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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 / ip IHE NATURAL WORLD WHAT IS LIFE? Bv X. Y. TORONTO : THE COPP, CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED 1895. 2115 Kiitered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eiffht hundred and ninety-five by Tiik Coi'P, OijArk Company, L'MITKO, Toronto, Ontario, in the Office of the Minister of Airricultiire. ^ ; ^l "W W^HAT IS LIFE? INTRODUCTION. In these days of evolutionists much has been said and written upon the subject of life, but two important points still remain either untouched or glossed over with- out emphasis : namely, the vitality of the atom ; and the direct and indirect creations, giving rise to the terms, the higher and lower creations. God, who is the author and creator of all things, and who made that which was not, to be, has many messengers to obey His will, and agents to execute His work. As recorded by Job, '' He cutteth out rivers among the rocks." Here water is used as God's agent, but God sometimes uses a spirit instead of matter to execute His will ; for He made spirit as well as matter. And in the case of the lower creation we find that it was a spirit that God used in the execution of that important work, namely, in giving activity, or we would rather say, vitality, to the atom, in thus consolidating and preparing the earth as an agent in the work of the lower creation. In trying to find out something about those things which concern the whole human race, let us not proceed with prejudiced minds, but rather let us try to become [1] 'S"' 2 ^HAT IS LIFE? 0".-selves open for new n' ^ ^' '"^ '^'"^'^ 'eave ;emen,bered that we cLot7r"'' '"' '' '""■« be ^"l> without di.sp,aceme,u '° ^ ''^''^^ ^'-'-^ady ^''i-st, then, observe that in ft ^'■eatfon it was not life that „ '''•^^ ^^"^ °^ "'^ '°wer ■^P'-n-t that was to manifest Hfe' ^""' '° '"""'='•■ ^"t a ^.ven direct-the - brea^ of hfe - "" °' """' "^^ -^ '- S, t'thaT s:;::ed°; ^^^ '°^- "-"-o" - commanding. tl,e earth to brL IT"''^' " "'^^^' i" was prepared to obey, then " " ^"'''' '^e earth ■'to bring forth the ve^e able ^Tt"' "^^ ^"■^■<^" '° '°-er creation ; while th^e wort nf .. 'u'"™^'' °' ''^- "'as direct, for God, him elf "aW ''^'"^ ^'■^■•'''•°" the higher creatio, .mlZ^' ""'"■ "^"^ he made over the lower creation xlrr, '"^ P""'^'' '» ''"'e «s«Si»i«idfeSir ' SW"W="* WHAT IS LIFE? pen, the press, and the mind, of man's duty to himself and to society, and he will, after this act, be the better able to decide this question of man's superior attain- ments. That man has within himself a power of which a duplicate cannot be found in the whole lower creation. The life of the higher creation is a life of conscious- ness, a life that is held accountable for its acts. It is a life that has been given a code of laws to govern it, with a penalty attached for disobedience, and a promise given that obedience will be rewarded, with that of a higher life. While the life of the lower creation is simply life ; without law other than that contained in their nature, and without promise. The power to live, to consume each other, and to die. Not a religious life, and seem- ingly not a life accor.ntable for its acts, excepting, perhaps, in a few special and peculiar cases ; nor is it promised, so far as we can see, the real or eternal life, but only the temporal life. The one strong passage, that might be quoted to refute this view, is in the eighth •chapter of Romans, but by a careful reading of the whole chapter it will be seen that Paul was speaking of the higher creation only, just as if he had said that the whole of mankind groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Until when ? Until the receiving of the Holy Spirit which was to redeem them from the oppressions, the sorrows, and the evils of the flesh. The statement of St. Paul is '* The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in waiting for redemptior he makes clear that h( tion, thus : " We were pain together un*^il ans, fourth now J? but in Gal chapt er. rred only to the higher crea- in bondage under the rudi- r'T 4 WHAT IS LIKE? ments of the world : but when the fulness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law." Thus man, although of the higher creation, is not of the highest, as recorded in the eighth Psalm. " For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands ; thou hast put all things under his feet : all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field ; the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas." And the lower creation is thus referred to in Isaiah xliv, 23. " Sing, O ye heavens ; for the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts of the earth : break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest,^ and every tree therein : for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Lsrael." God does not work as man works. If man laid the foundation of a building and stopped there the building would not be completed ; but when God lays the foundation of a structure it grows to completion. Man's works cease with his efforts ; God's works continue to evolve. Man's work when finished begins to decay, but God's work has an element of reproduction. As exam- ples of the evolution of God's work, let us ask — Is an atom a germ ? Is an acorn a tree? Is an egg a bird ? or, Is the crawling grub a butterfly ? Surely not, for the work of evolution is still going on in each, but each indi- vidual thing has in itself the power of growing to that state of perfection for which it was intended. The conversion of the ungodly person from sin to works of righteousness might be given as a case of came, T the ;r the ot of thou hast him hou xen, and the thus for the •est, ned WHAT IS LIFE ? 5 evolution, or the unfolding from one state of existence to that of another state of existence ; but it is more than this, and it is, also, a different kind of unfolding from that noticed in the acorn, or the grub. In the case of the grub becoming a butterfly, the power of unfolding was contained in the grub, and this natural development is common to all of its species. No outside influence was required to raise it to the higher form of insect life, which is only another form of mortal life. But, in the case of a man being converted, it is not by virtue of any power which he holds within him- self, but by means of an outside influence, of a High and Holy power, he is lifted from his former state and made a new creature. He is transformed from a mortal being to an immortal one. His whole mentality as a social being is changed ; his wants, his ways, and his desires are altered. Before conversion he was fond of fun, frolic, and sin ; but after conversion he cares more for prayer, praise, and holiness. The change is a spiritual one ; instead of earthly desires his aspirations are in heaven. Forgetting the things of this earth he looks forward to the promised land. *' For the way of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul," Psalm xix, 7 ; and Jesus said : " No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him," St. John vi, 44. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, which giveth the *' bread of life," or eternal life ill 6 WHAT IS IJFK ? mattp:k. Wc do not know vvhat matter is any more than we k!iow what spirit is. Both were created by God. Still, we know a fjreat deal about matter, for we have seen it in different shapes, as round, square, angular, in the mass, and broken into fragments, in grains and in fine dust ; and wc have seen it in different states, as a solid, a liquid, or a gas ; we have also seen it containing life, as in a live body, and without life as in a decaying dead mass. We feel matter in our bodies and believe that it is perishable, at least in its present state, but of its origni, or what is to become of it, all is mystery save that which is recorded in the Sacred Writ. We know that matter can change its state without the aid of m.an, or without the aid of any property, or quality, other than that contained within itself; wc also know that matter can change its state much more when " moved upon " by a something which animates it, or gives to it that which we call temporal life. Then in order to find out more about matter we must find out all we can about this something which animates it. The Bible is the only book we know of which gives original information about this something. If, without intruding our own opinions, we honestly examine the Bible, we may find out what this animating principle is ; v/hich, with matter, builds up the living bodies of