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TEN GREAT RELIGIONS :
AN ESSAY IN COMPAEATIVE THEOLO&Y.
pp. x, 528. 1 vol. 8vo.
Bevelled boards $3.00.

*.* Sent, post-paid, oil reecipt of price by the Pub-
lisjters, JAMES R. OS&OOD & CO., Boston.

COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION:

A SERIES OP

E S SAY S.

JAMES FEEEMA1ST CLAEKE.

BOSTON:
JAMES E. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
Lais Ticknor & Fields, ass Fields, Osgood, & Co.
18 7.4.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873,
BY JAMES B. OSGOOD & CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

University Press : Welch, Bigelow, & Co.,
Cambridge.

PREFACE.

The aim of this volume is not to give definite
theological results, but to suggest a method of in
quiry. By common-sense we mean the mode of
judgment derived from experience of this world;
that is, of God's methods in nature and in human
life. A man of common-sense is a man whose in
tellect is trained by observation of human nature
and the course of events. This rule of judgment
is derived from observation of the working of God's
laws in this world. This method was continually
used- by Jesus ; why should it not be applied more
fully by his followers in their studies of religious
truth?

CONTENTS.

— 4  Page
I. Common-Sense and Mystery .... 7
II. Common-Sense View op Human Natuee . . 29
III. On the Doctrine concerning God ... 61
IV. The Bible and Inspiration .... 83
V. The true Meaning op Evangelical Christianity 107
VI. The Truth about Sin  123
VII. Common-Sense and Scripture Views op Heaven
and Hell  141
VIII. Satan, according to Common-Sense and the Bible 169
IX. Concerning the Future Lipe .... 189
X. The Nature op our Condition hereapter . 213
XI. Common-Sense View op the Christian Church . 239
XII. Five Kinds op Piety  271
XIII. Jesus a Mediator  .' . 289
XIV. The Expectations and Disappointments op Jesus 311
XV. Common-Sense View op Salvation by Faith . 329
XVI. On not being apraid  351
XVII. Hope  371
XVIII. The Patience op Hope  391
XIX. Love  407
XX. The Brotherhood op Man .... 425

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY.

I.
COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY.
In this volume I propose to look at questions of
religious truth and religious culture from the point
of view of common-sense. I do not undervalue
other tests in applying this. What does Scripture
say ? What does the church say ? What does ab
stract reason say ? — these questions are all legiti
mate. But it may also be well to supplement these
with another method of investigation, taken from
the common analogies of earthly life. Jesus thanked
God that some things, hidden from the wise and
prudent, had been revealed to babes. He chose for
his disciples, not theologians like Nicodemus or
Gamaliel, not men learned in the Scriptures like the
scribes, doctors, and lawyers, but men who had only
this faculty of common-sense, by which to accept
and apply truth. We may thence infer that he did
not disapprove of a common-sense view of religion.
Perhaps, however, it may be necessary to indicate
a little more plainly what we mean by common-sense
in this relation. l

10 COMMON-SENSE IN EELIGION.
Common-sense is not a special power of the human
mind, but a method of judgment derived from ex
perience. It consists of those habits of thinking
which have resulted from life, and have been veri
fied by life.
Nor by common-sense do I mean the uneducated
or miseducated heathen judgment, but the educated
Christian judgment. We did not bring into the
world our common-sense ; we have acquired it here.
Common-sense differs in different countries, times,
nations, religions, civilizations. The common-sense
of a Feejee-Islander teaches him that it is right and
natural to eat men and women, a course of action
which is revolting to our common-sense. The com
mon-sense of the Middle Ages taught that it was
wise and right to burn heretics and witches alive,
which our common-sense abhors. What we think
a natural and instinctive judgment is often an edu
cated judgment, — the result of opinions which fill
the air, which we imbibe in childhood, which saturate
literature, which are the commonplaces of conver
sation, and the staples of public opinion. Our com
mon-sense in America tells us that all the people
should vote on great public questions, and elect their
own rulers ; but two or three hundred years ago the
common-sense of Europe affirmed the divine right of

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 11
kings to govern, and the duty of subjects to submit
and obey.
When, therefore, I speak of common-sense in
theology, I mean that part of Christian truth which
has been taken up into the average mind of Christen
dom. I mean those ideas of right and wrong, of God's
character and man's duty, into which, by slow and
various processes, the Christian world has at last
been educated. I mean those great underlying prin
ciples of truth which pervade the New Testament,
giving it its vital power. When we appeal to this
tribunal, we are appealing from the letter of Chris
tianity to its spirit, and from traditional notions to
living and working principles and ideas.
Perhaps I may be found fault with for the title
given to this book, and it may be said that I ought
not to speak of a common-sense view of religion, but
rather of a Scripture view or a Christian view. This
objection must assume that a Scripture view or a
Christian view cannot be a common-sense view.
But that I deny. My object is to show that the
doctrines taught by Christ and his Apostles are ex
actly in accordance with common-sense ; and if any
views are taught by any persons which' are not in
accordance with common-sense, such views are also
opposed to the teaching of Christ.

12 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
In. this sense, the New Testament is full of com
mon-sense, especially in the Gospels and the teach
ings of Jesus. Jesus makes all his teaching clear,
and fortifies his statements by illustrations drawn
from the common life of man. What are the
parables but a continual application to the high
est truths of the homeliest illustrations? Homely
no longer to our minds, perhaps, because glorified
by such hallowed associations; _but, when first spoken,
how familiar they must have seemed ! The dough
standing to rise in the bread-trough illustrated the
silent working of truth in society ; the seeds falling
on different kinds of soil, the degrees of receptivity
of the human soul; the bird, falling dead from the
air, the perpetual, universal providence of God ; the
parent, giving bread to his children at their meals,
the influence of the Holy Spirit ; the lightning, seen
all round the sky at once, the coming of a universal
religion : — by such illustrations Jesus perpetually
appealed to the common-sense of his hearers in sup
port of his teaching. He also appealed, sometimes,
to their Scriptures, and occasionally he met reasoning
by reasoning. But most frequently he taught by this
reference to" common life, so recognizing the analogy
between God's laws in nature, in society, and in the
soul.

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 13

The Christian Church has usually preferred the
authority of Scripture to that of common-sense ; and
would perhaps regard it as below its dignity to follow
its Master on this too familiar path. But it may
be permitted sometimes to lay aside our scholastic
habits, and appeal in religion to the daily business
of mankind. This is what we shall attempt here.
We do not claim infalhbility for the judgments of
common-sense, more than for those of theology in
any other form. But they have this advantage, at
least, that they embody the general judgment of
mankind ; they tell us, not what any individual
thinks, but what the human race thinks. Every
private judgment is partial, more or less one-sided ;
but, put together the common opinions of educated
men, and these partial views neutralize each other, —
the plus and minus quantities cancel each other, and
the resultant opinion is the commons ense of all.
If you could ascertain the real experience of
twenty thinking persons upon any question, there,
would be more common-sense in it than in the opin^
ion of any one of them. But if you could obtain the
view of a hundred or a thousand, it would approach
still more nearly to the standard of common-sense.
The judgments of common-sense, when once ob
tained, are irrevocable. It is the great court of final

14 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
appeal in human affairs. It moves slowly, but surely,
taking no step backward. The inspirations of genius
soar higher and go deeper ; they reveal to us a glory,
a beauty, a truth, which common-sense can never at
tain to. But they also sometimes dazzle, confuse,
mislead ; and common-sense can often decide on the
truth and falsehood of what it could never originate.
Thus, common-sense could never have produced
either the plays of Shakespeare or the comments
of the critics upon them ; but it is quite able to
enjoy one and ignore the other. It could not have
written Hamlet nor Sir John Oldcastle ; but it can
decide which is Shakespeare's and which not. By
some process of its own it distinguishes between
truth and falsehood, right and wrong, good and evil
Error may endure for a night, but common-sense
cometh in the morning and sends it away. All sorts
of follies may be fashionable for a while ; but com
mon-sense arrives at last with its plain judgment,
and they come to an end. 'So, if we could only
obtain at once the full verdict of the common-sense
of all men on any subject, we should have a very
sufficient tribunal. But here lies the difficulty : how
are we to get it ? One way, and a sure one, is to
wait — until the world has made up its mind. But,
as the world is often very slow in making up its

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 15
mind, and sometimes allows generation after gener
ation to die in its error before it finally rejects and
condemns the error, we cannot afford to wait.
There is a second method. Democracy, which is
based on faith in common-sense, puts everything to
the vote, and accepts the judgment of the majority as
that of public opinion. And it is so, in the long run ;
but the majority is often influenced for the time
by prejudice, passion, and interest. The majority is
often ignorant, and does not care to be enlightened ;
then it does not represent public opinion, for it does
not represent any opinion. What is the opinion of the
voting majority in New York on public measures ?
They have none, — they merely vote as they are
directed by their leaders. Before the vote of the
majority becomes the expression of public opinion,
and so of common-sense, it has to be enlightened;
and that, again, is a long process.
A shorter way to get at the judgment of common-
sense is to obtain the views of those men in whom
it is most fully embodied. Some men seem incar
nations of the common-sense of the human race,*
and hence their perpetual popularity. The Fables
of iEsop, the Proverbs of Solomon, are the sense of
mankind crystalhzed into gems which shall forever
* Dr. Franklin, for example.

16 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
sparkle on the forefinger of old Time. We can take
such judgments and apply them to present affairs.
We can test the controverted questions of to-day by
the analogy of other questions which common-sense
has already decided. These precedents constitute the
common law .of mankind. We try what is before
us by the analogy of experience, which thus obtains
(as Milton says) a certain prophetic quality.
Theology has hitherto been held to be outside of
this jurisdiction. Theology has been supposed to be
a special study, like the higher mathematics, of
which the results are to be accepted on the authority
of theologians, — just as we accept the conclusions
of Laplace, though we cannot understand his pro
cesses. Theology has been regarded as a sealed book :
the ignorant man must not have an opinion about it,
because he is ignorant; the learned man, because it is
sealed. However, all this is passing by. Everything
to-day is open for examination. Let examination be
careful, conscientious, reverential, and no opinions
are too sacred to be examined. Truth gains always by
such investigation. It is much better for it to rest on
conviction than assent. It will not do now to say,
" These are mysteries too sacred for examination."
What is a conviction worth which cannot be tested ?
I think religious people often treat their beliefs as

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 17
Don Quixote treated his armor. He first tried it by
a good heavy blow of- his sword, delivered with his
whole strength against his helmet ; this blow cut the
visor off, and undid in a moment the work of a week.
So he mended it, and made it stronger ; but conclud
ed not to try it again, but to let it pass for a good,
strong helmet without further experiment. So it is
with the creeds ; people debate them for a while, and
then conclude not to try them any more, but to take
for granted that they are sound and strong.
I do not know of any opinion so sacred as truth.
There is no belief which is too holy to be examined
Let it be examined in a serious and earnest spirit, —
but let everything be tested.
But are there not mysteries, it is asked, in religion,
which must be believed, though they cannot be under
stood ?
Let us look at this question.
Certainly common-sense tells us that the world is
full of mystery.
If we could go out into space, outside the earth's at
mosphere, — say a million of miles, — we should find
ourselves surrounded by an abyss of darkness ; night
above, below, around; night everywhere, with its
myriad stars. "The sun is on one side, burning, an
intense globe of light, — too intense to look at, — but

18 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
no blue sky, no reflected light, no gradations of sun
rise and sunset, of half-seen objects. Nothing is any
where but the brightest light and the blackest dark
ness. Such would our Hfe be without mystery.
Mystery is the twilight of the intellect ; the step out
of darkness into Hght ; the half-way house between
total ignorance and distinct knowledge. It is what
we know in part, what we half see, what we see in a
glass, darkly. It is not Hght ; but, Hke John the
Baptist, it is sent to bear witness of the light. It
draws our attention from the things which are seen
to those which are not seen. It awakens wonder and
awe, then curiosity, next inquiry, and so promotes
progress. It does not shut the door of thought, but
opens it. It does not forbid investigation/but stimu
lates the mind to inquire.
Take, for example, the mysteries of astronomy.
When man first looked at the sun and stars, aU was
mystery. Their size, their distances, their paths, their
substance; it was aU wonderful, and aU obscure.
The wonder excited his mind ; curiosity prompted to
inquiry. By degrees he learned to know the subhme
laws by which planets move along their vast orbits ;
he learned to measure their motion and calculate their
return. He watched the distant comet journeying to
ward the sun, coming from outer darkness into the

COMMON-SENS.E AND MYSTERY. 19
very edge of the solar furnace, and then whirHng away
again into the cold, void abyss of space. He discov
ered the far-off planet, — too far to be visible to the
eye; discovered it by its influence trembHng along
the orbits of the other planets nearer the sun, as
you detect the approach of a stranger by the changing
expression of your friend's face as you talk with him.
He learned to analyze the ray of Hght, coming from
the farthest star, and teU what elemental substances
are burning there in the fury of that remote flame.
So knowledge advances and mystery retires. But as
one mystery is explained another mystery appears be
hind it, to prompt to new inquiry. The universe has
not become less an object of awe and wonder because
of the progress of science, but more so. First we had
wonder alone ; then the wonder produced inquiry ;
inquiry resulted in knowledge ; and knowledge ex
cites to greater wonder than before.
And have not the results of the study of geology
been the same ? Formerly, the earth was supposed
to be only six thousand years old, and to have been
made in six days. But the mysterious fossil remains
and the symmetrical rock strata excited curiosity, led
to inquiry, and inquiry to discovery. We see that
the earth has passed through a long succession of
changes, — has been a mass of liquid fire, of rolHng

20 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
waters, of continents covered with ice ; has been
peopled by various strange animals and curious
plants'; has had its successive faunas and floras.
The six thousand years have expanded into minions ;
the six days of creation have turned into mighty
geologic epochs. And what has been the result ?
Has awe disappeared, has it become less wonderful,
because of this enlarged knowledge ? No ; but far
more so. Over this vast creation, stretching through
a myriad of years, the morning stars stiU sing to
gether, and the sons of God still shout for joy.
Before, we stood by the side of a Httle pond, and
caUed it God's universe ; now, we sail day after day,
over this vast sea of knowledge, but find God's
majesty and power and love still expanding around
us, on every side, into a limitless ocean.
And so, too, the profounder mysteries of our human
Hfe arouse the mind, awaken it to an undying ac
tivity, make us look in, look up and around. The
great mystery of evil, insoluble though it be, is a
door not whoUy shut against us, but left a little way
open. We ever see good dawning out of evil, evil
changing into good, — man going through earthly
sorrow into heavenly joy. Thus, we cannot under
stand why God should permit such horrors as those
of the Chicago fire, and the conflagration of woods,

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 21
prairies, farms, villages, causing so many families to
be driven helpless from their homes. It is a mystery.
But we find, coming out of this darkness, some rays
of Hght. We see the whole nation roused to sym
pathy and generosity ; the sufferers showing the
noblest courage, patience, faith. Before the fire, the
people of Chicago and the people of the Union
were not in as high a state of soul as they were
after it. So earthly sorrow turns to heavenly joy;
as black decaying soil is changed, by the chemistry
of nature, into the tender beauty and fragrance of
violets and roses.
Deeper than the mystery of pain and sorrow is
that of sin.. It is the great horror of Hfe, the fatal
discord in our world. Man, the highest of all our
creation, alone of this creation is capable of sin.
The obedient horse and faithful dog cannot sin.
They obey always the laws of their being. Man
alone, gifted with freedom, is free to do wrong as
well as right. Made a Httle lower than the angels,
he can descend much lower than the brutes. But
even this mystery is partially resolved* by Chris
tianity. Where sin abounds, grace yet more abounds.
It is through our sins that we find our way to come
most closely to God. No one feels the love of God
so much as does the pardoned sinner. As the

22 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
alchemy of nature changes death and decay into Hfe
and beauty, so the alchemy of Christianity changes
sin into repentance and faith. It creates a more
profound humihty and a more entire trust than any
thing else can do. Thus, even here, we see that
mystery leads to the most profound knowledge, —
to the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
AH the mysteries spoken of in the New Testa
ment are of this kind. They are secrets, hidden
from the foundation of the world, but now partially
revealed. They are not sent us to prevent inquiry,
but to rouse thought and quicken faith. The chief
of these mysteries, to the Jews, was the fact that
the Gentiles were allowed to be Christians. To a
regular, old-fashioned, conservative Jew, who hated
any newfangled notions, it was a great mystery that
Seneca or Plato should be allowed to beHeve in God
and be saved. It shocked all his preconceived
notions. So, Hkewise, the resurrection of the dead,
in its Christian form, was a mystery. "Behold, I
show you a mystery," says Paul ; " this corruptible
must put on incorruption ; this mortal must put on
immortaHty." At death, we do not go down into
Hades, but up to God and his angels; that was a
mystery revealed, and so taken out of the category of
-mystery, by revelation.

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 23
Ah, that great mystery of death ! How silent have
aU the deaf voices become, which lately were music
in our ears ! Where have those loved ones gone ?
What are they doing ? the fathers and mothers ;
the wives and husbands ; the sweet children ; the
noble friends, who, a little while ago, told us all that
was in their hearts. How deep is the voiceless hush
of that world ! Why cannot we talk with them
across this abyss ? Why may not we hear one word
to tell us that they love us stiU ? Between us and
them there is a great gulf fixed. There are those
who beHeve that spirit voices are heard across it, and
I am glad if they get any comfort out of that belief;
but these voices do not sound to me much like the
voices we used to hear, nor do they tell us a great
deal Their tones are rather unnatural. Only one
voice, hitherto, has retained its old tone : the one that
said " Mary," in that early twiHght ; the one that
said " Peace be unto you," in that evening meeting ;
the one that said "Come and dine," on the lake
shore of GaHlee. But that voice has thrown light
into the darkness, and has told us of the many man
sions in the house of God, assuring us of a world
beyond this world, as good at least as this, as rich in
beauty, in action, in thought, and in love.
The error of theologians is to suppose that we ever

24 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
can or ought to believe the mysterious part of any
thing in nature or revelation. The mysterious part
is the very part wliich we do not yet beHeve. Let
me illustrate this.
I am told, let us suppose, to beHeve the doctrine
of the Trinity, or that there are three persons in one
God. I ask to have the proposition explained. What
is meant by " person " ? Am I to understand the
term in its usual sense as apphed to men ? Are the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinct from each
other as Peter, James, and John ? The answer is,
" Certainly not ; for this would be tritheism. It
would be equivalent to a beHef in thr6e deities, only
moraUy united." Do you then mean by person
only manifestation or personification of the Divine
attributes ? " Certainly not ; for this would be only
the heresy of SabelHus." What then do you mean ?
" We cannot tell. It is a mystery." But to this I
rejoin that I am unable to beHeve any proposition
the terms of which are unintelligible. You might as
well put, in the place of "person," a Sanskrit or
Chinese word, if you are unable to give to it any
definite meaning.
" But you beHeve many things you do not under
stand. You believe that the grass grows, and you
do not understand how it grows." True ; and there-

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 25

fore I do not believe anything about the "how."
I understand the proposition, "The grass grows,"
and I believe it. I do not understand how it grows,
and I do not beHeve anything about it. Where the
mystery begins the beHef ends.
So as to the union of. soul and body. That also is
a profound mystery. That the soul and body are
united is a plain and intelligible proposition ; and we
all beHeve it. How they are united is a mystery;
and we believe nothing about it. Where the mystery
begins the belief ends.
When, therefore, theology offers us as a mystery
some unintelligible or contradictory doctrine of its
own manufacture, and tells us that these are awful
mysteries, and to be accepted as such in spite of all
that reason can say against them, we reply, — com
mon-sense replies, — they are not mysteries, they are
absurdities. They are not above reason, they are
against reason. The mysteries of nature and provi
dence are dawnings of Hght into darkness. Bevela-
tion, too, must be the unveiling of mystery, the
revealing of old secrets, not the manufacture of new
ones. Bevelation, so far as it is revelation, is the
doing away of mystery. A revealed truth can never
be the same as a concealed mystery. The part which
is not yet revealed is the mysterious part, and to that
2

26 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
part faith does not apply. We have faith in the
revelation, not in the mystery. It is, therefore, per
fectly true, that where mystery begins revelation and
faith in revelation must end. There is mystery in
religion, as there is mystery everywhere else. But
God 'never says to man, "This is a mystery; you
must accept it bHndly, however absurd and false it
may seem."
No. But he says, " My child, I do not shut you
into a world where everything is perfectly intelligible,
where all is on a level with your inteUect. Bather, I
let you have gHmpses of the great beyond. I open
to you the portals of far-reaching wonders. I admit
you to see the beginnings of majestic laws, which
you can partially know, but can never fuUy compre
hend here, whose solution Hes further on. I send
these visions of superhuman truth, of supernal
beauty, that, even in this world, you may walk over
shadowed by a higher and diviner world, and so learn
that you belong to both. These mysteries come, not
to enslave your reason, but to enlarge and emanci
pate it."
So, even in this world, our coming immortahty
" broods over us, like the day," and makes our " noisy
years seem moments in the being of the eternal
silence," We see that we belong to two worlds, —

COMMON-SENSE AND MYSTERY. 27
that of time which we can understand, and that of
eternity which we know, though we can never com
prehend it.
The mysteries of theology are usuaUy very poor
things, very mean and smaU matters. But God's
mysteries are grand and noble. They Hft the soul to
conceptions of something higher than this world can
give. They open the golden gates of the great here
after ; they give us gHmpses of the streets of the
Eternal City of God, the New Jerusalem, wherein all
the beauty and love of this Hfe shaU be transfigured
into something higher.
" Upon the frontier of this shadowy land
We, pilgrims of eternal sorrow, stand :
What realm lies forward, with its happier store
Of forests green and deep,
Of valleys hushed in sleep,
And lakes most peaceful ? 'T is the Land of Evermore ! "

II.
COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE.

II.

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN
NATURE.
Spiritualism and MateriaHsm are the two poles of
human thought ; and sometimes we begin at one pole,
sometimes at the other. Spirit and matter may
perhaps be considered as the two manifestations of
some one substance, the basis of both. But, at all
events, it is as foohsh to deny soul in the interest of
matter, as to deny matter in the interest of soul. The
tendency of thought, at present, is to try to infer
soul from body ; to deduce knowledge, love, and faith
from transformed bodily sensations. This tendency
results in a defective psychology, and leads those who
are possessed by it to confound distinctions, and thus
ends in mental confusion. That there may be a
substance underlying both body and soul is not un
likely. But to try to infer thought from sensation
leads to a waste of time, paper, and printer's-ink,
with only small results.
What do we know of matter ? Only this, that it is
that something which is perceived through the senses.

32 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
What do we know of mind ? Only this, that it is
that something which is not perceived through the
senses, but through consciousness. Whatever else
we may know, or not know, concerning mind and
matter, we know at least this, that they are different
in this respect. What we perceive through the senses
is matter ; what we perceive by means of conscious
ness is mind.
The tendency to identify mind with matter is likely
to be temporary, and does not belong to true science.
Science observes all facts, mental no less than physi
cal. And as thought, love, faith are facts just as
real and certain as color, weight, and form, science
cannot afford to ignore either, or to merge one in
the other.
Of these two orders of phenomena, certainly the
thought-side of man is the most important. This is
what chiefly distinguishes man from other animals ;
this constitutes the humanity in him. Through the
body he stands related to other animals ; but by cer
tain phenomena of mind he stands apart from them,
and walks alone. Whether he has ascended from a
mollusk, or not, is of less importance than to see
what he is now. And this is what we propose to
inquire. Let us begin with the soul in man ; and
then we may go on to consider wherein the human

I
COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 33
soul differs from that of animals, and wherein con
sists the dignity of human nature, as taught by
Christianity and by common-sense.
The first point is to say what we mean by the soul.
Let us define it thus. The soul is the principle of
Hfe, vegetative, animal, mental, and moral.*
This definition has the advantage of being per
fectly intelligible, simple, and incontrovertible. Every
one knows the difference between a Hving and an
inanimate being. In all Hving organizations there
must be some principle which constitutes Hfe, — the
basis of Hfe. This is not located in the physical part
wliich we call the body, which can be seen and analyzed
by the senses ; for aU physical organs may exist the
moment after death. Something has gone; but no
science founded on sense can teU what is gone. So no
physical science can teU what is the principle of Hfe
in a seed which may continue, without change,
three thousand years, and then begin to grow. Life,
therefore, is something, and something metaphysical ;
that is, beyond the reach of physics. This principle
of Hfe we call the soul.
Kemembering our definition of matter, namely, as
* In this definition we follow the Greek and Latin meaning of
the soul. Psyche in the Greek means soul and life ; anima in the
Latin means soul and also life.
2* c

34 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
something which is perceived through the senses, we
may say that every organized body has its identity
in an immaterial principle, and not in a material one.
You have the same body now that you had ten years
ago, but not a single particle of matter in it now was
there ten years since. If the molecules of carbon,
oxygen, hydrogen, and phosphorus in your body con
stitute its identity, then, when they are removed and
replaced by others, you will have a different body.
These have all gone in seven years ; but you have the
same body as before, the same form, the same com
plexion, the same expression of eye, the same tone
of voice, the same habits, physical, intellectual, and
moral. That sameness, then, that identity, by which
the friend who knew you ten years ago recognizes
you as the same person to-day, does not He in the
material, but the immaterial part of you. The ma
terial atoms have been flowing through you Hke a
river ; but you have remained the same aU the time.
Does not this show that Spenser the poet was right
when he said, —
" For of the soul the body form doth take ;
For soul is form, and doth the body make " ?
The unity and identity of every organized body
must have their root in something beside the ma
terial particles of which it consists.

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 35
Again, the soul is a unit. The evidence of this
is, that it gives unity to the body. Every Hving
thing, from a fungus up to man, is made a unit by
this invisible principle which coUects and arranges in
one organic whole the particles of oxygen, hydrogen,
and carbon fetched from the earth and air. AU that
chemical analysis can find in a tree, a fish, or a man
is carbon, phosphorous, oxygen, etc., in certain propor
tions. But what combines these into the special tree ?
what correlates them into the special forms of root,
trunk, bark, leaves, buds, flowers, fruit, seed, and con
tinues to reproduce these year after year, century after
century ? There is something there which gives this
unity, — a persistent unity ; and that something wex
call its soul. But it is of Httle consequence what we
call it. CaU it its monad or its molecule, if you
will. It is a principle of unity, and so is imma
terial. There are two ways by which we become ac
quainted with the soul: from without, by observa
tion ; from within, by consciousness.
By observation of animated beings we see that in
addition to sensible qualities, as sohdity, extension,
form, they have other quaHties, as growth or develop
ment, active influence on external things to modify
them, sensation, desire, thought, wiU. We perceive

36 - COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
these qualities manifested in Hving creatures, and we
do not see them in any inanimate things.
By consciousness, we find in ourselves a certain
unit or principle of identity, which we caU /, as
when we say " I feel," " I think," " I wish," " I go," " I
went to such a place a year ago," '' I intend to study
such a book a year hence." We are conscious that
this ego is one and the same unit amid all this variety
of active and possible life. If we know anything,
we know this thing which loves, hates, thinks,
chooses ; and this is our soul, or the central principle
of animal, intellectual, and moral life. Of animal
Hfe, because it feels bodily pain or pleasure, and acts
through all the senses. We do not say my body
sees or my nose smeHs ; but we say / see, I taste ;
just as we say / think, / love. The soul is that
in which aU the functions of bodUy inteUectual and
moral Hfe inhere and find their unity.
Again, we know the soul to be finite and Hmited.
We are conscious of limitation. But then we also
know the soul, within these limitations, to be free ;
that is, to have a self-originated movement, and a
power of choice between opposites ; to be a cause as
weU as an effect. Of the Hmitations of this free
dom we shaU speak hereafter.
Again, we know, as we have intimated, that soul

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 37

is immaterial. AU that we know of matter is through
its phenomena ; which are sohdity, extension, form,
color, etc., none of which belong to the soul. The
qualities of matter are exactly those which soul does
not possess ; the quaHties of soul are exactly such- as
matter does not possess. Matter is hard, soft ; white,
black; long, short; square, round; heavy, light;
fragrant, inodorous. The soul has none of these
quaHties, but has the quality of feeling, perceiving,
tasting, touching, loving, hating, reasoning.
If any one, therefore, asks, " How do we know that
we have a soul?" the answer is, "Exactly as we
know that we have a body." How do I know that I
have a body ? Because I perceive through my senses
certain bodily phenomena, as resistance, color, form ;
and by a law of my mind, an instinctive and in
voluntary act of reason, infer a substance in which
these, qualities inhere, and call it body. So I per
ceive through my consciousness certain mental, or
rather psychical phenomena, as sensation, percep
tion, thought, love, pleasure, desire, memory, hope,
determination ; and by a law of my mind, equally
instinctive and involuntary, infer a substance in
which these phenomena inhere, which I call my soul.
Matter is essentiaUy passive, soul essentiaUy ac
tive. Soul imprisoned in matter acts as far as this

38 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
aUows it to act. The soul of a tree can only make
it grow ; it cannot move to and fro. The soul of a
star-fish or an oyster can only cause it to move
about a Httle ; the soul of a dog can reason a little,
and love a good deal ; the soul of a man, by means
perhaps of a higher bodUy development, having
more lobes to the brain, can also see abstract truth,
choose absolute right, look up to a perfect God, an
ticipate an infinite future and an eternal progress.
It can reflect on itself, become conscious of its own
character, deliberately choose an aim in Hfe, plan out
its scheme of existence, and pursue it year after year.
It can form and buUd up character, and so improve
indefinitely. Thus the soul is dependent on the body, not only
for the means of exercising its present faculties, but
also of unfolding new ones. If the soul's body is
provided with few and poor organs, the soul is much
hampered. When the body is weak, sick, injured,
the soul becomes helpless. But this does not prove
the soul to be the result of body ; it only proves body
to be the necessary condition of the soul's activity
and development. An organist, without his organ,
cannot produce any music. When his organ is out of
tune, his music is poor. But we do not argue from
this that the organist is the result of the organ. We

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 39
do not say that Beethoven is the final product of
transformed vibrations of metal and wood. We
happen to know that there is a musician, and so
we accept him as a fact. Otherwise our acute sen
sational phUosophers would no doubt be able to
derive him from habits and associations of beUows,
keys, and pipes.
Man, then, is both body and soul ; but these agree
in this, that both are finite, and come under limita
tions of space and time. Man's soul is, through the
body, Hmited to one place ; and to one moment of
duration. But there is in him something unhmited,
bound to neither time nor place, and this must be
the power of the Infinite Being within ^him. He
must be able to commune with God; in no other
way could he be emancipated from time and space.
In the great moments of devotion, of self-sacrifice,
of love, of humihty, who thinks of time and space ?
Then arises the sense of immortality within us. We
feel ourselves .immortal only as we commune with
infinite and eternal ideas.
Transcendentalism is right in aUying man thus in
timately and naturaUy with God, but wrong in iden
tifying him with God. Man in himself is not infinite,
but finite ; yet he has a part of his soul open to the
mfinite, and so God can come and dweU with him,
and he can see God.

40 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
This trichotomy or threefold division of the nature
of man into spirit, soul, and body, was weU known to
the ancients. Paul and Plato both held to it, and in
modern times it has been revived by various thinkers.
It explains many facts better than the simpler division.
The man in whom spirit is supreme is the reHgious
man. If spirit is active, but soul depressed, then he
is more religious than moral. If soul is active and
spirit depressed, than he is more moral than religious.
If body is supreme, then he is carnal, or sensual.
When Paul says "The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God," he refers to the
soul-man, the psychical man, not to the carnal
man. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church
in Thessalonica, says, " I pray God that your whole
spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless to the
coming of our Lord Jesus." His idea is that we can
not be blameless, or pure, without becoming whoUy
pure.* * In his description of the resurrection (or ascent) of the body,
the apostle distinguishes the present body from the future, by call
ing the first the "soul-body" and the other the "spirit-body."
In 1 Cor. xv. 44-46 we should read, "It is sown a soul-body,
it is raised a spirit-body. There is a soul-body, and there is a
spirit-body  The soul-body conies first, the spirit-body suc
ceeds to it." This is what is meant by the resurrection of tho

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 41
The apostle is not satisfied with saving a part of,
us, he does not mean merely to save our souls ; he
wishes to save the whole man ; spirit, soul, and body.
He believes the body salvable as well as the soul.
He anticipates our modern educational theories about
physical training and physical culture. At all events,
he lays down the principle out of which such theories
may grow. He goes further : he is not satisfied with
saving soul and body, but wishes to save the spirit
also. According to his notion of human nature, man
is not only a body, as the minerals are ; has not only
a body and soul, as the plants and animals have ; but
besides this has a spirit, that is, divine consciousness.
Man is in sympathy with aU outward nature through
his body ; with aU earthly Hfe through his soul ; and
with the mfinite and eternal world through his spirit.
Thus man is what the ancients called a Microcosm,
or Httle world, corresponding, to the Macrocosm, or
universe. The universe has also three kingdoms:
God, who is the active Creator from whom all power,
change, progress, evermore proceeds ; nature, the pas-
body. It is a. higher bodily development, by which the human
being ascends into a higher outward organization.
The word \j/vx>i (Psyche) occurs in the New Testament about one
hundred and five times. It is translated "soul" fifty-eight times,
" life " about forty-three times, " mind " three times, " heart " and
"heartily " twice.

42 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
sive recipient, which is moved and led by God ; and
the intermediate realm of souls, which partake in part
of God's creative force, and are partly acted on by
external influences. Now man is aU three : he is
the temple of God by his spirit, and is God's child,
receptive of God's life ; he is a living soul, indepen
dent, free, and with a special individuaHty and per
sonality of his own ; and he is also body, immersed
in bodUy conditions, rooted in earth, planted in time
and space, and feeding on nature through his senses.
What, then, are the reHgious elements in the Soul
quahfying man to be a reHgious being ?
According to our definition of spirit, the strictly
religious part of man is the Spirit ; because that alone
can deal with the Infinite. But we yet say that the
Soul has certain aspirations toward the Infinite, and
certain functions by which it feels after it ; and the
phrenologists may be right in giving even religious
organs to the body. So that we can say, when a man
is in a state of spiritual activity, looking toward God,
he is communing with God, and has risen out of body
and out of soul into spirit, and his will disappears
in God's wUl. Then he acts from God, and his wiU
acts in reverence, worship, love, self-surrender. He
is then a medium through which God's Hfe flows
into the world. When it is said that Jesus was

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 43
always in the bosom of the Father, it means that he
was always in this state.
Beside the spiritual power in man, by which he
can commune with the Infinite and the Eternal,
there are other reHgious functions of his nature, of
which we wiU mention the following: —
Eeverence, or Veneration. This is that tendency
of the soul by which it looks up to something higher
than itself. It is the faculty of aspiration. Shake
speare says of it, — "Reverence,
That angel of the world, that makes distinction
Of place 'twixt high and low."
This faculty leads to worship and adoration, gives
deHght in acts of external homage, founds churches,
buUds cathedrals, enjoys solemn rites and holy cere
monies. When unregulated by reason, it becomes
superstition, and leads to bigotry, intolerance, and
persecution. But in its due exercise it is " the crown
of the whole moral nature," and helps man to rise
above himself. It gives harmony to his being, and a
certain angelic charm to Hfe.
Conscience. This is that faculty or function of
the soul by which it perceives right as right; by
which it has the conviction of justice, obHgation, duty,
absolute law. Conscience does not teach us what

44 common-sense in religion.
is right, only that something is right. It gives the
sense of merit in doing what we beHeve to be right,
of remorse when we do what we believe to be
wrong. It is not a code of ethics, or a moral law.
We must find out what is right by reason, and by
observing what is, in the long run, good and useful.
But the sense of right itself is not the same as the
sense of the useful. Begret and remorse are two
whoUy different conditions of mind. When we have
established in our mind a principle of right, it is dic
tatorial. It is the categorical imperative. It says,
"Obey me, though the heavens falL" A principle
of duty is one thing, a calculation of expediency a
very different thing. Conscience is a reHgious fac
ulty, because of this very absolute and commanding
character of its decisions. It is the voice of God
within us.
Freedom. The power of free choice is another
reHgious faculty in man. It is freedom to choose,
not necessarUy freedom to do. Man stands between
opposite motives, conflicting arguments, drawn this
way and that way by external influences and internal
desires. But besides these motives and influences
which come to him from without, he has the power
of leaning one way or the other by his owrj choice.
Of this he is himself conscious, and without this

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 45
consciousness of freedom there could be no sense of
responsibiHty. It is easy, no doubt, to demonstrate
logically that man must always yield to the strongest
motive. But after the demonstration, as before, we
stiU know that it is not so. We cannot reply to the
argument, but we are never convinced by it. Man is
a force, limited by body, by the conditions of time
and sense. But he is stiU a force, essentiaUy active,
a creative power in the universe, and so alHed to
God, the Infinite Creator.
Season. By reason we mean not merely the power
which compares, infers, and deduces consequences
from causes, but we mean that higher act of human
intelligence by wliich the soul perceives ideas, or
absolute laws. This is the faculty wliich sees ab
stract and general truth. By this insight man's
freedom becomes really freedom. He can determine
his course by everlasting ideas, and so graduaUy
emancipate himseK from the dominion of circum
stances and external Hmitations.
Such are some of the religious elements in the
human soul. These are natural to man, born in aU
men. Some have more of one .or of the other ten
dency, but aU men have, in a greater or less degree,
aU of these powers. By means of these man is
capable of rising above himself, of going forward in

46 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
an everlasting progress, upward and onward. Be
cause of his possession of these powers we may say
of him that he is " Httle lower than the angels."
There are two schools of thought which take a
different view of man. The old Orthodox theology,
instead of putting man with angels, puts him with
devils ; and modern science, instead of putting him
with angels, often puts him with apes. The one
looks at man only on his sinful side, the other only
on his animal side.
Now it is true that man, when he sins, does de
grade himself below the cattle, and goes down among
the devils. There is a possibiHty, in every man, of
fiendish cruelty, of diabohc treachery, of hard selfish
ness, to which if we apply the word "brutal" we
shall do injustice to the brutes. No Hon or tiger
ever tormented its victims as an inquisitor tortures
a conscientious heretic, or as a slaveholder tortures a
conscientious slave. No swine were ever so steeped
in sensuaHty as some men are who caU themselves
men of pleasure. No fox or snake ever deceived and
Hed as some people deceive and He in the business
streets of Boston or New York. And, no doubt, on the
bodUy side of him, man is an animal There is, no
doubt, a plan of the skeleton, the muscles, the nerves,
which we share with lower creatures. We need not

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 47
be ashamed of these poor relations of ours. They
are also souls, imprisoned in lower forms of body,
which perhaps may one day come up, and be devel
oped into a liigher type, and become in time free and
responsible beings like ourselves. They are God's
creatures as truly as we are; and so they are our
feUow-creatures. StiU, when we say that man is a higher kind of
devU, or a higher kind of ape, we do not teU the
truth about him. He belongs to an essentiaUy dif
ferent world and type. He belongs by nature to the
human order, not the monkey order or the diabohc
order. He may have been a monkey, and he can
become a devU ; but as a man, he is neither one nor
the other : as a man, he is " made a Httle lower than
the angels, and crowned with glory and honor."
God has made a great gulf between man and the
highest animals, and another between man and the
highest devils. The gulf between man and the most
advanced animals is, at present, impassable. It con
sists in man's gift of language, his power of progress,
his knowledge of abstract and universal truths, and
his faculty of free choice. In aU these things man is
far above the animals.
No animal has verbal language; all men have.
Animals and men both express their feeHngs by cries ;

48 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
but a word is essentiaUy distinct from a cry. Articu
late speech is so marveUous a thing, that the tradi
tions of aU nations have caUed it a gift of the gods.
There is" something amazing, almost miraculous, in
two persons speaking together, — the thought descend
ing out of the mind of the first into words, and going
across on an airy bridge of sound to the other, then
ascending again out of the word into the mind of the
second ! If an animal could talk, it would cease to
be an animal, and become a man. But though the
lowest Hottentot can be taught any language of
man, the highest animal cannot.
So, again, man has the power of progress, animals
have not. They can learn tricks, they can be taught
to imitate, but they do not advance. Animals and
men can be gradually improved; the races of men
and animals can meliorate or degenerate. But man
can propose to himself an aim, and go toward it.
Man can say, " I wiU learn Latin," and can learn it;
" I wiU become a merchant or a lawyer," and become
one. There is nothing in the whole animal kingdom
Hke that. Higher stiU, he can say, " I wUl become
a good man, I wiU become a Christian," and can
become so.
No animal has ever been known to make and use
tools. A baboon will find a stick, and use it as a

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 49
club, but he cannot make a club. Birds build their
nests with wonderful ingenuity, but they do it with
the tools given them by God, with beak and claw.
But man, beginning with the stone hatchets and
flint arrow-heads of the savage, goes on tUl he reaches
the wonderful machinery by which he can cut in two
an iron bar with his shears as though it were a piece
of paper, plane an iron log as though it were a pine
board, lay a cable under the ocean, hang a bridge
over Niagara, put a tunnel two mUes long under a
lake. This is another gulf fixed between animals
and man. AU men can use tools; animals cannot.
It is certain that the power of using tools is a
characteristic of mankind. The mere presence of
rude stone hammers or hatchets in some geological
strata, where no otlier evidence of man's existence
can be found, is now reckoned by geologists and
anthropologists as sufficient proof that human beings
have lived in that period. These stone implements,
so clumsy as to be with difficulty regarded as works
of art, have been considered enough to give a name
to the " Stone Age." In 1847 Boucher des Perthes
published his book, AntiquiUs Celtiques, in which
he gives an account of some stone hatchets and
arrow-heads found in the diluvium, from which he
inferred the existence of men at the period repre-

50 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
sented by that drift. Opposed at first, this view is
now generally received by men of science. It was
opposed on many grounds, and for a long time, but
no man of science opposed it on the ground that
these tools, though of the rudest character, might
have been the work of animals. " ~(
Again, no animal has the knowledge of universal
truths. Man not only knows that some things are
good, but he knows there is such a thing as goodness ;
he not only knows that there are true things, but he
knows there is such a thing as truth; he not only
knows that this particular event has a cause, but that
all events have causes. You may say, " How do we
know that animals have not these ideas ? " I answer,
that it is by being able to ascend out of the fact into
the law that man obtains the mastery over creation,
and if animals could do it, they could not have been
subdued by man. It is by seeing a law as weU as
a fact, that man is able to foresee, and so can ar
range beforehand. This power gives him dominion
over nature, and over animals as a part of nature.
God has put aU things under his feet, by giving him
the power of rising out of the single fact into the
universal law. The result of aU is, that at last we
reach the knowledge of the most universal law, the
Infinite Cause, and so know God.

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 51
AU men, as soon as they begin to be cultivated,
have general ideas. They have an idea of beauty,
apart from any particular beautiful thing; an idea
of universal cause, apart from any particular cause.
So, too, of power, law, substance, attribute, right and
wrong, good and evU, time and space. Man, by rea
son, is capable of general notions. We do not find
in animals any such reason. See, now, what this
power of generahzation does for man. It furnishes
him with rules, laws, principles. It gives him the
power of seH-direction toward an aim. These gen
eral ideas, these abstractions of reason, preside over
all of human Hfe. The most uneducated man will
say, " I have a notion that I had better do this, that
I ought to do that." Then he rises out of the region
of. facts into that of law. Facts change ; laws en
dure. This gives persistency of aim to our life ; this
is the key of progress and civihzation.
Man's freedom also connects him with angels on
one side and demons on the other. We may beHeve
in a rational way in demons as well as angels, be
cause we must beHeve in the freedom of moral beings.
Whoever is free to choose may choose evil as weU as
good. An angel is one who has chosen good ; a devil,
one who has chosen evil. Animals are too far down
to be able to choose either; they can, therefore,

52 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
neither become angels nor devils. Angels and devils
are both recruited from the ranks of men.
We do not know how far this freedom to choose
evil may go, and cannot venture to conjecture. We
know that in this world men do sometimes blind
their minds and harden their hearts, and go resolutely
on the downward way, tUl they disappear from our
eyes in death. How much farther they can go in
that direction we do not know. I am one of those
who beHeve that in the great order of the universe
aU disorders shall at last be swaUowed up, and every
knee bow to God in submission and love. This
seems to me a necessary inference from monotheism.
But I do not know when. I cannot say how many at
this moment may be pursuing evil, in the vast spaces
of creation, nor how far they may go in that direction.
It is probable that the Pharisees in the time of Jesus,
who sinned against the Holy Ghost by closing their
ears and eyes against his goodness and truth, were in
this diaboHc state. And just so are all those now who
do the same. But as long as the love of truth exists in
the soul, as long as one does not deny that right is
right, and that goodness is goodness ; so long, though
there may be much evU and sin in the character, there
is nothing of the devil in it. The face is turned toward
good, and not toward evil ; and though bound per-

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE: 53
haps by sin, we do not yield ourselves to sin wiUingly,
and so are not servants of sin, but servants of God.
Thus we see that there is at present a very distinct
line of separation between the soul of man and the
soul of the highest animals. The animal has affec
tion, intelligence, and wiU, and so has, in common
with man, the three chief elements of souL But
while aU men have verbal language, use tools, and
possess the power of progress toward an aim, animals
are wanting in aU these characters. Two great think
ers, differing from each other on many points, — Locke
and Leibnitz, — have agreed in finding the root of all
these differences in man's capacity for general ideas.
Man is superior to the dog and beaver, because he can
not only become aware of- good actions and good
men, but of goodness ; not only of right and wrong
deeds, but of justice ; not only of cause arid being,
but of an absolute First Cause, of an infinite and
perfect Being. His power of progress comes greatly
from this. He is capable of looking in and looking
Up ; of seeing things which are invisible, of eman
cipating himself from space and time, of laying
hold of an idea. It is this which gives real dignity
to human nature. It is this power of connecting
himself spirituaUy with something infinite and per
fect which lifts man above the beasts, and makes

54 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
him capable, not merely of a continued future exist
ence, but of a present immortal Hfe.
That every one of us may have been at one time an
oyster or a monkey I do not deny. I know nothing
about it, so I cannot deny it. But that we are not
oysters and monkeys now, but men, and that man is
separated by an immense distinction from all other
animal races, — this is something which I think we
do know. And this I think Jesus beHeved, too. He
spake not only of himseH, but of humanity, when he
declared, " One stands here greater than the Temple."
No doubt this seemed to the Jews an audacious
thing to say. Man makes institutions, and then
bows before the work of his hands. He considers
the institution greater than himself. So he becomes
an idolater. He worships nature, sun, moon, and
stars. He worships heroes, Theseus, Hercules, Thor,
Odin. He worships churches, books, days, ceremo
nies. He thinks them all greater than himself,
though he is infinite, they only finite.
Jesus reversed aU this. He reverenced humanity.
The priests thought the Sabbath greater than man,
and would not have the Sabbath broken to have a
man healed. But Jesus said that the Sabbath was
made for man, and therefore healed on the Sabbath
day.

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 55
Little chUdren have always been too much neg
lected or despised, and only the unconquerable
instinct of the father and mother has protected
them at aU. Down to the time of Christ they were
shielded by this instinct, rather than by any convic
tion. Then and since, and even now, they have been
guided, mainly, as we guide a drove of cattle. They
have been driven, not led ; kept in order by scolding ;
suffered to die for want of food and care ; suffered to
grow up into aU wickedness for want of instruction.
Jesus came and took them in his arms, and blessed
them. He saw in the chUd the guarantee of human
improvement. He saw in its innocent, unperverted
nature the only probable capacity for his rehgion.
These were to be the citizens of his commonwealth ;
" of such," said he, " are the kingdom of heaven."
And so, since that day, the value of a child's soul
has begun to be recognized, and the fact seen, that
aU human progress depends on the care paid to the
rising generation. So schools and homes improve.
When I was a boy, and went to the Boston Latin
School, it was the custom to inflict perhaps half a
dozen whippings a day, in each room. A boy who
talked was whipped. A boy who did not say his
lesson was whipped. A boy who came late was
whipped. Now, in that, and aU our schools, things

56 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
go much better ; and in some places they have even
reached the point in which the beating of girls is
whoUy aboHshed. Perhaps in some distant future
we may leave off beating boys also.
The worst thing about the system of slavery was,
not that men and women were beat, and bought and
sold, but the evU was that they were considered as
means, not ends; things, not souls. They were re
garded as tools for raising cotton and sugar; rice-
raising machines, hemp-raising machines. If, stand
ing by a cotton-field, you had said to the planter,
"This negro who stands here is greater than the
cotton," he would have been as much surprised as the
Jews were when Jesus said that he, the Son of Man,
" was greater than the Temple." And the best thing
about the abohtion of slavery is, that now the negro
begins to be regarded as here for his own sake, not
for ours. Now he has an inteUect to be instructed,
and we send him teachers ; now he has a soul to
be saved, and we send him missionaries and the
Bible. We are stiU too much in the habit of looking on
men as masses, not as individuals. We talk of the
working classes, the lower classes. The result of this
way of looking at them is to be seen in New York
and other places. The people who have knowledge,

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 57"
wealth, culture, have devoted themselves to their own
affairs, and neglected the good of the whole com
munity ; and now, because they neglected the lower
classes, they are governed by the lower classes.
Jesus has also taught us to see in the criminal a
man, having in him, after aU, something greater than
the social laws he has broken. The old way of treat
ing criminals was to punish them, and if that did not
do, punish them more severely. But it was seen, at
last, that punishment and crime went hand in hand,
increasing in the same ratio. In my childhood a
hanging was a great festival ; as much so as Thanks
giving Day or the Fourth of July. Men and women
with their Httle chUdren came from far and near to
see a man choked todeath. This was brutahzing ; and
so the result was not the diminution of crime, but
its increase. But as soon as we begin to treat the
criminal as a man, and his crime as a disease caught
in the contagious atmosphere of city debauchery;
so soon as we consider crime the dark, consummate
fruit of which vice is the blossom and ignorance the
stalk ; so soon as we turn our prisons into reforma
tories and hospitals to cure the criminal, — just so
soon does crime diminish. Every reformed drunkard
is the best preacher of temperance, every reformed
criminal the best teacher of morality. The old pris-
3*

58 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ons had only one method of treating criminals, and
that was to punish them. Modern prisons reward
them for their efforts to do right, and stimulate them
to do better by graduaUy removing restraints and
lightening labor, tiU at last the reformed criminal
goes out with a good character which he has formed
in jail, and which is a passport to work and op
portunity. If you strike an artesian weU down through
human society, you pass through many strata. First,
there is the stratum of respectability, of refinement
and culture. Then comes the stratum of comfort,
morahty, and decorum ; then that of mere work, in-
teUigent but incessant toU ; then the stratum of
ignorance and indolence ; then of poverty ; then of
vice ; then of crime. But go down deeper stiU, and
you come to the stratum of primitive rock, which Hes
below the valley, and crops up at the summit of the
mountain, the eternal humanity which is in aU men.
That primeval nature supports everything, over
looks everything. That contains the seeds of good
and evU : the undying sense of right- out of which aU
good is unfolded; the selfishness out of which aU vice
and crime come. That is in us aU. We are mem
bers of a great body. We belong to the same famUy.
When we see this, we are able to sympathize with

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE. 59
aU men, even the lowest and worst ; for they aU have
one common nature. Man is the greatest thing we
see or hear. The sun shaU fade, the stars grow
dim, the heaven and the earth pass away as a scroU
that is roUed together; but the soul of man, with
its good and evU, its vast aspirations, its undying
capacities, its power to act and to suffer, its ability
to do heroic deeds and to love God and man, — this
shaU endure in aU time.

