The Psychology of the Christian Life

Front matter

INSTITUTE LIBRARY NEW JERSEY

The Psychology of the Christian Life

_ The Psychology of the Christian Life

Preface

Ir is desirable that a few preliminary facts be in the mind of the reader before his perusal of the following discussion begins; hence a brief preface.

It is not the purpose of this work to be a psychology of religion in general. As the title

seeks to indicate, it is the endeavour Psychology of of the writer to cover only the Christian Life Only. ere :

phenomena of the Christian life, a distinct phase of the religious life of mankind, in its inner and outer aspects. There is, therefore, no attempt to embrace abstract and universal religious phenomena except as such phenomena form a part of the Christian life and then only in their specifically Christian phases. The familiar term, the Gospel, is repeatedly used as the one most, comprehensively expressing the body of truths maintained as essential by evangelical people. The term, having so definite a content in Christian terminology, is very susceptive of translation into acceptable phraseology of a most general nature, divested of everything distinctively Christian and more pleasing to the ; 7 strictly scientific psychologist ; but such general interpretation of the word, consisting of a diffusive paraphrasing of its content, is not to the author’s purpose and hence the simpler form is retained as preferable for the specific area of treatment contemplated in this discussion. At that point where the consideration of distinctively Christian phenomena properly ends there this endeavour deliberately ceases. Others undertake the harmonization of these phenomena with the general religious phenomena of the race, but such procedure forms no part of this treatise ; this is exclusively a psychology of the Christian life.

This does not purport to be a treatise presenting merely a disinterested discussion of phenomena, without definite conclusions wea mee: reached or positive positions taken. Its aim is to show that an intelligent study of all the facts embraced in the field outlined leads to one inevitable culmination : the postulation of supernatural Origin to specific psychical processes involved in Christian experience, constituting the experimental Christian life a distinctively supernatural life,—it being expressly understood that this supernatural Origin is not disorderly or capricious but evidently acting under some spiritual order well beyond all range of the natural order with which we are familiar. Such supernaturalistic view seems to the author to be the only position tenable, and this conviction gives purpose and form to the entire discussion.

It has not been the design to present a purely didactic treatment, prepared in the sole interest

Admission of of technical psychological science. Material Excluded

ptechaical The purpose avowedly contemae plates a Christian psychology of the

Christian life. Such a psychology admits sources of material as valid which general psychological science rigidly excludes. A so-called Christian psychology which rejects the validity of Scriptural insight as a source of reliable information in the psychical area is x positive misnomer. A truly Christian psychology is a psychology including among its admitted elements material recognized as distinctively Christian in its essence and permeated by a dominating Christian spirit, a spirit both devoutly reverential and also scrupulously exact in conformity to essential scientific method. It is hoped, in this way, to provide a pra¢tical help to the unscientific reader in the clarifying of the processes of Christian experience and the establishing of the true relationship between that experience and its resultant conduct in the formation of Christian character.

There is no attempt here to go into the abstruse metaphysical discussion of the tripartite division of the human being. Differentiations between eat se eae the physical, psychical and spiritical Distinctions yal have gone to excessive, someas times ludicrous, lengths of speculation in the endeavour to elucidate such division. The practical consciousness of men readily draws the distinction between the physical and mental elements of their being; but that consciousness knows no differentiations between soul and spirit. Ordinary consciousness covers the activities of both soul and spirit with no discernment of essential distinction. Plain ‘consciousness perceives an ordinary thought-action and a spiritual conscience-action as alike activities of the one undivided inner being. For the practical purposes of this treatment the author follows the lead of ordinary consciousness and seeks to avoid the introduction of confusion in thought arising from the use of close philosophical distinctions even in the interpretation of Scriptural terms not clearly understood. The writer has used the words, mental, psychical and spiritual as practically synonymous and interchangeable. The broader meaning of these terms, as given by our best lexicographers, warrants this use now permeating all psychological discussion.

This treatise does not assume to be either exhaustive of the subject or final in many of its conclusions. On the other hand, it aspires to “ie ope be merely an introduction to a Coming Christian Vast field of distinctively Chrisroid tian inquiry now being opened by general psychological science and a recognition of fast-appearing materials, which are vitally related to the experimental Christian life and which must be properly assimilated by the system of Christian thought if the warmth and vigour of aggressive piety are to be maintained in our civilization.

