Purt Near, But Not Plumb

While browsing through some old books in my library, I came across one written as part of a series for

preachers titled The Hero in Thy Soul. Written in 1928 by Arthur John Gossip, he declared on the Title Page of

the book that this was “AN ATTEMPT TO FACE LIFE GALLANTLY ... after which he quoted the popular

and vulgarly disrespectful philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, who popularized such statements as “God

is Dead”; “After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands”; and, “The tree

that would grow to heaven must send its roots to hell.” So, is it any wonder that I hesitate to penetrate farther

into the thinking of The Reverend Mr. Gossip? Or Friedrich Nietzsche, as far as that goes?