Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: IT WILL BE SPIRITUAL. Ecclesiasticism may to a large extent retain its hold on the hearts of men and denominationalism continue to divide communities, yet Christians must come to see more and more through the forms of things, as Carlyle put it, and discover the things themselves. Multitudes of men, in their deepest need, turn away from religious formulas and reach out for a conscious oneness with their Maker, feeling confident that God and God alone can satisfy them. This hungering for that which is real must be met by the Church in her ministry. She must realize that religion does not consist in the possession of theological opinions, but in the possession of divinity. Gradually, but surely, Christians are awakening to this fact, and are separating in their work that which is essential from that which is expedient, and are declaring with emphasis that the mystery of God, hidden for ages, is nothing more than "Christ in you the hope of glory." Jesus never intended that men should merely intellectually assent to His sayings, and then, that they might the better use His words for ecclesiastical organization and controversy, give them an orderly pen and ink arrangement and expression ; but rather that they should find through them the Father. It is very difficult for those who have never realized the possession of Christ to understand the peace and power that He brings; hence all the objections of unbelievers are directed not against Christianity itself, but some imperfect expression of it. It is comparatively easy to construct a plausible argument against the opinions and purposes of men, no matter how saintly they may be, or against religious organizations, creeds, or even the letter of the Scripture itself; but Christianity is not human opinion or intention; it i...