- LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Theological Semi-nary, 
 
 JDJ3Ti\rr:KTOTNL N.J. 
 
 BR 100 .U64 1873 
 
 <_ Upham, Thomas Cogswell 
 
 1799,-1872. ' 
 
 s Absolute religion 
 
 Hook, 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 A VIEW OF THE ABSOLUTE RELIGION, BASED ON PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL PRINCIPLES AND THE DOCTRINES 
 OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 J BY 
 
 THOMAS C. UPHAM, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 LIFE AND RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF MADAME DE GUYON, 
 
 "A SYSTEM OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY,'" " THE 
 
 INTERIOR OR HIDDEN LIFE," ETC., ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 
 
 FOURTH AVE. & TWENTY-THIRD STREET. 
 I 3/3- 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 
 THOMAS C. UPHAM, 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 Wm. McCrea & Co., Stereotypers, lanue, Littlk & Hillmak, 
 
 PRINTERS, 
 
 Newburgh, N. Y. 10s TO 1U WoosTIiR StrekT) n . 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 This Volume, entitled the Absolute Religion, 
 comprises some of the unpublished writings of 
 THOMAS C. Upham, deceased. An amanuensis had 
 been engaged to copy his manuscripts, written with 
 pencil, the day preceding an attack of paralysis, May 
 20th, 187 1. This paralysis, causing blindness of one 
 eye, and general debility, rendered him unable to 
 give any farther attention to the work. A second 
 attack of paralysis, as he was rising from his bed on 
 the morning of March 10th, 1872, terminated his 
 life April 2d 1872, six o'clock a. m., at the age of 
 seventy three years. During these three weeks of 
 prostration he was unable to articulate distinctly. 
 The only connected sentence clearly understood is 
 this : "My spirit is with God." 
 
 Several chapters of the work were left partly 
 written, and of other chapters, only the headings 
 and leading thoughts remain. The fact that the 
 author did not complete the work, must be received 
 as an apology for any lack of completeness, in the 
 outline, arrangement and finish of the work. The 
 aim of the author seems to be to unfold and to har- 
 monize as far as may be, religious views and opin- 
 ions, by explaining them on the basis of a sound 
 
IV TO THE READER. 
 
 philosophy, in the hope that some minds might be 
 benefited by such a philosophical statement. The 
 aim is a great one. And the philosophic and chris- 
 tian man who loves to see God in providence, and 
 God in man, and religion a reasonable service, will 
 appreciate this effort of one who made the study 
 of man in his mental powers and capacities, the one 
 great study of his life ; and whose highest aim, in 
 every practical way, was to benefit by word and 
 deed his brother man. 
 
 The responsibility of issuing such a work, which 
 the author did not complete, and which he did not 
 himself revise, is only balanced by the desire that 
 good may be accomplished however imperfect the 
 work. 
 
 The following sentences are an extract from his 
 preface to " Divine Union " a work published by 
 him in 1857, and are appropriate here. 
 
 " In writing this work I have no private or party 
 
 interests to subserve, but only wish to do, what I 
 
 may seem, in the providence of God called to do, 
 
 for that cause of Christ, of God, and humanity, 
 
 which is dearer to me than anything else. And 
 
 this is a consolation which always attends me, — the 
 
 full belief that the truth will live and do the good 
 
 appropriate to it, and that all error will and must 
 
 die." 
 
 PHCEBE LORD UPHAM. 
 New York, May, 1873. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 TAUE 
 
 The Absolute Religion considered in connection with 
 the Doctrines of the Bible, especially the Teach- 
 ings of Christ' . .9 
 
 II. 
 The Personality of God 20 
 
 III. 
 God as Life 32 
 
 IV. 
 Identity of Life and Love 3S 
 
 V. 
 God as Unity and Duality .45 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Son of God 68 
 
 VII. 
 Necessity and Possibility of a Divine Manifestation . 79 
 
 VIII. 
 Christ as the Fulfilment of the Law .... 88 
 
 IX. 
 The Second or New Birth 95 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Relation of the First to the Second Birth . . . 102 
 
 XL 
 
 Relation of Moral Evil to Freedom, and its Remedy . 116 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Divine Purposes 128 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Universality of Religious Thought 138 
 
 XIV. 
 Harmony of Religiour Opinions 147 
 
 XV. 
 Optimism 154 
 
 XVI. 
 The Objective and Subjective in Religion . . . .163 
 
 XVII. 
 Unities and Diversities . 169 
 
 XVIII. 
 View of the Doctrine of Sacrifices . . . . .179 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Growth of the Idea of God 185 
 
 XX. 
 
 Of the Satisfaction of Divine Justice . . . .191 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 XXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Doctrine of a Judgment affirmed by Absolute 
 
 Religion J 95 
 
 XXII. 
 The Doctrine of Heaven and Hell 199 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, or the Sin which 
 
 cannot be forgiven 209 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Prayer in its Relation to the Absolute Religion . . 215 
 
 XXV. 
 Relation of Faith to Salvation 222 
 
 XXVI. 
 Divine Influences 22 § 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Explanation of Existing Practical Methods of Teach- 
 ing . 2 35 
 
 XXVIII. 
 Contrasted Views of the Selfish and Essential Life . 242 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Mediatorialism as a Universal and Practical Principle . 251 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Explanation of Terms Regarding the Essential Life . 262 
 
x CONTENTS. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Evidences of the Existence of the Essential Life . . 268 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 The Essential Life Reaches to all Existences . . 280 
 
 XXXIII. 
 The Power of the Essential Life 288 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Locality of God and the Moment — Personal Experi- 
 ence '. 297 
 
Absolute Religion . 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Absolute Religion considered in connection with 
 the doctrines of the Bible, especially the teachings 
 of Christ. 
 
 i. It is not difficult for the reflecting mind to 
 see, in the currents of thought which characterize 
 the present period, a tendency to bring into notice, 
 and to give emphasis to what is called the Absolute 
 Religion. Many persons, who would not willingly 
 be regarded as irreligious, have expressed a desire 
 for a religion founded upon the exercise of reason 
 and upon philosophical principles, and not exclu- 
 sively or chiefly upon authority. The utterance 
 which is heard in this direction, is every day grow- 
 ing louder and more imperative. It is the expres- 
 sion of the views and feelings of persons whose sin- 
 cerity cannot well be doubted ; and who, at least, 
 have a claim upon our respect for the intellectual 
 
I0 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ability which they have often manifested. It is an 
 utterance, therefore, whether addressed to us as 
 Christians, or merely as men of thought and philo- 
 sophic inquiry, which cannot wisely be allowed to go 
 unheeded. 
 
 2. The first inquiry which claims our attention, 
 is, What are we to understand by the Absolute 
 Religion ? It is perhaps proper to say, that the an- 
 swer to this question will be likely to develop itself 
 more fully and satisfactorily in the course of the dis- 
 cussions which are to follow. And yet a few words 
 on the subject may properly be said here. In the 
 first place it may be remarked in general terms and 
 without going minutely into reasons, that the Abso- 
 lute Religion is that religion which, harmonizing 
 with the truths and requisitions of God on the one 
 hand, and with the nature of man as related to God 
 on the other, is necessarily as wide in its extent and 
 its application as humanity itself; — a religion which 
 neither limited by geographical boundaries, nor de- 
 pendent for its existence on civil and political enact- 
 ments, is the inheritance of all men equally, what- 
 ever their name or place or condition, by virtue of 
 their common nature. In other words, it is a reli- 
 gion which is universal. 
 
 In the second place, it is that religion which 
 finding its subjective expression in ideas rather than 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION. H 
 
 in sensations, and in those ideas which are fundamen- 
 tal in themselves and in their relations, vindicates its 
 claim to Absoluteness, because it is unchangeable ; 
 and is therefore the religion, not only of all men and 
 all nations but of all time and all ages. That reli- 
 gion, which is found to be merely an incident of a na- 
 tion's or people's history, and which passes away 
 with the transition of the temporary circumstances 
 on which it is founded, fails to present any just claim 
 to this character of immutableness and universality. 
 The Absolute Religion is something very different 
 from this. Founded in the nature and constitution 
 of things, but harmonizing with the thought and 
 sustained by the power of the highest Intelligence 
 in the universe, and being revealed to human appre- 
 hension by means of fundamental and universal ideas, 
 which speak inwardly and intuitionally and with a 
 voice of authority, it is necessarily a religion which 
 exists everywhere, and exists forever. No antagon- 
 isms of the changeable and the finite, no chance nor 
 change, which mars the face of human affairs, nor 
 hardness of heart, nor slowness of belief, can triumph 
 over the truth and supremacy which are its basis. 
 
 3. Characterized by universality in its extent and 
 application, and by permanency in duration, it has al- 
 so this distinctive and paramount feature, that it car- 
 ries with it a binding and controlling obligation upon 
 
12 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 the thoughts, feelings and actions of all men and of 
 all moral beings, by a virtue or power which is lodged 
 in itself, and not by means or in virtue of any power, 
 authority or command outside of itself. It may be 
 aided by such outside influences but is not neces- 
 sarily dependent upon them. Its authority is its 
 own ; its word is law. It may not be out of place to 
 make the explanatory remark here, that there is a 
 great difference between a thing considered in its 
 own nature, and its announcement or revelation. 
 The thing or object in question presents itself in one 
 aspect ; the announcement of it in another. For in- 
 stance, the announcement of the Absolute Religion 
 may have occurred at a particular period or in a par- 
 ticular country, in the era of Moses, or in the era of 
 Christ, at Sinai or at Jerusalem, at Rome or Athens, 
 or in other periods and in other countries ; but the 
 thing itself, the religious truth, involved by a sort of 
 eternal, generation in the great facts of the universe, 
 has no time or place, no beginning or end. 
 
 4. Such, in general terms is the Absolute Reli- 
 gion. This religion has had its interpreters in all 
 ages of the world ; men who, with different degrees 
 of mental illumination, have attempted to give ex- 
 pression to the great religious thought, written in 
 the hieroglyphics of universal nature ; — Socrates, 
 Plato, Cicero, Seneca, Confucius, Zoroaster, Sakya- 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 13 
 
 Mouni, and many others, who have seen some- 
 thing of the great interior light, which is destined in 
 the progress of its rising to illuminate all lands, and 
 to harmonize all moral and religious separations. I 
 allude to these men who seem to me to have been 
 to some extent the subjects of a divine guidance, in 
 no lightness of spirit, but with a sincere reverence 
 and gratitude. Each in his degree and place, and 
 in reference to his age and country, may be regarded 
 as having a divine mission, and as being in some im- 
 portant sense the minister of God. Nevertheless 
 there came in the fullness of time a Man who was 
 greater than these. If I have studied him aright in 
 what has been left us of his life and doctrines, the 
 great teacher of the Absolute Religion, and stand- 
 ing far above all others in the measurement of his 
 insight, is Jesus of Nazareth. The highest and most 
 reliable expression of the Absolute Religion is found 
 as it seems to me in his wonderful words. 
 
 5. The object of the present work, undertaken 
 with much mistrust of myself but in the hope that 
 it will be found to harmonize with the truth, is not 
 only to announce some of the leading doctrines of 
 the Absolute Religion, but to show their identity 
 with the doctrines of Christ. The religion of Christ, 
 which is only another name for the principles involv- 
 ed in the teachings of Christ, is the Absolute Reli- 
 
14 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 gion ; because having incarnated itself in Christ and 
 thus shown its divine beauty in the human form, it 
 henceforth belongs to man, not perhaps in the tem- 
 porary and changing incidents of his history, but to 
 man in his essential and universal nature, and there- 
 fore is the religion of humanity. The religion of 
 Christ is the Absolute Religion because, though it 
 may be said in its personal applications to grow up 
 and to put forth the buds and flowers of feeling, the 
 rich and beautiful experiences of emotions and af- 
 fections, it nevertheless has its root in the deepest 
 thought, and is both grounded in, and harmonizes 
 with, unchangeable intuitions. The religion of 
 Christ is the Absolute Religion, though man is its 
 object, and is also, in the exercise of his powers of 
 perception and reasoning, the appointed and neces- 
 sary instrument of its development, yet being found- 
 ed in the nature and constitution of things, and thus 
 being beyond measurements of time, it synchronizes 
 with God himself in its origin and continuance, and 
 goes step by step with the divine authority in the 
 assertion of its universal empire. 
 
 6. I am aware, that the high claims now put 
 forth in favor of the religion of Christ, considered in 
 its relation to the absolute truth, are not always al- 
 lowed by that class of thinkers and inquirers to whom 
 allusion was made in the beginning of the chapter. 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION. I 5 
 
 And what is more, they are not always, and perhaps 
 not generally insisted on by those who are distinct- 
 ively and truly known as Christians. Not unfre- 
 quently the Christian says, as if conscious of his ina- 
 bility to stand firm in the great battle of thought, 
 and willing to find the first refuge that presents 
 itself, that the religion of Christ, standing on a basis 
 peculiar to itself, may be regarded as above and 
 beyond reason. I confess that I hesitate in the 
 acceptance of such expressions. So far from this 
 being the correct view, there is a sense undoubtedly, 
 in which it may be affirmed without presumption, 
 that there is nothing above reason ; neither God nor 
 the creatures of God ; neither men nor angels ; 
 neither finite nor Infinite. If it be admitted that 
 God exists, it is still true, that he is not available to 
 us as an existence, and is not known to us as an ex- 
 istence, and his existence cannot be logically affirm- 
 ed and accepted, except through the instrumentality 
 of perception and reasoning. If indeed by reason 
 be meant that sad semblance of reason, which by its 
 own action is separated from, and is not enlightened 
 and aided by contact with the everlasting truth ; in 
 other words, that form of reason or semblance of rea- 
 son, which in being separated from the great Source 
 and Guide of all our faculties is perverted by igno- 
 rance, prejudice, and passion, then the matter pre- 
 
: 6 absolute religion. 
 
 sents itself in another aspect, and is entitled to an- 
 other answer. But reason in the true sense, reason 
 in the greatness of its intuitional, as well as its rela- 
 tional and inductive movement, reason such as God 
 is able to incarnate inspirationally in the thought 
 and intellect of man, has nothing above it. True 
 reason is God's highest thought ; it holds a position 
 which it cannot change ; it sustains an office which 
 it cannot abnegate ; and the whole universe is not 
 only dependent upon it for its revelation as an object 
 of knowledge, but in all its coming progress accepts 
 its aid, and marches in harmony with it. 
 
 7. — Let it be understood furthermore, that we 
 have no controversy with much of that which is 
 known in the history of human knowledge under 
 the name of philosophy. The philosophers have 
 had their time of affirmation ; and undoubtedly they 
 have said instructive things on a great variety of. 
 subjects. They have felt at liberty to speak with 
 boldness on the subject now before us ; and some- 
 times with a smile of incredulity and even of opposi- 
 tion on their lips, as if it were a thing impossible, 
 that the peasant of Nazareth, the man who was cru- 
 cified, could hold up a light in the presence of the 
 world's philosophic thought and culture. Neverthe- 
 less the child of the humble Judean mother made the 
 attempt. We read that when he was Only twelve 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 1 7 
 
 years of age, the inspiration from the heavens was 
 so strong upon him and his heart was so full, that 
 he entered into this great controversy. And even 
 then his understanding and answers were matters of 
 astonishment. But the hand of the mother, who 
 was chosen to bring him within the sphere of hu- 
 manity, withdrew him from the contest. Her heart 
 had prophetic intimations of the future ; but the 
 time had not yet come. He dwelt in Nazareth, and 
 with his heart open to the influx of the truth, he 
 " increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with 
 God and man." And when in the maturity of man- 
 hood he came again into the field, his opponents 
 met him with all the appliances and aids of human 
 learning and wisdom ; but ignorant of that divine 
 philosophy which is baptized from the * heavens, and 
 therefore greatly disordered and defeated in the ar- 
 gument, they stopped the discussion by nailing Him 
 to the Cross. But there is something in the man of 
 truth which can never die. He passed on. In the 
 language of the Scriptures, he went up on high. 
 And philosophy, not understanding the things which 
 are seen by faith and not by sight, looked here and 
 there but could not find Him. 
 
 The teacher of Nazareth, dead but living, no 
 longer a child but clothed with heavenly manhood, 
 and who teaches by means of inspirations and influ- 
 
!g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ences wrought in the great school of the human 
 heart, still claims his right to be heard. He is still 
 a teacher of the Absolute Religion. 
 
 8. — It remains to be added, which I think will 
 naturally occur to the reader, that the doctrine of 
 the Absolute Religion pertains to essentials and not 
 to the mere incidents of things ; to the principles 
 rather than the form ; and not so much to institu- 
 tions and ceremonies, as to that which underlies 
 them. 
 
 It deals with those things, as we have already 
 seen, which from their nature bear the stamp of per 
 manency ; things which are because they cannot fail 
 to be ; things which exist because non-existence is 
 an impossibility ; whereas ceremonies, outward forms, 
 institutions which have beginnings, changes and end, 
 and mere outward arrangements and incidents of 
 any kind, which are the result of specific and positive 
 enactment, are temporary and unsettled in their na- 
 ture and are short in their duration. And therefore, 
 it will not be surprising, if there are many things 
 which will not be noticed in what follows ; and sim- 
 ply because they fall out of the natural line of our 
 remarks, and receive their appropriate attention in 
 other connections and with other methods of treat- 
 ment. 
 
 9. — The work which I have undertaken is de- 
 
ABSOLUTE RELIGION: 
 
 19 
 
 signed to be pacific in its spirit, and is not necessarily 
 controversial. It does not at all follow, because a 
 writer deals with a controverted subject, that his dis- 
 cussion of such a subject must necessarily be harsh 
 and controversial in its spirit or aspect. In what I 
 have to say, I shall make but little reference to names 
 and persons, and parties. I deal with principles 
 rather than with men. And it is not beyond my 
 hope that the truth will be found, and that charity 
 will be unbroken. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Personality of God. 
 
 I. — God exists. The existence of God is a doc- 
 trine of the Absolute Religion. It is true there are 
 said to be Atheists. Perhaps there may be individ- 
 uals, not very many in number, to whom that name 
 of error and sadness may apply. As long as great 
 perversions of the human mind are possible, varying 
 from the numerous forms of temporary disturbance 
 to partial or total insanity, it is not unphilosophical 
 to suppose that atheism, in the case of a few indi- 
 viduals is a possibility. But I know not that there 
 are atheistic communities or peoples. Humanity, 
 into which we are to search for the development of 
 principles, is represented by masses. The masses of 
 mankind, as they are found associated in large socie- 
 ties and communities, have never rejected the idea 
 of a God. No historian, from the days of Herodotus 
 and Thucydides, has furnished us the records of an 
 
THE PERSONALITY OE GOD. 2 I 
 
 atheistic nation. We are justified therefore in ta- 
 king the position, that the idea of a God belongs to 
 humanity. As a product of intellectualism, it finds 
 its origin in part in processes of reasoning founded 
 on the perceptions, but has a still closer alliance with 
 the intuitions ; and the Being whom it reveals com- 
 mands by a law of our nature, the reverential and 
 loving homage of the heart. So clearly is the doc- 
 trine of God's existence inscribed upon the works of 
 outward nature, as they are interpreted by the hu- 
 man intellect, so strongly is this doctrine affirmed 
 by the interior convictions and intuitions, and so 
 necessary is it in response to the yearnings of the 
 human heart, that I cannot feel the necessity of en- 
 tering into argument in relation to it. I take it for 
 granted. 
 
 2. — But there is a matter, connected with the di- 
 vine existence, which cannot well be omitted, and 
 which is of great importance. I refer to the 
 doctrine of the Personality of God. Various circum- 
 stances have brought this question into prominence, 
 and justify giving attention to it. Within a few 
 years no small number of writers of acknowledged 
 learning and ability have greatly disturbed the tra- 
 ditional belief as well as the religious hopes and con- 
 solations of a large portion of the Christian world, 
 by affirming and attempting to prove the imperson- 
 
22 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ality of the Divine Being. In accordance with our 
 plan of inquiry we shall endeavor to show, that the 
 Personality of God is taught by the absolute method ; 
 and that the teachings of the Absolute Religion, in 
 this particular as well as in others of a fundamentally 
 religious nature, are in harmony with the Christian 
 doctrine. 
 
 3. — It cannot well be doubted, that the person- 
 ality of God is one of the doctrines contained in the 
 teachings of Christ. It is difficult to see how he 
 could address God as his Father, and in terms im- 
 plying the greatest veneration and love, without be- 
 lieving in the Personality of God. 
 
 When, in the trials and sorrows of the Cross, he 
 prayed, " Father forgive them for they know not 
 what they do ;'' and when in the final agony of his 
 spirit he said, " my God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me," it cannot well be supposed that he 
 believed he was praying to an abstraction, or to a 
 spiritual generalization, or a great undefined princi- 
 ple of life, instead of a percipient Being, who in the 
 mental or spiritual sense had ears to hear, and a 
 heart to feel. We cannot doubt, that the careful 
 readers of the New Testament, in view of what is 
 there said having a bearing upon the subject now 
 before us, fully and earnestly accept the idea, as the 
 only one which can be reasonably entertained, that 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD. 23 
 
 Jesus believed in the divine personality. This won- 
 derful Being, of whom we shall have occasion to 
 speak more fully hereafter, had a heart that wor- 
 shipped. His intellectual powers, which are some- 
 times overshadowed and concealed by the manifes- 
 tations of his great goodness, revealed and identi- 
 fied the object of his worship ; and his loving heart, 
 which added emotion to perception, accepted the 
 revelation and yielded its homage. But affirm that 
 God is not a personal being, only an underlying 
 principle or causative force which permeates all ex- 
 istences and develops itself in all the forms of ex- 
 istence, without the intelligence and responsibility 
 which are implied in personality and only by means 
 of fixed and inexorable law, and from that moment 
 it is intuitionally evident, that there is no revela- 
 tion of an object of worship because no such object 
 exists. And worship itself, which is so obviously 
 one of the leading characteristics of the inward life 
 of Christ, necessarily ceases, because there is no ob- 
 ject to which it can attach itself. 
 
 4. — But philosophy, or something which goes 
 under that great though often perverted name, has 
 in these later times taken a different view. Those 
 who are acquainted with the speculations and sug- 
 gestions on this subject, associated, more or less dis- 
 tinctly with the names of Helvetius, Diderot, Con- 
 
24 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 dorcet, D'Alembert, Hume, Gibbon, Fichte, Hegel, 
 Compte, Herbert Spencer, Mills, Strauss, Feuerbach 
 and others, know well how confidently God has 
 been announced as a principle of activity and causa- 
 tion, but without the recognized attribute of a per- 
 son ; in other words as a great spiritual or psychical 
 energy, pervading all things that exist, and holding 
 a fixed and necessary relation to results, but with- 
 out a distinct and available responsibility, and with- 
 out even knowing or having any interest in know- 
 ing what the results of its own activity shall be. It 
 is painful to know how widely such speculations 
 have affected the thoughts and feelings of men. 
 But this doctrine of God, which analyzed to its re- 
 sults is practically the annihilation of God, is a very 
 different thing from the simple, sublime, and truly 
 philosophic idea of God, which is justly understood 
 as holding a place in the doctrines of Christ. 
 
 The God of the Bible, from the earliest to the 
 latest portion of its announcements is a personal 
 God. All that is said of God in that great treasury 
 of thought, including the personal teachings ol 
 Christ, with all its affirmations of his eternity and 
 universality, recognizes and emphasizes the great 
 and essential fact of his personality. 
 
 And we cannot hesitate in saying, that a true 
 philosophy, when applied to the doctrines of reli- 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD. 2 $ 
 
 gion, in other words that the Absolute Religion, or 
 Religion developed in the highest and truest hu- 
 man thought and feeling, is on the side of the bibli- 
 cal teachings. 
 
 5. — And let us now look at the subject in a little 
 different aspect, with a view as briefly as possible, 
 to bring it to the test of facts and reason. Before we 
 can either affirm or deny the personality of God, we 
 must first make personality itself, separate from the 
 being to whom it attaches and of whom it is predi- 
 cated, the subject of our thought. It is at this point 
 that we detect what seems to us the beginning of a 
 great error. 
 
 Personality is not merely a name ; nor is it merely 
 an idea. In order to know fully what it is, we must 
 go back from the name to the idea ; and from the 
 idea or thought to the fact or truth which the idea 
 represents. The name is merely an aid to the 
 thought ; an auxiliary or help in the use of the 
 thought. The thought or idea of personality, which 
 arises necessarily in the mind under the appropriate 
 circumstances-of its origin, is justly regarded as a 
 simple or elementary idea ; and as such it may be 
 admitted that it is not susceptible of that logical 
 process which is known as a definition. And yet 
 not being what Mr. Locke would call an illusive or 
 chimerical idea, but one harmonizing with the truth 
 2 
 
2 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 of things, it involves and affirms to our interior con- 
 victions and belief the fact or verity of the thing to 
 which it relates. And hence, in connection with the 
 necessary laws of mental action, we have a basis, and 
 we cannot get it in any other way, for affirming the 
 fact of personality. We say for instance in relation 
 to ourselves and say it without hesitation that we 
 are personal beings. And when we thus come to 
 personality itself, in distinction from the idea of it ; 
 when we reach the verity or reality of the fact in 
 distinction from its intellectual representation, if it 
 should happen that definitions in the usual logical 
 form fail to make it more clearly known, on account 
 of its interior and elementary nature, it is still both 
 clear in itself as a matter of internal and intuitional 
 revelation, and we can also obtain to some extent 
 additional knowledge of what it is by the indirect 
 process of indicating what it is not. 
 
 For instance, personality, in distinction from the 
 idea or intellectual representation of personality, and 
 considered as a fact or verity actually existing and 
 of which it can be affirmed that it is, is not identical 
 with existence, nor is it identical with knowledge, 
 nor with power, nor with activity, nor with expan- 
 sion. It may have its important relations with any 
 or all of them ; but it requires to be kept distinct, 
 both in its idea through which it is represented to 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD. 2 7 
 
 us, and also in its fact or realization. A Being, sep- 
 arate in the mere fact of existence from other beings, 
 who has actually powers of perception and affection, 
 and who can not only know and judge and feel, but 
 has the volitional power which can carry his judg- 
 ments and feelings to their appropriate issues, has 
 necessarily a personality, whether his susceptibilities 
 of knowledge be greater or less, or whether the mere 
 extent or expansion of his existence be greater or 
 less, or whether he comes within the limits of our 
 comprehension or not. The convictions of the hu- 
 man mind, arising by their own necessary laws of 
 being, require us in such a case to affirm the fact or 
 realization of personality, and enable us to say with- 
 out any misgivings, that we have before us a per- 
 sonal being. We have not merely the idea of per- 
 sonality, which is a matter of interior or subjective 
 experience and nothing more ; but we have before 
 us the fact of personality, in its outward or objective 
 realization. 
 
 6. — With this view of the matter before us, and 
 on such fundamental principles, we proceed to af- 
 firm that God is a personal being. The doctrine 
 that God is an impersonal being, probably owes its 
 origin in part to a mistake in the philosophical ele- 
 ments involved in the doctrine of personality, and 
 in part to the fact, that God is without limits. As 
 
2 8 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 we have been in the habit of ascribing personality 
 to beings who, in having form, are subject to the 
 limitations of form, we easily fall into the habit of 
 associating personality with such limitations, and at 
 last are apt to adopt the conclusion, that where 
 there are no limits, no well-defined boundaries of 
 existence constituting a form, there can be no per- 
 sonality. Now it must be admitted, that in the ex- 
 tent or expansion of his being, God is without lim- 
 its; but it does not at all follow that God, because 
 he transcends the limitations of the human senses, 
 and is not the subject of material measurement or 
 any other measurement, is therefore not a personal 
 God. The question of personality does not turn 
 upon mere extent or expansion of being, whether 
 physically or even psychically considered, but rath- 
 er upon the traits or characteristics of being. In 
 considering the subject of God's personality, it is a 
 proper inquiry, whether he possesses intelligence 
 which is cognizant of the fact of his own existence 
 and power ; whether he has the capability of know- 
 ing and affirming the fixed relation of himself, both 
 in perception and action, to that interior law of rec- 
 titude which is also a part of his being ; whether he 
 possesses a volitional power correspondent to the 
 powers of perception and the claims of moral obli- 
 gation ? It is in the answer to such questions as 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD. 29 
 
 these, that we find the basis of personality consider- 
 ed as a fact or realization. And if the answer is in 
 the affirmative, then God most evidently possesses 
 all the requisites of personality, and stands forth be- 
 fore the universe, not merely as a blind and unintel- 
 ligent principle of movement, but as a personal God, 
 capable of intelligent design and action, endowed 
 with responsibility both to himself and to all beings 
 that are dependent on him, and entitled, in the case 
 of those who are dependent, to obedience and hom- 
 age. 
 
 7. — And it is proper to say here, as an indirect 
 confirmation of our position, that humanity de- 
 mands a God who can thus be recognized and wor- 
 shipped. The instinct of reverence and homage, 
 which evidently pervades the human heart, so much 
 so that it has found its place as an attribute of hu- 
 manity in all lands and all ages, requires, and cannot 
 be satisfied with anything short of a personal God. 
 In the view of the great masses of men, to deny the 
 personality of God, is, to all practical purposes and 
 results, much the same, as we have already intima- 
 -ted as to deny the existence of God. So that we 
 run no hazard in saying, that a personal God is one 
 of the great religious necessities of humanity. Re- 
 ligion is the interior and domestic tie, which makes 
 the united family of the finite and the Infinite. 
 
30 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 And without a Being, who is not only supreme in 
 his attributes, but who is approachable, and can be 
 addressed and confided in, on the basis furnished by 
 a deific personality, the human race is necessarily 
 left in the condition of a bewildered and sorrowing 
 orphanage. 
 
 8. — And we may add that the opposite doctrine 
 that which denies God's personality, seems to us to 
 be full of danger in other respects. It is not only 
 the abnegation of religion, but of practical morality. 
 The doctrine of impersonality, admitting that it some- 
 times comes before us with learned and imposing 
 pretensions, will be found, if allowed to go unques- 
 tioned, to be attended not only with the rupture of 
 God and man, but of man and his fellow-man. It is 
 a doctrine which not only strikes boldly at the re- 
 ligious intuitions of the great heart of humanity, but 
 is an inlet, through its want of practical power, to 
 hostility, fraud, cruelty, and all varieties of crime. 
 No theory of practical morals has ever been con- 
 structed on the basis of the impersonality of God, 
 which is available against the mighty evils that con- 
 tinually imperil man's social condition. The auda- 
 city of wrong and crime is not frightened by an ab- 
 straction. Nor is it much afraid of a positive princi- 
 ple of life, which has no self-regulated thought and 
 volition. If it were possible for impersonality to 
 
THE PERSONALITY OF GOD. o X 
 
 leave us a God at all, which it is not, it would be a 
 God with no eyes to see, and no cars to hear, and 
 no hands to handle, and no head to think, and no 
 heart to feel, and no will to execute ; — a God, if any 
 one should object to the material form of the expres- 
 sions, with nothing which our spiritual eyes could 
 see, or our spiritual ears could hear, or our hearts' 
 necessities could appeal to ; — a God, in any light in 
 which it is possible to consider him, without a voice 
 to cheer us in our efforts to do right, and without a 
 hand to help us against the dangers which would 
 certainly assail and overwhelm us. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 God as Life. 
 
 I. — In subjecting the doctrines of Religion to the 
 estimate of the Absolute, and in thus bringing them 
 to the test of fundamental reason, so that the reli- 
 gious announcement or doctrine, whatever it may be, 
 shall be found identical with the eternal truth or 
 otherwise, it will be necessary to say something of 
 life as an ultimate and necessary principle, and to 
 affirm and verify its identity with God. Every one 
 knows how common a thing it is to speak of God, 
 not only as great and independent in himself, but as 
 sustaining a causative relation, and as being the pri 
 mal source and living principle or life of all things. 
 But God could not be the source or life of other 
 things without having life in himself. God is Life. 
 
 And the question naturally arises in the inquiring 
 mind what Life is ? In answering this question, it is 
 admitted that we may not be able, in consequence 
 of its ultimate and primary position, to say what life 
 is, in itself considered : but it will aid much in giving 
 
GOD AS LIFE. 33 
 
 clearness to our conceptions, if we proceed to give 
 concisely but distinctly some of its marks or charac- 
 teristics. 
 
 I. — One of the marks or characteristics of Life, in 
 its primary or ultimate sense, in distinction from 
 anything of a subordinate or secondary nature which 
 may sometimes bear that name, is, that it is without 
 beginning. If the Life, meaning by the term what 
 may be conveniently designated as the true or essen- 
 tial Life, could not be said to exist without a begin- 
 ning, then it would be true, that there was a time, 
 (namely, the time antecedent to its beginning,) when 
 it had no existence : a doctrine, which would leave 
 the universe for unnumbered ages without any life- 
 giving principle. It is hardly necessary to say that 
 this is a view which is inadmissible. And besides, 
 if there was a time when the Essential Life did not 
 exist, and afterwards a time when it began to exist, 
 then, inasmuch as not having existed at first it could 
 not have created itself, it must have been brought 
 into being by another Life antecedent to it in exist- 
 ence. And if there was another principle of Life 
 antecedent to it in existence, which was without be- 
 ginning and had also by means of its higher and 
 broader nature the power of developing existence in 
 other forms, then that antecedent life was, and is, 
 the Essential Life. Therefore it is reasonable to say 
 2* 
 
34 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 that one of the marks or characteristics of Life, in 
 the true and higher sense of that term, is, that it is 
 without beginning. 
 
 2. — Another mark or characteristic of Life, in the 
 higher or essential sense, is, that it is eternal. Eter- 
 nity, which has reference to termination as well as 
 commencement, and excludes both, is without begin- 
 ning and also without end. The Essential Life is 
 eternal. And it is so because it is without begin- 
 ning. That which exists -without beginning to exist, 
 has the reason or ground of existence in itself; and, 
 therefore, having life in itself and of itself, there is no 
 reason why it should die. The fact of existence, 
 with no reason of existence but what is found in 
 itself, obviously involves the idea of eternity of exist- 
 ence. Being what it is, and with adequate reasons 
 for thus being, and without any dependence for its 
 existence on any thing outside of itself, it necessarily 
 continues to be what it is. Continuance is the oppo- 
 site of cessation. The Essential Life, therefore is 
 eternal. 
 
 3. — Another and third characteristic of the great 
 living principle which we are considering, is that 
 it is universal. If the principle of Life is limited, 
 then, place the limitation wherever you may, the 
 great universe of things, in comparison with which 
 the restricted or limited universe is as nothing, is 
 
GOD AS LIFE. 
 
 35 
 
 beyond this limit ; reaching out in all directions in 
 immensity which is boundless; and this infinitely 
 wider or true universe is a universe without life, 
 which is inconceivable. The fixed and necessary 
 conceptions of the human intellect require life, 
 wherever there is a capacity of life. A universe 
 without life is nothing more or less than universal 
 death. The doctrine of a universe without life is 
 just as contradictory to the conceptions of the intui- 
 tive or suggestional intellect of man, (that depart- 
 ment of our nature which gives us all our primary 
 or elementary ideas,) as would be the doctrine of a 
 universe without the attendant conceptions and facts 
 of space and time. It is on such grounds, stated as 
 briefly as possible, that we are justified in the asser- 
 tion, that the Essential Life is universal. 
 
 4. — A fourth mark or characteristic is, that it is 
 a life which in its own interior nature is without 
 change. Changes spring out of it, since it is that 
 essential unity of existence out of which comes all 
 variety. But in itself it is unchangeable. And it is 
 so, because it is eternal and universal. Being eter- 
 nal, it cannot limit itself in time ; and being univer- 
 sal, it cannot limit itself in place. And being thus 
 commensurate with all place and time, meeting the 
 wants of every moment of time and of every condi- 
 tion of things, a change in its own nature, whatever 
 
36 ABSOLUTE RELIGION 
 
 may be true of change in its varied manifestations, 
 becomes an impossibility. It is life now ; and it is 
 life always. And it is the same life, the same in 
 its nature and extent, to-day, yesterday, and for- 
 ever. 
 
 5. — Another characteristic of the Essential Life 
 is, that it never ceases in its action. Activity is a 
 part of its nature ; it is a principle, which ever goes 
 out of its subject to its object, and finds the neces- 
 sary nourishment of its own life in the good it does 
 to another. To cease to act, therefore, would be to 
 cease to live. It is true, that it changes its modes 
 of action ; and this change of mode in action may 
 be regarded as furnishing the compensation of rest ; 
 but still, there is properly speaking, no cessation of 
 activity. And accordingly, in being a" perpetual 
 life, it is also a perpetual development. Always 
 one, and yet exhaustless and countless in its diver- 
 sity ; the endless out-going of the central infinite in 
 the multiplied and constantly varied manifestations 
 of the finite. 
 
 6. — It is, then, a life which is endless, boundless, 
 changeless, ceaseless ; the source of all other life, 
 because it is itself the true life ; and the source also 
 in. an important sense of all knowledge, because 
 knowledge is inseparable from Life in its highest 
 
GOD AS LIFE. 37 
 
 form ; and yet, Life in its own nature, in many re- 
 spects, is necessarily and forever unknown. 
 
 And now comes a remarkable fact. Such char- 
 acteristics as have now been described, will apply 
 equally well to God, and to God only. The charac- 
 teristics of Life are equally the characteristics of 
 God. And they justify us in saying, that God has 
 the true life in himself; that God is not only the 
 great causative and living principle of all things, 
 but more concisely and yet truly, that God is Life. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Identity of Life and Love. 
 
 I. — But there is something additional, notwith- 
 standing the possible limitations of our knowledge 
 in some important respects, which may help us to a 
 more interior view of the nature of Life. There is 
 something within the limits of human experience, 
 which allies us to the great Source from which we 
 come, and which may be appealed to in these in- 
 quiries. The Essential Life, in recognizing itself in 
 its causative and sustaining form as existing in hu- 
 manity, and in being thus brought in some degree 
 within the sphere of human comprehension, and 
 made the subject of human analysis, reveals itself 
 as Love. So that in view of the evidences that at- 
 tend it, we may venture to lay down the proposi- 
 tion, that Love and Life are essentially the same: 
 a proposition so wide in its sweep and so fruitful in 
 its consequences that, while its evidences compel 
 the acquiescence and homage of the intellect, its 
 
IDENTITY OF' LIFE AND LOVE. 
 
 39 
 
 tendencies and results, when rightly understood, fill 
 the heart with joy. 
 
 2. — In prosecuting the inquiries of this chapter, 
 we derive an argument in support of the identity 
 of Life and Love, in the first place, from the Divine 
 Nature itself. And such an argument, harmonizing 
 with the Absolute methods of thought, brings our 
 conclusions, so far as they have a religious aspect at 
 all, within the limits of the Absolute Religion. God 
 is Life: God is Love. 
 
 In being inseparable from' all existences, in be- 
 ing the central causative principle of all existences, 
 and in harmonizing with all existences, there is no 
 possible motive or reason why the Divine Life 
 should not be interested, (the relative position and 
 responsibilities of all being taken into account,) in 
 seeking the good, the happiness, and the perfection 
 of all. Its motive of action cannot turn back upon 
 itself and seek a causation prior to that which is al- 
 ready first, because, being infinite itself, it cannot 
 ascend a higher height, or sound a deeper depth, 
 than it has in its own nature. And thus standing 
 central, and at the same time without limitation, 
 and consequently having no power outside of itself 
 to excite its fears, or to limit its responsibilities, 
 what strength of thought or ingenuity of conception 
 can suggest a motive in the Infinite Mind, which is 
 
40 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 adverse to the universal good. In other words, the 
 Life of God, in its substance and essentiality, is, and 
 must be, a Life of Love. 
 
 3- — And now let us look at the subject in another 
 aspect. Love, in distinction from the counterfeits 
 of love ; we mean that divine love, which " casts out 
 fear," and which pursues the good of its object for 
 the sake of the good and not for the sake of reward ; 
 such love has all the marks or characteristics which 
 have already been ascribed to the Essential Life. 
 It was said of Essential Life that it has no beginning. 
 The same can be said of Love. Looking at love 
 psychologically, and in one of its most distinguishing 
 aspects, it may be described as simply benevolent 
 desire, or the desire of good. And like every other 
 desire, it involves in its very nature and as a part of 
 its nature, a tendency to activity and to practical 
 results. It is essentially a motive power. Now 
 take the universe as the theatre of inquiry, and say 
 whether Love, considered as a motive power, has or 
 can nave, admits . or can admit, of any active and 
 causative power antecedent to itself. Looking at the 
 question psychologically, it seems to us that only 
 three suppositions are possible in the case ; first, 
 indifference, which is not life, but the negation of 
 life ; second, the desire of evil, which, if it be admit- 
 ted as the primal activity, would annihilate God, and 
 
IDENTITY OF LIFE AND LOVE. 41 
 
 enthrone Satan ; and third, the desire of good, which 
 is only another name for Love. 
 
 Now apply this analysis to God. If God exists 
 at all, he exists as Essential Life. As essential life, 
 He is essential activity ; and that, too, without a be- 
 ginning of such activity. Forever, and as a part of 
 his nature, He must have had in himself a motivity 
 a principle of action. That principle of activity, 
 could not have been indifference ; for that would be 
 a contradiction in terms. It could not be the desire 
 of evil, for that would constitute a satanic Infinite. 
 On the only remaining supposition, it must have 
 been the desire of good or love. Love therefore, is, 
 and, from the nature of the case, must be, the con- 
 stitutive activity of the universe. And being central 
 in the infinite nature, we may say of it as we say of 
 God, it is without beginning ; and, therefore it is, 
 and must be to that extent, the same with the Es- 
 sential Life of things. 
 
 4. — And again, looking at the subject a little fur- 
 ther, we need not hesitate to say, that the circum- 
 stances and intuitions which necessitate the affirma- 
 tion, that Love is without beginning, involve also 
 the additional affirmation, that Love is without end- 
 ing, in other words, it is eternal. And as it has no 
 beginning, and no ending, and thus covers all time ; 
 so, looking at it in another aspect, and by means of 
 
42 ABSOLUTE RELIGION, 
 
 other processes of thought, such as will easily sug- 
 gest themselves, we are under the necessity of affirm- 
 ing further that the principle under consideration is 
 a principle without limitation ; a principle surmount- 
 ing the boundaries which might be supposed to stop 
 its progress, and reaching to every place and every 
 object within the realms of actual or possible exist- 
 ence. And this great principle, without beginning 
 and without end, reaching to all objects and living 
 in all events, universal by the same necessities which 
 compel the fact of its eternity, is thus made to stand 
 forth with the same attributes and the same features 
 as the Essential Life. So that we are justified in 
 saying that Life is Love, and Love is Life. And 
 God, who is the embodiment of life, is the embodi- 
 ment of love ; and is what He is, whether He is 
 called God or Life, because He is Love. 
 
 5. — These views are the views of the Absolute 
 Religion ; views which involve the unchangeable 
 facts and relations of things, and have the sanction 
 of the highest reason ; and if God had not taught 
 them in the Scriptures, we should still be held ac- 
 countable by the light that is within. But the reli- 
 gion of enlightened reason and the religion of the 
 Bible are one ; thorough and candid inquiries, enlight- 
 ened by the spirit of humility and faith, will not fail 
 to harmonize them. And hence we open the Bible, 
 
IDENTITY OF LIFE AND LOVE. 43 
 
 and find that wonderful expression, repeated and 
 emphasized in its essential meaning in a variety of 
 forms, " God is Love.'' This great truth, upon 
 which hinges the destiny of the universe, seems to 
 have developed itself especially in the bosom of the 
 apostle John. Without going through long pro- 
 cesses of reasoning and possibly without any train- 
 ing in such processes, he nevertheless had the grand 
 intuitions of the heart, and uttered affirmations, 
 which God in the soul had taught him. Plato, the 
 first of Grecian philosophers, could affirm that God 
 a geometrizes,'' and he uttered a truth, correspond- 
 ing in depth and comprehension to this wonderful 
 saying of the humble and loving disciple. 
 
