The  whole  process  is  personal,  resting  on  the  contact
between  the  human  spirit  and  the  divine,  and  the  argu-
ment of  this  paper  is  that  this  is  always  and  solely  what
we  mean,  or  ought  to  mean,  by  grace.  Grace  is  simply
the  result  of  contact  of  man's  personality,  or  spirit,  with
God's.1  Personality  has  been  defined  as  "  capacity
for  fellowship,"  2  and  it  only  discovers  its  full  capacities
in  that  fellowship  which  is  the  knowledge  of  God  and
of  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  has  sent.
It  is  not  suggested  that  this  is  a  novel  conception.
It  has,  indeed,  always  been  the  underlying  experience  of
Christianity,  and  very  often  an  important  element  in
its  teaching.  But  it  has  been  confused  and  overlaid  by
artificial  ideas  of  grace.3  Grace  has  been  conceived  of
as  an  external,  semi-physical  "  something  "  which  comes
into  some  souls  at  certain  times  and  under  certain  con-
ditions, much  like  an  electric  current.4  It  is  a  force
infused,  a  drug  prescribed  to  counteract  the  microbe  of
sin,  something  which  can  be  taken  in  quantities  and  at
regular  intervals,  and  which  has  its  special  channels  and
means.
Further,   it    is  regarded    as   something   sui  generis.
1  For  our  present  purpose  it  is  not  very  important  whether  we  think  of  this  as
contact  with  God,  Christ,  or  the  Holy  Spirit.
2  J.  L.  Paton  in  Cambridge  Essays  on  Education,  p.  8.
