[From States, New Orleans, Louisiana]

Faith cannot stop at being "the substance of things hoped for;" it must also be "the evidence of things not seen." If church people, in their daily lives, do not give this evidence of the superiority of spiritual over material forces, they produce no convincing proof of their claims. For there has never been any better test of Christian truth than the one set in the simple logic, "By their fruits ye shall know them." When people profess faith in God, yet make no effort to overcome evil in their thoughts and lives; when they hold that God is Love and omniscient, yet indulge selfishness and hate; that He is Life and omnipresent, yet look to lesser powers for healing; that He is Truth, yet strive for no understanding of Him, can the world be blamed for seeing the flaws in such faith and the weakness in such logic? When is it not better for churches to be forced to prove their faith by their works than to go on in the arid ease of mere profession, having a name that they live, but are dead? "Where there is no vision, the people perish." If the church cannot, or will not, give that vision, it can only be likened to Jerusalem, when Isaiah called it "the valley of vision." For, though it was built upon hills and though God's presence had so plainly been manifested there, yet it sank to material defenses, to mere sensual living and to stubborn impenitence.

But there is never a time nor a place in which the vision is not, for those who have eyes to see. ... All those in this valley of vision can realize their spiritual dreams, if they will arise and follow them. There is only one way to prove Truth, and that is to practice it. There is only one way to find God, and that is to do His will. Those who are willing to prove and find in this way will not look to death, but to life, to fulfill their dreams. ... They will gladly forego the tawdry earthly dreams to have "the substance of things hoped for," and emerge from the valley of vision into the realities of eternal Life.

[From the Times Weekly Edition, London, England]

Faith is more than belief in certain facts. Belief, on the testimony of the Gospels, that Christ Jesus lived and died in Palestine nineteen centuries ago is not faith. It is the judgment of reason on the testimony of history. Christian faith is something more than belief in historical fact or a readiness to follow authoritative guidance in doubtful questions or in matters above reason. It is the confident giving of one's self into the hands of God. ... Where true faith exists the whole man comes into action. It is not some function of the man acting apart from reason, but the whole of his personality in its great venture of trust in God. When once this character of faith is grasped, the dominance attributed to it in the Christian life may be appreciated. It is the deliberate self-dedication of the man who puts his life to the service of Christ with all the strength of which he is capable. It takes the whole of a man to attain faith, and the measure of his faith is the measure of his manhood. Men and women are to be judged in the final reckoning of life, not by their social gifts nor by their intellectual powers, nor even by theire moral ideals, but by their faith. Some are of little faith, as those who, believing in divine Providence, are yet distracted by present difficulties and by fear for the future. Others are of great faith, as the Roman officer who, brought up in every circumstance which encouraged him to despise the Jews, yet appealed for help on behalf of his servant to one whom his contemporaries regarded as only a fanatical Syrian preacher. Whether a man's faith be little or great, it is the most important thing about him, the most powerful force in his life for the shaping of character and the regulation of his conduct. Faith is the measure of his worth in the final estimate of life. If without faith it is impossible to please God, it is also true that without faith it is impossible to attain to the full powers of manhood.

A perfect God is necessary for a perfect faith. Whenever men's ideas of the Deity have been gross, or lower than their conception of truth and righteousness, conditions which have frequently existed, faith has been destroyed. Men can never exercise the fullness of faith until it is centered on a God who is perfect in truth and love. Superstition, on the other hand, is based on a nonmoral conception of the Deity and looks neither for goodness nor truth in that which is worshiped, but only the possession of powers which can be propitiated by sacrifices in some form or other. There is a superstition of irreligion, and it is either gross or childish. The fear of the savage who seeks to protect himself against the violence of an angry deity by putting himself to some prolonged agony is scarcely less degrading than that fantastic use of mascots and charms which now provides the only sign that flippancy offers for its recognition of the existence of anything beyond what can be discerned by the senses. Nowhere is conduct so plainly declared to be the evidence of a man's character as by Christ [Jesus]. "By their fruits ye shall know them."

