SECULAR CONTl'lST HKTWFJON (^.ONS(!IENCK AND I'OWMH. lo/ 



in China India or Central Africa to-day with what it was only 

 fifty year's ago, they would find good grounds for abandoning their 

 presumption. 



Conclusion. 



Having now completed the task which 1 set before me, I will 

 ask you to spare me a few minutes longe-r, in which to summarise 

 briefly the lessons which I think may be learned from the incid(^nts 

 I have endeavoured to describe. 



In the first we have the conscience of three Hebi'ew youths 

 defying the autocratic world-power of Nebuchadnezzar in its 

 attempt to impose a universal idol-worship. In this case con- 

 science comes before us as operating in a purely n(!gative way. 



In the second scene we have the conscience of the twelve 

 apostles defying a religious authority, which originally had a 

 divine sanction over them but which now forbade them to preach 

 Christ. In this scene conscience is found to require its possessors 

 to occupy an aggressive and positive position. 



In the third scene we find the conscience of one man, Paul, 

 withstanding the force of public opinion and great and justly 

 honoured names in order to maintain th(^ world-wide character of 

 true Christian fellowship. 



In the fourth scene we have the conscience of one man, 

 Ambrose, withstanding the autocratic universal world-power of 

 the day in order to maintain the holiness of Christian fellowship. 



In the fifth scene wo find the conscience of one man, Luther, 

 leading him to defy all the [)ower and prestige of the great world- 

 system, into whicli the professing Christian churcl) had gradually 

 passed, in order to maintain the right of the individual to obey 

 his conscience. It is somewhat akin to our third scene, in that 

 it is the orthodox religious position which is assailed by conscience. 



In the sixth scene we have Calvin withstanding a democratic 

 state power in order to maintain the holiness of Christian fellow- 

 ship. This carries us back to our fourth scene, where the issue 

 was the same, although the power opposing conscience liere is 

 democratic rather than monarchic. 



In our seventh and last scene we have individual conscience 

 defying the conventions of an established religion, backed up by 

 popular opinion, in order to give eiffect to its irresistible impulse 

 to make known to the multitude a salvation received and enjoyed. 



Conscience is thus seen to have been the great determining 

 factor in each crisis in the evolution of true religion on the earth, 

 using the term religion in its proper sense as the answer on the 

 part of man to the Divine Revelation. It is this moral factor 

 of conscience which distinguishes the religion of the Bible from 

 the other religions, whether merely national or universal, as 

 Mahommedanism or Buddhism 



It may seem at first sight an exceptioij to this ihat in the 



