use that is known at the present time, and for all that will be known in the future. In this illustration the divine transcendence and the divine immanence are clearly set forth, and a basis is given for many helpful suggestions. The dynamo represents the personality of God: the diffused electric force represents his presence and power in the universe. In the light of this figure religious conversion is seen to be a scientific process. It is consciously putting one's self into synchronism with the vibrations of the infinite Source of energy. Without this synchronism man is powerless for good. With it he can do "all things" in proportion to the completeness of his union with the original Source of power. It is a well-known fact among electrical engineers that a motor, situated at a distance from the generator, does not reach its maximum efficiency unless it "keeps step," or is in synchronism with the energizing force. There is no tendency to materialism in this illustration. God's vibrations are the manifestation or expression of love. "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." And here we have the scientific necessity for Christ as a revealer of the law or principle by which we may form a conjunction with the divine. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God." That is to say, if we really accept him as the revelation and the expression of the divine principle of love, we establish by this faith our own union with the infinite Father, whose very being is love.

But, as we are constituted, this union is imperfect. God's love-our environment is perfect; but our consciousness of it is partial and incomplete. This is the lesson we have to learn. The vital difficulty is that we refuse to believe in the perfection of our environment; that is, in the perfection of our Father's love and care. Jesus, our divine Teacher, took the utmost pains to make this clear beyond the possibility of misunderstanding. But we simply refuse to accept his statements. Let the reader of these pages turn to the sixth chapter of Matthew and the twelfth chapter of Luke, and confess to himself how absolutely he has ignored his Master's instructions in any practical application to his life. Yet how clear and strong is the teaching! "Take no anxious thought for your life, ye shall

what

eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." The passages in both chapters are so full, so minute, so comprehensive, that, in order to be understood, they must be read and studied as a whole. He who wishes to have any adequate idea of the Fatherhood of God as Jesus taught it should take his Testament every day, and read Matt. vi. 19-34 and Luke xii. 22-34.

In doing this, let him keep in mind two facts.

First, that this teaching was not new. Jesus was only reaffirming what the Scriptures had clearly taught before his time, "Trust in the Lord and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." It is needless to multiply quotations. The Old Testament is full of similar passages.

"Wait

The next fact to remember is that a life of trust is the only scientific life. The emphasis of Biblical instruction, with reference to man's proper attitude, is expressed by the words "wait" and "trust." on the Lord." "Trust in the Lord." "Let the mind of Christ be in you." Now this is purely scientific. We human beings act very much as machines would act if they went bustling around on their own account, imagining that the electrical currents would somehow get hold of them and use them in the midst of their frantic efforts to accomplish something. No such folly do we see in the world of mechanics. The inventor says to his electrical instrument (and, if he is a consecrated man, he says it with the deepest reverence), "Seek first the kingdom of electricity and its righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." Bring yourself into sympathy and synchronism with the great central dynamo, and all that you are capable of accomplishing will be accomplished."

Thus is Jesus Christ seen to be the true scientist of the ages. He revealed the law of love and demonstrated its absolute power, and said to his followers: "Do not go about seeking a way of your own. On the contrary, surrender your will completely. Deny self. Give up your own life. Adjust your being to the will of the infinite

Father. Be not anxious about the things of this world. Your world is the kingdom within. All else is unreal. The real kingdom of spirit controls the unreal kingdom of material conditions. Give yourself wholly to the first, and the second will be added unto you to the full extent of your necessities."

All this seems "too good to be true." But it has been demonstrated in thousands of cases in all the varied epochs of Christian history. Even in the darkest ages there were trustful souls that sustained this childlike relation, this vital union with the infinite Father, and enjoyed the peace and happiness which inevitably result from such a union. But now that the highest intelligence, as well as the highest faith, shows the reasonableness of this relationship of man to the Creator, worrying is proved to be not only foolish, but unscientific. The time will surely come when corroding anxiety will be recognized as an insult to the heavenly Father, and a Christian will no more yield to the temptation to worry than he will yield to any other sin. An essential element of Christian faith will be the belief that

"He always wins who sides with God,
To him no chance is lost."

