A religion may be described objectively or sub- jectively, from without or from within. As an objective religion in the world, Christianity is an ethical and spiritual monotheism of a high type, the highest that has been known in history, when its character and efi'ects are fully estimated. So far there is general agreement. But the logical differentia has yet to be specified, and here opinions vary. If the characteristic and distinguishing doctrinal teaching of Cliristianity be considered, it may be said that the Incarnation is its central idea. But this must never be interpreted apart from Christ's whole work, including His death and resurrection, and the main purpose of that work, the Redemption of mankind, that Salvation and Reconciliation which He lias made possible and open to all. Opinions may differ as to the exact mode in which this has been effected, but the Cross of Christ is its central feature. Chris- tianity without a Saviour is a face without an eye, a body without a .soul.
If the Christian religion be regarded from within, as a .subjective, personal experience, its essence lies in a new life, conceived in a new spirit and animated by a new power. This power is directly imparted by the Sjjirit of God, but on the human side it arises from the new conceptions of God given by Christ and the new relation to Him established through the redemption and mediation of His Son. If the religion be viewed on its racial and social side, it may be described as having for its object the establishment of a brotherhood of mankind based on the Fatherhood of God and the Elder Brotherhood of Christ; a view of man which implies the inestimable indivi- dual worth of each, and the ultimate union of all in a renewed Order of which Christ has laid the foundation, given the foretaste, and promised the complete consummation and fruition.
The secret of the power of Christianity lies in the conviction which it engenders that— granted the fundamental principles of Tlieism— God has Him- self undertaken the cause of man ; that He enters into man's weakness, feels with his sorrows, and, chiefly, that He bears the terrible burden of man's sins ; all this being assured by the gift of His Son and the work which the Son Himself has accom- plished and is still carrying on by His Spirit. The metaphysical nature of Christ's Person may not be capable of being adecjuately expressed in words ; the full scope of His redeeming work may be variously understood and may be incapable of being condensed into a formula ; while Christians may widely differ as to the way in which the benefits of that work are best ajipropriated and realized and distributed by His Church in the world. But the essence of the religion lies in its conception of the spiritual needs of man, the ends for which he exists, his sin and failure to realize those ends ; in its proclamation of Christ, the once dying and now ever living Lord as Himself the Way, through whom sin may be forgiven and failure "remedied ;
and above all, in the moral and spiritual dynamic which is supplied by faith in the great Central Person of the whole religion, and the life in Him which is rendered possible for every believer by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
As to the claims of Christianity to be the only permanent, universal, and final religion for man- kind, no vindication of them can amount to actual demonstration. But the argument would take the direction of inquiring whether history thus far confirms the high claim of Christianity to suffice for the needs of man as man. Is Tertullian's phrase aniiiui. naturaHter Christiana borne out by facts? Has Christianity, not in its miserably imperfect and often utterly misleading concrete forms, but in the idea of its Founder and the best attempts made to realize it, shown the 'promise and potency ' of a universal religion for the race ? Such an argument would have to take full account of criticisms like those of Nietzsche and his school, who complain that Christianity in its tenderness towards the weak and erring, in its hallowing of sorrow and its preoccupation with the evil of sin, profoundly misunderstands human nature and man's position in the Universe; that it amounts, in fact, to a worship of failure and decay. These criticisms have not been widely accepted as valid, and they can easily be met — they were, indeed, substantially anticipated by Cels'us and refuted by Origen. But such objections are sure to recur, together with kindred difficulties arising from a naturalistic view of man which claims to be sup- ported by physical science. They can be effectu- ally repelled onlj^ by practical proof that the teaching of Christianity accords with the facts of human nature and meets the needs of human life more completely than any other .system of philosophy or religion.
On tlie other hand, the triumphs which Chris- tianity has already achieved ; the power it has manifested of being able to satisfy new and unex- pected claims ; the excellence of its ideal of char- acter, one which cannot be transcended so long as human nature continues to be what it is ; the suc- cess with which it has brought the very highest type of character within reach of the lowest, as attested by the experience of millions ; the power of recovery which it has exhibited, when its teaching has been traduced and its spirit and aims degraded by prominent professors and representa- tives ; — these, with other similar characteristics, go far towards proving the Divine origin of Chris- tianity, and its claim to be the perfect religion of humanity, sufficing for all men and for all time.