It is a curious fact that the Gnostics who were the first to philosophize on Christianity distinguished between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New by calling the former right-cons, but the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ good. At any rate a distinctive goodness came into the world with Christ. Apart from Him the righteous man presents a character that starts from self and never quite leaves self behind, but Christ created>a type of character that has its motive in God and its outlet in our fellow-men. It has a root and a radius that the virtuous or righteous man mises altogether.
"Tt is not I but the Fathet in me" said Christ.
"Tt is not I but Christ dwelling in me" echoed the Apostle. Ihe motives of true goodness are in the heavenly places, as a river rises among far away heights. We think of the Yangtze as a Chinese river, bearing as it does so much of the commerce of this country on its broad brown waters. We forget that it rises and runs blue for hundreds of miles among the solitary mountains of Tibet. So it is with the sources of Christian goodness. On the other thand it has a natural overflow, it cannot keep to itself. Look'at the goodness of Christ, how it drew the children, cured the sick, made dull people grow hopeful and sinners wistful and repentant and unreal folk uneasy. This I say was a goodness with a new root and radius, 7
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.