^■■Tp ■ w — Experimental investigation pro- duces science, assaysPolus, proper!}^ enough; but the want of such investigation, produces chance." (Aristotle; Met. I, 1. 5). It is certainly possible that man^' things now re- jected b}' some of the ablest scientists, ma}-^ under the light of greater experience be unanimously accepted. We see no reason, therefore, for casting aside a religious teaching simply because some one man or school of men would advise us so to do. But should the scientific world as such, the world of experience, reject a doctrine as spurious, it cer- tainly would be a rash thing in us to accept it. Some may say with Aristophanes : " E'.~tp £(T~£'.ffu) yt a~a^ o'.ffcv ours (icu/iog, ouze nCtrrtq, oun opxoq pvyz'. — Could I possibly form an alliance with those to whom nothing is sacred, neither altar, nor faith, nor ath." CAcharnenses, 307-308). A Philosophical Inquiry into thf Principles of Reliijion. 5 But the truth is that scientific men, even when unbe- lievers, are nevertheless most regardful of those things supi)osed to bind the breaking heart of hutnanit}'- to the pitiful heart of God. Says Huxle}': "Nothing great in science has ever been done by men, whatever their power, in whom the divine afflatus of the truth-seeker was wanting." (Reign of Queen Victoria, II, 332). A: SC1P:NCE and simple THEISM: The idea of a God self-existent and eternal may be said to be the common possession of all mankind who have passed from the merely animal into the intellectual world. We have no sufficient grounds for asserting that this idea is Innate ; rather with the scientific world do we believe that it everywhere comes as a consequent of reasoning. The fact that there are atheists, and the further fact that there have been and are to-day whole tribes who have not as much as a name for God, and no conception whatever of the work of creation, are sufficient to refute any belief in innate ideas of deity : " There have not been wanting instances of eminent scientists who not merely rejected Christianity, but appar- ently did not even believe in the being of a God." (Prof. Stokes). " Instead of its being true that ideas of deitv such as are entertained by cultivated people, are innate ; it is, contrari- wise, true that the}'' arise only at a comparatively advanced stage, as results of accumulated knowledge, greater intel- lectual grasp, and higher sentiment. A typical case is that of the Juangs, a wild tril)e of Bengal, 6 Essays on God and Man, who, '..escribed as having no word for God, no idea of a future state, no religious ceremonies, are said to have no notion of the worship of ancestors." (Spencer: Sociology, 282, 411). "It suffices me to remark that perception is the first operation of all our intellectual faculties, and the inlet of all our knowledge in our minds." (Locke). ''The soul of man being therefore at the first as a book, wherein nothing is and yet all things may be imprinted ; we are to search by what steps and degrees it riseth unto per- fection of knowledge." (Hooker: Ecc. Polity, I, VI, 1). We, therefore, discard the doctrine that we are born with an idea of the deity stamped on our mind, as one not worthy of credence, because contrary to experience. We regard this doctrine also pernicious in that it points to something superior to reason, as the ground-work of theism. But although our mind at birth is void of any idea what- ever, we are yet obliged to admit that humanity, under like circumstances and conditions, has always come to similar conclusions concerning the fact of the existence of a supreme Being. Certain beliefs appear to be the necessary products of intelligence. The belief that every effect must have a cause is neces- sary and universal, and is a corollary of the doctrine of the Persistence of Force. That the doctrine of the Persistence of Force is a necessary truth, we have the witness of con- sciousness, since the annihilation or creation of force is absolutely unthinkable. Upon the truth of the doctrine of the Persistence of Force depends all faith in order, uni- formity, stabilit\^, and achievement. But the doctrine that A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 7 every effect must have a cause, is no more a datura of con- sciousness than the belief that the first cause must be in itself uncaused, and eternal, — must be the universal :ind all-pervading Energy. Sa3's Aristotle : " h~et Sz TO xf/noiiv^ii'^ av«^z>5 ()t:o rrxi^ y.ivz'.aOo.'.^ y.at rn ~iiujr ua r;;> 7i>o rayr«? ry^v uTT/rjv ifoiia/^ r^'j Z!>£;v (fa;if^ 7ri\i -fnozr^j tiuffia./ xa: ayxrj xat muruj-y ixaffrr^v ra»v (fnouiy 6—' axvj^^zoo zt x'.-yttaOu: xuO" abzi> xu: w.O'.ou ovaia:; — Since it is necessary that the thing moved be moved by something, and the thing first moving be in its nature im- movable, and the eternal motion be moved by something eternal, and the single by something single, — we see that in addition to the absolute force of the whole universe, which we say the first and immovable being moves, there are other eternal movements, such as those of the heavenly bodies ; and it is necessary that each of these movements be moved by some being in its nature eternal and immova- ble." (Met. XI, 8, 4). In scientific investigation, in whatever department of thought that investigation may be, when we attempt to trace back effects to their causes, as a man on his way to a distant town has no dirticult\- while on the highwa}' in keep- ing the path, but on the road appearing less and less traversed and finally disappearing in a boundless, track- less desert, shudders at the thought of his utter loneliness, — so we stand aghast when the infinite void, the great Unknown, yawns before us. Here all investigation fails, all hope dies. The scientist looking with awe on this 8 Essays on God and 3fan, boundless, bottomless sea, whose awful waves, rolling in majestic majesty awake responsive echoes in his beating heart , breathes the breath of reverential fear. Man indeed has been said to be the measure of the universe ; but such a saying is poetrj', not prose. The tru-tli is that our finite powers will not permit us to trace an effect to infinity. Nevertheless, we are equally unable to conceive that in the chain of causes there is not One Uncaused : " Aov ds TO (IV auTo iiij •fiy.'ira'. auos (fOit/itrat'. e/. tivo -/j y£'^eada.t r^ (fdapry^aix asi yap ryj — . For it is impossible that force should either be created or destroyed: for it is eternal." (Aristotle: Met. XI, 6, 1). It would appear, therefore, that force must be traced to One which must be indivisible, incorporeal, immutable, and intelligent : " On p.z'^ «';y c(Tr;v ouata Tcq w.dux^ xw. ax'.'/TjZo^ xa.'. xtyio- piffixzvrj zwj a'.frdrjTojv (pa'jtpo'j — It is, therefore, evident that being is something eternal, immovable, and separate from sensuous existence." (Aristotle: Met. XI, 7, 12). Although, according to Aristotle, force being uncreated, the universe must be eternal ; yet God in the highest sense must be the source of all being, life, and force: " dz Tdv deov £!>«£ i^wiiv atdci» aptfTTt»^ mart ^turj xai atujv au'^zy-fi^ xat aidto-^ uzapyet r

;ii>^ ;j.£v yap iju'.v ctToxXtvYj:; 6 deo: — Speaking generally, whatever a pilot is to the ship, a charioteer to the chariot, a leader to the chorus, a commander to the encamped army, — tliis is God to the universe; only, while t) those such superintendence is full of toil, care, and trouble ; to this being it is without i)ain or labor, and separated from every bodily weakness. Founding all things in his own immovable self, he moves and conducts it whithtn- and how he wills. Thus must we believe it is in the greater city: I mean this cosmos of ours; for God is its wise and just 10 Essays on God and Man, (equally-inclining) law." (Aristotle: De Mundo, VI, 34, 36). Passing from Aristotle into whom as a mighty sea ran ail the rivers of ancient knowledge, and from whom there have arisen through all the ages, and still arise, waters of healing for all people, — we will enter the scientific temple of to-day, ablaze with light, and ask there what knowledge may be found to scatter the darkness in the mind of man on the subject of the knowability of God. If there is something in man which we call mind receiving: through the afferent nerves constant messages from the outer world, comparing and determining with a view to the ultimate welfare of the whole man, we should have no diffi- culty in seeing a similar relation between the material universe and tlie Infinite Mind which moves it. As our material frame is the tabernacle of the soul, so may the whole material universe be the tabernacle of God. "If thinking be accompanied, as we know it in ourselves to be accompanied, by a state of activity of the material organism of which the body consists, that does not prove that thinking is nothing more than an action of the material organism. We have seen that life can only proceed from the living; may it not be in a similar manner that mind can only proceed from that which has mind ? See what the con- trary supposition leads us to. Here is man, in a geological sense a creature but of yesterday, utterly incapable of ac- counting for his own existcaee by any play of mere natural forces, and yet ignoring the existence of any mind higher than his own mind, though ready enough to admit the A Philosophical Inrpu'ri/ into the Principles of Relicjion. 11 existence of iinintelliiront law, and that without limitations of time or space." (Stokes: Effects of Light). " Tlie thoughts and feelings which constitute conscious- ness and are absolutely inaccessible to any but the possessor of that consciotisness, form an existence that has no place among the existences with which the rest of the sciences deal. Mind still continues to us a something without any kinship to other things. - - - - No effort enables us to as- similate them. That a unit of feeling has nothing in com- mon with a unit of motion, becomes more than ever manifest when we bring the two into juxtaposition." (Spencer: Psychology, vol. I. 140, 158). Consciousness is the basis of all mental operation, the witness of every motion of the soul. Without it all is blank: alt fulness, vacuity; all life, doatli. We cannot question its veracity, nor deny its reality. Absolute faith in conscionsness is tlie first and ever essential element of all reasoning whatever. Freedom is a revelation of consciousness. And yat nothing is more incapa])le of proof than human freedom. We cannot believe that every act of man is necessitated from all eternity ; but we are equally unable to give any sufficient reason for believing that man can accomplish some effect disconnected from tlie Infinite Cause. Thus are we shut up in our narrow circle, outside of which all is impenetrable darkness. We are unable to disbelieve that we can work with nu end in view. If these revela- tions of consciousness be true, we have a power superior to, and independent of, matter, — an intelligent, living, free energy. With the truth of consciousness, design and lib- 12 Essays on God (otd Man, erty become facts ; but these same facts could not exist independent of a free, immutable, eternal, infinite, and de- signing God. He who denies God, deprives himself of the only possible basis of explaining mental phenomena ; he who affirms God, as an eternal, persistent, free, and intelli- gent force, has in that affirmation the key which unlocks the secrets of mind and matter : " Hence the force of whicli we assert persistence is that Absolute Force of which we are individually conscious as the necessary correlate of the force we know. By the per- sistence of force we really mean the persistence of some Cause which transcends our knowledge and conception. In asserting it we assert an unconditioned Reality without be- ginning or end." (Spencer: First Principles, 62). This I consider sound theism, and a truly religious assertion. It is equivalent to saying that we know God only as through a glass darklj'. The science of the present age, whatever we may think of it as being Christian or aiiti-Christian, is at least profoundly theistic. Evolution is not atheism, but the recognition of an unseen, all-powerful, immutable, and intelligent Force bringing out of the unknown tlie known, out of the homogeneous the heterogeneous, out of the undif- ferentiated the differentiated, working in matter and mind and adapting things to their environments. Some atheistic scientists there undoubtedly are, and always have been ; but the great body of scientific thinkers, even of evolutionists, are deeply religious. It is true they do not pretend to have measured the depths of the Infinite One. nor to liave expe- rienced the woes of hell, nor the joa-s of heaven ; but we may be sure that he who professes to know the most of God, is he A Pliilosophical In(/uir>j inio the J^riiiciples of Reliijion. 13 that really knows the least. Concerning our knowledge of the Deity it is very truly said in the Vedas: " He by whom it is not thought, by hiin it is thought; lie by whom it is thought, knows it not. It is not understood by those who understand it; it is understood by those who understand it not." (Sacred Books of the East: Talava- kara-Upanishad ) . Mr. Wallace, one of the founders of the evolution school, in speaking of force in general, says : " It does not seem improbable that all force may be will force : and thus that the whole universe is not merely de- pendent on but actuall}' is the will of higher intelligences or of One Supreme Intelligence." t The German botanist, Alex. Braun, says: " Some say that the descent theory denies creation. But this contrast does not actually exist ; for as soon as we look upon creation as a divine effect, not merely belonging to the past or appearing in single abrupt movements, but connected and universally present in time, we can seek and find it no- where else but in the natural history of development itself." Wigand, von Baur, and Braubach, also declare that evolu- tion is theistic. At the fifty-sixth annual meeting of the British Association of scientists, held in Birmingham the past summer, Prof. Crookes, as President of the Chemical Section, said : " This building up of evolution is above all not fortuit- ous: the variation and development which we recognise in the universe run along certain fixed lines which have been preconceived and foreordained. To the careless and hasty eye design and evolution seem antagonistic; the more care- 14 Essays ou God and Man, ful observer sees that evolutiou, steadily proceeding along an ascending scale of excellence, is the strongest argument in favor of a preconceived plan." (Nature: No. 879, p. 424). However broad uud anti-dogmatic tlie present age of scientists may be, we doubt not that as a body they would subscribe to these words of Aristotle : '•Aw. 7Z£(JU/£'. TO Uzuiv Tt^j o'/a^'j (foir.y — The Divine Being comprises the whole of nature." (Met. XI, 8, 19). The outer world of mi ad and matter bespeaks to every intelligent mind an lafiniLe Tower, hidden, inscrutable, incomprehensible, and eternallj'- existing as the true subject of nature. Indeed the whole awful universe appears but as a garment which the sLill more awful Deity has spun, with unseen fibres, for a garment to hide his terrible majesty and unspeakable glory from the gaze of his creatures. But however great the proof of God's existence in the outer world, we have in the inner world, our own consciousness, such proof as cannot be questioned without suicide. Refer- ring to this, Spencer says : " Grant that among all races who have passed a certain stage of intellectual development, there are certain vague notions concerning the origin a-ad hidden nature of things, and there arises the inference that such notions are the nec- essary product of progressing intelligence. The endless variety serves but to strengthen the conclusion, showing how in different places and times, like conditions have led to similar trains of thought ending in analogous results. That these countless different and yet allied {)lienomena presented by all religions are accidental or factitious, is an A P/illosophical Inquirt/ into the Principles of Religion. 15 untenable supposition. A candid examination of the evi- dence quite negatives the doctrine that creeds are priestly inventions ****** An unbiassed considera- tion of its general aspects forces us to conclude that relig- ion, everj^where present as the weft running through the warp of human history, expresses some eternal fact * * * * Though the Absolute cannot in any manner or degree be known, yet we fuul that its positive existence is a necessary datum of consciousness ; that so long as consciousness con- tinues, we cannot for a moment rid it of this datum ; and that thus this belief which this datum constitutes, has a higher warrant than any other whatever. " (First Princi- ples: pp. 13, 14, 98). This consciousness of a Power all around and within us explains the searching after God which the peasant as well as the philosopher manifests. It explains the beating heart, the up-turned eye, the imploring look, the penitent breast, and the hope surviving the funeral fire. Of God the Abso- lute, the First Cause, we must in the deepest sense, remain forever in ignorance, except so far as we are made aware of that Presence by the conscious but indefinable pressure of that Universal Energy. "We shall be then conscious not truly of that Cause itself, but of its reflected image. Thus may we judge of the nature of that First Cause by the waves of this Infinite Energy that roll over us. As it is beautifully expressed in the Vedas : " Ilis form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through the heart know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal." (SvetasvataraUpanishad), The unknowabilitv of God is asserted not onlv bv all 16 Essays on God and Man, learned philosophers, but also by the foremost theologians of every age : "There is but one thing man can be assured of regarding God's nature, to know and perceive that nothing can be revealed in human language concerning God." ( Arnobius). " God is incomprehensible, and incapable of being meas- ured ; cannot be grasped by the power of any human under- standing, even the purest and brightest." (Origen). "The 63^6 cannot see him, though he is spiritually visible. He is incomprehensible, though in grace he is manifested. He is beyond our utmost thought." (Tertullian: Apology). " Our soundest knowledge is to know that we know him not as indeed he is, neither can know him ; and our safest eloquence concerning him is our silence when we confess without confession that his glory is ineffable, his greatness above our capacity and reach." (Hooker; Eccles. Ponty. vol. I, cap. 2). "Man," says Protagoras, "is the measure of all things— metron panton ; " but the thoughtful soul is almost para- lyzed when it attempts to think of God. The basis of all human thought is comparison, or relation. Even our whole being is but the complex result of myriad forces which ne- cessarily tend to produce internal psychical and physical relations corresponding to external relations. Although all definite conceptions of God are thus impossible from the very law of our being; yet there does appear a dark back- ground in the mind of every man, upon which is faintly traced the form of a Power not conditioned as we on time and space ; and from this ever present mysterious Form existing in the realms of our shadowy thought, there appear A PhiloHophkal Inquiry iuto the Principles of lieliyion. 