 6. — The doctrine that Love is identical with Life, 
 brings the subject of the Essential Life within the 
 sphere of human cognitions. It is true that Love, 
 considered as Life, operates in all space and all time ; 
 but it is also true that it does this, without being 
 identical with either. So that it can be said, in ex- 
 pressions which imperfectly convey the idea, that it 
 is the life of space without being space, the life of 
 time without being time ; in other words, a principle 
 and not an expansion, an elemental activity, and 
 not an outward, material measurement. And hence 
 arises both the fact and the possibility of its incar- 
 nation. The Essential Life, whether called Life or 
 
44 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 Love, is individual as well as universal ; dwelling in 
 God, and dwelling more or less, in all the creatures 
 of God who are born into his image. And since the 
 day when Christ walked in the valley of Nazareth, 
 and wept in the garden of Gethsemane, it can be said 
 that the life of God dwells in the soul of man, and 
 the problem of the Infinite, so far as its most essen- 
 tial element is concerned, is brought within the field 
 of human consciousness, and is made the subject of 
 human affirmation. The holy man, whoever and 
 wherever he may be, walks in life ; — the same divine 
 and essential life which dwells in the bosom of the 
 Infinite. The life of the follower of Christ is the 
 same in its essence with the life of Christ. There is 
 a philosophical and substantial foundation for that 
 wonderful but most true assertion of the apostle Paul, 
 "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The 
 essential life of Christ was LOVE ;— the cross of Cal- 
 vary was only its necessary resultant, and its divine 
 symbol. The cross is Love : and in that view of the 
 interior and subjective nature of the cross, it stands 
 as a bright and perpetual reality in the heart of every 
 Christian. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 God as Unity and Duality. 
 
 I. — Having given in the preceding chapters some 
 of the marks or characteristics of Life, and shown its 
 identity with Love ; and having seen that God is 
 Life in the highest sense of the term, or what may 
 conveniently be named Essential Life ; in other 
 words, that the fact of his existence is a problem of 
 necessity, that Life is in Him by essence or being, 
 that He cannot be otherwise than what He is, and 
 is without beginning and without end ; and having 
 seen also that God, notwithstanding the objections 
 that have been so freely made in these later times, 
 is a Personality, and is susceptible of being recog- 
 nized and approached as such; we are now prepared 
 to go a step further, and to say in the light both of 
 the Absolute Religion and the Scriptures, that God, 
 the great fact and mystery of the universe, is at the 
 same moment and by the necessities of existence, 
 Unity, Duality, and Trinity. 
 
 2. — It may be said, however, that neither of 
 
46 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 these great expressions standing alone, pregnant as 
 they are with a deep and divine meaning, can con- 
 vey to us the full idea of that wonderful being whom 
 we call God. But taken in connection with each 
 other and with Personality as the basis of their ap- 
 plication, they open views of the Infinite, which the 
 exploration of ages would not fully satisfy. We 
 shall treat of them in the order in which they have 
 been named. 
 
 Of the first affirmation, namely, the Unity of the 
 divine Nature, we shall have but little comparatively 
 to say, because it is a subject on which much has 
 been ably written, and is one which to thinking and 
 philosophic minds is but little short of self-evident. 
 The argument on the subject is commonly and very 
 justly drawn from the evidences of oneness of design 
 in the multiplied objects of creation. 
 
 3. — There is a foundation for the argument from 
 creation, because creation implies the fact of a crea- 
 tor, and because, looking at these objects in the 
 light of their logical relation, creation does not con- 
 tain anything which did not antecedently exist in 
 the ideas of the creating Mind, so that creation, ex- 
 isting in the universe of objects around us, may justly 
 be regarded as the out-going, the reflex, or if it be 
 preferred, the shadows of the Infinite. And accord- 
 ingly what God is in the eternal principles of his 
 
GOD AS UNITY AND DUALITY. 
 
 47 
 
 nature, including his Unity, is written not merely in 
 the messages of Prophets and Apostles, but in his 
 out-goings, in the emanations of Himself which ex- 
 ist in the things that are made, in the great robe of 
 created forms and life which hangs as a garment 
 around the brightness of his essential being. And 
 there, as we read in accordance with the laws of our 
 mental beings the multiplied facts of emanated or 
 created existence, which are expressions of the one- 
 ness of thought and plan that lie hidden in the 
 Source or Centre from which they come, our convic- 
 tions become harmonized and consolidated in a par- 
 ticular direction ; and at last it is impossible for us 
 to doubt the Unity of that great Creative Centre. 
 We cannot dwell, nor do we feel it to be necessary, 
 upon the specific processes of thought by which this 
 is done. Nevertheless, Unity is the first word in 
 the divine alphabet ; and Nature, speaking in her 
 silent voices, and writing her record in the book of 
 the Absolute Religion, harmonizes with the Scrip- 
 tures in saying, God is ONE God. 
 
 4. — But this is not the only or the final word in 
 the great facts of God's existence. We proceed 
 therefore to say, without however, confidently ex- 
 pecting an equal unanimity of opinion in regard to 
 it, that the Divine Nature is dual, or two-fold, at the 
 same time that it is one. This great mystery in the 
 
4 8 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 nature of the Divine Being is rendered possible by 
 the great fact of Personality, which has this pecu- 
 liarity, that, while it necessarily implies and in- 
 cludes existence, it may be regarded as something 
 more than existence, because it is a fixed and dis- 
 criminated modification of existence. The unity is 
 in the existence ; the duality which attaches to the 
 same existence, and can never yield its claim to it, 
 reveals itself in that real and indestructible modifi- 
 cation of existence — that elemental fact of the uni- 
 verse, not easily explained, but which can never be 
 ignored,— called Personality. It is upon this basis 
 that the Absolute Religion, which cannot interpret 
 itself independently of existing facts, harmonizes 
 with the Scriptures in breaking up the desolateness 
 of Unity and proclaiming the two-foldness or duality 
 of the Divine Nature. And if we will but open our 
 eyes, so significant are the facts that have relation 
 to it, we cannot fail to see at least some evidences 
 of it. 
 
 5. — Some of the facts upon which our conclusions 
 are founded are these : In every form or kind of 
 existence which comes fully within the limits of 
 human knowledge, we find that each form, while it 
 is discriminated from every other form, reveals within 
 the prescribed limits of its own existence the won- 
 derful combination of unity of nature with a two- 
 
GOD . / S UNIT Y AND D UALIT Y. ^ 
 
 foldncss or duality in the constitution of that nature. 
 Take our common humanity as an example. No 
 one can well deny that humanity is one in nature or 
 being, while at the same time, without abrogating in 
 any degree its unity and identity of nature, it is 
 dualistic in personality. Man is not woman and 
 woman is not man, and yet neither man nor woman 
 is out of the limits of humanity. They stand re 
 vealed, to the comprehension of all true and candid 
 judgment, forever one in the essential identicalness 
 of being or nature, and yet forever discriminated by 
 facts and relations which make them two in one. 
 And our argument is, that God, in revealing this 
 great fact in everything that is made, has revealed, 
 in connection with the primal and essential unity in 
 his own existence, the additional fact of duality. In 
 other words, God is both Fatherhood and Mother- 
 hood. 
 
 To the mind impelled by the laws of its own 
 being, that intuitionally accepts the great fact of 
 Causation, and can read the inherent nature of the 
 cause in the facts that flow from it, this, I think, is 
 the inevitable conclusion. And from the eternal 
 Fatherhood and Motherhood, furnishing, in their co- 
 existent and co-operative duality, the only conceiva- 
 ble basis of such a result, all things proceed. 
 
 6. — But is there anything in the Scriptures, any- 
 
50 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 thing in the common and generally accepted forms 
 of religious thought and feeling which harmonizes 
 with this view? It may, perhaps, be admitted that 
 the Scriptures are not very full or very explicit on 
 this subject, and yet there are some things that favor 
 what has been said. It is worthy of notice, that in 
 the very earliest part of the Bible there are expres- 
 sions which clearly intimate a plurality, not, indeed, 
 in the essential nature, but in the personalities of the 
 Godhead. The Hebrew word ELOHIM, which often 
 occurs as the name of the Supreme Being, and which 
 is translated God, is in the plural form. In the ac- 
 count which is given in the first, third, and eleventh 
 chapters of Genesis of God's early doings, he is 
 represented as conversing with another, and in such 
 a way as to convey the idea of more than one divine 
 personality. It is a part of this early history that 
 God made man in his own image ; and yet it seems 
 to be obvious from what follows that the man who 
 was thus created contained in himself a combination 
 of male and female elements, which either consti- 
 tuted, or was destined subsequently to constitute, a 
 duality of persons. And it may be remarked in this 
 connection that the intermingling of the plural pro- 
 nouns us and our with the singular pronouns he and 
 his, when God himself is the subject of discourse, as 
 in Genesis i. : 26, 27, may be regarded as natural or 
 
GOD IS UNI TY AND D UA LI TV. 51 
 
 at least explainable, on the supposition of a plurality 
 of persons; but not otherwise. 
 
 7. — In the book of Proverbs, the authorship of 
 which is generally, and probably with justice, ascri- 
 bed to Solomon, the second Personality, as it is 
 sometimes called by writers, or that personality 
 which indicates the maternal element and power of 
 the Godhead, is understood by many commentators, 
 especially those of a deeply intuitive and devout cast 
 of mind, to be announced under the name of Wis- 
 dom, called in the Greek Septuagint translation, SO- 
 PHIA. " Wisdom," or the " Divine Sophia,'' is rep- 
 resented in the eighth chapter of the book, as lifting 
 up her voice, as standing in the top of high places, 
 as crying aloud at the entrance of the city gates. 
 The character of the language is so remarkable in 
 some parts of the chapter, that it is certainly difficult 
 to explain it on the ground merely of figurative 
 forms of expression. " By me," says Wisdom, 
 " kings reign and princes decree justice. By me 
 princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the 
 earth/' And again, in language which reminds one 
 of what is said of the Wisdom or Logos in John's 
 gospel, " The Lord possessed me in the beginning 
 of his ways, before the works of old." And again, 
 " There I was by him as one brought up with him ; 
 
52 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before 
 him." Prov. 8: 15, 16, 23, 30. 
 
 I am aware that different and somewhat con- 
 flicting interpretations have been given by learned 
 men to this portion of Proverbs. The reader who 
 wishes to go into a minute examination of it, which 
 our limits and the pressure of numerous topics will 
 not permit us to do, will find valuable aids in the 
 15th volume of the Bibliotheca Sacra, in a very able 
 and exhaustive article, in support of the position 
 that Wisdom in these passages is a divine Personal- 
 ity, by Professor Barrows, of Andover. 
 
 We find evidence also, that the doctrine of a du- 
 ality in the Godhead, and of a Wisdom or Maternal 
 principle, existed widely among the Jews, from vari- 
 ous passages in that portion of the Jewish writings 
 which are regarded by the Protestants as apocryphal. 
 In the apocryphal book, entitled the Wisdom of 
 Solomon, written about one hundred years before 
 Christ, and in the Greek language, the SOPHIA or 
 Wisdom is repeatedly introduced, and in such a way 
 as to indicate personality. In the 9th chapter, 4th 
 verse, it is said, " Give me the SOPHIA [or Wisdom] 
 which sitteth by thy throne" At the ninth verse, she 
 is represented as being present with God when he 
 made the world. And I think it is worthy of notice, 
 that in the 1st and 2d verses of the 9th chapter, So- 
 
GOD IS UNITY AND DC/A II TV. 53 
 
 phia or Wisdom is used as a parallel expression, and 
 as synonymous with Logos. It is the same in the 
 12th verse of the 16th chapter. Similar passages, 
 and which have been understood, to some extent, as 
 indicating a Motherhood or maternal personality in 
 the Divine Nature, are found also in the apocry- 
 phal book, entitled, the Wisdom of the Son of Si- 
 rach. 
 
 9. — In the Jewish Cabala, or traditional script- 
 ural commentary, which began to be collected some 
 years before the coming of Christ, there are eviden- 
 ces of such a belief. Mrs. Child, in a work entitled 
 " The Progress of Religious Ideas,'' has made refer- 
 ence to this fact in a passage near the commence- 
 ment of her second volume. " According to the 
 cabalistic doctrine," she says, " God was pure, un- 
 created light, existing by the necessity of its own 
 nature, filling the immensity of space, and contain- 
 ing within itself the principle of life and motion. 
 The souls of all beings were portions of Him, and 
 had existed in Him. All forms of being were mere- 
 ly manifestations of his eternal, indwelling ideas. 
 The Wisdom of the Eternal they supposed to be a 
 feminine deity, whom they called SOPHIA." 
 
 10. — The most satisfactory announcement, how- 
 ever, on this deeply interesting subject, is that which 
 occurs in the generally recognized Scriptures ; and 
 
54 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 is to be found in the first chapter of John's Gospel. 
 To understand its full force, we must keep in mind, 
 what I think a careful and critical examination will 
 fully justify, the identity of the Logos and the Sophia. 
 " In the beginning was the Logos or Word ; and the 
 Word was with God, and the Word was God." ■ In 
 other words ; God, the great positive principle of 
 the universe, the divine Personality, which is char- 
 acterized especially by the attributes of power and 
 causation, existed in the beginning, and as the ante- 
 cedent of all created things. But He had a com- 
 panion ; He did not exist alone. The Word or Lo- 
 gos, the Wisdom or Sophia, different expressions 
 for the same principle of Eternal Life, was with Him. 
 And the Logos was God ; not only with God, but 
 was God. 
 
 ii. — An Infinite Love, existing as a positive per- 
 sonality, implies and requires, as the complement to 
 its own nature, a correspondent existence, receptive of 
 whatever it is able to communicate ; in other words, 
 an Infinite Beloved. On no other supposition can 
 we understand how the wants of its affectional na- 
 ture, for we cannot suppose that God is destitute of 
 such a nature, can be met. The personality of the 
 infinite Love, which is characterized by the attributes 
 of causation and power, would fail in the great pur- 
 poses of being, and thus would essentially destroy 
 
GOD IS UNIT Y A ND DUAIITY. 55 
 
 itself, if — speaking after the imperfect manner of 
 men — it were not enfolded in the arms of the Eter- 
 nal Wisdom, the Logos, the Sophia. Such, in the 
 somewhat mystic words of the Apostle John, words 
 liable, perhaps, to be misunderstood or perverted, 
 but nevertheless significant of a truth of heavenly 
 beauty, is the announcement of the infinite Pater- 
 nit)' and the Infinite Motherhood. 
 
 Undoubtedly the language of John, like every- 
 thing else that takes the imperfect form of words, is 
 susceptible of criticism. We are aware there are 
 those who are of opinion that the expressions he 
 employs can be explained on the ground that the 
 Logos is the name of an attribute merely, and not 
 of a personality. But it must be admitted, I think, 
 especially when all the facts brought to notice in the 
 various passages are carefully compared, that such 
 an explanation is not the most natural and obvious 
 one. 
 
 12. — The thought, which finds its expression in 
 the fact of celestial maternity, makes its appearance 
 in other quarters. The word Logos, as applicable 
 to God, and used in a way to indicate, in the opinion 
 of many, a divine personality, is found in the writ- 
 ings of Philo of Alexandria, a learned Jew, who 
 wrote a number of works in Greek previous to the 
 time of John. According to a statement to be 
 
56 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 found in the Critical Greek Testament of Dr. Alford, 
 Philo identifies the Logos with the Sophia, using the 
 terms as convertible ; a circumstance of a good deal 
 of interest in connection with the history of the use 
 of these terms. It is worthy of remark, also, that 
 the Logos, as the Eternal Reason, and spoken of in 
 such a way as to imply, if not directly affirm, person- 
 ality, has a place in the writings of Plato. It is not 
 necessary to suppose, however, that John, who 
 leaned on Jesus' bosom, and learned sympathetic- 
 ally, as well as in other forms of instruction, the 
 great truths that had their lodgement there, derived 
 his views, as some have conjectured, from either 
 Plato or Philo. He had other and higher sources of 
 knowledge. Nor is it necessary to suppose with Dr. 
 Adam Clarke on the other hand, although there are 
 some facts which look in that direction, that Plato 
 derived his knowledge on this subject, to whatever 
 extent it may have existed, either directly or in- 
 directly from the Jews. There is reason to believe 
 that many of the leading philosophers of Greece, 
 including Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras and Zeno in 
 the number, were true and earnest seekers after 
 moral and religious truth. And it is true of all 
 men in all ages of the world — not an accident but 
 an eternal principle — that they who seek in sim- 
 plicity and sincerity of spirit shall not fail to find, 
 
GOD IS UNITY AND DUALITY. 57 
 
 Scholars well understand, and perhaps more fully 
 so at the present time than at any antecedent 
 period, that there are rtiany thoughts and sugges- 
 tions in the doctrines and writings of Socrates and 
 Plato, in particular, which harmonize well with the 
 doctrines of the Scriptures. The same infinite Mind, 
 which has never ignored its children in any coun- 
 try or in any age, may have been the source of 
 knowledge in both cases. 
 
 13. — The doctrine under consideration makes its 
 appearance from time to time subsequently to the 
 time of Christ and his immediate successors. It is 
 found for instance, in the writings of the learned 
 Valentinus, who lived in the second century, a Jew 
 by birth, but educated in Alexandria, and subse- 
 quently resident in Rome. He regarded the Su- 
 preme Being, in the first or earliest aspect in which 
 he presents himself, as a great Primal Essence, a 
 sort of unfathomable Abyss of Existence, an im- 
 measurable ocean of life. His vast primal Existence 
 cither gradually develops itself, or manifests itself 
 connaturally and from the beginning, as Aeons or 
 Powers, which, as they were far removed according 
 to Neander, " from abstract notional attributes," 
 were probably regarded by Valentinus in the light 
 of Personalities. And these appear to be repre- 
 sented as complements or correspondences to each 
 
 3* 
 
53 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 other, namely, as Positive or Causative on the one 
 hand, and as Receptive on the other. He speaks 
 of the Aeon Sophia, or the Eternal Wisdom, as 
 unfolding itself, though at first weakly and imper- 
 fectly, as the designing or contriving mind of the 
 universe ; in other words the fashioning or artistic 
 power. It at last incarnates itself in Christ, who 
 in his human nature is the highest finite out-birth ; 
 the beginning or Elder Brother of a great family, 
 who may be expected to inherit the truth and 
 purity which, in his human nature, were manifested 
 in him. The doctrine of Valentinus is undoubtedly 
 in many respects complex and obscure ; and these 
 few sentences which give the most favorable aspect, 
 necessarily impart a very imperfect idea of it. But 
 all that it is important here to know is, that it 
 recognizes in the Divine Nature the fact of innate 
 or connatural powers and personalities, which may 
 be regarded as distinct and self-conscious in their 
 manifestations, though having a common basis of 
 existence, and also as being correspondent and com- 
 plementary as Positive and Receptive, as Father- 
 hood and Motherhood.* 
 
 14. — Other writers, among whom Heracleon and 
 Barsanides may be particularly named, who lived 
 
 * See Neander's History of the Christian Religion and Church. 
 Vol. I. Ait on Valentine and his School. 
 
GOD IS UNITY AA r D DUALITY. 
 
 59 
 
 subsequently to Valentinus, may be regarded as 
 sympathizing with him, and as being essentially of the 
 same school of religious thought. Not unfrequently 
 they apply the term SopJiia, or Wisdom (the term 
 adopted by all these writers from the Greek version 
 of the striking passage in the bo.ok of Proverbs, 
 which has already been named), in such a way, and 
 in such connected epithets, as not only to indicate 
 the fact of personality, but that divine and eternal 
 relation of Fatherhood and Motherhood to which 
 our attention in this chapter is particularly directed. 
 The doctrine is found in Clement of Alexandria, 
 who also lived subsequently to Valentinus, and 
 whose views of religious truth were in other respects 
 somewhat different. 
 
 15. — In coming down to later times we find inti- 
 mations of the doctrine under consideration in the 
 writings possessing far more depth and value than 
 is commonly supposed, of the Mystics and Quietists. 
 Suso, one of the truly devout and learned German 
 Mystics of the fourteenth century wrote a work 
 which he entitled " The Book of Eternal Wisdom." 
 Suso recognized the common doctrine on the subject, 
 chat this living and personal principle, the divine 
 SOPHIA of the Greek mode of expression and the 
 " La Sagesse Eternelle" as he calls it in the French, 
 the eternal LOGOS or Wisdom, that dwelt with God 
 
60 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and was God, bowed itself to the sphere of our err- 
 ing humanity, and became incarnated in Jesus of 
 Nazareth. And he expressly teaches, near the close 
 of the first chapter, that we have a knowledge in its 
 higher or pre-existent state by means of the knowl- 
 edge which we have of Christ in his lower or incar- 
 nate nature. WISDOM speaks, " If thou wouldst 
 contemplate me," she says " in my ineffable Divinity, 
 thou must gain a knowledge of me in my suffering 
 humanity," a declaration which contains volumes of 
 true knowledge. It is difficult to read the work to 
 which we have referred, without recognizing in it 
 the deep conviction on the part of the writer, of a 
 Personality in the Divine Nature, of the same essen- 
 tiality of being, with God and of God, and yet enti- 
 tled to be characterized by that attribute of Mother- 
 hood, without which the infinite Fatherhood, dear 
 as it is, becomes a misnomer and a nullity, Suso 
 lived in the fifteenth century. At an earlier period 
 in the twelfth century, Richard of the Abbey of 
 St. Victor in Paris used expressions which involve 
 the same doctrine. 
 
 1 6. At a later period Jacob Boehmen, a Mystic, 
 though in some respects differing from the school of 
 Suso and Tauler recognized the doctrine of the Di- 
 vine Motherhood. We can make nothing else of his 
 frequent mention of the " Virgin Sophia," whom he 
 
GOD IS UNITY A ND D UA II TY. 6 1 
 
 describes in various passages as the " Divine Wis- 
 dom," as " Eternal," and as a " Living Essentiality." 
 If we understand him rightly, it was the Sophia, the 
 Wisdom or Maternal ESSENTIA or Personality of the 
 Godhead, which incarnated itself in Christ, and which 
 caused him, in a mother's Spirit though in a male 
 form, to endure his great sufferings in behalf of a 
 world which was to be born into a saved and regen- 
 erated life of him and through him. Not unfre- 
 quently the language of Christ, when it is allowed to 
 enter and to leave its true impress on the interiors 
 of the soul, has the sound and import of a mother's 
 language : " Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem," he exclaims 
 with true maternal feeling, "how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gath- 
 ereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would 
 not!" — Matt. 23: 37. The language which he 
 utters on the cross is the very language of a loving 
 mother, who is willing to suffer and even die for her 
 erring children, if she can thereby bring them back 
 to their father's house and to truth. " Father, for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do." 
 
 17. A few centuries ago, a sect came into exist- 
 ence in Holland and England, who took the name 
 of Familists, or Family of Love. Some years later, 
 there appeared in England a sect whose views were 
 similar in some leading respects to those of the Fam- 
 
62 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ilists, who took the name of Philadelphians. In some 
 of the writings which originated in these religious 
 movements, we find evidence of the same tendency 
 to recognize the Maternal Principle as a true and 
 distinct Personality in the Godhead. One of these 
 works is entitled u The Great Crisis/' published 
 anonymously, but generally ascribed to a pious and 
 learned man by the name of Roach. References to 
 the subject which we have been considering, will be 
 found in (t The Great Crisis,'' on pages 93, 94, and 
 95. Roach, as is common with all these writers, 
 speaks of the Motherhood of the Infinite, under the 
 name of the " Virgin Sophia.'' His language, in the 
 pages referred to and in other places, is somewhat 
 obscure, as if he hesitated to give a clear announce- 
 ment to views which would be likely to meet with 
 much opposition ; but on a careful examination of 
 them, there seems to be no doubt as to his meaning. 
 On page 93 we find the following passage: "That 
 the doctrine of the Sophia, or Wisdom of God, as 
 represented in the Virgin nature or Female property, 
 is no new thing, will appear from what Solomon has 
 written so peculiarly of her, and from Christ's own 
 expressions, Luke 7: 35." The passage in Luke is 
 this : " But Wisdom is justified of all her children.'' 
 Wisdom here, as Roach understands it and explains 
 it in a brief remark, is the Eternal Mother. And 
 
GOD IS UNITY AND DUALITY. 63 
 
 then, speaking of the doctrine farther, he immedi- 
 ately adds, " Nor has it been without peculiar regard 
 in the writings, also, of the ancient Fathers, though 
 by them more generally applied to the Divine Wis- 
 dom as derivative in the Son (a meaning which is 
 good and true in its place). But the sense of the 
 Primitive Church, as taking it in the superior sense 
 also, [namely as applicable to the Sophia or Pre-ex- 
 istent Christ] appears from that noted passage of 
 Tertullian versus Hermogenenem, cap. iv." This 
 passage, which Roach understands as sustaining his 
 views, he quotes and comments upon. 
 
 18. — As we approach nearer our own times, we 
 find the same view taken. It differs, it will be no- 
 ticed, from the generally received view chiefly in go- 
 ing a step farther and indicating, though of course 
 very imperfectly, the nature of the relations existing. 
 The doctrine that the " second person of the Trinity 
 as it is frequently denominated by writers, sustains 
 a relation which may properly be expressed by the 
 term Motherhood, is recognized in the views and 
 writings of the sect of the United Society of Believ- 
 ers commonly called Shakers. In the " Summary 
 View," so called, which is published under the au- 
 thority of the Society, and contains a brief exposition 
 of their doctrines, it is said, p. 219, speaking of Ann 
 Lee, that the imaere and likeness of the Eternal 
 
64 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 Mother was formed in her as the first-born daughter. 
 And again it is said on the same page, that the " hu- 
 man tabernacle of Ann Lee," meaning her earthly 
 body, "was but flesh and blood like those of all 
 other women ; but it was a chosen vessel, occupied 
 as an instrument by the Spirit of Christ ; " that is to 
 say, by the same pure and celestial Spirit which 
 dwelt in Christ. " It is this Spirit/' it is afterward 
 said, " which is the image and likeness of the Eternal 
 Mother r At page 217 it is remarked in relation to 
 Christ, it was " necessary that the human tabernacle 
 of Jesus should be created by the immediate opera- 
 tion of the Eternal Father and Mother." 
 
 19. — The doctrine, that the Divine Nature is 
 dual in its personalities, and that this duality implies 
 and includes the fact of a divine maternity, is adopt- 
 ed and advocated by the sect known as Bible Com- 
 munists. The leading doctrines of this people are 
 found in a work entitled the Berean ; a work which 
 is characterized by acuteness of thought and reason- 
 ing, and by no small share of biblical learning. 
 
 " We believe," says the author of this work in 
 his Preface, in the Duality of the Godhead ; and that 
 Duality, in our view, is imaged in the twofold per- 
 sonality of the first man, who was made male and 
 female, Gen. 1 : 27. The doctrine is brought 
 out more fully in the chapter on the Divine 
 
GOD IS UNITY AND DUALITY. 6$ 
 
 Nature. On page 87 are the following expressions : 
 " For our part, instead of having any repugnance 
 against the idea that God is a bi-personal Being [that 
 is, one in essential nature, but distinct and correlative 
 in dual personalities] we find all our natural prepos- 
 sessions in its favor. We are quite willing that the 
 indications of the created universe should be true ; 
 that woman, as well as man, should have her arche- 
 type in the primary sphere of existence ; that the 
 Receptive as well as the Active principle, subordi- 
 nation as well as power, should have its representa- 
 tive in the Godhead. And we believe that an un- 
 sophisticated child would much prefer the family 
 idea of a dual head over all, a Father and Mother of 
 the universe, to the conception of a solitary God." 
 
 20. — We will only add further, that the Catholic 
 Church is often regarded, with how much reason we 
 will not undertake to say, as embodying the idea of 
 the Motherhood element which exists in the Infi- 
 nite, in its recognition of the holy or dcific nature 
 of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and in the high hon- 
 ors, and even worship, which it is understood to 
 render to her. In the paintings of the great mas- 
 ters, which often adorn the Catholic churches, and 
 particularly the Cathedrals, the admiring and tearful 
 eye of the worshipper often rests with the deepest 
 reverence and hope upon that benign countenance, 
 
66 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 which becomes to the eye of faith the imperfect and 
 yet beautiful symbol of the great and overshadow- 
 ing Maternity, which exists innate and glorious in 
 the Godhead. 
 
 21. — Such appears to be the new and dawning 
 thought of the world on this important subject ; at 
 first but dimly appearing in the Scriptures ; but in 
 accordance with the promise of the great Teacher, 
 who said, " when the Spirit of truth is come he will 
 guide you into all truth/' revealed at last with clear- 
 er and ever-increasing distinctness by the Holy 
 Spirit, or Spirit of God, or Spirit of universal truth 
 and love, finding its way into and operating intelli- 
 gently and effectively in the hearts of humble and 
 sincere men ; and thus unfolding in these latter 
 days the great and eternal facts which harmonize 
 with and which sustain the progress of humanity. 
 
 It is with interest therefore, in opening the vol- 
 umes of a remarkable man, the late Theodore Par- 
 ker, who accepted the doctrines of the Absolute Re- 
 ligion while he demurred vigorously to some of the 
 positions of dogmatic theology, that we find him 
 not only announcing God as the primal, unific, and 
 causative principle of things, but also defending the 
 truth, hardly less essential and important, of the 
 Personality of God, and announcing still further, 
 
GOD IS UNITY AND DUALITY. 67 
 
 with a boldness and clearness indicative of the 
 strength of his convictions, the duality of the Di- 
 vine Nature as being Motherhood as well as Fath- 
 erhood. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 The Son of God. 
 
 I. — The duality of the Divine Existence, involv- 
 ing- the fact of Fatherhood and Motherhood, neces- 
 sitates that further unfoldment of being, which is 
 implied in, and is not inappropriately expressed by, 
 the word Trinity. Around this grand and historic 
 word, which alternately attracts and repels by the 
 greatness of the mystery involved in it, the world's 
 thought and the world's controversy have for ages 
 revolved. As it is not our object, however, to dis- 
 cuss religious truths in the precisions of their estab- 
 lished dogmatic forms, but rather as they present 
 themselves in their necessary facts and relations to 
 the enlighted view of the whole human mind, we 
 leave the Trinity, as one of the generally accepted 
 methods of expression, to complete and verify itself 
 by its own logical processes, and in its own time 
 and way. 
 
 2. — But before proceeding further, I think it will 
 be necessary briefly to say something of a personal 
 
THE SON OF GOD. 69 
 
 nature, in order to a proper understanding of my 
 own position, and as explanatory in part of my own 
 tendencies of thought. I hope the reader will bear 
 with me and sympathize, when I say that I am 
 a believer in, and a lover of the biblical Scrip- 
 tures. I frankly and joyfully acknowledge, that I 
 have found in them not only an enlightening, but I 
 trust something of a positive and renovating power. 
 At the same time I am obliged to say further, that 
 under the influence of inward suggestions, which I 
 will not stop to explain and define, I have thought 
 it right and felt it a duty, to compare the moral and 
 religious revelations embodied in the Bible with the 
 moral and religious thought of different ages and 
 nations. I wished to ascertain in this way, and 
 with the aid of the histories of philosophical opin- 
 ions, the relation of the Scriptures to the moral 
 wants and the enlightenment of universal humanity. 
 And in the fulfilment of these desires, I have not 
 only examined the Scriptures to some extent in the 
 original languages, but have trodden the soil of Pal- 
 estine, which may be regarded as a living commen- 
 tary ; and have verified, or attempted to verify, so 
 far as illustration and verification can now come 
 from those sources, the Scriptural affirmations in 
 the birth-place of their origin ; — in Nazareth and 
 Bethlehem, on the banks of the Jordan, in the sacred 
 
- ABSOLUTE RELIGI 
 
 places of Jerusalem, in the terrible deserts and on 
 the rocky summits of Sinai. And not only this : I 
 have read, as many others have done, the truth of 
 the declarations of the Bible in the direct as well as 
 the comparative history of nations, and in the rec- 
 ords of my own heart. And therefore, without for- 
 getting the intelligence and the conclusions of oth- 
 ers, I frankly affirm that the Bible is no fable to 
 me. I have no hesitancy in saying, that in my 
 view, subject to the condition of a candid and wise 
 interpretation, the Bible is the affirmation of the 
 highest intelligence, and is the eternal ,k Word of 
 God." 
 
 3. — But there is another view, which it would be 
 unwise and unphilosophical to omit. I remember 
 also, that God is not only the God of the Bible, but 
 the God of all nature, and of all history, and of all 
 things. And so much so that He cannot be sepa- 
 rated without the denial of the essential elements 
 of his nature from any thing and every thing which 
 exists ; but on the contrary is found to be and can- 
 not possibly be otherwise than universal, unchange- 
 able, and eternal in all that He is, in all that He 
 does, and in all that He utters. And it is, there- 
 fore, I believe, that the word of God in his Reveal- 
 ed Religion, known as the Bible or Scriptures, and 
 the word of God in the Absolute Religion, when in- 
 
THE SOX OF GOD. - i 
 
 tcrprctcd in the true and divine light of things, are 
 and must be the same. It is possible that men 
 may fail to harmonize the two but the harmony ex- 
 
 4. — It is well known that theologians, looking 
 perhaps with the theologic eye, have found a Trin- 
 ity in the Bible. We do not say that they have 
 always understood or expressed it rightly; or that 
 their views, often divergent from each other, are 
 always entitled to assent. Nevertheless it is the 
 general testimony of their writings and creeds that 
 they have succeeded in finding it there ; at least in 
 the essential nature of the thing. And such is my 
 own belief. And it is not surprising to me that 
 God, whose wisdom always adapts itself in its exer- 
 cise to the existing state of things, communicated 
 this great truth, in the early periods of the world, in 
 the dogmatic form and simply as a doctrine and 
 not as a philosophy. As thus stated, and standing 
 by itself alone, it is not free from obscurity ; and 
 there is a class of minds which do not readily accept 
 it. But the God of the Bible is the God of univer- 
 sal nature. And it is not strange that in these lat- 
 ter days, with all the enlightenment of arts and let- 
 ters and of moral and religious progress, some of the 
 obscurities of the Bible are explained and reconciled 
 by the light of the Absolute Religion. 
 
m 2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 5. — To the thoughtful mind it is a natural sug- 
 gestion, that the duality of the Divine Existence, 
 written everywhere in the book of nature, necessi- 
 tates a Trinity. The train of thought in the case is 
 essentially this. It is not only true, as the apostle 
 Paul teaches us, but it is a truth which harmonizes 
 with the nature and position of man who reasons 
 constantly from effects to causes, that we learn the 
 things of God from the things that exist. In other 
 words, the effect in the principles and methods of 
 its being, is antecedently in the cause. And what 
 do we find in the effect? In the first place it pre- 
 sents itself as a duality. But it does not stop there. 
 We always find that the out-birth of that which in 
 the order of nature goes before, supplementing and 
 carrying out the fact of duality, in other words the 
 added fact which constitutes the Trinity, every- 
 where manifests itself in the objects of the world 
 around us. Everywhere there is a duality of exist- 
 ence, resulting in a reproduction which constitutes 
 a trinity. But the things which exist, and which 
 necessarily carry with them the evidence of the 
 highest wisdom, are but the reflex or the mirror of 
 the great First Cause from which they came. The 
 cause holds the effect in its arms and stamps its 
 image upon it. And thus the duality which in the 
 objects of nature around us always implies and ne- 
 
THE SON OF GOD. . 73 
 
 cessitatcs the fact of a Trinity, reveals in the light 
 of the relation of effects and causes, the antecedent 
 but correspondent fact, not only of the duality but 
 also of the tri-unity of the Infinite. 
 
 6. — If we are right therefore in the view which 
 we take, we must supplement the eternal Fatherhood 
 and Motherhood by the eternal Son. The eternal 
 Son, or the Son " eternally proceeding," as it is some- 
 times theologically expressed, is the great and un 
 ceasing out-birth of the Divine Duality. That 
 which being in God, is necessarily in its appropriate 
 time born out ^/"God, is the Son of God. But the 
 Son of God is a wide and mighty form of expression 
 wnich, in order to embrace the whole truth included 
 in it, may be presented to our notice, first, generi- 
 cally or in its most general form ; and second, specifi- 
 cally or in relation to that remarkable manifestation 
 of the divine in the human, (undoubtedly the most 
 remarkable fact in human or any other history) 
 which is known as both Son of God and Son of Man. 
 7. — Generically, or considered in the whole of its 
 extent, the trinal out-birth, otherwise called the Son 
 of God, without which the eternal Fatherhood and 
 Motherhood could have neither name nor power 
 nor meaning, is the whole of creation from its lowest 
 to its highest form. Spoken of in terms suggested 
 by the analogy of the human form, which in some 
 4 
 
74 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 respects may be regarded as the physical similitude 
 and outward portraiture of God, the myriads of ex- 
 istences which form the lowest stratas or divisions 
 of beings, constitute the FEET ; the highest develop- 
 ments and classifications of existence constitute the 
 head ; and the intermediate grades, all in their ap- 
 propriate places and fulfilling their appropriate offi- 
 ces, make out and manifest the completeness and 
 beauty of this boundless and unceasing out-birth or 
 generation of positive and separate life. 
 
 8. — So that not an insect that floats in the air, 
 nor a fish that swims in the sea, nor a bird that 
 sings in the forests, nor a wild beast that roams on 
 the mountains ; not one is or by any possibility can 
 be shut out and excluded from the meaning and 
 the fact of the divine Sonship, considered in this 
 generic or universal sense. Under that significant 
 and glorious name in its generic and widest import 
 are included all possible forms and degrees of being, 
 whatever may be their distinctive character, which 
 sustain the relation of effect or createdness to the 
 great Causative Centre which lies hidden in what 
 may be called the Dual Infinite. And this Sonship 
 of universal existence, though it undoubtedly sus- 
 tains the relation of effect to cause, is nevertheless 
 so closely and indissolubly interwoven with the Eter- 
 nal source from which it springs, that it may, in a 
 
THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 75 
 
 proximate but most important sense, be said of it, 
 that it is without beginning and without end ; that 
 no time in its specific measurement is allowed to 
 mark its commencement and that no time, unless 
 the same can be said of God himself, can announce 
 the hour of its termination. It is what theologians, 
 with a just and significant expression, have some- 
 times called it, the eternal Sonship, or a Sonship in 
 eternal procession. In other words, in the two-fold 
 bosom of the Dual Infinite there exists a Sonship, 
 which identical in nature but discriminated in per- 
 sonality, converts two-foldness into tri-foldness, du- 
 ality into trinity, and of which it can be said in its 
 objective manifestation it is always being born, and 
 in the mystery of its subjective existence it is always 
 in the bosom of its eternal birthplace and always 
 in readiness to be born. 
 
 9. — All living nature then in all the variety of 
 its forms, being only the out-birth of that which has 
 existed interiorly and subjectively from eternity, is 
 the mighty procession of form, feeling and activity 
 which, in virtue of its birth-place, constitutes the 
 Son of God. And in this vast complexity of Son- 
 ship, including all possible degrees and forms and 
 methods of being, there is not a living thing that is 
 forgotten, not one that is not overshadowed by the 
 
j 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 divine Love. All sheep and oxen, and the cattle 
 upon a thousand hills, and the young lions of the 
 forest, and the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the 
 air, as they could not be born and exist without God, 
 have a right to be called the children of God. " Are 
 not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one 
 of them is forgotten before God," " thou shalt not 
 muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn," " thou 
 givest them their meat in due season," — it is such 
 expressions as these which show the loving heart 
 of the Infinite. 
 
 And little does that man know of the greatness 
 and boundlessness of God's universal love whose 
 heart is not touched with the deepest sympathy for 
 everything that exists, no matter what it is or where 
 it is. If we are one with God we are one in all we 
 can do to contribute to the happiness of everything 
 God has made. 
 
 10. — But again and specifically the Sonship, which 
 constitutes and completes the divine Unity, not 
 only in Duality but in Trinity, so that we can speak 
 of the oneness of Eternal Life in the three-foldness 
 of Personality and relations, the One in Three and 
 the Three in one, is found in Man. Not man how- 
 ever, in the first form of life, not the self-centred and 
 limited Adamic man, (a subject on which we shall 
 have something explanatory to say in another 
 
THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 77 
 
 place ;) but man with the experience of the second 
 or higher birth, which expands the self-centred into 
 the universal-centred and God-like form of life ; man 
 standing at the head and as the comprehension and 
 the perfection of all lower existences; man who 
 cannot separate his own life and happiness from the 
 life and happiness of all other beings, man in his 
 glorious Christhood. This is Sonship in the specific 
 and higher sense ; the fulfilment of the prayer and 
 hope of the long expectant ages; the culmination 
 of humanity in the Son of the virgin Mother. 
 
 1 1. — I stand with awe in the presence of this great 
 out-birth. The true man was born : the effulgent 
 model and ante-type of the incoming, heavenly hu- 
 manity ; and becoming the dwelling-place of God, he 
 embodied the glory of divinity in the humbleness of 
 the human form ; and in virtue of that which was 
 within Him, took the name in the specific and more 
 jjlorious sense of the term of the Son of God. I 
 shall be pardoned for saying it is my earnest prayer, 
 that I may understand more and more this great 
 advent known specifically as the divine Son. I do 
 not believe that a true philosophy has any sympa- 
 thy with that perversity of spiritual perception 
 which turns coldly away from this divine brightness. 
 The expression which better than any other meets 
 my thoughts, and which in the comprehension of its 
 
7$ ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 meaning reveals the evidence of its divine origin is, 
 "God manifest in the flesh." Being not only made 
 in the similitude of man, but being the possessor of 
 a man's nature, we do not find him as he is histori- 
 cally represented, exempt from human weaknesses 
 and trials, temptations and sorrows. In what sense 
 therefore, is it possible to speak of him as the mani- 
 festation of God ? This is a great question. With 
 a view to the better understanding of it, we leave 
 the subject here until we shall have considered in 
 the next chapter the necessity and possibility of a 
 divine manifestation. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Necessity and Possibility of a Divine Manifestation. 
 
 I. — Religion, considered in its essential nature, 
 and in the aspect of its great and final result, is and 
 must be harmony with God. Reason as we may 
 upon the subject, it will be found in the end, that 
 it cannot be anything greater, nor anything less, nor 
 anything different from this. But harmony, admit- 
 ting there is a slight difference in the import of 
 the terms, necessarily implies union ; and indeed 
 might properly be defined as the completion or per- 
 fection of union ; and in the case of intelligent and 
 moral beings, it is hardly necessary to say that it is 
 and must be conscious union. 
 
 2. — And now we proceed to say further, that 
 there cannot be a conscious union, especially one 
 which rises to the eminent degree which entitles it 
 to be called harmony, without a knowledge of God. 
 In other words, in order to this result of harmony 
 which is the substance of religion, God must make 
 himself known, must manifest himself. To be con- 
 
80 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 sciously united with God and yet without a knowl- 
 edge of God is a contradiction in terms, and is a 
 moral impossibility. And further/if God is not to 
 be manifested in such a way as to make himself 
 known, what is the object of his existence? Why 
 should he exist at all ? The manifestation of God 
 therefore, in some important respect, so that we can 
 speak of him intelligently and give him both thought 
 and affection, may be regarded as a NECESSITY. 
 
