Meditations on the Actual State of Christianity, and on the Attacks Which Are Now Being Made Upon It.

The author sets out a series of reflective essays that examine Christianity's internal condition and its external challenges, tracing a nineteenth‑century revival and the concurrent rise of opposing doctrines. He surveys Spiritualism, Rationalism, Positivism, Pantheism, Materialism, and Skepticism, identifies what he sees as their fundamental errors, and compares their intellectual force with that of Christian belief. The meditations consider how moral instinct and speculative thought intertwine in a generation marked by both generosity and confusion, argue for subjecting scientific theories to conscience, and conclude by weighing Christianity's present resources and prospects for moral influence.