244 THE WHENCE AND THE WHITHER OF MAN 



God, and knoweth God. He that lovetli not, knoweth 

 not God ; for God is love." And this sort of love 

 bears and believes and hopes and endures, and never 

 fails. And for this reason the Bible lays such tremen- 

 dous emphasis on the heart, not as the centre of emotion 

 alone, but as the seat of will as well. And science 

 points to the same end, though she sees it afar off. 



And what of God ? God is a Spirit, Creator, Author, 

 and Finisher of all things, and filling all. But while 

 omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, these are 

 not the characteristics emphasized in the Bible. He 

 is righteous. " Shall not the judge of all the earth 

 do right?' is the grand question of the father of the 

 faithful. And when Moses prays God to show him 

 his glory, God answers, " I will make all my goodness 

 pass before thee." He is the " refuge of Israel," the 

 "everlasting arms" underneath them, pitying them 

 " as a father pitieth his children." And in the New 

 Testament we are bidden to pray to our Father, who is 

 love, and whose temple is the heart of whosoever will 

 receive him. Truly a very personal being. 



Now the Bible rises here indefinitely above anything 

 that mere natural science can describe. But can the 

 ultimate "Power, not ourselves, which makes for 

 righteousness ' and unselfishness, of whose presence 

 in environment science assures us, be ever better 

 described than by these words concerning the " Father 

 of our spirits ? ' 



And an infinitely wise, good, and loving being will 

 have fixed modes of working ; for " with him is no 

 variableness, neither shadow of turning." Thus only 

 can man trust and know him. The old Stoic philoso- 

 pher tells us " everything has two handles, and can be 



