Pauline Christianity Swept Away.

This is the great truth that Judge Higinbotham has emphasised, this is the one principle that makes his famous lecture so valuable; and although the manner in which he has reached that central truth may not appear quite satisfactory to us, although we may not entirely agree with the conclusion he draws from that premise, and although the remaining portions of his lecture may seem faulty, we cannot but rejoice at the success that seems to have attended his effort—a success all the more pleasing to us when we remember that it is this very point that Freethinkers have so frequently emphasised. The Judge's utterance on this subject has fallen like a bombshell in the citadel of the Church. He has shown that utter regeneration is necessary to bring the Church into harmony with the social requirements of this century. He has exorcised creed-divinity from the Scriptures. He has cut away the foundations page 7 of the Christian Churches. The Christianity of the Churches is Pauline Christianity—and the central principle of that system is original sin and the redemption of the world through the mediation of Christ. Christianity was but the welding together of the old and the new. It teaches that man was born in sin and could only be purified by divine interference. The fall of man from his high estate, is as essential a part of Christianity as is the resurrection itself. Listen to what Paul himself says:—

"As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."— (I. Cor. xv., 22.) "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."— (Rom. v., 12.) "Therefore as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."— (Rom. v., 18,19.)

This is the cardinal doctrine of orthodox Christianity. If you take away the doctrine of the fall of man, if you show that man has not fallen from perfection to imperfection, but has been progressing from a lower to a higher form of life, you take away the connecting link between the Old and the New Testaments, you cut away the ground from Christianity and leave no necessity for its existence. If man did not fall then there is no need for the system of the Christian Churches—that system topples over as soon as this is shown.