purpose for mankind. Through its pages--sometimes dimly, sometimes
brightly, But growing ever clearer--shines the giving light of God's
truth and revelation, culminating in the Christ, the perfected
revelation and the supreme demonstration that man, though beset by
temptation, baffled by obstacles, deserted by friends, and maligned
by foes, can nevertheless, by the invincible sword of love and
self-sacrifice, conquer the world and become one with God, as did the
peerless Knight of Nazareth.




III

THE EARLIEST CHAPTERS IN DIVINE REVELATION

[Sidenote: _The nature of inspiration_]

Since the days of the Greek philosophers the subject of inspiration and
revelation has been fertile theme for discussion and dispute among
scholars and theologians. Many different theories have been advanced,
and ultimately abandoned as untenable. In its simplest meaning and use,
inspiration describes the personal influence of one individual upon the
mind and spirit of another. Thus we often say, "That man inspired me."
What we are or do under the influence of that intellectual or spiritual
impulse is the effect and evidence of the inspiration. Similarly, divine
inspiration is the influence of God's spirit or personality upon the
mind and spirit of man. It may find expression in an exalted emotional
state, in an heightened clarity of mental perception, in noble deeds, in
the development of character, indeed in a great variety of ways; but its