for the Christian man's oath, and allows his amenity to the civil law when his oath is demanded in causes of justice and truth.

These Articles are such as relate Methodism in a most practical way to this present age of practical doings and ideals. Indeed, the time may not be distant when our Twenty-Fourth Article will seem a prophecy and prove an anchor chain to the Church in social storms.

GENERAL EXPOSITION.

I. THE GODHEAD, CHRIST, AND SALVATION.

Christ's life our code, his cross our creed,

Our common, glad confession be.

-Methodist Hymnal.

All religious faith is faith in God, and all knowledge derived from faith is knowledge of God.—Julius Kaftan, D.D.

Nor have the Methodists of this country fully appreciated the value of the Articles bequeathed to them by John Wesley; otherwise they would not have allowed such fearful ignorance to prevail on the subject.-Albert Taylor Bledsoe, LL.D.

We hold it the part of wisdom and the dictate of the spirit of Methodism to think first and most of the leadings of the Spirit of God, to hold all things superficial and formal in subordination, to keep these at the minimum for effective work, to guard the fundamentals with unwavering loyalty, to leave open all possible avenues where the Spirit may wish to lead us, and to trust the great Head of the Church to guide us personally into all truth and to be with us always.— Rev. Levi Gilbert, D.D.

CHAPTER VII.

GENERAL EXPOSITION.

I. THE GODHEAD, CHRIST, AND THE HOLY GHOST.

THE first four of the Articles belong in a group to themselves. They treat of the Godhead, and particularly expound the doctrine of the Trinity and the saving work of Jesus Christ, giving emphasis to the doctrine of his resurrection in a separate Article. These four Articles, as we have seen, date back in their substance and essential terms to a great antiquity. The words have been chastened by a long usage and an oft recension until they appear packed together like jewels in a casket. It would be difficult indeed to make words express more and yet retain their individual and distinctive value.

ARTICLE I.

OF FAITH IN THE HOLY TRINITY.

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible. And in [the] unity of this Godhead there are three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

With slight verbal changes this Article appears here as in the Anglican Confession. It consists of two parts. The first part is a statement of the truth of