xiv Preface 



vindication of Personality is so completely ignored that 

 Time seems hardly yet pregnant with it; when all the 

 most indefensible blossoms of mediaeval speculation 

 have been culled and gathered into a bouquet of un- 

 approachable hideousness and labelled official Chris- 

 tianity ! So long as there is evidence of honest thought, 

 they welcome anything. Why not? In their own 

 ignorance who can expect them to be swift to mark the 

 ignorance of others? They are tired of childish lullabies. 

 What they ask is a clarion-call to thought and prayer. 

 Dare we refuse them? This book cannot begin to 

 satisfy their need, nor is it meant to. But its faults, its 

 errors, its weaknesses, its difficulties, do constitute a 

 challenge to those who are worthier to serve the younger 

 thought of England. I am certain that it is possible to 

 restate the Christian Fundamentals in terms that are 

 clear and simple, yet commend themselves under mod- 

 ern conditions ; for they are true. The way to such a new 

 formulation must be paved with hard thought, and this 

 book is but one short length of paving. Let others 

 correct and trim it, lay it more truly, pave the rest of 

 the road ; then let it be beautified, made straight and 

 pleasant, till a highway appears in which men may walk 

 surely, and way-faring men, even fools, not err therein. 

 I wish to take this opportunity of expressing my 

 gratitude for the ready help given to me in the course of 

 my work. Dr J. E. McTaggart and Canon V. F. Storr 

 have read Chapters I-III and made valuable suggestions 

 and criticisms, and they have further allowed me the 

 privilege of a full discussion of certain questions. They 

 are, however, in no way responsible for the general 

 views that are here put forward. Most of their sugges- 

 tions have been embodied, or modifications of expression 

 made to meet the points they raised. Some few, depend- 

 ing on a definite difference of standpoint, have been 

 passed over after full consideration. 



