true." Another tells me
that "In Christ alone is peace"; another, that "Without Christ there is
neither health nor holiness."

If these statements mean anything, they mean that none but true
Christians can live well, nor die well, nor bear sorrow and pain with
fortitude, do their whole duty manfully, nor find happiness here and
bliss hereafter.

But I submit that Christianity does not make men lead better lives
than others lead who are not Christians, and there are none so abjectly
afraid of death as Christians are. The Pagan, the Buddhist, the
Mohammedan, and the Agnostic do not fear death nearly so much as do the
Christians.

The words of many of the greatest Christians are gloomy with the fears
of death, of Hell, and of the wrath of God.

The Roman soldier, the Spartan soldier, the Mohammedan soldier did not
fear death. The Greek, the Buddhist, the Moslem, the Viking went to
death as to a reward, or as to the arms of a bride. Compare the writings
of Marcus Aurelius and of Jeremy Taylor, of Epictetus and John Bunyan,
and then ask yourself whether the Christian religion makes it easier for
men to die.

There are millions of Europeans--not to speak of Buddhists and
Jews--there are millions of men and women to-day who are not Christians.
Do they live worse or die worse, or bear trouble worse, than those who
accept the Christian faith?

Some of us have come through "the solemn realities of life," and have
_not_ realised that Christianity is true. We do not believe the Bible;
we do not believe in the divinity of Christ; we do not pray, nor feel
the need of prayer; we do not fear God, nor Hell, nor death. We are as
happy as our even Christian; we are as good as our even Christian; we
are as benevolent as our even Christian: what has Christianity to offer
us?

There are in the world some four hundred and fifty millions of
Buddhists. How do they bear themselves in "the solemn realities of
life"?

I suggest that consolation, and fortitude, and cheerfulness, and
loving-kindness are not in the exclusive gift of the Christian religion,
but may be found by good men in _all_ religions.

As to the effects of Christianity on life. Did Buddha, and King Asoka,
and Socrates, and Aristides lead happy, and pure, and useful lives? Were
there no virtuous, nor happy, nor noble men and women during all the
millions of years before the Crucifixion? Was there neither love, nor
honour, nor wisdom, nor valour, nor peace in the world