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Cornell University Library 
 BR121 .B811 
 
 Age of faith / by Amory &.„$!?.&,?!£ ' 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 192 379 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 BY 
 
 AMORY H. BRADFORD, D.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " SPIRIT AND LIFE," " THE PILGRIM IN OLD 
 
 ENGLAND," "HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN 
 
 PROBLEMS," "THE GROWING 
 
 REVELATION," ETC. 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 (Stbe flitaetpibe #«>$£, Cambtibse 
 
 1900 
 
A. itf% - t>(* 
 
 COPYRIGHT, I9OO, BY AMOSY H. BRADFORD 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
To The 
 
 REV. JAMES H. ECOB, D.D. 
 
 My dear Ecob : — 
 
 For more years than I care to enumerate here we 
 have been friends. We have studied together, worked 
 together, traveled together. In your writings I first 
 found the phrase, " Interpret God by his Fatherhood." 
 Therefore, without asking your permission, I venture 
 to write your name in this book, not knowing, nor 
 caring very much, whether you will approve, so long 
 as I have the opportunity of acknowledging my obliga- 
 tion to you, and my love and admiration for you. 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 AMORY H. BRADFORD. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Introduction vii 
 
 I. The Age of Faith 1 
 
 II. The Conception of God 26 
 
 m. God — Interpreted by Fatherhood . . .51 
 
 IV. The Basis of Optimism: 74 
 
 V. Brotherhood 103 
 
 VI. Suffering and Sorrow 136 
 
 VII. Sin 167 
 
 VHI. Saltation 192 
 
 IX. Prayer 215 
 
 X. Punishment or Discipline 233 
 
 XL The Immortal Life 268 
 
 XH. The Teacher for All Ages .... 285 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 This is an age of faith. This book is an effort 
 to state some of the truths which most need em- 
 phasis in such an age. 
 
 The days of authority are gone. No one any 
 longer believes anything simply because it was for- 
 merly believed. " Is it reasonable ? " Even reve- 
 lation is brought to this test. The truth for an 
 age of faith above all other things must be reason- 
 able. Whatever contradicts reason and the moral 
 sense cannot be of God. Whatever harmonizes 
 with reason and the moral sense presumptively is 
 true. 
 
 Among the subjects which need emphasis in a 
 time of inquiry, moral earnestness, and eagerness 
 to believe whatever is approved by the intelligence 
 and conscience, I venture to give a prominent 
 place to the following : The Personality of God, 
 The Fatherhood of God, and the fact that all theo- 
 ries about God, man, and the universe should be 
 interpreted in the light of the Fatherhood. These 
 furnish a sure basis for optimism ; they show that 
 the brotherhood of man is universal and vital ; that 
 suffering and sorrow are means in the hands of 
 
viii INTRODUCTION 
 
 love for the perfection of human character, and 
 indispensable to human progress ; that sin is an 
 incident in the upward movement of the race, 
 not necessary, but always possible ; that salvation 
 is the sure purpose of omnipotent love ; that prayer 
 is the natural and necessary intercourse between 
 parent and child ; that what is called punishment 
 is always disciplinary, and intended to restore ; 
 and that the deathless life follows of necessity 
 because man is of the same nature as God, and, 
 therefore, must partake of His immortality. 
 
 But all human interpretations would be fallible 
 and uncertain, however true the principle on which 
 they were based, unless there was an infallible 
 guide. That infallible guide Jesus promised, and 
 the ages are realizing, in the person of the Holy 
 Spirit, the Spirit of Truth who will lead into all 
 truth and show things to come. Christians are 
 disciples of the Spirit of Truth, and they wait rev- 
 erently and expectantly for the disclosures of the 
 future, while they honor and trust the revelations 
 of the past. 
 
 These are some of the truths which require 
 emphasis in an age of faith. 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 In attempting to estimate the characteristics of 
 an age, there is always the danger that eddies in 
 the current of thought and life will be confused 
 with the river, and that incidents in history will 
 be studied as if they were important events. 
 
 The time in which we live has been called an 
 " Age of Doubt," and the eminence of the author- 
 ity has led not a few to believe that the character- 
 ization is accurate. A narrow induction of facts 
 may lead to that conclusion, but more thorough 
 study and wider knowledge will result in a differ- 
 ent conclusion. Instead of being an age of doubt, 
 in comparison with other times, this is an age of 
 faith. 
 
 Of course much depends on definitions.. If by 
 faith is meant such assurance as results Wh atia 
 from demonstration, or if it is held to 
 signify belief unsupported by reasonable evidence, 
 
2 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 then this is not a period of faith. But if faith is 
 willingness to act on evidence which the senses 
 cannot verify because " the passional motives," to 
 use the words of Professor James, issue their com- 
 mand, then in no other age of the world's history- 
 has faith played a more prominent part. By it I 
 understand willingness to follow the intuitions, the 
 spontaneous convictions, the affirmations of the 
 heart, always with good reason, but without waiting 
 for the intellect to be convinced. Faith is willing- 
 ness to act where duty calls, but where sight is im- 
 possible. For instance, I believe in God, not be- 
 cause His being can be demonstrated, but because 
 my heart hungers for Him, and only the hypothe- 
 sis of His existence explains the mysteries of our 
 mortal life or justifies the presence of man on the 
 earth. 
 
 He who reads French, Italian, and indeed much 
 The Age of °^ German literature, may easily imagine 
 that pessimism is the dominant note of 
 modern thought ; but French novels are not the 
 world's literature, and a few German pessimists 
 are neither the expounders of all the world's phi- 
 losophy nor its best representatives. We see what 
 we try to see. It is not difficult for earnest souls 
 to get beneath the surface of life, and become 
 acquainted with its deeper principles and inner 
 forces. Such are never entirely without faith. 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 3 
 
 Defining faith as willingness to act on intuitions, 
 or convictions of what is true and right, not be- 
 cause they have been proven, but because the whole 
 man asserts that they ought to be true, I find that 
 it is so widespread and so predominant as to jus- 
 tify me in calling this an age of faith. But a 
 statement so far-reaching, and so unlike the views 
 which have been popular, requires more than affir- 
 mation ; it needs justification. 
 
 Few persons feel more keenly than I the bale- 
 ful influence of current skepticism. One must 
 be blind not to see that it has infected the well-to- 
 do classes, penetrated schools and colleges, and 
 found its way even into factories, and clubs for 
 working men and women. This I fully recognize 
 and sadly confess — but this is by no means all 
 that a study of our time discloses. 
 
 Let us begin in the field where doubt is often 
 supposed to hold undisputed sway. Here Science mi 
 we must observe that doubt and inquiry ™ 
 are not synonymous terms. The impression pre- 
 vails that science, in taking nothing for granted 
 and daring to ask questions concerning all beliefs 
 sacred in the past, cultivates doubt. Exactly the 
 opposite is true. The fundamental assumption of 
 science is that something is real, and that that 
 reality may be discerned. No man would spend 
 his life in wearisome investigations if he were con- 
 
4 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 vinced that, as the result of his labors, he would be 
 left in the same darkness in which he began them. 
 The scientist is of necessity a man of faith. He 
 searches for something in which he believes, al- 
 though for him, when he begins, the object of his 
 quest has only imaginary existence. Faith, as an 
 intellectual attitude, is the same whether it affirms 
 the law of evolution or the being of God. Darwin 
 used faith as truly as Paul. They had the same 
 mental attitude, although their minds were di- 
 rected to different objects. An astronomer turns 
 his telescope toward some part of the heavens, not 
 because he has ever seen a planet in that field, but 
 because the perturbations of another planet have 
 led him to believe that if he searches long enough 
 there his efforts will be rewarded. 
 
 The scientific spirit distinguishes our time. 
 Science is the affirmation by faith of an undiscov- 
 ered but discernible reality. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, Professor Tyndall found 
 in matter the promise and potency of all life. In 
 the year 1898 Sir William Crookes, speaking from 
 the same position as that occupied by Tyndall, 
 declared that to-day science finds in life the promise 
 and potency of all the material universe ; and he 
 further said that the difference between his state- 
 ment and Huxley's marks the progress of science 
 during the quarter century. Science does not 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 5 
 
 doubt, it inquires. An interrogation point is a 
 positive, rather than a negative sign. Individual 
 men may announce themselves agnostics concern- 
 ing this doctrine or that, or this creed or that, but if 
 they are truly scientific at heart, of necessity they 
 conform to the definition of faith in the Epistle to 
 theHebrews, because they believe where they cannot 
 see. " Faith is the evidence of things not seen." 
 When a scientific man reaches the deeper realities, 
 he must bow before them, whether he is aware of 
 their nature or not. It is these realities which he 
 is seeking, and not the mere outsides of things. 
 
 One may say, " I have searched, and have found 
 no spirit in man and no God in the universe." If 
 he has finished his quest and is satisfied, he must be 
 numbered among skeptics, but if with a willingness 
 to accept whatever the future may reveal he con- 
 tinues the search for the essential reality, he must 
 be numbered among the men of faith. 
 
 The proportion of men of science who are deeply 
 religious is larger than many think. In the Brit- 
 ish Scientific Association the Christian members 
 maintain a daily prayer meeting. Lord Kelvin is 
 an elder in a Scotch Presbyterian church ; Profes- 
 sor Young, the Princeton astronomer, is, or was, 
 an elder in an American Presbyterian church. 
 George J. Romanes after long wandering in the 
 deserts of agnosticism came back to a child's faith. 
 
6 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Aarassiz was a devout believer in God. John L. 
 Gulick, who in the opinion of Mr. Komanes has 
 made more original contributions to the doctrine of 
 evolution than any scientist after Darwin, is a 
 missionary of the American Board in Japan ; Sir 
 William Dawson finds a divine revelation in the 
 rocks ; Asa Gray used to delight in saying that he 
 was an evolutionist and also a believer in the 
 Nicene Creed. Few books have done more to 
 strengthen faith in immortality than the " Unseen 
 Universe," the joint work of Professors Tate and 
 Balfour Stewart. Henry Drummond was both a 
 professor of physical science and an evangelist. 
 If this is an age of science, it is of necessity an 
 age of faith, since the scientist trusts his own intel- 
 lectual processes, which is one act of faith, and 
 believes in a reality behind phenomena, which is 
 another act of faith. 
 
 I turn now to literature. Here at first the skeptics 
 Literature seem to have the field, but once more I 
 insist that a thorough induction of facts 
 will show that faith is a distinguishing characteris- 
 tic of the age. Zola, Paul Bourget, and Brunetiere 
 in France may be skeptics ; John Morley, Frederic 
 Harrison, Mrs. Humphry Ward, and Thomas 
 Hardy, to say nothing of Matthew Arnold and 
 George Eliot, who have recently died, may be 
 agnostics, although some of them would deny the 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 7 
 
 title. Skepticism may predominate in France, but 
 how is it in England and America ? The Scottish 
 school of fiction is just now most prominent in the 
 literature of the English speaking world. What a 
 rare company of literary artists are included in 
 this list ! MacDonald, Stevenson, Barrie, Crockett, 
 Ian Maclaren, all are known as devout believers. 
 Three of them, MacDonald, Crockett, and Ian 
 Maclaren, have preached as well as written the 
 gospel. 
 
 Writers of fiction and poets are the best inter- 
 preters of the thought and life of a people. The 
 fact that no novels are so popular as those 
 which treat of religious subjects shows where the 
 hearts of the people are. "Quo Vadis," "The 
 Christian," "All Sorts and Conditions of Men," 
 " Robert Elsmere," " Marcella," may contain little 
 that is positively religious, but their popularity 
 shows that the people believe in vital religion, 
 rather than in ecclesiastical forms, and that 
 they are ready to listen to any who, brush- 
 ing aside all that is merely traditional, dare to 
 speak of the things which they have seen and 
 of which they have heard. In this country the 
 best fiction has had a basis of religion. " Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin," " The Scarlet Letter," " Elsie Ven- 
 ner," "Old Creole Days," "A Singular Life," 
 all show deep faith in God and man. The book 
 
8 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 with the widest circulation of any written in the 
 last decade, namely, " In His Steps," is a sermon 
 story whose sale is reported to be in the mil- 
 lions, a book which may not be fine art, but which 
 is noble literature because it inspires to high think- 
 ing and noble living. The most potent and en- 
 during literary force in Europe is Count Tolstoi, 
 a thinker whose creed may not square with the 
 early theology of New England, or the more re- 
 cent theology of New Jersey, but a man with the 
 courage of a warrior and the vision of a prophet, 
 who has penetrated deeply into the heart of human 
 life and found that character is the sublimest thing 
 of which an author can write or for which a man 
 can seek. 
 
 When we turn to the poets, the great voices 
 The witmesa utter no uncertain sound. Who that re- 
 
 of the Poeta. l t> ' m Til 
 
 members Browning, lennyson, .Lowell, 
 Whittier, and Sidney Lanier, can think of calling 
 this an age of doubt? Quotations are hardly 
 necessary, for these writers were veritable prophets 
 of God. Recall Browning's " Saul " and " Cleon." 
 Listen to the refrain in " Pippa Passes : " — 
 
 " God 's in His heaven — 
 All 's right with the world I '' 
 
 That reveals the basis of sublime and deathless 
 optimism. Again listen to this from " A Death in 
 the Desert : " — 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 9 
 
 " I say the acknowledgment of God in Christ, 
 Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee 
 All questions in the earth and out of it, 
 And has so far advanced thee to he wise." 
 
 This is a definite and noble statement of the 
 doctrine of the Incarnation. 
 
 Tennyson was the prophet of faith. He be- 
 lieved in — 
 
 " That God which ever lives and loves." 
 
 He evidently described himself in what follows: — 
 
 " He fought his doubts and gathered strength, 
 He would not make his judgment blind, 
 He faced the spectres of the mind 
 And laid them : thus he came at length 
 To find a stronger faith his own." 
 
 We must not forget the first stanza of " In Me- 
 moriam : " — 
 
 " Strong son of God, immortal Love, 
 
 Whom we, that have not seen thy face, 
 By faith, and faith alone, embrace, 
 Believing where we cannot prove." 
 
 No better illustration of faith was ever written than 
 is contained in that stanza. 
 
 I need only to mention Whittier's " Our Master " 
 and " The Eternal Goodness," while passing on to 
 two selections from other American poets. Sidney 
 Lanier was a child of song. He seemed like a 
 strain of music which had become incarnate. Was 
 
10 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 anything more dainty and exquisite, yet noble and 
 true, ever written than his " A Ballad of Trees and 
 the Master " ? 
 
 " Into the woods my Master went, 
 Clean forspent, forspent. 
 Into the woods my Master came, 
 Forspent with love and shame. 
 But the olives they were not blind to Him, 
 The little gray leaves were kind to Him : 
 The thorn-tree had a mind to Him 
 When ii^to the woods He came. 
 
 " Ont of the woods my Master went, 
 And He was well content. 
 Out of the woods my Master came, 
 Content with death and shame. 
 When Death and Shame would woo Him last, 
 From under the trees they drew Him last : 
 'T was on a tree they slew Him — last 
 When out of the woods He came." 
 
 That music could never have floated out into liter- 
 ature from a chilly atmosphere of doubt. It is a 
 beam from the sunlight of faith. 
 
 Richard Watson Gilder has written what he 
 calls "The Story of a Heathen, Sojourning in 
 Galilee, a. d. 32." It bears all the marks of being 
 its author's confession of faith. 
 
 " If Jesus Christ is a man 
 And only a man — I say 
 That of all mankind I will cleave to Him, 
 And to Him will I cleave alway . 
 
THE AGE OP FAITH 11 
 
 " If Jesus Christ is a God 
 And the only God — I swear 
 I will follow Him through heaven and hell, 
 The earth, the sea, and the air." 
 
 I must offer one more illustration — the wonder- 
 ful prayer of Robert Louis Stevenson : " We be- 
 seech Thee, Lord, to behold us with favor, folk of 
 many families and nations, gathered together in 
 the peace of this roof ; weak men and women sub- 
 sisting under the covert of Thy patience. Be 
 patient still ; suffer us yet a while longer with our 
 broken purposes of good, with our idle endeavors 
 against evil — suffer us a while longer to endure, 
 and (if it may be) help us to do better. Bless to 
 us our extraordinary mercies ; if the day come 
 when they must be taken, brace us to play the man 
 under affliction. Be with our friends, be with our- 
 selves. Go with each of us to rest ; if any awake, 
 temper to them the dark hours of watching ; and 
 when the day returns, return to us our sun and 
 comforter, call us with morning faces, eager to 
 labor, eager to be happy, if happiness shall be our 
 portion, and, if the day be marked for sorrow, 
 strong to endure it. We thank Thee, and praise 
 Thee, and, in the words of Him to whom this day 
 is sacred, close our oblation." 
 
 There is much pessimism in the literature of our 
 time. There are novelists and poets who are satis- 
 
12 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 fied to soak in slime and allow its filth to ooze from 
 their pens. But this writing is not literature ; it 
 is not healthy, nor wholesome, nor sane ; it is not 
 beautiful nor true. The vileness which masquer- 
 ades in the garments of literary art does not sug- 
 gest the morning of a new day, but rather, let 
 us say, one already far advanced toward a dismal 
 sunset. 
 
 The Frog Pond is not Boston, the Bowery is 
 not New York, and the drivel of unclean poets 
 and the foulness of the fleshly school in fiction 
 are not the literature which is fashioning ideals 
 most characteristic of our time. A deeper and 
 finer music is making itself heard. The literature 
 which is destined to influence the future, like the 
 great works of the masters of the past, is that 
 which treats of the hunger of the soul for God, for 
 immortality, for reconciliation, and of the answers 
 to these longings, which must be divine because 
 they so completely satisfy. 
 
 No diagnosis of our time would be at all ade- 
 The witnesa quate which did not recognize the large 
 
 of the Study ,.,.,. . 
 
 of compara- place which is being given to the study 
 & 011 - of Comparative Religion. This also re- 
 
 veals a deep current of thought which is making in 
 the direction of faith. This interest in the Ethnic 
 Religions is more than unrest; it is more than 
 curiosity ; it is evidence that men feel the existence 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 13 
 
 of some deep reality behind phenomena. Not alone 
 to satisfy curiosity have the Sacred Books of the 
 East been translated. There is spiritual unrest. 
 The Americans, like the Athenians, are always 
 anxious for some new thing, but that unrest and 
 anxiety are not self-caused. They are the product, 
 if I mistake not, of an intellectual attitude which 
 may properly be called faith, since it is search for 
 truth undertaken with the expectation that the 
 quest will be rewarded. The search may be some- 
 times half hearted, but the desire to know is 
 usually genuine, and the purpose to accept what 
 is made known is, to say the least, worthy of 
 respect. 
 
 The Parliament of Religions may not have been 
 prophetic, but it was significant. It was The Pariia. 
 
 merit of Re- 
 
 not an exhibition of disloyalty on the legions. 
 part of believers in any religion. It was rather 
 an object lesson in the universality of faith. In 
 that gathering were Buddhists, Parsees, Moham- 
 medans, Jews, and Christians. The mental and 
 spiritual differences between those present were 
 greater than the differences in their physical ap- 
 pearance, but all were alike in one respect. They 
 were men of faith. They believed in something, 
 and they believed that to that something they 
 owed supreme and unfaltering loyalty. The atti- 
 tude of mind was the same in Buddhist, Moham- 
 
14 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 medan, Confucian, and Christian, although the 
 objects toward which faith was directed were 
 different. That Congress represented the world. 
 The supreme force in the progress of the world 
 is religion. All nations are more or less religious, 
 and, we may add, more or less ethical. The basis 
 of religion is faith, since it always deals with the 
 unseen. The prevalence of religion is evidence of 
 the reality and universality of faith. 
 
 The Sacred Books of the East have been trans- 
 lated under the editorship of Professor Max 
 Miiller, and thus the Bibles of the world are now 
 within the reach of all who wish to read them. 
 But that is not more significant than the competi- 
 tion for their publication. At first they were held 
 at prices practically prohibitive. Quickly com- 
 petitors who knew the fascination of the subject 
 for the reading public brought the works within 
 the reach of even the poor, and now the Zend 
 Avesta, the Trepitika, and the Koran are widely 
 studied by those who are the leaders of religious 
 thought. It is not enough now for a religious 
 teacher to know his Bible ; he must know the 
 Bibles of other nations before he can intelligently 
 plead for foreign missions and the evangelization 
 of the world. 
 
 This does not indicate decadence of religion, 
 but rather a broader culture on the part of those 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 15 
 
 who teach, and a more intense desire to be able to 
 present truth rationally and satisfactorily. Doubt- 
 less curiosity is the motive behind this study with 
 many, but not with the more intelligent or more 
 spiritual. The opening of the non-Christian world 
 and the study of the Ethnic religions have given 
 new and vaster significance to faith. The paper 
 prayers on the walls of Buddhist temples; the 
 processions of worshipers that Wearily climb the 
 steeps of Mayahsan; the pilgrims that year by 
 year visit Mecca ; the hosts that throng Lourdes 
 and Ste. Anne de Beaupre", may have very false 
 ideas as to the Deity and the worship which is pleas- 
 ing to Him ; they may be very superstitious, but 
 they have the right mental attitude, and when a 
 real and rational gospel is presented, most will 
 grasp it with avidity and delight* The time has 
 passed for us to think of those in non-Christian 
 lands as all inspired by the Evil One. 
 
 If those who will to believe sometimes learn the 
 truth, as they surely must when the revelation is 
 clearer, thousands who now bow before Amida 
 Buddha and prostrate themselves at the muezzin's 
 call will join in placing on the head of our Christ 
 the many crowns. 
 
 This has been called the age of criticism as well 
 as of science. Literary criticism is really the ap- 
 plication of the scientific spirit to literature. It 
 
16 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 subjects all writings to inspection and analysis, and 
 criticism a upon all passes its judgment. Did " the 
 rSth! blind old bard " write our Homer ? That 
 
 is a question. Did Shakespeare write the plays 
 which bear his name ? Some persons are very sure 
 that he did not. Thus the process moves on until 
 it reaches the Bible. " Thus far shalt thou come, 
 but no farther," say those who identify truth with 
 tradition. But the critics reply: "The greater 
 the claims of sanctity for any book, or any person, 
 the more rigorously those claims should be tested." 
 Truth«cannot suffer at the hands of investigators. 
 Critics are like artists who discover beneath the 
 dirt of a century the work of a master. " Do not 
 touch that canvas," say those who have regarded 
 it worthy of a place in some famous gallery. 
 " Scrape it and you will spoil it," they vocif- 
 erously affirm. But the process of cleansing 
 goes on, until out of the accumulated filth of 
 years there shines the beauty of a Raphael or a 
 Murillo. Were those who renewed that canvas 
 the enemies or the friends of art ? Their work is 
 analogous to the task of the critics who take in 
 their hands the Holy Bible, and unwind one wrap- 
 ping of tradition after another, until the truth 
 itself shines with a brighter lustre. These men do 
 not study day and night for years, denying them- 
 selves the prizes of the world, for the mere delight 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 17 
 
 or shocking pious people. Neither pleasure, wealth, 
 nor fame, is the reward of their labors. They are 
 impelled by a desire for truth, by faith in its 
 reality, and by confidence that it may be discovered 
 if the quest is patient and thorough. 
 
 I am speaking of the deeper currents of thought 
 and investigation. Critics are human. Among 
 them, as among artists and authors, and, for that 
 matter, among preachers and scientists, are many 
 whose spirit is selfish and whose manner is flippant. 
 Bombast for a time may attract more attention 
 than merit ; but lasting work is always genuine. 
 Egotism is ephemeral. The master minds of every 
 age are reverently loyal to truth so far as they 
 know what is true. 
 
 The new movement in theology is a part of the 
 critical movement. Its leaders are not Fait hthe 
 skeptics, but men of faith. They do not New Move- 
 
 ■ . • mi • • • mentinThe- 
 
 emphasize their doubts, iheir opinions oiogy. 
 are not those which were commonly held a gener- 
 ation ago, but they are not therefore less positive 
 or well founded. The passage from one school of 
 thought to another should brand no one as an un- 
 believer. The butterfly is not a skeptic because 
 it is no longer willing to crawl on the earth as a 
 worm ; and those men who feel that they have 
 passed from a region of fogs and miasms to a clear 
 and splendid intellectual horizon are possessed of 
 
18 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 a faith in God and man that is positive and assur- 
 ing. They have no faith in their former world as 
 best for them now, but they have profound faith in 
 the ampler world into which they have grown. They 
 never believed so intensely, so joyously, so victori- 
 ously, as since they came into the freedom of the 
 spirit, and dared to bring every creed to the test 
 of the inner light as well as to that of the Scripture. 
 The critics and the newer theologians are not seek- 
 ing to undermine confidence in anything which 
 ought to endure ; they are only trying to remove 
 whatever obscures the light of the eternal realities. 
 The new movement in theology is the renascence 
 of faith. 
 
 Rome in the time of Augustus was hardly more 
 Current given to religious fads than are the so- 
 ofFaitnf 18 called Christian lands, as the nineteenth 
 century draws to its close. It seems as if some 
 new phase of religion were born each day. This 
 is not altogether a cause for discouragement. 
 Who are these claimants upon out attention? 
 They preach a gospel of Hypnotism, Occultism in 
 varying forms, Spiritualism, Faith-Healing, Chris- 
 tian Science, Mental Science, and so on through a 
 long list. I have called these teachings " fads," 
 not because they do not contain much that is true, 
 but because they take facts out of their right rela- 
 tions and give them a prominence which in the 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 19 
 
 nature of things can only be temporary. The 
 relative amount of truth and error in these teachings 
 I need not try to determine. But one point is 
 important and that is this : They all illustrate the 
 universality of faith, since all of them rest on evi- 
 dence which is entirely in the sphere of the unseen. 
 None of them can offer any proof different in kind 
 from that which is offered in support of the being 
 of God and the immortality of the soul. The 
 growth of Christian Science, for example, reminds 
 one of those waves of emotion which swept over 
 Europe in the Middle Ages, filling the monasteries, 
 and inspiring the Crusades. The motive is right, 
 but the reason and the judgment are not properly 
 consulted. Science is discarded, and momentous 
 conclusions are adopted for purely sentimental rea- 
 sons. The spirit underneath most of these move- 
 ments is noble and sometimes self-sacrificing. The 
 woman who will die rather than deny her conviction 
 that God is good, and therefore that there is no 
 sickness, has the same spiritual heroism as the mar- 
 tyrs in the heroic age of the church. She is wrong 
 in her use of faith, but right in the fidelity with 
 which it is used. 
 
 Yet the " fads " of the day all illustrate our 
 point that this is essentially an age of faith. 
 
 I come now to one of the most significant and 
 prophetic facts of our time. " The crusade of 
 
20 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 charity " has gathered momentum from the Advent 
 until now. It had its origin in the teach- 
 
 The Crusade ° 
 
 of charity j n g anc i person of Jesus Christ. Even 
 
 an Evidence o x 
 
 of Faith. those who have denied His divinity have 
 freely granted the power of His beneficent example. 
 In the last few years charity has assumed many 
 new forms. They are seen in the various social 
 experiments and especially in a few of the social 
 settlements. This limitation should be observed, 
 for most of the social settlements are positively 
 Christian. A few who work in them, and in the 
 spirit of Christ seek to serve humanity, say that 
 they have no religious convictions whatever. They 
 will affirm no belief in God, in a spiritual nature 
 in man, or in immortality, and yet they are pos- 
 sessed with a consuming passion to serve their 
 fellow men, and their service is as sacrificial and 
 as successful as that of those who are more willing 
 to affirm beliefs. Look a little deeper into this 
 fact. These persons are not infrequently those 
 who have had serious losses, or grievous disappoint- 
 ments, and have undertaken this work because they 
 believe that thus alone can their own wounds be 
 healed. At least they dp believe that the service 
 of their fellow men has a balm for sorrow. More 
 than that, a man's belief is to be judged by what 
 he does rather than by what he says. These per- 
 sons would not sacrifice as they do for trees nor 
 
THE AGE OP FAITH 21 
 
 for marble monuments. In other words, they be- 
 lieve in spirit in man. They would not labor and 
 sacrifice as they do if they were assured that every 
 one whom they serve would at death utterly cease 
 to be. They may say they have no belief in life 
 after death, and yet they are working to make 
 others fit to live and grow beyond the grave. 
 These noble workers at least have faith in human- 
 ity, and that its service will return a blessing to 
 them. Thus their work is an expression of faith 
 as real and as inspiring as that of those who say 
 that they are sure of God as they are of them- 
 selves. 
 
 The inspiration of modern charity, even of those 
 forms whose enthusiasts most protest that they are 
 faithless, is the same in kind as that of the martyrs 
 and the missionaries. They are fired by a belief 
 in a reality which can neither be seen nor demon- 
 strated, but which nevertheless controls their con- 
 duct and leads to consecration and sacrifice. 
 
 I have not entered into a consideration of any of 
 the distinctly Christian or philanthropic . 
 movements of our time, yet their trans- ^opic 1 ™" 
 forming influence it would be hard to uKate* 11 
 exaggerate. No finer literature has been 
 written in this century than works like those of 
 Newman, Liddon, Eairbairn, Samuel Harris, and 
 George Adam Smith. The finest lyric poetry is 
 
22 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 found among Christian hymns. The noblest mod- 
 ern oratory is still in the pulpit despite all that has 
 been said about its decadence. The most far- 
 reaching, successful, and influential enterprise of 
 modern times is that of Christian missions, which 
 has followed pioneers and explorers around the 
 world, and planted schools and churches where 
 commerce and armies have been slow to enter. 
 But while these have hardly been mentioned, they 
 have their place in the life of the world, and must 
 be studied before the characteristics of this age can 
 be understood. They illustrate the pervasiveness 
 of faith. The world lives by faith. It is univer- 
 sal and elemental. 
 
 This is not the saddest time since the Caesars. 
 NoKoomfor There is a widespread and subtle melan- 
 choly in many quarters, lennyson did 
 write " Locksley Hall, Sixty Years After," but 
 still later than that he wrote " Crossing the Bar," 
 and went away into the Unseen to the music of an 
 anthem. 
 
 That many do not hold the old faiths in the old 
 forms is readily granted. Nor can there be any 
 question that with the increase of wealth and lux- 
 ury there has grown a feeling of irresponsibility 
 which bodes no good to the church or the world. 
 The millennium has not yet dawned, but men, as 
 evidently as in the older ages, are living by faith. 
 
THE AGE OF FAITH 23 
 
 They are knocking on Nature's door as insistently 
 as ever. We do not knock on Nature's door if we 
 believe that there 'is no one behind to hear. The 
 knocking is proof of belief in the existence of some 
 One able and willing to respond. This is emi- 
 nently a time of inquiry. The spread of learning 
 and the growth of knowledge have resulted in a 
 desire to know more and to be surer of what has 
 been held to be true in the past. Every movement 
 to explore the universe is a prayer to God for a 
 fuller and clearer revelation of Himself and His 
 will. The eagerness with which so many are test- 
 ing their old beliefs and reaching out for wider 
 knowledge is a most hopeful sign of the times. 
 While men think and inquire, there is danger 
 neither of unbelief nor pessimism. The words of 
 Jesus have eternal significance. " Seek and ye 
 shall find ; knock and it shall be opened unto you." 
 This is the age of the seekers after reality, after 
 God, after the truth concerning man, after the 
 meaning of sorrow and suffering, after something 
 satisfying concerning what lies beyond death. The 
 confession in " In Memoriam " has been used by 
 many, not as a doubter's wail, but as the voice of 
 those who truly believe. 
 
 " I falter where I firmly trod, 
 
 And falling with my weight of cares 
 Upon the great world's aliar-stairs 
 That slope through darkness up to God, 
 
24 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 " I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope, 
 And gather dust and chaff, and call 
 To what I feel is Lord of all, 
 And faintly trust the larger hope." 
 
 What are the truths which need emphasis in an 
 age when the masses of men see through a glass 
 darkly, but still are anxious for more light ? They 
 will accept nothing on authority. The days of 
 dictum are over. Nothing will have power now 
 which does not convince the reason and satisfy the 
 heart. Tradition can transmit only what it has re- 
 ceived. There is nothing divine in age or essen- 
 tially true in newness. We must teach and preach 
 the truths which have actually convinced and satis- 
 fied us ; which we believe and can commend because 
 of what we have seen and experienced. The gospel 
 for an age of faith, a gospel which makes life 
 worth living, rings the knell of pessimism, begins 
 and ends in the revelation of God, who in all the 
 eternities and infinities, in His dealings with this 
 world and all worlds, is truly made known in Jesus 
 Christ, who in His earthly life, His unwearying 
 service, His matchless teaching, His self-sacrificing 
 death, and His victory over the grave, was "the 
 brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
 image of His person." 
 
THE AGE OP FAITH 25 
 
 That glorious Gospel of the Fatherhood, the 
 only gospel for an age of faith and inquiry, and 
 the only rational basis of optimism, I shall endea- 
 vor to interpret in the chapters of this book. 
 
n 
 
 THE CONCEPTION OP GOD 
 
 The desire of nearly all thinking people for a 
 clearer idea of what is meant by the word God is 
 slowly but emphatically finding expression. One of 
 the results of the spread of learning and the growth 
 of intelligence is the tendency of the masses to 
 grapple with the difficult problems of speculation. 
 This inquiry touches the religious life at every 
 point. How should we pray ? To whom shall we 
 pray? What is meant by Providence? What 
 reason have we to believe in the ultimate triumph 
 of truth and right? It is a commonplace to say 
 that men are always like their ideas of Deity, — 
 that where those ideas have been lofty, men have 
 been noble and good; where they have been un- 
 worthy, men have been sensual and depraved. 
 Our theme is not abstract, indefinite, and purely 
 speculative ; it is intensely human and practical. 
 
 The greatness of this theme is best appreciated 
 Greatness ot % those who have studied it most thor- 
 u ie ° ' oughly. It has been the quest of phi- 
 losophy in all ages. I do not present the thoughts 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 27 
 
 which follow in this chapter because I have any 
 new light to shed upon this subject, but rather in 
 the hope that I may help a few to clearer think- 
 ing on lines which have long been familiar to the 
 world's religious teachers. At first it seems easy 
 enough to answer the inquiry, Who or what is 
 God ? But a little effort will show that it is diffi- 
 cult to put into speech even a small part of the 
 content and suggestion of the word. Words are 
 inadequate for the expression of our deepest 
 thoughts and much more for that of our profound- 
 est feelings. Behind human speech flash hints of 
 a world that cannot find expression. Infinite, ab- 
 solute, eternal, God, are only like x in the alge- 
 braic equation ; they stand for depths of thought 
 and sentiment that beat in vain against our human 
 limitations. This subject is found to be more dif- 
 ficult the longer it is studied. If the idea of God 
 is limited, it can easily be defined ; if it is at all 
 adequate, it transcends definition. 
 
 Who and what is God ? Shall we say that He 
 is the Creator and Preserver of the uni- The ^^ 
 verse ? But what is the universe ? That em- 
 word also is only a symbol for the unknown. No 
 one mind can comprehend the greatness of the 
 earth. St. Peter's Church in Home seems smaller 
 than it is because it cannot be seen at a glance. 
 Mont Blanc lifts itself in solemn splendor ; it may 
 
28 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 be looked upon, climbed, surveyed, but it is an 
 endless study. And the Himalayas are loftier 
 than the Alps. Before great mountains, or when 
 sailing on the Pacific or the Atlantic, ask, Who 
 and what is God? Then look up into the great 
 wide sky ; note the procession of the stars, — the 
 systems and galaxies of worlds whose number can- 
 not be estimated ; remember that they are but the 
 outmost fringe of the universe; and then ask, 
 What do you mean by Creator and Preserver? 
 The distances are measureless ; the spaces are 
 boundless ; the constellations are without number. 
 We are in the presence of thoughts too great for 
 us. Every time a prayer is offered and the word 
 God is mentioned, it has relation to infinite space, 
 measureless distance, multitudinous worlds, and to 
 the power that holds them in their places. What 
 do you mean by Creator ? Has some being de- 
 signed this universe as a man designs a house? 
 What do you mean by Preserver ? Is there some 
 one who holds worlds and planetary systems in 
 his hands, and watches over them as we watch 
 over the things which we manufacture? This 
 problem we must try to solve. On some solu- 
 tion of it every religion of the world rests. Not 
 a sermon can be preached nor a prayer be in- 
 telligently offered that is not preceded by some 
 answer to the question, What is meant by God ? 
 
THE CONCEPTION OP GOD 29 
 
 Still more searchingly the inquiry is pressed upon 
 us, How can there be a person great enough to he 
 Creator and Preserver of the universe? Is not 
 the universe the all ? And is there any place or 
 space outside the universe in which a person can 
 dwell ? If there is no such place or space, then is 
 He not a part of the universe ? And if He is a 
 part of the universe, or if He dwells in it, is not the 
 universe itself God ? Then is not the Pantheist's 
 contention true — that the all is God ? that He 
 rises to consciousness only in the consciousness of 
 human beings ? that He loves only in human beings 
 who love? that He hates only in human beings 
 who hate ? that He comes into manifestation in the 
 splendor of dawns and the glory of sunsets, in 
 earthquake-tragedies and the violence of terrible 
 storms ? 
 
 At the outset we meet certain evident facts. 
 Only through something human can know- The Human 
 ledge of God be conveyed. Man must Revelation. 
 be known before God can be known. We must 
 believe in the trustworthiness of human facul- 
 ties before there can be any Bible for us. Reve- 
 lations from God come through the mental fac- 
 ulties of men to the mental faculties of men, and 
 belief in God is impossible without prior belief in 
 man. We rise through the human to the divine. 
 If any message comes from beyond the stars, it 
 
30 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 must be in a form adapted to our limitations. With 
 reverence we say that if God speaks to us expect- 
 ing to be understood, it must be in human lan- 
 guage ; and if He uses a voice, it must be a human 
 voice. If the heavens were to open and He were 
 to speak otherwise than in the terms of our limi- 
 tations, we should fail to understand the message 
 and the messenger alike. 
 
 Again, the supposition that man can know any- 
 KinsWp of thing of God depends on the prior fact 
 Nature. ^^ t kere j s some thing of God in man, 
 even at his worst. How may we know that the 
 voice which speaks to us is divine ? Only on 
 the presumption that there is something divine 
 in man. The God within man recognizes the God 
 without. 
 
 A stone cannot interpret a logical process ; a 
 mountain cannot respond to music. There must 
 be harmony of nature before there can be mutual 
 recognition. One man appreciates another because 
 there is kinship between them. I recognize the 
 message which comes from my father because my 
 father in a real sense lives in his son. In like 
 manner I recognize what comes from God only as I 
 have in myself something of God. This is not the 
 result of a process of regeneration, else there would 
 be no possibility of making effective appeals to 
 the unregenerate. Christians believe in missions ; 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 31 
 
 they send missionaries to preach in the dark places 
 of the earth. A beastly man in the heart of 
 Africa, a degraded woman in a great city, must 
 have in them something of God, or it is folly to 
 send missionaries to them. The work of ministers 
 and missionaries presupposes in the vilest some- 
 thing divine. A mountain is impervious to the 
 men who climb its flanks, and men would be 
 equally impervious to divine appeals if there were 
 not something divine in them. " Only the good 
 discerns the good." Only a being akin to God 
 can recognize God. 
 
 Another point is equally evident : the finite can 
 never fully explore the infinite. The im- 
 
 Bevelation 
 
 perfect can never comprehend the perfect. y e n ^,™ di " 
 The limited cannot compass the unlimited. Kn ° wled 8 B - 
 How, then, may the imperfect and the limited have 
 knowledge of the perfect and unlimited ? Only as 
 the greater being reveals himself. No man by 
 searching has found out God. Our senses may 
 discern something which we know to be not our- 
 selves, but what it is we cannot adequately define. 
 If, then, there is ever knowledge of God, it will 
 be because He chooses to make Himself known. 
 Therefore we say revelation is the condition of 
 knowledge. That is recognized in all religion, all 
 science, all philosophy, and all theology. Men 
 study the universe because they believe that it is 
 
32 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 the expression of something behind. Mountain 
 and meadow, sea and sun, flower and constella- 
 tion, and man himself, all in a measure manifest 
 the Being by whose will they exist. The universe 
 exhibits power, law, order; man exhibits intelli- 
 gence, will, feeling. These revelations have mes- 
 sages for all who are able to read them. " First 
 the natural, afterward the spiritual," but that is 
 only in the order of knowledge. In the order of 
 being the spiritual is first, and the natural after- 
 ward. 
 
 These three thoughts are fundamental : — 
 
 All knowledge of the divine must be gained 
 through the human. 
 
 There is something divine in man, or he could 
 know nothing of God. 
 
 God never can be known unless He reveals 
 Himself. 
 
 Man and the universe are both to be studied as 
 b th m revelations, expressions, manifestations, of 
 Setoff Some One behind them. We do not pro- 
 
 studied. i j • • *_• j • i p 
 
 ceed very far m our investigation before 
 we learn that all material objects show the effects 
 of intelligence ; that matter is determined, but that 
 behind it is something self-conscious and self-deter- 
 mining ; that body is dependent on that intelligence 
 which we call spirit ; that spirit is the ultimate 
 reality; and that it uses, orders, regulates the body. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 33 
 
 Nature is as evidently the abode of spirit as is a 
 human body. I employ the word " spirit " simply 
 because it is the common word — I mean, of course, 
 that there is something behind matter which uses it, 
 and by which it is controlled. When an attempt 
 is made to analyze that something in humanity, we 
 find that it shows signs of intellect — it knows; 
 of feeling — it loves ; of will — it chooses. That 
 something in man constitutes his personality. But 
 in him it is limited. We now make a necessary 
 inference : that which is imperfect in man suggests 
 perfection somewhere; that which is limited in 
 man somewhere must be unlimited. A word in 
 common use in theology and philosophy is " Abso- 
 lute," which means the perfect, the unlimited, the 
 infinite. Imperfect and narrow intelligence in a 
 human being implies unlimited and infinite intel- 
 ligence somewhere or everywhere, as one ray of 
 light shows that there is a universe of brightness. 
 You cannot imagine one ray of light as self- 
 existent, and with no companions ; it is a revela- 
 tion of that fountain of splendor from which it 
 came. So it is with the mind, heart, and will of 
 man. A ray of intelligence suggests a limitless 
 mind ; a single volition suggests infinite will ; one 
 throb of human affection tells us that somewhere 
 and somehow love is measureless and eternal. The 
 limitless mind, the infinite will, the perfect love, 
 
34 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 we call the Absolute ; or, turning from philosophy 
 to religion, God. Rising from the human to the 
 divine; from intellect, feeling, and will in their 
 limitations to their perfection, we have what we 
 mean by God. These three characteristics dis- 
 tinguish personality. A being who has will and 
 affection without intelligence, or intelligence and 
 affection without will, is not a person. Personality 
 is bound up with ability to know, to feel, and to 
 choose. When these three in their limitations are 
 united in a self-conscious being, we have a person in 
 humanity. The perfection of intelligence, of love, 
 and of will, in a single self-consciousness, is God. 
 
 The word " person " as commonly used cannot 
 Meaning of be understood by a reference to its etymo- 
 
 '"'""■ logy. Originally it referred to the mask 
 through which an actor spoke — that through 
 which the sound came. But this meaning quickly 
 gave place to that of the being behind the mask. 
 In the Hindu philosophy, and in all the pantheis- 
 tic forms of religion, the etymological significance 
 of the word is still retained, but in occidental 
 thought, both theological and philosophical, " per- 
 son " refers to being. By personality we do not 
 mean any mere manifestation, but essential being. 
 The Absolute is the being in whom reason, will, 
 and love are united in perfect and therefore infU 
 nite self-consciousness. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 35 
 
 We have now only just approached our subject. 
 From the limited personality we have risen to the 
 infinite personality. Here our real difficulty begins, 
 for no one by any possibility can comprehend the in- 
 finite. We see a ray of light expanding toward the 
 sun ; it is lost in splendor, but what is hidden in 
 that splendor not even imagination can fathom. 
 From the personality of man we look up toward 
 the personality of God. But the line along which 
 thought moves quickly transcends our ability to fol- 
 low, and soon all is greatness, glory, and infinity. 
 Such inquiries as these now press themselves upon 
 us : Where is this Person whom we thought that 
 we had found, and to whom we had given a name ? 
 Is He outside the universe ? Then the universe is 
 not the All, and there is no universe. Is He in- 
 side the universe ? Then is not the universe itself 
 God? These questions we cannot answer. But 
 the analogy of man may help a little. 
 
 The spirit in man is not the body. It is inde- 
 pendent of it ; it uses it, and yet it tran- GodtheSpirit 
 
 x of the 
 
 scends it. Bunyan was confined in prison, universe, 
 but his spirit climbed the Delectable Mountains 
 and passed through the gates of the Celestial City. 
 Milton was blind, and was tied to a woman who 
 could not appreciate him, but his spirit went back 
 to the creation and on toward the consummation, 
 rose to the loftiest heavens and penetrated to the 
 
36 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 deepest hells. The body may hamper the spirit, 
 but cannot imprison it. Body and spirit are not 
 identical. Beethoven's ears were deaf, but his spirit 
 was thrilled by heavenly harmonies. If we say 
 that the universe is all, that there is no space or 
 place outside, and yet think of God as the spirit of 
 the universe, we do not identify Him with the uni- 
 verse, any more than we identify body and spirit 
 in man. The spirit which constitutes man mani- 
 fests itself through the body, and yet is not the 
 body ; and the Infinite Spirit manifests Himself 
 through the material universe and yet is not that 
 universe. In a sense Goethe was right : " The uni- 
 verse is the garment of God." Through it His 
 glory shines, and yet He is not the garment. The 
 architect of Cologne Cathedral is revealed in his 
 work. So God is revealed in the universe — with 
 this difference : the cathedral has an existence apart 
 from its architect, but the universe has no existence 
 apart from God. He is the principle of its life ; 
 by Him it is sustained ; by Him it is preserved ; in 
 Him it exists. Does this mean that the material 
 universe is eternal? Here again we are getting 
 beyond our depth. The universe has been in a 
 state of constant change. It has not always been 
 as it now is ; but that it has always been the ex- 
 pression of the infinite Spirit seems to me to be the 
 only answer that can be given to that question. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 37 
 
 My thought, then, is this : The relation of God, the 
 Spirit, to the universe is figured, or indicated, by 
 the relation of the spirit in man to the body. The 
 Deity is the spirit of the universe ; not dependent 
 upon it ; not imprisoned by it ; but always mani- 
 festing Himself in all its changes and evolutions. 
 
 But still we are only a little nearer to an answer 
 to our question. An infinite and everlasting Spirit, 
 pervading the universe, yet transcending it, is phi- 
 losophically conceivable, but the idea is not easily 
 comprehended by the average mind. Between the 
 absolute and the limited impassable barriers seem 
 to arise. How is it possible to cross these barriers ? 
 