III.
ON THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING GOD.

m.
GOD.
Some idea of God Hes at the root of aU rehgion ;
the true idea of God Hes at the root of true rehgion.
UntU some idea of God enters the mind, rehgion is
impossible. It is a confusion of terms to define re
ligion as a longing after the Infinite, or as an attempt
at self-development, or as the sense of obHgation, or
the Hke. Worship, in its lower forms, may exist
without any notion of God. Shakespeare has typi
fied this in CaHban's worship of the drunken saUor,
Virtue may exist without the idea of God; for the
basis of virtue is the sense of duty, the idea of right
and wrong. But religion is the sense of our relation
to supernatural personal beings, or to a supernatural
being. As supernatural, he is above outward nature,
having a control over it ; and as a perspn, we can
come into personal relations with him. This being
is God.
How do we define God ? Have we any means by
which to define the true God ? Suppose we were,
Hving five hundred years before Christ. Every race,

64. COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
every nation, has its own god. Which is the true
God, the Supreme Being ? The Greeks say Zeus ; he
is the father of gods and men. The Persians say
Ormazd; he is the supreme light, king of day and
of truth. The Egyptians say Amun, infinite spirit.
The Jews say Jahveh; he made the heavens; the
gods of the nations are idols.
How should we be able to decide between these
national deities, and find the true God ?
First, we should set aside the name, and say, " The
name is nothing ; it is the true character which makes
the true God. That which is most divine is God."
And we have in ourselves the idea of perfection,
which is the test of divinity. The true God is the
most perfect being, the being who unites aU perfec
tions, the being in whom aU the highest attributes
centre. The definition of God is The perfect Being.
There are many imperfect beings, as imperfection
is finite. There can be but one perfect being, for
perfection is infinite. If, then, there is a perfect God,
he is one ; and if God be one, he is perfect.
Therefore God is the being in whom aU perfections
centre. He is the fulness which fiUs aU in aU
The more we add of what is real and good to our idea
of God, the nearer we come to the true God. This is
why the Christian conception of God has expeUed aU

GOD. 65
others, and is accepted by the best thought of the
world. It is because it is the highest conception.
To use the right name for God does not make true
behef. Here are two men : one a professed Christian,
the other a professed Pagan. The professed Christian
is St. Dominic, the founder of the Inquisition ; the
professed Pagan is the Boman Emperor, Marcus Au-
reHus Antoninus. The professed Christian has for his
God a being whom he beheves jealous and arbitrary.
He beheves that his God is pleased in seeing men and
women tortured and burned alive, because they are
heretics to the right creed. The Pagan worships a
being wise, mighty, and good, maker and supporter
of aU things, who loves virtue in aU men, and re
wards it everywhere. Now the Christian, worship
ping in name the true God, worships in reaHty the
false one ; and the Pagan, worshipping in name Jupi
ter, worships in reaHty the God and Father of Jesus
Christ. Which of these two breaks the first commandment ?
Is it he who gives the right name to God, but wor
ships under that name tyranny and cruelty, or he
who, under the wrong name, worships wisdom and
goodness ? Yet most men judge so by the name, by
the outward appearance, that they would consider the
man who says in his prayer, "0 Lord !" to be wor-
K

66 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
shipping the true God ; whUe the man who says " 0
Zeus ! 0 Jupiter ! " must necessarUy be worshipping
the false god.
It is not using the right name, but accepting the
right being, the right character, which constitutes the
belief of the true God.
It may also happen that two men shaU profess the
same rehgion, hold the same Bible, and call God by
the same name, but one of them shaU be a beHever
in the true God, and one not ; one shall keep the first
commandment, and the other break it. For one may
pray in this way, " 0 Lord ! I pray thee to save my
soul I know thou art a hard man, reaping where
thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast
not strewed ; and so, though thou hast made me so
that I am born totaUy depraved, and unable to do
any good thing, thou dost require of me to obey and
love thee. I am made whoUy selfish and an enemy
to thee, and am unable to love anything truly ; but I
admit I ought to love thee notwithstanding. I do
not see how I am guUty in doing wrong, when I can
not do right ; but I am told that I ought to confess
myself a sinner, and so I do ; I confess myself to be
the vUest of sinners. Thou hast said that the right
eousness of the righteous shaU be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shaU be on him ; and yet I

b

GOD. 67
« 
hope to be saved, not by my merits, or by becoming
good mysetf, but by the merits and goodness of Jesus
Christ. Amen." Now that is one prayer. Here is
another, uttered perhaps by a poor ignorant slave,
who has never been aUowed to read the Bible, and
whose theological notions are therefore very simple
and childlike.
" 0 Lord ! I do not know thee very well, but I be
Heve that thou art a good master, and I want to be
a good servant. 0 master, show me how to do right.
Help me, 0 Lord, to-day, not to be angry nor idle,
not to teU any Hes, but to be faithful in everything.
If I am beaten or Ul used unjustly, help me to bear
it, as the good Master Jesus bore it patiently when
they beat him. Amen."
Now these two both say " 0 Lord ! " but they are
evidently not worshipping the same being.
In fact, so far is the name which we worship from
being essential, that the most reHgious nations have
hesitated to give any name to God. In fact, we do
not know now how to pronounce the name of the God
of the Jews. The true pronunciation of the word
" Jahveh," or " Jehovah," has been wholly lost ; for the
Jews carefuUy avoided every mention of it, and sub
stituted for it any other word written with the same
vowels. They were so afraid of taking the name of

68 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the Lord in vain, that they did not venture to utter
it at aU The Babbins caU it "the Name," "the
Name of four letters," "the separate Name." The
knowledge of the name was a great secret, possessed
by few; and the last man who knew it is said to
have been Simon the Just. God revealed him
self to Moses as " The I am," as Essential Being. He
revealed himself to the Jews by his law, and they
knew him when they knew that ; in the mingled
justice and mercy of the law, in its demand for
purity. Jesus says, " They who worship God must
worship him in spirit and in truth." It is not the
name we give to God, but the idea we have of him,
which determines whether or not we worship him in
truth. It is not the outward form of worship which
we practice, but the inward devotion, the reality of
love, which determines whether or not we worship
him in spirit.
Many worship God, but worship something else
more. Then, they have some other god before the
true God.
Thus, many persons go to church, and say their
prayers, and caU God " Our Father in heaven," but
their real god is not a Father. Their real god is an
almighty power. He is an inflexible wUl. He is
one who acts, not according to wisdom and love, as a

GOD. 69
good father acts, but according to some personal whim
of his own. He has his favorites, whom he elects
and chooses to make happy forever. He has those
whom he disHkes for no reason except that he has
taken a prejudice against them, and so rejects them
and sends them to perdition. This is the essential
idea of Calvinism according to Calvin ; and Calvin
ism has another god before the God of Jesus Christ.
Jesus worshipped a Father; Calvinism worships an
infinite, arbitrary wiU.
Mr. Froude, who is one of the chief sceptics in
England, and does not believe at aU in Christianity,
has recently expressed a great faith in Calvinism.
So extremes meet. He, however, rehabihtates Cal
vinism by making it something else than it reaUy
is. He makes it mean faith in law, whereas it means
faith in an almighty, arbitrary wiU But arbitrary
wiU is despotism, not government. It produces not
a generous, intelHgent obedience, but only a slavish
submission. The worship of such a being is not per
fect freedom, but cowardly subservience. Calvinism
puts another god before God.
Some people go to the other extreme, and put law
above God. The personal God, the Friend, the
Father, disappears behind a misty veU of law. It
is undeniably true that God works by law. He

70 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
maintains a great order in the universe, and we
sleep and rise trusting to this order, and sure that
no caprice of wiU in the Almighty wiU ever change
it. But, beside Law, God is also Providence. He is
an infinite person; infinite in power, wisdom, and
love. He is guiding events onward and forward. The
universe is not a dead machine, clattering on with
out object or purpose. Everywhere God's face looks
upon us out of creation, and his voice speaks to our
heart, telling us to fight the good fight of faith, and
lay hold on eternal life, and not to doubt that all
things shaU work together at last for good to those
who love him. God, as a person, is Infinite Freedom.
But this infinite freedom is not wilfulness, for it is
associated with infinite wisdom in a perfect order,
toward infinite good, in perfect love.
Others, again, put the DevU above God. They do
not consciously worship the DevU, but they make
God so much like the Devil, that it comes to the same
thing. Those who beHeve that God has made more
evil than good in the world; who beHeve that human
beings are made radicaUy bad and not good; who
think aU are by nature evil, and only a few, who are
converted and belong to the true church, are really.
good, — these make evU and not good supreme in the
world. Total and natural depravity here, and an

GOD. 71
eternal heU hereafter, enthrone the Devil as the su
preme ruler of a large part of the universe, and only
allow God to be sovereign over a few sound believers
here and there. All such doctrines, therefore, as far
as they are reaUy beHeved, put another god above
the true God.
To beHeve in God is to beHeve in truth, justice,
purity, generosity, above everything else. John says,
" He that dweUeth in love dweUeth in God ; for God
is love." He does not say, " He who dweUeth in an
Orthodox crjeed dweUeth in God ; for God is a creed."
He does not say, " He who dweUeth in sacraments,
rituals, ceremonies, dweUeth in God; for God is a
ceremony." He does not say, " He who dweUeth in
respectabihties and decencies dwelleth in God; for
God is respectability." Nor, " He who dwelleth in
feelmg and emotion dweUeth in God ; for God is
emotion." No ; love is something higher than emo
tion, ritual, creed, decency ; it is the soul going out
of itself in generosity, giving itself to truth and
duty, living for these. "Blessed are the pure in
heart ; they shall see God."
I think that we believe in God when we beHeve in
that which is divine in aU things; when we see in
men something divine and noble in the midst of aU
that is evil; when we see in childhood something

72 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
divine, and revere the innocence yet unstained by the
world. So, too, we believe in God when we love our
friends, not because they are of use to us, not because
our tastes and theirs happen to agree just now, but
because we see and admire in them some innate
beauty which God stamps on each soul when he
makes it ; some connate and inborn charm of spon
taneous sweetness, or courage, or honor, or aspiration,
or reverence, or humility, or conscience, which God
gave them in his counsel before the foundation of the
world. And we see God when we love all his crea
tures, whether they are sympathetic with us or anti
pathetic, when we overlook their faults and pardon
their offences, and care for their souls, as God and
Christ care for their souls. This is divine love, true
love, which sees God ; which whosoever has dweUs in
God and God in him. He may have many faults,
vices, folhes, sins, but this generosity in his heart is
the redeeming element; this is Christ born within
him, the hope of glory ; this gives him a solid inward
peace and satisfaction, and makes him assured and
confident before God.
Obedience leads to love, and love to right. By
doing right we come to love right. We may not love
it at first as much as wrong, but as we continue to do
it, we grow to love it. Better one act of obedience
than many words of praise and prayer.

GOD. 73
Let us consider what our Saviour said of the two
servants, one of whom said " I go," and went not ;
while the other said " I go not," and then repented
and went. These two servants are Mr. Profession
and Mr. Practice. Mr. Profession is always saying
to the Almighty, "I am going to serve thee and
love thee and obey thee. I thank thee, 0 Lord,
that I am not as other men are, — impenitent,
worldly, lovers- of pleasure, or even as this poor
heretic. I go to prayer-meeting, and I believe aU the
creeds." But then, having said that, he stops there,
and he is no nobler, purer, juster, than other men.
Mr. Practice, on the other hand, says, " I don't be
Heve in rehgion ; I don't think much of the church ;
I have my doubts about Jesus Christ " ; and he goes
and does just what Jesus wishes him to do. If he
sees a poor man, he helps him ; if he finds a sick man,
he takes care of him; if a stranger comes to him
wanting work, he sees if he cannot get something for
him to do. So Mr. Profession and Mr. Practice di
vide religion between them. The one says it, and
the other does it. But ought not each of them to
say it and do it too ? What should we think of it,
if artists, chemists, engineers, lawyers, physicians,
should divide their occupations in this way ? One
man professes to be a physician, keeps his office
4

74 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
open, with his name on the side of the door, but
refuses to go and see any sick person. Another
denies that he is a physician, keeps no office, declares
he has no faith in medicine, and yet spends his time
in finding sick people and privately administering
drugs for their rehef. We should think it a very
odd and unnecessary division of labor. We should
say, " This ought ye to have done, but not to . leave
the other undone."
To beHeve in an Infinite Perfection, and to wor
ship it, is the first and greatest of human duties. It
is the root and the fountain of all. The sense of a
Supreme Good and Beauty, the feeHng of an Ineffa
ble Majesty and Holmess, the behef in one Supreme
and Perfect Being, — this gives .unity, aim, consis
tency, stabUity, to our Hfe. Without it, what are
we ? where are we ? Motes in the sunbeam, coming
from nothing, going nowhere.
When God asks us to put our trust in him, it
is not for his sake he asks it, but for ours. It is
because we need this faith for peace, progress,
goodness. We need to have faith in a Supreme
Being, whose name and nature is love ; who fiUs the
heavens and earth with his benign presence, and is
.guiding aU the events of time to the great consum
mation of a glorious beauty. If we deem this world

GOD. 75
the sport of chance or the slave of fate, if we look
up to an Infinite Despotism enthroned in the heavens,
if God seems to us cruel or hard or cold, — then there
is a seed of bitterness in the soul which no outward
prosperity can sweeten. We need to have faith in
perfect love, infinite wisdom, and a fatherly provi
dence in order to have any inward content or peace.
There is a philosophy, as we have seen, which teUs
us that we cannot know God ; that the Infinite and
Absolute are beyond the reach of our finite faculties.
But the best answer to this is, that men everywhere
do feel after God and find him; that the idea of
the Infinite is just as natural to us as the idea of the
finite ; that the idea of a perfect being comes to us at
the same time with the notion of an imperfect being.
You cannot think of something which is imperfect
without at the same time thinking of the perfect.
When I say a thing is imperfect, I mean that it is
not perfect ; that is, the idea of the perfect must be
in my mind in order to think of imperfection. There
fore, though it may be improper according to meta
physics to know the Infinite Being, it is impossible,
in practice, not to know him. God is in aU our
thoughts, whether we recognize him there or not;
he is the necessary element of aU thinking. In spite
of metaphysics, therefore, we can know God; and,

76 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
whatever the phUosophers may say, we may venture
to beHeve in the Infinite and the Eternal.
There is also a theology of nescience which joins
hands with the phUosophy of nescience in denying
our knowledge of God. It proposes certain doctrines
(such, for example, as the Trinity or the Atonement),
making assertions concerning the nature of God,
making assertions concerning the moral nature of
God; and when we urge objections to these doc
trines, we are told that they are mysteries. Now
that there are mysteries everywhere, in nature and
providence, we aU know ; that there are mysteries in
God and in man. But revelation is the unveiling pf
God ; it is removing mystery and letting in light.
When God sent Christ into the world he said, as in
the beginning, "Let there be Hght; and there was
light." Where revelation begins, mystery ends.
The Jewish prophets and priests taught that rev
elation was a mystery, in the same way as now, and
were rebuked for it by Isaiah in words which have
the same force to-day.* " And the vision of aU is
become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed,
which men deHver to one that is learned, saying,
Bead this, I pray thee : and he saith, I cannot ; for
it is sealed. And the book is dehvered to him that is
* Isaiah xxix. 11.

GOD. 77
not learned, saying, Bead this, I pray thee : and he
saith, I am not learned." If you go to the laity
and speak to them of the simplicity of the gospel,
and ask them to look for themselves into its truths,
with independent and free minds, they say, " We can
not; for we are not learned: these are theological
questions, questions for the clergy. We accept what
they teU us, and let it alone. We do not trouble
ourselves about it." If then you go to the clergy,
and ask them for a rational and intelligible view of
God, in accordance with nature and conscience, they
reply, "It is a mystery." The Church, to-day, con
tinues to erect altars to the unknown God.
I do not object to theological mysteries on grounds
of reason chiefly. The harm done by such doctrines
is, that they put God at a distance from us, when
he is near by. They teach us that he is an unknown
God, to be worshipped ignorantly, when he wishes
us to come to him and see him as a Father. There
are enough of mysteries in the world, but mystery
is no part of revelation. Eevelation is the taking
away of mystery, the unveiling of God's face. When
people, therefore, speak of " revealed mysteries," they
utter a contradiction in terms.
Our God is not a mystery. He is not an unknown
God. He is the God declared by Paul, "in whom

78 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
we live and. move and have our being" ; " who is not
far from any one of us " ; " who has made of one
blood aU nations of men to dwell on aU the face of
the earth." He is the Father and Friend of aU ; the
friend of black and white, of freeman and slave, of
the wise and the foolish, of the good and the bad.
Every man, even the most sceptical and most
worldly man, has an altar somewhere in his heart
to the unknown God. He is worshipping the true
God sometimes, though ignorantly. He is feeHng
after God, if haply he may find him, who is not far
from him. He needs to be told how near God is.
From the convent of the Great St. Bernard the
monks went forth one morning after a night of storm
and snow, and found lying close to their waUs the
frozen body of a traveUer. They saw, by the foot-
tracks, that he must have been for hours toiHng on
through the dreadful drifts, and aU the time not a
quarter of a mUe from the hospitable convent. Had
he known that he was so near, half an hour would
have taken him out of the terrible cold into warmth
and shelter and light, to a comfortable meal and a
peaceful sleep.
But just so do men struggle alone, amid the storms
and cold selfishness of the world, feeHng after a God
who they think is far off, when he is not far from

GOD. 79
any one of them. So do they spend long years of
life away from God, when in a moment, if they chose,
they might be taken into the warmth and comfort of
his sheltering love. They are near God, but do not
know it. They need to know Him whom they already
ignorantly worship. For there is no one whoUy
without God in the world. There is no one who
does not have an altar, at least to the " unknown
God," in his heart.
Many men erect this altar to God under the name
of law. These are men of science. They worship
the order of the universe, and they do not know that
they are worshipping God. They may call them
selves Atheists or Christians. They need to see
that this magnificent stability of the universe, this
grand web of law which they study and adore, is
not dead law, but Hving law ; that it is the perpetual
act of God. They need to see that what they caU
law is only God's steady and uniform course of action,
and that behind and within aU this law is Divine
love, an infinite tendency of things toward a perfect
good ; aU things working together for that. Science
remains cold, material, dead, so long as it is irre
ligious, because unspiritualized. If men of science
only knew it, they would see that they are ignorantly
worshipping God when they worship law. It is not

80 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
necessary for them to abandon science in order to be
religious. Let their science be filled with love, and
that is rehgion. The lecture-room may be made
a temple ; the most abstract mathematics become a
Hturgy; the cabinet of geology, mineralogy, botany,
a chapel filled with more sacred relics than the bones
of dead saints, because they are relics of God's pres
ence, and bear the marks of his creating thought and
forming hand. Science does not need to be silent
before religion, but only to know the God whom she
already ignorantly worships.
And so every generous action, every honest thought,
every sincere effort to do right, is really a part of the
worship of God. Many a man who thinks he has no
religion, and is too honest to pretend to have it when
he has it not, is really worshipping God. The more
we love each other the more we can love him. For
all true love seeks what is noblest and best in its
object, seeks for whatever is really good and deep and
noble in the character. It does not attach itself to
the low and mean part of a man, but to the highest
and best thing in him ; that is, to some manifestation
of God in him, to something in which God shows
himseK in man. In your friend, you see what he
does not see himself; you see some deeper element,
some capacity of nobleness, some divine charm,

GOD. 81
something which God has put in his soul, and meant
to be there forever. Beneath what perhaps is actu
ally commonplace and trivial, you see the possibUity
of nobleness, the inward tendency toward something
good. That is what you love in your friend ; you
never love the mean part of hhn, but always the
better and nobler part of him.
In the teaching and Hfe of Jesus God comes still
nearer to man. The veU of mystery is taken away.
Jesus teaches that he is the "Universal Father, whose
sun shines on the evil and the good." He teaches that
he is "a spirit, and that those who worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth." We come
near to God and know him when we assume the
attitude of chUdren. " No one knoweth the Father
but the Son, and he to whom the Son shaU re
veal him." Jesus knew God by becoming his Son;
trusting him, loving him, obeying him, walking with
him, talking with him, as a son trusts, loves, obeys,
walks with, talks with, his father. When Jesus Hved
with God in this entire, chUdhke trust, he revealed
him, nevermore to be a mystery. Henceforth God
has put his spirit into our hearts, by which we too
may say Abba, Father. When we assume the atti
tude of sons, we also know God, and are able to
reveal him to others.
4* - . F

IV.
THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION.

IV.
THE BIBLE AND INSPIEATION.
The view of inspiration wliich has been diligently
taught in the Protestant Church has probably done
great harm to the Bible. It has made it the word
of God in such a sense that it has ceased to be the
word of man. It has surrounded it with an awe
which has kept men at a distance. We are taught
not % to speak about the Bible, or study it, as we
would any other book It is too sacred for that.
Every word in the Bible, from Genesis to Eevelation,
is the word of God, so we must not criticise, doubt,
or question any part of it. If we see contradictions
between different portions of this book, we must
refuse to admit them. It is all sacred, aU holy, be
cause it is aU the word of God, and no part of it the
word of man. The Hnes which Scott has put into
the mouth of the White Lady of Avenel, said to
have been afterward copied by Lord Byron on. the
fly-leaf of his Bible, express the popular idea: —
" Within this awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries.

86 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Happiest they of human race
To whom our God hath granted grace
To read, to hear, to hope, to pray,
To lift the latch, and force the way.
But better had he ne'er been born
Who reads to doubt, or reads to scorn."
That we should respect the Bible, and not treat it
with indifference, is right ; that we should worship it
as an idol, is bad, The chief harm done by this
doctrine is, that it destroys our interest in the Bible
itself. For the main interest of a book is, that it
excites thought and feeHng in our own mind. But
to think and feeL we must be free. If we are tied
beforehand to certain conclusions and certain emo^
tions, the soul is stupefied, and its vital interest
frozen. As long as we look at the Bible with awe
and reverence only, we do not reaUy love it. We
put it on our centre-table, we present copies of it as
birthday presents and wedding gifts, but seldom read
it. We regard it as making the house a Httle safer,
as having a sort of sacramental influence, but we
find it hard work tp look into it. We may read the
Bible as a duty or study it as a task; that is aU
To read the Bible in this way is the sacrament
of Brotestants ; being to many what the mass is to
CathoHcs, and possessing a mysterious saving grace,

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 87
apart from any moral or inteUectual influence. Thus
some persons read the Bible through, from Genesis to
Eevelation, several times in their Hves. This is a
reHgious tour de force, an act of self-sacrifice supposed
to have merit.
The curious fact in regard to this theory of verbal
inspiration is, that the Bible itseK makes no such
claim. The word "inspiration" occurs only twice:
once in the Old Testament, and again in the New
Testament (2 Timothy Hi. 16). This last text is, in fact,
the great proof-text of the doctrine, and is so often
quoted as conclusive evidence, that we are apt to
suppose that it claims some kind of verbal inspira
tion for the Scriptures, according to the doctrine of
Church orthodoxy. It does no such thing. First, it
does not say what Scripture is inspired; secondly,
it does not define the sort of inspiration. Probably
the passage means either that aU Scripture which is
written by inspired men is profitable, or that all
Scripture which is so profitable is written by inspired
men. The Christian Church has practicaUy adopted
the last interpretation; for it took the Church three
centuries to make up its mind what books ought to
belong to the New Testament. It selected those it
found profitable, and dropped the rest. The Epistle
of Barnabas, after having belonged to the Christian '

88 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION/
Scripture for three hundred years, dropped out of the
New Testament in the fourth century.
Every extreme produces a reaction' toward the
other extreme. The reaction from the doctrine of
verbal inspiration is to the denial of all inspiration.
Because we cannot beHeve that everything in the
Bible is divine, we refuse, to see the infinite majesty,
beauty, and glory which are so generaUy present in
it. People who begin by worshipping the Bible
often end by disliking it. But when this book, which
wiU always be The Book, is valued for what it is
rather than for what it is not, it wiU be more
reverenced and loved than it ever has been. It
wUl cease to be an idol, but wiU become more than
ever a friend, helper, consoler. It will cease to be
our master, and so will become more than ever our
teacher and companion.
It is an inteUectual error to deny inspiration ; for a
large part of the truth we possess comes to us through
that channel. Only we must not limit inspiration to
the Jews, and suppose no other race capable of it.
There are two methods of getting truth : one is per
ception, or looking out; the' other inspiration, or
looking in. Perception without inspiration makes
the pedant, the dry man of detaUs, the coUector of
facts, who can do nothing with them after he has

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 89
them. Inspiration without perception makes the
mystic, the visionary, the mere theorist. Perception
joined with inspiration makes the man of genius,
the man of science, the discoverer, the statesman, the
poet, the prophet. No great thing was ever accom
phshed in this world without inspiration.
But inspiration is of different kinds and different
degrees. There is the inspiration of the artist and
poet, or of the thinker and philosopher. There is
the inspiration of the lawgiver and statesman, of
the prophet and saint. There is artistic inspiration,
poetic inspiration, religious inspiration. The com
mon quality in all is the reception of influence
from a higher sphere, an opening of the mind for
higher influence, a Hght from within and from
above. Why do we caU the poet inspired ? What is his
inspiration? It is that he does not manufacture
his poetry, does not reason it out by logic, does not
make it mechanicaUy. He looks up, waits, listens,
looks. At last some gleam of beauty drops into his
soul, some vision of unimagined truth dawns on his
mind. He Hes open to God and heaven, to the great'
glories of nature, to the sweet charm of Hfe and love ;
and then there comes to him, spontaneously, his idea
and images. As Shakespeare says, —

90 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
" The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven ;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."
Inspiration, in any direction, means the descent of
some higher truth into the soul by vital processes,
not merely logical or mechanical Take, for an
example, the case of the Greeks. God selected the
Greeks from all nations of men, to be the masters
and guides of the world in literature and art. They,
too, were a chosen nation, a peculiar people. Almost
every form of beauty sprang into being by a special
inspiration. No one copied another ; each went on
his own path, where he saw some divine beauty lead
ing the way. So they became teachers of men in the
domain of beauty. Homer teaches us forever what
epic poetry is; Herodotus is the father of history;
iEschylus is the father pf tragedy ; Aristophanes of
comedy ; Pindar of the ode ; Demosthenes of oratory.
The inspired sculptors carved in statues the ideal
forms of gods and men. The inspired architects
built a Parthenon, whose perfect beauty, even when
shattered and crumbling, surpasses aU we can do
to-day.

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 91
Every one admits that the Greeks teach with
authority in this domain of beauty, but no one
supposes them to be infaUible.
The real reason which has influenced the Church
to invent and maintain the doctrine of an infaUible
inspiration is a supposed necessity. On the same
ground the Eoman Cathohcs defend the infaUibUity
of the Church. Unless the Church is infallible, say
the Cathohcs, how can it teach with authority ? Un
less the Bible is infaUible, say the Protestants, how
can it teach with authority ?
Now, we may readUy admit that, in order to learn,
and to make progress, we need teachers who shaU
speak with a certain sort of authority. We need to
beHeve in our teacher's knowledge, in order to open
our mind to him, and to listen with interest and
docility to his instruction. But I do not beHeve
that any faith in an infaUible Church, an infallible
Bible, or even an infaUible Christ, is necessary for
this purpose. What is the argument for the verbal
infaUibUity of the Bible ? Not that its writers claim
it; they do not. Not that there are no contradic
tions and errors of language and facts ; for these are
numerous. It is asserted only from a supposed
necessity, a supposed need of some infaUible author
ity. The Catholics have their infaUible Church;

92 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Protestants must have their infallible Bible. People
wiU not beHeve in the Bible or its truths, it is
thought, unless they are pronounced infaUible in
every part. It must be so fuU of inspiration that it
shaU run over at either end, so that even the Book
of Genesis shaU teach us an infaUible geology and
chronology, and the Book of Eevelation declare the
fate of Pope Pius IX. Let people begin to doubt
that every part of the Bible, even Solomon's Song, is
the Word of God, and presently, it is said, they wiU
doubt the whole. Unless they beHeve that the whale
swaUowed Jonah, they wiU give up the Sermon on
the Mount and the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
But how is it in other things ? How is it in history,
in science, in mathematics ? Let us see what com
mon-sense teaches about it.
No one supposes that Newton was inspired infalli
bly when he wrote the Principia. But aU mankind
accepted his theories ; and though not one person in a
thousand can understand his reasoning, no one doubts
his conclusions. He is an authority, though he is
not infaUible.
No one beheves Gibbon infallibly inspired to write
his DecHne and Fall. But it is so much of an au
thority to this day, that Niebuhr, the chief Boman
historian of our time, knew his Gibbon by heart,

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 93
and teUs us that no one can improve on that great
work It is knowledge which creates authority in a teacher.
Faraday is an authority in chemistry, Agassiz in nat
ural history, Peirce in mathematics; but who sup
poses them to be infallible ?
The common-sense view of the Bible is, that it is
our guide and our teacher, because it is fuU of truth.
It is because it is" so compact with Divine things,
that we say it is from God. We do not say it is true
because it is inspired; but we say it is inspired
because it is true. It is a book, we may safely say,
that wiU never be superseded, any more than Homer,
Dante, Shakespeare, wiU be superseded. It wiU grow
in interest immensely, in proportion as we study it
intelligently and freely. When we make no ex
travagant claims for it, but let it rest on its own
merits, infidehty wUl cease to attack it. If there is
anything in it you do not understand, wait tiU you
do. If there is anything you cannot beheve, pass it
by. There is enough left which you can believe.
The Bible "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness." It
has guided men to God through aU these long cen
turies ; it has civilized humanity, sustained mourners,
comforted sorrow, created happy homes, made family

94 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

life peaceful, awakened an interest in truth, quickened
the inteUect, opened heaven to the dying, and given
hope in the midst of despair. A book that does this
does not need to be propped up by theological theo
ries; it can stand and walk alone, and take care
of itself. It does not need to be protected by laws
against blasphemy; the love and gratitude of men
are a sufficient protection. It does not need to be
made a master, to enslave the inteUect; the more
free our thought is to inquire and examine, the more
we shaU come to honor it, to love it, and to believe
in it. Why is not this enough ? Why manufacture
a theory of inspiration to strengthen that which is
aHeady strong enough without it ? It is as though
you should erect a wooden scaffold round the great
Pyramid to hold it up.
Inspiration is insight, and insight is immediate
knowledge. The inspired poet sees beauty ; the in
spired prophet sees truth. Knowledge carries its
own evidence. He who knows anything thoroughly
becomes an authority to us. That is enough.
I meet a man who has just come from the centre
of Africa. It is Dr. Livingstone, or it is Burton or
Speke. He describes what he saw, his long labors,
his sufferings, his cruel hardships. He teUs how he
at last saw the vast lake, Victoria Nyanza, opening

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 95
before him, and came to where the Nile issued from
it. For the first time in the history of the world a
civilized man has seen the source of the NUe. That
which Herodotus, four hundred years before Christ,
only guessed, we hear described by the man who saw
it. WeU, do we say, " We cannot believe your story
unless you are infaUibly inspired to teU the truth ? "
No. The story is its own evidence. The man carries
authority in his words, his tones, his vivid descrip
tions, his perfect knowledge of aU he says. Truth is
its own sufficient proof. A man who has been where
we have not been, and seen what we have not seen,
is an authority to us, because he knows aU about
what he says.
Now, the Bible is such an authority as this, from
Genesis to Eevelation. It is so vital, so fuU of ex
perience, so rich in its varied history, so full of
human hope and love and faith, that it wUl always
draw men unto it and be the guide of mankind in
religion and' morals. As the Greeks were chosen,
in the providence of God, to be the inspired teachers
of beauty in art and Hterature, so the Jews were
chosen, more than any other people, to be the
teachers in religion. They were made the inspired
teachers of Divine truth, and their sacred books will
always be the chief sacred books of mankind.

96 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
The common-sense view of the Bible requires us
to distinguish between its different parts. It ad
vances step by step in its teaching. The Book of
Genesis teaches that there is one Supreme God,
maker of heaven and earth, above aU other gods,
King of kings and Lord of lords. The first chapter
of Genesis is not meant to teach geology, but to teach
monotheism. The Persians believed that the sun,
moon, and stars were gods. Genesis teaches that
they were the creatures of God. "God made two
great Hghts; the greater Hght to rule the day, the
lesser hght to rule the night: he made the stars
also." The Egyptians believed that beasts and birds
were divine, and worshipped them. Genesis says,
" God said,- Let the waters bring forth abundantly the
moving creatures that have life: let the earth bring
forth the Hving creatures after his kind."
The story of Abraham and the patriarchs takes
another step, and teaches faith in Providence. This
Divine Being, who made the world, is a friend to his
creatures. They can talk with his angels, and trust
in his care. How sweet are the pictures of home,
of the patriarchs in their tents, of their manly, mod
est confidence in their Heavenly Protector. It is Hke
looking through a time telescope, which carries us
back four thousand years, and shows to us a scene

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 97
of domestic Hfe in its childlike simplicity and trust.
It commends itself as truth. It needs no infaUible
inspiration to make us believe this honest, simple
record. Then another step is taken by Moses in his law.
He teaches duty, morality, obedience; that God re
wards the good and punishes the evil. How subhme,
and yet how plain, are these instructions ! How he
joins piety and morality in the Ten Commandments !
These also stand on their own authority ; they need
no inspiration to confirm them.
Pass on to the Psalms of David and the prophets.
They Hft us on the subhme wings of faith, and make
us commune with God. Even now, when we wish
to express our faith in Providence, we say, "The
Lord is my shepherd." When we look forward to
times of peace and joy, we take the words of
the prophets, and can find nothing better. These
words, uttered thousands of years ago, from that
obscure race, have become the litanies of nations.
Jesus, the Jew, is the teacher of mankind. Why do
we dweU on his words ? Why read the Sermon on
the Mount for our guidance ? Why are his parables
ever new and fresh and full of charm ? Is it because
of any theological belief in their infaUibUity ? No ;
but because they are instinct with truth. It is be-

98 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
cause they are Hving words. It is because, as he
says himself, " The words I speak to you, they are
spirit, and they are Hfe." Theories of inspiration
wiU pass away ; but his words wiU never pass away.
They are as new, as fuU of inspiration now, as they
were at first ; the comfort of sorrow, the hope of the
dying, our strength and our peace. Unless we be
Heve the Bible plenarUy inspired, we shaU not trust
it, so it is said. It wUl be no sufficient guide to us,
no adequate authority. But when I faU sick, I send
for a physician. He prescribes for me, and I take
his medicine. I do not know what it is. It may be
poison ; most medicines are so. I take the medicine
blindly. Now, why not insist that we ought to be
Heve him infaUible ? Why not get up a theory of
plenary inspiration about doctors ? Why not argue
that no one wiU trust them unless we assume that.
they are. infaUible ? But we do trust our physician,
because we know him to be wise, prudent, conscien
tious, experienced. We trust our Hfe to him, the
Hves of our children, the lives of those we love best.
You go to the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. You
take a guide, perhaps the guide Stephen, a colored
man, formerly a slave, — an ignorant man. You
know nothing of him but this, that he has guided
hundreds of travellers before you, and has guided

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 99"
them safely. You enter the mysterious passages.
You pass from one chamber to another. Passages
diverge in aU directions ; stUl you foUow through the
great darkness the feeble lamp of your guide. You
descend precipices, you chmb ladders, you come to a
river, and cross it in a boat beneath an overhanging
roof of rock. You go on and on, mile after mile,
untU you seem to have left forever the day and upper
air. Immense darkness, perpetual night, undisturbed
silence, broods around. You are many miles from
the entrance. If your guide has made any mistake,
you are lost. But you foUow him with entire confi
dence. Why ? Do you beHeve him to be plenarUy
inspired ? Do you think him infaUible ? Not at aU.
But you trust in his long experience. He has guided
traveUers safely for years, and that is enough. So
. the Bible has guided the footsteps of travellers seek
ing truth and God. It has brought generation after
generation out of darkness into Hght. It leads us
through the mysterious depths of our own experience.
It goes sounding on along the dim and perilous way
of human life. It points out on either side the false
paths which would lead you to death. It speaks with
authority, a far higher than that of a theological
infallibility. It is fuU of the Spirit of God, which is
the spirit of truth, and its power is not dependent on

100 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the theories of inspiration which the Church may
devise, but on its own immortal Hfe, its sublime
elevation, its power of bringing the soul to God
and to peace.
It is a remarkable fact that the Apostle Paul,
whose words are quoted as proof of the doctrine of
infaUible inspiration, declares his own teaching to be
imperfect and provisional He states, as nearly as
possible, the doctrine which in modern times has
been caUed " the relativity of knowledge," and ap
plies it to his own teaching. We refer to the passage
in the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the
Corinthians, where he says, " We know in part, and
prophesy " (or teach) " in part. But when that which
is perfect is come, then that wliich is in part will be
done away."
This is a curious statement in itself, and curious
as coming from the Apostle PauL "Knowledge," he
says, " is partial, imperfect, incomplete ; and is there
fore to pass away." His own knowledge he declares
to be thus imperfect and fugitive. He puts himself
along with those to whom he speaks, and thus con
fesses that everything which he knows himseK, aU
his own system of doctrme, aU his own theology, is
partial, and not to continue forever. In other words,
he seems to say that al} his present opinions about

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 101
God, Christ, and man, about sin and salvation, about
this world and the other world, are temporary opin
ions which he does not hope to retain permanently.
He expects to change his opinions by and by, and
to beHeve differently. He expects to give up his
present creed, and to have another. All creeds, all
beliefs, aU opinions, are transient ; nothing is perma
nent but faith, hope, and love. All that we know
here we shaU know so differently there, that it wUl
be another knowledge, and not this.
Now it makes Httle difference whether he is here
referring to the present Hfe or to the future life, to
the coming of Christ in this world or in the next.
In either case his statement is a death-blow to all
kinds of bigotry and aU kinds of dogmatism. For,
if the Apostle Paul supposed that his own opinions
were transient, and did not expect to believe always
as he believed then, how is it possible that any one
else should be certain that his views are to be al
ways the same ? If Paul was sure, not of the stabil
ity, but of the instability, of his opinions, who can
venture to dogmatize ? And yet while the Apostle
Paul, the founder of aU Christian theology, declared
his theology temporal, those who merely possess a
theology derived from his, consider theirs to be eter
nal He says that his is provisional, and for that

102 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
time ; they think theirs, which is only an inference
from his, to be for aU time. He was vitaUy inspired,
they are not. He was a man of profound insight,
they are shaUow. He was a trained logician, their
logic is full of gaps and flaws. And yet the view
which he reached by means of this wonderful inspi
ration, this long experience, this profound thought,
and which he held with the conviction of his whole
soul, he regarded as only one view of the truth ; while
aU these second-rate system-makers pronounce theirs
to be the only view of the truth. This is certainly
a curious state of things.
And many may be inclined to think it equally
curious that such a view as this should be taken at
aU by the Apostle. Is it not, they may say, a con
fession of universal scepticism, this admission that
aU knowledge is to vanish away ? Is it not saying
that there is no such thing as absolute truth ? But
certainly the Apostle Paul had not in his constitution
the least tendency to scepticism. His behef in truth
and its reaHty is entire. AU his convictions are
clear, deep, and permanent. By the strength of his
convictions he accomphshed his great work for Chris
tianity and the world, which the least aUoy of doubt
in his own mind would have made him incapable of
doing. Every streng behever since his day has gone

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 103
to him for support; and aU subsequent orthodox
theology has planted itseK on the theology of this
Apostle. His doctrine, then, must be very far in
deed from scepticism.
The only explanation of his statements which
seems consistent and sufficient is this : truth is abso-
lute, real, eternal ; but our knowledge of it is incom
plete and partial. Every inteUectual statement is an
approximation ; every verbal proposition an attempt.
There is such a thing as truth, and we can see it ; but
when we come to put what we see into words, error
necessarUy comes in. We are Hke a portrait-painter
attempting a likeness. The face at which he looks is
truth, real and certain. The image of the face in his
mind is aHeady somewhat confused and indistinct.
The portrait which he makes from that image is stUl
more imperfect, There might be twenty different
portraits made of the same face. Every portrait
might have some truth, some resemblance ; but none
would be perfectly true. Some would be much more
true than the rest, and yet the best portrait among
them would be, in some particulars, inferior to each
of the others. AH of them taken together would
give a better idea of the person represented than any
single one by itseK. And so it is with the creeds of
Christendom. Each one is & portrait of the mind

104 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

of Christ, some better, some worse. But the most
erroneous creed may contain some Christian truth
which is wanting in the most orthodox of them ; and
aU of them are destined to be superseded in that day
when we shaU see Christ face to face.
" We know in part." AU our knowledge of our
selves, of others, of the world, is partial, and God
meant that it should be so. We cannot expect to
have it otherwise. In opinions we must be contented
with probabilities, and learn to dispense with cer
tainty. We can have certainty for ourselves, but only
for ourselves. InfaUibUity is inward, in our expe
rience, not outward, in our statement. There is no
outward infaUibUity to be found anywhere. No
Church is infaUible, no creed is infaUible, no book is
infaUible. No outward support is permanent. AU
certainty is within, in the depths of our own Hfe.
Certainty comes to us by Hving experience ; that is,
by repeated acts of Hfe. By repeated acts of thought
and feeHng we become certain of our own existence ;
by repeated acts of perception, we become certain of
the existence of the outward world ; by repeated acts
of prayer, penitence, submission, trust, we become
certain of the existence of God ; by repeated acts of
obedience to the law of Christ, and of faith in the
promises of Christ, we become certain of the reaHty
of Christianity.

THE BIBLE AND INSPIRATION. 105
It is natural, therefore, it is right, to long for cer
tainty. We aU desire to feel the ground firm under
our feet. We shrink from doubt, from hesitation,
from change. But we mistake in supposmg that we
can find certainty in any outward standard. He only
can say, " I know in whom I have believed," who has
Hved by faith. He only shaU know of the doctrine
who shall do the wUl of God. " The world cannot
receive the spirit of truth," said Jesus, "because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know
him, for he dweUeth with you, and shaU be in you."
" Hereby," says John, " we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments." And again,
the Apostle assures us that knowledge comes from
love, and not love from knowledge. " Let us love,"
says he, " in deed and in truth, and hereby we know
that we are of the truth." " Every one that loveth
is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth
not knoweth not God." And, finaUy, he teaches
that the trae evidence on which we may rely is
inward. "He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himseK."
We do know, — we do know something. There is
such a thing as certainty ; we are not always nor
altogether afloat ; we are not at sea without an an
chor, drifting uncertainly we know not whence, to we
5*

106 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
know not where. The Apostle Paul does not contra
dict himseK and the rest of the Scriptures by teach
ing that there is no such thing as certain knowledge.
He avoids scepticism on the one hand, and dogma
tism on the other hand, by teaching that we know
something, but that that something is imperfectly
known. The substance of our knowledge wUl re-.
main; its form wUl pass away.

V.

THE TRUE MEANING OE EVANGELICAL
CHRISTIANITY.