vegetables, and animals of the lower creation. Here let us notice that matter, in the mass, is very different from an atom. Very fine dust is our lowest perception of a compound body, but very much smaller than a particle of fine dust isl 111 fl( .J WHAT IS LIFE f 7 is the itom, or molecule of a simple element. Let us first examine dust a;; our lowest perception of solid matter. DUST. There is no other term in common use which stands for so much that is varied and indefinite as dust. When a th'uv^ is so small in its particles as to transcend our ordinary perception of substance, we describe it with this term. It covers all varieties of matter. We see it floating in the air, wafted by wind, and settling every- where, fine dry particles to which any substance can be reduced either by mortal agency or by the processes of nature. It moves only when acted upon by some external force, and in its properties .seem passive and without energy. Yet how indescribably important is the part this dust plays in the economy of nature, what diversity of sub- stances are contained in it, and what innumerable forms of matter it assumes! It is the visible part of all the forms of matter that we are acquainted v.'ith. The earth beneath our feet, the exqusite flower by the wayside ; the com- plex human being himself, his flesh, his bones, his hair, and even his brains ; that which he eats, and that which he wears, are all alike traceable back to dust. Could any quantity of passive matter assume, unaided, all the innumerable forms that dust has taken, even in the mineral kingdom, of solids, fluids, gases, metals, gems and crystals, without taking into consideration the evolu- tion of the world? Could dust differentiate itself into so many varied substances without a guiding agency or I ! ; t 8 V/HAT IS LIFE? |!f I ! I spirit? The plain answer is no. Dust in a passive state could not act thus, and it must liave been acted upon by .some unseen a^^ency. A passive body is of itself unable to change its state, its form, or its substance ; it always remains passive, inactive, or in statti quo^ unless acted upon by some other force or agency. It is owing to this passive state in matter that the sculptor is able to carve out his model, or the potter mould the pliable clay according to his will. Shall we then say of a body that once passive always passive ; no, not necessarily so ; and of dust, decidedly not so ; for although there is positive proof of the passive state of dust under certain conditions, there is just as strong p A of its active state under cer- tain other conditions. Dust has been changed from the active to the passive state, and from the passive to the active state many thousands of times, and the question is, what has so acted upon it to effect these great and many changes ? Here we have a passive body, dust, being driven with the wind, or lying still on the ground, when something acting in, or upon it, changes its condition of passiveness to one of activity ; when the floating dust becomes float- ing entities, the loose sand becomes crystallized and the ore of minerals is formed. Instead of the aimless condition there is now one of growth — growth of the mineral, a crystal ; growth of vegetable, a tree ; growth of the animal, a beast. This state of things niay continue for a long tir, e ; or, the crystal may be crushed, the tree may be cut down. WHAT IS LIFE*? 9 'c state pon by s state, mssive, e other tate in model, to his always cidedly of the i, there ler cer- d from passive md the t these sn with nething iiveness is float- md the one of >wth of down, and the beast may be killed ; and, just then, at the death of either or all of them, this something takes its flight. The union is dissolved, dissolution takes place, and dust returns again to its former pas- siv^-ness. This something went as it came — mysteriously. We saw nothing when it came and we see nothing when it goes, but while it is present its effects are both seen and felt. Then what is this something which is always present in life and absent in death. The soul suggests, it is a spirit, and man agrees with that view, for were it a substance, like the matter we are acquainted with, its picsencc would have been detected. There is a principle of temporal life, and this was communicated to the atom when the spirit of God moved upon it in the beginning, while the earth was still without form. There is a principle of eternal life and this is communicated to man, when he is prepared for it, by the Holy Spirit. The two somethings — matter and spirit, which consti- tute temporal life — the seen and the unseen, and the unseen is more real than the seen, unite in the live atom and work together unfolding and developing the phe- nomena of nature, and the panorama of life, in build- ing up the natural world according to the great plan of tiie infinite Creator who made them both. This active, live union is acknowledged in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and may it not take place lower down, in the scale of nature's wondrous works, for who can point out the dividing line between these kingdoms ? r I ! 10 WHAT IS LIFE 1 If we cannot explain this vitalizing principle in the vegetable kingdom, how much less may we expect to be able to explain its existence in the lower, or mineral kingdom, but that is no proof of its absence, while its effects are visible. Stone is different from wood, and wood is different ^rom flesh, but all are of dust, and there is a point between each of these kingdoms where the difference is so small that the dividing line cannot be pointed out. Only this, that the higher orders in each kingdom differ greatly from each other, and differ also from the lower orders in each, thus showing development and evolution. It is all one steady onward and upward movement. A grow- ing in matter, with a tendency to grow out of matter. In matter it is " Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return," but Christ has taught man how he can grow out of matter by the aid o^ the Holy Spirit. This is " being born again," and is only promised to the creatures of the higher creation, and not to the temporal things of the lower creation. Let us examine these little bodies or beautiful designs ; look at each pattern carefully, notice how like and how exact the reproduction of each part is in the symmetry of the whole figure. These are not patterns or designs formed in a mould from passive matter, or chiselled out by the artizan, but these are little bodies which grew — CP-ight their food and consumed it in their growth, or used it in enlarging their own bodies. They find their food floating in the air in the form of vapour. They do not grow in all degrees of cold, and at different temperatures we find them of different shapes, but there may be many families of them. .■'■:Xp.-:\- WHAT IS LIFE? 11 In all this there is nothing new or very strange ; the same vegetable does not grow in all temperatures, and there are many little growths of bodies, called animal- calae which move about in the water and receive their food ir a way similar to the little snowflakes, for that is what these little bodies are called as they float about in the air, or sink to the ground to die, like thousands of other little animals in the water. It may be said that it is the cold that makes the snowflakes grow, and that they will disappear in the heat ; quite true, but, is it not 12 WHAT IS LIFE? I the heat that makes the vegetables grow, and do not many of them disappear in the cold, and in this there is only analogy with opposite terms. The dead plant will take a longer time to disintegrate than the snowflake, but that is only reasonable, for the plant is of a higher order of growth, is more complex, and has in its structure many ingredients, some of which are compound, while the snowflake is of a lower kind of growth and contains but a few simple elements. Our vision is so limited, and our knowledge of nature so incomplete, that we are unacquainted with many of her works, and, like the timid child, we are afraid to advance quickly lest we fall, but this should not be so, for the timid are slower to learn than the untimid. Better let us have courage, and if we fall, acknowledge our errors and try again. We see the vine reaching out its tender branches, and nearly always in the right direction to catch support in its climbing propensities, yet we deny to the vine the sense of vision, although we know that instinct, intelligence, or any other means by which it could accomplish the same thing, would be of a higher order than that of sight. And why not sight .