 This leads to the philosophical basis of the 
 Christian doctrine of the Trinity. This me Doc- 
 
 . ! -, trine of the 
 
 doctrine is popularly supposed to be pe- Trinity. 
 culiarly a scriptural doctrine. It is mentioned in 
 the Scriptures, but only in fragmentary ways, as 
 something taken for granted, as is all their teach- 
 ing about God. Neither its formation nor its ex- 
 planation is found in the Scriptures, but entirely 
 in the sphere of philosophy. The terms Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost are equally applied to God, 
 but the Biblical writers do not attempt to har- 
 monize the apparent contradiction. When we turn 
 from the Scriptures to that other and larger reve- 
 lation which we call the universe, and again to that 
 other one written in the constitution of the human 
 
38 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 soul, we find an answer to our question. Begin- 
 ning with intellect, feeling, will in man, we find 
 that they quickly disappear in the infinite. The 
 infinite spirit transcends human thought and imagi- 
 nation. We talk about the infinite, but do not 
 know the meaning of the word ; we speak of God, 
 but do not know the language which we are using. 
 Those words stand for the measureless and the 
 everlasting. We turn our eyes again to ourselves 
 and to human relations. We love, and, in propor- 
 tion to the quality of our being, we desire to make 
 our love known and helpful to others like ourselves. 
 The best father is most anxious that his son should 
 appreciate his love. If, now, the infinite Spirit 
 is perfect love, He must desire to make Himself 
 known to those who, even in the dimmest way, long 
 for Him. The perfect love must respond to the 
 limited longing of humanity, or it cannot be per- 
 fect. Therefore we conclude that as the infinite 
 Spirit is perfect, He does not exist in the solitary 
 contemplation of His own perfection, but He re- 
 veals Himself to those who can appreciate a little 
 of that perfection. That conclusion follows from 
 the perfection of God. The Christian doctrine of 
 the Trinity is simply the expression of the inevitable 
 conclusion that the Absolute and the Perfect must 
 make Himself known. The Logos doctrine, or the 
 doctrine of the Son, is the belief that God eter- 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 39 
 
 nally manifests Himself. He not only exists, but 
 He exists in self -revelation. The Absolute, God 
 beyond our power to grasp or understand, we call 
 Father ; and it is a rare tribute to humanity that 
 it instinctively accepts that great and blessed name 
 as belonging to the Unseen and the All. What 
 lies behind the name ? infinite and abysmal Father- 
 hood. Fatherhood must make itself known. That 
 tendency to revelation in the divine nature we call 
 the Son. The Son is God revealing Himself. 
 Consequently all references in the New Testament 
 to the universe are associated with the Son ; the 
 creation is ascribed to Him ; the power of holding 
 the worlds together is ascribed to Him ; all revela- 
 tions of power and love are associated with Him. 
 The scientist, who learns something of God from 
 the stars or the rocks, studies the self-revelation of 
 God which we call the Son as certainly as the theo- 
 logian, who approaches the same self-revelation of 
 God which in its human form is in Jesus Christ. 
 The philosophical basis for this truth is this axiom: 
 perfect love must manifest itself. The manifesta- 
 tion, God revealing Himself, in theological language 
 is called the Logos, or the Son. , 
 
 But we have not gone thus far without meeting 
 another fact, namely, revelation is not all by means 
 of outward vehicles; not all in burning sun and 
 flaming stars; through human voice and written 
 
40 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 word. One man reveals himself to another by the 
 touch of his spirit. It is impossible to explain this 
 beautiful mystery. It is something more than ex- 
 ample — spirit speaks to spirit in humanity with- 
 out physical media ; and spirit speaks to spirit in 
 the relation between the finite and the infinite. 
 In the silences you have had visions which were 
 not caused by your environment ; suggestions ap- 
 parently from those who no longer live in the 
 flesh ; thoughts which have reached far beyond this 
 earthly life. Where did they come from ? That 
 aspiration for holiness is not connected with food 
 or drink, with persons who have been seen, with 
 words which have been heard. It came silently 
 as light and invisibly as dew. In other words, 
 the limited human spirit feels the touch of the 
 unlimited and infinite Spirit. And that must 
 ever be. If there is a perfect Spirit, and our 
 limited and imperfect spirits long for companion- 
 ship, then according to our imperfection and His 
 perfection will His nature tend to manifest Him- 
 self to us and to hold fellowship with us. And so 
 we have the Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit 
 — which means that God, the Spirit, has relations 
 with human spirits otherwise than by His revela- 
 tions in the universe, or by any word which was 
 spoken, or any act which was performed by Jesus 
 Christ, or by any other man who ever lived. The 
 
THE CONCEPTION OP GOD 41 
 
 doctrine of the Trinity finds its justification in the 
 constitution of man and the universe. The infinite 
 spirit can never be comprehended, but He can 
 make Himself known. The uncomprehended is 
 God the Father ; the same Being eternally mani- 
 festing Himself in nature, in history, in Jesus 
 Christ, is God the Son ; the same Being touching 
 your spirit and mine with aspiration, longing, deep 
 desire, and possibly with real revelation of some- 
 thing before unknown, is God the Holy Spirit. 
 But, you ask, how can you prove this doctrine? 
 It cannot be proved ; it is a spontaneous belief. 
 
 Spontaneous beliefs have the force of Divine re- 
 velations. They need no proof, although they can 
 be verified, and it is the office of reason to verify 
 them while it can neither prove nor disprove them. 
 
 Thus we are led to our conclusion. Spirit in 
 God and in man means exactly the same, gpirit Every . 
 only in one it is unlimited and perfect, w ™ 
 and in the other limited and imperfect. Intelli- 
 gence in God and in man means exactly the same, 
 only in one it is unlimited and in the other limited. 
 Love in God means the same as it does in man 
 with the same qualification. In the love of a child 
 for his mother, or of a mother for her child, there 
 is manifested something of God. When a man 
 and woman in pure love give themselves to each 
 other, in that human love is manifested something 
 
42 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 of God. God is pure human love multiplied by 
 infinity and eternity. Rising along these lines we 
 find that at last they compass the whole uni verse, 
 and we dimly discern not only behind this world and 
 this planetary system, but behind all planetary 
 systems, and all groups and constellations of worlds, 
 and controlling all, the Spirit that pervades all and 
 yet transcends all. That Spirit possesses intel- 
 ligence, will, and love, exactly such as we know in 
 ourselves, but they are related to such qualities 
 in man as the dewdrop is to the ocean, or a single 
 breath to the universal atmosphere. The dewdrop 
 can never encompass the ocean ; one ray of light can 
 never swallow up the splendor of the sun ; and 
 the spirit in man can never fully comprehend the 
 Spirit which we call God. But making Himself 
 known in self -revelation, and coming into personal 
 contact with our spirits, is the Being whom we wor- 
 ship, and whom Christians delight to glorify as 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 There is a practical side to this subject which 
 Divine im- can hardly be exaggerated. The most 
 conspicuous contribution ot theology to 
 the life of our time is the new emphasis which it 
 has placed on the Divine immanence. Immanence 
 means that God pervades the universe as the spirit 
 pervades the body, so that He is manifested in every 
 part, though not identical with any part. He uses 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 43 
 
 the universe as the spirit uses the body. He is in- 
 dependent of the universe and transcends it as the 
 spirit in man is independent of and transcends his 
 body. 
 
 This doctrine does not teach us " that every par- 
 ticle of dust driven in the wind, every drop of 
 spray from the surf dashing on every shore, the 
 motion and action of every molecule of matter is 
 caused by a direct and distinct volition and exer- 
 tion of God. We are rather to suppose that from 
 Him energy is continuously flowing into the physical 
 system, sustaining it in being, and directing its 
 evolution according to its constitution and laws." 1 
 Here again the analogy of the human spirit and 
 body helps us, for the will is often the source of 
 the energy and vitality by which the body is sus- 
 tained and even strengthened. 
 
 Our spirit "not only works through the brain 
 and nervous system, but, as a result, pervades the 
 entire organism, animating and inspiring it with its 
 own ' peculiar difference ; ' so that we recognize a 
 man's character in the expression of his eye, the 
 tone of his voice, the touch of his hand, his uncon- 
 scious and instinctive postures, and gestures, and 
 gait. Nor is this ' immanence ' confined to the 
 bodily organism. It extends, in what may be 
 called a secondary degree, to the inanimate objects 
 
 1 Harris, God the Creator and Lord of All, vol. i. p. 83. 
 
44 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 of the external world. For a man imprints his 
 spiritual character upon all the things with which 
 he deals — his house, his clothes, his furniture, the 
 various products of his hand and head. We speak 
 of a man's spirit surviving in his works ; the ex- 
 pression is no mere metaphor ; for through those 
 works, even though dead and gone, he continues 
 to influence his fellow men. While we look 
 at the pictures of Raphael, or listen to the music 
 of Beethoven, or read the poetry of Dante or 
 the philosophy of Plato, the spirits of the great 
 masters affects us as really as if we saw them face 
 to face : they are immanent in the painted canvas 
 and the printed page. Spirit, then, as we know 
 it in our own personal experience, has two dif- 
 ferent relations to matter, that of transcendence, 
 and that of immanence. But though logically dis- 
 tinct, these two relations are not actually separate : 
 they are two aspects of one fact ; two points of 
 view from which the single action of our one per- 
 sonality may he regarded. As self-conscious, self- 
 identical, self-determined, we possess qualities which 
 transcend or rise above the laws of matter; but 
 we can only realize these qualities, and so become 
 aware of them, by acting in the material world ; 
 while conversely, material objects — our bodies and 
 our works of art — could never possibly be re- 
 garded as expressions of spirit, if spirit were not at 
 
THE CONCEPTION OP GOD 45 
 
 the same time recognized as distinct from its me- 
 dium of manifestation." 1 
 
 " If then we are to raise the question, ' What is 
 the relation of the supreme Spirit to the material 
 universe ? ' this is the analogy upon which we must 
 proceed ; for we have no other. We may indeed 
 decline the problem as wholly insoluble ; but if we 
 attempt its solution at all, it must of necessity be 
 upon the lines of the only experience which we 
 possess — this experience in which transcendence 
 and immanence are combined." 2 
 
 This truth of the immanence of God is a favorite 
 one with the poets. The following are three illus- 
 trations : — 
 
 " One Spirit — His who wore the platted thorns with bleeding 
 brows — 
 Rules universal nature. Not a flower 
 But shows some touch, in freckle, streak, or stain, 
 Of His unrivaled pencil. He inspires 
 Their balmy odors and imparts their hues, 
 And bathes their eyes with nectar, and includes, 
 In grains as countless as the sea-side sands, 
 The forms with which He sprinkles all the earth. 
 Happy who walks with Him ! whom what he finds 
 Of flavor or of scent in fruit or flower, 
 Or what he views of beautiful or grand 
 In nature, from the broad majestic oak 
 To the green blade that twinkles in the sun, 
 Prompts with remembrance of a present God. 
 
 1 Ulingworth, Divine Immanence, pp. 80, 81. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 81, 82. 
 
46 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 His presence, who made all so fair, perceived, 
 Makes all still fairer. As with him no scene 
 Is dreary, so with him all seasons please." 1 
 
 " Thou — as represented here to me 
 In such conception as my soul allows, — 
 Under Thy measureless, my atom width ! — 
 Man's mind, what is it hut a convex glass 
 Wherein are gathered all the scattered points 
 Picked out of the immensity of sky, 
 To reunite there, be our heaven for earth, 
 Our known unknown, our God revealed to man ? " 2 
 
 " The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and the plains — 
 Are not these, Soul, the Vision of Him who reigns ? 
 
 " Is not the Vision He ? tho' He he not that which He seems ? 
 Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams ? 
 
 " Earth, these solid stars, this weight of hody and limb, 
 Are they not sign and symbol of thy division from Him ? 
 
 " Speak to Him thou for He hears, and Spirit with Spirit can 
 meet — 
 Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet. 
 
 " And the ear of man cannot hear, and the eye of man cannot 
 see ; 
 But if we could see and hear, this Vision — were it not He ? " s 
 
 Cowper was an exponent of the old and some- 
 what mechanical theology, but he discovered the 
 spiritual significance of nature as distinctly as 
 Browning and Tennyson, and all three found God 
 
 1 Cowper, Tlie Task. 
 
 2 Browning, The Ming and the Book. 
 a Tennyson, The Higher Pantheism. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 47 
 
 in the seas, and "aspectable stars," and in the 
 soul of man. 
 
 The divine transcendence should ever have the 
 first place. It is the basis of veneration, fear, awe, 
 and all that stimulates and inspires worship. Men 
 never worship a being which they believe to be be- 
 neath them. The fetich of the savage symbolizes 
 something greater than the worshiper. That is a 
 true thought of Dr. Matheson that the primeval 
 man worships a stone or a mountain because he 
 thinks he has found something unchangeable — 
 while he himself is subject to change. God is the 
 object of veneration, fear, worship, because He is 
 transcendent. But linked with that fact is the divine 
 immanence which should never be overlooked, and 
 which is the old doctrine of the divine Omnipre- 
 sence with a new name. Everything is transfigured 
 in the eyes of those who realize that God pervades 
 all things ; that in a certain real sense He is in 
 every flower and every star, every dewdrop and 
 every sun ; in the laughing child, the loving woman, 
 the thinking man ; that by Him all things were 
 created, and in Him they consist. 
 
 " God's transcendence and immanence being in 
 unison, the physical universe is not a dead wall 
 separating us from God and hiding Him, but rather 
 the screen on which, as in a panorama, we in the 
 darkness see Him, from the intense light behind 
 
48 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 the picture, Himself in His cosmic energizing be- 
 fore our eyes." * 
 
 " Though God extends heyond creation's rim, 
 Each smallest atom shows the whole of Him." 
 
 Modern science is demonstrating that an irre- 
 movable basis for the real in the universe can be 
 found only in the ideal, unchangeable, in a mind 
 behind the universe. 
 
 " Forever through the world's material forms 
 
 Heaven shoots the immaterial ; night and day 
 Apocalyptic intimations stray 
 Across the rifts of matter." 
 
 The influence of this truth is revolutionary, and 
 influence of vet beneficent. If God is in humanity, 
 
 this Doctrine. ,i ., iij_ i • • ■ i • • y 
 
 then the old teaching concerning individ- 
 ual total depravity should give place to generous 
 emphasis upon the fact that in every man is some- 
 thing of God, and therefore that all service of 
 humanity is service of God. Did not St. John say : 
 "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath 
 seen cannot love God whom he hath not seen " ? 
 And did not our Lord Himself identify the service 
 of the criminal, the poor, and the outcast with the 
 service of God when He said : " Inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the least of these my 
 brethren ye have done it unto me " ? This doctrine 
 shows that man is not ignoble but essentially 
 
 1 Harris, God the Creator and Lord of All, vol. i. p. 88. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 49 
 
 divine ; that we worship God best when we most 
 helpfully serve man ; that there has been a mean- 
 ing in all the pains of progress ; that no people have 
 ever been without God ; that He must have been 
 as near to Pekin as He was to Jerusalem; that 
 while one nation was chosen for one mission, other 
 nations have been equally chosen for other missions. 
 If God is in humanity, the record of progress is 
 the ever-growing manifestation of the Deity, and 
 all its conflicts and divisions have underneath 
 them a vital and abiding unity, which slowly but 
 surely will manifest itself. History is not aim- 
 less and purposeless, because God is in His world 
 working out His own plans. 
 
 Finally, it follows from this doctrine that the 
 end of all things must be the triumph of truth 
 and right, since God cannot forever be defeated. 
 " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and 
 that God's Spirit dwelleth in you ? " In the same 
 way the physical creation is hallowed, because as 
 His Spirit dwells in man it also dwells in the uni- 
 verse. The outcast woman is a sister of Mary the 
 Mother of our Lord ; and the penitent thief finds 
 his true home in the Paradise of God. All life, all 
 service, all men, all things, the universe itself, are 
 included in the divine plan, expressions of the 
 divine intelligence, and the fulfillment of a purpose 
 of love. 
 
50 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 I conclude this chapter as follows : by the word 
 "God" is meant the perfection of intelligence, 
 will, love. They are not abstractions, but united 
 in a self-conscious person ; and that person in His 
 infinity and eternity is truly though not fully 
 made known in the universe, in history, in the 
 constitution of man, and in the person of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
in 
 
 GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 
 
 In the childhood of the race the nature of the 
 Deity was inferred from the manifestations of 
 energy in earth and air. Whatever produced in- 
 stant and most intense terror was personified and 
 supposed to be the mightiest of beings. Hence the 
 first idea of the supreme Power (after that revealed 
 through the family) was derived from winds, 
 storms, earthquakes ; from the sun, moon, and 
 stars ; from day and night, from sea and sky. 
 Since the manifestations of force were many, and 
 the fact of unity had not yet been discovered, 
 belief in many gods naturally followed. They were 
 interpreted by the effects which were produced on 
 observers by natural phenomena. There were the 
 gods of the day and night, of the storm and the sea. 
 The idea of unity succeeded, but there was no 
 change in the method of interpretation. Nature 
 was nearest to man ; nature was vaster than man 
 — therefore nature was worshiped, and men were 
 awed by her storms and made glad by her splen- 
 dors. But nature had many forms and moods, and 
 
52 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 no man could appreciate more than one of them at 
 a time. Consequently belief in many gods, some 
 friendly and some hostile, became common. But 
 these many deities were themselves dependent on 
 a primal power, called Fate, or by some other 
 name. Gradually this method of reasoning gave 
 place to another. The evolution of government 
 forced itself into prominence, and without any dis- 
 tinctly marked period of transition the interpreta- 
 tion of the unseen power or powers by the energies 
 of the universe was superseded by one derived from 
 governmental analogies. Then men began to think 
 of the Deity as imaged in the institutions to which 
 they were most directly responsible. Thus the uni- 
 verse came to be regarded as a huge kingdom or 
 empire, of which God was the ruler, a king — 
 awful and majestic, as became the monarch of such 
 a realm. 
 
 Slowly these theories were supplanted by an- 
 other which is the fruit of the scientific investiga- 
 tion of later times. A study of the things which 
 are certified by the senses leads to the perception 
 of unity, not as something demonstrable, but as 
 something required by facts. No microscope is 
 fine enough to detect a spirit in man or in the uni- 
 verse, and yet the presence of something mysterious 
 and spiritual is almost universally acknowledged. 
 Energy, wisdom, intelligence, are believed to be 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 53 
 
 omnipresent, but how they coexist is not known. 
 We feel the pressure of the facts of life and his- 
 tory ; we hear the voices that speak in the spaces 
 and in the silences, but the message which they 
 would communicate is indefinite and indistinct. 
 We are told that the universe implies that the 
 unknown and unknowable principle of unity is 
 the Deity — if there be one. But when we ask, 
 Does unity imply personality ? no answer is forth- 
 coming. 
 
 Among Christians a new reply is having wide 
 acceptance. To trace the genesis of the Herrmann 
 school of thought to which I refer is dif- bairn. 
 ficult and not essential to my object ; but one thing 
 is evident — whether liberal or conservative, evan- 
 gelical or Kitschlian, it is devotedly Christian. 
 Two teachers more clearly than others whom I 
 know in our time have given form to this answer 
 — Herrmann, of Marburg, and Fairbairn, of 
 Oxford. 
 
 Herrmann says: "The person of Jesus is the 
 fact by which God communes with us." 1 When 
 we know the person of Jesus, we know God, but 
 we can know the person of Jesus only as we know 
 his inner life. " Jesus becomes a real power to us 
 when he reveals his inner life to us." 2 " We, for 
 our part, become conscious of God's communion 
 1 Communion of the Christian with God, p. 56. 2 Ibid., p. 62. 
 
54 THE AGE OF EAITH 
 
 with us by the fact that the person of Jesus reveals 
 itself to us through the power of his inner life." 1 
 " But his (the preacher's) chief aim should be to 
 make visible and active that which alone can be 
 the basis of faith in himself as well as in others. . . . 
 Jesus only, the inner life of this man." 2 Thus 
 Herrmann teaches that the only way to become ac- 
 quainted with God is to know or realize the inner 
 life of Jesus, and the only way to do that is by 
 experience. That this is one way of knowing God 
 all Christian thinkers will readily grant, but that 
 it is the only one, or either the simplest or most 
 elemental, I cannot acknowledge. God has spoken 
 through many voices, and the revelation which 
 began when Jesus was born was not the first, nor 
 will it be the last. " The heavens declare the glory 
 of God." 
 
 " The interpretation of God in the terms of the 
 consciousness of Christ may thus be described as 
 the distinctive and differentiating doctrine of the 
 Christian religion." 3 The answers of Herrmann 
 and Fairbairn are essentially the same : to know 
 the nature of God one must know the inner life, or 
 the consciousness, of Christ. But that is not easy. 
 To know the inner life — to see into the conscious- 
 ness — of any man is no" simple task ; thus to pene- 
 
 1 Communion of the Christian with God, p. 65. 2 Ibid., p. 68. 
 8 Fairbairn's Place of Christ in Modern Theology, p. 388. 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 55 
 
 trate into the " inner life " of Jesus Christ, whom 
 none now living ever saw, is a process, to say the 
 least, exceedingly difficult. It would require care- 
 ful definition and explanation. Who could know 
 whether he was experiencing the inner life of the 
 Christ without first knowing that life? And yet, 
 to know it, we are told, requires experience. Thus 
 we are started on a fatal circle of inquiry. Again, 
 how are we to interpret in the terms of the con- 
 sciousness of Christ ? How may the possession of 
 that consciousness be verified except by that con- 
 sciousness itself ? "While they are not satisfactory, 
 these answers contain much truth. He who has 
 entered into the consciousness of Christ does know 
 God, but as a means of interpreting the divine 
 nature this teaching is altogether inadequate. How 
 should the subject be approached? Is not the 
 answer of the Bible sufficient? Yes, when it is 
 understood, but there is wide difference of opin- 
 ion as to what the Bible really teaches. More- 
 over, with those who do not recognize the authority 
 of the Christian Scriptures this reply would have 
 no force. The Scriptures throw light on the sub- 
 ject ; but they also must be interpreted. 
 
 All forms of idealism have answers to our ques- 
 tion, but there is no means of testing their accuracy 
 except by what is resident in the mind that spec- 
 ulates. The harmony between the imagination 
 
56 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 and its own product is the only standard of mea- 
 surement which pure idealism possesses. 
 
 Another method of arriving at an answer to our 
 inquiry as to the nature of the Deity is 
 
 The Indue- M J •> 
 
 twe Method, ^he inductive. From a study of the seen 
 we rise to the unseen. From what the world and 
 man are, we infer what God is. But does not this 
 reasoning lead to confusion? Are not the pro- 
 cesses of history and the forces and activities of 
 the universe double-faced ? The light speaks of 
 love ; the darkness of gloom. The landscape, 
 with its flowers and the songs of birds, suggests 
 one kind of a being ; storms, tidal waves, and 
 earthquakes, with their wake of destruction and 
 death, suggest an altogether different being. The 
 European would have one conception of God, 
 the African another. Environment modifies the 
 mental concepts as well as the physical features. 
 There is only one way to escape the force of this 
 reasoning. We must find that which is most 
 elemental in the life of man, and in it seek an 
 answer to our inquiry concerning the nature of 
 God. In order of time the first human relation, 
 and the one which makes itself felt to the intelli- 
 gence before anything else, is parenthood. Before a 
 child thinks of storms or sunset splendors he looks 
 into the depths of loving eyes ; before he dreads 
 clouds and darkness he shrinks from a frown on 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 57 
 
 his parent's face. The first and most elemental of 
 relationships, the nearest and most influential of 
 all factors in the human environment, is covered 
 by the word fatherhood, which really contains all 
 that is signified by the word parenthood. From 
 it are learned the earliest lessons of dependence, 
 authority, responsibility, ministry. In short, all 
 the God that a little child knows is embodied in 
 his parents, and the larger vision of his later years 
 is but the growth and expansion of what is made 
 known through them. Every one has a real, though 
 perhaps dim, understanding of what fatherhood 
 means. It is not only the primary, it is also the 
 most universal of human conceptions of the 
 higher powers. Those who have experienced the 
 inner life of Christ surely know God, but that 
 experience is complex and not easily interpreted. 
 Is there no natural way to reach that knowledge 
 for those who have not had such an experience ? 
 Our answer is this : the vehicle by which the 
 first intimations of the Deity are conveyed, if it 
 is universal, must always be trustworthy. Those 
 earliest intimations come through parenthood; 
 therefore its voice is the most anthoritative con- 
 cerning the nature of God. Whatever that na- 
 ture is, it is made known by fatherhood in propor- 
 tion as it approaches what is commonly regarded 
 as its ideal form. What reveals God once must 
 
58 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 always do so, although the contents of the reve- 
 lation may broaden and deepen with years and 
 experience. Thus we are prepared by what we 
 know of man to find the holiest of human relations 
 used as the medium of the most authoritative 
 divine revelation. Instead, therefore, of saying 
 that the nature of the Deity is disclosed only in 
 the experience of the inner life of the historic 
 Christ, I should say that it is always and every- 
 where revealed in fatherhood, and that the revela- 
 tion approaches perfection in proportion as the 
 father is worthy of the sacred name which he 
 bears. Because the first idea of God always comes 
 through the parent, we infer that ideal fatherhood 
 is always a true revelation of the divine. Herr- 
 mann says, to know God, one must experience the 
 inner life of Christ. But only a few do that — 
 and men must know something of what God is 
 before they can be expected either to fear or love 
 him. All men through fatherhood receive their 
 first lessons concerning God. Therefore, we say: 
 in what your own heart tells you every father was 
 intended to be multiplied by infinity, behold as 
 clear a manifestation of the contents of the word 
 God as can be conveyed to man. 
 
 But let us now inquire what is implied by father- 
 hood. The first thought is clearly that of identity 
 of nature between two beings. The child and his 
 
Contents of 
 Fatherhood. 
 
 GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 59 
 
 parent are two personalities, and yet, what the 
 father is the child is. The second inher- 
 its the peculiarities, the temperament, the 
 characteristics, the tendencies, of the one from 
 whom his being is derived. There is a vital con- 
 nection between them. They are of the same 
 substance and have the same nature, and yet they 
 are two. The branch is not the vine, and yet it is 
 the extension of the vine. The parental relation, 
 when used to interpret God, necessitates the infer- 
 ence that man is of the very nature or substance 
 of the Deity, and yet that he is not Deity — as I 
 am of the nature of my father, but am not my 
 father. Identity of nature between parent and 
 child is essential to the idea of fatherhood. 
 
 Mutual responsibility is also a part of the con- 
 tent of the revelation of fatherhood. By Mutual Re. 
 a kind of instinct the child feels his de- sgoxmi 1 y ' 
 pendence and his responsibility. No formal rules 
 compel a child to bow to the will of the parent ; 
 to do so is as natural and instinctive as for him to 
 breathe. The feeling of responsibility in the child 
 is manifest from the dawn of consciousness. Later 
 we begin to understand that our parents are as 
 truly responsible for us as that we are responsible 
 to them. They determined our birth ; in large 
 part they made the environment into which we 
 were born ; in a certain real sense they are our 
 
60 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 creators. But for them we would never have been. 
 Therefore they have duties to us which are evident, 
 and which usually are joyfully acknowledged and 
 assumed. We render to them loyal obedience — they 
 give to us loving service ; and no fidelity on the one 
 side can in the least discharge the obligation which 
 belongs to the other side. The child and the parent 
 have mutual responsibilities. The same is true in 
 the higher relation between man and the unseen 
 power whom we call God. On the one hand wor- 
 ship and obedience are as instinctive as breathing 
 and eating, and the obligation to obey is universal 
 and apparently ineradicable. On the other hand, 
 with the growth of years, the conviction is devel- 
 oped that he who allowed us to exist, who deter- 
 mined our heritage and our associations, has him- 
 self an obligation to us as real as ours to him. By 
 every consideration of righteousness and justice, 
 he is bound to seek to make existence for his 
 creatures a blessing and not a curse. 
 
 Every child in every true home is born into an 
 atmosphere of love. This is so much a matter of 
 course that at first it is hardly appreciated. Child- 
 hood is the manifestation of love. A little child 
 is at once the simplest and the profoundest example 
 of what love requires and what it inspires. Even 
 before reason is able to make an inference, love 
 begins its unconscious ministries, and it never 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 61 
 
 ceases; for even when death separates bodies, 
 memory binds spirits in bonds which are deathless. 
 Love also is mutual. " We love him because he 
 first loved us," is forever true. The parent pours 
 his heart-wealth around his child ; the child, almost 
 before consciousness dawns, begins to return love 
 for love. Thus the divinest fact of which we 
 know is forever coming into new forms of mani- 
 festation. Fatherhood thrills with love ; child- 
 hood responds to the appeal of love with love. 
 And so the eternal poem is being written in terms 
 of life, and loses none of its music as the years go 
 by. To a child the divinest being known is his 
 father, who shares his nature, yet who is above 
 him. When we first approach the Unseen on whom 
 we feel ourselves dependent, it is natural and inevi- 
 table to believe him to be like the one on whom 
 we evidently depend, and to whom we already feel 
 that we are responsible ; and that reasoning leads 
 straight to fatherhood, and therefore to love, which 
 is without limit or bound and immortal. 
 
 Thus a study of the most nearly universal and 
 elemental of human relations justifies the conviction 
 that all men are of the same substance as the One 
 who gave them being ; that they are responsible to 
 Him and He to them ; that He loves as naturally 
 as the sun shines, and wins love as naturally as 
 the gardens respond to the light. 
 
62 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Does the conclusion we have now reached har- 
 The Teach- monize with the teaching of Scripture ? 
 Scriptures. The harmony is complete. In the New 
 Testament the name Father is applied to Deity 
 (chiefly by Jesus) 256 times. No other name has 
 such frequent use. The only other often men- 
 tioned is God, and that on the lips of Jesus is 
 usually associated with Father. In the Sermon on 
 the Mount, as recorded by Matthew, " Father " 
 appears seventeen times, and with almost equal 
 frequency in other parts of the Gospel. In Mark 
 the name appears four times. In the Gospel ac- 
 cording to Luke, again the word is often used; 
 while it shines from every page of the Gospel ac- 
 cording to John. In the Acts and the Epistles 
 " Father " does not so frequently appear. The 
 very thought of God in the writings of Paul was 
 overshadowed by his immense enthusiasm for 
 Christ. He is so possessed by Christ that he 
 seldom attempts to interpret God in any other 
 term, but when the word Father is used by him, 
 it is in a peculiarly emphatic sense. In Rom. xv. 
 6, he speaks of " the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; " in 1 Cor. viii. 6, in a significant passage, 
 he uses the word as a term of definition, " One 
 God, the Father ; " in 2 Cor. i. 3, he writes " the 
 Father of mercies ; " in Eph. i. 17, " the Father of 
 glory;" iv. 6, "God and Father; " v. 20, "God, 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 63 
 
 even the Father." The salutations in the Pauline 
 epistles all refer to "Father," and the reference 
 in those instances surely is general. In the 
 membership of the early churches were many who 
 could be called Christians only by courtesy, like 
 the incestuous man at Corinth ; but they were all 
 included in the salutation. In the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews there are but two references to the 
 " Father," and the Epistle of James contains the 
 word but twice. Peter uses it four times, and 
 always in a general sense. When once more the 
 writings of John are reached, the name emerges as 
 prominent as before. In the Epistles of John, 
 " Father " has no limited meaning as if intended 
 to apply only to a few. It is as wide as humanity. 
 In 1 John ii. 1, we read of the " Advocate with 
 the Father." Advocate may be the possession of 
 those who believe, but Father is a universal name. 
 In the Revelation the word appears five times. 
 
 A comparative study of the preceding refer- 
 ences is instructive. Father is almost the only 
 word used by Jesus when speaking of the Deity ; 
 it is almost the only word found in those books 
 which contain an account of his life and teachings. 
 Its use is equally frequent and characteristic by 
 the apostle who was nearest to him and who best 
 knew his mind. In the books most Christian it is 
 found most frequently, while in those most colored 
 
64 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 by Judaism it seldom appears. James was the 
 Jew among the New Testament' writers, and in his 
 letter the name is found but twice. The Gospel 
 according to John is peculiarly the Gospel of 
 Fatherhood. That was written latest of all the 
 books of the New Testament ; and if John knew 
 much of the writings of the other apostles, it is 
 not an unwarranted inference that his pecidiar 
 and reiterated emphasis may have been intentional, 
 in view of the fact that fatherhood did not have 
 the place to which it was entitled in what may 
 be called the Judaic epistles. Whether this hy- 
 pothesis be correct or not, the fact that the idea 
 and name of Father dominate all the Gospels, and 
 the Epistles of John, is beyond question. 
 
 But we are met with the assertion that, while 
 is God Far the name Father is often applied to the 
 
 ther of Be- , . i • i -vr m 
 
 lievers only? Deity, he is represented m the JNew 1 esta- 
 ment as the Father of believers only. This may 
 be answered in two ways. The essence of father- 
 hood is the giving of life. If all men owe their 
 being to God, then he is their Father, and has 
 upon him the responsibilities of fatherhood. But 
 a careful examination of the circumstances attend- 
 ing the use of the word Father shows that it will 
 allow no such narrow interpretation. The Sermon 
 on the Mount may have been addressed to the dis- 
 ciples only, or to the multitude — that matters 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 65 
 
 little. The disciples were not good enough at that 
 time to be the especial favorites of the Almighty. 
 There were quite as choice spirits outside that 
 band as within it. James and John, who, even 
 under the shadow of the cross, were to seek the 
 rich offices in the kingdom ; Peter, who was to 
 deny him; and Judas, who was to betray him, 
 were all alike taught to pray, " Our Father, which 
 art in heaveu." The nearest definition of God to 
 which Paul ever came was, " One God, the Fa- 
 ther." Because a Christian to-day speaks of " the 
 Father," or " our Father," it does not follow that 
 he means to be understood that he is the Father of 
 Christians alone ; and when the New Testament 
 writers use the word, it has the largest meaning. 
 It is not surprising that the Epistles are less clear 
 at this point than the Gospels, for the former tell 
 us concerning him of whom the Apostles thought 
 most, namely, the Master, Christ ; while the Gos- 
 pels tell us of whom Jesus thought and talked 
 most, namely, God the Father. 
 
 But the frequency with which the word Father 
 appears is not so significant as the relations in 
 which it appears. In the only form in which the 
 doctrine of the Trinity has any expression, Father 
 always has the first place ; baptism was always 
 to be first in the name of the Father ; when 
 Jesus taught men to pray, it was to the Father ; 
 
66 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 when he taught the doctrine of Providence, he 
 said, " Your heavenly Father feedeth them ; " 
 when he taught the nature of God in the parable 
 of the Prodigal Son, he showed the Father in an 
 act of forgiveness; when he unrolled the pano- 
 rama of the judgment, he showed the Father in 
 the midst of its terrors ; when he first declared 
 himself the Messiah, he spoke of the Father to a 
 Samaritan woman three times ; the promise is that 
 the Comforter shall come from the Father ; the Ad- 
 vocate is with the Father ; death is robbed of its 
 sting when Jesus says, " In my Father's house are 
 many mansions ; " and Paul declares that when 
 Christ at last shall give up his kingdom it will be 
 into the Father's hands. Thus nearly all, if not 
 all, the teaching in the New Testament which is 
 most vital and fundamental is stated in terms of 
 fatherhood. The reason for this is not far to find. 
 The words " king " and " emperor " had horrible 
 and cruel associations. The former suggested 
 Herod, and the latter Caesar, and both were hateful. 
 The word God is meaningless ; it suggests the in- 
 finite and everlasting, the nebulous and awful, but 
 sheds no light on essential being. Jesus might 
 have used any other word as well as God, for it 
 only points toward the unknown. But the mean- 
 ing of Father all understood then, and will forever 
 understand. Its significance is as rich and evident 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 67 
 
 to the peasant as to the philosopher. No other 
 name at once so accurate and so easily compre- 
 hended, so simple and yet so profoundly significant, 
 could have been selected. If we may so speak, it 
 is the natural and elemental name for the Deity. 
 It is not easily misinterpreted when the human 
 relationship even remotely suggests its ideal signi- 
 ficance. 
 
 When fatherhood is associated with the Deity it 
 fittingly assumes the phrase of the Apostles' Creed, 
 " God, the Father Almighty." Then it is no com- 
 mon or small word. It expresses more than senti- 
 ment. In its most limited meaning it implies the 
 austere as well as the tender, the just as well as 
 the loving. In this its largest use these qualities 
 of being are expanded to infinity. At the heart of 
 the universe, transcending it and yet pervading it, 
 directing the affairs of men and equally the sweep 
 of the constellations, the governing principle of 
 human history and also of the cosmic energies in 
 all the ages, is the essence of fatherhood, infinite, 
 all-embracing, everlasting — this is the truth bound 
 up in that phrase, " the Father Almighty." 
 
 The ideal fatherhood necessitates holiness. When 
 Jesus said, " Be ye perfect, as your Fa- implies 
 
 ..-■ . P5ji Holiness as 
 
 ther which is in heaven is perfect, he weiiasLove. 
 asserted the absolute holiness of the Father. Holi- 
 ness is as essential to fatherhood as is love. A 
 
68 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 true father is as anxious to save his child from 
 being wrong as from suffering. Justice and love 
 are only opposite sides of the same attribute; 
 they cannot be separated. Wrong and error put 
 as heavy a burden on fatherhood as do sorrow 
 and pain. An earthly father will not long allow 
 in his household anything which is evil or unjust ; 
 if it is tolerated at all, it is only in order that it 
 may be so removed as to cause the least friction ; 
 but it must go, and as soon as is consistent with 
 all the interests which should be conserved. How- 
 ever its existence may be accounted for, the Al- 
 mighty Father, because of His holiness, can permit 
 sin and suffering only so long as may be necessary 
 to accomplish the best purposes for the universe. 
 As to when those purposes will be achieved, and 
 by what methods holiness will be victorious, we 
 may speculate, but with our present vision we may 
 not know. The central and controlling motive in 
 fatherhood is love — and love in proportion to its 
 perfection is mixed with holiness. Fatherhood is 
 always ethical as well as emotional. Omnipo- 
 tence, holiness, love, are three words which are 
 bound together in any adequate description of the 
 Heavenly Father. 
 
 The full content and significance of the Divine 
 Fatherhood can be but dimly comprehended. Such 
 knowledge is too wonderful for us. " Now we see 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 69 
 
 through a glass darkly." But this truth points to- 
 ward an interpretation of the life of the individual, 
 of the universe, of history, which is of inconceivable 
 glory. It implies perfect holiness and perfect love 
 in the hands of Omnipotence. The Father is the 
 same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Therefore all 
 the ages and all the events of the past have been 
 directed by love toward holiness ; therefore no 
 creature has ever been outside the reach of His 
 love or the sweep of His holiness; therefore not 
 only this world, but all worlds have been adminis- 
 tered by love in the interests of holiness; there- 
 fore the one far-off divine event must be the sway 
 of holiness in every creature and in every part of 
 the universe. 
 
 But many objections are raised against these 
 conclusions. All that has been said is 
 
 Objections. 
 
 acknowledged to be true, but it is claimed 
 that the induction is incomplete. We are reminded 
 that if the contents of fatherhood are to be learned 
 from the human relationship, the fact can hardly 
 be evaded that in the majority of homes father- 
 hood is not associated with holiness, and implies 
 instinctive rather than intelligent and rational love. 
 That is true. In humanity fatherhood is perhaps 
 quite as often an accident as the result of choice. 
 How can such grim facts be evaded ? and, much 
 more, how can they be explained ? Moreover, there 
 
70 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 is another side to nature and history than the one 
 thus far presented. Even if love and justice do 
 dominate the household, by what fiction can they 
 be said to rule in society ? The state punishes the 
 weak and unfortunate as if they were responsible 
 for the acts for which they suffer. What element 
 of justice is exhibited when a poor, frail woman 
 who, in a fit of shame and desperation, has 
 smothered a new-born child, is brought to punish- 
 ment for what she would never have done if she 
 had been in the circumstances of those who pass 
 judgment ? The violence in nature ; the calamities 
 which destroy thousands of lives in a moment ; the 
 pestilence, and, perhaps most of all, the principle 
 of murder, by which man and beast alike are " red 
 in tooth and claw," — how can these incontestable 
 and terrible realities be reconciled with fatherhood 
 at the heart of things ? I do not at this time at- 
 tempt to answer these questions, but I do not 
 ignore them. They cannot be evaded ; but whether 
 they may be adequately answered is an altogether 
 different question. This much at least may be said 
 at this time : neglect, cruelty, accidental father- 
 hood are not essential and elemental in the idea of 
 fatherhood. Among the most barbaric peoples are 
 rudiments of holiness and love which, if they have 
 opportunity, always grow and become sovereign. 
 Even where these qualities are not found, they 
 
GOD— INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 71 
 
 are recognized as essential to the true concep- 
 tion of fatherhood. Ideals alone are prophetic of 
 what ought to be and will be. The ideals of sav- 
 ages are often right when knowledge and ability 
 to realize them are defective. 
 
 A study of civilized and also of the less perfectly 
 developed races shows that even among them, be- 
 fore natural phenomena inspire awe and worship, 
 the sanctity of fatherhood is felt ; that it is the 
 nearest, the most elemental, and the most constant 
 factor in the life of the child ; that from it the first 
 ideas of Deity are derived ; that parent and child 
 have the same nature, although they are not 
 identically the same beings, and that the feeling 
 of dependence and responsibility on the part of 
 the child is quickly followed by one of obligation 
 on the part of the parent, because he is the author 
 of the existence of his child. We conclude there- 
 fore that men and God are the same in substance, 
 though not identical as individuals ; that they 
 have reciprocal obligations — the one of obedi- 
 ence, and the other of service. So much results 
 from a study of fatherhood in human life. These 
 conclusions harmonize with the teaching of Jesus. 
 Almost the only name he ever used when speaking 
 of God was Father. Fatherhood, when applied 
 to God, must signify the same that it does in 
 human relations, or the word is meaningless. But 
 
72 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 while it signifies the same in both spheres, in the 
 former its contents are multiplied by the distance 
 between the finite and imperfect and the infinite 
 and perfect. The perfect being must be perfectly 
 holy and loving. In the ideal human fatherhood 
 we have the clearest conception of Deity which 
 it is possible for man to understand. As we better 
 appreciate the prophecies of our own nature, we 
 shall have a worthier appreciation of the grandeur 
 and compassion, the holiness and love, of Him 
 whose perfection may be forever approached, but 
 never can be fully comprehended. It is easier 
 and safer to try to understand the meaning and 
 prophecy of fatherhood than to seek to experience 
 the inner life of Jesus. The key which he used to 
 unlock the most majestic of mysteries is the one 
 which he would have his followers use. 
 
 My conclusion, then, is as follows : We may 
 know God in his essential nature — what 
 
 Conclusion. . . 
 
 He is apart from the fact that He is — 
 by a realization of the' significance of the relation 
 between parent and child. This knowledge is 
 within the reach of all, since all are children or 
 parents, or both. The nearest and most elemental 
 relation in humanity may be trusted when through 
 it come revelations of the nature of Deity. This 
 is the Christian method of investigation, because 
 it was the one followed and sanctioned by the 
 
GOD — INTERPRETED BY FATHERHOOD 73 
 
 Christ. His message harmonizes with the results 
 of a study of human life, and both emphasize what 
 I believe should be the governing principle in all 
 theology — Interpret God by fatherhood. 
 
IV 
 
 THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 
 
 Pessimism and Optimism are quite as much 
 results of temperament as of study or observation. 
 The bilious and dyspeptic are almost always pes- 
 simists ; while those physically well are as fre- 
 quently optimists. But the questions of pessimism 
 and optimism cannot be answered by any physio- 
 logical experiments. They would never have 
 grown into philosophical systems and become the 
 distinguishing characteristics of religions, with 
 millions of believers, if there were not something 
 which seemed to give them a basis in reason. 
 Whatever theory commands wide acceptance has 
 existence because it is apparently reasonable. 
 Individuals may be willing to believe lies, but 
 masses of men never are. They may be deceived 
 for a time, but they need only light to prefer truth 
 to error. Pessimism and optimism represent two 
 opposite ways of interpreting human life and the 
 universe. The reasons for these diverse interpre- 
 tations are many and some of them obscure. 
 
 Pessimists are of many classes. Some think 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 75 
 
 only of themselves ; and others from their per- 
 sonal dissatisfaction conclude that there 
 
 Pessimism. 
 
 is no good anywhere, and, consequently, 
 that there has been nothing desirable in the past, 
 and can be nothing worth anticipation in the 
 future. Schopenhauer held that the universe it- 
 self is utterly bad — not that it has been good 
 and that the harmony is now broken, but that in 
 its very essence it is evil and only evil. The old 
 theologians used to teach that this is the best pos- 
 sible moral system ; he held that there is no moral 
 system, and that everything is utterly and irre- 
 trievably miserable. Von Hartman was equally 
 pessimistic in his outlook, but he was willing to 
 allow that the universe was the best possible — but 
 that was saying nothing, since the best was in- 
 conceivably bad. Such theories imply not only 
 wretchedness in the mass, but also in all individu- 
 als. No life is worth living on the earth, and 
 there is no hope of anything better beyond. The 
 processes of history show few signs of intelligence, 
 and still fewer of love. The universe is without 
 meaning and without promise. Men are only like 
 feathers blown on winds which come, no one knows 
 whence, and go, none can tell whither. Byron 
 has put into doleful music the creed of Pessi- 
 mism : — 
 
76 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 " Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen, 
 Count o'er thy days from anguish free, 
 And know, whatever thou hast been, 
 "T is something better not to be." 1 
 
 Optimism is the exact reverse of pessimism. It 
 holds that life itself is a blessing, and that 
 it moves toward larger horizon s in the years 
 to come. It does not shut its eyes to sorrow, suf- 
 fering, and the apparent defeat of truth and right ; 
 it sees clearly the mistakes and sins, and the wide- 
 spread desolations which have been wrought by 
 them, but it believes that the moral order is organ- 
 ized for blessing ; that no individual is allowed to 
 suffer without that suffering being made a possibil- 
 ity of benefit ; that the ills which men endure have 
 relations to larger ends some time to be realized, 
 and therefore that even the bitterest experiences, 
 and the processes leading to those experiences 
 which seem so needlessly harsh, are justified by 
 the results sure to be achieved. To the pessimist 
 the creation is an infinite complexity of blind, re- 
 sistless and remorseless forces which grind the rich 
 and the poor alike, without haste and without rest. 
 To the optimist it is the embodiment of the ab- 
 solute reason and love ; the nature of things is 
 beneficent ; human hearts are not ground like grist 
 in infinite mills ; but every pang of suffering and 
 
 1 Byron, Euthanasia. 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 77 
 
 every sigh of sorrow are means by which per- 
 fect love accomplishes benefit for the individual, 
 the race, and the whole created universe. 
 
 There is a great gulf fixed between these two 
 theories. While they are in part the result of 
 temperamental conditions, something far more 
 radical must be sought as the cause of their diver- 
 gence. 
 
 Before turning to that, it will be well to seek to 
 understand on what grounds pessimism HowPessi- 
 justmes itself to the reason. The grounds fles itself. 
 are three, namely, the testimony of those who have 
 found existence a failure, personal experience, and 
 observation. The pessimists — and their number 
 is legion — insist that suffering and sorrow are 
 universal, and balanced by no compensations. 
 They attempt to prove this by the testimony of 
 those who have lived in different lands, and who 
 have been separated by centuries. Their motto 
 is the words which Homer puts into the mouth 
 of Zeus : — 
 
 " The race of mortal men, 
 Of all that breathe and move upon the earth, 
 Is the most wretched." 1 
 
 Their favorite poets are Omar Khayyam, Byron, 
 and Goethe. As to certain phases of experience 
 these writers may be competent witnesses, but their 
 1 The Iliad, book 17. 
 
78 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 testimony is of no value concerning life in its larger 
 relations. Of all the dreary platitudes which a 
 dissolute man ever mustered energy to write, the 
 "Rubaiyat" of Omar Khayyam is the dreariest, 
 the most senseless, and the most debasing. " It is 
 remarkable that pessimistic sentiments abound in 
 voluptuous poets." * The reason for this is that 
 their thought is centred on the gratification of 
 sensual desires. The pleasure which they seek 
 quickly passes and leaves enervation and lassitude 
 behind. This is the soil in which dark thoughts 
 take root and grow. Of all the poets of pessimism 
 only Goethe had a knowledge of life large enough 
 to make him a trustworthy witness, and his know- 
 ledge was more than balanced by his moral ob- 
 liquity, which was all the worse because against 
 light. 
 
 Some writers in all ages have seen only the dark 
 side of things, but, with the possible exception of 
 Goethe, they have never been in the highest rank. 
 Omar, Byron, Goethe, find little in the human ex- 
 perience but sickness, suffering, foulness, and the 
 ruin of virtue by vice. There is a school of novel- 
 ists also, of which, perhaps, George Eliot is the 
 most illustrious example, which sees in life only 
 malign forces working out malignant purposes. 
 But men of supreme vision have never been pessi- 
 
 1 Harris, God the Creator and Lord of All, vol. i. p. 251. 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 79 
 
 mists, unless Buddha be excepted, — and of his 
 personal teachings little is known. Homer was 
 not a pessimist, or we should never have had the 
 triumph of virtue in The Odyssey, and the crime 
 of Paris worthily punished as in The Iliad. Dante 
 saw written over the entrance to hell, " All hope 
 abandon, ye who enter here ; " but beyond the 
 Inferno he found the Paradiso, and as the crown 
 and glory of humanity, " the perfected will," — 
 a peace attainable by all. 
 
 Milton was not content until he had written the 
 Paradise Regained. There is more for all than 
 a Paradise Lost. Browning and Tennyson, the 
 two sublimest singers of the century and among 
 the noblest of all time, both believed that — 
 
 " 'T is better to have loved and lost, 
 Than never to have loved at all." 
 
 " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die " 
 is the note to which pessimism is keyed. Many 
 voices bewail the miseries of existence, and many 
 eyes can see nothing before them but the grave ; 
 but those voices have a hollow sound, and under 
 the eyes are the deep dark circles which distinguish 
 the voluptuary. 
 
 There is testimony that favors pessimism, but it 
 is partial, and represents neither the best thought 
 nor the purest morality. 
 
80 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 But the pessimist makes reply : " We are not 
 dependent for proof on the testimony of others ; 
 we see and know the facts, and they cannot he 
 gainsaid. We have felt the fire in our own bodies. 
 Sorrows exceed joys a thousand-fold." Here we 
 touch those who have suffered deeply, and whose 
 physical and mental agony can neither he ex- 
 plained away nor greatly minimized. " Moreover 
 turn your eyes outward and survey the world. 
 Think of the pain of the brute creation, with its 
 awful dumb misery ; think of the disappointment, 
 the sickness, the physical suffering, the mental 
 anguish, the loneliness, the heart ache and the 
 heart breaking which fill the existence of man; 
 and then say, if you can, that there is anywhere a 
 prophecy of better things. Think of the millions 
 even now imperfectly developed ! Think of the 
 sickness and the suffering that so greatly abound ! 
 Think of the miseries of childhood ! Listen to 
 the ' Cry of the Children ' and the ' Cry of the 
 Human,' and then answer, Is the joy of life equal 
 to the sorrow and suffering ? But even if it were 
 not, it could be endured if there were any prospect 
 of relief in the future ; but the future must be 
 judged by the past and the present. There is little 
 which prophesies blessing in any of the experiences 
 of humanity. The race may slowly improve, but 
 the processes of evolution, like infinite Juggernaut- 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 81 
 
 wheels, grind beneath them the hopes and loves of 
 millions of individuals who go down in order that 
 the mass may be perfected." 
 
 This reasoning of the pessimist may be well 
 founded or not, but it is hard to meet for the 
 simple reason that it is almost impossible to change 
 the conviction of one whose conclusions have been 
 reached through feeling rather than by argument. 
 " I have seen and felt the bitterness of life " is a 
 statement with which only a wise man can deal. 
 
 The conviction that life is essentially evil was at 
 
 the basis of Stoicism, and it is still pre- Pessimism 
 
 wide- 
 valent throughout the Orient. The Per- spread. 
 
 sians were so impressed with the hopeless miseries 
 of existence that Zoroaster imagined that the sover- 
 eignty of the universe was divided between two 
 Gods, one evil and one good, and that eternal war- 
 fare was waged between them. The faiths of 
 India, and of others which originated there, are all 
 pervaded by a hopeless melancholy. One division 
 of Buddhists teaches that true wisdom is the real- 
 ization of the nothingness of things ; and another 
 division teaches that enlightenment comes only to 
 those who first have learned that existence is essen- 
 tially miserable. These two articles of faith appear 
 in one way or another in most forms of Hindu 
 and Buddhist religion. Nirvana, whether in Hindu 
 or Buddhist thought, and whether it mean the 
 
82 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 destruction of the personality, the disintegration 
 of what is called the Ego, or the cessation of the 
 pains of transmigration, is the blessed relief which 
 is reached by those who have learned that the 
 cause of suffering is existence. The Hindus and 
 Buddhists as a class are pessimists. Some of them 
 say that the only way to escape from misery is to 
 deny its reality, and the others insist that the only 
 door out of misery is cessation of conscious being. 
 Is not the generous hospitality which western 
 countries give to these faiths due to the fact that 
 the burden of suffering rests so largely on western 
 minds also ? 
 
 Whatever the explanation of isolated experi- 
 ences, the argument by which pessimism justifies 
 itself is threefold : the testimony of others as to 
 the outlook,* as embodied in literature — especially 
 poetry and philosophy ; personal experience of 
 suffering with no hope of escape ; observation of 
 how life and the universe appear to those living in 
 our time. This is the argument offered. But the 
 causes of pessimism, other than such as are found 
 in the temperament, in physical disease, and in the 
 constancy of suffering, lie much deeper. Where 
 shall they be found ? 
 
 Pessimism is almost a necessity where there is 
 faith neither in God nor in a future life. The 
 gloom of existence without this light is illustrated 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 83 
 
 in the drama of Job, which is the sublimest study 
 of human suffering, and the causes of it, 0neCauseof 
 that the world contains. A man suffers Pesaimism - 
 enough to crush one who is less strong, and the 
 suffering is without any apparent cause. His 
 friends gather around him, and aggravate his 
 misery with the hard and cruel theology and phi- 
 losophy which teach that suffering is always a sign 
 of divine displeasure. That teaching forces the in- 
 quiry as to what kind of a Deity He must be who 
 can allow such penalties when there has been no 
 conscious wrongdoing. The result is that Job ap- 
 pears to the men of his time to be an infidel who 
 merits his fate. He repudiates their God ; and his 
 case is utterly dark until two faint gleams of light 
 give encouragement. The first is the conviction 
 that if there is a God there must some time be an 
 explanation of what seems to be inexplicable. 
 He cries, " O that I knew where I might find 
 Him ! " The second is in the suggestion that life 
 may not end with death : " If a man die, shall he 
 live again ? " If so, unseen forces may work to 
 beneficent ends. Job was a pessimist, and with 
 good reason, until he became convinced of the 
 possibility of a just God and of a future life. 
 From that moment what had been only dim and 
 faint suggestions of light began to expand into 
 broad rays. Then even his sufferings were seen 
 
84 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 to have meaning, and he could declare in the most 
 magnificent optimism which has ever found ex- 
 pression : " Though He slay me, yet will I trust 
 Him." 
 
 The book of Job is typical. Pessimism is a 
 Pessimism necessary and logical conclusion if there is 
 
 inevitable 
 
 when there n0 Q 0( i an( j n0 future life. Faith in both 
 
 is no Faith 
 
 m God. j g essen ti a i to a rational and enduring op- 
 timism. I do not mean that there are not many 
 optimists who are convinced of neither, but I am 
 sure that their optimism is temperamental rather 
 than rational. If there is no Providential order of 
 the world, then men are as likely to suffer as to be 
 happy, and there is no meaning in their pains. 
 Suffering, which is sure to work toward a benefi- 
 cent end, may be endured. Hope sustains those 
 who without it would be crushed. Let us suppose 
 that this universe is an infinite and everlasting 
 machine, or an ocean of matter and force without 
 bound, without intelligence, without love — other 
 than such as may be found in human beings. Into 
 the midst of these hot furnaces, or into the midst 
 of these multitudinous waves, a sensitive, aspiring, 
 loving child is born. He grows to manhood, by 
 some good luck escaping suffering. But at last 
 the trouble begins. All around are forces from 
 which he cannot escape. He is like a man im- 
 prisoned between flying wheels which every mo- 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 85 
 
 ment approach closer, or like one tossed on waves 
 which hourly become more cruel. He steps one 
 side, and a hand is crushed ; another side, and a 
 foot is wounded ; forward, and his head is gashed ; 
 backward, and he is met by a heavy blow. He 
 feels that he is made for something better, but 
 only now and then is any relief allowed him. He 
 begins to ask questions. Is there anything outside 
 these wheels ? " No : only wheels rolling every- 
 where and forever." Is there any Being strong 
 enough to reach down and stop this remorseless 
 whirl? "No, there is no one greater then the 
 wheels ; no one started them, and no one can stop 
 them." Is there no hope? "No hope." Then 
 why should I not throw myself beneath the heavi- 
 est at once, and so end this mockery? And we 
 echo, Why not ? This is not an unfair or exag- 
 gerated statement of what life is to many in many 
 lands. For a while they escape severe suffering, 
 but soon it begins. They are twinged by rheuma- 
 tism and racked by neuralgia ; they are disap- 
 pointed ; they love and love is not returned ; they 
 win a position and then lose all ; they are ambi- 
 tious and forever defeated ; they feel able to do 
 great things and are allowed opportunity to do no- 
 thing; they are like birds beating themselves 
 against their cages : thus they grow old ; the snows 
 fall on their heads and dimness comes into their 
 
86 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 eyes, but the ambition is as young and the heart 
 as tender as ever. Let one such stop and ask a 
 few questions. What is the meaning of all this 
 limitation and suffering, this buffeting and constant 
 defeat, this physical and mental agony ? " It has 
 no meaning." No meaning ! why then is it al- 
 lowed ? " It is not allowed — it just is, that is all, 
 and all inquiries as to how and why are useless." 
 Is there no one who can interfere and protect me ? 
 I did not bring myself here. I am not suffering 
 for wrong which I have done. " There is no one ; 
 beyond the forces of what we call nature there is 
 neither intelligence nor heart." But how will this 
 end? If by and by there is to be accomplished 
 some good purpose, I will be as brave as possible. 
 " There is no good purpose to be accomplished. 
 After a while you will get so that you can endure 
 it no longer, and then you will lie down and die — 
 and that will be all." Why not lie down and die 
 now, and so make an end of the farce and save yet 
 years of suffering ? And I cannot help echoing, 
 Why not ? Pessimism is logical and usually inev- 
 itable where there is faith neither in God nor in 
 the future life. 
 
 But suppose that when the man who feels that 
 he has endured all that a human being can endure 
 asks his searching question, a strong clear voice 
 which he can reasonably trust responds : " Yes ; 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 87 
 
 there is One whose eyes are never removed from 
 you ; He will not allow you to be tested The Effeot 
 above what you are able to bear, and He God md The 
 
 • , i , «* . -, Future Life. 
 
 permits what you are now suffering be- 
 cause in that way only can the finest and most 
 enduring character be developed. You are being 
 made stronger and better, more intelligent, more 
 loving, of more robust and resolute will." Well, 
 that is good so far as it goes ; but what is the use 
 of perfection of character if after a few years I 
 am simply to die and be buried ? Why should I 
 care to be better? and why should He care to have 
 me better if all that is before me is death and 
 extinction? The game is not worth the candle. 
 The voice continues : " But death cannot touch 
 spirit ; and the suffering of which you complain, 
 and which is bitter, is only discipline ; and not one 
 sob of sorrow, not one tear of grief, and not one 
 twinge of pain are allowed that may not be utilized 
 to fit you for a brighter and happier time when 
 the spirit shall no longer be in the body." And 
 is that the meaning of what I am enduring? Is 
 there One caring for me whose love never fails ? 
 whose intelligence and wisdom are absolute ? and 
 who cannot be defeated? And is my being as 
 endless as His ? " These things are even so." 
 Then I can be patient ; then I can kiss the rod as 
 it falls, for I know that perfect love can permit 
 
88 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 nothing that may not be used to promote the wel- 
 fare of any creature. If man lives beyond what 
 we call death, there is time enough for the reversal 
 of what now seems only dark and unjust. 
 
 We are thus led to ask, What is the problem of 
 The Problem Optimism? Stated in the simplest terms 
 
 pimism. .j. j g ^ o aDSwer ^ e question, Is life worth 
 
 living ? But this inquiry is not easy to meet. 
 In its larger relations optimism, with its eyes wide 
 open to all that surely is evil, cruel, hateful, 
 wicked, has still to justify the universe ; to show 
 that even the processes through which men are 
 passing are themselves justified by the results to be 
 obtained. This is something very different from 
 the happy-go-easy way of looking at things which 
 characterizes many people who shut their eyes to 
 what they do not like, and declare that everything 
 is beautiful because they will not see anything that 
 is ugly. There are temperamental optimists as 
 there are temperamental pessimists. The one can- 
 not see any evil anywhere ; the other cannot see 
 any good, and both are equally blind and false in 
 their conclusions. 
 
 If optimism has any justification, what is the 
 problem which it faces in view of what the indi- 
 vidual and corporate life of man is, and in view of 
 what the universe is ? It has to show that what 
 seems evil in the life of the individual, like suffer- 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 89 
 
 ing and even sin, are not to be estimated by what 
 they are in themselves; that they are means 
 toward benefit and blessing — both for the individ- 
 ual and the race. It has to show that what seems 
 cruel and imperfect in nature has larger ends, and 
 that those ends are beneficent. Moreover, while 
 recognizing the awful and constant factors of suf- 
 fering and sin, it has to show that the " nature of 
 things " is on the side of truth and benefit, and 
 that somehow and somewhere all that now appears 
 to be hostile to man will be seen to be friendly, 
 and helpful toward the higher and blessed levels. 
 This is a task of no small magnitude ; and yet, one 
 which must be performed if the life of man is to be 
 more than a farce, and the progress of the race is 
 to continue. Here we meet a prophetic truth : the 
 faith that progress is a reality which no forces can 
 long hinder shows that in the deeps of their being 
 men do believe that the prize to be won is worth 
 the struggle. If we deny this with our words, we 
 often affirm it by our deeds. It is an interesting 
 fact that the living religions of the world are those 
 which are most optimistic. The missionary reli- 
 gions are the Buddhist, the Mohammedan, and the 
 Christian. The Buddhists are supposed to be con- 
 firmed pessimists, and they are ; but the most 
 aggressive sect of northern Buddhism is the Shin 
 Shiu, which compared with all the other sects, and 
 
90 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 indeed with all other forms of Indian religion, is 
 hopeful of a blessed consummation for the individ- 
 ual and the race. It holds that the " Western 
 Paradise " is a state of conscious existence, of pro- 
 gress and happiness. This belief has supplanted 
 the common teaching concerning the unconscious- 
 ness and monotony of Nirvana. Mohammedanism 
 and Christianity are both essentially optimistic. 
 
 The importance of a wise and clear solution of 
 problems which optimism faces is apparent. There 
 will be no long-continued progress without an ade- 
 quate motive. Such motive cannot coexist with 
 the belief that the universe is essentially heartless ; 
 that individual life has no outlook ; that suffering 
 and sorrow are ends in themselves and not means 
 for the realization of some high and fine purpose. 
 If there is no place for hopes like these, then 
 the universe is a prison-house and " life is woe " 
 indeed. 
 
 But whatever may have been the experience 
 of exceptional individuals, this much is evident, — 
 the race as a whole has not been thus pessimistic. 
 The youth of succeeding generations have been 
 educated and trained as if they had before them 
 immortal possibilities, and when they have reached 
 maturity they have worked, explored, sacrificed, as 
 if it were worth while to do something and be some- 
 thing in this present human life. Their instincts 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 91 
 
 have been more rational than their faiths. Where 
 the mind has said, " I cannot see," the heart has 
 responded, " I have felt." 
 
 The problem of religion is to show that the ra- 
 tional and necessary interpretation of life T he Problem 
 and the universe is that of optimism; o£ ebgl0 °' 
 that pessimism is irrational; that it contradicts 
 facts ; and that it is the worst enemy of the human 
 race. There is wisdom in the Apostle's words, 
 " "We are saved by hope." When hope dies, every- 
 thing else worth living for dies also. The problem 
 of optimism is the problem of religion and of 
 ethics. There is no basis for ethics if this is not 
 a moral world ; and if it is a cruel and heartless 
 world it is surely an immoral world. There is no 
 reason in prayer, in sacrifice, in service, in wor- 
 ship, in words of comfort by death-beds and grave- 
 sides, if we are all dwellers in a realm of Cim- 
 merian darkness, without horizon and without stars. 
 Therefore he is the greatest benefactor of his kind 
 who is able to show that there is a rational and 
 enduring basis for the belief that what seems 
 heartless and cruel is only because those who are 
 absorbed with present experiences can seldom see 
 the end toward which they are pressing. Life is 
 much like a passage through a tunnel. The little 
 child is in terror, because of the darkness and the 
 roar of the train, until one with larger experience 
 
92 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 calms his fears with, the assurance that the tun- 
 nel is the shortest and safest way from the light 
 behind to the brighter beauties which will quickly 
 appear. 
 
 With the problem of optimism now clearly in 
 The Baas of mm( l we are ready for the inquiry which 
 optimism, kas waited impatiently for an answer: 
 What is the basis of Optimism ? Jesus was the 
 supreme optimist. That was because He had clear 
 vision. Faber says : " The hardest of all griefs to 
 bear is a grief that is not sure." Without clear 
 light at one point hope is impossible and absurd ; 
 with light at that point it is reasonable and inev- 
 itable. Is this universe in the hands of intelligent 
 love ? or has it been created and swayed by fate 
 and chance ? Is the life of the individual always 
 within the leashes of intelligent love? or is man 
 like a leaf on the wind, blown wherever the way- 
 ward gusts may determine ? In previous chapters 
 we have seen that the only rational interpretation 
 of the universe and of life is that which may be 
 called the paternal. This the instincts and long- 
 ings of the race demand and prophesy ; and that 
 these prophecies are correct is clearly affirmed by 
 the Christian revelation. Indeed, its optimism is 
 the strongest proof of the divinity of that revela- 
 tion. Given one fact, and the problem before us 
 solves itself, life has meaning, and history becomes 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 93 
 
 the orderly progression of wise plans toward bene- 
 ficent ends. That fact is, all things are in the hands 
 of an infinite Father. We may believe in evolu- 
 tion, but if evolution is in the hands of the Father- 
 hood it is growth toward love and holiness, and no 
 individual will be crushed by the processes. When 
 God is assumed or proved, as the case may be, 
 and is interpreted by fatherhood, two conclusions 
 immediately, and of necessity, follow : everything 
 is in accordance with a loving, intelligent, and om- 
 nipotent purpose ; and the child, by virtue of his 
 nature, will live as long as the One from whom his 
 being is derived. If this is true, that which we 
 call life is related to the whole human career as 
 the utmost crest of a wave to the ocean. All the 
 meaning and purpose to be realized by us can be 
 crowded into no threescore and ten career. Brown- 
 ing has said that this life is our one chance of 
 learning love ; but there are other things to learn 
 besides love, and things of whose existence we have 
 not yet even dreamed. Such knowledge will re- 
 quire other spheres and ages of experience, and 
 what seems cruel here may become glorious by 
 and by. The life of a seed underground is not 
 its whole existence, but it is essential to the glory 
 and beauty of a garden ; the dry chrysalis is not 
 a very inspiring sight, but it precedes the golden 
 wings that are soon to be spread in the sunlight. 
 
94 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 The basis of optimism is faith in such a God as 
 was revealed in Christ — God interpreted by fa- 
 therhood. Nothing more is required, and nothing 
 less will satisfy. If God pervading all things, con- 
 trolling all things, determining all things, never 
 wearying, never slumbering, never overlooking, 
 never growing old, and abiding forever, is the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ — that is all we 
 need to know, since then truth and benefit and love 
 must be the heritage of individuals, of the race, 
 and of all the ages. 
 
 This does not explain the processes by which 
 we are disciplined, but it makes it possible for us 
 to wait in confidence. Why do I suffer? I do 
 not know, but I can trust that no ill can come from 
 Him. Why are hearts broken, homes dismem- 
 bered, and the whole world mounded with graves ? 
 We know not ; but behind them all is perfect love, 
 and, therefore, we trust that some time and " some- 
 how good will be the goal of ill." Jesus teaches 
 that life, death, judgment, time, eternity, all men, 
 all things, — everything is pervaded by God ; 
 that His purpose is over all ; that God is the 
 Father of all ; and consequently that a house- 
 hold in which the father watches over his children, 
 works for them, serves them, sacrifices for them, 
 dies for them, is the world in miniature ; that the 
 universe is the Father's house, and that no child 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 95 
 
 ever has been or ever can be beyond the sway of 
 His love and care. 
 
 Pessimism disappears and optimism comes in 
 radiant and regnant with the revelation of God as 
 the Father Almighty. 
 
 When God and the universe are interpreted in 
 this the only way Jesus ever interpreted T .. .. , 
 
 J J a Individuals 
 
 them, the life of the individual is seen to peer's 
 be in accordance with a divine and there- 
 fore beneficent plan. But how do you explain this 
 loss, and that disappointment ? Why am I forced 
 to exist a bundle of bare nerves exposed to dust 
 and heat? Why are hopes disappointed and cher- 
 ished plans defeated? Why am I compelled to 
 tread a dreary treadmill between the cradle and 
 the grave ? He would be foolish who should seek 
 to reply to such questions, which are always an 
 exaggeration and distortion of the facts. No man 
 can give an adequate answer. As in our earthly 
 homes the children are led through disappointment 
 and apparent loss toward larger life and better 
 possessions by unfailing love, so in the darkness 
 and storm every man is led by love that knows no 
 favor and cannot fail. He who trusts to that reve- 
 lation will praise God for everything; he who does 
 not believe in it may be a Stoic, and may bear what 
 comes as a cliff endures storms, but he will have 
 no light, no joy, and no hope. Fatherhood is uni- 
 
96 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 versal and eternal, therefore every man's life must 
 be a plan of God. To recognize and live by that 
 truth is wisdom which can never be transcended. 
 Then there are no favorites ; then the end will jus- 
 tify the process by which every man is disciplined 
 and so fitted for his immortality. 
 
 When the universe and God are interpreted by 
 History in fatherhood, history is seen to be a world- 
 
 the Hands of 
 
 Fatherhood, movement in the interests of love, and all 
 events to be moving toward a consummation which 
 may well be called " the Golden Age." A short 
 period of time usually confuses the student. Acts 
 of violence, selfishness, moral and physical evil, 
 are so near that they lead to the mistake that they 
 are more numerous and powerful than they actu- 
 ally are. I have elsewhere observed that historical 
 students are usually optimists, while philosophers 
 and poets are sometimes pessimists. The reason 
 is not far to find. The former take long views, 
 they study centuries ; while the latter consider 
 things in their little horizons. The decades are 
 often dark while the centuries are bright. Taken 
 by themselves, such periods as the massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew, or of the Thirty Years' War, seem 
 to be set on fire of hell. The martyrs of the 
 Inquisition may well have wondered whether there 
 was any God in heaven or on earth ; but we who 
 look backward can see that such human butchers 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 97 
 
 as Torquemada and the Duke of Alva were over- 
 ruled, and made to help the progress of liberty and 
 brotherhood. Every martyr-fire around the body 
 of a saint who is called a heretic has helped toward 
 religious liberty ; and every drop of blood shed by 
 tyrants has proved a rich investment in the cause 
 of individual freedom. Nothing is more easily 
 verified than that injustice is usually overruled in 
 the interests of humanity. The blood of the mar- 
 tyrs is the seed of the church, and of many other 
 good causes also. History is like a broad stream 
 into which Christianity entered as a thread-like 
 line of pure water. Slowly the mass of tears 
 and blood has grown smaller and that line of 
 pure water broader ; and as it moves still onward 
 the process of purification is constantly hastened. 
 But now the question arises, What warrant have 
 we that the course of this stream will not be de- 
 flected, and that it will not once more become 
 turbid and foul ? Here optimism has its answer. 
 History follows ever a predestined course. He 
 who determines its channel is a Being of per- 
 fect wisdom and absolute love. Nothing goes 
 by chance. If a star or a man could have abso- 
 lute independence, everything might soon be in 
 confusion. The apparent confusion in history is 
 due to the fact that man has a measure of free- 
 dom, while the star is held closely to the sweep of 
 
98 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 its orbit; but ever outside the freedom of man 
 is the purpose of God, and that must be good or 
 there is no God, for a God who is not perfect is 
 no God. 
 
 But do you know there is a God ? The affirnia- 
 Existence tive answer to that question is assumed 
 assumed. in this chapter. On no other hypothesis 
 is any light on human life's mystery possible. 
 What satisfactorily solves the most difficult of 
 problems, which otherwise would be insoluble, it 
 is no presumption to assume as a fundamental 
 reality. Given God, who is truly interpreted by 
 fatherhood, and it requires no special revelation, 
 nor peculiarly prophetic vision, to see that the 
 stream of history will go on growing purer and 
 sweeter, until it will be like the river of God 
 which flows from out the midst of the throne. 
 Some time all that is bestial will be eliminated 
 from humanity, and the child of God made a fit 
 and worthy companion for his Father. True, this 
 is imagination, but it is imagination inspired by 
 fact and guided by a logical necessity. When it 
 is realized that the universe is pervaded by father- 
 hood ; that the God who is immanent in the 
 creation is not a mere abstraction or a vague 
 sentiment, but a strong and tender personality, then 
 our physical environment is no longer regarded as 
 a prison-house. Heaven not only lies about us in 
 
THE BASIS OF OPTIMISM 99 
 
 our infancy, but it follows us until the body is laid 
 aside and after. The severe and mysterious facts 
 of nature are not here explained away. The earth- 
 quake, the tornado, the tidal wave, the lightning 
 and the thunder, as well as all subtle miasms, are 
 as dreadful as ever, but they are only mysteries 
 which wait for explanation. The tidal waves are 
 few, and most people never hear of them ; torna- 
 does are awful phenomena, but insignificant when 
 compared with the clear shining of the sun through 
 countless days ; miasms stab in the day and the 
 night, but usually they attack only those who in- 
 vite attack, and it is not inconceivable, where they 
 are not the result of unsanitary conditions for 
 which man is responsible, that they may serve be- 
 neficent ends. If there were no other revelation, 
 a little study would show the beneficence of the 
 nature of things. When the tidal waves, the earth- 
 quakes, the tornadoes, and all that works violence 
 and suffering, are balanced against what is bright 
 and beautiful ; against the mountains with their 
 awful grandeur, and the gardens with their blos- 
 soms and perfumes ; against the forests, with their 
 bushes aflame with God and unconsumed; and 
 when we add the days of cloudless skies and those 
 made glorious by the intermingling of cloud and 
 light ; when we balance against all the evil, all the 
 beauty, the grandeur, all that makes for health and 
 
100 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 happiness, all that ministers to human welfare, it 
 is impossible to believe that the nature of things is 
 not benevolent and beneficent. And when there 
 is added to this the faith that the universe is the 
 palace of the immanent God ; that He is omni- 
 present and everlasting, it is easy to understand 
 the enthusiasm of the poet who • in an earlier and 
 ruder time sang : " The heavens declare the glory 
 of God ; " and of that other significant and pro- 
 found utterance : " Thou hast beset me behind and 
 before." The doctrine of the Divine Immanence 
 means that the whole universe, with its mountains, 
 seas, stars, constellations, everything everywhere, 
 now and forever, is pervaded by fatherhood, and 
 fatherhood does not suggest the All which will 
 some time absorb everything, but the absolute 
 and infinite Person who may commune with other 
 spirits without being limited by them. 
 
 This interpretation has its culmination on the 
 earth in what is called the Kingdom of God. This 
 is not all to be in the future. It is already mani- 
 fest in many hearts and lives. It has always had 
 some place among men. A few at least have al- 
 ways done justly, loved mercy, and walked humbly 
 before God. In Jesus that kingdom was clearly 
 manifested as perfect truth, perfect justice, and 
 perfect love. Where the spirit of Christ is, there 
 is the kingdom of God. Through the centuries it 
 
THE BASIS OP OPTIMISM 101 
 
 has been silently but ceaselessly growing. Each 
 century since the Advent, this world has been a 
 better world ; and the improvement is manifest 
 not only in individuals but in laws, in institutions, 
 in social usages, and even in the way that war is . 
 conducted. The most civilized nations no longer 
 kill prisoners ; they treat their enemies in their 
 own hospitals, and care for them as if they had 
 fallen in defense of the cause which in reality they 
 have been opposing. In every department of af- 
 fairs conduct and ideals have become more humane, 
 and those who regard not the name of Christ uncon- 
 sciously are becoming like Him, and glorying in 
 the transformation. And this work is to go on 
 until the kingdom of God fills the earth. The 
 promise that the seed of the woman should bruise 
 the serpent's head was of the nature of prophecy. 
 Crimes are committed in the name of liberty, and 
 brotherhood often seems a farce, but when and 
 where has it been less so? The mind of man was 
 made for truth; the conscience of man insists on 
 right ; and the heart of man can be satisfied only 
 with love. The kingdom of God is the sway of 
 truth and right and love. This is a trinity con- 
 cerning whose divinity there is no controversy. 
 
 When the universe is recognized as the abode 
 of God ; when the Divine immanence is realized 
 as the prevalence of fatherhood in every part of 
 
102 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 what we vaguely call the creation ; when we have 
 grasped the superlative reality that fatherhood 
 besets not only every man but everything, uses all 
 energies and pervades all forces, and is everlast- 
 ing, it is not difficult to understand that every 
 human life and all the universe are encompassed 
 by a purpose which in the end cannot be defeated, 
 and which some time will achieve the perfect sover- 
 eignty of truth and right and love. Then not only 
 the ways of God will be justified to man, but the 
 nature of things will show that love has never been 
 absent, and that from the hour when the morning 
 stars first sang together, in every land and every 
 time and forever, love has been regnant and vic- 
 torious. 
 
BROTHERHOOD 
 
 Is the human race a brotherhood, or have individ- 
 uals in humanity no relation to one another, other 
 than grains of sand, or the mountains of a range? 
 With the correct answers to these questions goes 
 the solution of all social problems. If men are 
 related only as grains of sand or mountains, then 
 egoism is not only justifiable, but inevitable. On 
 the other hand if humanity is a brotherhood, altru- 
 ism needs no justification ; it is the natural human 
 condition and some time will be universal. The 
 fundamental inquiry of theology concerns the exist- 
 ence and nature of God : the fundamental inquiry 
 of sociology is, How may brotherhood be made 
 a reality? Theology and sociology are but the 
 application of the scientific method to the formula 
 into which Jesus condensed the moral law : "Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and 
 thy neighbor as thyself." 
 
 There appears to be a revival of interest in social 
 subjects, but the revival is only apparent. In 
 reality the thought and inquiry of ages of investi- 
 
104 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 gation along these lines are coming to fruitage. 
 interest in The human problem has always been the 
 
 Social Ques- . . 
 
 tiona. most pressing because it is the nearest. 
 
 The Exodus under Moses was the beginning of a 
 new nation, but still more it was a gigantic labor- 
 revolt directed by a masterful leader. The wail 
 of the oppressed , workers was as clamorous in 
 ancient Egypt as in modern Belgium. The Caesars 
 were engaged in foreign conquest, but still more 
 in efforts to keep the pauper multitudes at home 
 from open revolt. To-day the poor demand work 
 that they may live :" then they demanded a living 
 without work. Nothing more conclusively answers 
 the inquiry, Is the world growing better ? than the 
 changed condition of the laboring classes. For- 
 merly without organization they were satisfied with 
 " food and the circus ; " but now they are organ- 
 ized and eager not only to be independent but also 
 to improve. The labor question perplexed rulers 
 and thinkers in the Middle Ages. Poverty which 
 had reached the vitals of states was vainly treated 
 with anodynes of charity by the religious orders. 
 In the seventeenth century thought was largely 
 absorbed with theological speculations, but from 
 the midst of them also the ever present social agi- 
 tation emerged. At first what is called the Puri- 
 tan revolution was a contest as to the right of a 
 man to think for himself, but that quickly reached 
 
BROTHERHOOD 105 
 
 back to the prior question as to whether he is 
 human and has any rights. 
 
 This is preeminently the age of humanity. 
 Many causes have cooperated in making the rela- 
 tion of man to man the most conspicuous and 
 imperative of all subjects of inquiry. 
 
 There is interest in theology, and noble contri- 
 butions to its literature have recently appeared ; 
 physical science continues her explorations and 
 ministries, but both theology and science hold a 
 subordinate place in the thought of the world. 
 The one subject which, in various forms, is every- 
 where uppermost concerns human relations and 
 duties. This is evident in the growth of demo- 
 cratic ideals, in the increasing power and promi- 
 nence of the laboring classes, in the quickness 
 with which those seeking political preferment dis- 
 cern that they have to deal with the many rather 
 than the few, in the world-wide combinations of 
 workingmen, in current literature which is largely 
 humanitarian, in the increasing frequency and 
 boldness of the revolts of employees, and perhaps 
 most of all in the emphasis of teachers of religion. 
 No preacher of this generation has had a wide in- 
 fluence among those who think, who has not been 
 humanitarian in his teachings. The only possible 
 exception is Mr. Spurgeon. Of him two things 
 may be said. His influence was far-reaching, but 
 
106 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 it was popular rather than permanent, and, while 
 his emphasis was on theology, his spirit and prac- 
 tice were democratic. On the other hand, the 
 prophets of the age, the teachers of the teachers, 
 those whom the people are following, and widely 
 quoting, have in the forefront of their creeds what 
 once was commonly and sneeringly called " Hu- 
 manitarianism." 
 
 The welfare of humanity has long been the chief 
 subject of speculation and investigation. Now and 
 then it has been obscured by wars and revolutions, 
 but when the storms have passed, the compass has 
 always been found pointing toward the rights of 
 man. 
 
 Socialism, communism, anarchism, — the blind 
 and frantic efforts of the masses to find truth and 
 reality, — can be overlooked by no observing per- 
 son. There is but one way in which the prevailing 
 unrest can be alleviated, and that is by showing that 
 there is something better than socialism, commu- 
 nism, anarchism. That better ideal is brotherhood. 
 But before there will be any widespread or endur- 
 ing faith in brotherhood it must be shown to be 
 elemental and a part of the order of the universe. 
 Socialism is a larger form of egoism ; its spirit and 
 methods are selfish. Communism is advocated by 
 those who wish to secure a competence without 
 effort. Brotherhood alone is altruistic, and it alone 
 
BROTHERHOOD 107 
 
 offers the world something better than it already 
 possesses. But brotherhood depends on father- 
 hood. No fatherhood, no brotherhood; no bro- 
 therhood, no better social order. Rational opti- 
 mism concerning man in his social relations always 
 coexists with faith in " God the Father Almighty." 
 Without Him there will be nothing more encourag- 
 ing than " the survival of the fittest," and struggle 
 and battle to the end of the chapter : with Him 
 somehow good must be the goal of the social strug- 
 gle. Since He is, not one human being will be 
 left without sympathy and fellowship. 
 
 The importance of a rational basis for brother- 
 hood appears when we consider the fate Basis ot 
 
 A , Faith in 
 
 of a few attempts at social betterment. Brother- 
 
 A hood. 
 
 Experiments with democracy in the 
 past have been dismal failures for the reason that 
 they were in the interest of a few. What was 
 called democracy in Greece was oligarchy incor- 
 rectly spelled. It sought the welfare of the elect at 
 the expense of the many. The slaves were always 
 more numerous than the citizens. Because there 
 was no brotherhood, there was no democracy. 
 
 The French Revolutionists adopted a noble 
 motto with enough truth in it to make it popular 
 — " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ; " and enough 
 error in it to insure the failure of their cause. They 
 professed brotherhood, but the mob was more 
 
108 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 tyrannical than the king. There was liberty only 
 for those who could stultify themselves enough to 
 declare that the lurid glare of Marat and Robes- 
 pierre was the dawn of a fairer day. The rights 
 of man were recognized only in theory. A few 
 agitators, blatant and bloody in a cause which 
 they did not understand, could not make a real 
 democracy. Robespierre knew no more about bro- 
 therhood than Louis XIV. Danton was as great 
 a tyrant as Richelieu. 
 
 The abolition of slavery in the United States 
 was a war measure. It was good as far as it went, 
 but the condition of the emancipated millions and 
 their children has not greatly improved. The 
 presence of the colored millions was never more 
 perilous to the republic than now, because emanci- 
 pation has not been accompanied with an appre- 
 ciation of brotherhood. However much the white 
 population may protest and however vociferous 
 their orthodoxy on other subjects, their treatment 
 of the colored people shows that they do not be- 
 lieve that God has made of one blood all the races 
 of men, and that so far they are infidels. This 
 statement applies no more to those who live in the 
 Southern districts of the United States than to 
 many who dwell at the North and in other lands. 
 Democracies, revolutions, emancipations, are more 
 or less failures when they are unaccompanied by 
 
BROTHERHOOD 109 
 
 the faith that universal brotherhood is necessitated 
 by the fatherhood of God. 
 
 No scheme for social improvement that does not 
 have brotherhood as its final goal is worth either 
 effort or sacrifice. It is doomed as soon as an- 
 nounced. 
 
 The question of brotherhood is therefore both 
 practical and pressing. Here an interesting fact 
 emerges. 
 
 Appreciation of man always rises or falls with 
 the conception of God. SffSlL. 
 
 In India, where the idea of God is pan- theConcep- 
 theistic, and He is identified with the 
 Cosmic process, a few individuals rise above their 
 fellow men like the mountains of Thibet, but the 
 majority of the people are crushed beneath bur- 
 dens which have grown heavier with the centuries. 
 There is little sense of humanity. There are many 
 there who by birth are condemned to slavery, and 
 a few favored souls who fondly imagine that they 
 alone are emanations from the divine. Belief in 
 a naturalistic God always results in dehumanized 
 men. 
 
 In the old religions of Japan the Deity and the 
 law of causation are identified. There is no in- 
 telligence, love, nor choice in their teaching con- 
 cerning the Supreme Power. An endless chain of 
 causation is all. Consequently for centuries the 
 
110 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 social condition did not improve. Until western 
 civilization broke the barriers of racial reserve 
 there was vice, degradation, stagnation, retrogres- 
 sion, but no progress. Humanity rises where there 
 is ground for hope in some better state. Humane 
 feelings die when the basis of optimism is taken 
 away. If men are only individuals in an end- 
 less succession, and if all must fall when one is 
 touched, despair is inevitable. Where hope dies, 
 efforts to improve the race cease. Then the evo- 
 lutionary process is reversed and the individual 
 moves far back toward the animal. 
 
 In Greece the conception of the gods was singu- 
 larly anthropomorphic. They were sublimated men 
 with bestial passions and tendencies. When the 
 object of worship is viler than the one who wor- 
 ships, the moral life is degraded. The teaching 
 that Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are 
 yet without sin was, to say the least, a rare stroke 
 of genius. The Greek gods were sinners, and the 
 Greeks were sinners like their gods. Jove was an 
 adulterer, and adultery was common among those 
 who worshiped Jove. Venus was voluptuous, and 
 the story of Helen was inevitable. There were 
 controversies among the gods, and wars between 
 the states and with outside nations. In the long 
 run no people ever rise higher than the Being 
 whom they worship. Is God identified with the 
 
BROTHERHOOD 111 
 
 processes of nature? Then man will think of 
 himself as but one of millions of manifestations 
 of the infinite, in whom there is place neither for 
 choice nor for responsibility. Is God the unintel- 
 ligent law of causation ? Then every man is what 
 he must be, and human relations, like all relations, 
 are determined by necessity. If there are wars 
 among the Gods and it is impossible for one deity 
 to respect another, men will be equally unmindful 
 of each other. The contrast between the Ethnic 
 and the Hebrew conceptions of God and their 
 effect on human relations is evident and impressive. 
 The Hebrew equally with the Hindu regarded the 
 Deity as infinite, but he held also that He is per- 
 sonal and intelligent. He taught with the Bud- 
 dhist that He is the First Cause and the Constant 
 Cause, but he insisted that He has the power of 
 choice and of imparting that power to men. The 
 Hebrew as well as the Greek believed that God 
 is interested in human affairs, and also that He 
 is perfectly holy. Such teaching led the Hebrews 
 to put emphasis on individual responsibility and 
 personal purity. But even their ideal was rather 
 that of a tribal or a national Deity than of one 
 supreme, infinite, and universal person. Jehovah 
 was a tribal or racial God like Zeus. Some of 
 the prophets rose to loftier heights, but the com- 
 mon people believed that Jehovah was the pecu- 
 
112 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 liar property of their nation. Their human sym- 
 pathy was bounded by the nation's frontiers, and 
 within those limits there was brotherhood but not 
 beyond. 
 
 There was no brotherhood among the Hindus. 
 The suggestion of the possibility is ludicrous. Be- 
 tween Brahman and Pariah yawns an impassable 
 gulf. The Buddhists are charitable, but even their 
 charity is selfish. It is the service of others in 
 order that the ills of existence may be escaped, not 
 that the sorrows of humanity may be relieved. 
 Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to this day are intel- 
 lectual leaders, but they had no place in their 
 system of thought for any real doctrine of brother- 
 hood. I do not say that in those earlier times 
 there were no adumbrations of this gracious teach- 
 ing, but I do affirm that at no time was its light 
 general, and that everywhere the conception of man 
 and of his duties was determined by the popular 
 ideas of the Deity. 
 
 Jesus came with a new message. The key to 
 His doctrines is the word "life." He explained 
 everything so far as He explained anything in 
 terms of life. While others used the firmament 
 with its countless splendors, impersonal laws in 
 whose tracks all things move, night and morning, 
 oceans, mountains, and human governments, to 
 convey hints of God, Jesus had but one name for 
 
BROTHERHOOD 113 
 
 Him and that was Father. He always interpreted 
 God in the terms of fatherhood. 
 
 The social problem is very old, but since the 
 time of Jesus it has assumed new forms. The ow 
 
 rm ~r* i ii» • pi Problem in a 
 
 ±ne Hixodus, and the insurrection of the New Form. 
 gladiators in Home, for instance, were convulsive 
 efforts of slaves to get relief. The idea of a social 
 philosophy founded on the rights of man, so far as 
 I have learned, was unknown before the Christian 
 era, and has been unknown since where the teach- 
 ings of Jesus have had no authority. But where 
 His words have been read in the light of His life, 
 the oppressed have asserted their manhood because 
 they have learned that equally with those who 
 seem more favored they are children of God ; that 
 the Almighty has no favorites; that He never 
 intended that any natural riches like air, land, 
 water, should be the monopoly of a few. As the 
 people have been taught that there is no " finer 
 clay," that if any have preponderant advantage it 
 is because of an accidental and not an inherent 
 right, they have attempted to correct social injus- 
 tice. The dearest phrase to the common people 
 of the world is " the brotherhood of man." The 
 majesty of the fact at last has dawned upon them 
 like a sun. The inspiration of most socialism, and 
 the power behind the unwearying effort to rise 
 among those who work with their hands, is faith 
 
114 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 in human brotherhood. Many social panaceas are 
 still selfish because, while the people are becom- 
 ing conscious of brotherhood, they have not yet, 
 with equal clearness, discerned the reality of the 
 Divine Fatherhood. 
 
 The contribution of Jesus toward the solution 
 of the social problem is the light which falls from 
 the two words fatherhood and brotherhood. 
 
 The supreme need of the present time is a cor- 
 rect understanding of the meaning and responsibil- 
 ities of brotherhood. That can be gained only by 
 interpreting the social problem in the light of 
 fatherhood. 
 
 What is implied by brotherhood ? Let us seek 
 contents of an answer in the terms of fatherhood. 
 
 Brother- 
 
 hood. Fatherhood implies identity of nature 
 
 between parent and child. There are difficulties 
 here, but difficulties must not be allowed to obscure 
 facts. Jesus teaches the universal fatherhood of 
 God ; and that necessitates the conclusion that in 
 some way all men are of the same nature as the 
 Deity ; and that in turn compels the further con- 
 clusion that there is, and can be, no difference in 
 the essential nature of various groups of men, and 
 that all divisions between them other than ethical 
 ones are artificial and ephemeral. 
 
 I fully appreciate the difficulties which at this 
 point confront the student of human life. Much 
 
BROTHERHOOD 115 
 
 of our thinking in its search after great things 
 overlooks more important facts which lie near at 
 hand. It may well he asked, How can you in- 
 sist on the fatherhood of God when human parent- 
 hood is so often accidental and unwelcome ? We 
 call this child " our little surprise," said a some- 
 what free-spoken woman to one who was visiting 
 at her home. If the history of the birth of a 
 large proportion of the human race were written, 
 the story could be condensed into one phrase, " a 
 surprise." How can the accidents of humanity 
 result in children of God in any but a Pickwickian 
 sense ? It will not do to blink this question, and 
 yet to answer it is not easy. I content myself with 
 recalling the teachings of Jesus. He affirmed the 
 fatherhood of God, implying, as it does, identity 
 of nature between parent and child. In every 
 man equally there is something divine. But why 
 say equally? Because it is impossible that it 
 should be otherwise. My children must either be 
 equally my children or not at all my children. A 
 difference in constitution cannot make one fully a 
 child and another partially so. The sweep of this 
 truth is revolutionary, but it is also magnificent. 
 
 If this claim is true, all discriminations between 
 men founded on imagined or racial dif- Race Pre- 
 
 # s judice Irra- 
 
 ferences are without a basis in reason. tional - 
 The blackest and most uncouth African, the found- 
 
116 THE AGE OF EAITH 
 
 ling of the slums who has known neither father nor 
 mother, the bastard, the criminal, the outcast, are 
 all, equally with the most refined and cultured, 
 children of God ; and, unless they have forfeited 
 them, by nature equally entitled to the rights, the 
 privileges, and the possessions of children of God. 
 There is something sacred in humanity. This is 
 generally recognized now, but within a quarter 
 of a century systems of theology began with the 
 essential and natural worthlessness of man. Such 
 doctrines are now giving place to emphasis on 
 the worth and divinity of humanity. The change 
 of emphasis is revolutionizing political economy as 
 well as theology. But even now it is affirmed that 
 labor is a commodity to be bought and sold like 
 any other. This is the stronghold of selfishness. 
 Shall I not use my money as I choose ? Shall I 
 not get for it all that it will bring? If there is 
 no fatherhood, then selfishness is logical ; but fa- 
 therhood carries with it identity of nature between 
 parent and child ; and therefore every laborer is 
 of the nature of God, and he who has the nature 
 of God cannot in right and reason be treated like 
 the products of factory and field. To buy and 
 sell labor is to make barter of a child of God. 
 How do such prejudices look in the light of father- 
 hood? 
 
 That our ecclesiasticism and our science have 
 
BROTHERHOOD 117 
 
 made so little impression on the Chinese wall of 
 racial exclusiveness is the most pathetic indictment 
 of modern civilization. The Jew is still under a 
 ban in nearly every country in Europe. With all 
 the boasted hospitality and liberality of the United 
 States, he is made to feel that he is still an alien. 
 
 But the ostracism of the Jew is child's play when 
 compared with the treatment of the colored man. 
 If the line were drawn at cleanliness, at decency, 
 at moral character, it could easily be justified, but 
 the line is drawn at blood. The most eloquent 
 orator in America is a colored man ; and he is not 
 only an orator but a practical statesman, with a 
 vision and grasp of affairs unsurpassed by any 
 man south of Mason and Dixon's line, and yet in 
 few parts of the country would he be welcome 
 at a first-class hotel, and when he returns to the 
 State of which he is the most distinguished citizen, 
 he is compelled to ride in a " Jim Crow car," while 
 rowdies and prostitutes are welcomed to the best 
 that the roads can furnish. Many of the leaders 
 in the perpetuation of race-prejudice bear the 
 name of Christian, and masquerade in the gar- 
 ments of the church. That the black man is a 
 child of God, and a brother, is the illuminating 
 message of Jesus, and in that light all other ques- 
 tions concerning him should be settled. In this 
 respect the barbarism of the United States is as 
 
118 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 cruel, and far less justifiable than that of Turkey 
 or Spain. 
 
 How does the oppression of the poor look in the 
 light of the Divine Fatherhood? At this point 
 economic theories are of the least possible conse- 
 quence. At no time during the last century has 
 there been one hour when there has not been food 
 and clothing sufficient for all living in civilized 
 lands, and yet hundreds, and probably thousands, 
 have annually died of hunger and cold, because 
 there has been no way of getting together the man 
 and the things which he needed. 
 
 In spite of all progress, the same conditions con- 
 tinue. There are factories where men work from 
 six in the morning until seven at night, with slight 
 intermissions, for the paltry pay of a pound a week, 
 while those who do no work receive and spend fool- 
 ishly the rewards of those who labor. Women are 
 still paid two cents and a half apiece for making 
 garments, when by constant toil they can earn 
 barely enough to exist, not enough to live. Some 
 are even told that, in ways of which it is a shame to 
 speak, they should supplement their scanty wages. 
 
