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Ctje ^Hnton ecological Seminar?
in tye City of $eto porfe

WILL JESUS CHRIST SATISFY THE
RELIGIOUS NEEDS OF THE WORLD?
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF THE
Reverend ROBERT ERNEST HUME, Ph.D.
AS MARCELLUS HARTLEY PROFESSOR OF THE PHILOSOPHY
AND HISTORY OF RELIGION AND MISSIONS
WITH THE
INAUGURATION EXERCISES, BEING THE OPENING
SERVICE OF THE SEVENTY-NINTH ACADEMIC
YEAR OF THE SEMINARY

*

IN THE CHAPEL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER FIRST
MCMXIV

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'I give ihefe Books
for the founding of a. College .in, ihh_Colony>

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Presented by the Author

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Cjje WLnion ecological Seminar?
in tlje City of $eto got*

WILL JESUS CHRIST SATISFY THE
RELIGIOUS NEEDS OF THE WORLD?
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF THE .
Reverend ROBERT ERNEST HUME, Ph.D./9
AS MARCELLUS HARTLEY PROFESSOR OF THE PHILOSOPHY //
AND HISTORY OF RELIGION AND MISSIONS
WITH THE
INAUGURATION EXERCISES, BEING THE OPENING
SERVICE OF THE SEVENTY-NINTH ACADEMIC
YEAR OF THE SEMINARY

^

IN THE CHAPEL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER FIRST
MCMXIV

CONTENTS

PAGE
I
THE ORDER OF SERVICE 5
II
THE INAUGURATION EXERCISES 7
III
THE CHARGE 11
IY
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS - - 15

I
THE ORDER OE SERVICE
1 Organ Prelude
2 Processional Hymn 116 " Our God, Our Help in Ages Past "
3 The Lord's Prayer
4 Chant: " Benedictus "
5 Scripture Lesson : Colossians i : 9-22
The Rev. Professor Julius August Bewer, Ph.D.
6 Hymn 664 " O God of Love, 0 King of Peace »
7 Statement : William M. Kingsley, M.A.
The President of the Board of Directors
8 Reading of the Preamble to the Constitution
9 Declaration : The Professor-Elect
10 Declaration : The President of the Board of Directors
11 Prayer : The Rev. Joseph Dunn Burrell, D.D.
12 Charge : The Rev. Anthony Harrison Evans, D.D.
on behalf of the Board of Directors
13 Inaugural Address : " Will Jesus Christ Satisfy the
Religious Needs of the World ? "
The Rev. Professor Robert Ernest Hume, Ph.D.
14 Hymn 401 " Christ for the World We Sing "
15 Prayer and Benediction :
The Rev. Professor Hugh Black, D.D.
16 Recessional Hymn 594 " Forward be Our Watchword "
17 Organ Postlude

II
THE INAUGURATION EXERCISES
The Inauguration of the Rev. Robert Ernest Hume, Ph.D.,
as Marcellus Hartley Professor of the Philosophy and History
of Religion and Missions, took place on Thursday afternoon,
October 1, 1914, at four o'clock, in the Chapel of the Seminary,
being the Opening Service of the Seventy-ninth Academic Tear.
After devotional exercises the President of the Board of
Directors, William M. Kingsley, M.A., made the following
statement : «
" On the 11th day of November, 1913, the Board of Directors
of the Union Theological Seminary, by unanimous vote, elected
the Reverend Robert Ernest Hume, Ph.D., then a Missionary
of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
in Bombay, India, to the Marcellus Hartley Professorship of
the Philosophy and History of Religion and Missions. Dr.
Hume has accepted and is now beginning his work here.
" The organic law of the Seminary, as amended after careful
and prolonged consideration by the Board of Directors, and
adopted November 15, 1904, requires each Professor when
entering upon the duties of his Chair to make a certain
Declaration immediately after the reading of the Preamble
adopted by the Founders on the 18th day of January, 1836.
I will now call upon Dr. Francis Brown to read the Preamble."
" Preamble
" That the design of the Founders of the Seminary may be
fully known to all whom it may concern, and be sacredly
regarded by the Directors, Professors and Students, it is judged
proper to make the following preliminary statement :
"A number of Christians, both clergymen and laymen, in the
cities of New York and Brooklyn, deeply impressed with the
claims of the world upon the Church of Christ to furnish a
competent supply of well-educated and pious ministers of the
Gospel; impressed also with the inadequacy of all existing
7

8
means for this purpose; and believing that large cities fur
nish many peculiar facilities and advantages for conducting
theological education; having, after several meetings for con
sultation and prayer, again convened on the 18th of January,
A. D. 1836, unanimously adopted the following resolutions and
declarations :
" 1. Resolved, in humble dependence on the grace of God
to attempt the establishment of a Theological Seminary :'n the
City of New York.
"2. This Institution (while it will receive others to the
advantages it may furnish) is principally designed for such
young men in the cities of New York and Brooklyn as are, or
may be, desirous of pursuing a course of theological study, and
whose circumstances render it inconvenient for them to go
from home for this purpose.
" 3. It is the design of the Founders to furnish the means
of a full and thorough education, in all the subjects taught in
the best Theological Seminaries in the United States, and also
to embrace therewith a thorough knowledge of the standards
of faith and discipline of the Presbyterian Church.
" 4. Being fully persuaded that vital godliness well proved,
a thorough education, and a wholesome practical training in
works of benevolence and pastoral labors, are all essentially
necessary to meet the wants and promote the best interests of
the kingdom of Christ, the Founders of this Seminary design
that its Students, living and acting under pastoral influence,
and performing the important duties of church members in
the several churches to which they belong, or with which they
worship, in prayer-meetings, in the instruction of Sabbath-
schools and Bible-classes, and being conversant with all the
social benevolent efforts in this important location, shall have
the opportunity of adding to solid learning and true piety,
enlightened experience.
" 5. By the foregoing advantages, the Founders hope and
expect, with the blessing of God, to call forth from these two
flourishing cities, and to enlist in the service of Christ and in
the work of the ministry, genius, talent, enlightened piety and

9
missionary zeal ; and to qualify many for the labors and man
agement of the various religious institutions, seminaries of
learning, and enterprises of benevolence, which characterize
the present times.
" 6. Finally, it is the design of the Founders to provide a
Theological Seminary in the midst of the greatest and most
growing community in America, around which all men of
moderate views and feelings, who desire to live free from
party strife, and to stand aloof from all extremes of doctrinal
speculation, practical radicalism and ecclesiastical domination,
may cordially and affectionately rally."
The President of the Board continued :
" I now call upon Dr. Hume to make the required declara
tion." Dr. Hume then made the required declaration, as follows:
" I promise to maintain the principles and purposes of this
Institution, as set forth in the Preamble adopted by the
Founders on the 18th of January, 1836, and in the Charter
granted by the Legislature of the State of New York on the
27th of March, 1839, and accepted by the Board of Directors
on the 20th of December, 1839."
[The Charter is a simple Act of Incorporation, of which only
the following section refers to the educational work of the
Seminary :
" § 5. Equal privileges of admission and instruction, with all
the privileges of the Institution, shall be allowed to students of
every denomination of Christians." ]
The President of the Board then said :
" Having been chosen by the Board of Directors a Professor
in this Seminary, and having made in this public manner the
declaration required by the Board, I now declare the Rev. Pro
fessor Robert Ernest Hume, Ph.D., duly maugurated Marcellus
Hartley Professor of the Philosophy and History of Religion
and Missions, and as such entitled to discharge all the duties
of that office in this Seminary."

10
Prayer was then offered by the Rev. Joseph D. Burrell, D.D.,
of the Board of Directors.
The President of the Board then said :
" It is the custom of this Board to appoint one of its mem
bers to deliver on its behalf a Charge to a Professor on his
inauguration, and the Board has appointed the Rev. Anthony
Harrison Evans, D.D., to deliver the Charge to Professor
Hume." The Charge was then delivered by Dr. Evans, and was fol
lowed by the Inaugural address of Professor Hume. The
exercises closed in the manner indicated by the Order of
Service.

Ill
THE CHARGE TO PROEESSOR HUME
BY THE
Reverend Anthony H. Evans, D.D.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
My Brother:
The Directors of the Seminary have given me the happy task
of charging you on this important occasion. I do so the more
gladly because when you were a student in this school of the
prophets you were appointed to work in the church which I
served, and we were associated together in promoting the
Kingdom of God.
The consecration of your life, the enthusiasm with which you
pursued your labors, the high intellectual and spiritual quality
of your services, and the strong and beautiful influence of your
Christian character in the days of our first fellowship, I recall
with admiration and pleasure. You gave sure promise of
notable achievement in furthering the cause of Christ. You
have fulfilled that promise. You have realized the hopes that
were entertained of your future. By your industry, zeal and
fidelity in the exercise of your talents, you have achieved a
great opportunity to serve mankind.
You have been called to a high place, a place made especially
eminent by the abilities and accomplishments of your prede
cessor, the late lamented Professor George William Knox. The
duties you are now to assume are big, and they will require of
you the fullest use of your mental and spiritual energies. You
are abundantly warranted in assuming these duties with con
fidence and with joy. The circumstances of your life, the
character of your ministerial service, and the qualities that
have marked your career and personality have especially fitted
you for the new responsibilities now awaiting your earnest
attention. The Seminary is to be congratulated on the com
pleteness and worth of your equipment, and you are to be con-
11

12
gratulated upon being called to labor in so inspiring a field and
in the fellowship of so choice and consecrated a company of
God's servants.
In putting on the professorial toga I bid you not to allow it
to smother or obstruct the freest expression of your personality.
Much depends these days upon the man, upon the manner of
his approach to men, the sincerity of his spirit, the sympathy
of his heart, the nobleness of his character, the vitality of his
service. You will have much to say in the course of your
career in this Seminary, and your utterances will be more
effective for the genuineness and strength and charm of your
own personal life. Amid all the absorptions of your mind in
the intellectual aspects of your work, you will not fail to main
tain and increase in yourself personally those spiritual graces
which so become you as a Christian man and which are so
essential to your highest usefulness. The finest spirits, the
holiest natures, the greatest enthusiasts, as well as the most
competent and accomplished minds are needed in our Chairs of
theological instruction. So let the light of your soul shine out
and the truth you speak will take on additional brightness and
clearness. As a teacher you will need to have in your mind not merely
the truth but those who are being taught and the great pur
pose. So you will avoid being pedantic or too academic. You
will concern yourself with the practical question of training
men for the great task of establishing the Kingdom of God.
You will seek to make the truth you present living, inspira
tional, useful, a genuine contribution to the equipment of the
students for their life work. You will strive so to teach that
students will leave your classes not simply crammed with
information but charged with inspiration. You will help to
make this Seminary not only a communicator of truth and well-
fortified assurances, but a power-house wherein devout souls
preparing themselves for the service of the Lord Jesus Christ
shall be unfailingly furnished with enthusiasm for their blessed
calling. Knowing the reality and depth of your human sympathy, I
hardly need to remind you to keep in close touch with strug
gling humanity. Having been stirred by the sufferings and

13
sorrows of mankind, and having seen the sad and blighting
effects of ignorance and sin, you will not forget the troubled
world lying beyond this seat of learning. You will often
wander in spirit among the haunts of men, to watch them in
their toils and temptations, to see them groping hopelessly in
the dark, to follow them as they trudge along with heavy
burdens and with heavy hearts, and to behold them in all the
tragic and pitiful conditions to which they are heir by nature
and circumstance. And that loving heart of yours will keep
tender and compassionate, and you will be moved by a great
longing to save and bless mankind. The spirit of Jesus will
continually possess you, and this will serve to make you wise
and helpful. You will put yourself in the minister's place.
You will know and understand the actual problems that are to
be solved, and your teaching will meet the demands of a minis
try that must be trained, not to discuss problems primarily but
to solve them. So you will continue to keep in sympathetic
contact with the great field of humanity while pursuing your
labors in this attractive environment and in this communion of
saints and scholars.
" Now must Christ be everything to us," said Luther, " and
to whom Christ is everything all else is nothing. He is made
unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption. He is all and in all." What the mighty reformer
felt, the first great missionary to India felt. "When I am
gone," said the dying missionary, " say nothing about William
Carey. Speak only of William Carey's Saviour." In the midst
of the religious agitations of his day Frederick W. Robertson
expressed himself as follows : " Of one thing I have become
distinctly conscious — that my motto for life, my whole heart's
expression is, ' None but Christ.' "
My beloved friend, if I know your life or the chief treasure
of your heart and mind, this too is your motto, "None but
Christ." I bid you cling to it with increasing tenacity. I bid
you summon all the graces and talents of your being to exalt
and set forth Christ as the perfect revealer of God, the Saviour of
mankind, the moral and spiritual leader of the race, the supreme
comforter and satisfier of the human heart, and the one effective
hope for the solution of the world's chief problems. Whatever

14
good you may find in other religions, whatever of value they
may have for the spiritual development of the race, your con
suming passion will be to point out in glowing and convincing
thought the pre-eminence of the religion of Christ. Make it to
shine as the sun in the heaven of your particular field of work.
Show it to be, what it is, the one supremely adequate, complete
and universal religion for the redemption of mankind, and for
the promotion of love, brotherhood, righteousness and peace in
the world.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, and on my own behalf
as your friend and fellow, I welcome you to this goodly place
and to this comradeship of service. May your life be one of
serenity and power, filled with joy, and continually sustained
and comforted by the divine companionship.

iy
THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS
BY THE
Rev. Professor Robert Ernest Hume, Ph.D.

