pends very much on what you are writing. If you are saying that pens can be converted into paper, and claiming that you can perform the miracle of so transforming them, the act of so transforming your pen into paper would be the best proof you could give of the truth of what you are teaching, and of your power to do what you claim to be able to do. So precisely with our LORD and His miracles. He claimed to be the SAVIOUR of the world and the Deliverer of men. He wrought miracles of deliverance and salvation. He promised to raise men from death and the grave, and He not only raised others but He raised Himself. His miracles might not prove a truth of Mathematics or of Natural Science. But they did prove Him to be what He claimed to be, a SAVIOUR, the SAVIOUR of men; "mighty" and able to save. They showed Him to be GOD, as doing that which GOD alone can do, thus giving us our highest ideal of perfect or infinite wisdom and power, and of infinite goodness as well. Considering, then, our LORD as an incarnation of GOD, the infinite and Eternal Being, who is without beginning of days, or end of years, to whom all things are present and all thoughts are known, the eternal and One who because of His very nature as infinite and eternal can speak in the present tense of whatever was, is, or is to come, in relation to men and the events of time, we have a manifestation of GOD, one in whom dwelt "all the fullness of GOD," a complete manifestation of His character and attributes.

But in these latter days there are those who doubt whether the miracles were performed, and who in consequence would reduce our LORD to be a mere man. For without the miracles, and especially the greatest, the Incarnation and the Resurrection, we have in Him no such manifestation of the Divine nature and attributes as will enable us to accept them without question and verification by comparison with something else. If GOD was in Him, spake in His words and acted in His acts, then we have GOD by these words and acts as we know any one of our fellow-men by what he says and does. Words and acts manifest the mind, the man that is in the body. The attitude of men towards the miracles in these latter days is, however, reversed from what it was at first. Our LORD could say, "believe Me for the very work's sake." He made miracles the ground of faith and of belief, and on this ground the Apostles and first preachers of Christianity challenged the belief of those whom they addressed, and by so doing they converted the world to CHRIST and Christianity. But in these days men doubt the miracles, and there is an important sense in which they believe not Christianity for the sake of the miracles, but the miracles (if they believe them at all) for the sake of Christianity. That is, Christianity so commends itself to our judgments, and has wrought such good in the world, that we

are ready to regard it as having had an origin that is above anything that is merely human, and as worthy of a Divine origin and the interposition of GOD by miracles. Nothing but the worthiness of the occasion can induce us to believe in any such extraordinary occurrences.

Nor can it be doubted that the great amount of attention that has been given to the natural sciences has done much to render men skeptical in regard to the reality and the possibility of miracles, and to make them disinclined to believe that any have been wrought. A deeper view of nature will be sure to dispel this illusion. There is no conprehending nature without the recognition of GOD as a miracle-worker. This world and all the material universe, so far as we know it, is undergoing a change,—is in pro cess of evolution or development, which must have begun in time, and which, therefore, points to a time when it was not. If even matter existed then, it was in a diffused gaseous state, without chemical combinations or organizations, and the masses that now constitute the sun and stars, our earth and its moon included, sustained no such relation to each other as they do now, and have sustained for a few millions of years past. Who or what was before this? It may, indeed, be a piece of mechanism, like a watch which now runs of itself. But there was a time when the brass, steel, and gold of the watch did not exist in their present rela tion, and even now it is no example of perpetual motion. The watch runs and keeps time only as it is wound up by a power that is not a mere piece of mechanism,-something totally unlike mechanism,—by some intelligent person. Evolution-a theory that is now in great favor-is but a process. is no adequate explanation of anything. It had a beginning; it must come to an end. It has a subject-matter to work upon that it did not create and cannot destroy. It had a beginning which it did not originate, and it is under a law which it did not ordain, and it will come to an end, when whatever is eternal in its nature will continue on as though evolution had never begun; to an end when all that is in its course or compass must either be wound up again like a watch or stand still in an endless condemnation of matter forever. But with GoD as its Author and Creator of its subject-matter, with His will as its limit and its law, and His purpose as the explanation of whatever has been, now is, or shall be in the course of mundane affairs, all is intelligible. But GoD as the Beginner was a miracle-worker, and every interposition of His power to produce a new order of things or to originate a new era is a miracle. Of such interventions we can mention several that no scientific man can doubt. There was a beginning of chemical action, of condensation, and of motion. At a time not far in the past, comparatively, there was another interposition, when some of the ele ments became living matter,-plants and ani

