3o8 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



The very essence of Christianity is that the race, i.e., 

 all men, is " saved " by the salvation of each, individually. 

 Salvation is simply the Christ-like character and conduct. 

 No "race" can be saved if its individuals be not ; for the 

 term is simply an abstraction. How then can the author's 

 hope for the reconciliation between egoism and altruism 

 be true for the race, if that reconciliation be not found in 

 the heart and life o{ each individual oi ihe. race? 



It has been said that Nature is regardless of the in- 

 dividual, but is careful of the type. No biologist can 

 endorse that. The type is the " species " or " genus," or 

 whatever word stands for a " group " of individuals. How 

 then can Nature care more for the type than for the in- 

 dividuals of which it consists? 



But what does Evolution say ? Travelling back 

 through the past history of the world we find types have 

 come and gone over and over again. They have been 

 swept away as soon as the individuals vanished. 



It has often been observed that Christianity differs 

 from Judaism, in that Christ proved the love of the 

 Father and Himself for each individual soul ; whereas 

 a Jew was a unit in the race, for which Jahweh only 

 cared. That may have been generally the human way 

 of thinking ; but there is plenty of evidence that many 

 regarded the God of Heaven otherwise — as a God of 

 mercy, the God of the fatherless and the widow ; as One, 

 who though inhabiting Eternity, could yet dwell with 

 the humble and the contrite man. 



It is this trait of the Deity which Christ especially 

 taught by imparting a new meaning to " Father ". In 

 the Old Testament as "Father," He was the Creator 

 only, as Father in the New Testament, we have a living 

 Parent who will, so to say, speak to us face to face. 



(8) Though supernatural religion may not be ap- 



