sent me, he gave me a commandment what I should say." The only rational conclusion which, it seems to me, can be drawn from a general view of the foregoing teachings of Christ, is That he requires of us no belief in any particular doctrine, but belief in himself; and this belief in himself, we are distinctly told, means obedience to his commandments and teachings. Section 6th, therefore, of the foregoing summary, is, I contend, comprised under the previous five heads, and those who comply with the latter injunctions are believers in Christ within the meaning of the New Testament, and necessarily comply with the former injunctions also. What stronger and more convincing proof that the teachings of Christ are of a practical nature, and lend no countenance to the abstruse dogmas which modern Christians love to quarrel about, can we possibly have than the picture, which I have already twice alluded to, of Christ's second coming, as given in Matthew 25. The whole human race is there divided into two distinct classes:Those who have done good to the poor, and those who have not done good to the poor. The former-who are called the righteous—are to inherit eternal life, and the latter are to inherit everlasting punishment! Not a word about faith, or the belief in any doctrines whatever. The only test of righteousness which is hinted at is that of beneficence. I think I may, therefore, supplement the conclusions on p. 96 ante, by the following further proposition:— That salvation according to Christ does not necessitate belief in any particular doctrines taught by Christ, but rather obedience to his commandments. Salvation according to the Apostles. Having shown that Christ requires of those who are to be saved, that they should be workers, not believers only, let us see what the Apostles have to say on the same subject. As in the case of salvation according to Christ, I will epitomise those teachings of the Apostles which are said to be indispensably necessary to salvation : Practical. Ist. Obeying Christ's commandments (ante p. 41). 3rd. Loving not the world (p. 43). 4th. Being peaceful (p. 47). 5th. Being a doer of good, not a believer or hearer only (p. 50 and p. 52). 6th. Walking in the light (p. 50). 7th. Supplementing faith with virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity (p. 51). 8th. Doing the will of God (p. 52). 9th. Salvation for him that overcometh (p. 54). Doctrinal. 10th. Calling upon the name of the Lord, and confessing Jesus to be the Son of God (p. 69). 11th. Believing on Christ (p. 69). 12th. By faith without works (p. 71). 13th. Obeying the gospel of Christ (p. 72). Here we have thirteen distinct promises of salvation to those who comply with any of the commands under these thirteen heads. In addition to these, the teachings of the Apostles on subjects which are not stated to be of vital importance, are very much more voluminous than those of Christ. Before reverting to them, let us deduce from these thirteen heads some general statement of the grounds of salvation enunciated by the Apostles. The first eight heads would seem to endorse, in the main, the teachings of Christ, and support the conclusions already arrived at, ante p. 101. No. 9 Salvation for him that overcometh-seems to be rather vague. If it means, to him who overcometh temptation to evil, of course it practically means to him who leads a good life or (as section 6 expresses it) "walks in the light." In regard to sections 10 and 11, "Calling upon the name of the Lord" and "Believing in Christ," or Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God," these three may be classed under one head-namely, Belief in Christ, which I have already discussed in reference to the same expression as used by Christ in Mark and John, where I have concluded, and I think proved, that Christ means believers in him to be doers of good. I do not think, therefore, that any more powerful blow could be aimed at the complicated and unwieldy structure which modern Christianity has erected on the flimsy foundation of a few stray passages in the Apostles' writings, than can be administered by quoting the words of Christ himself in the description of his second coming in Matthew 25 (see ante p. 40). To suppose that "Calling on the name of the Lord"-as Paul says in his Epistle to the Romans (10: 13)—will ensure salvation, is evidently an exaggeration which it is scarcely worth while to refute, since Christ has himself said: "Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven;" "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" which brings us back once more to the necessity of obeying Christ's commandments. In reference to section 13, Obeying the Gospel of Christ, the obvious meaning would seem to be, obeying the commandments of Christ; and this is an injunction which I have already discussed under the head of Believing on Christ. The last question, therefore, which remains for discussion, and certainly a very weighty one, is that involved under section 12-namely, the value of Faith without Works, as a means of salvation. It cannot be denied that again and again does the Apostle Paul, in his Epistles to the Galatians, to Titus, to the Romans, and the Ephesians, insist on the superior merits of faith as opposed to works (see ante pp. 68 and 71). Strange to say, however, not one of the Apostles, excepting Paul, enunciates the same proposition; whilst St. James (ante p. pp. 50-52), in the most emphatic manner, declares the contrary-namely, that faith without works is dead, and asks— "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." This direct contradiction between two apostles of equal authority is at least sufficient to prove that one of them must be mistaken, and could not therefore have been inspired. The question is-Whom are we to believe? St. Paul, however, also contradicts himself, since in another passage he says "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." So also in many other passages-vide the extracts on pp. 51, 52, under Faith supplemented by Virtue, and Salvation for Well-doers, where St. Paul and St. Peter teach the value of works and say nothing of faith. In any case-supposing, too, that St. James may be wrong also-it is clear that Christ cannot be so; and as I have already shown (conclusively I hope) that the dogma of Faith without Works meets with the most unqualified discouragement from the Saviour himself, I submit, as a further conclusion— That Faith without Works cannot be considered as proved to be sufficient for Salvation, or taught as such in the New Testament. As Christ's teachings contained numerous moral precepts, which I have summarised on ante p. 98, as being in the nature of practical illustrations of his commandments, so, too, are we indebted to the apostles for an extensive collection of moral lessons having a practical bearing on everyday life. They may be summarised as follows: To live as Christ lived; to love one another; to avoid strife and division; to love not the world; and to cultivate charity. Then come a series of general precepts touching the following subjects:— Chastity; fraud; peaceful labour; mourning for the dead; civil speech; foolish talk; advice to children, parents, masters, servants, husbands, and wives; meekness and forbearance; truthfulness; anger; honest labour versus theft; bad language; kindness and forgiveness; disorderly behaviour and idleness; hospitality; contentedness; war; simplicity; diligence; sympathy; ambition; conceit; cursing; returning good for evil; honesty; bad company; selfishness; sobriety; gossiping; marriage; good example; good thoughts; the outward signs of godliness; doing versus hearing; martyrdom; Sabbath observance; and lastly, general exhortations to welldoing. It is impossible to glance over the long list of subjects which the Apostles treat of in their epistles and in their speeches, as also those of Christ under sec. 5, ante p. 98, without being struck with the extremely practical nature of the teachings both of Christ and his Apostles. How earnestly does Christ insist on well-doing, and how minutely do his Apostles illustrate the commandments to "love one another; to "do unto others as ye would they should |