to ignore nothing1 but to be purely and reasonably critical4 ,thus we shall know humanity as it is40 ,the answer to this very plausible theory is extremely simple3 8,your theory appears to be just and wise upon a cursory and unscientific view of human nature3 but it has not endured the scientific test of experiment2 it has not worked4 ,i believe the reason why it does not work is1 that it ignores some faintly discernible but growing tendencies in human nature which are not to be discerned without more sympathy than you appear to possess3 no human being can be understood in the daylight of ,reason alone2 affection and ,imagination are needed to transport us as it were into the heart of a fellow-creature1 to enable us to realize him as we realize ourselves1 and to treat him as we would ourselves be treated2 faith also in the possibilities of humanity is a very powerful help not only towards discerning the best and noblest that men can do1 but also towards developing their power of doing it4 ,but in any case1 whatever may be the reasons for its failure1 your theory does not #8work1' and must therefore be given up4 8,by #8failure1' ,i do not mean that your theory will prevent you from getting on and making your way in the world1 but that it will prevent you from operating on yourself and on mankind1 so that you and they may do the work which you are intended to do4 ,you say the business of a student of men is to be critical4 ,i say that such a student is a mere pedant1 a book-philosopher3 but the scientific student of men is he who knows how to #8work' them3 and those who have in the true sense of the term #8worked' men1 have not been of the critical temperament which you eulogize1 but often quite uncritical1 wondrously uncritical1 but full of a fervent faith in a high ideal of humanity1 and in a destiny that would ultimately conform humanity to its ideal4 ,if you aim at exerting no social ennobling influence of this kind1 if you are content1 while leading the life of a man of the world1 to abide1 spiritually speaking1 in the cave of a recluse1 then keep on your present course4 ,criticize men dispassionately to your heart's content4 ,try to persuade yourself that you know them4 ,but you will never succeed--you will never persuade even yourself that you have succeeded--in making a single human being the better for your influence4 8,in morals as in mathematics nothing can be done without faith in the ,ideal4 ,if you want to operate scientifically upon imperfect men you must keep constantly before your mind the image of the ,perfect ,man4 ,we have seen that1 before we can attain to #8applied mathematics1' which constitute the basis of those sciences by which we dominate the material world1 we have to begin with #8pure mathematics4' ,in that region of study we have to idealize and speak of things1 not as they are in our experience1 but as they might be if certain tendencies that we see around us could be infinitely--yes1 and we must add1 impossibly--extended4 ,yet in the end1 if we go patiently onward1 we find that our #8pure mathematics' lead us to conclusions of immense practical importance4 8,it is precisely the same in the science of humanity1 which we may call anthropology4 ,in order to prepare the way for #8applied anthropology' whereby we may dominate the immaterial world1 the minds and tempers of men1 we must begin with #8pure anthropology'2 that is to say1 we must idealize and speak of man not as he is but as he would be if certain tendencies which we see in him1 conducive to social order and individual development1 could be infinitely--yes1 and we must add1 if we limit our horizon to this present life1 impossibly--extended4 ,in the end1 if we go patiently onward1 we shall find that #8pure anthropology' will be of immense practical importance in helping us to control and develop ourselves and individuals around us and all communities of men4 ,this #8pure anthropology1' having to do with the ,ideal of humanity1 is necessarily associated or identified with the conception of ,god2 and some would call it #8theology' or #8,christianity4' ,but that is a mere matter of names4 ,call it by whatever name you please1 but study it you must4 ,you will never #8work' mankind--that is to say you will never make men do the work for which they are intended--till you have studied the ,ideal ,man40 ,you may reply1 and with some justice1 that there is a danger in this repeated appeal to the test of 8working40 8,what10 you may ask1 8about the ,buddhist and the ,mohammedan1 the one with his peaceful missions1 the other with his victorious sword8 ,cannot both make the same appeal8 ,in advocating the invariable appeal to #8working1' do we not come dangerously near urging the acceptance of any doctrine that will afford good leverage to moral effort1 regardless of its truth or falsehood8 ,ought not1 after all1 the harmony of the doctrine with ,reason 7in the highest sense--not only syllogistic1 but intuitive1 imaginative1 or whatever you choose to call it7 to be the ultimate criterion80 ,i suppose there is a 8danger0 in every means of attaining truth1 a danger in observation1 a danger in experiment1 a danger in inductive1 a danger in deductive1 reasoning3 but it does not follow that any of these means are to be discarded1 only that they are to be carefully used4 ,if the ,buddhist can appeal to the successes of centuries1 that proves1 ,i should say1 that there is some element of genuine truth in his religion2 if the ,mohammedan points to conversions1 in ,india and elsewhere1 far more rapid than those made by ,christianity and not dependent on 8the victorious sword10 that also proves that in some important respects for example in the practical recognition of the equality of all believers without respect to rank or race--,mohammedans have been far more faithful to their teacher than we have been to ours4 ,and generally1 any religion that succeeds in making men better with it than they were without it1 must be admitted 7,i think7 to contain 7so far as it succeeds7 some element of divine revelation4 ,and therefore1 while admitting the appeal to ,reason1 ,i cannot reject the appeal to ,experience as well4 ,do not think that1 in laying so much stress on 8working10 ,i ignore the difference between the propositions of ,natural ,science and those of ,religion1 or forget how much more ready and convincing verification is in the former than in the latter4 ,the means of verifying may differ in different ages3 why not8 ,in the earliest period of ,christianity1 men had1 as a test1 the contrast between the heathen and the ,christian life2 the burning zeal of the freshly imparted ,spirit of ,christ2 and the 8mighty works0 wrought by the ,apostles and perhaps by some of their successors4 ,now1 for us in ,christendom1 the proof from 8contrast0 is less obvious1 and we have lost also something of the fresh and fiery zeal--must we not add the occasionally misguided zeal8--of the first ,christians3 but by way of compensation1 we have1 besides our individual experiences1 the collective evidence of many generations shewing what ,christ's ,spirit can do to help us when we obey it1 to chasten us when we disobey4 ,are we wrong then in inferring that one test of religions is the same which our ,lord appointed for testing men3 8,by their fruits ye shall know them08 ,there is undoubtedly a great difference between proof in ,science and proof in matters of ,religion3 and ,religion depends1 far more than ,science1 upon ,imagination4 ,but ,i have not ignored this difference4 ,on the contrary1 ,i have attempted to show that1 since ,religion depends far more than ,science upon ,imagination2 and since ,science itself depends largely upon ,imagination2 therefore ,religion must depend very largely upon ,imagination1 and especially upon that form of ,imagination to which we give the name of ,faith4 ,,vi ,,imagination ,,and ,,reason ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you suspect that ,i am 8pushing the claims of the ,imagination so far as to deprive the ,reason or ,understanding#c of its rights20 and you ask me whether ,i dispute the universal belief that the former is an 8illusive faculty40 ,as for your suspicion1 ,i will endeavour to show that it is groundless4 ,as for your question1 ,i admit that the ,imagination is 8illusive10 but ,i must add that it also leads us to truth4 ,it constructs the hypotheses1 as well as the illusions1 which1 when tested by experience1 guide us towards ,knowledge4 ,imagination is the 8imaging0 faculty of the mind4 ,it does not1 strictly speaking1 create1 any more than an artist1 strictly speaking1 creates4 ,but as an artist combines lines1 colours1 shades1 sounds1 and thoughts1 each one of which by itself is familiar to everybody1 in such new combinations as to produce effects that impress us all as original and unprecedented1 so does the ,imagination out of old fragments make new existences and unities4 ,attention impresses upon us the present2 ,memory recalls the past2 but the ,imagination is never content simply to reproduce the past or present4 ,it sums up the past of ,memory 7sometimes perhaps also the present of ,attention7 and combines it with a conjectured future in such a way as to produce a whole4 ,it is always seeking for likenesses1 orderly connections1 regular sequences1 beautiful relations1 suggestions of unity in some shape or other1 so as to reduce many things into one and to obtain a satisfying picture4 ,for example1 suppose a large mill-wheel at rest to be almost hidden from my eyes by intervening trees so that1 even if it were moving1 ,i could only see one spoke at a time2 and at present ,i am not aware that it is close before me4 ,something begins to move4 ,i look up4 ,attention tells me that ,i see before me1 moving from left to right1 something like a plank or pole3 it passes and ,i see nothing2 but then comes another similar object moving similarly2 then a third1 rather quicker2 then a fourth1 quicker still4 ,the mind at once sets to work to find the cause4 ,the ,memory tells me that ,i have seen simply a number of poles or planks moving from left to right with quickened motion2 the ,attention tells me that ,i see one now2 but the ,imagination1 taking in the isolated reports of ,memory and ,attention1 includes them in a larger hypothesis of her own1 in which1 if ,i may so express it1 the constituent elements1 the spokes1 are subordinated1 and the explanatory unity1 the wheel1 is brought into prominence2 and thus the motion from left to right1 which explained nothing1 is replaced1 in my mind1 by the motion of revolution1 which explains everything4 ,it is on the basis of the ,imagination1 aided by ,experience and ,reason1 that we establish our conviction of the permanence of the simplest ,laws of ,nature4 ,this ,i have touched on in one of my previous letters4 ,the ,memory1 recalling the sight of many stones falling to the ground1 comes perhaps to the aid of ,attention1 as a child notes a particular stone falling to the ground1 and suggests to the child's imitative nature an experimental attempt to make a stone fall to the ground4 ,the child does it once and again1 as often as he likes4 ,then1 as a result of this unvarying experience1 there springs up in the child's mind a picture in which he sees reproduced an apparently endless vista of his sensations as to stone-falling and its antecedents1 a picture not confined1 like the pictures of ,memory1 to past time1 but including future as well as past and present2 and thus the childish thought leaps upwards all at once to the conception of that sublime word 8always10 and dares to promulgate its first universal proposition1 and attains to the definite certainty of a ,law of ,nature4 ,but you say that the ,imagination is 8illusive40 ,it is2 it rarely conducts us to truth without first leading us through error4 ,its business is to find likenesses and connections and to suggest explanations1 not to point out differences1 and make distinctions1 and test explanations2 these latter tasks are to be accomplished not by ,imagination but by ,reason with the aid of enlarged experience4 ,the ,imagination suggests to the child that every man is like his father1 every woman like his mother2 that the motion of the sea is like the motion of water in the washing basin2 that the thunder is caused by the rolling of barrels or discharge of coals up above2 that a clock goes on of itself for ever2 and a multitude of other illusions all arising from the same healthy imaginative conviction in every young mind that 8,what has been will be10 and 8,the whole world is according to one pattern40 ,the conviction is based on a profound general truth1 but the particular shapes which it assumes are often erroneous4 ,it is only after a course1 and sometimes a very long course1 of experience and experiment1 that the child1 or perhaps the man1 eliminates with the aid of ,reason those ideas which will not work1 and confirms those that will work1 till the latter become at last strong and inherent and quasi-instinctive convictions4 ,none the less1 if the ,imagination did not first suggest the ideas on which the ,reason is to operate1 we should never obtain anything worth calling knowledge4 ,we might express all this by saying that ,imagination is the mother of working-hypotheses2 and this is true of all working-hypotheses1 those of the observatory and laboratory as well as those of the nursery4 ,no one who grasps this truth will henceforth deny the debt of science to ,imagination4 ,knowledge is not worth calling knowledge till it is reduced to ,law2 and ,law1 as ,i have shown you above1 is a mere idea of the ,imagination4 ,i do not deny the subsequent value of ,reason2 but ,imagination must come first4 ,it was from the ,imagination that there first flashed upon the mind of ,newton the vision of the working-hypothesis by which the apple's fall and the planet's path might be simultaneously explained4 ,then came in ,reason1 with experiment1 testing1 comparing1 prepared to detect discrepancies1 unlikelihoods1 and any want of harmony between the new theory and the old order of things4 ,finally1 the once-no-more-than-working-hypothesis1 having been found to harmonize with countless past and present phenomena and having enabled us to predict countless future phenomena1 is now called a ,law1 and we are practically certain that it will act4 ,the approval of this ,law we owe to ,reason1 but for the suggestion of it we are indebted to ,imagination4 ,on the debt owed to ,imagination by ,mathematics--the foundation of all science--,i will not add anything to what has been said in a recent letter4 ,next as to the work of ,imagination in art4 ,poets and artists1 as well as astronomers1 must be1 so to speak1 ex analogia ,universi2 that is to say1 they must be in harmony with that order of things which they long to reveal to their fellow-men2 they must see ,law and ,unity where others fail to see it2 they must have inherited or received capacities and intuitions which give them an intense sympathy with the deep-down-hidden rhythms and abysmal motions which regulate atoms and sounds and hues and shapes1 and the thoughts and feelings of men4 ,an artist who wishes to paint a hill-side1 or a wave1 or a face1 must have a vision of it4 ,he must see it not only exactly as it is1 but how it is3 he sympathizes1 as it were1 with every cleft and runlet and hollow and projection of the hill1 with every turn and fold and shade and hue of the ever-varying wave3 he realizes the secret of ,nature's working4 ,shall we make a distinction between the secret in the one case and the other8 ,shall we say the 8spirit0 of the face1 but the 8law0 of the hill and the 8law0 of the wave8 ,or will not the intuition into this complex combination of multitudinous forces1 apparently free and conflicting yet all guided and controlled into one harmonious result1 be better expressed by saying that he enters into the 8spirit0 in all cases1 the 8spirit0 of the hill1 the wave1 and the face8 ,in proportion as he has this power1 a great artist will be less likely to speak about it1 and less able to explain it3 but have it he must2 and it is a power really not dissimilar1 though apparently most different1 from the scientific ,imagination4 ,it is1 in both cases1 a power of recognizing ,order and ,unity4 ,the test also of the artistic1 is 7roughly speaking7 the same as that of the scientific ,imagination4 ,those ideas are right which 8work40 ,does a scientific idea open1 like a key1 the secrets of ,nature8 ,then it 8works10 and is1 so far1 right4 ,so in art3 to imagine rightly is to imagine powerfully so as to sway the minds of men4 ,those artistic imaginations are wrong which fail to fit the wards of the complicated human lock and to stir the inmost thoughts4 ,there are obvious objections to this definition of what is artistically right2 what stirs the ,athenian may not stir the ,esquimaux4 ,but1 roughly speaking1 we may say that the test has held good4 ,what has stirred the ,athenian has stirred the great civilising races of the world4 ,there may be a better and a higher test hereafter2 but1 for the present at all events1 prolonged experience of its 8working0 is the test of artistic ,imagination4 ,but the ,imagination plays1 perhaps1 its most important part in our conceptions of human emotions and human character4 ,these things cannot be exactly defined1 like triangles or circles2 nor can they or their results be predicted like the results of chemical action or the instinctive motions of irrational animals4 ,yet the ,imagination helps us1 after a sympathetic contemplation of what a friend has done and said and wished1 to complete the picture by taking as it were a bird's-eye view of his past1 present and future1 so as to be able in some measure to realize and predict what he will do and say and wish4 ,this mental 8imagination10 8image10 or 8idea0 of our friend we might describe as the 8law0 of his being1 so far as it was grasped by us3 but so much more subtle and variable than any known 8law0 are the sequences of human thought and conduct1 that we generally prefer the phrase which we just now used to describe the intuition of the artist2 and so we speak of 8entering into the spirit0 of a man4 ,it is usual to say that we do this by 8sympathy20 but sympathy is only one form of ,imagination tinged with love1 the power of imagining the joys and sorrows of others and of realizing them as one's own4 ,imagination1 without love1 might realize the sorrows of an enemy to gloat over them3 love1 if it could be without ,imagination--which it cannot be1 since love implies at least some imagination of what the beloved would wish--would be a poor lifeless sentiment doing nothing1 or nothing to the purpose4 ,but imaginative love1 or sympathy1 gives us the key to the knowledge of all human nature1 and is the foundation of all domestic and social unity and order4 ,as to the test of ,imagination when brought to bear upon human nature1 you will remember1 ,i dare say1 that it was determined to be the success with which it 8worked0 human nature1 or1 in other words1 made men do 8what they are intended to do40 ,but ,i was then speaking of the way in which the great prophets1 lawgivers1 and founders of religions have influenced great masses of mankind1 and in which almost every mother influences her children1 by idealizing them4 ,i might have added1 and ,i will now add1 a word on the manner in which an imaginary ideal of human nature proves its truth experimentally to the imaginer1 by 8working0 him1 that is1 by making him capable of doing 8the work he was intended to do40 ,it is the more necessary to do this because the illusions of ,imagination are nowhere so strong and so lasting as in the study of human ,nature2 and there is a danger that we may be deterred by the thought of them from steadily pursuing the truth4 ,the cynic tells us with a sneer that babies1 and none but babies1 think men and women better than they are1 and that1 the older one grows1 the more one is disillusionised about the virtue of human nature4 ,but that is not true1 or only a half truth4 ,if we1 as children1 imagine the men and women about us to be perfections of power1 wisdom1 and virtue1 one reason is1 that we have1 as children1 a most inadequate standard of physical1 mental1 and moral excellence4 ,as our standard rises1 our sense of inadequacy increases2 but the reason why1 as we grow older1 we cease to think people perfect1 is1 very often1 not that we think worse of human beings1 but that we think better of human possibilities4 ,but in some minds defect of ,imagination combines with other causes to induce the repeatedly disillusionised man to give up the search after the truth that lies beneath the illusion and to cast away all trust1 all thought1 of any ideal of humanity4 ,those who do this make shipwreck of their own lives4 ,their low ideal or no-ideal of conduct does not 8work20 that is to say1 it does not fit them to do the work they were intended to do4 ,even for the purposes of their own happiness their life is a failure4 ,so far as the spiritual side of their nature is concerned1 a dull and stagnant self-satisfaction is the highest prize they can hope to acquire3 they have none of the keen joys of spiritual aspiration1 of failures redeemed1 of gradual progress1 and of deeper insight into the glorious possibilities of human nature4 ,but those who1 while not rejecting the sobering admonitions of ,experience and ,reason1 can nevertheless so far obey the promptings of ,imagination as to retain in their hearts an ever fresh and expansive and healthful ,ideal of life1 find themselves led on by it from hope to nobler hope1 from effort to more arduous effort1 until life and effort end together4 ,let this suffice as my protest against the popular fallacy that the ,imagination is an abnormal faculty1 limited to poets and painters and 8artists10 mostly illusive1 and always to be subordinated in the search after truth4 ,i maintain1 on the contrary1 that it lies at the basis of all knowledge2 that it is no less necessary for science1 for morals1 and for religion1 than for artistic success2 and that the illusions of ,imagination are the stepping-stones to ,truths4 ,now to speak of ,reason1 or1 as some would call it1 ,understanding4 ,while dealing with ,imagination1 we recognized that the work of ,reason is mostly negative and corrective3 but let us come to detail4 ,reason is commonly said to proceed by two methods2 7i7 by ,induction1 wherein1 by 8inducing10 or introducing1 a number of particular instances 7e4g4 8,a1 ,b1 ,c1 c41 are men and are mortal071 you establish a general conclusion 78all men are mortal072 7ii7 by ,deduction1 wherein1 from two previous statements called ,premises1 you deduce a third1 called a ,conclusion4 7i7 ,as regards ,induction1 surely you must admit that the initial part of the task falls not upon the ,reason but upon the ,imagination2 which sees likenesses and leaps to general conclusions1 mostly premature or false1 but all containing a truth from which the falsehood must be eliminated4 ,thus1 a child imagines1 by premature ,induction1 that all men are 7#a7 like his father2 7#b7 black haired2 7#c7 between five and six feet high2 7#d7 white-skinned1 and so on4 ,then comes ,reason afterwards1 comparing and contrasting these imaginative premature conclusions with a wider and contradictory experience and widening the conclusion accordingly4 ,hence it is the part of ,reason to suggest those varied experiments which are a necessary part of scientific ,induction2 and this is generally done by pointing out to us some neglected difference3 8,you say you had a ,turkish bath three times1 and each time caught a cold3 but were the antecedents of these three colds quite alike8 ,if not1 how did they differ8 ,did you not on the first occasion sit in a draught at a public meeting8 on the second1 forget to put on your great coat8 on the third1 let the fire out though it was freezing8 ,consider therefore1 not the single point of likeness1 the ,turkish bath1 but the points of unlikeness also1 in the antecedents of your three colds2 and try the ,turkish bath again1 omitting these antecedents1 before you say #8,a ,turkish bath always gives me cold4'0 ,you see then that in ,induction the positive and suggestive part of the work is done by the ,imagination2 the negative and eliminative part by ,reason4 7ii7 ,as regards ,deduction1 the business of ,reason is to ascertain that the ,premises are not only true but also connected in such a way that a conclusion can be drawn from them4 ,but even here ,imagination plays a part3 for the conclusion of every syllogism 7roughly speaking7 depends upon the following axiom3 8,if a is included in b1 and b is included in c1 then a is included in c2 in other words1 if a watch is in a box1 and the box is in a room1 then the watch is in the room40 ,now this general proposition1 like all general propositions1 is arrived at with the aid of the ,imagination1 so that we may fairly say that the ,imagination1 helps to lay the foundation of the ,syllogism4 ,when therefore you bear in mind that in every ,syllogism the ,premises are often the result of an ,induction in which ,imagination has played a part1 and that the conclusion always depends upon an axiom of the ,imagination1 you must admit that even ,deductive ,reasoning by no means excludes the ,imagination4 7iii7 ,practically1 errors seldom arise1 and truth is seldom discovered1 from mere ,deductive ,reasoning4 ,any one can see his way through a logical ,syllogism1 and almost any one can lay his finger on the weak point in an illogical one4 ,but the difficulty is to start the ,reasoning in the right direction and to begin the ,logical ,chain with an appropriate ,syllogism4 ,for example1 suppose we wish to prove that 8every triangle which has two angles equal1 has two sides opposite to them equal03 how can our ,reason1 our discriminative faculty1 help us here8 ,at present1 not at all4 ,we must first call to our aid the ,imagination1 which says to us1 8,imagine the triangle with two equal angles to have two unequal sides opposite to them1 and see what follows40 ,and every one who has done a geometrical ,deduction knows that we frequently start by 8imagining0 the conclusion to be already proved1 or the problem to be already performed1 and then endeavouring to realise1 among the many consequences that would follow1 which of those consequences would harmonize with1 or be identical with1 the data to which we are working back4 ,the same process is common in the reasoning that deals with what is called ,circumstantial ,evidence4 ,thus1 it is asserted by ,a that he saw ,b commit a murder in the midst of a field1 five minutes before midnight1 on the first day of last month3 how can we test the truth of ,a's assertion8 ,the negative faculty of ,reason cannot answer the question4 ,but once more ,imagination steps in and says1 8,imagine the story to be true2 imagine yourself to be in ,a's place2 imagine the circumstances which would have surrounded him1 the hidden place from which he saw the murder1 the light which enabled him to see it1 the precise sight that he saw1 the voices or sounds that he heard1 and1 in a word1 all the details of a likely and coherent narrative40 ,when the ,imagination has done this and 8imagined0 the place--perhaps a hedge--the light--moonlight1 and so on1 ,reason steps in1 and corroborates or rejects1 by shewing that there was1 or was not1 a hedge whence the deed could have been witnessed2 that there was a full moon or no moon on the night in question2 that1 if there had been a moon1 the place in question was open to the moonlight1 or in deep shadow3 and thus ,imagination and ,reason 7aided by experience of the place and knowledge of the time7 arrive at a conclusion1 the former making a positive1 the latter a negative contribution4 ,hence it appears that even in those questions which are called pre-eminently 8practical0--for what can be more 8practical0 than a trial in a law-court for life or death8--the ,imagination plays so great a part that without its aid the reason could effect little or nothing4 ,here ,i must break off2 but ,i hope ,i have said enough to satisfy you that the imaginative faculty1 though it needs the constant test of ,reason and ,experience1 is far more intimately connected with what we call knowledge1 than is commonly supposed4 ,but if this be so1 we ought not 7,i think7 to be surprised if a careful analysis of our profoundest religious convictions should reveal that for these also we are indebted1 and intended by ,god to be indebted1 to the ,imagination far more than to the ,reason4 ,footnote #c3 8,reason0 is used1 in these letters1 in a sense for which ,coleridge 7,i believe7 preferred to use 8,understanding40 ,but as long as we have a verb 8reason10 commonly used of mathematical1 logical1 and ordinary processes of arguing1 so long it will be inexpedient1 in a popular treatise1 to use the word in any but its popular sense4 ,perhaps some might give the name of 8higher ,reason0 to what ,i call ,imagination4 ,,vii ,,the ,,culture ,,of ,,faith ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i have been very much pained by your sprightly account of the lively and witty conversation between you and your clever young friends1 ---- and ----1 on the proofs of the existence of a ,god4 ,bear with me if ,i assure you that discussions in that spirit are likely to be fatal to real faith4 ,they may often be far more dangerous than a serious collision between untrained faith and the most highly educated scepticism4 ,i do not deprecate discussion1 but ,i do most earnestly plead for reverence4 ,young men at the ,universities stand in especial need of this warning because their studies lead them to be critical2 and habits of criticism may easily weaken the habit of reverence4 ,i remember once being shewn over a great public school by the ,headmaster1 justly celebrated as a ,headmaster once1 and much more celebrated since in another capacity4 ,it was a grand school1 though a little too ecclesiastical to suit my taste4 ,while we were in the chapel my friend spoke earnestly of the pleasure it gave him on ,sundays to see in the chapel the familiar faces of the old boys who came to revisit the old place4 ,at the same time he deplored the contrast between those who went into the army1 and those who went to the ,universities3 8,the army fellows10 he said1 8almost always come to ,communion1 the university fellows almost always stop away40 ,these words made an indelible impression on my mind1 8,who is to blame1 or praise1 for this80 asked ,i1 on my journey homeward4 8,is it the army that is to be praised for its inculcation of discipline and self-subordination1 helping the young fellows to realise the meaning of self-sacrifice8 ,or is it the ,university that is to be blamed for its negative and destructive teaching8 ,or can it be that the school is in part to blame for teaching the boys to believe too much2 and the ,university in part to blame for teaching the young men to criticize too much80 ,over and over again1 since that time1 ,i have asked myself these same questions about many other young men from many other public schools4 ,i honour the army as much as most men1 more perhaps than many do3 but after all the profession of a soldier is the profession of a throat-cutter2 throat-cutting in an extensive1 expeditious1 and honourable way1--throat-cutting in one direction often undertaken merely to prevent throat-cutting in another direction--but still throat-cutting after all3 and it seemed very hard to believe that the profession of throat-cutting is1 and ought to be1 a better preparation than the pursuit of learning at the ,universities1 for participation in the ,holy ,communion4 ,on the whole ,i was led to the conclusion that the young men in the army had retained and deepened the instinctive obedience to authority1 the sense of the need of the subordination of the individual to the community1 and perhaps also the feeling of reverence1 while they had not been taught so fully to appreciate all that was implied in attendance at ,communion or to realize the intellectual difficulties presented by the ,new ,testament4 ,in other words--to put it briefly and roughly--the young cadets and officers came to ,communion because they had been taught to feel and not taught to think2 and the ,university men stayed away because they had been taught to think and not to feel4 ,now ,i will ask you to excuse me if ,i suggest that the principal danger to your character at present arises from the want of such discipline as may be obtained by some in the army1 and by others in the practical work of life4 ,you need some emotional and moral exercise to counterbalance your mental and intellectual training4 ,you are not aware how much of the most valuable knowledge1 conviction1 certainty--call it what you will1 but ,i mean that kind of moral and spiritual knowledge which is the basis of all right conduct--springs in the main from spiritual and emotional sources4 ,in the present letter ,i should like to confine myself to this subject1 the culture1 if ,i may so say1 of ,christian faith4 ,let me then ask you first to clear your mind by asking yourself what is the essence of the faith which you would desire to retain4 ,it is 7is it not87 a faith or trust in the fatherhood of ,god4 ,this surely is the ,gospel or ,good ,news for which ,christ lived and died1 in order that ,he might breathe it into the hearts of men4 8,fatherhood0--some of your young friends will exclaim--8,what an antiquated notion6 ,flat anthropomorphism60 ,by 8anthropomorphism0 they mean a tendency to make ,god in human shape2 just as ,heine's four-legged poetic ,bruin makes ,god to be a great white ,polar ,bear1 and the frogs of ,celsus imagine ,him to be a gigantic ,frog4 ,no doubt1 this is very funny2 but the decryers of anthropomorphism who venture on any conception of a ,god--are they any less funny8 ,do not they shew a similar disposition to make ,god in the shape of human works or human experiences8 ,shall ,i be exploring a nobler path of spiritual speculation if ,i say ,god is a ,rock or a ,buckler1 or a ,centre1 or a ,force1 than if ,i say ,god is a ,father in heaven8 ,ask your sceptical companions what conception of ,god they can mention which is not open to objection1 and they will perhaps reply 8,an ,eternal1 or a ,tendency1 not ourselves1 which makes for righteousness40 ,now to reply 8an ,eternal10 appears to me to be taking a rather mean and pedantical advantage of the uninflected peculiarities of ,english 7and ,hebrew71 which leave it an open question whether you mean your 8,eternal0 to be masculine1 or neuter4 ,and 8,tendency0--what is it8 ,is it not a 8stretching10 or 8pulling10 or partially neutralised force--a common human experience8 ,now we are dealing with the accusation of limiting our conception of ,god to our experiences as men4 ,and1 so far as this charge is concerned1 what is the difference between calling ,god a 8,tendency10 or a 8,rock10 or a 8,shield10 or a 8,house of ,defence10 as the old ,psalmist does8 ,are not all these names mere metaphors derived from human experience8 ,in the same way to call ,god a ,father is 7no doubt7 a metaphor3 but is it more a metaphor than to call ,him a ,tendency8 ,some metaphors1 which describe ,god by reference to the relations of man to man1 may be called anthropomorphic2 others1 which describe ,him by reference to implements 7such as a ,shield7 may be called organomorphic2 others1 which assimilate ,him to lifeless and inorganic objects 7such as a ,hill7 may be called by some other grand name1 such as apsychomorphic2 others1 which would subtilize ,him down to a thought1 or a mind1 or a spirit1 may be called phronesimorphic1 noumorphic1 pneumatomorphic2 but in the name of common sense--or in the name of that sense which ought to be common1 and which ought to revolt against bondage to mere words--what is there in that termination 8morphic0 which should stagger a seeker after divine truth8 ,do we not all recognize that all terms applied to the supreme ,god are 8morphisms0 of various kinds8 ,and the question is not how we can avoid a 8morphism0--for we cannot avoid it--but how or where we can find the noblest and most spiritually helpful 8morphism40 ,and as between the ancient and the modern metaphors just set before you can you entertain a moment's doubt8 ,might we not imagine the question put--after the old ,roman authoritative fashion--to an assembly of the consciences of universal mankind3 8,christ says that ,god is a ,father in heaven2 refined thinkers say that ,he is a ,tendency2 utri creditis1 gentes80 ,to which ,i seem to hear the answer of the ,universe come back1 8,we will have no ,tendencies seated on the throne of ,heaven4 ,give us a ,father1 or we will have nothing40 ,and you1 my dear friend1 how is it with you8 ,utri credis8 ,but perhaps you complain1 or some of your friends might complain1 that this is not treating the question fairly4 8,the doctrine of the ,fatherhood of ,god10 they may say1 8is to be discussed like any other proposition1 upon the evidence40 ,i entirely deny it1 if from your 8evidence0 you intend to exclude the witness of ,imagination expressed in ,faith and ,hope4 ,i assert1 on the contrary1 that it is to be believed in1 against what may be called quasi-evidence4 ,it cannot be demonstrated to be either true or false4 ,do not misunderstand me4 ,there is abundant evidence of a certain kind--as ,i will hereafter shew--for the ,fatherhood of ,god2 but there is also evidence against it3 and what ,i mean is1 that the mind is not to sit impartially and coldly neutral between the two testimonies1 but is to grasp the former and hold it fast and keep it constantly in view1 while it lays less stress on and 7after a time7 puts on one side the latter4 ,i have shewn you that many of our deepest and most vital convictions are based less upon ,reason than upon ,imagination4 ,why then should we be surprised if the most profound convictions of all1 our religious certainties1 rest upon that imaginative desire to which we have given the name of ,faith8#d ,if an archangel 7robed in light7 were to step down to me this moment and were to cry aloud1 8,verily there is no ,god10 ,i should reply1 or ought to reply1 8,verily thou art a devil40 ,if the same archangel were to come in the same way and to say 8,verily there is a ,god10 ,i should reply1 8,i felt sure there was2 and now ,i am more sure than ever40 ,how unfair1 how illogical1 if our belief is to be a matter of mere evidence6 ,but it is not to be a matter of mere evidence4 ,it is to be a struggle against an evil thought--shall ,i not say an evil being8--that is perpetually attempting to slander ,god to men by representing ,him as permitting or originating evil4 ,does this startle you--this suggestion of an evil being--as being too old-fashioned for an educated ,christian8 ,well then1 put it aside for the time 7though it is indeed ,christ's doctrine73 and merely assume as a temporary hypothesis that the essence of ,christ's ,gospel is a trust in the ,fatherhood of ,god4 ,now1 if this be so1 and if this trust or faith is to be kept pure and strong1 must it not be regarded with reverence and reserve as being 7what indeed it is7 a kind of private1 domestic1 and family relation8 ,is it to be made the subject for light1 casual1 frivolous discussions2 epigrammatic displays2 cut-and-thrust exhibitions of word-fence2 logical or rhetorical symposia8 ,what would you say of a young man who should allow his relations with his father and mother to be discussed with humour and epigram on every light occasion8 ,would he be likely long to retain the bloom of domestic affection unimpaired8 ,i remember reading about some well-educated and enlightened free-thinker--,i fancy it was ,bolingbroke--on whose table a ,greek ,testament was regularly placed by the side of the port when the cloth was drawn1 and whose favourite topic for discussion after dinner was the existence and attributes of the ,deity4 ,does not your instinct teach you that from such discussions as these no good could possibly come1 nothing but a hardening of the conscience1 a fatal familiarity with sacred things regarded with a view to witticism--that kind of familiarity which too surely breeds contempt8 ,what a terrible contrast it is--complacent ,bolingbroke at his wine1 analysing the attributes of ,god1 and the all-pitying ,father looking down from heaven and pleading1 through ,christ1 not to be analysed but to be loved and trusted6 ,may we not go a step further and say that ,christian ,faith or trust--if it be once recognized as faith or trust1 altogether distinct from the kind of assent which we give to a proposition of ,euclid--needs not only to be protected from certain evil influences but also to be subjected to certain good influences8 ,it is a kind of plant1 and requires its spiritual soil1 air1 rain and sunshine2 in other words it needs good thoughts1 noble aspirations1 and unselfish acts1 to keep it alive4 ,you may retort perhaps that ,faith itself ought to produce these results1 and not to be produced by them4 ,but ,i reply that1 though ,faith does tend to produce these results1 it is strengthened by producing them2 and it is weakened and finally extinguished by not producing them4 8,our faith0 has been described as 8the victory that hath overcome the world40 ,what is there in the world that it should need to be 8overcome08 ,i suppose the writer meant that this present1 visible1 tangible1 enjoyable system of things--which was meant by the ,supreme to be a kind of glass through which we might discern something of the greatness and order of the ,maker has been converted1 partly by our selfishness1 partly by some ,evil in the world outside us1 into a mirror shutting out all glimpse of ,god and giving us back nothing but the reflection of ourselves4 ,on the other hand1 there is a different way of regarding the world when1 our eyes being opened like the eyes of ,aeneas amid burning ,troy1 we discern in the midst of this present condition of things a great conflict between ,good and ,evil1 and on the side of goodness1 we see the forms of ,righteousness1 ,justice and ,truth1 supported by ,faith1 ,hope1 and ,charity2 amid the smoke and roar of battles and revolutions1 the destructions of nations1 and the downfall of empires and of churches1 we realise that these are abiding influences2 that either in this world1 or in some other1 these things shall ultimately prevail1 because these are the ,angels that stand about the throne of the ,ruler of the ,universe4 ,this state of mind is ,faith1 and it is to be nurtured by effort1 partly in action1 partly in thought4 ,bacon bids us nurture it by 8cherishing the good hours of the mind40 ,st4 ,paul says nearly the same thing in different words3 8,whatsoever things are honourable1 whatsoever things are just1 whatsoever things are pure1 whatsoever things are lovely1 whatsoever things are of good report1 if there be any virtue1 and if there be any praise1 think on these things40 ,are you surprised at this8 ,does faith seem to you1 on these terms1 a possession of little worth--this quicksilver quality which varies with every variation of our spiritual atmosphere8 ,why surely everything that lives and grows is liable to flux4 ,you do not disparage bodily health because it is dependent on supports and influences1 and liable to changes2 why then disparage spiritual health because it is similarly dependent8 ,no doubt one would not be willingly a religious valetudinarian2 a man's spiritual constitution ought not to be at the mercy of every slight and passing breeze of circumstance2 but at present there is little danger of spiritual valetudinarianism4 ,physical 8sanitation0 is on every one's tongue2 but no one thinks of the necessity of good spiritual air and of the evils of bad spiritual drainage4 ,we do not recognize that there are laws of our spiritual as well as of our material nature4 ,we wilfully narrow our lives to the sabbathless pursuit of gain or pleasure--self everywhere1 ,god nowhere--and then go about hypocritically whining that the age of faith has passed and that we have lost the power of believing4 ,with our own hands we put the stopper on the telescope and then complain that we cannot see6 ,do not however1 suppose that ,i call upon you1 because hope is the basis of ,christian belief1 on that account to hope against the truth and to believe against reason4 ,i bid you believe in the ,fatherhood of ,god1 first because your conscience tells you that this is the best and noblest belief1 but secondly also because this belief--although it may be against the superficial evidence of the phenomena of the ,universe--is in accordance with these phenomena when you regard them more deeply and when you include in your scope the history of ,christianity4 ,i admit that we have to fight against temptations in order to retain this belief2 and sometimes ,i ask myself1 8,if ,i and my children had been slaves in one of the ,southern ,states of ,america2 or if ,i and my family had suffered such indelible outrages as were recently inflicted by the ,turks upon the ,bulgarians2 or if ,i were at this moment a matchbox-seller or a father of ten children 7girls as well as boys7 in the ,east of ,london--should ,i find it so easy to believe that ,god is our ,father in heaven80 ,and ,i am obliged to reply1 8,no1 ,i should not find it easy20 ,i fear that ,i might be tempted to say1 as a workman did not long ago to a lecturer on co-operation who mentioned the name of ,god3 8,oh1 no2 no ,god for us2 the workman's ,god deserted him long ago40 ,and perhaps you yourself may remember the answer of one of those wretched ,bulgarians to some newspaper correspondent who endeavoured to console him in his anguish by the reflection that 8,after all there is a ,god that governs the world30 8,i believe you10 was the reply2 8there is indeed a ,god2 and he governs the world indeed2 and he is the ,devil40 ,or take a spectacle of the ,middle ,ages as a problem4 ,in the lists are two armed knights2 on the one side a man of might and muscle1 exulting in conflict2 on the other1 a slight1 weak creature1 who never fights save on compulsion1 and is to fight now on sternest compulsion1 being accused 7though innocent7 of some gross crime by yonder man of flesh1 who combines scoundrel1 liar1 traitor1 oppressor1 thief1 and adulterer1 all in one2 and the fight is to begin under the sanction of the ,church of ,christ4 ,as the trumpets sound1 while the heralds are still calling on ,god to 8shew the right10 the two men meet1 and 8the right0 is cast to the ground1 trampled on by his enemy1 and dragged from the lists to the neighbouring gallows1 while the muscular scoundrel wipes his forehead and receives congratulations4 ,do you suppose that the innocent man's wife1 if she were looking on1 would be able easily to say at that moment1 8,verily there is a ,god that judgeth the earth08 ,can ,i possibly put the case for scepticism more strongly8 ,i would fain put it with all the force in my power in order to convince you that ,i have thought often over these matters1 and that1 although my own life may have been happy and free from stumbling-blocks1 ,i have at least tried to understand and sympathize with those who find it very hard to believe that there is a ,god4 ,but1 in the presence of such monstrous evils as these1 ,i take refuge in a belief and in a fact2 first1 in the belief 7which runs through almost every page of the ,gospels and has received the sanction of ,christ ,himself7 that there is an ,evil ,being in the world who is continually opposing the ,good but will be ultimately subdued by the ,good2 secondly1 in the fact that in one great typical conflict between ,good and ,evil1--where apparently ,god did not 8shew the right10 and where1 in appearance1 there was consummated the most brutal triumph of ,evil over ,good that the world ever witnessed--there the ,good in reality effected its most signal triumph4 ,the issue of the conflict on the ,cross of ,christ is my great comfort and mainstay of faith1 when my heart is distracted with the thought of all the spurns1 buffets1 and outrages1 endured by much-suffering humanity4 8,at last1 far off10 ,i cry1 8the right will be shewn1 even as it was in the contest on the ,cross40 ,you see then the nature of the conflict of faith4 ,it is a struggle of hope against fear1 trustfulness against trustlessness1 where strict logical proof is impossible4 ,but ,i do not call you to set ,faith against ,reason1 or to make hope trample on the understanding1 or to shut your eyes to the presence or absence of historical evidence4 ,if religion comes down from the region of hope and aspiration into the region of fact and evidence1 and asserts that this or that fact happened at this or that time and place1 then1 so far1 it appeals to evidence1 and by evidence it must be judged4 ,half the earnest scepticism of the present day is not really spiritual scepticism but simply doubt about historical facts4 ,distinguish carefully and constantly between two terms entirely different but continually confused--the super-natural and the miraculous4 ,in the super-natural every rational man must believe1 if he knows what is meant by the term2 for every rational man must acknowledge that the world had either a beginning or no beginning1 a ,first ,cause or no ,first ,cause2 and either hypothesis is altogether above the level of natural phenomena1 and therefore supernatural4 ,the theist and the atheist are alike believers in the supernatural4 ,the agnostic1 poised between the two1 admits that some supernatural origin of the world is necessary1 but is unable to decide which of the two is the more probable4 ,all alike therefore believe in the supernatural2 but the important difference is that some take a hopeful or faithful1 others a hopeless or faithless1 view of the supernatural4 ,proof in this region is not possible1 unless the testimony of the conscience may be accepted as proof4 ,if ,jesus were to appear to-morrow sitting on the clouds of heaven and testifying that there is a ,father in heaven1 ,i can imagine some men of science replying1 8,this is a mere phantom of the brain10 or1 8,this is the result of indigestion10 or 8,assertion is not proof40 ,mere force of logical proof or personal observation can convince no one that there is a ,god or that ,jesus is the ,eternal ,son of ,god2 such a conviction can only come from a leaping out of the human spirit to meet the ,spirit of ,god2 and hence ,st4 ,paul tells us that 8no man can say0--that is1 8say sincerely0--8that ,jesus is the ,lord save by the ,spirit40 ,here therefore1 in this region of the indemonstrable1 ,i can honestly use an effort of the will to ally myself with the spirit of faith4 8,i will pray to ,god2 ,i will cling to ,god2 will refuse to doubt of ,god2 refuse to listen to doubts about ,god 7except so far as may be needful to do it1 in order to lighten the doubts of others1 and then only as a painful duty1 to be got through with all speed72 ,i am determined 7so help me ,god7 to believe in ,god to the end of my days30 resolving thus ,i am not acting insincerely nor shutting my eyes to the truth1 but taking nature's appointed means for reaching and holding fast the highest spiritual truth4 ,but ,i do not feel justified in thus using my will to constrain myself to believe in the miraculous2 for here ,god has given me other means--such as history1 experience1 and evidence--for arriving at the truth4 ,nor does a belief in the super-natural in the least imply a belief in the miraculous also4 ,i may believe that ,god is continually supporting and impelling on its path every created thing2 but ,i may also believe that there is no evidence to prove that ,his support and impulsion have ever been manifested save in accordance with that orderly sequence which we call ,law4 ,i may even believe that the ,universe is double1 having a spiritual and invisible counterpart corresponding to this visible and material existence1 so that nothing is done in the world of flesh below which has not been first done in the world of spirit above2 yet even this latitude of spiritual speculation would not in the least establish the conclusion that the observed sequence of what we call cause and effect in the material world has ever been violated4 ,to take a particular instance1 ,i may be convinced1 that ,jesus of ,nazareth was the ,eternal ,word of ,god1 made flesh for men2 and yet ,i may remain unconvinced that1 in thus taking flesh upon ,him1 ,he raised ,himself above the physical laws of humanity4 ,in other words ,i may1 with the author of the ,fourth ,gospel1 heartily believe in the supernatural ,incarnation while omitting from my ,gospel all mention of the ,miraculous ,conception4 ,nay1 ,i may go still further4 ,while cordially accepting the divine nature of ,christ1 ,i may see such clear indications and evidences of the manner in which accounts of miracles sprang up in the ,church without foundation of fact1 that ,i may be compelled not merely to omit miracles from my ,gospel and to confess myself unconvinced of their truth1 but even to avow my conviction of their untruth4 ,but into this negative aspect of things ,i do not wish now to enter4 ,i would rather urge on you this positive consideration1 that1 since our recognition of the ,laws of ,nature themselves1 depends in a very large degree upon faith1 we ought not to be surprised if our acknowledgment of the ,founder of these ,laws rests also on the same basis4 ,and1 if this be so1 we cannot speak accurately about the 8evidence0 for the existence of a ,god1 unless we include in that term the aspirations of the human conscience toward a ,maker and ,ruler and ,father of all4 ,footnote #d3 ,faith is 8desire 7approved by the ,conscience7 of which we imagine the fulfilment1 while putting doubt at a distance03 see the ,definitions at the end of the volume4 ,,viii ,,faith ,,and ,,demonstration ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i am afraid your notions about 8proof0 are still rather hazy2 for you quote against me a stern and self-denying dictum which passes current among some of your young friends1 that 8it is immoral to believe what cannot be proved40 ,have you seriously asked yourself what you mean by 8proved0 in enunciating this proposition8 ,do you mean 8made sufficiently probable to induce a man to act upon the probability08 ,or do you mean 8absolutely demonstrated08 ,if you mean the former1 not so many as you suppose are guilty of this 8immorality40 ,give me an instance1 if you can1 of a man who 8believes what cannot be made sufficiently probable to induce him to act upon the probability40 ,of course some men say they believe what they1 in reality1 do not believe2 but you speak1 not about 8saying0 but about 8believing20 and ,i do not see how any man can 8believe0 what he does not regard as probable4 ,i am inclined to think therefore that1 in this sense of the word 8prove10 your proposition is meaningless4 ,but perhaps by 8prove10 you mean 8absolutely demonstrate20 and your thesis is that 8it is immoral to believe what cannot be absolutely demonstrated20 in that case ,i am obliged to ask you how you can repeat such cant1 such a mere parrot cry1 with a grave face4 ,do you not see that1 as soon as you conceded 7as ,i understand you to have done7 that our belief in the ,laws of ,nature is based upon the ,imagination1 you virtually conceded the validity of a kind of proof in which faith and hope play a large part1 and in which demonstration is impossible4 8,demonstration0 applies to mathematics and to syllogisms where the premises are granted1 though it is also sometimes loosely used of proof conveyed by personal observation2 8proof0 applies to the other affairs of life4 ,demonstration appeals very largely 7not entirely1 as ,i have shown above1 but very largely7 to ,reason2 proof is largely based on ,faith4 ,having defined 8angles10 8triangles10 8base10 and 8isosceles10 and having been granted certain axioms and postulates1 ,i can demonstrate that the angles at the basis of an isosceles triangle are equal to one another2 but ,i cannot 8demonstrate0 that1 if ,i throw a stone in the air1 it will come down again1 though ,i am perfectly convinced that it will come down1 and though ,i commonly assert that ,i can 8prove0 that it will come down4 ,why1 your whole life is full of beliefs--as certain as any beliefs can be--which it is impossible to demonstrate6 ,when you got up this morning did you not believe that your razor would shave and your looking-glass reflect2 that your boiling water would scald if you spilt it1 and your egg break if you dropped it2 and a score or two of other similar perfectly certain beliefs--all entertained and acted on in less than an hour1 but all incapable of demonstration8 ,but you maintain perhaps that 8these beliefs are not beliefs1 but knowledge based on the uniformity of the laws of nature2 you know that the laws of nature are uniform1 and therefore you knew that your razor would shave40 ,but how1 ,i ask1 do you know that the laws of nature are uniform8 8,by the experience of mankind during many thousands of years40 ,but how do you know that what has been in the past will be in the future--will be in the next instant8 8,well1 if a law of nature were broken--say1 for example1 the law of gravitation--the whole ,universe would fall to pieces40 ,in other words1 you and ,i would feel extremely uncomfortable1 if we existed long enough to feel anything2 but what does that demonstrate8 ,absolutely nothing4 ,it would no doubt be extremely inconvenient for both of us if any law of nature observed in the past did not continue to be observed in the future2 but inconvenience proves nothing logically4 ,it is no doubt extremely inconvenient not to be able to believe that your razor will shave2 but what of that8 ,where is the demonstration8 ,and remember your own dictum1 8,it is immoral to believe what cannot be demonstrated40 ,perhaps you may try to writhe out of this application of your own principle by the use of grand terms2 8,the ,laws of ,nature have been proved to be true by experiment as well as by observation2 they have been made the basis for abstruse calculations and inferences as to what will happen2 then the philosopher has predicted #8this will happen1' and it has happened4 ,surely no one will deny that this is a proof60 ,a proof of what8 ,of the future invariableness of the sequences of ,nature8 ,i shall not only deny1 but enjoy denying1 that it is a proof2 if you mean by proof such a demonstrative proof as you obtain in a syllogism1 where the premises are assumed1 or in mathematics1 where you are reasoning about things that have no real existence but are merely convenient ideas of the imagination4 ,believe me1 this distinction of terms is by no means superfluous4 ,you and your young scientific friends are continually confusing 8proof0 with 8demonstration20 and you have one use of the word 8proof0 for religion and another for science4 ,when you speak of religion1 you say 8it is immoral to believe in it for it cannot be proved0 7meaning 8demonstrated072 when you speak of science1 you say1 8,this can be proved0 7not meaning 8demonstrated10 but simply 8made probable10 or 8proved for practical purposes074 ,you may discourse for hours upon the ,laws of ,nature1 but you will never succeed in convincing any one1 not even yourself1 that they will remain valid in the moment that is to come1 by the mere force of logic4 ,you are certain--so am ,i practically quite certain--that the stone which ,i throw at this moment up in the air1 will1 in the next moment1 fall to the ground4 ,but this certainty does not arise from logic4 ,we have absolutely no reason for this leap into the darkness of the future except faith1--faith of course resting upon a basis of facts1 but still faith4 ,the very names and notions of 8cause0 and 8effect0 are due not to observation1 nor to demonstration1 but to faith4 ,the name1 and the notion1 of a ,law of ,nature are nothing but convenient ideas of the scientific imagination1 based upon faith4 ,take an instance4 ,we say1 and genuinely believe1 that fire and gunpowder 8cause0 explosion2 that explosion is the 8effect0 of gunpowder and fire2 and that the effect follows the causes in accordance with the 8laws of nature20 but you have not observed all this and you cannot demonstrate it4 ,you have merely observed in the past an invariable sequence of explosion following 7in all cases that you have seen or heard about7 the combination of gunpowder and fire2 you have also perhaps predicted in the past that explosion would follow1 and demonstrated that it did follow this combination1 as often as you pleased2 you have found1 or have heard that others have found1 that this sequence agrees with other chemical sequences1 which you are in the habit of calling causes and effects2 but all this is evidence as to the past1 not as to the future4 ,your certainty as to the future arises not from any demonstration about the future1 but from your faith or trust in the fixed order of ,nature1 and from nothing else4 ,now the greater part of the action of life deals with the future4 ,it follows therefore that1 in the greater part of life1 we act1 not from demonstration1 but from a proof in which faith is a constituent element4 ,whence arises this trust in the uniformity of the phenomena of the ,universe8 ,we can hardly give any other answer except that we could not get on without it4 ,having been found to 8work0 by ourselves1 and by many generations of our forefathers1 this faith is possibly by this time an inherited instinct as well as the inbred result of our own earliest experiences4 ,but when we analyse it we are forced to confess that we can give no logical account of it4 ,logically regarded1 it savours of the most audacious optimism1 arguing1 or rather sentimentalizing1 after this fashion3 8,it would be so immensely inconvenient if ,nature were every moment changing her rules without notice6 ,all forethought1 all civilization would be at an end2 nay1 we could not so much as take a single step or move a limb with confidence1 if we could not depend upon ,nature60 ,does not this personification of ,nature1 and trust or faith in ,nature1 somewhat resemble our trust or faith in ,god8 ,i think it does2 and it is very interesting to note that the very foundations of science are laid in a quasi-religious sentiment of which no logical justification can be given4 ,i might easily go further and shew that1 even as regards the past1 we act in our daily lives very often on the grounds of faith and very seldom on the grounds of demonstration4 ,on this ,i have touched in a previous letter2 but your dictum about the 8immorality of believing what cannot be proved0 makes it clear that you are hardly as yet aware of the nature of the ordinary 8proofs0 on which we act4 ,how few there are who have any grounds but faith for believing in the existence of a ,julius ,csar or an ,alexander6 ,yet they believe implicitly4 ,many have heard these two great men loosely spoken of1 or alluded to2 but they have never weighed1 nor have they the least power to weigh1 the evidence that proves that ,csar and ,alexander actually existed4 ,now as the unlearned are quite certain of the existence of a ,julius ,csar1 so are you too quite certain of many facts upon very slight grounds4 ,you ask one man his name2 another1 how many children he has2 a third1 the name of the street in which he lives1 and so on2 how certain you often feel1 on the slight evidence of their answers 7unless there be special grounds for suspecting them7 that your information is correct6 ,the reason is that all social intercourse depends on faith2 if you began to suspect and disbelieve every man who gave you answers to such simple questions as these1 social life would be at an end for you1 and you might as well at once retire to a hermitage2 scepticism in matters of this kind has not worked1 and faith has worked2 and this has gone on with you from childhood and with your forefathers from their childhood for many generations4 ,thus faith has become a second instinct with you1 and you act upon it so often and so naturally that you are not aware of the degree to which it influences and permeates your actions4 ,the cases in which you act thus instinctively upon very slight evidence1 and upon a large and general faith in the people who give the evidence1 are far more numerous than those cases in which you formally weigh evidence and attempt to arrive at something like demonstrative proof4 ,in other words1 not only as regards the future but also as regards the past1 faith is for the most part the underlying basis of action4 ,you believe1 to a large extent and in a great many cases1 simply because 8it would be so immensely inconvenient not to believe40 ,i claim that ,i have fulfilled my promise of shewing that people act much more upon faith than upon demonstration in every department of life2 and ,i now repeat and emphasize what ,i said before1 that if all our existence is thus dominated by faith1 it is absurd to attempt to exclude faith from any religion4 ,but if our special religion consists in a recognition of ,god the ,maker as ,god the ,father1 then it is more natural than ever to suppose that our religion will require a large element of faith or trust4 ,just as family life would break down if the sons were always analysing the father's character1 and declining to believe anything to his credit beyond what could be demonstrated to be true1 so religious life will break down1 if we treat the ,father in heaven as a mere topic for logical discussion and declare that it is 8immoral to believe0 in ,his fatherhood if it cannot be proved4 ,of course ,i do not deny that you must have evidence of the existence of the ,father before you can trust in ,him4 ,you could not trust your parents if you had not seen1 touched1 heard them--known something of them in fact through the senses3 so neither can you trust ,god if you have not known something of ,him through the senses4 ,well1 ,i maintain that is what you are continually doing4 ,god is continually revealing ,himself to us in the power1 the beauty1 the glory1 the harmony1 the beneficence1 the mystery1 of the ,universe1 and pre-eminently in human goodness and greatness4 ,contemplate1 touch1 hear2 concentrate your mind on these things1 and especially on the perfection of human goodness1 power1 and wisdom3 thus you will be enabled to realize the presence of the ,father and then to trust in ,him4 ,contemplate also the ,evolution of the present from the past3 the ascent from a protoplasm to the first man1 from the first man to a ,homer1 a ,dante1 a ,shakespeare and a ,newton2 do not entirely ignore ,socrates1 ,st4 ,paul1 ,st4 ,francis4 ,you cannot indeed shut your eyes to the growth of evil simultaneously with the growth of good3 but do not fix your eyes too long upon the evil3 prefer to contemplate the defeat of evil by goodness1 especially in the struggle on the ,cross2 and with your contemplation let there be some admixture of action against the evil and for the good4 ,do this1 and ,i think you will have no reason to complain of the want of 8evidence0 of the existence of ,one who has made us to trust in ,him4 ,i have told you what to do3 let me add one word also of warning as to what you are not to do4 ,you are not to regard the world from the point of view of a neutral and amused spectator4 ,you are not to detach yourself from the great struggle of good against evil1 and to look on1 and call it 8interesting40 ,that attitude is fatal to all religion4 ,reject1 as from the devil1 the precept nil admirari2 better be a fool than a dispassionate critic of ,christ4 ,again1 you are not to regard the world from the mere student point of view1 looking at the ,universe as a great ,examination ,paper in which you may hope to solve more problems and score more marks than anybody else4 ,high intellectual pursuits and habits of enthusiastic research are sometimes terribly demoralizing when they tempt a man to think that he can live above1 and without1 social ties and affections1 and that mere sentiment is to be despised in comparison with knowledge4 ,this danger impends over literary as well as other students1 over critical theologians as well as over scientific experimenters2 we all sometimes forget--we students--that1 if we do not exercise the habit of trusting and loving men1 we cannot trust and love ,god4 ,to harden oneself against the mute but trustful appeal of even a beast is not without some spiritual peril of incapacitating oneself for worship4 ,,ix ,,satan ,,and ,,evolution ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,your grounds of objection appear to be now changed4 ,you say you do not understand my position with regard to ,evolution1 as ,i described it before1 and referred to it in my last letter4 ,if ,i admit ,evolution1 you ask how ,i can consistently deny that every nation and every individual1 ,israel and ,christ included1 8proceeded from material causes by necessary sequence according to fixed laws20 and in that case what becomes of such metaphors as 8the regulating hand of ,god10 8,god the ,ruler of the ,universe0 and the like8 ,it is a common saying1 you tell me1 among those of your companions who have a turn for science1 that 8,evolution has disposed of the old proofs of the existence of a ,god30 and you ask me how ,i meet this objection4 ,i meet it by asking you another question exactly like your own4 ,i take a lump of clay and a potter's wheel1 and 8from these material causes by necessary sequence according to fixed laws0 ,i mould a vessel2 is there no room in this process for 8the regulating hand of man0 and for 8man the creator of the vessel08 ,in other words1 may not these 8fixed laws10 and that 8necessity0 of which you admit the existence1 represent the perpetual pressure of the ,creator's hand1 or will1 upon the ,universe8 ,by ,evolution is meant that all results are evolved from immediate causes1 which are evolved from distant causes1 which are themselves evolved from more distant causes2 and so on4 ,in old times1 men believed that ,god made the world by a number of isolated acts4 ,now1 it is believed that ,he made a primordial something1 say atoms1 out of which there have been shaped series upon series of results by continuous motion in accordance with fixed laws of nature4 ,but neither the isolated theory nor the continuous theory can dispense with a ,creator in the centre4 ,we speak of the 8chain of creation20 and we know that in old days men recognized few links between us and the ,creator4 ,now1 we recognize many4 ,but1 because a chain has more links than we once supposed1 are we excused for rejecting our old belief in the existence of a chain-maker8 ,whether things came to be as they are1 by many creations1 or by one creation and many evolutions1 what difference does it make8 ,in the one case1 we believe in a ,creator and ,sustainer3 in the other case1 in a ,creator and ,evolver4 ,in either case1 do we not believe in a ,god8 ,what then do your young friends mean--for though they express themselves loosely1 ,i think they do mean something and are not merely repeating a cant phrase--when they say that ,evolution has 8disposed of the old proofs of the existence of a ,god08 ,i think they mean that ,evolution is inconsistent with the existence of such a ,god as the ,christian religion proclaims1 that is to say1 a ,father in heaven4 ,the old theory of discontinuous creation 7in its most exaggerated form7 maintained that everything was created for a certain benevolent purpose--our hair to shelter our heads from the weather1 our eyebrows and eyelashes to keep off the dust and the sun1 our thumbs to give us that prehensile power which largely differentiates us from apes2 in a word1 paternal despotism was supposed to do everything for us with the best of intentions4 ,the new theory says there is no sufficient evidence of such paternal benevolence4 ,our hair and our eyebrows and eyelashes and thumbs came to us in quite a different fashion4 ,life1 ever since life existed1 has been one vast scramble and conflict for the good things of this world3 those beings that were best fitted for scrambling and fighting destroyed those that were unfit1 and thus propagated the peculiarities of the conquerors and destroyed the peculiarities of the conquered4 ,thus the characteristics of body or brain best fitted for the purpose of life were developed1 and the unfit were destroyed4 ,although therefore a purpose was achieved1 it was not achieved as a purpose1 but as a consequence4 ,there is no room1 say the supporters of ,evolution1 in such a theory as this for the hypothesis of an ,almighty ,father of mankind1 or even of a very intelligent ,maker4 ,what should we think of a ,british workman who1 in order to make one good brick1 made a hundred bad ones1 or of a cattle-breeder whose plan was to breed a thousand inferior beasts on inadequate pasture1 in order ultimately to produce1 out of their struggles for food1 and as a result of the elimination of the unfittest1 one pre-eminent pair8 ,when he expresses himself in this way1 my sympathies go very far with the man of science1 if only he could remember that he is protesting1 not against ,christ's teaching about ,god1 but against some other quite different theory4 ,though ,god is called 8,almighty0 in the ,new ,testament1 we must remember that it is always assumed that there is an opposing ,evil1 an ,adversary or ,satan1 who will ultimately be subdued but is meantime working against the will of ,god4 ,the origin of this ,evil the followers of ,christ do not profess to understand but we believe that it was not originated by ,god and that it is not obedient to ,him4 ,we cannot therefore1 strictly speaking1 say that ,god is the ,almighty ruler of 8the ,universe as it is40 ,god is ,king de jure1 but not at present de facto 7metaphors again6 but metaphors expressive of distinct realities74 ,his kingdom is 8to come30 ,he will be hereafter recognized as ,almighty2 ,he cannot be so recognized at present4 ,i know very well that ,i can give no logical or consistent account of this mysterious resistance to the ,supreme ,god4 ,but ,i am led to recognize it1 first1 by the facts of the visible world2 secondly1 by the plain teaching of ,christ ,himself4 ,surely the authority of ,christ must count for something with ,christians in their theorizing about the origin of evil4 ,would not even an agnostic admit that as1 in poetry1 ,i should be right in following the lead of a poet1 so in matters of spiritual belief 7if ,i am to have any spiritual belief at all7 ,i am right in deferring to ,christ8 ,it is a marvel to me how some ,christians who find the recognition of miracles inextricably involved in the life and even in the teaching of ,christ1 nevertheless fail to see1 or at all events are most unwilling to confess1 that the recognition of an evil one1 or ,satan1 is an axiom that underlies all ,his doctrine4 ,in the view of ,jesus1 it is ,satan that causes some forms of disease and insanity2 ,satan is the author of temptation1 the destroyer of the good seed1 the sower of tares1 the 8evil one0--so at least the text of the ,revisers tells us--from whom we must daily pray to be delivered4 ,the same belief pervades the writings of ,st4 ,paul4 ,yet if you preach nowadays this plain teaching of our ,lord1 the heterodox shrug their shoulders and cry 8,antediluvian60 while the orthodox think to dispose of the whole matter in a phrase1 8,flat ,manichism60 ,but to the heterodox ,i might reply that ,stuart ,mill 7no very antiquated or credulous philosopher7 deliberately stated that it was more easy to believe in the existence of an ,evil as well as a ,good1 than in the existence of one good and all-powerful ,god2 and the orthodox must1 upon reflection1 admit that in this doctrine about ,satan ,christ's own teaching is faithfully followed4 ,of course if any one replies1 8,christ was under an illusion in believing in the existence of ,satan10 ,i have no means of logically confuting him4 ,but ,i think there must be many who would say1 with me3 8,if ,i am to have any theory in matters of this kind which are entirely beyond the sphere of demonstration1 ,i would sooner accept the testimony of ,christ than the speculations of all the philosophers that ever were or are4 ,christ was possibly1 or even probably1 ignorant 7in ,his humanity7 of a great mass of literary1 historical1 physiological1 and other scientific facts unknown to the rest of the ,jews4 ,but we cannot suppose ,him to be spiritually ignorant2 least of all1 so spiritually ignorant as