This slim volume is an interpretation of the Shepherd Psalm as told by a man whose home was among the Syrian shepherds. The author writes that it was told to him by a guest straight from David's land as they sat together one night over fragrant cups of tea.

    An attempt is then made to indicate the fundamental principles of the Church of England, to show how those principles are expressed in the formularies of doctrine and worship, and to point out what the principles imply and involve in the life of those who are bound by them. It is also shown that the Prayer Book and Articles need consideration in the light of their origin and compilation, and in view of the circumstances which gave birth to their present form. The Church of England formularies are thus seen to be the direct outcome of great movements of thought and life in the English nation." —from the author's Introduction

    This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE MORMON CONCEPTION OF GOD Thou shalt have no other God before me.?Jehovah. Let God be true, even though it make every man a liar.? Paul. THE virility of religion, as an ethical modifier of the human family, lies, at the last analysis, in its conception of God. Faith dynamic enough to make for the betterment of the race, must be centred in a Being that can be both loved and feared. The first requisite, therefore, is that He be a Reality, not a metaphysical abstraction; and the second, that He be a sympathetic Reality. In the words of Paul, we must first believe that He is, and next that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. In that word rewarder lie summed up the foremost qualities which a live faith requires in its Divine Source. There must be felt, first of all, a relationship equivalent to that of parent and child, with all the best qualities which our own lives have taught us to associate with father and mother; mercy, forgiveness, daily guidance, anxiety, protection, a haven of refuge on earth, and ultimately an eternal home. And we must, moreover, feel that we can safely multiply these parent-qualities as many times in effectiveness, as we conceive God to be greater than man. On the other hand, as a salutary restrainer of evil tendencies, we must feel God to be the omnipotent creator and preserver of all things; whose omniscient eye beholds even our secret thoughts, and whose omnipresent power and spirit pervade to shape towards righteousness?or else to nullify ?all the aspirations and deeds of men. Along with this conception of God, the man whose faith is to help remove mountains (of sin) must have a conception of mankind equally definite and clear. He must feel himself categorically a child of God; differing, indeed, in degree ..