 These are illustrations of the social struggle, 
 The social an< ^ ^hey * e ^ a ^ ear ^ u l story. The diffi- 
 SkJtpre- culties are grievously misrepresented by 
 many who know the truth. The labor- 
 ing classes no doubt often have unwise leaders ; 
 
BROTHERHOOD 119 
 
 and parasites suck the life-blood of many who are 
 trying to rise, but the great multitudes know what 
 they need, even if their ways of expression are 
 rude. Tourgenieff's story of Mumu is true to life. 
 Millions conscious of love and aspiration are mis- 
 understood, and when they plead for simple justice, 
 they are crushed. When these facts are published, 
 they meet the reply, " Well, what can be done ? It 
 is inevitable that some should suffer." It is inevi- 
 table that some should suffer, but not necessary that 
 any should go hungry, or cold, or lack for opportu- 
 nity of improvement, because there would be food, 
 clothing, and labor enough for all, if no one took 
 more than his share, and all were to act toward 
 one another as brothers. The most common and 
 fatal of heresies is unwillingness to believe in the 
 brotherhood of man. It is easy to confess that 
 we are " miserable sinners," but more difficult to 
 acknowledge with sincerity that all men are equals 
 in rights and privileges. A new article should be 
 added to all the Christian creeds. It should read 
 as follows: "We believe that he that loveth not 
 his brother whom he hath seen cannot love God 
 whom he hath not seen." 
 
 The teaching of Jesus is simple and clear. 
 When He speaks of the Infinite, the Al- The Teaoh 
 mighty, He has but one word to express "e " 63 " 8 - 
 His meaning, and that word is Father. Whatever 
 
120 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 else is implied in Infinite, Absolute, God, there 
 can be nothing which may not be interpreted in 
 terms of fatherhood. When he speaks of men, he 
 has but one word by which to define their rela- 
 tions and duties to one another, and that is brother. 
 Fatherhood interprets brotherhood. When you 
 know parents, you know children in their rights 
 and relations. The children are the heirs of the 
 parents unless disinherited. 
 
 Brotherhood and fatherhood, as we have already 
 shown, imply community of nature. All the chil- 
 dren of God are by nature partakers of the life of 
 God. They are called children of " wrath," or of 
 " perdition," not to define their relations or duties, 
 but to indicate that those relations and duties have 
 been violated. 
 
 My duty to my neighbor is limited at every 
 point by his divine sonship. Jesus said : " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ; " that is, Thou 
 shalt remember that he has exactly the same na- 
 ture as you have. Such a command, otherwise, 
 would be without meaning, for no one can love a 
 thing as he loves himself. 
 
 Love for man is dependent on something in 
 JSfreJt man wortn y 0I l°ve, an d that is found in 
 objeotf his essential divinity. 
 
 There has been little if any philan- 
 thropy where the teachings of Jesus have been 
 
BROTHERHOOD 121 
 
 unknown or unheeded. If men are only things, 
 there is no strong motive for the alleviation of 
 suffering, or the saving of life. Why die like 
 Howard and Waring to prevent the ravages of 
 the plague? Why deny one's self any pleasure 
 to uplift the poor and the outcast ? If men are 
 but matter in process of change, there is no ra- 
 tional answer to these questions, but if all are 
 brethren, then every motive which leads me to 
 serve myself impels me with equal earnestness to 
 seek the welfare of my fellow men. 
 
 If I do not respect and honor myself, I cannot 
 respect and honor my brother. If I am convinced 
 that when I die I shall cease to be, I shall think 
 the same concerning my fellow man. Then I shall 
 have lost my motive for serving others, since merely 
 material kinship makes no demand on love or duty. 
 A man feels no obligation toward a tree or a 
 stone. Brotherhood is defined and interpreted 
 by fatherhood. All duties to men are short-lived 
 which are not founded on our common relation to 
 God. Expedients for social amelioration will 
 fail if they do not discern the divinity which is in 
 all men. 
 
 The brotherhood of man is more than the dream 
 of enthusiasts ; it is the ideal which some have 
 sought in all ages, of which their efforts to rise 
 have been prophecies — the normal human condi- 
 
122 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 tion which will be realized when the Kingdom of 
 God prevails. 
 
 Struggle and battle cannot be final conditions ; 
 they must be but means to ends, the way in which 
 the race " mounts and meliorates " toward its " far- 
 off divine event." 
 
 There are three classes of thinkers oh social 
 Classes of subjects at the present time. The first 
 Thinkers. f ran ]jly ignores idealism in dealing with 
 human affairs. " Business is business," whether 
 it has to do with men or things. " Ideals have 
 their place, no doubt, but it is not in settling ques- 
 tions which vex society. Certain laws have been 
 discovered, and they must hold whether we like 
 them or not." Such thinkers ignore the nature of 
 man and treat him as a thing. They see no differ- 
 ence between a free spirit and the forces of nature 
 or the products of the soil. 
 
 The second class feels the hurts and burdens 
 of humanity. It sees that something is wrong, 
 and devotes itself to efforts to alleviate the evident 
 agonies of the social disease. It ignores causes 
 and treats symptoms. That course may succeed 
 in medicine, but it is not a wise way to deal with 
 social disorders. The people who suffer do not 
 wait to learn the best way to accomplish their ob- 
 jects ; they simply rebel against what they feel that 
 they can no longer endure. Their efforts end, as 
 
BROTHERHOOD 123 
 
 spasms usually end, in weakness, if not in an in- 
 crease of the disease. All such efforts are com- 
 monly though often inaccurately called socialistic. 
 
 The other school of thinkers, realizing intensely 
 the ills from which society is suffering, seeks the 
 cause of the trouble. It finds something which 
 cannot be cured by anaesthetics or palliatives. 
 The first class says men are things, and are to be 
 treated as things, and the more you do for them 
 the more the misery is multiplied in the end : the 
 second asks no questions, but strongly and franti- 
 cally rebels against suffering, with the result that 
 the misery is multiplied because the rebellion was 
 not intelligent ; the third class looks deeper and 
 finds a radical error in the way men think of them- 
 selves and their fellow men. It insists that we 
 must study our ancestry before we can know our 
 lineage ; that we will learn that all men have equal 
 rights when we discover that all have the same 
 origin. 
 
 Again we say fatherhood determines the duties 
 and relations of children. Since all men are 
 children of God, all are brothers in the heritage of 
 the Divine Fatherhood. 
 
 When we know what men are, and for what they 
 were created, we may work for them intelligently. 
 The struggling, aspiring, rebelling multitudes need 
 to be taught that all men are brothers because all 
 
124 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 have a common father. They will seek the best 
 for themselves and for one another when they know 
 themselves, and realize that one man's good should 
 be all men's law. 
 
 Let us now contrast the brotherhood of man as 
 taught by Jesus with prevalent social 
 sodS tber ideals. Highest among these is Social- 
 ism. Socialism is a name covering many 
 theories. It is enough for our purpose to define it 
 as absorption by the state of all natural wealth, of all 
 means of producing wealth, and of the distribution 
 of the profits of labor. In most of its manifesta- 
 tions it is as selfish as unrestricted competition, be- 
 cause it is an effort of the many to secure more for 
 themselves. It contains no element of love, mutual 
 service, or sacrifice for the common welfare. It is 
 an attempt to establish a social order which will 
 give to those who now have little a larger share of 
 natural wealth and of the products of labor. It 
 proposes to do this by extending the sphere of 
 government. But socialism would leave the heart 
 of man as barren as before. It offers no motive 
 beyond the hope of gain. Its ideals at the best are 
 narrow and without relation to character. It may 
 be called an expedient for evading the requirements 
 of brotherhood. There will be socialists so long as 
 there is wealth to be gained ; but brotherhood will 
 endure so long as men believe in the Divine Father- 
 hood. 
 
BROTHERHOOD 125 
 
 Communism and socialism are not identical, al- 
 though often classed together. The former is the 
 more crude and impractical. It would abolish all 
 private property. It insists that the community 
 should own everything ; that there should be a 
 common treasury into which all wealth should go, 
 and that each person should draw from it, not 
 according to what he has put in, but the same 
 as every other person. Saint Simon's beautiful 
 rule, " From all according to ability, to all accord- 
 ing to need," is a far nobler ideal. 
 
 Communism rests on the radical falsehood that 
 all men are equal. All are not equal. The needs 
 of one may be ten times more than those of an- 
 other. Not all have common duties nor the same 
 natural advantages. Communism is selfish. It is 
 the expedient of a class. It is not large enough 
 for humanity. It is a social state in the clouds. 
 It might be worked in the interests of brotherhood, 
 but is not inspired by brotherhood. It is a scheme 
 by which those who have nothing hope to enter 
 without labor into partnership with those who have 
 an abundance. 
 
 Anarchism is a blind and spasmodic protest 
 against oppression. It is the awful falsehood by 
 which those who know only that things are not 
 right are deluded into thinking that two wrongs 
 may succeed where one wrong fails. It is the denial 
 
126 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 of brotherhood : the assertion that when one by 
 natural gifts has risen into a conspicuous position, 
 whatever his virtues, he can no longer lay claim to 
 the simplest of rights and the holiest of privileges. 
 
 Socialism, Communism, Anarchism, are errors 
 which can never long satisfy thinking men. They 
 are foes of brotherhood, since they are designed 
 to benefit one class. Their horizons are narrow. 
 They have advocates because the suffering of the 
 many is so great that they must find some escape, 
 and these mockeries of brotherhood sing a Siren's 
 song. They fail because they merge the individ- 
 ual in the mass, and because they stifle aspiration 
 and endeavor. One plan puts the state in the place 
 of the personal conscience ; another asserts a false 
 doctrine of equality; while the third in its agony 
 for relief ignores God and man. 
 
 Contrast these temporary and selfish expedients 
 The ideal with the ideal of Jesus. He taught that 
 the whole family of man is a brotherhood. 
 The individuality of each is sacred, and yet all are 
 bound together by the chains of love. No one 
 should adopt a plan or use a method for his own 
 advancement which is hostile to the interests of any 
 one of the others. The individual is not sacrificed 
 but exalted. He finds his noblest privilege and 
 power in voluntarily giving himself to the common 
 welfare. The state is not a tyrant compelling obe- 
 
BROTHERHOOD 127 
 
 dience, but the community of those who serve and 
 help one another in the unity of a common love. 
 There is no virtue in compulsory service. He who 
 draws out of a common treasury no more than his 
 neighbor deserves no credit ; he cannot do other- 
 wise. But he who voluntarily surrenders his lib- 
 erty, his ease, his wealth, because his brother has 
 need, is virtuous. 
 
 Brotherhood is larger than the various ideals 
 after which men have reached in the past. It is 
 the voluntary service of the many by the individual, 
 and of the individual by the many, because both 
 see in all men the same nature, the same rights, 
 the same possible destiny. 
 
 The realization of brotherhood is the superlative 
 social ideal. It will banish all prejudices The su- 
 
 - i i i -r ■-.« preme Social 
 
 founded on caste, or color, or race. It will Meai. 
 make the employer anxious to do by his employee 
 as he would be done by. It will teach the poor 
 that the rich are as human and as needy as them- 
 selves. Sometimes the responsibilities of wealth 
 are heavier than the burdens of poverty ; but that 
 is a hard lesson to learn. 
 
 Where there is brotherhood, all forms of busi- 
 ness, and all methods in business, which are hostile 
 to the best interests of any will disappear. He 
 who seeks to save my soul can never be willing to 
 damn my body or mind. How can one who knows 
 
128 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 his neighbor to be his brother consent to rise on the 
 ruins of that brother's home, character, or welfare? 
 Brotherhood will quickly settle the contest between 
 capital and labor, for among brothers no one seeks 
 to get the better of the other, but all cooperate to 
 secure for one another that which is just and right. 
 Brotherhood is the culmination of the teachings 
 of Jesus concerning the relation of man to man. 
 It is the most magnificent and comprehensive of 
 social ideals. The stone is the kingdom which, cut 
 out of the mountain without hands, will some time 
 fill the earth. It is the holy city which will descend 
 out of heaven from God. It is the glory sym- 
 bolized by streets of gold, gates of pearl, and the 
 Lamb which is the Light, — for that is a prophecy 
 of the time when even the medium of vision will be 
 sacrificial love. 
 
 Certain inferences follow this teaching of Jesus 
 concerning brotherhood, which should be 
 
 Inferences. 
 
 carefully heeded, lest we make the mis- 
 take of putting on this truth a burden heavier than 
 it can bear. 
 
 Brotherhood does imply equality in rights and 
 in love, but not in ability or opportunity. The 
 children in a household are equally entitled to the 
 privileges of the home, but all are not equal in their 
 strength either of body or of mind. In the sense 
 in which it was used in France in the time of the 
 
BROTHERHOOD 129 
 
 Revolution, " Equality " was a lie. There never 
 has been any such equality. Every man has that 
 which is best for him. One's strength of brawn 
 may compensate for his lack of brain, but that 
 does not make him the equal in brain power of his 
 neighbor. Brotherhood is realized in the manifes- 
 tation of love, not in domestic monotony. 
 
 " Equality " would not be a blessing. It would 
 stifle many of the finest human traits. We grow 
 by opportunities of service. " Equality " would ban- 
 ish the necessity of mutual helpfulness. And yet 
 brothers have equal rights. Equality in rights is 
 not identical with equality in natural endowments. 
 
 Where brotherhood prevails, all seek one an- 
 other's welfare and guard one another's rights. 
 The interests of the family are common interests. 
 If one member suffers, all suffer ; if one rejoices, 
 all are made glad. Brotherhood implies that the 
 race is a family. When this truth is appreciated, 
 all that concerns the welfare of one man becomes 
 the passion of all men. The color of the skin or 
 the shape of the nose is a mere accident of birth, — 
 essential manhood is not thereby affected. Bro- 
 therhood sweeps away distinctions of rank, class, 
 race, religion, and knows only that humanity is a 
 solidarity, and that there is no possible service of 
 God which does not begin in the service of man. 
 
 When brotherhood prevails, weakness becomes 
 
130 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 the common burden, and its service the common 
 privilege. Among many animals, when one falls 
 by the way his fellows fall upon him and kill him. 
 Where selfish theories of ethics prevail, weakness 
 is almost equivalent to crime. In the human 
 struggle the frail are left to perish like worn-out 
 horses. But brotherhood puts all its resources at 
 the command of the weak. The child in the house- 
 hold is the centre of loving ministry among those 
 who are strong. Dickens' story of Tiny Tim is a 
 true expression of what fatherhood and brother- 
 hood do for the weak. The poor little cripple was 
 carried by his humble father, and all the family 
 were made glad by being permitted to have a part 
 in his happiness. The world is far from that ideal, 
 but it has been uplifted. 
 
 Selfishness asks, How small wages can I pay and 
 get the work done ? Brotherhood asks, How large 
 wages can I pay and yet keep the business in a 
 healthy condition? 
 
 Selfishness says, It is none of my affairs where 
 my employees live or how they live : Brotherhood 
 cannot be satisfied if any are in an environment 
 unfavorable either to moral or physical health. 
 
 Selfishness says, It is my business to look out for 
 myself : Brotherhood says, It is my privilege to 
 guard the interests and protect the welfare of my 
 brethren. Selfishness says, It is no concern of 
 
BROTHERHOOD 131 
 
 any one what I eat or drink : Brotherhood says, 
 If anything I eat or drink will cause my brother 
 to stumble, I will change my habits and give up 
 my luxuries. Selfishness says, I will always buy 
 in the cheapest market : Brotherhood says, I will 
 wear no garment which has been moist with the 
 tears or blood of the oppressed. Selfishness says, 
 I must look out for my own interests: Brother- 
 hood says : We will bear one another's burdens, 
 and rise or fall together. 
 
 There is reason for gratitude that there is so 
 much brotherhood ; that so many are actually liv- 
 ing to minister and not to be ministered unto ; that 
 the story of Tiny Tim and others like it waken 
 such a deep and true response ; that there are re- 
 formers, physicians, nurses, missionaries, ministers, 
 and a host in humble as well as in public life, who 
 serve the weak and carry the burdens of the poor 
 before they seek ease or luxury for themselves. 
 
 Where brotherhood prevails, laws will be made 
 in the interests of all and not for the benefit of any 
 one class. Divine principles are finding their way 
 into legislative halls very slowly, but they are enter- 
 ing even there. Most legislation has heretofore 
 been in the interests of those who have power, but 
 thought for the welfare of the many is at last pene- 
 trating the minds of the average politician. Wel- 
 fare, not vested interests, will be safeguarded when 
 
132 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 the brotherhood of man is realized. I know that 
 with many the mention of such political ideals 
 seems to impugn the sanity of the one who offers 
 them; but laws are only the will of the people 
 finding expression. When the people know that 
 they are brothers, laws will no longer be framed to 
 defeat brotherhood. The spectacle of a corporation 
 ignoring the welfare of a thousand people that a 
 few more dollars may be put into the pockets of 
 men already rich is horrible barbarism ; but this 
 may be found in every state in the civilized world. 
 Such things are possible because some of those who 
 have the power do not yet know themselves children 
 of God and brothers of all men. Is the highest 
 type of manhood seen in him who gladly sacrifices 
 comfort and wealth in order that others may be 
 saved to a better life ? Then the state, which is 
 only many men working together, will some time 
 make its laws, grant its franchises, adopt its policy, 
 so as to promote the amelioration and salvation of 
 all. When the redemptive mission of the state is 
 suggested, not a few say, " We do not know what 
 it means." They are right. They do not know 
 what it means when applied to the state because 
 they have had no experience of its working in their 
 own lives. 
 
 The prevalence of brotherhood will make the 
 common welfare, the common service, and the com- 
 
BROTHERHOOD 133 
 
 mon sacrifice for those who need, in short, the 
 redemptive mission of the state, its most sacred 
 prerogative. Now the state protects, then it will 
 reform ; now it punishes, then it will seek to save. 
 With the triumph of brotherhood the duty of the 
 poor to the rich will be as evident and holy as the 
 duty of the rich to the poor. The possession of 
 wealth is not a crime. Which is the more to be 
 pitied, he whose hunger is seldom satisfied, or he 
 who has food enough but never dreams that wealth 
 has responsibilities? Starvation is a bitter fact, 
 but not so pitiful as moral blindness. The rich 
 need sympathy as much as the poor. Those who 
 might know the joy of helpfulness, but whose 
 souls are as barren of loving deeds as a desert is 
 barren of verdure, are surely to be pitied. There 
 was deep philosophy in the assertion of Jesus that 
 it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom which 
 is composed of the humble ; for it is not easy for 
 those who have much to be humble. Brotherhood 
 is two-sided. The poor quite as much as the rich 
 are in danger of forgetting the duty of love. Of 
 the forms in which love should be manifested I 
 have nothing to say at this time. It is enough 
 now to insist that all can add something to the 
 common welfare and happiness. The poor need 
 not look far to find some who are poorer. Brother- 
 liness is the sum of social virtues. 
 
134 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Optimism has relations to the individual, to the 
 state, to the universe. It is possible only as indi- 
 vidual, state, and universe are seen to be taken up 
 and infolded within such love as is manifested in 
 fatherhood. Fatherhood provides a basis for op- 
 timism. All men are brothers because they have 
 a common father. Some time they will realize that 
 fatherhood, and then brotherhood will take posses- 
 sion of all human relationships and use them for 
 the welfare of all. 
 
 Socialism would last as long as it was wisely ad- 
 ministered : Communism would endure as long as 
 the industrious were willing to bear the burdens of 
 the idle : Anarchism will always be the refuge of the 
 ignorant, the violent, and the insane. Only Brother- 
 hood has in it the promise of the future, because it 
 alone can reach man's common interests and rela- 
 tions resulting from the fatherhood of God. The 
 aspirations of the prophetic souls in all ages have 
 been for the perfect state. Plato called his splen- 
 did dream " The Republic ; " Lord Bacon called 
 his " The New Atlantis ; " and Sir Thomas More 
 in " Utopia " has tried to interpret the common 
 and universal longing for social perfection. 
 
 Confucius taught that the " Golden Age " could 
 only be found by a return to ancient ideals and 
 to the ways and teachings of the ancestors of the 
 race ; Buddha, probably influenced by the earlier 
 
BROTHERHOOD 135 
 
 "Hinduism out of which he came, found no hope 
 for the individual or society except in the percep- 
 tion that life is woe, and that Nirvana alone is 
 peace ; but Jesus taught, more sublimely and yet 
 more simply, that the goal of humanity is the reali- 
 zation of brotherhood interpreted in the light of 
 the common Fatherhood. The Ideal Eepublic, the 
 New Atlantis, Utopia, the Golden Age, will take 
 form among men when all have learned to think 
 of the Infinite as Father, and of humanity as a 
 brotherhood. In that new kingdom there will 
 be but two laws. They will be these : — 
 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." 
 " That ye love one another, even as I have loved you." 
 
VI 
 
 SUFFERING AND SORROW 
 
 Suffering, physical and mental, offers the 
 nearest, most constant, and most perplexing of 
 human problems, save one. It is ever present, ever 
 insistent, and always mysterious. It has been the 
 enigma of the ages. Philosophy quickly comes 
 face to face with this stern fact. Literature has 
 found in it a never-failing theme. The great tra- 
 gedies, ancient and modern, have been largely 
 studies in the realm of physical or moral pathology. 
 The Book of Job is occupied with it : the. stories 
 of Prometheus and Tantalus, the magnificent 
 realism of Lear and Hamlet, the sad yet victorious 
 strains of " In Memoriam," and the subdued and 
 melancholy sweetness of "Evangeline " are all varia- 
 tions on the omnipresent and bewildering reality of 
 suffering and sorrow. Every theology quickly be- 
 comes a theodicy. When dealing with it, specula- 
 tion is compelled to come down out of the clouds 
 and try its hand at the hard facts of '" human life's 
 mystery." Pure idealism is very well for the 
 young and prosperous who build palaces of dreams. 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 137 
 
 When experience has done its work, those palaces 
 are left in ruins, and the ruins themselves are cold 
 and desolate. I should never attempt to write on 
 this subject if I had nothing to offer except some 
 new theory, which a too self-reliant imagination 
 had told me would explain what the masters of 
 literature, philosophy, and religion in all lands and 
 times have found to be inexplicable. I shall only 
 attempt to apply the fundamental principle of 
 Christianity to " the common problem." 
 
 One more introductory remark is necessary. 
 Suffering and sorrow no refinements of thought 
 can explain away. What is symbolized by these 
 words is ever present ; and no amount of verbal 
 jugglery can emancipate any one from what bruises 
 the body and pierces the heart. We are dealing 
 with facts. Using the word in the sense of things 
 which are, the bitter experiences of men are as 
 real as anything in the universe. 
 
 Our problem has two factors : one relates to the 
 body and is covered by the phrase " phy- ^ Prob _ 
 sical suffering ; " the other has relation to em ' 
 the emotional nature, or the heart, and is expressed 
 by the word " sorrow." Physical suffering per- 
 vades all orders of life. Nature " is red in tooth 
 and claw ; " and the pain increases in intensity, if 
 not in amount, according to the perfection of being. 
 The prevalence of suffering in the animal world 
 
138 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 is universal. The hurt when a little dog's leg is 
 broken is as real as when a man receives the same 
 injury. Pain follows men like their shadows. 
 Man and beast alike are the children of travail. 
 Suffering with both begins at birth. The pathos 
 of a bird with a broken wing ; the great tears of a 
 sad-eyed ox when cut by a stone ; the piteous moans 
 of a tiger or panther when its foot is pierced 
 by a thorn, are all but hints of the undertone in 
 what may be called the minor music of creation. 
 Moreover, the principle of murder seems to be 
 universal. 
 
 " Life evermore ia fed by death, 
 
 In earth and sea and sky ; 
 And that a rose may breathe its breath 
 Something must die." 
 
 A worm when stepped on squirms with pain ; a 
 lion when wounded fills the forests with his groans. 
 All orders of the animal world alike, if not equally, 
 suffer, and alike exist by causing suffering. When 
 we rise to man, the same remorseless experiences 
 are observed. Pain begins at birth, and goes on 
 with a never-ceasing succession of fevers, neural- 
 gias, sciaticas, of toothache and headache, of lacer- 
 ated limbs and torn rierves, until by the time they 
 are old most men have begun to long for freedom 
 and rest. Heaven is quite as attractive because 
 of the hope that there will be no pain as no sin 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 139 
 
 there. How may the presence of physical suffer- 
 ing be explained? Is it necessary? Why is it 
 permitted ? At this door inquiry has knocked for 
 unknown ages, but no hint of a satisfying answer 
 has ever been received. 
 
 Equally mysterious are the phenomena of sor- 
 row. How far down the scale of being 
 
 i ill mi 1 Sorrow. 
 
 they extend, we do not know. That they 
 are found among animals there can be no doubt. 
 But the woes of humanity are sad enough ; we do 
 not need to ask where or when they first appeared. 
 Mrs. Browning, with her almost preternatural sen- 
 sitiveness, has not exaggerated the melancholy 
 reality : — 
 
 " ' There is no God,' the foolish saith, 
 But none, ' There is no sorrow,' 
 
 And nature oft, the cry of faith, 
 In hitter need will borrow : 
 
 Byes, which the preacher could not school, 
 By wayside graves are raised, 
 
 And lips say, ' God be pitiful,' 
 Who ne'er said, ' God be praised.' " * 
 
 The gamut of sorrow is full of sobs. The grief 
 of a child's heart, the disappointment of a lover, 
 the anguish of a man who loses his fortune, the 
 haunting and sometimes crazing loneliness of one 
 who realizes that his days must be passed in sight 
 of congenial companionship but without it, the 
 1 The Cry of the Human. 
 
140 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 isolation of blindness and deafness, the broken 
 heart before the awful desolation of death, cannot 
 be described, but they are met every day. She 
 spoke at least a half truth who said that the history 
 of the world could be written in tears and blood. 
 One whose nature " attracts sorrow as mountains 
 attract storms " must be a man of iron if he can 
 long endure the strain. If Jesus actually pene- 
 trated to the deeps of this mystery, as Christians 
 believe, it is not surprising that His heart broke. 
 
 What is the significance of sorrow ? Why need 
 it be ? Is there not something wrong in the uni- 
 verse, if such awful discipline is required to perfect 
 character ? Is this simply a mystery, or is there 
 some light in which we may see why it exists and 
 what it means ? 
 
 This problem has staggered men as long as the 
 Buddhism history of thought has been written. 
 
 andStoi- . 
 
 ciam. The Orientals have always been pecul- 
 
 iarly sensitive to these melancholy phenomena. 
 Buddhism, in particular, is an immense effort to 
 escape from what appears to it to be strangling 
 humanity, as serpents out of the deep strangled 
 Laocoon and his sons. Buddhism has two grand 
 divisions, Northern and Southern. One asserts 
 that enlightenment is to be attained by the per- 
 ception of " the nothingness of things ; " and the 
 other, by the perception of "misery." Southern 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 141 
 
 Buddhism is a continuous wail. Sir Edwin Ar- 
 nold, in " The Light of Asia," has vividly condensed 
 the utter despair of this faith in the phrase " And 
 life is woe." How may I escape from misery ? is 
 the bitter cry of one class of Buddhists. The 
 doleful conclusion is that since misery is caused 
 by existence, the only way out of suffering is cessa- 
 tion of conscious being, and thus when the wheel 
 of change has revolved long enough, they hope to 
 realize Nirvana. 
 
 Long pondering upon this problem has often 
 ended in atheism. It is not possible to prove the 
 non-existence of Deity, and I doubt if many ever 
 became atheists as a result of honest thinking. 
 The arguments, so far as they have weight, are all 
 on the side of theism. But when a man faces the 
 desolations of suffering and sorrow, he is simply 
 dazed, and before them, unless his vision is clear 
 and his intellect singularly sane, all his arguments 
 for optimism go down, and he leaps to the conclu- 
 sion that God cannot be, or sorrow would not be. 
 This was the road traveled by the Stoics. Their 
 philosophy of life was much like that of the Bud- 
 dhists. In substance it was as follows : Man should 
 neither love nor long for anything ; neither desire 
 nor aspire, since all things are sure to end in dis- 
 appointment. To the Stoics the supreme fact was 
 disappointment. Their effort was directed toward 
 
142 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 making that impossible. There is a deep truth in 
 their writings, and they may well be studied ; but 
 as an explanation of our most difficult problems, 
 they are without value. 
 
 A school of modern writers are practically athe- 
 ModemPes- ^ sts because they are essentially pessi- 
 mists, mists. Pessimism leads to atheism, and, 
 conversely, atheism by quite as short a path leads 
 to pessimism. In this class are Von Hartmann and 
 Schopenhauer among philosophers, George Eliot 
 and Zola among novelists, and Byron and Heine 
 among poets. Indeed, most of the realistic school 
 of poets and novelists, whose home is chiefly in 
 France, but who have imitators in many lands, 
 belong in this class. They sing of love and death 
 as those who believe that death ought to be the 
 end of love ; they analyze the griefs and sorrows 
 of men and women with a morbid fascination 
 which seems to indicate that they live with the 
 dead ; they have no horizon ; they see neither the 
 splendor of the sky nor the glory of the stars, and 
 they have no senses fine enough to catch the 
 music of the birds or the still more jubilant glad- 
 ness of the many happy human hearts. 
 
 The course of their argument, when they con- 
 descend to argue, is something as follows : Suffer- 
 ing and sorrow are universal. They have existed 
 everywhere and as long as history has been written. 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 143 
 
 Either God could prevent them and would not, 
 and therefore He is neither beneficent nor loving ; 
 or else He cannot prevent them, and therefore 
 something is greater than God, and therefore there 
 is no God. 
 
 This argument is plausible, and at first seems 
 convincing. If the subject could be settled by a 
 syllogism, little more would need to be said. But 
 problems like this are not so easy of solution. 
 They contain too many factors. For instance : 
 this attempt to meet the question implies the use 
 of reason in the individual reasoning ; but reason 
 in the individual necessitates the absolute or uni- 
 versal reason. If there is the absolute reason, then 
 the universe and history are ordered and adminis- 
 tered in harmony with reason ; if the universe is 
 thus ordered and administered, then suffering and 
 sorrow can neither be meaningless nor final, since 
 that would be the contradiction of reason. That 
 cannot be possible in the universal or in the abso- 
 lute which contradicts reason in man. This seems 
 to me to dispose of the argument by syllogism, 
 which from the presence of suffering in the uni- 
 verse infers that there is no God. But whether 
 the argument is answerable or not, there is no 
 doubt that suffering and sorrow have often led to 
 pessimism and atheism. 
 
 I turn now to some of the attempted solutions 
 
144 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 of this problem. Every thinker sooner or later 
 „ tries his hand at this perennial puzzle. 
 
 Attempted x x 
 
 the'pr'X 01 P lato treated the subject practically, 
 not asking whence suffering and sorrow 
 came, but how they should be borne. What is 
 most required? "Good counsel, I said, which, 
 as at a game of dice, takes the measures which 
 reason prescribes, according to the number of 
 the dice ; and will not allow us, like children 
 who have had a fall, to be keeping hold of the 
 part struck and wasting time in setting up a howl, 
 when we should be accustoming the soul forth- 
 with to apply a remedy, raising up that which is 
 sickly and fallen, banishing the cry of sorrow by 
 a real cure." 1 
 
 The teaching of the Buddhists as to the causes 
 of sorrow and suffering has already been mentioned. 
 They are ultimately caused by existence, but the 
 proximate cause is some act which has been per- 
 formed in a preexistent state. The Buddhists be- 
 lieve that perfection and release are possible only 
 for those who obey certain laws. Disobedience 
 in one sphere of existence necessitates numerous 
 rebirths in other states, and therefore the suffer- 
 ings of this present time are the result of miscon- 
 duct in some previous period. 
 
 1 " The Republic," Jowett's Dialogues of Plato, yol. ii. p. 
 436. 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 145 
 
 This doctrine has been condensed as follows : 
 " Now the doctrine of transmigration, in either the 
 Brahmanical or the Buddhist form, is not capable 
 of disproof ; while it affords an explanation, quite 
 complete to those who can believe it, of the appar- 
 ent anomalies and wrongs in the distribution here 
 of happiness and woe. A child, for instance, is 
 blind ; this is owing to his eye-vanity, lust of the 
 eye, in a former birth; but he has also unusual 
 powers of hearing ; this is because he loved, in a 
 former birth, to listen to the preaching of the 
 Law." 2 Of course in Buddhism this teaching is 
 modified by the fact that that faith does not recog- 
 nize the soul as having essential and individual 
 existence. Its teaching, as I understand it, is as 
 follows : There is no spirit, no soul, no principle 
 of personality which survives death, but the moral 
 character of the being who dies is transferred to a 
 new creature. Here appears the doctrine of karma, 
 which has been defined as follows : " This is the 
 doctrine that, as soon as a sentient being (man, 
 animal, or angel) dies, a new being is produced in 
 a more or less painful and material state of exist- 
 ence, according to the ' karma,' the desert or merit 
 of the being who had died." 2 Sir Edwin Arnold 
 has expressed the same theory, as follows : — 
 
 1 Buddhism, Rhys Davids, p. 100. 
 a Ibid., p. 101. 
 
146 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 " This is the doctrine of the Karma. Learn ! 
 Only when all the dross of sin is quit, 
 Only when life dies like a white flame spent 
 Death dies along with it. 
 
 " Say not ' I am,' ' I was,' or ' I shall be,' 
 
 Think not ye pass from house to house of flesh 
 Like travelers who remember and forget, 
 Ill-lodged or well-lodged. Fresh 
 
 " Issues upon the Universe that sum 
 
 Which is the lattermost of lives. It makes 
 Its habitation as the worm spins silk 
 And dwells therein." 1 
 
 Another method of meeting this problem has 
 Christian reappeared in these days. It attempts 
 to remove the difficulty by ignoring it. 
 How do you account for a thunderstorm ? " There 
 is no storm." But it rains, the lightnings flash, 
 the thunder roars, and a tornado is tearing its way 
 through the forests. " That is a mistake." How 
 do you prove that ? Can you not trust your senses ? 
 The reply is simple. " God is infinite, therefore 
 there is no reality but God ; God is love, and 
 therefore that which seems to be evil has no exist- 
 ence, because evil and infinite love cannot coexist. 
 A thunderstorm is evil, therefore there is no 
 storm." This is an accurate representation of 
 much current thinking. It proceeds : " What you 
 
 1 Light of Asia, pp. 221, 222. 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 147 
 
 call suffering and sorrow are only dreams ; they can- 
 not be realities, cannot have existence, since they are 
 evils, and there can be no evil since God is infinite 
 goodness and God is all." This is a swift and sum- 
 mary way of getting rid of a problem which has 
 perplexed the profoundest thinkers of the world. If 
 the premises are correct, the conclusions are inevi- 
 table, but the premises are not axioms ; they are as- 
 sumptions, and are contradicted in a thousand ways. 
 If there is no thunderstorm, why seek to escape from 
 the falling torrents ? If pain has no existence, then 
 hunger and weariness have none ; and if they have 
 not, why eat or sleep ? It is too late in the his- 
 tory of the world to attempt to galvanize into life 
 a philosophy which is effete even in India. There 
 is a place for idealism, but pure idealism is the 
 negation of the whole history of human thought. 
 Science has been at work too long to make that 
 possible. I have not mentioned this theory for 
 the purpose of refuting it, but simply because it is 
 one among many serious and earnest attempts to 
 throw light on the problem of suffering. Its mes- 
 sage is this, — neither suffering nor sorrow are reali- 
 ties ; both are delusions. 
 
 Calvinism has its interpretation of this world- 
 old mystery, and it is a characteristic one. It is 
 as follows : Suffering and sorrow are the supreme 
 shadows of this mortal life. They can never be 
 
148 THE AGE OE EAITH 
 
 evaded nor ignored. They follow from the cradle 
 to the grave. Their only explanation is 
 
 Calvinism. . . 
 
 in the arbitrary decree of the Almighty. 
 They are the result of man's sin. Milton's " Para- 
 dise Lost " begins in true Calvinistic fashion : — 
 
 " Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
 Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
 Brought death into the world, and all our woe." 
 
 Sin is the cause of all suffering, and the causing or 
 
 permitting of sin is to be found in the arbitrary 
 
 will of the Almighty Sovereign. Why do men 
 
 suffer and sorrow ? It is God's will ; and behind 
 
 that no man can go. 
 
 There is still another answer to this question, 
 
 TheAbso- an< ^ ** flas h een admirably stated by a 
 lute Reason. venera J3i e teacher of theology whose 
 
 studies in his chosen department have given him 
 a unique place among our thinkers. 1 His reply, 
 in brief, is as follows : The universe owes its ex- 
 istence to "the absolute reason ;" all the laws by 
 which the universe, either material or spiritual, is 
 administered are the laws which reveal the essen- 
 tial nature of the absolute reason. Suffering and 
 sorrows are realities whose hurts cannot be exag- 
 gerated; but their presence should not lead to 
 atheism and pessimism, since there must be a 
 reason for everything which exists in the universe 
 
 1 Professor Samuel Harris, of Yale University. 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 149 
 
 of the absolute reason. If that reason is not evi- 
 dent to us, it is because of our lack of discern- 
 ment. This answer differs from the Calvinistic 
 hypothesis in that it does not rest everything 
 on pure arbitrariness. " Men sorrow and suffer 
 because God wills," says Calvinism. " No," replies 
 this teacher, " but because when seen from the 
 proper point of view, even sorrow and suffering 
 will be found to be not only in harmony with but 
 demanded by reason." All theories come at last 
 to the recognition of the mystery which surrounds 
 the whole subject. These attempts to solve this 
 problem are worthy of serious attention. 
 
 According to the first theory, Orientals, and 
 those Occidentals who are fascinated by their 
 thinking, find the solution of the difficulty in the 
 assertion of the preexistence of the soul and its 
 transmigration ; but that is only pushing the dark- 
 ness a little farther back. It does not explain the 
 presence of suffering in former spheres of existence. 
 
 The second theory rests on the assumption that 
 suffering and sorrow are impossible in a universe 
 in which God is all and in all. Therefore we are 
 all mistaken. We have imagined that we had 
 burdens of pain and grief, but we were dreaming, 
 and there is no load to be removed. Such credu- 
 lity is alluring, but it has behind it neither faith 
 nor reason. 
 
150 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 The third theory blinks no difficulty ; it faces all 
 hard facts with serious and calm aspect, and has 
 but one answer : Yes, they are all here ; man is 
 born to sorrow as the sparks to fly upward ; but 
 investigation and speculation are alike vain. Pain 
 and grief are in the purpose of the Almighty : He 
 has decreed them, and their meaning has never 
 been revealed. 
 
 The fourth theory teaches that suffering and sor- 
 row have existence in the universe by permission, 
 if not by the ordination, of " the absolute reason ; " 
 that, therefore, we must presume that reason under- 
 lies them ; that they are not without a purpose of 
 blessing, and that when the clearer day dawns, 
 they will be found to have worked for good and 
 only for good. 
 
 Let us now inquire what light the Divine Fa- 
 therhood has to shed upon this mysterious and 
 awful theme, the study of which is the beginning 
 of religion and not infrequently the end of faith ? 
 
 In themselves and by themselves suffering and 
 The Light ot sorrow are ey il an d only evil. They should 
 Fatherhood. never j-, e considered by themselves alone, 
 but rather in their relation to the object which 
 they are intended to achieve. Nature is " red in 
 tooth and claw," and yet all pain and sorrow are 
 evidences of something far different from a mere 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 151 
 
 principle of murder; they show that each grada- 
 tion of life serves the one which follows, and that 
 in a certain sense there is a sacrificial tendency 
 in the universe. This tendency may often seem 
 imperfect, and almost without virtue, but at least 
 it shows that what may be called the unconscious 
 processes of nature are working in the interests of 
 something higher than themselves. Thus Brown- 
 ing's verdict may be literally true, — " All 's love, 
 yet all 's law." The things which seem severest 
 have sides of benefit, and in the end the benefit al- 
 ways predominates. Fire is at once a blessing and 
 a curse ; it warms and it destroys. Poison properly 
 used alleviates pain and saves life ; improperly 
 used it is an agent of death. So suffering and 
 sorrow in themselves are destructive, but in the 
 hands of Divine love they are agents of helpful- 
 ness. In the last analysis it is found that they 
 never get out of those hands. Pain and grief are 
 not necessarily hostile to each other. Their mis- 
 use alone proves either impotence or hate. But 
 who shall tell where misuse begins and right use 
 ends ? Who can see through life to " the far-off 
 interest of tears ? " Few are calm enough to ap- 
 preciate the way in which they are led. The voice 
 of Job is the voice of all who find rest in the midst 
 of the mystery. " Though He slay me, yet will I 
 trust in Him." But even such confidence is wrong 
 
152 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 unless it has a rational basis. To trust God with- 
 out evidence of His love is neither good religion 
 nor good ethics. It is easy enough to show that 
 sorrow and suffering usually work toward welfare 
 where they are not obstructed by human willful- 
 ness ; but not many persons appreciate the evi- 
 dence, for few have clearness of spiritual vision 
 when their nerves are throbbing and tears falling. 
 Those in mental or physical agony cannot find 
 their way through an argument ; they can but trust 
 or despair. 
 
 Assuming, of course, the reasonableness of faith 
 in the Divine Fatherhood, I will state a principle 
 which properly used will serve as a guide in many 
 dark places. It is always best to believe the best. 
 This world is a brighter and more beautiful world, 
 one in which, even pain itself may be endurable, if 
 behind human experience, and controlling physical 
 forces, is everlasting and all-pervading Father- 
 hood. Without that the universe would be infinite 
 mockery, and human life irony ending in death, — 
 a fitting climax for a stupendous and everlasting- 
 absurdity. The sooner everything disappears in 
 nothingness, the better for every one concerned. 
 But since the universe is in the hands of a Being 
 in whom wisdom and love are blended, some time 
 and somehow wrongs will be righted ; suffering 
 and sorrow will be found to be harmonious with 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 153 
 
 reason, and ever to have been the friends rather 
 than the enemies of man. It is always best to 
 believe the best. 
 
 From the Divine Fatherhood certain conclusions 
 follow with the force of demonstrations. 
 
 Suffering and sorrow are never ordered or per- 
 mitted as ends. They are the servants, „ „ . 
 
 J ' Suffering 
 
 never the masters of men. They are al- ™* n s e °™ w 
 lowed to exist in the same way as fire and Bnds ' 
 poison. They never come unattended by oppor- 
 tunities of service. The force that is locked in 
 steam carries with it the possibility of explosions. 
 Why did not God make non-explosive steam, or 
 electricity which would not shock ? Such inquiries 
 are idle. Explosions and shocks are evils, but 
 electricity and steam are agents of world-wide civ- 
 ilization. Evil is the result of a misuse of some- 
 thing good in itself. Take out the power and 
 you remove the ability to help as well as to hurt. 
 Moreover the evil may be overruled for benefit. 
 The explosion makes the builder and the engineer 
 more careful ; the shock teaches the electrician that 
 he should always insulate his wires. Nothing 
 harmful to man can be permitted as an end in it- 
 self. That truth inevitably follows the doctrine of 
 the Divine Fatherhood. Any teaching that sug- 
 gests or asserts that evil can forever endure ; that 
 it has existence in and of itself; and that it is 
 
154 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 immortal, violates the moral sense and contradicts 
 the Christian revelation of God. The Father can- 
 not ordain to separate and permanent existence 
 anything which is a curse in itself and the end of 
 which is pain. 
 
 The converse is also true : sorrow and suffering 
 are ordered and permitted only as a 
 
 Suffering r J 
 
 Me d ans >r to >w means to blessing which could not other- 
 Biessmg. w j sg \, e realized. I do not affirm that the 
 relation between the event causing the sorrow and 
 the results of good may always be traced ; for I 
 know only too well that that is often impossible. 
 But I do mean that if we interpret God by His 
 Fatherhood, we must conclude that even out of direst 
 calamities worthy compensation in time will always 
 appear. A hundred are killed in an accident on a 
 railway ; a thousand are drowned by a tidal wave ; 
 ten thousand are swallowed by an earthquake, — 
 does not our fine optimism fail before such appall- 
 ing disasters? On the other hand, it is in the 
 presence of such disasters that its truthfulness is 
 most clearly manifest. If we seek for a reason for 
 these calamities, none will be found ; but if men 
 in accidents, in tidal waves and earthquakes, are 
 children of God, and He is Omnipotent, then there 
 must be some blessing within the shadow, even 
 though as yet it is unseen ; for God can neither 
 order nor permit anything the end of which is 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 155 
 
 desolation and ruin. It is always best to believe 
 the best. We must think that calamities are with- 
 out meaning ; that they are evil and only evil, 
 ordered by a malevolent being for a malevolent 
 purpose ; or that God hates man and is trying to 
 make him miserable ; or we must believe that 
 they are permitted by love as a means for the 
 realization of some beneficent purpose. The last 
 "hypothesis is rational. It reveals a prophetic sig- 
 nificance in every pang of the groaning creation. 
 Since the universe is administered by the Father, 
 it follows that as winds, which might otherwise 
 destroy, blow a ship toward her haven, so misery 
 and agony in all orders of life will be overruled 
 in the interests of a better time. 
 
 " Yes, no doubt ; even evolution teaches that ; 
 but what about the individual ? The cataclysm 
 may leave a grander coast-line ; the explosion 
 of a warship may lead to safer construction in 
 the future ; the bubonic plague may afford rare 
 opportunities for medical investigation ; but these 
 are poor comforts for those who are caught and 
 overwhelmed by the ruin." Evolution throws light 
 on the future ; it has almost the force of a new 
 gospel when it speaks of man and the universe, but 
 it gives no hope to those who are crushed to make 
 that future possible. Evolution as a cosmic law 
 prophesies civilization and the kingdom of God; 
 
156 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 but Fatherhood shows that love is beneath the 
 infinitely small as well as the infinitely large ; that 
 the lily as well as the constellation, the individual 
 as well as the race, are included in a universal, 
 immortal, and beneficent plan. 
 
 The Divine Fatherhood helps toward a rational 
 Does God and satisfactory understanding of our 
 
 send Suffer- , 
 
 fag? more austere experiences. Does God 
 
 send suffering and sorrow ? Surely not. Most 
 if not all the calamities that men endure can be 
 accounted for on other and more rational hypo- 
 theses. One is bankrupt : he entered into a foolish 
 partnership in business, and thus brought his calam- 
 ity on himself. God did not send death to that 
 child : his parents were careless and took him where 
 disease prevailed. That woman is broken-hearted : 
 did God break her heart ? She married an unprinci- 
 pled man ; he is now in prison ; that tells the story. 
 But there is a child who has inherited a hideous 
 disease. The problem now becomes more compli- 
 cated. What shall we say ? The disease came 
 by way of heredity, not directly from God. We 
 are sick because we are human ; we are disap- 
 pointed because we make mistakes ; we sorrow for 
 those who die ; but God does not send mistakes ; 
 men die because they are men, and death knocks 
 impartially at the palace and the cottage gate. 
 " But you are not relieving the difficulty." I am 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 157 
 
 not trying to do so at this time. I am only answer- 
 ing the imputation that God ordains what we 
 suffer. " But if He does not send it, He permits 
 it." Yes, but permitting is very different from 
 ordaining. " But why is it permitted ? " Even 
 Fatherhood does not answer that question. In the 
 darkness with thousands of other mysteries it must 
 be left. One thing, however, is clear. This uni- 
 verse is ordered so that all suffering and all sorrow 
 will work toward blessing unless the purpose is 
 obstructed. God permits suffering, but before the 
 trouble comes He ordains that out of it shall pro- 
 ceed strength and welfare for those who seek truth 
 and right. He causes none to die in order that 
 others may be made sympathetic ; but He overrules 
 such losses, and none are so tender and none so com- 
 passionate as those who feel the touch of vanished 
 hands, and who hear the sound of voices that are 
 still. He does not send ruin to our business, but 
 when failure comes He infolds us in His arms, 
 and, by an exquisite yet indiscernible process, 
 teaches us that many things are richer than gold 
 and more enduring than bank stock. Emerson 
 long ago said : " The oyster mends his broken shell 
 with pearl," and, " Every man has occasion to thank 
 his faults." We add, He may thank his misfor- 
 tunes also. Perfection of character is the goal of 
 evolution. All men, as well as Jesus, are " made 
 
158 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 perfect through suffering." Why some other 
 method is not employed, we do not know ; but the 
 explanation when discovered we know will be in 
 harmony with reason and love because Fatherhood 
 rules everywhere. The exile Dante learned about 
 Hell and dreamed of Paradise far from his native 
 Florence, with a disembodied spirit for his heavenly 
 guide. In his blindness Milton learned that "they 
 also serve who only stand and wait." From, his 
 prison John Bunyan saw the land of Beulah and 
 the far-away spires of the Celestial City. Tenny- 
 son was not taught to write " In Memoriam " by 
 anything he learned at Oxford, — such music is 
 beyond the reach of university dons. Like wine 
 from the winepress it flowed out of his inmost soul 
 when his heart was crushed by the death of his 
 friend. Those who are most helpful, whose sym- 
 pathy draws others as a magnet, whose " souls a 
 holy strain repeat," are always those who have 
 been made serene, sympathetic, victorious, by that 
 which they have suffered. The Father sends no 
 sorrow. "We suffer because we are human ; but 
 the Father, when He sees the cloud approaching, 
 sows within it a seed of light, and that, if it is 
 given opportunity, will surely grow. He does not 
 prevent trouble, but He makes the fiercest storms 
 the servants of the children whom He loves. 
 
