226 HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS 



yet he is supposed to be responsive to the ministry 

 of the Spirit of God. How may these apparent 

 contradictions be reconciled ? This inquiry brings 

 us to another which has not yet been fully an- 

 swered, — What constitutes human environment? 

 Is it composed only of what we call nature, and 

 of men in their individual and corporate relations ? 

 Or, is there, besides these, what may be termed 

 an environment of spirit ? The influences which 

 mould the life of man are not all material : the 

 most potent are not light and shade, heat and 

 moisture, but others more impalpable which come 

 from the spirits which men are, and by which all 

 are surrounded. Materialists alone would limit 

 the social environment to material organisms ; all 

 others believe that in it are beings whose force is 

 the most potent that has to do with the growth 

 and modification of human personality. Not 

 bodies, but spirits, constitute the social environ- 

 ment. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Spirit 

 means not only that each man is surrounded by 

 human spirits, but also that his days are passed in 

 the presence of the absolute, the universal Spirit 

 immanent in the universe. When we speak of 

 environment, we include not only the physical 

 conformation of the country, the brightness or 

 dulness of the skies, the climate, the houses in 