THE TRUE MEANING OF EVANGELICAL
CHRISTIANITY.
This word "evangeHcal" is used in a technical
sense by many persons. It is intended by them to
designate a certain class of Christians and Christian
churches, and to distinguish them from another class.
Thus, at the communion service we sometimes hear
an invitation given to aU members of evangeHcal
churches, others being excluded. So the Young
Men's Christian Association admits to full standing
as members only those who belong to evangeHcal
churches. Used in this sense, the word is sufficiently
intelligible. It is meant to include those who be
Heve in what are commonly caUed Orthodox doc
trines, and to exclude those who disbelieve them.
Orthodox doctrines are understood to be the doctrines
of the Trinity, Total Depravity, the Vicarious Atone
ment, Supernatural Conversion, Everlasting Punish
ment, and the InfaUible Authority of the Scriptures.
Those churches and Christians who reject any of these
are not evangeHcal. Thus Unitarians are excluded,

110 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
because they reject the Trinity; Universalists, be
cause they reject Everlasting Punishment; and
Boman Catholics, the l^&m Church, and Quakers,
because they deny the InfaUible Authority of the
Scriptures, substituting the authority of the Church,
the Inner Light, or that of Swedenborg.
This is the technical sense in which the word is
used; and no doubt every one; has a right to caU
himseK by any name he wUl, provided that in doing
so he does not deprive others of a name they have
also a right to possess.
Thus, the Swedenborgians have a perfect right
to caU themselves the New Church ; but when the
Eoman Cathohcs or Episcopalians caU themselves
" The Church," they are not pohte ; for they imply
that no one but themselves can belong to the Church
of Christ. The names EpiscopaHan, Baptist, Meth
odist, are distinctive, honest, and not arrogant. But
I doubt whether the same can be said of the word
"evangeHcal," when used in this exclusive sense.
Let us consider its meaning and see.
The word " evangeHcal " is not found in the New
Testament. No system of doctrine and no church
is there spoken of as being evangeHcal. The word
" evangelist " occurs three times, in each case mean
ing a preacher of the gospel. We speak of the " Four

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. Ill
Evangehsts," meaning the writers of the " Four Gos
pels." But no such term is appHed in the New Tes
tament itseK to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John;
nor are their writings anywhere caUed gospels. This
term was not so appHed tUl they were a hundred
years old.
The words " gospel " and " evangeHcal " mean the
same thing. They both mean "good news." One
is the Greek form, the other the Saxon. The word
"evangelical" comes from the Greek words ev,
good, and ayyeXov, a messenger^ The word "gos
pel" is from the Saxon "godspeU," or a good story.
It means a piece of good news.
Now I do not object to our Orthodox friends for
taking this name " evangeHcal" to themselves as a
technical name. I know that it is hard to find a
name when we want one. Those who reject Ortho
doxy have their difficulties also. They caU their
system sometimes " Eational Christianity," and some
times " Liberal Christianity " ; but perhaps these
words are a Httle arrogant too. I do not Hke them ;
for I know that many Orthodox Christians are just
as Hberal and just as rational as any other Christians
can be. It is not the name which is important, but
the thing. What I wish to ask is, "Whether the:
System caUed Orthodoxy is really more evangeHcal

112 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
than, its opposite ? Is it better news ? Is it more
joyful, peaceful, and glad than any other faith, or
is it not?" That is the question.
No doubt Christianity, as preached at first, was not
only caUed a gospel, but was a gospel. It was good
news, — taught as such, received as such, and, Hke
other good news, producing great joy and peace in
beheving. It created a mighty hope. It enabled the
early Christians to bear persecution and death pa
tiently. It Hfted them above aU fear. It was " glad
tidings to all people." It was " salvation," or safety.
It was proclaimed by the angels as good-wUl and
peace to men. It was announced by Jesus and by
John as the kingdom of heaven come down upon
earth. Surely, though one does not care about the word
" evangeHcal," and may be perfectly willing that this
shaU be monopohzed by those who hold certain views,
it is only natural to care somewhat about the thing.
One would be very sorry to know that he beheves
and teaches that wliich is not glad tidings nor good
news. For, K it is not, we must be wrong, and have
wandered from original Christianity. Is there, then,
any reason for saying that the system caUed ortho
doxy is better news than the opposite system ?
Suppose that we have never heard the doctrines

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. 113
of Orthodox or of Liberal Christianity, and now hear
them preached for the first time. We are, let us
suppose, intelligent and educated heathen, Hving in
China or Japan, and there arrive two ministers, one
an Orthodox man, the other a Liberal Christian or a
Broad Churchman. The Orthodox man begins by tell
ing us that we are sinners, and radicaUy corrupt and
evU, so as to be justly exposed to the wrath of God
and future punishment. I wiU not insist on total
depravity, because that is not now asserted by aU
Orthodox men. But, no doubt, the first article of
their faith is this doctrine of human depravity.
Now, this might turn out to be true, but I do not
think I should consider it good news. I should say,
" I never supposed myself to be very good ; I knew
I was often sinful"; but when I am told that there
is nothing good in me, and that I am so bad that
God is justly angry with me, and that I deserve his,
wrath, "It is news," I say, "but it is not certainly
good news."
"No," says my preacher, "this is not the good
news ; that is to come. The good news is, that you
can be saved from this sin and its consequences.
God has come down as a man, and was born as a
child, and was kiUed, and rose again, and was pun
ished in your place, making a proper sacrifice and

114 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
atonement to his own justice, and so now you can be
forgiven." " WeU," the Chinaman might reply, "that is good
news so far as this, that you jh?sfc-teU me I am in
great danger, and then that! am not. First, you teU
me I am a great sinner, and that God hates ma; and
now you say that he has done something to take
away my sin, and so I am just where I was before
you came. I should say that this is neither good
news nor bad news. One part balances the other."
" Not so," says our preacher ; " there is an infinite
happiness offered you, better than you can think
or dream, but on certain conditions. You must re
pent and beHeve. You must beHeve these doctrines;
and repent of your sins, and you wUl be sayed;
otherwise you wiU go to everlasting torment."
" But," says the heathen, " this is not good news at
aU ; this is very bad news. For, suppose my mind is
so made that I cannot believe your doctrines, and my
heart so made that I cannot love this God who threat
ens to torment me forever, what am I to do then ?
This is bad news, and no glad tidings at aU to me."
Now, however Orthodoxy may be mitigated, it must,
no doubt, hold to these main points, or cease to be
Orthodoxy ; that man by nature is so sinful as to de
serve and receive everlasting punishment, unless he

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. 115
is supernaturaUy converted by Divine grace, and not
by any work or merit of his own. And I think it
doubtful whether this can be caUed a piece of good
news. I am, let us imagine, in apparent good health. I
am not aware of any serious disease. But a learned
physician calls me aside and says to me, " Sir, I per
ceive by infallible symptoms that you have a deadly
malady. You wiU die in three or four weeks unless
you take a certain remedy. I have this remedy, and
perhaps I wiU give it to you. But you can do noth
ing yourseK to be cured."
I do not think that on hearing this I should
go back to my friends and say, " I have heard a piece
of good news which fills me with delight!" The
news might be true, but would not be very exhUa-
rating. I know very well that, according to Orthodoxy,
salvation is freely offered to aU. But then it is also
certain that in order to be saved we must repent, we
must be converted, we must be born again ; and it is
certain that these are described as mysterious pro
cesses, which we are unable to accomplish, except by
some special Divine influence. The danger is repre
sented as real and certain, but the mode of rescue
mysterious, and not in pur own power. This is why

116 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
I think that Orthodoxy, in its past and present form,
is not reaUy a gospel of good news, and therefore
not reaUy evangeHcal. The Eoman Cathohc Church
has an advantage over Protestant Orthodoxy in this
respect. Describing the danger in the same way, it
points out a plain, simple, and practical way of es
cape. An Orthodox Protestant can never teU exactly
what to do, in order to be converted and saved. But
a Boman Cathohc can. AU he has to do is to re
ceive the sacraments. He must be baptized, and so
become a chUd of God. When he commits sin, lie
must go to confession and be absolved. Once a year
he must partake the sacrament. Then K he dies at
any time he is sure to escape hell, and, after spend
ing some time in purgatory, sure to go to heaven.
This, K believed, might I think be caUed, perhaps,
in a certain sense, good news.
But, after aU, it is not very comforting or exhila
rating to be told that our Heavenly Father is a being
who has made some of his children with the inten
tion of punishing them to aU eternity in terrific
torments. Even if we can escape, it is not good news
to hear of the danger and certain destruction of mul
titudes of our feUow-creatures. When we heard, the
other day, of the destruction of a steamer in the
Sound, and the loss of so many passengers, did it seem

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. 117
good news because we were safe ? Suppose we had
been on the wreck, and had been taken into a boat and
brought to land, while we saw around men and women
and children struggling in vain for Hfe ; should we
have caUed out joyfully, " Good news ! good news ! /
am safe " ?
The glad tidings of Christianity, according to Or
thodoxy, are, that miUions and millions of our feUow-
creatures have gone down already into the sufferings
of heU, without hope of any rescue, and that millions
more are to follow them, whUe we and some others
in Christian lands may be saved. Is that the good
news which Jesus came to bring ? Is this the cause
of that angehc joy which overflowed the barriers
which divide heaven from earth, and caused the song
of the heavenly host to be heard by the simple shep
herds on the plains of Bethlehem ? I cannot think so.
The good news must be something of a different kind.
We wUl next suppose that some preacher of the
Broad Church comes to the Buddhists. What has
he to tell the Chinese about his rehgion ?
He tells them, first, the story of the Prodigal Son,
to show them that sin consists in going away from
God and his law, and indulging one's self in wiKul
and false pleasures. Then he teaches that suffering
is sent to make us repent and return ; that when we

118 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
repent and return, God is our Father, very glad to
have us back again. He says that God is always
the same ; that he does not need any sacrifice or
atonement ; that hell is here, and heaven is here ;
that sin is itseK heU, and that love and purity are
heaven. Now, whether this view of God be true or not
true, it is at least "good news."
He tells them, next, the story of the Good Samari
tan, to show that all men are neighbors and brothers ;
that God loves all his children alike, and that they
also must love each other. He teUs them that the
Jew is no dearer in the sight of God than the French
man or the Indian is, and that the Christian is no
more a favorite than the Buddhist or Mohammedan.
That therefore all must help each other, and that so
they wiU best obey God. He tells them, again, that
the way to God and heaven is to do what we can, and
to trust to him for power to do more ; that he who
accepts aU the truth he sees, wUl see more ; that he
who does aU the duties he is able to do, will have
power to do more. He tells them that no man is to
blame for his unbeHef, unless it is wilful, and that
there is no merit in belief, unless it imphes a love
for truth and patient pursuit of it. He says that
God requires of us no great things, but to be faithful

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. 119
in the little things of daily Hfe. He assures them
that K they do what they can, they wiU be safe and
happy here and hereafter.
Finally, he teUs them that rehgion is not a thing
by itself, but a good spirit, — a spirit of truth and of
love, filling all of Hfe. He says that rehgion does not
consist in prayers and sacraments any more than in
daUy work ; that it belongs to Monday and Tuesday
as well as to Sunday ; to the shop and street as well
as to the kitchen. He tells them that God reveals
himself in nature and science no less than by proph
ets and sacred books ; that he reveals himself in every
good soul, in the good and kind hearts about us, in
our father's and mother's love, no less than in the
words of Jeremiah and Confucius. He says that
" all scripture is given by inspiration," the scriptures
of the East and West, aU that elevates man; that
the scriptures of the Hindoos and Persians were sent
by God, so far as they contain Divine truth ; and that
Christianity is better than other religions, because it
is larger and deeper, less exclusive, more generous
and hospitable to aU truth.
Then our evangelist goes on to say that all life
is advancing ; that Hfe does not die ; that matter
dies off it ; that Christ rose out of this world into a
higher, out of this body into a nobler, and that we

120 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
shaU foUow him. He says there is no real separa
tion between these two worlds ; that the next begins
before this one ends ; that death is not the end, but
the beginning ; not going down into the tomb, but
up into a fuUer and richer existence. He declares
the true resurrection to be going up ; to be ascent to
a better world, not a return to this one.
Of these two evangels I now ask which is the
most evangeHcal? Which is most a gospel, most
truly good news ? Is that good news which leaves in
the universe the permanent horror of an everlasting
hell side by side with a heaven, distributing and
dividing fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters,
friends and lovers between the two ? Is it glad ti
dings to be told that God, through all eternity, will
never reign over more than one part of his universe,
and that the DevU wiU be king forever over the
other ? Is it not better news to learn that the black
spots on creation — evU, suffering, sin, death — are
to be made at last instruments of good ; that every
knee shall at last bow to goodness, and every tongue
confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father ?
Now, K those who believe in a narrow Christian
ity, limited to a part of God's creatures and creation,
choose to call it an evangelical system, and a gospel

EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY. 121
of good news, I do not object. Let them keep the
name. But let those who receive Christianity in another
and higher sense show this faith in the spirit and
temper of their daUy IKe. They Hve in a world
full of a Divine love, where sorrows and trials are
the shadows which shaU pass away, and bring good
in their place. Let them be glad and grateful. Let
them not be troubled by little disappointments, or
perplexed by temporary difficulties, or anxious about
this Hfe or the other. Let them trust in God and
his perpetual providence. Let them do with their
might what their hands find to do of beautiful things
and good.
It may be said that this is a system of optimism,
and that it makes Hght of evil and sin. No doubt
true Christianity is optimism ; for it teaches that aU
things work for good to those who love God; that
God is love, and dweUs in love ; and that this love is
to conquer aU evU, so that God, who is love, shaU be
aU in all. But it does not deny the reaHty of pres
ent evU or sin, as now existing in the world. This
evU we know. It is simply a matter of fact. EvU
exists, and cannot be denied. The only question is,
Does it exist for a good end or for a bad end ? Is it
aU to end in good, or is it to go on forever as evU ?

122 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Is it, in its nature; infinite or finite; Hmited or unHm-
ited ? Orthodoxy asserts the last ; Liberal Christian
ity the other. The Broad Church says> " Evil exists,
but it exists for the sake of good, and is to end in
gbod. It exists that we may resist it and fight against
it, and so develop energy and virtue. It exists that
we may be able to choose between evU and good^ and
so be free beings." Since the difference between the
finite and the infinite is an infinite difference, it fol
lows that the Orthodox view of evil and the opposite
differ by an absolutely infinite amount.
One of the views we have thus contrasted makes
of Hfe merely a scene of probation. We are here on
trial, and at death the sentence is to be pronounced.
The other makes of Hfe, not probation, but education.
We are here to be educated by aU our experience,
to be developed into something higher. We are to
grow up in aU things, and to become more and more
like Jesus Christ. If we adopt this generous theory,
let us be diligent to make our caUing and election
sure.

VI.
THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN.

VI.
THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN.
Eeligious preachers and writers very generaUy
consider it their duty to represent sinfulness in as
black colors as possible. They imagine that they
cannot err in that direction. They suppose men so
ready to excuse themselves, and to think well of
themselves, that there is no danger of their thinking
too badly of themselves. The one great sin of man
they suppose to be spiritual pride ; the one great vir
tue, humihty. Therefore they teach natural and total
depravity ; that aU men'are born with sinful natures,
and that aU are born totaUy depraved. You must
not aUow men to suppose they have anything good
in them ; if they do, they wUl suppose they are about
good enough. The great Orthodox preachers have
been those who gave the most awful pictures of hu
man depravity; who have tried to convince Httle
chUdren that they hated God, that they deserved
nothing from him but heU, and that, while God has
aU claim upon us, we have none on him. These
ideas are presumed to be eminently religious ideas;

126 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

the more we think in this way, the more pious and
humble we are considered to be.
Let us examine these beliefs by common-sense and
by Scripture; and first, let us test this notion, that
whUe God has aU claims on us, we have none on him.
Does such an opinion as this tend to glorify Gpd ?
I think not. Would a father consider it honorable to
teU his chUdren that they had no claims upon hhn.
for support, for advice, protection, education, love ?
Should we honor an earthly parent more highly for
declaring that he owed nothing to his chUdren, that
he considered himseK under no responsibilities to
them ? Assume that he was vastly wiser and better
and more powerful than they ; would that make him
less responsible, pr more so ? I think that we honor
those parents the most who have taught their children
to feel that they have a right to come to them always
for help, sympathy, counsel. We honor the father
who teaches his children that everything he does
he does for them, that aU he has he has for them.
Let every other door be closed to them, his is open;
let aU other men reject them, he gladly receives them.
No matter what their faults and sins are, he stUl feels
bound to care for them and never to abandon them.
God calls himself Father, teaches us to say to him
every day, "Our Father"; and so he teaches us

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. 127
that we have claims on him which he cannot and
wiU not disaUow.
If there be one law of ethics which no one can
question, it is that aU power implies responsibUity.
Besponsibihty for the use of power is in exact pro
portion to the degree of power. But the power of
God is infinite, therefore his responsibUity is infinite.
The fact that we are weak and ignorant does not
give us less claim on him, but more.
When we caU God righteous, just, and holy, we
speak of him as recognizing and fulfiUing moral obli
gations, otherwise the words have no meaning. Our
only conception of God as a moral being, as more
than an arbitrary power, comes from these concep
tions of right and truth which he has put into our
souls. Do not take away these grand and holy
attributes from the Almighty from a foohsh notion
that you make him more free and powerful thereby.
The man who emancipates himseK from moral re
straint does not become more free, for he becomes
less human. God also, when set above right and
justice, becomes less divine. Nor does the Scripture
take this vieAv. The Bible everywhere represents
God as under moral obligations to his creatures.
One text says that "if we confess our sins, God
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." Faith-

128 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ful, that is, true to his promises, bound by his en-.
gagements; just, that is, required to forgive us by
the principles of eternal right, which are a part of
his own nature. He does not forgive the peni
tent sinner merely out of compassion, only from
mercy, but also because of his justice. God is mer
ciful, and loves to forgive ; but if he did not for
give us when we repent, from his mercy, he would
from his fidelity to his own promises. If he did not
forgive us from his faithfulness or mercy, then he
would forgive us from his justice. Such is the dec
laration of the Apostle. " Let God be true, though
every man be a liar." By three immutable things
the penitent sinner obtains pardon : from the mercy
of God, the truth of God, and the justice of God.
Moreover, the Bible represents the Deity not only
as bound by his own nature to his creatures, but also
as loving to bind himself by special engagements.
The law of Moses and the gospel of Jesus are repre
sented, both, as covenants. One is the old covenant,
the other the new covenant. Now a covenant is
what we caU a contract, and expresses the idea of
reciprocal obHgation. Both parties are bound by a
contract. And these two contracts correspond to
something planted in human nature. The old con
tract is, that if a man obeys God he is to be re-

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. 129
warded ; if he disobeys, he is to be punished ; if he
disobeys and repents, he shaU be safe ; K he disobeys
and perseveres, he shaU continue to suffer the conse
quences. The new contract, the new covenant, the
gospel, is, that K one wiU trust God, God will be his
friend and help him. It does not annul the old one,
but completes it, fulfils it. God wishes us to believe
and feel that he is under obligations to us ; that we
are bound to obey, love, and trust him ; that faith no
less than obedience is our duty ; and that he is bound
to protect, forgive, help, inspire, and save us, so long
as we continue to trust in him.
But what does common-sense teach of the evU of
sin ? It teaches us that sin is the great evil of Hfe ;
that without this, aU others would be tolerable. The
sting of aU suffering is sin.
I go into two homes. In one they have every
thing, and possess nothing. There is a spirit of dis
content in the house. They envy their neighbors,
they are jealous that they do not receive aU the at
tention they claim, they are unhappy because they
cannot get into this or that circle of society. There
is no famUy affection, no peace, no mutual concession
and good-wiU. Each demands everything and con
cedes nothing. The spirit is wrong, therefore aU is
wrong. 6* I

130 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

I go into another house. They have nothing, but
they possess aU things. They are poor, they hardly
know where to go for food or clothing ; but they pos
sess a sweet eontent, a perfect confidence in God, an
entire and constant love for each other. Therefore
the evU seems not to be evU. Misery is robbed of
its sting. Patience, with eyes of heayenly calm, sits
by the fireside ; and serene, happy thoughts ; glad,
kindly words ; cheerful, merry talk, defeat the as
sault of pain and want. The soul being right, aU is
right. The soul being wrong, aU is wrong.
The great evU of Hfe is sin. Among the poor, it
often takes the form of intemperance and brutaHty ;
among the rich, of coldness of heart, civil selfishness,
pohte hardness, and indifference ; in short, want of
heart. One had rather go into an Irish shanty, where,
amid coarseness and vulgarity, there is good-hea-rted-
ness, kindliness, and truth, than into some gilded
saloons which freeze us with stiff decorurn and the
absence of all "love.
One of the greatest calamities of these last years
was the destruction' pf the great city pf Chiqago.
The event in history most comparable to it is the faU
of Babylon. " In one hour so much glory perished ! "
Yet there was no special sin -which caused it ; so all
the suffering seemed only to develop strength, noble

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. 131
patience, sweet endurance. The suffering called out
human love and grand cordial sympathies. It showed
that behind aU separation of States, countries, hostile
nations, beats the great warm heart of humanity. No
amount of logs, suffering, pain, can be a real misfor
tune so long as there is no sin in it.
But look, on the other hand, at the terrible evUs
wliich come from rascahty, corruption, vUlany in
public hfe. This is the cloud which droops, low-
hung, over our Hfe. Men are in such haste to be
rich that, in rushing forward to this goal, they throw
aside, as retarding burdens, their honesty, their self-
respect, their good reputation. They defile with mud
the names of their fathers and those of their chU
dren. Every day we hear of some one, hitherto
accounted respectable, who has been guilty of
villany in the hopes of making money speedily.
Legitimate business has turned into speculation.
Merchants have become gamblers. The great mer
cantile profession, so honorable in the past, which has
conferred such benefits on the world, which has ad
vanced civihzation, spread culture and knowledge,
brought nations into contact, sent missions of intel
ligence in the fleets which spot with white sails
remotest oceans, — this grand old profession is in
danger of being converted into a mere clique of

132 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
speculators. If so, it wiU be stung to death by
sin. Sin is something very real and positive. I com
plain of the old theology, that it has substituted a
metaphysical abstraction in place of the real evil
" Total depravity " sounds very badly, but there is
nothing corresponding to it in actual life. All expe
rience refutes the notion of total depravity. Every
bad man has some good in him ; every good man has
some evil A perfectly sinless man is "a faultless
monster which the world ne'er saw." A perfectly
sinful man is another monster which the world ne'er
saw. The darkest night has its lights, the clearest
day its shadows. In weU-written novels the hero is
never a perfect saint, but a man of generous, noble
purpose, fighting with temptations and . conquering
them, and so rising above himself. He is not a saint
aU white, nor a sinner aU black ; but a man, with a
great human heart and pure aspirations, who holds
on tiU he conquers the evil in himself and about
himseK. We see how true is the statement, If we say
we have no sin we deceive ourselves. Few people
ever say, in so many words, that they have no sin.
But they make light of sin; they think it of no
consequence. Jesus judged differently when he de-

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. 133
clared it better to cut off the right hand and puU
out the right eye than to commit one real sin.
How do we say we have no sin ? We say we have
no sin, when we confess it in the abstract and deny
it in the concrete. A man rises in a prayer-meeting,
and declares himseK the chief of sinners; says his
heart is fuU of all evil, and that but for God's mercy
he ought to go to hell Yes; but K another man
should then reply, " That is true ! You are about the
meanest feUow I ever knew," he would probably be
angry. He did not mean to say that ; he only meant
that he was a sinner in a theological sense ; not a real
rascal by any means. He deceived himseK; for aU
the time that he was caUing himseK the chief of sin
ners, he was in reaHty thinking that he had no sin.
Genuine humihty does not often talk about its sins.
But it shows its sense of sin by tenderness toward
other sinners. Humihty and true penitence alone are
able reaUy to forgive. That is why we can only be
forgiven when we can forgive others. A sincere man
finds in his own heart the germs of aU the evils
which break out around him into vice and crime.
Hence he cannot loudly condemn, though he greatly
pities, the vicious man and the criminal. He knows
that the outbreak of sin into crime is not the worst
part of it. This disease is often worse before it comes

134 COMMONrSENSE IN RELIGION.
out than after. The sight of one's own inward sin,
incarnate outwardly in crime, often appalls the soul
and leads it to real penitence The men in jaUs and
state-prisons are not the worst men in the world.
Those who ought to, be there, but have cunning enough
to keep out, are often worse men.
Every one ought to know his own sinful tendencies,
his besetting sins, his peculiar temptations. AU the
time we spend in excuses and justifications is lost
time, It is a great mistake to fancy ourselves strong
when we are weak. Better to see our weakness, and
so be prepared to resist temptation. But, on the
other hand, exaggeration is of no use. Every one
has some good quaHties, and it is best to know them,
so as to make use of them. God does not ask us to
pretend to be worse than we are, in order to please
him. The Apostle says, " Do not think of yourselves
more highly than you ought to think" But he does
not say, " Think of yourselves more lowly than you
ought to think." Think the truth, whatever it is.
Job was requested by his friends to say he was a
great sinner, in order to pacify God's anger. But Job
said, "No ! I am not a great sinner. I am a pretty
good man. I have tried to do right always. I have
been eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. If a
poor man got into difficulty, I tried to help him. I

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. 135
was rich, but that is no sin. I used my riches for
good purposes. I enjoyed it myself, and I tried to
make others enjoy it. If I saw a scoundrel oppressing
some helpless man or woman, I came to the rescue.
What is the use of saying I am a great sinner, when
I do not see it ? Does God wish me to tell a He, in
order to please him ? I think not. I think he likes
the itruth." So Job told no He, put on no long face ;
and God was pleased with that, and said he Hked him
better than he did his advisers, who urged him to teU
falsehoods to pacify the Almighty.
No man is what he ought to be : this is undenia
ble. And because we are not what we ought to be,
we make .ourselves and others miserable By our seK-
ishness, Ul-temper, want of love, want of generosity,
want of manHness and womanlinessSj want of truth,
want of courage, we bring infinite evUs on purselves
and others. Men do wrong things, and are ashamed
to confess them, and so go on doing more and more
wrong things to cover up. the first The hUl of sin is
so steep, that if you begin to slide down, you have to
keep sHding; you cannot stop. You think you can
not, at least; but you can. If we have only the
courage tp confess, to own up manfuUy, we can be
saved and forgiven.
And this forgiveness is not something technical or

136 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
theological, it is real. It is not a future forgiveness
only, but a present satisfaction. When we confess
our sin, and are ready to take the consequences of it,
we feel at once an inward peace. We have a con
tentment which comes from God, and is the sign and
evidence of his forgiving love. We are relieved from
a great weight.
Forgiveness does not mean the taking away of aU
the consequences of sin. That would be bad for us.
It is best to bear the outward consequences of our
wrong-doing, for that makes us reahze its evU, and
wiU prevent us from faUing into it again. Forgive
ness means inward peace, contentment, satisfaction.
It means our self-respect come back again, our hope
and courage restored. It means that the inward con
sequences of sin are taken away. It means, above
aU, the assurance that God has become our friend
once more. When we have aU this, we may weU
bear patiently the outward punishment and suffering
which are the necessary consequences of wrong-doing.
God does not alter his laws of retribution when he
forgives us. What a man soweth, that shaU he also
reap. When an intemperate man repents, and leaves
off drinking, he does not at once recover his health
injured by past excesses, he does not receive back his
wasted property, he does not regain in an hour his

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. - 137

lost reputation and social positiou. No ; but he has
an inward satisfaction ; he is satisfied with himself,
fiUed with new courage and hope.
And this inward forgiveness comes from the justice
and truth of God. It comes from the regular action
of his laws. He has made us so, that if we reaUy
repent, we regain our inward peace and strength.
But then the repentance is not real, unless it is strong
enough to show itseK in confession, in open, honest
confession of the wrong we have done. Until we do
this, the entire peace does not come. It must be
strong enough also to induce us to make fuU atone
ment, to make good the wrong as far as we can. And
also it must prove itseK real by making us able to
forgive others, wliich we can easily do when we really
see that we are not essentiaUy better than they, but
perhaps worse.
" If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves."
We may not have committed any outward crime, any
sin of open, flagrant sort ; but if we are honest with
ourselves, we can generaUy find the roots of most
such sins within us. If we have not committed them,
it is because God has surrounded us with restraints,
shielded us from temptation, made our Hves serene
and safe, fed us with wise counsels from chUdhood up,
educated us to self-control and seK-direction. Per-

138 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
haps we have never murdered a man. But K we have
hated a man, and wished him out of our way, there
was the Httle seed which, under suitable climatic
influences, might have grown into murder. We have
never stolen money, nor forged, and we perhaps
have never had any temptation to do so. But if
we have coyeted what belonged tp another, K we
have quietly appropriated another's thpught without
acknowledgment, there was the seed of theft, which,
K we had been born in a oeUar, and bred in the
street, might easUy have carried us to the state-
prison. What right have I, what right have you, to
look down with scorn on those whp have fallen be
cause their feet were placed on slippery ice, whUe
ours were put on soHd rack ? Pity them, forgive
them, help them, do not judge them, unless we wish
to be judged ourselves by the same hard, unforgiv
ing law.
If we say we have np sin, we deceive ourselves.
If we say we are totaUy depraved, we also deceive
ourselves. It may seem to us to be very humble to
say that. We deceive ourselves ; it is not humility,
but falsehood, which apes humihty. God has put
into us a great deal that is good. He has given us
reason, conscience, heart, freedom to choose good,
power to resist evU When he has done aU this for

THE TRUTH ABOUT SIN. ' 139
us, to pretend that he has made us totaUy depraved,
is not humihty, but ingratitude and impiety. The
case is bad enough as it is ; do not make it worse.
Eepent of your real sins, and repent practicaUy, by
correcting them, and then God wiU send into your
soul his forgiving love and peace. Eepentance opens
the door of the heart, inwardly, toward God, and lets
in aU his sunshine. The pulsations of that Divine
love pour out unceasingly, and rush down in Hght
and heat and Hfe, like the ocean of Hght which per-
petuaUy flows from the sun. If it is winter in our
souls, it is because we have turned away from God
and his love. If it is night, it is not because God
has gone away from us, but because we have gone
away from him. Wait, poor soul, watch, wait, Hsten ;
and when the Divine Friend comes, hasten to open
the door and to let him in, and the whole house of
your soul shaU be fUled with new Hght and Hfe.

VII.
COMMON-SENSE AND SCRIPTURE VIEWS OF
HEAVEN AND HELL.

VII.
common-Sense and scripture views
of heaven and hell.
What is heaven ? Where is heaven ? How does
one enter heaven ?
The most common phrases uttered about heaven
are sUch as these : " Those who are good shaU go to
heaven." " I hope, when I die, to go to heaven." " I
expect to meet my friends in heaven." " When we
get to heaven, there wiU be no more sin nor sorrow."
AU of these expressions, and most other expressions
used about heaven, imply, 1, That it is a place ; 2,
That it is a place we go to after death ; 3, A place
where only good Christians go ; 4, A place of per
fect happiness, where they wiU always remain.
Now, it is a little remarkable that such expressions
as these are not to be found in the New Testament.
In the first place, heaven is often used in its primi
tive and simple sense for the sky, as when we read
of "rain from heaven/' "haU from heaven," "the
clouds of heaven/' "the stars of heaven," "the fowls
which fly in the midst of heaven." And in the

144 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
next place, though heaven is put for the home of God
and of his angels, this is not Hmited to a distant place
or time. On the contrary, the kingdom of heaven is
Christ's kingdom, especiaUy in this world. Every
thing in heaven is not yet free from evU ; for Paul
says that " God wiU reconcUe to himseK aU things in
heaven and earth." The heavenly places where Christ
sits, on the right hand of God, are places where we
sit with him now. " He hath raised us up together
with Christ, and made us sit together with him in
heavenly places." We nowhere read in the Bible of
any one's expressing a wish to go to heaven after
death. No one in the New Testament speaks of what
he shaU do or have or be when he gets to heaven.
These phrases are aU modern and unscriptural
The absence of these common phrases indicates
that the modern idea of heaven is essentiaUy differ
ent from that of the Bible. Our ideas of heaven are
natural, and not spiritual. We locate it in space and
time, a good many years distant, a good many mUes
away. Some persons place it in the sun, and others
farther off. Some persons think that we may enter
heaven as soon as we die ; others, that we shaU have
to wait longer, and spend some time in an interme
diate state, or a purgatory. We shaU arrive at
heaven, according to the common idea, by Hving on
through time and travelling on through space.

HEAVEN AND HELL. 145

But the Scripture notion of heaven differs essen
tiaUy from this. It is above space and above time,
therefore not natural, but supernatural. We can un
derstand this by an Ulustration. There are many
things perfectly real and substantial, which are not in
space nor in time, nor subject to the laws of space or
time. Love is a very real thing. We know that it
exists, and we know when it does not exist ; we know
when it comes and when it goes. But suppose some
one should say, "What has become of your love for
me, and where has it gone ? " And suppose the an
swer should be, " It has gone to PhUadelphia." The
answer would be absurd, because love does not come
and go in space. The same is true of thought. If I
say, " My thoughts are in London," I should not mean
that they were in that portion of space, or that they
had gone through space to get there, but only that I
was thinking about London.
The heavenly kingdom is a supernatural kingdom,
a kingdom above nature, therefore above space and
time. It is a kingdom of God, it is his presence ; and
God is not in any particular space or time, but pres
ent by his activity in aU space and aU time.
To be in heaven is to be with God. But we enter
the presence of God by a spiritual, and npt by a nat
ural act ; not by taking a journey to the top of Mount

146 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Olympus, or to the top of Mount Mem, but by taking
a journey from a bad state of mind to a good state
of mind. We en.ter the presence of God by purity
of heart. " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shaU see God." When the heart is pUre, we enter
heaven. When wholly pure, we are fully in heaven.
It is a mistake to suppose that the happiness
of heaven can come from being in one place rather
than another place. It is only earthly happiness
which comes so. A change of scene and circum
stances can produce . real delight, but it is earthly
delight, and therefore transient. It is delightful to
see beautiful scenery, to travel through an interesting
country, to meet charming people, to have the means
of indulging aU one's tastes and wishes. But the
quality of these delights is earthly, not heavenly. • It
is temporal, and not eternal joy, therefore essentiaUy
transient. But heavenly or eternal joy partakes of
the eternal nature of God. It does not pass away ;
we can only lose it by leaving it.
Heaven, then, is the state of the soul, when, rising
above space and time, it communes with God and
eternity. When God enters the soul, then heaven
enters the soul
Heavenly joy, therefore, differs from earthly joy
in this, that it flows to us from withjn, and not

HEAVEN AND HELL. 147
from without. Therefore it does not consist, as
many suppose, in being with others in a great as
sembly, and singing praise to God with delicious
music. This would be only another form of earthly
pleasure, and, like all other earthly pleasure, would
soon tire us. Our hymns speak of sweet fields
dressed in Hving green ; of rivers of pleasure which
flow over the bright plains ; of pearly gates, and streets
of shining gold ; of everlasting spring, and unwither-
ing flowers ; of the absence of hunger, thirst, and dis
ease. But aU these conditions, were they multiphed
a thousand times over, could not give us any real
heavenly joy, for that, we repeat, comes to us from
within, and not from without.
Heaven consists of heavenly knowledge, love, and
action. It is seeing God's truth, loving God's good
ness, and doing God's wiU. These three qualities or
acts constitute the essence of heaven here, and of
heaven hereafter. In this world, though the dehght
which comes to us from without is very precious, and
by no means to be despised, yet the dehght which
comes from knowledge, love, and action, is aU which
is permanent, all which we can keep after we have
gained it, all which becomes part of the soul itseK.
Heaven consists of knowledge, love, and action.
First, of knowledge. This is not opinion, or belief;

148 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
it does not come from reasoning or speculation ; it is
not verbal or formal, but is simply the sight of truth.
For, high above the sphere of speculative behef, ex
tends that of truth. Opinion fluctuates, truth remains
one and the same. As the mountain carries its sum
mit aloft through a region of storms into one of
eternal sunshine, so above aU disputed questions, aU
shifting clouds and creeping mists of earthly opinion,
rise some truths which have no change, nor shadow
of turning. We look at them from below through
the cloud-region, and sometimes they are partially
concealed, sometimes wholly hidden. But we know
that they are there, even when we do not see them ;
and this knowledge is our life. Woe to the sceptic
to whom aU things are uncertain ; who, because he
has found so many things false, beheves that nothing
is reaL To him there can be no peace, no rest, no
heaven. God does not mean that any one should be
a sceptic. He gives "us aU some certainties to begin
with. We are born inheriting a capital of knowl
edge, which we may enlarge by our fidelity, or squan
der by our foUy. The chUd is born into a world of
reality* He knows his own existence, he knows that
there is a real world about him. There is a charm
and joy of reaHty in every buttercup, every bird,
every stone. And he Who loves truth, continually

HEAVEN AND HELL. 149
enlarges the sphere of knowledge. He who seeks
truth for its own sake never becomes a sceptic. And
if he carries into life the truth which he sees, then it
grows more and more real. He becomes sure of the
everlasting distinctions between truth and falsehood,
right and wrong, good and evU. Nothing can shake
his steadfast faith in God and immortahty; that
right is eternally good, and wrong eternaUy evil.
And this profound certainty, this fixed knowledge,
is one of the elements of heaven, here and hereafter.
Again, the essence of heaven is love. True- love,
heavenly love is not desire, not appetite, not a merely
instinctive and clinging affection. It is something'
higher. It is the power of going out of one's self in
sympathy with othersi It is giving one's self in the-
service of others. It is joy and peace in the sight of
a Divine beauty and goodness which flows into aU
things. When we love others with a true and noble
love, it is because we see in them something Divine.
The object of love is, therefore, always the eternal
beauty. To this Divine beauty we gladly sacrifice
ourselves^ and find it more blessed to give than to-
receive. What profound peace comes to- the soul
which rests, after its insatiate longing, content in the
mere sight of the perfect love !
Working for good and truth is the other element

150 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
of heaven. There is a peace which comes from all
honest, faithful work ; from all work done in a simple
sense of duty. The great content of the mass of
men is in the necessity of daUy work. Therefore
the roots of heavenly joy, in this life and the next,
are to be found in having plenty to know, to love,
and to do.
What must we do in order to go to heaven ?
If the kingdom of heaven is within us, if it is
righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,
then evidently we shaU not go to heaven at aU, but
heaven must come to us. On this subject mistakes
are very great. In preaching and conversation the
opposite view is usuaUy taken for granted. Heaven
is a place. It has its waUs and gates Hke a royal
garden. The saved are admitted to it as we admit
students to school or college, by passing an examina-
tion. All sects teach thus ; they differ only as to the
nature of the certificate required. According to the
Eoman Cathohcs the certificate is given to those who
have been faithful to their church, and respectful to
the Virgin Mary. According to most Protestants, it
is given to those who have held orthodox opinions,
and have passed through the process called conver
sion. According to rational and practical Christians,
it is awarded to those who have lived a good moral

HEAVEN AND HELL. 151
Hfe, and done good actions. But in aU these views
there is the same error. They aU err in assuming
that heaven is a place into which we are to be ad
mitted at the close of life, after some kind of exami
nation. It is assumed that there is to be a trial for
every soul after death, — some one day of judgment,
when we are to be examined, and to present our cer
tificate. If this is right, we go up into heaven ; if
not satisfactory, we are turned down into hell.
According to this view, a view which is either
taught distinctly or taken for granted in most
pulpits, this IKe is what is caUed a place of pro
bation ; at the close of which the trial is to be held,
and the sentence wiU be pronounced of guilty or not
guilty. If the sentence is against us, we are sent to
a place caUed heU, to be tormented there forever, in
the society of devUs. If we are acquitted, we go to
a different place, caUed heaven, where we are to be
happy forever, in the society of angels and in the
presence of God.
That one part of the education of Hfe is the testing
of character, we aU know; but this is continuous.
We are always made stronger by the tests of IKe.
The trial of faith worketh patience. But common
observation shows that the world is no such scene
of probation as is commonly assumed. We are not

152 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
here to be tried for our lives, we are here to be edu
cated. We are tested by hfe itself, during aU of life,
and not merely at its close. What sort of a Chris
tian probation do those have who are born outside of
Christendom, as are the majority of the human race ?
Within Christendom, how many have ever had a,
Christian education, or have come under Christian
influences ? If they have been under such influ
ences, how often are they also under other influences,,
tending to neutralize them. How can any sentence of
"guilty" or "not guilty" be pronounced on all men ?;
We are aU guilty and aU innocent; guilty in some
things, innocent in others. We try to do good, and.
we fail ; we mean to do right, and we do wrong. The.
spirit is wiUing, the flesh is weak. There is a law of
the mind, and a law of the members ; sometimes one
is uppermost, sometimes the other. This is the case.
with the majority of men, even in Christian lands.
There are some really good people, going the right.
way, doing the right things: some really bad peo
ple, going the wrong way, doing the wrong things ;
but the majority are neither very good nor very bad :
they alternate from half- virtues to half-vices.
I can put a watch on probation, and test its going
day by day ; if it gains or loses more than so many
seconds, it is condemned. I can put a gun on proba-

HEAVEN AND HELL. 153
tion, and say that unless it will shoot within so
many inches of the mark at three hundred yard's, it
is condemned. I can put a boy on probation, and
say that if he makes more than a certain number of
mistakes at his examination, he cannot be admitted
to coUege. But how can mankind be put on any
one decisive probation ? Shall men be tested by the
number of sins they commit, or the number of good
actions they perform ? But some men are born with
better natures than others, some have better influ
ences around them than others, and therefore, if
judged at aU, each must have his own test. They
cannot be tested as we test the watches, or the
schoolboys, by any one fixed standard.
Suppose, then, that each man is tested by a sliding-
scale, arranged not only according to his goodness
and wickedness, but also according to his opportu
nities and advantages. Then it would foUow that
a pretty bad man who had had no opportunities,
or poor opportunities, would go to heaven; and a
pretty good man, who had not made equal use of his
better opportunities, would go to heU. Then heU
would contain many people much better than those
in heaven. This is the dilemma. If only good
people are to go to heaven, and only the bad to
heU, then those wiU be punished for not being good
7*

154 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
who have never had any opportunity of being so, and
who could not help being bad. But K each man is
rewarded or punished according to his efforts to do
right, taking into account aU the circumstances, then
good and bad people will be mixed together in
heaven, and other good and bad people wUl be mixed
together in heU.
If heaven be a place, and heU another place, it is
impossible to escape this difficulty. But if heaven
be inward happiness and peace, and heU be inward
dissatisfaction and unrest, then the difficulty disap
pears. Just so far as a man is faithful and true to
his conscience and his heart, he enters into an in
ward heaven ; just so far as he is false to it, he goes
into an inward hell. The worm that never dies is
conscience. No matter how prosperous outwardly
one may be, so long as he is doing wrong his con
science- gives him no rest. He may resist it, refuse
to hear it, fight against it, but he cannot have any
real peace while he refuses to obey it. This worm
never dies. And the fire that is not quenched is the
insatiate desire, the longing for content, which finds
none and can find none in outward things. Insatiate
desire is the unquenchable flame.
The conception of God derived from the teachings
of Jesus, which has become a part of the common-

HEAVEN AND HELL. 155
sense of Christendom, is that he is a father. Now,
this notion of God as a father is utterly opposed
to the usual doctrine of probation. Could a good
earthly father put his chUdren on trial in this way ?
Could he take his Httle ones and test them, as a
manufacturer tests his goods, and, fixing an arbi
trary mark of excellence, reject aU that do not come
up to it ? No, ten times no ! Those who are low
down and far off are the very ones the good earthly
and heavenly father cares for the most. The Son
of God comes to seek and to save those who are
lost. Therefore, according to Christ and the New Testa
ment, a man carries his heaven and heU with him
in the state of his own mind and heart. A selfish,
proud, vain, egotistical man, always thinking of him
seK and what he ought to have, always afraid that
he shaU not get his rights, cannot go to heaven.
For heaven consists in forgetting one's seK, and lov
ing others; in rising out of one's seK in reverence
and worship for God and goodness ; in Hving out of
one's self for a great and noble cause, for truth, free
dom, humanity.
Why, then, talk of going to heaven at all?
Heaven is close to us aU the time. We stand on its
threshold at every moment. Why talk of going to

156God? Is npt God here, in this world, close to our
heart, every hour, every moment ? He stands at the
door and knocks ; and, if we are wUHng, he wUl
come in. It is idle to talk of an outwatd heaven or
an outward hell, unless we first escape the inward
hell and go into the; inward heaven.
The most real heU, and deepest. heU, is selfish
ness; this is the great guK fixed between the evU
and the good, which cannot be passed over. As long
as one is thinking mainly of himself, his own httle.
successes and failures, his own small merits or de
merits, so long there is a great gulf fixed between;
his soul and heaven. He sees Abraham afar off,
with Lazarus in his bosom. He cannot enter into
communication with noble souls, with the good,
great, true, and pure ; for he is himseK too smaU and
too mean for this. He has in him a worm that
never dies, and a fire that is never quenched. He.
is consumed by insatiable longings. No matter what
he has, he thinks he ought to have more ; no matter
how much he is honored and praised, he thinks he
ought to be more honored and more praised; no matr
ter what position or power he has gained, he thinks
he ought to have something greater. Selfishness is
never satisfied. It is a perpetual root of discontent.
It is a heU which men carry in their own bosoms
wherever they go.

HEAVEN AND HELL. 157
ShaU we say, then,, that there is no outward
heaven, and no outward heU ? No.; we may admit
both. But these have their roots within; they are
the fruits and results of the inward heaven and in
ward heU A generous man draws to himseK out
ward reverence, love, and honor; he lives in the
warm atmosphere of love. A soul capable of seK-.
forgetting reverence, looking up to what is higher
than itseK, is so ennebled and Hfted up, that it comes
into communion with what is great and noble, and
eata and drinks with angels and archangels. We
must first have heaven in the soul, and then we
shaU sit. in heavenly places.
I know a woman,, who has aU. her Hfe been Hving'
for other people. She has not done this so much
from, conscience as from love. She. has somehow
been able to see something good in a great many
persons.. Wherever she. has gone she has met with
heroes and heroines. She has discovered somethmg
wonderful and admirable, where the rest of us saw
nothing; for it is. love which, leads to sight. The
most of us go. from Dan to Beersheba, and say " It is
aU barren," because we have not the quick eye of love
to see real goodness, the delicate sense of sympathy
to perceive truth and nobleness. This lady of whom
I speak has never been rich, has had to work hard to

158 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
support herseK, has had nothmg attractive about her
position ; but, nevertheless, she has Hved in heavenly
places more than any one I know. She has made
acquaintance with aU the best people. She has been
attended by troops of friends. She has personally
known, and that intimately, nearly aU the people of
her time with whom one would wish to be ac
quainted. Going to Washington to serve a friend,
she saw Abraham Lincoln, whose acute mind looked
through her somewhat pale exterior, and discovered
the jewel within ; so they two became warm friends.
Now, this is an iUustration of what we mean when
we say that the outward heaven grows out of the
inward heaven, and is its natural result. It is only
the same thing which Jesus says, " Give, and it shaU
be given you : fuU measure, pressed down, and run
ning over, shaU men give into your bosom."
Therefore it foUows that there are a great many
different heavens, and a great many different heUs,
both in this world and in the next. There are also
degrees in the happiness of heaven and heU, in this
world and in other worlds. " In my father's house/'.
says Jesus, " are many mansions." The law of vari
ety, which prevaUs in this world, probably extends to
aU others.
But there is one element, not yet mentioned, which

HEAVEN AND HELL. 159
throws a heavenly radiance over our Hfe here, and
which, if we may trust Paul, is to endure hereafter.
It is Hope. We ate aU hoping, and on good grounds,
to be better off to-morrow than to-day, better off next
year than we are this. We are looking up, not down ;
forward, not backward. This Hghtens toil, sweetens
labor, makes discomfort easy to bear. Every man,
woman, and chUd must have something good to look
forward to, in order to be happy. This something
good may be more or less elevated, more or less dis
tant. These human, earthly heavens are of a very
¦ different kind, as we can see ; but Hfe is worth very
little K we have not some kind of a heaven to look
forward to.
The chUd's heaven is the next haK-hohday; the
nearest hour in which he can play with his new toy,
his top, his baU, his hoop. The little girl will be in
heaven, so she thinks, when she shaU be sitting on
the floor with her Httle rag-baby, arranging its ward
robe. The poorest beggar-boy has, behind the house,
in the muddy yard, a Httle structure of sticks and
stones, which is to him a more wonderful piece of
architecture than the Strasbourg Minster; and he faUs
asleep dreaming of the morning, when he can run
out barefoot, and finish it. The good God has taken
care that aU Httle chUdren, rich or poor, shaU have

160 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
this, heaven of hope around them ; this, heaven float
ing haK an. hour before them, with its romantic,
poetic charm, its inexhaustible wonder, and. beauty.,
Children Hve by hope, and are happy in. it. And,,
when the chUd goes out of this heaven, he presently-
sees another before him. A new hope comes up, toi
feed his, life. It. is the hope of getting on in the
world, — of beeoming a great man, a rich merchant.
with numerous ships ; an eminent lawyer, doctor, pol
itician ; a poet of renown ; who knows ? Does not,
every bright, boy beheve himself a genius ? Does he
not expect to glorify his name, and to achieve,, in a
few years,, eminent success ? Dp not laugh at the poor
child, 0 cynic, with your bitterly earned experience !
He must have a great deal of hope to begin with, for
he has many cruel disappointments to endure. This
is the outfit provided for him by Mother Nature.
" The young man puts to sea," says SchiHer, " with
a fleet of a thousand saU ; he reaches the hajbor an
old man, escaping from his shipwrecked: vessel, on a
single boat,"
The outward heaven and hett are fastened to the
inward ones by immutable laws.; but, they do not come
at once. " God," says the proverb, " does not pay us
our wages every Saturday night." The good man
may for a. long time not reap the results of his good-

HEAVEN AND HELL. 161
ness ; the bad man for a long time may not taste the>
consequences of his sin. But they come at last ;,
they may be slow, but they are sure.
A man, in a moment of temptation, commits some;
small offence. He takes what does not belong toi
him ; he commits a breach of trust ; he stains a Httle
the purity of his soul No evU consequences follow ;.
the sun rises and sets as before; he enjoys life as;
much as ever. So he takes another step down, stUl
with no bad results. At last the habit of wrong
doing is created ; impunity makes him less cautious ;
he is on an inclined plane of ice, he cannot, stop..
Each new act of wrong-doing makes it necessary ta
perform another. Years pass on. The man is re
spected, esteemed, Hves in peace and comfort ; no one
is more thought of than he. But the irresistible
laws of the moral world are steadUy bringing the
punishment. As a detective policeman tracks his
prey through the crowded street, never losing sight
of him, so the outward hell is foUowing surely after
the inward heU. One day detection comes. His
frauds, his crimes, are made known. Public indigna
tion takes hold of him. Those whom he has cruelly
injured cry out against him. His. old friends cast
him off. From the midst of prosperity and fortune,.
he goes down into utter destitution. Perhaps he is.

162 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
obliged to fly to a foreign land, and Hve an obscure,
lonely Hfe ever after. Perhaps he goes to prison, his
reputation forever gone, bringing disgrace on his in
nocent family, .ruin on himseK and aU those most
dear to him. This is the heU of outward punish
ment, which we have aU seen, again and again, fol-
lowing on inward guilt. It is so in this world ; why
shall it not be so hereafter too ?
Exposure, detection, disgrace ; this is often the
worst part of the punishment of crime. The prison
and the gaUows are not heU to an innocent man ;
they are often badges of honor. Paul in prison,
Peter in prison, Tasso in prison, Bunyan in prison ;
these have glorified the scene of their sufferings, and
men go to visit them as to sacred shrines.
" Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage.
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for a hermitage ;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my thoughts am free,
Angels alone, who soar above,
Enjoy such liberty."
The disgrace, the shame, this is the worst part of
the punishment. But what can any exposure be, in
this world, to the revelations which may come here-

HEAVEN AND HELL. 163
after, when the secrets of all hearts shaU be revealed?
We all deceive ourselves, as weU as others. Who is
ready to see even his own sin as it reaUy is ? how
mUch less that others should see it ! Who, then, can
bear the revelation of the righteous judgments of
God ? None but such as keep their hearts pure, by
constantly Hving as in the eye of their great Task
master ; who search and try their ways, and turn to
God in their heart of hearts ; whose souls are fixed
on him.
Churches and preachers are in the habit of saying,
"Eepent, believe, and obey, and you shaU go to
heaven." But the Apostle says, " Dwell in love, and
so dweU in God."
We cannot keep ourselves whoUy true and pure
and generous by any effort of our own ; but we can
be kept pure and true by the Spirit of God, if we
keep ourselves in God's presence. This is the great
object and use of prayer. It brings God's truth
and love into the centre of our being. Deeper than
any plummet of thought ever sounded, it goes down
into the depths of the soul. It feeds the roots of our
nature with a Divine love. True prayer, ¦ which is
looking up to God for good influence, is the only safe
guard against the heUs of this Hfe, and those which
may be in the Hfe to come. But aU the heUs in the

164 COMMON-SENSE IN. RELIGION.
future Hfe, as in this, are for the sake of heaven.
They are aU, in their very nature, temporal; for aU
evU is finite, and only God, who is good, is mfinite,
" He only has immortahty " ; and therefore, we are
told by the .Psalmist, "If I make my bed. in hell,
thou art there." We very often make our bed in
hell, thinking to be happier there than in heaven.
But God's goodness appears in this, that he does not
aUow us to be at peace in heU ; he wiU not. leave our
souls in heU He allows us, indeed, to feed on busks ;
but it is that we may remember how much sweeter
is our Father's house from whence we came out. So
at last good shaU . triumph, and death -and heU be
both cast into the lake of fire and destroyed!. Then
shaU there be a new heaven" and a new earth ; but it
is nowhere written that there shaU be a new heU.
The new heavens, and the new earth, spoken of
by the Seer of Patmos, intend a new faith, and a new
civilization, to come from Christianity. For one
result of Christianity shaU be to give us this new
heaven and new earth. Christianity, even now, is
graduaUy surrounding man with a new heaven and
a new earth.
GraduaUy, not suddenly. The method of Chris-.
tianity is diffusion. Its changes are vital, organic;
not outside changes, but inside. It first changes the

HEAVEN AND HELL. 165
root, then the blade, finally the ear. It is leaven, per
vading the lump by slow degrees. It does its work
thoroughly, therefore slowly. It respects the free
dom of the wiU in nations, as in individuals. If men
will not be Christians this year, it does not compel
them to be so ; it waits till next year. So the prog
ress of the world is very slow to our eyes, and we see
people now, as in the times of Peter, saying, " Where
is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers
fell asleep, aU things remain as they were from the
beginning of creation." There is no progress, say
they, only change. But the answer of the Apostle is
good now : 7— " One day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day." Time is
relative; it seems, even to us, to go much more
quickly sometimes, and more slowly at other times.
To an insect, which Hves but one day, one day may
seem as long as seventy years to us. To an angel,
whose angelic Hfe has lasted ten thousand years, our
seventy years may seem only Hke half an hour. Phi
losophers say there may be creatures so smaU that
what appears to us a solid rock shaU be to them full
of open spaces, so that it shall take them a large part
of their Hves to travel from one particle of the rock to
another. And, again, there may be beings in the
universe, whose range of vision is so immense that

166 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the spaces between the stars disappear; and all the
stars come together into one sohd, shining mass. As
with space, so with time. No doubt there are angels
to whom the eighteen centuries which have passed
since Christ came appear only Hke one or two days.
Slow and fast, therefore, do not apply to these moral
movements. The real question is, "Does the world
move ? Are the new heavens and earth approach
ing, or are they not ? "
Christianity is making for this world a new
heaven, and out of that a new earth. When we
see new heavens, then we soon see a new earth.
So long as heaven is beHeved to be a place, in some
part of the universe, where God sits on a throne to
be worshipped by his saints, who spend their time in
praising him, whUe the devil sits on his throne in
heU, in another part of the universe, superintending
the torments of the sinners, — so long the earth wiU
be regarded only as a scene of probation. Tempta
tion wiU then appear behind every pleasure, and sin
be hidden Hke poison in every happy home. Then
it wUl seem man's duty to be wretched, and to
make others so too. But when we see a new
heaven, then we see also a new earth. Soon shaU
heaven be found to be, not a place only, but a state
of mind ; seen to consist in knowing God and man,

HEAVEN AND HELL. 167
in loving God and man, and in serving God and man.
Then we shall see heaven beginning in this hfe,
wherever God is known as a father. Then shaU we
see that the Devil, if there be a Devil, can do us no
more harm hereafter than he can here, because aU
his power consists in tempting us to evil. We shaU
see that when we resist he runs away from us, be
cause the Devil is the greatest coward in the uni
verse. Then shaU the earth also become different,
for the earth shaU also be made new. Life wUl not
seem. bad, but appear good. There wiU be tempta
tions here always; but God wiU open a way of
escape out of them all. God is here, is with us now,
is with us always ; he is our father and our friend.
The day dawns sweetly, the night closes serenely,
with this new view of God,
We may say that the world has been made alto
gether new, and Hfe wholly different, by the simple
sight of God as the universal father. Jesus has
shown us that God is not the God of the Jews only,
but of aU mankind ; not of the good only, but of the
bad also ; not of the wise and great only, but of the
humble, ignorant, and despised races and men. He
is a father who takes good care of his youngest
children; who foUows no law of primogeniture, by
which to give aU his property to his eldest sons, but

168 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
who says " the last shaU be first, and the first last."
He is one who does not give the race always to the
;swift, or the battle to the strong ; who does not keep
his school as we ours, giving prizes to the bright
inteUects, and none to the stupid. He is one who
keeps bringing up the Tear-guard of humanity, and
goes out to seek and save the lost sheep. He is one
who gives as good wages to those who have wrought
•honestly one hour, as to those who have worked aU
day. This sight of a heavenly Father has worked
on the world to create a different civilization. There
is in it a tendency to unite men in a common mode
of Hfe. Out of the fatherhood of God comes the
brotherhood of man. The new heavens make the
new earth.

