i 
 
 tihvaxy oftU ^heolo0icd Seminar;)) 
 
 PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 ROBERT ELLIOTT SPEER 
 
 •a 
 
 BV 4921 .T7 1903 ^ 
 
 Trumbull, H. Clay 1830-1903 
 How to deal with doubts anc 
 doubters 
 
 ^ 
 
HOW TO DEAL WITH DOUBTS 
 AND DOUBTERS 
 
INDIVIDUAL WORK 
 FOR INDIVIDUALS 
 
 By H. Clay Trumbull, D.D. 
 
 ONE of the most popular and helpful religious 
 books of the day. Has received the high- 
 est commendations from leading ministers 
 and laymen and from the religious press. 
 
 A PAPER EDITION 
 
 has been issued the lower price of which permits 
 its wide distribution by Pastors, Church Societies 
 and Associations. Orders have been received for 
 the book in lots of from fifty to ten thousand. 
 The Presbyterian Evangelistic Committee has 
 purchased more than thirteen thousand copies of 
 the paper edition for distribution. 
 
 Sixteen mo, 1 86 pages. Cloth, ys cents; 
 paper, ^5 cents. 
 
 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 3 West 29th Street, New York 
 
HOW TO DEAL 
 WITH DOUBTS 
 AND DOUBTERS 
 
 
 )EC 16 l;;m 
 
 
 ACTUAL EXPERIENCES 
 WITH TROUBLED SOULS 
 
 BY 
 H. CLAY TRUMBULL 
 
 Author of " Individual Work for Individ- 
 
 uais," "Illustrative Answers to 
 
 Prayer," etc. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE 
 
 OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN 
 
 ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 1903 
 
Copyright, 1903, 
 
 By H. CLAY TRUMBULL. 
 
 (November.) 
 
1lntrot)uctor^ 
 
 Any one who is familiar with the work- 
 ings of the human heart knows that more 
 persons are ready to question or doubt 
 than to rest and trust. And it is ever 
 easier to strengthen the faith of one who 
 enjoys firm confidence in God and in the 
 eternal verities of the universe, than it is to 
 remove the ever-changing doubts in a mind 
 which gives way to them. Hence practical 
 suggestions as to wise ways of dealing 
 with doubts and doubters are likely to be 
 helpful to one who would serve God and 
 help perplexed souls. 
 
 The following series of doubts expressed 
 and doubts met is a result of actual experi- 
 ences in heart-to-heart struggles in real 
 life. While each chapter is not the literal 
 record of a single doubter's words during 
 a discussion with the narrator, all that is 
 recorded of incident or of utterance is 
 veritable fact. In some instances the sub- 
 stance of several conversations is condensed 
 into one ; and in some cases similar doubts 
 
 V 
 
InttoDuctors 
 
 by different doubters are here given as if 
 they were the doubts of a single doubter. 
 But all the doubts were actually expressed 
 by a doubter to the narrator, and were met 
 by him in the line of thought now re- 
 corded. The result was in every case as 
 here mentioned. 
 
 This by no means covers all the instances 
 of perplexity in doubt in the narrator's per- 
 sonal experience. It is simply a series of 
 actual experiences in dealing with doubts 
 and doubters, where help was given by 
 the methods here stated. If the methods 
 given as successful should, by God's bless- 
 ing, prove suggestive to other workers in 
 similar fields, it will be an added cause of 
 gratitude to 
 
 H. CLAY TRUMBULL. 
 
 Philadelphia, September ii, igoj. 
 
 w 
 
Contents 
 I 
 
 Considering Doubts Rather Than 
 
 Beliefs 3 
 
 II 
 
 Seeking Help Inside of Self, not 
 
 Outside 11 
 
 III 
 
 Not Ready to Give Up One's Will . . 21 
 
 IV 
 
 Waiting to be Good Enough to Join 
 
 the Church 29 
 
 V 
 
 Waiting for Something Inside to 
 
 "Break" 35 
 
 VI 
 
 Facing "the Unpardonable Sin" . . 43 
 
 VII 
 
 Waiting for More Faith 51 
 
 vii 
 
Contents 
 
 VIII 
 Troubled Because Enjoying God's 
 
 Service 6i 
 
 IX 
 
 Considering Our Desires, Instead of 
 
 God's Love 70 
 
 X 
 
 Is Lack of Right Feeling a Barrier 
 
 TO Right Action ? 83 
 
 XI 
 
 Troubled Because Finding No Enjoy- 
 ment IN Prayer 90 
 
 XII 
 Unable to Believe in Miracles ... 99 
 
 XIII 
 Not Believing in Any Spiritual 
 
 Existence iii 
 
 XIV 
 Inconsistency of Christian Doubters . 123 
 
 Vlll 
 
HOW TO DEAL WITH DOUBTS 
 AND DOUBTERS 
 
Const^ertnG 2)oubt5 IRatbet 
 Uban 3Beltef0 
 
 A man has more power through believ- 
 ing one thing than in disbelieving ten thou- 
 sand things. It is a man's duty to disbelieve, 
 or to doubt, at a proper time, when the mat- 
 ter has been well considered ; but no man 
 is capable of disbelieving, or of doubting, 
 intelligently and sensibly, unless he first 
 has strong and positive beliefs. A man's 
 real power either to do or to doubt starts 
 from his beliefs, and if a man gives atten- 
 tion to what he does not believe, rather 
 than to what he does believe, he makes no 
 progress, and he lacks practical power in 
 any direction. 
 
 Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, 
 who was a man of tremendous convictions, 
 and who made thousands believe as he be- 
 lieved because he had those convictions, 
 
 3 
 
Mow to 2)eal wltb 5)oubt0 
 
 said, just before the opening of the Civil 
 War, of Abraham Lincoln, " I'm glad 
 we've got a man now who believes some- 
 thing." And that was good ground for 
 our hope in those days, as it is in any day. 
 Yet to-day, on every side, there are young 
 men and older men who think little about 
 their beliefs, or about their convictions if 
 they have any, and much of their disbeliefs 
 and doubts and questionings. 
 
 Such persons are not always proud that 
 they are so ready to doubt and to ques- 
 tion ; sometimes they regret the tendency 
 of their minds to work in this direction, 
 but it seems to them that they are helpless 
 through the constitution and nature of their 
 very being. Many of these persons feel the 
 need of help, and sometimes ask it from 
 others. What can be done for these per- 
 sistent doubters ? How can those who dis- 
 believe and question continually, concerning 
 matters about which they would fain be at 
 rest in their minds, be helped to a wise deal- 
 ing with their mental and spiritual troubles ? 
 
 4 
 
Considering 2)oubts IRatber tban JBeliefs 
 
 Very often one's best way of dealing 
 with one's doubts is by letting them alone, 
 and refusing to consider them just now. I 
 heard Dr. Bushnell, in giving the charge to 
 a keen-minded young pastor, say on this 
 point: "If you have doubts that trouble 
 you very much, do not try to solve them at 
 once. Hang them up in your study for a 
 while, and attend to things that you have 
 no doubt about. By and by, when you 
 have leisure, and feel so inclined, take your 
 doubts down. Very likely you will find, 
 when you attempt to examine them anew, 
 that they have settled themselves." There 
 was a world of wisdom in that bit of advice 
 by Dr. Bushnell. 
 
 One who had been brought up in com- 
 parative strictness of belief reached a time 
 when she began to question the truth of 
 one doctrine and another that in her early 
 life she had accepted as correct because 
 others to whom she looked up said so. 
 Dwelling on her new disbeliefs, she came 
 to be practically controlled by them. In 
 
 5 
 
IKow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 her troubles of mind, she was telling me 
 one day of certain views of truth that she 
 could not now believe. At this I said to 
 her : " You say a good deal of what you 
 do not believe ; why don't you say some- 
 thing of what you do believe, however 
 little that is?" That was a fresh thought 
 to her. She took it home, and acted on 
 it. It proved a turning-point in her life. 
 She began to consider what she did be- 
 lieve, and to find comfort in the thought 
 of this. Her disbelief vanished out of 
 sight, as the darkness in a room vanishes 
 when a window is opened to the light. 
 She came to find pleasure in leading others 
 to see and know the truth, and she often 
 told me afterwards that her new start was 
 taken when she began to think of what she 
 did believe, instead of what she did not. 
 In this she simply illustrated a truth that 
 is always worth considering by one who 
 would help, or be helped, in the perplexity 
 of doubting. 
 
 A young man who had been for years 
 6 
 
Con0it)ering BoulJts IRatbct tban :©elief0 
 
 active in Christian work and study, and 
 whose desire and purpose were to be in the 
 ministry, came to me at one time in North- 
 field and told me his story, asking if there 
 could be any cure in his case. He said that 
 he had wrestled first with one doubt, and 
 then with another, but his doubts had grown 
 faster than his wrestlings, and he had lost 
 ground steadily, until at last he had nothing 
 left to be sure of except that there is a God. 
 He positively was not sure of any truth in 
 the Bible or Christianity except just that. 
 
 At this I seemed not at all surprised, but 
 simply asked : " What do you think of 
 murder as a regular business?" 
 
 "I don't understand your question," said 
 the young man. 
 
 " Why, the Bible teaches that murder is 
 wrong. I want to know what you think of 
 murder as a business, apart from the ques- 
 tion of the statute law on the subject." 
 
 "I have no doubt about the moral law 
 laid down in the Bible," was the response 
 of the young man. 
 
 7 
 
Mow to 2)eal wftb BouWs 
 
 " Then there's one thing in the Bible that 
 you believe, outside of the truth that there 
 is a God." 
 
 Then I went on to ask one question after 
 another as to some point of duty enjoined, 
 or wrong act forbidden, in the Bible, to 
 every one of which the young man said 
 frankly that he had no doubt as to that 
 point. He believed that the Bible teach- 
 ings were to be believed so far. 
 
 " Do not think, my friend, from my un- 
 expected questions, that I lack sympathy 
 with you in your troubles of mind," I said 
 to the young man; "but you told me, to 
 begin with, that you had no sure belief ex- 
 cept that there is a God, and now at my 
 questions you have told me that you have 
 a firm belief as to a good many other 
 things. Now I want to interrupt this con- 
 versation just here for twenty-four hours. 
 Go to your room, and take up the Bible. 
 Turn over its pages, and when you see a 
 statement that you believe, make a note of 
 it. If you find anything that you do not 
 
 8 
 
Considering 2)oul)ta IRatber tban ^Beliefs 
 
 believe, or that you doubt, pass it by, — pay 
 no attention to that for now. I want you 
 to look for things in the Bible that you be- 
 lieve, and to count them up as a whole 
 when you have done with the examination. 
 Keep your mind entirely on what you are 
 sure of, and then see, when you are through 
 with the search, whether it really amounts 
 to anything worth holding on to. Come 
 back to-morrow, and tell me the result of 
 your search." 
 
 The next day I watched for the young 
 man, but he did not call. The day follow- 
 ing, I met him on the street, and asked 
 him why he had not returned to continue 
 the conversation. There was a new look 
 on his face as he replied : 
 
 " I went home that night, and began to 
 look in the Bible for things that I believe. 
 I found more of them than I thought for. 
 I kept finding them. As you requested, I 
 didn't stop to consider anything that I had 
 a doubt about, so that I don't know from 
 this search what there is in that line ; but I 
 
 9 
 
Mow to Deal witb Boubts 
 
 find so much that I do beHeve that I've 
 come to the conclusion that I beHeve pretty 
 much everything now." 
 
 And there was one more soul made 
 newly glad, changed from gloom to cheer, 
 from doubt to confidence, through God's 
 blessing, by his simply looking at what 
 can be believed, instead of what may have 
 been doubted. That is the way for such a 
 doubter to deal with his troubles of mind. 
 If one would give help to a doubting 
 Christian of this sort, let him bear this 
 in mind. 
 
 lO 
 
II 
 
 BccMm Melp Unsl^e of Self, 
 not ©utstbe 
 
 It really is strange how many seek relief 
 from their doubts, and help in their mental 
 and spiritual unrest, by looking within in- 
 stead of looking without. It would seem 
 as if some actually expected to find a 
 Saviour, or at all events to find evidences 
 of their salvation, by an examination of 
 their inner state of mind and being, and in 
 the play of their personal feelings. This 
 foolish custom was far more common a 
 century ago than it is to-day; yet there 
 are still many who do themselves harm, 
 while they get absolutely no good, by in- 
 dulging in this pernicious and unscriptural 
 endeavor. 
 
 In my own case, I suffered much by such 
 hopeless and injurious efforts to gain some 
 evidence from my emotions or my con- 
 
 II 
 
How to Deal witb Boubts 
 
 scious course of conduct, that I was truly 
 a child of God, and might trust as such. 
 The more I studied myself, the more I was 
 dissatisfied with myself Again and again 
 I heard it said, or I read the statement in 
 books of religious counsel, that the way to 
 be rid of doubts about one's spiritual con- 
 dition was to be actively at work for Christ. 
 Yet I knew that that was no prescription 
 for my case. I was engaged in specific 
 Christian work seven days in the week, 
 and the more I did of such work the less 
 spiritual comfort I had. I was a constant 
 sufferer in my habit of searching my in- 
 most being for evidences of my Christian 
 fidelity that were not to be found there. 
 
 Some told me that I should carefully 
 examine myself, and decide what I would 
 do in a test case, as showing whether I 
 was a child of God, or one of God's ene- 
 mies. This experiment I tried again and 
 again, but I had to admit to myself that I 
 was really seeking personal comfort or gain 
 in this effort, and not putting God's glory 
 
 12 
 
Seching IKelp UneiDe of Self, not ©utsiDc 
 
 foremost, regardless of my feelings or in- 
 terest. I really gained nothing, while I lost 
 strength and rest and peace, in my desire 
 to find a hope of salvation within myself. 
 As the years passed on in this mistaken 
 and useless search, I had less and less en- 
 joyment in Christian activities, in which I 
 still persevered, and I suffered more and 
 more keenly in my self-reproaches because 
 of my lack of hope and of spiritual repose. 
 
 This was after years of Christian work 
 in my army chaplaincy and in my Sunday- 
 school missionary work. In a sense, the 
 more I did the worse I felt My ex- 
 haustion in and through my well-doing 
 incapacitated me for calm and sensible 
 self-examination. Often, after several ser- 
 vices on the Lord's Day, I have actually 
 agonized for hours on my room floor, 
 vainly seeking spiritual rest by means of 
 internal evidence that I was a child of God. 
 
 One day I said despondently to a ma- 
 ture Christian believer, whom I had known 
 from boyhood : 
 
 13 
 
Mow to 2)cal witb 2)oubts 
 
 "I wish I could have some rest in my 
 Christian faith." 
 
 " Why shouldn't you have ? You know 
 that you are a Christian, and that Christ 
 takes care of you all the time, and for 
 all time," said my friend. 
 
 " No, I don't know that I am a Chris- 
 tian," I replied, " and that's the trouble." 
 
 " You know that you want to be a Chris- 
 tian, and that if the choice were left to you, 
 and you understood it, you'd decide for 
 Christ's service." 
 
 *' No, I can't say that I do know that," 
 I replied, despondently. 
 
 My friend, seeing my real condition, 
 caught hold of me, and said sharply : 
 
 " Stop that analyzing of your insides, 
 and look up. Turn away from yourself, 
 and look at your Saviour." 
 
