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"i ' ififl , 
 
CHRISTIANITY 
 WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE 
 
 BY THE 
 
 KEV. JAMES TAIT, 
 
 '.' -uoROF "Mind in Matter," 
 
 AND • Ins PltEHENT DaNOERH TO RuMUION." 
 
 PUBLT8IIKD FOR THE AUTHOR 
 
 BY 
 
 THE WILLIAM DRYSDALE CO^Sri'AXV 
 
 MONTREAL. 
 
 1899. 
 
Kntere.l nccclin, to Act of Pa..,ia„.e.,t of Canada, in the year 
 -t....so...,..,, n„na..e., .^ ...ety-nine. l.y R.v. J.... T 
 '" the Ofhce of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
 56765 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 » X . -r-1 Pack. 
 
 A LiRD s Eye View i 
 
 100,000,000 wanderers from the fold; Why ?— 
 From neglect of the conscience— The lever of 
 conacience-The future : Jonah and the Bai)tist. 
 
 The Conserving Principle 7 
 
 Some evidence of decay— Japan and Christianity 
 — Kxpensive worship not the gauge of religion 
 -Nor published liberality— The fear of God is. 
 
 The Cross Comprehensively Understood . . 26 
 
 What the incarnation means as to ill-desert— 
 Exclusive love in God annihilates incarnation- 
 Nothing for the impenitent-The beloved disciple 
 forced to reveal the other aide of Jesus. 
 
 Danger Signals ,,,^ ". . . , . 37 
 
 The fear of the ecclesiastic and" thte fear of God- 
 Disrespect for the Sabbath by corporations -Also 
 700 Sunday newspapers— Dishonesty and murders. 
 
 The Subject Continued 45 
 
 English ritualism and the decaying conscience 
 — Absolution a source of decay in nations — 
 Catholicism not a unifying religion— A want of 
 principle : Also among Protestants. 
 
iv TAHLE OF CONTENTS. 
 SCBPTICISM 
 
 Pa OK. 
 
 57 
 
 Evidence of the death of conscience — Darwinism 
 not logical : Varieties not proof of spocies — 
 Creation after kind illustrated from living Nature 
 —The glacial age : What became of vegetable and 
 animal life—The Deluge a better Explanation : 
 change of watersheds. 
 
 The Elenchos 71 
 
 The fear of God the great iiersuasive— Churches 
 filled where understood — Tlie kingdom holds both 
 wise and foolish virgins— A strong undercurrent of 
 spiritual decay — The growth i)f standing armies. 
 
 Baptism and Repentance 
 
 93 
 
 To rei)resent the Spirit the water must descend — 
 Christ's baptism on the cross not in the tomb — 
 Infau'; baptism like infant circumcision a great 
 lesson — A radical change of nature needed. 
 
 The Spirit of thk Two Testaments 114 
 
 Severity then: severity now— Mahomet ani the 
 chastisement of the Cliristian nations— Chastisfl- 
 ment of the slave-holders then and now — Church 
 and State one then : separated now— Severe Psalms 
 bear on duty of the State— Substitution of pity 
 for indignation against crime ruinous. 
 
 The Fulness of Time, 
 
 129 
 
 Preparedness for the Gospel necessary — The Jews 
 diffused the idea of God as Christian nations now 
 — Also idea of justice necessary — Knowledge by 
 controversy a |)reparation — And the fallow must 
 be broken by awakening. 
 
TAKLE OF CONTENTS. v 
 
 Paok. 
 
 Twin Objects of tub Gospel 157 
 
 Election founded on foreknowletlgn or not, the 
 elect not tho whole Church visible— The non-elect 
 the dangerous class— Need a conscience put in : 
 the Church's function— Faith in a personal God 
 an impulse of wisdom and invention. 
 
 Odds and I^nds j gg 
 
 The Deluge necessitated by sparing murderers- 
 Cod's rights rest on creation— The practical logic 
 which convinced the Israelites— Darwinian men 
 not possible objects of redemption— Chrir-t met in 
 state now, not in humiliation— The strongest 
 motive the prevalent one: Christ's example in 
 using it— His example not followed now : human 
 wisdom has discovered something better. 
 
 Providence and Railroads 198 
 
 Wherever possible men create their own gods— 
 , The efficacy of prayer— God's Avitnesses. 
 
CHEISTIANITY 
 WITHOUT THE C0:N SCIENCE. 
 
 A BIRD'S EYE VIEW. 
 
 The churches that pridefiilly call them- 
 selves Catholic continue to hold fast the neces- 
 sity of penitence as the condition of absolu- 
 tion, and the necessary relation of conscience 
 to penitence. This is as it should be ; never- 
 theless, by some defect of working a leak has 
 taken place by which 200,000,000 of those 
 whose forefathers belonged to the Latin 
 branch has left it apparently for ever. This 
 can be let alone, as there is more pressing busi- 
 ness nearer home. Of the 200,000,000 people 
 who may call themselves Protestant, about 
 100,000,000 seldom or never enter a place of 
 
CHRISTIANITY 
 
 worship ; a fact surcharged with danger to 
 tlie social fa])ric, and which is creating anxiety 
 in all sincere hearts. The present volume is 
 an attempt to point out the cause or causes. 
 
 I'he ministers of Protestantism are sincere, 
 simple-hearted (Christian men, who go to the 
 pulpit on Sunday convinced that they are 
 doing God service, and accomplishing all pos- 
 sil)le good l)v expositions of the spiritual thera- 
 peutics of the 'Row Testament ; which amount 
 to what lectures on therapeutics, such as are 
 given to medical students at college, would 
 he in hospitals filled with the diseased and 
 dying. Eodily disease demonstrates itself by 
 pain ; spiritual disease demonstrates itself hy 
 sin ; and sinners are the jolly sets in ev'^ery 
 hranch of society. Should it not be necessary 
 to inspire a becoming gravity in immortal be- 
 ings who in spite of themselves are playing 
 for time and eternity. 
 
 Miracles did a good deal to give the Chris- 
 tian religion a footing in the world ; but there 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 a 
 
 was an influence more potent than the miracu- 
 lous — the facts brought to light by the Ke- 
 vealcr from the eternal world. The two 
 most impressive preachers of the ages did no 
 miracle. Their leverage was the future : by 
 m.tking use of the future in time Jonah 
 brought Nineveh to the dust and ashes of re- 
 pentance. The Baptist by the eternal future 
 brought the nation to which he belonged to 
 his baptism in the Jordan. 
 
 Protestantism has failed to the extent it has 
 by neglecting to cidtivate the conscience, and 
 refusing to appreciate its relation to repent- 
 ance, conversion, faith and good works. From 
 Genesis to Revelation the Bible is one long, 
 loud lesson on the necessity of an awakened 
 *• conscience toward God." But the abound- 
 ing " charity that thinketh no evil " takes for 
 granted that under the dispensation of the 
 Spirit souls are all athirst for the g spel, and 
 that its facts are like an attractive bait to the 
 ravenous fishes. God grant that the tens of 
 
* • CHRISTIANITY H 
 
 millions of shysters may be an eye-opening to 
 the Chiistian ministry ! 
 
 The complaint, however, is not that the 
 preaching has been insufficiently harsh, but 
 that it has been insufficiently loving and ten- 
 der. From the modern pulpit there is no ab- 
 sence oi exhortations to love, but they are de- 
 livered in tones that betray no surplus emotion 
 of that kind. Jesus treated sinners with the 
 utmost possible tenderness. The minister who 
 fe' is his responsibility — who reflects that what 
 he utters is to tell for endless ages, one way 
 or the other — will weigh well what he has to 
 say, and will say it with sympathetic affection. 
 Impressions from the eternal world filled the 
 heart of Jesus with compassion and His eyes 
 with tears : " ITadst thou known, even thou, 
 in this thy day, the things that belong to thy 
 peace, but now they are forever liid from thine 
 eyes." No amount of smartness in the pulpit 
 can be a substitute for the touching utter- 
 ances inspired by the thought of plucking 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 " brands from the burning." A minister of 
 the gospel is not primarily a director of social 
 ethics. , 
 
 It is lio be hoped that all who see eye to eye 
 with the author of this book will come with 
 him to the help of the I^ord against the 
 mighty. 
 
 When a church fails to get a firm hold of 
 the ground reasons and motives of Christian- 
 ity its religion can become too sweet to be 
 wholesome. The condition in which so much 
 of the substance of the great body has been 
 thrown oif and become outcast may be called 
 the diabetic state. It is to be feared, however, 
 that in spite of all considerations those who 
 " hold the fort " or remain in the churches, 
 will refuse to tolerate a style of preaching 
 that can stop the leak and that can tell on 
 the outcast multitude. From present indica- 
 tions things are destined to get worse instead 
 of better ; for the better class of churches 
 have begun to experiment on the road to ruin 
 
-r 
 
 Q CHRISTIANITY 
 
 in spite of the lesson of ages — the calamities 
 entailed by even limiting future Tjunishment. 
 During twelve years in which the author has 
 had opportunity of hearing the gospsl in dif- 
 ferent countries he has never heard a sennon 
 from which tlie eif ective eternal had not been 
 eliminated, except one. Is there not good 
 cause then, for casting a pebble, and if pos- 
 sible making a ripple in the dead sea. It maj 
 be replied that "perfect love casteth out fear;'' 
 but where is the perfect love ? imperfect love 
 and the absence of fear have filled the whole 
 Christian world with outcasts. Let it never 
 be out of sight that opinion on the importance 
 of religion, it is, that gives importance to the 
 Sabbath day and to Sabbath services. Lay- 
 ing down the laws of duty to sinners is not the 
 whole of Christianity ; and it can be done 
 without a particle of sympathetic love. 
 
THE CONSERVING PEINCIPLE. 
 
 In religion the tendency to go wrong is 
 cbronic ; the entire history of the world, and 
 a great deal of the history of the churches, 
 prove it. So that words of warning can 
 ne^er he out of place. 
 
 Whence the necessity for so many new 
 religious societies ? Endeavourers, Young 
 People's Societies, Young Men's, Young 
 Women's Christian Associations, societies for 
 deepening the religious life, etc., etc. ? What 
 do, they all infer ? That people, in general, 
 are getting better ? Or, that they are in dan- 
 ger of getting worse ? and that religion is in 
 the shallows ? 
 
 One of Uie things they do imply is : defect 
 somewhere in the working of the established 
 religious machinery ; or, in plainer words, 
 that preaching is a comparative failure. From 
 
w 
 
 8 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 the close of the 2nd century onward the tend- 
 ency of churches, in general, has been down- 
 wards tov/ards demoralization. The object of 
 the writer is to point out the cause, as far as 
 possible, by illustrations drawn from the pre- 
 sent. 
 
 The gospel ministry in cities is at length 
 brought face to face with the results of the 
 religious teaching on the rising generation ; 
 and complaints are bitter indeed. In regard 
 tj the absorbing devotion to sport, news- 
 papers must bear their share of blame : be- 
 cause putting sporting clubs on a. pa'* with the 
 first institutions of the land, and a successful 
 sport on the very pinnacle of glory. Then 
 anything the newspapers might do for religion 
 by reporting Sabbfith work is effaced by the 
 ever expanding records of ongoings on the 
 Saturday previous. ; ^ 
 
 Natural consequencei? of this attention to 
 sport are that a religious service has to be 
 changed into one of the amusements of the 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 9 
 
 week ; pnd churches more and more into 
 places of amusement — concert rooms for secu- 
 lar songs and recitations ; eating houses, with 
 their kitchens ; in one case a school for the 
 '^ noble art " of self-defence. Efforts to iden- 
 tify the church with the world will end by 
 the triumph of the world and the death of 
 religion. The house of God is a temple sacred 
 to religion ; and to defilers Jesus applied a 
 scourge of cords. 
 
 Luckily the proprietors and conductors of 
 newspapers in Canada are as a rule religious 
 men, churchgoers, and are thus amenable to 
 religion if faithfully presented ; so that the 
 refrain must ever be — a neglectful ministry. 
 It is the immortality of the soul and its pos- 
 sible destinies, chiefly, that necessitates a 
 church ; when revealed facts about the ever- 
 lasting future are ignored, the necessity for 
 churches ceases to be felt, as it is by the ris- 
 ing generation. 
 
 The writer has mentioned cities : it would 
 
10 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 t 
 
 be well if optimistic Synodal reports on the 
 state of religion in general had appendices 
 prepared by committees of country shop- 
 keepers. There are nnreliable people in the 
 country as well as in cities, and proportionate- 
 ly as many of them. In general where have 
 commercial crises their starting place ? 
 
 The Japanese are considered a very shrewd 
 people, because they adopt the material pro- 
 ducts of Christianity, including explosives and 
 other implements of war. Yet as a nation 
 they reject Christianity itself. But should 
 it be surprising ? Christ proclaimed peace on 
 earth ; the Christian nations are ever on the 
 alert for war, and mostly to be waged against 
 each other. Nor is this all. Christians do not 
 believe in their own faith ; their religious 
 books teach one thing, for example, that God 
 made man out of the dust of the ground ; but 
 the science of the Christian nations contends 
 for something altogether different ; the posi- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 11 
 
 tion now adhered to by some of tlie wiseacres 
 of the pulpit., 
 
 The mistake in Jiipan has been in experi- 
 menting with methods that have made the 
 leaders of thought in Christion countries in- 
 fidel to their own religion ; which is, letting 
 the fact slip that the first step in Christianity 
 is an awakening from moral declension by a 
 consciousness of its dangers. In order to sal- 
 vation, the conscience of a nation must be 
 aroused ; a fact recognized in the terrors of 
 Moun+ Sinai, and by the voices of the original 
 heralds of Christianity. Once bring the con- 
 science of the Japanese into living a(;tion by 
 sufficiently heralding the day when the secrets 
 of men are to be revealed and judged, and 
 Christ will become a necessity ; until then, 
 the felt need will be for the latest improve- 
 ments in ships and artillery. 
 
 Were our knowledge of the earliest ages of 
 the world, those that preceded and those that 
 followed the deluge, as intimate as of the age 
 
12 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 •■i > 
 
 in which we live, it would be found that then 
 too a dead conscience tolerating a dead faith 
 and accepting doings, in general, very shady, 
 ones for the fear of God, was the first step in 
 the " facilis decensus." 
 
 To re-establish the authority of God is the 
 chief present object of religion ; the instru- 
 ment the Cross of Christ, but comprehensively 
 understood. Belief in the supernatural is 
 rooted in human nature, all efforts to uproot 
 it unavailing, because attempts to uproqt 
 nature itself. Everything that lives and 
 breathes proclaims the Invisible and Spirit- 
 ual ; and belief in the possibility of inter- 
 course with the other world has been as uni- 
 versal as faith in its existence. 
 
 Prayer is worship in the highest, but the 
 Being who can hear prayer to purpose must 
 be both omnipresent and omnipotent, with 
 an ear open over the earth wherever man 
 dwells, and a hand outstretched for help. 
 But in the light of this position what absur- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 13 
 
 diiies have occupied the imagination of man- 
 kind : gods, men and women, " fonr-footed 
 beasts and cheeping things." It is, however, 
 becanse even linman ignorance feels that all 
 life is evidence of the Absolute Life : but 
 blunders by putting one for the other. 
 
 Some of the superstititioiK of the past have 
 a strong hold on the imagination of multi- 
 tudes still, and the identification of Chris- 
 tianity with them has originated efforts to 
 extirpate faith in God, the only possible 
 source of intercourse with the Spiritual world. 
 The most shameless attempts ever made to 
 extinguish the Supernatural have been made 
 in modern times, and by men who were chil- 
 dien of the churches ! What does all this 
 irean ? ,..,,_, ,.,■,,-■ . ■■H:^.;:v^^, 
 
 A living faith is a loyal faith, which will 
 m3\er admit that in the smallest measure the 
 Eible needs to be trimmed to the imaginings 
 of science ; it will hold that " God is true if 
 every mpn should be found a liar." The 
 
I 
 
 14 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 peculiarity of faith is that it tests the Rock 
 of Ages as a foundation on which to rest. The 
 source of eternal Life must be reliable. Con- 
 tact with Christ enables the soul to say, 
 " Whereas 1 was blind now I sec ; " and the 
 result is an unshakable confidence in the 
 Book that mediated in the contact. Far too 
 manv of those who consider themselves and 
 who wish to be considered men of light and 
 leading, are disposed to yield to the scientists ; 
 a premature faith in men who know not God 
 and obey not the gospel of His Son. The 
 Author of nature knows more about nature 
 than the scientists. 
 
 Again, as in the past, the chill of a faith 
 diftancing from Heaven is secularizing the 
 churches by stimulating them to carry too 
 much head through ambition of display. If 
 the Apostles had borne any earthly resem- 
 blance to this so-called succession, each one of 
 them would have perpetuated his fame by a 
 cathedral that could have outlived the Pan- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 15 
 
 thcon. On the contrary, is there the trace of 
 a building that was a church in the Apostolic 
 age ? The cathedrals were an upshot from 
 the revival of heathen civilization. Taste is ■ 
 one thing, exorbitant crushing expense and 
 ecclesiastical pride are not so prai. eworthy. 
 Still, it must be a consolation to any church 
 o\erwhelmed with debts that the Keformation 
 was brought about by the effort to raise 
 riioney for the completion of St. Peter's ! 
 
 For the sake of any who think that fine 
 churches and " beautiful " services have much 
 to do with true religion, it may be well to re- 
 call the fact that the fatal decay of Israel be- 
 gan in the life-time of the man who built the 
 Temple, and was started by himself ; also 
 that degeneracy in Christian times progressed 
 with quickened steps during the centuries the 
 great cathedrals were in process of construc- 
 tion ; so that at the close of the period Re- 
 formation became a necessity. Religion is a 
 humble plant, a lily of the valley. It is 
 
m 
 
 16 
 
 CHRIHTIANITY 
 
 to be hoped, however, that after a while the 
 growing taste for artistic displays will end hy 
 as happy an eye-opening. In the meantime, 
 as in the past, the music of the churches is 
 a lullaby singing the conscience to sleep, as 
 the gorgeousness of ceremony once crusted it 
 with a thick Italian enamel. 
 
 To far too great an extent again churches 
 in cities are seeking their standing from art, 
 and from displays of wealth, and from the 
 amounts they can raise for various purposes. 
 The last is one of the mistakes that is in- 
 tensifying th(? overestimate of money every- 
 where. Money is needed, but where religion 
 is concerned caution is needed too. The anx- 
 ious thoughts of the business man are en- 
 gaged about money all the week, and if on 
 Sunday in the house of God he finds money 
 a leading consideration, is it surprising that 
 secularity and corruption are on the increase 
 in public affairs, among electors, and among 
 men who buy their way to position. There 
 
 ( i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 17 
 
 are di.^tinguislicd saints now as there ever 
 were, aud probably more of tlieui, but never- 
 theless, the public is deteriorating. 
 
 When our Saviour commanded His disci- 
 ples not to let the left hand know what the 
 right hand did, He had the best of reasons for 
 doing 80. If an act and the motive from 
 which it proceeds have to be hypocrites to 
 each other, the effect on character must be 
 bad. In the sapient wisdom of the closing 
 years of the nineteenth century the printing 
 press is the chief organ of Christian liberality, 
 and the results arc the chief evidence of im- 
 provement in religion. They are the very 
 opposite ; religion dies, and the credit of lib- 
 erality takes its place. The opinion of an 
 authority who holds the vantage ground for 
 observation the bishop of Toronto does, and 
 who appointed new year's a day of humilia- 
 tion for the growing worldlines^s, sho\dd make 
 all who have the welfare of their fellows at 
 
 heart pause and think. '^Fhc success of church 
 2 
 
18 
 
 CUM18T1AN1TY 
 
 if^U 
 
 f. 
 
 ooll(H'tionH is no urguinnit ngninsi tlio poHJIion 
 tjikon. Tlio presorviitiou of socioty from cor-i 
 iMipliou (U'ponds not on diHplnys of Hhorality, 
 lint on two tilings — Imnnni and divino jnHtico, 
 tlu» (\>nrt» of tlio nation and tln^ (V)urt of 
 lloavon. AVluMi clnnvhes neglect to proclaim 
 the (»ternal justice of God, they have become 
 nsel(»ss. 
 
 lint it may be asked, if in the vobintary 
 systinn el(M\i»y conld get a living withont the 
 pnblisluMl lists 'i Far better, becaiise tliey 
 wonld be forced to do their best to inspire 
 gratitude to (Jod. The liberaliiy of Peiita- 
 cost was elicitinl by the discov(»ry that Messiah 
 was the A\ithor of eternal salvation — an eter- 
 nal and not a mere temporal benefit, as they 
 had supposed. The pnblished lists are drift- 
 ing religion into the shallows while soothing 
 the d(H*aying conscience with bogus preten- 
 sions. 
 
 If Christ had condescended to givo rea- 
 sons, another might have beea that giving 
 
WITIfOlJT T1IK (;()NfM;rKN(!R. 
 
 19 
 
 tliiiH HiiriMilaicHl wrnilfl bo overdone, and would 
 t( nd U) piy\i\H',r'vMj ; in fact, would give Hho to 
 a dangoroiiH HocJaliHni, aR it did at JcniHaleTn 
 and iH doin^ now. In proportion aw the 
 cliundieM am Hnlwtitiiting HaHJi for Hirnplicity, 
 a Sunday paHtinie for inHtruetion, in the Rarne 
 proportion ifl liberality inHtead of personal 8cr- 
 vice oniphaHized as the imitation of ChriRt. 
 Ihe Hanie thing happened in the long ago ; 
 but did it do the nationn any good (f did it not 
 rather promote? tluur dec-ay. At the Kefor- 
 mation a very large pro[)ortion of tbo prof>erty 
 of Rome countrieH was found to have panned 
 into the poRReMHion of the church. Were the 
 nationR benc^fitted ? did it do the church any 
 good ? Except that it \ca\ to a victorious re- 
 \olt. As yet matt(;rs are only on the way. 
 
 The world can be Raid to be both better and 
 wor8(! since the boyhood of the writer ; bet- 
 ter becauRe there is perceptibly less drunk- 
 rnnesR, but worRe because the motive for 
 moral reform is interest and not the fear of 
 
ir 
 
 20 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 I! 
 
 ll i 
 
 God. The consequence is that in an age of 
 great reform worldliness is carrying the day, 
 and unscrupulousness as to the means of get- 
 ting money. The fear of God, and not fes the 
 enemies say, the dread of hell simply, but 
 the awe inspired by the consciousness of the 
 Infinite Mind is the mighty instrumentality 
 the Spirit employs in rooting up the weeds 
 that threaten to choke the word. The opin- 
 ion of the incoming generation of young men 
 on justifiable means of getting wealth is sad 
 to think of. Bryan and bogus money are 
 flaming object lessons for learners everywhere 
 on this continent. 
 
 Georgism is another fraud. George is a 
 man who has no land, while his neighbour has, 
 and who has invented a trick by which he can 
 burden his neighbour to relieve himself. For 
 revenue purposes transfer the valuation of a 
 city like Montreal to the land on which it 
 stands, and at once you create two values, the 
 market one and the outrageous one imposed 
 
 I 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE, 
 
 21 
 
 by the assessors, compared with which the 
 unearned increment with the original value 
 added would be a bagatelle. But the un- 
 earned increment is the profit on all commer- 
 cial transactions ; why let them escape, and 
 deprive the owTier of land of his gains ? 
 Oeorgism is just another effervescence from 
 the undercurrent of dishonesty that is flowing 
 hither and thither throughout this continent, 
 and is sapping its foundations. 
 
 He who of old said, " The fear of God is 
 not in this place," saw clearly where the safety 
 of society lay. The vitality and usefulness of 
 churches are not in the amount of money they 
 can extort, but depend on a clear apprehen- 
 sion of means by which this conserving prin- 
 ciple can be kept in vigor. Christ came to 
 establish " the Kingdom of God," of which 
 little is heard now, the Cross, in general, be- 
 ing used as an appeal to the selfish instincts. 
 Salvation is one of the immunities of the 
 Kingdom, as good woyks ^re its fruit, Jesus 
 
22 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 iinifo^i^ily piit the Kingdom first, and when 
 doing so His opinion of insubordination was a 
 very serious one ; in giving it He used such 
 expressions as " Cast into outer darkness," 
 " There shall be weeping and gnashing of 
 teeth." 
 
 I 
 
 The quotation of a quotation by " The 
 Montreal Daily Star." 
 
 MONEY RULES AMERICANS. 
 
 " Ian Maclaren " Tells His Congregation of 
 
 Recent Experiences in the United 
 
 States. 
 
 Liverpool, May 31. — Before his con- 
 gregation in Sefton Park Presbyterian 
 Church, Liverpool, the Rev. John Watson 
 (Ian Maclaren), took for his subject his recent 
 American experiences. The Sunday news- 
 papers in the Unite4 States, he said, were ^n 
 
WITHOUT TUK CONSCIENCE, 
 
 23 
 
 iinmitigatetd ciirae to the people, and London 
 was to be congratnlat(;d on the failure of the 
 attempt to introduce the innovation there. • 
 
 The one thing which above all othr-s star- 
 tled him, Dr. Yv'atson said, was the power of 
 the secular spirit in America, and the weak- 
 ness of the Christian church. Men were de- 
 voted to money and money-getting in a way 
 and to a degree which he could not have im- 
 agined possible. 
 
 The churches in the United States, he con- 
 tinued, were conducted, to a considerable ex- 
 tent, as large business concerns, money-mak- 
 ing permeating everything. In many districts 
 he found congregations consisting almost en- 
 tirely of women. 
 
 Dr. Watson eulogized the vivacity, intellect 
 ,and energy, the boundless resources, high 
 hope and confidence of the American race, 
 which he declared to be one of the most prom- 
 ising of the Anglo-Saxon branches. The 
 readiness of rich Americans to build and en- 
 
ii ! 
 
 24 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 clow educational institutions he considered a 
 matter for national pride. 
 
 "^riie latter part of the quotation is some- 
 what contradictory to the rest. It would be 
 much more just if successful Anglo-Saxons 
 divided up with their employees, so that they, 
 too, might save for a rainy day or old age. 
 
 x\notlier quotation of a quotation by " The 
 Daily Star " : 
 
 A LAMENTABLE DECADENCE. 
 
 The startling figures given of the decadence 
 of the Christian religion in Vermont and New 
 Hampshire are paralleled by those of Massa- 
 chusetts. According to the president of the 
 Revera Lay College, " In south-eastern Mas- 
 sachusetts, in 31 towns, almost two hundred 
 families have not the word of God, and nearly 
 three hundred families are without any relig- 
 ious books, In this section forty out of ever^ 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 25 
 
 one hundred families of Puritan extraction 
 have left the house of God and have no con- 
 nection with Christianitv, while many more 
 are the merest borderers on it." 
 
