latry. The visible symbol is at first a
symbol and nothing more; it assists thought; it stirs passion. At last
it is identified with the God whom it represents. If, every day, I bow
before a crucifix in prayer, if I address it as though it were Christ,
though I know it is not, I shall come to feel for it a reverence and
love which are of the very essence of idolatry."

Did you ever stop to think that the world has not a single picture of
Christ that has been handed down to us from His disciples? Who knows
what He was like? The Bible does not tell us how He looked, except in
one or two isolated general expressions as when it says--"His visage
was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of
men." We don't know anything definite about His features, the color of
His hair and eyes, and the other details that would help to give a
true representation. What artist can tell us? He left no keepsakes to
His disciples. His clothes were seized by the Roman soldiers who
crucified Him. Not a solitary thing was left to be handed down among
His followers. Doesn't it look as if Christ left no relics lest they
should be held sacred and worshipped?

History tells us further that the early Christians shrank from making
pictures and statues of any kind of Christ. They knew Him as they had
seen Him after His resurrection, and had promises of His continued
presence that pictures could not make any more real.

I have seen very few pictures of Christ that do not repel me more or
less. I sometimes think that it is wrong to have pictures of Him at
all.

Speaking of the crucifix Dr. Dale says; "It makes our worship and
prayer unreal. We are adoring a Christ who does not exist. He is not
on the cross now, but on the throne. His agonies are passed forever.
He has risen from the dead. He is at the right hand of God. If we pray
to a dying Christ, we are praying not to Christ Himself, but to a mere
remembrance of Him. The injury which the crucifix has inflicted on the
religious life of Christendom, in encouraging a morbid and unreal
devotion, is absolutely incalculable. It has given us a dying Christ
instead of a living Christ, a Christ separated from us by many
centuries instead of a Christ nigh at hand."

THE INDWELLING CHRIST.

No one can say that we have nowadays any need of such things. "Behold
I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he