he psychic correlate of a
biological growth reducing contending desires to one direction; a
growth which expresses itself in new affective states and new
reactions; in larger, nobler, more Christ-like activities. The ground
of the specific assurance in religious dogmas is then an affective
experience. The objects of faith may even be preposterous; the
affective stream will float them along, and invest them with unshakable
certitude. The more startling the affective experience, the less
explicable it seems, the easier it is to make it the carrier of
unsubstantiated notions."[134]

[132] In some conversions, both steps are distinct; in this one, for
example:--

"Whilst I was reading the evangelical treatise, I was soon struck by an
expression: 'the finished work of Christ.' 'Why,' I asked of myself,
'does the author use these terms? Why does he not say "the atoning
work"?' Then these words, 'It is finished,' presented themselves to my
mind. 'What is it that is finished?' I asked, and in an instant my
mind replied: 'A perfect expiation for sin; entire satisfaction has
been given; the debt has been paid by the Substitute. Christ has died
for our sins; not for ours only, but for those of all men. If, then,
the entire work is finished, all the debt paid, what remains for me to
do?' In another instant the light was shed through my mind by the Holy
Ghost, and the joyous conviction was given me that nothing more was to
be done, save to fall on my knees, to accept this Saviour and his love,
to praise God forever." Autobiography of Hudson Taylor. I translate
back into English from the French translation of Challand (Geneva, no
date), the original not being accessible.

[133] Tolstoy's case was a good comment on those words. There was
almost no theology in his conversion. His faith-state was the sense
come back that life was infinite in its moral significance.

[134] American Journal of Psychology, vii. 345-347, abridged.

The characteristics of the affective experience which, to avoid
ambiguity, should, I think, be called the state of assurance rather
than the faith-state, can be easily enumerated, though it is probably
difficult to realize their intensity, unless one has been through the
experience one's self.

The central one is the loss of all the worry, the sense that all is
ultimately well with one, the peace, the harmony, the WILLINGNESS TO
BE, even though the outer conditions should remain the same.