10 A Christian Apologetic

Many a logical disaster might have been averted
by the simple precaution of defining aim and
purpose accurately before plunging into the thick
of argument.
In the first place, then, it should be stated
that the argument of the present volume assumes
that there is a God. The witness of conscience
and reason to this truth is generally recognised
by the best thought of the present day. And
even amidst the coarser forms of unbelief an
avowed atheism is rare. The popular mood is
not that of dogmatic denial, but rather that of
a vague and questioning agnosticism. If there
be a God, can we know Him ? Has He revealed
Himself? Are there valid reasons for attribut-
ing to Him a moral nature, as we understand
the word moral ? Our approach to these ques-
tions will be indirect. It is believed that an
answer to them will be found, by implication, in
the following pages ; but they do not constitute
the guiding clue in our special line of investi-
gation.
The end which we explicitly have in view, is
to vindicate the reasonableness of the belief that
Jesus Christ is the supreme revelation of the
living God. By supreme is meant adequate and
final, in the sense that the revelation is all-suffi-
cient for the religious needs of men. And while
we hold that the abundant riches of His Person
will ever find fuller and fuller recognition, as



Definition of Aim 11

the Spirit guides the Church into all truth, and
that thus the Christian revelation is progres-
sive, yet we maintain that the Gospel is not
merely relatively, but absolutely, the best gift of
God to man.