VIII.
SATAN, ACCORDING TO COMMON- SENSE
AND THE BIBLE.

vni.
SATAN, ACCORDING TO COMMON-SENSE
AND THE BIBLE.
The common opinion is, that the Bible teaches
that Satan is an archangel, who rebeUed against God
and feU from heaven ; that he tempted Eve to sin, in
the form of a serpent, and since that time has em
ployed himseK in trying to induce people to seU to
him their souls. Now, there is nothing of aU this in
the Bible. This comes, not from the Bible, but from
Milton's Paradise Lost. The Bible tells us that a
serpent tempted Eve, but describes it as a real ser
pent, and does not intimate that it was the DevU in
disguise. There never was a greater example of the
wonderful power of a great poem than the way in
which Paradise Lost and its pictures of heaven, hell,
and paradise have been absorbed into the theology of
the English-speaking race, and bound up with the.
Bible in their belief. Paradise Lost is the real Apoc
rypha of the EngHsh Bible.
Satan appears first in the Book of Chronicles as
tempting David to take a census. But then the

172 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

Book of Samuel says it was the Lord who, in his
anger, moved David to do this. To the Oriental na
tions the taking a census seems an act of vainglory,
and is always considered dangerous. Here Satan
simply stands for a temptation, not for a person. But
he appears as a, person in the Book of Job. He
comes before the Lord with the other angels, who go
about the world doing his bidding. He. Has a. mis
sion, Hke the rest, and he comes to. give, an account
©f it. He, it seems, is the critical angel, the fault
finding angel. His business is* to sKt character, to
test, goodness, to, find out what a man reaUy is. Nat
urally he has become rather sceptical concerning
human goodness; he has seen so many men and
cities, and found so many who could not bear his
tests. He has known the dark side pf Hfe, and he
doubts whether the colors of gopdness, wUl stand.
That is aU He is np devil, hot from heU ; his home,
is in heaven, among the other angels. The Lprd asks
him whether he does not think Job a good man.
Satan doubts. He says, " It is easy for Job to be
good, He i* a rich man ; he prospers in everything;
he does -not serve you for nothing." So Satan is
aUowed to test him by poverty, and he. takes away
aU his wealth. But Job says, " The Lord gave, the
Lord has taken away," and does not rebel, Then

SATAN. 173
Satan is aUowed to try him with the test of pain and
terrible disease. Job bears that too. Then came the
friends to console him, and that was too much; It
is not said whether Satan sent them as a final test*
or not. It is very certain that Job's patience only
gave way when they began to prose and to cant to
him, and tell him he ought to say he was a sinner,
and apologize to the Lord. That was more than Job
could bear ; and he broke out in a fiery torrent of
noble, truthful, honorable, seK-respecting utterances,
which, as appears at the end of the poem, were en
tirely satisfactory to the Almighty.
Satan, in aU this, we see, was only acting the part
of a chemist, to whom a substance is presented to be
analyzed by qualitative analysis. His object was not
to tempt Job to evU ; it was merely to find out what
there was in him good or bad. You take a certain
substance to a chemist, and ask him to analyze it
He proceeds to subject it to a series of tests. There
are a certain number of alkaHes, acids* er oxidea
which it may contain. The chemist applies one test
after, another, with which he searches for them.
Sometimes these tests make known the presenee of
a substance by a change of color, sometimes by an
effervescence, sometimes by a precipitate. He sends
an acid into the solution to search for an aUtaH ; he

174 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

sends an alkaU to hunt for its acid. He apphes
flame, if it resists other re-agents, and the tormented
substance is volatilized ; that is, it flies up in vapor.
So, at last, the chemist detects all the elements in
the compound submitted to him. Satan, in the Old
Testament, is just such a chemist. He is searching
to find some falsehood in Job's rehgion. Job had
been tried by prosperity; that revealed no trace of
it. Satan then applied the test of loss, bereavement,
poverty. Still no sign of the evU appeared; no
change of color, no effervescence of anger. Then he
appHed the test of disease and pain, and still no evi
dence was seen of any flaw or falsehood in his sin
cere piety. Job did not serve God for wages, but
from reverence and conviction.
In the New Testament, in the same way, Satan (or
the DevU) appears as the critical angel who comes,
as our text says, to "sift" men, to find out their
weakness or their strength. In the temptation of
¦Jesus he appears, applying three separate tests to
see if there was any impurity in the heart of Christ
The first test is food. "Feed your soul," he says.
"With your marvellous powers turn stones into
bread. Feed your mind with knowledge, your heart
with love, your imagination with beauty ; use your
gifts for seK-culture." That test failed to show any

SATAN. 175

seK-seeking. Then he tried another, addressed to
" the last infirmity of noble minds," — the desire for
esteem, fame, recognition, love. " Stand on the high
est point of the temple, the object of admiration to
the world, and show yourself borne up by angels."
That also faUed. No thought infirm colored the
cheek of Jesus. Then he applied the final test, —
power. He said, " Take power, to conquer the world
and bring it to your feet. Make yourself the prophet
of mankind, papal monarch of three worlds, viceroy
of God, head of the human race, great captain, lead
ing both Greek and Eoman, Hindoo and Persian,
sage and savage, to Jehovah." Jesus said, "I do
not take power; I receive it, when God chooses to
send it." AU the tests had faUed, and Satan de
parted. No trace of seK-seeking had been found in
that perfect heart.
We cannot think that these temptations came to
Jesus from any personal devU It was the tempta
tion incarnated in Hfe itself, — far more difficult to
resist than any visible Satan. It was the temptation
which came inevitably to Jesus as his faculties
ripened within him and his work opened before
him. There was necessarUy an awful struggle in his
soul, knowing his own vast powers, and seeing the
vexatious Hmitations of circumstances. That the

176 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

bard, eold, pedantic Pharisees, whom he could anni-
JjUate, if he chose, by the breath of his mouth, should
he aUowed to defeat his whole work, and prevent him
from bringing the kingdom of heaven to the poor in
spirit, the mourners, those who labored and were
heavy laden, ~— his poor, humble friends, — that was
hard. If for one moment he could consent to do evU
that good might come, to do a Httle wrong for a
great right, to fight the DevU with fire, for a noble,
divine t»d to use some worldly means> fle would
triumph ovear aU evil and estabHsh God's kingdom on
earth, That was his temptation ; but he resisted it,
seemed to faU, died on the cross amid the tears of
earth, and beneath the black sky of the melancholy
heavens. I do not think that Jesus considered Satan or the
DevU as a personal tempter. In his prayer he says
to God, " Lead us not into temptation," And in his
advice to his disciples to watch and pray, he adds,
" lest ye enter into temptation ; the spirit is wUHng,
the flesh is weak" The inward souree of temptation
is not the DevU, but the flesh, or human desire ; the
external souree is not the DevU, but the providence
of God, who leads us where tbe temptation may ar
rive. That does not look as if be beHeved in a
pejjsoaal tempter.

SATAN. 177
Jesus mentions the Devil five times, and of these
five he twice applies the word to human beings, —
once when he calls Judas a devil, " Have I not chosen
you twelve, and one of you is a devU ? " and when
he told the Jews who opposed him that they were
" of their father, the DevU" ; meaning that the spirit
of devUtry, or opposition, was in them. He uses the
word " Satan " seven times ; and in one of these cases
he applies it to Peter, saying, "Get thee behind me,
Satan." It was when Peter, urged by real love for
his Master, wished him not to go to Jerusalem and
die. " Take pity on yourseK; do not go." That was
aU. But Jesus said to him, " You are my Satan now,
my tempter. If you reaUy loved me in the best
way, you would wish to have me do my work, and
die in doing it You would strengthen me to go,
even if I am to die ;. you would not weaken me."
This we can understand. But it seems impossible,
if Jesus believed in a real Devil, or Satan, from
whom temptations come, that he could have caUed
Judas " a devU," and Peter " Satan."
If Judas was a devil, if Peter was also a satan,
it foUows that there is more than one satan. In
fact, every man has a different one from every other
man. My satan is not yours, nor yours mine. Ju
das would not probably have been mortified as Peter
8* L

178 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

was by the laugh of the maid-servant ; Peter would
not have sold his Master for thirty pieces of sUver.
The satan of Peter was what we caU, in modern-
language, Mrs. Grundy. It was fear of common talk,
common ridicule, of what the people about him would
say. He could fight with the soldiers, and cut off
the right ear of an enemy ; he could not bear to be
laughed at by his friends or his companions. The
same satan tempted him again, years after, when he
was a pillar of the church ; and again he feU. Paul
describes it. Peter at Antioch associated with Gen
tile Christians, until the Jewish Christians, who
hated and despised them, arrived; then he had no
longer the courage of his opinions, and he pretended
not to know them. But be not too severe on Peter.
Do we never do the same ? Are not we afraid of
what people wiU say? The satan that sifted him
Hke wheat is not yet dead ; he sifts our souls to-day.
Methinks we have known those who were on very
friendly terms with people they met in the country
or by the sea-shore, but who afterward, in other soci
ety, turned to them the cold shoulder. The love of
human approbation, the fear of pubhc opinion, the
power of fashion, the dread of ridicule, — how often
these make us afraid to confess our real opinions ;
how they make us deny with oaths that we ever

SATAN. 179
heard the truths which in our hearts we believe.
Another satan came to Ananias, and " fiUed his heart
to He to the Holy Ghost." This was the satan of
hypocrisy, who urged him to pretend to be better
than he was. When poor Ananias was exposed, his
pride received such a dreadful blow that he feU down
dead. Our nerves are more tough. Exposure does
not inflict any fatal injury now. Men of the first
respectabihty are detected in swindling, in breaches
of sacred trust, and they do not seem very much
ashamed of it. Ananias cheated no one ; he merely
pretended to be better than he was. Are not we
sometimes wUHng to seem better than we are, to
take credit which does not belong to us ? How often
do we say, " I think it my duty to do this," when, in
fact, it is only our pleasure to do it ! How often we
profess to make sacrifices for conscience, and take the
position of martyrs for truth, when, in fact, our
martyrdom is simply doing . what we Hke !
The satan who entered the heart of Judas is com
monly supposed to have been the very Prince of
Darkness. Poor Judas has stood, for eighteen hun
dred years, on the summit of human viUany; the
past-master of all baseness and blackness of crime.
It was only because he sinned against Jesus that it
seems so. He had the awful fate of being able to

180 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
commit his treason against the Saviour of the world.
But do not we sometimes betray our Saviour too ?
Perhaps Jesus comes to us. to-day in a. different form.
He comes in a good cause, the cause of justice, hu
manity, right, but it ia unpopular; we shaU lose
position, money, influence, K we adopt it, so we think
it our duty not to adopt it. Perhaps we make a bet
ter bargain than Judas ; we get, not thirty doUars,
but thirty thousand; yet the principle is the same
Or, perhaps, Jesus comes to us in the form of our
country, crucified between two thieves. Its pubhc
offices are seized by robbers; its sacred baUot-box;
the paUadium of its Hberty, is violated by atrocious
fraud. We are asked to give a few days every year
to the service of the country, but we cannot leave
our shops long enough even to go and vote. Yet we
talk loudly of the blessings of free institutions ; we
brag, when we meet a foreigner, about our glorious
repubhc. 0 Judas ! you betray your Saviour with a
kiss ! The very men who say that women must not
vote, because their sphere is at home in the kitchen,
will not vote themselves. Where is their sphere, — -
in the ceUar, or the garret ? Their country is like
the poor traveller who feU among thieves, and they
pass by Hke the Levite and the priest ; but. when any
Gbod Samaritan comes hear, and wishes to help hhn,

SATAN. 181

they say, " 0 no ! his sphere is elsewhere ; let him
go: and help the people in Samaria !"
The day wUl come when aU places of business; wUl
be closed by law on election day, just as on the Sun
day ; when cheating at the poUs wiU be treated as
worse than sacrUege or homicide ; and when every
man who does not vote wiU be punished by fine or
diseafranchisement.. The satans of the New Testament are not aU
messengers of evU; they are often angels of good.
Paul tells the Corinthians (1 Cot. v. 5) to deHver
an offender to Satan, for the destruction of the flesh,
that his spirit may be saved ; Satan, somehow, was
to be the means of saving the man's soul. So Paul
teUs Timothy that he has delivered Hymenseus and
Alexander to Satan, that they may learn not to blas
pheme ; Satan, somehow, was to teach them rever
ence for sacred things. Paul had. a messenger of a
satan sent to him, so he says, to humble him, and to
keep him from being proud. If Satan makes; Paul
humble, makes Alexander reverent, and saves the
soul of the Corinthian church-member, Satan cer
tainly cannot be aU bad. He also is an angel of
God. He may do us temporary evU, but perhaps we
need it for our ultimate good.
The satans of the present day seldom appear in

182 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
hoofs and horns. They disguise themselves as angels
of Hght. When they tempt us, they seem to be in
viting us to some great and noble action. Satan
sometimes comes as the angel Good-Nature, and pre
tends to be very sympathizing and friendly. But
this good-natured satan may be our worst foe. He
aUows us to do wrong ; he wiU not teU us the sharp
truth we need to hear. He allows "us to confirm aU
our bad habits by not honestly checking them in
time. Then there is a fault-finding satan, of the
opposite sort, who makes men worse by perpetually
pointing out defects, always showing us our sins,
never our goodness. He calls himseK the angel of
truthfulness, but he only tells half the truth. He
discourages us, and destroys our hope. He some
times ascends the pulpit, this gloomy satan, and tries
to make us beHeve that God, the dear father, is as
harsh and unrelenting as he is himseK. He talks, in
awful tones, of the exceeding sinfulness of sin; he
tries to show that we are totaUy depraved, with no
good thing in us. He insists that we hate God, and
only deserve eternal damnation. He caUs this the
gospel of good news. But it is not an air from
heaven, it is a blast from heU. The words of Jesus
are indeed often full of warning, they point out dan
ger; but they are never gloomy. They never dis-

SATAN. 183
courage. When this solemn satan meets a sinner,
he says, " It is a dreadful thing to faU into the hands
of God. God is a consuming fire." When Jesus
meets the sinner, he says, " Son, be of good cheer, thy
sins are forgiven thee." Any gospel which discour
ages us is "another gospel"; the true gospel always
brings good news, inspires hope, takes away anxiety,
and so makes goodness less difficult, in making us
happy. r There is also a satan of Httle things, a satan so
smaU you can hardly see him. He is a little bit of a
satan, pretending to be no satan at aU He tempts
us to do wrong by saying, " 0, that is of no conse
quence. That is a very Httle error. Do not be so
puritanical. It is not quite right, to be sure, but it
does not signify. It is only one pound, and you
may bury it in the earth, and no harm done. You
cannot do much, so you had better not do anything."
He pretends to- be the angel of mpdesty, this Httle
satan. He says, "Do not put yourself forward, or
volunteer to do anything for Christ ; it will seem pre
sumptuous." Then there is the satan of cowardice,
who transforms himseK into the angel of prudence ;
and the satan of meanness, who gives himself out as
the angel of economy; and the satan of wilfulness
and egotism, who comes in the robes of the angel of

184 COMMON-SEffSE IN RELIGION.
self-reHance; and the satan of obstinacy, who dis
guises himself as the angel of firmness; and the
satan of bigotry and intolerance, who caUs himself
the angel of truth ; and the satan of cant, who pre
tends to be Divine piety.
But these are aU allowed to come in order to probe
us, to test us, to try us. They are the detective
poHce of the heavens, who bring to Hght our inmost
thoughts. In despotic nations, K a man is supposed
to be conspiring against the government, the poHce
come to his house when he is away, and search for
hidden papers which may reveal his plots. They
look under the carpets, they take up the floor, they
sound the waUs, they probe the eusbions with long
pins* they leave not a square inch of his rooms unex
amined. So the satans of God search every comer
of our heart, and bring to Hght our inmost purpose.
They reveal us to ourselves ; they show us what we
are. We are to resist them, and fight against them,
and yet be glad that they have come to fight with
us. We must meet them in the armor of God, and
so prevaU
God allows all these satans for our good, not for
our evU. They come to test us, to find out what is
in our heart. Perhaps this world is a great manu
factory of souls, who are to be employed in noble

SATAN. 185
tasks afterward. In this world we are sometimes to
be sifted and tried, just as a steam-engine or a rifle is
¦tried before it is put to use. If there is a weakness
or a flaw anywhere, it is best that it should be found
out in good season, before it can do too much harm.
In a gun-factory aU the rifle-barrels are heavily
loaded, and shut up together in a stone building and
fired by a match. Some burst, and need to be made
over again; some bear the test, and come out strong
and safe. The rifles might say, * Why are we tempt
ed in this way ? Why are we encouraged to burst
by this heavy load ? Is it not a devilish attempt to
harm us ? " " No " is the reply. " You are tested
now, so that you may show any flaw or speck when
it eannot do much harm ; so, hereafter, in the great
war for freedom, on the battle-field of right, when
you are to fight for justice and honor against evU,
you may do good service for God and man. We test
you now, that you may not burst then."
Thus the Bible view of temptation and the com
mon-sense view turn out to be the same. The Bible
says, " Count it aU joy when ye fall into divers
temptations ; knowing this, that the trial of your
faith worketh patience: and let patience have its
perfeet work" Temptation, which came to Jesus,
which comes to aU, is something which aU need,

186 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
which is a good thing ; only we pray, " Lead us not
into temptation," meaning by that prayer any temp
tations which are too great for our present strength.
A man conscious of any weakness ought to avoid
temptation in that direction. If he knows that he is
apt to yield to his love for Hquor, he should abstain
entirely. If he knows that his love for gaming, for
the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, or any other
evU, is very great, he should flee aU such temptations
for his Hfe. The man who has found out what his
besetting sin is does not need to be tested any more.
Temptation has done its work in making him hum
ble. Now he can pray, "Lead me not into tempta
tion hereafter," and yet be glad that he has faUen
into temptations which have revealed him to him
seK. "Take then to yourselves the whole armor of
God," says Paul, comparing our Hfe to the deadly
struggle of gladiators in the bloody arena, — that ye
may be able to stand against the cunning of the
DevU For we fight not with men, — they are not
our real enemies, — but with principles behind them
and above them, — principaHties and powers and ru
lers of the darkness of this world ; with base ideas ;
with false notions; with ignorance and shams and
cant and lies. Therefore take the panoply of God ;

SATAN. 187
be clad with Divine armor from head to heel. Have
honesty for your breastplate ; for an honest purpose
is a sure defence against temptation. Have inward
truth, truth of soul, for your support, guide, and
strength. Have your feet shod with alacrity of pur
pose, and readiness to rush forward against the foe,
yet in the spirit of peace and love. And, above aU,
have the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and
the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
With such weapons we need never fear. AU the
satans of this world, aU the satans in our own hearts,
cannot conquer us whUe we trust in God, whUe we
love his truth and seek to do his wUl.

IX.
CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE.

IX.
CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE.
It is a fact, account for it as you wiU, that the
disciples of Christ, after he had been put to death as
a criminal, and seemed whoUy gone from them, sud
denly acquired a new confidence and a Hving hope.
It is a fact to which history testifies, that they ap
peared to have no fear of death. They even courted
it, and feU in love witb martyrdom. They would
not even speak of dying or of death, — with new
ideas there came a new vocabulary, — they only said,
" They have fallen asleep " ; they caUed their resting-
place a dormitory. To their minds, somehow, a
bridge had been constructed over the great guK
which Hes between this world and the next, and they
saw God's angels ascending and descending along
that celestial highway.
The epitaphs of the early Christians aU have this
celestial tone. They have no gloomy symbols of
despair, but only signs of encouragement. "Here
sleeps my dear wKe Portia." " Eest in peace, Brother
Caius." "She reposes here in hope." Such is the

192 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
spirit of the early Christian cemeteries. They Hghten
up the gloom of the catacombs with their words of
confidence. The Christians in Eome could not lay
their friends under the growing grass and beneath
the sunshine ; they had to hide them in the caver
nous excavations below the city. But their trium
phant faith fiUed those dark recesses witb the Hght
of a better day, and the Sun of Bighteousness shone
in there with heabng in his beams.
According to the New Testament, death is nothing,
and is not to be regarded as anything. The Apostle*
says: that Jesus " has abolished death " ; that is,, has
annihilated it. This accords with what Jesus him
seK says: "Those who believe in me do not die";
that is, death is nothing to them. Of course,)
Christians, Hke others., pass through the change which
is called dying; therefore,. when Jesus' says "they do
not die," he must mean that it has to them none
of the character of death.
From this it would, seem to foUow that it is not
the duty of a Christian to think about death at aU,,
but only of Hfe. Death is night, and the Christian
liives in the day. "We are of the day/' says the
Apastlfe. The sun swaUaws up thej darkness,, and
destroys night.
Nevertheless, it has often been taught in Christian!

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 193
pulpits that we ought to think a great deal about our
"latter end." But there is no end to Hfe, "what
seems so is transition." To spend our life in think
ing about death is very much as if we should occupy
the day in meditating upon the night Let the night
take care of itself, but let day occupy us with the
works of the day.
In the little conversation between Jesus and Mar
tha, after the death of Lazarus, Martha speaks of the
resurrection as " the last day." Her mistake was, to
suppose the resurrection something outward and
distant, instead of something inward and present.
When Jesus said to her, "Thy brother shaU rise
again," she responded, "I know that he shall rise
again in the resurrection at the last day." The res
urrection, so she. thought, was to be "at the last day,"
at the end of the world. But Jesus answered, " I am
the resurrection' and the Hfe," — an obscure answer,
apparently. We see well enough how he is the Hfe ;
his truth, his love, his influence, are the Hfe of the
soul. He is spiritual life. But how is he the resur
rection ? If the resurrection is, as Martha supposed
it to be, something outward and remote, then it is
very difficult to understand what Jesus meant by
saying, "I am the resurrection'' But if the resur
rection is. the rising of the soul out of doubt and fear
9 M

194 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
into faith and hope, then Jesus is the resurrection
exactly as he is the Hfe ; that is, his truth, his love
and influence, are the resurrection of the soul, just as
they are the life of the soul. In other words, the
resurrection is spiritual resurrection, just as the life
is spiritual Hfe.
Outward death — what we caU death — is nothing ¦
it is merely the soul laying down its present instru
ments in order to take up others. It is stepping
out of one body into another. The only real death
is the soul's death ; that is, sin, moral evil, ignorance,
unbeHef. The soul which Hves in sin is a dead soul,
dead in aU its higher faculties. Christ comes to
raise it out of this spiritual death into spiritual life,
and then we say, " The law of the spirit of Hfe, in
Christ Jesus, has made us free from the law of sin
and death."
When Jesus says, " He who believteth in me hath
eternal Hfe abiding in him, and I wiU raise him up
at the last day," he does not mean " I wiU raise his
body out of the grave at some future time " ; but he
means, I wUl raise him, ultimately, into a higher state
of being. He means to say, He who beheves in me
takes my faith in God and man. To beHeve in
me is to share my confidence, my hope, my trust
in the Divine loye, He who has this confidence has

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 195
in him now the principle of eternal Hfe ; and when I
give him this principle I give him what shaU finaUy
and ultimately raise him into a higher outward con
dition of being.
But there are a great many persons, even in
Christian lands, who do not beHeve in immortality.
They beHeve in death, but not in IKe. Many of
them are very inteUigent and scientific people, Hke
Dr. Buchner, the German, who has recently come to
lecture to us, and who is the most determined unbe-
Hever in God and immortaHty. Dr. Buchner is one of
a class, not very common, who not only does not be
lieve in God, but who thinks belief in God something
which ought to be opposed. He considers it a great
•evU to have any rehgion. He stands just where Lu
cretius stood before Christ was born ; thinking that
the great evUs of Hfe are behef in God and in the soul,
and that to teach that there is nothing but force and
matter is the cure for aU. Just as theologians have
dogmatized and been bitter against aU unbehevers,
so atheists are now beginning to dogmatize and be
bitter against aU behevers. In a recent number of
the Westminster Eeview there is an article which
shows this tendency in a high degree. It begins by
stating that, so far as human reason can arrive at any
judgment at all on the subject, Dr. Buchner appears

196 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
correct in his behef that a self-conscious existence
hereafter "is an impossibiHty." Physical death is
the termination of individual existence ; that is as
sumed as something proved, about which there can
be no doubt.
Now, if such a thinker asks us why we believe in a
future life, and if he declares the immortality of man
an impossibiHty, what shaU we say ?
I think we may say, first, that when one declares
immortal Hfe to be "impossible" he says what he
cannot prove. It is certainly possible that men have
souls as well as bodies. It is possible that souls may
exist independently of the body ; and, if so, it is
possible that man may Hve hereafter.
Then we may go on and say, further, that the uni
versal belief in a future life, in aU times, among aH
races of men, under every form of religion, shows
that it is the dictate of common-sense to believe it.
Men are made to believe in immortahty just as they
are made to beHeve in right and wrong, good and
evil, cause and effect, the finite and infinite. Some
behefs come to us of themselves ; they are indepen
dent of argument; they are underived from logic;
they are the natural outcome of human nature. If
any behef can be called natural and human, it is the
belief in a future Hfe ; for it is the most universal of

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 197
aU. If you excavate the tombs in Egypt, five thou
sand years old, you find elaborate pictures represent
ing the judgment of the soul after death. If you
read the laws of Manu, received by the Hindoos one
thousand years before Christ, they are full of descrip
tions of the state of the soul hereafter. The Eomana
and Greeks had their heaven and heU. The North
American Indians have their happy hunting-grounds
The Mexicans and Peruvians have their paradise.
Wherever man has existed, he has existed with an
appetite for a future life and a behef in an hereafter.
Apart from Christianity, the wisest of men have
beHeved in a future Hfe on grounds of pure reason.
That which Lucretius and Dr. Buchner deny has
been beHeved and taught by Socrates, by Plato, by
Aristotle, by Cicero, by Tacitus.
But Christianity does not convince us of immor
tality by any process of argument ; it makes us be
Heve in a future Hfe by quickening aU the immortal
powers of the soiU. It makes us Hve in the immor
tal part, and not the mortal part, of our being ; in the
spirit, not in the flesh. This is the real argument
for a future Hfe, — that we are ahve now. The more
of present Hfe we have, the more shall we believe in
the future.
If the soul of man is brutal, animal, material, if

198 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
it is occupied only with the outward world and things
of sense, then it ceases to beHeve in immortahty;
it does not seem to itseK to be immortal. But when
it rises into the realm of ideas, when it com
munes with God, when it looks upward and not
downward, when it is fuU of faith, hope, love, then
it feels in itseK that it cannot die, that death has
no dominion over it. And this is the strongest of
aU proofs, — that to beHeve otherwise in our high
est moods is impossible.
But beside the instinct of immortality, there are
arguments for immortahty very good in their place.
We are made with reason, no less than with instinct
We are made to think, as weU as to beHeve and feel.
Consequently, the instinct of immortality needs some
times to be re-enforced by arguments for immortal
ity. Our faith in a future life does not rest on those
arguments, any more than the walls of a great cathe
dral rest on its outside buttresses. The walls rest
on their massive foundations, out of sight, hidden
below the ground; but the buttresses against the
waUs are there to resist the thrust of the roof. So
our faith in immortahty rests on the instinct of Hfe
which God has given us ; but arguments are but
tresses to resist the thrust of doubts, of counter-argu-i
ments, of sceptical suggestions.

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 199
At the present time there are many persons who
disparage the arguments for immortahty, and, indeed,
seem to think it rather selfish in us to wish to live
hereafter. They argue that we have nothing to dp
with the future Hfe, but only with the present. In a
sense, this is true. But it is idle to suppose that
men's thoughts can be shut wholly within the bpun-
daries of the present life. We are too great for that,
small as we are. We must sometimes think about
an hereafter ; and when we think about it, we need
reasons and arguments for beheving or not believ
ing in it.
Now, the arguments for a future life are as old as
human thought. It is not Hkely that any new ones
wiU be invented hereafter. There is, for example,
the metaphysical argument, based on the immateri
ality of the soul. Consciousness teaches that the
soul is one ; not made up of parts, like the body. It
is indivisible. It is not one part of the soul which
thinks, and another which feels, and another which
loves, fears, argues, hopes, or hates. We say " I love,"
"I think," "I remember," "I choose," "I suffer," "I
enjoy," " I intend to do this or that." It is pne and
the same person which is active or passive in all
these separate states of consciousness.
But the body is not a unit. All matter is diyisi-

200 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ble, it is in parts ; and one part is not another part.
The man himself, the personal thinking being, is not
composed of parts ; therefore is not divisible, there
fore is not material.
Let us suppose that I have a diseased nerve in
some extremity of my body, which causes me great
pain. I say, " I suffer from the pain in my foot"
But now let the nerve be tied up between the brain-
centre and the foot. The disease remains as before
in the foot; but the pain which I felt I no longer
feel. This shows that though the disease was in the
foot, the pain was in the soul. Do you say, It was
perhaps in the brain ? But the brain is, by supposi
tion, not diseased ; and if the brain were diseased, the
pain would continue. It is not, then, the body which
suffers pain, but the soul. It is not the bodily eye
which sees, but the soul which sees by means of it
It is one and the same monad which touches, tastes,
smells, sees, hears, and which thinks, feels, and acts.
Now, this argument is only a buttress, meant to resist
the thrust of the doubt arising from the fact that at
death the body is dissolved. Why not the soul too,
we say ? Because the body is composed of parts, and.
so is capable of dissolution. The soul is different,
essentially different. It is not composed of parts.
There is, then, no reason to think that it wiU be dis
solved because the body is dissolved.

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 201
Another argument for immortality is caUed by
metaphysicians the teleologic. This means that man
is adapted by bis nature to go forward and Hve here
after. The law of our mind is that, when we see
adaptation, we infer design. When we see that grass
is adapted to be eaten by cattle, and that the taste
•and stomach of cattle are adapted to grass, we then
infer that they were designed for each other. When
we see that the eyes are adapted to Hght, we infer
design. This seems to be one of the primitive laws
of thought ; we cannot go behind it. But the soul of
man is adapted for perpetual progress. He goes on
tUl he dies. He dies fuU of love, knowledge, hope.
If man be made adapted to future progress after
death ; K he be adapted to greater love, knowledge,
accomphshment, than he attains to in this Hfe, — then
it is natural to beHeve that the Creator intended him
for it.
It has been said that the universal expectation of
an hereafter is merely a fond imagination born from
the love of existence, and that the wish is father to
the thought ; but this only puts the same argument
into another form. Instead of saying that aU men's
minds are made to beHeve in an hereafter, we say
that all men's hearts are made to desire an hereafter.
But we find nowhere in nature any creatures made
9*

202 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
with an instinctive desire without the appropriate
food for that desire being provided. Each creature
is born with a desire for some food, and for each
creature the food he desires has been -created. The
bird loves to fly, the fish to swim, the mole to bur
row in the ground. Some creatures are adapted to
live on the earth or in it, some are adapted to the
water, others to the air; and air has been made for
the bird, water for the fish, earth for the mole. The
senses enjoy light, color, form, melodious sounds,
agreeable odors, pleasant tastes ; and aU these have
been provided. If man has a capacity for a con
tinued existence, and no continued existence has
been provided for him, this is the only exception
we know to the rule that every power planted in the
nature of God's creatures -has its appropriate sphere
¦already designed and prepared for it in the very
structure of the universe ; for so has God loved his
creatures from before the foundation of the world.
This longing for continued existence shows that the
powers of the soul are not exhausted when those of
the body are worn out. It also furnishes another ar
gument to prove that the visible material body is not
the soul. There is something in us beside these
material particles, which come and go, which swim
in the blood and enter with the breath. Beside the

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 203
body, which the senses perceive, there is that prin
ciple, that vital force, which organizes the body, co
ordinates its parts, makes unity out of its variety.
The body, we repeat, is multiform, the soul uniform.
The body which we perceive by the senses is made
up of parts, of separate organs. But the soul, which
we know through our consciousness, is a unit.
That the soul is different from the body has in aU
times and lands been the dictate of common-sense.
PhUosophers may prove, to their own satisfaction,
that there is no such thing as soul, but only body ;
other philosophers may prove, with equal force, that
there is no such thing as body, but only soul. The
common-sense of the race accepts neither conclusion,
but declares that man is a soul dwelling in a body,
and that, when the body *is dissolved by death, the
soul continues to exist somewhere, somehow.
The beHef in ghosts has been almost universal in
aU ages. Ghosts appear in the Bible, in Homer, in
VirgU, in Dante, in all popular Hterature, among all
savage and all civilized nations. Now, of two things,
one : either these stories are true, and then they
prove that the soul does not die with the body ; or
else they are false, and then they prove the universal
belief that the soul does not die with the body.
This belief must be very strong, since without facts,

204 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
and in spite of facts, it continues to maintain itself
age after age. Such a behef is a proof of its own
truth, for human nature was not made to beheve
so persistently in such a lie. Universal convictions
must have their roots in some basis of reaHty.
But this faith in an hereafter, though universal, is
a matter of degrees. Some beHeve more and some
less, according to constitution, temperament, and
habit of mind. Some have Httle hope in their con
stitution, and little sense of spiritual existence;
they are Hke doubting Thomas, and find it hard to
believe. They want the evidence of facts. If spirit-
rapping be true, and if ghosts actually revisit the
gHmpses of the moon, — too often, to make night hid
eous with their foolish talk, — it must be for the bene
fit of these persons, who are not unwilling to believe,
but only unable to do so. It is difficult to understand
why we should be any more strongly convinced of a
future Hfe if aU the tables in Boston should fly up
into the air to demonstrate it. But when Thomas
said he could not believe unless he could put his fin
gers into the print of the naUs, Jesus allowed him to
do so. If others need this sort of evidence, let us be
glad that they can have it. I, for one, wiU not deny
its possibility or its reaHty.
Not only is the power of beHeving in a future Hfe

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 205
different in different individuals, but it grows
stronger or weaker by exercise, Hke other powers.
The more we Hve in spiritual things, in the love
of truth, justice, and goodness, the more real does
spirit become to us.
Jesus gives us confidence in God, and so inspires
us with faith in immortality. He says, "In my
Father's house are many mansions ; K it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you." He raises us above the Hmitations of now and here,
he makes us commune with God, who is always and
everywhere, and so Hfts us up into a sense of immor
tal IKe.
When we once beHeve that God cares for us, that
we have value in his eyes, then we are free from the
fear of death. We can trust ourselves entirely to
him. He is a faithful Creator. We can say, " Into
thy hands, 0 Lord, I commit my spirit," sure that
in his hands our spirit shaU be always safe.
When we once beHeve in God, the analogies of
this world strengthen our faith in another. See the
boundless provision made for aU God's creatures
here ! Every Httle creature has its wants provided
for beforehand. Some are made with the instinct
of flying ; they enjoy movement in the air, and by a

206 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
wonderful contrivance, which all the skiU and inge
nuity of science faUs to equal, the little insect wiU
keep on the wing hour after hour without fatigue.
The bird wiU fly aU day at the rate of a mile a min
ute, journeying to his winter or his summer home.
The fish enjoys life in the cold depths of the sea.
The mole and the worm enjoy Hfe digging in the
¦earth. It is said by some physical philosophers that
aU movements on the earth, movements of air, of
water, of growth, of decay, come from the influence
of the sun. But the sun of the animated creation is
enjoyment in the exercise of their faculties. Their
sunshine is in their delight in doing what they are
made capable of doing ; and aU creatures have their
sphere provided for them, — air, earth, water. The
bee is made to seek for honey, and honey has been
provided for it The whale was made to nourish his
immense body with enormous quantities of minute
vegetables and animals, and these have been pro
vided for him. And these little marine insects have
their homes too, and food and occupation and enjoy
ments. No doubt the Deity himseK takes pleasure
in the universal happiness of his creatures; and
though we do not understand now the uses of pain,
we shaU probably one day see that it is a part of
universal education, and that aU present suffering

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 207
is the preparation for a higher capabihty of future
joy. If we beHeve in the goodness of God, pain is
an argument for immortaHty. We could Hve here
without it, K this life were aU. So it must be sent
as a -discipline beforehand for something beyond ; as
the chUd is made to study books, which are of no
present use to him, but the knowledge of which wUl
be of use hereafter.
Insoluble problems are also evidence of immor
taHty. We are all, in our mind and our Hfe, brought
face to face with questions to which no sufficient
answer can here be found. Every generation of men
comes in turn to look at these paradoxes, these anti
nomies of the reason. How can an infinite being
create a finite world ? What is the origin of evU ?
What is the relation between freedom and law, Hb
erty in man and the providence of God ? We are
obHged by the law of our thought to ask these
questions, and are unable to answer them. Do they
not then vindicate an hereafter, where the solution
wiU be found ? Are they not Hke the sentence
written at the foot of an unfinished story, — " To be
continued in our next " ?
What God has done for his creatures in this
world he wiU do for them hereafter. We can trust
him .entirely then as here. He has made us with

~208 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
longings for a continued existence ; he has made the
soul so that it does not grow old and decay with the
body, but becomes more rich in knowledge, in love,
in aspiration, in hope, as the body sinks away in
disease. How often have we seen the soul strug
gling upward whUe the body was sinking down
ward ; the body dying, the soul growing more ahve !
How often do men and women meUow and sweeten
as they advance in years, rising to larger views, more
liberal aims ! How often, whUe the body grows
older, does the spirit seem to grow younger, fresher,
more active ! Goethe said of SchUler, " He went
on, and on, and on, for thirty-eight years, never rest
ing, never ceasing from new activity and fresh
accomphshments." Meantime, the body of SchUler
was steadUy decaying.
I often saw Dr. Charming in his last years. He
never was so fuU of great thoughts and high pur
poses as then. Death, which already seemed to
have taken possession of the feeble body, had no
dominion over that ascending soul I once saw, on
a seal, the device of a sky-rocket, with the motto,
" Dum vivo volo/' " WhUe I Hve, I ascend." Such
was the spirit of Channing, of SchUler, of John
Quincy Adams,, of a great multitude of famous men,
and men not famous, who continue to ascend as long
as they live.

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 209
If the souls of our friends do not live after death,
we should not, I think, be made to mourn over them
as we do, to carry them in our hearts forever. We
should be made to lay them aside, as we throw away
a worn-out garment or tool, thinking no more of it.
Our undying affections are proofs of the immortahty
of the soul.
I have a friend, perhaps, whom I did not know a
few1 years since, or even a few months ago. Between
his soul and mine there springs up a strong com
munion of thought, aim, and life. He go.es away
into the other world, and not one Hnk of that chain
of love is weakened. Year after year passes away,
and I see him stUl by my side. I hear his voice, I
look into his eyes, I feel his presence and influence.
And will you make me believe that this soul of fire
died with the body, — this soul, which continues thus
to mould and influence me years after he has passed
into the unseen world ? That opinion requires more
credulity than I am capable of.
It is a curious fact, that while, on the one hand,
the men addicted to physical science and material
studies have many of them lost their faith in soul,
God, and immortality, and can believe only in force
and matter, on the other hand there has sprung up
a large body of behevers who are confident that they

210 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
have physical and material evidence that the soul
survives the body. I have devoted some attention
tp modern SpirituaHsm, and I find it not very attrac
tive or very interesting. The messages purporting to
come from the other world are rather weak senti-
mentaHsm, and do not seem to need that any ghost
should come from the dead to communicate them.
Nevertheless, the fact remains, that some miUions of
persons, of all characters, of all sorts of intellect? —
poetic, prosaic, imaginative, commonplace, — are firmly
convinced that they have seen and heard- spirits from
the other world. Since I believe in the continued
existence of spirits after death, I have no reason to
deny, beforehand, such facts. I think it highly
probable that such communications may actually
take place, though there seems to be some law which
prevents any very effectual or useful intercourse.
The net gain thus far seems to be, not that we have
much more Hght on religion, morality, the soul, or
God, than we had before, but that many persons who
were before unable to beHeve in spirit or an here
after now believe in both. They are persons who
need physical evidence of spiritual things, and per
haps Divine Providence, in its infinite bounty, has
seen fit to grant it to them, and so to counteract by
physical and material evidence the decay pf faith

CONCERNING THE FUTURE LIFE. 211
which has come from relying too exclusively on
physical observation.
But, after aU, spiritual things are spiritually dis
cerned. AU the rappings and table-tippings possible
wiU not produce a Hving conviction of the immor
tality of the soul Jesus says, "If they hear not
Moses and the Prophets, neither wiU they be per
suaded though one rise from the dead." The mate
rialistic philosopher cannot see the kingdom of God ;
it is necessarily foolishness to him. It is only by
Hving with God, Hving from a sense of duty, Hving a
Hfe of love and generous affection, Hving an immor
tal Hfe here, that we gain any lasting and stable
faith in immortality.
Spiritism, or the doctrine of ghostly visitors, is, then,
only a buttress, good to resist the thrust of material
arguments against immortaHty. It is not a foun
dation on which to buUd our faith.
In a different way is Jesus the resurrection and
the Hfe. His influence makes us live in the things
which are above. While we commune with him,
we rise with him into that sphere of thought and
feeHng over which death has no power, and where
the fear of death is conquered. Then we have
no doubt about the immortaHty of others or about
our own, no doubt as to the ascent of man after

212 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
death into a higher existence, no doubt concerning
the protecting care and love of God.
So, when life's sweet journey ends,
Soul and body part like friends ;
No quarrels, murmurs, no delay, —
A kiss, a sigh, and so away.

THE NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HERE
AFTER.

X.

THE NATURE OF OUR CONDITION
HEREAFTER.
Assuming the existence of God and of a future
life, we ask, What are the probable conditions of that
existence ? We have only two sources of informa
tion : one must be found in the analogies of this Hfej
the other in the teachings of inspired men.
Since this world and the world to come both pro
ceed from the same Creator, and since he is the same
always, we may properly conjecture what he wiU do
for us hereafter from what he does for us here. Our
reason teaches that the Divine laws are unchanging
and universal; founded on no caprice of wiU, but
rooted deeply in the nature of things. This world
is a revelation of God's character, and his char
acter remains the same forever. The next world
must reveal the same character ; and no manifesta
tions of God there can contradict, though they may
complete, his manifestations here. Whatever there
is in that world new and different, it must be in es
sential harmony with all in this.

216 common-sense in religion.
First, then, we may assume that space and time
wiU continue, as the necessary conditions of the ex
istence of finite things and the taking place of finite
events. By means of space, things are kept apart
and distinct ; by means of time, events are kept
apart and distinct. As long as anything finite con
tinues, it must be framed in space and time. Take
away space and time, and all things would rush to
gether into the infinite and eternal. A universe, as
distinct from God, requires the assumption of space
and time ; and we may assume their continuance
hereafter, either as reaHties or as necessary forms of
thought, — it does not matter which.
If space and time continue, then we shaU be some
where, and not everywhere, in some place, and not
in aU places, just as we are now. People sometimes
imagine that, after death, we shaU have no more
locality, but be in aU places at once. But we cannot
think that we, or any being, except God, will ever be
omnipresent That is an attribute of the Infinite
Being, not of finite beings. As finite beings we shall
be somewhere, and not everywhere.. We do not
mean by this to say that we shaU necessarily be tied
to one place, or be unable to move from one to an
other. We see a progress and ascent in this respect
here. Trees are rooted to the soil ; some animals are

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 217
fastened to certain locaHties. Man is Hmited to this
one planet, Earth, but can come and go on aU its sur
face. By means of electricity and steam he is grad
uaUy making himseK at home in aU parts of the
globe. Hereafter, in the next state, he may be able
to move with a thought from place to place, to be
in a moment where he wishes to be. He may be
able to think himself from the Sun to Jupiter or Sat
urn. But he must be in some place at each moment,
not in all places.
So also it would seem that he must be in some
point of time at each moment. In this Hfe the
stream of time carries us aU forward together ; so, I
conceive, it wiU be in the future. We can, indeed,
by a wonderful power of memory and of imagination,
go backward and forward, and then the past or the
future rises before us. So, hereafter, we may be able
more wonderfuUy stiU to Hve in past or in future
time, be present in spirit at the creation of worlds, be
present and look on at the most interesting moments
of human history. We may be able, by an act of
wUl, to transport ourselves backward a thousand
years, and go into a vUlage of Europe in the ninth
century, and see the actual condition of knights_ and
serfs. We may be able to assist at the Crusades, or
to see Mohammed in his cave, when flying from
10

218 common-sense in religion.
Mecca. We may be able to go back and stand by
the cross, and look in the face of Jesus, and hear
with our own ears his blessed words of forgiveness ;
or, in the early Easter morning, see him when he
comes from the tomb. We may be able to go far
ther back stUl, — to the Egyptian, Persian, Hindoo
civUizations ; Hsten to Confucius talking with his dis
ciples, visit Abraham in his tent, see what the deluge
of Noah really was, and learn whether there was one
Adam or many ; for this would, after aU, be only an
extension or increased degree of powers we aHeady
possess, and would not be more wonderful, essen
tiaUy, than any act of memory. To be able to look
at the past is, indeed, not more strange than to be
able to see the present.
Here let us consider that, according to analogy, our
entrance into the other world out of this wiH not he
abrupt or startling. Think how gently we are intro
duced into this IKe ! Thousands and tens of thou
sands of human beings find themselves existing in
this wonderful universe, and are not surprised at it.
They have come from non-existence into existence,
and take it as a matter of course. No subsequent
change that can befaU any of us can be as amazing
as this change from nothing tp something. If I
can bear this without wonder, methinks I can bear

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 219
anything. The greatest of aU wonders is, that we do
not wonder at beginnmg to be. We are so immersed
in outward, visible objects, so fuU of active Hfe, that
we cannot stop to be astonished. By what wonder
ful provision is it that God softly rocks us into being,
tenderly leads over this terrific and astounding fact
of our passage from nonentity into actual existence ?
We may be sure, at aU events, since we have not
been astonished by this, nothing wiU ever be too
starthng. No change from something to something
else can ever be so extraordinary as the change from
nothing to something.
But we must not conceive of ourselves as lonely,
isolated beings hereafter, not belonging anywhere.
We must observe that the law of progress here, whUe
it gives more freedom on one side, gives more perma
nence on the other. Man has greater freedom of
movement than the lower animals ; he can come and
go as they cannot. But he also has more of a home
than they have. They have their nest, their hole,
their companions ; but he has his house, his family,
his relations, friends, companions, his place of work,
His sphere of activity and love. Now it is probable,
from analogy, that this wiU be the case hereafter.
So Jesus intimates : " In my Father's house are
many mansions :• if it were not so, I would have told

220 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
you. I go to prepare a place, for you." Jesus seems
to have gone to prepare a congenial place, a sympa
thetic society ; to caU together in one Divine man
sion elect spirits who would be ready to receive hw
disciples when they should enter that world, so that.
when they passed, in they would be welcomed at once
into a blessed company of friends assembled to re
ceive them.
Every species of Hving thing which enters this;
world enters a home prepared for it beforehand by
tbe providence of God. Fishes are bom in water,
where they find their food ready for them, and the ele
ment suited to their heeds. Little birds find them
selves in a nest, with parent birds to bring them their'
worms and cherries. The tiger's whelp, when it ar
rives, finds a mother as loving and as careful as if she
were the gentlest of aU tender creatures. Little chil
dren born in ceUars have at first as soft a bosom to
lean Pn, as careful arms to hold them, as sweet food
for their Hps, as the Spanish Infanta or the French
Dauphin. The coral insect, coming into the world in
a tropical sea, finds the necessary conditions of his
little Hfe arranged for him, — the water tempered to
the right degree of warmth, and his food by his side.
And if God makes this preparation for every ani
mal and plant bom into this world, wUl he not have

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 221
our homes prepared for us, so that we shaU not enter
into a strange or lonely world hereafter? Let us
look forward to a glad awakening in the other world.
Let us expect to find ourselves received into a home
there, among groups of friends, wiser, nobler than
ourselves, so that among them we shaU be once more
Hke Httle chUdren, to be guided, taught, led, tenderly
cared for. As we open our eyes in the new Hfe, we
shaU look into answering eyes of gracious tenderness
and heavenly radiance. Soft voices will murmur
welcome. As mothers here purr and coo and sing
cradle-songs to. their infants, so the first sounds
which enter our ears hereafter may be the same
sweet voices of musical love. There wiU be nothing
abrupt, strange, or startling. As we find ourselves
in this world without any amazement, and take it as
a matter of course that we should be here, so we
shall not be astonished at arriving at the next stage
of being.
Our homes hereafter wUl probably be a step in
advance of our homes here in being adapted more
¦perfectly to our higher wants. Many famines in this
Hfe, whUe fuU of natural affection, do not meet in
any fuU affinity or high communion. They do not
always understand each other. With the most con
scientious purposes, they are often unjust to each

222 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
other. With the best intentions, they often fail of
comprehending each other's real motives. Thus there
may be perpetual friction, — the sense of hindrance
in one's home, and not help. These are the tragedies
of Hfe, — persons who are brought together by birth,
by habit, and by natural affection, who yet do not
meet intimately, who have no real intimacy of mind
or heart. Perhaps the homes hereafter wiU be ar
ranged according to deeper affinities than these.
Those who belong to each other wiU come together.
Then each will contribute to the common peace and
progress, and there wUl be that real communion
which consists in perfect sympathy and mutual un
derstanding. Nor need the old relations cease when these new
ones begin ; for these came from a deep root. AU
love is of God, and will endure. We need not fear
that our friend whom we have loved so much here
wUl leave us there for some higher society with
which he has more affinity. We sometimes hear
this fear expressed, that our friends may have gone
up so far as to have passed quite away from our
reach. But can we faU to see that it is the nature
of Christian love to be able to come down in deeper
sympathy with aU below, as it ascends in fulness of
Hfe to loftier attainment above ? Jesus Christ, the