 These facts are openly criticized by Ameri- 
 can newspapers, as evidence of a drifting into 
 paganism. It was once said that there was 
 no Sunday west of the Rocky Mountains. 
 Shall it also be vaunted that there is no relig- 
 ious worship in the land which was pioneered 
 by religious enthusiasts ? The bare contem- 
 plation of such a possibility is enough to shat- 
 ter Plymouth Rock to its very foundation. 
 
 These quotations arc given because Cana- 
 dian:^ are more and more ruled by United 
 States religious methods. The day may come 
 when a God besmeared all over with honey 
 will edify men, but that day is not yet. 
 
m 
 
 THE CROSS COMPREHENSIVELY 
 , UNDERSTOOD. 
 
 Were the effects of sin and ill-desert 
 bounded by this life, or even by a limitation 
 ir. eternity, the Incarnf tion would never have 
 taken place. The penalties would have been 
 allowed to exhaust themselves. The eternity 
 of punishment justified the advent into the 
 world of a divine Person in human nature. 
 To secure a new representative of the race 
 who was competent to reverse the fatal conse- 
 quences entailed by the lapse o'f the original 
 one was the problem, and to do it by the same 
 principle of representation. 
 
 It was Jesus who revealed definitely the 
 eternity of punishment. He dwelt on the 
 subject oftener than any other inspired per- 
 son. He did it as a justification of His pre- 
 sence in the world. Why was He here at 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 27 
 
 all, " Immanuel God with us," if not to grap- 
 ple with a difficulty of infinite magnitude ? 
 God's opinion of disobedience to a well under- 
 stood divine command is expounded by the 
 far-reaching consequences in this world, ex- 
 tending to the whole race and during its con- 
 tinuance ; but it is not at all evident that its 
 visible effects exhaust its penalties. At any 
 rate, if they did the Incarnation would appear 
 to be a superfluity, a consideration not suffi- 
 cienty weighed by many. 
 
 As the Son of Man, the Son of God could 
 not but be the Representative Man, because 
 the Lord and King of men. "When He 
 bvingeth the first Begotten into the world He 
 saith let all the angels of God worship Him." 
 Infinitely greater than the whole race His life 
 and death became beyond estimation a satis- 
 faction for the breakers of the law, and is 
 available for all who conform to the condi- 
 tions — who repent and believe. If, as some 
 contend, repentance is the only atonement 
 
I 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 I 
 
 iil 
 
 i ! 
 
 
 :i:;:i 
 
 '' H 
 
 ■ ^ 
 
 i 
 
 if 
 
 - ■ 
 
 - 
 
 ;1 1 
 
 
 
 ' IB 
 
 : ; 
 
 
 3 i 
 
 if 
 
 1 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 t 
 
 1 ! 
 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 Li 
 
 111 , 
 
 28 
 
 CHRIBTIANITY 
 
 Cod requires, then it will follow that the dis- 
 ]iensntion of mercy cannot bo limited to this 
 life, which is more than equivalent to the 
 opinion that has made the Church of Christ 
 a ruin almost from the first. 
 
 But as an Infinite Representative, the suf- 
 fcrinp^s of Christ pre-supposo the substantial 
 infinitude of the deserts for which they were 
 substituted. The intimate connection between 
 eternal punishment and the Incarnation is 
 often made very apparent by those who per- 
 sistently shut their eyes to the eternal aspect. 
 ITnconsciously they prepare their way, that is, 
 if at all logical, for the somersault into So- 
 cinianism. For years one of the noted revi- 
 valists of America went hither and thither 
 proclaiming the tearfulness of God, until the 
 point of view bulked so largely in his thoughts 
 as to shut out every other ; and to -day he is 
 no longer B. Fay Mills, the Presbyterian re- 
 vivalist, but B. Fay Mills, the Unitarian. 
 
 It was b^ the old road to Unitarianism trod- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 29 
 
 den by so many Presbyterians as well as Con- 
 grcgationalists. People sec no danger in dwell- 
 ing exclusively on an attribute so benign as 
 the goodness of God, while shutting out the 
 circumstances and method of its manifesta- 
 tion. God, however, foresaw the danger 
 when He prepared the Old Testament and 
 made it an Introduction to the gospel. It is 
 on account of the importance of the Priest- 
 hood of Jesus that priesthoods and sacrifices 
 occupy such large space in the BooLs of 
 Moses. They were to be done away, but the 
 facts typified remain for ever, as the most 
 important of all for time and eternity. 
 
 The facts of the Old Testament, too, are 
 permanent revelations of the charactei* of 
 God ; the benign and the vengeful, the 
 Flood, the fate of Sodom ; even the exter- 
 mination of the Canaanites, looked at in the 
 light of effects of the neglect to accomplish 
 it fully. On the benign side there are facts 
 of greater note ; in the present age there is 
 
30 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ilii 
 
 j'.i 
 
 no disposition to overlook them. But the 
 mission of Christ, on account of its magni- 
 tude, wliich cannot be exaggerated, fills many 
 minds with the idea that while God is a 
 foimtain of generosity, He can be nothing 
 else. God commands that His mercy bo 
 published everywhere, and enjoins merciful- 
 ness instead of the spirit of revenge ; but in 
 mercy He also requires that notification be 
 given of the doom awaiting the ingratitude 
 of impenitence and imbelief. While the gos- 
 pel is for all nations, the motives of belief are 
 the two eternities. This is the awakening. 
 
 In similar circumstances God will be the 
 same " consuming fire " He ever was. Allow 
 the history of the Jews in the fall of Jerusa- 
 lem and ever since to tell its tale, and let the 
 prophecies bearing on the fate of the New 
 Testament churches be heard. And th** facts: 
 thccie terrible fiuamities inflicted in gospel 
 times calculate I to fill the impenitent with 
 awe. Their object is a merciful one — ^to keep 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIKNCE. 
 
 31 
 
 the conscience of the Christian nations awake. 
 Where this is not done the gospel has a nar- 
 cotic effect, and moral reforms without God 
 and apart from the pulpit become the order 
 of the day. " God delighteth in mercy " and 
 " judgment is His strange work," strange be- 
 cause not nature, but nature violated demands 
 it. 
 
 At one time, when ministers understood 
 their vocation better, it was very common to 
 make large use of the Revelation of St. John 
 as a source of gospel themoa. This was wise, 
 because it is Jesus on the throne with whom 
 souls have to do now, a fact clearly made 
 known, but concerning which information 
 from the pulpit is given in scant measure. In 
 comprehension the gospel mu:^t embrace the 
 divine human life in heaven as well as the di- 
 vine human life on earth, because the former 
 is the complement of the latter. A promotion 
 has taken place from the Cross to the Crown. 
 In the thought of many Jesus is still as in "Na- 
 
 I 
 
32 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 J B 
 
 zareth, or Bethany, or Gethscmaiie. True, the 
 Son of Mary was and is an expression of 
 divine love to the world. On earth His whole 
 life was centred on this purpose. As a nuin 
 fulfilling His assumed responsibilities. He had 
 nothing but love and pity and rebuke and for- 
 ^^ivencss for His followers, and He set thein 
 an example of humility that they should walk 
 in His steps. To-day He occupies the throne 
 oi' Heaven, a Judge and a Saviour; the throne 
 from which He will judge the world. A 
 judge can pity the culprit he sends to prison 
 or to the scaffold ; but justice is a stern conn- 
 sellor. Behold, the days come, saitli the Lord, 
 that I will raise unto David a righteous 
 Branch, and he shall reign as King and deal 
 wisely, and shall execute judgment and jus- 
 tice in the land." (Jeremiah xxiii., 5.) At 
 the present moment Jesus is a heavenly Jiulge 
 in all the earth. See, for exnm]>1e. His ver- 
 dict on each of the soatu chunhes. 
 . Channing, Strauss, Prof. Seeley, Renan 
 
WITHOUT THE C0N8CI*:NCE. 
 
 33 
 
 and many others have undertaken to give the 
 dimensions of Jesus, but in each case it was 
 an attempt to measure the ocean with a cocoa- 
 nut shell. His dimensions are in the Bible, 
 and there are no other possible lines of mea- 
 surement ; all else contract to the insignifi- 
 cance of the individual reusouer, which is the 
 result of every attempt to be wise above what 
 is written, and to chisel Jesus into the stature 
 of a philosopher. As the facts are all within 
 the Bible, in order to know Him fully it is 
 necessary to take all of tliem in, which none 
 of the philosophers have done, always exclud- 
 ing any which refused to harmonize with pre- 
 conceived whims. 
 
 Now, is sufficient importance attached to 
 the fact that the pitying victim of Calvary is 
 on the throne of judgment ? The pardoning 
 function has to be safeguarded with caution 
 even when exercised by Heaven. The Book 
 of Revelation exposes the style in which Jesus 
 
 can speak to apostate churches and apostate 
 3 
 
34 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 \\ 
 
 souls, as well as to those who are not apostate. 
 This, however, can be said of the new dis- 
 pensation as a whole that its legalisms are 
 mercy ; it is not mercy to withhold the truth 
 and allow consciences to sleep the fatal sleep. 
 Pity wrung from Jesus His revelation from 
 the eternal world. When the revelations are 
 withheld by misplaced tenderness hearts at 
 length become changed into stone. Exclusive 
 proclamations of love seem calculated to have 
 an opposite (effect ; but they have not. 
 
 In opposition to the Scripture : " He that 
 sparoth the rod hateth the child," many edu- 
 cationists contend that bad boys should be 
 overwhelmed with gush, that the worse they 
 are and misbehave, the more affection should 
 be showered on them, which is exactly of a 
 piece with modern experiments in the pulpit. 
 Together these foolish experiments are con- 
 verting the nations of this continent into un- 
 reasoning and unreasonable children, who 
 cannot be satisfied unless they get the advan- 
 
 5 1*' 
 i4i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 35 
 
 tage of their neighbours in everything. The 
 young should be thoroughly warned before 
 they have had time to sin away their day of 
 grace. Then their faith in eternal punish- 
 ment will be expressed in blasphemies. 
 
 The late Professor Drummond discoursed 
 expatiatingly on love. Good and true, where 
 love exists ; but Christian love is not a spon- 
 aneity, nor can it be begotten by word of 
 command, far less by speaking about it. It is 
 the result of a process, often a very painful 
 one. The incrustations of sin which imprison 
 the affections have to be broken up by an 
 awakening of the conscience. God's love to 
 the world was revealed by blood, and God's 
 love begets love in such alone as see the Blood 
 in appreciation of its value. 
 
 The Professor's discourses on the power of 
 love are valuable in as far as they are exposi- 
 tions of the New Testament. The " beloved 
 disciple " wrote on the same subject exhaus- 
 tively ; but mark this : they were not de- 
 signed to be his last words ; if so, they had 
 
36 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 been as inofticicnt as those of tlio Professor. 
 For a benefit to nil ages ho was compelled to 
 portray the other side of the character of 
 »lesua. Is there not instnictiou in the fact 
 that the preacher of love was singled ont for 
 this work ? Was he in danger of becoming 
 one sided and a hobbyist ? In Patmos ho was 
 awakened as ont of a reverie by llis former 
 'r'end now in glory. Do the sickly sentimen- 
 tRi who simper abont the love of Jesns 
 i( allv know the Kxjdted Redeemer ? llavo 
 they studied His ntterances from the other 
 side ? If to what Jesns s])ake when on earth 
 is given divine importance, surely equal im- 
 portance should be granted to what he has 
 spoken from the heavens, es])ecially as it is 
 ^vith Jesns on the throne souls have to do now. 
 After all, there is not so ruuch difference be- 
 tween the Immanuel of the ]irophets and the 
 Tmmanuel of St. John : is there any ? And 
 for luridncss, is there anything in the Pro- 
 phets that surpasses St. Jolm^s description of 
 the coming woes ? ~ 
 
 T-H 
 
DANGER SIGNALS. 
 
 Wero the religion of the Bible not the most 
 effective inatrnmont for good, and were there 
 no dangcT to society from defective views this 
 subject could bo drop[)cd without disadvan- 
 tage. But the mistakes are telling unfavor- 
 ably on legislation, on respect for the laws, 
 and on the execution of law. In ante-refor- 
 mation times the churches aimed at instilling 
 dread of the ecclesiastic. The Reformers ab- 
 olished this, but substituted a far more power- 
 ful motive — the fear of God. Men are in- 
 fluenced bv both love and fear ; but far the 
 greatest numl)er by the latter. The fear of 
 God comes in not when men are disposed to 
 do right, but when they arc disposed to wrong. 
 
 To a dangerous extent the " Reformed " 
 seem to have forgotten that to make this fear 
 prevail is one chief object of the churches. 
 
38 
 
 CltRISTIAT^ITV 
 
 1 
 
 
 : if 
 
 The effect is showing itself in various ways ; 
 in a growing disrespect for the Sabbath day 
 by the great corporations, and by mnltitndes 
 besides ; a diarespct that ki^ed religion in 
 France and Germany, and that is killing it 
 rapidly in many other countries. Thirty-five 
 years ago one new8]>aper attempted a Sunday 
 edition ; to-day there are 700 Sunday news- 
 papers in the United States, and some in 
 Canada. It is also sh'^wing itself by unscru- 
 pulousness in business, such as, for example, 
 depreciating or enhancing values by lying re- 
 ports, and by paying dividends on borrowed 
 money or withholding dividends when made 
 for a similar purpose ; also by divorces and 
 remarriage of the divorced ; also by incendiar- 
 ism for insurance ; also by corruption in poli- 
 tics, and a consequent disrespect for laws; but 
 perhaps most strikingly in the growing dis- 
 regard for human life and sympathy with 
 criminals. 
 
 In North America there must be at the 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 39 
 
 very least ir^O,000 murderers in existence, ebe 
 wliat can have become of them I Accord- 
 ing to the last published nrport, there had 
 been within the year 10,000 nuu'ders in tlie 
 United States, and in the previous year 9,500; 
 and in the two years there w(;re between three 
 and four hundred executions, probably many 
 of them negroes. From failure to execute 
 the unrepealed law of God murders have so 
 multiplied that to execute all murderers 
 would look like massacre. And things are 
 always going from bad to worse, which can- 
 not but be. " Blood it defileth the land," a 
 defilement that can be removed only '^ by the 
 blood of him that shed it." The defilement 
 is in the minds and hearts of the people. As 
 the perverted pity only fosters murder, Chris- 
 tians should infer that a stern sense of justice 
 is one of the Christian virtues. Indignation 
 against crime purifies the moral atmosphere. 
 The Moasic Law gave the people a chance to 
 express their sentiments against a criminal 
 by stoning to death. 
 
40 
 
 ClIRIRTIANITY 
 
 H 
 
 m ' 
 
 In another form contempt for human life 
 and God*8 law has shewn itself for many a 
 day, and among chnrcli-goers as well as others. 
 Ever since the revolt of tlie Colonies their 
 predilection has been for Fratu^. rather tlian 
 Britain, a mistake that has avenged itself by 
 a great curtailment of the oldest elements of 
 the population. Our attention was first called 
 to the painful subject about the commence- 
 ment 01 the civd war, when on a mission to 
 the "Western States. Among others who 
 called on him was a pious lady, a most agree- 
 able person, who seemed to be very frail for 
 her age. An acquaintance, an old country- 
 man, asked if I noticed this debility, and if I 
 knew the cause. It was drugs, and he asserted 
 that as a rule child-bearing in America was 
 left to the immigrants and their immediate 
 descendants. A terrible indictment against a 
 Christian people. Nor is the crime altogether 
 confined to the Protestants either in France 
 or America ; there are facts at command to 
 convince of the contrary. 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 
 
 And is it poKniblc that in spito of all special 
 c'fforts, by Christian associations, multiplied 
 by the dozen, such practices are being intro- 
 dnced into Canada ? What is needed on 
 this continent is not the butter-tongned evan- 
 gelist, but the cry of the Baptist repeated in 
 thunderous tones in east, west, north and 
 south. The blood of the slaughtered inno- 
 cents will be avenged I 1'he gospel 1 what 
 does the gospel amount to when there is no 
 awakening for it ? And mark this, that the 
 male sex is not the only onv, disposed to 
 crimes of the blackest dye. Put women into 
 the places occupied by men all along the line, 
 and it is doubtful if they would not exceed 
 men as criminals. There is a lesson in the 
 srory of Eve and her lost influence. 
 
 Durant I Durant 1 For three years the 
 name of that villain was sounded before the 
 public every day. Was there not a providen- 
 tial object too ? A terrible crime had been 
 committed, and the criminal condemned, and 
 
42 
 
 <MIIMSTIAMTY 
 
 there wns the Inw's sympathy for tliia worst of 
 criniinals ! Was it not well, too, tliat tlie at- 
 tention of tlie wliole world was directed to the 
 danj»*»»r of the constant nieetinu: of the yonng 
 of the two sexes in chin*clies to make atnends 
 for tlie danger arisinj;' from a mnzzled pulpit. 
 The muzzle Is put on by the ])eople. 
 
 Durant was a (^anadian ; this and other 
 similar facts inform the writer that in critieiz- 
 ini? the United States it is necessary to has- 
 ten slowly, and to exercise a ])rudent caution. 
 If Great Britain has had a work of civilization 
 on its hands, the United States has had as 
 Ji'reat, if not a greater one. If Britain has 
 gone into all the world, all the world has come 
 within the portals of America to be civilized. 
 The work to be done, in training the victims 
 of despotic conntrics to constitutional govern- 
 ment wonld have swamped any other conntry 
 on eartli. The fonndation of success was laid 
 by the gospel in the minds and hearts of the 
 earliest settlers; therefore, let it continue to 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 48 
 
 1)0 pronohod in tlio old Htylo, whirh ro(rogiiizo<l 
 the faot tliiit ilio iiiiHHioii of tho Sou of God 
 was ncceHsitatrd l)y tli<^ (eternal ofTcots of flin. 
 Whcrovor tlioHc^ (•oiiH<»(|n(fii(U'H an^sot asido, tlio 
 imtioiiH arc Hinkin^ in corniptioii and ind>o- 
 cility. Wliat in needed now in all countrieH 
 is a now and fn^sli p^rasp of the goapol from 
 tho point of view of its ultimate oripjin. So 
 mnch has been written about religion that 
 the atte!\tion of students is so tasked 1)^ what 
 is called " learning " on the subject, that the 
 ground facts have passc^d into the dim distance 
 so as to be unseen. 
 
 TARRED ROPE FOR ENGLISH. 
 
 A Respectful Request from London That 
 
 Americans Temper Adulterations 
 
 With Mercy. 
 
 London, May 31. — The Telegraph an- 
 nounces that in articles of food imported from 
 America are many adulterations. Official 
 
 ill' 
 
 
If I t 
 
 m I 
 
 m 
 
 1- t 
 
 1^1 
 
 44 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 oiialysts have made the appalling discovery 
 that tarred rope is freely utilized in the manu- 
 facture of the ginger of couinierce ; that pul- 
 verized clay is lavislily mixed with the flour 
 8U[)plied to unsuspecting Britons " for house- 
 hold use." 
 
 (^orn-starch figures as a copious adulterant 
 of powdered sugar ; ground-up cocoanut 
 shells are extensively sold as prime buckwheat 
 flour ; jellies are made of applecores and par- 
 ings, blended with glucose, and butter is com- 
 pounded of tallow and marrow. Condensed 
 milk, on the other hand, is preserved by mep 
 of wood alcohol, which — being stremiou. ^ 
 poisonous — is admirably calculated to abridge 
 the lives of its unwary consumers. 
 
 " Despite the recent recrudescence of An- 
 glo-American amity," says the Telegraph, 
 " and its tempting promise of an informal 
 alliance, in the coming by and by, between 
 the two great English-speaking nations, we 
 are only too well aware that the time-worn 
 
WITHOUT TlIK CONSCIENCE. 
 
 45 
 
 nxioin, " Thero is no friondahip in business," 
 still holds fi;ood on both sides of the Atlantic, 
 juid will pro])ably continue to do so until the 
 crack of doom. Nevertheless, we cannot help 
 thinking that those of our American cousins 
 who oc«Mipy themselves with the preparation 
 of food intended for our consumption, might 
 temper adulteration with mercy." 
 
 The (^aiuidian (lovornmcnt is on the alert : 
 rnd it needs to be. 
 
 But, from England, too, comes a loud call 
 for the Baptist. It is conscience that reveals 
 the necessity for Christ ; it is the conscience 
 dead that can be placated by rites. Prayers 
 for the dead ! What does that mean ? It 
 means that a church fallen from its Chris- 
 tianity is forced to send its members into Pur- 
 gatory instead of into Paradise. Baptismal 
 Regeneration makes another prol)ation neces- 
 sary, because regeneration by baptism does 
 not regenerate, and therefore does not prepare 
 for heaven. 
 
 i 
 
 
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 N'll* fHH'll.ly III |(1n (iiiiiif, ^''l1tU M M^^rml 
 
 lifM III knm Urn, iim mif m^ M nuti 
 
 ,h.MiN I 'IhIsI w<Mif/i !('• l/fiflf «^«i/' 
 
 A ImI«> |tO|(|lli||' |,/(|(l|/r|| Iftt'tH'ithf hf ih^ 
 
 muiM' ilMHilfilhiili'iii iiM |||^ \*^f)U*r Wftdh Uf itH 
 Miilniiin^Hijili^y iJinl. jn iiJA o|rJrilmf th^ /irmfly 
 llM|»**hlM'Hf <^HJlJ/j f'/'H/'|< ^fy» Nif^ iff fMp mf-' 
 j'l'ilii^l l»v I'Hilhut nn\M*pt it mi ttwdh(*f fffff*' 
 IimiImm Iff Mil' Ii'ImImi/'v Ui nitftt^ i\mHt^H f^ 
 Mil III iiniiji'lil llio |ilfilfj^fl( U^ncU'tuii^fif ^m (4 
 I 111* Umit^r, wImH ilf^ /'^rrrrtfM wfrtr ffw^frtfi 
 i»l»liil«iii Iff wliiii Uiii\ wfioiil^l ^f#f, 'lim mi^f^ 
 vi'lilloh III* lilt' (iilifiiln »ri «wlvHfi' f( ih th*^ iifi* 
 MMMwi'mldf jMtMiMMMi, ii^iij/wf, h)I mwh ^m^ 
 fli'N. 1 1 iIm' iU^miU^rnUuu Sn t*tfim^nlfitm Ut 
 lm|Mtiilli'iM'i<, if, I'liriiMrf, \us ^jfit 
 
 HImmiM I| 1(11 «iirf;riMMi^, ff»/'ri> Hi«f h rfir>TfA 
 
48 
 
 CinilSTIANlTY 
 
 :j -i 
 
 other side of the Atlanti3 too ; betrayed by 
 such straws in the wind, as treachery in games 
 of chance in the very first rank of society, by 
 the horrible revelations connected with that 
 nionntobank, Oscar Wilde, and later still, 
 throngh tliose made by the " promoter," and 
 by secret commissions. Conscience must bo 
 in process of extinction, else why should the 
 venerable Archbishop of Canterbury find it 
 necessary to re-establish a place of future pro- 
 1 ation for England ? It must be because most 
 people he knows seem to him unfit for 
 heaven, if he considers them too good for hell. 
 Baptismal I\egoneration has an innocent look; 
 so had Dr. Pusey. 
 
 " Procrastination is the thief of time," but 
 is found a thief of eternity also. The most 
 stimnlating words in the Bible are, " JN^ow is 
 tlie accepted time, now is the day of salva- 
 tion." If me English adopt Pui-gatory, which 
 amounts to probation in the future life, in less 
 than a 100 years the nation shall have passed 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 40 
 
 the clyiiip: stago, it will be dead. It is tlie real 
 source of degeneracy in what Lord Salisbury 
 calls the decaying nations. Some people, 
 and among them, his lordship, think that the 
 source of decay is the confessional. But why ? 
 Because it is there the eternal consequences 
 arc removed, and the penitent made immune 
 from them. If absolution to the dying took 
 off the temporal consequences of sin, then 
 souls would go into Paradise, and there would 
 be no need of masses for the dead. 
 
 If any do imagine, they may mistake i)i 
 imagining that the " priests " exercise a sinis- 
 ter personal influence. The ministers of 
 religion of all the denoniiititions are well-in- 
 tentioned, good men, the elect of the elect. 
 Those designed for i ustcrs of the Catholic 
 Church are the very pick <>i' t!"- [K'^plc. At 
 school, with one exception, who 'as too }."»od 
 to live, and who died in early life, tli(^ saints 
 among the writer's early companion- were 
 boys intended for the priesthood, and who 
 
50 
 
 OHIIISTIANITY 
 
 f 
 
 *!'il 
 
 nil I 
 
 '1 ; 
 
 1. ' 
 
 aflorvvanl booHinn ('Riluilio pricsiB — the bcflt 
 Ixlinvod bo.ys ho over know. But tho lovor- 
 ugo iH takon from thoir iiiiliionco by alwohi- 
 tion, wliich |>n^s\ii>])()soa that, in all oa^os ro- 
 poiilnnoo ia goiuiiiu*, nnd which iho " poni- 
 tont, " at any rato takoa for granliMl. (Jod 
 doOvS ooniirni tho abHolntion of tho sincoroly 
 r(*pont(Mjt, but rofnsos abscdntion to all othors. 
 Tho (^hnroh of Knjj;land, wo aro told, is a 
 " oonipnOionsivo " ono ; bnt snroly not as 
 <H>niprohon8ivo as tho ono established by (von- 
 stantino, which weakened tho Koman Empire, 
 and ]>r(^]>nr(>d it for its overthrow by tho Bar- 
 barians ; or as it established for tho barbar- 
 ii\ns, whieh noeessitatod tlio Reformation. 
 Churches must embrace members with im- 
 perfect ideas on Theology ; but surely the 
 ol( rjxy should be fenced within the test of a 
 standing and falling church — tho doctrine of 
 duetiricaiion by Faith. This is the pivotal 
 article of our holy relif;ion, as it was also the 
 pivotal doctrine of tho Reformation. 
 
WITITOIIT THK rOlVHOfKNflR. 
 
 61 
 
 But what, if, luny l»o nskrcl, of Rnwflia, with 
 wliosn (H!cloRinBticH tlin ritiialiHtfl aro arnbitioufl 
 to fratorniz(3. UuHHia iH a nation of thiovns ; 
 anyone who han lived thf;re knows that it is all 
 but iin[)OHRihle to get an honest servant, and 
 the upper elasHes are as thievish as the com- 
 monalty. Moreover, ev(;ry jack in office is 
 i. tyrant and a roblxjr. If flussia is not con- 
 sidered a d(5eaying nation, it is b(!canso its situ- 
 ation is sneh that othc^r nafions cannot get at 
 it. The day will come, however, when the 
 British after a grcuit victory will strike Kus- 
 sia at her centre and proclaim liberty to the 
 nations of which she is made up, and Russia 
 will fly into a hundred pieces. 
 