17 to arise sounds alike unintelligible and obscure. Groping after we know not what, we nevertheless continue to grope ; deceived and deceiving, not having the substance we feast on its shadow. But we are acquainted with intelligence as manifested by ourselves, and have every reason to believe that we are only one form of that Infinite Intelligence man- ifesting itself in every grade of being from the infinitely lit- tle to the inhnitely great. We follow the series in the ascending scale until the blaze of intellectual light blinds our vision ; here our knowledge ends. But because we can- not pass the gulf, shall we say there is no territory beyond ? Is it not more reasonable to imagine at the end of that infi- nite series the unknown source of all life, the fountain of ail virtue, the Great Unknowable, the Creator and Upholder of the universe. Truly may we say that although we know Him not, yet must we believe in Him ; and although we see Him not, yet by the law of our very being are we forced to discuss Him who ever revealing himself, remains forever unrevealed ; ever making himself known, still continues to be the One forever Unknown. Before Him, as the Infi- nite Father, the universe bows down. Truly is He the ori- gin, end, and middle of all things, ruling and filling the whole: xa'. iittra zcov ^, xac -(v^ e/.tVMo, K'.^ii yap -w^ -a-^za ro ev r^'uv OzIdv. Aoyou tf ap^rj 00 Xnyo- (U.hi. Ti y.pz'.zroy, T'. ouv a'j -/.ptizzov xai s-'.(rzr^ij.r^^ tt-ot -Avjv fiztiz — The thing in question is, what is the origin of reason in the soul. It is evident that, as in everything else, this is wholly to be found in God. For the divine nature in some manner or other, acts upon and moves the whole within us. The origin of reason is not reason, but somethino: stronger. And what should I say is stronger than intelligence except God?" (Aristotle: Eud. Eth. VII, 14, 19). Such is not the language of Aristotle only, nor of the Greeks ; but of all philosophers of whatever nation or tongue. Truly the " indwelling Deity moves in some man- ner or other all things." The signs of such an indwelling Deity are on every hand, the marks of intelligence bespeak an Immanent Thought throughout the infinite cosmos: " Were we compelled to choose between two alternatives of translating mental phenomena into physical or of trans- lating physical phenomena into mental ; the latter alternative would seem the more acceptal)le of the two." (Spencer: Psychology, vol, I, page 159) Seeing thus clearly what the mind of the scientific world really is, we are forced to acknowledge it not only theistic but truly religious. It should never be foigotten that a man may be truly religious though tossed on raging seas of doubt and fear. If it can ])e said of the agnostic, or skeptic, that he confesses too little ; it may with equal propriety be said A PhUosoj)hic(d Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 19 of him who is heard to speak so positively in religious mat- ters, that he confesses too much : "Tliere is more faith in lioncst doubt Believe me tiian in half the creeds." Let us be glad that the discoveries of modern science, all the impressions of the outer on tlie inner world, all the in- terpretations by the inner world of self and not-self, all mental investigations whatever, but bind the human heart, already firmly bound, still more firml}^ to the heart of God. " So runs ray dream: but what am I ; An infant crying in the night : An infant crying for the light : And with no language but a cry. I falter where I firmly trod, And falling with my weight of cares Upon the great world's altar stairs That slopes through darkness up to God, 1 stretch lame hands of faith and grope, And gather dust and chaff, and call To what I feel is Lord of all. And faintly trust the larger hope.*' (Tennyson). B: SCIENCE AND NATURAL RELIGION. Natural reliarion is the broadest of all forms of tlicistic worship ; yet it is much narrower than simple theism. The consensus of scientific thought is, therefore, not so over- whelming: in its favor, as in the case of mere theism. Tlieism is the expression of the fact of God's existence ; religion is 20 ' Essays on God and Man, the expression of this and mueli more : it is the expression of the relation, founded on tliis fact, between the Infinite and tlie finite, as that of a father to the child. Here the nature of the one is to confess disobedience, acknowledge dependence, and expect forgiveness and aid ; and that of the other is to pity and forgive, strengthen and aid. The idea of this relation we see quite well manifested by Anchises : " At pater Anchises oculos ad sidera laetus Extulit, et caelo palmas cum voce tetendit : ' Juppiter omnipotens, precibus si flecteris ullis, Aspice nos ; hoc tantum, et si pietate meremur. Da deinde auxilium pater, atque haec omina firma' — Joyfully did father, Anchises, raise his eyes to the heavens, and stretching out his hands said : ' O Juppiter omnipotent, if ever thou art moved by prayer, behold us now ; in this our great need, if we are worthy of any pity, lend us thine aid, O father, and confirm the omens ' !" (Virgil: ^neid, II, 686-)- In Homer also we find set forth the care for men on the part of the Olympian gods : " Zeu^ 5' a'jzd^ Vc/i££ (V.;?OK OXuij.~i<)z w^dpoi-otaiv^ sadXoiq rj83 xa/.o'.^tv, 6-u>^ ediXr^^iy, iy.atrru) — From high heaven does Zeus himself assign to men both good and bad their fate, and as he wills to each." (Odyssey, VI, 187-). Not less by Plato is God represented as the rewarder of good and the avenger of evil works : ''■Tcj ij' azt ^uvsTiszac di/.r^ zorj a~<)Xzi~nij.t'^u)'^ rau Oetou vniwu ri/xtDpo^, Yj? 6 ;izv eudacfj.fr^rjTzr-' /j.zXJ.ojv z^a/iz'^o^ ^uvsKcrat zaTzeivog xat xzxoff/j.Tj/jLVM)'} — And Justice, as his consort, follows as an A PhilosophiciiJ Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 21 avenger on the heels of him who forsakes the divine law ; while he who wishes to be happy, adhering to her, follows after her in humble confidence." (Plato: Leges: IV, 716-). Still more beautifully and fully do we find the fatherhood of God taught in the Vedas : " O Being inconceivable! I humbly crave thy forgiveness. Thou art the father of all things animate and inanimate ; thou art the sage instructor of the whole, worthy to be adored ; There is none like unto thee. Wherefore I bow down ; and with my body prostrate upon the ground crave thy mercy. Lord ! worthy to be adored ; for thou shouldst bear with me, even as a father with his son, a friend with his friend, a lover with his beloved. Have merc}^ then O heavenly Lord ! O mansion of the universe ! and show me thy celestial form. I wish to behold thee with the diadem on thy head, O God, image of the universe !" (Dialogues of Krceshna and Arjoon). How beautiful this prayer, how general ; in all my theistic studies I have found no principles more agreeable to my nature, more generally acceptable, or more ennobling than those of the Vedas. If ever God gave humanity a rev- elation higher than nature gives us, I know not on what ground their inspired character can be denied. It is cer- tainly a groundless supposition that the inspiration of the Christian Scriptures necessitates the non-inspired character of the sacred writings of non-Christian people ; I can accept the Christian revelation on the grounds of evolution ; but when one insists that it is the only revelation of the will of God to His creatures, I must admit that I find it utterly impossible to reconcile such belief with the declared goodness and uni- 22 Essays on God and Man, versal fatherhood of God. Upon the Brahmin and Christian alike fall the dews of heaven ; seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, come in due time to all ; so likewise has the God of nature never failed to pour out upon all flesh without respect of persons those higher spiritual blessings at such time and in such manner as is most conducive to their respective welfare. Natural religion, however, admits no miracles, recognizes no particular revelation, rejects the doctrine of the Fall, and considers the doctrine of blood- atonement, as taught by orthodox Christians, as both unjust and blasphemous. On the other hand, while natural religion discards the peculiar principles of all religious S3-stems ; it would have men receive those principles common to them all, as the highest knowledge of the human soul concerning its God. Among the religious principles common to all systems of theology, we find set forth faith in God as the creator and upholder of all things ; faith in the fatherhood of God ; faith in prayer as a natural and reasonable thing ; faith in a future life where every man shall be rewarded ac- cording to his works. However broad and few the dogmatic teachings, there nevertheless can be no religious worship without agreement as to the essentials which constitute it, and as to the form of expressing it. In order to religious worship of an}' kind, when i)ublicly conducted, there must be on the part of each a willingness to relinquish, or even sacrifice, for the welfare of the whole, many things de- sirable to the individual. This is not such a privation as it ai)pears to be on the surface. Our idiosyncrasies are comparatively few; while the principles we have in common M i Pliilosophical IiKjin'n/ i)iio the Principles of lielifiion. 23 with the rest of inanlcind, arc vcr\' many. If to surrender a private opinion is a i)aiii, it is more than compensated for by the advantatjcs received from united action. None should be ignorant of the fact that tlie welfare of the race, though less aimed at. is moie to be desired tlian that of the in- dividual. Till' race as a generic man cannot live witliout a soul, whicli is but anotlier expression for tlie trend of the epoch produced by tlie merging of the individual thought into tlie general or social thought. The sanction for the re- linquishment of personal views, and the merging of private desires into social desires, of private judgment into general judgment, is found in tlie well grounded liclief that the social and general judgment, when executed, is more pro- ductive of even i ulividual good; and, since the end of human activity is the perfection of the race, more in accord- ance with the laws of our nature. Aristotle considered religion so necessary to the welfare of man, and, therefore, of the state, that he taught that none but the highest intellects gathered from the best soci- ety, should be permitted to perform the priestly function ; that they should receive a liberal compensation from the public treasury ; that their work and duties should be super- vised by the state ; that their office should be held in great honor ; and that they should be highly respected by all: ".•l//a . . . dozt yap ynopyo.) <)UT£ i3a'^av(ri)v Upta y.nTunraTzo-y : m-« yap Toh-iov -pz-rzi ziuarrOai Toys' f-hii')<' — Another kind of public charge, is that relating to God, such as the priestliood. These must 24 Essays on God and Man, be paid out of the public treasun'. The priesthood must not be taken from the lower orders of society ; for it is proper that God should be held in honor by the citizens." (Republic, VI, 8, 18; YII, 9, 9). Accepting the principles of natural religion, the conditions of man's well-being may in brief be said to be fulfilled by living a virtuous life. In the words of Madame de Staeh " Soyez vertueux, soyez croyants, soyez libres, respectez ce que vous aimez, cherchez I'immortalite dans I'amour et la divinite dans la nature ; enfin sanctifiez votre ame comma un temple, et I'ange des nobles pensees ne dedaignera pas d'y apparaitre — Be virtuous, be thoughtful, be liberab respect that which you love, strive for immortality in the love and the divinity of nature ; finally consecrate your soul as a temple, and the angel of noble thoughts will not think it beneath him to appear to you." The character in which God delights is beautifully por- trayed in the Vedas . " He my servant is dear unto me, who is free from enmity, the friend of all nature, merciful, exempt from pride and selfishness, the same in pleasure and pain, patient of wrongs, contented, conetantly devout, of subdued passions, and firm resolves, and whose mind and understanding are fixed on me." (Dialogues of Krecshna and Aijoon). Whoever lives according to his opportunities, always seeking to know his duty and to discharge the same, con- scious that God brings him to judgment for every thought and act, whatever be his creed or faith, he undoubtedly is the child of God, and heir of wliatever blessings the infinite Father may have in store for the children of men. Surely A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 25 such a child of God was Spinoza who uttered that sublime and evident truth : " Quidquid est in Deo est, et nihil sine Deo ncque esse neque concipi potest — "Whatever exists, exists in God; and nothing can exist nor be conceived apart from God." The value of religion to man's progress is very properly stated by one of the foremost writers of the age, in these words : " There is hidden in every one of the sacred books some- thing that can lift up the human heart from the earth to a higher world, something that can make man feel the omni- presence of a higher Power, something that can make him shrink from evil and incline to the good, something to sus- tain him in the short journey through life, with its bright moments of happiness and its long hours of terrible dis- tress.' (Sacred Books of the East: vol. I, intro. ). The many activities called forth by the needs of life lead to great bodily waste. Hunger and weariness are but the call of nature for a new supply of energy. None of us •would dare distrust this natural call, or act as if it had given us a false warning. It is hard to believe that the call of the weary, exhausted, sin-stricken, fainting soul to its God, is any less a natural cry. Whatever be the origin of the longings in man after God and immortalit}^ one thing is certain, their universal preva- lence, continuance, and growth have led all nations to regard the establisliment of religious institutions as necessary to the well-being of the state. This is asserted by Aris- totle; 26 Essays on God idicI Man, /.()U(JU IspUTziav . . Ta iiv> iiu\i s/yx zaur eariv iov Sztzat -affa -o}.t>} w^ st-^r^ — As the fifth ill order but first in importance, we mention the divine service, which is called the priestl}'. These things are, therefore, so to speak, the necessaries for the well-being of ever}- state." (Republic, VII, 8, 7, 8.) Temple, priest and altar have ever had a magic power over the hearts of men ; and although this power has fre- quently been used for evil, we must believe that it has more frequently been used for good. Often has the priesthood yielded unholy service to the state, that their own order might be advanced and their pride and lust satiated. No priest has ever given greater proof of this than he serving at Christian altars. By threats, by violence, hy bribery, by plot and cunning, have priests ever gleaned in the field of power : " As the new religion grew to political power, zealous leg- islators were eager to promote its ascendancy by the means of political sanctions. Pagans, Jews, heretics, apostates, protestants, papists, were successively frowned upon by the legislator, and for a long season subjected to incapacities and disabilities as great as, or greater than, those which weighed upon infamies." (Post's Gains' Commentaries: 127). " Puritanism was itself a grinding social tyrann}' that wrought out its ends by unscrupulous detraction, and by the bundling of things which should have been sacred even to the fanatic, if he really believed in the cause for which he raged." (Stubbs: Constitutional His. of Eng.,lII, 618). And yet the believer in natural religion will not raze the A Philosophical Inquir}) into the Principles of Ildigion. 