John Angell James

Christian Progress John Angell James

The description of the people for whose benefit this work is intended, and to whom it is addressed- "If there be one word," says a writer in one of the ablest of our evangelical periodicals, "which more than another now commands the ear of the British public, that word is-'PROGRESS.' It has fallen like a spark among the inflammable mass of the working and thinking classes. This mighty watchword of the newest and most potential eras has run through the mighty chain of hearts and minds with electric intensity." This is true of science, of literature, of arts, of commerce, of law, and of politics. It would be strange if religion, considered as a practical system, could be justly exempted from this law of progress. We are to expect no new revelations, and cannot look for any new doctrines to be brought out of the old ones. That these Christian doctrines however have yet to develop themselves still more clearly; that new treasures are to be brought out of this inexhaustible mine, and a new power to be exerted by this mighty instrument for the world's regeneration-who can doubt?