to attribute to the ,adversary what ought to have been attributed to ,god the ,father in ,heaven40 ,it would be easy for you to shew that any theory of ,satan is absurdly illogical2 nobody can be convinced of that more firmly than ,i am already4 ,whether ,satan was good at first and became evil without a cause2 or was good at first and became evil from a certain cause 7which presupposes another pre-existing ,satan72 or was evil from the beginning and created by ,god2 or evil from the beginning and not created by ,god--in all or any of these hypotheses ,i see1 as clearly as you see1 insuperable difficulties4 ,if you cross-examine me1 ,i shall avow at once a logical collapse1 after this fashion3 8,were there then two ,first ,causes80 ,i believe not4 8,did the ,evil spring up after the ,good80 ,i believe so4 8,did the first ,good create the ,evil80#e ,i believe not4 8,did the ,evil then spring up without a cause80 ,i cannot tell4 8,did the ,good1 when ,he created the ,goodness that issued in ,evil1 know that he1 or it1 contained the germ of evil1 and would soon become wholly evil80 ,i do not believe this4 8,whence then came the ,evil1 or the germ of the ,evil80 ,i do not know4 8,are you not then confessing that you believe1 where you know nothing80 ,yes1 for if ,i knew1 there would be no need to believe4 ,here you have a sufficiently amusing exhibition of inconsistency and ignorance2 but this seems to me of infinitely little concern where ,i am dealing not with matters that fall within the range of experience1 but with spiritual and supernatural things that belong to the realm of faith1 hope1 and aspiration4 ,i could just as easily turn inside out my cross examiner if he undertook to give me a scientific theory on the origin of the world4 ,no doubt he might prefer having no theory about the origin of the world1 and might recommend me to imitate him by having no theory about the origin of ,evil1 or about the nature of the ,supreme ,good4 ,but my answer would be as follows3 8,i have a certain work to do in the world1 and ,i cannot go on with my work without having some theories on these subjects4 ,most men feel with me that they must have some answer to these stupendous problems of existence4 ,as the senses are intended to be our guide in matters of experience1 so our faculty of faith seems to me intended to guide us in matters quite beyond experience40 ,there is another answer which ,i hardly like to give because it seems brutal2 but ,i believe it to be true1 and it is certainly capable of being expressed in the evolutionary dialect so as to commend itself to the scientific mind3 8,an agnostic nation will find itself sooner or later unsuited for its environment1 and will either come to believe in some solution of these spiritual problems or stagnate and perish4 ,and something of the same result will follow from agnosticism in the family and in the individual40 ,from this doctrine of ,christ then ,i am not to be dislodged by any philosophic analysis demonstrating that good and evil so run into one another that it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins4 8,is all pain evil8 ,is it an evil that a sword's point pains you8 ,would it not be a greater evil that a sword should run you through unawares because it did not pain you8 ,is not the pain of hunger a useful monitor8 ,has not pain in a thousand cases its use as a preservative8 ,is not what you call #8sin' very often misplaced energy8 ,if a child is restless and talkative and consequently disobedient1 must you consequently bring in ,satan to account for the little one's peccadilloes8 ,if a young man is over-sanguine1 reckless1 rash1 occasionally intemperate1 must all these faults be laid upon the back of an enemy of mankind8 ,is animal death from ,satan1 but vegetable death from ,god8 ,and is the death of a sponge a half and half contribution from the joint ,powers8 ,and when ,i swallow an oyster1 may ,i give thanks to ,god8 but when a tiger devours a deer1 or an eagle tears a hare1 or a thrush swallows a worm1 are they doing the work of the ,adversary8 ,where are you to begin to trace this permeating ,satanic agency8 ,go back to the primordial atom4 ,are we to say that the ,devil impelled it in the selfish tangential straight line1 and that ,god attracts it with an unselfish centripetal force1 and that the result is the harmonious curve of actuality8 ,if you give yourself up to such a degrading dualism as this1 will you not be more often fearing ,satan than loving ,god8 ,will you not be attributing to ,satan one moment1 what the next moment will compel you to attribute to ,god8 ,where will you draw the line80 ,to all this my answer is very simple3 8,i shall draw the line where the spiritual instinct within me draws it4 ,whatever ,i am forced to pronounce contrary to ,god's intention ,i shall call evil and attribute to ,satan40 ,herein ,i may go wrong in details1 and ,i may have to correct my judgments as ,i grow in knowledge2 but ,i am confident that1 on the whole1 ,i shall be following the teaching of ,christ4 ,my spiritual convictions accord with the teaching of that ancient allegory in the book of ,genesis1 which tells us that ,satan1 not ,god1 brought sin and death into the world4 ,there was a ,fall somewhere1 in heaven perhaps as well as on earth--8war in heaven0 of the ,evil against the ,good--a declension from the divine ideal1 a lapse by which the whole ,universe became imperfect4 ,it has been the work of ,god1 not to create death1 but upon the basis of death to erect a hope and faith in a higher life2 not to create sin1 but out of sin1 repentance1 and forgiveness1 to elicit a higher righteousness than would have been possible 7so we speak7 if sin had never existed4 ,similarly of disease1 and pain1 and the conflict in the animal world for life and death3 good has resulted from them2 yet ,i cannot think of them1 ,i cannot even think of change and decay1 as being1 so to speak1 8parts of ,god's first intention40 ,stoics1 and ,christians who imitate ,stoics1 may call these things 8indifferent30 ,i cannot4 ,and even if ,i could1 what of the ferocity1 and cruelty1 and exultation in destruction1 which are apparent in the animal world8 8,death10 say the ,stoics1 8is the mere exit from life40 ,is it8 ,i was once present at a theatre in ,rouen where the hero took a full quarter of an hour to die of poison1 and the young ,normans who sat round me expressed their strenuous disapprobation3 8,c'est trop long10 they murmured4 ,i have made the same remonstrance in my heart of hearts1 ever since ,i was a boy and saw a cat play with a mouse1 and a patient stoat hunt down and catch at last a tired-out rabbit3 8,it is too long10 8,it is too cruel40 8,did ,god ordain this80--,i asked3 and ,i answered unhesitatingly 8,no40 ,these are but small phenomena in ,nature's chamber of horrors3 but for me they have always been1 and will always remain1 horrible4 ,i believe that ,god intends us to regard them with horror and perhaps to see in them some faint reflection of the wantonly destructive and torturing instinct in man4 ,those are fine-sounding lines1 those of ,cleanthes3-- 1 1 4#f ,i should like to agree with them2 but ,i cannot4 ,the picture of the cat and the mouse appears--fertile in suggestions4 8,this at least10 ,i say1 8was not wrought by #8evil men in their folly2' and yet it did not come direct from ,god40 ,isaiah pleases me better with his prediction1 physiologically absurd1 but spiritually most true3 8,the lion shall eat straw like a bullock40 ,that is just the confession that ,i need3 it comes to me with all the force of a divine acknowledgment1 as if ,god thereby said3 8,death and conflict must be for a time1 but they shall not be for ever3 it was not my intention1 it is not my will1 that my creatures should thrive by destroying each other40 ,applying this theory to ,evolution1 ,i believe that ,satan1 not ,god1 was the author of the wasteful and continuous conflict that has characterized it2 but that ,god has utilized this conflict for the purposes of development and progress4 ,this is what ,i had in my mind when ,i said that ,evolution diminished the difficulties in the way of acknowledging the existence of a ,god4 ,the problems of death1 destruction1 waste1 conflict and sin1 are not new2 they are as old as ,job1 perhaps as old as the first-created man2 but it is new to learn that good has resulted from those evils4 ,in so far as ,evolution has taught this1 it has helped to strengthen1 not to weaken1 our faith4 ,but then1 if we are to use this language1 we must learn to think1 not of 8,evolution by itself10 but of 8,evolution with ,satan40 8,evolution without ,satan0 would appal us by the seeming wastefulness and ubiquity of conflict and the indirectness of its benefits2 but 8,evolution with ,satan0 enables us to realize ,god as our refuge and strength amid the utmost storms and tempests of destruction4 ,if any one says that the belief in ,satan is inexpedient1 ,i am ready to give him a patient hearing2 but ,i find it difficult to listen patiently to what people are pleased to call arguments against it4 ,for example1 8,duty can exist only in a world of conflict20 to which the reply is obvious1 8,but ,god might have made men for love and harmonious obedience1 and not for duty and conflict40 ,this1 of course1 is a very presumptuous statement1 such as ,bishop ,butler would have condemned2 but it is a fitting reply to a still more presumptuous implied statement4 ,god has revealed ,himself as ,righteousness and ,goodness without internal conflict2 ,he has also revealed ,his purpose to conform us to ,himself2 and the ,bible speaks of ,him as being opposed by an ,adversary who caused men for a time to differ from the divine image2 is it not then a very presumptuous thing to imply that 8,god could not have created men but for conflict and duty10 or1 in other words1 8,god could not have made us better than we are1 even had there been no ,adversary opposing ,his will80 ,again1 we hear it said that1 8,an evil ,spirit contending against a good ,spirit must needs have produced two distinct worlds1 and not the one progressive world of which we have experience30 to which the answer is equally obvious1 8,the orbit of every planet1 or the path of any projectile1 shows that two different forces may result in one continuous curve40 ,the only consistent and systematic way of rejecting a belief in the existence of ,satan is to reject the belief in the existence of sin4 ,then you can argue thus1 8,the notion of a ,satan arises from the false and sharp antagonism which our human imaginations set up between #8good' and #8evil1' whereas what we call #8evil' is really nothing but an excess of tendencies good in themselves and only evil when carried to excess4 ,the difference therefore between good and evil is only a question of degree40 ,that theory sounds plausible2 but it ignores the essence of sin1 which consists in a rebellion against ,conscience4 ,it is not excess1 or defect1 the more1 or the less2 it is the moral disorder1 the subversion of human nature1 which is so frightful to contemplate that we cannot believe it to have proceeded from ,god4 ,but perhaps you reply1 8,that very disorder is merely the result of energy out of place or in excess40 ,well1 in the same way1 when gas is escaping in a room in which there is a lighted candle1 there is first a quiet and inoffensive escape of the gas1 and secondly a violent and perhaps calamitous explosion2 and you might argue similarly1 8,the difference was only one of degree2 the explosion was merely the result of a useful element out of place and in excess40 ,but ,i should answer that no sober and sensible householder would justify himself in this way for allowing a lighted candle and escaping gas to come together2 and so ,i cannot believe that ,god is willing that men should justify ,him for tolerating theft1 murder1 and adultery1 on the ground that these things are 8only questions of degree40 ,i think we please ,him better1 and draw closer to ,him1 when we say1 8,an ,enemy hath done this40 ,and besides1 for our own sakes1 if we are to resist sin with our utmost force1 it seems to me we are far more likely to do so when we regard it as ,christ and ,st4 ,paul regarded it than when we give it the name of 8misplaced energy10 or 8an excessive use of faculties1 in themselves1 good and necessary40 ,to me it seems that if we are to have a genuine trust in ,god1 it is almost necessary that we should believe in the existence of a ,satan4 ,i say 8almost10 because there may be rare exceptions4 ,a few pure saintly souls1 of inextinguishable trust1 may perhaps be able to face the awful phenomena of ,evil and to say1 8,though ,he hath done all this yet will we trust in ,him2 what may have moved ,him to cause ,his creatures to struggle together1 and to thrive1 each on the destruction of its neighbour1 we know not1 and we are not careful to know2 our hearts teach us that ,he is above us in goodness1 and in wisdom1 as in power2 we know that we must trust ,him2 more than this we do not wish to know40 ,such men are to be admired--but to be admired by most of us at a great distance4 ,for the masses of men1 and especially for those who know something of the depth of sin1 it must be a great and almost a necessary help to say1 8,the ,good that is done upon ,earth1 ,god doeth it ,himself2 the evil that is upon earth ,god doeth it not3 an ,enemy hath done this40 ,one evil resulting from the rejection of ,christ's doctrine is that we consequently fail to understand much of ,his life and sufferings4 ,if ,christ was really manifested that ,he might destroy the works of the ,devil1 then much is clear that is otherwise incomprehensible4 ,there was then no delusion nor insincerity in the parables of the ,sower and the ,tares4 ,god did not first cast the good seed and then blow it away with ,his own breath4 ,god did not sow wheat with the right hand and tares with the left4 8,an ,enemy0 had done the mischief4 ,there was no fiction when ,jesus spent those long hours by night on the mountain top in prayer4 ,he needed help1 and needed it sorely4 ,he was fighting a real battle4 ,it was not the mere anticipation of pains in the flesh1 the piercing nails1 the parching thirst1 the long-protracted death1 that made the bitterness of ,christ's passion4 ,even when ,he had regained composure1 and in perfect calm was going forth to meet ,his death1 we find ,him declaring that ,satan had asked for one of his ,apostles 8to sift him as wheat01 and implying that all ,his prayers were needed that the faith of the tempted disciple should not 8fail40 ,but in ,gethsemane the battle for the souls of men was still pending4 ,there was an ,enemy who was pulling down ,his heart1 striving hard to make ,him despair of sinful mankind1 perhaps to despair of we know not what more beyond2 forcing ,him in the extremity of that sore conflict to cry that ,he was 8exceeding sorrowful even unto death10 and afterwards1 on the ,cross1 to utter those terrible words1 8,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken me80 ,all this is full of profound meaning1 if there was indeed an ,enemy4 ,but if there was no ,enemy1 what becomes of the conflict8 ,what meaning is left to the ,crucifixion1 except as the record of mere physical sufferings1 the like of which have been endured1 before and after1 by thousands of ordinary men and women8 ,this belief in the existence of ,satan appears to me to be confirmed by daily present experience as well as by the life of ,christ4 ,it 8works40 ,it enables us1 as no other belief does1 to go to the poor1 the sick1 the suffering1 and the sinful1 and to preach ,christ's ,gospel of the fatherhood of ,god4 ,all simple1 straightforward people who are acquainted with the troubles of life must naturally crave this doctrine4 ,if you ascribe to ,providence the work of ,satan1 they will consciously or unconsciously identify ,providence with the author of evil1 and look to ,one above to rescue them from ,providence4 ,instead of attempting to console people for all their evils by laying them on the ,author of ,goodness1 we ought to lay them in part upon themselves1 in part on the author of evil4 8,god1 the ,father in heaven1 did not intend you to be thus miserable0--thus we can begin our message--8your sufferings come from an ,enemy against whom ,he is contending4 ,do not for a moment suppose that you are to put up in this life with penury1 disease1 misery1 and sin as if these things came from ,god4 ,very often they are the just punishments of your own faults1 as when drunkenness brings disease2 but as the sin1 so also the punishment1 was of ,satan's making1 though ,god may use both for your good4 ,you are to be patient under tribulation2 you are to be made perfect through suffering2 you are to regard the trials and troubles of life as being in some sense a useful chastisement proceeding from the fatherly hand of ,god4 ,but never let your sense of the need of resignation lead you to attribute to the origination of ,god that which ,christ teaches us to have been brought into the world by ,god's adversary4 ,satan made these evils to lead men wrong2 ,god uses them to lead men right4 ,death1 for example1 came from ,satan1 who would fain make us believe that our souls perish with our bodies1 that friends are parted for ever by the grave1 and that there is no righteousness hereafter to compensate for what is wrong here3 but ,god uses death to make men sober1 thoughtful1 steadfast1 courageous1 and trustful4 ,it remains with you to decide whether you will bear your evils so as to succumb to the temptations of ,satan1 or so as to prevail over them and utilize them to your own welfare and to the glory of ,god4 ,on which side will you fight8 ,we ask you to enlist on the side of righteousness40 ,i feel sure that this theory of life would commend itself to the poor1 that it would be morally advantageous to the rich1 and that it would be politically useful to the ,state4 ,there has been too prevalent a habit--among those believers especially who ignore ,satan and attribute all things to ,god--of taking for granted that the social inequalities and miseries of the lower classes which have come down to us from feudal and non-,christian times1 can never pass away4 ,i remember once in my boyhood how1 when ,i represented to a farmer that the condition of his labourers was not a happy one1 he met me with a text of ,scripture1 8,the poor shall never depart out of the land20 and that seemed to him to leave no more to be said4 ,it is this provoking acquiescence of the comfortable classes in the miseries of the suffering classes1 which irritates the latter into a disbelief of the religion that dictates so great a readiness to see in the miseries of others a divinely ordained institution4 ,the time will soon come 7#ahhe7 when the very poor will demand a greater share in the happiness of life2 and the question will arise whether they can be helped to obtain this by their own individual efforts or by the co-operation of those of their own class1 or by the ,state1 or by the ,church4 ,caution must be shewn in trying experiments with nations2 but as some experiments will assuredly have to be tried1 it is most desirable in this crisis of our history that the ,church at all events should faithfully follow ,christ by regarding physical evil1 not as a law of fate1 but as a device of ,satan4 ,if1 by descending a step or two lower in the scale of comfort1 the comfortable classes could lift the very poor a step or two higher1 the ,church ought not to help the rich to shut their eyes to their obvious duty by giving them the excuses of such texts as 8,the poor shall never depart out of the land10 or1 8,man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward40 ,poverty is often a good school3 but penury is distinctly an evil2 and the ,church should regard it as an evil not coming from ,god1 and should make war against it1 and teach the poor not to acquiesce in it4 ,the ,gospel of ,christ would be made more intelligible to the poorer classes than it has been made for many centuries past1 if it could be preached as a war against physical as well as moral harm4 ,such a crusade would call out and enlist on the right side all the combative faculty in us2 it would inspire in us a passionate allegiance towards ,christ1 as our ,leader1 desiring1 asking1 yes1 and we may almost say1 needing our help in a real conflict in which ,his honour as well as our happiness and highest interests are at stake2 it would attract the co-operation of all faculties in the individual1 of all classes in the country4 ,in other words the theory would work2 and so far as a religious theory works1 so far have we evidence1 present and intelligible to all1 that it contains truth4 ,i have recently heard views similar to mine controverted by an able theologian1 who contended that1 although they professed to be illogical1 they went beyond the bounds even of the illogicality permissible in this subject4 ,but the controverter's solution of the problem was this3 8,evil is a part of ,god's intention4 ,we have to fight1 with ,god1 against something which we recognise to be ,his work40 ,is not this a 8hard saying08 ,is it not harder than the saying of ,christ1 8,an enemy hath done this08 ,i say nothing about its being illogical and absurd3 but does it not raise up a new stumbling-block in the path of those who are striving to follow ,christ8 ,it may be urged that the belief in ,satan has been tested by the experience of centuries and has been found to be productive of superstition1 insanity1 and immorality2 but these evils appear to me to have sprung1 not from the belief in ,satan1 but from a superstitious1 disorderly and materialistic form of ,christianity1 which has perverted ,christ's doctrine about the ,adversary into a recognition of a licensed ,trafficker in ,souls4 ,the same materialistic and immoral tendency has perverted ,christ's sacrifice into a bribe4 ,but1 just as we should not reject the spiritual doctrine of ,christ's ,atonement1 so neither should we reject the spiritual doctrine of an ,evil in the world resisting the ,good1 although both doctrines alike have been grossly and harmfully misinterpreted4 ,of course it is possible that in our notions of spiritual personality1 and therefore in our personification of ,satan1 we may be under some partial illusion4 ,the subject teems with difficulties2 and ,i have not concealed from you my opinion that some passages in the ,old ,testament appear to support a view at variance with the tenour of the ,new4 ,the real truth1 while justifying our ,lord's language1 may not accord with all our inferences as to its meaning2 and ,i should myself admit that it would be most disastrous to attempt to personify the ,adversary with the same vividness with which we personify the ,father in heaven4 ,still1--in answer to the taunt of the agnostic or sceptic1 8,is this1 or that1 the work of the ,god whom you describe as ,love80--,i think we avail ourselves of our truest and most effective answer1 when we resolve to separate certain aspects of ,nature from the intention of ,god1 and to say1 with ,christ1 8,an enemy hath done these things40 ,footnote #e3 ,some passages in the ,old ,testament 7notably ,isaiah xlv4 #g7 state that ,god 8created evil20 and results attributed by one author to ,satan 7#a ,chron4 xxi4 #a7 are attributed by another to 8the anger of the ,lord0 7#b ,sam4 xxiv4 #a74 ,much of course depends upon the meaning of the word 8evil20 and ,i am knowingly guilty of talking absurdly when ,i first define evil as 8that which is not in accordance with ,god's intention10 and then proceed to say that 8,god did not create evil40 ,but all people who discourse philosophically on this subject talk far more absurdly than ,i do3 for ,i am consciously1 but they are unconsciously1 illogical4 ,the belief that ,god 8created evil10 whether held or not by the authors of any of the books of the ,old ,testament1 is against the whole tenour of the teaching of ,christ4 ,footnote #f3 8,naught is on earth1 ,o ,god1 without thy hand1 ,save deeds of folly wrought by evil men40 ,x ,,illusions ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i see you are still violently prejudiced against illusions1 that is to say against recognising the very important part which they have played in the spiritual development of mankind4 ,you clearly believe that1 though the world may be full of illusions1 ,revelation ought to be free from them4 8,the ,word of ,god10 you say1 8ought to dispel illusions1 not to add to them40 ,i maintain on the contrary1 that the ,word of ,god1 if it comes to earth1 must needs come in earthen vessels2 and that the most divine truth must needs be contained in illusion4 ,let illusions then be the subject of my present letter4 ,at the same time ,i shall attempt to answer your prejudice against the natural worship of ,christ as being a 8new religion04 ,not of course that ,i admit that it is a 8new religion02 on the contrary ,i regard it as the old religion1 the predestined ,god-determined religion to which we are to return after extricating ourselves from the corruptions of ,protestantism1 as our forefathers extricated themselves from the corruptions of ,romanism4 ,i shall not deal here with the special illusions of ,christianity1 but with your evident a priori prejudice against any admixture of illusion with ,revelation4 ,but first1 what do ,i mean by 8illusion10 and how does my meaning differ from 8error0 or 8mistake0 generally1 and from 8fallacy10 8delusion10 and 8hallucination0 in particular8 ,i say 8my meaning10 because the word is often used loosely 7,i do not say wrongly7 for any of these synonyms3 but ,i restrict it to a special sense4 8,illusion10 then1 is wholesome error tending to the ultimate attainment of truth2 8delusion0 is harmful error arising from a perverted ,imagination2 8hallucination0 is a wandering of the ,imagination1 without any guidance or support of fact1 involving 8delusion0 of the most obstinate character2 8fallacy0 is an error of inference or reasoning2 8mistake0 is the result of mal-observation or weak memory2 and 8error0 a general name for any deviation from the truth4 ,illusion1 in many cases1 is an exaggerative and ornative tendency of the mind4 ,it leads the very young to think their parents perfection1 and the young to think them far better and wiser than they really are2 it constrains the lover to exaggerate the beauty1 accomplishments1 and qualities of the woman whom he loves2 it tends to the distortion of history by inclining all of us to accommodate facts to the wishes and preconceptions of our idealizing nature1 which is always longing for 8a more ample greatness1 a more exact goodness1 and a more absolute variety than can be found in the nature of things02#g and it lures us onward1 young and old alike1 over the rough places of life1 even to the very brink of the grave1 by the ever-fleeting1 ever-reappearing suggestions of a bright to-morrow that shall make amends for the dull and commonplace to-day4 ,these illusive hopes1 beliefs1 and aspirations are never fulfilled in this life2 but even the cynic and the pessimist must acknowledge1 with ,francis ,bacon1 that they constitute the very basis of all poetry that 8tends to magnanimity and morality40 ,those who believe in ,god will further recognize in illusion a divinely utilized integument for the preservation and development of aspirations that shall ultimately find a perfect fulfilment in a harmonious co-operation with the divine ,love and in the unending contemplation of the divine ,glory4 ,nor are illusions without a present practical purpose4 ,men are more hopeful1 more active1 more loving on account of them4 ,on the other hand1 even optimists must acknowledge that no man should shut his eyes to the truth in order to remain in what he knows to be no more than a comfortable error4 ,the venial illusions of childhood1 youth1 and ignorance1 become unpardonable or hypocritical in experienced age4 ,do you ask how we are to distinguish 8illusions0 from 8delusions08 ,the answer is easy--on paper2 but1 in practice1 often difficult to apply4 ,however1 the test is the same as that by which we distinguish knowledge from ignorance4 ,illusions 8work02 that is to say1 men are on the whole the better for them1 and they prepare the way for truth4 ,delusions fail2 men are in no way the better for them1 and they often prepare the way for insanity and for physical or spiritual death4 ,we have spoken of moral illusions2 let us touch on another kind of illusions to which some 7,i do not say rightly7 have given the name of 8illusions of sense40 ,i doubt whether the name is correctly given2 for to me it seems that the illusion proceeds not from the senses 7which1 as far as ,i can judge1 never deceive us7 but from the imaginations and inferences which we base upon the report of the senses4 ,take an extreme case1 fit rather to be called 8delusion0 than 8illusion40 ,if ,i see the phantom of a cat before the fire1 which cat nobody else in the room can see1 do my senses deceive me8 ,no2 but ,i am deceived by the imaginative inference which leads me to assume from past experience that the object which ,i see is visible to1 and can be touched by1 everybody else4 ,my visual sense 7which has to do with images only7 reports--and can do no otherwise--that it discerns the image of a cat4 ,that report is true4 ,but then my imagination forces on me the belief that this is an ordinary tangible and visible cat4 ,that belief is false4 ,or take again the not infrequent case of colour-blindness4 ,i am a signalman1 and cannot tell a green light from a red3 do my senses deceive me when ,i call a red light green8 ,no2 my sense reports inadequately for my necessities1 and coarsely is compared with those who possess a finer sense of colour1 but not deceitfully4 ,my error arises from having loosely and servilely used the distinctive words 8red0 and 8green0 from childhood to manhood1 although my senses continually protested that they could not distinguish two colours corresponding to the two words3 but ,i imagined that there must be some such distinction for the two1 and that ,i must be capable of recognizing it1 because everybody around me recognized it4 ,if we are to say that the signalman's senses deceive him we must be prepared to admit that every man's senses deceive him more or less4 ,do you suppose1 when you see anything1 that you see that which the thing is8 8,this is a yellowish-green10 say you4 8,of course10 a ,superior ,being might reply2 8but which of the one hundred and fifty shades of yellowish-green is it8 ,you might as well tell me1 when ,i shew you a sheep1 #8,this is a being1' as tell me simply this is #8yellowish-green4'0 ,we do not see things as ,superior ,beings see them2 but we are not on that account to say that our sight deceives us4 ,our visual sense reports the truth more or less adequately3 but our ,imagination1 prompted by insufficient experience and inference1 leads us sometimes to illusive conclusions4 ,still1 although 8illusions of sense0 ought perhaps to be rather called 8illusions from sense20--i4e4 illusions arising 8from0 the report of the senses1 but not illusions in which the senses are themselves deceived--no one will deny that such illusions exist4 ,sometimes they are exceptional1 but sometimes so common as to be almost universal4 ,let us enumerate a few and ask whence they spring1 and what purpose they serve8 ,they spring from a very strong conviction--erected upon the basis of ,experience by ,faith1 but absolutely necessary for healthy life and spontaneous action--that the ordinary inferences which we almost instinctively derive from the report of the senses1 are true1 that is to say1 will correspond to experience2 and that we can act upon them without formally reasoning upon them4 ,take the following instance4 ,shut your eyes1 and get a friend to prick the back of your hand with the two points of a pair of compasses simultaneously1 so that the two points may be about the eighth of an inch apart when they touch you2 you will feel--and if you could not correct the inference by the sense of sight1 you would infer--that only one point is pricking you4 ,the reason is that the skin of the back of the hand only reports one sensation2 and the mind leaps to the conclusion--owing to the multitude of past instances where one sensation has resulted from one object--that1 in this instance also1 one object alone is producing the sensation4 ,a more curious instance is the following3 ,place the middle finger over the first finger1 and between the two fingers thus interlaced place a single marble or your nose3 you will appear to be touching two marbles or two noses4 ,the reason is this3 when the two fingers are in their usual position 7not thus interlaced7 and touching marbles or similar objects1 two simultaneous sensations on the right side of the right finger and on the left side of the left finger would always imply two marbles2 now you have constrained the two fingers to assume an unusual position where these two simultaneous sensations can be produced by one marble2 but you1 following custom1 would infer the presence of two marbles1 if sight1 or other evidence1 did not shew there was only one4 ,but illusions from the sense of touch are far less common than illusions from the sense of sight4 ,we all know how a cloud or sheet or coal may be converted by the ,imagination into an image of something entirely different and visible only to the imaginer1 although he supposes that others 8must see it0 too4 ,but these are1 so to speak1 private illusions3 the great public and1 at one time1 universal illusion1 was the conviction that the sun and the stars move and that the earth does not move4 ,there is scarcely any illusion more natural than this4 ,our senses give no indication whatever of the earth's motion2 but they do indicate that the sun and the stars are moving4 ,so complicated a process of reasoning1 and so much experience1 are needed before a man can realize 7as distinct from repeating on authority7 the causes for believing in the earth's motion that it is by no means surprising that1 even now1 only a minority of the human race believe that they are dashing through space at the rate of some thousands of miles an hour2 and1 except during the last three hundred years1 the illusion that the earth is at rest was universal4 ,another common illusion from sight is that which leads us to suppose that1 when we see anything in the air1 a straight line from our eye towards the image which we see would touch the object itself3 whereas1 in reality1 the image is raised by refraction so that in misty weather we see an object considerably higher than it is1 and ,i suppose 7to speak with strict exactness7 we never 8see0 an object precisely where it is4 ,i have mentioned a few of the 8illusions from the senses02 and now you will probably ask me what purpose they serve1 how they can be called 8wholesome10 and how they 8tend to the ultimate attainment of truth40 ,they appear to me to be 8wholesome0 because they represent and spring from a wholesome belief that 8,nature will not deceive us2 ,nature does not change her mind2 ,nature keeps her promises40 ,sent into the world with but little of the instinctive equipment of non-human animals1 we are forced to supply the place of instincts by inferences from sensation4 ,now if we were always obliged consciously to argue and deliberately to infer1 whenever the sensations hand over a report to the ,imagination1 we should be at a great disadvantage as compared with our instinct-possessing compeers1 whom we call irrational4 8,this inkstand which ,i see before me was hard yesterday1 and the day before--but will it be hard if ,i touch it to-day or to-morrow80--if a child were to argue after this fashion every time he reached out his hand to touch anything1 the life of ,methuselah would be too short for the ratiocinations necessary as a basis for the action of a week4 ,for healthy progress of the human being1 trustful activity is needed1 and for trustful activity we must trust ,nature1 or1 in other words1 we must trust these quasi-instinctive inferences about ,nature which we derive from our sensations4 ,this trust or faith in the order of material things within our immediate observation1 ,i have already described as being the germ of a trust or faith in a higher order altogether1 that universal order1 at present imperfectly realized1 which we call the ,divine ,will4 ,now when we say to ,nature1 8,we trust you2 you will not deceive us10 ,nature replies for the most part1 8,you do right2 ,i will not deceive you2 you will be justified in your faith40 ,but occasionally she replies in a different tone4 8,yes1 ,i have deceived you2 you did not use the means you had of obtaining the truth2 therefore you deceived yourselves1 or1 if you please to say so1 ,i deceived you1 in order that1 after deceiving yourselves by a prolonged experience1 you might learn1 while trusting my order and permanence in general1 not to trust every conception of your own about that order and permanence in particular4 8,yet in reality1 what you call my #8deceptions' were1 in part1 the results of your own defects 7some blameworthy1 some perhaps inherent and not blameworthy71 in part the results of my method of teaching mankind1 by line upon line and inference upon inference4 ,how does a child gain knowledge8 ,by generalizing from too few instances3 by inferring too soon2 then by enlarging the circle of instances from which he generalizes2 by correcting his inferences with the aid of experience3 thus the progress of every child towards truth is through a continuous series of illusions4 ,but when ,i break each one of your false and rudimentary conceptions of my ,order1 ,i always reveal to you1 concealed in the husk of it1 the kernel of a better conception4 ,thus while ,i teach you daily to distrust your own hastily adopted and unverified assumptions or inferences about my ,order1 ,i give you no cause to distrust my ,order itself2 and by the self same act ,i strengthen both your faculty of scientific reason and also your faith in me4 ,you may find fault with me that ,i did not bestow on each one of you1 even in the cradle1 the perfection of all knowledge and wisdom4 ,deeper laws1 deeper than ,i can now speak of1 forbade that rapid consummation3 but1 since that could not be1 since it needs must be that imperfection should be in the intellectual1 as well as in the moral1 world1 rejoice at least that illusion is made subject to truth40 ,well1 after this long but needful account of 8illusions10 in the sense in which ,i use the term1 let me now recur to your objection that 8the ,word of ,god ought to dispel illusions1 not to add to them40 ,i suppose those who believe in a ,god at all1 will in these days regard ,him as the ,maker of the world1 as a whole1 in spite of the evil that is in it4 ,some of the ,gnostics1 as you know1 believed that the good ,god who had not made the visible world was opposed to the bad ,god who had made it2 but with them we need not at this time concern ourselves1 as there are probably none who now entertain that belief4 ,those then who believe in a ,god1 ,maker of heaven and earth1 will not deny that ,god partially reveals ,himself to men by the things ,he has made4 ,now by which of all ,his creatures does ,god reveal ,himself most clearly8 ,you will say perhaps--indeed ,i have heard you say it--8,by the stars and their movements40 ,i do not believe it4 ,i say1 8,by the life of the human family first and by the stars of heaven1 second4 ,but ,i will assume that your answer is correct1 and that ,god reveals ,himself mainly by the movements of the stars of heaven2 and ,i will try to shew you that in this revelation ,god leads men to truth through illusion4 ,then ,i think it must seem reasonable to you that1 if ,god does not dispense with illusion in that intellectual revelation of ,himself which most closely approaches to a direct spiritual revelation1 illusion may also have been intended or permitted by ,him to play an ordained part in spiritual revelation itself40 ,where1 then1 ,i ask1 in all the teaching of ,nature's school1 has there been more of illusion than in her lessons of astronomy8 ,when ,i was a boy1 ,i remember1 in the midst of a hateful sum of long division that would not come out right1 devoting my attention to the sun moving through the branches of certain trees1 and announcing to my tutor that 8,the sun moves40 8,no1 you are mistaken40 8,but ,i cannot be mistaken1 for ,i saw it40 ,i rivalled--,i exceeded--the obstinacy of ,galileo2 ,i was ready to be punished rather than consent to say what seemed to me a manifest falsehood1 that the sun did not move4 ,surely this boyish experience represents the experience of mankind1 except that the tutor who has corrected their astronomical illusions1 has been their own long1 very long experience4 ,does it not seem sometimes as if ,god ,himself had said1 when ,he made the heavens to declare ,his glory1 8,being what they are1 my children must be led to knowledge through error1 to truth through illusion08 ,it may be said that in some cases men have fallen into astronomical mistakes through their own fault2 through haste1 for example1 through the love of neat and complete theories1 through carelessness1 through excessive regard for authority2 and so indeed they have4 ,but is it always so8 ,when you and ,i last walked out together on ,hampstead ,heath1 you took out your watch1 as the sun went down over ,harrow1 and said1 8,now he's gone1 and it's just eight40 ,i remember replying to you1 8,so it seems2 but of course you know he #8went' more than eight minutes ago40 ,you stared1 and ,i said no more2 for something else diverted your attention at the time1 and ,i felt ,i had been guilty of a little bit of pedantry4 ,but ,i said quietly to myself as we went down the hill1 8,i don't suppose he knows it1 but the sun certainly #8went' eight minutes ago2 and what my young friend saw was an image of the sun raised by the refraction of the mist1 like the image of a penny seen in a basin of water40 ,well now1 was this your fault1 this error of yours8 ,no1 it was1 in the second place1 the fault of the ,university of ,oxford1 which has bribed the schools to desist from teaching mathematics to any boy with a taste for classics and literature1 so that you had to give up your mathematical studies before you came to optics2 and it was1 in the first place1 the fault of--what shall ,i say8 ,shall ,i say the fault of ,nature8 ,that means the fault of ,god4 ,say1 if you like1 that it was the fault of ,matter1 or of an ,evil principle4 ,say1 it was no one's fault4 ,say that more good than harm results from it1 in the way of stimulating thought and research4 ,deny it was a fault at all4 ,yet do not deny that it represents a ,law1 the ,law of the attainment of truth through illusion--a ,law which it is folly to ignore4 ,so far ,i have been going on the assumption that your answer was correct as to the means by which ,god mainly reveals ,himself4 ,but now let us assume that my answer1 and not yours1 is correct1 and that ,god reveals ,himself mainly by the relations of the family4 ,in that case we must agree that each rising generation is led up to the conception of the divine fatherhood mainly by the preliminary teaching of human fatherhood4 ,now surely in the domestic atmosphere refraction is as powerful and as illusive as in the material strata of the air4 ,nay1 the better and purer the family1 the stronger is the illusion4 ,unloving children may be logical and critical2 but what loving child does not idealise a good mother as perfectly good1 and a strong wise father as the perfection of wisdom and strength8 ,to the good child the parents stand in the place of ,god2 and it is his illusive belief in these earthly creatures1 which1 when it has been corrected and purified1 is found to have contained and preserved the higher belief in the eternal ,father4 ,you see then that in the family no less than in science1 in the spiritual as in the intellectual side of ,nature's school1 the pupils pass upwards through illusion to the truth4 ,i have promised to say nothing of the special illusions of ,christianity which ,i must reserve for a later letter4 ,but let me say thus much from the a priori ground on which we are now standing1 that if illusions in ,nature are most powerful in her noblest and most spiritual teaching1 then1 so far from there being a prejudice against finding illusion in religion1 we ought on the contrary to be prepared to find illusion most potent in the early stages of the purest religion of all4 ,was ever people so illusively trained as the faithless children of faithful ,abraham1 the rejected ,chosen ,people8 ,is not the ,promised ,land to this day a proverbial type of illusion8 ,do we not recognize illusion in every age of ,christian revelation8 ,and if the very ,apostles of the ,lord ,jesus--so much ,i will here assume--had their illusions both during1 and after1 the life of their ,master2 if the early ,christians had their illusions also concerning the speedy coming of ,christ2 if in the ,medival ,church and in the later ,roman ,catholicism there have predominated vast illusions about transubstantiation1 the powers of the priesthood1 and the infallibility of the ,pope2 if the ,protestant ,churches themselves have not been exempt from illusions about the literal inspiration and absolute infallibility of the ,bible2 is it not the mark of astounding presumption to suppose that for the ,anglican branch of the ,reformed ,church there should have been reserved a unique immunity from an otherwise universal law8 ,but possibly you think that the ,gospels have been so long in our hands1 and the ,christian religion so long in practice and under discussion1 that nothing new can now be said or thought about them8 ,just so ,francis ,bacon1 in #afjc1 expressed his conviction 7the innocent philosopher67 that there had at last come about a complete 8consumption of all things that could be said on controversies of theology40 ,reflect a moment4 ,how long have the stars been with us 8under discussion08 ,and how recent have been our discoveries of the real truth about them6 ,how recently have these discoveries been even possible8 ,in the same way the exact criticism of the ,new ,testament has only become recently practicable4 ,the subject matter and thought could of course be appreciated centuries ago1 and often perhaps by the simple-minded and unlearned as well as by the subtle and profound theologian2 though1 even as to the thought of the ,new ,testament1 ,i often think that we are greatly to blame if our increased knowledge of history and psychology does not illuminate much that was dark in its pages for those who had not our advantages4 ,but we are speaking of that kind of intellectual criticism which dispels illusions2 and for the purposes of the critical analysis of the ,first ,three ,gospels1 ,bruder's ,concordance was as necessary as ,galileo's telescope was for the discovery of ,jupiter's moons1 or the thermometer for the investigation of the laws of heat4 ,other influences have been at work1 as well as mere mechanical aids1 to throw light on the central event of the world's history4 ,and surely if ,abraham could wait nineteen hundred years for the coming of ,christ1 the spiritual descendants of ,abraham--for such we claim to be--may well wait another nineteen hundred years to realize ,his nature and enter into the full meaning of ,his worship4 ,you see ,i am not now trying to prove the existence of any illusion in our present form of ,christianity2 ,i am simply arguing against your prejudice that1 if the present form of ,christianity be not true1 then any new form must necessarily be false4 ,you say1 or perhaps till lately you were inclined to say1 8,if ,i could only breathe the atmosphere of ,augustine6 ,if only ,i could have been a companion of the ,ante-,nicene or 7better still7 of the ,apostolic ,fathers6 ,or 7best of all7 of the ,apostles6 ,or of ,christ ,himself6 ,then ,i should have been free from illusions40 ,i reply1 8,no1 you would not2 and your aspiration is a mark of ingratitude to ,god4 ,you deliberately reject the commentary ,he has given you in the ,history of the ,church during these eighteen centuries4 ,you think the story of ,christ is completely told and completely explained4 ,it is not so4 ,all the created world is intended to bear witness and illustration to ,his life and work4 ,shakespeare and ,newton and ,darwin1 as well as ,origen1 ,augustine1 and ,chrysostom1 have added to the divine commentary4 ,all the good and all the evil of eighteen hundred years have borne witness to the divine nature of ,his mission2 to the impotence and ruin which await the nations that cast ,him off2 to the blessing that attends those who follow ,his ,spirit2 to the mischief that dogs those who substitute for ,his ,spirit a lifeless code of rules or a fabric of superstitions40 ,and now one last word as to the special illusion from which 7in my belief7 we must in the short remnant of this century strive to deliver ourselves4 ,i think we have worshipped ,christ too much as ,god1 and too little as ,man4 ,we have erroneously supposed that ,he exempted ,himself during ,his manhood from the laws of humanity4 ,like the ,roman soldiers1 we have stripped from ,him the carpenter's clothes1 and put upon ,him the purple rags of wonder-working imperialism1 and placed in ,his hand the sceptre of worldly ostentation1 and in that guise we have bowed the knee to the purple and the sceptre1 and1 doing homage to these things1 we have cried1 8,behold our ,god40 ,but now the time has come when we must take from off ,him these tawdry trappings1 and give ,him back ,his workman's garments4 ,then we may find ourselves constrained to bow the knee again in a purer homage offered no longer to the clothes but to the ,man4 ,call this homage by what name we will1 it is already of the nature of worship4 ,and as we grow older and more able to distinguish the realities from the mirage of life1 more capable of trust1 love1 and reverence1 and better able to discriminate what must be1 and what must not be1 loved1 trusted1 and revered--looking from earth to heaven1 and from heaven to earth1 we shall ask in vain where we can find anything1 above or below1 nobler1 and better1 and more powerful for good1 than this ,man to whom our hearts go forth in spontaneous love and trust and reverence4 ,then we shall turn once more to the ,cross finding that we have been betrayed into worship while we knew it not1 and while we cry1 8,behold the ,man10 we shall feel 8,behold our ,god40 ,footnote #g3 ,advancement of ,learning1 ii1 #d1 #e4 ,,xi ,,what ,,is ,,worship8 ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,admitting the doctrine of illusion1 and dismissing all prejudice against what is new1 you declare that still my position remains absolutely unintelligible to you4 ,i will set down your objection in your own words3 8,apparently you maintain that ,christ is a mere man who came into the world1 lived1 worked1 and died according to the laws of human nature2 even ,his resurrection you apparently intend to explain away till it becomes a mere vision1 and therefore not a sign of any other than a human existence4 ,now worship is a tribute conceded to ,god alone4 ,to a mere man1 who lived eighteen centuries ago1 how can you force yourself1 by any effort of the will1 to pay worship simply because you have reason to believe that this individual was pre-eminently good08 ,in reply1 ,i ask you1 8,what else is more worthy of worship80 ,there is no question of 8forcing myself0 at all4 ,i worship ,christ naturally4 ,that is to say ,i love1 trust1 and reverence ,him more than ,i love1 trust1 and reverence any other person or thing or universe of things4 ,this ,i do because ,i cannot help it2 and if ,i have brought myself to do this naturally by fixing my thoughts on the power of ,goodness1 and on ,christ as the incarnate representation of ,goodness1 this causes me no shame and involves me in no conflict with my ,reason4 ,but you--have you not omitted some important features in the description of this 8mere man08 ,jesus was not only pre-eminently good1 ,he was also pre-eminently powerful and wise for spiritual purposes4 ,his influence regenerated the civilized world2 it is manifest around us4 ,he ,himself spoke of ,himself in language which shews that ,he believed ,himself to be endowed with a divine authority over men1 and to stand in a unique relation to ,god4 ,in a fanatic or a fool that would mean nothing3 in one so wise1 so soberly wise1 so utterly unselfish1 so marvellously successful1 it must needs count for much4 ,although ,i reject the miraculous1 ,i do not reject--nor understand how any one can reject--the supernatural4 ,i regard ,jesus as being a 8mere man0 indeed1 if by 8mere man0 you mean a 8real man02 non-miraculous1 subjected to all the material limitations of humanity2 but still a man such as is described in the first chapter of the ,fourth ,gospel2 the ,word of ,god incarnate2 the ,man in whom was concentrated ,god's expression of ,himself2 the ,divine ,perfection made humanly perceptible4 ,this ,i believed once upon the authority of the ,fourth ,gospel2 but ,i believe it now on the testimony of history and my own conscience4 ,put yourself in my place4 ,suppose1 as ,i suppose1 that ,christ was what ,he was1 and did what ,he did1 naturally and without miracles4 ,does not that make ,his personality in a certain sense more wonderful and certainly more lovable8 ,it is comparatively easy1 with miracles at command1 to persuade men to anything2 but1 without miracles1 to introduce a new religion1 to bring in a new power of forgiving sins1 to offer up one's life1 not for friends1 nor for country1 but for mankind1 to manifest oneself so to one's disciples during life that after your death they shall see you and shall be convinced that you have triumphed over death2 to disarm an armed world by non-resistance1 and to breathe a spirit of enthusiasm for righteousness and a passionate love of mankind into myriads of a remote posterity--these surely are feats which1 if natural1 should make us exclaim1 8,verily we have here a divine nature40 ,i trust ,i am not being goaded into any exaggeration of what ,i really feel1 by the hope of inducing you to share my feelings4 ,perhaps it is not possible to worship any man1 not even such a one as ,jesus1 as long as he remains in the flesh4 ,not till death takes a friend from us do we seem to know the real spirit that lay behind the flesh and blood2 not till ,jesus was taken from us could that ,spirit come which was to reveal the real ,being that underlay the humanity of the ,nazarene4 ,i will admit that ,i should not have worshipped ,jesus of ,nazareth on earth--in ,peter's house for example at ,capernaum2 for though love might have been present1 the trust and awe that were to be developed by ,his resurrection would have been wanting4 ,jesus does not claim our worship nor even our recognition1 as an isolated being1 but as inseparably linked to ,one without whom ,he ,himself said ,he could 8do nothing04 ,it was not till ,he was removed from the visible world and enthroned in the hearts of men by the side of the ,father1 that men could perceive ,his real nature2 and ,he is to be worshipped not by ,himself1 but as the ,son of ,god1 and one with ,god4 ,christ did not merely tell us about the ,father2 ,he revealed the ,father in ,himself2 and1 if we worship the ,father as ,christ revealed ,him1 we are1 consciously or unconsciously1 worshipping the ,son4 ,almost all language about all spiritual existences is necessarily metaphorical4 ,what is 8righteousness0 except a straightness1 and what is 8excellence0 except pre-eminence8 ,the proposition 8,christ is the ,son of ,god0 is a metaphor2 it is a metaphor to say that 8,god is our ,father in heaven10 and that 8,god is ,love40 ,perhaps even to say that 8,god is0 is a metaphor1 expressing a truth1 but expressing it inadequately4 ,but it would be the ignorance of a mere child to suppose that a metaphor means nothing4 ,there is no deeper truth in heaven or earth than the metaphor that ,god is the ,father of man1 and that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ is ,his ,eternal ,son4 ,when ,i try to think of ,god and to pray to ,god as my ,father1 ,i can think of ,him as being without the seas1 without the stars1 without the whole visible world2 but ,i can never think of ,him aright1 nor ever conceive of ,him as being ,love1 without conceiving also of ,one whom ,he loves1 who is with ,him from the beginning2 whom when ,i try to realize1 ,i can realize only in one shape2 and hence it comes to pass that ,i find myself without any 8effort of the will10 spontaneously worshipping ,god through1 and in1 and with1 that one shape1 ,i mean the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,worshipping the ,father ,i find that ,i have been unconsciously worshipping1 and must consciously continue to worship1 the ,eternal ,son4 ,but there is another difference between us1 besides your failure to recognise the spiritual power and spiritual wisdom of ,christ4 ,you do not know what you mean by worship2 you do not know what you ought to worship2 and you do not know how little you know of ,god4 ,you tell me that 8worship is a tribute conceded to ,god alone40 ,but what is ,god8 ,the absolute ,god no one knows4 ,our most perfect conception of ,him is only a conception of a ,mediator of some kind by which we approach ,him4 ,to each man1 that which he worships1 and that alone1 is ,god4 ,i worship ,christ1 therefore to me ,christ is ,god4 ,what will you say to that8 ,i suppose you will say 8,a non-miraculous ,christ ought not to be ,god to you08 ,why not8 ,how does ,he differ from your conception of ,god8 ,is ,he less loving1 less merciful1 less just8 8,no10 you reply1 8but ,he is less powerful40 8,how is ,he less powerful8 ,has ,he less power of pitying1 loving1 forgiving1 raising men from sin to righteousness8 ,is ,he less powerful in the spiritual world80 8,perhaps not2 but ,he is less powerful in the material world4 ,he never1 according to your account1 rose above1 never even for a moment suspended the laws of nature40 ,indeed8 ,and ,god1 the ,maker of the world--did ,he ever rise above1 or suspend the laws of nature8 ,when8 8,well1 ,he is said to have done so frequently in the records of the ,bible04 ,but many men deny that1 and you yourself are disposed to agree with them4 8,at all events ,he did so when ,he made the world40 ,here at last we can come to an understanding4 ,you look up to ,god as to the ,maker of the world1 and are more ready to worship ,him1 as such1 than to worship a non-miraculous ,christ4 ,if by 8the ,maker of the world0 you mean--as ,i am quite sure many mean--8the ,maker of the mere material forces of ,nature10 or even 8the ,maker of all things apart from ,christ10 then words fail me to express how entirely ,i differ from you4 ,but let me try to put your view into my own language1 in order to shew you that ,i do not condemn it without understanding it4 8,we cannot10 you say1 8worship a mere non-miraculous man1 who did nothing but talk and lead a good life1 and perhaps perform a few acts of faith-healing1 however beneficial may have been his influence on posterity4 ,the fact that1 after his death1 visions of him were seen by excited and enthusiastic followers1 and in one case by an enemy of highly emotional tendencies1 cannot alter this decision4 ,it is impossible to worship a being so helpless1 so limited1 so aweless as this4 ,what is such a creature in comparison with the mysterious ,maker of the stars or ,ruler of the ocean8 ,surely the sight of a storm at sea ought to suffice to turn any one from the imaginary and self-deceiving worship of the merely human ,jesus of ,nazareth to the worship of ,one whose greatness and glory and terror surround us on every side with material witnesses1 ,one in comparison with whom no mere man may be mentioned40 ,natural as such an argument may seem to you and to many others who call themselves ,christians1 it is in reality based upon a diabolical prejudice in favour of power4 ,i can understand our forefathers1 worshippers of ,thor and ,odin1 arguing thus2 and so great is our own inherited and inbred admiration of mere force1 that even to us ,christians the temptation is still very strong to bow down before the whirlwind and the fire1 rather than before the still small voice4 ,but it is a temptation to be resisted and overcome4 ,you call upon me to worship the ,ruler of the waves4 ,now the sea is full of the gifts of ,god to men2 yet if ,i knew nothing more of the ,creator than that ,he had made and rules the sea1 then--with all the knowledge of the death and destruction that reign beneath the depths of ocean among its non-human tenants1 and of the destruction that reigns on its surface when it wages war against man and conquers--,i should say1 8,so far as the sea alone reveals the nature of ,him who made it1 ,i would a thousand times sooner worship ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the non-miraculous man1 than the ,maker of the ocean40 ,it is the most vulgar and contemptible cowardice to cringe before the ,maker of the destroying ocean--who might be the ,devil and not a good ,god1 so far as the ocean's destructive power reveals its ,maker--rather than to do homage to the best of men4 ,i grant that in a storm at sea1 with the lightning blinding my eyes1 and the pitiless waters tearing my companions from my side and threatening every instant to devour me--,i grant that ,i might1 and should1 feel tempted to exclaim1 8,a mightier than ,christ is here40 ,but if ,i did1 ,i should be ashamed of it4 ,it would be a traitorous tendering of allegiance to ,satan4 ,when force and terror and death come shrieking on the wave-crests1 and proclaiming that 8,power after all is ,lord of the world10 then is our faith tested2 it is 8the victory of our faith0 to overcome that lie and to make answer thus3 8,no1 ,goodness is ,lord over the world2 ,love is ,lord over the world2 and therefore ,he who is one with ,love and ,goodness1 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 ,he is ,lord over the world4 ,do with me as thou wilt1 thou ,mighty ,maker of all things6 ,if ,christ was not deceived1 thou art ,his ,father and ,i can trust thee4 ,but if ,christ was deceived1 then art thou ,satan and ,i defy thee1 be thou the ,maker of a world of worlds4 ,better to perish and be deceived with ,christ1 than to be saved and caressed by a ,maker who made ,christ to perish and to be deceived6 ,if there be in truth any opposition of will between the ,maker and the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 then is the ,lord ,jesus the superior of the two2 and in the ,lord ,jesus alone will ,i put my trust1 and to ,him alone will ,i cleave as my ,lord and my ,saviour and my ,god40 ,have ,i made my meaning clear to you8 ,i do not say1 ,have ,i persuaded you that ,i am right8 ,but have ,i made you understand that it really is possible for one who has apprehended even imperfectly the illimitable extent of the goodness of ,christ and the divine nature of that goodness1 to feel heartily and sincerely that1 of all things in heaven and earth and in the waters under the earth1 the goodness and power and wisdom of ,god in ,christ are the fittest objects for our love1 our trust and our reverence1 in other words1 for our worship8 ,can you name any fitter object8 ,if you will not worship ,god in the man ,jesus1 you will hardly worship ,him in ,socrates1 or ,paul1 or any other specimen of humanity4 ,will you then turn to inanimate nature1 and worship him in that8 ,then you will be turning from the higher to the lower conception of ,god4 ,before ,i knew ,christ1 ,i might perhaps have worshipped ,god the ,maker1 being led to him1 so to speak1 by the world as ,mediator4 ,inspired by awe for the ,creator of so vast and orderly a machine1 ,i might have adored ,him as the artificer of the stars and this terrestrial globe4 ,but now1 ,christ has made this kind of 8natural religion0 impossible4 ,he1 the ideal ,man1 has revealed to me depths of love1 pity1 mercy1 self-sacrifice1 in comparison with which the ocean is but the 8water in a bucket10 and the stars of heaven are as 8a very little thing40 ,if therefore ,i try to conceive of ,god as alien and apart from ,christ1 ,god becomes at once degraded and inferior to man4 ,how shall ,i try to express myself more clearly8 ,let me use words not my own1 in which a man of recognized ability once summed up for me my own conceptions2 8,i see10 he said1 8you do not1 as most do1 worship ,christ out of compliment to ,god2 you worship ,god out of compliment to ,christ40 ,the words then sounded to me a little profane1 though they were not meant to be so2 but ,i had to confess that they exactly expressed my meaning4 ,since then1 it has seemed to me that these words were but an incisive way of saying1 what every one says and few realize1 that ,christ is the ,mediator between us and ,god3 we worship ,god the ,father because we attribute to ,him the character that we adore in ,god the ,son4 ,by this time you will have seen that while answering the question1 8,whom1 or what1 ought we to worship80 ,i have indirectly answered a preliminary question1 8,what do we mean by worship80 ,you have also probably noticed what answer ,i have given to this question3 worship appears to me a combination of love1 trust1 and awe4 ,do you accept this8 ,i have never seen any serious objection taken to this definition except by those who refuse practically to define it at all and who would simply say 8,worship is the homage paid by man to the ,creator3 and it has nothing to do with1 and cannot be explained by1 the feelings with which we regard man40 ,if ,i had not seen this in the columns of a theological journal1 ,i should not have believed it possible that modern superficiality and conventionalism could achieve quite so transparent a shallowness4 ,the sum total of our feelings towards ,god--more especially our awe for ,him--cannot indeed be adequately expressed in the same language which expresses our feelings for men3 but that is a very different thing from saying that the former 8have nothing to do with0 the latter4 ,i believe that a large part of most men's worship consists of a shrinking from an ,unknown1 the sort of dread that children feel for 8the dark40 ,but righteous worship must imply other feelings2 and these feelings--some of them at all events--must have names2 and whence are the names to be derived but from our feelings towards men and things--towards men1 surely1 as well as towards things8 ,we must either love ,god1 or hate ,him1 or be indifferent to ,him2 we must either trust1 or distrust ,him4 ,i do not see how the people who would sever worship from all reference to human relations can look upon it as other than a mere homage of the lips or knees1 a going to church1 and attendance at religious services4 ,need ,i say that1 when ,i define worship1 ,i am defining the worship of the heart1 not the attitude of those who honour ,god with their lips but whose heart is far from ,him8 ,now the attitude of man to ,god has varied greatly in accordance with their conception of ,god1 according as they have conceived ,him to be ,moloch1 or ,apollo1 or ,jehovah1 or the ,father of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,in some men worship has been mere terror2 in some1 it has been a desire to bribe2 in some it has been faint gratitude and strong admiration2 in some it has been intense awe and reverence4 ,all such forms of worship have been imperfect1 and some have been very bad4 ,at the best1 none of them have combined all the best and noblest feelings of aspiration which ,nature tends to develop in us by means of human and non-human agencies4 ,human nature--acting through the relations of the family--should elicit love and loving trust2 non-human nature--acting through the seas and skies1 with their suggestions of vastness and power--should elicit awe and awful trust2 and the combination of these two natural influences should elicit love1 trust and awe1 which three-fold result constitutes worship4 ,has the worship of ,god through the mediation of ,christ entirely superseded--was it intended to supersede--the worship of ,god through the mediation of the visible ,world8 ,i think not yet4 ,it will in the end but not now4 ,there may come a time1 in some future existence1 when we shall see righteousness like the sun1 when we shall have visions of the beauty and order of holiness like the stars1 and behold the glory of sacrifice spread out before our eyes like the firmament of heaven2 and then the revelation of ,god through visible ,nature will be swallowed up in the revelation of ,god through invisible ,nature4 ,but now1 not many of us can pretend to such a power of spiritual insight4 ,we feel that1 if we learned the story of ,christ without the help of the commentary of the awful powers of material nature1 we might be in danger of repeating it with a glib familiarity which would hinder us from penetrating its meaning4 ,those who live in the stir of cities where they are doomed never to be alone1 never to realize perfect silence1 never to see more than a few square feet of sky1 are living as the ,word of ,god did not intend them to live2 they may have--they often have--great spiritual compensations2 they certainly have some spiritual disadvantage in these unnatural negations4 ,as long as we have eyes and ears and the faculties of wonder and admiration1 so long must we suppose that the revelation of the ,word of ,god through ,jesus of ,nazareth has not dispensed with the revelation of the ,word of ,god through the forces of material nature4 ,if we wish to approach ,god we should not despise the ,mediation of the ,word of ,god in its entirety1 that is to say1 the mediation of 8the ,world with ,christ40 ,now what practical inferences follow from our definition of worship1 if we are satisfied that it is roughly true8 ,here let me put in a caution4 ,our definition cannot be exactly true2 for1 in its exactness1 worship means the sum total of all the feelings that should be felt by the mind of man1 when he contemplates ,god through the mediation of 8the ,world with ,christ40 ,who can enumerate these without confessing that he may have passed over some so subtle and so deep that language itself has left them unnamed8 ,we must therefore be content with a rough definition4 ,but if it be roughly true that worship means love1 trust and awe1 what practical inferences may we thence deduce as regards our own conduct8 ,first1 then1 worship is not the formal thing it is generally supposed to be4 ,it is not a mere smoothness of the hinges of the knees1 or a readiness to take the name of ,god within one's lips4 ,it is a natural going forth of the heart to that which one loves1 trusts1 and reverences most4 ,some men have little power of reverencing2 others1 of trusting2 others1 of loving2 such men's worship must necessarily be maimed and imperfect4 ,if a man who is destitute of reverence loves and trusts money more than anything else1 money really is that man's ,god2 it is no hyperbole1 it is the fact2 the man does actually worship money2 he does not say prayers to it1 does not go down on his knees to it1 but he loves it and trusts it more than anything else2 therefore1 so far as he can worship anything1 he worships money4 ,similarly another man worships pleasure2 another1 his children2 another1 power4 ,we are accustomed to apologize for such expressions as if they were metaphors or exaggerations2 but they are not2 they are plain statements of spiritual realities4 ,thousands of men who say they worship ,christ1 and who honestly suppose they worship ,christ1 do nothing of the kind4 ,this is the dark side of the self-delusion of worship1 but there is a brighter4 ,there are many men at the present day who call themselves agnostics1 but who would hardly deny that they love and reverence ,jesus of ,nazareth more than any other being4 ,they worship ,him then4 ,their worship is tinged with hopelessness1 and therefore imperfect2 but so far as it goes1 it is a genuine worship of ,christ4 ,perhaps1 too1 some who profess mere ,theism feel1 in their hearts1 that though they dislike to say they worship ,christ1 they love ,christ more than they love their conception of 8,god without ,christ20 if so1 may we not say that1 so far as that element of love goes1 they worship ,christ8 ,thousands of thousands of people1 before ,christ was born1 worshipped ,goodness and a good ,god in their lives and hearts1 though they were1 in name1 worshippers of ,apollo or ,moloch4 ,thousands of people in the same unconscious way have been1 and still are1 worshipping the ,incarnate ,christ4 ,they may not acknowledge this1 they may not even know it3 but their hearts have gone out to ,him in love and trust and awe1 more than to any other person or thing in heaven or earth4#h ,search your own soul and acknowledge how little you know of ,god2 ,i do not mean how little you profess to know1 but how little you really know2 how very much of what you think you know1 is but second-hand knowledge1 scraps of sayings repeated on authority1 but not representing any heartfelt faith4 ,then--after deducting all the verbiage that you once esteemed a part of your own belief--take the poor residuum of your conception of the ,godhead1 and put it by the side of your conception of the ,word of ,god incarnate in ,christ1 making some faint attempt at the same time to realize the stupendous life and character of ,jesus4 ,then ask yourself in what respects the former conception differs from the latter for the better4 ,lastly ask yourself what you mean by worship--not lip-worship1 or knee-worship1 but the worship of the heart2 and whether your heart does not go out in heart-worship as much towards the latter as to the former of these two conceptions4 ,if you will do this fairly and honestly1 my only fear would be that you might find that your conception of ,god ,himself was too weak to retain its grasp on you2 but if ,god still held ,his place in your heart1 then ,i should feel confident that ,christ would sit enthroned by ,his side1 as being the ,son without whom the ,father could not be known1 worshipped in virtue of a claim which no mere performance of miracles could establish1 and which no mere non-performance of miracles could invalidate4 ,the sum is this4 ,in ,nature there is evil as well as good4 ,i cannot therefore worship the ,author of all ,nature1 but must worship the ,author of ,nature-minus the evil4 ,where is ,he to be found8 ,he is revealed in what we recognize to be good1 true1 and beautiful4 ,now no one man can include in his life all that we mean by scientific truth1 and artistic beauty1 as well as moral goodness4 ,but1 truth being a harmony1 there is no deeper and nobler truth than the harmony of a human will with the will of the ,supreme2 and1 beneath perishable artistic beauty1 there is an eternal beauty to be discerned in righteousness4 ,it ought not therefore to surprise us that the ,eternal ,word1 after endeavouring for thousands of years to lead creation up from the worship of ,power to the worship of ,goodness1 should at last take upon ,himself the form of a creature1 conspicuously powerless from the world's point of view1 ignorant of science1 and destitute of outward beauty1 but of a goodness so divinely beautiful and so true to the ,underlying ,laws of spiritual ,nature1 that when ,he held out ,his arms and called upon wandering mankind to come to ,him1 the enlightened conscience of humanity sought refuge in ,his embrace4 ,footnote #h3 ,it is a strange but common mistake to expect a purer morality from a conventional ,christian than from a heathen or an atheist4 ,one ought to expect less1 much less4 ,the man who can be familiar with the character1 and acknowledge the claims1 of ,christ1 without really loving ,him or serving ,him1 and who can believe all that the ,church teaches about ,him1 without at all believing in ,him1 must surely be far below the atheist who now and then does a good turn for humanity1 out of mere pity and without the least hope of any ultimate triumph of goodness4 ,for my part1 ,i am quite surprised at the apparent goodness of conventional ,christians3 but ,i think they are not so good as their actions would imply4 ,they are forced1 by tradition and the example of a few1 to keep up an artificial standard of morality in some departments of life4 ,,xii ,,the ,,worship ,,of ,,christ ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,your letter of yesterday raises two objections1 which ,i will do my best to meet4 ,first1 if ,i regard ,christ as ,god1 ,i ought not1 you think1 to stumble at the miracles1 but to welcome1 and even to require1 them2 and secondly1 you are not satisfied with my definition of worship4 ,let me deal first with your first objection1 restating it in your own words4 8,i admit10 you say1 8that ,jesus1 even without miracles1 would be worthy of worship in your sense of the word2 but that is not the same thing as regarding ,him as the ,eternal ,son of ,god1 the ,creative ,word4 ,i agree with ,plato that there is nothing more like ,god than the man who is as just as man may be2 but you demand more of me than this2 you wish me to regard ,him not as being merely #8like ,god' but as #8being ,god1' #8very ,god of very ,god4' ,surely you must therefore admit that ,jesus was exceptional1 and not #8in the course of nature2' and the introduction into the visible world of such an exceptional and supernatural ,being surely makes it antecedently probable1 if not necessary1 that ,he would bring with ,him some quite exceptional phenomena in the way of evidence4 ,the ,miraculous ,conception and ,resurrection of ,christ's ,body 7if only they were true7 would supply just the requisite evidence that ,jesus was the ,creative ,word1 ,lord over the issues of life and death4 ,if the creative ,power of ,god1 no less than the ,righteousness and the ,love of ,god1 was incarnate in the person of ,jesus1 it would have been no less manifest in ,his life and works4 ,but you desire to reduce ,him to a being in no way distinguishable from other men except by superior moral excellence4 ,there is1 it seems to me1 no logical connection between moral excellence and creative power4 ,the two attributes1 being generically different1 demand different kinds of evidence to substantiate them4 8,again10 you continue1 8even if ,i put aside your contention that ,jesus is the ,word of ,god1 there remains your assertion that ,he is sinless4 ,now a sinless ,jesus is1 in ,himself1 a miracle2 and if you call on me to believe that ,jesus was without sin1 you ought to see no antecedent improbability1 nay1 you ought to see an antecedent probability1 that ,he would work miracles40 ,well1 ,i feel that we are walking in a slippery region--this land of antecedent metaphysical probabilities2 but ,i will try to follow you4 ,let me take your second objection first4 ,does it then really seem to you no less antecedently probable that the ,word of ,god1 made man1 should have the power 7say7 of walking on water1 than that ,he should be sinless8 ,surely we see in the best men approximations to sinlessness1 but no approximations at all to what spiritualists 7,i believe7 call 8levitation06 ,in proportion as men approximate to our conception of ,god1 in that proportion they are free from sin1 but they do not 8levitate20 hence1 while we are led to believe that the ,man who completely represents ,god 7the ,word of ,god ,incarnate7 will be absolutely sinless1 we are led to no such conclusion as to 8levitation40 ,or will you maintain that the best men shew any germ of any the least power to suspend any the least law of nature8 ,there is no vestige of any such tendency around us2 and your only support for such a belief would be found in the miracles of the ,old ,testament1 which you yourself deny1 and as to which ,i shall have something to say in a future letter4 ,i admit however that there is one seeming argument derived from the 8mighty works0 of healing undoubtedly worked by the disciples of ,jesus as well as by ,jesus ,himself4 ,without anticipating a subject that must be deferred to a future letter1 ,i will merely ask you at this stage to distinguish between those 8mighty works0 on the one hand which were marvellous but not miraculous1 and the 8miracles0 on the other hand which1 if true1 involved suspensions of the laws of nature4 ,that ,jesus may have healed certain diseases through faith1 would be acknowledged by the most sceptical physiologists as quite possible in accordance with the laws of nature2 and this power would be consistent with such a faith-inspiring personality as we attribute to our ,lord4 ,even from ordinary men and women there 8goes out virtue10 we scarcely know how1 to the sick and suffering who are imbued with their hopefulness1 their cheerfulness1 their faith2 much more might we suppose that from the ,ideal of ,humanity 8virtue0 would probably go forth in unique measure and produce unique results1 though always in accordance with those laws of material nature to which ,he had submitted ,himself4 ,but this is no argument for real 8miracles02 and--even while arguing--,i protest against this method of arguing about facts1 from metaphysical 8antecedent probability40 ,i do not object to the argument from 8antecedent probability0 where you can appeal to experience and argue from what happened in the past to what is likely to happen in the future4 ,but where you can have no such evidence 7because the ,son of ,god was not twice incarnate72 where the question is1 8,did ,jesus do this or did ,he not80 and where we have history and evidence to guide us1 as to what ,he did and said2 it seems to me we ought to be guided by evidence and not by 8antecedent probabilities10 especially when these 8probabilities0 are derived from nothing but metaphysical considerations4 ,but you tell me that you see 8no logical connection between moral excellence and creative power20 and another passage in your letter says that 8we have no reason for thinking that the best men shew any tendency to approximate1 in creative power1 to the co-eternal ,word40 ,what do you thence infer8 ,apparently this1 that1 as ,christ revealed ,god's righteousness and love by ,his own righteousness and love1 so ,he must have revealed ,god's creative power by ,his own creative acts4 ,i1 too1 believe that4 ,but by what creative acts8 ,by changing water into wine1 or seven loaves into seven thousand loaves1 or three fishes into three thousand fishes8 ,think of it seriously4 ,do these two or three abrupt and dislocated achievements appear to you adequately to represent the quiet1 gradual1 orderly1 creative power of the true ,word of ,god1 by whom the heavens were made8 ,for my part ,i see a noble meaning in your words1 but the meaning ,i see in them is not what you mean4 ,it was necessary--so far ,i agree with you--that the ,incarnate ,word should manifest ,god's creative ,power as well as ,his ,love and ,righteousness4 ,but how8 ,can you not answer for yourself without my prompting8 ,does not your own conscience suggest to you what is the highest effort of creative power8 ,are we not taught--and do not our hearts respond to the teaching--that ,god is a ,spirit8 ,and1 if ,god is a ,spirit1 must not the highest kind of creation be1 not material1 but spiritual8 ,now ,i maintain that it is a greater1 more sublime1 and more ,god-like act to create righteousness in accordance with ,god's spiritual laws than to create loaves and fishes and wine against ,god's material laws4 ,and ,i maintain also--in opposition to your opinion--that 8the best men0 do manifest 8a tendency to approximate in creative power to the co-eternal ,word10 so far as concerns this1 the highest kind of creation4 ,it is hard1 very hard1 for us to realize--in spite of the teaching of the prophets in old times and of the great ,english poets in our own days--that the creation of the heaven and the earth is 8a very little thing1 a drop of a bucket10 as compared with the creation of righteousness4 ,it is a desperate struggle1 this battle of the spirit against matter1 of the invisible against the visible1 before we can believe1 with all our being--with our minds as well as our hearts--that the creation described in the first chapter of the ,fourth ,gospel was more divine than that described in the first chapter of the ,book of ,genesis4 ,but it was so4 ,the first creation of orderly matter was but a shadowy1 unsubstantial metaphor1 predicting the second creation of orderly spirit4 8,all things were made by him1 and without him was not anything made that was made30 so writes the ,evangelist1 describing the first1 and proceeding to describe the second1 creation3 and he continues thus1 8,in him was life1 and the life was the light of men40 ,to the same effect writes ,st4 ,paul3 8,the first ,adam became a living soul4 ,the last ,adam became a life-giving spirit40 ,is it not possible1 on the testimony of one's own conscience1 and on the testimony of history present and past1 and on the testimony of the ,apostles and ,evangelists--even when critically reviewed and disencumbered of the miraculous element--to acknowledge that ,jesus has been indeed 8a life-giving ,spirit0 to mankind1 and to worship ,him as representing the ,creative ,word who has moved on the face of the material and of the spiritual waters1 creating order alike in the matter of the ,universe and in the minds and consciences of men8 ,and now to deal with your second objection 7directed against my definition of worship7 which ,i will repeat in your own words3--8,you define worship as consisting of the sentiments of love1 trust1 and awe4 ,i confess this does not express all my notion of worship4 ,such sentiments ,i have felt towards my teachers1 whether dead or living1 but ,i do not consider that ,i worship them4 ,when we apply the word to ,god1 we mean by it a direct act of communion--or at least a real effort after communion-- between two minds4 ,when ,i pray to ,god1 ,i believe myself to be directing my thoughts towards a ,being with whom ,i am spiritually in direct and immediate relation--the ,maker of all1 my ,maker and ,father4 ,but ,i cannot persuade myself that ,i stand in a like relation to ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,we do not pray to ,paul or ,plato1 and ,i do not see any such difference in the historical manifestations of ,jesus as should lead me to believe that ,i1 and millions of other believers1 can make my thoughts known to him1 and can receive back impressions from him1 when we cannot do so to other minds which have helped to change the world's history and have been revealers of the ,father40 ,are you not here confusing a state of mind with an action resulting from that state of mind8 ,we have been speaking1 not of lip-worship1 but of heart-worship1 defining it as a state of mind4 ,now is not prayer the result of worship1 rather than identical with worship1 as we have defined it above8 ,a child feels love1 and trust1 as well as reverence1 for its parents2 and1 in consequence he asks them to grant his desires1 or he thanks them for kindnesses2 but yet the asking and thanking are not identical with the feelings of the children towards their parents1 but spring from those feelings4 ,similarly we1 feeling a trust and an awe for the ,maker and ,father1 far beyond what we can feel for ,paul or ,plato1 impart to ,him our petitions for our highest needs1 or offer ,him our thanks3 but this asking and this thanking are not identical with1 but the results of1 the feelings we entertain towards ,god4 ,what you really mean is that your love1 trust1 and awe towards ,god so far transcend those corresponding feelings when entertained by you for your fellow-creatures1 that you ask from ,him things which you would never dream of asking from them4 ,moreover you consider 7rightly or wrongly7 that a dead or absent man cannot enter into communion with you1 but that ,god is superior to death and to the limitations of space1 and that ,he alone can always hear and always answer2 and this you appear to think a non-miraculous ,christ cannot do4 ,well1 here ,i confess there is a vast difference between us2 for ,i feel sure that ,christ can do this4 ,you say1 ,i do not 8pray to ,paul and ,plato30 ,i do not1 though ,i sometimes think that it would be better to pray to ,paul or ,plato than to the sun or moon4 ,but ,i do not find ,paul1 ,i do not find ,plato1 claiming power to forgive sins2 or declaring that he came to die for mankind and that his blood was to be shed for the remission of sins2 or predicting that he should be slain and that he should rise from the dead2 or promising that whatsoever his disciples asked from the ,father in his name should be performed2 or promising to give his disciples1 after his death1 a spirit1 the ,holy ,spirit of the ,father1 which should enable them to resist all adversaries after he had left them2 or1 in other words1 making a manifest preparation to prepare his disciples for his death on the ground that after death he would still be present with them and still their guide and helper4 ,now even when ,i set aside the ,fourth ,gospel1 and eliminate all miraculous narrative from the first three ,gospels1 ,i find myself in the presence of ,one who1 ,i am convinced1 both said these things1 and made them good in deeds4 ,i am penetrated with the conviction that ,he said them and had a right to say them2 and that this is proved by literary and historical evidence1 and by the history of the ,church1 and by my own experience4 ,the miracles ,i can easily disentangle from the life of ,christ2 but ,his divine claims to be our ,helper and ,saviour after death and to all eternity1 ,i cannot4 ,accepting them1 ,i can neither deny ,him worship nor myself the right of access to ,him in prayer4 ,christ's whole life and doctrine1 ,his plan 7so to speak7 for the establishment of spiritual empire over the hearts of men1 appear to me imbued with divinity2 but if ,i were forced to choose some one particular discourse or incident in ,his life as a reason for my adoration of ,him1 ,i should not choose any of ,his mighty works of healing1 nor any of ,his parables or discourses1 nor even ,his death upon the cross3 ,i should point to the institution of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,as the years pass over my head1 the picture of that mysterious evening becomes more and more powerful and vivid with me and more and more inexplicable unless ,jesus was verily the ,life of the world4 ,it is ten times more vivid and more powerful now than it was when ,i believed in a miraculous ,jesus4 ,when ,i kneel down at the altar-rails there rises up through the distance of eighteen centuries that strange scene in the guest-chamber at ,jerusalem1 where ,jesus portioned out ,his flesh and blood1 bequeathing ,himself to ,his disciples for ever4 ,then follows the thought of the countless myriads of souls who have derived spiritual strength from this rite and have lived again in ,christ1 and ,i say to myself1 8,truly ,god was in the self-doomed man who thus gave us ,his flesh and blood for mankind4 ,a mere man devise so strange a rite6 ,so 7at first7 repellently strange6 so profoundly simple6 so perfectly and spiritually successful60 ,i solemnly protest to you that the inexpressible depth of the divine intuition which found utterance in the ,lord's ,supper1 impresses me more and more--far more than all the miracles put together--as a proof that we have in ,christ a ,being in initial and fundamental harmony with the very source of our spiritual life2 and1 rationalist though ,i am1 ,i find myself1 nevertheless1 praying naturally and spontaneously after this fashion3 8,master1 my only true ,lord and ,master1 grant that ,i may feed on thy body and be quickened by thy blood1 and live in thee a new and spiritual life6 ,thou ,one ,forgiver of sins1 thou ,bearer of all the burdens of mankind1 bear ,thou the burden that ,i cannot bear1 and blot out all my offences2 ,thou who sittest at the right hand of the ,majesty on high1 lift me in thyself even to the throne of heaven1 and present me to the ,father as ,his child6 ,thou who didst die in the flesh and rise again in the spirit never to die1 rise thou in my heart and soul2 take my whole being into thyself and cause ,me there to die unto sin and to live with thee unto righteousness6 ,grant me eternal life1 thou ,lord of ,life6 ,say within my soul1 #8,let there be righteousness1' and there shall be righteousness6 ,create me anew1 ,o ,lord1 thou ever-living1 co-eternal ,word of the ,creator40 ,you may object that many of these prayers1 with slightly different wording1 might equally well be addressed to the ,father through the ,son4 ,they might1 and1 as a rule1 they probably would be so addressed4 ,but in moments of unusually deep emotion prayers of this kind go forth ,i think1 more naturally to the ,father in the ,son than to the ,father through the ,son2 and surely your very objection1 and my answer to it1 shewing that prayers may be indifferently addressed to the ,father or to the ,son1 constitute a strong argument for the unity 7in the heart of the person praying7 of ,son and ,father4 ,and if ,i can pray like this1 do ,i not worship1 must ,i not worship1 ,christ as the ,creative ,word1 the ,eternal ,son of ,god8 ,and is there anything to prevent me from praying like this in the fact that ,he to whom ,i pray1 when ,he received our humanity1 received it in truth and honesty1 with all its material limitations8 ,,xiii ,,what ,,is ,,nature8 ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,desiring to approach the subject of miracles1 you ask me whether ,i do not accept the following sentence as a statement of my views concerning nature3 8,the ,universe is perennially renewed and created afresh by an active energy of the ,spirit of ,god1 and what we call #8laws of nature' are the mode in which our limited minds are enabled to apprehend the working of ,creative ,power40 ,if ,i accept it1 you declare you cannot understand why ,i should stumble at miracles4 8,it is a matter of every-day experience10 you say1 8and natural1 that the human will should suspend the laws of nature1 as for example by arresting the motion of gravitation2 and consequently it seems unreasonable for you1 or for other believers in a personal ,god1 to be scandalized if ,he also now and then permits ,himself the same liberty40 ,i accept your statement1 so far as concerns the perennial energy of the ,spirit of ,god upon the material and immaterial ,universe2 but ,i do not quite agree with the thought1 or perhaps ,i should say with the expression1 of the last part of your sentence--8the mode in which our limited minds are enabled to apprehend the working of ,creative ,power40 ,i should prefer to call the ,laws of ,nature 8a revelation of ,himself by ,god to men1 on the recognition of which our very existence depends40 ,the ,laws of ,nature are indeed nothing but ideas of our own ,imagination2 but they appear to me1 more or less1 true ideas1 through which ,god has revealed ,himself to us as a ,god of ,law and ,order4 ,i believe in the fixity of natural ,law as much 7,i think7 as the man of science does2 ,i reverence a ,law of ,nature1 not as a result of necessity1 but as an expression of ,god's will4 ,but your own remarks about the ordinary 8suspension of the law of nature by the human will0 appear to me to imply a little confusion of thought arising from a confused use of the word 8nature0 in two or more senses4 ,on this point therefore ,i should like to say a few words4 ,nature i4 ,nature sometimes means the ordinary course of things apart from us and from our intervention2 as when we say that 8,nature looks gay0--an expression which we might use of fields and even of a not too artificial garden1 but not of a city or a street4 ,in this sense it may be occasionally applied to the ordinary course of things in our own bodily frame1 so far as it goes on without our deliberate intervention2 as when a physician tells a fussy patient to cease from medicining himself and to 8let ,nature take its course40 ii4 ,nature sometimes means the ordinary course of things in ourselves1 not in our bodies but in some other part of us1 but still apart from our deliberate intervention2 as when we say that 8,nature impels us to avoid pain1 to preserve our lives1 to cherish our children1 to love and revere our parents1 and to seek the esteem and friendship of our neighbours40 ,but sometimes in human beings one 8natural0 impulse is opposed by another3 as when the desire to preserve one's life is opposed by the desire to gain the esteem of one's neighbours4 ,when these two conflict1 which is to be called the more 8natural08 ,the answer will be different1 according as we use the word 8natural0 in the sense of 8ordinary0 or 8orderly40 ,one class of natural impulses1 which may be called selfish or self-regarding1 is perhaps more ordinarily predominant2 another class1 those which regard the good of others1 contributes more to the progress and order of society4 ,in the individual1 as well as in society1 the former or 8ordinary0 impulses1 if unchecked1 often tend to excess of passion1 and what we call mental 8disorder02 the latter 7which are seldom in excess7 tend to self-control and a well-ordered mind4 ,in the former sense1 it is more 8natural10 because more 8ordinary10 to laugh when we are tickled1 or to seize food when we are hungry1 than to die for our country or to provide food for our children2 but1 in the latter sense1 the nobler actions are more 8natural0 because more in accordance with order4 ,what do we mean by a well-ordered mind8 ,we mean one in which the ,will does not at once yield to the impulses from the things which seem nearest to ourselves2 in which the ,imagination vividly presents to us the wants of our neighbours as well as our own2 in which the ,reason states what can be said for and against each proposal1 and the ,conscience finally decides the course to be taken4 ,here then we see an entirely new notion of ,nature1 at least so far as man is concerned2 a course or order of things no longer apart from human intervention1 but entirely dependent upon the supremacy of the ,will and ,conscience aided by ,reason and ,imagination3 and hence we are led to a double definition of human ,nature as follows3-- iii4 ,human ,nature means1 sometimes the ordinary1 sometimes the orderly1 course of human things4 ,even as to non-human ,nature we sometimes find a popular tendency to call1 or think 8unnatural10 some phenomena which strike us as being contrary to the general order and beneficence of things3 and hence we are less fond of saying that ,nature prompts the cat to torture the mouse or the moth to fly into the flame1 than that she implants in the animal race the parental instinct to protect the young4 ,i confess ,i sympathize with this tendency1 and with all those who in their hearts look upon death and pain as being contrary to the ideal order of things and ultimately destined to be destroyed4 ,but for the present1 apart from sentiment1 let us simply note the fact that in our popular language we sometimes say that it is the nature of a clock to indicate the right time1 but sometimes that it is its nature to deviate from the right time3 whence we deduce the conclusion that3-- iv4 ,the ,nature of a thing means sometimes its object1 sometimes its custom4 ,laws of ,nature ,many of those unbroken sequences of phenomena around us1 which have been most frequently observed1 have been made the subject of the ,imagination and have received an imaginative name4 ,when we find ,nature1 upon an invariable system1 dealing out rewards for one course of action and penalties for another1 there is suggested to us the thought of a great ,lawgiver laying down laws and affixing rewards for obeying1 and penalties for disobeying4 ,hence the sequences of natural phenomena have been called 8,laws of ,nature40 ,every action of every moment of our lives is performed for the most part in the instinctive and unconscious confidence that ,nature will not deceive us by breaking her ,laws3 and hence they might1 from another point of view1 be called 8,promises of ,nature10 or 8,expressions of the ,will of ,nature20 but 8,law of ,nature0 has been selected--not perhaps altogether happily--as suggesting something more fixed and definite than even the ,promises or ,will of the ,maker of the world4 ,law of ,nature is a metaphorical name for a frequently observed sequence of phenomena 7apart from human ,will71 implying2 to some minds1 regularity2 to others1 absolute invariability4 ,suspension of ,laws of ,nature ,does human ,will ever suspend a ,law of ,nature8 ,i am standing1 we will suppose1 under a tree in autumn4 ,if a leaf flutters down and rests upon my head1 the ,law of gravitation is no more suspended by my ,will1 than if it rests upon some intercepting bough4 ,the result of the ,law is modified2 downward motion is replaced by downward pressure3 but the ,law itself is not suspended4 ,but if1 upon the command of a man1 the leaf were arrested in mid air and remained immovable for an hour together1 and if ,i were led to the conclusion that this was effected by no force which ,i could conceive as being consistent with the ordinary course of ,nature and with the limitations of human power1 then ,i should be obliged to say that the ,law of gravitation1 in this particular instance1 did not work4 ,using a metaphor1 ,i might say that the ,law was 8suspended10 and the phenomenon itself ,i should call a miracle4 ,in reality the true explanation might be quite different4 ,it is conceivable that an extraordinary man1 once in a thousand or once in ten thousand years1 might be endowed with the power of arresting the motion of a stone in the air1 without the intervention of the body and by the mere exercise of ,will2 and this might be done by him as easily1 as regularly1 and 7for him7 as naturally1 as we ordinary men stop a stone in the air by the exercise of ,will acting upon our bodily machinery4 ,in that case gravitation would still act1 pressing the stone1 so to speak1 upon an invisible hand3 and the explanation would be1 not that the ,law was suspended1 but that the results of the ,law were uniquely modified by the peculiar action of a unique human nature1 in the same way in which they are commonly modified by the regular action of an ordinary human nature4 ,this1 ,i say1 is conceivable4 ,yet if we find 7#a7 in past history1 a general tendency to believe in miracles on very slight evidence2 7#b7 in the present time1 a general and1 as many think1 a universal refutation of the evidence on which miracles have been accepted2 7#c7 an increasing power of explaining many so-called miracles in accordance with natural ,laws--it becomes our obvious duty to regard miraculous narratives with a very strong suspicion until cogent evidence has been produced for their truth4 ,the ,action of the ,will ,hitherto we have been considering the action of the ,will upon external ,nature2 but now what as to the action of our ,will upon our own ,nature1 upon the machinery of our own body8 ,is that to be called a ,law of ,nature or a suspension of a ,law of ,nature8 ,it is to be called neither4 ,our definition of 8,law of ,nature0 was 8a metaphorical name given to the ordinary course of things apart from the intervention of human will30 consequently the action of human will 7about which we are now speaking7 is expressly excluded from the province of ,nature1 in this sense1 and can neither be called 8a ,law of ,nature10 nor a 8suspension of a ,law of ,nature40 ,the action of the ,will falls under the head of 8human ,nature20 and1 discussing it under that head1 we may call it by any metaphor we please1 a custom1 habit1 law of human ,nature4 ,this distinction between the name given to the course of non-human ,nature and the name given to the action of the human ,will on the bodily framework1 is based on our distinction between the regular and 7if ,i may use the word7 the anticipable sequences of the former1 as contrasted with the irregular and unanticipable sequences of the latter4 ,when the ,will is undeveloped or enfeebled2 when the human being is a baby1 or one of an excited and undisciplined crowd1 or mad1 or drunk1 or narcoticized1 or mesmerized1 or reduced to the bestial level by some overpowering instinct2 we can occasionally prophesy his actions or movements with something of the certainty and accuracy with which we predict the motions of a machine2 but we cannot thus calculate the actions of a mature1 healthy1 and reasonable man4 ,hence it has been usual to contrast with the 8,laws of ,nature0 the 8freedom of the human ,will40 ,we cannot demonstrate the freedom of the ,will any more than the fixity of the ,laws of ,nature3 the belief in both is suggested by ,imagination1 tested and approved by ,experience and ,reason1 and finally retained by ,faith4 ,of course1 when ,i speak thus1 you will not suppose that ,i assume that my mind1 or being1 is divided into distinct parts 7as the body consists of distinct limbs7 called ,will1 ,reason1 c43 you will understand that ,i merely use the ordinary brief and convenient phraseology which says 8,the ,will does so-and-so10 meaning 8,i do so-and-so with a certain consciousness which appears to me to result from a faculty inherent in me of choosing between two or more courses of action1 which faculty ,i call ,will40 ,with this precaution1 ,i assert that the action of the ,will is natural as regards human ,nature1 but outside ,nature or 8extra-natural0 as regards non-human ,nature1 and that it does not involve the suspension of what are technically called 8the ,laws of ,nature40 ,it is thus shown that the human ,will acts directly on the human body in accordance with the ,laws of human ,nature1 and that it does not interfere with the external world except indirectly1 through the body1 in accordance with the ,laws of ,nature 7as technically defined74 ,there is nothing therefore in the action of the human ,will that would justify the a priori inference that the divine ,will would1 by any direct intervention1 disturb or suspend that fixed ,order in the external world which constitutes a large part of the revelation of ,god to mankind4 ,if indeed we are to draw any kind of parallel between divine and human action1 we shall have to ask ourselves what is there appertaining to the divine ,spirit which can in any sense be said to correspond to its 8,body08 ,and ,i suppose we shall reply1 in ,pauline language1 that ,mankind1 which is said to have ,christ for its ,head1 might be mystically and spiritually called the ,body of the divine ,will or ,holy ,spirit4 ,if this be so1 proceeding with our parallel1 might we not repeat1 word for word1 with the needful proportionate changes1 the language of the last paragraph3 8,the divine ,will or ,spirit acts directly on the divine body 7that is on mankind7 in accordance with the ,laws of ,spiritual ,nature1 and it does not interfere with the external world1 except indirectly1 through mankind1 in accordance with the ,laws of ,nature 7as technically defined708 ,i do not say that this analogy is logic-proof3 for what can be called a 8body10 or what 8external10 in relation to the all-pervading ,god8 ,nevertheless1 as it falls in with our actual experiences1 this mystical parallel seems as well worth recording as most a priori notions on this subject1 though we take it as no more than an illustration of possibilities4 ,but1 if we are to confine ourselves to certainties1 the one thing certain is1 that ,nature1 in the fullest sense1 human as well as non-human1 emphatically discourages us from expecting 8miracles40 ,,xiv ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,testament ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,your last letter now comes to the point which ,i have been long anticipating1 or rather it recurs to the point from which our correspondence started--the credibility of the miracles attributed to ,christ4 ,you tell me that during the long vacation you have been rapidly reviewing my letters and attempting to enter into my views4 ,there is much1 you say1 that is new1 and there is something that improves on acquaintance1 in this form of 8,christian ,positivism0 as you call it2 its intellectual security has attractions for you1 and it seems to you to satisfy at once the aspirations of those who are drawn to worship humanity1 and of those who are drawn to worship something above humanity4 ,all this looks very well on paper1 you say2 but when you take up the ,gospels1 it seems to fade away into a mere student's dream3 and you state the objection thus3 8,for our knowledge of ,christ1 we depend almost entirely upon the ,new ,testament2 now the ,new ,testament contains accounts of miracles2 these miracles we are unable to accept as historical2 consequently the ,new ,testament must be regarded as non-historical1 and the whole story of ,christ becomes a myth40 ,in return for this argument about the ,new ,testament let me supply you with a similarly sceptical one about the ,old ,testament1 and ask you whether you are prepared consistently to adopt it4 8,for our knowledge of the children of ,israel1 we depend almost entirely upon the ,old ,testament2 now the ,old ,testament contains accounts of miracles2 these miracles we are unable to accept as historical2 consequently the ,old ,testament must be regarded as non-historical1 and the story of the descendants of ,israel becomes a myth40 ,now are you really satisfied with this argument8 ,the so-called ,law of ,moses1 the wandering in the ,wilderness1 the conquest of ,canaan1 the lives of the wonder-working ,gideon and of ,barak1 the wars and songs of ,david1 the denunciations1 warnings1 consolations1 sorrows1 visions1 of ,isaiah1 ,jeremiah1 ,ezekiel and the other prophets1 are they indeed1 in your judgment1 converted into mere myths by the admixture of the miraculous element8 ,are they even made so far mythical as not to reveal the story of the training of one of the most remarkable of nations1 a nation theologically quite singular upon earth8 ,i contend on the contrary1 that the removal of the miraculous element results in a two-fold advantage1 on the one hand placing the story of ,israel in the province of history1 and on the other hand1 not bringing it down to the level of the common-place1 but elevating it to a pinnacle among the histories of nations1 and making it in a certain sense more wonderful than before4 ,if ,moses was a plenipotentiary miracle-worker from ,god1 then there was nothing unexpected or wonderful in the spiritual results that he achieved2 and the wonder rather is that he achieved so little4 ,give me the thunders of ,sinai1 with power to burn1 blast1 and plague my opponents2 add to these the power of producing without labour and without delay miraculous supplies of manna1 quails1 and water1 and ,i myself would undertake to terrify or allure any nation into obeying a far less noble and attractive code of laws than was set forth in the name of ,moses4 ,but when ,i see a lawgiver with no such powers1 doing what ,moses did1 and shaping1 or preparing the way for shaping1 one of the most carnal and unspiritual of races into a nation of ,priests and ,prophets for the civilised world1 then ,i am ready to fall upon my face and to take my shoes from off my feet1 saying from the depth of my heart1 8,truly ,god is in this place40 8,but10 say you1 8the so-called ,law of ,moses is no more due to ,moses than trial by jury is due to ,alfred40 ,that matters not4 ,it is not any one ,israelite2 it is ,israel as a whole1 ,israel and its lawgivers and poets and prophets collectively2 it is the evolution of the spiritual from the carnal ,israel that ,i revere2 and all the more1 if that evolution be natural4 ,regarded as miraculous1 the history of ,israel is somewhat of a failure and a bathos2 but1 regarded as non-miraculous1 it becomes a most miraculous triumph of divine intention and persistence1 even though the walls of ,jericho succumbed to the trumpets of ,israel only in hyperbole1 and although the sun stood still at the bidding of ,joshua only in the impassioned language of an ,oriental poet4 ,i am quite sure you must feel this as strongly as ,i do2 you cannot honestly and sincerely put aside all the history of ,israel as a myth because it contains a non-historic element of miracles1 any more than you put aside the battles of ,salamis and ,regillus because they too have received their miraculous adornment4 ,but some are probably perplexed and scandalized at the task that is apparently set before them of disentangling the true from the false1 the myth from the non-myth3 8,how strange10 they say1 8that the story of the training of the ,priests of the world1 that story which should have been a light to guide our feet1 has been suffered to shed darkness instead of light and falsehood instead of truth6 ,is it probable1 is it even decent and reverent1 to suppose that ,god should have allowed the ,book of ,revelation to be so falsified that the simple and unlearned cannot depend upon it without the aid of scholars and specialists80 ,my reply is that1 as long as men reason in this way1 assuming that ,revelation ought to have been conveyed by some perfect medium1 and therefore that it must have been conveyed by some perfect medium1 so long it will be as impossible to refute them as it was to refute the ,aristotelian astronomers who argued that 8,the planets ought to move in perfect curves2 and the circle is a perfect curve2 and therefore the planets must move in circles40 ,we are like children crying for the moon if we demand that this world1 or that anything in this world1 shall be arranged as if the world were the best of all possible worlds4 ,it is not the best possible world1 and we know it is not4 ,some things attest the glory of ,god more perfectly than others2 but nothing attests it quite perfectly4 ,you might as well hope to remove refraction from the atmosphere1 as to remove from the human mind the prejudices which compel and always have compelled mankind to exaggerate and misrepresent divine truth by forcing us to think that ,god must have acted as we should have acted had we been in ,his place4 ,if you and ,i were omnipotent and had to re-make the ,universe1 ,i suppose there is no question but we should make man perfectly good 7according to our notions of goodness7 and that we should force him to remain good4 ,and if you or ,i were omnipotent and had to reveal anything to men1 we should write it large and clear in the sky1 or in the heart1 legible to all without effort1 so that men should be forced to understand it4 ,but ,god has neither done this nor anything like it4 ,therefore1 since in other respects ,he has departed so very far from our notions of the best method1 we cannot be surprised if ,he has not composed the ,old ,testament quite in the manner which would commend itself to us as the best4 ,from our point of view the ,bible teems with obvious imperfections4 ,in the first place there are none of the modern arrangements for securing accuracy4 ,no special newspaper reporters1 not even contemporary writers of memoirs or histories1 have handed down to posterity the exact words and deeds of ,moses1 ,david1 ,isaiah1 and the great heroes and prophets of ,israel4 ,might we not almost say that there have been as it were arrangements for securing inaccuracy8 ,the authors wrote1 in many cases1 long after the events they recorded1 under conditions which rendered accuracy of detail quite impossible4 ,they have often been lengthy where we could have desired brevity 7as for example in the enumerations of pedigrees and in the details of the furniture and ritual of the ,temple or the ,tabernacle7 and very brief where we should have prized amplitude4 ,writing as ,orientals for the most part write history1 without statistical exactness1 they have sometimes made mistakes 7sometimes self-contradictory mistakes7 in numbers and names1 which it is now impossible to rectify4 ,nay1 we can hardly acquit them sometimes of moral error2 they have at all events sometimes appeared to praise1 or at least not to blame1 sometimes even to impute to ,god1 acts that would seem to us--even when all due allowance is made for difference between ancient and modern standards of morality--deserving of express and severe censure4 ,but their special error which we are now considering remains yet unmentioned4 ,you know that nations1 like individuals1 in their infancy have very vague notions of the uniformity of ,nature1 and very strong notions of the personality of ,nature or of some ,beings behind ,nature4 ,even in modern times ,orientals would say that ,god or ,allah did this or that1 where we say that this or that 8happened20 and ,i remember hearing not many years ago that some ,jews of ,palestine1 suffering from the consequences of extensive conflagration1 wrote to ,england for relief in a letter which declared--in perfect good faith1 and without any intention to imply a miracle--that ,god had 8sent down fire from heaven upon their town40 ,an ,eastern traveller of modern times tells an amusing story to the same effect how a camel-driver1 when questioned as to the cause of his rheumatism1 could not be induced for a long time to make any other answer except that 8,allah had caused it20 and even when the traveller had elicited the immediate cause1 the man would still persist that 8,allah had sent the rheumatism1 though it had followed upon drinking a great quantity of camels' milk when he was in a violent heat40 ,you should therefore accustom yourself1 if you want to understand the ,bible1 to look at ,western narrative from an ,oriental point of view4 ,take for example the interesting account given by the ,african traveller ,mungo ,park of the manner in which a trifling incident saved his life in the desert4 ,alone and desperate1 faint and famished1 he had thrown himself down to die1 when he suddenly caught sight of a small but exquisitely shaped plant of great rarity and interest3 8,and can ,god have taken so much thought and care for the creation of this little plant10 he cried1 8and have no thought or care for me80 ,in the strength of this suggestion he started up1 pressed on his way1 and reached safety4 ,now compare this striking little story with the similar incident of the gourd1 recorded in the ,book of ,jonah1 and imagine how a prophet of ,israel could have described the message of salvation4 ,he would have told us 7as the prophet ,jonah tells us7 how the ,lord ,god in the same day caused a plant to grow up before the face of the man1 and how the ,lord ,god said unto the man 8,hath the ,lord thy ,god taken thought for this plant1 and shall ,he take no thought for thee8 ,arise1 go on thy way0--giving1 as from ,god1 the actual words of the thought which the ,western traveller describes as suggesting itself or occurring to his mind4 ,you must surely see how naturally this conversion of the natural into the seemingly miraculous would have been effected by a penman of ,israel1 without the least intention to imply a real suspension of the laws of nature4 ,keeping yourself still in the position of an ,oriental historian1 consider what you would be called on to describe1 in setting down the story of ,israel4 ,you would find1 as your materials1 various traditions1 mostly oral1 mostly perhaps poetic1 describing a great deliverance wrought in every particular by the hand of ,jehovah ,himself3 you would find the nation around you1 and yourself among the rest1 believing that ,jehovah ,himself had drowned the ,egyptians in the ,red ,sea1 that ,his terrible voice had given the ,law from ,sinai1 that ,he had been to wandering ,israel a cloud in the noontide to protect them from the sun1 and a light in the darkness to give them guidance1 that ,he had supplied them with food from ,heaven and spread a table for them in the wilderness1 that ,he had ,himself given them water from ,himself 7the ,rock of ,israel67 to quench their thirst4 ,if the ,jordan's fords1 unusually shallow1 had allowed the whole nation to pass across1 as upon dry land1 you would be taught as a child to hear and sing1 in hymns that reiterated the national deliverance1 that the ,lord ,himself had done this3 8,the waters saw thee1 ,o ,lord1 the waters saw thee1 and were afraid40 ,if1 in the general terror of the ,canaanites1 a strong city suffered itself to be taken on the mere onset and war cry of the invaders as easily as though it had been an unwalled hamlet1 the traditions would tell how the walls fell flat at the sound of the trumpets of ,joshua2 if some sudden storm1 accompanied with hail and immediately followed by an inundation of swollen streams1 threw the chariots and horses of the enemy into confusion and ensured their speedy rout2 or if1 on another occasion1 the sudden gloom of a storm had been succeeded by a long evening of peculiar brightness and clearness facilitating the pursuit and destruction of the foe1 then you would hear that the 8stars in their courses0 fought against ,sisera1 or that in the day of ,beth-horon the ,lord ,himself sent down hailstones upon the enemy and stopped the sun at the prayer of ,joshua3-- 8,the sun and moon stood still in their habitation2 ,at the light of thine arrows as they went1 ,at the shining of thy glittering spear40#i ,all these materials1 expressed in terse poetic phrase1 you1 as a historian1 would have to amplify into prose4 ,is it not easy to see how1 in the process1 without any fraud or conscious exaggeration on your part1 you would transmute the natural into the miraculous8 ,to go through the whole of the miracles in the ,old ,testament and to attempt to shew how in almost every case the miraculous part of the story may have crept in without intention to deceive1 would be a task far above my powers2 and it would require a book not a letter4 ,if you were to study with care the articles in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica on the books of the ,old ,testament they would give you a good deal of light on this subject4 ,but the problem is complicated by the fact that the causes that originated the miraculous element are not always the same4 ,for example the seven miracles of ,elijah and the fourteen miracles of ,elisha 7the latter number being exactly the double of the former in order to fulfil the prayer of ,elisha for a 8twofold0 portion of the spirit of his master7 cannot be explained in the same way as the miracles of the ,wanderings or as those in the life of ,samson4 ,the eminent ,hebraist to whom we are indebted for the ,articles above-mentioned would confer on all students of the ,bible a very great benefit1 if he would give us a separate treatise on the ,old ,testament miracles4 ,meantime ,i must content myself with shewing how some miracles1 of what ,i may call a 8grotesque0 kind1 may be explained as the mere result of misunderstood names4 ,you must be familiar with this kind of explanation1 ,i think1 in ancient history1 and even in modern ,english history1 although you have never thought of applying it to the ,bible4 ,perhaps you have read in ,mr4 ,isaac ,taylor's ,words and ,places how the sexton in ,leighton ,buzzard used to show the eagle of the lectern as the identical buzzard from which the place derived its name--little guessing that 8,buzzard0 is a mere corruption of 8,beaudsert20 and the porter at ,warwick ,castle1 when he shows you the bones of the 8dun cow0 slain by ,guy of ,warwick1 hands down a similar erroneous tradition probably derived from a misunderstanding of 8dun40#aj ,a far more famous instance connects itself with the ,phnician name of 8,bosra10 belonging to the citadel of ,carthage4 ,this name meant1 in the ,phnician language1 8citadel20 but the ,greeks confused it with the ,greek word 8,bursa10 a 8hide20 and then they proceeded to invent a story to explain the name4 ,queen ,dido1 they said1 had bought for a small price as much ground as she could encompass with a hide2 she had cut the hide into thin thongs and thereby purchased the site of a city for a trifle3 hence the city received the name of 8,hide40 ,thus subtilized the ,greeks2 but it may interest you to know that our own ancestors consciously or unconsciously followed in their footsteps4 ,there is near ,sittingbourne a castle called ,tong or ,thong ,castle1 situated on a 8tongue0 of land 7,norse1 tunga7 which has given it its name4 ,but tradition has invented or imitated the old ,greek story1 and has declared that the castle was so-called because the site was bought like ,dido's1 a trifling price being given for so much land as could be included in the 8thong0 made from a bull's hide4 ,but now to come to the particular instance which is the only one ,i shall give from the ,old ,testament4 ,you must recollect1 and ,i think you ought to have been perplexed by1 the astounding incident in the life of ,samson1 connected with the 8ass's jawbone40 ,the hero is said first to have slain some hundreds of men with the jawbone of an ass1 and then to have thrown away the jawbone in the anguish of a parching thirst4 ,upon this1 the ,lord is said1 7in the ,old ,version of the ,bible7 to have opened a fountain of water in the hollow of the jawbone in answer to his cry3 and the fountain was henceforth named ,en-hakkore1 i4e4 the 8fountain of him that calleth10 because ,samson 8called upon the ,lord40 ,moreover1 when he cast away the jawbone1 he is said to have called the place ,ramath-lehi2 which the margin 7not of the ,new ,version but of the ,old7 interprets1 8the lifting up of the jawbone0 or 8the casting away of the jawbone40 ,without pausing to dwell on the extreme improbability of the details of the story1 ,i will merely state the probable explanation4 ,it is probable that the valley containing the 8hollow0 in which the fountain lay1 was called1 from the configuration of the place1 8the ,ass's ,jawbone10 before the occurrence of any exploit of ,samson in it4 ,indeed we find it actually called 8,lehi10 or 8,jawbone10 in the narrative now under discussion1 just before the supposed incident of the jawbone took place3 8,the ,philistines went up1 and pitched in ,judah1 and spread themselves in ,lehi 7,jawbone710 ,judges xv4 #i4 ,this latter fact indeed is not conclusive 7as the narrator1 living long after the event1 might possibly use the name of the place handed down to him1 even in writing of a time when he believed the name to have been not yet given73 but the probability of a natural explanation of the origin of the name receives strong confirmation from a passage in ,strabo 7#cjc7 who actually mentions some other place 7,i think in ,peloponnesus7 called the 8,ass's ,jawbone40 ,i need not say that ,strabo narrates no such ,samsonian incident to explain the name1 and that it was probably derived 7like ,dogs ,head1 ,hog's ,back and many other such names7 from some similarity between the shape of an ass's jawbone and the shape of the valley4 ,moreover1 the word translated 8hollow10 though it might represent the cavity in an ass's jawbone1 might also represent the hollow in a valley1 as in ,zephaniah 7i4 #aa7 8,howl1 ye inhabitants of the hollow40 ,again1 the name ,ramath-lehi cannot mean 8casting away of the jawbone20 it means 8lifting up10 or 8hill10 of ,lehi3 and accordingly the ,revised ,version translates1 8that place was called ,ramath-lehi20 and the margin interprets the name thus1 8,the hill of the jawbone04 ,i should add also that the ,revisers--instead of the ,old ,version1 8clave an hollow place that was in the jaw0--give us now1 8clave the hollow place that is in ,lehi40 ,you must see now surely how on every side the old miraculous interpretation breaks down and makes way for a natural and non-miraculous explanation of the legend4 ,but we have still to explain the name of the fountain1 said to have been given from the 8calling0 of ,samson4 ,this is easily done4 ,it appears that the phrase 8him that calleth10 or 8the ,caller10 is a ,hebrew name for the ,partridge1 so named from its 8call10 or cry4 ,the 8,fountain of the ,caller10 therefore1 in the 8hollow place0 of the 8,ass's ,jawbone10 was simply1 as we might say1 ,partridge ,well in ,jawbone ,valley1 which lay below ,jawbone ,hill4 ,but now1 many years after the champion of ,israel had passed away1 comes the legendary poet or historian1 who has to tell of some great exploit of deliverance wrought by the hero ,samson in this ,valley of the ,jawbone of the ,ass by the side of the ,fountain of the ,caller4 ,straight-way1 every local name must be connected with the incident that fills his mind and the minds of all his countrymen who live in the neighbourhood4 ,and so 8,jawbone ,valley0 became so called because it was there that ,samson smote the ,philistines with 8the jawbone of an ass20 and 8,jawbone heights0 are so-called because on this spot ,samson 8lifted up0 the jawbone against his foes1 or 8threw it away0 after he had destroyed them2 and 8the ,well of the ,caller0 derives not only its name but even its miraculous existence from 8the calling of ,samson upon ,jehovah40 ,i think you will now perceive the kind of reasoning which has compelled me to give up the miracles of the ,old ,testament4 ,it is not in any way because ,i have an a priori prejudice against miracles3 on the contrary1 ,i started with an a priori prejudice for miracles in the ,bible1 though against miracles in general4 ,it is not simply because there is not sufficient evidence for them2 it is in great measure because there is evidence against them4 ,for1 when you can shew how a supposed miracle may naturally have occurred1 and how the miraculous account may naturally and easily have sprung up1 ,i think that amounts to evidence against the miracle4 ,and of course when you find yourself compelled to explain in this way a large number of miracles in the ,old ,testament1 it becomes far more probable than before that the rest are susceptible of some natural explanation4 ,i do not pretend to have investigated in detail every miraculous narrative in the ,old ,testament4 ,i am ready to admit that at the bottom of the miraculous1 there may have been in many cases something very wonderful4 ,being for example personally very much inclined to the mysterious1 ,i would not deny that in the ,hebrew race1 as in some others1 there may have been some strange power1 natural but at present inexplicable1 of 8second sight20 but1 on the whole1 looking at the evidence for and against the miracles of the ,old ,testament1 ,i have now no hesitation in rejecting them as miracles1 however much ,i may admire the spirit that suggested the narratives1 as exhibiting a profound and spiritual sense of the sympathy of ,god with men4 ,but we may perhaps be called upon to believe in the miracles of the ,old ,testament on the authority1 so to speak1 of the miracles of the ,new ,testament4 ,such at least ,i take to be the meaning of the following extract from an author who has done so much good educational as well as episcopal work1 and has manifested such an openness to new truth1 that ,i differ from him with diffidence where ,i may possibly have misunderstood his meaning1 and with regret where ,i am confident that ,i have understood him correctly4 ,the passage is from ,bishop ,temple's ,bampton ,lectures1#aa and ,i will give it at full length1 partly because ,i may have to refer to it again1 partly because ,i am afraid of misinterpreting it if ,i separate one or two sentences from the context3 8,we have to ask what evidence can be given that any such miracles as are recorded in the ,bible have ever been worked8 ,it is plain at once that the answer must be given by the ,new ,testament4 ,no such#ab evidence can now be produced on behalf of the miracles of the ,old ,testament4 ,the times are remote2 the date and authorship of the ,books not established with certainty2 the mixture of poetry with history1 no longer capable of any sure separation into its parts2 and1 if the ,new ,testament did not exist1 it would be impossible to show such a distinct preponderance of probability as could justify us in calling many 8 any to accept the miraculous parts of the narrative as historically true40 ,if ,i understand this argument1 ,i fear ,i must dissent from it4 ,but let us try at least to understand it4 ,dr4 ,temple admits 7what ,i should not be disposed to have admitted without a good deal of qualification7 that 8the mixture of poetry with history0 7and the context makes it clear that he is referring to the miraculous accounts of the ,old ,testament7 is 8no longer capable of any sure separation into its parts40 ,this is a very important admission indeed4 ,a plain ,englishman may miss1 at first sight1 the full importance of it4 ,he may be disposed to say1 8,what does this matter to me8 ,what do ,i care whether a miracle is told in poetry or in prose1 provided only it is true80 ,but by 8poetry0 ,dr4 ,temple does not mean 8verse20 he means hyperbole1 poetic figures of speech and metaphors2 in plain ,english1 he means language that is literally and historically untrue4 ,consequently the admission amounts to this1 that it is now no longer possible in the miraculous narratives of the ,old ,testament to separate what is historically true from what is historically untrue4 ,if this be so1 ,i cannot understand how the question is substantially affected by the ,new ,testament4 ,let us suppose for a moment that1 many centuries after the times of ,moses and ,samson1 real miracles were wrought by ,christ and the apostles2 suppose even1 in addition1 that the reality of the miracles wrought by ,christ and his followers could constitute any evidence for the ,mosaic ,miracles or could refute the evidence against such stories as that of the ,ass's jawbone2 yet even then1 what is the use of knowing that there may be a miracle somewhere concealed in an ,old ,testament narrative in which it is impossible to 8make any sure separation0 of the historically true from the historically untrue8 ,but for my part ,i am quite unable to adopt either of these suppositions4 ,i cannot see how 8a distinct preponderance of probability0 for the ,samsonian myth or the story of the stopping of the sun could be secured by the fact that miracles were really1 long afterwards1 performed by ,christ4 ,all that could fairly be said1 as it seems to me1 would be this1 that since miracles were actually wrought by the ,redeemer of the race1 who was ,himself a child of ,israel1 it is not so improbable as before that miracles might have been also wrought by other previous deliverers of ,israel4 ,but this could not go far1 and certainly cannot constitute 8a distinct preponderance of probability10 if we find positive evidence for a miracle almost wanting1 and negative evidence against it very strong4#ac ,so far as ,dr4 ,temple's argument has weight1 so far it appears to me to be capable of being used in the opposite direction to that which he intended4 ,for if there is any connection between the miracles of the ,old and of the ,new ,testament1 so that the probability of the latter may be fairly said--,i will not say to constitute 8a distinct preponderance of probability10 but to contribute slightly to the probability of the former1 then surely we must also admit that the demonstrated improbability of the former must contribute slightly to the a priori improbability which we ought to attach to the latter4 ,if the ,bible is to be regarded as a whole1 and ,bible miracles as a whole1 then the fact that the ,divine ,author of the ,bible allowed revelation in the earlier part of the ,book to be conveyed through an imperfect and non-historical medium will constitute a reasonable probability that ,he may also have conveyed ,his later revelations through the same means4 ,in other words1 the acknowledged presence of the law of 8,truth through ,illusion0 in the ,old ,testament should prepare us not to be disappointed if we find the same law traceable in the ,new ,testament3 and the collapse of miracles in the former should prepare us for a collapse of miracles in the latter4 ,do not however suppose for a moment that a collapse of miracles implies a collapse of the ,bible1 and do not be disheartened by such expressions as that 8the mixture of poetry with history is no longer capable of any sure separation into its parts40 ,if that expression refers merely to some of the legends of the times of the ,patriarchs1 or to a few isolated passages elsewhere1 it may be accepted without fear2 but it cannot apply to the great bulk of the history of the ,chosen ,people4 ,here you will find very little difficulty in rejecting the obviously non-historical and miraculous element2 and you will lose nothing by the rejection4 ,read through ,stanley's ,lectures on the ,jewish ,church and ask yourself whether you have missed anything from the campaigns of ,joshua and the exploits of ,gideon and ,samson because the miracles have vanished from his pages4 ,where miraculous narratives are manifestly not deliberate fabrications1 but 7as here7 late prosaic interpretations of early poetic traditions1 they very often afford trustworthy evidence of ancient historical events which imprinted themselves upon the hearts of a simple people4 ,certainly ,i can say for myself that ,i never realized ,israel as a nation and had not half my present appreciation of the wisdom and wonder of the deliverance and training of ,israel by ,jehovah till ,i had learned to interpret the miracles as being nothing more than man's inadequate attempt to set forth in visible shape the unique redemption of the ,chosen ,people4 ,spiritually as well as intellectually1 my enjoyment of the ,old ,testament has been doubled ever since ,i have been able1 however imperfectly1 to separate the historical element in it from the non-historical1 and to interpret the prose as prose and the poetry as poetry4 ,footnote #i3 ,habakkuk iii4 #aa4 ,footnote #aj3 8,the legend of the victory gained by ,guy of ,warwick over the dun cow most probably originated in a misunderstood tradition of his conquest of the ,dena gau or ,danish settlement in the neighbourhood of ,warwick40--,taylor's ,words and ,places1 p4 #bfi4 ,footnote #aa3 ,page #bjf4 ,footnote #ab3 ,the italics are in the text4 ,in the next sentence1 the italics are mine4 ,footnote #ac3 ,a more plausible argument might be derived from any expressions of ,jesus which might appear to imply a belief in the historical nature of the ,old ,testament miracles4 ,this argument appeals strongly to our sense of reverence4 ,we do not like to think that ,jesus was mistaken even in a purely intellectual matter4 ,yet do we really suppose that ,jesus1 in ,his humanity1 was exempt from the popular intellectual and scientific errors of contemporary humanity8 ,for example1 do we really suppose that ,jesus was exempt from the popular belief that the sun moves8 ,for those who realize ,his humanity it is hard to think that ,he was intended to be so far separated from the men and women around ,him2 and1 if ,he was not so separated1 ,i find little more difficulty in supposing that ,he would have had the same belief as was held by all ,his countrymen concerning the historical character of the ,old ,testament4 ,,xv ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,the ,,new ,,testament ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you demur to the parallel that ,i draw between the ,old ,testament and the ,new ,testament2 8,the ,battle of ,beth-horon can be disentangled from the miracle of the stopping of the sun1 just as the battles of ,salamis and ,regillus can be disentangled from the visions which are said to have accompanied them3 and so of other ,old ,testament narratives4 ,but is it possible10 you ask1 8that the life of ,christ can be disentangled from miracles8 ,do not ,his own words and doctrine imply a continual assumption that ,he had power to do #8mighty works' superior to those of ordinary men80 ,you could not have put your question more happily3 for you unconsciously illustrate the almost universal confusion--common to a great number of theologians and agnostics as well as to the ordinary ,bible reader--between 8miracles0 and 8mighty works40 ,you are really asking not one but two questions4 ,your first question asks about 8miracles20 by which you mean some kind of suspension of a law of nature1 or1 if you prefer it1 some act not conceived as explicable in accordance with any natural law by the person who is attempting explanation4 ,your second question asks about 8mighty works10 a phrase of constant occurrence in the ,new ,testament1 by which phrase we may understand works superior to the works of ordinary persons1 but not necessarily suspensions of the laws of nature4 ,works may be 8mighty0 and yet quite explicable in accordance with natural law4 ,you seem to expect a ,no to your first question and a ,yes to your second4 ,i answer ,yes to both4 7#a7 ,the life of ,christ can be disentangled from 8miracles40 7#b7 ,christ always assumed that ,he could do 8mighty works10 and from them ,his life cannot be separated4 ,it is a law of human nature that the mind influences the body4 ,by acting on the imagination and the emotions men have in all ages consciously or unconsciously effected instantaneous cures in accordance with natural laws4 ,there has been much quackery and deception mixed up with cures of this kind2 but no physician1 and no man of any general information1 would doubt that such cures have been and still are performed4 ,the ,jansenists1 subjected to the test of hostile observation1 had some undeniable successes of this nature4 ,every one has heard of the so-called 8miracles0 of ,lourdes2 and no unprejudiced person would deny that amid possible exaggerations and 7,i greatly fear7 some frauds1 they have contained an element of reality4 8,faith-healing0 is going on in ,england during this very year2 and in the very place where ,i am now writing ,i heard a captain of the ,salvation ,army just now give out a notice that1 besides a 8free and easy meeting10 and a 8holiness meeting10 and sundry other meetings1 there is to be a meeting on one evening this week for the purpose of 8casting out devils40 ,if ,i go there1 ,i shall probably see attempts1 with partial success1 to excite a paralytic to motion1 or to arouse some one from a dull stupor approximating to insanity4 ,these attempts1 even though immensely assisted by the intense interest and sympathetic demonstrations of the spectators1 will probably produce only a temporary effect2 and when it passes away the patient will very likely be worse than before4 ,but the law of nature is the same with all2 in modern times with the ,jansenists1 the miracle-workers of ,lourdes1 the 8faith-healers10 and the ,salvation ,army1 and in ancient days with the priests of sculapius4 ,cures can be effected by a strong emotional shock1 sometimes of a gross kind such as mere terror or violent excitement1 sometimes of a much purer kind1 an ecstatic hope and trust4 ,a marked distinction must of course be made between those cures which can1 and those which cannot1 be effected by appeal to the emotions4 ,paralysis 7called in the ,new ,testament 8palsy071 mental disease 7often called in the ,new ,testament 8possession071 and various kinds of nervous disorder1 are all susceptible of emotional cure3 but the loss of a limb cannot be so cured4 ,the cure of a man sick of the palsy by the emotional method would be a miracle for spectators of the first century1 but it would not be a miracle for us now2 that is to say1 it would be explicable by us1 but not by them1 in accordance with known natural laws3 but the restoration of a lost limb by faith would be a miracle for them and for us alike3 we know nothing of any natural law in accordance with which such an act could be performed by any degree of faith4 ,now it will be admitted by all that the great majority of ,christ's 8mighty works0 were acts of healing1 and that many of these were expressly attributed by ,him to faith4 8,seeing their faith0 is the preface1 in each of the three ,synoptic ,gospels1 to the account of the cure of the paralytic man1 and it is a very curious preface2 for it seems to shew that ,jesus recognized a kind of sponsorial and contagious efficacy of faith in that instance 7as also in the case of the father of the epileptic boy72 and we know by modern experience of 8faith-healing0 how great is the influence of a sympathetic and trustful audience4 ,elsewhere1 8,thy faith hath made thee whole10 8,according to your faith be it unto you10 8,great is thy faith1 be it unto thee even as thou wilt10 8,thy faith hath saved thee10 8,if thou canst believe1 all things are possible10 8,believe ye that ,i am able to do this80 8,be not afraid1 only believe0--these and similar expressions lead us to conclude that many of the 8mighty works0 of ,jesus were conditional on faith4 ,perhaps it might startle you if ,i were to say that ,jesus was not able to perform a 8mighty work0 unless faith was present2 yet if ,i said this1 ,i should only be repeating what ,st4 ,mark 7vi4 #e71 the earliest of the ,evangelists1 says on a certain occasion1 that on account of the general unbelief at ,nazareth ,jesus was not able 7 7 to do there any mighty work1 8save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them40 ,this confession is so frank and almost scandalizing in its plainness that we cannot be surprised that the later ,evangelist1 in his parallel narrative1 softens it down by omitting the words 8was not able10 and by inserting 8many40#ad ,we need by no means infer from this narrative that ,jesus attempted 8mighty works0 and failed4 ,it may be that ,he did not attempt them because ,he discerned the faithlessness of those around ,him1 and felt ,his own consequent inability4 ,but1 interpret it as we may1 this passage remains a most important confirmation of the other passages in which ,jesus ,himself implies the necessity of faith4 ,where there was no faith1 there ,jesus 8was not able to do any mighty work20 and this limit to ,his power ,jesus ,himself recognized4 ,here then we find at once a remarkable difference between most of the 8mighty works0 of ,jesus and the 8miracles0 of the ,old ,testament4 ,the former were conditional on faith1 and1 this condition suggests that many of them may be explicable on natural laws2 the latter have no condition attached to them and there is nothing to suggest that they are explicable on any natural law4 ,indeed the miracles of the ,old ,testament are very often wrought1 not as a natural response to belief1 but as a rebuke to unbelief3 thus the hand of ,moses is made leprous one moment and pure the next1 in order to inspire him with faith2 ,gideon lays out a fleece on the grass1 and the laws of nature are suspended for the purpose of making it wet to-day and dry to-morrow1 simply in order that his unbelieving heart may be encouraged by a sign from ,god2 the faithless ,ahaz is encouraged by ,god in the ,old ,testament to ask for that very favour which ,christ in the ,new ,testament systematically refused to the ,pharisees--a sign from heaven3 and for the sake of ,hezekiah 7who asks 8,what shall be the sign that the ,lord will heal me807 the dial goes miraculously backward6 ,could contrast be more complete8 ,it follows that we shall be acting hastily if we place the 8mighty works0 of ,jesus on the same level as the 8miracles0 of the ,old ,testament1 inasmuch as the former are 7in the strict sense of the term7 8mighty works10 while the latter 7again in the strict sense of the term7 are 8miracles40 ,but in addition to this reason1 derivable from the nature of the works themselves1 there is another reason1 derivable from the evidence1 for drawing a distinction4 ,besides the direct testimony of the ,gospels1 we have other testimony1 indirect but even more cogent1 to prove that ,jesus wrought wonderful cures4 ,the earliest of the ,gospels was probably not composed in its present shape till more than a generation had passed away after the death of ,christ2 and1 during the lapse of thirty years evidence--especially if handed down by oral1 and that too ,oriental1 tradition--may undergo many corruptions4 ,but the letters of ,st4 ,paul are earlier1 some of them much earlier2 and many of them are of such an unaffected1 personal1 informal nature that it is absolutely impossible to suppose that they were written to express a conviction that the writer did not feel1 or to make the readers believe in truths which were no truths4 ,now in his letters ,st4 ,paul quietly assumes that many of his fellow-,christians1 and he himself in particular1 had the power of working wonderful cures without the ordinary means#ae4 ,he even sets down this power as one among many 8gifts0 or 8graces0 vouchsafed to the ,church1 and he places it by no means high in the list4 ,a man must be absolutely destitute of all power of literary and historical criticism1 if he can persuade himself that these expressions in ,st4 ,paul's letters had no basis of fact1 and that they were inserted1 though unmeaning both to the writer and to the hearers1 in order to delude posterity into a false belief4 ,there is nothing in the ,epistles to indicate the nature of the diseases which were cured by ,st4 ,paul and his followers4 ,we may conjecture with much probability that they were nervous diseases1 paralysis1 8possession10 and the like1 such as might be acted on by the 8emotional shock0 of faith3 and the conjecture is confirmed by the fact that1 in the time of ,josephus1 healers of demoniacs were very common in ,palestine2 and certain ,jews of ,ephesus are recorded in the ,acts of the ,apostles to have tried an experiment1 after ,paul's manner1 in attempting to cure a case of one 8possessed40 ,but be this as it may1 the fact that ,st4 ,paul and ,st ,paul's contemporaries unquestionably cured some kinds of diseases in the name of ,jesus1 and did this after some sort of system1 by the utterance of the name of ,jesus1 without the ordinary means1 is a very strong confirmation of the accuracy of the ,gospels in attributing to ,jesus the power of working instantaneous cures4 ,it would be strange indeed that the ,disciples1 and not the ,master1 should have had such powers4 ,i have laid stress upon the fact that ,jesus wrought 8mighty0 but natural cures1 in the first place1 because it ought to increase our appreciation of ,his personal influence and power over the souls of men1 to know that ,he not only possessed this power in an unprecedented degree but also communicated it to ,his disciples2 and secondly1 because the fact that ,he performed these 8mighty works0 has naturally led people1 from the earliest times down to the present day1 to infer that ,he performed 8miracles40 ,even at the present time you will find that the great mass of ,christians make no distinction at all between healing a paralytic or a demoniac or a dumb man1 and restoring a severed ear or blasting a fig-tree2 all alike seem to them 8miracles40 ,if this is so even in these days1 in spite of physiology1 you cannot be surprised that the first ,christians and their followers made no such distinction2 they assumed that the man who could heal a paralytic by a word could heal any other disease in the same way1 and do any other work he pleased contrary to the course of nature4 ,this belief would prepare the way for attributing to ,jesus other works of a very different kind1 real 8miracles10 that is1 suspensions of the laws of nature4 ,considering the multitude of such acts recorded in the ,old ,testament as having been performed by ,moses1 ,elijah1 ,elisha and others1 we may well be surprised to find how very few have been attributed to ,jesus3 and ,i believe it can be shown that each of these few has originated from some misunderstanding1 and without any intention to deceive4 ,of almost all of these real 8miracles10 said to have been wrought by ,christ1 ,i believe we are justified in saying with ,bishop ,temple that1 if we take each by itself1 we cannot find for it any 8clear1 and unmistakeable1 and sufficient evidence40#af ,so far from being an exaggeration this is rather an understatement of the case3 there is not only no 8clear and unmistakeable and sufficient evidence0 for them1 there is also very strong indirect evidence against some of them4 ,in some future letter ,i may deal in detail with these miracles2 for the present ,i will select only one4 ,this one shall be the most striking of all the miracles in the ,new ,testament1 a miracle exceeding in wonder even the raising of ,lazarus4 ,it is found only in ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel1 and describes an incident that followed immediately on the death of ,jesus4 ,here are the exact words3 8,and the earth did quake1 and the tombs were opened2 and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised2 and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the ,holy ,city and appeared unto many40 ,have ,i at all exaggerated this miracle in declaring it to be more startling than even the raising of ,lazarus8 ,it records the resurrection1 not of one man1 but of many4 ,nor are we allowed by the author to suppose that he referred to visions of the dead1 appearing unto friends2 for he tells us that 8the tombs were