WILL JESUS CHRIST SATISEY THE
RELIGIOUS NEEDS OE THE WORLD?

As I stand and speak for the first time within the house of
worship in this institution of sacred learning, I would make my
p , first utterance an expression of personal devo-
„ ,. tion to God, — the God and Father of our Lord
^" Jesus Christ, my God and Father, Who hath
brought me to this hour.
In looking back over my past life I feel humbled, yet inspired,
as I recognize the Providence of a preparing God. My course
of theological studies here was intercepted by the priceless
privilege of travelling companionship for a year with the revered
President Charles Cuthbert Hall, when he went as Barrows
Lecturer on Christianity to the University centers of India and
Japan. It was the same loving Providence continuing to give
me a rich preparation for this my future work in America, that
led me for a term of years as a Christian missionary to India.
In that distant country I had the privilege of further associa
tion with the honored Professor George William Knox, when
he too went to the East as special lecturer on Christianity from
Union Seminary. Now, in coming back to my beloved Alma
Mater, I desire to testify from personal and missionary expe
rience to the guidance of a loving Heavenly Father and to the
ability of Jesus Christ to save. And as I refer to the two
former leaders in this institution with whom I have had the
most of personal connection, I venture to call attention to the
15

16
special significance of our loss. It was in practical obedience
to the world-saviourhood of Jesus Christ that Union Seminary
lost its last Professor of the " Philosophy and History of Relig
ion and Missions," and also its last President. Dr. Knox died
in actual service on the foreign mission field. Dr. Hall was twice
sent as an eminent ambassador of Christ from the West to the
East; although his actual decease occurred in America, yet mani
festly to his friends and — I know— consciously to himself, he
was a living sacrifice to the cause of carrying the Gospel of
Jesus Christ into all the world. Thus, to the men of Union
Seminary whom I have the privilege of addressing today, I
bring with solemn recollections, yet with peculiar satisfaction,
an inquiry which has not only been engaging my own activities
during recent years, but which is also engaging the varied
activities of this great Christian institution, viz, " Will Jesus
Christ satisfy the religious needs of the world f "
We are in a different position from the early disciples of
Jesus, when they received the Last Command to " Go into all
„,, . , , , the world, and preach the Gospel to
The special problem ' ,, „ ... .*, „ .
, , , , every creature " ; for " the world " of
and method ,, . , . , ' .,, . .
their knowledge consisted merely of
the few lands lying around the Mediterranean Sea in the now
defunct Roman Empire. Modern Christians are confronted
with several highly organized religions, which are our neighbors
all around the globe. Some of these religions had been founded
in a remote distance, both of time and space, from Palestine.
The most active of the present non-Christian systems, viz, Islam,
has been founded since the time of Jesus and with knowledge
about him. Some of these other religions, e.g., Hinduism and
Confucianism, are national religions, which have rendered notable
service for the preservation of their own nation, and which
question the serviceability of a foreign religion. Two of them,
viz, Buddhism and Islam, contest with Christianity the claim of
being the one only universal religion for the entire world; and, in
substantiation of such a claim, they have actually succeeded in
winning whole tribes and nations whose very existence was
unknown in the time of our Lord. Of course we recognize that
not every person living within nominally Christian lands, nor
even every professing Christian, has been a true follower of

17
Jesus Christ. We know, too, that within organized Christen
dom there has been philosophical scepticism directed against
traditional formulations of Christian belief. Furthermore, the
growing acquaintance of the West with the East during recent
times has brought a certain admirable sympathy; but it has
also brought — for some undiscriminating persons — a strange
provincialism, which holds that the religions of the East are
quite sufficient for that part of the world, while Christians may
remain content with themselves.
In this complex situation a thoroughgoing solution of the
enormous problem which I have propounded must include a
sympathetically discriminating study of the documentary his
tory of the main religions of the world and also of the political
history of the nations which those religions have undertaken to
serve. My method will be to give the results of an inductive
study of certain large areas of historical experiences with a
special view to determine, with some scientific accuracy, " What
are the fundamental religious needs of the world ? " Then, from
a comparative estimate of the successes and failures of the
forms of satisfaction which have been offered to the felt relig
ious needs by the different religions, I can offer important
evidence upon some of the essential features of that religion
which shall be adjudged to have afforded the completest satis
faction to man's religious needs. Finally I shall present an
analysis of some of the religious satisfactions which are
specifically supplied by Jesus Christ.
A further word regarding method : — I have not followed the
traditional apologetic method of inquiring whether Christianity
is true, in comparison with some other religions which therefore
must be condemned as false. Truth, I believe, is proven to be
true when it is shown to serve satisfactorily and especially in
proportion to the completeness with which it serves. Religion
is needed to meet the various religious needs of men. The
highest hope for any particular religion is that it may serve
man's religious needs more satisfactorily and more completely
than any other religion.
Furthermore, my inquiry is not propounded in the form
" Will Christianity satisfy the religious needs of the world ? "
I am confident that Christianity, if regarded as some sort of

18
system, will not satisfy the world. No mere system can satisfy
the living needs of living men. As Tennyson has put it in " In
Memoriam ", " Our little systems have their day.
They have their day, and cease to be.
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they."
Only personality will supply the highest satisfaction to the
religious needs of growing persons. Therefore I have framed
my inquiry in the personal form, " Will Jesus Christ satisfy
the religious needs of the world?" I am confident that he,
and no one else and nothing else, will satisfy the profound
religious needs of mankind. In India with its many systems of
religion it was my special care to extend the Christian invita
tion for a person to become " a disciple of Jesus Christ "
rather than to become " a Christian ", for we must guard this
designation of personal allegiance from being narrowed down to
designate an assenter to certain intellectual propositions, or a
member of a certain social organization. One of the hearty
satisfactions which I myself have had and which I desire to
report in this country is that, although I have heard just criti
cisms upon " Christianity " and upon " Christians ", I have
never heard a Hindu express any dissatisfaction with the
character of Jesus Christ.
In dealing with the various religions of which I treat it is the
only fair way that I should employ the same method of exposi
tion for all. Every religion in the world, Christianity included,
has undergone remarkable, sometimes even contradictory, trans
formations. While aware that all these religions have passed
through a long course of theological, ecclesiastical and sectarian
variations, yet for the purpose of characterization and compari
son I have gone back to the original historical sources for my
selection of the essential features of each religion.
I proceed first to a brief description and estimation of the
four most important present-day non-Christian religions, viz:
Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam, in respect of
their historical origin, their religious ideal, their religious life,
some of their successful satisfactions, and some of their defec
tive satisfactions.

