But all this was simply the outward appearance. If you look a little deeper into the matter, you will soon find out what a dreadful state a backsliding man can come into. At first it was a matter of intellectual doubt and unbelief. I was shaken in my mind by the arguments of New Theology. But the work of the Devil did not stop here. I was now shaken morally and spiritually. This moral shaking made most dreadful havoc in my spiritual life. Sin crept in, and I was made a captive again. Oh, what a wretched man I was in those days of backsliding! Even to think of those days gives me unendurable pain. I strayed so far away that even my friends lost their hope of my returning. Yet there were two women, one an American and the other a Japanese, who, I was afterward told, were praying for me without ceasing during those twenty years of my prodigal life. God in his faithfulness watched over me during all those years, and finally brought me back to fellowship with himself. He will never forsake those he has once redeemed. Between the Bible of the orthodox faith and that of New Theology there is the difference of heaven and earth. One is heavenly, divine, and holy; the other is earthly, human, and therefore unholy. One is the God-given, infallible standard by which we measure all our conduct; the other consists of rules and regulations given by men, which we may use or not, as we may please. One is the Master whom we must obey absolutely, the other is the servant whom we may employ or not. One is an inexhaustible mine of eternal truth stored up by God; the other is a shallow pit dug by men. One is the living oracles of God; the other, dead documents of ancient wisdom. The Bible in the hand of New Theology has become an entirely different thing from that of the true Christian faith of the nineteenth century. It has entirely lost its divine authority, and therefore its teachings and commandments have no more binding power than mere human instruction. CHAPTER III THE SERVANT RESTORED One of my missionary friends in Japan asked me to write a tract on the prodigal son. I told him I could not do it, because it would be just like writing my own story. How can I write such a shameful story? But now I would like to tell you a little about it, and show you how patient and long-suffering was my Saviour toward such a poor, erring child as myself during those long years of disobedience and prodigality. Simply for the glory of God I will give you the following story of my life.