: Some Essentials of Religion by Bidwell Edward John Contributor Cody John Henry Contributor Doull Alexander John Contributor Little Henry M Contributor Owen Derwyn Trevor Contributor Roper John Charles Contributor Smyth J Paterson John Paterson Contributor

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mercy and love,--whence came these, he enquires, for these are not material forces at all, they are intellectual and spiritual? He sees men die and infants born, and he asks whence do they come and whither are they going. He refuses to believe that this life sees the end of man for he has within himself the witness that he is spirit and not matter. It is in this refusal of the innermost being of a man to consent to any materialistic explanation of the phenomena of nature or of human life that faith declares itself. The judgment which insists that the only adequate explanation of the universe must be sought on the basis of the existence of a spiritual world permeating all that is seen in human life, and that behind it all as its source and origin, as its upholder and controlling power, is God--this is faith.

Further. Faith--living faith--is the elemental act within man going forth from him as a son in search for the knowledge of God as Father. It is the greatest energising force within man, for it includes within itself the other capacities within man's personality, such as his emotions and his will; and in the case of the intellect,--it embraces all that the intellect can accomplish, and then goes beyond the limit which intellect can reach. For faith takes all the conclusions arrived at by man's intellect, and then, supported by these conclusions, makes its venture as it were by the very power which is its own.

FAITH GOES FURTHER THAN REASON.

Think for the moment of the subordinate part played by reason in relation to both heroism and love. Heroism is universally admired. It springs spontaneously from within. It makes few calculations. It seldom weighs the pros, and cons. It may act rationally or in defiance of reason. It cannot stop to argue. It may court certain destruction. The challenge is accepted. The heroic action is done. And is it not the same with the affections? Whoever met the lover who became so through his intellect? Who can know what love is except by loving? The lover does not sit down and reason the matter out, and after weighing all considerations say, "Yes, I will now love." Tell him to act thus and he will laugh outright. Love it is which draws him and causes him to act. He finds himself acting as he does just because he is in love, that is all. 'Tis true that reason exercises her part. Reason may show him that his love is harmful, or on the contrary that it has the sanction of his best judgment. But it can do no more. Evidence can be found everywhere to the fact of love recklessly pursuing its career in spite of reason. Reason has its limitations and love goes beyond it; outstrips it like heroism. It is exactly the same with faith. If you want to know what faith is, give yourself up to its influence, let yourself go out in response to it, let it carry you along, until by experience you will come to know the power of faith and the illumination of faith and the reality of faith. Other faculties will come to your aid to assist and to guide, but they can never be a substitute for faith. The personal knowledge of God can only be reached through faith. .

FAITH GOES FURTHER THAN REASON IN HUMAN AFFAIRS.

There are people who feel that they can only tread where the ground is solid; where they see quite clearly what is ahead; who take no risks; who venture nothing. Yet it is utterly impossible to live so in real life. Most of the business transacted in the world is based on a system of credits; and credit is but another name for faith in personal honesty. The financial investments that are made are ventures of faith as to profits and returns. Business foresight which is a great asset to success in life relies upon the invariableness and calculated changes likely to occur. The invalid carries out the doctor's instructions to the extent of his faith in his physician. The reader of the daily newspaper has faith in the reliability of the news served up to him. The history that men read, or the school textbooks used by children, postulate the veracity of the authors of these works. Friendships are an impossibility without the repose of faith. In short everywhere and in every department of life there can be no knowledge nor growth nor progress without faith. As I write the International Conference is taking place at Genoa where the chief obstacle to the task of putting Europe upon a peaceful economic basis is the suspicions, the lack of faith in one another that prevails, not without cause, among the nations.

So when God, Who is Spirit, tells us He can only be apprehended by faith it is childish to quarrel with this necessary condition, because He is only asking of His children the same attitude towards Him which is everywhere adopted by humanity in its social relationships, consciously or unconsciously, as an essential condition of human happiness and progress.

FAITH A BOND OF FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD

Faith is required of men, not because God grudges information, but because He desires for man the unspeakable blessing of a willing, longing, intimate friendship with Himself. Among the heathen nations "He left not Himself without witness, if haply they might seek after Him and find Him." He selected Abram and called him forth from Ur to be a father of a nation. To that nation, tried and disciplined, He disclosed Himself "in fragmentary portions and in divers manners," by a long line of inspired writers and prophets, until at last "in the fulness of time God sent forth His Son."

The Incarnation discloses the distance the Father will travel to meet His lost children, if by faith they will return to Him, and live the life of restored fellowship. Thus we understand why Jesus pleads and entreats and warns; it is because the loss of faith has such terrible consequences--consequences which in their harm to oneself and to others are incalculable. Through Jesus God has revealed the passion of His heart, His yearning love for the souls of men.

GOD DEMANDS OUR ENTIRE PERSONALITY.

The faith which God requires will include within it the exercise of all man's capacities and powers; there will be in the end no part of his personality and no department of his life which is not contributary to, or influenced by, his faith; for faith will be the means for the rounding out and the perfecting of the character. It will include the directing of the will, it will find scope for the emotions, it will receive the sanction of the intellect--it will be the movement of the entire man Godwards.

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