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 223
loftiest of aU souls ever seen on earth, — with whom
did he commune, whom did he love, whose society
did he choose ? Babes in inteUect, infants in virtue,
pubhcans and fishermen, Martha, Mary, Lazarus.
Not many wise, not many noble, were chosen by
him, but persons standing in the lowest plane of
spiritual attainment. They were honest, unperverted,
pure in heart, that was aU. And when he rose, and
ascended to his Father, did he leave them behind ?
No; but he said, "I go away, and come again to
you. I wUl not leave you comfortless. I will come
again, and receive you to myself, that where I am
there ye may be also." If the homes hereafter are
higher homes than these, they are stiU made for us,
that we may go into them, and be Hfted by them to
a higher Hfe.
It wUl be observed that we have assumed, all
along, that the future Hfe is an advance on this one,
and an advance of which we shaU aU have the ^ad-
vantage. This is the lesson of analogy and also of
revelation. So in the resurrection, as everything else ascends
to a higher plane, our love must ascend too. It will
be a higher, purer, deeper, larger love. It wiU be
less seK-seeking and more generous. It wiU reach
out more widely, and sympathize with a greater va-

224 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
riety of God's creatures. It wiU go down more
deeply, to seek and save the lost ones. It wUl rise
up in a purer aspiration to God. But because it does
aU this, it wUl not lose its hold on its old friendships,
for it never does that in this world. To go up spir-
ituaUy is not to go away from any one. To go up
nearer to God is to acquire the power of going down
with him into the lowest parts of his creation.
The perfection of God consists in his power of go
ing down into the infinitely smaU, as well as up
into the infinitely great. Christ rose higher than
any other being, and so was able to sympathize with
and to love those who are too low down for any one
else to love. To separate one's self from those below
is not to go up as Christ went up. Consequently,
K our friends have made great progress in the other
world, and have become far higher than . we, they
have acquired thereby the power and wish to come
nearer to us in sympathy and help than ever before.
We must not beHeve in two places only hereafter,
heaven and heU. It is not likely that aU are to go
either into perfect joy or unmitigated sorrow. This
is a very crude and irrational notion, founded on the
Hteral interpretation of some phrases of Scripture
which our prosaic theologians have not had imagina
tion enough to understand. God has made this

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 225
world infinitely diversified with every degree of
being, — - a long scale of musical gradations. Is God's
law in this world a law of variety, and is his law in
the other world a law of monotony ? Has he a mil-
Hon different conditions for his creatures here, and
only two there ? Believe it not ! The other world
is, no doubt, as full of variety as this. It has an
outward nature as rich in air, earth, water, Hght, fire,
plants, vegetables, as this, our old famUiar world;
only more graceful, more lovely, more various, more
sublime, more tender. So, long ago, MUton wrote : —
"What if earth
Be but the shadow of heaven, and things therein
Each to other like, more than below is thought ? "
The old theory was based on the Parable of the
Sheep and the Goats. It was inferred that there are
only two classes in the other world, saints and sin
ners ; only two places, heaven and heU. But while
each parable teaches some one special truth, all
truth is not put into each parable. The particu
lar truth taught by the " sheep and goats " is, that
those who have never heard of Jesus — the GentUes,
or heathen — wiU be judged according to their fidelity
to the law in their hearts, which is a law of univer
sal love. The essential difference between men is
10* o

226 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
that they are selfish or unselfish. This parable
declares that aU generous, unselfish people are essen
tiaUy Christians, whether they ever heard of Christ
or not.
But Jesus says explicitly, and without a parable,
that there are many different conditions in the other
world, as in this. The law of degrees prevails there
as here. If we expect aU to go into one place when
we go into the other world, I think we shaU be mis
taken. There wUl be a special place for every one
to be born into there, as there is here. Every chUd
born into this world comes into a home of its own ;
has its own father and mother, brothers and sisters,
its own nation, country, town, language ; he is born
in the country or city, among the mountains or by
the sea, into the home of a farmer, a mechanic, a
minister. One Httle child is born in Spain, one in
India, one in New England. Each of us, as we pass
into the other world, wiU go into a particular home
there, suited to us, and which we are suited for. It
is said of Judas that "he went to his place/' the
place that suited him, the place where he belonged,
the place where it was best for him to go. So the
Apostle Paul went to his place, the place which
suited him, the place where it was best for him to go.
All this is not only scriptural, but reasonable; so

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 227
reasonable that Jesus seems to think it almost un
necessary to tell us of it. "In my Father's house
are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have
told you."
We are also told that while a good deal of what
we learn in this life will pass away, much wUl re
main. "We know in part, and prophecy" (that is,
teach) "in part; but when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part wiU be done away."
But there are "three great elements of spiritual life
which remain : faith, hope, and love.
The faith which abides is not any particular
creed or belief; but it is that confidence in God,
that trust in universal law, in the order of the uni
verse, in a pervading, providing mteUigence, in a
blessed fatherly love, which is at the root of aU in
tellectual activity, aU inteUectual progress. This
faith is the " substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen." It is the spring of aU
thought, reaching out from the known to the unknown.
We go into the other world beHeving that there is
there plenty to know, that the laws of nature and
the facts of nature are infinite and inexhaustible ;
and that this faith is to abide in us proves that the
other world is like this world in its inexhaustible
opportunities for knowledge. There, as here, there

228 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
wUl be mfinite variety, boundless adaptation, facts of
observation for the senses, beauty for the imagina
tion, problems to be studied, deeper mysteries of
science. There wUl be something corresponding to
sunlight, to stars and moon, to ocean and mountain, to
forest and meadow, to summer and winter. This
Httle world has not exhausted the creative power of
God. We here see but the border of his works, and
Hsten to but a faint whisper concerning him.
Faith abides, and so also hope abides. And if so
there is something to hope for; that is, there is
progress hereafter, as weU as here. When God puts
hope into the human heart, it is a promise of progress.
When we are told that hope abides, it is a promise
of perpetual progress. To give us hope, with nothing
to hope for, would be to deceive us. But the hope
of something better is the spring of activity. There
fore, in the other Hfe, there is not only plenty to
know, but also plenty to do. What the work is, we
do not know; but as the other world is a higher
world, so the work there is higher than here.
It would seem as if much of human work in this
world is merely a training of our power of work on
unimportant labors, to prepare us for those of real
value. If we have been faithful over a few things,
we shaU be rulers over many things. Ninety-nine

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 229
hundredths of human labor here is directed to pro
curing food, clothing, and shelter for the body. We
might have easily been made so as to need neither
food, clothing, nor shelter. All creatures have to
work for the first of these objects, some for the first
and last ; man has to work for all Is not this in
tended to tiain his working powers, so that they may
be exercised on something higher ?
Lastly, we are told that love abides ; and, if love
abides, the objects of love must also abide. The con
tinuance of our human love is one of the best evi
dences, not only of immortaHty, but also that we are
to know our friends again, and be with them again,
in the other Hfe. Else why this undying memory of
our loved ones, this aching void, never fiUed ?
The animals have an intense love for their little
pnes, but after a few days they forget them. They
are better off than we are, if we are not to meet,
again those who have left us. The cow mourns her
calf for a day or two, and then an end. But after
twenty, thirty, fifty years have gone, the father re
members, with a pang of longing, his little child;
the mother carries her infant in her heart tiU she
goes to meet it. We may change toward the Hving,
but not toward the dead. Living friends may be
false to us, or we to them, but —

230 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
" The love where death has set its seal,
Nor age can chill, nor falsehood steal,
Nor rivals disallow."
If we had no other reason for beheving it, then
the fact of this deep-rooted love and this incurable
sense of loss, "this scar of a deep-stabbed woe,"
should be enough to convince us of the recognition
and new communion with those who leave us. But
if in the other world we did not remember our
friends, there would be no reason to beHeve we
should remember anything. When the old man's
memory goes, from the decay of his body, he forgets
dates and names, forgets recent facts, forgets recent
acquaintances ; but the last thing he forgets are those
whom he loves. If, therefore, we should not remem
ber our friends hereafter, I think we should not re
member anything. And if we did not remember
anything, it would be no immortality of the soul,
no continuation of the same personal Hfe.
In this world we can only look on nature from the
outside; perhaps then we shaU be able to see it
from within. Have we not aU had the feeHng — in
looking at the ocean, at mountains, at a summer
landscape, at the midnight sky — of something which
we long to get at, but cannot, hidden within and
behind what we see ?

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 231
Wordsworth continually refers to this instinctive
longing which we have to penetrate nature, to go be
low its surface. We have senses here by which we
perceive the sensible phenomena of nature, the beauty
of form, grace of motion, color, Hght and shadow,
perfume, music. In the other world we may have
other faculties given us by which to perceive other
phenomena which are now absolutely hidden for
want of some perceptive faculties. There may be
whole worlds of phenomena hidden in nature, which
wiU open upon us when we have a spiritual body
with new senses, just as the world of form and color
would open on a man born bhnd, or the world of
melody open on onp born deaf, K these senses should
be suddenly awakened.
This, I think, is what Paul means by the resur
rection of the body. It is the rising up of the body,
the ascent of bodily Hfe, the access of new bodUy
powers. Every year, in a thousand churches, the
resurrection of the body is spoken of as though it
meant the same material particles rising again out
of earth. But this is a low, material, earthly view
of the doctrine. " Flesh and blood shaU not inherit
the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption." " That which thou sowest," Paul dis
tinctly declares, " is not that body which shaU be."

232 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
The resurrection of the acorn is an oak ; it rises up
in a higher form. So man rises up from the grave in
a higher form. " It is sown in corruption," that is, in
a decaying form ; " it is raised in incorruption," that
is, in a body which wiU not decay. " It is sown in
weakness, it is raised in power." The resurrection
of the body is the rising up or advance of the bodUy
organization of man from corruption to incorruption,
from weakness to power, from dishonor to glory, from
a body which weighs down the soul to one which
expresses it, manKests it, and obeys it entirely.
The other Hfe, then, we are taught by inspiration
as weU as by the analogies of nature, is a higher Hfe
for aU. It is, therefore, a good thing for aU to die,
when the proper time of death arrives. It is not
good to take our own Hfe, as Mr. Francis Newman
recommends, and for two reasons : first, if we intrude
where we are not invited, we shaU not be likely to
be welcomed yery cordiaUy. To be met in the other
world by the question " Who sent for you ? " would
not be very agreeable. Then we may not be suffi
ciently prepared to go up into a higher Hfe. If we
wait patiently tUl God sends for us, we may be sure
that it wUl be a good thing for us to die ; but if we
go before we are sent for, we may find ourselves
whoUy unfit for that state.

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 233
When we say that the future Hfe is a higher con
dition than this to aU men, we do not mean that
every man there is better and happier than every
man here. The sphere of a man in this world is
higher than that of a dog, yet some dogs may be
better and happier than some men. But if the souls
of animals ever become men, that wiU be a resur
rection, a rising up, to aU of them. AU, good and
bad, wiU rise to a higher plane of being and higher
conditions of existence. In the same way we may
beHeve that aU men wUl rise, at death, into a higher
plane of being and higher conditions of existence.
Not that aU go into heaven, nor aU into equal and
eternal happiness, but aU go up and on into a higher
sphere. It is a rising up to judgment, as weU as to
joy ; a rising up to the sight of God's truth and holi
ness, as weU as to that of his love. StiU, it is rising
up. The soul which has deadened itself here, har
dened its conscience to the truth, convinced itself
that there is no God and no future, rises out of that
degraded state when it comes to see the great reali
ties pf eternity. It rises to condemnation, remorse,
shame, but it rises. Better for it to see the truth, no
matter how hard it is to bear, than to remain forever
bhnded to it So, aU that are in their graves shall
hear the voice of the Son of man at last, and come

234 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
forth, — come out of the graves of unbelief, of selfish
ness, of sensuaHty, of falsehood, in which they have
buried themselves, or out of the soft sleep of a Hfe
spent in faithful and generous toU. They shaU aU
hear the voice of "the Man," the human voice of
Christ, and shaU ascend to a higher plane of truth
and love. Therefore, even to those who go into the
other world selfish, impenitent, hardened, and without
any sense of rehgion, it is an ascent ; for they go to
judgment, to see themselves and to see the truth.
They have hardened themselves against the truth in
this Hfe ; they have closed their eyes, and shut their
ears, and hardened their hearts here, untU it has
become impossible for them to be converted and
healed. But when they enter the other world all is
changed. The Ulusions of this world pass away.
They can no longer deceive themselves. They see
themselves as they are, and God as he is. This is
really progress, advance; the only and essential
progress. The resurrection of the body does not mean that
the same body comes to life again, as many foolishly
suppose. Paul says, " Thou fool, thou sowest not that
body that shaU be, but bare grain." The analogy of
seed and plant was given us to help us to understand
this. You take some poor, black-looking, dried-up

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 235
seed, and put it into the earth. The first thing which
happens is that it decays, that nearly all of it decays
and dies. But this death of the envelope Hberates the
germ. Now it begins to grow. It puts out its two
little leaves above ; it sends down its Httle roots
below; it moves into the air and Hght. Exquisite,
deHcate leaves unfold and swing gently in the soft
air. A bud arrives, and sweUs, and opens into a
lovely flower. That is the resurrection of the seed.
It is not the same seed coming back again, but some
thing higher coming out of it.
Common-sense and common observation teach
that aU things are advancing, that the law of the
universe is perpetual progress. The latest theory
— that of Mr. Darwin — seeks to legitimate by
science this universal law. The central idea of
Darwin is that only the best things survive, and
so that all nature is constantly going up from good
to better. It is a theory of hope. To be sure, it
is not science ; for science is knowledge, and this is
theory. But so far as it goes, it goes in the steps
of revelation, and preaches the law of hope and
progress. Christianity, in its Scriptures, does not enter into
the details of future existence as other rehgions do.
The Persians, the Brahmans, the Egyptians, describe

236 . COMMON-;SENSE IN RELIGION,

minutely the state and occupations of the soul in the
other world. All this Christianity leaves untold;
its revelation is for this world. It brings God to us
here. If we feel his presence and his love now, we
shaU have no doubt about immortality, God, whp
has made this world so rich and so fair, who has
arranged it so for aU our needs and wants, wbo has
given us here so much to know and love and do,—
be wUl take care of us also there. Christ makes us
beHeve in immortaHty, not by teUing us about its
details, but by filling us with faith and trust in God.
So he strengthens and quickens into fuller Hfe the
natural instinct of immortaHty. See that Httle child
walking with its father through the streets of the
city. All is strange to it, aU new. He does not
know what is coming next, where he is going next ;
but be walks happily on, holding his father's hand,
looking at everything, enjoying everything, without
fear. But if, perchance, he loses for a moment his
hold of his father's hand, and finds himself alone in
the crowd of strangers, he utters a cry of terror, and
a great fear rushes over his Httle heart. So it is
with us as we walk with God through his universe
from world to world. As long as we hold his hand,
as long as we have our Father near us, we are satis
fied witb the present, and enjoy what ia around us,

NATURE OF OUR CONDITION HEREAFTER. 237
and do not ask what is to come next. It is only
when we let go his hand that a great terror of the
future rushes over us, and we are afraid before the
uncertainties and darkness of death and the unknown
worlds beyond.

XI.

COMMON -SENSE VIEW OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH.

XI.

COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF THE CHRIS
TIAN CHURCH.
There are a considerable number of inteUigent men
and women who think that the Christian Church is
of no use at the present time, whatever it may have
been formerly. Their reasons for thmking so, so far
as I have heard them, are such as these : " The
Church," they say, " is behind the times in its doc-
trines, its methods, and its aims. The need of to
day is not worship, ceremonies, ritual, but knowl
edge and work. The newspapers, the magazines, the
lyceum, have taken the place of the Church as a
teacher. The various philanthropic and benevolent
societies have taken its place as a worker. Once,
doubtless, the Church taught the people the most
which they knew ; but now the press is the teacher
of the masses. If you wish to worship, why go to
church ? Why not go to the woods, or into the fields
in the summer, and worship in God's" own temple ?
Why not go to your room, or closet, as Christ com
manded, if it be winter, and read some good book, or
meditate on God's wonderful world ?

242 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
" The Church," so say these critics, " is not only
behind the times as regards its work, but is a draw
back on the work of other people. It opposes re
forms, opposes science, is afraid of progress ; it is
the dog in the manger ; it does not do its own work ;
it leaves the poor, the vicious, the slave, the intem
perate, the prisoner, to be taken care of by others,
and finds fault with the temperance men, the Aboli
tionists, the "reformers who come to do what it has
neglected. The condemnations pronounced by Isaiah
on the church of his time, and by Jesus on the
church of his time, and by Luther on the church of
his time, and by Wesley and George Fox on the
churches of their time, are stUl true ; and we may
say, as they said, 'It is iniquity, even the solemn
meeting.' ' It is better to stay away from church
than to go to it.' "
I have tried to state the argument fuUy and fairly.
Why be afraid of criticism ? Let us welcome it. If
any one can find fault with what we are doing,
let us be glad to hear it. It is best that such objec
tions should come out ; then, if false, they can be
answered ; if correct, they can be made use of to
help us improve. SchUler says, —
' ' My friend aids me ; my foe also is useful to me.
The one shows me what I am able to do ; the other what I ought
to do."

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 243
Let us, at least, be ready frankly to admit that the
Christian Church is, and always has been, an imper
fect institution. It is quite capable of being im
proved. Others may caU it the Bride of Christ,. the
Ark of Safety, the Pure and Holy Mother of Souls,
the Infallible, the Spotless Body. Let us be satisfied
to caU it, as Christ did, a body of disciples ; that is,
a company of scholars met to learn. They are igno
rant, therefore needing to be taught ; they have many
faults, and need to correct them. They are a body
of boys and girls, with open minds and hearts, wish
ing to be instructed. You do not find fault with a
school-boy because he is ignorant ; that is his qualifi
cation for being a scholar. What we want in a
scholar is ignorance. The man in the fable, who
would not go into the water tiU he knew how to
swim, is. the type of those who wUl not join the
Church because they are not good enough to be
Christians. By and by, they say, when we have
learned to swim, — that is, when we have become
pious, holy, charitable, without the Church, — then
we will join the Church.
No, the Church has always had faults enough, and
has needed always to be found fault with. It needs
it now. We ought not to complain of that. But
what we are able to show is, that, with aU its faults,

244 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
it is a useful and necessary institution; an institu
tion whose roots run down so deep into human
nature that it cannot be aboHshed; an institution
which, in its worst form, does so much good, and
helps mankind so much, that they wiU never wUl-
ingly let it die.
If any one has fault to find with the Church,
and thinks it of no use, let him consider how
deeply rooted its needs are in the nature of man.
It cannot be destroyed. If it comes to an end in
one form, it springs up anew in another. Cut
down the old trunk, new shoots spring up from the
root. It cannot be destroyed; for some sort of a
church is heeded by man for his moral Hfe, growth,
peace, comfort. Therefore the only question is, WUl
you stand apart from it, or take hold of it and help
make it better ? It is easier, no doubt, to stand apart
from any institution, and criticise it from the out
side ; but it is better to study it sympatheticaUy, and
try to improve it. Those who think it faulty are the
very ones who ought to try to make it better.
Some persons, we have said, have come to the con
clusion that the Church is of no use ; that it is a
dilapidated institution, weU enough once, but now
quite behind the age, and soon to be superseded by
newspapers and philanthropic societies. They there-

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 245
fore wiU have nothing to do with it; they will do
nothmg to make it better ; they simply let it alone.
What they do themselves, they of course would think
it right for others to do. Indeed, on their principle,
this is what aU ought to do and wiU do. That which
is dead ought to be buried, and put out of sight.
Let us, then, suppose this done; the result brought
about at which they aim, and which their course
naturaUy tends to produce. The Christian Church,
then, has ceased out of the land. Its temples are no
longer opened on the Lord's day for worship. There
is no more meeting for common-prayer, for praise, for
songs of thanksgiving, for Hstening to the words of
Jesus Christ, for instruction from the pulpit in truth
and duty. The twenty thousand pulpits, which now,
once a week, caU men to recognize the presence of
God in the world, are sUent. Soon Sunday becomes
Hke any other day. Work, amusement, the cares of
life, which are now shut out for a few hours, one day
in seven, by this Httle embankment which we caU Sun
day, — these rush in, and all of human Hfe becomes
one monotonous course of working, eating, sleeping,
society, study, amusement. No solemn sense of the
Divine Presence comes in with the opening morn of
Sunday; no words reminding us that we are not
wholly of this earth, no words filled with immortal

246 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
hope, come to nerve the heart and soul. Little chil
dren are born, and no baptismal blessing is laid
on their brow; our dear ones die, and are put into
the ground, and no prayer ascends over the grave.
Soon, also, the Bible loses its power. Being no longer
pubhcly read, being taught no longer in the Sunday
school, being no longer explained and enforced in the
sermon, it wUl graduaUy take its place with other
good books, and be read as we read them. It wUl
not any longer be the law of Christendom, a Divine
law, to be appealed to in behaK of justice by the
oppressed; a law to rebuke the tyrant and elevate
the slave ; a law keeping the pubHc conscience en-
Hghtened, and sensitive to the distinctions of right
and wrpng. WiU newspapers take its place ? Will
the place of prophets and apostles be fuUy supphed
by those young men who are obHged to write in
haste an article for to-morrow's paper, whether they
know anything of the subject or not ? WUl the
lyceum platform supply its place, — the platform
which, no doubt, often preaches noble sermons, and
often becomes a true Christian pulpit, but which is
obliged more frequently to entertain and amuse its
hearers ? The lyceum can hardly devote itseK to
teaching the eternal principles of truth. WUl science
take its place ? Science is knowledge ; rehgion is

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 247
faith, hope, and love. Will a treatise on algebra or
chemistry take the place, to a child, of his father and
mother? Light is one thing, life another. It is
the business of science to communicate Hght to the
inteUect ; it is the work of the Church to bring the
soul to God in submission, faith, obedience, love ; to
God, the source of life. WiU the progress of civUi-
zation make the Church unnecessary ? Civihzation
means the increase of wealth, and so of luxury; the
multiphcation of raikoads, cotton-factories', steam
ships ; it means cheap postage, cheap newspapers, all
the inventions and improvements which make our
outward Hfe more comfortable and more ornamental.
But decorate our outward Hfe to any extent, multiply
luxuries to any amount, you still feel the inward
want, never satisfied, of something higher ; you still
need something to love, something to love you, some
thing infinite and eternal, lasting amid aU change,
the end and object of aU being. Civilization tends
to separation. It tends to separate class from class,
to divide the rich from the poor, the cultivated from
the ignorant; it constantly emphasizes more and
more the differences between man and man. We
need something to make us reahze our common hu
manity ; and that we chiefly feel in the presence of
God, before whom aU human distinctions faU down.

248 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
The Church alone places us in the presence of God ;
it alone gives unity to our Hfe ; it makes aU men
one, whether they be rich or poor, high or low, saints
or sinners, wise or foolish, learned or ignorant, mas
ters or servants, refined or coarse, successful or de
feated ; for aU are one before God. Without a church,
democracy is probably impossible ; for the Church is
the only institution which teaches equality and fra
ternity on an everlasting basis. It says, "Call no
man common or unclean." It says, " Are ye not all
brethren ? "
It appears, therefore, that those who think the
Church may be ignored or dispensed with probably
take a narrow view of the matter. Though they
may be educated and cultivated, they have Httle real
sympathy with the great masses ; they are, perhaps,
acute, but they are certainly shallow. I mean, of
course, shaUow and narrow as regards this point.
They are not in feUowship with that human nature
which, in all lands and all times, demands a worship
of the Invisible which rises always above the seen
to the unseen, which humbles itself before the Most
High and is exalted, which finds itself lifted up by
casting itseK prostrate before the Eternal Truth and
the Infinite Beauty.
The Church is as permanently founded and rooted

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 249
in human nature as the state. It springs up of itself
everywhere, whenever man begins to rise above the
savage state. Confucius has his church ; Buddha has
his church ; Zoroaster has his church. They have all
existed during twenty or thirty centuries, based
wholly on the need of social worship. They rest on
the deep instinct which makes men feel that they
are stronger, better and wiser for going together to
worship before God. The worst church is better
than none, just as the worst state is better than none.
A bad government is better than anarchy. A bad
church is better than to Hve without God in the
world, because that is sure to end in brutahty and
moral death.
The Church is the home of the poor, the comfort
of the sufferer, the friend of the oppressed, the sup
port of the dying, the hope of the bereaved. It comes
to those upon whom society has laid heavy burdens,
and takes them by the hand to raise them up.
WiU phUanthropic institutions take its place ?
Each of these is based on the right of some one
need of society, of some single work to be done.
AU are founded on the principle of division of labor.
But we need one central institution, aU inclusive,
which shaU give unity to all; which shaU supply
motive-power to aU by awakening conscience, which
11*

250 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
shall supply also a common law for aU in the ethics
of the New Testament, which shaU give unity to aU
by making all responsible to God and all dependent
on him.
Just, then, as the state is useful because it protects
the property and the person of aU men, and maintains
social order; just as the school is useful because it
gives to aU that knowledge and intelligence without
which a free state cannot exist ; just as the press is
useful to throw Hght into aU dark places, and concen
trate public opinion on aU abuses ; just as benevo
lent and philanthropic societies are useful to meet
every special need and sorrow, — so the Church is use
ful to keep ahve in the whole community the sense
of God's presence ; to teach responsibility to him, the
invisible witness of aU our actions ; to inspire faith,
hope, and love toward him, the universal Father. It
so furnishes the only means of giving unity to Hfe,
and of preventing society from faUing into anarchy
and mutual opposition. This is the central force,
the regulator of civUization, and without which no
advanced society seems possible. The savage state
may exist without a church ; but civiHzatipn divorced
from some reHgious institutions is apparently impos
sible We have been speaking of the Church in general

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 251
What we have said includes the Catholic and the
Protestant Churches, and aU forms of Protestantism
from the most orthodox to the most radical. The
formula of the Church universal is given by Jesus
when he says, " Where two or three meet together in
my name, there am I in the midst of them." Two
or three meeting together anyhow, anywhere, in the
spirit of Christ, — which is the spirit of filial love
to God and fraternal love to man, — they make a
Christian Ghurch.
But now, having attempted to show the mistake
of those who think the Christian Church is an out
grown institution, we must add some criticisms to
those already expressed. The Church is strong
enough to bear a great deal of criticism, and wUl be
better for aU sincere and serious suggestions of its
defects and needs. When we are satisfied that, in
its essential substance, it stands firm on the rock of
human nature, we shaU feel ready to examine and
criticise with perfect freedom any of its local and
temporary defects.
Let us then take an impartial look at our existing
churches. What is a church for ? Some persons think that
it is one with the right genealogy, regularly and
properly derived from that one originally founded by

252 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Christ They examine the title of a church as they
would that of an estate ; they search for flaws in it ;
they think that it is no church if there is anything
wrong in its constitution. A family may be Hving in
the undisputed possession of a property. Their father
had it before them; their grandfather before him.
But their great-grandfather did not get a perfect title
to it, his lawyer made some mistake in drawing up
the deeds; therefore, now they must give it up,
and lose it. Just so some people think about the
Church. Here is a good church, fuU of good Chris
tians, the pious souls of men and women, dear Httle
chUdren, aU on their way to heaven, as one would
say. Not at aU; their minister was ordained by
some one who was ordained by some one else, who
was ordained by some one who did not get his or
dination from the proper person. There is a flaw
in the title ; so it is no church, after aU ; so they are
not Christians, or at least have no " covenanted mer
cies," no real right to trust in God's love and grace.
This is the idea some people have of a church.
Others, again, think that the true Church is the one
which teaches sound doctrine. A true church is the
one which is correct in its theology about the origin
of evU, which takes sound views of the nature and
extent of Total Depravity, which holds an orthodox

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 253
view of the Atonement It" is true that this only
means that the minister of the church accepts Dr.
Wiseacre's theory about these deep matters rather
than that of Dr. Newman; for the members of the
church probably know nothmg about these points
one way or the other. No matter. If their minister
is sound, they are sound, — sound aU through. If he
is unsound, so are they. The General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church once cut off four synods,
and excommunicated forty thousand church-members,
because the majority of the ministers in those synods
were supposed to hold wrong views concerning the
origin of evil
But there is another view of the true Church which
is a Httle different from this. It is that it consists
of those who love God, and love Christ, and love
each other, and who desire to become purer and bet
ter. This union of souls may not be sound in the
faith ; may have a very imperfect sort of organiza
tion ; may have no connection with popes, cardinals,
or even bishops ; may not have a single theory, good
or bad, about the origin of evil ; may not know what
to think about the Trinity ; may be blind as moles
in regard to the Atonement ; but if they are honestly
desiring to do God's wUl, then, according to this
view, they are a true church of Jesus Christ.

254 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Those who belong to this church of seekers and
disciples may not be nearly as good as those outside
of it; but they are seeking to become better, and
they have in their souls a principle wliich wiU make
them better.
Some people imagine the true Church to consist
of good people only, persons who are all pious and
holy, aU as pure and free from sin as possible. They
ought to be aU regenerated saints, Httle lower than
the angels. But there is no proof of this in Scripture.
Sinners, not saints, were those who kept company
with Jesus, and with whom he kept company. He
gathered around him a church of sinners, when he
was in the world. That was the standing charge
against him. Afterward the church of the Apostles
was not much better. It had in it those who
had been thieves, liars, and adulterers, and had
to be warned aU the time against these vices. " Lie
not one to another, brethren, seeing ye have put off
the old man and his deeds." " Let him that stole,
steal no more, but labor with his hands." They even
became drunk at the communion at Corinth ;' some
of them did not believe in any resurrection of the
dead. Peter dissembled, and acted falsely, and Paul
rebuked him. Paul and Barnabas quarrelled, and
could not get along together, and had to separate.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 255
There is no evidence that the Christians at first were
much better than others.
Gamahel was probably a better man than the
Apostle Peter ; and Marcus AureHus Antoninus was
a better man than haK the Apostles. The difference
in favor of the Apostles was this, that Gamahel and
Antoninus had got as far as they could go. But
Peter, James, John, Paul, and every Christian soul
had a principle of faith and purpose in their souls ; a
Hving conviction wliich would carry them up and on
a very long way.
A currant-bush once said to an acorn, " What an
insignificant Httle thing you are ! i" bear currants,
and am a large bush ! " " Yes," said the acorn ; " but
wait awhile. I have a germ in me that is to make
pf me a great tree, larger than ten thousand currant-
bushes." The Boman CathoHc Church has done and is doing
a good work. It has helped to purify, educate, and
civilize the world. It is based on permanent prin
ciples of human nature, or it could not last as it has
lasted. Its one great sin has been to seek to domi
neer over the mind instead of instructing it, to
drive instead of to lead. Its sin is pride, by which
the angels feU ; and it has not repented of that sin.
The Church of Borne has never said a single word to

256 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
show that it repents of the Massacre of St. Bartholo
mew, the persecution of the Albigenses in the south
of France, the expulsion of the Huguenots, the hor
rors of the Inquisition, the wholesale massacres of
TiUy in Germany and Alva in HoUand. I honor the
Church of Borne for aU its great and noble works,
but I pray that it may remember, before it is too
late, the saying of its Master to another church older
than its own: "I know thy works and thy labor
and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them
that are evU ; and for my name's sake hast labored,
and not fainted. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Bemember, therefore, from whence thou art faUen,
and do the first works, or else I wiU come unto thee
quickly, and remove thy candlestick out of his place,
unless thou repent." A church must repent of its
sins, no less than an individual. If a church pro
fesses to be infaUible, and always right, then it
cannot repent; and so, sooner or later, unless it
gives up this pretence of infaUibUity, its candlestick
must be removed out of its place.
The Protestant Church came, in the providence of
God, because it was needed. The rights of the in
dividual conscience had been crushed under Church
authority, and they needed to be estabHsbed. Good-

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 257
ness had been derived from outward conformity, in
stead of inward faith in great truths. Protestantism
came to teach the rights of man, and that the one
thing needful was an inward principle of goodness
in heart and Hfe.
An Episcopal divine in New York has recently
pronounced Protestantism a faUure. If Protestant
ism is a faUure, it is so for the same reason that
Cathohcism is a faUure. It is because it has imitated
the Church of Borne, tried to drive instead of to
lead, set up Httle popes instead of the great one,
left its first love, which was freedom of thought, and
sought to fetter the human mind again by creeds and
by ceremonies. Therefore has come a new Protes
tantism protesting against the old, — a Protestantism
of common-sense. It has come in the form of Uni
tarianism, Swedenborgianism, UniversaHsm, Spirit
ualism, Transcendentalism, EadicaHsm. These are
all more or less narrow, but they are aU necessary
as steps to something better.
If an intelhgent Buddhist monk, who had always
lived in a monastery in Thibet, should, land in Bos
ton, he would, no doubt, be much interested in our
activities and industries. We should take him to
LoweU to look at the factories, to the navy-yard to
see our iron-clads, to our hospitals, to our public
Q

258 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Hbrary, to our grammar schools, to the Latin and
Normal schools. We should show him State Street,
explain to him the nature of a bank, and the meth
ods of the post-office ; take him to the State House
and the City HaU and the court-rooms, and make him
understand the threefold cord of government, — legis
lative, executive, and judicial. So six days pass,
each bringing some new astonishment ; at last Sun
day comes, and our Buddhist is surprised to find a
great change in the aspect of things. Shops, offices,
banks, courts, State House, City HaU, are closed. No
newspapers, or few, appear ; no theatres, and few rail
road trains. The streets are quiet ; the trucks and
drays which crowd them at other times are absent ;
the roar of the factories is stiU ; the hum of the
school-house is sUent. Instead of this, the churches
are open, and groups of quiet citizens are entering.
Our Buddhist asks the meaning of this, and is
told that whUe, in ancient times, a tenth of the prop
erty was given to the gods, we consecrate on the altar
of our rehgion a seventh part of our annual income ;
for time is money. This day belongs, to Christianity
and the Church: we devote it to reading the com
mands of God, the history of Christ ; to teaching the
community the laws of justice, mercy, truth, purity,
benevolence, temperance, piety to God, charity to

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 259
man. Our other institutions are for some particular
purpose; this is for the purpose which includes all
the rest. It is to teach pure morality, to awaken and
enlighten the conscience. Our schools are to make
the people inteUigent, to give the knowledge which is
power ; but the Church is to teach them how to use
the power for their own good and that of other peo
ple. To other places people go for special objects:
those who wish amusement go to the theatre ; those
who desire instruction go to the lecture or public
Hbrary. Children go to school; the sick go to the
hospital; the poor and old go to the asylum. But
to the Church aU come ; here, and nowhere else, all
classes in the community meet, — the rich and poor,
wise and ignorant, young and old. In other places
particular evils are considered and remedied; here
alone all evils are considered, and here alone is per
petual battle waged against sin in all its forms. In
other places we act on men by force and by law;
here, only by the power of reason and of love. Con
viction and affection is the aim of everything here.
When our Buddhist friend hears this statement, I
thmk he will be much pleased, and wUl say, " This
institution which you call the Church is the noblest
thing I have yet seen. This is the crown of your
whole civUization; this gives unity to aU the van-

260 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ety; this makes God the centre and axis round
wliich aU else revolves. How fortunate you are in
having such an institution, to bind your whole state
in one harmony of united beHef and action ! How
dreary would your society be K these churches should
be closed ; and with what joy must your whole com
munity join in these grand meetings of universal
brotherhood ! "
"WeU, not exactly," you would be compeUed to
reply. "No; there are a great many persons who
do not belong to the Church, never go to it, take
no interest in it. These are often some of the most
inteUigent people. They think there is no more
need for a church, no use for it, that its work is over.
Instead of going to church, they stay at home and
read, or, in the summer, walk in the woods. In fact,
they rather pride themselves on having outgrown the
Church." " But," says my Buddhist, " do they think it would
be better to have no Sunday rest, no Sunday worship,
no Sunday meeting of aU parts of the community,
no Sunday instruction of the people in justice, hon
esty, charity, no teaching of the Bible to the whole
community ? "
" I suppose they must think so," you reply ; " for
if it is a good thing for them to stay outside of the

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 261
Church, it must be a good thing for others. If they
have outgrown the Church, it must be a good thing
for others to outgrow it."
"I can understand," says the monk of Thibet,
" that a man might think it weU sometimes to stay
at home and read, and sometimes to go into the
fields on Sunday. But this institution you describe
is so noble, so necessary to unite all the people on
the deepest and highest ground, so necessary for their
education in the fundamental principles of justice and
mercy, that I cannot see how any one can be uninter
ested in it. If you did not have such a harmonizing
centre of IKe and love, you would have to create one.
But this you have, resting on a reHgious foundation,
estabbshed by ancient usage, confirmed by its vast
uses, justified by the needs of society. How can
any one be indifferent to it?"
Here, however, you put in a word for the come-
outers. " The fact is," you say, " there are practical
defects in our churches, which have justly displeased
many persons. It is not exactly the bond of union
I have described. The Christian Church is broken
up into twenty or more large sects, each one claim
ing to be right, and declaring the others to be wrong.
They have nothing to do with each other; each is
trying to destroy the rest, and swallow them up. Bo-

262 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
man Cathohcs declare aU Protestants to be wrong,
and on their way to destruction. Protestants say the
same of Catholics. EpiscopaHans say " The Church,"
meaning that the Httle fraction of Christianity which
belongs to them is the whole of it. Baptists say that
no man is a Christian who has not been covered up
with water once in his Hfe in a solemn manner. We
have not one church, but a great many ; and I grieve
to say that they are contending and quarreUing
with each other, instead of uniting in one great war
against the sins and evUs of the world."
" That seems to me very wrong," says the Buddhist,
" and, more than that, very fooHsh. If your Church
is a house divided against itseK, your Master says it
cannot stand ; or, at least, it wUl faU if it be not
built on a rock. But surely aU your churches stand
on Christ, and teach the same things. I have 'read
your Gospels, your Sermon on the Mount, those beau
tiful parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodi
gal Son. This is what aU your churches teach, I
suppose ; so they must aU do good."
" Yes ; they do read the Gospels," say you, " but
then they do not preach a great deal about them.
They spend most of their time in teaching the
'Trinity/ the 'Atonement,' 'Total Depravity/ 'Ever
lasting Damnation/ and the Hke. So they have not

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 263
much time left to teach love to God and love to
man." " But," says the Buddhist, " what words are these ?
' Trinity ! ' ' atonement ! ' ' depravity ! ' I do not see
these in your Bible. I thought Christ came to teach
salvation, and to say, ' Heaven is at hand.' He did
not come to teach damnation, and say, 'The king
dom of heU is at hand ! ' I see now why people stay
away from church. But one thing I wish to under
stand. I went into a church one day, and I saw the
people sitting in little boxes, each shut up in his
box. I wished to go in, but no one asked me to go
in. There was a great deal of room, but I stood up
a good whUe, and no one said ' Sit down with me ' ;
so I thought it was because I was a Buddhist, and I
went away."
" By no means," you hasten to say. " They treat
Christians in the same way ; they only wish for
those people in the churches to come and be taught
religion who are able to buy seats."
" But are they the only ones who need religion ?
What becomes of all those who have no money?
You have schools for every one, rich or poor ; schools
free to aU. Poor children, in your country, can learn
to read and write. Is it not as important for them
to learn to love God and man ? You keep every one

264 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
from working on Sunday, rich and poor ; I should
think you would have churches open for them aU"
" I begin to understand, now," continues the Buddh
ist, " why your people do not care enough for the
Church. You say Jesus made a church which was
to teach every one how to do good, and be good, and
to make aU men one. Then you say that only peo
ple shaU come to it who can pay money ; that only
those who beHeve as you do can belong to it ; and
instead of teaching trust in God, hope and love, you
teach things which no one can understand. But if
I were a Christian, I teU you what I would do. I
would not go into the woods, and say I did not need
any church, because I was so wise ; but I would try
to have a good church, where aU' men should be
brothers ; where they should be welcome, no matter
what they beHeved, if they wished to be good men
and women ; where, instead of talking about heU, we
should talk about heaven; where, instead of saying
" our church," we should say " our elder brother, Jesus
Christ"; and where our work should be to do as
much good and get as much good as possible." Thus
spoke my Buddhist. And this seems to me to be
the common-sense view of the Christian Church.
The Church of Christ is the greatest of aU human
institutions, and the most necessary of aU. Other in-

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 265
stitutions have a local and temporary work ; this has
one always the same, — the same yesterday, to-day,
and forever. In aU lands and times men need to be
taught the love of God and man, need to be told of
the great laws of right and wrong, need to have the
conscience quickened and enlightened. But in a
country Hke ours, where the people govern, they need,
more than anywhere else, to be perpetuaUy taught
the laws of morality and religion. This is the only
power which can balance the centrifugal force of
freedom by means of the centripetal power of right,
— the only power which can permanently keep the
state and nation one. If we had no such institutions
as church and Sunday, aU good men would have to
unite to invent them. But it would be very hard to
do so, — harder stUl to put them in practical opera
tion. But, now we have them, have them estabHshed
in the belief and the habits of the people. It is the
height of madness not to make the best possible use
of them.
Jesus declares he shaU build his Church on the
declaration of Peter that he is the Christ ; and Paul
says that the Church is built on the foundation of
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief corner-stone. But other foundations have been
laid. Some churches have been buUt on an infaUible
12

266 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
priesthood, on sacraments, on Calvinism, Methodism,
Unitarianism, Episcopacy, Universalism, Baptism,
Presbyterianism. These have been made the real
foundations instead of Christ. The result has- been
that men have been asked to come to Christ pro
vided they wUl come in the Baptist way or Metho
dist way ; to beHeve in Christ provided they will
believe also in some particular creed ; to become fol
lowers of Christ if they wiU foUow him after the
methods of Wesley, Calvin, Channing, or Theodore
Parker. Hence Christ is divided, and we have many
members, but not one body.
The Apostle Paul, with an exact insight which
demonstrates the reality of his prophetic inspiration,
has stated beforehand the true theory of the Church.
The human body is the type of its unity and its va-.
riety. Unity in variety is his motto. One body,
many members. The Boman Catholic Church has
pushed the unity so far as to destroy the variety.
Protestantism has pushed variety so far as to destroy
unity. This is the fundamental evil in the Christian
Church to-day.
Another great and ruinous defect in the Christian
Church is that it has been a church of the clergy,
not of the peopkj. It is professedly and avowedly
so in the Bomigb Church ; there tiie priesthood is

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 267

the Church. It is virtually so in Protestant churches.
Milton said, "New presbyter is old priest written1
large." The whole direction is left to the ministers,:
and they, being theologians, make theology the main
thing, and that chiefly a speculative theology. Not
till the people take the direction of the Church wUl
it be directed toward IKe, and identified with daUy
duty, with work and play, with study, Hterature,
science, art, nature, sanctifying aU with the sense
of a Divine presence, vitahzing all, and giving unity
to aU
The Church, thus far, has had more dread of nov
elty than desire for progress. It remembers the
things behind; and forgets those wliich are before.
We saw recently an account of a discussion in the
House of Bishops of the Church of England on a
proposition to discontinue the use of the Athanasian
Creed in the service of the Church. The Archbishop
of Canterbury gave as a reason for retaining it, that
no one believed it, and so it could do no harm. Not
one of the bishops' contradicted him ; not one said
that he beHeved it. Yet many, perhaps the majority,
were in favor of retaining it; that is, they are in
favor of continuing to say in the solemn worship of
God what they disbeheve. Their reason was, that
if they leave this lie out of the service, they may

268 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
be asked to leave out something else which is true.
This is what may be caUed the " entering- wedge ar
gument," which is very effectual against aU improve
ments. The argument is, that if you do now what is
right, you may by and by have to do what is wrong.
If you tell the truth to-day, you may have to teU a
He to-morrow. If you admit a necessary and useful
reform, you may have to encounter a dangerous revo
lution. But, notwithstanding all this, let us say that there
are many hopeful signs of progress and improvement
in the Christian Church. In New York, for example,
appear every week two newspapers, both nominaUy
Orthodox,* both of wliich are edited in the interests
of a broad, free, practical, and generous Christianity.
We can ask nothing larger or more Hberal than these
•
journals, which are read each, every week, by half a
milhon of people. We constantly meet with ministers
of different sects who are in fuU sympathy with aU
progressive, Hberal, rational, and practical Christian
ity. The time has come, thank God, when Unitari
ans and Universalists can no longer monopolize the
title of liberal and rational Christians. Party walls
are crumbling; sects are becoming confounded and
intermingled. So far from the Christian Church
* The Independent and the Christian Union.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 269
being outgrown and done with, it is more needed to
day than ever, to be a centre of union to aU those
who desire to serve God by serving man. Our par
tial reforms are aU proving themselves inadequate
and unsatisfactory. You cannot make men tem
perate by temperance societies alone, by prohibition
or Hcense laws alone. You cannot cure pauperism
by any number of benevolent societies, or poor-house.
laws. You cannot permanently help the wretched,
the suffering classes, the vicious, by any solitary
efforts. AU these are good as far as they go, but
they wUl not wholly cure one of the evils of society.
This, aU true reformers are beginning to see. They
see that a profounder mfluence is needed, — an influ
ence which shaU make society one, which shall do
away with the cold separation of class from class.
cure the selfish isolation of our Hves, and place us in
human relations one with another. And only such
an institution as this can be realized when the
Christian Church shaU become aU that its Master
meant it to be. This wUl come when his disciples
shall be aU one with him as he is one with God.
We must, then, fuUy believe in the Christian Church
as the one great need of our time, provided that we
do not mean by this any Httle Christian sects or
great Christian sects, however much they may caU

270 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
themselves by high-sounding names, and pretend that
they alone have the keys, and the access to God. By
the true Church let us understand that great united,
free, practical union which is yet to come, in which
there shaU be neither Trinitarian nor Unitarian,
Episcopahan nor Methodist, but only those who love
God and man. Not tiU that great union of human
ity arrives wUl the world be converted to Christ and
every knee bow to him. Not whUe sects and creeds
arise Hke walls to divide disciples from each other
can the world see the face of Jesus and learn to love
him. But the hour cometh, and now is, when neither
at Jerusalem nor on Gerizim, neither in this sect nor
in that, shaU men worship the Father. And tUl that
time comes let all men do their part to hasten its
coming, not by standing outside of the Church and
finding fault with it, but by going into it, and trying
to make ip what it ought to be.

XII.
FIVE KINDS OF PIETY.

XII.
FIVE KINDS OF PIETY.
I think it unfortunate that we should usually con
sider piety as something unnatural, to be grafted on
human nature by a special experience. We must
therefore begin by showing that aU men have in
them the elements of piety ; that all men have also
the power of cultivating it; and that it is only by
this culture of piety that man can advance or make
real progress in any department, either in this world
or any other.
Piety means love to God; but then, each man's
idea of God differs from that of every other man. By
God we mean the highest we know, the wisest wis
dom we know, the best goodness we know, the ten-
derest love we know ; and aU these carried to their per
fection in one infinitely wise and good, holy, loving,
and lovely Being. But some men's idea of wisdom
is more profound than that of other men. Some
men's idea of goodness is more elevated than that pf
other men ; therefore their ideas of God must greatly
differ. 12* R

274 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
A missionary, born in the innocence of a New Eng
land viUage, educated in our schools, churches, and
coUeges, who has been taught uprightness of soul by
the sight of his father's perfect integrity, who has
been taught purity of heart by the knowledge of a
mother's saintly virtues, goes at last to preach to
cannibals in the Feejee Islands, and teach them the
worship of the true God. They are docile, we will
suppose, to his instructions. They say, " He is a good
man; he has come a great way to teach us." So they
accept his doctrines, Hsten to his prayers, repeat them
after him, join his church if he asks them to do so,
are baptized, profess religion, and are sincerely de
sirous to beHeve and do aU he says. But their idea
of God is not and cannot be the same as his, because
their idea of goodness cannot be the same. They have
been taught treachery, cruelty, licentiousness, from
childhood, by aU surrounding influences ; he has been
taught the opposite. They worship, nominaUy, the
same God ; but they and he worship, reaUy, two very
different beings. He lifts them indeed to a higher
idea of God by his own Hfe more than by his words ;
for human goodness is the best mediator of Divine
goodness. But, Hft them as much as he may, he can
never Hft them so high as to see exactly the same
Being whom he sees himseK.

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 275
We love God when we love the highest and best
thing we know ; that is, when we look up, not down ;
up to the Infinite, not down to the finite; up to
goodness, not down to wickedness ; up to truth, not
down to error. By thus looking up to what is higher
and better than ourselves we refresh our souls, we
purify our hearts, we open them so that Divine in
fluences come in.
A man of piety, therefore, is essentiaUy one who
beheves in and who loves goodness. A man without
piety is one who either does not believe in it or
does not love it. The natural culture of piety,
therefore, consists in looking up, not down, — looking
up to good things, not down to evU things ; in con
templating truth rather than error, right rather than
wrong, nobleness rather than meanness. Every good
and generous act done by man makes it easier to
lpve God and to beHeve in him ; every He we teU,
every act of dishonesty we perform, makes trust in
God more difficult, not only to ourselves, but to
others. .Such great scandals as have recently oc
curred in the financial world not only make men
doubt of human honesty more, but also distrust
Divine truth. Every bad action which men do makes
humanity seem less lovely, and so makes it harder
to love, not only the brother we have seen, but also
the God we have not seen.