 Fatherhood brings into relief another truth. No 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 159 
 
 one is condemned to suffering in order that bless- 
 ings may be realized by others. Even Nonecom- 
 the most literalistic of the elder theo- suffer for 
 
 the Benefit 
 
 logians taught that the sufferings of our of others. 
 Lord were voluntary. That innocence should be 
 condemned to misery in order that foulness may go 
 free ; that a pure woman should be made a scape- 
 goat to take away the vice of a man, is a hideous 
 imputation on the justice as well as the love of 
 God. In a certain sense every one is free and in- 
 dependent. I may sacrifice for another if I will ; 
 but to compel me to do so would rob my action of 
 virtue. A little child dies a horrible death, and 
 the father asks : " Do you not think God is follow- 
 ing me ? " What idea can that man have of God? 
 Does any sane person believe that God sends pain, 
 sickness, long agony, death, to an innocent little 
 child in order that a willful and vicious man may 
 be brought to his senses ? The idea is barbaric, 
 yet it is not uncommon even in these days. No 
 one is condemned to suffering for the benefit of 
 another. The Almighty is not limited in His 
 resources. My father would not ruin my brother 
 to save me. If he could do so, I could no longer 
 honor him as my father. Thus we dispose of a 
 large class of superstitions which indicate that the 
 belief that all suffering is penal is still widespread. 
 Most of our griefs come by way of others. If 
 
160 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 all sorrows were penal, it would mean that others 
 were being punished in order that we might suffer ; 
 that scarlet fever burns up a golden-haired child in 
 order that a disreputable man may get his deserts ; 
 that cholera devastates a community in order that 
 two or three dozen reprobates may be made to 
 understand that they cannot evade the Almighty. 
 The hollowness of sueh thoughts is exposed with- 
 out argument. Justice condemns them ; and jus- 
 tice is as real a factor in this world as fatherhood. 
 The ultimate sources of suffering are hidden in 
 " the deeps of God's divine ; " but those deeps 
 contain nothing that is hostile to love. To assert 
 that the innocent are made to suffer in order 
 that the guilty may be adequately punished is to 
 deny the sway not only of Fatherhood, but also 
 of justice. The innocent do suffer — but either 
 voluntarily, or because of the solidarity of the 
 race ; and such suffering is always overruled for 
 blessing. 
 
 The facts of suffering and sorrow, which largely 
 Satisfaction consist of limitations, have one aspect 
 
 in Achieve- . . , . , - . _,, 
 
 menta which, is altogether bright. Thev not 
 
 Compensa- ° ° J 
 
 tion. only work for good in the years to come, 
 
 but they make possible one of the sweetest of 
 earthly joys ; viz., the sense of satisfaction in over- 
 coming and achieving. The glory of being able to 
 resist, of being delivered from despair when there 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 161 
 
 seems no room for hope, is a pleasure worthy of 
 great souls. To take from many the consciousness 
 that they have faced unfortunate conditions " and 
 laid them " would be to rob life of its crowning 
 delight. Not many would be willing to give up 
 the consciousness of victory won in order to get rid 
 of the memory of sufferings endured. The prob- 
 lem is no nearer solution, but a compensation is 
 here disclosed. Suffering is the condition of the 
 consciousness of victory over the most strenuous 
 of opposing forces. If one who is in the midst of 
 the process were asked if the gain could balance 
 the cost, he would reply in the negative; but if 
 the same man were asked when the struggle had 
 ended whether the joy of victory counterbalanced 
 the suffering endured, he would respond in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 Fatherhood has provided that the compensations 
 of sorrow shall more than balance its losses. 
 
 The Divine Fatherhood makes it easier to under- 
 stand the significance of space and time 
 
 ° A Space and 
 
 when applied to suffering and sorrow, j^™^ 
 Great plans require many years. These ° lem ' 
 shadows reach as far as life, and seem to fill all 
 time. Will they ever cease? This is a difficult 
 question, and we must not be too positive with our 
 answer. But one thing is sure, — both time and 
 space are among the resources of Fatherhood. 
 
162 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Whenever and wherever suffering and sorrow are 
 necessary to the perfection of character they will 
 Ae permitted, and wherever and whenever they 
 cease to work toward what is best for man they will 
 disappear. Nothing can be for the glory of God 
 which does not promote the welfare of man. Sor- 
 row and pain, in themselves alone, under no cir- 
 cumstances can be pleasing to God. Suffering is 
 a horror in the sight of a human being. A field 
 of blood is brutal beyond description. It must be 
 more hateful in the loving eyes of our Father. 
 But fatherhood does not imply weakness, neither 
 does it allow the blinking of facts. If any can be 
 made to hate evil only by feeling its stings, they 
 will not be blunted because they hurt; for love 
 dreads wrong more than pain. If this world of 
 ours can be purified and made worthy to be called 
 the kingdom of God only as woes are multiplied 
 for a season, the discipline will go on. The inter- 
 ests of the many are of more importance than the 
 comfort of the few. We may have to suffer be- 
 cause we are human, but never because we are 
 victims on whom are laid retributions which belong 
 to others. The cosmic order will not be changed 
 because any man is in the path of its progress ; 
 but if one is crushed through no fault of his, some 
 better thing will be provided. 
 
 The idea of fatherhood applied to the universe 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 163 
 
 and the race is of surpassing glory. Progress 
 among the worlds, as among men, is by evolution, 
 but it is evolution which is always inspired and 
 guided by love toward the welfare of the mass 
 and the blessedness of the individual. The uni- 
 verse is not a mere multiplicity and complexity 
 of worlds in different stages of development ; in 
 a true and glorious sense it is the Father's house, 
 in which are many and splendid rooms. Human 
 beings with aspiring hearts are not like grain 
 poured by Fate into an infinite hopper where wheat 
 and tares are ground together ; they are children 
 of the same nature as their Father, with sover- 
 eignty over their own wills ; able to deny Him or 
 to conform to Him. He compels none ; He opens 
 before all measureless opportunities of growth and 
 of bliss, and says : In this universe suffering and 
 sorrow must abide for a season. If it were not so, 
 I would not permit them. As fast as men do 
 justly and follow love, the darkness will be reduced, 
 — but the time is not yet. If you cannot under- 
 stand the reasons for my action, at least believe that 
 your Father cannot allow any suffering longer than 
 it is required to work blessing. 
 
 The interpretation of sorrow and suffering which 
 was given by Christ was new in the his- The T ach 
 tory of thought. Formerly they had in B° fJesus - 
 been regarded as evidence of the wrath of the gods. 
 
164 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 The writer of the Hebrews said, " "Whom the Lord 
 loveth He chasteneth." Before this, pessimism was 
 almost a necessity because, while there may have 
 been faith in some future good, the means by 
 which it was to be achieved were regarded with 
 dread. Jesus justifies the means. That cannot be 
 altogether evil whose sole object is the production 
 of blessing, and suffering is intended only to pro- 
 mote that end. This may be difficult to appre- 
 ciate in the case of an individual, but not when the 
 race is considered. What should be the attitude of 
 the individual toward pain and grief ? He should 
 be careful to observe, first, that they result either 
 directly or indirectly not from harmony with the 
 will of God, but from violation of that will either 
 in his own life, or in that of those with whom he 
 is some way related. If God has no pleasure in 
 these things in themselves, if they are hateful to 
 Him as to us, then in proportion as we put our- 
 selves in harmony with the divine order, what has 
 afflicted will disappear. If all pain does not go, it 
 will at least be made subordinate to the higher 
 joys. We shall still hunger and thirst ; our sight 
 will still fail and our hair turn gray; fever and 
 malaria may not be disarmed of their power, but 
 our spirits will be so harmonized with the Divine 
 that our troubles will seem not worthy to be com- 
 
SUFFERING AND SORROW 165 
 
 pared with the glory which is being revealed in us. 
 The effort of the individual should be directed 
 toward perfect harmony of will and wish with all 
 that can be ascertained of the Divkie order. The 
 result will be the gradual disappearance from the 
 human condition of all that causes sorrow or results 
 in suffering. Then sorrow and sighing will flee 
 away. 
 
 I have thus tried to apply the principle, Inter- 
 pret God by his Fatherhood, to the problem of 
 sorrow and suffering. No solution has been of- 
 fered; for that we must wait for clearer light. 
 Perhaps we could not comprehend the solution if 
 it were before us, but this at least we know : since 
 God is Father, and since the Father is almighty, 
 nothing can long remain which will not in the end 
 promote the welfare and perfection of individuals 
 and the race. Suffering and sorrow are mysteries, 
 but they are full of blessing for all who will do 
 right and trust in the eternal love. 
 
 And so I conclude : When disappointment blasts 
 hope and the future seems dark — interpret God 
 by His Fatherhood; when sickness interrupts 
 service and achievement — interpret God by his 
 Fatherhood ; when pain fills existence with agony 
 — interpret God by his Fatherhood ; when death 
 invades your home and takes your nearest and 
 
166 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 dearest — interpret God by his Fatherhood ; " in 
 time, in eternity, in the great judgment-day," and 
 forever — interpret God by his Fatherhood. 
 
 " I Inow not what the future hath 
 Of marvel or surprise, 
 Assured alone that life and death 
 His mercy underlies." 
 
VII 
 
 SIN 
 
 One problem is darker and more mysterious 
 than that of suffering and sorrow. It is the pre- 
 sence of moral evil and sin in the universe. This 
 has been an ever-recurring riddle, and one which 
 will probably never be satisfactorily solved. When 
 speculation and investigation have done their ut- 
 most, it still appears as if it ought to have been 
 impossible for man to violate the harmony of which 
 he is so conspicuous a part. About this subject 
 we feel more than we think. But many things 
 have a basis in reason which for the moment seem 
 to be either the work of chance or of some malign 
 though unseen power. We must begin our study 
 with facts and draw our inferences from them. 
 
 Let us be careful of our definitions. Many acts 
 in popular and even theological language 
 are called sin which have in them no ele- 
 ment of responsibility and consequently none of 
 guilt. What is sin? It is the conscious choice 
 of evil instead of good, or of a lesser instead of a 
 greater good; it is the refusal on the part of 
 
168 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 a moral agent to choose what he believes to be right. 
 There was never a better definition of sin than that 
 of the Apostle James: "Therefore to him that 
 knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is 
 sin." Nothing is sin which is not the result of the 
 conscious choice on the part of one who is free to 
 choose differently. That is not sin which neces- 
 sarily follows ignorance or compulsion. If a person 
 is compelled to any course of action, the blame 
 rests with the one who forces and not with the one 
 who would prefer to act differently. Sin is willful 
 transgression of the law ; or, as it is expressed in 
 the Eevised Version, it is lawlessness ; that is, liv- 
 ing in a world of law and order as if there were 
 neither. 
 
 The next question concerns the reality of sin. 
 However it may be accounted for, nothing 
 Eeahty? j s more universal than this glaring and 
 appalling fact. Its record is written on every page 
 of history ; it is presumed in the sacred books of 
 all the religions of the world ; it is witnessed to by 
 conscience and consciousness ; its reality is never 
 questioned except by those who would like to ex- 
 plain away things which are disagreeable and which 
 annoy. Where or when the first attempt was made 
 to prove the unreality of moral evil, I do not know, 
 but so far as I have been able to learn, it was a 
 part of the disenchantment which came to the phi- 
 
SIN 169 
 
 losophers of India after the close of the first great 
 and splendid era in Indian thought and life. The 
 history of India, Dr. Matheson has truly called 
 " a Pilgrim's Progress." In the childhood of that 
 race, life and literature were surpassingly beautiful. 
 The early writers, like those who composed the 
 Vedic Hymns, were optimists. How that age of 
 hope passed into one of hopelessness and despair 
 it would be difficult to trace ; but the next period 
 shows us the Indian thinkers grappling with sin, 
 sorrow, and suffering. India has offered the world 
 two solutions of these problems. The first is that 
 of the Hindu faith, which finds no way out of the 
 labyrinth except by denying its reality. What we 
 call sin, suffering, sorrow, are declared to have no 
 existence. The Hindu tries to escape from them 
 by affirming their non-existence. The perception 
 of the nothingness of things is said to be supreme 
 wisdom. These teachings are the burden of most 
 of the Hindu philosophy even to the present time. 
 But many centuries ago a protest was made against 
 the attempt to deny the witness of universal expe- 
 rience. That protest resulted in a more vital and 
 far more generally accepted religion, namely, Bud- 
 dhism. The contention of the Buddhists is that 
 sin, sorrow, suffering, are realities, but that the 
 only way to escape from their sting is for one who 
 suffers to seek to alleviate the suffering of others ; 
 
170 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 thus he will lose the consciousness of his own 
 hurt. That the attempt to ignore the reality of 
 sin had its origin as I have indicated may be 
 uncertain, but there can be little doubt that the 
 sources of this philosophy of negation in our time 
 are to be found in India. In forms variously di- 
 luted it has percolated into Europe, and even found 
 its way to America. A large and perhaps a growing 
 number of persons, whose earnestness is beyond 
 question, are trying to escape from -an exceedingly 
 perplexing problem by the easy path of denial. 
 Nothing could be more futile. Whatever the gene- 
 sis, or ethical quality, of what we call sin, there 
 can be no doubt in the minds of any who do not 
 juggle with words of its reality and universality. 
 
 It is recognized in the scientific teachings of our 
 The Place of time. Many masters of physical science 
 
 Sin in Evo- 
 lution, are the sternest preachers of judgment 
 
 against all who do wrong. One says the power 
 against which we are pitted in the game of life 
 " never overlooks a mistake or makes the slightest 
 allowance for ignorance." 1 The philosophy of 
 evolution has as clear a recognition of sin as me- 
 diaeval Calvinism, which was not a mere theory of 
 narrow-minded dogmatists, but a true science based 
 on a profound, if not always accurate, study of 
 human experience. Evolution teaches that as man 
 
 1 Professor Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 32. 
 
SIN 171 
 
 advances, he rises out of the animal condition into 
 the consciousness that he is a spirit. In the former 
 state, his actions were determined by his environ- 
 ment; but when he became a spirit, he entered into 
 a realm of freedom. If a free man chooses to live 
 according to the desires of the flesh, he violates the 
 highest law of his being. That choice of sensual 
 things by a free spirit evolution regards as worthy 
 of blame. Theologically speaking, it is sin. 
 
 Literature may not be an infallible teacher, but 
 it is an infallible witness concerning the The witness 
 
 . - • mi i °f Litera- 
 
 common faith of humanity. Ihe sub- tm-e. 
 jects of the great tragedies, from the earliest to 
 the latest times, have all revolved around the prob- 
 lems of suffering, sorrow, and sin. These problems 
 were the constant study of -ZEschylus, Goethe, 
 and Shakespeare. However much our pity may 
 go out for Marguerite and Faust, there can be no- 
 thing but detestation for Mephistopheles, who is 
 clearly Goethe's personification of the principle 
 of evil in the world. Hamlet is Shakespeare's 
 illustration of human limitation and suffering, 
 while Macbeth and Lear are magnificent and real- 
 istic, yet in no wise exaggerated, delineations of 
 sin and judgment. 
 
 Turning from literature to law we find that the 
 legal systems of the world rest upon two facts — 
 man's freedom, and his misuse of that freedom. 
 
172 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Law recognizes freedom, and penalty points toward 
 The witness freedom abused, which is sin. Every law 
 
 of Legal 
 
 systems. silently yet unimpeachably affirms that 
 man is created with the power of choice, — con- 
 sequently with ability to choose either the evil or 
 the good ; and every provision for punishment and 
 every punishment inflicted have been, and are, 
 witnesses to the common faith that those who might 
 have been virtuous and upright have instead chosen 
 to do wrong. 
 
 Conscience confirms the evidence of the other 
 TheTesti- witnesses to this universal and baleful 
 
 mony of _ . 
 
 Conscience, reality. The condemnations of conscience 
 are too near and vivid to be explained away. What- 
 ever our ethical philosophy may be, those who 
 choose to do wrong are judged by a court which 
 sits within their own breasts, whose decision can 
 be neither denied nor evaded. Whether the con- 
 ception of Justice in art, with her scales nicely 
 balanced and her eyes blindfolded, is correct or 
 not, there is no doubt that it is a true representa- 
 tion of conscience. Absolutely impartial, perfectly 
 remorseless, it metes out approval to those who 
 choose to do right and condemnation to those who 
 choose to do wrong. 
 
 All the religions of the world recognize the sin- 
 fulness of man. Even the Hindus, whose teachers 
 tell us that there is no sin, teach the doctrine of 
 
SIN 173 
 
 Transmigration, or that the result of wrong-doing 
 in this world is condemnation to endless witness of 
 
 i p pp • • i p p Ethnic Re- 
 
 cycles oi suftering in lower forms of exist- Ugions. 
 
 ence. A common Hindu proverb runs as follows : 
 " A hundred good works are lost upon the wicked." 
 The teaching of Zoroaster is, if possible, more 
 emphatic than that of Christianity. The problem 
 of sin was so appalling to him that he found no 
 solution for it except in a dualistic system of the 
 universe which ascribes the creation of the world 
 to two powers, one good and one bad — Ormuzd 
 the god of light and Ahriman the god of dark- 
 ness. I once asked a Buddhist priest in Japan in 
 regard to the teaching of his religion concerning 
 sin. He replied : " We do not believe that it has 
 any relation to a being like the one whom you call 
 the Deity. We think that every man makes his 
 own destiny. If he chooses to do wrong, he 
 weaves a web of suffering around himself, as a silk- 
 worm weaves its cocoon." Of the Jewish and the 
 Christian faiths there is no need to speak. The 
 central doctrine of Christianity is that God reveals 
 Himself in sacrifice to save his children from their 
 sins. In some form or other all nations in all ages 
 have believed in the reality and the universality of 
 sin. The only possible way of escape from this 
 fact, even in thought, is the path which has been 
 taken by those who assert that suffering, sorrow, 
 
174 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 and sin cannot have existence in a universe which 
 lives and moves and has its being in God. But 
 speculation cannot long ignore science. If experi- 
 ences like these could be escaped by a simple pro- 
 cess of denial, who would not rejoice ? But facts 
 are independent of all attempts at explanation. 
 In spite of our fine philosophies, men continue to 
 choose things which are evil, and universally 
 and remorselessly receive their proper condem- 
 nation. Inability to understand should never lead 
 one to the mistake of attempting to ignore. After 
 speculation is discouraged and exhausted, weari- 
 ness and hunger continue, tears fall, age deepens 
 its furrows, death approaches with impartial tread ; 
 and those who choose to do well are blessed, while 
 those who choose to do evil reap what they have 
 sown. Not quickly will the law, " Whatsoever a 
 man soweth, that shall he also reap," disappear 
 from the experience of man, or from the statutes 
 of the universe. 
 
 I now turn to some of the expedients to which 
 Attempts to thinkers have resorted in their attempts 
 
 account for . 
 
 Sin. to account for sin. I hey are many, and 
 
 indicate long and honest thought upon this most 
 mysterious of problems. 
 
 Some believe that sin on the earth is the re- 
 sult of violation of the moral law in a preexistent 
 state. This doctrine of preexistence has had a 
 
SIN 175 
 
 strange fascination, especially for Oriental people, 
 but not for them alone. It is found The Theory 
 
 of Pre- 
 
 in Plato ; it reappears in Wordsworth, existence, 
 whose " Ode to Immortality " is an attempt to 
 prove the immortality of the soul from its preexist- 
 ence. Why is there sin in this world? It has 
 come from some other world. It is neither the 
 penalty for previous wrong-doing, nor what may be 
 called the baleful remnants of a struggle still in- 
 complete. This theory simply pushes the difficulty 
 one stage further back. How shall we account 
 for sin in that other world from which the good, 
 to adapt Wordsworth's figure, has come like trail- 
 ing clouds of glory, and the evil like trailing 
 clouds of gloom ? 
 
 Another theory is that sin is inherited. The Cal- 
 vinistic doctrine of original sin teaches 
 
 Heredity. 
 
 that the first man sinned, and that not 
 only his weakness but his guilt have been trans- 
 mitted from generation to generation. Not many 
 in these times believe in transmitted guilt. We 
 are told that what the doctrine really means is that 
 a weakened and depraved nature is transmitted ; 
 but that was not the older Calvinism, which boldly 
 insisted that all men sinned in Adam, and there- 
 fore that all were guilty in him. Such crude ideas 
 probably satisfied the exigencies of the current 
 logic, but they have been condemned by the moral 
 
176 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 sense of most of those who in later times have 
 studied this subject. That weakness may be in- 
 herited is all too evident ; but inherited weakness 
 is a palliation of guilt ; it never adds to its con- 
 demnation. 
 
 Others think that what is called sin is merely 
 The Result ignorance ; that with brighter light and 
 ranee. truer knowledge all men will do right. 
 
 The basis of this fine optimism is an exaggeration 
 of the doctrine of the Divine Immanence. God is 
 in every man, and therefore, it is concluded, no 
 man can do evil after he knows what the right is. 
 But how any man can be ignorant for a single mo- 
 ment of what the right is and still be the abode 
 of God presents another problem. Much wrong- 
 doing is, no doubt, the result of ignorance. Many 
 are punished for what, if they had known better, 
 they would never have dreamed of doing. In the 
 eye of fallible human law, they must be regarded 
 as worthy of penalty, but in the eye of the just and 
 loving law of God, they are not sinners. Where 
 ignorance abounds, sin does not abound. This 
 theory of ignorance overlooks the fact that those 
 who have had the best opportunities for knowledge, 
 who have lived in the full light of civilization and 
 culture, who have had every possible privilege of 
 growth, have often been the worst sinners. It 
 would be easy to give examples of those who have 
 
SIN 177 
 
 been trained in the schools, who have been sur- 
 rounded by religious influences from their youth 
 up, who have been learned in all that science and 
 history could teach them, who have had large 
 and varied experience, but who have deliberately 
 chosen to pamper their animal natures and live like 
 beasts rather than like pure spirits. What shall 
 be said of one who, to gratify ambition, leaves a 
 wake of blood, broken hearts, and desolation around 
 half the world? What shall be said of those men 
 of the very finest literary and artistic culture in 
 the most advanced civilization that the world has 
 known, whose personal history is too foul to be 
 written ? Ignorance will explain and palliate much 
 misdoing, but it does not account for the selfish- 
 ness, the crime, the cruelty, the perfidy, the sen- 
 suality of those who in intelligence and education 
 have led their fellow men, but who in vice and 
 crime have shocked the world. 
 
 Others believe that sin is imperfect development ; 
 that the race is not yet far enough away 
 from the animal condition for men to be ^eiop?' 
 able to choose the good; that what is ment ' 
 commonly called sin in reality is only imperfection. 
 This also is a charitable and highly optimistic 
 hypothesis, and in it there is much truth. Those 
 who do wrong from weakness are not sinners. 
 There is no quality of guilt in their actions. He 
 
178 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 who has no feet is not blameworthy for not walk- 
 ing. He who has no eyes is not guilty because he 
 does not see. That is a hideous and awful travesty 
 on justice which attaches to weakness the quality 
 of guilt. What puts the ethics of materialism 
 below the most horrible forms of mediaeval theology 
 is the fact that the former makes no allowance for 
 weakness. In materialistic ethics ignorance and 
 mistake are treated in the same way as intentional 
 violations of law. The older theology preached 
 judgment only for those who by their own choice 
 became partners in the sin of their first parent. 
 There is no guilt in weakness, but weakness may 
 make it easier to commit sin. Therefore since God 
 is good, and, as Browning puts it, " All 's love and 
 all 's law," we must believe' that even weakness 
 palliates rather than increases condemnation. 
 Others insist, and to this speculation we have al- 
 ready partially referred, that there is no 
 
 Nightmare. g^ tnin g ag ^ . tnat fa e eartn ly Jjf e f 
 
 man is only a dream ; that we think we are sinning 
 and suffering when we are only in a prolonged hal- 
 lucination. This hypothesis is purely imaginary. 
 Moreover, if sin and suffering are only like the 
 figures seen in sleep, then everything good as well 
 as everything bad is a dream, and civilization, pro- 
 gress, literature, art, the achievements of science, 
 love, aspiration, and beneficence are also parts of 
 
SIN 179 
 
 one long, bewildering dream. Few thoughtful 
 people will give much heed to such puerile specu- 
 lations. They do not relieve the difficulty. If 
 suffering and sin are dreams, then how shall we 
 account for the fact that those who are best fitted 
 for splendid activity and growth are condemned to 
 threescore and ten years of hideous and uninter- 
 rupted nightmare ? 
 
 Another attempt to solve this difficulty is more 
 harmonious with reason and the moral sminthe 
 
 x t « -r Be9t Moral 
 
 sense. It is somewhat as follows : It System. 
 was a necessity that there should be some order 
 in the universe. The Almighty had before his 
 mind an infinite series of systems from which He 
 could choose. Since He is God and good, He must 
 choose that which is best. The one which is best, 
 because it is the one chosen, provides for the free- 
 dom of the individual. If men are free, then of 
 course they must be able to choose, and able, there- 
 fore, to make a wrong choice as well as a right 
 choice. The best moral system, therefore, has in it 
 the possibility of wrong-doing. This is something 
 very different from the necessity of wrong-doing. 
 If there is the possibility of virtue, there must be 
 the possibility of vice. If there is the possibility 
 of holiness, there must also be the possibility of 
 wickedness. The moral order of the world does 
 not require that any should violate its harmony, but 
 
180 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 it makes it possible for all to do so. Beneath this 
 theory is a glorious truth. Men might grow as 
 trees grow, without moral quality, but if they are 
 to he developed into the life of God, they must 
 have the freedom of God. A creature of putty 
 may be moulded into any conceivable form, but a 
 man with a will must choose for himself what the 
 plan of his life shall he. Power of choice means 
 possible strength of character and dignity of man- 
 hood. Without that power, strength and dignity 
 would go. This has been a favorite doctrine with 
 many teachers. So far as an intellectual process 
 alone can solve problems, it solves them. But the 
 difficulty lies too deep for mere argument. With 
 all our theories, however fine and beautiful they 
 may be, the human heart still revolts at the pre- 
 sence of evil and the possibility of sin. We can- 
 not understand why it should have been permitted. 
 The old question continually returns: If God is 
 good, why did He not make a world in which it 
 would be impossible for any to violate the law 
 of his being, and to cause agony and desolation 
 wherever his influence may extend ? 
 
 What light does the Divine Fatherhood throw 
 Father)! od u P on ^ s subject ? It does not illumine 
 
 and Sin. a JJ ^ ^^ pl aceg< ft (JoeS no fc remove 
 
 all the mystery. It may be called rather an aid to 
 faith than a solution of the problem. Why any 
 
SIN 1S1 
 
 choose to do wrong is now, as it ever has heen, a 
 mystery. No ray of light has yet penetrated this 
 darkness, and, apparently, we are no nearer an ex- 
 planation than when bewildered inquiry first faced 
 this subject. Those who profess to explain the 
 universal problems may well be distrusted. There 
 are quacks in philosophy as well as in medicine. 
 The new thinker may have a new programme of 
 the universe, but when he is a little older and wiser 
 he will find that so far as it is new it is, probably, 
 only a variation on some older thought. 
 
 The Fatherhood of God, as nothing else, shows 
 the enormity of sin. It furnishes a background 
 against which the true nature of guilt appears. 
 The Divine Fatherhood necessitates the inference 
 that goodness pervades the universe and directs all 
 the affairs of the children of men ; that the moral 
 law is but the manifestation of a beneficent plan ; 
 that all purposes for humanity tend toward bless- 
 ing ; that the goal of history is love. Therefore he 
 who chooses anything less than the best violates 
 love. The phrase, Interpret God by His Father- 
 hood, implies that the same affection which a noble 
 and devoted father has for his child, the Being who 
 pervades the universe has for all men. Wrong- 
 doing is a violation of that love. In order fully to 
 appreciate this truth, we must remember that God 
 lives in us while He also transcends us. My father 
 
182 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 lives in me, and yet my father and I are separate 
 beings. The vine and the branch are one, and yet 
 the vine is not the branch and the branch is not 
 the vine. God dwells in men. The universal love 
 is in our common humanity. It is not something 
 which comes, when called, from beyond the stars, 
 but it is the very life of our life and soul of our 
 soul. The essence of our being is love which is 
 manifested in fatherhood. We were made for 
 perfect love. That love can be satisfied only with 
 conformity to the true and the right. I have the 
 power to put myself in harmony with that which 
 is best for myself, which is also best for all men, 
 and which pervades the universe. If I choose to 
 violate my essential being, I am not only injuring 
 myself, but I am also violating that which is uni- 
 versal and eternal. The best for myself is the 
 best for the universe. If the effect of a wrong 
 choice could be borne by the individual alone, the 
 results would be less calamitous ; but we are chil- 
 dren, and we have relation to Him from whom 
 we come. We may live in the enjoyment of the 
 privileges of sonship, or we may refuse those priv- 
 ileges. That is the prerogative of freedom. He 
 who lives selfishly cuts himself off from the uni- 
 versal love. Such misuse of power which might 
 promote perfection and insure harmony is an ap- 
 palling act of wrong. Is this an obscure way of 
 
SIN 183 
 
 putting this truth ? Then let me return to a more 
 literalistic form of expression. As our parents 
 love us, so the infinite Father looks down upon His 
 children with affection which can only be dimly- 
 hinted at through human relations. In them we see 
 a little of the eternal Fatherhood. Every act of 
 wrong is done in the sight of One who loves with 
 true parental love, and whose heart is hurt when 
 He sees His children throwing away their oppor- 
 tunities, ignoring their ancestry, and violating the 
 dictates of their moral sense. When this fact is 
 realized, sin is seen to be the most awful enormity. 
 To choose deliberately that which I know is not 
 best for me, that which makes the attainment of 
 worthy ideals impossible, this is the folly of sin. 
 Its results reach beyond the wrong-doer and send 
 thrills of pain through the creation, as the shame 
 of a child grieves and breaks the heart of his 
 father. In the light of fatherhood, it is an awful 
 thing to be a sinner. 
 
 Since fatherhood is at the heart of things, it 
 follows that so fast and so far as is con- „ „ 
 
 So far as 
 
 sistent with the moral order of the uni- ^ftopS? 
 verse, so fast and so far as is consistent Tented - 
 with the freedom of man, — which is essential to 
 his manhood, — sin will be prevented. But this is 
 not an easy matter. Every father would gladly 
 shield his children from evil, but if he is wise, he 
 
184 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 will remember that strength comes from struggle. 
 If he locks his children in the sweet seclusion of 
 home, he will deprive them of the possibility of that 
 growth which comes with expanding horizons, and 
 from antagonisms and achievements in the world. 
 Protection at the expense of possible strength is 
 an evidence of weakness, not of love. Man might 
 have been born into a world in which there would 
 have been no temptation, or in which yielding to 
 temptation might have been made impossible ; but 
 that would have deprived him of the strength which 
 comes from resistance. Without will and ability 
 to use it he would no longer be in the Divine image. 
 As quickly as possible sin will be prevented. That 
 must be, since God is good, and can do all things. 
 But for Him to deal with a human being as if he 
 were a thing would not be an evidence of love ; for 
 Him to treat a man who has intelligence and will 
 as if he were an idiot would show neither wisdom 
 nor goodness. 
 
 Interpreting God by His Fatherhood, we have 
 what about the assurance that while freedom, which 
 
 the "Wrong- 
 doer ? i s essential to those who are in the image 
 
 of God, necessitates the possibility of wrong choice, 
 
 all the resources of infinite and everlasting love 
 
 will be at the service of those who are weak and 
 
 may fall, or who have fallen, not simply to save 
 
 them from the consequences of their wrong-doing, 
 
SIN 185 
 
 but, by those consequences, to advance them toward 
 loftier heights of character and achievement. This 
 subject is treated more at length in a later chapter. 
 It is enough now to say that no one by any act of 
 his own can put himself beyond the reach of the 
 Fatherhood of God. If he takes the wings of the 
 morning and goes to the uttermost parts of the sea, 
 he will find his Father there ; if he makes his bed 
 in the depths of the underworld, he will find that 
 his Father is there before him with ministry and 
 mercy. This is the distinctive and glorious teach- 
 ing of the Christian revelation. The son may 
 leave his home, but loving hearts will follow him ; 
 he may forget his father, but his father will never 
 forget him. Science teaches that nature never 
 overlooks a mistake, and makes no allowance for 
 ignorance ; but fatherhood teaches that when the 
 son comes to himself and longs for the old life 
 and the old love, whatever deeps of degradation 
 he may have sounded, whatever the enormity of 
 his vice or crime, if he repents, he will find wait- 
 ing for him the new robe and the kiss of love. 
 This faith makes optimism possible. Many who 
 have seemed to be noble and full of promise have 
 fallen to the blackest depths ; with every oppor- 
 tunity of spiritual growth, they have chosen the 
 companionship of the vilest. It is enough to 
 break one's heart to see how the best-laid plans 
 
186 THJE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 occasionally go awry. It sometimes seems as if 
 hate rather than love must be at the heart of 
 things. But when such thoughts are laid aside, 
 and all purposes and discipline are interpreted in 
 the light of fatherhood ; when it is remembered 
 that no one can ever get beyond the reach of fa- 
 therly love, our problem is still unsolved, but all is 
 not dark. For a time one may seem to sever him- 
 self from God, but nothing can destroy the regard 
 and ministry of his Father for him. The darkness 
 is inexplicable, but in its midst is a pathway of 
 light. 
 
 The fact of the Divine Fatherhood shows that, 
 whatever may be beyond the earth, — 
 sin Set and with that we have nothing to do at 
 piinary. ^[ s time, — so far as we know, the conse- 
 quences of sin, while they are always inexorably 
 retributive, are also primarily for purposes of 
 discipline and never are expressive of vengeance. 
 " He punishes but to save." The Scripture which 
 says, " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
 Lord," must be interpreted in the light of father- 
 hood. Whatever that text may mean, it can be 
 nothing at enmity with the essential nature of 
 God. How He repays is not for us to understand. 
 But we know that He cannot violate the eternal 
 purpose of love, which is that somehow and some 
 time all His children shall reach the fullness of the 
 stature of Christ. 
 
SIN 187 
 
 The fact of retribution is as evident as that of 
 wrong-doing. Wherever there is sin there is suffer- 
 ing. The one lasts at least as long as the other; 
 whether it lasts longer, we do not know. At 
 this point we can only draw inferences. Some 
 things, however, are perfectly clear. No true fa- 
 ther ever allows his children to suffer for the sake 
 of the suffering. Whatever the act, the penalty 
 is only in order that it may not be repeated. He 
 would be no true father who could take pleasure 
 in causing pain for the sake of " getting even " 
 with his child who had done wrong. " As I live, 
 saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked." Love may be severer even than a 
 court of justice. It will surely consider the inter- 
 ests of all in the household, and not simply the 
 whim of the one who has done wrong. A guilty 
 child will not be allowed in a home where his pre- 
 sence would contaminate. He will be permitted 
 to experience the full retribution which his course 
 may bring upon him, but that will be primarily in 
 order that he may be taught its enormity, and 
 made to see that holiness results in blessing, and 
 that always and everywhere wrong-doing ends in 
 misery. The Fatherhood of God does not in the 
 least limit the sweep and the force of the law of 
 retribution, but it shows that its nature is never 
 vindictive, but always disciplinary. 
 
188 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 "Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and 
 scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." 
 
 The Divine Fatherhood offers the strongest of 
 The all motives for righteousness, since acts 
 
 Strongest „ . 
 
 Motive tor of wrong-dome not only cause suffering 
 
 Righteous- to & J o 
 
 ness. to ourselves, but in some real and mys- 
 
 terious sense send thrills of sorrow throughout the 
 universe. God is everywhere. We cannot escape 
 His presence. He besets us behind and before. 
 " The immanence of God " shows that every sin 
 against man is a sin against God. When the Prod- 
 igal returned, he said : " I have sinned against 
 heaven and in thy sight." This experience de- 
 veloped within him a realization of the relations of 
 his life. He had sinned against himself ; but still 
 more he had sinned against heaven and against the 
 universe ; and still more he had sinned in the sight 
 of the one who loved him better than he loved 
 himself. Instead of opening the gates to license, 
 this teaching offers the strongest of all motives 
 to righteousness because it shows that wrong-doing 
 outrages love, and is a cause of infinite sorrow. 
 Fatherhood reveals not only the nature of wrong- 
 doing, but also its essential and inevitable con- 
 sequences. It brings into new prominence the fact 
 of the solidarity of the race. It shows that the act 
 of one has an influence on all, and that all are 
 partners in the conduct of the individual. He can 
 
SIN 189 
 
 hardly be human who shuts his eyes to truths like 
 these. 
 
 Such considerations ought to lead those who 
 appreciate their freedom, in which their A ^^^1 
 likeness to God chiefly consists, reso- or ' 
 lutely, constantly, and confidently to resist every 
 tendency toward evil. There is no sin until there 
 is a wrong choice, but that wrong choice may exist 
 in the mind without an opportunity for its mani- 
 festation in conduct. It is not the less evil. Sin 
 is not an objective entity. It has no continued and 
 independent being. It has its genesis every time 
 any one chooses to do wrong rather than right, or 
 a lesser instead of a greater good. But behind 
 every act are various conditions and processes. 
 Sins are never accidents. They are preceded by 
 preparation, although that preparation may have 
 been unconscious. There would be no temptation 
 were there not states of mind hospitable to sugges- 
 tions of guilty choices. We are blameworthy not 
 only for what we choose to do, but also for what we 
 choose to think. Wrong thoughts may knock at 
 the mind, but only he who wishes need give them 
 entrance. If, in some surreptitious way, they steal 
 in, they can be driven out instantly by those who 
 so desire. Responsibility for our choices rests on 
 ourselves, not on our ancestry, our environment, or 
 on God. The will stands sentinel at the gates of 
 
190 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 the mind. The wise man will be as careful about 
 what he thinks as about what he does. Opportunities 
 for impurity have attractions only for those whose 
 thoughts are impure. An open door suggests no 
 criminal chances to him who has never brooded 
 over the possibility of theft. Above all things we 
 should guard our thoughts. " As a man thinketh 
 in his heart, so is he." " Thou wilt keep him in 
 perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." 
 We should never infer that, because something 
 is wrong with ourselves, either the uni- 
 
 Conclusion. . 
 
 verse is out of order, or love does not 
 rule the affairs of men. How freedom and love 
 may be reconciled, I do not know. At times the 
 separation between them seems like the diameter 
 of the solar system ; but they are both real, and 
 no amount of speculation can explain them away. 
 Fatherhood is love in action, however unconscious 
 or rebellious the child may be ; and the love of the 
 Father will continue as long as fatherhood endures, 
 and that is as long as God exists. The individual 
 may violate the beneficent order in which he is 
 placed ; but love and the purpose of blessing will 
 abide forever. The Divine plan can be defeated by 
 our folly no more than the falling of a meteor can 
 disarrange the movement of the stellar universe. 
 Throughout the ages "one unceasing purpose 
 runs." 
 
SIN 191 
 
 No one was ever compelled to a sinful choice. 
 Within every human soul dwells the power of re- 
 sistance. Few sights are more sublime than the 
 example of those who have dbne evil, and come 
 into bondage, arising in their might and fighting and 
 conquering in life's battle. Spirit is sovereign. 
 It cannot permanently be overthrown. The love 
 of which the universe is the expression appeals to 
 every man to assert his rights as a son of God. 
 How that appeal may be heeded may be learned 
 from the response which it has received again and 
 again, as those who apparently were morally dead 
 have risen, broken their grave-clothes, and walked 
 out among men with the sunlight on their faces. 
 Lazarus was not the only person who has been 
 raised ; nor is the Divine voice which cries " Come 
 forth" always external. It echoes in the silence 
 of every soul which recognizes its freedom; and 
 whoever will may respond. The burden of every 
 preacher, and of every man with vision and moral 
 earnestness, should be, "Fix your affections on 
 things above." The power to do so is always im- 
 manent. The appeal is from that which is best in 
 ourselves ; from the love which pervades the uni- 
 verse ; and it is as true now as when the words 
 were first spoken that "Whosoever will may 
 come." 
 
VIII 
 
 SALVATION 
 
 The reality and universality of sin have been 
 considered in the previous chapter. The existence 
 of sin carries with it the idea of blame. Weak- 
 ness in itself is never blameworthy ; but the con- 
 scious choice of a lesser instead of a greater good, 
 or of wrong instead of right, possesses the quality 
 of guilt. In many ways and in many lands men 
 have tried to escape from moral evil, but the result 
 has always been the same. However its presence 
 may be accounted for, the mystery attending it 
 has never been broken. Its shadow rests upon 
 literature, history, and the common conscience and 
 consciousness of mankind. Nothing is more use- 
 less than to attempt to show either the reality or 
 the unreality of sin. If it be proven to be a dream, 
 the dream fills the waking as the sleeping hours. 
 It has haunted the human experience as long as 
 the story of moral action has been written. That 
 it has the quality of guilt is the judgment which 
 is passed upon it by the court that sits in every 
 man's soul. 
 
SALVATION 193 
 
 In one sense sin is something more than the 
 choice of a lesser instead of a greater The 
 
 1 1 Depraved 
 
 good, because evidently a fatal and uni- Nature. 
 versa! tendency toward wrong-doing is innate in 
 humanity. It was a serious, though perhaps a 
 pardonable, mistake to call this tendency " original 
 sin." It is not sin, although it makes sin well- 
 nigh inevitable. If it is imperfection, weakness, 
 or ignorance, it is none the less perilous and per- 
 nicious. In the eye of the Heavenly Father it 
 must be regarded in the same way as inborn tend- 
 encies toward physical disease. In human fam- 
 ilies, those who inherit bias toward peculiar types 
 of disease are watched and guarded with singular 
 sympathy and care. Among good men, the greater 
 the weakness the more constant the consideration. 
 Inherited bias is not disease ; and moral weakness 
 which leads to sin is not sin ; neither does it justly 
 carry with it any element of blame. It is, how- 
 ever, none the less to be dreaded. The latest in- 
 vestigations in the sphere of heredity confirm the 
 conclusions of the old theology as to the reality of 
 a depraved nature. Herbert Spencer and Charles 
 Darwin insisted on the transmissibility of acquired 
 characteristics. That means that whatever comes 
 into the nature by choice, or by the influence of 
 environment, is transmitted to those who come 
 after. The scientific doctrine of heredity contains 
 
194 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 the substance of the theological doctrine of original 
 sin. In its scientific form none even question it, 
 however much they may revolt and rebel against 
 the theological form in which it was stated in the 
 Middle Ages. The theological phrase implies that 
 weakness is blameworthy ; but the scientific teach- 
 ing suggests something requiring consideration. 
 Neither the human heart nor the moral sense will, 
 for a moment, consent to regard an inherited tend- 
 ency toward evil as belonging in the same cate- 
 gory as conscious choice of evil. The inherited 
 tendency toward sin, or the weakened condition 
 which is likely to lead to sin, is as evident and uni- 
 versal as any fact of the natural or moral world. 
 So far all intelligent students of human nature 
 agree. This is not the doctrine of an obsolete the- 
 ology, but the result of a careful study of human 
 nature and history. One might as well affirm 
 that there are no nights in the year, and that there 
 is no sorrow in the universe, as to question the ex- 
 istence of sin, and of that weakened nature which so 
 pitilessly manifests itself, sooner or later, in one 
 degree or another, in acts of wrong-doing. 
 
 These considerations lead directly to one of 
 TieN the distinguishing teachings of Christ, 
 
 Birth - namely, His doctrine of the New Birth. 
 
 Jesus said, " Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye 
 must be born anew," — or born from above. The 
 
SALVATION 195 
 
 emphasis belongs on the word " marvel." It is no 
 wonder. The necessity of a radical transformation 
 in character is not dependent on any word uttered 
 by Jesus. He spoke of what others also might 
 have known, as well as He, and of what every 
 intelligent person may verify for himself. If sin 
 were only a nightmare, if none ever actually chose 
 wrong instead of right, still His words would merit 
 attention because even dreams have a measure of 
 substantiality, and occasionally of suffering. Sin 
 and the weak and imperfect condition are sad reali- 
 ties. The best men condemn themselves the most 
 severely. No memory is " like the cloudless air ; " 
 no conscience is " like a sea at rest." The whitest 
 flowers of our human life are the most conscious 
 that they need the light from above to bring to 
 them color and beauty. 
 
 Our next inquiry naturally is this : By what 
 means may one who has sinned — and all have 
 sinned — reach a state of purity and peace ? The 
 ideal is contained in the word "holiness." The 
 child was intended to be like his Father. God 
 is the Father, and the holiness of God should char- 
 acterize all the children of God. How may such 
 flawless character be realized ? This has been an 
 eager and a practical inquiry in all ages. Not only 
 have elect souls groped eagerly toward a higher 
 life, but the more obscure and humble, with equal 
 
196 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 pathos and patience, have prayed for deliverance 
 from the sway of sense and passion. Paul voiced 
 the longing of many when he exclaimed : " Who 
 shall deliver me out of the body of this death ? " 1 
 In all the ethnic religions consciousness of guilt is 
 a familiar experience. Those who seek the holy 
 life make, great sacrifices, go on long pilgrimages, 
 give of the fruit of their body for the sin of their 
 soul, offer long-continued prayers, lacerate their 
 flesh, and seek in every conceivable way to restore 
 the peace of which the consciousness of their guilt 
 has robbed them. To the student of human nature 
 this is one of the most familiar of all experiences. 
 It may be called superstition, or a relic of barba- 
 rism, — it matters not ; the fact is that the common 
 quest of earnest souls has been for redemption from 
 the bondage of evil and guilt. In other words, the 
 desire for what Christians call "the New Birth" 
 has been ceaseless and universal. It follows not 
 more frequently the consciousness of wrong than 
 the consciousness of peril which comes to those 
 who feel their weakness and the possibility of fall- 
 ing. How may the one who has done wrong be 
 made to hate the malign forces which have im- 
 pelled him downward, and to love and seek the 
 right? This is an old question. But there is 
 another equally important, How may the tendency 
 
 1 Romans yii. 24, R. V. 
 
SALVATION 197 
 
 toward evil be checked and the soul made to move 
 upward ? Another question more far-reaching still 
 is, How may the moral nature be so purified that 
 heredity itself shall cease to transmit evil desire 
 and become a vehicle of health and welfare alone ? 
 These are fundamental questions, and they lead 
 directly to the teaching of Jesus concerning the 
 birth from above. If the moral nature is trans- 
 formed so that truth and right are sought and 
 loved, it must be by some power outside of and 
 stronger than the will which has already chosen 
 unworthy ends. I may repent of the sinful choice 
 which I have made ; I may turn from it ; I may 
 vow never to repeat it ; but if that is all, my pledge 
 will be of little avail, since underneath my vow are 
 the impulses of a depraved nature, while on every 
 side temptations are making incessant appeals to 
 that nature. The will must act, but there must 
 be something more than the will. In some way 
 the undercurrent must be reached. I may change 
 that which is external ; I may resolve that, though 
 resistance kills me, I will never again yield to the 
 wrong as I have done ; but then, if that is all, the 
 struggle of the soul may be more intense and bitter 
 than ever, with failure at the end. Life may be 
 simply one long and terrible battle unless some 
 one shall sweeten the fountain of being, so that 
 the affections as well as the will shall be fixed 
 
198 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 on things above, so that thought shall be purified 
 as well as choice. How may this be done ? That 
 inquiry may be evaded for a time, but it cannot 
 permanently be silenced. It is the question of 
 questions. It underlies all attempts at improve- 
 ment both in religion and ethics. The struggle of 
 humanity is not simply toward a better choice, but 
 toward such moral conditions as shall necessitate 
 right action. On the other hand, change of nature 
 must be preceded by a change of choice. When the 
 nature is changed the choice will be changed ; and 
 yet the choice will not be changed until the nature 
 is changed. Here is an apparent difficulty, but it 
 is one which is met by the teachings of our Lord, 
 which declare that wherever there is repentance, 
 which is solely the free choice of the individual, it 
 is met by corresponding action from above. It is 
 as if Jesus had said, If a sailor will properly set his 
 rudder, the wind will fill his sails. The will is the 
 rudder of the character : if it is turned in the right 
 direction, all the winds of the heavens will favor ; 
 if it is turned in the wrong direction, they will op- 
 pose. What light does the doctrine of the Divine 
 Fatherhood shed upon this subject? It throws no 
 light on the mystery of sin or of the weakened 
 moral nature. Those have always been subjects 
 of speculation. The wisest now are not one step 
 nearer their solution than were thinkers who lived 
 
SALVATION 199 
 
 centuries ago. Plato understood the facts as well 
 as Herbert Spencer. Some depths have always 
 been too deep for any man's plummet. Specula- 
 tion leaves us suspended in mid-air, but Father- 
 hood teaches that underneath even sin and the 
 imperfect moral nature is the everlasting love. 
 Whatever the mystery, love is beneath it and 
 above it and around it. Every dark problem, like 
 every human life, is beset behind and before with 
 God. 
 
