424 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



presuppose both, and conduct is the final aim and crown of the 

 whole development. And yet there are some scholars who exagger- 

 ate the relative importance of each one of the three in its relation 

 to the other two and to the whole. 



In our age greater attention is given to Christian ethics and 

 sociology than ever before. A man who has the ethical enthusiasm 

 of our times is inclined to criticise historical Christianity with great 

 severity, because of its failure to realize the highest ethical ideals, 

 and especially those presented by Jesus in his teaching and his ex- 

 ample. Historical Christianity is so far below these ideals, even 

 in its best types, that one is inclined to say if the Church has failed 

 so badly in nineteen centuries, what prospect has it in the present 

 or the future? Some good men in our times are disgruntled with 

 historical Christianity for its ethical failures, and keep aloof from 

 the Church on that account; but these are after all proportion- 

 ately few, and they are unreasonable, for they exaggerate the eth- 

 ical phase of Christianity over against the doctrinal and the vital; 

 they fail to see what is necessarily involved in the development 

 of the Christian religion, that the ethical age should come last of 

 all; and they also are not just in their estimate of Christian his- 

 tory, for, notwithstanding the failure of the Church, there has been 

 a wonderful and steady ethical advance through the centuries. In- 

 deed, it is Christianity itself which is chiefly responsible for the 

 ethical enthusiasm of the present time, and this is an evidence that 

 Christianity is about to enter upon the last and highest stage of its 

 development. Holy love in principle and practice in the liberty 

 of self-sacrifice is better understood in the Church to-day than 

 ever before, and it is becoming more influential in the Church and 

 in the world. The Church is about to put forth the supreme eth- 

 ical influence of holy love to transform society and the lives of men. 



In large sections of the Church the greatest stress is still laid 

 upon Christian doctrine, especially as expressed in dogmatic forms. 

 If a man thinks that orthodox doctrine is the test of a healthful 

 and vigorous church, he will make that the determining element 

 in his judgment whether Christianity is advancing or declining. 

 In this sphere w^e have to distinguish three things: (1) The popular 

 orthodoxy, which is determined by the consensus of teaching from 

 the pulpit; (2) the scholarly orthodoxy, which is determined by 

 the teaching of the theologian from the chairs of the theological 

 schools and in text-books of dogmatic theology; (3) the ofiicial 

 orthodoxy, which is determined by creeds, liturgies, confessions of 

 faith, and canons of the Church. 



There can be no doubt that there has been a great overturning 

 of dogma in our times, and it is altogether probable that this will 