 When compared with Protestantism, the 
 oneness of the vast Koman Catholic Church 
 is striking, which has led many to doubt if 
 Protestantism is ( /hristianity at its best. But 
 while Roman Catholics are one ecclesiastic- 
 ally, they come far behind the Protestants in 
 the matter of national unity, or the ability to 
 
 I i 
 ] I 
 
 i i 
 
 i < 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
J' 
 
 -J ' 
 
 ?/-. 
 
 62 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 inspire it. While both were Catholic, Eng- 
 land and Scotland were always at daggers 
 drawn ; Protestantism united them, and has 
 kept them one ever since. Until yesterday 
 Italy was a land of fragments, and were in- 
 terested parties listened to, it would soon be 
 a land of fragments again. If the South of 
 this continent could coalesce as the Protestant 
 States of the North have done. South America 
 would become one of the great empires of the 
 world. Why do tliey not coalesce? Because 
 the republics see little to admire in each 
 otluT, and have as little cause for self-admira- 
 tion. Their history is of chronic rebellion, 
 because the men to whom power is committed 
 are so unprincipled that the people lashed into 
 fury end each successive government with 
 fire and sword. 
 
 Instead of dividing into two great parties 
 as in IBritain and the United States, the Catho- 
 lic nations split up into irreconcilable groups, 
 hateful and hating one another. Traced back 
 
WITHOUT THE CONHCIENCE. 
 
 53 
 
 the reasons arc tliat hnptism does not refijener- 
 ate, and the prospect is held out of a better 
 chance for improvement in tlie future life. 
 
 The best friends of the Province of Quebec 
 regret that members of the Legislature even 
 have to admit that there is a strong tendency 
 to what in South America has unfitted the 
 people for self-government — the difficulty, 
 indeed the impossibility, of getting a majority 
 of upright, honorable men for the conduct of 
 public affairs. They are openly accused of 
 accepting bribes. 
 
 His holiness the head of the Catholic 
 Church, recognizing this moral weakness, has 
 recommended a moderate acquaintance with 
 Scripture, evidently under the impression that 
 this is the source of the greater trustworthi- 
 ness of public men in Protestant countries. 
 He is right ; but there is a specific lesson in 
 the Bible that has a specific value above most 
 others. If, just as an experiment, his holiiiess 
 would withhold from Catholics, for, say a 
 
54 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 period of 50 years, or what would be equiva- 
 lent to a generation, all privileges in the eter- 
 nal world except what are adjudged to Protes- 
 tants, even his holiness, if he lived, would be 
 surprised at the result. If there are men in 
 the Council such as people say there are, it 
 would be most interesting to see a kodaked 
 \ iew or picture of the City Council of Mont- 
 real assembled to hear from St. Peter that 
 they, with all bad Catholics, were reduced to 
 the level of bad Prostestants, and would land 
 with them in hell for their unprincipled con- 
 duct. His holiness would be astonished to 
 find that the measure of regeneration they 
 had received by baptism and the new degree 
 of holiness they had obtained at Confirma- 
 tion, and the share of Christ they had got at 
 communion, would be forced to scintillate out 
 with a vigour they had never betrayed before; 
 indeed, it would be strange if the suddenness 
 of the surprise would not work out a degree 
 of repentence that mi^ht demonstrate itself 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 00 
 
 
 hy restitution : some o^ them, in fact, might 
 become saints, because St. Paul says : By the 
 terror of the Lord we persuade men — that is, 
 to repent and accept Christ. 
 
 At the same time, it must be noted that the 
 subjects of his holiness are only accused of 
 taking bribes ; it is the Protestants that give 
 them. The writer does not undertake to 
 weigh the guilt of the two, of the giver and 
 taker, of the tempter and tempted ; but this 
 he has to admit, that for some reason the pass 
 has been reached that when a modern Pro- 
 testant can hide his shame and lose his indi- 
 viduality by becoming a member of a Cor- 
 poration his conscience becomes extinct ; 
 jroney is his fad and dividends his incense, so 
 that it has become a common saying that Cor- 
 porations have no souls. Except someone 
 chosen as a blind or an instrument to go be- 
 tween and corrupt others, all the members of 
 our great syndicates are members in good 
 standing in Protestant Churches, one of the 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
u 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ni 
 
 tclliiif!: cvidcucos tliat the ProteHtant pulpit 
 liiis lost its powor. 
 
 It is a common remark amorij;' ProtoHtants 
 that " nobody believe s in hell now." And ao 
 it seems. Bnt if even CMu'istian eonntrica 
 eannot dispense with prisons and peniten- 
 tiaries, shonld it be thonp;ht stranj;e that Ood 
 cannot dispense with hell. Some think TIo 
 can, others think lie shonld, and some are so 
 enre of the latter that they believe He has. 
 Many inflnential Christians in past ages came 
 to the same conelnsion, and ehanfj;ed the na- 
 tions into hells on earth. They also continued 
 
 I' 
 
 shnttinjj; off the temporal effects of sin by in- 
 dnlg:ences and other expedients until the cry 
 became universal for a reformation of the 
 church in its head and members. 
 
SCM^PTT('IS^^. 
 
 • 
 
 Tlioii M'luit is to 1)0 inferred fnnu tlio 
 fact tluit (luring the whoN; genenition the 
 Science of ('liri.stiaii coinitries has heen atheis- 
 tic, or at least anti-('hristiun, putting law 
 above the plainest statements of the Hihlc ? 
 Docs it not infer that religion has lost its 
 power ; that, in short, it has ceased to im- 
 plant the fear of God in the budding minds ? 
 The fear of God is the beginning of unend- 
 ing wisdom, because it awakens a necessity for 
 Christ, whom to know is eternal life, and in 
 whom he that believeth hath the witness in 
 himself. Any who by experience know the 
 great central facts of the Bible cannot l)ut 
 believe the rest. 'J'his is the reason why un- 
 educated people often know much about relig- 
 ion of Avhicli the educated are ignorant, and 
 the reason also why they become authorities 
 
58 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ! 
 
 :U' 
 
 on the subject, while the educated, who have 
 never put the matter to its only test, are not. 
 The test of the Infinite Mind is the contHct 
 of mind. " Come unto me and I will give 
 3'ou rest." 
 
 " Necessity is the mother of invention." 
 Men must feel a need for God, before they 
 seek and find Him. The divine nature has 
 two sides. For more than a pjeneration there 
 has been distaste for the more awe-inspiring 
 and effective one, no doubt among men un- 
 willing to experiment with faith and make 
 their peace with God. At any rate, there has 
 been failure to present God to the public in 
 the inspiring manner in which He has been 
 pleased to present Hirself. It might be well 
 to find out what churches are most respon- 
 sible, or should be held responsible for the 
 sceptics. 
 
 It does not seem th^t any of them can 
 be held responsible for Darwin personally. 
 TJiomas Carlyle said that he knew three gen- 
 
 If! 'il 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 59 
 
 erations of Darwins, atheists every one of 
 thoni. In f^pito of possible denials, Darwin's 
 object in life was to underpin the negations 
 in which he had been indoctrinated, and, if 
 possible, by scionco, falsely so-called, to knock 
 the bottom out of the Sacred Scriptures. The 
 Bible point of view is of a Personal God 
 levealing Himself by personal acts ; as man 
 made in the image of God reveals himself ; 
 those acts put forth long before as well as 
 well as after, and at the creation of man. If 
 divine manifestation by law only is a fact, 
 then there has been no open revelation ; hut 
 by open revelation it became known that the 
 laws were created, so that where Revelation 
 is unknown the Creator is unknown. The 
 emphasis put upon " Law " is to make it a 
 " pons assinorum " to stagger the imbeciles. 
 Has God ever said, or who is it that says that 
 God will never suspend the laws of nature to 
 shew that He is their Author ? 
 
 Darwin's writings are not dangerous to 
 
Sii 
 
 1^1 
 
 
 60 
 
 ClIltlSTIANlTY 
 
 rclif>;ioii in themselves, as his eonclnsioiis are 
 not contained in liis premises, but arc the 
 work of imagination pure and simple. The 
 little changes he jc^athered from all over nature 
 were parallel, and not cnmnlative, amonnting 
 to the production of one species out of an- 
 other, of which he failed to find a single in- 
 stance. If it were known that occasionally 
 a sheep ]H'oduced a kid, or a goat a lamb, or 
 a horse an ass, or pigeon a chick, such things 
 would suggest evolution, and in fact would 
 prove it ; but varieties to wdiich Darwin al- 
 ways appealed prove nothing, because a var- 
 iety of the sheep is still a sheep. When a 
 new species appeared it could not be as a 
 variety, but as an anomaly. Evolution, 
 therefore, supjioses that the life of the world 
 i\'as built up by anomiilies, of which there is 
 not a particle of evide?ice in the nature that 
 we know. Tlie danger, therefore, lies in ad- 
 missions by men Avho ha'. ( no skill in weigh- 
 ing evidence, or penetration to distinguish be- 
 
 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 61 
 
 tween the products of an abnormal imagina- 
 tion and facts. 
 
 The law of life, accordhig to Genesis i., 24, 
 26, is that like produces like. And (iod said, 
 Let the earth bring- forth the living '3roatnro 
 after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and 
 beast after its kind ; and it v>'as so. And 
 (Jod made the beast of the earth after its kind, 
 etc., etc. But if, as evolutionists say, God 
 made one creature out of another, he did 
 not make theni after tlnnr kind. As the 
 Bible is committed to this posidon, it is neces- 
 sary to find out what can be said in its favour. 
 
 AVe have to admit to the evolutionists that 
 the fishes of our lakes, rivers and streams re- 
 semble each other : perch, chubb, trout, bass, 
 pickerel, pike, grey trout, etc., as much indeed 
 as do the kine of the various countries, or the 
 dogs or pigeons, and look as if as nearly re- 
 lated. But put the kine of the world into 
 the same great field in perfect freedom, and 
 their peculiarities will soon disappear. The 
 

 ■^ ; 
 
 I i: 
 
 62 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 fishes are perfectly free in their native ele- 
 ment, always were so> and yet by "natural 
 selection " they have acted as if some Moses 
 had given them a law and enforced it as a 
 religion. The kine grew into their many 
 characteristics in separation, by climate and 
 feeding, helped by artificial selection ; but no 
 such separation ever took place in the case 
 of the fishes, so that their peculiarities were 
 formed when in free juxtaposition. Sea 
 fishes differ greatly from each other, which 
 at once suggests created difference ; relatives 
 in the enjoyment of free intercourse could 
 never have so differentiated themselves. 
 
 Then, what is true of fishes holds equally 
 of the denizens of our forests, many of them 
 resembling each other very closely : squirrels, 
 rats, weasels, minks, muskrats, ground hogs, 
 martins, racoons, foxes, wolves wild cats, wol- 
 verines, lynxes, etc. They have formed them- 
 selves into specific groups while living toge- 
 th'^r in perfect freedom in the same forests 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 63 
 
 and by the same streams. The same thing is 
 more striking in the case of the feathered 
 tribes, because in their case locomotion is 
 more untrammelled. While resembling each 
 other closely in form, they obey the law of 
 some Moses as strictly as if so many tribes 
 of Jews. For example, take the wild ducks 
 that come in swarms to our lakes and rivers 
 in autumn, and it will be seen that their 
 summer breeding has been according to the 
 strictest rule. According to geologists, birds 
 are broken-up liazrds, which reminds of one 
 of their n amber who discovered clear proof 
 of the evolution of the horse on a continent 
 where there never was a horse till imported. 
 " Most fools " Carlisle would say. 
 
 The point is the supposed original forma- 
 tion of specific groups out of near relatives, 
 first and second cousins, etc. Equally inex- 
 plicable are the differences among the trees 
 that constitute our forests, some of them go- 
 ing the length of bearing fruits and others 
 nuts of various kinds and sizes. 
 
m 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 It may be replied that the various group- 
 ings must have taken place when the incipi- 
 ent continents were groups of islands like 
 those in the Pacific ; hut for incalculable ages, 
 according to sceptics, the human race has been 
 scattered over the islands as well as the con- 
 tinents of a world. Nevertheless, the unity 
 of a race remains intact. The objection, how- 
 ever, cannot ai)[)ly to birds and fishes. 
 
 On the other hand, it may be thought that 
 like would naturally draw to like by nafiu'al 
 selection ; })ut it must not be overlooked that 
 while each creature saw all the others, not one 
 of them saw itself, for the mirror is a human 
 invention. No ! evolution is not the sug- 
 gestion of anyone brought up face to face 
 with nature, and familiar with it ; it is a 
 suggestion of the proverbial Cockneigh. 
 
 Faith in the Creator embraces a vast con- 
 ception ; n(me feel this more than the athe- 
 ists do : too vast to be held fixedly except as 
 Ihe rcisult of iriviragable evidence. But 
 
 F'1 
 
 U 
 
 lA I 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 65 
 
 accept the Bible as the exposition of a pro- 
 cess or logical method, admit the recorded 
 manifestations of power and foreknowledge, 
 and the unshaken faith of the Jews is ex- 
 plained, and the theme of the Bible estab- 
 lished : " In the beginning God created the 
 heaven and the earth." In the wisdom of 
 God a witnessing nation was chosen, a jury ; 
 the verdict of that nation written ineffaceably 
 in their inmost consciousness is : " The Lord 
 He is God; the Lord He is God," It was 
 hard to convince them, the record admits that; 
 but examine the process and weigh the result, 
 and the conclusion engraven in their mind 
 will be yours. 
 
 We submit one illustration of the lame 
 conclusions reached by men who venture on 
 great mundane subjects and changes while 
 refusing to accept light from heaven intended 
 to elucidate them. During the whole of this 
 age a glacial period extending to something 
 like 20,000 years has been dinned into the 
 
66 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 iil 
 
 'I'! 
 
 fit 
 
 ^ 'I 
 
 '.11 jH"? 
 
 •'■I 
 
 
 ears of the passing generation. The eviclence 
 is boulders and boulder clays found in many 
 places up to within 20° of the equator. But 
 does the Bible not supply a far mode feasi- 
 ble exp1ariati(>n than a long period of inex- 
 plicable cold ? During those protracted frosts 
 what became of the animal and vegetable 
 kingdoms ? The relics of the ice age con- 
 nect themselves with the very last great opera- 
 tion of nature, as they lie on the surface of 
 the world, above all the stone formations. 
 Before they were put where they are, all the 
 animals now extant on the earth were in exist- 
 ence. What became of them during all those 
 polar summers and winters ? Twenty thou- 
 sand years of frost ! And the vegetable 
 world ? What became of it ? What hot- 
 house was provided for its preservation ? Ten 
 vears of such cold or the half of it would have 
 swept everything that had life from the face 
 of the earth. 
 
 Faith in the old reliable Book of Genesis 
 
 
 i; 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 67 
 
 f 
 
 would keep the scientists from stultifying 
 themselves when meddling with subjects bv3- 
 yond their grasp. The Deluge, as described, 
 could not take place except as the result of a 
 breaking up of the earth's crust, of which 
 there is evidence in most places. The im- 
 mediate effect would be a great overflow of 
 water, and the effect of the overflow a de- 
 tachment of the ice masses of the polar and 
 subpolar regions. In some cases the animals 
 of the tropics have been carried into the far 
 north ; all would depend on the direction of 
 the currents. Genesis takes for granted that 
 a good deal of animal life would be endan- 
 gered, and it tells how the danger was met. 
 How do the scientists meet the danger to it 
 bound up with their scheme ? 
 
 As the Flood together with the account of 
 the ark is considered one of the incredible 
 wonders with which the name of God is iis?o- 
 ciated, is it strange if in divine wisdom it has 
 left traces of itself that are general and un- 
 
68 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 * 1 
 
 m 
 
 ' ,1 
 
 .1' 
 
 i\ 
 
 I 
 
 
 mistakable. Indeed, a universal deluge could 
 not take place without rejE^istrating itself, and 
 it should be said rather that God chose a judg- 
 ment for the race that would leave imperiKh- 
 able memorials of its infliction. At one time 
 sceptics laughed jeeringly at the story of the 
 Tower of Babel ; but since attention was 
 called to the Pyramids, early structures in the 
 land of floods, the laugh has been somewhat 
 modified. No doubt the Tower of Babel was 
 intended as a refuge while the Deluge rested 
 like a nightmare on the human mind. The 
 Tower is a credibility because the story of the 
 flood is true. The objection suggested by the 
 water overtoppng the highest hills can be met 
 by the supposition that the great mountains 
 of the world were elevated in the upheaval 
 that produced and then retired the Deluge. 
 
 Having, as it were, unearthed a pedestal for 
 the Book of Genesis, its other statements 
 stand out in the light of day as infallible 
 truth. And the existence of the Jews as a 
 
 1^ 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 69 
 
 nation of believers in the invisible God is a 
 self evidence for the rest of the Bible as 
 striking as the relics of the Deluge. 
 
 In the stratified rocks there is abundant evi- 
 dence of a progression in life ; but there is 
 no evidence that the inferior produced the 
 more advanced. It is just here where inter- 
 polated imaginingcj have found their tem- 
 porary justification. It took a geological 
 " day " to bring the animal life of the world 
 into existence. This looks very like evolu- 
 tion : a Creator, it is supposed, would have 
 finished the work at once. The conditions, 
 however, were bad for evolution ; a constantly 
 falling temperature would have had a stunt- 
 ing effect on life, as temperature, above all 
 other conditions, tells. The adaptation of 
 life to temperature necessitated the " day " 
 of Genesis. The fur-bearing animals would 
 have been ill adapted to the " day " when coal 
 was in the forming stage. 
 
 The writer was attending a geological class 
 
70 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 r J 
 
 i i 
 
 1^5 
 
 i 
 
 H 
 
 ill 
 Ml 
 
 in Edinburgh, when a French savant an- 
 nounced that he had found clear traces of man 
 in the " boulder clays/^ The lecturer was 
 discoursing on the " clays " at the time, a sub- 
 ject with which the writer had become pretty 
 familiar in Canada. Instead of sympathizing 
 with the ocotch professor in his wrath, he 
 thought that as like as not the Frenchman 
 might be right, a suggestion fortified by later 
 experience since. By careful examination of 
 the boulders in Canada, he has satisfied him- 
 self that they mu"^^ have come from afar, as 
 they do not belong o this part of the world. 
 
 It is changes in the watersheds made by 
 the causes of the Deluge that create the im- 
 possibility of locating the Garden of Eden. 
 As to a cap of ice at the south pole causing 
 a deluge, it would be counter-weighted by a 
 cap at the other pole. 
 
 IJl 
 
 i';! 
 
 ^ n 
 
 II 
 
 
 i i' 
 
tl- 
 in 
 
 IS 
 
 b- 
 
 le 
 n 
 3r 
 )f 
 1- 
 is 
 
 J 
 1- 
 
 1. 
 
 g 
 a 
 
 THE ELENCHOS. 
 
 The Mediator of Salvation looks for help 
 in two important functions — to awaken the 
 slumbering conscience of the world, and to 
 keep it awake as the governing faculty. The 
 pulpit is the spiritual lever, all other instru- 
 mentalities sinking into insignificance in com- 
 parison. 
 
 Hearers of the gospel can be ranged in 
 three classes — those who are influenced by 
 the reasonableness of religion, and the argu- 
 mentative ability of its advocates ; those who 
 are led by the tender affections ; and, by far 
 the largest number, those who, as in the 
 natural life, are moved by anxiety and fear. 
 A considerable proportion of this class neglect 
 religion because the motives they are able to 
 appreciate are kept carefully out of view. 
 
 Missionaries complain that the heathen are 
 
72 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ) 
 
 i 
 
 1 i 
 
 1! 
 
 !! 
 
 j'l 
 
 ir; 
 
 unable to value the love of Christ ; a moral 
 defect, fostered by neglect on their own part, 
 of the elenchic of the New Testament. St. 
 Paul's persuasive was " the terror of the 
 Lord." " By the terror of the Lord we per- 
 suade men." Therefore, his initial appeal was 
 through the resurrection of the dead and the 
 last judgment. He did not begin his task of 
 saving the unconverted by asking them if they 
 loved Jesus ; he knew too well that they 
 could not do it. Even the Master never put 
 the question, " Lovest thou me," except to 
 an old disciple. What people need at the 
 outstart is " conscience toward God " and a 
 refuge from guilt : love to Christ wells up 
 from between the horns of the altar. 
 
 Divine inspiration has made the conscience 
 a special attention, hence the prominence of 
 commands (Mount Sinai), of warnings and 
 penalties. This age is inclined to look ask- 
 ance at such expanded portions of the word 
 of God, because imable to reconcile them with 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 73 
 
 false coi eeptions of the Messiah. But a pair 
 of weeping eyes with nothing behind them 
 but fountains of tears alone, can never be 
 effective with a perverse race that deserves 
 chastisement more than pity. There is a fit- 
 ness in things that cannot be safely set at 
 nought. Religion may yet lift men above 
 the need of warnings ; but it will be when 
 they are nearer heaven. Three years of pro- 
 fusive beneficence left Jesus almost without 
 a friend. When compared with Moses, his 
 failure in life was conspicuous, a lesson, in- 
 deed, on the necessity of the Holy Spirit to 
 give even His words effect ; but the facts arc 
 illustrative of human nature. 
 
 Formerly, in the native country of the 
 writer, a sermon was considered inconiplete 
 until the hearers were classified and a word of 
 earnest, kindly warning addressed to the un- 
 saved. This was considered as an essential 
 part of preaching. The remarkable thing 
 came to be that, although the services were 
 
 .-„:a? 
 
J. gl: 
 
 •i? ■ 
 
 ■n I ! 
 
 : 
 
 I 
 
 ii' 
 
 74 
 
 CHEISTIANITY 
 
 entirely unadorned, they were better attended 
 than in any other Protestant country ; it be- 
 came known as a land of Bibles, of strict Sab- 
 bath observance, and of church-going. Clear 
 light from the eternal world made available 
 by the New Testament did it, the rays so pro- 
 fusely shed by the " Sun of Kighteousness." 
 AVhere these are judiciour^y employed, there 
 is no need of falling back on the showy tricks 
 of the Middle Ages. 
 
 The contents, however, were suggested by 
 life-long experiences in America. For many 
 a day, probably ever since the germ of Uni- 
 versalism was begotten, ther has been a dis- 
 taste for conscience disturbing truth. The 
 natural man, as a " citizen," has demanded a 
 better footing in regard to hea^'eii, and the 
 spur has been lost. In coarse of time great 
 religious mistakes tell on the public, and on 
 the published public, and not for good. 
 
 The menacing crisis that faces many so- 
 called Christian countries in which the rich 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 75 
 
 and poor stand at arm's length, has been 
 brought about by long neglect ti^ enforce a 
 gospel which by its di\ ine justice puts all men 
 on a le^el before Govl ; and therefore instils 
 a fellow feeling am* ug compuiiions in spirit- 
 ual misfortune, and that are equally possible 
 heirs of eternal life. 
 
 The peculadties of the divine nature 
 brought into play by sin make exhibitions 
 of justice the road to mercy, divine mercy, 
 human mercifulness. Men need to be taught 
 consideration, the poor as well as the rich, 
 and the rich as well as the poor. Therefore, 
 while on earth Jesus was the advocate of jus- 
 tice : " Thou hast loved righteousness and 
 hated iniquity, therefore God, thy God, hath 
 anointed thee with the oil of joy above thy 
 fellov/s." (Heb. i., 9.) But the office of the 
 Redeemer is better understood and will be 
 'more effective when His whole history is 
 brought within view, the portions treated by 
 the old prophets and by St. John. A de- 
 
iiiiiiBiii — iiiiii iTiiii i 
 
 ■■»'■'>« iiiiiiilU'iijli'ilniV 
 
 I 
 
 76 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 fined section of His great life — a most essen- 
 tial one — His humiliation — is now expanded 
 to sum up His whole biography. 
 
 Anyone familiar with the story of Mamre, 
 and of Him who came to foretell the birth of 
 Isaac and to destroy Sodom, will have little 
 doubt as to who it was that gave forth the 
 f rst promise and then drove the parents of 
 the race out of Eden; or who from the **bnsh 
 that burned" gave Moses a commission against 
 Egypt in favour of Israel ; or vdio spake from 
 Sinai ; or who tl»e Angel rfeliovah of Joshua 
 was. '* No man hath seen (lod at any time, 
 the Onlv Begotten Son who is in the bosom 
 of the Father, He hath declartul Him." 
 
 But som 3 one will exclaim : siirely Messiah 
 could not so i^peak that; Moses had to say, " I 
 exceedingly fear and <|uake ! " No ? Was 
 it not in the presence of Jesus in Putmos that 
 John fell as one dead ? And who issued The 
 Keyektion as a permanent Sinai for the 
 churches 'i On earth Jesus spake '^ as One 
 
 , i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSt'IKNOE. 
 
 77 
 
 Imving authority and not as tho scribes." 
 Since then, the hist of t'^'e prophets describes 
 Him kind, gentle, loving to all who accept 
 His authority ; but terril)le to the obstinately 
 inifienitent. " Repent, or else I will eomci 
 unto thee (piickly, and will fight against them 
 with the sword of my mouth." (Jesus, Kev. 
 xi., IG.) " Behold, 1 will cast her into a bed, 
 and them that commit adultery with h(!r iiito 
 gi'cat tribulation, except they repent of their 
 deeds ; and I will kill her children with 
 death ; and all th^ churches shall know that 
 I am lie which searcheth the hearts ; and I 
 will give unto every one of you according to 
 your deeds." (Jesus, Rev. ii,, 22, 23.) 
 
 As religion makes labor a du^'y and success 
 in life a blessing divine, if the future beyond 
 time is not impressed in its tremendous pro- 
 portions, labor is apt to become a religion, and 
 gain godliness. But the Son of Man comes 
 in as a compensatory counter attraction, not 
 heaven, but a Person, and not a Person as a 
 
 '.n 
 
1 
 
 i:, ' 
 
 • i 
 
 
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 1:. 
 
 \ 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 W * 
 
 1 
 
 P. t 
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 ( 
 
 im 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 complimentary card to a social entertainment, 
 but One whom to love is the holiness of 
 heaven. 
 
 The Birth and Death of the Messiah are 
 infinite expressions of God's willingness to 
 save, pointed appendices to the goodness in 
 T'atiire ; hnt mnst not be construed into a pos- 
 sibility of salvation independently of them, as 
 if God were less indifferent to the claims of 
 justice. The change, if any, is all the other 
 way. " Of how much sorer punishment, sup- 
 pose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath 
 trnrlden under foot the Son of God and hath 
 considered the blood of the covenant where- 
 with he was sanctified an unholy thing, and 
 hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace." 
 (Heb. X., 29.) 
 
