with the same language. The language of appearance, so large an element in the formulated expressions of conversation, is adapted to children and adults, to the ignorant and wise. It is the highest conception, fallacious as it may be, of infantile innocence and ignorance; yet it is, to manhood and education, only the apparent form which clothes realities.
The Lord, in his dealings with men, follows what is sometimes termed the methods of nature. And what are the methods of nature but the Lord's own methods? The Bible was given to the Jews who were merely natural men incapable of spiritual ideas. It is read to-day by millions of merely natural men. It is and has been and will forever be read by countless generations of children. It is intended that the natural minded, the superstitious, the spiritually uneducated and children, shall abide in the appearance until they can accept the reality. It is better for them to believe that the Lord chastises, that He is angry with us when we do wrong, that He sends us to hell, that He deprives us of heaven, that He drives the disobedient out of Eden, than that they should not recognize Him at all. The appearance of truth in regard to God, is better than a denial of Him. An acknowledgment of Him in an erroneous way, is better than no acknowledgment. We ascend to the temple of wisdom by steps; and
