THAT which is called “The New Experience,” or “The New Theology,” or “The New Thought,” has largely taken the place of the old religious faith in the minds of the great majority of the preachers in the churches and the professors in the theological seminaries of to-day. One after another of the leading denominations has seemed first to oppose, then to compromise with, and finally to indorse this system of philosophy, until there is left only a small minority who stand upon the original platform of Christian truth, and contend for “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” We have no reason to expect that this denomination will be exempt from this widespread influence, or that no effort will be made to involve this advent movement in the general shipwreck of religious faith. To assume this, would be to prepare the way for the evil thing to come in unchallenged, and to give it the fullest opportunity to do its destructive work. Those who know and love the truth, and especially those who have accepted the responsibility of acting as shepherds of the flock, ought not therefore to be ignorant of the devices of the enemy, but should be ready to sound the alarm at the first approach of danger. In view of the general situation, both within and without the denomination, it is most significant and almost startling to read the public statement of Mr. Henry Wood, “one of the veterans of the movement,” in his presentation of “the fundamental teachings of the New Thought,” that if one desires to discover the secret of the influence of this philosophy, “the greatest step in that direction is a better concept of God. It must be larger and truer than that which prevails.” In this statement we may find the explanation, if any explanation is needed, of the present discussion of the being and nature of God, a discussion which at best stimulates doubt concerning the personality of God, and whose whole tendency is to fill the mind with vague ideas concerning God as merely Infinite Power, or Infinite Mind, or the All Energy. While claiming to be a new revelation of the greatness and the nearness of God, it in reality belittles God in his true character, and puts him far away. That concept of God which makes him too large to sit upon his throne in heaven as a personal being, and diffuses him throughout the universe, really reduces him to nothingness, and puts him outside the universe. When this “greatest step” has been taken, the way is prepared to reverse the whole order of faith, and to exalt self to the place which belongs to God by substituting a so-called “spiritual consciousness” for the revelation of divine truth, and by looking to self-effort in the way of evolution rather than to faith in the direct working of another actual being in a new creation. And it is characteristic of this new philosophy that it does not come out into the open ground, define itself clearly as antagonistic to genuine Christianity, and then by a fair measuring of forces stand or fall on its own platform. This veteran exponent of the new system thus expresses the general plan of the campaign:— With rare exceptions, the new movement has not included the formation of churches; and in the few cases where it has done so, its spirit is entirely cordial. As it does not emphasize the machinery of external organization, it would not be inappropriate to call it The Church of the Human Soul. Its form of service is a soulful aspiration, its sanctuary the spiritual consciousness, its temple the unseen, its social companions ideals, and its communion living contact with the Universal Spirit. Thus this new philosophy keeps well under cover, even refuses pointblank to separate itself from the church which it has set itself to transform, poses as a meek martyr in heresy trials, and hiding under many forms, eludes the most determined efforts to set it in the public pillory. Even when it pretends to define itself, it uses those newly invented phrases which seem like music to the ear, but convey no definite ideas to the mind. In the soft clothing of beautiful, smooth-flowing expressions it hides its satanic sophistries, its perversions of the truth, until by almost imperceptible degrees it has changed a comforting and saving faith in a personal Saviour who died for our sins into a confirmed skepticism and the bondage of despair. Realities become delusions, and delusions become realities. It is the snare of the last days. But after all, “The New Experience” is the old experience, “The New Theology” is the old theology, and “The New Thought” is the old thought. These deceptions are at least as old as ancient Babylon, where they were to be found in their undisguised form. For many centuries they have prevailed in the far East, and now, refined and adapted to Western modes of thought, they have captured the vocabulary of Christianity, which in the decline of personal piety has become a mere vocabulary to many, and appear in nominally Christian churches as the latest interpretation of gospel truth. And “the greatest step” toward this complete transformation is to have a larger conception of God. We earnestly hope, however, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Moses and Joshua, the God of David and Isaiah, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” will be the God of this people who have been called out to be the channel of a message to the world which ought to deliver both those who give it and those who hear it from all these ancient errors,—a message which says, “Worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” This is “the new experience” which the world needs to-day.