19
Hinduism began more than a millenium before the Christian
era to meet the religious needs of the new society which was
„. , . arising in India, when the Aryans, who
Hinduism: „ ., ,. ... . ,
..,.., . , . . came from the north with a simple
its historical origin. . .. , , , ,, . , .
nature-worship, extended therr domin
ion over the earlier animistic Dravidian peoples and gradually
over the whole peninsula of Hindustan. The religion of the
conquerors needed to be sufficiently elastic to include all the
heterogeneous, economic, social and religious elements of that
growing empire of the Hindus. Yet it needed to be sufficiently
rigid to give a recognized position of superiority to the invading
rulers, priests and so-called " twice born," and also a position
of religiously sanctioned subordination to all the serving people.
One of the wonders of human history is, how those early Hindu
thinkers and organizers deepened and broadened their concep
tions of the individual and of society from the time of the Rig
Veda, so as to yield a comprehensive unity amid a bewildering
variety. During its long subsequent history Hinduism has been
able in a notable degree to meet the practical and theoretical
needs of organizing the, at present, two hundred and seventeen
million Hindus with their wide varieties of religious beliefs and
practices so as to bring them all into one logically articulated,
imperially ruling religious system.
The general religious ideal of Hinduism consists in the
hope of return from the transitoriness and limitations of finite
. individual existence into the bliss of union with
Its religious the inflnite gupreme Reality, called Brahma.
rpne Hindus believe that out of Brahma as the
original source have emanated in orderly arrangement all finite
existence up through the four main castes of Indian society,
viz : the low-caste Sudras, the artizan Vaisyas, the warrior
Kshatriyas, and the priestly Brahmans. The Hindus conceive
of salvation as being, in particular, an escape from the necessity
of repeated mortal births in material re-incarnations until the
exhaustion of their so-called Jcarma (or, retribution of psychic
deeds). As an example of the most earnest longings of the
devout Hindus, I quote a prayer which I myself have oft heard

20
repeated from the ancient Sanskrit Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad
(1.3.28) : asato ma sad gamaya.
tamaso majyotir gamaya.
mrtyor ma ''mrtam gamaya.
That is : " Lead me from the unreal to the real.
Lead me from darkness to the light.
Lead me from death to the immortal."
The religious life consists, for the educated Hindus, of medita
tion on the knowledge of Brahma (jnana-marga). For the more
T , ... emotional type of Hindus there is allowed the
Its religious „ . J \. . ...
..„ way of devotion, or mystical communion with
the divine (bhakti-marga). Hindus of a more
practical temperament may practise the way of religious cere
monies (karma-marga). But for all Hindus the only obligatory
form of the religious life is the observance of the duties of
their present caste-status, in the hope that in subsequent
re-incarnations they may rise in the scale of existence and may
finally attain unto re-absorption into Brahma. The actual
religious life of the Hindus permits of any and every, even
apparently contradictory, religious belief and practice which
may be congenial to the individual himself, provided it can be
explained in harmony with the general theory of Hinduism and
does not break caste. For example, the idolatry of the ignorant
masses is justified on the ground that idols may be regarded
merely as local material manifestations of Brahma and as aids
to attention in worship. Again, ascetism, which is usually
practised for the selfish purpose of acquiring religious merit,
may be explained as a practical device for a rapid rejection of
all the temporary material attractions which really distract
one's soul from communion with the serene eternal Brahma.
This Hindu religion, now the oldest of all extant organized
religions, has succeeded in helping to keep the majority of the
e f people of India temperamentally the most
„ markedly religious people in the world.
satisfactions. sociologically, Hinduism has succeeded in
helping to perpetuate the forms of their religious society in a
notable solidarity through thirty centuries. I would note as

21
satisfying to the needs, not only of the Hindus, but also of the
most earnest religious seekers, the following beliefs of Hindu
ism, viz. a belief in one unitary Supreme Reality, lying behind
all phenomenal existence ; a belief in the ideal of union with
that Supreme Reality, as being the supreme goal of all exist
ence ; a belief in the continuance of every soul after death, with
a sure retribution for the deeds done in the flesh; a belief in
society with its complex structure as being a divinely instituted
organism. Yet, Hinduism has not given thorough satisfaction even to its
own adherents. A long line of earnest Hindu thinkers and
„ , „ ,. theistic reformers, from Ramanuja, Kabir,
... . . Guru Nanak, Tukaram, down to the modern
satisfactions. 0 . . . . ^ -, .
Somajes, have craved a personal God m
place of the impersonal Brahma of philosophical Hinduism, and
a living God in place of the idols of popular Hinduism. Very
few educated Hindu gentlemen today find any personal satis
faction in idols, although they may complacently tolerate such
worship for the uneducated women and common people who
crave a tangibly present deity. Even more revolutionary in
modern Hinduism is the modern movement against caste, which
theoretically explains the differences of present existence by
referring them back into an entirely unknown, not less
inexplicable past. To some Hindus their religion gives special
satisfaction in that it allows people of all temperaments to
continue with their favorite social practices and religious
beliefs, unhindered by any high moral demands.
But to the best Hindus such non-progressiveness and non-
morality, not to say immobility and immorality, appear as a
serious defect rather than as a satisfaction. To outsiders also
traditional Hinduism appears woefully defective in providing
no satisfaction for a number of insistent needs of modern
progress, e. g., an obligatory standard of the highest moral
character for all persons, the possibility of a relatively prompt
retrieving of past evils, a hopeful sense of continuous personal
responsibility, a stirring incentive to individual initiative, a
stewardship of gracious social service, an opportunity for
present advancement in the social scale, a still unattained ideal
for individuals and society in India, and honorable intercourse