-^ Because we have not discovered in it nerves or brain matter. When the vine has reached the object it has been days growing towards, \l will throw out a little tendril that will twine around and tenaciously cling to it, while the vine grows on in search of other support. If to know, or the act of knowing, implies nervous matter, then surely the vine has it ; for it knows how to take hold, and to keep holding. WHAT IS LIFE? 13 :lo not iherc is :egrate for the [mplex, which |erties Linds. W'ays iie at toms ning, the rran who und the lize the !ral kini^dom, in many forms and in different ways ; as a surveyor in beds of slate, runniiiL^ lines, i)arallel, at ri^ht an'des, and otherwise; as a builder in crystallization, coral formations, and in window frostini^s ; as a mathematician in the geometrical forms of minerals, prisms, and in the snowflake; as conservator in the law of gravitation ; as philos pher in the law of selection ; and as an artizan everywhere as seen in gems, in marble, or in the flowers of the vegetable kingdom. We might almost mention time-kee[)er, as the earth marks days, months, seasons, years, and runs for centuries without a winding up. No wonder Mr. DoUinger, as reported by Professor Drummond, found among the lower forms of life the most surprising and indestructible vitality and " that some germs almost refused to be anihilated. They were all but fire-proof" But let it be remembered, that both Mr. DoUinger and Professor Drummond, were strongly opposed to the view of life in the atom, and that Dr. Bastian who tried, and tried again the same experiment, did not succeed in destroying all forms of vitality. The whole crucial tests, already referred to, only prove the tenacity of the vitality of the germ, and that the lower forms of life are harder to destroy than are the higher forms of life. Germs may be killed, and all forms of temporal life may be destroyed, but this is only the dissolution of parts, or the breaking up of the mass of the body ; the atom may still live on unhurt, and begin again its work of building up. It is not the matter but the spirit in the atom that gives vitality. This spirit was prepared by God to HI IS WHAT IS LIFK? I« execute His work, and it moved upon the matter. This is the true *' Touch of life," referred to by Tennyson. It prepared the earth for the commands that were after- wards adch'cssed to it. These commands all referred to the brin<;in(; forth of the lower creation — so called because the work was done through an a^cnt, while the work of the hi<^her creation was direct. The higher creation, or that of man, was created by the will of God, without any intervention. It is recorded that in the beginning *' The earth was without form and void." How much information is here given in these seven inspired words. How beautifully the two full statements are given in one. The earth was without form, or shape. The earth was in that condition that no human being could describe its form, or shape, and the reason of this condition is given. The earth was void. Void of what ? Void of everything not here- in stated. Void of all power, inherent or otherwise ; hence void of all laws. The earth was in a passive state, and the spirit of God moved upon it. Then the earth became endowed with inherent powers, and was com- manded to do, and it did. It was commanded " to bring forth," and it brought forth the lower creation, but not the higher, for God said " let us make man." Genesis i., 1 1 ; " And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb, yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth ; and it was so." 1 2th verse, "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kmd, and the tree yield- ing fruit whose seed was in itself, after his kind : and God saw that it was good." ._ „ /j|i WHAT 18 LIFE? 19 S ■'•• This f'lnyson. "c aftcr- L'lrcd to called |hiJc the 'i'[,^her ^>f God, th was IS here itifuJIy th was »ditjon ^hape, earth ■ iiere- ■\vise ; state, earth com- t the »erb, his was ass, ?Id- ■nd Thus we find that after the moving of God's spirit upon it, the earth became God's agent to bring forth the vegetable, and that it is still performing its work, and retains the power to do so. The home of the atom is in the earth and that is where the vefjetables come from. It is true that the tree was to bear seed after his kind, but that does not rob the earth of the power where the seed is wanting. Have we not observed that where a large tract of forest has been devastated by fire, with both seed and roots destroyed, that a second growth has grown up, of a kind dissimilar to the first. That instead of soft-wood, as in the first growth, it is generally hard-wood in the second growth. That where was seen the pine, fir, tamarac or cedar, before the fire, may now be seen the elm, ash, birch, or beech ; and is this not proof that the earth has still the power of obeying the Divine command to bring forth. The division of the material world into organic and inorganic is both deceptive and arbitrary. Are a few visible cells, as a division line between the mineral and vegetable kingdoms of a greater distinction than are instinct, intelligence, and voluntary motion. The woid visible, in connection with cells, is used, as it often is, in connection with heat, visible and latent, for it may yet be acknowledged that a crystal or a mineral has cells, and that the laws of the mineral kingdom are continuous. A much more sensible division for those who want to have only two kingdoms in the material world would be a dividing line between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, for the vegetable is more closely alliea to the mineral from which it came and from which it still receives its nourish- .'■V-I^H^ 20 WHAT IS IJFK? h mcnt, that! it is to the animal, that carnivorous race wliich live lari^ely the one upon the other. The larger consuming the smaller, and the stronger eating the weaker. Besides, it is clear that the animal was a sepaiate work of creation frcm the vegetable. I^oth were brought forth by the agency of the earth, but not at the same time, nor by the same command. The Creator who said on the third day of creation "Let the earth put forth the grass," said also on the sixth day, " Let the earth bring forth the living creature," and this completed the lower creation. Thus we see that the earth was used as an agent of God to bring forth both the vegetable and the animal. The earth did not create. God is the only Creator, and all things were made by Him. He prepared the atom with power to [)roduce the protoplasm, the bioplasm ; afterwards the germ, the embryo, and the more fully developed growths, and these with power to bring forth after their kind. A thing is not expected to put forth or bring forth that which it has not, hence we may infer that the earth had at that time the inherent power to do. The atom was there all prepared. The machinery was in place, but all was still waiting the jdict, and when that decree was issued the earth did and is doing still. The form of a crystal of silica is a six-sided prism tapering at one end like a pyramid. Professor Drummond says of this crystal : " If we melt it down we cannot help re- producing the pyramid and the prism." - ■ i % WHAT IS LIFE? 21 r^^ns race [he larger Ltino- the ■^^'paratc br()i.:^ht 'ic same on the cature," k^ent of animal, pi*, and e atom pi asm ; 2 fully r forth forth earth The as in that The \?at says re- "There is a six-sidetlness, as it were, in the very nature of this substance, which will infallibly manifest itself if the crystallizinf^ substance only be allowed fair plaw This six-sided tendency is its law of crystallization — a law of its nature which it cannot resist. But in the crystal there is nothing; at all corresponding to life. There is simply an inherent foice which can be cabled into action at any moment and which cannot be sejjaratcd from the particles in which it resides. "This crystal may be {ground to pieces, but this force remains intact. And even after beini; reduced to pow- der and runnin^Lj the gauntlet of every process in the chemical laboratory, the moment the substaiice is left to itself under possible conditions it will proceed to cr)'stal- lize anew." This able Professor, who denies the vitality of the atom, has in this account of the crystal <^\\'en the stron<^est proof of that vitalit}'. H^re is a body with an inherent power that cannot be destroyed b)' the chemist. Here is a body with the power of reproducing its kind. Here is a body which, if crushed, ground, melted, and allowed to cool will re-build again and re- produce the identical prism and pyramid. Then