Iexpressmyselfbadly。Butdoyouwish，Lord，thatIshouldincloseinpoorandbarrenwordssentimentswhichtheheartalonecanunderstand？”
Imightmultiplycasesalmostindefinitely，butthesewillsufficetoshowyouhowreal，definite，andmemorableaneventasuddenconversionmaybetohimwhohastheexperience。
Throughouttheheightofitheundoubtedlyseemstohimselfapassivespectatororundergoerofanastoundingprocessperformeduponhimfromabove。Thereistoomuchevidenceofthisforanydoubtofittobepossible。Theology，combiningthisfactwiththedoctrinesofelectionandgrace，hasconcludedthatthespiritofGodiswithusatthesedramaticmomentsinapeculiarlymiraculousway，unlikewhathappensatanyotherjunctureofourlives。Atthatmoment，itbelieves，anabsolutelynewnatureisbreathedintous，andwebecomepartakersoftheverysubstanceoftheDeity。
Thattheconversionshouldbeinstantaneousseemscalledforonthisview，andtheMoravianProtestantsappeartohavebeenthefirsttoseethislogicalconsequence。TheMethodistssoonfollowedsuit，practicallyifnotdogmatically，andashorttimeerehisdeath，JohnWesleywrote：——
“InLondonaloneIfound652membersofourSocietywhowereexceedingclearintheirexperience，andwhosetestimonyIcouldseenoreasontodoubt。Andeveryoneofthese(withoutasingleexception)hasdeclaredthathisdeliverancefromsinwasinstantaneous；thatthechangewaswroughtinamoment。Hadhalfofthese，oronethird，oroneintwenty，declareditwasGRADUALLYwroughtinTHEM，Ishouldhavebelievedthis，withregardtoTHEM，andthoughtthatSOMEweregraduallysanctifiedandsomeinstantaneously。ButasIhavenotfound，insolongaspaceoftime，asinglepersonspeakingthus，Icannotbutbelievethatsanctificationiscommonly，ifnotalways，aninstantaneouswork。”[122]
[122]Tyerman’sLifeofWesley，i。463。
AllthiswhilethemoreusualsectsofProtestantismhavesetnosuchstorebyinstantaneousconversion。ForthemasfortheCatholicChurch，Christ’sblood，thesacraments，andtheindividual’sordinaryreligiousdutiesarepracticallysupposedtosufficetohissalvation，eventhoughnoacutecrisisofself-despairandsurrenderfollowedbyreliefshouldbeexperienced。ForMethodism，onthecontrary，unlesstherehavebeenacrisisofthissort，salvationisonlyoffered，noteffectivelyreceived，andChrist’ssacrificeinsofarforthisincomplete。Methodismsurelyherefollows，ifnotthehealthier-
minded，yetonthewholetheprofounderspiritualinstinct。Theindividualmodelswhichithassetupastypicalandworthyofimitationarenotonlythemoreinterestingdramatically，butpsychologicallytheyhavebeenthemorecomplete。
InthefullyevolvedRevivalismofGreatBritainandAmericawehave，sotospeak，thecodifiedandstereotypedproceduretowhichthiswayofthinkinghasled。Inspiteoftheunquestionablefactthatsaintsoftheonce-borntypeexist，thattheremaybeagradualgrowthinholinesswithoutacataclysm；inspiteoftheobviousleakage(asonemaysay)ofmuchmerenaturalgoodnessintotheschemeofsalvation；revivalismhasalwaysassumedthatonlyitsowntypeofreligiousexperiencecanbeperfect；youmustfirstbenailedonthecrossofnaturaldespairandagony，andtheninthetwinklingofaneyebemiraculouslyreleased。
Itisnaturalthatthosewhopersonallyhavetraversedsuchanexperienceshouldcarryawayafeelingofitsbeingamiracleratherthananaturalprocess。Voicesareoftenheard，lightsseen，orvisionswitnessed；automaticmotorphenomenaoccur；anditalwaysseems，afterthesurrenderofthepersonalwill，asifanextraneoushigherpowerhadfloodedinandtakenpossession。
Moreoverthesenseofrenovation，safety，cleanness，rightness，canbesomarvelousandjubilantaswelltowarrantone’sbeliefinaradicallynewsubstantialnature。
“Conversion。”writestheNewEnglandPuritan，JosephAlleine，“isnottheputtinginapatchofholiness；butwiththetrueconvertholinessiswovenintoallhispowers，principles，andpractice。
ThesincereChristianisquiteanewfabric，fromthefoundationtothetop-stone。Heisanewman，anewcreature。”