 That blunt putting of the truth was a 
 turning-point in my mind and in my spirit- 
 ual life. I had long enough sought help 
 inside without gaining it. Now I looked 
 up where it could be found, and my being 
 
 H 
 
SecWna IHclp tn6it>c of Self, not ©utslDc 
 
 was at rest. From that day on to the 
 present I could never be induced to ex- 
 amine myself for evidences of salvation. 
 I have looked up for help, and I have 
 urged others to do likewise. 
 
 One day there came to me a student, 
 brought up under Christian influences, and 
 said to me : 
 
 " I am troubled all the time because I 
 can't be sure that I'm a Christian." 
 
 Perceiving his condition of mind, I re- 
 sponded : 
 
 " Why should you be a Christian ? " 
 
 " Why should I be a Christian ? I don't 
 know what you mean by such a question." 
 
 " Is there any command in the Bible for 
 you to be a Christian ? I don't remember 
 any such. Is there any promise of salva- 
 tion to Christians ? Are you sure that you 
 could be saved if you were a Christian ? " 
 
 " You bewilder me," said the doubter. 
 
 " I want you, my friend, to look squarely 
 at the important matter you came here to 
 
 15 
 
Wow to Deal witb DouDte 
 
 talk about. Whom did Jesus Christ come 
 into this world to save ? " . 
 
 " Sinners." 
 
 " Are you a sinner ? " 
 
 " Yes," came out heartily, " I've no doubt 
 about that." 
 
 "You are not deceiving yourself now 
 with a false hope, my friend ? " 
 
 " I think not," and a feeble smile played 
 over the doubter's face. " I think I can 
 feel sure on that point, whatever other 
 doubt I have." 
 
 " Well, now, my friend, you see for your- 
 self how the case stands. Jesus Christ came 
 into this world to save sinners. You are 
 one of that sort ; Pm another. You say 
 that you can't satisfy yourself that you are 
 a Christian. I was in the same fix for years. 
 But you do know that you are a sinner. / 
 also felt sure on that point. So I came as 
 a sinner to trust Christ as a Saviour. I ad- 
 vise you to do the same, leaving out of 
 mind for a century or so the matter of be- 
 ing sure of being a Christian. Let us trust 
 
 i6 
 
Seeking Melp Unsi^e ot Self, not ©utsiOe 
 
 the Saviour of sinners as our Saviour, and 
 let us find joy in working for him." 
 
 And another troubled doubter became 
 a cheerful, trustful, saved sinner, by being 
 helped to look outside of himself, instead of 
 inside. He was for years active in leading 
 others, in the home field and in the foreign 
 field, to trust the Saviour of sinners as their 
 Saviour. 
 
 Christ is above us ; let us look to him. 
 That is the direction in which to look, in 
 order to get rest and peace. It is so for 
 those who are troubled with doubts. It is 
 so for those who are ready to trust. This 
 is a thought for all who would give help 
 to such doubters, and who would lead to 
 rest and peace troubled and anxious souls. 
 
 It is so with all who are looking within 
 for evidences of their acceptance with 
 Christ. Christ, not the sinner, is the evi- 
 dence. One who has once learned this 
 lesson is not willing again to leave the sure 
 reality for any fancied substitute. One who 
 
 17 
 
IHow to 2)eal witb 2)oubt0 
 
 was mistakenly trying to induce doubters 
 to be satisfied as to their condition by self- 
 examination told, in my hearing, the follow- 
 ing illustration used by Theodore Monod, 
 of Geneva, that the speaker thought might 
 help another. 
 
 "You find in your heart evils, defects, 
 imperfections, and you feel that that heart 
 is not worthy of being counted precious by 
 Jesus Christ. But even a diamond, when 
 it is first taken by the lapidary, is often 
 rough and soiled and hidden from sight by 
 foul accumulations; yet it is a diamond, 
 nevertheless. Then the lapidary cleanses 
 and cuts and finishes the rough diamond, 
 and makes it fit to be set in the crown of 
 a sovereign. Thus with your rough and 
 defiled and uncut jewel of a soul. It is a 
 diamond, and it is to shine in the diadem 
 of the King of kings. Be sure of that." 
 
 As I had suffered for years in looking 
 inside for evidences of salvation, or of my 
 worthiness, I responded heartily to this 
 illustration : 
 
 i8 
 
SceWns Mclp UnsiDc ot Selt, not ©utsiDe 
 
 " I've all confidence in the Lapidary, but 
 no confidence in the uncut stone, so far as 
 my case is concerned. I never found any 
 rough diamond inside of me. But I am 
 told that, chemically, charcoal and the dia- 
 mond dust have much in common. Now, 
 when I look inside of myself, I see the char- 
 coal. So I say to the great Lapidary : * I 
 bring you this charcoal, and I trust you to 
 transmute it, by your almighty power, into 
 a diamond. Then, in infinite love, place 
 that diamond in your diadem, and to thee 
 be all the glory.' " 
 
 When I said this, a fellow-believer who 
 had been troubled with doubts as to his 
 spiritual condition through his habit of 
 looking inside for grounds of hope, instead 
 of looking above for assurance of a Saviour, 
 seemed touched by this view of the ground 
 of hope, which was fresh to him. Speaking 
 out heartily and with new hope, he said : 
 
 " I can find charcoal inside of me every 
 time. There's no lack of that comfort 
 for me." 
 
 19 
 
Wow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 And he turned his thought from the 
 material to be transmuted to the all-power- 
 ful Lapidary. I then realized afresh that 
 the way for a sinner to find hope is by 
 looking up to the Saviour of such sinners 
 as himself Is there any better way than 
 this to deal with doubts on such a point? 
 
 20 
 
Ill 
 Mot 1Rea^^ to Give TUp One's XPdltU 
 
 A friend called on me one day, desiring 
 to secure my aid in reaching spiritually a 
 man whose condition seemed sadly in- 
 volved, if not, indeed, desperate. The man 
 in behalf of whom counsel and help were 
 sought had been prominent and efficient in 
 a large and prosperous business enterprise ; 
 but he had, by failing health, been for some 
 time confined to his home. While thus shut 
 in, his business, of which he was chief man- 
 ager, had become hopelessly involved, and 
 bankruptcy stared him in the face. Mean- 
 time his physician informed the man's wife, 
 although not communicating the fact to 
 him, that he was not likely to recover from 
 his present illness. In heaviness of heart, 
 she had sent the mutual friend to implore 
 my effort to bring her husband nearer to 
 her Saviour. While upright in character 
 
 21 
 
Kow to Deal witb 5)oubt0 
 
 and reverent in spirit, the sick man was 
 averse to conversation on the subject of 
 personal religion, and even in his illness 
 had declined to have his wife send for a 
 clergyman. 
 
 Although I had well known the man in 
 former years in another place, I had never 
 visited him in his present home, and it 
 would be a delicate matter to make the 
 first visit for the avowed purpose of reach- 
 ing spiritually one in such trouble. Yet 
 the request was an earnest one, and I could 
 not refuse to respond to it. Imploring 
 God to prepare the way for the interview, 
 and to guide in it, I called at the sick man's 
 house one Sunday afternoon. By God's 
 ordering I could not see him then, as he 
 was asleep when I called. So, seeing his 
 wife, I left an old friend's love for her hus- 
 band, and came away. 
 
 On learning of this call when he awoke, 
 the man regretted his failure to see his old 
 friend, and sent word desiring me to call 
 again. On my second call, I had the ad- 
 
 22 
 
Hot 1Rea&i2 to (5ive TIlp ©nc'g 'QCliU 
 
 vantage of coming at the sick man's re- 
 quest, and the interview was a natural and 
 free one. The man told of his misfortunes 
 and regrets. As he spoke, I said naturally 
 that he certainly needed in his troubles, 
 and I hoped he could have, his Saviour's 
 sustaining presence. At this he spoke 
 with some bitterness of his hopeless help- 
 lessness, and he then indicated his realest 
 source of doubts. He was a man of diminu- 
 tive appearance, but of intensest energy and 
 enterprise. Unaided, he had fought his 
 way up to success, in spite of many diffi- 
 culties and obstacles. 
 
 " I know what you would say to me," 
 he said. "All I have got to do is to give 
 up my own will, and trust myself to the 
 Saviour to take care of me. ' Give up my 
 will ? ' But all there is of me is will. I 
 started life a poor, sick boy, with nothing 
 but will. My will kept me alive. By my 
 will, I worked my way to success. By my 
 will, I built up a great business, and had 
 prosperity and a good home. By my will, 
 
 23 
 
Wow to I>eal witb Boubts 
 
 I supported my parents, and helped others 
 to do well. But sickness came, and, while 
 sick, my business broke down, and all I 
 have in the world is likely to be swept 
 away. Everything is gone but my will. 
 And now you ask me to give up that. 
 You don't know what it is you would be 
 counseling. Everything else but my will 
 is gone, and now you ask me to give up 
 that. What would be left of me if that 
 were gone ? " 
 
 " But I have not advised you to give up 
 your will," I replied. "You need a stronger 
 will, not an abandonment of all that now 
 remains of you. Your own will, strong as 
 it is, with its present hold, could not keep 
 you from sickness, could not continue suc- 
 cess to you in your business. You need 
 more will, not less. Wouldn't a touch of 
 Omnipotence help you, in your present 
 state? I think that if you, with your 
 strong will, will lay hold on One who is 
 all-powerful, and who can do even those 
 things which you confess you are unable 
 
 24 
 
inot 1RcaDi3 to <5ivc "dp ©ne's lIDliU 
 
 to do even when you long to do them, 
 you will be using your will in the right 
 direction, and will have more will and a 
 better will than ever." 
 
 This was to him a new way of looking 
 at will. He who had ever wanted to use 
 his will aright, in response to the question 
 whether he would like me to pray with 
 him that he could lay hold with a strong 
 grip on the AU-Sufficient Will, said that 
 he most surely would. And as I kneeled, 
 on that first visit in that sick-chamber, and 
 prayed with and for that sick man, who 
 had no idea of his wasting illness, I was 
 sure that my old friend was finding joy in 
 the thought that his will could, in Christ, 
 keep him through all trial and sorrow, 
 through life and through death, giving him 
 final success in God's way. And from that 
 hour it was apparent that he was grateful 
 that God had chosen this way to lead him 
 to a right understanding of the gain of a 
 strong will properly directed. 
 
 The following months, when I went 
 25 
 
Mow to 2)eal wltb Doubts 
 
 every few days to cheer that new believer's 
 heart and to strengthen my own grateful 
 faith by Christian counsel with that glad 
 saint as he was ripening for glory, I found 
 that talk about his will had given place to 
 loving words about his Saviour. Rarely is 
 one to be met who has fuller joy and peace 
 in Christ than had this man who had 
 feared the barrier of his determined will. 
 He had long lived a life of purity in duty- 
 doing in God's service, but he had been mis- 
 taught as to what was required of him if he 
 would be one with Christ. He had con- 
 founded his determined purpose in what- 
 ever he had to do, with wrong self-seeking. 
 When he saw the light, he turned to it, and 
 rejoiced in it. He seemed to have forgotten 
 that he had any troubles. 
 
 He spoke only of the bright side of his 
 present or his future. When he realized 
 that he had not long to live, he was ready 
 to see better things in prospect than he had 
 ever ventured to hope for. His grateful 
 and glad-hearted wife found cheer and 
 
 26 
 
Klot IRcaDs to (5ive TUp ®nc'6 Idill 
 
 gave him cheer as they communed to- 
 gether of their Saviour's love and constant 
 presence. Each day seemed brighter than 
 any that had gone before. As to his will, 
 he did not have to give it up, but only to 
 Hft it up. 
 
 Fresh trials came to him as he lay help- 
 less in that invalid-chamber, which proved 
 to be his death-chamber; but he had now 
 strength and faith to bear them all. His 
 aged mother, whom he had for years sup- 
 ported, was stricken with a fatal disease. 
 The knowledge of this was kept from him, 
 lest he should be unable to bear it. But 
 when she was dead, they were compelled 
 to tell him of it. He received the intelli- 
 gence with joyous faith. He said pleas- 
 antly : 
 
 " It will not be long before we shall be 
 together again." 
 
 It was evident that life with Christ was 
 already more real and precious to him than 
 this earthly life. His will was still un- 
 broken, but it was now wisely directed. 
 
 27 
 
IHow to H)eal wttb Boubts 
 
 And when at last he bade me farewell as 
 he entered peacefully into rest, he seemed 
 glad of the lesson he had freshly learned, 
 that one who wants to do his duty needs 
 not to have less will, or determination, but 
 to have his strongest will, or purpose, 
 rightly directed toward his loving and all- 
 sufficient Saviour. Thus directed, the 
 more will a man has, the better it is for 
 him in God's service. 
 
 28 
 
IV 
 
 matttuG to be Goo& Bnougb to 
 5otn tbe (Tburcb 
 
 Among the mistaken ideas in the com- 
 munity as to the significance of the act of 
 connecting one's self with a Christian 
 church, is the thought that it indicates that 
 one has made progress in character and well 
 doing, and desires to testify to that fact 
 before his fellows. Underneath this error 
 there is, of course, a mistaken view of the 
 nature and object of the church itself, but 
 how to correct this mistaken view must be 
 decided differently in different cases. 
 
 When I had for some time been absent 
 from my old home, I found, on returning 
 to it, that a near neighbor of mine had just 
 connected himself with the church. Glad 
 to learn this fact, I went to that neighbor, 
 and said to him heartily : 
 
 " I'm very glad to know that you have 
 29 
 
Wow to Deal wltb Doubts 
 
 taken the step of connecting yourself with 
 the church, and I want to congratulate you 
 on it." 
 
 To my surprise the new communicant 
 said, with a show of modesty, and yet with 
 a somewhat confident air : 
 
 "Well, I thought the matter over for 
 some time before taking that step. I 
 know I'm not so good as I might be, but 
 I'm better than the average, so I decided 
 to join the church." 
 
 At this I thought it not best to say any- 
 thing more in the line of congratulation. 
 Nor did I think that the church was to be 
 particularly congratulated on its new mem- 
 ber. Later on I found that other men than 
 that neighbor had that standard of fitness 
 for church-membership. Some are modest 
 in their doubting, honestly thinking them- 
 selves unworthy to be counted with the 
 Christian host. Others desire to live as 
 well as they can outside of the church fold 
 without being judged by church standards 
 of conduct. Yet others again, like the per- 
 
 30 
 
'QClaitin^ to be (3ooD Bnou^b 
 
 son instanced, have only a doubt as to their 
 relative goodness, and settle it by them- 
 selves in a self-confident mood. 
 
 A church-goer, who desired to be right 
 and to do right, when urged to connect 
 himself with the church, expressed the fear 
 that he was not good enough. This seem- 
 ingly was his sincere feeling. For years he 
 waited outside in the hope that he would 
 grow better. Appeals from his friends for 
 another course were of no avail. Then he 
 was taken seriously ill, and he was brought 
 to face death. As he prayed for recovery, 
 and as he was prayed for, he seemed to 
 have a different view of Christ ; and when 
 he was restored to health, he was glad to 
 think of his Saviour as one to whom he 
 ought to show gratitude. When his pastor 
 urged him to come into the church, as one 
 who desired to evidence his thankfulness 
 and trust, he came forward as a loving, 
 trusting follower of Christ. It were better 
 to come just as he was, he thought, than to 
 wait outside indefinitely to grow better. 
 