opened1 and many bodies of the saints arose40 ,moreover this would appear to have been a miracle not wrought in private as many of the mighty works of ,jesus were1 nor a sight vouchsafed to a chosen few 7like the manifestations of ,jesus after death72 for these 8bodies0 went into ,jerusalem1 during the ,passover1 at a time when the city was thronged with visitors1 and 8appeared unto many40 ,what subsequently became of these 8bodies0--whether they remained on earth till the ,ascension when they ascended with ,jesus1 or whether they lived their lives over again and were buried a second time1 or whether they went back to their tombs again after they had appeared in ,jerusalem--is a question of some difficulty1 which has exercised the minds of commentators and has been answered rather variously than satisfactorily4 ,be this as it may1 the miracle must be confessed by all to be stupendous4 ,now for the evidence of it4 ,i have been quoting from ,st4 ,matthew's account of this miracle4 ,what would a dispassionate and intelligent heathen say of it1 coming for the first time to the study of our four ,gospels8 ,would it not be something of this sort3 8,here you call on me to believe a miracle that appears to me to be motiveless and is certainly singularly startling3 but ,i will suspend my judgment of it till ,i hear the accounts given by your other three ,evangelists4 ,what do they say of the effect produced upon the disciples and bystanders by this earthquake and this most extraordinary resurrection8 ,there were present the women that loved and followed ,jesus1 there was the ,roman centurion1 there were #8many' who witnessed the appearances of the dead3 even to those who were not present1 an earthquake rending the rocks in the neighbourhood could not be imperceptible3 what therefore is said on these points by other contemporary authors as well as by your four ,gospels8 ,tell me that first2 and then ,i will tell you what ,i think of the miracle40 ,in answer to this request1 which ,i think we must characterize as a very natural one1 we should have first to admit that no profane author makes any mention of the resurrection of these numerous 8bodies10 nor of the earthquake that accompanied it4 ,then we should have to set down the four records of the four ,evangelists as follows3 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,the following four quotations were originally printed side-by-side4 ,they are transcribed one after another so as to be readable on modern reading devices1 which often cannot handle multiple columns4 ,mark xv4 #cg-ci4 #cg4 ,and ,jesus uttered a loud voice and gave up the ghost4 #ch4 ,and the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom4 #ci4 ,and when the centurion1 which stood by over against him1 saw that he so gave up the ghost1 he said1 ,truly this man was the ,son of ,god4 ,matt4 xxvii4 #ej-ed4 #ej4 ,and ,jesus cried again with a loud voice1 and yielded up his spirit4 #ea4 ,and behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the earth did quake1 and the rocks were rent3 #eb4 ,and the tombs were opened3 and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised2 #ec4 ,and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared unto many4 #ed4 ,now the centurion1 and they that were with him1 watching ,jesus1 when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done1 feared exceedingly1 saying1 ,truly this was the ,son of ,god4 ,luke xxii4 #df-g4 #df4 ,and when ,jesus had cried with a loud voice1 he said1 ,father1 into thy hands ,i commend my spirit3 and having said this1 he gave up the ghost4 #dg4 ,and when the centurion saw what was done1 he glorified ,god1 saying1 ,certainly this was a righteous man4 ,john xix4 #cj1 #ca4 #cj4 ,and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit4 #ca4 ,the ,jews1 therefore1 because it was the preparation1 c4 ,you see then that this extraordinary incident1 startling enough to be the very centre of a galaxy of wonders1 is omitted by three out of the four ,evangelists4 ,you see also that two of the ,evangelists agree with ,st4 ,matthew in placing a centurion at the foot of the cross1 and in assigning to him expressions of faith3 but neither of them mentions the 8earthquake0 as being even a partial cause of the centurion's faith1 nor is there so much as a hint of any resurrection of the 8bodies of saints0 from the tombs4 ,now if you and ,i1 with full knowledge of the facts1 were writing a biography of a great man1 we might undoubtedly exhibit many variations and divergences in our story4 ,every biographer who knows everything about a man must omit something2 many things therefore that you would omit1 ,i should insert1 and vice vers4 ,but suppose we were writing in some detail the description of the great man's execution 7as the crucifixion is written in great detail by the ,evangelists71 and1 in particular1 the emotion and utterances of the soldier who superintended the execution4 ,is it possible under these circumstances that you should relate 7and with truth7 that the soldier's emotion was caused in part by an earthquake which happened at the moment of the man's death--adding also that a large number of people rose at the same time bodily from the graves--and that ,i1 with a full knowledge that both these facts are true1 should make no mention at all either of the earthquake or of this stupendous resurrection8 ,i say that such an omission of facts is absolutely impossible in any sincere and straightforward biographer1 on the supposition that he knows them4 ,the argument that 8it is unsafe to argue from silence0 is quite inapplicable here3 nor is it in point to allege the silence of a courtly historian who writes the life of ,constantine but omits the ,emperor's execution of his son4 ,the answer is that we have not here to do with courtly historians1 but with simple unsophisticated compilers of tradition whose main object was to set down in truth and honesty all that could shew ,jesus of ,nazareth to be the ,son of ,god4 ,now it is impossible that the ,evangelists should not have recognized in this miracle1 if true1 a cogent proof--cogent for the minds of men in these days--of the divine mission of ,jesus3 we are therefore driven to the conclusion that they omitted it either because they had never heard of it1 or because although they had heard of it1 they did not believe it to be true4 ,you must not however suppose that this evidently legendary narrative was added with any intent to falsify4 ,like many of the miraculous accounts in the ,old ,testament1 this story is probably the result of misunderstanding--an allegory misinterpreted4 ,the death of ,christ abolished the gulf between ,god and man2 it tore down the veil between the ,holy ,place and the ,holy of ,holies1 whereby ,christ took mankind1 in ,himself and with ,himself1 into the direct presence of the ,father3 and this spiritual truth found a literal interpretation in two of the ,gospels which mention the 8rending of the veil40 ,but ,christ's death did more than this4 ,it struck down the power of death itself3 it broke open the tombs1 and prepared the way for the ,resurrection of the ,saints2 and this spiritual truth1 being misinterpreted as if it were literally true1 gave rise to a tradition 7which does not however seem to have been widely received7 that at the moment of ,christ's death certain tombs were actually broken open1 and certain of 8the ,saints0 rose bodily from the dead and walked into ,jerusalem4#ag ,footnote #ad3 ,st4 ,matthew ix4 #eh1 8,and he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief40 ,for a demonstrative proof that the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark contains the earliest tradition1 see the beginning of the article 8,gospels0 in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica4 ,footnote #ae3 ,to the same effect is ,james ,v4 #ad1 #ae3 8,is any among you sick8 ,let him call for the elders of the church2 and let them pray over him1 anointing him with oil in the name of the ,lord3 and the prayer of faith shall save the sick1 and the ,lord shall raise him up40 ,there can he no doubt that this refers to literal healing2 and it is interesting as an indication that probably these early ,christian attempts at healing were often tentative4 ,for it will hardly be maintained that all who were thus anointed were healed3 otherwise death would have been exterminated in the early ,christian church4 ,footnote #af3 ,bishop ,temple excepts only the ,resurrection1 which is not here under consideration4 ,his words are 8,it is true too that1 if we take each miracle by itself1 there is but one miracle1 namely our ,lord's ,resurrection1 for which clear1 and unmistakeable1 and sufficient evidence is given40--,bampton ,lectures1 p4 #aed4 ,footnote #ag3 ,in the early apocryphal work called ,christ's ,descent into ,hell1 a striking description is given of the joy of the saints and the terror of ,satan1 when ,christ descends to ,hades and rescues the dead1 leading them up to ,paradise4 ,in one of the versions of this work1 the number of those 8risen with the ,lord0 is mentioned as 8twelve thousand men40 ,,xvi ,,the ,,growth ,,of ,,the ,,gospels ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you force me to digress4 ,my object just now was to shew that the life of ,christ 7no less than the history of the redemption of ,israel7 can be disentangled from 8miracles01 although not from 8mighty works02 and ,i proposed to take the six or seven principal miracles attributed to ,christ by the ,synoptists and to shew of each account that it may have naturally and easily crept into the ,gospels without any intention to deceive4 ,but you will not let me go on in my own way2 for you ask a question that claims immediate answer1 and something more than a mere ,yes or ,no3 8,did or did not1 the ,publican and ,apostle ,st4 ,matthew write the ,gospel attributed to him8 ,and if he did1 how can he have suffered a #8legendary' miracle to #8creep into' his narrative8 ,the same question10 you add1 8applies to the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,if these two ,gospels1 as they stand1 were written by ,apostles1 that is1 by personal disciples of ,jesus and eye-witnesses of the events they profess to describe1 then there is no alternative2 either ,jesus wrought miracles1 or the ,apostles lied4 ,no eye-witness can err as you suppose some one 7,i know not whom7 to have erred1 by interpreting metaphor as though it were literal statement4 ,imagine ,boswell1 for example1 misinterpreting some metaphorical expression concerning ,dr4 ,johnson to the effect that #8the great lexicographer was exalted by his countrymen to the pinnacle of honour and fame' and consequently inferring that his statue was set up on a column like ,lord ,nelson or the ,duke of ,york6 ,the notion is too grotesque4 ,if then ,jesus did not perform miracles we are forced to conclude either that the ,apostles deceived us or that the ,gospels bearing their names are forgeries4 ,which is it80 ,in order to meet this objection ,i must say a few words about the composition of the ,gospels4 ,for indeed your question shews a complete misapprehension of the manner in which the ,gospels grew up1 and of the ancient notions about authorship4 ,in particular1 you are far too free in the use of the word 8forgeries40 ,the book called the ,wisdom of ,solomon contains some of the noblest sentiments that have ever found eloquent expression1 and yet the philosophic author who composed it 7probably in ,alexandria about eight or nine centuries after ,solomon's death7 does not hesitate to appeal to the ,almighty in words by which he ascribes the authorship to ,solomon himself3 8,thou hast chosen me to be a king of ,thy people and a judge of ,thy sons and daughters3 ,thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon ,thy ,holy mount10 7ix4 #g1 #h74 ,now do you call him a forger8 ,the book of ,ecclesiastes1 one of our own canonical books1 declares that it was written by 8the son of ,david1 king in ,jerusalem0 and that the author was a 8,king over ,israel in ,jerusalem10 7i4 #a-ab74 ,no one now 7worth mentioning7 believes these statements to be true4 ,yet would you call the composer of ,ecclesiastes a forger8 ,probably in both cases the authors felt that they were honouring the memory of the great king in thus introducing new truths to the world under the protection of his name4 ,i believe many other instances might be given of the literary laxity of ancient times4 ,but besides1 in the case of the ,gospels1 you must remember that authorship hardly came into question at all events for a long time4 ,the story of the life of ,christ would be1 in some shape1 current among the ,church as the common property of all1 as soon as the ,apostles began to proclaim the ,gospel4 ,probably it was not1 for some time1 reduced to writing4 ,among the ,jews the ,old ,testament was spoken of as ,writing or ,scripture2 but their most revered and sacred comments on it were retained in oral tradition3 and hence all through the ,new ,testament you will find that 8,scripture0 refers to the ,old ,testament1 and that no mention is made of the doctrine about ,christ except as 8tradition0 or 8teaching40 ,what therefore would probably at first be current in the ,church1 perhaps for thirty or forty years after ,christ's death1 would be simply a number of 8traditions0 or oral versions of the ,gospel1 current perhaps in different shapes at the great ecclesiastical centres1 such as ,jerusalem1 ,antioch1 ,ephesus1 ,alexandria1 ,rome1 yet presenting a general affinity1 and all claiming to represent 8the ,memoirs of the ,apostles0 or to be 8the ,gospel of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ40 ,it ought not to seem strange to you that the ,church could exist1 and the ,good ,tidings be preached for some years without the aid of written ,gospels4 ,did not ,st4 ,paul preach the ,gospel in his letters8 ,surely he preached it very effectually3 yet his letters do not contain a single quotation from any written ,gospel4#ah ,the same may be said of the letters attributed to ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,james1 and ,st4 ,john3 not one quotes a single saying of ,christ1 or contains a phrase that can be said1 with certainty1 to be borrowed from our ,gospels4 ,the book of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 the earliest summary of ,church history1 contains many speeches by ,apostles1 one by ,st4 ,james1 some by ,st4 ,peter and several by ,st4 ,paul3 in all these speeches only one saying of our ,lord is quoted2 and that is a saying not found in any of our extant ,gospels4 ,conjecture might have led us to conclude that this would be so4 ,we might reasonably have inferred that1 as long as the ,church had in its midst the ,apostles and their companions1 and as long also as they daily expected that ,christ would 8come01 the notion of committing the ,gospel to writing for posterity would seem superfluous1 distasteful1 almost implying a want of faith4 ,but when we find this conjecture confirmed by the undeniable fact that the earliest teachers and preachers of the ,gospel1 in their teaching as it is handed down to us1 made no use whatever of our written ,gospels1 we may regard it as a safe conclusion that1 during the first generation after the crucifixion1 written ,gospels were neither widely used nor much needed4 ,but soon the need would arise4 ,one after another the ,apostles and their companions would pass away1 and ,christ's immediate 8coming0 would now be less and less sanguinely anticipated4 ,the great mass of the earliest ,christians were either ,jews or proselytes to the ,jewish religion2 but now the ,gentiles1 who had come to ,christ without first passing through the ,law of ,moses1 would become the majority in the ,church2 and for them the ,old ,testament would not have the same pre-eminent title as 8,writing0 or 8,scripture40 ,for these ,gentiles too the old ,rabbinical prejudice against committing the teaching of the ,church to writing would have no weight4 ,now therefore in several churches simultaneous efforts would be made to write down the traditions current amongst the brethren2 and hence we find ,st4 ,luke prefacing his own ,gospel with the remark that he was induced to attempt this task because 8many0 others had attempted it4 ,st4 ,luke could hardly have written thus if one authentic and apostolic document already occupied the ground and stood pre-eminent in the ,church as the written record of ,christ's life by an eye-witness4 ,that there was no such document1 known to ,st4 ,luke1 we may also infer from his acknowledgment of his obligations to those who were 8eye-witnesses and ministers of the word40 ,it says that he shapes his narrative 8as they handed down the tradition0 for that is the meaning of his word not 8as they wrote the tradition40 ,you must have noticed that the extant titles of the ,gospels declare them to have been written not 8by10 but 8according to0 their several authors4 ,the explanation 7which has not been successfully impugned7 is that1 even in the later times in which their titles were given1 the old belief continued1 that the men who compiled them did no more than commit to writing their version of a tradition already current4 ,they did not compose1 they reported1 the tradition2 the ,gospel was supposed to be the same in all ,churches1 but here 8according to0 one version or writer1 there 8according to0 another4 ,the ,apostles1 being with one or two exceptions mere fishermen and unlearned men1 ignorant of letters1 could not very well be supposed to be authors of written compositions2 but ,st4 ,matthew1 being a tax-gatherer1 would necessarily be an expert writer1 and therefore one of the earliest traditions committed to writing would be naturally attributed to his penmanship4 ,but the evidence for ,st4 ,matthew's authorship appears1 when tested1 to be extremely slight4 ,it was the universal belief of the early ,church that the ,gospel according to ,st4 ,matthew was originally written in ,hebrew1 and ,jerome has quoted1 as coming from the ,hebrew original1 a passage not found in our ,greek ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew4 ,even when this ,gospel is quoted by the earliest writers1 it is frequently quoted inexactly1 and never connected by them with the name of ,st4 ,matthew as the author4 ,we ought not to infer from these unnamed and inexact quotations that the writers did not recognize ,st4 ,matthew as the author for their habit is almost invariably to quote ,gospels1 simply as ,gospel1 inexactly1 and without mentioning the name of the ,evangelist4 ,but this unfortunate habit leaves us without any early and trustworthy evidence for ,st4 ,matthew's authorship4 ,on the whole1 then1 there is very little evidence for supposing that any part of our present ,gospel according to ,st4 ,matthew was written by an ,apostle or by an eye-witness of ,christ's life1 and there is very much evidence tending to show that such a supposition is extremely improbable4 ,even if we grant that parts of the ,gospel were composed by an ,apostle1 it by no means follows that the whole was4 ,there was a very natural tendency1 in the earliest days of the ,church--when the traditional ,gospel was as it were everybody's property and had not yet acquired the authority of ,scripture--to make the tradition as full1 as edifying1 and as correct1 as possible4 ,if we may judge from the style of the book of ,revelation 7which is said on rather more substantial grounds than are generally alleged for the authorship of most of the books of the ,new ,testament1 to have been the work of the ,apostle ,john7 the earliest ,greek traditions must have been composed in an ungrammatical1 mongrel kind of ,greek1 which must have been as distasteful to the well-educated ,christian as cockney ,english or pigeon ,english would be to us4 ,this could not long be tolerated in traditions that were repeated in the presence of the whole congregation2 and alterations of style1 for edification1 would naturally facilitate alterations of matter1 also for edification4 ,the love of completeness would introduce many corrections and sometimes corruptions4 ,often1 in those early times1 the teacher1 catechist1 or scribe1 who knew some additional fact tending to ,christ's glory1 and not mentioned in the tradition or document1 would think that he was not doing his duty if he did not add it to his oral or written version of the tradition4 ,even in ,,mss4 of the fourth or fifth centuries we have abundant instances to shew how this tendency multiplied interpolations2 principally by interpolating passages from one ,gospel into another1 but sometimes by interpolating traditions not found now in any ,gospel with which we are acquainted4 ,occasionally there are also corruptions of omission1 arising from the desire to omit difficult or apparently inconsistent passages2 but by far the more common custom is to add4 ,if this corrupting tendency was in force in the fourth century when the ,christian religion was on the point of becoming the religion of the empire1 and when the sacred books of ,christianity had attained to a position of authority in the ,church not a whit below the books of the ,old ,testament1 you may easily imagine what a multitude of interpolations and amplifications must have crept into the original tradition at a time when it was still young1 unauthoritative1 and plastic1 during the first two or three generations that followed the death of ,christ4 ,the result of all these considerations is that we are not obliged and this1 to my mind1 is a great relief to suppose that any passage which we may be forced to reject from our ,gospels as false1 was written by an ,apostle4 ,i say this is to me a great relief1 but perhaps it is not so to you4 ,your notion of what the ,gospels ought to be1 is perhaps borrowed from a passage in ,paley's ,evidences where he likens the evidences for the miracles of ,christ to that of twelve eye-witnesses1 all ready to be martyrs in attestation of the truth of their testimony2 and you are shocked perhaps when you find that the ,gospels fall very far indeed below the level of such a standard of evidence4 ,what would have seemed best to you would have been an exact record of ,christ's teaching and acts1 drawn up by one of the ,apostles in the name of the ,twelve1 duly dated and signed by all1 and circulated and received by the whole ,church from the day after the ,ascension down to the present time4 ,and ,i quite agree with you4 ,but then1 as we have seen in the history of astronomy and in the history of the ,old ,testament1 it has not pleased ,god to reveal ,himself or ,his works to men in the way which men have thought best4 ,now you are not indeed obliged to infer that1 because revelation in the ,old ,testament was accompanied by illusion1 therefore revelation in the ,new ,testament must have contained a similar alloy2 but you ought at least to be prepared for such a discovery4 ,for me1 it would be a terrible shock indeed if ,i were forced to suppose that a faithful ,apostle of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had wilfully misrepresented the truth with a view to glorify ,his ,master3 but it is no shock at all to find that the highest revelation of ,god to man has been1 like all other revelations1 to some extent misinterpreted1 obscured1 materialized4 ,i have learned to accept this as an inevitable law of our present nature4 ,if it had been ,god's will to suspend this law of nature in favour of the ,new ,testament1 ,i think ,he would have consistently gone further1 and miraculously prevented the scribes from making errors1 or posterity from perpetuating them4 ,but how can ,i think ,god has done this1 when ,i know that even the words of the ,lord's own ,prayer are variously reported in the two ,gospels of ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,luke1 and that every page of a critical edition of the ,new ,testament teems with various readings between which the ablest commentators are perplexed to decide8 ,you must therefore make up your mind to believe that the earliest ,gospel traditions and even that triply attested tradition#ai which is common to the first three ,gospels and which runs through the three with a separate character of its own1 like a distinguishable stream passed through several phases before they assumed their present shape4 ,in my next letter ,i shall probably ask you to consider what phases they passed through2 but you may perhaps expect me to say something at once about the ,fourth ,gospel2 for to that book many of the previous remarks do not apply4 ,it was much later than the rest2 it has little in subject-matter1 and nothing at all in style1 in common with the rest2 it contains scarcely a word of the ,common ,tradition which pervades the first three ,gospels2 it probably passed through no phases and suffered few accretions2 and it differs from the other ,gospels1 even from ,st4 ,luke's1 in bearing a far more manifest impress of personal authorship4 ,the three synoptic ,gospels really agree with their titles in representing the ,gospel 8according to0 their several authors2 but the ,fourth ,gospel 7although1 like the rest1 preceded by 8according to07 is a ,gospel written 8by0 whoever wrote it4 ,the question is1 who did write it8 ,if it was written by an ,apostle1 an eye-witness of the life of ,christ1 then we have to face--,i am not sure we have to accept--your alternative3 8,either ,jesus worked miracles1 or the ,apostles lied40 ,but there is very little evidence 7worth calling evidence7 for the hypothesis that an ,apostle wrote it1 and much evidence against that hypothesis4 ,st4 ,john1 the reputed author1 is said1 on the evidence of ,justin ,martyr1 to have written the ,apocalypse2 which1 while it resembles in style what we might have expected from a ,galilean fisherman1 differs entirely from the style of the ,fourth ,gospel4 ,whoever wrote the ,gospel1 we may be sure that he did not reproduce the words of ,jesus1 but gave rather what appeared to him to be their latent and spiritual meaning4 ,this can be proved as follows4 ,suppose three writers--say ,boswell1 ,mrs4 ,thrale1 and ,goldsmith--had composed accounts of the life and sayings of ,dr4 ,johnson1 widely differing in the subject-matter and style of the narrative1 but closely agreeing in the character of ,johnson's thoughts1 as reported by them1 and very often agreeing in the actual words imputed to ,johnson2 and suppose a fourth writer1 say ,burke1 had written his reminiscences of ,dr4 ,johnson1 which entirely differed in language1 in thought1 and in subject-matter from the first three3 would you not say at once that this was strong proof1 that ,burke did not report ,dr4 ,johnson's actual words1 and that he had probably tinged them with his own style and thought8 ,but if furthermore ,burke reported ,dr4 ,johnson's words and long discourses in the same language as he reported ,sheridan's1 and in language indistinguishable from his own contextual narrative1 then you would1 ,i am sure1 find it difficult to be patient with any one who1 through force of prejudice and pleasing associations1 obstinately maintained that ,burke's biography was equally faithful and exact with the three other concordant or synoptic biographies4 ,now this comparison exactly represents the facts4 ,you will find several of the most learned and painstaking commentators differing as to where the introductory words of the author of the ,fourth ,gospel cease1 and where ,john the ,baptist's words begin2 and the style of our ,lord's discourses in the ,fourth ,gospel is quite indistinguishable from the style of the author himself4 ,as to the immense difference1 in respect of style and thought and subject-matter1 between the ,synoptic ,gospels1 and the ,fourth ,gospel1 you must have felt it1 even as a child1 reading them in ,english4 ,i must refer you to the article on 8,gospels0 in the ,encyclopdia ,britannica for what ,i believe to be the most probable explanation of the origin of this remarkable work4 ,it is there shown that there are extraordinary points of similarity between the emblematic language and emblematic acts attributed to ,jesus in the ,fourth ,gospel1 and the emblematic conceptions of the ,alexandrine philosopher ,philo1 who flourished some sixty or seventy years before that ,gospel was written4 ,dealing1 for instance1 with the dialogue between ,jesus and the woman of ,samaria near the well at ,sychem1 the writer of that article shews that1 in the works of ,philo1 the well is an emblem of the search after knowledge2 ,sychem is an emblem of materialism2 the 8five husbands01 or1 as ,philo calls them1 8five seducers0 represent the five senses so that the whole dialogue appears to contain a poetic appeal to the heathen world1 to turn from the materialistic knowledge which can never satisfy1 to the knowledge of the ,word of ,god which is the 8living water04 ,still more remarkable is ,philo's emblematic use of ,lazarus 7or ,eleazar1 for the words are the same7 as a type of dead humanity1 helpless and lifeless till it has been raised up by the help of the ,lord4 ,but into this ,i have no space to enter4 ,if you care to pursue the subject1 ,i must refer you to the article above mentioned4 ,canon ,westcott has pointed out that in arrangement and structure the ,fourth ,gospel has some distinct poetic features4 ,i should go further and say that1 in this ,gospel1 ,history is subordinated to poetic purpose1 and that its narratives of incidents1 resting sometimes on a basis of fact1 but more often on a basis of metaphor1 are intended not so much to describe incidents as to lead the reader to spiritual conclusions4 ,we have no account of the authorship of the ,fourth ,gospel till the year #agj ,a4,d41 and this we find to be 8already legendary40#bj ,it is there said that1 being requested by his fellow-disciples and bishops to write a ,gospel1 ,john desired them to fast for three days and then to relate to one another what revelation each had received4 ,it was then revealed to the ,apostle ,andrew that 8while all endeavoured to recall their experiences1 ,john should write everything in his own name04 ,no confidence can be placed in the exactness of testimony that comes so long after the event2 but it points to some kind of joint contribution or revision such as is implied in ,john xxi4 #bd3 8,this is the disciple which testifieth of these things and we know that his testimony is true40 ,that the ,gospel was written 8in the name of ,john0 by some pupil of his--perhaps by some namesake--and revised and issued in the name of ,john by the ,elders of the ,ephesian ,church1 is by no means improbable4 ,in some matters of fact1 for example in distinguishing between the ,passover and 8the last supper10 the ,fourth ,gospel corrects an 7apparent7 error of the ,synoptic ,gospels1 a correction that possibly proceeded from the ,apostle ,john2 and perhaps the solemn asseveration as to the issue of blood and water from the side of ,jesus 78,and he that hath seen hath borne witness1 and his witness is true3 and he knoweth that he saith true1 that ye also may believe07 may be a reminiscence of some special testimony from the aged ,apostle2 but it is impossible to ascertain how far emblematic and historical narratives are blended in such passages as the dialogue with the ,samaritan woman1 the miracle at ,cana1 and the raising of ,lazarus4 ,the author was convinced 7like every other believer1 at that time7 that ,jesus did work many miracles1 and could have worked any kind of miracle2 but he had noted the unspiritual tendency to magnify the 8mighty works0 of ,jesus as merely 8mighty30 he therefore selected from the traditions before him those in which the spiritual and emblematic meaning was predominant4 ,in doing this1 he sometimes took a spiritual metaphor and expanded it into a spiritual history4 ,again1 he had also noted an unspiritual tendency to lay undue stress upon the exact words of ,jesus2 and he therefore determined--besides giving prominence to the promise of ,jesus concerning ,his ,spirit1 which was to guide the disciples into all truth--to exhibit1 in his ,gospel1 the spiritual purport of ,christ's doctrine rather than to repeat each saying as it was actually delivered4 ,as ,i write these words1 with the pages of the ,gospel open before me1 my eye falls upon the story of the raising of ,lazarus3 8,jesus said unto her1 ,i am the resurrection and the life3 he that believeth on me1 though he die1 yet shall he live2 and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die40 ,is it possible1 ,i say to myself1 that ,jesus did not say these entrancing words8 ,and how often does the same question arise as one turns over the leaves3 8,peace ,i leave with you2 my peace ,i give unto you3 not as the world giveth1 give ,i unto you30 8,yet a little while and the world beholdeth me no more2 but ye behold me3 because ,i live1 ye shall live also40 ,could any one at any time have invented such sayings8 ,still less1 is it possible they could have been invented in the times of ,trajan or ,hadrian by any ,asiatic ,greek or ,alexandrian ,jew8 ,but truth compels me to answer that1 just as the ,asiatic ,jew ,st4 ,paul1 although he never saw or heard ,jesus1 was inspired by the ,spirit of ,jesus to utter words of spiritual truth and beauty worthy of ,jesus ,himself1 so an ,asiatic ,greek or ,alexandrian ,jew of the time of ,trajan may have been prompted by the same ,spirit to penetrate to the very depths of the meaning of ,jesus and to express some of the conclusions to be derived from ,his sayings more clearly than we can see them even in the words of ,jesus ,himself1 as they are recorded in the ,synoptic ,gospels4 ,i do not see on what principle we can so limit the operation of the ,holy ,spirit as to say it could not extend1 in its most perfect force1 beyond the age of ,domitian or ,nerva or even ,trajan4 ,having before me the doctrine of the ,synoptic ,gospels1 ,i am forbidden by mere considerations of style and literary criticism from believing that ,jesus used the exact words1 8,i am the true vine10 8,i am the good shepherd10 8,i am the light of the world10 8,i am the resurrection and the life20 but ,i accept these sayings as divinely inspired1 and as being far deeper and fuller expressions of the spiritual nature of ,jesus than any of the inferences which ,i could draw for myself from the ,synoptic doctrine4 ,do not then say that ,i 8reject0 the ,fourth ,gospel4 ,i accept all that is essential in it2 and this ,i accept on far safer grounds than many who would accuse me of rejecting it4 ,for their acceptance might be shaken to-morrow if some new piece of evidence appeared decisively shewing that the ,gospel was not written by ,john the ,apostle2 but my acceptance is independent of authorship1 and is based upon the testimony of my conscience4 ,surely you must feel that it would be absurd for one who tests religious doctrine to some extent by experience and by history1 to reject the ,fourth ,gospel because it is in a great measure emblematic1 and because it was not written by the man who was supposed to have written it4 ,be the author who he may1 ,i shall never cease to feel grateful to him4 ,the all-embracing sweep of view which enabled him to look on the ,incarnation as the central incident of the world's history and to set forth ,christ as the ,eternal ,word and ,eternal ,son1 not dependent for this claim upon a mere ,miraculous ,conception2 the spiritual contempt for mere 8mighty works10 which leads him repeatedly to claim faith for ,jesus ,himself firstly1 and for the 8words0 of ,jesus secondly1 and only as a last reserve to demand belief 8for the works' sake20 and the true intuition with which he fastens on the promise of ,jesus 7only hinted at in the ,synoptic ,gospels7 that ,he would be present with ,his disciples at every time and place and that ,he would give them 8a voice10 and a ,spirit not to be gainsaid--from which brief suggestion the author worked out in detail the promise of the ,holy ,spirit1 and predicted the nobler and ampler future of the ,church these true1 and profound1 and spiritual intuitions will always excite my deepest gratitude and admiration4 ,the doctrine of the ,eternal ,word had its origin perhaps in the schools of ,alexandria1 and certainly formed no part of the teaching of ,jesus2 but1 ,christianized as it is by the author of the ,fourth ,gospel1 it commends itself as a key to many mysteries1 and 7like the ,fourth ,gospel itself7 it appears to be but one among many illustrations of the divine development of ,christian doctrine2 8,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 truth40 ,in a word1 without the ,fourth ,gospel1 ,christendom might 7it would seem7 have failed forever to appreciate the true nature of its ,redeemer4 ,i cannot indeed repress some regret that this most marvellously endowed minister and prophet of ,christ should have been allowed to select a poetic and even illusive form in order to publish his divine truths4 ,hitherto ,i have been able with pleasure and satisfaction to see the illusive integument being gradually separated from the inner truth1 as in astronomy and in the history of the ,old ,testament4 ,now comes a point where ,i myself should like to recoil4 ,but how puerile and faithless should ,i be if ,i assumed that ,god would give to the world along with ,his divine revelation precisely that modicum of illusion 7and no more7 which ,i myself personally am just able to receive with pleasure6 ,let us rather follow where1 as ,plato says1 8the argument leads us40 ,or1 if you prefer me to quote from the ,fourth ,gospel itself1 let us follow the guidance of ,him who is both 8the ,way and the ,truth40 ,footnote #ah3 ,if #a ,tim4 v4 #ah were an exception1 it would shew that that letter1 quoting a ,gospel as 8,scripture10 was later than ,st4 ,paul4 ,but it is possibly not an exception4 ,footnote #ai3 8,attested0 is not the same as 8originated40 ,the tradition may 7possibly7 have been originated by a single author3 but witness1 or 8attestation01 was borne to its authoritative character by the three earliest ,gospels1 whose authors1 or compilers1 independently adopted it4 ,it is therefore #8triply attested'4 ,footnote #bj3 8,the ,fragment of ,muratori10 ,westcott1 ,introduction to the ,gospels1 p4 #bee4 ,,xvii ,,christian ,,illusions ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,once more ,i am compelled to digress3 and1 this time1 it is in order to meet what you must let me call a preconception of yours4 ,you say that it appears to you 8impossible that ,christ1 if really divine1 should have been permitted by ,god to be worshipped as a worker of miracles for eighteen centuries1 although in reality he had no power to work them40 ,is this much more than a repetition of your former objection that my views amount to 8a new religion10 and that illusion1 although it may abound in the history of the thoughts of mankind1 can never have been permitted to connect itself with a really divine revelation8 ,i have already in part answered these prejudices--for they are nothing more--by shewing that illusion permeates what is called 8natural religion10 and by subsequently shewing that the inspired books of the ,old ,testament exhibit illusions in every page2 not only the illusions of the chosen people1 but illusions also on the part of the authors of the several books1 who misinterpreted tradition so as to convert a non-miraculous into a miraculous history4 ,but now let us deal more particularly with ,christian illusions4 ,here ,i will try to show you1 first1 how natural and 7humanly speaking7 how inevitable it was that illusions should gather round the earliest ,christian traditions1 and how easily there might have sprung up miraculous accounts in connection with them4 ,then1 and not till then1 having done my best to dispel your natural prejudice1 ,i will take in detail the six or seven principal miracles attributed to ,christ by all the three ,synoptic ,evangelists1 and will endeavour to show you that these accounts did actually spring up in a natural and inevitable way1 after the manner of illusions1 without any attempt to deceive on the part of the compilers of the ,gospels4 ,it will appear1 ,i think1 that the life and doctrine of ,christ are independent of these miracles and can easily be separated from them4 ,for the present then ,i am to speak of the naturalness or inevitability of illusions gathering about ,christ's acts and words in the minds of ,his disciples4 ,does any student of the ,fourth ,gospel need to be convinced of this8 ,perhaps the author of that work discerned the illusions of the early ,church even too clearly1 so that he slightly overshot the mark in the frequency of the false inferences and misunderstandings with which he delights to encompass the words and deeds of ,jesus4 ,perhaps the composer of 8the ,spiritual ,gospel0 has been led even too far by his profound and true perception that this ,incarnate ,word--this ,being from another sphere who was and is in the bosom of the ,father--could not move on the earth1 among earthly creatures1 without being perpetually misunderstood by them4 ,but is there not manifest truth in his conception of ,jesus as of ,one having different thoughts from those of common men1 different ways of regarding all things small or great1 a spiritual dialect of ,his own1 not at once to be comprehended by ordinary beings8 ,certain it is that1 in the ,fourth ,gospel1 ,christ's discourses are one string of metaphors which are literally and falsely interpreted by those to whom they are addressed4 8,flesh10 8blood10 8water10 8sleep10 8birth10 8death10 8life10 8temple10 8bread10 8meat10 8night10 8way10--these and ,i know not how many more simple words present themselves1 as we rapidly turn over the pages of that ,gospel1 always metaphorically used1 and always misunderstood4 ,nor can it be said that they were misunderstood by enemies and unbelievers alone2 ,his disciples constantly misunderstood them4 ,the life of ,christ in the ,fourth ,gospel is one continuous misunderstanding4 ,i will not say that this represents the exact fact2 but ,i doubt not that the inspired insight of the author1 be he who he may1 took in the full meaning of all the hints that are given by the ,synoptists as to the misunderstanding of the disciples about their ,master1 and led him to the deliberate conclusion that the life of ,christ in the flesh was one perpetual source of illusions to the ,twelve--illusions through which1 by the guidance of the ,spirit1 they were to be led to the truth3 8,what ,i do ye know not now1 but ye shall know hereafter40 ,i believe he went even further and perceived that ,christ's life was in danger of becoming a total delusion to the earliest ,christians through their tendency to the materialistic and the miraculous1 and that the best means of preserving the ,church from such a danger was to accustom the faithful to attach value to the words and deeds of ,christ only so far as they could interpret them spiritually1 trusting to the ,spirit for continual guidance into new truth4 ,this then is my first proposition1 that ,christ was sure to be misunderstood by those around ,him1 owing to ,his manner of using the language of metaphor4 ,you must know very well that this conjecture is confirmed by fact4 ,sometimes the ,synoptists note the fact1 as when ,he spoke of 8leaven0 and the ,twelve misunderstood ,him literally2 and several other instances are on record4 ,but it is of course possible that on many other occasions the misunderstanding may have existed1 but may not have been noted by the ,evangelists4 ,take one instance4 ,in the discourse of ,jesus to the ,seventy ,disciples 7,luke x4 #ai7 ,jesus makes the following statement3 8,i have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy1 and nothing shall in any wise hurt 77 you40 ,how are we to understand this 8treading upon serpents and scorpions08 ,literally or metaphorically8 ,surely the text itself makes it evident that ,jesus used the words metaphorically to refer to 8the power of the ,enemy10 i4e4 8the ,serpent10 or ,satan1 probably with a special reference to the casting out of devils4 ,moreover the passage is introduced by a statement that 8the ,seventy returned with joy1 saying1 ,lord1 even the devils are subject unto us in thy name4 ,and he said1 ,i beheld ,satan fall as lightning from ,heaven4 ,behold ,i have given you authority to tread upon serpents4444 ,howbeit in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you2 but rejoice that your names are written in ,heaven40 ,as for the other part of the promise1 8nothing shall hurt you10 it surely does not seem to you that these words must imply literal 8hurt08 ,if it does1 let me direct your attention to a much more striking instance of ,christ's extraordinary use of metaphor in a passage where the ,disciples are told1 almost in a breath1 that not a hair of their heads shall perish and yet that some of them shall be 8put to death0 7,luke xxi4 #af-ah74 ,i think then that you will agree with me that the 8authority to tread upon serpents0 mentioned in ,st4 ,luke contained not a literal1 but a spiritual promise1 to tread upon the power of 8the ,serpent40 ,nevertheless1 that this promise about 8serpents0 was very early misinterpreted literally can be shewn1 not indeed from a genuine passage of the ,gospels1 but from a very early interpolation in ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel1 xvi4 #ag1 #ah3 8,these signs shall follow them that believe2 in my name shall they cast out devils2 they shall speak with new tongues2 they shall take up serpents1 and if they drink any deadly thing1 it shall in no wise hurt them2 they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover40 ,here then we have a clear instance of misunderstanding 7not noted by the ,evangelists7 arising in very early if not in the very earliest times from the metaphorical language of ,jesus4 ,one more instance of probable misunderstanding must suffice for the present4 ,you know how often in the ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul the word 8dead0 is used to indicate spiritually 8dead0 i4e4 8dead in sin40 ,a similar use is attributed to ,christ in the ,fourth ,gospel3 8,he that believeth in me1 though he were dead1 yet shall he live0 7,john xi4 #be72 but here the impending resurrection of ,lazarus gives the reader the impression that it is literally used4 ,however it is almost certainly metaphorical in ,john v4 #bd1 #be1 #bh1 8,he that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me1 hath eternal life1 and cometh not unto judgment1 but is passed from death into life4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 the hour cometh and now is1 when the dead shall hear the voice of the ,son of ,god1 and they that hear shall live4444 ,marvel not at this1 for the hour cometh in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice1 and shall come forth0 c4 ,here apparently the meaning is that the hour has already come 78now is07 when the spiritually dead shall hear the voice1 and the hour is on the point of coming when the literally dead 78all that are in the tombs07 shall hear it4 ,in any case1 the metaphorical meaning is indisputable in the striking saying of ,jesus 7,luke ix4 #fj7 8,let the dead bury their dead40 ,now if ,jesus was in the habit of describing those who were lost in sin as being 8dead10 and of bidding ,his disciples 8raise the dead0--meaning that they were to restore sinners to spiritual life--we can easily see how such language might be misunderstood4 ,it is probable that ,jesus ,himself had actually restored life to at least one person given over for dead1 the daughter of ,jairus1 though by natural means4 ,of such revivification you may find an instance described in ,onesimus 7pp4 #gg-ha7 which is taken almost verbatim from the account of his own revivification given by the late ,archbishop of ,bordeaux to the late ,dean ,stanley1 and sent me by the ,dean as being taken down from the ,archbishop's lips4 ,if that was so1 how natural for some of the ,disciples to attach a literal meaning to the precept1 8raise the dead06 ,they would argue thus1 8,our ,master healed diseases at a word1 so can we2 ,he once raised a child from the dead and bade us also raise the dead2 some of the ,disciples therefore ought to be able to do this40 ,how natural1 under the circumstances1 such a confusion of the material and the spiritual6 ,yet ,i have little doubt that the diseases which were cured by the ,twelve were almost always 8possession10 or paralysis1 or nervous diseases4 ,compare the different accounts given by the ,synoptists of the instructions of ,jesus to the ,twelve when ,he sent them forth on their first mission3 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,the following three quotations were originally printed side-by-side4 ,mark vi4 #g4 ,and he called unto him the twelve1 and began to send them forth by two and two2 and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits4 ,matthew x4 #a4 ,and he called unto him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out1 and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness4 ,luke ix4 #a4 ,and he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases4 ,here you find that the first ,gospel 7,st4 ,mark's7 makes mention only of the 8authority over unclean spirits10 and this probably represents the fact4 ,the third account is an amplification2 and the second altogether exaggerates4 ,hence1 when we read1 in the context of the second version of these instructions1 8,heal the sick1 raise the dead1 cleanse the lepers1 cast out devils2 freely ye received freely give0 7,matthew x4 #h71 we cannot fail to see several arguments against the probability of the italicized words being literally intended by ,jesus4 ,first1 the language of ,christ habitually dealt in metaphor1 and in metaphor habitually misunderstood by ,his disciples2 secondly1 there is no instance in which a single one of the ,twelve carried out this precept during the life of their ,master1 and only one in which one of the ,twelve 7,peter7 is said to have raised a woman from the dead 7for ,st4 ,paul's incident with ,eutychus can hardly be called a case in point72 thirdly the precept is recorded by only one ,evangelist2#ba fourthly that same ,evangelist records only one case in which our ,lord ,himself raised any one from the dead1 i4e4 the revivified daughter of ,jairus--and it seems absurd to represent ,christ as commanding all the ,apostles to do that which most of them probably never did1 and ,he ,himself 7according to the ,first ,gospel7 only did once4 ,we pass now to another cause that may have originated miraculous narratives in the ,gospels4 ,try to extricate yourself from our ,western1 cold-blooded1 analytical1 and critical way of looking at things4 ,sit down in the reign of ,vespasian or ,domitian in the midst of a congregation of ,jewish and ,grco-,oriental brethren1 assembled for a sacred service1 8singing a hymn0 7as ,pliny says1 describing them a few years afterwards7 8to ,christ as to a ,god40 ,what effect on the traditions of ,christ's life and works would be produced by these 8hymns and spiritual songs0 which ,st4 ,paul's testimony 7as well as ,pliny's7 shows to have been a common part of the earliest ,christian ritual8 ,would they not inevitably tend1 by poetic hyperbole and metaphor1 to build up fresh traditions which1 when literally interpreted1 would--like the songs and psalms of the ,chosen ,people--give rise to miraculous narratives8 ,part of the service indeed would not consist of hymns but of the reading of the 8,scriptures0 i4e4 the ,old ,testament2 but this also would tend in the same direction4 ,for there you would hear1 read out to the congregation1 marvellous prophecies how1 in the day of the ,lord the ,redeemer1 the eyes of the blind should be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped1 and the lame should leap as a hart2 and the sole thought possessing you and every man in the congregation would be1 8,how far did all these things find fulfilment in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ80 ,you would hear from the 8,scriptures0 narratives of marvellous miracles1 how ,moses gave water from the rock to ,israel in the wilderness and fed them with food from ,heaven1 how ,elijah raised the widow's child from death1 and how ,jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish2 and the sole thought possessing you would be1 8,how far were like wonders wrought by ,christ80 ,then would arise the hymn describing1 in imagery borrowed from the ,old ,testament1 how ,christ had done all these things1 and more besides1 for the spiritual ,israel2 how ,he had spread a table for ,his people in the wilderness1 and given to thousands to partake of ,his body and ,his blood2 how ,moses had merely given water to the people1 but ,jesus had changed the water of the ,jews 7i4e4 the ,law7 into the wine which flowed from ,his side2 how ,jesus had fulfilled the predictions of the prophets by curing the halt1 the maimed1 the blind1 the leper1 the deaf2 how ,he had even raised the dead and bidden ,his disciples to raise the dead2 how ,he1 like ,jonah1 had spent three days in the darkness of the grave4 ,if you look at the earliest ,christian paintings you will find that they represent ,christ as the ,fish 7the emblem of food72 others depict the ,mosaic miracles of the manna and the water from the rock4 ,these shew what a hold the notion of the miraculous food had taken on the mind of the earliest believers4 ,how easy it would be to amplify a metaphor derived from the ,eucharistic feeding on the ,bread of ,life and perhaps on the 8honey-sweet fish0 7as ,christ is actually called in a poem written about the middle of the second century7 into a miraculous account of the feeding of many thousands upon material bread and material fish6 ,it is greatly to be regretted that we have not one left out of the many hymns and psalms of which ,st4 ,paul and ,pliny make mention4 ,the only vestige of one that ,i know is found in a verse of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistle to the ,ephesians4 ,it is at all events printed by ,westcott and ,hort as poetry1 and it is thought by many commentators to be an extract from some well-known hymn 7,eph4 v4 #ad73 8,wherefore 7he7 saith1 ,awake thou that sleepest ,and arise from the dead ,and ,christ shall shine upon thee40 ,this perhaps is our only specimen of the earliest ,christian hymnals4 ,surely then it is noticeable that in three lines of this unique specimen there are three metaphors1 and in the second line a metaphorical use of the word 8dead0 which--as ,i have pointed out above--has probably elsewhere resulted in serious misunderstanding4 ,after the hymn would come the sermon4 ,the preacher would stand up like ,apollos to 8prove from the ,scriptures10 that is1 from the ,old ,testament1 that ,jesus is the ,christ4 ,if you wish to know how some of the ,christian ,preachers would probably discharge their task you should look at the ,dialogue with ,trypho written 7about a hundred years after ,apollos7 by ,justin ,martyr--who1 ,i take it1 was very much superior in judgment1 learning1 and ability1 to the great mass of ,christian ,preachers in the first and second centuries4 ,there--among many other instances of the adaptation of history to preconception--you will find ,justin declaring that ,jesus was born in a cave1 and that the ass on which ,he rode into ,jerusalem was tied to a vine1 simply because certain prophecies of ,isaiah mention a cave and a vine1 and because he is determined to find fulfilments of them in the life of ,christ4 ,but in the early times of ,apollos1 and during the next twenty or thirty years1 before the ,gospels had been committed to writing1 there must have been a far stronger gravitation towards the ,old ,testament and a far more powerful tendency to find something in the life of ,christ to fulfil every prediction about the ,messiah and to correspond to every miracle wrought by ,moses and the prophets4 ,judged in the light of these considerations1 our present record of ,christ's life ought to surprise us not by the number1 but by the paucity1 of the fulfilments of prophecy and the miracles contained in them4 ,against these arguments for the antecedent probability that miracles would be baselessly imputed to ,jesus 7to be followed presently by a few instances to shew that they have been so imputed7 ,i know nothing that has been recently urged except a consideration drawn from the life of ,john the ,baptist3 8,to the ,baptist no miracle has been imputed by the ,gospels2 to ,christ miracles have been imputed2 why not to both8 ,what is the reason for this distinction except that the former did not perform miracles1 while the latter did80 ,two reasons can be given4 ,in the first place ,christ worked 8mighty works10 while ,john did not2 and since many of these 8mighty works0 could not in the first century be distinguished from 8miracles10 they served as a nucleus round which a miraculous narrative might gather2 in the history of the ,baptist there would be no such nucleus4 ,the second and perhaps more important reason is1 that1 as a counterpoise to the natural exaggerative tendency which might have led men to attribute miracles to the ,baptist1 there would be also a tendency to heighten the contrast between the ,servant and the ,master4 ,this tendency appears to me to increase in the later ,gospels till at last in the ,fourth we come to the express statement1 8,john worked no miracle0 7,john x4 #da74 ,but whether ,i am right or not in this conjecture1 it is quite certain that the attitude of the ,christians towards the mere forerunner of the ,messiah--about whom the ,prophets had simply predicted that he would 8turn the hearts of the children to the fathers0--would not be such as to render likely any imputations of miracles to him4 ,at ,ephesus1 in the days of ,st4 ,paul1 there were some quasi-,christians who had received none but 8,john's ,baptism10 and had 8not so much as heard whether there is a ,holy ,ghost40 ,that gives us a much stronger impression of the ,prophet's influence1 and a much weaker impression of the prevalence of the doctrine about the ,holy ,spirit in the earliest ,christian teaching1 than we should have inferred from what we read in the ,fourth ,gospel3 was it likely1 when the ,baptist's influence seemed to the contemporaries of ,st4 ,paul still so powerful 7perhaps too powerful7 that they would be tempted unconsciously to magnify it by casting round him that halo of miraculous action which naturally gathered around the life of ,christ8 ,does it seem to you very hard1 and almost cruelly unnatural1 that the life of the ,baptist--in whom the world takes comparatively little interest--should be handed down with historical accuracy 7at least so far as miracles are concerned7 while the life of ,christ1 the centre of the hopes and fears of the civilized world1 has been permitted by ,providence to become a nucleus for illusion and superstition as well as for the righteous faith and love of mankind8 ,it is hard2 it is not unnatural4 8,when beggars die there are no comets seen2 ,the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes40 ,what does ,shakespeare mean by this except to exemplify the universal1 and natural1 but illusive belief1 that whatever affects the greatest man must also affect material nature8 ,therefore in proportion to the greatness of any man we must expect that the illusions about him will be great in the minds of posterity4 ,how indeed could it be otherwise8 ,reflect for a moment4 ,jesus came into the world to be a spiritual ,saviour1 a spiritual ,judge2 but how few there were in those days who could fully appreciate even the meaning of these titles6 ,do you yourself1 even at this date1 after the lapse of eighteen centuries1 grasp firmly this notion of spiritual judgment8 ,reverence can hardly restrain you from smiling at the ,apostles for their unspiritual dreams of a 8carnal0 empire with twelve tangible thrones to be set up for their twelve selves in ,palestine2 but you yourself1 have you never1 at all events in younger days1 dreamed sometimes of a visible white throne on material clouds1 of a visible and perhaps tangible trumpet1 of an audible verdict of 8,guilty0 or 8,not guilty0 externally pronounced on each soul8 perhaps also of palpable palm branches1 and of ,i know not what more sensuous apparatus1 without which you can scarcely realize the notion of the ,day of ,judgment8 ,and yet all these are adventitious and accidental accompaniments of the real and essential 8judgment0 which is in ,greek the 8sifting0 or 8division0 i4e4 the division between good and evil in the heart of each one of us4 ,but ,i doubt even now whether you understand the meaning of this spiritual 8division0 or judgment4 ,let me try to explain it4 ,have you not at any time suddenly1 in a flash1 been brought face to face with some revelation of goodness1 some good person1 or action1 or book1 or word1 or thoughts--which in a moment1 before you were aware1 has lighted up all the black caverns of your nature and made your mind's eye realize them1 and your conscience abhor them1 setting your higher nature against your lower nature1 so that1 without your knowing it1 this angelic visitant has taken hold of you1 carried away the better part of you along with itself into higher regions of purer thought than yours1 from whence your better nature is forced to look down upon1 and condemn1 your lower and grosser self8 ,this 8division0 is the operation of the two-edged sword of the ,spirit2 and when a man's cheeks flush with shame1 or his heart feels crushed with remorse1 under this 8dividing0 power1 and he feels the verdict 8,i am guilty10 then he is being judged far more effectually than any earthly law court could judge him4 ,now it is this kind of judgment that ,jesus had in mind when ,he spoke of the judgment of the world by the ,son of ,man4 ,in this sense ,he has been judging1 is judging1 and will judge1 till the ,great ,judgment consummates the story of such things as are to be judged4 ,but how little has the world realized this6 ,probably some would have realized less of the spiritual if they had imagined less of the material4 ,you know how the ,english judges of our times still insist on much of the old pomp and ceremony which in the days of our forefathers was thought necessary in order to make justice venerable4 ,the trumpets1 and the javelin-men1 and the sheriffs in the procession1 the wig and gown and bands in court--they all seem a little ridiculous to most of us now2 yet possibly the judges are right in retaining them4 ,possibly our brutal ,english nature will need for some decades longer these antique and now meaningless trappings before they will be able to respect the just judge for the sake of justice itself4 ,and in the same way1 from the days of ,clovis to those of ,napoleon1 many a man who would have found it impossible to realize the righteous ,judge as the invisible wielder of the two-edged sword of the ,spirit1 has felt a fear1 which perhaps did more good than harm1 at the thought of the opening graves1 the unclothed trembling dead1 the thunder-pealing verdict and the flames of a material hell4 ,who also can deny that the illusion which has represented ,jesus as having possessed and exerted the power to cure every imaginable disease of the body1 has led many to realize ,him as the ,healer of something more than material disease1 in a manner otherwise impossible for masses of men living under an oppression which often scarcely left them the consciousness that they possessed anything but bodies wherewith to serve their masters8 ,do not suppose1 because ,i am forced by evidence to reject the miracles1 that ,i am blind to the part that they once played in facilitating faith in ,christ4 ,a whole essay1 a volume of essays might be written on that subject1 without fear of exaggeration4 ,the ,miraculous ,conception1 the ,miraculous ,resurrection and ,ascension1 the miracles of the feeding of the four thousand and of the five thousand1--it would be quite possible to shew from ,christian literature and history1 how in times gone by1 when laws of nature were unrecognized1 these supposed incidents of ,christ's life not only found their way into men's minds without hesitation and without a strain upon intellect or conscience1 but also conveyed to the human heart1 each in its own way1 some deep spiritual truth satisfying some deep spiritual need4 ,it is the old lesson once more repeated3 the eyes take in1 as a picture1 what the ears fail to convey to the brain or heart1 when expressed in mere words4 ,but now1 there are abundant symptoms that the tempers and minds of men are greatly changed4 ,men's minds are more open than before to the need of some spiritual bond to keep society together2 and the character and spiritual claims of ,christ1 and the marvellous results that have followed from ,his life and death1 are beginning 7,i think7 to be recognized with more spontaneousness and with less of superstitious formalism4 ,on the other hand1 the vast regularity of ,nature has so come home to our hearts that some believe in it as if it had a divine sanctity2 the thought of praying that the sun or moon may stand still shocks us as a profanity2 and boys and girls1 as they stand opposite to some picture setting forth a ,bible miracle1 look puzzled and perplexed1 or1 if they are a little older1 say with a sententious smile that 8the age of miracles is past40 ,in a word1 that very element of inexplicable wonder which once strengthened the faith1 now weakens it1 by furnishing weapons to its assailants1 and by inducing rash believers to take up and defend against sceptics a position that is indefensible4 ,in any case1 it is the duty of each generation of ,christians to put aside1 as far as it can1 the illusions of the previous generation and to rise higher to the fuller knowledge of ,christ2 for the outworn and undiscarded illusions of one generation become the hypocrisies of the next4 ,the illusions of the permanence of the ,mosaic ,law1 of the speedy ,consummation1 of ,transubstantiation1 of the ,infallible ,church1 of the ,infallible ,book1 have all been in due course put away4 ,a candid and modest ,christian ought surely to argue that1 where so many illusions have already been discarded--and all without injury to the worship of ,christ--some may remain to be discarded still1 and equally without injury to the ,eternal ,truth4 ,what if miraculous ,christianity is to natural ,christianity as the ,ptolemaic astronomy is to the ,newtonian8 ,both of these astronomical systems were of practical utility2 both could predict eclipses2 both revealed ,god as a ,god of order4 ,but the former imputed to the unmoving sun the terrestrial motion which the latter correctly imputed to the earth2 the former explained by a number of arbitrary1 non-natural1 and quasi-miraculous suppositions--spheres1 and spirals1 and epicycles1 and the like--phenomena which the latter more simply explained by one celestial curve traced out in accordance with one fixed law4 ,i believe that in religion also we have made a similar mistake and are being prepared for a similar correction4 ,we have imputed to ,christ some actions which have sprung from the promptings of our own imaginations--imaging forth what our ideal ,deliverer would have done--and which have represented1 not ,his motions1 but the motions of our own hearts4 ,by what we have euphemistically denominated 8latent laws10 that is to say by hypotheses as arbitrary and baseless as the old epicycles1 unsupported by sufficient evidence and inconsistent with all that we see and hear and feel around us in ,god's world1 we have endeavoured to explain a ,redemption which no more needs such explanations than forgiveness needs them--a ,redemption which is as natural 7that is to say1 as much in accordance with the laws of physical nature and the ordinary processes of human nature7 as that ,law of ,love1 or ,spiritual gravitation1 which may be illustrated in the microcosm of every human household4 ,now we are to learn the new truth3 and as the ,god of ,newton is greater 7is ,he not87 than the ,god of ,ptolemy1 so let us not doubt that the ,god revealed in spiritual ,christianity will be greater than the ,god revealed in material and miraculous ,christianity4 ,the new heavens will not cease to declare the glory of ,god2 the new firmament will not fail to tell of ,his handiwork4 ,footnote #ba3 ,of course its omission by the other ,evangelists might indicate that the words were not uttered by ,jesus2 but it might also indicate that the precept1 being generally misunderstood1 was considered so strange and at variance with facts that it had come to be discredited and considered spurious4 ,,xviii ,,are ,,the ,,miracles ,,inseparable ,,from ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,christ8 ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,from the digressions concerning the growth of the ,gospels and the possibility or probability that their truths would be conveyed through illusion ,i now return to our main subject1 the question whether the life of ,christ can be disentangled from miracles4 ,and here you tell me that some of your agnostic and sceptical friends quote with great satisfaction the following sentence from ,bishop ,temple's recent ,bampton ,lectures#bb3 8,many of our ,lord's most characteristic sayings are so associated with narratives of miracles that the two cannot be torn apart40 ,i can well believe what you tell me as to the advantage which they naturally take of this admission3 8,here10 they say1 8is a statement made on high authority that1 unless you can believe that ,jesus worked bon fide miracles1 such as the blasting of the fig tree and the destruction of the swine1 you must give up #8many of ,christ's most characteristic sayings' in other words1 you must give up the hope of knowing what ,jesus taught40 ,i wish your friends1 who quote this assertion with so much pleasure1 would also have quoted the 8characteristic sayings0 alleged by ,dr4 ,temple in proof of this assertion2 for you would then have seen for yourself that many of these 8characteristic sayings0 are associated not with 8miracles0 but with 8mighty works20 and ,i am sure you have not forgotten the difference between the two4#bc ,for example the first of the 8characteristic sayings0 is1 8,son1 thy sins be forgiven thee40 ,now these words were spoken to the paralytic man2 and1 as we have seen above1 the cure of paralysis by appeal to the emotions--although a remarkable act1 and although1 if permanent1 so remarkable as to deserve to be called 8a mighty work0--cannot be called a miracle4 ,but ,i need say no more of this1 as ,i have treated of cures by 8emotional shock0 in a previous letter4 ,now all the other sayings quoted by ,dr4 ,temple refer to 8faith0 or 8believing20 and all1 ,i think1 are connected with acts of healing4 ,there may be doubtless in some of our present accounts of the 8mighty works0 some inaccuracies or exaggerations as to the nature of the disease and the circumstances of the cure4 ,for example1 when the cure is said to have been performed at a distance from the patient1 either 7#a7 faith must have wrought in the patient by his knowledge that his friends were interceding with ,christ1 or 7#b7 we must assume some very doubtful theory of 8brain-wave0 sympathy1 or admit that 7#c7 the story is exaggerated1 or else that 7#d7 there is a bon fide miracle4 ,for my own part ,i waver1 in such cases as that of the centurion's servant and the ,syro-,phnician's daughter1 between the hypotheses which ,i have numbered 7#a7 and 7#c71 with a sentimental reserve in favour of 7#b72 but any one of these seems to me so far more probable than the hypothesis of a suspension of the laws of nature that ,i do not feel in the least constrained by reason of such 8characteristic sayings0 concerning faith1 to give in my adhesion to a narrative of miracle4 ,on the contrary ,i say the mention of 8faith10 and ,christ's 8marvel0 at faith1 and ,his eulogy of the 8greatness0 of the 8faith0 in certain cases1 all go to prove that these acts were not miracles1 but simply acts of faith-healing on a colossal scale4 ,i hope you will not feel inclined to sneer at the reservation in those last four words4 ,you will surely admit that1 if ,christ did anything naturally1 the result might be proportionate to ,his nature2 and if ,his power of appealing to the emotions was colossal1 the material result of that appeal might be proportionately colossal4 ,i begin1 therefore1 the process of disentanglement between the historical and the miraculous in ,christ's life by a protest against a hasty and blind confusion which refuses to discriminate between 8miracles0 and 8mighty works10 and calls on us to reject from the history not only the miraculous but the marvellous as well2 and ,i assert that the acts of faith healing with which1 as ,bishop ,temple truly says1 there are associated many of our ,lord's most characteristic sayings1 may be accepted as generally historical and natural4 ,this1 however1 would not apply to such a miracle as the restoration of the ear of the high priest's servant2 and the reasons are obvious4 ,the faith necessary for an act of emotional healing is not said to have existed1 and is not likely to have existed1 in a man who probably looked on ,christ as an impostor4 ,even if it had existed1 the case was not one where we have reason to think faith could have healed4 ,besides1 the miracle is omitted by three out of the four ,evangelists4 ,it is possibly a mistaken inference from some tradition about an utterance of ,jesus1 8,suffer ye thus far20 which may have really had an entirely different meaning1 but which led the third ,evangelist to conclude that ,jesus desired ,his captors to give ,him so much liberty as would allow him to perform this act of mercy--a humane and picturesque thought1 but not history4 ,it is scarcely conceivable that the other three ,evangelists should have mentioned the wound inflicted on the servant2 that ,matthew and ,john should have added a rebuke addressed by ,jesus to ,peter for inflicting it2 and that ,john should have taken the pains to tell us the name of the high priest's servant and yet that they should have omitted1 if they actually knew1 the fact that the wound was immediately and miraculously healed by ,jesus4 ,the irresistible conclusion is that ,st4 ,mark1 ,st4 ,matthew1 and ,st4 ,john1 knew nothing of this miracle4 ,when the acts of healing are set apart1 and considered as 8mighty works0 but not 8miracles10 the bon fide miracles in the ,synoptic ,gospels will become few indeed3 and ,i think it will be found that these few are susceptible of explanation on natural grounds4 ,we will pass over the finding of the coin in the fish's mouth which is found in ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel alone and can hardly be associated with any 8characteristic saying0 of ,jesus--and come to a miracle common to the three ,synoptists1 the destruction of two thousand swine following on the exorcism of the ,gadarene4 ,this is a very curious case of misunderstanding arising from literalism4 ,it was a common belief in ,palestine 7as it was also in ,europe during the middle ages71 that the bodies of the 8possessed10 or insane1 were tenanted by familiar demons in various shapes--toads1 scorpions1 swine1 serpents1 and the like4 ,these demons were supposed to have as their normal home an 8abyss0 or 8deep0 7,luke viii4 #ca1 72 but this they abhorred1 and were never so happy as when they found a home in some human body4 ,the 8possessed0 believed that these demons were visible and material2 and the juggling exorcist would sometimes 7so ,josephus tells us7 place a bucket of water to be overturned by the demons in passing1 as a proof that they were driven out4 ,in a word1 the 8possessed0 could hardly be convinced that he was cured1 unless he saw1 or thought he saw1 the frogs1 serpents1 scorpions1 or swine actually rushing from his mouth in some definite direction4 ,the explanation of the miracle will now readily suggest itself to you4 ,some man1 perhaps a patriotic ,galilean1 to whom nothing would be more hateful than a ,roman army1 conceived himself to be possessed by a whole 8legion10 two thousand 8unclean swine40 ,identifying himself--as was the habit of those who were 8possessed0--with the demons whom he supposed to have possession of him1 the insane man declared that his name was 8,legion1 for we are many0 and they 7or he7 besought ,jesus that ,he would not drive them into the 8deep10 i4e4 into the 8abyss0 