The First and Last Things
Luke 23:26-43
Illustration
by Brett Blair

H.G. Wells had the reputation as the apostle of scientific materialism and the deadly foe of organized faith. So it's surprising that in one of his most successful but least known novels Mr. Britling Sees It Through, he made a rather startlingly confession, or at least it appears to be a confession. It is generally thought that the character Mr. Britling is a surrogate for Wells. The character expresses a simple but clear faith, leaving no doubt as to the meaning. At first, his religious views are passionate, but not strictly orthodox. Mr. Britling makes this confession, giving us a window into Wells' on beliefs: 

"Religion is the first thing and the last thing, and until a 
man has found God and been found by God, he begins at no beginning, he works to no end. He may have his friendships, his partial loyalties, his scraps of honour. But all these things fall into place and life falls into place only with God. Only with God. God, who fights through men against Blind Force and Night and Non-Existence; who is the end, who is the meaning. He is the only King. . . . It was as if he had been groping all this time in the darkness, thinking himself alone amidst rocks and pitfalls and pitiless things, and suddenly a hand, a firm strong hand, had touched his own. And a voice within him bade him be of good courage. . . . God was beside him and within him and about him."


Note: Wells, through the Britling Character, draws more a picture of a finite God rather than an Omnipotent Being, saying, "After all, the real God of the Christians is Christ, not God Almighty; a poor mocked and wounded God nailed on a cross of matter…. Some day He will triumph…. But it is not fair to say that He causes all things now. It is not fair to make out a case against him. You have been misled. It is a theologian’s folly. God is not absolute; God is finite…. A finite God who struggles in his great and comprehensive way as we struggle in our weak and silly way—who is with us..." Go Here for more. 

ChristianGlobe Network, ChristianGlobe Illustrations, by Brett Blair