 31 
 
Wow to 2)cal witb Doubts 
 
 A man of upright walk in life persistently 
 refrained from connecting himself with the 
 church, claiming that he loved and trusted 
 Christ as his Saviour, and that he would 
 •^how to the world that he was doing this 
 without being a member of any church. 
 At this I said to him : 
 
 " Do you expect Christ to save you ? " 
 
 " Assuredly I do." 
 
 " Yet you persist in refusing to confess 
 Christ before men, as he has particularly 
 enjoined it upon you to do. Is that fair ? 
 Jesus says, * Every one therefore who shall 
 confess me before men, him will I also con- 
 fess before my Father who is in heaven.' 
 Yet you say that you are not willing to be 
 with those who confess Christ before men." 
 
 " Oh ! I am ready to be known as a 
 lover of Christ, but I don't want to be in 
 the church where men claim to be better 
 than other men. I will try to be as good 
 as they are without saying so." 
 
 " You apparently mistake the idea of 
 Christ's church, to begin with," I said. 
 
 32 
 
Waiting to be (3ooD JEnougb 
 
 "The church is not an exhibition hall, 
 where good men and women show them- 
 selves. The church is a hospital where 
 are those who need and want to be saved 
 by Christ. Yet, as I understand you, you 
 are unwilling to be counted as one who 
 needs the hospital or the Great Physician, 
 but you want to stand off outside and 
 prove that you can cure yourself. Is that 
 making an honest show ? " 
 
 " I don't want to have it look that way." 
 ** I shouldn't think you would." 
 So another man concluded to join the 
 church, not because he thought he was as 
 good as the average, but because he 
 felt he needed hospital treatment as much 
 as the average church-member. 
 
 It is important for every person who is 
 in the church to bear in mind this truth as 
 to the nature and mission of the church. 
 It is not as an exhibition hall, but as a 
 hospital, that it calls for members and that 
 members continue in it. No man has 
 made such progress in the Christian life 
 
 33 
 
IKow to 5>cal wltb 5)oubt0 
 
 that he no longer needs the helps that the 
 church supplies to him. The more prog- 
 ress one makes the more he desires prog- 
 ress. If he feels that he is good enough 
 to be a church-member, he gives evidence 
 that he has no right view of the church of 
 Christ, or of right hfe in Christ. 
 
 34 
 
TKHatttng for Sometbtno Unsi^e 
 to ** Break*' 
 
 A barrier to the conscious service of 
 Christ is, with many souls, the fear that 
 a desired and necessary change in their 
 inner being has not taken place. This 
 fear is commonly caused by a sad error 
 on their part, resulting from the wrong 
 preaching and teaching to which they 
 have listened, or from their misreading 
 of the Bible as improperly translated, 
 or as incorrectly understood. But what- 
 ever has caused it, the barrier, real or 
 supposed, often exists, and it must be 
 met and wisely dealt with. 
 
 As illustrative of a multitude of similar 
 cases, a single instance may be cited out 
 of my sphere of observation. A promi- 
 nent man in a New England community 
 had been brought up under the best re- 
 
 35 
 
Mow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 ligious influences then prevalent in that 
 region. He had from boyhood been ac- 
 customed to read the Bible and pray day 
 by day. He was regular in church attend- 
 ance. He was careful and strict in his 
 morals. But all this was, as he had been 
 taught, of the outer man ; it did not touch 
 or indicate the inner life or spiritual being. 
 He had been taught from the pulpit and 
 by the religious literature of the day, that 
 until he had been converted, or regenerated, 
 he would have no right to count himself 
 an accepted child of God. And for this 
 change, which he had no power to com- 
 pass, he waited and hoped and prayed. 
 
 When he grew up and married he was 
 ready to do anything and everything in 
 his own power to show his readiness and 
 desire to be Christ's, but for the essential 
 change of spiritual nature he felt he must 
 wait God's time and act. He was faithful 
 in personal and household worship. He 
 conducted family prayers regularly. He 
 asked a blessing at his table. He taught 
 
 36 
 
TIDlamng for Sometbinfl tml^c to **3Breaft" 
 
 a class of young men in the Sunday-school. 
 But he felt he had no right to count him- 
 self a converted, a regenerated, a new-born, 
 soul. All that he could do in God's ser- 
 vice he was ready to do, but conversion, or 
 regeneration, was God's work. For that 
 he must wait God's time and method. 
 More than half a century passed away, 
 leaving him as it found him so far as this 
 was concerned. 
 
 His children, brought up under these in- 
 fluences, were led by their Sunday-school 
 teachers and companions to confess Christ 
 as their Saviour, and they became active as 
 teachers and as church workers. But the 
 good and sad-hearted man remained out- 
 side the recognized fold of Christ. This 
 was so to the last of his earthly life. It 
 was doubtless a blessed surprise to him 
 when he was welcomed by his Saviour as 
 one of his loved ones, when his spirit-eyes 
 were opened beyond the veil of flesh. Yet 
 that good man was only one of multitudes 
 who have lived and died in Christ's service 
 
 37 
 
How to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 thinking that they had no right to trust 
 Christ as their Saviour because some mys- 
 terious change, which they could neither 
 understand nor secure, had not been 
 wrought in them. What a realm of doubt 
 and of doubters is opened before us by 
 such an illustration ! 
 
 Years after this, which was my first ac- 
 quaintance with one of the " outside saints," 
 — kept outside by the barrier of doubt raised 
 by mistaken teaching, — I was brought 
 into close association with another doubter 
 of the sort, who was even more positive, 
 although less intelligent, than the other, 
 on the subject. The son of a godly and 
 strict father, whose views in the line of a 
 certain phase of old-fashioned orthodoxy 
 were pronounced and outspoken as to 
 man's inability of himself to turn to God, 
 was near me socially, and sat near me in 
 church. In him I became much inter- 
 ested, and I sought to lead him to an open 
 confession in Christ's service. But I found 
 that the young doubter was positive as to 
 
 38 
 
Waitlnfl for Sometbing InatDe to **:©rcaft'* 
 
 his right or power to act until God made 
 him wilhng and able. In response to the 
 most tender and earnest invitation, he said : 
 
 " I wish I could trust Christ as my 
 Saviour, but I know it isn't possible until 
 my heart is changed." 
 
 " But have you nothing to do in the 
 matter ? " 
 
 " My part is to wait and be ready. I 
 come to church and prayer-meeting regu- 
 larly. God knows how I feel about it, but 
 until he converts me I cannot be a Chris- 
 tian. I cannot convert myself. So there 
 it is." 
 
 That erroneous view was a barrier of 
 doubt. My words, with my knowledge 
 and experience of them, unfortunately did 
 not move it or him. 
 
 In another case, one with whom I 
 prayed was helped to imagine that he 
 had evidence that God helped him over 
 that barrier, and his fancy was suggestive 
 as showing the working of many a man's 
 mind. He was a man who had been a 
 
 39 
 
How to Deal witb DoulJts 
 
 soldier in my regiment in the Civil War, 
 After the war, when I was preaching on a 
 Sunday evening in the pulpit of a friend, 
 in Massachusetts, I saw this man before 
 me. At the close of the service the man 
 came up to greet me, and I invited him 
 to go with me to the pastor's house for a 
 talk. He came, and we were soon to- 
 gether in a room by ourselves. After a 
 few words over old experiences, a conver- 
 sation somewhat like this ensued : 
 
 " Have you ever confessed Christ as 
 your Saviour? " 
 
 " No, I have not ; but I wish I could." 
 
 "Are you ready to give yourself to 
 Christ with all your heart ? " 
 
 " Indeed I am. But I suppose I must 
 be converted." 
 
 " God will take care of that, if you will 
 commit yourself to him without keeping 
 anything back." 
 
 The man had been a good soldier in war 
 time, and he knew what enlisting meant. 
 
 " Are you ready to enlist in Christ's ser- 
 40 
 
MaitinQ for Somctbing tneit^c to '^^Brcaft** 
 
 vice here and now, not merely for three 
 years, but for all time?" 
 
 " I am, and I'd like to." 
 
 Then we two dropped on our knees 
 together, and I told the Lord that here 
 was a new recruit who wanted to be under 
 Christ's flag, and in the Saviour's service. 
 I asked the Lord to accept him and to help 
 him to be true. 
 
 As we rose from our knees, the hearer 
 of the evening, with the light of joy in his 
 face, exclaimed jubilantly: 
 
 " Chaplain, it's all right now. I'm sure 
 it is. When you prayed there, I felt some- 
 thing sort o' break inside of me. I think I 
 needn't have any doubt any more." 
 
 I knew the soldier spirit of my old com- 
 rade. He was loyal and patriotic. He was 
 glad to enlist, but he thought that God 
 had a special work to do, for which he had 
 waited. And now he was encouraged to 
 believe that, as we prayed, a sign of 
 God's willingness to accept the recruit had 
 been given. This he called the feeling 
 
 41 
 
How to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 that something inside " sort o' broke." The 
 way of duty and of faith was plain thence- 
 forth to him. 
 
 The command " Be converted " was an 
 improper translation in our old Bibles. 
 The phrase is correctly rendered, in the 
 Revision, "turn," or "turn again." Turn- 
 ing toward God is a simple duty whenever 
 one is on the wrong track, however often 
 he needs to turn. Theological errors of 
 generations cannot always be removed by 
 formal discussion with an anxious soul, 
 but that soul may be led to see that God 
 is now ready to take him just as he is, 
 and that God will cause to " sort o' break " 
 whatever inner bond had held back the 
 willing soul. 
 
 42 
 
VI 
 
 jfacina ** tbe TIlnpart)onable Sin *' 
 
 If there is one mental trouble above 
 another that seems to call for sympathy 
 and tenderness of treatment, it is the fear 
 that one has committed "the unpardonable 
 sin," and now stands facing hopelessly the 
 eternal consequences of this wrong-doing. 
 Nor is this fear an utterly exceptional one. 
 Many a sensitive conscience has suffered 
 from it for years. It is worth serious 
 thought on the part of all those who 
 would help souls. 
 
 Several conversations which I had with 
 one of these troubled souls illustrates one 
 phase of this difficulty, and a way of 
 meeting it. A young man who was ac- 
 tive in Christian work, and who was a 
 confessed follower of Christ, had puzzled 
 over the words of our Lord that blasphemy 
 against the Holy Spirit could not be for- 
 
 43 
 
liow to 2)eal witb 2)out)t5 
 
 given (see Matt. 12 : 31-37). Thinking 
 over the subject persistently, he had come 
 to fear that he had committed that sin, and 
 he was oppressed accordingly. 
 
 "As I read the Bible," he said, "^Who- 
 soever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, 
 it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
 world, nor in that which is to come.* Now 
 I fear that I have, at some time, spoken in 
 that way. If I have, there is no hope 
 for me." 
 
 " Did you do this deliberately, and with 
 a purpose of doing it ? Or did you merely 
 do it triflingly and irreverently ? " 
 
 " It is the thing itself that is spoken of 
 by our Lord, without reference to the inner 
 spirit of the speaker." 
 
 " Have you regretted your thoughtless 
 and irreverent evil speech ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed I have, many and many 
 times. But that doesn't make any differ- 
 ence in the case of a sin that will not be 
 forgiven in this world or the next, in spite 
 of our repentings." 
 
 44 
 
^pacing **tbc'mnpatOonable Sfif 
 
 "Does it seem like a loving God, to 
 be watching for one slip of the tongue, 
 or one thoughtless or irreverent word, 
 and then to refuse to forgive that wrong, 
 however penitent or humble the wrong- 
 doer finally is ? God sent Jesus into this 
 world to show his love for sinners^ and 
 Jesus 'is able to save to the uttermost 
 them that draw near unto God through 
 him, seeing he ever liveth to make in- 
 tercession for them ' (see Heb. 7 : 25). 
 Is your view consistent with the Bible 
 teachings about the never-failing love of 
 God?" 
 
 " I shouldn't think so if it were not for 
 those words of Jesus about this 07ie sin as 
 different from all other sins. But there his 
 words stand, and I'm fearfully troubled be- 
 cause of them." 
 
 " Well, now, my friend, don't you mis- 
 read those words as they were spoken and 
 as the record of them stands ? When did 
 Jesus speak those words ? and to whom ? 
 and under what circumstances? They 
 
 4S 
 
Wow to Deal wltb 2)oubts 
 
 are too important to be perverted and 
 misused. Have a care, therefore, on that 
 point. Read over more carefully the pas- 
 sage in Matthew's Gospel, and see what 
 the words mean. Jesus was working won- 
 ders of grace. He was showing the love 
 of the Father and the power of the Holy 
 Spirit. He was opposing Satan and his 
 works. Then those who opposed Jesus 
 said that he and his disciples were repre- 
 sentatives of Satan. At this, Jesus sug- 
 gested that one who counted the Holy 
 Spirit and Satan one and the same, was in 
 a hopeless state; God could do nothing 
 more for such a man. If one who sees 
 God's work and Satan's work says that 
 there is no difference between the two, 
 God is powerless in that man's behalf 
 God has nothing better than the Holy 
 Spirit's work to show to a man in this 
 world or the next. My friend, can you 
 see nothing better in the Holy Spirit's 
 work than in the work of Satan ? " 
 " Indeed, I can see a great deal that is 
 46 
 
jfacing **tbe TnnparDonable Sin" 
 
 better. There is no comparison to be 
 made between the two. One is all good ; 
 the other is all bad." 
 
 " Then you have no doubt as to where 
 you would stand on that issue ? " 
 
 " Of course I do not." 
 
 " If, therefore, the unpardonable sin is 
 being on the side of Satan against the 
 Holy Spirit, as the great issue in the con- 
 test, in this world or in the next, you 
 would feel that you were on the right side 
 and in the right state, — would you ? " 
 
 " Yes, I would, as you state the case. 
 But I have not been looking at it in that 
 way. I have not read the words of Jesus 
 in this way before." 
 
 " Well, that is the way that I read those 
 words, as they were spoken according to 
 the Bible record. I find a meaning in 
 them consistent with the spirit of Jesus, 
 with the general teachings of Scripture, 
 with the peculiar circumstances of their 
 utterance, with the lessons of sound 
 reason, and with the very letter of the 
 
 47 
 
Wow to Deal witb 2)oubt5 
 
 text. On the other hand, you find a mean- 
 ing in the words as you read them that is, 
 as you admit, not consistent with what you 
 have known of the love of the Father, with 
 the spirit of Jesus, or with the known 
 workings of the Holy Spirit. Which of 
 these two methods is to be preferred? 
 Tell me frankly." 
 
 " Your view, I admit, does seem the 
 most reasonable." 
 
 " We may always be sure that a positive 
 command or threat of God is based on a 
 principle prevalent throughout all God's 
 domain. It is never a mere specific of- 
 fense or transgression that he refers to as 
 cutting one off from hope, but rather an 
 attitude of being, which would be the same 
 in this life and beyond. Thus it is in this 
 instance. But, tell me, did it ever trouble 
 you to think that the sin you had com- 
 mitted had shut you out from God's love 
 and presence ? " 
 
 "It has caused me agony unspeakable. 
 I have mourned over it, and prayed about 
 
 48 
 
facing **tbc TUnpatDonable Sin*' 
 
 it day and night; and oh, how I have 
 longed for help!" 
 
