PREFACE.

and not upon theirs,—real or supposed,—in order, that is,
that it may be judged, and not pre-judged one way or the
other. Such reservation is in accordance with its whole
tenour. For the criterion alone to which appeal is made
on its behalf is the Understanding The authors use this term to describe the faculty of the mind that perceives and processes spiritual or intellectual truths, as opposed to mere blind faith., and this on the ground
that it is contrary to the nature of Truth to prevail by
force of authority, or of aught other than the under-
standing; since Truth,—how transcendent soever it be,—
has its witness in the Mind, and no other testimony can
avail it. If truth be not demonstrable by mind, it is
obvious that man, who is essentially mind, and the product
of mind, cannot recognise or appropriate it. All that is
essential is, that appeal be made to the whole mind, and
not to one department of it only.

In this book no new thing is told ; but that which is
ancient,—so ancient that either it or its meaning has been
lost,—is restored and explained. But, while accepting
neither the presentations of a conservative orthodoxy Refers to traditional, established religious beliefs and the institutional Church., nor
the conclusions of a destructive criticism Likely referring to "Higher Criticism," a 19th-century movement that analyzed the Bible as a historical document, often challenging its divine origin., its writers ac-
knowledge the services rendered by both to the cause of
Truth. For, like the Puritans A group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. The authors refer specifically to the Puritan practice of whitewashing or plastering over ornate religious art in churches during the Reformation., who coated with plaster
and otherwise covered and hid from view the sacred images
and decorations which were obnoxious to them, orthodoxy
has at least preserved through the ages the symbols which
contain the Truth, beneath the errors with which it has
overlaid them. And criticism, however fiercely infidel,