*I| What is needed perhaps more than anything else in theology to-day is a thorough criticism of the methods of criticism, so that the mind may be properly equipped for its special task and safeguarded from the many pitfalls, ethical and intellectual, that waylay the religious as distinguished from the physical inquirer. If the energies of those who still rail against all criti- cism as an essentially destructive process were directed to this question instead, it would greatly further the arrival of unity and progress in religious thought. And the first condition of so doing is a thorough and whole-hearted faith in the immovable realities on which faith rests and with which it has to do. The deeper our faith in our religion, the more eager we shall be to submit its experiences to the test and experiment of both criticism and life.^
4. What is the influence of the unseen things upon us when thus verified by faith ?
(1) The things xm^een keep us separate from the ivorld. — This separation is not merely a rending asunder at the outset, but a keeping asunder all the days of our life; a walk of separation from the world every day ; even in those things which we have outwardly in common with the world, such as business and re- creation— even in such things we walk by faith and not by sight. Our business, our amusements, our conversation, our readino-, our employments, our family life, our private life, our public life — all are regulated by the things unseen. In all of these we manifest nonconformity with the world.
^ Spirituality, I should say, was perhaps the most distinguish- ing characteristic of Dr. John Brown's mental constitution. As an essence it pervaded his entire life and work. Although reserved on sacred subjects, it was frequently apparent to those most intimate with him that, even in states of sunny brightness and sparkling humour, a dark cloud of emotion overspread his countenance, revealing the workings of the inner man. In his
1 E. Griffitli-Jones, Faith mul Verification, 22. I THESS.-HEB. — 27
4i8 FAITH
later years he was often seen with his eyes closed, as if excluding the outer world from his thoughts, and giving himself up to devout contemplation. Divine reverence and human sympathy were as parts of himself. This was alike shown in a keen appreciation of nature — the glory of the heavens, and the grandeur and beauty of the earth ; in his gentle and tender consideration for the feelings of others, and in sympathy with all sorrow and suffering. A near relative of his own [Professor Crum Brown], who knew him thoroughly, has truly said : " He was a sincere, humble, and devout Christian. His religion was not a thing that could be put off or on, or be mislaid or lost ; it was in him, and he could no more leave it behind than he could leave his own body behind. It was in him a well of living water, not for himself so much as for all around him. And his purity, truth, goodness, and Christ- like character were never more clearly seen than in those periods of darkness when they were hidden from his own sight. He very seldom spoke expressly of religion ; he held ' that the greater and the better, the inner-part of man is, and should be private — much of it more than private ' ; but he could not speak of any- thing without manifesting what manner of man he was." ^
(2) The things unseen sanctify us and lift our affections ahove. — We need to be drawn upward, and the things unseen are all above ; so that their influence is all upward. The unseen Christ, the unseen glory, the unseen inheritance, are all above : in realizing them we are lifted upward. And as we are lifted up- ward, so are we sanctified by the heavenly vision. Sin is made hateful ; lusts and carnal feelings are more loosened from us and fall off. We become more unlike the men of earth, more like the citizens of heaven. The clearer these heavenly objects appear, the more influential, the more sanctifying, and the more elevating they are. In beholding them we are made like them ; purified, changed into the same image from glory to glory.
^ Cultivate the Heaven-born instinct of spiritual insight ; your nature-endowment to rend for you veils of time and sense, to dispel the illusion of outward seeming and fleeting fashion of world-allurement, to give to you the underlying realities of Hope's fair dreams of future joy, the heart's true intuition and clear vision of things close-veiled to outward sense : so that you become enamoured of the infinite and feel upon you the spell of the Eternal. Let your horizon be constantly receding, your outlook on life be increasingly luminous, your expectation from the future well-
^ A. Peddie, Recollections of Dr. John Brown, 151.
HEBREWS XI. I 419
balanced and hopeful. The glory of the Son of ]\Ian breaks in suddenly, in wondrous wise, upon the drudgery and monotony of disappointed life, and lo ! the commonplace becomes a Holy Mount. Beneath some seeming failure we see capacity for higher good ; and dull, grey tints of hope-deferred life become rose-hued, or crimson-lit, in the wonder-change of the After-glow in which the Incarnation suffuses life. And if the brightness thereafter fade, yet life can never take such sombre hues again : for the Christ remains in the heart He has relieved, and the soul remembers that it is when earthly lights are paling that the glory lingers brightest and longest upon the Mountains of Hope. The glory passes, but memories abide, and the After-glow returns when evening skies pale. We feel ourselves better men for having seen the beauty and having realized how quickly God can alter the appearance of life. And we pass into the coming days with a truer and nobler conception of life, because we see the Transfiguration and the Beatific Vision where some see only the fading light and the gathering shade. The glory of the Incarna- tion lingers to keep the miracle-touch and the beauty-sheen on life, until He comes to bring back upon human nature all it erstwhile had lost.^