THE PRE-REQUISITES OF A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY. 233 



be ignored. But of course the study of the Biblical revelation 

 means not only careful reading, criticism, comparison of texts, 

 but reflexion upon the substance of the message in itself. And 

 the result of this reflexion, to my mind, helps us to see how 

 Biblical Study and Philosophy can go hand in hand. For the 

 great feature of the Bible, which gives it its impress of 

 inspiration, is the convergence of different minds and different 

 lines of teaching to the one centre. 



Christian doctrine is, I think, essentially one rather than 

 many, and it is just this organic unity which makes it a fruitful 

 subject of philosophical understanding no less than of exegetical 

 study. That is why, in the course of my remarks, T have passed 

 freely between Theism pure and simple and the Christian Faith 

 as a whole. The position maintained by Thomas Aquinas, and 

 accepted officially — or quasi-officially — by the Koman Catholic 

 Church, is that whereas distinctive Christian truth is a matter 

 of special Divine revelation, the doctrine of God is accessible to 

 the natural mind. There is no doubt an element of truth in 

 this, but only an element. We cannot possibly draw this 

 sharp line of demarcation between the doctrine of God and the 

 doctrine of Christ. Theism as such is indefinitely enriched by 

 Christianity. The new revelation of the Father which Christ 

 brought extends into Philosophy itself — such is my conviction. 

 Tlie fact of the Incarnation is not an appendage to 

 Philosophy. When once its truth is accepted, Theism without 

 it is an unfinished structure, a broken pillar, an arrested 

 process of thought. And as to all the main doctrines of the 

 Christian creed, I am prepared to affirm that not one could be 

 excluded without, at the last analysis, destroying the whole 

 structure. 



This is the unity of truth that Philosophy itself demands, — 

 the unity of Christian belief within itself, of Christianity with 

 Theism, of Theism w^ith tlie broad principles of Thought in 

 general. And by unity is here meant more than harmony, 

 more than mutual complement : nothing less than organic 

 wholeness and interpenetration. I cannot think that a really 

 satisfactory Christian Philosophy can arise without at least the 

 recognition of this as the ideal. 



Yet we must not blink the fact that we are up against a most 

 difficult question, made indeed more acute, on the face of it, by 

 the claims here made for Christian Philosophy. AVhat is the 

 relation of general truth to historic truth ? Is not the coming 

 of Christ, whatever else it may be, an empirical occurrence, 

 involved in an historical context, committed to certain conclusions 



