Lord. Let us not preach a Bible which is merely a congeries of delightful anticipations, but a moral and spiritual mentor which aligns itself with the heart and the conscience of man. Let us not invite men into an assembly of timid children scared by every wind of doctrine and called by courtesy the Church, but into the fellowship of just men endeavoring to become perfect under the power of the Holy Spirit, and living in the shadow of the things to come as well as the things that now are.

LITERARY AND ROMANTIC

THE CHRISTIAN IN NOVELS AND NEW

TESTAMENT

ACTS xi. 26.

Ir may be counted one of the fortunate things in the history of Christianity, that the title by which it is known to the world incorporates in it the name of the Founder. Christianity is inseparably linked with the person and work of Christ in any event. But the name of our religion must suggest, whenever it is uttered, the Central Person in it. And what is thus true of the name of our religion is also true of those who espouse its cause. Followers of Jesus Christ are called Christians. The church which Jesus established is called the Christian Church. In all these titles the Lord stands out as the determinative constituent power of the faith we profess.

It is not less interesting that the names which thus form the suggestive group of titles for the various elements of our faith are based upon the Messianic title of our Lord. Humanly speaking, the Lord's name was Jesus. And this name, not uncommon among the Jews, has acquired its significance in the world only through its association with the Christ. The mere use of the name Jesus, if persisted in to the exclusion of the title Christ, would soon obscure the most powerful truth in the history of our Lord's life. Doubtless some would rejoice to see the Messianic nature of Christ thus obliterated. But in the providence of God that has been made forever impossible, partly through the group of titles which has been chosen for the religion, the Church and the disciples of the Christ. To be his disciples they have to be Christians, and they have to show forth in the very title the historic hope and the Messianic character of his mission and sacrifice. We would honor the human Jesus wherever he might

be found. We can rest our faith only upon the eternal and the redeeming Christ.

This is appropriately the case, also, from the fact that Jesus' claim to attention is as the Christ. If at one stroke we could separate him from his connection with the hope of the Jews and could blot out the striking resemblance between the foreshadowed Messiah and the historic Christ, much of our interest in Christ would vanish at once. The events of his arrest, trial and crucifixion, which have always had such an impressive interest for men, would take on a very different character. It was his Messianic claim which brought about these things. Jesus as a new Rabbi would have aroused no such sentiments among the Jews as he did arouse. The Jews were exceedingly broad and liberal in their tolerance of schools of thought. It was the fact that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah which invoked their murderous hatred. Jesus' hope of persistence as the central figure in the history of the world lies in the security of his claim that he was the Christ.

The term Christian is now so wide in its application that it includes a great variety of thought and sentiment. Innumerable philosophic distinctions separate various sects and creeds of Christians, but they all agree on the personality of the Lord himself. Even concerning him the Christian world has more than once been rent in twain, but all held themselves to be under the standard of the Son of God and the Messiah of the Jews. But while all these differences of thought and interpretation have been abroad on other matters, about the Christian life there has been substantially little difference. All have agreed that a Christian in life is one who approximates to the life of Christ to the degree of his ability and opportunity. A Christian is one who in his life and service suggests Him whose name he bears. Failing that, no matter what else he may be, he is in no proper sense a Christian. For Christianity is first life and then doctrines about life. And the theories of Christian living have sprung out of the endeavor of godly men to live the Christ life.

It has been a favorite theme with writers, particularly novelists, to portray what they conceived to be the Chris