 Another fact now comes into view. All men 
 are and always have been equally the Notaiicha- 
 
 # dren know 
 
 chudren of God. The universal Father- their Father. 
 hood of God carries with it the universal son- 
 ship of man. But all the children of God do not 
 equally recognize their sonship. Here the analogy 
 of the home sheds light upon our subject. In one 
 family are four children, two boys and two girls. 
 One boy and one girl are loving, obedient, studious, 
 industrious, a joy to their parents and an honor to 
 the household. The other boy and the other girl 
 are disobedient. They grow up careless, heedless, 
 wicked ; they wander into distant lands, cause 
 anxiety and pain, loss and shame. The latter are 
 none the less children than the former, but they do 
 not occupy the same relation to the parents. The 
 home is the analogy of the universe. In all lands 
 and worlds, those who patiently and earnestly seek 
 
200 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 to know and do the Father's will, to work with 
 Him for the accomplishment of His purposes, 
 realize, faintly perhaps but surely, the dignity and 
 the glory of their sonship. But others live as if 
 there were no God ; their words are foul, their con- 
 duct vicious, and their influence fatal. When 
 Jesus teaches the universality of the Fatherhood, 
 He does not mean that all the children equally 
 recognize it, or that the Father is equally pleased 
 with the conduct of all ; but He does mean that 
 all are encompassed by God's love, and that all are 
 embraced in God's plans of compassion. 
 
 Another fact comes into prominence at this point, 
 Love most namely, the greatness of the Father's love 
 
 its Relation will always be more apparent in His deal- 
 to the _ J _ r \ 
 Unworthy. j n g S w ith the disobedient than with the 
 
 obedient. On the one hand, the love goes out as a 
 
 matter of course — it is expected ; on the other 
 
 hand, it is a surprise. With the one class it is 
 
 partly earned, with the other it is a free gift. 
 
 What Jesus said about the rain falling alike on 
 
 the evil and on the good is literally true, and 
 
 a great mystery. Love always appears greatest 
 
 where its manifestation is least deserved. 
 
 These truths are now before us. All have sinned. 
 
 There is in humanity a tendency toward evil, 
 
 which is sure to manifest itself in forms more or , 
 
 less aggravated. What Jesus called the New Birth, 
 
SALVATION 201 
 
 or the birth from above, is the condition of a higher 
 and better life, and the change implied in that 
 experience is so great that there can be hope of 
 its realization only as Divine power supplements 
 human weakness. The doctrine of the New Birth 
 is fundamental in religion and in ethics. All men 
 are equally the children of God, but those who 
 have experienced the New Birth are in relations to 
 the Father as unlike the relations of those who are 
 neglectful of His will, and who do not seek har- 
 mony with Him, as light is unlike darkness, or as 
 harmony is unlike discord. 
 
 A question now arises which has occupied a 
 large place in theological thought. What what must 
 
 precede the 
 
 was necessary to be done in order that New Birth. 
 the New Birth might be realized ? Do those who 
 consciously do wrong put themselves in such a 
 state of enmity toward God and the universe that 
 something needs to be done in their behalf, or in 
 their stead, in order that the transformation may 
 be permitted? Is God so angry or so holy that 
 He needs to be appeased before He can be forgiv- 
 ing ? Has the conscious choice of evil broken the 
 harmony between the children and the Father so 
 that something more than repentance is required 
 before the Father can consistently restore the cul- 
 prit to his old place in the household? These 
 questions in our time may not occupy as large a 
 
202 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 place in the thought of the world as they once did, 
 and yet no one who reads contemporary theology 
 can fail to have observed that few subjects more 
 persistently force themselves upon the attention of 
 those who think than the doctrine of the Atone- 
 ment, which is simply an attempt to answer the 
 question, On what condition may the New Birth 
 be permitted? Here I would speak with great 
 modesty, and with full appreciation of the earnest 
 efforts to answer this question on the part of able 
 and reverent men who have lived in other days, or 
 who are living now. The subject will be more 
 easily understood if I group under a few heads 
 some of the theories which have been held to be a 
 sufficient solution of this problem. 
 
 One school of thinkers have held that God is 
 Theories of absolutely just; that not only can He do 
 
 the Atone- . . . 
 
 ment. The nothing that is uniust, but He can permit 
 
 Satisfaction ° J r 
 
 Theory. nothing that is unjust. When a man 
 chooses wrong instead of right, he violates infinite 
 justice and merits condemnation. Before the New 
 Birth can be realized, the sentiment of justice in the 
 Deity must be satisfied. Justice can be satisfied 
 only as every act of wrong-doiug receives its ap- 
 propriate penalty. Those who sin cut themselves 
 off from God, and must remain forever cut off un- 
 less in some way they are restored. They could 
 not restore themselves, therefore the Son of God, 
 
SALVATION 203 
 
 as a pure act of mercy, suffered in their stead, and 
 His sufferings, because of His infinite nature, 
 are equivalent to what would have been suffered 
 by the offenders if they had been punished ; and 
 therefore, because of the sufferings of the sinless 
 Son of God, the New Birth is possible. God is 
 satisfied. 
 
 This theory does not teach that Christ suffered all 
 the punishment which others would have suffered, 
 but that what He endured, so to speak, paid the 
 debt, or equalized the balance, so that the holiness 
 of God is satisfied and man may be forgiven. 
 This was the teaching of the older Calvinism. It 
 has behind it some of the greatest names in the 
 history of human thought. It should not lightly 
 be cast aside, for the theory could have found favor 
 in the eyes of such men as honestly held it only as 
 it had in it some element of truth. They believed 
 that the justice of God was His supreme attribute. 
 They adored His awful majesty. With such be- 
 liefs as they held concerning God, such a theory of 
 what is called the Atonement was inevitable. 
 
 Another school of thinkers have reasoned some- 
 what as follows : This Universe is Under The Govern- 
 mental 
 
 a moral government which is analogous Theory. 
 to the kingdoms of the earth. At the head of this 
 moral government is a king. This government is 
 subject to law. One of its laws is that the one 
 
204 THE AGE OP EAITH 
 
 who does wrong shall suffer an adequate penalty. 
 Since he has broken the law which was ordained 
 by God, he is guilty of an infinite sin, and infinite 
 sin demands infinite punishment, which is ever- 
 lasting. It is necessary, therefore, that the sinner 
 should be everlastingly punished in order that the 
 majesty of the law may be maintained ; and all 
 sinners would have been so punished had it not 
 been that One stepped into the sinner's place whose 
 sufferings, because of His exalted nature, were suf- 
 ficient to uphold the majesty of the law and yet to 
 allow the sinner to be released. This is the teach- 
 ing of what is known as the New England Theo- 
 logy. It has been held by such men as Jonathan 
 Edwards, President Edwards of New Haven, Pro- 
 fessor Park of Andover, and others among whom 
 have been some of the greatest intellects that this 
 continent has known. They taught that above 
 everything else the sanctity of the moral order of 
 the universe must be maintained ; that man in the 
 exercise of his free will has chosen to break that 
 order ; that he ought to suffer, and would have 
 suffered, everlastingly, had not God, who is bound 
 by loyalty to Himself to maintain that order, 
 provided a way by which it can be maintained 
 and yet the one who has done wrong be forgiven. 
 As the conspicuous thought in the " Satisfaction 
 Theory " is the awful holiness and justice of God, 
 
SALVATION 205 
 
 so the point of emphasis in the " Governmental 
 Theory " is the sanctity of the moral order of the 
 universe. Love requires that it shall be upheld, 
 and not hate but love inspired the rigor with which 
 its laws are executed. Man may be forgiven, and 
 the New Birth realized, because the sacrifice of 
 Christ on the Cross was a sufficient substitute for 
 the punishment of the sinner. 
 
 These theories do not satisfy me ; I do not find 
 them harmonious with the Scripture or the moral 
 sense, and yet I insist that the truth which they 
 undoubtedly contain should be recognized. They 
 are not the idle speculations of dreamers; they 
 are the results of the lifelong study of consecrated 
 men who have pondered earnestly, patiently, and 
 sympathetically the problems of suffering and sin. 
 
 Another theory vastly more vital and harmonious 
 with the Christian revelation repudiates The Moral 
 
 ill Influence 
 
 the thought that anything needed to be Theory. 
 done, either to satisfy the justice of God, or to 
 maintain the majesty of His law. The nature of 
 God Himself makes such expedients unnecessary. 
 The real question is, How may the one who has 
 done wrong be induced to accept the provisions of 
 pardon which are free to all ? The great champion 
 of this theory in England was Frederick Denison 
 Maurice ; in Scotland, John McLeod Campbell ; 
 and in this country, Horace Bushnell, of Hart- 
 
206 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 ford. They found in the suffering and death of 
 Christ a unique manifestation of the love of God, 
 and believed that His vicarious but voluntary sac- 
 rifice was the means which was used to persuade 
 the unrepentant to be reconciled to the Father, 
 who had never ceased to love them. This view 
 seems to me far more harmonious with what is 
 known of the character of God than the other 
 views which I have mentioned. It is a mournful 
 commentary on the progress of practical Chris- 
 tianity that teachers of a doctrine which thus mag- 
 nified the Divine love could have been looked upon 
 by so many as enemies of the truth. But the 
 heresy of one generation is the creed of the next, 
 and Maurice, Campbell, and Bushnell have no 
 lack of sympathizers and followers in these more 
 Christian times. Their isolation has borne fruit in 
 more satisfying views of the nature of God, and 
 in saner interpretations of our Lord's work. 
 
 Nevertheless, it seems to me that even these 
 Fatherhood modern prophets did not go far enough, 
 
 and Atone- T _ 
 
 ment. and I ask — What light does the Father- 
 
 hood of God shed upon the inquiry ? What needed 
 to be done in order that the New Birth might be 
 permitted to become a reality ? If God is abstract 
 justice, then no doubt His justice required satisfac- 
 tion. If the moral order of the universe can be 
 maintained in no other way, then its majesty must 
 
SALVATION 207 
 
 be exhibited even in penalty and suffering. If the 
 object of the life and death of Christ was solely to 
 make an impression on men, then the spectacle 
 would be made as impressive as possible. But if, 
 on the other hand, the universe is our Father's 
 house, and all men are equally the children of His 
 love, whether they merit it or not, then the course 
 will be simple and clear. In the best earthly home, 
 when one has been for long years a shame to the 
 household, what is required before he may be re- 
 stored to the confidence which he has lost ? Is not 
 this all ? He must give adequate evidence that he 
 is a changed man. When that evidence is satisfac- 
 tory, whatever the wrong may have been, the doors 
 of the home swing wide for the return of the prodi- 
 gal. He may have disgraced the family ; the father 
 and mother care not for that. They recognize 
 that he is a new man, and he is welcome to all that 
 they possess. His presence before was a pollution ; 
 so long as that was the case, they compelled him 
 to remain elsewhere ; but when the foulness had 
 gone, and humility and purity had taken its place, 
 they received him back with love and thanksgiving. 
 In any earthly home worthy of the name there would 
 be no exception, I am persuaded, to such treatment 
 of an erring child. One knocks at the door who 
 has been long absent, and whose name has not even 
 been mentioned. He has brought upon those who 
 
208 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 were innocent financial ruin and moral disgrace. 
 Now he returns as a little child, and brings with 
 him evidence that he is a new man. He says to 
 his father : " I have sinned against the home. I 
 am worthy of nothing at your hands. What do 
 you require in order that once more I may be 
 permitted to live among those who love me and 
 be known as your child ? " The father says : " My 
 son, all that we want to know is that you are once 
 more in harmony with the family, that you have 
 entered into its spirit and will promote its welfare. 
 We are sure of that now, therefore nothing more 
 needs to be done." The welcome is instant, gracious, 
 and insistent. The relation of the father toward the 
 child is changed because the attitude of the child 
 toward the father is changed. But some one may 
 say : " Such a course would do very well in the 
 home, where love overlooks mistakes, but it would 
 not do in the universe, where a moral order must be 
 maintained, and men be made to understand that 
 none can do wrong without suffering." The reply 
 is : " This principle would not work in an earthly 
 government of course, because men may feign re- 
 pentance and deceive the most discerning ; but no 
 one can deceive God ; the Heavenly Father pene- 
 trates the inmost secrets of hearts : before His 
 eye every dark place is opened. He may do what 
 other rulers in their limitation and ignorance would 
 
SALVATION 209 
 
 not be able to do. What might not be wise for a 
 human government would be natural in the Divine 
 government. "When the father knows that the son 
 is thoroughly repentant, he is ready to forgive. 
 " But," some one inquires, " how can this be pos- 
 sible, and yet the world be taught that only holiness 
 is acceptable to God ? " I reply : This difficulty 
 is purely speculative ; it is never practical. Even 
 with the limitations of our human life, we recognize 
 that repentance is always a valid ground for for- 
 giveness, and the father who would close his door to 
 a repentant son would be regarded as a monster 
 and not as a father. The law that " Whatsoever a 
 man soweth, that shall he also reap," is not violated 
 when a child is freely pardoned, and having reaped 
 the bitter fruit of his action, in humble contrition 
 returns bearing with him the sheaves of his suffer- 
 ing. He says : " I see the folly of my ways ; I hate 
 the course that I have pursued ; I beg that I may 
 be permitted once more a small place in the home 
 from which I merit nothing." No one is encouraged 
 in evil courses if he is forgiven. " What then 
 becomes of the grace of God, — which is pardon 
 given to the undeserving ? " The reply is : Pardon 
 to the undeserving is possible in a home as well as 
 in a government. The holiness of a father is more 
 sublime and majestic than the holiness of a king. 
 A father cannot allow foulness in a household be- 
 
210 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 cause of the ruin it will work. When he sees that 
 there is no longer ruin but blessing to be achieved, 
 the same holiness opens the doors wide and bids 
 the wanderer return, — and that is " free grace." 
 
 This leads us to a truth still more fundamental 
 a Necessity and vital. It is a necessity of fatherhood 
 hood. that everything which is possible shall 
 
 be done for the rescue of those who are in bondage 
 to weakness and ignorance, or who, by a misuse 
 of their freedom, have become the slaves of sin. 
 Here again the analogy of the home will help us. 
 What will a father do in order that his child who 
 has gone wrong may be saved, not from the suffer- 
 ings which he merits, but from the sin which is his 
 ruin ? He will weep for him bitter tears ; he will 
 follow him into many lands ; he will go to him in 
 prison ; he will spend his last dollar to find him. 
 This has been proved again and again. Almost 
 every day we read of those who have literally died 
 in their quest for children that have wandered 
 from truth and virtue. It is a necessity of the pa- 
 rental heart to give itself in behalf of the child who 
 may neither appreciate nor care for the sacrifice 
 which he is causing. Interpreted by fatherhood, 
 we rise to this majestic and magnificent truth : the 
 Heart that beats at the centre of the universe, 
 the Soul and Spirit of all things that are, in His 
 relation to the humblest, the poorest, the mean- 
 
SALVATION 211 
 
 est, the vilest, is truly revealed in the passion of 
 a father and mother to find and save their child 
 who has disregarded their wishes and violated 
 their love. And that is not something occasional, 
 but it is everlasting in the nature of God. It is 
 that which gives significance to the cross. " What 
 relation does the cross have to the sin of man ? " 
 It is a hint of the length to which Divine love 
 and sacrifice will go to find and to save. " What, 
 then, is meant by the blood of Christ ? " That the 
 eternal God goes out to the undeserving in sacrifice 
 which can be expressed only dimly by death, that 
 there is no depth which the Divine love does not 
 penetrate, and no space which it does not compass, 
 that in proportion to the degradation and ruin is 
 the ministry of Him whose " mercy endureth for- 
 ever." In a distant land you find a father look- 
 ing for his long-lost boy. That is what human 
 fatherhood does for one who has wandered from 
 an earthly home. On the cross is revealed all that 
 we can understand of the length to which the 
 Divine love goes in its search for those who are 
 lost from God. 
 
 What light does the Fatherhood of God shed 
 upon this mysterious and yet magnificent 
 
 r J J & Conclusion. 
 
 theme? It makes more apparent and 
 
 awful the nature of sin, since it is not violation of 
 
 law, but violation of love. No one feels the same 
 
212 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 horror of one who falsifies a tax return as of one 
 who steals from his mother ; and yet the only dif- 
 ference between the acts is that the one is a sin 
 against law and the other against love. Sin and 
 moral weakness show the necessity of a change in 
 nature, as well as in conduct, so radical that it can 
 be described only as a new birth. The New Birth 
 reaches not only to a change of choice, but even 
 to a purification of the fountains of being. Only 
 God is sufficient for such a task. In the " little 
 systems " of men this subject has been hedged 
 around with many difficulties. As justice has 
 seemed to be sovereign in the universe, some have 
 felt that it must be satisfied before those who 
 had done wrong could expect either help or hope. 
 Others, as they have considered the universal moral 
 order, have believed that before there could be help 
 or hope for a sinner, the majesty of the Divine law 
 must be so safeguarded that no one would imagine 
 that any sin could go unpunished ; that only in 
 this way could those prone to evil be prevented 
 from continuous wrong-doing. Others have taught 
 that the race is in need of some great exhibition 
 of Divine love in order that it might appreciate 
 its possibilities and seek to realize its opportuni- 
 ties. The light of Fatherhood reaches still farther. 
 It shows that there is but one thing which must of 
 necessity precede the New Birth, viz., repentance, 
 
SALVATION 213 
 
 and that that must always do so. There must be on 
 the part of the individual hatred of the nature that 
 leads to wrong-doing and a resolution to fight its 
 impulses while strength and life endure. When 
 repentance is genuine, all the resources of omnipo- 
 tent love are pledged to the weakest and the hum- 
 blest of the children of men. Fatherhood teaches 
 that the crown and glory of all divinity, that which 
 is eternal and essential in the nature of God and 
 inseparable from His being, is love which will sac- 
 rifice until the lost is found. The glory of the 
 cross is the revelation of God in sacrifice. 
 
 What needs to be done in order that I may ex- 
 perience the New Birth ? I must repent of my sin, 
 and resolve, God helping me, to resist all tempta- 
 tions even to the bitter end. Yes, but what needs 
 to be done that God may be willing to forgive ? 
 The answer of Fatherhood is instant, magnificent, 
 and final. Fatherhood needs only to know that the 
 son has truly repented. But what about the influ- 
 ence of such action on others? That is an idle 
 question ; since those who do wrong are followed so 
 remorselessly by the consequences of their own ac- 
 tion that there can be no doubt on the part of any 
 that God is satisfied only with holiness. The cul- 
 mination of the relation of man to God is perfect 
 harmony between them. He is holy. We can be- 
 come like Him only as He lifts us up to Himself. 
 
214 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 By a necessity of His nature He is always longing 
 to save His children. Nothing needs to be done 
 to win Him. He is appeased already. All that 
 any are called upon to do is to enter into the pos- 
 session of what has always been theirs. 
 
IX 
 
 PRAYER 
 
 Prater as it is taught, in the New Testament is 
 a very simple subject, but as commonly presented 
 it causes much perplexity and anxiety. Properly 
 understood, it is as natural as speech; but wrongly 
 interpreted, the difficulties are many and cannot 
 lightly be set aside. I approach this subject in the 
 conviction that most of the confusion concerning it 
 has resulted from a failure to give proper place and 
 emphasis to the doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood. 
 The analogies of law courts were impressive in 
 Roman times, but in these days they are exceed- 
 ingly misleading. Law has a new meaning. Sci- 
 ence has lifted the idea of government to cosmic 
 proportions. The political order has given place 
 to the physical and moral order- Formerly, divine 
 action was interpreted in the light of human insti- 
 tutions, but now human institutions are interpreted 
 in the light of divine revelations. Every subject 
 has to be approached in a way peculiar to the en- 
 vironment in which it is studied. New times ne- 
 cessitate new terms and new methods. Certain 
 
216 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 presuppositions are essential to any proper con- 
 sideration of this subject. They have been men- 
 tioned in previous chapters, but not improperly 
 may be referred to again. 
 
 God is the ultimate or absolute reality, and He 
 is a person. The word " person " when ap- 
 
 Identity of x * i 
 
 twlel Man plied to the Deity means exactly the same 
 and God. ag w j len a ppij e( j to humanity. 
 
 He is revealed in humanity. He is spirit, and 
 spirit of necessity unites in one self-consciousness 
 the power to know, the power to feel, and the power 
 to choose. What man is within limitations God 
 is without limitations. Man is spirit and, there- 
 fore, a person. Personality signifies the same in 
 man as in God. The difference between man and 
 God is one of " distance," not of nature. A stone 
 can hold no communication with a man because 
 between them there is a difference of nature. A 
 child, however, may have intercourse with a phi- 
 losopher or a king, for while the distance between 
 them is great, there is a kinship of nature. But 
 identity of nature does not mean destruction of in- 
 dividuality. If man is as truly personal as God, 
 and God is the infinite Person, communion is not 
 only possible but inevitable. It is necessary, how- 
 ever, to repeat that in communion individuality is 
 not lost. A sunbeam cannot hold intercourse with 
 the splendor of which it is a part, nor a leaf have 
 
PRAYER 217 
 
 conscious fellowship with the stuff of the universe. 
 An emanation is one thing ; an individual person 
 is another thing. The former may be re-absorbed 
 into that from which it came, but the latter can- 
 not be. 
 
 Since God is a person who is imaged in human- 
 ity, and since man is a person who reflects God, 
 intercourse between them, as I have said, is both 
 natural and inevitable. 
 
 Since God and man are both free, that inter- 
 course may take whatever form either one Revelation 
 
 versus 
 
 may choose, trod may speak to man — Prayer, 
 that is called revelation ; man may speak to God — 
 that usually takes the form of prayer. But it 
 need not be petition in the common understanding 
 of that word. It may be adoration, praise, thanks- 
 giving, conversation between the child and the 
 parent. 
 
 Belief in the reality of such communications has 
 been found in all nations and religions. It has 
 taken many forms, but has ever been a conspicuous 
 and universal fact. Sacrifice has its origin in 
 prayer, and every form of worship is evidence of 
 a belief on the part of the worshiper in the 
 possibility of communing with the Deity whom he 
 worships. The offering may consist of fruit, of 
 animals, or even of human beings ; or it may be 
 the more spiritual adoration of the fire-worshipers, 
 
218 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 who see in the glory of the dawn and the bright- 
 ness of the sun and stars objects which awe them 
 into silence and draw from their souls exclamations 
 of praise. Whether the worshiper be a priest 
 with an uplifted knife ready to slay the victim upon 
 the altar, or another priest with a garland of flow- 
 ers and a sheaf of grain, or a peasant prostrate 
 before the rising sun, the act means the same thing, 
 for all equally recognize the possibility and reality 
 of intercourse between the human individual and 
 the Almighty. The history of religion is the his- 
 tory of faith in the possibility and reality of some 
 kind of communication between God and man. 
 The more primitive faiths represent the Deity as 
 manifesting Himself in ways that strike terror, 
 speaking in the thunder, and flashing indignation 
 in the lightning. The supplications of men with 
 such a faith are apt to be cringing and cruel. 
 Like God like man, is a truth which has the force 
 of an axiom. As belief in a holy and loving 
 Father becomes more general, worship grows spir- 
 itual and more widely satisfying. 
 
 In these principles which are truisms we have 
 a foundation for a consideration of the subject 
 of prayer. Prayer is a part of the intercourse 
 between man and God. God approaches man in 
 revelation, man approaches God in prayer. 
 
 What, now, is the Christian doctrine of prayer ? 
 
PRAYER 219 
 
 It differs from that of other religions only in being 
 more spiritual, and in being so presented The Chris . 
 as to commend itself to the reason and mgabout " 
 the moral sense. Jesus deals with this 
 subject in two ways : by example, and by direct 
 teaching. It must not be forgotten that almost the 
 only word for God which He used was Father. 
 This exercise, which with the masters of other re- 
 ligions was the abject humiliation of a subject be- 
 fore an infinite and awful sovereign, with Jesus was 
 the glad and grateful approach of a child to his 
 parent. Prayer in the Ethnic faiths is intercourse 
 between man and the monarch whom he fears and 
 worships ; prayer with Jesus is the intercourse be- 
 tween a child and his Father. This distinction is 
 clear and fundamental. In the one conception are 
 found all the difficulties which have been associ- 
 ated with this subject and which still attend it ; 
 while the latter offers a reasonable and satisfying 
 solution of a perplexing problem. 
 
 At the beginning of His public ministry, before 
 He undertook any great work, Jesus went me Exam . 
 apart and spent a whole night in prayer ple o£ Je8U8 ' 
 to God. What took place during those hours of 
 silence is not revealed. It was not necessary that 
 it should be. The Son in communion with His 
 Father is the world's noblest and most illuminat- 
 ing example of the reality of prayer. Before 
 
220 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 He selected those who were to be His most inti- 
 mate and constant fellow-workers, He withdrew into 
 companionship with God, in whose strength His 
 task was to be achieved. Beyond that we may 
 not penetrate. Those who follow His example in 
 their own way will learn more of the mystery of 
 prayer than will ever be taught them by human 
 teachers. 
 
 On the night before His crucifixion the pure soul 
 of Jesus audibly breathed aspiration and petition. 
 The Intercessory Prayer in behalf of His disciples 
 is recorded in the seventeenth chapter of the Gos- 
 pel according to John. It shows the Son in com- 
 munion with the Father ; now talking to Him in a 
 simple and direct way of blessings desired, and 
 again with impassioned entreaty asking for the 
 unity of His followers and the sure glory of His 
 kingdom. 
 
 In Gethsemane he besought God, saying : " If 
 it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Never- 
 theless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Here the 
 prayer has two parts, petition and resignation. 
 Some of the words of Jesus on the cross are also 
 examples of prayer. "Father, forgive them." 
 Thus He directly sought a blessing for those who 
 were injuring Him. At the last He said : " Father, 
 into thy hands I commend my spirit." In this 
 utterance again we find petition and resignation. 
 
PRAYER 221 
 
 Turning from the example to the teaching of 
 Jesus we come, first, to the Lord's Prayer Thej:eticll . . 
 — the most significant of all His words ^ of Jesu8 - 
 on this subject. This is an example of true prayer. 
 A part of it is recognition of God ; another part 
 the expression of desire for spiritual blessings; a 
 single request concerns physical needs ; while still 
 another part is the voice of reverent satisfaction in 
 the Divine will. 
 
 Into the teaching of the apostle I will not enter, 
 since it is only an echo of what is found in the 
 Gospels. All the teachings of Jesus on this sub- 
 ject are clear and easily understood. With Him 
 prayer was the intercourse of parent and child. 
 The more common word, " conversation," covers the 
 meaning, although at first it seems far too small. 
 The prayers of Jesus were His conversations with 
 His Father, and the Lord's Prayer is an illustration 
 of how a man may converse with God. When a 
 communication begins with the word " Father," 
 the ideas of awe, fear, distance, which characterize 
 those who prostrate themselves before the invisible 
 powers, disappear, and a clear note of confidence 
 and personal affection is introduced. 
 
 All masters of religion recognize the possibility 
 of intercourse beween man and Deity. The doc- 
 trine of Jesus differs from that of other teachers 
 in that while they represent God as a king who 
 
222 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 must be appeased, a being who can be satisfied only 
 with sacrifices, He represents Him as the almighty 
 and all loving Father. With them, prayer contains 
 an element of terror ; with Him, it is pervaded with 
 confidence and affection. With them, the attitude 
 is one of prostration ; with Him, it is the expec- 
 tancy of trust. 
 
 But here we are met with the objection that an- 
 swer to prayer involves a violation of the 
 
 Objections. , ... 
 
 uniformity of nature. I his objection has 
 been raised so often and by such eminent authorities 
 that it has had an influence which it does not merit. 
 What is the uniformity of nature ? The physical 
 order which has thus far been observed by the 
 science of man. But only a small fraction of nature 
 has yet been explored. When Professor Huxley 
 wrote his famous treatise on Prayer, neither the 
 phonograph nor the X-rays had been heard of, or 
 dreamed of. In the professor's own field of biology, 
 immense strides have been taken and vast explora- 
 tions have been made since he laid down his task. 
 The uniformity of nature is a great and true phrase, 
 but sometimes it is made to carry burdens which 
 are too heavy for it. It means that there is uni- 
 formity so far as observation has gone, and that 
 from what has been we may properly infer what 
 will be. There is an immense assumption in the 
 phrase, "the uniformity of nature," as it is com- 
 
PRAYER 223 
 
 monly used, but we may pass that by. The uni- 
 formity of nature does not and cannot mean that 
 there is no cooperation between various laws ; that 
 there is no higher sphere than the physical ; and 
 that new forces and new laws may not yet be dis- 
 covered. Again, uniformity applies to physical 
 things. The mind and the affections belong to free 
 beings. We are the inhabitants of two worlds. In 
 the lower there is uniformity ; in the higher there 
 is freedom. Prayer is an illustration of the inter- 
 action between these worlds. There is constant 
 communication and cooperation between them. If 
 poison is administered in sufficient quantities, a 
 physical law determines that it will surely kill ; but 
 an intelligent and free being may administer an 
 antidote to that poison by which the life of the 
 sufferer may be saved. Poison never would apply 
 its own antidote. To affirm that it would, would 
 be to assert a break in the uniformity of nature, 
 but to hold that mind and will may administer 
 saving remedies is not to believe in any fracture of 
 the law of causation. In accordance with a law of 
 nature, iron in water will sink ; left to itself it 
 always does so; there never has been known an 
 exception. And yet mind may so fashion it as to 
 make it float, and it may build it into ships which 
 will fly like the wind over the waters, carrying 
 whole cities at a time. This is no violation of the 
 
224 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 uniformity of nature, but an illustration of a higher 
 sphere acting upon the lower. The wheels of a 
 factory roll on remorselessly. Left to themselves, 
 with the power behind them, they will continue 
 their motion ; but a boy can divert the power, and 
 in an instant the whole place will be as silent as 
 the grave. The change has been wrought by the 
 action of a law of mind upon a law of matter. If 
 we recognize the possibility of the cooperation 
 between the two spheres, our difficulty vanishes. 
 Nature is uniform, but in no respect more than in 
 this, that it always responds to the influence of 
 mind. The will of man can change the current of a 
 river, can divert the lightning in mid-heaven, can 
 stop bodies which left to themselves would continue 
 to fall. The law of inertia says that a body shall 
 always remain in the place where it is unless moved 
 upon by an outside body ; but mind can at any 
 time determine when that motion from the outside 
 shall be applied. The objection ignores one of the 
 commonest facts in our mortal life, namely, that 
 the sphere of mind is above that of matter and has 
 dominion over it. The uniformity of the world of 
 matter is unquestioned ; the freedom of the realm 
 of mind is equally beyond question. If a child 
 could ask his father to shut off the power by which 
 ten thousand spindles are kept in motion and the 
 request could be granted without any break in the 
 
PRAYER 225 
 
 established order of that factory, another child may 
 ask a greater Father for some similar blessing, and 
 the granting of the request would be no violation 
 of the uniformity of nature. This objection rests 
 upon an unfounded assumption, and upon a failure 
 to observe a class of facts which are among the 
 commonest in human experience. Familiar things 
 are often the least studied. Their nearness pre- 
 vents their having the influence which belongs to 
 them. Cooperation between the higher and lower 
 worlds is as common as any phenomenon which 
 has ever been observed, and that cooperation is a 
 conclusive answer to the objection that prayer is a 
 violation of the order of the universe. 
 
 "What light does the Fatherhood of God 
 throw upon the subject of prayer? It Fatherhooa 
 illuminates all its darkness. It shows andPra y er - 
 that prayer is not the effort of a man to get the 
 better of the universe, or to induce Him who has 
 ordered things aright to change them in response 
 to the whim of one who does not know what is 
 best. It is not continual pleading for things which 
 are grudingly granted because of perpetual teasing. 
 It is something far nobler and more satisfying. 
 Prayer is intercourse between the child and the 
 Father of his spirit. If God is truly represented 
 by that word Father, then there is no time and no 
 place in which He may not be approached by His 
 
226 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 children ; and His eagerness to listen will be in pro- 
 portion to the greatness of their need. We must 
 keep close to our principle, that to understand 
 what Fatherhood means in God we have only to 
 multiply by infinity what it means in man. If the 
 truest human father is anxious to be helpful to 
 the child who longs for him, who can measure the 
 eagerness of the Divine Father to respond to 
 the appeal of the child whose need is always 
 before Him? Human parents are often swayed 
 by their feelings ; they are fallible ; they do not 
 always understand their children ; they are limited 
 by physical conditions ; they become nervous and 
 petulant. Not so the perfect Father. Every hu- 
 man being is a child of God ; therefore all may 
 be sure that they will find hospitality when they 
 turn to the Father who is in heaven. 
 
 Where may we pray ? Wherever our Father 
 is. Where is He ? He pervades the universe. 
 He transcends it as the spirit of a man transcends 
 his body ; and yet He is nigh to us, even in our 
 hearts. No cathedral shrine, no sanctuary of mar- 
 ble, can imprison Him. He is in the solitude of 
 the desert, in the forecastle of a ship, on the sick- 
 bed, where all that the sufferer can do is to close 
 the eyes and commune with the God who is nearer 
 than hands and feet. His presence will be real- 
 ized wherever there is an open mind and a rever- 
 ent spirit. 
 
PRAYER 227 
 
 Fatherhood shows that prayer on the part of the 
 child is often and properly petition, and that it 
 is just as frequently and just as properly without 
 petition. Common usage has limited the word 
 " prayer " to asking for something. That is the 
 result of the inability of the mind to see more than 
 one side of a thing at a time. 
 
 Because when men prayed they asked for favors, it 
 was presumed that that was all there was in prayer ; 
 but at other times they have rendered praise and 
 held silent and devout communion. The phrase, 
 " the practice of the presence of God," is one of 
 the best definitions of prayer, but it also includes 
 petition. 
 
 In every home the child goes to his father for 
 the things which he desires, and in proportion as 
 he realizes that his father is noble and good, it will 
 be impossible for him to ask from him anything 
 that is unworthy. One who had always been the 
 soul of honor, who despised duplicity, would never 
 be approached by his child with a request for some- 
 thing, to give which would require dishonesty. 
 
 If we ask anything according to His will, we are 
 told that He will grant it, and His will is but the 
 expression of His nature. Anything which would 
 require injustice is not in accordance with His 
 will. But we are limited at the best, and our 
 knowledge of what is right and true often fails. 
 
228 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 What then ? Fatherhood teaches that the ear of 
 God is always open to our requests, and that we 
 are to go to Him ' for the things which we think 
 will be best, and He will do for us what is actually 
 best. The answer will sometimes be a granting 
 and sometimes a denial of the request. A son 
 desires to make an investment of money. The 
 father refuses. The next day the boy learns that 
 if he had been allowed to do as he wished, he 
 would have lost all. The father has answered his 
 prayer with something better than he was asked 
 to give. A girl begs her mother to be permitted 
 to play in a certain house. The mother declines. 
 She is broken-hearted at the refusal, but later 
 learns that within those walls one is dying of a 
 contagious disease, and knows that her mother has 
 been better to her than she asked. We answer 
 the prayers of those nearest and dearest to us by 
 giving to them that which we think to be best; 
 God answers the petitions of His children by giv- 
 ing that which He knows to be best. When there 
 is a realization of the Fatherhood of God, prayer 
 will be unforced and natural, and there will be no 
 doubt concerning the answer, because the purpose 
 of the Father to promote the welfare of His chil- 
 dren is at the heart of the idea of Fatherhood. 
 
 But why, then, should we pray ? If God knows, 
 what need of our asking? Keep to the analogy of 
 
PRAYER 229 
 
 the home, and this difficulty will go with the 
 others. Fathers, when they know what 
 their children want, do not always antici- 
 pate their wishes ; they often wait for the request 
 to be proffered. Intercourse between parent and 
 child brings them nearer to each other. God does 
 not require to be informed concerning our desires, 
 but we need the privilege of telling Him. " But 
 the things which I most earnestly seek are denied 
 me. How can I believe in prayer ? " A return 
 question will answer that inquiry. Do we not 
 often find it necessary to decline to accede to the 
 wishes of those whom we love simply because we 
 love them — and when we know that it is impos- 
 sible for them to understand our motives ? We 
 seek their good. They must trust and wait. 
 " What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt 
 know hereafter," is as true in the relation of par- 
 ent and child, in every home, as of the relation 
 of human children to the Father of all. 
 
 What, then, should be the relation of the child 
 to his Father ? One of perfect freedom ; but also 
 that of one always seeking to know, and to be in 
 harmony with his Father's will. When the child 
 seeks the same things as his Father, there is har- 
 mony between them. We are free to ask whatever 
 we desire, but in proportion as we appreciate that 
 we are not children of atoms but children of God, 
 
230 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 conformity to His purpose will be our constant 
 aspiration and knowledge of His will our endless 
 study. 
 
 For what may we ask ? This question has al- 
 Forwhat ready been answered in another form. 
 Pray- We are not wise. We can see but a little 
 
 way beyond our wishes and ambitions. We are 
 led upward and onward by slow and painful steps. 
 Naturally we think that that is best which we most 
 desire. Is there no possibility of true prayer for 
 those who are earnest but mistaken ? If God is 
 our Father, we may go to Him with whatever re- 
 quest is in our hearts, and freely ask for whatever 
 we believe He would think best. "Ah! but 
 what if He refuses ? " There is only one reply to 
 that question, and happy the person who has learned 
 to accept it as final. God's refusals are always be- 
 neficent answers. Few men have lived long with- 
 out being quite as grateful for the things which the 
 Father has denied as for what He has granted 
 them. That which seems essential to happiness or 
 welfare to-day, to-morrow we may find would have 
 been our ruin. That for which the heart seems 
 breaking to-day, if it were possessed would break 
 the heart to-morrow. Few would be willing to be 
 Providence for themselves. It is better to trust 
 to chance or fate than to try to dictate or deter- 
 mine what shall befall us. Fatherhood teaches 
 
PRAYER 231 
 
 that there is no chance or fate ; that the desire 
 of not one earnest heart is ever lost ; and that a 
 response from infinite Love is always given to 
 every request. God's refusals are always lasting 
 benedictions. 
 
 But is conformity to the Divine will possible on 
 the earth ? May those who are weak, fallible, un- 
 worthy, hope ever to reach the state in which they 
 may be sure that they ask according to that will ? 
 If pressed to an answer I should say : It is possi- 
 ble for human beings to reach that condition be- 
 cause Jesus reached it, and He was the typical man. 
 But if the question is pushed farther, and I am 
 asked, Have you ever known any person who had 
 reached that altitude? I should have to answer, 
 I have not. " The fullness of the stature of Christ " 
 is far above and beyond those who have yielded to 
 sin, or who feel the impulses of an evil heredity. 
 Not one of the disciples attained that sinless state. 
 The greatest of them said : " This one thing I do, 
 I press toward the mark." The examples of the 
 saints in all ages show that the common experience 
 is one of struggle, darkness, conflict, doubt, and 
 progress by slow and painful growth. Conformity 
 to the will of God is a high and splendid ideal. It 
 will be realized some time, since our Father would 
 never set before any an impossible task. What- 
 ever He asks must be within the bounds of possi- 
 
232 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 bility. Dante could not have been altogether 
 wrong when he placed the state of the " perfected 
 will " on the heights of the heavenly life. For that 
 all are bidden to aspire, remembering that the 
 quest is not hopeless ; that they do not, like those 
 who sought the Holy Grail, " follow wandering 
 fires, lost in the quagmire ; " but they seek some- 
 thing which has been realized by one man, and is 
 some time to be the gracious inheritance of all men. 
 To conclude, then. Since man is of the nature 
 of God, and since God is manifested in humanity 
 and man is the image of God, intercourse between 
 them is natural and inevitable. That intercourse 
 is what is called prayer. As the will of the child 
 becomes conformed to the will of the Father, he 
 seeks only those things which are in harmony with 
 the Father's purposes, and realizes that his prayers 
 are answered even when the specific thing asked 
 for is withheld. But most men walk in the dark ; 
 know not what is best ; are swayed by impulses ; 
 insist that they must have what they most want. 
 All these are taught both by the discipline of 
 apparent refusal and by the realization of greater 
 benefit, that the purpose of the Father is always 
 one of blessing ; that no prayer ever fails of a re- 
 sponse, and that He is often kindest and most 
 loving when He denies that which is most eagerly 
 sought. 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 
 
 The question as to the meaning and the duration 
 of the suffering which follows wrong-doing has 
 been a subject of inquiry from the earliest times. 
 It has been an occasion of the deepest anxiety, 
 and sometimes of dark and troubled thoughts. In 
 the earlier years of this century, in many parts of 
 the world, there was a reaction from current and 
 severe forms of theological teaching which seri- 
 ously threatened the usefulness of the Church. 
 
 In the last analysis, the majority of intelligent 
 people trust their instincts, or rather "their 
 hearts," when dealing with the most perplexing 
 problems, and in the end, they are usually justified. 
 The ultimate question, when such subjects are ap- 
 proached, is not what is written, even in the Bible, 
 or what is taught in any school, however sacred, 
 but rather what writing or teaching coincides with 
 the voice of the heart, when it speaks its inmost 
 convictions. 
 
 Few positions in religious thought are abandoned 
 because they are proved to be false, but many have 
 
234 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 been left behind because, in moments of illumina- 
 tion, men have seen that they could not be true. 
 To some this method of reasoning may seem like 
 trifling with momentous realities, but it is not 
 trifling, — it is the method which common people, 
 untrained in systematic investigation, must always 
 adopt ; and, after all, it is the best way. No one 
 who is true to himself ever goes wrong. The heart 
 has as many rights in this world as the head. The 
 elemental truths, those which have most to do with 
 life, are not made more authoritative by prolonged 
 intellectual processes. They are simply discerned. 
 Sight is ultimate. Opinions concerning the results 
 of wrong-doing, even among those who most truly 
 represent the churches, are not the same that they 
 were a few years ago. The change is not the re- 
 sult of more thorough study of the Bible, but rather 
 the yielding to feelings which before had been 
 held in silence. After all labored expositions of 
 Scripture, after all analogies drawn from nature, 
 after all the deductions of logic, the heart, " like a 
 man in wrath," rises and says, " I have felt," and 
 with most that is the final and convincing word. 
 The " everlasting Yea " is spoken by the heart. 
 By the heart of course is meant the whole man 
 asserting himself after seeing rather than specu- 
 lating. 
 
 The popular doctrine of punishment for sin has 
 
PUNISHMENT OK DISCIPLINE 235 
 
 gone down before the intuitions of those who have 
 simply felt that it could not be true. A conserva- 
 tive theological professor, riding on an omnibus in 
 London, looked into a public house and saw the 
 place crowded with women as well as men, women 
 with babies in their arms, women giving the little 
 ones drink from their glasses. He looked and 
 pondered, and finally said, " It is such sights as 
 these that undermine all our theories about future 
 punishment." Did he ever again teach the doc- 
 trine as he had taught it before ? I know not. 
 Soon afterward he entered into the brighter light. 
 But his remark reveals the process by which the 
 change in the interpretation of this doctrine has 
 come about. 
 
 In England and Scotland the severer forms of this 
 teaching have almost disappeared ; not because of 
 more thorough study of Scripture, but because the 
 awful congestion of population, with its attendant 
 miseries, has convinced the majority of Christian 
 thinkers that the old interpretations were too small 
 for the near and terrible facts of human life. 
 
 The subject is difficult for many reasons, chief 
 among which, perhaps, is the dogmatic p McuItie8 
 spirit in which it has so often been ap- ln * e ay- 
 proached on both sides. It has been presented as 
 a truth concerning which there could not be two 
 opinions. Those whose hearts have cried out in 
 
236 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 anguish against statements which they could not 
 believe have been treated as if they were hardly 
 worthy of Christian recognition. The result has 
 been . that thousands have long disbelieved what 
 they have been taught and simply concealed their 
 unbelief. On the other hand, the advocates of 
 what is called Universal Salvation, in an imperious 
 and equally dogmatic spirit, have refused to see 
 that honest and able men could never hold such 
 doctrines unless there were in them some elements 
 of truth. They have been equally omniscient and 
 denunciatory on the other side. Such methods of 
 treating any subject result in controversy and ac- 
 rimony, in the assertion and recrimination which 
 always conceal truth and sever those who should 
 be united in its quest. 
 
 Behind such themes, in the nature of things, 
 always lies a background of mystery. The limi- 
 tations of revelation are often misunderstood. It 
 does not bring positive knowledge concerning all 
 subjects ; it offers only so much light concerning 
 any subject as men need to live by. Systems of 
 theology are necessary for all who think. They 
 are the means by which individuals classify their 
 thoughts, but the system of one should never be 
 regarded as essential to accurate thinking by an- 
 other. We must try to harmonize knowledge, but 
 at last we find that all of truth which the wisest 
 
PUNISHMENT OK DISCIPLINE 237 
 
 have had is a series of glimpses. Not infrequently 
 it has been found impossible to harmonize those 
 indistinct yet individually trustworthy glimpses of 
 great truths. God's dealings with men, like His 
 method in the universe, quickly lead into dark- 
 ness. We try to project our sight into that dark- 
 ness, and fail. It is foolish to seek a basis for posi- 
 tive statements concerning what limited beings 
 never can know. Everlasting and infinite are only 
 like x in the algebraic equation. Assertions as to 
 what they stand for are exhibitions of ignorance 
 or egotism. 
 
 This subject lies within a sphere of which wide 
 and sure knowledge is impossible, but glimpses are 
 possible, and from the little which is seen, it is 
 proper to form opinions concerning what is unseen. 
 It should be remembered, however, that opinions 
 never have the value, or obligation, of truth which 
 is beyond reasonable debate. When these facts 
 are considered, this subject will be approached with 
 more wisdom and less recrimination. It can be 
 settled by reference to no passage of Scripture, and 
 to the authority of no council and of no Church 
 Fathers. 
 
 There is not now, and there never has been, unan- 
 imity of opinion on the subject of the na- Diflerenc08 
 ture, the duration, and the results of wrong- of 0pinion - 
 doing. Earnest and noble thinkers have acknow- 
 
238 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 ledged the Dantean horror of the views which they 
 have preached, and reverently and honestly said, in 
 spite of the protest of their hearts, that they have 
 accepted such views and bowed to them simply be- 
 cause they believed them to be the clear teaching 
 of revelation. Others have taken counsel of their 
 hearts alone, and sometimes have omitted to study 
 with equal care the facts of nature and life. 
 
 In earlier days in the Church, this discussion 
 resolved itself into a question of the etymology 
 of words in the English translation of the Scrip- 
 tures alone. The common faith of mediaeval times, 
 probably with substantial accuracy, was conveyed 
 by the artists. Their horrible caricatures of God 
 and man, when man in full view of the Almighty 
 was represented as burning in quenchless fire, are 
 familiar to all who have visited the Italian galler- 
 ies and cemeteries. They were not essentially dif- 
 ferent from the pictures of Puritan preachers of 
 the school of Jonathan Edwards, and of Roman 
 Catholic preachers in this country also. 
 
