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PREFACE

THIS work is the result of the study and thought of

many years. Dissatisfied with the evidences commonly alleged for Christianity, I looked to see if the religion of the Incarnation did not rest on other and sounder grounds its claim for the allegiance of humanity. And it seemed to me, that if God created man, and implanted in his soul certain spiritual instincts and tendencies, a revelation from God on which a religion may be built must meet and satisfy these instincts and tendencies.

Consequently, the first step to be taken in deciding whether a revelation be true or not is to examine what are the religious instincts and tendencies of mankind. And then to see whether Christianity does answer to these needs.

The period when historical evidence was accepted as establishing the claims of Christianity is over. An historical revelation is necessarily subject to historical criticism; and the authority and authenticity of the documents are open to question. The revelation of our own

nature is never antiquated, and is always open to be catechised. On this revelation, it seems to me, the Church of the Future must establish its claims.

These volumes were written nearly ten years ago, and there is much in them which I should have liked to recast and re-write. The human mind is in constant flux. No one is more conscious of the defects in the work than myself; but it has been represented to me that the book as it is will be useful to minds in the same stage of growth that mine was in ten years ago, and so I leave it almost untouched.

EAST MERSEA, COLCHESTER, Aug. 24, 1877.

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