by no means "even"
as between the righteous and the wicked, stills shows kindness to both.
Now, in view of the great plausibility of the parallels which are thus
presented to the public--parallels whose subtle fallacy the mass of
readers are almost sure to overlook--one can hardly exaggerate the
importance of thoroughly sifting the philosophy that underlies them, and
especially on the part of those who are, or are to become, the defenders
of the truth.[79]

But turning from particular parallels to a broader comparison, there is
a general use of expressions in the New Testament in regard to which
every Christian teacher should aim at clear views and careful
discriminations; for example, when we are said to be "temples of the
Holy Ghost," or when Christ is said to be "formed in us the hope of
glory," or it is "no longer we that live, but Christ that liveth in us."
It cannot be denied that defenders of the Bhagavad Gita, and of the
whole Indo-pantheistic philosophy, might make out a somewhat plausible
case along these lines. I recall an instance in which an honored pastor
had made such extravagant use of these New Testament expressions that
some of his co-presbyters raised the question of a trial for pantheism.
But it is one thing to employ strong terms of devotional feeling, as is
often done, especially in prayer, and quite another to frame theories
and philosophies, and present them as accurate statements of truth. The
New Testament nowhere speaks of the indwelling Spirit in such a sense as
implies an obliteration or absorption of the conscious individual ego,
while "effacement" instead of fellowship is a favorite expression in the
Bhagavad Gita. Paul in his most ecstatic language never gives any hint
of extinction, but, on the contrary, he magnifies the conception of a
separate, conscious, ever-growing personality, living and rejoicing in
Divine fellowship for evermore.

In the New Testament the expressions of our union with Christ are often
reversed: instead of speaking of Christ as abiding in the hearts and
lives of his people, they are sometimes said to abide in Him, and that
not in the sense of absorption. Paul speaks of the "saints in Christ,"
of his own "bonds in Christ," of being "baptized in Christ," of becoming
"a new creature in Christ," of true Christians as being one body in
Christ, of their lives being "hid with Christ in God." Believers are
spoken of as being "buried with Christ," "dead with Christ." Ever