en and new earth.

SIN. The fall of man did not take place. It is an absurd superstition.
Since the world is but a limited and imperfect representation of God,
sin came into it immediately upon its origin. We err when we look at sin
apart from a correct conception of the world. Sin has its seat in the
natural weakness of man, for he is a temporal being, and in process of
necessary development from impure naturalness to reason and freedom. It
is the condition in which man finds himself before arriving at an idea
of what he is or will be. If it be asked, "Why is sin in the world?" the
rejoinder is made, "Why is not man, in the outset of his existence, what
he is destined to be, and why must he stand in need of development?"
Sin, in the beginning, was natural imperfection, but it never becomes a
work of the will until man is developed. It is the melancholy result of
an awakened consciousness. But, after man is once aroused to
self-consciousness and begins his actual, sinful life, he never becomes
a lost sinner.

FAITH. The gospel is not a compendium of principles. Its only value
consists in its description of the moral and religious character of
Christ, and every one must derive from it such opinions as seem most
plausible and reasonable. But they err who excogitate from it those
severe dogmas which express only dreams of the imagination and wishes of
the religious spirit. Faith in the gospel is not a condition of
salvation. For faith is the inner relation of the spiritual man to God,
not the acceptance of fixed traditions. It is such a feeling, emotion,
and relation as can exist independently of doctrine. Objective truth is
not the measure of faith, and the salvation of man is not conditioned by
his theoretical opinions. The human spirit in man is the agent of
regeneration. Therefore, man, and not God, is the author of human
regeneration. Justification by faith is produced by seeking God's favor,
but Christ has nothing at all to do with the matter.

We cannot as yet foresee the complete result of the efforts of the New
Speculative Rationalism to propagate itself. German Switzerland will be
influenced by Germany, and because of the thorough improvement already
inaugurated in the latter country no general resurrection of skepticism
need be feared. The evangelical professors at Basle are eagerly watching
every new movement, and we believe they have sufficient strength to meet
every emergency. Christianity is aggressive. So