Too much recognition cannot be given to the work that has been done in very recent years in en reputable psychological research cent Psychological and the aid derived therefrom eo throughout this discussion in its treatment of its distinctive branch of the general subject. Two decades ago such an attempt as this would not have been made. ‘The entire point of view is the outgrowth of the world’s latest thinking. In the immediate field, which the writer ainis to cover, research and literature are still comparatively meagre. Acknowledgment is gladly made of kindly suggestions by sympathetic and critical friends with whom both the field and form of the discussion have been canvassed. This work shall have fulfilled its aspiration if it be admitted as an humble forerunner and herald of coming achievements in this important field in the interest of the most intelligent and forceful Christian living.

Horace Emory WARNER.

Denver, Colorado.

Introduction

A FEW years ago a prominent educator predicted that the two great battle grounds of religion in our generation would be in the realm of biology and in the realm of personal religious experience. The latter field in particular has become the subject of special investigation and study. In no other department of religious knowledge has there been, during the past decade, greater development of interest as shown by the production of scientific works on this and related subjects, by increased popular discussion on lecture platforms, in conferences and in periodical literature.

“The Psychology of the Christian Life,” therefore, appears at a most favourable time. There have been different works which have considered the religious consciousness and phenomena as a whole, but so far as we know this is the first comprehensive and detailed treatment of the psychology of Christian life and experience. It is at once thoroughly evangelical and modern. It is loyal to the essential points of the Christian faith, and yet affords thorough, satisfying answers to many questions which a scientific age has come to regard as unanswered, 13

14 INTRODUCTION if not unanswerable. While the treatment is genuinely scientific in method and spirit, the manner of presentation is sufficiently popular to meet the requirements of the general reader. The author is so well qualified for his task as to justify the confidence of his readers in his processes and conclusions. He has brought to his work a mind which has had the best modern educational advantages and he has kept abreast of research and discussion on the subject concerned. Above all he has had the absolutely invaluable corrective of a long and fruitful career in the Christian ministry. It was my privilege as a schoolboy to be for years under the direct and helpful influence of his ministry, and for a quarter of a century I have been in a position to observe his work in different parishes. It has been characterized by remarkably thorough and constructive work and by solid and enduring results. His whole life has been spent, therefore, in what might be called the laboratory of Christian observation and experience. He has been brought into helpful, continuous relation to thousands of persons of different ages and temperaments, of various stages of intelligence and culture, of widely differing religious views and experiences. In all this work his aim has not been academic or professional, but intensely serious and practical,

INTRODUCTION 15

—the bringing of Christian truth to bear upon the lives of men to help meet every experience of the human life and relationship.

There is a tremendous advantage in thus acquiring and possessing first hand knowledge in the laboratory of personal religious experience. Too much writing and speaking on such subjects has been based on second hand information, or, when derived at first hand, upon abnormal experiences or data gathered by the question-blank methods, which, compared with the thorough processes of the author of this work, are superficial and unsatisfactory. The man to write on the psychology of the Christian life is the man who is not only qualified by education and temper to appreciate and employ the best modern methods, but who also has devoted long and full years face to face with the whole range of the facts of normal, as well as abnormal, religious experience in sincere, self-forgetting effort to meet the needs of living and of dying men. Judged by this test the author is well qualified to be a safe guide.

Joun R. Morr.

New York.

List of Diagrams

Of the Inner Life

GENERAL DIAGRAM OF THE INNER LIFE Facing page 28

Diagram I, The Psychical Field : -! Diagram II, The Antecedent States . 6 Diagram III, The Cataclysmic States as

Diagram IV, The States under Christian Nurture. , ‘ ‘

Diagram V, The States in Ascent. «

Of the Outer Life GENERAL DIAGRAM OF THE OUTER LIFE “

Diagram VI, The Personal States. “ Diagram VII, The Evangelistic States“ Diagram VIII, The Sociological States “

Of the Inner and Outer Life

Diagram IX, A Vertical, Transverse Section of the Life of the Christian se

108 160

352 368

BOOK I The Inner Life FACTS IN THE FOREGROUND . A Neeptess Dreap

Personal salvation beyond all cost—Critical handling repelled—Unfair methods beget dread—All such

dread needless.