276 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
We see why piety is essential to aU real worth.
A man without piety is only a part of a man, and is
incapable of growing into anything better. A man
who never looks up to, adores, reverences superior
goodness, has in him no spring of improvement.
But there are different kinds of piety, some higher
and better than the rest. These we will now pro
ceed to consider.
I might omit the piety of fear, because this is no
piety at all. It has been beHeved sometimes that
the root of aU religion is fear. Lucretius, the Bo
man poet, who was an atheist, held this view. Many
infidels now contend that all religion is fear of God,
and that only by getting rid of religion can we es
cape the dominion of this slavish superstition. No
Christian holds this view. AU Christians teach that
we are not truly converted tUl we love God. But
many think we must begin the reHgious Hfe by fear ;
that fear of heU is the necessary step toward the joy
of heaven. And this element of fear, which plays so
large a part in the beginnings of religion, in. the first
awakenings and convictions of the soul, is apt to
hold its dominion aU through, and is never quite
transformed into love.
Fear is a mighty motive, and produces great re
sults. The fear of the Lord may often be the be-

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 277

ginning of wisdom, or right conduct. But we can
safely say that it cannot exist as an element in true
piety. We may be afraid of sin, and ought to be.
We may be afraid of temptation, afraid of ourselves ;
but we must not be afraid of God. " Perfect love
casts out fear," even fear of sin and fear of tempta
tion ; and the first spark of genuine piety casts out
the fear of God. If I am afraid of any one, I
cannot love him. Love creates confidence, and so
casts out fear. We may confidently say, therefore,
that the love of God which has fear mixed with it
is of the very lowest kind.
Next above this, very universal in heathen re
ligions, and not uncommon in Christian rehgions, is
a sacramental and Hturgic piety, chiefly sentimental,
which affects the soul Hke a strain of music or the
perfume of flowers. This kind of piety prevails
most in the sacramental sects. It depends much on
association and circumstances; it rises high in an
oratory, where the dim reHgious Hght comes through
a painted window and falls upon a hassock of crim
son velvet; higher stUl in a grand cathedral, amid
gorgeous ceremonies and superb music. This kind
of piety is a good step toward something higher ; it
is one of the landings on the stairway of ascent to
God. It is weU sometimes to bathe one's soul in

278 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
this religious atmosphere of forms and ceremonies.
I have often sat in Cathohc churches, and listened
to the solemn music, seen the procession of priests in
their vestments, and watched the colored light faUing
through ancient painted glass upon kneehng marble
figures and richly carved pulpits. One dreams a
reHgious dream in these places, which is sweet and
helpful. These forms and ceremonies are useful
accessories to piety, provided one does not consider
them as essentials. But when we regard any par
ticular forms of worship, any particular church, as
of vital importance, we relapse out of Christianity
into heathenism or into Judaism. Then a man puts
church and ceremony in place of God, and worships
not the Divine Spirit, but the material form. There
is a good deal of this heathen and Jewish piety
left in Christianity, especiaUy in the sacramental
churches. Next comes an emotional piety, whiph depends
on religious excitement. It requires sympathy, and
cannot Hve alone. It is awakened by earnest ap
peals and exhortations, by flaming images of danger
and ruin, by glorious visions of celestial joy. It
rises to high tide in a revival, and floods the whole
country with its wide-flowing waters. Then it sinks
away, and leaves great marshes with stagnant pools

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 279
here and there between. This kind of piety is most
fuUy developed in the Methodist Church, as the
sacramental piety is chiefly in the Boman Cathohc
and Episcopal Churches.
Then there is a doctrinal piety, in which fear
and hope are mingled, which has its root in strong
doctrine. The two constituents of this are an out
ward hell and an outward heaven. The feeHng
toward God is such as we have seen entertained
by a timid wKe toward a tyrannical, arbitrary hus
band. There is a real, though low, sentiment of
love in it, made up of reverence for power, awe for
wiU, and admiration for greatness*. This is the
piety which comes from Calvinism pure and simple.
There is stUl another form of piety, which is
founded on the sight of God's wisdom and good
ness as seen in nature and Providence. In it God
seems a beneficent law, a grand and wise order, a
kind, overriding providence, a divinity around us
and within us. The sources of this piety are God's
works in nature, studied reverentiaUy and pro
foundly. The priests of this rehgion are men of
science, actuated by the pure love of truth. There
is a certain scientific sanctity about such men which
we cannot but admire. They are unworldly men,
devoting Hfe to the service of truth; careless of

280 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
wealth, ease, comfort; going to Brazil, Cape Horn,
AustraHa, the Arctic regions, the burning and pes
tilential plains of Africa, in pursuit of knowledge.
They spend long years in painful study, minute ob
servation, laborious calculation, to discover God's
laws. This ¦ is the religion of men of science, noble
and pure. Its defect often is not to see God with
in the soul as well as without ; and not to recognize
God as a personal friend as weU as an* infinite
order. In all these forms of piety there is something
good and true. The imaginative and sentimental
piety of the High Church is true, for we are partly
•beings of imagination. The emotional piety of
the Methodists is true, for we are also beings of
sympathy and feeling. Calvinistic piety, which
sees in God an infinite personal will, a sovereign
ruler, certainly awakens reverence and zeal. The
rehgion of Calvin has done a great work in eman
cipating the soul from aU other fear than the fear
of God. It has made martyrs and confessors of
reHgious and civU freedom in aU lands. And the
piety of science, founded on a sight of law, is also
very valuable, though much undervalued. It cre
ates a genial warmth, pervading aU of life, and
moulding modestly and gradually the whole charac-

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 281
ter. Latent heat is just as important as uncom-
bined caloric; and so that latent, pervasive piety,
wliich sees divine laws in aU of Hfe, is as impor
tant as the more demonstrative kinds.
If these varieties of piety could be combined
in one kind, omitting their defects, we should have
the highest kind of aU If we could have a sol
emn awe and fear of sin and its consequences, as the
basis of rehgion; beautiful, harmonious rites and
ceremonies as the helps to piety; the sympathy
of human hearts, social meetings, brotherly feUow
ship, as the daUy food of piety; and the broadest
science, brought into the Church instead of being
left in the coUege, teaching us to see God in the
majestic movements of the stars, in the delicate
anatomy of the flower, in the molecular motions
and forces of chemical atoms, in the long processes
of geology, — by such a combination we should have
the highest piety of aU
But how can this come ? My own profound con
viction is that it can only come through the piety
taught us and given to us by Jesus Christ. Its
essence is the life of God in the soul, personally
communicated through Jesus, the providential Me
diator, and redeeming us by its power from all evil.
It finds God within us, as weU as around us.

282 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
The pecuharity of this piety is that it is child
like. "No man cometh to the Father but by me,"
said Jesus. The world never comes to see God as
a father except through Christ. - It had seen
him as a power, as an order, as a sovereign ruler
and judge; but it had not seen him as a father.
With Jesus there entered into human IKe that sweet
conception of an infinite parental love, of a Divine
father and mother, both in one. Therefore he said,
"Except ye be converted [or changed], and become
as little children, ye cannot see the kingdom of
God." It is the chUdlike piety which unites in itself aU
the rest. The child is not in the least afraid of
its parents, K they are what they ought to be ; but
it looks up to them with reverence, and is afraid
of offending them. That is all the fear there is in
it. The chUd does not come to its parents in a
formal way, or make set speeches to them, but wiU
bring them a bunch of flowers on their birthdays,
and wiU have method in its love, if not form.
The chUd does not gush into feeHng or get wild
with excitement about its love to its mother, but
neither is it cold, stiff, or hard. It is natural and
spontaneous. If it feels Hke laughing, it laughs;
if Hke weeping, it weeps.

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 283
If we become thus Hke Httle chUdren in the
presence of the Eternal Father, we shaU fulfil aU
other pieties in that of Jesus.
Let us trust God as a child trusts its parents.
Then we shaU have essential faith. A chUd trusts
every one, at first and naturally, for it is taught to
do so by the love which surrounds infancy. Little
children are usuaUy safe everywhere, for all persons
take care of them. The room where a new-born
infant sleeps is the sacred chamber, the sanctuary
in the house. Every one who enters steps softly,
as on holy ground. AU persons stand around the
cradle admiringly and wonderingly, as if there had
never been a child before in the world. The happy
mother clasps it to her heart in an ecstasy of de
hght Every chUd is Hke the infant Jesus ; though
born in a manger, it has a star of hope hanging
over its birthplace. Angels of love chant its wel
come. Simple shepherds (or at least others as
simple as shepherds) come to look at it and ad
mire it, and wise men from the east, west, north,
and south make pUgrimages to its crib. Now a
child, fed on the milk of love from the beginning,
naturally begins by faith. It trusts aU the world,
and its trust Usually, makes all persons its protec
tors. Among the pictures I saw recently in an

284 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
artists' exhibition, the one which took my fancy
the most was one by Eastman Johnson, of a Httle
child who had just come out of the cold, warming
its hands before a stove. Why there should be
anything so very interesting in that it is difficult
to say. I suppose it was because it was a real
child. What interests us in the child is its child
hood, its trusting nature, its inexperience, its won
derful introduction into the novelties of existence,
its happy confidence in the things of heaven and
earth. Now, we are aU little chUdren in this sense. The
patriarch Methuseleh, who Hved nearly one thou
sand years, and was then probably drowned in the
flood, was an infant in the sight of the angels and
archangels, who have Hved many millions of years,
and have seen the history of the whole solar sys
tem since it was developed out of a nebula. No
doubt they stand around and look at us as we
stand and look at the little chUd warming his
hands at the stove, or opening his large eyes of
wonder in his cradle.
We are to be Hke Httle children by trusting in
God, in his angels, in the order of the universe,
with the simple confidence of children. This is
the root of Christian piety, — to look up to goodness,

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 285

not down to evil Out of this root grow hope,
courage, joy in Hfe, love of truth, the sweet seren
ity of being, which makes us little chUdren aU our
days, not slaves to fear, anxiety, or the world.
Wordsworth says, —
.... "The child is father to the man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety."
Natural piety, not artificial piety. It is a piety
which grows up naturaUy out of a childlike faith
¦into a manly hope and an angehc love. It is a
piety which sees God, not merely at church on
Sundays, but every day ; which sees him in nature,
life, work, play, joy, and sorrow. It is a piety which
sees Jesus, not merely as a past Saviour, who Hved
once in Palestine and worked miracles, but as a
present friend, unseen with the outward eye, but
near to every soul which loves him. This natural
piety loves man because it loves God, and loves
God because it loves man ; " for he who loveth not
his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love
God whom he hath not seen?"
Now, the old law made it a duty to love God
and man. Jesus said that the first of all the Mo
saic Commandments was to love God with aU one's
heart, soul, and strength, and the second was to

286- COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
love one's neighbor as one's seK. But who can
love as a duty ? Can we love any one because we
ought to love him, K he does not appear to' us
lovely ? It is a great mistake to suppose that
piety can be taught by preaching sermons about
piety, by showing its exceUence, its reasonableness,
and the Hke. We can only love God when he
seems lovely to us; we can only love man when
man seems lovely. Jesus makes us love God by
making God lovely. He makes him lovely to us
because he was so to himself. To Jesus, God was •
the perfect friend, the friend of all his children,
who loved his enemies, who sent his sunshine and
showers on the evil and unthankful no less than
on the obedient and pure. He was the being who
saw the sinner a great way offj and had more joy
over one sinner who repented than over ninety and
nine who did not need repentance. Therefore, where-
ever Jesus went he carried sunshine and brought
down heaven to earth. The divine love of a fa
therly God looked out of his eyes and trembled
in the tender accents of his voice. From his touch
went forth healing, and forgiveness of sin came
easily from his lips. A sweet peace breathed around
him ; it was a perpetual Sabbath wherever he
came, in- which men could rest their souls for-

FIVE KINDS OF PIETY. 287
ever and forever. Everything became lovely as he
looked at it. God was a being of divine loveliness,
not a stern king or judge, as the Jews too often
regarded him. He was not a mere law of nature
' or order of the universe, as science frequently re
gards him. But God in Christ is a loving order,
a fatherly law, a personal friend, yet of unknown
depth and height. He is serenely majestic as the
central power in the universe, holding aU worlds
in the hoUow of his hand. Yet he is inwardly
present to the heart of his humblest child, when
ever, in sincere prayer and penitence, his chUd
opens his heart to him.
When we look up adoringly and trustingly to
such a God as this, we are able also to look down
lovingly to whatever seems low, unworthy, and poor
in this world. Those who love man kindly, learn to
love God. Those who love God truly, are able also
to love man, his creature and his child. If God can
love men, such as we are, with aU the faults and sins
of which we are too conscious, we can love others
who also are weak and sinful. If he has faith in
us, we can have faith in them. If he can hope
for us, we can also hope for them. If he forgives
us, we also can forgive each other. Thus out of the
childlike love for God, which Jesus teaches, spring

288 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
naturaUy aU human charities and phUanthropies.
Thus "the child is father to the man." Thus aU
the pieties are united at last in one. The piety
which is reverence and awe, the piety which is emo
tion and sympathy, the piety which is worship and
sacrament, the piety which contemplates in science
the God of nature, — aU are fulfilled and harmon
ized in the faith of Jesus Christ. He brings us to
his Father, " in whom we Hve, and move, and have
our being; who is above aU, and through all and
in us aU," our strength and song, and our hope of
salvation.

XIII.
JESUS A MEDIATOR.

13

XIII.
JESUS A MEDIATOR.
The interest concerning the history and character
of Jesus the Christ was never greater than now.
Witness the popularity of the studies in relation to
his life, — of the works by Strauss, Benan, Furness,
" Ecce Homo," " Ecce Deus," and the Hke.
The life of Jesus wiU grow more interesting as it
is studied more as a manKestation of human nature ;
that is, as a revelation of man no less than of God.
It wiU be found, perhaps, that the wonderful works,
knowledge, character of Jesus are not unnatural, but
natural ; that they are not exceptional, but prophetic.
What he was, all men may perhaps become, and
one day shall become. He, perhaps, is the type of
humanity, the example of its fuUy unfolded condi
tion. Whether this be so or not, it is certain that Jesus
came to help others to become what he was. So far
from regarding him as exceptional, the Gospels and
Epistles apparently teach that everything Jesus was
we are to be. Those who commune with him by

292 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
faith shall gradually be changed into the same image,
and grow up into the stature of Jesus Christ.
If we wUl leave aside for a Httle whUe the never-
ending questions concerning the nature, person, de
ity, and divinity of Jesus, and study, instead, his hu
manity, it may lead the Church to a common ground
of faith.
Whether Jesus was or was not God has always
been a question. But no one has ever questioned
that he was a man. On that point the Scripture is
too plain to be doubted. If, then, he was a man, let
us see what sort of a man he was. This course of
thought may lead us up tUl we shaU, perhaps, dis
cover in what sense he was Divine. Let us begin
with what we know best, and go on to that which
we are not so weU acquainted with.
It would seem from the New Testament that
Jesus had no incommunicable powers or qualities.
What he had was his to communicate, not to keep.
For example : —
Jesus had the power of working miracles. But
this power he declares to be one which his disciples
shall also possess : " Greater works than these shall
ye do, because I go to my Father."
Jesus was one with God. But he says of his disci
ples, "That they may be one, even as we are one: I
in them, and thou in me."

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 293
Jesus had power on earth to forgive sins. But he
says to his disciples, "Whosesoever sins ye remit,
they are remitted to them."
Jesus was a perfect example of human goodness.
But he says to his disciples, " Be ye perfect, even as
your Father in heaven is perfect."
Jesus knew aU things. But it is said of his disci
ples, " Ye have an unction from the Holy Ghost, and
know aU things."
Jesus was sinless. But the Apostle says, "He
who is born of God cannot commit sin."
Jesus is to be judge, of the earth. But Paul says
that " the saints shaU judge the world and men and
angels." In Jesus dwelt aU the fulness of the Godhead
bodily. The Apostle prays for the Ephesians that
they " may be fiUed with all the fulness of God."
Jesus had glory with the Father before the founda
tion of the world. But he says of his disciples, " The
glory thou gavest me I have given them."
God sent Jesus to be Saviour and Eedeemer of the
world. But he says to his disciples, " As my Father
has sent me, even so send I you."
Such passages as these show that, according to
the New Testament, Jesus came to be a medium
to transmit to his feUow-men whateyer he himself

294 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
received from God. AU power was given to him
in heaven and earth for the purposes of his mission
and work, God gave him power over aU flesh to
give eternal Hfe to as many as were given to him.
He recognized always and everywhere his entire
dependence on God for all he had. It was aU
given to him. The Son could do nothing of him
seK; and what he received, he received in order to
give. He made of himself a pure channel through
which God's Hfe and truth might flow.
This is what we mean by calling Jesus a medi
ator. His work was to bring man to God and to
make them one. This was his atoning work, —
making God and man one. To atone is to make
at-one, to reconcile. By making man at one with
God he makes all other atonements possible. Earth
and heaven, nature and grace, piety and morahty,
reason and revelation, science and faith; these and
aU other antagonisms can be reconciled when the
most radical antagonism is atoned.
Now there are three views concerning mediators
and mediation.
The first is that of Theodore Parker and his
school, who say that we need no mediators be
tween us and God; that we can aU have immedi
ate access to God at all times and under all cir-

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 295
cumstances. To this view I oppose the fact that
multitudes are so low down and far off that they
have not any faith or any conception of the true
God, and must be helped up by some teaching and
influence; and by the other. fact that the universe
is full of mediators and mediation, — that mediation
is a universal law.
The second view is that of those who can see
God only in Christ ; who never dare to go to God
without this mediation. They assume that God out
of Christ is only vengeance, and that, unless they
put the word " Christ " at the end of every prayer,
God wiU not hear them; that unless they say
that they expect to be saved by the merits of
Christ they wiU not be saved; To this view I ob
ject that it destroys the very purpose of media
tion; that Christ ceases to be a mediator when he
does not bring us to God; that the universal law
of mediation is that the mediator comes not to
separate two parties, but to unite them. When
ever the mediator does his work effectuaUy, he then
disappears and ceases to be seen at aU It is this
false view of mediation which has made it odious,
because it makes the Christ come between God and
the creature not to unite, but to separate.
I can well understand the nature of the objection

296 COMMON-SENS.E IN RELIGION.
to this sort of mediation. This kind of mediator
I should also oppose. When we think of the Christ
as arbitrarUy appointed to stand between us and
God, we make his work a mere form, a kind of
reHgious etiquette.. Just as earthly princes have
a. ceremonial of reception*, and aU who wish to see
them must be introduced by the proper officers,
according, to- a certain, formality, so many suppose
it to be intended by Scripture to: make of Jesus
this formal mediator. We may come to God ever
so sincerely,, in love: and penitence, but he does
not hear us unless we have this ticket in our
hani, NaturaUy this notion is- carried further, and
men say that Christ has, in like manner, appointed
a certain cbureh, with a certain order of ministers^
ritual,, ceremony,, aU. in the; technical descent, and
unless we have this church's ticket, in our hand
we; cannot come to Christ; Over,- and over again
Jesus has denied this view. " The true worshipper
must, worship the Father in spirit and in truth."
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shaU see
God." The; pubhean who said "God be merciful
to me a sinner " went down to his house justified.
Jesus told his disciples not to forbid those from
casting out devils who foUowed not them, who did
not belong: to his outward, church. He described

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 297

how in the last day the heathen who had never
he>ard of him should yet be accepted as his true
disciples, and belong to his kingdom.
A part qf our knowledge is immediate, a part is
mediate. I know my own existence and the ex
istence of the outer world immediately. I am im
mediately conscious, of my OWU freedom, of right
and wrong, of duty, of the infinite and the finite.
But I have no immediate knpwledge of St Petersr
burg, of tbe Pope, of the Zendavesta, of the Book
of Genesis, of tbe future IKe, of the Battle of B\»>
ker's HU1, of Julius Csesjar, or the satellites of Jupi
ter, I know St Petersburg through the mediation
of traveUers who have been thejre ; I know the Pope
by means of those who have seen, him, ; I know the
Zendavesta and Book of Genesis by the mediation
qf translations ; I know JuHus C^sar and the Batr
tie of Bunker's Hill through tbe mediation of history;
I know Jupiter's satellites through the mediation of
my telescope.
The law of mediation is that the mediator is foi
the sake of the immediate- Mediation is means,
and the means are for the sake of the end. If wa
stop, in the means, we have not reaebed the end.
When, we are away from God we ne$d a medi
ator, not when we are with him. When I feel'
13*

298 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the presence of God I do not need Christ, as a me
diator. When I feel God's peace in my soul, his
love in my heart, his truth in my conscience, I do
not need to find Christ to lead me to God. I am
with God already.
But when I am away from God ; when the heav
ens look dark, and my conscience is clouded with
the sense of sin ; when the Hght within me is dark
ness ; when I am led astray by appetite, by passion,
by selfish wUl, — then I need Jesus to bring me back
to God. Then I need to turn to him ; to think of
what he has said and done and borne; to think
of his gracious promises, of his love for sinners.
AU this brings me to God.
' One school of thought, however, rejects the whole
notion of any mediate rehgion. They think aU
rehgion immediate, a direct communication from
God to the human soul. They say we can go
directly to God, as Jesus did. They say we do
not wish for any mediator to stand between us
and God.
, But suppose a person should say, "I do not
choose to have any mediator between me and my
friend. I wish to speak to him directly, face to
face. I do not wish for a go-between to come
between me and my father, between me and my

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 299
wife or child." You would probably reply, "This
is well, provided you are with your friend, your
father, your wKe, or your chUd. But if you are
absent from them ; K they are in Europe and you
in America, they in New Orleans and you in Bos
ton, — you may, perhaps, be very thankful for the
mediation of the post-office, which shaU carry let
ters, of a friend who shall bring a message, of a
steamer or railroad-train which shaU convey them
to you or you to them."
It would seem, therefore, that, though a medi
ator is not necessary when we are with our friend,
mediation may be necessary when we are absent
from him. So if we are with God we do not need
a mediator; but, being often away from God, we
may. But to this it may be rephed again, " In the in
stances given there were material obstacles to meet
ing. But there is neither space nor time between
us and God. God is close to our heart always, and
we have only to turn to him at any moment to
find him. So your Ulustrations do not apply to
the case."
Take, then, a different Illustration. You have a
friend whom you love. But you are estranged from
your friend; a misunderstanding has come up be-

300 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
tween you. Some third person now comes between
and mediates; some wise and good person, capable
of understanding you both and explaining each to
the other. He then is a mediator to reconcile you
and make you at one. In this sense Christ medi
ates between the soul and God.
God is always near to us, always waiting to be
gracious. But we do not know it, or dp not beHeve
it. We think him far off, far away. We think hes
is angry with us because of our sin, and' that he
wiU not forgive. Jesus, in his infinite tenderness
toward the sinner, so mediates a divine tenderness
that we are now able to believe in God's love, and
can come to him.
The law of mediation is one of the most univerr
sal laws. It is the experience of aU our life. It
is the condition of all progress. Life flows down
from God through countless mediators. Thought
spreads from the highest intellect to the lowest
through mediation.
I enter a primary school. I find a young girl
there, who comes every day to sit among these
Httle things and teach them. She is refined, intel-
Hgent, conscientious. The tones of her voice are
sweet as she talks with the chUdren. They come
from rude homes. There they hear oaths, and see

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 301
faces red with anger, and listen to voices harsh
with bad passions. Here they listen to gentle
words, and wonderingly they perceive that there
is such a thing as kindness in the world. She,
opens these closed intellects ; she wakes these tor
pid minds ; she warms these Httle hearts. She
teaches them of the world in which they Hve, of its
great continents, its roUing oceans, its vast plains,
its majestic mountains, its forests, its zones of ice
and snows, of burning heat. She teUs them of the
tribes of animals which roam the wUds,, of strange
fishes which swim the seas, of varieties of stones,
trees, flowers, insects, birds. She unfolds to them
the wonders of creation. Then she takes their
Httle bands and leads them back through the
past centuries of history. She shows them how
this country was planted, and bow it has grown
to be what it is. She teUs them of Greece and
Borne and England. She opens their minds and
hearts., and is the mediator between them and
the universe. It all flows through her mind to
theirs; and the chUdren are lifted to a new realm
of thought and love while they look and Hsten to
her. When evening comes, this teacher, tired with her
task, g0.es, perhaps, for refreshment, to hear a lecture, .

302 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
or to Hsten to some person who reads Shakespeare.
It is some great actor or reader, who is able to inter
pret the thought of this wonderful master of human
nature. He mediates Shakespeare to us. As we
listen, we are Hfted into communion with this mas
ter. We had the book at home, we might have read
it to ourselves ; but we needed a mediator between
our mind and the mind of Shakespeare. When we
have read it alone, much seemed unnatural, foreign,
strange. But now, as we listen to that impassioned
voice, we enter into the very mind of OtheUo, of
Hamlet, of Lear. We feel deep down into our hearts
the thriUs of sympathy. For the hour we are Ham
let, we are Lear. Our sphere of human experience is
enlarged. We are taken out of the narrow interests
and petty cares of our daily Hfe, and Hfted, by this
power of mediation, into intimate communion with
the foreign and the far.
So, too, music opens by its mediation a new world.
As, when one rises in a balloon, the earth seems
fading away from under him, and all its hard outlines
change into a picture ; so, as we Hsten to great music,
Hfe grows transfigured, the weariness of years faUs
from us, and we renew our youth, our hope, our love.
What a mediator is language ! Words, those airy
nothings, those facile, fleeting sounds, are the me-

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 303
diums through which pass from man to man aU the
knowledge^ aU the Hfe, of humanity. Without words,
ho civihzation were possible ; we should stiU be sav
ages, no better than brutes. When language comes,
when the thought can be taken out of the mind and
put into this box wliich we caU a word, and so trans
mitted to another mind, then civilization begins.
AU knowledges, aU purposes, are mediated through
words. Books are mediators between the past and the
present, the great and the smaU, the distant and the
near. These are the treasuries into which aU the
true riches of the world are garnered. I go and sit
among my books, and I have the society of the wise
and good of aU times. I wish to know what Plato,
Montaigne, or Bacon think of such a matter : they
come to give me their best thoughts. Here stands
an encyclopaedia, there an atlas, here one of the great
poets. I ask for anything which I want, and it
comes. If I wish to know about Arabia, or Egypt,
or Central Tartary, I find a book of travels which
teUs me aU I seek. In my book I ascend the NUe,
I go through Abyssinia, I see the wUd beasts and
strange tribes of men, without fatigue, expense, or
danger. I penetrate the torrid zone, and dread no
fever. I travel with Livingstone through Southern

304 COMMON^SENSE IN RELIGION.

Africa, w$k IIuc I go into the. Buddhist convents, or
with Kane I pass a winter amid the lonely beauty
of Greenland's icy mountains, So do books mediate
to mo all hvmiap. experience. So is the printing*
press the mediator of all tbpugbt
Nature ijs a, great medial between God and tbe
soul. It; weaves for God the garment by whicb we
see hnn- It sbows us intelligence everywhere, all
things fitted for each other, nothing fair or good
alone. Look at the sun fitted to tbe. eartb, the earth
adapted to the sun. In the spring miUions of seeds
tpuched by his rays awake to warmtb and Hfe. In
the summer mUHons of insepts, birds, hqas.ts, are fed
by these seeds, which have become plants. I see
this great sun giving Hght by whiob aU creatures
may see, and, aU prpatures down to the. lpwest orders
are provided with eyes adapted to the sunlight I
see this sun painting nature with beauty of cplpr,
of light and shade, contrast arid harmony, and so
becoming God's great artist; As; the earth spins on,
its soft axle from uigbt into day, the dawn calls on
all creatures to awaken, and tbe sun is tiieir lamp, by
which they can come out and work, each according
tp his own task. The mighty sun also pumps up
water out of the ocean by millions of rays,, every ray
a little pump to bring up the transparent vapor ; and

JESUS A MEDIATOR. ZQ5
then the sun, heating one zone of earth more than
another, creates great Currents of air, by which th©
Vapor is carried over continents tiU it meets the cold
mountain-tops, and falls in snow and rain, and rushes
down to the sea again in a thousand rivers. Thus
the sun is a great mediator between God and his
creatures ;. he warms them, he Hghtens: them, he feeds
them, he supplies them with air and water. No
wonder that men, seeing »H this glory, wonder,
and power, worshipped the creature instead of the
Creator., No wonder that the Persians saw in him
the chief type of God, and that they caUed him
Mithrasy Or " The Mediator."
But of aU, mediators between God and mta, man
himseK is the; best. The mother bending over her
infant, watching,, guarding, guiding it, is the first, type
to the ehUd of Divine Providence. The lov.e raining
on it in showers of sweetness from her Hps and eyes'
is the- first influence of Divine love to its young
heart. So is God's wisdom mediated to us through
the sages, th^ elders, the wise men and Women who
have seen Hfe, and whose words come freighted with
sohd experience. So is God's generosity mediated
to us through human generosity;, through those who
have done goad, to us, hoping for nothing again ; who-
have given time, thought, sympathy, to our needs.

306 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
because it was their noble nature to do so ; whom we
cannot praise and dare not thank, because it would
seem like trying to repay what can never be repaid
These are our angels, our saints, to whom we owe the
knowledge of genuine, sohd goodness. But the best
thing they do for us is to enable us, by believing in
the reaHty of truth and love, to beHeve in God, —
sole true, sole good.
Every nation has its prophets, its lawgivers, its
Divine messengers. Life would be poor enough K
these were taken away. When we lose our faith in
prophets, martyrs, and saints, we had better die.
There is only one soul-destroying infidelity; it is
to doubt the reality of goodness. The low cunning,
caUing itseK wisdom, which thinks itseK knowing
because it beheves aU men knaves, each man with
his price ; which considers self-love the only wire by
which these human puppets are puUed, — this is the
only atheism there is. Deny conscience, deny gen
erosity, deny purity of heart, and you quench the
eye in man's soul by which he sees God. But when
we beHeve in good men and women, in holy men
and women, in true men and women, then we are
beginning to believe in God. For these are the
mediators of the most divine element in Deity;
that is, of his goodness. Nature mediates power,

JESUS A MEDIATOR. 307
providence, wisdom, universal beauty ; but good men
alone can mediate that infinite fatherly and motherly
love, that righteousness Hke the great fountain with
out stain, that absolute beauty of holiness which is
the very God in God.
If, then, nature, providence, good men and women,
aU prophets of truth, aU saints of love, are mediators
between God and man, why does Paul say, " There
is one God, and one mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus " ? In answer to this we may
say that Paul emphasizes the humanity of Christ
here. It is the man Christ Jesus ; it is his perfect
humanity which enables him to be a perfect medi
ator. It is because he sums up in himseK aU our
human affections, fulfils all our human goodness,
enters into our human wants and sins with perfect
sympathy, that he stands between us and God to
bring God near. It is " the man Christ Jesus," not
the God Jesus, who is the mediator between God
and man.
The mission of Jesus was to be the mediator of
the rehgion of humanity. He was to show that
rehgion was made for man, not man for religion ;
that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for
the Sabbath ; that the Bible was made for man, not
man for the Bible ; that the Church was made for

308 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
man, not man for the Church. He manKestS the
synthesis of piety and humanity; shows that who
ever truly loves God must love man, and Whoever
truly loves man must love God. He taught that
man is greater than the Temple, greater than all
forms and ceremonies, and that the development
and education of the human soul is the object of
true religion. He came to be the" mediator of this
idea,- of the humanity of rehgion.
In doing this, Jesus fulfiUed the ideas' of all other
great prophets and aU other great rehgions. All, as
the Apostle declares, are summed Up in love to
God and man. This divine-human love is not only
the1 fulfiUing of the Jewish law but of aU other
laws. Thus Brahmanism teaches a Divine love, but
not a human love. Buddhism teaches a human
love, but not a Divine one. Some teach the divin
ity of spirit, but not that of nature; othets, Hke
Egypt, teach the divinity of nature, but not of spirit.
Jesus, by his gospel, not only makes God and man
one, but also unites in one central truth all other
partial truths. The other religions disappear only
because they are fulfilled. When that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part is al
ways done away. Christianity has fulfiUed the
religions of Greece, Scandinavia, Egypt,: Borne, Per-

, JESUS A MEDIATOR. 309
sia, and they have disappeared, their work being
done. The vast religions of Central and Eastern
Asia have not yet been reached, but in the fulness
of time they also wiU be fulfilled in the gospel.
The great Semitic reaction which we caU Moham
medanism resulted from erroneous doctrines in the
Christian Church concerning the Trinity, which
seemed to cloud the central truth that the Lord
our God is one Lord. Islam is a protest in behalf
of monotheism, and was made inevitable by the
false direction taken by the Church in its dis
cussions of the Trinity and Incarnation. When
Unitarian theology shall have leavened Christianity
sufficiently, and Christ is accepted as a Divine man,
and not as a human God, Islam, with aU its vast
body of converted monotheists, will be reunited to
Christendom.

XIV.
THE EXPECTATIONS AND DISAPPOINT
MENTS OF JESUS.

XIV.
THE EXPECTATIONS AND DISAPPOINT
MENTS OF JESUS.
There is nothing more interesting than to look
into the mind of a great man, a man of genius,
and see what he thought of himself and of his
works. That is why we love biography, especially
autobiography. We wish to become intimate with
the person whose genius has enchanted us, or whose
soul has gone over the world ; to know what he
thought and did in private, and whether he felt Hke
ourselves in his home and by his fireside. We
wish to trace the springs of his greatness'; to see
the motive which roused him, the end he pursued.
We never tire of such biographies as those of
Johnson, Walter Scott, John Wesley, Benjamin
Frankhn, Schiller, Columbus, Washington, Charles
Lamb, Charlotte Bronte, Frederick Bobertson or such
autobiographies as the Confessions of St. Augustine,
the memoirs of Benvenuto CeUini, Horace Walpole,
Alfieri, SUvio Pellico, Goethe, Cowper.
Perhaps one reason why we love poetry is that
14

314 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

poetry is almost always autobiography. The poet
stands always in the confessional, and unlocks his
heart with that golden key. He confides the in
most secret of his soul, the deepest aim of his life,-
his most sacred experience, in that dim reHgious
light, under the rose of song. Cowper's biography
does not tell us so much of him as do his hymns ;
and K Shakespeare had written his own life, I doubt
if we should have learned more of his inmost being
than we can now learn from his sonnets. When we
read Mrs. Browning's poetry, or that of Whittier,' we
come nearer to their heart than if we were living
in their house ; for we might Hve in their house and
not Hve in their soul.
But who shall read to us the interior Hfe of the
greatest of aU human souls ? Who shaU show us
what were his hidden experiences, his struggles with
himseK, the gradual steps by which he came to the
conviction that he was meant, in God's providence,
to be the king of the world and the man of men ;
that he was sent to Hft men out of servitude- into
freedom by making them children of God, to raise
humanity out of sin into hohness, to cure the woes
and diseases of the human heart, to bring peace
instead of war into the world ?
I say by gradual steps. It must have come to

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 315
him graduaUy, for that is the human way. He
" increased in knowledge and wisdom," says the
faithful text, "and in favor with God and man."
As long as he was considered a God, no growth was
deemed possible, and no one asked this question.
Now we must ask it, — but can it be answered ?
Not a word, not a Hne, have we .(except those
. few words which tell us that he grew in wisdom
and knowledge) from all the thirty years of his
youth. Then God was educating him ; but of
that education nothing has been told us. 0, if
. only in some monastery on Mount Athos, or
some cave in India, a real gospel of the youth of
Jesus might be found! But no; he comes forward
in aU the maturity of his powers and aims. He is
a priest after the order of Melchizedek ; there is
no genealogy of his soul given to us ; that is with
out father or mother, without beginning of days or
end of years.
Why this is so it is easy to see. Who was there
then who could have understood the inward expe
rience of the soiU of Jesus ? No one near him
was adequate to that. Possibly Paul might have
done so, who understood him so weU afterward ; but
none of those simple, honest fishermen of the lake
could have comprehended anything of the struggles

316 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
and aspirations of Jesus. He was, and must be,
intellectually and spirituaUy alone.
Only one symbolic story we have, by which, in a
sort of parable, Jesus told bis disciples something
of his inward trials. In this history of the temp
tation he lets them have the condensed history of
his greatest struggle with himseK. He was con
scious of his immense, immeasurable spiritual power.
He knew that he could easUy do what Mohammed
afterward did, — that he could wield, mould, and band
together the hearts of thousands tiU they should
beat as one, and so create an irresistible moral force.
He knew that neither the authority of the Jewish
schools, the power of Pagan superstition, nor the
eagles of Borne, could oppose him successfuUy, K
he chose thus to unite, in one flame of fiery zeal,
the hearts of his nation. He knew there was in
himself this "mystery of commanding" mankind,
and one of his temptations was to use it in order
to estabHsh the kingdom of heaven.
If the Arab tribes, who for two thousand years
had played no part in human history, were so uni
ted by the faith of Mohammed as to conquer the
world, how easy had it been for Jesus to thus
unite the whole Semitic race on a far higher plane
of conviction, and in a far deeper Hfe. He might

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 317
have made of them an Hresistible, unconquerable
power. His miraculous or singular physical gKts,
joined with his inteUectual insight and spiritual
force, would easUy have awakened such a flame
of enthusiasm as would have made the Jewish peo
ple a power nothing could oppose. They expected
it, they longed for it, they were aU ready for it;
they wanted to take him by force and make him
their king. The latent strength of that Semitic race
afterward showed itseK in their wars with the Eo-
mans. When united by a religious conviction, they
have always been terrible. Even without that con
viction the Carthaginians, under Hannibal, nearly
destroyed the Boman power. With it, under Mo
hammed, the Arabs overran the world. There was
another temptation. If he did not do this, he might
do something else. He might abstain whoUy from
active IKe, renounce aU ambition of power, and be
come the great thinker and seer of mankind. He
would then become, not the king of the human race,
but its prophet. Instead of a few conversations,
exhortations, parables, addressed to the ignorant com
mon people, he might be the one great teacher of
truth and beauty for aU mankind. Betiring into
some monastic seclusion, and devoting his Hfe to
thought and writing, he might speak to mankind

318 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
as neither Plato, Aristotle, nor Homer among the
Greeks, nor David and Isaiah among his own peo
ple, had done. What a divine work would have
come from the inteUect of Jesus, if he had devoted
long years to its creation. Then, indeed, he would
have stood on the pinnacle of the Temple, borne up
by the angels of truth and love.
But Jesus saw that it was not the voice of God,
but the voice of Satan, which offered him thus all
the kingdoms of the world; offered him the bread
of love and reverence instead of the stones of slan
derous, cruel, hard-hearted opposition; offered him
a shining place in the temple of God instead of his
obscure Gahlean work. So he said " Get thee behind
me, Satan ! " and went forward to the task God had
given him to do.
This is all we know from Jesus himself of the
struggles and temptations which preceded his open
ministry. We know nothing of the growth of his
soul. He came forth at thirty years, composed, self-
possessed, without any hesitation in his thought. He
was not an inquirer or thinker, like Socrates. He
spoke with authority, sure of himself. He was hum
ble and lowly of heart, for he sought no praise, nor
any place but that of service. Yet he had that
entire conviction of his own power that caused him

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 319
to say, " I am the way, the truth, and the Hfe " ;
" See me, and you see God as a father " ; "I am one
with God " ; " Come to me and have rest " ; " All
power is given to me in heaven and earth." What
majestic claims combined with what lowly service !
Jesus came forth from his obscurity unheralded, as
in 1492 the star seen by Tycho appeared suddenly
in the sky. As that star appeared in its place in
the heavens bright as the star Sirius, and in a
few weeks became brighter than the planet Venus,
so Jesus came forth in the full glory of his heavenly
insight, taught for a year or two, and then came to
an end. But, unlike that star, his glory has in
creased and has fiUed the world, and wiU continue
to grow untU every knee shall bow, and every tongue
confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of- God the
Father. The purpose which he had in coming forward was
to become the Jewish Messiah in the highest spir
itual sense. It was to make the whole nation kings
and priests to God ; missionaries of the human race
to bring mankind to the worship of one God, even
the Father. In this high sense he was to be their
king, prophet, and priest. He called on them to fol
low him, that they might become the true leaders
of the world. But to do this they must begin by

320 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
renouncing aU secular ambition, aU worldly power.
So • he commenced his Sermon on the Mount by
teUing them that if they would have the kingdom
of heaven they must be poor in spirit, meek, and
willing to be persecuted for righteousness' sake. It
was the expectation of Jesus to lead his nation into
this heavenly kingdom; to become its prophet and
inspiration ; to unite them, not for conquest, but for
the service of mankind. He hoped to be able to
overcome the bigotry of the priests and sluggish
ness of the people by the power of his own convic
tions. He thought the kingdom of heaven was at
hand, and sent forth his disciples to say so. When,
at the very beginning of his mission, he healed the
Boman centurion's servant, and saw his faith, he
perceived' in it a sign of the speedy conversion of
the GentUes to the worship of one God. " Many,"
said he, "shaU come from the east and the west
and sit down with Abraham in the kingdom of
God." But this great hope was no blind enthusiasm. He
knew weU aU the obstacles in his path. The Jew
ish nation was not what it ought to be. The salt
had lost its savor. If the people of Tyre and Sidon,
of Sodom and Gomorrah, had heard what the people
of Cana and Capernaum heard, they would have

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 321
repented. His own nation had so Httle interest in
his teaching, so Httle sense of his meaning, that he
was obHged to change his method of communication
and teU them stories, hiding his moral in the fable.
It deeply wounded him to hear that the Pharisees
had explained his miracles by the power of Satan.
He referred to it afterward in a way that showed
how much he felt it. He said, " If they have called
the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more
they of his household." He soon saw that the
cross lay at the end of his course. He told his
disciples that they must be prepared to take up
their cross, too, and to foUow him. He was not
afraid of this cruel death; what he feared, and aU
that he feared, was rejection and the defeat of his
cause. He knew that he could be a better Messiah
by dying than by Hving. " I, K I be Hfted up, wUl
draw aU men unto me.'' * Possibly he founded the
body of the twelve Apostles that he might edu
cate them to take his place, and be the head of the
nation when he should die, leading the twelve tribes,
one for each tribe. They were ignorant, to be sure ;
but then he had faith in the Divine Spirit to beHeve
that it would lead them into aU truth, and teach
them, at last, their whole lesson.
* "Except a grain of wheat die, it abideth alone."
14* TT

322 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

The expectation of Jesus, therefore, was of his own
speedy coming as king. His great disappointment
was not that he should himseK be put to death, but
that his cause should not triumph, and that his na
tion should not accept him as their Messiah. " Daugh
ters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and your chUdren." It was a cruel dis
appointment to his patriotic heart to think that his
nation should cast away its great opportunity ; that
Jerusalem, the sacred city, should not know the hour
of its visitation ; that the Jewish nation, a city set on
a hiU, a light meant to be kept in its candlestick
to enlighten. all in the house, should vacate its high
privilege. He mourned for them; he mourned for
mankind too. He saw what a break would inter
vene in the progress of humanity, how his religion
would be corrupted by paganism because the edu
cated mind of Judaea renounced the charge of it. If
the Jewish people had accepted the rehgion of Jesus
as the true fulfilment of their law, and made of it a
universal religion, their monotheistic spirit would
have saved it from such doctrines as the Trinity and
Deity of Christ, and such practices as the worship of
saints and of the Virgin, monasticism and cehbacy.
The rehgion of Moses, which had been spirituaHzed
into that of the Prophets, would have been universal-

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 323
ized into that of Jesus. The Jewish nation seemed
to have been expressly created, in their ethnic peculi
arities, for this work ; and what a vast disappointment
it was to Jesus that they refused to do it ! He could
hardly give up this hope, even at the last hour ; and
his agony in the Garden was, if one dare penetrate
that sacred sorrow, in view of this bitterest cup.
The expectation of Jesus that his truth should
finally prevail was not disappointed. He was only
disappointed as to the time and manner. He knew
that he was sent to be the king of the world, and
that his coming as king was sure. He knew he
should come in the clouds of heaven ; that is, in the
mystery and majesty of spiritual convictions. Heaven
is the place of souls, and when Christ comes in the
souls of men he comes in the heavens. He knew
he should send forth his angels, and gather his elect
from all the corners of the earth. And so he has,
and is to do it yet more abundantly. He perceived
that the temple worship, with its ritual and priest
hood, was ¦ to come to an end, for they were no
essential part of the true religion of Moses. He
understood that this would not come without mighty
struggle and great suffering, since all the births of
time are painful. He knew also that his coming was
to begin soon, before that generation had passed

324 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
away. But the day and hour he did not know;
that no finite being could know certainly. That
events shall certainly come depends on the provi
dence of God ; when they shaU come depends also on
the free-wiU of man, who can postpone indefinitely,
but not forever, the purposes of God and their ac-
comphshment. The deep sorrow in the heart of Jesus came from
the sight of that bigotry, selfishness, unbeHef, by
which his people shut their eyes, and closed their
ears, and hardened their hearts, so as not to be con
verted and healed. This was his perpetual disap
pointment, his real cross. The cross of Calvary had
no terror for him, except as the sign of this national
rejection and its consequences. The sting of his
death was the sin of his nation which caused it.
In reading the biographies of the greatest and
most successful men, we almost always find in their
Hves this same element of disappointment They
only fulfil haK their hope.
" Their noblest deed had once another,
. Of high Imagination born, —
A loftier and an elder brother,
From dear existence torn."
How triumphant the apparent success of such Hves
as those of Washington, Columbus, Walter Scott !

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 325
But read their biographies, and learn how the advent
of aU great things is Hke the coming of the Son of
man. They always come in wars and struggles,
persecution and opposition, false prophets, false
brethren, darkened sunlight and falling stars. Co
lumbus was baffled and beset aU his Hfe with the
most cruel ingratitude, bitter hatred, and cold neg
lect. Washington's greatest merit and glory is,
that he did not resign his place, as most men
would have done, when he was perpetuaUy suspected,
neglected, opposed, and his army left unprovided
with the absolute necessities of Hfe. Walter Scott
died dragged to the earth by debts not his own, and
never reahzing one perfectly peaceful hour, free from
aU anxiety. Charles Lamb, so bright and so cheer
ful in his books ; what a terrible tragedy was his inner
life ! Charlotte Bronte, whose genius won ultimately
such great success ; what a sad martyrdom were aU
her years ! It seems as K it might be said of all
God's prophets : " These all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and embraced them, confessing themselves strangers
and pUgrims on the earth." They learn in suffering
what they teach jn song.
AU great souls must Hve a IKe of disappointment,
for thek ideal must always be higher than any possi-

326 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ble attainment. Therefore Jesus, as the greatest of
aU souls, was also one whose disappointment was the
greatest.^ His ideal was the conversion of his nation
to a broad spiritual religion, the essence of which
should be love to God and to man ; and his hope
was that this nation, thus emancipated from its past,
thus deepened and broadened, should become indeed
the city on the hiU, its Hght shining through all the
earth, its Jehovab become the universal Father, wor
shipped neither at Jerusalem nor at Gerizim, but
only in spirit and in truth.
His hope was disappointed. But he who can say
" Not my will, but thine, be done," is never wholly
disappointed. No matter how he may, at first, seem
to himseK to fail, at last he wUl be able to say to
his Father, "I have finished the work thou gavest
me to do." And aU great souls, like Jesus, have
beneath their outward sense of anxiety and failure
the inward abiding conviction of ultimate and per
manent success.
In Gerome's picture of the Crucifixion, lately ex
hibited in New York, the crosses do not appear.
Only their black shadows come in, from behind, upon
the foreground. We see before us the city of Jeru
salem in all its majesty. It seems a mile or two
away. It is fiUed with those who know nothing of

EXPECTATIONS OF JESUS. 327
this day of their visitation, — those who are engaged
in aU the rush of a great city's Hfe, entirely ignorant
that the most important event in the history of man
is taking place close by. They know nothing of this
event, one of whose consequences will be the de
struction and desolation, with unspeakable horrors, of
their own great metropohs. So man walks blindly
on, his eyes holden, not seeing the day of his visita
tion, letting his opportunities go ; and finding, when
it is too late, that the Christ of God has been near
him, caUing to him day after day to come to him
and have rest.
Such were the expectations and disappointments
of Jesus. We aU have ours. Our hopes are de
ceived, our loved ones are taken too soon away, our
morning sun, " flattering the mountain-top with sov
ereign eye," is covered with dark mists, and hidden
from the forlorn world. Let us remember, then, that
such disappointments are part of the education of the
soul ; that the highest natures have the sharpest dis
appointments, and that those of Jesus were the most
cruel of aU. To wish to be spared these is to wish
to Hve without any ideal, to be without any great
hope, to lose the disciphne and education of Hfe ; for
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.
The best successes of this Hfe are not its outward

328 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
triumphs. Outward triumph may be, and often is,
inward ruin. Happy those who, when their efforts
are baffled, their love deceived, their most precious
hopes blasted, are able to trust God, submit to his
wiU, and beHeve that aU is right which seems most
wrong.

