Some Essentials of Religion

These chapters have not been written for hurried reading; they are studies of Central and Vital Truths, for those who wish to think them out again under the guidance of the Church.
JOHN CHARLES, OTTAWA.
Note:—In placing these books before Church people through the churches no financial gain is contemplated for anyone concerned. Those who are initiating the Library, and all the writers, are content if the Church they serve is benefited thereby.

The first word of the Layman's Library may properly be a message from Laymen. These are the terms of it.
The hope of a brotherhood of a humanity reposes on the deeper spiritual truth of the Fatherhood of God. In the recognition of the fact of that Fatherhood and of the divine purpose of the world, which are central to the message of Christianity, we shall discover the ultimate foundation for the reconstruction of an ordered and harmonious life for all men.
These words have a theological ring about them. They are however the words not of theologians, but of representative and responsible statesmen in conference on urgent questions of public welfare. The message was issued by the premiers of Great Britain and of all British Dominions to all citizens of the British Empire. It forms a remarkable confession of faith in the spiritual basis of human life. The peace of the world depends on goodwill among men, and goodwill among men rests on spiritual forces, and of these forces the source of all and the greatest of all is the fact of God our Father and of His gracious purpose for the world.
All who wish to know God truly must put themselves to school under Christ the Master. A wonderful school it is. Little children are at home in it and the greatest minds among men find in it always something new to learn. The wonder of the school and the power of it lie not only in the personality of the Teacher but in the fact also that He Himself is what He teaches. What Jesus Christ was God is. The revelation of God we possess in Christ is a revelation that is personal and complete. This is life eternal to know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent.