naturalistmustbethevilesttypeofwretchunderthesun。Butsurelythesystematictheologiansarethecloset-naturalistsofthedeity，eveninCaptainMayneReid’ssense。Whatistheirdeductionofmetaphysicalattributesbutashufflingandmatchingofpedanticdictionary-adjectives，alooffrommorals，alooffromhumanneeds，somethingthatmightbeworkedoutfromthemereword“God“byoneofthoselogicalmachinesofwoodandbrasswhichrecentingenuityhascontrivedaswellasbyamanoffleshandblood。Theyhavethetrailoftheserpentoverthem。Onefeelsthatinthetheologians’hands，theyareonlyasetoftitlesobtainedbyamechanicalmanipulationofsynonyms；
verbalityhassteppedintotheplaceofvision，professionalismintothatoflife。Insteadofbreadwehaveastone；insteadofafish，aserpent。Didsuchaconglomerationofabstracttermsgivereallythegistofourknowledgeofthedeity，schoolsoftheologymightindeedcontinuetoflourish，butreligion，vitalreligion，wouldhavetakenitsflightfromthisworld。Whatkeepsreligiongoingissomethingelsethanabstractdefinitionsandsystemsofconcatenatedadjectives，andsomethingdifferentfromfacultiesoftheologyandtheirprofessors。Allthesethingsareafter-effects，secondaryaccretionsuponthosephenomenaofvitalconversationwiththeunseendivine，ofwhichIhaveshownyousomanyinstances，renewingthemselvesinsaeculasaeculoruminthelivesofhumbleprivatemen。
SomuchforthemetaphysicalattributesofGod！Fromthepointofviewofpracticalreligion，themetaphysicalmonsterwhichtheyoffertoourworshipisanabsolutelyworthlessinventionofthescholarlymind。
Whatshallwenowsayoftheattributescalledmoral？
Pragmatically，theystandonanentirelydifferentfooting。Theypositivelydeterminefearandhopeandexpectation，andarefoundationsforthesaintlylife。Itneedsbutaglanceatthemtoshowhowgreatistheirsignificance。