Charles B. Newcomb says, "It is always our atheism, or distrust of good, which is responsible for our trouble. Let us be honest, and not say that we believe in God while the fear of evil is upon us, but let us confess that we do not believe in God, and admit that that is the whole cause of our distress."

The scientific law of happiness is a key to the paradoxes of religious experience. The writings of Saint Paul are full of them, as when he speaks of "dying, and behold we live," "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing," "having nothing, and yet possessing all things." "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake." This is not a very attractive catalogue of pleasures, judged by the ordinary standard of human nature. Yet Saint Paul's description is true to the life. Every sincere Christian, every individual who desires real things in place of earthly illusions, will rejoice in the trials which recall him to his senses, and lead him to seek a closer

union with the Divine Source of all real happiness. David said, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy word."

Shakspere discerned the truth, and expressed it in the lines which every one quotes and no one believes,

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will."

This idea is conveyed in homelier phrase by a modern writer: "We do the rowing, but God does the steering." Belief in an eternal plan and purpose beneath human frailty and human blundering is the foundation of all our comfort. Every heart, however seemingly deficient in Christian faith, must perforce say with the poet,

"I steadier step when I recall,
Howe'er I slip, thou canst not fall."

Where is the Spiritual World?

It is here. Emerson says, "Here or nowhere is the eternal fact." Nothing can be more intensely practical or involve more vital results than finding that the spiritual world is a present reality, and not a far-off principality which we can only enter by dying. A present spiritual world was the. uniform teaching of Christ. His instructions were all based upon the fundamental principle, "The kingdom of heaven is within you." Saint Paul reaffirms this principle in his words: "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." This does not mean, as human theologies have too often translated it, that now is the time to be converted and get a ticket of admission into heaven. The true signification is shown by Paul's other declaration : "The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death."

The truth is now recognized by progressive religious teachers that we are already in the spiritual world, and that, by cultivating goodness, love, truth, righteousness, we are identifying ourselves more and more completely with that world, and less and less with the material world. We can depart and be with Christ to-day by turning from the things of sense and following the laws of the spirit. When we sing "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal," we do not, or need not, refer only to happy ex

periences beyond the grave, but to the truth that the spirit of heaven can comfort and heal us now if we will open the windows of the soul in that direction.

The Problem of Evil.

Accepting the truth of the allness and everywhereness of God necessitates a reconsideration of our views concerning evil. If God is good, and if he is infinite, then evil must be something that does not contradict the fact of infinite goodness. Nature supplies an analogy by which the problem can be solved. Evil is to goodness as darkness is to light. Darkness is an awful fact. Absolute and continued darkness would mean the absolute destruction of every form of life. Yet darkness is not a positive force, as light is. It is merely the absence of light. It is not an entity to be attacked and overcome. Bring the light, and darkness disappears.

So is evil the absence of goodness. Admit love into the heart, and where is hate? It has vanished. It was an ugly thing, but it could not exist in the presence of love. Admit goodness and truth, and every form of falsity and evil will disappear. An earnest writer says, "The fortress of evil has been the belief that it was necessary to humanity, and only to be suppressed, not eradicated."

Evil is so dreadful a thing that it often appears more powerful than goodness. It attacks goodness, and sometimes appears to overcome it. Yet, if we search to the foundation, we will see that evil has no power but that which we concede to it. We are instructed to resist evil. If it seems aggressive, we should stand firm, call up the forces of truth and righteousness, and behold evil will resolve itself into nothingness. This principle applies even in the minor experiences of life. Every resolute person has found that when some great trouble seems to stand in the way, if he goes for ward courageously, it either proves not to be there or it is far less serious than he anticipated. Bunyan's Pilgrim thought his end had come when he saw two lions in the pathway before him; but when he pressed forward, in spite of his fears, he found that the beasts were chained, and powerless to do him harm. This is the key to Emerson's

wise advice: "If there is anything that you especially shrink from doing, do it." Also to this suggestion, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe: "When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you, till it seems as if you couldn't hold on a minute longer, never give up then; for that is just the place and time the tide will turn."

