highly educated persons consider it, now-a-
days, quite impossible; and tell us that, for practical purposes, God's
laws can neither be discovered, nor obeyed.

Moreover, their scheme of this world is one which would work--so they
fancy--just as well if there was no God. Unpleasant therefore it must be
for them to hear, not merely that there is a God, but that He has His own
scheme of the world; and that it is working, whether they like or not;
that God, and not they, is making history; God, and not they, appointing
the bounds and the times of nations; God, and not they, or any man or
men, distributing good and evil among mankind.

They do not object, of course, to the existence of a God. They only
object to His being what the Hebrew prophets called Him--a living God; a
God who executes justice and judgment by His Son Jesus Christ, to whom He
has committed all power both in heaven and earth. They are ready
sometimes to allow even that, provided they may relegate it into the
past, or into the future. They are ready to allow that God and Christ
exerted power over men at the first Advent 1800 years ago, and that they
will exert power over men at the second Advent--none knows how long
hence. But that God and Christ are exerting power now--in an
ever-present and perpetual Advent--in this nineteenth century just as
much as in any century before or since--that they had rather not believe.
Their creed is, that though heaven and earth have not passed away; though
the laws of nature are working for ever as at the beginning: yet Christ's
words have passed away, and fallen into abeyance for many centuries past,
to remain in abeyance for many centuries to come.

In one word--while they believe more or less in a past God, and a future
God, yet as to the existence of a present God, in any practical and real
sense--they believe--how little, I dare not say.

Whether this generation will awaken out of that sleep of practical
Atheism, which is creeping on them more and more, who can tell? That
they are uneasy in the sleep, there are many signs. For in their sleep
dreams come of another world, of which their five senses tell them
nought. Then do some fly to mediaeval superstitions, which give them at
least elaborate and agreeable substitutes for a living God. Some fly to
impostors, who pretend by juggling tricks to put them in communication
with that unseen world which they have so long denied. Some, again, play
with unfulfill