PREFACE.

THE present short treatise was at first planned in the form of a Commentary upon the Thirty-Nine Articles. As the work proceeded the author was led to think that a sketch of the main doctrines of the Faith might be more generally useful, which, while always keeping in view the great historic Confession of the Church of which he thanks God he is a son and presbyter, should omit some topics contained in it and deal with others in a way somewhat different from that of a commentary.

The work makes not the least pretension either to originality or to fulness. It will have well served its purpose if in any degree it can stimulate its readers to personal study, and suggest lines for work and thought.

The author humbly trusts that what he has written has been written "at the foot of the Cross." Certainly, he has never willingly forgotten the presence of Him "whom truly to know is

everlasting life.”

Before Him he desires ever

to prostrate himself, and ever to recollect more fully that, as regards the depth and height of His Revelation, "we know in part, and prophesy in part."

Writing on the Day of the Annunciation, he reverently takes up as his own, in view of the holy truths he has here attempted to discuss, the words of its Collect, now thirteen centuries old:

We beseech Thee, O Lord, pour Thy grace into our hearts; that as we have known the Incarnation of Thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an Angel, so by His Cross and Passion we may be brought to the glory of His Resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CAMBRIDGE, March 25th, 1889.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY: (1) NATURAL AND REVEALED RELIGION,

(2) THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

Certain data assumed, 1; Revelation, its possibility, 3; The

Holy Scriptures, their characteristics, 4; Testimony of

Christ to them, 5; their authority, spiritually ultimate,

7; Grades of authority, 7; Relation of Scripture to

theology, 8.

CHAPTER II.

THE DOCTRINE OF GOD: (1) THEISM, (2) THE HOLY

TRINITY.

Brief conspectus of the main lines of natural testimony to

God, 10; Intuitions, 11; Order, 11; Consciousness, and

its mode of witness, 12; Relation of these evidences to

Revelation, 13; Polytheism, its error and its element

of truth, 14; Pantheism, Brahmanism an instance of it,

14; Its error and element of truth, 15; Atheism, rarely

now held as a definite creed; why, 15; Agnosticism, its

error and its element of truth, 16; Deism, 16; Christian-

ity an element in theistic evidence, 17; Physical evidence

for the being of God akin to that for the being of man,

18; Traces of divine handiwork not altogether like

traces of ours, 18; Importance of Scripture doctrine of

Creation, 19; Divine creative sovereignty, 19; The Holy

Trinity, a truth altogether of Revelation, 19; "Uni-

tarianism of Scripture, all-important to the enquiry,

20; Claim of God upon the creature, 20; Trinitarian

evidence, 21; Statement of the doctrine, 23; Old Testa-

ment evidence, 24; Assumption of it in the New

Testament, 24; Immanent and Economical Trinity, 24;

Illustrations of the doctrine of the Trinity, 25; History

of the doctrine, 26; Gnosticism, 26; Manicheism, 26;

Monarchianism, 27; Arianism, 28; Point of contact

between the above systems, an assumption of Uniperson-

ality, 28; Modern alien theories-Unitarianism, Sweden-

borgianism, 29; The word Trinity, 30.

CHAPTER III.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE FATHER.

Best studied in the light of the doctrines of the Other

Persons, 31; Creation by the Father, 31; Yet He is not

Father of the Universe, 32; Redemption by the Father,

32; The Father loves the world, loves man, 33; Is He

therefore, in the proper sense, the Father of every man?

34; The Father "gives" the redeeming Son, 35; And

lays our sins on Him, 35; Justifies, 36; Adopts, 36;

Gives the regenerating Spirit, 36; Calls, 36; Keeps,

sanctifies, glorifies, 36; Elects, 36; Mystery of election,

37; Necessary in such a subject of thought, 37; Scrip-

ture evidence, 37; Relation of the Father to the Son in

the work of salvation, 38; All salvation is "in" the

Son of the Father, 39; The Covenant between the Father

and the Son, 40; Its matter, 41; Symmetry of the

eternal purpose and method, 42; Election taught in

Scripture in relation to other truth, 42; No force upon

the will, 43; Moral purposes of the doctrine, 43; Other

sides of truth equally true and important, 44; Since-

rity of divine love and invitation, 44; Apparent con-

tradictions of the highest truths, 44; “A Calvinist on

his knees, an Arminian on his feet," 45; Scope of the

Atonement, 45; Its double aspect, 45; Perseverance of

the saints, 46; Loss of grace, 47; Need of constant