27 temple, nor will he kill the priest, nor will he cease to wor- ship ; rather will he patiently work for the elevation of the race until virtue shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep. Not even the agnostic expresses any hope or desire that the religious observances prevailing among the different people of the world, pass away. Among them no greater autliority than Spencer can be adduced, who, in speaking of this, makes use of the following language: "Though with the transition from dogmatic theism to agnosticism, all observances implying the thought of pro- pitiation may be expected to lapse, yet it does not follow that there will lapse all observances tending to keep alive a consciousness of the relation in which we stand to the Unknown Cause, and tending to give expression to the sen- timent accompanying that consciousness. There will remain a need for qualifying that too prosaic and material form of life which tends to result from absorption in daily work ; and there will ever be a sphere for those who are able to impress their hearers with a due sense of the m^'stery in which the origin and meaning of the universe are shrouded. . . . Preaching tends more and more to assume an ethical character. Dogmatic theology with its promises of reward and threats of damnation, bears a diminishing ratio to the insistences of justice, honest}', kindness and sincerity." (Eccles. Institutions, sections 653, 655). I cannot but admire such men as Spinoza, Fichte, Schel- ling, Ilegcl, Jacobi, Schleiermacher, Strauss, Renan, Schopenhauer, Mill, Carlysle, Darwin, Bain, Spencer, and Emerson. They are great souls illuminated by that Univer- sal Light and raised up by that Universal Power to rescue 28 Essays on God and 3fan, man from bigotry and t3'ranny and to raise liim to the dignity of a being in whom is the breath of the Almighty. If the rule for correct living, given by Marcus AureHus, — " Reverence the Gods and help men," — is the essence of all true religion, and it is, then is it pos- sessed by most of these great men in its depths and purity. It is not creed but virtue that saves the soul ; and whatever may be a man's profession, of one thing we may be sure, only the virtuous man is loved of God. Such a man is the peculiar care of God, and whatever happens to him, sick- ness or health, poverty or riches, life or death, it is all for his real good. Well has the divine Plato told us that the soul whose heart beats after virtue, whose mind seeks more and more to be likened after God in virtue and true holi- ness, can never be forgotten by the Infinite Father: -fjyza yiY./zc!Oa.i w^ otov re apitrra^ ei [j.-q ri a'^ay/.aurj auru) y.a/.iiv e/. 7zpoT£paopo<^^ £«y r' tv ~z'^ia yiy/r^rat soy 7' sv '^offo'.^s Yj T'.'^t u/.lu) Tcov doxouvrcDv y.axoj'yij 409 tooto) raura £'.? ayaOov n zs^.surrjfTBi Cwvrj ij a-nOir^ir^r'.. Ou yo-p 8q or.o ye 031UV -ore apeXeirai 09 «> 'poOoiiziaOn'. eOzlr^ o'./.aco? yiy^znOm xai e~crr^dtuo)'^ aperr^v ecs" oto^ dw^anr^ ujOpiij~erything is harmonious to me which is harmonious to thee, O Universe ; nothing is too early or too late for me which is in time for thee. Everything is fruit to me which thy seasons bring, O nature ; from thee are all things, to thee all things return. The Athenians say ' Beloved City of Cycrops;' and shall I not say ' Beloved City of God.' " (Marcus Aurelius). Such depths of resignation and soul-purity are rarely found among Christians. Such men in the words of Christ "hunger and thirst" after holiness and purity of life. 30 Essays on God and Han, Shall we curse men for finding the dear Father of all mak- ing himself known without respect of persons to all his sor- row-stricken children ! Shall we utter maledictions because they see not with our eye, when beholding the face of the Almighty ! These are they who, looking with eager eyes into the awful void around and within us for light and com- fort, preach that truly everlasting gospel that all are bound by golden cords of love to the merciful heart of God. Was Schopenhauer the worse because he could say : " How does every line display its firm, definite and throughout harmonious meaning! From every sentence deep, original and sublime thoughts arise, and the whole is pervaded by a high and holy, and earnest spirit. Indian air surrounds us, and original thoughts of kindred spirits. And oh ; how thoroughly is the mind here washed clean of all early engrafted Jewisli superstitions, and of all philos- ophy that cringes before these superstitions ! In the whole world there is no study, except that of the originals, so beneficial or so elevating as that of the Oupnekat. It has been my solace in life, it will be the solace of my death." Natural religion, accepting no peculiar revelation, cares not for the religion a man professes ; it demands as the one condition of happiness and true worth, here or hereafter, a virtuous life. And I doubt not that such a life is a passport throughout the great universe of God. Let us not care for the faith a man professes, provided that by it his soul clings to God, the beautiful and good, and that under its influence he lives a manly and devout life. Christ came not for his own glory, but for that of the Father ; cand he that loveth most humanity, he it surely is that God most loves. Instead A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Rdi(jion. .'!! of cursing, let Christians be glad that such men have found something which may help tli?m bear the burden of life, whicli ennobles and lifts them up, and leads their despairing souls to God. Let us acknowledge the true and ihe good wherever we find it, whether in the Brahmin or the Christian. " He prayeth best who loveth best » All things both great and small ; For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all." C: SCIENCE AXD REVEALED RELIGIOX. (A) : REVELATION IN GENERAL : We have now come to the consideration of revealed re- ligion. At the outset it must be stated that we no sooner affirm its existence than multitudes of scientific men question our assertion and refuse their assent. Tlie opinion of such men may be said to bo, on the whole, in agreement with that of Darwin who in answer to the questions of a Dutch student in the year 1873, expressed his own thus: "I am sure that you will excuse my writing at length, when I tell you that I have long been much out of health, and am now staying away from my home for rest. It is im- possible to answer your questions briefly ; and I am not sure that I could do so, even if I wrote at length. 15 ut I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this grand universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God ; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide. I am aware that if we admit a first 32 Essays on God cmd Mem, cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came, and how it arose. Nor can I overlook the difficulty from the im- mense amount of sufferino; through the world. I am also induced to defer to a certain extent to the judgment of the raan3' able men who have fully believed in God ; but here again I see how poor an argument this is. The safest con- clusion seems to me that the whole subject is beyond the scope of man's intellect ; but man can do his duty." Again in answer to the repeated question of a German student, in 1879, writing from Down, Beekenham, Kent, the same author says : " Down, Beekenham, Kent, June 5th, 1879. " To Nicholas Mengden, — Dear Sir : I am an old man much engaged and out of health, and I cannot spare time to answer your questions fully, — nor indeed can they be an- swered. Science has nothing to do with Christ, except in so far as the habit of scientific research makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself I do not believe that there has ever been a Revelation. As for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting and vague probabilities. Wishing you happiness, I remain Yours faithfully, Charles Darwin." The general unbelief in the miraculous which now charac- terizes the whole scientific world, is of very recent date. It has arisen the present century as the result of discoveries of scientific investigation. Within the past sixty years the great sciences of biolog}', chemistry, geology, and physics, with all the far-reaching and universal deductions made A Pliilo>iophical Jiiquir;/ info the Principles of Eeligiov. 33 therefrom, have been acquired. The doctrines of the Con- servation of Energy, now universally received, and Evolution, now received hy the most eminent in every department of science, have had their birth within the same period ; and their acceptation has changed the whole world's mode of thinking. '' The i God and Man, so-called apoer3'phal gospels, were at least produced and gained currencj^ in the very earliest Christian times, if not in the Apostolic. From a study of these apocryphal writings, many have been led to reject, as not worthy of credence, the Gospels whicli Cliristians to-day receive as canonical, whether original or derived. I sincerely think that the making public these original remains of Christianity will have the effect of weakenino^ rather than stren2;thenin2; men's o or? faith in the divine origin of Christianity, as far as we mean b}' tliis that it is the only divine and authoritative Eevela- tion. We will here give a few of the reputed actions of Jesus, as reported in these so-called apocryphal writings : " And it came to pass, after Jesus had returned out of Egypt, when he was in Galilee, and entering on the fourth 3-ear of his age, that on the Sabbath day he was playing with some children at the bed of the Jordan. And as he sat there, Jesus made to himself seven pools of clay, and to each of them he made passages, through which at his com- mand he brought water from the torrent into the pool, and took it back again. Tiien one of those cliildren, a son of the devil, moved with envy, shut the passages which sup- plied the pools with water, and overthrew what Jesus had built up. Then said Jesus to him: Woe unto thee, thou son of death, thou son of Satan ! Dost thou destroy the works whicli I have wrought? And immediately he who bad done this died. Then with great uproar the parents of the dead boy cried out against Mary and Joseph, saying to them: Your son has cursed our son, and he is dead. And when Joseph and Mary heard this, they came forthwith to Jesus on account of the outcry of the parents of the boy. A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 45 and tlio gathering togctlicr of the Jews, But Joseph said privately to Mary: I dare not speak to lilni, luit do you admonish him, and sa\' : Why hast thou raised against us tiie liatred of tlie people; and why must the troublesome liatred of men be borne ])y us ? And his mother having come to him, asked him saying : My Lord what was it that he did to brinii: about his death? And he said: lie deserveil death because he scattered the works that I had made. Then his mother asked him, sa^'ing: Do not so, my Lord, l)ecause all men rise up against us. l>ut he, wishing not to grieve his mother, with his right foot kicked the hinder parts of the dead boy, and said to him : Rise, thou son of iniquit}' ; for thou are not worthy to enter into the rest of my Father, because thou didst destroy the works which I had made. Then he who had been dead, rose up, and went away. And Jesus by the word of his power, brought water into tlie pools by the aqueduct. And again the son of Annas, a priest of the temple, who had come with Joseph holding his rod in his hands in the sight of all, with great fury broke down the dams which Jesus had made with his own hands, and let out the water which he had collected in them from the torrent. Moreover, he shut the aqueduct by which the water came in, and tlien broke it down. And when Jesus saw it, he said to that boy who had destro^'ed his dams: O most wicked seed of iniquity! O son of death! O workshop of Satan! verily the fruit of thy seed shall be without strength, and thy root without moisture, and thy branches withered, bearing no fruit. And immediatel}', in the sight of all, the boy witheretl away and died. Then Joseph trembled and took hold of Jesus, and went 46 Essai/s on God and Man, with him to his own house, and his mother with him. And behold suddenly from the opposite direction a boy, also a worker of iniquity, ran up and came against the shoulder of Jesus, wishing to make sport of him, or to hurt him if lie could. And Jesus said to him : Thou shalt not go back safe and sound from the way that thou goest. And imme- diately he fell down and died. And the parents of the dead boy came to Joseph, and said to him: Take awa3^ that Jesus from this place for he cannot live with us in this town ; or at least teach him to bless and not to curse. And Joseph came up to Jesus and admonished him, saying: Why dost thou such things? For already many are in grief and against thee, and hate us on thy account, and we endure the reproaches of men because of thee. . . . Lions and panthers adored him likewise, and accompanied them in the desert. Wherever Joseph and the blessed Mary went, they went before them showing them the way, and bowing their heads ; and sliowing their submission by wagging their tails, they adored him with great reverence. . . . But a Pharisee who was with Jesus took an olive branch, and began to let the water out of the fountain which Jesus had made. And when Jesus saw this, he said to him in a rage: Thou impious and ignorant Sodomite, what harm have my works the fountains of water done thee? Behold, thou shalt become as a dry tree, having neither roots nor branch, nor fruit. And immediately he dried up, and fell to the ground and died. And his parents took him away dead, and reproached Joseph, saying: See what t!)y son has done ; teach him to pray, and not to blaspheme. . . . And a few days after Jesus was walking through the town when A Philosophical Inqiiirij into the Principles of Religion. 47 one of the children ran u[) and struck Jesus on the arm. And Jesus said to him : So shalt thou not finish thy jour- ney. And iininedialely he fell to the ground and died. . . And they circumcised him in the cave. And the old Hebrew woman took tlie piece of skin ; but some say that she took the navelstring, and laid it past in a jar of old oil of nard. And she had a son, a dealer in unguents, and she gave it to him, saying: See that tliou do not sell this jar of unguent of nard, even although tliree hundred denarii should be offered thee for it. And this is that jar which Mary tlie sinner bought and poured upon the liead and feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, which tliereafler she wiped with the hair of her head. . . . There was also a young wo- man atllicted with Satan ; for that accursed wretch repeat- ' edl}'' appeared to her in the form of a luige dragon, and pre- pared to swallow her. He also sucked out all her blood so that she was left like a corpse. . . . O the great mira- cle which was done as soon as the dragon saw the cloth of the Lord Jesus from which the (ire darted, and was cast upon his head and eyes ! And with great fear he departed from the girl and never afterwards appeared to her. . . . And the son of Hanan came up to the (ishpond of Jesus, and kicked it with his shoes, and the water of it vanished awa3\ And the Lord Jesus said to him : As that water has vanished awa}'', so thy life shall likewise vanish awa}-. And immediately that boy dried up. (Gospel of Mathew, 19, 26, 28, 29 ; Gospel of Thomas, 4, 5 ; Of the Infancy of the Savior, 5, 34, 46). Passing from these apocryphal accounts, we may believe that Jesus grew up like other children, and learned the 48 Essays on God and Man, trade of his father. At the age of thirty we find him on the banks of the famous Jordon, seeking baptism from the hands of a prophet called John. At his baptism report says that a dove descended from heaven upon him, that then and there was there a voice heard saying ; " This is my beloved son, hear ye him." At another time, when with his disci- ples, on his suddenly looking up to the skies, and saying : "Father, glorify thy son," a voice is said to have been heard, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorifj- it again." This Jesus lived about thirty-three 3'^ears. For two or three years he went about doing good ; and, as in the case of the founders of other religions, he is reported to have been a worker of miracles. He is said to have healed the sick, given sight to the blind, caused the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, and the dead to live. He is represented as professing to be the Son of God, and to have been with God from all eternity, and to have the power to forgive the sins of men. For making this profession, the Jews, sup- posing him guilty of blasphemy, crucified him. The}' said : "He being man maketh himself equal with God." After his death his body is said to have been laid in a new sepul- chre, which according to report was guarded to prevent the stealing of the body avva3\ On the third day report says an angel appeared and rolled away the stone from before the door of the sepulchre ; and that thereupon the crucified Christ arose from the dead, according to promise, walked forth and remained with his disciples forty days ; and that after the expiration of this period, he ascended bodily and visibl}' into heaven. Such is a brief and true synopsis, from the accounts given us, of the life of him who is called the Christ, the only begotten Son of the Everlasting Father. ^1 Philosophical Iitfjuirij into the Principles of Reliyion. A\) We have seen how various and wonderful are the miracles to which the Christian Church refers ini)ioofof its claim. But can an}' competent ju'lge aflirm that these miracles are any more various and wonderful, or thot they are better substantiated than those to which the jMohammcdans refer in [)roof of the divine mission of Mahomet? Speaking of the miracles in general saj's a competent judge and able logician : " There is, therefore, a vast preponderance of probability against a miracle - - - To all these considerations ought to be added the extremely imperfect nature of the testimony' itself which we possess for these miracles. Take it at the best, it is the uncross-examined testimony of ex- tremely ignorant peoi)k', credulous as such usually are, honourably ciedulous when the excellence of the doctrine or just reverence for the teacher makes them eager to believe ; unaccustomed to draw the line between the perceptions of sense, and what is superinduced upon them bv the suirses- tions of a live!