above-mentioned4 ,but by the voice of ,jesus the man is instantaneously healed3 he sees the legion of demons that had possessed him rushing forth in the shapes of two thousand swine and hurrying down into 8the deep20 and what he sees1 he loudly proclaims to the bystanders4 ,it is easy to perceive how on some such a basis of fact there might be built the tradition that ,jesus healed a demoniac whose name was ,legion1 and sent two thousand swine into the deep sea2 and from thence by easy stages the tradition might arrive at its present shape4 ,so far1 ,i think1 you do not find it very difficult to separate the miraculous from the historical in the life of ,christ1 nor feel yourself forced to sacrifice any of the 8most characteristic sayings of ,jesus40 ,let us now come to a miracle of greater difficulty1 the blasting of the barren fig-tree4 ,even of those commentators who accept the miracle of the fig-tree as historical1 most1 ,i believe1 see in it a kind of parable4 ,the barren fig-tree1 they say1 which made a great show of leaves but bore no fruit1 obviously represents1 in the first place1 the ,pharisees1 and in the second place1 the nation1 which1 as a whole1 identified itself with the ,pharisees4 ,both the ,prophets and the ,psalms delight in similar metaphors4 ,israel is the vine2 ,jehovah1 in ,isaiah1 is the ,lord of the vine1 who demands good fruit and finds it not1 and consequently resolves to destroy the vine4 ,so here1 the ,lord comes to the fig-tree of ,phariseeism1 the tree of degenerate ,israel1 seeking fruit2 and finding none1 ,he curses it1 and withers it with the breath of ,his mouth4 ,is it not easy to see how a parable1 thus expressed in the hymns and earliest traditions of the ,church1 might speedily be literalized and give rise to a miraculous narrative8 ,let me point out to you a curious fact confirmatory of this view4 ,i dare say you may have noticed that ,st4 ,luke1 although he agrees with ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,matthew in the context of this miracle1 omits the miracle itself4 ,why so8 ,is it because he never heard of the miracle8 ,not quite so4 ,it is because he had heard of it in a slightly different form1 not as a miracle but as a parable1 which he alone has preserved4 ,st4 ,luke's version of the tradition is that the ,lord comes to the barren tree and1 finding no fruit on it1 gives orders that it is to be cut down3 but the steward of the farm pleads for a respite2 let the ground be digged and manured1 then1 if there be no fruit1 let it be cut down4 ,a similar thought1 you see1 is here expressed in two different shapes1 a miraculous and a non-miraculous2 and it is not difficult to understand how the former may have been developed from the latter4 ,but ,i see that your last letter has a remark on this very miracle1 and on the difficulty of rejecting it4 8,it is associated10 you say1 8with one of the most characteristic sayings of ,jesus3 for it is in connection with the withering of the fig-tree that ,jesus says 7,matt4 xxi4 #ba71 #8,if ye have faith1 ye shall not only do what is done to the fig-tree1 but even if ye shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up and cast into the sea1 it shall be done4'0 8,here10 you say1 8we have a characteristic saying of ,jesus expressly referring to something done1 and done miraculously40 ,would it not have been wise1 before making so emphatic a statement1 to consider how ,st4 ,mark1 the earlier of the two narrators of this miracle1 sets forth the comment of ,jesus8 ,the comments run thus in the first two ,gospels1 and ,i will add a parallel saying from the third ,gospel1 not attached to any miracle3 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,the following three quotations were originally printed side-by-side4 ,mark xi4 #ba-bc4 ,and ,peter1 calling to remembrance1 saith unto him1 8,rabbi1 behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away40 ,and ,jesus answering saith unto them1 8,have faith in ,god4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,whosoever shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up and cast into the sea2 and shall not doubt in his heart1 but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass2 he shall have it40 ,matthew xxi4 #bj-ba4 ,and when the disciples saw it1 they marvelled1 saying1 8,how did the fig tree immediately wither away80 ,and ,jesus said unto them1 8,verify ,i say unto you1 ,if ye have faith1 and doubt not1 ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree1 but even if ye shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up and cast into the sea1 it shall be done40 ,luke xvii4 #e-f4 ,and the apostles said unto the ,lord 8,increase our faith40 ,and the ,lord said1 8,if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed1 ye would say unto this sycamine tree1 ,be thou rooted up1 and be thou planted in the sea2 and it would have obeyed you40 ,you see then that the more authoritative 7because earlier7 of our two witnesses omits those very words on which you lay so much stress1 the 8express reference to something done1 and done miraculously40 ,and ought not this fact to make you pause and ask yourself 8,am ,i really to suppose that the ,lord ,jesus encouraged ,his disciples to command material mountains to be cast into the sea1 and material trees to be destroyed8 ,did ,he ,himself so habitually act thus that ,he could naturally urge ,his disciples to do the like8 ,does it not seem1 literally taken1 advice contrary not only to common sense but also to a reverent appreciation of the law and order of nature80 ,i would suggest to you that you might weigh the inherent improbability of the words in ,st4 ,matthew 7literally taken71 as well as the external probability--which ,i will now endeavour to shew--that the whole passage was metaphorical4 ,we know from ,st4 ,paul's works1 as well as from ,rabbinical literature1 that 8to move mountains0 was a common metaphor to express intellectual or spiritual ability4 ,st4 ,paul speaks of faith that would 8move mountains20 and you will find in ,lightfoot's ,horae ,hebraicae 7ii4 p4 #bhe71 8,there was not such another rooter up of mountains as ,ben ,azzai40 ,now we know from ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel 7xvii4 #f71 that ,jesus used a similar metaphor of trees1 as well as of mountains1 to exemplify the power of faith2 and this without any reference to 8something done and done miraculously30 8,if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed1 ye would say unto this sycamine tree1 ,be thou rooted up and planted in the sea2 and it would have obeyed40 ,planted in the sea6 ,can you dream that so preposterous a portent could have been prayed for by any sane and sober follower of ,christ in compliance with his ,master's suggestion8 ,bear in mind that these words in ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel were uttered a long time before the blasting of the fig tree is supposed to have happened1 and at a different place4 ,does not then a comparison of this passage with the other two make it probable that ,jesus was in the habit of encouraging ,his disciples to be 8pluckers up of mountains0 and 8rooters up of trees10 not literally but metaphorically1 meaning thereby that they were to attempt and accomplish the greatest feats of faith8 ,you will1 perhaps1 be surprised when you find what it was that ,jesus regarded as the greatest feat of faith in the passage of ,st4 ,luke just mentioned4 ,it was a feat of which we are accustomed to think rather lightly2 partly1 perhaps1 because we are often contented with the appearance of it without the reality3 it was simply forgiveness4 ,he had told the disciples they must forgive 8till seventy times seven30 ,the ,apostles1 in despair1 replied 8,increase our faith30 and then ,jesus tells them that if they had but a germ of living trust1 they could become 8uprooters of sycamine trees10 in other words they could perform forgiveness1 the greatest feat of faith4 ,but perhaps you will say1 8,at all events in ,st4 ,mark1 the earliest authority for the miracle of the blasting of the fig-tree1 there is no mention of forgiveness1 and nothing that would indicate that his version of the words of ,jesus referred to what you call #8the greatest feat of faith1' i4e4 forgiveness40 ,on the contrary1 you will find that ,st4 ,mark1 with some apparent confusion of different thoughts1 retains the trace of the original spiritual signification of the words 7,mark xi4 #bb-be73 8,have faith in ,god4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 whosoever shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up and cast into the sea1 and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass1 he shall have it4 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,all things whatsoever ye pray and ask for1 believe that ye have received them1 and ye shall have them2 ,and whensoever ye stand praying1 forgive1 if ye have aught against any one2 that your ,father which is in heaven may forgive your trespasses40 ,i contend that1 upon the whole1 an impartial critic must come to the conclusion that neither the miracle1 nor the reference to the miracle1 is historical2 and that1 in all probability1 both the miracle and the reference to it arose from a misunderstanding1 without any intention to deceive4 ,we must remember that the 8short sayings0 of the ,lord ,jesus--as they are called by some early writer1 ,justin1 ,i think--must have caused considerable difficulty to the compilers of the earliest ,gospels in the attempt to arrange them in order4 ,pointed1 pithy1 and brief1 pregnant with meaning1 sometimes obscured by metaphor1 many of these sayings1 if taken out of their context1 were very liable to be misunderstood4 ,some compilers might think it best1 as the author of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel has done in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 to group a number of these sayings together without connection2 others1 as the author of ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel1 might object to this arrangement1 and might make it a main object to set forth these sayings 8in order10 attaching to each its appropriate and explanatory context4 ,now to apply this to the particular case of the legend of the fig-tree4 ,it seems probable that the compilers had before them two traditions1 one1 a parable about a barren fig-tree destroyed by the ,lord of the vine-yard because it bore no fruit2 another1 a precept about the power of faith in uprooting a mountain or a tree1 i4e4 in achieving the greatest of spiritual tasks1 the task of forgiving4 ,st4 ,luke interpreted both the parable and the precept spiritually1 and kept the two distinct4 ,st4 ,mark interpreted the parable literally and adopted the tradition which made it refer to an actual destruction of a tree2 he also appended to it the saying on the power of faithful prayer to work any wonders soever1 as being an appropriate comment on so startling a miracle2 but he did not think fit to adapt the saying to the miracle by any insertion of the word 8tree0 78,verily ,i say unto you1 whosoever shall say unto this mountain1 ,be thou taken up0 c472 and he retained the old connection of the saying with forgiveness4 ,st4 ,matthew--of course1 when ,i say ,st4 ,matthew1 ,i mean the unknown authors or compilers of the ,gospel called by his name--is more consistent4 ,he1 like ,st4 ,mark interprets the parable literally1 and he appends to it the saying on the power of faithful prayer2 but he inserts in the latter an express reference to the miracle which1 according to his hypothesis1 had recently been worked before the eyes of the ,disciples and could hardly therefore fail to be mentioned3 8,if ye have faith and doubt not1 ye shall not only do what is done to the fig-tree1 but even if ye shall say unto this mountain10 c4 ,in order to complete the adaptation1 he also omits the words that connect the saying with forgiveness1 and relegates them to the ,sermon on the ,mount 7vi4 #ad1 #ae7 which he makes the receptacle for all those sayings of ,jesus for which he can find no special time and place4 8,all this is shadowy1 barely possible1 mere conjecture40 ,i maintain that conjecture1 fairly supported1 is enough to give the finishing blow to all faith in a miracle so different from ,christ's other 8mighty works0 as this of the fig-tree4 ,before finally and utterly rejecting a story found in a generally truthful narrative we wish not only to know that the story is improbable1 but also to answer the question1 8,how may it have crept into the narrative80 ,the above conjecture supplies a fairly probable answer to that question2 and the combined result of the evidence for the probability of some rational explanation1 and against the probability of the miraculous occurrence1 is so great that ,i can feel no hesitation in rejecting the miracle of the fig-tree and in declaring that the 8characteristic sayings0 of ,jesus about the uprooting of mountains and trees were never intended to be literally understood4 ,and now1 before going further1 ask yourself once more1 8,what have ,i lost1 so far1 by giving up the miracles of ,jesus8 ,does ,he sink in my estimation because ,he did not blast a fig-tree or destroy two thousand swine1 or draw a fish with a stater in its mouth to the hook of ,peter8 ,or have ,i lost a precious and #8characteristic saying' of ,jesus because ,i no longer believe that ,he really encouraged ,his disciples to pray for the uprooting of material mountains and material trees80 ,i am quite sure your conscience must reply that you have hitherto lost nothing4 ,if so1 take courage1 and follow on step by step where the argument leads you4 ,footnote #bb3 ,page #aec4 ,footnote #bc3 ,see above1 p4 #aeh4 ,,xix ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,feeding ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you remind me that ,i have omitted the most important of all those sayings of ,christ which are associated with miracles--the passage in which he comments on the feeding of the ,four ,thousand and on that of the ,five ,thousand1 as two separate acts1 apparently implying their miraculous nature4 ,i have not forgotten it2 but ,i reserved it to the last because it is1 as you justly say1 the most important and the most difficult of all2 but ,i believe it to be susceptible of explanation4 ,let us first have the facts before us4 ,in the ,gospels of ,st4 ,matthew 7viii4 #ae7 and ,st4 ,mark 7xvi4 #f7 ,jesus is introduced as bidding the ,disciples 8beware of the leaven of the ,pharisees and the leaven of ,herod0 7or1 as ,matthew1 8the ,sadducees407 ,upon this the disciples1 as usual1 interpret the words of ,jesus literally2 they suppose that1 since they have forgotten to bring bread with them 7for they had but one loaf7 their ,master wishes to warn them to beware of leaven during the approaching feast of ,passover or unleavened bread4 ,hereupon ,jesus1 in order to shew them that ,he was not speaking literally1 rebukes their dull and literalizing minds as follows3-- ,mark viii4 #ag-ba4 8,why reason ye because ye have no bread8 ,do ye not yet perceive8444 ,when ,i brake the five loaves among the five thousand1 how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye up80 ,they say unto him1 8,twelve40 8,and when the seven among the four thousand1 how many baskets full of broken pieces took ye up80 ,and they say unto him1 8,seven40 ,and he said unto them1 8,do ye not yet understand80 ,matthew xvi4 #h-ab4 8,why reason ye among yourselves because ye have no bread8 ,do ye not yet perceive neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets took ye up8 ,neither the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets ye took up8 ,how is it that ye do not perceive that ,i spake not to you concerning bread8 ,but beware of the leaven of the ,pharisees and ,sadducees40 ,then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread1 but of the teaching of the ,pharisees and ,sadducees4 ,now before ,i proceed further ,i must point out to you that these words are not found in ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel4 ,for my own part ,i am disposed to believe them to be genuine1 though not quite in the exact form in which we now find them4 ,i think ,st4 ,luke may have omitted them because he found some difficulty or obscurity in them2 or because he did not know of them2 or perhaps because he did not know of1 or did not accept1 the feeding of the ,four ,thousand1 to which they refer4 ,but suppose we are forced to give them up as altogether spurious1 that is to say1 as not being genuine words of ,jesus1 though genuine parts of the first and second ,gospels2 what is the consequence8 ,simply that we shall be reduced to ,st4 ,luke's version of the words1 which is as follows 7,luke xii4 #a73 8,beware ye of the leaven of the ,pharisees which is hypocrisy40 ,can we say that ,st4 ,luke has herein omitted words that are essential to the life of ,christ1 or that we have lost anything of the highest importance1 or even that we have lost a very 8characteristic saying0 of ,jesus in omitting the statistical comparison which ,st4 ,luke omits8 ,i think not4 ,but now let us assume that ,jesus uttered these words or something like them4 ,i think you would perceive that they could be interpreted metaphorically1 if you could only comprehend how the accounts of the miraculous feeding of the ,four ,thousand and of the ,five ,thousand 7obviously literal as they now stand in our ,gospels7 could be referred to as spiritual incidents4 ,in order to answer this question we must now pass to the narratives of the two miracles themselves4 ,i suppose even those who accept them literally would admit that they are emblematic1 and that they represent ,jesus1 the ,bread of ,life1 giving ,himself for the world4 ,the ,fourth ,gospel manifests this in the subsequent discourse where the feeding on the bread and fishes introduces the subject of the feeding on the flesh and blood of ,christ4 ,the notion that we feed on the ,word of ,god1 first found in ,deuteronomy 7viii4 #c71 pervades all ,jewish literature4 ,it is found in ,philo 7i4 #aai73 8,the soul is nourished not on earthly and corruptible food1 but on the words which ,gods rains down out of ,his sublime and pure nature which ,he calls heaven40 ,it reappears in the account of our ,lord's temptation1 when ,he replies to ,satan1 quoting ,deut4 viii4 #c1 8,man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ,god20 and again 7,john iv4 #cb71 8,i have meat to eat that ye know not40 ,on that last occasion the ,fourth ,gospel tells us that the disciples actually misunderstood the metaphor and interpreted it literally2 and to this day ,i dare say many would give a literal interpretation to the 8daily bread0 of the ,lord's prayer2 but there can be little doubt that ,jesus meant by 8bread0 every gift and blessing that constitutes life1 and primarily the spiritual sustenance of the soul4 ,as to the emblematic use of the 8fish10 it cannot be traced to the ,old ,testament2 but in a very early period of the existence of the ,church1 as early as the reign of ,vespasian1 we find the ,fish in rude paintings representing the ,eucharistic food of the faithful2 and it is said that this appellation was given to ,jesus from the initial letters of the ,greek title ,i7esous7 ,ch7ristos7 ,th7eou7 ,u7ios7 ,s7oter7 ,jesus ,christ1 ,son of ,god1 ,saviour because they made up the ,greek word ,ichthus1 fish4 ,about the middle of the second century we find one of the earliest extant ,christian poems describing how the ,church everywhere presented to the faithful1 as their food1 8the ,fish1 great and pure1 which the ,holy ,virgin had caught40 ,the poet evidently did not invent this metaphor2 it was established1 intelligible1 and inherited1 at the time when he used it1 and must have been in use much earlier4 ,to speak of 8crumbs0 metaphorically may perhaps seem to us a bold metaphor1 but it may be illustrated by the dialogue between ,jesus and the ,syro-,phnician woman3 8,it is not meet to take the children's food and cast it unto dogs30 8,truth1 ,lord2 yet even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's table40 ,now it was a common-place in the doctrine of ,jesus that every disciple who ministered the ,word or ,bread of ,life invariably received it back in ample measure3 8,freely ye have received1 freely give40 ,give what8 ,certainly not material bread1 but the truth or bread of life4 ,and again1 8,give1 and it shall be given unto you3 good measure pressed down and running over shall ,,they#bd give into your bosom40 ,again1 ,i ask1 give what8 ,what but the spiritual ,bread1 which1 by the laws of spiritual nature1 cannot be freely given without a yet more rich return into the giver's heart8 ,it was this ,bread that ,christ ministered to ,his disciples and bade them set before the people2 it was this ,bread which the disciples found multiplied in their hands so that it sufficed for all1 and they themselves were fed from the crumbs that fell from the food4 ,in course of time the story of this spiritual banquet finding its way into ,christian hymns and traditions would be literalized and amplified with variations4 ,as ,moses 8spread a table0 for ,israel 8in the wilderness10 so also1 it would be said1 did ,jesus of ,nazareth when he fed thousands of ,his followers on divine ,bread4 ,the ,fish1 which is not mentioned in our ,lord's dialogue with the ,disciples1 might naturally he added to the ,bread1 in the narrative1 as a ,eucharistic emblem4 ,if the ,fish had been mentioned by our ,lord in the dialogue under question1 my explanation would at once fall to the ground2 but it is not mentioned2 and the only difficulty is in explaining how ,jesus could have spoken metaphorically of the 8seven0 as well as the 8twelve0 baskets4 ,we can understand the 8twelve0--each one of the twelve ,apostles who ministered1 receiving a return of spiritual 8crumbs0--but whence the 8seven80 ,here ,i can but conjecture4 ,you know that seven is what is called 8a sacred number40 ,i find in the ,fourth ,gospel1 xxi4 #b-ad1 a story 7evidently emblematic7 of a miraculous meal of bread and fishes in which 8seven0 apostles took part4 ,this may have been based upon some tradition in which seven apostles were recorded as having taken part in a spiritual ,eucharistic feeding of the multitude4 ,if that was so1 it would follow that in the latter case there would be 8seven baskets0 of fragments1 as in the former case there were 8twelve10 corresponding to the number of the ministering apostles3 and ,jesus1 in the dialogue under consideration1 would remind ,his disciples how on two occasions where the bread of life was multiplied for the hungry1 the twelve ,apostles received the twelve baskets of crumbs1 and the seven received the seven4 ,what is the argument in the words under consideration1 according to your interpretation8 ,i presume you would take them thus3 8,why do you suppose ,i am talking about literal bread8 ,can ,i not make bread as ,i please8 ,do you not remember my two miracles1 and how from five loaves for five thousand people there came twelve baskets of fragments1 while from seven loaves for four thousand people there came seven baskets8#be ,how then can ,i 7or you while you are with me7 be in need of literal bread80 ,but this interpretation is open to one serious objection4 ,it is opposed to the whole tenour of ,christ's life4 ,nowhere else in the ,gospels do we find that ,jesus used any miraculous power to exempt ,himself and ,his disciples from hunger4 ,we are even taught that on one occasion ,he resisted a prompting to turn stones into bread1 as being a temptation from the ,evil ,one4 ,for ,his disciples he might undoubtedly have been willing to do what ,he would not do for ,himself2 but that ,jesus 7like ,elisha7 so habitually used miraculous powers to shelter ,his disciples from the inconveniences and hardships of a wandering life1 that he could encourage them to believe that he would do so on the present occasion1 is a hypothesis quite inconsistent with the ,gospel history4 ,moreover1 plausible although this interpretation may appear to us--because we are familiar with the literalizing interpretation of the miracles of the ,four ,thousand and ,five ,thousand--it does not1 if ,i may so say1 bring out the proportion of the sentence4 ,surely it does not sound logical to say1 8,did ,i not once supply you with bread for four and five thousand people 7literally78 ,why then do you not understand that ,i now speak of #8leaven' metaphorically80 ,instead of this1 should we not rather expect3 8,do you not remember how on two previous occasions #8bread' was used spiritually8 ,why then do you not understand that #8leaven' is here used spiritually80 ,now this is what ,i believe to have been the original meaning of the words1 if genuine4 ,i believe that ,jesus intended to remind the ,disciples how on two previous occasions the multitude had been fed with the spiritual ,bread1 the ,bread of ,life3 8,you know that that was what ,i meant before1 when ,i spoke of ,bread2 how is it then that you do not understand my meaning now when ,i speak similarly of leaven80 ,i do not pretend to say that this explanation is completely satisfactory even to me1 much less to claim that it should completely satisfy others4 ,some may prefer to rationalize the miracle as an exaggeration with a substratum of fact2 others may reject the dialogue as a late interpolation4 ,yet even then ,i think the considerations above alleged--which ,i have put forward1 on the supposition that the dialogue is genuine--may go a long way toward shewing how these miraculous stories may have sprung up without any real basis of miracle1 and how1 in the elaboration of these narratives1 words that cannot be accepted as historical may have been attributed to ,jesus without any fraudulent purpose4 ,although ,i am unwilling to admit 7and do not feel called upon by evidence to admit7 that the words and doctrine of ,jesus have been seriously modified to suit the miraculous interpolations of early ,christian times1 yet of course 7on my hypothesis7 some slight occasional modifications cannot be denied4 ,for example1 in the miracle of the ,four ,thousand1 ,jesus is introduced as saying1 8,how many loaves have ye80 ,these words must necessarily be rejected by any one taking my view of the narrative1 as the addition of some later tradition which1 interpreting a metaphor literally1 endeavoured to set forth the literal fact dramatically as it was supposed to have occurred4 ,in the same way it is possible that the dialogue now under consideration may be an amplification of a simple rebuke from ,jesus to the disciples for misunderstanding ,his precept as to leaven1 the early tradition having run somewhat after this fashion3 8,the ,lord spread a table for the hungry in the wilderness3 ,he gave them bread from heaven to eat4 ,the ,lord gave food unto the multitude through the hands of the ,twelve2 and in their hands the ,bread of ,life was multiplied so that a few loaves satisfied many thousands4 ,then did the ,lord warn ,his disciples that they should beware of leaven and feed on nought save the one true ,bread4 ,but they understood not ,his words1 and remembered not the mighty works of ,his hands40 ,it seems to me quite possible1 ,i say1 that the dialogue under discussion may have arisen from an amplification of some such words as those above italicized2 and ,i am somewhat the more inclined to take this view because ,st4 ,mark's narrative 7the earliest7 contains a curious little detail which looks like a trace of some old hymn about 8the one true ,bread0 i4e4 ,jesus3 8,they had not in the boat with them more than one loaf 7,gr4 bread740 ,if these suggested solutions seem improbable1 let me once more remind you that you have to choose between them and greater improbabilities4 ,either the miraculous narrative must be historically true2 or it must have been deliberately fabricated2 or it must have sprung into existence without intention to deceive4 ,as to the improbability of the first of these solutions1 ,i say nothing1 because you have rejected it4 ,certainly it would be difficult for a painter to depict in detail the processes necessitated by this miracle without producing a grotesque impression3 but on this point ,i am silent1 as it is beside my purpose4 ,it remains therefore for you to decide whether the theory of deliberate falsehood1 or of the unconscious accretions of tradition and misunderstanding of metaphor1 supplies the least improbable explanation4 ,for my part1 having regard to the character of ,christ's disciples1 the abundant evidence that they misunderstood the teaching of their ,master1 and the frequent instances of miraculous narrative arising from misunderstanding in other cases1 ,i have no hesitation in saying that1 in this case also1 the hypothesis of deceit is far more improbable than that of misunderstanding4 ,i had not intended to touch on any other miracle2 but one more can be so briefly discussed that ,i will not omit it4 ,i dare say you have anticipated 7though you have not read ,onesimus#bf7 that ,i should explain the 8walking on the waves0 and the 8stilling of the sea0 as narratives derived from early ,christian hymns representing the ,son of ,god as stilling the storms that threaten the bark of the ,church4 ,nevertheless you may not have perceived how easily a historical and authentic tradition of the deeds and words of ,christ would lend itself to amplification so as to be elaborated into the full miraculous narrative as we now find it in the ,gospels4 ,well then1 open your ,greek ,testament at ,st4 ,mark's narrative 7i4 #be-bg1 or ,luke iv4 #ce1 #cf7 of the exorcism of an unclean spirit4 ,you will there find it stated that ,jesus 8rebuked an unclean spirit20 and a somewhat rare word is used to express the rebuke1 8,be thou muzzled 7740 ,it is further added that the disciples1 in their astonishment1 said to one another 8,what is this8 ,with authority he commandeth even the unclean spirits and they obey him40 ,now you know very well that the same ,greek word 77 expresses two totally distinct ,english words 8spirit0 and 8wind20 but you may not so well know that the same ambiguity is found in ,hebrew4 ,look at ,psalm civ4 #d in the ,old ,version1 and you will find 8,who maketh his angels 7i4e4 messengers7 spirits20 but the ,new ,version gives1 more correctly1 8,who maketh winds his messengers10 or1 8,who maketh his angels winds40 ,now suppose that in some cases where the above tradition was circulated in the ,church1 either in ,greek or ,aramaic1 the word 8unclean0 was omitted1 as it easily might be for brevity4 ,it would follow that1 without the change of a single word1 the hearers might interpret the story as follows3 8,jesus rebuked the wind1 saying to it1 ,be thou muzzled4 ,his disciples marvelled1 saying1 ,what is this8 ,with authority he commandeth even the winds and they obey him40 ,but you may say perhaps1 8,jesus could not use such an extraordinary phrase as #8,be thou muzzled1' in addressing the wind4 ,to a human being it would be applicable1 or even to a spirit1 but not to the wind40 ,well1 it certainly would be rather unusual3 but turn to ,st4 ,mark iv4 #ci1 and you will there find a passage telling you how1 in a storm at sea1 ,jesus awoke and 8rebuked the wind0 with the words 8,be thou muzzled 7710 and how the wondering disciples said to one another1 8,who is this that even the wind 7,matthew and ,luke1 #8the winds'7 and sea obey him80 ,it appears to me by no means unlikely that we have here two versions of the same tradition2 the one in the earlier chapter of ,st4 ,mark representing the facts2 the other in the later chapter resulting from a misunderstanding of the facts1 whence there sprang up the amplified and beautiful tradition of the ,stilling of the ,storm--a story which must have in all ages commended itself to the ,church1 and may still commend itself1 by reason of its deep spiritual truth1 but which ought1 in this age1 to be recognized as in all probability1 not historically true4 ,neither of the above-mentioned explanations of this miraculous narrative appears to me by any means certain2 but either seems to me decidedly more likely than that ,jesus so far raised ,himself above the conditions of humanity as to rebuke and check the winds and the seas4 ,if ,i interpret the life of ,christ aright1 ,he neither did1 nor wished to do1 any such thing1 and would have regarded the suggestion to do it as a temptation from ,satan4 ,i say this with reverence1 almost with fear and trembling1 knowing that ,i must give account of these words hereafter before ,him4 ,but what can a man do more to shew his homage for the ,truth than follow where the ,truth appears to lead8 ,in any case ,i am sure we cannot rightly understand the life and mind of ,jesus until1 by a great effort1 we have divested ourselves of our inveterate and vulgar belief that ,he wrought ,his mighty works as mere demonstrations of ,his divine mission1 and that ,he had power to perform any works whatever1 quite regardless of the laws of nature4 ,had that been the case1 ,i do not see how ,he could have blamed the ,pharisees for asking ,him to work a sign in heaven4 ,why should they not have asked it1 and why should not ,he have worked it8 ,jugglers and impostors were very common in the ,east2 ,galilee and ,samaria were thronged with professional exorcists3 in miracles performed on men there was always the possibility of collusion2 any act on earth was open to suspicion of imposture1 but in heaven this was the general belief--there could be certainty2 no mere magician could work a sign in heaven4 8,let but the sun stand still for half a day1 and we will believe10 surely this1 from the demonstration-point-of-view of miracles1 was a very natural request2 and if ,jesus really had the power of stopping the sun for half a day1 and if ,he felt that ,his wonder-working faculty was given to ,him for the mere purpose of demonstrating ,his divine power1 ,i cannot understand how ,he could have refused1 much less rebuked1 the request of the ,pharisees4 ,but in truth ,his mighty works or signs were not wrought in this deliberate way for the mere purpose of demonstration4 ,they were the results of an irrepressible pity1 appealing to an instinct of power4 ,he could not see a demoniac or a paralytic look trustfully upon ,him without longing to help1 and in many cases feeling that it was ,god's will that ,he should help4 ,to suppose that ,he cured all who were brought to ,him is absurd1 and is contrary 7as we have seen above7 to the evidence of the earliest ,evangelist4 ,he had the power of distinguishing between faith and not faith2 had ,he an equal power of discerning physiological possibilities from impossibilities8 ,did a kind of instinct tell ,him that the restoration of a lost limb was not like the cure of a paralytic1 not one of the works 8prepared for ,him by ,his ,father80 ,i do not suppose that such physiological distinctions were intellectually known by ,christ in ,his human nature1 any more than the modern discoveries of geology1 astronomy1 or history4 ,but experience and some kind of intuition may have enabled ,him to distinguish those cases which ,he could heal from those 7a far more numerous class7 which ,he could not4 ,in performing these 8mighty works0 of healing1 ,jesus appears on many occasions to have studiously avoided that very publicity which--on the theory of their being intended as demonstrations--ought to have been a condition of their performance4 ,he takes the patient apart1 or expressly warns him to be silent about his cure--acts quite inconsistent with the demonstration-hypothesis4 ,probably ,he felt that these works1 although they came to ,him fresh from ,his ,father's hands1 were not without a danger4 ,men crowded round ,him1 not to hear the truth but to see 8the miracles40 ,instead of recognizing that ,he did only such works as 8the ,father had prepared for ,him to do10 they thought that ,he could do 8anything ,he pleased40 ,i think we ought to feel that the very notion of such a power as this was absolutely revolting to ,jesus3 8,to stop the sun1 to call down fire or bread from heaven1 to stay the course of rivers1 and cast down the walls of cities--doubtless ,joshua and ,elijah had done these works2 but they were not the works that the ,father had prepared for the ,son to do40 ,joshua and ,elijah were but servants4 ,he was the ,son3 and1 being the ,son1 ,he felt bound to conform ,himself each moment to that heavenly ,will which ,he ever felt within ,him and saw before ,him1 which dictated 8mighty works0 indeed1 but always works of love and healing4 ,in one sense ,he was entirely free2 ,he could do all things because all things were possible with the ,father1 and the ,father and ,he were one2 in another sense ,he felt ,himself less free than any being that had ever assumed the shape of man1 because all other human creatures had deviated1 but ,he alone could never deviate1 no1 not by a hair's breadth1 from the indwelling ,will of the ,father4 ,it is for these reasons then that ,i reject miracles1 not because they are impossible1 not even because they are a priori improbable1 not because they were once useless and are now harmful2 but because the facts are against them4 ,if the evidence shewed that miracles had actually occurred1 ,i should be prepared to learn from these materialized parables as reverently as from word-parables1 and to believe that ,god--in order to break down men's excessive faith in the machine-like order of the visible world1 and in order to divert their attention from ,sequence to ,will--fore-ordained these divergences from the monotonous routine of things4 ,but the evidence does not shew this4 ,the criticism of the ,old ,testament1 and the criticism of the ,new ,testament1 and the researches of science1 and the closer study of the life of ,christ ,himself1 all converge to this conclusion--that ,christ conquered the world1 not by working miracles1 but by living such a life and dying such a death as might be lived and died by the ,son of ,god1 incarnate as a ,son of man1 and self-subjected to all the physical limitations of humanity2 and by bequeathing to mankind1 after ,his death1 such a ,spirit as was correspondent to ,his own nature4 ,footnote #bd3 i4e4 the ,powers of ,heaven4 ,footnote #be3 ,two different kinds of baskets appear to be denoted by the two different ,greek words4 ,a similar difference is also found in the narratives of the feeding of the ,four ,thousand and the ,five ,thousand3 but it would be easy to shew that no inference of importance can be drawn from this distinction4 ,footnote #bf3 ,pp4 #bge-f4 ,,xx ,,the ,,manifestation ,,of ,,christ ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you wish to draw my attention to the ,resurrection of ,christ4 8,that10 you say1 8is either miraculous or nothing4 ,the arguments by which you appear to be driving miracles into non-existence--expelling them first from profane history1 then from the ,old ,testament1 then step by step from every part of the ,new--cannot make a stand at your convenience1 so as to except the ,resurrection4 ,yet even ,st4 ,paul makes the ,resurrection of ,jesus the basis of his own belief and ,gospel4 ,if1 therefore1 that final miracle falls to the ground1 the ,pauline ,gospel falls with it3 and to that downfall ,i fear your arguments all tend1 although you yourself do not see it or wish it40 ,i entirely deny the quiet assumption of your first sentence2 which1 as it stands 7but ,i am sure you cannot mean it71 affirms that the ,resurrection of ,christ 8is either miraculous or nothing40 ,i assert1 without fear of contradiction1 that if the phenomena which convinced the earliest disciples and ,st4 ,paul of the reality of the ,resurrection of ,christ1 were not miraculous but natural1 they constitute the most wonderful event in the history of the world4 ,but what you wish to say1 ,i suspect1 is this3 8,by the ,resurrection of ,christ ,i mean the ,resurrection of the body2 now if ,christ's body was raised again1 the act must have been miraculous40 ,but how if the ,resurrection was spiritual8 ,st4 ,paul himself speaks of a 8spiritual body10 not a material body1 as rising in the ,resurrection4 ,do you suppose that a 8spiritual body0 can be touched8 ,or that ,st4 ,paul could have touched the presence that appeared to him when he heard the words1 8,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou me80 ,now if the ,resurrection of ,christ was spiritual and not material1 there may have been no suspension at all of the laws of material nature1 but simply a real1 spiritual fact1 manifested to the world according to certain laws by which spiritual facts are manifested to the senses4 ,but this theory1 you will reply1 although possibly consistent with the ,pauline narrative1 is inconsistent with the ,gospel accounts of the ,resurrection4 ,it certainly is4 ,but it is quite certain--however unprepared you may possibly be for the statement--that the ,gospel accounts of the ,resurrection1 taken altogether1 cannot be compared1 for weight1 with the ,pauline evidence4 ,you know that the oldest ,gospel 7,st4 ,mark xvi4 #h7 terminates 7probably because it was left incomplete7 with a vision of angels who speak of the tomb as empty and of ,christ as risen2 but not a word about ,christ's resurrection itself4 ,the next ,gospel in chronological order 7,st4 ,matthew's7 mentions one appearance of ,christ to some women1 and another to some disciples in ,galilee2 but as to the last it is said that 8some doubted40 ,not till we come to ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel do we find detailed appearances of ,jesus to disciples in or near ,jerusalem1 in the course of which ,jesus is present at a meal and offers to eat1 as evidence that ,he is no mere spirit4 ,in the last ,gospel of all 7,st4 ,john's7 there is added an appeal to the sense of touch2 and in an ,appendix to that ,gospel1 ,jesus is represented as inviting the disciples to a repast of fish and bread1 apparently miraculously supplied and prepared 78they see a fire of coals there and fish laid thereon1 and bread10 ,john xxi4 #i71 which ,he distributes to the disciples4 ,afterwards he holds a long discourse with them4 ,similarly long discourses between the risen ,saviour and the disciples are recorded in the first chapter of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 which we know to have been written after the ,gospel of ,st4 ,luke4 ,you see how unsatisfactory all this is4 ,the further back we go1 and the nearer to the event1 the more meagre and shadowy does the evidence become4 ,it does not appear in a form ample and cogent until a period so late as to throw irresistible doubt upon its truth4 ,how can we possibly answer the doubter's natural question1 8,if there was this unanswerable evidence of the material resurrection of ,jesus1 why was it suppressed for two generations80 ,moreover1 some of these later accounts1 which relate the handling of the body of ,jesus1 or the presence of ,jesus at the breaking of bread1 might be literal misinterpretations of some traditions concerning visions of ,christ accompanying the 8handling of the body of the ,lord ,jesus0 in the ,lord's ,supper4 ,it is very significant that ,st4 ,peter--whose allusions in the ,acts of the ,apostles to his personal evidence concerning the ,resurrection of ,christ are of the briefest kind--is introduced by ,st4 ,luke as mentioning only one definite kind of manifestation of ,jesus2 and that is one in which the ,apostles 8did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead0 7,acts x4 #da74 ,lastly1 there are traces of interpolations1 or additions1 at a very early date in the post-resurrection chapters of ,st4 ,luke1 and probably of ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,john2 and in dealing with the post-resurrection narrative of the life of ,christ some of the earliest ,fathers quote passages not found in our ,gospels but agreeing somewhat with the suspected additions in the third and fourth ,gospel4 ,the sum of all is1 so far as my own experience goes1 that after a patient and prolonged study of the evidence1 with every desire1 and indeed ,i may say with an intense anxiety 7at one period of my life71 to justify myself in continuing to believe all that ,i once believed1 ,i now rise from the perusal of the last chapters of the ,gospels and the first chapter of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 with the conviction that something certainly happened to persuade the ,apostles that their ,master had verily risen from the dead1 but what that something was1 the evidence1 so far as it can he obtained from the ,gospels1 does not enable us to determine4 ,but we have not yet touched on the evidence of ,st4 ,paul and to this we now pass4 ,here at last we stand on firm ground4 ,here for the first time we find 7in ,st4 ,paul's first ,epistle to the ,corinthians xv4 #h71 the unquestionable evidence of an eye-witness1 probably recorded several years before the appearance of any ,gospel now extant4 ,no one who is competent to form an opinion on the question can for a moment doubt ,st4 ,paul's assertion that ,christ 8appeared0 to him1 and that some such appearance as that recorded thrice in the ,acts1 converted him from a persecutor into an apostle of ,christianity4 ,we have just been asking1 8,what was that unknown something--possibly some manifestation of ,jesus after death--which inspired the ,twelve with the conviction and the faculties necessary to overcome the world80 ,now we seem to have found the answer4 ,an appearance that overcame and converted a recalcitrant enemy might well satisfy and imbue with confidence loving disciples1 longing to believe4 ,especially might this be the case if ,jesus had predicted1 as ,i believe ,he did predict1 that ,his work would not be cut short by death1 but that in ,him would be fulfilled the saying of ,hosea3 8,in the third day he shall raise us up and we shall live in his sight40 ,although these words may have been neglected or not understood at the time when they were uttered1 they may have well recurred to the minds of the ,disciples1 after their ,master's death1 with a powerful effect4 ,to urge that the despair of the ,twelve could be a greater obstacle than the vehement and bigoted antagonism of ,saul1 in the way of their receiving a vision of their beloved ,master1 is a paradox so pedantical that it is scarcely worth mentioning4 ,you cannot have forgotten1 too1 how ,st4 ,paul himself assumes that the appearances of the ,saviour to himself1 and to the original ,apostles1 were of the same kind and on the same footing3 8,he appeared unto ,cephas1 he appeared unto ,james1 he appeared unto five hundred brethren 444 and last of all he appeared unto me also40 ,in the two latest ,gospels these 8appearances0 have been magnified into accounts that represented ,jesus as possessed of flesh and bones1 as capable of eating1 as reclining at a meal1 and as entering into long and familiar discourses3 naturally we ask as to ,st4 ,paul's1 the indisputably earliest account of a manifestation of ,christ1 what traces it exhibits of similar distortions and exaggerations8 ,you know the answer4 ,there are no such traces4 ,the manifestation to ,st4 ,paul is plainly admitted by the accounts in the ,acts to be what is commonly called subjective4 ,the 8subjectivity0 of some of the earlier manifestations of ,jesus to the disciples is dimly suggested by some passages in the ,gospels which describe how 8some doubted0 and others failed to recognize ,him2 but it is not merely suggested1 it is plainly expressed1 in the accounts of the manifestation to ,st4 ,paul4 ,the ,apostle is clearly stated to have seen a sight and heard words1 which other people1 his companions1 with the same opportunities for seeing and hearing1 did not see and did not hear4 ,putting aside some slight discrepancies in the three accounts given in the ,acts#bg--;discrepancies easily and naturally explicable1 and valuable as shewing that the accounts have not been arbitrarily harmonized we may say that this is the substantial result3 the ,lord ,jesus appeared to ,st4 ,paul in what is called a vision4 ,i myself firmly believe that there was a spiritual act of ,jesus simultaneous with the conveyance of the manifestation to the brain of the ,apostle4 ,but none the less1 however coincident it may have been with a spiritual reality1 if there was no presence of a material body1 the manifestation of ,jesus to ,st4 ,paul must be placed in the class of visions3 and if it was not seen by others who had the same physical means of seeing1 it must be called1 in some sense1 8subjective40 ,yet this vision sufficed for him and for the world4 ,in the strength of this vision1 7followed1 no doubt1 by subsequent visions and communings with the ,lord ,jesus71 the ,thirteenth ,apostle1 the intruder1 as he might be called--not 8chosen of men10 like ,matthias1 not called by ,christ in the flesh did the great work of which you and ,i1 with millions of others1 are now joint inheritors4 ,think of it2 ,is it not a remarkable instance of 8men working one thing while ,god worketh another0 to see the ,apostles with due form and ceremony electing their substitute for the ,traitor to be the solemnly ordained ,twelfth ,apostle1 henceforth unnamed in ,holy ,writ and all the while the ,holy ,spirit preparing a ,thirteenth6 ,and for this ,thirteenth ,apostle1 who never looked on the face of ,christ1 never heard a single word of ,his doctrine1 it has been reserved to tell us perhaps more about the meaning of ,christ's teaching and certainly to give us more cogent proof of ,his ,resurrection than all the other ,apostles and ,evangelists put together6 ,truly the last has been first6 ,and in the strength of his proof of ,christ's ,resurrection--mere vision though we may call it--this ,thirteenth ,apostle1 in the face of persecutions outside the ,church1 and discouragements and jealousies inside the ,church1 first converted the ,roman empire to the ,christian faith2 then1 fifteen centuries afterwards1 reconverted and purified a large section of the ,church from medival corruptions2 and now1 as ,i believe1 some nineteen centuries afterwards1 is on the point of still further purifying the ,church from antique superstition and from modern materialism6 ,what shall we say of the mighty vision that originated these stupendous results8 ,shall we take the view of the modern scientific young man1 and lecture the great ,apostle on the folly of that indiscreet journey to ,damascus at noon-tide1 when his nerves were a little over-wrought after that unpleasant incident of poor ,stephen8 ,shall we say it was all ophthalmia and indigestion--that flash of blinding light1 those unforgettable words1 8,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou me80--all a mere vision8 ,is a fact that changed the destinies of ,europe to be put aside with the epithet 8mere08 ,would not even a materialist stonemason recognize that a vision which built ,st4 ,peter's and ,st4 ,paul's is of some tangible importance8 ,you and ,i and your scientific young lecturer--do we not in some sort owe our existence to this 8mere vision10 but for which the earth might be a chaos of barbarism1 ,england a forest scantly populated with tattooed bipeds1 and our civilized selves non-existent8 ,patricidal creatures1 let us not speak lightly of the 8mere0 author of our own important being6 ,to my mind the manifestation of the ,resurrection of ,christ appears1 not as an isolated fact1 but as a part1 and the central part1 of the great revelation of the immortality of the soul which has been conveyed by ,god to man1 in accordance with the laws of human nature1 from the beginning of the creation of the world by the medium of imaginative ,faith4 ,in the same way the laws of astronomy have been conveyed by ,god to man1 in accordance with the laws of human nature1 from the beginning of the creation of the world1 by the medium of imaginative ,reason4 ,i have shewn in previous letters that ,imagination has been the basis of all that is worth calling knowledge4 ,to shew the bearing of this on the manifestations of the ,resurrection of ,christ shall be the object of my next letter4 ,footnote #bg3 8,and the men that journeyed with him stood speechless hearing the voice but beholding no man10 ,acts ix #g3 8,and they that were with me beheld indeed the light but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me10 ib4 xxii4 #i4 ,whether ,saul's companions saw and heard nothing except subjectively1 through force of sympathy1 or whether 7comp4 ,john xii4 #bi7 some natural phenomenon may have been interpreted in one way by ,saul and in another way by his companions1 cannot now be determined2 but ,i have confined myself to indisputable fact in stating that ,saul 8saw a sight and heard words which other people1 his companions1 with the same opportunities for seeing and hearing1 did not see and did not hear40 ,,xxi ,,the ,,resurrection ,,revealed ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you are startled1 and well you may be1 8at the notion that the resurrection of ,christ has been the mere offspring of the imagination40 ,i am quoting your words1 but you have not quoted mine4 ,i never said1 nor should ,i dream of saying1 that the resurrection of ,christ was 8the offspring of the imagination10 any more than ,i should say that the law of gravitation is 8the offspring of the imagination10 or that light is 8the offspring of the eye40 ,but this is just an ordinary specimen of the way in which people whose minds are blocked and choked with prejudice1 misunderstand what is contrary to their preconceptions4 ,you have made up your mind that the ,imagination is a kind of excrescence on humanity1 a faculty independent of the ,creator1 and incapable of being made by ,him the medium of revelation2 and so you pervert my words to suit your fancies4 ,but what ,i said was that ,imagination is the basis of all that is worth calling knowledge1 and that1 as ,god reveals the laws of astronomy through imaginative ,reason1 so ,he has revealed the ,resurrection of ,christ through imaginative ,faith4 ,before speaking of the special bearing of the ,imagination upon the manifestation of ,christ's ,resurrection1 let me say a word or two on the manner in which our human environment appears to have been adapted to foster the growth of this faculty4 ,you will be better prepared to expect great things from the ,imagination when you reflect on the great things that have been wrought by ,god for its development4 ,you say that you do not understand the statement in the last paragraph of my last letter1 that the ,imagination has been made 8the medium of conveying the revelation of the immortality of the soul10 and still less do you comprehend how this revelation has been going on 8from the creation of the world10 especially since1 during a large portion of this time1 there must have been no men to receive any revelation at all4 ,i said deliberately 8from the creation of the world10 and not 8from the creation of mankind10 because inanimate creation itself appears to me to bear witness to a purpose1 from the first1 that this visible world should help its future tenants to imagine things invisible4 ,consider but one instance1 the immense influence of ,night upon the ,imagination1 and you will perhaps come to the conclusion that1 but for the provision of darkness 78these orbs of light and shade071 men would never have been led to a faith in the light of immortality4 ,in the first place by revealing to us the wonder-striking order of the infinite stars--which1 but for darkness1 would have remained for ever a closed book to men--,night leads us to dream1 or to infer1 that there may be other pages still unturned in the book of ,nature's mysteries1 and stimulates us1 however far we may progress in thought1 still to press on to something more beyond2 and at the same time1 throwing a temporary veil over all the sights of day1 it persuades us to trust that on the morrow the veil will be removed1 and that in the meantime all things will continue in their order4 ,night is aided by sleep and dreams4 ,slumbering in the darkness1 and bereft of the control of the understanding1 ,imagination has reproduced before the mind's eye the sights of daylight1 blended together without thought of fitness1 order1 time1 or place1 so as to form quite new combinations which scarcely any deliberate daytime effort could have so vividly depicted3 and in the long train of confused visionary images there have sometimes passed before the mental eye of the mourner or the murderer the very shapes1 and even the voices of the dead1 forcing the slumberer to start up and cry1 8,they live1 they still live2 there is a life beyond the grave40 ,this trans-sepulchral existence having been once discerned1 the ,imagination has set to work to formulate the laws of it1 and to map out and people its regions1 thus causing heaven and hell to become realities and 7in course of time7 ancestral traditions1 and almost inherited instincts4 ,sometimes1 ,imagination has come with a special and rarely manifested force to the aid of a belief in a future life4 ,not in dreams1 but in wakeful moments1 though for the most part by night1 there have appeared before the mind's eye such vivid images of the departed1 as have convinced not only the seers of the visions but also their friends--and so1 by a pervasive influence1 all but a small minority of the human race--that something real has been seen1 the spirit of the dead made visible3 and to this day1 in ,england1 there are not wanting men of the highest ability1 culture1 and love of truth1 who busy themselves with serious investigations into the reality of apparitions4 ,does this seem to you fanciful8 ,surely it is the fact that ,night and its phenomena have largely influenced the spiritual1 or superstitious1 side of human nature3 and if you admit this to be the fact1 the only difference between us is this1 that to you this subtle but universal influence of ,darker ,nature on ,man appears to have been the result of chance1 whereas ,i think it came from ,god4 ,to you1 one half of ,time appears to have been allowed by ,god to be spiritually barren1 set apart for the mere repairing of the human material machine3 ,i do not believe that the spiritual making of ,man was foreordained on this 8half-time0 principle4 ,if however you ask me what amount of truth or reality there has been in these dreams and visions1 ,i should reply1 as about poetry and prophecy1 that some of these imaginations have represented realities1 some unrealities2 but that the total result to which they have led men1 the belief in the immortality of the soul1 is a reality4 ,but when ,i speak of a 8real vision0 of a spirit or ghost1 ,i hope you will not misunderstand me so far as to suppose that ,i could mean a material1 gas-like 7though intangible7 form1 occupying so many cubical inches of space4 ,a spirit1 so far as ,i conceive it1 does not occupy space2 nor is it the object of sight1 any more than of smell or touch2 it is1 to me1 of the nature of a thought1 only a thought personified1 i4e4 a thought capable of loving and being loved1 of hating and being hated4 ,but though it may not be the object of the senses in the same way in which external things are1 it may be manifested to the ,imagination1 i4e4 the mind's eye1 in such a way as to produce the same effect as though it were an external object seen by the body's eye4 ,every one who loves truth will tread with cautious steps in this mysterious province of phantasmal existence1 and carefully measure his language1 knowing that we are in a region of illusion1 exaggeration1 and 7sometimes7 of imposture4 ,but there does seem evidence to show that people 7mostly perhaps twins71 at a distance from one another1 have in some at present inexplicable manner influenced one another so that the disease or death or calamity of one has been simultaneously made known to the other2 and you have probably read of cases1 fairly supported1 which would show that a passionate longing on the part of a dying man to see some distant friend may create a responsive emotion1 if not an actual vision1 in the mind of that friend4 ,we are so completely in the dark as to the originating causes 7for physiology tells us nothing but the instrumental causes7 which produce our thoughts1 that ,i see nothing at all absurd in the notion that every truthful and vivid conception of one human being in the mind of another upon earth1 arises from some communion in the spirit-world between the spirits of the two4 ,so much for conjectures as to the possible reality or possible causes of some classes of apparitions4 ,i do not often myself set much store on them1 except so far as they are of use in reminding us how wide is the province of possibility1 or how narrow the province of certainty1 in the region of ultimate causation4 ,i lay stress1 not upon any conjectural explanation of ghost phenomena1 but upon the following general considerations1 most of which are of the nature1 not of conjectures1 but of facts3 #ast1 man is what he is1 largely in virtue of the ,imagination2 #bnd1 one half of man's time and one half of the phenomena of ,nature seem to have no other purpose 7so far as man is concerned7 than to stimulate the ,imagination2 #crd1 if we suppose that this wonderful world is under the government of a good ,god1 although opposed by an inferior ,evil1 we are led to infer that ,he has implanted in us this faculty of ,imagination and that the noble aspirations and beliefs which have been developed by it have not been unmixed delusions2 #dth1 among the noblest of the beliefs thus developed1 has been the belief in the immortality of the soul1 which1 after being tested by the faith of many centuries1 is at this day cherished by the majority of civilized mankind2 #eth1 this belief has proved its truth1 so far as imaginations can prove themselves true1 by working well1 i4e4 it has raised and ennobled those who have entertained it1 and has made them 7on the whole7 morally the better for it2 #fth1 a part of the training of the ,imagination1 intimately connected with the production of the belief in the immortality of the soul1 has been the development of a power to see mental visions1 with all the vividness of material visions2 #gth1 among these visions1 some of the most common have been apparitions of the forms of the dead1 and some of the best authenticated of these have occurred where a strong unfulfilled desire has possessed the departed in the moment of dying and where the seer of the apparition has been bound by close ties to the dead4 ,these are the considerations1 mostly facts--you may dispute some of them1 but not all ,i think--in the light of which ,i should endeavour to illustrate the manifestation of ,christ to ,his disciples after death4 ,to these facts ,i merely added the conjecture that possibly there may be something besides the mere movement of our brains that produces these images of the departed1 something--,i will not say external1 for a spirit1 if independent of place1 can be neither external to us nor internal--but some act in the invisible world of spirits corresponding to every apparition upon the visible world4 ,but ,i did not pledge myself to such a theory4 ,i only insisted that the whole revelation of poetry and religion through the ,imagination has been of such inestimable importance to man that we cannot put it all aside as false because imaginative2 we must regard it with reverence and be prepared to find that in the central event of the purest religion of all1 the ,imagination has been made the medium of the culminating revelation of spirit and truth4 ,indeed1 if the spiritual world is real and near1 it is difficult to conceive how ,god--without breaking the ,laws of ,nature and without unfitting us for life in a world of sense--could better give us glimpses of an invisible environment1 than by causing it to press in1 as it were1 upon the ,imagination1 so that the mind's eye1 thus stimulated by real invisibilities1 may1 for the time1 supplant the bodily faculty of sight1 and afterwards leave behind in us a permanent suggestion that1 as there is a material world corresponding to the bodily eye1 so there is a mind's world corresponding to the mind's eye4 ,with this pre-conception ,i will ask you to approach the narrative of ,christ's ,resurrection as ,i shall endeavour to set it forth in my next letter from the natural point of view4 ,,xxii ,,the ,,resurrection ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,my last letter broke off rather abruptly with a promise to do my best to set forth hereafter the ,resurrection of ,christ as it may be regarded from a natural point of view4 ,looking at the facts in this light1 we have in the first place to set before ourselves the short life of ,one of whom we must merely say that ,he was unique in the goodness and grandeur of ,his character1 and that ,he died with the unfulfilled purpose of redeeming mankind from sin1 deserted for the moment by the few disciples who had adhered to ,him almost to the last4 ,he died1 for the time1 the most pitiable1 the most despair-inspiring death that the world has ever witnessed1 asking in ,his last moments why ,he had been 8forsaken0 by ,god4 ,but ,his death--pardon me if ,i deviate for one moment from material to celestial facts1 provided that ,i never deviate into miracles--was really the triumph over death1 and ,his ,spirit had in reality 7we speak in a metaphor7 broken open the bars of the grave and ascended to the throne of the ,father carrying with ,himself the promise of the ultimate redemption of mankind4 ,this was now to be revealed to the world as the culminating vision in that continuous ,revelation through the ,imagination by which the minds of men had been led to look beyond this life to a life that knows no end4 ,speaking terrestrially1 we must say that the influence of ,jesus1 love1 faith1 remorse1 were moulding the hearts of the disciples on earth to receive the truth2 speaking celestially we may say that ,jesus bent down from ,his throne by the right hand of ,god to prepare them for the manifestation of ,his victory4 ,what in this crisis exactly befell on earth we shall never know4 ,the tradition that ,jesus appeared on the third day1 or after three days1 to ,his disciples1 is so naturally derived from the prophecy of ,hosea 8on the third day he shall raise us up0--a prophecy probably applied by ,jesus to ,himself--that we can place no reliance on its numerical accuracy4 ,nor do we know exactly where ,jesus first appeared to ,his disciples4 ,the oldest tradition#bh declared that they were to 8go to ,galilee0 after their ,master's death1 and that ,he had promised to guide them thither2 but a subsequent account interpreted the words about 8,galilee0 quite differently4#bi ,in any case1 before many days had elapsed1 to some one disciple1 perhaps to ,mary ,magdalene--out of whom there had been cast 8seven devils0--it was given to see the ,lord ,jesus4 ,here1 by the way1 we must note the remarkable prominence given in all the ,gospels to the part played by women in receiving the first manifestations of ,christ's ,resurrection4 ,writers who were careful to avoid giving occasion for unbelief might naturally have desired to give less prominence to the testimony of highly imaginative and impressionable witnesses2 and indeed ,st4 ,paul1 in his brief list of the appearances of ,jesus 7possibly because writing as an ,apostle who had seen ,christ1 he desired to confine himself almost entirely to manifestations witnessed by ,apostles71 makes no mention of the appearances to women3 their prominence1 therefore1 in all the ,gospels1 testifies strongly to the early and universal acceptance of the tradition that women were the first witnesses to the risen ,saviour4 ,but to resume4 ,the news quickened the faith even of those disciples who had not seen and who could not yet believe2 and presently apparitions were seen--a thing almost1 though 7,i believe7 not quite1 unique in visions--by several disciples together4 ,probably the most frequent occasions for these manifestations were when they had met together to partake of the body and blood of their ,master2 and it was in the moment of the breaking of the bread that the image of the ,living ,bread was flashed before them1 appearing in the form of ,jesus giving ,himself for them1 and uttering words of blessing1 comfort1 or exhortation1 audible to the ears of the faithful1 who at the same moment were handling ,his body and touching the blood which flowed from ,his side4 ,at other times he appeared before them with other messages2 to the women he seemed to wave them off as if deprecating a too close approach1 or as if bidding them go hence and carry the glad tidings to the ,apostles2 others ,he seemed to rebuke for their want of faith2 in the sight of others1 ,his hands1 outstretched in the attitude of parting benediction1 seemed to send forth ,his disciples to preach ,his word with promise of ,his presence2 but how these messages were conveyed1 whether by gesture simply1 or by spiritual voice 7as in the case of ,st4 ,paul71 audible perhaps to one1 and by him interpreted to the rest1 or audible to all that were in the same faithful sympathy--these and other details cannot now be determined4 8,why did not the adversaries of ,christ confront ,his followers by producing the body from the tomb1 thus disproving the story that ,his body had risen from the dead80 ,the tomb was probably empty4 ,that is probable for two reasons1 first because the earliest traditions agree that the women going to the tomb found the stone rolled away2 and secondly1 because the adversaries of ,jesus appear to have themselves subsequently circulated a story that the disciples had stolen away the body4 ,this they would hardly have done if they had known that their own explanation could be at any moment refuted by opening the tomb1 which would have shown the body still lying there4 ,possibly some of the enemies of ,jesus had themselves removed the body1 influenced by some of those predictions of ,jesus about ,himself1 which1 though they had not the power to inspire the disciples with faith in the moment of ,his death1 had power to inspire ,his enemies with a vague fear4 ,being almost surprised in the act1 they may not have had time to replace the great stone at the entrance of the tomb1 when the women arrived2 if so1 the action of ,christ's own enemies prepared the way for the belief in ,his resurrection by exhibiting to the sorrowing disciples the stone rolled away and the empty sepulchre4 ,first came the cry1 8,he is not here10 and that prepared the way for 8,he is risen40 ,how long the visionary period lasted we cannot tell4 ,it is almost certain that there were many more visions than the five recorded by ,st4 ,paul 7#a ,cor4 xv4 #f1 #g74 ,at least one of ,st4 ,paul's five visions1 that to ,st4 ,james1 is not mentioned in any of our extant ,gospels2 on the other hand ,st4 ,paul omits some of those peculiar to the third or fourth ,gospels1 as well as the manifestations to the women4 ,perhaps the visions were so many1 and all so like each other1 that the ,church found it difficult to select which to record2 and each ,evangelist chose those which appeared to him fittest1 either because they were the earliest1 or because the witnesses were numerous1 or because they were apostolic1 or because they contained the most striking proof of a veritable resurrection4 ,we may therefore easily accept the statement that the period of visions lasted for forty days or even for a much longer time1 probably till the disciples felt emboldened to take an active course in preaching the ,gospel4 ,concerning ,christ's manifestation to ,st4 ,paul ,i have said enough in my last letter--if anything needed to be said--to shew that it must have been of the nature of a vision1 and 7in a sense7 8subjective40 ,but it differs from the rest in that it was made to an enemy while the other manifestations were made to devoted disciples4 ,love1 remorse1 faith1 affection1 stimulated the ,apostles to cry1 8,he cannot have died10 and prepared their souls to see the image of ,jesus risen2 but where1 it may be asked1 was the spiritual preparation in the heart of ,st4 ,paul to receive such a vision8 ,you may trace it in the words which ,st4 ,paul heard from ,jesus3 8,it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks40 ,they shew that the future ,apostle had been struggling1 and struggling hard1 against the compunctions of conscience4 ,being a lover of truth from his childhood1 he was prepared to give up all for its sake2 but recent events had made him ask whether he was not fighting against the truth instead of for the truth4 ,he had been persecuting the ,christians2 but their faith and patience had made him doubt whether they might not be right and he wrong4 ,when the first martyr ,stephen looked up to heaven and there saw ,jesus seated at the right hand of ,god1 then or soon afterwards1 the question must have arisen in the mind of the persecutor1 8,what if the follower of the ,nazarene was speaking truth8 ,what if the crucified ,jesus whom ,i am now persecuting was really exalted to ,god's throne80 ,such was the struggle through which ,saul's mind was passing when the ,spirit of ,jesus1 acting indirectly through the constancy and faith of ,his persecuted disciples1 having first insensibly permeated and undermined the barriers of ,pharisaic training and education1 now swept all obstacles before it in an instantaneous deluge of conviction that this persecuted ,jesus was the ,messiah4 ,at that same moment the ,messiah ,himself 7who during these last months and weeks of spiritual conflict had been bending down closer and closer to the predestined ,apostle from ,his throne in heaven7 now burst upon the convert's sight on earth4 ,but ,i think ,i hear you saying1 8,all this sounds well2 but he has repeatedly described these visions of the risen ,saviour as subjective3 how then can he call them real8 ,what is real80 ,let me refer you to the paper of ,definitions which ,i enclosed in a previous letter4#cj #a4 ,absolute reality cannot be comprehended by men1 and can only be apprehended as ,god1 or in ,god1 by ,faith4 #b4 ,among objects of sensation1 those are 7relatively7 real which present similar sensations in similar circumstances4 ,now if you try to regard the manifestation of the risen ,christ under the second head1 as an 8object of sensation10 you must pronounce it 8unreal10 inasmuch as it would not 8present similar sensations in similar circumstances20 by which ,i mean that1 with similar opportunities of observation1 different persons 7believers1 for example1 and unbelievers7 would not have derived similar sensations from it4 ,but your conclusion would be false because you started from a false premise3 these manifestations cannot be classed 8among objects of sensation40 ,the movements of the risen ,saviour appear to me to have been the movements of ,god2 ,his manifestations to the faith of the ,apostles were divine acts1 passing direct from ,god to the souls of men4 ,since therefore these manifestations belonged to the class of things which 8can only be apprehended as ,god1 or in ,god1 by faith10 ,i call them 8absolute realities0--as much more real than flesh and blood1 as ,god ,himself is more real than the paper on which ,i am now writing4 ,footnote #bh3 ,mark xvi4 #g2 ,matthew xxviii4 #g3 8,he goeth before you into ,galilee40 ,footnote #bi3 ,luke xxiv4 #f3 8,remember how he spake unto you while he was yet in ,galilee40 ,footnote #cj3 ,see ,definitions at the end of the book4 ,,xxiii ,,the ,,spiritual ,,resurrection ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i am not surprised to hear that you consider the theory above described of ,christ's resurrection1 8vague1 shadowy1 and unsatisfying40 ,but as in the very same letter you say that you are quite convinced of the unhistorical nature of the account of the resurrection of ,christ's material body1 ,i think you ought not to dismiss the subject without giving more attention than you have given as yet to it4 ,as a student of history and as a young man bent on attaining such knowledge as can be attained concerning the certainties or probabilities that have the most important bearing on the life and conduct of myriads of your fellow-creatures1 you ought at least to ask yourself what better explanation you have to offer of the marvellous phenomena of the ,christian ,church and in particular of ,st4 ,paul's part in spreading ,christianity4 ,i sympathize with the 8sense of bathos10 