And, on the other hand, do not let us forget that religion is the
soul of which morality is the body, and that it is impossible in the
nature of things that you shall ever get a true, lofty, moral life
which is not based upon religion. I do not say that men cannot be
sure of the outlines of their duty without Christianity, though I am
free to confess that I think it is a very maimed and shabby version
of human duty, which is supplied, minus the special revelation of
that duty which Christianity makes; but my point is, that the
knowledge will not work without the Gospel.

The Christian type of character is a distinct and manifestly separate
thing from the pagan heroism or from the virtues and the
righteousnesses of other systems. Just as the musician's ear can
tell, by half a dozen bars, whether that strain was Beethoven's, or
Handel's, or Mendelssohn's, just as the trained eye can see
Raffaelle's magic in every touch of his pencil, so Christ, the
Teacher, has a style; and all the scholars of His school carry with
them a certain mark which tells where they got their education and
who is their Master, if they are scholars indeed. And that leads me
to the last word.

III. This mould demands obedience.

By the very necessity of things it is so. If the 'teaching' was but a
teaching of abstract truths it would be enough to assent to them. I
believe that the three angles of a triangle are equal to two right
angles, and I have done my duty by that proposition when I have said
'Yes! it is so.' But the 'teaching' which Jesus Christ gives and
_is_, needs a good deal more than that. By the very nature of the
teaching, assent drags after it submission. You can please yourself