tested that one can build his whole life upon them with ever increasing satisfaction both to his mind and to his soul.

There is this difference to be noted between scientific and religious knowledge. A scientific experiment may be performed in an hour and its results demonstrated, but moral and spiritual truths require centuries for their vindication. We believe in liberty so implicitly that we consider no sacrifice too great to conserve it, yet to establish beyond cavil that freedom of thought and speech is better than intellectual servitude would require the whole range of human history. In a very short time you can prove that two atoms of hydrogen will unite with one of oxygen to form water; but to validate the statement that righteousness exalteth a nation demands the experience of many generations. Yet am I more positive of the one than of the other? Shall I affirm of the former, "I know," and of the latter, "I believe"? Any such distinction would do violence to our convictions and to our habitual use of language.

Moreover, scientific knowledge is independent of the personal equation. A murderer can perform a chemical experiment as well as a saint. Religion on the other hand, is more personal. Its knowledge is conditional on character. Only the pure in heart can see God; only the unselfish and obedient can realize his love.

Our moods have much to do with all our apprehensions of spiritual values. We live on the border line of the physical and the spiritual. If we were wholly of the earth, we should never dream of the higher realities. If we were wholly spiritual, we should never doubt them. As we belong partly to the seen and partly to the unseen, vision alternates with doubt. On these conditions we hold our knowledge. The perception of ethical and religious values and forces is so vitally influenced by our moral and spiritual condition that our certitude is sometimes shadowed. The stars still shine, but the clouds cover them; God seems to forsake us and the walls of the celestial city lose

their lustre. This condition we recognize and take account of, as we do the mist which obscures the mountains, the ebb and the flow of the ocean.

As if to counter-balance this we find that religious knowledge is more intimate than scientific knowledge. The mathematician knows about his circles and angles; the musician knows much about music, he also knows music. The lover knows love; the saint tastes the very flavor of holi

The scientist knows something about the forces with which he deals; the religious man knows the quality of that which he apprehends; he learns something of the nature of that which produces the emotion. Thus religious apprehension reaches nearer the heart of its object than scientific knowledge.

In another way religious knowledge is superior to scientific. Science deals with the world out there beyond us. It knows only symbols of reality which are interpreted to the consciousness through the senses. But when we deal with what

takes place in our own inner nature, we send the shaft down deeper into Reality. There, if anywhere, we surprise Reality unveiled. "By being religious," says Professor James, "we establish ourselves in the possession of Ultimate Reality at the only point at which reality has been given us to guard."

Knowledge is religion's normal word. Without it her scriptures are tame, her teachings ineffectual, and her promises pallid. "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teachings"; "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." "This is life eternal to know thee, the only living and true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent." "Every one therefore which heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock." Religion is indeed conceived in faith, but

"The steps of faith

Fall on a seeming void, and find
The rock beneath,"

These lectures have been concerned largely with our knowledge of God. I cannot close, however, without saying a word about our certitude of redemption through Christ. Most of us are willing to admit that he is the divinest spirit within our view, but his claims are staggering, and we are often sorely puzzled. Is he rightfully the Lord of our lives? Yes, for we must needs love and obey the highest when we see it. Whether he be God incarnate, or humanity realized, he commands us. We must "give the best we have to the best we know."

Can he redeem us from the power and the love of sin? The answer need not be theoretical. It is possible to put him to the most searching test. For a month try to reproduce his mind, his purpose and disposition. Give his spirit sovereign control for four weeks, and what will be the result! At the end of that experiment you will be purer in heart, stronger in will, more sympathetic in feeling. You will also be persuaded that his spirit is not