}' imagination ; unversed in the difficult art of deciding between appearances and reality, and between the natural and the supernatural; in times moreover when no one thought it worth while to contradict alleged miracles, because it was the belief of the age that miracles in them- selves prove nothing, since they could be worked b}- a lying spirit as well as b}' the s[)irit of God. Such were the wit- nesses; and even of them we do not possess the direct testimon}' ; the documents, of date long subsequent, even on the orthodox theory, which contain the only history of the events, very often do not even name the supposed eve- witnesses - - - - The Catholic Church, indeed, holds \ 50 Essays on God and Man, as an article of faith that miracles have never ceased, and new ones continue to l)e now and then brought forth and believed, even in the present incredulous age — 3^et if in an incredulous generation, certainly not among the incredulous portion of it, but always among people who, in addition to the most childish ignorance, have grown u\) (as all do who are educated bj' the Catholic clergy) trained in the persua- sion that it is a duty to believe and a sin to doubt ; that it is dangerous to l)e skeptical about anything which is tendered for belief in the name of the true religion ; and that nothing is so contrary to piety as incredulity. But these miracles which no one but a Roman Catholic, and by no means every Roman Catholic believes, rest frequently upon an amount of testimony greatly surpassing that which we possess for any of the early miracles ; and superior especially in one of the most essential points, that in many cases the alleged e^'e-witnesses are known, and we have their storj' at first hand - - - The conclusion I draw is that miracles have no claim whatever to the character of historical facts and are wholly invalid as evidence of any revelation - - - - All the knowledge we now possess concerning the history of the human mind, tends to the conclusion that (Christianity) arose at the appointed time by natural development." (J. S. Mill: Essays on Religion, — Revelation). "As an ancient book claiming the same origin as other books the Old Testament is without a rival, but its unnatural exaltation provokes recoil and rejection." (Prof. Tyndall). We have no doubt that the scientific world is in full accord with the opinions thus expressed l)y these well known and able writers: it does not believe that the Christian's exclu- A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Relujion. 51 sive claim to a divine Revelation has been, or can be, sub- stantiated ; or that Christianity is essentially different in its origin and development from other religions. But even admitting the truth of their position, it does not follow that the general jirinciples of Christianity are, therefore, not divine. (B) : THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION : a. ITS NATURE AND CLAIMS : — Exaggeration is the most common and destructive vice of the age. We meet it everywhere. From the platform it goes up like sky-rockets ; in the pulpit it is the terror of the ignorant, and the disgust of the wise. By it the light of the hearthstone is put out, truth obscured, and temperance put to flight. The world is full of difficulties, but no pur- suit in life is so crowded with profound mysteries as is the work of the Christian minister. No thought requires such powers of mind ; all thouglit outside of it, is not so full of difficulties. The church is a school of art, because slie uses it in all her outward forms ; a school of ethics, because s!ie is the teacher of man's duty to man ; a school of philoso[)h3', l)e- causeshe must use it as a frame to set her ideas in : a school of science, because it helps her to interpret the finger-work of God ; a school of literature, because by this she commu- nicates -what she knows and what is revealed to hi.T ; a school of theology, because her special work is to know and make known the one God and Father of all. An aptitude for books and a devout soul, forsooth, are not enough here. There is need of a riih, honorable, devout, studious, culti- vated, highly-endowed mind replenished with all the stores 52 Essays on God and Man, of varied learning, in order to preach acceptably the Gospel of Christ, and receive the confidence of thinking men. Such men will be found in the pulpit, when mind is once more ac- knowledged and thought rewarded. (a) : ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE NEW TESTA- MENT SCRIPTURES : I: OF THE G0SPP:LS: The greatest religious book of the world is undoubtedly the New Testament. No book is so highly esteemed ; upon no other book do so many interests hang ; upon no other book is so much thought expended. By some it is regarded as having a kind of magical power to declare their fortunes ; by all it is held in reverence, as having centered in it so much of human faith, so much of human hope. The reason for this unequaled esteem and reverence given to the New Testament by the most civilized people of the world, has in part at least an easy explanation. It is well known that the great host of mankind are led by the few, and that the influence over this few of the priestly power has in daj'S gone by been dominant ; and at all times it may be said to be inversely proportionate to the educational status of the people. As education advances, priestly power certainly decreases. Nothing is more capable of proof than this : " The New Zealand priests are regarded as ambassadors of the gods ; and the title, ' messenger of the gods,' is borne by the officers of the temple of Tensio dai Sin, the chief A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 53 deity of the Japanese - - - - In ancient Egypt, it was the priesthood directing tlie ceremonial of court-life, who ex- acted thattlie king (belonging to their order) did not receive any one wlio failed to follow their laws of purity - - - I may add the extreme case of the Japanese Mikado. Neither his luiir, l)c:ird, nor nails are ever (avowedly) cut, so that his sacred person may not be mutilated - - - When be- lief in the spirits of the dead becomes current, the medicine- man, professing ability to control them, and inspiring faith in his pretensions, is regarded with a fear wliich prompts obedience - - - The (Mexican) high-priests were the oracles whom the kings consulted in all tlie most important affairs of tlie state, and no war was ever undertaken witli- out their approbation - - - The Samoans took a priest to battle to pray for his people and curse the enemy. - - The Assyrian priests had furtiier motives — they lived on the revenues of the temple." (Spencer: Px-cles. Insti. 777, 781 ; Sociology, II, 29, 63, 338). "Nay, not even in excessive wealth should- he curse a Brahmana, but he should say, ' I bow before Brahmanas.' " (Sacred Books of the East, I, 252). We assert that it is but a simple matter to discover wliat the teaching of Christian ministers would probably be, since it is paramount to their interests to elevate as much as pos- sible tlie character of the New Testament, in order that the '* revenues of tlie temple " mav be abundant for their wel- fare. Another reason, and not the least we hope, for the esteem and reverence in which the New Testament is held, is the fact of the eternal truth with which it is pregnant. A 54 Essays on God and Man, very little of this trutli is peculiar to Christianit}^ the great part of tliis truth is common to all religious systems. The first reasou given for the exaltation of the New Testa- ment should make the thoughtful man suspicious and hesitant ; for full well he must know that where men's interests are at stake, the constant tendency is to become forgetful or but dimly conscious of the claims of truth by the all-engross- ing thoughts of personal welfare. It would not be strange, therefore, knowing human nature as they do, if scholars should suspect the clergy and pulpit as guilty of exaggera- tion. In our consideration of the origin and growth of the New Testament writings, as we will endeavor not to exag- gerate its excellences, so must we endeavor not to depreciate them. "Writing with a truth-loving heart, let us in our examination make truth and justice the rule of judgment: " '0 :>£j <)fjO(i) i/.a/rro:^ r a/.r^dz^ auTu) (paivzza'.. hat d'.afzpzi -).z'.(TT(>v i(7co<; 6 tj-ouoata^ tco r" a/.>j- Ot^i sv ixaffzocg opav mtzzo /jijioj y.ai ij.tzpov auTiuv a>y — Tiie noble man judges the truth according to each particular case, and in each case the truth appears to him; in this he differs most from other men in that lie is able to discover the truth in each particular case, making himself, as it were, the rule and measure of his judgment." (Aristotle: Nic. Eth. Ill, 6, 4-5). It is a common belief among the unlearned that the four Gospels, as we receive them to-day, were written by the men whose names they l)'jar. Tiiis belief cannot stand the test of criticism, nor is it accepted l)y tiie learned world. Whether any of the twelve apostles could write at all, was with the ancients, and is to-day with the moderns, a disputed ques- A Pliilosophical litquirji into the Princi^des of Relifjion. 55 tioii. The weight of opinion, however, is with the i)arty who maintains that some of them could. It is admitted by all that Jesus himself wrote nothing. He worked upon the minds and hearts of men through the power of tlie living word declared under the consciousness of his divine com- mission. No one could for a moment believe that Jesus would trammel himself with a written discourse. The in- struction given by Jews to their children was oral ; it did not call for writing. The teaching of Jesus was exclusively oral ; so was that of his disciples when after his death they began to tell the story of his life, death, and resurrection. ""Whether the apostles could write was a weight}' ques- tion with the old apologetics. Any practice of the art by them was at all events without evidence . . - Moreover, the sequel showed that the twelve who had stood nearest the person of their divine Master, with very few ex- ceptions, which exceptions have in our time become doubt- ful, were not called to become writers. The original copies of the New Testament books whether written by their authors with their own hands, or dictated to scribes, or, finally, copied by so-called caligraphers before publication, do not appear to have remained in existence long. It is certain that no ancient writer makes mention of them." (Reuss: History of the N. T., I, 20, 17; 11, 3G7). The scenes in the life of Jesus, and the precious words which fell from his lips, were vividlj' fresh in the minds of the apostles ; and the frequent repetition of these words in- delibly fixed them. The discourses of the apostles, like the discourses of Jesus, were delivered impromptu in the S3'rio- Chaldaic language ; and it is altogether improbable that the 56 Essays on God (oul Man, speakers ever reduced an}' of their speeches to writing. The living word is more effective than books ; and when the speaker is the ultimate authority, as were Jesus and his dis- ciples, there can be no demand for books, and, therefore, in all probability, no supply. The age was uncritical and su- perstitious ; tradition everywhere ruled : " The spirit of the ancient world was essentially uncriti- cal. The science of history is altogether of modern date ; and the Fathers do not appear to have been more or less credulous or uninformed than their pagan contemporaries." (Wostcott: Canon of the N. T., 8). " If any one who had attended on the elders came, I asked minutely after their sayings — what Andrew or Peter said, or Thomas or James, or John or Mathew, or any other of the Lord's disciples: what Aristion and the presby- ter Jvjhn, the disciple of the Lord say. For I supposed that what was to be got from books was not so profitable to me as what came from the living and present voice. "(Papias). In ancient times tradition was thus everj'where highly re- garded as a source of information ; but I cannot agree with Canon Westcott in his assertion that the Fathers were no more credulous than their heathen contemporaries, in equally responsible positions. There was no contempoi-aneous writ- er, Greek or Roman, who would not laugh at man}'- of the preposterous absurdities ascribed to the workings of demons, hobgoblins, and devils, and written for our enlightment by many of the early church Fathers fully believing as truth what they wrote. We will give one specimen of the credu- lity of those Fathers. Clement was a contemporary of St. Paul and St. John, and was head over the church in Rome. A PInlosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 57 In i)roving the reasonableness of the resurrection, this church Fatlior tlius speaks : " Let us consider that wonderful sign of the resurrection, which takes phice in Eastern hinds, that is, in Arabia and the countries round about. There is a certain hii '1 which is called the phoinix. Tliis is tlie only one of its kind, and lives five liundred years. And when the time of its dissolu- tion draws near that it must die, it ])uilds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as the flesh decays, a certain kind of worm is produced, which, be- ing nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth feathers. Then, when it has acquired strength, it takes up that nest in which are the; bones of its parent, and bearing these it passes from the land of Arabia into Eg3'pt, to the city called Ileliopolis. And, in open day, flying in sight of all men, it places them on the altar of the sun, and, having 6 W/wv (crriv, eyo) T£ Sa^w ov irapaiveffai. oios re wv jxaWov tois ireXas rj Kat avTos epyw eire^execiv — Let me ask you not to be discouraged at his words, for you may know that he has reasons for thus speaking ; and I will show you that I am not a person who would advise others to do what I would not do myself." (Thucydides: De Bel. Pel., V, 9). And as man is saved bj' truth and not by dogma, whether in this world or in the next, man ma}- be sure that, searching for the truth, he will discover that Universal Life, not, in- deed, in temples made of stone, but in his heart, that fleshly temple, where God delights to dwell : " Xon in effigies mutas divinum spiritum transfusum: sed imaginem veram, caelesti sanguine ortam — Not into mule images is the divine spirit transfused ; but into the living images, desending from celestial blood." (Annals of Tacitus, IV, 51). 73 Essays on God and Man, By as much as man uses his reason, by so much does he rise superior to the rest of the animal world. It may be possible for one to rest in blissful ignoranCe, but it becomes the man to know and face surrounding danger. Better a plank on the raging sea, than confinement in a scuttled ship. Better death in a noble cause, than life in base repose : "AxiXXea e-rrtxivovcnv otl e^oTjdrjcre tu) iraLpui JlarpoKXa) etdios on, 5et avTov airo6avei.v, e^ov 'grjv. TofTW 5e 6 ixev toiovtos davaros KaWtoii to de ^Tjv (Tv/xcpepov — People praise Achilles because, when he might have lived and enjoyed the world, he went to the aid of his friend Patroclus, knowing well that such aid would cost him his life. But to this man while life would have brought advantages, death brought lasting glory;" (Aristotle: Rhetoric, i, 3, 6). b: ITS SETTLEMENT AND CHARACTER : (a): ITS SETTLEMENT: We have said that the early Christians relied for their in- formation not upon books, but upon living teachers; and that tradition was the chief authority upon which this oral teaching was based. Not until far on into the second cen- tury did tradition begin to lose its power over their minds and hearts as the chief authority in matters pertaining to the faith of the Church, Even to-day in the Catholic church, tradition, while not received as authority equal to that of the written Word, is still not without grave reasons rejected; and in the Roman communion it is certainly regarded as worthy of equal reverence with the Scriptures, and logically A Philosophical Inquiry into the J^rinciplcs of Religion. 