PHILADELPHIA: PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK, No. 1334 CHESTNUT STREET COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Westcott & Thomson , Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada. Some of the most pathetic cases of the spiritual unrest and skepticism of the day are found among the children of Christian parents. They have been brought up to believe the Bible, but under the influences that h

My Dear C—— : It is useless for you to write to me on the subject of your last letter. I appreciate your motives, but with me the question is settled. I have given up the beliefs of my childhood; they had long been a burden to me, and the writings and lectures of Mr. —— did the rest. Have you heard him? Can he be fairly answered? I am not, indeed, as confident as he is that there is no personal God, though I do not believe it can be proved , and I entirely agree with him in abhorring and rejecti

My Dear A—— : The two questions that press upon every mind, and that Mr. —— has shown again and again, with wonderful pathos, by dying beds and at open graves, are pressing upon his, are these: Is there a God? Is there a future state of existence? To these questions the best answer Mr. —— has to give is, "We do not know." He seems confident that there is no personal God, and "we cannot say whether death is a wall or a door, the beginning or the end of a day, the spreading of pinions to soar or t

My Dear A—— : In the note in which you kindly acknowledge my former communications you say that, whatever Christianity may be to me, you cannot see it as I do; its excellences, as they appear to my mind, do not impress you at all, and as long as they do not you cannot be expected to accept it. I admit the conclusion: you cannot receive as good and true what does not seem to be so. But does it follow that a thing is not good and true because you do not see it? The question still comes, Is the cau

My Dear A—— : I had supposed my last letter would end our correspondence. Your kind reply has gratified me more than I can express. Without further words, let me take up at once the question that you put, I am sure, sincerely. You ask, "What is 'the way of settlement that the Bible opens to the great questions that press us?'" The questions of supreme interest are few and simple. Is there a God? Is there a future existence for us? How can that existence be made a safe and satisfying one? If you

One has to breathe but little of the atmosphere of popular thought to-day to find how full it is of religious doubt. Parental faiths count for little. The beliefs of childhood, the teachings of the sainted dead, the hopes that once brightened the darkness and mysteries and griefs of life with the light of a cloudless future, are to multitudes no more. "The eclipse of faith" has come, and souls are drifting out upon the starless, shoreless sea of unbelief. They see "the spring sun shining out of