 If this is legalism, then it has the divine 
 sanction. But why object to legalism in its 
 place ? Tf more deference had been paid by 
 Christians to the Old Testament, which is, 
 to a large extent, a history of the condemna- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 79 
 
 tion of images in worship, the churches would 
 liavc been saved from their greatest lapse. 
 Moreover, if the nature and objects of the 
 paschal sacrifice had been investigated, neither 
 transub^'tantiation nor consubstantiation 
 would have been heard of. More still : The 
 Law came by Moses, yet Moses left behind 
 him the best generation of Israelites tho 
 world ever heard of, a generation not excelled 
 by any of any Christian country in any age. 
 llow was it accomplished ? By divine im- 
 pression on the consciousness of the nation 
 through mnnifosted judgment and mercy, 
 blessed by the Hpirit : r h impressions as 
 preaching can now produce in the absence of 
 the external experiences. 
 
 What an amount of \reciou3 time is 
 spent by the clergy in scouring after wander- 
 ing sheep ! And yet, when occasion offers 
 in the house of God, what opportunities are 
 let slip of making them know the value of 
 iiie soul by its possible loss. Pulpit subjects 
 
i'ii 
 
 ilB 
 
 80 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 in general or the hobbies of theologians and 
 their philosophies of religion are of small ac- 
 count to such people ; what they need to learn 
 is the value of salvation. The truth on both 
 its sides should be fearlessly proclaimed, whe- 
 ther men hear or forbear ; but in general they 
 will hear. In the experience of nations, 
 church attendance lags in proportion as hon- 
 est preachers are displaced by others that are 
 not so. 
 
 As for church services and music, they 
 should be fitted to attract the poor as well as 
 the rich, the learned and the unlearned ; not 
 the rich only nor the poor only. They should 
 be such as are calculated to keep both in the 
 same folds. The " dalraatica " worn by the 
 " priesthood " is said to have been brought 
 from Dalmatia by a Roman Emperor. Let 
 the travellers into foreign countries and for- 
 eign churches keep their dalmaticas. The 
 monotonous chants that had " mystery " for 
 their inspiration it is becoming the fashion 
 to imitate ; for what purpose ? 
 
 
 ■i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 81 
 
 For the safety of society the " kingdom " 
 should embrace all — the foolish as well as the 
 wise virgins. Is the object to make the wise 
 ones feel not at home? Then for some reason 
 in many countries most of the foolish virgins 
 are outside of the folds, without the oil and 
 without their lamps. Id is is the danger line 
 passed ; they are out of control and a danger 
 to the nations. After 1900 years the true 
 religion that has God behind it merely shares 
 the world with several other great isms, a 
 fact that awakens doubt ; and in many coun- 
 tries where the Bible is accepted as the rule 
 of faith the majorities are outside of the 
 churches. It would require courage to deny 
 that some great mistake has been made. 
 
 Few can doubt that one of the futurities is 
 to be a life and death struggle between the 
 revolutionary and conservative forces. Al- 
 ready ill most ]Jaces the laboring world has 
 to be coddled out of fear, because not gov- 
 erned inwardly by the fear of God. For a 
 6 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
 
 n 
 
 82 
 
 CHEISTIANITY 
 
 despotic world the true religion is necessarily 
 revolutionary ; but the danger lies in those 
 whose aim is nob liberty, but license, and who 
 are often a threat in countries where the full- 
 est liberty is enjoyed. Above other honours 
 achieved by the Queen is that of securing the 
 respect of the world at large during an age 
 when revolution has been in the air, and dis- 
 respect for authority from the parental up- 
 wards. Given a monarch of a different stamp 
 on the British throne for any considerable 
 portion of 60 years, and it is almost certain 
 that there would not have been a crowned 
 head in Europe to-day. Her Majesty has shed 
 a halo around thrones. 
 
 The Salvation Army and other energetic 
 people have done much to limit crime among 
 the criminal classes ; but if the truth hon- 
 estly told can do such thing;:, on the other 
 hand, what effect must withholding it dis- 
 honestly or denying it have in the long run 
 on what are as yet the non-criminal classes ? 
 
WITHOUT THE OON80IBN0E. 
 
 83 
 
 The denial of miracles is a denial of what was 
 intended to impress the immanence of God ; 
 all other heresies tend the same way : their 
 object is to efface divine impressions, hence 
 it is of their essence to disorganize. 
 
 It is the contention of the author that in 
 spite of appearances, there is at present a 
 •strong undercurrent of spiritual decay, the 
 consciousness of which is producing unpre- 
 cedented attempts to check it. The writer 
 is only one among tens of thousands of co- 
 workers each in his own way. The work of 
 shepherding the young men and young women 
 is fast passing out of the hands of the regular 
 clergy ; but the new shepherds are not fully 
 alive to the reason why societies are neces- 
 sary, of which neither Christ nor His Apostles 
 gave any intimation. It has been neglect to 
 inform the young why an almost incredible 
 divine intervention became necessary for their 
 salvation. The fear of God would do infin- 
 itely more for them than " Christian Asso- 
 
84 
 
 CHBISTIANITY 
 
 
 m 
 
 N: 
 
 P M 
 
 
 ciations." The writer overheard a prominent 
 member of the Y.M.C.A. of Montreal at work 
 on another youth, and telling him that if he 
 did his duty as far as he knew it, he was on 
 the road to heaven. The zealous worker was 
 jnore than surprised when told of the New 
 Testament way. 
 
 Christian workers there will be ; but as 
 there must also be a field to work in, the vast 
 majority will have, as always, to serve the 
 Lord by diligence in business and fervency of 
 spirit. As everyone of them, however, will 
 be expected to drop a word in season, surely 
 it can be done without forming societies of 
 " word droppers." If done to glorify the 
 churches one Foundation, it should be in hon- 
 our of the Church of Christ, which, of course, 
 does not mean this church or that. While 
 the world lasts there will be divisions in the 
 church as there are regiments in an army ; in 
 Patmos Jesus spake to seven churches. The 
 divisions have secured and maintained relig- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 85 
 
 ions liberty. A prevailing chnrch can be- 
 come an intolerable despotism. 
 
 In America theology is on the down rnn 
 among the masters of the sitnation. They 
 are not the clergy now, they arc the men 
 and women that hold the purse strings. A 
 late noted pulpit orator of New York has a 
 successor who likes to put himself in evidence; 
 unless the current changes, there will be 
 many such wretched successors chosen ere the 
 generation passes away. Should it not inspire 
 anxiety for the future that sceptical teachers 
 in schools of Theology, 'he fountains of relig- 
 ious lore, can generally hold themselves secure- 
 ly in position through the monied support, 
 backed by the press. Granted that there is 
 much lay exertion in connection with religion, 
 it cannot be denied that physical energizing 
 has often been concurrent with religious de- 
 cay. " Not by might, nor by power, saith the 
 Lord." As has been already stated, thirty- 
 five years ago a single newspaper attempted 
 

 
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 CHRISTIANITY 
 
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 a Sunday edition : to-day there are 700 Sun- 
 day newspapers in the United States. 
 
 And to come nearer home, has the appeal 
 of a late renowned statesman to obtain a stand- 
 ing in this world for the next, from a foreign 
 priest, for one of the most conspicuous of the 
 Reformed churches, not significance enough 
 to fill people everywhere with anxiety ? a be- 
 M'ilderment of the imagination expressed in 
 very plaintive language by another wanderer: 
 " The night is dark and I am far from home;'* 
 also by cravings for recognition from the Rus- 
 sian Episcopate ? Religious excitement 
 working in the imagination is one thing, an 
 awakening of the conscience is quite another. 
 Conscience when enlightened by divine jus- 
 tice creates a necessity for Christ ; an ex- 
 cited imagination may end by being satisfied 
 with Mahomet. A dying conscience is the 
 starting point of all heresy. 
 
 There is much cause for anxiety, too, on 
 account of the books that become immensely 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 87 
 
 ..» 
 
 popular. They are not sach as tend to en- 
 liven the conscience by presenting the true 
 gauge of sin, but that tend rather to soothe it 
 in its fatal sleep. Novels that are flavored 
 with false religious views become immensely 
 popular, especially if the writer is a minister. 
 Then it might be aokcd : did the views of 
 the mild-mannered author of N'atural Law in 
 the Spiritual World prevail generally, what 
 harm ? Would mankind not be bettered ? 
 Yes, if material Pantheism is a reformative 
 ahead of Theism. Put physical laws in the 
 place where the Bible puts the Will of the 
 Supreme Being, and where are you ? To the 
 present generation it scarcely needs to be 
 proved that the connection between material- 
 ism and anarchy is intimate. The source of 
 power in religion is : " God with us," and 
 not God away at the back of the laws. 
 , In the long ago made known by profane 
 history public order was maintained by the 
 fear of God^ or rather as they said, the gods. 
 
■■■ 
 
 88 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ill 
 
 inspired by the terrible experiences of still 
 earlier times, no doubt ; and to-day the only 
 hope for the future lies in the fear of God, 
 and the only agency capable of establishing 
 it is the Christian ministry ; and the one in- 
 strument is the Bible. Is it not because the 
 fear of man prevails over the fear of God that 
 such armies have to be kept up by Christian 
 countries for protection against each other ? 
 Why is it so ? Chiefly because the institution 
 created by Jesus Christ to maintain His fame 
 and fear has labored to depreciate the instru- 
 ment put into their hands to do it with. All 
 the so-called Catholic churches have done 
 this, the leading pulpits of Germany have long 
 been at the work, and for many a day the 
 echo has been caught up and sent on by others. 
 The Germans ! The greatest people in the 
 world ! Ah ! compared with the liberty 
 wherewith Christ makes His people free the 
 Germans are serfs, fitted to be ruled by the 
 4rill sergeant. The Bible is tbe charter of 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 89 
 
 human liberty, and that charter is the whole 
 
 Bible, and not the portions suited to the Old 
 
 Adam point of view. The apostle of the 
 
 Gentiles kodaked the critics when he made 
 
 the statement : " The natural man receiveth 
 
 not the things of God; they are foolishnesr, to 
 
 him : neither can he know them, because 
 
 they are e7>>:tually discerned." The critics 
 
 generally have been men who refused to put 
 
 Christianity to its only test— of experiment. 
 
 Once before in the long ago there were 
 vast armies such as exist now ; let the per- 
 petual desolations tell what the result came 
 to be. After the nations had been all but 
 wiped out, God took ISTebuchadnezzar in hand 
 and taught the knowledge the wiseacres are 
 at present laboring to efface. The informa- 
 tion came too late except for the far-off future 
 and faith in it may come too late now to arrest 
 the impending dangers. The mention of 
 l^ebuchadnezzar suggests the strange perver- 
 sity of some mincjs— that the existence of 
 
"n 
 
 90 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 buried cities under Babylon should be quoted 
 in disproof of the Bible ! also that the ruins 
 contain evidence that there were believers 
 before Abraham I one of the things Genesis 
 demonstrates. 
 
 All along, the history of the church has 
 been one of alternate heats and chills, periods 
 of revival followed by long periods of spirit- 
 ual dccRV, brought about by doctrinal and 
 practical mistakes that let the conscience fall 
 asleep. Many live under the pleasing im- 
 pression that at last we are in the full cur- 
 rent leading to the millenium, and that there 
 will be no cause for anxiety till the thousand 
 years are over. The young people of America 
 have taken hold, and in their enthusiasm will 
 force things uphill in spite of Providence and 
 its exaction of conscience conviction and de- 
 termination to recognize the pulpit. They 
 will leave no room for "a falling away first," 
 but lik"^ real Americans will have their way 
 (ind carry their point. And the wonaen hfive 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 91 
 
 put their hand to the plough. American 
 \vomen I Just consider I But just consider 
 another thing or two, that the Armageddon 
 of St. John or the decisive struggle of the 
 West is still away in the future, and the Ar- 
 mageddon of Ezekiel or the decisive battle 
 of the East cannot take place till the return 
 of the Jews, a thing just coming into sight. 
 
 In fine, is it not a bad omen that nearly 
 the whole secular press is Adamite ? A min- 
 ister of religion who is ambitious of notoriety 
 has only to deny some important article of 
 faitli and the church courts are paralyzed by 
 the rage of the newspapers in his favour. By 
 treating Christian doctrine as an incubus, the 
 press is bursting the bonds that bind souls 
 to do the right. It is Christian doctrine that 
 nourishes Christian morality ; even the doc- 
 trine of Reprobation is a living, spiritual force 
 when rightly understood, as the decision of 
 the Executive of heaven to let the law take 
 its course. Then the power of church courts 
 
•w 
 
 92 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 to maintain doctrinal standards with little 
 friction is well illustrated by the history of 
 Methodism, which allows no deviation and 
 keeps its clergy well in hand. By strict disci- 
 pline this body has kept closely to the same 
 line of doctrine longer than any other church, 
 the church established by the Apostles scarce- 
 ly excepted. Other churches in these dis- 
 organized times would do well to learn a 
 lesson. 
 
tie 
 of 
 lid 
 ici- 
 me 
 3h, 
 ce- 
 lis- 
 L a 
 
 
 BAPTISM AND REPENTANCE. 
 
 Recently a luminary from New York City 
 created a sensation by boldly denouncing the 
 manner in which roost of us were baptized. 
 But coming from such a quarter, what ought 
 to have created greater surprise was his de- 
 nunciation of creeds, a part of the oratorical 
 display listened to by the public with indif- 
 ference. 
 
 It is hard to comprehend how a dislike for 
 creeds can exist where there is even a casual 
 acquaintance with the history of the early 
 centuries. For just in proportion as they 
 were creedless they were notorious for many 
 deviations of the most egregious kind from 
 the teachings of the New Testament. The 
 teachings of the early councils have been 
 chained anchors fixing the moorings of the 
 vast majority of Christians from then till now, 
 
I 'I 
 
 94 
 
 0HBI8TIANITY 
 
 ■M 
 
 the unreflecting orator not excepted. In il- 
 lustration of the value of ecclesiastical defini- 
 tion, or rather of the lo3s entailed from the 
 want of it, how different would the history 
 of religion have been had as scriptural a defi- 
 nition of " Justification " been made as of the 
 Trinity and associated subjects. While the 
 " Fathers " had a firm grasp of the Incarna- 
 tion, they never mastered its logical results. 
 An intelligent faith in "Jehovah Zidkennu," 
 " The Lord our Righteousness," would have 
 saved the churches both East and West from 
 many fatal missteps. The baptism of re- 
 pentance necessarily connects itself with doc- 
 trine. If any opinion as to either its form 
 or subjects requires a repudiation of doctrine, 
 there must be mistakes at the back of it. 
 
 The newspaper controversy on baptism 
 which came up as a result was of consider- 
 able value, as it demonstrated that nothing 
 very conclusive on the subject can be got 
 from the dictionaries. One of the contest- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 95 
 
 ants proved satisfactorily that the word means 
 to immerse ; the other, by as solid examples, 
 that it means to pour and to sprinkle. It has 
 both meanings, or rather all the three. The 
 consequence, what ? That here as elsewhere 
 the Bible must be accepted as its own inter- 
 preter. The form and subjects, especially 
 the form, must be gathered chiefly from the 
 significance of baptism, or from what it ap- 
 pears intended to symbolize. 
 
 If water is employed to signify a virtue 
 coming down from heaven, will it not be 
 necessary to lift it up and let it fall ? The 
 coming of the Spirit and its representation 
 met at the baptism of Jesus, the sign and the 
 thing signified. John went down into the 
 water with Jesus. What did they do when 
 there ? The Holy Ghost was about to des- 
 cend in the form of a dove and rest on Jesus. 
 How was it possible to figure this by water ? 
 By plunging Jesus into the Jordan ? or by 
 lifting a handful and letting it fall with a 
 

 1 ' 
 
 
 *^ii 
 
 96 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 rapid motion of the hand to signify frequen- 
 tativeness (izo) ? The Spirit comes like the 
 wind, in gusts. 
 
 But it is replied that baptism signifies, and 
 must figure out death and burial as well. 
 (Rom. vi., 3, 4.) Give a guarded look at the 
 passage that it may not be misquoted. Buried 
 with him in baptism is not the language in 
 full ; it is buried with him through baptism 
 into death ; so that the death of Christ is the 
 emphasized and the prominent thing, and not 
 His entombment. " I have a baptism to be 
 baptized with, and how am I straitened till it 
 be accomplished.'^ It was on the Cross that 
 He said : " It is finished." Entombment He 
 did not shrink from : He had no need. 
 
 But in what sense could His crucifixion be 
 a baptism ? A sufferer on the Cross was bap- 
 tized with his own blood ; and water as 
 well as blood flowed from the Redeemer's 
 side. While baptism is by water, it holds a 
 reference to the blood and the application 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 97 
 
 as 
 
 of its virtues, and notably it is called " the 
 blood of sprinkling." The burial custom of 
 the Church of England which accompanies 
 the words, *^ dust to dust and ashes to ashes," 
 with the application of a small quantity of 
 earth, is taken from the Jews, and by both it 
 is called burial. As baptism signifies cleans- 
 ing also, water is substituted for earth with 
 propriety. 
 
 But baptism is also a planting. " Planted 
 in the likeness of his death." In some parts 
 of America all sowing is planting ; com is 
 planted, wheat is planted, etc. The Jews 
 called these processes, or what corresponded 
 to them, " sowing." Trees were planted as a 
 matter of course ; but the roots alone were 
 put into contact with the soil. There was no 
 burial of the tree, and the planting was com- 
 pleted by watering, which was a necessity in 
 the climate. But here also it is ■ jcessary to 
 pay strict attention to the words : * For if we 
 have been planted in the likeness of his 
 
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 I'mtmriANiTr 
 
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 Iliil ovi'f nflcr hotli rllcH wito rruuNi fo <l<'not,o, 
 IIm' iiiowf iiiiporliml fnci cofinrcffd with sin — 
 IIimI il in ill llir fmlnr<'< iV-oplc. do not, I r-- 
 r<^nio HiniHTH jm Adnin nnd Kvf; did ; tlir-y 
 nni )>orn hiicIi, nnd nerd m clinri^o rft/ll^'«l in 
 clmnu'lrr from llio lioiir «d' I>irlli, I)ooh tlio 
 oppoHilion (o crr'J'ds l>y our N<tw York orjitor 
 spring; from IIm^ fn<*t, tlnit, ori^iruil h\v \h n <]<*<',- 
 \\\\\i\ of l!io cn-cdM 'i nndoiil»tcdly, i'xvi'\>i f'»r 
 iiifniii. circnriMMrtion nnd inffint, ofij>t,iHrri, ori^- 
 imd Hin or tlui Hinfiil njiliirf^ ns diHtirj^'piiHlK-d 
 from Hin fill li}il»it,H would have; l)f;f;ri forgot,t<;n 
 nn<l unknown. 
 
 Ho tlini InfMnt, ImptiHm Iijih an unporiarit 
 purpoHo. \\,n p"r|)OH<; in miHtakr^n by tlK;«o 
 
^ 
 
 100 
 
 CH3IS'»'IANITY 
 
 who put it for the removal of original guilt 
 and regeneration. When administered to 
 Jesus Christ it was not to cleanse from sin, 
 either original or actual. In hi» case it meant 
 a consecration to God, as it always does. Then 
 the qualification came. John did not wait for 
 the descent of the Spirit, he baptized first ; 
 then the Spirit descended. This is the rule ; 
 the exception, if there is an exception, is in 
 the beginning of evangelization when adults 
 have to be baptized. 
 
 In the case of children it signifies that they 
 need cleansing by the Spirit and an applica- 
 tion of the virtue of the blood from their 
 earliest infancy. Baptism is into the expec- 
 tation that these things will come in due 
 course from the co-operation of the parents 
 who promise to wait and pray for them. As 
 far as possible, it is the duty of the ministry 
 to make disciples of all nations, baptizing 
 them as an expression of faith. Such and 
 their children are the shell of the churches ; 
 
 n ''I 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 101 
 
 those who have obtained tlie heavnily bajv 
 tism are their kernel, the wise virgins. If 
 the Apostles had made regeneration the con- 
 dition of church membership, how could they 
 have baptized 3,000 in one day ? Among the 
 followers of Jesus there were four classes of 
 hearers, and if Jesus baptized not, his disci- 
 ples did. 
 
 In the long run, refusal of baptism to 
 children must tell unfavorably on a denomi- 
 nation. Is this bold denunciation of creeds 
 a foretaste of what is coming ? Tho exist- 
 ence of sin in infants is of sufficient import- 
 ance surely to demand a rite to inculcate it, 
 and to set the machinery at work for its eradi- 
 cation ! The dangerous results are seen, too, 
 among the votaries of baptismal regeneration 
 which neutralizes the recognition 3f priginal 
 sin. Early youth is the period of life when 
 the mind is most readily influenced by the 
 facts on which religion depends ; the story 
 of the Fall and its long sad consequences, the 
 
102 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 expulsion from Eden, the death of Abel, the 
 ever-developing wickedness, the Flood, the 
 intensiveness of deserved punishment revenl«..d 
 bv its extensiveness, and the seed of the wo- 
 man who wounded the head of the serpent. 
 
 It was guilt which, by separating from 
 God, dried up the generous fountains of the 
 soul and opened the perennial fountains of 
 sin. The sunshine of God which erewhile 
 filled the soul with its love inspiring joy was 
 extinguished from the moment man became 
 a criminal. Ever after the one source of 
 happiness was the world with its sensual grati- 
 fications, a finite in the place of an infinite 
 enjoyment, giving rise to endless selfish strug- 
 gles for monopoly. The scriptural emblem of 
 the natural man is S?.mson blinded and work- 
 ing in the treadmill for the Philistines. The 
 natural man has a very diftcrent opinion, 
 which must be changed as the first step to a 
 return of hope. 
 
 " But now commandeth men everywhere to 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 103 
 
 repent." Now ! Where is it done with any 
 radical meaning ? The repentance of the 
 Psalmist was so deep that it carried his 
 thoughts back to the begii>ning of his exist- 
 ence. " Beliold, I was shapen in iniquity, 
 and in sin did my mother conceive me." 
 Three years ago another ,of the denomina- 
 tion lights of New York electrified a Montreal 
 audience by ridiculing the divine account of 
 the origin and fall of man, a narrative that 
 must enter into the conception in every ade- 
 quate view of the spiritual change, because 
 touching the origin of the necessity of repent- 
 ance. To the evolutionist repentance is an 
 absurdity. ' 
 
 "Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the 
 dead and Christ shall give thee light." Offer- 
 ing Christ to the impenitent is one of the fol- 
 lies of the age. He began His own ministry 
 by bidding men live : " He came to call sin- 
 ners to repentance." Sermons must not be 
 lectures on therapeutics in a hospital where 
 
w 
 
 «■ 
 
 V hi 
 
 104 
 
 CHRISTIANITr 
 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 'ill , 
 
 there are neither probes nor diagnoses. It is 
 the light of God brought to bear on sin 
 that dissolves its chains and begets repentance. 
 Crucifixion with Christ is by the conscience. 
 On sin as God sees it the conscience of the 
 age is in a dying condition ; the conscience 
 of the pulpit is virtually dead. Preaching, 
 in general, in the influential centres is ad- 
 apted to what are considered social needs, and 
 novels are ransacked to get taking ideas on 
 character that are sure to please, because aerial 
 concoctions of the imagination that are safe 
 not to hit the present company. 
 
 The numbers engaged in preaching, and the 
 cost of the regular ministry are something 
 fabulous ; and for all, the whole Christian 
 world is filled with the noise of other instru- 
 mentalities, male and female. Piety is felt 
 to be so much in the shallows that special 
 associations have been formed for deepening 
 the religious life. It would be a sin to op- 
 pose the good intention. 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 105 
 
 But on what account is all this turmoil ? 
 Has the arm of the Lord been shortened ? 
 Has His ear become heavy ? The trouble is 
 that the passing generations liave shortened 
 " the rod of His power." And now that the 
 mischief has been done, prayers for the Holy 
 Ghost are found softer and more acceptable 
 than the point of the two-edged instrument, 
 by which he pierces to the dividing asunder 
 of soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow 
 and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
 of the heart. But without the two-edged 
 sword prayers are in vain, for in spit'j of them 
 worldliness and crime are on the inc :ease. It 
 is repentance that needs deepening as a pre- 
 paration for the gospel and a perpetuated con- 
 dition of progress in religion. Hence it was 
 that its first advocates were EOiit forth with 
 a single cry : Repent ; a quickening exhorta- 
 tion needed by every generation, in line upon 
 line, accompanied with the new motive 
 brought by Jesus from the eternal world. 
 
►'•l, 
 
 mn 
 
 lOG 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 It is sense of ill-desert that awakens the 
 necessity for salvation, and a keen perception 
 of the root of sin. This is made very plain 
 by the language of the 51st Psalm. Jesns 
 made practical nse of this fact, and a peculiar- 
 ity which distinguished him from all the 
 prophets He insistently presented the conse- 
 quences of sin as unending. As formerly 
 stated, it was the immortality of the soul and 
 its dangers that justified the miracle of the 
 ages — the Incarnation. Were man mortal 
 instead of immortal, such an expedient would 
 be absurd. Hence in dwelling so much on 
 the dark outlook for sinners Jesus justified 
 His presence here. 
 
 The piercing light thrown on eternity by 
 Jesus was the instrument of the Spirit on the 
 day of Pentecost. What else could have in- 
 duced so many who had looked for a politi- 
 cal Messiah to forego the expectation, and ac- 
 cept Him who had been crucified, if not the 
 insistence throughout His public life on the 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 107 
 
 dancers of the soul. I^ext to the authority 
 of God, the great lesson He enforced was that 
 men had souls to save — to save from ever- 
 lasting ruin. This, no doubt, was the chief 
 consideration employed by the Spirit to break 
 up the power of sin in 3,000 hearts and give 
 piety a depth at *ts h option it, in general, 
 is fcit to lack in the present age. St. Peter 
 accused them of crucifying their Messiah, but 
 the crime could be felt only by those who 
 had been brought to penetrate the fact that 
 He was a divine Saviour of souls. Their faith 
 mrde the politician and the wordling in them 
 outcast, and they became heirs of eternity. 
 
 Mutual admiration and self-complacency 
 characterized the religions of the age in which 
 Jesus lived. Is it because they characterize 
 the age in which we live that religion needs 
 so much deepening ? The Keswick brethren 
 are right, but their methods are totally inade- 
 quate, as they employ nothing but a bigger 
 dose of the commonplaces of the modern pul- 
 
i! 
 
 ill 
 
 108 
 
 OnRTRTTANITY 
 
 pit ; moro prayers for the Spirit and more 
 resolves. " By the Law is tlie knowledge of 
 sin." As Jesus presented it it is gagged ; 
 the Keswicks see the ruinous effects, but only 
 as out of a fog. The effects of sin as described 
 by Jesus intensify piety by intensifying grati- 
 tude in the saved. The gift of God is not 
 appreciated by those who receive it ; it is 
 undervalued by the pulpit. To deepen re- 
 ligion it is iiecessary to have a bigger, rounder 
 knowledge of the eternal world. 
 