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mals, with the hitherto unknown phenomens of growth and reproduction of decay and death. And so, too, all researches have thus far failed to find any way to account for the introduction of the new species of plants and animals which have followed each other in the successions of geological time, until at last, and quite recently, man made his appearance, without special Divine interposition in each case. In the present state of our scientific knowledge they are as undeniable as they are unexplainable without a recognition of Divine interposition,-which is as miraculous in its nature as the introduction of Christianity, including the Incarnation and the Resurrection with all the miracles that are ascribed to our LORD. Science justifies our belief in the miracles of Revelation. This clear justification must be urged, since great efforts are made to find a theory of evolution or development that shall explain all without a recognition of Divine power. And thus nature and its interpreted science justifies and vindicates our acceptance of the Bible as the Word of GOD,-as a manifestation of His nature and attributes.

Having once proved from mere inanimate nature, from the nature of matter that there must have been, and must still be, something that is above nature, something that is spiritual in its nature, nay, something that is a Personal Agent and Creator, the phenomena of the material universe become a manifestation of the attributes and will of GOD. Not only does nature, considered as the work of His hands, show His wisdom in planning it and His power and omnipresence in executing His plans and in carrying on its course of events, its evolutions, but its phenomena every where show His purpose as well as by the principle of what we call final causes. Thus a watch or any other piece of mechanism shows not only the skill and physical strength of the maker, but it shows also that he had a purpose, a design, a final cause in planning and making the mechanism. As we consider the movements of the hands and study its internal structure, we cannot doubt that the maker of a watch designed that by the continuance and regularity of its movements it should indicate the passage of time as truly as the sun and the stars indicate the same fact by their motions, and far more conveniently for our use. In this view, any fact or phenomena of nature, every law or truth of science, is an expression of GOD's will and purpose in nature, as truly as any fact of sacred history and any command of duty is an indication of His will and purpose in history and in the affairs of man. Whatever occurs in nature or in history, in the phenomena of the natural world or in the life of man, is indicative of the way in which He would have things done by man, and those creatures of His hand who can understand His laws and choose for themselves what they will do, and whether they will do right or

wrong. Even whatever is painful and adverse to our wishes must be regarded as a proof of those remedial measures by which He would either prevent wrong-doing or obviate its evil consequences. Hence not only the more striking and remarkable indications of design and adaptation of means to ends, but the more uniform and regular of natural phenomena are indications of the way in which He would have things done, and proofs of His wisdom and power. And the more perfectly regular and uniform they are, the better do they indicate His wisdom and power, just as in human works the perfection of the machinery and the completeness and the certainty with which it accomplishes what it was designed for, the greater skill does it show in the designer and maker of the machine. The law of gravity explains God's will in the universe of matter as truly as the law of love expresses that will in the world of social being, and the fact that they fall-atoms and masses-proves His presence and agency as truly, though not as strikingly, as the miracles that are recorded in the New Testament. It is worthy of note that in nature the two attributes of wisdom and power are more conspicuously manifested. Love, benevolence, or goodness, are indeed the predominance of happiness over misery and suffering. But the extent and amount of suffering has led some persons to doubt whether nature alone, and by itself, shows that His goodness or love is infinite, or without limit, or admixture of some feeling of a different nature. "We cannot," say the objectors, "see why there should be suffering at all, or if any, why there should be so much, or why it should be seen so often wher. there can be no offense in the sufferer to occasion it, nor any apparent benefit to make it a means of greater happiness." But we must remember that we can at best understand the matter only imperfectly; and especially that, to judge of GOD's dealings

and of His works as indicative of His attributes, we must not neglect to take into account what He has done by way of Revelation, and especially by sending His Son to be a way and a means of salvation. This is a part of His work, and is necessary to a full manifestation of His attributes of goodness, love, and mercy, and they do manifest them as no other acts of His have done or can do.

The "New Philosophy," as it is sometimes called, has helped our natural theology in several ways. While there are, indeed, some men of peculiarly constituted minds who have taken extreme views and thought that nature was comprehensible without GOD, the general tendency has been-and the final result will be-to give greater distinction and sharper outlines to the facts and principles of science which make the presence and agency of GOD more manifest and incapable of doubt or denial than it was before. We know now more precisely what we can

ascribe to matter and the forces of nature, and just where the agency of GOD comes in, than we did a few years ago. He must have begun the present "evolution," and He must have interposed specially and by way of miracle many times since; and even the forces of nature,' " to which as to second causes we are accustomed to ascribe the phenomena of nature, are seen to be nothing without Him. We have seen that "evolution" cannot be eternal, and a world of mere matter without GOD could no more go on forever through a series of successive evolutions than a watch could run forever without being repeatedly wound up.

