Page:The Works of H G Wells Volume 11.pdf/21



, very much out of its proper order, is a theological book, "The Undying Fire." It is modelled very closely upon the Book of Job; most of its characters are obviously the characters of that great dramatic dialogue modernised; like the Book of Job it is a discussion about evil and the will of God. The rest of the volume may be regarded as an explanatory appendix to this dialogue novel. It is a carefully winnowed gathering of the writer's theological discussion for the last fifteen years.

"First and Last Things" was written in 1907-8 under the stimulation of a discussion about fundamental ideas that was going on in the London Fabian Society. Various members read papers entitled "What I Believe;" and "First and Last Things" was, to begin with, one of these papers. But having launched out upon confession, the writer's desire for explicitness and fullness expanded it into a book. It was revised in 1917. The revised version is reprinted here with the exception of eleven sections that were not good enough to reprint. They dealt with the Churches, brotherhoods and the organisations of men and women for mutual help and support in their efforts after righteousness. The writer has no aptitude for such organisation or indeed for any sort of co-operative work, and these sections are not worth reading. Several of these sections simply enlarge