254 ASSAYS IX PHILOSOPHY 



the equality of sharing in that fuhiess of spiritual 

 powers which constitutes the Divine glory. He 

 felt the unspeakable courage, resting on settled 

 conviction, which emboldened him to say, " I and 

 the Father are one " ; and he invites all men, as his 

 brethren, to avow for themselves, and to seek, the 

 same unity with God in a divine character. It is 

 in an entirely just appreciation of this as Christ's 

 meaning, that the writer of the Fourth Gospel 

 represents him as praying for those that God has 

 given him, "that they may be one, as Thou and I 

 are one," and declares of the Eternal Word, that 

 "to as many as believed on His name, He gave the 

 power to become sons of God." 



Under this new inspiring and regenerative con- 

 ception, religion changes from the worship of an 

 exalted and unapproachable Sovereign into a joyful 

 communion in all goodness and nobility with a per- 

 fect Guide and Friend. The spirit of awe is re- 

 placed by the spirit of confidence and friendship. 

 Religion passes out of the stages, however high 

 they may be, of the religions of Faith or the reli- 

 gions of Hope, — religions that are actuated by 

 nothing higher than fealty and trust, or than longing 

 aspiration with some chance for fulfilment, — and 

 enters into the stage of the religion of Love. Here, 

 not devout fidelity to an accepted authority, merely, 

 and not merely the encouraging hope that service 