XV.
COMMON-SENSE VIEW OF SALVATION BY
FAITH.

XV.
COMMON -SENSE VIEW OF SALVATION
BY , FAITH.
I wish to explain, if possible, the common-sense
view of salvation by faith.
Many persons wUl say, I suppose, that the whole
doctrine of salvation by faith is opposed to common-
sense. But this is because they understand by faith
some theological opinion, and because they under
stand by salvation a rescue out of a future heU into
some future external heaven.
But faith is, in reality, just as dear, precious, and
indispensable to common-sense as it is to rehgion.
In aU the matters of every-day life faith is just as
necessary as sight. You cannot build a house, or go
on a journey, or make a bargain, or cook a dinner,
without faith. Without faith the whole business
of life would come to an end. We walk by faith
nearly all the time. Let me illustrate this.
Beginning on the lowest plane, we all beHeve in
the stabiHty of the outward world, and walk by
that faith. We aU go to bed at night, and faU

332 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
asleep, — which is just like dying, — believing that
we shaU wake in the morning, and that there wiU
be a morning to wake in. We expect to find our
house and furniture and family to-morrow just as
they were to-day. We shaU sit down to breakfast'
to-morrow believing that it. wiU feed us and not
poison us. We shaU go to our business expecting
to find people to deal with, and work to do, as we
found them yesterday. We all repose, in perfect
security, on this firm faith in the stabiHty of the
universe. We walk by it, live by it, are saved by
it. When a man begins to doubt it, he begins to
be insane. If a man distrusts his friends and thinks
they want to hurt him, distrusts his food and thinks
it wUl poison him, and so leaves the domain of uni
versal faith, his friends say he is going crazy. Scep
ticism here is the same as insanity. It is mental
death. Sensible and sane people Hve by faith in
the permanence of the laws of nature. It is the
evidence of things not seen. You trust that the
things you have not seen wUl be Hke the things
you have seen ; that to-morrow wUl be like to-day,
as to-day is like yesterday.
The first fact, therefore, which we notice is, that
aU our Hfe reposes on faith in the constancy of
law, and upon faith in each other. We cannot

SALVATION BY FAITH. 333
take a step or do the commonest thing without this
faitb The next fact which we observe is that faith is the
:great means of education; it leads to knowledge.
Little chUdren come into life ready to believe aU
that is told them, and so they learn fast. They
may be told some falsehoods, but ninety-nine one-
hundredths of what they are told is true. They are
saved by faith from their ignorance. They are led
by faith to sight. Faith in parents, teachers, supe
riors, is the great conduit by which knowledge is
poured into their souls.
But K, now, we analyze faith to see what it is,
we shall find that it is,.first, faith in persons. This
is the faith of the chUd. Next, it is faith in ideas,
in laws, in principles. And, lastly, it is the union
of both, faith in God, in whom law and love are
one, — the Divine Being whose nature is truth, who
is the sum of aU the laws of the universe.
By this faith we live, by this faith we grow, by
this faith we accomplish everything, by this faith
we are saved. We cease to be animals as we arise
out of sensation and sight into beHef and trust in
ideas. All great men, all the souls who govern the world
and lead on society, are great in proportion to their

334 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
strength of conviction. They act, not by what they
see, but by their strong confidence in what they do
not see. They obtain a good report by faith
All great inventions and discoveries have come
from faith.
In the year 1492 a Httle vessel was strugghng
with storms on the bosom of the Atlantic, gradu
ally making its way westward. This great ocean,
now spotted everywhere with sails and traversed
"by steamers, which has its streets and roads al
most as distinct as those of a city, rolled' then,
as it had roUed since creation, without a trace of
human existence on its vast surface. One man's
faith has changed it aU 'One man, who beHeved
enough in things not seen to go forth and make
his way into the great mystery of the unknown
West, created a- new world. He beHeved in the in
visible things of God and nature. He went out to
a place which he should afterward receive as an in
heritance. He sojourned in the land of promise as a
stranger, looking for a building which had founda
tions, whose builder and maker is God. Columbus
walked by faith in God just as much as Abraham
did, and so faith added half a world to the domain
of sight.
AU the great discoveries of modern times were

SALVATION BY FAITH. 335
once ideas in the minds of their inventors. The
printing-press, which pours out its mUIions of sheets
every day, which lays on our doorsteps every evening
the news of the whole world, was once a matter of
faith in the mind of a Faust. The steamboat, whose
tremendous machinery moves with such power and
such ease, which unites the continents, abohshes the
oceans, and ransacks every river and bay and lake of
Europe and America with its restless activity, was
once a matter of faith in the mind of Fulton. The
power-looms which roar from early morn to dewy
eve by the streams of New England and in the val
leys of Old England, which clothe the inhabitants of
the world, were, a few years since, a matter of faith
in the mind of Watt. The locomotives which trav
erse the plain, ascend the mountain, and rush across
continents, drawing their immense burdens as easily
as if they were a child's basket-wagon, were once a
matter of faith in the mind of Stephenson. The
photograph, which brings to us the exact forms of
the Pyramids of Egypt and the ruins of Athens;
which preserves the dear features; of chUd and wKe ;
which rescues from oblivion the tender gaze of love,
the glow of thought, the expression of a generous
purpose,— that also was, at first, a belief in the mind
of Daguerre. All the inventions, luxuries, arts, aU

336 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the knowledge, power, wealth, of the world, is the
creation of faith. Columbus, Watt, Fulton, Daguerre,
Stephenson, aU died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them. They
triumphed over obstacles, they bore " ridicule and
contempt wUlingly, because they counted God and
nature faithful, who had promised them, in theh
strong conviction, that they should succeed in ac-
comphshing what they designed. And so they saw
at last a part of what they foresaw, and their faith
led to sight.
AU great moral reforms have begun in faith.
Have we not seen in our own day the tremen
dous power of slavery, which had taken possession
of the Union, overthrown by the faith of a few men
in the principles of eternal justice ? They beHeved,
therefore they spoke ; and by their speech they
overthrew this terrible power. On one side was or
ganization, law, prestige, a great political party,
Presidents, Congress, the army and navy of the
Union ; on the other nothing but faith, — faith in
justice, truth, God. And this invisible power con
quered aU the outward forces of the things seen and
temporal. Eecently, in New York, theft and villany had

SALVATION BY FAITH. 337
intrenched themselves so strongly that it seemed
impossible to overthrow them. They had possession
of the baUot-box,. the courts, milHons of money, and
aU the forms of law. But a single newspaper, having
faith in the power of truth, assailed them ; and now
we see this great and impudent power prostrate
before the mighty unseen force of conviction and
truth. These men who ruled the metropohs are
defeated, and their power broken. The people of
New York may say, " We ' are saved by faith."
Of the great Semitic race, many families were dis
tinguished in antiquity. Some of them built Babylon
and Nineveh, and created the civilizations of the val
leys of the Euphrates and Tigris. The Phoenicians
became famous in arts, commerce, and maritime dis
covery. They sailed out of the Bed Sea and went to
India. They sailed out of the Mediterranean and dis
covered Great Britain. They circumnavigated Africa.
The Carthaginians were the proud rivals of Eome, and
the merchants of the Old World, They flowered out
in Hannibal, the greatest captain of any age. But
one famUy of the race remained obscure, unknown,
hidden in the deserts of Arabia, during twenty centu
ries. They had ho union, no civilization, no rehgion.
But at last a man arose with faith in God, beheving
in one Supreme Spiritual Being. During thirteen
15 v

338 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
years he preached this faith in spite of opposition
and scorn. At last he triumphed; and then this
Arab people, inspired by their new conviction, sud
denly flamed up into a power which astonished
mankind. They overran and conquered Syria, Per
sia, Egypt, North Africa. They invaded Spain and
took possession of it. They invaded the Byzantine
Empire and took Constantinople. They developed a
great civihzation. Their scholars translated Plato
and Aristotle. Their medical schools were the most
renowned in the world. They discovered chemistry,
taught astronomy, invented algebra. This sudden
development was aU born of faith, — of faith in one
God. It was like the star which Tycho Brahe saw
suddenly appearing. In a few years it was all gone,
because it had substituted force for faith, the sword
for conviction. As long as the Arabs beHeved, they
went forward trusting to things unseen ; as soon as
they relied on things seen, they began to decay.
Protestantism, as a faith in ideas, had a similar
mighty influence. In a few years it overran nearly
all Europe. Not only Germany and England and
Sweden, but France, Spain, Austria, Italy, were half
converted to its doctrines. Then Luther and his
friends became alarmed at the variety of opinions
which sprang up, and they denied their own prin-

SALVATION BY FAITH. 339
ciple of freedom. They set up an orthodox creed
and an infaUible Bible, and refused to commune with
any who would not accept their dogmas. Then
Protestantism was checked, and has never recovered
from its reverses to this day. As long as it had
faith in ideas, it triumphed ; as soon as it began to
deny its early faith, it feU.
All the strength and force of man comes from his
faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong,
he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede
great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea
is the master of aU who are uncertain and wavering.
Clear, deep, Hving convictions rule the world.
Now, the highest of all ideas is that of God. It
includes all other great truths in itseK, as the ocean
includes aU its waves. He who believes in God has
the fulness of faith in aU unseen reaHties.
But the idea of God is greater in some minds than
in others. Some of the prophets of the world have
seen God as power, some as law, some as a perfect
providence, some as the Hfe of nature. Every such
faith has helped to save the world from its ignorance,
its coldness, its death. It has turned savages into men,
it has purified Hfe of its evUs, it has awakened the
head, moved the heart, strengthened the hand. And
this is the real salvation for man, this inward Hfe,

'340 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
which saves him from the hell of ignorance and
mental death, from the heU of selfishness and moral
death, from the heU of passivity, inaction, sloth,
which is the death of his will Heaven here, in its
essence, is hope and love ; and aU of an outward,
visible heaven is only the fruit of this. The state
of a man's soul makes heaven or heU ; and the state
of his soul depends on his having, or not having,
strong convictions of unseen reaHties, great love for
unseen beauty and truth; in short, faith in God,
truth, duty, eternal facts and laws.
All prophets have awakened more or less of this
faith, aU of them have lifted man out of the life of
sense into the Hfe of ideas and convictions. But
Jesus has done this in a vastly greater measure.
What they have done partially, he has done uni-
versaUy. They have taught this or that particular
race for a time; he teaches humanity for all time.
His. great faith in God as the union of perfect
power, wisdom, and love can never be exceeded or
outgrown.. Ages come and go, and each age as it
advances comes nearer to him. The highest life in
the human soul is derived from that faith which
Jesus has inspired in the world. If any one thinks
that be can get a faith larger than that of Jesus,
let him by all means try to do it, for why should

SALVATION BY FAITH. 341
not that experiment be made? If any one' thinks
he can walk more surely without the guidance of
Jesus, let him try ; the result will probably be to
bring him back to Christ, saying, as the Apostles
said, " Lord, to whom shaU we go ? thou hast the
words of eternal Hfe."
Once, when going with a party through the great
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, we grew tired of
following our guide. The cave opened before us
vast and grand, but it seemed a plain way ; and
so we thought we would go forward and find the
way for ourselves. The guide stayed behind, and
let us go on. But directly we came where side-
passages opened out of the darkness, where vast
pits yawned before us. Then we became confused
and uncertain, and willingly consented to be led by
experience a-nd knowledge. We found we could
walk by faith better than by sight. But it was an
inteUigent faith, for it was placed on a tried leader,
long familiar with every intricacy and winding ave
nue of the mysterious, awful region ; mile after mUe
we followed him, tiU at last we saw in the distance a
beautiful light, seeming to be composed of all em
eralds, rubies, and diamonds, and we found it to be
sunshine and day seen through the entrance in the
far distance.

342 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
So the world follows Jesus, walking by faith in
him. It sometimes leaves him to try to go alone,
but it always returns again. For faith in him is not
faith in him, but faith in his experience, his insight,
his inspiring power, his truth, and his love. Faith
in him is faith in the God whom he sees, his
Father and our Father, his God and our God. It
is a faith which reconciles reason and rehgion, na
ture and grace, law and love. All the laws of the
universe are but the manifestation of the Divine
truth ; and all the progress, Hfe, and joy of the uni
verse are but the manifestation of the Divine love.
"He who believeth in me," says Jesus, '•'behev-
eth not in me, but in him who hath sent me."
There are two systems of thought in relation to
Christ. According to one of these systems, faith in
Christ means believing a great deal about him per
sonally. It is to beHeve that in some mysterious
way he is God. It is to believe that by some mys
terious transaction he has satisfied the justice of
God by his death. It is to beHeve that if we pro
fess faith in him, and openly declare that he is our
Saviour, he wUl induce God to forgive* us and to
save us. The other system of thought always car
ries us through. Christ to God, his Father and ours.
When we beHeve in Christ, we do not beHeve in

SALVATION BY FAITH. 343
Christ, but in him who sent him. He teaches us to
see God near to us, helping us, blessing us, saving
us. To believe in Christ, according to this system,
is to believe in what Christ believes ; to believe in
purity of heart, in honesty of Hfe, in humility, in
hope, in magnanimity. Jesus does not care for our
admiring him, or praising him, or confessing him.
He wishes us to admire his truth, to confess his
gospel, to walk in his way, whether we say anything
of him or not. He says, " My doctrine is not mine,
but his that sent me."
What is it to beHeve in the Divinity of Christ ?
According to one view, a man has not the proper
faith, and cannot be called a Christian, unless he is
wUling to say that Jesus is God, unless he will put
his name to a creed calhng Christ the second per
son in the Trinity. It is thought that Jesus is
pleased with us when we call him God, and dis
pleased when we refuse to give him that great title.
It is, however, not in the least necessary to under
stand how he is Divine ; only let a man say Jesus is
Divine, then he is orthodox. Indeed, it is rather a
suspicious circumstance K he wishes to understand
how Jesus is Divine.
AU this, we notice, rests on the assumption that
there is something meritorious in using certain

344 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
phrases about Jesus, — phrases to which we do not
and cannot attach any clear meaning. It is thought
that Christ will be bitterly offended if we do not give
him his proper title, and that he cares, as men care,
for outward honors.
The whole Catholic world was recently convulsed
with the question whether the Pope should be called
infallible. Each of the bishops had left the gov
ernment of his respective diocese, and the Church
was left to govern itself as it could without bishops,
while they stayed at Eome to decide this question.
But caUing the Pope infallible does not make him
so. He was just as liable to blunder afterward as
before. The present pope, Pio Nono, began his
career by encouraging free thought; he ends it by
crushing it down. At first he thought it right tp
trust in the people ; now he thinks it wrong. Then
he believed in popular government ; now he abhors
it. If he was right then, he is wrong now ; he could
not possibly have been infallible both times. De
claring that he is infallible, even by a great una
nimity, does not alter the fact.
Now, many Christians wish to caU Christ God,
just as many Catholics wish to caU the Pope infaUi
ble. They seem to think something will be gained
by this use of words, whether the words signify
anything or not.

SALVATION BY FAITH. 345
But the common-sense view of the Divinity of
Jesus is this : Christ is Divine because his character
is Divine, because he shows us God. In proportion
as we see that Divine quality in his soul and life, we
really beHeve in his Divinity. We may caU him
God ever so loudly, but we do not really beHeve him
Divine tiU we understand that his generous love to
his feUow-men is a Divine quality ; that his devotion
to truth, justice, freedom, holiness, is Divine; that,
as God loves, he loved, to have us do God's wiU,
rather than to say " Lord ! Lord ! "
When we say that Jesus was " the image of the
invisible God " ; when we caU him " the word made
flesh " ; when we say that " God was manifest in the
flesh " ; when we accept his statements, " I and my
Father are one," " He that has seen me has seen the
Father," — what do we mean ? According to one
view, we mean that there is some mysterious hypostat
ic union between the first and second persons in the
Trinity. According to the other view, we mean
that Christ in his IKe and character shows us how
God feels ; that he reveals God ; and that when we
see how Christ loved, spoke, acted, under any cir
cumstances, we see how God would act, feel, and
speak under the same circumstances. That is com
mon-sense. 15*

346 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
Now, which of these two systems is most likely
to produce a genuine love for Christ ? Is it that
which shrouds him with mystery, which makes his
goodness mysterious, his work mysterious, his char
acter supernatural ; or that which makes aU his life
and work natural, human, brotherly ? What do we
usuaUy love the most, the greatness which is far
away above us in some higher position, some great
ness of rank or office, or is it the greatness which
being above us is stiU with us ; which forgets rank
and comes down to our side ; which renounces posi
tion to be our brother ; which, though ever so high
up in power, character, wisdom, influence, does not
disdain to sit by our side, to take our hand, to share
our human fortunes and misfortunes, and put itself
exactly on our level ? That is the goodness which
charms us, the greatness which is also lovable. And
this is the goodness and greatness of Jesus. It is
that, being in the very form of God, being the high
est image of God, having come nearer to God than
any other, he did not make that his boast or his
glory, but rather took pride in being like aU other
men, making himself the friend of aU, the pure and
the impure, the true and the false, the respectable
and the contemptible. This was what seemed to
strike the Apostle Paul with wonder and admiration ;

SALVATION BY FAITH. 347
this is what has drawn human hearts to Jesus, — not
his supernatural attributes, but his natural ones ; not
his mysterious Divinity, but his simple humanity.
Here are two exhibitions, we wUl suppose ; the
one is in legerdemain, the other one is in natural
phUosophy. Both the exhibitors do things which we
cannot comprehend ; both perform wonderful experi
ments. But the object of the first, in aU that he
does, is to make it seem as if he possessed some inex
plicable and superhuman power. These marvels are
done by him ; he alone has power to do them. The
object of the natural phUosopher, on the other hand,
is to caU attention not to himseK, to his skUl, his
adroitness, but to the laws of God, by which these
strange results are produced. He always diverts
attention from himself to the science which he is
iUustrating. While we listen, we do not think of
the lecturer, his knowledge, his skiU, but of the
wonderful phenomena in nature which he is unfolding
before us. When Faraday lectures, we do not think
of Faraday, but of chemistry. When Agassiz lec
tures, we are entranced with the mysteries of radiata
and moUusks. When Arago discourses, we rise to the
stars, and feel the sweet influences of the Pleiades.
Now, it is quite evident that Jesus in aU his teach
ing is not Hke the juggler, who wishes to direct the

348 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
astonishment of the audience to himself, but Hke the
lecturer, who seeks to guide our wonder to the great
facts and laws of the universe.
No doubt the lecturer may often have occasion to
refer to himself in the course of his teaching. He
may say, for example, " Please to give me your at
tention. I wish you now to Hsten to what I have to
say on this point." Or he may teU his audience that
he has been able to unfold some problem hitherto
insoluble, or that he has traversed fields of knowl
edge before unexplored, or that he can show that the
theories of former investigators are erroneous. But
whUe doing this, he does it in order to lead us to the
truth, and to persuade us to receive it.
And so also it is true that Jesus caUs for faith in
himself. He says that he is the door, that he is the
true vine, that he is the good shepherd, that he is the
living bread. But his object in all this is practical ;
it is to lead men not to himself, but through himself
to God. How are we to have faith in Christ as the
door? -Not by bowing down and worshipping the
door, but by rising up and going through it. How
are we to have faith in him as the true vine ? Not
by loudly declaring that we beHeve him to be the
vine, but by gathering and taking away the fruit
he bears. How do we show our faith in him as the

SALVATION BY FAITH. 349
living bread? Surely by feeding our souls with it
day by day. And how do we most sincerely show
our belief in him as the good shepherd, unless it be
by joining his flock and foUowing him ?
Thus we may see that salvation by faith is a uni
versal law of the moral universe. It is no arbitrary
enactment or dogma of Christianity alone, but it is
based in the very nature of man. AU moral and
spiritual life comes from faith in things unseen. AU
real knowledge has its roots in faith; aU moral
power is born out of faith; aU generous goodness
and truth is rooted in faith. He who doubts is a lost
soul; that is, he has lost his way. Lost souls are
simply those who have lost their way. Jesus came
to seek and save these lost souls by giving them
some clear, strong convictions by which to Hve and
die. Inspired by him, "all who are in their graves"
hear his voice and come forth. The poor, suffering,
lonely man, bereft of aU, sick; in prison, condemned
to die, is safe and happy K he has faith in God,
truth, immortality. What can man dp to him ? He
may have trials of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. But his
hope sustains him, for he beheves that neither Hfe
nor death, nor things present nor things to come,
can ever separate him from the love of God.

350 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
What we need most of aU and always is some great
beHef, some strong conviction, some reahzing sense
of spiritual things. Then we are young, though
years and cares have marked wrinkles on our brow.
We are full of Hfe, though on the verge of the
tomb. We are happy, hopeful, contented, and have
an inward peace which is better than aU the treas
ures of this world.

XVI.
ON NOT BEING AFRAID.

XVI.
ON NOT BEING AFRAID.
Many years ago I heard John Pierpont preach a
sermon from the text, " I was afraid " (Matt. xxv.
25). It was in Louisville, Kentucky, and he preached
it in the Unitarian church. A great congregation
had assembled to hear him, for Kentuckians were
good judges of oratory, and knew the power of Mr.
Pierpont. His subject was the duty of free inquiry.
He said that the faculty of thought was a talent for
the use of which we must account to God. We were
bound to exercise it on reHgious subjects, as weU as
upon other subjects, and we ought freely to inquire
into the truth of the popular doctrines, even at the
risk of being accounted heretics. The reason why so
few actuaUy examine the truth or falsehood of re
ligious doctrines was, he said, that of the servant in
the parable, — " They are afraid." So they bury their
talent in the earth, and hide their Lord's money.
Some, he said, are afraid of giving offence by denying
popular doctrines. Some are afraid of displeasing
their friends or their famihes. Some are afraid of

354 common-sense in religion.
losing their position in society, some of losing their
customers and their business. So they conform out
of fear ; and if they cannot beHeve, they can, at any
rate, make believe. "Perhaps, however," Mr. Pier
pont added, " you wiU not admit that you are influ
enced by such motives. You wiU say, ' We are not
afraid of human opposition or persecution. We are
Kentuckians, and are not afraid of what people may
do or say. But we confess that we are afraid of dis
pleasing God by rejecting what we are told to be
lieve' Ah ! but," continued Mr. Pierpont, " do you
not see that this was exactly the condition of the
servant in the parable ? He was not afraid of his
feUow-servants, he was afraid of his master. 'I
knew thee to be an hard man, reaping where thou hast
not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed :
and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the
earth.' It was fear of his master, not of his fellow-
servants, which caused the servant to hide his talent
in the earth. It was because he believed his master
to be exacting, intolerant of weakness, determined to
have aU he could get out of his servants, — a man of
strict rules, of inflexible purpose, just, but not merci
ful, requiring the uttermost farthing of every debt to
be paid. It was taking this view of his master
which paralyzed him. He thought he never could

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 355
do enough, so he would not do anything. But he
was not logical in this : fear never is logical. If he
beHeved his master so severe and so strict, he ought
to have done aU he could to meet his requisitions!"
I weU recollect the impression made by this dis
course of Mr. Pierpont, especially the passage in
which he said " We are Kentuckians',' at which point
a thriU of satisfaction pervaded the congregation.
And I have frequently thought I should Hke to
show how often fear of God is a temptation and a
source of evil; and how courage toward God is a
Christian virtue, and a very necessary one to enable
us to perform our duties.
There is a kind of fear, I know, which is not in
consistent with courage, and which even makes men
more courageous. Fear of danger, if it produces cau
tion and precaution, gives presence of mind when
danger comes. A man who has no sense of fear can
have no real courage. Having no sense of danger,
he can show no heroism in meeting danger. A bhnd
man who walks directly up to a mad buU, not seeing
the animal, shows no courage in so doing. But he
who, to save a little child from being tossed or
trampled, should, notwithstanding his fear, defy
the savage beast, would be truly brave. Without
some sense of fear there can be no courage; and

356 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
without 'apprehension, or the perception of coming
danger, there can be no presence of mind when it
comes. I have been on a steamboat on the Mis
sissippi, where the passengers were mostly of that
reckless, careless class which a superficial judgment
would caU brave. But when an accident happened
they were aU in the wildest confusion, and had no
presence of mind. The anticipation of danger alone
gives seK-possession when danger comes.
Where there is danger, it ought to be seen and
shunned. We should fear to run unnecessary risks.
I would not expose my body unnecessarily to yellow-
fever, or any other contagious disease. Nor would I
expose my soul unnecessarily to the contagion of
bad books, bad society, corrupting sights, and the
fascinations of those pleasures which lead to destruc
tion of soul and body both. But if I had a reason
for running the risk, if the danger lay in the path of
duty, then I should wish to encounter it, trusting in
God. We ought to fear evil, but we ought not to be
afraid of it. A good soldier is one who neither
slights nor dreads his enemy. A good general seeks
to know exactly what is the power of his opponent,
and whether with ten thousand men he can meet
him who comes against him with twenty thousand.

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 357
But he is never afraid, never loses his seK-possession,
never despairs, never gives up. No matter what the
odds are, no matter how desperate his position ap
pears, he never buries his talent in the earth, but
watches for every chance, takes advantage of every
favorable circumstance ; and so at last often redeems
the lost battle by his inexhaustible hope and unfaU-
ing courage. He always fears, but is never afraid.
The good captain fears beforehand, when the danger
is far off; so he is not afraid when it comes. The
bad captain is bold and defiant beforehand ; but
when the overwhelming attack comes, he loses his
head, and can do nothing. This shows the difference
between the wise and the foohsh fear. The wise
fear is caution, and produces prudence; the foohsh
fear is cowardice, and ends in paralysis. To put the
matter briefly, let us say that " we ought often to
fear, but ought never to be afraid."
We. ought to fear God, but not to be afraid of him.
The wicked servant in the parable thought about his
master just as many people think about him now.
The view of God given by many Christian preachers
is that he is a hard man, reaping where he has not
sown, gathering where he has not strewed, and com
manding us to make bricks without straw.
The doctrine of Total Depravity, for instance, so

358 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
long taught in our churches, takes this view of God.
According to this, God causes men to be born totally
depraved, and then requires of them to be perfectly
holy. He expects to gather grapes of thorns and
figs of thistles. He sends people to heU for not
doing what they are unable to do. Happily, this
doctrine is passing by. But another view of God
remains, which is also erroneous. It is that he is
a purely moral being, a God of strict law, subject to
law himseK, not above it, one who would be glad to
pardon if he could, but unable to do so ; obliged to
be " a hard man," incapable of helping his children,
answering their prayers, or coming into any real
communion with them. This was the God of
Judaism; this is the God of mere materiahsm.
Both views regard God mainly as law, — strict, im
partial law, — not as love. But this view also sepa
rates the soul from him, and causes us to look on
him not as a father, but a judge.
" Perfect love," says the Apostle, " casts out fear."
As long as we fear God "we are not made perfect
in love." The power of Christianity Hes in giving
us certain confidence in God. Those who speak
of his wrath, who represent him as a God of terror,
are not, while they do this, preaching Christianity.
They have backslidden to paganism. Superstition

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 359
makes men afraid of God; Christianity never does
that. How would you Hke to have your Httle children
made afraid of you ? How would you Hke to have
their nurse or their teacher, when you are absent, try
to frighten them into doing right by telHng them
what an awful thing it would be to fall into the
hands of their father and mother ? Would you Hke
to be described as stern, inflexible justice ; to have
the chUdren taught to say " Our father is a consum
ing fire " ? You would not Hke it ? Then do as you
would be done by. Do not beHeve about your Fa
ther what you do not wish your children to believe
about their father. Learn to trust in God altogether
and always, — when you aresgood, when you are bad.
Then you are safe. This is the gospel.
The gospel means good news. It would not be a
gospel K it were not news, and it would not be a gospel
if it were not good news. It is always good news to
us to be told that God reaUy loves us, is ready to for
give us, and means to save us from evil We find it
hard to beHeve this ; it seems too good to be true.
It is no news that we are sinners. We know that weU
enough ; and if it were news, it would certainly not
be good news. Therefore the doctrine of human sin
fulness is no part of the gospel. It is no news that

360 common-sense in religion.
sin is always producing misery, that the sinner is
always wretched. Therefore the doctrine of punish
ment is no part of the gospel But the essence of
the gospel, and that which gives it all its power is,
that, though we are sinners, and in spite of our sin,
God is our Father and our best friend ; that he feels
for us an infinite pity, an infinite tenderness, and
asks us only to love him and trust hhn, so that he
may save us from our sins by the power of that
love and that trust.
Many people are afraid of free inquiry and its re
sults. They fear that truth wiU be overturned by
it ; or, if not that, that harm wiU be done to weak
consciences. No doubt some are to be fed on mUk,
and others on meat. But I do not think that we
should ever be afraid of inquiry. It is too late in
the day. Christianity has stood a thousand attacks,
and stands very firmly stiU It is because it is
founded on a rock. The victory which Plotinus and
Porphyry, Marcion and Lucian, the Emperor Julian
and the great Stoics AureHus, Epictetus, and Seneca,
failed to gain, is not, to aU appearance (as Macaulay
says), reserved for any other in this age. Voltaire
thought that he and his friends had demohshed Chris
tianity in France. His wit and words have faded
away, but Christianity is as strong as before. This

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 361
teaches us not to be afraid of free inquiry, but to
welcome it.
But many people are daunted by the evils of Hfe.
They lose their courage and hope when they contem
plate the amount of poverty, vice, sickness, pain,
ignorance, brutality, knavery, fraud, in the world.
They say, What is the use ? How Httle can we do
to oppose this black flood which sweeps on and on,
notwithstanding the dikes which we oppose to it by
means of churches, schools, laws, and Christian civ-
Uization ! Why try to do anything ? We can do so
little ! Let us try to keep ourselves as clean as we
can. Let us put our own talent in a clean cloth, and
bury it where it will not get lost. That is aU we
can hope to accomphsh
A good deal of Christianity has gone on this prin
ciple. It has only aimed at keeping the good good.
It has put good people together in churches, and
left the bad people to themselves. This is the
napkin theory of Christianity. It was the source
of monasticism. Every monastery and nunnery is a
napkin in which a certain amount of innocence is
wrapt up and hidden away to be kept safe. Many
of our Protestant churches are Httle better than mon
asteries. They also aim at putting good people to
gether, not at seeking and saving bad ones. All this
16

362 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
arises, not from inhumanity, or indifference to sorrow
and sin, but from fear. They are afraid to attack
evU, — it seems so strong, so much stronger than God
or Christ or Christianity. It is because we do not
believe that Jesus is really the Christ now ; the King
of the world now ; we do not believe that his
religion is reaUy strong enough to cure the sin,
vice, and woe of mankind. We are expecting a
second coming of Christ at some future time, when
he wUl come in the clouds, with angel and trumpet.
We want a sign from heaven ; something more pow
erful than truth and love. The real evil is want of
faith in the power of the gospel ; want of faith in a
Christ as a present Saviour, not merely a past Sa
viour or a future Saviour. We need to beHeve that
now is the accepted time, that now is the day of
salvation. Therefore we say to God, " I am afraid."
We believe God to be a hard master, — asking us to
convert the world, and not giving us any power with
which to do it.
The only faith which saves us is that which en
ables us to save others. And this faith is to believe
that God is always ready to give us the power to do
anything which ought to be done. If there is a woe,
a wrong, a sin, to be removed, then God has given U3
power with which to do it. If we can believe this,
we shall never be afraid.

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 363
This is a very simple test of genuine faith in
Christ. If you have faith enough in Jesus as the
Christ of God to enable you to undertake his work
of saving your fellow-men from sin and misery here
and hereafter, then you may be sure that you have
the true faith. Hereby do we know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments. But if you
have not the courage to do this work, if you are
afraid to attempt it lest you should not succeed, then,
though you preach faith in Christ as the Omnipotent
God, and utter that doctrine with the tongues of
men and angels, yet you prove by your own coward
ice in the presence of evil that you have no real faith
in him as an actual Saviour of actual men and
women. Faith, if genuine, works by love, and love
casts out fear.
Some persons are afraid of being laughed at. The
hell which terrifies them is ridicule. I think this
was the fear which led Peter to deny his master.
He found himseK among a crowd to whom Jesus
appeared as a wUd fanatic, whom no sensible person
could possibly esteem. To profess himself a disciple
of such a one would have been to expose himself to
the derision of the soldiers and maid-servants. Peter
was always impressed by those around him ; he
was one of that class which agrees with the last

364 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
speaker. Such is the habit of sympathetic natures.
They take the color of their surroundings. They
cannot bear to be thought queer, If a person says
" How singular ! " that daunts them. So they do not
stand by their colors, but desert them. They might
bear a voUey of shot, but a voUey of laughter makes
them run. This awful experience of Peter did not
quite cure him; for afterward he had a double face
to the GentUes when he was with them alone, and
afterward when Jews were present. So Paul had to
rebuke him to his face for his duphcity. This is the
way with those who have large organs of sympathy
and of the love of approbation. Often the very sweet
ness of their disposition exposes them to this tempta
tion. The cure for it is to go down deep into princi
ples ; to see clearly what their convictions are, and so
to cleave to them. The superficial froth of social opin
ion is reaUy not anything to be afraid of. One per
son who knows what he believes and why he believes
it is more than a match for a crowd who only think
what they suppose other people think, because every
one else thinks it. A man with a clear conviction in
his mind is Hke Horatius; he can hold the bridge
against an army. Stand fast on your instincts, —
your instinctive convictions, your instinctive sense of
right, your instinctive feeHng of what is honorable.

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 365
For, as Mr. Emerson says, " let only the single man
plant himself on his instincts, and this great world
will, by and by, come round him." Mr. Emerson
himseK has been an example of this. His notions
were at first ridiculed and opposed as absurd and
dangerous novelties ; now they are welcomed by the
best brains in Europe and America.
Sometimes we are afraid of being caUed afraid.
We run foolish risks to show our courage ; but we
are really hereby showing our cowardice. Where
duelling is popular, men fight duels because they
are afraid of being called cowards if they do not fight.
Young men brought up in temperate and virtuous
habits very often take their first step in a ruinous
dissipation for fear of being caUed afraid. " What ?
are you afraid to drink ? afraid to smoke ? afraid to
play for money ? " " Not I, " he replies. " Who 's
afraid ? " So also may people go into expenses be
yond their means, expenses they have no right to
incur, lest people should say that they are afraid to
spend their money. The last act of moral courage is
not merely to conquer your own fear, but to conquer
your fear of what others may think you fear.
Some people are subject to bondage aU their Hves
from fear of poverty. They are always anxious lest
they should die in the poorhouse. But suppose we

366 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
do have to die in the poorhouse ; we shall not mind
it when we are dead, I suppose. Why be afraid of
what may never come ? Jesus told his disciples to
see how God clothed the flowers and fed the birds.
Let us look and see the wonderful way in which he
feeds and clothes the inhabitants of a great city
every day. Who distributes the work to be done ?
who says that so many men shaU be employed in
trade, so many in manufactures; that there shall be
so many blacksmiths, carpenters, painters ; so many
druggists, provision-dealers, booksellers, hardware
men, physicians, dentists ? See by what curious so
cial laws society is arranged, cities built, civihzation
advanced. Then go, coward, into the homes of the
poor ; of those who have no house, but only a room,
paid for by the week or month ; no bonds and mort
gages, but only their day's labor with which to buy
their daily bread. They stand close to Providence.
They lean on God, not on bonds and coupons. See
how contented and cheerful they are. They know on
whom they depend. Without, perhaps, saying it to
themselves, they know that some power is taking
care of them every day, and they are made coura
geous by that experience.
Some people are afraid of death, and so are afraid
all their lifetime. They seem to think that God,

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 367
who provides for them while they Hve in this won
derful home, will desert them when they die. They
think that he, who has ordained death for all his
children, has left us to die without any care or pro
vision for what will become of us at that time.
When we are weU, and can take some care of our
selves, we know that God cares for us ; but we think
that when we become utterly helpless, then he de
serts us. But soft as infant's sleep shall be the
coming of death to you and to me. Sweet shaU be
that rest as it falls on the soul weary with work, and
the body exhausted by years. Tenderly shall that
death-cloud envelope us, and hide aU familiar things
from our faUing sight. And when we awake again,
with no abrupt transition, with no astonishment, but
with a serene satisfaction, shall we find ourselves
softly led into new being in the midst of old
and new friends. We shall be in the presence of a
more divine beauty than that 'of this world ; and
with faculties opening into greater power to meet
the new knowledge and the new work of that next
world, that vast beyond.
Do you ask me how I know this ? Why, I know
it just as your little children know that when they
go home at night, tired and weary, they go to find
their little bed all made up for them, their supper aU

368 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
ready on the table, their father's arms, their mother's
lap, — their older sisters to untie their cloak and help
them change their shoes. They do not really know
it, but they beHeve in it. They are not afraid to go
home. No, they run home gladly, believing in the
love waiting for them there. So we may run home
when God caUs us, sure that an infinite love awaits
us in our Father's house with its many mansions.
The miracles which Christ wrought seemed mostly
intended to convince the disciples of his power ; to
give them confidence in him, as one able to do aU
that he undertook. They were not intended to oper
ate as signs, and to convince the world generaUy of
his being Christ. They were chiefly to educate his
own Apostles into faith and courage. That order of
miracles we do not now see. But there is another
kind of miracle which we aU can witness whenever
we wiU. It is tbe power which God wiU give to us
with which to do good, whenever we are ready to go
in his strength to try to do it. Do you know of any
case of vice or of sorrow which it seems almost im
possible to relieve or cure ? Go and see if God wiU
not work a miracle through your mind and heart, giv
ing your actions and words a power not their own,
so that you can make the bhnd see, the lame walk,
and raise up the dead. You must go in faith, how-

ON NOT BEING AFRAID. 369
ever, trusting entirely that, if the thing ought to be
done, God wiU give you strength to do it. You must
go also in the spirit of prayer ; not with the prayer
of words, but that essential prayer which consists in
keeping one's self in a condition of faith and hope,
leaning on God.
Such miracles as these are being done every day
wherever there is any genuine Christianity. They
demand as much courage as has usuaUy been Shown
on the field of battle. It is a fight, " not against flesh
and blood," but against the powers of darkness and
"spiritual wickedness in high places." It would be
easier for many a man to charge with the six hundred
into the Valley of Death, than to do what John Wes
ley did, when he took his hymn-book and stood on a
barrel at the corner of two streets in the foulest
quarter of London, and there, surrounded by a crowd
of blasphemous and jeering heathens, sang and
preached and prayed till a great quiet came over
them, and the Spirit of God brought tears into eyes
unused to weep. This is the courage born of faith,
and it overcomes the world. It comes from believing
in a living God, a Friend, a Father ; it comes from
believing in a practical gospel and a present Saviour.
This gave Luther courage to stand alone against the
universal Church and the German Empire ; against
16* x

370 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
a venerable past, gray with the accumulated rever
ence of a thousand years ; against the unanimity of
Europe ; to stand alone, but not alone, — for he leaned
on God.
This is the courageous faith which carries goodness
forward. It does not merely build forts to defend
what is already conquered from the domains of an
cient night, but it levies armies to assault evil in its
own intrenchments. It inspired the courage with
which WUliam Penn and his Quakers went among
the savage Indians, with no weapons but justice and
good-will. It inspired the French Jesuits, who with
similar success penetrated the wilderness of Canada ;
looked on Niagara, which had never before been seen
by civUized man; ascended the lakes, crossed the
portage, and floated their canoes on the waters of the
Mississippi. For this faith is always the same, in aU
churches, Cathohc or Protestant. It is walking with
God, to do his will, in his strength. It never says
" I *was afraid " ; it knows no fear.

XVII.
HOPE.

xvn.
HOPE.
It is said of Jesus, that " he knew what was in
man." This was part of his power ; for a knowledge
of man is as necessary for a religious teacher as a
knowledge of God. But religious people have not
been famous for their knowledge of men. Ministers,
especiaUy, have often been singularly ignorant of the
world and its ways. Their education has been such
as to prevent them from acquiring this knowledge.
Ministers have been usuaUy made out of good Httle
boys, who spent their time at school and coUege in
studying their books ; who then went to a divinity
school and studied books several more years, and
who never saw anything of the world or of mankind.
They have had few of the common trials, none of the
usual temptations, of men. They yet stand up in a
pulpit to direct and advise and teach
I recoUect, when I was a boy, there was an old
gentleman in the town where I spent the summer,
who was a type of that sort of minister. He was a
good, kind-hearted man, but like an infant in his

374 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
knowledge of the world. He was steeped in books,
and talked about a Bible he was supposed to be pre
paring, but which never was written. He preached
forty or fifty years in that parish, and I suppose
seldom uttered a sentence which had any bearing
on human life or human conduct. The people, how
ever, thought it aU right; they had never known
anything else, and they did not think it a part of
a minister's duty to know what is in man. Fortu
nately, another sort of ministers is coming now, —
those who know something of the world and its
ways, and are expected to help men to Hve good
lives here in this world.
But Jesus knew what was in man. Having suf
fered, being tempted, he was able to help those who
suffer and are tempted.
What most persons caU a knowledge of human
nature is merely a knowledge of the average man, or
men in masses. It is human nature as it appears in
life and conduct. The great masters of this science
are those who write fables and utter proverbs, —
iEsop, Solomon, and Dr. Frankhn. But the average
man is in aU men ; and so these proverbs are uni
versally applicable. It is this sort of knowledge
which enables one to face the world and make his
way through life. It comes from experience, and is

hope. 375
rather apt to consist in a knowledge of human folly
and weakness than of human strength. Men who
pride themselves on their knowledge of the world
usually mean their knowledge of the follies and
weaknesses of men. They usuaUy assume that all
men are selfish, that aU have a price, and that by
means of bribery and cunning you can attain to any
success in the world. And they do, very often, suc
ceed for a time, and acquire a certain notoriety ; but
the fabric they build on the foundation of human
weakness is itself weak, and is sure to faU sooner
or later, and come to nothing. It is a house builb
on the sand.
Such a man was Louis Napoleon. His system of
government and his plan of action was to make use
of men's vices and to discourage their virtues. Dur
ing twenty years he did all he could to demoralize
France, to feed its love of mUitary glory, to culti
vate its passion for display, parade, luxury, extrava
gance. When he became Emperor, Victor Hugo
wrote a book about him, very keen and very able,
caUed Napoleon the Little. But it seemed for a
long time that Victor Hugo was mistaken. Napoleon
appeared to be a great success and a mighty power.
AU Europe admired and feared him. But at last
the bubble broke, and now all men see that he was

376 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
" Napoleon the Little," and that his empire, built on
human vice and human folly, was weaker than water.
He dies, and what good work of his remains ?
The first man who dared resist Napoleon, and who
showed his weakness to the world, was Abraham
Lincoln, his opposite in all respects. Lincoln was
honest, and believed in honesty. He had no tricks.
He did not know how to flatter or to bribe. He
knew men, for he had grown up iu hardship, labor,
trial. But he retained his faith in honesty, and
looked for honest men to serve him. When our war
was over, he requested Napoleon to remove his troops
out of Mexico, and Napoleon consented. A writer in
Blackwood, Lever, who had persistently ridiculed the
North and Lincoln during the whole war, writing
under the name of "Cornelius O'Dowd," then said
that the United States had done what no European
government — no, nor all the European governments
united-^ would have dared to do. The United States
had told Napoleon to withdraw his armies, and had
been obeyed.
Cunning may endure for a night, but honesty
comes in the morning. Napoleon, who began in
strength, ended in corruption and defeat ; Lincoln,
who began in almost hopeless weakness, ended in
triumphant success. The knowledge of human na-

hope. 377
ture which sees in man only weakness and selfish
ness is not as wise as that which beheves that, be
sides his weakness and sin, he is essentially honest
and sincere, — loving goodness, and not loving evil.
What we call Christianity is the influence which
came originally from Christ, modified, developed, di
luted, adulterated, but still retaining its original germ.
It has been modified by the influx of thought from
other religions. The doctrine of the Trinity probably
came from Platonism. The doctrine of sacrifices from
Judaism and heathenism. The wonderful organiza
tion of the Eomish Church is a continuation of the
old Boman Empire in a new form. Christianity has
been adulterated by these importations. It has also
been greatly diluted by compromises with worldly
thought and worldly habits. On the other hand, it
has been developed by the spiritual and religious
experiences and studies of sixty generations of ear
nest behevers. But through aU its changes it retains
its loyalty to the person and character of Jesus ; and
this is its salvation and its distinctive character.
Now, the gospel, as it lay in the mind of Jesus,
was an eminently HUMAN religion. It did not tram
ple on man, as so many religions have done, but it
respected human nature. It did not begin by curs^
ing, but by blessing. The commencement of Christ's

378 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
first sermon consists of the Beatitudes. He does not
begin by saying, " Cursed are the proud, cursed are
the luxurious, cursed are the covetous, cursed are the
revengeful, cursed are the corrupt in heart, cursed
are the prosperous," but, instead, he blessed the
"poor in spirit," the "meek," the "sorrowful," the
"pure in heart," the "mercKul" He did not put
Total Depravity at the foundation of. his theol
ogy, but human capacity. No one ever trusted in
human nature as much as Jesus; no one ever saw
so much good in it as he. No matter how poor
and mean people were, he always spoke to them as
children of God. Before they had expressed their
penitence or sorrow for their sins he told them their
"sins were forgiven." He said, "The Son of man
hath power on earth to forgive sins." It was because
he was the Son of man ; full of the spirit of human
ity, — capable of looking into the heart and seeing
its profound longing for something better. Where
others saw only degradation and shame, he saw
promise and hope. "Neither do I condemn thee;
go, and sin no more." He saw that most men need
to be encouraged, not to be rebuked or condemned-;
and so he said, " Come unto me, ye who are heavy
laden, and I wiU give you rest."
There are two views of human nature which have

hope. 379
prevailed, and prevail still. One is that which con
siders man as essentiaUy sinful and naturally de
praved ; the other, that which considers sin as only
the result of ignorance, and needing nothing but
knowledge to cure it. Both of these views are par
tial, and imply a defective view of human nature.
To regard sin as natural to man is to insult the
nature God gave him, and to deprive him of hope
and self-respect. On the other hand, to consider sin
as a negative quality, being merely the absence of
goodness, does not accord with the sense of remorse
which we feel in view of our transgressions. Jesus
took neither view of man. He said it was better to
cut off the right hand, and pluck out the right eye,
than to let them lead us into that hell of evil whose
worm does not die and whose fire is not quenched.
Yet he said, " The spirit is willing," if " the flesh is
weak." He said, " Those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness shall be filled." He said, " Seek,
and ye shaU find " ; " Come unto me, and I will give
you rest," — implying that men naturally love good
ness and not evU ; and also that men have the power
of seeking goodness, coming to it, and choosing it,
and so of finding it and being blessed by it.
Jesus saw in aU men the possibility of infinite
progress ; saw in every man an immortal soul with

380 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
unbounded capacities for knowledge, love, and action.
So, to him, aU men were honorable. No matter how
low and mean and evil they might be now, he looked
on them all as God's children, made for an infinite
development. He believed in the capacities of the
human spirit, and said it was better to lose the whole
world than to peril one's own souL This profound
view which he took of the value of man has been
one of the great influences to promote human pro
gress. It was a prophetic hope, born out of a deep
insight into human nature. And it has been the
seed and stimulus at once of human civilization and
advancement. For, before we can have any progress, we must
have faith in the possibility of progress ; we must
believe in the capacity and destiny of man. This
faith Jesus has implanted in Christian thought ; he
has put this element into it. We cannot look on
the meanest human being without seeing something
more than his meanness. We see in him a great
loss, a mighty disappointment. We see that he is
throwing away a vast opportunity. We look below
the surface, and beneath the superficial evil we find
the possibility of a mighty good. Then, the severity
of censure, the sharpness of rebuke, which come
from Christian pulpits and Christian ethics, is itself

HOPE. 381
a sign of the worth of the sinner. We should not
blame bad men as we do if we had not the convic-
'tion that they might have done so much better.
Even the old-fashioned idea of a Day of Judgment,
when all men are to be brought together in one
place, and aU their conduct investigated, had a ten
dency to elevate our conceptions of human nature.
Who would think of judging a flock of sheep or a
race of tigers for their sins ? To be capable of sin is
itseK a sign of greatness. No creature in this world,
except man, can commit sin ; for only man has con
science and freedom, the sense of responsibUity and
the knowledge of eternal law. Deep-rooted in the
consciousness of aU Christian communities is this
sense of a great responsibUity ; and it is an element
of grandeur. It elevates the idea of man. It would
be a bad day for the world K the teachings of a
materialistic phUosophy should persuade us that man
is the result of external influences only ; that his soul
is the product of a Httle carbon and a Httle oxygen ;
that his brain secretes thought as his Hver secretes
bile ; and that, when his body is dissolved, there is
no possibihty of his surviving. Even the coarse and
vulgar notions of a hell of fire and a heaven of feast
ing and song, even the heaven and hell of John
Calvin or Mohammed, are nobler than this reduction

382 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
of the soul to earth and body. I had rather be
lieve — as Lord Bacon says — aU the fables of the
Talmud, than to lose my faith in the idea that man
is essentially, soul, and not body.
The principle of human progress is faith in the
power of the soul. It is this which makes the dif
ference which exists between stationary Asia and
advancing Europe. Where there is faith in the ca
pacity of the soul there is hope, and hope is the
spring of progress. We are expecting new devel
opments of human nature. We have a profound
conviction that the possibihties of man are exhaust-
less. Therefore inventors are busy with their discov
eries ; therefore science is investigating the universe
to find new laws ; therefore social reformers are busy
with their plans for renewing society and curing its
evils; therefore phUanthropists meet in convention
to devise methods of curing vice, reforming crimi
nals, putting a stop to war, preventing pauperism,
removing disease ; therefore missionaries go to China,
to India, to New Zealand, to Greenland, to the Feejee
Islands, to inspire a Christian faith in the most de
graded minds ; therefore in politics we hope on
and hope ever, seeking to teach nations self-govern
ment, and to replace despotism with the principles.
of liberty. Little of all this is to be found outside

hope. 383
of Christendom; there, for thousands of years, men
go on as their fathers did before them, hoping noth
ing, and therefore changing nothmg ; sitting still,
like the Arabian prince in the story, with half his
body marble ; or lying, Hke the frozen elephants in
the Arctic seas, so stiff as to be incapable even of
further change, arrested for ten thousand years just
between death and decay.
What makes this mighty difference between Chris
tian countries and all others, except the hope which
Christ has inspired in the human heart, — the sense
of the greatness of the soul ? Do you say it is the
progress of science and intellectual activity ? Yes,
doubtless; but why does that prevail in Christen
dom, and nowhere else ? Why do we not go to
Turkey and Arabia for our science ? Why not ask
the Brahmans for our art ? Why not turn to the
Buddhists for our inventions ? There is something
deeper behind all the science, art, Hterature, inven
tion of Christendom, — some motive-power back of
it all. We can communicate to ethnic nations the
externals of our civilization, but not its soul. We
can teach the Chinese how to make a railroad,
the Turks how to run steamboats, and to wear hats
instead of turbans ; but we cannot communicate to
them the spirit of invention and progress, unless we
can give to them Christianity itself.

384 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
I go into a great manufacturing establishment. I
see carding-machines at work, spindles whirling,
looms clashing, machinery in motion in every room.
If I am satisfied with this, and look no farther, I
am like those who say that science and inteUectual
activity are the cause of Christian civilization. But
if I look farther, for the source of aU this movement,
I am taken into a room below, where a mighty en
gine is at work. The steam-power in the boilers is
driving the piston, ten-feet stroke, whose steady noise
less movement turns the great fly-wheel, twenty tons
in weight, and communicates the power which sets in
motion the machinery in every part of the building.
So, behind aU the movement and activity of Chris
tian lands is the great motive-power which sustains
it all, — faith in human nature, inspired by Christ,
producing a boundless hope, a perpetual expecta
tion, a sense of possibilities of progress unexhausted
and inexhaustible.
So, too, our hope for ourselves has its root in
Christ's hope concerning us. The hope of Jesus for
man was not vague and general, but personal and
specific. He spoke with confidence to individuals.
He said to the sinful woman, " Go, and sin no more,"
as though sure that she could do it. He said to an
other, " Be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee,"

hope. 385
inspiring him with confidence that the power of sin
over him was destroyed. Jesus had infinitely more
hope for others than they had for themselves. But
it was not a blind confidence ; he saw their defects
and faults very plainly.
The few records that we possess of the personal
intercourse of Jesus with those around him show
great insight into character. He seemed to under
stand every one, — John the Baptist, Peter, Thomas,
Nicodemus, PUate, Paul, the Pharisees, Judas, — and
the pecuharity of his judgment of them was its
HberaHty. He was only harsh toward the Phari
sees, and his harshness to them consisted simply in
describing them as they were. He uttered no vague
or general denunciations, but brought specific
charges against them. He spoke of their pomp and
pride, their oppression of the poor, their substitution
of ceremonies and ritual for love to God and man ;
and it was necessary to do this, for their influence
was corrupting the character of the people. Their
type of religion was the popular and prevailing one,
and it needed to be exposed and resisted. He came,
Hke the Day of Judgment, to reveal to the proud,
self-satisfied, and powerful their faults and sins, but
also to comfort and Uplift the poor and humble sin
ners, who had no confidence in themselves. He saw
17 T

386 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
aU the weakness of Peter. He told him he would
deny him thrice ; but he also said, " When thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren." He did not
excommunicate Thomas because he denied the res
urrection, but gave him the physical evidence which
he demanded. Thomas was a positive phUosopher,
who could only beHeve on the evidence of his senses ;
and Jesus met his case. Nicodemus was afraid to
compromise his position by coming in the day, so
Jesus let him come in the night. Impatient John
the Baptist sent a rude message to Jesus, asking if
he was going to be the Messiah, or whether they
should have to look for another. He excused this
rudeness, and said John was not a reed shaken by
the wind, nor a man clothed in soft raiment; but,
though not pohte, he was a great prophet, and had
done a great work.
It is this trust in human nature which Jesus felt
which gives us faith in ourselves. We aU know so
weU our own weakness and foHy and sin ; we know
so weU how1 we faU in keeping our resolutions, how
often we are false and mean, how often we are hard
and cold, how often we are too indolent to fulfil our
duties, too selfish to care for others, — we know this
so weU that we should despair of ever being any bet
ter, were it not that Jesus Christ has such -a hope for

hope. 387
man that it inspires us aU with hope for ourselves.
This is the motive back of aU other motives in our
soul Into this Christian faith we are born. We
grow up into it unconsciously. We are moved by it
without our own knowledge. Long before we come
into any Hving personal communion with Christ as
our Master and Saviour we are inspired by this, his
aU-pervading hope for man. The usual theological
way of expressing this is to say that "Christ died
for us," and that every soul has value because
"Christ died for it." The meaning is, that Christ
had a profound conviction that every soul was of
priceless value in the eyes of God, and that every
soul was made for an infinite progress, and there
fore he was willing to give himseK wholly, and to
die, in order that men might be brought to God.
It is this same faith in the value of the soul
which is a chief proof of immortaHty.
You have, let us suppose, among your other pos
sessions, some jewels of great value. One is a dia
mond, an extremely brUHant and beautiful stone ;
another is a ruby of a deep, rich crimson color ; an
other is a sapphire, blue as the sky ; another, a lovely
emerald with deep, rich green. You have been
obliged suddenly to move, and have destroyed,
thrown away, left behind you, some of your pos-

388 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
sessions which Were of Httle value. How do I
know that you did not throw away your jewels too ?
I do not know it. I have not seen you to ask the
question. But I do not believe that you have done
so, because I know how you prized them. How do
I know that God does not throw away our souls
when we die, — at the end of five years, twenty
years, seventy years ? I do not know it. I cannot
see the souls of my friends after their death But I
do not beHeve he has done so, because I know how
much he values the soul, Jesus has convinced me
that God, his Father and ours, looks on us as his
chUdren, has made us for immortal progress, has' en
dowed us with capacities which only begin to be
unfolded in this world, loves us more than we love
our own chUdren. If we beHeve this, death is abol
ished. We have no fear that God wiU throw our
souls away when We die. If we so mourn the loss
of our chUdren and those we love, and cannot bear
to let them go, even when we expect to meet them
again, Will God create our souls merely to destroy
them again at the end of a few years ? It is impos
sible. No one who looks at man with the eyes of
Jesus can beheve it for a moment. If we regard
man as only a bodUy machine, we may believe it ;
not if we see in him a soul made by God in his

hope. 389
own image, and endowed with incalculable powers
of thought, love, aspiration, improvement.
That which has given power to Christianity and
has made it the rehgion of the civilized world, which
has caused it to grow with the growth of humanity,
and strengthen with its strength, is, in my opinion,
this, — that it is based on faith in man. It is not
founded in doubt. It is fuU of hope, not fear,* con
cerning human progress in this Hfe and the Hfe to
come. It is an encouraging rehgion. It invites us
to trust in God as our Father, in man as our brother,
in ourselves as made for progress and perfection. It
may not seem, at first, as wise in this as those
systems which consider man as no better than
a mass of depravity, or a machine moved by
appetite and desire. But in the long run it takes
possession of the world; it fills human life with
sweetness, and purifies the soul from evU; it com
forts the sorrowful ; it supports the weak ; it speaks
peace to the dying, and Uluminates the darkness of
the grave with an immortal Hght. Did Jesus know
what was in man, then, or did he not ?