as you call it1 which comes over you when you hear that the phenomena of the ,resurrection of ,christ are to be explained by a study of the growth and development of the revelation given to mankind through the ,imagination4 ,i sympathize with you2 but ,i sympathize with you as ,i should with a child who might be standing by ,elijah's side at the time when the prophet saw his never-to-be-forgotten vision4 ,that child would feel1 no doubt1 8a sense of bathos0 because the ,lord was not in the fire1 nor in the whirlwind1 nor in the earthquake1 but in the still small voice4 ,you are in the childish stage of susceptibility to anything that is noisy and big2 you have not been taught by experience and thought to appreciate the divineness of things obvious1 ordinary1 and quiet2 above all you have not yet learned to revere your own nature nor to acknowledge 7except with your lips7 that you are made in the image of ,god4 ,retaining still a keen recollection of the pain with which ,i passed through that stage myself1 ,i have neither the inclination1 nor the right1 to despise your present condition of mind2 but ,i believe1 if you will still keep the question open in your mind1 and if you will meditate a little now and then on the frequency1 or ,i may say the universality1 of illusion in the conveyance of all the highest truth1 you will gradually come1 as ,i came1 to perceive that the essence of the resurrection of ,christ is that ,his ,spirit should have really triumphed over death1 and not that ,his body should have risen from the grave4 ,no doubt you would be much more impressed if the tangible body of some dead friend of yours1 after being buried in the earth1 had appeared to certain witnesses and touched them1 and eaten in their company1 than if a vivid apparition of the friend had appeared to the same witnesses2 but ,i think you would much more easily believe the latter than the former2 and you might be more impressed by a strong conviction of the latter than by a doubtful1 timid1 clinging to the former4 ,i can hardly think that if you had received several accounts from independent witnesses1 of apparitions of this kind resulting in a marvellous change of character in all who had seen them1 you would at once put them aside simply because they might be called in some sense natural4 ,the very fact of their being natural would lead you to consider how strange must have been the causes that had produced such strange results2 how powerful must have been the personality that had thus forced itself on the mental retina of the seers of the apparition2 and if something important had followed from such a vision1 say1 for example1 the writing of a great poem1 or the foundation of a noble empire1 ,i cannot think that you would set down the vision as a negligible trifle4 ,but you feel1 ,i dare say1 that1 though you might be impressed by the stories of such an apparition1 you could not feel certain that the apparition represented any reality2 there would be no definite proof that the witnesses of the apparition were not under the influence of a delusion4 ,well1 ,i will admit that there would be no proof of the ordinary kind1 that is to say1 no proof such as is conveyed through the senses about ordinary terrestrial phenomena2 but ,i think you might feel certain2 only it would be that kind of certainty which is largely bred from ,faith and ,hope4 ,and this sort of certainty1 and no other1 appears to me that which was intended to be produced by the ,resurrection of ,christ4 ,his manifestations were unseen and unheard save by the eye and ear of ,faith4 ,if the proof of ,his resurrection had not depended upon ,faith1 then the ,roman soldiers would have seen ,his material body miraculously issuing from the shattered sepulchre1 and the companions of ,saul would have both seen ,christ and understood the voice that cried1 8,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou me80 ,if we could ascertain exactly the historical basis for the account in the ,fourth ,gospel of ,christ's manifestation to the doubting ,thomas we should probably find--supposing that we were really justified in treating the account as historical--that there was in ,thomas a strong desire to believe1 combined with a strong sense of the impossibility of attaining adequate proof4 ,as in the life of ,christ1 so in the resurrection of ,christ1 conviction appears never to have been forced on any entirely unwilling unbeliever4 ,in order to believe in the resurrection of ,christ1 it is not enough to be convinced that the evidence is honest and genuine1 and that the witnesses could not be deceived2 that kind of belief savours of the law-court1 and there is nothing spiritual in it2 but the man who truly and spiritually accepts ,christ's resurrection is he who says to himself as he reviews the life of ,christ and the history of the ,church3 8,being what ,he was1 and having done the work that ,he has done1 this ,jesus of ,nazareth ought not to have succumbed to death4 ,if there is any evidence to shew that the veil of the invisible has been so far thrown back1 be it for a moment1 as to shew me ,jesus in the spiritual world still living and triumphant over death1 my conscience opens its arms at once to embrace that belief40 ,and there is this advantage in basing your faith on the spiritual resurrection of ,jesus1 that you keep the region of faith distinct from the region of disputable testimony4 ,if you rest your hopes on the material resurrection1 that is a question of doubtful evidence4 ,your heart says1 8,oh that it might be true60 ,your brain says1 8,i cannot honestly say that ,i think it is true40 ,hence a constant conflict between heart and brain1 while you are forced again and again to ask yourself1 8,must ,i be dishonest in order that ,i may persuade myself that ,i am happy8 ,and even if ,i can honestly believe in the material resurrection to-day1 how do ,i know that some new evidence--the discovery of some new ,gospel for example--may not overturn my belief to-morrow80 ,but the life and doctrine of ,christ1 the conversion and letters of ,st4 ,paul1 the growth and victories of the ,church1 and the present power of ,christ's ,spirit are facts that can never be overthrown2 and if you say1 8,on the basis of these indisputable facts1 considered as a part of the evolution and training of mankind ,i rest my hope and my faith that ,jesus has conquered death and still lives and works among us and for us0--why then you rest on a basis that cannot be shaken4 ,and surely such a faith is more strong1 more spiritual1 more comforting1 yes1 and more certain too1 than a 8knowledge0 which you know in your own heart to be no knowledge6 ,how long will mankind be content to be ignorant that the ,,half which constitutes truth is worth more than the ,,whole which is made up of truth and truth's integumentary illusion6 ,how many there are to whom the saying of old ,hesiod is still unmeaning3 ,alas thou know'st not1 silly soul1 ,how much the half exceeds the whole6 ,you cannot obtain1 and must not expect to obtain1 any demonstrative proof of the ,resurrection of ,christ1 any more than you can obtain a demonstrative proof of the existence of a ,god3 yet you can feel as strong and as sincere a conviction of the former fact as of the latter4 ,it is curious that ,st4 ,paul's parallel between the ,resurrection of ,christ and that of men should be so habitually overlooked4 ,he assumes1 as a matter of course1 a similarity1 almost an identity1 between the ,resurrection of men and the ,resurrection of ,christ3 8,if there is no resurrection of the dead neither hath ,christ been raised10 and again3 8,now hath ,christ been raised from the dead1 the first fruits of them that are asleep40 ,this reasoning holds excellently1 if the ,resurrection is to be the same for us as it was for our ,saviour1 a spiritual ,resurrection1 and if the ,resurrection of ,christ visibly revealed the universal law which shall apply to all who are animated by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,but if ,christ's ,resurrection was of a quite different kind1 if it was a bodily stepping out of the tomb three days after burial1 how can this be called the 8first fruits0 of the ,resurrection of men whose bodies will all decay and for whom therefore no such stepping out from the tomb can ever be anticipated8 ,the best1 the truest1 the most comforting belief in the end will be found to be that ,jesus was 8put to death in the flesh but quickened 7not in the flesh but7 in the spirit40 ,and as it was with ,him1 so we believe it will be with us4 ,but perhaps you will remind me that one of the ,creeds mentions 8the ,resurrection of the body10 and that ,st4 ,paul anticipates the ,resurrection1 not of a 8spirit10 but of 8a spiritual body20 and you may ask me what ,i infer from this4 ,i for my part infer that ,st4 ,paul desired to guard against the notion that the dead lose their identity and are merged in ,god or in some other essence2 he wished to convey to his hearers that they would still retain their individuality1 the power of loving and of being loved2 possibly also he wished to suggest a life of continued activity in the service of ,god2 and in order to express this he used such language 7metaphorical of course7 as would unmistakeably imply that identity would be preserved1 and activity would be possible4 ,but he took care to guard his language against materialistic misinterpretation by insisting that the body would be 8spiritual0 and therefore invisible to the earthly eye and cognizable only by the spirit4 ,the new body1 he says1 is 8a building from ,god10 8a house not made with hands1 eternal20 and he prefaces this by saying 8the things which are seen are temporal1 but the things which are not seen are eternal40 ,hereby he clearly implies that the new body will be 8not seen40 ,elsewhere he tells us that 8the things prepared by ,god0 for them that love ,him 7and of course he includes in these the 8building from ,god1 the house not made with hands07 are such as eye 8hath not seen nor ear heard1 nor have they entered into the heart of man2 but ,god hath revealed them unto us by the ,spirit20 and again1 8the things of ,god none knoweth save the ,spirit of ,god10 which has been imparted to the faithful4 ,to speak honestly1 ,i must add that1 even if ,i found ,st4 ,paul had committed himself repeatedly to any theory of a material or semi-material ,resurrection1 consonant with the feelings of his times1 ,i should not have felt bound to place a belief in a materialistic detail of this kind upon the same high and authoritative level as the belief in the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit1 or any other general and spiritual article of faith4 ,but ,i find no such materialism in ,st4 ,paul4 ,he appears to me to say consistently1 #ast1 that ,christ's ,resurrection was a type of 78the first fruits of07 the ,resurrection of mankind2 #bnd1 that in contrast to the first man ,adam1 the earthy1 who became a living soul1 the last ,adam1 the heavenly1 became a 8life-giving spirit20 #crd1 that1 as we have borne the image of the earthy1 so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly2 #dth1 that the 8body0 of the faithful after death will be 8spiritual10 just as the ,church of ,god is 8a spiritual house10 and the sacrifices of the saints are 8spiritual sacrifices40 ,there is no more ground for thinking that ,st4 ,paul supposed that we should hereafter have spiritual hands1 or be spiritual bipeds1 than for thinking that he supposed the sacrifices of the ,church to be spiritual sheep1 or the temple of the ,church to be composed of celestial stones4 ,after our ,resurrection1 we are still to be conscious of ,god's past love1 still to rejoice in ,his present and never-ending love1 still to be capable of glorifying and serving ,god1 of loving as well as of being loved--this ,st4 ,paul's theory of the 8spiritual body0 certainly implies2 and it need not imply more4 ,and what our ,resurrection will be1 that ,christ's ,resurrection was4 ,the ordinary fancies about the ,resurrection teem with absurdities1 and are redeemed from being ridiculous1 only because they all spring from the natural and reasonable desire that we may hereafter preserve our identity4 ,but they ought to be suppressed if they create1 as ,i fear they create1 additional difficulties in the way of conceiving1 and believing in1 a future life4 ,i do not wish to scoff at the popular views2 but it is important that those who adopt the materialistic theory of the ,resurrection should realize the unnecessary and grotesque inconsistencies with which they obscure the ,christian faith4 ,popular ,christianity appears generally to accept a sensuous paradise1 only excluding what some may deem the coarser senses1 the smell1 touch1 and taste4 ,but what is the special merit of the other two senses1 hearing and seeing1 that they alone should be allowed places in ,paradise8 ,and this visible1 semi-spiritual body upon which the vulgar fancy so insists--what purpose will it serve8 8,the purposes of recognition between friends40 ,then it will be like the old material body of the departed--at what period of his existence8 ,shall he be represented as a youth of twenty or a man of forty1 or of fifty1 or as a child of ten8 ,and how as to the body of one who was deformed1 maimed1 or hideously misshapen and ugly8 8,it would be a purified likeness1 summarizing1 as it were1 every period of life1 so that it would be recognizable1 not indeed by our eyes but by those of spiritual beings40 ,that is conceivable3 but why all this trouble to obtain a visible body that shall make recognition difficult1 when recognition can be conceived so much more easily as the result of mere spiritual communion8 ,keep by all means the language of the ,apocalypse and of the ,pilgrim's ,progress in order to describe in poetry the condition of the blessed dead2 but remember that it is the language of poetry2 and let every such use of words be concluded 7as with a doxology7 by the thought1 8,thus will it be1 only far better1 infinitely better2 for ,god is love2 and our future communion with the love of ,god will be a height of happiness such as no power of sense can reveal1 and only the spirit-guided soul can faintly apprehend40 ,but perhaps you will say 8,you are ready enough to attack other people's notions about the semi-material resurrection2 but you are not equally ready to explain your own notions about a spiritual resurrection4 ,you cannot even tell us what a spiritual body is1 except that it has the power of loving and being loved40 ,precisely so2 ,i am quite ignorant4 ,yet in my knowledge of this matter ,i am superior to a very great number of other theologians4 ,for they think they know1 whereas ,i know that neither ,i nor they know4 ,let me go a little further in my confession of ignorance and admit that ,i do not really possess knowledge about a number of other matters about which many profess with great glibness to know everything4 ,i am certain that ,i exist2 but ,i doubt whether ,i can analyse and explain the reasons for my certainty1 and ,i am quite sure ,i cannot prove my existence by logic4 ,if ,i am pressed for a proof1 ,i should say 7as ,i have stated in a previous letter7 that my belief in my existence was largely due to the ,imagination4 ,cogito1 ergo sum1 8,i think1 therefore ,i am10--if intended as a serious proof1 and if there is any real meaning in the 8ergo0--appears to me to be the most babyish of arguments4 ,i respect the gigantic intellect of the arguer1 but not even a giant can make ropes of sand2 and it needs but a little grammar to dissolve this reasoning to nothing4 8,i think0 means 8,i am one thinking40 ,in some languages1 in ,hebrew for example1 you might have no other way of expressing the proposition than in this form3 8,i am one thinking40 ,what sort of reasoning then is this6 8,i am one thinking1 therefore ,i am40 8,this is white paper1 therefore it is60 ,surely a ridiculous offspring to issue from great logical travail6 ,and besides1 what infinite assumptions are presupposed in that monosyllable 8,i06 ,how do ,i know that 8,i think10 and that it is not the great world-spirit who thinks in me1 as well as rains outside me8 ,why ought ,i not to say 8it thinks10 just as ,i say 8it rains08 ,what do you mean by 8,i08 ,tell us what 8,i0 is4 ,and how can the desperate logician set about telling us what 8,i0 is1 without assuming that his own 8,i0 is1 which is equivalent to assuming 8,i am08 ,surely this is altogether a hopeless muddle1 and we ought to give up reasoning about 8,i0 and 8am20 yes1 and ,i would add not only about 8,i0 and 8am10 but also about a number of other fundamental conceptions1 which are far more profitably assumed as axioms4 ,for my part1 whenever ,i use the words 8mind10 8matter10 8substance10 8spirit10 8soul10 8intellect10 and the like1 and make any serious statement about them1 ,i hardly ever do so without a mental reservation1 saying to myself--8but of course there may be no such things precisely as these1 but some other things quite different1 producing the results which we ascribe to these2 so that all these statements may be only proportionately true40 ,i do not object to the use of the materialistic language where it is recognized as metaphor by those who use and those who hear it2 but the mischief is that it is often not so recognized4 ,once make yourself the slave of the popular language about 8spirit10 and 8substance10 and what not--and you are in danger of being manacled intellectually as well as theologically4 ,the popular belief is that a man's spirit is inside him1 like his qualities2 the latter like peas in a box1 the former like gas in a bladder4 ,drive a hole through a man's left side or the middle of his head1 and--out goes the spirit2 that is the common materialistic creed4 ,now ,i have a strong desire to declare that this creed is ridiculously false4 ,but ,i will be consistent and simply say that ,i know nothing whatever about it4 ,my spirit may possibly be inside me2 but it may possibly be outside me2 say at a point six feet1 or six miles1 above me2 or away in ,jupiter1 or ,saturn1 or down at the earth's centre2 or it may be incapable of occupying space4 ,what does it matter to you or to me1 theologically or intellectually1 whether that part of us which we call our 8spirit0 has its local habitation inside us1 or outside1 or in no locality at all8 ,is it not enough to recognize that we have powers of acting1 loving1 trusting1 and believing1 and to feel certain that ,god intends these powers to be developed and never to perish8 ,yet ,i remember that a friend of mine was shocked1 and almost appalled1 when ,i avowed ignorance as to the locality of my spirit4 ,he seemed to think ,i might as well have no spirit at all1 if it could not prove its respectability by giving its name and address6 ,for my part ,i am now quite certain of ,christ's spiritual ,resurrection1 and in that conviction ,i am far happier and far more trustful than when ,i at first mechanically accepted upon authority and evidence the belief in the ,resurrection of ,christ's body1 and subsequently strove to retain that belief1 against the testimony of my intelligence and my conscience4 ,i think you also will find1 as years go on1 when it becomes your lot to stand by the grave into which friend after friend is lowered1 that a heartfelt conviction of the spiritual ,resurrection of ,christ affords more comfort to you at such moments than your old belief--based largely upon historical evidence1 and brain-felt rather than heart-felt--in ,his physical ,resurrection4 ,for the former unites us with ,christ1 the latter separates us from ,christ4 ,we none of us expect that the material and tangible bodies of our friends will rise from the dead in the flesh without 8seeing corruption20 but we do trust that they shall rise as 8spiritual bodies0 over whom death shall have no power4 ,this trust is confirmed by the belief that ,christ rose as we trust they shall hereafter rise4 ,if1 therefore1 ,christ rose a material body from the grave--that stirs no hope in us4 ,but if1 while ,his body remained in the grave1 ,his spirit rose triumphant to the throne of ,god1 then we see a hope indeed that may suit our case and give us some gleam of consolation4 ,the bodies of the dead may lie there and decay2 but what of that8 ,even so was it with the ,saviour3 but the spiritual body is independent of the flesh and shall rise superior to death4 ,do not imagine that the spiritual body is one whit less real than the material body2 only1 as the material body belongs to the time-world1 so the spiritual body belongs to the eternal world4 ,each is suited to its own environment1 but each of them is a real body4 ,as to the relation between the material and the spiritual body we know nothing1 and we need know nothing4 ,when will men learn to be less greedy of shams and bubbles of pretended material knowledge1 and more earnest and patient in their sober aspirations after spiritual truth8 ,when will they realize that an unhesitating faith in a few elementary principles is better than a tremulous quasi-knowledge of a whole globe of dogmas8 ,,xxiv ,,what ,,is ,a ,,spirit8 ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you take me to task for the abrupt termination of my last letter4 ,i broke off1 you say1 just when you thought ,i was on the point of explaining what ,i meant by a spirit3 8,surely you have some theory of your own and are not content with disbelieving other people's theories40 ,well1 ,i thought ,i had said before that ,i am content to know merely this about a spirit1 that it possesses capabilities for loving and serving ,god1 or other nobler capabilities corresponding to these4 ,but if you press me to set up some theory of my own that you may have the pleasure of pulling it to pieces1 ,i will confess to you that my nearest conception of a spirit is a personified virtue4 ,this cannot very well be quite right2 any more than a carpenter can be like a door1 or like anything else that he has constructed4 ,but it is the nearest ,i can come to any conception that is not too repulsively material4 ,and sometimes1 when ,i try to conceive of the causes of terrestrial thoughts1 and emotions1 and spiritual movements1 ,i find myself recurring to the antique notion1 hinted at in one or two passages of the ,bible1 and ,i believe encouraged by some of the old ,rabbis1 that there are two worlds2 one visible1 terrestrial1 and material1 the other invisible1 celestial1 and spiritual2 and that whatsoever takes place down here takes place first 7or simultaneously but causatively7 up there2 here1 the mere outsides of things2 there1 the causes and springs of action2 the bodies down on earth1 the spirits up in heaven4 ,this is but a harmless fancy4 ,let me give you another4 ,you know--or might know if you would read a little book recently published called ,flatland1 and still better1 if you would study a very able and original work by ,mr4 ,c4 ,h4 ,hinton#ca--that a being of ,four ,dimensions1 if such there were1 could come into our closed rooms without opening door or window1 nay1 could even penetrate into1 and inhabit1 our bodies2 that he could simultaneously see the insides of all things and the interior of the whole earth thrown open to his vision3 he would also have the power of making himself visible and invisible at pleasure2 and could address words to us from an invisible position outside us1 or inside our own person4 ,why then might not spirits be beings of the ,fourth ,dimension8 ,well1 ,i will tell you why4 ,although we cannot hope ever to comprehend what a spirit is--just as we can never comprehend what ,god is--yet ,st4 ,paul teaches us that the deep things of the spirit are in some degree made known to us by our own spirits4 ,now when does the spirit seem most active in us8 or when do we seem nearest to the apprehension of 8the deep things of ,god08 ,is it not when we are exercising those virtues which1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 8abide0--,i mean faith1 hope and love8 ,now there is obviously no connection between these virtues and the ,fourth ,dimension4 ,even if we could conceive of space of ,four ,dimensions--which we cannot do1 although we can perhaps describe what some of its phenomena would be if it existed--we should not be a whit the better morally or spiritually4 ,it seems to me rather a moral than an intellectual process1 to approximate to the conception of a spirit3 and toward this no knowledge of ,quadridimensional space can guide us4 ,what1 for example1 do we mean when we speak of the ,holy ,spirit1 and describe ,him as the ,third ,person in the ,trinity8 ,i hope you will not suppose--because ,i happen to be a rationalist as regards the historical interpretation of certain parts of the ,bible1 or because ,i have not disguised my dislike of the formal and quasi-arithmetical propositions in which the ,athanasian creed sets forth the doctrine of the ,trinity--that ,i reject the teaching of the ,new ,testament on the nature and functions of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,literary criticism may oblige us to regard the long discourses on the functions of the ,paraclete or ,advocate in the ,fourth ,gospel as being in the style of the author and not the language of ,christ2 but it is difficult to suppose that the sublime thoughts in those passages are the mere inventions of a disciple of ,jesus2 and the characteristic sayings of ,christ in the ,synoptic ,gospels bear cogent though terse witness to ,his acknowledgment of a ,holy ,spirit who should 8speak0 in ,his disciples1 and 8teach0 ,his disciples what to say1 when they were summoned before the bar of princes3 8it is not ye that speak1 but the ,holy ,spirit10 ,mark xiii4 #aa2 8it is not ye that speak1 but the ,spirit of your ,father which speaketh in you10 ,matth4 x4 #bj2 8the ,holy ,spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say10 ,luke xii4 #ab4 ,i need not remind you how large a space 8the ,spirit0 claims in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles1 and especially of the use which the ,apostle makes of the triple combination of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit4 ,even1 therefore1 if ,i could give no explanation of the whole of it1 nor so much as put into words the faint glimpse ,i may have gained into the meaning of a part of this doctrine1 ,i should be inclined to accept the existence of the ,holy ,spirit on the authority of ,christ or ,st4 ,paul1 as being a doctrine that does not enter into the domain of evidence1 a conception of the divine nature from which ,i might hope to learn much1 if ,i would reverently keep it before me and try to apprehend it4 ,but ,i seem to have a glimpse of it4 ,that influence or 8idea0 of the dead which1 as ,shakespeare says1 8creeps into our study of imagination10 and which reproduces all the best and essential characteristics of the departed--when this has once taken possession of us1 do we not naturally say that we now realize 8the spirit0 of the dead1 feeling that it guides us for the first time to the appreciation of his words and deeds8 ,now as ,god1 the initial ,thought1 needed to be revealed to us by means of the ,word of ,god1 so the ,word needed to be revealed to us by means of the ,influence of the ,word4 ,or1 to put it more personally1 as the ,father needed to be revealed by the ,son1 so the ,son needed to be revealed by the ,spirit4 ,those who knew ,christ merely in the flesh knew but little of ,him1 and had little understanding of ,his words4 ,it was the ,spirit of ,christ that guided1 and still guides1 ,his disciples into the fuller knowledge of the meaning of ,his past life on earth and ,his present purposes in heaven4 ,i own1 however1 that ,i have sometimes felt at a loss when ,i have asked myself1 8,how is this ,spirit a ,person8 ,and do ,i love ,him or ,it8 ,and if ,jesus and the ,spirit of ,jesus are two ,persons1 then must ,i also infer two personalities for myself1 one for my mortal terrestrial humanity1 another for my immortal celestial spirit80 ,these questions are extremely difficult for me to answer with confidence3 yet ,i feel instinctively that they have a profound and satisfying answer to which ,i have not yet attained2 but ,i suggest some answer of this kind1 8,when we endeavour to form a conception of ,god we ought to put aside the limitations of human individuality4 ,now we cannot do this while we conceive of ,god simply as the ,father1 and still less while we conceive of ,him simply as the ,son2 but we can do it when we conceive of ,him as being an all-pervasive ,power1 the source of order and harmony and light1 sometimes as a ,breath breathing life into all things good and beautiful1 sometimes as a ,bond1 or ,law1 linking or attracting together all things material and spiritual so as to make up the ,kosmos or ,order of the ,universe4 ,the traditions of the ,church have taught us that there has been such a ,power1 subsisting from the first with the ,father and the ,eternal ,son1 in whom the ,father and the ,son were1 and are1 united2 and by whom the whole human race is bound together in brotherhood to one another and in sonship to the ,eternal ,father4 ,what is this ,being but the ,personification of that ,power which1 in the material world1 we call ,attraction and in the immaterial1 ,love8 ,is it not conceivable that this ,being which breathes good thoughts into every human breast should love those whom ,it inspires8 ,and we--can we love our country1 and love ,goodness1 ,purity1 ,honour1 ,faith1 ,hope1 and yet must we find it impossible to love this personified ,love1 this ,holy ,spirit8 ,but if we love the ,spirit of ,god1 and the ,spirit loves us1 then we can understand how it may be called a ,person40 ,i foresee the answer that might be given to these--,i will not call them reasonings1 say meditations4 8,all this is the mere play of fancy3 you personify ,england1 ,virtue1 ,goodness1 ,hope1 ,faith1 and the like2 and such personifications are tolerable in poetry2 but you do not surely maintain that such personifications have any real existence3 in the same way1 you may find a certain conception of the ,supreme ,being useful for the encouragement of devotion1 but you have no right hence to infer that this conception represents an objective reality1 much less ,god ,himself40 ,my reply is that in the region of theological contemplation where demonstration1 and proof of the ordinary kind1 are both impossible1 ,i conceive ,i 8have a right0 to do this on the authority of ,christ and ,st4 ,paul and the ,fourth ,gospel1 and the general tradition of the ,church4 ,i would sooner believe that myself and my spirit have a dual personality2 ,i would sooner recognize the presence of the ,angels of ,england and ,france and the other great nations of the world about the heavenly throne1 like the ,angels of the seven churches of ,asia or the ,angel of the ,chosen ,people2 ,i would sooner acknowledge the actual personality of ,hope1 ,faith1 and ,i know not what other celestial ministers between ,god and man2 ,i would sooner1 in a word1 believe that personality depends upon some subtle combination such as only poets have dimly guessed at1 than ,i would give up the belief that there is beside the ,eternal ,father1 and the ,eternal ,son1 an ,eternal ,spirit1 to the description of whom we can best approximate by calling ,him personified ,love4 ,looking at the ,spirit of ,god in this way ,i sometimes seem to discern a closer connection than is generally recognized between the ,resurrection and the power of loving4 ,you will remember that ,st4 ,paul constantly connects the ,resurrection of ,christ with the 8,spirit20 ,christ was 8raised from the dead in1 or by1 the ,spirit20 and ,st4 ,peter says that ,christ was 8put to death in the flesh1 but quickened in the ,spirit40 ,now this ,spirit is the ,power of ,love4 ,do we ask for an explanation of this connection8 ,it is surely obvious that the ,resurrection of ,christ would not have directly availed men 7so far as we can see7 unless it had been manifested to them4 ,but how was it manifested8 ,we think it was by love3 on the one hand by the unsatisfied and longing love of the sorrowing disciples1 creating a blank in the heart which could only be filled by the image of the risen ,saviour2 on the other hand by the unsatisfied and longing love of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 dying with a purpose as yet unfulfilled4 ,thus--so far as concerns the influence of the ,resurrection of ,jesus upon humanity--it was the ,spirit of ,love that raised ,jesus from the abyss of inert oblivion and exalted ,him to the right hand of ,god in the souls of men4 ,i dare not say that1 if ,jesus had failed to root ,himself in the hearts of men ,he could never have been raised from the dead2 just as ,i dare not say that1 if ,st4 ,peter had not been inspired to say 8,thou art the ,christ10 the ,church could never have been founded on the rock of heaven-imparted faith4 ,let us avoid this way of looking at things1 as being repulsive and preposterous1 putting things terrestrial before things celestial4 ,let us rather say that1 because the rock of faith was being set up by the hand of ,god in heaven1 therefore at that same instant the ,apostle received the strength to utter his confession of faith2 and because ,christ's ,spirit had soared up after death to the heaven of heavens and thence was bending down lovingly to look upon ,his despairing followers1 therefore they received power to see ,him again1 living for them on earth4 ,yet as regards ordinary men1 ,i cannot help occasionally reviving that same preposterous method which ,i would discard in the case of ,christ4 ,and starting from terrestrial phenomena first1 ,i sometimes ask myself1 ,is it possible that the resurrection of each human soul may depend upon the degree to which it has rooted itself in the affection of others8 ,the ,roman ,catholic ,church teaches that the condition of the dead may be affected by the prayers of survivors2 and many abuses have resulted from a perverted and mechanical misinterpretation of that doctrine2 but how if the spirit of a dead man actually owes its spiritual resurrection1 not indeed to formally uttered petitions1 but to the silent prayers1 the loving wishes1 the irrepressible desires of fellow-spirits on earth and in heaven8 ,how if a man lives in heaven and in the second life so far as his spirit has imprinted itself on the loving memories of others above and below8 8,has the dead man kindled in the heart of one single human being a spark of genuine unselfish affection8 ,to that extent1 then1 he receives a proportional germ of expansive and eternal life--might it not be so8 ,and if it were so1 then we could better understand how both the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and we mortal men1 die in the flesh but are raised to a life eternal after death #8in the ,spirit' and #8by the ,spirit'--that great pervasive spiritual ,power of ,love which links all things in heaven and earth together40 ,i trust ,i have theorized enough to please you4 ,i have done so because on the whole ,i think it best that you should see all the weakness1 as well as all the strength1 of my position--the credulous and fanciful side of it1 as well as its breadth1 its naturalness1 its reasonableness1 its spiritual comfort1 its dependence on moral effort1 its recognition of ,law1 its consistency with facts1 and its absolute freedom from intellectual difficulties4 ,regarded in the ordinary way1 as being the revivification of the material body1 the ,resurrection of ,christ becomes an isolated portent in history2 regarded naturally1 it becomes the triumph of the ,spirit over the fear of death1 the central event of our earthly history4 ,central ,i say1 but not isolated2 because there are seen converging towards it1 as it were predictively1 all the phenomena of the evolution and training of the ,imagination2 all instances of true poetic and prophetic vision2 the stars of heaven and all the creative provisions of night and darkness and sleep and dreams1 nay even death itself4 ,and what higher tribute 7short of actual worship7 can be paid to the personality of ,christ than to say that 8the phenomena of ,his resurrection are natural40 ,i think if ,i were depressed and shaken in faith--as one is liable to be at times1 not by intellectual but by moral considerations1 when one feels that evil is stronger than it should be1 both in oneself and outside oneself--it would be a great help to go and hear some agnostic saying with vehement conviction1 8,the resurrection of ,christ was natural1 purely natural40 ,i should bid him say it again1 and again2 and ,i would go home and say it over and over again to myself by way of comfort1 to strengthen my faith3 8,the manifestations of the ,resurrection of ,christ were purely natural4 ,so they were4 ,things could not be otherwise4 ,being what ,he was1 ,christ could not but thus be manifested to ,his followers after death4 ,it was the natural effect of ,christ's personality upon the disciples2 and through the disciples upon ,st4 ,paul4 ,then what a ,person have we here6 ,a ,person consciously superior to death1 and1 after ,his death1 fulfilling a promise which ,he made to ,his disciples that ,he would still be present with them6 ,what wonder if ,he is even now present with us1 influencing us with something of the power with which ,he moved the last of the ,apostles6 ,what wonder if ,he is destined yet for future ages to be a present ,power among men until the establishment of that ,kingdom which ,he proclaimed upon earth1 the ,fatherhood of ,god and brotherhood of man60 ,footnote #ca3 8,a ,romance of the ,fourth ,dimension10 ,swan ,sonnenschein4 ,,xxv ,,the ,,incarnation ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i had not forgotten that1 in order to complete the brief discussion of the miraculous element in the ,new ,testament1 it is necessary to give some explanation of the origin of the accounts of the birth of ,christ4 ,your last letter reminds me of this necessity1 and you put before me two alternatives4 8,if10 you say1 8,christ was born of a ,virgin1 then a miracle is conceded so stupendous that it is absurd to object to the other miracles3 but if ,christ was not born of a ,virgin1 then1 unless the honesty of the ,gospel narratives is to be impeached1 some account is needed of the way in which the miraculous legend found its way into the ,gospels20 and you add that you would like to know what meaning1 if any1 ,i attach to the statement in the ,creed1 that ,jesus was 8born of a ,virgin40 ,as you probably anticipate1 ,i accept the latter of your alternatives1 and ,i will therefore endeavour briefly to shew how the story of the ,miraculous ,conception 8found its way into the ,gospels40 ,but first ,i must protest against your expression as inexact4 ,the story of the ,miraculous ,conception1 so far from having 8found its way into the ,gospels10 found its way into only two out of the four1 namely1 ,st4 ,matthew's and ,st4 ,luke's4 ,and this fact1 strong as it is1 does not represent the strength of the negative argument from omission4 ,of the nine authors1 or thereabouts1 of the different books in the ,new ,testament1 only two contain any account1 reference1 or allusion to the ,miraculous ,conception4 ,no mention is made of it in any of the numerous ,epistles of ,st4 ,paul2 nor in any of his speeches1 nor in those of ,st4 ,peter1 recorded in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 nor in any part of that book2 nor in the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john1 ,st4 ,james1 ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,jude2 nor in the ,apocalypse2 nor in the ,gospels of ,st4 ,mark and ,st4 ,john6 ,even the two ,gospels that mention it contain no evidence that it was known to any of the disciples during the life-time of ,jesus1 and one of these 7,luke iii4 #bc7 traces the genealogy of ,jesus from ,joseph and expressly declares that ,he 8was supposed0 to be 8the ,son of ,joseph40#cb ,this negative evidence becomes all the more weighty if you consider how very natural it was1 and ,i may almost say inevitable1 that the story of a ,miraculous ,conception should speedily find its way into the traditions of the early ,church4 ,the causes that worked toward this result were1 first1 ,old ,testament prophecy2 secondly1 traditions and expressions current among a certain section of the ,jews2 thirdly1 the preconceptions of pagan converts4 ,recall to mind what was said in a previous letter concerning the importance attached by the earliest ,christians to the argument from prophecy4 ,now there is a prophecy in ,isaiah which1 if separated from its context1 might seem to point to nothing but the ,miraculous ,conception of the ,messiah3 8,the ,lord himself shall give you a sign3 behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name ,immanuel40 ,but a careful study of the context puts the matter in a quite different light4 ,isaiah 7vii4 #aj-viii4 #d7 is promising to ,king ,ahaz deliverance from the kings of ,syria and ,samaria4 ,as the king will not ask for a sign1 the prophet promises that the ,lord will give him one2 a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a child and shall call his name ,immanuel 78,god with us073 he shall 8eat butter and honey0 when he arrives at the age of distinction between good and evil2 for before he arrives at that age1 the land abhorred by ,ahaz shall be 8forsaken by both her kings40 ,the meaning appears to be that1 within the time necessary for the conception and birth of a child1 that is to say1 in less than a year1 the prospects of deliverance for ,judah from her present enemies 7,syria and ,samaria7 shall so brighten that a child shall be born and called by a name implying the favour of ,god2 afterwards1 before that child shall grow up to childhood1 the two aggressive countries of ,syria and ,samaria shall be themselves desolated1 as well as ,judah1 by the 8razor0 of ,assyria which shall shave the country clean from all cultivated crops4 ,amid the general desolation1 the fruit trees will be cut down1 the corn will not be sown2 bread there will be none2 there will be nothing to eat but 8butter and honey20 it is not the new-born child alone who shall eat 8butter and honey20 8butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land0 7vii4 #bb74 ,in all this1 even though we may suppose that there may have been some ,messianic reference1 there is no prediction at all of a conception from a virgin or of a miracle of any kind4 ,indeed1 the prophecy appears to find some sort of fulfilment in what happens immediately afterwards 7,isaiah viii4 #a-d71 when the prophet contracts a marriage1 and calls the son who springs from it by a name implying the vengeance imminent on ,samaria and ,assyria3 8,call his name ,maher-shalal-hash-baz 7i4e4 booty1 quick1 spoil1 speedy73 for before the boy shall have knowledge to cry my father6 my mother6 the riches of ,damascus and the spoil of ,samaria shall be taken away before the king of ,assyria40 ,no doubt it may be said that this son was not called 8,immanuel10 so that the prophecy was not fulfilled in him4 ,but the same argument might be urged against the application to our ,lord2 for ,he also was not called 8,immanuel10 but received the old national name of 8,joshua10 8,jeshua10 or 8,jesus40 ,reviewing all the circumstances of the prophecy1 ,i think we may say1 without exaggeration1 first1 that there are no grounds for seeing in it any reference to a ,miraculous ,conception2 secondly1 that1 when isolated1 it might easily be misinterpreted so as to convey such a reference4#cc ,even if no such prophecy had existed1 the language and preconceptions of the earliest ,christians and their converts would almost necessarily have introduced a belief in the ,miraculous ,conception4 ,the language of ,philo--who represents not a mere individual eccentricity but the current phraseology of the ,alexandrine school of thought1 and whose influence may be traced in almost every page of the ,fourth ,gospel--consistently affirms that1 whenever a child is mentioned in the ,old ,testament as having been born to be a deliverer in fulfilment of a divine promise1 that child is 8begotten of ,god40 ,the words of ,sarah1 he says1 indicate that1 in reality1 8,the ,lord begot ,isaac40 ,god is also spoken of as 8the husband of ,leah40 ,zipporah is described as being 8pregnant by no mortal40 ,samuel1 in words that contain an implied belief that only his maternal parentage was mortal1 is declared to be 8perhaps a man10 and 8born of a human mother40 ,i have already quoted one passage about ,isaac but another asserts that he is to be considered 8not the result of generation but the work of the unbegotten40 ,sometimes the language of ,philo is so worded as to convey even to a careful reader the impression that he believed in a literally ,miraculous ,conception1 as for example when he says that 8,moses introduces ,sarah as being pregnant when alone1 and as being visited by ,god40 ,elsewhere1 he removes the possibility of misunderstanding by saying that 8the ,scripture is cautious1 and describes ,god as the husband1 not of a virgin1 but of virginity40 ,none the less1 you can easily see how expressions of this kind1 current among ,jewish philosophers a generation before the time of ,st4 ,paul1 might be very easily interpreted literally by ordinary people unskilled in these metaphorical subtleties1 and especially by ,gentile converts asking for a plain answer to a plain question1 8,what was the parentage of this man whom you call the ,son of ,god80 ,in truth the preconceptions of the ,gentile converts must have played no small part in preparing the way for the doctrine of the literal ,miraculous ,conception4 ,the ,greeks and ,romans who worshipped or honoured sculapius son of ,apollo1 ,romulus son of ,mars1 ,hercules son of ,jupiter1 and a score of other demi-gods1 would be quite familiar with the notion of a god or hero born of a human mother and of a divine father2 they would not only be prepared for it in the case of ,jesus1 whom they were called on to adore as the ,son of ,god1 they would even demand and assume it4 ,they would argue much as ,tertullian argued3 8,if he was the son of a man1 he was not the son of ,god2 and if he was the son of ,god1 he was not the son of a man40 ,this argument ought to have been met by a flat denial1 thus3 8,the mere physical and carnal union by which1 according to your legends1 the gods1 assuming the forms of men1 generated sculapius1 ,romulus1 and ,hercules1 is not to be thought of here4 ,when we speak of ,jesus being the ,son of ,god1 we do not mean that ,his body was formed by ,god descending from heaven and assuming human shape or functions1 but that ,his ,spirit was spiritually begotten of ,god4 ,it is therefore quite possible that ,jesus may have been the ,son of ,god according to the ,spirit and yet the son of man according to the flesh40 ,but instead of that1 the whole truth1 there came back this half-true answer4 8,the parentage was divine1 but not of the materialistic nature you suppose3 ,god did not assume human shape3 the generation was spiritual40 ,by these words there may have been meant at first1 simply what ,philo meant1 that while the spiritual parentage was divine1 the material parentage was human3 but such an answer would leave many under the impression that the body as well as the spirit of ,jesus resulted from a spiritual generation in which no human father participated4 ,the ,gentiles would naturally interpret the ,philonian doctrine literally and say of ,mary1 as ,philo had said of ,sarah1 that she was 8pregnant when alone1 and visited by ,god40 ,from a very different point of view1 the ritual and hymnals of some of the ,jews might facilitate the growth of the belief that ,jesus was born of a virgin4 ,for they might naturally speak of their ,messiah as being a child of the virgin daughter of ,sion1 whose only husband was ,jehovah4 ,and hence in the ,apocalypse1 a book imbued with ,jewish feeling1 we find ,jesus described 7xii4 #a-f7 as the child of a woman who evidently represents ,israel3 8,a woman arrayed with the sun1 and the moon under her feet1 and upon her head a crown of twelve stars2 and she was with child4444 ,and she was delivered of a son1 a man child1 who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron40 ,this personification of the daughter of ,israel or of ,jerusalem as representing the nation1 the bride of ,jehovah1 is very common in the prophets4 ,you may find similar personifications in the ,new ,testament4 ,the ,apocalypse describes the ,church as the ,holy ,city1 the ,new ,jerusalem1 descending from ,heaven 8as a bride adorned for her husband40 ,st4 ,paul speaks of the ,new ,jerusalem1 which is above 7i4e4 the spiritual ,jerusalem1 free from the law71 as being 8the mother of us all40 ,sometimes the personification of the ,church is liable to be misinterpreted literally1 as in ,st4 ,peter's and ,st4 ,john's ,epistles1 where 8the elect lady0 8thine elect sister0 and 8the 7lady7 in ,babylon0 have been supposed by some to refer to individuals1 but are believed by ,bishop ,lightfoot to represent the ,churches of the places from which1 and to which1 the epistles were written4 ,the whole of ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles presuppose the metaphor of a ,virgin ,church1 and toward the end of the second century 7#agg ,a4,d47 we find a very curious passage 7in an epistle from the ,church of ,lyons7 in which the repentance and martyrdom of some previous apostates are described as a restoration to 8the ,virgin ,mother0 of her children1 8raised from the dead40 ,you see then how this personification runs through all ,jewish and all early ,christian literature1 so that the ,church1 old or new1 might be described as a woman2 and ,i ought perhaps not to have omitted the strange dream in the second book of ,esdras 7x4 #dd-df7 where ,israel is a woman and the ,temple is the son3 8,this woman whom thou sawest is ,sion 444 she hath been thirty years barren1 but after thirty years ,solomon builded the city and offered offerings1 and then bare the barren a son40 ,does not this continuous stream of thought shew how natural it would be for the earliest ,jewish ,christians to adore ,christ in their hymns as the son of the daughter of ,zion1 the son of the ,virgin ,mother8 ,add to this the prejudice among the ,gentile converts against a human paternity for the ,son of ,god1 the influence of the ,alexandrine ,jewish philosophy and the still more powerful influence of ,isaiah's prophecy about 8the virgin10 and ,i think you will see that the causes at work to produce the belief in the ,miraculous ,conception were so strong that ,i may almost say a miracle would have been needed to prevent it4 ,but it has been urged that ,st4 ,luke was a historian and a physician2 that he had great power of careful description--as may be seen from his exact account of ,st4 ,paul's shipwreck2--that he describes the circumstances of the miraculous birth in a plain and simple manner3 and that he assures us that he had taken every pains to make himself acquainted with the truth of the things which he records4#cd ,all this may be3 but because a man can describe exactly a comparatively recent shipwreck1 which he may have himself witnessed1 or which at all events may have been witnessed by some who told him the story1 it does not follow that he has exact information about a miraculous birth which occurred 7if at all7 upwards of sixty years--more probably upwards of seventy--before he wrote4 ,the mother of ,jesus had1 in all probability1 passed away when ,st4 ,luke was writing4 ,such obscurities and variations by this time attended the stories concerning the infancy of ,jesus1 that we find even the compiler of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel apparently ignorant that the home of the parents of ,jesus was 7if ,st4 ,luke is correct on this point7 not ,bethlehem1 but ,nazareth4 ,it is hardly possible to deny his ignorance when we find in the ,first ,gospel these words3 8,now when ,jesus was born in ,bethlehem of ,juda 444 ,and he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of ,israel4 ,but when he heard that ,archelaus was reigning over ,juda1 he was afraid to go thither2 and being warned of ,god in a dream1 he withdrew into the parts of ,galilee and came and dwelt in a city called ,nazareth40 ,obviously the writer is ignorant that 8a city called ,nazareth0 was the original home of the parents of ,jesus1 and that they had no reason for returning to 8,juda20 his whole narrative assumes that ,bethlehem in ,juda was the home1 and that the parents of ,jesus were only prevented from returning thither by the fear of ,archelaus1 which forced them to leave their native city and to take up their abode in 8a city called ,nazareth40 ,now it is probable that ,st4 ,luke's account is here the correct one1 and that the erroneous tradition found in the ,first ,gospel was a mere inference from the prophecy that 8from ,bethlehem0 there should 8come forth a governor40 ,but what a light does this discrepancy throw upon the uncertainty of the very earliest traditions about the infancy of ,jesus when we find the only two ,evangelists who say anything about it1 differing as to the place where the parents of ,jesus lived at the time when they were married6 ,i have no doubt that ,st4 ,luke did his best1 in the paucity1 or more probably in the variety1 of conflicting traditions1 to select those which seemed to him most authoritative and most spiritual4 ,even the most careless reader of the ,english text must feel1 without knowing a word of ,greek1 that ,st4 ,luke's first two chapters--which contain the stories of the infancy--are entirely different from the style of the preface 7i4 #a-d71 and from that of the rest of the ,gospel4 ,the two chapters sound1 even in ,english1 like a bit out of the ,old ,testament2 and any ,greek scholar1 accustomed to the ,,lxx1 would recognize that they were either a close translation from the ,aramaic1 or written by some one who wrote in ,greek1 modelling his style on the ,,lxx4 ,it is probable that they represent some traditions of ,aramaic origin1 the best that ,st4 ,luke could find when he began to write of the wonders that had happened more than sixty or seventy years ago4 ,to those who can form the least conception of the extent to which ,oriental tradition in the villages of ,galilee might be transmuted after an interval of sixty or seventy years1 it must seem quite beside the mark to assert the historical accuracy of the tradition concerning the ,miraculous ,conception which ,st4 ,luke has incorporated in his ,gospel1 on the ground that he was a physician2 that he took pains to get at the truth2 and that he has written a masterly and exact account of a shipwreck which he1 or some friends of his1 may have witnessed in person4 ,the very sobriety of his own preface ought to put us on our guard against attaching to ,st4 ,luke's history such weight1 for example1 as we attach to the history of ,thucydides4 ,he says1 it is true1 that he had 8traced the course of all things accurately from the first1 i4e4 from the commencement of ,christ's life30 but this amounts to much less than the statement of ,thucydides1 who tells us that he had personally inquired from those who knew the facts1 besides having seen some of the facts himself 7,thuc4 i4 #bb74 ,he does not say that 8the eye-witnesses and ministers of the word0 had given him any special information3 on the contrary he mentions himself only as one of many who had received 8traditions0 from eye-witnesses1 and he implies that a good many of the existing narratives1 based upon these very traditions1 were at least so far unsatisfactory that they did not dispense with an additional narrative from him4 ,the emphasis which ,st4 ,luke lays on the fact that he has traced things 8from the first10 and that he writes 8in order10--combined with the mention of 8many0 predecessors who have 8taken in hand0 the work which he intends to do over again--makes it almost certain that some of these ,evangelists had omitted all account of our ,lord's birth2 others had not regarded chronological order2 others had not written 8accurately40 ,all these deficiencies indicate a great and general difficulty in obtaining exact information2 and the mere honesty of a new attempt1 under circumstance so disadvantageous1 cannot justify us in attaching a very high authority to a tradition in this new ,gospel1 of a miraculous character1 and in a style that appears to be not ,st4 ,luke's own1 referring to an incident supposed to have occurred upwards of sixty years before4 ,this digression about ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel will not be without its use if it leads you to perceive that history1 and experience1 and criticism1 while they tend to make us believe more1 tend also to make us know less1 about ,christ's life and doctrine2 ,i mean1 that we find we know a little less about the historical facts of ,christ's life than we supposed we knew1 while we are led to believe a great deal more in the divine depth and wisdom of ,his ideas4 ,i pass to the second question which you put to me1 8,what sense1 if any1 do you yourself attach to the statement in the ,creed that ,christ was born of a ,virgin80 ,before ,i tell you what sense ,i attach to it1 or rather what sense seems to me the only one compatible with the facts1 ,i must honestly express my doubt whether any sense that is compatible with the facts1 is also compatible with the words4 ,to speak plainly1 the statement appears to be so obviously literal that ,i shrink from interpreting it metaphorically2 and yet1 if taken literally1 it appears to me to be false4 ,the word 8,virgin0 is perhaps the only word in the service and ritual of the ,church of ,england 7if the ,athanasian ,creed be left out of consideration1 owing to the non-natural and humane interpretations of it which have been sanctioned by high authority7 which has made me doubt at times whether ,i ought to do official work as a minister in that ,church4 ,as regards the 8resurrection of the body10 asserted in one of the ,creeds1 ,i feel little or no difficulty3 for ,st4 ,paul's use of the term 8spiritual body0 allows great latitude to those who would give a spiritual interpretation to the phrase in the ,creed2 and ,i trust that ,i have made it clear to you that ,i accept ,christ's ,resurrection as a reality1 though a spiritual reality4#ce ,but the words implying the birth from the ,virgin stand on a different footing4 ,in the ,resurrection of ,jesus ,i believe that there was a unique vision of the buried ,saviour1 apparent to several disciples at a time2 but in the conception and birth of ,jesus ,i have no reason for thinking that there was anything unusual apparent to the senses4 ,what can ,i mean then by saying that ,jesus is 8born of a ,virgin08 ,all that ,i can mean is this4 ,human generation does not by any means account for the birth of a new human spirit4 ,so far as we are righteous1 we all owe our righteousness to a spiritual seed within us2 8we are not10 as ,philo would say1 8the result of generation but the work of the ,unbegotten40 ,so far as we are righteous1 we are 8born not of blood1 nor of the will of the flesh1 nor of the will of man1 but of ,god0 7,john i4 #ac74 ,but of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ we are in the habit of saying and believing that ,he was uniquely and entirely righteous2 and therefore we say that ,he was uniquely and entirely born of ,god4 ,in all human generation there must be some congenital divine act1 if a righteous soul is to be produced2 and in the generation of ,christ there was a unique congenital act of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,that ,word of ,god which in various degrees inspires every righteous human soul 7none can say how soon in its existence7 did not inspire ,jesus1 but was 7to speak in metaphor7 totally present in ,jesus from the first so as to exclude all imperfection of humanity4 ,human unrighteousness--such as we are in the habit of attributing to human generation--there was1 in this case1 none4 ,therefore we say that the generation of ,jesus was not human but divine4 ,so much ,i can honestly say because ,i heartily believe it4 ,how far one is justified in putting so strained an interpretation on the words 8born of the ,virgin ,mary0--even in the ,church of ,england1 where simultaneous conservatism and progress have been bought at the cost of many strained interpretations--is a question on which ,i may perhaps hereafter say a word or two1 but not now4 ,meantime let me merely add my conviction that there may have been a time when this illusion of the ,miraculous ,conception did more good than harm4 ,in former days1 that spiritual truth which we can now disentangle from the story of the ,miraculous ,conception may have been conveyed by means of it to hearts which would have otherwise never recognized that ,jesus was the ,son of ,god4 ,it was surely better then1 and it is better now1 that men should believe the great truth that ,jesus is the ,son of ,god1 at the cost of believing 7provided they can honestly believe7 the untruth that ,jesus was not the son of ,joseph1 than that they should altogether fail to recognize ,his divine ,sonship1 because they were alive to the fact that ,he was born of human parents in accordance with the laws of humanity4 ,but in these days the doctrine of the ,miraculous ,conception seems to me fraught with evil2 partly because the weakness of the evidence makes the narrative a stumbling-block for many who are taught to consider this doctrine essential and who cannot bring themselves to believe it2 partly because it tends to sanction a false and monastic ideal of life2 to separate ,jesus from common humanity and from human love and sympathy2 and to encourage false notions about a material ,resurrection of the body of ,jesus1 which naturally result in a false1 bewildering1 and disorderly expectation of a material ,resurrection for ourselves4 ,footnote #cb3 ,yet ,i have heard it said1 8,so far as evidence goes1 you have no more reason for rejecting the ,miraculous ,conception than for rejecting the story that ,jesus washed the feet of the ,apostles3 for two witnesses attest the former2 but only one1 the latter4 ,your objection is a priori40 ,such arguments seem to me to fail to recognize the first principles of evidence4 ,the omission of a stupendous marvel1 an integral part 7and is not the parentage an integral part87 of a biography1 by biographers who have no motive for omitting it and every motive for inserting it1 is a strong proof that they did not know it4 ,for a similar instance1 see above1 p4 #afg4 ,footnote #cc3 ,you remember that the two accounts of the ,miraculous ,conception differ in respect of the 8annunciation02 which ,st4 ,matthew describes as being made to ,joseph1 ,st4 ,luke as being made to ,mary4 ,it is interesting to note how these two variations correspond to two variations in the ancient prophecy4 ,in the ,,lxx the name is to be given to the child1 not by the mother1 but by the future husband3 8,the virgin shall be with child and bring forth a son1 and thou shalt call his name ,immanuel04 ,in the ,hebrew1 the 8virgin10 or 8maiden10 is herself to name the child2 8,a virgin shall 444 bring forth and shall call1 c40 ,adopting the former version1 a narrator would infer that the announcement of the birth was to be made to ,joseph1 as the first ,gospel does3 8,she shall bring forth a child and thou 7,joseph7 shalt call his name ,jesus40 ,adopting the latter version1 and changing the third into the second person for the purpose of an 8annunciation10 the narrator would infer that since the name was to be given by the mother1 the announcement was made to the mother1 as the third ,gospel does2 8,thou shalt be with child1 and shalt bring forth a son1 and shalt call his name ,jesus40 ,note also that afterwards1 when ,st4 ,matthew actually quotes the whole prophecy with the name 8,immanuel0 7i4 #bc71 he alters the verb into the third person plural3 8,that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the ,lord by the prophet1 saying1 ,behold the virgin shall be with child1 and shall bring forth a child1 and they shall call his name ,immanuel40 ,the reason is obvious4 ,it would not be true to say that ,mary called her son 8,immanuel02 it would only be possible to suggest that men in general 78they071 looking on the ,child as the token of ,god's presence among them1 might bestow on him some such title 7not name7 as 8,god with us40 ,consequently ,st4 ,matthew here alters 8thou0 into 8they04 ,footnote #cd3 ,contemporary ,review1 ,feb4 #ahhf1 p4 #aic4 ,footnote #ce3 ,i must admit that a more serious difficulty is presented to ,sponsors by the interrogative form of the ,creed in the ,baptismal service1 to which they are expected to reply in the affirmative3 8,dost thou believe in the ,resurrection of the flesh80 ,but ,i can hardly think that many clergymen would wish to reject an otherwise eligible ,sponsor who confided to them that he could only accept 8flesh0 in the sense of 8body10 and that too in the ,pauline sense of 8spiritual body40 ,,xxvi ,,prayer1 ,,heaven1 ,,hell ,you ask me whether one who has seceded from miraculous to non-miraculous ,christianity still finds himself able to pray as before4 ,but towards the end of your letter you amend your question4 ,you are 8quite sure10 you are pleased to say1 from what you know of me1 that ,i shall 8answer this question affirmatively1 though in defiance of all logic30 and therefore1 anticipating my answer1 you state your objection to it beforehand1 and ask me how ,i can meet your objection1 which is to this effect3 8,if the laws of nature are never suspended1 then it is absurd1 or perhaps impious1 to pray for that which implies their suspension4 ,for example1 a friend of mine may be in a stage of disease so fatally advanced that1 without a suspension of the laws of nature1 it is no more possible that he should recover from the disease than that his body should rise from the grave4 ,according to the tenets of your non-miraculous ,christianity1 must ,i not abstain from praying that he may recover80 ,i do not see any great difficulty here4 ,change the hypothesis for a moment4 ,suppose your friend to be no longer living1 but dead4 ,are you willing--would you be willing1 even were you the most orthodox believer in miraculous ,christianity--to pray that the body of your dead friend might arise revivified from the grave a week after he had been laid in it8 ,you know you would not be willing4 ,why not8 ,you cannot say 8,because it is impossible10 for you would admit 7on the supposition of your being a believer in the miraculous7 not only that it is possible1 but that it has actually been done in times past4 ,but you would feel1 ,i am sure1 that you dare not1 and ought not1 to pray for this object1 because such a prayer would be a revolt against that established order of things which you recognize to be a manifestation of ,god's present will4 ,i say 8,god's present will10 because you do not 7if you agree with me7 regard death as being in accordance with ,god's future will3 it is an evil1 sprung1 not from ,god1 but from evil1 out of which ,god is working good4 ,but ,he bids us acquiesce in it during our present imperfect state of existence2 and hence1 though you believe ,he will ultimately destroy death1 you do not feel justified in praying that its present operation may be neutralized by a suspension of the laws of nature4 ,now to return to your own supposition that your friend is not dead1 but merely in danger of death4 ,health and life are dependent upon many complex causes1 among which 7it will be admitted by all7 are those mysterious fluctuations of the thoughts and emotions1 which ,i believe in many cases to proceed--,i speak in a metaphor--straight from ,god ,himself4 ,to one who believes that the spirits of men are in constant communion with the all-sustaining ,spirit of the ,creator1 the thoughts of men may well seem to be as dependent upon their divine ,origin as the air in my little room is at this moment dependent upon the changes of the circumambient atmosphere4 ,of course1 if you are a thorough-going1 scientific hope-nothing and trust-nothing1 such a belief as this appears to you an idle dream4 ,from your point of view1 you are a machine2 your friend is a machine2 all men are machines2 the world is a machine2 the action and inter-action of all these animate and inanimate machines is predetermined1 even to the minutest movement of a limb1 or most fleeting shade of thought1 in each one of the myriads of human mechanisms called men4 ,the thorough-going materialist1 when he rebukes his son and tells him that he 8ought not to have0 told a lie1 knows perfectly well that his son could not possibly help telling that lie1 and that he was bound by all the laws of nature to tell it4 ,the materialist father is1 in fact1 telling a lie himself2 only more deliberately than the little son4 ,he is using words which have no true meaning for him1 as a kind of oil to grease the wheels of the little machine before him1 having learned by accumulated experience that this lying phrase1 8,you ought to have10 has for many thousands of years proved a very effective kind of oil1 and that the true and scientific phrase1 8,it would have been better if you could have1 but you could not10 would be wholly inefficacious4 ,but since it is obvious that this view of existence converts all moral language1 and almost all the higher relations of life1 into one gigantic lie1 ,i make no apology at all for putting it by with contempt as being beneath the consideration of a child of ten at which age1 as far as ,i remember ,i grappled with this question of predestination1 and settled it 7so far as ,i was concerned1 for ever7 by coming to the conclusion that 8it does not work40 ,now when you have once given up1 as unworkable1 the theory that all our thoughts and emotions spring necessarily from antecedent material causes1 you have bidden good-bye to ,knowledge1 so far as concerns the origin of human thought1 and you are thrown back upon ,faith4 ,i believe therefore1 and ,i make no apology for my belief1 that the mysterious fluctuations of human thought and will may sometimes proceed from ,god without the intervention of material causes1 perhaps in virtue of the existence of some invisible law of union by which the souls of men are united to ,god and to one another4 ,this being my belief--which at all events does not contain so many and such perpetually-recurring inconsistencies as the belief of your thorough-going materialist--you will understand1 without much further explanation1 when and why ,i should pray even for those of whom the physician is inclined to despair4 ,faith and hope1 have1 before now1 worked such wonders in healing1 that 8while there is life there is hope0 has passed into a proverb4 ,i cannot be sure that my prayers might not have some kind of direct power--by a kind of brain-wave such as we have heard of lately--in affecting the emotions and spirits of the sufferer4 ,it is seldom that even a physician can speak with certainty about the immediate issue of a disease3 and whatsoever is uncertain is 7if it be also right7 a reasonable subject for prayer4 ,but if ,i were myself absolutely convinced that there was no chance of my friend's recovery without a suspension of the laws of nature1 ,i should feel that prayer rightly and naturally gave way to resignation4 ,no one however who is in the habit of praying will think it necessary to spend much time or thought in discriminating exactly between that which may be1 and that which cannot possibly be4 ,he must know that1 very often1 where his prayer trenches on the province of the material1 the line cannot be drawn except by an expert in science1 which he may not happen to be2 and besides1 in the mood of prayer1 he will feel that the scientific and discriminating spirit is out of place4 ,he is not thinking of things scientifically1 but spiritually1 putting his wishes before the ,father in heaven1 and content to couple each wish with an 8,if it be possible40 ,sometimes he learns1 after constant repetition1 that the prayer is an unfit one1 and he discontinues it2 in that case he has gained by his prayer a closer insight into1 and conformity with1 the will of ,god4 ,in other cases he continues his prayer and receives an answer to it--either the answer that he himself desires1 or some other perhaps1 quite different from that which he expected1 but one which he ultimately recognizes to be the best4 ,but there will be cases where he will continue his prayer1 feeling it to be right and natural1 although he receives no answer to it at all1 so far as he can discern4 ,for he will feel quite certain that no genuine prayer is wasted4 ,our spirits1 or our angels--to use the language of metaphor--are not on earth3 they sit together in heaven1 that is to say1 in the heart of ,god2 and whenever one of us can conceive a genuinely unselfish and righteous wish for a brother spirit and wing it with faith so that it flies up to heaven--a flight by no means so easy or so common as we suppose1 and probably not often flown1 unless the arrow is feathered by deeds and pains as well as words--then it not only brings back a blessing upon the wisher but also thrills through the spiritual assembly above and comes back as a special blessing to the person prayed for4 ,but need ,i add that this is not a process to be performed mechanically8 ,there is no recipe for effectual prayer4 ,but1 to come down from metaphors1 let me attempt to answer your question1 8,what difference of attitude in prayer will there be between the believer in natural1 and the believer in miraculous1 ,christianity80 ,as far as my experience goes1 there will be very little2 except that the former will be rather more disposed to ask1 before uttering a prayer1 how far the granting of it might indirectly affect others4 ,logically and theoretically there ought to be a great deal of difference2 for if the believer in the miraculous were consistent1 he might naturally pray that a miracle might be performed for him1 as it has been for others1 for a good purpose4 ,as a matter of fact1 the prayers of children trained in orthodoxy are thus sometimes consistent4 ,i dare say one might find a child who has prayed that the sun might stand still that he might have a longer holiday4 ,and why not now from the child's point of view as well as formerly8 ,but ,i suppose few men in ,england1 now1 even of the strictly orthodox1 are in this puerile stage4 ,almost all full-grown ,english ,protestants recognize that1 although miracles were freely performed from the year #djjd ,b4,c4 to1 say ,a4,d4 #fa or thereabouts--when ,st4 ,paul shook off the serpent and took no harm--yet 8the age of miracles is now past40 ,yet ,i have heard of men of business who make a point of praying earnestly on the subject of commercial speculations1 the rise and fall of consols1 the price of sugar and the like4 ,will any one maintain that people are not the worse for such prayers as these1 or that the believer in natural ,christianity is not a gainer by losing the desire and the power to utter them8 ,on the whole1 ,i see but one subject of prayer mentioned in our ,english ,prayer-book1 as to which natural ,christianity would probably dictate silence3 ,i mean the weather4 ,it might be argued that1 8since the weather is affected by human action 7by the clearing of forests1 draining of marshes1 and so on71 and since prayers affect human action1 therefore they do affect the weather indirectly1 and may affect it directly40 ,but from 8indirect0 to 8direct0 is a great leap2 and ,i am moved toward resignation rather than prayer1 by the thought that1 in revealing to us more and more of the extent of the causes and effects of meteorological phenomena1 ,god seems to be shewing us that1 in asking for weather that suits ourselves1 we may be asking for weather that may not suit others4 ,i should be sorry to see harvest prayers excluded from our ,church service2 but ,i think they should express our hope and trust in ,god's orderly government of the seasons1 beseeching ,him to bestow on the husbandman patience and skill so as to meet and improve adversity1 and on the nation thrift and frugality so as to avoid waste4 ,since writing the last paragraph ,i was interrupted2 and now1 returning to my letter1 ,i feel strongly inclined to cancel the last two or three pages of apologetic argumentation2 arguing about prayer seems so absurdly