 Without attempting a historical review of the 
 Causes of broadening of ideas on this subject, it is 
 OpSi 8 on enough to say that during the last twenty- 
 
 this Subject. „ . . . 
 
 nve years the change irom severer to 
 more humane interpretations has been evident and 
 swift. It has been due to many causes. I will 
 mention four. 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 239 
 
 First among these is the greater freedom which 
 has been exercised in the expression of convictions. 
 The larger liberty of utterance has exerted its in- 
 fluence on the thinking of the masses of the people. 
 
 The second cause has been the interpretation 
 which distinguished scholars have given to the 
 word translated "eternal." It is now quite gen- 
 erally regarded as having no relation to time, but 
 only to the state following death. Then eternal 
 punishment does not necessarily mean punishment 
 without end, but punishment in the state which 
 succeeds death. If eternal does not of necessity 
 mean everlasting, then it may end ; and then what 
 is called punishment may be something other and 
 better than has been supposed. 
 
 Another and more potent cause of the change in 
 sentiment which we are considering is the influence 
 of the doctrine of the immanence of God. If God 
 in a certain real sense is in every man, then He 
 cannot everlastingly hate Himself, even in the poor 
 manifestation of Himself in a human creature. 
 
 But perhaps the most powerful of all the forces 
 which have worked in the direction of what is 
 called the " larger hope " has been the influence 
 of the poets. Robert Burns, with his homely but 
 convincing songs, moulded the theology of the com- 
 mon people more than any theologian of Scotland, 
 not excepting Calvin. 
 
240 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 But the three great poets of the larger hope were 
 Browning, Tennyson, and Whittier. When esti- 
 mated by their influence on the thought of English- 
 speaking people, they must be recognized as the 
 preeminent preachers of this century. They voiced 
 the deepest convictions of the clearest and best 
 minds of their time. They will not be understood 
 if they are regarded as mere artists in words. 
 They are far more. They studied the Christian 
 revelation long and reverently, and then opened 
 wide the doors of their souls for the spirit of God 
 to show them the true interpretation of what had 
 been written and what was being lived. 
 
 Browning's faith has been confessed in his poem 
 " Apparent Failure," and in " The King and the 
 Book." From the first I quote as follows : — 
 
 " It 's wiser being good than bad ; 
 
 It 's safer being meek than fierce : 
 It 's fitter being sane than mad. 
 
 My own hope is, a sun will pierce 
 The thickest cloud earth ever stretched ; 
 
 That, after Last, returns the First, 
 Though a wide compass round be fetched ; 
 
 That what began best, can't end worst, 
 Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst." 
 
 From " The Ring and the Book " I quote : — 
 
 " Else I avert my face, nor follow him 
 Into that sad, obscure, sequestered state 
 Where God unmakes but to remake, the soul — 
 Be else made first in vain : which must not be." 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 241 
 
 The faith of Tennyson was confessed in words with 
 which the world is more familiar : — 
 
 " O yet we trust that somehow good 
 Will be the final goal of ill, 
 To pangs of nature, sins of will, 
 Defects of doubt, and taints of blood ; 
 
 " That nothing walks with aimless feet ; 
 That not one life shall be destroyed, 
 Or east as rubbish to the void, 
 When God hath made the pile complete." 
 
 Whittier was equally clear and positive, without 
 being dogmatic. His " Eternal Goodness " has 
 been more widely read and had a greater influence 
 than any sermon ever preached and, I think I 
 may without extravagance say, than any " Confes- 
 sion of Faith " ever composed in America. His 
 faith was clearly indicated in the stanza : — 
 
 " The wrong that pains my soul below 
 I dare not throne above : 
 I know not of His hate, — I know 
 His goodness and His love." 
 
 I have thus tried to trace the process by which 
 current views concerning this subject have been 
 changed from what they were fifty years ago to 
 what they are to-day. That there is anything like 
 uniformity of opinion on this subject, even in so- 
 called " orthodox " circles, no one would imagine 
 who is well informed and without prejudice. 
 
242 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Where the Scriptures are not so clear and positive 
 as to make variety of opinion disloyalty to them, 
 it is the right and duty of all who believe in the 
 sanctity of revelation to seek for themselves such 
 conclusions as will best convince the reason and 
 satisfy the heart. 
 
 Is there any common element in the theories by 
 The Com- which attempts have been made to explain 
 
 mentinall the fact that Suffering follows Wrong- 
 Theories of ° ° 
 
 the Meaning doing? No reasonable man will deny 
 
 of Penal & J 
 
 Suffering. ^at g j n - g a i wa y S an( j everywhere, sooner 
 or later, followed by suffering on the part of the 
 one who commits the sin. As this fact has been 
 studied, have the conclusions had any points in 
 common ? They have. That common element is 
 the belief that such suffering is retributive ; that 
 it grows by a necessity, in the nature of things, 
 from the wrong which has been done. Thus far 
 all students of the Scriptures and of human life 
 agree. There are differences of opinion as to the 
 duration of the consequences of wrong-doing, some 
 holding that they are brief, some that they continue 
 until they have accomplished their object, and 
 others that they never end, but nearly all believe 
 that misery grows out of sin, as a plant from its 
 seed. 
 
 The etymology of retribution suggests the idea 
 that wrong-doing reacts on the one -who chooses 
 
PUNISHMENT OK DISCIPLINE 243 
 
 to do wrong. Retribution is an evil deed reacting 
 and so causing misery. Primarily it has a vital 
 rather than a judicial significance. 
 
 A few persons, and they are very few, interpret 
 what is called punishment as something arbitrarily 
 inflicted by the Almighty, and without any vital 
 connection with the wrong that is done. The num- 
 ber of persons who hold this view is so small that 
 it hardly requires more than mention at this time. 
 Retribution is the natural and inevitable fruitage of 
 wrong-doing. It is the idea which was in the mind 
 of James when he said that " sin, when it is full- 
 grown, bringeth forth death." a The misery which 
 always grows out of thinking and doing wrong is 
 retributive. That is a process in the natural order. 
 
 What is penal suffering designed to accomplish ? 
 Is it to manifest the holiness of God? what is 
 
 Penal Suffer- 
 
 Is it to express the sanctity of the moral t° g ^ n c t ™ <ud 
 law ? Is it simply a natural conse- pll8h ? 
 quence ? Does it manifest the Divine Fatherhood ? 
 Or does it combine some or all of these objects? 
 These questions are vital in theology ; and a ra- 
 tional answer to them is essential to the mental 
 peace of every thinking man. In the end the in- 
 quiry comes to be : Is there any basis for Opti- 
 mism, when the awful mysteries which surround 
 such, suffering are considered ? 
 1 James i. 15. 
 
244 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 These are the questions which mothers, as they 
 rock their cradles, ask with far more intensity than 
 philosophers and theologians ; and may we not add 
 that this is a department of inquiry in which a 
 mother's intuition is more trustworthy than any 
 purely intellectual process, either of interpretation 
 or speculation? 
 
 Does the suffering which follows wrong-doing, 
 as a shadow follows a figure, manifest the holiness 
 of God and His hatred of sin ? If we have cor- 
 rect views as to what end that suffering is intended 
 to accomplish, then the reply is " Yes," but the 
 subject has often been so presented as to obscure 
 rather than to exhibit the holiness of the Deity. 
 Does it express horror of sin ? Surely. But hor- 
 ror can never be an end in itself. The exhibition 
 of Divine horror at wrong-doing is not a worthy ex- 
 planation of penal suffering. What shall be said 
 of the sufferings which follow mistakes ? Of those 
 which are purely matters of heredity, and for which 
 the agent is not responsible ? A " child of the 
 Ghetto," who chose neither father nor mother, nor 
 place of birth, nor being born at all, yielding to 
 the tendencies within him, violates an eternal and 
 universal principle of right. But he never heard 
 of any such principle. What results ? Suffering, 
 perhaps as intense and long continued as if he had 
 acted in the light. Is that suffering a manifesta- 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 245 
 
 tion of Divine horror against sin ? Whose sin ? 
 That of the one who did the wrong, or of the be- 
 ing who allowed such a creature to be born ? If 
 the common idea of punishment is imported into 
 such suffering, and it is insisted that the man is 
 being punished for doing what he did not know 
 to be wrong, neither Divine horror nor Divine 
 justice appear, but something strangely like a 
 travesty of righteousness. 
 
 If there is no other solution of this problem, it 
 will never be solved, for there is no special need 
 of the manifestation of Divine horror for its own 
 sake ; and if it is manifested for any end outside 
 itself, it must be for the welfare of man, and thus 
 it becomes remedial rather than punitive. 
 
 " But it is the punishment which wickedness 
 merits." That it merits condemnation is beyond 
 doubt, but that such condemnation should be 
 manifest in long-continued wrath, unmixed with 
 thoughts of benefit, is a cruel blasphemy. I will 
 go as far as any one in insisting on the guilt of 
 willful wrong-doing, but the hypothesis that the 
 sorrow and pain of the universe are chiefly merited 
 punishment is without justification. Because sin 
 should be condemned, it does not follow that the 
 sinner should suffer without hope, but it does fol- 
 low that he should be saved. 
 
 I now venture a proposition which it is easy to 
 
246 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 verify. The idea of punishment is essentially bar- 
 Punishment baric, and foreign to all that is known 
 Faiiure. a of the Deity. If I am met at once with 
 the reply that it is a Biblical idea, the answer is, 
 A scriptural word it surely is, but a scriptural 
 idea it is not. The signification of the word in the 
 Bible must be learned from its use in the Bible. 
 Therefore I say the idea is not scriptural, since 
 there, as will be seen later, it suggests chastise- 
 ment with a view to reformation. 
 
 If the history of government has demonstrated 
 anything, it is the failure of punishment as a means 
 of preventing crime. It is a serious question how 
 far it is a protection against evil-doers. That it 
 does thus protect is the only ground on which it 
 can be justified. In those states where punish- 
 ment is severest and swiftest, crime is suppressed, 
 but not eradicated. Murder is nearly if not quite 
 as frequent where the death penalty is rigorously 
 executed as where it is unknown. Prisons be- 
 come schools of crime from which criminals grad- 
 uate in regular succession. The statistics of the 
 average prison show that most of those who are dis- 
 charged are soon back again. But how is it where 
 the prison goes and the reformatory takes its place ? 
 The moral instructor in the Reformatory at Con- 
 cord, Mass., informed me that 80 per cent, of 
 those committed to that institution graduate from 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 247 
 
 the criminal class into the ranks of good citizens, 
 ■while of those committed to the prisons about the 
 same proportion become habitual criminals. 
 
 That punishment is a failure and reformation 
 a possibility is the lesson of the contrast between 
 prisons and reformatories. But it may be said 
 that the state should express its detestation of 
 crime. Why should it do so ? For its own sake ? 
 That would accomplish no good purpose. For the 
 sake of the culprit? It would not benefit him 
 simply to see an exhibition of vengeance. 
 
 Punishment is contrary to the true idea of the 
 family. In the household all the members are 
 mutually helpful. The strong bear the infirmities 
 of the weak, and do not seek to please themselves. 
 A father who, because his child was a wrong-doer, 
 should endeavor only to satisfy justice would win 
 neither sympathy nor respect. In family life, suf- 
 fering may often have to be inflicted, but never in 
 order that the parent may manifest his wrath or 
 justice, but always that the one doing wrong may 
 be reclaimed and the innocent protected. What 
 has been proven to be a failure in the adminis- 
 tration of human affairs, and to be foreign to the 
 divine ideal of domestic life, can with difficulty be 
 supposed to hold an important place in the gov- 
 ernment of God. 
 
 The word " punishment " is common in the Eng- 
 
248 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 lish translation of the Bible, but its meaning must 
 Punishment always be interpreted in the light of what 
 
 in the New , i -i i> /-^ i a • r» 
 
 Testament, is revealed ot (jrod. A mere question of 
 etymology should never be allowed to outweigh 
 the whole Christian revelation concerning the 
 character of the Almighty. When the word " pun- 
 ishment " is used in the New Testament, it is always 
 something administered by the Father, and there- 
 fore of necessity, not for its own sake, but in the 
 interests of love, since God is love. If a perfect 
 human father would not inflict suffering on his 
 child to show his wrath against the wrong-doer, 
 or to show his own goodness, although he would 
 do it to promote the welfare of the family or of 
 any individual member of it, surely the Heavenly 
 Father cannot be supposed to multiply misery for 
 the purpose of satisfying Himself or manifesting 
 His holiness, although He would prevent it, or even 
 ordain it, if that were the only or the best means 
 of achieving a beneficent result. Paul represents 
 God as saying, " Vengeance belongeth unto me ; 
 I will recompense, saith the Lord." 1 How shall 
 that be interpreted? It must be interpreted in 
 the light of the Christian revelation of God, who 
 was manifest in Christ to save men. What that 
 passage means is this : Fallible men, sinners them- 
 selves, should not presume to inflict punishment on 
 
 1 Romans xii. 19. 
 
PUNISHMENT OK DISCIPLINE 249 
 
 their fellow men, because they cannot know all the 
 circumstances which have led to their action. Only 
 God knows those circumstances, and He " will 
 recompense " or adjust according to His wisdom. 
 
 The same method of interpretation is required 
 in the reading of such a passage as the twenty-fifth 
 chapter of Matthew. The wicked go into " eter- 
 nal punishment." What does the word " punish- 
 ment " mean there? What it always does in such 
 circumstances. Three questions may be asked: 
 Which is more harmonious with what is known of 
 God, to think that the word implies the going 
 away to endure vengeance which has no end but its 
 own satisfaction ? or the putting of those who have 
 sinned where their evil will hurt no one but them- 
 selves ? or the permission of suffering for the sake 
 of bringing the culprits to themselves, as is always 
 the case in a worthy earthly home ? 
 
 If punishment as the expression of anger or ab- 
 stract justice is a failure in the state, and is never 
 found in an ideal family, and if it is contradictory 
 of all that is known of the character of God as re- 
 vealed in Christ, then what end is penal suffering 
 ordained to accomplish ? We cannot think that 
 a fact so stupendous and universal as the inevita- 
 ble connection between sin and misery is without 
 significance, and without justification in the Divine 
 order. Why is the fact of retribution so deeply 
 embedded in the nature of things ? 
 
250 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 I will endeavor to answer this question in the 
 Penal suaer- light of fatherhood. Divine Fatherhood 
 pretedby is nothing else than perfect love. Hu- 
 man fatherhood is an inadequate but true 
 expression of the same love. That which is simply- 
 inadequate never contradicts that of which it is a 
 perfect expression. A ray of light is an inade- 
 quate revelation of the sun ; it is true as far as it 
 goes, and only fails because it is not large enough. 
 What the universal splendor is to one ray of light, 
 that the Divine Fatherhood is to human fatherhood. 
 The love is the same, — in one case it is finite, and 
 in the other infinite. What would violate love in 
 man would violate it in God. Why does a parent 
 allow, or even compel, his child to suffer when he 
 does wrong ? There are only two answers to this 
 inquiry, and they are parts of one : in order that 
 the child may be brought to a better mind ; and 
 in order that the household may be protected from 
 baleful influence and example. Anything else 
 would be barbarism. Often the sight of the suf- 
 fering hurts the parent more than the child, but 
 he allows it, not for his own satisfaction surely, 
 but in order that his child may learn to hate evil, 
 and be brought to realize that in righteousness 
 alone is welfare and happiness. The end of suf- 
 fering, so far as it is caused or permitted in the 
 family, is the welfare of the child and the family. 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 251 
 
 In other words, in the home what is called punish- 
 ment is always discipline ; that is, it seeks to save 
 the one who does wrong;. When we rise from the 
 single point in the circle to the great arc, from 
 man to God, we face a question which has troubled 
 and puzzled thoughtful souls in all ages : What is 
 the meaning of the suffering which results from 
 individual wrong-doing? Hindus and Buddhists 
 can only say that the man who suffers has existed 
 and sinned in a previous state. His miseries are 
 not only the result of what he does here, but of 
 what he was and did in a preexistent life. The 
 mediaeval answer was an echo of the earlier pagan- 
 ism, which represented the deities as subject to 
 passions, and quick to resent insults. Human 
 beings were punished, and punishment was the in- 
 fliction of Divine wrath. The offended Deity took 
 pleasure in the consciousness that the creature 
 who had dared to disobey received his deserts. 
 This teaching has not entirely disappeared. It 
 was vividly portrayed by the art of the Middle 
 Ages, and found its most awful literary interpreta- 
 tion in Dante's " Inferno." 
 
 But in these later days there has been a real 
 return to Christ ; not such a return as delights 
 in saying beautiful things about Him and paying 
 compliments to His divinity, — which are like the 
 hanging of tawdry ornaments on the crucifix, — 
 
252 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 but such a return as is realized in the attempt 
 to think of God, man, and the universe, of time 
 and eternity, as Jesus thought of them. With 
 Jesus, the Sovereign was always the Father and the 
 Father the Sovereign. Fatherhood was the only 
 interpretation of God or the universe which our 
 Master used. 
 
 Let us now apply His method to the problem in 
 hand. Would God the Father permit pain simply 
 to show His power ? That is incredible. Would 
 He allow millions to suffer simply because He 
 was angry, however much, from a human point of 
 view, that anger may have been merited ? That 
 is incredible. Would He not both permit and 
 use suffering, if by that means the welfare and the 
 happiness of individuals and of the race could 
 be promoted ? The analogy of human fatherhood 
 answers that question in the affirmative. We con- 
 clude that what is commonly called punishment for 
 sin is never in this world, or in any other, punish- 
 ment in the human sense, but always such chastise- 
 ment as is found in every true human home. Pun- 
 ishment as an expression of wrath, or enmity with 
 no remedial purpose beyond, is a relic of barba- 
 rism. It carries with it the content of vengeance. 
 It is the expression of anger, of passion, or at 
 best of cold justice. I am aware that this use of 
 the word will be challenged, but the challenge can 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 253 
 
 easily be met. It may be affirmed that penal suf- 
 fering is the Divine holiness expressing its hatred 
 of sin. That is undoubtedly true, but if it stops 
 with such expression, it is not holiness but selfish- 
 ness. If, on the other hand, that expression of 
 holiness is used or permitted in order that the 
 sinner may be made to hate his sin, then it is no 
 more punishment but chastisement. 
 
 The law of retribution is universal, and it must 
 be everlasting. Wherever men do wrong, they will 
 suffer, and that suffering is not a sign of wrath but 
 of love, since it tends toward the realization on the 
 part of man of his duty as a child of God. 
 
 On any other hypothesis, what is known as penal 
 suffering has no justification except the arbitrary 
 will of the Almighty, and such an hypothesis is 
 an impeachment both of His justice and His love. 
 But if penal sufferings are disciplinary, the most 
 perplexing of mysteries becomes a manifestation 
 of infinite and deathless affection. To deny that 
 penal suffering is always and solely for purposes 
 of salvation is to deny the love of God ; to assert 
 positively that any will be able to defeat His re- 
 demptive purpose is to affirm that God's power is 
 limited. But these are subjects which must be con- 
 sidered by themselves. At present I am dealing 
 only with the former. 
 
 As I survey human life and interpret the events 
 
254 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 in the history of individuals and the race in the 
 optimism light of the Divine Fatherhood, I see 
 Possible. s t;ill long ages of darkness, strife, blood- 
 shed, and woes unutterable. I see wars end- 
 ing in the disappearance of whole nations, and 
 sorrows around the heads of men and women as 
 thick and black as thunderheads around an Alpine 
 crest ; but I am not disheartened nor discour- 
 aged, for I am sure that no man ever lived who 
 was not infinitely precious in the Father's sight, 
 and if any suffer, it is only that the purposes of 
 the Father may be accomplished. When awful 
 horrors sweep over nations, again I am not de- 
 spondent, for those horrors, which sometimes seem 
 the coronation of cruelty, are permitted that na- 
 tions as well as individuals may be taught that in 
 righteousness alone is abiding prosperity. The 
 year is an analogy of the life of man on the earth. 
 The cold of winter, the rains of spring, the heat 
 and storms of summer, the chill of autumn, are 
 essential to the glory of the year. Even so pain 
 and heart-ache, tears and blood, remorse and de- 
 spair, which always follow courses of wrong, are 
 means by which imperfect and often animal tend- 
 encies are eliminated, and the spirit of man is 
 brought into the freedom and strength of a child 
 of God. 
 
 If one thinks of the Deity as an austere mon- 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 255 
 
 arch, having a care for His own honor but none for 
 those to whom He has given being, optimism is 
 impossible. For what shall we say as we think 
 of our loved ones who have committed sins ? That 
 splendid boy who yielded to an inherited tendency 
 — what has become of him ? Those millions who 
 with little light and mighty passions have gone 
 wrong — what of them ? Those countless myriads 
 who peopled the earth in ages past and had no 
 clear motive to righteousness, since their percep- 
 tion of God was dim, — is this all that can be said 
 of them ; in torment they are exhibiting the glo- 
 rious holiness of the Almighty in His hatred of 
 sin ? Some may believe that, but, thank God, the 
 number is not large. Rather, if we may for a mo- 
 ment speak of God in anthropomorphic terms, let 
 us think that His heart is burdened almost to the 
 breaking as He says, " How earnestly have I longed 
 that these my children might be made fit for joy 
 without a stroke of sorrow or pain, but they would 
 not ! I must now leave them to the consequences 
 of their own actions ; they must suffer terribly, but 
 I have so ordered the universe that the tendency 
 of suffering will be remedial. By pain their eyes 
 will be opened to see the true wisdom ; by disap- 
 pointment they will be taught to desire things 
 which have permanent value ; by their own break- 
 ing hearts they will learn how my heart yearns 
 
256 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 over them. Thus, what they would not voluntarily 
 learn, they will some time understand, and then 
 they will even praise the hand that disciplined." 
 With such an outlook, optimism is possible. What 
 we call punishment is only the discipline by which 
 the Father is seeking to bring all men to the stat- 
 ure of the fullness of Christ. 
 
 Thus the blear eye and the tipsy stagger of a 
 drunkard ; the lassitude of a debauchee ; the sense 
 of isolation in the heart of one who is dishonest ; 
 the despair of those who have violated virtue ; the 
 remorse which, like snakes on the Medusa head, 
 bites into misery those who have betrayed truth or 
 honor, however much they may pain us as we 
 behold them, are signs of the deep remedial force 
 in the nature of things, which has always been at 
 work and always will be, and which, unless coun- 
 teracted, will result some time in universal and 
 immortal harmony. 
 
 But this subject is so important and yet so con- 
 other fused that we must now take up other 
 
 itSed closely related questions which are not 
 essential, but which, in popular thought, 
 are inextricably bound up with our study. Our 
 conclusions rest on the assumption, which few 
 would doubt, that retribution is a natural law, that 
 it is universal in its sweep, and that it is a mani- 
 festation of the beneficence which pervades the 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 257 
 
 universe. This law must continue its operation as 
 long as one free agent violates the moral order. 
 Nothing that has been said should be allowed to 
 obscure that fact. Neither justice nor love would 
 be honored, if one soul were allowed to escape 
 the action of this law. My sole contention has 
 been that the sting in retribution is ordained to 
 be remedial and restorative rather than punitive 
 and vengeful. 
 
 " Retribution will continue as long as sin en- 
 dures." Is that all? Does not observa- H owLong 
 tion show that suffering lasts longer than {Stionoon- 
 sin ? It does beyond any question. Some 
 of the consequences of evil conduct seem to be 
 unaffected by repentance. Forgiveness will not 
 restore a hand that has been cut off, and it will not 
 compensate for years of neglected spiritual growth. 
 " There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
 that are in Christ Jesus," but they may have a 
 smaller spiritual capacity. " The blood of Jesus 
 Christ cleanses from all sin," but it does not in an 
 instant place the penitent roue beside the pure in 
 heart who have enjoyed the vision of God for half a 
 century. Consequences of wrong-doing outlive the 
 sinful act. If nature and history alone were stud- 
 ied, the conclusion would be that penal suffering is 
 out of all proportion to the unrighteous act. The 
 eye that is put out can never be restored. The hand 
 
258 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 that is cut off will never grow again. The mind that 
 is uncultured in youth well-nigh loses the capability 
 of culture. If a man commits a crime, the memory 
 of it follows him to the grave ; if a woman sins 
 against virtue, she is regarded as soiled, to the end 
 of the chapter. " Nature never overlooks a mis- 
 take," and makes no allowance for ignorance. The 
 error of much of our theological teaching is found 
 at this point. It supposes that there is an analogy 
 rather than a contrast between the way of nature and 
 human government, and the way of the household 
 which is the method of grace. In nature, a wrong 
 once done is done forever ; in the household, penal 
 suffering lasts only as long as the sin. In the 
 moral order, there are certain consequences which 
 do not cease when the choice of evil is changed, 
 but these consequences always tend toward the 
 completion of the work which began when the first 
 twinges of conscience were felt. In other words, 
 they are redemptive and not punitive in their char- 
 acter. 
 
 Thus far the question of the duration of penal 
 The Dura- suffering has been only incidentally con- 
 
 tion of Penal . rr , . 1 ... - . 
 
 suffering. sidercd. Ihe controversial spirit in which 
 the subject has usually been treated has tended to 
 obscure what is far more important than the time- 
 factor in the problem, viz., the fact of retribution 
 itself. Some have gone so far as to declare that a 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 259 
 
 belief in the endlessness of misery following sin is 
 essential to the Christian character. A distin- 
 guished New England preacher is reported re- 
 cently to have made this astounding assertion. 
 Then belief, not in the Gospel, but in what some 
 imagine will follow its rejection, is the distinguish- 
 ing characteristic of Christianity. It will be long 
 before many intelligent Christians will give assent 
 to such teaching. The motive of such assertions 
 is to impress evil-doers with the enormity of their 
 courses. It has exactly the opposite effect. It 
 hardens some and disgusts others. It leads to 
 doubt of the justice and love of God. It diverts 
 attention from the fact of retribution. Great harm 
 is done when those who belong together separate 
 on points which are not essential to the common 
 cause. Endless and fruitless discussion about the 
 duration of punishment has convinced no one, and 
 has turned many away from the Church altogether. 
 If emphasis had been placed on the fact that all 
 who do wrong will suffer in proportion to the 
 wrong which they have done, a momentous fact 
 would receive adequate recognition. If in addition 
 the other fact, that love must sometimes be austere 
 and use severe measures in order to achieve a re- 
 demptive purpose, had received worthy and care- 
 ful expression, there would have been no revolt 
 from the Church, because its doctrine on this sub- 
 
260 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 ject would receive daily illustration in the disci- 
 pline of the home. 
 
 But the question presses for an answer. Can 
 God be permanently defeated ? Will the end of all 
 things be a divided universe with the devil su- 
 preme in one part and God in the other ? After 
 all these Christian centuries, must we get back to 
 what is substantially Persian Dualism ? If God 
 cannot be defeated, then must we not believe that 
 His redemptive agencies will at length be victori- 
 ous, and every child of God come to himself and 
 return to His Father? Apparently that is the 
 only possible conclusion, but here we are met by 
 the mysterious fact of freedom. Every man is a 
 free agent. He who is free cannot be compelled, 
 even by the Almighty, without first suffering the 
 destruction of his freedom. It is impossible to 
 think that a man should ever lose the power of 
 choice, for then he would cease to be virtuous ; and 
 it is impossible to think that God can be defeated, 
 for that would be to cease to believe in God, since 
 a God who could be defeated would be no God. 
 John Milton has a noble passage which may well 
 be quoted here : — 
 
 " Father, gracious was that word -which closed 
 Thy sovereign sentence, that man should find grace, 
 For which both heaven and earth shall high extol 
 Thy praises, with the innumerable sound 
 Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 261 
 
 Encompass' d shall resound thee ever blest : 
 For should man finally be lost, should roan, 
 Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son, 
 Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though join'd 
 With his own folly ? that be from thee far, 
 That far be from thee, Father, who art judge 
 Of all things made, and judgest only right. 
 Or shall the adversary thus obtain 
 His end, and frustrate thine ? shall he fulfill 
 His malice, and thy goodness bring to naught j 
 Or proud return, though to his heavier doom, 
 Yet with revenge aceomplish'd, and to Hell 
 Draw after him the whole race of mankind, 
 By him corrupted ? or wilt thou thyself 
 Abolish thy creation, and unmake, 
 For him, what for thy glory thou hast made ? 
 So should thy goodness and thy greatness both 
 Be questioned and blasphemed without defense." 
 
 But I am reminded that there is another possi- 
 bility. The end may be the spiritual death of the 
 sinner. The wages of sin may be literal spiritual 
 death. God may be victorious, but in the destruc- 
 tion rather than in the renewal of those who have 
 been wrong. In the universe none may long op- 
 pose Him, for the reason that the seeds of evil have 
 come to their fruitage in death. This is too large 
 a subject to be discussed in this place. On this 
 point it must suffice to say that that hypothesis is 
 contrary to the whole spirit of this chapter. On 
 that theory, there is no place for discipline. If 
 that doctrine is true, then penal suffering is arbi- 
 
262 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 trarily administered by God, who in His own time 
 and way blots out of existence all who sin, — 
 which violates the Christian revelation of the na- 
 ture of God ; or penal suffering is only the con- 
 sequence of wrong-doing, and has no end in itself, 
 — which is contrary to what we have found to be 
 the teaching of revelation and reason concerning 
 what is called punishment. Many analogies seem 
 to favor this theory, but they are not sufficient to 
 justify so momentous a conclusion. Many buds 
 fall and die ; much fruit never ripens ; there is no 
 principle of restoration in a seed of death, but 
 facts equally significant are found on the other side. 
 With this mention I leave the hypothesis of the 
 death of the soul, only adding that I am aware 
 that it has not received the attention which many 
 think it deserves. 
 
 This is a question around which there has been, 
 is Repent- even within two decades, a great and need- 
 ueafter" 1 ' less controversy. Happily that has ended, 
 and it is possible to consider dispassion- 
 ately a subject about which certainty is impossible. 
 Will there be an opportunity after death for any 
 to repent ? So far as this is a question of Scrip- 
 ture, the answer must be that it is not explicit 
 on this point. Every man will reach such con- 
 clusions as best satisfy his moral sense, and best 
 harmonize all the facts in the case. No interpre- 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 263 
 
 tation, however, can be justified which violates 
 what is known of the moral character of God. 
 " Will any repent beyond the grave ? " As a mat- 
 ter of fact, no one knows. As a matter of specula- 
 tion, the answer must be : If they continue free 
 agents and consequently to have the power of 
 choosing right or wrong, they may choose the 
 right, and to do that is to repent. If any cease to 
 be free, they cease to be virtuous and consequently 
 cannot be fit for heaven, for a heaven of compul- 
 sory goodness would be no heaven at all. Those 
 who have died in the faith have natural ability to 
 choose evil, and those who have died in their sins 
 have the same kind of ability to forsake evil and 
 to cleave to the good. This is not a question of 
 revelation. It is simply one of probability. When 
 we weigh probabilities, we are forced to such in- 
 quiries as the following : Is it probable that the 
 accident of death, which may be caused by a mis- 
 take in medicine, by a snake's bite, by a falling 
 tile, by an infinitesimal microbe, by slipping on 
 the ice, should determine the condition of an 
 immortal spirit ? Is it probable that those who 
 have been creatures of an evil heredity ; who 
 have come into the world loaded with evil bias ; 
 who were born with passions like fire ; who have 
 had those passions stimulated by pernicious envi- 
 ronment, and have seldom felt the inspirations 
 
264 THE AGE OE FAITH 
 
 of finer ideals, simply by dying should be placed 
 where henceforward no influence for good can pos- 
 sibly affect them ? Is it probable that those who 
 have been born in barbarism, and whose days have 
 been passed in darkness ; who have had little light 
 and almost no motives toward purity ; who have 
 even supposed that vice was virtue, and who have 
 been taught that the gods could be pleased with 
 such self-sacrifice as the. immolation of all that is 
 noble and pure, would never, never, never, even if 
 their eyes should be opened, be permitted to choose 
 the right which they might love if it were revealed 
 to them ? Every person must answer these ques- 
 tions for himself. I think that the most of the 
 world would be found to answer them in the same 
 way, if inmost convictions could once escape from 
 the false feeling that any creed is ever binding 
 which violates that which the heart in its moments 
 of most intense hunger feels to be true. 
 
 It is not reasonable to give to death such tre- 
 mendous powers. On the hypothesis that death 
 determines all, it becomes mightier than God. It 
 raises an impassable barrier before the cross of 
 Christ and says, Thus far shalt thou come and no 
 farther ; to freedom it says, You may hold sway 
 while men are in the flesh, but you shall not when 
 they escape from the body ; to all motives of love 
 and aspiration it says, Into my realm you shall 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 265 
 
 never come with your hope and your light. I can- 
 not believe that death to such an extent is the 
 arbiter of the destinies of the race. It is an 
 awful fact. It shuts from our view much that we 
 would know. It is presumptuous to be very posi- 
 tive about what transpires within its frontiers, 
 but it is not presumptuous to say that death, in 
 God's universe of light and life, is not the supreme 
 and all-controlling power. 
 
 With a sense of utter inadequacy I have ap- 
 proached this subject. No one lives long without 
 realizing its difficulty, and no one who has any sense 
 of the awfulness of sin will be willing to be dog- 
 matic. The boundaries of knowledge are quickly 
 reached. It is folly to dogmatize about infinity 
 and eternity. It is such a terrible thing to be a 
 sinner that no one would willingly utter one word 
 which would diminish in the least the awful sanc- 
 tions by which wrong-doing is surrounded. 
 
 Whatever else may be thought to be true, this 
 surely is beyond question : processes of restoration, 
 however loving the motive behind them, will not 
 work to their end until the last vestige of evil de- 
 sire has been eliminated. What ages of suffering 
 that may require ! How slowly the forces of right- 
 eousness achieve their results in the sphere in 
 which observation is possible ! How long a time 
 will be needed to purge the man of all his animal- 
 
266 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 isms, his selfishness, his pride and vain ambition, 
 and make him like unto the typical man, we 
 cannot tell ; but this we do know, that, on the 
 hypothesis that punishment is always disciplinary, 
 the time which will elapse before the best of the 
 children of men will reach the stature of the full- 
 ness of Christ will be so long and the process so 
 painful that no one would dare to make it an excuse 
 for wrong-doing. 
 
 It is difficult enough to imagine how long it will 
 be before the saints of the earth will enter into their 
 heritage. "What the rebellious, the traitors, and 
 the proud will require of terrible and long-contin- 
 ued discipline must give us pause. 
 
 I conclude by recapitulating the points which 
 I have endeavored to treat reverently, as I surely 
 have treated them earnestly, in this chapter. 
 
 Both Scripture and reason indicate that every- 
 where and forever wrong-doing will be attended by 
 suffering. 
 
 But that suffering is not the expression of ven- 
 geance ; it is the means which the Eternal Father, 
 according to a beneficent purpose, uses to create 
 in His children a hatred of evil, and to bring 
 them to realize His Fatherhood and their sonship. 
 These processes of discipline will continue, if need 
 be, for ages of ages, until the brute inheritance 
 has disappeared and there is left nothing but pure 
 
PUNISHMENT OR DISCIPLINE 267 
 
 spirit, naturally able to choose the evil, but mor- 
 ally so absorbed and occupied with right and truth 
 as to make it practically unconscious that there is 
 a possibility of anything but conformity to love. 
 
 Will any forever resist that discipline? We 
 know not ; but from what we do know of man and 
 God, it is difficult to understand how any can be 
 willing to do so when the fullness of the Divine 
 glory is revealed. 
 
 The possibility, I must admit ; the probability, 
 I doubt. But whatever the possibilities, when 
 there is no clear word of revelation to the contrary, 
 it is always not only our privilege, but our duty to 
 hope for the best. And we do hope that somehow 
 good will be the final goal ; that not one life will 
 be destroyed or cast as rubbish to the void ; that 
 somehow and some time, God will make the human 
 pile complete, and bring all men to the fullness 
 of the stature of His Son our Elder Brother ; and 
 we believe that this hope has a basis in reason, 
 in Scripture, and in the moral nature of man ; 
 and that its full realization will be the consumma- 
 tion of the Kingdom of God, the coronation of 
 the Lamb, and the glorification of our redeemed 
 humanity. 
 
XI 
 
 THE IMMORTAL LIFE 
 
 Other questions are quite as mysterious and dif- 
 ficult of answer as that which concerns the presence 
 and meaning of death, but no inquiry is quite so 
 constant and imperative. A helpful book by a re- 
 cent writer has for its title, " The Place of Death in 
 Evolution." 1 Its object is to show that from every 
 point of view, except that of human feelings, death 
 is beneficent. But notwithstanding our theories 
 on this subject, the fact remains that in all ages 
 death has been regarded as the most constant, if not 
 the most perplexing of mysteries. In the last analy- 
 sis there is really only one great problem in the 
 universe, but it is a problem with many factors, 
 and includes suffering, sorrow, sin, and death. Hu- 
 man faculties are so limited that the factors quickly 
 become exaggerated into separate problems. The 
 attitude of men toward death has always been 
 substantially the same. This is evident from the 
 history of the earliest times and, also, from the art 
 of the most ancient nations. There have been 
 
 1 Newman Smythe, D. D. 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 269 
 
 progress and change in other things, but none in 
 the general feeling of the race toward death. As 
 exceptional individuals become more spiritual, they 
 are able to face it more intelligently and calmly ; 
 but the inquiry as to its place in the universe is 
 eager and world-wide, and earnest thinkers to-day 
 are as much puzzled by the mystery of death as 
 when the first man first looked upon the lifeless 
 form of his brother man. There are three ways 
 in which This subject is commonly approached, and 
 they are typical, not only of present thought, but 
 of what it always has been. 
 
 The majority of people regard death as the most 
 to be dreaded of conceivable events. It j^^ 
 is an enemy. Art pictures it as a hid- dreaded- 
 eous fiend, who advances brandishing his ghastly 
 spear, or as one of the Fates, whose remorseless 
 shears cut the thread of life. Its symbol is a skull 
 and crossbones. No light attends its presence. A 
 few who feel more intensely than they think, phi- 
 losophically and with some effort, speak of it sim- 
 ply as the end of life. Others in despair because 
 of present suffering seek it as a sure way of escape 
 from the ills which seem too hard to be borne. But 
 the number who dream that it offers possible relief 
 is small. Even in this nineteenth century, after 
 all the influence of civilization, discovery, and re- 
 ligion, the common feeling concerning death is one 
 of utmost and horrible dread. 
 
270 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 Another class, and a far smaller one, is com- 
 posed of the few scholars who study it scientific- 
 ally. Theoretically they regard it as an incident 
 in universal evolution. That their personal feelings 
 about it are different from those of the more igno- 
 rant does not follow, although because they are 
 usually intelligent and strong, they more frequently 
 exercise self-control. They find death in all spheres 
 which they try to explore ; it is found in the vege- 
 table world and in the animal world as well as in 
 that inhabited by humanity. From contact with it 
 they become hardened to it. They resemble the 
 Stoics in imperturbability, but they are human, and 
 as anxious as any others to know whether death 
 ends all. 
 
 Another and still smaller group has cultivated 
 the spirit of the Stoics. They have disciplined 
 themselves so that they are able to face whatever 
 comes with equanimity. This explains how some 
 who are without Christian faith, who deny the ex- 
 istence of God and the future life, pass from the 
 earth apparently with all the heroism and calmness 
 of saints. They have learned to control their emo- 
 tions rather than to rise above them ; but feeling 
 is not dead even where it is subdued. Fires that 
 burn inwardly often burn most intensely. Those 
 who have learned to accept the inevitable do so 
 with as good a grace as possible, though their dread 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 271 
 
 of its mystery may be as intense as that of others 
 who are more demonstrative. 
 
 To all alike the outlook is sad and without hope. 
 Life has been a joy, but its end is desolation. The 
 beautiful statue has been carved with infinite care 
 into a figure of exquisite grace only to be broken 
 into pieces at the last, and why — who can under- 
 stand ? The great dome has been lifted into the 
 air in order that it might fall into ruins when 
 finished. The beneficence of a law which works 
 toward well-being in far distant years, but sacrifices 
 individuals on the way, offers poor compensation 
 for those whose hearts are breaking with what they 
 are bearing or dreading. 
 
 Nothing more distinctly characterized the teach- 
 ings of Jesus than what may be called the New way of 
 new way of looking at suffering and at dS. 
 death which was introduced by Him. He taught 
 that suffering is not positive evil ; but that it is a 
 step toward blessing. It is never either ordered or 
 permitted as an end in itself, but in the hands of 
 God it is used as a chisel is used in the hands of a 
 sculptor. If the marble could speak, it would pro- 
 test against the sculptor's blows, as our human 
 hearts rebel at the processes by which we are dis- 
 ciplined into grace and beauty. Death is never 
 mentioned by Christ as an enemy, but rather as a 
 sleep, a change from one room to another in the 
 
272 THE AGE OP FAITH 
 
 Father's house. Paul speaks of the " last enemy," 
 but it is of an enemy vanquished and of a victory 
 won. To his vision death goes out of sight in the 
 glory that is being revealed. The Christian view 
 of death is different from any which the world had 
 known before. There is a positive note in all the 
 teaching of Jesus on this subject. He does not 
 paint it in attractive colors ; and consequently offers 
 no motive for suicide ; but He always speaks of it 
 as rest and relief, as a change which works blessing, 
 as something analogous to the recreating changes 
 experienced in the body. After sleep comes the 
 awaking. That which seems worst ends best. 
 What we call death is only transition. 
 
 But the words of Jesus, and the influence of 
 His life and teachings for well-nigh two thousand 
 years, have made comparatively little difference 
 with the way this subject is regarded by the mass 
 of men. They face the mystery with terror ; they 
 watch the approach of the enemy with indefina- 
 ble and awful anticipations. However interpreted, 
 and whatever the theory of its mission in the uni- 
 verse, even where the element of terror is most 
 largely eliminated, it is the supreme crisis toward 
 which thought tends and concerning which inquiry 
 never ceases. What is it ? Is it an end, or only 
 a means ? Is it an abyss, or a bridge over an 
 abyss ? Is it a great darkness, or a door into in- 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 273 
 
 finite light? There are many ways of answering 
 these questions, all of them of more or less value. 
 
 There is the voice of nature. Nature is not 
 without suggestions of something brighter 
 beyond the grave. Summer follows win- witnesses. 
 ter. The birds go, but they come again. The 
 flowers fade, but it is only in order that they may 
 bloom in fresher beauty. The stalks of grain seem 
 to die, but they leave their seeds for other harvests 
 in future years. One generation after another 
 passes away, but new generations succeed. That 
 which seems to end in decay rises again in glorious 
 strength. Death has a large place in the universe, 
 but always that of ministering to life. To the 
 individual, nature may prophesy little that is en- 
 couraging, but with a sure voice she presages the 
 immortality of the race. The individual falls — 
 the race goes on. In this fact is contained a pre- 
 diction of the indestructibility of life. In one 
 form of existence life may disappear, but it only 
 waits to reappear in another form. This may give 
 little hope to you and to me, since it seems to 
 indicate that the race alone is immortal. But it 
 is much to find that life in its essence is indestruc- 
 tible. To that fact nature bears abundant witness. 
 
 Rising above the natural world, we come to the 
 common aspiration and longing of humanity. 
 What that is may be learned from consciousness, 
 
274 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 and from the experience of the race as it is re- 
 corded in history, literature, and art. The univer- 
 sal dread of death is a witness to the love of life. 
 No person ever really longs to die. Relief from 
 suffering or limitation is desired, and, to achieve 
 that end, death may be sought, but only as a means 
 of escape from some nearer evil. If that object 
 could be realized in other and better ways, death 
 would always be shunned. " If a man die, shall 
 he live again ? " is more than an inquiry ; it is a 
 testimony. It bears witness to faith in the per- 
 manence of conscious being. 
 
 This witness appears in another and more im- 
 pressive form in the literature of the world. 
 Through all its manifold creations runs the death- 
 less aspiration for immortality. 
 
 And what is true of literature is also true of 
 art. The delicately carved mausoleums of Greece, 
 the mighty pyramids of Egypt, the rude platforms 
 of poles on which the American Indians place their 
 dead, show that men of all classes in all times 
 and all lands have coveted life. They have not 
 only loved it, but have believed in its immortality. 
 The story of the death of Socrates is typical. The 
 philosopher could never have taught such sublime 
 truths, if millions of others in humbler spheres had 
 not held the same faith. He was the flower of all 
 the past of Greece and of the world. Great men are 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 275 
 
 like plants which blossom but once in a century. 
 Into their intellectual and spiritual fibre have en- 
 tered the thought and achievements of hundreds 
 and thousands who have lived before them. A 
 century flower is not the blossom of one stalk alone, 
 but of thousands and millions which have converged 
 to the same point. Plato was not one man alone, 
 but the efflorescence of a race. So was Job, so 
 was Dante, so were Milton, Browning, Tennyson, 
 and a glorious choir of other singers whose music 
 has been keyed to resurrection and life. 
 
 The witness of consciousness as it has spoken in 
 literature and as it speaks in those who live to-day 
 is supported by the common teaching of philoso- 
 phy and religion. Philosophy may be likened to 
 a sphere with its two poles — one turning toward 
 God, the other toward immortality. In every 
 age and every land these have been the dominant 
 questions. Does one ask as to reality ? The ques- 
 tion instantly goes back to the Ultimate Reality. 
 Does another seek the meaning of life? Instantly 
 he faces the question, Does life really or only 
 apparently end at the grave ? These are the 
 supreme subjects of philosophy, and in this case 
 that definite particle " the " should be written 
 very large. The answer has been given in differ- 
 ent ways. It sometimes seems as if there were 
 no personal God in Buddhism ; and in one sense 
 
276 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 there is not — in another there is. There are 
 many sects of Buddhists. Some believe that be- 
 hind the seen is only universal and impersonal 
 law ; most if not all the sects agree that that law 
 sometimes manifests itself in a conscious and bene- 
 ficent being. The Buddhists look forward either 
 to Nirvana, which is a state of absorption in God, 
 or to the Western Paradise, in which conscious 
 existence continues. The Hindus have a doctrine 
 that they call Karma. The individual seems to 
 die ; but all that he was in his essential and spir- 
 itual nature is deathless. Whether we examine 
 the religions of Greece, of Rome, of Persia, of 
 India, or of later times, we find in one degree 
 and another, in one form and another, something 
 which may truly be called faith in God and in life 
 beyond the grave. These voices of nature, of the 
 soul of man, of history, of literature, of philoso- 
 phy, of religion, are strangely and beautifully con- 
 firmed by the latest word of modern science. At 
 first it was thought that evolution necessitated 
 atheism and infidelity. It has frequently been 
 denounced as the substitution of law for a per- 
 sonal God. That is not its final word. As step 
 by step it has pushed from one sphere into another, 
 in a nameless way, it has been found to confirm 
 the teachings of humanity and of Christianity. 
 It suggests the inquiry where the seed of progress 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 277 
 
 which was sown in the primeval fire-mist came 
 from. The beautiful civilization of the ages can- 
 not be the result of chance, but must be the reali- 
 zation of an intelligent plan. Thus evolution 
 points backward to One who planted in the fire- 
 mist the seeds of progress and civilization. The 
 study of life even in its lower forms shows that 
 the principle of sacrifice runs through all grada- 
 tions of being ; that it begins in the very lowest, 
 reaches on toward the highest, and then culmi- 
 nates. Evolution gives a new meaning to the 
 text which speaks of " the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world ; " and to that other one 
 which beholds in the midst of the splendor of the 
 throne the Lamb, which is the eternal symbol of 
 sacrifice. Evolution not only points toward God 
 and sacrifice, but it cannot be completed without 
 a longer period than the threescore and ten exist- 
 ence of man. It prophesies a grander destiny for 
 our race than the grave. That which has been 
 countless ages in perfecting cannot be " cast as 
 rubbish to the void." Human life may have had 
 its beginnings in the physical, but it must end in 
 the spiritual. This is the latest word of evolution- 
 ary science. Like prophets, its teachers stand with 
 their faces toward the future, with expectancy and 
 hope unsurpassed even in the prophets of religion. 
 They say, " Evolution . . . seems to be through 
 
278 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 with the body, when it has fairly begun with the 
 soul. It has reached in our selfhood, conscious of 
 its continuous identity, a new realm or order of 
 existence ; it has crossed the threshold, and stands 
 as a child of the Eternal in the Father's presence. 
 The same self-conscious being who preserves his 
 moral identity through the incessant changes of the 
 molecular processes with which his life is connected 
 in this body, has already reached a point of spirit- 
 ual independence, although not yet of complete 
 detachment from atomic matter ; that detachment, 
 with possibility of new and better connection with 
 the elemental forces, may be the last possible step 
 in the evolution of the soul, — the last transforma- 
 tion which is the beginning of the end and the 
 possession of the final glory of life." 1 
 
 This chorus of voices confirms the teaching of 
 Jesus when He said that death was only sleep, or 
 a change from one room to another in the infinite 
 house of God. When we take narrow views, we 
 may think there is little evidence for belief in con- 
 tinuance of being, but larger vision makes it diffi- 
 cult to doubt that life is a stream which no barriers 
 can forever obstruct. They may deflect its course 
 for a moment, but the stream broadens and deepens, 
 and its sweep is onward and endless. 
 
