The Kernel and the Husk
TO THE READER
The time is not perhaps far distant when few willbelieve in miracles who do not also believe in aninfallible Church; and then, such books as the presentwill appeal to a larger circle. But, as things are, theauthor would beg all those who worship a miraculousChrist without doubt and difficulty to pause here andread no further. The book is not intended for them;it is intended for those alone to whom it is dedicated,“the doubters of this generation.”
For there are some who feel drawn towards theworship of Christ by love and reverence, yet repelledby an apparently inextricable connection of the storyof Christ with a miraculous element which, in theirminds, throws a doubt over the whole of His acts,His doctrine, His character, and even His existence.Others, who worship Christ, worship Him insecurelyand tremulously. They assume that their faithmust rest on the basis of the Bible miracles; and atvitimes they cannot quite suppress a thrill of doubt andterror lest some horrible discovery of fresh truth,resulting in the destruction of the miraculous elementof the Bible, may impair their right to regard Christas “anything better than a mere man.” It is tothese two classes—the would-be worshippers and thedoubtful worshippers of Christ—that the followingLetters are addressed by one who has for many yearsfound peace and salvation in the worship of a nonmiraculous Christ.
Not very long ago, but some years after thepublication of a work called Philochristus, the authorreceived a letter from a stranger and fellow-clergyman,asking him whether he could spare half an hour tovisit him on his death-bed, “dying of a disease”—soran the letter “which will be fatal within someuncertain weeks (possibly however days, possiblymonths). No pains just now, head clear, voicesound. And mind at peace, but the peace ofreverent agnosticism..... Now I have read andappreciated Philochristus. It would comfort myshort remainder of life if you would come and lookme dying in the face and say, ‘This theology andChristology of mine is not merely literary: I feelwith joy of heart that God is not unknown to man:try even now to feel with me.’”
viiOf what passed at the subsequent interview nothingmust be said except that the dying man (whoseanticipations of death were speedily verified) expressedthe conviction th