 " That is in itself proof that you have not 
 committed the unpardonable sin. Jesus 
 speaks of that sin as putting its doer in a 
 hopelessly hostile attitude toward God. 
 If you had committed that sin, or were in 
 that attitude of being, you would not want 
 to be forgiven or loved of God. No, no, 
 my friend, you have sins enough that can 
 be forgiven, which you ought to think 
 about and strive to overcome, without 
 worrying over the unpardonable sin which 
 you do not comprehend, and which you 
 evidently have not committed." 
 
 And that long-troubled soul was led 
 into the light, and found peace and rest 
 in the assured love of God. May every 
 soul similarly perplexed have like rest and 
 peace ! 
 
 He had been worrying over a sin which 
 he had not committed ; but which if he 
 had committed, he would have ceased to 
 worry about. So, in fact, his very worrying 
 
 49 
 
Wow to 2)cal witb Doubts 
 
 was proof that he had no cause for worry. 
 How Satan gives trouble to those who 
 are his determined enemies, leaving alone 
 those of whom he is already sure ! 
 
 SO 
 
VII 
 
 Matting for flnote ifattb 
 
 That faith is essential to spiritual life, no 
 one can doubt who reads intelligently the 
 Old Testament or the New. Abraham had 
 faith, and that faith was reckoned to him 
 for righteousness, — for a right state before 
 God. Inspired prophets tell us that the 
 just, the righteous, are to live by their faith, 
 by their restful trust in God. Hardly any 
 single injunction is more frequently ex- 
 pressed by the Saviour of men, to those 
 who desire his help, than the command to 
 " have faith in God," It is their faith that 
 Jesus insists on. It is on their faith that his 
 help depends. It is by means of their faith 
 that they are saved. So clearly and positively 
 is this truth expressed in the Bible that those 
 who would be guided by the precepts of that 
 Book are ever ready to give prominence to 
 the duty of faith as their ground of hope. 
 
 51 
 
How to Deal witb :©oul>t0 
 
 Yet a clear idea of what faith is, and of 
 what it is to have faith, is anything but 
 common among Bible readers and seekers 
 of peace and rest. Of course, systematic 
 theology has done much to mislead and 
 confuse those who would know and have 
 right ideas of God's teachings. Thus theo- 
 logians have told us that there are different 
 kinds of faith, — that there is intellectual 
 faith, and formal faith, and lifeless faith, 
 and, again, that there is saving faith. This 
 leads the anxious to wonder what are the 
 distinctive characteristics of that kind of 
 faith of which prophet and apostle had so 
 much to say, and on which Jesus seemed 
 to pivot his power to help life-seekers. 
 
 Faith is not a possession or attainment, 
 the having of which enables a man to be 
 strong, and to have knowledge, and to 
 work wonders in his sphere. Faith is an 
 attitude of being toward God, a condition 
 of mind and spirit that makes one ready to 
 accept as sure what God has promised, and 
 what God has said he will do. President 
 
 52 
 
maitind for mote jfaitb 
 
 Mark Hopkins once said simply and 
 wisely : " There is no conflict between faith 
 and reason. Faith is the beHeving that God 
 will do as he has promised. That certainly 
 is not unreasonable." Again, good Dr. Bush- 
 nell said : " Faith is not a mysterious posses- 
 sion, it is a simple act. Faith is that act by 
 which one person, a sinner, commits himself 
 to another person, a Saviour." 
 
 It is indeed strange that so many per- 
 plexed doubters have worried for years 
 over the question whether they had enough 
 faith, or whether the faith they had was of 
 the right sort. While faith, true faith, is so 
 reasonable and so simple, one who has for 
 years had much to do with perplexed 
 doubters has no hesitation in saying that 
 no other cause of doubt has been so com- 
 mon or so persistent, among those who 
 have sought his help, as the lack, or the 
 quality, or the relative measure, of faith. 
 About the necessity of faith most are 
 agreed. About the possession of faith 
 there is much doubt. 
 
 53 
 
Wow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 One who had been for years an active 
 member of a prominent church, and who 
 was at that very time a Sunday-school 
 teacher, came to me as one who, as he 
 thought, gave evidence of faith, while he 
 bemoaned his own lack of it. To me he 
 said longingly : 
 
 " I wish I had your faith, my friend." 
 
 " What do you want of my faith ? " was 
 the reply. "You'd better have your own 
 faith. You've nothing more to do with 
 my faith than with my pocket-book. Let 
 every man have his own faith." 
 
 " Then I'll say I wish I had more faith, 
 — more faith of my own." 
 
 " You have got more faith now than you 
 are willing to use. What would you do 
 with any more? If you've faith as big 
 as a grain of mustard-seed, and will use 
 it aright, you can uproot big trees and 
 mighty mountains, and do other great 
 things. Your difficulty is not in being 
 without enough faith, but in being unwill- 
 ing to use what faith you have. If you 
 
 54 
 
Waiting for {llote faitb 
 
 believe one thing that Jesus promises you, 
 and are ready to do accordingly, you are 
 using a little of your faith. Then you are 
 ready to have and to use more faith. Hav- 
 ing faith is of no use except as you use it." 
 
 Encouraged to take this view of faith 
 and of truth, this doubter came to exer- 
 cise faith, and his faith grew accordingly. 
 Finally his faith actually evidenced itself 
 to the ends of the earth, — while he was an 
 active foreign missionary, — and he rejoiced 
 in his faith, or in the Saviour on whom it 
 rested, and others were thereby benefited. 
 
 For years a seeker after truth and light 
 suffered in doubt because she thought she 
 had not faith enough, or that the faith she 
 had was not of the right sort. She was 
 constant in prayer and longing. She was 
 ready to do every duty which she knew. 
 She studied the Bible for counsel and com- 
 fort. She got help at many points, but at 
 other points she was met by the injunction 
 that even in seeking help from God she 
 must ask in unwavering faith, and that re- 
 
 55 
 
IHow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 quirement seemed a barrier to her. In 
 telling of her troubles to one of whom she 
 sought counsel, she stated the case in this 
 way: 
 
 " When I found the invitation in James 
 I : 5, I thought I was helped: * If any of 
 you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, 
 who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth 
 not ; and it shall be given him.' That was 
 encouraging. The next verses, however, 
 staggered me : * But let him ask in faith, 
 nothing doubting : for he that doubteth is 
 like the surge of the sea driven by the 
 wind and tossed. For let not that man 
 think that he shall receive anything of the 
 Lord; a doubleminded man, unstable in 
 all his ways.' I'm afraid I'm a double- 
 minded person. My faith sometimes wavers. 
 I wish I could have a faith where there'd 
 never be a doubt." 
 
 " Do you mean that you sometimes 
 think that Christ is to be trusted, and at 
 other times you do not think that he is to 
 be depended on ? " That was the question 
 
 56 
 
Matting tor more 3Faitb 
 
 put to the doubter by the one whose coun- 
 sel she sought. 
 
 " No, I never have any doubt about 
 Christ. I'm only speaking about my faith 
 in Christ. I don't always have the same 
 feeling of faith in Christ." 
 
 " Then it is not a matter of your faith, 
 but of your personal feeling, that troubles 
 you. Your faith depends on what Christ 
 is, and what you understand him to be. 
 Your feeling on the subject may depend 
 on any one of a dozen things. Sometimes 
 a walk in the fresh air will change your 
 feelings. Sometimes a little soda-mint or 
 spirits of ammonia will set things straight 
 inside." 
 
 And she was thus shown to be another 
 of the many who are needlessly in doubt 
 because they confound their feelings about 
 faith with faith itself Faith is indeed im- 
 portant, but one's feeHngs about faith are 
 of no importance. 
 
 Another doubter about his faith I visited 
 at a time when the doubter was in bereave* 
 
 57 
 
IKow to 2)cal witb 2)oubts 
 
 ment, and when he regretted that he could 
 not count himself a child of God. He was 
 a man upright in his personal life, a lover 
 of the Bible, a constant church attendant. 
 He was in the habit of personal prayer, but 
 he did not think it would be right for him, 
 without faith, to confess Christ as his Sav- 
 iour. I sought to induce him to evidence 
 faith in confessing Christ before men. 
 
 "I'd like to," he said, "but I have no 
 faith in Christ." 
 
 " Why don't you have faith ? " asked his 
 friend. 
 
 " Because it is not in my power to have 
 faith." 
 
 " Do you believe that Christ is worthy 
 of being loved and obeyed ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed I do." 
 
 "Then why do you not* love and obey 
 him ? " 
 
 " I do love him, and I obey him in 
 everything except when he tells me to 
 have faith. In that one thing I am power- 
 less." 
 
 58 
 
Waiting for flllote jfaitb 
 
 " Let us see about that," I said. " Sup- 
 pose that this very night you were to know 
 there was to be a struggle between the 
 friends and the enemies of Jesus, and you 
 were told that those who wanted to be 
 true to him must line up on the other side 
 of the street, while those who were against 
 Jesus, or who were in doubt about their 
 position, could stay where they were ; what 
 would you do ? " 
 
 " I'd go over on the other side of the 
 street, where his supporters lined up." 
 
 "Would you do this if it would cost you 
 your life, and when you might risk your 
 soul ? " 
 
 "Of course I would," he said. 
 
 " That is what Jesus counts faith," said 
 his friend, "and standing up to confess 
 Christ before men is lining up with his fol- 
 lowers on his side of the way." 
 
 And on the next occasion when new 
 members were received into our home 
 church, I rejoiced to see the long-time 
 doubter stand up in line with those who 
 
 59 
 
IKow to 2)eal witb Doubts 
 
 were ready to declare their trust in Christ 
 as their Saviour. How many there are 
 who have doubt about their faith when 
 they have no doubt about their Saviour, 
 and who are ready to show this, at any 
 risk, in a testing time! 
 
 60 
 
VIII 
 
 Urouble^ ^Because Bnjoptng 
 (5oO'0 Semce 
 
 It may seem strange, but it is neverthe- 
 less undeniable, that many Christians have 
 been troubled because they were finding 
 enjoyment in God's service. They have, in 
 fact, been disturbed because they were not 
 disturbed ; were unhappy, because they 
 were happy. And, after all, this is by no 
 means to be wondered at, with human 
 nature as it is, and vv'ith God's grace work- 
 ing as it does. But it is an important aspect 
 of truth to be considered by one who would 
 give help to doubters. 
 
 It is true that it is easier to slip down 
 than to clamber up ; more inviting to enter 
 the broad and thronged road to death than 
 to walk in the less-trod narrow path that 
 leads to life. But one who continues to toil 
 upward may after a while find enjoyment in 
 
 6i 
 
IKow to 2)cal wltb 2)oul)t0 
 
 surmounting obstacles and breathing the 
 purer air of the loftier regions. And as 
 the years go on there is more true enjoy- 
 ment in the strait and narrow way of life 
 than in the broad and easy road of death. 
 These things are not, however, always 
 borne in mind by one who looks at a single 
 side of the case. 
 
 Probably the difficulty was more com- 
 mon in former days than in these; but 
 there are still manifestations of it among 
 believers. It is back of the idea of penance 
 and self-mortification. Many a man has 
 thought he had a better prospect of wear- 
 ing a white robe in the next life if he wore 
 a haircloth shirt in this. Scourging the 
 body with whips has often been undertaken 
 as a help to saving the soul. This has 
 been practiced not only among heathen 
 and idolaters, but among followers of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ in the later as well as 
 the earlier centuries. 
 
 Within my memory it was a prevalent 
 idea that there was a superior sanctity in 
 
 62 
 
tlroublcO JSecausc jenjo^ing (So^'s Service 
 
 a long face and a gloomy expression of 
 countenance. Cheerfulness in looks or in 
 voice was supposed to be at variance with 
 true religious devotion. If one would 
 rightly observe the Sabbath, he must avoid 
 giving positive evidence of enjoyment or 
 happiness between sundown on Saturday 
 evening and sundown on Sunday evening. 
 
 So far did this idea extend that many an 
 earnest Christian actually believed that true 
 enjoyment was inconsistent with a right 
 performance of religious duty. Not only 
 must a man do right whether he found it 
 easy or difficult, pleasant or disagreeable ; 
 but to find duty-doing easy and pleasant 
 was an indication of a wrong spirit, if, 
 indeed, it did not show that he had mis- 
 taken the path of duty. 
 
 As a practical consequence of this way 
 of looking at duty, many felt that to find 
 pleasure in God's service was to throw sus- 
 picion on the acts of service which could 
 cause pleasure rather than pain. Of two 
 lines of effort, one attractive and the other 
 
 63 
 
How to ®cal witb Doubts 
 
 repellent, the repellent one was thought to 
 be more likely than the other to be right, 
 because the human heart inclines to evil 
 rather than to good. It may seem strange 
 that any intelligent believer could have 
 reasoned in this way ; but that many have 
 thus reasoned cannot be denied. Hence in 
 this case, as in many another, it is the dutv 
 of one who would give help to the doubter 
 to perceive in what he is most unreason- 
 able, and to enable him to see its unreason- 
 able side. 
 
 I knew of one instance of this sort 
 which is illustrative of many others. A 
 prominent Christian worker had begun 
 very early in life to walk in the narrow 
 path, and to clamber toward the spiritual 
 heights. His time, all his powers, and his 
 every worldly possession, he counted as a 
 trust committed to his charge, to be used 
 in God's service. As the years went on he 
 came to find most enjoyment in doing what 
 he felt God would have him do. Nothing 
 else was to be compared with this, in his 
 
 64 
 
tTroubleD ^Because Bnjoisins (5oD'5 Service 
 
 estimation. And this began to trouble 
 him. It was so at variance with much that 
 he heard from the pulpit and in the prayer- 
 meeting of his day, and that he read in the 
 current religious literature, that he ques- 
 tioned himself as to the possibility of his 
 being on the wrong track in life. As to 
 the fact that he really enjoyed life in his 
 present course he could have no ques- 
 tion. Where was the cause of trouble? 
 Coming to me, whom he knew inti- 
 mately, he stated the case somewhat in 
 this way : 
 
 " For years I have been in the habit of 
 giving systematically a regular portion of 
 my income. As God has prospered me in 
 business affairs, I have for some time had 
 quite ample means to dispose of, and I 
 have been enjoying this distribution. And 
 now the pleasure I find in it is seriously 
 troubling me." 
 
 " Have you been guided in your particu- 
 lar gifts by the enjoyment you would have, 
 or by your sense of duty?" 
 
 65 
 
How to Deal witb 2>oubts 
 
 " Of course I have tried to do my duty 
 in every instance of giving." 
 
 "What has been the nature of your spe- 
 cial gifts ? " 
 
 " Besides my giving to causes presented 
 in our home church, I have helped persons 
 whom I knew to be in need. I have 
 helped widows and children who required 
 assistance. I have given or loaned money 
 to students struggling for an education." 
 
 " Have you sought prominence by the 
 size of your church donations ? " 
 
 " On the contrary, I have tried to avoid 
 that. If I desired to give more than usual 
 to a cause on our church list, I would give 
 about as much as would be expected of 
 me in the regular church collection. Then 
 I would send an extra sum anonymously 
 to the society direct. In such ways I have 
 tried to avoid prominence as a giver." 
 