La Rochefoucauld says, "There are no circumstances, however unfortunate, that clever people do not extract some advantage from." Colton, an old English writer, says: "Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travellers upon their road. They both appear great at a distance; but, when we approach them, we find that they are far less insurmountable than we had imagined."

The Bible and the Higher Criticism. Is the Bible losing its power and influence through the critical analysis to which it is being subjected? No, a thousand times no. To the extent that this analysis releases Christendom from a fetich worship of the blessed book, to that extent its real power is increased. The subject is introduced here for a single purpose. Many lovers of the truth are seriously disturbed by the assertions and counter-assertions of the higher critics and their opponents, and are uncertain which side to espouse in the discussion. The advice suggested for their help is simple. Do not join either side except so far as your mind is absolutely clear on the subject. The Bible is not meant for criticism, but for use. Criticism is necessary just now, because a stage is reached in human evolution when all things are to be tested by a law of development which has not been known until the present era. But the work should be done by professional scholars, whose whole life can be given to the profound study which alone can throw the needed light upon the subject. Neither the ordinary layman nor the ordinary minister can give the time to the study that is required for an intelligent comprehension of the questions involved.

The Bible will be an all-sufficient help and guide to every one who wishes to be helped and guided. Coleridge gave a clew to the spirit in which we should "search the Scriptures" in the saying, "I believe in the

Bible because it finds me." If we will go to the Book for the truth that finds us,-that is to say, inspires us and purifies our lives, no question of higher or lower criticism will perplex us. Many critical questions are not yet decided. When the scholars have settled them, we, the people, will have the full benefit. In the mean time we can afford to wait. There is enough plain and lifegiving truth between the covers of the Book of books to save every member of the human race.

Prayer.

Many earnest minds are perplexed in these days on the subject of prayer. "God is infinite love and wisdom, and I am a weak and short-sighted mortal. How can I ask him for definite blessings when I am not sure that what I want would be a blessing? And, if he is infinite love and wisdom, why should I pray at all? It must be his essential nature to give: then wherein is the reasonableness of my asking him for anything?" Such are the thoughts of multitudes of devoted Christians. Is there any light to be thrown upon these serious problems?

One suggestion may be helpful to some who are seeking a clearer way. Every one must have his own way of praying. There is no universal rule which will apply to all cases. Christ's own teachings are a proof of this; for they were not uniform, but covered all phases of the subject. He taught his disciples to pray, and to pray with importunity, yet he also taught another side; namely, that "the heavenly Father knoweth what ye have need of before ye ask him."

Although there may be as many methods and habits of prayer as there are individuals, the spirit of prayer has one invariable standard. This standard is expressed by the words, "Thy will be done," meaning nothing less than absolute surrender of our own will and way, and accepting God's will and way instead. The scientific analogy makes this beautifully clear. In the electrical world nothing will suffice but complete synchronism between the motor and the generator. So must the human will and the divine will be in complete unity and harmony. This is a key to the saying of Christ which seems so enigmatical: "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain

of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."

This is purely scientific. If the motor is in complete synchronism with the generator, it has no desire but to express the will of the generator. If a human being is completely submissive to the will of God, he will have no desire but to be a medium for expressing that will; and whatever God plans and purposes will be accomplished even to the removing of a mountain. The French preacher, Bossuet, says, "God sometimes waits till things become impossible before he does them."

Think for Yourself.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, "Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" They were under such bondage to tradition that they surrendered their own judgment, and refused to accept the evidences of a new dispensation which their own natural sagacity would doubtless have enabled them to recognize. Hence the Lord said to them, as if with a degree of surprise, "How is it that ye do not discern this time?"