it must be acknowledged that these crystals have a mysterious power that cannot be ascribed to passive matter. When passive matter is referred to it is not intended for the atom, but only to matter in the mass ; matter that has lost its vitality as a growing or living body and is in a state of decay. In this state matter, but always 99 WHAT .'S LIFE ^ "■• I ;» II i in the mass, has lost many of the qualities of the living body and is spoken of as dead or passive matter. It is in a state of dissolution of parts, although some- times slowly so, and is undergoing a change preparatory to a new growth. During all this state of the passiveness of the mass the atom may lose none of its vitality, but having been obstructed, as it were, in the progress of its work, it reverses the order of things. Passive matter is still affected by gravitation and may even attract smaller masses towards it, and this may be taken as a hint that the atom, which must be a very small thing, still lives in what we call the passive mass. If we would acknowledge the unseen in the atom we would not at all be surprised at its wonderful properties nor of that of the crystal. We would, perhaps, be willing to acknowledge that the atom still retained all those powers which it received when the spirit moved upon it, at a time before the earth was consolidated, before it was commanded to bring forth the vegetable, before it was. commanded to bring forth the living creature, or before the putting forth of the lower creation. It is not here claimed for the things of the mineral kingdom that they have organs and life such as are found in the vegetable kingdom any more than it could be claimed for the things of the vegetable kingdorr that they, in these particulars, come up to the standard of those in the animal kingdom. But it is claimed for the atoms that by their power of motion, by their power of arranging themselves in a mysterious way to produce one kind of body, and by tmmmm WHAT IS LIFE? 2,*^ their power of re-arrai.ging themselves to produce another kind of body, and by other traits of character, which they exhibit, they show signs of life or of a vital power ; and that certain minerals and crystals may be spoken of as the production or growth of this power. That the aggregation of metals in great veins or lodes is due to this vitality of the atom ; and that the segre- gation and construction of the crystal can be ascribed to the same cause. And it is further claimed that this vitality exhibited by the atom in the mineral kingdom is the same power that gives growth to the vegetable and temporal life to all the creatures of the lower creation. That it is a spirit, prepared by God in the Beginning for a special purpose, according to the plan of creation. That it numbers the hairs of your head and marks the fall of the sparrow. That the union of this spirit and matter is temporal life and their dissolution is temporal death. Hence no sparrow can fall or die without being noticed by the agent of God. Supposing that there is not positive proof of the exist- ence of a spirit in operation in the mineral kingdom, we can yet point to many examples which give reason- able ground for the view that some mysterious force, the same unseen agency that inspired the progress and development of the universe, is still at work in the parti- cles of dust that compose all mineral substances, and is evident in the chemical changes that are taking place constantly, both in vegetation and in the development of animal species,, A spirit that guides the atoms, or particles of dust in assuming new forms and inspires the 24 WHAT IS LIFE ? 'flnf |l|i| I , i \rl\ development of the complex structures that are evolved from the simple forms of matter. Examine, for instance, the development of clay into slate. In many places with no great pressure of super- imposed rocks, but merely the pressure of gravitation, and within a few feet of the plastic surface, regular layers of the stone are formed. Straight lines Liid lines at right angles are created by proces.'-.es that are unknown. Do not these perfect parallels of nature imply a guidance and forethought ? Thus the work of assortment or some- thing akin to crystallization has begun. V^eins of distinct substances are formed, precious metals and gems are developed, geometrical forms con- structed and crystallization goes on. Chemists speak of affinity and selection, whereby certain elements select their own partners for life as it were, and refuse by any known bw to become chemically united with certain other elements. Yet despite all these startling, proven facts, there are some who will not acknowledge an active agency in the progress of nature, but recognize only passive matter. Going more deeply into the phenomena of crystalliza- tion, the more we look into its workings and its results, the more we are -convinced of the presence of some mysterious power working from within, an irresistible, ever active agency or spirit, which imparts energy to the atoms of dust, and enables them to develop new and definite forms, to undergo change? and take ui) fixed particular positions. The movements of each atom are subservient to the whole body, and the entire work of construction sometimes ceases while an accident or I WHAT IS life'? 25 -volved ly into s Li per- il tation, layers Lt rig-ht n. Do lidance some- recious s con- eak of select )y any certain proven active ; only alliza- esults, some stible, to the and fixed 1 are rk of t or disaffection in some part of it is remedied by the forces that are within the crystal. How wonderful ! How like our own constitutions ! How like the human scheme of *' union for defence"! Surely here we find the certain indications of the invisible agent in the atom in the working processes of crystallization, whether in the laboratory of the chemist, or on a winter's day in the magic traceries of the frost upon the window-pane. Let us bear in mind that God made spirit as well as matter. The works of nature are the works of God, the laws of nature are His laws, and all her forms are manifestations of Him. The observant person can discover in the growth of a young tree something akin to the repairing process in the crystal, as if both were guided by the same agency. When the tree, by some external accident, gets tilted to one side, there follow^s an excessive growth upon the other side — new sprouts start out and young branches gradually appear, which by their weight, tend to, and often do, restore the equillibrium. Tlie tendency of nature i.3 to adjust herself. The same agency which regulates the tree appeared first in the crystal. It is called life, visible life, in the tree, and may it not be called by the same name in the crystal, even if not, as clearly seen. OTHER FORMS IN NATURE. Great belts of mineral are formed in paral'el beds in the strata of the rocks, layers of different substances He side by side with their dividing lines absolutely defined. Nor do nature's formations in the earth beneath us stop 3 26 WHAT IS LIFE? here, the cube, the rhomboid, the tetrahedron, the hexahedron, and the octahedron, are some of the higher geometrical forms which she assumes. Are these all accidental forms ? These are not the forms of one mineral substance alone und^r certain specific conditions, but are common to many substances. '* The octahedron," says Mawe, " is found in tin, lep.d, silver, copper, gold, and in some other metals and in non-metallic bodies." The precious gems with their variety of colour, and of form also, command our consideration when searching for proofs of an active agency in the mineral kingdom. Examine the agate, the opal, the topaz, the ruby or the diamond, with their ovals, their angles, and exquisite shades ; examine also the veins of asbestos and other manifestations in serpentine rocks, and ask yourself the question, Is dust, as a passive body, capable of achieving all these things ? or, of accomplishing so much ? Why these are just as wonderful as a blade of grass, or the blossoms in the meadow. Yes, quite as wonderful, but not the same degree of development. Not dust alone is the answer, but the inspiration of Nature — the breath of life does these things. The atoms may have received the power to achieve the exquisite forms and varieties when " The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," but it is customary to speak of these things as the works of nature ; and thus the forms of nature, the laws of nature, the growth and vegetatioi of nature (life), and and the decay of nature (death). Professor Drummond says : " The plant is made of materials which have once been inorganic. An organiz- ing principle not belonging to their kingdom lays hold of them and elaborates them until they have corres- III WHAT IS life'? 