THE FOUNDATIONS OF EELIGION THE FOUNDATIONS OF RELIGION BY JOHN BOYD KINNEAR LONDON SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATEELOO PLACE 1905 [All rights reserved] THE following chapters contain an extremely con- densed summary of some Lectures which formed part of a series given on Sunday evenings during the last three years in a rural parish, in the absence of any service or religious instruction in the afternoon. They are now dedicated to those who listened to them, in gratitude for their earnest attention, and in the hope that such a short Manual of the grounds and claims of our Religion may be of service in recalling what was then more fully discussed. If to any in a wider circle the suggestions here offered (which are only those of reverent thought, unshackled by the tradition of Creeds or theological refinements) should be useful in removing doubts, or confirming faith, their publication will be justified. CONTENTS CHAPTEE I GOD PAGB DEFINITION OF KELIGION 1 AGNOSTICS, DOCTRINES OF 2 SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF GRAVITY . . . . 3 ETHER 4 CONSISTS IN EXPLAINING PHENOMENA .... 6 APPLICATION TO EXISTENCE OF GOD . ... 7 ATTRIBUTES OF GOD POWER 8 WISDOM 10 LOVE . . . . .11 MYSTERY OF PAIN . . . . . . . . 13 EVIDENCE FROM BIBLE . . . . ' . .15 EVIDENCE OF EXISTENCE OF GOD COMPLETE . . . 16 CHAPTEE II REVELATION SOME REVELATION TO BE EXPECTED .... 18 THREE REVELATIONS MADE FIRSTLY BY WORKS . . 20 SECONDLY BY WRITTEN WORD ... 21 viii CONTENTS PAGE SPHERE OF CRITICISM OF SCRIPTURES . . . . 22 SOURCES OF ERROR IN THEM 23 Do NOT TEACH PHYSICAL OR HISTORICAL TRUTHS . . 25 RESULTS OF SCRIPTURAL CRITICISM .... 26 VINDICATION OF CRITICISM 27 THE THIRD REVELATION is THAT MADE BY THE SPIRIT . . . . ... . .28 AN EDUCATION BY GOD 29 THE THREE REVELATIONS MUST ACCORD ... 30 CHAPTEE III CREATION Two HISTORIES OF IT, PHYSICAL AND SCRIPTURAL . 32 NEBULA, THE COMMENCING STAGE .... 33 EFFECT OF COOLING ON NEBULA 34 CHAOS ON THE EARTH 35 FIRST APPEARANCE OF LIGHT 36 FORMATION OF ATMOSPHERE . . . . . .37 SEPARATION OF LAND AND WATER 38 COMMENCEMENT OF VEGETATION 40 HEAVENLY BODIES BECOME VISIBLE . . . . 41 GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES 42 APPEARANCE OF ANIMAL LIFE 44 EVOLUTION AN OPEN QUESTION 47 IDENTITY OF PHYSICAL AND SCRIPTURAL RECORDS . . 47 PERFECTION OF CREATION ... . . 48 CHAPTEK IV MAN TRACES OF PRIMEVAL MAN ...... . . 51 BRONZE AND IRON AGES '..'.' 52 CONTENTS ix PAOK SCRIPTURAL NARRATIVE IN ACCORDANCE . . . . 53 MAN MADE IN LIKENESS OF GOD . * '. ./';. 55 INTELLECT GIVES POWER OVER ANIMALS . . . . 56 ALSO OVER NATURE . . * - . . . 58 GIVES UNDERSTANDING OF GOD . ... . . 59 MIND ACTS THROUGH BODY . . . . . . '. 61 INTELLECT IMPLIES FREEDOM OF THE WILL . . . 62 ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST . .*.,..,. 63 DOCTRINES OF PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION . . 66 BESEMBLANCE TO GOD IN LOVE 68 CAPACITIES OF MAN ILLUSTRATED IN CHRIST . . . 69 CHAPTEE V SIN STORY OF TEMPTATION AND FALL A PARABLE . . 72 NECESSARY CONDITIONS OF HAPPINESS .".-.' . . 75 CHARACTER OF TEMPTATION . . ; . . . 76 TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST . . . .... 77 APPLICATION TO THE WHOLE HUMAN EACE . '. . 79 THEORY OF ORIGINAL SIN CONSIDERED .- . . . . 81 TRUE DOCTRINE IN OLD TESTAMENT . v -,. ; . 82 NEW TESTAMENT . . . . 80 AID OF HOLY SPIRIT . . . . . . . 84 CHAPTEE VI DEATH DEATH NOT INTRODUCED BY FALL 87 DEATH THE OPPOSITE OF LIFE . . . . .88 LIFE CONSISTS IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD 89 x CONTENTS PAOK DEATH CONSISTS IN THE ABSENCE OF GOD ... 90 SORROW AND TOIL IMPOSED ON ADAM . . . . 93 FORM AN EDUCATION TO BRING us BACK TO GOD . 94 ILLUSTRATION FROM JOB 95 LESSONS FROM JOB 98 LESSONS TAUGHT BY TOIL AND SORROW . . . . 99 LESSONS OF DAILY LIFE 100 THEIR PURPOSE, OUR RESTORATION TO PARADISE . . 103 CHAPTEE VII CHRIST GOD'S EFFORTS TO TURN MEN FROM SIN . . . 105 FLOOD, AND TOWER OF BABEL 106 SELECTION OF JEWISH PEOPLE 107 FINAL MISSION OF CHRIST 108 DIFFICULTIES OF DOCTRINE OF TRINITY . . . 110 EVIDENCE OF CHRIST'S DIVINITY Ill PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HOLY SPIRIT . .114 ERROR OF SUGGESTING THREE PERSONS . . . . 115 PROPERLY THREE MANIFESTATIONS 116 CHAPTEK VIII THE GOSPEL PURPOSES OF COMING OF CHRIST AS MAN . . . 118 To EXHIBIT DIVINE LOVE . . ... . 118 To SHOW HUMAN EXAMPLE ... ... . . 119 To DECLARE GOD'S WILL 120 CONTENTS xi PAGE THE COMING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD . . . 121 MEANING OF THE WORDS . ... . . . 122 REPENTANCE ITS CONDITION ...... 124 MEANING OF REPENTANCE . . . . . . 125 REPENTANCE PROCURES REMISSION ..... . . . 127 IMPLIES CHANGE OF LIFE . . . .. . . 128 To BE FOLLOWED BY ITS FRUITS 129 THOSE EXPOUNDED BY CHRIST 129 THE FIRST GREAT COMMANDMENT 130 THE SECOND .,.,.. 131 APPLIES ALSO TO ANIMALS . . .'.., . . 132 VIVISECTION . , 135 CHAPTEE IX SACRIFICE CHRIST'S TEACHING PERVERTED BY THEOLOGIANS . . 137 APOSTLES AFFECTED BY JEWISH IDEAS . . . 138 JEWISH RITUAL BASED ON SACRIFICE . . . . 139 APPLICATION TO CHRIST BY ST. PAUL .... 140 ACCEPTANCE" OF DOCTRINE BY ROMAN CHURCH . . 141 ONLY MODIFIED BY PROTESTANTS . . .*.'. 142 DOCTRINE OF VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT .''." . . 143 NOT TAUGHT BY CHRIST . . - . ., . . 143 TRUE MEANING OF EUCHARIST 144 OBJECT OF THE CRUCIFIXION 145 RECALLED BY SYMBOLS 147 No SUGGESTION OF GOD'S WRATH 148 xii CONTENTS CHAPTEE X MIBACLES PAGE DEFINITION OF MIRACLES 149 REGULARITY OF ORDER OF NATURE .... 150 HUME'S ARGUMENT ON 151 PROBABLY A JEST 152 SCIENCE ALWAYS WEIGHS EVIDENCE . . . . 153 HOSTILITY FROM PRECONCEIVED IDEAS. . . . 154 BELIEF IN GOD OBVIATES IMPROBABILITY . . 155 ADEQUATE MOTIVES FOR SCRIPTURAL MIRACLES . . 156 PURPOSE OF CHRIST'S MIRACLES 158 THEY ACCREDITED His TEACHING .... 159 EVIDENCE FOR THEM SUFFICIENT 161 MODERN MIRACLES 162 CHAPTEE XI PBOVIDENCE WORD OFTEN USED IN IMPERSONAL SENSE . . . 163 BIBLE SPEAKS OF GOD'S DIRECT GUIDANCE. . . 165 FREQUENTLY IN THE PSALMS ...... 166 TEACHING OF DOCTRINE BY CHRIST . . . 169 OBJECTION FROM EXISTENCE OF NATURAL LAW . . 170 SUCH LAWS CONSTANTLY SET ASIDE BY MAN . . 171 GOD POSSESSES LIKE POWER . . . . . 172 OPERATES THROUGH LAW . . . . . 173 ALSO OPERATES THROUGH SPIRIT . . . . 174 PRAYER FOR ITS EXERCISE LEGITIMATE . . . 176 CONDITIONS REQUIRED IN PRAYER .... 177 CONTENTS xiii PAGE GOD'S GUIDANCE CONSISTENT WITH FREEDOM OF WILL 179 BLESSINGS OF SUCH GUIDANCE . . 181 CHAPTER XII HEREAFTER No CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE OF CONDITIONS . . . 185 BODILY RESEMBLANCE PROBABLE 184 SEPARATION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL . . . 183 NATURE OF PUNISHMENT 186 LIFE OF THE BLESSED .... 188 ALL IN PRESENCE OF GOD 190 APPENDIX A. EVOLUTION THEORY OF EVOLUTION 191 DEPENDS ON VARIATION 192 LIMITS OF VARIATION ....... 193 INFLUENCE OF TIME . . . , 194 B. CHALDEAN ACCOUNT OF CREATION COMMENCEMENT OF NARRATIVES . . . . . 195 VITAL DIFFERENCE FROM GENESIS 197 INDEX . 199 ' THE FOUNDATIONS OF RELIGION CHAPTEK I GOD EELIGION is the recognition of God, and of the relation between Him and man. It therefore im- plies the belief that there is a God. There have been always, and there are now, some persons who deny the existence of God, and who are therefore properly called Atheists. Proba- bly the number of these is not very great, and not greater now than it was a hundred or two hundred years ago. But there has come recently into prominence a modified form of unbelief called Agnosticism. The name (which merely means ' ignorance ' or ' knowing-nothing ') was invented by Professor Huxley with the design of indicating that B 2 GOD [CHAP. I he did not assert either that there is a God or that there is not, but only maintained that there is no sufficient evidence for either proposition, and that he had no certain conviction either way. This position has been adopted by a good many other persons of some scientific reputation, and con- sequently it has attracted a certain amount of popular support avowed or una vowed. Obviously, however, such refusal of belief is incompatible with the idea of religion, and hence it demands the careful consideration of believers. The proposition of agnostics is that nothing is to be accepted as proved unless it is either per- ceived by our senses or deduced by strict reason- ing from their observation. Yet in their own teaching the deductions of reasoning which they accept carry them a very long way into the region of the unknown. When Newton saw the apple fall he conceived the idea that the cause must be the same as that which regulates the motion of the moon round the earth, of the earth round the sun, and extends its government to the remotest stars. Yet gravity, or attraction, is a thing absolutely un- known in itself to our senses, and we only suppose it to exist by observing certain facts, and reasoning CHAP, i] EVIDENCE OF GEAVITY 3 that such a force, if it exists, would account for the facts. No one, however, professes to be an agnostic of the force of gravity, or of its vital property of diminishing as the square of the distance of its influence. The same character of our knowledge applies equally to all the other forces which we call those of nature: cohesion, friction, chemical affinity, heat, light, electricity, and every other process which we daily perceive. We call them ' laws,' and some persons fancy that this name explains them, but it does not in the least. It only expresses that certain phenomena recur, and that we assume a certain cause to exist because the facts which we perceive lead us to suppose its existence. If it be said that these are only forces and not bodies, and that forces are necessarily impalpable, we have only to go a step further to find a body, a form of matter, universally accepted in science though our senses cannot discover it. When we see an object it is because, as we say, rays of light come to our eyes from it, either directly, if it is luminous, or by reflection from a source of light. But what are rays of light ? Till some two hundred years ago they were supposed to be something emitted from a source of light, ' corpuscles ' as B2 4 GOD [CHAP. I Newton called them. But it was suggested by Hooke and afterwards by Huyghens that as sound has been found to be caused and transmitted by waves or vibrations of the air, which affect the nerves of hearing, so light might be caused by waves or vibrations of some substance far more attenuated than air, and that these vibrations reaching the optic nerves produce the sensation of light. To this supposed matter there was given the name ether. But as light traverses all space, and penetrates many dense bodies, such as water, glass, crystals of various kinds, &c., it follows that the ether must be present throughout all space, and must permeate solid substances, while at the same time it is of so impalpable a nature that it does not retard by resistance or friction the motions of the heavenly spheres. It is therefore beyond our power of weighing or measuring, or in any way appreciating by our senses. But on the theory of its existence, and of its being capable of being thrown into vibration, and so affecting our sight, mathematicians are able to explain nearly all the phenomena of light which our senses or our instruments discover, and on this reasoning alone ether is accepted by all men of science as a real form of matter. Nor does their faith even stumble CHAP, i] EVIDENCE OF ETHEE 5 at the fact that the explanation is in some respects not absolutely perfect ; for example, that the pro- perty which would explain reflection seems incor- rect if applied to refraction, and vice versa. They are content to receive the general doctrine as being thoroughly proved, because it satisfies the main facts, and to believe that a fuller understand- ing will reconcile any present apparent contra- dictions. But having thus admitted that waves or vibra- tions of a supposed ether will explain the pheno- mena of light, recent science has made the further steps of recognising that waves in the same ether of a different length, or extent, or rapidity can explain the facts of heat, electricity, or magnetism. It follows that this ether must be diffused through every material substance whatever, because all are capable of transmitting one or other of these forces. Moreover, since these energies are the mightiest in nature, rending rocks, feeding volcanoes, fusing metals, arousing hurricanes, yet clothing the earth with forests and flowers and crops, furnishing us with the power of the steam-engine and the tele- graph, and at another turn displaying the minutest refinements revealed by the microscope and by photography, and since we believe that all these 6 GOD [CHAP. I are effected by the infinitesimal vibrations of a substance impalpable, imponderable, undiscoverable in itself, we have the acknowledgment that marvels transcending all imagination may be proved to be due to a something of which our sense gives us no cognisance. The sternest agnostics confess the existence of the ether, solely on the ground that if it exists it would explain phenomena apparent to the senses. The same course of reasoning is applied by science in numerous other questions. What, for instance, is the ultimate composition of matter itself ? Here also our senses tell us nothing. We may grind and pound a material substance to the utmost fineness, yet we cannot reach its furthest possibility of subdivision, and so we cannot tell what its true nature is. But we set up supposi- tions, we imagine molecules and atoms, and form theories of their size and arrangement, and try whether the various facts will support the theories ; and if they do so tolerably well we accept the theories as truths. We thought till lately that the atom was the final word in the subdivision of matter, but within the last few years it has been suggested that there are ' electrons ' a thousand times smaller than the atoms. Some scientific CHAP. I] EVIDENCES OF GOD 7 men have put forth the idea that there is no such thing as matter, but only electricity, or, it may be, motion. Such notions are as yet only imaginations, but science does not reject them because the senses cannot recognise them, it only inquires whether they will, after full examination, account for phe- nomena which the senses reveal. It is therefore undeniable that, besides the evidence of the senses, science accepts as of equal value the evidence of reason in regard to things not perceptible by the senses, requiring only that reason shall show that what it avers is consistent with, satisfies, and explains the facts of which our senses are cognisant. We are therefore entitled to apply the same principles to the question of the existence of God. No man hath seen God at any time, we cannot hear His voice at our will, our physical senses fail to convey to our minds any knowledge of His Being. But if we recognise in humanity, in our bodies and in our minds, in the whole of organised life, animal and vegetable, in the component parts of the world, in the motions of the sun and moon and stars, and in the laws which we call the order of nature, something which would be explained by 8 GOD [CHAP. I the theory that a God exists endowed with certain attributes, then we are not entitled to be agnostic, but are bound to be believers in such a God. Science demands that belief by the authority of the methods which it pursues in its physical re- searches. It further demands that such belief, if founded on a wide, general agreement of cause and effect, shall not be impeached although in limited cases a present difficulty may be felt in reconciling every individual occurrence with the general law. A fair general concordance of facts with the theory of God is ample scientific ground for repudiating agnosticism and sanctioning belief. Therefore the problem set before our reason- ing powers is to determine, on the survey of the universe, animate and inanimate, so far as our capacity extends, what must be the attributes, what the nature of a Supreme Being whose actions should afford the explanation of the phenomena which our senses reveal to us. The first necessary attribute is obviously the possession of boundless power. Leaving apart the problem of the creation of matter as one too pro- found for our intellect (at present) to grasp, we see matter ordered into arrangements, some of CHAP, i] EVIDENCE OF POWER 9 which are of inconceivable magnitude, others of equally inconceivable minuteness, but everywhere of a complexity and a simplicity which fill our under- standing with amazement. We know the bulk of our globe, we know that our sun is more than a million times that bulk, and is in the centre of a system in which planets and moons and asteroids and comets of every variety of size and nature and orbit are for ever revolving. But in the vastness of space beyond these orbits we know that there are other and far larger suns, some of them double, some infinitely more bright, others absolutely dark, each of which is most likely a centre of other satellites, and extending into a distance which we can but faintly realise by the consideration that while light comes to us from our sun in eight minutes, it must take hundreds of years to reach us from some of these stars. Besides this, we have come to know that all these stars and suns are moving at tremendous speed through space, from whence and to where and how long, in the past and in the future, we have no conception. To regulate these stupendous arrangements by rule and law (for that all are the subject of law, that is of preordained order and sequence, we can apprehend) involves obviously the possession of 10 GOD [CHAP. I power beyond the reach of imagination. So also when, applying the microscope to the materials and products of our earth, we find order and law asserting itself among objects, some dead and some living, so minute that thousands can be counted in the space of a speck of dust, when we learn that all matter is composed of atoms infinitely more minute than the microscope can distinguish, yet that all these are alike ordered by law, we recognise that the range of power which regulates them must be without limit. How can these things be, but by the supreme direction of a Being whose will is supreme in heaven and in earth ? But such an Existence and such a Will furnish us with a solution which explains everything, and therefore such a Being is proved. The next attribute of God must be perfect knowledge combined with perfect wisdom. For these vast forces, in every sphere, work without a hitch ; they must therefore be so ordained that no condition is left unprovided for, no consequence unforeseen. Chance is no possible element under such law. Moreover, the entrance of Life into the combinations, involving growth, decay, fresh con- junction and dissolution at every moment, demands CHAP. I] WISDOM AND LOVE 11 prevision the most exact for its operations. When further still we find involved the human mind (not to speak of what intelligences may probably exist beyond our ken) with its varying action and influence on every object within its range, and the interaction of millions of human wills upon each other in past, present, and future ages, and yet a certain guidance plainly operating upon each, effecting a general progress, we recognise that no explanation is possible save that of an all-wise, overruling God, but that such an explanation furnishes the complete and convincing clue to the whole amazing system. The final attribute of the God we are supposing must be illimitable Love. For why should all these wonders be save for the sole object of causing happiness ? In our human consciousness the ob- taining of happiness is the one common motive of all our actions. If we perform a duty it is because it gives us happiness ; if we commit a crime it is because we prefer the gratification it yields ; if we hope for the future it is that it may bring us happiness ; and if we regret the past it is because the thought of it makes us unhappy. But in the Eternal Mind, Who sees all the past and all the 12 GOD [CHAP. I future, the sole motive of action must be to give the utmost possible degree of happiness that its infinite power and wisdom can impart. By some Churches it has been declared that God's motive of action is His own glory ; that is a human and degrading conception. Glory means applause and admiration by others how can these sentiments affect a Supreme Being so far above all ? But when we see the whole of creation so arranged as to supply life and food and enjoyment to every living thing, when we see the sense of beauty in nature and in art bestowed and satisfied, when we see the intellect made capable of cultivation and progress, what conclusion is possible but that this vast sys- tem is the result of the infinite love of the Being who overrules every creature ? It is true that these results are often marred by human perversity, or blind selfishness, or evil desires ; but even to these there comes, sooner or later, a corrective and a remedy in the human breast, or in the overpower- ing influence of other agencies. So, looking around us at all the rich sources of delight the earth supplies, at all the pleasure which each creature from the lowest to the highest manifestly shares, and above all at those highest joys which come to our minds as the blessing of those who walk with CHAP. I] MYSTERY OF PAIN 13 God, the one sufficient explanation recurs, that a God Whose essence is Love is the author of the world that now is, and of that which we believe shall be hereafter. This conclusion remains irresistible, although we must admit the occurrence of pain alike in mind and in body, alike hi ourselves and in lower animals. For when we look at the great mass of life which falls within our cognisance we cannot but perceive that happiness is the broad and general rule, to which pain is the exception. In the following chapters some explanation of its per- mission or employment in certain cases will be offered, though it may be frankly acknowledged that these do not cover every occasion in which it exists. But is it reasonable to expect that our human minds can fathom every mystery in the great scheme of existence ? In science it has been seen that there are found frequent difficulties, and even contra- dictions, in its theories, yet we do not allow those discrepancies to shake our belief in the truth of the theories. So in the immense sphere of organic existence and life, the broad general proposition that all is conceived in an intention of the utmost attainable happiness cannot be controverted by pointing to a certain proportion of pain, some of 14 GOD [CHAP. I which is obviously due to ourselves, while there is some of which we cannot at present penetrate the full cause or design. Yet there are some partial explanations which, so far as they go, we may well keep in mind. To a certain extent pain is both preservative and instruc- tive. Our mortal frames are exposed to injuries, and the fact that they cause pain puts us on con- stant guard to avoid them. Were a bruise, or a cut, or a burn to give no pain, we should be care- less in incurring lesion ; were excess not to cause illness we should be more apt to indulge in it; did other maladies bring no suffering we should lose the index of their nature and the motive to search for the conditions of health. So also mental pain is often the most effectual means of drawing our souls away from evil and towards good. Some of these considerations do not indeed apply to the suffering our own acts inflict upon others, whether human beings or belonging to the lower creation. These are the unhappy consequences of breach of the Divine commandment of Love ; but our wicked- ness cannot impeach Divine perfection. Eather it adds to our sin that thus we break God's purpose, and not only impose suffering on the innocent, but make ourselves the authors of pain in that infinite CHAP. I] THE BIBLE 15 Mind which is the very source of all happiness, seeing that thus ' we crucify the Lord afresh.' For He Who has designed the happiness of all creatures cannot but be pained in Himself when any of them cause suffering to others. He must suffer where any suffer. Let it now be observed that in all that has been said the argument rests solely on the physical phenomena of nature, and on the obvious operations of life and of the human mind. No- thing has been adduced of the suggestions made by Revelation. The proof of God's existence and nature has been based on evidence wholly outside the Bible, and is valid, therefore, even though that Book be set aside as of no account. But it is proper now to consider the Bible as in itself an historical fact. It is a record of the relation of man to God, and of God's dealings with man from thousands of years back. We may legitimately criticise its details, we may properly subject them to the same tests as other historical documents, and we may reasonably concede that human errors of understanding, inaccuracy of memory, and imperfection of transmission require to be allowed for in accepting its statements, but 16 GOD [CHAP. I after every deduction is made we must in candour admit that it contains a history of God's dealings entirely consistent with the attributes that we have found He must embody. For in that Book we read of the Creation stage by stage of our world, of the infusion of life, of the final birth of man as the crown of all the work ; then of the series of wondrous procedures by which the Creator sought to preserve the creation within the bounds of holiness and consequent happiness ; and, last of all, of His actual coming on earth Himself in human form to redeem man from the depth of sin and misery into which he had strayed, and to recall him to the purity and blessedness for which he was originally designed. This is a narrative of work such as human invention has nowhere imagined, it is con- sistent with the character of the God Whom His other works declare, its essential truth is thus manifest, and it confirms the conclusions to which the evidence of these works, the more fully they are examined, the more convincingly lead. From these considerations two conclusions follow. Firstly, that the existence of a God, Almighty, All-wise, and All-loving, must be held as proved, on the strictest lines of scientific demon- CHAP. i]l PROOF COMPLETE 17 stration, by the argument that such a Being ex- plains the facts of the universe alike in their physical and metaphysical aspects. Secondly, that we must accept as equally proved the broad general outlines of the story of His relation to mankind which is conveyed to us in the Bible, subject always to the exercise of our reason in distinguish- ing the Divine from the human. Further illustra- tions of both these propositions will be found in the following chapters. CHAPTER II REVELATION FROM that first day when man appeared on this globe, till now, countless millions have been born and have passed away. As foam on the waves, as the summer leaves of the forest they had their hour of life and of sunshine, and then they vanished as if they had never been. Yet in every one the brief span of existence beat with the strong pulse of life, it was vivid with hope and action, with effort and achievement, with suffering and joy, with love and anger, as if the present were all in all, and death might come to others but never to them. Have these unnumbered souls then, one after another, have we who are now pass- ing through the like stage of strenuous and eva- nescent vigour, all children of one mighty Father, have all been left by Him with no knowledge of Himself, no teaching of our duties to each other, no promise of another life to follow when this is past, CHAP, ii] EEVELATION GEADUAL 19 no guidance to lead us to a further shore beyond the sea of forgetfulness into which we sink ? It would be impossible to suppose such neglect, it would be impossible to believe in a God Who should thus hide Himself away. It is not so. He Who made us is not distant but close to us. He Who breathed into our nostrils the breath of life has declared that life to be eternal, and has taught us how it may be one of eternal bliss. He has given this information or instruction to all mankind, but in a manner and measure propor- tioned to their capacity, and therefore very variable. No tribe of savages has yet been discovered, and we may safely say none has ever lived, that has not an instinctive belief in the existence of some Being more powerful than man, and of some country beyond the grave. That their ideas are rudimentary, or even hi certain instances grotesque, means only that they arise in minds that are incapable of yet receiving higher intellectual con- ceptions. But every step towards civilisation leads to a stronger and often a nobler vision, though it must be admitted that the depravity of the human mind has in many a mythology introduced its own types of degraded passions into its imaginations of the Divine. One nation, the Jews, was singled out c2 20 EEVELATION [CHAP, n from the rest to be the depositary of a clearer revelation, and its records have become available for the instruction of the world. Meantime the growth of the knowledge of the laws of nature has added enormously to the data on which we can reason ; and at the same time there has come into our minds a loftier standard of morality in both its human and Divine aspects. Thus there are three revelations made by God to man : firstly, at all times by His works, secondly in history by His Word, and thirdly always now by His Spirit communing with our spirit. 