 " How about the needy and worthy per- 
 sons helped by you ; have you given either 
 ostentatiously or recklessly ? " 
 
 " I have been as careful as possible about 
 66 
 
Q^roubleD :Becau6c Bnjo^ing ©oD's Service 
 
 that. I have avoided prominence and any 
 show of generosity. I have taken the op- 
 portunity of quietly lending a hand, as it 
 were, to those who needed a helping hand. 
 In the case of young students, especially 
 those whom I knew desired to be in the 
 ministry, I have made a loan rather than a 
 gift, so that the student might be more 
 independent and self-respecting." 
 
 " Do you think that your gifts have been 
 made for your own reputation or enjoy- 
 ment, or in the line of supposed duty and 
 at the call of God ? " 
 
 " Of course I have given in each case 
 as I thought was in the Hne of duty, and 
 where God would have me give. But I 
 am finding such enjoyment in thus giving 
 that it disturbs me. Where does the self- 
 denial come in? We are told to deny 
 ourselves." 
 
 " We have no right to give in order to 
 gratify self, or in order to secure selfish en- 
 joyment. But do you think there is any 
 merit in personal discomfort, or in doing 
 
 67 
 
Mow to 2)eal witb Boubts 
 
 what we shrink from, or what we are re- 
 luctant to do ? " 
 
 " I confess that I have felt that the best 
 doing-, and that reluctant doing, were likely 
 to go together, if, indeed, they were not 
 identical." 
 
 " If that is the way you look at it, and 
 there is any reason, or true ground, for 
 your feeling as you do, I think I can sug- 
 gest a cure for you, or can propose a plan 
 that will avoid your present trouble. Sup- 
 pose you try this method. 
 
 " When next you learn of a worthy poor 
 widow with children, whom you might be 
 inclined to help, just quietly refrain from 
 giving her of your means, and let her and 
 her little ones suffer. And when you know 
 of some struggling students who have hard 
 work to get on unaided, resolutely abstain 
 from doing as you have done hitherto, and 
 see that they have no help from you." 
 
 " Oh, I couldn't do that ! " 
 
 " But wouldn't it be harder and more 
 discomforting than if you gave ? " 
 
 68 
 
^toubleD :©ecau0e JEnjosinQ (3oO'0 Service 
 
 " Of course it would." 
 
 "Well, there is where the self-denial 
 would come in, if the measure of discom- 
 fort is the true test of right." 
 
 " I don't really know that it is." 
 
 " Well, I don't even think that it is. 
 No, my friend, my idea is, that you'd bet- 
 ter do as God would have you do, whether 
 you like it or not, whether it is agreeable 
 or disagreeable. Why should you be 
 troubled while bearing Christ's yoke and 
 burden in his service, even if it proves, as 
 he promises, that his yoke is easy and his 
 burden is light ? " 
 
 " I don't suppose I should, as I now see 
 the matter." 
 
 And from seeing the matter in a new 
 light, that child of God lived for the rest 
 of his life having enjoyment, instead of 
 trouble and worry, in giving help to others 
 as God enabled him. 
 
 69 
 
IX 
 
 (ron5i&erlna ©ur Desires, tnsteab 
 ot (3ot)'s %ovc 
 
 It is so much easier for us to feel the 
 force of what we wish in the light of our 
 present conditions and surroundings, than 
 it is for us to comprehend what God wills 
 in the light of His infinite knowledge and 
 boundless love. And it is natural for those 
 in the close limitations of humanity to be 
 correspondingly unreasonable. Most per- 
 sons are readier to judge God for his acts 
 as affecting their supposed interests than to 
 be judged by God for their actions as re- 
 lated to his disclosed purposes for their 
 true welfare. 
 
 I was hardly more than a boy when this 
 truth was first strongly impressed on me 
 by the course and words of a young father 
 whom I knew. The young man's wife was 
 a lovely Christian woman ; but he had never 
 
 70 
 
®ur Desires, instead of (5o0's %ovc 
 
 committed himself trustfully to God's guid- 
 ance. While reverent toward God in all 
 his outward acts, his position was rather 
 that of an outside observer of God and 
 God's children than of one who desired to 
 be one with them. When his first child 
 was born he was very happy. When that 
 child was taken sick he was very anxious. 
 Everything that medical skill and nursing 
 could do for the child's recovery was 
 secured. The father was even glad to 
 have the wife's pastor called in to pray for 
 the sick child's recovery. But when, after 
 all, the child was taken away by death, 
 the grief of the father was extreme; and 
 there was bitterness in that grief 
 
 The father was now childless, — and this 
 by the act of God. Instead of being in any 
 sense submissive, the bereaved father 
 seemed actually angry at God. He did not 
 hesitate to say that it would have been a 
 small matter to God to spare that child, 
 and he had been asked to do so, and had 
 refused to grant the request. The loss of 
 
 71 
 
THow to 2)eal witb Doubts 
 
 that child was a great thing to the father, 
 and God knew it would be so. And now 
 the father's feelings were well known to 
 God, and God could not expect to have the 
 bereaved father's support or approval 
 thenceforward while that father lived. 
 
 This determined attitude toward, or 
 against, God, greatly shocked my young 
 mind, as it was the first revelation to 
 me of such a state of mind in view of 
 God's providential dealings with the chil- 
 dren of men. Yet afterwards I found that 
 this instance was by no means an isolated 
 case. Again and again, as I came to be 
 more among men, I found this attitude of 
 the human mind existing; and I sought 
 to deal with it as it was, instead of wonder- 
 ing why it was so. 
 
 One afternoon I was asked, under pe- 
 culiar circumstances, to call on a young 
 mother who was ill and in trouble. I 
 was not acquainted with her, and I was 
 told that she did not wish to see me; yet 
 the circumstances as told me were such 
 
 72 
 
Qm Destrcs, ineteaD of 0oJ)'s Xove 
 
 that I felt it to be my duty to go with her 
 husband, as he told her story and made the 
 request for the visit. She had a bright 
 young son, who was for some years her 
 only child. She had wished he had been 
 a daughter. When, after some years, a 
 little daughter was born to her, she was 
 full of happiness and hope. But in a 
 few weeks the babe sickened and died. 
 Then she was inconsolable. Neither hus- 
 band nor son could give her comfort. She 
 had no peace or rest in a Saviour's love. 
 It was under these circumstances that I 
 had been asked to visit her, and that I 
 responded to the call. 
 
 She was unable to rise from her bed, 
 and as I, the caller, sat by her bedside, I 
 realized that I was unwelcome. Knowing 
 her husband and boy, I spoke of them, 
 and then said that I was sincerely sorry 
 to learn of her great loss. I told of my 
 own sorrow when a prisoner of war in a 
 South Carolina jail, and the first letter that 
 came to me through the lines by flag of 
 
 73 
 
How to Beal witb 2)oubt0 
 
 truce told of the death of my youngest 
 daughter. I couldn't go to the sorrow- 
 ing mother to try to comfort her; nor 
 could I even write to her except in a 
 brief letter which the prison authorities 
 must read before allowing it to pass. 
 
 "That was pretty trying, you will be- 
 lieve. So I know how to sympathize with 
 you," said I. 
 
 " Yes, that was hard," said the rebellious 
 mother. " But was she your only daugh- 
 ter ? " 
 
 " No, I had two other daughters ; but 
 she was my loved baby daughter." 
 
 " But my baby was my only daughter, 
 so you see my trial is greater than yours. 
 You had your other daughters to love and 
 care for. I have none." 
 
 " Your case is a trying one," I said. 
 "But where do you think your dear baby 
 is now ? " 
 
 " In Heaven," she replied. Every stricken 
 mother is glad to believe that truth, how- 
 ever she may lack confidence in God's love. 
 
 74 
 
®ur Besices, instead of 0oD'6 ILove 
 
 " Do you suppose she is happy in 
 Heaven ? " 
 
 " I don't doubt she is." 
 
 " Do you think it tends to make your 
 dear baby happier, or gives her pain, to 
 know that you are grieving that God has 
 taken her to himself, and made her so 
 happy because he loves her and loves 
 you?" 
 
 At this question the young mother 
 turned on her bed with a start, and, look- 
 ing at me earnestly, said, " Do you sup- 
 pose that my baby now knows anything 
 about me and my feelings ? " 
 
 *'Why shouldn't she?" I asked. "If 
 she is in Heaven, with all the enlarged pos- 
 sibilities of that state, loved of God and 
 loving God, why shouldn't she have an 
 interest in those whom God loves, and to 
 whom she is bound by precious and spirit- 
 ual ties ? " 
 
 At once the relations of myself and 
 the interested mother were on a different 
 plane. She was glad to think and talk 
 
 75 
 
Mow to 5)cal witb 2)oubts 
 
 about her little one, and its possible con- 
 dition in Heaven. The more we talked 
 the more comfort the mother found in 
 what she still had, in love and hope, with 
 her darling in God's presence. At the 
 thought that her dear little girl was simply 
 away from her for a season, having more 
 of happiness and profit than would have 
 been possible to her had she remained 
 here, the temporary separation could not 
 only be borne, but could be seen in a 
 bright light. 
 
 When I left, the mother who had had 
 no wish for my call asked me to come 
 again and continue the conversation. God 
 was seen in a new light when his love was 
 made prominent even in the event that had 
 seemed wholly dark before. I went to that 
 home again and again, and the mother and 
 the father of the little one in Heaven were 
 glad to draw nearer to Him with whom 
 their darling was forever in joy. Together 
 they soon stood up in the same church 
 fold and confessed the Saviour of their little 
 
 1^ 
 
©ur Bestres, ingteaD ot (3oD'0 Xove 
 
 one as their Saviour. How much differ- 
 ence it makes when we look at God's provi- 
 dence in the Hght of his boundless love, 
 instead of in the Hght of our poorly in- 
 formed personal desires ! 
 
 The mistake which that bereaved mother 
 made in thinking of her baby daughter 
 who had been taken from her when she 
 longed to have her grow up in her earthly 
 home, is made by many another person 
 who prefers to look at every trying provi- 
 dence in the light of one's personal wishes, 
 instead of in the light of God's bound- 
 less and all-seeing love. How common 
 it is to want to have God consider us as 
 the center around which the universe re- 
 volves, instead of our thinking of God as 
 the center whose love and dealings we 
 should look to as indicating our duty and 
 privileges ! Ourselves first, God as con- 
 forming to our wishes ; that is the way we 
 would have things. 
 
 A Christian woman, who was active 
 and useful in Christ's service, had a loved 
 
 n 
 
Mow to 2)eal witb 5)oubt6 
 
 home where were a godly father and a 
 saintly mother. The years passed on, and 
 precious memories accumulated in that 
 home. The present was so delightful, and 
 the past was so sacred, that there seemed 
 no place for thought of, or longings for, 
 anything better, or even anything as good, 
 yet to come. Continuance, not change, 
 was desired. But in ripe old age father 
 and mother passed out of that home into 
 endless rest. The devoted daughter in 
 maturity of years was called to a new life 
 for which she had not made full prepa- 
 ration. She missed those to whose com- 
 panionship she had been accustomed all 
 her life long. This change was a shock to 
 her that seemed to break her down, and 
 to destroy her faith and her present enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 It mattered not in this case that the 
 event was one which should have been 
 looked for in the ordinary course of nature. 
 Reason as well as faith is likely to be lost 
 sight of by one who is inclined to complain 
 
 78 
 
©ur DcsireSt instead ot ©oO's Xovc 
 
 of God and God's dealings. Self was the 
 center of thought in this case as in many 
 another. No way of looking at it seemed 
 to lessen the trial of one who would have 
 God plan and perform for the personal ease 
 and enjoyment of the complainer. Con- 
 tentment was out of the question; even 
 resignation or submission had no place in 
 mind or heart. The stricken one ceased to 
 pray. Intercourse seemed to be cut off 
 with God, since he had ceased to shape his 
 doings according to her personal longings. 
 As I had long known this home and 
 all its inmates, I earnestly sought to give 
 sympathy and help in this time of need. 
 But as I talked I found that the main 
 thought then was of the home life inter- 
 rupted, when God knew that the desire 
 was to have it continued. Then I sought 
 to turn the thought to the new happi- 
 ness of the parents, taken from all the 
 trials and toils of earth, and of our reason 
 for thankfulness that they were such gain- 
 ers, although we had some trials in con- 
 
 79 
 
Mow to Deal witb Boubts 
 
 nection with this providence. Thus an- 
 other phase of persistent doubting showed 
 itself. This was suggestive. 
 
 " Do you doubt that your parents are hap- 
 pier now than they could be here? " I asked. 
 
 " No, I do not ; but they would have re- 
 mained here longer if the choice had been 
 given them, and they knew it would make 
 me unhappy to live without them." 
 
 " If they look down on you now in your 
 complaining spirit, do you suppose that 
 they would be glad, or sorry, that you feel 
 as you do ? " 
 
 " I know they would be sorry." 
 
 " Ought you to be willing to make them 
 sorry ? or ought you to do what you can to 
 increase their joy ? " 
 
 " They understand me well enough to 
 know that I couldn't feel otherwise." 
 
 Seeing this persistent way of looking at 
 the one side of the case, and knowing of 
 the complaining, rebellious, and prayerless 
 course of the mourner, I held up another 
 thought to be considered. 
 
 80 
 
Q\xt Desires, instead ot <3oD's Xove 
 
 " If God were to take you from this life, 
 wouldn't you like to join your parents in 
 God's presence, and be with them ever- 
 more?" 
 
 " Of course I would." 
 "Are you in a state to do so now?" 
 " I know they'd be glad to welcome me." 
 " Yes ; but tkey do not open or close the 
 doors of Heaven to any soul. That is God's 
 work. Are you not now opposing God, 
 complaining of God, defying God ? Why 
 should God take you where your parents 
 are, when you feel toward God as you say 
 you do?" 
 
 That was a new thought to the com- 
 plaining doubter. Thinking of it a few 
 minutes she inquired : 
 
 " How can I feel differently?" 
 "Admit that God has been doing the 
 best he could do, even if he has done dif- 
 ferently from what you would have pre- 
 ferred or advised. Remember that God 
 has some rights as well as some power, 
 and, if you cannot pray to him gratefully, 
 
 8i 
 
IKow to 2)cal witb 2)oubt5 
 
 at least go to him submissively, and tell 
 him that you want to conform yourself to 
 his known will, and to come into a state 
 that will fit you to be like your parents as 
 you knew them while they were here, and 
 as he knows them where they now are. 
 
 " Such a course, you may be sure, would 
 be approved by your parents, whom you 
 say you do love, and by God, whom they 
 love, and whom you ought to love more 
 than you do. Any other course is an- 
 tagonism to your father and mother, and to 
 their and your God." 
 
 After talking this view of the case over, 
 it was admitted that it was a proper view. 
 And when once the thoughts were turned 
 from self as the center to God as the only 
 true center, it was a simple matter to learn 
 that light is better than darkness, love is 
 better than discord, right is better than 
 wrong ; and that what we ought to do is 
 better than what we are sometimes tempted 
 to do. 
 
 82 
 
X 
 
 ts Xacft of IRigbt ffeellng a ^Barrier 
 to IRtgbt Hctton? 
 
