e fall of the Roman Empire down
to the Franco-Prussian war is largely a recital of the development of
the religious beliefs which Rome handed down to her conquerors, and
their influence upon the human mind. These beliefs constitute the
working hypothesis of that institution known to-day as the Holy Roman
Catholic Church, and its separated offshoots, the Greek Catholic and
the Protestant Churches, including the numberless ramifications and
divisions of the latter. The question as to whether eternal salvation
is a function of complete immersion of the human body, or only a
gentle sprinkling, appears most lamentably puerile in the face of the
tremendous revolutionary truths hinted by the deeds of Jesus, assuming
that he has been correctly reported in the Gospels. No; Renan, in his
_Vie de Jesus_, which I gave you last night, missed it. Before him,
Voltaire and countless other critics of man-made theology missed it.
The writings of these men do serve, however, to mow down the
theological stubble in the world's field of thought. What is it, this
gigantic truth which Jesus brought? I do not know. But he himself is
reported to have said, 'If ye keep my commands, ye shall know of the
doctrine.' And his chief command was, _that we love God and our
fellow-men_. I have no doubt whatever that, when we follow this
command, we shall know of the doctrine which he came to establish in
the hearts of men."

"But his message was the brotherhood of man," said Jose.

"Nay," replied the explorer, "it was the _fatherhood_ of God,
rather. For that includes the brotherhood of man. But, while we agree
thus far, who can say what the fatherhood of God implies? Who,
realizing that this was Jesus' message, knows how to make it
practical, as he did? To him it meant--ah, what did it not mean! It
meant a consciousness that held _not one trace of evil_. It meant a
consciousness of God as omnipotent power, the irresistible power
of good, which, in the form of spirit, or mind, as some will have it,
is ever present. Is it not so? Well, then, who is there to-day,
within the Church or without, who understands the divine message of
the fatherhood of God sufficiently to acquire such a consciousness,
and to make the intensely practical application of the message to
every problem of mind, or body, or environment? Who to-day in your
Church or mine, for example, realizes that Jesus must have seen
something in matter far different from the solid, indestructible t