Christianity, No Fable 371 the question to be considered is, Whether it is at all likely that it would perfectly answer the end for which it was intendeds If that end was to deceive men in order to enslave and degrade them, then its concocters have signally outwitted themselves; for no sooner does a man accept Christianity than he finds that if he is deceived thereby, it is a blessed deception which makes it impossible to keep him in subjection or degradations since it illuminates his understanding, purifies his heart, cleanses his imagination, quickens his conscience, strengthens his will and ennobles his whole nature. “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” said Christ. On the other hand if its end was to do this very thing, then un doubtedly its end has been reached; but the mere fact that it has been reached shows that the Scheme has not proceeded from the human mind as a work of fiction, but from the heart of God as a Scripture of truth. 2. If there be one thing more characteristic of man’s works than another, it is imperfection. Magnificent as some of man’s inventions have been, few of them are absolutely free from defects, and those that are freest have been brought to their present state of excellence only by slow and short stages and after repeated modifications and improvements— witness the printing press, the steam engine, telegraphy, elec trical power and lighting, musical instruments, aeroplanes, etc. And what is more, however perfect any human invention may appear to be at the present moment, there is no guarantee that it will not be in time superseded by something more adapted to the end it has in view. The case, however, is different with God’s works which, like Himself, are all perfect; and if it shall turn out on exam, ination that the Christian System is perfectly adapted to the end it has in view, viz., Salvation, and has never needed to be changed, modified or improved, then the inference will be unavoidable that it is God’s work and not man’s; and as a com sequence not a fiction but a fact, not fable but truth.
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