ions can neither be successfully affirmed, nor successfully
denied, and where, by consequence, he may console himself, if he
wish, with his side of the guess; and I shall feel a keen sense of
sorrow at his inability to hold his premise in the final region of
the sure.

And what does all this mean?

Is it playing fast and loose with the mind? Am I turning in upon
myself and playing the mere harlequin in the arena of mental
gymnastics?

No! there is sane meaning to this double method--it is this: _as
much may be said along one line of reasoning as the other_. Each is
a _non-sequitur_ to the other. Each negatives the other and leaves
us with reason's torch inverted--the light out, the darkness deeper
than ever; and standing on the threshold of the grave we are forced
to cry out in the sharp agony of a continual self-smiting
perplexity:

"To be or not to be--_that is the question_."

Question it is--always a question--always coming back from the side
of every dead body--always coming back from the clod-filled grave--
coming down from age to age, coming back a question no man, not the
wisest mere man who ever lived, could answer, or any living wise man
can answer to-day.

If Jesus Christ were not God it cannot be answered; for if Jesus
Christ were not God, he did not rise from the dead and by divine
power carry himself out of the region of death forever.

If Jesus Christ were not God, you may go and sit by the tomb of your
dead and weep bitter (because hopeless) tears.

If Jesus Christ were not God, then he was not a redeemer and
saviour. All the beautiful things that have been taught about him as
such are false. All the hopes of heaven, the beauty of the celestial
city, the tree of life, the river of crystal, the company of the
saints, the arch-angelic song, the meeting and the knowing of those
who long ago have left us--none of these things are so.

If he were not God, then it is not true that he sits upon the
throne, high and lifted up, listening to the plaints of the weakest
heart that shall trust him, and hearing the sound of every falling
tear.

If Jesus Christ be not God, then the whole system of Christianity
built upon his person and work falls to the ground, is broken into
fragments, and like wind-swept dust can never be gathered.

If Jesus Christ be not God, the New Testament record of him is
untrue. The New Testament impeached in its prime particular becomes
a worthless book--a book full of exhorta