where men are. In trying to preach Christ to those of other faiths
St. John's Gospel and the Christian Mission 93
apprehensible everywhere by faith; for by faith life and the things and events of life are seen by men in their true relation to God. Because Christ made and governs the world, any true discernment, anywhere, of the meaning of life is a triumph of the Holy Spirit of God, whether Christ himself is or is not acknowledged by name.
3. Men's eyes may be opened in discernment of the truth anywhere in human life; and, since religion is part of life, some men may find true discernment in a particular religion, however primi-
tive, however crude. Indeed, because some religions at least consciously attempt to see life related to God, the opportunity for true discernment may perhaps be greatest when man is trying to be religious. Yet there too the possibility of self-deception also appears
to be most prevalent, and most fatal.
4. The Christian Church, in preaching the Gospel, must start where men are. In trying to preach Christ to those of other faiths
it will no doubt be well to try to build by analogy and by contrast upon such discernments of the truth as they seem to find in their religion. Yet it will be better still to try to present Christ as the meaning of the whole of their life; to show how any real grasp or understanding of God's world cries out for judgment—for the devastating interpretation and the merciful fulfillment which only the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ can supply.
5. The Fourth Evangelist knew of no approach to the world essentially different from that of St. Paul, or indeed of the New Testament writers in general. Like them, he preached Christ and him crucified. But he clarified the apostolic approach in at least one.
respect. He showed that there is no situation of man, no experience of man, no authentic part of human life, which, when truly understood, does not point beyond itself toward Christ, and which, when so apprehended, does not, through the death and resurrection of Christ, become a great occasion of hope, a precious means of re- — joicing in the glory of God. The Christian missionary task is to communicate such an understanding as that. Once communicated
it is irresistible, for it is the earnest of the Holy Spirit of God.