This Volume is given to the Public, in printed form, for the identical reasons that obtained in the original preparation and delivery of the discourses.First, and of least importance, is the natural preference of having the Public know the Author’s exact thoughts on these controverted subjects, as distinguished from misleading reports which have received wide circulation.Of far greater consequence is the opinion of competent auditors that these addresses will appeal, by simplicity of statement, to that great majority of men who, though unfamiliar with the language of the University, are yet the stable and saving element of Society.But over and above the foregoing, is the hope that this series may accomplish for its readers what it seems to have compassed for its auditors. The Author’s church has yet to contribute one member to Christian Science Churches, or to the movements that represent allied vagaries, many of which are making alarming progress in Minneapolis; while his best Bible students, who See clearly that God answers prayer for the sick, that the enduement of the Spirit is the secret of all soul-progress, and that the promised return of our Lord is “the blessed hope” of the Church, have not found it necessary to quit their denomination, and join some band of “come-outers” in order to enjoy “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”These discourses—when spoken—were blessed to the salvation of souls. Our prayer is, that the printed words may be equally blessed.W. B. RILEY.Minneapolis; January, 1903.
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