 3. — So far as this, the Absolute philosophy ex- 
 presses itself with confidence. And the human 
 heart, that which in man feels rather than thinks, 
 but which embodies truth in the instincts of feeling, 
 confirms the decision. But here comes a difficulty. 
 Granting that it is necessary in the decisions of the 
 human intellect, granting that it is necessary to meet 
 the conscious wants of human feeling, is it a thing 
 which is possible ? Is it possible for the Infinite to 
 manifest itself understanding^ to the finite? Or 
 taking the converse proposition, is it possible for 
 the finite, in the limitation of its powers, to compre- 
 hend that which is without limits? In the view of 
 sound reason it seems to be necessary to answer 
 these questions in the negative. But it appears to 
 have escaped very much the thoughts and knowledge 
 of men, that infinity is not God but only the mode 
 or manner of his existence, namely, the extent or 
 
DIVINE MANIFESTATION. gl 
 
 degree of his existence ; and that we may know God 
 in the essentiality of his nature, in that which con- 
 stitutes the primal and deific substance of his being, 
 although it may be true, and is true, that we cannot 
 know Him on account of the limitations of our pow- 
 ers in the fullness of his extent or degree. In other 
 words, if we cannot know God in his degree or meas- 
 urement, we may still know him, which is of far 
 greater importance, in his truth or essence. 
 
 4. — But let us look a little further. If infinity is 
 not God but only the degree or extent of his exist- 
 ence, the question still remains, — what are we to 
 understand by God, and what is it which constitutes 
 the primality and essence of his being ? Do we or 
 can we find Him in the true and higher sense in his 
 attributes ? Let us reflect a moment on this impor- 
 tant question. Take the attribute of knowledge, 
 even when it is considered in the degree or extent 
 of infinitude, and is properly denominated Omnisci- 
 ence, does it make or constitute God ? Sound rea- 
 son will also be compelled to answer here in the 
 negative. And again, God is a being of power. 
 But does the attribute of power, even when joined 
 in its extent with infinitude and denominated Om- 
 nipotence, any more than the attribute of omnisci- 
 ence make or constitute God? And here also we 
 are compelled to answer, that such cannot possibly 
 4* 
 
g 2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 be the case. The word attribute itself, which men 
 agree in using as applicable to and as descriptive in 
 part of omniscience and omnipotence, implies that 
 in the order of nature there is and must be a prin- 
 ciple back of these, a living and pre-eminent primal- 
 ity which will call knowledge and power into action 
 and give them and all other attributes their appro- 
 priate direction and issues. And this principle 
 which, as we have already seen in a former chapter, 
 is the essential and eternal life of the divine exist- 
 ence, and in fact constitutes that existence, is LOVE. 
 And this interior principle which constitutes the es- 
 sential nature of God and to which are appended 
 the attributes that operate as the instruments of its 
 decrees, involves in itself and as a part of its own 
 nature, an ultimate motive power which is the basis 
 of the activity of the universe. If it were otherwise, 
 in other words if there were a destitution and ab- 
 sence of such motive power, constituting a state of 
 things which could properly be described by the 
 word indifference, then of course all the existing 
 wonderful activities would cease, and God would be 
 practically annihilated. And again, if this interior 
 principle of which we speak were not indifference 
 but a practical or motive evil principle, then, instead 
 of God we should have and it could not be other- 
 wise, an infinite Satan. But the Absolute philoso- 
 
DI VINE MA NIFE S TA TION. 8 3 
 
 phy affirms as well as the Bible and in confirmation 
 of the Bible, not merely that God exists but that 
 God is Love. And hence it will be found, and all 
 exhaustive and ultimate researches will prove it to 
 be so, that every exercise of his omniscience and 
 omnipotence or other attributes is dictated by be- 
 neficence. 
 
 5. — The manifestation of himself therefore, which 
 it was necessary for God to make, and which the 
 wants of an erring- and suffering humanity required, 
 and which the Absolute Religion aiming as it does 
 at the establishment of universal harmony impera- 
 tively demands, was the manifestation of himself in 
 his essential nature as Love. 
 
 The manifestation of the auxiliary incidents or at- 
 tributes of the Divine Nature, such as knowledge and 
 power, and especially with the weight and expansion 
 of infinitude attached to them, when standing alone 
 and without a manifestation of that interior and es- 
 sential life which holds them in its hand and guides 
 them to beneficent issues, was calculated to frighten 
 and destroy and not to save humanity. But in 
 what way could that deeper and more interior man- 
 ifestation of God as Love, which alone could bring 
 adjustment and peace and hope to men be made ? 
 
 The question which now presents itself was, in 
 some important sense, the great problem of the 
 
g^ ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ages. And in the first place all enlightened philoso- 
 phy will agree that it was necessary that it should 
 be made within the sphere of humanity. In other 
 words, it was necessary that it should be made in 
 such a way that man with the limited faculties which 
 he possesses and with precisely such faculties in kind 
 as he possesses, should be able to behold, study and 
 comprehend it. 
 
 6. — But something more is necessary than this 
 general statement. Shall we find the manifestation 
 of God in his true and essential nature, as some 
 heathen nations have foolishly thought, in the lower 
 forms of creation, in birds and reptiles, and even in 
 inanimate things ? That such an idea should have 
 existed is indeed an evidence of the wants and crav- 
 ings of the human heart ; and perhaps it would be 
 unphilosophical to deny that there is an element of 
 truth in it, inasmuch as there is something of God 
 in all the creatures of God, however low they may 
 be in the scale of being. But the darkened belief 
 which accepts the manifestation of God in such in- 
 ferior things, a belief to which the Apostle Paul so 
 feelingly and pointedly alludes, cannot contribute to 
 man's elevation; but on the contrary, as appears 
 from the records of heathen nations, tends greatly 
 to hold him fast in hopelessness and debasement. 
 Nor on the other hand, would a manifestation made 
 
DIVINE MANIFESTATION. 85 
 
 iii the form of beings above the sphere of humanity, 
 through forms and faculties not commensurable with 
 and susceptible of being interpreted by anything 
 given to man, have been of any more avail. It 
 might not have tended to debase, but it is not ob- 
 vious that it could have tended to elevate, because, 
 being above the reach of the human faculties, it 
 could not be understood. 
 
 There is left, therefore, only the method which 
 infinite wisdom adopted, that of the incarnation of 
 the divine in the human form ; the incarnation 
 of the Son of God ; — " God manifest in the flesh." 
 
 7. — And this is a method of manifestation, which 
 does not merely excite our admiration and gratitude ; 
 but which, far more than any other that is possible 
 to be suggested, satisfies our reason. If God is Love, 
 the manifestation would necessarily be in that 
 method which would best secure the results at 
 which love aims. God, therefore, with a condescen- 
 sion which of itself intimates his true nature, took 
 upon himself humanity in order that he might be 
 comprehended by humanity; and that, if he could 
 not be measured in his infinitude, nor be understood 
 in the truth and essentiality of his nature through 
 the incidents of knowledge and power alone, he 
 might be understood by submitting to be nailed to 
 the Cross in that which was and is the essential 
 
g5 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 principle of his life ; a principle which gives direction 
 to knowledge and power, and which stamps its value 
 on infinitude. 
 
 8. But in the realization of this great event, al- 
 though through the teachings of types and prophe- 
 cies they had long looked for something of this kind, 
 men seem to have been greatly perplexed in one 
 particular. In consequence of the associations 
 which they had been accustomed to attach to rank 
 and station, they expected that the descending God, 
 whose advent the earlier ages had predicted, would 
 make his appearance with all the pomp and circum- 
 stance at least which belong to the highest human 
 station. They looked for a king in the human 
 and historic sense of the term. But that was not 
 God's plan. In his view human existence, aside 
 from the incidents of rank and station, embodies the 
 evidence of the highest wisdom and goodness. Man, 
 who was made in the image of God, man in his sim- 
 ple humanity, unadorned with the incidents which 
 <nve a fictitious splendor, without a sceptre and with- 
 out a crown, was the fitting instrumentality in which 
 God was to make himself known. And therefore 
 " God manifest in the flesh," was God manifest in 
 man • — man low in worldly station, with nothing 
 calculated to arrest attention ; but poor, untitled, 
 friendless, and unknown. He chose humanity and 
 
DIVINE MANIFESTA TION. 87 
 
 not rank ; the thing and not the incidents of the 
 thing ; humanity, as it were, in its nakedness ; and 
 thus forever gave a sanction and elevation to man as 
 man. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Christ as the Fulfilment of the Law. 
 
 I. — Keeping in mind that we are examining 
 things, or at least attempting to do so, in their prin- 
 ciples or philosophical bases, we proceed now to an- 
 other subject. It is hardly necessary to say that 
 the thought of the Christian world has always been 
 directed with peculiar earnestness to the various 
 events which constitute the life and death of Jesus 
 Christ. His death, as well as the antecedent events 
 of his personal history, has a significancy which will 
 not be likely to be exhausted while there are souls 
 to be saved. The life of Christ, including its clos- 
 ing scenes, is often spoken of and regarded as a " ful- 
 filment of the law." Christ himself foreseeing the 
 probable termination of his life and its relation as a 
 whole to all antecedent facts and events, refers to 
 the subject, Matt. 5 : 17, 18 — " Think not that I am 
 come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not 
 come to destroy but to fulfil. For verily I say 
 unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one 
 
CHRIST AS FULFILMENT OF THE LA IF. go 
 
 tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be 
 fulfilled." In a passage of the prophet Isaiah, ch. 
 42: 21, which is generally understood to apply to 
 Christ, it is said " he will magnify the law and make 
 it honorable." It is often said that we are to look 
 for the fulfilment of the law in the death of Christ 
 on the Cross. And yet, when brought to the test 
 of a philosophical examination, the death of Christ 
 considered in itself and separate from that which is 
 the basis or foundation of it, might justly be regard- 
 ed as coming short of such fulfilment. The death 
 of Christ in its physical aspects was much like any 
 other death ; the experience of physical disorgani- 
 zation and suffering, — probably very great suffering, 
 — resulting in the separation of the body and the 
 spirit. Nevertheless, it is in the death of Christ 
 that we find the key to his character ; that which 
 interprets the meaning of his antecedent acts ; that 
 which consolidates and perfects his life ; that which 
 makes him in a true sense, when we get at that 
 which underlies his death, the world's Saviour. 
 
 2. — In speaking of Christ, in the events and inci- 
 dents of his life and death as the fulfilment of the 
 law, it is necessary to understand what meaning and 
 what limitations we shall attach to Law itself. And 
 here we arc met by the fact that there are a great 
 multitude of laws in the universe. Go where we 
 
g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 will, we meet with this great regulative influence. 
 There is nothing high enough or low enough, no 
 boundaries of time or space, which are beyond the 
 cognizance and the authority of Law. The philo- 
 sophic interpreters of their own and the world's 
 thought on this subject, Cicero, Grotius, Vattel, 
 Hooker, Montesquieu, and others, agree in the 
 great doctrine of the universality of Law. And what 
 is also of great importance, there are different kinds 
 of law ; laws which are mental and moral as well as 
 physical ; laws which give stability to thought and 
 guidance to virtue, as well as those more obvious 
 laws which sustain and develop material beauty and 
 strength. 
 
 3. — The law which Jesus fulfilled, coming under 
 the general class of mental or spiritual, is the law 
 fundamental to all others ; the Primal law, because 
 it stands first in time as well as first in importance ; 
 the law, without which God would cease to be God ; 
 that great law of which we have spoken in a former 
 chapter, which binds the higher to the lower, the 
 stronger to the weaker, and we may add, the good 
 to the evil, in the exercise of all the possibilities of 
 benevolence, which are involved in the fact of a 
 higher position and a greater wealth of resources. 
 In comparison with this law which is known in the 
 Scriptures as the law of Love, all other laws sink 
 
CHRIST AS FULFILMENT OF THE LA W. 9 1 
 
 into insignificance. It is the basis Law of the uni- 
 verse ; and Christ came not merely to announce it 
 as a principle but to fulfil it as a fact, in order that 
 men seeing with their own eyes that Love is ready 
 to pour out its heart-blood for the good of others, 
 might understand and know, as they otherwise 
 could not do, the moral basis on which the universe 
 stands. 
 
 4. — The law of love when carried out to its ap- 
 propriate issues, constitutes as we have already had 
 occasion to show, the central life-principle of God 
 himself. Love is life and wherever it exists, wheth- 
 er in the Infinite or the finite, it can always be said, 
 to the full extent of that existence and with a ful- 
 ness and truth which the world but imperfectly un- 
 derstands, that God is there. And Christ therefore, 
 in taking upon himself humanity and in fulfilling 
 the law in this lower sphere, may be said to have 
 brought God down to earth. In being lifted upon 
 the Cross and nailed there in the sight of the world, 
 and yet in his agony uttering that sublime prayer, 
 " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they 
 do," he revealed the truth and greatness of God's 
 life in his own dying but immortal life; and open- 
 ing the way and the hope of salvation, plucked hu- 
 manity from its sorrows and its ruins, and gave ever- 
 lasting life to men. 
 
9 2 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 5. — And here, speaking as we now do, of the 
 great divine law, that law of Love which is the basis 
 of all things that exist, it is necessary to keep in 
 mind the discriminations and relations of ideas, and 
 to separate things which are apt to be confounded. 
 Law and Life, which latter is only another name for 
 Love, are inseparable rather than identical. Law 
 when rightly estimated, is the eternal announcement 
 indicating the constitutive form and the mode of ac- 
 tion ; Love, inseparably connected but not identical, 
 is the correspondent realization which operates 
 within the truths and harmonies of law. Law, stand- 
 ing as the interpreter and the voice of the universe, 
 is the requisition ; Love is the experience and the 
 fulfilment of that which is required. In the natural 
 or logical order, law is the antecedent ; but being an 
 antecedence of ideas and not of life, of regulative 
 form rather than of positive and affirmative existence, 
 it is necessary that Love, which is the power that 
 gives it vitality, should come and convert it into a 
 practical principle which renovates and perfects all 
 things. 
 
 6. — And now it seems to me to be philosophically 
 true, in other words a doctrine of the Absolute Re- 
 ligion, that the Law, though eternal as God and un- 
 changeable as God, and speaking with a divine and 
 universal voice, cannot save us, without that Christ- 
 
CHRIST AS FULFILMENT OF THE LA W. 93 
 
 life or Lovc-lifc, which the Law requires, and which 
 is the Law's fulfilment. To recognize the law, which 
 is an intellectual act, is important ; to feel the just- 
 ness of its requisitions in the conscience is important 
 also as a preliminary preparation ; but to stop in the 
 recognition and the conscientious conviction, with- 
 out the possession of the living principle which it 
 requires, is necessarily to die. And Christ, there- 
 fore, who embodied this living principle and who in 
 his essential nature is and ever will be Love, is the 
 realization or fulfilment of the Law. 
 
 On these principles man cannot be saved, if sal- 
 vation is an inward life, by a mere command, by a 
 mere authoritative declaration. Salvation, which is 
 the kingdom of God within us, does not come in 
 that way. The destiny of man, a destiny which will 
 always be fulfilled if it is not prevented by his own 
 personal opposition, is to enter into everlasting life 
 by becoming a partaker of that life. 
 
 7. — Undoubtedly there are many things mistaken 
 for life which are not life. Repentance is not life 
 It implies a conviction for sin, but if it stops there 
 it is not life. Forgiveness to the extent of entire 
 pardon for all our past sins is not necessarily to be 
 regarded as life. It implies an exemption from the 
 suffering which was originally due to the sins which 
 are blotted out ; but it is not necessarily a principle 
 
94 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 of life. Happiness may be expected to be a result 
 of life, an incident which is naturally attendant upon 
 it, but it is difficult, on any analysis which may be 
 made of it, to affirm that, in itself considered, it is 
 the living and life-giving principle of the soul. We 
 enter into life, and the principle of life becomes the 
 soul's new birth when in the language of Scripture 
 we die upon the Cross ; in other words, when by 
 means of inward crucifixion we die to self in all 
 cases where self-hood becomes selfishness ; and when 
 we begin to live for the good of others, not only the 
 good of all mankind but of all existences. In other 
 words using the terms in the sense in which God 
 may be supposed to understand them, we live when 
 we love. Love is life. And anything within us 
 which is at variance with love is, to that extent, the 
 absence and the negation of life. 
 
 8. — In Christ this life was completed. In Him 
 the living and life-giving principle of his being, that 
 which constituted Him the Son of God, was holy love. 
 So that in Him the law of the universe, that law 
 which requires us to love God and in loving Him to 
 love all that He loves, was fulfilled. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Second or New Birth. 
 
 I. — The doctrine of the regeneration, otherwise 
 known as the doctrine of the New or Second Birth, 
 is clearly an announcement of the Scriptures ; and 
 though especially exposed to doubt and cavil is not 
 without the acceptance and supports of observation 
 and philosophical analysis. It is the language of 
 the great Teacher ; " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
 except a man be born again, he cannot see the king- 
 dom of God."— John 3:3. " Therefore, if any man 
 be in Christ," says the Apostle Paul, "he is a new 
 creature." Looking at the subject analytically and 
 philosophically and as a part of the Absolute Reli- 
 gion, the fact of a New or Second Birth admitting 
 the fact or existence of such a birth, necessarily im- 
 plies the existence of an antecedent birth, which 
 may properly be spoken of in the remarks which we 
 now propose to offer on the First birth. And this 
 First Birth is to be understood as identical with the 
 natural birth or the Adamic birth as theologians fre- 
 
q5 absolute religion. 
 
 quently name it and which the Scriptures some- 
 times speak of as the birth of " the flesh." 
 
 2.— And this birth or first form of life is naturally 
 the first object of our attention. As the Infinite or 
 Absolute of Existence which is the same as God or 
 Creator, is the beginning or source of things, and as 
 there is nothing which does not come from that In- 
 finite source, therefore it follows that the first or 
 natural birth of man is and must be from the Infi- 
 nite to the finite. But the finite from the moment 
 of its birth out of the Infinite, being from that time 
 a distinct personality, is itself and not another ; is 
 the personal and responsible creature and not the 
 Creator ; has its own recognized and definite sphere 
 of existence in distinction from that of other created 
 beings ; an existence which is not only discriminated 
 from that of other beings but is really and con- 
 sciously its own. The statement itself, too plain to 
 need the refinements of argument, may justly be re- 
 garded as carrying its own evidence. 
 
 And this is not all. From the moment that cre- 
 ated man first knows himself as an existence in the. 
 finite and as a distinct personality, it is obviously 
 and necessarily a law of his being that he seeks and 
 finds his centre in himself. As at first he knows 
 himself and only himself, he certainly could not be 
 expected in the beginning of his existence and with 
 
THE SECOND, OR NEW BIRTH. 
 
 97 
 
 a knowledge limited to himself to seek and find a 
 centre out of himself. And accordingly it is true in 
 philosophy and is confirmed by observation, that 
 turning inwardly and acting from his own centre he 
 thinks for himself, feels for himself, wills for himself, 
 and primarily and in the first instance draws all his 
 hope from himself. He cannot properly be said to 
 be self-made; but being made he cannot in the first 
 instance be otherwise than self-centred. And hence 
 it is said in the Scriptures, and in reference to the 
 limitations that necessarily attend him, that the first- 
 man is born oi the earth, earthy : in other words, 
 with the nature and limitations which are necessarily 
 attendant on created existences. And again, in the 
 words of Christ himself, " that which is born of the 
 flesh is flesh." As much as to say, that the finite is 
 born into what it is, namely its own restricted and 
 imperfect nature. This is the first birth, the first 
 form of life ; and it is not easy to see how it could 
 be otherwise than it is. 
 
 3. — It is not surprising therefore, that Christ in 
 the conversation with Nicodcmus, to which we have 
 referred, spoke not only of the first or " flesh" birth, 
 but also in the same sentence of a second or spirit 
 birth. " That which is born of the flesh, is flesh ; 
 and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." And 
 then he added, " marvel not that I said unto you, 
 5 
 
9 3 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ye must be born again" Expressions which if closely 
 examined imply not only the fact but a moral ne- 
 cessity for it. And now, having stated what phi- 
 losophy affirms in relation to the first birth, the 
 question comes up, what is the moral necessity or 
 philosophy of the second birth. Stated in a general 
 way, the second birth is a birth back from the finite 
 to the Infinite ; from the life of the creature to the 
 life of the Creator ; a birth which is both based upon 
 the personality of the first birth as its antecedent 
 condition, and which takes place without the loss 
 of such personality. In the first birth God may be 
 said to make or constitute the finite, giving it the 
 freedom and independence of a personal existence ; 
 and yet without spiritually incarnating Himself in it 
 as an indwelling principle of that life. This last 
 could not be done in consequence of the inviolabil- 
 ity of its freedom, without a consenting action on 
 the part of the creature. In the second birth, the 
 finite in the exercise of its moral freedom, which is 
 an essential element in its personality, has accepted 
 God in the central intimacy of its nature as its liv- 
 ing and governing principle. So that the human or 
 " earthy," as the Scriptures call it, without ceasing 
 to be human or earthy, but by renouncing its own 
 centre as the source of life, and taking God as its 
 centre, does by its own choice and in a true and 
 
THE SECOND, OR NEW BIRTH. gg 
 
 hisrh sense become divine. And thus God himself, 
 in the case of all those, who by being born with the 
 second birth are born in the image of the " Elder 
 Brother," who stands before us as the true pattern 
 and illustration of the new inward life, may be said 
 to the extent in which they bear that image, to be 
 truly made manifest in the flesh. 
 
 Such was God's plan from the beginning ; such 
 the thought of Infinite Wisdom. It never could have 
 been the intention of God, who is essential goodness, 
 in establishing the finite personality to separate it 
 permanently from the infinite or universal personal- 
 ity, and thus raise up an endless antagonism to him- 
 self. So that his object, and in the light of the Ab- 
 solute Religion, it is the only course He can take, 
 is to establish man first in the limited personal life 
 of the first birth, and then, by means of the great facts 
 involved in the second birth, and in harmony with 
 man's own personal recognitions and acceptance, to 
 make him one with the universal or divine personal 
 life. 
 
 4. — So that the doctrine of the second birth, 
 which man in his first or Adamic life does not easily 
 understand, and indeed according to the apostle 
 Paul docs not understand at all in the true sense, is 
 no fiction, no mistake ; but on the contrary is a great 
 truth in philosophy, and a great realization in expe- 
 
100 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 rience. But the question may perhaps be asked, 
 whether there is really so much difference between 
 the two forms of life as to justify the application of 
 distinctive terms ; and whether the second form of 
 life is anything more or otherwise than a progression 
 and very high degree of the first or natural life. In 
 answering this question, which will be likely to arise 
 in some minds, we remark that the great fact of 
 personality in both cases is the same ; so that the 
 same person is the subject of both forms of experi- 
 ence without prejudice to his individualism ; and if 
 he were at any time to reach 'spiritually the position 
 of an angel, it would not at' all perplex the matter 
 of his personal identity. And furthermore, it may 
 be admitted, and is undoubtedly true, that there is 
 a foundation for the Doctrine of progression ; but 
 the doctrine of progression implies, I suppose, that 
 there is an end toward which we progress ; an ob- 
 ject which the soul is consciously in pursuit of. 
 And if we have a right understanding of the matter, 
 the end or object may be, and in fact must be, dis- 
 tinguished from the successive and progressive steps 
 which are prerequisite to- it. There are many things 
 in these successive steps, which are called and which 
 may justly be regarded as facts of religious experi- 
 ence, and which in consequence of the real interest 
 and value attaching to them, are sometimes errone- 
 
THE SECOND, OR NEW BIRTH. I0 I 
 
 ously mistaken for the second Birth in the true and 
 higher sense of the phrase ; but in point of fact they 
 are merely steps or incidents in the way and not the 
 end or termination of the way. A soul new-born is 
 not a process, but a thing done ; not a doing or being 
 done, but a fact accomplished, a definite result and 
 definitely and consciously realized ; and one it may 
 be added, in which God and angels take an interest 
 and in which all heaven rejoices. 
 
 5. — And in my apprehension, whatever may be 
 true of progression either before or after the second 
 birth, and whatever may be true of continued and 
 unbroken personality, there is a line of distinction 
 between the first and second form of life, between 
 the old Adamic life and the new Christ life, consid- 
 ered simply as forms of life, which is not only 
 marked and clear, but in point of fact the two things 
 are so distinct, the one never going beyond the 
 finite, and the other bound up in the golden links of 
 the Infinite, that they are incommensurable with 
 each other, and in the essence of their nature forever 
 stand apart. But this is a matter of so much im- 
 portance that I propose to occupy another chapter 
 with a contrasted view in some particulars of the 
 two forms of life, in the hope to vindicate and make 
 clear these positions. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Relation of the First to tiie Second Birth, 
 
 I. — It might be supposed from what has been 
 said in the preceding chapter, that the first form of 
 life, to which so large a portion of theological atten- 
 tion has from time to time been directed, is either 
 in its nature essentially evil, or at least must be re 
 garded as of no practical position and value in the 
 development of man's spiritual history. Such a 
 view in either of the aspects which have been inti- 
 mated, would be a great mistake. The argument 
 on one of the points is clear. It cannot be said on 
 any just philosophical grounds that God creates sin. 
 The eternal truth rejects any such affirmation. And 
 therefore man's first birth, at the moment of its ori- 
 gin, has and must have the character of innocency. 
 But this is not the whole statement in the case. 
 Standing alone in the relative incompleteness of its 
 incipient condition, but naturally preferring, in the 
 consciousness of its freedom and power to make its 
 own way and to do its own acts in the universe of 
 
RELATION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH. 103 
 
 things, it necessarily finds itself at a very early pe- 
 riod, and perhaps in its very first acts, exposed to 
 the greatest hazards. Its innocence is no certain 
 pledge of its security. Its innocence involving the 
 fact of its freedom becomes the natural, perhaps the 
 inevitable precursor of its sin. 
 
 2. — The view of the Scriptures on this subject is 
 supposed to be familiar to all. The Absolute Reli- 
 gion, or religion as founded on philosophical observa- 
 tion and analysis, harmonizes with it. And in the 
 support of this last assertion, which carries with it 
 consequences which involve the interests of human- 
 ity, let us delay a little and examine the subject in 
 its details. 
 
 We first see man coming from the creating hand 
 of God. He stands before us as the Adamic man, 
 erect, self-centred and free. No child of Satan ; but 
 a child of the living God, and constituted in a very 
 important sense in the image of God. And it is the 
 fact that he is thus constituted, being as really ex- 
 istent and free in the human sphere as God is in the 
 infinite or divine sphere, which makes his danger. 
 He stands sublime in his independence. He occu- 
 pies an eminence above all other created things. 
 His joy is as great as the greatness of his position. 
 But can he stand alone ? That is the question. 
 With all the independence and power which he act- 
 
104 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ually possesses, is it true that he either is or can be 
 morally secure amid a universe of existences and re- 
 lations, no rights or claims of which are ever allowed 
 to be violated? 
 
 3. — It is unquestionable that man knew well 
 both the fact and the nature of the power and the 
 freedom. which God had given him. God had not 
 only given them to him ; but with the gift had given 
 also, without which they would have been valueless, 
 the consciousness which recognized them as his own. 
 But is it necessary to add there was one thing which 
 he did not know? He had no adequate compre- 
 hension, and in consequence of the necessary limita- 
 tion and finiteness of his powers it was impossible 
 that he should have, of the infinitude of obligations 
 that rested upon him. And still less, standing firm- 
 ly in the sphere of his independence and trusting in 
 the newborn joy of his own strength alone, was he 
 able to. fulfil these obligations. To accept the aid 
 which the divine benevolence offered him had the 
 appearance of giving up his independence. His in- 
 dependence seemed to be, as it really was, the glory 
 of his nature. To part with it even in the smallest 
 degree and under any circumstances, was striking a 
 blow at the essence of his life. Blinded by the 
 splendor of the gifts which had been imparted to 
 him, he virtually asked God who had made him in 
 
RELATION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH. I0 5 
 
 this grand incipient completeness, to stand aside and 
 let him alone. 
 
 How could he being a man be otherwise than he 
 was ; or how, being situated as he was, could he do 
 otherwise than he did? The law which required 
 him to fulfil every duty, — a law as limitless in its 
 applications as the infinitude of existing facts and 
 relations, — was upon him ; and it could not be oth- 
 erwise. And undertaking in his ignorance to fulfil 
 it in his own strength, — a strength which was not 
 strong enough to renounce itself under such circum- 
 stances, — he necessarily failed and fell. 
 
 4. — Such are the essential facts which present 
 themselves to our observation as we theoretically 
 and practically study the history of the human race ; 
 and which are more or less clearly revealed in the 
 facts and incidents of the biblical narrative. Man 
 fell. The weight of his own glory inseparable from 
 the inviolability of his personal and responsible ex- 
 istence, combined as it was with the position in 
 which he was necessarily placed, bore him down. 
 It was of the nature of a moral necessity ; but it 
 was not without the signatures of divine goodness 
 and wisdom. His fall as it is denominated, great 
 and terrible as it was, carried with it the noblest 
 testimony which could possibly be given of the high 
 and glorious nature of the gifts which had been im- 
 5* 
 
I0 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 parted. A testimony so striking and decisive that 
 the universe, which is interested in all that pertains 
 to man and which cannot live upon doubts, could 
 not afford to be without it. It was necessary in or- 
 der to establish a basis for the ever-growing devel- 
 opment and harmonies of the universe, in order to 
 build the pillars of the future in eternal strength, 
 not only that man should be free, but that he should 
 be known to be free. The fall of man settles it for- 
 ever, that the manhood which his Creator gave him 
 was a divine reality and not a pretentious sem- 
 blance. 
 
 5. — When in my early life I read in some of the 
 old Puritan theologians that there was wisdom and 
 glory in the fall of man and that great good had re- 
 sulted from it, I failed to see the truth of their dec- 
 larations. And if in the sense of my comparative 
 ignorance, I had not the strength entirely to reject 
 their statements, I certainly had not the ability to 
 comprehend them. I reserved them as I have done 
 in many other instances, for further meditation. 
 And my thought to-day, subject to the corrections 
 of any higher wisdom, is, that they were right in the 
 substance of their meaning, though imperfect and 
 liable to lead to error in their expression of it. The 
 fall of man was and is a good, because it was and is 
 the only testimony which can settle, beyond the 
 
RELATION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH. 107 
 
 reach of doubt and cavil, the question of the com- 
 pleteness of his moral nature in the matter of his 
 moral liberty. 
 
 The history of six thousand years with its record 
 of deceptions and cruelties, of suspicions, calumnies 
 and hatreds, with its usurping tyrannies and bloody 
 wars, and not without the bright inheritance of vir- 
 tuous purposes and noble deeds, leaves no room to 
 doubt, that man in the greatness of his nature was 
 created with the capacity to discriminate between 
 right and wrong and to do either good or evil. But 
 this decisive testimony which removes all doubt, 
 could not have been reached with anything short of 
 the multitude of sad and guilty facts which are in- 
 volved in it. 
 
 6. — We pass now to another view. It can be 
 said of the first form of life that it is not only not 
 evil in its nature, but that it sustains relations and 
 secures results of the greatest importance. Its 
 greatness and glory, with all its admitted liabilities 
 to error and transgression, are evident from this, that 
 without the first birth the second birth, with all the 
 hopes and honors which attach to it would have 
 been an impossibility. The later or heavenly birth, 
 it is true, is born of heavenly influences flowing 
 down to it from heavenly sources and elevating the 
 soul to its new position; but these influences gain 
 
IO S ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 no admittance and of course exert no power until 
 the soul, with the key of its inalienable freedom, 
 opens the door for their entrance and accepts them 
 as its own. God undoubtedly is to be regarded as 
 a party in this great work ; he cannot be separated 
 from the divine influences which have been men- 
 tioned ; and without Him nothing is done effectual- 
 ly. But there are moral as well as physical impossi- 
 bilities ; and God cannot do that which is impossi- 
 ble to be done. It is impossible for God to bestow 
 upon men the attributes of freedom and power in 
 sincerity, and yet at the same time to destroy, or to 
 interfere with and perplex their appropriate position 
 and action. If there is anything which may be re- 
 garded as fully settled, either in sound philosophy 
 or in any generally accepted theology, it is the posi- 
 tion, that the gift of moral freedom implies and ne- 
 cessitates the impossibility of its violation. So that 
 the first or oldest birth, whether regarded as pure 
 and innocent at the period of its origin, or with 
 some inherent taint of evil as some suppose, or 
 what seems to be and what we think must be the 
 truth in the case, with innocence attended with a 
 liability to evil, by an arrangement which, growing 
 out of the nature of things, could not be otherwise 
 than it is, places the crown as the result of its histo- 
 ry and experience upon the head and heart of the 
 
RELATION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH. 109 
 
 second birth. And in this sense at least, Adam, in 
 the line and the destinies of humanity, becomes as 
 the Scriptures represent him, the progenitor of 
 Christ ; Adam falls that Christ may rise ; the Ad- 
 amic man perishes that the Christ or Christian man, 
 made strong by the element of a new life may come 
 and take his place and may live forever. 
 
 7. — But proceeding a step further, we next in- 
 quire what is the true and interior nature of this 
 remarkable work. There is a remark of St. Augus- 
 tine which indicates what this nature is, " A mores 
 duo ducts civitates fecerunt." Two loves have made 
 two cities ; the one Babylon, the other Jerusalem ; the 
 one a city of discord and unrighteousness, the other 
 a city of harmony and rectitude. Looking at the 
 matter philosophically, it is not necessary to deny 
 that these two loves are the same in their individu- 
 al nature ; and are only discriminated and separated 
 by the diversity in their applications and objects. 
 If man had not been created with the love of him- 
 self, would he have possessed the measurement, by 
 which he was required to estimate his love to his 
 neighbor? We read repeatedly in the writings of 
 Paul, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
 And in other places, in expressions of still broader 
 and higher import, " thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thy- 
 
I i o ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 self; " identifying the love of God, so far as its na- 
 ture is concerned, with the love of our neighbor, 
 and in that way as it seems to me, identifying the 
 love of our Maker, in respect to its nature at least, 
 with the love of man. 
 
 It is true that the love of God is greatly higher 
 than that of our neighbor, because while the love 
 of our neighbor extends to and embraces humanity, 
 the love of God reaching far above and far below, 
 includes the love of all existences. As President 
 Edwards in one of the most remarkable of his works 
 expresses it, it is the " love of being in general ; " in 
 other words, love of everything which exists and is 
 susceptible of being loved. And yet it seems to us 
 it cannot well be doubted, in the light of a candid 
 and careful analysis, that the love of God is the 
 same in its essential nature with the love of oui 
 neighbor, which in its kind or nature is the same 
 with that of ourselves. So that the love of God, 
 looking at the matter either in the light of the 
 Scriptures or of the highest reason, is the expansion 
 of the love of ourselves, which in the lower or com- 
 parative sense is the infinitely small, to what in the 
 higher or absolute sense is the infinitely great ; in 
 other words, from a sphere of action which is meas- 
 ured by individualism, to a sphere of action whose 
 universality places it beyond the possibility of meas- 
 
RELA TION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIR Til. \ \ i 
 
 urement. And this statement, in harmony with 
 what was intimated in a former passage, involves 
 the comparative measurement of the first and sec- 
 ond birth, and makes them, in the matter of extent 
 or degree, incommensurable. 
 
 8. — Upon this subject, the greatness of the sec- 
 ond Birth, we have no language which can well ex- 
 press our feelings. Perhaps we ought to say again, 
 and still more explicitly, that we understand by the 
 second Birth something more than the ordinary 
 forms, valuable as they are, of transitional religious 
 experience. A man may be greatly exercised in re- 
 ligious experiences, and indeed it is often the case, 
 without his being able to say in the higher and true 
 sense that he is born of God. The second birth is 
 the soul found in the image of God, not merely in 
 the matter of moral freedom but of universal love ; 
 the soul expanded from the consideration of self 
 alone to the regard and love of every other being ; 
 the out-growth and the divine consummation of the 
 souPs antecedent and preparatory history. It gains 
 a position in which, harmonizing with God, God be- 
 comes its teacher ; and in which, going hand in hand 
 with its great Creator, it henceforth marches onward 
 forever to learn, forever to love, and forever to en- 
 joy. 
 
 9. — But the question still remains, where docs 
 
! ! 2 A B SOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 this heavenly love come from, and under what con- 
 ditions does it come. We answer, it is the gift of 
 God ; perhaps it would be better to say, it is the in- 
 flowing of God. The latter term implies that it 
 comes by the necessities of law ; the former, that it 
 depends on the uncontrolled decisions of volition. 
 If we are right in the views we entertain, it is a part 
 of God's nature, without which he would be some- 
 thing less than God, to flow out or communicate 
 himself, in the attributes of truth and good, to all be- 
 ings that are capable of receiving and are willing to 
 receive. He chooses to do this, because his nature 
 never allows him to choose otherwise ; and thus 
 the choice which, without the nature, would be 
 giving, being sustained and sanctified by the nature, 
 becomes an in-flowing. If God is Love, which fhe 
 Scriptures as well as philosophy affirm him to be, 
 there can be no difficulty here. 
 
 But there is still something remaining. This 
 great and desirable result, which has the heart of the 
 Infinite in its favor, depends nevertheless upon 
 man ; at least in this particular, that this in-flowing 
 from the divine heights can never reach him, can 
 never become the baptism of the soul and the souFs 
 reeeneration, without his own consent. It is when 
 he can truly say " not my will but thine be done," 
 that his consent is fully given. God could not make 
 
RE LA TION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH. 113 
 
 him in the true greatness of his nature, and did not 
 make him, without giving him this mighty preroga- 
 tive. 
 
 10. — And now, let us look a moment in another 
 direction ; and what do we see ? The second birth 
 in any other way, or on any other conditions, be- 
 comes an impossibility. Is it possible for God to 
 raise man to that high position, with the opposition 
 of his own will standing against it ? And more than 
 this, take away the freedom of the will, which is the 
 completing or consummating element in man's na- 
 ture, and there is nothing to be raised. It is true 
 that freedom of the- will does not constitute the 
 whole of man ; but it is also true that man is not 
 and cannot be constituted as man without it. The 
 new birth, which implies that the soul is not and 
 cannot be a machine, the new-birth which is in the 
 highest sense a grand moral, spiritual and responsi- 
 ble realization, could never have had a place without 
 the antecedents of man's first birth of freedom and 
 personality. The statement is an argument; and 
 the argument is conviction. -And therefore it is we 
 say, look at man as he is, and call him man or devil, 
 inasmuch as a name cannot alter the fact ; and it is 
 impossible not to bow with reverence in the pres- 
 ence of human nature, which, with all its liabilities 
 
ii 4 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 to evil, still holds in its hand the possibilities of 
 heavenly and eternal life. 
 
 II. — And now, taking our position on such 
 grounds, is it out of place to utter a few words in 
 favor of our common humanity, even in those forms 
 which have the sad aspect of degradation and sor- 
 row ? Is there one so low that he wholly loses the 
 dignity of his nature, and lies below the notice of a 
 sympathizing tear? The Adamic man, even in the 
 degradation of his fall, holds in his hand the key of 
 universal good. Go with me to yonder prison, which 
 contains within its iron bars, and shuts out from the 
 light of day, the thief and the drunkard, the robber 
 and the murderer; and in those countenances of sor- 
 row and of crime, canst thou not see something 
 which speaks to thee of a common brotherhood, 
 something which inspires in thy saddened bosom 
 sentiments of forgiveness and hope ? I speak for 
 myself, but I am confident, that I find in the emo- 
 tions of my own heart the common thought and 
 feeling of our common humanity. 
 
 And if these sentiments are the out-birth of a 
 sound philosophy in relation to our initiative or Ad- 
 amic humanity, they cannot fail to inspire feelings 
 of reverence and love for that great Book in which 
 it is said, " He maketh his sun to rise on the evil 
 and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and 
 
RELATION OF FIRST TO SECOND BIRTH n$ 
 
 on the unjust. 11 And where we read, " Father, for- 
 give them, for they know not what they do." And 
 where it is said again, " Neither do I condemn thee ; 
 go, and sin no more." And again, " This day thou 
 shalt be with me in Paradise." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Relation of Moral Evil to Freedom, and its Remedy. 
 
 I. — It is implied in the fact of forgiveness^to 
 which reference was made at the close of the last 
 chapter, in connection with the forgiving and loving 
 principles involved in the mystery of the Cross, 
 that there is something which needs to be forgiven ; 
 in other words, that man has gone astray and sin- 
 ned. This fact brings up the. inquiry, upon which 
 there has been from time to time so much discus- 
 sion, of the origin of moral evil. The view of the 
 Absolute Religion, which is also the doctrine of the 
 Scriptures when properly interpreted and under- 
 stood, is that moral evil in its various forms and de- 
 grees is necessarily incidental to the facts which are 
 involved in the constitution of man's nature. In 
 other words, the liability to sin is a necessary result 
 of the great faculties and capabilities, which are 
 man's inheritance. 
 
 2. — It is the Scriptural statement that man was 
 created in the " image of God." A statement which 
 
MORAL EVIL. uy 
 
 is entitled on grounds of observation and reason to 
 be accepted in its essential meaning, although it re- 
 quires to be modified in its import by the considera- 
 tion that man is finite and the Creator infinite. But 
 with this modification kept in view, which implies 
 that the likeness in the creation exists in the out- 
 lines and essential nature of being, rather than in 
 the amount or degree of being, it still remains, that 
 man was created in the divine image, in the first 
 place, perceptively ; in other words, in the posses- 
 sion of those powers which are employed in the ac- 
 quisition of knowledge. And if the limitation, to 
 which we have referred, excludes the attribute of 
 omniscience, it accepts both the possibility and the 
 fact of such a degree of knowledge as is appropri- 
 ate to a finite being. Secondly, man was created 
 in the image of God sentimentively ; that is to say, 
 he was created with that distinct and more interior 
 department of our mental nature which is some- 
 times appropriately expressed by the term sensibili- 
 ties ; and which, in being the sphere of the senti- 
 ments, originates feeling in its various forms of emo- 
 tions, desires and feelings of obligation, in distinc- 
 tion from mere perceptive acts. And thirdly, he was 
 created with the power or faculty of the will; that 
 great and controlling department of the mind, where 
 we are to look for the foundations, or at least the 
 
l 1 5 ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 necessary conditions, of personality and accountabil- 
 ity. In all these important respects there can be no 
 hesitation in saying that man was created in the 
 imasre of God. And as a resultant of these attri- 
 butes of being, and as a necessary fulfilment of the 
 statement that he was born in the divine image, he 
 was created self-centred ; a being not only endued 
 with living power, but created in the possession of 
 absolute moral freedom within the sphere of his 
 personal existence and activity. 
 
 3. — So that if we rightly conceive of the princi- 
 ples of his birth, man was created a child of God, 
 with a reality of freedom and of personal responsi- 
 bility in his own finite sphere, analogous to that of 
 God himself in his infinite sphere. The attribute 
 of volitional and moral freedom, with that practical 
 self-reliance which grows out of it, makes the self- 
 centred position complete. So that man, being 
 what he is and created as he is, is necessarily born a 
 self-hood ; and that self-hood, claiming on the ground 
 of moral freedom a likeness and relationship with 
 the self-hood of God, is not more a necessary condi- 
 tion or form of his life, than it is the foundation of 
 his greatness and glory. And accordingly, though 
 as man he is an out-birth from God and is necessari- 
 ly inferior to God, he stands within his own sphere 
 of life, and in virtue of the psychical and moral gifts 
 
MORAL EVIL. I ig 
 
 which have been imparted to him, essentially a de- 
 ific being ; and is truly and emphatically born in the 
 image of God and made a son of God. And that 
 which, more than anything else, although none of 
 his other mental attributes could be dispensed with, 
 gives him this high place, and that which establishes 
 him as one born in the image of God, and makes 
 him a true child of God, is his inviolable freedom. 
 
