Some Essentials of Religion.

by J. C. Roper and E. J. Bidwell and H. M. Little and D. T. Owen and A. J. Doull.

FOREWORD

These chapters have not been written for hurried reading; they are studies of Central and Vital Truths, for those who wish to think them out again under the guidance of the Church.

JOHN CHARLES, OTTAWA.

Note:--In placing these books before Church people through the churches no financial gain is contemplated for anyone concerned. Those who are initiating the Library, and all the writers, are content if the Church they serve is benefited thereby.

G.o.d OUR FATHER

By The Rt. Rev. J. C. Roper, LL.D., D.D. Bishop of Ottawa.

VITAL IMPORTANCE OF THE TOPIC

The first word of the Layman's Library may properly be a message from Laymen. These are the terms of it.

"The hope of a brotherhood of a humanity reposes on the deeper spiritual truth of the Fatherhood of G.o.d. In the recognition of the fact of that Fatherhood and of the divine purpose of the world, which are central to the message of Christianity, we shall discover the ultimate foundation for the reconstruction of an ordered and harmonious life for all men."

These words have a theological ring about them. They are however the words not of theologians, but of representative and responsible statesmen in conference on urgent questions of public welfare. The message was issued by the premiers of Great Britain and of all British Dominions to all citizens of the British Empire. It forms a remarkable confession of faith in the spiritual basis of human life. The peace of the world depends on goodwill among men, and goodwill among men rests on spiritual forces, and of these forces the source of all and the greatest of all is the fact of G.o.d our Father and of His gracious purpose for the world.

WHERE CAN WE LEARN OF G.o.d?

All who wish to know G.o.d truly must put themselves to school under Christ the Master. A wonderful school it is. Little children are at home in it and the greatest minds among men find in it always something new to learn. The wonder of the school and the power of it lie not only in the personality of the Teacher but in the fact also that He Himself is what He teaches. What Jesus Christ was G.o.d is. The revelation of G.o.d we possess in Christ is a revelation that is personal and complete. "This is life eternal to know Thee the only true G.o.d and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent."

This does not mean that the knowledge of G.o.d--or even of G.o.d as Father--is the exclusive possession of Christians. A long line of Hebrew prophets, called and inspired by the spirit of G.o.d, revealed G.o.d's Name and will and attributes in different ways and in different portions to generation after generation of His chosen people. It was the special privilege of Israel to receive the oracles of G.o.d. Christ Jesus, Whose coming the prophets foretold, took over the revelation of G.o.d that each had given, corrected it where it had been misapprehended, endorsed it, set it in order, and completed it. In the fulness of the knowledge of G.o.d that had been given them Israel stood unique among the nations. Nevertheless other races had some knowledge of Him also. G.o.d has not anywhere or at any time left Himself without witnesses. In our cla.s.sical studies we heard of Jupiter or Zeus "Father of men and of G.o.ds". Greeks of old in their philosophic search for unity, Hindoos in their longing for absorption into the divine, Chinese in the moral precepts of Confucius, Mohammedans in the constant call to prayer which they obey, all bring before us religions that are sincere in their adhesion to one or other of the great truths about G.o.d which they have discovered.

I stood one night on the deck of a ship on the ocean. The moon was at the full and was shining in a cloudless sky. The light penetrated everywhere. No part of the wide expanse of water was beyond its reach, and yet straight before me was a broad pathway of light reaching as far as I could see. So bright was this pathway, that compared with it on this side and on that all else seemed to be in darkness.

Some rays of the knowledge of G.o.d are recognized in all the great world religions. Along the line of the prophets of Israel the light of G.o.d's self-revelation shone with special brightness, sometimes waxing it is true and sometimes waning, until the day dawned and Christ the Sun of righteousness arose.

This is what St. Paul means when he tells the Christians at Corinth that G.o.d Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of G.o.d in the face of Jesus Christ.

WHAT DO WE KNOW OF G.o.d?

But what is the knowledge of G.o.d that has been revealed? We find it in the Old Testament gradually unfolded, in the New Testament perfected.

What truths does it contain? We must approach this question with humility and reverence. He of Whom we are thinking is the Living G.o.d.

We are in His presence while we think and speak of Him. The whole splendour of G.o.d's Being is beyond us. He is the Creator and Lord of all. Nevertheless, if we are guided by the Revelation He has given us in Holy Scripture, we can wholly trust our thoughts of Him as far as they carry us, just because they are not our own but have been given us by Him.

G.o.d IS PERSONAL

"The Lord G.o.d is the true G.o.d, the Living G.o.d and an Everlasting King."

He is also our Father. G.o.d then is Personal. He is One on Whom we can lean, to Whom we can pray, whose works we can study in the Universe He has made and in the history of men and of nations which He controls.

This is the first truth of G.o.d our Father that comes home to us when we learn the Lord's Prayer. It is also the last and most profound that we shall rejoice in when we meet Him face to face, and know Him as we are known.

It is a truth of vital and practical importance, affecting our whole outlook on life. Because G.o.d is Personal with mind and heart and will we believe that this great world has a plan on which it is being fashioned and a purpose towards which it is tending. Within this plan and purpose we too have a place, and no mean place. We too are persons with minds and hearts and wills. We are not then mere straws on the stream of destiny, or victims of blind fate. We are children of our Father Who is working in and through all mightily in wisdom and in love.

This is not a theory only; it is true to the experience of religious men. In it is found the secret of confidence, strength and joy. It is the infinite and varied record of this experience which the Psalms contain that gives to them their special value for our use today.

"Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, O give me understanding that I may live. Be Thou my stronghold whereunto I may always resort, for Thou art my house of defence and my castle. The Lord is my shepherd therefore can I lack nothing. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The Lord is the strength of my life. Who so dwelleth under the defence of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."

In a faith like this we can face our duty manfully. In life's responsibilities and perplexities we can trust our Father.

IT IS A TRUTH OF PERMANENT VALUE.

Personality in G.o.d and in man are closely related one to another. That men are persons and must be so regarded is a matter of intense practical concern to us all and to the social life of this and every age. We cannot ignore personality in man. To do so is to awaken resentment, unrest and strife. The statesmen already quoted are clearly right. Peace and progress in the world depend on the recognition of this truth growing more and more adequate until we realize fully the brotherhood of men which is implied in G.o.d's Fatherhood. We cannot ignore Personality in G.o.d, or pa.s.s it by as a truth that belongs to childhood only. It is a vigorous intelligent faith which commands the allegiance of men. Ultimately the dignity of our own manhood will be found to depend upon it. To lose sight of it is to lose our way in religious life and thinking. To hold it fast is not an attempt to make G.o.d in our image, but to acknowledge that we are made in His.

G.o.d IS HOLY

In the Old Testament G.o.d is the Holy One in Israel. In the New Testament also we remember Christ's own words in prayer, "Holy Father keep through Thine own name those whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are one". G.o.d's Holiness is closely connected with His glory; we must a.s.sociate with it all pa.s.sages in Holy Scripture which attribute to Him majesty and radiance, beauty and light. The religious value of this truth is very great.

In the vision of the Holiness of G.o.d men have found their chief impulse to worship Him, and have felt the claim on their own lives exercised by the moral splendour of G.o.d's own character. "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness." Further, in proportion as they have realised G.o.d's holiness and moral claim, men have felt the need in His presence of acknowledging their own infirmity and sin. This was the experience of Isaiah and of St. John. It has been the experience of an innumerable company since. We all have our share in it in the services of the Church. It finds expression in one of the greatest of our hymns,

"Holy, Holy, Holy, though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art Holy, there is none beside Thee, Perfect in power, in Love and Purity."

This is undoubtedly the first great impression that the Holiness of G.o.d should make upon us. There is, however, another truth within it which must not be forgotten. There are in both the Bible languages Hebrew and Greek two words which in English are represented by the one word "holy". One of them stands for moral righteousness, the other has the meaning of set apart or consecrated. This latter word when used of G.o.d means that G.o.d is set apart from the world He has made. Not in the sense that He is separated from it, for He is very near; but in the sense that He is not himself a part of it or identified with it or confused with it.

This truth was needed in Old Testament times to save G.o.d's chosen people from falling back into dark immoral forms of nature worship which possessed the kindred people from whom they had been called out.

It is needed no less to-day to save us from falling back into non-Christian ways of thinking. G.o.d is distinct from His world; He is never separated from it. Is this difficult? An ill.u.s.tration may help if it is not pressed too far. An eagle is perched on the topmost bough of a tall dead tree. A motor boat hurries by at some distance across the water. The great bird takes flight. It is in the air. It breathes the air and is upheld by it. The air is in the bird, in every quill, I believe, of every feather. Yet the bird is not the air, and the air is not the bird. They are distinct; separated they cannot be.

Without the air the bird could not exist. "In G.o.d we live and move and have our being." We cannot for a moment imagine Him away. Without Him we could not exist. Yet man is not G.o.d. We are close akin, He is very near. But G.o.d is not man, nor man a part of G.o.d. We hear sometimes that G.o.d is all and all is G.o.d. Christian truth cannot be expressed in this way. Our faith in the Holiness of G.o.d declares that He is within the world but distinct from it, above it, around it, controlling it, making it the servant of His will, that He is the source of all, the upholder of all, the Master of all.

G.o.d IS ALMIGHTY

G.o.d our Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth, is Almighty. "The Lord G.o.d Omnipotent reigneth." Here also are two words and two thoughts, not one alone. G.o.d is Almighty in the sense that His power is supreme and irresistible. This is wholly true but it is not the thought that stands in the forefront either in Holy Scripture or in the creed. It is there in the background, where sheer force must be and ought to be.

The prominent thought, however, when we profess our faith in G.o.d the Father Almighty is the thought of His wise, holy sovereignty. He is the Ruler of all, the Master of all, of Himself and of all persons and things. Not by might but by persuasion He is content to exercise His Dominion over men. So G.o.d governs the world and in His government we find the model for the true government of men. Force has its use only where freedom has failed. It is not G.o.d's power but His patience that excites our wonder and at times our perplexity. We are puzzled because He does not intervene more directly with His outstretched arm, but waits on man's agency and allows such lat.i.tude to man's self-will and blindness and cruelty. It is the price of our freedom. This we know and more we do not know as yet. But we can trust our Father for what Jesus Christ was G.o.d is.

We know therefore in the story of the Cross and of the Resurrection that while sorrow and suffering and disaster are not removed from human life, G.o.d does not stand apart from them and unconcerned. All who pa.s.s along the way of sorrows and into the valley of death may find in Christ, that is in G.o.d Himself, the sympathy of One Who has pa.s.sed that way before, and the strength of One who has conquered death and all its powers.