as out of it, but
they were unethical and unspiritual influences in religion; the frenzied
dervishes, the oracular seers, the wizards and necromancers who long
afterward claimed this name, and were denounced by the higher prophets.
Samuel's masterful work was to turn this semi-religious force into a
higher channel, and to direct it toward a moral aim. He was the creator of
the type which drew after him "the goodly fellowship of the prophets." The
traditions of Israel present him in the _role_ of fearless censor and
truthful mentor to the infant State; the _role_ which the great prophets
later on assumed toward the maturer nation. He criticized the King, guided
the people, and held the nation loyal to Jehovah. However little
perception the mass of the people had of the spiritual significance of the
State religion, however many gross forms of popular religion existed
around and within the tolerant institutions of Jehovahism, it was a vital
matter to preserve that State religion, and keep it well ahead of the
people's growth. Thus we can perceive the historic significance of the
work of the next great prophet after Samuel, Elijah; through the legendary
nimbus that gathered round his striking personality and dramatic action In
a critical hour, when the Jehovah-worship had well nigh disappeared, he
stood alone against the powers of the realm, and rallied the people once
more beneath the name of the god of their father. He plucked a victory
from defeat which decided the course of history. What if Jehovah was but a
name to the mass of the people? What if they continued to worship much as
before, only no longer at the altars of Baal? There are long periods in
the history of man when the future depends upon allegiance to an
institution little understood by those who shout most lustily for it. The
future may lie seeded down in a name which stores within it the forces of
a new and higher unfolding when the times come ripe. Thus it proved
through the crawling centuries in which Israel held hard by a name of God
which then meant little to it, but which ultimately evolved its ethical
significance and manifested unto men, The Eternal who loveth
righteousness. Thus may it prove with the child of Judaism. Liberals, who
are in such haste to drop the name of Christ, should pause long enough to
ask themselves the question whether, since it roots religion in a life of
such perfect goodness that it became to men the manifestation of God,
this