A Cuosen InsTRUMENT.

Arrival of Christian psychology—Recognition must be given it—Providence forecasts its mission.

A Fearzess Metuop.

Necessary to dissolve illusion—Simple loyalty to truth—Alone worthy of Christian psychology.

A Measure.ess BENEFIT.

In the perplexities relieved—In the errors eliminated —In emancipation conferred—In accumulating future good.

PART I The States of Christian Experience i THE FIELD OF EXPERIMENTAL STATES

The Range of Psychic Activity—Full consciousness —Partial consciousness — Subconsciousness—Its recent verification—Region of Consciousness— Content of €onsciousness—This region in diagram —Region of Subconsciousness — Meaning of term—This region vital in Christian experience— Demands increased recognition—Experimental contents of subconsciousness—This region also in diagram— Consciousness and Subconsciousness—Exact line of cleavage not located—Each contributes to the other—First task of Christian psychology— These interchanges in diagram.

Il. THE ANTECEDENT STATES 66

Dawn of consciousness—Two earlier stages : (1) Readiness of perception—(z) Eagerness of reception—State: Predisposition—Origin in the subconscious—The Holy Spirit the source—His work: (1) Illumination—(z) Initial impulse—This preparation typical—Causal relations of states—State : Assent to the Gospe/—Points of formulation: (1) Divine source acknowledged—(z) Right to obedience admitted—Issues in balance—State: Refusal to Obey—Steps in formulation: (1) Rise of temptation—(z) Act of disobedience—(3) Resistance to God—State: Sense of Sin—Defining conditions : (1) Condemnation—(z) Intent of return—Arrival at Cataclysmic States.

III. THE CATACLYSMIC STATES . : < eas

Salvation through cataclysm-—Variations in states— Purpose in this treatise—Needed cataclysm awaited—A chasm in conscious states—Rise of conviction for sin—From the subconscious—By the Holy Spirit—Scriptural indications: Case of Ahasuerus—At Pentecost—Christ’s afirmation— Present-day corroboration—State : Conviction for Sin—Three focal points : (1) Heinousness of sin —(z) Burden of guilt—(3) Fear of effects—A crucial and pivotal state—Alternative issues— State: Repentance—Three elements: (1) Sorrow for sin—(z) Abandonment of sin—(3) Return to God—State: Covenant for Service— Two component acts: (1) Dedication of self— (2) Dedication of belongings—State: Acceptance by Faith—Three stages: (1) Application of promise—(z) Cessation of effort—(3) Assertion of fulfillment—Climax of seeking.

IV. THE CATACLYSMIC STATES (Continued) 108 Chasm in conscious states—Process continued in the subconscious—Traced by light of inspiration— Responsive occurrences in the subconscious : (1) Forgiveness for sin—(z) Cleansing from sin’s impurity—Distinct from forgiveness—Its method unknown—(3) Regeneration: Its need—Not elsewhere accomplished—Wrought in the subconscious—(4) Adoption—State: Newness of Life— Points of definition: (1) Loss of condemnation —(z) Peace—Joy—(3) Transformed conditions —(4) Filial sense—The witness of the Spirit— Consummation in conversion.

V. THE CATACLYSMIC STATES (Continued) 126

New-born soul under ordeal—State: Vaci//lation— Steps in development : (1) Ignorance ofnew life— (2) Surprise and yielding—Absent in very rare instances—(3) Rise of old tendencies—(4) Oscillation between victory and defeat—Another pivotal stage—State: Effort for Uniformity—Acts involved: (1) Confession of unsteadiness—(z) Dedication for higher service—(3) Claim of power by faith—Process again in subconscious region —Response to faith: (1) Forgiveness for vacillation—(z) Gift of power—(3) Fullness of God— State: Possession of Power—Points of definition : (1) Exultant joy—(z) Uniformity of resistance —An abiding peace—(3) Unction for work— —Cataclysmic states not normal—Normal states under Christian nurture.

VI. THE STATES UNDER CHRISTIAN NUR- CORE: came y eee atin, | 143 Earlier aspects of Christian nurture—The soul God’s child at birth—Experience opened under Christian nurture—Sin-induced states absent—Two antecedent states present—State: Covenant for Service—Deiication adapted to conditions—State : Acceptance by Faith—Response in the subconscious —Phases of that response: (1) Closer attitude of approval—(z) Completer adjustment in fellowship—(3) Intenser parental acknowledgment— State: Rightness of Heart—Defining points : (1) Peace—(z) Holy conditions—(3) Filial sense— Witness of the Spirit—State : Vacillation—Rise of sinful tendencies—Subsequent states as in cataclysmic series—Advantage in Christian nurture.

