be
confessed, as we have seen above, that Hinduism comes nearer, at this
point than at any other, to touching the religion of Jesus.

The blindness of this faith is also a serious objection to it. To the
_bhaktan_ "faith is the great thing." It matters not how hideous, morally
and spiritually, the object of faith may be, _bhakti_ will triumphantly
vindicate itself in the ultimate salvation of the soul. "Repose faith in
the idols, in ceremonial observances, in ascetic performances, in all that
you religiously do, and blessing will rest upon you." This is the
_bhaktan's_ creed; it is essentially the teaching of the "Divine
Song"--Bhagavad-Gita. And it is this which has so powerfully helped the
moral and spiritual degeneracy of India during the past few centuries. Men
have attached themselves absolutely to gods whose mythology, detailed in
the _Puranas_ and _Tantras_, is a narrative of lust and of moral
crookedness, devotion to which can mean only moral contamination and
spiritual death. Such a faith, in its nature and results, can only be
contrasted with a loving devotion to the incomparably holy and lovely
Jesus.

4. The Processes of These Two Religions.

In other words we inquire, in what manner do they propose to attain unto
their respective ends?

Christianity brings man into the new, divine life through the narrow gate
of a new birth. He stands justified before God and, under the influence of
the Holy Spirit, he begins that course of spiritual development which
steadily progresses towards perfection in truth and holiness. He,
"beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord is changed into the same
image from glory to glory even as by the spirit of the Lord." And in the
fullness of his acquired, or divinely bestowed, powers he passes through
the gate of death, once for all, to enter upon the full glories of eternal
life beyond.

In Hinduism _metempsychosis_ is the great process. "As the embodied soul,"
says the Bhagavad-Gita, "moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth and age,
so will it pass through other forms hereafter." This doctrine is
universally regarded as the all-potent solvent of human ills and the
process which alone can lead to ultimate rest. In transmigration the soul
is supposed to pass on from body to body in its wearisome, dismal
progress, towards emancipation. The bodies in which it is incarcerated
will be of all grades, according to the character of the life in the
previous births, from th