He may well be baffled by many anomalies of the
time, his eye may rest on the meaner horde, his ear be filled with the
arrogance of some unworthy successor of Paul; and if he says: "Why
permit these things?" he may be told there are some alive in this
generation who will question all such things, and who, however hard it
go with them, have no fear for the final victory.
VI
Perhaps the conventional Christian and conventional non-Christian may
rest a moment to consider the reality. Between the bitter believer and
the exasperated unbeliever, Christianity is being turned from a practice
to a polemic, and if we are to recall the old spirit we must recall the
old earnestness and simplicity of the early Martyrs. We do not hear that
they called Nero an atheist, but we do hear that they went singing to
the arena. By their example we may recover the spirit of song, and have
done with invective. If we find music and joyousness in the old
conception, it is not in the fashion of the time to explain it away in
some "new theology," for he to whom it is not a fashion, but a vital
thing, keeps his anchor by tradition. To him it is the shining light
away in the mists of antiquity; it is the strong sun over the living
world; it is the pillar of fire over the widening seas and worlds of the
unknown; it is the expanse of infinity. When he is lost in its mystery
he adverts to the wonder about him, for all that is wonderful is touched
with it, and all that is lovely is its expression.
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