VII. THE STATES IN ASCENT : : = 159

Two psychical movements: (1) Horizontal—(z) Ascending—Intricacy of this movement—Initiative in divine uuction—State : Revelations in Service—These revelations specified: (1) Exactness of promise—(2) Abundance in response—(3) Depths of the Word—(4) Possibilities of faithfulness—Such revelations continuous—State: Jncrease of Faith—Directions of increase: (1) Intelligence—(z) In specialization—(3) In intensity—(4) In persistence.

VIII. THE STATES IN ASCENT (Continued) . 173

Faith without initiative—Response in the subconscious—State : Augmentation of Energy—Points of definition: (1) Reduction in struggle—(z) Inclination to larger tasks—(3) Sense of reserve —State: Expansion of sCapacity—Shown by changes: (1) Ease of possession—(z) Facility in use—(3) Craving for infilling.

IX. THE STATES IN ASCENT (Continued) . 183

Capacity incapable of self-filling—Response in the subconscious—State: Enlargement of Life— Places of manifestation : (1) Area of correspondence—(z) Range of affections—(3) Altitude of impulses—Final culmination of states—State : Approximation to the Christ-spirit—Forms of this approximation: (1) In comprehension—(z) In acquirement—This ascent to continue forever.

PART II A Study in Origins

1. THE GREATER TASK OF CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY ., & : 197

Facing the facts—A new basis of apologetics—It is not reliability of history—It is not credibility of miracles—It is not fulfillment of prophecy—lIt is not benefits to mankind—It is not superiority among religions—These tributary, but not basal

—The new basis: God in Experience—Two propositions : (1) God beneath experience—Preparation needed for demonstration—(z) Psychic reaction inadequate—Occasion for this proposition—Christian psychology to prove propositions —This its greater task.

II. THE PHENOMENA IN QUESTION . wets

Located in the subconscious—Three phenomenaclusters: (1) Origin of conviction—(z) Origin of conversion—(3) Origin of possession of power —Beyond all direct observation—Their study possible by two methods: (1) By inference— (2) By inspiration—Review of course thus far— Statement of further purpose.

Ill. THE AVAILABILITY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INFERENCE Z 3 . : Rue2 7

Inference a legitimate method—Three admissible inferences: (1) Forces at work in subconscious region—(z) They operate under fixed laws—(3) Manifest intelligent qualities—Reliable inferences cease—Four erroneous inferences: (1) Outcome of adolescent change—This inference clearly unwarranted—(z) Parallel phenomena prove these reactive—Facts discredit this inference—These phenomena a class by themselves—(3) Incapacity proves these phenomena structural—Genuine incapacity very rare—Incapacity warrants no such inference—(4) Origin in hypnotic suggestion— Analysis of hypnotic condition—Deplorable results of hypnotic action—Inference shown to be erroneous—Available inference limited.

IV. THE RELIABILITY OF SCRIPTURE IN- SIGHT - . . : °

Demand for evidence proper—The problem stated —Scripture insight open to test—Four credentials

stated: (1) The diagnosis of psychical disorder

—The psychical evolution of sin—Disastrous

effects of sin—The origin of spiritual disorder—

(z) The prescription for relief—Three steps pre-

CONTENTS scribed—Abandonment of sin—Committal to obedience—Act of acceptance—(3) The definition of processes in relief—The passing of sin—The readjusting of powers—The ascendancy of new life —(4) A familiarity with conditions involved— Reliability within conscious states demonstrated.

V. THE ULTIMATE POWER, THE HOLY

VI.

I. Spirit

Proven accuracy of Scripture insight—Valid conclusion from such accuracy—Scripture insight penetrates into the subconscious—Such insight trustworthy—The crucial question—The answer of Scriptural insight—Elimination of divine Personality fatal—Survival of formalism and theism —Classified grouping of passages embodying Scripture answer: (1) The Holy Spirit abiding in psychical field—(z) The Holy Spirit beneath good impulse—(3) The Holy Spirit alone regenerates—(4) The Holy Spirit confers life and power —(5) The Holy Spirit transforms in Christian growth— Deliverance of Scripture insight accepted and final.