useless4 ,yet perhaps my remarks may weigh for something with you in your present oscillation4 ,they may possibly prevent you from giving up1 in a moment of virtuous logic1 a habit which1 once discontinued1 is not easily resumed4 ,let them pass then2 but let them not pass without a protest that they by no means express my sense of the vital necessity of prayer for a ,christian4 ,to me it seems the very breath of our spiritual life1 as needful for peace and union with ,god as communion between children and parents is needful for domestic concord4 ,without it1 faith must speedily vanish4 ,even a comparatively dull and lifeless petition at stated intervals has some value as a sign-post1 indicating the road on which we ought to be travelling though our feet may be straying elsewhere4 ,but in truth real ,christian prayer 7mostly silent7 should be1 as ,st4 ,paul says 8without ceasing20 for prayer is but aspiration and desire1 emerging into shape4 ,when a man has reached such a height that he has ceased to wish to be something better than he is1 then and then only may he cease to pray4 ,one kind of prayer at all events ,i have felt able to retain which seems to me of far more value than the prayer for fair weather--,i mean prayer for the dead4 ,i do not deny that1 when coupled with superstitious views about heaven and hell1 the custom of praying for the dead may result in superstition1 and even in the encouragement of immorality2 and the hired and conventional prayers for the dead prevalent in the sixteenth century appear to me to have constituted an abuse against which our ,english ,reformers did well to protest4 ,but these abuses and corruptions seem to me accidental1 and quite insufficient to deter us from use of the most helpful of spiritual habits4 ,i do not propose to argue about it1 but you may like to know the sort of accident by which ,i was led to form this habit1 and the practical reasons for which ,i clung to it1 and still cling to it1 with the deepest conviction that it is not only spiritually useful1 but also based on spiritual truth4 ,many years ago a brother of mine was drowned at sea through the sudden capsizing of a vessel by night4 ,when the news came1 ,i was at first distracted between an intense desire to pray as before1 and a kind of instinctive and general repugnance to all prayers for the dead as being 8a ,romanist practice40 ,all the books ,i had read1 and all the notions ,i had formed1 about the fixed future of the dead1 suggested that such prayers were useless1 if not blasphemous4 ,on the other side there was no argument at all1 nothing but a vague strong desire to pray4 ,the painful conflict of that night--a conflict1 as it seems to me now1 between true natural religion and the false appearance of revealed religion--is still present to my recollection4 ,at last it occurred to me that more than a month had elapsed between the death and our knowledge of the death1 and throughout all those thirty days my prayers had gone up to ,god for one whose soul was no longer upon earth4 ,were those prayers wasted8 ,i could not believe it4 ,besides1 we had not yet received full details of the loss of the vessel4 ,it was just possible that my brother might have been saved in one of the ship's boats3 he might be still living1 and in sore need of help3 how monstrous1 if it were so1 that ,i should in such a crisis cease to pray for him6 ,so with doubt and trembling ,i still continued my custom1 fashioning some kind of prayer to suit the emergency4 ,while ,i was in this oscillating state of mind1 news came that a second boatful1 and almost immediately afterwards that a third1 had been picked up at sea4 ,my brother was not in either3 but why might there not be a fourth8 ,for some time1 with less doubt than before1 ,i continued to pray4 ,days1 weeks1 months rolled on1 and now all hope had slipped away2 but the habit was now fixed4 ,i could not1 or would not1 break it4 ,praying day and night for one who was possibly living2 just possibly living2 probably not living2 certainly dead--,i had learned to realize the presence of my brother's spirit1 as very near and close to me1 as one with whom ,i was still in some kind of communion2 and now to drop his name out of my prayers1 simply because ,i should never touch his hand again in this world1 seemed a faithless1 a wicked1 a cruel act4 ,the prayer could not indeed remain the same in circumstances so completely changed2 ,i could of course no longer pray that the dead might be restored to me on earth2 but it was still open to me to make mention of his name1 and to beseech ,god that he and ,i might meet again in heaven3 and thus1 with a curious kind of compromise1 worthy of a less youthful theologian1 ,i circumvented my own orthodoxy by still praying in reality for my brother while ,i appeared to be praying for myself4 ,more than seven-and-twenty years have now passed away1 but not a night or morning has passed without the mention of that familiar name2 and ,i entreat you to believe me that1 next to the power of ,christ ,himself upon the soul1 ,i have not found1 nor can ,i imagine1 any influence so potent as this habit of praying for the dead1 to detach the mind from petty and visible things1 to unlock the spiritual world1 to carry the soul up to the very source and centre of spiritual life1 and to bring us into faithful communion with the ,father of the spirits of all flesh4 ,you see ,i have kept my promise of not arguing on this matter4 ,i have simply told you how ,i have longed and doubted2 how my doubts were dissipated by practice2 and what strength ,i have personally derived from the practice4 ,probably this will seem to you1 if interesting1 at all events inadequate4 8,logically10 you will perhaps say to yourself1 8he ought to have attempted first to convince me that the eternal state of the dead is not finally determined at the moment of death2 so that prayer may reasonably be expected to have some power to change their condition4 ,he ought to have told me whether he believes in a ,purgatory1 or in a limited ,hell2 whether he is a ,universalist2 or whether he believes in the annihilation of all who are not to be saved4 ,in a word1 he ought to have given me a full account of his theory about the condition of the dead1 before he commends to me the habit of praying for them40 ,here ,i fear ,i shall terribly disappoint you2 but1 at the risk of whatever disappointment1 ,i will confess to you the whole truth4 ,this part of my ,manual of ,theology has large print1 large margin1 and several blank pages4 ,i believe some things with such force and clearness that ,i prefer to say ,i do not believe them4 ,i see them3 but about many other things which most people believe1 ,i know little or nothing4 ,do ,i believe in a ,hell8 ,yes1 as firmly as ,i believe in a ,heaven2 but not in your ,hell perhaps1 and certainly not in the ordinary guide-books to ,hell and ,heaven4 ,perhaps some would call my ,hell 8merely retribution10 or 8an illogical and ill-defined ,purgatory20 and from their point of view they could be right in complaining of its indefiniteness2 for they profess to know all about it and to be able to define it4 ,but from my point of view ,i am equally right in speaking indefinitely2 for ,i profess to have only a glimpse of it4 ,of the principles of ,hell and ,heaven ,i am certain1 but of the details ,i am entirely ignorant4 ,i know nothing whatever1 and ,i know that no one else knows anything whatever1 about the state of the dead2 except that they are just as much in ,god's hand when dead as when living1 and that ,he will ultimately do the best thing for each2 but what that 8best thing0 may be ,i cannot tell in detail1 although ,i am very sure that it will be one thing for ,st4 ,francis and quite another for ,nero4 ,for the rest1 all the elaborate structures and fancy-fabrics of ,heaven and ,hell1 ,purgatory1 ,paradise1 ,limbo1 and other regions1 whether theologians or poets be the architects1 appear to me built upon the flimsiest foundations1 tags of texts1 fragments of words1 quagmires of metaphor1 quicksands of hyperbole4 ,no2 such real knowledge--or shall we say such conviction8--as we have about the eternal future of the dead1 is to be based1 not upon argument or inference from minute and disputable interpretations of small portions of ,scripture1 but mainly upon our faith in the divine righteousness and power4 ,you will not1 ,i hope1 misunderstand my words that 8,god will do the best thing for each10 or draw from them the inference1 8,then he is a ,universalist after all40 ,i took for granted--,i hope ,i was not wrong--that you would remember the definition of justice which you have read in ,plato4 ,in fact therefore ,i merely expressed in those words my conviction that ,god would be 8just0 to us after death4#cf ,might we not also define the highest mercy1 in the same terms in which we define the highest justice1 as being the feeling that prompts us to 8do what is best for each08 ,and1 if so1 does it not seem to follow that in ,hell ,god will not cease to be merciful1 and in ,heaven ,god will not cease to be just8 ,and hence are we not brought close to the conclusion that ,heaven and ,hell are not really places1 but the diverse results of the operation of the ,eternal--the just ,mercy1 the merciful ,justice--upon the diverse dead8 ,but here the question widens and deepens into expanses and depths altogether too vast and profound for me1 and ,i give up the problem4 ,all that ,i know is1 that there will be hereafter a just retribution4 ,yet if ,i am to tell you my own conjectural imaginations--for who can help at times imagining what the infinite unknown may be1 however loth he may be to insist or dogmatize about it1 or even to bestow much attention on it1 when the urgent present presses its superior claims8--,i will say for myself that ,i cannot believe ,i shall have served all my apprenticeship to righteousness in my brief life upon this earth1 or that ,i shall be fit immediately after death1 for that closest communion with ,god which appears to me the ,heaven of ,heavens4 ,some cleansing retribution1 some further purification1 seems to me necessary and likely for myself--and1 ,i must add1 for the greater number of those human beings with whom ,i have had to do--before we attain to that blessed consummation4 8,so you believe in a ,purgatory then80 ,how do ,i know8 ,say rather1 ,i conjecture there may be many heavens4 ,in any case1 ,i find it very easy to imagine a retribution and a purification that shall be purely spiritual1 without having recourse to any material flames or physical horrors4 ,some people find a difficulty in this notion3 they consider it1 but deliberately put it aside2 as if mere remorse1 sorrow1 and self-condemnation1 could never be bitter enough to constitute a just ,hell4 ,i do not think they have ever realized--perhaps they have never tried to realize--the pain that may be felt by a spirit sitting alone1 away from this familiar world and every well-known face1 and quietly judging and condemning itself4 ,a mere accident1 a ludicrous accident1 once gave me a moment's experience of this feeling1 and ,i have never been able to forget it1 never been able to put aside the conviction that that feeling1 intensified1 might constitute ,hell4 ,it happened in this way4 ,some years ago1 before nitrous oxide had come into very general use among dentists1 ,i went to have a tooth extracted1 and determined to try the gas4 ,perhaps ,i had some misgivings that it was a little cowardly2 perhaps ,i was a little nervous2 in any case ,i remember at the last moment thinking that ,i should like to be conscious of the precise moment when unconsciousness came2 ,i remember struggling to retain consciousness--even when a tell-tale throbbing in the temples shewed that something new was going on--protesting to myself that the gas had 8no power10 8no power at all yet10 8,i don't believe it's going to have any power0--till the portcullis came down4 ,i suppose the consequence was that ,i inhaled rather more than was usual2 and when ,i came to myself ,i heard the voices of the dentist and the physician--a long way off1 as it seemed to me1 but with perfect distinctness saying that 8he was a long time coming to0 and they did not 8quite like the look of things10 and so on4 ,meantime ,i lay motionless and without power either to move or speak1 but perfectly conscious4 ,i took in the whole situation at once4 ,i was dead4 ,i had passed into another state of existence4 ,i could think more clearly than before4 ,i was a spirit4 ,and then the thought came pressing in upon me1 as ,i reviewed my whole life and the manner of my death1 that to avoid a little pain ,i had done a wrong thing and had deserted those who needed me and would miss me4 ,no fear possessed me1 not the slightest fear1 of any external punishment for the fault which ,i thought ,i had committed3 but in a detached solitude ,i seemed to be quietly and coldly sitting in judgment upon myself1 impartially hearing what ,i had to say in self-defence1 rejecting it as inadequate1 and passing against myself the verdict of ,guilty4 ,painful1 increasingly painful1 the burden of this self-condemnation seemed to press and crush me down more and more past power of bearing1 so that at last1 when in one moment ,i recovered both power of motion and knowledge that ,i was alive again1 ,i leapt up from the dentist's arm-chair1 and1 without taking the least notice of the two operators1 ,i gave vent to my feelings by shouting aloud the well-known words from ,clarence's dream 8--and for a space ,could not believe but that ,i was in hell40 ,i shall not easily forget the look of mingled humour and horror with which the dentist replied1 8,well1 sir1 considering you are a clergyman1 ,i should have hoped it might have been the other place40 ,i tried to explain4 ,i assured him that it was a quotation from ,shakespeare2 that ,i had not really believed that ,i was in the place commonly called ,hell2 and so on4 ,but ,i am quite sure my explanations were utterly ineffectual2 and to this day ,i probably labour under the suspicion1 in the minds of at least two worthy persons1 of having committed some horrible crime by which my conscience is racked with agony4 ,in reality1 however1 it was a small offence1 if any1 for which ,i suffered that bad quarter of a minute2 and ,i have often since thought that1 if the mind is capable of inflicting such pain upon itself for a venial error1 those pangs must be terrible indeed with which our sinful souls may be forced to scourge themselves when we judicially review the actions of a selfish life with a compulsory knowledge of all the evil1 direct and indirect1 which we have wrought1 and when we realize at last--ah1 how differently from the dull1 decorous1 conventional contrition with which we droned out the words on earth1 kneeling on the hassocks in the family pew--that 8we have left undone those things which we ought to have done1 and done those things which we ought not to have done40 ,but why do ,i thus discourse in detail upon a subject about which ,i have admitted that ,i know no details8 ,it is in order to shew you that though ,i do not know much1 the little ,i do know greatly influences me4 ,the thought of a material ,hell has probably contributed largely to insanity1 and has exercised a baneful influence upon many women and children2 but the majority of healthy men who profess to believe in a pit of flame are little influenced by it4 ,it is so horrible1 so unnatural1 so unjust1 that in their heart of hearts they feel sure the good ,god cannot mean it2 ,he will let them off2 or they will get off somehow--by absolution1 by forensic justification1 by baptism1 by uncovenanted mercies1 or what not4 ,this is but natural4 ,how can it not be natural to believe that an unnatural and arbitrary ,hell may be dispensed with by an unnatural and arbitrary indulgence8 ,i have no such consolations4 ,with me1 ,hell is a different thing altogether3 it is natural1 it is inevitable1 it is just1 it is merciful4 ,not a day passes but ,i think of it and anticipate it in some sort for myself and my friends4 ,tout sepayera3 this act1 ,i say1 or this neglect1 was wrong1 and must have been injurious3 the doers cannot escape from the consequences of it2 ,i do not wish to escape from the consequences of it4 ,god will work good out of evil2 but ,he will be just1 not indulgent4 ,i do not want ,him to be indulgent4 ,thus ,heaven and ,hell1 impending over the routine of my every-day life1 become to me practical and potent realities2 but they are real to because the conceptions ,i have formed of them are in accordance with the profound laws of spiritual nature1 and quite independent of the conflicting fancies of theologians4 ,ask me what ,i trust to be in ,heaven1 and ,i can give you no answer save that one which ,i have often given you before--a being capable of loving and of serving ,god4 ,ask me the nature of ,hell and ,heaven1 and my only reply is that they will be ,god's retribution4 ,ask me whether all will be hereafter 8saved10 and ,i am silent1 or merely answer that ,god is good1 and that ,i believe a time will come when we1 in ,him1 shall look back1 and around1 and forward1 and shall see that ,his work has been 8very good40 ,enough for me to work and fight on the side of ,god and against ,evil1 that ,his righteous ,kingdom may come and bring with it the time when ,his work will be seen to have been 8very good40 ,as for other details1 ,i know nothing and delight in knowing nothing4 ,i do not know whether ,i shall live again on earth or elsewhere2 whether ,i shall be a being of three dimensions1 or four1 or of no dimensions at all2 whether ,i shall be in space or out of space4 ,it is far better to give up speculations about accidental trifles such as these3 for accidents they are1 as compared with the essence of the second life1 which consists in ,love4 ,do not give up the belief in that1 at any cost2 least of all1 at the cost of a little banter4 8,but surely it is possible that our very highest and purest conceptions of ,heaven may fall short of the reality40 ,granted3 but we must hold fast to the belief that there is at all events a proportion between our best terrestrial aspirations and their celestial equivalents4 ,we must reject1 as from ,satan1 the suggestion 7was it ,spinoza's87 that there is no more likeness between ,god and our conception of ,god than between the constellation ,canis and a dog4 8,god may not be ,love30 ,i do not believe you3 but if ,he is not ,love1 ,he will be some celestial form of ,love1 corresponding to our ,love1 only infinitely better4 8,you will not retain your individuality30 possibly not1 but certainly we shall have something corresponding to individuality1 only better4 ,and so of the rest4 ,we shall talk humbly1 as beseems our microcosmic faculties2 we are but the transitory tenants of a little world1 which is to the ,universe but as a dew-drop to the ocean3 yet even a dew-drop exhibits the same infrangible laws of light and the same divine glories that are manifested in the rainbow and the sunset4 ,so it is with a human soul3 there are laws in it of righteousness and justice and retribution--laws which cannot be broken by the fictions and illusions of theology1 but must be manifested in all places and in all time1 now and for all eternity1 on earth1 in ,heaven1 in ,hell4 ,footnote #cf3 ,has not some confusion of thought arisen from a habit of confusing 8just0 with 8severe08 ,i believe some men would feel more reverently towards ,god1 if they would speak1 not of ,his 8justice10 but of ,his 8fairness40 ,,xxvii ,,pauline ,,theology ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i will begin this letter by quoting the end of your last4 ,for when you have thought over the matter ,i am sure your mind will be so completely changed that unless ,i send you an exact copy of your own words you will hardly believe you could ever have written them4 ,you are speaking about the theology of ,st4 ,paul1 and this is what you say3 8,i presume that ,natural ,christianity1 however glad it may be to shelter itself under ,pauline authority in the low estimate it sets on miracles1 will find it difficult to digest or swallow ,pauline theology4 ,the abstruse and artificial doctrines of the imputation of righteousness1 justification by faith1 and the atonement1 must surely stand at the very antipodes of any religion1 ,christian1 or other1 that can claim the name of natural40 ,i do not believe you can ever have given five minutes of attention to these subjects3 or if you have1 you must have attended1 not to ,st4 ,paul1 but to some voluminous commentator who has buried ,st4 ,paul's text under his own and other people's annotations4 ,cast your commentaries away4 ,read ,st4 ,paul for yourself in the light of his own works and the ,old ,testament 7especially the ,septuagint version71 and ,i will guarantee that his general drift shall come out clear and definite enough2 and1 what is more1 you shall acknowledge that his religion is perfectly natural1 so natural that you meet exemplifications of it every day of your life1 in every family1 in your own home1 in your own heart4 ,it would be tedious if ,i were to give you a scheme of ,pauline theology and then shew you the naturalness of each part of the scheme4 ,for me it would be long and wearisome2 and you too would be inclined to stop me at the end of every other sentence and say 8,i know that ,st4 ,paul says this or that1 but how is it natural80 ,i will therefore begin at the other end1 that is to say1 with ,nature1 and endeavour to shew you that the natural history of a child1 under favourable circumstances1 exhibits the general features of ,st4 ,paul's theology1 the scheme of ,redemption by which the ,apostle believed mankind to have been led to ,god4 ,we begin then with a baby--a creature wholly selfish 7in no bad sense71 say1 8self-regarding40 ,he is of course 8in the flesh10 or 8walks according to the flesh20 that is to say1 he obeys every impulse of the moment1 and these impulses are what we call animal impulses4 ,he is conscious of no ,law1 and therefore of no error3 being 8without the ,law0 he 8knows not sin40 ,as he grows up1 he finds himself making mistakes1 trespassing against ,nature's rules1 playing with fire1 for example3 and ,nature's punishment makes him conscious of mistake1 and desirous of avoiding mistake for fear of being punished2 that is to say1 he learns to avoid playing with fire because he has been burned for it4 ,this is his first introduction to 8the ,law20 and if he obeys ,nature's ,law1 through fear of ,nature's punishment1 or hope of ,nature's reward1 so much the better for him4 ,hitherto1 however1 there is no question of sin1 only of mistake4 ,but now comes in the parental ,law1 saying 8,do this10 8,do not do that40 ,sometimes he obeys2 sometimes1 when 8the flesh0 is too strong1 he disobeys4 ,in the latter case he is punished4 ,this new kind of ,law is not a machine-like reward or punishment like that of ,nature3 it is connected with a ,will1 which is dimly felt by the child to be higher and better than his own1 yet constantly opposed to his own4 ,here then arises a conflict between his strong animal impulses1 i4e4 8the flesh10 and a weak nascent impulse of conscience1 i4e4 8the spirit20 the former bidding him disobey the higher ,will1 the latter bidding him obey4 ,even when he disobeys1 the spirit has at least the power to make him uneasy in his disobedience1 and this uneasiness for the first time reveals in him the nature of sin4 ,until the ,law of the higher ,will was thus placed side by side with his own will1 and until the deflections of his own will from the higher ,will were thus made manifest and rebuked by conscience1 the child had no notion of sin4 ,now he knows it3 8by ,law has come the knowledge of sin40 ,as long as he is thus 8under the ,law0 he cannot possibly be righteous2 he can neither be 8justified0 nor feel 8justified40 ,when he is disobedient under the ,law1 he is conscious of sin2 but when he is obedient under the ,law1 he is not conscious of peace or inward harmony3 the ,law stands up1 for ever antagonistic to his natural impulses1 and he cannot but dislike it1 although he acknowledges its claims upon him3 consequently1 even when he obeys it1 he obeys it with a sense of servitude1 obeying in the fear of punishment or in the hope of reward4 ,such actions as are performed in this spirit have no spontaneousness or grace2 they are the tasks of a hireling1 mere piece-work--8works10 as ,st4 ,paul more shortly calls them4 or 8the works of the ,law20 and 8by the works of the ,law shall no flesh be justified40 ,during this period he finds no guidance from the spirit of loving obedience1 but has to trust in formularies and prescriptions1 8do this10 8avoid that20 he fears lest he may do too little1 and grudges lest he may do too much3 he is in the condition1 not of a son1 but of a servant working for wages4 ,just as the ,stoic said of the man who was not 8wise10 that whatever he did1 even to the moving of his little finger1 was sure to be wrong1 so ,st4 ,paul taught--and it is the truth--that our every action1 as long as we are 8under the ,law10 is void of harmony1 beauty1 freedom1 and spiritual life3 it is but obedience to a dead rule2 such actions are of the nature of sin and tend to spiritual destruction3 8the wages of sin are death40 ,during this state the raw1 half-developed1 ungraceful1 unharmonized1 and ever-erring boy of fifteen appears to have retrograded from the perfectly graceful and unconscious selfishness of the innocent child of four4 ,but it is not so4 ,the knowledge of sin is the stepping-stone to a higher righteousness than could have been obtained by perpetuating the innocence of childhood4 ,even during the period of the 8bondage to the ,law0 there were occasional intervals of freedom1 prophetic of a higher state4 ,duty1 sometimes1 shining out before the child as something purer and nobler than a mere inevitable debt1 appeared 8sweet and honourable20#cg and wherever ,duty thus revealed herself1 the child1 in freely and ungrudgingly obeying her1 was obeying no unworthy emblem of the ,father in heaven2 and by such obedience his character was strengthened and matured4 ,but now the time has come for another step upwards4 ,the boy disobeys and is forgiven4 ,at first1 forgiveness makes no impression on him4 ,he does not understand it1 does not believe in it1 because he does not quite believe in the author of it2 he regards his father as one too far above him to be able to sympathize entirely with his boyish desires and impatience of restraint1 too much like a ,law to be capable of feeling real pain at his faults4 ,as long as he is in this condition1 forgiveness comes to him as the mere remission of penalty2 he is glad to 8get off10 but his heart is not yet touched1 and there is therefore no real remission of sin1 partly because he has no sufficient sense of sin1 partly because he has no faith in the forgiver4 ,but at last comes the revelation of the meaning of forgiveness4 ,some outward sign1 a mother's tear1 the mere expression of the father's face--it may be this1 or it may be something of much longer duration and far more complex--but something at last brings home to him the fact that his sin weighs like a crushing burden upon the heart of some one else1 who1 in spite of his sin1 still loves him and still trusts in him4 ,his parents1 he finds--or it may be some brother1 sister1 or friend--are bearing his sin and carrying his iniquity as if it were their own3 the shame and the pain of it1 which he feels as a mere unpleasant uneasiness1 are causing to others an acute sorrow of which he had not dreamed before4 ,instead of being savagely angry with him1 furious at the mischief he has done1 and at the disgrace which he has brought upon them1 instead of visiting upon him all the consequences of his fault1 his parents are themselves suffering some part of it1 themselves crushed down by it3 if they punish him1 they are not punishing him vindictively but for his good--it is hard indeed to believe this1 but he believes it at last--the chastisement of his peace falls upon them as well as upon him2 their heart is broken and contrite for his sake2 their souls are a sacrifice for his2 they feel his sin as if it were their own2 they have appropriated his sin2 have been identified with his sin2 they are 8made sin0 for him4 ,now if the youth has not in him the germ of faith or trust whereby he can believe in the sincerity of these 7to him7 mysterious and at first inexplicable feelings1 why then the parental forgiveness is worse than nothing to him4 ,if he resists its influence and calls it cant or humbug1 it hardens instead of softening the boy's heart2 and then the little spiritual sensitiveness that he once had1 dies rapidly away4 ,in this case 8from him that hath not there hath been ta'en away even that which he seemed to have10 and the good-tidings or ,gospel of forgiveness has proved1 in this case1 8a savour of death unto death40 ,but if he has the germ of faith to begin with1 then the ,gospel works its natural result3 8to him that hath there is added1 and he hath more abundantly40 8,proceeding from faith0 the message of forgiveness tends 8to the increase of faith40#ch ,insensibly he finds himself raised up from his former position to the level of those who have forgiven him2 he is identified with his forgivers in spirit1 so that he now sees things as they see them1 and for the first time discerns the hatefulness of sin1 and hates it as they hate it1 and longs to shake it off as a burden alien to his nature4 ,at the same time1 finding himself trusted by those in whose truth as well as goodness he himself places trust1 he learns a new self-respect even in the moment when he awakens to his past degradation2 he has 7he feels it to be true7 something within him that may be trusted1 some possibility of better things which at once springs up into the reality of fulfilment under the warm breath of affectionate and trustful forgiveness4 ,in other words1 righteousness is 8imputed to him10 and he becomes righteous4 ,the gulf between the parental will and himself is now bridged over by a kind of atonement4 ,the relations which he imagined and created for himself before between his parents and himself1 were angry justice on the one side1 sullen obedience or open disobedience on the other side3 all this is now exchanged for an entirely different relationship1 love on both sides1 kind control from the one1 willing1 zealous obedience from the other1 resulting in perfect peace and in an atmosphere of mutual goodwill1 happiness1 joy1 favour4 ,for this kind of 8favour0 we have no exact word in ,english1 but in the ,greek ,testament it is called by a word which we must translate 8grace30 the youth then is 8no more under the law but under grace40 ,no longer now is he a servant1 performing 8works20 a community of feeling unites him with those above him1 whom he had once regarded as hostile and despotic4 ,no longer the slave of rules and orders1 no longer fearing punishment nor drudging for reward1 he is quickened by a spirit within him which guides him naturally to do1 and to anticipate1 not only the bidding1 but even the unexpressed wishes1 of that higher ,will4 ,his whole life is now a service devoted to this new ,master2 yet he is not a servant1 but free1 because he serves willingly in a service which is the noblest freedom4 ,the simplest actions are performed in a fresh spirit2 all things have become new3 the life of the flesh is ended1 the life of the spirit has begun4 ,looking back upon his former self he finds that it is dead2 he has died unto sin and risen from the dead that he may live again to righteousness4 ,is it necessary for me to trace the parallelism between these phenomena in the life of the individual and the ,pauline scheme of the redemption of man8 ,you must have recognized in each step of the development sketched above some feature of the ,pauline doctrine4 ,my fear is1 not so much that you may fail to acknowledge this1 as that you may doubt whether the individual always passes through these phases4 ,but ,i am confident that it must be so for all who are to be saved3 there is no royal road of privilege or miracle by which a man can pass from the innocent selfishness of childhood to the practised righteousness of manhood1 without passing through the narrow defiles of the flesh and fighting his battle with sin2 nor do ,i believe that any man1 has ever been 8saved10 that is to say1 has passed through that struggle so far safely as to attain some thoughtfulness for others1 some love of righteousness for its own sake1 unless he has received through the ,word of ,god some such revelation as ,i have described4 ,the typical revelation of this kind1 which sums up all others1 is the revelation made by the atonement of ,jesus ,christ3 but that revelation has been a silence for the myriads who have died in ignorance of the very name of ,jesus3 is there no other way then in which the ,word of ,god has taught them1 redeemed them1 forgiven them1 made atonement for them8 ,yes1 assuredly the ,word of ,god has been mediating between ,god and men since men first existed--long before the time when the children of ,israel 8drank of that ,rock which followed them1 and that ,rock was ,christ0--and the chief vehicle of ,his mediation has been the influence of the righteous on the unrighteous1 especially of parents on children4 ,in this influence1 the bright and central point has been the power which each man has1 in some poor degree1 of forgiving1 and making atonement for1 the sins of others--a power so weak and small1 compared with the same power in ,christ1 that it may be easily ignored by superficial observers2 and some may think to do ,god honour by ignoring it4 ,but in reality whoso ignores it is ignoring the best gift of ,god to man4 ,this undeveloped power of forgiving has been that uneffaced likeness of ,god in which ,he created us2 and every act of forgiveness1 from ,adam down to ,john the ,baptist1 has been inspired by the ,word of ,god to be a type and prophecy of that great and unique act which sums up and explains all forgiveness1 the ,atonement made by the ,word's own sacrifice4 ,i said above that the mother's tear might for the first time reveal to a child the meaning and power of forgiveness4 ,what the tear of a mother may be to her child1 that the ,cross of ,christ has been to mankind2 the expression as it were1 of the ,father's pitifulness for ,his sinful children1 revealing to them the meaning1 and the pain1 of forgiveness4 ,st4 ,paul 7you will find7 in all his epistles recognizes the analogy between the human race and the individual2 and all that he teaches about mankind corresponds to the development ,i have tried to sketch above4 ,you will be told indeed that the attempt to trace such a parallelism as ,i have traced above1 is an attempt to 8read modern thoughts into an ancient author40 ,but do not be in haste to call ,st4 ,paul an 8ancient author10 not at least in any disparaging sense1 as if we had outgrown the antiquated limits of his thoughts4 ,being a man of realities ,st4 ,paul dived deep down below the surface of language1 cant1 and formularies2 he reached the very source and centre of the human heart where righteousness is made4 ,he realized the making of righteousness as a visible process4 ,others1 who have not realized it1 think his writings misguided1 antique1 occasionally untrue4 ,but do not you fail to distinguish between ,st4 ,paul's style and ,st4 ,paul's thought4 ,he wrote in a hurry2 he did not think in a hurry4 ,the general scheme of his theology needs no excuse1 nor allowance1 nor patronage4 ,his illustrations of it1 arguments in defence of it1 even his expressions of it1 are1 from our point of view1 often inadequate2 but his spiritual truths are the deepest truths of human nature1 as it may be seen ascending through illusion and frailty to divine knowledge and divine righteousness4 ,st4 ,paul has been wonderfully obscured by formularizing commentators4 ,the best commentary on him that ,i know is an ordinary home2 but for a young man1 away from home1 and in danger of forgetting his childhood1 the next best commentary is ,shakespeare1 and the next to that is ,wordsworth1 or1 from a different point of view1 the ,in ,memoriam4 ,tell me now2 was ,i wrong in saying that the ,pauline scheme of salvation is eminently natural8 ,i do not of course mean materialistic1 but natural in the sense of orderly4 ,where1 in the whole of this doctrine1 is there any necessity for believing that the ,son of ,god--8born of a woman0 and manifested 8in the flesh that he might destroy the works of the devil0--did or said anything that involves a suspension of the laws of nature8 ,i have already shewn that the 8miracles0 wrought by ,st4 ,paul himself were in all probability works of healing1 and natural2 and the manifestations in which ,christ 8appeared0 to him and to the other disciples have been shewn to be1 in all probability1 visions in accordance with the laws of nature1 though representing an objective reality4 ,there is no reference in ,st4 ,paul's works to the ,miraculous ,conception1 nor to any of those miracles of ,jesus which1 if historical1 must be admitted to be real miracles4 ,on the other hand there runs through all his epistles an acknowledgment of a continuous spiritual ,law1 predetermined and inviolable4 ,what else does ,st4 ,paul mean by the continual assertion that the calling of the ,gentiles1 and the 8election0 of all men1 are 8predestined80 ,perhaps you have never yet appreciated the circumstances which led the ,apostle to lay so much stress on the 8predestination0 apparent in history4 ,i do not think you can ever understand ,st4 ,paul's teaching on this subject1 as long as you fasten your attention on two or three isolated texts which appear to set it forth4 ,you must look at it as a whole1 and have regard to the motive of the author2 and then you will find that it is to be understood negatively rather than positively4 ,when ,st4 ,paul says 8,god predestined this1 or that10 he means1 8,god did not make a mistake1 or change his mind1 about this or that3 the gifts and calling of ,god are without repentance40 ,in setting forth ,predestination1 ,st4 ,paul is always mentally protesting against two tendencies already perceptible to him in the ,church1 the tendency of the ,jews to regard the admission of the ,gentiles into the ,church as an after-thought1 perhaps as a mistake2 and the tendency of the ,gentiles to regard the ,law of ,moses as a complete and useless failure4 ,it was one of ,st4 ,paul's main objects to shew that the history of ,israel and of the ,gentile world revealed a thread of immutable purpose of salvation running through the whole--a purpose to subordinate evil to good1 the flesh to the spirit1 the ,law to the ,gospel2 so that there has been no mistake1 no dislocation of the divine scheme1 nor change of the divine will4 ,although the ,apostle always refers things to a ,will and not a ,law as their ultimate origin1 yet the whole tenour of his argument exhibits that ,will as being not liable to caprice or accidental shifting1 but a ,will of predestination1 a ,law1 so to speak1 tinged with emotion4 ,no doubt ,st4 ,paul1 sometimes1 in the attempt to shew the immutability of the divine purposes1 puts forward somewhat baldly and repellently the insoluble problem of the origin of evil1 as if ,god ,himself predestined not only rejection but also the sin that was the cause of rejection4 ,but it was not his intention to exhibit ,god as originating evil2 and the cause that leads him so to do1 or so to appear to do1 is his intense desire to exhibit ,god's mysterious plan of not at once annihilating evil but of utilizing it and subordinating it to good4 ,the fore-ordained purpose of ,god before the foundation of the world is the redemption of mankind2 and in order to help men to attain to this height1 the flesh1 the law1 death1 yes1 even sin itself1 are forced to serve as stepping-stones4 ,hence even in rejection1 as well as in election1 the ,apostle cannot fail to discern the hand of ,god4 ,there is a ,law in all ,god's doing1 and especially in ,his election4 ,god hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the strong and the foolish things of this world to confound the wise2 the first-born is rejected1 the younger son is chosen4 ,this is not accident2 it is a type of the general law exemplified in the vision of ,elijah4 ,not by the whirlwind or the fire or the earthquake but by the quiet and neglected processes of nature does ,god perform ,his mightiest works4 ,this deep truth pervades the doctrine of ,st4 ,paul4 ,pierce through the antique and ,oriental integument of his expression1 and you will find no other ,christian writer who so clearly brings out that the ,christian religion is not according to caprice but according to ,law4 ,footnote #cg3 8,dulce et decorum est pro patria mori40 ,footnote #ch3 ,rom4 i4 #ag4 ,,xxviii ,,objections ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,you tell me that you have been shewing my letters to some of your young friends1 and that they have expressed various objections to non-miraculous ,christianity4 ,some say that ,i am an 8optimist20 others that it is a compromise between faith and reason1 and that compromises are always to be rejected2 one says that ,i am for introducing 8a new religion20 others that a ,gospel of illusion must1 by its own shewing1 be itself illusive2 others1 that 8these new notions are so vague that they can never be put into a definite shape1 and they are so mixed up with theories and fancies and suppositions of error in every period of the ,church1 that they can never commend themselves to the masses40 ,do you know what 8cant0 means1 and why it was so called8 8,cant0 is the sort of language used 7not always deceitfully7 when a man 8chants10 or utters in a kind of sing-song1 words that he has not felt himself1 or1 if he has ever felt1 has ceased to feel1 through the too frequent use of them4 ,hence he cannot speak them1 but 8sing-songs0 them1 8chants0 or 8cants0 them4 ,now ,i take leave to think that two or three of the objections above-mentioned come under this head of 8cant40 ,i mean that your young objectors1 not knowing exactly at the moment what to say about opinions that are new and require some thought to understand or criticise1 and being desirous of saying something at the moment1 and something1 if possible1 that shall be brief and smart1 say what they have heard other people say about other sets of opinions which have some affinity of sound with mine4 ,this is a very common habit with inferior professional reviewers1 who are bound to say something readable and epigrammatic for limited remuneration and consequently in limited time3 but your friends have not come to that yet1 and are therefore not to be so easily excused4 8,optimist60 ,how can a man who believes in a real ,satan be an optimist8 ,i thought an optimist was one who believed the world to be the best of all possible worlds4 ,this ,i do not1 and cannot1 believe4 ,i trust indeed that a time may come when we may be optimists after a fashion2 when we shall look back1 in ,god1 upon the universal sum of things and find that it has been the best possible under the circumstances1 and that evil has been marvellously subordinated to good3 but ,i never can believe that a ,universe in which ,god defeats ,satan is better than a ,universe in which ,god reigns unresisted2 and therefore1 as to this 8best of all possible worlds10 ,i rest always humbly silent4 ,some people may believe1 if they can1 that evil is another form of good2 that the world is like one of those spectroscopes--,i think they call them--where several different pictures on a round card1 each meaningless by itself1 are converted into one significant picture by whirling the card round too quickly for the eye to follow4 ,in the same way they seem to suppose they can take little pictures of oppression1 adultery1 murder1 and the other myriad shapes of sin1 spin them round fast enough along with other little pictures of temperance1 purity1 peace1 and all the virtues2 and the whole becomes a panorama of moral perfection6 ,argue thus who will2 ,i cannot4 ,if ,i am not an optimist in my view of this world1 you will surely not accuse me of optimism in my views of the next4 ,do my notions of heaven and hell encourage any one to be selfish and luxurious or idle now1 in the hope that he will be let off easily hereafter8 ,have ,i not said that there will be no 8letting off08 ,that ,god will do the best thing for ,nero--is that do you think likely to make ,nero altogether an optimist in the life to come8 ,i think ,he will do the best thing for me2 but ,i sometimes shiver when ,i say it2 awe possesses me1 awe mingled with trust1 but certainly not without a touch of fear4 ,assuredly the certainty of retribution in heaven makes me no optimist for myself or others1 as to the life after death4 ,in one sense only am ,i an optimist1 that ,i believe that the best will ultimately prevail1 and that faith1 hope1 and love1 will prove the dominant powers in the ,universe4 ,this ,i believe1 and to this belief ,i cling as a most precious hope1 to be cherished by action as well as by meditation2 but this is not1 ,i think1 what is ordinarily meant by optimism2 and certainly it does not encourage the spirit of laissez faire which optimism is supposed to breed4 ,next as to 8compromise40 ,the ordinary cant about 8compromise0 is sometimes the lazy expedient of those who wish to avoid the trouble of coming to a decision1 and to shelter their indolence under a noble censoriousness4 ,what they mean by 8compromise0 is any theory that attributes results to more than one cause4 ,it is generally very easy to elaborate some extreme theory which shall explain almost everything by some single cause1 by ,faith1 for example1 on the one side1 or by ,reason on the other2 and it is equally easy for the advocates on either side to demolish the theory of their adversaries2 but it is far from easy afterwards to shew how1 and to what extent1 both causes are accountable for the result which has been fictitiously attributed to a single cause4 ,now the two extreme parties1 in their contests1 afford us fine cut-and-thrust exhibitions2 the via media exhibits an organized campaign4 ,the theatrical multitude1 which does not care in the least about truth1 but delights in intellectual slashers1 soon finds it dull work1 after clapping an exciting mle1 to have to sit still and listen to a dispassionate and impartial discussion2 so they cry 8compromise0 and hiss4 ,but the term is a misnomer4 8,compromise10 or 8mutual promise10 cannot describe a legitimate conclusion that hits the mark missed by two previously divergent shots4 ,it is as if ,a were to hit the top of the target1 and ,b the bottom1 and then both ,a and ,b were to fall foul of ,c1 and accuse him of 8compromising01 because he pierces the bull's eye half way between the two4 8,compromise0 often implies a failure of exact justice2 as when ,smith thinks ,jones owes him #ejl41 and ,jones thinks he owes ,smith only #djl42 and they 8split the difference0 and make it #del42 both of them thinking that the arrangement is unjust1 but both preferring the injustice to the expensive formalities of legal justice4 ,this is 8compromise10 and illogical2 but there is none of this illogicality in a fair impartial discussion avoiding previous bias4 ,so in the present instance4 ,some have been biassed in favour of ,faith1 others in favour of ,reason2 some have accepted as historical all the miracles and mighty works in the ,old and ,new ,testament indiscriminately1 others have rejected all indiscriminately2 some have declared that every word in the ,old and ,new ,testament 7,i don't quite know how they have got rid of the difficulty of various readings7 is exactly inspired and every detail historically true2 others1 that there are so many errors and illusions that the books may be put aside as no better than myths3 some have said that1 since we cannot worship an unknown ,being1 we must worship the human race2 others that1 since we cannot worship our very degraded selves1 we must worship some being altogether different from ourselves3 some have said that ,christ is ,god1 and have ignored ,his humanity2 others have said that ,he was a 8mere man10 and therefore not divine4 ,now in all these cases the truth lies between the two extremes4 ,man derives religious truth from ,faith1 but ,faith assisted by ,reason2 ,christ did not perform miracles1 but ,he did perform mighty works2 the ,old and ,new ,testament1 like all other vehicles of revelation1 contain illusion1 but illusion preserving and protecting truth2 we must not worship ourselves1 and yet we cannot worship one who is altogether different from ourselves2 ,christ is a man1 and yet ,christ is ,god4 ,but to all these conclusions we are not led by 8mutual promise10 give and take of any kind1 but by full and unbiassed consideration of all sides of the subject1 knowing that 7for the present at all events7 we shall displease all1 both the orthodox and heterodox alike4 ,so far from suggesting any compromise between ,faith and ,reason1 ,i have merely pointed out that the provinces of the two are1 to a very large extent1 distinct1 so that many of their operations can be performed altogether independently4 ,i have never said1 8,do not follow out the conclusions of your ,reason in this or that instance because you would be led to inconvenient results10 but1 8,follow out the conclusions of your ,reason in every instance and presently acknowledge that you are led1 in some cases1 to results so absurd and unpractical that you must infer ,reason to be out of its province in these cases4 ,reason your utmost for example about a ,first ,cause and ,predestination and the ,origin of ,evil and the like2 but then1 when you have come to the conclusion that1 logically speaking1 it is equally absurd to suppose that the world had no cause1 and that the ,first ,cause had no cause1 give the subject up as being beyond the syllogistic powers40 ,surely there is no unworthy compromise here1 nothing but common sense6 ,wherever historical facts are affirmed in religion1 ,i have said that the accounts of those facts are to be judged upon evidence and by ,reason alone2 here ,faith and ,hope have no place2 history in the ,new ,testament is to be judged like history in ,thucydides4 ,in reality it is not ,i with my via media that am guilty of compromise2 it is the ,hyper-orthodox 7if ,i may use a term that is nominally meaningless but really quite intelligible7 and the ,agnostic4 ,for the ,hyper-orthodox say 8,accept the ,scriptures in a lump40 ,why8 8,because it would be so very inconvenient not to have an infallible guide40 ,of course they do not say so in these precise words3 but this is what their replies ultimately amount to4 ,again the ,agnostics say1 8,reject the ,scriptures in toto40 ,why8 8,because it would be so very inconvenient to weigh evidence and discriminate the true from the false40 ,it is these1 not ,i1 who are calling in emotion to do the work of ,reason1 and who 7partly1 ,i think1 to avoid facing unpalatable facts7 force ,reason to make a compromise with prejudice4 8,convenience10 as ,i have pointed out in a previous letter1 may be a legitimate basis for accepting as a ,law of ,nature the tried and tested suggestions of the ,imagination2 but it is not a legitimate basis on which to construct a belief in the genuineness of the ,book of ,daniel or the ,second ,epistle of ,st4 ,peter4 ,let me mention one point where1 in appearance1 but not in reality1 my theory is liable to the charge of compromise3 ,i mean the discussion of the ,miraculous ,conception and the ,supernatural ,incarnation4 ,in discussing the ,miraculous ,conception ,i have advised you to trust to your ,reason alone1 because here you have to deal with a statement of physical facts1 true or untrue1 and to be proved or disproved by evidence2 but as regards the ,supernatural ,incarnation and the statement that the ,word of ,god became a human spirit1 ,i have pointed out that here we have a statement that cannot be proved or disproved by simple historical evidence1 nor even by miracle1 because even if an archangel descended from heaven to trumpet forth a 8,yes0 or 8,no0 to the world1 the message might be from the ,devil4 ,if then we are to believe in the ,incarnation we must have a twofold testimony4 ,first must come the historical evidence indicating the words1 and deeds1 and character1 and results1 of the life of ,christ1 the truth of which must be judged by the ,reason2 and then there must come the witness of the conscience exclaiming 8,this life is divine2 this man is one with ,god40 ,consequently it is quite possible to accept the ,supernatural ,incarnation while denying the ,miraculous ,conception2 and this ,i have felt obliged to do4 ,but where is the compromise or inconsistency8 ,i am compelled by evidence and ,reason to deny the truth of the ,miraculous ,conception1 on account of the very small amount of evidence for it and the very large amount of evidence against it2 ,i am equally compelled by evidence and ,faith to accept the ,supernatural ,incarnation1 because the evidence convinces me that a certain life has been lived on earth1 and my conscience convinces me that this life could not have been lived by any being who was not one with ,god4 ,are my accusers equally free from confusion8 ,i think not4 ,ask the ,hyper-orthodox why they believe in the ,miraculous ,conception in spite of the silence of all the earliest documents2 they will reply1 7if you penetrate below their first superficial answers1 such as1 8,because it is in the ,bible10 8,because ,i have believed it from my youth upward10 and the like71 8,jesus must have been born miraculously1 because ,he was the ,son of ,god0--a confusion of things historical and spiritual1 and a manifest expulsion of ,reason from her rightful province4 ,again1 ask the ,agnostic why he does not believe that ,jesus was the ,son of ,god2 he will reply that he sees no proof of the fact1 nor even of the existence of a ,god2 and if you press him to define what he means by 8proof0 of the existence of a ,god1 you will find that he wholly ignores the influence of ,imagination as a means of arriving at truth1 and that he requires some kind of evidence that shall entirely dispense with ,faith4 ,thus the ,hyper-orthodox and the ,agnostic are equally guilty1 the one of dispossessing ,reason1 the other of dispossessing ,faith1 from their rightful provinces2 and they accuse me of 8compromising10 not because ,i really compromise1 but because ,i pursue truth at the cost of some trouble1 while they--partly perhaps to avoid the pain of thinking1 and the prospect of colliding with hard unpleasing truths--pursue severally that form of untruth to which they are inclined by prejudice4 ,and now for the next objection1 that 8this is a new religion40 ,how can men give the name of a new religion to that which proclaims as the one means of salvation the ,eternal ,word of ,god believed in of old by ,jews as well as by ,christians8 ,or is it a mark of novelty to accept ,jesus of ,nazareth as that ,word incarnate8 ,the one thing new about the opinions put forward in my letters is this--that it is not a necessary condition for believing in ,christ1 that men should accept a number of historical statements which are1 and have been1 doubted by many honest seekers after truth4 ,i believe ,i might add1 without any exaggeration1 that the statements which ,i impugn are rejected by so large a number of those who are most competent to judge1 that1 in spite of many inducements--some richly substantial1 some nobly spiritual--many of the ablest and best educated young men of ,england cannot in these days be persuaded to become ministers of the religion which appears to insist on them4 ,beyond this protest1 there is nothing1 or very little1 that is new about the theory which ,i have endeavoured to set forth4 ,i do not protest against any moral abuse in the ,church of ,england or the orthodox churches--such abuses as made a great gulf in the days of ,luther between the ,roman ,catholic ,church and the ,protestants1 when indulgences for sins were sold by the cart-load4 ,possibly indeed the protracted belief in the miraculous1 when it has long outlived the conditions which made it natural or pardonable1 may tend to produce some moral evil2 some over-estimation of ostentatious and1 so to speak1 theatrical force2 some depreciation of the quiet processes by which ,god has mostly taught and shaped mankind2 some latent trust in a capricious ,god1 who will not 8reward men according to their works0 but will exercise a dispensing power at the ,day of ,judgment4 ,i say this may possibly soon happen1 if it has not already begun to happen2 but at all events it is at present latent1 and it is not on any ground of this kind that ,i am advocating a new view of the ,old and ,new ,testament4 ,my object has been not to destroy the old belief1 but to remove certain obstacles which tend to prevent people from embracing the essence of the old belief4 ,the existence of a ,god1 the immortality of the soul1 the conflict between ,god and ,satan1 the redemption of mankind through the sacrifice of the eternal ,son of ,god incarnate in ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the ,resurrection of the ,lord ,jesus1 the operation of the ,holy ,spirit1 the certainty of a heaven and hell1 the efficacy of prayer1 the ultimate triumph of goodness and ,god-- all these things ,i steadfastly believe4 ,but ,i see not the slightest reason why1 in order to hold fast these precious truths1 ,i should be compelled to believe that ,joshua stopped the sun 7or the earth87 or that an ass talked with a human voice1 or that the incarnate ,son of ,god drowned two thousand swine or destroyed a fig-tree with a word4 ,i am probably doing no more than give utterance to thoughts which have been already expressed by others1 or which1 though unexpressed1 are latent in thousands of doubtful and expectant souls4 ,but even were it otherwise1 even were it granted that the form of ,christianity set forth in my letters has some points of novelty1 is mere novelty to suffice for its condemnation8--and this in our century1 when ,god has been teaching and is teaching ,his children so much that is new in every department of knowledge6 ,is it absolutely incredible that the same ,supreme ,teacher who allowed some nineteen centuries to elapse between the ,promise and the promised ,seed1 should allow another nineteen centuries to elapse between the ,seed and the ,harvest8 ,is it inconsistent that ,he who has led men to the truths of science through mistakes and illusions should lead men by the same paths to spiritual truth8 ,how often must the ,law of ,illusion be inculcated before we take it to heart8 ,illusions have encompassed spiritual truth for ,israel1 for the ,jews1 for the ,twelve in their ,master's lifetime1 for the first generation of ,christians1 and for every subsequent generation down to the time of ,luther4 ,so much we ,protestants are bound to admit4 ,are we not then intolerably presumptuous in assuming that illusions must have suddenly disappeared in the fifteenth century and have left the theological atmosphere for the first time since the creation of the world free from all spiritual refraction8 ,how much humbler and truer to suppose that every century and every generation has its special cloud of illusions through which in due course we must all toil upward1 penetrating layer after layer of the illusive mist till we reach at last the summit of the hill of ,truth6 ,i find ,i have left myself too little time to answer your last two objections as to the 8vagueness0 of my views and their inability to 8commend themselves to the masses40 ,i will try to answer them in my next letter4 ,,xxix ,,the ,,religion ,,of ,,the ,,masses ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i have been thinking over your objection that my notions are 8vague20 feeling that there is some truth in it1 but that your words do not quite express your probable meaning4 ,i think you mean1 not that the 8notions0 are vague1 but that the proofs are vague4 ,the 8notions0 are in the ,creeds1 if you interpret the ,creeds spiritually3 and ,i do not think that the ,creeds are more 8vague0 when interpreted spiritually than when interpreted literally4 ,the spiritual ,resurrection of ,christ1 for example--is it more vague than the material ,resurrection8 ,if you admit that there is a spirit in man1 and that this spirit is made apparently powerless by death1 is it 8vague0 to say that the spirit of ,jesus1 after passing through this state of death1 manifested itself to the disciples in greater power than ever8 ,even those who maintain the material ,resurrection admit that it would be a mere mockery without the spiritual ,resurrection1 and that the latter is the essence of the act3 so that to declare the statement of the spiritual ,resurrection of ,jesus to be 8vague10 appears to be equivalent to declaring that any statement of the essential ,resurrection of ,jesus is 8vague40 ,again1 redemption from sin is a spiritual notion1 redemption from the flames of a material hell is a material notion2 but is the former more 8vague0 than the latter8 ,if so1 then we are led to this conclusion1 that all spiritual notions are more vague than material notions2 and the vagueness which you censure is a necessary characteristic of every religion that approaches ,god as ,he ought to be approached1 ,i mean1 as a ,spirit and through the medium of spiritual conceptions4 ,but to my mind you are not justified in thus using the word 8vague10 which ought rather to be applied to notions wanderingly and shiftingly defined2 as for example1 if ,i defined the ,resurrection of ,jesus as being at one time the rising of ,his body1 at another the rising of ,his ,spirit2 or if ,i spoke of redemption1 now as deliverance from sin1 and now as deliverance from punishment4 ,convict me of such inconsistencies1 and ,i will submit to be called 8vague20 but at present ,i plead1 8,not guilty40 ,however ,i think you meant that the proofs1 and not the notions were vague2 and here1 although you should not have used the word 8vague10 ,i will admit that you would have been right if you had said that they were 8complex0 and 8more easy to feel than to define40 ,no doubt the proof of ,christ's divinity from the material ,resurrection is simple and straightforward enough3 8,it is impossible that a man's body could have arisen from the grave1 and that the man could have afterwards lived with his friends on earth for several days1 and then have ascended into heaven1 if he had not been under the express protection of ,god2 and such a man we are prepared to believe1 if he tells us that he is the ,son of ,god40 ,that certainly would seem to a large number of minds a very plain and straightforward argument--as plain as ,paley's ,evidences4 ,no trust1 no faith1 no affection1 is here requisite3 nothing is needed except that rough and ready assumption--in which we are all disposed to acquiesce--that any altogether exceptional and startling power must come from ,god4 ,it must be admitted that this sort of proof would be cogent as well as direct4 ,let a man rise from the dead to-morrow1 and transport his body through closed doors1 and say that he is ,christ1 and then mount up to the clouds and disappear2 and ,i doubt not many of those who saw him would cry 8,this must be the ,christ10 without so much as enquiring what manner of man he was4 ,but cogent and popular and delightfully simple though it may be1 this is not the kind of proof on which ,jesus appears to have relied1 or by which ,jesus has produced a spiritual change in the hearts of mankind4 ,the very fact that no trust or faith or affection is needed in such a demonstration1 unfits it for spiritual purposes4 ,in order to believe in the ,resurrection of ,jesus1 a man needs the testimony of all his powers1 emotional as well as intellectual1 trust and love as well as reason2 and ,i have endeavoured to shew above that the whole of the training of the human ,imagination1 and all the mysterious natural provisions which have stimulated the eye of the mind to see what the eye of the body cannot see1 have contributed to bring about the faith in the risen ,saviour4 ,as we are to love ,god with our strength and with our mind as well as with our heart and our soul1 so are we to believe in ,christ with the same collective energy4 ,the proof therefore of ,christ's ,resurrection and of ,christ's divinity is intended to be1 in a certain sense1 complex1 because it is intended to appeal to our every faculty and to be based upon our every experience4 ,but 8this form of ,christianity can never commend itself to the masses40 ,objection in the shape of prophecy is always difficult to meet1 and not often worth meeting4 ,however1 this prophecy has so specious a sound that it deserves some reply4 ,but first let me ask1 ,does the present form of ,christianity commend itself to the masses8 ,surely not to the very poor1 that is to say1 not to the class to whom ,christ appears to have specially addressed ,himself4 ,and even among the classes which retain the tradition of worshipping ,christ1 has ,christianity been such as would commend itself to ,christ8 ,has not our religion been too often divorced from morality8 ,has there been dominant among us that habit of mutual helpfulness--8comforting one another10 as ,st4 ,paul calls it--which is the criterion of a truly ,christian nation8 ,have not the laws in almost all cases1 until the ,french ,revolution1 been made in the interests of the rich1 rather than in the interests of the poor2 and where the poor have been considered1 has not the consideration arisen largely from the fear of violence and revolution8 ,there has been a certain amount of alms-giving1 or legacy-leaving1 on the part of the minority who have laid themselves out to lead religious lives2 and there has always been a still more select minority who have been imbued with a truly ,christian enthusiasm for their fellow-creatures1 a passionate desire to do something for ,christ1 and to leave the world a little better for their having lived3 but the great unheeding mass of men in ,christian countries has rolled on in its selfish path1 less selfish certainly1 less brutishly intent on present pleasure than the masses of heathendom1 and indirectly humanized and leavened by a thousand ,christian influences1 but still not more than superficially ,christian4 ,the reason for this comparative failure has been1 in part1 that ,christ has not been rightly presented to the hearts of the people4 ,too often it has not been ,christ at all--it has been but a lifeless semblance of ,christianity--to which they have given their adhesion4 ,the fear of hell1 the hope of heaven--these have been often the chief motives of religion2 and alms-giving1 church-going1 ,bible-reading1 and the use of the sacraments1 have been the means by which men have thought they could escape the one and secure the other4 ,asking still further the cause for this perversion1 by which ,christ has been converted into a second ,law1 we find that in some cases and more especially in recent times1 it appears to have arisen in part from the miraculous element in our religion4 ,this has made ,christ unreal to some of us by taking ,him out of the reach of our sympathies and affection2 this also has artificialized our religious conceptions and divorced our religion from morality by making us think that ,god will suspend the laws of spiritual nature for us1 as ,he has suspended the laws of material nature for ,christ and ,christ's ,apostles4 ,hence has arisen too often a pitiable and preposterous reversal of the ,pauline theology4 ,we have 8died0 unto ,christ1 and 8risen again0 unto the ,law4 8,grace0 has fled away1 and1 with it1 all natural and harmonious morality2 and the whole duty of a ,christian man has been degraded to a routine of 8works40 ,it is for this cause that the morality of ,agnostics frequently surpasses the morality of professing ,christians4 ,the philanthropy of the former1 so far as it goes1 is at all events perfectly natural4 ,they do not love their brother man in order to obey the ,gospel or save their own souls2 they love because they must love4 ,christ's heaven is often in their hearts without any of the corruptions of a conventional ,christianity4 ,they do not believe in a capricious ,heaven and ,hell1 but they are drawn towards goodness1 kindness1 justice and mutual helpfulness1 whenever and wherever they see them2 and such worship as they have1 they give to these qualities4 ,hence also in foreign politics the working people and the ,agnostics often manifest a much purer and more ,christian feeling than church-goers4 ,for the ,hyper-orthodox1 foreign politics lie outside the ,bible2 and whatsoever lies outside the ,bible lies1 for them1 outside morality3 but the ,agnostic makes no such distinction2 he does not believe that the laws of right and wrong can be miraculously suspended in favour of his own country4 ,the disbelief in a future ,heaven makes the poor indisposed to tolerate present remediable miseries in the hope of coming compensation4 ,hence they shew a much stronger determination not to put up with a state of things in which the happiness and prosperity of a whole nation are purchased by the misery of one class4 ,they are willing enough individually to make sacrifices for one another1 and1 in bad times the working people have sometimes collectively borne considerable burdens with an admirable patience2 but that the unwilling wretchedness of some should form the basis of the prosperity of the rest1 and that the rest should be content to have it so--this they cannot endure2 and sooner than this1 they would prefer to see every class in the nation pulled down two or three degrees in wealth and refinement1 if thereby the lowest class could be raised a single degree4 ,rich church-goers are far more ready to acquiesce in present inequalities1 sometimes consoling themselves with the thought that in heaven all these evils will be redressed1 sometimes fortifying their acquiescence in the inevitable with a text of ,scripture4 ,but the poor declaim passionately against the ,bible1 when thus quoted--as being a mere instrument in the hands of the rich1 and the priests their accomplices1 to keep the miserable in a state of contentment with their misery4 ,it is a pity that the poor should be embittered by misrepresentations against that which is pre-eminently the poor man's ,book2 for no tribune or democrat more persistently than the ,bible takes the side of the oppressed1 or more emphatically declares that it is part of ,god's method to raise up the poor from the dung-hill and to fill the hungry with good things1 while ,he casts down the princes and sends the rich empty away4 ,but the fact remains that1 even when he raves against his own ,book1 the poor man is raving in the spirit of the ,book4 ,it is not in accordance with the ,bible--and still less in accordance with the spirit of the ,new ,testament and of ,christ--that any nation should tolerate and perpetuate the misery of a class in order that the whole nation may prosper4 ,indeed in such a nation permanent prosperity--in any sense1 and much more in the ,christian sense--is quite impossible4 ,even though they may suppress rebellion and escape revolution for the time1 the governing classes cannot escape the spiritual evils that must ultimately spring from that comfortable acquiescence in the wretchedness of others to which they may give the name of resignation but to which ,christ would have given the name of hypocrisy4 ,material misery may imply the immorality of those who are forced to endure it2 but it must imply the immorality and spiritual degradation of those who acquiesce in it because it does not come nigh them1 and because 8the ,bible says it must be so40 ,let but such ,pharisaism continue for a generation1 and it will have gone far to extinguish the purest of religions and to prepare the way for revolutionary strife4 ,it appears then that what is called 8socialism0 is really nothing but a narrow and unwise form of ,christianity2 narrow because it excludes the rich from its sympathies1 and unwise because1 instead of going to the root of evils1 it simply aims at the branches2 capable also1 of course1 7like every other theory7 of being made to appear immoral1 when adopted for self-interested or vindictive purposes--yet nevertheless containing much more of the ,spirit of ,christ than that selfish form of ,christianity which has for its sole object the salvation of the individual4 ,socialism owes all that is good in it to ,christ4 ,the gigantic evil of slavery 7which is antagonistic to all true socialism7 after a contest of eighteen centuries1 has succumbed at last in ,christian countries to ,christ's ,spirit and to no other champion4 ,do you suppose that it perished owing to the 8march of intellect10 or the discoveries of science1 or the general refinement and rise in the standard of comfort and happiness among mankind8 ,there is no reason at all for thinking so4 ,the ,law of ,moses1 as you know1 recognized1 though it controlled and mitigated1 the institution of slavery4 ,the race that gave birth to ,socrates1 ,aristotle1 ,sophocles1 ,phidias1 ,euclid1 ,archimedes1 and ,ptolemy1 was unable so much as to conceive of a state of society where slavery should not exist3 civilization appeared to them to require the servitude of the masses as its necessary foundation4 ,it was not cruelty or callousness that prompted ,aristotle to divide 8tools0 into two classes1 8lifeless0 and 8living0--under which latter head came slaves3 it was want of faith in human nature4 8,who would do the scullion-work in the great household of humanity if there were no slaves80 ,such was the question which perplexed the great philosophers of antiquity and which ,christ came to answer by making ,himself the slave of mankind and classing ,himself among the scullions4 ,how strangely dull and unappreciative do those words of ,renan sound1 that1 if you deduct from what ,christ taught1 what other people have taught before ,him1 little will be left that is original6 8,taught60 ,it was not the teaching1 it was the doing4 ,nay1 it was not the doing1 it was the in-breathing into mankind of a new ,spirit1 by means of doing1 that ultimately destroyed slavery4 8,even as the ,son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many0--the ,spirit that dictated these words1 dictated also the death upon the ,cross2 and this ,spirit has destroyed slavery and will establish true socialism upon earth4 8,but this ,spirit of ,christ has never been fully obeyed or even understood by ,his followers3 even ,st4 ,paul does not seem to have understood that ,christianity was incompatible with slavery40 ,you are quite right4 ,the ,spirit of ,christ has never yet been fully obeyed1 and1 when we thus obey it1 life will be heaven4 ,do you not see that your objection ignores the fact that we are not yet in heaven1 and that ,christianity is to be a gradual growth8 ,are you not a little like the child who sows his mustard-seed at night and comes down next morning expecting to see the great tree in which the birds of the air ought to have built their nests8 ,the important question is whether the ,christian ,spirit so far as it has been obeyed1 has worked well2 so that we may trust it to lead us still further forward into practical ameliorations of our existence1 whether individual or national4 ,but to expect it to do everything in eighteen hundred years1 is to forget all the teaching of history1 astronomy1 and geology1 three voices that unite in proclaiming that the ,hand of ,god works slowly4 ,and further1 as to your objection that even ,st4 ,paul did not realize the incompatibility between ,christianity and slavery1 what follows from that8 ,nothing ,i suppose except a confirmation of the words in the ,fourth ,gospel1 that the followers of ,christ must not depend entirely upon ,st4 ,paul1 but upon that ,spirit which shall 8guide us into all truth40 ,to my mind it is refreshing and delightful to confess--as ,i am sure ,st4 ,paul himself would have been the first to confess--that he had not fully realized all the consequences to which the ,spirit of ,christ would lead posterity4 ,i believe that ,st4 ,paul wished slaves to take every lawful opportunity of becoming free1 but that he would by no means have encouraged slaves to run away or to rise