 A tall building requires a good foundation. 
 To intensify piety the foundation must be 
 laid deep and broad. In whatever concerns 
 the mind ideas must leave their mark. It 
 is imperfect work at the start that forces so 
 much tinkering later on, and the later work 
 is imperfect because the necessity is not felt 
 of going back to the beginning and laying 
 anew the foundation of repentance from dead 
 works. There was no necessity of going back 
 on the work of the Apostles, as a good founda- 
 tion had been laid. 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 109 
 
 That preacher is not a legalist who tries 
 to raise the dead ; in other words, who cruci- 
 fies men with Christ that they may live. He 
 is a legalist and a fraud wlio pretends to save 
 men except by crucifying them, or with the 
 conscience asleep. It is a living conscience 
 that prompts to put off the old man and put 
 on the new. Hence the importance of living 
 consciences in the place of power — the pul- 
 pit. A strong consciousness of God, then, 
 and of His rights, or, as an Apostle calls it, 
 *' conscience towards God," is a consuming 
 fire kindling on garbage far and near, and 
 destroying it. It is the business of the pul- 
 pit to put God into the consciousness of the 
 worshippers, and with divine help to keep 
 Him there. There will be trouble, commo- 
 tion, to begin with ; it was through trouble 
 God reconciled Himself to the world, and it 
 is the troubled soul that becomes reconciled 
 to God. It was contact with God that brought 
 the Psalmist to repentance : "Against thee, 
 
I ■ ! 
 
 r'm 
 
 U ill 
 
 m nil 
 
 110 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 thee only have I sinned aiyi done this evil in 
 thy sight." In his case it was a renewal of 
 repentance, one such as the Keswicks should 
 aim for. Repentance first and last is not 
 a change of conduct only, but such a change 
 of heart as gives God a permanent place in 
 its consciousness and a mastery over its powers. 
 Next to sin exposed in the light of eternity, 
 the advocated necessity of regeneration is a 
 power in the world. It was Christ's argu- 
 ment with l^icodemus. By emphasizing it the 
 evangelical bodies, especially the Methodists, 
 have eviscerated the Church of England in 
 all parts of the world ; and the Church of 
 England, by neglecting the subject, has al- 
 lowed itself to be eviscerated, and has pre- 
 pared the way for the adoption of baptismal 
 regeneration. And now that baptismal re- 
 generation is the received doctrine of the 
 ("Anglicans," two things can be predicted 
 mth certainty : continued evisceration, and 
 corruption of the remains. 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 It may be added tliat in order to under- 
 stand the Scriptures aright, the human nature 
 needs to be adjusted anew to the works of 
 God by regeneration. The unadjusted na- 
 tures stagger at the things of God ; the ad- 
 justed natures know the reality of immediate 
 divine operation, and arc tliercfore fitted to 
 accept its existence. The early chapters of 
 Genesis are interesting as the inspired history 
 of the planMng of a world, a subject neces- 
 sarily unique. The continuous history, how- 
 ever, effaces the uniqueness. Innnediate 
 divine contact with the first man was of a 
 piece with the frequent meetings with Abra- 
 ham and his descendents, and with the con- 
 tact of the Incarnate one, and with the spirit- 
 ual faith begetting contact with Christians 
 still. The uniqueness of creation out of dust 
 was largely effaced by Jesus when he gave 
 eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, feet to the 
 lame, and life to the dead ; and it is to be 
 wholly effaced by the general resurrection, a 
 
112 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 m 
 
 grand final illustration, probably with other 
 purposes to shut the mouths of sceptics for 
 ever as to the mode in which all living crea- 
 tures were brought into existence. God has 
 put something of the antiquarian into every 
 man, and He has done much to gratify the 
 antiquarian spirit. In the Bible more space 
 is devoted to the origin of nations than to any 
 other secular subject, and human intelligence 
 is gratified by information on the origin of 
 man ; the intent would be imperfect without 
 such information. The evolutionists labor to 
 make man ashamed of his origin. God is 
 wiser. It is more gratifying to hive come 
 down than never to have been up. Sceptics 
 object to the story of the flood, its cruelty ; 
 but who would care to be descended from the 
 ragamuffins who were drowned in it. God 
 gave the race a second start, a noble one. 
 
 It may possibly be contended that infant 
 baptism was responsible for baptismal regen- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 113 
 
 eration. On the contrary, it is about as cer- 
 tain that faith in the efficiency of baptism had 
 its origin in connection with the baptism of 
 adults. Constantino deferred his baptism till 
 near the close of life, that he might enter tlie 
 other world with a clean bill and a clean 
 heart. 
 
 B 
 
THE SPIKIT OF THE TWO TESTA- 
 MENTS. 
 
 It is very generally believed that there is 
 iriarked contrariety between the spirit of the 
 Old Testament and the New. There is antag- 
 onism between the traditions of the "eiders" 
 or "them of old time" and the spirit of both 
 Testaments. " But the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world " began the exercise 
 of mercy as well as judgment from the date 
 of the first encounter with sinful man. The 
 earliest saints were as distinguished for relig- 
 iousness as any since ; indeed, some of them 
 have never been outshone. 
 
 As for providential severity, were the world 
 as wicked now as it had become before the 
 Deluge, or any city as bad as Sodom, it would 
 still be necessary to destroy it. The destruc- 
 tion of society will never cease to be the con- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 115 
 
 sequence of degeneracy when it lias reached 
 a climax. The facts preserved shew that 
 there was not a man or woman in Sodom who 
 would escape the penitentiary in any Chris- 
 tian country, except the one man who fled, 
 and there was little about him to boast of. 
 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, 
 set the standard to be reached by the Amorites 
 when their " iniquity " would be considered 
 " full ; " and in commanding them to be 
 destroyed the wisdom of God was seen in this, 
 that any left were a constant source of cal- 
 amity to the Israelites by corrupting them. 
 The whole world has improved since then, 
 and as a consequence the divine aspect is less 
 severe, but never where justice is called upon 
 for action. The slavery of the Southern 
 States of America was a merciful institution 
 when compared with that of Ancient Egypt ; 
 yet what years of bloodshed and suffering 
 were passed in extirpating it. If whole na- 
 tions are not executed at present, it is because 
 
116 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 m 
 
 «? 
 
 whoL'» nations are not criminals of the lowest 
 
 tyie- 
 
 One object of the oldest Scriptures was 
 to let the whole world know for ever that God 
 took the responsibility upon Him of the re- 
 corded calamities. He has put anger into the 
 bosom of every creature He made, and it 
 would be strange indeed if there was no pos- 
 sibility of arousing it in His own bosom. 
 There is, and it never misses its only mark — 
 sin. Ill-instructed men are labouring to free 
 Him from these responsibilities by denying 
 the facts ; but that the foolishness of God is 
 wiser than men appears in the growing 
 atrophy of religion, and in the necessity for 
 a variety of galvanic expedients. 
 
 God took the responsibility upon Him by 
 foretelling the events ; but it was to give 
 samples of His government, and not to en- 
 courage the belief that He takes no part in 
 calamities when He keeps silence. " Shall 
 there be evil in the city and the Lord hath 
 
 11 
 
 w 
 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 117 
 
 ^6 
 
 lod is 
 
 not done it." He cannot instil evil, but Ho 
 can control it or prevent or permit its results. 
 Moreover, He is the Lord of Hosts inspiring 
 armies with courage or with cowardice, as it 
 suits Him. In the old dispensation He gave 
 Nebuchadnezzar a commission against the 
 Jews ; but in the new dispensation did He 
 not give Mahomet a commission against a fal- 
 len church ? The new religion should have 
 given strength to the Eoman Empire, but it 
 brought weakness instead, because by substi- 
 tuting formalities for faith it lost its power. 
 The upshot has given people little encourage- 
 ment to think that the Messiah, while secur- 
 ing mercy for penitents, has created a change 
 in the divine nature. The sufferings con- 
 nected with the decline and extinction of the 
 Roman Empire, embracing those inflicted by 
 the Saracens and Turks, came not far ?hort 
 of anything in the line recorded in the Bible. 
 It is of note, too, that they are covered by the 
 prophecies of the New Testament. 
 
■^ 
 
 118 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 In the Mosaic system the Church and State 
 were one. The prophets were statemen as 
 well as teachers of religion — two of the great- 
 est of them were kings. A church militant 
 was suited to the times, and its success in war 
 an argument the combative ignorance of 
 those ages could appreciate. It was a chief 
 help to give faith in Jehovah a start in the 
 world. 
 
 When civilization was sulTicicntly advanced 
 Messiah introduced the economy which makes 
 two of the Church and State, the depressed 
 condition of the Jews and the synagagues pre- 
 paring the way for the new start. The church 
 works by moral suasion, and through prayer 
 by the spiritual suasion of the Holy Ghost. 
 The business of the State is to protect against 
 aggression from inside and outside hostiles, 
 and to enforce certain of the rights of God. 
 But it is self evident that the fundamental 
 law, " Whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do to you, do ve also so to them," cannot be 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 119 
 
 applied universally, although also of the "Law 
 and the Prophets." A judjre must not say to 
 the culprit, " I have to acquit you, for if I 
 were in your place I would like to be ac- 
 quitted ; " nor could Christ intend to uproot 
 the deep-seated instinct of the iiuman 
 soul — its sense of injury when wronged. To 
 reform it the world had to be turned upside 
 down by suasion, and therefore the advocates 
 of this new religion had to bear injustice 
 without reclaim. But it does not follow that 
 in a country governed by Christian laws a 
 person must submit to be robbed within ear- 
 shot of a policeman. Nor is a Christian bound 
 to endure any other injustice, except when an 
 apology and amends are made. The evil- 
 doer must ask forgiveness in order to be for- 
 given by either God or man. 
 
 But there are crimes which do not admit 
 of apology — murder, for example — and if one 
 then all the catalogued crimes. Instead of 
 dreading them as opposed to the spirit of the 
 
il 
 
 ! 1; 
 
 91 
 
 .1 i 
 
 ! 
 t 
 
 t 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 120 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 gospel, it would 1)0 well if the " ton words " 
 from Sinai were read with all solemnity at 
 every diet of worship in every church in the 
 world. It is also the duty of Christians to 
 uphold all human laws made for the safety 
 of society, aud it is their duty to ask divine 
 co-operation in the administration of justice. 
 The " vengeance Psalms " are not directed 
 against the common herd <jf poor sinners, they 
 refer to the criminal class, and are related to 
 the duty of the State. As the prayer-book 
 and psalmody of the divine religion, they oc- 
 cupy the centre of the Bible, lie at its heart, 
 and inspire enthusiasm against wrong doing. 
 Sentimental songs of praise are intended to 
 soothe the conscience, and by killing it in most 
 have created the gap between profession and 
 practice in religion. In a remedial agency 
 like the gospel, morphine cannot fill the place 
 of the health-giving pill. 
 
 The author thinks it a misfortune that the 
 churches are so generallv rejecting the Psalm? 
 
WITHOUT TIIK CONHOIKNCK. 
 
 121 
 
 as songs of Zion. Some one has said that with 
 liberty to make the songs of a nation, he did 
 not much care who made its laws. The liyTims 
 ore pleasant singing and boautifid poetry, hut 
 instruction as well as pleasure is needed in 
 religion. There is not much gush in the 
 New Testament any more than in the Old one, 
 and the Psalms represent the spirit of both 
 better than any book of hymns the writer has 
 yet seen, and are better fitted to impress the 
 stern lessons of justice, righteousness and hon- 
 esty so much needed, but neglected. The 
 objectionable Psalms arc there not to let the 
 worshipper forget that he is a citizen as well 
 as member of a church ; they enable him to 
 rejoice in the successes of his country, to 
 pray for the destruction of criminals, or, in 
 other words, for a strict administration of jus- 
 tice against such as deserve the death sen- 
 tence, and for victory over enemies in the 
 hour of conflict. How few of the circum- 
 ytj^nce? have changed that inspired the old 
 
122 
 
 CIIUISTIANITY 
 
 i ' 
 
 Psalms I And as inspirations of riglitcons- 
 ncss arc they not bettor fitted for the remedial 
 state tlian wliat is chosen to fill their place ? 
 All other hymn poetry is less or more cxag- 
 f;t'ration: the hymn books exaggerate one side 
 of the divine character oy nearly ignoring 
 the other. The Psalm book presents trnth in 
 its jnst proportions of justice and mercy, as 
 alone safe for the uplifting of a fallen world. 
 According to the Reformers the Psalter con- 
 tains the Psalms, TTvmns and Spiritual Songa 
 of the Apostolic Church, aiid compared with 
 the Reformers, they who now labor to dis- 
 place the Psalter, are the merest ends of men. 
 The songs of a nation react on its people, 
 and the songs of Zion should be of a kind to 
 tell on character. Through goody, goody 
 religious views from which " punishment " 
 has been eliminated, the prisons of America 
 have been changed into hotels, so that crim- 
 inals repeat crimes to get back into them 
 again. The poison of Socinianism finds its 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 123 
 
 way to where it can do most mischief ; it 
 works at the core and undermines the pillars 
 of justice. In order to reform him the crim- 
 inal must be made to feel that he is "pun- 
 ished," and not merely coerced for reforma- 
 tion. For the public safety the idea of " pun- 
 ishment " cannot, must not, be allowed to 
 vanish. It is called aloud across the Atlantic 
 that prisons in England like Portland are a 
 nightmare — places the criminal never wants 
 to see again. This is as it should be, only it 
 would be better if the terms of imprisonment 
 were shorter and sharper. " Jesus meek and 
 ^lild " employed, probably invented, the 
 " cat," so that the " cat " must be considered 
 a Christian instrument of punishment. 
 
 In regard to the value that should be put 
 en some lives, what did St. Paul mean when 
 he wrote : " If any man do not work neither 
 shall he eat ? " The great apostle of the 
 Gentiles knew how to use words, and he 
 knew everything knowable ^bout the "spirit" 
 

 124 
 
 CIIIIISTIANITY 
 
 of tho Now 'l\»Hta!Ji(»nt. Tn fact, if, wns tho 
 '* Spirit " of tho uvw ilispoiisatioii who dio- 
 tated this VLM'diot. 'I'ho oxproH.sion the "81)1111" 
 of tlie gosj)cl is a])|)litMl wry looaoly. Some 
 think it ought to (h) away with capital punisli- 
 mcnt altogether; thou, if not in one case, why 
 in others ? A man is sent to prison for 
 burghiry, and after three or five years he is 
 liberated, to prey on society again. What 
 folly ! when God does not oblige society to 
 house and feed a worse than useless life during 
 its natural term. 
 
 A sharpen* justico on this continent would 
 help to instil " tho higluu* Christian life " in 
 churches that arc parleying with sin by syin- 
 ]iathy for criminals. Probal)ly for the first 
 time in the world a systematic attempt is 
 made to promote religion by exclnsive presen- 
 tation of the soft side ; as a consequence re- 
 ligion is sprcadiuj:^ very thin and very r.r.oqn- 
 ally over the ^m\d. AVhat God in His wis- 
 dom di4 not dare to do^ man in his folly^ 
 
 it 
 
 lif'Ril 
 
 i 
 
WITHOUT TIIK rONSCIKNtlK. 
 
 ILV) 
 
 ► (Uc- 
 [)int 
 Some 
 inish- 
 !, why 
 II for 
 he is 
 What 
 ety to 
 during 
 
 would 
 fc " in 
 
 y pyiif^- 
 
 10 first 
 mpt is 
 proscii- 
 nce ro- 
 
 is wis- 
 
 foUy 
 
 will (laro ; hut " wliiit wo bIiiiII roo " hogins 
 to appear. T\w wlioh? continrnt in covered 
 with KO(M(!tieH of one kiiul or otluT eudoavour- 
 ing to fitom tho (uitflow from tho ohurchca. 
 Tliis Iradn nuiny Hiiuplo people to think that 
 " the day is dawning '* and that the niiUenium 
 is at hand. The maehincry of (.'hrist's king- 
 dom has l)e(;n perfected hy divine wisdom, 
 and can do its work when handled. Tho 
 " word " is " a rod of power " hy which IIo 
 " rules in tho midst of His enemies." The 
 Spirit of God will co-operate effectively with 
 no instrument but His own sword ; but it 
 must have its two edges In the present spir- 
 itual decay and influx of the world supide- 
 mentary action of different kinds is fast dis- 
 placing the ordinance of God, and a growing 
 love of ceremonial is of necessity accompanied 
 with an increase of fuss about religion which 
 is mistaken for it. Men and women especial- 
 ly will sacrifice far more for pious frauds than 
 for the institutions of God. 
 
126 
 
 I jii 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 As an illustration of what can be made of 
 the old songs of Zion, the Marquis of Loriie^s 
 version of the 121st Psalm is submitted : — 
 
 Unto the hills around do I lift up 
 
 My longing eyes ; 
 O whence for me shall my salvation come, 
 From whence arise ? 
 From God the Lord doth come my certain 
 
 aid, 
 From God the Lord, who heaven and earth 
 hath made. 
 
 lie will not suffer that thy foot be moved, 
 
 Safe shalt thou be. 
 'No careless slumber shall His eyelids close 
 "Who keepeth thee. 
 Behold, He sleepeth not, He slumbers ne'er. 
 Who keepeth Israel in His holy care. 
 
 If 
 
 Jehovah is Himself thy keeper true — 
 
 Thy changeless shade. 
 Jehovah evermore on thy right hand 
 
 Himself hath made. 
 
 Ill 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 127 
 
 And thee no sun by day shall ever smite, 
 No moon shall harm thee in the silent night. 
 
 From every evil shall He keep t'ly soul, 
 
 From eve-y sin ; 
 Jehovah shall preserve thy going out. 
 
 Thy coming in. 
 Above the watching, He whom we adore 
 Shall keep thee henceforth, yea, for evermore. 
 
 The " spirit " of the gospel is to be learned 
 from its positive instruction alone. In the 
 Sermon on the Mount Jesus revealed the new 
 spirit by telling the disciples what to do. ^'To 
 the law and to the testimony, if they speak 
 not according to these, it is because there is 
 no truth in them." 
 
 The treatment Jesus bestowed on the wo- 
 man taken in adultery was the same as that 
 meted out to the thief on the cross : He took 
 him to Paradise^ but did not take him down 
 from the cross ; nor the other thief, because 
 it was no part of His mission \o interfere with 
 
wsuKKKmmmm 
 
 li >i! 
 
 'I ii ' 
 
 f h 1 
 
 
 128 
 
 OHIIISTIANITY 
 
 the oxcciitioii of (MMuniml lawfl. A iimn who 
 proves by his crimes that he is outside the palo 
 of Christianity is still under the hiw as if 
 Christ had not died. The New Testament 
 gives no indication that the intention was to 
 establisli a new hiw for criminals : its em- 
 Wem for the civil magistrate is " the sword." 
 False views of the spirit of the gospel threaten 
 great harm to the world. Indignation against 
 crime is a virtue that cannot be safely tam- 
 pered with. 
 
 m ' 
 
 -i! 
 
m >vlio 
 lio piilo 
 V as it 
 itiiinont 
 
 WUH to 
 ita om- 
 Bword." 
 hrcaton 
 
 agiiliist 
 )ly tam- 
 
 TITE FIJLNKSS OF TIME. 
 
 On tlio ground tliat in»nnortnlH arc in qnc^H- 
 tion with tho certainty of ono of two con- 
 trasted deHtinioH, each eti^rnal in itn dnration, 
 the millions that have dcuparted this life in- 
 different to Ood ami withont hope, forces re- 
 flections that fill H(uisitive son Is with aw^^ lint 
 let it 1)0 awe. By minds ecpially blind(;d 
 through the (corruption and cond(irnnation of 
 sin let thtiro be no determination to charge 
 God foolishly. All know what the conse- 
 quences of a violation of human laws often 
 are : the extinction of life or life imprison- 
 n (nt — in fact, the severest penalties that can 
 be inflicted — no matter what the consequences 
 may be to offspring or otht^r n^lativcs of the 
 criminal. Even on the low supposition that 
 punishment is an economic expedient, who 
 
 can pronounce what the amount imder a uni- 
 9 
 
130 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 versal government whose subjects are immor- 
 tal must be ; or on the higher supposition that 
 it is the just correlative of demerit who can 
 undertake to say what the demands of absolute 
 and eternal justice are ? The cords that bind 
 a sinner hand and foot, or the tendency to 
 perpetuate the sinful state are part of sin, and 
 must be taken into account in estimating what 
 C od thinks of its deserts, and in weighing the 
 pob ' jty of delivurance. If the stream of 
 iniquity could be stopped, like crime by im- 
 prisonment, ages might atone for the past. 
 
 Taken the lower supposition, it is esscmtial 
 not to overlook that the world in its physical 
 status is one among innumerable others and 
 linked with them by the same laws. Revela- 
 tion makes a fact of what might be suggested 
 as a reasonable probabilit;', that the intelli- 
 gences of all worlds are more intimately in as- 
 sociation and destined to be than the mat( rial 
 universe. Men will yet pass into other 
 spheres, higher and lower, and at the moment 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 131 
 
 Immor- 
 on that 
 irho can 
 ibsoluto 
 lat bind 
 ency to 
 sin, and 
 ng what 
 hing the 
 Team of 
 e by im- 
 B past. 
 ess(iTitial 
 physical 
 ;hers and 
 Revela- 
 ggested 
 le intelli- 
 ely in as- 
 mattrial 
 nto other 
 moment 
 
 m 
 
 there is a continual influx from other worlds 
 into this. The whole universe is interested 
 in human experiences ; " The angels desire 
 to look into these things." 
 
 For religion, history serves two purposes — 
 on which account Providence took order from 
 the first, that its prominent facts should be 
 preserved — it reveals both Ood and man. In 
 regard to both it creates surprises, on the one 
 hand by revealing what villains men are. The 
 fate of Sodom, moral and physical, is a fair 
 sample of the landing place of the whole an- 
 cient world ; only in executing judgment 
 God let men kill each other or keep each 
 other in constant terror. It is also a revela- 
 tion of God, of His patience, indeed ; but 
 also, which astounds men. He is compelled to 
 be the opposite of the conglobation of tender- 
 ness they think He ought to be. With the 
 wicked His nature forbids Him to be other- 
 wise than unsavoury and severe. St. Paul's 
 pen pictures of the Gontile nations were in- 
 
n I 
 
 ■I i 
 
 i 
 
 ^r Sjj 
 
 ! i 
 
 -r H 
 
 I ■ . ,J IB ; 
 
 I 
 
 si 1 ii I 
 
 
 132 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 tondod for trcaclu'rons nuMiiorios and to jiiHti- 
 fv Ood in history. And niorals, if possible, 
 would have boon worse had it not boon for 
 chocks of Providence. KflForts ,n'e now inado 
 to turn the ofTocts of tlie Oosju'l af;ainst Ciod 
 by nialvinj»; tli(^ race ont to be better than it- 
 self, which sh(»ws the necessity of ago8 of 
 revelation by history. 
 
 Tt cannot be aflflnned that the evils of the 
 worhl ar(> beyond divin(» restraint, that is, of 
 (^lod's power dissociated from wise purpose. 
 No one endowed with wisdom would put an 
 organism with its possibilities out of his oAvn 
 nmnac:ement by the act of construction ; yet 
 through SOUK- law of moral necessity or econ- 
 oujy it does look as if the world were out of 
 divine control. From the beginning there 
 have been ]irayerful men and women anxious 
 for the spirii unl g«tod of their fellows ; at any 
 rate, since the days of the Apostles, prayers 
 have ascended dailv to heaven for the con- 
 version of the world ; yet at this date prob- 
 
D justl- 
 
 -►ssible, 
 )cu for 
 V inncio 
 
 iflt God 
 than it- 
 ftgos of 
 
 s of tlio 
 lit i^*, of 
 pnrpc8e. 
 pnt an 
 his o^vn 
 ^n ; yet 
 or econ- 
 c out of 
 jr there 
 anxious 
 ; at any 
 prayers 
 the con- 
 ate prob- 
 
 WITHOIIT TUR CONSOIEKCK. 133 
 
 nhly not one in a hnndnMl of its i)opuhition 
 18 a CMiristian in th(^ triWHt hvuhv. It may be 
 said that the prayers w<'n' unae(!oni))ani<;d hy 
 'indispenHahh^ (ffFortH, vvliich does not hold 
 true of the first and H(KM>nd eenturiea. A 
 large lodgment of divine truth was effected 
 in most countri(!S then, but wiped out at a 
 , later date in nuuiy of them. What is the 
 cause, if omnipotence is the lever of (Chris- 
 tianity 'i 
 
 The explanation may be found in a rule 
 disclosed by ages of experience, and no doubt 
 resting on necessity, that a state of prepared- 
 ness must exist for the faith. The unfitness 
 of the nations that did embrace Christianity 
 has vitiated the whole history of the Chris- 
 tian Church ; which, as an object lesson too, 
 may explain why the nations at large have 
 not been converted sooner. Those familiar 
 with the story of missions know how many 
 years passed before the pioneer missionary 
 Carey had the satisfaction of making a con- 
 
134 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 vert. The inferoiico oiiglij to bo that his 
 field of labor was in a very particular state of 
 unfitneas for the Gospel, (^oiild it be kno^vll 
 with exactness what was meant by " the ful- 
 ness of time " spoken of in connection with 
 the birth of (^hrist — rightfully understood to 
 mean more than the date fixed by prophecy 
 — it could be made out what are the condi- 
 tions necessary to the general awakening of 
 the coining cencuries. " Many shall run to 
 and fro and knowledge shall be increased." 
 One preparation for the Messiah was a very 
 generally cherished conception of God re- 
 vived l)y the Tsraelitish religion and diffused 
 A\herever the Jewish name was know^i. 
 Christianity so rests on theism that no step in 
 its direction can be made where faith in God 
 does not exist. 
 
 The conception of justice as differentiated 
 from savage revenge, which the exhibitions 
 of Roman law tended to foster, would be an- 
 other preparation. " Justice and judgment 
 
 li 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 135 
 
 bat Ilia 
 state of 
 ! kno\vn 
 
 the fnl- 
 on with 
 •stood to ; 
 )ropliccy 
 ic coudi- 
 oning of 
 II run to 
 creased.' 
 as a very 
 God re- 
 1 diffused 
 known. 
 f\o step in 
 th in Ood 
 
 [erentiated 
 'xhibitions 
 
 nld be an- 
 jndguient 
 
 are the habitation of Ills tlirone ; " hence 
 displays of luunan jusiice !niist be bdpful to 
 the Gospel. Many seem afraid lest rnlers 
 shonld recognize the divine in their legisla- 
 tion, although much of tlie Jiiblo was ad- 
 dressed to thcni, especially those parts of it 
 that begun the work of creating a conseicnee 
 — the Old Testament. What tin; Romans 
 wc^re as instruments of Providence without 
 the Bible, the British now are with it in many 
 countries, pulverizing the roeks and preparing 
 a soil for the husbandmen. So that British 
 conquests are missionary operations, and not 
 an opening of the doors for missionaries mere- 
 ly. The laxity with which laws are admin- 
 istered in America out of indulgence to them- 
 ' selves by the sovereign people is a great ob- 
 stacle to religion ; aggravated by laxity out 
 of indulgence to the sovereign people by ex- 
 pounders of the Scriptures, making the new 
 trade of revivalism a necessity. 
 
