mind itself, and the receivable utterances of other minds, constitute the only conceivable Revelation, the only real Word of God. No authority but that of truth is admissible by the sound intellect. So far as any other is acknowledged, the mind is false to itself. Every man must examine and judge for himself. The fact that such or such a doctrine is written in an ancient book, can by no means be allowed to supersede independent thought."

So with regard to moral obligation. "Nature enforces the honouring of father and mother and the worship of the Infinite. Theft, murder, adultery, and false-witness, are contrary to natural justice, which is ineradicable from the conscience. Covetousness is condemned in the same way, as tending to produce crime, and as soiling the mind's purity. External commandments, thundered from the summit of a hill, or written on tables of stone, cannot make the laws of conscience a whit more binding than before.

say

σε Το that the Bible commends itself to reason and conscience, is therefore from God, and is therefore binding, is to travel in an unnecessary circle. If the doctrine and precepts of the Bible do thus commend themselves, that is all that is necessary. Reason and conscience are the voice of God within. The Bible may remind or suggest; it can do nothing

more.

"If the doctrine of the Bible transcends the sphere of the natural reason and conscience, if it teaches

what were otherwise undiscoverable, such doctrine must be unintelligible, because it relates to things incomprehensible. We cannot comprehend God; no human language can convey adequate or correct conceptions concerning Him. The future state also, if there be one, is altogether beyond the bounds of experience, and is probably so unlike the present, as to be inexplicable by the language of earth. A revelation of things inconceivable is no revelation. Besides, even were it possible it would be useless, since our business is with what is present and practical."

It is alleged, further, that it is not easy to understand what is meant by the Inspiration of the Scriptures, about which so much is said. "Every writing is inspired in proportion to the truth, beauty, or goodness that is in it. All nature is continually radiating spiritual influence, and of this human minds are receptive in various degrees-men of genius the most. Homer, Plato, and Shakspeare, were inspired as truly as Moses, David, and John. If special inspiration is claimed for the writers of Scripture, an explanation is asked of the propriety and force of the word special in this connexion. The sceptic is not unwilling to admit the Bible to a very high, perhaps the supreme rank of excellence; and since all excellence emanates from God, the ever-flowing Fountain of good, it follows that He has had more to do with the origination of this book than of any other. The distinction is one of

degree. To say that the inspiration is special conveys no notion to the mind.”

On miracles, a similar style of thinking is observable. A violation of the laws of nature is said to be extremely improbable, if not impossible. "To suppose the violation ever to have taken place were derogatory to the character of God. A rightminded person judges regularity to be more honourable to Him than disorder. Nature, moreover, is already full of wonders, which are impressive in proportion to our consideration and reflection. They become unimpressive by our dulness and by use and familiarity. The process of combustion is as really wonderful as would be the preservation of combustible material in the midst of flames. The sun's equable march through the heavens, from rising to setting, fills the sound mind with greater admiration than were his course arrested. The division of the sea by a prophet's rod might be more startling, but would be less instructive, than the eternal ebb and flow of the majestic waters. The germination of the seed beneath the surface of the soil, the origin and birth of the human being, the resurrection of nature in the spring-are real miracles worthy of our astonishment and awe, as signifying the ennobling of matter with life, and the subjection of it to mind, and as choice illustrations of the admirable and mysterious power of God. To turn away from these as stale and dull

because we are familiar with them, and to desire mere prodigies, is childish and pitiable.

"Further, there is no logical connexion between miracle and the truth of a doctrine. A miracle

would only prove the presence of power. of power. That

power might, for aught we know, belong to a fallible or to a malicious being. There is no necessary connexion between power and truth. Or if an action were enjoined in a miraculous way, the command would have no authority with conscience. What was a duty before would receive no new binding force; far less would wrong be made right by a voice in the air."

In a similar manner the sceptic deals with Christianity internally. "The practice of prayer," he says, "is useful only in regard to its influence on the worshipper. But since the laws of nature are fixed and God is unchangeable, prayer can have no efficacy in altering His decision or in bettering our outward condition."

It is evident that the same underlying conceptions must tend much to diminish the evil of sin. It will seem incredible that the mistakes and shortcomings of such insignificant creatures as men can disturb the equanimity of the Infinite, whose knowledge of us with all our infirmities is perfect, and whose fatherly kindness will make allowances. May not sin be even a process necessary to a more robust and manly virtue than were otherwise possible?

It has been doubted whether atonement meets a real want of human nature. "Since sin, if evil at all, is so for the defilement rather than the punishment; for the condemnation by conscience, not by an external law, then to declare me free from that external condemnation is no great benefit. If the virtual oblivion of past offences were wholesome for the conscience, what the sinner would really need would be not so much to be assured that he was forgiven by another as to be able to forgive himself. It is difficult to see how this is to be effected at all, still more to understand how it can be brought about by the death of another, and that an innocent person."

Now, a little thought will make it manifest that all these difficulties and doubts are at least closely connected with the two principles indicated at the outset. If the personality of God were felt to be an overpowering fact, it is at least possible that the way would open for the recognition of an objective standard of truth and right, manifested to us in and by Him.

Before interrogating the Bible for an account of itself, one or two points remain for remark.

REVELATION DESIRABLE IF GOD IS A PERSON.

Admitting the personality of God, intercourse with Him is necessary to human happiness. Intercourse with our fellow-men is our greatest natural pleasure, and intercourse with God were surely a far richer blessing.