1. The first of these has been adverted to slightly in the last chapter, and will be further reviewed when we come to the story of Creation. But in truth it fills all the volumes of modern science, and every day new discoveries are disclosing to our view further testimony to the power, wisdom, and bene- ficence of God exhibited in every sphere of what we call nature. Every fresh contribution to our stock of knowledge is a new witness to the God Who prepared and Who maintains the amazing scheme of the universe. But those who know most are the most deeply CHAP. II] BY WOEKS 21 sensible how scanty, imperfect, and limited even our fullest knowledge is, and what fields of unknown perfection on every side lie beyond our utmost gaze. Therefore they are the first to acknowledge that the human mind is too feeble to penetrate the deep secrets of the infinite, and that even in what it is able partly to grasp it falls into frequent errors, which patient and gradual research from time to time enables us to discover and correct. Yet these errors, and these acknowledged limitations of our understanding in no degree impeach or diminish the great truth, that the study of the works of nature, the further it is pushed, brings ever a clearer and fuller demonstration of the infinite attributes of the Almighty Power which presides over them all. 2. A like degree of reserve and caution, guided by reverent inquiry, is incumbent on us when con- sidering such revelations as God has been pleased to make in words to man or through man. These are chiefly contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. But we must remember that the selection of these writings was not made by God Himself, but only by human authority, in the persons of Jewish scribes or Christian eccle- siastics. They have, moreover, come down to us 22 EEVELATION [CHAP, n at first in oral tradition ; then by being committed to writing, and copied by a long series of tran- scribers, the earliest documents which we possess being not older than the fourth century of our era. But these ancient manuscripts differ from each other in numberless passages, not in general of much importance, but enough to show that there was no inspiration of infallible accuracy in the hands through which they have passed. Being also written in languages of which our knowledge is at best not perfect, there is confessedly a certain liability to error in the translation of them into English. All these circumstances render it neces- sary to examine the writings with scrupulous care, in order to disentangle them from the human errors which originally, or in the course of time, have tended to impair their correctness or authority. But when we have thus arrived at a more or less accurate text, we have next to consider how far the contents can be said to be truly a Divine inspiration. Now they do not themselves claim this authority except in a very limited number of passages. We must indeed recognise it in the narrative of the Creation, as one that could not have been derived from human tradition. We must also accept it in what are expressly Divine CHAP. II] IN SCBIPTUBE 23 commands or statements, whether in the Old Testament or the New, keeping, however, in mind that some of these are clearly allegorical, such as, for instance, those in the Books of Job and Jonah, or some of the sayings of the prophets, or it may be the account of the temptations of our Lord in the wilderness. But even in the case of what appear to be Divine commands we must be careful to distinguish between those which are absolute and for all time, and those which were only adapted to the conditions of the moment, such as those of ritual or those of which Christ said ' For the hard- ness of your heart Moses gave you this precept.' And further, all such narratives as are of merely human history must be subjected to the same tests as other human histories. Tried by these they are sometimes confirmed, sometimes proved to be to a certain degree inaccurate. Last of all, it is to be remembered that, even when God Himself has spoken to men, those who have heard Him have sometimes failed to appre- hend His true meaning. An example of this occurs in the Gospels in regard to our Lord's statement respecting the end of the world. It is quite clear from the evangelist's narrative that the disciples who heard it mixed up this announcement with the 24 REVELATION [CHAT-, n declaration respecting the destruction of Jerusalem. St. Matthew, after recording our Lord's prediction relating to the latter, says : ' Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken : and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.' 1 And so impressed were the apostles with the idea that this should come to pass in their time that St. Paul says : ' Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up into heaven.' 2 In other respects, too, they sometimes failed to comprehend their Lord's teaching. Although His last words to them before His ascension were 'Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,' and the Holy Ghost had en- dowed them with tongues to enable them to fulfil this command, yet it needed a special vision to St. Peter to make them comprehend that their mission was to the Gentiles as much as to the Jews. 1 Matt. xxiv. 29. 2 1 Thess. iv. 17. CHAP, ii] LIMITS OF INSPIRATION 25 One further point should be kept in view. The purpose of Divine revelation by the Word is to teach spiritual, not physical, truths. These last very important indeed to our bodies, but not im- portant to our moral nature we are left to learn by the exercise of the intelligence and observation bestowed upon us. Nothing would be gained to our souls by teaching us the facts of history or of natural science through Divine inspiration. But without teaching these the Bible could not be intelligible if it assumed that we knew them at a time when in fact we did not. Hence it adapts itself to the ordinary understanding of mankind at the period. It takes for history what was at the time believed to be true, without correcting any errors. It speaks of the phenomena of the earth and the heavens in language expressive of what they appeared to be to men at the moment, though later observation has shown that the appearances were not in accordance with the facts. It refers to the authors of or actors in prior narratives as they were popularly believed in, without anticipating any results of later investigation. This obviously reasonable rule dispenses with any necessity for inquiring whether on matters of scientific know- ledge the Bible narratives are or are not accurate 26 REVELATION [CHAP, n in the light of our most recent discoveries or con- ceptions. The same principles apply to the references occurring in the New Testament to the writings of the Old. These accept the existing belief of the Jews, not treating them with critical exegesis, but showing their application, or true spirit, or lessons, assuming them to be correct. All these considerations lead us to the conclusion that the Bible assuredly contains the teaching of God, but that it also contains a large proportion of matter which cannot be said to have been inspired by Him, but which is derived from human sources and consequently is subject to human errors. Further, we must recognise that even the portion which was originally Divinely inspired has come to us through human channels which were not made infallible. Hence it is incumbent on us to examine the Word as we now have it, firstly to ascertain as nearly as we can what it was that was originally written, and next to understand its true sense, and lastly to discriminate as best we can what of it was indeed dictated by the Spirit of God. This is what St. Paul urged on the Corinthians when he told them that ' God hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in CHAP, ii] CRITICISM JUSTIFIED 27 the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.' : He tells them also that in reading even the Old Testament a veil was on the hearts of the Israelites that they failed to under- stand it, 2 and he urges that we must look in the New Testament for the spirit and not the letter, ' for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.' 3 Therefore, in reading the Word of God, we are bound to apply our intellect to the fullest possible extent in order to learn what is the true revelation it is intended to convey. Nor is this irreverent or unbecoming. For our intellect is the gift of God, it is that part of us which He created in His own image, and how can we better employ that noblest gift than in the effort to understand what He has said or still has to say to us ? It is weakness and distrust, not humility or faith, which make some men long to believe that there are set down positive declarations of all truth, before which they can bow themselves in absolute surrender of their intel- lectual faculties. Much indeed there is in God's ways that is necessarily beyond our limited powers of comprehension ; and when that point is reached we must only believe and adore. But, so far as our minds can reach, it is not merely our privilege 1 2 Cor. iv. 6. 2 Ibid. iii. 14. 3 Ibid. iii. 6. 28 EEVELATION [CHAP, n but our duty to exercise these powers, that we may find in the words of God their true spirit, and so apply it as the rule of our faith and actions. 3. We come last of all to the enlightenment bestowed by the Holy Spirit on our own minds. We are sensible that in our souls there are certain standards of morality, certain ideas of right and wrong, as well as certain capacities for distinguish- ing truth from error, which are indeed all wavering and imperfect, but which yet in our common consent serve to guide us in the business of our social life. We are sensible also that there is in us an instinc- tive belief in a Being higher and nobler, as well as more powerful, than ourselves. Our religion at last embodies this idea in belief in a God most High, most Holy, and most Loving toward all His creatures. The possibility of acceptance of this truth is itself a confirmation of it ; for our purified and exalted consciousness bears witness to the Divinity which inspires it. ' The Spirit of truth shall guide you into all truth,' l was the dying promise of Christ to His disciples ; but the process is, like all our advances in knowledge, only slow and gradual, as our faculties enlarge by and for its operation. Yet this inward teaching of the 1 Johnjxvi. 13. CHAP, ii] EDUCATION OF MAN 29 Spirit is at once a witness to God and a means by which to try our conceptions of His commands conveyed to us through other channels. For God has seen fit in this way to educate us in every age of the world. As He has not super- seded the reasoning faculties with which He has endowed us by prescribing absolute dogmas of faith, or by imparting positive knowledge of scientific truths, so He has given to us moral conceptions which are capable of enlightenment and progress under the teaching of His Spirit. It is true that in all these things we may err, as men have often erred. The history of religious persecutions alone is sufficient to warn us how fatally we may deceive ourselves even when we imagine we have the direct guidance of the Spirit. So also the quarrels of devout men over creeds are proof that we do not all, nor any of us always, have this true inspiration. It is also certain that at best our faculties and con- ceptions fall far short of God's infinite wisdom and holiness. But, such as they are, we are bound to use them, and in using them they are corrected and they grow. Our duty therefore is to apply our minds and consciences to all that God has set us to learn, to do it with utmost earnestness, yet with constant humility, in the assurance that in thus 80 REVELATION [CHAP, n striving to learn God's lesson we have the help, as we can receive it, of His Spirit. But, as the truth can only be one, we must test each revelation conveyed to us by all these several methods in so far as they are applicable. If the testi- mony of the works of God appears to differ from the testimony of the words attributed to Him in the written Word, then our understanding of the one or other must be wrong. If the declarations of His will seem repugnant to our sense of His holiness, then one or other of these conceptions must be wrong. But this result need raise no doubt in our minds that His truth is real, it only must make us doubtful of our own capacity to understand it rightly, and must put us on more anxious investigation of every source of knowledge. It may therefore truly be said of all these methods of revelation of God that ' these three agree in one.' Power, and wisdom, and love, and each of them infinite, are shown alike by the works, and the words, and the Spirit of God, whether we view Him as Jehovah or Jesus or the Holy Ghost. But they are all so great that their extent lies beyond our utmost comprehension. We faint and fail in the effort to understand j and we can best approach to CHAP. II] PLACE OF FAITH 31 the comprehension of them when we become as little children, content to look up and to receive from the Father the knowledge which He has im- parted to us from the foundations of the world, and which still, day by day, He offers to us, if only we earnestly, yet humbly, set ourselves to learn. CHAPTEE III CREATION THEEE are two histories extant of the creation of the earth. One is written in the stars of heaven, in the sun and moon, in the air and the ocean, and in the mountains and rocks. It is interpreted to us by astronomers and geologists and other students of the laws of nature, who by careful observation and measurement and calculation have come to understand something of the causes that have produced the conditions which we see. The other history is contained in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. It is intended in the follow- ing pages to place these two histories in juxtaposi- tion, and to examine how far they agree. If the facts disclosed by human investigation and the written record are in harmony there will be evidence that both are the teaching of God to man. If on a clear night in mid -winter we look out CHAP, in] NEBULAE 33 on the southern sky we shall see three bright stars forming a short row, with a fourth at some distance above them and a fifth at a similar distance be- neath. These are called the constellation Orion, and the three stars in a row are his belt. A little way below the belt we can make out a patch of light or luminous haze, which is called by astronomers the great nebula in Orion. Similar nebulae are to be seen in other parts of the sky, and power- ful telescopes have enabled upwards of 100,000 to be counted. When magnified they often dis- close a somewhat spiral structure, as if sweeping round on a centre, and in different parts there seem to be brighter spots, or agglomerations of the haze of light. By the wonderful recent discovery of spectrum analysis it has been ascertained that this source of light is gaseous matter, diffused over an enormous space and in a state of intense heat ; and that it contains several of the elements which occur in our own earth and which have been already found to exist in a like gaseous con- dition in our sun. It is therefore believed that these nebulae are solar systems like our own in the process of making ; that in the course of millions of aeons the incandescent gases of which they consist will be concentrated in the centre into 34 CREATION [CHAP, in such a sun as ours, while the brighter spots will be condensed into smaller bodies moving round their sun as our planets do round our sun. Thus, in looking at the nebula in Orion we are gazing at a stage in creation through which in all probability our own globe once passed, and we can recognise the probable starting-point of the successive changes which we call creation. These changes were the result of gradual cool- ing. The mass of intensely hot gases, out of which our world was formed, existed in the midst of space, and space is most intensely cold. They were, therefore, constantly giving off their heat, or becoming cooler in their circumference, though the mere process of contraction would long main- tain their internal or central heat. But as the outer shell grew colder the gases would first become liquid, and, ultimately, such as were least fusible would become solids. While this was going on, the combinations of the elements, which the violent heat had before prevented (under the influence which chemists call dissociation by heat), would gradually take effect, and thus produce the substances of which our earth consists. So among other materials water would be formed, but at first only in the form of vapour, or steam, so long as CHAP, m] CHAOS ON EABTH 35 the temperature of the surface of the globe had not fallen below the boiling-point. But this steam, rising constantly up to meet the extreme cold of space, would be condensed into clouds of vast thickness and absolute opacity ; and from these there would incessantly rain down on the earth torrents of scalding water. Then these floods, mixing with the other elements, still hot, would form a wide ocean of black, boiling mud, perpetu- ally flinging up volcanoes and geysers, and volumes of fresh steam, and rent in every direction by earthquakes caused by the water giving access to the yet hotter central mass. Nor could any ray of light penetrate through the dense pall of cloud enveloping the whole globe. This is what we know, from the sciences of astronomy and physics, must have been the con- dition of our globe when it first became solid. Now let us hear what the writer of Genesis says of it when he takes up the narrative of creation, observing that he deals with only so much as affects this earth. Verses 1, 2. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was with- out form, and void; and darkness was upon the D2 36 CEEATION [CHAP, in face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ' Without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' In these thirteen words there is accurately described the chaos of the earth, the water covering it, and the black darkness above, which our latest science tells us must have been its condition. But that follows which science also affirms : ' The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' Yes, the Spirit of ordered pro- gress, that should by slow degrees and in the lapse of countless ages change the scene of utter desola- tion and of wild conflict of elemental forces into an earth fit for man, and on which the Son of God should walk, did move upon the face of these seething waters. Nor could words be found that would more accurately, in a brief sentence, describe what we have learned, mainly by the researches of only the last hundred years (largely, indeed, the last twenty), must have been the condition of the primeval world. In the long process of ages the gradual cooling of the heavens and earth would continue. Less steam would be sent up from beneath, less and less would be condensed above, and slowly the dense CHAP, in] BEGINNING OF LIGHT 37 clouds would grow thinner. Then would appear the first glimmering of light. Neither sun nor moon would yet be visible, but as in a gloomy day there is light, though its source cannot be perceived, so would light seem to grow into the sky during the day, to vanish again in the night by the earth's rotation. This is what is recorded in Genesis : Verses 3-5. And God said, Let there be light : and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good : and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Certain gases, as we have seen, would combine to form liquids and solids ; certain others would not combine. Among those which would not com- bine would be the nitrogen and oxygen, which un- combined form the greater part of our present atmosphere. These, liberated from the heated waters, would take their place as an envelope of the earth, and in this envelope the clouds of con- densed water would float. This is what is called in Genesis the firmament, or space of heaven, as we read afterwards in verse 20 of 'the fowl that fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' 38 CREATION [CHAP, ill Of the formation of this enveloping atmosphere, we read : Verses 6-8. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament : and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. In the continued progress of cooling of both solids and liquids a contraction invariably (with the single exception of water under 39 F.) takes place. In the stage which the earth had now reached the liquid mud would have settled down, the solids having fallen to the bottom and become, to a certain degree, a hard and inelastic rind, separating the surface water from the still fused mineral matter in the centre of the earth. But this central fluid would also cool slowly, and, by a law of physics, would contract more in proportion than the external band which had become hard. The latter would therefore be forced into folds or corrugations. Thus parts would be elevated into mountain chains, while others would sink into CHAP, in] SEPARATION OF LAND AND SEA 39 valleys, and there would be a flow of the water from the higher to the lower levels. Consequently the uplands would become dry land, while the depressions would become the beds of oceans and lakes. This process is exactly what is next narrated : Verse 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so. On the dry land thus elevated above the water, but still moistened by copious warm showers from the clouds above, the beginnings of life would soon appear in the form of vegetation. Of what life is, and how it first comes to be breathed into matter, science utterly fails to give us any knowledge. There are some few persons who believe it would ' grow naturally ; ' but they can produce no evi- dence to support this assertion. We must be con- tent, as far as our knowledge goes, to accept the fact that the mysterious principle of self-growth and reproduction which we call life was com- municated first to plants, and next to animals, on this earth at some period when the conditions of the land, the water, the atmosphere, the light, and the temperature became compatible with the 40 CEEATION [CHAP, in existence of organised beings. One fact, however, we do know from science. It is that vegetable life must have preceded animal ; for plants have the power of converting into their own tissues the inorganic materials which surround them. They can take from the earth, water, and air the dead substances of which they are composed, and con- vert them into their own living structures. But animals cannot do this. Their food must be first prepared for them by plants. They cannot live on earth and water, but only on the vegetable matter which has first organised these elements. Hence it is certain that in the progress of the world's history plants must have lived before animals could live. So also says Genesis : Versesll-13. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth : and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind : and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. The upheaval of a portion of dry land, and its CHAP, in] SUN AND MOON 41 becoming clothed with vegetation, would have another effect. The evaporation from the earth's surface, and the consequent formation of cloud, would be greatly diminished. The differences of temperature would also occasion wind, thunder- storms, and other aerial disturbances. The heavens would be lightened of their gloom, pale ghosts of sun and moon would show through the haze, then rifts of blue sky would open out, and at last, all in a moment, the sun would shine on the earth. Then would become sensible the change of seasons, summer and winter, caused by the earth's revolu- tions, and with the waxing and waning of the moon the year would be divided into months. Again let us turn to Genesis for the corresponding narrative : Verses 14-19. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night ; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years : and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth : and it was so. And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and 42 CEEATION [CHAP, in over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness : and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. We have now reached the period in which the history of the earth is no longer astronomical or merely physical, but is written on the rocks, and the writing is interpreted for us by the sister sciences of geology and palaeontology. Nor, though these are yet barely a hundred and fifty years old, can their leading truths be held open to criticism. We have seen that the first hardening of the earth's crust must have been from the cooling of mineral matter in a state of fusion, and thus rocks of this type are necessarily the foundation of all that are later. But the upheaval of continents, still hot from below, and washed with continual torrents of tepid rains just condensed from steam, must have been followed by very rapid disintegration of their surface, and the materials would be washed down into the adjacent seas and speedily tend to fill them up with silt. How very fast this process must often have been is shown by the preservation in the rocks of casts of innumerable fish, for these casts must have been completed before decomposi- tion set in. Other causes volcanoes both on land CHAP, in] FORMATION OF ROCKS 43 and under the sea, earthquakes, huge tidal waves, and in some regions the grinding action of ice all combined to wear down the primary continents, and to cause the deposit of the fine mud so produced at the bottom of the then existing seas. Thus were formed the successive layers which now appear as our stratified rocks. Then the time came when gradually the whole upper surface of the earth was, so to speak, reversed : the first continents, thinned by erosion, must have sunk down, to become the bed of our present oceans, while the beds of the older oceans were uplifted to form our present con- tinents. The result is that the marine deposits of stratified mud, hardened by pressure into rocks, now constitute the land on which we live, and in the rocks we can see the effects of what took place at the bottom of the old seas millions of years ago. But these processes of subsidence and upheaval were not continuous. There were many alterna- tions of what we may call ups and downs in the old history of the earth. This fact is told us most clearly by our coal mines. The coal is found in seams or layers, sometimes only an inch thick, sometimes several feet. Between and above these seams there are layers of like variable thickness of sandstone or limestone, more or less pure. Now, 44 CREATION [CHAP, in the coal is the residue of forests, largely mixed with mosses and ferns and other moisture-loving plants, which must have flourished in swamps when the soil was above the level of the water. But after a period of this growth they must have been submerged, and layers of mud must have been laid down over them, forming the sandstone and limestone strata. Then they must have again risen, and fresh forests must have grown, forming a fresh seam of coal ; and again submergence must have taken place. These processes must have been repeated as often as such alternation of strata is shown by our present mines or bores. And mean- time in deeper and calmer seas there were being laid down other limestone rocks, hundreds of feet in thickness, formed of an inconceivable number of shells of marine animals which lived and perished in the waters. These rocks are now uplifted and form our chalk hills and cliffs. For during this long period, while the earth was slowly growing into its present state, animal life had begun. We do not know its primal origin, but Darwin conceived that the first creatures to come into existence would probably be some species of sea worms. Next undoubtedly came some molluscs, and then fishes. Of these we have CHAP, in] ANIMAL LIFE 45 records in the casts of their bodies taken in the mud in which they perished, and in their bones embedded in the rocks. Next in age came reptiles, many of them amphibious, able to live either in water or on land. Then came birds. We have both the bones of these found in the rocks, and the footprints that had been impressed on mud now hardened into stone. All these animals were of species different from any we now see, and many of strange and terrific appearances ; some were small, some were gigantic, but all geologists are agreed that the order in which they came into being, so far as the rocks can tell us, was, first, sea animals and fish, next reptiles, and then birds. No trace of land quadrupeds has been found in these earliest deposits. Of this stage the statement in Genesis is as follows : Verses 20-23. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God saw that it was 46 CKEATION [CHAP, in good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruit- ful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. At the next stage in terrestrial history we come on the remains of land animals. These, like the earliest fishes and birds, were of species different from any now existing, but gradually as the rocks become more recent the species come closer in character to those of the present day, until in the latest rocks of all, and in the gravels and clay laid down by rivers, the existing species begin to be found. The account in Genesis of this stage of creation is as follows : Verses 24, 25. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind : and God saw that it was good. There is nothing in the Biblical narrative of the creation of living organisms, plant and animal, to CHAP, in] EVOLUTION POSSIBLE 47 indicate whether this was direct in all cases, or by any process of what is called evolution of one species from another. God, we are merely told, ' made them after their kind.' He may have made each kind separately at the time suitable for its existence, or He may have made one kind with a capacity for developing into an allied but different kind. In either case the original creation, with all its attributes and capabilities, came from His hand, designed by His wisdom. Hence, so far as the word of revelation goes, we have simply no com- munication to guide us, and we -are therefore left at liberty to adopt whatever conclusion may seem to be suggested by the study of the works of God. 1 In the rapid sketch of the processes and order of creation which has thus been given, it will have been manifest how close indeed identical are the two narratives, the one deduced by science from observation of the earth itself, and of the universe of which it forms a part, all regulated by laws which we have gradually become able to perceive and in part understand ; and the other told to us by the writer of the first verses of Genesis. This remarkable agreement confirms the truth of both. 1 See Appendix, Note A. 48 CEEATION [CHAP, in But it does more. What we have learned, almost within the last century, from science could not have been known by any human learning in the age, whatever that might be, when Genesis was written. Nor could events which occurred millions of years before man appeared on earth have been recorded by human tradition. There is, therefore, no possibility of accounting for the accuracy of the narrative in Genesis except by the recognition that it came direct from God. By what means com- municated to the writer, and who was the writer, we know not, but assuredly it must have been by Divine inspiration of someone, who was charged to tell it to mankind. 