PREFACE.
IN making this collection of brief and pointed selections "from the religious literature of all ages," it has been the aim of the compiler:
I. To use only such extracts as clearly and forcibly express or apply some religious truth.
II. To make the character of the book "evangelical."
III. To avoid all denominational tendencies. Indeed it has been one object to show the essential unity of the faith of the different sects composing the Christian church.
IV. To present doctrine, not so much as a complete system of theology, as the frame-work—the sustaining principle of holy living.
V. To give especial prominence to American authors.
All the subjects are arranged alphabetically, with the exception of the subdivisions of the topic "Christ," which are grouped in two classes in what seems to be the natural order: first, "The Historic Christ," and second, "The Living Christ".
As all matter of the book is selected, quotation marks are not generally used, whether the author's name is given or omitted.
