x Preface 



The objection to form may come from any critic. A 

 different one will surely come also from the evolutionist. 

 The book is written backwards. To find any but inci- 

 dental discussion of the lower stages of life you must 

 turn to the end. The explanation of this is simple. 



In Evolution and the Need of Atonement we started 

 from the beginning, the simplest organism, and we found 

 the necessity for a teleological interpretation of the 

 evolutionary process. 



In this book, therefore, following a sound metaphysi- 

 cal principle, we start from the end, and, after a pre- 

 liminary discussion of the problem of Being and Becom- 

 ing, consider first of all the Being of God, as the Ground 

 of Reality (Chapter I). I cannot think that this will 

 seem an unreasonable proceeding either to the philoso- 

 pher or to the religious-minded man. From our study 

 we conclude that the thought, and the very nature, of 

 man must mirror God truly, if incompletely (Chapter 

 II). Then we proceed to discuss the personality of man, 

 and to argue from that to the personality of God; and 

 we find in man just that triunity that seems to be de- 

 manded in the Being of God (Chapter III). Turning to 

 the problem of Christhood we then discuss the necessity 

 of God becoming Man, apart from the questions of sin 

 and atonement, in order to make the Divine Experience 

 completely coincident with the human, so that human 

 experience in its turn may be completely coincident 

 with the Divine, rendering perfect union possible be- 

 tween God and man. Some consequences and implica- 

 tions of Christhood are discussed at considerable length 

 (Chapters IV and V). 



Next, we argue the identity between the nature of 

 man and that of God, finding in this identity the only 

 sure intellectual ground of belief in human immortality 

 (Chapter VI). In the consideration of the awakening of 

 personality in man we next link up the preconscious 



