The Churches and Modern Thought / An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candour

nsel, Mozley, Farrar,

tion of Christ is that fact. Here, at least, is an instance in which the entire Christian faith must stand or fall with our belief in the supernatural...

atural contents of Christianity must stand

ural interpositions, it is clear to every honest and unsophisticated mind that, if miracles be incredibl

her impossible or incredible, all further inquiry into the details of its history is superfluous from a religious p

pinion of the majority o

the Record, who had written letters to them stating that he had heard that "not a single Bishop on the bench t

even hold that it [devil

re Christianity has long held sway the special manifestations we are now considering are comparatively unknown, the conditions among the heathen being more akin to those prevailing when and where the Gospel was first propagated, it is not surprising that a corresponding energy of the powers of evil should be met with in missionary work to-day." He would have us believe, apparently, that the atmosphere of ho

ess of Jesus to the Fatherhood of God as a personal spirit amounts to no more than his witness to personal devils as authors of disease; and the witness of the Evan

4.-The feeding of

4, he is reported to have said: "It is the worst policy of defence to throw over the miracle of feeding the five thousand, or our Lord's

he simple theory

realise the kind of frenzy that took possession of those early Christians who really believed that

ew of us have ever h

ne was largely a camp life, it was more the insight into the belief of my native companions which affected me. There, all around you, are simple folk believing in what you know to be absurd; you are brought face to face with ignorance and superstition; you see how faith can be misplaced, and how trusting natures can be deceived. It sets you thinking whether, after all, you too may not be deceived; whether the possession of an unlimited capacity for faith has the virtue in it which the priest tells you it has, whether, in fact, faith is a reliable guide. Should you attempt to convert an educated native,