XVIII.
THE PATIENCE OF HOPE.

xvin.
THE PATIENCE OF HOPE.
Patience is a virtue much commended. But,
K it were what it is often thought, I doubt if it
should be so much praised and so greatly rec
ommended. When you hear of a very patient
person, do you not often think of him as passively
enduring, without complaint, persecution, wrong, and
evil ? That is the ideal saint, who has come down to
us from the Middle Ages. The theory then was that
Christianity consisted in suffering meekly aU evU.
The saints were holy men who made a merit of suf
fering, and were particularly glad when they were
abused and wronged, beeause this gave them the
merit of martyrdom. Their pictures represent them
as emaciated, weak, and with heads bowed Hke a
bulrush. The object of Christianity, it was thought,
was to make such characters as that, — without any
power or wish to resist injury. They had no wish nor
power to put down villany and rascahty. They were
too weak to contradict falsehood. That was the ideal
of patience which has come down to us as the qual
ity recommended in the Bible.
17*

394 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
But K this be patience, then, it seems to me,
patience would do more harm than good in the world.
It is easy to be too patient, in this sense. To be
dumb before outrage, as a sheep before its shearers,
may be right sometimes. When resistance can do
no good, when we have uttered our protest and it
is meffectual, then it is often more dignified to bear
evU in sUence. Then our silence is perhaps the
loudest protest' Jesus was patient, in this way, be
fore the Jewish Sanhedrim, and his sUence troubled
them more than if he had spoken. " Why do not you
answer?" said the high-priest; "do not you hear
what these men accuse you of ? " StUl he stood
silent. Imagine the scene. AU his enemies are
around him; he is helpless in their midst. They
bring witnesses to prove him guilty of death. He
hears aU the charges, and makes no reply. His mind
is far away. His work is done. He sees not the
haggard, stern faces of his enemies, not the base
looks of the witnesses. He sees, perhaps, his own
Gahiean lake, sleeping in its beauty among the hiUs ;
he sees the scenes of his childhood, where he first
met God in the solitude and serenity of nature.
He sees the place where he knew first the greatness
of his mission. He sees the green summit of
Mt. Tabor, where he talked with Moses and EHjah

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 395
of the work he was to do ; the only hour of his life
when he met human beings who could comprehend
him. Calm, strong, indifferent to what was passing
around him, he stood in the silence of his own
thoughts. What they choose to accuse him of, how
they meant to bring him to his cross, was nothing to
him now. He had passed beyond aU that, and so he
was silent. "As a sheep before its shearers is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth." But even that silence
was not the passive, meek, unresisting patience which
we commonly attribute to Jesus. It was the golden
sUence which speaks louder than words. It told
them that he knew that his fate was already sealed,
and that they had already determined that he should
die. " Why go through the form of a defence ? Let
us finish at once, since you have all determined on my
death. This is nothing to me ; this is your affair."
But Jesus had not this passive, unresisting
patience at other times. He opposed the Scribes
and Pharisees with the keenest severity of indignant
rebuke. He exposed them to the people ; he threw
a beam of sunhght into their conduct and character.
He told the people how selfish their leaders were,
how cruel, how false to their own teachings; how
they Hved to gratify their vanity ; how they turned
the most sacred offices of rehgion into a show. Jesus

396 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
had no patience with hypocrisy. He could be very
patient with the failings of the weak ; he could for
give the sins of those who fell under the influence
of too strong temptation ; but he was by no means
patient with the oppression of the powerful, the
luxury of the affluent, the hypocrisy of the religious
leaders. It is not well to be too patient with things Hke
these. Our work here is to fight ; we are aU soldiers
of the cross. We are not here to compromise, to con
cede, to submit to evil, but to resist it. We are to
resist it with the sword of truth ; not angrily, not bit
terly, not resentfully, but with determination. It is
no easy thing to Hve in this world and do one's duty.
EvU fashion is so strong, custom is so despotic, that
it is sometimes necessary to oppose them very ac
tively. True patience is not passive, but active. It is
holding on. It is to be not weary in weU-doing,
though there seems to be no success. It is not to
draw back, or give up, but to persevere, whether men
hear or whether they forbear. It is — to use an old
word and a good one, though somewhat passed by — .
longanimity, which is the sister of magnanimity.
Magnanimity is greatness of soul, which aims at vast
and noble ends, rising above all things base and

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 397
mean. Longanimity is the persevering purpose which
keeps, to its idea without rest and without haste ; not
making a pause nor leaving a void. The purpose is so
strong that it is not disturbed by difficulty, nor ter
rified by danger, nor chUled by neglect. It holds on.
That is the meaning of patience in Scripture.
Job is caUed a patient man in this true sense ; he
certainly was not very patient in the popular sense
of the word. He complained bitterly sometimes of
his sufferings ; he could not see why he was caUed to
bear so much. He could not understand the justice
of his being punished. Both he and his friends
thought his trials a punishment. They said, " Since
you are punished so severely, you must be a great
sinner. Now. confess it." He said, " I know I am
not a great sinner ; then why am I punished so se
verely ? I wUl not say I am a sinner tiH I see how
I am one. I wiU not He to please God. I will hold
fast my integrity, and not let it go ; it is aU I have
left." Job cursed the day of his birth ; he described
his misery in language whose gloomy pathos makes
aU other tragedy pale. Then how was he patient ?
He was patient in this sense, that he held on; he did
not give up. He did not yield to evU, nor lose his
courage nor his sense of right. He did not make
any weak concession, as his friends advised; He did

398 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
not teU Hes to please God. Bereft of all, lonely,
wretched, his unconquerable mind remained unshak
en. He stands, in the Hebrew story, Hke Prome
theus in the Greek mythology. Prometheus, pun
ished for the godlike crime of being kind to men, and
for bestowing on them the sacred gift of fire, was
chained to a rock on the frozen Caucasus, and tor
mented day and night by the orders of Jupiter. But
he refused to obey unjust commands, and defied evU
from his throne of suffering. So Prometheus and
Job stand, grand forms of endurance and fortitude,
age after age, unconquerable, indestructible. So the
awful mind of Cato stood alone, resisting the advance
of tyranny amid the downfaU of Boman freedom.
So, in history, stand out the grand- forms of the
martyrs for truth and right. Joan of Arc, going
up in her chariot of flame; Savonarola, the heroic
prophet and reformer before Luther; Huss, teacher
of truth. These are they, who, being lifted up,
draw all men unto them. Their heroic endurance
in the cause of truth and right exalts them as
solemn heralds of a better age to come. They
stand like the castled crag of Drachenfels, despoiled
and shattered, but more noble in its ruin than in
its prime; beat upon by the storms of ages, but
looking down in its indestructible majesty over

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 399
wide and winding vaUeys of modern peace and
comfort below. And among these types of heroic
patience shall also stand our country's martyr,
Abraham Lincoln, with the sad strength in his
eyes, and the patience of hope in his heart.
True patience is the power of enduring calmly,
quietly, without passion or excitement, a host of
difficulties and trials, because inwardly sustained
by a strong purpose, a great aim, a noble hope.
The inventor, who is working out his idea, is pa
tient with poverty, ridicule, repeated failure, sus
tained by the sure hope of ultimate success. This
is what is meant by the patience of hope. If you
wish to be patient, you must possess your soul by
means of some great expectation. We can bear a
great deal so long as we have hope. The boy
who is going to fish in the brook for trout does
not mind the flies and mosquitoes so long as he
has hope of catching fish. But if he has bad luck
in fishing, then the mosquitoes become intolerable.
There are swarms of mosquitoes about us aU in
our daily Hfe ; Httle annoyances, Httle perplexities,
Httle aggravations of aU sorts. The man who goes
to his place of business has his mosquitoes there.
Things go wrong. He is vexed by the blunders of
those with whom he has to deal. He is vexed with

400 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
the little deceptions, knaveries," rascalities, of busi
ness. He is vexed with his own stupidity and his
own blunders. He comes home at night irritable,
impatient, and shows it. He does not reflect that
his wife has had her Httle swarm of mosquitoes
around her also aU day. Things have not gone weU
with her. The kitchen machinery has got out of
order; work has been delayed; the mechanics who
agreed to come to mend the range did not come ;
the water-pipes are out of sorts; the washing has
to be put off; the children have come from school
out of humor, they have had their mosquitoes too.
At last, after a long and hard day, she has contrived
to smooth the raven down of aU these difficulties till
they smUed. The chUdren have had their supper,
and have gone happily to bed. She has been kept
up by the hope of having a pleasant evening with
her husband. But he comes home cross as — weU,
I do not know exactly how cross a bear is, but we
will say that he comes home prepared to indulge,
in the bosom of his famUy, that Ul-humor which he
has been obliged to repress during the day. Now,
if he also had been hoping to have a quiet, pleasant
evening with his wKe, both would be rested, and the
mosquitoes driven away until to-morrow.
I do not wish to be too severe on the men ; so, if

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 401
you please, you may reverse the picture. It is the
husband who comes home hoping to have a nice quiet
time, with bis family, and is met at the door by an
other swarm of mosquitoes in the form of querulous
complaints, fault-finding, lamentations, and tears.
True patience is born of hope. Even the hope of
some very Httle pleasure or comfort near by en
ables us to bear a great many vexations. Every one
should have some enjoyments to look forward to,
something pleasant to do, some pleasant people to
meet, a good book kept to read in a quiet hour.
Self-denial preserves hope. It is better to work
hard, looking forward to some future enjoyment or
satisfaction, than to exhaust the pleasure before we
have earned the right to that relaxation. The two
extremes of the social scale, are almost equaUy with
out hope. One is hopeless because pressed down so
low by want and hardship that hope never comes,
The other is hopeless because, possessing everything
and exhausting everything, aU hope has gone, and
there is nothing left to hope for. Both, therefore,
become impatient, irritable, fretful, — those who have
too Httle, and those who have too much. Both espe
cially need the greater hopes of Christianity to cure
this disease of impatience. They need to hope for
others, to hope for sosiaj improvement ; to put their

402 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
heart into larger expectations outside of themselves ;
to take an interest in the progress of humanity, the
triumph of truth, the advance of social reform, the
coming of Christ in this Hfe, the expectation of meet
ing him in another.
The gospel of Christ can inspire a perfect pa
tience by awakening an unconquerable, undying
hope. The patience of hope is not passive, but
active; full of Hfe, enthusiasm, and energy. There
is more genuine patience displayed by a modern re
former who pursues his end unflinchingly through
good report and evil report, than by the ancient
anchorite who buried himself in a cave, and thought
godliness consisted in being hungry, lazy, cold, and
dirty. During our civil war we had examples of both
kinds of patience, — the passive, enduring patience,
and the active, working patience. The colored peo
ple of the South could do nothing but wait till
their deliverance came. And so they waited, waited,
waited, firm in their faith that the day of salvation
would come. How weU they waited ! How they
wasted no strength in unavaihng insurrection, com
mitted no crimes in their anger, gave no occasion of
triumph to their enemies, we aU know. This is one
of the iUustrations in Mstory of the patience which

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 403
watches, and waits, and bears long, and never faints
or gives way.
On the other hand, the Northern people showed
the highest example of patience of another kind.
They bore the most cruel disappointments, the most
terrible disasters, with firm, determined minds.
They never gave way, never lost hope, never shrank
from any sacrifice. They had laid on the altar of
their country Hfe, fortune, and sacred honor; and
nobly did they redeem every pledge. They pos
sessed their souls in a patience of the highest kind.
Through four long, stormy years, in which hardly a
gleam of light shone, they went steadily on. The
Scripture says "the just shall Hve by faith," and
" we are saved by hope." This nation Hved by faith
during the long rebellion, — by faith in God, who
would surely' maintain the right, who could not
suffer evU to triumph over good. They Hved by
faith in the ideas of the Union, — Liberty, Equahty,
and Fraternity ; by faith in themselves and their
cause. They Hved by faith, and they were saved by
hope. Their hope grew stronger from day to day;
they became ever more sure of victory. For, as hope
produces patience, so also does patience increase
hope. The Scripture not only speaks of the patience
of hope, but also declares that " patience works ex-

404 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

perience, and experience hope." When the war
began, we doubted whether the nation was reaUy
patriotic enough to encounter its dangers and losses.
But as it went on we found by experience the im
mense strength, tenacity, endurance, of the popular
heart, and so experience worked hope, and by that
hope we were saved.
Thus we see that true patience is not a weak and
purely passive virtue, but springs out of manly pur-.
pose, noble aims, Hving convictions, and generous
hopes. God is patient with us aU, patient with our
foUies and sins, patient and long-suffering, because he
looks forward to the end when aU evil shaU cease, aU
tears be wiped away, and man rise into the image of
himseK. We grow impatient at the slow progress of
affairs, the evils of society, the obstinacy of vice,
tip misery and want and woe of the world. We
cry, " How long, Lord ! how long ! " Christianity is
Hke the leaven hidden in three measures of meal;
we do not see it at work, and so we doubt its power.
It is Hke the seed hidden in the ground ; it springs
and grows we know not how. We are impatient
and discouraged. But with God one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
He has plenty of time, and can afford to wait. He
does not hurry anything. He aUows us to take our

THE PATIENCE OF HOPE. 405
own time in learning to do right. Meantime he
sends his sun and his rain on the evU and on the
good. He makes us aU as happy as we are able to be.
He sends fresh joy into the world in the hearts of
little chUdren, full of natural hope and glad interest
in existence. He meets us with his forgiving love
when we tire of our sin and long for redemption.
He opens to us a heaven here, and another heaven
hereafter, on condition only that we shaU be wilHng
to go into it by the open door of faith, love, and
obedience. If we are not wilHng to go in, he waits
tiU we are ; tiU we have exhausted our selfishness,
our wHfulness, our falsehood, and find them aU bitter
and miserable.
In your patience possess your souls ! Patience
is not giving up, or yielding; it is self-possession.
Patience does not come from weakness, but from
strength. It is the ripe fruit of a noble aim, a pro
found hope, a generous activity.

XIX.
LOVE.

XIX.
LOVE.
We often say that the essence of Christianity
is love to God and love to man. Only love God
with aU your heart, and your neighbor as yourself,
and you have the substance of the gospel. We say
this as if it were something very easy to do, as
though it made religion very simple and very prac
ticable. It makes it simple, perhaps, but does it
make it practicable ? We know a Httle how we can
love man ; but do we find that very easy ? Is it
easy to be generous, unselfish, kind to the unthank
ful, loving to enemies ? It is not easy to love man
in any very high and large sense.
But how are we to love God ? How love an un
seen being, if he comes to us only through the laws
of nature and providence ; so far away, so high
above us ; an infinite being, and therefore infinitely
remote from aU our finite sympathies ?
Jesus declared love to God and love to man to
be the two great commandments on which hang
aU the Law and the Prophets. This shows that,
18

410 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
in his religion, love sums up everything. It is faith
and obedience; it contains aU religion and all mo
rality; if we have this, we have all.
Moreover, this saying of Jesus shows that it is
something for all to have, something that aU should
struggle for and possess, the one thing needful. We
may dispense with everything else, but not with
love. It is not for, saints only, for particularly
good people; it is for sinners too. We are not all
expected to become eminent saints, any more than
aU stars are expected to be as bright as Sirius. There
are degrees of glory in the heavenly world. But no
one can have life in him who has not some love in
him. Pure selfishness would be equivalent to anni
hilation ; and the selfish man is going down to death
all the time.
We see this in the case of human love. People
can forgive everything else in a man but a hard
heart; they can forgive everything for the sake of
a kind heart. A man may cheat, lie, steal, and mur
der; but if he seems to be generous, if he will
only perform some striking act of charity, men wUl
consider that a sort of atonement for his sins. In
novels, and on the stage, the villain is always a cold
blooded, hard-hearted fellow, and no one pities him
when his fate overtakes him. But the careless

LOVE. 411
reckless, impulsive sinner, who has some love for
others left in his soul, is always saved at last, to the
great satisfaction of the readers and the audience.
All this is a great mistake ; but it points toward a
truth, — that one of the worst sins, in human esti
mation, is a perfectly selfish life.
Again, in the New Testament, love to man and
to God are assumed to be identical. He who loves
God aright must love man; he who has any true
love for man must love God too. The Apostle Paul
does not distinguish between the two kinds of love ;
he considers them the same. " Love," he says, " is
the fulfilling of the law " ; " Love suffereth long and
is kind. Love vaunteth not itself." So the Apostle
John speaks of love in general as of one quality,
no matter in what direction exerted, — toward man
in the form of humanity, toward God in the form
of piety. "He who dwelleth in love, dweUeth in
God." Jesus indicates the same identity in the
essence of humanity and piety, when he says the
first command is, Love God ; and the second is like
it, that is, of the same nature, the same kind of
thing, — to love your neighbor.
But what is love ? Much that passes for it does
not deserve the name. In recent discussions about
marriage and divorce it has been continually asserted

412 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
that the essence of marriage is love ; that when a
man and woman love each other, this is the essence
of marriage, therefore it foUows that if they cease
to love each other their marriage is at an end. This
is the fundamental idea of what is caUed "Free
Love." But it is important to remember that there are
two utterly different and antagonist passions which
are called love. One is of the earth, earthy; the
other, heavenly. The distinction is, that one is
selfish, the other generous. The one seeks its
own, — its own gratification, its own pleasure. It
wishes to be the object of sympathy and admira
tion. The other does not seek to receive, but to
give ; gives itself, and all it has. It does not seek
its own. It seeks to bless, to benefit, to shed good
on its object. The earthly love is seeking to draw
aU things to itself; it is never satisfied. The
heavenly love, the only true love, goes out of itseK,
forgets itseK, surrenders and sacrifices itself; and so
never tires, and is undying and unchanging.
Love to God and love to man are the same princi
ple acting in two directions. But each activity needs
the otlier to keep it strong. The Apostle says, " If
you do not love man, whom you see, how can you
love the invisible God ?" Most true ! But it is also

LOVE. 413
true to say, " If you do not love God, who is infinite,
perfect goodness, how can you love man, who is only
finite and imperfect goodness ? " To love man aright,
you must love God in him, and find him the Divine
child of heaven. To love God aright, you must learn
to love him as you learn to love man, going out of
yourself in sympathy, affection, and surrender of
heart and soul.
How do chUdren come to love their father and
mother ? Not, certainly, by being told it is their
duty to love them, but because their father and
mother love them. They find themselves surrounded
by a perpetual presence of thought, care, affection ;
every want foreseen, every danger guarded against,
every feeHng sympathized with. The father and
mother, if they are true parents, are the home, the
shrine, the inmost, safest sanctuary of the child's
heart. He runs in to them, and is safe. He has
entire confidence in them; he teUs them aU his
troubles. The Httle boy in the street, astonished by
some unkindness from his companion, says, " I wiU
teU my mother, if you do that." He is sure that
motherly love wUl make everything right. Entire
confidence, reliance, dependence, — that is the way
in which love begins hi the chUd's heart.
Now, this was made to be the emblem, the per-

414 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
petual Ulustration, of the beginnings of love to God.
Piety naturally begins in this same way, in the
sense of a universal presence, surrounding, guarding,
providing for us. This is our Father's house, into
which we have come. This land and sea and sky ;
this splendor of sun and beauty of moon and stars ;
this charm of springtime and summer ; this museum
of curiosities to be studied and wondered at ; this
gallery of pictures in nature; this education in work,
joy, sorrow, health, sickness, pleasure, pain, — aU
this comes from the Heavenly Father and Mother
of us aU. And when anything goes wrong we can
tell our Father about it, and all will be right.
Now, this is something which all can feel; this
natural piety aU can have, for these gifts are uni
versal. "His sun shines and his rain falls on the
evU and good, the grateful and the unthankful."
When a child behaves badly, and has done wrong, he
knows that he has grieved his father and mother,
and will be punished for it ; but it never occurs to
him that they will turn him out of doors, or cease to
care for him. He is still their child. So we, what
ever we do, are still Gqd's children. He does not
turn us out of doors. His house is our home still
Our brothers and sisters may disown us and despise
us, but the father and mother do not.

LOVE. 415
"With other influences, thou, O Nature,
Healest thy wandering and diseased child.
Thou pourest on him thy tender influences,
Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets,
Thy melodies of woods and winds and waters."
But when we say nature we mean God. God, in
nature and providence, perpetually provides for all
his children. He makes it easy for all, good and
evil, to take this first step in love to him, which
consists in a child's trust and reliance. This is the
first step of love, — that of a child.
The next is the love which friends feel for each
other. Why do I love my friend ? Because I see
in him something noble, true, good. I love my
father and mother with a love of reliance; but I
love my friend with a love of admiration. I find
something in his soul which strengthens mine. He
arouses within me my better nature. He calls out
quaHties which I did not know I had. He reveals
me to myself. Out of the abundance of his Hfe he
feeds mine. Such was the noble friendship which
Shakespeare describes in his sonnets as the " mar
riage of true minds " ; as the love " which looks
on tempests and is never shaken."
" Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration- finds,
Or tends with the remover to remove.

416 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
0 no ! it is the ever-fixed mark
Which looks on tempests and is never shaken !
It is the star to every wandering hark,
Whose worth 's unknown, although its height is taken.
Love 's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come ;
It alters not with our brief days and weeks,
But bears it out, even to the edge of doom.
If this be error, and on me be proved,
I never writ, and no man ever loved. "
Such was the love which Tennyson bore to his
friend HaUam, and immortahzed in his In Memo-
riam. Such was the love of Goethe for SchUler,
which he also has painted in undying verse.
" For he was ours. And may that word of pride
Drown, with its lofty tone, pain's bitter cry.
With us, the fierce storm over, he could ride
At anchor, in safe harbor, quietly.
Yet onward did his mighty spirit stride
To beauty, goodness, truth, — eternally.
And far behind, in mists dissolved away,
That which confines us all, the common, lay.
Burned in his cheek, with ever-deepening fire,
The spirit's youth, which never passes by ;
The courage that, when worlds in hate conspire,
Conquers, at last, their dull hostility ;
The lofty faith, which, ever mounting higher,
Now presses on, now waiteth patiently ;
With which the good tends ever to his goal,
With which day meets, at last, each noble soul."

LOVE. 417
AU that reveals to us grandeur, nobleness, purity,
integrity, is a revelation of God. As we reverence
these, we are reaUy learning to love him. Thus
every good man is a revelation of God to us, and
helps us to love him better than before. We shaU
learn to love God by recognizing that aU human
goodness is from him. That is what Jesus meant
when he refused to be called good. "Why caUest
thou me good ? There is none good but one, that is,
God." "The Son can do nothing of himself, but
what he seeth the Father do." The goodness of
Jesus is a revelation, and the greatest revelation ever
made to man, of the goodness of God. That is the
great glory of Christ, to be a revelation of his Father.
That is the true view of his Divinity, that we look
through him and see God. But if we do not also
see something divine in the goodness around us, if
we have no faith in human goodness here, then that
of Jesus wUl grow unreal, and lose its power. As
Jesus is the mediator of the goodness of God, so aU
good men and women are channels through which
this goodness of Jesus flows into the world, and they
all Hft us to the sight of a divine beauty, hoHness,
and purity.
This is the second step in love, — to learn to love
and adore true nobleness in aU men. It is very bad
18 A A

418 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
to doubt human virtue, because we then cut the
electric chain which binds us aU to God. If we find
nothing to love in man whom we have seen, how can
we find anything to love in God ? We may say that
God is good ; but it will be a mere empty word tiU
it has acquired meaning by our knowledge of human
goodness. He therefore who has learned to question
earthly virtue has also learned to deny the holiness
of God. Cynicism is infidehty. But an undying
faith in something reaUy good in all men is a Jacob's
ladder by which earth is connected with heaven.
The third step in love is that of man and wife;
and this, both in Scripture and in aU religious lit
erature, has been made the type of the devotion of
the soul to God.
The essence of the purest love is seK-dedication,
self-surrender, each Hving in the Hfe of another per
son who is one's real seK, and so not another person.
It is the highest form of love, because the most
generous. It " does not seek its own." " It beareth
aU things, beHeveth aU things, hopeth aU things,
endureth aU things." It finds its happiness in giving,
not receiving. It is to be found, in essence, not
merely in marriage, but out of it, wherever love is
truly a communion of souls, and whenever two be
come reaUy one.

LOVE. 419
But see by what a beautiful process this generous
love is born in two young hearts. They are drawn to
each other by some mysterious personal attraction,
they know not how or why. Each is taken out
of self by this powerful charm. Each is made, per
haps for the first time in life, truly glad in the glad
ness of another soul. Each finds joy in giving joy.
It is not hard seK-denial, but easy seK-surrender. At
first a bhnd attraction, it grows into a dehberate and
rational choice. It becomes self-conscious, intelligent,
conscientious, reasonable ; and this without losing the
original underlying charm. It is the easiest of all
possible ways for educating man and woman out of
selfishness into a noble seK-surrender ; out of a narrow
individualism into a perfect oneness. Nor is it con
fined to technical marriage, for souls may be thus mar
ried in mutual self-dedication. Friends may thus Hve
from and for each other. In fact, whenever any kind
of love becomes whoUy generous, it partakes of this
higher quality. It is love that serves, love that gives,
love that seeks not its own, love which is reaUy love.
And so we learn to love God by giving ourselves
to him, by serving him, by doing his wiU. Love
to God is thus born of self-dedication. Having
learned how to love man without selfishness, we can
love God in the same way.

420 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

All the loves of this world, then, are meant to
educate us to the love of God. We take the first
step when we begin to love our father and mother ;
for so we learn that part of piety M'hich is rehance
on a higher power, a higher wisdom, and a higher
goodness. We take the next step when we form
friendships for those in whom we find good and great
qualities ; for so we learn the piety which is adora
tion and reverence. We take the third step when we
love others for their sake rather than our own ; being
drawn out of ourselves toward husband or wKe, to
ward our chUdren, and toward all whom we can help.
So we learn the piety which is self-devotion and
union, — union of heart with heart, soul with soul,
spirit with spirit.
All the loves of man are meant to be turned into
love to God. AU the love we have learned in this
world is a preparation for a Divine love. It only
needs to take a new direction to become Divine love.
If one can love man, he can love God. If he can
love God, he can love man.
The greatest scientific discovery of the present
time is said to be that of the correlation and conser
vation of forces. It means that there is one force
underlying aU forces; now taking one form, now
another. It is now motion, then heat, then electricity,

LOVE. 421
then magnetism, then chemical affinity. So in the
spiritual world aU forces of the soul are the same,
and he who has one can have the rest. Therefore it
is that in the New Testament faith is sometimes
made the whole of rehgion, and sometimes hope is
said to be the source of salvation, and sometimes we
are told if we obey the Commandments we shall
enter into Hfe, and then we are taught that love is
the fulfilling of the law. They are aU one and the
same. They take different forms according to the
position of the soul But he who has really one has
aU. If a man can reaUy trust God, then he can obey
him. If he can reaUy obey, then he can believe ; if
he can love his brother as himself, he can love God.
If he can love God, then he can love his brother.
But to lead a true IKe this central principle must
act in aU directions. It wUl not do to say, " Because
I have faith I need not work ; because I have piety I
do not need morahty ; because I do my duties it is
not necessary to be reHgious ; because I love man
I may dispense with the love of God." " Faith with
out works is dead, being alone." Work without faith
as its root is a barren tree that produces Httle fruit.
We must rise out of the love of man into the love
of God ; we must descend out of the love of God into
tbe love of man. So all of our IKe becomes vital,

422 COMMON-SENSEIN RELIGION.
fuU, vigorous, progressive ; we leave the dead past be
hind, and reach on to a better future.
So we may learn to love God by cherishing a more
enthe and chUdhke trust in his fatherly care, amid
aU the changes and chances of our Hfe. We may
rely on him as the best and nearest friend, who never
will forsake us in time or eternity. From this trust
ing love we can ascend a step higher into the love
which adores the Divine beauty in all of nature,
through aU of providence, in the goodness of all good
men, and especially sees it imaged and reflected in
the Hfe of Jesus, the Son of God. And then we may
make this love one of intimate union by devoting
ourselves freely and entirely to God's service, by giv
ing to him our heart, by making it our meat and
drink to do his wiU, by that habit of prayer which
consists in always asking and always receiving
heavenly influence for daily work and daily life.
People sometimes say " To work is to pray." This
is true, and it is not true. To work in the highest
way is to pray ; to pray in the highest way is to
work. Jesus prayed when he was working, for he
kept his soul open toward God to receive inspiration,
while "he stretched out his hand toward man to do
good. Work that is full of heavenly inspiration is
a mode of prayer, just as heat is a mode of motion.

love. 423
But to go through a routine of outward duties me
chanically is neither praying nor Working. And
prayer, to be true prayer, must be prayer looking at
work for its end ; prayer that says " Thy wiU be done
on earth " ; prayer that holds in its soft embrace all
the human hearts we are to meet in our day's task
and toil. To say one's prayers as a duty, to pray for
a selfish good, to go through the routine of prayer as
a priest reads his Breviary in the raUroad-car, so
many hours a day, — that is neither prayer nor work.
Inspired prayer is work, inspired work is prayer ; but
routine prayer and routine work are neither one nor
the other.
We must grow into the love of God as we grow
into the love of man. And the two best methods
of this growth are, first, to study the character of
God as revealed in that of Jesus ; secondly, to medi
ate that character to others by Hving in the same
spirit. As we look at the IKe of Jesus we seem to
draw near to his Father and our Father, to his God
and to our God. God is no longer strange or far off,
and we see why it is that the Church has called
Jesus God. When we see the moon reflected in a
perfectly stiU lake, we do not say, " There is a lake,"
but we say, " There is the moon." We become
acquainted with God through the gospel, as in no

424 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
other way. In no other way, except in this one
other way, — of personal communion and intercourse,
by personal service. The best way of aU is by Hving
ourselves as Jesus did, from God, for man. Thus
there grows up quietly and imperceptibly a sense of
personal union with God, and we know what Jesus
meant when he said "I and my Father are one."

XX.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.

XX.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.
In Paul's speech to the Athenians he said that
" God hath made of one blood aU nations of men to
dweU on aU the face of the earth." That is perhaps
one of the strongest texts of Scripture teaching
human brotherhood, — teaching that all men are
brethren. The brotherhood of man is eminently a
Christian doctrine ; even the idea is a Christian idea.
Transient gleams of this light may have previously
flashed across the human mind ; as when the Boman
poet Terence said, in one of his plays, " I am a man,
and nothing which belongs to man is foreign to me,"
and the crowded theatre rose, as one man, in re
sponse to the great sentiment. Nevertheless, race,
language, nationality, so separated men in antiquity,
that they thought no more of the rights of a foreign
people than we do of the rights of the wild beasts
of the forests, or fish of the stream. There was an
aged and respectable man in Massachusetts, who
was formerly in the habit of going into the Adiron
dack woods, slaughtering the deer for their skins,

428 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
and throwing away the carcasses of the animals ;
until at last the very guides, sick of such reckless
destruction, refused to go with him, and so drove
him from the woods. But as this venerable man
felt to the deer, so the backwoodsmen feel toward
the Indians.; so the slave-traders feel toward the
Africans ; so, before the coming of Christ, and long
after his coming, the Jews felt to the Gentiles, tbe
Greeks felt to the barbarians, the Bomans felt to
every race and nation which they trampled under
their iron heel.
I take my rod and stroU out, of a lovely summer
morning, and wade in the cool stream, and drag out
one fish after another simply for my amusement
But when I come home I am troubled in my con
science, and I say, " These are my feUow-creatures 1
God, who made the world and all things therein,
gave to these trout this cool rushing water in which
to live; what right have you to rob them of their
innocent Hves, and butcher them, to make yourself a
morning's hoHday ? " I think I probably feel more
ashamed of kiUing the trout than the hundred
thousand Bomans felt, when, sitting in the Flavian
amphitheatre, they rejoiced and shouted over the
gladiators murdering each other for their pastime.
Here is a passage I met in Max MuUer's Science

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 429
of Language. It has more weight because it comes
not from a professed theologian, but from a man of
science. Thus he speaks : " It was Christianity
which first broke down the barriers between Jew and
Gentile, between the Greek and barbarian, between
the white and the black. Humanity is a word
which you look for in vain in Plato or Aristotle, —
the idea of mankind as one famUy, as the children
of one God, is an idea of Christian growth ; and the
science of mankind and of the languages of mankind
is a science which, without Christianity, would never
have sprung into life.' When people had been
taught to look upon aU men as brethren, then, and
then only, did the variety of human speech present
itseK as a problem to be solved, — and I therefore
date the real beginning of the science of language
from the Day of Pentecost."
But what is human brotherhood? What do we
mean by it ?
Consider the love of brothers and sisters, for each
other. What is its nature and conditions ? It is a
very peculiar and beautiful feeling. Brothers and
sisters may have very different tastes, different occu
pations, different enjoyments. Their opinions may
-differ, — one shaU be orthodox, the other Hberal,
one is conservative and another radical. No mat-

430 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

ter, the sweet, strong tie of fraternal love runs below
aU this diversity, and holds them together. " My
brother ! " " My sister ! " these are sacred words ;
they have a charm which outlasts many affections
which seem for a time far more ardent. Otlier loves
come and go; this remains. Our brothers and sis
ters belong to us, and always wUl. No caprice can
touch this relation, no misunderstanding alter it, no
jealousy torment it, no cold aHenation freeze it. It
is Hke the love on which death hath set its seal ; no
rivals can take it from us, no falsehood disaUow it.
In a world of change and decay, how satisfactory are
these relations which rest on a foundation so sohd
and sure ! The Httle children who played together
before their father's door; who walked together to
school, hand in hand ; who confided to each other
their youthful joys and pains ; who have been near
to help each other in the accidents of life ; who have
grown into men and women side by side, — they can
have a confidence in each other, a mutual reliance,
which scarcely any other relation may supply. I
recollect three old men, brothers, each eminent in his
own way, whom I used to see walking, arm in arm,
around Boston Common. Every day they met and
took their walk together. The snows of seventy
years, which had whitened their hair, had not chilled

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 431
one throb of the love which they brought up from
their childhood, when they clustered together in
their mother's lap, slept together in the same little
bed, played together around the same fireside. The
learned judge, the wise and good physician, the ener
getic Massachusetts manufacturer, were brothers, and
nothing else, every day for an hour, during their
morning walk. Such is natural brotherhood. It
rests on these three facts : that brothers have the
same father and mother, that they will always be
brothers and sisters, and that their interests are
common. They have the same home, the same rela
tives, the reputation and honor of the family is
equaUy dear to aU.
But now there is another kind of brotherhood, —
a spiritual brotherhood, of which the natural broth
erhood is a type. The Jews caUed each other
" brethren '' ; not merely as descended from Father
Abraham, but as having the same faith and the
same reHgious institutions. The Apostles said to the
Jews, "Men and brethren, this scripture must be
fulfiUed " ; " Men and brethren, let me freely speak
to you of the patriarch David " ; " Men, brethren,
and fathers, hearken " ; " Men and brethren, chil
dren of the stock of Abraham, be this known
unto you, and hear my words." Paul, defending

432 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

himself before the Jewish Sanhedrim, still caUed
them "brethren." "Men and brethren, fathers,
hear my defence!" "Men and brethren, I am a
Pharisee, son of a Pharisee." "Men and brethren,
I have Hved in aU good conscience toward God to
this day." Here is the natural brotherhood extend
ed so as to include all of one nation and religion.
This is the first widening- out of the principle of
brotherhood. But immediately, as soon as Christianity came,
there arrived a further extension. The sense of the
brotherly relation was enlarged so as to take in the
Gentiles also who believed in Jesus. One faith now
made one brotherhood. Now Paul, writing to Chris
tians in Borne, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Asia
Minor, caUs them aU brothers and sisters. In this
cold world, where so much selfishness abounds, what
a blessing to find brothers and sisters in every place
where you may go ! If Christianity had done only
this, it would have been a great gift. Paul says, " Let
us go again and visit our brethren in every city."
Such is the divine power of a common faith.
The men who a year ago were strangers to Paul,
who would have treated him with cold contempt
and let him perish at their door unaided, now are
his brothers and he theirs. He can visit no part of

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 433
the world and not find brethren. After his stormy
Voyage on the Mediterranean, he arrives, a weather-
beaten traveUer, in the Bay of Naples. He lands on
an unknown shore at Puteoli, lonely amid the luxu
rious villas of the Boman Senators,, which crowded
the opposite coast of Baia. But, no ! he is not alone.
We read in the record, " We came the next day to
PuteoH [now PozzuoH], where we found brethren, and
Were desired to tarry with them seven days; and so we
went to Eoma And from thence, when the brethren
heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appn
Forum and the Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw
he thanked God and took courage." WeU might-he
dd s<5 1 0 happy power of a common faith,, which
gives us brothers and sisters wherever we go! 0
compensation for sufferingy shipwreck,, martyrdom, to
find brotherly love awaiting one in strange lands', no
longer strange ! 0 gracious and blessed faith, which
gives us brothers and sisters in every clime, and
makes the world no longer a dreary, empty, selfish
scene, but one happy family t I also; walking in
the streets of PozzuoH,. felt my brotherhood to the
Apostle Paul ;. and, going, to the Appian Way,, along
wliich he went to Home, pleased, myseK in thinking
that my feet might stand where? his had stood so
many hundred years ago.
19 BB

434 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
One night I wandered alone, without an acquaint
ance, in a Flemish city. I knew not a soul in the
place, not one who even spoke my own language.
But, passing through the great square, I saw a dim
light on the cathedral windows, and went in. An
earnest man was preaching to a little company in a
side aisle of the mighty buUding. A few lamps
showed the faces of the hearers amid the columns
which rose in the darkness Hke the trees of a forest.
I also went and sat among them, and heard the tones
of faith, prayer, and love ; and though I under
stood nothing, I felt it aU, and was not alone. I was
among brethren and sisters.
This was what Jesus meant, when, whUe he was
talking to the people, one came interrupting him and
saying, " Behold ! thy mother and brethren stand
without, deshing to speak to thee ! " And Jesus said,
" Who is my mother, and who are my brethren ? "
Then he looked on the disciples and the hearers, and
said, " Behold my mother and my brethren ! For
whosoever listens to God's truth, and obeys it, is my
mother and sister and brother ! "
This is the true Church of Christ. It does not
consist in altars, priests, ritual, ceremony, nor in
profession, in creed, in doctrine. It consists in the
sight of a common truth, which warms the heart 'and

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 435
gives us a new hope, peace, love. The Christian
Church was not founded, it came, — came in this new
spirit of brotherly love, shared by aU who had the
same sight of the Heavenly Father. "One is your
Master," said Jesus, " and all ye are brethren."
Thus Christianity, at first, extended the Jewish
sense of brotherhood, making it include all who be
Heved in Jesus. Thus it created a new human affec
tion. It added another sentiment to the human soul,
it gave another pulse to the human heart. And more
than this, when it said, "God is the Father of all,
who loves all men, who will have all men to be
saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, who
loves all his children, Greeks and Gentiles, Jews
and barbarians, the Hindoo in India, the negro
tribes in Africa, the red Indian in America; when
it proclaimed salvation for all, rescue from sin, a
common immortality, a common heaven; when it
sent out its missionaries to teach all nations, bap
tizing them into the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, — then it broke down all partition-waUs,
and established the brotherhood of man. Jesus
himself led the way and gave the example when
he went among publicans and sinners, when he
talked with the Samaritan woman, and thus taught
his disciples to caU no man common or unclean.

436 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

Why, then, are we still so far from carrying out
this doctrine ? We talk of the brotherhood of man ;
but war exists, slavery exists, terrible distinctions
of classes exist, even in the most Christian lands.
More than that, — Christian churches do not yet rec
ognize that they are brethren to aU men. They deny
the name pf Christians to those who do not belong
to their church, who do not beHeve in their creed,
who do not worship in their way. They refuse to
commune with those who have not been baptized by
immersion; they excommunicate those who cannot
pronounce their shibboleth. Until the Church be
lieves in human brotherhood, we cannot expect the
world to beHeve in it. WhUe Christians think that
God will east off forever all the heathen, and also all
Christians who are not Christians in. their own way,
it is clear that they have and can have no feeling of
brotherhood toward any outside of their own Httle
sect If God has disinherited hereties, and does not,
regard them as his children, they, of course, cannot
regard them as their brothers. This is the reason why
war, slavery, inhumanity, stiU prevail so largely in
the world; it is because bigotry and sectarianism pre-
vaU so largely in the Church, A true theology must
precede a genuine humanity, A new heavens must
make a new earth, "Yet onee more I wUl shake

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 437
the earth and the heavens." There must be a heaven-
quake, if there is to be an earthquake. That is why
we wish to spread a broad and generous Christianity.
We have seen that the natural tie of brotherhood
includes three elements. Brothers have the same
father and mother who love them aU impartiaUy.
They wUl remain always brothers and sisters. There
fore they have a common home, common interests, a
common weKare. " If one suffers, all suffer ; K one
is happy, aU are so."
No practical human brotherhood wiU prevaU untU
we have the Hke convictions in respect to mankind.
We shall not regard all men as our brethren until we
beHeve that God is their Father, and that he loves
them aU equally. But we cannot believe that he
loves them all equaUy whUe we beHeve that he
means to save some of them because they have been
born in America, and brought up as Christians, and
that he wiU reject others because they were born in
Africa or India, and were brought up as heathen.
We cannot beHeve that he loves all as his chUdren
whUe we think that he means to make some ever
lastingly happy in heaven because, when infants,
without any wUl of theirs, they were baptized into
a particular church, and that he wUl condemn others
to a perpetual exUe from his presence, because their

438 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.

parents did not put a Httle water on their fore
heads when they were chUdren. We cannot beHeve
that God is the universal Father, if we think that he
wiU punish men hereafter for involuntary ignorance
or honest error.
It is for this reason that I prize and value a re
hgion of common-sense. It makes it possible to
love God and to love man. I know that men are
better than their creeds, and that many who hold
these narrow doctrines are fuU of humanity and
universal benevolence. But, in the long run, our
behef concerning God and man wiU affect our hearts
and Hves. If we think that heretics and heathen
are not objects of God's saving love, that they are
to be cast out forever from his heaven, that we and
they are not to Hve together hereafter, but apart, that
they have not the same interest in Christ that we
Have, that they are outside of the covenanted mer-
fcies of God, — then we may pity them and be
sorry for them, but we cannot regard them with
brotherly love, for they are not our brothers in any
true sense.
I prize and value aU broad and rational Christian
ity, because it teaches us that aU men are God's
chUdren, and aU dear to him ; that he has made of
one blood aU men on the face of the earth, and

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 439
determined beforehand their habitation ; that he wUl
give them aU, in this Hfe and in the IKe to come,
aU the good they are capable of receiving ; that he
punishes no one, in this world or in any other world,
out of wrath, or from cold justice, but only because
they need it, and beeause it wUl do them good.
It teaches that God sees more faith in honest
doubt than in passive assent to any truth ; that if
we faU into error or sin ignorantly and uninten-
tionaUy, he owes us, not punishment, but compensa
tion. It teaches that in the other world Lazarus
wiU probably go up and Dives go down ; not because
God loves Lazarus more than Dives, but because those
who have had a hard time wiU be better for having
an easy time, and those who have had an easy time
will be better for having a hard time. Eational and
Hberal Christianity teaches that God intends aU men
to be saved some time, somewhere ; that he means by
an infinitely varied discipline, and by innumerable
roads, to bring aU together at last ; that, however, he
wiU never compel us to go to heaven, or make us
happy tiU we are ready to make ourselves happy by
doing right; that he will not spare pain, hardship,
discipline, outer darkness, and sharp trial, in order
to purify, elevate, and redeem us. It teaches that he
intends to bring all mankind into his kingdom, into

440 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
one great brotherhood, in which Judas Iscariot and
the Apostle Paul wiU shake hands ; and God's wiU
ShaU at last be done wiUingly, freely, and joyfuUy,
by aU his children.
This is what the rehgion of common-sense teaches,
and this alone can make men regard each other as
brethren. If we beHeve that every man is God's
child, and dear to him ; that God sees in him some
thing good, something worth saving, and that he
means to save him; that aU are to make progress,
and all to go up ; and that we shaU aU be to
gether in one heaven and one great kingdom of
God, then we can reaUy feel that all men are our
brothers. This broad Christianity alone can make
men feel and act as brethren.
It is for this I value it, and feel bound to urge it
I have many friends among the Orthodox denomi
nations, and I Hke many things in their churches, —
better, perhaps, than in my own. But every Or
thodox creed teaches the everlasting damnation
of a portion of the human race, — teaches that God
has made and keeps up a great apparatus of torture,
where men are to be tormented forever, without any
hope or any end. It is impossible to believe in
human brotherhood so long as this doctrine is main
tained. Those whom God looks upon as so foul as

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 441
to be forever unfit for his society, we ought not
to regard as fit for ours. Moreover, some Orthodox
creeds teach that human salvation depends on holding
certain opinions, and that those who even honestly re
ject them wUl be forever lost. No good father would
condemn his child for an honest error of opinion ; if
God does so, he does not treat them as his chUdren,
and we ought not to treat them as brothers. I there
fore feel bound to oppose such Orthodox systems untU
they renounce those dishonorable views of the char
acter of God ; for so long as they are maintained and
taught, the brotherhood of man is impossible.
The Scriptures teach us that the time wiU come
in which, every knee shaU bow to. Christ, and every
tongue confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. I beheve, with aU my heart, that this
is so. But that time is to come, not by any miracle,
not by any special providence, but by the truth and
love which are in Jesus, and by his gospel being seen
and known. This wUl cause men to bow to him.
Because he is the best, purest, and noblest of aU
beings, and because his truth is adapted to all our
wants, all will bow to him. His authority is in the
supreme beauty and perfection of his doctrine and his
influence. But this must be shown to others by
those who themselves are influenced by it. As Christ
19*

442 COMMON-SENSE IN RELIGION.
reveals God to man by his life and words, so Chris
tians, by their lives and words, must reveal Christ to
their fellow-men. We must show that we believe in
human brotherhood by sympathizing with all, despis
ing none, seeking those who are in sorrow and need,
and becoming to them mediators of the love of God
in Christ. It is for this that the Church exists ; to
reveal Christ to men by doing Christ-Hke works, and
going forth in his name to seek and to save those
m
who are lost. Let Christians endeavor to do this
work, and so prove that they really believe in the
fatherhood of God and' the brotherhood of man.
The churches, if they do. nothing else, keep alive
this sense of the greatness of humanity. Elsewhere
we meet classes of men, this or that kind of
man; in the Church we met man. At school we
meet scholars ; at the polls we meet voters ; at baUs
and parties we meet our own set; in shops and
in Wall Street we meet business people. Every
where else we find variety, separation, men divided
into parties, clubs, societies, according to their tastes.
But in the Church man meets man on the common
ground of humanity. The fashionable people and
those whose Hves are cold, gray, plain, meet before
God. Those who Hve for pleasure, and those who
Hve to do good, the idler and the hard worker, the

THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 443
pubhc man and the man of privacy, the student and
the man of action, gray hairs leaning toward the
grave, chUdhood just leaving the cradle, — aU meet
together, on one level, before God. If I did not
go to church for anything else, I should go for
this. The sermon might be stupid, — then I should
not Hsten to it. The prayers might not suit me,
— then I should pass them by. The music might
grate on my ear, — I should try not to hear it. But
I should at least see human faces ; I should meet
humanity, — not rich men or poor men, not great men
or Httle, but men. One would stand before me
greater than the Temple, greater than its Hturgy, its
prayers, its priests, its ritual, — my brother man,
bowed before my father, God. This would make to
me the Church a home, whether it were Catholic or
Protestant, Presbyterian, Quaker, or Methodist. I
would not lose this great influence ; for it tends to
humanize our Hfe and join us to our race, opposing
the tendency to ca'ste, to chques, to aU narrowness,
by its broad inclusion.

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