But how strange it seems to me to hear proposed as a remedy the formalism to which my friends here pin their faith! How often have I burned to speak up among them, and ask--'What think ye, then, of Christ?
Is He, or is He not, our exemplar?
Was not His life meant to exhibit to us the ideal of the completest severance from the world which is consistent with human existence?
To follow Him, should we not, at least in the spirit, cast off everything which may tempt us to consider life, as life, precious ?' We cannot worship both God and the world, and yet nowadays Christians seem to make a merit of doing so.

When I conceive a religious revival, my thought does not in the least concern itself with forms and ceremonies.

I imagine another John the Baptist inciting the people, with irresistible fervour, to turn from their sins--that is, from the world and all its concerns--and to purify themselves by Renunciation.

What they call 'Progress,' I take to be the veritable Kingdom of Antichrist.

The world is evil, life is evil; only by renunciation of the very desire for life can we fulfil the Christian idea.