1 One more point must be noted in which the revelations of Nature and of the Word agree : after each act of creation it is added in Genesis, ' And God saw that it was good,' and after the final act, ' And behold it was very good.' Looking back on the story as unfolded by scientific observation, no candid mind can fail to be struck with the same con- viction. Marvellous, inconceivable goodness is the sign that accompanies every step, from chaos to the appearance of mankind in the image of the Creator 1 See Appendix, Note B. CHAP, in] ALL VEEY GOOD 49 Himself. The earth growing from a mass of fiery vapour into a solid crust, divided between land and sea ; the air and the clouds floating on them ; the blue firmament, the sun, and moon, and fathomless depth of stars ; the laying down of rocks, with their veins of useful metals, and a weathered surface of fertile soil ; the springing of vegetation, and from its exuberance the formation of enormous beds of coal, then covered beneath the sea with protecting layers of sand, and again brought up to remain within the future reach of yet uncreated man ; the various forms of animal life that preceded him ; and finally his appearance on the globe how perfect and how good it all was ! And withal how beautiful, in sign of its perfection ! The sky by day and night ; the sea, now laughing and now terrible ; the mountain ranges, snow- topped and forest-flanked ; the cliffs and rushing streams, the green meadows and quiet rivers and glades ; the trees with their winter lace-work of branches and their summer robes of foliage ; the herbs and grass, where every blade is a curve of beauty, the flowers of rich hues and sweet odours ; the countless animals, from the ponderous elephant and whale, the lithe power of the tiger and the majesty of the lion, and the grace of the antelope, the noble horse E 50 CREATION [CHAP, in and faithful dog and household cat, down to the minutest insect, are not they, and is not everything, perfect in its several beauty and fitness and goodness in its place ? But even beyond all that the eyes can see there are realms of unexplored goodness. The lovely colours of the dew-drops that sparkle on the grass, the perfect forms of the crystals of the snow, but more minute than these, and revealed only in part by powerful micro- scopes, the splendid tints of a fly's wing, or dredged up from the ooze of ocean the infinite variety of perfection of form in the shells of dead creatures that human eye never beheld. We can only guess at all there is of beauty, God only can see it all, but in His eyes it all is good. He must have made it good because He loves goodness, and perfection, and beauty, for these are the essential attributes of Himself, and of His Divine love that brings them into being. CHAPTER IV MAN THE rocks bear no record of man. No traces of his existence are to be found among the fossils of plants and trees and lower animals, which have been pre- served in coffins of stone. It is not till we come to the much later epochs, when beds of gravel were laid down in old river channels, and the floors of caves in their banks were filled with mud, that we find vestiges of human existence. The most ancient of these are the implements used, consisting of flints roughly chipped into sharp cutting edges, and sometimes with a hole drilled through them to receive a handle of wood or bone. At a later date the flints were polished by grinding, and some are sharp-pointed so as to serve as an awl, or as the head of a spear or arrow. These are often found in ancient caves in company with bones of animals, some of species which are now extinct, but others identical with those of the present day, and which E2 52 MAN [CHAP. IV evidently have been killed for food. Bits of charred wood and fragments of rude pottery are also mixed up in the same deposits, showing that the use of fire was known. In certain of the caves there have also been discovered drawings made on the rocky walls, or on bones, by means of the sharp points of the flint tools, depicting animals, and sometimes men, naked or clothed in shaggy skins, and out- lined with a wonderful degree of vigour and truth. With the use of fire the smelting and forging of metals became possible, and thus what is called the stone age was succeeded in human history by the stages of development marked by the possession of weapons and tools, first of bronze and afterwards of iron, which have given their names hi scientific history to the ages in which they came into use. In the course of these ages also men began to con- struct huts, of which we have the remains in lake- dwellings, and the resources of hunting were aug- mented by the keeping of tame animals in herds and flocks, and last of all by the growth of cereal plants for use in food, and of textile fibres for spinning and weaving, thus showing the introduc- tion of the practice of agriculture and the establish- ment of settled communities. All this gradation of progress towards civilisation CHAP, iv] FIRST STAGES 53 is illustrated at the present day by the existence of tribes in every stage of arrested development, from the rude aborigines of Australia, through the Eskimos, the North and South American Indians, the nomad Tartars of Asia, the Arabs, the negroes of Africa, the races of Polynesia and New Zealand, to the most advanced civilisation of Europe and its colonies. Now let us turn to the history given in Genesis i. 26, 27 : And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him ; male and female created He them. Nothing more on the subject is said in the first chapter, in which there is only a further declaration of man's supremacy over all other creatures. Nor in the second chapter, where the account given is slightly different, is anything added to the state- ment. But in the third chapter (verse 7) it appears that at first the human race went naked, and that the earliest clothing they made for themselves con- 54 MAN [CHAP. IV sisted of leaves, to which subsequently were added ' coats of skins ' (verse 21). This corresponds with the earliest hunting stage of existence. After the lapse of several generations, the narrative relates that Jabal ' was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle,' 1 indicating that the nomadic and pastoral age was reached. ' And his brother's name was Jubal : he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ,' showing the first traces of music in the form of stringed and wind instruments. Next we read that ' Zillah bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron,' 2 marking the transition from the stone age to the ages of bronze and iron. All these state- ments are in substantial accord with the process of gradual development which we know from the traces still found was the course of progress of the human race. Both histories agree in the essential facts that in regard to his outward condition mankind at first occupied the lowest and rudest phase of exist- ence, but was at all times the lord of the brute creation, and had in himself the faculties which en- abled him to rise step by step to higher civilisation. The many centuries of age which the story of Genesis states the patriarchs to have reached need 1 Gen. iv. 20, 21. 2 Ibid. iv. 22. CHAP, iv] IN LIKENESS OF GOD 55 not be taken literally, though no certain explana- tion can be suggested. Possibly they represented the duration of certain families or dynasties, or tribes, or of certain epochs of advance in civili- sation. Certainly there was no written record kept at the time, and none survived the Flood ; and it may be that these names and dates were only added at a later time by the compilers or transcribers of the history just as the early his- tories of England, Scotland, and Ireland furnish us with imaginary lists of kings stretching back to dates of unknown antiquity. But we have now to consider the statement, which we obtain only from the inspired writings, that God created man ' in His own image/ or, ' after His likeness' (Gen. i. 26, 27). It is a declaration which it would be impossible to conceive were it not actually made. Are we, feeble, imperfect, ignorant, wicked, are we created in the image of God ? We look in our hearts and are compelled to acknowledge how unlike we are to that perfect Majesty and Holiness : we look on our fellow- creatures, so many of them abroad and at home living as the beasts that perish, and we ask wherein is the likeness to the glorious God ? Yet it is so 56 MAN [CHAP. IV written, and since the whole narrative of creation has been proved to have come from Divine inspi- ration, this also must be inspired, and therefore we are bound to accept it, and to consider how it can be. Not at least in our bodily frame is the likeness to be found ; for God is a spirit, and there cannot be resemblance, or anything in common, between flesh and spirit. The resemblance must therefore be in our spirits, yet even then the statement is amazing. Likeness of course does not signify identity. There is one only God ; none can ever equal Him in His all-perfect attributes. Difference of degree must necessarily exist, but similarity in character must pervade a being which is made in the image of a higher Being. Now, we saw in the first chapter that the essential attributes of the God who created the universe in which we are placed are three : infinite Power, absolute Wisdom, and perfect Love. Take away the adjectives which express the unattainable greatness of the Divine, and there remain power, wisdom, and love, in which in a lower, yet still plainly visible, degree the creature may be capable of bearing a likeness to the Creator ; a likeness greater or less according to circumstances, which CHAP, iv] ATTRIBUTES OF MAN 57 are to some extent within the reach of the creature itself. Let us consider how such attributes are or may be exhibited by man. The first two are Power, and Wisdom in its exercise. Power was the primary gift made to the human race. ' And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' This power was not in virtue of physical strength, or capacity of offensive war. In re- spect of the former the whale and the elephant, and of the latter the shark and the tiger, are immensely superior to man ; and many another animal could by strength or speed, with teeth and claws, destroy him, nay, even much smaller creatures down to insects could by their multitudes or their venomous properties overcome him, or starve him by consuming his food. But man has dominion over them all by his intellect. He alone can invent and fashion weapons, at first clubs and sharpened stones or sticks, then darts and arrows, and blow-tubes and bows, and finally explosives and guns and rifles. Thus has he carried into effect the dominion which was granted him over all living creatures. Then, too, his intel- 58 MAN [CHAP. IV lect has secured his superiority by taming many of them to be his servants, and making them apply their superior speed and strength, or the superior delicacy of their sight or smell, to the capture of other creatures, or the tilling of the ground, or conveyance for utility or enjoyment. Thus has man become the vicegerent of God in the control of all the other living things which He had created. But the likeness to God is carried also into the inanimate world. God has subjected all creation to certain rules, which we call laws of nature ;. and man by examining and understanding and apply- ing these has prodigiously increased his own power. Beasts and birds have a certain instinctive perception of the existence and utility of some of these laws ; their dens and holes and nests are formed, and I their movements are carried on in conformity with the laws of gravity and of motion and of friction, but they are unable to apply these laws to any further or new purposes. But man can advance further. He has seen how it is possible to build huts and houses with roofs and doors and windows ; he has learned the mysteries of fire, he has made it to smelt and fashion metals and pottery; with these appliances he has gradually CHAP. IV] INTELLECT 59 constructed machines ; he has found out how to employ the expansive force of steam ; last of all he has harnessed the lightning to his carriages, and made it the messenger of his words. These enormous advances in power he has been able to make through the wonderful step of the invention of symbols for sounds, growing into the employ- ment of writing and figures ; and last of all printing, which has made his knowledge gradually enlarge from age to age. Thus in the present period we see the immense addition to the power of man given by the steam-engine in every department in our factories, our railways, our ships and so we can see that, far below God as man remains, yet he is really made in His likeness in the possession, through his intellect, of power over nature, as well as over all other creatures. But the God-like attribute of Wisdom rises still higher than the knowledge of natural law, and supremacy over the beasts of the field. It teaches man to understand something of the work- ing of his own mind ; to know the relations that bind him to his fellow-men ; to appreciate beauty in nature and art and in mental conception ; and to be able to grasp the idea of God. He has thus not merely intellect, but a moral sense and 60 MAN [CHAP. IV a religious sense. Each of these capacities lifts him above the level of the lower animals, and each is capable of indefinite rising to higher planes. For who that looks at the history of mankind can deny this progress? Individuals undoubtedly have in every age existed who reached the loftiest standards. Enoch walked with God. Socrates and Plato taught an exalted morality, one might say a Christian doctrine. But Socrates was slain by the Athenian State because of his teaching. In Greece and in Home there was high civic virtue but very low personal morality, and nothing that could be called recognition of a true God. Slowly, and with difficulty, these ideas grew through the following ages, and undoubtedly they have become in the present day more generally diffused in civilisation than at any former time. It is true that knowledge grows but wisdom lingers, yet it cannot be said that wisdom stands altogether still. Public opinion is saner and sounder now than it has ever been before, although we must still admit that it is far from having reached a satisfactory development. The highest reach of wisdom, the understand- ing of the real nature of God, has also unquestion- ably made some progress. Compare it in heathen CHAP, iv] LIMITED BY BRAIN 61 countries, compare even the conceptions of the Jews with the modern ideas under the Christian dispen- sation, and the advance is manifest. It is perhaps most manifest in the fact that we tend to reject the dogmatic formulas which in former ages cramped and distorted our apprehension of the Divine Being. Thus advancing in understanding of Him, it may truly be said that we are approaching nearer to His image. It may, however, be observed that the intellect in man, which is his spirit, operates necessarily through his body. In some mysterious way the mind communicates sensations to the brain, and by a reverse process the sensations communicated by external objects to the brain reach the mind. As therefore the brain and nervous system are the organs of communication, the nature and extent of the communication depend in some measure upon their ability to act. Thus in the highest degree the intellectual power is limited by the capacity of the brain, and in every lower degree it may be still more limited. We know even that a mental state resembling idiocy may be caused by pressure on the brain, and may be relieved by removing the pres- sure. It follows that since we know the mind only by its operation through the brain, the true mind 62 MAN [CHAP, iv may be concealed or even perverted by an abnor- mal condition or structure of the brain. This im- portant truth may give us hope that in the in- finite wisdom and love of the Almighty physical condition will be taken into account in judging of human defects, or even sins ; and that what seems to us depravity of mind may at least sometimes arise from deformity of brain, and may hereafter disappear with the removal of the physical cause. The question is beyond our solution, but we know that God is all-merciful. But the gift of intellect carries with it as a necessary sequence the principle of Freedom of the Will. For the will is directed by the intellect, and the intellect weighs the motives that incline to either side in every question, and decides which of them is preponderant. Herein lies one of the distinctions between instinct and reason. Instinct suggests only one course generally it is the best- but it is not founded on experience, for the young of animals show it without any experience ; nor on reflection, for it operates instantaneously ; nor on judgment, for it is irrespective of the immediate circumstances. But reason learns by experience, it contrasts opposing considerations, it weighs the CHAP, iv] FKEEDOM OF THE WILL 63 future as well as the present, it varies according to the actual needs of the moment, and the action adopted is the result of all these mental operations. Freedom to select the action is therefore a neces- sary result or complement of the processes of in- tellect, and in this respect also man is made after the likeness of God. But this proposition has been denied on two grounds : firstly, metaphysical, resting on the argument that every mental determination is necessarily suggested by the antecedent operation of the mind ; and secondly, theological, resting on the argument that God has foreseen all events, and that therefore man cannot change them. The former, or metaphysical, argument is too abstruse to be discussed here. But the theological argu- ment may be met by the question : What if God has chosen not to foresee the determination which a man's will may take in the exercise of its freedom of choice ? There is no insurmountable obligation laid on the Omnipotent to fix human actions before- hand. We acknowledge that if he so wills He can enforce His will. But if He determines not to will, what is there to be said against it ? To deny that He can refuse to will is to deny His omnipotence, it is to make even Him a slave to necessity. We 64 MAN [CHAP. IV ourselves know that in the case of a servant we can will that he shall perform a certain act, and that if we so will, it will be performed. ' I say to this man, Do this, and he doeth it.' But we can also, in our plenary authority, decide that we will leave it to his discretion or choice; and, in that case, we do not know whether he will do it or not. So also may not God choose to leave it uncertain even to Himself, because He chooses to leave it to the human will ? The best answer to both these doubts is, in fact, to be found in our own consciousness. Each one of us knows and feels that he may do an act or not do it as he pleases. He may lift his hand or let it rest at his pleasure. He may look up or keep his eyes fixed on the ground, he may rise or remain seated, he may go to one place or the other, he may do an act or refrain, all as his own will decides. It is true, indeed, that all his acts are subject to God's permission at every moment. The power of action, life itself, is at each instant subject to God's will. But so long as He leaves the power to act, there is every ground for the belief that He leaves the will free to direct our actions, and with that freedom comes inevitably the responsibility for its use. CHAP, iv] OPERATION OF WILL 65 It is sometimes suggested that such freedom of the will is not a boon but a curse. If God is, indeed, omnipotent, it is argued, why has He not made us strong enough to resist temptation to evil ? why has He given us the power to use our reason to such ill purpose? why, in short, are we per- mitted to fall under the attacks of temptation to evil? Such questions, it must be admitted, we cannot answer fully, for they belong to the deep mysteries of God. In the chapter on Death some considerations will be offered bearing upon them. But here our concern is only with the fact that we have been endowed with a mental constitution in some degree, though at an infinite distance, like to that of God, and that as He acts according to His free will, so we act in pursuance of the determina- tions made by ourselves in the exercise of our own free will. We have been made a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honour. That crown we may still wear if we so will. But it is because we are so high that we are liable to fall. Had we been placed under a decree that we could not sin we had been slaves. But, being per- mitted to exercise freedom, we learn by our very errors how our ways are inferior to God's ways, we are taught by a bitter experience to submit F 66 MAN [CHAP, iv ourselves to Him, and so to become the willing subjects of His kingdom. Surely a far nobler destiny than one of compulsory obedience ! The theory of the predestination of all our actions has been logically pushed by some schools of theologians to the extreme, known as the doctrine of Election. It is thus set forth in the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is still by statute the Creed of the Church of Scotland. ' By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others fore-ordained to ever- lasting death. These angels and men, thus pre- destinated and fore-ordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed, and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished.' Then, after speaking of those who are to be saved, it proceeds : ' The rest of mankind God was pleased to pass by and ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sins, to the praise of His glorious justice.' The Church of England in its XVIIth Article declares : ' Pre- destination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed, by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and CHAP, iv] PREDESTINATION 67 damnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour.' The Article avoids reference to the doom of those who are not predestinated to life, beyond deprecating that anyone should assume that he is among them. But there can be no doubt that the dogma of predestination to life or death was held by the majority of Protestants 200 years ago, and if few now accept it in all its rigour, the change is an instance of the continued teaching of the Spirit adverted to at p. 29. The idea was founded chiefly on the writings of St. Paul, especially in Romans ix., in which he is gradually led on by his argument to the assertion that God would be justified in fore-ordaining certain men (such as Pharaoh) to sin, because the potter hath power over the clay to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour. But we dare not accept the stern logic of St. Paul to set up a dogma for which no warrant can be found in his Master's teaching. Nor is it needful even in logic. Pharaoh was, by his own free will, a wicked man, a cruel and relentless tyrant, before his heart was hardened to resist the departure of those whom he had oppressed. So Judas was not created to F2 68 MAN [CHAP. IV betray our Lord, but, being already a thief, who stole from his Master and from the poor, he was led by his own avarice to accept the bribe for betrayal. Yet this very act brought remorse, and he flung back the money and with it his life. If, therefore, we recognise that God may exer- cise His own free will to the extent of determining not to foresee how the free will of man may act, we are relieved from the necessity of believing that He can have ever determined that any man should sin, and thus be foredoomed to eternal damnation. Bather may we accept the blessed declaration, 'Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.' l Last of all in the attributes of God is the motive of all His actions, that is Love. In some respects not man only but all animals partake of this attribute love of their mates and of their off- spring, often to the sacrifice of their own lives, is common to them all ; and in many cases love of their fellows is equally observable. What is, how- ever, peculiar to man is his capacity of in some degree reciprocating the love of God for him. That 1 Matt, xviii. 14. CHAP, iv] EXAMPLE OF CHRIST 69 this is man's highest duty, and that it includes and regulates all other duties, will be seen when we come to the consideration of the Gospel, or message of God to man. Meantime it is enough to observe that in this regard also man has been clearly created in the image and likeness of God, and con- sequently with the capacity of becoming more and more like to Him. Let no man underrate this capacity in himself. It is indeed most wonderful, it seems scarce credible that we should be like in the smallest degree to the Most High God. But not merely has He in His earliest word declared that He so made man, He presses on him, again and again, that he must strive to preserve and enhance that likeness. ' Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.' J ' Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' 2 To Abraham God said, ' Walk before Me and be thou perfect,' 3 and of him it is said that ' he was called the friend of God.' 4 And so of many a prophet and saint, of many an apostle and martyr, of many and many a one in old times and in our own time, it may truly be said that they were and are holy men and women, and that they 1 Lev. six. 2. 2 Matt. v. 48. 3 Gen. xvii. 1. 4 James ii. 23. 70 MAN [CHAP, iv walked with God and kept His image in their thoughts. Each of them no doubt has sinned at times, each of them in human weakness has fallen many a time. But they turned and repented, and their sin was forgiven, and once more they set forward in their walk with God. But one man has been on earth who never sinned, one who was always perfect, one who is to all time an example of how men ought to live and how men may live, ' For I have given you an example.' l God Himself took the form of man in order to show how in very truth man was His image. Let us remember Christ's life as well as His death, the years before He began to teach as well as the lessons He taught. Between the time when He was twelve years old, and went up with His parents to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover, 2 and the time when He was baptised by John, being about thirty years of age, 3 eighteen years elapsed of which we have no record. But the very silence of the Gospels is eloquent, for it means that His life attracted no notice, it was as the life of an ordinary working man. So when He began to work miracles and to preach in the synagogues His companions were amazed and incredulous, for they 1 John xiii. 15. 2 Luke ii. 42. s Ibid. iii. 23. CHAP, iv] PERFECTION 71 said, ' Is not this the carpenter's son, and are not his brethren and sisters all with us ? ' : Nor did even His brethren believe in Him. 2 Yet during these eighteen years His life, His every act, must have been perfect, only the perfection included such absolute simplicity, humility, and gentleness that it attracted no notice. Strange indeed it seems to us, that God could have been in that carpenter's shop, working for daily bread alongside of His human brethren, sharing their meals, their amusements, their ordinary daily conversation as well as their labours, yet all with such perfect goodness and perfect absence of self-assertion that He drew on Himself no notice ! They knew Him not, because He was as they might be. His divinity was hidden in the absolute perfection of His humanity. So when he performed that last act of condescension in washing His disciples' feet, He told them, ' What I do ye know not now, but ye shall know hereafter.' 3 Thus was man created in the image of God, and thus he may still preserve in his soul on earth, as in heaven, that blessed and glorious image. 1 Matt. xiii. 55 ; Mark vi. 3. " John vii. 5. 3 John xiii, 7. CHAPTEE V SIN WE have now to consider how it has come to pass that man, who was created in the likeness of God and to be as His image, has in so many an instance lost all trace of that surpassing resemblance. For this explanation we have again to turn to the Word, and to its confirmation by our own reason and moral sense. We find it in the brief words in which we are told of the Temptation and Fall of our first parents in the garden of Eden. But while this story is so vivid and striking that we give it instant assent, and it has grown into an unquestioned article of our faith, we have to inquire what is the deeper and more personal meaning and teaching which it was intended to convey to all the generations of Adam's race. The method of instruction by way of supposed cases, fictitious narrative, or stories has always CHAP, v] EMPLOYMENT OF PARABLES 73 been extremely common in the East ; and even among ourselves no better can be employed for the illustration and enforcing of positive maxims of duty. It was used by Nathan to call a sense of his sin to the conscience of David, and with such force of reality that he demanded to know the name of the guilty man that he might be punished. It was frequently employed by the prophets, and probably the stories of Jonah and of Job are of this character. By our Lord it was constantly adopted. The parables of the rich man and Lazarus, of the traveller who fell among thieves, of the sower going forth to sow, of the king who would take account of his servants, are instances among very many others. They are narrated as if the events actually occurred, but the disciples at least understood that they were figurative, and would ask their Master, * Declare unto us this parable.' Then Jesus would expound what each imaginary person or act was intended to illustrate, and thus the lesson became clear and was fixed in their minds. We are justified then in considering whether other narra- tives in Holy Writ are really historical, or are of the character of parables, setting forth deep truths for our instruction. There can be little doubt that the story of the 74 SIN [CHAP. V temptation and fall of Adam and Eve was of this nature. It is certainly quite possible that the facts may have taken place literally as they are told ; that there may have been a real apple tree, and that the serpent was enabled to speak. But such events could not occur again, and therefore they would have been unavailing for a lesson to future generations. But if we regard them as a parable, their meaning and purpose and perpetual value become apparent. They are then seen to be the method in which God has deemed it best to com- municate to man the conditions of his existence, both immediately on his creation and for all time to come. The human race was brought into being amid surroundings which their Maker declared to be all very good. They were made in spirit in His express likeness and image. But the continuance of these boons must obviously have been from the first, as they are now, dependent on two conditions. One is recognition of God's absolute supremacy as Euler. And this necessarily includes absolute submission to His laws, even where the imperfect human understanding may fail to perceive at the moment the reasons for their observance. The other condition is involved in the first, it is that men should strive to retain the glorious CHAP, v] PARABLE OP EDEN 75 privilege of being in the image of their Maker, not only in intellect but in His holiness and love. It is clear that failure in any of these conditions would be incompatible with maintenance of the bond of union between Creator and created. Un- cleanness of life or thought, selfishness in action, disregard of God or cruelty to man, must destroy all resemblance to the goodness of God. Dis- obedience to or neglect of His commandments must equally sever the tie binding the Kingdom of God to its King. This, then, was the warning typified in the parable of the garden of Eden, with all the richness of its gifts coupled with the prohibition to eat of the fruit of one tree. It was the offer of a state of perfect and enduring happiness, conditional on observance of Divine commandments and recogni- tion of Divine perfection. No matter whether human understanding could grasp the reason of the commandment, since in many a case the feeble- ness of the human mind must render that impos- sible : enough always for mankind that it was an ordinance of God, claiming their strict obedience. But in truth the reason was fully and fitly expressed in the name of the tree, 'the knowledge of good and evil.' Obedience was the good, and 76 SIN [CHAP. V would maintain the state of goodness and happiness of all creation. Disobedience was the evil, and it would introduce the knowledge of the miserable consequences of evil in the sundering of the union between the Divine and human natures. The one was the condition of Heaven, the other of Hell. On this scene came the tempter, typified by beauty of colour and grace of form and movement, but with poisonous tooth. Whether the tempter was a personal and external spirit, called the Devil or Satan, or whether it was the evil suggestion of the human mind itself, matters nothing. We know, all of us, that there is a spirit of evil that whispers foul thoughts in our minds, and if that evil spirit be not external it must be internal. Either then there is a personal devil or there is one within us. Each of us may judge for himself. What was the whisper? That the fruit was fair, rich, luscious, that it must have wondrous potency ; that to eat of it would give wisdom, the one thing lacking in the human state, the know- ledge of good and evil, which if attained would make man the equal of God Himself. The subtle appeal was at once to the appetites, to the intellect, and to the ambition of humanity ; to all the faculties and desires which are most powerful in CHAP, v] TEMPTATION OF CHEIST 77 our different minds. The woman, and after her the man, listened, yielded, ate they broke the pact with their Maker, they fell under the penalty fore- doomed, they were driven forth from Eden, and in very truth they acquired the bitter knowledge of good and evil. Now mark a contrast. God came on earth as man in the person of Jesus Christ. As man He too was tempted. This also may be a parable, but, whether or not, it is for our learning. Not now was it in the lovely garden of Eden, but in the desert, in the uttermost desolation of the earth. He too was first tempted in His human appetites. He was an hungred with long fasting, and the devil bade Him create the physical food which would relieve the pangs. What was His answer ? That the true bread, the life of the soul, was not the gratification of the body, but obedience to God in His every command. Had Adam and Eve but uttered that response ! Next, our Lord was assailed with the suggestion that if He so trusted He might show His confidence in God's truth by casting Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. It was a false appeal to the principle of faith in God's word, just as in our own day we have heard proposals that God's promised answer 78 SIN [CHAP. V to prayer might be tested by selecting a sick man and praying that he might be healed, and observ- ing the result ! But it was met with the answer, ' Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Thou shalt not impiously presume to call on Him to prove His truth to man. Last of all, ambition, too, as with Adam and Eve, was made the snare. All the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them were offered as the price of one act of worship of the tempter. But there came the clear response, ' Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' Then the tempter, beaten at every point, vanished, and angels came and ministered to Christ's human needs. 