How is it that the full idea of the Creator,—­an idea which true philosophers have sought after in all periods of history, and of which they have had, so to speak, glimpses and presentiments,—­how is it that this idea is a living one only under the influence of the tradition which, proceeding originally from Abraham and Moses, has been continued by Jesus Christ?  It is not impossible to point out the spiritual causes of this great historical phenomenon.  Faith in God, in order to maintain itself in presence of the difficulties which rise in our minds, and—­to come at once to the core of the question—­the idea of the love of God, in order to maintain itself in presence of evil and of the power of evil on the earth, has need of resources which the Christian belief alone possesses.  The knowledge of the Heavenly Father is essentially connected with the Gospel:  this is the historical fact.  This fact is accounted for by the existence of an organic bond between all the great Christian doctrines:  this is my deliberate conviction.  I frankly declare here my own opinions:  to do so is for me a matter almost of honor and good faith; but I declare them, without desiring to lay any stress upon them in these lectures.  My present object is to consider the idea of God by itself.  I isolate it for my own purposes from Christian truth taken as a whole, but without making the separation in my thoughts.  The thesis which I propose to maintain is common to all Christians, that is quite clear; but further; in a perfectly general sense, and in a merely abstract point of view, it is a proposition maintained equally by the disciples of Mahomet; it is maintained by J.J.  Rousseau and the spiritualist philosophers who reproduce his thoughts.  It is clear in fact that just as Jesus Christ is the corner-stone of all Christian doctrine, so God is the foundation common to all religions.

Before concluding this lecture I desire to answer a question which may have suggested itself to some amongst you.  What are we about when we take up a Christian idea in order to defend it by reasoning?  Are we occupied about religion or philosophy?  Are we treading upon the ground of faith, or on the ground of reason?  Are we in the domain of tradition, or in that of free inquiry?  I have no great love, Gentlemen, for hedges and enclosures.  I know very well, better, perhaps, than many amongst you, because I have longer reflected on the subject, what are the differences which separate studies specially religious, from philosophical inquiries.  But when the question relates to God, to the universal cause, we find ourselves at the common root of religion and philosophy, and distinctions, which exist elsewhere, disappear.  Besides, these distinctions are never so absolute as they are thought to be.  You will understand this if you pay attention to these two considerations:  there is no such thing as pure thought disengaged from every traditional element:  there is no such thing as tradition received in a manner purely passive, and disengaged from all exercise of the reflective faculties.