Excerpt from Christianity a Spirit: Discourse Delivered at the Ordination of William J. Potter as Pastor Over the First Congregational Church and Society in New Bedford, Dec. 28, 1859 I wish we might perceive this clearly now and always, that Religion, in the Christian sense Of it, is not a form of thought capable of verbal expres sion. It is a spirit; and when I call it a Spirit, I use the word in its popular signification as a dispo sitiou, or habitual temper, or pervading tone Of feeling. And I say that Christianity is a filial spirit, the spirit Of a Son, illustrated most impressively in the life of him who did all the great things he was moved to do as so many filial offices, and as himself standing to 'the Highest In the relation of a Son and all who desire to know what Christianity is, can Obtain the desired knowledge, only through the same spirit, through an active sympathy with the Son as a Son. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.