violently against their masters4 ,if he had encouraged them1 and if he had universally succeeded1 he would have caused the whole ,empire1 all civilized society1 to collapse at once4 ,was he wrong in not causing this8 ,i am not prepared to say so4 ,i think he shewed more statesmanlike and ,christian intuition in doing nothing of the kind4 ,but he did much4 ,he had no slaves of his own1 you may be sure2 he worked like a slave all night1 that he might preach all day2 he bore fetters like a slave1 and was proud to call himself a slave for the sake of ,christ2 he inveighed against the spirit of slavery1 declaring that in ,christ 8there is neither bond nor free20 and on the only occasion that we know of1 when he had to mediate in a practical way between an angry master and a runaway slave1 he sent the man back to his master without conditions or stipulations1 but with a letter that was equivalent to an emancipation3 8,for perhaps he was therefore parted from thee for a season that thou shouldest have him for ever2 no longer as a slave1 but more than a slave1 a brother beloved1 specially to me1 but how much rather to thee1 both in the flesh and in the ,lord4 ,if then thou countest me a partner1 receive him as myself40 ,was not this1 practically and morally1 more efficacious than if the ,apostle had fulminated against the master ,philemon fiery utterances about the rights of man and the incompatibility between ,christianity and slavery8 ,was not ,onesimus more sure of being emancipated by the quiet apostolic method8 ,was not ,philemon likely to feel a quickened sense of new and higher duty when the ,spirit of ,christ was breathed into his heart by these touching and affectionate words1 than if a ,pauline edict had confronted him with a 8,thou shalt0 and 8,thou shalt not08 ,st4 ,paul's method has been the method of the ,spirit of ,christ3 for eighteen centuries ,christ has been saying to men1 not 8,all slavery is unlawful10 but to each master about each individual slave1 8,if then thou countest ,me a partner1 receive him as ,myself40 ,hence by degrees has been shaped a conviction that slavery in itself is against the will of ,god4 ,but the destruction of slavery has not destroyed other problems of life which still await their solution from ,christian socialism4 ,when men cease to work from the compulsion of a master1 they either give up working1 or they work for some other motive--their own subsistence1 or their own comfort1 luxury1 avarice1 ambition1 the mere pleasure and interest of work1 or for the sake of others4 ,are people to give up working8 ,and1 if they work1 which of these motives is to take the place of the old bestial coercion which prevailed in the days of slavery8 ,these are the great questions of the present1 affecting the happiness1 morality1 and religion of the whole human race4 ,true ,christians and true socialists are here at one4 8,if a man will not work1 neither let him eat0 is their answer to the first question2 and the more we can combine to make the drone feel that he is out of place in the hive1 and that he must either conform to the hive's ways or betake himself elsewhither1 the better will it be morally1 and therefore ultimately better in all respects1 for the inhabitants of the hive4 ,as to the second question1 socialists and moralists agree that each must work for the sake of others1 and1 as far as possible1 for all4 ,to my mind1 therefore1 one of the most hopeful signs of the times is to be discerned in the spread of the higher socialist spirit which protests against making competition the basis of national prosperity4 ,disguise it as you may1 competition contains an ugly element which was clearly brought out by its first eulogist1 the practical agricultural ,hesiod1 who tells us that there are two kinds of strife1 namely1 war and competition4 ,the latter1 he says1 is good2 for it rouses even the sluggard to action1 when he sees his neighbour hastening to wealth3 8--this strife is good for mortals1 ,and potter envieth potter and carpenter carpenter40 ,this is the plain truth4 ,competition is always in danger of producing 8envy10 and1 when it is carried consistently to its extreme--as where a large manufacturer undersells and ruins small manufacturers that he may secure a monopoly--it verges on that other kind of strife which ,hesiod has himself described as 8blameful20 it becomes a kind of war1 and is manifestly unchristian4 ,christianity might have been therefore expected to protest against it2 but it has not done so3 that task has been reserved for the informal kind of ,christianity called socialism4 ,but very much more than protest is needed4 ,the problem of competition and how to dispense with it--or how to restrain it while remedying its evils--is far more complex than that of slavery4 ,some people regard it as an inherent law of human society1 a natural and continuous development of the law of the struggle for existence which we have inherited from our remotest ancestry4 ,others1 while admitting this primval origin1 hope that1 as progressive man has worked out from his nature much else of the baser element1 so he may in time eliminate this also4 ,but1 if any success is to be attained1 all sorts of experiments will have to be tried2 all sorts of failures will have to be encountered2 and it may be that in the end the ,pauline method of dealing with slavery may be found the best means of dealing with competition--not so much protesting and fulminating1 but the earnest1 informal action of individual enthusiasm4 ,action like ,st4 ,paul's may prepare the way for legislation2 but1 without change of temper1 mere legislation cannot permanently help a people to deal with a great social difficulty4 ,in the solution of the complicated problems presented by competition1 socialism1 when severed from ,christianity1 labours 7#ahhe7 under most serious disadvantages4 ,ignoring ,christ1 it reads amiss the whole of the history of the past and is in danger of making terrible mistakes in the future4 ,even where it avoids revolutionary extravagances1 it is tempted to trust far too much to force1 moral if not physical coercion1 legislative enactments1 and other shapes of what ,st4 ,paul would call 8,law40 ,looking up to no ,leader in heaven1 it does not feel sufficiently sure of ultimate success4 8,he that believeth10 says the prophet1 8shall not make haste30 now socialism has no firm basis of belief and therefore is disposed to 8make haste10 not always the haste of energy1 sometimes the spasmodic haste of self-distrust and error1 followed perhaps by dejection or inaction4 ,its neglect of the true religion leads it into political as well as religious mistakes4 ,taking too little account of sentiments1 imaginations1 and associations1 it aims at a merely material prosperity which1 if attained1 would leave the minds of men still vacant and craving more2 and besides1 it proceeds by methods which excite alarm and distrust in many well-wishers4 ,the most serious evil of all is that the leaders of the socialist movement1 if they themselves see no ,leader above them1 are actuated by no sense of loyalty and affection such as ,christians should feel for ,christ1 and consequently are far more exposed to the dangers arising from their own individual weaknesses and shortcomings4 ,their mainspring of action is a passionate enthusiasm for poor toiling humanity3 but how if humanity shews itself to them at times in its basest aspects1 ungrateful1 suspicious1 mean and shabby1 timorous and traitorous1 quite unworthy of their devotion8 ,are they to serve such a god as this8 ,and it is a perishable god too2 for must not all things perish1 and the earth itself become ultimately as vacant as the moon8 ,for so vile a master as this1 then1 are they to endure to be humiliated and attacked by the rich and powerful1 envied and slandered by rival leaders1 occasionally suspected even by the very poor to whom they are giving their lives8 ,in moments of depression1 when thoughts like these occur--as occur they must--it is hard indeed for a leaderless leader of men to refrain from flinging up his task1 or from continuing to pursue it out of mere shame of inconsistency1 or mere love of occupation1 excitement1 and power4 ,when that change comes over the tribune of the poor1 all is over with him4 ,his work is done1 though he may have done nothing4 ,outwardly such a man's conduct may be little changed1 but inwardly his spirit is dead within him4 ,his religion--for it was a religion to him--is now dead2 and sooner or later his changed influence must make itself felt in an infection of deadness spreading through the whole of the multitudes whom he once inspired4 ,it is for these reasons that ,i look to a simpler form of ,christianity as the future religion of the masses2 first because ,i see that the most active religious forces of the present day are already unconsciously following on the lines traced by ,christ's spirit2 and secondly1 because these movements already exhibit a deficiency which the worship of ,christ alone can fill up4 ,the worship of ,christ as the type and ,king of men helps to solve the problems of the individual as well as those of the nation4 ,as long as human nature is what it is1 as long as friends and families are parted by death1 as long as the mind is liable to be weighed down by depression1 and the body to be racked by physical pain1 so long will there be hours when we shall all look upward and demand some other consolation than the commonplace2 8,these misfortunes are common to all40 ,stripped of all myth and miracle1 the life and death and triumph of ,christ convey to the simplest heart the simplest answer that can be given to the irrepressible question1 8,whence comes this misery80 ,from the cross of ,christ there is sent back to each of us this answer1 8,we know not fully2 but our ,leader bore it1 and good came of it in the end40 ,and when we stand at the brink of the grave and ask1 8,what is death80 again the answer comes back from the same source1 8,we know not fully2 but ,he passed through it and ,he still lives and reigns40 ,but besides the powerful influence of religion in the critical and exceptional moments of our lives1 the influence of ,christ would come full of strength and blessing to the working men of ,england even if they acknowledged ,him1 at first1 in the most inarticulate of creeds1 as the man whom they admired most3 8,we used to think that ,christ was a fiction of the priests2 at all events not a man like us in any way2 a different sort of being altogether2 one who could do what he liked--so people said--and turn the world upside down if he pleased3 and then we could not make him out at all4 ,why1 thought we1 did he not turn the world upside down and make it better1 if he could8 ,it was all a mystery to us4 ,but now we find he was a man after all1 like us2 a poor working man1 who had a heart for the poor1 and wanted to turn the world upside down1 but could not do it at once2 and he went a strange way1 and a long way round1 to do it2 but he has come nearer doing it1 spite of his enemies1 than any man we know2 and now that we understand this1 we say--though we don't understand it all or anything like it--#8,he is the man for us4'0 ,i say that even if this rudimentary feeling of gratitude and admiration for their great ,leader could possess the hearts of ,english working men--and this is surely not too much to expect--much would come from even this inadequate worship4 ,and1 for myself1 ,i unhesitatingly declare that ,i would sooner be in the position of a working man who doubts about ,heaven and ,hell and even about ,god1 but can say of ,christ1 8,he is the man for me10 than ,i would be in the position of the well-to-do manufacturer who is persuaded of the reality of ,heaven and ,hell and of the truth of all the theology of the ,church of ,england1 but can reconcile his religion with the deliberate establishment of a colossal fortune on the ruin of his fellow creatures4 ,but ,i do not believe that the feeling of the working man for ,jesus of ,nazareth could long confine itself to admiration4 ,it is not so easy to make a happy nation or a happy world as the working man thinks3 and this he will soon find out4 ,when sanitation1 education1 culture1 science1 political rearrangements1 enlargements for the poor1 and restrictions for the rich1 have all done their best and failed--as they necessarily must fail1 unless helped by something more--then the working man will find what that 8something more0 is1 without which nothing effectual can be done4 ,then he will perceive that1 after all1 unless there is a spirit of mutual concession in classes and individuals1 no ,acts of ,parliament can ever be devised to secure lasting prosperity and concord4 ,then he will awaken to the fact that ,jesus of ,nazareth revealed and exemplified that spirit of concession or self-sacrifice1 and that it was by this means that ,he went as far as ,he did toward 8turning the world upside down20 and so he will be gradually led still further to see that the way which ,he went was after all not such a very 8long way round10 but a divine way1 a way truly worthy of the ,son of ,god4 ,i believe that the recognition of this single fact would go further than even the recognition of the marvellous phenomena which manifested the ,resurrection of ,christ1 to convince working men that the man who possessed this sublime intuition into spiritual truth1 and the perfect unselfishness and self-control needful to give effect to his plans for the raising up of mankind1 must be no other than the ,son of ,god4 ,the rest would follow4 ,they would find they had been all their lives on a wrong track in their search after the divine reality2 worshipping brute force while protesting against it2 bowing in their hearts to pomp1 and wealth1 and high birth1 even while they professed to deride them2 despising things familiar and near2 gaping in stupid servile admiration at things far and unknown2 yet all the time ,god was near them1 among them1 in them2 the ,spirit of ,god was none other than the spirit of true socialism2 the ,son of ,god was none other than the poor and lowly ,workman of ,nazareth4 ,,appendix ,,xxx ,,ministerial ,,tests ,,my ,,dear----1 ,excuse my delay in answering your letter of last month4 ,the fact is ,i have not so much leisure as ,i had4 ,i was glad indeed to hear from you 7last ,christmas1 ,i think7 that you could not so lightly put away the worship and service of ,christ as you had felt disposed1 or compelled to do1 some eighteen months before2 that the question appeared to you now a deeper one than you had then supposed1 not to be decided by mere historical evidence but1 to some extent1 by the experience of life2 and that you were inclined at least so far to take my advice as to wait a while1 to stand in the old ways1 and to adhere--so far as you honestly could--to old religious habits1 including the habit of prayer and attendance at public worship4 ,this was as much as ,i could reasonably hope4 ,i could not expect that a few letters from one who is quite conscious that he does not possess the strange and sometimes instantaneous influence exerted by a strong religious character1 would do all that will1 ,i trust1 be done for you by patience1 by a prayerful and laborious life devoted to good objects1 and by cherishing habits of reverence for the good1 and of thoughtfulness for all4 ,i had been in the habit of regularly giving my ,sundays1 and occasionally some hours on week days1 to our theological correspondence3 but when ,i received that announcement from you1 ,i felt that my time might now be devoted to other objects1 and ,i made arrangements accordingly4 ,hence1 when your recent letter reached me1 ,i was not quite at leisure to reply to it immediately4 ,but you pressed me to answer 8one last question10 which ,i should rather call two questions 7for they are quite distinct1 although you combine them so closely as to leave me uncertain whether you recognize the wide difference between them73 8,can a man who rejects the miraculous element in the ,bible remain a member or a minister in the ,church of ,england80 ,your first question ,i should answer with an unhesitating affirmative4 ,the ,church of ,england does not require from its lay members any signature of the ,articles or any test but a profession of belief in the ,creed at the time of baptism1 renewed in the ,catechism and ,confirmation service2 and ,i cannot think that any sincere worshipper of ,christ ought so far to take offence at one or two expressions in the ,creed--which may be interpreted by him metaphorically1 though by others literally--as to separate himself on that account from the national church4 ,grant that his interpretation may be a little strained1 nay1 grant even that he is obliged to say 8,i cannot believe this20 yet ,i should doubt the necessity1 or even wisdom and rightness1 of cutting himself off from the ,church of ,england because of one or two clauses in the ,creed1 as long as he feels himself in general harmony with the ,church doctrine and services4 ,there would be no end to schisms1 and no possibility of combining for worship1 if every one separated himself from every congregational utterance with which he could not heartily agree in every particular4 ,on this point ,i find myself obliged to remember for my own sake1 and to apply to myself1 the advice ,i once gave a very little child many years ago4 ,we were singing a hymn1 and had come to the words3 8,ah me1 ah me1 that ,i ,in ,kedar's tents here stay3 ,no place like that on high1 ,lord1 thither guide my way40 8,i suppose10 said the child 7who was young but somewhat old-fashioned in thought and expression71 8that these words mean that you want to die1 if they mean anything4 ,but ,i don't want to die4 ,so ,i don't think ,i ought to say them40 ,in my own mind ,i sympathized very much with the objector2 but ,i endeavoured to meet the objection4 8,hymns10 ,i said1 8are written not for single persons but for congregations4 ,in a whole churchful you will find all sorts of people of different ages and ways of thinking4 ,some are glad and strong1 others sad and weak4 ,some rejoice in life and look forward eagerly to labour4 ,these are mostly the young2 but the older sort are sometimes tired of life and longing for rest4 ,now when we are singing a hymn we must all do our best1 young and old1 happy and sad1 to enter into one another's feelings1 and we must not expect that every word in every hymn will precisely represent our own particular feelings at the moment3 the time will perhaps come when the words that now seem meaningless to us will exactly represent our deepest feelings1 and we shall wonder how we could have ever failed to feel them2 but for the present we must not be disposed always to be asking1 #8,do ,i agree with this8 ,do ,i exactly feel that8' ,of course if it occurs to you that these or those words are so opposite to what you think1 that you would be telling a lie to ,god in uttering them1 why then you must not utter them3 but you ought not to suppose that in a church service ,god exacts from you a rigid account for every word of the congregational utterances in which you take part3 if you can heartily join in the greater part of the service1 do not be afraid2 ,he accepts your prayers and praises40 ,many years have passed away since ,i spoke thus3 and1 since then1 ,i have found myself often obliged to repeat to myself1 for my own guidance1 the advice which ,i then gave to guide another4 ,in a public service one must give and take1 and ,i see no reason at all why a believer in non-miraculous ,christianity should not find himself in harmony with the services of the ,church of ,england4 ,his interpretation both of the ,bible and of the ,prayer-book will be different from that of most of the congregation2 but he will accept both the ,bible and the ,prayer-book as the best books that could be used for their several purposes1 and would be sorry to see them replaced by anything that could be devised by himself or by those who think as he does4 ,so far ,i can speak confidently2 but ,i am more doubtful as to the answer that should be given to your second question1 8,can a believer in non-miraculous ,christianity remain a minister in the ,church of ,england80 ,looking at the ,articles1 if ,i were forced to assume that every one of them is binding on a ,church of ,england minister1 ,i should say that a belief in the miraculous is necessary for every one who can honestly sign an assent to the ,article on ,christ's ,resurrection1 which asserts that1 8,christ did truly rise again from death1 and took again ,his body with flesh1 bones1 and all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature1 wherewith ,he ascended into heaven40 ,these words distinctly declare the ,resurrection of ,christ's material body2 and as ,i do not believe in the fact1 ,i cannot assent to the words1 nor do ,i see how any believer in non-miraculous ,christianity can assent to them4 ,perhaps you may think1 in your innocence1 that this disposes of the question1 arguing logically thus3 8,the ,church of ,england appoints certain ,articles as tests of belief for her ministers2 ,a cannot assent to one of these ,articles2 therefore ,a has no right to remain a minister3 there is no loophole out of this logical statement of the case40 ,there is not3 and if the ,church of ,england were governed in accordance with logic1 ,i 7and a good many others7 ought to have left the ranks of her ministers as soon as we found that we had been forced to reject a single clause of a single ,article4 ,but the ,church has not been fur several generations governed in this logical way4 ,besides practically and generally allowing among its members a great degree of freedom and latitude1 it has enlarged that latitude during the last generation by a specific and authoritative alteration of the terms of subscription to the ,articles4 ,when ,i signed them--which ,i did1 with perfect honesty and sincerity1 some three or four and twenty years ago--we were obliged to 8assent and consent0 to 8each and every0 ,article in each particular3 ,i forget the exact terms1 but ,i know they were as stringent as they well could be4 ,but in #ahfe the ,clerical ,subscription ,act introduced a new form3--8,i assent to the ,thirty-nine ,articles of ,religion and to the ,book of ,common ,prayer4444 ,i believe the doctrine of the ,church of ,england as therein set forth to be agreeable to the ,word of ,god40 ,now if 8therein0 meant 8in each and every clause of each and every ,article10 that would have been tantamount to a mere repetition of the old requirement4 ,obviously therefore this alteration implies an obligation of the subscriber to assent1 no longer to 8each and every ,article0 in particular1 but to the ,articles as a whole1 regarded as an expression of ,anglican doctrine4 ,consequently1 at present1 the necessity of subscription need not repel any one unless he finds himself unable to accept 8the doctrine of the ,church of ,england as set forth10 not in detail1 but generally1 in the ,articles and the ,prayer-book2 and ,i need not say that a believer in non-miraculous ,christianity by no means occupies a position of such dissent as this4 ,the only obstacle therefore for a scrupulous minister will be in the services of the ,church and in the reading of the ,bible3 and here ,i admit that there is a very considerable obstacle1 though it appears to me to be less than it was a dozen years ago1 and each year lessens it still further4 ,the difficulty lies1 not in the scepticism of the minister 7who may be a more faithful worshipper of ,christ than any one in his flock7 nor in any congregational suspicion or alarm 7for his advanced views lie quite beyond the horizon of the thoughts of any country congregation1 and any but an exceptional congregation elsewhere7 but almost entirely in the minister's own uneasy sense of a difference between himself and his people2 in his fear that he may be acting hypocritically2 in his consequent loss of self-respect2 and in a resulting demoralization affecting all his work4 ,clearly this is a difficulty which would be diminished1 if not altogether removed1 by publicity2 but as long as it is not publicly recognized that widely different interpretations of the ,scripture are possible and compatible with the worship of ,christ1 the difficulty is a very serious one4 ,whenever such a man reads the ,bible in the discharge of his public duty1 he is liable to be haunted with the consciousness that he is two-faced4 ,he conveys to his congregation an obvious meaning and they assume that he accepts that meaning himself2 but he does not4 ,suppose1 for example1 he reads the story of the battle of ,beth-horon3 his congregation believes that it is listening to the most stupendous miracle that the world has witnessed2 the minister believes that he is reading an account of one of the twenty1 or more1 decisive battles of history4 ,similarly1 in the ,new ,testament1 if he reads the narrative of the feeding of the #d1jjj or #e1jjj1 he reads it as a religious legend1 curiously preserving a deep spiritual truth1 but of no value except for its emblematic meaning2 but his congregation listens to him as if he were reciting one of the most important proofs that ,jesus was no mere man1 but truly the ,son of ,god4 ,i do not wish to exaggerate the difference between the rationalizing minister and the literalizing congregation4 ,both he and they believe that in the battle of ,beth-horon ,god was working out the destiny of ,israel and preparing for ,himself a chosen people2 both he and they believe that ,jesus ,christ was the true ,bread of ,life2 and similarly1 as regards many other miraculous narratives of the ,scriptures1 the congregation and the minister1 though divided as to the acceptance of the historical fact1 will be united in accepting the spiritual interpretation which is the essence of the narrative4 ,moreover1 every year is probably increasing the number of the laity who take the same esoteric view as the minister takes about many of the miracles4 ,in any educated congregation there must be a large number of men1 and there will soon be a large number of women1 who do not believe in the literal stories of ,balaam's ass1 ,elisha's floating axe-head1 and ,samson's exploit with the jaw-bone4 ,unless educated people are kept out of our churches1 or separate themselves from the ,church1 this number must soon increase4 ,thus the gulf between the rationalizing minister and the congregation tends yearly to diminish through the action of the congregation2 and if only both the esoteric and the exoteric interpretation of the ,scripture were generally recognized as being compatible with the faithful worship of ,christ1 ,i do not see why the minister should not claim for himself1 without any sense of constraint or insincerity1 the same freedom of interpreting the ,bible which is accorded to the laity4 ,there still remains however the clause in the ,creed stating the ,miraculous ,conception1 which to me appears the greatest difficulty of all4 ,it is one thing1 in my judgment1 to repeat the prayers of the ,church and to read passages from the sacred books of the ,church1 as the mouthpiece of the congregation1 and rather a different thing to stand up and say--not only as the mouthpiece of the congregation1 but in your individual character1 as a ,christian1 and as a priest as well--8,i believe this1 or that10 and to take money for so saying2 while all the time you are saying under your breath1 8,but ,i only believe it metaphorically40 ,here1 again1 my scruples would be removed1 if it were only generally understood that the metaphorical interpretation was possible and permissible4 ,as regards the ,athanasian ,creed1 for example1 ,i should have no scruples at all4 ,for the tone and spirit1 as well as for the phraseology1 of that ,creed1 ,i feel the strongest aversion4 ,yet ,i should repeat it as the mouthpiece of the congregation without any hesitation1 because they would all know that the ,church of ,england1 so far as it can speak through the archbishops and bishops1 has signified that the repulsive clauses in the ,creed may all be so explained as practically to be explained away4 ,i do not in the least believe that this mild interpretation of the damnatory clauses explains their original meaning2 but that matters little or nothing4 ,provided there be no suspicion of insincerity1 ,i am willing to make considerable sacrifices of personal convictions in so complex a rite as congregational worship4 ,the clergyman whom ,i most respect has not read the ,athanasian ,creed for thirty years3 for my own sake1 as a participator in the worship of his church1 ,i rejoice2 but all my respect for him did not prevent me from doubting sometimes whether he was right in this matter1 until ,i found that his action had been prompted by an expression of feeling on the part of some representative members of his congregation4 ,for if one clergyman is justified in omitting the ,athanasian ,creed whenever he likes1 ,i do not see why another is not justified in reading it whenever he likes3 the liberty of the clergy might easily become the slavery of the laity4 ,i should therefore be ready to read the repugnant ,athanasian ,creed because every member of my congregation would know 7and ,i should feel justified in letting them know from the pulpit7 that ,i read it in obedience to the law and in spite of my convictions4 ,but ,i am not so ready1 at present1 to read the ,apostles' ,creed or ,nicene ,creed1 although ,i cordially accept them except so far as concerns the one word which expresses the ,miraculous ,conception4 ,my reason is1 that ,i should not like to leave my congregation under the impression that ,i accepted that dogma1 and on the other hand ,i should not feel justified in using a pulpit of the ,national ,church to explain why ,i rejected it4 ,here again1 as in the previous instance1 ,i feel that times are rapidly changing1 and the freedom of ministers in the ,church of ,england is rapidly increasing4 ,for scruples as to the use of the ,creeds1 no less than for scruples as to the reading of the ,scriptures1 publicity is the chief remedy wanting to dissipate scruples2 and time is on the side of freedom4 ,belief in miracles now rests on an inclined plane2 friction is daily lessening1 the downward motion is rapidly increasing2 in a few more years the authorities of the ,church of ,england may recognize1 not with reluctance but with delight1 that there are some young men who know enough of ,greek1 and of history1 and of evidence1 to be convinced that the miracles are unhistorical1 and who1 nevertheless1 are worshippers of ,christ on conviction1 with a faith not to be shaken by anything that science or criticism can discover1 and with a readiness to serve ,christ1 as ministers in the ,english ,church1 if they can do so without sacrifice of their opinions and without suspicion of insincerity4 ,personally1 ,i have not felt these scruples very acutely4 ,circumstances have placed me where nothing has been required of me which might not have been done as well by a ,nonconformist as by a member of the ,church of ,england4 ,to help a friend1 or do occasional work in an unofficial way1 has never caused me the least misgiving2 for ,i have always remained in cordial accord with the forms of worship current in the ,church of ,england4 ,the only difference that my views have made in my clerical action has been this1 that ,i have preferred for a time not to place myself in any position where ministerial work might officially be required of me4 ,yet even these scruples have been doubtfully entertained1 and would vanish altogether if ever ,i were to publish a volume of such letters as ,i am now writing to you1 so that ,i could be sure that my opinions were no secret from my ,bishop and from such members of my congregation as were likely to understand them4 ,the advice which ,i have given to myself1 ,i should also be inclined to give to others who are already ministers in the ,church of ,england1 and who have scruples of conscience in consequence of some divergence from orthodox views3 8,stay where you are1 as long as you feel that you can sincerely worship ,christ as the ,eternal ,son of ,god1 and as long as you can preach a gospel of faith and strength1 not only from the pulpit but also by the bedside of the dying4 ,if you can do this1 you may stay1 though you are obliged to interpret metaphorically some expressions in the ,creed4 ,if you cannot do this1 go at once1 even though you can accept every syllable in all the ,creeds in the most literal sense40 ,to young men who have not yet been ordained and who incline to 8rational0 views of ,christianity1 ,i have been disposed hitherto to give different advice3 8,wait a while4 ,the fashion of men's opinion is rapidly changing2 the excessive fear of science on the part of the ,clergy--many of whom come from ,public ,schools where they have received no training in the rudiments of science or mathematics--is1 strange to say1 predisposing all but extreme ,high ,churchmen to welcome the adhesion of any who are firm believers in ,christ1 even though they may doubt or reject the miracles4 ,it would be a miserable thing to be ordained1 and to undertake the task of preaching a doctrine implying the highest conceivable morality1 and presently to find yourself condemned by those to whom you should be an example as well as an instructor1 for what appears to them patent insincerity--condemned by others1 and perhaps not wholly acquitted by yourself4 ,in a few years you may perhaps find it possible to be ordained not upon tolerance but with a hearty reception1 and then there need be no concealment of your opinions40 ,such is the language that ,i have hitherto used on the very few occasions when ,i have been consulted1 generally advising delay4 ,but now ,i am inclined to think that the time has come when young men with these opinions ought not to wait1 but ought at least to set their case before the ,bishops1 leaving it to them to accept or refuse them as candidates for ordination4 ,schisms and prosecutions are very objectionable things1 but there are worse evils even than these4 ,there is the danger of hypocrisy1 spreading1 like an infection1 from oneself to others4 ,the hour has perhaps come for authorizing or condemning the extreme freedom of opinion which some of the ,broad ,churchmen have assumed4 ,proverbs and texts might be quoted in equal abundance to justify action or inaction in the abstract2 but two important practical considerations appear to me to dictate some kind of action without delay4 ,on the one hand1 we hear the complaint that the ablest and most conscientious men are deterred by scruples from entering the ministry in the ,church of ,england1 even when they feel a strong bent for clerical work4 ,if this scarcity of able candidates for ordination continues for many more years1 we shall have bad times in store for us4 ,already ,i think ,i have noted1 among some ministers who are conscious of but little intellectual and not much more spiritual power1 a disposition unduly to magnify their office1 the ritual1 the mechanical use of the sacraments1 parochial machinery1 processions1 sensational hymns1 church salvation-armies1 and church-routine generally1 because they feel they have no evangelic message of their own1 no individual inspiration4 ,in some degree1 such a subordination of self is good and may argue modesty2 but in many cases it is not good1 when it leads young men to materialize and sensualize religion1 to suppose that the preaching of ,christ's ,gospel and the elevation of the souls of men can be effected by ecclesiastical battalion drill2 to dispense with study1 thought1 and observation2 to acquiesce in the letter of the collected dogmas of the past1 and to hope for no new spiritual truth from the progress of the ages controlled by the ever fresh revelations of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,on the other hand1 there is the opposite evil1 on which ,i have already touched--,i mean the danger that some of the more intellectual among the clergy1 those who do not sympathize with sacerdotalism and are popularly reckoned among the 8,broad ,church10 may not only be suspected of insincerity in professing to believe what they1 as a fact1 disbelieve1 but may also become actually demoralized by self-suspicions and hence indirectly demoralize their congregations4 ,i confess my sympathies are very much with a man in that position4 ,he has been sometimes the victim of cruel circumstances4 ,in his youth1 the religious problems of the present day lay all in the background4 ,before he was ordained1 he may very well have discerned no difficulties at all in the career before him1 nothing but the prospect of a noble work1 to which he felt himself called4 ,his life was probably spent in a public boarding-school1 where he scarcely ever had a minute to himself for thought and meditation2 it being the ideal of the educator so to engross the time and energy of each pupil in studies or in games that the average youth might be kept out of moral mischief and the clever youth might get a scholarship at ,oxford or ,cambridge4 ,when he came to the ,university he found himself expected to devote himself to 8reading for a degree10 and there was little or no time for theology2 after taking his degree he found himself under the necessity of earning his living1 and if he was intending to become a clergyman he naturally desired to be ordained as soon as possible4 ,if he was very fortunate1 he may have contrived 7as ,i did7 to get a year's reading at theology while he supported himself by taking pupils2 but that was probably the utmost of his preparation4 ,soon after reaching his twenty-third year he was ordained4 ,and now1 for the first time1 leaving school and college1 he begins to realize what life means1 and to think for himself4 ,can we wonder that this 8thinking for himself0 produces considerable changes of thought8 ,if he is healthy1 and active in his parish1 and has not much time for reflection and reading1 the changes will be long deferred1 and he will be scarcely conscious of them3 but if he has any mind at all in him1 and gives it the least exercise1 it is hardly possible that an able and honest student of the ,bible at the age of forty-six1 when he comes to compare the opinions of his manhood with those of his youth1 will not find that he has ceased to believe1 or at all events to be certain of1 the historical accuracy of a good deal which he accepted with unquestioning confidence at the age of twenty-three4 ,changes of this kind are inevitable1 and they ought not to be feared4 ,yet perhaps the fear of them deters some of the more thoughtful young men from presenting themselves for ordination4 ,they know that they believe in such and such facts now1 but1 say they1 8,many sincere and thoughtful persons dispute the truth of these facts2 and what will be my position some ten years hence if ,i find that ,i am driven to deny what ,i now affirm80 ,what one would like to be able to reply1 in answer to such an appeal1 would be1 that the worship of ,christ does not depend upon the truth of a few isolated and disputable pieces of evidence1 but upon the testimony of the conscience based upon indisputable 7though complex7 evidence2 so that1 if the man's conscience remains the same1 he need not fear lest the fundamental principles of his faith will be shaken by any historical or scientific criticism4 ,from the terrestrial point of view1 ,christ is human nature at its divinest4 ,whoever therefore in the highest degree loves and trusts and reveres human nature at its divinest1 he naturally worships a representation of ,christ1 even though he may never have heard of the name4 ,now life will bring a young man many disappointments and disillusions and paradoxes3 but no one1 who has once worshipped ,christ in this natural way1 need fear 7or hope87 that life will ever bring him anything more worthy of representing human nature at its divinest1 anything therefore more worthy of worship1 than ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,the only danger is1 that one may cease to be able to love and trust and revere the objects that deserve these feelings4 ,there is indeed that danger1 just as there is the danger that one may cease to be able to be honest4 ,but what young man1 in mapping out his future1 would make insurance against such a moral paralysis8 ,a man ought no more--a man ought still less--to contemplate the possibility of becoming unable to worship ,christ1 than the possibility of becoming unable to revere a kind father or love affectionate children4 ,if then our candidate for ordination regards ,christ in this spirit1 one would like to encourage him to present himself for ordination even though he may already doubt the ,biblical narrative on some points1 and though he may be pretty certain that he will change his mind on many others by the time he is twice as old as he is now4 ,however it rests very much with ,bishops to settle this question2 and the question as to what the ,bishops might do is so important as to demand a separate letter4 ,p4,s4 ,since writing the above remarks about the reluctance of the ablest men at the ,universities to be ordained1 ,i have been told that the state of things is even worse than ,i had conceived at ,cambridge4 ,there1 at the two largest colleges1 ,trinity and ,st4 ,john's1 ,i am told that of the ,fellows who took their degrees between #ahgc-i only eight1 out of sixty or thereabouts1 took holy orders2 and of those who took degrees between #ahhj-f1 only three out of sixty4 ,trinity is conspicuous2 of the sixty ,fellows who took degrees from #ahgc-hf only two have been ordained4 ,,xxxi ,,what ,,the ,,bishops ,,might ,,do ,,my ,,dear ----1 ,i reminded you in my last letter that ordination or non-ordination must largely depend upon the judgment of the ,bishops4 ,this1 ,i suppose1 must have always been the case to some extent3 but there are reasons why it may well be so now to a greater extent than before4 ,the important change made in the form of subscription to the ,thirty-nine ,articles has supplied a solid and definite ground upon which the ,bishops may fairly claim to ascertain from candidates for ordination some details about their religious opinions4 ,in the times when candidates had to assent to every point in every ,article1 no further examination was necessary3 but now that the candidate is allowed 7by implication7 to dissent from some things in the ,articles1 the ,bishop may surely1 without any inquisitorial oppression1 say3 8,before ,i ordain you1 ,i should like to know1 in a general way1 how far your dissent from the ,articles extends40 ,some ,bishops may be inclined to shrink from such an interrogation1 as though it implied doubt of the candidate's sincerity3 and of course such an examination might be abused in a narrow or bigoted or even tyrannical manner4 ,but on the whole1 ,i think1 it might be even more useful as a protection and help to the young candidate than to the ,bishop4 ,here and there1 perhaps1 a young man might be advised to give up1 or defer1 the prospect of ordination2 but others 7who would have otherwise been deterred by scruples7 might be encouraged to be ordained in spite of some intellectual difficulties2 and this fatherly encouragement from a man of authority and experience would be a great help and comfort1 strengthening the young man in the conviction that mere intellectual difficulties could not interfere with his faith in ,christ4 ,still more valuable would be the young man's consciousness that he could not be called insincere or hypocritical1 since he had concealed nothing from the ,bishop1 who1 after hearing all1 had decided that there was nothing to exclude him from ordination4 ,i would therefore advise any man who desired to be ordained but was deterred by present scruples or the fear of future scruples1 to write at an early period to the ,bishop at whose hands he would be likely to seek ordination1 stating his difficulties frankly and fully1 and asking whether they would be considered an impediment4 ,if he felt any touch of doubt on the subject of the miracles1 ,i would have him make them the subject of a special question4 ,in some dioceses ,i should expect the answer to be unfavourable4 ,from others perhaps the answer would come that the ,bishop was 8unwilling to undertake so heavy a responsibility2 each man must decide for himself whether he can honestly read the services of the ,church and the lessons from the ,scriptures without believing in miracles40 ,that answer would be1 in my judgment1 regrettable1 though not unnatural or indefensible4 ,but even that answer would be of value1 as it would be a record that1 at all events1 the ,bishop had not been kept in ignorance of anything that the candidate ought to have revealed to him3 and this in itself would be of great value in lightening for a scrupulous and self-introspective young man the burden of the questions which might sometimes arise in his mind as he read aloud in the congregation the words of the ,bible or the ,prayer-book4 ,moreover1 ,i should anticipate that every year would see an increase in the number of those dioceses from which a still more favourable answer might be returned3 8,if with all your heart you worship ,christ as the ,eternal ,son of ,god1 if you can honestly and sincerely accept the ,church services as excellent 7though imperfect7 expressions of congregational worship2 and the ,scriptures as super-excellent 7though imperfect7 expressions of spiritual fact2 if you feel that you have a message of good news for the poor and simple as well as for the rich and educated1 and that you can preach the spiritual truths which you and all of us recognize to be the essence of the ,gospel1 without attacking those material shapes in which1 for many generations to come1 all spiritual truths must find expression for the vast majority of ,christians1 then ,i can encourage you to come to the ministry of ,christ4 ,i myself am of the old school and believe in the miracles1 or if not in all1 at all events in most2 but ,i recognize that this belief--though to me it seems safer and desirable--is not essential3 come therefore to the ministry1 with the miracles if you can1 without them if you cannot40 ,here indeed is a reasonable criterion of fitness for ordination3 and if a man cannot satisfy this1 ,i do not see how he can complain of being excluded4 ,but no other criterion seems likely to be permanently tenable4 ,for imagine yourself to be a ,bishop1 trying to lay down some short1 precise1 and convenient test1 as regards the belief in the miraculous3 where are you to draw the line8 ,a young man1 eminently fit in all respects for ministerial work1 comes to you and says that he accepts all the miracles but one2 he cannot bring himself to believe that ,joshua stopped the movement of the sun 7or earth74 ,what are you to do8 ,reject him8 ,surely not3 not even though you were ,canon ,liddon1 raised 7as ,i hope he will be raised7 to the episcopal bench4 ,the ,universities would join in protest against your bigotry2 the whole of educated society would secede from the ,church on such conditions3 the masses of non-,christian and semi-,christian working men would cry out that such a rejection was a portent of tyranny1 and that the men who could accept admission to the priesthood on such terms as these were no better than superstitious dolts and slaves1 creatures to be suppressed in a free country6 ,well1 then1 you admit him3 will you reject his younger brother next year1 who finds that he cannot accept the miracle of ,balaam's ass speaking with a human voice8 ,certainly you will admit him too4 ,and now where are you to stop8 ,if you admit a man who denies two miracles1 will you accept a man who denies a third1 say1 the miracle of ,elisha's floating axe-head8 ,and if three1 why not four8 why not five8 and so on to the end of the list8 ,again1 a man comes to you and says that he feels obliged to reject as an interpolation--although willing to read them as part of an erroneous but long cherished tradition--the well-known words at the end of the ,lord's ,prayer1 8for thine is the kingdom1 the power and the glory1 for ever and ever30 what will you do to him8 ,refuse him8 ,surely not4 ,the ,revisers of the ,new ,testament have themselves rejected the addition1 and ,i am quite sure no scholar who valued ,god's ,word1 and certainly no ,bishop1 would wish to reject a man for preferring the ,new ,version of the ,bible to the ,old4 ,but1 if you admit him1 what are you to say to his companion1 who rejects also the last twelve verses of ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel8 ,in my opinion1 a man must be1 ,hellenistically speaking1 an 8idiot10--a ,greek 8idiot10 what the ,greeks call idiots--to believe in their genuineness4 ,but even though you1 being a busy ,bishop1 may have forgotten a good deal of ,greek1 you cannot forget the decision of the ,revisers4 ,for here again the ,revisers are on the young man's side4 ,they have printed this passage as a kind of ,appendix1 placing an interval between it and the ,gospel1 and appending this note3 8,the two oldest ,greek ,,mss4 and some older authorities1 omit from verse #i to the end4 ,some other authorities have a different ending to the ,gospel40 ,now if you admit the rejecter of these two passages1 will you refuse his companion1 who tells you he is compelled to agree with the ,revisers also as to a third passage1 ,john vii4 #ec--viii4 #aa1 where the ,revised ,version brackets several verses1 adding this note1 8,most of the ancient authorities omit ,john vii4 #ec--viii4 #aa4 ,those which contain it vary much from each other08 ,you must certainly accept him4 ,but if you accept him1 what are you to say to young men who go further and reject whole books of the ,new ,testament1 for example1 the ,second ,epistle of ,st4 ,peter2 the genuineness of which has been impeached by a great consent of authorities1 and concerning which ,canon ,westcott says that it is the 8one exception0 to the statement that the combined canons of the ,eastern and ,western ,churches would produce 8a perfect ,new ,testament08 ,and if we let him pass1 under ,canon ,westcott's wing1 how shall we deal with the next candidate1 who reminds us that ,luther rejected the ,apocalypse and the ,epistle of ,st4 ,james1 and declares that he cannot help agreeing with ,luther8 ,what lastly is to be the fate of those who avow that they cannot shut their eyes to the traces1 even in the ,synoptic ,gospels1 of considerable interpolations or late traditions1 especially in those portions which contain miraculous narrative8 ,perhaps we might feel inclined to say1 8,we will take our stand on ,westcott and ,hort's text1 or on the text of the ,revised ,version1 and will refuse any candidate who rejects a word of the ,new ,testament that is contained in either of these texts2 the line must be drawn somewhere1 and we will draw it there40 ,what6 ,shall we reject a candidate for ordination because he does not accept the ,gospel according to ,westcott and ,hort1 or the ,gospel according to an unauthorized though scholarly knot of men called the ,revisers8 ,impossible6 all ,christendom would cry shame upon us4 ,on the whole1 we seem driven to the conclusion that no candidate for ,anglican ordination can be reasonably rejected for believing that parts of the ,bible are spurious or un-historical1 provided that he is willing to read in the presence of the congregation the portions of ,scripture appointed by the ,church4 ,if the test of miracles fails1 and if the test of an infallible book fails1 so too does failure await the test of an infallible ,creed4 ,it would be1 at all events1 departing strangely from the spirit of the ,reformers and from the spirit of the ,articles1 to allow men laxity as regards the interpretation of the ,scriptures1 which are regarded as specially inspired1 and yet to pin them to the letter of the ,creeds1 which are regarded as being authoritative because they are based on the ,scriptures4 ,if a candidate were to tell you1 his ,bishop1 that 8he accepted the ,resurrection of ,christ1 and even of ,christ's body1 but that he could not honestly say that ,christ rose on the third day2 for ,christ was buried on the evening of ,friday1 and rose early on the morning of ,sunday1 that is to say1 on the second day10 you would perhaps reason with him1 and say that it was the ,jewish way of reckoning2 and if he were then to reply to you that to the greater part of the congregation this way of reckoning was unknown1 and that the phrase might therefore convey a false impression--what would you say to this ultra-conscientious young man8 ,this probably3 that 8the ,creeds of ,christendom could not be disturbed on account of the eccentricities of well-meaning individuals2 that1 if this was his only obstacle1 you1 his ,bishop1 could take upon yourself to justify him in repeating these words as the mouthpiece of the congregation2 that it was quite open to him to explain the true meaning of the words from the pulpit2 and that little misunderstandings of this kind1 if indeed there was danger of any1 were insignificant as compared with belief in the essential fact that ,jesus rose from the dead40 ,when the young man goes out--probably satisfied1 unless he is very obstinate1 and you a little impatient--let us suppose that another man comes in1 with a different objection to the same clause4 ,he accepts the essential fact that ,jesus rose from the dead1 and he does not object to the words1 8the third day10 but he does not believe that the material body of ,jesus rose from the tomb4 ,he believes that ,jesus ,himself1 that is to say1 ,his spirit1 rose from the dead1 and that ,he manifested ,himself to ,his disciples in a spiritual body1 which1 in accordance with some law of our human spiritual nature1 was manifested to those1 and only to those1 who loved ,him or believed in ,him4#ci ,this is a more serious objection by far3 for you have to consider1 first1 whether the young man is likely to hold fast his belief in the spiritual ,resurrection of ,jesus1 when based on such evidence as this2 and secondly whether he can preach the ,gospel of the risen ,saviour without raising all sorts of questions and difficulties in minds unprepared to grapple with them4 ,at this point1 then1 ,i cannot blame your episcopal judgment if you take time to decide1 and if1 before deciding1 you do your best to ascertain what manner of man you have to deal with1 and1 in particular1 whether his stability is equal to his ability4 8,doubts and difficulties0 may sometimes betoken1 not so much a mind that thinks for itself1 as a disposition to affect singularity and to strain after constant novelty4 ,but if you are satisfied on this point1 ,i think you would do well to admit him to ordination4 ,i would not exclude from the ministry any one who can conscientiously worship ,christ in accordance with the services of the ,church of ,england1 and preach the ,gospel without shaking the faith of the masses4 ,perhaps ,i shall seem to you 7not now in the temporary episcopal capacity which you have occupied during the last few paragraphs1 but as plain ----7 very illiberal in excluding from the broad boundaries of the ,national ,church those who are unable to worship ,christ4 ,but ,i am not prepared to alter the ,nicene ,creed or the ,church ,services2 and if ,i could not worship ,christ1 ,i cannot think that ,i myself should desire to be included in the ,church of ,england1 as long as that ,creed and the ,church ,services remained in use4 ,for how could ,i offer prayer to ,jesus8 or say1 in any sense1 8,i believe in ,jesus ,christ1 ,god of ,god1 ,light of ,light1 very ,god of very ,god08 ,no plea of metaphor would ever enable me to repeat these words with any honesty1 as long as ,i found myself unable to worship ,christ4 ,i confess to a secret feeling that many of those who at the present time think they do not worship ,christ1 do in reality worship ,him2 and ,i have good hopes that some of them may1 in time1 when they search out their deepest feelings1 find out that they have long been unconsciously worshipping ,him1 and that they can accept1 with a spiritual interpretation1 some things that have hitherto appeared to them inadmissible4#dj ,but to demand that the ,creeds and ,church ,services may be remoulded1 is a very different thing from asking to be allowed to put a metaphorical interpretation on one or two phrases in them4 ,when ,parochial ,councils are established1 it may be found ultimately possible to give some larger latitude in the modification or multiplication of ,services so as to make them more inclusive3 but1 after all1 congregations meet for worship1 not for the sake of being liberal and inclusive2 and the inclusion of non-worshippers of ,christ can hardly be demanded from a ,church that worships ,christ4 ,nor must the inclusion of 8advanced thinkers0 be carried to such an extent as to exclude the great mass of ordinary believers4 ,i myself1 deeply though ,i sympathize in all essential matters with the ,church of ,england1 should nevertheless be willing not only to be excluded from it1 but also to see excluded all who may take the same views as ,i take1 rather than that the simple faith in ,christ entertained by the great body of ,christians should be injured by the premature disruption of those material beliefs and integumentary illusions with which1 at present1 their spiritual beliefs are inseparably connected4 ,and this brings me to another side of the question4 ,if ,i were publishing an appeal to the ,bishops1 ,i should certainly add an appeal to the younger ,broad ,church clergy4 ,it ought not to be asking too much from a young preacher who is an 8advanced thinker10 to remember that some reverence is due to the simpler members of his flock4 ,many of those whom he authoritatively instructs are older1 wiser at present1 of larger experience in life1 some of them perhaps more spiritually minded1 than he is4 ,what if their deepest and most cherished religious convictions1 right in the main1 are tied to certain expressions and narratives that may not be historically accurate8 ,does it follow that their feelings are to be outraged at any moment by assaults upon the ancient forms and expressions of their belief from the lips of a young man who professes to accept these forms1 and takes the money of the ,church for accepting them8 ,such attacks upon the forms are at present worse than useless1 because they are sure to be construed into attacks upon the spirit4 ,in time a change will come1 and even now a minister may do something to prepare the way for the change4 ,he may institute ,bible lectures to which he may invite the attendance of those alone who wish to study the ,bible critically1 and those whose reading and attainments qualify them to criticize1 or to follow criticism4 ,but1 from the pulpit1 matter of this kind should be altogether excluded4 ,nor need the preacher fear lest such restriction should shackle his liberty and take the life out of his sermons4 ,in almost every case one invariable rule can be laid down which will give ample scope to him and no offence to his hearers3 8,always preach what you believe to be true1 and never go out of your way in order to attack what you believe to be untrue40 ,for example1 your flock believes that ,christ's body 7the tangible body7 was raised from the grave2 you do not4 ,well then1 do not attack their material belief2 but preach your spiritual belief4 ,teach them that ,christ's ,resurrection implies a real though invisible triumph over the invisible enemy death2 a real1 though invisible1 sitting at the right hand of ,god2 a real1 though invisible1 presence in the heart of every one who loves and trusts ,him4 ,thus you may teach the habit of reverence1 simultaneously with the habit of inquiry2 a love of the old forms1 combined with a still deeper love of the new truths that may be discovered beneath them2 thus you will not shake the faith of a single child2 you will be impressing upon all alike unadulterated1 precious truth without sacrificing a little of your own convictions2 and at the same time you will be insensibly preparing the younger portion of your flock to detach the material part of their belief from the spiritual1 and to retain the latter when the time may come that shall force them to give up the former4 ,in a similar spirit you should deal with the ,ascension and the ,incarnation1 not pointing out the difficulties involved in the material belief of those dogmas1 nor saying a word to disparage those who believe in them1 but doing your utmost to bring out the spiritual truths and invisible processes which are represented by those dogmas4 ,surely such a self-restraint as this is not more than may fairly be demanded from any honourable man1 ,i will not say from a ,christian1 but from a gentleman4 ,your congregation are in their own parish church2 they are bound by conventional respect and by deeply-rooted reverence for tradition and for the ,house of ,god1 not to manifest any such open disapprobation of your teaching as would be freely permissible at a public meeting2 you are their servant1 and the servant1 the paid servant1 of the ,national ,church2 and yet you have them at your mercy while you stand in the pulpit4 ,profound consideration may fairly be expected from you for their prejudices1 as you may please to call them2 and all the more because they are1 as it were1 in possession of the church1 while you are an innovator1 holding what must--at all events for some time to come--appear to the multitude an entirely new doctrine3 they 8stand on the old ways40 ,if the teachers of natural or non-miraculous ,christianity could be trusted to preach in this spirit1 they might1 ,i think1 do a good work as ministers in the ,church of ,england1 without injury to themselves1 and with much advantage to the nation4 ,if not1 they must come out of the ,church for the purposes of teaching2 and that1 ,i fear1 would result in mischief both for the ,church and for the ,state4 ,i believe that not a few of the educated clergy are either suspending their belief about miracles1 or have decided against them2 and if these were suddenly to be banished1 or gradually to drop out of the clerical ranks without receiving any successors of their way of thinking1 the gulf would be widened between the clergy and the educated laity4 ,the men who might discover new religious truth and prepare the way for new religious development1 having henceforth to earn their living in other ways1 would find little leisure for critical study4 ,the end would be that the nation would be for a time divided between superstition and agnosticism2 and sober religion would go to the wall4 ,not indeed that the destinies of the ,gospel of ,christ are to be supposed to be permanently determinable by the fate of a fraction of the ,broad ,church section of the ,english clergy6 ,the attraction of the natural worship of ,christ--strange1 nay1 impossible though it may seem when first presented to the miracle-craving mind--is far too great to admit the possibility of its ultimate failure4 ,but first there must come a vast and depressing defection on the part of those nominal ,christians who have hitherto worshipped ,christ on the basis of an infallible ,church1 or on the basis of an infallible ,book1 or on the basis of indisputable ,miracles4 ,perhaps this collapse will be precipitated by the discovery of a copy of some ,gospel of the first century1 turned up when ,constantinople is evacuated by the ,turks4 ,you cannot have forgotten how this year 7#ahhe7 the educated religious world in ,england held its breath in horrible suspense when the correspondent of the ,times telegraphed that among the ,egyptian manuscripts recently purchased by an ,austrian arch-duke1 there had been disinterred a fragment belonging to a ,gospel preceding1 and differing from1 any now extant4 ,from this terrible discovery orthodoxy was delivered1 for this once1 by the learning of ,professor ,hort3 but who shall guarantee that a ,professor ,hort shall be able1 or even willing1 to deny the proto-evangelic claims of the next-discovered manuscript from the ,east8 ,and then1 what will become of some of us6 ,in any case1 with or without such discoveries1 the present word-faith1 and book-faith1 and authority-faith in the ,lord ,jesus1 must sooner or later collapse2 and people must be driven to the conclusion that the ,lord ,jesus ,himself must somehow be worshipped through ,himself--,jesus through the ,spirit of ,jesus1 that ,spirit which is apparent in families and nations and ,churches as well as in the ,new ,testament1 the ,spirit of ,love whence springs that mutual helpfulness which in the ,new ,testament we call 8fellowship0 and in the newspapers 8socialism40 ,this and this alone will help us to apply our science to settle land questions1 ,church questions1 and war questions1 policy domestic and foreign1 and to establish concord in the world1 the nation1 and the human heart4 ,i do not say that a time will ever come when there will be no obstacles to faith in ,christ4 ,moral obstacles will still exist to make faith difficult3 but some at least of the intellectual difficulties by which we now shut ourselves out from ,christian hope will then be dissipated4 ,odium theologicum will become meaningless4 ,there will have arrived at last that blessed time1 predicted 7#afjc7 by ,francis ,bacon 7shall we say just three hundred years too soon871 bringing with it 8the consumption of all that can ever be said in controversies of religion20 and henceforth there will be no 8controversies10 only discussions and discoveries4 ,then1 with its mind freed from superstitious terrors and full of an unquenchable hope1 the human race1 owning its allegiance to the ,eternal ,goodness1 and accepting as its captain the ,working ,man of ,nazareth1 will address itself steadily to the work of ,christian socialism1 honouring and encouraging labour without unwise and spasmodic pampering of it1 dishonouring and discouraging idleness without unwise and direct recourse to forcible suppression of it2 remembering always that1 as the ideal ,working ,man was subject to law1 so must they be subject to law1 and as ,he bore suffering for the good of others1 so must they be prepared to suffer as well as to work4 ,this is true socialism and this is true ,christianity4 ,do you deny it1 and say1 8,this is not the ,christianity that has been current for eighteen centuries08 ,i reply1 ,perhaps not2 and1 if it is not1 we can call it by some other name4 ,you remember the saying of ,lessing1 that after eighteen centuries of ,christianity1 it was high time to try ,christ4 ,let us then amend our phrase and say that true socialism will not be 8the ,christian religion0 but something better4 ,it will be the ,christian ,spirit4 ,we are taught by our ,scriptures that it has been sometimes ,god's method to teach the wise in this world by means of those whom the world calls foolish1 and the strong and the rich in this world by those whom the world calls weak and poor4 ,if history is thus to repeat itself1 it may be reserved for the semi-,christian or non-,christian working man1 for the heretic or agnostic socialist1 to guide orthodox and religious ,england into a higher and purer and more spiritual form of ,christianity4 ,yet on the other hand1 since intellectual movements come often from above1 though moral movements come from below1 ,i cannot give up the hope that it may be reserved for the clergy of the ,church of ,england to do something towards the removal of those merely intellectual difficulties which are at present keeping multitudes of the workers1 and not a few of the thinkers1 in our country1 from recognizing their true ,deliverer4 ,footnote #ci3 ,for the apparent exception of ,st4 ,paul1 see above1 p4 #bdd4 ,footnote #dj3 ,you should look at a most interesting and instructive article by ,dr4 ,martineau in the ,christian ,reformer 7vol4 i4 p4 #gh71 in which he points out that1 in a certain sense1 the faith professed by ,trinitarians 8in the ,son1 is so far from being an idolatry1 that it is identical1 under change of name1 with the ,unitarian worship of ,him who dwelt in ,christ4 ,he who is the ,son in one creed is the ,father in the other2 and the two are agreed1 not indeed by any means throughout1 but in that which constitutes the pith and kernel of both faiths40 ,,definitions i4 ,reality #a4 ,absolute reality cannot be comprehended by men1 and can only be apprehended as ,god or in ,god by a combination of ,desire and ,imagination1 to which we give the name of ,faith4 #b4 ,among objects of sensation those are 7relatively7 real which present similar sensations in similar circumstances4 ii4 ,force 8,imagined0 is inserted1 throughout these ,definitions1 as a reminder that the existence of all these objects of definition1 however real1 is suggested to us by the ,imagination4 ,force is that which is imagined to immediately produce1 or tend to produce1 motion4 ,why 8immediately08 ,because a particle of 8matter0--attracting1 as it does1 every other particle of 8matter0--may be said to 8tend to produce motion40 ,yet 8matter0 is not said to be force1 but to 8exert0 force4 8,matter0 is imagined to attract 8matter0 through the medium of force1 or 8mediately40 ,but force is imagined to act 8immediately40 ,hence the insertion of the word4 iii4 ,cause and ,effect ,when one thing is imagined to produce1 or tend to produce1 a second1 the first is called the ,cause of the second1 and the second the ,effect of the first4 iv4 ,spirit ,spirit1 i4e4 ,breath or ,wind1 is a metaphorical name--implying subtleness1 invisibility1 ubiquitousness and life-giving power--given to the ultimate ,cause of ,force2 and hence sometimes to the ,cause of beneficent ,force in the ,universe1 i4e4 ,god2 sometimes to the ,cause of ,force in the human individual2 more rarely to the ,cause or ,causes of maleficent ,forces in the ,universe4 v4 ,matter ,the existence of ,matter has never been proved2 and it is nothing but a hypothesis4 ,all the phenomena called 8material0 might be explained1 without ,matter1 by the hypothesis of a number of centres of force4 ,the raison d'tre of ,matter is the notion of tangibility4 ,but scientific men now tell us that no atom ever touches another4 ,if this be so1 scientific tangibility disappears and the raison d'tre of ,matter disappears1 with it4 ,but it is so natural a figment that we shall all probably talk about it1 and most of us probably will believe in it1 until human nature is very much changed4 ,matter cannot be defined positively except by repeating1 in some disguise1 the word to be defined1 as thus3-- ,material1 or ,matter1 is a name given to an unascertained and hypothetical 8material10 8matter10 8substance10 or 8fundamental stuff10 of which we commonly imagine all objects of sensation to be composed4 vi4 ,nature #a4 ,nature means sometimes the 7#a7 ordinary1 or 7#b7 orderly course of things apart from the present and direct intervention of human ,will2 sometimes the 7#c7 ordinary or 7#d7 orderly course of humanity2 sometimes the 7#e7 ordinary or 7#f7 orderly course of all things4 #b4 ,law of ,nature is a metaphorical name for a frequently observed sequence of phenomena 7apart from human ,will7 implying1 to some minds1 regularity2 to others1 absolute invariability4 #c4 ,miracle means a supposed suspension of a ,sequence1 or ,law1 of ,nature2 ,marvel1 or ,mighty ,work1 means a rare ,sequence of ,nature1 in which great ,effects are produced by ,causes seemingly1 but not really1 inadequate4 #d4 8,supernatural0 is the name given1 in these letters1 to the existence of a ,god2 and to ,his creation and continuous development of all things3 the divine action being regarded1 not as contrary to ,nature1 but as above ,nature2 not as suspending the sequences of ,nature1 but as originating and supporting them4 vii4 ,will ,the ,will is the power of giving to some one of our desires1 or to some one group of compatible desires1 permanent predominance over the rest4 ,an addition might be suggested3 8the power of controlling our desires40 ,but we appear never to control our desires except by enthroning some one desire 7or group of desires7--whether it be the desire to gain power1 to ruin an enemy1 to do right1 or to serve ,god4 viii4 ,attention ,attention is the power by which we impress upon our mind that which is present4 ix4 ,memory ,memory is the power by which we retain or recall to our mind that which is past4 x4 ,imagination ,imagination is the power by which we combine or vary the mental images retained by ,memory1 often with a view to finding some unity in them2 and by which we are enabled to image forth the future through anticipating its harmony with the past and present4 xi4 ,reason ,reason 7or1 as some prefer to call it in this limited sense1 ,understanding7 is the power by which we compare1 and1 from our comparisons1 draw inferences or conclusions4 ,by means of it we compare the suggestions of the ,imagination with the suggestions of ,experience1 and accept or reject the former in accordance with the result of our comparison4 xii4 ,hope ,hope is desire1 of which we imagine the fulfilment1 while recognizing the presence of doubt4 xiii4 ,faith ,the following ,definition appears to me to be the basis of all theology4 ,it is no more than an emphatic restatement of the old saying1 8,faith is the assurance of 7or giving substance to7 things hoped for40 ,since hope is but a weaker and more hesitant form of desire1 the imaging forth of 7or giving substance to7 things earnestly hoped for must imply the vivid imagination of the fulfilment of things desired4 ,faith 7when not loosely used for ,belief7 is desire 7approved by the ,conscience7 of which we imagine the fulfilment1 while putting doubt at a distance4 8,faith in a friend0 means a desire as well as a belief--that he will do what you think he ought to do4 8,faith0 should never be used to express a belief that something undesirable or wrong will happen1 e4g4 8,i have great faith that the boy will go wrong40 8,faith0 in the uniformity of ,nature implies a desire that ,nature should be uniform1 and a feeling that it is ,god's will4 ,in moments when we dread the uniformity of ,nature we should say that we have a 8conviction0 or 8expectation0 of it1 not that we have 8faith0 in it4 8,putting doubt at a distance is intended to include the different degrees of faith3 in the highest faith1 the #8distance' is infinite4 8,when #8faith' is said to be #8shaken1' we may mean that1 though the desire may remain1 doubt is not #8put at a distance2' or that the ,conscience no longer approves of the desire2 or that the desire itself is weakened40 xiv4 ,belief ,belief 7when it is not used for ,faith7 means a sense1 mixed with doubt1 that the affirmations of our mind will harmonize with ,experience4#da xv4 ,certainty1 or ,conviction ,certainty1 or ,conviction1 is a sense1 unmixed with doubt1 that the affirmations of our mind will harmonize with ,experience4 xvi4 ,knowledge #a4 ,absolute knowledge1 which is possessed by no man1 would be an identity between our mental affirmations and those of the ,creator2 who knows all things in their ,essence and ,causes4 #b4 ,knowledge 7relative and ordinary7 is 7very often7 a name loosely given to a harmony between our mental affirmations and the affirmations of the vast majority of those who have 7or are thought by the majority to have7 the best opportunities for observation and judgement4 ,it might be more usefully defined as those mental affirmations which harmonize with our nature and environment1 i4e4 with our spiritual and material experience4 xvii4 ,illusions and ,delusions ,illusions are mental affirmations not harmonizing with immediate experience1 but preparatory for absolute knowledge4 ,delusions are mental affirmations not harmonizing with experience1 nor preparatory for absolute knowledge4 ,footnote #da3 ,some might prefer 8harmonize with experience or with fact40 ,but 8harmony with fact0 can never be proved3 you can only prove harmony with your experience1 or with the general experience1 of the fact2 or with experience of what others say about the fact4 ,,the ,,end ,,richard ,,clay ,,and ,,sons1 ,,london ,,and ,,bungay4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected4 ,inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book4 ,text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores 7italics74 ,text that was in bold face is enclosed by equals signs 7bold74 ,footnotes have been moved to follow the letters in which they are referenced4