73 as superior to them. The Council of Trent, held in 1564, under Pius IV, says : " I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolic and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and con- stitutions of the church. "I also admit the Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy mother the church has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpre- tations of the Scriptures. Neither will I ever take and in- terpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers." None can fail to see that tradition is here received as the highest authority. Formal)}' it has the place of honor ; log- ically it decides the faith. Nevertheless, this declaration of the Roman church, is but another way of saying what Papias said : "Ok yo.p TO. f/c Tijiv ^iI3\lu)v roffavrov fii] 0(l>€\eti' vireKaix^avov ocrov Ta napa j-ojtjs 0wv7JS Kai fxevovffvs — I clid UOt UOt think that the aid I might get from books could be of as much value to me as that which comes from the living and abiding voice." This, in general terms, means that Papias, who was mar- tyred about A. D. 163, considered information obtained from books much less authoritative than that obtained from tradition. This should convince us how completely in early days must the teachers of the church have followed the guidance of tradition, and how absolutely must the people have acquiesced in their teachings. Under such conditions we catmot be ignorant of the danger that must have attended the written word. Different 74 Essays 0)1 God and Man, places would hold, in a measure, different traditions ; differ- ent minds when handing them down, would impart to them a different coloring. The possessors and transcribers of MSS. would naturall}^ be inclined to add, efface, prefix, in- terpolate, affix, or alter the written word to make it agree with the traditions of the time and place. That MSS. did suffer at such hands and from such causes as we have point- ed out, cannot be disputed ; the different readings of the various MSS. conclusively prove it. Suspicion of such meddling with the original documents was the chief cause which gave rise to Biblical criticism, and the certainty of such meddling is the grand result of it. The earh' Christians accepted the Old Testament Script- ures, including the Apocrypha, as inspired writings. On these Scriptures they based all their preaching ; to these they appealed for proof ; and from these they made their selections for reading in the congregations. No other writ- ings were appealed to as inspired. The Apostles in their letters, special or general, never appealed to their own writ- ings as authoritative ; but in every case the appeal was made to the Scripture, which meant exclusively the writings of the Old Testament. Of course the letters of the Apos- tles, like the pastorals of our bishops of to-day, were made known to the congregation ; but after such reading they were not regularly used again, but in all probability set aside. They were considered private rather than public propert}-. With the exception of the use in this manner of these pastoral letters, there is no evidence whatever of the public use, before the middle of the second century, of any reading from the books of the New Testament. The few A Philosophical Inquiry into the Priiiciples of Religion. 75 quotations from the Fathers presuppose an oral rather than written tradition. Indeed, in the words of Reuss : " Not only is all proof from the period under considera- tion of their use for regular puplic reading lacking, but almost all evidence of their existence." Of the synoptical Gospels Luke was last in coming into general use. It is probable that the many disagreements arising from varying tradition, led the early Christians more and more to see the desirability of collecting together the genuine writ- ings of the Apostles ; and that the spread of heresy, especi- ally of Gnosticism, made them seethe necessity of it. After the middle of the third century we find writers con- stantly referring to some one of the Apostolic writings as authority for what the}' assert. It is quite generally believed that the earliest canon of New Testament writings was made by the Gnostic Marcion who flourished somewhere about the middle of the second century. He was the .son of a bishop and was one of the most learned men of the age. His father excommunicated him for his heresy. His doctrine was received, it is said, throughout the world, and his personal influence was great and la.sting. Polycarp, having returned from Rome, and being asked if he had seen Marcion, replied : " ETrr/i'wo'Ku; tov irpuTOKOV rov carafa — YcS I have SCCU the first-born of Satan." It has been the general custom of the church thus to call by vilest names, and to hand over to the devil, all who seek in any way positive knowledge, or show signs of intellectual freedom In the writer's opinion, however many and great 76 Essays oti Cod a)id Ma7i, the errors of Marcion may have been, he was as good at heart as the best of his traducers, and a much better man than his unnatural father. He may have failed in present- ing the whole truth, but at least he did not die of intellect- ual stagnation ; nor need we believe that God raised him up in vain : '•'0 5e 0eos Kat 77 4)V(H% ovdev fiarrju iroiovai.v — Neither God UOr nature ever makes anything in vain." (Aristotle : De Coelo, I, 4, 6). Marcion recognised Paul only as a true Apostle. His canon of Scriptures consisted of a book which he called the Gospel of Christ, and ten epistles of St. Paul. He rejects Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews and what are called his Pas- toral Epistles. Marcion held that "the first Apostles had an imperfect knowledge of the truth, and that their writings necessarily partook of this imperfection." It is a common practice for writers on the canon of New Testament Scriptures to quote references found in early church writers as proof of the authoritative or inspired character of the book to which the reference is made; but this is a dangerous practice. If a reference so quoted is taken as proof of the inspired character of one book, then a reference, made by the same writer to any other book as authority, must logically be a proof of its inspired charac- ter. This would prove too much ; for such references are made in abundance to prophets unknown to us, to the book of Enoch, to the Gospel according to the Egyptians, to the Sibyl, to Hystaspes, to the early Fathers of the church. All these and many others are referred to as authority.. A Philosopliical Inquiry into fJic Principles of Rclii^ion. 77 We should understand, therefore, that a reference made by a writer to an ancient book is no conclusive proof that the writer l)elieves such book to be inspired ; nor referring to it with the understanding that it was inspired, would such reference made by him be conclusive proof of its inspira- tion. We have no proof whatever of the existence of any com- plete collection of New Testament writings as early as the middle of the second century ; but it is highly probable that at this early date, and certainly shortly thereafter, there were public readings out of the Gospels and the generally received Apostolic Epistles. The first evidence of public readings taken out of the New Testament writings, is given us by Justin who was martyred about A. D. 165 : " On the da}^ called the day of the sun, all who live in the cities or in the country, gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles, or the writings of the prophets, are read, as long as time permits." (Apol. I, 67). But no unprejudiced reader can fail to see that Justin re- gards the Old Testament, if not exclusivelj' as the only in- spired book, at least as the rule by which the truth of the New Testament must be determined. At the end of the second century, however, it is generally admitted that the writings of the New Testament were received and read by the churches as having equal authority with those of the Old Testament. That the recognition of the inspired character of the writings of the New Testameni was a gradual growth, is certain. " The earliest trace of such a co-ordination of the two classes of books, and at liie .same time of an actual 78 Essajs on God and Man, collection of Apostolic writings, is found in the so-called Second Epistle of St. Peter. Among the ecclesiastical writ- ers Theopliilus of Antioch, and after him Irenaeus, Tertul- lian, and Clement of Alexandria may be regarded as the first i nd best known representatives of this new tendency, pro- vided it ba still understood that always and everywhere Scripture and tradition, regarded as equally authentic and thoroughly harmonious witnesses, constitute the common source of knowledge and rule of doctrine." Theophilus is the first to apply the word " scripture " to the New Testa- ment writings. Another fragment containing the names of sacred books and originating somewhere near the end of the second cen- tury, was found ajid published by Muratori. This list goes by the name of the Muratonian canon. No one can doubt that this ancient fragment has added to our knowledge ; but it is certain that its value has been overestimated. The text is grossly corrupt and defective ; and it is believed that any one going to it for confirmation of his own opinion, can un- doubtedly find what he seeks. In this fragment the Epistle of St, James, those of St. Peter, and that to the Hebrews are not found. At the commencement of the third century we find the churches of Asia Minor, Alexandria, and West Africa unani- mous in receiving as inspired WTitings the four Gospels, thirteen epistles of St. Paul, one epi.stle of St. John, and the Apocalypse. It is not at all probable, however, that these churches accepted all these books as possessing equal au- thority. They usually made of them two separate collec tions. The first, composed of the four Gospt-ls, was called A Philosophical Inquiry into the Pyinciples of Religion. T'i the Gospel ; the second, composed of the Epistles, was called the Apostle. The spread of heresy, as we have said, was the probable cause which led the orthodox party to collect together the writings of the Apostles. For since the heretics referred to some one of the Apostles as authority for whatever they ad- vanced, the orthodox party hoped, by making a collection of Apostolic writings, to have ample means for proving the untenable position of the heretics, by showing the disagree- ment of the heresy with the Apostle upon whom it profess- edly built. No sooner, however, was this work undertaken, and parties discovered that their position was not supported by the books or writings to which they referred, than a regular business was made of forging the names of Apostles to writings made for the occasion. The ease with which this might be done may be seen when we say " that at no time dunng the third century did the Catholic church pos- sess a fixed, definitely limited, and publicl}' and generally recognized catalogue of sacred writings." That critical scholarship served as the guide in determin- ing what was and what was not of Apostolic origin, is alto- gether out of the question. It is by all admitted that it did not : " Circumstances, accidents, even taste, and above all, custom, little concealed in its origin, brought about the choice." (Reuss : II, 307). " It cannot be denied that the extent of the canon, like the order of the sacraments, was .settled by common usage ; and thus the testimony of Christians becomes the testimony of the church It cannot be denied that the canon was fixed gradually." (Westcott). 80 Assays o?i Cod and ]\Ian, The churches of Syria are held to have been the first that made public their mind as to what they thought was a com- plete collection of Apostolic writings. This was done by publishing what is known as the Syriac, or Pshito version of the holy Scriptures. Of this version there are two MSS., the one written in the ancient Syriac, the other in the Nes- torian. The Pshito collection omits five books that are to-day classed with the other Apostolic writings, — the Sec- ond and Third Epistles of St. John, the Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Epistle of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. The origin of this version of Scriptures dates as far back as the beginning of the third century. That the canon was as yet not definitely settled even far on in the fourth century, we are sure from statements which we gather from Eusebius who everywhere expresses himself as uncertain, and the course of tradition as waver- ing. But custom and tradition were always silently at work leavening the whole lump ; and after the middle of the fourth centurj' the seven Catholic Epistles were generally received. The Apocalypse, however, was still looked upon with great disfavor. The Synod of Laodicea, which was convened about A. D. 360, was the first which sought to close the canon for the Greek church, by prohibiting the public reading out of any book which was not regarded by that .synod as canoni- cal. In the canon of Laodicea we do not find the Apoca- lypse. The Western church was also slowly at work coming to a decision as to what should constitute the books of the New Testament. The chief actors in bringing the Western A Philosophical In'jxin/ into (he Principles of Religion. 81 church to decide this question, were Jerome and Au<;ustine, of whom it may be said : "The former brought to the criticism of the canou no courage, the latter, no learning; and neither of them, prin- ciple or independence." (Reuss: 11,323). At Hippo A. D. 30;>, and Carthage A. D. .'>II7, Avere held councils which set about determining the canon, under the leadership of those just mentioned. It is said that in these councils " it was precisely the less critical view which attained legal authority." That a critical spirit would sometimes have profited tlie church, will not be doubted except l)y those steeped in superstition ; but such a spirit could not be found in the councils of Hippo and Carthage. In proportion to the importance of the contents of a docu- ment should its criticism be severe. No document could have needed criticism more, no docu- ment can need criticism more, than that which purports to be a Revelation. With the spread of spurious Apostolic lit- erature, grew the dilficulty of determining the genuine from the forged ; and with the increasing bitterness in the breasts of tiie rival factions in the early church, grew the increase in the corruptions of the original documents. From this we see how great the necessity to infidel as well as believer for a proi)er investigation of Scripture, is a calm, unprejudiced, and rational spiiit. The canon of Scripture, drawn up by the councils of Carthage and Hippo, contained all the booi^s of the Old Testament, including the Apocrypha, and all the disputed Epistles. In determining what constituted Holy Scripture the 6 82 Essays cm God and Man, churches of the East and West proceeded on different lines. The Eastern churcli sought t!ie least possible, the Western church sought the most jjossible. The Eastern church was governed by tlie proof of Apostolicity, the Western church was governed bj' the proof of custom and use. Hence the different results. After tlie above named councils all discussions in the church as to what constituted Holy Scripture, practically ceased. Tlie judgment of these councils representing cen- tral churches, was received by the other churches as gener- ally binding, although in such judgment they had neither part nor lot. We have now briefly sketched the settlement of the New Testament canon, and have attempted to do so with a fair and impartial spirit. Knowing its history and the many vicissitudes which have befallen it, the wonder is not that we find in the collection of New Testament writings many corruptions, but ratlier that we do not find therein a great many more. The history of the canon should, moreover, teach us not to draw hasty conclusions from disconnected passages or single texts of Scripture ; the separate parts should be considered with ref- erence to the whole ; and the whole of whatever purports to be a Revelation, should, and must, be referred to the gen- eral and universal revelation of Go ^zoiTjOzV 6 8rj;j.toupy<>i ixTzaTO'i u.fiY'.y.zpau'/- the highest sense are we forced to see in God, though forever unknown and invisible, the life apart from which nothing can exist, the goodness without which no finite being can be good. AVhatever is must be in him who is the One and True Universal Substance. In him, indeed, is universal life united with eternal duration ; and in this Eternal and Universal Life, have we our being: Taura yi/r/ /.j ^'■'''y"?/ V"'-"''-' /'i>",'jti>"s' aOtMprjTii'} a~' aozwj rwv Epywv Otiopz'.ra'.. . . , Aa?.ouiizv dz aurov /.at Zr^'^a /.at Jja, napakXr/luj'i ypmpsxx zn'.'^ ovo/xaffrv, t'w; av ei Xsyotiisv dl 6v l^ajfiev — It is necessary that we should think of God as a 88 Essays on God and Man, being most mighty in power, most glorious in beauty, of deatliless existence, most excellent in A'irtue, and though unseen to any finite creature, seen through his works. "We call him Zena and Dia, using these names indifferently, as if we would express the idea that through him we live, and have our being." (Aristotle: De Mundo, 6, 26 ; 7,1). Being forced to believe that God is thus everywhere essentially present, that he fills to fulness the awful uni- verse, I cannot but admit that he pervades the mind of man. I, therefore, see no difficult}'- in believing in inspira- tion. There never was a good man, not more or less inspired ; nor a good book written, not more or less the result of inspiration. God dwelling in man, he is mani- fested in each man in proportion as each is moved by the divine impulse, or obeys the divine drawings. The capac- ity of man for this indwelling of God, and his readiness to receive divine impressions, or yield to these divine drawings, • depend on the age in which he lives, the state of civiliza- tion, and the quantity and quality of his mind. The divine essence, the Infinitely diffused Spirit, though universally present, is not universally felt. It is revealed to that soul only whose spirit motion acts in harmony with the motion of tlie Infinite. Different men are differently qualified for receiving, interpreting, and carrying out, the divine im- pulses within them. Believing tliat all men, especially those whose work it is to point and direct the human soul to its God, are more or less inspired , I find no difliculty in accepting sacred books as inspired writings ; and believing that man's readiness to hear and correctly interpret the divine voice within him, depends upon the righteousness of A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 89 his character, and the sensitiveness of his nature, I see no difficulty in accepting Christ as tlie perfect man, in all things yielding to the divine impulse ; in purity and truth- fulness, the express image of the Eternal God ; in life and doctrine, the way to virtue, happiness, and heaven. I know that Christ taught the truth, not because he is said to be the Son of God ; but because what he taught is in agreement with the teachings of all the great and noble souls who have in every land and age sought to raise humanit}' into a higher and holier life. But this evidence sufficient of itself to establish the truth of Christ's doctrine, is by no means sufficient to establish our faith in Christ as God. The falsity of Christ's teaching would give the lie to human nature in all its higher forms of development ; no less does belief in his divinity conflict with all our ideas con- cerning the nature of the Universal Presence, subverting all natural order, contradicting all human experience. The evidence for the truth of Christ's teaching is conclusive ; the evidence for asserting that Christ is God, is very unsat- isfactory. If Christ was immaculately conceived, if he per- formed the stupendous works attributed to him, if he arose from the dead ; it is reasonable to believe that he is God, or, at least, a superhuman being. Such a belief, however, would not necessarily follow these assumptions. It cannot be denied that the Infinite One might perform all these mir- acles through and upon a human being. But if the belief in the Incarnation, Immaculate Conception, and Resurrection, could be established ; there certainly would be much less doubt on the question of the deity of Christ than prevails to-day. Christians should not forgot that the simple asser- 90 Essays on God and Man, tion of the reality of these wonderful occurrences, does not prove the reality of any of them. To illustrate let us give a few examples. " Je suis Nabu-kudur-usur. . . .Le fils aine de Nabu-palusur roi do Bab-llu, Moi! Le dieu Bel, lui-merae, m'a cree, le dieu Marduk qui m'a engendre, a depose lui- meme le germe de ma vie dans le sein de ma mere — I am Nabu-kudur-usur, the oldest son of Nabu-pal-usur, king of Bab-llu, I myself! The god Bel himself created me, and the god Murduk who begot me, deposited the germ of my life in the bosom of ni}^ mother." (Menant's Translation of the Bab. Inscription.) "It is a tradition among the Mongols that Alung Goa bore three sons by a spirit. And among the existing in- habitants of Mangaia, it is the tradition that the lovely Ina- ani-vai had two sons by the great god Tangaroa." (Spencer: Ecclesiastical Insti. 