What I desire to say with all my heart is that we pilgrims need not
be dismayed because the golden clue dips into darkness and mist; it
emerges as bright as ever upon the upward slope of the valley. If
one disregards all that is uncertain, all that cannot be held to be
securely proved in the sacred writings, there still remain the
essential facts of the Christian revelation, and more deep and
fruitful principles than a man can keep and make his own in the
course of a lifetime, however purely and faithfully he lives and
strives. To myself the doubtful matters are things absolutely
immaterial, like the debris of the mine, while the precious ore
gleams and sparkles in every boulder.
What, in effect, these critics say is that a man must not discuss
religion unless he is an expert in theology. When I try, as I have
once or twice tried, to criticise some current conception of a
Christian dogma, the theological reviewer, with a titter that
resembles the titter of Miss Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby, says
that a writer who presumes to discuss such questions ought to be
better acquainted with the modern developments of theology.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43