1 Had Eve and Adam but so trusted, and so resisted, and so obeyed, angels had ministered to them also. They had been themselves as angels, the servants of God, His friends. No need then to hide from His face, no need to fear Him, for perfect love casteth out fear ; but workers for Him and with Him in every gracious purpose, beholding the goodness of His gifts, and being His ministers in spreading them around. But this glorious part and heritage they flung away. They distrusted they disobeyed they rebelled 1 Matt. iv. 1 ; Mark i. 12 ; Luke iv. 1. CHAP, v] APPLICATION TO MAN 79 and as rebels they had to suffer the doom they had been warned would come. Such is the parable delivered to us by inspira- tion in the account of what is called the Fall of our first parents. Its value and its truth lies in its application to ourselves. The lesson is clear. Adam and Eve are types of every one of their descendants. Each of us is born into the good world God has created for our enjoyment, but it is subject to the condition of obedience to the com- mandments He has declared. We all know that obedience to these will bring happiness ; dis- obedience, punishment and misery. But to each of us our particular devil, whether without us or within us, whispers that this is a delusion. He says to each, ' Look at the present pleasure you might have ; think of the enjoyment ; consider that this act will give you intense gratification, or that it will make you comfortable, or rich, or powerful, or admired among your fellow-men. But God grudges you that pleasure, and bids you grind on in self-denial and poverty and contempt ; and all for the chance the mere chance that you may be rewarded in some distant future, when perhaps there is no future at all. What folly to 80 SIN [CHAP. V lose certainty for a mere remote and possible chance ! Is it not He Himself Who has put this present pleasure in your power ; and, besides, how much good it might do to others ! ' These, and like arguments, according to each one's need or inclinations or weakness, are presented at every step to each one of us, and, as Adam and Eve did, we listen to them, we yield to them, and we fall ; and therefore we, sinning as our parents did, like them lose the glory and the blessedness of the kingdom of God. Unhappily also we fall not alone. The world which to God's creative eyes was all very good, becomes by man's sin very evil. Soon Cain murdered Abel, and millions of murders have followed in following generations. Kobbery and lust, fraud and drunkenness, spread misery around. The lower creation placed under man's power becomes the victim of his cruelty. He calls it sport to torture unoffending creatures to death, and science to cut them to pieces, to learn what their writhing signifies. Human ingenuity of wickedness has made the good world into a hell for many and many a creature. When we puzzle our minds over the ' mystery of pain ' we are bound to remember that an immense proportion of CHAP, v] ORIGINAL SIN 81 the pain is caused by the savage indulgence of evil passions by men. Yielding themselves to the tempter, they become his instruments in working misery around. So is the doom doubly earned. But the doom falls on us because of our own actual sins, not because of the sins of our first parents. A doctrine has grown up in the Churches, to which Christ's own teaching gives no sanction, that the guilt of Adam's sins has descended to all his offspring, that his ' original sin ' is imputed by God to everyone born since, or in a modified form that it has produced a ' corruption of our nature ' which has reduced us to a state of sin irrespective of our own actual sins. This theory is founded on the sanction of the second commandment, and on certain passages of St. Paul in which he speaks of all men dying in Adam, and death coming on all through Adam. Now, it must be fully admitted that there is a real sense in which children suffer in consequence of their parents' sins. Those who are born of evil parents may inherit a diseased body. Those who are brought up in the midst of sin are tempted almost insensibly to fall into it. Thus the warn- ing in the commandment against idolatry came true, 'For I the Lord thy God am a jealous G 82 SIN [CHAP. V God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.' For the generation that fell into idolatry were smitten with the sword, and reduced to slavery, and their children with them. And it is matter of daily proof that the children and the grandchildren of wicked parents are reduced to misery as a consequence of the crimes of their progenitors. But this in no degree implies that God imputes the actual sin of the parents to the children as if it were done by them. If we would learn the true teaching of God to the Jews as to inherited sin let us turn to the prophet Ezekiel, who, speaking for God, says : ' Behold, all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son : the soul that sinneth, it shall die.' Then he takes the case of a man who has been ' just and done that which is lawful and right,' and has refrained from all personal sin, ' he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God. If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things . . . shall he then live ? he shall not live : he hath done all these abominations ; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's CHAP, v] SIN PEESONAL 83 sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, . . . hath executed My judgments, hath walked in My statutes ; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. . . . The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father ; neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son : the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.' l And over and over is this clear lesson repeated as if it were designed to prevent for ever the possibility of asserting that the sin or the righteousness of one could descend or be imputed to another. With regard to the argument of St. Paul, 2 that by Adam's ' disobedience many were made sinners,' and ' death passed upon all men,' it is supposed by theologians that these expressions are connected with some ideas current among the Jews at the period. It also appears, from the context, that his object was to enforce the doctrine that Christ rescued all from death, rather by contrast with the suggestion that Adam had involved all in death, than by a positive assertion that Adam's sin was 1 Ezek. xviii. 2 Bom. v. 14-21 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22. a 2 84 SIN [CHAP. V actually imputed to his descendants. But, how- ever this may be, we cannot allow the view of St. Paul to compel our acceptance of a doctrine of which no trace is to be found in the teaching of our Lord Himself. It is one far too vital to have been omitted by Him, or left unnoticed by the evangelists if it had been really uttered. But no suggestion of such a character is offered. Through- out the whole of the Gospels Christ deals with sin, with its pardon and its punishment, as questions strictly of the individual who commits it, and never as being derived from any other sources. Therefore each of us sins or resists sin by the act of his own will, and not through inherited corruption. The sin of Adam and Eve was only a prefigurement of all succeeding sin. Did they fall? So, alas! do we. Did Christ defy the tempter? so may we yea, sometimes, God be thanked ! so we do. For in His infinite mercy He has granted to us the means by which we can. For as there is a tempting spirit, so there is a strengthening Spirit. Christ promised His followers that when He left them He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to abide with them, and to lead them into the truth. The word Comforter has come in modern times to have CHAP, v] TEMPTATIONS OF MAN 85 a somewhat different signification from that which it had three centuries ago when it was used by the translators of the Gospels. Comfort now suggests relief from suffering or sorrow, or a certain measure of ease and well-being. But its old sense was support or assistance. The Greek word which is so translated is Paraclete, and means properly an Advocate. So that Christ's promise is of a Spirit which shall be the Advocate or pleader in our souls for that which is right ; the helper and strengthener of our spirits in resisting temptation. This guidance, this support, this aid, it is for us to turn to, to accept, to rely on, when we are tempted as Adam was. It is breathed into our hearts when Satan assails us ; it recalls to our thoughts the idea of a God present with us ; it speaks of His love and of His terrors ; it brings into our minds all motives for holiness ; and if all these fail at last, sooner or later it brings remorse. Thus therefore, says St. James, 1 'Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man : But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.' And again, 2 'Submit yourselves therefore to God. 1 i. 18. 2 iv. 7. 86 SIN [CHAP. V Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' And St. Peter, 1 ' The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations.' And St. Paul, 2 ' There hath no temptation taken you but such as is com- mon to man : but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able ; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.' Wherefore when the devil, whether within us or without God knoweth, suggests in our minds the pleasantness of what we know to be sins, whether they are sins of the body, sins of intemperate indulgence, or sins of the mind, evil desires, envy- ing of our neighbours, longing for human success or praise ; or sins against our neighbour, malice or anger, or the evil words and evil deeds which they engender ; or sins against God Himself, distrust of His promises, doubt of His truth, rejection of His love, let us listen to that other Spirit, the helper, the advocate, and let us think of Jesus Christ, very God and yet man, who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So let us resist so let us triumph. 1 2 Peter ii. 9. 2 1 Cor. x. 13. CHAPTER VI DEATH THE consequence denounced of the choice of evil was death : ' In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' Up to this point creation had consisted in the preparation for life and the granting of life. We are led therefore to infer that had man resisted the tempter and remained in God's commandments he would not have died. Are we then to understand that this means that man alone would have been exempt from the fate of mortality ; or that all animals would have been alike immortal? This last could not be, for death had already entered into the scheme of being. Geology shows us that, thousands of years before man appeared, generations of plants and animals had lived and died, and their remains are to this day visible in the strata of the rocks. But if we limit the idea of perpetual life to man alone we are met with insuperable difficulties. Our bodies 88 DEATH [CHAP, vi must in that case have been cast in a wholly different mould, and our physical nature been made wholly at variance with that of all other animals. For in a physical sense the essence of life is death. Every movement that we make, every effort of our bodies however trivial nay, the involuntary expansion of our lungs and the pulsations of our hearts, and the countless unconscious motions of every organ are attended by and effected by the death of some portion of our muscles and other parts of our bodies. The principle of life uses up for its own pur- poses these elements of our frame, and as they are used it casts them off as dead and expels them. Nor is it possible for our minds to con- ceive that the functions of life, while they are con- fined within our material bodies, could be carried on by any other means than that of perpetual death and renewal of these materials. Animals live by consuming plants, or in the case of some by consuming other animals, and to this rule we cannot suppose that man, with organs similar, could ever have formed an exception. And fur- ther, as man was bidden not only to use food, but to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, it would in a few thousand years have become too CHAP, vi] NATURE OF LIFE 89 densely populated to supply food, or even to afford room for the crowding generations if there had been no death to thin them down. We cannot therefore accept the idea that it was merely physical death, or liability to death, that was declared as the penalty of eating the forbidden fruit. What then was the death ? The answer is that death is the loss of life, and therefore to know what death is we must try to understand what life is. We all think we know it perfectly, and yet it eludes every effort to define it. The nearest approach that scientific men can make to an ex- planation is that it is the capacity of growth. Living organisms are made up of an infinity of minute cells, and when these are living they have the capacity of forming other cells of the same nature, and so of growing. Thus when the skin is broken the surrounding skin throws out cells which form new skin to take the place of the old. The same process takes place with the flesh if it is wounded, with veins, and arteries, and nerves, and bones, if they are cut or injured ; and the very same process of throwing out new cells is that by which all the organs of the body are renewed when they get worn out with the work they have done. 90 DEATH [CHAP, vi This is all that science tells us, or can tell us of what life is. But it amounts to nothing. It is curious, interesting, wonderful, that cells should have this power when they are living, but it does not the least explain why they have it, or how they came to have it. We have not got an explanation, but only one more fact that needs explanation. And the only possible or conceivable explanation is that God wills it so to be. It is God Who has created the cells with this faculty, and who directs them in its use. Therefore life is not the mere living substance, but it is the presence of the Divine will in that substance that makes it live. It is the same with our spirits. We can give no explanation of how they live other than that it is the will of God that they should. It is His life that is in them. So says the writer of Genesis, 1 ' The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul.' And so David, 2 ' Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled : Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and Thou renewest the face of the earth.' And St. John, 3 * In Him was life ; and the 1 ii. 7. 8 Ps. civ. 29. 3 i. 4. CHAP, vi] NATUEE OF DEATH 91 life was the light of men.' Therefore it is God dwelling in each created thing, body and spirit, that makes life, and it is His withdrawal of that presence that makes death. When He withdraws from the body it dies, when He withdraws from the soul it becomes as dead. Christ said, 1 ' I am the resurrection, and the life ; ' and, ' Whosoever believeth in Me shall never die.' And therefore the warning to Adam was ' If thou disobeyest the command of God, His presence will be surely lost to thy soul.' Yet not to such a degree as to cause it to perish absolutely. For the body we know may lose consciousness of life and yet live. That happens when we sleep, or faint, or are stunned. Life by God's will remains, but only a half life, a life without sense or understanding, a death in life. So may it be also with the soul ; God may permit it to exist without the consciousness of existence, that is without the knowledge that He still is present with it and is preserving it from utter extinction. Then it may be called dead since it knows not that it lives. It refuses to recognise Him, and in consequence so far as it knows He has left it, and therefore it is dead. This is the 1 John xi. 25, 26. 92 DEATH [CHAP, vi death that Adam and Eve incurred when they ate of the forbidden fruit. In that moment they were sensible of the change. They were afraid, and hid themselves lest God should see them. When He called them they made pitiful excuses : the man blamed the woman, and indirectly blamed God Who had made the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent ; there- fore as they had rejected the companionship of God, they were driven forth from the garden He had planted for them. The death they had in- curred came upon them, in their being, by their own act, outcasts from life in the presence of their Maker. Even so is it in actual fact with us now, as it was represented to be with our first parents in that allegory. When we have disobeyed the command- ments of God we are afraid of Him, we fly from His presence, we refuse to think of Him, we have lost Him, and so we are dead dead, as St. Paul says, in trespasses and sins dead, as Christ says, as the dead we bury. We are driven forth from the Eden of His presence ; and our own consciences and the Word of the Spirit are the angel with the flaming sword that bars our return to bliss. But in God's infinite mercy not for ever. The . vi] SORROW AND LABOUR 93 sentence He pronounced was not for punishment, but for reformation ; it was not annihilation, but pain and toil. To the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow,' and to the man, ' In sorrow and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' Yet in the next generation we are told that ' the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offer- ing,' and even to Cain He said, ' If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted ? ' At a later time we hear of Enoch, ' who walked with God, and was not, for God took him.' Therefore we see that the sentence of banishment was not necessarily eternal, but that it is in human power to have it revoked. Only this must be on the terms originally declared, that we shall abandon our rebellion against the commandments of God, submit our- selves wholly to His will, and so return to His presence and regain the life we had lost. By what means shall this be brought to pass ? There are a thousand efforts made by God to effect it ; let us at present consider but that one which is set forth, in the words we have just heard sorrow and labour. These are our fate in this life ; it may seem that some have more and some less, but from them no human being has ever been wholly exempt. Sometimes, indeed, they even seem to fall 94 DEATH [CHAP. VI more heavily to the portion of the righteous than to that of the wicked. This apparent inequality troubled David, and the Psalms often speak of the contrast. But if we would only think that these burdens are not punishments meted out for sins, but means by which the real punishment may be escaped, the difficulty would to a great extent vanish. The true punishment of sin is loss of God's presence and favour and love, which may be temporary, or may be eternal. The trials of this world are not for a moment to be set in the balance against that awful doom. Still less are they to be computed if they become the means of rescue from it. This is really what sorrow and labour do. They teach us, as nothing else would, our entire depen- dence on God. They teach it by making us feel our impotence, and His power. When they wear us slowly down, or when, it may be, they overwhelm us in a flood, then at last we begin to understand how vain is our persistence in our own way, how hopeless is our struggle against the Omnipotent. No teaching of words, no pointing to examples, no arguments addressed to the reason, would have this force. Every day we see these fail to keep men in the strait path of righteousness. In CHAP, vi] METHODS OF INSTEUCTION 95 our inner experience we know how often they have been unavailing with ourselves. It seems even a law of human nature that we learn but little from good counsels of others. We are too wise in our own conceit to think that we do not know better than our advisers. So, generation after generation, boys and girls, men and women, set aside advice and warning given by their elders, and take their own way. They take their way, and take the consequences, and then the conse- quences at last teach them that they have been foolish, and that it would be better to be wise for the future. What is true as regards good counsel given to us by our fellow-creatures is equally true as regards that given by God. We reject it, as Adam and Eve did, thinking we know better. It is only when sorrow and pain have taught us how vain was our own way that our hearts are humbled to submit ourselves to His. Thus this life and its trials and its difficulties form the education by which God is teaching us to return to the true life of His presence. This, too, is the lesson taught in another allegory, the Book of Job. He was a rich man, with great possessions of flocks and herds, and with troops of servants ; a happy man, with a prosperous family 96 DEATH [CHAP, vi and many friends with nothing wanting for human comfort and enjoyment. A thoroughly good man, too, walking uprightly, giving of his fulness to the poor, sympathising with the afflicted, helping the oppressed, in every point to the human eye an admirable character, and approved by God Himself as ' a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil.' But there came the same tempter who had assailed Adam and Eve, and by God's permission he was suffered to try Job with adversity. In a day all his happiness was reft from him, children and servants and all his wealth perished in sudden catastrophe. He bowed his head in submission, saying only ' The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord ; ' and we are told, ' In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.' Yet one more burden the tempter was allowed to lay upon him in the form of a sore disease, so painful and hope- less that even his wife bade him curse God and die. The advice he spurned, with the noble assurance, ' What ? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil ? ' and still we learn that ' In all this did not Job sin with his lips.' But now there came to him three friends to sym- pathise with him ; they sat beside him in mourning, CHAP, vi] ILLUSTKATION IN JOB 97 and it would seem that even their presence brought on Job such a sense of his misery, in recollection of his former happiness, that though he would not curse God, yet he cursed the day he was born, he bitterly bewailed his fate, and charged God with cruelty in giving him an existence so burdened with misery. Then his friends retorted that he must have been guilty of some secret but enormous wickedness which deserved such a punishment. He indignantly denied the charge, he averred the blamelessness and purity of his life, and while acknowledging God's power, he still urged that his sufferings were undeserved and excessive. Then came Elihu, a younger man, who in his turn accused the three friends of impiety in presuming to interpret God's will in so uncharitable a fashion, and asserted the Divine power and goodness shown in all His works, as sufficient to justify every act. Last of all God spake Himself. He recalled the innumerable instances, known and evident to man- kind, of His supreme power and wisdom and fore- thought and love in creation, in the immense variety of animals, all suited to their own sphere, in the mysteries of the clouds and the winds, in the sea and the earth and the stars of heaven, and He demanded how the puny knowledge and power of 98 DEATH [CHAP vi man could entitle him to judge of the ways of a Being infinite in every attribute. Then Job humbled himself, confessed with deep contrition that he had sinned in asserting his righteousness and the injustice of his sufferings, and besought pardon. The pardon was granted, and gracious gifts in sign of pardon were added. The three counsellors who had striven falsely to explain Job's sufferings by his sins were rebuked, and compelled to sue for Job's intercession. It were perhaps to come perilously near to sharing their fault if we were to try to interpret the whole meaning of this parable. But two points at least appear to be clear. One is the Divine reprobation of the presumption of judging our neighbour to have been guilty of sin because of sufferings that come upon him. This also was forbidden by Christ when He said, 1 * Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners ab9ve all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? ' ' Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem ? I tell you, Nay : but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' The teaching is needed, for there is a 1 Luke xiii. 2-5. CHAP, vi] LESSON OF JOB 99 strong inclination in us all to attribute God's dealings with others to a ' judgment on them ' for sin. It may be so or it may not, but assuredly it is not for us to pronounce or interpret His judg- ments on our fellow-sinners. But the leading significance of the Book of Job seems to lie in the doctrine that all human blessings and miseries are alike designed with the object of teaching the duty of not merely submitting to but accepting as best for us the absolute rule of the Almighty, and that alike over the good and over the wicked. For the good as well as the wicked assuredly need this instruction to be forced upon them. The blessings which they receive, and which indeed they use lawfully and beneficently, may some- times seem to them the natural and deserved result of their own merits, the reward of a virtue superior to that of their neighbours, and may thus engender the sins of self -righteousness and vanity. Possibly for this, or possibly for some other reason in the Divine omniscience, it may be well for them to have the fact forced on their mind that this world, with its joys and its sorrows, is not the final sphere of recompense. It may be necessary to prove to them by even a bitter experience that God's purposes are not of immediate fulfilment, but remote and wide, H 2 100 DEATH [CHAP, vi and that while it is most certain that in the end His promises will be fulfilled, we must trust in them even when we cannot understand His im- mediate acts. Is not this conveyed in His final injunction to Job to consider behemoth and levia- than, the hippopotamus and the crocodile the one huge and harmless ' that eateth grass like an ox,' the other cased in scales of armour, with murderous teeth and fatal sweep of tail, living on slaughter ? We cannot understand the reason for existence of creatures so different, and in one case so hurtful, yet we must know that both are created for a purpose inexplicable. The world is full of things we cannot understand as our own fate on earth is beyond our understanding but we have to recognise by means of experience that everything God does is wise, and is done in the wisdom of infinite Love. So is the story of Genesis confirmed by the story of Job, and so are both confirmed by observation of all ages down to this present day. For consider the lessons of our own daily life. ' Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field ; in the sweat CHAP, vi] LABOUE AND SOEEOW 101 of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' True indeed is this, as we here so well know, of those who labour in the fields, who turn the soil with the slow-moving plough, whose work is doubled by the growth of noxious weeds, who through the long summer days and winter's frosts have their task of incessant labour till night brings rest to wearied limbs. But alike is the lot of all the other trades : the miller and the baker, the spinner and the weaver, the mason and the carpenter, the railwaymen who carry the produce, the police- man who guards them from thieves, the doctor who tends the sick, the lawyer and the judge who settle disputes, the legislator who makes the laws, the journalist and the author who collect news and furnish our minds with ideas every man has to labour, or else live on the stores of labour, and it is hard to say whose among them all is the most exhausting toil. But all are meanwhile learning in the school of God. Bach in doing his own work sees how it fits into and helps on the work of all the others. Each of us sees the rewards of industry and the penalties of sloth, at every moment we see in others and we feel in ourselves 102 DEATH [CHAP, vi the consequences of good and evil, the miseries that come from yielding to temptation, the happi- ness that follows on the performance of duty. Thus the curse of toil teaches ; thus, imposed as the result of disobedience, it becomes the instrument for recalling to obedience ; and thus the death decreed in the loss of God's presence becomes the way of restoring us to it and to life. It varies indeed in its influence. There are some blessed souls who learn the lesson quickly, and who are early taken back to God. There are some so hard in heart that they will not learn it, and these God may send out to some other form of. penalty or purifying fire, into the mysteries of which we may not enter. But to everyone yet here on earth there is given from moment to moment some fresh suggestion towards the great end. To the labourer in the fields there is the ever-new marvel of the springing blade and the ripening ear ; to the workman in the factory the wondrous laws of matter that concentrate the power of a thousand horses in one small room ; to the man of literature or science the thoughts of all times open to the mind, and the successive discovery of miracles rewarding research ; to all who, having eyes can see and having ears can hear, CHAP, vi] EESCUE FEOM DEATH 103 there are the evidences about our paths of God s care for His creatures. These are for the natural man ; to the religious mind there is the treble assurance in the witness of the water and the Spirit and the blood. All these forces tend in one and the same direction, the rescuing of mankind from death. Not from the death of the body, for that is but the gate of life, but from the death of the soul which is its separation from God. So are we brought back to Life. Truly then said St. Paul, 1 ' The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.' The schoolmaster teaches and corrects, punishes and rewards ; the scholar learns by repetition of lesson some willingly, some unwillingly, but by varying methods all are made at last to understand and to learn. So to us are the commandments of God in the discipline of this life. They make our souls fit for the everlasting presence of God by teaching how vain is rebellion, how blessed is submission to His will. When that is at length learned there will be no more temptation, because we shall have learned to defy it. Then having eaten of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, and found how bitter is the evil and how sweet the good, we shall finally 1 Gal. iii. 24. 