t religion that the
world has ever seen was initiated by Him; it is impossible, in the
light of that religion, not to feel that one must give the greatest
weight to the credentials which such a teacher put forward; and we find
that the claim that He made was that He was Himself Very God. The
moment that one realises that, one also realises that there is no
_prima facie_ impossibility that God should so reveal Himself--for
indeed it seems an idea which no human mind would dare to originate,
except in a kind of insane delusion; and the teaching of Christ, His
utter modesty and meekness, His perfect sanity and clear-sightedness,
make it evident to me that we may put out of court the possibility that
He was under the influence of a delusion. He, it seems to me, took all
the old vague ideas of sacrifice and consummated them; He showed that
the true spirit was there, hidden under the ancient sacrifices; that
one must offer one's best freely to God; and in this spirit He gave
Himself to suffering and death. He founded a society with a definite
constitution, He provided it with certain simple rules, and said that,
when He was gone, it would be inspired and developed by the workings of
His Spirit. He left this society as a witness in the world; it has
developed in many ways, holding its own, gaining strength, winning
adherents in a marvellous manner. And I look upon the Church as the
witness to God in the world; I accept its developments as the
developments of the Spirit. I see many things in it which I cannot
comprehend; but then the whole world is full of mysteries--and the
mysteries of the Church I accept in a tranquil faith. I have put it, I
fear, very clumsily and awkwardly; but that is the outline of my
belief--and it seems to me to interpret the world and its secrets, not
perfectly indeed, but more perfectly than any other theory."

"I see!" said Hugh, "but I will tell you at once my initial difficulty.
I grant at the outset that the teaching of Christ is the purest and
best religious teaching that the world has ever seen; but I look upon
Him, not as the founder of a system, but as the most entire
individualist that the world has ever known. It seems to me that all
His teaching was directed to the end that we should believe in God as a
loving Father, and regard all men as brothers; the principle which was
to direct His followers was to be the principle of perfect love, and I
think that His idea was that, if men co