 Men who know their duty, and who fail 
 to do it, often console themselves with the 
 idea that they will at least not claim to be 
 on the right side when they are not there 
 in reality. They think that right feeling 
 is more important than right action^ and if 
 they do not have the first, it is only an 
 added evil for them to attempt the second. 
 They make the great mistake of supposing 
 that hypocrisy is somehow worse than 
 bare-faced, defiant villainy; that, unless 
 one really is in all things on the right side, 
 it is wrong for him to express any sym- 
 pathy with those who are there. 
 
 It is a man's duty to show approval of, 
 and sympathy with, the right, even if he be 
 not ready to act always on that side. The 
 other view of the case is, indeed, the mistake 
 
 83 
 
Mow to 5)eal witb Doubts 
 
 of many a person who has been led astray 
 in his conduct, while his inner life and heart 
 impulses are in the direction of the right. 
 
 A young man who had been well trained 
 at home, and who had enjoyed himself in 
 Christian life and its activities, was for a 
 time in *' border life," under evil influences 
 in a community of reckless wrong-doers. 
 He yielded to his surroundings, and went 
 sadly astray. Then he was again in the 
 society of Christian people, where religious 
 life was prominent and, in a sense, popular. 
 The young man was naturally drawn to- 
 wards this better life, so like that in which 
 he had been brought up and in which he 
 knew he should be happier. Yet he said 
 to himself, when he saw the church-goers 
 leaving their homes and going to the house 
 of prayer, and was inclined to join them: 
 
 " No; I know I've gone sadly astray, but 
 I'm not yet a hypocrite. If I should go to 
 church as if I were a church-going man, it 
 would seem as if I wanted to pass myself 
 off as a well-doer, — which I know I am not. 
 
 84 
 
tRiQbt 3Fecl(nQ a :©arrier to IRiabt Bctionl 
 
 I must first get myself right, so that I feel 
 right ; then it will be time enough for me 
 to act as if I were right." 
 
 So that young man, who had been 
 trained to both feel right and do right, 
 deliberately postponed doing what he ad- 
 mitted was in the line of right-doing be- 
 cause he had not yet resolved to do right 
 and feel right in all things. His clear duty 
 to act as if he approved of right-doing was 
 neglected, while he hoped that, sometime, 
 he would do right. And in this he made 
 a sad mistake. 
 
 His mistake in this one thing at this 
 testing-time led to similar mistakes on his 
 part in many another thing. Even when 
 he had broken away from the evil in- 
 fluences which led him into more flagrant 
 acts of wrong-doing, and sought to con- 
 form himself to the limits of well-doing in 
 outer conduct, he still thought that it was 
 not right to go to the communion service, 
 or to a prayer-meeting, or to have a part in 
 any religious gathering, while his feelings 
 
 85 
 
Wow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 were not as they should be. He made his 
 personal feelings on the subject the test 
 of his duty to begin with, rather than his 
 consciousness of the right, in view of God's 
 commands and his providential surround- 
 ings in the church and the community. 
 
 Then it was that I sought to show him 
 his error in giving such prominence to feel- 
 ing rather than conduct in his course of 
 life. As I talked with him on this subject, 
 I asked the young man : 
 
 " Did you never feel very angry with 
 somebody who had wronged you — so 
 angry that, at the time, you were inclined 
 to injure your opponent by harming him 
 or by destroying his property ? " 
 
 " Oh, I have felt so at times ! " 
 
 " What was the right course for you to 
 pursue — to do what you knew to be right, or 
 to do what you felt at the time like doing?" 
 
 " Of course, I ought to have done right, 
 however I felt." 
 
 "Then your feelings were not a safe 
 guide for your action at such time?" 
 
 86 
 
IRiQbt Jfceling a JBarrier to IRtabt Bctionl 
 
 " Certainly not my feelings for the time." 
 
 " All feelings are for the time. Feelings, 
 which are liable to change, are one thing. 
 Convictions, which are not fleeting and 
 temporary, are another thing." 
 
 At another time I asked the young man : 
 
 " Suppose you were started up from a 
 sound sleep in the middle of the night by 
 a consciousness of a fire in the house, that 
 was liable to destroy the building or to 
 cost precious lives, what would be your 
 first feeling ? " 
 
 " I might be tempted to go to sleep 
 again, or not to heed the first call, for I'm 
 a sound sleeper." 
 
 " Which course would be the right one 
 for you to pursue — ought you to yield to 
 your feelings, or to go against them at the 
 cost of comfort or personal safety ? " 
 
 " I ought to get up, of course, whether 
 I felt like it or not." 
 
 " I knew you would think so, and in the 
 end you would feel so." 
 
 And so in other illustrations : 
 87 
 
Wow to 2)eal witb Boubts 
 
 " In case of a public election, what ought 
 to be your guide of duty, — your personal 
 feelings on the subject, or your conscious- 
 ness of the way the result would affect the 
 community?" 
 
 " I ought to act in view of the conse- 
 quences to others." 
 
 " If a church meeting were to be held for 
 the calling of a pastor, or for the taking of 
 action on a new mission about to be started, 
 and you had a vote, ought you to exercise 
 your right of voting, even though you had 
 been shrinking from seeming to assume a 
 right Christian spirit ? " 
 
 " Claiming a legal right to vote, even in 
 the church, is different from claiming to 
 have a proper spirit when going to the 
 communion table, or attending a prayer- 
 meeting." 
 
 " Feeling right is your duty ; but acting 
 right is also your duty. If you cannot do 
 both, you should do that which you can 
 do. In the long run you are more likely 
 to feel right by doing right, whether you 
 
 88 
 
IRiQbt Reeling a JBarricr to IRiabt BctionT 
 
 like it or not, than by neglecting your 
 known duty until you may feel like do- 
 ing it." 
 
 "I think you are right about that. I 
 know that when I kept away from church, 
 out on the border, I used to feel that I was 
 losing ground as I saw the people going 
 by me to the church while I was waiting 
 to feel right. I was losing in right feeling 
 all the time. I am glad to have had this 
 talk on the subject. I think it would be 
 better to do one's duty, however one feels 
 about it." 
 
 Feeling right is a duty, and it ought to 
 be attended to. But doing right is also a 
 duty, and it has a constant claim on one, 
 even if for the time the feelings and im- 
 pulses run in the other direction. A man 
 ought to feel kindly toward those whom 
 he meets and with whom he speaks. But, 
 if he cannot feel kindly, he ought at least 
 to look and speak kindly without reference 
 to his feelings. A man who fails to act on 
 this principle makes a sad mistake. 
 
 89 
 
XI 
 
 Uroubleb IBecause ffiuMna 5110 
 Bnjoi^ment In praper 
 
 An active, earnest, devoted Christian 
 worker was disturbed because she did not 
 always find enjoyment in prayer. She did 
 not intermit nor neglect prayer ; hence her 
 state of feeling, or of her lack of feeling, 
 was not a result of her failure to be regular 
 and faithful in her attention to this duty. 
 But when the hour for prayer came she did 
 not always heartily welcome it, nor regularly 
 and really enjoy its privileges. This was a 
 cause of grief to her, and she sincerely 
 sought to find the reason for this, and to 
 learn what it indicated. She asked herself, 
 " Is this a proof of my spiritual decline ? 
 Ought I not to be at all times in such an 
 attitude of spirit that it would be, not only 
 my duty and privilege, but an occasion of 
 conscious enjoyment to me, to go to my 
 
 90 
 
yfnDlng Iflo Bnjosment in praigcr 
 
 Father and tell him of my needs and de- 
 sires, and confidently to ask his sympathy 
 and help ? Would not this be the case if 
 I realized my duties and necessities as they 
 are, and my Father's love as it is ? " 
 
 In her perplexity of mind over this mat- 
 ter, the disciple came with her trouble to 
 me for judgment and counsel, and, stating 
 the case to me, she asked me to tell her 
 frankly if the lack was in her spiritual con- 
 dition, and, if so, how it was to be reme- 
 died. I, knowing her earnestness of Chris- 
 tian character, and seeing her trouble as it 
 was, said to her : 
 
 " According to your own statement of 
 the case, your trouble is a physical one. 
 You say you do not have enough of physi- 
 cal feeling about the matter, although you 
 have not changed your opinions about 
 your duty or privilege. The lack you 
 lament is a lack of physical emotion or 
 sensitiveness." 
 
 " No, it is not a lack of physical sensi- 
 bility that I lament ; it is spiritual sensi- 
 
 91 
 
Mow to 2)eal witb Boubts 
 
 tiveness that I should have in this matter. 
 Prayer is a spiritual exercise." 
 
 " Yes, but you are still in the body, and 
 fatigue, exhaustion, and other conditions of 
 the body, affect the spirit within the body. 
 Being faithful and persistent in prayer is 
 one thing, having enjoyment in that exer- 
 cise is another thing. One shows the spir- 
 itual state, the other shows the physical 
 condition. When Jesus was in Gethsem- 
 ane, he asked his chosen disciples to watch 
 with him while he prayed. But they fell 
 asleep, and that more than once. Yet 
 Jesus did not count John as lacking in love 
 for him. He saw that what might seem to 
 be a lowered spiritual tone was really an 
 exhausted physical condition, and he said, 
 * The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
 is weak.* While we are in the flesh, the 
 conditions of the spirit are affected by the 
 conditions and surroundings of the flesh. 
 Yet the spirit is lovingly considered by Him 
 who knows us as we are. He sees it as it 
 is rather than as it seems. And we must 
 
 92 
 
^inDin^ Hlo JBnjo^mcnt tn ipra^ec 
 
 try to look at ourselves according to the 
 same standard." 
 
 The one whose mind was troubled be- 
 cause of her lack of enjoyment in prayer 
 seemed to gain from this view of the case. 
 As other behevers have been similarly 
 troubled, there may be a gain through its 
 further considering. 
 
 Enjoyment, or a sense of enjoyment, is 
 largely dependent on one's physical condi- 
 tion. We cannot have a sense, or a con- 
 sciousness, of positive enjoyment while in 
 excruciating pain, nor while in utter exhaus- 
 tion, and unable to frame words or to think 
 consecutively. Yet even at such times 
 one's spirit can be just as truly faithful and 
 devoted and loving as at any other time. 
 One may be in spirit at such times as truly 
 a good father or mother, or as loving a 
 brother or sister or child, or as devoted a 
 friend, or as self-sacrificing a patriot, or as 
 consecrated a missionary, as while thrilling 
 in every nerve with keenest enjoyment of 
 the sacred privileges of the relation in which 
 
 93 
 
IHow to 5)eal witb 2)oulJt6 
 
 he or she is honored. The spirit of the 
 relation is one thing, the sense or con- 
 scious feehng of enjoyment in that relation 
 is quite another thing. 
 
 This applies to all spheres and practices 
 in human life. Even in the primal and 
 fundamental necessity of, and desire for, 
 food and drink, it is much as it is in the 
 higher and more ethereal cravings of our 
 nature, — as for human affection and for 
 human approval. So soon as a child comes 
 to life, it comes to a craving for nourish- 
 ment It must have nourishment because 
 it lives, and if it would continue to live. 
 An enjoyment in having this craving metis 
 as natural to a normal child as is the crav- 
 ing itself And so on as one grows from 
 childhood to maturity. But it is often the 
 case that one comes to lack the conscious 
 desire for food, or the conscious enjoyment 
 in the meeting or satisfying of this desire. 
 Yet this lack of conscious desire or of en- 
 joyment is wholly physical, and in no sense 
 spiritual. While I was in full health and 
 
 94 
 
jfinDitiQ mo jenjogmcnt in prater 
 
 vigor, I had, long years ago, through my 
 army experience, and by my prolonged 
 travel in desert and woods, come to do 
 without a craving for food at regular times. 
 In consequence, I could go all day without 
 a sense of special desire for food. Yet I 
 had the need of, apart from the desire for, 
 nourishment. I would grow steadily weak 
 from my lack, even while my long training 
 had overcome my sense of desire for food 
 at regular intervals. I could, in fact, starve 
 to death without being hungry. Yet I was 
 watchful of my needs and duty, and I took 
 nourishment regularly at specified times. 
 My lack of desire was a physical lack ; but 
 my having a care to take needful food regu- 
 larly, and my gratitude for this privilege, 
 evidenced so far my good spiritual condition. 
 So, again, a loving Christian worker 
 whom I knew, whose whole time was given 
 to Christ, was by disease incapacitated from 
 enjoyment in partaking of food. Each day 
 his taking of the needful supply was a season 
 of intense pain. He shrank from it ; he suf- 
 
 95 
 
Wow to Deal witb 5)oubt6 
 
 fered during it ; it was to him only an occa- 
 sion of unnatural effort. Yet he persevered 
 through all, and this that he might have a 
 little more physical strength for added 
 spiritual work for his Master and for his 
 dear ones. Rarely have I known one who 
 showed such high spiritual devotion, in 
 taking needful physical food without any 
 resultant or incidental enjoyment in connec- 
 tion with it, as this noble sufferer. And 
 he was but an illustration of the complete 
 separation of duty-doing as a spiritual exer- 
 cise, and of physical enjoyment in connec- 
 tion with that exercise. 
 
 Similarly in the matter of taking needful 
 physical exercise in the open air. A will- 
 ingness to perform the duty is one thing, 
 finding enjoyment in that duty is another 
 thing. The two things should not be con- 
 founded. A man who in his normal con- 
 dition was peculiarly active, and seemed to 
 enjoy exercise, had been so weakened by 
 an extended illness that in his convales- 
 cence he found most pleasure in indoor 
 
 96 
 
JfinOiiiQ mo lenjo^mcnt in ipragcc 
 
 occupations. His physician then directed 
 him to take exercise out of doors. 
 
 " But, doctor, I have no desire to go 
 out," said the patient. " My enjoyment is 
 found in my room. I have lost my old 
 pleasure in being in the open air." 
 
 " It is not a question as to what you en- 
 joy or desire," said the wise physician ; " I 
 want you to go out because I think it is 
 best for you. You should make the effort 
 for your own good, even if it is an unpleas- 
 ant effort to you." 
 
 And that case is an illustration of many 
 cases in life as life is. The doing of duty is 
 one thing, finding enjoyment while doing 
 one's duty is quite another thing. Doing 
 as duty what one cannot find enjoyment in 
 doing is often a test of manhood, and is 
 sometimes an evidence of sainthood. In 
 one's school studies, and in one's maturest 
 exercise of high scholarship, it is often 
 necessary to pore over books that one can 
 find no enjoyment in. Much of our social 
 intercourse has to be with persons in whom 
 
 97 
 
Wow to 2)eal witb 5)oulJts 
 
 we can find no enjoyment. Indeed, it is 
 oftener our duty to do that which we do 
 not find pleasure in than that which is in 
 itself to our liking. This being the case, 
 our true attitude of spirit is better shown 
 by our perseverance in duty-doing while 
 we lack enjoyment or a sense of pleasure 
 in a given occupation, than in our doing of 
 that in which we find the highest enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 It is true that, if we persevere in right- 
 doing while we have no pleasure or en- 
 joyment in it, we may come to find added 
 enjoyment in that very occupation. But 
 that is a result and reward of doing our duty 
 while we found no pleasure in such doing. 
 We should not be disturbed because we do 
 not have the full result of our best duty- 
 doing at the beginning, or all the way along 
 in our progress. 
 
