INTRODUCTION.

sphere of England. Although it has so dazzled our official religious leaders original: "accredited spiritual chiefs" that they now seem inclined to turn their backs on this enlightenment—even at the risk of being left behind by the science and general intelligence of the country—they will eventually learn to accept it. England cannot afford to fall behind the rest of the world in her religious philosophy original: "speculative theology" any more than she would dare to lag behind in science or the industrial arts. Given the fortunate character original: "constitution" of her people, she ought to lead in this field, just as she has already led in everything that contributes to physical well-being and defines true civilization: respect for the law, regard for the rights of others, and the defense of civil and religious liberty.

Religion is indeed a permanent part of human nature. Outcries against the free discussion of its elements—and against investigating the value and authenticity of the ancient records of religions that existed among the earliest civilized societies original: "policied races"—really only mean one thing: that current religious teachers original: "professors" prefer to be left alone in their faith, whatever it may happen to be. But just as surely as there has been an Old Covenant and a New, there will certainly be another and another even newer still, each one more in harmony with the knowledge and aspirations of a constantly advancing humanity than the last.

The fearsome Jehovah of the Pentateuch the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—who demanded every first-born male, whether human or animal, as a burnt offering for himself, and whose altar smelled of the blood of victims every morning and evening—gave way to the gentler concept of later ages. This later God "took no pleasure in the blood of bulls or rams," and "did not require from his people their first-born for their sins, the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul." Instead, he only asked of his worshippers that "they should act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God." The entire exclusive, physical, and blood-stained ritual of the ancient Hebrew people had therefore given way to the more humane and spiritual views of the later prophets. They, in their turn, while preparing the way for his coming, bowed their heads and faded into the background when the culmi- The text likely continues with "culmination" or "culminating point," referring to the arrival of Christ.