27 in, the higher Jese all (of one litions, 'dron/' [r, gold, lies." and of ing for g"dom. or the quisite other elf the ieving Why or the ful. but lone is sath of ed the > when aters," works ws of ), and de of aniz- hold >rres- pondences with the kingdom to which the organizing principle belonged. Their original organizing principle, if it can be called by this name, was Crystallization ; so that we have now a distinctly foreign power organizing in totally new and higher directions. In the spiritual world similarly we find an organizing principle at work among the materials of the organic kingdom, performing a further miracle, but not a different kind of miracle, producing organizations of a novel kind, but not by a novel method. The second process, in fact, is simply what an enlightened evolutionist would have expected from the first. It marks the natural and legi- timate progress of the development. And this is in the line of true evolution." But let us submit that this is not scientific reasoning,, neither is it true evolution. Evolution works from within, nor does it require nor admit of any miracle from with out to elaborate it. Where, let us ask, does the organi- zing principle come from ? Certainly not from the vegetable kingdom, for that kingdom could not create itself, nor did it exist before it was brought forth by the earth. If it came from Crystallization, that is, not " a distinctly foreign body," but already existed in the mineral kingdom. The same author says : " Except a mineral be born from the kingdom just above it, it cannot enter the kingdom just above it." And except a man be born " from above," by the same law he cannot enter the kingdom just above him. But reasoning in this way is neither safe nor logical, for the premises or kingdoms compared are different in their relationship. 28 WHAT IS LIFE? i' :;;il J' i A i ^ ii If: The mineral kingdom docs not and cannot bear the same relation to the kingdom next above it that man does to the kingdom next above him for the following reasons : The kingdom next above man existed before man did, or, if this is not accepted, it will not be denied that the Holy Spirit, by which man is born again and which is the only way for him to enter the kingdom next above his own, existed prior to man ; while the kingdom next above the mineral did not exist prior to the mineral or the one next below it. And how, it may be asked, can a thing not produced " lay hold of and elaborate " that which is to produce it. For the thing which is to beget must have prior existence to that which is begot- ten by it. Besides these obstacles there ai j other objections to the comparison given v/ith so much assur- ance as " the same law," namely, two of the kingdoms given on the one side are both perishable, while they are compared with two on the other side, one of which is eternal. Again, St. Paul said, " Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," or, the kingdom next above man, while we know that minerals enter largely into the vege- table kingdom. Again, in Biogenesis, the same writer would have us wait until " Something reached oown from above, laid hold of us and lifted us up," but this is not the voice of Scripture, Her teachings and her words are : " Search for the way " and " strive to enter in." We are not asked to wait, but the very opposite is implied. Christ led in the way and He says, " Come unto Me." " Seek and ye shall find." " Ask and ye ii It' 29 WHAT IS UFeI , 1 the door shall be opened • „ " " Knock and tne aoui shall receive. i*^""^ unto you." entrance into the We have something to do ^ ^^ ^^^^ joor kingdom next above us and Chr.^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^,, , ready to open 'f ^;^,,^"°'^J, ^Wef on the cross sa.d, ^eans of prayer. W'^<;" f^^^^ eomest to Thy kmg- . Lord, remember - J-J*;,, publican smote upo" dom." he knocked. And ^v ^^ ^^^^ ^ ^,„„er, he Uis breast, saymg," God be ^ .^ ^,^^ ,,„e way knocked, and we are aske. and not to wait. uio„enesis further notice . And will the advocates ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ „„, ,„ ^he that "faith" and "belief ^^J°"- ;„ Galatians, 3rd tingdom next above us. St^ I au V ^^^^^^^ ,^,^ „ chapter, " For ye -« f ^^"! verily. verily, I say unto 5Sir;:tlr:ntehathetern.^ II SECOND PART. . .„ write or speak of a spirit as We sometimes hes.tate to "*^ J^ ,„ ^^ wanting m Zo of •-""•'t-tifsttiorTand, most assuredly. Teverence for that wh.ch - supc , ^^..^^ , this is right when we refer to '"ti.Uon, that God there claimed for the purpose o^^^J^J ^, ^^, ,,orld. ; dTspirit as well ^^f^^^Z may write of the AU ate his worK. A- th t ^. ^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ s spirit of temporal hie as v ^^^.^ ,p,„t, or the Z careful to di^ttngmsh b twc^^ ^^^ ^,,, each .s "breath of life." and the H^'y^P and the one may a spirit, their f-f .f^.^^ft o*er is absolute and hP oositive and finite, while m ^^^^^^ g,,,e, be positiv temporal hie, tn infinite. The one fc, reference to re. b eternal life. The one has no ^^^.^^^ ,„j and leads to the fifT'^ ' 'f ^,'.,eises its functions in all leads to eternity. The one jx^, ^^.^ ..^reath in his future abode. creation, God in the higher forms, m the ca ^^^^^^^^^ ,„ works by means of ^f^^^^^^^^^,, good in the lower propose that the ^-"^'^/^^'^^'"^wie angels carry mes- Lms of nature. Ad that .^^^^ ^^^^^^^,_ ,ay not ,ages to man, and guide h^^^^P 32 WHAT IS LIFK '{ M m ii I ■In ,1 I the "brccith of life" direct the particles that are the basis of tilings material in the development of material things. Solomon said " Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." This is a precept of Scripture for the regulation of moral conduct. The opposite of this is train up a child in the way he should not go and when he is old he will not be converted, but the opposite does not hold good for the influence of the Holy Spirit is more powerful to convert than is that of early evil training against it. For although " every one of us shall give an account of himself to God " says St. Paul, and '* God will render to every man according to his deeds," yet, in early parental authority the parent may have to bear part of the guilt for the evil done by the child under his training. The part we should emphasize here is the strong influence the evil training in youth has upon the adult. How hard it is for the aged person to break away from old habits and evil ways if he would be converted. How great, then, is the responsibility of the trainer. How hard is it for one who has been trained from childhood to believe that he has within himself, and distinct from his body, an immortal soul, to think otherwise ? But does the Bible teach this ? God said " the soul that sinneth it shall die." It is true that the devil said he should not die, but who would believe the devil even when his say- ing contains a grain of truth as may be the case in this instance. For when all was lost, when man had forfeited his claim to eternal life, '* God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." WHAT IS UFK^ 3:^ beuU on the S<.n H^; -• ;\,re ., but the .nUh o beUevcth not the Son sh=Ul . , .^^^^ ^^^_^^ ,,^ ,f ^.e God abidcth on h.m. J h > ^^^^ ^^.^ conversion .mortal man hath an ^«^"^'^ ^^ j,,,, conUl he be sa,d „, before his beUevu^s; n *. So' ^ ,, ^,, ,,ickcd h.ve to receive his i-'-"''''^^'^,, "^ truthfuUy said, " U-^ ,n immortal soul '--^'^ , \,,u not see life," --nnv, he that believeth not the ^o, the real, or eternal hfe. ^^^^^„^ has not Therefore the ""^':'''=\";°;" eternal life, .n immortal soul in the sen o^^^^^^^^^^^^_^^_^_^^^^^^^^ As any one tramed up to ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^_^.^^ soul will be very '^-''^J^.^^uh the hope that those n.ore Scriptural text a - g.v ^^^^.^ „, „p,mons who '-^<^^Z£IX^'^^ ""* ^^ ^'=^^=*=' '" while seeking diligently word. • = U this that God gave unto And the witness ^^'^'"^'.^^ -^ ;„ His Son. ,3 eternal Ufe -^^J^^ ^.e hfe : be that "^^^^^t:s:oTG:dth not the life. _For the wa-es of sm ^^^^.^^^ gift of God is eternal hfe J our Lord. f^vc;iketh _,„nbe Lord >oveth^Kig>.en.,»^^^^^^^^^ -' 1- saints -, they arp.es - ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ but tbe seed of *e '•v'^ea .^j^^^, God preservelh not the Ufe ot ... , ,A __Whosoever behevetn 01 St. ]ohn ni, 15,^^- ^^^.^^^ ^^^, ^.^ve eternal hfe. 1. John V, n, 12. Romans vi, 23. Psalm xxxvii, 28. Job xxxvi, 6 Proverbs, 18, 21. 