22
with the rest of the world who have not been born into any
Hindu caste. These are religious needs, none of which are pro
vided for by any orthodox form of Hinduism.
Buddhism arose in the person of Gautama, Prince Siddhartha,
who was born in North India about the year 560 B. C. That
_ .,,. _ deeply religious Hindu was so sorely
., , . . , " . . dissatisfied with most of the current
° ' Hinduism of his day, particularly
with the Vedas, the excessive priest-craft, the ceremonialism,
the idolatry, the caste-exclusiveness and the animal sacrifices,
that he felt driven to seek some new solution of the particular
problem which pressed upon him, viz., how to extinguish the
misery of existence. After resigning his kingdom, and after
seven years of searching and self-discipline in the best that
current Hinduism could offer, the almost hopeless ascetic felt
that he had become the Buddha (i. e., the Enlightened One)
when he discovered a new principle of salvation, viz., that the
causation of misery is within, not outside, one's own self.
The Buddhist ideal of salvation, expressed in contrast with
the Hinduism against which it arose as a protest, consists, not
T , ... in any intellective speculations, nor in any emo-
itjs religious , . . .. . . . . .
. . ° tional excitations, nor in any ceremonial per
formances, for the sake of re-absorption into
some supposed Supreme Reality. Salvation, according to
Buddhism, consists in the simple practical suppression of those
restless desires arising within the human heart which, in remain
ing unavoidably unsatisfied, torment a person with misery, and
especially which, in prompting to action, protract that process of
Icarma (or, psychical retribution) which leads to miserable mun
dane re-births.
Temperamentally Buddha was more kind than was demanded
by, or even than was consistent with, the logic of his new prin
ciple of salvation ; for, his repressive ideal, if strictly carried
out, would require inactivity and the renunciation of every
desire, even the desire to share his discovery with his fellow
men. However, the compassionate Budda, being nobler than
his creed, went forth actively to preach unto all mankind the
satisfaction which he himself had received through this gospel

23
of release from misery through the method of psychical annihil
ation of the rebellious ego.
The religious life of the strict Buddhist consists in complete
self-conquest through the quenching of all desires, except that,
... in so far as the exigencies of associate human
|.f life do usually require a certain amount of
intercourse with man and beast, the devout
Buddhist should live virtuously and should practice general
benevolence, or — more precisely — a negative inoffensiveness,
towards all living creatures.
Not less than one hundred and thirty million human beings
today are the professed followers of that resigned and pitying
Buddha who himself made the complete
Some successlul renunciatioil aild wno prociaimed for all
s><* . s. .. mankind the satisfyingness of self-con
quest and impersonal kindliness.
For a time Buddhism was the state religion of Asoka and
other great kings in India. But after a thousand years it
passed away almost entirely from the land of its birth, and has
been giving its quietistic satisfactions in the lands farther east.
However, Buddhism left a distinctly humanizing effect upon
the more formal Hinduism against which it had protested.
Moreover Buddhism has been the force which has supplied the
content of a term which we ourselves use with much more than
its primary meaning ; " the East " is more than a geographical
term for us, because the Buddhist religion has created a sense
of human unity and a certain common ideal of life among the
peoples of India and China and Japan, great separate nations
whose indigenous national religions tend to accentuate their
natural historical and geographical seclusiveness.
On the other hand, the history of Buddhism has pathetically
evinced the vitality of certain deep religious needs of humanity
. . which Buddha not only failed to satisfy but
Some detective wMcn he distinctly attempted to suppress.
satislactions. Noteworthy is it that, although Buddha
ignored the existence of any deity, whether one or many in
number, yet his followers have not been satisfied with his
practical atheism. Buddhists now have either relapsed into
the worship of all sorts of demons, idols and nature-deities ; or

24
else Buddhists have developed a metaphysical deity, apotheos
izing Buddha himself and worshipping the noblest human being
whom they have ever known. Again, Buddha rejected the
possibility of prayer when he denied the existence of any
available superior Being to whom a human being might pray.
Yet now Buddhists have everywhere recovered the practice of
prayer, albeit sometimes in a most mechanical manner. No
large permanent good can result from a religious ideal which is
so individualistic and selfish ; for, even the prescribed kindli
ness is intended for the sole benefit of the doer himself, and the
true Buddhist has no genuine regard for the worth of any
person or thing except his own supposed salvation. The sub
sequent theological developments within Buddhism indicate vig
orous dissatisfaction with the teaching of Buddha in his denial
of all genuine personality, viz., that there does not now exist
any deity who can render help in man's religious struggle, nor
in the course of time will there exist any human being who will
be enjoying benefit from this religion. Furthermore, the mod
ern world, which is striving for varied and continuous improve
ment, will not find satisfaction in such a pessimistic theory,
which teaches the utter worthlessness of all existence, and
which offers as the goal of human hope a Nirvana which is
practically indistinguishable from annihilation.
Confucianism arose in the person of Confucius, who was born
in China in the year 551 B.C. The historical situation in which
~ „ . that religion was founded is described
Confucianism : . ,, . ... , . _ , . ,
., , . , . . . . by Mencius (the most influential ex
its historical origin. , „ ), . „..
° pounder of the great Chinese sage)
as follows : " The world had fallen into decay, and right
principles had disappeared. Perverse discourses and oppres
sive deeds were rife. Ministers murdered their rulers, and sons
their fathers. Confucius was frightened by what he saw, and
undertook a work of reformation."
As his ideal the patriotic reformer endeavored to revive the
best social condition which he could find in the previous history
. of his nation, and to establish Chinese society
S *a 1 upon a religious basis. Thus the ideal of Con
fucianism maybe summarized as "an ordered
human society under Heaven."

25
One time a disciple inquired of Confucius " Is there any one
word which could be adopted as a life-long rule of conduct ? "
... The Master replied, himself questioningly, " Is
Its religious nQt that word , reciprocity ,, „ Thus tne
highest of the wise maxims of Confucianism
is the negative form of the Christian Golden Rule, "Do not
unto others what you wish not for yourself" (Analects of
Confucius, 15:23). The practical religious life of Confucian
ism consists in the application of this general principle of
reciprocity, or propriety, to each of the five possible human
relationships, viz. ruler and ruled, parent and child, husband
and wife, elder and younger brethren, and friend and friend.
In the case of the only other conceivable personal relationship,
viz. with Heaven, the observance of the required propriety is
logically assigned to the one human being who alone stands
within that relationship, viz. the Emperor as the head of the
Chinese nation. Otherwise Confucius provided for no religious
worship, except the reverence of ancestors; these, though
deceased, are regarded as still existing and closely connected
with the living family.
On this simple basis Confucius has given to his nation the
great satisfaction of having helped to maintain for almost
„ 1 twenty-five centuries a fairly high degree of
™. civilization, morality, peace and order in
satisfactions. China Confucianism has accomplished this
achievement through its genuine religious confidence in the
essential goodness of human nature, which of course needs
education and moral instruction, and, too, through its genuine
religious confidence in the power and stability of the family
through the continued influence of the spirits of all the past
generations. But the history of Confucianism, like the history of Buddhism,
has evinced the remarkable vitality of man's deep unquench-
able craving for a personal God. In the
interests of a practical morality and to avoid
satisfactions. the pogsible vagaries of religious specula
tions, both Buddha and Confucius had insisted that true
religion consists, not in theorizing about some unseen and
largely unknown Supreme Being, but in the exercise of practical