 4. — In being an out-birth from the Infinite, man 
 is not on that account infinite himself, but on the 
 contrary is characterized, and necessarily so, by 
 finiteness. An infinite out-birth, if it could be a 
 thing conceivable, would be essentially a contradic- 
 tion in terms. A creation or out-birth, which could 
 be characterized as infinite, would not be an out- 
 birth, but an identity. So that man, in the primal 
 principles and facts of his creation, is born as he is 
 and was, because he could not be born otherwise ; 
 made in the image of God, and therefore in an im- 
 portant sense deific, but not infinite. But here 
 comes an incident of his history which is worthy of 
 notice. The law and the facts. of his being are such, 
 that while they constitute the necessity and the glo- 
 ry of his existence, they draw the lines of separation, 
 and place him, in the first instance, not only in the 
 isolation of self-hood, but for a time at least in prac- 
 tical antagonism with everything else. He stands 
 
I20 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 up in the conscious greatness of his individualism, 
 which is only another name for his self-hood ; and 
 in the power and in the just pride of self-affirmation, 
 his first utterance is necessarily an interrogation of 
 the universe. He says, I am a man; let no one 
 touch me ; let no one violate the sphere of my activ- 
 ity; let no one attempt to control me. That proud 
 voice which in affirming itself and ascertaining its 
 own position, interrogates and warns all others, 
 sounds through all heights and all depths, and pro- 
 claims the birth of a deific son. God himself stands 
 aside, as it were, in deep reverence and love of his 
 own mighty work ; and will not, and in fact cannot, 
 without a self-contradiction, act adversely in the 
 violation, in any degree whatever, of that divine at- 
 tribute of freedom which He has given never to be 
 recalled. 
 
 5. — But, although God had given man freedom, 
 there was another thing which he did not and could 
 not give. He did not and could not give him the 
 right to violate the position and the rights of any 
 other being which exists, whether great or small. 
 All beings have their position and rights as distinctly 
 marked and as clearly inviolable as are those of man 
 So that, although man was born into the position of 
 self-hood with all its possibilities and responsibili- 
 ties, yet the great law of the universe, which God 
 
MORAL EVIL. I2I 
 
 himself could not abrogate or alter, requires him to 
 exercise that self-hood in all its tendencies and acts, 
 in harmony with the rights and the highest good 
 of all others. The soul in its self-hood, with the 
 freedom and power of its self-hood, and yet without 
 the knowledge which might enable it to act in har- 
 mony with the rights and claims of all other beings, 
 is the soul in its first birth ; the soul, in the language 
 sometimes employed by theologians, in its Adamic 
 life. And it is here, in this position of the soul, 
 great and wonderful as it is, that we find the possi- 
 bility and the practical beginnings of moral evil. It 
 acts, because it has the freedom and the power to 
 act ; and is determined to act, because it is justly in 
 love with its freedom and power ; but in its blindness 
 it is constantly doing wrong, because in breaking 
 the law to which even freedom is bound to submit, 
 it violates the harmonies of the universe. But all 
 these sins and errors, originating in blindness of 
 mind, are forgiven and blotted out in the principles 
 and experiences of the Cross, as we have already 
 explained them. And the soul, prepared by what 
 it has passed through and impressed with a new and 
 deeper sense of the divine wisdom, is born into that 
 higher and better position which is not inappropri- 
 ately called the second birth. 
 
 6. — We can perhaps illustrate these views and 
 
122 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 make them clearer by calling to mind that the state 
 of things which we have just now described, is es- 
 sentially, and almost precisely, what we daily see in 
 little children. Their freedom, without which in 
 their sad stupidity, they would be but little better 
 than mere blocks of stone or wood, sparkles in their 
 eyes, sounds in their voice, and is a living activity 
 in their hands and feet. And this very freedom, 
 without which they would cease to be true children, 
 constitutes the parents' highest joy. The parents 
 look upon the exuberance of their bliss in their run- 
 nings to and fro, and in their thousand experimental 
 activities, with an ecstasy of pleasure ; regarding it 
 as the presage of the reality and the fruits of man- 
 hood and womanhood. And yet the first thing 
 they do, is to place this incipient freedom, which is 
 the seed of moral life and without which moral life 
 is an impossibility, under law. They tell their chil- 
 dren not to do this thing and not to do that thing; 
 and the child, overrunning with gladness in the 
 possession of his personality, seldom fails in some of 
 the particulars which are placed under prohibition, 
 to go contrary to the orders of the loving parents. 
 And the consequence is, that they not only go astray, 
 but they suffer for it ; and there is no restoration for 
 them and no happiness for them until they are will- 
 ing to place themselves under parental direction, or 
 
MORAL EVIL. 
 
 123 
 
 what is the same thing, to place their wills under 
 the wills of their parents. 
 
 7. — This analogous illustration helps us to under- 
 stand man's position in relation to God. The child 
 who disobeys suffers ; and the human race in its dis- 
 obedience to God suffers ; but the love of the parent 
 comes to the rescue of the child ; and so the love of 
 God, incarnated and manifested in Christ, comes to 
 the rescue of the race ; and in both cases promptly, 
 sincerely, and so far as the possibilities of the case 
 will allow, effectually. All that is wanting on the 
 part of man is those dispositions, including the pen- 
 itent recognition of his sin, which will secure obedi 
 ence. The great law of the universe which requires 
 a regard for the rights and happiness of all possible 
 existences, is an imperative one. It is a law so clear 
 that it needs no proof except what it carries in itself 
 in the fact of its own intuitional affirmation. And 
 yet it is a law which cannot by any possibility be 
 obeyed, except in one way ; namely, by placing the 
 human will in the keeping of the Divine will. And 
 this, it cannot well be doubted, was the interior 
 meaning and object of the law of Paradise, namely, 
 to adjust permanently the relation of the human and 
 the Divine will in order to man's guidance and good. 
 
 8. — But the question may suggest itself here 
 whether this is not a hard case for man ; endowed 
 
I2 4 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 as he is with freedom, and yet in the exercise of 
 that freedom without which he would cease to be a 
 man, doomed to errors which bring him into con- 
 demnation and suffering. It might perhaps be re- 
 garded so if this were the termination of his history, 
 and if there were no escape from a position so un- 
 looked for and so sad. But the Fall, as it is theo- 
 logically expressed, or that series of events in which 
 freedom in its early and irrepressible love of itself, 
 took the position of disobedience to law and thus 
 became rebellion, though a terrible evil in itself, is 
 incidentally a gain in its results. And the reason 
 of this is found in what has already been intimated 
 in relation to the love and goodness of God. Man 
 sins and suffers ; but he is not deserted. " Can a 
 woman forget her sucking child, that she should not 
 have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, 
 they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Great 
 words, uttered by an ancient Prophet in the solitary 
 mountains of Judea ; but which belong to all lands 
 and nations. And what then, having done all that 
 he consistently could do by instruction or in other 
 ways, to prevent the fall, shall he do now that the 
 fall has become a reality? Revealing himself in the 
 divine analogy of his works, he teaches us that He 
 does just what the true earthly parent does ; only in 
 a higher degree and with unspeakably greater re- 
 
MORAL EVIL. 1 25 
 
 suits. In the first place, so great is his love that he 
 allows them to suffer, or perhaps better he cannot 
 help their suffering, because sin and suffering neces- 
 sarily go together. He lets them suffer so long as 
 they remain in disobedience, because there is no 
 other way. The ways of God are not accidents, but 
 wisdoms; not the uncertainties and the variations 
 of time, but the permanencies of eternity. 
 
 g m — It is possible that some will say here, if free- 
 dom is necessary to the realization and the constitu- 
 tion of their manhood, then the surrender of the 
 will to God is practically giving up the great charac- 
 teristic of humanity, and is in fact the withdrawal 
 and the annihilation of the great essential element 
 which makes man what he is. It was perhaps this 
 fear in part, in man's incipient and Adamic condition, 
 which led him into the disobedience of rejecting the 
 divine command. But it was only a fear, and not a 
 verity. God never proposed, and never can propose, 
 without violence to the most glorious truths and sym- 
 pathies of his nature, to violate man's freedom, or to 
 destroy it, or injure it in any way or degree, under 
 any circumstances or in any place ; either in the in- 
 cipient Adamic humanity or in the perfected Christ 
 humanity; in heaven, earth, or hell; in time or in 
 eternity. All that He proposes, and all that He 
 asks, in view of the creative and sustaining relation- 
 
I2 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ships of his eternal Fatherhood, is, that He may be 
 allowed to exercise his parental interest and care, 
 by guiding or helping to guide man in those cases, 
 (and this is true of all cases of voluntary action,) 
 which, in consequence of their infinitely varied rela- 
 tions, are in many essential respects beyond the 
 reach and judgment of a finite mind. Cases where, 
 if he is not guided by a Mind that understands this 
 infinity of remote facts and relations, his fall becomes 
 a moral necessity. It is the surrender of the will 
 under these circumstances and to this extent, which 
 God demands in virtue of his paternal necessities ; 
 and its refusal on the part of man is, and must be 
 his certain and necessary ruin. But such a surren- 
 der of the will as this, is not the destruction of the 
 will, and is not the destruction of humanity ; but on 
 the contrary is the perfection of the will's action by 
 harmonizing it with the truth, and is the human 
 will harmonizing with the will of God in the divine 
 marriage of a common thought and purpose; and 
 instead of being the destruction, is the preservation 
 and the perfection of humanity. 
 
 io. — The doctrine of the Fall then understood 
 in its principles, stands before us not merely in the 
 literal statements of the Scripture narrative, but as 
 one of the great problems of philosophy, which the 
 truth vindicates and accepts. And it may be ac- 
 
MORAL EVIL. \2J 
 
 ccpted as a moral axiom, that whatever harmonizes 
 with the truth will be found all for the best. It was 
 best that man should be created as a self-centred 
 existence or self-hood, with the freedom appropriate 
 to it. It was best that he should demonstrate to 
 himself and the universe, that he had a self-con- 
 sciousness, a positive sphere of action, a personal 
 responsibility, a divine freedom ; and thereby vindi- 
 cate his deific descent. It was best that God 
 should leave him to the possibilities of the Fall, and 
 that he should fall if in his freedom he chose to do 
 so ; not only for the reason which has been intimat- 
 ed, that he might be assured and all others might 
 be assured of these great attributes of his nature; 
 but that the love of God might be summoned to 
 meet the exigency of his unhappy disobedience and 
 overthrow. It was best that he should suffer the 
 sorrows that are always born of sin, that in the 
 greatness of his anguish he might cry out for 
 help. It was best that the miseries which in the 
 Fall flow out of the First Birth, should lead to the 
 blood-bought inheritance of the Second Birth ; that 
 self-hood renouncing its personal and selfish limita- 
 tions, should grow up into universal-hood ; that an 
 in-dwelling Adam should be exchanged for an in- 
 dwelling Christ ; and the Life that perishes for the 
 Life that lives forever. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Divine Purposes. 
 
 I. — The doctrine of the Divine Purposes, to 
 some extent in the more general form of Providen- 
 tial arrangements, but especially when regarded as 
 including the doctrines of Decrees and Election, and 
 any and all results which rest specifically upon the 
 decisions of the Divine will, has met with serious 
 objections in the minds of many. And yet it can- 
 not well be doubted, that the analogies of nature 
 and the suggestions and arguments of a broad and 
 reflective philosophy will be likely to discover an 
 important and perhaps an indispensable truth in 
 that direction. Our views will of course be based 
 upon the accepted idea of the existence of God. 
 And reasoning upon this basis, it must not be for- 
 gotten, that the facts of the universe, whatever they 
 may be, embody the wisdom of the Great Mind of 
 the universe ; and the wisdom of the great superin- 
 tending Mind cannot possibly be separated from his 
 goodness. 
 
THE DIVINE PURPOSES. 129 
 
 And the first question which arises is, what has 
 He done? In other words, what are the results of 
 his mental decisions ? We shall all agree I suppose, 
 that we find the answer to this question in what we 
 everywhere behold around us. Looking especially 
 at man, who is commonly regarded as the greatest 
 of His works, we find the condition of things so ex- 
 isting, which implies that they are so originated and 
 so arranged, that there are innumerable diversities 
 of rich and poor, of learned and ignorant, of those 
 who are bowed in sickness and affliction, and those 
 who are in prosperity, of men in palaces and men in 
 dungeons, of men honored by virtues and men de- 
 graded by crimes. It may even be said that there 
 are no two situations and no two characters which 
 are precisely alike. 
 
 2. — Now it must be admitted that this state of 
 things is not at variance with the thought and pur- 
 pose of the great controlling Mind, who is at the 
 head of all things. He has done it ; and in the ex- 
 ercise of the highest wisdom, he intended to do it. 
 It harmonizes with his idea of what is for the best ; 
 it constitutes a part of the divine plan — a plan 
 which may safely appeal to the highest human 
 reason for its acceptance and approval. It is possi- 
 ble that those who hold adverse or unfavorable 
 positions, those who pine on beds of sickness or 
 6* 
 
j. ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 look out upon the bright world through the grates 
 of a prison, may not always clearly see the evidences 
 of wisdom or even of justice. But when we look 
 away from individual cases which considered alone 
 might perplex the judgment, and contemplate crea- 
 tion as a great system, in which the highest wisdom 
 as well as the highest benevolence is called upon to 
 develop itself, I think we cannot fail to approve of 
 and to accept the wisdom of that grand creative 
 idea, which harmonizes the central unity of things 
 with the greatest possible diversities. In other 
 words we find the leading principle of a philosophic 
 answer to the objections that are made to the great 
 doctrine of unity and diversity. Look abroad upon 
 outward nature. And can it be affirmed that it is 
 less beautiful or less wisely ordered, because it is not 
 an unvaried and level expanse, but is diversified by 
 rocks, valleys and mountains? And what would 
 humanity be, where would be the interest attached 
 to it, if everything were reduced to a dead level, 
 without diversities of thought, without varieties of 
 action, without the hills and valleys and rocky and 
 rugged places of comparative situation, with all poor 
 and none rich, or all rich and none poor : so that a 
 man would find it impossible to be interested in the 
 welfare of his neighbor, and still less to do him 
 good. Such a state of things, like a dead level in 
 
THE DIVINE PURPOSES. 
 
 131 
 
 the material world, would answer perhaps for a day 
 or an hour, but would soon become a profitless and 
 hopeless stupidity. 
 
 3. — And now, when we attempt to look more 
 carefully into the origin of things or rather into the 
 causes of things, not merely the beginning but the 
 intelligent cause which makes their beginning, we 
 are obliged to say, since we have nothing else to say, 
 that the causative principle of this state of things is 
 God himself. And we mean by this, that God 
 stands at the head not only of creation but of the 
 diversities of creation ; not only of existence but of 
 all the modifications and varieties of existence. God 
 makes the sunshine, and God makes the storm. 
 The springtime and the harvest ; the summer and 
 the winter are the Lord's : God made the mount- 
 ains : the hills and the valleys also are the works of 
 his hand. The rivers and the fountains are his : and 
 he makes mighty seas and oceans. The universe in 
 some important sense, is the reflex of himself; and 
 its infinite diversities are the expression of the wis- 
 dom and the boundless resources which are hidden 
 in the infinitude of his nature. And this causative 
 relation which makes him the responsible head of 
 all things, extends to things intellectual and moral 
 as well as physical ; to man as well as to outward 
 nature ; to every incident of his being and every 
 
j <, 2 AB SOL U TE RELIGION. 
 
 form of his activity. In the theological and dog- 
 matic form of expression, to which we are now 
 directing attention, it is a matter of purpose and 
 decree. God sustains not merely a permissive, but 
 a positive and authoritative relation. He has " de- 
 creed "the facts of existence, he has "elected" the 
 course of individuals and empires. 
 
 4. — And all this, notwithstanding it seems to 
 sound harshly, we can admit and affirm, when the 
 matter is stated in its full extent and placed in its 
 proper relations. Let it not be forgotten that in 
 the universality of this grand " decree " and in the 
 discriminations of that authoritative process which 
 " elects " one vessel to " honor and another to dis- 
 honor," he embraces as a part of his scheme the fact 
 of man's moral freedom and its inviolability; the 
 immutable distinction of right and wrong ; the rela- 
 tion of wrong to punishment and of punishment to 
 wrong ; the principle of growth by means of exertion 
 and trial ; the mighty compensations of time, which 
 as time cannot be separated from eternity are 
 known only to himself; the adjustment of diversi- 
 ties which are seen, with harmonies that are neces- 
 sarily unseen, except by minds that can embrace all 
 facts and all relations ; that though some fall and 
 some rise, yet there " is not a sparrow that falleth 
 to the ground without his notice," that though he 
 
THE DIVINE TUEPOSES. 133 
 
 saw his own Son nailed to the cross, yet he placed 
 upon his head the crown which shall shine through 
 the eternity of ages; — let these and many other 
 things be remembered and taken into account in 
 the consideration of this great subject. All that a 
 proper regard for the truth requires is, that the 
 proper breadth may be given to the problem ; that 
 it may be considered in its universality and in the 
 measureless extent of its possibilities. And whether 
 it be called " divine purpose," or " decree," or u elec- 
 tion" or by any other name, it holds a truth, when 
 properly discriminated and set in its true light, 
 which philosophy accepts, and practical religion has 
 never been able to dispense with. 
 
 5. — But if we must accept moral freedom at the 
 same time that we accept divine supremacy, the 
 question arises, — By what process can they be harmo- 
 nized with each other ? Where are the philosophic 
 methods which can reconcile what either is, or at 
 least has the appearance of being, a positive contra- 
 diction ? If we take the ground that they are really 
 contradictions, we must of course admit that they 
 cannot be reconciled. But in point of fact there are, 
 and can be no contradictions in the universe of God. 
 A contradiction in the thoughts or acts of God, or 
 in anything which makes a part of his created uni- 
 verse, necessarily implies an imperfection in his char- 
 
I 34 ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 acter entirely at variance with the accepted -ideas 
 of the completeness of his knowledge and wisdom. 
 Collect and collate the facts that are presented to 
 notice around us, facts mental as well as material ; 
 facts which pertain to the spiritual sphere of things 
 as well as those which belong to the outward and 
 tangible ; and go further and establish all theories 
 and systems which legitimately flow from them ; 
 and it is true of one and all of them that they do 
 and must harmonize. 
 
 We do not say, nor would it be proper to say, 
 that their harmony is always perceived ; which is a 
 very different thing. But the harmony exists, 
 whether it be perceived or not. As the facts in 
 their vast multitude overleap all known limitations, 
 it is not possible that the human mind, in its ac- 
 knowledged fmiteness, should understand and ad- 
 just them all, either in themselves as objective facts 
 or in their subjective relations. And this state of 
 things lays the foundation for the exercise of belief 
 existing in matters beyond the reach of the senses 
 and even of consciousness. A true philosophy, one 
 which includes God as well as man, embraces and 
 affirms the doctrine of faith. And what we cannot 
 understand as a matter of direct perception, we are 
 still justified, on appropriate occasions, in having 
 faith beyond the limit of the revelation of the un- 
 
THE DIVINE PURPOSES. 135 
 
 derstanding. And hence I think we may sec a true 
 philosophical spirit in a remark of Mr. Locke, where 
 he says ; — " I own freely to you the weakness of my 
 understanding, that, though it be unquestionable 
 that there is omnipotence and omniscience in God 
 our Maker, and though I cannot have a clearer per- 
 ception of anything than that I am free, yet I can- 
 not make [meaning undoubtedly that he could not 
 explain and clear up in all respects how it should be 
 so,] freedom in man consistent with omnipotence 
 and omniscience in God, though I am as fully persua- 
 ded of both as of any trttth I most firmly assent to ; 
 and therefore I have long since given up the consid- 
 eration of that question, resolving all into this short 
 conclusion, that if it be possible for God to make a 
 free agent, then man is free, though I see not the 
 way of it." 
 
 6. — Humanity needs a God who is a reality and 
 not a pretence. I think that man had rather be 
 under a tyrant than under a liberty which is with- 
 out law, or under an authority which gives no pro- 
 tection. God, who is neither the weakness of a 
 semblance nor the cruelty of an injustice, is the pro- 
 tector of the weak and the avenger of the injured. 
 He is no tyrant ; but we recognize both wisdom and 
 justice when we say he is God. 
 
 There are moral evidences as well as intellectual; 
 
136 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 evidences which are based upon human action. If 
 the positive authority of God culminating in results 
 which lead intelligent men to speak of his decrees, 
 elections, and sovereign purposes, is not merely a 
 dogmatism but a truth, it will be found to be 
 strongly sustained as such by the practical results 
 in the lives and acts of those who receive it. And 
 undoubtedly the evidence from this source is such 
 as to arrest attention. Among the men in all ages 
 of the world who have been distinguished for firm- 
 ness of purpose and endurance of trial, there have 
 been a large number who have adopted these views 
 of God. Such were the Waldenses, whose touching 
 story will be remembered as long as the lofty cliffs 
 shall stand, from which in the support of their opin- 
 ions, they were thrown headlong and dashed to 
 pieces. 
 
 Such were the Covenanters of Scotland, whose 
 great theme was the sovereignty of God, and who 
 in their trials and sufferings carried to the extreme 
 of human endurance, could bless the hand that 
 "doeth all things well." 
 
 Such were the Jansenists who, in adopting the 
 Augustinian method of religious thought, including 
 the Protestant doctrine of Justification by Faith, 
 took a position which exposed them to misrepre- 
 sentation and to the greatest trials. The great 
 
THE DIVINE PURPOSES. 137 
 
 names of Pascal, Arnauld and others among them, 
 renowned alike for genius and piety, could not save 
 them from fearful persecutions which have made 
 their history memorable in the annals of human 
 sorrow. 
 
 Such were the Pilgrims and Puritans of New 
 England, whose instructive history is repeated by 
 their descendants, not only on account of its strange 
 and romantic incidents and its great civil and polit- 
 ical results, but as an illustration of the greatness 
 of human strength when it rests believingly on the 
 •strength and purpose of an Almighty Arm. 
 
 7.— It is true then, that God decides our destiny. 
 And he does so, because all truth, all justice, and all 
 good, look to him for the approbation of his wis- 
 dom, and for the support of his strength. Either 
 God rules or what is called fatality rules. But the 
 Absolute Religion which is the highest declaration 
 of philosophy, rejects the unsatisfactory dogma of 
 fatalism, as a dishonor to truth and a crucifixion to 
 humanity. But in rejecting fatalism, it does not 
 reject the doctrine of the divine supremacy. Men 
 cannot afford to part with the great Calvinistic idea 
 which has become a part of human history; but 
 they will do well to surround it with accessories 
 which save it from exaggerations and which present 
 it in the true light 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Universality of Religious Thought, 
 
 I. — If there is a foundation for the doctrine of 
 an Absolute Religion, then we shall find intimations 
 and evidences of moral and religious thought in all 
 lands ; and though separately considered they may 
 bear the marks of imperfection and weakness, yet 
 they will be found harmonizing in one general ten- 
 dency, and contributing to one great result. Before 
 the time of Moses there were^ men, — -Enoch, Abra- 
 ham and Noah may be mentioned as examples, — 
 who were inwardly taught, and who communicated 
 valuable religious-truth to others. 
 
 The respect and even reverential homage shown 
 by Abraham to Melchisedek, in relation to whom 
 it was said, he was without father or mother, in 
 other words, without genealogical or historical rec- 
 ord, may be regarded as incidentally revealing the 
 fact of a religious character and position. The Ab- 
 solute Religion, abstractly considered, has its foun- 
 dation in the nature and relation of things ; but the 
 
UNI VER SA LI T Y OF RELIGIO US TIIO UGHT. j 39 
 
 truths contained in it find their practical realization 
 and their expression in the thoughts, lives, and 
 history of individuals. Melchisedek was one of 
 these persons. The Egyptians had a religious sys- 
 tem. And it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
 Moses may have received some important religious 
 ideas from this remarkable people, among whom he 
 was brought up and educated. The authorship of 
 the first five books of the Bible is ascribed to Moses ; 
 but a careful examination of the first part of Genesis 
 in the original Hebrew shows, in the view of many 
 learned men, that he made use of and incorporated 
 into his work certain historical documents written 
 by other persons of an earlier date ; but who they 
 were or to what land belonging, is now unknown. 
 
 2.— The labors of the learned are greatly per- 
 plexed in ascertaining who was Job, and to what 
 land or people he belonged. But the intuitions of 
 the readers of his wonderful poem can affirm boldly, 
 in default of the records of personal history, that, 
 though unknown and mysterious as Melchisedek, he 
 was nevertheless a man of thought, of vast poetic 
 imagination, and filled with inspirational teachings 
 coming from above. In the latter days of the He- 
 brew commonwealth, and greatly separated in cer- 
 tain particulars of belief and practice from the great 
 mass of the Jewish people, whole sects made their 
 
I4 o ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 appearance, who may be described as seekers after 
 divine knowledge and as truly inspirational. The 
 history of the Essenes and Therapeutae, as it is given 
 apparently from living and reliable sources, by Philo 
 and Josephus, reveals facts of moral and religious in- 
 sight and culture which are explainable only on the 
 ground that the Living Principle of the universe, 
 moved by the necessity involved in the universality 
 of His great loving nature, has imparted to many 
 solitary and praying hearts, whose religious position 
 has not been generally recognized, some preparatory 
 portions of the truths of the everlasting Gospel. 
 At a still later period in history, in the Neo-Platonic 
 school of Alexandria, which pursued its investiga 
 tions to a considerable extent outside of the pale of 
 Christianity, there are thoughts and aspirations, 
 which remind one of the sublime meditations, and 
 the deep spiritual experiences of the Almarics and 
 Dinantos of the middle ages, with all the light and 
 development they had received from the teachings 
 of the New Testament. 
 
 3. — It was in those ancient days and in periods 
 exceedingly remote, and in another part of the 
 world, that other teachers, under the blooming shade 
 of Indian forests, and among them the mysterious 
 Sakya-Mouni, made their appearance. Millions 
 have been influenced by the teachings of this 
 
UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT. 
 
 141 
 
 remarkable man. A prince, with all that wealth and 
 political position could contribute to his personal 
 happiness, and yet so deeply impressed with the 
 wants and miseries of men, that he retired into the 
 most solitary places, and aided by the preparation 
 of many years of abstinence and prayer, came forth 
 a humble and beneficent teacher of practical princi- 
 ples, which the more enlightened piety of the present 
 age is compelled to respect. And so, in like manner 
 God had mercy on the Persians and the Chinese ; 
 and in order that there might not be need of another 
 deluge and of other fires of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 kindled the light of truth, feeble though it may have 
 been, in the bosoms of Zoroaster and Confucius. 
 The connection of the Persians with the Hebrews, 
 which was in part owing to a harmony of religious 
 thought, is a matter of great interest. The second 
 Temple was built under Persian authority and with 
 Persian aid. In Persia where the religious ideas in 
 relation to God, approximated to those of the He- 
 brews, the opinion was widely prevalent that a great 
 religious teacher and deliverer was to come. And 
 at the appointed period the " Wise Men" as they 
 are called, who were probably persons belonging to 
 the select and honored class of Persian Magi, came 
 from that distant land to do homage to the child of 
 Bethlehem. 
 
!42 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 4. — If we look in other directions we find the 
 same remarkable fact, that everywhere great moral 
 and religious truths more or less clearly make their 
 appearance. Of those who received something of 
 this heavenly illumination among other peoples and 
 in other times, is it too much to say that Homer, a 
 great reality, although a man as much unknown as 
 Melchisedek and Job, was reached by some scatter- 
 ed rays. Let the man of deep moral intuition read 
 the works of that prince of poets, particularly the 
 Odyssey, not to settle points of geography or primi- 
 tive history, but to learn the facts and methods of 
 human action and the principles which lay at its 
 foundation ; and he will meet with moral problems, 
 and with moral and spiritual suggestions, the origin 
 of which can find an explanation only in such views 
 as have now been presented. It is said of Plato, 
 that he visited Egypt and studied at Heliopolis ; 
 and the remains of ancient art reveal to the aston- 
 . ished eye of the modern traveller, that the City ol 
 the Sun may have had attractions even for such a 
 mind as Plato's; but those who have deeply pon- 
 dered the import of his writings, will be slow to 
 believe that the teachings of Egyptian priests 
 wholly superseded the higher and better teachings, 
 which fall in mercy everywhere from the universal 
 presence and the universal operation of the great 
 
UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT. 
 
 143 
 
 Living Principle. And we may speak of Socrates, 
 the light of Athens, whose scientific and moral doc- 
 trines were illustrated by the genius of Plato ; the 
 memory of whose sufferings and death for the truth, 
 is not recalled even in these late days without the 
 greatest sympathy and sorrow. The doctrine of the 
 Grecian dramatists, particularly ^Eschylus, is, that 
 evil deeds are followed by retribution; and that 
 Jupiter, whom they regarded as the highest ruling 
 power in human affairs, distributes to every one 
 according to the good or evil character which at- 
 taches to his doing, — a reality so great, that its 
 freedom can never be touched by arbitrary power, 
 and which holds in its own hand the height and 
 the degradation of its measureless destiny. It 
 may justly be asserted, that man with all his lia- 
 bilities to a morally evil course, is worthy of a 
 high degree of reverential respect, and is always 
 an object of the deepest interest so long as he 
 holds in his bosom the possibilities and seed of im- 
 mortality. Whatever may be said of his actually 
 sinning or of his liability to sin, it is still true 
 that he is a child of God, born in the image of 
 God. Xor is it inconsistent with this great truth 
 that he was, is, and necessarily must be sub- 
 jected to law. It cannot be otherwise. And espe- 
 cially is he subjected to that wide-reaching and 
 
144 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 eternal law which God himself cannot modify or 
 repeal without a violation of his own moral nature, 
 that so far as he comes in contact with them, he 
 must respect the position and practically and fully 
 recognize the rights and claims of any and all be- 
 ings and things in the universe. This law, which 
 carries with it the sanctions of happiness or suffer- 
 ing, resolves itself into another equally clear to our 
 intuitional convictions, that inasmuch as it can be 
 fulfilled only in one way, he must place himself in 
 the keeping of the Infinite Mind ; and by a second 
 and grander birth be bom, or if it be preferred, be 
 intellectually and affectionally expanded out of the 
 limitations and necessary imperfections of self-hood, 
 so that seeing with God's eye and feeling with God's 
 heart and acting in God's will, who is both the 
 originating and the conservative force of the uni- 
 verse, he can become the child of God in the higher 
 and eternal sense. So that the new or second birth 
 which changes man's centre from the one to the all, 
 and from man to God, so far from being the oppro- 
 brium of theology, is its culmination and its crown of 
 honor. And if it is inconsistent with that mistaken 
 and pretended philosophy, which makes man a ma- 
 terialism and death an eternal sleep, is not incon- 
 sistent with philosophy of a higher and diviner 
 origin. 
 
UNIVERSALITY OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT. 145 
 
 5. — And again what controversies have existed, 
 what mental battles have been fought, over the 
 supposed and alleged contradictions of the Trinity. 
 But the difficulty was, that humanity, struggling out 
 of the depths of the sensuous and limited, had not 
 reached that higher position, where it could recog- 
 nize the mighty and world-renovating truth of the 
 Motherhood of God. 
 
 And if under the biblical name of Wisdom or the 
 Word, hidden somewhat for wise purposes until the 
 fulness of time, there is an eternal Motherhood as 
 well as eternal Fatherhood, then it is no offence to 
 the highest reason to assert, that there is and must 
 be either actually or potentially, in posse or in esse, 
 an eternal Son. And in that Sonship linked to the 
 Infinite by a divine affiliation, happy will it be if we 
 too, in the expansion and completion of the second 
 Birth, shall find ourselves included. 
 
 6. — Other things might be mentioned. The 
 doctrine of salvation by faith for instance, on the 
 basis that salvation in its essential nature is a mental 
 state and not a locality, so far from being a preten- 
 tious mystery and theological figment, has its foun- 
 dation in well ascertained mental principles. Sal- 
 vation in its true sense is impossible in any other 
 way. And if it be asked how it was possible that 
 Christ and his unlettered followers, the most of 
 7 
 
I4 .6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 whom had no especial advantages of education, be- 
 came so richly gifted in philosophical verities, I 
 answer that the philosophy of the human mind was 
 first hidden in the Infinite Mind, and that the sim- 
 plicity and truth of their hearts fitted them as noth- 
 ing else can fit men, to become apt and successful 
 disciples in the inward teachings of the eternal 
 God. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Harmony of Religions Opinions. 
 
 i. — The Absolute Religion, so far as it can be es- 
 tablished and accepted, necessarily tends to the har- 
 mony of opinions. We do not forget, however, in 
 view of the actually existing constitution of the hu- 
 man mind, that absolute harmony of opinion on all 
 subjects is an impossibility. Differences of opinion 
 exist as the unavoidable result of differences in men- 
 tal structure, and of the different positions and as- 
 pects in which objects of inquiry are presented for 
 consideration. And such differences, which have 
 their foundation in the wisdom that regulates all 
 things, are one of the sources of the activity and hap- 
 piness of life. Nevertheless, when controverted sub- 
 jects are examined beyond the region of facts to the 
 region of principles, and when principles are recog- 
 nized by the highest reason, it may justly be antici- 
 pated that harmony of views, in such cases and to 
 such extent, will exist. 
 
 2. — A controversy of long duration has existed 
 
I48 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 in relation to man's character at the time of his birth. 
 The controversy involves a variety of questions ; and 
 particularly whether man at the time of his birth is 
 a depraved or an innocent being ; and if his charac- 
 ter be that of purity or innocence, in what way are 
 we to explain the acknowledged fact of great moral 
 evils existing in the world. If we have given a true 
 exposition of the Absolute view, of which we must 
 leave others to judge, we have seen how the various 
 apparently contradictory views in relation to human 
 depravity may be reconciled. And this certainly, 
 when we remember how much time has been spent 
 on the subject and how much bad feeling engender- 
 ed, is a great gain. 
 
 3-— And so in regard to the atonement, as it is 
 theologically, and as it seems to me very properly, 
 termed. Atonement in its etymological sense 
 means reconciliation and union with God ; and phil- 
 osophy declares, that this could not take place with- 
 out the forgiveness of sin, as antecedent to the re- 
 moval of that moral antagonism which necessarily 
 exists between a sinning and a sinless being. It will 
 perhaps be said, that the difficulty is not so much 
 with the thing as with the way or manner in which 
 it is accomplished, namely, by the shedding of the 
 blood of Jesus. But when it is remembered, that 
 the blood cannot be separated from the divine, liv- 
 
HARMONY OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 
 
 I49 
 
 ing, and eternal principle which is the life of the 
 blood, and without which the blood would not have 
 efficacy, it can hardly fail to relieve thoughtful and 
 conscientious minds. Many, encouraged by this in- 
 terior and deeper but necessary view, have hastened 
 to yield their hearts and lives to the mighty and re- 
 generating influences of the great principle, — the 
 principle which both creates and saves — that finds its 
 manifestation in the Cross. And then it is to be re- 
 membered further, that words in certain aspects of 
 them are things, and often in their control over the 
 human mind, are very powerful things. 
 
 In the case of many persons the long use of cer- 
 tain expressions in relation to the blood of Christ, 
 (words which have a providential and wise relation 
 to the first or sensuous development of man's nature,) 
 make it very difficult for them after a time to make 
 the distinction which has just now been referred to. 
 Nevertheless, the ultimate philosophy requires the 
 distinction to be made, and at the same time points 
 out the relation and unites and harmonizes the two. 
 And the Scriptures, when rightly interpreted and 
 when searched to their foundations, are not antagon- 
 istical, but harmonize, in this case as in all others, 
 with a right philosophy. 
 
 4. — Again, the doctrine of the first and second 
 birth and their relation to each other, (a matter 
 
l$ ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 which has caused much perplexity,) not only har- 
 monizes with the statements of the Scriptures and 
 with outward facts ; but considered, as it truly is, as 
 a great mental and moral problem, vindicates its 
 claims to the highest wisdom. It makes man, not 
 a machine merely, moving no one knows how in the 
 iron tracks of a dead materialism, but a grand and 
 active reality in the universe, even in his first condi- 
 tion of self-hood and of self-asserting independence. 
 
 5. — Rome, too, had her teachers; Numa, the 
 founder of institutions and laws ; Camillus who an- 
 nounced the great truth, which Christianity has 
 verified, " adversce res admonuerunt religionum;" 
 Cato, who did right, " not to be seen to do it, but 
 because he could not help doing it ; " Cicero, the 
 eloquent and intuitional expounder of philosophical 
 problems; Seneca, who resisted the corruptions of a 
 degenerate age ; and among the long list of those 
 who announced the truth and struggled against 
 error, that wonderful bard of Mantua, whose beauti- 
 ful and sublime utterances were, in some sense, the 
 Gospel of his time and country. And all this is in 
 accordance with what the Apostle Paul has said of 
 the Gentiles, that they are a law unto themselves, 
 and show the works of the law written in their 
 hearts ; in other words, that God has made to all 
 men everywhere an inward moral revelation. It is 
 
HARMON Y OF RELIGIO US OPINIONS. i 5 1 
 
 not surprising, therefore, that Sir James Mackintosh, 
 one of the eminent statesmen and philosophers of 
 modern times, says, in a learned discourse on the 
 Law of Nature and Nations, that " lawgivers and 
 statesmen, but above all, moralists and political 
 philosophers, may plainly discover, in all the useful 
 and beautiful variety of governments and institu- 
 tions, and under all the fantastic multitude of usages 
 and rites which have prevailed among men, the 
 same fundamental, comprehensive truths, the sacred 
 master principles, which are the guardians of human 
 society, recognized and revered, with few and slight 
 exceptions, by every nation upon earth." A view 
 which was anticipated, and which is sustained by a 
 multitude of facts and quotations, in the profound 
 volumes of Montesquieu and Grotius. 
 
 6. — It is thus we remember, with deep gratitude, 
 what God has done for the nations in the earliest 
 times; how He has borne with their sins, and has 
 always given them that kind and degree of instruc- 
 tion which was best suited to their situation. No 
 nation ever has been, or ever can be wholly forgot- 
 ten. The God of the Hebrews, although in some 
 respects with less intimate relations, was neverthe- 
 less the God of Greece and Rome. And history 
 abundantly shows, that the historical development 
 of those remarkable nations, including literature as 
 
j ^ 2 ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 well as arms, and art as well as power, was precisely 
 adjusted, in time and circumstances, to the Hebrew 
 development. And when in the fulness of time the 
 Star of Bethlehem arose, which otherwise would 
 have shone only over the waters of Galilee and the 
 hills of Judea, it became the guiding light and the 
 illumination of the world, through the aiding influ- 
 ences of Greek and Roman civilization. 
 
 y. — This subject, of which we have thus given a 
 short and imperfect outline, is well worthy of the 
 attention of the Christian scholar. It is a subject 
 which can never be thoroughly mastered, except by 
 those who combine the learning of human schools 
 with a religious nature and deep religious experi- 
 ence. Learning, religion and philosophy must go 
 hand in hand in its development. It may require 
 the destruction or the re-adjustment of nations ; but 
 Christ as God incarnate in the great principles which 
 he taught and illustrated, and which are recognized 
 and affirmed by the highest reason, will at last as- 
 cend the height of his position and exercise his uni- 
 versal dominion. 
 
 President Edwards, in his. truly great work on 
 the History of Redemption, is right in giving us to 
 understand that God, as the living principle of the 
 ages, and especially in the great fact of his Incarna- 
 tion, is the key-note to the philosophy of history, 
 
HARMONY OF RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 153 
 
 God's life knows no cessation of activity ; and his 
 wisdom and benevolence will always turn that activ- 
 ity in the right direction. The car of the universe 
 is not floating at random ; but under the Master's 
 hand is always tending to one great issue. 
 7* 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Optimism. 
 
 I. — God rules. God is good. And He rules in 
 such a way that goodness can never be excluded. 
 In the end when events are connected both with 
 causes and results, all will be found for the best. 
 And this, expressed in few and simple terms, is what 
 is known historically as Optimism, — a doctrine 
 which not only has its foundation in the Absolute 
 Truth, but which is practically of so much impor- 
 tance that it is well entitled to careful considera- 
 tion. 
 
 2. — The subject may be argued and illustrated 
 from various points of view. It may be said per- 
 haps by some in a simple sentence, that if God is 
 supreme, and if at the same time his existence is 
 characterized by perfect goodness, the optimistic 
 result, which is identical with the greatest possible 
 good, necessarily follows. There cannot possibly 
 be any other. All things are and must be for the 
 best. This is a short argument, it is true, but it is 
 
OPTIMISM. 155 
 
 of a nature to excite thought and perhaps to carry- 
 weight and conviction. During a long life I have 
 not been exempt from the trials which are the com- 
 mon allotment of men ; but I became early a disci- 
 ple in the optimistic school; and the bitter tears I 
 have sometimes shed have not prevented me from 
 saying most heartily and sincerely, all is welL And 
 I hope it will not be considered thoughtless or pre- 
 sumptuous to add, that those who are not able to 
 say this, and in whom the words do not express an 
 inwrought personal conviction, have yet something 
 of great practical value to learn. 
 
 In saying that all is for the best, it is well to 
 consider a moment how much is included in it. All 
 truth, all falsehood, all joy, all sorrow, all kindness, 
 all enmity, all reward, all punishment, all glory, all 
 shame, and whatever else enters in to make up the 
 moral constitution of the universe, when properly 
 understood in its principle and its results, and when 
 properly adjusted each to the other, contributes in 
 one way or another to the universal harmony, and 
 could not be left out without a loss to the universal 
 and highest happiness. And when this great an- 
 nouncement is fully and sincerely received on scrip- 
 tural and philosophical principles, as the teaching 
 alike of the uttered scriptural Word and of the Ab- 
 solute psychical reason, then the heart and the head, 
 
I tj 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 both in their fears of danger and their experiences 
 of grief, find a pillow on which they can rest secure- 
 ly and rest forever. 
 
 3. — It will be asked is sin for the best? In an- 
 swering this question we are first required to answer 
 another which naturally precedes it, namely, — What 
 is the best constitution of the universe ? Is it one 
 which excludes* the possibility of all moral and re- 
 sponsible life, or one which admits and requires 
 such moral responsibility ? If in answering this 
 question, we accept the great fact of a moral and 
 responsible nature with all that is naturally involved 
 in it, we necessarily accept wrong or crime or sin as 
 a possibility, and may reasonably expect that it will 
 sometime have an existence. The analysis of the 
 operations of the human mind shows, that the idea 
 of right implies and necessitates that of wrong ; that 
 the idea of virtue in like manner implies and neces- 
 sitates that of vice ; so that it can always be said of 
 the man who does right, that he might have done 
 wrong ; and of the man who treads the path of vir- 
 tue, that it was possible for him to have gone in the 
 opposite direction. And therefore, if the existence 
 of right implies the possible existence of wrong, if 
 there can be no virtue without the possibility of its 
 opposite, if the extinction of crime in the sense of 
 its being an impossible thing involves the destruc- 
 
OPTIMISM. 
 
 157 
 
 tion of all moral good, then I think we cannot hesi- 
 tate in saying, that those various evils which go 
 under the name of wrong, crime, vice, and the like, 
 taking into view their indirect relations and results, 
 must be accepted as parts of the universal plan and 
 are all for the best. So that sin itself, hateful as it 
 is, may be regarded in the light of a true philosophy 
 as a necessary result of the moral universe, and as 
 throwing light upon the character of God. What 
 idea should we have of the holiness of God, himself, 
 if sin were an impossibility and therefore a thing 
 unknowable ; and if we could not aid our concep- 
 tions by saying not merely that God is holy, but 
 that in being holy He hates sin ? 
 
 4. — And looking at the matter in another aspect, 
 we must not forget, that man considered in relation 
 to certain ends which are before him and as reach- 
 ing upward to such ends, is a developing or pro- 
 gressive, and not a fixed and stationary being. 
 And it is generally conceded that all progress, in 
 reaching its highest results, involves the fact of 
 exercise, practice, struggles, obstacles to be met, 
 and obstacles to be vanquished. Such are the laws 
 of being, that growth and inactivity are incompati- 
 ble ideas. It is involved in the mere fact of living, 
 that we must do battle in the great contest of life. 
 Christ himself assures us, that in the world we shall 
 
158 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 have tribulation, and the Apostle Paul exhorts us to 
 fight the good fight of faith. But if moral evil is 
 excluded from the universe, then all such views are 
 out of place, and have no meaning. There is no 
 content, because there is nothing to contend with ; 
 and there is no growth, because there is none of 
 that spiritual wrestling, without which growth is un- 
 known. And therefore we say again, that Optimism 
 has a philosophical as well as scriptural foundation, 
 and that in the conflicts and trials of life, including 
 moral evils and moral conflicts, all is for the best. 
 