 Out of the diffused perception of justice in 
 
\L ^ 
 
 
 l.'U) 
 
 0HU18TIANITY 
 
 Tioiiian tinuvs nroso a hurninjj; hcmiso of iiijus- 
 tico in tlio vast majority. Injustice is the 
 enlightenment of the serf, as the justice of 
 God is the eye-opener of the workl. It has 
 been said that peoph» nevcu* were more niis- 
 erable than in the Augustan age wherein our 
 Lord was born. In tlie long periods of war 
 and of defeats and triumphs ])eace would be 
 lookcnl ft)rward to as the surest happiness, an 
 idea familiarized by the evangelical prophet; 
 but the absence of fear from foreign oppres- 
 sors gave the world leisure to reflect on its 
 true condition. In general people were never 
 better off than at present, yet co-existent with 
 prosperity and all kin<ls of comfort is cease 
 less discontent, becanse peace during the cur- 
 rent century has given scope for it. The 
 ground reason, however, is that material com- 
 forts cannot satisfy the human soul, or calm 
 its turbulence. When, from experience gath- 
 ered out of disappointment, men come to be 
 about unanimous in tracing their miseries to 
 
 •!; i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONHCIKNCK. 
 
 137 
 
 tho iiiiiul iiH(^lf mid its relation to (?o(l, tlio 
 night will liuv<^ Fkmmi tar Hpciit and tlir day at 
 liand. Let any our ask liiinHclf about liow 
 iinicli iiionry or cant* vvoidd Hatisfy him ; and 
 /then if ho had his wish, ahout how loupj 
 tho satisfaction would last. Thcro aro rnil- 
 lionairos who an^ rnon^ wret('hed than when 
 thoy were day labourers. 
 
 But as the (Jod of grace is also the Author 
 of nature, sei(uitifi(^ knowledge uiust contri- 
 bute largely to tlu; " fulness of time " and the 
 conversion of the world. Knowledge is power 
 in religion too. It was from defective know- 
 ledge that " not many mighty or many noble" 
 embraced the Gospel in apostolic times ; and 
 because God eo-operates with fitting means. 
 
 m 
 
 To such in those days the ('hristian religion 
 was a vulgar fad ; worse, it was " excitiabilis 
 superstitio," just as science, falsely so-called, 
 is an obstacle to religion now. The two re- 
 velations support each other when both are 
 , well understood and especially when the in- 
 
» I 
 
 V -.iJ. •! 
 
 i i| 
 
 OinURTIANITY 
 
 8j)iiV(l vohnno is fully acccptcMl. TTcnco it 1h 
 a good scientific shuicing up always contri- 
 biitiis to the progress of tlie (Jospel. Hume, 
 no doubt, thought that tiie time had como 
 wiuMi tlie Kaitli might be given its " coup de 
 grace ; " on tlie contrary, there has been con- 
 tinual revival ever since, because < the deep 
 things of science are also the deep things of 
 (}od ; and both science and r<;velation can 
 afford to be looked at. When chnrchcs are 
 compelled to examine the foundations they 
 find them to be resting on the solid liock. 
 
 Failing signally in attempts against the 
 nature and evidence of Christianity, the scej 
 tics of the past and present generations, irri- 
 tated in mind, have been tempted to attack 
 the Being of God. Disbelief of miracles and 
 of prophecy and inspiration has no valid 
 ground bnt ]>antheism or materialism. By 
 the Providence of the God assailed a deeper 
 look has been obtained into science and a 
 sharper look, promising to result in a closer 
 
 9 i 
 
 ■S ■! 
 
 I 
 
 iUl 
 
WITHOUT TIIK CONWJIENCE. 
 
 139 
 
 and morn lifi'-givin;;- toncli witli tho (Jod of 
 nature as the (Jod and Father of our J^ord 
 Jcsua Christ, and justifyinjij the expectation 
 tliat the eontroversieH of the? ajjje when com- 
 pleted will have their winding-up in a revival 
 such as the world has u(;ver seen. 
 
 In every direction matter is found to turn 
 an index finger to Mind as its cause ; to a 
 world Builder and the Author of the materi- 
 als as well. lie is seen to be the latter by 
 the points of view of quantity, of adaptibility 
 to combination, and of utility. The quan- 
 tity of all kinds of materials is proportioned 
 to the necessities of the structure. But tho 
 combinations were not fortuitous, nor by law; 
 had it been so, the heavier ingredients woidd 
 have massed themselves by attraction in a 
 body, and the gases have been left to consti- 
 tute the universe at large. Chemists will 
 understand what is meant when God is repre- 
 sented as saying, " Let there be light." By 
 setting the chemical affinities at work the 
 
uua 
 
 140 
 
 ClTTlTaTIANlTY 
 
 matorials of worlds wore put into oonilmstion. 
 God did it, otherwise it is impossible to com- 
 prehend how nnition could have taken place, 
 (^omplete divine control in the formation of 
 the world is apparent from the proportions of 
 the liquid element, from the vast hydraulic 
 power, from the configuration of the contin- 
 ents and their superficies or drainage systems^ 
 from the supplies for vegetation and for con- 
 scious life, and from the wonderful structures 
 and chemistry of organisms. 
 
 With regard to organization, there is no 
 such thing known as a germ that has not been 
 produced by other germs. This denotes the 
 law of nati^re ; so that the sceptical have to 
 stultify themselves by scepticism as to nature's 
 laws as well. The attempt of such people to 
 look wise and masquerade as having seen 
 something has been played out, and the rea- 
 sonings accepted by them, which make the 
 pine trep and the creeper that clings to it, 
 and the hippopotamus and man and a microbe, 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 141 
 
 developed xorms of an identical genn in a 
 world wherein the law of all life is that like 
 produces like, are very similar to what might 
 emanate from a paradise of fools. There is a 
 great deal of nndistrihntcd middle in the syl- 
 logism by which it is proved that black is 
 white, and there must be a vast amount of 
 undistributed something in the attempt to 
 prove that universal nature and universal ex- 
 perience are pure deceptions. If the present 
 age has not given birth to the greatest satire 
 in the world it must be because defects of 
 educatioiA have disqualified men to make use 
 of the materials. Individual men have lost 
 their intell gence and lapsed from theism in- 
 to atheism, and from virtue into vice ; and 
 nations have lapsed into bar[)arism ; but every 
 lineament of their brutalized faces and forms 
 bespeaks — fallen ; a ])rogress not made up, 
 but down. That the Bible has had to contend 
 with the rubbish bv which it has been assailed 
 during the passing generation will yet be seen 
 
 % 
 
^iliti! 
 
 -^^^^wSfS^^WI 
 
 i 
 
 li! 
 
 m 
 
 M 
 
 'I 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 142 
 
 CIIKISTIANITY 
 
 <o l)c u bulwark tlirovvii round It. When men 
 have been tanp:]it apjain to distinguish between 
 demonstrative and probable truth they will 
 realize that the whole weic^ht of the evidence 
 is in favour of the Avord of God. The rea- 
 soning: ^f a sceptic has at length come to bo 
 this : " T was not present when God created 
 the world, therefore T don't know it," an open 
 admission that he cannot draw" an inference. 
 To bring the substance of this chapter to its 
 point, were a farmer to cast seed into untilled 
 or worn out fields and depend on prayer for 
 results, would he get a harvest ? Certainly 
 not. Souls in general are in the condition of 
 fallow ground overrun with weeds ; worse, 
 our Saviour characterizes much of the field 
 as little better than rocks, or as a hard wavside. 
 It took ages to form the soils of the world, 
 which suggests an analogy that may not have 
 been foreign to the inspired writers. Until 
 nations, heathen or Christian, become dissatis- 
 fied with iduls, and disgusted with sin, it goes 
 
 
 iil 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 143 
 
 1 men 
 tweon 
 y will 
 idcnco 
 \e rca- 
 3 to bo 
 ?Toatofl 
 m open 
 erencc. 
 er to its 
 nntilled 
 lyer for 
 
 without sayinu; tliat tliey will clm^ to thorn, 
 and a livinpj conscience alone can create the 
 dissatisfaction. Tn one island of the Pacific 
 the inhabitants Avere fo\.nd to have no p:ods, 
 which probably was explained by the fact that 
 in another they had jnst cast off theirs, hav- 
 inj)^ fonnd them nseless for any purpose. Snch 
 cases stand exceptional, alone ; the divine 
 in conscience must be the lever of the son!. 
 Tt is a rule in p-ace that Ood has to be asked, 
 not by others only, bnt by those who need the 
 benefit, to do them p^ood ; and what else bnt 
 conscience is able to enforce the necesaity of 
 rep^eneration and pardon. Tears and other 
 effects of tonchinG: stories are no evidence of 
 true contrition, and cannot be acc« pted as the 
 new birth. Penitents mnst < ne to the jndg- 
 inc: seat, consciously into the coiirt of heaven, 
 for there alone can they obtain tho divine 
 amnesty. 
 . Bnt how very little is done by the "watch- 
 man" of the age to bring them there ! True, 
 
144 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 there is much expressed dependenee on the 
 Holy Spirit for results ; on this principle, 
 however, would it not display more faith to 
 depend on llim entirely and do nothing ? The 
 8i)irit of (lod co-operates witii wisely directed 
 efforts ; in most cases the fallow ground needs 
 to be hrokcMi up, and no blessing can accom- 
 pany the seed cast among thorns. Asked 
 millions of times to save men, He has re- 
 fused until it has become (luite common for 
 the impati(*nt to accept what is called con- 
 version for regeneration. TTencc the stag- 
 nation and growing tendency to depend on 
 specialists, who probably do understand bet- 
 ter ; but even they often discover by experi- 
 ence that there has been *' no deepness of 
 earth." 
 
 It was said of a good pastor of former days 
 that he praved till his knees became like 
 shells. At length the awakening come ; but 
 in a meantime of mrny years he had been 
 preaching and praying — and there is always 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCK. 
 
 145 
 
 m the 
 nciple, 
 aitU to 
 
 P ? Tlio 
 
 » 
 
 livccted 
 id needs 
 , accoin- 
 Aakcd 
 I Uaa re- 
 niiou for 
 lied con- 
 the stag- 
 cpend on 
 tand l>et- 
 )y experi- 
 >epnes9 of 
 
 more diviiiity in prayers than in preactliingn — 
 and tlio soil lind Ikmmj i)r((par('(l for tlio acmmI. 
 By the "superior" ingoniiity of iiic nineteenth 
 ecntnry the wliole operation can be stinnilatcid 
 in an evening or two througli a number of 
 well-told, pathetic anecdotes and PCMitiinental 
 hymns well sung. Ah ! where there is no 
 deepness of earth the seed soon displays its 
 vitality ; but the upshot is much surface re- 
 ligion with a great deal of dishonesty under- 
 lying it ; in fact, an ag(^ of combined re- 
 ligion and grasping greed. 
 
 The voice of the charmer charming evil 
 spirits with music and soft words instead of 
 casting them out cannot but bring disap- 
 pointment. Although, in most, hostility to 
 .lesus is not pronounced as it was in Saul of 
 Tarsus, yet it cannot be taken for granted 
 that honied words give? the Spirit of Ood the 
 best opportunity of co-operation : or that or- 
 dinarilv the (hnid can be raised without startl- 
 
 ing utterances. There was anger in the tones 
 10 
 
146 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 m ; •*■ ' 
 
 Wi 
 
 111 
 
 if ill 
 
 ''''.:^^ .„.:.i: 
 
 'fit! 
 
 of Jesus addrosscsd to Saul, a voice of warning 
 intended to send him to the oidy niecting- 
 plaee of ])ettee — tlie cross. A notion is in the 
 air that the revi\ alist only needs to be *' full 
 of the Holy Ghost" to effect all possible 
 good ; but as }\v is not a sj)irit of inspiration 
 now, and conseiinently subject to the speaker, 
 so " workers " may err by presenting their 
 own inelHcient ideas. It was when Moses 
 came down from Mount Sinai where the Law 
 had been given that his face shone ; to be 
 truly eihci(M»t, evangelists must have a full 
 sense of the justice as well as of the love of 
 (^lod. Lying messages, delivered in the nnmo 
 of Jesus, are calculated to make liars and 
 (heats ; there are (Christians and Christians, 
 imperfect types formed by charming the evil 
 s>pirit instead of ejecting him. To represent 
 Clod as friendly to the unreconciled while the 
 wrath of God abideth on them, instead of 
 merely willing to be friendly for Christ's sake, 
 is a dangerous misrepresentation. At the 
 
 ilii 
 
WITHOUT TUV. OONRriKNCR. 
 
 147 
 
 first spiritual contact tliorc is hostility in both 
 God and nion, which brings on a duel in which 
 f«od saves by overcoming, gives life; by killing. 
 " I was alive withont tlic law once, but when 
 the command nuint canu; sin revived and I 
 died." Representations of God in Christ that 
 have no tendency to make mm aware of their 
 wretched nature and spiritual death with its 
 eternal consequences are proclamations of 
 peace where there is no peace. 
 
 The Christ of the modern pulpit is an arti- 
 ficed being in whose bosom anger was un- 
 known ; one with whom the Scribes and 
 Pharisees would have been completely satis- 
 fied ; and not the uncompromising enemy of 
 sin and all falseness ; who looked round on 
 audiences in anger because of their unbelief. 
 If bestowal of amnesty on the narrow theatre 
 of a nation has to be done with the utmost 
 caution, with what carefulness must it be 
 bestowed on the universal scale ? It was 
 indispensable that the Commissioner who re- 
 
148 
 
 CimiSTIANITY 
 
 proscntod tho Doity and appealed in His image 
 sliould be a diplomat as well as a Saviour. 
 For minds correspondinjif to " tlie bruised reed 
 and smoking flax " Jesus was graciousness 
 itself. He knew what was in man and His 
 perfect nature assumed an attitude that cor- 
 responded with the disposition of those who 
 presented themselves before Him. In one 
 point of view He was a Lamb ; in another, 
 He was the Lion of the tribe of tTudah. At 
 present there is a proclivity to make Him a 
 kind of Buddha ; a fad that, if harmless, 
 might be let alone, but it is gradually sap- 
 ping the foundations of (Christian character. 
 Jesus " carried the lambs in His bosom," was 
 a tender Shepherd to every soul that inspired 
 a ray of hope ; Init when men turned their 
 faces from Him, assuming an attitude of final 
 impenitanee. His leonine characteristics were 
 made apparent ; as, for example, to the Scribes 
 and Pharisees and to Judas to wliom he gave 
 the sop. It was a disposition which fits Him 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 149 
 
 Image 
 Lviour. 
 »d rood 
 jusness 
 
 nd His 
 iiat cor- '. : 
 3se who 
 In one 
 another, 
 
 lah. At 
 
 :e Hi«i ^ 
 liarmless, 
 
 Lially sap- 
 cliaraeter. 
 
 ioin," was 
 Lt inspired 
 Ivned their 
 ide of final 
 fistics were 
 Hie Scribes 
 »m he gave 
 :h fits llii^ 
 
 to occupy the seat of final judgment ; to 
 divide the sheep from the goats, and to say 
 to those on the left hand, " Depart from Me 
 ye cnrsed into everlasting fire prepared for 
 the devil and his angels ; " words lie put into 
 His own mouth while still in xhe flesh. 
 " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day and 
 for ever." 
 
 To get a full imi)ression of Jesus it is neces- 
 sary to make the Messianic Psalms fill np the 
 story of His life, just as it is necessary to put 
 the Xew Testament beside the Old to get at 
 the M'hole truth on any divine subject. In 
 one of those Psalms, the fortieth, Messiah 
 prays thus : '^ Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver 
 me : make haste to help me, O Lord. Let 
 them be turned backward and brought to dis- 
 hononr that delight in my hurt ; let them be 
 desolate by reason of their shame that say 
 unto me. Aha, Aha." Strange sounds for 
 self-complacent ears ; yet not nearly so ter- 
 rible as the reply to them. Almost from His 
 
•*■ 
 
 K 
 
 !l I 
 
 day the cities of the Jews have been in deso- 
 lation because they rejectwl Ilim ; and their 
 calamities have been prolonged beyond all 
 precedent experiencte. So that religions teach- 
 ers find little reason to flatter " conscientious " 
 rejecters and oi>posers of the Gospel. And 
 there is no contradiction in the prayer at the 
 Crncifixion : " Father, forgive them, for they 
 know not what thoy do," any more than there 
 is in asking (^lod to forgive a murderer, while 
 concurring in his condign ])unishment. 
 
 Among religious jicople it has always been 
 customary to blame theatres for a large share 
 of the levity and immorality of Christian 
 countries. But were Christ well understood 
 and honestly preached in the pulpits of any 
 Christian city, there would soon be few thea- 
 tres left, or if there were any, their nakedness 
 would be covered and the shamelessness that 
 threatens to stamp harlotry on the general 
 countenance. The word of God is an instru- 
 ment of tremendous power ; " a sharp two- 
 
 
WITHOUT Til?] CONSCIENCE. 
 
 151 
 
 odgcd Hword, piorciii^ to tlio divldiiif!^ aHiuidcr 
 of soul mid spirit, of joints and mnrrow, nnd 
 is n discornor of the tlion^hts and intents of 
 tho heart." Tn view of ordinary rosnlts, tlio 
 woi (Is may create a srnilo, althonpjii tlio word 
 of God ; but it is bocanso tbo weapon is sel- 
 dom nsed except witli a bhinted point and 
 an ed^e inc:enionsly made into a back, with 
 which the blows are stnick. 
 
 Tt will be inferred, no donbt, that the her- 
 alds of such " jQjrim " times will be men of 
 chippy and stern bmsqneness. Ah ! nothinpf 
 in the world y>rodnces tenderness like the 
 conception of danjijer or snfTcrincj. When 
 an accident has happened, the person chosen 
 to open the fact to the woman who has been 
 made a widow and her children fatherless will 
 do it with snbdned and sympathetic tones. 
 The tenderest words ever spoken by the Son 
 of God, which bronght the h\g tears to His 
 own eyes, were : " TTadst thou known even 
 thon in this thy day the thinpjs that belong 
 
-I 
 
 111 
 
 I *-. 
 
 ! m 
 
 152 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 to thy peace, but now they arc forever hid 
 from thine eyes." In former ages the denial 
 of God^a irrevocable judgment on the wicked 
 liardened the hearts of men and made them 
 cruel. The favored sweetened flavouring and 
 phosphorescent light of the modem pulpit 
 essay scarcely allows the essayist to feel even 
 if he has some dim conception of danger 
 threatening from eternity. God's tenderness 
 for men is pity prompted by their lost estate ; 
 which, ascribed to Him, should be felt by all 
 who speak in his name. Ways of present- 
 ing eternity so as to touch the heart and re- 
 duce the importance of time except for " the 
 one thing needful," is the requirement of the 
 age. All dangers are future and unseen ; 
 and in fact the vast majority of people, rich 
 as well as poor, are pleased with honest warn- 
 ings ; even the indifferent like to be stimu- 
 lated religiously. For example, the higher 
 classes in Sweden, from the king down, were 
 verv careless about religion till the Salvatioi^ 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 153 
 
 Army appeared there ; now the Army has 
 become fashionable. Great sinners and 
 impressionable ones are not all confined to 
 the back lanes of cities. 
 
 Complaint has to be made constantly of 
 Sabbath desecration ; but let it be never for- 
 gotten that it is the great importance of relig- 
 ion which mnst give importance to the Sab- 
 bath day. What is needed now are occa- 
 sional glimpses of eternity from midway be- 
 tween Mounts Ebal and Gerrizzim. The pre- 
 vailing understanding seems to be that hear- 
 ers of the Gospel are all necessarily prepared 
 to receive it, which betrays inattention to the 
 most obvious teaching of Jesus Christ and of 
 religious history, and gives rise to a vast 
 amount of misdirected effort. The good old 
 practice of classifying hearers should be re- 
 introduced and a word of warning addressed 
 to those who need it — the impenitent. Before 
 the time of universal revival, ministers will 
 be all well up again in pioneering work^ hay- 
 
 Mi 
 
154 
 
 (MIKIKTIANITY 
 
 m 
 
 W«lfl 
 
 \\\(X IxMMi ]>n)U^lil lo ncknoNvlcdfrc tlmi Mohck 
 U iho front iHpic'cr of IIm^ Hihlo, mul .lolui llin 
 Bn]>tisl of tli(> N^(>\v ''\'stmn«Mil, uiid ono of it.H 
 oliirf oI)j<v»t Ir.-^sons. l*orlin]>s tlio very hIioH- 
 rst vond to n onrroct, point of \'w\v wonld Ix^ 
 to rcMiistnto Josus ns l<ini»' nnd to rost<>ro llio 
 concoptjon of tlio l<in,ii,>lon» of (lod. Instoml 
 of pros(M\tin,i]: TTiin invnrinMy ns n snp)>lijint, 
 for ndniission, Ho shonld bo r» proscnh <1 nn 
 knoolsinii" witli nntliorlty nnd doninndin^ nc- 
 (vss to \]\o lionrf. 'PIk^ nutlioriiy of .Tosn.A in 
 indispntsiMo jind lins inf'inito power l)oliIn<1 it. 
 The Tnonrnntion wns not n dotlirononirnt. 
 
 Cliristinnity lind its orijriii in ]ionv(Mi; its ol>- 
 j(vt, imniortnl ?onla viowod in relation to tlioir 
 dnnii(M'.> nnd possiliilitios. IVonnso tlio tono- 
 h\ootv'< of nndvinjx minds Tosnh'' vnlnod tlio tnl)- 
 ornnclos of cinv nnd ovinood power to save 
 l\v doliviM'ing tluMn from tlio rosnlta of sin. 
 y.ycw r>nddliist trndornrss fo'* nnimnls s]ivini»H 
 from ;i belief tliM^^ tliev are the alWo of m\- 
 dvinff spirits. "Real Christian Lenevolcncc 
 
 l-fti 
 
WITHOUT TIIK CONKdIIONOK, 
 
 ir»5 
 
 luiH iirt HOiirco not, in lovo of <HH|)1iiy, 1)nt. in 
 ^raiiln(l<< for Hjjlvjilion and u\vnk<itH'(l Iiojks, 
 intonHificd by tlio prcM-ioUHnrHH of tlio houIh of 
 otlirrH. 
 
 But tho iMinuinily of OliriHiianH \h Hiill n 
 lon^ way from llio Hnuiinii to wliicli it hIiouM 
 aHpiro. Tli(( rlnirclioH rHiaMiHliod ])y iho. 
 ApoRtl(»s woro in nti informal way mutual 
 Ix^nrfit HocicticH, " mifUHtcnn^ to tho noccH- 
 nitioR of tlio HaintH." A innltitndo of roHpf^ct- 
 aMo iiwi\, prohnbly a tnajority now, tnkn a 
 living intorosi in vnrionH Kociotirs, Masons, 
 Oddfellows, Forcstd'H, rto., to l)o roir.forrrd, 
 apparently, by Rorintios of tho " now womm," 
 to the dotrimont of the clnirclioR, horauRo thoy 
 ip:norn a nrcat ohjoct — mutual hrlpfulnnsR. 
 Tho apostolic ohurcli was a honofit socioty, 
 lioldinc; out promisos for tliis life as well as 
 for that wlneli is to romo — tlio unniistal<aTdo 
 loRsou of tlio Pontorostal librrality. Viowod 
 in tho lip:ht of tho oarliost Ohristian ap^o, many 
 city churches of the nineteenth century are 
 
'f 
 i 
 
 Is 
 
 h S 
 
 
 J f 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 H Hi 
 
 : ; I ! 
 
 r''#tl'*ii 
 
 n!!!il!i 
 
 I ill 
 
 ilJlli i 
 
 lii! 
 
 I . ;^ „! 
 
 156 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 palace cars shunted off the road to heaven. 
 Collections for the poor may be large and 
 liberal, but they are bones cast out to the 
 dogs. To a^vaken charity and keep it burn- 
 ing brightly there must be contact with its 
 objects ; when such contact is wanting, love 
 of display or other selfishness becomes the 
 motive for liberality ; which in the long run 
 congeals the heart into ice or stone. No, the 
 rich and poor must meet together, and in the 
 house of God, who " is the Maker of them 
 both." As tilings are, if any poor remain in 
 some churches they are less known by fellow 
 members than if they were fancy curs and the 
 lich dukes and duchesses ; it is the Christian- 
 ized heathenism of Constantino and not the 
 Christianity of Jesus and His apostles. 
 
3main m 
 
 TWIN OBJECTS OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Because " as many as were ordained to 
 eternal life believed," it does not follow that 
 all objects of the gospel can be secured by 
 offers of mercy with the motives left out. 
 One j)urpose is to influence society at large 
 by civilizing it. " The kindom of heaven is 
 like unto a net cast into the sea, which caught 
 of every kind." The truth of God can reach 
 crime at its starting place, wheresis the jus- 
 tice of man reaches it only after its consum- 
 mation. 
 
 There are graces and graces, common and 
 saving graces, both of which co-operate ^vith 
 the word of truth. They are often so little 
 differentiated that according to the Master 
 it is they who receive the word with joy wlio 
 have no root in themselves. Honest preach- 
 ing has great temporal A'alue ; it generally 
 
 i'l 
 
■! 
 
 HI 
 
 ! I'i'if i 
 
 158 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 I 
 
 reforms, even if it does not save. The revi- 
 valist, which every clergyman should be, is a 
 co-worker with God even when his achieve- 
 ment comes short of salvation. 
 
 To whatever extent religion finds a lodge- 
 ment in the heart, it should be the truth of 
 God written there ; and, as far as possible, it 
 should be the whole truth. Too great par- 
 tiality in the choice of texts may edify men 
 in unholy ways instead of reforming them. 
 A too exclusive presentation of the tender 
 side of the divine nature has changed some 
 churches into permanent conduits of Socin- 
 ianism. 
 
 That multitudes outside of the " finally 
 saved " have been influenced by the gospel is 
 an object lesson, shewing it to be a mischiev- 
 ous blunder to exclude the check put on minds 
 that may never become savingly imbued with 
 religion. In the Jews there is faith in God 
 and a conservative influence while the faith is 
 rejected. In the light of what should have 
 
 i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 159 
 
 been aimed at, the fact that, in the nations, 
 300,000,000 Protestants or their descend- 
 ants never enter a place of worship, might 
 make the stones in the wall cry out. These 
 people should have been kept in the gospel 
 net, and not outcast from it. It is because 
 the powers of the world to come have been 
 kept in abeyance and a waste of sound put out 
 in substitution. 
 