 There are two ways by which Christians may 
 
 1 The Place of Death in Evolution, Smythe, pp. 109, 110. 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 279 
 
 approach this subject. One is the direct, and the 
 other the indirect. The direct is that afforded by 
 the teachings of our Lord, and by the significance 
 of His resurrection. At this time I am concerned 
 solely with what may be called the indirect teach- 
 ing of Christianity concerning the immortal life ; 
 and I turn now to ask, What light does a rational 
 interpretation of the instinct of Fatherhood cast on 
 the inquiry, What lies beyond the grave ? 
 
 I must recur to some principles which I believe 
 have already been well established. The Fatherhood 
 doctrine of Divine Fatherhood shows that taiity. 
 God and man are of essentially the same nature. 
 That does not mean that they are identically the 
 same beings. Identity of nature does not imply 
 identity of being. Every child is identical in na- 
 ture with his father, and yet every child has an 
 individuality peculiarly his own. The doctrine of 
 the Fatherhood teaches "that men and the Father 
 who gave them being are partakers of the same 
 nature. That does not mean merely that there are 
 resemblances, but that in essence the natures are 
 one. A child may differ in a thousand ways from 
 his parents, and yet be the continuation of them in 
 another generation. The vine is one, the nature 
 of the vine and the branches is the same, but the 
 branches and the vine are not the same. 
 
 If God and man have identically the same nature, 
 
280 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 then the inference is inevitable that man will live 
 as long as God. The human body dies ; it is essen- 
 tial to the thought of God that He never dies. The 
 body is only the dress ; the real being is the spirit 
 dwelling within. If God could die, there would be 
 no God. If His children possess His being, they 
 must also possess His immortality. Either the 
 premise must be denied, or the conclusion must be 
 accepted. 
 
 But another inference from this doctrine is 
 equally explicit. Fatherhood necessitates the con- 
 tinuance of the relation between parent and child. 
 If that relation endures, then man must live, not in 
 a diffused and impalpable immensity, but as the 
 child of God ; not as a mere impersonal emanation 
 which is at last to be absorbed into His infinity, but 
 as an eternal person. The thought that man is an 
 emanation from God ; that he came out from Him 
 as a ray of light from the sun, and that at last he 
 will be absorbed in the universal glory, as the ray 
 is absorbed in the splendor that fills the universe, 
 was common in the elder philosophies and in some 
 form of the elder religions, but it is a thing of the 
 past. If that teaching were true, we should have 
 no existence of our own. God is the Father, there- 
 fore men are His children. Childhood means 
 individuality, and individuality must continue as 
 long as the relation between the parent and the 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 281 
 
 child continues. If God is the everlasting Father, 
 then man is His everlasting child. 
 
 If man is the everlasting child of the everlasting 
 Father, then throughout all the ages that PeraonaUty 
 are before him he will possess the quali- endures- 
 ties of personality, which is all that distinguishes 
 him as in the image of God. A person is a being 
 who is self-conscious, intelligent, has the power of 
 choice and of love. If we could multiply intelli- 
 gence, the power of choice and of love, to absolute 
 perfection, we should have the truest possible con- 
 ception of God. Since man is the child of God, he 
 will possess the qualities of personality so long as 
 that relation continues. It is these qualities 
 which make us ourselves. Our bodies change ; they 
 are reconstructed every year; not one atom is the 
 same to-day as when we were children, and yet we 
 are identically the same. Identity is a matter 
 of spirit rather than of body. Identity persists 
 even though the body is entirely new, and we can- 
 not believe that it is affected by the last great 
 change when the body finally decays. What we 
 know and love in one another is something within 
 the phenomenal, something spiritual. Tennyson 
 has said : " Eternal form from form divides," but 
 that is a form of spirit or personality rather than 
 of matter. We love the face of our friend, but 
 still more we love the spirit that is behind the face, 
 
282 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 which illuminates it, and which manifests itself in 
 intelligent choice and service. In short, that which 
 is dear is the nature of which the body is but the 
 dress. That is not simply the All, but something 
 individual and personal. If that individuality con- 
 tinues, as the fact of the Divine Fatherhood neces- 
 sitates, then the old inquiry as to whether we shall 
 know one another beyond the grave has a logical 
 and necessary answer. What we know now is not 
 so much matter as spirit, form as character, and 
 what will be recognized then will be spirit freed 
 from existing limitations. 
 
 If once the Fatherhood of God is accepted, these 
 conclusions are inevitable. If we can repeat the 
 words of the creed, " I believe in God the Father 
 Almighty," it will be but a short and easy path to 
 another confession, equally far-reaching and com- 
 forting, " I believe in the life everlasting." 
 
 The message of Fatherhood to the race is one of 
 a Message hope and of blessing. It finds the world 
 
 ope ' in the midst of sadness and dread expect- 
 ancy. The very people who ought to be marching 
 in the foremost files of all that is good and true are 
 constantly involved in pitiful and disappointing 
 controversies. Many of those who bear the name 
 of Christian face the mysteries of existence with 
 as little confidence as those who have never heard or 
 read one word of the Christian revelation. Millions 
 
THE IMMORTAL LIFE 283 
 
 sing that Christ is risen, who forget that death has 
 lost its sting and the grave its victory. Father- 
 hood speaks with a loud and commanding voice, and 
 its message is something like this : " You should 
 trust the witness of nature concerning the death- 
 lessness of being ; you should give heed to the wit- 
 ness of consciousness and the voice of history ; you 
 should listen carefully to every accent of those who 
 have pondered these problems in other days, for 
 they are all broken rays of the true light which 
 reveals immortality. You should study the revela- 
 tions which have come to other people with other 
 forms of religion, for they were not given in vain, 
 and are not without their value as evidence concern- 
 ing the things of the spirit. You should give ear- 
 nest attention to the voice of the Christ, for He spoke 
 out of the heart of the Eternal, affirming resurrec- 
 tion and continuance of being." Nature and con- 
 sciousness, literature and religion, philosophy and 
 science, and most of all the direct teaching of the 
 Christ, are confirmed by the fact of the Father- 
 hood, which points toward life reaching into other 
 spheres. If the Father is immortal, the child must 
 also be immortal. The one point upon which our 
 emphasis is now placed, and which rises in the 
 darkness of our midnight like a splendid star, is 
 this, Fatherhood necessitates immortal life. 
 
 The suggestions of this subject are many and 
 full of inspiration. In " that endless progression 
 
284 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 in far-off years," the seeds of blessing sown by 
 suggestions heroic souls, the self-sacrifice, and the 
 ject. service of those who have lived and died 
 
 for love's sake will grow and bear fruit. What 
 the harvest will be, we dare not even predict ; but 
 it will be far more glorious than anything of which 
 we have dreamed on the earth. The children of 
 God in the infinite palace of the Father, continu- 
 ing their lives, free yet choosing holiness and love, 
 — this is the hint of a glory of which it is auda- 
 cious to try clearly to think. Of this, however, we 
 may be perfectly sure : Fatherhood teaches us that 
 some time conflicts in homes, between classes, and 
 among nations will disappear ; that some time the 
 war drum will throb no more, and the battle flag 
 will be furled ; that, probably, the veil between 
 the seen and the unseen will be rent, but whether 
 rent or not, that those who have come to a reali- 
 zation of their sonship will grow forever and for- 
 ever toward the perfection of Him who will be ever 
 approached, but never can be fully reached. In 
 this we believe ; for this we work and pray ; toward 
 this we constantly press ; for this we wait until the 
 day dawn in which there shall be disclosed to our 
 wondering vision at least a little more of the height 
 and depth, the greatness and the glory, of what is 
 implied and necessitated by the teaching of our 
 Lord concerning the Fatherhood of God and the 
 unending life of man. 
 
XII 
 
 THE TEACHER FOE ALL AGES 
 
 Jesus was the child of narrowness and provin- 
 cialism, and yet He was neither narrow nor pro- 
 vincial. He never traveled, nor studied in the 
 schools ; so far as we know, He could speak but one 
 language ; and after His childhood, He was never 
 out of the country of His birth. His life was 
 passed between Galilee and Judea. He belonged 
 not only to a small part of the world, but to a short 
 period of history. He was hardly thirty-three 
 years of age when " He went into His glory on the 
 sweep of an irresistible and fatal tide." And yet 
 this peasant, with little knowledge of the world, 
 with no scholastic learning, who died at the age 
 when most really begin to live, has been the 
 teacher of civilization for two thousand years. 
 Others have influenced philosophy or science, He 
 has identified religion with His own name. This 
 requires an explanation, and it is not difficult to 
 find. It was something for which he distinctly 
 provided. 
 
 The remark of Renan that Jesus has identified 
 
286 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 religion with Christianity was profound and true. 
 He belonged to Judea and to one time, but He has 
 embodied in His teaching the essence of all faiths 
 of all time, so that it is difficult to imagine how 
 Christianity can ever be surpassed. Another pro- 
 found remark of the usually not too profound 
 Frenchman is, " His worship grows young without 
 ceasing." That also is true, and the secret of the 
 eternal youth of Christianity is found in the teach- 
 ing of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit. This is 
 one of the most practical of truths. It has long 
 been my belief that if any one Christian doctrine 
 could be called more fundamental than another, it 
 is that of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The teacher for all ages ! No mere man could 
 No Man the he so related to the swiftly changing cen- 
 ra™ o^ST turies. The noblest masters have passed 
 
 Ages. 
 
 to their rest to be succeeded by others. 
 Zoroaster, Buddha, Mahomet all left the world 
 better than they found it. Their teachings will 
 not soon be forgotten, but the men no longer have 
 vital power. No man in the flesh can teach all 
 ages and lands. The objects of knowledge change. 
 The world of one decade is not like that of an- 
 other. No one person can keep pace with the 
 years. What is true of a man is also true of a 
 book. We misunderstand the teaching even of 
 our Bible. It has power because it is vitalized 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 287 
 
 by the Spirit of God. Letters written to little 
 churches in Asia two thousand years ago, to peo- 
 ple secluded from civilization, before the discov- 
 eries of science, could not contain in detail all that 
 is needed of ethics and religion in this century. 
 We not only live on a different continent, but in 
 a different world from the Romans and Galatians. 
 We think about different things, and speak in 
 different tongues. Words change their meaning. 
 Language is like a river ; it receives the contribu- 
 tions of thousands of rivulets. Languages to-day 
 are very different from what they were one century 
 ago, and still more unlike those of twenty centuries 
 ago. New subjects necessitate new words. Books 
 may contain principles applicable to all time, and 
 that is what constitutes the surpassing excellence 
 of our New Testament. 
 
 But even principles have to be interpreted. 
 How may we be sure that we are correct The Livi 
 in our understanding of them ? An in- ch^st ■ 
 fallible principle requires an infallible interpreter 
 before it can teach infallible truth. No man can 
 be a teacher for all ages, and no booh, apart from 
 its interpreter, can mean the same to all time. 
 The teacher for all ages must be a personal spirit. 
 Jesus said, "It is expedient for you that I go 
 away." That is, the man of one age must give 
 place to the Spirit who is for all time. Jesus said 
 
288 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 in substance : " When I disappear from your sight 
 I will continue my work. I will be to you exactly 
 the same that I have been in the flesh, except that 
 now you see me by the physical eye and then you 
 will see by the Spirit's eye. Have I been a 
 teacher of truth ? I will guide you into all truth. 
 Have I been your helper ? When great burdens 
 press upon you, and sorrows come in like a flood, 
 you will realize the truth of my words : ' Lo ! I am 
 with you alway.' Have I lifted you out of sin and 
 brought you into the family of God ? In better 
 ways, and with greater power, the same service 
 will continue forever." Jesus Christ is the Teacher 
 for all ages, because he is alive forevermore in 
 the Spirit. 
 
 It is sometimes said that it would be easy to fol- 
 low Christ if we could see Him as His disciples 
 saw Him. He is nearer to us than He was to them. 
 Did He heal diseases ? He heals them now. Did 
 He enter into human suffering with a fullness which 
 could be hinted at only by death ? He is in the 
 midst of the same great sacrifice to-day. The 
 work of salvation did not begin on Calvary, and 
 did not end there. The Lamb was slain from the 
 foundation of the world. 
 
 To this truth Jesus frequently referred, and it 
 needs emphasis in these times. We are told by 
 some, who should know better, that the dead hand 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 289 
 
 of the past is upon us ; that there is no room for 
 progress in Christianity. History proves progress in 
 
 i t • • t n Christian 
 
 that untrue. .Limited at first by pagan- Thought. 
 ism, it has broken its limitations and grown 
 toward purity. A seed falls into a crevice of the 
 rocks on the Sierras. It must force its way up- 
 ward and send its roots downward by rending rocks 
 asunder. It will not show its results in one year, 
 or many years. So the teachings of Christ have 
 grown into the life of humanity. They have been 
 misconstrued in almost every age, because their 
 realization has been so difficult; but to-day they 
 are better understood and more widely appreciated 
 than ever before. 
 
 We were not intended to remain intellectually 
 
 stationary. Are we not the disciples of Jesus? 
 
 Yes ; but not so much of the Jesus who was on the 
 
 earth as of the Christ who is living now. He 
 
 is the Christ of New York, of London, of India, 
 
 and of Africa ; the Christ who, in the Spirit, is 
 
 leading the world toward better things. Let us 
 
 understand. If He could speak to us, Jesus would 
 
 say : " I am as near to you as I was to Peter and 
 
 James and John. I am leading you. I am to you 
 
 all that I was to them. Think of them ; but as 
 
 they followed me in the flesh, so do you follow me 
 
 in the Spirit." 
 
 Our life is not that of peasants in the hill coun- 
 
290 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 try of Palestine. What a different world ! Con- 
 tinents have been discovered. Science has explored 
 the mysteries. The constellations have a language. 
 Nations are tied together. There is a unity of 
 interest now of which there was then no anticipa- 
 tion. When the missionary enterprise was started, 
 early in the century, the greater part of the world 
 was asleep : now it thrills with life. We send 
 missionaries to the Orient ; it sends missionaries 
 to us. China is as near to London now as then 
 Jerusalem was to Damascus. What shall we be- 
 lieve in these times when the heavens are read like 
 an open book ; when the stars are finding voices ; 
 when the hidden spaces of the earth are found to 
 be written all over with records of the past ; when 
 people from every land jostle on almost every 
 street ; when thought is no longer symbolized by 
 rills with mountains between them, but by an ocean 
 into which all the rivers flow ? Shall we go back 
 to that little hill country and to eighteen hundred 
 years ago for the final article of belief ? If we did 
 that, we should find something which has never 
 been transcended. Whittier never wrote anything 
 truer than the following from his " Questions of, 
 Life : " — 
 
 "I gather up the scattered rays 
 Of wisdom in the early days, 
 Faint gleams and broken, like the light 
 Of meteors in a northern night, 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 291 
 
 Betraying to the darkling earth 
 The unseen sun which gave them birth ; 
 I listen to the sibyl's chant, 
 The voice of priest and hierophant ; 
 I know what Indian Kreeshna saith, 
 And what of life and what of death 
 The demon taught to Socrates ; 
 And what, beneath his garden-trees 
 Slow-pacing, with a dreamlike tread, 
 The solemn-thoughted Plato said ; 
 Nor lack I tokens, great or small, 
 Of God's clear light in each and all, 
 While holding with more dear regard 
 The scroll of Hebrew seer and bard, 
 The starry pages promise-lit 
 With Christ's Evangel over- writ, 
 Thy miracle of life and death, 
 O Holy One of Nazareth ! " 
 
 But, after all, what makes that teaching a mira- 
 cle in the midst of the ages is its adjust- Truttl tobe 
 ment to all time. The source of author- vSua 
 ity is not in something said or done eigh- 
 teen hundred years ago, but in a personal teacher 
 who is active now. Jesus in effect said : " Re- 
 member that as I lead you now, so I will lead men 
 beneath the expanding horizons, and in the midst of 
 the ferment of thought and the bewildering claims 
 upon loyalty, in still later days." Our Teacher is 
 the same that Peter and James and John had. He 
 may repeat the very words that He spoke to them, 
 or He may have other messages. " What is the 
 
292 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 true relation of man to man ? Shall I read what 
 Jesus said to his disciples ? " Yes. " Shall I take 
 their interpretation?" They did not interpret. 
 He must tell me what the principle means when 
 applied to the life of to-day. Did He say, " Love 
 one another as I have loved you " ? That means 
 something different for an employer of labor in 
 the nineteenth century from what it meant for the 
 fisherman to whom it was spoken. Did He say, 
 " I am the truth " ? That meant one thing to 
 those who heard it ; it means something different 
 to those before whom the spaces and the silences 
 have been opened. Did He say, "Render unto 
 Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God 
 the things that are God's " ? That meant one 
 thing when Augustus was on the throne ; it meant 
 something different twenty-five years ago in the 
 American and Swiss republics ; and it means 
 something still different in these days of demo- 
 cracy and socialism. Now the people are Caesar. 
 Did Jesus say, "Resist not evil"? How shall 
 those words be interpreted in Armenia, in Cuba, 
 and on the Philippine Islands? The problem of 
 duty is constantly changing. 
 
 The New Testament contains principles which 
 The Teacher have to be interpreted and applied to 
 
 needed x rr 
 
 To-day. the conditions of the new time. The 
 Teacher is needed to-day quite as much as two 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 293 
 
 thousand years ago. The expansion of life, the 
 more generous treatment of man by man, the 
 amelioration of laws, the annihilation of tyran- 
 nies, the bringing in of the rule of the people, 
 show that the Spirit is not only interpreting truth, 
 but that He is the actual leader of events. " How 
 shall I be a Christian?" Follow Him. "But 
 follow whom — Jesus of Nazareth ? " No ; follow 
 the living Christ who, in the ways of the Spirit, 
 makes known so clearly that none need misunder- 
 stand what is right, what is duty, and what is 
 truth. " But may we carry it still further, and 
 say that Christ is saving men now as when on the 
 earth ? " Yes. The work of Jesus of Nazareth 
 was completed ; the work of the Spirit will not 
 be completed until the triumph of truth and love. 
 In every age men have been convicted of sin, led 
 from evil ways, and helped toward a realization 
 of their sonship. It has been as distinctly the 
 result of the Spirit's touch as the healing of the 
 leper was the result of the touch of the hand of 
 Jesus. The Spirit now says, "Follow," as dis- 
 tinctly as any voice spoke to the disciples by the 
 Sea of Galilee. Those who heed are led from vice 
 and selfishness toward love and holiness. The 
 Christ in the Spirit is doing exactly the same 
 works to-day that He did when He was on the earth. 
 He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever." 
 
294 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 What Jesus was during His earthly career, God 
 had been in the past and will be in the future, — ■ 
 the Helper, the Teacher and the Saviour. 
 
 The most conclusive evidences of Christianity 
 Abiding Evi- are not ancient wonders. Why should 
 
 dences of . 
 
 Christianity. I otter the resurrection 01 .Lazarus, as the 
 chief proof of the power which is leading in the 
 transformation of the world to-day, to those who 
 have seen men dead in sin raised to hope, purity, 
 and love ? Why should I repeat the story of 
 Jairus' daughter while in these -days cures quite 
 as wonderful are worked by the power of God? 
 Why should I go to the story of Jesus walking on 
 the water, when the whole development of science 
 shows that there is a power behind visible things 
 which, if properly used, is as wonderful as that 
 manifested by Him? Properly understood, the 
 whole progress of the world — its steamships, its 
 telegraphs, its telephones, its X-rays — exhibits 
 supernatural power. The age of miracles has not 
 passed. As the race approaches the stature of 
 Christ, it is better able to do the things which He 
 did. Growth into the life of the Spirit means 
 growth into power over nature. It does not mean 
 the abolition of the physical, but superiority to it. 
 Tennyson had the vision of a prophet when he 
 wrote of " the crowning race : " — 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 295 
 
 " Of those that, eye to eye, shall look 
 On knowledge ; under whose command 
 Is earth and earth's, and in their hands 
 Is nature like an open book." 
 
 " Is there any evidence which warrants belief in 
 any spiritual leadership of the race ? " Spiritual 
 
 Leadership 
 
 I reply: Have you ever thought of the of the Race. 
 meaning of the steady and constant conflict be- 
 tween truth and error, selfishness and love ? Why 
 does truth crushed to earth always rise ; and love 
 never weary in its battle against vice and sin? 
 Generations come and go, and men and women, 
 perfectly conscious that they will lay down their 
 lives in a forlorn struggle, take up the work and 
 carry it on. It is not because of what they see, 
 for that is all against them ; it is not because of 
 what they can gain, for they will gain little except 
 suffering and death ; they do it because they have 
 heard a spiritual voice calling them to the higher 
 levels. Wherever, unappreciated and alone, men 
 or women are striving for the better time, there 
 are sure evidences of the presence of the Spirit. 
 
 In proportion as we realize Christ's power we 
 do not need to go back to Galilee and Judea ; we 
 do not need to traverse the centuries — we need 
 only to keep our hearts pure, our minds open, our 
 spirits reverent, and there will come to us visions 
 of truth and right, of duty and service, as splendid 
 
296 THE AGE OF FAITH 
 
 and inspiring as ever came to saint or sage in 
 earlier days. We read and revere the story of 
 the Master who lived and died so many years ago ; 
 it is the sweetest story ever written ; but we must 
 not forget His words: "It is expedient for you 
 that I go away." He did not wish his disciples to 
 think too much of Him as He was then. He wished 
 them to understand that He belonged to all time, 
 and that those who w»uld live in the long, long 
 future would have the same great Teacher. The 
 name he then assumed was the " Spirit of Truth." 
 If instead of calling ourselves Christians we desired 
 only to be followers of the Spirit of Truth, we 
 should be known by a name quite as appropriate 
 as at present. 
 
 We live our lives in littleness and weariness, 
 in discouragement, and sometimes in despair ; we 
 think we know nothing and can do nothing; one 
 is ignorant and another is sick ; one is poor and 
 another has no friends; but all alike have the 
 same great Teacher. Above the peasant in the 
 fields, the miner deep in the earth, the sick not 
 able to leave their beds, the statesman burdened 
 with the affairs of nations, the scientist exploring 
 the mysteries of the earth and the stars, is one and 
 the same Spirit, leading all in different paths but 
 ever toward the one great end, — the life which 
 was in Jesus Christ, the love which is God, and 
 
THE TEACHER FOR ALL AGES 297 
 
 which will fill the earth with the Kingdom of God. 
 The hearts of the disciples burned within them as 
 they walked by the way, and those who are pure, 
 who love the truth, and who would rather suffer 
 loss than do wrong, may be sure that the same 
 presence is walking beside them, and that some 
 time and in some way they will realize the great- 
 ness of these words, " But the Comforter, even the 
 Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my 
 name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to 
 your remembrance all that I said unto you." 
 
 1 Johnxiv. 26. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abolition of slavery in United States, 
 
 108. 
 Absolute, The, 33, 34. 
 Agassiz, 6. 
 Age, of criticism, 15. 
 
 Of doubt, 1, 8. 
 
 Of faith, 2, 3, 6, 19. 
 
 Of humanity, 105. 
 Agnosticism, 5. 
 Agnostics, 5, 6. 
 
 " All Sorts and Conditions of Men," 7. 
 Alva, Duke of, 97. 
 American Board, 6. 
 Anarchism, 125, 134. 
 "Apparent Failure," 240. 
 Appreciation of Man, 109. 
 Aristotle, 112. 
 Arnold, Matthew, 6. 
 Arnold, Sir Edwin, 141, 146. 
 Atheism, 141. 
 Atonement, the, doctrine of, 202. 
 
 Governmental theory of, 203. 
 
 Moral influence theory of, 205. 
 
 Satisfaction theory of, 202. 
 
 Bacon, Lord, 134. 
 
 " Ballad of Trees and the Master," 
 
 10. 
 Barrie, 7. 
 
 Basis of faith in brotherhood, 107. 
 Beethoven, 36, 44. 
 Belief in the best, 152-155. 
 Beneficence of nature, 99. 
 Bourget, Paul, 6. 
 British Scientific Association, 5. 
 Brotherhood, 103. 
 
 A basis of optimism, 134. 
 
 Altruistic, 106. 
 
 And other social ideals, 124. 
 
 Contents of, 114. 
 
 Contrasted with selfishness, 131. 
 
 Depends on Fatherhood, 107. 
 
 Implies equality, 128. 
 
 Implies the race a family, 129. 
 
 Of man to be realized, 121. 
 
 Realization of, the supreme social 
 ideal, 127. 
 
 Will infuse divine principles into 
 legislation, 131. 
 Browning, Mrs., 139. 
 Browning, Robert, 8, 46, 79, 93, 151, 
 
 178, 240, 251. 
 Brunetiere, 6. 
 Bubonic plague, 155. 
 Buddha, 15, 79, 134. 
 Buddhism, 81, 140, 145, 146, 169. 
 Buddhists, 13, 89, 111, 112, 275. 
 Bunyan, John, 35, 158. 
 Burns, Robert, 239. 
 Bushnell, Dr. Horace, 205. 
 Byron, 75, 77, 78, 142. 
 
 Csesar, 66, 104. 
 Calvin, John, 239. 
 Calvinism, 148, 170. 
 
 Its teaching concerning the Atone- 
 ment, 203. 
 Campbell, John McLeod, 205. 
 CeleBtial City, 35. 
 Charity, Crusade of, 20. 
 
 Inspiration of, 21. 
 Christ, The living, 287. 
 "Christian, The," 7. 
 Christian and philanthropic agencies 
 
 illustrate faith, 21. 
 Christian Science, 18, 19, 146. 
 Classes of Thinkers, 122. 
 Christianity, Evidences of, 294. 
 " Cleon," 8. 
 Cologne Cathedral, 36. 
 
300 
 
 INDEX 
 
 " Communion of the Christian with 
 
 God," 53. 
 Communion with God, 216. 
 
 Inevitable, 217. 
 
 Natural, 217. 
 Communism, 106, 124, 125, 134. 
 Conception of God, 26. 
 
 Determines ideals of conduct, 110, 
 111. 
 
 Ethnic, 111. 
 
 Hebrew, 111. 
 
 In Greece, 110. 
 
 In India, 109. 
 Concord Reformatory, 246. 
 Confucianism, 14. 
 Confucius, 134. 
 
 Conscience witnesses to sin, 172. 
 Cowper, 45. 
 Creeds, 18. 
 Critics, 16, 17, 18. 
 Criticism, 
 
 Age of, 15. 
 
 A sign of faith, 16. 
 Crockett, 7. 
 
 Crookes, Sir William, 4. 
 " Crossing the Bar," 22. 
 Crusade of charity an evidence of 
 
 faith, The, 20. 
 Crusades, The, 19. 
 " Cry of the Children," 80. 
 " Cry of the Human," 80, 139. 
 Current fads, signs of faith, 18. 
 
 Dante, 44, 79, 158, 232, 251, 275. 
 Danton, 108. 
 
 Darwin, Charles, 4, 6, 193. 
 Dawson, Sir William, 6. 
 Death, dreaded, 269. 
 
 Christian view of, 271, 272. 
 
 Spiritual, 261. 
 " Death in the Desert, A," 8, 9. 
 Delectable Mountains, 35. 
 Democracy, 107. 
 Depraved nature, 193, 194. 
 Desire for truth, 15, 17. 
 Dickens, Charles, 130. 
 Divine Immanence, 42, 100. 
 Doctrine, of the Incarnation, The, 9. 
 
 Of Jesus, 112. 
 
 Of the Trinity, 
 Found in philosophy, 37. 
 Not explained in Scripture, 37. 
 
 Doubt, 3, 5, 10, 17. 
 Drummond, Prof. Henry, 6. 
 Dualism, Persian, 260. 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 204, 238. 
 
 President, of New Haven, 204. 
 Eliot, George, 6, 78, 142. 
 " Elsie Venner," 7. 
 Emerson, 157. 
 Environment, 56. 
 Equality, in France a lie, 128. 
 
 Not a blessing, 129. 
 Eschylus, 171. 
 
 " Eternal Goodness, The," 9, 241. 
 Eternal, The word, defined, 239. 
 Ethnic Religions, 
 
 Study of, 12, 15. 
 
 Witness to sin, 173. 
 " Euthanasia," 76. 
 " Evangeline," 136. 
 Evangelization of the world, 14. 
 Evolution, 4, 5, 6, 93, 155, 156, 170. 
 
 The place of death in, 268, 277, 
 278. 
 Evolutionist, 6. 
 Exodus, The, 104. 
 
 Faber, F. W., 92. 
 Fads, 18, 19. 
 Fairbairn, 21, 53. 
 Faith-healing, 18. 
 Faith, 
 
 Definition of, 1, 2. 
 
 Age of, 2, 3, 6, 19. 
 
 And science, 3. 
 
 An intellectual attitude, 4, 13. 
 
 The scientist, a man of, 4. 
 
 And literature, 6. 
 
 Universality of, 13, 19, 22. 
 
 Men of, 5, 13, 17. 
 
 The basis of religion, 14. 
 
 Evidence of its reality, 14. 
 
 The note of the new movement in 
 theology, 17. 
 
 Renascence of, 18. 
 
 Crusade of charity an evidence of, 
 20. 
 
 Service an expression of, 21. 
 
 Pervasiveness of, 22. 
 
 Gospel for an age of, 24, 25. 
 
 Of the Orient, 81. 
 
 Essential to optimism, 84, 94. 
 
INDEX 
 
 301 
 
 Effect of, 87. 
 
 In Divine Fatherhood reasonable, 
 152. 
 
 Signs of, 
 
 Criticism, 16. 
 Current fads, 18. 
 Father, the word used, 
 
 In New Testament, 62. 
 
 By Jesus, 62, 63. 
 
 In the Trinity, 65. 
 
 In baptism, 65. 
 
 In prayer, 65. 
 
 To teach doctrine of Providence, 
 66. 
 
 To teach nature of God, 66. 
 Fatherhood of God, 
 
 Gospel of, 25, 39. 
 
 Interpreted, 56, 57. 
 
 Implies holiness, 67. 
 
 Dimly comprehended, 68. 
 
 History in the hands of, 96. 
 
 Principle of, applied to sorrow, 
 165. 
 
 And sin, ISO, 181. 
 
 Comprehensiveness of, Univer- 
 sality of, 185. 
 
 Strongest motive for righteous- 
 ness, 188. 
 
 Not recognized by all, 199. 
 
 And the Atonement, 206. 
 
 Gives salvation, 207, 208. 
 
 Free grace a necessity of, 210. 
 
 Explains prayer, 225. 
 Fatherhood, 
 
 God revealed by human, 57. 
 
 Contents of, 58-60. 
 
 Sanctity of, felt by uncivilized 
 races, 71. 
 
 Interprets life, 92, 93. 
 
 Implies identity of nature, 114. 
 
 Interprets brotherhood, 120, 121. 
 
 Determines duties and relations 
 of children, 123. 
 
 Is love in action, 190. 
 Faust, 171. 
 Fiction, 7, 12. 
 Forgiveness, 209. 
 Freedom, 
 
 Of man, 97. 
 
 Of the spirit, 18. 
 
 Gilder, Richard Watson, 10. 
 
 God, 
 
 Conception of, 26. 
 
 Creator, the, 27. 
 
 Preserver, the, 27. 
 
 Prayer reveals, 28. 
 
 Is the universe, 29. 
 
 Choosing to reveal Himself, 31, 32. 
 
 Absolute, the, 34. 
 
 Spirit of the universe, the, 35. 
 
 Revealed in the universe, 36. 
 
 Is love, 41. 
 
 Reveals Himself, 
 In nature, 41. 
 In history, 41. 
 In Jesus Christ, 41. 
 In the Holy Spirit, 41. 
 
 Creator and Lord of all, the, 43. 
 
 No people without Him, 49. 
 
 Transcendent, 47. 
 
 Immanent, 47. 
 
 In humanity, 49. 
 
 The word explained, 49, 50. 
 
 Not only the Father of believers, 
 64. 
 
 Father Almighty, the, 67. 
 
 Existence of, assumed, 98. 
 
 Interpreted by Fatherhood, 51, 
 72, 98, 113, 120, 165. 
 Goethe, 36, 77, 78, 171. 
 Golden Age, The, 96. 
 Gospel, The, 
 
 For an age of faith, 24. 
 
 Of Fatherhood, 25. 
 
 Rational basis of optimism, 25. 
 Grace, 210. 
 Gray, Asa, 6. 
 Greece, 274. 
 Gulick, John L., 6. 
 
 Hamlet, 136, 171. 
 
 Hardy, Thomas, 6. 
 
 Harris, Prof. Samuel, 21, 43, 78, 14& 
 
 Harrison, Frederic, 6. 
 
 Heine, 142. 
 
 Heredity, 175, 194. 
 
 Herod, 66. 
 
 Herrmann of Marburg, 53, 58. 
 
 " Higher Pantheism, The," 46. 
 
 Hinduism, 134. 
 
 Hindus, The, 112, 251, 276. 
 
 Holiness, 195, 196. 
 
 Holy Grail, 232. 
 
302 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Holy Spirit, The doctrine of the, 40, 
 
 41. 
 
 Homer, 16, 77, 79. 
 
 Hope, 282. 
 
 Howard, 121. 
 
 Human vehicle of revelation, The, 29. 
 
 Humanitarianism, 106. 
 
 Humanity — its aspirations, 273. 
 
 Huxley, 4, 170. 
 
 Hypnotism, 18. 
 
 Ideal of Jesus, 126. 
 
 Idealism, 55, 122. 
 
 Identity of nature between man and 
 God, 216. 
 
 Iliad, The, 77, 79. 
 
 Immanence of God, Doctrine of, 239. 
 
 Immortality of God, 283. 
 
 Incarnation, The doctrine of the, 9. 
 
 India, 109. 
 
 India's solution of the problem of Bin, 
 169. 
 
 Individuals in the Father's hands, 95. 
 
 Inductive method, The, 55. 
 
 " In His Steps," 8. 
 
 " In Memoriam," 9, 23, 136, 158. 
 
 Inquiry, 5, 23, 25. 
 
 And doubt not synonymous, 3. 
 
 Inquisition, The, 96. 
 
 Interest in social questions, 104. 
 
 Interpretation of God in the con- 
 sciousness of Christ, 54. 
 
 James, Prof., 2. 
 James and John, 65. 
 Japan, Old religions of, 109. 
 Jesus Christ, 20, 24. 
 
 Ideal of, The, 126. 
 
 Inner life of, The, 53. 
 
 Supreme optimist, The, 92. 
 
 Teachings of, 119. 
 Jews, The, 13, 117. 
 Job, 83. 
 
 Book of, The, 136. 
 Jowett, 144. 
 Judaism, 64. 
 Judas, 65. 
 Juggernaut, 80. 
 Justice of God, 160. 
 
 Karma, 145. 
 Kelvin, Lord, 5. 
 
 Kingdom of God, 101. 
 Kinship of nature, 30. 
 Knowledge of the , Divine gained 
 
 through the human, 32. 
 Koran, 14. 
 
 Lanier, Sidney, 8, 9. 
 
 Law, The, witnesses to sin, 172. 
 
 Lazarus, 191. 
 
 Lear, 136, 171. 
 
 Liberty of utterance, 239. 
 
 Liddon, 12. 
 
 " Light of Asia, The," 141, 146. 
 
 Literature, 2, 7, 8, 12, 15, 21, 274. 
 
 And doubt, 10. 
 
 And faith, 6. 
 
 A witness to sin, 171. 
 Living Religions, 89. 
 "Locksley Hall, Fifty Tears After," 
 
 22. 
 Logos doctrine, 38, 39. 
 Louis XIV., 108. 
 Lourdes, 15. 
 
 Love, most evident in its relation to 
 the unworthy, 200. 
 
 Perfect, must manifest itself, 
 39. 
 
 Pervades the universe, 181. 
 
 Requires worthy object, 120. 
 
 Responds to the longing in hu- 
 manity, 38. 
 
 Reveals itself in God, 38. 
 
 Seeks appreciation, 38. 
 Lowell, 8. 
 
 Macbeth, 171. 
 
 MacDonald, George, 7. 
 
 Man and the universe to be studied, 32. 
 
 Divine, 32. 
 Marat, 108. 
 " Marcella," 7. 
 Marguerite, 171. 
 
 Mary, the mother of our Lord, 49. 
 Matheson, Dr., 47, 169. 
 Maurice, F. D., 205. 
 Mayahsan, 15. 
 Mecca, 15. 
 Mental Science, 18. 
 Mephistopheles, 171. 
 Middle Ages, The, 19. 
 Milton, John, 35, 79, 148, 158, 260, 
 275. 
 
INDEX 
 
 303 
 
 Missions, 14, 22, 31. 
 Mohammedans, 13, 89. 
 Moore, Sir Thomas, 134. 
 Morley, John, 6. 
 Moses, 104. 
 Miiller, Prof. Max, 14. 
 Murillo, 16. 
 
 Nature, The voice of, 273. 
 
 Nature, Worship of, 51. 
 
 Negro, Treatment of, 117. 
 
 " New Atlantis, The," 134. 
 
 New Birth, the, Doctrine of, 194, 201. 
 
 Preceded by repentance, 212. 
 New England Theology, 204. 
 Newman, 21. 
 Nicene Creed, The, 6. 
 Nirvana, 81, 135, 141, 276. 
 Novels, 2, 7. 
 Novelists, 11. 
 
 Occultism, 18. 
 
 " Ode to Immortality, The," 175. 
 
 Odyssey, The, 79. 
 
 " Old Creole Days," 7. 
 
 Old faiths, 22. 
 
 Omar Khayyam, 77. 
 
 Oppression of poor, 118. 
 
 Optimism, 
 
 Appears with the revelation of 
 
 God, 95. 
 Basis of, 25, 74, 76, 92. 
 Coexists with faith in Fatherhood 
 
 of God, 95. 
 Has relations to the individual, 
 the state, the universe, 133, 
 254. 
 Proof of the divinity of the Chris- 
 tian revelation, 92. 
 Optimists, 96. 
 Oratory, 21. 
 " Our Father," 65. 
 " Our Master," 9. 
 
 Pantheism, 29, 34. 
 "Paradise Lost," 148. 
 Paradise, The western, 276. 
 Park, Prof., of Andover, 204. 
 Parliament of Religions, 13. 
 Parsees, 13. 
 Paul, 4. 
 Penal suffering, 241, 244, 250. 
 
 Perfection, of character, 158. 
 
 Of God, 38. 
 Persians, The, 81. 
 Personality, 33, 34, 281. 
 Pessimism, 2, 11, 23, 74, 75. 
 
 Disappears with the revelation of 
 
 God, 95. 
 Gospel dispels, 24. 
 In Literature, 11, 82. 
 Inevitable where there is no faith 
 
 in God or a future life, 82. 
 Justifies itself , 
 By personal observation, 77, 82. 
 By testimony of those who find 
 
 existence a failure, 77. 
 By personal experience, 82. 
 Modem, 142. 
 No room for, 228. 
 Widespread, 81. 
 Pessimists, 2, 96. 
 Peter, 65. 
 
 Philanthropic agencies, 21. 
 Philosophy, 31. 
 Hindu, 34. 
 " Pippa Passes," 8. 
 Plato, 44, 112, 134, 144, 175, 199, 275. 
 Poets, 7, 11, 12. 
 
 Witness of, 8. 
 Poetry, Lyrical, 21. 
 Power of choice, 180, 189, 190, 191. 
 " Practice of Presence of God," 227. 
 Prayer, 23, 28, 215. 
 
 Answers to, objected to, 222. 
 
 Always gains response, 231. 
 
 In accordance with God's will, 
 
 227. 
 Belief in, found in all nations, 
 
 217. 
 Christian teaching about, 219. 
 Christ's example in, 219. 
 Defined, 217. 
 
 The expression of our best de- 
 sires, 230. 
 Illustrates interaction between 
 
 two worlds, 223-225. 
 Intercessory, 220. 
 Intercourse with God, 232. 
 Two parts of, 
 Petition, 220. 
 Resignation, 220. 
 Where offered, 226. 
 Preexistence, Doctrine of, 174. 
 
304 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Problem, of optimism, 88. 
 Of religion, 91. 
 Of suffering and sorrow, 86. 
 Attempted solutions, 144. 
 Interpreted by Fatherhood of 
 
 God, 165. 
 Space and time in relation to, 
 161. 
 Progress, a reality, 89, 289. 
 
 Of the world, Religion the su- 
 preme force in, 14. 
 Prometheus, 13G. 
 Punishment for sin, 
 
 Doctrine of, 234, 235, 238, 246. 
 Different opinions concerning doc- 
 trine of, 237-239. 
 Influence of poets on doctrine of, 
 
 239. 
 In the New Testament, 248. 
 Puritan revolution, 104. 
 Purpose of God, 98. 
 
 "Quo Vadis,"7. 
 
 Race prejudice, irrational, 115. 
 Raphael, 16, 44. 
 
 Religion, Comparative, Study of, 12. 
 Renan, 285. 
 Repentance, 198, 262. 
 "Republic, The," 134, 144. 
 Responsibility, 189, 190. 
 Retribution, 243, 253, 256, 257. 
 Revelation of God, The, 24. 
 
 By touch of Spirit, 40. 
 
 Condition of knowledge, The, 
 31. 
 
 Denned", 2l7. 
 
 The human vehicle of, 29. 
 
 Limitations of, 236, 237. 
 
 Through man, 32. 
 
 Through the universe, 32. 
 Revolutionists, French, 107. 
 Rhys Davids, 145, 146. 
 Richelieu, 108. 
 Righteousness, strongest motive for, 
 
 The, 188. 
 " Ring and the Book, The," 46, 240. 
 " Robert Elsmere," 7. 
 Robespierre, 108. 
 Romanes, George J., 5, 6. 
 Rome, 18. 
 " Rubaiyat," 78. 
 
 Sacred Books of the East, The, 13, 14. 
 Salvation, 192. 
 
 Expressed by Fatherhood, 207, 
 208. 
 Satisfaction in achievement a com- 
 pensation for suffering, 160. 
 " Saul," 8. 
 
 "Scarlet Letter, The," 7, 
 Schopenhauer, 75, 142. 
 Science, Age of, 6. 
 
 Definition of, A, 4. 
 
 And faith, 3, 43. 
 
 Leads to faith, 4. 
 
 Progress of, 5. 
 
 Revelation recognized by, 31. 
 Scientists, 5, 6, 17. 
 Scriptures, the, Teaching of, 62. 
 Selfishness and brotherhood con- 
 trasted, 130. 
 Sermon on the Mount, The, 62. 
 Service to humanity, 20, 21. 
 Shakespeare, 16, 171. 
 Sin, 
 
 Consequences of, The, discipli- 
 nary, 186. 
 
 Defined, 167, 168. 
 
 Expedients to account for, 174. 
 
 Explained by heredity, 175. 
 
 In the best moral system, 179. 
 
 Its enormity shown by Father- 
 hood of God, 181-183. 
 
 Its place in evolution, 170. 
 
 Its real nature, 211. 
 
 A nightmare, 178. 
 
 Resist tendencies to, 189. 
 
 The result of ignorance, 176. 
 Of imperfect development, 177. 
 
 Will be prevented, 183. 
 
 Witnessed by, 
 Conscience, 172. 
 Ethnic Religions, 1731 
 Legal systems, 1721 
 Literature, 171. 
 " Singular Life, A," 7. 
 Skepticism, 3, 7. 
 Skeptics, 5, 6, 17. 
 Smith, George Adam, 21. 
 Smythe, Newman, 268. 
 Social ideal, The supreme, 127. 
 Social problem, 113. 
 Social settlements, 20. 
 Social struggle misrepresented, 118. 
 
INDEX 
 
 305 
 
 Socialism, 10G, 124, 134. 
 Sociology, 103. 
 Socrates, 112, 274. 
 Son, The, 
 
 Creation ascribed to, 39. 
 
 God revealing Himself by, 3D. 
 Sorrow, 139. 
 
 And suffering, alone, not pleasing 
 to God, 162. 
 
 Interpreted by Jesus, 163. 
 
 Attitude of individual toward, 
 164. 
 Spasmodic efforts towards social alle- 
 viation, 122. 
 Spencer, Herbert, 193, 199. 
 Spirit, 
 
 Chooses, 33. 
 
 Everywhere, 41. 
 
 Loves, 33. 
 
 Nature the abode of, 33. 
 
 Regulates the body, 32. 
 
 The ultimate reality, 32. 
 Spiritualism, 18. 
 Spontaneous beliefs, 41. 
 Spurgeon, 105. 
 
 St. Bartholomew, Massacre of, 96. 
 St. James, G4, 243. 
 St. John, 48, 62. 
 St. Mark, 62. 
 St. Matthew, 62. 
 St. Luke, 62. 
 St. Paul, 196. 
 
 Writings of, 62. 
 Saint Simon, 125. 
 Ste. Anne de Beauprg, 15. 
 Stevenson, R. L., 7. 
 
 Prayer of, 11. 
 Stewart, Balfour, 6. 
 Stoics, 95, 141, 270. 
 Stoicism, 81, 140, 141. 
 " Story of Mumu," 119. 
 " Story of a Heathen, Sojourning in 
 
 Galilee, A. D. 32," 10, 11. 
 Suffering, of creation, 8. 
 
 In animal world, 138. 
 
 Caused by our human nature, 158. 
 
 Not ordained by God, 157. 
 
 Not sent to one to benefit others, 
 159. 
 
 Retributive, 242. 
 Suffering and sorrow, 
 
 Means to blessing, 154. 
 
 A problem, 136, 137, 143. 
 Interpretation of, 
 
 By Atheism, 142. 
 
 By the " Absolute Reason," 
 14S. 
 
 By Buddhism, 140, 144. 
 
 By Calvinism, 148.; 
 
 By Christian Science, 146. 
 
 By Fatherhood, 150-152, 15G. 
 
 By Stoicism, 141. 
 Systems of theology, 236. 
 
 Tantalus, 136. 
 
 " Task, The," 45. 
 
 Tate, Prof., 6. 
 
 Teacher for to-day, 292. 
 
 Teachings of Jesus, 119. 
 
 Tennyson, 8, 9, 22, 46, 79, 158, 240, 
 
 275, 281, 294. 
 Theism, 141. 
 Theology, Governing principle in, 73, 
 
 103. 
 " Thirty Years' War," 96. 
 " Tiny Tim," 130. 
 Tolstoi, Count, 8. 
 Torquemada, 97. 
 Tourgenieff, 119. 
 Transcendence, 44. 
 Transmigration, Doctrine of, 145. 
 Trepitika, 14. 
 
 Trinity, the, Doctrine of, 37. 
 Truth, Search for, 13, 23. 
 
 Triumph of, 19. 
 Tyndall, Prof., 4. 
 
 " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 7. 
 Uniformity of nature, 222, 223. 
 Unity, Perception of, 52, 53. 
 Universal salvation, Advocates of, 
 
 236. 
 Universe, 5, 27, 28, 32. 
 
 Pervaded by Fatherhood, 98-102. 
 "Unseen Universe, The," 6. 
 "Utopia," 134. 
 
 Vedic Hymns, 169. 
 Vengeance, 248, 252. 
 Von Hartman, 75, 142. 
 
 Ward, Mrs. Humphry, 6. 
 
 Waring, 121. 
 
 Whittier, 8, 9, 240, 241, 290. 
 
306 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Witness of the Poets, The, 8. 
 
 Of the study of Comparative Re- 
 ligion, 12. 
 ■Worship of Greek gods, 110* 
 Wordsworthj 175- 
 
 Toung, Prof. C. A., 5. 
 
 Zend A vesta, 14. 
 Zola, 6, 142. 
 
 Zoroaster, 81- 
 
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