26
virtues in the ordinary relationships of life. Nevertheless, it is
notable that Confucianists have not been satisfied with the
practical atheism of their great founder. While Heaven has
been worshipped only once a year (viz. at the mid-winter
solstice) by the Emperor alone, there now stands in every city
in China a temple to Confucius himself, who is worshipped by
all the people, even by the Emperor. Two years ago the
only direct connection with Heaven which had been recognized
in Confucianism became broken, when the Emperor of China
abdicated his ancestral religious position through the force
of a political revolution. Last winter Confucianism was pro
claimed as the state religion of the new Chinese Republic.
It remains to be determined whether the elected President of
the people may assume to continue to perform for the benefit of
his nation the sacred rites which previously had been performed
only by the hereditary " Son of Heaven." In the total modern
situation in China there exist many new complicated relation
ships, both individual, national and international, for which
Confucius has provided no satisfaction in his patriotic social
religion. The changing Chinese have acquired ideals of progress
and of world-intercourse which transcend the zenith of antique
Chinese civilization that formed the ideal of their great retro
spective reformer. How can the new, as well as the old,
religious needs of two hundred and forty million Confucianists
best be satisfied 1 Only by a religion which possesses an ideal
higher and more complete than the ideal of Confucius.
Islam is the last of the four non-Christian religions which I
undertake to examine today. In point of time it is the only
T , organized religion which has been
. , ' . . founded later than Christianity, and
its historical origin. tMg youngest of the world.religions
has proven itself the most vigorous competitor of Christianity
in the claim of being the one final religion for the whole world.
In the year of our Lord 571 in the city of Mecca was born a
man who became so dissatisfied with the gross idolatry, poly
theism and immorality of the warring Arab tribes that he
sought for a purer religion. Neither the narrow Judaism of
not distant Palestine nor the degraded Christianity of the

27
Syrian Church satisfied the soul of that earnest religious
seeker. After continued searching, fasting and prayer in a
cave on Mount Hira Muhammad received what he believed to
be a divine revelation of religious truth and also a divine com
mand to go forth and preach that truth. One of the stirring
movements of the world's history is, how at the bidding of that
former common tradesman, who became literally " enthused "
as a messenger of the Almighty, tens of thousands of bigotted
Arab tribesmen abandoned their sacred ties of blood-relationship,
their ancestral polytheistic faith, their gambling, alcoholic
drinking and other evil practices, and how those immediate
followers of Muhammad have now become two hundred and
five million in number. Eager to conquer the world in their
religious zeal, they still proclaim, as is called out in Arabic five
times a day from the minaret of every Muhammadan mosque in
Arabia, Turkey, Persia, India, China, Africa, and even London,
the Arabic formula, uLa ilah UP Allah, wa Muhammad rasul
Ulldh," i.e., "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is
His Apostle."
Islam has attained its remarkable extension in the world
through the power of its simple religious ideal under the
... enthusiasm of loyalty to the mighty Prophet of
° Arabia. Other people often use his name in
, . ^e desjgnation 0f his religion as "Muhammad-
anism." But Muhammad himself stamped the ideal of that
religion into the very name which he used for it, viz. " Islam ",
the Arabic word which means " submission " to the one
supreme God.
The religious life of the Moslem, i.e., "those who have
become submitted ", consists in martial devotion to the will and
. cause of Allah as revealed through Muhammad,
Its religious mg lategt and cMefest prophet. It involves
1 "" prescribed prayers and the stated observance
of other definite religious commands, like fasting and alms
giving. Although Islam has been chiefly legalistic in its rela
tion to the legislator Muhammad and to its Law-book the
Qu'ran, yet during the course of its history Islam has also
developed some striking phases of mysticism.

28
Notably successful in Islam has been the empowering satis
faction which is afforded by a monotheistic faith with whole-
a „ , hearted devotion to the will of one supreme
Some successful ^ , „., ... , , , , n .,„
,. „ ,. God, Who is believed to control all the
satisfactions. .. „ . ™, „ .. 
lives of men, and Who calls upon all men
to co-operate in the fellowship of that great historic personality,
the devoted Muhammad, for a world-wide establishment of the
kingdom of faith and devotion. From the middle of the eighth
to the middle of the thirteenth century Moslems were more pro
gressive in civilization than were the contemporary Christians
of Europe. And today some African tribes who have been con
verted to Islam have been lifted to a higher stage of civilization.
Yet Islam has, on the whole, manifested the general unpro-
gressiveness which is an appropriate product of a religious
~ , „ faith wherein force is regarded as the chief
.. „ .. characteristic of an arbitrary God, and
satisfactions. . . , . -,. , .,
wherein force is correspondmgly the cri
terion of the value of any individual or nation. I see no
incentive in the character or in the teachings of Muhammad to
a continuous spiritual culture of the highest standard. It is a
fact that the Sufi sect of the Muhammadans has developed a
theory of the love of God for man ; but such a theory is not to
be found in the Qu'ran. The characteristic Muhammadan belief
in the sovereignty of Allah has unquestionably stirred religious
zeal, but the practical effect of its belief in Jcismet (fate) has
produced more of indolence and of recklessness than of pur
poseful progress. Even the morality which is taught in Islam
is not regarded as an essential part of the ideal either of God
or man, therefore it tends to become largely formal. Further
more, Muhammad failed to provide any redemption for the indi
vidual, or any sanctity for the home, or any mutual helpfulness
in human society. But these are religious ideals which are
necessary for the regeneration of mankind.
Thus I have attempted to review in outline four great world-
religions with special attention to perennial religious needs, in
_, , „ , . , , so far as these have articulated
The need of higher and themselves in the important non.
completer satisfactions. Cnrigtian religions. r have also
undertaken to point out how these religions have brought a

29
certain amount of successful satisfaction to the felt religious
needs of their respective peoples. Yet those religions appear,
at best, to be limited by serious defects. Furthermore there
exist other religious needs, especially in the higher moral and
spiritual potencies, which are not provided with definite satis
faction in the non-Christian religions. Finally, it is my convic
tion that all the legitimate religious needs of men, both those
which are found in the non-Christian religions and the others
which require higher satisfactions, do receive their completest
satisfaction in Jesus Christ. Next, therefore, I briefly state
what I understand to be the essential features of the religion
of Jesus.
Our Lord himself never formulated an itemized system of
religion. He did far better than that. He always talked, and
m, , . , „ conducted himself, on the basis that he
The essentials of . , , ' . . ~ , ,
. had come from the one holy God to serve
„ ° . all sorts and conditions of men, "that
they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly." However, on one occasion a certain
Jewish lawyer with an analytic systematizing type of mind put
to Jesus a question which comes close to the searching question
which I myself would put in the present connection, viz.:
" What are the highest ideals of religion ? " The reply given
by Jesus to the precise inquiry which was put to him was with
reference to the religion of the Old Testament. However, that
statement by Jesus may legitimately be understood as repre
senting his own position on religion. I paraphrase it as fol
lows : " The sum and substance of religious duties is included
in two commandments, viz. : ' Love God supremely ' and < Love
fellow men unselfishly. ' " It would hardly be sufficient for us
to claim that those commandments summarize the whole of the
religion which we have derived from Jesus Christ, for the
reason that his religion is an evangel of grace rather than a
republication of law, even though the ethics of the Christian
Gospel be stated in the form of a commandment to exercise
love. None the less, I understand that in this statement Jesus
has given the practical application of what are two essential
principles of his religion, viz. the fatherhood of God and the
brotherhood of man.

