answers itself. The conclusion is inevitable, and comes with all the force of a demonstration in pure science that the Sovereignty of God is perfectly consistent with the Freedom of man.

Thus the question which has been the stumbling block in theology, and the agony of the earnest believer, is capable of a solution. This is founded upon the nature of God as He reveals Himself to us, and of the nature of man disclosed by the conscience corroborated by revelation. It is alike certified by the requirements of morality and duty toward the Superior Being, and the duties of men in their relations with each other.

This question has not only been considered by the Church as one impossible of solution because it seems to involve a direct contradiction, but also is admitted by philosophy to be liable to the same objection, for Kant reckons it as one of the antinomies of pure reason. But it is now shown to be capable of logical explanation. The sovereignty of God is involved in creation, whether that be ex nihilo or a transference of energy. It is equally necessary to the idea of a constant providence. For this in order to be effective must extend to every particle of matter in the material universe, and every organized being or separate personality in the immaterial or spiritual world. But absolute power and freedom in the Supreme Being involves the idea that He can do anything which does not lead to an absurdity or contradiction. Hence He can make a creature endowed with freedom without in any wise trenching upon his own, and can assign that creature a separate sphere of responsibility for the performance of a specific duty. And we see that he is called to account for his actions perpetually, just as each particle of matter and separate organism is for the discharge of its function. This is à priori possible, and requires no contradictio in adjecto, or in the consequences. Inseparable from the nature of every rational creature there is found the consciousness of this freedom testified by the first, the highest and the sine qua non of all other proof. For man feels this to be true, otherwise he is not a separate individual, and can be the author of no action of any sort. Hence he can be neither rational or irrational, any more than he can be

virtuous or vicious-because it is not he that reasons; and hence he can be neither true nor false. But this freedom is assumed in all the relations of social life; is the expression of human justice; involved in the sanctions of civil law; and in the final adjudication of our life before the bar of God as a separate individual who must answer for himself.

Reason and morality are equally imperative in their demand. In every conceivable position man is treated as possessed of freedom, and therefore compelled to be responsible for both thought and action. Therefore, if the commands of God have any reason for their enunciation in conscience or revelation, if human life has any meaning, and effects any result, this must all be on the basis of freedom and responsibility. For these are the endowments bestowed upon man in his creation; and must necessarily be consistent with the sovereignty of God who voluntarily created him with such a nature to work out his own destiny.

II.

INSPIRATION.

BY REV. A. E. TRUXAL, D.D.

Inspiration means an inbreathing, and it is at once implied that two persons are concerned in the transaction; one from whom the inbreathing proceeds and the other by whom it is received. And it follows then too that the process of inspiration can take place between persons only, and not between things; nor yet between a person and a thing. Two self-conscious and acting personalities must necessarily be involved in the transaction. Strictly speaking, therefore, words, language and acts cannot be inspired; they may however be the result of inspiration. Persons may be inspired.

Again, in order that inspiration may be effected there must exist a kinship between the persons involved in the process. This statement may be unnecessary as it is a question whether all personalities are not essentially alike; whether we can conceive of any two personalities that are not inherently related to each other. At any rate in order that one person may be inspired by another some kinship must exist between them.

Such a relation does obtain between God and man. God created man in His own image and after His own likeness. God created man that he might become His son. And certainly all those who were inspired by God to reveal His truth to the world can in reality be called the sons of God. As such an intimate and living relationship exists between God and man it is natural and reasonable to expect that some men under certain conditions would be inspired of God. Divine inspiration must therefore be presupposed.

Again, divine inspiration does not destroy the active personality of the person inspired. The powers of the inspired person

continue in living activity during the process so that what he speaks or does under inspiration are none the less his own words and deeds. In fact we must believe that the faculties of his soul involved are raised to a higher and more intense activity than in any other condition. If the personality of an inspired person were subdued or held in abeyance in the transaction, it would no longer be inspiration, but something else. The would person then become a passive instrument only, a vessel, by and through which the inspirer spoke His words and performed His acts. If the Holy Scriptures were produced in this way they would then be the pure words and works of God. But in that view of the case we would be forced to one of two conclusions. Either the inspired portion of the Scriptures would be reduced to a minimum or to nil; or the Lord God would be set before us in such a character that we could neither believe, hope or trust in Him, nor love or worship Him. Consequently in order to escape both horns of this dilemma we are forced to hold that the inspired person is himself as really and thoroughly engaged in the operation as the one who inspires; and that the result of the inspiration is as much his own product as it is that of the inspirer.

But then we come to the conclusion also that inspiration does not make men infallible revealers and teachers of divine truth. Men though inspired are still imperfect. Though under inspiration their words and acts are still limited by their own powers of apprehension and comprehension. These powers are all the time dependent upon personal endowment, past experience, present environment, and the degree of human development in general at the time. To be the infallible revealers and teachers of the truth of God would require the men of inspiration to have acquired a stage of perfection unknown to human kind. I can endorse the words of Julian Hawthorne when he says, "It must be obvious that the infinite Creator in addressing His finite creatures would necessarily accommodate the form of his communications to the limitations of their ideas and language.' ""* But we are also compelled to go farther than that and say that it is utterly impossible *Literature of all Nations, Vol. 1, p. 115.

for men to mediate infallibly divine truth to the world. Though the powers of their minds and hearts be raised to the highest pitch of sensibility and understanding possible they are still liable to fail in clearly apprehending the divine communication and in comprehending the full meaning and application of it. The conceptions of inspired men would of necessity be more or less defective in many respects and the truth revealed would be mixed up with mistakes and errors. It cannot be otherwise. The expectation, therefore, that the sacred Scriptures are perfect and absolutely free of all errors in every respect in their presentation of the truth of God is an idle dream in which many believers in God have lived and are now living.

What then does inspiration accomplish? Much every way. Holy men of old by their piety and faith and their spiritual fellowship with God put themselves in such a condition that God could and did reveal unto their souls divine truth and quicken apprehensions of it within them; and they by their communications gave to the world moral and religious truths that could otherwise not have been acquired. By inspiration men were enabled to see and proclaim the will, purpose and truth of God; and by the revelations thus made by God through inspired men believers have attained unto a knowledge and wisdom that have redounded to the elevation, advancement and general welfare of mankind. As a result of inspiration granted unto men the world was at different times saved from moral ruin. There have been epochs in the history of mankind when as it seems to us at least deliverance from impending destruction had to come from above through the instrumentality of men inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. Abraham by inspiration of God separated his people from their destructive surroundings and taught them the faith and worship of the true God. Moses by divine inspiration delivered the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and gave unto them the law of God. The great prophets by inspiration of the Lord God reclaimed the people at different times from their apostasies and general worldliness and thus saved to the world the faith in the one true and only living God. Jesus Christ by the