34 WHAT IS LIFE I i Proverbs viii, 35. St. John V, 39. Matthew vii, 14. St. John V, 24. II. Chron. xiv, 1 1. Job iv, 17, 18, 19,2 -H — Whoso findcth me findeth life find shall obtain favour of the Lord. --Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that i.. ''"'11 ye have eternal life : and these are they which bear witness of me ; and ye will not come to me, that ye nay have life. — For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that lind it. — Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hcareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgement, but hath passed out of death into life. — Let not mortal man prevail against thee. ) — Shall mortal man be more just than God ? Shall a nvu7 be more pure than his maker? Beliold he put no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly ; how much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth ? They are destroyed from morning to evening ; they perish forever without any regarding it. — Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. — But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Corinthians xv, 53. — For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. In Scripture the words man, soul, and sinner are often used with the same meaning and referring to the same person. Romans vi, i': Romans viii, 1 1. ^SfW*^ WHAT IS mfkI 35 I' shall fiiink- tliese pmd ye life. Hi the If they [careth P Jiie, into h'eath od? iker? and Inuch hose slied 'rom 2ver rtal iUS ed 2n •it Joshua, successor to Moses, took many cities, and killing the souls who lived in them with the ci\<^e of the sword, burnt the cities. It is evident that if a soul were a spirit it could not be killed with the cd<;e of the sword ; but in the many accounts of battles fjiven the word soul is used for man and the word souls is used for people. In Joshua, iith chapter and iith verse, " And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them : there was not any left that breathed : and he burnt liazor with fire." And this use of the terms man, soul, or sinner, when referring to thj same person in the Old Testament, also agrees with the New Testament, as in James v., 19, 20 : " Brethren, if any of you do (;rr from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins." Here the soul is repre- sented as mortal, as it is in many other portions of Scripture ; in Corinthians xv., 53 : " For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Let us lose sight of the mortality of the soul for a little to notice what gracious reward is here offered for an act of kindness. '* Convert a sinner and save a soul from death, and by this act of kindness hide a multitude of sins." How welcome this reward would be to many ? How few realize the magnitude of the gift offered. It is worth more than millions of pounds. Money would not buy it. This death refers to the second death, the most ter- m I! 36 WHAT IS LIFE? iff! i: I r\ 1" ri If rible of all deaths in regard to time and punishment, yet it is death, final death. But do souls really die ? Most assuredly they do, for how could it be said with truth that a soul was saved from death if it was not subject to death, and remember we are speaking of the second death. All sinners or sinful souls shall die if they be not converted, for in Christ only is eternal life. Let us choose some particular sinner, say a murderer, and agree that if he dies so will all sinners who are not converted. Death is the opposite term to life, that is^ the temporary or first death is the opposite to the tem- porary or first life ; and the second death is the opposite to eternal life, just as we say that darkness is the oppo- site to light and that cold is the opposite to heat. Now if we can prove the absence of one opposite, it implies the presence of the other opposite, so that if we prove that a certain room contains no light it is proof that the room is filled with darkness, or that the room is all dark. Now let us compare death and life. If we can show that the murderer has not eternal life it will be proof that he dies the Second Death. There are many passages of Scripture to choose from^ and we will try to give one of the plainest : I. John iii, 15, " Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him," therefore he must die. I. John ii, 17 : "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof : but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Solomon said : "As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death." St. John iii, 16: -s.4'%' s>o '■'■•■. ! WHAT IS LIFE? 37 yet 'o, for rnber lerer. '* For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And without Christ they shall perish ; for, " The soul that sinneth it shall die." These proofs of the final death of the wicked could be largely increased, but sufficient is given to prove that the sinner, unconverted, dies the Second Death ; and that the unconverted man has not an immortal soul. In Scripture the First Death is not represented as final, but only temporary, from which there is a resurrec- tion : while the Second Death is represented as final, or everlasting, and from which there is no resurrection. And the First Life is also a temporary life, that without Christ dies. The only real life is eternal life, or the lite of the believer in Christ. When God said : " The soul that sinneth it shall die " the sentence did not necessarily include all men, or every soul ; but it did include every sinner, or soul that sinned; and Solomon said, at the dedication of the temple, *' For there is no man that sinneth not," I. Kings viii, 46, and as this statement is repeated in many places in Scripture it must be conceded that the soul of man is mortal, and not only liable to die but directly under the penalty of death. For that all men have sinned, and, " The wag js of sin is death." Therefore, every man, every soul every smner is, or was, mortal; and by sinful disobedience forfeited their right to live. All was lost, and man had no claim upon God's mercy, having brought his own destruction upon himself, by his own sinful acts ; when, " God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 38 WHAT IS LIFE Son, that whosoever believeth in him mould not perish^ but have everlasting life." John iii, i6, and 36th verses, " He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life," that is eternal life ; " but the wrath of God abideth on him," or, the sentence of death abideth on him. Christ came and said, " I am the resurrection and the life : whosoever believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live." Also, " Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Notice it does not read, "Except a soul be born again," b' 1 "Except a man be born again." " Except a man be uorn of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." " I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." How could Christ say, " He that believeth on me hath everlasting life," and " I am the bread of life," if man has everlasting life without him ? How could man be offered eternal life as the highest reward for holiness, if man, or his soul, were in v:>s session of eternal life without either belief in Christ c -viiness? Are we so lost to a sense of right, or blii,. cd by tradition, that we will reject the plain statements of Christ and the testimony of His apostles for a few phrases handed down to us from an ancient people, and which to them did not always mean the same thing ; still, apparently, this is what we are doing, if we accept the belief of an immortal soul without Christ, or of eternal life for those who do not believe in Christ as the Son of God. The Scripture teaches us that there are two lives, and H^ WHAT IS LIFK? 39 hath man ]:hest Jsfon ess ? by 5 of few ind ?pt of he id that the one is ...ortal and has an end, and the other is eternal, being born of the Spirit. That the first or mortal life is the carnal life. Without the first, man would not exist in the flesh ; without the second, man would never see God. The first is material, carnal, and mortal: the second is spiritual, holy, and immortal. As the wicked cannot be in possession of the Holy Spirit they cannot be possessed of eternal life. They die and will be resurrected to die the Second Death, which is one of punishment ; and during which they cannot die by niaii's hands, but must live out their allotted time. It will be a time of agony that n:any would like to shorten, but they cannot, for the " worm dieth not," nor can the " fire " be quenched until its work is completed. They^ may not all die at once, as " some shall be beaten with many stripes ; " but they shall be " burned up root and branch " and " be as though they had not been ; " " For they choose death rather than life." They rejected life when they rejected Christ, and there is no resurrection promised from the Second Death. In the quotation '•' the worm dieth not " man is the worm, and he cannot die as he would like to, before the completion of his punishment, during the time cf the Second Death, which, without doubt, to some wicked sinners will seem very long, and they would gladly shorten the time if they could. The chemist tells us something about a gas which can be extracted from the things of the earth and col- lected and held confined in his laboratory, so that it can be measured, weighed, have its properties tested, and ill Is-*?