 5. — But supposing, says one, that moral evil, in 
 the contest which its existence necessarily implies, 
 should gain the victory, what is our situation then ; 
 and what becomes of the optimistic utterance. 
 And here it may be said, if we take the question in 
 the widest sense, that it involves what may be called 
 an impossible supposition. It is the affirmation of 
 all thought and all philosophy, the doctrine of all 
 the suggested or inspirational Scriptures of all ages 
 and all nations, the dying word of those who drink 
 hemlock, and perish in the flames, and bleed upon 
 the cross, the martyred teachers and guides of hu- 
 manity, that goodness taken in its widest sense, 
 bears in its bosom the seed of immortality and can 
 never be overthrown ; that it conquers now, and 
 
OP TIM ISM. 
 
 159 
 
 conquers forever. Let that word stand ; humanity 
 will never part with it. 
 
 6. — But when we look at the contest, not in its 
 general aspect, but as we find it commenced and 
 progressing in individual cases, we must confess that 
 the battle sometimes goes against us. But we are 
 at liberty to add that it does so for a good reason ; 
 that it does so because we violate the laws of victory, 
 and therefore we can still hold to the great truth we 
 are considering. And the reason to which we refer 
 is the fact, never to be forgotten, that God is a real- 
 ity and holds a position which can never be set 
 aside. Not an impersonal God, who is rhetorically 
 great but practically nothing. Not a fatalistic God 
 — a God who is bound in chains and fetters; nor an 
 heathen idol God, who has as little intelligence and 
 power as the wood and stone of which he is fash- 
 ioned ; but a God, who clothes his infinitude with a 
 personal oversight and responsibility, who takes an 
 interest in all the things He has made and especially 
 in his own children, whom He is fashioning by the 
 process of trial into the perfection and brightness of 
 his own image. He has all strength, and He is al- 
 ways ready to render all needed assistance. But 
 while standing at our side and always ready with 
 his aid, He will not and cannot violate and des 
 troy our position as his intelligent and responsible 
 
j5q absolute religion. 
 
 children, by violating our moral freedom. If we re- 
 ject his aid it necessarily follows that in some cases, 
 and I think in all, sin will have dominion over us ; 
 but on the other hand if we accept it and trust in it, 
 though our strength may be small, we never fail to 
 conquer. And in either case, whether we rise with 
 God or fall without Him, when we look carefully at 
 the principles involved, we can still say, it is all for 
 the best. 
 
 And thus it is that in these and all other things 
 the Absolute Religion, in aid of Revealed Religion, 
 stands ready, by processes of intelligent thought and 
 reason, to show that all the constituents of the 
 moral universe, when all facts, relations and issues 
 are reached, hold their position, not as an error or 
 an accident, but as the out-giving of the highest 
 wisdom, and as necessary elements in a system 
 which is stamped with perfection. 
 
 7 # — But the question is sometimes asked, wheth- 
 er this view does not make God the author of 
 sin ; in other words, whether all moral evils of 
 whatever nature may not be laid directly and ex- 
 clusively to his account ? The fact supposed to be 
 involved in such inquiries, is as far as possible from 
 the truth. It is true that God cannot establish a 
 moral universe in which the highest and most glori- 
 ous results may be realized without admitting the 
 
OPTIMISM. l6l 
 
 possibility of sin. But it is also true, both on philo- 
 sophic and scriptural principles, and also as shown 
 by the history of his dealings with the world, that 
 God takes all possible measures short of a violation 
 of man's freedom, which cannot be violated without 
 man's ceasing to be a man, to instruct man, to pro- 
 tect him against evils and to guide him to truth and 
 to good. So far from being the author of sin, God 
 shows himself both by his nature and his works to 
 be the enemy of sin; and also looking at the subject 
 in another aspect, that he is the friend of all good 
 or holiness, and the assertion that God is the au- 
 thor of sin in the sense in which the suggestion is 
 evidently made, is not only an error but a wrong, a 
 contempt of the highest goodness as well as a dis- 
 honor to unchangeable truth. 
 
 8. — The greatest of all moral teachers and phil- 
 osophers, I mean Christ himself, in a few wonderful 
 words, has announced the great truth which forms 
 the subject of this chapter. " // must needs be" he 
 says, " that offences come ; but woe unto that man 
 by whom the offence cometh." In other words, the 
 principles of the moral universe, being a " needs be" 
 are necessities. They exist, not by an arbitrary 
 command which would be consistent with the idea 
 that there was a time when they had no existence, 
 but because the " needs be " was in them ; and exist 
 
1 62 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 therefore beyond time and beyond space, and with 
 eternity for their changeless home. There is no 
 wisdom back of them or above them which can orig- 
 inate or alter and improve, or make them in any 
 way otherwise than they are. And yet it is further 
 implied in this remarkable passage, that these ne- 
 cessities by which sin comes into the world, in point 
 of fact and in the view of those who have a true 
 interior insight, will be found consistent with per- 
 sonal responsibility and with the punishment of evil- 
 doers. 
 
 Nevertheless we are willing to admit that on 
 this great subject there may be and there probably 
 are difficulties which a finite mind cannot easily 
 solve. And to a mind that is in a right position, 
 this admission excites no surprise and causes no 
 sorrow, because it is one of those things which God 
 himself cannot remedy, unless He can unite things 
 which are contradictory and incompatible in their 
 nature, and make the finite identical with the Infi- 
 nite. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 The Objective and Subjective in Religion. 
 
 I.— It is sometimes thought that the Objective or 
 outward in religion, and the Subjective or inward, 
 are not only antagonistical, but are mutually exclu- 
 sive and destructive of each other. This I suppose 
 to be a mistake. They are neither destructive of 
 each other, nor are they necessarily antagonistical ; 
 but on the contrary, are essentially harmonious, al- 
 though it may sometimes be true, in consequence 
 of diversity of relations, that they are antagonistical 
 in appearance. 
 
 The question of the Objective and the Sub- 
 jective in religion, is prominently and, specifically the 
 question, stated in simpler terms, is God without us 
 or within us? Our answer is, that God is every 
 where ; but not in the same sense, nor with the 
 same efficacy, nor with the same results. And these 
 differences depend not merely upon the facts of the 
 divine nature, but partly upon other related facts, 
 incidents and experiences. Accordingly it may be 
 
t64 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 said as a truth, that irreligion necessitates objectiv- 
 ity ; because, from the very fact of being what it is, 
 it closes the heart and excludes the divine entrance. 
 The irreligious or Adamic man, or man under the 
 influence of inordinate self-hood, and with the spir- 
 itual eye almost closed with the Adamic incrusta- 
 tions, can see only the objective or outward God. 
 But under the more favorable influences of Christi- 
 anity and with a wider and truer vision for which he 
 ought to be grateful, he sees Him under a human 
 form, elevated to the position of a throne and sway- 
 ing a sceptre. But He sits there nevertheless, what- 
 ever the degree of his elevation or glory, as an ob- 
 jective or outward God. But God as thus present- 
 ed, is not to be regarded as wanting in reality ; nor 
 as a reality not accordant with the facts of a sound 
 philosophy. The true God is universal ; but the 
 Adamic eye, or the eye which sees only from the 
 stand-point of its own personal interests, can see God 
 only under the law of its own perceptivity ; and lo- 
 cates Him and circumscribes Him with the limita- 
 tions, which are reflected from its own nature. And 
 thus it is that the sinner sees God outwardly, be- 
 cause the fact of sinfulness is a decree of banishment, 
 and it is a logical sequence of such a sight, that he 
 not only sees, but fears and trembles. 
 
 2. — It should be remembered however, that God 
 
OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE IN RELIGION. 165 
 
 objective is not a different God, but differently seen ; 
 not located and limited in his distant place by his 
 essential nature, but because He will not enter the 
 selfish heart; and the selfish heart, therefore, can 
 only see Him in the distance. But it is better, far 
 better, that He should thus be seen, than not seen 
 at all. It is the beginning of a new thought ; it is 
 the incipiency of searching and often terrible convic- 
 tions ; it is the opening and revelation in the soul of 
 that which makes an unbelieving Felix tremble. 
 
 3. — Such is the God of the sinner, a God true to 
 the relations under which the sinner sees him ; seen 
 at a distance, because He is distant ; seen in exclu- 
 sion, because He is excluded ; seen in anger, because 
 it is right and just that He should be angry. But 
 under the appliances of new truths and such influ- 
 ences as God can exercise consistently with the sin- 
 ner's freedom, and especially in connection with his 
 mediatorial manifestations, He begins to present 
 himself in accordance with the sinner's altered men- 
 tal position and wants, in the attributes of forgive- 
 ness, mercy and love. He expands to the mental 
 vision just in proportion as the mental vision en- 
 larges itself to perceive. And in this expansion by 
 the laws of spiritual insight, He comes nearer and 
 nearer, till at last instead of being excluded and 
 kept at a distance, He begins to enter and take up 
 
! 66 AB SOL U TE ' RE LIGION. 
 
 his abode in the soul itself, and to find his locality, 
 not as a God afar off, but as a real dweller in the 
 sacred and spiritual home of holy thoughts and holy 
 dispositions. It is in harmony with the doctrine of 
 these statements, that the late Dr. Payson, of Maine, 
 in speaking of his personal experience, says, " the 
 Sun of Righteousness has been gradually drawing 
 nearer and nearer, appearing larger and brighter as 
 He approached.'' And when God has thus changed 
 his position from God outward in the heavens to 
 God inward in the Spirit, we have a rational and to 
 some extent satisfactory explanation of the expres- 
 sion ' God subjective ' / — in other words, a God inte- 
 rior, a God in psychical possession, a God dwelling 
 in the soul. 
 
 There is therefore, a foundation for the terms 
 Objective and Subjective in religion, although they 
 sound somewhat crude and inharmonious to an 
 Anglo-Saxon ear; and they are terms which have a 
 real and substantial significancy ; word-symbols of 
 great and essential religious facts, though not facts 
 which are realized at the same period in the mind's 
 history ; and which are harmonized with each other 
 by the adjustment of additional facts and additional 
 relations. 
 
 4. — There is an incidental topic which seems to 
 merit a brief notice. The statement is found in 
 
OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE IN RELIGION, ify 
 
 certain philosophical speculations, though some- 
 times appearing merely in the form of a suggestion, 
 that the subjective experience, when carried to its 
 highest results, requires and necessitates the u iden- 
 tification of the subject and object, of the worship- 
 per and the worshipped ; " in other words, that 
 man in becoming sanctified, or as it is sometimes 
 expressed "divinized" through the presence and 
 reigning power of the Holy Ghost, ceases to be 
 man. But this view, which would readily be ac- 
 cepted in the doctrines of Pantheism, has the as- 
 pect, to say the least, of being a hasty and erroneous 
 generalization ; leading to injurious and fatal results. 
 It is the confounding of identity of nature with 
 identity of forms, attributes and relations. The 
 sunbeam is not the same with the sun ; the drop of 
 water- is not the same with the ocean ; the morning 
 zephyr is not the same thing with the wild, sweep- 
 ing whirlwind. Everywhere, in all the realms of 
 nature, we find the same essentiality of nature, com- 
 bined with differences of manifestation and relations, 
 which divide that essential oneness, that divinely 
 central and inseparable brotherhood, into distinct 
 and beautiful and permanent individualisms. Paul 
 did not cease to be Paul, because he asserted and 
 asserted truly, that Christ lived in him. The pos- 
 session of a divine nature, which is the duty and the 
 
l6$ ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 privilege of every one, does not make him a Deity ; 
 which, notwithstanding the ingenious speculations 
 of the ancient Hindoos, or of the Neo-Platonic 
 Alexandrine schools, or of their more modern fol- 
 lowers, seems to the truly Christian mind, not only 
 adverse to the Scriptures, but both a philosophical 
 and physical impossibility. Let it be understood 
 and remembered, that diversity of life is as much a 
 truth of the universe as essentiality of life ; and 
 angels, and all holy beings who may reach that high 
 stature and glory of existence, will be angels still. 
 Absorption into God, as a permanent and universal 
 result, would be the cessation and death of God 
 himself; whose very element and essentiality of life, 
 is its tendency to out-flowing and manifested com- 
 munication. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Unities and Diversities, 
 
 I. — It is not to be supposed, that all diversities 
 are disunities. On the contrary, unity in diversity, 
 a central and life-giving principle with variations in 
 manifestation, is a great philosophical announce- 
 ment ; and justly regarded as one among the most 
 interesting which have been propounded for con- 
 sideration. There are many rivers, but they flow to 
 one ocean ; many planets, but one central sun ; 
 many nerves, but having their source in the central 
 brain ; many pulsations, but they come from one 
 heart. Everywhere, but oftentimes with compara- 
 tive subordinations and in separate cycles of exist- 
 ence and movement, we find this great fact of a 
 central unity, with its out-going but correlated di- 
 versities. Writers on aesthetics, for instance, teach 
 us, that amid all the varieties of outward form and 
 beauty, which manifest themselves in the different 
 schools of architecture and painting, there are cer- 
 tain common principles which underlie them all ; 
 8 
 
iy ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and which secures in different and distant ages and 
 countries, the permanency of their power over the 
 human mind. Applying the great principle before 
 us to our moral and religious nature, and with the 
 object of briefly noticing its connection with a living 
 Christianity, and also some of its bearings on na- 
 tions, we proceed now to remark, that there may be 
 diversities which characterize the intellectual action, 
 and which attach especially to that part of the 
 mind ; but which, nevertheless, will be found to 
 be consistent with a high degree of unity in the 
 more interior and affectional nature. In other 
 words, there may be differences and conflicts of the 
 intellect combined Avith unity of the heart. 
 
 2. — The statement just made seems to us to 
 be justified by a correct knowledge of our mental 
 constitution. It is generally conceded, that our 
 comparative views or knowledge of things, are deter- 
 mined in part by the comparative strength of our 
 intellectual powers ; and in part also by the stand 
 point or intellectual position, in which we happen 
 to be when those powers are exercised. In regard 
 to most objects of knowledge, especially objects of 
 outward knowledge, it is well understood that every 
 one, saying nothing of the amount or specific char- 
 acter of his perceptive power, holds a position differ- 
 ent in some respects from every other person ; and 
 
UNITIES AND DIVERSITIES. 171 
 
 that this circumstance alone, without taking the 
 interior causes of differences into account, must 
 necessarily lay the foundation of very different re- 
 sults. If two men, for instance, placed in quite 
 different positions, are looking at a building of va- 
 ried architectural proportions and beauty, it is 
 found impossible for them, even if they have the 
 same powers of perception, to take the same view. 
 To each of the two, the view which he takes is a 
 true one, considered relatively to the extent of his 
 own faculties and the position from which he exer- 
 cises them ; but it is more or less different from 
 that of the other. Such is the intellectual law in 
 the case. 
 
 3. — Upon this general basis of the laws of knowl- 
 edge, without going into more specific statements 
 and limitations, which a full discussion might call 
 for, we propose to make a few practical remarks. 
 And the first is, that there is a philosophical as well 
 as a Scriptural foundation for the great idea, which 
 awaits a wider development than it has hitherto 
 known of Christian unity. It is important to us as 
 Christians, aiming at the highest results of Chris- 
 tianity, to understand and remember, that the prin- 
 ciple, which applies in so many other cases, has a 
 specific application to ourselves ; and that intellect- 
 ual differences, in being to some extent a necessity, 
 
I72 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 do not and cannot in themselves considered, and to 
 the extent at least of their necessary existence, fur- 
 nish a justifiable obstacle to love. Indeed, looking 
 at the matter philosophically, have we not some rea- 
 son for saying that differences are the foundation 
 of love ? If we were all formed alike, and looked 
 alike and were alike in all other respects, the many 
 would be merged in one ; everything would be iden- 
 tical ; and the fact of loving would cease because 
 there would be no opportunity of loving. But with- 
 out pressing this point, let us* remember that God, 
 in the most true and important sense, loves all be- 
 ings and seeks the good of all, notwithstanding the 
 amazing diversities which exist. And if God thus 
 throws the arms of his affections around those, who 
 are constituted with intellectual differences and who, 
 by the necessities of their position, exercise these 
 differences in different ways and with different re- 
 sults, then those, who are born into the true and 
 full life of God, and who love as God loves, may be 
 expected to have power to surmount these differen- 
 ces also, and to harmonize the conflicts and antag- 
 onisms of thought by means of the more interior 
 unities of affection. And hence it is, that the Apos- 
 tle Paul, in connection with that unity of heart 
 which binds the soul to Christ and which consolidates 
 the great Christian brotherhood into the same unity 
 
UNITIES AND DIVERSITIES. 773 
 
 of life, argues with a sublimity of thought as sound 
 in philosophy as it is true in religion, that the out- 
 ward distinctions of bond and free, of Greek and Jew, 
 of male and female, of circumcision and uncircum- 
 cision, of Barbarian and Scythian, all involving more 
 or less the intellectual and incidental differences of 
 thought and culture and practical life, are merged 
 and lost sight of in that grand and essential unity. 
 Gal. iii: 28. Coloss. iii : 11. And hence it happened, 
 after the great day of Pentecost, that Parthians and 
 Medes and Elamites and Phrygians and Egyptians 
 and Lybians and Cretans and Arabians, all uttering 
 the discordancies of different languages, and all 
 modified intellectually by great differences of thought, 
 and by the training of their different situations, were 
 nevertheless in their more interior nature baptized 
 into one spirit. 
 
 And hence it happens also, as we learn from 
 time to time, that modern missionaries in heathen 
 lands, meeting together in the presence of great 
 necessities which swell within them the tide of the 
 soul's Essential Life, find its increasing waves of 
 holy love mounting upward and upward, and thus 
 overflowing and sweeping away the divisive im- 
 pulses of the intellect and the conventional lines of 
 sectarian separation. 
 
 4. — Again, the doctrine of unity in diversity, 
 
!74 % ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 when understood in the principles which lie at its 
 foundation, helps us in the matter of forgiveness 
 and of love to our enemies. When persons are 
 pressed on the subject of an inward holy life, and 
 the example of the Elder Brother is set before them 
 as an example to be followed in all respects, they 
 frequently stumble at the requisition to love their 
 enemies, and to do good to those who have done 
 injury to themselves. But let them do what they 
 ought to do, and be at once what Christ would have 
 them to be ; and they will not fail to see the truth 
 and beauty of this great command. If, under the 
 influences of the living truth, they boldly and fully 
 follow Christ in the inward regeneration, it may 
 always be said that their enemies smite them be- 
 cause they do not understand them. In other 
 words, acting from the sphere of the. intellect, and 
 beholding things from the lower plane which con- 
 stitutes their stand-point, they aim their blows at 
 the creations of their own imagination. In their 
 darkened vision, perverted by their own selfishness, 
 or by the discordancies of a necessitated position, 
 they mistake ministering angels who come with 
 messages of love, for powers and principalities of 
 evil who threaten them with harm. The Roman 
 soldiers who thrust their spears at the " man of 
 sorrows," did not know the truth and purity and 
 
UNITIES A ND DI VE RSI TIES. \ j 5 
 
 benevolence of Him whose blood they sought. 
 And hence his glorious nature was both prompted 
 by benevolence, and, in recognizing the laws of 
 man's mental constitution, harmonized with the 
 philosophical truth of things, loyal alike and un- 
 changeable to the justice of truth and the divinity 
 of goodness, when He uttered that memorable say- 
 ing : " Father, forgive them, for they knoiv not ivhat 
 they do? 
 
 5. — And we may remark further, looking^ at the 
 subject in its political and national relations, that we 
 find in the principles which have been laid down, 
 a philosophical foundation for the great political 
 doctrine so long and warmly contested, of a tolera- 
 tion of opinions, considered as a political and constitu- 
 tional right. The human mind, if we have been 
 correct in our positions, is so constituted and so 
 situated in the circumstances of its action, that oft- 
 entimes it necessarily takes different views. If it so 
 happens, therefore, at any time and under any cir- 
 cumstances, that we cannot make our neighbors 
 understand things as we understand them, either 
 through our incapacity to communicate or their 
 incapacity to receive, we must calmly bear with it. 
 They are not, on the ground of such incapacity, to 
 be the subjects of sneers, of sarcasm, of unfeeling 
 rebuke, of imprisonments, of tortures, of social os- 
 
iy6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 tracism, or of anything inconsistent with the for- 
 bearance and charity which such a state of things 
 obviously requires. When men, therefore, fought 
 for the toleration of religious opinions in the Eng- 
 lish Revolution of 1640 and in the American Revo- 
 lution of 1776, and in other memorable historical 
 periods, they fought for a great necessity of their 
 nature. And accordingly it is well to understand 
 and practically insist, that this great principle of 
 toleration is not merely a truth of the sword which 
 bloody battles have established, and which other 
 battles might unsettle and abrogate; but a truth 
 of the highest reason, and of perpetual obligation. 
 
 6. — And again, the principle under consideration 
 has a connection with what has been called by a 
 modern but expressive term, the " solidarity' of na- 
 tions. Whatever diversities may exist among na- 
 tions politically or otherwise, the law of the universe 
 which philosophers have denominated Unity in Di- 
 versity, which lies back of all diversities, and which 
 in this particular case touches nations, because it 
 touches individuals, requires that they must march in 
 harmony with the unifying centre. Diversified as 
 they may be by monarchies or senates, or by other 
 civil and political variations, all nations have a " soli- 
 darity " or community of life, because a nation is a 
 unified or consolidated man, and because all men who 
 
UNITIES AND DIVERSITIES. 
 
 177 
 
 go to make the national or consolidated existence, 
 are born alike in the image of God ; and not only 
 have certain inalienable rights, as Jefferson's great 
 declaration has affirmed, but are the subjects of in- 
 alienable obligations •, and arc bound together by inalien- 
 able ties. When the Roman audience loudly ap- 
 plauded the great sentiment, " Homo sum ; hutndni 
 nihil a me alienum puto" their hearts vibrated to the 
 pulsations of that common life, which under all its 
 separations makes humanity one. Such is the foun- 
 dation of the great law of solidarity, which, while it 
 recognizes diversities, subordinates them to itself as 
 the great central principle. It is under the prompt- 
 ings and influence of this beneficent principle, that 
 nations, as if by a common impulse, are struggling to 
 realize a community of interests in all cases where it 
 is possible, and by all means which render it possible ; 
 such as a common system of weights and measures, a 
 common coinage, a common postal system, the ocean 
 telegraph, the removal of the passport system, the 
 extinction of what remains of feudalism, the recog- 
 nition of the rights of different races notwithstand- 
 ing the diversities of color, the expansion of 
 nationalities in harmony with the aspirations of a 
 common name and history, the extension of the 
 ballot, the revision of the doctrines of naturaliza- 
 tion, international exhibitions of the arts, the settle- 
 8* 
 
!^8 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 ment of national difficulties by means of Congresses 
 of nations, the introduction of the principle of Arbi- 
 tration into treaties, together with the hope ulti- 
 mately, of a permanent international Congress and 
 a Court of nations, and also of a universal language. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Viezu of the Doctrine of Sacrifices. 
 
 The doctrine of the ancient Sacrifices reveals to 
 us one of the forms in which God contends against 
 satan, in which the life of good strives against the 
 life of evil. God's great redemption plan has been 
 to restore men from the life of self, in which they 
 were destroying themselves to the universal brother- 
 hood. In their inordinate self-hood they seized 
 everything they could lay their hands upon, and 
 held it all with the firmest possible grasp ; the fruits 
 of the earth, the herds of the fields, doves, oxen, 
 sheep, goats, camels. And they held everything 
 they could thus get, not for the good of the object, 
 but for their own good — not to communicate but to 
 appropriate it. They made everything a sacrifice, a 
 holocaust, a great burnt offering to their own lusts. 
 With a view to break in upon the principality and 
 dominion of selfishness, God commanded them, in the 
 destruction which they made and were determined 
 to make of all fruits and animals, that they should 
 
l8o ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 not appropriate everything to themselves, but offer 
 a part to God. On God's part it was merely a form 
 of proceeding. Under the form of an offering to 
 God, it was really an offering for their own good. 
 
 In this way they made a beginning in that great 
 lesson, which all must learn if they would be saved. 
 They were taught, that this partial sacrifice was the 
 antetype or forerunner of something which was to 
 come. They were yet to learn the nature of a true 
 sacrifice — its extent, its possibility, its necessity. In 
 its full extent, a true sacrifice is not the giving up 
 of a part or the withholding of a part, but the sacri- 
 fice of all. 
 
 This is a thing possible to be done, otherwise it 
 would not be required to be done. Luke 14 : 26. 
 God incarnated himself as man, in order that he 
 might illustrate in a way which all could understand, 
 the nature, the extent, and the possibility of that 
 sacrifice, which it is necessary for man to make in 
 order to become a holy man. 
 
 The true Christ sacrifice is a perpetual sacrifice. 
 It is a law which proceeds from God, that the higher 
 or more advanced existences give up themselves to 
 the service and good of others who are lower. The 
 death of Christ on the cross for the good of men was 
 not merely an isolated fact, but the announcement 
 and the verification of an universal and permanent 
 
VIEW OF THE DOCTRINE OF SACRIFICES. jg! 
 
 principle. And this principle is, that the Christ- 
 sacrifice, which is holy love in its essential and celes- 
 tial uses, never ceases ; and that redemption never 
 ends. 
 
 The divine brotherhood and sisterhood of Christ 
 scattered up and down in the earth, and who in these 
 last days are being gathered together out of all 
 tongues and tribes and kindreds of men, and out of 
 all separate forms and beliefs, still suffer to some ex- 
 tent in the garden of Gethsemane or upon the Cross. 
 The inheritors of Christ's nature, it is a matter of 
 course that they are and must be, the inheritors of 
 Christ's sufferings, so far as they come in contact 
 with evil, and so far as in the prosecution of this 
 conflict, they are called upon to labor and endure. 
 The Apostle Paul, in speaking of himself, uses these 
 expressions, " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for 
 you, and fill up that which is behind of the suffer- 
 ings of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake which 
 is the church." Coloss. I : 24. The Apostle Peter, in 
 his first general Epistle, calls upon the followers of 
 Christ to " rejoice, inasmuch as they are partakers 
 of Christ's sufferings." 
 
 The Christ-spirit is always antagonistic to the 
 unprogressive and selfish spirit, and therefore always 
 labors, always endures, always suffers, yet always re- 
 joices, always triumphs. Its triumph is an eternal 
 
1 82 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 triumph, because holy love is infinite in its resources, 
 and selfishness is not ; — at the same time it must be 
 said, that the contest in which it is engaged is a 
 never-ending contest ; because in a moral universe, 
 which is also necessarily a free universe, the series of 
 the second or perfected births, in which the imperfect 
 and evil give place to the good and perfect, consid- 
 ered as a part of the divine order, and as a necessary 
 step in progressional development, is as much a per- 
 manent fact and truth as the truth of the divine ex- 
 istence. 
 
 When we reach the true interior sense of the 
 Scriptures, we get at true unchangeable principles. 
 Christ saves us by his blood ; his blood is his life, 
 and he who gives up his life gives all. And it is 
 thus that we can understand the doctrine of grace, 
 in distinction from the doctrine of merit by works. 
 We are saved by Christ, in other words w T e are saved 
 by grace or love, which is Christ's positive or essen- 
 tial nature, and this not of ourselves, it is the gift 
 of God. The merit is in Love — and not in ourselves. 
 
 But the question still remains, — how did Christ's 
 sacrifice save sinners? The common answer is, that 
 he magnified the law and made it honorable. And 
 what is the law? In general and somewhat abstract 
 terms it is, that we shall love God with all our 
 heart ; and our neighbor as ourselves. In other 
 
VIE IV OF THE DOCTRINE OF SACRIFICES. 183 
 
 words we are to do good ; the higher are to watch 
 over the lower ; the strong are to sustain the weak ; 
 those who have knowledge are to enlighten the ig- 
 norant ; we must and shall bestow upon others in 
 proportion as we receive. This was the law which 
 Christ divinely illustrated and magnified. He not 
 only announced the law as Moses had done before ; 
 but more than Moses did, he fulfilled it. He gave 
 up his life from an earnest and sincere desire to do 
 good to all because he himself was Love. Truly the 
 great Law of Love was honored. 
 
 9. — The universe, so far as it exhibits itself in 
 the personalities and forms of things, in distinction 
 from the Esse or essential being of things, is not a 
 completion but a development; — an infinite pro- 
 gression. It goes on continually from one step or 
 plane of advancement to another. If it should stop 
 in its progress it would necessarily fall into extinc- 
 tion. In ceasing to progress, it would become lim- 
 ited ; it would have a boundary of existence ; it 
 would no longer be exhaustless in its resources ; and 
 therefore, as it would be a necessity that its life 
 would feed upon itself, it would rapidly waste its 
 possessions. Progress, therefore, continued progress 
 may be regarded as a necessity. To stand still is to 
 perish. 
 
 10. — And further it seems to be evident and is 
 
!g4 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 generally conceded, that progress involves the idea 
 both of successions in time and of successions in de- 
 gree ; one thing going before and another coming 
 after ; one being below and another, which is the 
 antecedent in time, being higher, sphere above 
 sphere, and these spheres again having their distinct 
 higher and lower circles or mansions; human na- 
 tures, spiritual or angelic natures, seraphic or super- 
 angelic natures ; existences of names unknown with 
 their appropriate surroundings, progressively and 
 endlessly developing in the direction of the Infinite, 
 and yet never reaching and never becoming identical 
 with the Infinite. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Growth of the Idea of God. 
 
 I. — It is difficult to exaggerate the importance 
 which is to be attached to a correct idea of God, 
 considered as the embodiment and the personality 
 of the essential living element. If our views on 
 other points should be found to be correct but 
 should prove incorrect here, the error would be 
 likely to vitiate and weaken everything else. 
 
 2. — And the reason is, that men will almost nec- 
 essarily fashion themselves, in their principles and 
 in their practice, into the image of God, as that im- 
 age exists in their minds. Accordingly in adopting 
 a false conception of God, if they thus substitute to 
 themselves as an object of love and imitation, an 
 unholy or satanic being instead of the true God, it 
 will be found, that in their highest aspirations and 
 efforts, they will only aim and labor to make them- 
 selves evil and satanic, instead of aspiring to a truly 
 holy or divine nature. If for instance, the God of a 
 people is Moloch,— a conception of God which 
 
r 86 ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 authorizes and requires extreme cruelty — it will be 
 found that the people, assimilating themselves to 
 their conception of what is divine, will adopt and 
 perpetuate the infamous cruelties, whatever they 
 may be which their god approves. 
 
 The account of systems of worship, and of the 
 various and numerous gods, which men have adored 
 in various ages of the world and in different places, 
 constitute a deeply interesting but most painful 
 chapter in human history. The early portions of 
 biblical history abound in facts and allusions to 
 which we now refer. The Scriptures make frequent 
 mention of the idolatrous worship of the nations, 
 that originally inhabited Palestine and the countries 
 in its vicinity. Moloch was a god of the Canaanites 
 and the Phsenicians. References are made to the 
 worship of this cruel deity in Jeremiah, 7; 31, 32; 
 19: 6-14; in Isaiah 30: 33, and also in the second 
 book of Kings, 23 : 10. Baal also, so often mention- 
 ed in the Bible, was one of the deities of the 
 Phaenicians and was worshipped especially at Tyre^ 
 Human sacrifices were sometimes offered to this 
 god ; but less frequently than to Moloch. Baal- 
 Peor was a god or goddess of the Moabites. An- 
 other of the Moabitish deities is mentioned in the 
 Scriptures under the name of Chemosh, Numb. 21 : 
 29, Jer. 48: 7, 13. The calf which is mentioned in 
 
GROWTH OF THE IDEA OF GOD. \%j 
 
 Exodus 32 : 4, 5, and the two calves erected by Jer- 
 oboam in the cities of Dan and Bethel, were evidently 
 made in imitation of the Egyptian deities, the Apis 
 worshipped at Memphis and the Muevis at Heliop- 
 olis. In some parts of Egypt, the region in the 
 neighborhood of the ancient Sycopolis, the wolf was 
 an object of worship. The northern nations of Eu- 
 rope, those in particular inhabiting the region of, 
 the modern Denmark and Sweden, formed their idea 
 of God by the deification of the warrior. Their 
 highest ideal of man was the man of violence and of 
 blood ; and the being, that was conceived by them 
 as filling most completely this ideal, by violence and 
 bloodshed, was their God. His name was Odin. 
 His residence was in the city of Misgard. His pal- 
 ace was Valhalla. Odin was the god of battles. 
 The souls of heroes who had fallen in battle, ascend- 
 ed to the highest places in the celestial city ; — re- 
 newing around the halls of Valhalla the pleasures 
 of mimic war, and drinking the Scandinavian nectar, 
 from vessels formed from the skulls of their enemies. 
 The adventures of Odin are found in the Odda and 
 Voluopa. The sword of Odin and the great ham- 
 mer of Thor, may be accepted as the appropriate 
 symbols of the early northern deity; — the creation 
 of imbrutcd intellects and ferocious hearts, and 
 which reacted upon its own source,and in its turn 
 
1 88 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 consolidated and established revenge and inhuman- 
 ity. 
 
 The question now returns, what is God ? What 
 is the idea which we may properly and truly attach 
 to Him ? And we remark in the first place, that 
 the God whom the holy heart loves is not a limited 
 or human form, — such as the human mind in its 
 weakness is apt to frame and adopt ; — a form seated 
 somewhere high in the heavens, occupying some ele- 
 vated chair of state, and holding in his hand the 
 sceptre or sword of authority. This undoubtedly, is 
 an improvement of that low and demoralizing belief, 
 which finds him embodied in the lowest of the brute 
 animals, or which locates him in an idol made of 
 wood or stone ; although it is still a conception of 
 God, which differs from this very low one, more in 
 degree than in nature. Such a limited and formal 
 conception of God — no matter how dignified and 
 venerable the mental image under which he is rep- 
 resented — is at variance with the letter and the 
 spirit of the Bible; and compared with the true con- 
 ception of the Infinite Mind, is low, materialistic, and 
 unsatisfying. 
 
 3. — The God whom the holy soul loves, is not 
 the mere abstract idea of God. For although we 
 may and do form such an abstract idea, yet it should 
 be remembered, that the object for which the idea 
 
GROWTH OF THE IDEA OF GOD. 189 
 
 stands, is not a mere abstraction like the idea which 
 represents it, but is something positive and real. 
 Nor can we in consequence of our limited and finite 
 nature, love God even as an infinite positive Being, 
 unless we at the same time make him present in his 
 works, and love him and worship him in his works. 
 
 The true God is God present, living, operating or 
 in a word incarnate, in the universe of things; not 
 identical with it, but wrapping the universality of 
 created existences about Him as the clothing of his 
 life, and embodying himself most distinctly and fully, 
 in that which has the greatest receptivity of the 
 Divine ; and therefore becoming more and more 
 fully incarnated in man, in proportion as he pro- 
 gresses in the divine life, and can say, Christ is 
 within mc. 
 
 Now with such a God and thus received, it is 
 easy to see, what a change must soon take place in 
 the affairs of the world. If man could in any way 
 be led fully to believe, that his brother man-is a man- 
 ifestation of God, that the Divine is in him and 
 hovers over him and around him, — always to some 
 extent and always endeavoring to incarnate itself 
 mere and more, — would it be possible for him to treat 
 his fellow-man as he has done; to cast him into 
 dungeons, to tear him with pincers, to burn him in 
 the flames, to smite him and crush him in bloody 
 
190 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 wars ? Would it be in his thought and his nature, 
 thus to smite and destroy man, as the history of the 
 world shows that he has done, if he could be led to 
 the truth of the divine locality, and understood, that 
 God could and would not be separated from man ? 
 Truly recognizing God as existent in humanity, 
 would it be possible for him to hold his brother man 
 in slavery or to maltreat him and injure him in any 
 way whatever? And reverencing God also in wo- 
 man, could he make her the slave of all servile 
 drudgeries, brutalizing her body through the brutal- 
 ization of the intellect and the heart, and through 
 long ages, as he has done, causing her to droop her 
 head in sadness and to shed tears of blood ? It is 
 obvious what great and glorious results would fol- 
 low from the adoption of a true idea of God, not 
 only concerning man and woman, but also concern- 
 ing the beast of the field and the fowls of the air. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Of the Satisfaction of Divine Justice. 
 
 I. — Christ suffers and dies for sinners. A substi- 
 tute for transgressors is found in the crucified Son 
 of Mary. Divine Justice is satisfied. The atonement 
 is made. Such are the expressions which are often 
 heard in the creeds and teachings of the existing 
 churches. Similar expressions are found in the 
 Bible. " He is wounded for our transgressions ; he 
 is bruised for our iniquities." " Behold the Lamb 
 of God, who takcth away the sins of the world." 
 The true and interior meaning of such expressions, 
 the meaning which is adapted to that higher devel- 
 opment of the human race which exists at the pres- 
 ent time, — may be supposed to be as follows. 
 
 2. — When we say that Christ suffered on the 
 Cross, or suffered in any way, we make the inquiry 
 in connection with such expressions, as we are con- 
 stantly making the inquiry in other connections, 
 Who and what is Christ? Christ is not merely an 
 outward form, not merely a physical organization ; 
 
Iq2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 but a living principle, a spiritual Essentiality or Di 
 vine Love ; Christ not only was but is. The Christ- 
 spirit — we do not say every man who bears out- 
 wardly the name of Christ, — but the Christ-spirit, the 
 Essential Christ, does everything and suffers every- 
 thing which can be justly done and suffered for 
 transgressors. This is right. And nothing short 
 of this is right. The Christ-spirit compared with 
 any and every other principle of life, is the spirit of 
 all knowledge, of all truth, of all joy, all glory. 
 Freed from the disturbing and blinding influences 
 of self, it sees where the sinner does not see ; it 
 knows where the sinner does not know. It has 
 strength where the transgressor is weak. It has 
 heaven in its present and its future, with the knowl- 
 edge, that the sinner has no heritage of happiness, 
 either now or hereafter if he continues in his sins 
 It is right therefore that the Essential Christ should 
 suffer. It was right that he should suffer upon the 
 Cross. It is right that he should suffer now. 
 
 4. — Divine Justice, the divine perception of the 
 absolute right, requires that the true people of God 
 should sympathize with, should act and should more 
 or less suffer, for the good of sinners. Divine Jus- 
 tice is not satisfied, and cannot be satisfied, till this 
 divine ransom of toil and suffering, — without which 
 the Christ-spirit would fail to be the Christ-spirit, — 
 
THE SATISFACTION OF DIVINE JUSTICE. 193 
 
 is fully paid. The child of God who is not willing 
 to act and suffer for God's cause, by doing good to 
 others who stand in need of his labors, cannot claim 
 to be the child of God. And therefore it may be 
 truly said, that Divine Justice in such a case is not 
 satisfied. When Christ died justice was satisfied. 
 He did that which it was right or just for him to do. 
 
 5. — At this point it is possible, that a simple illus- 
 tration may aid us in understanding the subject. A 
 person for instance is a physiologist. Through the 
 good providence of God which has watched, over 
 him and instructed him, he has been made acquaint- 
 ed with the mechanism and laws of the human con- 
 stitution ; and understands perfectly what injurious 
 and destructive results follow from intemperance in 
 eating and drinking. I think that such a man is 
 bound, in other words, that " divine justice" requires 
 him to communicate such information to his brother 
 man for his good ; although it may cost him time, 
 labor, opposition, rebuke, persecution. And when 
 he has done his duty in this respect, then and not 
 till then divine justice is satisfied. 
 
 If Christ, with all his knowledge and love, with 
 his deep insight into the causes and consequences 
 of sin, had failed to stand up as a teacher, or had 
 failed to verify his teachings by patient endurance 
 and suffering even unto death, he could not have 
 9 
 
194 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 said, " I have finished the work which Thou gavest 
 me to do." John 17: 4. And it was in this way, 
 that Christ or the Essential Love Life satisfied, what 
 the divine or perfect justice required. A very dif- 
 ferent sort of satisfaction and nearly the reverse of 
 what it is generally supposed to be. 
 
 6. — Now all who are Christ's people, just so far 
 as they are like Christ, possess the true Christ na- 
 ture which is love, and are called to proclaim the 
 truth, although this necessarily brings them into an- 
 tagonism with error, which involves in the course of 
 the conflict, more or less of trial and suffering. It is 
 a great truth, therefore a permanent truth, if God's 
 people under any circumstances fail to labor and 
 suffer for the good of transgressors up to the light 
 which is given them, the divine justice fails to be 
 satisfied. The cross therefore, namely, labor and 
 suffering for the good of others, becomes a perma- 
 nent fact, a divine and unchangeable necessity un- 
 der a government of which God who is Love is the 
 great Centre. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Doctrine of a Judgment affirmed by Absolute 
 Religion. 
 
 I. — It is undoubtedly a doctrine of Christianity, 
 and is the accepted opinion of the sects or denomi- 
 nations which exist under the name of Christians, 
 that man both in his actions and character is sus- 
 ceptible of being judged ; and that such judgment 
 will certainly come upon him. And such, in the 
 grand harmony of Christian truth with the highest 
 human intelligence, is the affirmation of the Abso- 
 lute Religion. 
 
 2. — And first we will consider the subject in re- 
 spect to individuals. We find evidence that men 
 individually, that every man no matter what may be 
 his situation, is properly the subject of a judicial pro- 
 cess, and cannot by any possibility escape being ul- 
 timately brought to judgment, in the great fact that 
 he is created with a judge in his own bosom. Con- 
 science considered in connection with the intellect, 
 
I96 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 which furnishes the facts upon which its decisions 
 are founded, constitutes a tribunal which exists in 
 perpetual session ; and out of its own interior and 
 wonderful resources, consummates the verdict which 
 it gives of a good or evil action, of a good or evil 
 life, with a correspondent reward on the one hand, 
 or a correspondent punishment on the other. Some- 
 times the reward or punishment is realized in out- 
 ward good or outward sorrow, in the deprivation of 
 external comforts or in the enrichment of external 
 gifts; but whether this be the case or not, the rec- 
 ompenses of the soul in one form or the other, the 
 joys or sorrows of conscience can never fail. 
 
 3. — And this is so because it cannot be other 
 wise. If holiness or justice is a part of God's na- 
 ture, — and without this God ceases to be God, — 
 then it is impossible for him to create a being, with 
 the voluntary and intelligent capacities of good and 
 evil, without at the same time making him responsi- 
 ble for such good and evil. Man is judged because 
 the tribunal exists in himself; and the tribunal ex- 
 ists there, because God in making man could not be- 
 come a contradiction to himself; and could not act 
 in violation or neglect of the eternal and essential 
 principles which lie hidden in his own divine na- 
 ture. 
 
 4. — And let us look further, at the practical re- 
 
DOCTRINE OF A JUDGMENT AFFIRMED. jgy 
 
 suits. If man were not liable to be brought to judg- 
 ment, and were not restrained and regulated in his 
 conduct by the knowledge of this liability, what 
 conflict and wrong and fraud and oppression would 
 be likely to follow ! In such a state of things, 
 where everything would be regulated by power in- 
 dependent of justice, existence itself would cease to 
 be a blessing. 
 
 Looking at the subject in whatever way we will, 
 the voice of eternal reason giving itself utterance in 
 the Absolute Religion, agrees with Revealed Reli- 
 gion in the fact, that the book of the judgment is, 
 and from the nature of the case must be opened; 
 that the sentence is and must be executed ; that 
 under the figurative expressions of the Scriptures, 
 as well as under the dogmatic formulas of religious 
 creeds, there lies a great and unchangeable verity 
 which cannot be unheeded. 
 