702). " He takes Mahidasa to be an incarnation of Narayana, proceeding from Visala, the son of Abga. " "The incarnate Self assumes various forms, in accord- ance with his deeds." (Sacred Books of the East, I, intro. 95 ; XV, 258). "The Grand Lama, personally worshiped by the Tar- tars, is called ]>y them " God the Father." (Spencer: Sociology II, 161). " The perception has come and is coming to more minds than ever to-day tliat there never was any more miracles or signs or wonders, never any more conversing of God with man, never any more Garden of Eden, or Fall of Adam, or thunders of Sinai or ministering angels, never any more A Philosophical Inquir>j into the Principles of Jieligion. 91 revelation, than there is to-day. The perception of religion as a miraculous scheme for man's redemption interpolated into history, God's original design with reference to man having miscarried, is entirely undermined and overthrown by the perception of the unity and consistency of nature as revealed by science which looks upon religion as belonging to the sphere of the natural ; it is the legitimate outcome of man's moral nature ; the term that best expresses the com- plete development and flowering of all his faculties. To define it in the guarded terms of Principal Tulloch as "an inner power of divine m3'stery awakening the conscience," is to make it something exterior to man. This view the world has clung to, but it must go — is going. What a seal of authentication is put upon it by the myth of the resur- rection of Jesus!" (John Burrows in Pop. Sci. Monthly). Whatever we may think of the words of this writer, we may be sure that they fairly express the opinion of the scientific world, and the sentiment of the age. As to the miracles by which the Christian church pro- fesses to substantiate its faith in the deity of Christ, I can- not do better than to quote the following: " With the exception of a small minority of the priests of the Catholic church, a great incredulity on the subject of miracles now underlies the opinion of almost all educated men. . . . The common attitude towards miracles is not that of doubt, of hesitation, of discontent with the ex- isting evidence, but rather of absolute, derisive, and even unexaraining incredulity. . . Miracles cease when men cease to believe and to expect them. . . . Tiie whole histor}' of physical science is one continual revelation of the 92 EssoT/s on God and Man, reign of law. . , . Christianity floated into tiie Eoman Empire on tlie wave of ereclulity that brought with it a long train of Oriental superstitions and legends. . . In its moral aspects it was broadly distinguished from the systems around it, but its miracles were accepted by both friend and foe as the ordinary accompaniments of religious teach- ing. . . In the ages when the Roman Empire was con- verted all sound and discriminating historical investigation of the evidence of the early miracles was impossible, nor was any large use made of these miracles as proofs of the religion." (Leek}-: Hist. Europ. Morals). " To sum up the matter, it appears that while the ante- cedent improbability of miracles has been enormously in- creased by the constant and concurrent proofs of the permanence of the laws of Nature, the evidence for miracles when dispassionately examined, is altogether insufficient to establish even an ordinary fact. St. Augustine describes in detail many wonderful miracles, including resurrections from the dead, which he said had been wrought to his own knowledge, within his own diocese of Hip[)o, by the relics of the martyr Stephen. In fact he says that the number of miracles thus wrought within the last two years was at least seventy. This testimony is far more precise than any for the Gospel miracles, for it comes from a well known man of high character, who was on the spot at the time." (Laing). In proof of the New Testament miracles, " We have a few exceptional instances attested by evidence not of a character to warrant belief in any facts in the smallest de- gree unusual, or improbable." (J. S. Mill: P^ssay on Theism). A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Relicjion. 93 We should not be surprised at the course of many theolo- gians and theological professors, nor wonder why they can draw invalid conclusions from their own premises, or lay down as accepted a basis of reasoning which no reasopable and independent mind would for a moment admit. "We should say what a speaker is represented by Thucydides as saying: "Do not be discouraged at tlieir words, seeing they have a reason for thus doing." And yet it is hard to conceive a good man, not charged with ignorance, doing what many are known to do, building on sand ; while at the same time, telling the ignorant that they are building on rock. They make much of little and little of much. It is a common-place argument with such that no man ever lived as good as Jesus, and that therefore He is God. Now, granting the truth of this assertion, the inference does not necessarily follow : for there is no comparison between the finite and the infinite, between God and man. Even if Jesus was better than the whole combined goodness of his nation, it would not follow therefore that He was God. Moreover, it must be remembered that countless numbers of men, living and dead, have been and are unaljle to find any suflScient proof for the assertion that no living being ever equalled Jesus in purity and truth. Of such men, none, perhaps, speaks more conservatively than the truth- loving Mill who savs : " But about the life and savings of Jesus there is a stamp of personal originality combined with profundity of insight, whicii if we abandon the idle expectation of finding scien- tific piecision where something very different was aimed at, must place the prophet of Nazareth, even in the estimation 94 Essays on God and Itan, of those who have no belief in his inspiration, in the very first rank of the men of sublime genius of whom our species can boast. When this pre-eminent genius is combined with the qualities of probably the greatest moral reformer, and martyr to that mission, who ever existed upon earth, religion cannot be said to have made a bad choice in pitching on this man as the ideal representative and guide of humanity ; nor even now, would it be eas}-, even for an unbeliever, to find a better translation of the rule of virtue from the abstract into the concrete, than to endeavor so to live that Christ would approve our life. When to this we add that, to the conception of the rational skeptic, it remains a possibility that Christ actually was what he supposed himself to be — not God, for he never made the smallest pretension to that character and would probably have thought such a preten- sion as blasphemous as it seemed to the men who condemned him — but a man charged with a special, express and unique commission from God to lead mankind to truth and virtue ; we may well conclude that the influence of religion on the character which will remain after rational criticism has done its utmost against the evidence of religion, are well worth preserving, and that what they lack in direct strength as compared with those of a firmer belief, is more than com- pensated by the greater truth and rectitude of the morality they sanction." (Theism, 254-255). With the history of the church before us, its jarrings and its quarrelings about the nature and person of Christ ; with the adverse judgment of men the highest, brightest, and best, in all ages and countries, — it were surely vain and foolish in us to assert that the evidence we have that Christ is God, is A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 95 conclusive, or even satisfactory. Believe in his divinity we may ; to prove that divinity we are totally unable. The knowledge of these things should make us, in the words of Canon Freemantle, " Much more cautious in framing dogma about his divinity." Nor should we forget that, after all, such belief is not of the essence of the teachings of Christ. He came to establish in the hearts of men, not the worship of himself, but that of the One God and Father over all. For myself, partly through education, partly through habit, partly tlirough inertia, and partly through the evidence such as it is, I do not deny the divinity of Christ ; but I do protest against the making belief in his divinit}' a condition of salva- tion, knowing as I do the total inadequacy of the evidence we have for establishing it. Whatever be mj^ own belief I think as much of the followers of Arius, Socinus, Priestly, Parker, Channing, and Clarke, as of those of the dogmatic Athan- asius, or the persecuting Calvin. In each and every case he that liveth as Christ lived, is he that God the Father loves. Nor while I affirm my faith and hope in Christ must it be supposed that I accept as his words all he is reported to have said. As he said much that has never been reported, so without doubt has he been reported as sa3^ing not a little that he never said. While I believe the Bible is the word of God, I do not believe that it is literally inspired ; nor that our understanding of the Bible to-day, is what it will be in a hundred years hence. In reading the Bible we should use our reason ; seek the aid of science, literature, and art ; seek the aid of a cultivated mind. Thus aided we shall be much less likely to call evil good, or good evil. The dark spots on the Bible, and there are very many, will l)ecome 96 Essays on God and 31an, more and more visible ; for our eyes being opened by the immanent Spirit of the God of nature, the light of the Bible will break upon us in a flood of eternal day. Amidst all the difficulties arising from the cares of life and the mysteries within and without, the revelations of the uni- versally indwelling God call upon us not to live an idle life, not to waste a fleeting moment, to do whatever our hands find to do with our might For all of us the sands in life's hour-glass are fast falling, eternity's tide is fast rising, the angry waters engulfing. How soon shall they bear us away. Poor struggling soul, tossed on the breakers of eternity, how wildly thy hands are thrown up ! Away art thou borne ; the distance between us increases ; the darkness is gloom ; I see thee no more. Did the surging billows of death o'ercome thee? or wert thou borne to the long-looked-for island of rest? " To the island- valley of Avilion. Where falls not rain, or hail, or any snow. Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard lawns And bowery hollows crowned with summer sea, Where thou shalt heal thee of thy grievous wound." After all, this problem must be personally solved. But, we arc certain, he alone shall solve it well, who makes the most of life. c: CHRISTIANITY COMPARED WITH OTHER RELIGIONS, (a): rrS EXCLUSIVE CLAIMS NOT ADMITTED. I have already stated that as we leave the world of posi- tive science or thought and enter that based on the miracu- A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 97 lous, the scientific world in general hesitate and, almost to a man, refuse to enter. Scientists willingly admit that religion expresses some eternal fact; but they will not admit that the expression of this fact belongs exclusively to Christian- ity. And as Christians in general regard as false, or of the devil, every non-Christian system of faith, scientists not find- ing Christianit}' in doctrine or origin essentiallj'^ different from other faiths, refuse their assent to any as being a divine rev- elation. Darwin, who wasoneof the most moderate writers, distinctly asserts his disbelief in a revelation ; Strauss de- clares that the scientific world is non-Christian ; Schopen- hauer regards as ridiculous the exclusive claim of the Christian church to a divine Revelation ; and Spencer asserts his disbelief thus : " Nor do parallelism fail us when we turn to the more developed form of the Hebrew religion. That the story of a god-descended person should be habitually spoken of by Christians as though it were special to their religion, is strange considering their familiarity with stories of god-descended persons among the Greeks .... If these numerous parallelisms between the Christian religion and other religions, do not prove likeness of origin, and de- velopment, then the implication is that a complete simulation of the natural by the super-natural has been deliberately devised to deceive those who examine critically what they are taught. Appearances have been arranged for the pur- pose of misleading sincere inquirers, that the^' ma}-^ be eter- nally damned for seeking the truth. ' ' (Ecclesiastical Institutions, 703). Says Prof. Tj'ndall : "As an ancient book, claiming the niame origin as other books, the Old Testament is without a 7 98 Essays on God cunl Man, rival ; but its unnatural exaltation provokes recoil and re- jection." (In the "Nineteenth Century" for Nov., 1880). " There is no evidence," says Mill, " for a Revelation but insufficient for proof, and amounting to the lower degrees of probability ; the whole domain of the super-natural is re- moved from the region of belief to that of simple hope." (Essays on Religion). Saj's Laing: " The creed of the Christian church must be transformed or die." (Mod. Science and Mod. Thought). Mr. Huxley expresses his unbelief thus: " With respect to immortality, as physical science states tiiis problem, it seems to stand thus : Is there any means of knowing whether the series of states of consciousness, which have been causally associated for three-score j^ears and ten with the arrange- ment and movement of innumerable millions of successively different material molecules, can be continued, in like asso- ciation, with some substance which has not the properties of matter and force ? If any bod3' can answer that question he is just the man I want to see. If he says that conscious- ness cannot exist except in relation of cause and effect with certain organic molecules, I must ask how he knows that; and if he says it can, I must put the same question. And I am afraid like jesting Pilate, I shall not think it worth while to wait for an answer." (Fortnightly Review). "While almost all the whole scientific world stands more or less on this Agnostic platform, the great body of scholarly theologians follow suit in rejecting the Scriptures as literally inspired, and put upon them a rationalistic interpretation. It is not too much to say that any man who can accept the literal teachings of Scripture gives undeniable proof of his A PliilosopJiiral Inquirij into thf; Prinrii>les of lielijion. 