The novel “Gilead” is a letter that the old Presbyterian pastor John Ames is writing to his young son to be read when the son is old enough to understand. He quotes the theologian Ludwig Feuerbach
“Water is the purest, clearest of liquids; in virtue of this its natural character it is the image of the spotless nature of the Divine Spirit. In short, water has a significance in itself, as water; it is on account of its natural quality that it is consecrated and selected as the vehicle of the Holy Spirit.
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