THE WONDER AND GLORY UNDIMIN-

ISHED

.

Supernatural factors unimpaired—Wonder abides unabated—The glory shines undimmed : Chait God’s presence—(z) In God’s fellowship—(3) In God’s co-working—(4) In God’s conferred likeness—Resultants from divine origin—Vital factors of inner life in tact.

BOOK II The Outer Life The States of Christian Character THE RISE INTO THE EXTERNAL

Inner life irrepressible—Must have exact external counterpart—Such counterpart to be formulated —Formulation by Scripture and experience— Two hemispheres in character— Application to

CONTENTS

Christian character—Christian psychology and the outer life—That psychology must formulate that outer life—Disparities in so-called Christian character—Arise from two mistakes: (1) No required experience—(z) No accredited standard— Remedy in exacter method.

Il. THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER STATES

Process of character formation—Stages culminating in Christian character: (1) Initiation by the Holy Spirit—-(z) Appearance of conscious states —(3) Issuance in conduct—(4) Subjection to observation—(5) Induction of character states— View of conduct in two relations: (1) To its causes—(z) To its results—Formation of character states—Definition of Christian conduct necessary—Conduct defined, states of character follow —Method of treatment—Vision of balanced character needed—Specialized character an error— Three series of states: (1) The personal states— (z) The evangelistic states—(3) The sociological states——Series to be studied in detail.

III. THE PERSONAL STATES

All Christian states homogeneous—Movement from cause to effect—Conduct: Prayer—Bible study—Worship—State of character: Devoutness—Conduct: Clean actions—Pure words— State of character: Purity—Conduct: Need sought—Need served—Cheer diffused—State of character: Kindness—Conduct : Considerateness —Tenderness—State of character: Gentleness— Conduct : “Wrong ignored—Good returned— State of character: Forgiveness—Conduct: Irritation resisted Manner Unruffled—State of character: Patience—Conduct: Control of Self— Abstinence from wrong—Moderation in right— State of Character: Temperance—Conduct : Loyalty to righteousness Consistency — Reliability—State of character : Integrity—Conduct : Activity—Progressiveness—State of character: Ambition.

IV. THE EVANGELISTIC STATES , 1255

Personal states elementary—Evangelistic states derivative—Conduct: Anxiety for souls— Specific concern—State of character : So/icitude— Conduct: Inability conceded—Resort to God— Reliance upon God—State of character: Intercession—Conduct: Search for hold—Forging of links—Drawing towards Christ—State of character: Influence—Conduct : Invitation to accept— Pleading to receive—State of character: Appea/— Conduct: Salvation exalted—Cost uncounted— All to Save—State of character: Sacrifice.

V. THE SOCIOLOGICAL STATES , = ee

Sociolo-ical conduct—Origin in experience—Issues in states of character—-Conduct : Condemnation of wrong—Untiring opposition—State of character : Revolt—Conduct: Help for suffering—Work of alleviation—State of character : Re/ief—Conduct: Location of injustice—Firmness in exposure— Fidelity in eradication—State of character: Removal—-Conduct : Customs revised—Harm eliminated—Uplift substituted—State of character: Reformation—Conduct: Institutions remedied— Institutions created—State of character: Reconstruction—Conduct: Citizenship exemplified— Ideals diffused—Power applied—State of character: Redemption.

VI. THE REACTION FROM THE EXTERNAL 388

Three functions of conduct—The third only, here considered——Reflexes from conduct yital--Two view-points: (1) The structural effects on psychical faculties—Those faculties shaped—Balance given to inner life—(z) The functional effects on psychical perceptions—Intensified convictions — Clarified vision—Possibility in such reaction— Action and reaction in coéperation—Future of Christian life estimated.

INDEX 9: ia. 08 ee » 397

BOOK I The Inner Life

THE MASTER'S COLLEGE POWELL LIBRARY SANTA CLARITA, CA 932i

Explanation of Diagrams of the Inner Life Diagrams IT to V

The two black parallel lines, extending from end to end of diagram, mark the division between the conscious and the subconscious regions. The sections in black, in and immediately above these lines, indicate the successive states of experience occurring in the region of consciousness. The grouping in subdivisions, arising from each of these sections or states, indicates the points at which these states are formulated with special clearness in consciousness. The gaps, or breaks, in the parallel lines represent the special places in experience where other states than those perceptible in consciousness must be introduced to perfect the continuity of states.