99 ignorance of the teacliiiigs of Nature, an;l, therefore, of Nature's God. The disooveries of science are no more nor less than divine revelation ; they are the teachings of Nature, they are the true word of God. To this sensuous, objective, positive, demonstrative, and universal word of God must any special, unproved, unprovable, supposed, word of God give way. The work of the true Christian scholar is to seek under the letter of Scripture that deeper, more universal, revelation of God in Christ, and to reconcile it with the re- velation of God in nature. So far as the Christian churcli succeeds in doing thi^, will she probably be a force in mould- ing the thought of the age ; so far as she fails, will she be winked and scoffed at, however much noise she may keep. The great achievements of science during the Victorian era, are the discovery of the two general principles, now by scientists universally admitted, —the first being the law of the Conservation of Force, the second being the principle of Evolution. The law of the Conservation of Force is another way of expressing the fact that force is persistent. The principle that force is persistent is equivalent to saying that the total amount of energ}' in the universe is invariable, that it can neither be increased nor diminished. In general terms it is certain that this principle was believed and taught by the ancient philosophers. Says Aristotle : ^^AX?.a adu/a-ov xt.'rjffcv r^ yzVzffOa fj (pOapr^\/ai'. asi yap ijv — It is impossible that energy should either be produced or destroyed: for it is eternal." (Met. VI, G, 1). The principle of the Conservation of Energy is thus defined by that late able physicist. Clerk Maxwell : ''The total energy of any body or S3'stem of bodies is a quantity 100 Essays on God and Man, which can neither be increased nor diminished by any mutual action of such bodies, though it may be trans- formed into any one of the forms of whicli energy is sus- cej)tible." We may not doubt that the ancient philosophers had some slight knowledge of this principle ; but we are just as certain that as a working hypothesis of universal application whose truth has been practically demonstrated, it may be said to be one of the great discoveries of the Victor- ian era. On the subjects of Evolution and the Conserva- tion of Force, no clearer or more correct presentation of the rights of ancients and moderns can be found than that given in a few words by Huxley: " Each of these was foreshad- owed, more or less distinctly, in former periods of the his- tory of science ; and, so far is eitlier from being the out- come of purely inductive reasoning, that it would be hard to overrate the influence of metaphysical, and even of theologi- cal, considerations upon their development. The peculiar merit of our epoch is that it has shown how these hypothe- ses connect a vast number of seemingly independent par- tial generalisations ; that it has given them that precision of expression which is necessary for their exact verification ; and that it has practically proved their value as guides to the discovery of truth." (The Reign of Queen Victoria, II, 340). The principle of Evolution is, in some form or other, accepted by the whole scientific world. This principle has simplified and unified the whole operation of Nature. It gives us one substance extending under various forms and modifications throughout the whole cosmos. These various forms and modifications of the one unknown and universal A Philosophical Lxpiir;/ into th'' Principles of Relicjion. 101 principle, are known to us as elements; but liidden, unseen, and unsearchable, is the one and same cosmic element, everywhere present, and everywhere persistent. This com- mon substance is acted upon, and energized, by One Force, Unknown, Unknowable, Immutable, Eternal, and Rational. With this Force there is no shadow of turning nor variation ; it is the "same, yesterday, to-day, and forever " In this Force do all things, whether material or spirtual, exist and have their being ; and in the action of this Force there can be no break nor departurCo All its varied manifestations are but the uniform, though apparently changeful, opera- tions of One Eternal and Infinite Volition. Here reigns Law Universal, Eternal, and Harmonious. Evolution is but a name for the method of the action of this Universal, and Immutable Reason upon the universe of mind and mat- ter. First the atom, then the molecule, then the aery particle of each branch thrills at the Vital Presence, and the branch itself sways hither and thither at the pressure of the Universal Breath. The more favorable the position of the branch in relation to the tree and its surrounding, the strong- er the growth ; and the stronger its growth, the more the presence of the Vital Force. Some branches becoming thus comparatively strong, draw to themselves more and more of this Vital Force ; others deprived, sicken and die. The strong branches cannot remain equally strong ; but all seek to live by making the most of their privileges, and attaining to a direct and indirect equilibration. This rivalry is con- tinued till, as in the former case, some, becoming too weak for the contest, sicken and die. Thus is it with religions. The faith of the individual gives place to that of the fam- ily, that of the family to that of the clan, that of the clan to that of the tribe, that of the tribe to that of the nation, that of the nation to that of united nations ; and finally the strife among the universal faiths, causes each to claim the right to universal dominion. The Vital Force runs through the whole, the divine Idea is by the whole reflected. That failh which best interprets this One and Common Idea, is the faith most fit to survive, the failh l-hat will survive ; and A Philosophical Lifjuirfi into (he Principles of Religion. 103 that faith will best iiitor[)ret this idea, which is the outcome of an intelligence most conversant with nature. God's Rev- elation is thus seen to be eternal and continuous. The primitive mind, even living in modern society, sees a world confused and confusing; a chaos, not a cosmos; a God thwarted in his purposes, and correcting his own works ; a Governor with infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, void of ability to prevent devils and demons overthrowing his throne. ]Miracles, disorder, fill his universe ; his God is on a journey. But to the intelligent there is one God, One Law, One Order, One Love, One Volition, One Upward Movement forever. In .the face of the regularit}', universality, and persistence of the forces of nature, it is almost inconceivable why men can dare preach a faith for which they claim an exclusive sanction. The time is fast coming, is now at our doors, when the sanction, and the beauty of Christianity will be seen not in the supposition of its supernatural origin, which would be enough in itself to condemn it ; not in the supposition of its miracles, acceptable to the credulous and superstitious ; but in the fact that it is the natural and high- est outcome of human nature, developed, fed, and directed, according to universal laws, and by the universal impulse of the Universal Reason. Herein lies its verity ; herein lies its worth; herein lies its superiority; herein lies the highest proof of the soul's immortal nature: *' Oh ; I seem to stand trembling, where foot of mortal ne'er hath trod ; wrapped in the radiance from that sinless land which eye hath never seen. Visions come and go ; shapes of resplendent beauty round 104 Essays on God and 3fan, me throng; from angel's lips I seem to hear the flow of soft and holy song. It is nothing now, when heaven is opening on my sightless eyes; When airs of paradise refresh my brow, the earth in dark- ness lies. In a purer clime, my being fills with rapture ; waves of thought roll in upon my sightless eyes ; Strains sublime break over me unsought. Give me now my lyre. I feel the stirring of a gift divine. Within my bosom glows unearthly fire lit by no skill of mine." (b): IN DOCTRINAL ESSENTIALS IT IS ONE WITH OTHER RELIGIONS. I : IMMORTALITY : — One of the fundamentals of the religious faith of every Christian is the immortality of the soul. But this doctrine is not peculiar to the Christian ; it is in some form or other universally believed ; its expectation is natural to humanity. Aristotle certainly doubted, as a great many scientists to- day, the immortality of the soul ; but he admits that it was a common belief: '■'■A?./.a irfj-j o'xh pooXriffiq /.at irpoatpsfft^ raurov ... re Tzavrojv rjydf)coTru)v y.o.c adavarot tr^at . . . ftov?.rjfrt<^ (T zfTZi rur^ aHovaruyj^ umv aOrvMKT'.a^ — But wish and expectation are not the same. It is a wish of all men to be immortal ; man may wish for the impossible such as immortality." (Nik. Eth. Ill, 4, 7; Eud Eth. II, 10, 4). The following from Plato A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. lOo is, perhaps, equal to anything that can be found on this sub- ject : — ^'"lljio'i rot Tzokkoui; xai y.ahiu^ coac ).i rr^? ada./a<7'.a'.^ r ooaU'i a> i^ixi-zd lityzOuofiyia^^ wtrrs y.ara^pu>7/ffa'. /izv u~tpi3a/./.o>zr^y Orjfjiw> /JMfc, diaiztjianoaatrdai 8b TZ-kayq^ 8ec/xabiis ZB xac ra^Biai; a-oxazaazaaBtq KTr/iiBftia^ zb xm zimr.u.^ 8'-za<^ xat Uksiadwv yBiiuuva^ y.a'. OBtxiwi a^Bjiowi zb xaza(fiiija^ uij.f^[ju}> xat Tipr/^TTjpujv s^a'.ntiiU'i ovrw^ evrjv rz^BU/ia zr. ^'^XTn '^'- '''-' ''/'' ~^''' 'fi^'-^-^'^^B -Bpivma-j xat y^wnt-/ ^''X-'-'- tuTZB i»jx Bt^ Oa-jaztr^, a/JJ cj? adavatriav iiBzafiaAABfi^ lo A^toyB^ nude ayatpBffiv i^Bt>^ Zio.) ayadojj^ a//' BtAtxptveazBpav zr^v a-n/.auntv^ ouds riBfiiy/iBva^ d.'rjzcp ffuj/iazt za^ r^o()'/o.<;^ a.'f.K axpazoo<; a~af!u)\> ahyrj8{t,no.>. xBtTB yap (odBt<} bx Z7j';dB Tij;,' icpxzrj'^^ BvOa aTZo-^a -wjza xat affz-vaxza xat ayr^paza^ ya/.7y/0'$ Sb zt'f xat xaxiw^ ayiy^o^ i^td'^, a zry> ou ~t)()i oyhr> xat OBazp^ a'u.a ~po-i a;i(ftOaXr^ rjjy ah,OBtay — Many and beautiful are the reasons one may give for the immortality of the soul ; no mortal nature could undertake such great works as the despising the far greater strength of wild beasts ; the traversing the seas ; the estab- lishing cities and the founding of polities; the beholding the heavens, seeing the ciicuits of the stars, and the courses of the sun and moon, their risings and settings ; their depart- ures and rapid returns ; the equinoxes and the two solstices ; the wintry l)lasts of Pleiades and the breezes of summer ; the down-pouring of rains; the tracts of the violent light- lOo Essays on God and 31 an^ ning ; and tlie making out the changes of the world for ages, — unless some divine spirit was naturally in him through which he obtains this wisdom and knowledge. Not to death, O Axiochus, dost thou change, but to immortality ; nor wilt thou be deprived of the good, but rather wilt thou have far more desirable pleasures, not indeed such as are associated with a mortal body, but pure, freed from everj attliction. For there shalt thou arrive delivered from this prison, where all things are void of toil, where sighing and old age can never come ; but where life peaceful and freed from every evil, is forever happy in unbroken tranquillity, contemplating things not with a view to the favors of the mob or of the theatre, but with a view to abounding and flourishing truth." (Axiochus, 370, 10-35). We are here told that the noble nature of man can have no earthly origin. The immortal spark within him is divine and eternal. To this immortal life must be ascribed his power to overcome ferocious beasts, to found, build, and govern mighty empires ; to open the secrets of nature ; and to examine the great works of God. This divine nature within man, having from heaven descended, must to heaven again ascend. Man departs not to death, oblivion, but to life eternal. Separated from bodily evils, there he enjoys true felicity, unmixed pleasure. No vain labor is there ; no more sighing ; no old age ; but life peaceful, tranquillity unbroken. Say the Vedas : " Those who know the High Brahman, the vast, hidden in the bodies of all creatures, and alone enveloping every- thing, as the Lord, they become immortal. ... He is the one ruler of many. The wise who perceive him A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Relvjion. 107 within their self, to them belono;s eternal happiness, not to others." (Svetasvatara-Upanishad, III and VI Adhyayas). Adayazd^ rt jiv^t'., /.at !^o)r^^ rhff-orcg efrri -\firj (Tz {TZzU'^scv ~fii>'i TO (faoi; vju ~azit()^ au'/'a<^^ Taura TaTr^f) s/vor^fTz^ i3j)otou'^u)To 'I oyji ij fizporzwv 6z(i'> ay^ti rw? £iy 7:apa8ii(T(tv. ZiaiiaTi Tid'jffa^^ zr:t ra^'.v cup ^9 sppuj]^y AoOk; a'^affTTj/Tz's, Ispip Xoyo) epyov zwu)Ga rjp.'.''> TOO TTpcuTou TTjq yv^tfTtiix; T^iOw^uiztpif^ av zifj fiytdov h~ripyritvov. . . . To ds'.oTarov o'/toj^ ^'''j^r^f yt/o^. to'jto 5' i^rj (Ty^oov (p txovu) TzkazTt'.v y.at orj/itoupy^tv ~po(Tr^/.a.: — Mind is superior to body. For whatever is better, older, and diviner tlian another, it is reasonable to believe, being superior to it, rules that other at all times as a thing ruled, and directs it as a thing directed, the latter being meaner^ newer, and less honorable. ... If this is so, then the first of our kind, (intellectuality), must have been in the A. Philosophical Inquiry into the PrinciiAes of lieliyion. 109 befrinning more influential than the first of creation. The divinest kind of mind — this is that to which alone belong the framing and fashioning of the universe." (Plato: Epinomis, 980,981). exdojpB KfjujTo? — And the maker, who self-operating framed the world, which first sprung out from mind. " (Oracles of Zoroaster). " uoTu)'^ oijv (Jtj xaza Xayo-^ rov scxara 0^1 Xeytiv zo'^ijt nr/ xofjfj.(r> Zfoov £ix(,'>Uyf(iv ev^ouv re rrj aXrjds'.a dta rr/V rvo Btou ys^SfrOat -po- voia> — Thus for a ?ery similar reason are we obliged to say that this whole universe must be a living thing endowed with reason through the providence of God." (Plato : Timaeus, 30). Ill: GOD THE ORIGIN AND RULER OF ALL: (I). NECESSARY FOR CREATION: " Tc TO iiv as'.^ ytv^n'.y d; , . . . vDTjffBt fitra Xoyoo TCopc^Tjrzrsuv^ asc xaza raoza o^. , . . rai/ 8z au to yiy^itiisvov UK a'.riou rfy"9 el a^^ayxrfi yiy^taOn: : -avr; yap advva-uv yuipiq acrtuu yv/B(T'.'> aytvj — . . rayrijy Stj yz'^zazui xopiuiTarr^j -ap o:^<^pu)v tfpir^'.'wy^ a-tiSeyop.£vogy (Y;0(*rara a-(i(h-/()'.T «> — What is Eternal Being, having no origin, comprehended by the intelligence with reason, in this way forever existing. It is certain that every created thing must have had a cause ; for it is impossible that any thing should be created without a cause. Should any rea. sonable man assert that in this Eternal Being he finds the most reasonable cause of creation and the cosmos, he would make a most reasanable assertion." (Il.i: Timiuus, 27, 28, 30-) 110 Essai/s on God and Man, (II). NECESSARY FOR GOVERNMENT: "ila,3a;,ai> Sr^, ~:^ rpo—og a> s'.Tj to(Tou~ov 7zep'.(pep;iv oyxov rtva (po(J'.'j '<>•■> a'jTO'^ XP'^''"'"''' '^"""^ ~spt(ptpsTai. 0£ov dr^ a-zop'.acg o'^ra, xr^do- /jtcvo? i-y/Ji p.7] ysijiaaOti^ b-o Tapa-/r^<} dtaXud^c^ £!? tov tij? avu- fioioTaTO^ a~e'.pav o^Ta to-zov Surj^ raXtv ecf^dpoi^ auTOO tcuv TZTjdaX- liov yiyvoiiv^ix;^ -a •jn(rr^(7(i:jT(L xa: lodtyTa e-^ zrj xaG" iaorau —paTspa ~spcodu} ffTpB(^a? xo(tiit'. Ts xw. ezayopdw^ ada:^(j-()'j aurav xat ayri- p(i)v aztpya^zTw. — The question is how is it possible that any nature could move around this awful fabric of a universe with such regularity'. "VVe reply that God is the cause of this, and that without Him, it is impossible. . . . Therefore the author of this order is God who seeing creation in distress, guards it against disturbance, lest it be dissolved and fall into the place of infinite irregularity ; for watching all its movements, again He puts every injurious and dissolved part back into its former course of activity, gives it order, and establishes itrmmortal, so that in renewed youth it again ac- complishes its work." (Ibi: Epinomis, 983; Politicus, XVI). IV: GOD IS THE FATHER OF ALL: « "^cf TzaTe/i, fj pa ez' snzz ft^ot xaza iiaxp <^1>'/Ji tiiiT'J-'.y.ri ; r<> yaii ^i/>7}(Tot> /.at xaT« xai TZpta^zia'^ etrr'.'^, o7r£/> eirrt [iaffikixTj^ etdog apyrjrw>, . , . ' II /i£v yap ~'xrpo<; ~po<^ utei'i xoivajvca (iaatXs'a^ tyj^'. yap to -azot p.z).tt. EvTzuOiV ds xai 'O/irjpo^ rov J'.a -azzpa -p»<7ayupzoti. Ef!Ti . a/dpoj-ac? ~pii(} Oziiu? The government of children is kingly in its nature : for that which begets rules as well because of excellence as of love, which is a kind of kingly rule. Wherefore Homer properly addresses God calling him Father of both gods and men, making him thus King of all. . For the relation of the father to his cliildren is kingl}' in its nature: for this is be- coming to the father of children. Therefore Homer calls God, Father. The love of children towards the father is as that of men toward God." (Aristotle: Republic I, 12,3; Nico. Eth. VIII, 10,4; 12, 4). " Da deinde auxilium, pater, atque haec omina firma. — Grant us th}' aid, O Father I and confirm the omens." (Virgil). " Thou art the Father of all things, animate and inani- mate." (Dialogues of Kreeshna & Arjoon). 'EauTov u Trarr^p 7jp~atTi> owf ev Lr^ d'j-^apt'. '^azpa xXz'.Ta-j lijur^ ■nop. Ou yap a-<> narpcxr^^ ^f'/Ji'i otr-/.-'^ zt zpnya'^z'. — The Father hath snatched himself away ; neither hath he shut up his own fire in his intellectual power. For nothing unfinished proccedeth from the Father's rule." (Oracles of Zoroaster). 112 Essays on God cduI Man^ " . , ksyei iTpixi auT()U ~a> yz:>rjfTa^ raiis : 0£ot 0zu)y, wv tyu) drj/iioupyo? izarrjp rs e/iyw^ — The Creator of this whole universe thus spoke to them : ye gods of gods, of whose works I the Father am the contriver. " . (Plato: Timaeus, 40). V: REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS FROM GOD:— ^^^Ori dsouq ys. ou Xavda'^si iy.arepoq aurtwv o'jo? scrriv. '0 fizv dso — For wert thou so little as to hide thyself in the bottom of the earth, or so great as to betake thyself into the heavens above ; it would avail thee nothing. Thou shalt pay the full resulting penalty for thy crimes, either while here remaining, or after thou art departed to Hades, or perchance to some far worse place." (Ibi: Leges, 905). "Aaj zara zuorov r^ij rav ?jiyov 6 jxzv ijiuifpio.) -/jiiur^ tisui (ftln:^ 6/j.otoq^ 6 da /J-Yj (Tuxppcov aya/xacoq re xai diatpopoq xat adixoq — According to this reasoning, therefore, he that is prudent- among us, is dear to God ; because he is like Hira. But he that is imprudent among us, is unlike God ; and, therefore, unjust." (Ibi, Leges, 716). "Toy 8e deoy tujv ^avkojv oux stxog snt/jeXeKrOai. . . Et yap Tig eni/ieXsia tojv ayOpwmvwv vtto dsojy yiytTW.