 5. — And it remains to be added that men are not 
 only judged in their individual capacity, but they 
 necessarily take their share of the judgment which 
 falls upon all corporate bodies and associations and 
 communities, of which they are members. The life 
 of such associations and communities is made up of 
 individual life ; the responsibility of such complex 
 bodies, formed for ends which involve moral results, 
 is the aggregate of individual responsibilities ; and 
 
g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 the reward which' attends the associated good-doing, 
 and the punishment which follows the associated 
 evil-doing, reach all the individuals. 
 
 And therefore it may be said as a philosophical 
 affirmation, and it is found to be true as a matter of 
 fact, that families and neighborhoods are judged, 
 that towns and cities are judged, that all business 
 corporations are judged, that nations are judged, that 
 worlds are judged. And thus it will be found, that 
 the great and overshadowing fact of judgment ex- 
 tends to everything which is capable of being judged ; 
 although it is true, that it necessarily varies in the 
 form which it puts on, and in its degree, with the 
 great variety of things, and the modification and 
 character of things to which it applies ; but taking 
 place under the adjustments of a Being who never 
 errs, the judgment always is just. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Doctrine of Heaven and Hell. 
 
 I. — It is a fact worthy of consideration because it 
 involves principles that have a permanent foundation, 
 that all religions have their heaven and hell. The 
 Absolute Religion which, though really first in time, 
 comes latest in the historical succession of religions, 
 and which tries to expound those that have gone 
 before it and to adjust them to each other, teaches 
 that heaven and hell are facts of mental experience, 
 in other words are states of the mind, rather than lo- 
 calities. It is true that the Absolute Religion, in 
 taking this important position, does not necessarily 
 deny locality as something which is predicablc of 
 such facts of experience. And it docs not do this, 
 for the simple and sufficient reason, that locality is a 
 necessary incident of finitcness ; and that it is im- 
 possible to have an idea of finite beings, without 
 having an idea of the place which they occupy. 
 But the Absolute doctrine though it does not by any 
 
200 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 means exclude the consideration of locality or place, 
 is understood to deal primarily and chiefly with the 
 intrinsic or essential nature, rather than with the 
 forms and incidents of things. 
 
 2. — It is not easy to give definitions which will 
 be satisfactory to all. But perhaps it will be suffi- 
 cient to say, that Heaven in its essential nature, is 
 that state of inward experience which excludes 
 doubt and sorrow, and which is the subject of all that 
 happiness, which results from a harmony with the 
 immutable law of right, including as the necessary 
 result of such harmony, the approbation of God, 
 and full and happy communion with him. 
 
 It is not necessary to assert, however, that this is 
 the best statement which is possible to be made of 
 the absolute or essential heaven. It is sufficient to 
 know, that the statement embracing essentially these 
 ideas cannot vary greatly from these terms. 
 
 3. — And now we proceed to say, that the doctrine 
 under consideration results necessarily from the fact, 
 that the subjects or inhabitants of the state called 
 Heaven, are spiritual or mental beings. It is very 
 true, and it is one of the results of the additional fact 
 that they are finite beings, that they are clothed in 
 bodily or material forms ; but there is a great differ- 
 ence between the clothing or forms of things, and 
 the substance or essence of things. It cannot be 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF HE A VEN AND HELL. 2 0I 
 
 said that men in their intrinsic nature are material, 
 nor can it be said that the laws which govern them 
 are material, but the facts, laws and experiences per- 
 taining to the essential man, in a word anything and 
 everything which goes to constitute the interior 
 man in distinction from the outward man, is wholly 
 of a spiritual nature. For instance, man in his phys- 
 ical or material nature has an outward form and out- 
 ward organs ; and in the possession and exercise of 
 such organs, he does, and suffers, and enjoys those 
 things, which are appropriate to such an organiza- 
 tion ; but it is hardly necessary to say, that in his 
 mental or spiritual nature it is very different. His 
 internal action, in distinction from his outward or 
 physical action, is the activity of a spiritual nature ; 
 and he does, and suffers, and enjoys those things, 
 which are appropriate to spirit. 
 
 4. — We cannot delay in order to go into particu- 
 lars to any great extent. One or two illustrations 
 will answer. Man for instance has a conscience. 
 By means of conscience, using the term in the more 
 general sense as indicating the whole moral nature, 
 he discriminates between right and wrong. And 
 when he acts in accordance with the right, he is 
 happy; and when he does wrong he suffers. Man 
 also has affectional susceptibilities, including the 
 great and controlling power in his spiritual nature 
 
202 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 which enables him to love ; and in the exercise of 
 this benevolent principle, which always operates in 
 the direction of good to others, he finds an ample 
 and rich reward in his own nature. His failure to 
 exercise it, on the contrary, and the indulgence 
 without adequate cause of hostile feelings, is attend- 
 ed, according to a wise law of being, with a corre- 
 spondent unhappiness to himself. So that happiness 
 resulting from conformity with spiritual laws, con- 
 stitutes heaven; and unhappiness resulting from a 
 violation of these laws constitutes hell. The same 
 general principles which apply to the one apply to 
 the other. 
 
 5. — And this is not all. It can be said also and 
 in such a way that contradiction cannot easily have 
 a place, that there is a fixed and necessary discrimi- 
 nation between them ; a gulf of separation, excavated 
 by differences of nature which can never be filled up ; 
 so that in their interior and distinctive nature 
 heaven can never become hell, and hell can never 
 become heaven. Philosophers tell us that there is 
 an immutable distinction between right and wrong ; 
 right in its essential nature can never become wrong, 
 and wrong can never become right. But in study- 
 ing the relations of ultimate ideas and facts, we shall 
 find that right and wrong are in a very important 
 sense the foundations of heaven and hell ; that they 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF IIEA VEN AND HELL. 203 
 
 are the essential basis upon which heaven and hell 
 arc erected; and that the affirmation of an immuta- 
 ble distinction and separation between them, is vir- 
 tually an affirmation of a like distinction and separ- 
 ation of that which grows out of them. 
 
 And if it should be affirmed at this point, that 
 these statements have reference rather to identity 
 than to duration, and that the existence and the 
 distinctive difference of both may be conceded, with- 
 out involving the fact of their unchangeable perma- 
 nency ', then it remains to be added further, that, inas- 
 much as it is impossible to conceive of a moral uni- 
 verse where right and wrong are not, so it is 
 impossible to conceive of such an universe where 
 heaven and hell are not. So that on philosophical 
 principles, heaven and hell are not more immutable 
 and distinctive in their nature, than they arc un- 
 changeable and eternal in their duration. And ac- 
 cordingly it is not enough to affirm the naked fact 
 of the existence of heaven and hell ; but the truth 
 in its absolute form requires us to affirm also, that 
 there is an eternal heaven and an eternal hell. 
 
 6.— The Absolute Religion affirms also, although 
 it may be conceded that it is not a matter which is 
 equal in importance, the locality of heaven and hell. 
 Heaven and hell in their essential nature exist in 
 beings ; and in beings of whom it can be said that 
 
204 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 they have perceptions, emotions and conscience ; 
 in beings, who are not simply existences but person- 
 alities. But it is a primary conception or thought 
 of the human mind, that such beings and indeed any 
 beings, of whom it can be said that they are finite 
 and not infinite, have and must have limitations, 
 boundaries, outlines, form, which in fact constitute 
 one of the essential differences between the finite 
 and the Infinite, and which necessarily carry with 
 them the idea of locality or place. Affirm of any 
 being or thing, that it has outline and form, and you 
 necessarily imply and affirm of it, that it must be 
 and is in one place rather than another ; in other 
 words, that it has place; and that place or locality 
 can no more be separated from it than outline or 
 form can be separated from it. 
 
 Furthermore it is well known that philosophical 
 thinkers often speak of the fitness of tilings. And in 
 such a sense that they not only accept of it as a 
 speculative truth, but fully believe in it and reason 
 from it as an available and important basis of argu- 
 ment, in ascertaining and adjusting the position of 
 one thing considered in relation to another. And 
 the Absolute Religion, in harmony with this view, 
 utters as one of its truths, that it is not agreeable to 
 the fitness of things, in other words that it is not an 
 appropriate, well adjusted, and fitting thing, that 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF ILEA VEN AND HELL. 205 
 
 heaven and hell should be thought to be without 
 law, and should move their locality at random, and 
 should be here and there and anywhere and every- 
 where, without regard to the relative situation, and 
 the rights and claims, and progress, and histories of 
 other beings and other localities ; and thus disturb, 
 if it were a possible thing, the unchangeable harmo- 
 nies of the universe. And therefore it can be said 
 for this and for other reasons, especially in view of 
 the great law of attraction, which compels the asso- 
 ciation and permanent neighborhood of those who 
 have likeness of character, that heaven and hell 
 have not only a locality but a fixed and ascertaina- 
 ble locality, so that no one in the future life will 
 have any difficulty in knowing his own place. 
 
 7. — And still further, the Absolute Religion af- 
 firms, in accordance with the expressions that are 
 found in the revealed or written religions, that 
 heaven and hell have their walls and gates, theii 
 trees of life, their golden harps, and their flaming 
 fires ; with the liberty however, of substituting in a 
 proper manner the inward meaning for the outward 
 letter, and the great substance for the metaphorical 
 shadow. The walls and gates, divested of their 
 metaphorical import, are the ideas, truths, or laws, 
 of life, which attach to finite existences in every sit- 
 uation, and which indicate the boundaries or limits 
 
206 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 which they cannot pass. Not walls or gates in the 
 material sense, not something visible and tangible 
 which has been fashioned and set up by human 
 hands or any other finite agency; but they are not 
 the less real on that account ; and may be said to 
 possess even greater strength and permanency. 
 They cannot be broken through as material walls 
 can, or undermined, or over-leaped, or worn out ; but 
 they stand forever. And in like manner the tree of 
 life, and the waters of life, and the golden harps, 
 and the flaming fires, if they do not express like 
 walls and gates, the limitations of position and ac- 
 tion, will be found on a proper interpretation, to 
 imply and to express certain forms of inward expe- 
 rience both good and evil. There are joys and 
 griefs of the spirit as well as physical joys and griefs ; 
 joys and griefs which do not depend upon positive 
 and arbitrary enactments, but which necessarily re- 
 sult from the practical relation of our lives to the 
 laws of right and wrong, and without which heaven 
 and hell could have no existence. 
 
 8. — And lastly the Absolute Religion, speaking 
 alike in all lands and all languages and all intellects, 
 not only announces the existence of heaven and 
 hell, and with the seal of eternity upon them, but 
 proclaims with equal distinctness to the doer of 
 good and evil, that there is no possible escape from 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF IIEA VEN AND HELL. 207 
 
 them. They are not only facts but inheritances ; 
 not only existences but are capable of being peopled 
 and dwelt in. Such is the nature and fixed relation 
 of things, that it can be said in terms which admit 
 of no uncertainty, that the sinner is necessarily a 
 sufferer ; and that the doer of good is necessarily 
 happy, and that neither the one nor the other, 
 neither the good man nor the sinner, can fly from 
 the heaven or hell that is appropriate to him any 
 more than he can fly from himself. The man who is 
 excluded from the kingdom of love, and has his home 
 and kingdom in himself, who in making self his cen 
 tre is cast out of the All and is shut up in the one, 
 who is sunk from the liberty of God into the sla- 
 very of the creature, is in the truth and essence of 
 Hell, whatever may be said of his locality. Hell 
 therefore is a state of mind. And accordingly the 
 Absolute Religion has no controversy with the doc- 
 trine of Hell, whether found in the Christian Scrip- 
 tures or anywhere else, because Hell when properly 
 explained, is perceived to be, not a material Tophet 
 or Gehenna, but a fact of the universal consciousness ; 
 and what is more, it is an accepted problem' of the 
 primary or universal philosophy. Nor has it any 
 controversy with the doctrine of the locality of 
 Hell; because locality, when ideas arc subjected to 
 a suitable analysis, is a necessary incident to all 
 
2q3 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 finite beings ; and the locality which constitutes the 
 place of Hell's subjects, necessarily constitutes the 
 locality of Hell itself. 
 
 The Absolute Religion accepts Hell just as it 
 accepts Heaven, and it accepts both of them, not 
 only because they are matters of observation and 
 consciousness, but because the unchangeable affirma- 
 tion of philosophy proclaim the necessity of their 
 being. And it accepts the locality of Heaven (a lo- 
 cality but not necessarily a fixed locality,) for the 
 same reason that it accepts the locality of Hell. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, or the Sin which 
 cannot be forgiven. 
 
 I. — The doctrine of forgiveness of sin cannot be 
 understood in all its aspects, without some specific 
 reference to the doctrine of sin itself. The Scrip- 
 tures recognize two kinds of sin. And accordingly 
 as forgiveness has relation to sin, it modifies itself in 
 accordance with the nature of the sin to be for- 
 given ; — taking effect in some cases and not in others. 
 The first of the two forms of sin to which reference 
 has been made, is sometimes called in the Scriptures 
 the " sin of ignorance." Much account is made of 
 this sin in the code of Moses. See Levit. 4: 2-13, 
 Numb. 15: 24-30. This form of sin, which is that 
 of which the Apostle Paul was especially guilty, 1st 
 Tim. 1:13, and to which he refers in his address to 
 the Athenians on Mars Hill, Acts 17: 30, results in 
 part from the imperfection of man's finite condition. 
 His experience is limited. His knowledge is neces- 
 
2io ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 sarily small in the beginning. He advances amid 
 many obstacles and drawbacks. And without know- 
 ing precisely what he does, and without the specific 
 intention of doing evil, he oftentimes does those 
 things which are injurious either to himself or oth- 
 ers. This is that " time of ignorance which God 
 winks at." God does not exact from the weak- 
 nesses and imperfections of man's childhood, that 
 which he may properly exact from his advanced 
 maturity. 
 
 2. — The second form of sin is a sin of knowledge, 
 and therefore of deliberate intention. It is the sin 
 of those, who either know or who might know if 
 they would employ their faculties to that purpose, 
 what sin is. It is, therefore, the sin of the heart ; 
 and has in it that element of pride and obstinacy 
 which is the essence of blasphemy. The person who 
 commits it is described in the book of Numbers, as the 
 man who " doeth aught presumptuously ; " and there- 
 fore in distinction from the sin of ignorance, it might 
 properly be denominated the sin of presumption. 
 It is the sin of Goliah of Gath, who defied the armies 
 of the living God, and of all that unbelieving, proud 
 and violent class of men, whom the Philistines rep- 
 resent ; although it undoubtedly and very often ex- 
 ists in different degrees of openness and boldness. 
 It is the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, who deliber- 
 
SIN WHICH CANNOT BE FORGIVEN. 211 
 
 ately withheld from God what they knew belonged 
 to Him. It is the sin of Judas who, standing for 
 years in the clearness of the light of the Son of God, 
 did yet betray Him. It is the sin in some degree 
 at least, of all men, and of every man at all times and 
 in every age of the world, who docs not cheerfully 
 and fully act up to the light within him. 
 
 3. — The distinction between these kinds or forms 
 of sin is often made, with greater or less degree of 
 distinctness, in writers on the history of Philosophic 
 Opinions, on Natural Law, and on Moral Philoso- 
 phy ; — not excluding some philosophic writers among 
 the early Greeks and Romans. In Latin writers the 
 sin of ignorance or any form of sin, which indicated 
 weakness and imperfection, rather than deliberate 
 evil intention, was denominated culpa or was ex- 
 pressed by some other equivalent term, while the 
 deliberate or " presumptuous" sin was denominated 
 crimen. 
 
 4. — Now keping in mind this fundamental dis- 
 tinction in the forms of transgression, and connect- 
 ing it with forgiveness, which implies in its higher 
 and celestial sense not only overlooking a wrong, 
 and passing it by, but also loving harmonization, we 
 arc prepared to add that the sin of ignorance can 
 be forgiven. It is a sin of the head rather than of 
 heart ; and not only can be forgiven, but ought 
 
2I2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 to be and must be forgiven by all who are the true 
 children of God. But the sin which is described in 
 the Bible as the " sin of presumption," cannot be for- 
 given in that higher and true sense which has been 
 mentioned, because it is both a sin of knowledge and 
 a sin of the heart. It is deliberate, self-confident 
 and defiant ; and therefore cannot be forgiven inas- 
 much as it rejects forgiveness. The sin of those 
 who crucified Christ, great as it was, could be for- 
 given. Some of them undoubtedly thought, as 
 Paul in his persecutions of the church, that they 
 were doing God's service. Christ prayed " Father, 
 forgive them for they know not zvhat they do." But 
 he says nothing about forgiveness of the sin of 
 Judas, who cannot be supposed to have sinned in 
 ignorance, but to have known well that he was sac- 
 rificing a good and holy man from a purely selfish 
 consideration. 
 
 5. — With these explanations we are enabled per- 
 haps better to understand the statement in Mat- 
 thew 12:31. " Wherefore I say unto you, all manner 
 of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; 
 but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not 
 be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a 
 word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven 
 Him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy 
 Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him neither in this 
 
SIN WHICH CANNOT BE FORGIVEN. 213 
 
 world, neither in the world to come." In this pas- 
 sage, which harmonizes with what has already been 
 said of the sin of ignorance, and the sin of presump- 
 tion, we have two forms of sin brought together and 
 placed side by side, namely the sin against the Son 
 of man and the sin against the Holy Ghost ; and 
 they are so far essentially distinct from each other, 
 that one can be forgiven, the other cannot. To 
 speak against the Son of Man, as we understand it, 
 is to speak against or controvert on the ground of 
 imperfect knowledge, the doctrine of a Personal 
 Christ : — for instance, the predictions which have re 
 lation to Him, the facts of his incarnation, the varied 
 incidents of his history and other things. It is obvi- 
 ous, that this is a sin which is consistent with a de- 
 gree of sincerity; and which in being sincere, is 
 likely to work itself out into the truth. It is a sin 
 therefore which can be forgiven. But the sin against 
 the Holy Ghost, that deliberate form of it which is 
 expressed in the Greek word translated blasphemy, 
 which is sin against the Internal or Essential Christ 
 in distinction from the outward or personal Christ, 
 cannot be forgiven. 
 
 6. — There appears to be, and there undoubtedly 
 is, a great philosophical principle involved in the 
 statement which Christ makes ; as in point of fact it 
 
2I 4 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 will generally be found that such biblical facts and 
 statements everywhere involve principles. 
 
 The Bible viewed beneath the surface of its facts, 
 and in the light of an interior spiritual interpreta- 
 tion, is a book of principles. And the principle here 
 is this. Errors of judgment, mistakes arising from 
 unintentional ignorance, even unholy affections aris- 
 ing from mere misapprehension and every thing of 
 that kind may be forgiven. But the sin against the 
 Holy Ghost in its essence is selfishness, and is delib- 
 erate and persistent. The Holy Ghost, whatever 
 may be said of his manifestations or his Personality, 
 is God in his nature. And union therefore on the 
 part of God, with those who sin against the Holy 
 Ghost, is an impossibility, because it would be the 
 union of things which at the same time are divided 
 against each other — of love and selfishness, of God 
 and satan. And forgiveness therefore, which always 
 involves the fact of union, when it exists in its high- 
 est and truest sense, is necessarily excluded under 
 such circumstances. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Prayer in its Relation to the Absolute Religion. 
 
 i- — Prayer, in its analysis and its foundation, 
 necessarily involves the fact of the existence and 
 the presence of two personalities — of God who is 
 prayed to and of man who prays. Prayer in utter- 
 ance is not merely and exclusively petitionary ; but 
 includes both supplication and adoration. The ba- 
 sis of these two forms, or that which entitles them 
 to an uttered existence, is found in the character of 
 the being who is prayed to. God can always give 
 what we ask for ; and his character, perfect in all its 
 attributes, is worthy of the highest adoration. So 
 far as this, we have a basis of fact and thought 
 which is unchangeable, and which to this extent 
 evidently brings the doctrine of Prayer within the 
 limits of the Absolute Religion. 
 
 2. — As we advance further, however, we are 
 obliged to admit, that the common doctrine on the 
 subject of prayer may be regarded as somewhat at 
 
2l6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 fault. The doctrine to which we refer is, that God 
 is necessarily unimpressible, or as the theologians 
 commonly express it, that he is impassive ; in other 
 words, that though he hears he cannot be moved, 
 and that in the possession of all knowledge, he is 
 nevertheless without emotions and affections, be- 
 cause his plans being founded in infinite wisdom are 
 fixed and inflexible, and his emotions and affections, 
 which have their antecedence and basis in the facts 
 of existence, are necessarily as fixed and " impas- 
 sive " as his immovable plans. We do not deny 
 that this is a view, which, properly understood and 
 under proper limitations, embraces an important 
 truth. But when not accepted with these condi- 
 tions, it cannot be regarded as the whole truth, and 
 perhaps it would be correct to say, that it is a seri- 
 ous and injurious perversion of the truth. It should 
 be kept in mind that man is not a mere idealism or 
 fiction in the world of existences ; but in a true and 
 substantial sense of the term a reality. Next to 
 God, because he is in a true and especial sense the 
 child of God, he is the great fact of the universe ; 
 vast in powers, complicated and yet wisely adjusted 
 in the methods of mental action, and eternal in his 
 duration. 
 
 3. — And further it is a necessity, that God's ex- 
 istence being without limitations, should correspond 
 
ON PR A YER. 2 1 7 
 
 to, embrace, and harmonize with all other existen- 
 ces. Man cannot pray without God's hearing his 
 prayer ; and he cannot offer a prayer, so far as the 
 clement of desire is a part of it, without God's an- 
 swering ; although the way or method of answering 
 is not always perceived. Such a prayer being a fact 
 in his existence, it is necessarily a fact known: and 
 being a fact and being known as a fact, it cannot by 
 any possibility be disregarded. God is moved by it. 
 4. — But can it not be said, that God himself by 
 his own interior operation made the prayer. Such 
 is sometimes the doctrine. And yet, even if 
 something can be said in favor of that view, 
 can it not be said with far greater truth, that God 
 made man, and that in the exercise of the powers 
 and responsibilities God had given him, man made 
 the prayer ? God and man, though standing in the 
 closest relationship, are not identical. It is a mis- 
 taken and erroneous philosophy which asserts it. 
 Man from the moment of his creation became a 
 part of the universe ; as we have already said, not a 
 fiction or pretence or mere semblance of being, but 
 a reality ; not a thing made to be ignored ; not a 
 thing made to be dashed to pieces ; not a mere 
 plaything to be laughed at, contemned, trifled with 
 and thrown aside at will. God does not work in 
 that way. God is a serious being and very far from 
 
2 1 8 ABSOL UTE RELIGION. 
 
 being a thoughtless trifler ; and when he does a 
 thing he does it seriously and in wisdom, and he 
 does it for permanency ; and all his dealings with 
 man are stamped and sealed with justice. Remem- 
 ber therefore that man is really and truly man ; and 
 when he prays at all, his prayer is and must be a 
 prayer and nothing else ; and God hears because 
 the ear of his knowledge is infinite and cannot be 
 shut ; and God answers the prayer by corresponding 
 to it in wisdom and goodness, because the love of 
 his heart is infinite, and it is not possible for him to 
 ignore or to trample on the desires of the children 
 whom he has made. It is thus and cannot be oth- 
 erwise. 
 
 But this is not argument, perhaps some will say. 
 And this in a certain sense may be true. But if it 
 is not argument in the ordinary sense, it is some- 
 thing higher than argument ; it is both the intui- 
 tion of the intellect and the affirmation of the heart. 
 And now it is to be remembered that we are speak- 
 ing of prayer, and not of the mere appearance or 
 pretence of prayer. 
 
 We have already said that prayer necessarily in- 
 volves two things, first the Being who is prayed to ; 
 second the being who prays. And we may add also, 
 prayer involves a desire of the object which calls 
 forth the prayer, and faith in God as the giver of that 
 
ON PRAYER. 219 
 
 .'or which we ask. And it is hardly necessary to add 
 that there must be sincerity in all And now, look- 
 ing at the matter in the light of the Absolute Reli- 
 gion, in the light of the highest reason, which is the 
 intuitional reason, how is it possible in the nature of 
 things that God can be insensible to, and take no 
 cognizance of a sincere desire ? Let those who think 
 so, go back to first principles, and find out if possible 
 what God is. 
 
 But remember also that prayer has faith in it. 
 But faith in God as the answerer of prayer in his 
 own good time and way and wisdom, which is con- 
 fessedly implied and involved in faith, is wholly in- 
 compatible with the idea that God is an impassive 
 being, and is not moved by our supplications. 
 
 5. — But how can it be possible, says one, that God 
 who is Infinite should be moved by the finite? I 
 ask in return, how is it possible that God who is In- 
 finite should not be moved by the finite ? The In- 
 finity of God, who is not only an infinity of knowl- 
 edge but an infinity of feeling, implies and requires 
 that all the facts of the finite should be known, and 
 also that all the feelings which arc appropriate to 
 this knowledge should be actually experienced. It 
 cannot be otherwise. The failure to experience all 
 the feelings which are appropriate to all existing facts, 
 would imply and would establish an imperfection 
 
220 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 in his character. To accept God in the infini- 
 tude of knowledge, and to curtail Him in the infini- 
 tude of feeling, is to mutilate Him in one of his most 
 essential attributes and to make him unworthy of 
 reverence. If He knows a thing and feeling is truly 
 appropriate to that thing, then it follows that feeling 
 is a necessity. And hence it is not merely as a dog- 
 matic declaration, but as a requisition of the Abso- 
 lute of things, that not a sparrow falleth to the 
 ground without his notice, and that he will not allow 
 the husbandman to " muzzle the ox that treadeth out 
 the corn." And does He not care for man, as well as 
 for oxen and the birds of the air? Does He num- 
 ber the hairs of our heads, and have no respect for 
 the petitions of the heart ? Does he not pity man's 
 sorrows and hear his cries and honor his faith ? 
 
 When men know God only by the intellect, they^ 
 may be at a loss on these questions; but when they 
 know him by the comprehension of the heart, they 
 know what the answer is, and there can be no other. 
 
 The plain language of Scripture therefore, and 
 the doctrine commonly received, that God is a hearer 
 and answerer of prayer, that He takes an interest in 
 all our wants and does not fail to respond to them, 
 is a doctrine also of the Absolute Religion. And 
 every friend and advocate of the Absolute Religion 
 may know assuredly, first by reason and secondly 
 
ON PRAYER. 221 
 
 by experience if he will make the experiment, 
 that when he prays to God, God will hear him. The 
 true parent loves to have his children ask for what 
 they want. And so of God, He could not listen to 
 the petition, if he did not love to answer it. The 
 two things would be incompatible. The outward 
 expression of that which is within, is a necessity. It 
 is true that this expression in its modes is very va- 
 rious. There is verbal expression; there- is the ex- 
 pression of the countenance, there is the expression 
 of action. The fullest expression of joy or of sorrow 
 is generally found to require the combination of all 
 these. In point of fact, man wants and he receives ; 
 he has needs and he has supplies. The existence of 
 wants necessitates prayer ; it may exist merely in the 
 form of desire, or it may go further and embody it- 
 self in expression : but in either case, it is prayer. 
 
 It may perhaps be said, that God who is omnis- 
 cient knows our wants ; and there is no necessity of 
 expression. But expression takes place of itself, and 
 is a necessary attendant of want ; and it is doubtful, 
 whether the want could possibly be supplied with- 
 out an expression in some of its forms. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Relation of Faith to Salvation. 
 
 I. — It is one of the doctrines of the Christian reli- 
 gion, as those doctrines are accepted and expounded 
 by the great mass of its professors, that salvation is 
 by means of faith. "He that believcth shall be 
 saved." " He that believeth on the Son hath ever- 
 lasting life." These and numerous other sayings and 
 passages express or imply this fixed relation between 
 salvation considered as a result, and faith as a 
 means leading to that result. The doctrine of sal- 
 vation by faith is not only an affirmation of the 
 Scriptures ; but when carefully looked into, will be 
 found to harmonize with the philosophy of the 
 mind, and is entitled to be received as an affirma- 
 tion of enlightened reason. And if so, the doctrine 
 which is announced in the Scriptures, and the doc- 
 trine of the Absolute Religion on the subject, are 
 not at variance; but the former is accepted and 
 illustrated by the latter. 
 
 2. — In saying, however, that salvation is by 
 
RE LA TION OF FAITH TO SAL VA TION. 223 
 
 means of faith, and that the doctrine of salvation 
 considered as thus originated, is in harmony with 
 the requisitions of reason and sound philosophy, it 
 is necessary to inquire, in the first place, what we 
 are to understand by salvation. We read in the 
 wonderful prayer, recorded in the latter part of 
 John's Gospel ; " Neither pray I for these alone ; 
 but for them also which shall believe on me through 
 their word ; that they all may be one, as Thou, Fa- 
 ther, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be 
 one in us." Union with God, — a state or condition 
 of mind extending to the most interior depths of 
 our nature, in which the human affections and the 
 human will are fully harmonized, and made one with 
 the heart and will of the Infinite, — was Christ's 
 prayer for his people. A prayer uttered in circum- 
 stances which show that he understood the union 
 which he prayed for, as not only indicating the 
 highest and noblest of all possible inward or psychi- 
 cal processes, but as including the highest possible 
 good. And this, setting aside what may be said, 
 and to some extent rightly and profitably said, of a 
 local heaven, which may be regarded as only an in- 
 cident of salvation and not identical with its essen- 
 tial nature, is our definition of it, namely, UNION 
 with God ; a state of the soul ; a heart, wherever 
 it may be found, and whether in earth or in heaven, 
 
224 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 throbbing in all its pulsations, in harmony with the 
 divine heart, in unity of thought, in unity of feeling 
 and purpose, and in unity of life. Such is salva- 
 tion ; and he who is the subject of this experience 
 is saved. 
 
 3. — Salvation as thus defined is and must be by 
 faith. It is well known that the doctrine or philos- 
 ophy of faith, in itself considered, implies and re 
 quires an object to which faith attaches itself. In 
 every case where there is an exercise of faith, there 
 is and must be something which is believed in. To 
 believe and yet with nothing believed in, is an ab- 
 surdity in the philosophy of the operations of the 
 mind, analogous to a contradiction in mathematics. 
 And accordingly the first experience in the series 
 of mental conditions, which constitute the great fact 
 of unity with God, is belief or faith in the existence 
 of God. We must believe that God is. It requires 
 no argument to show, that without such belief as 
 this, the mental experience, called union with God, 
 becomes in the mental sense, which is the only true 
 and essential sense, an impossibility. 
 
 4. — Again, we must believe not only in the ex- 
 istence of God but in his rectitude ; in other words 
 that he will do what will be right towards us ; that 
 he will dispense and withhold, that he will guide 
 and sustain us, or at times leave us without percep- 
 
RELATION OF FAITH TO SALVATION. 225 
 
 tible guidance and without perceptible support, and 
 do anything and everything else, always and under 
 all circumstances in accordance with what is right. 
 And the reason is this, the human mind is so consti- 
 tuted, that it naturally and necessarily forms the idea 
 of rectitude or right. And not only this, on any 
 subject on which it is properly enlightened, it may 
 be said always to approve the right and to love it ; 
 and on the other hand always to disapprove the 
 wrong, and to have feelings of aversion towards it. 
 It is impossible, therefore, that man should enter 
 into a state of harmony or union with God, without 
 having faith in the divine rectitude. God is mind, 
 and man in his essential nature is mind ; and with 
 man's innate convictions and feelings in relation to 
 rectitude, and without a full belief in God's rectitude, 
 the true basis of harmony is wanting, and union with 
 God under such circumstances cannot possibly exist. 
 And therefore salvation fails. 
 
 5. — And this is not all. In order to reach the 
 salvation which is involved in a unity with the di- 
 vine life, it is further necessary to believe that God 
 accepts us, loves us, protects us, and is and will be a 
 friend and father to us. This is one of the highest 
 :ind most important acts of faith. But such are the 
 laws and the generation of thought, that it is logic- 
 ally and mentally impossible for us to do this, unless 
 10* 
 
22 6 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 we renounce evil in ourselves, or in the Scripture 
 expression repent of sin. The harmony of ideas re- 
 quires this. No man ever did or ever can believe in 
 God as a friend and father to himself personally, and 
 in the sense of an acceptance of himself into the re- 
 lation of unity of life, so long as he is inwardly con- 
 scious of doing things wilfully, which God disap- 
 proves and forbids. It is intuitionally evident to the 
 man who is in the habit of meditating mental prob- 
 lems, that the states of mind,— namely, an inward 
 consciousness of deliberately sinning against God, and 
 a belief at the same time that God accepts, approves, 
 and loves us and unites himself with us, — are not 
 only antagonistic, but are mutually exclusive and 
 destructive of each other. In other words, to be- 
 lieve that God unites himself with us, when we are 
 inwardly and mentally conscious of hostility to him, 
 is to believe in contradictions. Belief, therefore, 
 must not only exist in reference to its appropriate 
 object, namely, a God who is not only righteous, but 
 is recognized as righteous by ourselves ; but in taking 
 a direction which will receive him into the intimacies 
 of living and personal friendship, it must be a faith 
 which will antecedently demand and will secure, as 
 it gradually struggles into existence, all those con- 
 ditions of repentance and spiritual renovation which 
 render such a great result possible. 
 
RELATION OF FAITH TO SALVATION. 2 2 7 
 
 6. — Such are some of the relations and applica- 
 tions of faith in the matter of salvation. They are 
 worthy of serious attention, and in their application 
 involve some of the most important acts of the soul. 
 They are not only Scriptural announcements, and 
 entitled to acceptance on the ground of the source 
 from which they come ; but are in harmony with the 
 laws of the mind, and commend themselves to any 
 reasonable philosophy. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Divine Influences. 
 
 i. — The doctrine of Divine Influences, in other 
 words that men are susceptible of being inwardly 
 taught and guided by the Spirit of God, and that 
 such teaching and guidance is a part of the spiritual 
 and religious economy of the Universe, is a doctrine 
 not only historically illustrated and confirmed in the 
 ancient books of many nations, but is agreeable to 
 the highest thought and reasonings of men, and 
 therefore properly takes its place among the doc- 
 trines of the Absolute Religion. Setting aside for 
 the present the historical argument, which may be 
 regarded as highly confirmatory, and looking at the 
 subject in the light of intuition and reasoning alone, 
 we may remark, in the first place, that the doctrine 
 of divine influences flows naturally and necessarily 
 from the fact, which we suppose now to be recog- 
 nized and established, of the existence of God. God 
 exists. And his existence as God makes Him the 
 source of existence to all other beings. And it is 
 
DIVIDE INFLUENCES. 
 
 229 
 
 certainly reasonable to say, that his position as the 
 source of being, entitles Him to the control, and not 
 only gives the right but imposes the duty of control, 
 over the beings He has created. He makes them 
 what they are ; and it would not be possible for Him 
 because it would not be right and just, to relieve 
 himself from all responsibility in relation to them. 
 And responsibility cannot be separated from any 
 degree of guidance and control, which is necessary 
 to meet the claims that the existing responsibility 
 imposes. In a word God creates and therefore He 
 rules. On this point when it is properly explained, 
 there can hardly be a difference of opinion. 
 
 2. — When we come to the subject of the kind or 
 manner of the control which he is entitled to exer- 
 cise, and which it is his duty to exercise, there may 
 possibly be ground for some differences of thought. 
 We may say however in general terms, that the 
 manner of this control must be determined by a con- 
 sideration of the nature and relations of the beings 
 respectively, who govern on the one hand, or are 
 governed on the other. God is a spirit ; and man in 
 his essential nature is a spirit also; and having by 
 means of our personal consciousness gained some 
 knowledge of our own spiritual nature, we arc as- 
 sisted by that knowledge to some extent, in gaining 
 a knowledge of the spiritual nature of God. And in 
 
230 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 affirming the doctrine of Divine Influences, the doc- 
 trine of God operating upon man, and of man, in his 
 mental nature accepting and responding to the di- 
 vine influence, we are aided in meeting the problems 
 involved in the subject, by a knowledge, that it is 
 mind operating upon mind, and by a just considera- 
 tion and application of known mental laws. 
 
 3. — And accordingly we proceed to say, that the 
 exercise of divine influence is not the application of 
 material force, nor anything strictly analogous to 
 material force, which would obviously be inconsis- 
 tent with the nature of mind ; but, so far as we can 
 perceive, such divine influence is, and can be, only 
 the application of that mental force which is lodged 
 in motives. God influences by setting motives be- 
 fore us. If difficulties are to be surmounted, he sets 
 before us motives which are fitted to increase our 
 courage ; if threatening dangers are in our way, he 
 sets before us motives which are adapted to excite 
 our fears ; and in the vast field of human purpose 
 and action, he is at no loss for appropriate sugges- 
 tions and appliances suited to every possible occa- 
 sion. 
 
 It is proper to make the remark at this point, 
 that God, in operating upon man by means of mo- 
 tives, never violates his freedom. Man is not merely 
 an existence but a moral and accountable being; 
 
DIVINE INFLUENCES. 23 1 
 
 and freedom, placed beyond the reach of violation, is 
 one of the attributes which constitutes him a 
 man. 
 
 4. — It is not necessary for us, however, to pursue 
 the subject largely in this direction. The great 
 topic before us, that of the absolute and unchangea- 
 ble religion and what is included in it, renders it 
 more important to affirm the fact than the manner 
 of the fact ; to say what is rather than Jiow it is. In 
 saying, therefore, that there are and must be Divine 
 Influences, God operating upon man and man the 
 subject of the divine operation, we say that which 
 is affirmed by human experience. And human ex- 
 perience, considered in the different aspects in which 
 it presents itself, ' includes the testimony both of 
 feeling and reason. Eternal and unchangeable 
 truth, when existing within the sphere of humanity 
 and having relation to humanity, is always verified 
 by human intuition. Intuitional reason affirms the 
 influences of God. The existence of such divine in 
 fluence is not identical with its affirmation ; but the 
 affirmation is the out-birth and the revelation of the 
 existence. And it may further be said, that the 
 affirmation brings the great fact within the range 
 of one of the forms of human experience ; and ena 
 bles us to recognize it, to speak of it, and to rejoice 
 in it. 
 
232 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 5. — And this is not all. The existence of Di- 
 vine Influence upon the mind is verified also by that 
 form of experience which we call feeling. How 
 common it is for men to say, with considerable vari- 
 ety of expression, that God is near them or that He 
 impresses them or that he is within them. Men af- 
 firm the thing, not merely because it is intuitionally 
 perceived, on the ground that it is because it cannot 
 be otherwise, but because they feel it to be so. 
 The emotions or sentiments have a voice as well as 
 the perceptions ; and although the utterance is dif- 
 ferent in form, it is the same in meaning. The his- 
 tory of the churches, the history of individuals, the 
 testimony which is given by persons in all situations, 
 from the highest to the lowest, is in harmony with 
 this statement, that divine influences are experienced 
 and recognized in the inward feeling. 
 
 6. — In a recently published work on Mental 
 Philosophy, I have referred to the doctrine of divine 
 influences in the following terms ; with the intro- 
 duction of which here, I leave the subject, which is 
 one of great practical importance to the reflections 
 of the reader. 
 
 The susceptibility of inspiration from higher 
 sources is not merely, as some may perhaps suppose, 
 a theological dogmatism, but is one of the great and 
 
DIVINE INFLUENCES. 233 
 
 precious facts of humanity. God never ignores the 
 sublime truth of his universal Fatherhood, and has 
 never released his connection with any of the tribes 
 of men. He utters his voice everywhere. Homer, 
 Plato, Euripides, Cicero, Livy and Plutarch, as well 
 as the long record of those whose inspirational his- 
 tory has given lustre and power to the unequalled 
 pages of the Bible, have recognized the fact, that 
 man in the weaknesses and ignorance incidental to 
 his finite nature, is susceptible of strength and guid- 
 ance from the Infinite. 
 
 But these results are reached through law. The 
 conditions of inspirational receptivity, at least those 
 which are leading and indispensable, arc three. 
 First, Faith in this great fact, that there is thus an 
 open door of communication between God and man ; 
 second, a sincere desire that God, who never violates 
 our freedom, will by means of his inspirational influ- 
 ences come into communication with us ; and third, 
 a freedom from all biases and prejudices of self-will, 
 — in other words, unselfishness. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, the human mind in virtue of the un- 
 changeable laws of its being, is susceptible of being 
 reached, instructed, and guided. Nothing is more 
 important to man than such guidance. And the 
 mental susceptibility (not exclusively, but much 
 
234 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 more than some other of our mental powers,) which 
 is open to divine influences, and which turns to 
 catch the inspirational suggestions of God, is the 
 Intuitional power. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Explanation of existing practical Methods of 
 Teaching. 
 
 I. — If the Christian religion, it will be said by 
 some, has thus a philosophical basis and is in fact 
 the absolute and eternal religion, why should it not 
 in the first instance, and always, be presented in that 
 light, instead of being presented and pressed upon 
 men in the way in which it commonly is. In other 
 words, admitting that the Gospel is a philosophy, in 
 the sense of having a philosophical and permanent 
 foundation, it is objected, that it is not proclaimed 
 and preached as a philosophy. And it is intimated 
 and urged in relation to the method of teaching it, 
 that it ought to be otherwise than it is. 
 
 2. — The answer to this objection is this. There 
 is a great difference between philosophy, whether it 
 be the philosophy of religion or any other form of 
 philosophy, in itself considered, and in the essential- 
 ness of its own nature, and the mode or manner of 
 teaching such philosophy to those who have hith- 
 
236 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 erto not received it. The truth is always the same ; 
 and philosophy, when we discriminate between the 
 semblance and the substance, can never be a varia- 
 tion from the truth ; but the capacity of receiving 
 the truth in all its length and breadth is not always 
 the same. There is a great difference in this re- 
 spect ; and the method of teaching, if it be a true 
 and available method, will have relation not only to 
 the thing taught, but to the present condition and 
 the capacity of receiving on the part of those to 
 whom instruction is to be communicated. The ge- 
 ometries of Euclid and Legendre and the physical 
 philosophy of Newton, at least in its mathematical 
 principles, are the eternal truth ; they stand the 
 same from age to age ; but the method of teaching, 
 including the times and manner of teaching, is not 
 identical with the thing taught ; and it is well 
 known, that we do not teach geometries and other 
 forms of the higher mathematics to children, be- 
 cause there are other things more fitted to their yet 
 weak and undeveloped capacity, and which may be 
 considered as preparatory to the reception of the 
 higher and more abstruse forms of truth. 
 
 3. — And somewhat in accordance with this view, 
 the preacher who has God for his guide in the in- 
 structions he gives, will first address men in accor- 
 dance with the facts in the case, namely, as being in 
 
EXIS TING ME TIIOD S OF TEA CHING. 237 
 
 the first form of life, or that form which we have de- 
 nominated self-hood, and as being the subjects of 
 all those errors and sins, which must necessarily re- 
 sult from a continuance of that form of life, to the 
 rejection of the light and truth of a higher form of 
 life. In other words, the first object of the true 
 preacher, taking men as he finds them, in the posses- 
 sion not only of an outward written law, but of a 
 law written upon the heart and yet living in the 
 violation of that law, will be to convince them of sin. 
 And having secured this, the second object, other- 
 wise they would be left "in the condition of misery 
 which always results from a consciousness of sin, will 
 be to disclose to them the possibility and the 
 method of forgiveness. And therefore he points 
 the sinner to Jesus; in other words to God " mani- 
 fest in the flesh;" to God brought within the limits 
 of humanity and revealed in his essential nature, 
 and earnestly desiring the return of sinners to Him- 
 self. 
 
 4. — But this view of God revealed to man in the 
 infinitude of his love, of God clothed in humanity 
 and in humanity suffering upon the Cross, will be 
 of no avail (such are the laws of the mind that it is 
 not possible that it should be of any avail,) without 
 faith or belief. And hence it is, that the preacher 
 of the Gospel who is divinely guided, having first 
 
238 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 pressed the fact of sin, is led now to press with 
 equal earnestness the matter of faith. If the sinner 
 fully believes in God as a God of forgiveness and 
 love, which he is enabled to do only by directing 
 his thoughts to the great and wonderful facts, which 
 make up the history of the incarnation and the 
 Cross, then the misery attendant upon his trans- 
 gression passes away ; and so far as forgiveness is 
 concerned, he becomes reconciled to God. 
 
