Accepting the Universe.-"Gad, she'd better," was Carlyle's grim answer when he was told that Margaret Fuller, the American transcendentalist, had accepted the universe. That was, in essence, the doctrine of the stoics of Paul's day-acquiesence and loyalty to the cosmic scheme as the only means to peace and freedom.

In distinction from these philosophers, the devotees of the Hellenistic mystery religions sought escape from the tyranny of the cosmic order through alliance with some deity who was superior to it. Ecstasy, asceticism, sacramental feasts brought to them this freedom. That Paul was coping with the same problem when he wrote to his followers about being in "bondage under the elements of the world" (Gal. 4:3 and Col. 2:8-10) is the contention of Professor Moffatt in his article, "The Festival of Christianity" in the Expositor for November, 1921. Beside these passages, which deal with the Christian's relation to the cosmic order, Professor Moffatt places I Cor. 5:8-"Wherefore let us celebrate our festival"-Paul's symbol of the relationship that Christianity involved. The religious notion of life as a festival meant the guardianship of God as a source of confidence. Dr. Moffatt shows that Paul's belief in this relationship implied for Christians a position of superiority over cosmic forces, lordship over the world, and freedom which enabled them to face external things without fear or hesitation. "As Christians," says Professor Moffatt, "we are the guests of God, set to live our life before him in a world-order over which He has control, and in which he has a place for those whom he has redeemed from sin and death." Every student of Paul will welcome this discussion of the puzzling phrase: σtolkeła τοῦ κόσμου.

The Religious-social Movement in Germany.-In the World Tomorrow (September, 1921) Mr. Hans Hartmann gives a survey of this new religious movement in Germany. There has been a growing conviction since the revolution of 1918 that religion must have a closer connection with life. At present there are two active movements in this direction.

1. The "theoretical group" tries to find out the Divine will for the present time and to furnish to mankind the fruits of their best thinking. This group believes that only by their modesty and humility can God work through them. They avoid close connection with the masses of workers in order to keep unsullied their own point of view.

2. The "practical group" consist of radicals and well-balanced leaders. The latter are cautious in making any direct contact with the masses but are trying to bring men together in small circles, awakening them so that they will purify the public life slowly but surely. The

New Work, which is an enthusiastic exponent of a strong will to prepare the way for peace, justice, faith and love, is a popular magazine among the youth.

Can There Be Self-Determination on the Mission Field?-Almost everywhere non-Christian peoples are restive under the domination of foreigners, whether in religion or politics. In the words of Rev. Masahisa Uemura, of Japan:

To depend upon the pocket of foreigners for money to pay the bills is not a situation which ought to satisfy the moral sense of Japanese Christians. Likewise in the realm of religious thought, is it not shameful to accept opinions ready-made, relying on the experience of others instead of one's own?

Is it not a great duty which we owe to God and to mankind to develop the religious talent of our people, and to contribute our share to the religious ideas of the world?

Dr. Brown, the secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian church, has an article in the International Review of Missions (October, 1921) pointing out that there are two possible methods of solving the difficulty. The first proposal is to keep the mission with its present powers and make a few of the best-qualified native Christians members of the mission. The second is to transfer a large part of the power to the native church. The latter is the wiser course because the ultimate object of the missionary is not to establish an American or English church in any mission field but a native church that will and should govern itself. The sphere of a mission in any field is temporary but that of a native church is permanent.

Related to the problem of self-government is that of the creed and the polity of the native church. If the rising churches in the mission field determine their own creeds and polity, who is to be the judge of their soundness? Dr. Brown believes that as Christianity in the course of two thousand years has taken on the characteristics of the white race, it is very natural for an autonomous body of Christians in the mission field to shape it in accordance with their own racial characteristics. No missionary should lay too much stress upon occidental terminology and theology as essentials of Christianity.

The Golden Rule as a Business Asset.-In the American Magazine (October, 1921) Arthur Nash tells of a business miracle in his Golden Rule Factory. After the war, conditions were so bad that he decided to sell out his "tailor-to-trade concern" and buy a farm. While getting ready to liquidate, he made up his mind to try a final experiment.

1. He raised the wage of all his employees so that everyone was to be paid at least $20 a week. But the unexpected result was that under this application of the Golden Rule his people turned out nearly three times as much work as ever before, and the manufacturing cost of a suit of clothes was less than before the wage increase went into effect. During a period of strikes and general unrest, he had no strike. His business grew from a one-floor shop to a big six-story building.

2. He announced that he would divide profits with his employees in the form of a semi-annual bonus on the basis of salaries earned. But soon he received a petition from his employees asking him to distribute the workers' share of profits on the basis of time worked instead of on the basis of wages earned. This meant that skilled labor making from $75 to $90 a week voluntarily asked that the poorest paid help in the shop should receive just as much dividend as the more highly paid. The practice of the Golden Rule was contagious.

3. When the problem of unemployment became acute in Cincinnati, his employees voluntarily and unanimously offered to give up their jobs for one month in January or February and let their places be taken by needy garment workers of the city who were out of employment regardless of their creed, nationality, union, or non-union affiliation.