 By proclaiming Himself to be the Judge of 
 all the earth and a Saviour, Jesus seeks to 
 establish His judgment seat in the hearts of 
 men. Here human co-operation is needed, 
 needed because conviction is the step initial 
 to all improvement. It must not be taken 
 for granted that the world is aware of its con- 
 denmation, in other words, stands self-con- 
 victed before God ; and, therefore, needs con- 
 solation only by pressing representations of 
 divine mercy. In the New Dispensation 
 John must plough before Jesus can sow. In 
 impatience the wish of many seems to be to 
 
 iif 
 
 
160 
 
 CHBISTIANITY 
 
 ! 1 I 
 
 i: m 
 
 i! 
 
 r* •; 
 
 dispense with the plough and cast the seed 
 into the unbroken fallow, depending on the 
 Spirit for results, who cannot give encourage- 
 ment to presumption. 
 
 By revivalism the air should be charged 
 with the sound of the coming judgment, as it 
 was by John and Jesus ; but there is a dan- 
 gerous optimism in all revivalism where the 
 pastor is not the chief man. The danger lies 
 in the following direction : our Saviour recog- 
 nizes four classes of hearers, one where the 
 effect is radical, the soil having been well pre- 
 pared ; and three classes where the effects are 
 unsatisfactory from unprepared conditions. 
 Revivalism, as familiar to the writer, over- 
 looks all this, and by a mistaken hopefulness 
 endangers many souls. Jesus might only 
 mean that the unprepared soils needed ap- 
 propriate cultivation ; but if apparent con- 
 versions are accepted for real ones, the kind of 
 treatment indispensable may be neglected. 
 What is necessary is constant deepening of 
 
 i ^ "M 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 161 
 
 the fear of God in minds not saturated with 
 the truth. And the word of God proclaimed 
 in its fullness will sound out into all neigh- 
 bouring parts through men and women not 
 impressed with the greatness of the preacher, 
 but with the greatness of God. In the early 
 recorded revivals fear fell upon every soul ; 
 it was the fear of God. 
 
 But Spiritual death may be left undisturbed 
 by another oversight besides neglect to pub- 
 lish God's verdict against impenitance. The 
 extent to which sin has paralyzed the moral 
 nature has a fatal bearing often on the value 
 men fix on their own moral powers, or on 
 opinions regarding the extent to which they 
 can work out their own salvation. Prayer is 
 the ray of hope. " Behold he prayeth " was 
 the cheerful reply to doubting Ananias ; and 
 conscious helplessness is the stimulus to 
 prayer. Where there is prayerlessness relig- 
 ion in any form is non-existent. In all prob- 
 ability Saul of Tarsus was a self-redemptorist 
 
 a 
 
162 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 m 
 
 hi 
 
 till .Icsiia met liiin and uwakciMMl in liiin 
 brratliinij:s of the lilV eternal. If r('lij;i(>n is 
 life, and lifo in the noldost form, it nnist, conio 
 fioni the source of all life. ^for(M)ver, " will " 
 isolated from the understanding; is insanity. 
 KelijU'ion ia inaugurated in the soul by roeti- 
 fyin/n" its hi<>hest faculty, the intellectual, and 
 through it sentiment and conduct. " TraviuL^ 
 the nnd<'rstandini»' darkened, heinj^' alicMiated 
 from the life of God through the ignorauco 
 that is in them." (Kph. iv., 18.) For God 
 who couimanded the lii>ht to shine out of dark- 
 ness hath sinned in our hearts to ^\\c. the lij;'ht 
 of the knowledne of tlu^ glory of Ood in the 
 face of Jesus Christ. (TT. Tor. iv., 0.) From 
 his oM'u experience St. Paul evidently took 
 his com])rehension of what regeneration is. 
 The immediate upshot, " T was not divsohedi- 
 ent to the heavenly vision ; " with all his 
 soul, and heart and mind he escaped as one 
 escapes from a building in which he is sur- 
 rounded with flame, 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 163 
 
 Tf men can will tliomsclvofl into a Htato of 
 grace or of regeneration without (Jod there is 
 no apparent reason why they shonkl not be 
 able to <lo it in the world to come. A con- 
 ee]>tion of this kind works in the; mind of 
 nnuiy of the la|)sed, wiio as a rule are strong 
 in their own immoral consciousness, a poor 
 gauge of the nun'al powers. In aiming at 
 the hijvh.est results of the gospel, its sccofid- 
 ary ones are s\n*(;st to follow, and the man 
 who improves when he does not save is a 
 blessing to the world, if somewhat of a dis- 
 ap]>ointment to himself. 
 
 But under eivilizing (^fFe(tts it is nc cessary 
 to include not only the moral promptings 
 which produce industry and correct d(^port- 
 nient, but also those im])ulses that create a 
 literature and which lead to invention and 
 material improvement. Tn the last few cen- 
 turies, indeed, in the last one, the (Christian 
 countries have gone as far in the way of pro- 
 gress as the world did since the beginning of 
 
W ff 
 
 f? I 
 
 164 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 i: 
 
 time. Kolijjjion is a stimulant of tlui intollcc- 
 tiuil powers ; seen, for example, in the won- 
 derful reasonings of the friends of Jol) and 
 in the wisdom and f<'re8ight of Balaam. It 
 is probahlc that the family of Noah brought 
 across the FlooJ with them most of the im- 
 provements of the antediluvian world, as well 
 as its best meehanical genius. It woidd re- 
 quire all the art the world then possessed to 
 construet the ark, and that largeness of idea 
 which enabled descendants in future genera- 
 tions to build the Towt of Babel, the Pyra- 
 mids and the Temple of Baalbec. 
 
 The great inventions of the ancient- were 
 never made very far from the footprints of 
 the prophets : the original art of recording, 
 the alphabet, Euclid Elements, and later arith- 
 metic and algebra. 
 
 Tn modern times we owe to Christian 
 countries the art of ])rinting with all its im- 
 provements ; the steam engine and its appli- 
 cations, in navigation, railroads, factories ; 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIKNOE. 
 
 icn 
 
 ilio control of clcclricity for (clc^rapliiiijj:, 
 UiicplKuiiiig', ligliting jirul for iiidii.slrial work ; 
 then invontions in niacliinery, the |M)\v«'r 
 looni; the spinning ji'»>iy) reapoivs, Howcrs, 
 sewing maeliinen and oth(;rrt innnnn^rahh'. 
 
 When compared witli the Christian, tlio 
 non-C^hristian mind is stagnant — dead. The 
 far-oflp Asiatic genius had vigor at one time — 
 until by its own reasoning it ran itself into a 
 pocket or corner by putting law in the room 
 of God, and identifying it with (Jod as a de- 
 velopment of His own nature. Faith in a 
 Personal Divine Being is a source of progress 
 by the impulse of an idea so great, and by 
 mediation in securing personal divine action, 
 laith in God gave intellectual stimulus to the 
 Moors. Strange that in the most enlighttnicd 
 Christian countries, creatures hooting in the 
 darkness, who shut their eves to the divine 
 light of day, advocate a reaction towards the 
 pantheism that has hidebound all the Eastern 
 Asiati(! nations and made them food for gun- 
 
 
1()G 
 
 CnuiSTlANITY 
 
 l> 
 
 ])<)W(l('r, or fittfMl tlicin for siil)j('ctl()ii to the 
 ( 'Iiristians. Tlioro is tcmlcrnoss, too, great ten- 
 derness, in the j)antljeisni of the Kast, all em- 
 hraeing t(Mi(lerness for animal life, althongh 
 one has only to visit the jnnj»les to find ont 
 that the tenderness is not reeiproeated. The 
 Christian Seientists assoeiate healing tender- 
 ness with their ])antheism. Christian Seienee 
 is the road haek to heathenism and national 
 ind)eeility, more dangerons on aeconnt of its 
 assnnied C^hristian phraseology. It is Satan 
 clothed as an angel of light. 
 
 What needs to be made at once, without 
 loss of time, is an attack on the stronghold of 
 Satan along the whole line with the heaviest 
 artillery that can be brought to bear. Bows 
 and arrows amount to little since the inven- 
 tion of gunpowder. Inefficient methods have 
 left religion in a stationary position for at least 
 1,700 years. Our Saviour put brimstone in- 
 to the implements of war which gave His 
 kingdom a footing in the world. The inven- 
 
WITHOUT THE rONaOTENCE. 
 
 1«7 
 
 Hon of piirgatc y luus In'ou Satan's master- 
 piece by coirn[.tin^r the clmreh of (Uh\ and 
 making it stationary for ftood. 
 
 It is not at all likely, however, that the 
 nations will be converted till the method of 
 awakening the conscience enforced on Jonah, 
 and on John the Baptist, and followed by the 
 Apostles, has been readopted. 
 
mm\i 
 
 ODDS AND ENDS. 
 
 By divine inspiration facts liave been pre- 
 served from the dawn of history \vhi(3h are 
 memorial illustrations that " there is none 
 good, no, not one." During th^ antediluvian 
 ages ' -^w few could pass muster before God ! 
 And the quality which gave Enoch his stand- 
 ing points an answer to the question : " Who 
 hath made thee to differ ? " 
 
 After the Deluge there was improvement 
 through the choice family of the olo world, 
 which carried in its bosom the memory of the 
 Flood ; with the imposed necessity of a mag- 
 istracy to enforce law, by legal process, die 
 new law, " Whoso sheddeth man's hlood by 
 man shall his blood be shed,'* a severitv that 
 I as never been repealed except where there 
 is a disposition to ignore the authority of God. 
 As an experiment for the race, God began 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 169 
 
 witli mercy for tlic iinirdcrer (Cain), Imt this 
 immunity was found to be a dangt^rons waste 
 of pity, as it is still. The new law imposed 
 against bloodshed immediately aftd* the ilo(Hl 
 suggests that clemency brought about the 
 moral and physical overthrow of the old 
 world. 
 
 The facts preserved by inspiration coin- 
 cide with those of profane history, which 
 make it unquestionable that there is radical 
 defect in the religious action of the human 
 heart. Religious men cannot but be ; but 
 M'hat religions ! Is there a conceivable thing 
 so abject from " four-footed beasts " that 
 some time has not been a chosen object of 
 worship ? And always in moral degradation, 
 for is there a lust that has not been the instru- 
 ment of worship ? In tne opinion of the race 
 religion is the one important thing, and it is 
 the one subject covered by divine inspiration. 
 In tae light of history how necessary ! And 
 :n the lurid light of all other cults how glori- 
 
f '^f^^pSSSWM 
 
 .!„ 
 
 170 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 f;-^ ; 
 
 ,i:.^i 
 
 m. 
 
 m 
 
 -4 -i 
 
 Oils f]io worsliij> of Jeliovali is ! But ihore 
 is ever a toudciK^y to (locloiision, and tho day 
 may never come when it will bo unnecessary 
 for Honieone to raise a warning voice. A 
 proclivity is again developing to accept bcanty 
 juldressed to the eye and th(3 ear for religion, 
 a)i(l a sootliing for an awakening of the con- 
 science. Attractive beanty in worship is not 
 to 1)0 des]>ised, but do not let evil lure be mis- 
 taken for God. An improvement in speak- 
 ing as well as in singing jimd in painting miglit 
 not be amiSvS. 
 
 The invisible is the absolutely substantial, 
 and the visible only a demonstration. It be- 
 canje necessary to make this patent to a sin- 
 benighted world. Tlie (.'ODception of (iod, 
 omnipotent to create, with t1ie conception of 
 ilie necessary evidence, make all attempts to 
 trace the religious ideas of the Jews to na- 
 ture ridicidons. The logic of the Old Tes- 
 tament is complete ; given the miraculous 
 facts, and the conclusion is establislied beyond 
 
i 
 
 WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 iil 
 
 cavil, a conclusion accepted at va^. cost for 
 2,500 years hy the witnessirig nation or jury. 
 A suspension of laws over the whole face of 
 nature has denionstrated tlic control of Tliin 
 who establishwl them. Tlie conception of 
 the necessary y)roof is in itself an evidence of 
 divine inspiration. 
 
 The evolutionary pantheist, who at length 
 has beguL to "" preach,'' is sure that the uni- 
 verse formed itself by its own internal force ; 
 he will admit of no intermittent action or 
 ^'^ gaps " such as miraculous intervention in 
 creation would suggest. But his data come to 
 him from the imagination, intermitteucy be- 
 ing the most characteristic fact of universal 
 nature. There is day and night, summer and 
 winter, neap and ebb tides, rain and sun- 
 shine, abundance and scarcity, war and peace, 
 epidemics, earthcpiakes, famines and pestil- 
 ences ; and the bowels of the earth betray 
 all signs of intermittency in the formation 
 of the platform of the world. All mind is 
 
"m^ 
 
 sam 
 
 172 
 
 rnUIHTIANlTY 
 
 ii»l«M*miH(M>t in its nclion, niid iiiiixl lH>lnivs 
 ilHolf in ill! Iinnuin surronndin^H. 
 
 'V\u' Old 'l\'sljim(M»l niii.v Im« (loscrihcd Jis a 
 rci'ord »d' i\\v pnu'licid lo^ic l»y wliicli \\hi 
 TsrnoHtos, an «'x«M>|il.ioti !iuu»nj»' tlu^ nations, 
 W'oro convoiMrd to ihtMsni. Tin* ar^nnn'nt in 
 as ad«'(inatr as it haw Lmmmi ctF^'ctivf willi ilu^ 
 jnrv. Tlw i<lo!i <»f \v»)rkin^ a ••onviction of 
 \\iO lluMsni on wliit'ii Christiunilv was to ivst 
 inio lln lii'ill'l ill II nation,, and iIumi stMnlinj; 
 lis t'oniponi'nls ont as nussionarios, is too l)i^' 
 nol In Im' dhlni'. In ( nristian tiuios ilu^ in- 
 llncnci' of llu' .lews has Ix'cn of innnonso valno 
 by lis antai-onisni lo iilolatry thronji'li the in- 
 torprclatiim of tlio 2nd coniinandnicnt. Not 
 till the fnlhu'ss of the nations is coniing in 
 will it bo safo to (>onvi'rt thoni. Tho early 
 oonvorts from dndaisni disa|>]>oarrd andd tho 
 great Christian apostacies. Tlie ten tribes 
 were never lost, but the early .lewish (^Inis- 
 tiaUvS were. 
 
 Thv divin(^ nrginuent makes its start by as- 
 
WITiroPT TITK <'()NH(!IKN('r';. 
 
 17.". 
 
 Hcrfing' rrciilion IIk^ fonrwlation of (}<m1'h 
 clnimH on tlio world ; imd l\\v. Intcst. sciiuico 
 roviMilH plan in t.lio nl(,iinii<(^H of nuilldr. TlK^n, 
 no nuv al)l(» to coivipoHo \hv inirodiictory (^Imj)- 
 tcr of llic l)il)l(^ \v ndd <l(fiii(! u litcTjil dny iw 
 " tlio rvciiing iind ihr inor'niii^," wliicli ifl a 
 iii^lit nitlicr. 'i'lu^ inrnnln^ \h tlijit, racJi anto- 
 
 ;cd(Mil. 
 
 poriod waK ono of (VMiiparativc; ( 
 
 f 
 
 dark- 
 
 iioHH iind a dawn to thai whi<*li fr)liovv('d. 
 
 M<>r#>r»v<'r, tho cnrili was otu'(? "witlioni forin 
 
 )) 
 
 tliat i.s, of liill atnl dalojuid rural \)Vi\Mty ; and 
 it was alrto " void " of v((^(!tal)lo and animal 
 life. Ft is also tnio that tho vo^otp^-^o ante- 
 dated tho animal kin^doni, and tno wholo 
 jininial world antedated man. It is a^^o trno 
 that the body which foi- aj[^(\s illnmin(Ml tho 
 
 earth 
 
 n 
 
 ot th< 
 
 \^ least al 
 
 one. 
 
 Th 
 
 lanet, now hiinu^d ont and 
 
 was 
 planet of this 
 eoKl, was oikm a Ma/iiiij;' snti ^ivin^ out In^at 
 a»d lij;l»t alxnit ecpial t > those of thr^ snn at 
 present. It waa whtm the snn was getting 
 np his tires and thus fitting hiinscOf for posi- 
 
 i 
 
174 
 
 CirRIRTTANITY 
 
 M 
 
 u 
 
 lion in tlio fourth jK'riod of iniindjino liistory. 
 (lod liiis rights in tlic world only l)(>cans(» 
 its (^'nitor, n fnct "(Jcmu'sIs" r(MM)i>ni/('s in 
 its initijil nttoninc'^s. Mnintciuinco of tlio 
 rights of (;o(l is the ohjt'ct of Kovolation, 
 nnd secondarily, niaintiMianco of tho rights ot' 
 nson. It is done hy comniands, promises and 
 judi;nuMils revealed, thus l)rinj»ii»g (Jod as 
 (lose as |)ossihle to (he eonseieiiee. P(M'inan- 
 (>ntly it is by ])ro])hets ; but at Sinai He spake 
 with an andihle voice, and dw(dt with Israel, 
 in manifestation, dnrinj;' the whole of lliat 
 economy. To have full power (lod must 1x5 
 conscioiKsly present with men, a principh'fnlly 
 recognized in tlie Jewish economy, and by 
 Jesns in His ])artinu: words, '' Lo, I am with 
 von alwavs, ev(Mi unto the end of the world." 
 TJnt as the Bible has its chief justification 
 from the future, an unseen eternal future of 
 immortal beings, it was nece ary that ability 
 to predict >houUl be veriiied. Hence prophets 
 wore coninii>4sioned to keep the conscience 
 
WTTTIOI7T THE CONSCTENCE. 
 
 J 75 
 
 of tho world awako hy forecasts of l)l('ssing 
 and (Mirsing liaving relation to condnci p:ood 
 and l)ad. Tho fnlfillod ])r(Mli('li<>ns of \hv. 
 Old ToHtanicnt j»iv(» fnll wcijjjlit to tlu; ticnion- 
 dona predictions of Jesns Clirist relating lf> 
 the everlasting fntjire. Personnlly, Jesns was 
 the rising snn of ancient prophecy, and ITis 
 •coining, therefore, is the pledge of Tlis own 
 pnulictions. " Thy wonl is trnth." Mira- 
 cles also were intended as precnrsors to mani- 
 fest the possihility of the great miracles of 
 salvation, inclnding the general resurrection. 
 Tho Jews illustrate how it is possihlc to 
 know Ood and yet not know ITim. No one 
 knows his fellow mortal as he knows himsf^lf 
 — hy consciousness immediate. Spiritual 
 knowledge hy the self-revelation of (lod 
 reaches as close to the soul as its own thoughts: 
 it is. the contact c 
 
 spirit 
 
 Spii 
 
 flews failed to recoii'nize the Other Divine 
 
 Self 
 
 ifest in the flesh, a matter in which 
 
 niarii] 
 Abraham did not fail when put to the test at 
 
[v, 
 
 I'Hil 
 
 f'lIKISTIANITY 
 
 Marnro ; it was by the ronowrd rdifj^ioiia eoii- 
 ecionsnoss. The oonvcrsion of Saul is a capi- 
 tal-let! crcd illustration how a Jew who is one 
 outwardly needs to be put on a footing with 
 his father Abraham, and a Gentile needs 
 nothing less. 
 
 Here is the essence of true religion, and 
 nothing short of it is, " This is life eternal to 
 know Thee the Only True God and Jesus 
 Christ whom ITe liath sent." And it was not 
 Siiul who forced himself into the knowledge 
 of the Incarnate One, nothing could be fur- 
 ther from his thoughts ; it was Jesus who 
 flashed TTis presence into Saul's knowledge, 
 and he did it with Sinai on His brow. Nei- 
 ther now nor on the judgment day can He 
 present any other aspect to the rebellious. It 
 may be added that because God is a Spirit 
 He can never be visible except to tl.'e heart. 
 Incarnation did not reveal Him to the Jews, 
 nor can its proclamation reveal Him to the 
 world : this is to be accomplished not by His 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 177 
 
 9 con- 
 L capi- 
 ia one 
 J with 
 needs 
 
 1, and 
 rnal to 
 
 Jesus 
 vas not 
 wledge 
 be fur- 
 is who 
 
 ledge, 
 Nei- 
 
 an He 
 
 us. It 
 Spirit 
 
 ^ heart. 
 
 le Jews, 
 to the 
 
 by Tlis 
 
 re-appoaraneo in the flesli, but by omnipotent 
 spiritual denioiisi ration. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe thut dif- 
 ference of opinion on this point does not neces- 
 sitate a difference of opinion on the main 
 contention — tlie efficacy given to the strong- 
 est motives. Overlooking this, and by thus 
 letting consciencics go to sleej), has created the 
 proclivity to Sociniiv.iism in the Calvini^tic 
 Churches. The Spirit of Cod co-operates 
 with fitting means — those He Himself has 
 prepared. The Bible is a revelation of divine 
 mercy, but, it is first and foreuiost a revela- 
 tion of justice ; it could not be otherwise in 
 the face of sin. The Law comes before the 
 gospel, and Jesus, instead of " destroying the 
 Law and the Pro})hets," has expanded their 
 significance, and has added new terrors to dis- 
 obedience. To Ilim we owe our fidlest know- 
 ledge of the fate of the impenitent, and the 
 awful solemnities of the Judgment Day. 
 
 The conception lyiug at the base of our 
 12 
 
r »T'f 
 
 178 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 fn 
 
 f^ 
 
 religion needs to be firmly grasped. We 
 have read somewhere of a mission sent to the 
 apes of Africa ; it was not to evangelize them, 
 however. Just think of Go<l sending His 
 Eternal Son in the flesh to a race of Dar- 
 winian men, to die to save them from de- 
 vouring each other I No, the justification of 
 the gospel is the immortality of the human 
 soul, exposed not to temporal alone, but to 
 eternal dangers. When this slips out of the 
 mental grasp the real Christ soon vanishes, 
 and is replaced by a calf or a Santa Clans. 
 *' Faith is the evidence of things not seen," 
 and should be strong in the heralds of salva- 
 tion. In general, hearers of the gospel are 
 not broken-hearted sinner3 waiting for re- 
 demption ; are not convicted rebels anxious 
 for submission ; and the constant refrain urg- 
 ing self -dedication to Christ can only mean, 
 in many cases, subjection to a drill sergeant, 
 and, on reception of the love of Christ, a con- 
 strained hypocrisy. In all audiences there 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 179 
 
 We 
 
 ) the 
 hem, 
 ; His 
 Dar- 
 1 de- 
 Lon of 
 uman 
 
 )'lt to 
 
 of the 
 nishes, 
 Clans, 
 seen," 
 salva- 
 >el are 
 or re- 
 laxious 
 in nrg- 
 mean, 
 geant, 
 a con- 
 there 
 
 will be some who are prepared for the gos- 
 pel. By all inoaiKs let them have it ; but 
 there will l)o a greater nnniher unpropart^d ; 
 out of pity give the impenitent a word of 
 warning, with the eye of faith peering into 
 the eternal future. 
 
 The most strikinji^ part of every good picture 
 is its background, including the horizon ; if 
 justice is the background of the gospel, at 
 least let it be there and not attenuated to in- 
 visibility. In rightly dividing the wird of 
 truth, " justice and mercy " should appear in 
 the proportions eiven them in the iMhla as a 
 whole. Our Saviour maintains this propor- 
 tion carefully, and as a check on the danger 
 of issued pardons He uniformly presents the 
 antithesis of mercy. The " love " of Christ is 
 scarcely what the world would consider love. 
 Because His love was compassion for the lest, 
 the world of His own day was filled with re- 
 sentment ; also because it di<l not embrace 
 complacence in its imregenerac^ . The i>er- 
 
 M' 
 

 ^^ v^ 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
 ^ .#^. 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 1.1 
 
 1.25 
 
 150 
 
 2.5 
 
 12.2 
 
 1.8 
 
 1.4 11.6 
 
 ^4 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WES1 MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. MSM 
 
 (716)875-4503 
 
 

 Lc:'/ 
 
180 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ■i' 1 
 
 iiiii: 
 
 fectcd love of Christ is complacence for tlie 
 righteous. To know Christ is to love Him ; 
 but there is a conditional knowledge, a pie- 
 cursor of faith — a deep consciousness of sin. 
 
 It is the conscience that links earth to hea- 
 ven, God with the souls of men ; but it is the 
 conscience in action. The love of God en- 
 ters by the conscience, exhibited, to begin 
 with, by awakening it. The conception that 
 in religion " love begets love " can cover a 
 dangerous mistake. Neither can the impeni- 
 tent love God, nor can God love them, that 
 is with complacency, which is the kind that 
 might beget love. The first step in religion 
 is repentance ; *^ except ye repent ye shall 
 al^ likewise perish. The next is faitli ; the 
 next forgiveness ; and it is divine love ex- 
 pressed in the hearts of the forgiven that calls 
 out a return of affection. This explains why 
 Jesus suspected any that received the word 
 with joy — it was premature. Yet there is a 
 way by which love can beget love— pity in 
 
 iitii 
 
 :i-r:- 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 181 
 
 for ilie 
 
 Him ; 
 , a pie- : 
 of sin. 
 
 to hea- ^ 
 it is the 
 lod en- 
 o begin 
 iou that 
 
 cover a 
 
 impeni- 
 em, that 
 ind that 
 
 religion 
 ye shall 
 ith ; the 
 
 love ex- 
 that calls 
 iains why 
 the word 
 there is a 
 —pity in 
 
 the heart of the preaclier for lost sonis that 
 expresses the pity tliat is in the heart of God. 
 A true preacher like St. Paul speaks as a 
 brand plucked from the burning to brands 
 either that have been thus plucked, or tJiat 
 are in the burning still. This is the inex- 
 haustible source of evangelical earnestness ; 
 and there is no decree securing salvatioTi apart 
 from means that have a powerful bearing on 
 the result. 
 
 r THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. 
 