AndJonathanEdwardssaysinthesamestrain：“ThosegraciousinfluenceswhicharetheeffectsoftheSpiritofGodarealtogethersupernatural——arequitedifferentfromanythingthatunregeneratemenexperience。Theyarewhatnoimprovement，orcompositionofnaturalqualificationsorprincipleswilleverproduce；becausetheynotonlydifferfromwhatisnatural，andfromeverythingthatnaturalmenexperienceindegreeandcircumstances，butalsoinkind，andareofanaturefarmoreexcellent。Fromhenceitfollowsthatingraciousaffectionsthereare[also]newperceptionsandsensationsentirelydifferentintheirnatureandkindfromanythingexperiencedbythe[same]saintsbeforetheyweresanctified……TheconceptionswhichthesaintshaveofthelovelinessofGod，andthatkindofdelightwhichtheyexperienceinit，arequitepeculiar，andentirelydifferentfromanythingwhichanaturalmancanpossess，orofwhichhecanformanypropernotion。”
AndthatsuchaglorioustransformationasthisoughtofnecessitytobeprecededbydespairisshownbyEdwardsinanotherpassage。
“Surelyitcannotbeunreasonable。”hesays，“thatbeforeGoddeliversusfromastateofsinandliabilitytoeverlastingwoe，heshouldgiveussomeconsiderablesenseoftheevilfromwhichhedeliversus，inorderthatwemayknowandfeeltheimportanceofsalvation，andbeenabledtoappreciatethevalueofwhatGodispleasedtodoforus。Asthosewhoaresavedaresuccessivelyintwoextremelydifferentstates——firstinastateofcondemnationandtheninastateofjustificationandblessedness——andasGod，inthesalvationofmen，dealswiththemasrationalandintelligentcreatures，itappearsagreeabletothiswisdom，thatthosewhoaresavedshouldbemadesensibleoftheirBeing，inthosetwodifferentstates。Inthefirstplace，thattheyshouldbemadesensibleoftheirstateofcondemnation；
andafterwards，oftheirstateofdeliveranceandhappiness。”
Suchquotationsexpresssufficientlywellforourpurposethedoctrinalinterpretationofthesechanges。Whateverpartsuggestionandimitationmayhaveplayedinproducingtheminmenandwomeninexcitedassemblies，theyhaveatanyratebeenincountlessindividualinstancesanoriginalandunborrowedexperience。Werewewritingthestoryofthemindfromthepurelynatural-historypointofview，withnoreligiousinterestwhatever，weshouldstillhavetowritedownman’sliabilitytosuddenandcompleteconversionasoneofhismostcuriouspeculiarities。
What，now，mustweourselvesthinkofthisquestion？IsaninstantaneousconversionamiracleinwhichGodispresentasheispresentinnochangeofheartlessstrikinglyabrupt？Aretheretwoclassesofhumanbeings，evenamongtheapparentlyregenerate，ofwhichtheoneclassreallypartakesofChrist’snaturewhiletheothermerelyseemstodoso？Or，onthecontrary，maythewholephenomenonofregeneration，eveninthesestartlinginstantaneousexamples，possiblybeastrictlynaturalprocess，divineinitsfruits，ofcourse，butinonecasemoreandinanotherlessso，andneithermorenorlessdivineinitsmerecausationandmechanismthananyotherprocess，highorlow，ofman’sinteriorlife？
Beforeproceedingtoanswerthisquestion，Imustaskyoutolistentosomemorepsychologicalremarks。Atourlastlecture，Iexplainedtheshiftingofmen’scentresofpersonalenergywithinthemandthelightingupofnewcrisesofemotion。I
explainedthephenomenaaspartlyduetoexplicitlyconsciousprocessesofthoughtandwill，butasduelargelyalsotothesubconsciousincubationandmaturingofmotivesdepositedbytheexperiencesoflife。Whenripe，theresultshatchout，orburstintoflower。Ihavenowtospeakofthesubconsciousregion，inwhichsuchprocessesoffloweringmayoccur，inasomewhatlessvagueway。Ionlyregretthatmylimitsoftimehereforcemetobesoshort。
Theexpression“fieldofconsciousness“hasbutrecentlycomeintovogueinthepsychologybooks。Untilquitelatelytheunitofmentallifewhichfiguredmostwasthesingle“idea。”supposedtobeadefinitelyoutlinedthing。Butatpresentpsychologistsaretending，first，toadmitthattheactualunitismoreprobablythetotalmentalstate，theentirewaveofconsciousnessorfieldofobjectspresenttothethoughtatanytime；and，second，toseethatitisimpossibletooutlinethiswave，thisfield，withanydefiniteness。
