ALFRED T. SCHOFIELD, M.D., ON CHRISTIAN SANITY. 25 



impress upon all those who professed and called themselves 

 Christians the great responsibility of exhibiting " sanity " in their 

 own lives and conduct. 



We are all familiar with instances where the profession of Christian 

 discipleship has been accompanied by a very eccentric and un- 

 natural manner of life, coupled sometimes with eccentricity in the 

 manner of expressing the Christian Faith, and even occasionally in 

 the form of dress, which, although adopted with the best of motives, 

 undoubtedly tend very greatly to alienate others who are attracted 

 by the Personality and Divine claims of our Lord and Master. 

 Although the enemies of Jesus Christ said, " He hath a devil," this 

 was not due to any lack of " sanity " on the part of Christ Himself, 

 but to personal enmity towards the truths which He taught ; and 

 if, as we believe, Christianity was intended to meet the needs of the 

 whole human race, it is incumbent upon the followers of Christ to 

 see that they neither add anything to, nor take anything from, 

 God's revelation of Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ. 



Mr. W. HoSTE was thankful for the lecturer's words on p. 20 as 

 to the danger to sanity of giving up self-control. Is there not a very 

 false, though commonly received, idea to-day among Christian 

 people, that the normal way in which the Spirit guides is to do so 

 in spite of ourselves ? This has favoured aberration from Christian 

 sanity. Demon possession was characterized in the New Testament 

 by this. We read of a boy being cast into water and into fire by a 

 demon. The Gentiles were carried away unto dumb idols. But 

 the Holy Spirit respects our personality. The Christian is left so far 

 master of himself as to be able to ask himself questions as to the 

 fitness of things ; sanctified common sense is not excluded, as we 

 see in i Cor. xiv, where we see that a man should consider before 

 exercising His gift : Is this suitable for edification ? Have enough 

 speakers taken part ? A man should not lose his self-control, if 

 he is to be truly controlled by the Spirit through the Word of God, 

 otherwise he may find himself the plaything of some false spirit. 



Mr. T, Atkinson Gillespie : As to the question of " self-control," 

 p. 20 of this most able paper, Avhich has been referred to by the 

 previous speaker, I would like to point out that towards the close 

 of the Lord's ministry there were two missions, the mission of the 



