Excerpt from Christ, the Spirit: Being an Attempt to State the Primitive View of Christianity The writer of the following pages has not ventured upon holy ground without having reverentially, as he trusts, put off his shoes and uncovered his head. It is said that whosoever has a truth, owes it to humanity to east it on the waters and, if this is so, then, those who even think they have a truth may ven ture to suggest it for the consideration of others. This last is the position of the writer. He thinks he has a glimpse. And something more than a glimpse, of a truth in connection with the sacred volume, and desires to give some circulation to it; but he does so in no spirit of arrogance. He would especially invite attention to it from those who may have found it difficult to under stand the miracles recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. In endeavoring to look into the Scriptures with a rational eye, it will appear to many, no doubt, as it ever has so appeared, that the sacred volume is degrad ed and brought down, as the phrase is, to the level of human reason. But let this point be examined. We cannot think too exaltedly or with too much awe of god. But are we not in danger of lowering our idea of the Supreme Being by attributing to his agency, in a supernatural sense, a work existing in such a form as manifestly subjects it to the accidents of time, and which must pass through the hands of various uninspired translators, before it can possibly reach the eyes of men in different countries and ages of the world? We should be careful, I say, lest, in exalting the Scriptures over much, we degrade our conceptions of God; for there may be an error on this side as well as on the other. We had better confess at once that no mere writing can be divine, except in a qualified sense; but in such a sense I am as ready as any one to regard the Scriptures as divine. They were written by holy men of old, as they were moved by a holy spirit of truth. But when I am told to look upon them as absolutely supernatural, I am repelled from them, and am in danger of losing the benefits I might otherwise derive from them. Upon this consideration I have determined to offer my brethren in the body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost, (1 Cor. 6 certain views which have served myself as a key by which, as I believe, a well-disposed student may be able to enter satisfactorily into at least the vestibule. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.