MORAL BIAS IN HUMAN NATURE 73 



flesh and the spirit, and that the struggle is not 

 of itself an indication of a sinful condition? The 

 human spirit is to seek its welfare as an end of 

 its existence; but the manner of the attainment 

 of that end, paradoxically enough, is to transfer 

 the center of its activities from its own being to 

 the heart of God Himself. One must love him- 

 self ; but when he looks for the means of promoting 

 his welfare, he discovers that it is self-forgetful- 

 ness and mindfulness of the glory of God, of His 

 Kingdom, and of His other children. This does 

 not constitute a contradiction, even though it be 

 a paradox. It is simply a revelation of the mar- 

 velous wisdom of God in His provision for the 

 welfare of myself and my brother at the same 

 time by a single action through an altruistic law. 



That discovery, whenever it comes, will pre- 

 cipitate a crisis. Until the hour of that discovery 

 it can not be said that the direct seeking of our 

 individual good is a sin ; it is only a mistake. Now, 

 if one shall reject the operation of this altruistic 

 law, the identical direct seeking of the good for 

 one 's self is no longer a mistake ; it is a sin. But 

 if one yields his self-seeking, he will avoid the sin 

 and be lifted out of his mistake* 



If any one shall regard this crisis and its so- 

 lution as a conversion, we will have no contro- 

 versy. We point out only that the change is a 

 change in the spiritual nature, but not of moral 

 character. There was no condemnation before; 

 there is none after. It is a change that grows 



