GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 325 



own ground. What his own ground was it may be well to 

 state in his own words, and those for whom these nice 

 points of theology have no attraction may be invited to 

 pass on to a subsequent page : I cannot, as a biographer, 

 omit so essential a portion of my task, because it is abstruse. 

 This, then, is my father's confession of faith, taken from a 

 letter written in 1878 : — 



" The whole of my theology rests on, and centres in, 

 " the Resurrection of Christ. That Jesus was raised from 

 " the dead, is an historical fact, the evidence for which is, 

 " in my judgment, impregnable. I ask no more than 

 " this ; everything else follows inevitably. A suffering, 

 " dying Christ, and yet an ever-reigning Christ, was the 

 " great theme of the Old Testament ; and Jesus did, on 

 " numerous occasions, during His life, predict His own 

 " death and resurrection, in order ' That the Scripture 

 " ' might be fulfilled, that thus it must be.' 



" That He was raised from the dead was distinctly the 

 " act of God the Father ; ' but God raised Him from the 

 11 • dead.' It was the solemn witness borne by God to 

 " His mission. It did not prove Him to be God ; but 

 * it proved Him to have been the Sent One of the 

 " Father ; it was the Father's seal to Him. 



" Now, then, every act and word of His comes with the 

 " authority of God ; for He is God's accredited delegate 

 " and spokesman. I must not pick and choose which 

 " of His sayings I will receive ; I dare refuse none ; for 

 " He never ceases to present the credentials of the Father. 

 " All the wondrous scenes through which He passed, the 

 " Temptation, the Transfiguration, the Agony, the Cross ; 

 " His transactions with a personal devil, and with personal 

 "demons; His revelations concerning His own pre- 

 " existence, His unity with the Father, the covenant of 

 " election, the perseverance of His saints, His advent and 