 98 
 
XII 
 
 Tunable to Believe in nntracles 
 
 As a general thing, a man who says he 
 does not believe in miracles has no well de- 
 fined idea of what he is talking about. He 
 does not know just what he does believe, 
 or just what he does not believe, in that 
 sphere. Ordinarily he is simply express- 
 ing an inclination to doubt something that 
 he does not understand, without having 
 fixed in his own mind the limits of the be- 
 lief or of the unbelief he is talking about. 
 Many a Bible reader of to-day seems to be 
 as poorly informed in this matter as Bishop 
 Colenso or as Ernest Renan, both of whom, 
 in their books of unbelief, made blunders 
 in referring to the claims and statements of 
 the Bible text that would be unworthy of 
 the average pupil in the junior department 
 of a well-conducted Sunday-school. To 
 say that one does not believe in miracles is 
 
 99 
 
Mow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 to suggest that the doubter lacks an under- 
 standing of himself, and of what he is talk- 
 ing about. 
 
 One of these doubters said to me as a 
 probable believer : 
 
 " I value the Bible for the truths it 
 teaches, and for its wise counsel as to im- 
 portant duties. But I am free to say that 
 I do not believe in the Bible stories of 
 miracles. I count those as Oriental fic- 
 tions, not to be taken as reasonable fact." 
 
 " Do you refer to any particular narra- 
 tion in the Bible as incredible, or are you 
 making a general statement?*' 
 
 " I mean that I do not believe in such a 
 thing as a miracle. I believe that all things 
 are within the course of the known laws of 
 nature. Any event claimed as outside of 
 the laws of nature is not to be accepted as 
 true. I cannot believe it" 
 
 " Then you do not believe in any future 
 state — any continued existence after this 
 life?" 
 
 " Yes, I do believe in that as probable, 
 loo 
 
Tunable to Believe in nUitacled 
 
 although yet unproved. But that is in an- 
 other realm than this. In another life the 
 laws of nature as we now understand them 
 may not limit all possibilities." 
 
 " Then you are willing to admit that 
 there may be in the universe possibilities 
 beyond what we now call the laws of 
 nature ? But you are confident that God 
 never permitted any child of his, whether 
 Moses, or Joshua, or Elisha, or even Jesus, 
 to exert any power in God's service except 
 within the limits of nature's forces as we 
 perceive them. Is that what I understand 
 to be your claim? " 
 
 ** In a sense, that is what I believe." 
 " Is it not possible that some of God's 
 servants of old were familiar with, or were 
 directed to act in accordance with, the 
 workings of natural forces, in ways that 
 seemed wonderful or more than natural to 
 observers of then, yet which are well un- 
 derstood to-day in the light of modern re- 
 search and of scientific discoveries? For 
 example, the crossing of the Red Sea by 
 
 loi 
 
IKow to 2)eal witb Doubts 
 
 the Israelites ; the overthrow of the walls 
 of Jericho by the marching host ; the going 
 forward or backward of the shadow on the 
 dial in the days of Hezekiah — as explained 
 by Professor R. A. Proctor; and various 
 other Bible wonders." 
 
 " Of course, I am ready to admit that 
 any event called a miracle in the Bible 
 that is shown in the light of modern dis- 
 covery to have been within the scope of the 
 laws of nature can be accepted as true. 
 But those are exceptional cases. What I 
 disbelieve are the unnatural or supernatural 
 miracles, of which there are so many in the 
 Bible narrative." 
 
 "Yet all these miracles which are ex- 
 plained to us by modern science had their 
 supernatural side or phase shown in the 
 Divine directions or interposition given as 
 to time or place, which unaided men could 
 not have known about." 
 
 " I believe that God often gives to a child 
 of his a prompting or guidance that may 
 affect his most important interests. Yet 
 
 1 02 
 
mnable to Mclicvc in flQitacled 
 
 these are always in the line of the laws or 
 forces of nature." 
 
 "Yes, the Bible miracles differ from 
 other Oriental wonders in that the latter are 
 unnatural, while the former are simply 
 supernatural, — directed from above nature. 
 It is in this that the Bible miracles are 
 wholly unlike such stories as those in the 
 Arabian Nights and other Oriental works. 
 The Bible miracles are never unnatural, or 
 anti-natural, while they evidence a super- 
 natural power, — a power above nature." 
 
 "But I do not think that there is any 
 place for a special * miracle ' in our present 
 sphere, when God's ordinary laws are 
 operative under his control, and in accord- 
 ance with his plans." 
 
 " Are you sure you know what you mean 
 when you say 'miracle*? At least three 
 different Hebrew and two Greek words 
 are in the common version of the Bible 
 translated 'miracle.' These words mean 
 severally * a wonder,' ' something wonder- 
 ful,' 'an act of power,' 'a sign.' Do you 
 
 103 
 
Mow to Deal wttb Doubts 
 
 deny or doubt that Moses or Joshua or 
 Elijah, or that Jesus, in some cases per- 
 formed wonders, or did acts of power, or 
 wrought what were signs or tokens of their 
 representative character or mission? " 
 
 " Of course I do not. I have never 
 doubted that." 
 
 ** Then you do not mean that you deny 
 or doubt all * miracles ' in the strictest 
 meaning of the words thus translated in 
 the Bible?" 
 
 " I admit that there is an ambiguity as 
 to the meaning of the word 'miracle,' as 
 ordinarily used." 
 
 " Yes, it is evident that you, like a great 
 many other doubters, including Bishop 
 Colenso and Ernest Renan, and even men 
 who are called scholars and thinkers, and 
 who would not want to be called culpably 
 careless or ignorant as writers or speakers, 
 have used pivotal words with reference to 
 important truths that do not mean, or even 
 fairly indicate, your views or position as to 
 Bible truth." 
 
 104 
 
TUnable to ^Believe in flRitaclea 
 
 " But I used the English word * miracle ;' 
 and I intended it to be understood in the 
 sense in which that word is commonly, or 
 popularly, used. I do not believe in mira- 
 cles in the sense of something not to be 
 accounted for in the ordinary or established 
 workings of the course of nature, and 
 claimed to be wrought by the direct exer- 
 cise or intervention of divine power. Such 
 miracles I cannot believe in, even if they 
 are recorded in the Bible." 
 
 " Yet you have said that events recorded 
 in the Bible, which seemed at the time to 
 be miraculous, and which in the light of 
 then you could not have believed, have, in 
 the progress of human knowledge, been 
 shown to be wholly credible. That you 
 still admit." 
 
 " Of course I do. I deny the claim of 
 events that are not to be accounted for 
 except by a direct interposition of divine 
 power, and that obviously are not within 
 the established order of nature. Those I 
 cannot accept." 
 
 105 
 
Kow to Deal witb 2)oubt« 
 
 " If it had been said a few years ago that 
 one man had communicated with another 
 at a distance on or over the ocean without 
 a connecting wire or cable, would that 
 have been counted a miracle ? " 
 
 "With our knowledge of then, we should 
 have been likely to say that it was claim- 
 ing miraculous power, and the fact might 
 have been doubted by one who had not 
 positive evidence of it." 
 
 " But in our day one has no hesitation 
 in believing it." 
 
 " Of course not." 
 
 " Is your claim, then, that your belief as 
 to miracles is contingent on your measure 
 of personal knowledge, or on evidence that 
 is satisfactory to yourself, with an explana- 
 tion that will convince you as to the forces 
 of nature newly brought in play ? In other 
 words, that your measure of belief in the 
 miraculous is a sliding scale, which de- 
 pends on your growing progress in ma- 
 terial knowledge? Must you be prepared 
 by intellectual attainments for any fresh 
 
 1 06 
 
Tunable to JBcllcvc in tniracles 
 
 disclosure of God's goodness or power 
 before you can accept as true what is 
 claimed by others as a result of science 
 or as an act of God's love and power ? " 
 
 " I am glad to believe that I am con- 
 stantly making progress in knowledge and 
 faith. I see, in these days, the reasonable- 
 ness of many things that our fathers spoke 
 of as miraculous r 
 
 " You admit, then, that your doubt about 
 miracles is more indefinite, less surely lim- 
 ited, than you counted it in the beginning 
 of our conversation ; that it has changed 
 from time to time in the past ; and that it 
 is still liable to change in certain undis- 
 closed particulars." 
 
 " Strictly speaking, that may be so as to 
 my use of the word. But I say confidently 
 that God's course in nature is established ; 
 that God does not interpose his special 
 power for the benefit of one of his chil- 
 dren in the manner suggested by the 
 word 'miracle,' or 'miraculous.' In other 
 words, I do not believe in special or par- 
 
 107 
 
Wow to Deal witb JS)oubt:5 
 
 ticular providences as often claimed and 
 pressed." 
 
 " It seems unnecessary for us to discuss 
 this question any farther. It is pleasant to 
 know that you believe as much as you do 
 in God's love and power as back of all 
 the workings of what we call the estab- 
 lished or ordinary forces of nature. Your 
 present doubt seems to be one of faith and 
 its direction, rather than as to the miracu- 
 lous in the sphere of human activities. As 
 to that, we differ widely. Not wishing to 
 discuss it, I desire to state my own belief 
 on the subject, and to leave that before 
 you as my testimony as to what God is to 
 me, and what he is ready to be to whoever 
 trusts him. 
 
 "With God there is neither great nor 
 small. His providences, as affecting us, 
 are both general and particular. In him 
 we live, and move, and have our being. 
 We are as dependent on the exercise of 
 God's personal power for the next breath 
 we draw as are the stars in the courses 
 
 1 08 
 
"Ulnablc to JBelicve in fHicaclcs 
 
 dependent on his keeping in play the great 
 forces of the universe. In the Bible, which 
 tells of these " miracles " in the line of God's 
 plans for his children, God invites us to 
 tell him of our needs, and to trust him 
 for their full supply. Myriads of trusting 
 souls have turned to him in their time of 
 need, and have had those promises more 
 than made good to them. Of course, God 
 employs the forces of the universe when 
 he would answer the prayers of a child of 
 his who in faith asks for help. But God 
 is not limited to the self-action of those 
 forces. God has at least as much power 
 of direction as a telephone operator when 
 he uses the force of electricity in sending a 
 message to an apothecary for a vial of 
 spirits of ammonia for a person who feels 
 faint. God can act in particular cases as 
 well as in sweeping generalities. He has 
 more love and power than has a telegraph 
 operator or an electrician. 
 
 " Personally, I will say gratefully, that, 
 for more than half a century of experience 
 
 109 
 
Kow to 5)eal witb 5)oubt5 
 
 in the Christian hfe, I have Hved in confi- 
 dence in those specific promises, and God 
 has never failed me. More surely than the 
 most devoted father, the tenderest mother, 
 the wisest physician, God has ministered 
 to me in supplying me with specific direc- 
 tions, often including detailed counsel, not 
 to be accounted for by any known law of 
 nature, — directions including my personal 
 actions and the course of others, affecting 
 my life, my health, my business affairs, the 
 interests of the community. These were 
 not merely remarkable occurrences ; they 
 were miracles, events out of the known 
 order, and wrought by the intervention of 
 divine power. As to the continuance of 
 this mode of life I have no doubt, while 
 God continues to be God, and his children 
 continue to need and to trust him. Does 
 this sound ' miraculous ' ? I think so." 
 
 no 
 
XIII 
 
 Wot 3Beltevtna in Hnp Spiritual 
 Biistence 
 
 Unbelief, or non-faith, is more or less 
 sweeping according as a man knows too 
 much or too little to rest on and to enjoy 
 God's disclosure of his love and wisdom as 
 he shows himself in the universe and as he 
 has revealed himself in his Word. More 
 careful thinkers draw a clear distinction 
 between an infidel, a deist, an atheist, a 
 materialist, and a modern science-proud 
 " agnostic," or confessed " know-nothing " 
 in the realm of the greatest certitudes. Or- 
 dinary unbelievers or non-believers con- 
 tent themselves with asserting that they do 
 not believe much of anything, without be- 
 ing sure in their own minds what they are 
 talking about, or thinking about, in the 
 larger realm. Each sort of denier or of 
 doubter has to be dealt with as he shows 
 
 III 
 
How to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 himself, without considering him as one of 
 a class. 
 
 Once, while a regimental chaplain, I sat 
 in a field hospital, talking with a couple 
 of wounded officers. Sitting on the edge 
 of the next cot to them was another 
 wounded officer, talking with a friend. 
 As his back was turned to me, he did 
 not know that his words were being heard 
 by me. Speaking of the dangers of battle, 
 he said confidently: 
 
 "I can't die but once, and when I die 
 that's the end of me. All this talk about a 
 life after death is sheer nonsense. There's 
 nothing of me but what you see here. The 
 idea of a spirit existence is absurd." 
 
 The two young officers with whom I 
 was talking, hearing this remark, looked at 
 each other and at me, as if wondering what 
 I would say. I simply shook my head 
 sadly, and said as if I meant it: 
 
 "The captain says there's no more to 
 him when he dies than there is to a used- 
 up mule or a dead hog. He ought to 
 
 112 
 
inot JBeUeviUQ in Bn^ Spirttual J^iistence 
 
 know himself better than we do. I don't 
 know where we could begin an argument 
 to show he is mistaken. You and I know 
 that there's something more than that to 
 us ; and we thank God that there is." 
 
 The argument of the instinctive self- 
 consciousness of an immortal spirit showed 
 itself in the recoil of those officers from the 
 thought of the captain's gross materialism. 
 They fairly shuddered with disgust. One 
 of them exclaimed : 
 
 " What a thought that is ! " 
 
 The other responded : 
 
 " If the captain should hear that, I think 
 he'd be ashamed that he ever said what he 
 did." 
 
 And the way was thus opened for an 
 earnest talk between myself and the two 
 officers on the truth which their own inner 
 consciousness made evident, that a man's 
 spirit, as apart from his body and mind, 
 distinguishes him from the brute creation 
 more than does the outer form. 
 
 A man who was exceptionally intelli- 
 "3 
 
Wow to Deal wttb 5)oubt6 
 
 gent and thoughtful, a university graduate, 
 said honestly that he could find no evi- 
 dence of the existence of God. He would 
 be glad to be convinced to the contrary, 
 but all his reading and searching were of 
 no avail. He was asked : 
 
 " Are not the evidences of God's exist- 
 ence to be seen on every side in the uni- 
 verse ? Is not our very confidence in the 
 courses of nature, in the changes of the 
 seasons, in the laws of growth and decay, 
 and in all that we have, or can have, or 
 can hope for, an evidence and a proof that 
 all is ordered and controlled by a Supreme 
 Intelligence or Almighty God ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I believe that we are affected by, 
 and are subject to, the courses and the laws 
 of nature. No intelligent person can doubt 
 that." 
 
 " How can you have any confidence that 
 the same system will prevail in nature year 
 by year and age by age, unless you believe 
 that an Intelligent and Omnipotent God is 
 over all ? John Stuart Mill, who began 
 
 114 
 
Wot Mclicvim tn Bug Spiritual Bii^tence 
 
 his studies as an atheist, admitted that the 
 very term ' laws of nature ' presupposes a 
 God over nature. There can be no law 
 without a lawgiver. Both making and 
 enforcing laws require knowledge and 
 power — or Almighty God." 
 
 " That is an anthropomorphic idea. You 
 seem to think that the controlling force or 
 forces in the universe must be a person or an 
 individual, like a mammoth man which you 
 call God, but which I speak of impersonally 
 as Nature. That is the difference between us." 
 
