embodied form. To get rid of this round of rebirth, to get away from embodied existence, to be reabsorbed into the divine is the one conception of salvation. This can be attained only by the complete denial of self, with all its desires and passions. Hence salvation is the going out of the fires of life.

Buddhism is much akin to this. It also seeks freedom from embodied existence. It is necessary thereto that a man extinguish all desire, all passion, all thought; then he will pass out of this deluded state into Nirvana, the state where he is at rest and without desire, without anxiety. Finally, when this present embodied existence is dissolved, he will simply be snuffed out; he will have attained extinction (parra-nibana). This is final and complete salvation; it is simply nihilism.

In these religions salvation is purely negative. It is freedom from some load, some punishment, some undesirable state. There is nothing positive in it. It has no real content. It must be acknowledged that Christian salvation has had too much of the idea of freedom from the pains of hell. But this is perverted Christianity. Christ's salvation was positive fellowship. Set this beside Buddha's extinction or Hinduism's reabsorption into the divine, and we readily see how barren the non-Christian conception is.

STUDY IV. THE MESSAGE OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS.

"For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.” (Rom. i. 20, 21.)

How many births are past, I cannot tell;

How many births to come, no man can say.
But this alone I know, and know full well,
That pain and grief embitter all the way.

-South India Folk Song.

PART VII. DO THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

SATISFY?

We have very briefly set forth the non-Christian conceptions of God, man, sin, morality, and salvation; and we must now ask in conclusion, Do these religions satisfy the souls of men? "The religious problem," says Professor Knox, "is: Given man, dependent and ignorant, with feelings, fears, hopes, hatreds, loves, in the midst of he knows not what dangers and difficulties, how shall he be triumphant over fear and sin and death? How shall he live in peace and make existence not only endurable, but worthy? Thus, though some may regret it, the direct and fundamental proofs of our religion can be found only in its satisfaction of the cravings of the soul and by its adaptation to the highest wants of society through its ethical activities."

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Measured by these standards, do the non-Christian religions prove adequate? The supreme craving in every human soul is for fellowship with a higher kindred power. Browning has well voiced this hunger of the soul in his splendid words in "Pauline":

The last point I can trace is, rest, beneath
Some better essence than itself, in weakness;

This is "myself," not what I think I should be:

"Direct and Fundamental Proofs of the Christian Religion," pages 156 and 173.

And what is that I hunger for but God?

My God, my God, let me for once look on thee
As though naught else existed, we alone.
And as creation crumbles, my soul's spark
Expand till I can say: "Even from myself
I need thee, and I feel thee, and I love thee."
I do not plead my rapture in thy works,
For love of thee, nor that I feel as one
Who cannot die; but there is that in me

Which turns to thee, which loves or which should love.

Which one of the religions which we have discussed can meet this test? Islam cannot; for its God is a capricious, austere, absentee Ruler who cares naught for human life. Buddhism cannot, for it denies the existence of any God at all. Hinduism, though its contemplative method comes nearer than any other, cuts off any final satisfaction; for there cannot be any real communion, since there are no persons to enter into that relationship. There is only one. That is God; and even he is not a person, but a vague, pantheistic essence that pervades the universe.

Those who have studied the peoples in the mission fields know from observation that the souls of these men are hungry. There is a great unrest, a great longing, which finds no final satisfaction through the non-Christian faiths. That these religions have value cannot be doubted, but that they are not able to meet the needs of men is equally clear to any student. This dissatisfaction is written large in the faces of all whom one sees in these lands. There is an overanxious expression which none can miss. The non-Christian peoples have much of joy. They love their friends; they have the love of their children; they are completely human; but the deepest yearning of the soul is only partially met. They know God but dimly and hence are unsatisfied.

STUDY V.

MODERN SUBSTITUTES FOR CHRISTIANITY.