^ u)(7-sp doxsc, xat A Pliilosophicid Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 118 IxaXiaza rvjzo xac rt/xwvra? a/zzuzutzf^ u>^ zutv a 6 (ToxfjUDy, ex os zou za //tj -jiazzev^ rauza aodetg av oooe /leXXrjtreie yz/znOdi ayaOo^ — ■ It is well to say that as the result of doing justly, a man becomes just ; as the result of acting prudently, a man becomes prudent : but as a result of not doing these things, no man can ever become good." (Ibi: Nic. Eth. II, 4, 5). " A man of good works will become good, a man of bad works will become bad. As a man's desire is, so is his will. As his will is, so is his deed ; and whatever deed he does, that shall he reap." (Vedas: Brihadaranyaka-Upanisliad, IV Adh3'aya). " I am made evident by my own power; and as often as there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world, I appear from age to age for the pre- servation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of virtue I assist those men who in all things walk in mj' path God is to be obtained by him wlio maketh God alone the object of his 114 Essays on God and Man, works Those whose understanding is in him, are purified from all their offences, and go from whence they shall never return. . . But the habitation of those mortals whose generation hath lost its virtue, shall be in hell." (Ibi: Dialogues of Kreeslina and Arjoon). VI : GOD LOOKS TO THE HEART : " M'.(Tou'^rt<; rs y.yyd'^ra.i rau? -/jiy.oijq y.o.i no duT^epat'^scv rrf^ adr/.cav outs rw^ rotaura^ -pa^ti} tb pq dcxacoo^ rtuv w^Opco-uiv ^eu/ourr: xai row} fjuaiaw; dTtpyooij'./ — God hates the wicked ; and because he seeks not injustice nor any such deeds, lie flees away from unjust men, but be loves the just." (Plato: Leges, 908). "/l«! yap a.'j ds'.vov strj^ £i TrpO'S ra dcopa xat ras" Oo(na<; a-njSXc- -oufTcv Tj/uov ui 0£ot, ahXo. p.fj zpo': ttj^^ (}'uyrfj, ay tc>^ t'(7j«9 xac dtxaci)0'^, z'.za. T.imq uai- A Philosojyhkal Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 115 /jLOva?^ £iTa ~f)(»; -aTfitda /.a.', ^(oric, ecru ~/i(i<; rou*; xarot^ofie-yow; — Our first obligation js toward God, next to the divine powers, next to our country and parents, and next to the dead." (Il)i: De. Virt. et Vit. V). " 'A', yuf) ap^aiai Ouffiai xat truxxJo'. ^'ajvovra: yivsffOai iitra za xapnujv ffuyxofiiSa^ litov arzapxat: iiahffza yap v> 7i)uzi>'.o%^ ya'.ps'.y rw.'i (Ju-a-^w.^i twj Oon- lizvu}\> aXXa Tac Tj TO su —aiT^-'.,', xac za xala -pazrsv^ ij.alXov 5j ra a'.nypa pLfj TzpaTzeVy' '. (lux ailr^Xif^ (T ort rtj /isv dont'. k~tTai ~t> su Tcoiev^ y.a: TO xala -pazTscv, zrj ds ?.rj(^>z'. zo su -ar£, xat 6 ezatvo^ ds palXivj. . . . — It is rather the mark of the noble na- ture to give to whomever it is necessary than to receive what is necessary or not to receive what is not neces- sary. For it is more the mark of virtue to confer bene- fits than it is to receive them, and to do noble acts than to refrain from base ones. It is evident that to confer favors and to do noble deeds, belong to giving in gen- eral ; but the spirit of taking is characterised by the fact that it receives favors rather than by the fact that it refrains from active baseness. Besides, thanks and praise follow upon the heels of him who gives, but not upon the heels of him who simply refrains from receiving. (Aristotle: Nic. Eth. IV, 1). "/7A06IT££V (5' (lU paStOV ZOV £?.£udspO'>, P-^fjZS k.T^TZZCXOV o,iza prjzs (po).axzix(i'^^ TTpoeztxdv 8e xac p.rj z^iiw^za (iC duza za yp-qixaza aXX b^ixa zrfi fjaasoj's — It is not easy for the noble man to be rich ; since he will not take from others, nor is niggardly with what he has ; but on the contrary is most liberal and esteems wealth not for the sake of itself but for the sake of the benefits which, through it, he may confer ou others." (Ibi). "£flTi rh (itXziov zi> (f'.Xecv rj zd ^cXeiffOa:: zo psv yap ri(7aj rw ^i^ij^rvr;, no lur/irj £> fv^Ofioj-o'.i} au.a xai cv orr^'.fTt xa'. ro'.^ -Xf.Tro'.^ ziu/ ^ww-', xac zot^ o/uisOvem rrfxi'i a/i-Xr^la, xat /jLa?.tfTza zoi'^ uyOi/iu-o'.i;, 6(Uv ztiu^ (fihv^Opm-dO^ ezac- ;/(?y//r>. liioc 5' av z'.f xa: ev za'.<^ 7:Aa>«;9 "k' ".'Zi!«> ar«9 a'^OtKo-O'^ avOpwTzuj xai (fihrj — It is natural for the thing begotten to love that which begets, and for that which begets to love that which is begotten, not only among men but also among birds and animals in general. This is especially seen among those animals of the same variety, most of all among men ; therefore we praise philanthropists. It is a fact of which we have ever3'where abundant proofs, that man to man is something familiar and dear." (Ibi: Nic. Eth. VIII, 1). "Z,Vrj OS (f'./.a'jzo^ u auzou ;>rx£y rza.'za T.pazzu)/ ;> Z(n>; xaza zi> XuiTtze?.e^. '0 /izv ouv u<^ai()^ : o'.a zouzo yap errzi anou8at(><}, ozi aD.ou ht/.t-^ zauzo -npazzsi — He wiio does everything for himself with the view of enriching himself, is a base man. The base man is a selfish man, for he does everything for the sake of himself ; but not so is it with the noble man : for the very thing by which he is noble, is that he works for the sake of another." (Ihi: Eth. Meg. II, in, 1). " AxiiXouSii dt ZTj eXeud^ptozTjZi zod r^Omj'^ oypozr/^ xai euaywyia xa'. ifilavOpwTZca, xat zu sivar sXtrjZ'.xnv xa: v.^ xa: tpiXo^zvov^ 118 Essays on God and Man, xat (fiXoxaXov — The noble man is known b}'^ mildness of dis- position, gentleness of manners, love of humanity, charit}', love of friends, hospitality, and the love of that which is beautiful and good." (Ibi: De Vir. et Yit. V. 5). And the rule for giving could not be better expressed than in these words of Aristotle: " ' sXsudefia"} aoy doia:: TOO xaXoo i>£/.a xai (ipdcu^ ; otg yap 'Jzc xai o/ra xm or; /.u.'. rulla oaa s.~trai rrj ('/>drj (Joirrr.' ; xac raura r^Seaii; 'q u./.u~i/i^: ra yap xar aptTTyj ijSu rj aJ.UTZov r^/.trrra S; Xu~r^pirj ■ — The lioble man gives for the sake of the beautiful, and he gives wisel}', ^lat is to whom it is necessary, what is necessary, and when it is necessary ; and that too, gladly ; for a virtuous act is pleas- urable, or at least without pain; indeed, pain least belongs to such acts." (Ibi: Nic. Eth. IV, 1, 12-13). ^'' Ou'f /jL./rj(Tixax()g: ou yap iieyaXo(l zyory ooi^iTzpa.', z>. (T w^ayxacov er/j aSixstadat fj adcxstv, iXo'.- fiTjv av p.aXXu)v aoixttadat vj a. tojv xa.xorj Toyya\>zt v^ to a8txz'..i, to adixttuOai yjXKTTa ys — Wouldst thou then rather be treated unjustly than treat another A Pliilosophical Inquiry into the Princiides of Religion. 1 19 unjustly? I prefer neither; but if I were compelled to choose l)etween receiving an injury or bringing it upon anotlicr, I would every time prefer receiving injustice to bringing it upon another. To act unjustly toward another, is the greatest of all evils ; but to receive injustice from the hands of another, is the least." (Plato: Gorgias, 4G9). " ha/.dupyz'.v ^i:, vj on? (hj ozi ih^-ou. A^rr/.u/jripyztv /.(X/.ujg Ttanyo'^ra^ dt/.atov rj nu S'./.atd'j? Ouoa/iio'i, To yoi) zT'.~o'.z'.v tivijsva a-Mpio~w/^ ii'j(T av ot'.ouv ^raiT/jj n-" auTojv — Is it right to do evil to a man or not? It is never right. But if a man suffers innocently evil treat- ment, is if not right to return evil for evil? It is never right. For to bring evil on another, differs in nothing from acting unjusti}', A man should not retu-rn injustice for injustice, nor evil for evil, no matter what he suffers at the hands of others." (Ibi: Crito, 51). " o'.o xai TU pz-fahi. apapTT^pa-a /.(U ud'./.r^p.aTa npAxpoTtpov ec-zat yfpTj -/opiXtiv y.a/jrj T.a(ryz'.\> ry Spaad.'. — Whcrefope it must be considered better to suffer the greatest evils and injustice, than to bring such upon others." (Il)i: Letters, VII). VIII: rURlTY ABOVE ALL THINGS: " Ou yap axoAouOsi tyj y/^o>rj xw. T(p aoptftpo-jTi ij apzTr^ j a).Xa Trj aptrrj aptpoTzpa tuot axoXouOt:. — A virtuous character does not follow the enjoyment of pleasure, and advantage ; but pleasure and advantage will both follow the possession of a virtuous character." (Aristotle: Eth. Meg. II. 11, I'l.) 120 Essays on God and Man, This sa3'ing is equivalent to tliat of the Saviour: " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." " IliiXo yaj) xaXXiov t(TTt xai ^3(1(7 iXtXiorspov tTjV 4'^X'^I^ '/J^^ ^^' Y'/u)iJ.(rjoo(ro:> tj zr^j l:'.\) too (noij.aro'? opav eustrj.aT(iu<>oy — It is far more beautiful and kingly to see the soul well adorned, than the bod}' richly attired." (Ibi: Ad Alex., 1, 2). " Ou (5i£ S' ay^dscv on vjta rcov ktyoritvio'^ no/, zgtvj v^ toj tzco^ ?m/jl- i3av£cv, av mog Xaii^fV^rjTat tm [j.aAlo'j -anysv^^ ocav ij.i)iyo zip p.aXlov -q osi ~p()v rj zr^g Socr^g, xai k.eyecv xat ~p(j-zei\) (prjyzpiDg. . . loq yap atnypo'^ zo (^'sodog euXai3rieuetv "q fitO^ Ufwyj yz.'tndfi'. n.-r^ ih./.a'.a i3<>u?.BUii/jsv(uv ^oiSr^diyra difr/iow jj Oavarav — I consider it far more becoming me to suffer with law and justice, than, for the fear of chains or death, to agree with you ; wlten your actions are not in accordance with the riglit " (Ihi, Apology, XX). ^^Oux apa TUjiay^'jla yjif,^ o) apitrrt A/./.:,3'.ao7^, -afiaffxtuaXtfrOai ouG" iaoTio (I'jrt zrj ~(i).£'., st iiz).).st euSatuir/-:-^^ a/.A uiif:r^.> — • If we would be happy, O noble Alcibiades, we must obey not the tyranny, not the city, not ourselves, but virtue." (Ibi: I Alcibiades, XXX). IX: GOD IS GOOD: ^^AyaOo? >j>, ayaOu) 3z nuSsig rztpt oudsvoi^ oudsTzors eyycyvsrai ^do'^o?: TouToo 5' £xr(»9 w> -iv^ra ore fiaXiffra yz^strdai e^SouXr^Orj TcapaTzXrjtT'.a iauroj. Taurr/^ >h yz-'tTzio^ xw. xorriiotj palifTT ay r.'^ ap^TjV xup'.oJTarr/v -an a,/<1iHoj (fnif^'.nxiyj aizodsyopv^ii:; opdozara aTzodsyo'.T a-y — God is good ; but to a good being ill-will can never arise toward anyttiing : besides this, he is such that he wishes to make all things like himself. Any reasonable man would most reasonably accept this Being as the most probable cause of creation and the cosmos." (Ibi: Timaeus, 29). ".-J/A' our' a-oXsffOai ra xara duvaray'. u-v^avz'.ov yap z: nu ayadip asi ec/w. w/ayxrj : our iv Sso:^ aura lilpufrda:, rvjv ^vijttjv ^ufftv xai Tnv8s rov td-oj Ttspt-aXsi e^ a,>ay/.7^<: — But it is not possible that all existing evil should be destroyed: for of necessity there must ever be something exist- 122 Essays on God and Man, ing opposite to the Good : nor does any evil exist in God ; but of necessity evil must ever surround mortal nature, and this present world." (Ibi: Theaetetus, 176). "£: o' £(77'. axrrctp ouy enzt^ (-hoi^ >j rt Otar^ 6 Ej)uj<;, ouot'^ av xaxov z.'.r, — If this is SO, and it certainly is, then Love is God, or something divine ; it could be nothing evil." (Ibi : Phaedrus, XX). "7'(* da).riOz — Nor is there anything stronger that moves; for then would that something be more divine ; nor has it any base- ness in its nature, nor want of any of those beautiful attri- butes belonging peculiarly to itself." (Aristotle: De Coelo, I, 9). "'0 yap t>-()g i3z?.TCojv r/y^ aptzy^g xa: ou xar apszrjv etrrt (j-iiu- daiog: outcj p.zv yap (iz)-'.(pj etrra'. i^ o.pzzr^ zoo 0eou — For God is better than virtue, nor is he righteous because he is virtuous ; for in tiiat case we should make virtue some- thing better than God." (Aristotle: Eth. Meg., II, 5, 2). '■'' J'.o 6 0z(ig azt p'.av xat a-).ryj '/Ji-ipti r/~)()>ry^ : ou yap po-nrj xtvri(7zu)<; etTztv v^zpyzia ajj.a xai axv^r^aiaq^ xai r^do-^rj pakhiv tv rjpsiua sffzvv 15 £v xr^rj^rt'. — Energy may be said of a thing at rest as well as in motion, and the pleasure associated with A Philosophical Inquiry into the Principles of Religion. 12:1 tlie former state is even greater than that associated wilh tlie latter ; wherefore the happiness of God is one and ab- solute." (Aristotle: Nico. Eth. VII, 14, 8). ^''Ouy.ii'j/ ayadii^ 6 yt 0bii'^ r ys Tor./ (lyiiBu)'j ^).a^zpifj. AiJ o'jy 6 fj.T/ i3).atiz[j ih iiTj fixazTZt, xa/. r: -otzt ; '0 oz yz pr^ozv za/ov -w.zi, (lud^ a;/ Tf.'ii? £.')j xaxiio atT'.ny ; (U(pz).iiii>v td ayaOav | A'.t'.hv afja zo~payia^ ; Oox afxi -ivj-mm yz air'.ov to ayoda^^ a/./.a zoyj ii.z-j £'j zyji'jzo)'^ aiT'.oVj zojv dz xaxMv «v«£7;'(v — God Is gOOd, and tiiis nnich must be iiuderstood. But no good thing is hurtful. Can a thing not hurtful be the cause of in- jury? Can tliat whicli is not hurtful, do any evil? Can that which does no evil, be the cause of any evil? Must it not be the cause of happiness? Not of all things, therefore, is the Good the cause ; but only of those things which are as they should be, and not of the evil." (Plato: Civitas, 379). " I am the journey of the good ; the comforter ; the crea- tor; the witness; the resting place; the asylum, and the friend. . . I am the emblem of the immortal, and of the incorruptible ; of the eternal, of justice, and of endless bliss." (Vedas: Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon). " He encircled all, bright, incorporeal, scatheless, without muscles, pure, untouched by evil ; a seer, wise, omnipresent, self-existent; he disposed all things rightlj' for eternal years." (Ibi: Vagasanej'i-Samhita-Upanishad), X : GOI^ IS IMMUTABLE : " lla/ i^Tj TO xa).u)<; £/"v, 5j (fjazi tj '^-/'■'^ 'J a;i ur' a)Jj>-> z\ii^zytTa'.. A).).a iir^v 6 0zo^ yz xa: tu 12-i Essays on God and 2Ian, cac myo: o Bsn'}. ASu-^arov ana y.a'. Ozo) sBzXt'.j uuzaw al- Xo'.ov-^ ; a?JJ w9 co.'xr, ■/.aXX'.Trt)^ xo.i apcdzo? ojv etg to oo'jo.~ir> lis'^zt at'. d-)M^ £v -jj (VJTdo !iiip(frj — Everything perfectly constituted either in nature or in art or in both, admits of the least change by anotlier. But God and every- thing pertaining to him are perfect. Because of this, in no sense could God have many forms. It is, therefore, impossible that God should wish to change himself. On the contrary, he being, as it appears, most perfect and the best, remains according to his own power in his own form forever absolutely free from change." (Ibi: Civitas, 381). " '/'av£/;oy ana or; o-jzs ri)~o^ nozz y.zvtr^ . rtt. -poffriXiryra eo6ui^ onutu^^ z).Z'jBzpoo^^ xai za zo'.aoza rcor'i, ra S' avsXeuOzpa pr^zs Tzmzfy pr/ZZ oztxio^ eow. [itpy^naaOai^ p.r^o oJAi> A Pliilosophical Inquiry into the PrinciijleH of Religion. 125 firjSev Twv uirT^pwv^ ha ^.r^ z/. Ty^/s on God and Man, '' While Heaven does uot let the cause of truth perish, what can the people of K'wang do to me? " (Con: Il)i, IX, 5). "Death and life have their determined appointments; riches and honor depend upon Heaven." (Con: Ibi, Xn, 5). "I do not murmur against heaven." (Con: Ibi, XIV, 37). "The superior man stands in awe of the ordinances of Heaven." (Con: Ibi, XVI, 8). " He who delights in Heaven, affects with his love and protection the whole empire." (Mencius: I, II, 3). "As to the accomplishment of the great result, that is with Heaven." (Mencius: I, II, 14). "Be always studious to be in harmony with the ordi- nances of God." (Mencius: I, II, 2). " They who accord with Heaven are preserved ; they who rebel against Heaven, perish." (Mencius: IV, I, 7). (II. ) ON MAN'S DUTY TO HIS PARENTS : " In serving his parents a son may remonstrate with them, but gently ; when he sees that they do not incline to follow his advice, he shows an increased degree of reverence, but does not abandon his purpose ; and should they punish him, he does not allow himself to murmur." (Confucius: Analects, IV, 18). "There are your father and elder brothers to be con- sulted." (Confucius: Ibi, XI, 21). " From them you learn the more immediate duty of serv- ing one's father; and the remoter one of serving one's prince." (Confucius: II)i, XVII, 9). A Philosophical Inquiry i)ito the Principles of Relifjion. I'll "Of all which a filial son can attain to, there is nothing greater than his honoring his parents." (Mencius: V, I, 4). "If one is not obedient to his parents, he will not be true to friends." (Mencius: Doctrine of the Mean, XX). "From the first birtli of mankind till now, never has any one led children to attack their parents and succeeded in his design." (Mencius: 11,1,5). " "When a father calls, the answer must be without a moment's hesitation." (Mencius: 11,11,2). "The richest fruit of benevolence is this, the service of one's parents." (Mencius: IV, I, 27). (III) : PURITY OF HEART : "Riches adorn a house, and virtue adorns the person." (Confucius: Great Learning, YI). " Tsze-chang asked Confucius about perfect virtue. Con- fucius replied : To be able to practice five things every- where under Heaven constitutes perfect virtue. He begged to ask what they were and was told, gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness," (Confucius: Analects, XVII, G). (IV) : DUTY TO OUR NEIGHBOR : " What I do not wish men to do to me, I also wish not to do to them." (Confucius: Ibi, V. 11). "Do not to others as you would not wish done to your- self." (Confucius: Ibi, XII, 2). " Love all men." (Confucius : Iln, XH, 22). "Recompense injury with justice." (Confucius: Ibi. XIV, 3G). 128 Essays on God and Man, " Is there one word which may serve as the rule of prac- tice for all one's life? The master said : Is not reciprocity such a word ? "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." (Confucius: Ibi, XV, 23). "Find enjoyment in speaking of the goodness of others." (Confucius: Ibi, XVI, 5). "We are to love all without difference of degree; but the manifestation of love must begin with our parents." (Mencius: III, I, 5). "The superior man is lovingly disposed to people gener- ally, and kind to creatures." (Mencius: VI, II, 45). (V:) ON CONTENTMENT: "With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd, a dish of drink, and living in a narrow lane, he did not allow his joy to be affected by it." (Confucius : Analects, VI, 9). " The superior man does not murmur against Heaven nor grumble against men." (Confucius: Doctrine of the Mean, XIV). (VI): ON POPULARITY: " When the multitude hate a man, it is necessary to ex- amine into the case : when the multitude like a man, it is necessary to examine into the case." (Confucius: Analects, XV, 27). (VII): ON FAMILY INFLUENCE: " Thus we see how the government depends on the regu- lation of the family." (Confucius: Great Learn. IX). ».' A Philosophical Iit'jiiir;/ into the ]'ri)iciples of lieli'jion. 129 (VIII): ON SPKAKINr; THE TRUTH: '•To conceal resentraoiit against a person and appear friendly with him, I am ashamc