Tell him those problems
will never all be settled; that his life will be done before he has
begun to settle them; and ask him what he is doing with his life
meantime. Charge him with wasting his life and his usefulness;
and invite him to deal with the moral and practical difficulties
of the world, and leave the intellectual difficulties as he goes
along. To spend time upon these is proving the less important
before the more important; and, as the French say, "The good is the
enemy of the best." It is a good thing to think; it is a better
thing to work--it is a better thing to do good. And you have him
there, you see. He can't get beyond that. You have to tell him,
in fact that there are two organs of knowledge: the one reason,
the other obedience. And now tell him there is but One, and lead
him to the great historical figure who calls all men to Him: the
one perfect life--the one Savior of mankind--the one Light of the
world. Ask him to begin to
Obey Christ;
and, doing His will, he shall now of the doctrine whether it be of
God.
That, I think, is about the only thing you can do with a man: to
get him into practical contact with the needs of the world, and
to let him lose his intellectual difficulties meantime. Don't ask
him to give them up altogether.
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