104 DEATH [CHAP, vi eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and be evermore with the Lord. So be it to us all in the infinite mercy of God, and in the endless love of Jesus Christ, and in the help and sustaining guidance of the Holy Spirit. CHAPTER VII CHEIST THE Divine purpose in creation was the happiness of His creatures, but it was frustrated by the disobedience of man. The same woeful cause persisted through the generations that succeeded the first. Murder came with Cain, it was continued by Lamech, and doubtless these are only examples of the inception of that reign of violence and crime which all history records. Instances of exceptional uprightness and mercy there were then, as there have been in all times and in all nations, but the general corruption became so great that God decided to destroy the whole race, making as it were a fresh start from the single family which had preserved its comparative purity. This was done by the Flood. There is no reason to doubt the historical truth of the fact, though it may be supposed that some of the Scriptural details are symbolical rather than actual. Geology records many evidences of 106 CHEIST [CHAP. VII submergence of land under water, and its subse- quent emergence, and the traditions of very many nations bear witness to such an event having happened within the human period. Yet it failed to effect the purpose of raising up a new generation that should serve the Lord. Noah himself fell into sin, and many of his descendants became as depraved as their predecessors had been. Another effort in the same direction was made by the breaking up of the human race into different tribes and nations, which is set forth in the story of the building of the tower of Babel. As men multiplied they necessarily occupied wider and wider ranges of the world, they came under the influence of varying conditions, and they developed faculties of different nature, of which the remark- able diversities in their languages were a striking instance. It might have been expected that some at least of these variations in character and habits would have tended to the preservation of pure ideas of God, but it was not so. All alike chose evil instead of good. One more method was resorted to by God to attain His purpose. Out of the nation of the Chaldaeans, whose records still remain to show that they, in many respects, had attained a high CHAP, vn] THE JEWS 107 degree of what we call civilisation, and at least of intellectual cultivation, He selected one man of exceptional enlightenment and faith. He made to him special revelations and promises, and He continued to the descendants of this family a peculiar degree of personal direction and guidance. He led them into a separate settlement in Egypt, in which the hostility of the aboriginal inhabitants prevented any infection of idolatrous habits. When they had grown to sufficient numbers He led them forth, with many signs and wonders, into the deserts of Arabia ; He miraculously nourished them ; and He then gave them, under the most awful circumstances, the direct message of the Law. Then He guided them into the land He had selected for them ; and there He fenced them round with every conceivable precaution to prevent their intermixture with or corruption by the surround- ing nations. As, in spite of all warnings and safe- guards, they yet fell away He from time to time recalled them ; He sent special teachers and pro- phets to reprove and admonish them ; He tried them with defeat and with victory ; He made them powerful and He brought them low ; and at last He gave them over to become the slaves of a conqueror and to eat the bread of affliction in 108 CHRIST [CHAP. VII a foreign land. Again, when they turned to Him He brought them back. And now at length the lesson that they were absolutely dependent on Him seemed to be burned into their brain; for after the return from the Captivity it does not appear that to any serious extent they lapsed again into the practices of idolatry. Yet they fell into some- thing as bad. For they lost the true spirit of holiness ; they worshipped, not indeed stocks and stones, but the mere letter of the Law ; and this itself they so perverted that it ceased to be the Law of God, and was made to cover their own iniquities with the cloak of hypocrisy. Then at last the Lord said, ' Surely they will reverence My Son.' He sent His Son with miracles of healing for His credentials, and the promise of forgiveness for His message. The nation hailed Him as the Messiah foretold to be their deliverer, and believed that He was come to overthrow the foreign oppressors and restore the kingdom to Israel. But when they learned that His was no temporal kingdom, and that the deliverance offered was only from the bondage to their own sins and to the power of Satan, they turned back from following Him, and cried ' Crucify Him.' So the Son of God and the Son of man was CHAP, vii] CHEISTIANITY 109 crucified. And so ended the effort of God to make the Jewish nation His witness to the world. But a remnant was left. A dozen individuals, though at first with trembling and doubt, still clung to their Master's teaching. But its truth and purity made way, and drew more and more con- verts to their side. And the hour was favourable. For the first time in the history of the world there was universal peace, the iron peace imposed by the Roman sword. Wider ranges than ever before were opened up to civilisation. The whole of Southern Europe and Asia, of North Africa and Egypt, were safe to the traveller, and acknowledged a common authority. Thus from the Atlantic to the borders of India it was possible for enthusiasts to carry the message of God. They might be stopped by local or temporary persecutions, but they sowed the seed, and it took root and sprang up. It might be mixed with the tares of wild heresies, but it grew on to the harvest. Thus now Christianity, perhaps not everywhere pure, but at least founded on Christ's message, is the faith of almost the whole civilised world, and is the growing faith in the world. But the method which God then finally took to achieve His purpose of the redemption and 110 CHEIST [CHAP. VII happiness of man, while it was the most amazing and almost inconceivable display of Divine Love, has presented difficulties even to those who re- cognise the purpose. The coming of Jesus Christ was a stumbling-block to the Jews. The main lesson of their whole history was that there is only one God. It was set forth in the front of the commandments delivered to them. Their fre- quent lapses into idolatry were combated by the reiterated assertions of their prophets that their God was the only true one. Therefore we cannot wonder that to their priests and scribes the pro- position that there was a Trinity of persons, a Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, seemed inadmissible, and that these doctrines must be false. Neither is it matter for surprise that after Christianity began to spread there arose innumerable explanations of the doctrine, and that the advocates of each view denounced all the others as heretics. These con- troversies are in fact embalmed in the Creeds and Confessions which were drawn up to silence them. But even in our own day there are many who are unable to accept the idea that Christ was God, though at the same time they reverence Him as one supernaturally inspired by God. The evidence of His being really God is, how- CHAP, vii] CHKIST'S DIVINITY 111 ever, overwhelming. Since even the opponents of that doctrine concede that as man He was perfectly righteous and holy, they must admit that His own testimony could not be consciously false. No perfect man can be either an impostor or liar. Let us review, then, what Christ said of Himself. 1st. He had power to forgive sins, and he wrought miracles in evidence of that power. Over and over again He said to those who were brought to Him for healing, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee,' and when this power was questioned he added, 'Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise, and walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house.' ! The forgiveness and the healing were granted to those who recognised and believed in His power. To those who in hostility demanded of him 'a sign,' He refused it, knowing that if they had already rejected the evidence of their senses they would accept no further proof. 2 So also He refused to state His authority for the works He 1 Matt. ix. 1-7 ; Mark ii. 1-12 ; Luke v. 18-26. 2 Matt. xii. 38-42, and xvi. 1 ; Mark viii. 11 ; Luke xi. 29. 112 CHEIST [CHAP. VII did, since the works themselves proved His authority. 1 And His condemnation of those who saw His works, but attributed them to Satanic agency, was decisive, for this was the sin against the Holy Ghost that could never be for- given. 2 When, in answer to the question put to His disciples, they declared their belief that He was ' the Christ, the Son of the living God,' He commended their faith ; 3 and in the Transfigura- tion He appeared in His glory to Peter, James, and John. 4 At different times He made to both dis- ciples and opponents the clearest announcements. Nathanael was told, * Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.' 5 The High Priest was told that he should hereafter ' see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,' 6 and like expres- sions were often used to the disciples, 7 sometimes with the further announcement that then He should 1 Matt. xxi. 23 ; Mark xi. 27 ; Luke xx. 1. 2 Matt. xii. 22-37 ; Mark iii. 22-29 ; Luke xi. 14-24. 3 Matt. xvi. 16 ; Mark viii. 29 ; Luke ix. 20. 4 Matt. xvii. 1 ; Mark ix. 2 ; Luke ix. 27. 5 John i. 51. 6 Matt. xxvi. 64 ; Mark xiv. 62. 7 Matt. xix. 28, xxiv. 30, xxv. 31 ; Mark xiii. 26 ; Luke xxi. 27 ; John v. 17-38. CHAP, vii] THE TEINITY 113 send His angels to gather His elect together. This is still further emphasised in the announcement of the day of Judgment, ' Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' l Then came the wondrous scenes of the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. 2 Thomas; who had doubted of the Resurrection, on seeing the wounded hands and feet, exclaimed, ' My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' Believed what? That Christ was his Lord and his God. Such is the evidence of Christ's own declara- tion, irresistible in its clearness and force. Against it we have only the difficulty of believing in two persons being one God, but it is a difficulty of mere human creation. The word Persons as applied to God never occurs in the Bible. It is a term invented by theologians to explain their own ideas as expressed in their creeds. But these creeds are only human expositions, or perhaps they might rather be called collocations of words. They state 1 Matt. xxv. 31-46. 2 Luke xxiv. 3 John xx. 28, 29. I 114 CHEIST [CHAP. VII propositions which were not uttered by Christ, and try to explain the Divine by the language of human philosophy. Let us be content humbly to express our incapacity to understand all the deep mysteries of the entrance of the Spirit of God into the substance of a human body. Yet without pre- suming to explain the methods of God there are some obvious facts, the consideration of which may relieve our minds from the oppression of a faith which appears incomprehensible. In the first place we may remember that the idea of God and of the Spirit of God was no new thing. In the second verse of the very first chapter of Genesis we are told that ' the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.' Again God said, ' My spirit shall not always strive with man.' 1 Throughout the whole history of the Jews and in the writings of the prophets there are innumer- able references to the Spirit of God coming to men for their direction or reproof. It was a method of expressing the action of God in regard to men, which never occurred to the Jews as involving a separate God. When then a new method of entering into communication with men was adopted by God, by means of assuming the human form, and passing 1 Gen. vi, 8. CHAP, vii] UNITY OF GOD 115 through the stages of human life, there is no reason for conceiving that He thereby adopted a separate Godhead. He had before spoken to man from the burning bush, and in the still small voice that followed the fire on Carmel ; He now spoke from the lips of a man, yet still it was the same God. Nor is this in any degree hard to understand if we only remember that God is not, like humanity, confined to one place at one time. We believe that He is everywhere ; wide as the spheres extend He is there ; in every assemblage of worshippers He is there ; the sparrow falls not to the ground without Him. Why, then, can we not conceive that He was in the human body of Christ, while at the same moment He was still pervading and controlling the universe? These conceptions bring us to the true under- standing of what theologians have made difficult in the creeds by the invention of the threefold Persons. That word and that idea are not found in the Gospel. Jesus Christ was God, dwelling for a brief space in human form, in order that thus He might reach the understanding and the heart of human beings. He called Himself in this capacity sometimes the Son of God, sometimes the Son of Man, expressing that He was God as i 2 116 CHEIST [CHAP. VII He was man. The additional words ' only begotten,' which are introduced in some of the creeds to indicate a certain nature of connection different from creation, occur in the Gospels only in the first chapter of St. John, and seem to be used simply to state that Jesus was the single instance in which the union of God and man took place, or in which God assumed human form. Christ as man spoke of His Father in heaven when it was needful to speak of God exercising functions different from those which He Himself was exercising on earth. Or when He speaks of sitting in judgment on the right hand of the Father it is to convey that He then will be clothed with the whole attributes of God, some of which He had laid aside when He assumed the form of man. So when He prayed to the Father it was as man, to show men how they ought to pray to their Father. In like manner the Holy Spirit (or Ghost) is but one other manifestation of God in His special function of teaching, inspiring, and strengthening man. 1 In that form God promised He would come to the disciples after, in the form of Christ, He had left them. 2 In that form He will still come to us if we pray for His aid and presence. ' If ye then, 1 See p. 82. 2 John xvi. 7. CHAT, vii] THREE MANIFESTATIONS 117 being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him ? ' l And again, ' I will not leave you comfort- less, I will come to you.' 2 * If a man love Me, he will keep My words : and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.' 3 The three ' persons ' are therefore only to be taken as three manifestations of God, in the different stages of the work of the redemption of mankind from sin. The infinite God, Who had before sent His prophets and teachers, came at last Himself in the form of Christ. When Christ passed from earth He came in the name of the Holy Spirit. The three are not different persons, but the one God performing the different acts which His Love suggested and still carries on. Man was dead, that is severed from God, by his disobedience to God's law, and since he would not return to Life, Christ, Who is the Life, came to earth to bring back Life to men. In what manner and by what means will be considered in the next chapter. 1 Luke xi. 13. 2 John xiv. 18. 3 Ibid. xiv. 23. CHAPTER VIII THE GOSPEL GOD in the person of Jesus Christ, taking on Him- self the names of the Son of God and of the Son of Man to describe His double nature, came into the world to redeem it from the rebellion of sin, and from the death which was the penalty incurred for sin. By so coming He showed them His wondrous unimaginable Love, for what else than Love supreme could have led the infinite Creator to bear the human pain, the toil, the weariness of a mortal life, the scornful reviling, and at last the agonising death inflicted on Him by His creatures ? What were the means, then, by which He hoped that He might thus win them back from death to life ? They were, firstly, the declaration and exhibi- tion of that Love Divine, shown in the human form which men could understand. For the spirit of man, though created in the likeness of God, is CHAP, vm] CHEIST'S EXAMPLE 119 so miich bound up with the flesh, and so burdened with its imperfection, that it has difficulty in understanding the existence and the attributes of a Spirit invisible and intangible. Partly for this reason man turned to graven images and idols, as even at this day Roman Catholics attribute to the Virgin some Divine qualities that seem to bring her nearer to them than her Son. So God con- descended to meet our imperfect apprehension in the way most suited to it, by assuming the form of man, while He taught as God. The second purpose of Christ's life was to bring man back, not only by oral teaching but by example the most convincing method of teaching. For here before the eyes of men then on earth, and before the eyes of all men since whose spiritual eyes are not blinded, was set forth a man living in ordinary human circumstances up to middle age, and thereafter for a few years conspicuous as one sent from God, yet still subject to all human weakness and pain, who in private and in public lived the life which God commands all to live. Tried in every way, tempted by all Satan's wiles, acclaimed at one moment by popular adoration, at another reviled by authority and trampled on by 120 THE GOSPEL [CHAP.VIII the multitudes, slain at last in lingering torture, He showed how man might bear himself, meek, gentle, tender-hearted, unselfish, loving, forgiving, pure from sin and striving constantly to bring his fellow-men back to the love and the kingdom of their Father. It was no longer the commandments given in darkness and thunder on Sinai, it was no longer the preaching of prophets ; it was, and is, the lesson of an actual human being, in the midst of human surroundings, living the perfect life which God requires everyone to live, and which He has thus shown may be lived now on earth as well as here- after in heaven. For none can say it cannot, since it was lived by Christ. The third purpose was to teach and expound the will of God more fully and clearly than it had ever been before. John the Baptist had proclaimed a message, ' Kepent ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 1 This same message, in the same words, was repeated by our Lord in the commence- ment of His public teaching. 2 The Jews failed to understand it, for they fell into the- fatal error of imagining that He spoke of a kingdom of this world, which should be restored to them. Even 1 Matt. iii. 2. 2 Ibid. iv. 17. CHAP, vm] KINGDOM OF GOD 121 our Lord's chosen disciples long so understood it, questioning Him, 'Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? ' l Almost the whole of our Lord's teaching was therefore devoted to the explanation of what this message of the kingdom truly meant. Here we may note that the word ' Gospel ' is from the Saxon ' God's spell,' or God's message, and is a translation from the Latin and Greek Evangelium, which means the good message. Therefore our first duty is to try to understand what the full purpose of this Divine good message is. Let us begin with the reason proposed for repentance, 'For the kingdom of heaven [or of God] 2 is at hand.' This kingdom means obviously the government or rule of God. In one sense He always rules. He rules even over the rebels, for none can resist His power ; He rules even in hell, for the devils must submit to Him. But here the obvious sense is His rule over willing subjects ; the rule which is most perfect in heaven, where all are willing. This is indicated when it is said, speaking of the final Judgment, ' They shall come 1 Luke xix. 11 ; Acts i. 6. 2 Generally 'the kingdom of heaven' in St. Matthew (except vi. 33) ; ' of God ' in the other Gospels. 122 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vni from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.' 1 So also in the parable of the householder hiring labourers ; 2 and in that of the man sowing good seed in the field, 3 the kingdom of heaven is spoken of as the ultimate reward of obedience. And in the description of the Judg- ment day it is proclaimed to the righteous, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' 4 But to those who repent and accept the gracious message, the kingdom of God may be even in this world. For we are bidden to pray ' Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' And speaking of little chil- dren our Lord said, ' of such is the kingdom of God.' B While of one putting his hand to the plough and looking back, He said he was ' unfit for the kingdom of heaven ; ' and again of the rich that it was ' hard for them to enter into the king- dom of heaven.' But, finally, He declared that it was a mental state into which each individual might enter at once, in the words ' the kingdom of 1 Luke xiii. 29. 2 Matt. xx. 1. 3 Ibid. xiii. 24. 4 Ibid. xxv. 34. 5 Mark x. 14. CHAP, vin] NATURE OF THE KINGDOM 123 God is within you.' l And that such a state is most earnestly to be desired is shown by liken- ing it to a pearl of great price, or a treasure hid in a field, 2 which is so valuable that all other possessions are abandoned in order to obtain it ; while its ability to fill and satisfy the mind is explained under the figure of the grain of mustard seed growing into a tree, which the birds come to lodge in. 3 These references, which do not exhaust the passages that might be adduced, show that the kingdom of God means the acceptance by the soul, whether individually or in a community, of the absolute government of God ; and consequently the attitude of entire submission of the human will to the Divine. Therefore, when the Lord preached the message that the kingdom was at hand, He signified that a new urgent offer, en- treaty, command was being held out to men to bring them into the state of obedience to God which so many of them had till now repudiated, thus making themselves outcasts from His king- dom and subject to the penalty of death. It was the offer of restoration to paradise, lost 1 Luke xvii. 21. 2 Matt. xiii. 44-46. 3 Mark iv. 30 ; Luke xiii. 19. 124 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vm through our own disobedience, as Adam and Eve had lost it at first. For paradise was and is the kingdom of God, life in it was and is the presence of God, and the recognition of Him as the supreme and blessed Creator and Euler. So the proclama- tion that His kingdom was at hand was the declaration that men might again enter therein, might pass from death unto life, might in this actual world and present existence walk again with their Maker, and begin at this moment the un- ending bliss of eternity. For most assuredly the promise of God spoken by Christ could not be vain, and the command to pray that the kingdom of God might come at once must have the meaning that it would come if we should so pray. There- fore let every man and woman and child take this promise into their heart, and bear the constant thought that the kingdom of God, which means at once paradise and heaven, may be within us, if only we will accept the condition on which it is offered. The one condition was stated by our Lord to be repentance, and on repentance there was promised remission of sins. 1 Repentance is understood by us now to signify sorrow for the 1 Mark i. 4, 15, ii. 5, 17. CHAP, vni] REPENTANCE 125 past, and determination to act otherwise in future. But the Greek word used by the evangelists is metanoia, which means a changed mind, and this expresses something more than mere repentance. At least it goes deeper to the root, and shows that what is required is not mere regret for separate acts, but such a fundamental revolution in the soul as shall in future render such acts a moral impossibility. It involves thus the absolute re- nunciation of the attitude of either hostility or re- sistance, and the adoption of a new heart and new disposition of entire conformity to the Almighty will. On this followed the gracious promise of re- mission of sins. This was to be both instant and complete. Both conditions were illustrated by the parable of the prodigal son. 1 One who had for years followed his own devices, and indulged in every species of debauchery, was led at last, by the misery into which he had fallen, to recognise his wretchedness, and to determine to seek from his father, not restoration to the privileges of a son, but merely the food and wages of a servant. Here was manifestly the metanoia, the revolution of character demanded. But how was it met ? By 1 Luke xv. 11. 126 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vin no reproaches, no lectures on his iniquities, no call for evidence of sorrow, no prescribing of conditions, no period of probation, no statement of pardon won by another's intercession or by the merits of any- one else. It was enough for the father to see his son afar off returning home. Before even his intended speech of contrition could be uttered his father ran forward to greet him, fell on his neck and kissed him ; then, instead of acceding to his humble request to be received only as a servant, his father bade the fairest robe be put on him, killed the fatted calf to make a feast, and called for music and dancing to enhance the general joy. But this festivity aroused the jealousy of the virtuous son (how very human !) ; he remonstrated against such generosity to one so unworthy, and pointed out his own modest merits as deserving of more recogni- tion than they had received ! The father's answer was that he had enjoyed already every possible blessing, had shared in every comfort, but that it was right they should rejoice over the return of the penitent spendthrift, 'who was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.' The parable sets forth in the most vivid and dramatic form the whole dealing of God with man. It shows the Divine goodness in bestowing His CHAP, vm] REMISSION OF SINS 127 ample favours on men, it shows how men waste them in their sensual pleasures, and so lose their life and fellowship with God ; it shows how, when they have fallen to the lowest depths, God whispers in their hearts the lesson of repentance ; how eagerly, when they come back to Him, He wel- comes them ; and without any condition or penalty receives them again into His kingdom, and into the life with Him which they had cast away. The same lesson is taught in many other passages. The thief on the cross had but to confess that he deserved punishment, and to ask for Christ's favour, to be immediately assured, ' To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.' l Zacchaeus, the publican, had but to offer restitution for any fraud he had committed to be immediately assured of salvation. 2 Mary Magdalene washed her Lord's feet with her tears, and she also had all her sins forgiven though they were many. 3 The lame and the blind and the palsied were healed, because their sins also were forgiven when they came to Jesus to be healed. 4 These were actual instances in His life, but almost every lesson 1 Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Ibid. xix. 9 . 3 Luke vii. 47. 4 Matt. ix. 6 ; Mark ii. 5 ; Luke v. 20. 128 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vm in His teaching was to the same effect. The publican smiting on his breast with a cry for mercy on his sins went down to his house justi- fied, rather than the Pharisee who boasted of his righteousness. 1 The debtor who besought time to enable him to pay had his debt at once remitted in full, because his Lord had compassion on him. 2 It was of course a necessary element in the grace extended that the repentance should be sincere, for otherwise it is not repentance. It was also required that it should be shown by acts denoting the change of heart, where such acts were possible. Thus those who promised to follow Christ after first attending to their own affairs were rejected. 