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THE REV. A. H. FINN ON 



exceptional genius and sympathy, but many different writers 

 of different ages combine to present it), humanity is depicted 

 as frail indeed and capable of terrible evil, yet also capable 

 of rising to heights of true nobility. Science may regard man 

 as nothing more than the climax of Evolution, the most highly- 

 developed of animals : pessimists may despair of the human 

 race, and consider it doomed to ultimate extinction : Scripture 

 consistently sets before us Man as pitiably fallen from his high 

 estate, but none the less originally created in the image of God, 

 an image defaced but not wholly effaced, and capable of renewal 

 by the grace of God. 



These are the two great Figures which stand out pre-eminently 

 on the pages of Holy Writ : God in all the glory of His infinite 

 Power and Wisdom, in the still higher majesty of His absolute 

 Righteousness, Mercy, and Holiness ; Man, entrusted with 

 sovereignty over the animal creation to which he is allied on 

 one side of his nature, potentially God-like in that he was fashioned 

 in the likeness of God. The lineaments of both unite and blend 

 in the portrait of the Christ. Truly human was He by reason 

 of His human birth, and development from infancy to full 

 manhood, advancing " in wisdom and stature." Like unto us 

 was He in being touched by hunger and thirst and weariness, 

 by joy and sorrow, anger and disappointment, by agony and 

 death. Specially human was He in His tender sympathy for 

 the suffering and erring, the weary and heavy-laden. Yet was 

 His manhood an ideal manhood. Even unbelievers have been 

 fain to confess the winning beauty of His character in its perfect 

 balance of gentleness and fearless courage, justice and mercy, 

 transparent truth and patient fortitude and flawless purity. 

 In Him " Mercy and truth are met together ; righteousness and 

 peace have kissed each other," and we can find a wealth of 

 meaning, far beyond what could have been intended by the 

 speaker, in Pilate's " Behold the Man." 



In like manner He displays the Divine attributes. His is the 

 power that can control the forces of nature, dispel disease and 

 infirmity, overmaster the malice of demons, and bring back 

 life to the dead. His is the wisdom which can discern the 

 distant future, can know what is in man even to the unspoken 

 thoughts of the heart, can speak as man never spoke and can 

 confute the wiliness of Herodian, Sadducee, and Pharisee. 

 His is the authority which is " Lord of the Sabbath " and extends 

 even to the Divine prerogative of the forgiveness of sins. His 



