the "_Thus it is written_" is
an adequate reply to the Rationalist. Neither will his view of miracles
harmonize with that of the professor, or with Vinet and De Pressense, of
whom he forcibly reminds us in many of his opinions. The
supernaturalistic theory, La Saussaye contends, is incorrect. The
Church has paid too much attention to the exterior features of miracles,
but far too little to their ethical import, and to the connection
between nature and spirit. Miracles can be defended only on the ground
that the power to work them is still in the church over which Christ
presides and to which he communicates his energy. The Naturalist who
opposes the present power of miracles can be convicted by an appeal to
his own personality; for he is not merely _nature_, but also
supernatural, free, spiritual. He feels himself responsible; he has a
conscience. Renan, in his picture of Christ and his apostles, places
salvation on an equality with deliverance from sickness, and makes it
mere socialism. If we would rebuke the skepticism of the present day we
must return to first principles; not to the doctrines, but to the facts
on which they rest. Revelation presupposes the ideas of God, law,
responsibility, sin and judgment. We must recognize Israel's law, though
national in form, as written on the hearts of all men. When you prove
the ethical idea in religion you show at once its necessary factor. The
life of the Church is a spiritual, supernatural, and therefore wonderful
life. It is the great standing miracle which proves the truth of God.
The first and all-important thing to be done by us is not to fight the
naturalism outside of us, but that which is in us. Above all, let the
church feel and show the power of the resurrection. The true method of
gaining "the world" is by the awakening of the Church to a consciousness
of those elements of truth in her possession. The enemy we fight is not
men but a spirit,--the spirit of negation, destruction, and Satan. Let
us believe in that Saviour who makes the soul at peace with God,
reconciles man to the Infinite, and leads and encourages us to attempt
to appropriate by our thoughts the undeveloped in our souls.

On what then depends the future of the Church? We hear La Saussaye
describe in eloquent words the conditions of her success: "I do not
hesitate to declare," he says, "that the future of a nation depends on a
revival, in the very bosom of the Protestant Church, of a profound and
en