The question is quite as appropriate to-day as it was nineteen centuries ago. Even in the light of all that modern invention has given to the world, there is still a timidity of thought on religious question; an instinctive impulse to believe that it is a little safer to cling to the past; a tendency on the part of many, when they see a new truth coming, as has been wittily said, "to crawl under a creed or a confession to protect themselves." Spiritual emancipation cannot be secured on this basis. I plead with the youth of this generation to take an intelligent part in the adjustment of truth to the new conditions which the marriage of Science and Religion now involves. Remember that accepting a set of ideas from a system of past formulations is not thinking for yourself. Study the creed and system of thought into which you were born. Weigh its claims in the balance of your own judgment, settle them in the court of your own conscience, asking for God's spirit to guide you in the study of the Scriptures and the book of nature. Thus, and thus only, can you be in a condition to "discern this time."

In the beginning the Unitarian emphasis was on spirit as opposed to letter, character as opposed to creed. This was a distinct departure from previous standards; and, with it for our platform, our early battles were fought and victories gained. Other things were accented as natural developments from this affirmation: other things were yet to come as that development increased in scope and power; but here was where the genius of Unitarianism voiced itself in unhesitating speech. It was a long step in advance, a radical and complete departure from the conceptions of the time. It reversed the order of events. Although its movement may have existed in potential form time out of mind in wise forethinking souls, yet here it had never broken ground. The iron rule of creed and letter held its own, and sternly forbade the spirit's forelooking glance. In my own time I have listened to the statement, emphasized with all the power of a logic against which there is no contending, if you admit its premises, that character and conduct have nothing to do with eternal salvation. One ought to say just here that, however strongly this and kindred statements have been emphasized, yet their advocates were better than their theology. They were continually drawing wrong conclusions from right premises: they also drew right conclusions from wrong premises. It was a kind of heavenly confusion of the mental powers, a divine vertigo of the thinking faculty. Still there are diameters of distance between the affirmation that character has nothing to do with salvation and the equally emphatic affirmation that it has at least nine-tenths of everything to do with it. The two statements cannot be correct. If one is true, the other cannot be. The early Unitarian saw this. He had the courage of his convictions, and here he made his stand. Into the soil of a profound belief in the rightness of his spiritual and intellectual vision he drove his banner-pole, and around it rallied his forces of mind and heart to make his standing good.

rear.

There were giants in those days on both sides; for next in intellectual force and in sight, as well as courage and power, to him who leads the van is he who brings up the Still the latter can, and quite usually does, take refuge in the Fabian tactics. He does not require the mental equipment of his antagonist who to the gift of prophecy and a discovering soul must add a serene intrepidity that never loses sight of the main issue in the midst of tumult and confusion. It was a great fight. It was over before our day. There is no longer any dispute with regard to it. It is admitted by those who have a right to know that character has to do with salvation. The only question is, how much. Concerning that we do not care to dispute. The first admission is the one that counts: the rest is only a matter of degrees.

That initial step was the first in a long journey not ended yet. The question of human nature was involved. The Unitarian emphasis had not yet discovered the weak place in its enemy's defence. The science of criticism was hardly born. The Bible was dogma, not literature. It was authority from which there was no resort. And so the venue was changed with the tribunal of time. The historical method was gradually developed, and applied to this great theme. Its results were living issues within the day of our middle-aged men. was tentative at first, and its methods very gingerly applied. The Bible had been so long a fetich, far removed from the ordinary round of life and the tests we apply to common things, and the claims made for it were so simply astounding, that even scholars hardly dared to scrutinize it sharply. It should be studied upon one's knees, it was said. This feeling is extant yet.

It

The old emphasis affirmed revelation, and nothing more. The new emphasis of Unitarianism also affirmed revelation; but it affirmed it, interpreted it, in terms of reason. The old affirmation said, "This is the word of God from title-page to colophon: to it nothing can be added, and from it nothing