and prepared the way for the recognition of complete religious liberty. This is most apparent in Mesopotamia-the last stronghold of fanaticism-where a satisfactory settlement and the safeguarding of the stages already reached will affect the whole of Eastern Christendom, the Jewish question in Palestine and the peace of the Moslem world.

The measure of religious liberty already obtained is producing fellowship, conference, and a friendly criticism where only bitterness and religious hatred existed before. There is therefore a prospect of a League of Religions, with a recognition of that which is fundamental in religious beliefs, and a frank examination of the claims and evidences of Divine Revelation.*

DISCUSSION.

Mr. THEODORE ROBERTS, in moving a vote of thanks to the Chairman, suggested that what we had been hearing about the oilfields in Mesopotamia might ultimately settle that which had troubled us so much last week, viz., the coal question.

He pointed out that Palestine was geographically the centre of the world, and that the great waterways indicated a design in their arrangement for all nations to traverse them in order to come to Jerusalem for worship, as he believed they would do under the reign of Christ. The Mediterranean Sea would give access to the inhabitants of America, the British Isles and Western Africa, as well as the countries bordering that sea, while the Red Sea appeared almost like a canal made for the purpose of bringing by water the inhabitants of India, China, Malaya, and Australia, as well as Eastern and Southern Africa, to Palestine.

Dr. SCHOFIELD said his first acquaintance with Mesopotamia was through the Report of Sir Wm. Wilcox at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, and he was immensely struck with the necessity of some knowledge of that country, with the understanding of the earlier chapters of Genesis.

He also then gave him the first intelligible account of Noah's Deluge that he had heard.

What he would like to ask the Canon was, whether it was true that Babylon had never yet been uninhabited (according to Isaiah),

* The Institute is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the Paper.

and was even now a city of some 10,000 inhabitants, and if he thought it was yet to be rebuilt as a commercial metropolis ?

Also whether he thought the eventual port of Mesopotamia would be Tyre, or some port on the littoral of Palestine, as Sir Wm. Wilcox suggested, or Basrah?

Mr. HOSTE asked the lecturer whether he understood him aright to say that it was impossible there should ever be a Jewish State set up again in Palestine ?

On the paper being printed, Mr. Hoste supplemented this question with a few further remarks: "We are greatly indebted to Canon Parfit for the brilliant series of lantern views of the Mesopotamia region, with which with bewildering rapidity he illustrated his lecture. I wish I could say the same of some of the views expressed in the lecture itself. Of course we were at a disadvantage in not having the lecture before us in print as usual, and so may have misunderstood the exact terms of some of its contents. I thought if there was one point on which all Biblical students were agreed, it was the re-establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine, though a few years back the very return of the Jews to their own land would have been scouted as a dream. Why should it be taken for granted that such a State should be so intolerant of other faiths, as to exclude, say, capable Moslems, from a share in the administration? Religious liberty and equality of political privilege might well be a condition of the setting up of the said State. Another point: The Canon suggested, I understood, that a certain ruin at Carchemish may quite possibly have been the model of Solomon's temple. This strikes one as a very hazardous conjecture, contradicting as it does the plain statement of Holy Scripture that David gave the pattern to Solomon, which the Lord had made him understand in writing by His hand upon him' (1 Chron. xxviii). We never read of David or Solomon even visiting Carchemish, nor is the place once mentioned in the Bible till the reign of Josiah. If the alleged similarity be anything but conjectural, why should not some visitor attracted to Jerusalem by the fame of Solomon have seen the temple in its glory there and copied it? As for the 'League of Religions,' it is clear that a Christianity which would join hands on equal terms with Judaism or Mohammedans could not but be one bereft of its essence. I remember a few years back in

Bangalore being taken by a friend to a meeting of reformed Moslems, with whom it was hoped to join hands. As long as the conversation was limited to expatiating on the greatness and goodness of the one God, all went well, but as soon as a Christian present tried to show that it was not unreasonable that a Holy God might have righteous claims against the sinner, which could only be met by the Divine Atonement of Christ, a chill fell over the meeting."