- > liil I 40 WHAT IS LIFE? again under high pressure reduced to a soHd ; and all this though the gaj be invisible : but who can so handle a spirit? Man can neither catch, hold, nor weigh a spirit, nor can he state that a spirit has weight or measurement, for that is beyond his knowledge ; and of its qualities he knows but little. Here we arc only speaking of the spirit of temporal life, or that spirit which animates matter which is found in the live atom, and which gives rise to the living soul. It is in the air. It is in the wind. It is in all animate matter of the lower creation, in everything in which is the " breath of life," or, as it is put in the seventh chapter of Genesis, "The breath of the spirit of life." It is also found in the higher creation, for God made man from the dust of the ground and this dust had been previously '* moved upon " by the spirit of life ; hence, the natural man, the ungodly man, or more particularly, the man who has not been " born again," is only a mortal man with a mortal soul ; and this he continues to be until he receives in- spiration from the Holy Spirit. This is the " Spirit of Adoption," which Paul preached to the Romans and to the Galatians, whereby we become new creatures, and Romans viii., i6 : " The Spirit himself beareth witness wim our spirit that we are the children of God." Before being " born again " we were the children of the flesh, or mortal beings ; but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which is freely offered and surely prom.ised to all true believers in Christ, we become immortal. The union of the spirit of temporal life and matter is the living soul, whether of beast or of man. It can take the form of flesh and blood and bloom with instinct WHAT IS LIFE f 41 and intelligence. This is the species of the .souls, which were so often put to death by Moses' successor, who led the armies of Israel ; and notice that these souls or ordinary mortals were slain with the edge of the sword. As Joshua too^' thirty-one kings and many cities, there must have been a large number of souls killed. Let us again refer to Joshua xi., 1 1 : " And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them : there was not any left that breathed : and he burnt Hazor with fire." At the death of these souls, " The dust shall return to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Eccl. xii., 7. The soul dies, but the spirit lives. The Holy Spirit is with the Father and with the Son : but it is not so easy to point out tne abode of the spirit of temporal life ; yet Scripture is not silciic on this point. If the expression, " God's vineyard," meant the whole material world, we might venture to state that the spirit of life dwelt there. The prophet Ezekiel points to the wind as the home of the spirit of life ; while David, Daniel and Job point to the dust as its abiding place. And why not in the dust? The wind is matter as well as dust. God is omnipresent, and it was upon matter that the spirit of God moved at the beginning. If we were not so superficial we might look through matter, and see the live atoms full of movements, full of manoeuvres, changing places, revolving and evolving ; as scientists tell us, they are always in motion. Still, all atoms may not be in motion at the same time ; some i = 42 WHAT IS LIFE? may have done their work and be at rest for a while. The righteous are at rest until the first resurrection. Job vii, 21. Job xvii, 13. Psalm xxii, 29. Daniel xii, i. Ezekiel xxxvii, 9. -For now I shall sleep in the dust ; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be. -If I wait the grave is mine house : I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption thou art my father ; to the worm thou art my mother, and my sister. And where is now my hope ? As for my hope who shall see it ? They shall go down to the bars in the pit, when our rest together is in the dust. -All they that go down to the dust shall bow before him and none can keep alive his own soul. -At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth for the children of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since the^e was a nation even to that same tim j : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. -Then said he unto me, prophesy unto the wind, prophesy son of man, and say to the wind, thus saith the Lord God ; Come from the four winds O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophe- sied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. WHAT IS LIFE? 43 Iv'hile. tliou shall have [aid to I worm And hope Itothe is in M bow own , the ren of ne of vas a that ^ one 5ook. 5t of Sting 'ting the the 'oni pon he- ath •od The breath of life is sometimes tianslated spirit in the margin ; thus the fifth verse would read : " Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause spirit to enter into you, and ye shall live." The things and creatures of the lower creation are only temporal, and will come to an end. They show forth the power and glory of God: but all things temporal will pass away. The day is cor ling when the earth itself will be dissolved. II. Peter, 3rd chapter, "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Thus shall end the lower creation and with it all that is mortal of the higher creation, as. recorded by Malachi, iv, i, " For behold the day cometh that burneth as a furnace ; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble : and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Then comes the promise of a new heaven and a new earth wherf^in dwelleth righteousness, and immortality. Although the scriptures refer to the soul of man and to the soul of beast as having some things in common, yet they clearly state, that the soul of man is of a higher order than is the soul of the beast. That man, or his soul, is the highest development of spirit and matter in mortal life. Thav man is not only endowed with greater faculties of mind, and greater powers of intellect than any beast of the lower creation, but, also, that he has greater responsibilities, in being held accountable to God for his conduct ; for it is written " We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ," and, " every one of us shall give an account of himself to God." Il III m it ! 44 WHAT IS LIFE? God made all things accor 'ing to his pleasure, and vvl;en God viewed the works of His creation He pro- nounced them good ; and we must humbly accept these things as they are, and as we find them. To say that God could not have made man otherwise than as an upright, perfect, and immortal being would be to limit the power of the Omnipotent One. Man as an earthly being exists, but the perfect man does not exist, for the work of his perfection is still going on. The perfection of the earthly form has been achieved, but the perfection of the spiritual form is yet unreached. He that is of the world shall pass away with the world, but, '* he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Matthew xix, i6 : " And, behold, one came to him and said. Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, why askest thou me concerning that which is good ? One there is who is good ; but if thou wouldst enter into life, keep the commandments." Luke x, 25, " And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying. Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? And he said unto him, what is written in the law ? How readest thou ? And he answering said. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God \vith all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him thou hast answered right : this do, and thou shalt live." Here are two persons confessing their mortal state to Jesus, and he, by his answers to them, confirms that view of human life, and points out to them how they may obtain eternal life. WHAT IS lifk'} 45 THE TWO DEATHS. 1 .u ^orltn two resurrections, The Bible refers to two deaths. ^"^ *° '^^^^^^ ,„ people Jch fall to the lot of human bemgs, butt are not partakers of -\--^- ^^ ^,, ^.