o Deism simply consists in its being more
Christian. With the ideas of God which 'Theists' hold, we can, as
Christians, most cordially sympathise. We can sincerely say, 'Hold to
them firmly, they are your life: let no man rob you of {165} them by
any vain deceit.' But we cannot help also asking, 'Whence have you
drawn those lofty ideas? where have you obtained so exalted a
conception of the Divine Being in His mingled Majesty and lowliness, in
His inconceivable greatness, and His equally inconceivable compassion?
We turn from the picture of God which, with so much labour, so much
skill, so much moral earnestness, you have exhibited, and we behold the
Original in Christ and His Teaching. However unconsciously, it is His
Truth, it is His Features, that you have reproduced. You have been
brought up in the Church of Christ, or you have been brought into
contact with its influences, and you have imbibed its teachings,
perhaps more deeply than some who would not dare to question its
smallest precepts. Still, Christ's teaching you have not outgrown,
from Christ Himself you have not escaped. You cannot go from His
presence or flee from His Spirit. Those {166} views which you hold so
strongly, which are to you the most ennobling that have ever been given
of God and of religion, where is it that alone they are to be found?
In places where Christianity has gone before.

No doubt, belief in God is not confined to Christian countries: worship
of the Maker of heaven and earth exists where the name of Christ has
never been heard, but not such belief, _such_ worship, as that for
which those persons contend. The God Whom they adore will not be found
anywhere save where Christianity has penetrated. In this country it is
the desperate clinging to one portion of the Christian Faith when all
else has been abandoned: in other lands, in India, for example, where
representatives of this way of thinking are not uncommon, it is the
rapturous welcome of one of the sublime truths of Christianity before
which the idolatries of their forefathers are passing away. It is safe
to call it a transition stage: {167} it will either part with the
fragment of Christianity which it retains and become merged in doubt
and speculation and unbelief; or it will include yet more of the
Christianity of which it has grasped a part: its belief in God will be
crowned and confirmed by its belief in Christ.

For, speaking to those who cherish faith in the All