3l8 ESSAYS IN PHILOSOPHY 



must gradually become commanding. I only ask, 

 but I do ask earnestly, that you will think them 

 out as patiently as I have done these many years ; 

 and that you will bear in mind, as you listen and 

 think, that they are put forward with the sincere 

 purpose of rendering clearer, and more convincing, 

 the truth that there really is a Living God who is 

 "love indeed," and therefore God indeed — the ador- 

 able object of the loving devotion of all possible 

 spirits; that he is, and that he reigns with that rule 

 of freedom whereby alone a God can reign ; that of 

 his kingdom there can indeed be no end ; that his vic- 

 tories and the boundaries of his realm will literally 

 continue increasing forever. 



But let us proceed to our proper task. 



I 



Of the questions whether Determinism and Free- 

 dom are by any method reconcilable, and what the 

 steps in the method are, it seems plain that any 

 settlement must proceed upon recognising as true 

 the points which follow : 



(i) The desired harmony is impossible if deter- 

 minism is taken to imply Predestination. That is, 

 if it means a completely defined detail and order of 

 existence fixed from without the agent, and imposed 

 upon him by edict and constraint. In such a case 

 there could be no freedom. 