The red colour indicates the place of the subconscious in the experience. In the region of subconsciousness, the

Holy Spirit as the agent and the states sana ste He produces, according to Scriptural

gram. ’

revelation, are indicated by the red lettering. The dotted red line shows when the movement of experience sinks into the depths of subconsciousness and returns with its results to the region of consciousness. The solid red line, running between the parallel black lines, shows how continuously and intimately the subconscious is connected with the whole movement, contributing a vital part to every passing state of the life of the Christian.

Black Colour in Diagram,

Ceerat Magram of Vhe loner life

Fie Anecedent” SSK A Mie it atacljemienBveken ea ae Sa a nS }

B\nelvonrorDernce 7K aS Kovding Peace

ONSCOUINEYy

Low K Gubconsciousness under Garistaw MurYure

1s J it 1 1 ¢ Recent Aehnouhodgrarn Kay opnr 1 ibyutneskinalowchig

LARA KRyroval

. s ea na ‘= . = he cee ; gee inabs vydtat, aah Po ; re Pan = ri ode i * ; t De af we “s =) | pee y

. 7

Ot om ee

I.—A NEEDLESS DREAD

- “JT have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to thy saints,’’—Ananias of Damascus."

Tue genuine experimental Christian is confident and jubilant. He has found “ The Pearl of Great Price.” It is precious Peron cat. and sacred above all values. It is the life of personal salvation from the guilt and slavery of sin. It is the life of spiritual peace and victory over evil within and without. It is a perpetual fountain of joy and hope. He counts nothing as sacrifice in its defense. He springs gladly into martyrdom for its retention. From Stephen’s stony couch of death to the crimson sword of the Chinese Boxer and the dripping cimeter of the Moslem Kourd, the genuine Christian everywhere gives his blood for the life he has found in Christ.

To touch, with critical hand, this priceless treasure is to touch the apple of his eye. He recoils; he throws out every shield of the inner life with keenest concern. He is inspired, in the first impulse, with a shrinking dread. It is conceived that this life of peace, this joy

of purity, this sense of power, Sibert aig this communion with God, this

exhilaration of holy Presence must not come under common touch. It is too sacred, too exalted, too divine to be put under ordinary scrutiny. It is in a class by itself and must be left in its solitude and hallowed glory undisturbed by profane intrusion. Mortal has no units by which it may be measured ; no reactions by which it may be tested ; no balances in which it may be weighed ; no concepts in which its mystic nature may be embraced. To attempt to critically examine, analyze, define and correlate its parts, as if it were a thing of common mould, is felt to be an act of presumptuous sacrilege. “It is true that we instinctively recoil from seeing an object to which our emotions and affections are committed handled by the intellect as any other object is handled.” ' No less astute and scientific a person than the devout chemist, Michael Faraday, sympathetic with this exclusive spirit, declared : “TI claim an absolute distinction between a religious and an ordinary belief. If I am reproached for weakness in refusing to apply those mental operations, which I think good in

A NEEDLESS DREAD 31 high things, to the very highest, | am content to bear the reproach.”? It is thus conceived, by some, that such processes as have sifted and systematized the rest of the known world bring here an indefinable peril.

It certainly must be admitted that these processes sometimes, when evidently inspired by an inimical purpose, have brought threatening and slaughter to the vital essence of this sacred life. They have seized it with reckless violence and have relentlessly sought to eliminate its every apparently supernatural element. A class of these methods has been tersely characterized by one eminently qualified so to do: “Medical materialism finishes up Saint Paul by calling his vision on the road to Damascus a discharging lesion of the occipital cortex, he being an epileptic. It snuffs out Saint Teresa as an hysteric, Saint Francis of Assisi as an hereditary degenerate. . . . Medical materialism then thinks that the spiritual authority of all-such personages is successfully undermined.”? All such destructive efforts have richly earned the name of unsparing foes of all spiritual life. They have begotten a prejudice, deep-seated and persistent, against

Unfair Methods Beget Dread.

