There is perhaps no phase of human thought which the Christian churches have not used in the advancement of their divisive creeds and pet speculative doctrines. There is an untold number of doctrinal documents which are now lying in the libraries of the world as repositories of moth and dust. They are of the earth earthy. The idea of universal brotherhood and human solidarity which is agitating the minds of men of all races and countries at the present time, is leading the Christian bodies back to the simple faith of Jesus of Nazareth, and causing them to heap contempt upon their technical subtleties and forced uniformities of intellectual belief. At least Protestantism is beginning to be sympathetically aware of its own precious heritage, and to feel the urging of its own genius. Free and coöperative individualism is winning signal victories over the unnatural authority of creed in the Protestant {410} bodies, and the bondage of the letter is giving way to the freedom of the spirit. The Gospel of Christ is triumphing over the theories _about_ Christ, and spiritual self-fulfillment by becoming Christ-like is crowding out of existence all theories of magical salvation. The creed of the theologians consists of many "articles"; the creed of Christ only of two,--"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself." I prefer Christ's creed. THE END [1] Gen. xxiv: 2-4. [2] Matt. xxvii: 59, 60. [3] Exod. xii: 34. [4] See page 198. [5] See page 283. [6] Is. xli: 15. Revised Version. [7] 2 Kings 11: 23-24. [8] See my autobiography, _A Far Journey_, page 94. [9] Is. xlix: 22. [10] Luke xxiii: 26-31. [11] Mark xiv: 27-30. [12] Mark xiv: 68. [13] Mark xiv: 71, 72. [14] Mark xiii: 35. [15] See Deut. xxiv: 6. [16] See page 233. [17] Matt. xxiv: 42. {413} INDEX Admittance of an infant into the Church, 37-40. Agricultural life, in America, 285; in Syria, 286-94. _'Aish_, the sacred, 194. American and Syrian modes of thought, contrast between, 126, 127. American farmer, lack of romance in his life, 285. American life, interpretation of, 9, 10. American mind, attitude toward conception and birth, 22. American women, highly regarded by men, 314; cultivation and privileges of, 316. American youth, seem to be indifferent to filial obedience, 52, 53. Angels as heavenly messengers, 12. Anglo-Saxon, the, and the Oriental, as they appear to each other, 57; the reserve of, 72, 73; uses deeds rather than words in his quarrels, 95; curtness of, 108; has high regard for woman, 313. Anointing the feet, 226-28. Arabic, the language of the Syrians, 175; poetry, 354. Athanasian Creed, 405. Atheism unknown among the Orientals, 84, 85. Athens, 264. Baking of bread in Syria, 200-02. Baldness, 383. Baptism, 38, 221. Barrenness, 20. Basins for kneading, 198, 374. Beard, swearing by the, 172, 173; the sacredness of the, among Orientals, 172. Bears, 382, 383.