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Professor LANGHORNE ORCHARD writes:-"The Paper is very interesting; particularly so are the historical, political, and connected religious notes. Paragraph 5, page 179, contains the statement that the Genesis record cannot conceivably be an absolutely correct account of Creation.' Yet, as this record is a Revelation from God, it can have no admixture of error. Its truthfulness, avouched by science, is not open to reasonable doubt. Is the word 'correct really a printer's error, and ought we to read,' absolutely complete '? We agree with the author of the Paper that the Biblical Creationnarrative is far superior to the Babylonian or any other account, as an embodiment of ethical and religious truth,' and its monotheistic and other features bear testimony to its earlier date."

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AUTHOR'S REPLY.

To Dr. Schofield :-The town of Hillah, with about 14,000 inhabitants, is situated on the banks of the Euphrates on the site of Ancient Babylon. It is now becoming a commercial centre of increasing importance. The plans of a great scheme of canals and waterways to run from the mouth of the Orontes to the Persian Gulf, published in the Engineering Supplement to The Times, provide for a huge dockyard at Babylon.

The official correspondence with the United States shows that arrangements have already been made to bring oil pipes through the French sphere to the Mediterranean, which undoubtedly means that the most important ports for Mesopotamia will eventually be on the Syria and Palestine littoral.

To Mr. Hoste:-1. I only differ with Mr. Hoste apparently in the meaning of the expression "Jewish State." There are many Hebrew Christians in Palestine as well as many other Christians and Moslems. If, even when the Jews are in the majority, they

are admitted to a share in the administration and enjoy "equality of political privilege," then it would be incorrect to speak of a

2. I do not believe the ruins at Carchemish served as a model

for Solomon's temple. I referred to the resemblance to illustrate my First Remark."

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3. The League of Nations is being established to "prevent war," and in using the expression "League of Religions," my intention is to indicate the possible cessation of religious war. Christian Apologists have no fears for Christianity if only men will come and reason together. Religious intolerance hinders the spread of the Gospel. The main point of my paper is to show the triumpha progress of the one and only Divine Revelation.

To Professor Orchard :-My meaning in paragraph 5, page 179, will be better understood with the added words, "according to many Scientists and Commentators."

631ST ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING,

HELD IN

COMMITTEE ROOM B, THE CENTRAL HALL, WESTMINSTER, S.W., ON MONDAY, MAY 2ND, 1921, AT 4.30 P.M.

THE REV. PREBENDARY H. E. Fox, M.A., IN THE CHAIR.

The Minutes of the previous meeting were read, confirmed and signed, and the HON. SECRETARY announced the following Elections:-Miss C. Nelson-Smith as a Member, Lieut. Louis S. Lee, Dr. Ellis T. Powell, Miss Mercy Mayhead and Mrs. W. R. Houghton as Associates, and the Rev. Dr. S. M. Zwemer of Cairo as a Missionary Associate.

The CHAIRMAN then called on the Rev. James Gosset-Tanner, M.A., to read his paper on The Tripartite Nature of Man."

THE TRIPARTITE NATURE OF MAN. By the REV. JAMES GOSSET-TANNER, M.A.

ARIOUS philosophers have perceived a threefold nature in man. Aristotle distinguished between the roûs, the yʊxǹ, and the oua, as the intellect, the soul, and the body. It was reserved for the Word of God, and especially for St. Paul, to point out the true division, which is spirit, soul, and body. This comes out very markedly in 1 Thess. v, 23, "I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." I conclude that the spirit is what we receive more definitely and immediately from the Creator than the other. "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him" (Gen i, 27). Again, The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (lives, Hebr.); and man became a living soul" (Gen. ii, 7). In Heb. xii, 9, God is expressly called "the Father of spirits." The soul is what we derive mediately from our parents. It includes the affections, passions, intellect, tastes and capacities, many of which are reproduced in children in a minute and startling way. It is probable that even genius, which is often regarded as independent and quite per se, had its

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