We have alluded to the flood of light the recent attainments in science have thrown upon the concise and rather obscure statements in the first chapter of Genesis. But there are many other statements and profound principles in the Bible which these illustrate, and to which they give a new meaning or a fullness of meaning which had not before been recognized. We have been accustomed to regard GOD's action in nature as ending on the "sixth day." But our LORD said, "MY FATHER worketh hitherto, and I work (St. John v. 17). Hitherto, "until now," GOD worked in creating, until the appearance of man. He worked in history and in providence from this creation until the birth of CHRIST, and He in CHRIST Works now, and has wrought ever since the Incarnation," in the regeneration" (St. Matt. xix. 18). In this stage of His work, and to accomplish it, the WORD became incarnate, suffered on the Cross, instituted His Church, with its Worship and Sacraments, its Ministry and Discipline, and for this He sent the HOLY GHOST to lead His disciples and His people "unto all truth," and for this and by way of carrying it on, He from that day to this has called and sent holy men as ministers, evangelists, and missionaries of His word. (Eph. iv. 12, 18.) Again, the students of nature and natural science claim to have found as one of GoD's Laws what they call the struggle for life, with survival of the fittest." In view of this Law, anything in nature is considered as having a desire to prolong its existence, and laboring under the necessity, in order to do so, of continued exertion and of avoiding the enemies which otherwise would terminate its existence. And if we suppose any change in circumstances or environment, the one that has the greatest capacity or willingness to adapt itself to the new conditions is most likely to live, is "fittest to survive" under the circumstances. And in both these ways, it is held, the natural species are undergoing changes which are, on the whole, with few exceptions, in the direction of improvement and advance towards a higher type or a higher mode of life. In this way it is held that one branch of the human family, by migrations from the original centres and encountering on its way new environments and new climates, has become red like the Mon

golians, another black like the negroes, while in Europe the race has advanced in stature, size of brain, and other physical conditions which give opportunity for a higher civilization. Now our LORD in the Sermon on the Mount announced this law as pertaining to nations, religions, and institutions, of society and of civilization, under the symbol of trees good trees bringing forth good fruit, and bad trees that cannot bring forth good fruit, but are hewn down and cast into the fire (St. Matt. vii.). This is but history. Whatever is doing the will of GoD and is accomplishing His purposes is spared, and is a success so long as it is needed and does His work. But success does not always imply godliness. The worst of men and the most ferocious of tyrants have sometimes been successful. But they were executing the will of GOD upon those who were not doing His will or regardful of His laws. They are made to clear away the obstacles to the accomplishment of His plans, to bury the dead, remove the offal, and consign to oblivion the institutions of evil. Our LORD could not have been betrayed and crucified-as it was foretold He should be, and as it was needful for the shedding of His most precious blood that taketh away the sin of the world-if there had not been a heartless traitor and a still more heartless rabble to execute the purpose. It is doubtful whether the early converts to Christianity would have been sufficiently impressed with the nature and value of Christianity if it had not been for the violence of its persecutors, giving occa sion for confession and for martyrdom. Judaism and the Jewish nation lasted as long as it and they were preparing for the coming of CHRIST. But when they failed to do God's work they became an evil tree, -and the Romans, who certainly were no better in most respects than the Jews, did GOD's work, drove them from their homes and destroyed their city. They live, al though scattered, despised, and persecuted, because they are doing one part of God's work as no other people or agency could do

it.

But the other people of that age who did not accept the Gospel have passed away, and all their religious and their political institu tions, their philosophies, and whatever else was a means of influencing the lives of men. Within a few centuries after the introduc tion of Christianity there were no heathen or unconverted peoples or families within the domain of what was then the civilized world. Fix your attention upon any family, village, or neighborhood of people as it was then, and ask yourself what has become of their posterity, and you will find that many were con verted and brought into the Church, and the rest of them, if indeed any were not converted, became extinct, leaving neither name nor descendants. So with doctrines, usages, and institutions within the Church, whether good or bad, they come in when there is occasion for them or work for them to de,

