20 ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD^ M.D., ON CHRISTIAN SANITY. 



Over half of the large number of lives investigated have this 

 object first. One- quarter had as ideals Christian perfection and^ 

 pleasing Grod. 



It is well to note that the number of those whose ideals were 

 objective and altruistic (out of 1000 carefully examined lives) 

 is double those whose ideals were subjective, and partly egoistic. 

 Nearly half had God as the leading aspiration, one-third Christ, 

 and one-qaarter the future life, while the rest had good conduct. 

 Most Christians over forty set God and good conduct principally 

 first. 



Dependence on God, re\'erence, and praise to God, were the 

 three most prominent feelings ; while faith, happiness and peace 

 were secondary. 



Peace and holiness were the principal desires between twenty 

 and fifty ; afterwards interest in God, the general trend being 

 from the subjective and egoistic to the objective and altruistic. 



These statistics are not given as absolutely accurate, but 

 simply as representing the sober statements of a large number of 

 educated Christian men and women, who voluntarily replied to a 

 number of carefully arranged questions, and are quoted here to 

 show the eminent sanity of Christianity fer se. 



Danger really begins either in specializing, or in not closely 

 following the Divine Guide in the Bible. 



Whenever there is any giving up or loss of self-control 

 (iyKpareia) sanity is endangered. 



It is a mere quibble to object to the words " self-control and 

 substitute " God or " Spirit " control, for it is the self which 

 is controlled, the controller being the human will, energized 

 doubtless by Divine power ; but not, as false teachers assert, 

 paralyzed and destroyed by the same power. Such ideas are of 

 the greatest peril to Christian sanity. 



I am indeed fully persuaded that so far from surrender of self- 

 control aiding spiritual advance, that it is impossible to reach 

 true spiritual heights without this sane quality. S. Paul 

 himself declares that without it he would be utterly unfit for his 

 high service (i Cor. ix, 27), and no trace of any such loss can be 

 found in the life of our great Exemplar. 



Consider the marked sanity of leaders in the Christian Church 

 — of Liddon, of Lightfoot, of Westcott and of countless others. 



In the mission field, of Hudson Taylor, of Paton, of Moffatt, 

 of Carey, of Hannington, of Moody, of Torrey, of Pierson. 



My own brother Avas accounted mad for giving up his eminent 



