Excerpt from Manifold Witness for Christ, Vol. 1 It is certain, as a matter of fact, that the Christianity of the mass of men is received by inheritance and teaching, and tested first by practical experience, and then by simple study of the Gospel in itself. I contend not only that this is perfectly reasonable, but that by no other method could Christianity, in accordance with the laws of human nature and experience, hope to assert for itself anything like a universal sway. But when this natural process is chal lenged to justify itself by reason, it appears to me that Christian thought generally passes through the two phases which I have attempted to Sketch in the first and second parts of this volume. I. Christianity obviously presents herself as the chief re presentative of Supernatural Religion', probably the only representative who has any chance of a hearing. The first question which suggests itself to most men on hearing her claim, is the question of the relation in which the Gospel stands to the conclusions and doubts of Natural Religion.' Can it do anything to strengthen the one, and to dispel the other In answer to that question I have endeavoured to Show that here, as in all other cases, the Supernatural is not Preternatural.' Tracing the gradual development in the Bible of the full Christian doctrine, under the pervading idea of Covenant with God, ' I have contended that, in relation to the three fundamental points of religion, the personality of God, the Spirituality of man, and the solution of the mystery of evil, Christianity accords at all points with the main principles of Natural Religion; but at the same time confirms in the calmness of absolute certitude the modest inductions of Natural Theology, and supplements them, when they are silent or speak with stammering tongue. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.