Asourmentalfieldssucceedoneanother，eachhasitscentreofinterest，aroundwhichtheobjectsofwhichwearelessandlessattentivelyconsciousfadetoamarginsofaintthatitslimitsareunassignable。Somefieldsarenarrowfieldsandsomearewidefields。Usuallywhenwehaveawidefieldwerejoice，forwethenseemassesoftruthtogether，andoftengetglimpsesofrelationswhichwedivineratherthansee，fortheyshootbeyondthefieldintostillremoterregionsofobjectivity，regionswhichweseemrathertobeabouttoperceivethantoperceiveactually。Atothertimes，ofdrowsiness，illness，orfatigue，ourfieldsmaynarrowalmosttoapoint，andwefindourselvescorrespondinglyoppressedandcontracted。
Differentindividualspresentconstitutionaldifferencesinthismatterofwidthoffield。Yourgreatorganizinggeniusesaremenwithhabituallyvastfieldsofmentalvision，inwhichawholeprogrammeoffutureoperationswillappeardottedoutatonce，theraysshootingfaraheadintodefinitedirectionsofadvance。
Incommonpeoplethereisneverthismagnificentinclusiveviewofatopic。Theystumblealong，feelingtheirway，asitwere，frompointtopoint，andoftenstopentirely。Incertaindiseasedconditionsconsciousnessisamerespark，withoutmemoryofthepastorthoughtofthefuture，andwiththepresentnarroweddowntosomeonesimpleemotionorsensationofthebody。
Theimportantfactwhichthis“field“formulacommemoratesistheindeterminationofthemargin。Inattentivelyrealizedasisthematterwhichthemargincontains，itisneverthelessthere，andhelpsbothtoguideourbehaviorandtodeterminethenextmovementofourattention。Itliesarounduslikea“magneticfield。”insideofwhichourcentreofenergyturnslikeacompass-needle，asthepresentphaseofconsciousnessaltersintoitssuccessor。Ourwholepaststoreofmemoriesfloatsbeyondthismargin，readyatatouchtocomein；andtheentiremassofresidualpowers，impulses，andknowledgesthatconstituteourempiricalselfstretchescontinuouslybeyondit。Sovaguelydrawnaretheoutlinesbetweenwhatisactualandwhatisonlypotentialatanymomentofourconsciouslife，thatitisalwayshardtosayofcertainmentalelementswhetherweareconsciousofthemornot。
Theordinarypsychology，admittingfullythedifficultyoftracingthemarginaloutline，hasneverthelesstakenfor<228>
granted，first，thatalltheconsciousnessthepersonnowhas，bethesamefocalormarginal，inattentiveorattentive，isthereinthe“field“ofthemoment，alldimandimpossibletoassignasthelatter’soutlinemaybe；and，second，thatwhatisabsolutelyextra-marginalisabsolutelynon-existent。andcannotbeafactofconsciousnessatall。
Andhavingreachedthispoint，ImustnowaskyoutorecallwhatIsaidinmylastlectureaboutthesubconsciouslife。Isaid，asyoumayrecollect，thatthosewhofirstlaidstressuponthesephenomenacouldnotknowthefactsaswenowknowthem。MyfirstdutynowistotellyouwhatImeantbysuchastatement。
IcannotbutthinkthatthemostimportantstepforwardthathasoccurredinpsychologysinceIhavebeenastudentofthatscienceisthediscovery，firstmadein1886，that，incertainsubjectsatleast，thereisnotonlytheconsciousnessoftheordinaryfield，withitsusualcentreandmargin，butanadditiontheretointheshapeofasetofmemories，thoughts，andfeelingswhichareextra-marginalandoutsideoftheprimaryconsciousnessaltogether，butyetmustbeclassedasconsciousfactsofsomesort，abletorevealtheirpresencebyunmistakablesigns。I
callthisthemostimportantstepforwardbecause，unliketheotheradvanceswhichpsychologyhasmade，thisdiscoveryhasrevealedtousanentirelyunsuspectedpeculiarityintheconstitutionofhumannature。Nootherstepforwardwhichpsychologyhasmadecanprofferanysuchclaimasthis。
Inparticularthisdiscoveryofaconsciousnessexistingbeyondthefield，orsubliminallyasMr。Myerstermsit，castslightonmanyphenomenaofreligiousbiography。ThatiswhyIhavetoadverttoitnow，althoughitisnaturallyimpossibleformeinthisplacetogiveyouanyaccountoftheevidenceonwhichtheadmissionofsuchaconsciousnessisbased。Youwillfinditsetforthinmanyrecentbooks，Binet’sAlterationsofPersonality[123]beingperhapsasgoodaoneasanytorecommend。
[123]PublishedintheInternationalScientificSeries。
