' Holding His hand, my steadied feet May waVs. the air, the seas ; On life and death His smile falls sweet. Lights up all m3'steries. Stranger nor exile can I be In new worlds where He leadeth me.'
(b) A second primary response of the soul in religion is a sense of sin, or separcttion. Religion has found expression in sacrifices on account of the well-nigh universal instinct that something must be offered in order to avert the wrath or unkind- ness of the Deity, or at least to restore happy relations between the worshipper and the world that is beyond his control. Whether they were originally offered in fear of malevolent deities, or in commemoration of the ghosts of the departed, or to renew the covenant of a tribe with its proper deity, does not greatly matter. Suffice it that the sacrifice is intended to restore communion with God in such a way that in the place of guilt and fear there may come a sense of favour through prosperity and peace.
This strong sense of a separateness that may be bridged is more or less efficient in all human response to the Unseen, and is the basis on which the higher religions rest. The danger is that the interest may run out towards the material sacrifice and its attendant rites in such a way that the end is forgotten in the means. But here Christ meets the supreme need of reconciliation in the only worthy way conceivable. On the cross the soul's reliance can be securely planted. It so suffices tliat all other sacrifices can only be put aside as mistaken, superfluous, and vain (He 13'^), unless they are the sacrifices of empty hands and a full heart.
(c) There is a third primaiy strand of religion in the sense of obligation, by which the soul is brought under a supreme law and purpose. There is a con-
* ' Not every person has religion who believes in a sacred writing, but only the man who has a lively and immediate understanding of it, and who therefore, so far as he himself is concerned, could most easily do without it ' (Schleiermacher, op. cit. p. 91).
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straining influence in all religion, in addition to the feeling of dependence and the «ense of estrange- ment. Religion really begins for us, says Lotze, ' with a feeling of duty' (Phil, of Iicli(jio7i, p. 150). It involves a committal of tiie life, the framing of its career on lines that often lie athwart the obvious advantages of life. The Indian fakir or Buddhist monk is moved strongly by this sense of obligation, and observes conditions of consecration even to the cri[)iiling of his life. But here, again, the faith of Jesus Christ fullils this need of tlie soul in a way that liberates and enlarges it. He made that absolute claim on the soul's ati'ectioii and the life's service to which so many iiave thankfully re- sponded. He knew human nature too Avell to ask for a i)artial surrender, and an obedience in outward things which is hard and toilsome. But His yoke is easy, because it brings the whole life, love, and strength under contribution to a reasonable service ; so that ' 1 ought ' is transmuted into ' I must,' and the struggling life of division becomes the soaring life of dedication. And as prayer is the expression of the sense of dependence, and sacrifice of the consciousness of estrangement, so the sacrament is the symbol of the sense of obliga- tion.
3. True religion embodied in Jesus Christ.— It is evident from this brief analysis of religion on its resjjonsive side, that Christ has the key to all its intinjacies, because the meanings of religion are consummated in Himself. The religion which we believe to be universal and everlasting in its char- acter is ju.st the fuller knowledge and obedience of Christ. He is His own religion, and therefore He not only harmonizes the various feelings of re- ligion, as we have just seen, by satisfying the desire for security, for reconciliation, and for authority, but He also brings into unity its various forms. There are three chief forms which religion has taken, corresponding to the emotional, intellec- tual, and volitional elements in human nature : (a) the ritual .side of religion, presided over by the priests, {h) the speculative side, represented by the theologians and philosophers, and (c) the legal or customary side, typified by the office of the scribes. All these departments are resolved in the NT into the headship and hegemony of Christ. He did not incorporate His religion in a hierarchic order (as with the Buddhists), or in philosophical books (as with the Brahmans), or in codes and customs (as with the Confucians and Muhammadans). He is Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn W) for all humanity.
(a) Christ is the perfect expression of the Temple symbolism (He 9"^0- His name is the shrine (Mt 182", ^.l 2 Co 5^^) ; His will is the altar (Mt 25^o, cf. 2 Co 8*). In His self-surrender He is the sacrifice (Mt 2636ff-, cf. He 10'") ; in His self-manifestation He is the priest (Mt IP'', Jn 14«). ' Having then a great higli priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession ... let us draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace' (He 4"- '"). {!>) Christ is also the final secret of revelation. The Spirit's work was to be focussed on Himself (Jn 16^^''), for to know Him is to know the Father (Jn 14^), and tiiat is life eternal ( Jn IT'^). This is a wisdom that the rulers of this world never knew (1 Co 2'''''-), though prophets and kings have desired to look into it (Lk 10'-^). For the mystery of God is Christ, in whom are bidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2^). (c) Christ is, moreover, ' the end of the law unto righteousness to everyone that believeth ' ( Ro W). His spirit of love is a law of liberty to His disciples (.In 13'^ 15'^, cf. Ja 1-^). Keeping the commandments is consummated in following Him (Mk 10-'), i-e. walking in love (Eph 5"-) ; for love is the fulfilling