3 So also the young man who desired to know how he should have eternal life, but who failed in the test imposed, that he should sell all that he had and give to the poor in order that be might then follow the Lord, was also refused acceptance. 4 Belief also in Christ being really the mouthpiece of God, and therefore faith in the truth of His promises, were equally demanded. Consequently many of the miracles were preceded by the inquiry, ' Believe ye that I am able to do this ? ' 6 1 Luke xviii. 13. 2 Matt, xviii. 27. 3 Luke ix. 59. 4 Ibid, xviii. 24. 8 Matt. ix. 28. CHAP, vm] FRUITS OF EEPENTANCE 129 or explained ' thy faith hath made thee whole.' l And the faltering faith of Peter, when he walked on the water, was followed by his beginning to sink ; while on his renewed cry for help, Jesus stretched out His hand and saved him. 2 Moreover, it is obviously necessary that true repentance should be followed by its fruits. Re- pentance is on account of wickedness, and there- fore that wickedness must be both recognised and renounced. Consequently the next stage of our Lord's teaching was to show in what ordinary events of life evil might lurk, and what was the nature of that ' change of the mind ' which alone could admit of forgiveness for the past. Hence, at a very early period after selecting His disciples, He took them apart, and taught them the new lessons which are contained in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, 3 and which He repeated and enlarged on many subsequent occasions. New indeed, and very different from either the teaching or the practice of the Scribes and the Pharisees and the doctors of the law. For the teaching of Jesus spoke of the blessings bestowed on humility of mind, on meekness and forgiveness of injuries, 1 Matt. ix. 22, also 29 ; Mark v. 84, 36, x. 52 ; Luke xviii. 42. 2 Matt. xiv. 31. 3 Ibid. v. ; Luke vi. 20. 130 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vm on the doing of good without hope of recognition or reward, on bearing persecution and scorn and evil words from men for righteousness' sake. They forbade any boasting of virtue, any seeking of honour or praise from men, 1 any straining after power or riches, any anxiety even for the mor- row's food. 2 Doctrines assuredly strange and new, doctrines which even Moses had not been com- missioned to teach, ' for the hardness of their hearts,' but which now came from the lips of God Himself as the demands of the new life which men were entering upon. But, as our Lord reminded the Jewish teachers who questioned Him, they were all comprehended in that Law which Moses gave, if only it were rightly understood. 'The first commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and great commandment. 3 And the second is like to it, namely this : Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 4 On these two command- ments hang all the law and the prophets.' And the Scribes were forced to admit that He spake truly. 5 It must be admitted that these commandments 1 Matt. vi. ; John v. 44. 2 Luke xii. 22. 3 Deut. vi. 5, x. 12-19, &c. 4 Lev. xix. 18. 5 Matt. xxii. 37 ; Luke x. 26 ; Mark xii. 29-34. CHAP, vni] THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 131 of self-abnegation, of love of God and of our neigh- bour, are not easy for human nature to observe. Love of ourselves, love of what gives pleasure to ourselves, are the strongest sentiments that rise naturally in the hearts of most men. Above all, love of a distant Being, unknown to our senses, a Spirit of whom we can only form a remote and abstract idea, is beyond our experience, and seems scarcely within our power. But this is recognised in the commandment itself. For it is not merely to love with all the heart, with the emotions which are most deeply touched in our human love, or the outflow of feelings thrilled with gratitude but also with all the soul, that is with the whole of our spiritual being with all our mind, that is with all our intellect and understanding and with all our strength, that is with the determined force of our will. It needs all these, for against it there are set all the wiles of the devil ; the evil passions of which our nature is capable, the craving for immediate pleasure, the false reasoning which persuades that present gratification is better and surer than distant happiness, the weakness and weariness of the flesh, the doubts that beset our faith, the evil example of others, the desire for the praise of men and the fear of their contempt. K 2 132 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vm These are the open and insidious foes of the love of God in our minds, and to resist them and to over- come them demands the utmost earnestness in our struggle. But we are required to apply ourselves to it with a supreme effort, to turn our minds to it in order to perceive how reasonable and how .desirable it is, to reflect on it more than on any other subject of interest, and so at last by strenuous exertion to reach that comprehension of Almighty God, and of His works and of their infinite per- fection, and of His boundless love that shall fill our souls with an answering love. As it is written by St. John, 1 ' \ye love Him, because He first loved us ; ' and by St. Paul, 2 ' For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.' For this end Christ came, that God might be to us no longer a distant idea, revealed at most to here and there a prophet or saint, but one in human shape, in form a man, the Companion and Friend of man, the Healer of all disease, the Sympathiser with all sorrow, the Forgiver of all sin, Himself a man of sorrows and 1 1 John iv. 19. 2 Bom. viii. 38. CHAP, vm] THE SECOND COMMANDMENT 133 acquainted with grief, tempted, tried, rejected of men, crucified, while yet the Eternal Judge, Who shall come with glory amid the holy angels to judge the quick and the dead. Him therefore as man we can love, and in Him we love God. The second commandment is not merely like the first, but it is included in it. If we love God we shall keep His commandments, 1 and His com- mandment is that we shall love one another. And, as St. Paul says, every commandment is compre- hended in this, 2 for ' love worketh no ill to his neighbour.' But the commandment of Christ is very broad, for He biddeth us not merely, love those that love us, which even the publicans do, but love our enemies, bless those that curse us, and do good to those that despitefully use us and per- secute us, for then shall we be the children of the Father Who makes His sun to rise and sends rain to the evil and the good. 3 Undoubtedly, however, this does not exclude discrimination. God sends His gifts to all, but to those who abuse His gifts and despise His commands there comes retribution sure and stern. So we also, while we return good 1 John xiv. 15, xv. 10. 2 Bom. xiii. 10. 3 Matt. v. 44, Luke vi. 32. 134 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vm for evil to our enemies, must bear in mind that we encourage not wickedness, and that our very love to them must compel us to reprove and at last to punish. The essential is that we be severe when needful, not to avenge our own wrongs, but to assert the supremacy of right over wrong, to suc- cour the oppressed, and to protect the weak. But these duties are not limited to human beings. God's love and care are over all His creatures however humble, and so are ours bound to be. That they are placed under our dominion, and look up to us as their masters, increases our obligation to show kindness to them. This is con- sistent with our using them to help us. It is a pleasure to a horse to be taken out of his stable to work, and we know the rejoicing of a dog when he sees preparations for his being employed. Our duty is all the more not to overtask their willing- ness. Not to speak of avoiding the infliction of cruelty, we ought to show kindness ; for a gentle word, a slight caress, gives obvious pleasure to nearly all animals, and we are bound to give that pleasure, and to make them feel that they are com- panions and not strangers. While our laws recognise our duty to animals by punishing palpable cruelty, there is a form of CHAP, vin] VIVISECTION CONDEMNED 135 cruelty which, to our disgrace, they protect. This is vivisection. Vivisection is the cutting up of living animals, and it is allowed by the law, under some restrictions which are merely nominal, and are constantly evaded at the demand of certain persons who say that it is for the sake of science and to gain knowledge useful for humanity. This is a false use of the word. Science means accurate knowledge, but to cut up, or poison, a lower animal in order to watch the nature of its organs, or the effect of suffering upon them, gives us no accurate knowledge of the effect of such opera- tions on human beings, because the organs of man and of other animals are so essentially different that the effect of injury to the one is no guide to the effect of like injury to the other. The pretence of advancing science by such means, therefore, utterly fails, and this is established by the testi- mony of some of the very highest authorities in surgery, past and present. But even if knowledge were gained, could it be right to gain it at the cost of such pain ? Can we conceive an all-merciful God bidding us acquire knowledge of His work by torturing His creatures ? The idea is utterly re- pugnant, not only to Christianity, but to common sense. It is scarcely possible to imagine that 136 THE GOSPEL [CHAP, vin anyone who admits such a proposition has any true belief in God at all. Is it imaginable that Jesus Christ could so teach men ? The three purposes, then, of Christ's coming on earth work together and illustrate and promote each other. The showing forth in visible form of the transcendent Love Divine, the evidence that man on earth might respond to it by the example of One perfect human life, and the inculcating of holiness in every thought, word, and deed, were all combined in the Advent of the Son of God, and in His life and death as Son of Man. CHAPTER IX SACRIFICE THE resplendent simplicity of the Gospel, or Message of God brought by Jesus Christ to men, has not proved sufficient to satisfy the imagination or reason of some among them. Accordingly the plain statement of immediate forgiveness granted to the penitent sinner has been expounded and added to by commentators and churches and creeds till it has assumed a form of doctrine for which no authority can be found in the words of Christ. It is important therefore to consider not only what is taught us by Him, but what has not been taught by Him, and is the mere invention of human ingenuity. It must be remembered that even the apostles may have erred through the influence of precon- ceived ideas. They were Jews, most of them unlearned, but all accustomed to the Jewish ritual and observances. St. Paul, however, was highly 138 SACEIFICE [CHAP, ix educated, a Pharisee, as he says himself, a son of a Pharisee, and brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a distinguished teacher of the law. Now the Jewish law was pre-eminently one of elaborate symbolical ritual. In ordaining its observance we may well believe that God sought by this method at once to fence off His people from the worship of the idols of surrounding nations, and to satisfy the craving which we know to be inherent in the human mind for solemnity and splendour in visible worship, a craving of which so many churches have since known how to avail themselves. There was the magnificent temple on the hill of Zion, adorned with all manner of precious stones, with its various courts up to the inner Holy of Holies ; there was the priesthood, the descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, specially set apart to perform the most sacred offices, and clad in vestments of royal magnificence ; there were the numerous feast days, all commemorating some special mercy or deliver- ance ; and, above all, there were the frequent sacrifices, expressly enjoined as significant of the mysteries of the faith, and regulated in the Mosaic code with peculiar application to obtain the Almighty favour or pardon. For the idea of sacrifice is common to all mankind, whatever CHAP, ix] JEWISH BITES 139 religion they profess. Abel and Cain both offered sacrifices to God, so did Noah and Abraham, and there is scarcely a tribe or nation in which the institution is not found. The root idea is twofold, either a sense of gratitude to the Divinity, shown by offering to Him some portion of His gifts or some object of value ; or a sense of dread, inducing the giving up of something to appease His anger. Both types were found in the Jewish ritual. Be- sides the great institution of the passover, sanctity attached to every first-born male that opened the womb, 1 while burnt offerings and sin offerings were sacrificed as an expiation for every sort of offence. 2 Thank offerings, consisting of flour baked in a special way, 3 were also among the gifts ; then there were peace offerings, and trespass offerings for minor offences, and offerings of consecration for an atone- ment. 4 On special occasions two goats were to be taken ; one killed as a sacrifice, while the priest was to take the other and confess the sins of the people over it, laying his hands on its head, and then send it by a fit man into the wilderness and let it go, so typifying the bearing away all the iniquities of the people. 5 And every year, on the tenth day of the 1 Ex. xiii. 2. 2 Lev. i. 3 Ibid. ii. 4 Ibid. viii. 34. 6 Ibid. xvi. 20, 140 SACRIFICE [CHAP. IX seventh month, the priests were required to make a solemn atonement for themselves and all the people, while they held a sacred fast and day of affliction. 1 These and other regulations for sacrifice and atonement by the priesthood were thus impressed on the minds of the Jewish nation as an absolutely essential condition of Divine favour and pardon of sins, and there is no doubt that they were in full observance at the time of Christ's coming. It therefore appeared essential to Paul, as one learned in the Jewish law, and boasting of it, that he should show his countrymen that Jesus Christ once for all fulfilled all these commandments. Hence, in his Epistle to the Eomans, especially addressed to the Jews in Eome, and in that to the Hebrews written from Eome, his most anxious efforts are devoted to prove that Jesus Christ ful- filled every requirement of the Law, being in Him- self at once a High Priest offering a sacrifice, and the very sacrifice Himself, so making a fresh atone- ment for the people with His blood, and bearing their sins, while Himself sinless. The whole of his other Epistles are permeated by the same idea. We find it to a small extent in those of St. Peter, a trace of it in St. John, in the words ' He is the 1 Lev. xvi. 29. CHAP, ix] ADOPTION IN CEEEDS 141 propitiation for our sins,' 1 but scarcely at all in the Epistle of St. James, of which it may be said that more nearly than any other it approaches the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount. But it was natural, also, that the doctrines of St. Paul, who was especially the Apostle to the Gentiles, should receive close attention from the converts among them. The subtle intellect of the Greeks indeed revelled in the fine distinctions which he drew between the flesh and the spirit, and in the logical reasoning with which he worked out the proposition that the decrees of God must be immutable, and therefore that in some way they must be satisfied before redemption could be at- tained. Gradually also the ' elders ' (presbyters) claimed the select privileges of the Jewish priest- hood, while the inspectors or overseers (episkopoi) assumed the name and functions of bishops. The illiteracy of the Middle Ages gave the more scope for these pretensions, and accepted as truth what- ever was taught by Constantinople or Eome. Thus the codes of the Jewish priesthood passed into the Christian creeds, and elaborated more fully the ar- guments of St. Paul as to the necessity of sacrifice and atonement. Under like influence the various 1 Uohnii. 2. 142 SACRIFICE [CHAP, ix Protestant creeds accepted the same doctrines, merely pruning them of some of their grossest perversions. Hence the dogma of the Christian Churches as expressed in their authoritative standards is this, That God, having denounced eternal death as the penalty for sin, cannot retract that decree on the repentance of individual men, and that consequently His justice requires that death should follow to all men, because all have sinned. But that Jesus Christ, assuming the form of man, yet Himself sinless, volunteered to undergo the penalty in place of men, and therefore died, not eternally but for three days, and that this is accepted by God as both a sacrifice for sin and as a satisfaction in lieu of the punishment of it which ought to be inflicted on all men. The Roman Church merely adds to this theory the assertion that the sacrifice is re- peated every time the communion is celebrated ; the priest by the act of consecrating the bread and wine being supposed actually to change them into Christ's body and blood, which are then anew offered as a sacrifice for the communicants. The struggles of Churchmen who still call them- selves orthodox to evade these doctrines would be a long and uninteresting story. Three-quarters of CHAP. IX] ATTEMPTED EXPLANATIONS 143 a century ago a Scottish divine, Mr. Campbell of Bow, suggested that the function of Jesus was ' making a perfect confession of the sins of men, by which the wrath of God is rightly met and Divine justice satisfied.' But this substitution of vicarious confession in place of vicarious death was at that time deemed so heretical that Mr. Campbell was deprived of his office. Professor Maurice suggested that the sacrifice consisted in ' perfectly giving up that self-will which has been the cause of all men's crimes and all their misery.' These are examples of the efforts made by able and pious men to give a meaning to the idea of vicarious sacrifice which should not sliock the human conscience. But the futility of such explanations is obvious, and all the more since undoubtedly they fail to harmonise with St. Paul's clear enunciation of the death of Christ as a sacri- fice in the full Jewish sense. But the real fact is that St. Paul's view was his own idea, and was not taught by Christ Him- self. There is absolutely nothing in His teaching that suggests the idea of God's wrath demanding sacrifice, or of His own death being a sacrifice. He never once uses the word atonement, or satisfaction, or any other word in such a sense. The sole sem- 144 SACEIFICE [CHAP, ix blance to such an idea is in the words of blessing the cup during the last supper, when, as St. Mat- thew records, He said, This is the cup of the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins.' The other evangelists do not give these words. But we must recall that baptism also was said to be administered by John the Baptist ' for the remission of sins,' where clearly it was only a symbol, and not the medium ; since frequently afterwards sins were declared by our Lord to be forgiven without baptism. In the same way therefore it is evident that these words applied by our Lord to His blood meant that it was a symbol of remission of sin, and as such to be kept in remembrance. This suf- ficiently explains why the other evangelists do not notice the remark. We may indeed take it as positively certain that if the disciples and all future Christians had been intended to accept our Lord's death as a sacrifice in the Jewish sense, or in the subsequent sense as the one vital and indis- pensable condition on which the redemption of mankind from eternal death was to depend, it would have been put forward most clearly and forcibly and with anxious iteration. But, on the other hand, what we do find so put forward in the CHAP. IX] PURPOSE OF THE CROSS 145 whole of Christ's teaching (as has been seen at p. 126), is not His sacrifice but the simple Gospel, or message, Repent, and your sins are remitted. It may be asked for what purpose, then, did Christ submit to be crucified ? The answer is that it was for the same purpose for which He submitted to be born and to dwell on the earth for thirty- three years before His crucifixion. He assumed the form of man in order that He might be an example to men, and He came into the world to bring to it the direct message of God. But so perverted were the minds of men that they could not accept His gracious message in its true and simple sense. The people indeed received Him gladly, but it was in the belief that He was the Messiah Whom they expected to restore to them their earthly kingdom. Even His own chosen disciples could not divest themselves of this idea, for in their bitter disappointment they all forsook Him and fled ; and even after the crucifixion they mourned, because they had trusted that it had been He that should redeem Israel. 1 Therefore He was despised and rejected of men, and it was necessary, both as an example to men, and to make them at last understand His true spiritual teaching, 1 Luke xxiv. 21. L 146 SACRIFICE [CHAP, ix that He should die on the cross and be raised again. For this it behoved Him to suffer, this end was the sign and testimony of His Godhead, and the seal of God's infinite love ; this at last carried the truth of His Gospel into the hearts of His disciples ; and thus Christ's death was necessary to secure acceptance by mankind of that message of the free pardon of sins to those who repent. As it was then, so it is now. Men's hearts are still as hard and as unbelieving. We do not, it is true, look for an earthly Messiah to make us the greatest among nations, and to proclaim us the chosen people of God. Our age has different aspirations, yet they are equally hostile to the reception of God's grace. The world is too much with us ; we spend our days in trying to grow rich ; we set our hopes on gaining honour from men, or in the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, and God is little and seldom in our minds. Some among us sin deeply, almost all of us are callous and careless. But when in moments we are aroused from the torpor of indifference, the one thought that has power to pierce into our consciousness is that of Jesus on the cross, because of God's love to us. It is this by which the heathen are awakened, whether they dwell afar or in our midst. It is the CHAP. IX] THE TRUE ATONEMENT 147 one final, convincing, heart-rending evidence of the eternal things amidst which we stand, and of the eternity to which we are hastening. This then is what our Lord bade His disciples commemorate in recalling, under the symbols of bread and wine, that He laid down His human life for the purpose of restoring us to the life with Him. The bread symbolised His body, the wine His blood, though they could not possibly be His actual body and blood, which were still present ; but the disciples partaking of these were made conscious of His desire that they might be one with Him. This is the Atonement, in its literal and unperverted sense, and this may well satisfy every devout long- ing of our souls. But there is a wide diversity of mental craving and sentiment in different minds, and if there are many who find comfort in imagin- ing that there is an actual presence of our Lord in the outward symbols which He authorised, and in surrounding them with more or less distinct ad- juncts of reverence or even worship, it is not for any of their fellow-men to condemn them. The one thing which is common to all believers is that what we do is ' in remembrance of Me.' Only, in receiving into our souls the sign of inconceivable compassion, let us not pervert the i 2 148 SACRIFICE [CHAP, ix truth of God's love. We who are Protestants reject the display of the crucifix, the image of Christ nailed to the cross, because we deem it comes too close to the worshipping of gold or silver or wood. But let us ourselves beware of setting up for worship a mere idea, conceived in our own minds, and based on Jewish ritualism, that the death of Christ was a sacrifice offered to appease a relentless God. No wrath was on Calvary. A human life was yielded only as the proof of death- less love. ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do ! ' was the last entreaty of that love. That cry is for us too. Let us in spirit be present at that scene, let us look on the Holy One in the agony of human death, let us think that He suffered because He brought to us the message of pardon if only we would turn to Him, let us remember how deeply we need that pardon, and then we may be able to say, as one at least said, ' Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.' And then in an hour which must come to us all, and to some of us very soon, we may hear the blessed answer, ' To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise,' CHAPTER X MIEACLES THE meaning of miracle is simply a wonderful or surprising event, and surprising means unexpected. There is in the order of the world in which we live a certain uniformity, a regular sequence which is familiar to us, and which being regular we call laws. Such laws do not explain the cause of any action, they only express that the action in similar conditions always occurs. Thus we say that an apple or a stone or a feather falls to the ground, when unsupported, by the law of gravity, but we cannot tell what causes gravity ; we only know that the same action always happens. So we have laws of motion, laws of heat, light and electricity, laws of growth of plants and animals, laws of health, and, in short, everything that recurs with regularity is called subject to a law. Having observed this regularity to exist in the past, we expect it to continue in the future, and if a failure 150 MIRACLES [CHAP, x occurs in any instance we call it a breach of the law ; it surprises us because it is unexpected, and if we are of a scientific turn of mind we set to work to examine the conditions which have produced the unexpected result. Very often in science this has led to the discovery that what we had hitherto called a law was an inaccurate expression, or perhaps that it was accurate only under certain conditions but not under others ; and the further examination which we make corrects our first errors. But if the exception cannot be accounted for in any such way then we call it a miracle, an unexpected departure from what we still regard as a general course or law of nature. Now, the uniform occurrence of events ex- pressed in these 'laws of nature' is so marked, and the importance of it to all our concerns is so great and obvious, and at the present day has con- tributed so markedly to material progress, that the human mind has much difficulty in accepting evidence of any departure from it. Hence there have been in every age, as there are in the pre- sent, some minds which absolutely refuse to admit the possibility of a miracle, and which when confronted with evidence that one has really hap- pened declare that no evidence to that effect CHAP x] OBJECTION OF HUME 151 can be credible. This position was taken up a hundred and fifty years ago by the well-known philosopher David Hume, and the arguments he put forward have been substantially repeated by all disbelievers in miracles since. Although many volumes have been filled with assertions and counter-assertions on this topic, the question at issue may be very briefly set forth. Hume's first proposition is that ' belief in a wise man is proportioned to evidence.' This is an inaccurate expression, for belief does not admit of proportions, and all that we can say is that con- fidence in the truth of the evidence depends on its character. He then says conclusions founded on 'infallible experience give full assurance of the future being the same as the past.' Here, again, ' infallible,' which means that cannot err, is obviously an incorrect word, for if meant in that sense it is a mere begging of the question at issue. But if it signifies only ' uniform in the past ' it clearly can only form a ground for expectation in the future, and cannot form a proof of what has not yet occurred. Next he defines a miracle as a 'violation of the laws of nature,' and adds that 'as a firm and unalterable experience hath established these laws, the proof against a miracle 152 MIKACLES [CHAP, x from the very nature of the fact is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.' In this sentence there is again a mystifying use of words. ' Firm and unalterable experience ' seems intended to imply something more than ' uniform,' yet uniform is the utmost we can assert of any experience. But supposing evidence is brought of an event contrary to previous experience, it ceases to be uniform, and ceases therefore to be the ' entire proof ' against the event which Hume affirms it to be. What he really thus propounds comes to nothing more than that, when we have observed a uniform course of events, we are to refuse to believe any evidence whatever that the course has been departed from in a single instance. And when we have reached the point of an absolute rejection beforehand of all evidence of a fact, we have come to a stage in which bigotry takes the place of reason. But Hume was certainly not a bigot, and he was a man of very accurate and logical thought. When therefore he wraps up his argument in con- fusing and ill-chosen words, and conceals its drift by the use of general and popular phrases, one is apt to imagine that he was amusing himself at the expense of his readers, and especially of the clergy, whom he cordially hated. The supposition is CHAP, x] EVIDENCE DEMANDS INQUIEY 153 strengthened by the circumstance that he com- mences his Essay on Miracles with the statement that the line of reasoning in it was suggested to him by an argument of Bishop Tillotson against the ' Eeal Presence,' which he had lately read, and which he thought would be equally applicable to all alleged miracles. We may remember also the testimony of his friend Boyle, that at a moment of profound grief Hume had admitted to him that 'though he had thrown out his speculations to entertain the learned and metaphysical world, yet in other things he did not think so differently from the rest of the world as was imagined.' But it is at all events certain that neither logic nor true science ever rejects evidence without examination. One may even say that the more unusual and unexpected its purport the more care- fully they examine it. It is indeed quite true that the verdict which some men may arrive at on evidence may be very different from that adopted by others. Of this truth we have daily illustration in the disagreement of jurors. Moreover, the judgment of each person is liable to be affected, quite honestly, by his prepossessions. We must therefore expect that there shall always be a difference of opinion among men as to whether 154 MIRACLES [CHAP x any given fact, be it ordinary or extraordinary, is established by the evidence adduced. Now let us consider for a moment how greatly the judgment as to any act attributed