 5. — And then, without undertaking to narrate 
 minutely all the steps in the process, the question 
 arises in the mind of the reconciled offender, how is 
 it possible for me to be kept in the right path in 
 the future. And accordingly the preacher, pursu- 
 ing the true logical method by harmonizing his 
 instructions with the condition and wants and re- 
 ceptivity of the sinner, reminds him again of the 
 universality of the law, — a law not only extending 
 to all existences, but necessary and eternal and uni- 
 versal in its obligations, — and teaches him, that its 
 claims can be met only in one way, namely, by 
 placing his freedom and power of will, — not annul- 
 ling them but freely placing them, in the keeping 
 and guidance of the divine will ; and thus virtually 
 and practically, and yet with no loss of his own per- 
 sonality and freedom, making himself one with God. 
 
 6. — It is only when the mind is brought to this 
 
EXISTING METHODS OF TEACHING. 239 
 
 position that it learns, (and it learns it then from its 
 own inward experience,) that the Christian religion, 
 as full of wisdom as it is of mercy and love, is the 
 true and the only Absolute Religion. 
 
 And it may be added here, that it is important 
 for various reasons to remember, that the path of 
 religious knowledge, when it aims at the foundation 
 of things, is in this direction, and can be found no- 
 where else. Obey and learn. Be ye followers of 
 Christ, that ye may know the truths of Christ. 
 Open thine eye to the light, that thou may- 
 est see the things that the light reveals. When 
 the soul has experimentally gone through with the 
 spiritual processes, which the unchangeable truth re- 
 quires, it will be found that this experimental knowl- 
 edge will reveal and establish, beyond the power of 
 any argument antecedent to such experience, not 
 only the truth itself, but the immovable rock of its 
 eternal foundation. 
 
 7. — Go on, then, preachers of the Gospel and all 
 who labor for the extension of the truth, surrounded 
 as you are by those who arc in ways of darkness and 
 error, and proclaim to them their sin in order that 
 they may be convinced of sin. Proclaim to them 
 repentance, which includes not only a knowledge of 
 sin, but sorrow for sin, and a change from sin. And 
 as all sin, whatever its specific form, is, in its rela- 
 
240 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 tions and ultimate results, a sin against God ; pro- » 
 claim God, not in the first instance in the universality 
 and incomprehensibleness of his existence, but God 
 " manifested in Christ " and thus brought into the 
 intimacy of human relations, as ready and will- 
 ing to forgive. Proclaim not only the fact and free- 
 ness of this great forgiveness, but also and with all 
 the holy earnestness which is appropriate to your 
 divine ministry, the fact of simple faith, as the only 
 possible means by which such forgiveness can be 
 practically recognized and made available as a prin- 
 ciple of renovation to the soul. Proclaim and show 
 the necessity of the constant presence and in-dwell- 
 ing of the Spirit of God. Proclaim the absolute sur- 
 render of the human will to the divine will, as neces- 
 sary to continuous and universal obedience and to 
 the removal of all obstacles to the operation of God's 
 spirit. Proclaim union with God, even as Christ and 
 God are one, as the great practical and unchange- 
 able result of divine teachings when fully received 
 and realized. 
 
 And thus shall it be seen and known, when the 
 soul has ascended as it were after the manner of 
 Jacob's ladder by successive steps, to the mount of 
 angelic vision, that the great plan of salvation which 
 annihilates sin by a love that has its expression in 
 letters of blood, and which attracts and consolidates 
 
EXISTING METHODS OF TEACHING. 24 1 
 
 human freedom with the harmonies of the univer- 
 sal will, is not a mere dogmatism, but ascending far 
 beyond and above the contingencies of time and 
 place, is absolute, universal and eternal. 
 11 
 
.CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Contrasted Views of the Selfish and Essential Life. 
 
 The world is man, or rather is humanity. And 
 man is not a man except in' virtue of possessing in 
 himself what may be called a motive power. Such a 
 power, — such an innate motivity, — is a necessity, 
 (that is to say, a necessary or indispensable condi- 
 tion) of the existence of all intelligent and active 
 beings. This is undoubtedly one of the affirmations 
 of man's intuitive intellect,— of the mind in its sug- 
 gestive or spontaneous action ; an affirmation which 
 utters itself in all men's hearts, and which therefore 
 carries with it an universal consent. And so far 
 philosophy harmonizes with religion. Man lives 
 because he has power to live ; and the nature of his 
 life will be according to the nature of that power. 
 
 If we look at man's history from this point of 
 view, we shall get a glimpse of the outlines of suc- 
 cessive dispensations. In what is often called his 
 natural state, man finds that internal and impulsive 
 energy which constitutes the soul's life,-*or at least 
 
VIEWS OF SELFISH AND ESSENTIAL LIFE. 243 
 
 this is generally and almost universally the case, — 
 in the attractions of sensual pleasure, in the obstina- 
 cies of pride, in the aspirations of ambition, in the 
 hostilities of revenge, and in the ever-grasping de- 
 sire of possession and accumulation. He is born 
 into the finite ; — and his first idea is, (and it could 
 not well be otherwise,) to live in the finite; — that is 
 to say, to live for himself. He is his own world. 
 In that world he lives; and from it he lives ; and 
 his object is not to diminish it by imparting to oth- 
 ers, but on the contrary, though at the expense of 
 jealousy and strife, to increase and strengthen it by 
 adding whatever he can. And as society cannot be 
 separated from the units which compose it, there- 
 fore the man individual is the precise representa- 
 tive, the type or form, of the man social. And 
 therefore the leading characteristic of the first dis- 
 pensation is SELFISM. And sclfism is necessarily 
 antagonism. He who lives to himself, does not 
 live to others ; and not living to others as he lives 
 to himself, and for himself, he is necessarily separat- 
 ed from them in a greater or less degree, and be- 
 comes antagonistical. Everywhere there is distrust, 
 jealousy, pride, anger, lust, revenge, cruelty, and 
 every evil thing which imagination can conceive. 
 This is man's first development, the first historical 
 fact which the early records of every nation and peo- 
 
244 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 pie distinctly declare. This is what is read in the 
 histories of the savage tribes of North America.* 
 
 This is what is read, if we look deeply into the 
 motives of the actors, in the Homeric poems, and in 
 the historical fragments and the traditions, as we 
 find them in Niebuhr, which give us a view of the 
 early states of Italy. This is the sad and humiliat- 
 ing story, which I have myself seen and read, as it 
 has stood through long generations, sculptured in 
 the walls of the enduring temples of Thebes. Such 
 is the historical truth that has been dug up also 
 from the buried cities of the Tigris and the Euphra- 
 tes. 
 
 The nations which existed antecedent to the 
 time of Moses, and in the regions through which he 
 led the Hebrews, are illustrations of this statement; 
 — the Amalekites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, 
 and also the cities, tribes, and states which inhabit- 
 ed Palestine, and the Philistine country, and the an- 
 cient Phoenicia. 
 
 This first dispensation, which we will here call 
 the dispensation of selfism, was modified, in the 
 course of time and in some respects elevated, by a 
 high civilization. It was the result of selfishness, 
 
 * Numberless volumes might be referred to. Perhaps there is 
 none more terribly instructive than the recently published Life of 
 Beckwith. 
 
VIEWS OF SELFISH AND ESSENTIAL LIFE. 245 
 
 directing its agriculture and its commerce to the 
 one great object of accumulation, that it should ac- 
 quire wealth. And wealth in its turn brought leis- 
 ure, luxury, a false refinement, and the polite arts. 
 But nothing was altered in its essential nature. 
 Selfishness was at the root. Selfishness was at the 
 heart. Selfishness was everywhere. Refinement 
 and art threw around it some semblance of beauty ; 
 but it was only the beauty of the sculptured monu- 
 ment, which conceals the death and corruption be- 
 neath it. Thus Tyre and Sidon, and Nineveh and 
 Babylon, and Memphis and Thebes, and Athens 
 and Rome, with all their wealth and arts, were es- 
 sentially under the same condemnation with the 
 corrupt and degraded cities and nations which had 
 perished before them. 
 
 There are and can be only two essential or real 
 dispensations, having a definite and fixed character ; 
 — that which has its centre and its power of life in 
 the individual or the limited, and that which has its 
 centre in God or the universal. The dispensation 
 of external law, which is incidental to the first, is 
 not an essential, but an accessory dispensation; — 
 which, however, has its place, its history, and its 
 value. Although in the progressive development of 
 existences, it was necessary that the attribute of free- 
 dom should be given to man, — a real and not merely 
 
246 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 an apparent freedom, — yet the Divine Goodness 
 could not allow, and the rights of freedom could not 
 justly claim, that it should be permitted to men to 
 do injury to others. In other words, although their 
 freedom involved the fact or rather the possibility of 
 their doing injustice, yet it would be right in God, 
 and would be incumbent upon Him, to restrict all 
 such unjust tendencies by a dispensation of law and 
 of the penalties of law. Now the freedom of self- 
 ishness is the freedom of destruction. 
 
 And the world, with freedom for its opportunity 
 and selfishness for its motive power, became a great 
 slaughter-house, — an Aceldama, — so much so that a 
 dispensation of external law, marking in many cases 
 the precise boundaries between right and wrong, be- 
 came a great necessity. The same love which 
 granted freedom, imposed law ; in order that free- 
 dom might not degenerate into license and ruin. 
 And hence came that marked fact in the world's 
 history, — the legal or Sinai dispensation ; — a dispen- 
 sation which is not antagonistical to freedom, but 
 only to freedom degenerating into license. The 
 central expression of law, in its restriction of man's 
 destructive selfishness, w 7 as at Mount Sinai. Exter- 
 nal law is always terrible, because it is always antag- 
 onistical. It stands with a drawn sword ; — it holds in 
 its hand a flame of fire. And therefore" the place 
 
VIEWS OF SELFISH AND ESSENTIAL LIFE. 247 
 
 and the circumstances of its announcement were 
 well adapted to what was announced ; — to a people 
 who were prepared for it by experience and instruc- 
 tion, and who were selected as the medium through 
 which it was to be communicated to others ; — in a 
 " waste howling wilderness," their tents spread upon 
 the sand, with rocks and mountains rising all around 
 them ; amid blackness, and storms, and thunder. 
 Simultaneously and sympathetically, throughout the 
 world, as we may well suppose, (for God's heart is 
 one heart, and God's people are one people, and 
 what he does for one he does for all,) the law en- 
 graven distinctly on the Sinai tables, was engraven 
 also, (with various degrees perhaps of distinctness, 
 corresponding to their privileges and lights) upon the 
 tables of the human soul. The universe is a whole 
 — the head inseparable from the foot, — and nothing 
 which is great and essential can take place in one 
 heart, without reaching and affecting sympathetically 
 all the others. The thunder of Sinai echoed through 
 the world ; because it was the voice of that God 
 who is the life of humanity. Everywhere by means 
 of an increased light opened in the conscience, and 
 by means of moral teachers raised up in different 
 lands, were the sentiments of justice developed in 
 opposition to selfishness ; and the prevalence of vio- 
 lence and cruelty was in a degree checked. And 
 
248 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 hence it is said by the apostle Paul, that the heathen 
 to whom the Sinai law was not in the first instance 
 expressly communicated, but who nevertheless re- 
 ceived something of its substance, by means of those 
 interior and magnetic currents which everywhere 
 connect man with humanity, were " a law to them- 
 selves, which show the work (or working) of the law 
 written upon their hearts." 
 
 But the same Apostle, — a man who had both 
 great natural and great inspired light, says in another 
 place, that the law " makes nothing perfect." And 
 the reason is, because the law is not a life but a re- 
 striction ; not a power but a chain. It makes noth- 
 ing perfect, though it may be true that it shuts up 
 and limits the downward progress of imperfection. 
 The law, however, may be of great value, because 
 if it does not give life, it may yet prevent ruin. 
 And if the legal dispensation is incidental to the 
 first or selfish dispensation, it is also transitional to 
 the last dispensation or the dispensation of univer- 
 sal love. And hence, it is that the same Apostle 
 says, that the law, which is the same as the legal 
 dispensation, is the schoolmaster, which brings us 
 to Christ. And there is great truth in this, even 
 when examined by the light of mere human reason. 
 The pervertedly natural or selfish man sees things 
 from the light of his own selfish centre. His desire 
 
VIEWS OF SELFISH AND ESSENTIAL LIFE. 249 
 
 to include everything in himself is so strong, that it 
 seems to him to be right. He is, as the Scriptures 
 represent him, blind. And God in his goodness has 
 placed him under law, that he might not destroy 
 himself, and that he might not destroy others. But 
 this is not all. The same law which preserves him 
 in his blindness from these injurious results, is also a 
 teacher. It puts him in a new and effective school. 
 It opens the eyes of his understanding. It is by 
 means of the external law, operating through the 
 inward law of the conscience, that he sees where he 
 is, and what he has done, and where he is going. 
 Under the law he is still a selfish man ; but he is a 
 restrained or regulated selfish man. The legal dis- 
 pensation is transitional, it gives light ; it is mixed 
 in its results ; it is a necessity ; but still it is true, as the 
 Apostle says, that it completes nothing ; it u makes 
 nothing perfect." The light or knowledge which it 
 gives is the revelation of the utter deformity and in- 
 sufficiency of the first or selfish dispensation. It also 
 gives light in the other direction, by indicating 
 though imperfectly, the character of that other dis- 
 pensation which is to take its place. 
 
 Let us look again at the expression of Paul, that 
 the law or legal dispensation is a schoolmaster or 
 teacher, which is to bring us to Christ. And here 
 the first question is, who is Christ, or what is 
 
250 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 Christ? To the ancient patriarchs and prophets 
 Christ was the man who was to come. To the dis- 
 ciples and apostles at a later period, Christ was the 
 man who did come. To those who close their eye 
 to the form in order to be more receptive of the 
 substance, Christ is not alone the Christ-man but 
 the Christ-spirit. And the Christ-spirit embodied 
 in one word is love. It seeks not the good of one 
 merely, but of all. 
 
 To seek the outward Christ is well, but to stop 
 there is not well. The kingdom of God is within 
 you. I speak from my own experience. I wanted 
 Christ in the form. I wished to take him by the 
 hand, and like the unbelieving Thomas of earlier 
 days, to see the prints of the nails and to thrust my 
 hand into his side. But he would not thus be seen 
 by me. But I hear a voice, and it says, " here I 
 am;" and it says again, "I am He." It is thine 
 inward eye that shall see me ; thine inward ear that 
 shall hear me. 
 
 And I said, Lord, how can this be. And he an- 
 swered it was thus I told my disciples, "I am with 
 you always even to the end of the world." No 
 longer look for me in the outward form, and thou 
 shalt find me in the inward spirit. The form is lim- 
 ited, and belongs to one. The spirit is universal, 
 and belongs to all. I am not with one of my disci- 
 
VIE WS OF SELFISH AND ESSENTIAL FIFE. 
 
 251 
 
 pies only, but with all ; — and in all places and in all 
 time, I yet live and am still a channel of the truth 
 to all who are ready to receive it. Ye are the re- 
 cipients ; I am the giver of that which ye receive. 
 Ye are the form ; I am the substance. The forms 
 arc many ; but the substance is one. If I were 
 present in a personal form, as I was once, and con- 
 tinued to be present in such a form, I should be 
 limited, and should be present to one or at most to 
 a few. In my earthly form I was intimate with my 
 twelve disciples, and with Lazarus and with Mary 
 and Martha, and a few women from Galilee. But 
 now I belong to humanity. Oh my Father, all 
 mine are thine ; and thine are mine. Oh men, ye 
 are the form ; I am the substance. If ye need me 
 and seek me in the form ; then seek me and find me 
 in yourself. 
 
 It is thus we reach the great distinction between 
 the first or legal dispensation and the second dispen- 
 sation, the incarnation of Christ, or, in other words 
 of that love which is the fulfilling of the Law. The 
 time is hastening, when the true Christ-spirit will 
 •become incarnated in multitudes who will walk the 
 earth ; each a John, a Mary, each bearing his own 
 name, and filling his own place, but each a member 
 of that holy family of which Jesus Christ the Son of 
 Mary and the Son of God is the Elder Brother. 
 
252 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 When the impersonal Christ is born into the world 
 in the fulness of his nature, the rights and sacred- 
 ness of woman who is the virgin mother will be un- 
 derstood and acknowledged. The incipient sign 
 having relation to woman's position has already- 
 been given. Without woman, without the aid of 
 the sympathies which are connatural to her affec- 
 tionate nature, He could not and cannot be born 
 into the world. Born of woman once he is born of 
 woman forever. The truth of Christ dying for us 
 without the other great truth of Christ living in us. 
 leaves man out of the sphere of the Divine Unity, 
 and in a state of perpetual orphanage. 
 
 In giving utterance to the truths and principles 
 which are now inspired within us, and which indi- 
 cate our present position and purposes, we lay no 
 bonds upon the future ; — we do not attempt with 
 audacious hands to steady the divine Ark by plac- 
 ing chains upon the endless unfoldings of unlimited 
 Intelligence and Love; — but on the contrary think 
 it important to proclaim distinctly, and as a thing 
 which involves man's highest happiness, that we be- 
 lieve in light added to light, in truth added to truth, 
 appropriate to each added moment of time, to each 
 added variation of circumstances, and to each as- 
 cending step in the soul's unlimited progressional 
 being. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Mediatorialism as a universal and practical Principle. 
 
 I. — In the posthumous work of Frederic Sec- 
 ond of Prussia, entitled, " The History of my own 
 Times," is the following passage. After stating 
 that Locke and Bayle had in part loosened and torn 
 asunder the bandages of error, he adds: " Other 
 sages also have appeared ; such as Fontenelle and 
 Voltaire in France ; the celebrated Thomasius in 
 Germany; Hobbes, Collins, Shaftesbury, and Bol- 
 ingbroke in England. These great men and their 
 disciples have given religion a mortal blozv." Such, 
 in the time of Frederic the Great, as he is com- 
 monly designated, was the opinion of many. And 
 indeed it is the opinion of many to this day, that 
 philosophy is antagonistical to religion ; that reli- 
 gion is destitute of a philosophic basis; and that its 
 great and saving truths are likely to be unsettled 
 and overthrown by the repeated and heavy assaults 
 which philosophy makes upon them. So far from 
 accepting such an opinion, we cannot doubt that 
 
254 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 philosophic inquiries, conducted with patience and 
 candor, will ultimately show a very different result ; 
 and that philosophy, in the completion and just ex- 
 ercise of its own accepted cognitive methods, will 
 be found standing strongly in the explanation and 
 defence of religion,- and not in antagonism to it. If 
 it is admitted that religion, in being subjected to a 
 philosophical analysis, is not explainable by the 
 speculations of Hobbes and Condillac and of others 
 of the so-called Materialistic School, some of whom 
 are mentioned by the Prussian king ; and if its prob- 
 lems are beyond the mastery of Fichte and Schell- 
 ing and Hegel of a later day, and others who are 
 their disciples or opposers, yet in the progress of 
 time and in the necessary combination of the Sen- 
 suous and Super-sensuous philosophical Schools, 
 and with the added light which is gently breaking 
 from above in the profound teachings of Christ in 
 the soul, the depths of religion, except so far as 
 they are necessarily beyond the reach of finite fac- 
 ulties, will at last be fathomed, and its mysteries ex- 
 plained and made clear. 
 
 2. — The subject of this chapter is Mediatorialism ; 
 a subject which cannot be mentioned without at 
 once leading our thoughts to Christ as the embodi- 
 ment of the mediatorial principle. Mediatorialism 
 is the name of the principle ; Mediator is the name 
 
MEDIA TORIALISM. 
 
 255 
 
 of the person or being mediating. And as media- 
 torship can exist practically and personally, only on 
 the basis of a mediatorial principle or truth antece- 
 dently existing, the whole subject comes within the 
 sphere and the recognitions of philosophy. In 
 other words it is a part of the Absolute Religion. 
 
 It is conceded to the claims of philosophy, that 
 one of its functions is to deal with principles, in dis- 
 tinction from forms and manifestations; including 
 the relation of principles, whatever they may be, to 
 their results. Philosophy, in the higher and diviner 
 sense, which is the only true sense, so far from be- 
 ing at war with the massive and truly glorious dog- 
 matisms of Christianity, shows the divinity of the 
 wisdom which gives them their dogmatic form and 
 place ; and also defends them in the eternity and 
 necessity of their subjective foundations. 
 
 3. — This subject presents itself in various as- 
 pects. Mediatorialism in its results is giving. To 
 give, implies gifts in possession and as there is but 
 one original source or fountain of such gifts, to give 
 is primarily and eminently the prerogative of God. 
 To give, inasmuch as God would not be God with- 
 out giving, is an eternal Truth ; the spirit of giving 
 is the eternal Life ; and mediatorialism, which is 
 based upon the fact of innumerable diversities in- 
 volving innumerable wants, is the WAV, by means 
 
256 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 of which the Life carries the Truth into effect. It 
 is in this sense that Christ is called the Way, as 
 well as the Truth and the Life. Standing in the 
 relation of God " manifested in the flesh " or the 
 God-man, and thus harmonizing mentally and physi- 
 cally with the attributes of the race, he stands in the 
 position of the distributive channel of the measure- 
 less infinitudes of God into the finite measurements 
 of all subordinate existences. Mediatorialism is an 
 unalterable law. The Cross as a principle and medi- 
 atorialism as a principle, though the latter may be 
 regarded as logically subsequent in time, and in 
 some sense subordinate in position, are connected 
 together in close and inseparable relationship as 
 means and end. The goods of the universe, which 
 exist necessarily in God as their source or fountain 
 are, by the law of the Cross, to be distributed, and 
 to manifest themselves in their appropriate forms 
 and results, in all degrees of existence from the 
 highest to the lowest. 
 
 4. — There are some things which are ultimate, 
 and one is, that the infinitudes of God could not by 
 any conceivable possibility find their way into the 
 possession of finite beings, except by methods 
 which recognize and harmonize with the fact of 
 their finiteness. But the way from one to the other 
 is founded in the nature of things, and is one of the 
 
MEDIA TORIALISM. 
 
 257 
 
 products of " eternal generation ; " grand, mysteri- 
 ous, intuitionally as well as scripturally revealed, and 
 banishing forever all those doubts which would sep- 
 arate God from his children. God the Absolute and 
 God manifested in the finite form, and manifested in 
 part for this very purpose, are mediatorially united 
 in Christ, and in a way so wonderful, that He lays 
 one hand on the great Infinitude of existence, and 
 with the other touches the poorest and lowest of 
 human beings ; and brings them into each other's 
 presence ; and linking the last with the first, and 
 the highest with the lowest, harmonizes the diversi- 
 ties of the universe. 
 
 5. — What was true of Christ, with the limitations 
 which naturally suggest themselves in connection 
 with his special position and character, is true of his 
 people. As was said of Christ, so it can be said of 
 the true follower of Christ, " virtue goes out of 
 him." On the supposition that the true Life power 
 is in him, which is of course involved in the fact of 
 his being a true Christian, it will always be found, 
 that he is a channel, a method of communication, a 
 mediatorial gateway ; and that he is so, not by a 
 temporary and arbitrary arrangement, but by the 
 constitution of things and the divine necessities of 
 the case. So that men cannot look upon him with- 
 out being blessed with the divine light which beams 
 
258 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 from his countenance ; and they cannot talk with 
 him without feeling almost sensibly the divinely 
 inspirational weight of his words. 
 
 6. — There is one attribute of the mediatorial 
 principle, which is worthy of special notice ; it is the 
 attribute or law of increase. The intuitional inspi- 
 rations of Christ have announced this law in re- 
 markable words ; not the less striking perhaps, 
 because they are negative as well as affirmative in 
 the form : " He that hath, to him shall be given ; 
 and from him that hath not, shall be taken even 
 that which he hath." He who is not a true subject 
 of mediatorial life, in not accepting the great law of 
 instrumentality in goodness, cannot grow ; but is 
 deprived of the gifts, whatever they may be, which 
 he already has. And the law of increase corre- 
 sponds to this result ; the increase in the power or 
 capacity of the principle itself being greater or less, 
 in proportion to the beneficial results attending its 
 own practical exercise. He who does good, and 
 every time that he exercises goodness, and in the 
 degree that he does good, grows in the power of 
 doing good, so that the benevolent activity of the 
 soul is practically and resultingly the growth of the 
 soul. 
 
 7. — How delightful is the thought, that it is our 
 privilege not only to be mediators, but to grow as 
 
MEDIA TORTALISM. 259 
 
 mediators ; not only to be channels of good to others, 
 but by a fixed and ultimate law to become wider and 
 deeper as channels ; not merely to be the little rivu- 
 lets that flow on with small results, but to swell into 
 mighty rivers that nourish cities and nations, and 
 float the commerce of the world. 
 
 8. — Such is the brief outline of the doctrine of 
 mediatorship when, without any disrespect to the 
 value of the dogmatical expression, it is subjected, 
 in accordance with the progressive demands of the 
 age, to the inquiries of analytic thought and reason. 
 And we do not see that anything is lost by it. The 
 mediatorial principle is a permanent and universal 
 one ; existing everywhere and under all possible 
 varieties of circumstance. 
 
 9. — Humanity, in the consciousness of its great 
 needs, calls for the announcement of spiritual truths, 
 which shall be practically carried out. Mediatorial- 
 ism is one of them. What the world wants to-day, 
 and what, with its " Macedonian cry," it calls for 
 to-day, is mediators ; men who are trained in the 
 self-denying school of the great mediatorial captain 
 and leader ; men who, by the internal law of their 
 being, are mediatorially alive. What but this great 
 resource, can solve among other things the terrible 
 social problems, which press upon our suffering race? 
 The heart trembles when, joiner below the surface 
 
2 6o ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 of things, it everywhere beholds the social and moral 
 volcano on which our present selfish society stands. 
 The millions in our cities who are suffering in pov- 
 erty and wrong and crime, are restlessly demanding 
 the day of their redemption. There is no peace, 
 but in justice. No justice but in the law of the 
 Cross, which is practically useless, unless it is medi- 
 atorially complemented and carried out. Mediato- 
 rialism is Christ in action. The contest may be long 
 and severe, but the benevolent principle of mediator- 
 ship, which, in receiving good only to communicate 
 it, hears all groans and wipes all tears, will gently 
 draw out the deep and smouldering fires which lie 
 around and beneath us, and prevent the threatening 
 convulsions. 
 
 io. — One of the results of the great principle of 
 mediatorship is, that it associates us with angels. 
 The mediatorial principle, in being a principle and 
 not merely an event or incident, is not only eternal 
 but universal. It is the law of men ; it is also the 
 angelic law ; and is not more the true life of the 
 earth than it is of the heavens. Angels, and all be- 
 ings in the heavenly spheres, are the embodiments of 
 mediatorial activity. The scriptures affirm it ; and 
 if they did not, it could not be otherwise. It is of 
 these high and holy beings it is said, that they are 
 " all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for 
 
MEDIA TOJRIALISM. 26 1 
 
 them, who shall be heirs of salvation." So that it 
 can be said in a true interior sense that, in becom- 
 ing mediatorial, and in thus falling into the line of 
 harmony with all good and useful activities whether 
 above or below us, "ye are come unto Mount Sion 
 and unto the city of the living God, and to an innu- 
 merable company of angels." 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Explanation of Terms regarding the Essential Life, 
 
 TRUE love which is known in the writings of the 
 devout Mystics and Quietists under the denomina- 
 tion of Pure Love, is the love of existence. In 
 other words it is of the nature of true or pure love, 
 and is that which constitutes what it is, to attach 
 itself, not to the form of things, but to the essences 
 of things. And what is perhaps equally important 
 in the discrimination of its nature, it loves indepen- 
 dently of forms or modes of existence ; it seeks truly 
 and earnestly the happiness of whatever is capable 
 of happiness, whatever may be its character or the 
 form of its existence. 
 
 In the separation of that primary existence, 
 which we denominate being from all its incidents 
 and diversities of form and character, such being, in 
 its essential nature, necessarily presents itself as a 
 unit. And hence it is in loving the unit or oneness 
 of being, we virtually and truly love all being. 
 
TERMS REGARDING ESSENTIAL LIFE. 263 
 
 And accordingly it can be said, when man is 
 born not transitionally, or in part, but in the true 
 birth, he is then a " partaker of the Divine Nature/' 
 He is in God, and God in him. Man must necessa- 
 rily retain his individuality for the reason that the 
 finite cannot be the Infinite. It is individualism, or 
 finite personality living, breathing and acting in 
 God. Let us illustrate the subject a little further in 
 connection with a common remark, namely, that 
 everything has its sphere of life. Trees and plants 
 have their spheres. The lower animals have their 
 sphere. And this remark is true of men, as it is of 
 everything else. Man has his sphere. The will of 
 man's perceptions and motives is necessarily bound- 
 ed, in the first instance, by the limited will of his 
 position. In his individual capacity he acts in his 
 individual sphere. But the truth and perfection of 
 his action is realized, when his action as an individ- 
 ual and in. his own sphere harmonizes with the truth, 
 the motives and the holiness of the Universal Sphere, 
 of which God is the centre. It is then that his 
 sight becomes clear ; he sees with God's eye, he 
 hears with God's ear. 
 
 These views help us to explain certain expres- 
 sions, which are found from time to time in writers. 
 In the experience, for instance, of the state of Pure 
 Love, the individual, who is the subject of this high 
 
264 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and transforming experience, may be said, in a cer- 
 tain sense, to be merged and mingled in that which 
 is out of himself, and even to become " extinct'' and 
 " lost " in God. Expressions of this kind, and among 
 others the term " self-annihilation," are found not un- 
 frequently in the writings of some devout Catholics ; 
 nor are they wholly unknown in Protestant religious 
 literature. But in using such terms, which are 
 spiritually and profoundly significant, the literal 
 meaning must be somewhat modified. It is not 
 meant to be said of the person to whom such terms 
 are applied, that he is extinct or lost, in the absolute 
 sense of the expressions and in the matter of dis- 
 tinct personality. He is not lost, is not " annihi- 
 lated," in the fact of that actual self-consciousness, 
 which constitutes him a distinct and responsible exis- 
 tence; but only in separateness of interests and 
 hopes ; in those reflex acts which turn the mind 
 too much upon our own joys and purposes ; in 
 everything which makes us forgetful of the wants 
 and happiness of others, by incidentally seeking our- 
 selves. Such an one, retaining his personality but 
 expanding it without limitation, knows enough of 
 himself as an individual to know that he is not his 
 own, that his soul has become a living fountain which 
 takes its rise from God, and flows out to all the 
 boundless variety of existences. Names, sect, rank, 
 
TERMS REGARDING ESSENTIAL LIFE. 265 
 
 party, color, become indistinct, and are comparatively 
 lost in the one idea of Universal Brotherhood. 
 
 10. — The man " born again " and fully complet- 
 ed in the second birth, is not only humanitarian in 
 the highest sense of that term, but is the holy or 
 divine man. The man humanitarian is something 
 more than the man individual. And the man di- 
 vine is something more than the man humanitarian. 
 The difference at each gradation not only exists as 
 a difference, but it is great. Such a man, in the 
 wide and resistless movement of the divine Spirit 
 within him, not only transcends the restricted 
 bounds of individualism, not only passes beyond the 
 limits of kindred and country, but beyond those of 
 humanity itself; and embraces not only the brother- 
 hood of man but all existences, both those above 
 him and those below him. Nothing but the bound- 
 lessness of existence, which is ever developing itself, 
 nothing but the boundlessness of benevolence, which 
 is ever pouring happiness into existences, nothing 
 but the Infinite of creation and the Infinite of love, 
 nothing but God himself in the widest and noblest 
 sense of that glorious term, can meet and satisfy his 
 measureless sympathies. 
 
 Holy Love, in being a perpetual life, is also a 
 perpetual development ; — it never ceases its action. 
 To cease to act, would be to cease to live. It is 
 12 
 
2 66 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 not to be supposed, therefore, that God will love, 
 for some definite length of time, which shall be the 
 completion of some marked period or epoch ; — for 
 instance, till the supposed destruction of the world 
 by fire, or till the hypothetical day of the final 
 Judgment, — and then having separated the wicked 
 from the righteous will cease to love them. He 
 loves them, and from the nature of the case, he 
 must continue to love them. There is not a sinner 
 in Hades or Hell, (which however is only another 
 name for the darkness and discordancy of the lowest 
 sphere of spiritual existences,) who is not sought 
 after, and watched over. This is the great and glo- 
 rious truth, which makes all heaven ring with joy, 
 that God is God forever, and that He is Love for- 
 ever ; although' it may not follow, and it does not 
 necessarily follow, that this love, unceasing though 
 it be, will be accepted and be made available in the 
 case of all those towards whom it is directed. That 
 is one of the things which is to be left ; because it 
 is one of the things which takes hold of the Eternal 
 and the Infinite. If Love is absolute and unchange- 
 able, freedom also, as an attribute of moral beings, 
 is absolute and unchangeable. God himself, who in 
 being the absolute truth, can never fail to respect 
 the absolute truth, and will never coerce a sinner 
 into heaven ; for that would only be placing him in 
 
TERMS REGARDING ESSENTIAL LIFE. 2 6y 
 
 a deeper Hell. This would be a violation of fixed 
 and unchangeable truths and relations. It would 
 be an impossibility. 
 
 But in some other place, this amazing subject 
 should be explained more fully; — with appropriate 
 facts, arguments, and illustrations. Moral facts and 
 relations are just as fixed and unchangeable as 
 mathematical facts and relations. What we wish to 
 say now is, that Love which is Life, under no con- 
 tingencies whatever will ever cease to act. And 
 although there is a great gulf between heaven and 
 hell, it is true that " Christ, who preached to the 
 spirits in prison," has mighty moral power by means 
 of moral suggestions, and that place may be chang- 
 ed by change of character. It is thus that Truth 
 and goodness are reconciled ; but curiosity stands 
 rebuked. It is a mark of a godlike finite mind to 
 leave much to the Infinite mind without inquiry. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Evidences of the Existence of the Essential Life. 
 
 I. — How shall it be known by others, or how shall 
 we determine for ourselves, whether this element of 
 a true and everlasting life is in us or not? — an in- 
 quiry so important, that it has called forth at various 
 times such thoughtful works as that of Shepard of 
 Cambridge on the Parable of the Virgins, Scougal's 
 Life of God in the Soul of man, and President Ed- 
 wards' Treatise on the Religious Affections. The 
 great Teacher, who had the life in Himself, and who 
 is the source of life to others, gives the answer to 
 the question before us, in those simple but signifi- 
 cant words: " By their fruits ye shall know them." 
 
 2. — The mind of Christ, speaking after the man- 
 ner of men, was not only constituted with a highly 
 poetic tendency, as some modern critics have justly 
 acknowledged, but was eminently thoughtful, and 
 was by no means destitute of a philosophical ele- 
 ment. And He gives one of the best evidences of 
 this trait of character, and that he knew especially 
 
EVIDENCES OF ESSENTIAL LIFE. 
 
 269 
 
 how to deal with mental questions, in generally 
 communicating his great doctrines, not in abstract 
 statements, but in familiar illustrations, adapted to 
 the mental development of those around him. Ac- 
 quainted as he was with the most interior relation 
 of things, he does not say to the multitude whom 
 he addresses, " Every effect has its cause," or some- 
 thing of that kind ; but says, in kindly sympathy 
 with the feeble intellcctualism of his uneducated 
 hearers, " Men do not gather grapes from thorns, 
 nor fijjs from thistles." A beautiful illustration, set 
 ting clearly forth the great philosophical principle, 
 that the character of the effect, whether good or 
 evil, is necessarily, and by a law of being, a revela- 
 tion of the nature of its cause. In knowing the re- 
 sults, we know the causative principle ; in knowing 
 the fruits, we know the vital force from which they 
 spring. We feel at liberty therefore to affirm, that 
 the good man, being what he is, does not do good 
 from self-interested calculations; but on the princi- 
 ple involved in Christ's illustration of the tree and 
 its fruits, does good because he cannot do other- 
 wise ; it being the law of a truly good and holy na- 
 ture to do good. Such a man is in the true life : 
 and may be said in a high and sacred sense to be a 
 living man. " He that hath the Son," says the 
 Apostle John, " hath life, and he that hath not the 
 
270 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 Son of God, hath not life." The living man is like 
 a star, which shines because it is a star ; is like a 
 fountain, which flows because it is a fountain ; is like 
 a flower, which gives out its fragrance because it is 
 a flower ; is like a tree, which bears fruit because it 
 is a tree. In other words a living man in the high- 
 er sense of the term, is, by the necessities of his na- 
 ture a man of out-goings, of activities, of fruits or 
 works ; having the practical working and manifesta- 
 tion of his earthly career hung round with the flow- 
 ers and the fruits of beneficence. 
 
 3. — Such is the answer of Christ to the question 
 before us ; and it is an answer which will bear the 
 most thoughtful consideration. But it will perhaps 
 be suggested here, that the evidence which is thus 
 furnished, it being objective or outward, is evidence 
 to others only, and not to the man himself. But it 
 is to be remembered that, while the fruits are out- 
 ward, the causative principle is inward. And in the 
 correlation of things, felt and accepted in the uni- 
 versal intuitions of men, they go together. The 
 outward fruits, it is true, are matters of outward ob- 
 servation ; but the outward fruits reveal the fact of 
 the inward principle, which stands as the source or 
 the motive of action, and then adjusting our affir- 
 mations, not to the outward results, but the inward 
 cause, we say at once on the basis of mental knowl- 
 
EVIDENCES OF ESSENTIAL LIFE. 
 
 271 
 
 edge, that the cause, revealed in the man's own 
 breast, comes within the sphere of consciousness. 
 The man therefore who is really in the outward 
 truth, in the matter of good fruits or good doing, 
 will know himself also to be in the inward or essen- 
 tial truth, because his consciousness cannot testify 
 to a falsehood. It is in accordance with this view, 
 that it is said in the first Epistle of John of the be- 
 liever in Christ, that he " hath the witness in him- 
 self." And the Apostle Paul also, in the Epistle to 
 the Romans asserts, that "the Spirit itself," who 
 always harmonizes with the truth, "beareth witness 
 with our spirit ; " in other words, concurrently tes- 
 tifies, in such ways as are known to himself, to the 
 affirmation of our own consciousness, " that we are 
 the children of God." 
 
 Such is the evidence in the case. The principles 
 involved in it are scriptural, and at the same time 
 are in accordance with human reason. They bear 
 at least the seal and signature of the great Master. 
 Practical good doing, involving as it does the " in- 
 ward witness," is the true test of the life of God in 
 the soul. 
 
 But it is proper to add at this point, that the ac- 
 tivity, resulting in good doing or good fruits, is not 
 always in the same method or form, but is suscepti- 
 ble of many diversities. It is apparently a fixed 
 
272 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and permanent principle in the constitution of 
 things, that every thing which exists finds some- 
 where its correspondent or counterpart ; and accord- 
 ingly that which is good, will be found to be sup- 
 plemented with occasions of good ; and that which 
 is evil, finds itself surrounded with occasions of evil, 
 so that every living principle, attracting around its 
 own vitalizing centre the occasions and opportuni- 
 ties of its exercise, forms as it were a habitation for 
 itself to dwell in. And yet it is true that the habi- 
 tation, the surrounding framework and dwelling- 
 place of occasions, is not always specifically the 
 same; but in the multitude of its facts and inci- 
 dents, notwithstanding its fixed relations to its cen- 
 tral attracting element, is exceedingly diversified. 
 Nor is there any rule which can definitely ascertain 
 and specify beforehand, what the precise nature of 
 that diversity will be ; in other words, in what par 
 ticular way each one will act out his inward life in 
 its correspondent good or evil ; for it is one of those 
 things, which, in taking hold of the immeasurable 
 infinitude of facts and relations, necessarily lies hid- 
 den in the depths of infinite wisdom. 
 
 4. — While therefore it is necessary for each one 
 to be good in order to fulfill his highest obligations, 
 and to secure the highest happiness, it is not possi- 
 ble for any one to say beforehand, precisely in what 
 
EVIDENCES OF ESSENTIAL LIFE. 273 
 
 way this goodness will manifest itself. And if 
 we cannot beforehand lay down the law for our- 
 selves in this matter, so, also, we cannot always ac- 
 cept the law or rule of action from the opinion or 
 dictates of others, who may be supposed to be 
 equally ignorant. But having the life of goodness 
 as something central and essential, we shall not di- 
 rect its outflowing by means of arbitrary calcula- 
 tions and adjustments ; shall not do this or that, 
 shall not go in this or that direction in our own 
 wills; but shall rather find ourselves the quiet and 
 almost unconscious subjects of its divine tendency, 
 to move, and move only in God's time, in God's 
 way, and in God's degree. And the result is, as 
 God directs us and not man, and with all the knowl- 
 edge which God alone possesses, that there are very 
 numerous diversities ; and such as could not be 
 safely originated or directed by mere human wis- 
 dom. Hence it is that one good man will be a 
 preacher at home ; another, with the same essential 
 life in his soul, will be a missionary to the heathen. 
 One, taking the direction of outward activity, will 
 cry aloud and spare not, like Luther or Whitfield ; 
 and another, by an interior leading equally divine, 
 will worship God, after the manner of Penn or 
 George Fox, in the temple of inward stillness. And 
 such diversities, all springing from the same essen- 
 
 T2- 
 
2jA ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 tial unity, will be all and equally pleasing to God. 
 In all probability, there was much speculation in the 
 earlier ages about that solitary and mysterious man, 
 Thomas a Kempis ; and many perhaps thought he 
 was an unprofitable Christian ; but God, neverthe- 
 less, had a work for him to do, and was working in 
 him ; and at last the fruitage of his solitary medita- 
 tions appeared in that well known and eminently 
 spiritual work, the Imitation of Christ, on which the 
 hungry souls of successive generations have fed. 
 
 7. — And similar diversities of result will appear 
 in things which are regarded as secular; but which, 
 in a true state of society, will be brought more fully 
 and distinctly within the sphere of religion. The 
 mathematical sciences, and those sciences which in- 
 volve more or less a mathematical calculation as their 
 basis, are often placed in the popular estimation, 
 outside of the religious sphere ; at least in a great 
 degree. And it is oftentimes plainly hinted, per- 
 haps on account of their supposed closer connection 
 with the head than the heart, that the mathematician 
 and the philosopher in their solitary studies, might 
 be more profitably employed in a prayer meeting. 
 This may sometimes be the case. But it is no pre- 
 sumption to say, as a general principle, that the re- 
 ligious character of a man's work does not so much 
 depend upon the place where he is, as upon his in- 
 
EVIDENCES OE ESSENTIAL LIEE. 
 
 275 
 
 spiration ; does not turn so much upon the thing 
 which he docs, as upon the question whether God 
 calls him to do it, and whether he acts from a true 
 inward life. We do not find it stated of Sir Isaac 
 Newton that he appeared much in public, especially 
 on occasions of a religious nature ; and yet, remem- 
 bering that God acts through a diversity of gifts and 
 methods, we can not easily think of him in his silent 
 and protracted inquiries, pursued for objects which 
 he felt to be connected with the progress of the hu- 
 man race, without almost consciously feeling, that the 
 Spirit of God was with him, and was the true inspira- 
 tion of his profound thoughts. His reply, when 
 asked by some one in what way he arrived at his dis- 
 coveries, was, that he " kept the subject constantly 
 before him, and waited till the first dawning opened, 
 slowly, by little and little, into a full and clear light." 
 This is a statement of a condition of mind, at- 
 tended as it was in the case of Newton with great 
 unselfishness, simplicity, and lowliness of spirit, which 
 is eminently favorable to the presence and opera- 
 tions of the Spirit of God. And so of many other 
 cases. A great Continent, for instance, was to be 
 discovered ; lands and forests and mighty rivers, long 
 hidden in darkness were to be brought to light ; and 
 therefore it was that God, who had inspired great 
 thoughts and aspirations in the mind of Columbus 
 
276 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 thoughts and aspirations correspondent to the 
 work to be done, did not send him to the convent 
 of La Rabida to affiliate with the monks, and to 
 become a member there, and to occupy his life in 
 the prayers and services of a monastery ; but clothed 
 him in the garb of a sailor, and sending him with 
 his frail vessels from the port of Palos, required the 
 fulfillment of his mission on the stormy waves of the 
 ocean — a mission, secular as it was in its outward 
 aspects, which had a close connection with God's 
 providential plans, and with Christ's reign upon 
 earth. 
 