30
But modern inquirers are in a position to appreciate much
more than the specific teaching of Jesus. We are in a position
to appreciate his whole life and death and continued influence.
Accordingly, there is a further important factor in the definition
which we have to give of Christianity, viz. Jesus Christ himself.
Those two commandments, which he quoted verbatim from the
Old Testament, had been known for many centuries; yet no
appropriate religion had been developed from them. It is the
personality of Jesus which constitutes the uniqueness of the
Christian religion. It was he who for the first time fully
realized in human life those principles which had been stated
previously in theory. It is Jesus who by his entire career has
given to the general ideas of "the fatherhood of God" and
"the brotherhood of man" a concreteness and a wealth of
meaning which the two summary commandments of an ideal
religion had never before possessed. It is his life of intimate
sonship with God which now enables us to realize both the
actual character of God and also the potential possibilities of
character of all God's human children. It is the cross of Christ
which marks the acme of his character, his public ministry and
his unceasing service unto men ; for, the apparent defeat of the
cross shows the extent to which divine love can venture to
sacrifice itself in order to serve, while the subsequent efficacy
of the cross shows the extent to which such venturesome
righteous love can succeed in winning men from a life of sin
and hate into a life of atonement with the holy God.
Human beings have not been ignorant that there exists a
supreme God, that men are related to Him, and that through
Him they are also related to one another. Human beings have
not lacked a deep discontent that, in spite of the overruling
God, everything is not right in the world, and especially that
they themselves are not right with God or with one another.
Jesus did not need to impart any such simple religious informa
tion. His teaching was rather concerning what kind of a God
there is, and how we human beings are related to Him and to
one another, and how we may become right with Him. If the
teaching of Jesus concerning God and man and salvation can
be condensed into one word, that word is LOVE.
Wonderful teacher as Jesus was, more wonderful still was
his example. He did not merely direct men off to some lofty

31
ideal, which we all must admit has never been attained, either
previously or subsequently. But Jesus himself lived out in
life the principles which he taught. In his own character and
conduct, more clearly even than in his words, men have seen
the perfect God and the ideal man.
Yet, granted that Jesus is the supreme teacher of religion,
and granted that his example is the paragon of virtue, even
these confessions might become discouraging. By reason of
the increased contrast with Jesus, feeble, sinful humanity might
seem to become the more incapable of rising to the heights of
such unparalleled sublimity. More wonderful than his teach
ings and more wonderful than his example is the present power
of Jesus Christ to inspire men and women and children into a
better kind of living. Out of the life and work of Jesus there
issues a dynamic which is able to effect a moral and spiritual
renewal of a human being toward a higher ideal of character.
A convicted Hindu, who later became entirely changed in char
acter through the influence of Jesus, expressed to me his new
Christian faith just as he was coming out of jail as follows :
" People generally will have no use for me. Indeed, I have no
more use for myself. But somehow I feel that Jesus has still
some use for me, and that he will make me fit for a better life."
If I may report my own experience, I would say that it is not
any item of religious information nor even the superior example
of Jesus which affects me most powerfully. I cannot fully
explain the mystery. But I do feel that, whatever of good
there is in me is in proportion as the spirit of Jesus has come
into my spirit, and that he has helped to transform me into a
character that is far better than what it was ere I entered
through him into a more intimate communion with our Heav
enly Father.
Accordingly, in proceeding from a brief description of four
great non-Christian religions to a definition of Christianity, I
would say that the essential feature of the Christian religion is :
"Jesus Christ himself, in that he has actually realized in life,
and is still helping others to realize, the twofold ideal of a life
of loving devotion with the holy Father God and a life of loving
service with brother men." On this as the basis rest whatever
applications may be called characteristic Christian doctrines.

32
Now I am in a position to show more in detail how, with
these as the essentials of his religion, Jesus Christ can satisfy
the religious needs of the world.
It is evident, of course, that the religious needs of the world
are numerous and complex, that they differ in details according
™ , . „ . . . to temperaments and capabilities,
Five satisfactions given . ., , .. . ,, . , . ,
. _ ° and that they are both formulated
by Jesus m common . , . . „ . .
... ... in consciousness and satisfied in
with other religions. ,. , ., . „
experience accordmg to the stage
of general cultural development and the particular conditions
of the individual and of the nation. However, I venture to
generalize and say, among the non-Christian religions there are
to be found five religious principles which mark the highest of
the beliefs of those religions. These, therefore, indicate some
of the satisfactions which must be given to the widely mani
fested religious needs of mankind by whatever religion shall
finally succeed in having established itself as actually universal
in the world. I do not find all of these following five beliefs in
any single one of the non-Christian religions. But I do find
them existing within this group of non-Christian religions. And
I also find them taught by Jesus Christ to a higher degree.
1. In some non-Christian religions and also in the religion of
Jesus there is a belief in one supreme God, to Whom the highest
devotion, worship and prayer are due. This ideal is frankly
repudiated in the atheistic Buddhism of Buddha. In the Con
fucianism of Confucius it is recognized for practical use only
for one person, viz. the Emperor of China. It is avowed, but
with very different meanings, in Hinduism and Islam. The
monotheistic belief is developed by Jesus with the fullest con
tent of personality and morality.
2. In some non-Christian religions and also in the religion of
Jesus there is a belief in ordered human society, as having been
divinely instituted, and as needing to be maintained above the
interests of all human individuals. Hinduism applies this ideal
vigorously, but exclusively, to the mutually exclusive castes
of Hindus. Confucianism also applies it, but with special refer
ence to the hereditary family and to the particular nation. In
Buddhism the only sacred human society is the narrow "Order"
of Buddhist ascetics. In Islam, the one other professedly uni-

