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the outlandish word, begin to defend themselves against 
anthropomorphism. 
Plainly we are incapable of anything which is not human ; 
our thoughts, emotions, and actions are all human, and nothing 
but human. But the gentlemen who bring this charge do so 
avowedly for two reasons. First, that all such modes of 
thought are inadequate to produce any knowledge of God; 
and, secondly, that they are derogatory to the divine’ nature. 
But it must be remembered that their God is not the God of 
common men. He is not the Creator and Sustainer of the 
universe, but an abstraction of the human intellect, who is 
presented to us as the Absolute, the Unconditioned, the 
Infinite ; each and all of these and similar terms conveying 
the notion of an existence without attributes, without relations, 
without thought, without action, and therefore, to all normal 
human thought, without bemg. And this they virtually 
acknowledge, in declaring that all anthropomorphic,—that is, 
human,—modes of thought cannot apply to him. 
Nothing can more clearly show the non-natural, and, there- 
fore, worthless character of such speculations, than the 
acknowledgment that human thought cannot apply to such a 
conception any attribute of reality, as, indeed, it cannot. 
How can we conceive of an infinitude which fills immensity, 
and yet is nowhere; which comprehends all excellence, and 
yet has no particular virtue or power? Such a thing is simply 
a human creation, and the creators find their production so full 
of contradictions and absurdities, that they are unable to 
present it in an intelligible form to others. But instead of 
acknowledging their failure, as normal human modesty would 
suggest, they repudiate human language and human thought, 
because they reject the monstrosity. But let us never forget 
that the Absolute, the Unconditioned, the Infinite of modern 
philosophy has no existence but in the minds of the philoso- 
phers themselves; and there we may leave it, without any 
alarm for the consequences. 
But, while they amuse themselves with abstractions which 
are delusive and perverting, let us remember the Living God, 
our Maker, and the bountiful Donor of our blessings. And, 
while we keep our eyes open to all the operations of His hand 
in the physical sphere of His work, let us not fail to mark the 
effects of human action under His government, both on the 
actors themselves and on others also. Thus we shall learn 
much concerning His moral character, which will instruct and 
help us in our endeavours to walk uprightly before Him. 
But the more we study these questions, and the greater pro- 