to God must be influenced by the belief entertained as to the existence of a God. There are a certain number of persons, including a few scientific men, who absolutely disbelieve that God exists, and a larger number who affirm that there is no evidence sufficient to satisfy their minds on this subject, and that therefore they can neither affirm nor deny it. Such persons view the ' laws of nature' as being inherent in the existence of matter, and consequently permanent as long as matter exists ; and of spontaneous action, because matter must be of spontaneous origin. Under this conception a variation in action involving a dif- ferent course or sequence of events is what they call a violation of the laws of matter, and its occurrence is to their minds impossible. That such a violation of law should occur on the behest of a being in whose existence they refuse to believe is therefore an event which they declare to be wholly inconceivable ; and if anyone says it has occurred in his experience they refer it, if not to wilful falsehood, at least to delusion or gross CHAP, x] CONSISTENT WITH BELIEF 155 credulity. Besides these persons, however, there are others who, while not actually disbelieving in God, nevertheless consider that His acts are so entirely regulated by fixed laws or customs that it is out of the question to accept evidence that on any occasion He has departed from them. Argu- ment is of course unavailing with those who have thus prejudged the case. But the question wears a different aspect to those who already are convinced of the existence of God, with the attributes of unlimited power, wisdom, and goodness. It is by Him, they con- ceive, that the laws of matter are laid down, and the corresponding action fore-ordained. But if He is indeed omnipotent, it must be within His power to establish other laws, either permanently or temporarily. To deny this would be to make Him the subject of a destiny ; and destiny, not God, would be the true ruler of the universe. But if He is really and always omnipotent, then a single alteration or aberration in these laws at any moment must be equally within His competence as it is to establish them. Whether He shall make such an alteration is a question to be decided by His infinite wisdom, directed by His infinite love. If the occasion seems, to His wisdom to require it, 156 MIRACLES [CHAP, x and His love suggests that it may tend to the happiness of His creatures, we should expect that power to be exercised. Under these conditions its exercise becomes not merely possible, or even probable, but certain, for it is dictated by the laws of His own nature. Therefore if we are asked to consider whether a given miracle really occurred we may legitimately, and indeed we must neces- sarily, in the first instance, consider whether there would be adequate reason for God's so acting, before even entering on the inquiry whether there is evidence to convince us that He did so act. That there was sufficient reason of this nature for most of the miracles recorded in the Bible cannot be doubted if we consider their purpose. I say most, for as I do not uphold the literal inspiration of that Book, I regard every part of it as properly open to reverent critical examina- tion, and some parts to be incapable (as far as my limited judgment goes) of substantiation as a real Word of God. But the general story of the early days of the human race, and of the selection and direction of the descendants of Abraham in order to be the depositaries of special knowledge of God and His laws, are consistent with our fullest recognition of the attributes and methods of God ; CHAP, x] CONSISTENT WITH REASON 157 and as such they are accepted hi the belief of Christians as well as Jews. Next, the events nar- rated in the New Testament are, in the universal Christian faith, received as the manifestation of the infinite love of the Almighty to all His creatures. But human creatures are in their nature prone to reject the Divine teaching and guidance, prone to cast out of their minds even the idea of God, prone to set the pleasures and occupations of the world as of much higher interest to them than the prompt- ings of the Divine Spirit or the hopes of Divine favour. Therefore it is consistent with reason to expect that the Almighty should from time to time recall His majesty and His decrees to these careless or rebellious creatures by some striking manifestations of His authority and should give weight to the message sent by His human ministers by unquestionable evidence of their mission from him. Miracles wonders departures from the order of nature thus become the sanctions and the evidence of the Divine message to man, and, far from being breaches of God's law, they are the means ordained to support it. For the moral nature of man is far higher and more momentous than his physical, and therefore, to preserve and purify the higher, the lower may well be set aside on suitable occasions. 158 MIRACLES [CHAP, x Let us turn for the elucidation of this point to the general character of the miracles recorded in the Gospels. Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, God Himself assuming the temporary form and character of man, came on earth to warn the Jews of the errors into which their priests and lawyers had fallen, to proclaim the true nature of God and of His commandments, and to turn the hearts and understandings of men from sin to repentance, from death to life. How was such a mission to gain authority, against the authority and subverting the authority of the teachers of the people who claimed to be invested with the sanctity of Divine interpreters of the law ? Clearly by no human means. John the Baptist used only human persuasion ' he did no miracle ;' he undoubtedly baptised many, and warned them to flee from the wrath to come, but it does not appear that he achieved more than a momentary success of evanescent enthusiasm. Jesus Christ brought, however, further credentials. His first miracle was one of merely social goodwill the turning of water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana. This led His disciples to believe on Him, but they were then only a few individuals. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, then came to Him secretly and, acknowledging ] MIEACLES OF CHEIST 159 that His miracles proved that He came from God, sought instruction in His doctrine. To Nathanael also and to the woman of Samaria He proved His Divinity by telling them of circumstances in their lives which He could not have known by ordinary human means, and they then, and others through them, believed on Him. But though He taught among them, His teaching was evidently not generally efficacious ; for He said ' Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.' l His second public miracle was the healing of the son of a nobleman at Capernaum. Then followed a series of miracles of similar nature, the curing of sufferers from fever, from palsy, from leprosy, from lameness, and blindness, and deafness, from all manner of diseases, from possession by unclean spirits, and the bringing back of the dead to life. These testimonies to His omnipotent goodness satisfied the people of His Divine authority ; they came in crowds to hear Him, and large numbers accepted Him as the promised Christ. But their idea of the Christ was that He was to be merely an earthly deliverer of the nation from the Eoman sway, and when they found that this was not to be the result of the teaching of Jesus, they abandoned 1 John iv. 48, 160 MIRACLES [CHAP, x Him and shouted for His death. But to His im- mediate disciples He gave further personal proofs of His Divine nature. He calmed the tempests and stilled the waves, He appeared walking on the water, and taught them that faith in Him would be signalised by their being endowed with equal power ; and having thus reassured their feeble apprehensions, He gradually unfolded the great cardinal truth that, though He must be crucified, He would rise again. Yet even they could hardly understand that this could be, till after He visibly reappeared, on the way to Emmaus, on the sea shore, in their secret gatherings together, till He had bidden them touch* and feel Him, and the last doubter among them exclaimed, 'My Lord and my God.' Then the crowning miracle had effected the crowning work. A It needs only this brief review and summary of the miracles of Jesus to show that these departures from the ordinary laws of nature were necessary for the purpose of accrediting Him as the all- powerful Son of God. In order likewise to accredit His immediate messengers the power of working such miracles on special occasions was con- ferred on the apostles. And the evidence that all these narratives are true is as good as the CHAP, x] EVIDENCE OF GOSPELS 161 evidence for any other historical fact. Biblical critics have in these last days come to a general concurrence in the belief that the Gospels were written by the authors whose names they bear, and at no long period after the events which they narrate. Very many were then living who had seen some of the events, and on their teaching and testimony the sect of the Christians spread with unexampled rapidity over the whole civilised world. The idea of this being the result of falsehood and forgery is contrary to common-sense, and is especially untenable when we keep in view that the doctrine thus attested was one of absolute truth, purity, and disregard of every suggestion of earthly advantage and credit. It is inconceiv- able that such a number of persons could all be mistaken, equally inconceivable that guided by such motives they could be wilful deceivers. The evidence, therefore, judged by ordinary legal or historical principles, is overwhelming that the miracles really occurred. The objection that a breach of the laws of nature must be disastrous to the regular course and anticipation of events in the physical world is answered by the fact that the Gospel miracles were only special and occasional, and consequently had 162 MIEACLES [CHAP, x no bearing on the general sequence of natural laws. These violations effected God's purpose for the moment, just as the general rules effect His purpose in the general design of nature. If now it be asked whether miracles occur at the present day, the answer of most of us can only be that we cannot tell. God's message of the Gospels is now so widely spread and acknowledged that it needs not the repetition of such attestation. But many events occur in the physical and moral world at this day which we cannot explain by anything we know of natural laws. Many a per- son declared by physicians to be hopelessly ill of mortal disease has risen from the sick-bed and is among us now. Many an event takes place in which human foresight is baffled, and human arrange- ments are set at naught, and if we can trace these events in the first stage to natural causes, we are utterly lost in the attempt to trace what influence brought these natural causes into action at the precise moment when they took effect. But if we believe in God we may be content to be in His care, and if we believe that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father, we may accept His gracious words that we are in His sight of more value than CHAP. X] SPECIAL INTERVENTION 163 many sparrows. The line between His special intervention in the form of miracles and His general government of the world must be in many cases beyond our comprehension, but in the next chapter we shall see the grounds for believing that His guidance of us is not limited to the occasions on which He sees fit to apply His power in what we deem a miraculous way. M 2 CHAPTER XI PROVIDENCE THIS is a word often used by persons of a religious turn of mind when they wish to speak of God without using His name. If anyone suffers mis- fortunes, if he loses some who are dear to him, if he has pecuniary troubles, or falls ill, or meets with an accident, he is reminded that these events come from Providence. So, on the other hand, an escape from danger is called providential, and if the future is uncertain we are bidden to put our trust in Providence. There is nothing to be said against the sentiment, if it means referring all things to God ; but it is difficult to understand why we should be shamefaced in directly saying so. There seems to be some vague idea that Providence is a species of impersonal destiny, or at best a being who regulates the world in a distant and regardless way often inflicting punishment, though perhaps for our good ; sometimes bestow- CHAP, xi] PAGAN IDEA OF GOD 165 ing undeserved benefits ; but not touched with any feeling for our infirmities, not to be approached too closely, or to be expected to enter into any communion with our spirits. For though we are told that we receive blessings or penalties from Providence, I do not remember that we are ever told to pray to Providence or to walk with Provi- dence. This idea of the Deity seems, indeed, rather of a heathen than a Christian type. The pagan gods of old, and the gods of heathen nations now, pursue their own lives apart from those of men, visit, indeed, with their displeasure any neglect of their worship, protect sometimes their worshippers from danger or injury, grant favours in response to incantation, but exercise no constant care and take no continuous interest in the inhabitants of this earth. Their connection with mankind is therefore slight and casual, and only on special occasions do their votaries invoke their aid or propitiate their displeasure. This notion seems to answer pretty closely to the current modern idea of an overruling Providence. But is it that which we are taught by the Bible to entertain of God ? From the first page of that Book to the last we are told of God's intimate and constant personal 166 PKOVIDENCE [CHAP, xi interest in His creation, and in man as its sum and crown. He gives His commands to Adam, He reproves Cain, He counsels Noah, He makes His promises to Abraham and his seed, He directs Moses, He gives the Law on Sinai through the wanderings in the wilderness and the struggles with the Canaanites God is constantly present with His people, teaching and warning, encouraging and reproving, inspiring their prophets, selecting their kings, subduing their enemies, or giving them over into slavery in foreign lands. When we come to Christ, it is God Himself Who appears in human form, living the life of a man that He may redeem man to Himself. Throughout the long story it is not a Providence, it is God. It is this immediate and personal God, too, Who is addressed throughout the Psalms, and it is the constant attribution of every event to Him that gives to these old hymns their abiding joy and comfort to pious souls. ' Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is hi the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night,' is the commencement, and the strain is carried on to the end. It is to God that CHAP, xi] REFEEENCES IN PSALMS 167 the cry is raised when enemies compass round about ; it is He Who puts gladness into the heart of His servant ; He Who has made man a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honour ; He Who forgetteth not the cry of the humble, and delivereth the oppressed, and rewardeth them that fear Him. Listen to the song of gratitude in Ps. xxiii., of faith in Ps. Ixii. 5-8, of rejoicing in Ps. Ixv. 9, 13, to a cry for pity in Ps. Ixxxviii., or one of deep submission as the prayer of Moses, the man of God, in Ps. xc., or the song of solemn trust in Ps. xci. and ciii. But not only in the great things of life and death did David recognise the hand of the Lord. Bead Ps. civ., which declares how He laid the founda- tions of the heavens and the earth, clothed it with trees and herbs, and filled sea and land with living creatures : ' these all wait upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.' And for himself, in Ps. cxxxix., in every hour and moment David acknowledges the presence and the guidance of God. 'Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there ; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, 168 PROVIDENCE [CHAP, xi and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea ; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me .... the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.' ' How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, God ! how great is the sum of them ! ' ' Search me, God, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts : and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' Such was David's consciousness of the constant presence and guidance of God. That he forgot God at times we all know when he looked on Uriah's wife, and when in his pride he ordered the people to be numbered. But God did not forget him" even at these woeful moments. He sent sudden and sharp chastisement, and David ac- knowledged its justice and repented of his sins and obtained pardon, and some of his more trustful psalms were clearly written after his repentance. We also know how in spite of the gift of wisdom to Solomon he fell away into idolatry, how his de- scendants and successors led the people continu- ally astray, and how on them at last fell the doom of God's manifest displeasure in the leading away CHAP, xi] GRACE OF CHRIST 169 into captivity. We know, too, how after their purgation He brought them back, and how after their re-establishment, though they no longer sought after strange gods, they lapsed into the idolatry of false traditions and hypocritical sub- servience to the mere letter of the Law. And then at last we know how God Himself came down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ to rescue men. We know how He taught that in all things they should look to Him not only for eternal life, but for whatever things are needful in this life; how He sent forth His disciples, carrying neither money, nor scrip, nor staff; how He told them that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father seeing it, and that the very hairs of their head were numbered by Him ; how they need take no thought for their meat or their raiment, for He knew they had need of these things ; how He should be with them always, even unto the end of the world ; and how they had but to ask in His name and what they desired should be granted unto them in so far as it was truly for their good. In view of these examples and injunctions it is impossible to doubt that in all things, great as well as small, the Almighty exercises a direct and immediate government over men, and over all the 170 PROVIDENCE [CHAP, xi events of the world. He has expressly told us that nothing is either too vast or too minute for His attention and guidance. But it is difficult for human beings who cannot see Him to accept this truth, and two objections rise in their minds when they contemplate it. The first is that God's special direction of events would be inconsistent with His own decrees, since for very good reasons He has seen fit to establish general laws by which the course of nature is regulated. This fact must be fully admitted, and equally it must be admitted that, though deviation from these laws on special occasions, such as miracles, would not impair confidence in their validity, any frequent departure from them would have this effect. But still the question remains whether such laws may not be bent without being broken. We have in our own power, and it is a power we are constantly exercising, to make ar- rangements by which one natural law overcomes another. A stone is bound to fall by the law of gravity, yet we can at pleasure throw it up in the air. Iron is bound to sink in water, yet we can so arrange it that it floats, as a ship. The mercury in the barometer and thermometer tubes ought by CHAP, xi] BREACH OF LAW 171 the law of gravity to stand at zero, yet we can so adjust that very law that in the barometer it stands at about thirty inches in height, and we can so apply the laws of heat that in the thermometer it stands at any number of degrees the temperature may be above zero. In fact, the whole of our mechanical achievements are attained by our making the laws of gravity, and of motion, and of heat, and of electricity, and of every other principle, work in a way to defeat every other law, and at times themselves, and yet we do not break these laws, but fulfil them. Why, then, may not God do as much as men do, and equally without breaking any law of nature ? Let it be observed that all these results are attained by us solely by our power of moving a portion of matter from one place to another. This principle was long ago laid down by Bacon. When we form a tool we move matter, wood or iron or brass, so as to give it the desired shape. With the tool we till the ground, or, it may be, we form other and more complex tools, and at last construct machines, still only by the method of moving matter. When we desire to light a fire we bring combustible materials together, and we light a lucif er match by rubbing it, which is only a modifi- 172 PKOVIDENCE [CHAP. XI cation of the method of the primeval savage of getting fire by rapidly rubbing one stick against another, or by striking two flint stones together. When we would obtain electricity we arrange a wheel so that it may be driven with great rapidity opposite certain rods, which we have brought to the proper position. So in every department of life we attain the ends we seek by the process of moving matter into the position in which the laws of nature will of themselves (or rather, we should say, by God's direction) act in the manner we know they will, and by so acting will produce the effect which we desire to attain. Why may not God use the like means to achieve the results He desires ? He only needs to move matter, and His laws of themselves will do the rest. Our difficulty, however, is to imagine how He can move matter, since one of the ' laws of motion ' which Sir Isaac Newton laid down as the basis of mechanics is that matter cannot be moved unless force is applied. We interpret that to mean some human (or at least animal, or at the very least imponderable) force. But is God to be denied the possession of force ? If He is, He is clearly not almighty, and if not almighty, He does not exist. Power is essential to the idea of God. But power CHAP. XI] DIVINE POWEK OVER LAW 178 to move matter is all that is needed to permit Him, without breach of any law of matter, to achieve all the ends necessary for the direction of the world. And is not such power shown at every moment ? What causes the sap to rise in the trees, the bud to expand into leaf, the flower to bloom, the seed to be formed and to mature? What causes the vapour to rise from the ocean, to condense into clouds, to fall on the mountains as rain, to rush in rivers into the valleys ? Pursue nature through every operation and in all we find power effecting motion. If we are told that these work by laws, we have still to ask who makes the laws and who works them ? Even a human law does not exist till men declare it, and it is void unless men compel obedience to it. So each law of nature can only come into being by a Power above it, and can only operate by the Power that enforces it. The inevitable conclusion then is that the God Who established the laws of nature can without ' miracle ' cause them to operate at His pleasure by only bringing within their range the matter on which their operation is designed. So He can launch the winds in tempests or still them to gentle airs or calms ; so He can clear the firmament and pour down the sun's rays on the earth ; so He can 174 PROVIDENCE [CHAP, xi bring the showers or the monsoon rains, or divert them, as seems to Him good. So He can send sickness or healing without our knowing how. Therefore we may trust Him to give us health and succour and fruitful seasons, and fill us with plenty, or if He withholds His blessings we may ask Him to renew them. All that He does is for our good. If any work of His shall change our hearts and make us meet to receive further good, we may not doubt that He will do it. But besides the operations of God on nature by means of physical laws, we have to remember His operations through His Spirit on the minds of His creatures. He has endowed the lower animals with instincts, the effect of which is far beyond (in many cases) what our reason could reach to. Witness the migration of birds with unerring flight over thousands of miles of land and sea, witness the power of domestic animals to come back to their homes through long distances of country they had never seen before, witness their prevision of weather, witness the marvellous accuracy of construction of combs by bees and of webs by spiders, and countless other amazing actions car- ried on by every variety of creature. How can we explain these by the word ' instinct ' without CHAP, xi] INFLUENCE OF GOD'S SPIRIT 175 acknowledging Who gives and guides the instinct ? Then, when we consider man, we have to think of the prodigy of articulate speech, of grammatical construction of different languages ; of the inven- tion of symbols for sounds, leading to writing ; and other symbols for numbers, leading to arithmetic and mathematics. It is hard to think of these as all of spontaneous growth when we look at savages still extant in our day who are unconscious that they are even possible. But if we look within our- selves we must be aware that often and often there is a Spirit which speaks to our spirits, which suggests, reproves, or comforts or encourages or teaches. There must be such a Spirit if there be a God, and if He holds not aloof altogether from His creatures ; there are few indeed who do not at some time recognise His presence and guidance. But the influence of the Spirit on one of us may also affect many others. There is no man whose life does not touch almost at every moment some other life near him. His conduct, his proceedings, are not isolated, they inevitably act and react on the well-being, and even on the actions, of his fellows. If this is so with individuals in the humblest station, how much more is it the case with those who from position or ability have wider 176 PKOVIDENCE [CHAP, xi spheres. Every now and then the world recog- nises some one whose life has affected the fate of thousands, or even may turn the tide of the his- tory of nations ; or it may be some one whose mere thoughts give a fresh impulse to the career of men and women in generations yet to come. Thus does the Spirit of God, ever working on the spirit of every human being, produce results which we may not be able with our imperfect knowledge to trace back to Him, but which are yet assuredly brought to pass by Him. Therefore we need not have any question or hesitation respecting the duty and efficacy of prayer, provided only the prayer is for such things as God may see to be really for our good. This condition is obviously necessary, since our imperfect know- ledge may lead us sometimes to desire what is not for our good, and what therefore the perfect know- ledge of God will deny. The condition is implied in Christ's direction, ' Ask in My name,' l for to ask in the name of another is to ask what that other would desire to ask for us. So also it is said, ' If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he * Matt, xviii. 20 ; John xiv. 13, xv. 16, xvi. 23. CHAP, xi] EFFECT OF PEAYEE 177 for a fish give him a serpent ? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion ? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children : how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him ? ' l or ' give good things to them that ask Him ? ' 2 The limitation was illustrated by our Lord Him- self, when in His human weakness, in the agony of Gethsemane, He prayed, ' My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me : nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' 3 We know that the prayer was refused, and the cup was drained to the dregs. So may it be that sometimes our prayers, though forced from us as drops of blood, may be refused, if the Divine Father's purposes of deeper mercy, to ourselves or others, may require. Nevertheless we may also remember that often the mere act of prayer may enable the Divine purpose to be altered so as to grant our desires. For a prayer in true faith and yet devout sub- mission implies that the mind and soul are in such an attitude of communion with God, and recogni- tion of His infinite love, that in themselves they make it possible for Him to grant what in any 1 Luke xi. 11. 3 Matt. vii. 11. 3 Matt. xxvi. 39 ; Mark xiv. 36 ; Luke xxii. 42. N 178 PEOVIDENCE [CHAP, xi other mental condition would be hurtful to us. Adopting the parable of the earthly son and father, it may frequently happen that a wilful child ought to be punished or restrained, while if he becomes penitent, and asks forgiveness and favour, he may in judicious kindness receive both. In the act itself of prayer, the implied acknowledgment of God's power and mercy, and faith in His goodness, are the objects He desires to attain, and it may often be that they permit Him to grant a human desire. One thing we do know for certain that He will always grant, that is the gift 'of the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.' l But if we obey the injunction, ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,' then we are assured that our Heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of the things that concern the body, ' and all these things shall be added unto you.' 2 It need scarcely be said that whatever we ask of God must be also in conformity with His general laws, in so far as they are revealed to us, or as it may be in our power to apprehend them. We cannot possibly expect that He shall go against the laws which He has established for the good of His creatures. These we are here set to learn, and are 1 Luke xi. 13. 