 Christ devoted Himself for the lost because 
 moved to compassion by an impending doom 
 of wl]ich the world was unconscious till the 
 warning was brought with the deliverance— a 
 warning from which the ill-considered wis- 
 dom of this age is desirous of sequestrating 
 salvation. As in the Law and the Prophets, 
 so in the teaching of Jesus, the mercy of God 
 percolates through indignation against wrong, 
 expressed in terms fitted to inspire the ut- 
 most awe, the imagery employed h^ Jesus b^ 
 
182 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 ,f. 
 
 
 ing the most awe-inspiring of all Apparent- 
 ly, lest the impression begotten by the Bible 
 as a whole should be effaced, it closes with a 
 Revelation in characters of flame, addressed to 
 the churches, mark you, some of them those 
 of the present age, when nations beariag the 
 Christian name threaten to rise and fight for 
 dishonesty and confiscation. The world never 
 held a larger place in the heart of the church 
 than it does at present : " supposing that gain 
 is godliness ; " nor was money ever so wor- 
 shipped, no matter how gotten. The reply of 
 a journalist of this city re the rascalities of 
 certain directors of a certain corporation, by 
 which millions were grabbed by manipulation 
 and the use of inside information, was : "Tell 
 that story to the young men of this city, 
 and nine out of every ten will reply, 'What 
 smart fellows ! ' " Strange, it was the very 
 answer the writer got from a youth who had 
 lost his all throiigh these fraudulent operators. 
 The chief object of the pulpit is to impress 
 t}ie eternal and thus depress the temporal ; 
 
 . 'i 
 
I 
 
 WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 183 
 
 and to the pulpit belongs the full responsi- 
 bility for the grasp the temporal has on the 
 imagination of the age. Certainly revival- 
 ists are needed, but those in sight do not 
 seem to size the position. Their chief object 
 is to sweeten the mortal life, and increase 
 the importance of money by constant exhor- 
 tations to liberality. The liberality of the 
 8"^ iloes not offset its greed, for two reasons: 
 the necessity created by bad consciences, and 
 the ambition of publicity. People every- 
 where, and especially business men, are forced 
 into competition in giving by the art of print- 
 ing. A real revival will produce spontaneous 
 liberality as it did on Pentecost. 
 
 The Revelation of St. John conveys another 
 important general lesson. There the Re- 
 deemer is represented in state, whereas the 
 gospels present Him in humiliation. Kis 
 winter of sorrow is past for ever ; yet to a 
 majority of Christians Jesus still hangs bleed- 
 ing on the Cross and continues to tread the 
 
184 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 "i.iJ 
 
 M 
 
 wine-press of afRiction. But if it be possible 
 to get access to Ilim as He appeared in Judea 
 or Galilee, it would be interesting to know 
 how. Both saints and sinners have to do with 
 Him who occupies the throne, and who " walk- 
 cth in the midst of the golden candlesticks." 
 Jesus pardons from the throne of judgment ; 
 He condemns that He may save, kills that Ho 
 may make alive. "I was alive without the Law 
 once, but when the commandment came sin 
 revived and I died." The commandment 
 came to him from Jesus personally, and so it 
 must always be ; it is God's voice that speaks 
 in the Scriptures, and especially that speaks 
 heme, and like St. Paul, every live Christian 
 has " the sentence of death in himself." Jesus 
 was the only human being who ever deserved 
 to go to heaven without dying. Yet he died 
 on a cross, and if death could not hold Him, it 
 was because its penalties had been exhausted. 
 But before the fruits of His death can be avail- 
 fible for others, the participants must be cyuci- 
 
WIT'IOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 185 
 
 l;i>'- 
 
 IS 
 
 fied too. " I am crucified with (^hrist, I'cver- 
 thelcss I live," which docs not mean only that 
 he was on the cross with Jesus by repn'scnta- 
 tion, but that he underwent crucifixion experi- 
 mentally in the condemnation and death of 
 '• the old man." The supposition that Chris- 
 tians can be begotten by ignoring crucifixion 
 through an awakening of the conscience is 
 the great modern heresy, one of the most dan- 
 gerous ever launched in the church of Christ 
 by the prince of darkness. 
 
 It may be suggested that the n\aterials of 
 the Bible were selected inirposely to impress 
 the endless succession of rising generations. 
 The suggestion may be worth reiterating. 
 Twice in every century churches and the 
 world come to be occupied by new people, en- 
 tering generations that know not God except 
 in so far as they are taught. To the young at 
 the age of impressibility the most impressive 
 passages in the w^hole Bible are the very ones 
 kept in hushed silence by unreflecting clergy- 
 
186 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 men ; passages that picture an endless eternity, 
 fully portrayed by the Master. Who can ever 
 forget the solemnizing cflFect in early life of 
 such sayings of Jesus as the following, re- 
 peated from the vantage-ground and with the 
 leverage of the pulpit : " For it is pro Stable 
 for thee that one of thy members should per- 
 ish, and not that they whole body should be 
 cast into hell ; " "And then will I profess 
 unto them, T never knew you : depart from 
 me, ye that work iniquity ; " " But rather 
 fear Him which is able to destroy both body 
 and soul in hell ; " " But I say unto you, It 
 shall bo more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at 
 the day of judgment than for you ; " " But 
 the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall 
 not be forgiven unto men ; " " So shall it be 
 at the end of the world, the angels shall come 
 forth, and sever the wicked from among the 
 just, And shall cast them into the furnace of 
 fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing of 
 teeth ; " " J. will say to the reapers. Gather 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 187 
 
 ever 
 
 Eeof 
 '. re- 
 
 htho 
 
 Itablo 
 
 1 pcr- 
 
 ildbe 
 
 ivofeas 
 
 ; from 
 
 rather 
 
 1 body 
 
 5ro\i, It 
 
 don at 
 « But 
 shall 
 1 it he 
 1 come 
 
 l)T\^ the 
 naco of 
 hing of 
 Gather 
 
 ye together first the tares, and bind them in 
 bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat 
 into my barn ; " " Let them alone, they be 
 blind loaders of the blind. And if the blind 
 lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch;" 
 " For what is a man profiteth if he shall gain 
 the whole world and lose his own soul ; " " It 
 is better for thee to enter into life halt or 
 maimed rather than having two hands and 
 two feet to be cast into everlasting fire ; " 
 " Where their worm dieth not and their fire 
 is not quenched ; " "And ]m lord wa?i wroth 
 with him and delivered him to the tormentors 
 till he should pay all that was due unto him;" 
 "And again I say unto you. It is easier for a 
 camel to go through the eye of a needle, than 
 for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; " " But many that are first shall be 
 hist, and the last shall be first;" "For many be 
 called, but few chosen;" "Then said the king 
 to the servants. Bind him hand and foot, and 
 take him awav, and cast him into outer dark- 
 
f 
 
 I 4 I 
 
 1 
 
 
 p 
 
 \ ■ ■■; 
 
 i 
 
 ? Hi 
 
 1' 
 
 :f 
 
 188 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 noas ; t]ior(3 shall ho weeping and gnashing of 
 fccih;" "Yo serpents, ye generation of vipers, 
 how ean ye escape the dnnination of hell ; " 
 '" O Jernsnlein, Jerusalem, thon that ]<illost 
 the prophets and stoneat them that are sent 
 nnto thee, how often wonld T have gathered 
 thy children together as a hen gathereth her 
 chickens nnder her wings, and ye would not ! 
 Behold ! your h.oiiae is left unto you deso- 
 late ; " " But as the days of Noe wore, so 
 shall the comiiig of the Son of Man be ; " 
 "Afterward came also the other virgins, say- 
 ing. Lord, Lord, open to us. But ho an- 
 swered. Verily, I say unto you, I know you 
 rot ; " "And cast ye the unprofitable servant 
 into outer darkness ; " " Then shall he say 
 also unto them on the left hand. Depart from 
 me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared 
 for the devil and his angels ; " " And these 
 shall go away into everlasting punishment ; 
 but the righteous unto life eternal." 
 
 Some consider hope a more powerful mo- 
 
i 
 
 WrTFrr)IIT TTTK PONsriFlVrF. 
 
 180 
 
 tivc tlian foar. Jesus did not say whioli ITo 
 coiisidfMTd nicM-o powcM-fnl, |,„t employed 
 both. The " (Jentle .r(%siia, meek and mild " 
 sliewed His gentltniess by a display of pity 
 for the lost, and by diffusing invaluable in- 
 formation, an instruction to blind leaders of 
 the blind. 
 
 But in the light of the attitude of our Ile- 
 doemer, what must be said of methods forced 
 upon our greatest revivalists ? Could the 
 work of the devil be more eifectively done 
 than by (constraining clergymen to exclude the 
 fact of future punishment, the only thing that 
 necessitates salvation ? The result has come to 
 be that there are thousands of churches on this 
 continent in which the mention of hell is 
 blackballed. When there is a vacancy, if a 
 candidate alludes to the subject his doom is 
 sealed as a disturber of the general peace. Our 
 Saviour knew the necessity of creating a con- 
 science. The object of Satan is to withhold 
 knowledge from men of the necessity of sal- 
 
100 
 
 (UnUHTlANITY 
 
 
 vulion MH (Iisllii;j;iiiH]i(M] I fi'otii iiioriil roforiii. 
 Tlio ofToct oil tlio coming gf^iorntionH iiuPHt. 
 1)0 iUhuhI rouH ; bucauHo " Tlio four of tho Jx>rd 
 is tlio Ix^ginniiig of wisdom." Our pulpit 
 pliilosopliors iiro laboring to nuiko iiioii lovo 
 virtuo for its own sake, iiiul not for (lod'n 
 sake. Tho ooiiso(|iionoo ih that ovon Sunday 
 6clu)lar8 aro prepared to Icmivo tho churches, 
 when they grow up, as institutions of a moral 
 advisory kind that tlioy can do without. Ko- 
 ligioiH and secular knowledge are often in in- 
 verse ratio : it is so at present. First pro- 
 scription for tho eye-balls of tho blind — the 
 justice of God. 
 
 Theologically, it is commonly admitted 
 that tho natural mind is enmity against God ; 
 but practically the fact is all but overlooked. 
 Faith in the eternal has to be awakened by 
 the eternal, always a shock to tho natural 
 man, as it was to Saul of Tarsus. The pro- 
 phetic function of the ministry has boon dis- 
 placed by other strange functions, and the in- 
 
V.'ITIIOirr TltK CONHfllKNOR. 
 
 191 
 
 cIhivo, Htnrtling cali from tlio <i(^a(l Ih m^Motm 
 
 In foriiKT iig<!H, wii(ui i)i(; iirHi uitii of n 
 (^Imrcli wiiH to prcipani [Kiopio for the other 
 lifo, it WHH no iincoriiinon tliinjir to hoar tlio 
 inu;<u'tainty of tiino and itn losHonH rofcirrod 
 to and inipniHHod ; now in many chnrc^lioH it 
 wouhl bo U)oi<od on as an incivility ; probably 
 on ac(H)nnt of oxpoctod improvoirK^ntH in 
 nKulicino. 
 
 Novorthol(5HH, tho Alpha of tiio f^oHpc;! iH an 
 awakctiod conHcicnco ; and (lie Omega w tho 
 omnipresence and universal accessibility of 
 tho (Ireat Ili^h Priest of our profession, ever 
 near enongh to hear the whisperings of tho 
 laboring and heavy-laden heart. Stephcm 
 was not one of them to whom the dr£)arting 
 Saviour said : ^' Lo I am v/ith you alway," 
 nor was he one of their so-called siiccessors 
 nevertheless, he felt the nearness of Jesus, to 
 whom in his dying momrits he breathed out 
 his soul in the words: "Lord Jesus, into thy 
 
192 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 m"l 
 
 i'!l 
 
 iJll'i'^ 
 
 liands I coinTTi/Ti(l my spirit." Jesus is not at 
 the far-off end of a long cliain, of which the 
 last link, too, is an ecclesiastic. He is " Im- 
 inannel, God with ns," and His words are ever 
 '^Come unto me, and 1 will give you rest." 
 
 A good deal of useful discussion lias taken 
 place lately on the material effects of the 
 change of heart. The most direct and im- 
 mediate effect is an eidargement of the hori- 
 zon of the mind, now including the Infinite 
 Fountain of all things, the Source of light 
 and love. " Faith is the evidence of things 
 not seen," and it tells on all life as the light 
 of the sun does. Once there was only one 
 family on earth that had faith, and it was 
 saved from the deluge ; there was only one 
 in Sodom, and it was saved from its over- 
 throw ; there was only one tribe in Egypt 
 that had faith, and it was delivered from the 
 Egyptian bondage. The Christian faith has 
 freed all the slaves and serfr of the nations 
 bearing the name ; and it has otherwise added 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 193 
 
 immensely to their happiness. Careful ex- 
 amination will also discover that in general 
 where wretchedness exists faith is a vanisJung 
 quantity or extinct : also when employers of 
 labor bear the reputation of Nabal, that faith 
 is at a low ebb or wanting. 
 
 " The Son of Kighteousness shall arise with 
 healing under His wings. " "They that dwell 
 in the secret place of the Most High shall 
 abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 
 
 A. quotation from the Montreal " Gazette " 
 July 3, 1899 :— 
 
 Electoral Corruption. 
 
 The Methodist Conference of J^ova Scotia 
 at its meeting this week took up the question 
 of electoral corruption, and passed a resolu- 
 tion declaring that bribery is rapidly increas- 
 ing ; that many members of the Church ex- 
 
 cuse corrupt practices and take part in them • 
 13 ' 
 
194 
 
 CHEISTIANITT 
 
 that it is necessary to preach sermons and give 
 special instruction in Sunday schools against 
 the evil ; that on Empire Day special atten- 
 tion should be directed to honesty and puriiy 
 among the duties of citizenship in addresses 
 to elementary schools. The need for more 
 stringent legislation was also insisted on, but 
 in this province, at any rate, there cannot be 
 much fault found with the law, for the last 
 Corrupt Practices Act put on the statute book 
 is as severe a measure as anyone could wish. 
 What is wanted is the creation of a liealthier 
 state of public opinion, and there is no doubt 
 that the influence of the ciiurcjh and the 
 clergy can be usefully exerted in this direc- 
 tion. Unbiased observers say that there is 
 no other British colony so much under the 
 influence of its clergy, both Catholic and Pro- 
 testant, as this Dominion, and if things go 
 on as they are doing they will soon have to 
 say that there is no other British colony which 
 is so unblushingly corrupt. The attention of 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 195 
 
 the leaders of public opinion, whether in the 
 pulpit, on the platform, or in the press, should 
 be seriously directed to this subject, for there 
 is no question that the good name of Canada 
 is in jeopardy. It is idle to lay all the blame 
 on a few unscrupulous politicians. The peo- 
 ple who receive bribes are people who wish 
 to be corrupted, and if it were, not for the 
 existence of many such people, the profes- 
 sional corruptionist would find his occupation 
 gone. The Moncton " Times " vouches for a 
 story of a father who had just got his sons 
 on the list, and wrote a letter asking for 
 money "to encourage the boys in casting their 
 first vote." This. speaks volumes of the stand- 
 ard of political morality prevailing in that 
 constituency and one could not expect much 
 of the sons of such a father, unless they came 
 under better influences than they were likely 
 to get at home. The matter is one demand- 
 ing the earnest attention of all who have op- 
 portunities of influencing public morality. 
 
196 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 1 
 
 To cure sin as a physician may euro disease, 
 that is, without informing the patient of his 
 malady, and its dangers, is out of the ques- 
 tion, because the whole trouble is in the 
 spiritual nature, its issues depending on 
 movements in the mind and heart. Volun- 
 tary motion towards religion is hard to initi- 
 ate, so hard, that the most powerful motives 
 have to be brought into action. What folly, 
 then, to point men to heaven and expect the 
 intimation to be obeyed without letting them 
 know in language that cannot ,be mistaken 
 that the other landing-place is hell, and that 
 as impenitents they are on the direct road to 
 that awful goal. Our Saviour could have 
 been guilty of no such in inanity ; nor His 
 apostles ; nor were they. When French 
 politeness invades tie pulpit, it is possible to 
 carry it to danf,erous lengths. 
 
 And mark this, that the road to heaven is 
 skirted everywhere with plants of the Lord^s 
 planting, laden with the fruits of righteous- 
 
jease, 
 f his 
 [jues- 
 the 
 : on 
 )luii- 
 initi- 
 tives 
 
 oily, 
 
 t the 
 ;hem 
 aken 
 
 that 
 id to 
 liave 
 
 His 
 3nch 
 ie to 
 
 WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 197 
 
 ness. There are neither bribe givers nor 
 bribe takers there, nor evil doers of any other 
 type. Therefore, the responsibility is tremen- 
 dous that is assun?ed by ministers who refuse 
 to obey the apostolic injunction : " Warn- 
 ing every man" and unbacked by the mighti- 
 est arguments supplied by the revelations from 
 eternity. By all means let the eternal world 
 have its full influence over the spirits of men; 
 its revelations were unfolded for this purpose.' 
 
 m IS 
 )rd^s 
 
 JOUS- 
 
Hi 
 
 t 5 
 
 PROVIDENCE AND KAILROADS, 
 
 " Nebvichailnezzar the king imulo an imaji^e 
 of gold, whose height was threescore cnbits, 
 and the breadth thereof six cnbits : he set it 
 np in the plain of Dnra, in the province of 
 Babylon. Then Nelmchadnezzar the king 
 sent to gather together the satraps, the depn- 
 ties, and the governors, the jndges, the treas- 
 nrers, the connsellors, the sheriffs, and all the 
 rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedica- 
 tion of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the 
 king had set up. Then the satraps, the depu- 
 ties, and th'^ governors, the judges, the treas- 
 urers, the counsellors, the lawyers, and all 
 the rulers of the provinces, were gathered to- 
 gether unto the dedication of the image that 
 Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up, and 
 they stood before the image that Nebuchad- 
 nezzar had set up. Then the herald cried 
 
WITHOUT THE CON80IRN0E. 
 
 199 
 
 aloud, To you it is commanded, O pc3oplo8, 
 natioiiH, mid lauguagcH, that at what timo ye 
 hear the Hoiuid of the cornet, flute, liarp. Hack- 
 but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of 
 music, ye shall fall down and worship tho 
 golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king 
 
 hath set up Therefore at that 
 
 time, when all tho peoples heard the sound of 
 the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and 
 all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, 
 and the languages fell down and worshipped 
 tho golden image that Nebuchadnezzar tho 
 king had set up. "-—Daniel iii., 1-7. 
 
 Unprecedented succes.i turned Neliuohad- 
 nezzar's head, filling him so full of presump- 
 tion that at length he persuaded himself that 
 ^e it was who should create the object of uni- 
 versal worship : probcibly it was an image of 
 himself he set up. Such is the range of hu- 
 man madness. To-day there is a crowd of 
 little Nebuchadnezzars who have abolished 
 the worship of the God of heaven within the 
 
200 
 
 CHKISTIANITY 
 
 sphere of their influence by abolishing the 
 Day He has made sacred for Himself, and by 
 compelling the worship of Mammon. 
 
 " Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all the 
 peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in 
 all the earth : peace be multiplied unto you. 
 It hath seemed good unto me to shew the 
 eigns and wonders that the Most High God 
 hath wrought toward me. How great are his 
 signs ! and how mighty are his wonders ! 
 his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
 liis dominion is from generation to generation. 
 
 " I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine 
 house, and flourishing in my palace. I saw 
 a dream which made me afraid ; and the 
 thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my 
 head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree 
 to bring in all the wise men of Babylon be- 
 fore me, that they might make known unto 
 me the int3rpretation of the dream. Then 
 came in the magicians, the enchanters, the 
 Chaldeans, and the soothsayers : and I told 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 201 
 
 the dream before them ; but they did not 
 make knoim uiito me the interpretation. But 
 at the last Daniel came in before me, whose 
 name is Belteshazzar, according to the name 
 of ray god, and in whom is the spirit of the 
 holy gods; and I told the dream before him." 
 — Daniel iv., t-9. 
 
 " Then Daniel whose name was Belteshaz- 
 zar, was astonied for a while, and his thoughts 
 troubled him. The king answered and said, 
 Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the inter- 
 pretation trouble thee. Belteshazzar an- 
 swered and said. My lord, the dream be to 
 them that hate thee, and the interpretation ' 
 thereof to thine adversaries. The tree which 
 thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, 
 whose height reached unto the heaven, and 
 the sight thereof to all the earth : whose 
 leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, 
 and in it was meat for all; under it the beasts 
 of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches 
 the fowls of the heaven had their habitation : 
 
202 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 W 'til 
 
 it is thou, O king, that art grown and become 
 strong : for thy greatness is grown, and 
 reached unto heaven, and thy dominion to 
 the end of the earth. And whereas the king 
 saw a watcher and a holy one coming down 
 from heaven, and saying. Hew do^vn the 
 tree, and destroy it : nevertheless, leave the 
 stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even 
 with a band of iron and brass, in the tender 
 grass of the field : and let it be wet 'with the 
 dew of heaven, and let its portion be with the 
 beasts of the field, till seven times pass over 
 him : this is the interpretation, king, and 
 it is the decree of the Most High, which is 
 come upon my lord, the king : thou slialt be 
 driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be 
 with the beats of the field, ^nd thou shalt be 
 made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be wet 
 with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall 
 pass over thee ; till thou know that the Most 
 High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
 giveth to whomsoever he will. And where- 
 
 '\' 
 
 :i 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIEKCE. 20» 
 
 as they commanded to leave the stump of the 
 tree roots ; thy kingdom shall be sure unto 
 thee, after that thou shalt have known that 
 the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let 
 my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and 
 break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine 
 imquit.es by shewing mercy to the poor ; if 
 there may be a lengthening of thy tranquil- 
 lity. All this came upon the king Nebuchad- 
 nezzar."— Daniel iv., 19-29. 
 
 Faith in Providence is fast dying out, be- 
 cause It antagonizes faith in law ; as a con- 
 sequence it is regarded more and more as a 
 superstition. But the facts of the Old Testa- 
 ment were worked out and recorded and the 
 record preserved that they might be an en- 
 hghtenment to the world till the end of time 
 Events were foretold so that when they came 
 to pass they might be a demonstration; events 
 often unlikely or apparently impossible, that 
 the demonstration might be the more com- 
 plete. The object was to establish a fixed 
 
i,vc 
 
 204 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 <',i i( 
 
 faith in Providence after the time of appar- 
 ent miracles had passed away. Hence our 
 Saviour declared providence to be a perman- 
 ent fact by telling his disciples that a sparrow 
 <;ould not fall to the ground without their hea- 
 venly Father. 
 
 Where religion is concerned, the scientists 
 are almost sure to be so unscientific as to take 
 conclusions for f^ranted without a particle of 
 evidence ; indeed, against. ocular demonstra- 
 tion. Law I The reign of law ! fixed laws ! 
 In the world is there anything so fickle as 
 the wind , except it be the human mind. 
 These are the spheres through which God 
 claims that He rules the world. If man can 
 inaugurate changes in both, is it impossible 
 for God to do so ? Of the latter Nebuchad- 
 nezzar and Saul of Tarsus are notable exam- 
 ples. The miraculous demonstration is of the 
 past ; but every real conversion is the direct 
 product of divine power. And what effects 
 and changes often follow the change in a 
 
 ' 'I 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 205 
 
 single mind I Take Luther as an example. 
 His conversion has changed the hiptory of 
 the world from his o^vn day till now. 
 
 In regard to God's control over the atmos- 
 phere, let it be jioted that the agricultural cal- 
 amities of this continent are very great, and 
 that they bear a striking resemblance to thoso 
 inflicted upon the Jews by threat when God 
 was displeased with them. It is high time 
 that CJod were recognized in such chronic 
 disasters, and that people took them as marks 
 of the divine .displeasure. " Shall there be 
 evil in the city and the Lord hath not done 
 It." As yet the self-complacency peculiar to 
 the religion of America is unbroken ! We 
 are the peculiar people, and yet there is not 
 a product of the continent, on which a blight 
 from the Almighty does not threaten to rest. 
 Especially the little :N^ebuchadnezzars that 
 control in the railroad world seem to think 
 there is no God they need to care for ; in 
 fact, that they are able and fit to make their 
 
206 
 
 CHEISTIANITY 
 
 i! ,1 
 
 illf 
 111 
 
 own gods. Yet there is no institution in the 
 world that needs the guardian care of Provid- 
 ence more than a railroad ; while at the bame 
 time there is none that shews more disregard 
 of the Divine Being ; and in spite of repeated 
 accidents, which should be regarded as judg- 
 ments of God, Sunday travel is growing, and 
 among people of whom better things might 
 be, expected. 
 
 God will yet check and block the railway 
 magnates who are heathenizing this contin 
 ent ; but he waits to be asked to do it. The 
 world is not governed from Ottawa, nor from 
 Washington. Think you *hat the prayers of 
 Daniel and his companions had nothing to do 
 with the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar ? It 
 happened because God's people had such an 
 interest in the event as made them pray. 
 Think you if the Christian ministry saw the 
 enormity of converting the fruits of Christian 
 science and art into weapons to overthrow 
 the kingdom of God in America, the thing 
 
WITHOUT THE CONSCIENCE. 
 
 207 
 
 could be done ? Impossible I In answer to 
 prayer God would smash the little Nebuehad- 
 nezzars as he smashed the big one : and no 
 one hinders you from asking that the upturn 
 may be as happy for themselves. But whe- 
 ther or not the good result cannot be brought 
 about without misfortune, as broken laws 
 must be avenged. 
 
 A decaying faith in providence will natur- 
 ally be followed by a growth of superstition ; 
 just as, on the contrary, the king of Baby- 
 lon's newly begotten faith in God ended his 
 superstitions. The Jews were God's witnesses 
 against idolatry? then, and they are His wit- 
 nesses in the same quality still ; and His com- 
 mand to the nations is : " Touch not mine 
 anointed and do my prophets no harm." In 
 spite of faults, from Daniel to Dreyfus, they 
 have been the apple of His eye. There is one 
 thing commendable about the Jews — they 
 work for a living ; but even St. Paul would 
 
208 
 
 CHRISTIANITY 
 
 
 M -III 
 
 be puzzled how to dispose of some Gentiles 
 when it came to the scratch. 
 
 MR. MOODY'S INVITATION. 
 
 " I am glad to send out this invite.tion to my fellow- 
 workers, because I believe such a gathering was never 
 more needed than it is this year. Many thoughtful men 
 have come to feel strangely that the hope of the Church 
 to-day is in a deep and wide-spread revival. We are 
 confronted with difficulties which can be met in no other 
 way. The enemy has come in like a fiood, — it is time 
 now for those who believe in a supernatural religion to 
 look to God to lift up a standard against him. Oh, for a 
 revival of such power that the tide of unbelief and world- 
 liness that is sweeping in upon us shall be beaten back ; 
 that every Christian shall be lifted to a higher level of 
 life and power, and multitudes of perishing souls be con- 
 verted to God ! Why not? God's arm is not shortened, 
 nor His ear heavy. I believe the sound of the going in 
 the tops of the mulberry trees may already be heard." 
 
 It is to be hoped Mr. Moody hears some- 
 thing like the scrape of the present author's 
 pen : if what he hears does not resemble it, 
 it is to be feared the sound will remain over 
 the trees. 
 
Gentiles 
 
 my fellow- 
 was never 
 ghtful men 
 the Church 
 i. We are 
 in no other 
 -it is time 
 religion to 
 
 Oh, for a 
 and world- 
 ateu back ; 
 er level of 
 Ills be con- 
 shortened, 
 le going in 
 
 heard." 
 
 irs some- 
 author's 
 emble it, 
 Lain over