There is no contradiction between this statement and the declaration that we are saved by faith. They stand for two facts of life complementary to one another. The test of faith is not feeling, but conduct. Faith shapes both what a man is and what he does. It is the dominantly effective force in his life. On the one hand, it is so practical, so effective, in life that it will enable a man to do what would be impossible without it. If its first action is to control, purify, and energize the hidden sources of a man's life, it goes on to endow him with the skill, the resourcefulness, the patience which enable him to exert a supreme influence in history. For this reason the world's greatest benefactors have been men of faith. Let faith rely on him who reveals the gentleness of God, his willingness to forgive the sinner, to teach the ignorant, and to strengthen the feeble, and it will surely transform those who possess it into his likeness. Be it ever so feeble, so long as faith endures, a man can never fail.

[Rev. Dr. Henry Darlington, as quoted in the New York Times, New York]

If Marconi had not believed that messages could be transmitted through the ether, he could not have invented the wireless; if Lindbergh had not had faith that he could fly across the ocean, he would never have reached Paris. Surely, if this is true in the material progress of the world, it must be even more in higher spiritual things. What we humans need in this modern age is greater conviction if we are to find peace, poise, and power. The reason that so many are restless, disappointed, and upset is because, in the desire to be up-to-date, they have surrendered their beliefs and have nothing new to take their place. Individuals, societies, and even churches are weak to-day because of this. What we all need, young and old, are convictions—the ability to know when to say "yes" and "no," and then to say it. Unless the church can give this to her children, then its teaching and preaching is vain; we have missed the power that comes through belief.

It may be possible for a person to establish moral standards without having religious faith; it is even possible for one of little faith to know the difference between right and wrong. But the real test comes, not from action but from knowledge. The strength and the will to choose the right, especially in the face of criticism and ridicule, can come only from the power that comes through believing. Every day we are called upon to make decisions, and if we have a genuine belief in the reality of God, if we can think of Him as Jesus did, as a loving Father who is interested in our welfare and who hears and answers our prayers, then we have something that will carry us through stress and storm and will bring sweetness and light into our lives.

[From the Daily Times, Tampa, Florida]

The question of personal religion was discussed by Bishop Hoyt M. Dobbs. Taking as his subject, "What is Christianity?" Bishop Dobbs explained the origin of creeds, ceremonies, and forms of worship. "None of these is Christianity in its practical application," he said, "and we live in a time when practical Christianity is needed and expected. The words chosen as my text, from the letter by James, give a clear definition of Christianity: 'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affiction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.' "

The writer not only emphasized the need of purity, but the need of bringing Christianity into the home life, the school life, the church life, the business life, and rendering that fine service suggested by the words of the text. The bishop also emphasized the need of faith in connection with the question of religion. "God does not reveal His great secret to skeptics," he said. "Believe and ye shall see. Faith is absolutely essential between man and man, as well as between man and God, as faith and trust always bring best results."

[From the Stratford Express, London, England]

The Rev. Alfred Kaye gave the address at the Conference Hall Brotherhood. Mr. Kaye said it was difficult for the man in the street to make up his mind as to what was true religion. The churches of this and other lands had many voices, all claiming to be right. What was real religion, and where could it be found? The answer was that of the prophet of old, "To do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." True religion was an intensely practical thing, pulsating through every phase of life, forming uprightness and sweetness of character for the home and business life. To-day they had much mechanical religion, also that of mere emotional feeling without affecting conduct of life. A high morality for daily life, showing mercy and kindness to their fellows, and having communion with God, would make a better world, irrespective of sect or creed. True religion would never die, for it was enshrined in the hearts of men.

[From a sermon by F. G. Hoggarth, in the Christian World Pulpit, London, England]

Fear cannot live where Christian faith and hope and love are found. These are the positive powers which are ours in Christ, powers strong to deliver us and make us the free, unafraid children of God.

[The Rev. Ditman Larsen, as quoted in the Morning Press, Santa Barbara, California]

That kind of faith which accomplishes nothing, St. James tells us, is dead. But faith that bears fruit in noble action, honors God, and works wonders for the benefit of man.