The Unspiritual Tone of Spiritualism.-A very pertinent criticism on spiritualism is expressed in the Personalist for October. Here G. R. S. Mead points out that in the demonstrations of spiritualism "psychical capacity is notoriously unaccompanied with intellectual ability." "From the point of view of the student of spiritual literature," writes Evelyn Underhill, "one of the most remarkable and distressing characteristics of spiritualism is the thoroughly unspiritual tone of its revelations. It fails to respond to the higher cravings of the soul and never approaches the nobility and beauty of that conception of Eternal Life which has been developed by the Mystics."

Is God Knowable ?-In the Expositor for November, Professor H. R. Macintosh discusses the question of the knowability of God. After an examination of the symbolic and abstract methods of thinking in religion, the author concludes that we can get a true and satisfying knowledge of God through a pictorial and imaginative presentation. It may be inexact from a critical point of view, yet it will suffice for the meeting of our religious needs. Thus a world with Jesus in it is a world with a great and loving God over it. Hence the name of God, though set in pictorial forms is trans-subjectively

true. This means that the business of theology is to criticize religious symbols. In discharging this task theology must (1) eliminate every figure which represents God as unlike Jesus Christ; (2) the new symbolism must be vitally continuous with the old. There must remain a "meaning" which does not change but preserves the historic self-identity of Christian faith.

It is quite evident that a conception of God as a personal being involves the use of such terms as are generally applied to personal beings. But personality implies certain specifications and qualifications. These imply certain limitations. Thus, says Professor Bertling in Der Geisteskampf, Heft 10, "Man's will is a limit to God's will." It is a limit to God's omnipotence. Must this fact not be conceded if God is to be thought of in pictorial and personal terms?

The Pragmatic Method in Christianity. The application of the pragmatic method to some of the elements of Christian doctrine is attempted by George W. Roesch in an article entitled, "The Pragmatism of James and the Christian System." The article appears in the Personalist for October. The writer presents a number of interesting parallels between pragmatism and various doctrines of the Christian system. He defines pragmatism (1) as a method, (2) as a genetic theory of what is meant by truth. Since Christianity is a practical system interested in the affairs of life, it is in hearty accord with pragmatism in its attitude toward the achievement of truth by a progressive unfolding. "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot hear them now," are the words of Jesus which indicate that the achieving of truth was conditioned upon the proper attitude in life to practical issues. Moreover, as an attitude toward a becoming and developing universe, pragmatism supports the Christian endeavor to establish the Kingdom of God in loyalty, truth, and righteousness.

Is Modernism Bankrupt?—An article under the foregoing caption in the October number of the Modern Churchman definitely denies such an accusation. A casual perusal of the program of this movement in England should convince any fair-minded person that it ministers to a tremendous present-day need. The modernist is convinced that sound education is impossible without religion, but religion in its traditional form is showing itself less and less capable of grasping the whole-hearted loyalty of young men and young women. The modern presentation of the Christian religion is trying to meet this difficulty. What has it accomplished? It has kept in the church a number of the thoughtful, modern-minded men and women who might otherwise have given it up

as hopelessly obscurantist. Moreover it hopes to turn back those opponents of the church who feel that the church is opposed to scientific and historic truth.

A movement with such a program is only another evidence of the progressiveness of real religion. Unless Christianity is adapted and reinterpreted according to the needs of each successive age it will have little effect on the people who bear its name. That it can be so adapted suggests in no uncertain terms that it is still significant for the thinking mind of the present day.

Philosophical Religion vs. a Religious Philosophy.-Are the masses hampered today by a religious philosophy which comes to conclusions not on grounds of reason but on those of utility? This is the conviction of Professor Radhakrishnan, of Calcutta University. In the Hibbert Journal for October, the writer in an article on "Religion and Philosophy" expresses the opinion that utility as a basis for religion is too often an indication of a temper which is too lazy to think out philosophical problems and is too ready to accept traditional answers to ultimate questions. Instead of such a religious philosophy the writer advocates a philosophical religion. Its characteristics include: (1) Tradition or dogma: Tradition is the stepping-stone to truth. It conveys to us the intense spiritual experience of others. However to lean only on other people's experience brings a religion that is only second hand. It is the religion of the spinal column and not of the brain. (2) Mystic feeling: This is a consciousness of God. But it must be accompanied by reflection. For if philosophy does not establish the reality of the object of the mystic consciousness, the experience loses its value. (3) Ethical implications: This is the dynamic force of religion which stirs the very depths of the soul to a sense of morality and righteousness. (4) Rational factor: The function of the rational aspect of religion is to give a reason for the hope that is in us. In all genuine religion these four elements are found together and to exaggerate any one of them out of proportion endangers religion.

The Mystic's Experience of God.-The three most constantly reiterated questions that moderns are asking about mysticism are these: What is it? Is it normal or abnormal? Does it actually furnish us with knowledge? To these three questions Professor Rufus Jones, one of America's foremost mystics, addresses himself in an article called "The Mystic's Experience of God" in the Atlantic Monthly for November. To the first of the three questions, Professor Jones replies that mystical experience "is consciousness of direct and immediate