responsibility to men. 'I, A. B.'-so each of the Westminster divines gave his hand as he joined the Assembly which drew up the Westminster Confession'do seriously promise and vow, in the presence of Almighty God, that in this assembly whereof I am a member, I will maintain nothing in point of doctrine but what I believe to be most agreeable to the word of God; nor in point of discipline, but what may make most for God's glory, and the peace and good of this Church.' solemn pledge of this kind, added to such an unreserved recognition of Christ's place in the relations of God and man as has been the characteristic of Christian faith from the beginning, and as is covered by the form suggested above, is surely all that any Church can wisely ask from its ministers. To adopt this course

A

would do more than anything to meet the intellectual crisis in the Churches. It would bring an immense moral relief to many who are in the Church. It would remove obstacles which keep many outside of it. It would restore its self-respect and its honour in the eyes of the world. It would provide the only reasonable intellectual basis for union. And it would not imperil the Christian relation to Christ. Faith lives on in the world because Christ is perpetually revealed in the character and greatness which originally commanded it. We believe in Him as Son of God, as Lord and Saviour, because it is so only that He manifests Himself to us, and the consciousness that our faith raises numberless questions which we may never be able to answer does not shake its security or diminish its power. It is not open or unanswered questions that

paralyse; it is ambiguous or evasive answers, answers of which we can make no use, because we cannot make them our own. And it is not the acceptance of any theology or Christology, however penetrating or profound, which keeps us Christian; we remain loyal to our Lord and Saviour only because He has apprehended us, and His hand is strong.

25, 172, 268, 275, 295, 353