IN these days of new science, new thought, new methods,

IN

new aspirations-in short, of a new universe to all who

have widely observed and profoundly meditated-the above prophecy is being fulfilled as never, in historic times, has it been fulfilled before. With the "new Heavens," which astronomy is creating for us, and the "new earth," which evolutionary science is creating; with the new history of mankind which geology and archæology are unfolding, and the new nature of man which both physiology and psychology are revealing, must come, surely and quickly, new religion, new ethics, and a new Church. In these latter departments there is at present (and quite naturally) chaos. The uncertainties and the pangs of a new birth are upon us. The void and darkness of a new creation are before us and around. In all highly civilized communities of the earth there is to-day such a commotion of enquiry, doubt, and unbelief as no other epoch in the history of theologies, of systemized morals, or of ecclesiastical cults ever experienced -the first four Christian centuries not excepted. In this dissolving, formless, and re-creative condition of things any honest and reasonably intelligent attempt to purify original sources, to reform institutions, to reconstruct creeds, and to restore the ever-living Christ with his vitalizing religion to

the world ought to be cordially welcomed. Human agencies indeed cannot re-create, but they can and must "prepare the way." Without this preparation the kingdom of God never has come to the world and never will. Chaos will continue, void and darkness will prevail "upon the face of the deep." But in proportion as human agencies vigorously co-operate, the Divine Agency will fulfil its prophetic promise, "Behold I make all things new."

"The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, evening and the morning were the first period."

and the

V.-STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE-SURVIVAL OF THE

FITTEST.

"What I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch." This was the Divine Master's oft-repeated injunction. In Religion as elsewhere, Eternal Vigilance is the price of Liberty. In Religion as elsewhere prevail the universal, inviolable laws of Struggle for Existence and Survival of the Fittest. The Hebrew Scriptures everywhere symbolized these laws by "the shedding of blood, without which there could be no remission"; and the Christian Scriptures everywhere symbolize the same by the Cross, without which there can be no Crown. "Strait is the gate and narrow the way which leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it." Therefore "struggle." Connected with these there is another equally certain and equally universal law, in Religion as elsewhere :— Tendency to Revert, with consequent Deterioration and Decay. These three great laws, Struggle for Existence, Survival of the Fittest, and Tendency to Revert (or to Degenerate) are fundamental in Soul, as in Mind and Body; in systems, theories, and practices of Religion as in everything else. No intelligent person any longer questions these laws as existent in the realms of Body and of Mind. And no intelligent student of the Bible, of the Sacred Writings of all nations, of Christianity (through its few bright and many

dark ages till now), of the various religions of the world which have risen and decayed, can fail to be convincedwhether he be prepared to acknowledge it or not-that the same great laws prevail in the Soul of Man, and in all those institutions and products of religion through which the Soul of Man seeks to evolve and express itself.

VI.-TENDENCY TO REVERT IS THE SUPREME DANGER.

As an unquestionable fact, in Christianity as in every other form of religion, there has been from the first a persistent and unceasing Tendency to Revert. The tendency of the masses, headed and guided by priest-craft, always has been, still is, and doubtless always (till the Millennial Ages) will be, to degrade religion into superstition, to transform both worship and morals into pantomimic routines and into dramatic exhibitions. To select one example out of a multitude. The original religion of Eleusis, in ancient Greece, was rational, lofty, and solemn; but soon it became interwoven with fables, corrupted by tradition, and controlled by priest-craft. To please and (as it was supposed) edify the masses, it was permitted to go gradually downward till we see it transformed at last into such spectacles as that of countless multitudes of devotees with eagerness and transport gathered to witness "Venus rising from the waves,"the courtesan Phryne personating Venus by entering and emerging from the sea at Eleusis, while priests recited litanies and the breathless multitude gazed, wondered, and adored. "To this came at last the once sublime and elevating religion of Delphi and of Olympia." So tends every religion downward—and Christianity is no exception-unless ceaselessly guarded by reformers and diligently purged from ever accumulating fables and corrupting superstitions.

In ancient Greece, such men as Eschylus and Sophocles, Socrates and Plato sought to reform the popular religion by rejecting its irrational fables, dogmas, and rituals, retaining only the essential truths which were beneath them. Had they succeeded in this attempted reform then the noble

religion of Greece-later that of Rome, and later still that of Christendom as well-might have been saved from degenerating into senseless stories of nymphs, dryads, and dæmons; of fairies, gnomes, and hobgoblins; of spooks, witches, and devils; of charms, amulets, and saving sacraments; of magic shrines, magic relics, and supernatural visions; of miraculous healings, inerrant holy books, and infallible popes; of apostolical successions of priests, infallible edicts of official theologians; and "many other such like things" which, in evervarying forms and versions, are found in all the religions of the world.

The popular religion, which is always the religion of the majorities, to-day as ever, here as elsewhere, strongly and persistently tends to revert. Only by the unsparing rejection of its senseless fables, childish rituals, and irrational dogmas (retaining always the essential truths which are hidden beneath them)-only thus can this tendency be restrained from utter deterioration and hopeless decay.

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VII.-DEGENERACY UNIVERSAL IN RELIGION.

Tendency to Revert " is a law of universal application so far as the present earth and its various products are concerned. There are certain observations of science and also of history which have now settled into such unquestionable facts as to be self-evident. We may call them axioms. Among these a few may be cited as follows:

1. All moving bodies, unless vigorously and unceasingly propelled, tend to become again inert and motionless.

2. All living organisms, unless vitally sustained and renewed, tend to decay and death.

3. All domesticated plants and tamed animals, unless assiduously cultivated and restrained, tend to return to their original wildness and ferocity.

4. All civilized communities of men, unless constantly incited and urged forward to a more perfect civilization, tend to fall back to their primitive savagery of tastes and habits.

5. All enlightened minds of men, unless ever moving upward in intellectual culture, tend to their primal stagnation and stupidity.

6. All elevated characters of men, unless persistently aspiring to higher and ever higher ideals of virtue, tend to become grovelling and vicious again.

These all are recognized as axioms of science and of history, and are confirmed by every thoughtful person's observations and experience.

To these six axioms we add a seventh :

7. All teachings and institutions of religion, unless ceaselessly guarded, purified, and reformed, tend to revert to the corruptions and follies of grossest heathenism.

Attempting now to apply these axioms to individual persons, societies, teachings, and institutions, we are almost invariably repelled with the reply-"Yes, it is all unquestionably true in general. But I am an exception: my Country, my Society, my Doctrines, my Religion, are exceptions. I could never revert to a savage condition! my country could never become barbarous, my institutions debased, my Religion heathenish again!" So exclaims the average American, European, Asiatic, African, Sea Islander-of every State and Tribe-with equal self-assurance and emphasis. As to Religion in particular the average Christian, Jew, Mohammedan, Confucian, Buddhist, Brahman, Zoroastrian-of every sect and school-with equal self-esteem and bigotry would exclaim, "I am, we are, an exception!" Christians, like all the others, perhaps (on account of their prevalent conceit that they are "God's chosen people" and theirs "the true and only true Religion ") even more than the others, are disposed to make an exception of Christianity, and especially of their own Christian sect and selves. The average Christian is highly indignant at any comparison of Christianity with any of the other Religions of the world, all of which he contemptuously spurns as Paganism or Heathenism, between which and Christianity "there is fixed an impassable gulf." It is as much as any man's reputation is worth (in some "Catholic" countries or communities as