HORIZON LINES 



the nth power, is not God; he is still man. I fancy 

 that with most men the denial of a God means sim- 

 ply this: there is no God who can be described in the 

 terms usually employed. One is an atheist because 

 he cannot accept a God made in man's image. It be- 

 littles the Mystery. Our belief in God is so radical 

 that we reject half-gods. The fatherhood of God 

 means no more than the manhood of God, or the 

 governorship, or the judgeship, of God. 



In many respects the manlike God falls below his 

 human prototype, being more cruel than any hu- 

 man being dares to be. 



No, we cannot measure the Infinite Mystery with 

 our foot-rule. Boundless space is the negation of 

 space. We can say that there is no space in the sense 

 that we can say that there is no God. There is no 

 motion unless there is something at rest; there is no 

 Infinite Good unless there is Infinite Evil. Hence we 

 have invented a hell to balance heaven, a Devil to 

 offset God. 



The universe is a reality, though we cannot define 

 it. Life goes on, though we cannot account for it. 

 Boundless space exists, though words fail us in the 

 attempt to fathom it. The earth has its center, 

 though we do not know whether we should be stand- 

 ing on our heads or our heels were we to reach it. 

 Heavenly bodies do collide, though we cannot visu- 

 alize the collision. Our language fails us when we 

 come to the ultimate questions. 



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