364 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



reports our Lord to have Himself said : "This is the will 

 of My Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and 

 believeth in Him, should have eternal life ; and I will 

 raise him up at the last day "} 



Man may resemble the animals, and live a purely 

 automatic existence, their consciousness of volition being 

 arrested, dormant, or in the worst cases, practically ex- 

 tinct. They are what St. Paul calls " natural " as op- 

 posed to the " spiritual ". They allow themselves to 

 become automata like all animals ; namely, swayed by 

 the stronger motive at the time of temptation or other 

 occasion, without allowing themselves to reflect upon 

 their actions. 



' The germ or spark of the higher life may be there — 

 that potentiality of holiness — which requires to be fanned 

 into a flame of enthusiasm for righteousness. 



This possibility of Regeneration is in every one, or 

 the living the higher life in Christ. 



Every one who lives up to his light is on the high road 

 to " have the Son," whether he ever heard of Him or not, 

 like the Good Samaritan. 



St. Peter's vision revealed this truth to Him. 



On the other hand, every one who refuses to live up 

 to his light, and persistently follows the ways of dark- 

 ness, repudiates the Son, "quenches the Spirit" within 

 him, and so he ivill not have Life or the Son. 



Hence, and all the New Testament supports this 

 view, that it is the cultivation of the Spiritual Life which 

 ensures Immortality for man and man alone. 



It may be said that many men are forced into evil 

 lives, by their environments ; that infants and children 

 have died, never having had the opportunity of a moral 

 education, l^ut may not this be an argument for a future 



' John vi. .)(). 



