merely the correspondence between some particular statement and facts—­truth is the correspondence between a man’s whole soul and reality.  It is possible for a man to say that which, unknown to him is false; and yet he may be true:  because if deprived of truth he is deprived of it unwillingly.  It is possible, on the other hand, for a man to utter veracities, and yet at the very time that he is uttering those veracities to be false to himself, to his brother, and to his God.  One of the most signal instances of this is to be seen in the Book of Job.  Most of what Job’s friends said to him were veracious statements.  Much of what Job said for himself was unveracious and mistaken.  And yet those veracities of theirs were so torn from all connection with fact and truth, that they became falsehoods; and they were, as has been said, nothing more than “orthodox liars” in the sight of God.  On the other hand, Job, blundering perpetually, and falling into false doctrine, was yet a true man—­searching for and striving after the truth; and if deprived of it for a time, deprived of it with all his heart and soul unwillingly.  And therefore it was that at last the Lord appeared out of the whirlwind, to confound the men of mere veracity, and to stand by and support the honour of the heartily true.

Let us apply the principle further.  It is a matter of less importance that a man should state true views, than that he should state views truly.  We will put this in its strongest form.  Unitarianism is false—­Trinitarianism is true.  But yet in the sight of God, and with respect to a man’s eternal destinies hereafter, it would surely be better for him earnestly, honestly, truly, to hold the doctrines of Unitarianism, than in a cowardly or indifferent spirit, or influenced by authority, or from considerations of interest, or for the sake of lucre, to hold the doctrines of Trinitarianism.

For instance:—­Not many years ago the Church of Scotland was severed into two great divisions, and gave to this age a marvellous proof that there is still amongst us the power of living faith—­when five hundred ministers gave up all that earth holds dear—­position in the church they had loved; friendships and affections formed, and consecrated by long fellowship, in its communion; and almost their hopes of gaining a livelihood—­rather than assert a principle which seemed to them to be a false one.  Now my brethren, surely the question in such a case for us to consider is not this, merely—­whether of the two sections held the abstract right—­held the principle in its integrity—­but surely far rather, this:  who on either side was true to the light within, true to God, true to the truth as God had revealed it to his soul.

Now it is precisely upon this principle that we are enabled to indulge a Christian hope that many of those who in ancient times were persecutors, for example, may yet be justified at the bar of Christ.