^t death. Any person may, seemingly Pan^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^,^.^„ , which is material, ^nd tempera^ . ^^^ resurrection is promised .but me ^^^ ^^^^^ takers in the second death, wh c^ .^^ resurrection none but the righteous t-- ?;''", ,ke in the second both *e just and the -y p .^ ^^ resurrection. For Blesse ^^^ ^^^^^^ j^^tH part in the first resurrection . over hath no power." righteous and the Although to mortal eyes ^ot. *-^^,,,,,, ye the wicked die in the firs or temi y ^^ ^^^ ^.^^^^^^^ Scriptures teach P'^tCp n jesus." The wicked, or do not die. but are f^^P? dead until they are resur- unregenerate, die and -^/^^ewL have been '' born rected ; but the "ghteous or Jhose ^_.^ ^^ • >' K^r the inspiration ot tiic x ^ rCt-wIitlnltheLming of their redeemer. Hesus said" Whosoever «ve.H and beUeveth on me, shall never Q.e. , ■ ^, hat he had not died in youth -3* -T'" For now should I have lain down ''"fw; a!ie 1 shotdd have slept ; then and been quiei . ^^ had 1 been at rest. - • St. John xi, 26. Jobiii, 13- Jobxvii, 16. Hebrews iv, 10. When once there is rest in the dust. For he that hath entered into his rest hath Lief also rested from his works. 4C WHAT IS LIVKI m ii# Daniel xii, 2. Daniel xii, 13. — And many of them that sieep in the dust of the earth shall awake. — But go thou thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy lot at the end of the days. Revelations xiv, 13. — And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours ; for their works follow with them. Psalm vi, 5. — For in death there is no remembrance of thee : in the grave who shall give thee thanks .'* 1. Thes. iv, 13, 14, 15 — . . . The brethren asleep in Jesus, God will bring with him • . . Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says (iv., 13): "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concern- ing them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first." When through the woman of Endor, who had a familiar spirit, King Saul brought up Samuel from the grave, the dead prophet said, *' Why hast thou disquieted me ? " His words are not, " Why hast thou brought me back to life ?" but may be taken to mean, " Why hast thou disturbed my rest ? " Familiar spirits cannot give WHAT IS LIFEI 47 „. .„ the dead. ^^'^^^^ ::;::i^'S- 'z of the just, or, to o^-!-on^^ll^ ,,,eveth on the Son we have the promise that, shall never die." „f j^e synagogv^. When the J-^^'-'^y,^^ "ought Jesus that He m;gh was sick, the anx.ous f-th" so g J ^.^^ ^^^^ ,^^,d,„ come and heal her, but ere he 1 a o ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^_ died, and the people --- "; 1^^: „,.e He quieted torn among the J^ws, but ^vben J^^^^^^ .^ ^^^ ^^^^j^ j,^^ them with these words . ^'''=P'*" • ., . rase of Lazarus, who had beer Then again, m the "^^ J j^ys, and Jesus sa>d aead in the ordi-y^-^ ^ ^^.^.^ , f.Upn asleep : to His disciples . uui ^f ^,gep. (bt. but I go that 1 may awake h ^^^^^.^ood not, Johnxi.,n.) And when the dip ^,^^ ^id the our Lord said plainly, l--^ju i ^^ ^,^.^ ^ sister, Martha, understand the_^n^ ^^^ ^^^„^ , death, for when i-^^l'^'tjt .sUnketh, for he hath she said, " Lord, by this t.m h ^^^^ ^^^^_ „ ^ ^^ been dead four days. Jesus . ^^^.^^^^^^ ^,^ ^.^ resurrection and the U e . „ ^^^ ., whosoever though he die, yet ^^^^^^ '^^ j \,,,er die." And when liveth and beheveth on me sna _^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ Tesus said, " Lazarus, cu..,cio, i^^j^gg on. irme forth, bound hand - J f^^* ^^.^ ,,,t He was , It is obvious by Jesus answej ^^ ^^^ ^.^^^^ contrasting *e material death or ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ with eternal life, and su ce th .f^Uy. ,any have gone to sleep and are^r ^.^^^^^^^^^ The back-sliders ar^ a ^ ^^^,^ ^„^t, be required, whomsoever much lb given o 48 WHAT IH LIFE? 1 : i A large class of sinners, who, through ignorance of the truth, through unchristian parents, through being born in heathen lands, or through bad company, have continued to resist the kindly influence of the Holy Spirit, and so have never been born again ; these are minor sinners when compared with the back-slider. For much will be required of those who have been surrounded with the kindly influence of Christian life, who have tasted of the joys of heaven, and who have known in their hearts that Christ died for them ; these, if they remain not steadfast in the faith of the Gospel, are the greater sinners. Jesus said, " No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdorr- "jf God," and in II. Peter ii, 20,21, " For if after the^ ..ve escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them." A.nd Paul the apostle is stronger than this, and says, (Heb. vi., 4, 5, 6) : " For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame." ON THE ROAD TO ETERNITY. On the road to eternity he noticed a side-path, with a gate near its entrance. This pathway seemed so dismal ,:1| WHAT IS WK'' 4i> , . fhit he trcmblc(\ aU """ and so hideous to look ^^ *^' ,^5 ^,,00 him. He with fear, while thouS^^ «".c ^ ^^ ^ ^ thought of an -'7^ ;tn for whom Christ died and comi.ifi a sinner ! of a perso ^^ ^^_^^ ^^^^ ..j suffered on the cross, f "V "^ j it, sinned agamst .t, ceived the Holy Ghost but fi^v ^ ^^.^^ perhaps blasphemed .t ! Her ^^^ ^^,,^ t transfixed and mot.onless as on ^^_^^^^ j,, who had never b en converted. A SUGGESTION. ^ptter at the " begin- The Spirit which moved "?- "J^^lNs the production „ing" has cognitive power. VI ^^^^ ^^^ ,^, of this spirit and 'n^"^'^- ^'J's • but the body is also t^'ofthe^ody including *e-- ,^^^ ,^ , a part of this hfe. J^^^l'\ j^broken up, it dies. But this living soul is f ^°';^.<*' * ''^here the cognitive power if this high form of mortaUife, w ^ ^^^ ^^.^ ,, has developed to a knowledfe^e o g ^^^ ,, ^^^^ through true conversion tha-; ^^^ ^.^ The msprr- ^„,„ H be comes '/""^"^ ^^^^'j^.d at being "born aga n ':Lr L^rdrsilVomes a ne. ^ /t:;::. or atomic life ism the .10^^^^^ --^^^'V^^rheXSei there, and we have been ;:rngrfoC i^s course of evolvement. ■50 WHAT IS LIFE? ^V''i In the case of Abel, who was an accepted person, the voice of his blood cried to the Lord from the ground. And the Lord said to Noah : " But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat," Gen. ix., 4, and in Leviticus xvii., 11, Moses writes: " For the life of the flesh is in the blcod : and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls : for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. . . . For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof" ; and "every soul " was forbidden to eat that which " dieth of itself," or that which was " torn of beasts." Again, in Genesis vi., 17 : " Behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven ; every- thing that is in the earth shall die." Yes, and every soul dies. The soul of the natural man never has eternal life. And the soul of the righteous dies its fleshy life when it is " born again," and begins the spiritual life, which never dies. In ist Corinthians ii., 14 : " The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." ATOMIC LIFE. That " life only comes from the touch of life," was the statement of the late Alfred Tennyson, who, if he had said or written nothing else but this would still be worthy of veneration for his aid to the true science of life. Tha Then i <• toucl Andv answe « Goc spirit creat thee ain^ to I but are spe vei th« wl lo h V I !'■*• '. \* •" WHAT IB ^IFE'^ 51 • n- n\ant all are agreed. That there ^ ^^^l}^^^pAr^^o. receive its Then from when^d^cUhe^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^-^ fflS" The - touch of life ? ■■ " i,,e its " touch of We . And where did the atorn «« ^^ ^^^ „ ^,gi„„u.g^ when •. from the Spirit oi lu ' ^r fVie waters. ^"^^^ answer is ^°;"; „ „ the face of he w ^^ .. God's spirit moved P ^^^ tor the ^^ spirit was specially ^^^^ j „f that state, or eo"d.t 1^ • Wpknow but utile ■< .^u.,,f form and voia . creation. 'V e Kn ^^ .. without ion , ^ the earth when ^^ ^^'° f,,,„ee. The " wa ers lejc ,Uhereiscon3ecurcor^,._^ „i,t, or -PO- ; Jf ufe to. ^° "=^^ 'te s'it upon this mist not^" 3^^^^,.^, ,,,g, moving of the si ^.^.^^ ^^.j^^^h all . ^^ but also created the a ^^ ^^^^ ^^^„_ .t P^ P ^ are evolved. And, n j. ^^^^,c hfe, ana V .f 1 crystal as a thm, o ^^^ ,,fg^ ,„,d "P"" K \s Lother and higher fom ° f ^„ things vegetable as ano ^^,^^1 , ana the same may be ^a^d ^^ ^^.^ ^^tut nto the -^^^'" rtirn An'=^>'' *'^ ^^ -^n l^r ins5«tlon S---:Sit;;:tui^^ :r ^rf ;-^^ -^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^° ^'^""^-