what a man believes about God, and can contrast the cruelty of Islam, the licentiousness of Hinduism, or the vileness of spiritism with the peace, joy and cleanness of Biblical Christianity.

The first four commandments of the Bible will spring to the lips of the man who studies the 'gods' of the heathen from Moloch and Baal to Venus and Astarte, from the idols of China to those of Africa. For wherever men have made images of God they have poured into them all the cruelty and lust of Satan and his angels. For it is Satan who is the God of this world, and has inspired the multitudinous religions of this world. It is Jesus of Nazareth, dying on the Cross and raised from the dead, who is the Light of this world. All other 'gods' are children of darkness, and lead their dupes into darkness, and fall into the torment of Hades together.

The heinousness of Sin, therefore, lies not simply in a single wrong action, but in its inevitable consequences. We recognise this readily when we are dealing with leprosy, or foot and mouth disease, or fowl pest. We dread them, not simply for themselves, but because of their contagious properties. We see, not one sick animal or bird, but a whole country infected; not just one spot but a whole body rotted. Cain's murder filled the whole earth with violence; Ananias and Sapphira brought suspicion into the whole Early Church; one theft in the office brings all the staff under suspicion; one burglary puts a lock on every door, and apprehension in every heart.