viii Appeal from the Letter to the Spirit. 149 



Thus, when we are told, on the strength of the 

 apparent grammatical meaning of passages of Scrip- 

 ture, or of logical inference from them, that there is 

 no hope for those who depart out of the present life 

 unreconciled to God, we have a right to say The, 

 Lord Jehovah, the Eternal, will not always chide: 

 neither will He keep His anger for ever. 1 Christ is the 

 Prince of Peace ; 2 God is the God of Hope, 3 and His 

 name is Love. 4 The Prince of Peace cannot for ever 

 be at war with those over whom He reigns ; the God 

 of Hope cannot leave any in hopelessness ; and the 

 God who is Love will sooner or later be reconciled to 

 all. When we are told that we shall lose for 

 eternity any of those whom we have loved on earth, 

 we have a right to reply, He that spared not His own 

 Son, hit delivered Him up for us all, shall He not also 

 with Him freely give us all things ? 5 We are more than 

 conquerors through Him that loved us 6 conquerors not 

 only for ourselves, but for others. God is able to do 

 exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think ; 7 

 and why should He remind us of this, unless He 

 were not only able but willing 1 Whether the world, 

 or life, oi' death, or things present, or things to come; all 

 are ours ; and we are Christ's ; and Christ is God's. 8 

 When we are told that the possibilities of God's 

 mercy are bounded by place and time by the limits 

 of this world and of the present life we have a right 



1 Psalm ciii. 9. - Isaiah ix. 6. 3 Romans xv. 13. 



4 1st Epistle of John iv. 8, 16. 5 Romans viii. 32. 



6 Romans viii. 37. 7 Eph. iii. 20. 8 1 Cor. iii. 22. 