1 Holmes, ‘‘ Pages from an Old Volume of Life,’’ p. 312. 2 James, ‘‘ Varieties of Religious Experience,’’ p. 13.

themselves. The rumour of their deadly work has permeated everywhere. The suggestion of anything, in the remotest way resembling them, awakens a dread, it matters not how just and even friendly the effort itself may be to the spiritual life.

A single fact, however, strips such dread of all its force. That truth, once clearly apprehended, the dread is seen to be utterly needless. This illuminating truth is many-sided and may be variously stated. Every timorous soul should turn it over and:over until he shall bring himself under its emancipating inspiration: Scrutiny can change no fact. Analysis has no power over essence. Truths are the same in the shadow or in the sunlight. Realities are invulnerable and unchangable to whatever processes subjected. The constituent elements of the life we call Christian are substantial, real, unalterable. They are the eternal verities of the life begotten of God in the soul. No possible handling can render them less real, or change their essential nature. The dread of their scrutiny is a confession either of our inability to demonstrate their substantial nature or of our imperfect faith in their indestructible reality. All such dread is without adequate reason and actually groundless.

All Such Dread Needless.

A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT 33

IJ.—A CnHosren INSTRUMENT

‘* He is a chosen vessel unto Me.’’—Jesus.}

CuRIsTIAN psychology is the study of the soul in its exhibition of the phenomena of the Christian life. It is the) systematic, scientific knowledge, of psychical activities eo in Christian experience and their nonRaiiaticnsh in conduct and character. It is the exploration | of the entire field of interrelated phenomena appearing in the life of the Christian. It is the classification of all of the facts thus discoverable in their correlated order. It is the formulation of the evident laws of the spiritual, experimental action developed under the Gospel of Jesus - Christ. This Christian psychology is here to- _ day ready for the most devout and far-reaching service. To intimate that such psychological research, in its attempt to investigate the facts of Christian experience, will undo some of the sacred things of the Christian life, will undermine faith, extinguish joy, emasculate spiritual virility or dissipate power, is Ananias-like to attempt to block the plan of God. A greater familiarity with the properly applied processes and the actual results of such psychological inquiry speedily recalls that intimation and

1 Acts ix, 15,

Arrival of Christian Psychology.

accords a cordial welcome. A distinct Christian psychology has been given its place in the thinking of our day and its arrival is heralded in unmistakable events.

Christian psychology is the inevitable specific application of an irresistible, world-wide movement. We are in the psychological era par excellence in the world’s thought. As the period of the application of scientific method to the investigation of mental life its origin is of recent date. “It dawned ten, perhaps fifteen years ago, and we are living in the middle of it. . . . It began with an analysis of simple ideas and feelings, and it has developed to an insight into the mechanism of the highest acts and emotions, thoughts and creations. It started by studying the mental life of the individual, and it has rushed forward to the psychical organization of society, to social psychology, to the psychology of art and science, religion and language, history and law.”? This pushing of investigation into the region of the psychical to ascertain the demonstrable facts of that realm is not a fad, as 4 superficial survey sometimes concludes. It has come to stay as a permanent and important part of the world’s research. The negative concept of the region of consciousness as impene-

? Miinsterberg, “Psychology and Life,’’ p, 2,

Recognition Must be Given it.

A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT 35 trable and unconquerable is an effete vestige of a past stage of thinking. The larger, newer vision perceives a region of fact, charged with a potentiality of untold measure, lying in the intangible sphere of the psychical. It is the self-imposed task of this age to attempt the possession of the coveted facts of this region hitherto so vaguely perceived and understood. It is a movement both irrevocable and _ irresistible. The signal of general progress has sounded this advance and the wide-awake thinking of the Christian world cannot refuse to hear. With the arrival of a definite and opportune psychology of the Christian life is now borne abroad the call to its cordial recognition and prayerful reception.

Where this psychological movement approaches the confines of the Christian life there is the Damascus of our day and Providence Fore’ the waiting figure of a new and half-awakened champion of extended lines of gospel permeation. A remarkable metamorphosis is this hour in progress. A dreaded foe is being transformed into a powerful ally. God is quietly preparing a mighty exponent of a clarified and demonstrated Christian consciousness. The providences of God, taking cognizance of the factors of power in this psychological movement and winning them to