 8. — And so it is and ought to be everywhere. 
 The diversities of practical religion are commen- 
 surate with the diversities of practical life. Every- 
 thing, which is fitting to be done, is fitting to be re- 
 ligiously done ; and furthermore, it cannot by any 
 possibility be done fittingly, unless it is done reli- 
 giously. Religion is necessary in the pulpit and the 
 prayer-meeting ; and it is equally necessary in direct- 
 ing the plough of the husbandman, and in working 
 with the tool of the mechanic. The hard hand of 
 the sailor needs it, and the head of the philosopher 
 cannot do without it. And there is a sense also, in 
 which the beautiful saying of Milton may be accept- 
 ed as a religious truth : 
 
 They also serve, who only stand and wait. 
 
EVIDENCES OF ESSENTIAL LIFE. 27 J 
 
 9. — The tree is known by its fruits. And the 
 evidence of a truly divine life, as Christ still more 
 specifically teaches us, is found in good fruits. They 
 may be diversified in form and flavor and other re- 
 spects, but they must be good. And accordingly 
 the question still remains to be answered : If the 
 existence of a true inward life is known not from 
 fruit alone, but from the additional and essential in- 
 cident of their goodness, in what way or by what 
 signs shall we ascertain the fact of such goodness ? 
 The answer to this vital inquiry is to be found, not 
 in the doubtful or the diluted doctrines of human 
 philosophy, but in the soul-searching precepts and 
 principles of Christ. Who can read the Sermon on 
 the Mount, the Gospel and Epistles of John, the 
 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, 
 and other like portions of the New Testament, es- 
 pecially with the commentary of the acts and doings 
 of Christ himself, without a full conviction, that the 
 fruitage which grew in the heart and life of Christ, is 
 destined to be born, and is required to be born, in 
 the hearts and lives of his followers ? We answer 
 therefore in general terms, and without going fully 
 into this particular topic at present, that a life of 
 good fruits, ascertained and known to be such, is, 
 and must be a true Christ life. And some of the 
 marks or characteristics of the life of Christ in the 
 
278 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 soul, if we rightly understand the Scriptures which 
 have been referred to, are, first, it is necessarily an- 
 tagonistical to evil ; second, it ultimately and always 
 conquers in its contest with evil ; third, it carries on 
 its victorious contest not with " carnal weapons," but 
 on entirely new principles. It conquers jealousy, 
 not by becoming jealous itself, but by being without 
 jealousy. It conquers envy, not by being envious 
 itself, but by being without envy. It conquers 
 pride and ambition, not by seeking the high places 
 of earthly power, but by taking a low place, and by 
 becoming the servant of all. It conquers hatred, 
 not by hating and smiting in return, but by pity and 
 love. It conquers reviling and cursing, not by ut- 
 terances, which are like them in bitterness, but by 
 patience, and by kind words and blessings. It 
 bleeds and dies upon the cross, but it bursts the 
 bars of the tomb, and ascends to heaven. Its ar- 
 mory is found in the essentiality and the mighty 
 energy of its own life of Love ; and it is entitled to 
 its place of victor, not only by the skill and power 
 of Love as the true and mighty " sword of the 
 Spirit," but by the unchangeable truth and the celes- 
 tial ascendancy of its position. 
 
 Standing in the pure and high places, and in the 
 power of God himself, it looks down with calmness 
 upon the various forms of personal hostility, to 
 
EVIDENCES OF ESSENTIAL LIFE. 2 yg 
 
 which it is oftentimes subject. It is true that under 
 such circumstances of ingratitude, opposition, and 
 hostility, love is very apt to take the form of pity ; 
 but love, in being pity adopts a modification of its 
 action, without ceasing to be love. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 The Essential Life Reaches to all Existences. 
 
 The Essential Life, though limited in its sphere 
 of action, is the same in man as it is in God. It may- 
 bear different names ; it may be called Life, or Es- 
 sential Life, or Eternal Life, or God's Life, or the 
 Life of God in the soul of man, or Love, or Pure Love, 
 or Holy Love, or Perfect Love, or Holiness, or the 
 Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, or the Christ 
 Spirit, or the Inward Christ, or Christ in the 
 Soul, whatever may be the designation it bears, it is 
 always the same in the essentiality of its nature ; 
 the same in the beginning, the same now, and for- 
 ever. It follows from this, that the soul, which is 
 born into this true and essential life, a life which sees 
 with the spirit, and which hears and understands with 
 the heart, will tenderly recognize the presence and 
 activity of this divinity of life, and will love it, in 
 all things that exist. Hence it is, that Christ in the 
 Soul, which is one of the beautiful names it bears, 
 loves inanimate nature, loves trees and flowers. 
 
ESSENTIAL LIFE REACHES ALL EXISTENCES. 28 1 
 
 " Behold the lilies of the field ; they toil not, neither 
 do they spin ; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon 
 in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." 
 Christ in the soul saw that glory. The outward eye, 
 resting merely upon outward manifestations, saw only 
 the outward forms ; saw the color and the flowing 
 outline ; but Christ in the soul, which instinctively 
 recognizes its own nature under all diversities, saw 
 the Christ principle at work in the flower ; the eter- 
 nal goodness and wisdom shining in the interior of 
 the flower ; and its glory was greater than the glory 
 of Solomon. God, who takes care of trees and 
 flowers, takes care also and in a special sense of 
 animals ; and a recognition of the rights of the 
 lower animals and a true sympathy and love for 
 them, is a part of the inward experience of those 
 who have God in the soul. If any are disposed to 
 regard such experiences as of little value in them- 
 selves, or as unauthorized by the Scriptures, let 
 them turn to the 104th Psalm, that grand outburst 
 of God's love for animals ; and read there the feel- 
 ings of the great throbbing Heart of the Universe, 
 who planted the cedars of Lebanon for the nest of 
 birds, the fir-tree for the house of the stork, and 
 who spread the great ocean, not merely for naviga- 
 tors' ships and the anchors and cables of commerce, 
 but for the play-ground of the leviathan, and for 
 
282 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 creeping things innumerable both small and great. 
 To the heart that inwardly understands and digests 
 this wonderful poem, this great hymn of love, every 
 sphere of life is, and must be sacred. 
 
 There was a remarkable man who lived in Italy 
 in the twelfth century ; a man so gifted in intellect 
 and so devout in heart, and so abundant in labors, 
 that he has left his impress on succeeding ages. It 
 is related of this man, St. Francis of Assisi, that 
 to him all nature was full of God ; and that his re- 
 ligious consciousness, grounded in and quickened by 
 the inward realizations of celestial love, was so ex- 
 panded that it embraced every thing, animate and 
 inanimate, men and animals. He believed, as all 
 those who are in the same degree of celestial love 
 are always likely to believe, that all the departments 
 of nature were designed to be connected by a com- 
 munity of life ; that the broken bonds which once 
 united them are waiting for a restoration ; that 
 man, with faith enough and love enough, shall once 
 more control the winds and waves; and that the 
 lower animals, like the dove of Noah, and the ravens 
 of Elijah, and the lions of the den of the Chaldean 
 prophet, shall sympathize with his sorrows, and ad- 
 minister to his necessities. Our doctrine is sup- 
 ported abundantly by the Scriptures, as we believe, 
 that there is something beyond the brotherhood of 
 
ESSENTIAL LIFE REACHES ALL EXISTENCES. 283 
 
 • humanity, namely, the brotherhood of life ; some- 
 thing beyond the love of humanity, the wider and 
 deeper love of everything that exists. And we ap- 
 peal in support of it, to the personal history and the 
 recorded convictions of many devout men in all 
 ages. And we may go further and say, that the in- 
 stincts of the human race, and the sympathies and 
 aspirations of all great minds, especially those that 
 kindle with the divine elements of poetic life, all 
 point in the same direction. The poems of the 
 early Greeks and Romans are full of this tendency. 
 The poems of Cowper and Burns, of Wordsworth 
 and Shakespeare, furnish us examples and proofs. 
 The poem of Burns on the Wounded Hare was not 
 a sentimental or hypocritical expression of grief; 
 but had its birth in the heart, and was as deeply 
 true to nature in one direction, as the sublime 
 stanzas to Mary in Heaven are in another. Men 
 and animals, sundered and rendered antagonistical, 
 are nevertheless one family. And when the Life of 
 God in the soul becomes on a wide scale, the inher- 
 itance of a regenerated humanity, then all the lower 
 forms of created nature, recognizing at once the re- 
 lation of superiority and inferiority, will take their 
 position in subordination ; and as there will be every- 
 where a correlation and reciprocity, not only of 
 forces but of interests, the facts of subordination on 
 
284 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 the one hand and of supremacy on the other will 
 constitute the elements of permanent and universal 
 harmony. Then the lion and the lamb will lie down 
 together; conflicts will cease, and the brotherhood 
 of humanity will be supplemented and co-ordinated 
 with the brotherhood of existence. 
 
 The man who does not recognize the handiwork 
 of God in the lower animals, and does not sympa- 
 thize with God in his regard for them, does not 
 bear in his bosom the highest elements of thought, 
 of inspiration, and character. Strike from the hu- 
 man mind this noble tendency, and how many po- 
 ems, and paintings, and sculptures are lost. Take 
 from the beautifully sympathetic heart of Rosa Bon- 
 heur her love of animals, and her immortal pencil 
 falls to the ground. We cannot spare the birds, nor 
 the dogs, nor the horses, nor the fishes that swim in 
 the sea. Why is it that the stranger, ascending the 
 summit of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, and behold- 
 ing the wonderful equestrian statue which ancient 
 art has erected there, finds his eye and his admiring 
 thought directed as much to the majestic and in- 
 spiring attitude of the horse, as to that of the impe- 
 rial Caesar who bestrides him ? I saw the dust of 
 Wellington carried to its tomb, and in the long pro- 
 cession composed of the eminent men of England, a 
 place was reverently left for the horse of the con- 
 
ESSENTIAL LIFE REACHES ALL EXISTENCES. 285 
 
 queror ; and as he walked alone, amid the sound of 
 melancholy trumpets, he divided the sympathy of 
 the multitude with their sorrows for his fallen mas- 
 ter. The horse of Alexander, the Macedonian con- 
 queror, has his place in history ; and the historic rec- 
 ord, recognizing the ties of higher and lower forms of 
 existence, has narrated in more than one instance, 
 the affection and - devotedness of the faithful dog ; 
 and statuary has erected monuments to his mem- 
 ory. 
 
 Allow me to close with an incident, which made 
 a strong impression upon me. A few years ago I 
 read in the newspapers that a little girl in the town 
 of Hingham, in Massachusetts, had tamed the fishes 
 in a small lake near her father's residence. I came 
 to the little girl's home, which was near the small 
 lake or pond. Knocking at the door, and making 
 such apology as I was able for a visit so early, I re- 
 marked to the mother, that I had come for the pur- 
 pose of seeing the fishes, over which her little 
 daughter was said to have obtained a remarkable 
 control. Readily accepting my explanations, she 
 pointed to a place on the brink of the water, and 
 said that her daughter would soon come down there. 
 I had not stood there long before a little girl, appar- 
 ently anxious not to detain me, came running down. 
 Seating herself on a rock near the shore, she called 
 
286 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 aloud to the fishes ; calling them sometimes by the 
 names of their tribes, and sometimes by particular 
 names which she had given them. There was one, 
 a large one in which she was particularly interested, 
 which she called Cato. But Cato either did not 
 hear her, or was not in a hurry to come. She made 
 an apology for the fishes, saying that it was earlier 
 than she had been in the habit of calling them, and 
 that they had not yet left their places of slumber. 
 But repeating still more loudly the invitation of her 
 sweet voice, they soon began to make their appear- 
 ance. The smaller ones came first, and then the 
 larger ones of many varieties ; and at last Cato, who 
 was a sort of king and counsellor in this finny con- 
 gregation, came among them. Delighted with this 
 renewed visit of their virgin queen, although they 
 seemed to be conscious it was rather early in the 
 morning, they thrust their heads above the water ; 
 and she fed them from her hand. And I fed them 
 also. 
 
 Observing something peculiar at a little distance 
 in the water, I was surprised to see two turtles 
 making their way towards her. Her voice of affec- 
 tion had penetrated beneath their dark hard shells. 
 And I noticed that they came with great effort and 
 zeal ; as if afraid of being too late at this festival of 
 love. One of them, as soon as they reached the 
 
ESSENTIAL LIFE REACHES ALL EXISTENCES. 
 
 287 
 
 shore, scrambled out of the water, and climbed 
 upon the rock beside her, and she fed them both. 
 I shall not easily forget this interesting scene ; this 
 little episode of millenial humanity. 
 
 THE MAIDEN FISH-TAMER. 
 
 Oh maiden of the woods and wave, 
 
 With footsteps in the morning dew ! 
 From oozy bed and watery cave, 
 
 The tenants of the lake who drew, 
 Thy voice of love the mystery knew, 
 Which makes old bards and prophets true. 
 
 They tell us of that better day, 
 
 When love shall rule the world again ; 
 
 When crime and fraud shall pass away, 
 And beast and bird shall dwell with men , 
 
 When seas shall marry with the land, 
 
 And fishes kiss a maiden's hand. 
 
 The iron age has done its best 
 
 With trump and sword and warriors slain ; 
 
 But could not tame the eagle's nest, 
 Nor lead the lion by the mane ; 
 
 With all its strength and all its woe, 
 
 There was an art it did not know. 
 
 'Twas fitting, that a maid like thee, 
 In childhood's bright and happy hour, 
 
 Should t-each the world the mystery, 
 That white-rob'd innocence has power; 
 
 That love the victory can gain, 
 
 Which is not won by millions slain. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 The Power of the Essential or True Life. 
 
 Our principal object in this chapter is the con- 
 sideration of the Power of the true life, not in its 
 philosophy but in its practical results ; not in its 
 highest and primal manifestations, which in some 
 degree transcend human insight, but in its subor- 
 dinate manifestations, and particularly as it is mani- 
 fested in men. The methods in which it manifests 
 itself are very various. In the case of the Christian 
 orator, for instance, it will sometimes, under the in- 
 spiration of essential life, speak in terms of rich and 
 glowing eloquence, matching and more than match- 
 ing the standards of the world's great masters ; but 
 not less frequently its words are few and simple ; 
 perhaps an apothegm or a parable, but coming from 
 the well-spring of the life, they touch the hearts of 
 the people, and open the fountains of living salva- 
 tion. And what is remarkable, it is sometimes the 
 case, that the absolute silence of the man of God 
 
POWER OF ESSENTIAL OR TRUE LIFE. 2 8o 
 
 will have more effect than the noisy declamation of 
 
 the man. who is without God. Power goes out of 
 
 him as it went out of Jesus. If it speaks in the 
 
 mighty words of Paul and Apollos, it speaks also in 
 
 the silence of a loving John, when he leans his head 
 
 on a brother's bosom. What more effective and 
 
 touching eloquence than that of the Son of Man, 
 
 when, in the midst of a stormy and cruel tribunal, 
 
 he " uttered not a word ; " and the Roman governor, 
 
 struck with this sublime disregard of the precedents 
 
 of a worldly life, " marveled greatly/' And there 
 
 are some specific modifications of the great variety 
 
 of its forms, which are worthy of notice. One of 
 
 the most remarkable things pertaining to the Power 
 
 of the Life, is, that it manifests itself often, not by 
 
 the, antagonism of the same forces, as when we meet 
 
 evil with evil and return blow for blow, as when 
 
 sword clashes with sword and cannon rebounds to 
 
 cannon ; but conquers the violence that attacks it, by 
 
 the resistance and antagonism of what is found in 
 
 the opposite. The stormy cloud is melted by the 
 
 sunbeam ; the lion is tamed and led captive by the 
 
 lamb ; and the little child plays, with its life and 
 
 beauty unharmed, on the cockatrice's den. In all 
 
 this there is a deep philosophy, which transcends 
 
 the conceptions of a heart, that knows no higher 
 
2 g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 school than that of a self-hood which excludes the 
 living God. 
 
 And now we will say further, coming more with- 
 in the practical sphere of the subject, that the Pow- 
 er of the Life, that form of power which pierces and 
 breaks the stony hearts of men, and is blessed of 
 God in the great matter of renovating and purifying 
 their perverted natures, is not found greatly, if at 
 all, in mere intellectualism. Many facts are a con- 
 firmation of this. There are preachers who have 
 eminently the gifts of perception and reasoning, but 
 have little influence with the masses. Even if at 
 certain times their reasonings harmonize with the 
 truth they produce, and can produce but little ef- 
 fect, so long as the soul from which they come, is 
 felt by the hearers to contradict in experience, what 
 their reasonings affirm and try to prove as a princi- 
 ple. Again, the element of vitalizing power is not 
 found in every form of mere emotionality ; we refer 
 particularly to what may be called aesthetic emo 
 tionality. There are preachers, and other profess 
 edly religious teachers, who add to intellectual pow 
 ers a cultivated taste, and adorn their reasoning 
 with the arts of rhetoric. Their sermons, consid- 
 ered as the exercises of intellect or the imagination, 
 enlist the curiosity of men and please their fancy, 
 but have little living power. There was a Ger- 
 
POWER OF ESSENTIAL OR TRUE LIFE. 2 QI 
 
 man preacher of the 14th century — we refer to the 
 justly celebrated John Taulcr of Cologne, who 
 stood unmatched in learning and in intellectual and 
 aesthetic eloquence, but he had little power and 
 influence, at least in a way which satisfied his "con- 
 viction of what ought to be the result, until he was 
 led into the way of truth and life, by a poor, uncul- 
 tured man of the people, whom as one of the weak 
 and despised things of the world, God had chosen 
 and made the instrument of this mighty influence. 
 The few unlearned men, who went forth from Jeru- 
 salem in the beginning of the Christian era, were 
 not allowed to go until they were endued with pow- 
 er from on high. They were commanded by Christ, 
 " that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but 
 wait for the promise of the Father," which was un- 
 derstood in its fulfillment to be the baptism of the 
 Holy Spirit. And then it was added : " Ye shall 
 receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon you." Endowed with this great gift, this 
 small band of early laborers and martyrs, without 
 the prestige of position or scholarship, went forth to 
 the mighty work which was appointed them ; and 
 though the strife was long, and in many cases 
 crowned with great suffering and death, they were 
 found more than a match for the proud philosophers, 
 the arts, and the institutions of that trying time. 
 
2g2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 That power is the same now that it was then ; that 
 divine power is now as it always has been, the re- 
 served force and inspiration of the world's progress 
 and salvation ; but it lies hidden in the life. The 
 life is God in the soul; and the power of - God 
 always goes with it. 
 
 There comes in connection with these remarks, 
 the remembrance of a man, whose life of love and 
 self-sacrificing labors strengthens and illustrates 
 them. I remember him well. He lived and labored 
 in the early part of this century in the State of 
 Maine — a man without the advantages of a public 
 education, but who had but one thought, one feel- 
 ing, that of the glory of God and the salvation of 
 men — the Oberlin of the American woods. He 
 wandered through the forests ; he crossed lakes and 
 rivers ; he went from house to house among the 
 poor and ignorant, in summer's heat and winter's 
 snows ; he preached in barns and school-houses, and 
 in the remote, rude dwellings of the woods, and 
 wherever he could find people who were ready to 
 hear ; fulfilling more than half a century of labors, 
 up to the very limit of human faith and human en- 
 durance. Such was our loved and venerated Father 
 Sewall. God was with him in power. 
 
 I was once connected with a church of great in- 
 telligence and not wanting in piety; some of whose 
 
FOJVER OF ESSENTIAL O.R TRUE LIFE. 
 
 293 
 
 members have held high political positions, and 
 others have been distinguished for attainments in 
 science ; but of all the members of this truly leading 
 and useful church, the one who was thought to exert 
 the most religious influence, and is to this day per- 
 haps exerting the most influence, through the account 
 which is published of her life, was a poor negro wo- 
 man, who in her childhood was a slave. She dwelt 
 alone. During a period of eighteen years, she sup- 
 ported herself by washing and ironing for the stu- 
 dents in the neighboring college. And judged by 
 all outward measurements and incidents, and as the 
 world commonly judges, nothing could have been 
 lower in prestige, or lower in position. But her 
 heart was the dwelling-place of Christ. Her great 
 familiarity with the Bible, the spirit of prayer which 
 seemed always to be present with her, her gentle and 
 wise words of discreet and thoughtful encourage- 
 ment, her peace which flowed like a river, her sub- 
 lime and forgiving charity which never failed — these 
 beautiful and great results of a living principle in 
 the soul, made her known and felt as a mighty power 
 of God for many years. She was spoken of both in 
 the Church and in the community around, under the 
 name of " Happy Phebe ; " and the interesting 
 tract, published by the American Tract Society, 
 giving some account of her character and labors, 
 
294 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 still preserves her precious memory, and perpetuates 
 the power of her holy life. 
 
 One instance more, which illustrates in a peculiar 
 manner the resources of God in raising up instru- 
 ments for his purposes, where human wisdom would 
 not be likely to look for them. I once knew a poor 
 woman. In early life we were near neighbors. 
 Time passed on ; and she heard of the slave, his 
 toils, his sufferings, and his terrible bondage, con- 
 tinued for centuries. It moved her heart to the 
 very foundations of her being ; and the world called 
 her insane. Being at a certain time in the city of 
 Boston, where through the aid of a near relative she 
 had found an humble abode, and touched by the re- 
 membrance of early days as well as by Christian 
 sympathy, I sought the place of her residence. It 
 was a Sabbath day, and to my astonishment I found 
 the street opposite to her house filled with people, 
 listening respectfully and earnestly ; and from an 
 upper window, this poor woman, the world's outcast, 
 uttering terrible truths, with the burning energy of 
 the words of the ancient prophets. I listened with 
 the multitude; and when she had concluded, I 
 went to her room, and seated by her side we talked 
 of the slave, whose sorrows had become her own 
 soul's sorrows ; and we talked also of our early days, 
 
POWER OF ESSENTIAL OR TRUE LIFE. 295 
 
 and of the joys and sorrows of our little neighbor- 
 hood. 
 
 And in the conversation I had painful evidence 
 that her mind was shaken ; and that there was to 
 some extent, a foundation for what had been said of 
 her insanity. In leaving her my heart was strangely 
 and profoundly affected. I said to myself, how won- 
 derful are the mysteries of Providence. To-day, 
 with temples, rich in architectural beauty, and 
 preachers learned in theologies and worldly science, 
 their lips comparatively sealed on this great subject 
 of slavery ; and God, as if to put worldly wisdom to 
 shame, has chosen a poor woman, reduced almost to 
 beggary, without the advantages of education, and 
 with the intellect injured and broken by sorrows, to 
 utter His eternal truths, and to shatter the founda- 
 tions of the gates of hell. 
 
 The man who has the power of God in his soul, 
 will not feel much troubled when told that certain 
 false philosophies, whether found in Germany, in 
 France, in England, or in any other countries, will 
 overthrow the religion of Christ. The world and 
 its wisdom may leave us ; and we can easily afford 
 to part company with them ; but we cannot under 
 any circumstances, dispense with the power of the 
 Life. Let the friends of the divine truth, who are 
 dirdincr on their armor for the last great conflict, re- 
 
 t-2* 
 
2 ^5 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 member that everything which appeared in Christ as 
 the " Son of Man," and was possessed and mani- 
 fested in His incarnation, is brought within the 
 sphere of humanity, and has become humanity's 
 eternal and mighty possession. Whatever Christ did 
 as the " Son of Man," any other son of man can do, 
 of whom it can be said, as the Apostle Paul said of 
 himself, " I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." 
 He can heal the sick, can cast out devils, can open 
 prison doors, can tread on serpents and not be hurt, 
 and most and mightiest of all, can become the in- 
 strument of imparting the Holy Ghost, and of heal- 
 ing the diseases of the mind. Therefore, we believe 
 that God will raise up instruments when emergencies 
 arise, and that, if the rich reject Him, He will choose 
 the poor, and if the learned reject Him, He will take 
 the ignorant, and if the strong reject Him, He will 
 make friends of the weak; and pouring into the ves- 
 sels of poverty, ignorance and weakness, the mighty 
 powers which are lodged in the bosom of essential 
 and Eternal Life, He will triumphantly complete the 
 work of redemption. And Christ on the throne, 
 and Christ in the soul of man, Christ in heaven and 
 Christ on earth, shall hold the sceptre of dominion 
 and shall reign forever and ever. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Locality of God and the Divine Moment — Personal 
 Experience. 
 
 At a certain time, in the course of my inward 
 personal history, I found myself in a state of inward 
 desolation, such as I had seldom and perhaps never 
 experienced before. God seemed to be hidden from 
 my view. Christ as a distinct object of conception 
 was withdrawn. I found nothing of that familiar 
 and delightful access to the great Source of Life, 
 whether denominated God or Christ, to which I had 
 been accustomed. The beautiful ministry, or what 
 seemed to be such, of angelic and spiritual presences 
 had departed. And in addition to this, there seem- 
 ed to be a weakening and disruption of the ties 
 which bound me to many of my earthly friends. 
 Both inwardly and outwardly my condition was one 
 of vacuity and deprivation, which apparently wanted 
 nothing to its completeness. It reminded me of 
 what I had once known in the deserts of Sinai, 
 where, standing on the tops of the highest moun- 
 
2g g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 tains, I beheld around me nothing but the rugged 
 cliffs ; no tree, no flower, no running brook, no sing- 
 ing bird. 
 
 Finding myself in this arid and painful condition 
 of things, which perhaps for the sake of convenience 
 may be denominated, in the language of the old 
 mystics, the " spiritual wilderness," I remained for a 
 time in a sort of amazement : unable to understand 
 its nature or its meaning. At last arousing from 
 the inactivity and confusion of spirit which natu- 
 rally attended it, I ventured in my supplications to 
 ask the Lord, what was the cause of these unlooked- 
 for experiences, and what the instruction which He 
 wished me to derive from them ; for I knew, al- 
 though He was hidden in great and unprecedented 
 mystery, He must be somewhere, where He could 
 listen to the sound of my voice. For a time no re- 
 sponsive utterance came ; neither to the outward 
 ear where I did not look for it ; nor to the interior 
 of the soul, where I had often heard it, in sugges- 
 tions and inspirations which left no doubt of the di- 
 vinity of their origin. 
 
 After such a time as seemed to be necessary to 
 impress me fully with the fact of this great desola- 
 tion, and also to train my heart to the unwavering 
 acceptance of it, as a condition of things which had 
 its significancy and its results, and to dwell quietly 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT, 
 
 2 99 
 
 like a child at home amid its clouds and darkness, I 
 received from time to time, and through those inte- 
 rior sources which the Holy Spirit knows how to 
 open and employ, such intimations and teachings as 
 became afterwards of great spiritual value to myself, 
 and perhaps also to others, although I am aware 
 that inward experiences are very various, and that 
 it is best to let God do with us just what He 
 pleases. 
 
 In the first place, it was vividly recalled to mind, 
 as a part of the inward teaching of those trying but 
 instructive days, that, in consequence of the finite 
 nature of the human mind, all things and all events 
 are and must be made known, not by one broad 
 and all-embracing perceptivity, but in successive 
 moments of time. God knows all things simultane- 
 ously; but it requires I think not much argument 
 to show, inasmuch as the statement carries with it 
 its own evidence, that the finite mind, bounded by 
 the limit of its own finiteness, can know only by a 
 gradual uplifting of the veil of the future, and in 
 these successive moments. And it was made clear 
 also, in the course of these iqward teachings, that 
 this view, in consequence of the relations existing 
 among them, had reference to place as well as to 
 time ; and that neither successions in place, nor 
 successions in events, nor changes of any kind, could 
 
300 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 take place and be made the subjects of knowledge 
 in any other way. And hence came an additional 
 teaching, based upon these general views, that we 
 are to find the true locality of God, not in any im 
 alined distant heavens where I liad been in the 
 habit of looking for Him, and thus localizing. Him 
 by my own will or choice, but that we must rather 
 recognize Him, as already present by the very ne- 
 cessities of his nature, in everything which exists or 
 takes place within the sphere of our knowledge ; 
 and that knowledge comes to us under the suc- 
 cessive revelations of successive moments. In other 
 wo r ds, the present moment, more than all others 
 and above all others, is the divine moment ; and 
 that the state of things, which is then made present 
 to us, whether it be in the form of places or objects, 
 or persons or events, constitutes to us the only true 
 and available locality of the Divine Nature. We 
 must meet God there, or meet Him nowhere. It 
 is therefore a great and glorious truth, that the 
 principle of the Universe, which we sometimes call 
 the Divine Life of the Universe, is HERE and NOW ; 
 that in the moment which now is, and nowhere else, 
 the great Life and Spirit of all things, always the 
 same and yet always changing, meets us face to 
 face, in every man that we meet; in every flower; 
 in every tree and plant and insect and animal ; in 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT. 301 
 
 every joy and sorrow ; in all good and all evil ; in 
 all clouds and all sunshine ; in all blessings and all 
 curses; in all angels and all devils; in all virtues 
 and all crimes. So that it will always be found, if 
 we are out of position with the present moment, 
 either in the posture of our feelings or the error of 
 our acts, we lose something of God, by losing some- 
 thing of that knowledge which the present moment 
 brings. 
 
 And again, there was this additional and most 
 important teaching: The recognition of God in the 
 divine moment is, in the first instance and necessa- 
 rily, the recognition of Him as an objective or out- 
 ward God. But this outward manifestation of God, 
 or better, perhaps, this recognition of Him as hav- 
 ing a fixed and present relation to the thing or 
 event of the moment, calls forth the God subjective 
 or the God in our own souls. The God sincerely 
 recognized without, and the God actually existing 
 within, — using expressions which are adapted to 
 man's imperfect methods of thought, — may be re- 
 garded as always correlative and correspondent to 
 each other. And accordingly, if the event or fact 
 which the present moment reveals to us is one of 
 kindness, it calls forth in our own souls the divine 
 element of gratitude; if the event be one of sorrow, 
 it calls forth, in correspondence with the outward 
 
3 o2 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 occasion, the spiritual graces of submission and pa- 
 tience ; if the thing or event be of the nature of a 
 persecution, it is corresponded to by feelings of for- 
 bearance and forgiveness. The result of this com- 
 plex occasion, characterized by the objective on the 
 one side and by the subjective on the other, is, that 
 God outward is revealed through outward facts, and 
 that God in the soul is revealed through inward feel 
 ings. 
 
 Meeting together under a providential arrange- 
 ment, which has respect equally to both, they fur- 
 nish reciprocally the conditions and incitements of 
 development and action. So that the instruc- 
 tion revealed during the period of this singular and 
 trying experience, when compared and adjusted in 
 all its parts, seems to have been this — with a 
 heart devoted to God and full of God, no longer 
 seek Him in the heavens above or the earth be- 
 neath, or in the things under the earth, nor in any 
 locality which has the effect to restrict his name 
 and limit his existence, but recognize Him as the 
 great fact of the universe, separate from no place or 
 part, but revealed in all places and in all things and 
 events, moment by moment. And as eternity alone 
 will exhaust this momentary revelation, which has 
 sometimes been called the ETERNAL Now, thou 
 shalt thus find God ever present and ever new ; and 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT. 303 
 
 thy soul shall adore Him and feed upon Him in the 
 things and events which each new moment brings ; 
 and thou shalt never be absent from Him and He 
 shall never be absent from thee. 
 
 Let us take an illustration : It happens as we 
 are walking the streets, that we unexpectedly meet 
 with a man who approaches us with words and 
 deeds of violence. He meets us in the present mo- 
 ment and at no other. It is a necessity that God 
 comes with him ; because God, by the necessities 
 of existence, resides in him physically, inasmuch as 
 He made him and sustains him. And if, in conse- 
 quence of the moral freedom which divine goodness 
 has made his inalienable birthright, it is not possible 
 for God to be In him as the originator of his vio- 
 lence and injustice, He is, nevertheless, present in 
 his providences. In other words, He is present in 
 the arrangement and issue of events, which at that 
 particular moment, in distinction from any other 
 moment and any other circumstances, presents the 
 man before us. He practically brings him into our 
 presence with all the evidences of his rebellion and 
 wickedness; the man is where he is because God 
 directs him to be there ; and He does it, in all prob- 
 ability, in order that this wicked man may HERE 
 and Now, under the overshadowings of the divine 
 moment,' be judged and condemned; and that, if it 
 
304 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 be possible, he may be made anew and saved. And 
 this last is done, and possibly it is the special and 
 great object which God had in view in his provi- 
 dences, first, by the manifestation of God in our own 
 consciousness in feelings of which He is the author, 
 and also by outward signs and words expressive of 
 the inward feelings, given forth by the divine power 
 within us in the divine moment. So that we stand 
 up in the presence of this or any other form of wick- 
 edness, and we stand there in a great divine pur- 
 pose, in the outward manifestation of the inward 
 Christ, or if any one prefers it, of the inward Christ 
 spirit, in patience and forbearance, in meekness and 
 pity, with kind words for words of violence, and 
 with love for hatred. And thus looking for God, 
 finding Him, not thousands of miles off in place and 
 thousands of years hence in time, but as He is re- 
 vealed in the correlated and correspondent facts 
 and incidents of each successive moment, we shall 
 know experimentally that He becomes now, and 
 that, in the continuous application and issue of this 
 great principle, He becomes always, a presence and 
 a power, a source of goodness to ourselves and of 
 goodness to others, and with a recognized dwelling- 
 place, which has its center in our own hearts and its 
 circumference in the objects and events, including 
 their necessary relations, which the present moment 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT. 305 
 
 reveals. Such to finite beings is the true locality 
 of God. Previously to this time and the instruc- 
 tions of this experience, I had intellectually learned 
 and known this great principle and law of the divine 
 presence. But in consequence of the unfavorable 
 influence of early habits of thought and feeling, it 
 became necessary to restore both the vividness of 
 the inward conviction, and to readjust and intensify 
 it as a rule of life. And it was for this, so far as I 
 was led to understand it, that I was led into the 
 desert. And it was thus, that losing God in one di- 
 rection, I found Him in another; and have learned, 
 that, if I am faithful to these instructions, and will 
 not get out of His way as He confronts me in the 
 mighty march of time and events, I can nevermore 
 lose Him. 
 
 In connection with what has been said, we stop 
 at this point to make a remark in relation to inte- 
 rior solitude, and what is known in experimental 
 writers of the earliest ages as inward aridness or vas- 
 tation. Such a state is not without its benefits. In 
 ancient Egypt, amid its wealth and intellectual ad- 
 vancement, the Hebrews learned much ; they be- 
 came masters, like the people among whom they 
 dwelt, of arts and letters, of which their own re- 
 corded history is a proof; but the arts they learned 
 and the knowledge they acquired, were worldly arts 
 
306 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 and worldly knowledge. In the terrible desert, 
 through which they were led when they came out 
 of Egypt, they obtained knowledge of a different 
 kind, knowledge of a higher aspect and character, 
 and far more valuable. Accordingly in reading their 
 travels through the desert, we feel that we are read- 
 ing, if we are interiorly enlightened, the travels of 
 the human heart ; that we are becoming acquainted 
 with the mighty pilgrimage of the soul ; its liability 
 to error, its temptations, its sorrows, its progress in 
 knowledge and goodness ; and also the divine rela- 
 tions which exist between the lawgiver and those 
 under the law, and the difference between the life 
 moulded by obedience to law and the disordered 
 and ruined life which is the result of its violation. 
 The Hebrews learned as much and probably much 
 more, certainly much more that was valuable, during 
 their pilgrimage of forty years in the desert, than 
 during their four hundred years of residence among 
 the most enlightened people which the world had ever 
 seen. Can we not say then that the voice of wis- 
 dom found an utterance in the wilderness ? And so 
 in the solitudes and deserts of the spirit, when in- 
 teriorly we are led away from the land of flowers to 
 the rude habitations of the sands and rocks, the 
 land where smiles are exotics and joy is a stranger, 
 there remains to us, nevertheless, much of inward 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DLVIXE MOMEXT. 
 
 307 
 
 compensation. It is not without "a great purpose, 
 that our bruised and bleeding feet are smitten upon 
 the rocks. The voice of wisdom is heard in the 
 desolate wilderness of the soul. Such is the teach- 
 ing of national history. Such is the testimony, also, 
 of the deeply interior men of all ages ; of Moses 
 and Elijah ; of Christ, when led into the wilderness 
 to be tempted of satan ; of John the Baptist, whose 
 rugged nature found a congeniality with desolation 
 within and desolation without ; of St. Jerome, and 
 of Augustine, as recorded in his confessions ; of 
 Tauler, the philosopher, mystic, and revivalist of the 
 middle ages ; of St. John of the Cross, one of the 
 great explorers of the spiritual wilderness ; of John 
 Bunyan, the outward and inward sufferer and great 
 traveller in interior lands ; of George Fox and Wil- 
 liam Perm ; of many of the leaders and followers in 
 the Protestant Reformation ; of the early Methodists 
 and Puritans ; of all in all nations and of all names, 
 who have neither the power nor the inclination to go 
 to heaven on " flowery beds of ease." 
 
 But returning from the method of learning to the 
 things which have been taught, we proceed further 
 to say, that one of the marked things of this form 
 of experience, which we will characterize now as 
 LIVING BY THE MOMEXT, is, that it is infinitely 
 varied. Change, which is evidently incidental to the 
 
30 g ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 great fact of growth or progression, is one of the 
 great necessities of existence. It is moreover one 
 of those things, which in any true philosophy of the 
 universe, will be found to lie at the foundation of 
 the great problem of what constitutes the highest 
 amount of human happiness, and in what way such 
 happiness shall be realized. Meeting God in the 
 moment of God, which is necessarily the present 
 moment, we shall meet Him always the same but 
 always new ; always unchanged in his essence, but 
 changing always in his incidents. The divine mo- 
 ment, lifting as it emerges into being the veil that 
 rests upon forms and places and actions and events, 
 opens that little eyelid of eternity, and reveals God, 
 not in a perpetual identity of manifestation which 
 would tire our perception and annul our growth, but 
 in all possible varieties. He stands before us some- 
 times in the storm and sometimes in the sunshine ; 
 sometimes in the waste howling wilderness, and 
 sometimes in the field of flowers; in the palace and 
 the prison, in friendship and enmity ; in joy and 
 sorrow. And thus He is always revealing, step by 
 step, in harmony with the nature and extent of our 
 own capacities, the infinitudes of existence ; and al- 
 ways affording new elements of knowledge, new 
 tests of strength, and new foundations and applian- 
 ces of growth and happiness. 
 
* LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT. 309 
 
 And it may further be remarked as something 
 worthy of notice, and as closely connected with 
 what has just been said, that those who live in the 
 divine moment arc relieved in a great degree from 
 the perplexity of conjectures and calculations, and 
 cannot be said, in the usual sense of the terms, to 
 have plans of action. It is certain that they do not 
 'have any, in the unconditioned or absolute sense. 
 Being in harmony inwardly and outwardly with the 
 facts of the present moment, it is the law of their 
 condition, that they shall do the work which it is 
 given them to do. Under the mastery of the pres- 
 ent, they see the objects that are now before them ; 
 they obey the orders which are now given ; and ac- 
 complish wnat now is, and nothing else. 
 
 It is impossible that the man who lives thus 
 sl'ould have any plans which are exclusively his 
 own ; any plans which are separate from the pur- 
 pose and the will of God. He cannot be in har- 
 mony with the present moment without being in 
 harmony with the will of God, as manifested in the 
 present moment ; and the divine will, thus mani- 
 fested, necessarily constitues the condition to which 
 all his actions and plans of action are subordinated. 
 So that it can justly be said in this view of things, 
 that the mind of the Infinite is substituted for his 
 own, and that God plans for him. Submitting his 
 
n J0 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 own wisdom to the higher wisdom which is from 
 above, he can say in the spirit of Christ, whose 
 plan of action was established in eternity and was 
 unchangeable, that he " comes to do the will of the 
 Father who sent him." 
 
 And hence it is that one great sign of the prac- 
 tical recognition of the " divine moment " and of 
 our finding God's habitation in it, is constant calm- 
 ness and peace of mind. Events and things come 
 with the moment ; but God comes with them too. 
 And He comes, written all over with the divinity 
 of wisdom and the glory of the promises. So that 
 if He comes in the sunshine, we find rest and joy ; 
 and if He comes in the storm, we know He is King 
 of the storms, and our hearts are not troubled. 
 God himself, though possessing a heart filled with 
 the tenderest feelings, is, nevertheless, an everlast- 
 ing tranquillity ; and when we enter into His holy 
 tabernacle, his great movable tent, which is travel- 
 ling here and there under the shifting footsteps of 
 moment added to moment, our souls necessarily en- 
 ter into the tabernacle of rest. 
 
 And let it be added here, that the doctrine of 
 living by the moment suggests one of the prepara- 
 tory conditions, and furnishes in part, a philosophi- 
 cal explanation of the great doctrine of inward 
 inspiration. Inspiration, looking at the fact of the 
 
LOCALITY OF GOD AND DIVINE MOMENT. <$n 
 
 thing as well as the etymology of the term, is the 
 in-breathing or the in-flowing of the Infinite into 
 the finite. And if we stand in the openings of the 
 present moment, with all the length and breadth of 
 our faculties unselfishly adjusted to what it reveals, 
 we arc in the best condition to receive what God is 
 always ready to communicate. So that there is not 
 merely a dogmatical affirmation, which is to be be- 
 lieved solely because it is affirmed, but an interior 
 and divine philosophy in those suggestive and spir- 
 itual words of Jesus : " And when they bring you 
 unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates and 
 powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye 
 shall answer or what ye shall say; for the Holy 
 Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye 
 ought to say." 
 
 Each moment of time is one of the successive 
 and separate letters of the alphabet, which go to 
 make up the great book of eternity. And eternity 
 being the sum of all moments, and therefore the res- 
 idence or locality of God in the higher sense, we are 
 thus learning the letters of that book in which will 
 be written out all truths of the Infinite, and all 
 truths and destinies for ourselves. To lose a mo- 
 ment by being out of harmony with the facts and 
 requisitions of the moment, is to lose a letter out of 
 the great book, and thus to lose something of its 
 14 
 
312 
 
 ABSOLUTE RELIGION. 
 
 infinite and eternal meanings. It was thus that 
 God taught me while I was in the spiritual wilder- 
 ness. I was thus enabled to see, and perhaps more 
 clearly than others will be likely to do, who have 
 not passed through the same inward history, why 
 He shut the old gateways and vistas of spiritual 
 knowledge, which were suited to the beginnings of 
 inward experience, and required me to meet with 
 Him and to dwell with Him in the Eternal Now. 
 It w^as one of the lessons of the desert ; but the 
 desert, I mean the spiritual desert, is one of the 
 school-houses of the soul. And as soon as I had 
 learned the lesson, which it seems to have been the 
 object of the school of the desert to teach, the 
 cloud was gradually lifted ; the sunshine came down 
 upon the rocks ; the sands and pebbles grew up into 
 flowers ; I found the shepherd sitting beside the 
 still waters; and I came up out of the entangle- 
 ments of the wilderness into a firmer position and a 
 clearer light than I had ever known before. 
 
 THE END. 
 
n'mi'ni i The °' 09lcal Seminary-Speer 
 
 1 1012 0101 
 
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