Christianity as a unique
power in the world, a power which transfigures human life, which tears
habitude up by the roots, and which gives new strength to the will, new
eyes to the soul, and a new reality to the understanding; this, strange
to say, is an unusual, perhaps an unpopular subject of clerical
discourse. It is Miss Royden's insistent contribution to modern
theology.
She tells me that so far as her own experience goes, humanity does not
seem to be troubled by intellectual doubts. She is inclined to think
that it is even sick of such discussions, and is apt to describe them
roughly and impatiently as "mere talk." Humanity, as she sees it, is
immersed in the incessant struggle of moral evolution.
There is an empiricism of religion which is worth attention. It
challenges the sceptic to explain both the conversion of the sinner and
the beauty of the saint. If religion can change a man's whole character
in the twinkling of an eye, if it can give a beauty of holiness to human
nature such as is felt by all men to be the highest expression of man's
spirit, truly it is a science of life which works, and one which its
critics must explain. The theories of dogmatist and traditionalist are
not the authentic documents of the Christian religion. Let the sceptic
bring his indictment against the changed lives of those who attribute to
Christ alone the daily miracle of their gladness.
Pages:
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127