stay as long as they are needed for their work, and that is forever if they are intrinsically good, but if they are or become bad, they are like the evil tree that no longer bringing forth good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire. The matter is sometimes treated as though our LORD in these words was giving a test for the characters of men. But this can hardly have been His purpose. The context clearly shows that He had something else in mind, and the view we have taken of it points to history as a manifestation of GoD's purposes and attributes, no less than the phenomena of nature. And in fact history exhibits some of His attributesHis benevolence, His love, His personalitybetter than mere inanimate nature or even the animal creation can do. In mere nature there is nothing to resist or to counteract His will; hence with infinite wisdom and power there may be, as we see that there is, perfect uniformity, and this observed uniformity has been urged by objectors and skeptics as a reason for denying the personality of GOD. But in history we have human beings with a power of choice of their own. And here it is that we find GOD apparently changing His purposes,-changing at any rate His means,-His more immediate purposes to suit man's wants and condition. When man repents GOD relents. Under the Old Dispensation He allowed many things on account of the hardness of their hearts which He absolutely prohibited in the New. Thus animal sacrifices and bloody offerings were not merely accepted, they were commanded; they served a transient purpose; when the atonement was "once made for the sins of

the whole world," all forms of bloody offerings passed away and gave place to something far more spiritual,-something adapted to a higher state of civilization, a more elevated phase of life and habit of thought. For the same reason many things that seem cruel, harsh, even unjust, appear to have been allowed and approved by GOD in the earlier days of humanity, which are now seen to be inconsistent with Christianity, if they are not expressly forbidden in the New Testament Scriptures. In all this we see how it is that GOD may be a being of perfect holiness and yet tolerate, and for a while appear to approve what we can now see to be wrong. His holiness will appear in the end to all men.

It is indeed quite true that we find in the Bible many statements with regard to GOD which we cannot take literally or regard as adapted to the higher views which the more cultivated minds of modern times are able to accept. But we must remember that GOD deals with men as they are and according to their needs He takes them as they are in order to secure the acceptance of the means that are necessary to make them what He would have them to be. We must remember that He is a Person incomprehensible in His nature and modes of existence, but yet we are so made in His image that we can in

a measure understand Him although we do not and cannot conceive of Him under forms and modes that are, more or less, inadequate, because they are too much like those of men. But in this respect all men are essentially alike, we differ in degree only. From the feeblest infancy of the lisping child up to the broadest powers of comprehension ever attained by saint or scientist we think of Him to some extent as acting under limitations of time and space, of human weakness and infirmity which we can readily show can have no place in the Divine Nature. Something of this kind is necessary in GOD's dealings with man in order to give a sense of reality to our ideas of Him and to make His name a power upon our thoughts and feelings. Abstractly, the Personality of GOD is incomprehensible to us, and practically it is a different thing for each individual because of our infirmity, so that no one can understand or comprehend Him perfectly. Let us begin by regarding Him as wise and good and holy, and as we progress in wisdom and holiness our ideas of Him and His attributes will advance towards that fuller comprehension of His Being which we may always approach but never fully reach unto. But in all stages of our culture we may know that He is not only GOD and Creator, but Father and Friend

as well. A Father and a Friend who never slumbers, nor sleeps, who faints not and is never weary, and whose mercies never fail.

REV. PROF. W. D. WILSON, D.D. God-Father. Vide SPONSORS. Good-Friday. Vide FRIDAY. Gospels. The word itself means good tidings, "godspell," and in its comprehensiveness includes the several parts of the Redemptive Acts of our LORD." Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people," was the Gospel of the Incarnation of CHRIST. Again, St. Paul (Rom. x. 9-15) connects the good tidings with the belief in and confession of the Resurrection. The LORD Himself makes the Gospel to lie in a belief in the Kingdom of GOD (St. Mark i. 15). Each of the main facts of the Gospel in its fullness can become the central point which may bear the title belonging to the whole. The Gospel, then, is the message of the Church, the teaching of Christianity, the redemption in and by CHRIST JESUS, the only-begotten Son of GOD, offered to all mankind. But it is the title of the four biographies of the LORD JESUS by four separate writers, two of whom were Apostles, two others companions and fellow-workers with other Apostles of the LORD. But the title is again suggestive. It is the "Gospel-the glad tidings of salvation according to" St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, or St. John. And as the Gospel is bound up in the very life of CHRIST, His biography and the record of His acts, and the proclamation of what He has to offer the soul, are all gathered into the single word, "The Gospel."