2 Matt. vi. 33. CHAP, xi] MUST ACCOBD WITH LAW 179 bound to obey, and therefore we must first strive our utmost to understand them and conform our conduct to them, before we can ask that He shall use His other laws so as to afford us what succour we may need. Thus we must follow as far as we know the laws of health, or of agriculture, or of mechanics, or of science, or of morals, and above all the great law of love, before we can hope that God will grant any prayer for His further help, whether it be for the cure of disease, or success in business, or victory in war, or any other object of our desire. The second objection to the idea of the direct government of God is that it would be inconsistent with the exercise of freedom of man's will. For who, it is said, can resist God, and how can man act of himself if God acts for or against him ? No doubt God could overpower our will, but what warrant is there for assuming that He does ? We are convinced by our own consciousness that we are free to act in one way or another, and God does not prevent such action even if it turns to evil, though He may afterwards bring it to nought. He allows us to take our own way, and its consequences. By His Spirit He strives to N 2 180 PKOVIDENCE [CHAP, xi guide us into the right way, but we know full well that we may resist and defy His Spirit. By His power He adjusts external nature to our needs, but we may use the gifts of nature wisely or fool- ishly as we will. This absolute freedom of action on our part is no whit interfered with by the action of God, either in striving to influence us, or in subsequently making us recognise that if we yielded to His impulses we have had His blessing, or that if we rejected them we brought evil on our heads. What He really does is to teach us through His Spirit, first by good impulses and by the lesson and example of Christ, and next by the conse- quences of our actions as the Holy Spirit at last reveals them to us. Even regarding mere worldly affairs we are constantly liable to blunder, for our knowledge is limited, our foresight imperfect, our sagacity often at fault. But is it not in the experience of every one that we have been many a time saved from grave mistake by some trivial incident, or turn in our thoughts, or new idea coming into our minds which has altered our intentions or prevented them from taking effect ? These things cannot be blind chance, they are the working of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. CHAP, xi] COMFORT OF GOD'S HELP 181 So we are brought to the conclusion that in all things in life, great and small, God is in com- munion with us. We may not be in communion with Him. That depends on ourselves, and if we are not we are rebels, as were the angels that fell. But if we seek to enter into that communion we may say with St. Paul, 1 ' If God be for us, who can be against us ? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things ? ' All things on earth as well as all things in heaven. For on earth He fed the hungry, He stilled the storm, He healed the sick, He raised the palsied, He made the blind to see and the deaf to hear, He brought the widow's son from the dead, He cast out the spirits of evil from the souls and bodies of men. He is here still, though He is also risen ; His power is as omnipotent, His love as infinite, and His word still abides, ' I will not leave you comfortless, I will come unto you.' Think what such assurances are to us. We are on earth, subject to all the incidents of mortal life, the thorns and briers that grow up so readily and constantly in the world, the fight with Nature that absorbs all our energies, and which has been 1 Bom. viii. 31, 32. 182 PROVIDENCE [CHAP, xi and is so incessant that it has grown into the scientific dogma, ' the survival of the fittest.' We are mortal, and that word tells us that we have but a brief span of existence, and that our lives are tried by maladies, and saddened by the fre- quent loss of those dearest to us. We are set amidst temptations of evil, and surrounded by the wicked, and mournfully conscious how powerful are our foes within and without, and how feeble our own powers of resistance. How can we hold up against all these adverse, depressing, potent influences ? We should have neither strength nor hope, but in the aid of God. But we do have that aid. If only we make our utmost effort to walk in His laws, to trust in His promises, to lift up our hearts in love to Him and in prayer for His bless- ing, we have the absolute certainty that at every moment, waking or sleeping, in health or sickness, in joy or sorrow, in abundance and in want, He is beside us, and His Spirit is within us. Beside us, to turn every suffering and grief to our good ; within us, to teach, to guide, to defend us, and through all chances and changes to restore us to that likeness to Him in which He created us. CHAPTER XII HEREAFTER WHITHER goes the soul of man when it leaves the body ? In the body it is bound by all the laws of matter, it is tied by gravity to the surface of the earth or dragged into the depths of the sea ; imagination may lead it into unknown freedom, but we know that this is but a dream, and it is rounded by death. Yet we are convinced that this world is not our souls' eternal prison, though on every demand to see its future abode and scope falls the baffling veil of darkness and silence. Yet through the gloom there shine steadily some guiding rays which, though they do not even outline the land, yet show there is land beyond the deep. Freedom from bondage to the body means release from all the restraints imposed on matter. The laws of gravity and of motion, the mathe- matical demonstrations and limitations of optics and electricity and chemistry will no longer hedge 184 HEREAFTEB [CHAP, xn in our actions and perceptions ; we may therefore believe that our spirits will know by intuition, and will range beyond the bounds of earthly sense. So much is inherent in the mere idea of freedom from the physical body. And if we know not the places where, at least we have been permitted to know something of the manner how. For that the disembodied spirit will yet retain in its appearance some resemblance to the body it had left we learn from the Eesurrection of Christ Himself. The disciples, when their eyes were opened, were able to recognise their Lord by His person and His voice, nay even by the wounds on His hands and feet and side ; nor only by sight, for He bade them handle Him and see, that He had still the semblance of the body, flesh and bones, 1 and He took food along with them, though afterwards the bodily semblance was seen to ascend into the sky. So also in the Transfiguration, the selected disciples were able to recognise the persons of Moses and Elias, no doubt from their conventional tradition. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus both of these individuals, and also Abraham, are spoken of as retaining a recognisable identity. In the forewarnings of the Judgment Day, good men and 1 Luke xxiv. ; John xx., xxi. CHAP, xii] PLACE UNKNOWN 185 wicked men come before the Judge, evidently in the forms which they wore on earth ; and in all the teaching by direct language or in parable on this subject the preservation of the separate identity of the souls is taken as a fact. That also the good and the evil shall be separated is made clear to us. Between them there is to be a great gulf, and none may pass it from either side. But where shall be the abode of either we are not told. Only that the wicked must 'depart from Me,' while the good are called to ' come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you,' the place which our Lord went before them to prepare for them. 1 Nor do we know clearly what shall be the nature of the life of either. The hades, or hell, which the wicked are cast into is described by our Lord as ' everlasting punishment,' which is con- trasted with the ' life eternal ' of the righteous, 2 and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when the doom has fallen. 3 That there shall be physical torment of fire has been supposed from some ex- pressions of casting them into a furnace of fire, 4 as 1 John xiv. 2. 2 Matt. xxv. 46. 3 Luke xiii. 28 ; Matt. xxiv. 51. 4 Matt, xiii. 42, 50 ; Mark ix. 43-49. 186 HEREAFTER [CHAP, xn well as of being ' tormented in this flame.' But these seem to be only suggested from prevalent Hebrew conceptions, based on the sensations of the nervous system of our bodies, in which the severest pain is that of burning, for this physical pain is scarcely conceivable in reference to a disembodied spirit. It might even be possible to gather from the imagery the idea of purifying fire, that shall in time burn up everything that offends, the refiner's fire of Malachi, 1 the baptism of fire of John the Baptist. 2 Setting aside these parables, the essential distinction between the fate of the good and the wicked remains that the former enter into life, and the latter depart into death. And as we have seen in Chapter VI. the essential thing of life is the sensible presence of God, and that of death is absence from Him. Of this latter fate the wicked reck lightly in the present world. The gratification of their selfish desires gluttony, drunkenness, ease, lust, vanity, ambition, hatred, malice, cruelty, in each accord- ing to his several idiosyncrasy is their present en- joyment, and they choose not to think of the future. But when the future becomes the present it will be different. None of these corporeal joys can pass the grave. In the resurrection there will be no 1 iii. 2. 2 Matt. iii. 11 ; Luke iii. 16, CHAP, xii] THE FINAL FATE 187 body to be pampered, no room for indulgences in evil desires. By so much as were these gratified in life, by so much will the impossibility of gratifi- cation for evermore be a torture. There is no deeper agony, says the poet of hell, than the re- membrance in misery of happiness gone. Yet to these evil minds there will be the yet sharper pang that they will see the bliss of the poor who lay at their gates, and they will learn that such bliss is never more for them. It is when they find the door is shut that the wailing and gnashing of teeth will begin. There is nothing to forbid the hope that pur- gation may yet in some long distant time work re- pentance. But neither is there ground to believe it. They had Moses and the prophets, they had Jesus and the Holy Ghost, yet they would persist in sin ; and even if we hope, we dare not persuade ourselves of any certainty that woe may at last bring remorse. We can but leave it in the hands of God. But let us turn now to those on whose ears will fall the joyful words, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.' ' It is the kingdom of God, and God will be their 1 Matt. xxv. 34. 188 HEREAFTER [CHAP, xn Father, as well as their king. To them also the new life will be that of the soul, not of the body : ' In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels.' l But all that is of holy likeness to God will then be fully gratified. There is every reason to suppose that the diversities of the human intellect and tastes in each individual will still survive, and be perfected. For these special aptitudes and tendencies were bestowed by the Creator, as part of that limited likeness to Him in which we were formed. So amongst us now one man or woman loves the great thoughts and fit words of literature, another the perfection of art in painting or sculpture or music, another the infinite varieties of beauty in nature, another the search after the laws of the material world, another philosophy, another reli- gious musing; not one of us all is the exact pattern of any other in tastes or capacities, yet every one has the gifts of God. It is impossible to doubt that all these diversities of ministration of the same Spirit will survive in the purified and exalted soul, and will reach to an infinitely higher stage of enjoyment. There is boundless room for each to develop more fully, and with reward more 1 Matt. xxii. 30. CHAP, xii] NO MORE TEMPTATION 189 ample than has been possible under the limitations of earth. For the weary there will be rest, and for the active work, but to every one something of the measure of the fulness of God. It is not idle speculation that raises such imaginations, it is recognition only of God's infinite goodness, and of that animating tendency which we can trace in all the directions of His work, that through every variety and every change He sees that all is very good. Then let us remember that throughout all the occupations in which the souls of the blessed may be employed, there will no more be place for the temptations of evil. For they will have passed through these in their stay on earth, and by the grace of God they will have overcome them. Re- sisting the devil he will have fled from them for ever. Of the angels some fell, for they had not before been tried ; of the redeemed none will ever fall, for they have been purified by trial and taught by experience. Where will be this realm of perfect happiness ? That is not told us. Nor need we care to know. Enough for us the assurance that it will be where Christ is, for what He will say is ' Come.' It will be where He bids us enter, because we too have 190 HEREAFTER [CHAP, xn in our sphere, lowly or high, fought on earth for Him. It will be where God is sensibly present, it may be not seen, but felt ; where the whole of space is flooded with a soft glow of Light, and the Light is the Love of God. ' And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the taber- nacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Him- self shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away.' l ' He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' 2 1 Rev. xxi. 3. 2 Ibid. xxii. 20. APPENDIX NOTE A. EVOLUTION THE study of the stages of creation has been pursued with peculiar interest during the last fifty years, owing to the revival by Darwin and his followers of the theory of evolution, generally known by his name. Although, as stated in the text, this theory is not opposed to any statement in Scripture, and is, in fact, perfectly consistent with the idea of the creative power of God, yet a certain number of biologists, of whom Haeckel may be taken as the leader, regard the idea of evolution of one species of plants or animals from another as if it formed decisive evidence against the existence of God. This point may therefore receive a few words of comment. The doctrine of Darwin, as stated by himself in his last writings, is that species have been gradually modified so as to become new species. ' This has been effected chiefly through the natural selection of numerous successive, slight, favourable varia- tions ; aided in an important manner by the inherited effects of the use and disuse of parts ; and in an unimportant manner that is, in relation to adaptive structures whether past or present by the direct action of external conditions, and by 192 APPENDIX [NOTE A variations which seem to us in our ignorance to arise spontaneously. It appears that I formerly under- rated the frequency and value of these forms of variation, as leading to permanent modifications of structure independently of natural selection.' l The doctrine in brief is that in every species certain variations are frequently arising, the causes of which Darwin admits we are ignorant of, and that such of these variations as are favourable to the vigour and health of the individual they affect give it an advantage over its fellows, and are per- petuated by heredity. Everyone must admit the truth, theoretical and practical, of this proposition. Given a useful variation, and an inherited modifica- tion follows. But what causes each variation ? Darwin admits that he cannot tell ; even Haeckel does not profess to tell. The believer in God answers that it is caused by God. The proof is that the idea of God explains the fact. It may also be observed that there have been still more recent observers, among whom de Vries, an eminent Dutch botanist, is notable, who have maintained that from time to time there occur varia- tions in plants which are not ' slight ' but very considerable, and which are capable of explain- ing much more rapid evolution of new species. But, slight or important, the interposition of God explains all. And, indeed, if we even confine our- selves to the effects of heredity without variation, it is impossible to see any explanation of the cause of the reproduction of an unchanged progeny ex- cept that God has so ordained a rule. For the mere existence of a rule is no explanation of its cause. There are, however, some curious facts in nature bearing on the extent to which variation 1 Origin of Species, Conclusion. NOTE A] EVOLUTION 193 is possible, which are as well recognisable by common persons interested in plants and animals as they can be by learned biologists. We can in both organisms, by selecting specimens which ex- hibit desirable modifications, and breeding from them under favourable conditions, establish them as permanent varieties. Thus, from the wild species of wheat and other grains, grasses, roots, and flowers and fruits, we have gradually evolved the kinds cultivated in our fields and gardens ; and in like manner we have bred the dog from a wolf- like progenitor, and the horse and ox and pig in all their varieties from wild animals of inferior utility. But it is remarkable that we can carry all these modifications up to a certain point, but no farther. We seem, after reaching that point, to meet with a blank wall which forbids one inch of further advance. We have no better or more prolific wheat or other grains now than our ancestors had a hundred years ago. We have been breeding the horse and the greyhound for speed under all the stimulus of competition, and with all the resources of wealth, for numberless generations ; yet those of the present day scarcely, if at all, beat the records of the eighteenth century. So with our cattle, our best modern specimens are no advance upon the best of a long-past age. What has been effected is only a general improvement ; there is a greater number of good quality now, but the choicest are no better than were the selected champions from which they are descended. Such are the facts. One cannot explain them on the theory of natural selection leading to new species, which would be a much wider departure than the unlimited improvement of old ; but one can easily enough understand them on the theory 194 APPENDIX [NOTE A of an overruling God. For if, say, we could breed oxen to the size of elephants, horses to the speed of an express train, greyhounds till hares would be caught in a few springs, and if we could make other 'improvements' all round, the whole con- ditions of existence in the world would be so altered that many species would become exter- minated, and we ourselves should become subjected to new laws of life to which the imagination fails to rise. Certainly the continuity of existence on which our ordered progress in civilisation depends would be wholly broken up. It is well, then, that fixed bounds have been set, beyond which our efforts at evolution fall feebly back. It is constantly argued by evolutionists that we must not judge from the results of a few centuries what could be effected in millions of years. That is quite true. But as little are they entitled to say that millions of years will effect something of which we see no trace in the thousands of years of which we have written and pictorial records. The occurrence or discovery of intermediate forms of extinct or living animals ' missing links,' as they are sometimes called is no logical proof that one species is descended from another, for such cases might equally occur by direct creation, if the circumstances rendered it suitable to Divine purpose. The common ground of truth which Darwinians and their opponents might agree to occupy seems to be this : 1. That varieties arise capable of per- petuation and of increase up to definite limits. 2. That there is no direct evidence of these limits being ever passed, though it is quite possible that in millions of years they might be passed. 3. That the occurrence of variations cannot be explained NOTE A] EVOLUTION 195 by any fact within our present knowledge, and therefore that believers in God may legitimately regard it as an act of creative power. It is not of course pretended that these ob- servations deal fully with the questions of evolution, but they present some considerations which may be worthy of reflection. NOTE B. CHALDEAN ACCOUNT OF CEEATION. THE view stated in the text is confirmed if we set against the Biblical narrative the history of Creation which has in recent years been discovered in the cuneiform inscriptions on the bricks or tiles of the libraries of Nineveh and Babylon (many of which are now in the British Museum), and which have been represented by some persons to have been the original authorities from which the writer of Genesis derived his story. The following description and translation of the earliest of these inscriptions is given in the most recent work of authority, ' The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Eecords of Assyria and Babylon,' by Dr. Pinches. 'Of the obverse of the first tablet very little,, unfortunately, remains, but what there is extant is of the highest interest. Luckily we have the beginning of this remarkable legend, which runs, according to the latest and best commentaries, as follows : When on high the heavens were unnamed, Beneath the earth bore not a name : The primeval ocean was their producer ; Mummu Tiamtu was she who begot the whole of them.. o 2 196 APPENDIX [NOTE B Their waters in one united themselves and The plains were not outlined, marshes were not to be seen. When none of the gods had come forth, They bore no name, the fates [had not been determined]. There were produced the gods [all of them ?] : Lahmu and Lahamu went forth [as the first ?] : The ages were great, [the times were long?]. Ansar and Kisar were produced [and grew up ?] ; Long grew the days, extended [was the time of their existence ?]. The god Anu .... Ansar, the god Anu .... ' Such is the tenor of the opening lines of the Babylonian story of the Creation, and the differences between the two accounts (of Babylon and Genesis) are striking enough. Before proceeding, however, to examine and compare them, a few words upon the Babylonian version may not be without value. ' First, we must note that the above introduction to the legend has been excellently explained and commented on by the Syrian writer, Damascius. The following is his explanation of the Babylonian teaching concerning the creation of the world : ' " But the Babylonians, like the rest of the Barbarians, pass over in silence the one principle of the universe, and they constitute two, Tauthe and Apason, making Apason the husband of Tauthe, and denominating her the mother of the gods. And from these proceeds an only-begotten son, Moumis, which I conceive is no other than the intelligible world proceeding from the two principles. From them also another progeny is derived, Dache and Dachos ; and again a third, Kissare and Assoros, from which last three others proceed, Anos and Illinos and Aos. And of Aos and Dauke is born NOTES] THE CKEATION 197 a son called Belos, who, they say, is the fabricator of the world, the ' Creator.' " ' Dr. Pinches then observes that after the lines above quoted there is a gap of nineteen lines in the narrative, and the next lines deciphered refer to a terrific combat among the gods, which he thus summarises. ' As will be gathered from the above, the whole story centres in the wish of the goddess of the powers of evil to get creation the production of all that is in the world into her own hands. In this she is aided by certain gods, over whom she sets one, Kiugu, her husband, as chief. In the preparations that she makes she exercises her creative powers to produce all kinds of dreadful monsters to help her against the gods whom she wishes to overthrow.' It is astonishing that anyone should have thought that this farrago of childish and incoherent nonsense could be the original from which was derived the narrative of Genesis, at once so simple and so majestic, and yet so true to all that we have since learned. But, along with the mythology which was afterwards invented in Greece, it serves to illustrate the width of the gulf that lies between fables of human imagination and the teaching of the Spirit of God. INDEX ABRAHAM, Selection of, 107, 156 Adam, type of mankind, 74 Sin of, not imputed, 81, 84 Advent of Christ, 108, 136 Advocate, The, 85 Ages, Stone, Bronze, and Iron, 51 Agnostics, 1, 154 Allegories, 23, 72, 105 Angels, Ministering, 78 Fall of, 181, 189 Animals, Commencement of life of, 44 Man's dominion over, 57 Instincts of, 62, 174 Man's duty to, 134 Apostles, 109, 161 see Disciples Article of Religion XVII., 66 Atmosphere, 37 Atoms, Size of, 6 Atonement, Nature of, 147 BABEL, Tower of, 106 Baptism a symbol, 144 Beauty in Creation, 12, 49 Belief, Hume's argument on, 151 in Christ essential, 111, 128 supported by miracles, 160 Bible an historical fact, 15 contains revelation, 21 Bible, Inspiration of, 22, 48, 156 Understanding of, 21-28 not teacher of physical truth, 25 Birds, Creation of, 45 Blood and Body of Christ, 142, 147 Bronze and iron, Use of, 53, 54 CALVARY, 146, 148 Chaldsean, 106 account of Creation, 195 Chalk, Formation of, 44 Chaos, 35 Children, sins of parents, 81 Christ, Divinity of, 111, 158, 169 Example of, 119, 145 a manifestation of God, 116 Purposes of Incarnation, 16, 118, 132, 166, 169 Teaching of, 120, 169 Atonement by, 147 Coal, Origin of, 43 Comforter, The, 84 Commandment, The great, 130 The second, 133 of Christ, 129 Communion, 147 with God, 181 Confession, see Westminster Corruption of mankind, 84, 105, 146 200 INDEX Creation, Two narratives of, 32 Goodness of, 48 Creeds, Errors of, 66, 81, 113, 137, 142 Crucifixion, Purpose of, 145 Lessons of, 113, 148 DARKNESS, Primeval, 35 Darwinian theory, 47, 191 David, Psalms of, 166 Sin of, 168 Death, penalty of sin, 87 Nature of, 91 Eescue from, 103 State after, 183 Devil, either without or within, 76,86 Disciples, Errors of, 23, 121, 137, 145 Doubts of, 113, 160 Dogmas not taught by Christ, 66, 81, 115, 137, 142 EDEN, Garden of, 75 Education by God, 29, 99, 180 Election, Doctrine of, 66 Electricity, Nature of, 5, 172 Ether, Evidence of, 4 Eucharist, 147 Evangelium, see Gospel Eve, Temptation of, 77 Evidence of God, 7 of Miracles, 151 Duty of examining, 21, 153 Evolution, not excluded by Genesis, 47 considered, 191 Example of Christ, 70, 119, 145 Teaching by, 73 Experience, effect of, 95, 100 FAITH in Christ, 111, 128 in prayer, 176 in God, 99, 166 Fall of man, 74 Fire, Invention of, 52, 58, 172 Firmament of heaven, 37 Flood, 105 Free will essential, 62 not overruled, 179, 183 GENESIS, account of Creation, 35 et seq. Inspiration of, 48 Geology, 42 Glory not a motive with God, 12 not to be sought, 130 God, Creation evidence of, 7 Attributes of, 8, 20, 30 universally recognised, 19 Eevelations of, 20 Free will of, 63, 179 Kingdom of, 123 Persons of, 115 Government of world, 99, 165, 182 Power of, over matter, 172 Goodness in Creation, 48 Gospel, Nature of, 121, 124 Authenticity of, 161 HAPPINESS, object of Creation, 11, 105 Eternal, 187 Heaven, Conditions of, 76, 104 Occupations in, 188 on earth, 124 Hell or Hades, 76, 185 Holiness, 69, 119, 136 Holy Spirit or Ghost, see Spirit Hume on miracles, 151 IDOLATRY, Penalty of, 82 Tendency to, 107, 119 of letter, 27, 148, 169 of symbols, 147 of tradition, 169 Image of God, Man in, 53 Inspiration of Genesis, 48 of Scripture, 27, 156 Instinct, Difference of, from reason, 62 exceeds reason, 174 INDEX 201 Intellect of man, 57, 175 affected by brain, 61 JEWS, Selection of, 107, 156 rejection of Christ, 145, 159 Ritual of, 137 Backslidings of, 168 Job, Parable of, 23, 73, 95 John the Baptist, 120, 144 did no miracle, 158 Jonah, 23, 73 Judas, 67 KINGDOM of God, 120, 123, 187 Knowledge of God, 60 of good and evil, 75, 77 LAKE-DWELLINGS, 52 Language, Invention of, 59, 175 Law, Jewish, 107, 138 superseded, 120, 143 Laws of nature, 3, 58, 149, 170 made by God, 173, 178 Breaches of, 161, 170 Life in plants and animals, 39 of the body, 89 of the spirit, 90 restoration of, 117,118, 124 Eternal, 104, 185 Tree of, 104 Light, Theories of, 4 First appearance of, 37 Love, attribute of God, 11, 68, 181 shown in Creation, 12, 49 in Incarnation, 110, 118, 146 in heaven, 190 towards men, 133 of man towards God, 68, 130 MAN, Creation of, 51 Intellect of, 57 Freedom of will, 62 Capacity of perfection, 69 Fall of, 74 Man, Redemption of, 124, 146 Matter, Nature of, 6 Laws of, see Laws Microscope, Revelations by, 10, 50 Miracles, Definition of, 151 Arguments against, 151 Purpose of, 108, 156, 160 Evidence for, 160 Modern, 162 Motion, Laws of, 2, 170 affects laws, 171 Mysteries, 62, 89, 100, 102, 182, 192 see Pain NATURE, Laws of, see Laws Man's power over, 58, 170 Nebulae, Nature of, 33 Necessity, Doctrine of, 63 God not subject to, 63, 143, 155, 172 OBEDIENCE, a condition of life, 74 Omnipotence of God, 8, 155, 172 Original sin, 81 PAIN, Mystery of, 13, 80, 181 Purpose of, 93, 95, 99 Paraclete, 85 Paradise, 74, 124, 127, 148 Paul, St., on end of world, 24 on freedom of will, 63 on predestination, 67 on original sin, 81 on sacrifice, 140 on temptation, 86 Perfection of Creation, 49 of Christ, 69. 120 Possibility of human, 69 Persons of Trinity, 115 Pharaoh, 67 Physical truths in Bible, 25 Prayer, 176 Predestination, 63, 66, 155 202 INDEX Priesthood, 138 Christian, 141 Prodigal son, Parable of, 125 Providence, 164 Punishment of sinners, 93, 100, 185 REASON, Nature of, 62 Applications of, 20, 156 Redemption, 144 Remission of sins, 125, 144 Repentance, Meaning of, 125 Conditions of, 128 Resurrection, 91, 184 Revelation threefold, 20 Rocks, formation and evidence, 42 SACRAMENTS symbolical, 147 Sacrifice, Theory of, 139 in Jewish ritual, 138 in Church creeds, 142 not found in Gospels, 126, 143 Satan, see Devil Scapegoat, 139 Science, Meaning of, 135 Evidence required by, 2, 7 Advances of, 58 Errors of, 21, 150 Sermon on the Mount, 129, 169 Sign refused, 77, 111 Sin, Nature of, 74 et seq. Modern types of, 146 Original or imputed, 81 Remission of, 125 against Holy Ghost, 112 Prevalence of, 105 Son of God and Man, 118 Sorrow a teacher, 93, 99 Spectrum analysis, 33 Spirit, Holy, Revelation by, 28 Grant of, 178 Spirit, Guidance of, 180 Aid of, 84, 104, 175, 180 182 Holy, a manifestation of God, 114, 116 operation of, 174 Spirit of Man, 56, 119, 184 Stars, Distance of, 9 first seen, 34, 41 Sun first seen, 41 Magnitude of, 9 Survival of fittest, 182 Symbols, 147 TEMPTATION of Adam, 76 of Christ, 77 of Man, 84, 131, 182, 189 Theologians, Theories of, 66, 81, 115, 137, 140 Transfiguration, 112, 184 Trinity, Doctrine of, 110 Nature of, 115 UNION with God, 76, 181 in Christ, 115 Unitarian view, 110 VEGETABLE life, 39 Virgin, Worship of, 119 Vivisection sinful, 80, 135 Volcanic action, 42 WASHING disciples' feet, 71 Water, Formation of, 34 separated from land, 38 Westminster Confession, 66 Will, see Free will Wisdom of God, 10, 100 in Man, 57 Works, Revelation by, 20 Worship, Jewish, 138 Ornate, 147 Writing, Invention of, 59, 175, Spottintoodt & Co, Ltd., Printer!, New-ttreet Square, London. Early in 1906 will be published, THE TEACHING OF THE LORD COLLECTED ACCORDING TO ITS SUBJECTS under the following Leading Heads : HIS DIVINE NATUEE. THE PURPOSE OP HIS COMING. THE GOSPEL HE PREACHED. HIS COMMANDMENTS. HIS MIRACLES. THE REJECTION OF THE JEWISH NATION. THE LAST JUDGMENT. THE CALL OF APOSTLES. THE CRUCIFIXION. THE RESURRECTION. APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE OMITTED NARRATIVE PASSAGES. The above are subdivided into suitable Sections, but without any Commentary. In this work there are given, not merely the words uttered by our Lord, but so much of the context as is necessary to show the occasion of their being spoken and their intention. The Authorised Version is used, but with notes of any im- portant differences found in the Revised Version. A copious Table of References and a full Index are added. It is believed that this arrangement, comprising the whole of the Four Gospels, and bringing into one view all that is set forth on each subject, will prove of material assistance to all who desire to study the exact character of our Lord's teaching.