THE PROBLEM OF FAITH 223 



same corrupted nature must be remorselessly 

 transmitted. What man who faces these facts 

 could dare to become a parent ! When the word 

 is given its deepest and truest significance, there is 

 disclosed this superlative truth, — salvation must be 

 not only deliverance from the guilt of sin and the 

 power of sin, but also escape from the operation of 

 the law by which a corrupt nature is inherited and 

 of necessity propagated in those who come after 

 us. Nothing less is worth the acceptance ; noth- 

 ing more could be desired. Salvation is deliver- 

 ance from the law of heredity, so far as it concerns 

 the possession and the necessary transmission of 

 an evil nature. It is the substitution of a pure 

 stock for one that was vitiated and weak. What 

 less than this could St. Paul have had in mind 

 when he wrote, " Even we ourselves groan within 

 ourselves, waiting . . . for the redemption of the 

 body " ; or, " The creature itself also shall be 

 delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 

 glorious liberty of the children of God .'' " 



Salvation as deliverance from corrupt heredity 

 is not often made prominent, but it requires plain 

 though delicate treatment. The majority of man- 

 kind probably come into existence by accident. 

 Beings so born, and endowed with more poten- 

 cies toward evil than virtue, need nothing so 