 " Then you do not see any signs or evi- 
 dence of a Supreme Person or God in the 
 universe, who is over all, and who has an 
 interest in all existing creatures ? You see 
 no proof of this ? " 
 
 " I do not. I should be glad if I could, 
 but I do not." 
 
 " Does not this show you to be excep- 
 tional ? Are you, in this, exceptionally 
 strong, or exceptionally weak ? Is it be- 
 cause you are above, or below, others in 
 your spiritual perceptions ? " 
 
 IIS 
 
IKow to 2)eal witb 2)oubt0 
 
 "I certainly do not claim that it is a 
 proof of my superiority; yet I do not 
 think that it is, in itself, an evidence of my 
 mental lack. I know that some of the 
 world's superior thinkers, and men of un- 
 questioned ability and character, have been 
 unable to perceive proofs of the existence 
 of a God. I simply confess that I am of 
 this number. I do not perceive the proofs 
 of the existence of God, while I would be 
 glad to be thus convinced." 
 
 "As something to aid you in deciding 
 whether your failure to perceive evidences 
 of God in nature and above nature is a sign 
 of your progress or of your backwardness, 
 have you considered whether the world, 
 in its advances, is toward fuller faith or 
 freer doubt ? " 
 
 " I suppose that as the world progresses 
 men are less likely to accept without good 
 reason many of the beliefs of their an- 
 cestors as to the unseen and unknown 
 world ? In view of that truth, I suppose it 
 would hardly be claimed that it shows a 
 
 ii6 
 
Hot JBelieving (n Bnig Spiritual Biistence 
 
 lack of intelligence to wait for evidence of 
 the existence of spiritual beings in another 
 sphere, and of an Almighty God above all." 
 
 " Is not the belief in a spiritual being, or 
 in spiritual beings, which are above and 
 beyond sight and sense, as general in our 
 race as the belief in those things that are 
 disclosed to us by our senses?" 
 
 " I would hardly admit that. While 
 mankind generally inclines to the idea that 
 there are spirits unseen to be placated or 
 invoked, there have always been those 
 among the more intelligent of our race who 
 would not admit that the fancies of super- 
 stition, or the proposal to solve in a certain 
 way the mysteries of the unseen and un- 
 known spheres, were to be accepted as 
 satisfactory." 
 
 " Similarly there have always been indi- 
 viduals who were lacking in more or less 
 of the five senses which we deem essential 
 to highest efficiency in our natural life. But 
 even though one Hke Helen Keller gives 
 proof of high capabilities while deaf and 
 
 117 
 
Kow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 blind, this hardly proves that those persons 
 are mistaken who have and use their eyes 
 and ears, 
 
 " Look at the record of our race in the 
 matter of recognizing the existence and 
 personality of an Almighty God. There 
 has never been a people in any age, or in 
 any land, so advanced, or reaching so su- 
 perior a plane in intellect and learning, as 
 not to have had its best and wisest men 
 such believers. Thus with Egypt in its 
 glory, with Babylon in its pride, with 
 Greece in its palmiest days; with Rome, 
 and Arabia, and India, and with other 
 of the mightier peoples of earth. So it 
 has been with peoples of the least civiliza- 
 tion and culture. No people has been 
 found so low, or so lacking, as to be with- 
 out a prevailing belief in God or gods. 
 So we can say that this belief is as wide- 
 spread among men as is the use of the 
 five senses." 
 
 "But has not non-belief, or doubt, or 
 agnosticism, among those of the highest 
 
 ii8 
 
Hot XclicvinQ in Bnis Spiritual Biietence 
 
 intelligence, including some of the foremost 
 thinkers and students in the world, in- 
 creased, in these later years, with the prog- 
 ress of the race ? " 
 
 " Such superior persons as you speak of 
 who are doubters, or agnostics, are still as 
 exceptional as the deaf and blind Helen 
 Kellers of our day. Over against them are 
 those of firm belief and of reverent faith, 
 the equals of, if not superiors to, and in 
 numbers far exceeding, the doubters and 
 agnostics. At the close of the nineteenth 
 century a larger proportion of the scholars 
 and thinkers and wise men of the world 
 than at the close of any former century in 
 history were firm believers in Almighty God, 
 and were rejoicing in their belief These 
 men, who now include eminent scholars, 
 great thinkers, foremost scientists, are men 
 influential among their fellows. Some of 
 these were for years agnostics, but have 
 passed through to a higher plane and 
 stage. 
 
 " For myself, I can testify to the knowl- 
 119 
 
How to 2)eal witb Doubts 
 
 edge of, and to the loving help from, God 
 day by day and from year to year, for 
 nearly half a century. And in this I am 
 by no means unique or exceptional ; thou- 
 sands upon thousands can testify similarly, 
 and their numbers are increasing, both 
 actually and relatively, with the progress 
 of knowledge and science in the world. 
 To me God has long been more real than 
 ever was my devoted mother, and readier 
 to give me help in little matters and in 
 great. No pastor, or physician, or wise 
 teacher, has been so sure a guide in any 
 special sphere as the Almighty God — my 
 spiritual Father and Great Physician and 
 ever-present Helper — has ever been ready to 
 prove himself in my need and faith. The 
 truth is not a matter of spiritual belief It 
 is the realest and most practical truth of my 
 every-day life." 
 
 " In your experience and conviction you 
 are certainly to be envied. I wish I had 
 such faith." 
 
 "Why, then, do you not have it? God 
 
 1 20 
 
mot :fi3eUevtnQ in Bnis Sptritual Bitstcnce 
 
 is ready to give it to you, if you will ask 
 it, — if you will take it." 
 
 "But I lack the belief, or the evidences 
 that give belief, that such an experience is 
 possible to me." 
 
 " You remember, perhaps, the story of 
 the atheist, who, turning doubtfully toward 
 the light, dropped on his knees, and cried 
 out in prayer : " O God, if there be a God, 
 save my soul, if I've got a soul ! " Such a 
 prayer God will welcome from one who 
 comes unable to pray more confidently, but 
 who is ready to receive added light as it is 
 given to him. Are you willing to kneel 
 with me now in prayer, while I ask help 
 from God for you in fresh spiritual knowl- 
 edge ? " 
 
 " I am, even though it be in doubt." 
 
 We two knelt side by side. With my 
 arm about my friend, I talked with God as 
 one who knew God and trusted him fully. 
 I spoke of my companion and his need, 
 and asked help for him as God saw that 
 need and could relieve it Then I asked 
 
 121 
 
IKow to Deal witb Doubts 
 
 my doubting companion to speak to God 
 for himself, and tell him not what he doubted 
 about, but what he would like to attain to or 
 to receive. The feeble cry of the doubter 
 went up to God ; it was heard ; it was heeded. 
 And that was the beginning of a new day 
 to that darkened soul. The light that then 
 faintly dawned shone more and more unto 
 the perfect, or complete, day. He who had 
 before had doubts as to the very existence 
 of God, came to be not only a firm beHever 
 himself, but he grew to have power in 
 bringing others into the full light and joy 
 of God's service and favor. God is ever 
 ready to work wonders for and with those 
 who come to him in need and desire. 
 
 122 
 
XIV 
 
 Unconsistencp ot Cbristtan 
 Doubters 
 
 A strange tendency of the human mind 
 is to accept readily much that might seem 
 most wonderful and contrary to all reason, 
 while at the same time rejecting as un- 
 worthy of belief, or at all events seriously 
 doubting, what is far less wonderful, and 
 what is not at variance with the dictates 
 of the soundest reason. This unmistakable 
 fact is recognized in the telling adage, 
 " Many a man who does not believe in a 
 God believes in ghosts." 
 
 All of us have known men who reject 
 the Bible as a guide of life, or as worthy 
 of consideration as the most remarkable 
 book in the world, who are disturbed for 
 days or weeks when they see for the first 
 time in the month the new moon over 
 their left shoulder, and who seriously hesi- 
 
 123 
 
Bow to 2)cal witb Doubts 
 
 tate to begin any fresh undertaking on Fri- 
 day. It is a well-authenticated fact that 
 many an unbeliever or declared opponent 
 of Christianity is positively affected in his 
 life course by the influence of signs and 
 omens, and lucky and unlucky days and 
 seasons. 
 
 We generally speak of " superstition " 
 and " religion " as if they were two entirely 
 different forces, affecting entirely different 
 classes of persons; but it might be difficult 
 for us to draw the line between the two 
 forces even as the line exists in our own 
 minds. It would be still more difficult for 
 us to describe just the sort of persons who 
 are influenced by the one force, and not by 
 the other. This truth, or the inevitable 
 confusion with reference to this truth, 
 should be borne in mind in dealing with 
 those who evidently have an open mind 
 with reference to the Bible and Christian 
 truth, yet who seem unable to accept the 
 Bible record of some prominent Christian 
 truth. It may, in their case, be simply a 
 
 124 
 
Inconaistencs of Cbristian Doubters 
 
 result of a peculiar working of their mind, 
 and another indication of the strange ten- 
 dency of human nature. Such persons 
 deserve considerate, sympathetic treat- 
 ment, in order that they may be helped 
 into fuller and clearer light. They do not 
 mean to be unreasonable, even though 
 they are. 
 
 A young Christian worker came to me, 
 one day, with a confession of a doubt, be- 
 cause he thought I was always ready to give 
 sympathetic counsel to an honest doubter. 
 The young worker had been for some time 
 prominent in Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation work, and in religious effort among 
 university students. He was himself a 
 university graduate, and was considering 
 the Christian ministry for his life work. 
 He had the reputation and the appearance 
 of an earnest and devoted Christian man. 
 There was nothing that seemed to suggest 
 the caviler or the doubter, even when he 
 confessed his doubt. It was evident that 
 what he believed he believed heartily, and 
 
 1 25 
 
IKow to 2)eal witb 2)oubts 
 
 that he would be glad to believe more. 
 He seemed to be sorry that he had to con- 
 fess any doubt. 
 
 After speaking of his manner of life and 
 his habits of thought, as if he would have 
 it understood that he was not inclined to 
 a doubting mood with reference to Bible 
 truths, he said, half hesitatingly : 
 
 " The only thing that troubles me in 
 the story of Jesus is the narrative of his 
 miraculous birth." 
 
 " Do you think there was anything ex- 
 ceptional in the life and work and words 
 of Jesus ? " I asked. 
 
 " Gh ! I think he was in all things ex- 
 ceptional. I don't doubt him. I trust 
 myself fully to his guidance, and for my 
 salvation. It is only about the circum- 
 stances of his birth that I have any doubt." 
 
 " How do you think Jesus compared 
 with the people of his generation ? " 
 
 " I think no one was for a moment to be 
 compared with him. He was way above 
 all men of his day and generation." 
 
 126 
 
tnconsiBtcnc^ ot Cbri^tian WoMbtcts 
 
 " How do you think it was as to the 
 men who had gone before him, the wisest 
 and the best and the greatest of them, — 
 men like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Solo- 
 mon and David and Samuel and Joshua 
 and Caleb and Moses, and other leaders 
 of thought and action ? " 
 
 " Oh ! I think he was far above them all. 
 None of them was to be compared with him. 
 I have no doubt on that point. It is, as I 
 tell you, only about the matter of his miracu- 
 lous birth that I have any doubt." 
 
 " You think, then, that Jesus came into 
 this world with the world as it was, and 
 drew a new line of being and character 
 and conduct in it, setting up here a new 
 standard for men, even the best and wisest 
 and greatest of men, to imitate and to strive 
 to live up to from that time forward ? Do 
 you believe that the example and teachings 
 of Jesus, his work and his words, had any 
 influence over his fellows while he was here 
 in this world, and that they have continued 
 to have this until the present day ? " 
 
 127 
 
Mow to Deal wltb Doubts 
 
 " Yes, I most firmly believe that. I be- 
 lieve there was never anything like it. He 
 was never equaled or approached. I have 
 no doubts on these points. My only doubt, 
 as I said to you, is about the story of his 
 miraculous birth." 
 
 " You speak of the influence of the work 
 and words of Jesus, not to say anything 
 about the incitement and the new motive 
 and the help furnished in his death and 
 resurrection, — what do you think has been 
 the result in the lives of those who, since 
 his day, have sought to live up to his stan- 
 dard? What proportion of his followers 
 compare favorably with his example ? " 
 
 " I do not think that any one of them 
 could be compared with him." 
 
 " Not even with his example and teach- 
 ings and influence before them, and with 
 two thousand years of progress and moral 
 growth in the world's history ? Not a 
 single one of the most progressive pupils 
 has come up to the standard of the old- 
 time teacher ? " 
 
 128 
 
UnconsiBtcnc^ ot Cbcigtian Doubters 
 
 " Not one. Oh ! I tell you, I count 
 Jesus all by himself. No one was, or is, 
 to be compared with him." 
 
 " Well now, my friend, just look at the 
 case as you present it to me. You say 
 that you believe that two thousand years 
 ago there appeared in this world one who 
 was greatly superior to his fellows, one 
 who was far above the wisest and the 
 greatest and the best who had ever lived 
 on earth ; and that during the years of his 
 life he was such a teacher and example, 
 and had such an influence on his disciples 
 and his generation, that the world feels it to 
 this day; that he was such a Being that 
 you are ready to trust him as a Saviour for 
 this life and the next ; and that, even with 
 all the teachings that he gave for men's 
 guidance, and with all the helps that the 
 church which he organized has set at work 
 for good in the passing centuries, not one 
 of his followers or imitators has approached 
 his standard of spiritual and moral excel- 
 lence. You say you believe all this, yet 
 
 129 
 
How to Deal witb Boubts 
 
 you cannot believe the Bible record that 
 there was anything peculiar about his com- 
 ing into this world and life. You prefer to 
 believe that he was born just like every other 
 man in order to be unlike every one who 
 ever had been, or who then was, or who 
 ever was to be. 
 
 " That belief of yours, my friend, is a 
 great deal more difficult than my belief I 
 am glad that my mind isn't subjected to 
 such a test as yours is. Believing what 
 you and I beheve as to the utterly unique 
 life and character of Jesus, and of his place 
 in the universe, it seems to me most reason- 
 able to suppose that there was something 
 peculiar in the coming of such a being into 
 this world ; and it would seem most un- 
 reasonable to suppose that he was born 
 into this world just like an ordinary man. 
 Don't you yourself think so ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do, when I look at it in that 
 light," said the doubter. 
 
 And it will often be found, with many 
 another doubter of some point of Christian 
 
 130 
 
Inconststcncis of Cbrfetian Doubters 
 
 truth, that he fully accepts and firmly be- 
 lieves more wonderful things than that 
 which he doubts ; and that his accepted 
 beliefs are more reasonable, if taken with 
 the one which he doubts, than without it. 
 Christianity is more consistent with itself 
 than would be any substitute for it accord- 
 ing to our fancies or preferences. 
 
 Christianity is more reasonable than are 
 the beliefs of those who deny or doubt its 
 claims. This is true as to the more promi- 
 nent unbelievers and scoffers. It is also 
 likely to be the case with the doubts of 
 honest Christians who have troubles with 
 particular points of belief They are almost 
 sure to be ready to accept without a ques- 
 tion truths that are less in accordance with 
 reason than that which troubles them. In 
 view of this truth, it is well that one who 
 would help honest doubters should bring 
 out by his questions this phase of their un- 
 reasonableness. It is not too close an ad- 
 herence to reason, but a lack of it, that 
 multiplies doubters in the world. 
 
 131