essence of that Gospel. It is consequently true. The very central verse, the heart of the whole Gospel of God, teaches it by the lips of Christ Himself who said: 'God ¹ so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.'

Before concluding this section there are one or two matters which require consideration, because they present difficulties to the earnest inquirer.

One of these is what may be called the temporal difficulty. It is an undoubted fact that, among men, a father is older than his son. But, if Christ Jesus is the Son of God, are we to hold that He carne into existence after His Father? If so, not being eternal (قديم ـ ازلي), how can He be God? If not, how can He be a Son ? The answer to this difficulty will easily suggest itself to any man of intellect and understanding. The difference in time ² between the age of a human father and that of his son exists, because both are finite creatures whose existence has a beginning. To argue that the same difference must exist in the case of the Son of God is to use false logic. Again, the same holy Scriptures which tell us that the Lord Jesus

Christ is the Word of God and the Son of God inform us also that He existed 'originally' (εν αρχη) with God. ^l This is intended to remove the difficulty which we are considering, and which is due simply to the imperfection of the human intellect, which does not seem capable of eliminating from its consideration the idea of time, divided into past, present and future, although it is a common place to say that with God there is no such distinction, it always being with Him an eternal now.² But whoever considers the title 'Word of God' will perceive that 'Word' implies a speaker (مُكَلُّمِ), No one is strictly a speaker until he speaks. Therefore the oral utterance (to say nothing of the inner conception) of the word or speech occurs at the very moment at which the utterer becomes a speaker. Among men, the speaker, no doubt, exists before his speech, but he is not a speaker before he utters a speech. His speakerhood and his speech are coæval. A better instance is afforded by light. St. John writes: 'God ³ is light:' and St. James calls Him 'the ⁴ Father of lights.' The Lord Jesus Christ also says of Himself: ' I ⁵ am come a light into the world.' Now it is well known that between light and its rays