33
versal religion, the ideal of a common sacredness of humanity is
applied to the body of believers as a whole, all other human
society deserving to be destroyed. Jesus Christ insists on the
divinely ordained sacredness of human society both in the individ
ual and in the family, both in the nation and in the wider range of
a brotherhood of humanity, all to be protected as under God.
3. In some non-Christian religions and also in the religion of
Jesus there is a belief in the universality of a common religion.
This ideal is frankly repudiated in Hinduism. It is entirely
ignored in Confucianism, although the practical ethics of that
religion have subsequently been taken over from China into
Japan. Both Buddhism and Islam boldly claim to be a uni
versal religion. Yet both of them exclude a half of their own
population, viz., womankind, from participation in all the obliga
tions and privileges of that particular religion; while toward
all unbelieving outsiders Islam encourages a forcefully domineer
ing attitude. In this difficult matter of relationship toward
others, many Christians have come far short of the ideal of
Jesus. Such delinquency stands out in sharp clearness with
the principle of a universal religion of love which Jesus taught,
viz., that all men and women are in common the children of the
loving Father of the spirits of all mankind. In spite of the
fact that all persons do not yet realize their spiritual brother
hood, yea with special recognition of the fact that they all
do not realize their spiritual brotherhood, Jesus taught that it
is the duty and privilege of the Christians who have entered
into a realization of " the fatherhood of God " to endeavor to
establish " the brotherhood of man " through varied loving
service in the religious faith of one ideal family of God.
4. In some non-Christian religions and also in the religion of
Jesus there is a hope for each human individual to advance
after death into a permanently better condition of personal life.
No organized religion teaches that the human soul becomes
extinct at physical death. But the various religions differ con
siderably on the nature of that hoped-for future life. Hinduism
sees in the immtdiate future for most people a not very different
repeated earthly existence, although ultimately existence will
become immaterial and impersonal. The usual eschatological
hope in Islam is for a quasi-material, sensuously conceived

34
heaven. Confucianism posits only the continuance of the indi
vidual in some vague spirit-realm in not distant connection with
earthly posterity. Primitive Buddhism hopes that the final
highest good is the cessation of all known personal life. Jesus
Christ offered to all persons who qualify themselves the hope of
entrance after death into the eternal Father's heavenly home.
5. In some non-Christian religions and also in the religion of
Jesus there is a practice of zealous devotion to the noblest
person known in religious history, who is also regarded as being
in a unique way a divinely human person. This legitimate
religious craving for hero-worship is not satisfied by any one
pre-eminent figure, although approached by many sectarian
incarnations, in the one non-founded religion, Hinduism. In
the three personally founded religions, viz. Buddhism, Confu
cianism and Islam, the personal devotion is powerfully opera
tive toward the person of the founder. Although the Buddhism
of Buddha is avowedly atheistic, and although the Confucianism
of Confucius is practically atheistic, yet the historical founder
of both those religions has subsequently become apotheosized
and worshipped almost as if he were supreme deity. Jesus
Christ is worshipped by his followers as " Lord " because in him
they find the conscious acme of human leadership, authority and
perfection combined with the supreme manifestation of the
supreme holy God.
No one of the four great non-Christian religions meets all of
these five high religious aspirations. But Jesus Christ does
bring satisfaction to them all, and that, too, in a higher degree
than does any of the other religions.
In addition to these five religious needs, which are partially
satisfied by the non-Christian religions, I find five other still
V t"ll h' h higher religious satisfactions which
,. „ ,. . . are afforded nowhere else than by
satisfactions, uniquely T „, ,. . ,. J.
v. x m • *. Jesus. They are satisfactions of
given by Jesus Christ. .. . . ,. , . , T
° J religious aspirations which Jesus
himself has most markedly helped men to crave, and which he
alone among the religious leaders of the world will help most
fully to satisfy.
1. One distinctive Christian belief is the ideal of God, whose
pre-eminent religious significance lies in His perfect moral

35
character. Consequently His supremacy lies in His supremely
holy purposes, rather than in the possession of almighty power,
or than in any merely ontological attributes. His blessedness,
too, lies in His ability and His love for service unto men, rather
than in any secluded quiescence, or than in dominion over the
universe. This is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Another distinctive Christian belief is the ideal of man
as being pre-eminently characterized by kinship with the Father
God in respect of the same godlike moral character. This
character is potential, until each individual realizes it by reso
lute choice and by constant fellowship. In spite of the divine
heritage, yea, in the light of a divine heritage, the fact appears
that man is still sinfully deficient in respect of his actual moral
character. This is the human nature which Jesus seeks to save
into the character of conscious fellowship of children of the
Heavenly Father.
3. Another distinctive Christian satisfaction is the experi
ence of a wonderful transformation of the evils of man's char
acter and condition into positive good through divine assistance
rendered to each individual. Such Christian conversion and
continued sanctification are accomplished through a process of
co-operation between man's awakened conscience and an
influence which he gratefully recognizes as grace proceeding
from divine initiative. This is the salvation which Jesus brings
to all his true disciples.
4. Another distinctive Christian satisfaction is the hope of a
glorious future, opening out unlimitedly both before the indi
vidual and before human society as a whole, both in this life
and after death. This is the Kingdom of God, wherein God
summons all men to a co-operation with Himself in loving help
fulness with our brother men for the progressive realization of
ideal social conditions.
5. Another distinctive Christian satisfaction is the fellowship
of a divinely human person, who within the ordinary range of
human experience has unsurpassedly revealed what God actually
is in character and also what man may and should become. This
is Jesus Christ, the supreme incarnation of a holy God, and the
realized type of what every child of God should normally
become.

36
Thus in some detail do I find that Jesus Christ fulfills all the
legitimate religious aspirations which have manifested them
selves in large areas of the history of mankind. I find in
addition that Jesus Christ has developed certain other religious
aspirations, cravings, ideals, needs, which are characteristic of
the higher stages of religious experience. These latter are
especially noteworthy evidences of the unequalled ability of
Jesus in developing all the latent capacities of the human soul
and in giving them their completest satisfaction.
Fellow men of Union Seminary, I came here as a student with
the conviction that the finest possible achievement in life would
. be to carry Jesus Christ with his Gospel of divine
righteous love out into a needy world and in his
fellowship to help establish the Kingdom of God upon earth.
In my subsequent missionary experience in India, in the class
room and in the sick-room, in the house of punishment and in
the house of worship, in the business office and in the home, at
the editor's desk and in heart-to-heart converse with men of
many religions, I have found that it is Jesus Christ who pre
eminently gives light, truth, comfort, peace, hope, joy, power,
life, that it is he who especially turns men from sin into right
eousness, and that he satisfies all the religious needs of men as
no one else has done. Now, as I take up a new work here, I
have attempted to set forth a sympathetic appreciation of the
other great religions of the world in order to furnish a well-
reasoned basis and application for the stupendous Christian
faith, that Jesus Christ and he alone will satisfy the religious
needs of the world. And I hereby pledge that my future teach
ings and activities shall be directed to the task of helping you
and all my world-brothers to secure the fullest satisfaction of
our common religious needs in the supreme Satisfier, Jesus
Christ our Lord.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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