ABSTRACT
In discussing Mr. Merriam's essay I shall follow the two main heads suggested in our joint introduction. The first issue has to do with the harmony or reconcilability of Christian and liberal ideals. Brief notice of this will be followed by a fuller comparison, from my point of view, of our respective conceptions of the content of liberal ideals of individual and social life, and of the social procedure appropriate for realizing them. In order to be useful and brief my discussion will relate chiefly to differences and will appear critical in tone; but let me say once and for all at the outset that I have found my colleague's essay genuinely educative as well as stimulating, and even inspiring. The main problem of criticism arises from uncertainty as to how far we are really in disagreement. It is difficult to be sure of the precise meaning of any abstract formulation of general ideals, and of course essays of the character and length of these cannot deal with detailed programmes of action.
