nce of the spiritual nature of man could be desired than that he
asks such questions? Would a figure of clay ask whether it were the
abode of a higher order of being? Dust asks no questions concerning
personality; but intelligence can never be satisfied until it knows the
causes of things.

What is the teaching of the New Testament concerning this subject? The
attitude of Jesus toward all the great problems was the practical one.
He attempted to shed no light on causes, but ever endeavored to show how
to make the best of things as they are. Whence came the soul? we may ask
of Him, but He will tell us that a far more important inquiry is, How
may the soul be delivered from imperfection, suffering, and sin, and
saved to its noblest uses and loftiest possibilities?

The reality of spirit is everywhere assumed in the teaching of Jesus,
but nowhere does there appear any effort to throw light on the mystery
of its genesis.

The distinction between spirit and body is indicated by the
Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the narratives of the continued
existence of Jesus after His Crucifixion, by many references to the
heavenly life, and by the appeals and invitations of the Gospel which
are all addressed to intelligence and will. The presence of Jesus in
history is an assertion of the spiritual nature of man. Various
philosophers have tried to satisfy the desire for light on the question
of the origin of personality; but Jesus has told us how, being here, we
may break our prison-houses and rise into the full freedom and glory of
the children of God. While inquirers have been seeking light, Jesus has
brought to them salvation; while they have fruitlessly asked whence they
came, Jesus has told them whither they are going.

The real problem of human life is not one which has to do with our
birth, but with our destiny. We know that we think, choose, love; we
know that we are self-conscious; we feel that we have kinship with
something higher than the ground on which we walk. The stars attract us
because they are above and have motion, but the earth we tread upon has
few fascinations.

Jesus has responded to the essential questions: For what have we been
created? What is our true home? What is the goal of personality? By
what path does man move from the bondage of his will, and the limitation
of his animalism toward the glorious liberty of the children of God, and
toward the fullness of his possible being?

We are thus brought