cured from its malady by absorbing an antidote. To the world
this is foolishness. I own it, but the wisdom of God is foolishness to
man" (_Observations on Holy Communion_, p. 12). In other words, the
evil came in by eating, so the antidote to sin should come by the same
means. Plainly stated, this does unquestionably sound somewhat
fanciful; but then it must be remembered that Gordon was neither a
theologian nor a lawyer, and consequently he never studied accuracy of
definition. The fact is, that many have completely misunderstood his
views for the simple reason that they have interpreted his words too
literally, and made no allowance for poetic imagination and figurative
language. There is a sense in which he was correct. No orthodox
Christian doubts the fact that sin came into the world through our
ancestors eating the forbidden fruit. The antidote to sin is Christ,
and for us to partake of the benefits of His death we must appropriate
Him by faith, or, in other words, we must by faith feed on Him, which
is the same as a spiritual participation. By "eating," Gordon meant,
not the mere swallowing of the symbols, but the whole process of
participation in the death of Christ. Every sound Christian theologian
must admit that this is necessary to salvation, and more than this
Gordon did not mean.

It is interesting to note that this independent searcher after truth
was by no means singular in his views, and that traces of them are to
be found in the works of Augustine and other patristic writings, which
possibly he had never seen. One writer has remarked that in the garden
of Eden the command was "Eat not," and we know too well how that
injunction was disobeyed. When Christ, the antidote to sin, came, He
bade His followers "Take, eat," but with the perversity of human nature
that characterises fallen man, too often that command is also
neglected.

There is another point to which reference should be made. When at
Khartoum, Gordon wrote to a friend, "There is no eating up here, which
I miss." Some have contended that in this sentence he showed that he
recognised the necessity for the presence of a priest, to make the
Lord's Supper a valid ordinance. As a matter of fact, he never believed
that the presence of a clergyman was necessary for Holy Communion.
There were besides himself only two Englishmen at Khartoum during the
siege, and one of them was Power, a Roman Catholic, who, although a
great admirer of Gordon, probably