THE UNIVERSAL AND ABSOLUTE RELIGION 385 



in a different degree, as really as to him who follows the light of 

 revelation, because the God of nature and of revelation are one 

 and the same being. Christ speaks as really in the voice of natural 

 conscience as in his written word, because the conscience with all 

 other created things is constructed according to Christ, the true 

 norm in creation. The conscience, indeed, as well as other powers 

 of the natural man, is fallen, and needs to be renewed by the 

 influence of the written word. The voice of Christ, however, yet 

 speaks in the conscience, however obscurely; and to follow that 

 conscience is of the spirit of faith. 



It is the misfortune of current Christianity that it is supposed 

 by any that the realities of Christian faith and experience in 

 themselves are coterminous with the limited diffusion of the 

 Scriptures; that in themselves faith and experience cannot exist 

 except where the knowledge of the Bible exists. To this extent 

 Christianity has narrowly and mistakenly alienated from itself 

 much territory which really belongs to it, a domain which is its 

 birthright. Christian revelation brings to light what is, in the 

 spiritual realm; for example, life and immortality, the love of 

 God in Christ, the suspended judgment on sin, etc.; but the 

 existence of all these was before revelation, and independent of 

 their explanation of them, which revelation affords. It is of the 

 realities, and not the theories about them, that we speak. ' In 

 the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the 

 word was God." 



Says Paul in his letter to the Romans, " But the righteousness 

 which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend 

 into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:) or, Who shall descend 

 into the abyss ? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) But 

 what saith it? The word is nigh thee [that is, the ideal is nigh 

 thee], in thy mouth, and in thy heart:, that is, the word of faith, 

 which we preach." The word, or ideal, of faith which is, in itself, 

 is such a thing as may be ignorantly held. The word of faith which 

 we preach is the same reality receiving a Biblical explanation. 

 This essential faith by the missionary is to be sought for, as 

 possibly existent in however slight measure, immediately, every- 

 where and in all men, and always encouraged, explained, and fed 

 with revealed truth. This is the missionary's true place of begin- 

 ning with the pagan mind everywhere. He is to find the handle 

 of the soul, to take, hold, and control for God. 



It will be remembered that in the account of David Brainerd's 

 work among the Delaware Indians, he speaks of a remarkable 

 priest or reformer who had been " strangely moved to devote his 

 life to an endeavor to restore the ancient religion of the Indians." 

 He was grotesquely dressed in Indian fashion, but he was evidently 



