site goal"-what other way of escape was there then? If a sinking Greek or Roman were to reach up, it was to take hold of Jupiter or Zeus, Venus, Flora, Bacchus, or other polluted god or goddess of paganism, whose hold would only drag them down to deeper depths of degradation and physical ruin. Were the forces of error at last to triumph over the forces of good? Was this earth which the Father had made with such consummate care, to be the abode of man, made after His own image, to become a desolate waste, and sad reminder of His own failure?

THE ACTIVE OPPOSING PRINCIPLE-SALVATION

In view of the facts which this remarkable document reveals, it becomes clear that it was the intent of the Law-giver, the Father, to give to the world a deliverer who should rescue it from the thralldom of the law of Degeneration, which comprehends and includes sin. Such a redeemer must be more than a mere human being, because the very best men, which the world had produced by the processes of breeding and culture, had failed. The root of the evil lay deeper than the reach of mortal man. The remedy must be greater than the evil to

effect a cure, and the time had come when the issue had to be met. The decision was made, and the Father accordingly sent the Son into the world possessed of the other, "the active saving principle, or Salvation" to "stop this drifting process in the soul, steer it round, and make it drift the other way." He came heralded by the angels, and announced by John the Baptist. He declared His own identity and announced His purposes. He proved His supernatural character by the miracles which He performed and the perfect life which He led. He gave His life upon the cross to accomplish His mission, and His blood was shed for mankind. The philosophy involved in the act, through which He was to affect the hearts and minds of men, is expressed in His own words, to wit:

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." John 12, 31-33.

The only construction which can be placed upon this record is, that the Son was sent to the earth to redeem it from the thralldom of the law of Degeneration; that to do it was necessary for Him to suffer, die, and shed His

blood on the cross; that through His sacrificial act, all men would be drawn unto Him, and those who would do so of their own free will, might seize hold of the "upward power and be borne by it to the opposite goal."

In view of these facts, can it be fairly said. by the Unitarian Laymen" that the doctrine expressed in the quotation at the beginning of this discussion is a fair statement of the belief of orthodox Christian laymen, to wit:

"As the second person in the God-head he had come down to earth in order to be offered as a sacrifice to himself, and so appease his own wrath."

DIVISION VI

CONSTRUCTION OF THE LAW AS TO THE RECLAMATION OF MANKIND

From a study of the whole document before us, it ought to be apparent that there was need of the intervention of some power in the world, greater than ever had been known before, to stop the downward course of the human race towards degeneration and destruction, when Jesus the Son was born into the world. Moses and the Prophets (the Old Dispensation) were for the Jews. While it may be contended by some that they were not for the Jews alone, as a matter of fact no other nation of people seemed to have accepted them. As a moral force paganism had broken down until it became a vile thing, damning in its influence, and without hope of reformation. The Old Dispensation had run its course, and was inadequate to save even the Jews from moral bankruptcy Hence the question so pertinently asked:

"Ye generation of vipers! How can ye escape the damnation of hell?"

The circumstance seemed to warrant the doing of something of an epoch-making character; something of such tremendous psychological power as to set the world to deep thinking concerning its downward drift. It must be something so out of the ordinary, in all respects, as to challenge attention by reason of its very uniqueness. It must be something with convincing power back of it. The day of false pretenses was past. Pagan priests laughed in each others' faces as they passed on the streets, because of their hypocrisy. plain, simple, solid truth must come, clothed with modesty, humility and sincerity, and one day (so the record states) there appeared on the highways about Jordan (Luke 3, 3) a strange man, "clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

The

"And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." Mark 1, 6-8.

Then silently out of the village of Nazareth of Galilee, stole an humble and gentle Soul,