“Proof? Why it is enough evidence about a thing to convince one and produce belief.”
“And you think that Christians do not have that?”
“Decidedly not.”
“I think that you are mistaken. Have you read the Bible through?”
“No.”
“I believe that is often the case with people who criticise it,” she said thoughtfully. “But you are acquainted with portions of it. Can you read without tears the Sermon on the Mount and the account of the crucifixion?”
He made no reply to her, and she continued, “If you take our Bible away, what will you give us to keep our feet from stumbling in the darkness of this world?”
“Let us rely on ourselves,” he said proudly. “Man needs no surer guide than his own internal conviction of right and wrong. That is better than trusting to a fable.”
“I do not think that we get on well when we take charge of ourselves,” she said gently.
“I don’t set myself up for a pattern,” he said hastily; “I’ve been bad—you don’t know how bad I’ve been.”